Scott McLaughlin is used to being in demand but, during the Supercars meet at Pukekohe this weekend, his popularity will be off the charts.Among fans, along the grid and pit lane, McLaughlin is well liked.His appeal extends to team owners.Current boss Garry Rogers tried hard to keep the 23-year-old for another year but McLaughlin accepted a multi-million-dollar deal to join Roger Penskes emerging powerhouse garage.And theres plenty of love for the Volvo driver in the stands and on the hills - and nowhere more so than his native New Zealand, and perhaps no time more than this weekend.McLaughlin is the chief threat to Triple Eights dominance of the series, sitting in fourth place behind championship leader Shane van Gisbergen, Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes.I can really upset their party - their 1-2-3, he laughed.In truth, the happy-go-lucky Christchurch native is too much of a nice guy to ruin anyones day.Van Gisbergen will enjoy huge support of his own, too, given hes a chance - albeit a slim one this weekend on home soil - to become the first New Zealander to win the Supercars championship in 25 years.With a maximum of 600 points left to win at Pukekohe and Homebush in Sydney, the Aucklander is in a commanding position, 148 points ahead of Whincup and 385 clear of Lowndes.McLaughlin said it added up to a win-win for the local crowds.Im not out to spoil Shane. Hes got his own thing to worry about and Ive got my own thing, he said.Everythings good for New Zealanders; theyve got plenty to pick from.They can cheer for me or someone else - Shane, Fabian (Coulthard), whoever - any time they can get a New Zealander to win, its pretty good.McLaughlin is 461 points off the mark, meaning his best hope would be to make ground on Lowndes to cement the best overall finish of his career and for his team.Weve got on top of the car as the seasons gone on, he said.Weve been pretty consistent and still been running top six or seven which isnt too bad at all.But the competition is tough. We hit a really good spot at Surfers Paradise and, if we keep it in that range, we can go well at Pukekohe. Griffin Canning Angels Jersey . Coach Mike Munchak says Fokou stretched ligaments in his left knee Oct. 13 against Seattle, which could keep out up to five weeks even though the linebacker didnt need surgery. Trevor Cahill Jersey . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . https://www.cheapangels.com/1013j-dave-niehaus-jersey-angels.html . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Felix Pena Jersey . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Fake Angels Jerseys . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). Baylors assistant coaches released a statement via Twitter on Friday night, in which they disputed a Board of Regents members claims that former coach Art Briles was aware of an alleged gang rape involving former Bears players and didnt report it to proper authorities.During a meeting with the Dallas Morning News editorial board on Thursday, Baylor regent David Harper said he knew of at least one instance when Briles was told of an allegation of gang rape and didnt report it to proper authorities.He was made aware of one of the allegations of a gang rape, Harper told the Morning News. At least one of them. I cant tell you if he knew or didnt know about the others.On Friday night, Baylors assistant coaches, including Briles son Kendal and son-in-law Jeff Lebby, and several staff members disputed Harpers claims in a statement on Twitter. In the statement, the assistant coaches claimed the alleged victim reported [the incident] to her head sport coach and the coach reported to his superior (former athletic director Ian McCaw).Also on Friday, Bears wide receiver Chris Platt indicated on Twitter that the Bears were wearing black uniforms for Saturdays game against TCU to protest Briles firing, though on Saturday he denied that was the reason.?According to the assistant football coaches statement, McCaw instructed the head coach to report the incident to Baylors office of judicial affairs, which the coach did. The assistant coaches claimed Briles wasnt made aware of the incident involving football players and the alleged victim until nine months after the alleged incident occurred.According to the statement, the alleged victims coach informed Briles that he reported the incident to McCaw and judicial affairs. The statement said, Briles told [the victims coach] to report it to the police and prosecute the players if there was any wrongdoing.The Baylor assistant coaches claimed in the statement that the victims coach later said, I think Coach Briles handled the matter honorably and with the serious attention it deserved. The statement claims that the womans coach also stated that Briles followed up and was informed that the alleged victim did not want to report the incident to police.The assistant coaches also claimed that Briles never had contact with the woman.In an open letter to students, faculty and alumni earlier this week, Baylor interim president David E. Garland said there were a total of 17 reported allegations of sexual assault or domestic violence allegedly committed by 19 football players since 2011. In 2012, there were four allegations of gang rapes involving Baylor football players, according to Garland.Briles, who guided the Bears to a 65-37 record and at least a share of two Big 12 titles from 2008 to 2015, was fired May 26 after an investigation by Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton found widespread problems with the way Baylor responded to allegations of sexual assault by students, including several football players. University president Kenneth Starr also was demoted and then fired, and McCaw was suspended and then resigned.Baylor regent Cary Gray told the Dallas Morning News on Thursday that Briles was fired because he delegated down discipline and he operated a system where he was the last to know when he needed to be the first to know.Former Baylor assistant athletic director Tom Hill told Outside the Liness in September that he was interrogated by Pepper Hamilton attorneys about an incident involving a former Baylor volleyball player.dddddddddddd. They asked me if I was aware of a rape. They asked me if I knew of a 6-foot-2-inch volleyball player, he said.Hill, who was fired in late May after the Pepper Hamilton findings were released by the university, said he told the attorneys that former volleyball coach Jim Barnes had stopped by his office and told him there had been a sexual encounter between a football player and a volleyball player. Hill said Barnes told him that it had already been reported to McCaw.[Barnes] indicated that he had had conversations with Briles prior to seeing me, Hill said. And he stopped by my office only to give me a pass-by FYI that he was discussing this issue with them. That was it. The issue was a potential sexual incident with a football player and a volleyball player.Hill said he never knew the name of the football player or the volleyball player, and he never knew specifically that it was a rape. Really, he didnt give me a lot of details, Hill said, adding that Barnes didnt tell him it was rape -- only that it was a sexual encounter.Hill said he called McCaw shortly after Barnes stopped by his office, but Hill said he did not learn any more details about the incident from that conversation.A reported gang rape by Baylor football players in 2011 shows up in an amended Title IX lawsuit filed by attorneys for Jasmin Hernandez. Hernandez was sexually assaulted by former football player Tevin Elliott and says in the lawsuit that Baylor officials knew of a culture of inappropriate sexual conduct by its football players long before her incident.In reference to the 2011 alleged gang rape, the complaint states that Baylor had actual knowledge of Jane Roe 4s gang rape but failed to respond promptly and equitably. As a result of Baylors inequitable response, Jane Roe 4 transferred out of Baylor to another university.It does not name the women or the football players allegedly involved in the incident, but sources have told Outside the Lines that the incident involving the volleyball player is possibly related.Hill said he was asked to come to a meeting on May 26 to answer some follow-up questions regarding the Pepper Hamilton report, and when he arrived, he was told that he was being terminated effective immediately based on the findings of the Pepper Hamilton investigation. He said Baylor officials would not tell him any more information.Its the second time Baylor assistant coaches and staff members have made an orchestrated effort to support Briles on Twitter. In early October, after acting coach Jim Grobe disputed the universitys account about the circumstances surrounding former Bears player Jeremy Faulks dismissal from the school, eight assistant coaches and several staff members nearly simultaneously tweeted a link to a story containing Grobes comments, along with the hashtag #TRUTHDONTLIE.Baylor executive associate athletics director Nick Joos told ESPN at the time that the university addressed the issue of the Baylor coaches tweeting about the case.Weve handled that internally and were not going to comment any further on it, Joos said. Weve handled that here tonight. ' ' '