Free Republic

Final Four most outstanding player Shabazz Napier complained on the eve of UConn's tournament win over Kentucky that he sometimes goes to bed "starving" as a student-athlete. The NCAA has heard the growls of Shabazz's stomach. The NCAA announced that schools can now provide student-athletes with unlimited food. The NCAA release called the Division 1 rule revision "an effort to meet the nutritional needs of all student-athletes." Prior to Tuesday's change, schools could provide their competitors with a stipend or dining hall pass good for three meals a day, a deprivation which sent Mr. Shabazz to sleep starving. Other changes...

The idea that the proposed new Red Wings arena will revitalize midtown Detroit is the reason given for the $260 million in corporate welfare that will help finance the project. The idea that a new sports arena will spur economic development, however, lacks credibility. An NHL season only has 41 home games, meaning the arena is closed for the most of the other 324 days of the year with the exception of some concerts or other special events. Not much development can take place around a facility that is closed nearly 90 percent of the year. Take the Palace of...

As a scheduled part of their home opener, the Atlanta Braves set off fireworks before their game against the New York Mets on Tuesday. As an unscheduled part of their home opener, the fireworks set fire to the American flag that flies above the Braves Vision video screen in center field. "It happened because of new pyrotechnics," Braves spokesperson Beth Marshall said. "For the first time, they put pyrotechnics on Braves Vision. One of the pyrotechnics flew at the flag and lit it on fire." Marshall added that the material of the flag is flame retardant, so it went out...

The alleged victim reported to police that on April 1 at approximately 9 p.m., she visited Lockette's apartment. Kaepernick and Patton were also there. She said she mixed drinks and prepared shots for them and was told that in order to drink the shots, she had to "hit" the bong, which contained marijuana, according to the police report. She said to police that she began to feel light-headed and went to a bedroom to lie down. Kaepernick, with whom she said she had a previous sexual relationship, followed her into the bedroom. They did not have sex, she told police....

...We know Brazil's [teams wives and girlfriends] will be there, the country’s hosting of the tournament ensures that, and head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari accepts it. He just forbids his players from doing one thing. “The players can have normal sex during the World Cup,” Scolari said in Lisbon on Monday. “Usually normal sex is done in balanced way, but there are certain forms, certain ways and others who do acrobatics. And that, no.”

UMass guard Derrick Gordon hopes his decision to become the first openly gay player in Division I men’s basketball will inspire others. “There are a lot of kids out there in my situation, probably far worse situations,” he said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “Maybe I can give a lot of kids that confidence that they need to get over that hump.”

...Hank Aaron compared Republicans that oppose President Barack Obama to the Ku Klux Klan.... “Sure, this country has a black president, but when you look at a black president, President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the Republicans with the way he’s treated,” Aaron told USA Today Sports. Aaron continued: “The bigger difference is that back then they had hoods. Now they have neckties and starched shirts.”

Shabazz Napier, point guard for The University of Connecticut's men's basketball team, recently told reporters he understands why athletes at Northwestern need a union, as he sometimes has to go to bed "starving" because he cannot afford food. "We as student athletes get utilized for what we do so well. We are definitely best to get a scholarship to our universities, but at the end of the day, that doesn't cover everything. We do have hungry nights that we don't have enough money to get food and sometimes money is needed," the senior told reporters. "I think, you know, Northwestern...

Being a sports radio host sometimes means being full of hot air when white noise would be preferable, as in the case Craig Carton and Boomer Esiason. The big names showed their small attitudes when New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy chose to be with his wife rather that at opening day of baseball season. Esiason said: “I would have said, ‘C-Section before it starts. I need to be at opening day. This is how we make our money; this is how we live our life. This is what is going to give our child every opportunity to be...

Tallahassee, Fla. Pastor Dr. R. B. Holmes, whose leadership against hazing and the infamous "stand your ground laws", has announced his candidacy for the presidency of the National Baptist Convention USA., Inc. At a National Press Club announcement last week, Holmes called on the Black church to arise and take back its historic role in fighting social justice issues. "The Black church has become too quiet, too passive, too disconnected when it comes to challenging policies programs and persons that degrade and devastate our people" said Holmes, flanked by dozens of church and community leaders. He also announced the formation...

