When "The Turk" comes to get you, it means only one thing.

The script is largely the same: "Coach wants to see you ... bring your playbook."

For an NFL player, that means you won't have a place on the roster.

Turk is the unofficial title for the staffer whose job it is to collect players and take them to the general managers and coaches to be cut.

Jets GM Joe Douglas even gained some notoriety early in his career as the Baltimore Ravens' Turk in the inaugural season of HBO's "Hard Knocks."

According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Los Angeles Rams players in the 1950s called this guy "squeaky shoes" because they could hear him coming down a dorm hallway to do his work.

No matter the job title, he'll be busy this weekend. By 4 p.m. ET Saturday, more than 1,000 players will lose jobs.

"It's the worst day of the year," Tampa Bay Buccaneers director of player engagement Duke Preston said. "It's just bad. Like even Thursday after the [final preseason] game, it's like you're on the plane and you know that there's 37 guys whose dreams end ... in a matter of hours."

Here's what it's really like inside NFL cut-down day:

Delivering the bad news

Most rosters are at 90 this week and must be down to 53 by Saturday. If you're going to be one of the Green Bay Packers' 37 roster moves, whether that's injured reserve, practice squad, outright release or another option, general manager Brian Gutekunst wants to make it as humane as possible.

Gutekunst, the second-year GM and longtime Packers scout, said the team uses the process established by his predecessor, Ted Thompson.

"He demanded that this be done a certain way, and there's no wiggle room there," Gutekunst said.

"Ted, being a former player who was probably always on the bubble his entire career, he was very sensitive to that."

That means no cryptic messages leaving players anxiously wondering what it might mean.

"We tell them, 'We're putting you on waivers and we'd like you to come up and discuss it,'" Gutekunst said. "And we lay out for them what that means because for a lot of these guys, it's the first time going through this process. So we want them to understand and make sure that we talk to their agent -- and any honest feedback about what they can improve on, we make sure we give that to them."

Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman calls the 72 hours following the final preseason game the most hectic time of the year next to the NFL draft and free agency.

In the days leading up to cut-down weekend, Spielman, Vikings coaches, scouts and others in the personnel department have already had upward of seven meetings going over various roster scenarios.

After the team returns from Buffalo on Friday, Minnesota will finalize decisions on the bottom eight to 10 players on the 90-man roster before releasing the first cuts that afternoon while practice squad candidates are being decided.

There are a lot of moving parts and Spielman is listening to a lot of voices.

"You're trying to come up with a collective decision," Spielman said. "There's lobbying going on just like there is during the draft. We try to do things collectively, and the decision is going to come down collectively to what we think is best for the Minnesota Vikings. Ultimately, that's my responsibility, but I always try to get it where we're all on the same page."

From there, telling players becomes a combination of grace, tact and efficiency.

Shelton Quarles, Tampa Bay's director of football operations, is the person charged with informing players they've been cut. He is particularly sensitive to the situation. As an undrafted free agent in 1994, he was cut during training camp by the Miami Dolphins.

Understanding that feeling helps him tailor his conversations with players.

"I try to shape [the message] based on who the player is and what their attributes are, if I think they have a shot at making a roster, then I'll shape it a little bit differently," Quarles said. "If I don't think that they'll have a chance, then I'll soften it up a bit. ... More times than not, I'm gonna be soft in my delivery of the message to the players."

The newly departed: 'Like breaking up with your girlfriend'

Whether the message is delivered with a tap on the shoulder, text or dorm-room phone call, for the players on the bubble, cut-down day is a waiting game.

"You start micromanaging everything like, 'Damn, I had this little mistake or this little mistake,' " Washington Redskins running back Byron Marshall said. "[Cuts] typically happen in the morning. So what I do is try to stay up as late as I can and sleep the whole morning and as long as my phone don't wake me up when I'm asleep, I can wake up happy because that way you don't have the anxiety kicking in."

"And every time you got a call, it was just like breaking up with a girlfriend. It was, 'It's not you, it's me' kind of nonsense. 'We're going another direction,' or, 'You did great, but' .... And it was always funny."" Former Saint, and cut-down day expert, Jed Collins

"Just sitting there, chilling, on the phone, hoping yours don't ring," Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Tre Herndon said. "It's a real emotional time. I wouldn't want anybody to go through that, but it's the business."

Former New Orleans Saints fullback Jed Collins calls himself an expert on getting cut. Over an eight-year career with 10 different teams, he was released from an active roster or practice squad 10 times. After being cut by eight teams in his first three years, he finally played his first NFL game in his fourth season.

"And every time you got a call, it was just like breaking up with a girlfriend," Collins said. "It was, 'It's not you, it's me' kind of nonsense. 'We're going another direction,' or, 'You did great, but.'

"... And it was always funny. I did begin to judge teams and organizations based on how they got rid of you (from whether the head coach met with you personally to whether they packed up your locker or gave you a garbage bag)."

There's a cruel math to the day and a whole lot of gallows humor. Players on the bubble know that as their teammates get cut, it increases the chances they'll make the team.

"It's one day where all these people lose their jobs and if you lose it, you're hoping, 'Well, are they going to keep me here? Is someone else going to get me?'" said Marshall, the Washington running back.

"The main thing you are thinking about is the roster spots, and the cut of the roster and [how it will get] to 53 people," said Houston Texans safety A.J. Moore, who was released by the New England Patriots on cut-down day last year.

Coaches suffer and families prepare

Jaguars coach Doug Marrone walked into his news conference Sunday grumpy and pretty much stayed that way the entire week, because he loathes what he has to do: cut 37 players.

