for everybody involved, Hawkins said Saturday. Lives were chang

INDIANAPOLIS -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. indicated Friday he is feeling a little better as he battles balance issues and nausea believed to be from concussions.Earnhardt, who has been working with doctors for the past 10 days, will miss his second consecutive race this weekend.Today is the 1st day in many that I sensed improvement, Earnhardt tweeted Friday morning. Seen small gains during my physical therapy as well. Light at the end of the tunnel.Earnhardt, 41, initially thought his symptoms were from a sinus infection or allergies. Having been in wrecks June 12 at Michigan and July 2 at Daytona -- as well as having missed two races in 2012 after suffering two concussions in a span of six weeks -- spurred Earnhardt to see a neurologist last week.The tweet from Earnhardt, who visited the shop Wednesday, was encouraging for team owner Rick Hendrick.I want him to be healthy and right when he gets in the car and the doctors are going to dictate that, Hendrick said. The news has been really good. The tweet this morning was really good. He looks good. Hes sharp.Im excited about getting him back, but Ive tried to leave him alone. ... He misses this. He misses his team. He came to see his team [Wednesday]. He saw the guys and it really lifted them.Earnhardt was replaced by one his Xfinity Series drivers, Alex Bowman, last week at New Hampshire and will be replaced by four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon this weekend at Indianapolis and next week at Pocono. There is no timetable for Earnhardts return.They can give me a lot of exercises that retrain my brain to handle what I need to handle -- its just going to take a lot of patience, Earnhardt said Monday on his The Dale Jr. Download podcast. I take my health and quality of life as a top priority. ... I am going to take this slow and strictly take the advice of my doctors.On the podcast, Earnhardt said his ImPACT test -- a test that measures cognitive function such as memory and reaction time -- matched a previously taken test that is used as a baseline to determine effects of a concussion. Earnhardt is seeing doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program.Dr. Mark Lovell, who developed the ImPACT test and is the chief science officer of ImPACT applications, said it is encouraging that Earnhardts recent results have matched his baseline. Lovell is not treating Earnhardt.You can have other symptoms of concussion that are not specifically cognitive -- not related to memory -- [so] we dont just look at the cognitive scores, Lovell said. We look at, is their balance OK? Do they have headaches? Do they have other signs or symptoms that arent purely of the cognitive variety?Lovell said an athlete typically would undergo an exertion test to determine if the balance and nausea symptoms return. He said when he was treating athletes, he would want to see someone undergo the exertion test for a few days without symptoms.The brain undergoes a physiological change, Lovell said. So there are actual chemical changes that take place. You want that process to settle down before somebody goes back in to [avoid] risk of another injury.By doing the exertional exercises, youre basically stressing the system. Its kind of like a stress test for the brain ... to make sure they are OK before they go back in.Lovell added that there is no expected timetable for an athlete to recover.The brain is complicated, Lovell said. Its not like any other injury. Its complicated by the fact that it can look differently in different people. ... [It] is really important to recognize that there is no testing for a concussion, an MRI scan.What happens in brain with a concussion is generally more of a physiological reaction, a chemical reaction.Cheap Custom Angels Jersey . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Rod Carew Jersey Large . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. http://www.customangelsjersey.com/custom-cj-wilson-jersey-large-208x.html .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup. Darin Erstad Jersey Large .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Cheap Angels Jerseys . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p.KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Prosecutors charged Western Michigan basketball player Jovieair Kennedy with murder and armed robbery Monday, accusing him of gunning down a fellow student during a robbery of a cellphone and money.Kennedy, 20, was arraigned Monday in the shooting of 19-year-old Jacob Jones at an off-campus Kalamazoo apartment on Thursday. Kennedy, who is from Muskegon, was denied bond and did not yet have an attorney.Kennedy is charged with murder, armed robbery and using a gun during a felony. The charging document says others were present.An uncle, Lucious Kennedy, told WWMT-TV at the courthouse: I dont know who did it but I feel bad for the family. This aint my nephew.On Friday, WMU athletic director Kathy Beauregard said an athlete had been suspended after being identified by police as a person of interest in the shooting. She didnt identify the athlete or the sport the student participated in.Kennedy, who has appeared in eight games for the Broncos this season, was not on the roster for Saturdays home game against James Madison. The school would not confirm that Kennedy was the athlete identified by police, but coach Steve Hawkins spoke a bit in general terms about the situation after the game.Its a devastatinng loss for our university.dddddddddddd Its a devastating tragedy for everybody involved, Hawkins said Saturday. Lives were changed forever, and so, were very, very respectful of that. Were very shook by the whole thing. Now, its up to us to try and -- as you always do, trying to mentor young people -- you just try and pick up the pieces and move forward. Theres a lot not known. So thats where were at.Kennedy signed a letter of intent in 2015 to play for WMU. After redshirting in 2015-16, he was averaging 7.4 minutes a game this season.The Kalamazoo area has had to deal with several tragic events this year, including the random fatal shootings of six people and wounding of two others in February. In June, five bicyclists were killed in a road crash in Kalamazoo Countys Cooper Township.P.J. Fleck, the coach of WMUs undefeated football team, said earlier this month he hoped his team had been able to provide some energy and hope for the area.---Associated Press writer Ed White contributed to this report.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '