Free Republic

A grand jury in Ontario County, N.Y., will decide whether Tony Stewart will face charges in connection with the Aug. 9 dirt-track accident in which the NASCAR driver struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. An investigation by the county sheriff concluded last week and the information gathered was turned over to the office of the district attorney. In announcing the end of the investigation, the sheriff’s department said the evidence included “a forensic video enhancement” or the incident at Canandaigua, N.Y., Motorsports Park.

At a time of unprecedented public scrutiny that will serve only to attract further interest of the folks who have a habit of looking for causes to support that will score points with the public, the NFL has hired a new lobbyist. The press release doesn’t describe former Deputy Assistant to the President and Counsel to the Vice President of the United States Cynthia Hogan as a lobbyist. But that’s what she’ll be. And lobbyists work their contacts aggressively within the political universe to advance the causes of their clients. (Officially, Hogan is the NFL’s Senior Vice President of Public...

“RGIII was wearing a t-shirt that said ‘Know Jesus, Know Peace.’ NFL Uniform Inspector Tony McGee (former Skins DE) approached Griffin,” Phillips tweeted. “McGee told Griffin he couldn’t wear the shirt because it wasn’t a Nike product. Made him turn it inside out for the press conference.”

The officials blew the game big time in the fourth quarter of the Colts versus Eagles game, most notably on a huge non-call of defensive holding. You never want to be those fans. You never want to be those fans that blame the officiating for the loss. Let's face it: every fanbase thinks that their team were the victims of some cheap calls that hurt them. Every fanbase is the same, and each week is no different. That's why I generally try to stay away from criticizing the officials too much. Tonight, however, is different. Tonight, whether you're a Colts...

Time Warner Cable has agreed to broadcast the final week of the Los Angeles Dodgers' regular season baseball on local broadcast station KDOC. The move -- in a show of goodwill to Los Angeles area baseball fans -- enables millions of viewers throughout the region to watch the final six games of the regular season. The Dodgers are locked in a tight race to clinch the National League West Division title.

Top 10: 1: FSU2: Oregon3: OU4: Auburn5: 'Bama6: TAMU7: LSU8: Baylor9: Ole Miss10: Notre Dame

~~ Come on in and shoot the breeze! ~~ Welcome to Tom Gresham's Gun Talk® Radio Network, the only nationally syndicated radio talk show about firearms, shooting and gun rights. Tune in on Sundays, 08:00-11:00pm EST, and give us a call at 1-866-825-5486.

The coin toss for a college football game is a fairly simple thing. A captain from the visiting team calls heads or tails and ordinarily, if he wins the toss, he gets to choose whether his team will receive the kickoff to start the game or he can defer that choice to the second half. Apparently one of Texas’ team captains had trouble understanding this against UCLA on Saturday. The Bruins won the toss and elected to defer their choice to the second half. At that juncture, Texas was given the opportunity to choose whether to receive the opening kickoff...

In the 14 years since Indiana controversially fired Bob Knight, the iconic former Hoosiers coach has never returned to the school he led to five Final Fours and three national championships. One of Knight's most famous former players hopes he sets aside his grudge soon. Former Big Ten player of the year A.J. Guyton, one of five new members of Indiana's athletic hall of fame, wrote an open letter on his Facebook page appealing to Knight to come back to Bloomington for the Nov. 7 induction dinner

Frank Torre, older brother of Yankees Hall of Fame skipper Joe and former Milwaukee Braves first baseman, dead at 82 Though he was nine years older, Frank Torre, who broke into the majors with the Milwaukee Braves in 1956, served as a mentor to his younger brother growing up on Avenue T in Brooklyn, and later as a father figure after their parents split up.

A former Oakland Raiders spouse on the Rice scandal and the league’s culture of secrecy. Tracy Treu worked at Mother Jones from 1998 to 2006 and is married to former Oakland Raiders center Adam Treu, who played 10 seasons in the NFL. I'm so fed up by people blaming Janay Rice. We're asking for incredible bravery, and we're giving little compassion to this woman. Because it's so easy to say: "Well, she's the fool who married him. Why doesn't she just leave?" There are just so many components to it that people aren't aware of. The NFL is a culture...

Off-the-field violence by professional football players is coming under new focus this week after the release of a video involving the star Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, followed by a bungled response by the National Football League. But what do the numbers show about N.F.L. players’ tangles with the law more broadly? Are some teams’ players more likely to get into legal trouble? Are arrests rising or falling? What are the most common offenses? USA Today maintains a database of arrests, charges, and citations of N.F.L. players for anything more serious than a traffic citation. Maintained by Brent Schrotenboer,...

ATLANTA — This is one shot even the great Rory McIlroy had no chance to hit. His golf ball landed in a spectator’s pocket. McIlroy’s tee shot on the 14th hole of the Tour Championship on Friday drifted to the right, clattered into a tree and dropped straight down. A dozen or so fans tried to figure out where it was before one man realized it was in the front right pocket of his shorts. The world’s No. 1 player was entitled to a free drop under Rule 19-1-a - “Ball in motion stopped or deflected by an outside agency”...

Some are already calling it the biggest day in the history of Pennsylvania horse racing. California Chrome, who won this year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, will run Sept. 20 in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx in suburban Philadelphia. It’s the first time the Bensalem track has ever hosted a winner of the Kentucky Derby. And it’s the first race for the chiseled, chestnut-colored thoroughbred following his disappointing showing at Belmont Stakes, where he lost his bid to become the sport's 13th Triple Crown winner.

Top 10: 1: Oregon2: FSU3: Auburn4: OU5: 'Bama6: UGA7: USC8: LSU9: TAMU10: Notre Dame

Moving up from seventh last month to fourth in the list this month is the three year old CALIFORNIA CHROME (USA) [124] who justified favoritism in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) in impressive style. Always prominent he sprinted away from the field from the top of the stretch and was winning so convincingly that his rider could start to celebrate well before the finish. California Chrome thus becomes the highest rated three year old in the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings although he may have that position challenged as some of the major European Group 1 races...

I think Ray Rice should be suspended, or change his name to Ray Lewis so John Feinstein can drool over him on his NFL HoF ballot. Has Hope Solo been suspended from the US women's soccer team or the professional league is in? Just wondering.

CBS Pulls Rihanna Song From NFL Pregame Show in Light of Ray Rice Scandal.

A Centre County Court of Common Pleas judgment was posted by the prothonotary’s office Thursday, giving the Paterno family and its co-filers the news they had been waiting for. “Plaintiffs have standing to challenge the consent decree,” the court documents said. Judge John Leete’s 39-page decision is based on arguments made earlier this year in the case brought by the Paternos, four members of the Penn State board of trustees, four members of the university faculty, and former football players and coaches against the NCAA and Penn State regarding the consent decree, the contract that led to the historic sanctions...