"I'll relate to the anxiety with a lot of the players that've been giving us everything they have, and trying to make it in the NFL, and in a couple days, everybody's life changes," Marrone said. "Obviously, [it's] one thing [that] hits me a little bit harder, probably, than most, because I've been through it."

A lot, actually.

Marrone was drafted in the sixth round by the Los Angeles Raiders in 1986. Over the next five years, the former offensive lineman had stints with Miami, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Dallas and Minnesota. He appeared in only five NFL games and was cut six times before his playing career ended after two seasons (1991-92) with the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football.

"I don't think you ever get immune to that. People who are immune to that are bulls---ting." Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Marrone, on making cuts

That's why he hates this week.

Marrone has received the phone call and the reminder to bring his playbook. He has been on the other side of the desk in a head coach's office and heard the clichés. He knows what it feels like when someone tells you that you're not good enough and what it's like to walk back into the locker room, throw your stuff in a bag, and walk past former teammates trying not to make eye contact.

Marrone has had to do the cutting four times as a head coach -- two years with Buffalo and the past two with Jacksonville -- and it hasn't become any easier.

"I don't think you ever get immune to that," Marrone said. "People who are immune to that are bulls---ting. I think people that are immune to that have no appreciation for what these people do. They have no appreciation for what goes on in their family."

Just like free agency or the trade deadline, families get caught in the middle of these transactions. At times, that significant other is a player's emotional support and the person who sees an NFL player's most vulnerable moments.

"I saw it firsthand as a player," Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. "I was one of those guys that didn't know early in my career. You have long conversations at night with your girlfriend or your fiancée, your wife about, 'I don't know if I'm going to make it.'"

After those conversations, if bad news is indeed delivered, wives, girlfriends and significant others are affected and try to find any way to help.

Jessica Marshall, Byron Marshall's wife, is a trauma intensive care unit nurse in San Jose, California. She approaches the day as she would with one of her patients.

"For me, it's easy because of my career path being empathetic and sympathetic to the situation they're in," she said. "[It's] 'OK, what's the next plan? What are the other options we have?' Not letting anyone sit around and mope and keep their morale up."

One of Collins' wife's jobs was the household moving company.

"She would be behind me, packing up things," Collins said. "Finally by the fourth or fifth time, we were like, 'Sell all the crap. We don't know where or when this is gonna end.'"

When it's over

Agents such as Kelli Masters have an emotional investment in their clients' success, not just a financial one. But their livelihood is at stake just the same. In 2009, after representing NFL players since 2006, she was finally going to see a player survive cut-down day.

Julius Crosslin, a Dallas Cowboys fullback, had spent his rookie season on their practice squad after going undrafted in 2008 and was in position to make the team the next year. He had started the first three preseason games, then averaged 4.7 yards on nine carries in the finale. Masters was optimistic.

"Some guys are devastated. Other guys are numb to it and lost." Duke Preston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers director of player engagement

Then came the call from Jerry Jones' right-hand man, Todd Williams, who delivered the double whammy of bad news. Not only were the Cowboys waiving Crosslin, they weren't interested in keeping him for their practice squad.

"I just collapsed to the floor," Masters recalled. "I sat down on the floor just in disbelief, like, 'When is it actually going to happen?'

"I can't compare my experience to players who work their entire lives and are in that moment. It's a totally different situation. But ... as an agent, after investing so much time and so many resources into recruiting and working so hard to try to get players in the right position to have an opportunity, and years into it, to still feel like I was a complete failure was just devastating."

Some players who get the call on cut-down day are on their way to a new city in 24 hours. Some of the bigger agencies have client-services departments that assist with all the logistical challenges that come with being uprooted overnight. Masters -- who represents more than a dozen NFL players as the founder, CEO and chief player agent of KMM Sports, including Seahawks receiver David Moore and free-agent running back Alex Collins -- said she prefers to handle that herself.

"You have to have great relationships with relocation companies and lots of resources to tap into," she said. "I've done it so many times now, I know who to call if we've got to transport a dog, I know who we need to call if it's shipping vehicles or packing up a house, cleaning -- all of those things that have to be done."

For those in the team facilities, there is a wide range of emotions, no matter the news.

"Some guys are devastated. Other guys are numb to it and lost," said Preston, the Bucs' front-office staffer. "And other guys, truly it's a relief. I think it spans the gamut of experiences."

Said Spielman: "Some guys are very quiet, some guys break down, some guys this is the only thing they have so you're affecting their lives, their families' lives and that's very difficult to deal with."

Some players will be put on the practice squad or be picked up by other teams.

Wide receiver Rod Smith, who would go on to win two Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos, was an undrafted free agent in 1994 and wasn't sure what his status would be as his rookie training camp was ending. He was riding a stationary bike when he got yanked out of his workout.

Bob Ferguson, the Broncos' GM at the time, told Smith he was being released but that Denver intended to sign him to the practice squad.

"So I'm like, 'You mean I don't have to go home?' " Smith said. "[Ferguson] said, 'No, you don't have to go home,' so I didn't really hear anything he said after that, after he said that I didn't have to go home, I didn't hear a word he said.

"Then I said, 'Can I go finish my workout?'"

Then, sometimes, this terrible day isn't all that bad.

Arizona Cardinals special-teamer Dennis Gardeck got the tap last preseason. Gardeck, who was an undrafted rookie free agent, was in the locker room when a staff member came up to him, tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Scooby, come with me."

Wait, what?

The staff member had Gardeck confused with Scooby Wright, another 6-foot, long-haired linebacker.

"I was like, 'I'm not Scooby,' " Gardeck said. "I thought I was done."

