Free Republic

France's World Cup celebrations marred as fans are choked by tear gas after police also use water cannon and clash with revellers in Paris as a MILLION people party into the night on the Champs-Élysées Police forces fired tear gas as scuffles and pockets of looting broke out on the Champs-Élysées as French football celebrations in Paris soured following their sides World Cup victory over Croatia in Moscow. Revelers set off smoke bombs in the national colors - blue, white and red - obscuring Napoleon's triumphal arch as police tackled the crowd using water canons. People climbed atop every newspaper...

The Red Sox head into their All-Star break with what else: another win. Their 5-2 victory over the Blue Jays gives them a 68-30 record and a comfy cushion for them to enjoy a four-day lull before reuniting for the Tigers series that begins Friday in Detroit. Making the day even sweeter, the Yankees lost in Cleveland, meaning the Sox' lead in the AL East is at its largest margin (4.5 games) all season, including in late April, when the Red Sox held a 19-5 record.

Congratulations to France, who played extraordinary soccer, on winning the 2018 World Cup. Additionally, congratulations to President Putin and Russia for putting on a truly great World Cup Tournament -- one of the best ever!

The private video filmed after the Croatia Russia match, FIFA’s reaction to it aimed to please the Russian Federation and the chain of ensuing events provoked a powerful international social and media response which exposed Russian propaganda narratives, uncovered a few painful truths as well as raised uncomfortable questions challenging some conventional western myths about Ukraine, Russia, FIFA, Facebook and western politics. Let us quickly look back at the facts. On July 7, 2018, Croatian team defeated Russians on penalties at the 2018 FIFA World Cup quarter finals. After the match, Croatia’s defender Domagoj Vida and assistant coach Ognjen Vukojević,...

The St. Louis Cardinals have fired manager Mike Matheny and named bench coach Mike Shildt as interim manager. The team also relieved hitting coach John Mabry and assistant hitting coach Bill Mueller of their duties.

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...

The head of diversity at FIFA has warned the soccer organization’s broadcasting partners to stop zooming in on “hot women” in the crowd at World Cup matches. Speaking before yesterday’s match between Croatia and England about FIFA’s anti-discrimination program in Russia, diversity boss Federico Addiechi said eliminating those type of shots is part of the “natural evolution” of broadcasts.

“The World Needs More Cowboys.” This proposed new slogan for the University of Wyoming was meant to be “inclusive, by design,” according to the marketing campaign flier that was obtained by The Chronicle of Higher Education. “This is not a campaign to reinforce regressive stereotypes of Cowboys from the pop-cultural past,” the flier states. “This is a campaign to rewrite them.” The flier goes on to explain how this campaign is an opportunity to “celebrate people in every corner” because “Cowboys come in every sex, shape, color and creed” at the University of Wyoming.

MOSCOW (AP) England and France. The two youngest teams in the World Cup, destined to meet in the final after a parade of greater soccer nations with veteran stars had gone home. France did its part Tuesday by beating Belgium, a more experienced side loaded with talent, and five minutes into Wednesday’s match against Croatia, England was following the same script. For the second straight game, an English player scored his first international goal in a World Cup knockout match, this time Kieran Trippier sending a sweet free kick into Croatia’s net.

ByBRAD CRAWFORD Jul 9, 8:02 AM Which college football teams are the most complete and talent-rich heading into the 2018 season? Preseason magazine guru Phil Steele, who studies rosters and interviews coaches 12 months out of the year, believes he has an idea. He has compiled his annual 'Preseason Top 40' rankings, a list that's usually one of the most accurate nationally. Steele notes two important guidelines about this year's rankings, which for this exercise have been trimmed to the first 25 teams. "My preseason rankings are not my power rankings," Steele writes. "These rankings take into account the totality...

A case can be made that WNBA players are actually overpaid relative to what consumers actually want. After all, the WNBA is subsidized by the NBA in a variety of ways including direct financial support, free publicity, and the fact that many WNBA franchises are owned by the city’s NBA owner. In fact, the WNBA’s big television contract was itself a byproduct of the channel reworking its agreement with their male counterpart.2 So instead of grumbling about the salaries male basketball players enjoy, perhaps A’ja Wilson should be thankful that the men's product helps bolster her own paycheck. At the...

