On behalf of certified player agents, the National Basketball Players Association is sending a signed letter to the NCAA that refuses to submit to a proposed certification process to work with undergraduate men's basketball players "testing the waters" for the NBA draft.

The NBPA has been communicating with NCAA officials in recent weeks about a way to work together, league sources tell ESPN. NBPA executive director Michele Roberts declined to comment for this story.

The agents' letter, obtained by ESPN, charges the NCAA with trying to obtain a mechanism to "garner access to personal and private information of certified agents in what amounts to subpoena power to embark on investigations that are wholly unrelated to protecting the interests of men's basketball student-athletes in deciding whether to remain in school or to enter the NBA Draft."

In the wake of college basketball's FBI scandal, the NCAA agreed to adopt recommendations of the Rice Commission on numerous fronts, including the relationship between certified agents and players. The NCAA allows undergraduate players to examine staying in the NBA draft through attendance at the draft combine, team workouts and advice from agents, with the ability to maintain their eligibility and return to school after a deadline date in May. The NCAA wanted NBA agents -- already under the jurisdiction of the NBPA and several state regulatory bodies -- to also register and become part of oversight of college basketball's governing body. The NCAA already changed course on legislation that would require NBA agents to minimally have a bachelor's degree to discuss representation with players who were testing the waters.

In the letter, the agents write to the NCAA: "While we refuse to subject ourselves to these regulations, our biggest concern is that the process itself undermines the ability of student-athletes to truly receive the most competent representation when they are testing the waters. By continuing to legislate in a manner that ignores the realities of the world that student-athletes with professional prospects live in, the NCAA is only entrenching an ecosystem that cultivates and fosters an atmosphere of distrust among the student-athletes whom the NCAA is supposed to protect, thus pushing these kids out of school far before they are ready.

"Every year, men's basketball student-athletes continue to make poor decisions on whether to remain in the NBA Draft or return to school. We share in the NCAA's goal of wanting to correct this problem, yet NCAA legislation continues to demonize and marginalize agents and furthers a negative stigma instead of making strides toward working cooperatively to ensure that student-athletes get the most accurate and competent counsel to make great career and life decisions.

"Competent, established, and experienced agents have no incentive to subject themselves to this legislation, and its overly burdensome procedures and oversight. As such, men's basketball student-athletes who are testing the NBA Draft waters will be forced to listen to people who do not have the experience, knowledge, and network to truly help them make the best decisions. While we do not want to see this happen, it is inevitable under the proposed process."

The NBA agents did agree to participate in a biannual online seminar that centered on preserving the amateur eligibility rights of college basketball players. Players and families regularly interact with professional basketball agents, relationships that often begin before the players step foot on a college campus.

Gary Pressy has played the organ at Wrigley Field for 2,679 consecutive Chicago Cubs games -- and counting. That streak, however, will come to an end after this season.

The 61-year-old Pressy, who began his career with the Cubs in 1987, is retiring after this season.

"I've been there a third of a century, 33 years, and I think the cup is full," Pressy told the Chicago Tribune on Friday. "I was debating it back-and-forth, but I really just wanted to spend more quality time with my family. Around the All-Star break I really got to thinking about it and made my decision."

Among his duties is to play "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch -- made famous by late broadcaster Harry Caray and a tradition that has continued with guest conductors since Caray's death in 1998.

"[Mike] Ditka is No. 1," Pressy told the Tribune about his favorite guests. "He ran a little late, coming up the ramps on his artificial hip, grabbed the mic from Steve Stone and did a polka version. Then we scored a lot of runs.

"Everyone asked, 'What did you think of Ditka?' I said: 'He just put it on the map.'"

The Cubs will honor Pressy during the final homestand of the season, which ends next Sunday.

Wrigley Field has had a full-time organist since 1967, and the team told the Tribune that they'll begin a search for Pressy's replacement after the season.

"I'm hoping my last appearance this year will be at another parade," Pressy told the Tribune. "That would work out."

Former Wales rugby captain Gareth Thomas has revealed he is HIV positive, saying he wants to "break the stigma" around the condition.

He made the announcement as he prepared to compete in the Ironman Wales triathlon in Tenby, Pembrokeshire.

Thomas said he is taking part to show how people with HIV are misrepresented as "walking around with walking sticks who are close to dying".

He said: "I'm trying to educate and break the stigma for everybody, which includes me in that - everybody."

LAS VEGAS – Cole Custer will lead the NASCAR Xfinity Series to the green flag on Saturday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Custer earned the pole for the Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 300 with a 29.773-second lap at 181.372 mph in his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang.

Christopher Bell qualified second for Joe Gibbs Racing, followed by Justin Allgaier, Tyler Reddick and Austin Cindric.

Brandon Jones, Chase Briscoe, Elliott Sadler, Landon Cassill and Justin Haley completed the top-10.

Noah Gragson and Alex Labbe each spun late in the qualifying session, forcing them to start Saturday’s race from the rear of the field.

Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 300 Starting Lineup

1. Cole Custer
2. Christopher Bell
3. Justin Allgaier
4. Tyler Reddick
5. Austin Cindric
6. Brandon Jones
7. Chase Briscoe
8. Elliott Sadler
9. Landon Cassill
10. Justin Haley
11. Michael Annett
12. Jeremy Clements
13. John Hunter Nemechek
14. J.J. Yeley
15. Riley Herbst
16. Gray Gaulding
17. Brandon Brown
18. Tommy Joe Martins
19. Ryan Sieg
20. Ray Black Jr.
21. B.J. McLeod
22. Ryan Truex
23. Stephen Leicht
24. Matt Mills
25. Kyle Weatherman
26. Garrett Smithley
27. Joe Nemechek
28. Tyler Matthews
29. Josh Williams
30. David Starr
31. C.J. McLaughlin
32. Joey Gase
33. Chad Finchum
34. Vinnie Miller
35. Stan Mullis
36. Noah Gragson
37. Alex Labbe
38. J.A. Junior Avila

Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon, coming off a career season, has signed a seven-year, $53.025 million contract extension, the team announced Saturday.

The deal averages $7.575 million per season and runs through the 2026-27 season.

Wild general manager Bill Guerin announced the new deal with the 29-year-old Spurgeon, who set career highs in goals (14) and assists (29) last season while playing in all 82 games.

Spurgeon also led the Wild with 145 blocked shots and was second behind Ryan Suter in time on ice with an average of 24:09 per game.

Pen to paper ✍️

? Go inside the room as #MNWild defenseman Jared Spurgeon inks a seven-year contract extension. pic.twitter.com/8QjJIIairc

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) September 14, 2019

"We love Jared. He's a homegrown guy. He's been here for his whole career and we want him to be here his whole career," Guerin said. "It was very important for us to get this done.

"This was the priority [this offseason]. ... We didn't want him going anywhere."

Spurgeon's 14 goals last season tied for third in franchise history among defensemen. He has blossomed into one of the team's indispensable players, ranking in the top 20 among NHL defensemen over the last four years in goals, power play goals, blocked shots and time on ice.

A sixth-round pick of the New York Islanders in 2008, Spurgeon was signed by the Wild as a free agent before the 2010-11 season and has played all nine of his NHL seasons with the team.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

GLENEAGLES, Scotland – Suzann Pettersen had high praise for long-hitting Solheim Cup rookie Anne Van Dam during their fourball victory on Friday.

“I think [she] is the best golfer I've ever seen on the women's side,” Pettersen said. “… She just was absolutely a rock star.”

A day later, the high-profile European duo teamed up for a fourball encore at Gleneagles, and though they were ultimately taken down on the final hole by American rookies Annie Park and Brittany Altomare, Pettersen turned back the clock with a vintage performance.

The 38-year-old Pettersen entered the week as a controversial captain’s pick, having played just three stroke-play events since taking nearly two years off for the birth of her first child. There were talks outside the team about who would replace her as Europe’s fearless leader.

But Pettersen maintained that her game was in “great shape,” and she proved it Saturday afternoon, making five birdies and having her score count for all but four holes in brutal conditions.

“She's still got it,” Park said. “She's got so much swag, and she's a trooper.”

All of Pettersen’s birdies came during a six-hole stretch beginning at the par-4 seventh, when her 15-footer was conceded after the Americans each missed par attempts. At the par-4 eighth, with a 30-plus mph wind howling into her face, she hit a piercing, low approach to 3 feet to set up another birdie. She followed with an up-and-down birdie at the par-5 ninth and added two more approach daggers to about 5 feet, at both the par-4 11^th and par-4 12^th holes.

“That was a great stretch,” Europe captain Catriona Matthew said. “… In those conditions, just phenomenal, it really was. Unless you were out there in it you didn't really realize quite how tough it was.”

Added Pettersen: “If you had told me I was going to go play golf in these conditions, I would have told [you] no. But if I could say I enjoyed it, yeah, I loved it. That's what this is all about. You kind of forget about the conditions and you just play what you get.”

Pettersen, who now has a 17-12-6 career record in this event after a 1-1 showing the first two days in Scotland, will get another rookie, Marina Alex, in Sunday’s third to last singles match. With the U.S. and Europe tied at eight points each, there’s a chance the Cup could come down to the wily Norwegian, who in a matter of days has gone from question mark back to ultimate intimidator.

“She's certainly had no questions to answer to me,” Matthew said. “I had 100-percent confidence in her right from the start. … And I have complete confidence in her going out in singles.”

GLENEAGLES, Scotland – Danielle Kang will lead off Sunday singles for the Americans at the Solheim Cup.

She’ll go up against Europe’s Carlota Ciganda.

Kang got the week started with some fireworks in front of a microphone, and she’ll get the chance to end it with some on the course. She had some over-the-top fun saying the Solheim Cup was about “taking souls” and making opponents cry, and she said she was told she might get booed in Scotland. It set off a backlash on social media and among British media, a mild storm that left Kang telling everyone to stop twisting her words and just chill out.

U.S. captain Juli Inkster obviously likes the tone Kang will set trying to get the Americans rolling early. European captain Catriona Matthew with the highest ranked European in the world (No 12) in Ciganda.