ESPN NFL reporters Todd Archer, Ben Baby, Sarah Barshop, Courtney Cronin, Rob Demovsky, Turron Davenport, Jeff Dickerson, Mike DiRocco, Brady Henderson, Jamison Hensley, John Keim, Jenna Laine, Jeff Legwold, Marcel Louis-Jacques, Tim McManus, David Newton, Michael Rothstein, Mike Triplett, Lindsey Thiry, Josh Weinfuss and Eric Williams contributed to this report.

After the Dream Team's Olympic gold medal in 1992, USA Basketball continued to coast along in international play, remaining undefeated whenever NBA players represented the country, winning gold at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. Then, at the 2002 FIBA World Championships in Indianapolis, an American team led by Paul Pierce and Michael Finley and coached by George Karl suffered losses to Spain, Argentina and Yugoslavia en route to a sixth-place finish.

Two years later, the NBA and USA Basketball hoped to keep America's post-1992 Olympic record perfect at the 2004 Athens Games, but several prominent players declined invitations, in part due to security concerns over attending the first Olympic Games after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The roster that head coach Larry Brown and lead assistant Gregg Popovich took to Greece proved to be flawed and hastily assembled, led by Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury and captain Tim Duncan, along with late additions LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, all coming off their rookie NBA seasons.

Although Team USA was able to salvage bronze with a victory over Lithuania in the third-place game, the 2004 Olympics was widely deemed a disaster.

The debacle became a turning point for USA Basketball.

Note: This previously unpublished oral history comes from reporting by Jackie MacMullan, Rafe Bartholomew and Dan Klores for their acclaimed book "BASKETBALL: A Love Story," available now in hardcover and in paperback Oct. 15 via Penguin Random House and wherever books are sold.

Luis Scola, Argentina forward: The first time I played against [Team USA] was in '99 in Puerto Rico. We were trying to qualify to the Olympics in 2000. We were very young -- I was 19, Manu [Ginobili] was 21, [Andres] Nocioni was 19 -- nobody was above 25. I was guarding Vin Baker, and I remember thinking this is just impossible. There's nobody in the world who could compete with these guys. They're taller than me, he weighs like 20 more pounds than I do but he runs faster and he shoots from farther and he can play in the post and he can guard. How can I compete? There's no one area I can take advantage of him. I felt miles away, like it was another sport for us. We didn't qualify to Sydney, but we start playing really well and things start to change after that tournament. The second time we play them, we still lost by 30 but we play a lot better. And the year after we start growing, and by 2002 things are completely different for us.

Jerry Colangelo, USAB Director since 2005: From '92 on, there was a committee put together of NBA people -- coaches, general managers. And in '04, we had players selected by a committee. But some players didn't want to go for whatever reasons. Contracts, some wanted to take the time off, some had no interest. What didn't exist was this desire to represent your country. But the committee format left something to be desired.

Bill Simmons, sportswriter and author: We sent this team to the '04 Olympics that was basically an All-Star team, and there was no thought into how the guys would mesh with one another. I looked at our team and I was like, "Stephon Marbury is gonna be playing, who's the other guy? The backcourt is Marbury and [Allen] Iverson? We're screwed! Those guys are gonna be in fistfights for the ball."

Larry Brown, Team USA head coach (2004): You know that's a sore point in my mind. That whole thing makes the hair on the back of my head stand up because we had Ray Allen, we had Jason Kidd, we had Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter -- that was an amazing team that was put together that qualified. We had Argentina down 37 points at halftime in 2003. That team had to qualify and they were playing unbelievable basketball, and then hardly any of those guys come. That team never went to the Olympics because of 9/11.

Colangelo: I'm not saying they were second-tier players, but it wasn't the team that Larry Brown was hopeful of fielding in the '04 Games.

Marv Albert, TV sportscaster: [Brown] probably felt he could win with them, particularly since he knew Iverson. I don't think you can win in the Olympics unless you have a team where you know guys are gonna play together. I just don't think you can win.

Brown: We didn't get any practice time. They kind of picked the team at random and it's totally unfair. A lot of people were critical of the coaches -- I can accept that -- but they're critical of the players. Well, the players had the balls to go during that time to Greece. These kids, a lot of them weren't really sure what was going to happen. We were in Turkey and the hotel got bombed, and then we go to Greece and they hate -- they're not really excited about the Americans. These kids did some unbelievable things under difficult circumstances, with no time to prepare, no time to practice.

Scola: Obviously they are extremely talented, but they don't adjust well to the rules. They are frustrated about it. They didn't decide to just play through it, they were complaining a lot. This was a team that could be beat.

In Team USA's first game of the Athens Olympics, Puerto Rico ran the Americans off the court. The 92-73 blowout remains the worst loss the United States has suffered in international play, and it set the tone for a doomed Olympic campaign.

Rod Thorn, former Olympic Committee chairman: When we lost the first game to Puerto Rico in the bracket, it was like, "Wait a minute, we can beat these guys." And, you know, was the team constructed exactly like you'd like it to be? In retrospect, obviously it wasn't.

Doug Collins, former coach and TV analyst: In 2004, I broadcast the games in Athens, and it was a disaster. The level of frustration -- there were rumblings that they wanted to send guys home before they even got to the Olympics. And basically, I think the commissioner said, "No, this is our team," but there were things along the way that you knew were gonna come to a head once we got to the Olympics and I was there to watch it. Mike Breen and I did the games and when we'd take our headsets off after the game, we were like, "What did we just watch? What was that?"

Scola: By the time we get to play the U.S., we felt prepared. This was our chance. They had talent, but in a one-game scenario we knew it was possible. ... We knew that we needed to let them shoot. We needed to pack the paint, not let them go inside, because with their athleticism and their strength it was going to be almost impossible to beat them. We needed to make them shoot, and they shot pretty bad that game.

