Welcome to Thursday's Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.
THURSDAY'S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:NBA: Washington at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. (TNT)NBA: Minnesota at Golden State, 10:30 p.m. (TNT)NHL: Boston at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m. (NESN)NHL: Chicago at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. (NBCSN)
AROUND THE WEB:
-- The Charles River Esplanade is getting in on the buildup to Super Bowl LII and has issued a ban on anything related to Philadelphia until Feb. 5.
The ban includes Philadelphia sports team apparel, Philadelphia cream cheese, Philly cheesesteaks and anything midnight green.
Will Smith and Sylvester Stallone, who both have ties to the Eagles' city, are also banned from stepping foot on the 3.5-mile area along the Charles River.
The Esplanade Association announced the new rules on Tuesday.
"We realized that appearing in a Super Bowl for only the third time — and first time since losing to the Patriots in 2005 — was disorienting for Philadelphia fans and that clarity on acceptable items to bring in our park should be offered," executive director Michael Nichols said. "Given the Patriots are appearing in their record-extending 10th Super Bowl, we understand this information may not be needed by most park visitors."
Effective today through Monday, February 5, the Esplanade Association announces a series of rule changes to ban Philadelphia-Themed Products in the Park. pic.twitter.com/KX4YkRaqpP
— Charles River Esplanade (@EsplanadeBoston) January 23, 2018When one Twitter user took this too seriously and responded to this tweet with "This can't be real. What happens if we ignore these rules which go against free speech. I seriously hope this is a joke," the account tweeted back to confirm "This is meant solely in good fun."
-- Michigan State University president Lou Anna Simon stepped down from her position on Wednesday in the wake of Larry Nassar's prison sentencing.
Nassar, who was sentenced to 40 to 175 years on Wednesday for criminal sexual conduct against more than 100 girls and women over more than twenty years, abused many girls and women he was supposed to be treating for injuries in a sports clinic on the Michigan State campus.
A letter from Simon, who spent her entire career at MSU, was posted on the school's website:
"The last year and a half has been very difficult for the victims of Larry Nassar, for the university community and for me personally. To the survivors, I can never say enough that I am so sorry that a trusted, renowned physician was really such an evil, evil person who inflicted such harm under the guise of medical treatment.
As tragedies are politicized, blame is inevitable. As president, it is only natural that I am the focus of this anger. Throughout my career, I have worked very hard to put Team MSU first. I have tried to make it not about me. ... Therefore, I am tendering my resignation as president."
The NCAA has opened an investigation into Michigan State's handling of claims against Nassar.
Olympic gymnast and Mass. native Aly Raisman tweeted a statement Wednesday evening in response to her abuser's sentencing.
Thank you. I appreciate you all so much. pic.twitter.com/kysEo68g5c
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) January 25, 2018Raisman faced Nassar in court and read a powerful statement about the horrible abuse she and so many others suffered at his hands.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "The light went on with Josh [McDaniels>. Josh was here. Josh had him in St. Louis and you saw a good player in St. Louis but you didn't see all the things behind the scenes that you kind of can see when you actually have the player on your team. Josh saw that and he made us aware of all the things that Danny does and how well he does them, what his skills were and so forth. That's kind of when it started and then of course once we got him here all of that became evident to everybody who works with him." -- Bill Belichick, giving credit to Josh McDaniels for signing Danny Amendola