The firestorm over NFL players disrespecting the national anthem is not over. The NFL Players Association, a union that represents all NFL players, sued the NFL on Tuesday for their adoption of a new anthem policy. The NFLPA filed a grievance challenging new policy that forces all players to stand on the field during the anthem. “The union’s claim is that this new policy, imposed by the NFL’s governing body without consultation with the NFLPA, is inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement and infringes on player rights,” a press release from the union said.

Three years after leading the American League in home runs and two years since re-signing with the Baltimore Orioles for $161 million, former All-Star Chris Davis is on the verge of entering the record books for one of the worst offensive seasons in modern baseball history. Currently hitting .157, Davis, 32, is in danger of finishing the season with the lowest batting average of anyone to qualify for a batting title (502 plate appearances for a 162-game season), according to The Wall Street Journal. Since 1900, when baseball's modern era began, the lowest qualifying batting average ever recorded for an...

France and Belgium will battle for a place in the World Cup final against England or Croatia when they meet in St Petersburg on Tuesday night. A host of Premier League stars will be on show in the first semi-final, with Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard, N'Golo Kante and Hugo Lloris among those expected to start the huge knockout clash. Sportsmail brings you all the build up, the best photos from in and around the ground and live updates when the game kicks off at 7pm.

The brawl, which occurred in an Atlanta suburb, doesn't have a known root cause yetJust a week after an ugly brawl in FIBA World Cup qualifiers between the Philippines and Australia, another one broke out at an amateur game in a suburb in Atlanta. This one, however, was between players and referees, rather than players from both sides. Chicago's R.A.W. Athletics were facing the Houston Raptors on Sunday when the brawl occurred. Doug Jones shared a few videos on Twitter of the brawl, and they're certainly ugly.That clip shows the onset of the brawl, with the official being knocked to...

England's ongoing World Cup success has inspired fans at home to hope, just maybe, that football's coming home. But some of England's closest neighbours have been less happy with the Three Lions's semi-final streak. After neither Scotland or Wales qualified for the tournament, fans in both nations were left with a seemingly straightforward decision: whether or not to support their English counterparts.

When the New York Mets held their first LGBTQ Pride Night in August 2016, fans waved rainbow flags in the stadium, the Lesbian and Gay Big Apple Corps Marching Band performed, Citi Field’s giant Coca-Cola sign was lit up in rainbow colors and the Kiss Cam caught several same-sex smooches throughout the game. In keeping with tradition, the team honored a veteran at the game, and for that first Pride Night, the Mets honored a gay Army vet. Nearly two years later, however, the Mets’ hometown rivals — the New York Yankees — have yet to host a Pride Night...

England fans were filmed tearing up an Ikea in east London as supporters decided to rub some salt in Swedish wounds. The crowd well and truly took over the shop in Westfield Stratford City after England’s 2-0 victory this afternoon. In the footage, the overzealous fans are seen kicking furniture and jumping on beds as they sing ‘it’s coming home’.Others pile into the shop waving flags of St George as staff look on helpless. One video describes the crowd as a ‘fab mob’, while others commenting on social media say they should be ‘ashamed of themselves’. Another clip shared online...

A former coach and family friend says onetime Sacramento Kings and UCLA basketball player Tyler Honeycutt was found dead after a standoff with Los Angeles police.

Tonight, Prelims on Fox Sports One and Fox Sports Go at 8 Eastern. Main Card on PPV at 10 Eastern. Heavyweight Champ Stipe Miocic defends his belt against Light HW Champ Daniel Cormier in the main event. DC seeks to be become the 5th 2 division Champ. This is only the 3rd (Reigning) Champ V. Champ match-up in UFC History. Scheduled co-main between Featherweight Champ Max Holloway and Brian Ortega cancelled due to Holloway developing "concussion-like symptoms". Whether it was a real concussion or just a bad weight cut I can't say. Rest of the main card Francis Ngannou...