Collins: [Team USA] won the bronze medal and I said, "Something's gotta be done." We had gotten so arrogant that we had thought it didn't matter -- we can send anybody and win. And after '04 we found out we couldn't do that.

Allen Iverson, 2004 Team USA guard: Yeah, [losing] hurt. I mean, 'cause I was a part of it. It always haunts me because my dream was to win a gold medal, but the way I look at life is, the things that I've accomplished, people where I'm from don't even get to the doorstep of doing anything like that. So I thank God that I had the opportunity to do it, but yeah, it still bothered me.

LeBron James, 2004 Team USA forward: We didn't have the discipline, we didn't have the structure to be able to play on a world stage. We had great basketball players but we didn't have the structure, and I think that's part of why we finished third.

Iverson: LeBron James might've played five minutes a game, Carmelo might've played five minutes a game. It's just a whole bunch of things. I mean, it just wasn't meant to be. It's simple as that. The talent was there -- it just didn't happen.

Collins: They chose LeBron James on that team, who was a young player. Carmelo Anthony, some young guys. Those guys have always played, and now you're asking them to come and sit there?

Simmons: People close to LeBron always say that was good, the way Larry Brown treated the young guys on that team. He treated them like young guys. They had never been treated like they weren't the s---, and that was the first time they had some coach like, "Yeah, you're not gonna play; I've got these other guys."

Brown: I thought, man, under the circumstances, they did pretty darn good. Spain was great that year, and we had to beat them [to reach the semifinals], Tim Duncan fouled out of every game, hardly got to play.

Collins: [Duncan] got so frustrated he said, "I'll never play in the Olympics again."

David Stern, NBA commissioner (1984-2014): 2004 affected our thinking about this whole Olympic experience because it became clear that even though we were trying to be good partners and leave it to USA Basketball, that [the NBA] was going to ultimately get blamed for anything that happened. So we made the determination that we had to take a more active role in the entire Olympic experience.

Scola: That's what they needed. That tournament was what they needed to say, "Enough is enough, we are going to put effort in this."

Colangelo's first move as the head of USA Basketball was to call a gathering of basketball minds to discuss what reforms were necessary and to name a coach who would lead the team in future Olympic and world championship competitions.

Colangelo: When David Stern called me back in '05, I was home recovering from prostate cancer after having sold the Suns. It was a traumatic year for me, '04. So David called, saying, "Would you take over USA Basketball?" And I said, "Sure, two conditions: full autonomy -- I pick the coaches and the players. No more committees or politics." And he said, "Absolutely, you got it, what's No. 2?" and I said, "I don't want to hear about a budget." And he went off ranting and raving and I let him go and I said, "Are you finished?" and he acquiesced.

Stern: He took it very seriously, and you know, he announces to the world in every interview: He said he had complete freedom and his budget was complete, and that he could spare no expenditure. If you put me up against the wall under oath I would nitpick that somewhat, but he was perfect because he was respected and devoted and he went about putting together the team the way it should be.

"It always haunts me because my dream was to win a gold medal, but the way I look at life is, the things that I've accomplished, people where I'm from don't even get to the doorstep of doing anything like that. So I thank God that I had the opportunity to do it, but yeah, it still bothered me." Allen Iverson, on winning bronze in the 2004 Olympics

Colangelo: If you were a basketball fly on the wall, you couldn't have picked a better place to be. I called a meeting in Chicago of former Olympic coaches and athletes, and I held it at the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame on Taylor Street and, with the exception of Pete Newell, from the '60 team, who was recovering from cancer surgery, and Bobby Knight, who was on some fishing trip or something, which disappointed me, every other [Olympic] coach was there going back to 1960. Larry Brown wasn't, 'cause he was coaching in the playoffs I think, but you name 'em, they were all there -- Lenny [Wilkens], Chuck Daly, Rudy [Tomjanovich], and on. Then I had athletes like Jerry West and Michael Jordan. We had 30-some people there. I wanted to pick their brains out of respect for them, bringing the basketball people together to have this discussion. I had each one of them talk. What was your experience as an Olympian? How do you see things? What do you think needs to happen? Everyone had a chance to speak. It was great stuff, and once all that was over with I said, "Well, now let's talk about coaches."

Stern: Only someone with Jerry's gravitas could have selected a coach not from the NBA ranks, but from the college ranks.

Colangelo: I put some college coaches up on the board and I put some pro coaches up on the board, and I let people speak. And I remember, this was a great moment: Dean Smith said, "There's only one college coach up there that could get the job done, and that's Coach K." His biggest rival was [Mike Krzyzewski]. But, out of respect, Dean Smith made his point. Now, going into that meeting, I had two names in my mind. It was Popovich on the pro side and it was Coach K on the college side. [Krzyzewski] was an Army, West Point guy, and Popovich had a lot of the same stuff. So when you talk about a couple of candidates, you couldn't go wrong.

Thorn: [Colangelo] went against the grain of a lot of people in the NBA thinking, "Why should you get a college coach to do it?" But obviously it's worked out very well.

Mike Krzyzewski, Team USA head coach since 2008: You know, I think a really good head coach understands that it's not just his voice that the team needs to hear. In fact, a team might get tired of just hearing one voice, and so you want people around you who are smart, loyal, prepared, and then you have to give them an opportunity to express themselves. And a number of times they'll say it better than you, or say it with more passion, or it might be received better than what you said because you've said too much. You know, there's an on-off switch that players have -- like how much are you willing to listen to today from me? And then maybe another message might be able to come across because it's done by Jim Boeheim, Tom Thibodeau or Monty Williams. Or you ask a player and they might say it, and they might say it in a language that's better than yours.

