Stars from several different sports took to Twitter on Friday to try to cope with the school shooting in Connecticut, and the NFL asked each of its teams to observe a moment of silence before this weekend's games to pay respect to the victims.

A man killed his mother at home and then opened fire inside the elementary school where she taught, slaying 26 people, including 20 children. The 20-year-old killer, carrying two handguns, then committed suicide at the school.

"It's awful, just an awful day. It really, really is," Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers said before their game at Houston. "This is our jobs. This is not a game for us, it is what we do but when something like this happens, it supersedes job and everything else. As a parent - I don't know - this is just awful, awful what happened."

Struggling to stay composed, Cleveland Cavaliers coach Byron Scott paused a couple of times as he talked about the tragedy in Newtown, a community about 60 miles from New York City.

"I have three healthy kids and a beautiful granddaughter," he said. "When you hear about kids who are that young and don't get a chance to live because of something that's so senseless as somebody going in and doing the things that this person did, I think it affects everybody. It puts everything in the right perspective as well. As much as we love this game, this doesn't mean nothing."

From the full slate of NBA games to high school and college football finals, there were moments of silences at sporting events of all sizes. The overhead videoboard at the Barclays Center showed a candle and the town seal of Newtown as the Nets and Pistons paused for reflection before their game in Brooklyn.

(China Daily 12/16/2012 page7)