Die Macht » Darryl DMC McDaniels, who along with Joseph R

The roster that the U.S. womens national team takes to the Olympics is that of a program with one eye on its present and one eye on its future.Which makes it anatomically impossible to keep an eye on the past.All things considered, that makes for a nice change.The national team for years went to major tournaments with one eye glued to the past, either attempting to recapture the magic of 1999 by winning another World Cup or, just as often, trying to lessen the sting of another World Cup disappointment through Olympic consolation.Those efforts had their moments, to be sure, but it was a formula for frustration.Win today to escape yesterdays shadow.Then they won. They stood and celebrated their 2015 World Cup triumph on a podium inside Vancouvers BC Place after a soul-cleansing, flag-waving romp of a final. And people started thinking about tomorrow. Not as a short-term salve but as a long-term opportunity. People including U.S. coach Jill Ellis.If we are about winning world championships, we cant just have all of our focus be on the Olympics, Ellis said Tuesday in recounting a conversation with U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati after the World Cup. It has to be on looking at new players, looking at players to build for beyond. And he agreed. We still want to win a gold medal. We still want to be competitive this summer. Thats still a high, high priority. I think we can do that, but we can also start to build players for the future.Make no mistake, the roster she announced Tuesday is one selected to compete for gold in Brazil, to try to become the first team to win the World Cup and Olympics in back-to-back years. No one is asking Carli Lloyd to lead a developmental roster. It is why Megan Rapinoe is there just seven months after the midfielder suffered a torn ACL, and despite the fact that she hasnt played for club or country yet this year. Even if Rapinoe is able to play only a reserve role, either in the tournaments early stages or throughout any run, those minutes are worth the roster spot for the added value on set pieces and crosses alone.Nor is it just loyalty to the holdovers that puts a premium on the present. A rookie in a major tournament at 28 years old, Allie Long might still be a viable option in 2019 or 2020, but she is here because of what she offers the team right now. Given their roles, it appears that Long and Samantha Mewis were competing for one roster spot. Mewis has more future ahead of her. Long is more reliable at this moment. Pragmatism won that contest (while simultaneously providing one of the teams most compelling stories in Longs lengthy journey to this stage). The same goes for Whitney Engen, who apparently edged out NWSL No. 1 pick Emily Sonnett as a back-line reserve.But after being the oldest team in the World Cup a year ago, the United States could at some point put a starting lineup on the field in Brazil that includes Morgan Brian, Crystal Dunn, Lindsey Horan, Julie Johnston and Mallory Pugh. All of them will still be in their 20s when the 2019 World Cup in France rolls around. All of them will still be in their 20s during the 2020 Olympics in Japan.So will Mewis and Sonnett. So will players such as Jaelene Hinkle, Danielle Colaprico, Rose Lavelle and teenager Ashley Sanchez, all of whom spent varying amounts of time with the national team during the buildup to the Olympics. That wasnt possible when Ellis took over a veteran player pool with far less than a full preparation cycle left in advance of the World Cup.I wasnt going to be able to get experience enough for younger players to come in, Ellis said of the World Cup. I had a very good handle on the players that were in the group. And so I felt very comfortable in terms of this is how were going to play and this is what we need. Preparing for a World Cup, I dont think I was looking beyond what we had already in.Veterans like Shannon Boxx and Lori Chalupny, both since retired, fit that roster. Recent high school graduate Pugh fits this one.It isnt just about the personnel. Thats only part of the picture. Ellis was almost giddy after a 1-0 win against France earlier this year, a game that looked headed for a scoreless draw until Alex Morgan scored in second-half stoppage time. It wasnt the result that pleased the coach but the way the team asserted itself on the game. The U.S. was the more technically precise team, bettering France at its own game. That wasnt a universally held view, notably getting some measure of disagreement at the time from an oft-isolated-on-the-night Lloyd.This style suits the likes of Brian and Horan, a new generation of gifted technicians. It suits Becky Sauerbrunn and Julie Johnston, center backs able to play out. It is surely part of the reason Kelley OHara, with all her versatility, has claimed the starting job at right back.Right or wrong, successfully implemented or not, this style tries to balance the traditional American strengths of athleticism and fitness with technical precision and pace of play. It is a style of play for tomorrow.At times Ive seen us play through lines -- we want to be a balance, Ellis said. If we can get in behind with one pass, we want to do that because its on. And thats any team in the world, if a team is going to give you that. But then we also need to be able to problem-solve, and I think thats where weve gotten better in terms of just being able to play off of each other, have more versatility. We talk about a variety of ways to get into the goal zone.Ellis laughed out loud at one point during a conference call to discuss the roster, asked about having the freedom of more job security after winning the World Cup. The adrenaline of a profession in which that doesnt exist, she said, is part of the allure of coaching.But the roster she put together, for all its core familiarity, is one freed from the weight of the past. It is for today and tomorrow.Thats the exciting part when youve got a younger group, Ellis said, is you can plan beyond three months.Ellis and this roster will be judged on what they do in Brazil. Thats the nature of being No. 1.But what they do in Brazil will also be the foundation of the roster that we will judge in 2019 and 2020. NFL Jerseys 2020 . PETERSBURG, Fla. 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Its been 30 years since Run-DMC was at its height, but the group once dubbed the Beatles of hip-hop by Rolling Stone is still plenty relevant.The latest evidence was on Fifth Avenue in New York City on Wednesday, as Fanatics -- the largest retailer of licensed sports merchandise -- announced a deal with Run-DMC that takes NFL, NBA and NHL colors and logos and incorporates the famous Run-DMC logo with its familiar bars and font for use on hats, T-shirts and sweatshirts.This isnt just for the people who lived in the 80s and 90s, said Raphael Peck, president of Fanatics Branded, the companys in-house merchandise division. Weve found that millennials are tapping into nostalgia now. There are 14-, 15- and 16-year-old kids who know who Run-DMC is.I sat down with Darryl DMC McDaniels, who along with Joseph Reverend Run Simmons -- the younger brother of Def Jam cofounder Russell Simmons -- and the late Jason Jam Master Jay Mizell made up the group.That Run-DMC logo, which is from your 1986 single My Adidas, is so iconic. Who made it?DMC: There was this art director that was with Russell and Def Jam named Cey Adams -- he was in his early 20s and came up with it. I tell people its the third-most iconic logo -- McDonalds, Coke and then us.Might be a couple more there, but as a kid of the 80s, that logo was everywhere and its instantaneously recoggnizable.ddddddddddddDMC: Im shocked by how cool it still is.True that you guys did not get paid by Adidas for the song?DMC: Not before we put it out, but the way it went down was Adidas had a board meeting or something and they couldnt figure out why their Superstar shoe was selling like it was with not much advertising and they knew that [Kareem Abdul-] Jabbar wasnt doing that much for them. Some young kid said, You guys havent heard of Run-DMC? Next thing we knew, the guy who was running Adidas North America, Angelo Anastasio, was at our concert at Madison Square Garden. And Jay goes to me, Hey, D, show them your feet. And I raise my Adidas shoes in the air and 20,000 people do the same. A couple days later, we had a $1 million deal with Adidas, and they also paid for tour support, which included our buses and travel.Crazy.DMC: Thats not all. They sent us crates and crates of shoes. We took what we wanted to take and then our crew would just line up until they were all gone.Why this sports collaboration?DMC: People have already been saying, I run this town and I run that town. We thought it was cool to team up our iconic logo that spans across cultures and get them into cities with team colors and logos. ' ' '