One of the most significant challenges Colangelo and Krzyzewski faced was convincing American players that international competition meant as much as winning an NBA championship. In the decade after the Dream Team won gold in Barcelona, fans and players began taking it for granted that any team full of American NBA players could dominate European and South American rivals. When that was proved wrong in 2002 and 2004, Colangelo looked to reestablish the patriotism and sense of mission around USA Basketball -- to make representing one's country feel like an honor and a duty, and to make it cool again.

Charles Barkley, 1992 and 1996 Olympic gold medalist: There's nothing like the patriotism that goes on during the Olympics, because the first thing you realize -- we're the least patriotic country in the world. What I mean by that is, when you go there, everybody has a flag on their back. It was a great honor to put the "USA" on your chest, but the really cool thing about the Olympics was to see how the other countries love their players.

Kevin Durant, 2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medalist: [In] 2010, that was my first taste of [international] competition and what opened my eyes were the other countries. We played against Lithuania and the whole arena had flags out, singing their national anthem, and they had so much pride. You could tell that's what brought the whole country together. And here in the States it's kind of a shame that that doesn't unite us as well. I know our country is one of the most powerful in the world, but it feels like our states are divided. Stuff like that should bring us closer. It brought France closer, it brought Spain closer, it brought Lithuania closer. Turkey, they were celebrating 'cause they won the silver medal. If we'd have won silver as Americans? We would have got -- we would have been labeled as the worst team ever.

Simmons: The '04 Olympic team was kinda the culmination of people making decisions about what's good for their brand and not 'cause they love basketball. It was like they weren't playing for their country, they weren't part of a bigger plan, they were there because the shoe company was happy that they were there or because they wanted to be there from an ego. Nobody was there to win the gold medal.

Thorn: When you really look at it, players give up a lot [to compete internationally]. The season is forever and they give up their summer to play on the USA team. Conversely, they can make huge names for themselves, but you're asking players to do a lot, and if you go back historically I can remember when Bill Walton didn't play in the Olympics, Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] wouldn't play in the Olympics.

James: I think foreign players feel differently about the NBA as far as winning a championship compared to winning a gold medal and playing for their country. I think as kids in America and as an African-American kid, your whole mindset growing up is "I wanna be in the NBA." You don't really understand the importance playing for your country. It's not preached about, it's not talked about, it's not shown.

Tom Thibodeau, Team USA assistant (2016): Jerry Colangelo, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim -- they brought the patriotism back to it. I think all our players feel very strongly about representing our country. The pride is there now. I had the opportunity in my first year as head coach in Chicago of watching Derrick [Rose] participate, and I saw when he came back, the pride he had in winning the gold.

Chris Paul, 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold medalist: When I play for the Los Angeles Clippers, do Boston fans cheer for the Clippers? No. When you play on the USA team, everybody comes together. There's no other team like that. When you go to opening ceremonies, you get goose bumps, like this is the biggest team that you're on in life.

The first test of Team USA under Colangelo and Krzyzewski came in the 2006 FIBA World Championships, held in Japan, where an American team featuring James, Anthony, Paul, Wade and Dwight Howard remained undefeated until the semifinal round, where it suffered an upset loss to Greece, which played a near-perfect game, shooting 62.5% from the field. The loss showed that even with buy-in from many of the best American NBA players, international teams could still compete on even terms, and sometimes beat them.

Paul: I was on the team in '06. We lost to Greece, and I lie to you not, we didn't wanna come home. I'm telling you, we did not wanna come home. That's one of the toughest losses that I've ever felt.

Anthony Davis, 2012 Olympic gold medalist: Coach K, he's so passionate about Team USA and being able to represent his country. He didn't want us to forget why we're there, so that side comes out to remind us, "All right, guys, even though we feel like we can beat anybody, we still gotta come out and play, because anybody can get hot." He always brings up '06 in Greece when they lost, that guys was playin' and they came out and then fell behind. So he tries to make sure we on that right page and that right mindset going into games.

Krzyzewski: A lot of times you have to beat human nature. Your opponent is not the other team, it's human nature: Has your team played three games in a week? Are guys coming with injuries? Have you won, so now are you just expecting to win? Is your best player going through a high or a low? Those are the opponents you have to beat -- the human-nature opponents -- before you ever get on a court and beat another opponent.

By the time the 2008 Beijing Olympics rolled around, Team USA had two more years of preparation under its belt, and was ready to reassert America's supremacy over world basketball. The "Redeem Team" cruised to the gold-medal game, where clutch play from Kobe Bryant helped the United States defeat Spain and win its first major international championship since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. USA Basketball hasn't lost since, racking up golds in the 2010 and 2014 FIBA World Championships as well as the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.

Simmons: The '08 Olympics -- one of my favorite games that nobody ever talks about. When USA beat Spain [for the gold medal], it got super tense in the last 10 minutes. Guys got tight. I call it the frozen face. And Kobe, to his credit, he's like: "I got this. I'm gonna take it." He went out and made a couple big shots and they won, but you need that guy.

Jim Boeheim, Team USA assistant since 2008: Spain, they think they can beat us. They really do. They've got the Gasols, they've got great guards that play overseas and in the league. They're a quality team and they've been playing together since they were young kids. We'll play them time and time again, and they're certainly right now the team that is the toughest to beat in the world.

Colangelo: When we won the gold medal, there was a moment when the medals were being distributed, "The Star-Spangled Banner" was being played, the flag being raised. It was a moment of total fulfillment, because few people in life have the opportunity to have a plan, watch it executed perfectly, get the desired result, and it was that moment. It doesn't get any better than that.

