Free Republic

Did Colin Kaepernick bring the NFL to its knees? That’s at least a strong possibility, since the NFL agreed to settle with the former 49ers quarterback and ex-San Francisco safety Eric Reid in their collusion lawsuit.

ARE, Sweden (AP) — It was a telling sign that in Lindsey Vonn’s last race there was only one other American skier competing. Two days later, the U.S. couldn’t even enter a squad for the team event at the world championships because it didn’t have enough skiers available. And as for the men’s slalom team, the one that produced the likes of Bode Miller and Ted Ligety? Well, that’s been practically eliminated. “We are dwindling,” Vonn said. “I can’t remember a time being on the U.S. Ski Team that there weren’t two or three people that could have taken the...

Did you watch either of the American Football Alliance games? Three-million other fans and I watched the San Diego Fleet vs. the San Antonio Commanders. Here are my opinionated observations . . .

The most recent, less than Super Bowl notwithstanding, the N.F.L. continues to be a behemoth, dominating the sports landscape in revenue, attendance and television ratings. That popularity has over the years tempted entrepreneurs to try to cash in by starting professional football leagues of their own. The latest effort is the Alliance of American Football, which plays its first games on Saturday. There have been plenty of pretenders to the N.F.L.’s crown over the years. None have succeeded, but all had their share of novelty. (Please see link for full article) Some history of other competitors, follows that...

The Alliance's Grand Opening: 48 hours away

We’ve seen quite a few rule changes discussed this week for Major League Baseball — from the universal DH to a three-batter minimum for relief pitchers. They might happen, they might not. Such is the process of baseball negotiating rule changes every year. One thing *is* changing this year, however — and it might surprise you. Major League Baseball confirmed to ESPN on Thursday that it’s changing the name of the “Disabled List” to the “Injury List.” The genesis of the rule? Disability advocates asked Major League Baseball to change the name because so people wouldn’t confuse “disabilities” and “injuries”...

Suppose I declare that I am a king. Should you be required to address me as “Your Majesty”? You say, “Williams, that’s lunacy! You can’t prove such nonsense.” You’re wrong. It’s proved by my declaration. It’s no different from a person born with XY chromosomes declaring that he is a woman. The XY sex determination system is the sex determination system found in humans and most other mammals. Females typically have two of the same kind of sex chromosome (XX) and are called the homogametic sex. Males typically have two different kinds of sex chromosomes (XY) and are called the...

The CBS broadcast game out of Atlanta was seen by a total audience of 100.7 million, according to CBS Sports. That number comes from when you add up everyone who watched on CBS the network, CBS Interactive, NFL digital properties, Verizon Media mobile properties, ESPN Deportes television and other digital properties. Besides being a very unique bundling spin on Super Bowl numbers that previous broadcasters haven’t shamelessly taken, that’s the first time the NFL’s big game on a network as fallen beneath 100 million viewers since 2009 when the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 in Super Bowl XLIII....

Shantavia Jackson signed her three sons up for football to keep them out of trouble. As a single mother who works the night shift at a Home Depot warehouse 50 minutes away from her house, Jackson relies on the sport to shield the boys from gang activity in her rural Georgia county. They began in a local league five years ago when they were still little, their helmets like bobbleheads on their shoulders. Now 11, 12, and 14, they play in games across the region. Jackson says she passed up a daytime shift at Home Depot so that she can...

Yeah, I'm from Louisiana.

The American ice dancer is not just the first female skater to come out during her competitive career, but alongside skating partner Joe Johnson, part of the first ice dance team with two LGBTQ competitors. As they take the ice Friday at the 2019 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit, Manta and Johnson will challenge the norms that have long governed the sport. But will their new openness impact their scores?

He was born 100 years ago in a red-clay corner of Georgia, though for many Americans, Jackie Robinson burst onto the stage fully formed in 1947, a 28-year-old rookie in Dodger flannels. That’s the enduring image, the Robinson captured on film at Ebbets Field and fixed in the national imagination: the silent but dynamic hero, broad-shouldered and trim, shattering the color barrier as he ropes another liner, dances off third or hook-slides home in a cloud of dust.

When Filet-O-Fish aficionado Donald Trump invited the Clemson Tigers to enjoy the White House’s first Presidential Value Meal, most of Clemson’s national championship football team members jumped at the opportunity to meet the original cheeseburger-swallowing clown. But The Root has learned that Clemson’s black players, some specifically citing racism and their disdain for Trump’s divisive politics, passed on the opportunity to hang out with the real-life Mayor McCheese. The Root spoke with three black Clemson players who each separately confirmed that many players, both black and white, had no interest in making the trip. All three acknowledged that Donald Trump...

With the upcoming Super Bowl, is it any surprise that race politics dominate the pre-coverage of the game? At one time enjoying professional sports provided a respite from all the mind-numbing back-and-forth of politics. Those days have been stolen from us since former San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick disgraced our National Anthem in protest to a perceived injustice involving police use of force against black males—none of which is supported by evidence or data. The American left, the liberal media and race hucksters have made the National Anthem at sporting events an identity politics issue. In a perverted way,...

If I were to tell you that a growing group of killjoys wants to ban NFL cheerleading, would you guess that this group is on the political left or right? Must be the right, right? They're the religious ones with all the sexual hang-ups. Wrong. They're on the left. And what's their problem with cheerleading? I'll let them speak for themselves. In The Boston Globe, Margery Eagan, Globe columnist and co-host of NPR's "Boston Public Radio," wrote a column titled "It's time to say goodbye to the NFL cheerleaders." She described NFL cheerleading as "creepy and demeaning." USA Today sports...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling out Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder, and this time it has nothing to do with his football team’s name. In a tweet Saturday, the Massachusetts senator and 2020 presidential candidate used Snyder’s recent purchase of a $100 million yacht as evidence that the super-wealthy could afford to pay her recently proposed wealth tax. As the Washington Post reported, the 305-foot ship is believed to be the first “superyacht” with a certified Imax theater. “This billionaire NFL owner just paid $100M for a ‘superyacht’ with its own Imax theater,” Warren wrote. “I’m pretty sure he can...

We don’t know how they did it. But we know what they’ve done. Spring training opens in less than three weeks, and no one wants Bryce Harper. Or Manny Machado. At least no one wants them very much. What you hear all over baseball is the sound of one hand clapping as owners back-slap each other quietly for their marvelous miracle of salary subtraction. On Thursday, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed right-handed-hitting free agent outfielder A.J. Pollock for $55 million guaranteed for four years. That’s another door slamming on Harper. That Dodger trade of Yasiel Puig last month was done...

The Golden State Warriors visited former President Obama on Thursday shortly before their game against the Washington Wizards in the nation's capital. The NBA team posed with Obama in a picture of the moment that surfaced on social media on late Thursday.

Longtime New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera became the first player to ever be voted unanimously into the Baseball Hall of Fame Tuesday, joining former Yankees and Baltimore Orioles ace Mike Mussina, the late Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay and former Seattle Mariners designated hitter Edgar Martinez. Rivera, who holds the record for most saves all-time and won five World Series championships, made it into Cooperstown on his first try as did Halladay, who died in a 2017 plane crash.

Two New Orleans Saints season-ticket holders filed a lawsuit against the NFL on Tuesday, asking a Louisiana state court judge to order Commissioner Roger Goodell to invoke an obscure rule that could force the final moments of Sunday's NFC Championship game to be replayed. No penalty was called after Rams defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman hit Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis while a Drew Brees pass was in the air with fewer than two minutes remaining in a tie game. A flag for pass interference would have given the Saints a first down and enabled them to run down the clock before...