LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers said he declined a chance to speak with owner Donald Sterling, who is alleged to have made racist comments in a recorded conversation. Erik Johnson Avalanche Jersey . "I was asked, do I need to talk with Donald, and I passed, quite honestly," Rivers said Monday. "I dont think right now is the time or the place, for me, at least. I just took a pass." Sterling is purported to have told a woman not to bring black people to his games or associate with them. "Yeah, I believe he said those things. But I still want to make sure," Rivers said during a conference call. "As far as believing those things? I heard what he said. Until someone tells me differently, you usually listen to what people say. I havent given him his due process. I havent given him an opportunity to explain himself and quite honestly right now I dont want him to. I want to wait for that further judgment." The coach cancelled practice Monday, a day after a 118-97 loss to the Golden State Warriors that evened their playoff series at 2-2. "I just felt like they needed to breathe. Theyve been inundated with this," Rivers said. Still, he said pretty much the entire team was at the clubs practice facility. "Ill go down and say hi to them and talk to them, make sure theyre in the right place. Right now its more than basketball. This is a non-basketball decision that I thought I had to make and I thought it was right decision. If you get your life better, then you can probably do your work better. They need to do that." Game 5 is Tuesday night in Los Angeles. "These last 48 hours or so have been really hard for our players and everyone," Rivers said. "Id just like to reiterate how disappointed I am in the comments attributed to our owner. I cant tell you how upset I am, our players are." Warriors coach Mark Jackson suggested that Clippers fans should boycott the game. "I believe if it was me, I wouldnt come to the game," Jackson said. "I believe the fans, the loudest statement that they can make as fans is to not show up to the game. ... To me, it will make the noise of it not being tolerated. That this is a different time. Its unfortunate, and we cannot allow someone with these feelings to profit." Rivers said he knew Jackson was speaking from his heart and that everyone has their opinion. "I dont share that. I hope its packed and people are cheering for us, the players. And they were cheering for the players before this happened. But if they feel differently, who can say theyre wrong? And Im not the one thats going to say that, I can tell you that." Rivers said its still to be determined whether he or a player will address the crowd. "Again, we dont know the right answer," Rivers said. "We want to do right here. We want to make the best decisions here. If we feel thats something will help our fans, then it will be done. If we feel its something they dont need, we wont do it. The tickets have already been sold. The fans, theyre in a dilemma as well. We want them to cheer for their players and their team. Because its still their players and their team, and it will be their players and their team. I think from what I get from the fans Ive heard from, thats how they feel, like, This is my team, these are my players Im cheering for, and thats not going to change. I hope that continues." Rivers said the controversy has been tough on his players. "What other players are going through Should I be playing thoughts in the middle of a playoff series? I sympathize for my players. They didnt sign on for this. Yet here they are and theyre in the middle of it and they have to deal with it. They didnt do anything wrong and theyre in the middle of it, and they didnt ask to be. I feel terrible for them. Im going to try to do whatever I can to make them OK."Paul Stastny Authentic Jersey .com) - There was clearly no looking ahead for the U. Patrick Roy Authentic Jersey . LUCIE, Fla.COLUMBUS, Ohio - Columbus Crew midfielder Bernardo Anor said his first goal off a set piece was one that had been run over and over again in practice. His second wasnt the kind that can be duplicated in training. Anors brilliant 35-yard strike at the end of the first half proved to be the difference in Columbus 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union Saturday in the Crews home opener. "Thats what the games all about," he said of the score that gave him his first multi-goal game of his career. "Its something you dont practice very often. I was fortunate to score the goal." Anor previously had six goals in 45 games, including four in 20 games last season. Columbus won the first two games of the season for the first time in its 19-year history while the Union fell to 1-1-1. Leonardo Fernandes scored in the 62nd minute for Philadelphia to cut the deficit, but the first-half struggles were too much to overcome and Columbus goalkeeper Steve Clark made late saves on Fernandes and Jack McInerney. "The team last year might have crumbled a bit,," Union goalkeeper Zac McMath said.Lanny McDonald. "We came back and deserved a tie, if not a win." Anor gave the Crew a 2-0 lead in the second minute of first-half stoppage time. The goal was set up when Wil Trapp created a turnover at midfield and poked the ball ahead to Anor for the quick strike. "Our philosophy is to try and win the ball back as soon as possible," Trapp said. "I stepped into the lane and Bernardo had a beautiful strike. I was lucky to get an assist. He was the one that did all the work." Columbus used its first corner kick to take the lead. Federico Higuain whipped the ball from the right to Anor, who was unmarked at the edge of the goal box. Anor had waited for several of his teammates to make runs through the box to draw attention. Anor was the trailer and Higuain laced a perfect ball that Anor headed down into the goal. "We lost our man," Union coach John Hackworth said. "We should have had an easy clearance on the goal, too. Neither one of those should have happened." ' ' '