Durant: I was disappointed not making the [2008] Olympic team. I felt I played my way onto the team. Nobody really expected me to play that well in the practices, but I was 19 and I felt like I got snubbed. I felt disrespected, and I was like, "Nah, this can't go down like that. It's not happening again." I was just so upset that I wasn't part of the Redeem Team. You could tell those guys had so much fun playing with each other and I wanted that even if I was on the bench. I just wanted to learn, soak that energy up from those guys.

Krzyzewski: When we won in 2012 in London, it was a great win because it came after a strike-shortened season where a number of the guys that were on that team from Oklahoma City and Miami actually played in the [NBA] championship. And a week after they played that series, they were getting ready for the Olympics. So we were dealing with a team that was mentally and physically fried. We had to keep them energized, focused, and they did a great job, but we had to make a lot of adjustments to make sure that would happen.

Paul: Coolest thing we did, I think it was the 2012 Olympics. One of the very first practices, Coach K rolled out a TV in front of us and he played the Marvin Gaye national anthem [from the 1983 NBA All-Star Game], which to me is the best national anthem ever sang. He played it for us before our first practice, and just to see our team and how everybody just was like, "Let's go, let's go!" It's something I'll never forget, and once we started playing games, before the next game there would be a little highlight tape from the previous game, and in the locker room they would play it over the national anthem before every one of our games.

Davis: 2012 for Team USA was unbelievable. I got drafted and went to New Orleans first, and I still thought I wasn't ready to even go into the league. I was the No. 1 pick so there was a lot of pressure on me, so I go to the coach [Monty Williams]'s office, I'm like: "Coach, I'm not feeling this. I'd rather be here and work with the guys [in New Orleans]." Coach Mont said, "Nope, you're going to Team USA. It's a great experience and you will be a better player being around all them guys and coaches." So I gotta do it.

James: It started with Jerry Colangelo, down to Coach K and our coaching staff, and then me as one of the team leaders, and it just trickled down to everybody else.

Davis: I was looking up to LeBron when I was in college, and six months later he's my teammate. At that time, I was definitely starstruck. And all those guys, now you get a chance to play with them, see how they are on the floor, see what they see. They tell you, "AD, go set the screen, I'll throw the lob," and they're doing it! LeBron, he's throwing lobs -- it's actually happening! That was like the best feeling ever.

Durant: In London, it was such a team environment it was scary. You got the biggest stars in the game in one room -- global brands -- and you got so much sacrifice. James Harden, he had just come off of Sixth Man of the Year and you seen that he was ready to take the next step, and he sat the bench. He didn't complain, he didn't mope around, he was like, "All right, we're gonna get this gold medal, 'cause at the end nobody gonna care who was the leading scorer on this team." Anthony Davis was there. He was a rookie, he soaked up everything, and look at him now. We had Kobe Bryant, who went games without shooting the ball. [Andre] Iguodala came off the bench, Tyson Chandler -- we had so many great players and we played against some good teams. We had some close games, but nobody cared who took the shots, nobody cared who was the leader. Everybody had a voice. It was like, "If we get this gold medal, then who cares?"

KEELING, Va. -- Tampa Bay Rays minor leaguer Blake Bivens said his "heart was turned to ash" when his wife, 1-year-old son and mother-in-law were killed this week.

"My life as I knew it is destroyed," the 24-year-old pitcher wrote Thursday night in an Instagram post, his first public statement since the slayings. "The pain my family and I feel is unbearable and cannot be put into words. I shake and tremble at the thought of our future without them."

Two days ago my heart was turned to ash. My life as I knew it is destroyed. The pain my family and I feel is unbearable and cannot be put into words. I shake and tremble at the thought of our future without them.... https://t.co/StvSMk8OQr

— Blake Bivens (@blakebbins) August 30, 2019

Bivens flew from a road trip back to southern Virginia when he learned of Tuesday's tragedy. He was accompanied by Montgomery Biscuits manager Morgan Ensberg.

"It was awful," Ensberg said. "Blake is an incredibly strong man. He's an incredibly strong man, and he went through just a rotation of tearing up, and then he would shake and then he would just stare.

"I didn't let him out of my sight."

The 18-year-old brother of Bivens' wife has been charged with first-degree murder in the slayings, which have shocked Bivens' coaches, teammates and the community where his family lived.

"You don't wish this on any community, any family," Pittsylvania County Sheriff Mike Taylor said. "We're a small community. It affects us all."

Bivens posted a series of photos of his wife, Emily; 14-month-old son, Cullen; and mother-in-law, Joan Bernard.

"Emily, my sweetheart, you are the best wife and mother this world has ever seen," he wrote. "You made me into the man I am today and you loved me with all of my flaws. You brought our precious baby boy into this world and made our family complete. Your love and kindness changed countless lives, including mine."

Of Cullen, Bivens wrote: "I can't breathe without you here" and, "I finally understood what love was when you were born and I would have done anything for you."

Court documents released Thursday revealed new details in the slayings but did not explain what could have driven 18-year-old Matthew Bernard to allegedly kill his sister, nephew and mother.

In Montgomery, Alabama, the Biscuits -- a Double-A affiliate of the Rays -- painted "BIV" on the ground behind home plate before a game against Pensacola. They were to hold a moment of silence before the game, with another planned before the Rays' home game Friday against the Cleveland Indians.

For Blake. pic.twitter.com/nLYL7TnTdZ

— Montgomery Biscuits (@BiscuitBaseball) August 29, 2019

"Nobody's thinking about baseball," Ensberg said.

Montgomery pitching coach R.C. Lichtenstein remembers pregame moments when Bivens would walk over to see his wife and hold Cullen.

