Free Republic

Donald Sterling may be down, but he’s not out and he’s out looking for a law firm to help him sue the NBA, who are attempting to force him to sell the LA Clippers. According to media reports the combative and controversial Clippers boss is preparing to sue the NBA and fight attempts to make him sell the lucrative franchise. The reports are not entirely authoritative, coming from TMZ, but they are likely true given the nature of Donald Sterling, 80, and his humiliation over what has occurred in recent times. For him, the issue is of his own making...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Was Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson fired for his Christian views on gay marriage? That's what Ann Killion is asking at sfgate.com, noting that Jackson's lukewarm reaction to the coming-out of Jason Collins, last year was something of a mismatch for the Bay Area, which is the global capital of gay politics and culture. Killion writes: Everything about Jackson was under scrutiny, which includes his very public persona as a religious man. It was probably not at the top of the list, but was probably on the list.... When Jason Collins made his historic pronouncement last year that...

Cable TV's sports costs are prompting a growing number of people to "cut the cord". Exhibit A: The $8 billion charged by the Dodgers for broadcast rights to their games knowing full well that pay-TV companies would have to pass along this sky-high cost to all customers. Time Warner Cable is the Dodgers' partner in crime. It paid that whopping sum for exclusive rights to distribute the Dodgers channel to other pay-TV companies, assuming, like the team, that it would get away with sticking both fans and non-fans with an extra $4 to $5 fee every month. The harsh reality,...

Donald Sterling’s reputation had a bad week, but his pocketbook has never looked better. The punishment meted out by NBA Commissioner Silver—the maximum league fine of $2.5 million—pales in comparison to the billion dollars Sterling stands to make from selling the Clippers. Ironically, the league’s nuclear option—a forced sale—could also end up lining Sterling’s pocketbook with millions in tax savings. Instead of his just deserts, will Sterling end up with a sweet tax treat? First, there’s never been a better time for Sterling to sell, financially speaking. The Clippers have historically been regarded as one of the worst teams in...

Los Angeles Clippers guard J.J. Redick says that owner Donald Sterling was hesitant to sign him last summer because he’s white. Speaking to USA Today, Redick went into detail about how his four-year, $27 million sign-and-trade deal almost fell apart despite being initially agreed upon. “I’ve been told both ways: one, that he didn’t want to pay me because I was white, and that he didn’t want to pay me because I was a bench player,” Redick, the former Duke University star told USA Today. “I didn’t know until after the face. I just got a weird phone call from...

If you think about it, most American sports involve an animal hide. Baseballs, basketballs and footballs are all made with leather. In Afghanistan, they don’t just use the skin — the game ball is a whole goat. Minus the head and hooves. Buzkashi, the name of Afghanistan's national sport, translates into something like "goat-grabbing." That's the object: Grab the headless, disemboweled animal carcass (sometimes a calf), circle the field and deliver it to the goal. It originated among the Turkic people of Central Asia centuries ago, and for generations they’ve been passing down the game, and the goat, relatively unchanged....

As the Donald Sterling mess was going down earlier this week, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made an interesting and prescient point. He said he’d rather that Sterling—who said that he didn’t want his mistress to bring black fellers to his basketball team’s games—was not a NBA owner but that he felt uncomfortable forcing a sale of the team for what amounted to the man’s thoughts. Here’s Cuban in the New York Daily News: “In this country, people are allowed to be morons,” Cuban said. “They’re allowed to be stupid. They’re allowed to think idiotic thoughts. … Within an organization...

It's Jew Vs. Jew as Battle Over Team Heats Up.Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Sunday he expects Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling to put up a “long, protracted fight” to retain ownership of the team after being banned for life from the National Basketball Association because of racial comments. Garcetti, appearing on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” program, was asked about a potential boycott of Clippers games if Sterling balks and said, “I would certainly keep that arrow in my quiver.” Last week NBA Commissioner Adam Silver fined Sterling $2.5 million and imposed a lifetime ban after...

National Basketball Association (NBA) Commissioner Adam Silver had no choice but to come down “hard” as some judged the punishment on Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for his stellar racist performance, captured on audio tape. I laughed at the punishment. “Banned for life” on an 80-year-old man? Maximum NBA fine of $2.5 million for a racist billionaire’s conduct is equally laughable. Nevertheless, I believe Commissioner Silver would have imposed a greater punishment if allowed under NBA rules. Commissioner Silver’s press conference deserves no more than a C+ grade due to the lack of his leadership experience in the fight...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s confidante V. Stiviano today told ABC’s Barbara Walters that she thinks the embattled NBA basketball owner should apologize for his racist remarks. "Yes. Absolutely,” Stiviano, 31, said when Walters asked her during an exclusive television interview in Los Angeles. "I think he’s highly more traumatized and hurt by the things that he said himself,” she added. “I think he can’t even believe or understand sometimes the thing he says, and I think he’s hurt by it. He’s hurting right now." Asked if she thought he would go through with a public apology, Stiviano replied:...

