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As the final month of the NFL’s regular season begins, the league’s response to concerns over a link between football and traumatic brain injury may finally be making a difference on the field, according to a FRONTLINE analysis of officially reported head injuries. Through the first 13 weeks of the season, a total of 96* concussions have been disclosed on team injury reports, down from 115 at the same point last season and 128 in 2012. At the current pace, teams are on track to report at least 122 concussions, a drop of nearly 20 percent from a year ago.

Football may be king in terms of sporting popularity in the United States currently, but a recent poll suggests that participation could wane in the coming years. According to Annie Linskey of Bloomberg, 50 percent of the 1,001 American adults polled in a survey from Dec. 3-5 said they would not want their sons to play competitive football.

There have been so many tributes to the great Jean Beliveau in the last week. So many of them have been moving, like the video and the salute to his family at Tuesday night's Montreal Canadiens home game. But leave it to hockey's master of the montage, Tim Thompson, to completely nail it. The voices, the images, the moments, the tones of Leonard Cohen turning into Mr. Beliveau's favorite opera ... it's amazing. (Thompson was, of course, the man behind all of those great Hockey Night In Canada montages.) Few hockey videos, if any, are scored to Pavarotti. Yet it's...

Army will be looking to snap a 12-game losing streak to Navy when the two service academies meet for the 115th time Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. CBS will broadcast the game at 2 p.m. Central, with live streaming available at CBSSports.com. The Black Knights are 4-7 this season, while the Midshipmen are 6-5. Here are five things you might not know about the Army-Navy rivalry:1. Few major-college rivalries are older Among rivalries between FBS schools, only three are older than Army vs. Navy, which was first played on Nov. 29, 1890. Only North Carolina-Wake Forest (Oct. 18,...

Awesome quote from John Phillips column in January 2015 Car and Driver.

Under Armour is rolling out custom uniforms for the Navy Midshipmen in time for Saturday’s Army-Navy game, and, as you might expect, the gear is as American as Duke Nukem fist-fighting a crepe iron. Tagged with the words "Don't Tread On Me," the gear features red stripes over navy and white. Under Armour also made significant use of the First Navy Jack rattlesnake, which will be featured in a non-coiled, flying-out-of-the-fake-peanut-jar form. In short, these uniforms are quite to very fresh, depending on your taste for hammer-down patriotism.

USAF Thunderbirds to Perform Flyover for the Daytona 500: For the fifth straight year, the world-renowned U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds will provide the flyover for the 57th annual DAYTONA 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season opener on Sunday, Feb. 22. The Thunderbirds, officially known as the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, will fly their signature "Delta" formation over the "World Center of Racing" during the finale of the national anthem for "The Great American Race." The Thunderbirds have visited Daytona International Speedway to perform the flyover for the DAYTONA 500 for the past five years. In addition, the Thunderbirds...

The Lakers each had the T-shirts on their chairs in their dressing room before the game. Every player except backup center Robert Sacre wore the shirts. "I think it's us supporting that movement and supporting each other as well as athletes," Bryant said after the game. "I think the beauty of our country lies in its democracy. I think if we ever lose the courage to be able to speak up for the things that we believe in, I think we really lose the value that our country stands for.

Newton is listed in fair condition and is spending the night at Carolinas Medical Center, where doctors will do further tests to determine whether there is any internal damage. As it stands now, Newton has two transverse process fractures in his lower back. It's the same injury sustained by Dallas quarterback Tony Romo earlier in the season. That injury kept Romo sidelined for one game.

As part of a holiday and also in support of the NBA Cares initiative, Prince William and Kate Middleton took in a Brooklyn Nets-Cleveland Cavaliers contest on Tuesday night, sitting alongside unofficial NBA ambassador Dikembe Mutombo. The royals sat courtside as the Cavaliers broke a tie game in the third quarter and ran away with a lopsided 110-81 score. Following the contest, LeBron James was kind enough to pose for a photo opportunity with Prince William and Kate, but he appeared to break a protocol that even the most ardent stateside royal admirers might still be unaware of. That’s right,...

Week 15 Thursday, Dec. 11 Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams, 7:25 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14 Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Atlanta Falcons, 1 p.m. Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m. Green Bay Packers vs. Buffalo Bills, 1 p.m. Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers, 1 p.m. Cincinnati Bengals vs. Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m. Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions, 1 p.m. Houston Texans vs. Indianapolis Colts, 1 p.m. Oakland Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs, 1 p.m. Miami Dolphins vs. New England Patriots, 1 p.m. Washington Redskins vs. New York Giants, 1 p.m. Denver Broncos vs. San Diego Chargers, 4:05 p.m. New...

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The Johnny Manziel era has begun in earnest -- and there might be no turning back. Manziel finally got his chance to play significant NFL snaps when the Cleveland Browns benched Brian Hoyer early in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 26-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Voters who bet on Republicans in the midterm election now have another GOP favorite on whom to place their money. A race horse owner in the Ohio district that Speaker of the House John Boehner (R) represents has honored the longtime congressman by naming one of his new horses “Weeper of the House,” as reports the Daily Advocate.

Richard Thill survived Pearl Harbor and waited 73 years for an ovation many of his comrades would never hear. So a stubbornly long New York Jets drive and icy wind at TCF Bank Stadium could not ruin his moment. The Vikings salute military veterans during the first television timeout of the second quarter each home game. Thill was a special honoree Sunday, Dec. 7 -- a solemn anniversary in U.S. history, one he hopes never fades from memory. The 91-year-old St. Paul native was introduced with a video tribute that included an interview and familiar black-and-white newsreels that showed the...

David Ferrier, who is best known for his appearances in the early 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as one-half of the Heavenly Bodies as "Gigolo" Jimmy Del Ray, has passed away. PWInsider.com has confirmed that Ferrier died Saturday night following what is believed to have been a heart attack. He was 52-years-old.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame intends to announce the first phase of its Class of 2015 on Monday, during the first day of the annual Winter Meetings. Nine former players and one executive make up this year's recently released 10-person Golden Era Committee ballot. The 16-person committee will meet on Sunday, then vote Monday only hours before the 11 a.m. PT announcement. The nine players include first basemen Dick Allen and Gil Hodges, third baseman Ken Boyer, outfielders Minnie Minoso and Tony Oliva, pitchers Jim Kaat, Billy Pierce and Luis Tiant and shortstop Maury Wills -- the first player...

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The Rams shut out the 'Skins 24-0 today, but St. Louis head coach Jeff Fisher punked Washington before the game even started. Remember when Washington traded up in the 2012 draft to get Robert Griffin III? Oh, Fisher remembers.

College Football Playoff Bowl Date Location Matchup Prediction Championship Bowl Jan. 12 Arlington, Texas Semifinal winners TBD Sugar Bowl Jan. 1 New Orleans, La. Semifinal Alabama* vs. Ohio State* Rose Bowl Jan. 1 Pasadena, Calif. Semifinal Oregon* vs. Florida State* Selection Committee Bowl Games Bowl Date Location Matchup Prediction Cotton Bowl Jan. 1 Arlington, Tex. At-Large vs. At-Large Baylor* vs. Michigan State* Orange Bowl Dec. 31 Miami, Fla. ACC vs SEC/Big Ten/Notre Dame Georgia Tech* vs. Miss. State* Fiesta Bowl Dec. 31 Glendale, Ariz. At-Large vs At-Large Arizona* vs. Boise State* Peach Bowl Dec. 31 Atlanta, Ga. At-Large vs....

Four teams in playoff: 1: 'Bama2: Oregon3: FSU4: THE Ohio State University