Biscuits pitcher Ryan Thompson said Bivens' family was on his mind "all the time."

"His family was everything to him," said an emotional Thompson, who described Bivens as a close friend with a "hilarious" sense of humor.

"He never lets the game get in the way of who he is as a human being. He's such a great guy, and something like this couldn't happen to a better human being," Thompson said.

According to the complaint filed against Bernard, the teenager's rampage began Tuesday morning at a neighbor's house. Bernard punched the neighbor in the arm and then ran away, police said.

The neighbor then heard gunshots at the house next door, police said. The neighbor drove to the house and found a woman's body in the driveway. Inside, she found the other two bodies.

Officers found two victims with gunshot wounds to the head and rifle shell casings near all three bodies.

A rifle was found in a wooded area behind the house and a sledgehammer with blood was found in the garage, the court documents said.

The criminal complaint did not offer any motive for the killings, and authorities have declined to comment.

After the bodies were discovered, a manhunt brought as many as 100 officers to Keeling, a tiny community near the North Carolina border.

Bernard emerged naked from the woods about four hours later, running past TV cameras to a church parking lot, where he was recorded trying to choke a church caretaker.

An officer used pepper spray and struck Bernard with a baton before he was captured, officials said.

Bernard banged his head against the cage in a police vehicle after being taken into custody and was taken to a hospital for treatment, police said. He was released and was in jail Thursday, where he was being held without bail and kept on suicide watch, police said.

A celebration-of-life service for the slain family members is planned for Saturday.

A vigil was held at The River Church in Danville, Virginia, on Wednesday night. Senior pastor Jackie Poe led those in attendance in prayer for the Bivens and Bernard families.

Avery Stevens, pastor of Keeling Baptist Church, said he was in his office where he also works as an insurance agent when he saw the television coverage of Bernard's capture near his church.

"This is a small, rural community, pretty quiet most of the time like most small, rural communities. But the fact of the matter is, it can happen anywhere, and right there at the doorstep," he said.

"Pray for the family," he said. "Praying for the community. Praying for healing."

Massive response to global project designed to attract new players
By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor

With World Squash Day six weeks away, England Squash are leading the way with their support for a massive global project designed to grow participation numbers.

At the time of writing, 120 clubs have signed up to take part in events design to attract new players to a sport renowned for its enormous health and fitness benefits.

World Squash Day takes place on Saturday October 12th and England Squash have teamed up with leading brand Karakal to offer clubs a massive equipment bag containing 18 rackets plus a £250 grant to be used for ongoing development projects.

In a statement, England Squash said: “We are thrilled to see so many clubs in England have signed up to host a World Squash Day event. We have set an ambitious target to engage 5,000 people on court on the day and those clubs involved will play a key role in achieving this.

“In the lead-up to the big day, we are supporting clubs with our enhanced World Squash Day toolkit which features a host of downloads and resources to support and promote their activities – from top tips on staging a successful event to downloadable social media images and proposed posts.

“We are also offering clubs the chance to apply for a £250 grant to kick-start new activities post their World Squash Day events.

“For any clubs who have not registered a World Squash Day event with us there’s still time, along with the opportunity to receive £400 worth of kit from our World Squash Day partner Karakal.”

To register a World Squash Day event in England, and to access the toolkit, clubs can visit englandsquash.com/worldsquashday

The ambitious Brackley club, in Northamptonshire, are planning a special campaign around World Squash Day.

They have launched a crowd-funding scheme to add at least two new courts and aim to raise £70,000 before World Squash Day via this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/1q7sxwxt9c

For the latest news on World Squash Day, please visit: 
www.worldsquashday.net

Graphic courtesy of England Squash 

LAKE ODESSA, Mich. — Rain 24 laps into the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series feature Thursday night, forced postponement of the American Ethanol Modified Tour Presented by Allstar Performance feature at I-96 Speedway.

Officials with the AEmods and I-96 Speedway are investigating a potential reschedule date.  The next scheduled event for the AEmods is Friday, Sept. 13 from Gas City I-69 Speedway, and Saturday, Sept. 14 from Hartford Speedway with the American Ethanol Late Model Tour.

Manchester United face a gruelling Europa League group campaign with trips to Astana and Partizan Belgrade, while last season's runners-up Arsenal will face Eintracht Frankfurt.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side, who finished sixth last season in a disappointing Premier League campaign that included Jose Mourinho's sacking in December, have a tough schedule in Europe's secondary competition.

They face Astana, Partizan Belgrade and AZ Alkmaar in Group L, while Arsenal are in Group F and face Frankfurt, Standard Liege and Vitoria.

United, who won the competition in 2017, are now looking at travelling to Kazakhstan and Serbia as well as the Netherlands. Arsenal, meanwhile, will face shorter journeys to Germany, Belgium and Portugal.

Elsewhere, Celtic will come up against Cluj, who knocked them out in this season's Champions League qualifiers, as well as Lazio with Roma taking on Borussia Monchengladbach. Debutants Wolves have been drawn alongside Portuguese side Braga.

Record five-time winners Sevilla will face APOEL, Qarabag and Dudelange.

The 2020 Europa League final will take place on May 27 in the Polish city of Gdansk.

