Free Republic

SNIP Those champion Sawx remain under investigation by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred for illegal sign-stealing — the very crime of which their immediate predecessors, the 2017 Astros, have been convicted. Alex Cora, the manager of the former team and the bench coach of the latter, stands as the common thread. Manfred identified him as a mastermind of the ’17 Astros’ scheme, and a suspension of at least one year appears quite likely. Cora and the Red Sox parted ways the day after Manfred released his report on those Astros. The Red Sox owners and All-Star J.D. Martinez have intimated that...

The impeachment thing is a sham and a snooze. McConnell's "fast track" schedule isn't fast enough for my taste. The Senators should be given written presentations by both sides, and 24 hours to read them. Then, 4 hours for live questions, and 4 hours for live bloviations (er, speeches). Then, the acquittal vote. No witnesses, no dawdling. We've got to clear the decks quickly for the thing that's truly important - Super Bowl LIV

Baseball needs a chairman who represents owners, players, and fans. They need someone who will truly act in the best interests of the game, not the best interest of the owners. Baseball is a great game, and the news on the field continues to be good. Top talent performs at the highest level and great players challenge the records of old.But the news off the field is bleak. Service time manipulation and rumors of electronic cheating scandals have been scandals for years, and now the news has come from Major League BaseballÂ’s leadership that they want to reduce the number...

NFL Live Thread: Week 17 Sunday, December 29, 2019 Green Bay at Detroit 1:00 pm FOX Ford Field Cleveland at Cincinnati 1:00 pm FOX Paul Brown Stadium Chicago at Minnesota 1:00 pm FOX U.S. Bank Stadium L.A. Chargers at Kansas City 1:00 pm CBS Arrowhead Stadium Miami at New England 1:00 pm CBS Gillette Stadium N.Y. Jets at Buffalo 1:00 pm CBS New Era Field New Orleans at Carolina 1:00 pm FOX Bank of America Stadium Atlanta at Tampa Bay 1:00 pm FOX Raymond James Stadium Washington at Dallas 4:25 pm FOX AT&T Stadium Indianapolis at Jacksonville 4:25 pm CBS...

SC over GA 20-17 in 2 overtimes. The Dawgs looked like someone spiked their chow with sedatives. Low energy game for them.

To say the Patriots are a dominant team is an understatement. In 2019 they’ll wrap up the most dominant decade in NFL history. In the decade of 2010 to 2018, the Patriots are 129-37, a winning percentage of .777. As noted by Rene Bugner, New England could go 3-13 in 2019 and still have the best winning percentage of any NFL team in any decade.

Hell, Yes. That was one hell of a game. Virginia gets first title.

No. 3-seeded Texas Tech upset the top-seeded Michigan State Spartans, 61-51, to earn a shot at playing Virginia for the crown in men’s college basketball. In Lubbock, a huge crowd soon gathered at the Texas Tech campus to celebrate the Red Raiders’ win. “I’ve never seen anything like this in Lubbock,” Tim Hays, a senior at Texas Tech, told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. “I’ve been to other rallies like this, but nothing compares to the electricity here.” Witnesses reported seeing fires set ablaze, with at least one car being flipped over, KCBD-TV of Lubbock reported. Other reports said as many as...

The NFL is being urged to fire the crew who officiated the NFC Championship game between the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints over a blown call in the fourth quarter of the matchup. A petition launched after the Rams defeated the Saints in overtime, 26-23, has asked the league to fire official Bill Vinovich and the rest of the officials who were in charge Sunday afternoon. The officials came under fire after missing a clear pass interference penalty late in the fourth quarter.

Source: #Vikings OC John DeFilippo has been fired.

Is it a good one tonight?

How is it that four million Croats could build a team good enough to make it to the World Cup final, beating Argentina (43 million), England (53 million) and hosts Russia (144 million) along the way? The country famously didn’t even exist the last time England made it to a World Cup semi-final in 1990. The country declared independence in 1991, but was embroiled in the war in the Balkans as Yugoslavia split for several years. Most Croats were living in what is now Croatia, but a large minority existed in what are now Serbia and Bosnia especially. What ensued...

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper won’t be a free-agent until October, but the anonymous backlash has already begun. One National League executive didn’t hold back, calling Harper a “losing player,” according to Robert Murray of FRS. What happened? A “top National League executive” sent Murray three texts with some harsh thoughts on Harper. Text one: “He’s simply overrated. The good ain’t worth the bad. He’s a losing player. Cares about himself more than the team. If I was in charge and had money, my team would not pursue him. We would use that money to sign 2-3 winning players.” Text...

What do Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Obamacare, and President Trump all have in common? All of those people, and institution, have higher favorability numbers than the NFL. According to a Fox News poll released on Thursday, the NFL’s net favorability rating comes in at 42%. Only former FBI Director Robert Mueller, Rudy Giuliani, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Roseanne Barr, have lower favorability numbers. The NFL’s lack of popularity stands out even more, when looking back at where the league was only five years ago. In October of 2013, the league had a 64% favorability rating. By October of 2017,...

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Before a reporter could go there with Carolina Panthers rookie running back Christian McCaffrey, right guard Trai Turner took it there. Turner rightly figured the discussion would turn to the fact that McCaffrey is among the handful of white players at his position in the NFL. “Have you seen him run?” Turner asked. “If you’ve seen the guy run, you don’t think about it [his race]. White, black, red, green — I don’t care what color he is. He’s special.” Nine games into his professional career, McCaffrey has flashed the talent that prompted the Panthers to...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is punting on the question of who will win the Super Bowl. The president was asked by reporters Friday if he had a prediction and took a pass. He says: “I better not get involved.”

In Western NY and Southern Ontario - Party like its 1999!!! WOOHOO!!!!!

The embattled National Football League announced its decision to cancel this week’s edition of ‘Sunday Night Football’ on Tuesday; hoping to avoid a ratings bloodbath as a less-than-stellar line-up and New Year’s Eve festivities would have caused the NFL to reach embarrassing new lows. The league opted to call-off the game before announcing which teams were scheduled to compete, adding the match-up wouldn’t have playoff implications and would likely cost the already troubled organization millions of dollars. “We felt that both from a competitive standpoint and from a fan perspective, the most fair thing to do is to schedule all...

As a Steeler fan who just endured that game:I only have one thing to say about the ending of that game: As I understand the rule of a “pass catch” it is when a player 1. --- takes possession of the thrown ball , THEN 2. ---- makes what they call “a football move”. That is what determines a catch. 1 and 2. (This rule I believe was first employed just a few years ago concerning a catch and a subsequent fumble. A catch was determined a catch if the receiver took control of the ball and then made “a...

It's Championship Saturday! One game is in the books at Oklahoma blew out TCU, 41-17. That put the Sooners in the playoff and officially eliminated TCU. That leaves as many as eight teams that could have a case to be included in the playoff's last three spots depending on how the last three major conference championship games play out on Saturday. But in reality, there are five teams that still control their own destiny. Outside of those teams, there are two teams that could have strong cases, including Alabama, who needs some help, and one team that would likely need...