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A look ahead to top enterprise and feature stories planned globally by AP Sports. New digests will go out each Thursday and Monday and will be repeated on other weekdays. Please note that story plans may change depending on news and other issues.

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As with all our operations, we welcome and want your feedback. If you have thoughts or questions about the Sports Showcase Digest or the material listed, please reach out to Oskar Garcia, deputy sports editor for presentation and storytelling, at 215-446-6632 or at ogarcia(at)ap.org.

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SOC–WCUP-THE JERSEYS

NEW YORK – Spain, your asymmetry is showing. Nigeria, you’re so bright I need shades! Croatia, Russia’s fresh out of Big Boy restaurants. Those three countries and a few more are among the more festive standouts in jerseys this time around, with loads of sentimental touches in the designs of the 32 shirts rolled out over the last few months. By Leanne Italie. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.

SOC-WCUP PREVIEW

After raising the World Cup eight miles from Copacabana Beach four years ago, Germany hopes to lift the trophy four miles from the Kremlin on July 15 and become the first repeat champion in more than a half-century. The soccer world gathers at 12 stadiums in 11 cities across the European portion of Russia starting June 14 for a 32-day, 64-match championship. Much has changed since Die Mannschaft humiliated the host Selecao 7-1 in the 2014 semifinals, then left Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium with a 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina on Mario Goetze’s 113th-minute goal. By Ronald Blum. SENT: 860 words Nick Jensen Jersey , photos.

WEDNESDAY, June 13

FBN–WENTZ’S COMEBACK

PHILADELPHIA – Carson Wentz was having an MVP season before a torn ACL forced him to the sideline where he watched Nick Foles lead the Philadelphia Eagles to their first Super Bowl victory. Wentz has a mission to return for Week 1 but his return comes with interesting circumstances: He’s got no pressure to return right away because the Eagles can lean on the Super Bowl MVP to start the season. And that’s not necessarily a threat to Wentz, whose friendship with Foles appears without the strain seen in other famed NFL tandems like Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers or Joe Montana and Steve Young. That has allowed Wentz to pursue other interests while rehabbing, like building a sports complex during a mission trip to Haiti, with the comfort of knowing his job is reasonably safe if he plays well once he comes back. By Rob Maaddi. UPCOMING: 850 words, photos by 3 a.m. Wednesday.

SOF–OLY-SOFTBALL GLOBALIZATION

OKLAHOMA CITY – U.S. softball officials say the sport needs to thrive outside the mainland United States and Japan to remain an Olympic sport long term. Softball was in the Summer Olympics from 1996 to 2008 but was left off the program in 2012 and 2016. It will return in Tokyo in 2020, and U.S. officials hope to convince Paris officials it needs to be a part of the 2024 Games. They say evidence of progress for other national teams will help their argument. By Cliff Brunt. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 12 p.m. Wednesday.

THURSDAY, June 14

BBC–STRIKEOUT UPSWING

OMAHA, Neb. – If the College World Series plays out like the season up to this point, there’ll be lots of strikeouts. Mirroring what’s happening in the major leagues, strikeouts are on the upswing in the college game. Strikeouts are at an all-time high, and the number of pitching staffs averaging nine or more per nine innings has tripled in the last two years. By Eric Olson. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 3 a.m. Thursday.

FRIDAY, June 15

FBC–COLLEGE FOOTBALL FATHERS

It is not uncommon to find major college football players all over the country who are fathers Eric Staal Jersey , many of them unmarried. Coaches say they want to know as much as possible when a child is in the picture. Information and understanding are vital to helping players who are fathers manage the responsibilities of school, football and parenthood. For some coaches it is not just about accommodating players who have kids, it is about helping to teach the young men in their programs to be good dads. By AP College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo. UPCOMING: 900 words, photos by 3 a.m. Friday.

SOC–WCUP-AMERICAN REFEREES

MOSCOW – The United States is missing from the World Cup for the first time since 1986 but is the only nation with two referees in Russia: Mark Geiger and Jair Marrufo. By Ronald Blum. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by 4 p.m. Friday.

SATURDAY, June 16

SOC–WORLD CUP-VIEWING PARTIES

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Start times before the sun rises and the lack of the U.S. team in the World Cup might seem to put a damper on excitement for the tournament. But the San Jose Earthquakes hope to make it a month-long party by showing every game on the video board at Avaya Stadium, even those starting as early as 3 a.m. local time. By Josh Dubow. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by 3 a.m. Saturday.