What can be done to save the Reno Air Races? This is the question posed to me by so many of the Air Racing fans. We know changes are being made – but – are they enough. Are these changes coming too late, what are the signs we should be looking for to see if the changes are working? ... Tell me why, the day after Steven Hinton won his 5th Championship he was not being interviewed on Good Morning America, Today and the Tonight Show? This young man has unprecedented achievements and no one knows his name. I’ve said...

Like the rest of the world, I was stunned to hear Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant argue that it was somehow an unecessary burden for a black man to stand in support of the late Trayvon Martin. If anything, the Trayvon Martin case brought black people together in ways that we haven’t seen since the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The case was clear cut: Trayvon had no weapon. He wasn’t bothering anybody. He was stalked out and murdered for appearing to look like a “thug.” George Zimmerman is a free man and later showed that he...

[B.O.] chooses Florida, Arizona, Louisville and Michigan State for his Final Four picks.

NORTH LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas Travelers introduced their final mascot for the upcoming 2014 baseball season today, Gary the Rabid Raccoon. After a long search conducted by Arkansas’ minor league baseball club, the Travelers settled on three characters that grew up in Travelers lore.The first two mascots, Ace and Otey, were unveiled yesterday. Today in a special ceremony they introduced the captain of the new mascot team, Gary. All three mascots hold deep connections to the franchise they will now represent. “We are so excited to introduce Gary to our fans. I think the kids will really love him,”...

Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder released a statement late Monday night announcing that despite widespread calls for the team to change its name, the name and logo would remain the same. But in lieu of a name change, Snyder has created the “Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation,” with hopes to “provide meaningful and measurable resources that provide genuine opportunities for tribal communities.”

In July 2013 MediaTakeOut.com broke the story that basketball star J.J. Redick had initiated an “abortion contract” with then girlfriend Vanessa Lopez to abort their baby. The contract stated the couple would attempt to ”maintain a social and/or dating relationship” for one year after the abortion, and if Redick reneged he would pay Lopez $25,000. Redick and Lopez signed the abortion contract the morning of her abortion, September 13, 2007. Lopez was never to see Redick again, but she never attempted to collect the $25,000. Paparazzi discovered the abortion contract in court documents. Neither Redick nor Lopez had anything to...

Once former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel started hanging out with LeBron James and texting him for advice, it was only a matter of time before the two ended up doing something big together. That time is, apparently, here. The world's best basketball player is the subject of a new television campaign by McDonald's in which he, not surprisingly, ends up running into Manziel hanging out in an exclusive spot.

At 15 years of age, Amy Purdy took up snowboarding and quickly advanced in the sport she came to love and master. At 19, Amy contracted meningococcal meningitis. She had less than a 2 percent chance of living. Amy miraculously survived, but not without the life-altering loss of her spleen, her kidneys, the hearing in her left ear and both of her legs below the knee because of the ravage of the disease upon her circulatory system. But against all the odds, Amy learned not only to walk again but also to snowboard. In fact, she became a world champion!...

One basketball player at Boston University said she felt so emotionally damaged by her coach she considered suicide. Another player said the coach, Kelly Greenberg, treated her so poorly she sought mental health care. And two other players said Greenberg’s emotional abuse ruined their love of the sport. All four women walked away from the BU women’s basketball team this academic year, an exodus that has renewed questions about Greenberg’s treatment of her student-athletes — and her future at the school.

The United States announced Monday it would boycott the upcoming Paralympic Games in Sochi to protest Russia’s incursion into Ukraine, as a State Department spokesperson said it was “likely” that the U.S. would impose sanctions on Russia. The boycott effectively means a presidential delegation will not be attending the games, an announcement that comes as President Obama and Congress scramble to respond to Russia’s aggression on Ukrainian territory in Crimea. “In addition to other measures we are taking in response to the situation in Ukraine, the United States will no longer send a Presidential Delegation to the upcoming Winter Paralympic...