Dein erstes Forum » eek:PAC-12 SUPREMCY: Kelsey Plum too

CHICAGO -- The World Series is hardly the only historic contest preoccupying the owners of the Chicago Cubs this fall.The wealthy Ricketts family -- Joe and Marlene, and their adult children Pete, Tom, Todd and Laura -- also are big players in the political arena, hosting high-dollar fundraisers and donating millions to influence the presidential election. But while everyone in the family rallies around the beloved ball team, when it comes to political causes and candidates ... well, not so much.Most of the Ricketts are Republicans who support GOP nominee Donald Trump, though during the primary Joe and Marlene spent millions to stop the New York businessman, prompting Trump to lash out at the family on Twitter. Son Pete is the conservative governor of Nebraska, and four years ago the family was pulled into a controversy involving President Barack Obama.Laura Ricketts, meanwhile, is a top Democratic donor who held a high-dollar fundraiser for Hillary Clinton this summer and was a superdelegate who supported her at the Democratic National Convention. After it became known a super PAC founded by her father planned to spend millions to help Trump, she showed up at Wrigley Field sporting a hat with the Clinton campaign logo.The Ricketts family, originally from Omaha, bought the Cubs in 2009 for $845 million. While Joe Ricketts made the family fortune as chairman of TD Ameritrade, son Tom Ricketts -- who mostly avoids politics -- serves as Cubs chairman. His siblings are co-owners and board members.The family deferred comment to a spokesman, who emphasized that many families could relate to the Ricketts divided political loyalties, even those who share their sports passions.The Ricketts family, like the families of many Cubs fans, have diverse political views, spokesman Dennis Culloton said. But they are very close and they love each other and thats been the case before, during and long after their World Series run and election seasons.Joe Ricketts is a GOP mega-donor who founded the super PAC Future 45. The group and a related nonprofit entity are scheduled to spend about $15 million on anti-Clinton and pro-Trump advertisements by Election Day, according Federal Election Commission reports. The groups have so far concentrated on the battleground state of Florida, according to Kantar Medias political ad tracker.Roughly half of the spending has come through the 45 Committee, a nonprofit group that does not have to disclose its donors to the public.FEC documents show Future 45 is getting a big assist from Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson. Through the end of September, he and his wife, Miriam, contributed $10 million to the group.Early on, however, Marlene and Joe Ricketts investments in the presidential race went mostly to their preferred candidate, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who flamed out early in the GOP primary.The couple was so concerned about Trump winning the primary that they pumped $5.5 million into an effort to stop him in the first few months of this year, FEC records show. When Marlene Ricketts first contribution made headlines, Trump warned on Twitter that the family better be careful, they have a lot to hide!Tom Ricketts later told reporters the family isnt hiding anything, adding: Its a little surreal when Donald Trump threatens your mom.Shortly after the effort to stop Trump failed, Brian Baker, who directs the familys political activities, said Joe and Marlene Ricketts always intended to support the GOP nominee -- even Trump.Pete Ricketts in Nebraska endorsed Trump shortly after the other candidates for the GOP nomination left the race.Todd Ricketts, who like Tom and Laura lives in suburban Chicago, raised money for Walkers presidential campaign, but also has gotten behind Trump, hosting a fundraiser for him alongside former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka.The familys politics have caused at least one major rift in Chicago, a deeply Democratic city.During the 2012 election, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel reportedly was infuriated by reports that Joe Ricketts was considering a $10 million campaign against Obama that would refer to the racially incendiary sermons delivered by the minister at a church Obama once attended. Joe Ricketts said he had nothing to do with the proposal, which was dropped, but it became one of many bumps in the Cubs efforts to get approval for major ballpark renovations.In a 2013 Chicago magazine profile, Tom Ricketts made clear the Ricketts prefer to be recognized for the Cubs, not politics.To be a part of a family that brings a World Series champion to these fans would be one of the greatest legacies you could imagine, he said.---Associated Press writer Julie Bykowicz in Washington contributed to this report.---Follow Sara Burnett on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/sara-burnett Air Jordan 10 China . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. Authentic Air Jordan 10 . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area. http://www.cheapairjordan10.com/ . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Cheap Air Jordan 10 .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. Air Jordan 10 For Sale . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. NEW YORK -- Geno Auriemma challenged his young team with a supposedly difficult early schedule.Even he has been a little astonished with the success top-ranked UConn has had so far, going undefeated.This is December 7, and I know theres a long way to go between now and the end of the season, Auriemma said after his team beat No. 2 Notre Dame on the road Wednesday. We purposely tried to put together a schedule this year that, going into March, there would be no doubt as to what we can and cannot do. I think up to this point, weve passed every test. I dont know that weve gotten a 100 on every test, but weve passed. And the tests are going to keep coming. But the fact that we are where we are, Im kind of surprised.The Huskies have played five Top 25 teams in the first month of the season. The team still has games left against No. 12 Ohio State and at No. 6 Maryland, but passing their own record 90-game winning streak is now in sight.I would think if this was the first time our program had ever been here, wed be acting a little bit different. You dont want to sound like you dont appreciate it, but we did win 90 in a row, Auriemma said.In other things that happened this week:PAC-12 SUPREMCY: Kelsey Plum took down the Pac-12 career scoring record in stellar fashion, scoring 44 points on Sunday to help No. 11 Washington beat Boise State. Plum entered the day needing 23 points to surpass the mark of Stanfords Chiney Ogwumike , who finished her career in 2014 with 2,737 points. Plum nearly reached the record in the first half, scoring 22 points before the break. Plum hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the Huskies lead to 19 and then made two free throws with 34 seconds left to tie the mark. After missing her first two shots of the second half, Plum made a pair of free throws with 8:38 left in the third quarter to set the new mark.SWAT: Baylor freshman Lauren Cox has been coming into her own lately, getting more comfortable on the court. On Tuesday, she matched her career high with threee blocks, including one massive swat that had the Lady Bears bench hyped up.ddddddddddddA FAMILY AFFAIR: Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie coached against her daughter Maddie when the Blue Devils beat Elon 68-61 on Thursday night. While the coach was all business through the game, not even cracking a smile when Maddie hit a 3-pointer late -- her only basket -- once the postgame press conference was over she was finally able to enjoy the special moment. The family took photos on the court postgame.I am really proud of Maddie, and I had no problem preparing for this game, no problem getting ready for this game, the Duke coach said. I am very impressed with this team, they presented problems to us, and I think that it is a wonderful story for womens basketball just to see different things happen in families. ... I think its an awesome thing for womens basketball to have stories like this. So again its wonderful, but I was quite comfortable with it and very proud of her.McCallies husband John, her sister and son all sat behind the Elon bench supporting Maddie. They did wear shirts with both Duke and Elon on them.RECORD NIGHT: Cal sophomore Kristin Anigwe scored 50 points in just 24 minutes in the Golden Bears victory over Sacramento State on Thursday night. Cal (9-0) is off to the best start in school history and Anigwe matched the Pac-12 record for points in a game set by USCs Cherie Nelson in 1989. Of the 52 teams that played on Thursday night, Anigwe outscored nine of them all by herself.PUTTING UP POINTS: Ohio States Kelsey Mitchell became the fastest player in NCAA womens basketball history to reach 2,000 points, doing it on Wednesday in her 79th career game. She reached the milestone with a pair of free throws with 3:54 to play , passing Missouri States Jackie Stiles who did it in 82 games.---Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg ' ' '