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Again, if you have questions about the Sports Showcase Digest or the material listed, please reach out to Oskar Garcia at 215-446-6632 or ogarcia(at)ap.org.

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The regular season is irrelevant.

That’s the message the Toronto Raptors sent Friday when they fired Dwane Casey, two days after his now-former peers in the NBA said he did the best coaching job in the league this season. Casey led the Raptors to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference this season, along with the second-best record in the league. He even got to coach in the All-Star game.

Didn’t matter.

Swept in the playoffs, swept out of Toronto.

The Raptors were good this season. They weren’t great. And they can’t beat LeBron James http://www.officialblues.com/authentic-adidas-dmitrij-jaskin-jersey , who has engineered the ouster of Toronto now in each of the last three seasons, the last two of them being sweeps. So Casey paid the price, and with that comes the reminder: Winning isn’t enough in this NBA. Coaches must meet expectations, regardless of how misguided they may be.

”In some ways I think the time has come,” Raptors President Masai Ujiri said Friday, a few hours after telling Casey that he was done in Toronto. ”Sometimes these things come to an end, relationships come to an end. And we’ll figure out a way to move on, a new voice, just a new everything in terms of that position.”

That’s becoming a mantra around the NBA. Last summer, all 30 coaches kept their jobs. Next season on opening night, there will be at least nine coaches in roles they didn’t have 365 days earlier.

Lloyd Pierce will be one of them after the Atlanta Hawks gave him his first head coaching job in the NBA on Friday. The former Philadelphia and Memphis assistant replaces Mike Budenholzer, who left last month after the Hawks finished 24-58.

And there are some great names out there: Stan Van Gundy was let go in what seems to have been a power struggle in Detroit. Frank Vogel is a proven coach who didn’t have much talent to work with in Orlando. Jeff Hornacek had a deeply flawed roster in New York. Steve Clifford is brilliant, and that couldn’t keep him in Charlotte. Budenholzer was the coach of the year in 2015, and he and Atlanta apparently stopped seeing eye-to-eye on enough things.

Casey now joins them in the unemployed club.

Let’s be clear: Casey was flawed in the East semifinals when James and the Cavaliers won 4-0. There were some peculiar decisions late in Game 1 when Toronto fell in overtime, and no resistance in two games that became blowouts. Casey should have done better Olli Maatta Jersey , and he shouldn’t have offered an end-of-series series assessment that essentially was him saying the rest of the East is helpless until James isn’t great anymore.

So Casey had a couple subpar days.

Most days this season, he was brilliant. The National Basketball Coaches Association – the 30 NBA coaches – picked him as their coach of the year, in large part because of the way he took an already-good Toronto offense, changed it mightily and made it better. A high-risk move, and it paid high dividends. Casey’s peers clearly respected that.

The NBA coach of the year award comes out next month, after The Finals. That’s picked by a panel of media who cover the league. Casey very likely will win that award as well.

Even Ujiri kept lauding Casey on Friday: Good man. Good coach. Classy person.

Aren’t those tough to find?

Dumping a coach after a top-seeded season is rare, but not unprecedented. Cleveland fired Mike Brown in 2010 and wound up losing James to Miami anyway a few weeks later. Rick Carlisle got Detroit to the No. 1 seed in 2003, then got fired and replaced by Larry Brown – who led the Pistons to the 2004 NBA title.

Others have left of their own accord: Pat Riley with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1990, Phil Jackson in Chicago in 1998, Larry Bird in Indiana in 2000. Bird also fired Isiah Thomas as Pacers’ coach in 2003, a few months after Thomas coached in the All-Star Game.

Some of those moves worked out, others not so much.

Ujiri will have good options. Jerry Stackhouse has shown the franchise plenty as coach of the Raptors’ G League team. Many around the NBA are thinking the time is right for Monty Williams to get back on the sideline. It’s only a matter of time before San Antonio assistant Ettore Messina gets his chance to run a club.

Whoever gets the gig in Toronto, and any of the other open NBA jobs, will surely understand the new reality. Good isn’t good enough anymore.

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Tim Reynolds is a national basketball writer for The Associated Press. Write to him at treynolds(at)ap.org

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