Full draw

Group A: Sevilla, APOEL, Qarabag, Dudelange

Group B: Dynamo Kiev, Kobenhavn, Malmo, Lugano

Group C: Basel, Krasnodar, Getafe, Trabzonspor

Group D: Sporting CP, PSV, Rosenborg, LASK

Group E: Lazio, Celtic, Rennes, Cluj

Group F: Arsenal, Eintracht Frankfurt, Standard Liege, Vitoria

Group G: Porto, Young Boys, Feyenoord, Rangers

Group H: CSKA Moscow, Ludogorets, Espanyol, Ferencvaros

Group I: Wolfsburg, Gent, St. Etienne, Olexandriya

Group J: Roma, Borussia Monchengladbach, Istanbul Basaksehir, Wolfsburg

Group K: Besiktas, Braga, Wolves, Slovan Bratislava

Group L: Manchester United, Astana, Partizan Belgrade, AZ Alkmaar

Abhimanyu Easwaran's career graph continues to rise. Already a regular opener with India A who is knocking on the doors of the national team, the 23-year-old Bengal player has now been handed the captaincy of the state team for the 2019-20 season across formats. It's a move that has made both Arun Lal, the team mentor, and Manoj Tiwary, the man he replaced, happy and excited.

"He hasn't got runs on the West Indies tour [by India A] and in the Duleep Trophy, but he is a terrific batsman, very, very talented, and he has exceptional work ethic," Lal told ESPNcricinfo. "He is young, and the best part about him is his work ethic, which is brilliant. He is very fit, and is always working hard to become fitter and a better cricketer.

"I like him very much; he has been living alone in Calcutta, away from his family, for a while now, but it hasn't affected his game at all. It's quite remarkable. I also like that he is very respectful towards his seniors and towards his team-mates. I think it's a good call."

ALSO READ: Abhimanyu Easwaran's pragmatism strengthens cricketing passion

Like Lal, Tiwary too has big hopes from Abhimanyu, who has risen to become one of their batting mainstays. Except for his debut season in 2013-14, when he averaged a measly 17.62, Abhimanyu has consistently been among the runs, often averaging in the high 40s, with 12 centuries and 17 half-centuries.

"I will be very disappointed if he doesn't play for India," Tiwary said. "He's worked hard to get here. I said it two years ago that he's India material. He's nearly there now, and hopefully he will wear that cap soon.

"I only hope he is persisted with and is given a decent run, and shouldn't be judged on the basis of a few low scores. He has a good technique and has the ability to leave balls. Once set, his scoring improves and he's a different player."

The captaincy decision was made formal on Friday at a Cricket Association of Bengal meeting, where the selectors initially proposed a split-captaincy model with Abhimanyu as four-day captain and Tiwary as the limited-overs leader. Tiwary, however, felt the new captain "needed to given space" to make a difference.

"While the trophy may not be there, I'm happy to have handled the transition phase well. I can be at peace with myself, because I did the job with utmost sincerity and commitment" Manoj Tiwary

"The selectors proposed a split-captaincy model, but I insisted if they are thinking of a leadership change, it should be uniform," Tiwary said. "That way the new captain gets a free hand to implement certain plans he may have in mind. Having different captains could only create some confusion, so I told them if this is what they're thinking, they should hand over the captaincy across formats."

On the change, Lal suggested that "a captain should in any case be changed every three-four years", partly for the team to move forward and partly because "the captain has contributed all he can contribute".

As for Tiwary, he wanted his successor to not let captaincy become a bugbear.

"Abhimanyu is level-headed, approaches situations in a calm manner. As a senior player, my only advice to him will be to soak it all in and not get too caught up in the job, because you're not just thinking for yourself but also the team," Tiwary said. "He's at a stage in his career where he's also broken into the India A ranks and is in national contention. Sometimes, when you're there, you tend to lose the enjoyment factor and take everything a tad too seriously.

"I'm always around as a senior player to help him out. He will be his own man, but should he need any support, as a senior, I will be around to help him."

Tiwary looked back at his stint with pride, despite Bengal failing to win any silverware under him. While their search for a Ranji Trophy since 1989-90 continues, the side made the semi-finals two seasons ago, and have consistently been in the reckoning for the knockouts. Tiwary hoped the "fruits of labour" would bear fruit soon.

"I will look back at my time as captain fondly. Yes, we couldn't win the big Ranji Trophy, but we had a lot of improvements. A number of players we backed three or four years ago are coming through," he said. "While the trophy may not be there, I'm happy to have handled the transition phase well. I can be at peace with myself, because I did the job with utmost sincerity and commitment."

With inputs from Shamya Dasgupta

Bangladesh have left out Mustafizur Rahman from the 15-man squad that will take on Afghanistan in the one-off Test in Chattogram starting next Thursday. Apart from Mustafizur, Tamim Iqbal and Khaled Ahmed were also missing from the squad; Tamim was granted leave by the BCB earlier this month for recovery while Khaled recently underwent a knee surgery.

Compared to the squad that last played Tests in March this year against New Zealand, Bangladesh brought back captain Shakib Al Hasan, Taskin Ahmed and Mosaddek Hossain. Shakib and Taskin were originally in that squad but had pulled out due to last-minute injuries. Mosaddek returned to the longer version after 18 months, having last played a Test against Sri Lanka in February last year.

Mosaddek becomes another spin-bowling option in a squad heavy with four frontline spinners, like their last home Test series against Afghanistan. They also retained pace bowlers Abu Jayed and Ebadat Hossain, who somewhat impressed in New Zealand, along with Taskin, who had been included in the New Zealand tour earlier in the year following a decent BPL campaign.

Taskin last played a first-class match in December last year, and his last Test in October 2017, in South Africa. Jayed bowled well in New Zealand without much luck while Ebadat showed signs of good pace too.

But there's some concern in the top order as the selectors didn't pick an opener in place of Tamim. Soumya Sarkar is likely to open with Shadman Islam, although he batted in the middle order in New Zealand.

Squad for one-off Test: Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Soumya Sarkar, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Mohammad Mithun, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Abu Jayed, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain