COLUMBUS, OHIO -- John Tortorella, the coach of Team USA for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey, isnt backing off on his comments that hed bench any player who didnt stand for the U.S. national anthem.On Tuesday, Tortorella told ESPN: If any of my players sit on the bench for the national anthem, they will sit there the rest of the game. The coach seemed taken aback Wednesday by the reaction to his comment, but he did not backtrack on his stance.Im not backing off, Tortorella said after the teams on-ice workout Wednesday.Ill tell you right now. Try to understand me. Im not criticizing anybody for stepping up and putting their thoughts out there about things. Im the furthest thing away from being anything political. No chance Im involved in that stuff, Tortorella said.But the Columbus Blue Jackets coach says he remains unequivocal in his belief that the flag and the anthem should be sacrosanct. Tortorella has a son who is deployed in Afghanistan for the third time as a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces.Listen, he told reporters. Were in a great country because we can express ourselves. And I am not against expressing yourselves. Thats whats great about our country. We can do that. But when there are men and women that give their lives for their flag, for their anthem, have given their lives, continue to put themselves on the line with our services for our flag, for our anthem, families that have been disrupted, traumatic physical injuries, traumatic mental injuries for these people that give us the opportunity to do the things we want to do, theres no chance an anthem and a flag should come into any type of situation where youre trying to make a point.It is probably the most disrespectful thing you can do as a U.S. citizen is to bring that in. Because thats our symbol. All for [expressing] yourself. Thats whats so great. Everybody does. But no chance when it comes to the flag and the anthem. No chance.The issue of respecting the anthem has created a firestorm of debate and controversy after San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick chose to sit for the national anthem during one NFL preseason game and then kneel for another.Tortorella, 58, said a number of the players on Team USA came to him after his comments were made public and supported his views on respecting the anthem and flag.Team North America defenseman Seth Jones was asked Thursday about Tortorellas comments regarding sitting for the anthem.I have no problem with the comments, Jones said. Youre not going to see me sitting down. ... I dont know Kaepernick at all, but I wont sit down. Not even a thought.Jones, the son of former NBA player Popeye Jones, plays for Tortorella in Columbus and is the highest-drafted African-American in the NHL.In a follow-up interview with ESPNs Linda Cohn on Wednesday, Tortorella described what would happen if a player on one of his teams decided to boycott the national anthem.On this team here, this World Cup team, there wouldnt even be a player that would think about doing that because I know the guys well enough. Weve gone through it, he said. But if I was ever involved in a situation where someone is trying to make a point, and they have a perfect right to do that, but to disrespect our flag and anthem, as I said yesterday, they would not play.If that ever happened, theres no question, its just not right. And its not black, white, blue, red. It has nothing to do with the politics of all of this. Its just not right. This is our country. Our people are fighting for our country, our flag and our anthem. That shouldnt come into this equation at all. There are other ways of doing things.Earlier Wednesday, a member of the U.S. Army addressed the team but neither Tortorella nor the members of Team USA would describe the exchange.We are playing hockey, Tortorella said. Other people are doing real stuff. This gentleman who spoke to us this morning is doing the real stuff. Life and death. We just want to give to our country in our own little way. Quite honestly we are entertainers. What this man talked about in our locker room and what he does casts a huge shadow over us as far as what were doing.Canada World Cup coach Mike Babcock, who also coaches the Toronto Maple Leafs, was asked what would happen if one of his players sat during the national anthem in protest.This is what I know: Im not going to have to make that decision because thats not going to happen, he said. So I dont have to worry about that reaction. At that time I guess I would decide what to do. One of the greatest things about this tournament is that most of us get to play for your country, and thats a thrill of a lifetime in itself. And then when you get to do it on Canadian soil, thats another thrill.For those of us who have the life we have, and the freedom we have, to repay respects to the people who went before us and made sure that happened; I mean, its pretty straightforward and common sense to me. But I dont know why were talking about this.ESPN senior writer Craig Custance contributed to this report. Doug Baldwin Jersey . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Justin Britt Jersey . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. http://www.cheapseahawksjerseyssale.com/?tag=dontae-johnson-jersey-sale . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. Marshawn Lynch Jersey . The third-ranked Ivanovic, who won the event in 2008 and 10, served five aces and broke Wickmayer, also a former winner in 2009, five times. "The result looked easier than it really was," Ivanovic said. David Moore Jersey . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. RIO DE JANEIRO -- The president of cyclings world governing body defended the Olympic road course on Saturday, calling it a fair test and suggesting those who crashed pushed past their limits.Brian Cookson addressed a number of other issues during a wide-ranging news conference at the Rio de Janeiro Games at the midway point of the cycling program, including doping, the schedule of the track cycling program and several road racing issues.But perhaps the biggest hot-button issue through a week of competition was a road course that some had labeled too dangerous. One particularly nasty descent caused riders such as Italian star Vincenzo Nibali to go down and left Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten in the hospital.Weve had discussions about the number of crashes and the circumstances. It is my belief and our belief at the UCI that the courses were in the bounds of what was reasonable, Cookson said.Van Vleuten spent several days in the hospital with a concussion and three small fractures to her spine. She flew home to the Netherlands on Friday to continue her recovery.Its the riders responsibility to make the right decisions, Cookson said. I went to speak with Annemiek in the hospital and talked to her, and in her case, it was an error of judgment there (going too fast on the descent).Cookson was also asked about the silver medal won by Olga Zabelinskaya in the time trial. It came just days after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled a ban on Russian athletes who had been barred from competing for prior doping offenses was unenforceable, allowing Zabelinskaya to compete.The Russian cyclist who finished second in the time trial was entitled to be here under the rules of the (World Anti-Doping Agency) and the IOC, Cookson said. Im guessing she will not be the onlyy previously convicted doped athlete at the games.ddddddddddddCookson has been working to clean up the sport after years of doping, including Lance Armstrongs admission of guilt a few years ago. And he said the positive test of a Brazilian cyclist in an out-of-competition test the week before the road race was a sign of progress.Ive said this many times before, cycling has been leading for many years in the fight against doping in sport, Cookson said. Whether there is a small number of athletes trying to cheat, I hope not, but if they are, we will catch them and we will sanction them.In other issues:- Cookson said the UCI is still examining the blood bags from Operation Puerto, the Spanish police investigation into a doping ring led by Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes. Cookson otherwise declined to comment on the ongoing investigation, saying only that when we have something to report, we will.- The UCI is confident WorldTour teams will compete in the team time trial at the world championships in Qatar. Several teams announced plans to boycott the event, in part because they are required to compete at their own expense.- Cookson said he was open to smaller teams in major events such as the Tour de France, but he warned that I think some of the bigger teams would object to that, and there are pros and cons to the details of that. Its something I wouldnt rule out but lets move forward gradually.- The UCI hopes to expand the cycling program at future Olympics, though Cookson did not say whether it would be merely an expansion of the track program or the addition of another discipline, such as downhill mountain biking or freestyle BMX competition. 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