Free Republic

Coach of the month in November, out of a job by New Year's. The Brooklyn Nets have elevated expectations this season, and a .500 record wasn't good enough. Coach Avery Johnson was fired Thursday, his team having lost 10 of 13 games after a strong start to its first season in Brooklyn. "We don't have the same fire now than we did when we were 11-4," general manager Billy King said at a news conference in East Rutherford, N.J. "I tried to talk to Avery about it and we just can't figure it out. The same pattern kept on happening."...

SNIP Police who arrested the 21-year-old said he told them he was honouring the memory of Osama bin Laden, but he denied that in court. SNIP He said he had seen far worse jerseys, such as one bearing the name Adolf Hitler

Five NFC teams are fighting for two postseason spots, and the race for first-round byes in the AFC remains convoluted. The Cowboys lost, but the Giants' loss later sets up a winner-take-all Cowboys-Redskins game on Sunday night for the NFC East title. The Vikings remained in the No. 6 slot in the NFC but also were big winners, as the Giants and Cowboys' losses mean Minnesota doesn't require help to make the postseason.

The list of angry fans who were stood up by a sports promoter at the Cowboys-Steelers game two weeks ago is growing. It stretches literally around the world and into the hundreds... All say they are victims of the Maximum Sports Connection and Ronni Sokol. Just before kickoff, they say she told them the game had been "oversold." "I don't expect to get any money back, because with her track record, it doesn't look good," said Kerry Vincent of the Mechanicsburg Police Department in Pennsylvania.

I will provide a link in the comments section to a nice NY Times article that is quite long but really covers what is happening well. I don't think Anonymous is doing this just because of the rape; I believe iris because of the lawsuit against the bogger. I will provide a link for her as sell. I'm pretty sure she make money from her blog so don't click if you have issues with that.

The Canadian man known as "Surfing Santa" is back again with his holiday tradition. Every year, John Fulton puts on Santa's red suit and windsurfs along the Niagara River between Ontario and New York. Although Surfing Santa has a history of getting in trouble for surfing too close to Buffalo, the U.S. Border Patrol officially sanctioned his trip for this year. Agents also had a boat in the water just in case Fulton had trouble in the water.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning has had plenty of reasons to perfect his pout in the last few weeks. It’s not exactly a rivalry, the thing that exists between the New York Jets and New York Giants. Neither team plays in New York, nor against each other all that often. The fan bases don’t overlap, but don’t exactly clash, either. So all year, Giants fans have been able to stand alongside other neutral NFL observers marveling at the buff, surly telenovela that is the Jets. The Jets, for their part, were at it again on Sunday, with third-stringer-turned-starter Greg McElroy...

During his thirty years as a pro wrestler, Rip Hawk piled up enough championship belts, main event appearances, and road stories to last a lifetime... Hawk, who died December 22 at 82, after a series of heart-related ailments in recent years, was best known as the tag team partner of Swede Hanson in Jim Crockett Sr.'s Charlotte, N.C.-based promotion in the 1960s and 1970s...

Despite nearing the end of his fourth season, quarterback Josh Freeman is dissolving before our very eyes. He had an incredibly deceiving 372 yards passing yards on Sunday. He also threw four more interceptions, for eight in two weeks, or as many as he had in his first 13 games this season. His head is full of mush. Maybe the Bucs should lock him up with a contract while the price is right. How does five years, $100,000 a year sound? Suddenly, No. 5 is a project again, the priority worry. I'm sure they're hidden somewhere, but there just aren't...

I can't believe this! Here is a long article, yet it provides all the pertinent info! http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/sports/high-school-football-rape-case-unfolds-online-and-divides-steubenville-ohio.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

AFC for a bye: Hous has head-to-head over DEN, giving them Current hold on #1 seed and bye NE PATS have head-to-head OVER HOUS and DEN and BALT HAS head-to-head victory over PATS in fight for #3 seed. BALT has clinched tiebreaker over CINN (div record) TIEBREAKERS FOR INDY VS CINCY AT 10-6: CONFERENCE WILL BE 7-5 IND VS. CIN, COMMON GAMES, INDY IS 4-1, CINCY IS 3-2 therefore, INDY HAS CLINCHED THE #5 SEED. NFC Giants: WASH AND DAL have tiebreaker over NYG (DIV REC), NYG CAN only be wildcard. NYG have tiebreakers vs MN and CHI and SEA...