Multiple members of the Warriors accused Clippers forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis of dirty play for his involvement in an incident that forced Jermaine O’Neal from Game 6 with a knee injury. Golden State defeated L.A. 100-99 at Oracle Arena on Thursday to force a Game 7. The victory may have cost them their veteran center, who had been called into greater action in the series following the loss of starting center Andrew Bogut to a rib injury. With a little more than nine minutes remaining in the second quarter and the Warriors leading 28-25, O’Neal collected the ball following...

...The current Heisman Trophy winner was cited after ordering $32 worth of food from the supermarket and leaving without paying for the items. Video captured Winston in the store and leaving the store without paying.... "In a post-Miranda interview he did in fact acknowledge he had left Publix without paying for the items" said Maj. Woods. "He indicated to the deputies he had forgotten and when he got home he realized he had not paid, but he in fact made no effort to contact Publix or return to pay prior to the Deputy's arrival." Winston was not charged with a...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)On Tuesday, the National Basketball Association released its Constitution and By-laws – and the release of the text demonstrates clearly that despite media reports, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling cannot be voted out of ownership of his team by colleagues for his racist statements. Yesterday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver fined Sterling $2.5 million and suspended him for life from the league. He certainly has that power under the Constitution and By-laws. Under Article 24(l), the commissioner has the power to do that which is in his best judgment with regard to remedies not covered by the Constitution or By-laws:...

MenÂ’s magazine GQ drew the ire of conservatives on Tuesday evening when it tweeted out sarcastic well-wishes for L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling in any future endeavors hosting a show on Fox News. The National Basketball Association announced earlier in the day that it would ban Sterling for life and fine him $2.5 million for racist remarks he made in a recorded phone call, particularly focusing on his dislike for black men. Commissioner Adam Silver also suggested the league would attempt to force Sterling to sell the team to new ownership. GQ collected a list of all the celebrities who...

With the lifetime ban by the NBA of despicably racist Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, the door is wide open to further sports bans on people who say offensive things in private. That, of course, is why Sterling was ousted. Everyone knew for decades that Sterling was a disgusting pig racist – he had federal lawsuits led by the Department of Justice against him for discriminating against blacks, Hispanics, and Asians in housing (one allegation in the 2006 DOJ lawsuit: he said black people “smell”). That would have been an excellent reason for ousting Sterling years ago. The NBA...

Overt acts of obvious racism have been in the news lately. Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, Frazier Glenn Cross’s anti-semitic shootings in KC and now recent revelations of LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling prohibiting his girlfriend from publicly associating with blacks. We can count each of these as classic definitions of racism: prejudice against another based on skin color and race. This classic definition of racism has been said to be behind us, buried in the time of Jim Crow, lynchings and Bull Conner. We were wrong to ever believe they were “behind us.” But I’m less concerned about those overt...

Deadspin has posted a longer version of the Donald Sterling tape. It includes lots more racism.Late Friday, TMZ released its nine-minute recording of a man alleged to be Clippers owner Donald Sterling making racist comments to his girlfriend about her being seen with black people. Deadspin has acquired and posted a longer recording of that same conversation -- a 15-minute tour through the mind of a horribly racist NBA team owner. Deadspin has also included a transcript that's well worth digesting. It's all so bad that finding the worst bit is difficult. But this is a primary candidate, at least...

He’s been controversial for decades. Clippers owner Donald Sterling now faces more trouble — a nationwide firestorm over racist comments he allegedly made in a recorded conversation with his girlfriend. Those alleged remarks by Sterling have caused uproar across the sports world. And perhaps the person most upset about the situation is Dodgers part owner and former Laker super star Magic Johnson himself who was mentioned, specifically, in the comments. KCAL/CBS2 sports director Jim Hill sat down exclusively with Magic to discuss the remarks the Clippers owner allegedly made. “I’m very disappointed, angry and upset,” said Johnson. “Let’s go back...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- President Barack Obama on Sunday described comments reportedly made by the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers "incredibly offensive racist statements," before casting them as part of a continuing legacy of slavery and segregation that Americans must vigilantly fight. "When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don't really have to do anything, you just let them talk," Obama said when asked to respond to Donald Sterling's reported comments....

First, please allow me to qualify my remarks by saying that I myself am a 'half and half', obama look-a-like individual. A lot of times, no matter how politically correct I try to make my thoughts come across, to some .. it just doesn't matter! Now to my rant? I was listening to espn this afternoon (my bad) when all of a sudden the host went on a tirade. Of course it was all about the Donald Sterling fiasco! Without going into all the details let me just say that after the host's complete, politically correct .. I am a...