Inkster front loaded her lineup with Kang followed by Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson. Korda and Thompson are the two highest ranked Americans in the world, Korda No. 10 and Thompson No. 3. Korda will face Caroline Hedwall, Thompson will go up against Georgia Hall.

Inkster is sending out Morgan Pressel as her anchor, a meaningful choice given how close these matches are (8-8) with the possibility the outcome could boil down to the last match. Pressel is the winningest American Solheim Cup player on Inkster’s roster with an 11-7-3 record. Matthew is sending out Anna Nordqvist as her anchor. Nordqvist is a two-time major champion and one of Europe’s most successful Solheim Cup players.

Here are the pairings for Sunday singles at the Solheim Cup (all times ET):

6:40 a.m.: Danielle Kang (USA) vs. Carlota Ciganda (EUR)

6:52 a.m.: Nelly Korda (USA) vs. Caroline Hedwall (EUR)

7:04 a.m.: Lexi Thompson (USA) vs. Georgia Hall (EUR)

7:16 a.m.: Annie Park (USA) vs. Celine Boutier (EUR)

7:28 a.m.: Angel Yin (USA) vs. Azahara Munoz (EUR)

7:40 a.m.: Megan Khang (USA) vs. Charley Hull (EUR)

7:52 a.m.: Lizette Salas (USA) vs. Anne Van Dam (EUR)

8:04 a.m.: Jessica Korda (USA) vs. Caroline Masson (EUR)

8:16 a.m.: Brittany Altomare (USA) vs. Jodi Ewart Shadoff (EUR)

8:28 a.m.: Marina Alex (USA) vs. Suzann Pettersen (EUR)

8:40 a.m.: Ally McDonald (USA) vs. Bronte Law (EUR)

8:52 a.m.: Morgan Pressel (USA) vs. Anna Nordqvist (EUR)

GLENEAGLES, Scotland – When Cristie Kerr didn’t make this year’s U.S. Solheim Cup team, captain Juli Inkster asked her star player, Lexi Thompson, who she’d prefer to partner with. Thompson, who had compiled a 11-1-2 record when paired with Kerr in international team events, responded, “I don’t really care.”

The Kordas? “That’s fine.”

Rookie Brittany Altomare? “That’s fine, too.”

But on Saturday afternoon, Thompson proved most flexible by agreeing to play with someone outside of her pod in a fourball match opposite Caroline Masson and Jodi Ewart Shadoff.

“I’d love to play with Marina,” said Thompson, who then teamed up with rookie Marina Alex to earn her second half-point of the week.

“I said, ‘Put me with anybody,’” Thompson said. “Everybody here has an amazing game and great attitude and will bring their best. … Whoever I was paired with, we'll go out there try our best and feed off each other.”

Thompson hasn’t had her best stuff this week. Already the 132^nd-ranked putter on the LPGA, Thompson has struggled on the greens aside from a 15-foot birdie make on Gleneagles’ par-5 18^th hole that halved her fourball match on Friday. A day later, in fierce winds that negated some of her length and ballstriking ability, Thompson carded just two birdies.

“You were going to see some poor shots just because of the wind,” Thompson said. “It was just difficult out there.”

But Thompson grinded and fought, and Alex picked her up with birdies on Nos. 14 and 16 to help get them to the last hole, where Thompson had an 8-footer for birdie to get her first full point of the week.

Her putt never touched the hole, but Masson bailed her out with a 6-foot miss.

Thompson won’t have anyone to save her in Sunday’s singles session. Not Kerr. Not any of her three partners this week. Just herself.

With the Solheim Cup tied at eight points apiece entering the final day, Thompson will go out third and face Georgia Hall, who has arguably been Europe’s best player, especially from a ballstriking perspective.

The U.S. could use a victory from the top-ranked player in the field. Inkster is confident they will get it.

“She's the third best player in the world, and she'll be there,” Inkster said. “She'll show up.”

Luis Suarez scored twice in his return for Barcelona as they made short work of Valencia in a 5-2 win at the Camp Nou with an injured Lionel Messi looking on from the sidelines.

The hosts raced out to a 2-0 lead with teenager Ansu Fati scoring the first goal and setting up the second for new arrival Frenkie de Jong inside of 10 minutes.

Kevin Gameiro finished off a nice team move to pull one back for Valencia before half-time, with the referee consulting VAR to award the goal after the linesman's flag had initially gone up for offside.

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Gerard Pique restored Barca's two-goal lead shortly after the restart, pouncing on a rebound from a well-hit Antoine Griezmann shot and tapping it home.

Substitute Suarez, back from a spell on the sidelines with an injury, produced a moment of brilliance shortly after coming on, faking a pass to his right and then curling a shot past Jasper Cillessen at the near post to make it 4-1.

The Uruguay international then added a second at the near post, picking up a loose ball in the penalty area and once again curling it just out of the reach of Cillessen.

Valencia scored a meaningless late goal through Maxi Gomez to reach the final scoreline as Barca eased to three important points on a day that table-toppers Atletico Madrid lost.

Next up for Barcelona is their Champions League group stage opener against Borussia Dortmund on Sept. 17, a match which Messi is also expected to miss.