Over the last 50 years dozens of pet dogs have leapt from the 50ft bridge for no apparent reason, usually on clear sunny days. Each of the dogs jumped from the same spot between two parapets on the right-hand side. In 2005 the problem was so bad that 5 dogs jumped to their deaths off the bridge within the space of 6 months. The SSPCA ( Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ) considers the matter a 'heartbreaking mystery'. Many theories have been proposed to explain these peculiar circumstances. Some people believe that the dogs have jumped...

HOURS AFTER SUNSET, the cars pulled up, one after another, bringing dozens of teenagers from several nearby high schools to an end-of-summer party in August in a neighborhood here just off the main drag.

Statements by Obama and NY governor Cuomo and others have made gun owners very worried. If we get an assault weapons ban via congressional action or presidential order, who will stop the momentum from turning to outright confiscation especially in Leftist jurisdictions. I don't know if any states currently have state laws that address this specific issue, but we need to make sure that our gun and property rights are secure from the gun grabbers at all levels.

If Robert Griffin III is a “cornball”, then clearly cornball is compatible with aptitude, proficiency, talent and intelligence. Frankly, I’d like every young black man in America to be defined that way. While the recent commentary by ESPN reporter, Rob Parker regarding the young Washington Redskins phenomenon may have caught others off guard--I could see it coming from ten miles away. As an educator, I have had the privilege to work with African Washington Redskins player Robert Griffin III. (Evan Vucci - AP) American male students in a number of capacities: as a teacher, principal, counselor, coach, and mentor. The...

The NHL could be one step away from canceling another hockey season because of a labor fight with the players. In the latest round of cancellations, the NHL on Thursday wiped out all games through Jan. 14. More than 50 percent of the schedule has been lost, and the rest is now in great danger, too. “I don’t want to characterize what today’s cancellations mean or don't mean,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press in an email. “I will stand on the announcement that was made.” So far, 625 regular-season games have been called off, including nearly...

This has not been the best week for New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow. First, on Wednesday, Jets Coach Rex Ryan says Greg McElroy will replace Mark Sanchez as the Jets' starter, leaving Tebow on the bench. Then, on Thursday, US Weekly reports that Tebow has broken up with actress Camilla Belle after two months of dating. Belle is famous for starring in "From Prada to Nada" and "Dirty Dancing 3." And when I say famous, I mean "been in movies no one has ever heard of or watched." US Weekly says the breakup came because "the relationship just didn't...

In the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings, Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah has retired his trademark six-shooter celebration. Every time he makes a big play he pretends to fire off two guns with his fingers. But, as media outlets noted on Tuesday, he didn't do it once during his triple-double performance in the Bulls' 100-89 victory over Boston. After the game he told reporters that "you can’t joke around with things like that. Too many people are dying because of guns. We have a problem here with guns. So just trying to be a little bit compassionate about what’s...

In the NFC, five 8-6 teams appear to be competing for two available spots, though the 9-5 Seahawks haven't secured their postseason berth yet. And while the Steelers, Cowboys and Giants wouldn't make the playoffs if the season ended today, all would get in by winning their remaining two games. The Vikings, who would make it right now, do not control their own fate.

This isn't your bubbe's game of dreidel. More than 30 competitors spun for glory Thursday night as part of a Major League Dreidel contest at Full Circle Bar on Grand Street. With team names ranging from "Hanukkah Hustlers" and "Latkatonic" to "Gimel Da Loot," the particpants played a modified game of the holiday classic, in which spinners tried to land their dreidels on a Hebrew letter or in hole at the end of the table for maximum points. MLD founder and referee Eric Pavoney, aka the "Knishiner," called the contest a "cross between shuffleboard and cornhole." "Dreidel is not just...