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The United States announced Monday it would boycott the upcoming Paralympic Games in Sochi to protest Russia’s incursion into Ukraine, as a State Department spokesperson said it was “likely” that the U.S. would impose sanctions on Russia. The boycott effectively means a presidential delegation will not be attending the games, an announcement that comes as President Obama and Congress scramble to respond to Russia’s aggression on Ukrainian territory in Crimea. “In addition to other measures we are taking in response to the situation in Ukraine, the United States will no longer send a Presidential Delegation to the upcoming Winter Paralympic...

Now that the big game is over it is time to rethink professional football. Many young progs are running around claiming “team ownership”, touting that it is “their” team is the best. The ugly truth is that the teams are owned by some bourgeois one percenter and they owe you, the fans, nothing. They are exploiting you and getting rich as a result. Football is a business and you have been tricked into buying branded items to advertise for them with no compensation! Stop being exploited! The last big game also showed disparity in awarding points. Denver worked so hard...

Just a day after raising eyebrows by calling Johnny Manziel an "arrogant little prick" on a St. Louis radio station, Barry Switzer is back in the headlines, this time for saying he would never recruit a white quarterback. The former Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys coach made the comment during an interview on WNSR in Nashville on Thursday as part of a response to a question about whether he would want Manziel in his backfield. Specifically, the question was, "If you are a coach in the NFL at this point in time — we know your opinion on Johnny and his...

MOSCOW - The Sochi Olympics "opened Russia's soul" to the world and wrongfooted critics of the host country, President Vladimir Putin said in remarks broadcast on Tuesday. Taking stock after Russia topped the medals table and avoided major security problems at its first post-Soviet Games, Putin said constructive criticism from the International Olympic Committee had helped make Sochi 2014 a success. But there were other critics whose jabs were motivated by "the competitive struggle in international politics, maybe even geopolitics". "They used the Olympic project to achieve their own aims in the area of anti-Russian propaganda," he said. "Because when...

... Through Monday night, a review of the events at the Extreme Park counted at least 22 accidents that either forced athletes out of the competition or, if on their final run, required medical attention. Of those, 16 involved women. The injury rate is higher when considering that the men’s fields are generally larger. The question, a difficult one, is why. The Winter Games have always had dangerous events. But the Extreme Park, as the name suggests, is built on the ageless allure of danger. All of the events there have been added to the Olympic docket since 1992, each...

An unlikely celebrity will make a television appearance at the NBA All-Star Game this weekend: President Barack Obama. The commander-in-chief sat for an interview Thursday with NBA legend Charles Barkley, Politico reports. The interview with Obama, a noted basketball fan and longtime Chicago Bulls devotee, will air at half-time Sunday evening on TNT. The cable network tweeted a brief teaser of the president plugging the game and TNT. ---snip--- The substance of Obama's interview has not been made public but there's speculation that Barkley — known for making provocative political commentary on air — may have veered into politics. While...

Before he headed to Moscow in January 2012 as Barack Obama’s new ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul was itching to get out of government. He had dreams of moving back to Palo Alto. The weather’s nice, his family missed the place. But Obama had come to rely on McFaul, a longtime Russia scholar and the National Security Council’s point man on the country. So he offered him a posting he couldn’t decline. McFaul’s academic specialty is revolution—a detail that Vladimir Putin, hounded by a bubbling uprising, immediately seized on. State television vilified McFaul as the man Washington had sent to...

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter says he will retire after this season. In a lengthy letter posted Wednesday on his Facebook account, Jeter, 39, started by thanking his fans and supporters throughout his career. He also referenced a "bunch of injuries" that had him sidelined for much of last season. "And this is, I could not be more sure," Jeter wrote. "I know it in my heart. The 2014 season will be my last year playing professional baseball."

Several American doubles lugers said they were irritated by a popular Canadian video celebrating diversity that pokes fun at their sport. The Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion recently released a promotional video that shows doubles luge, a sport in which one rider lies on top of the other as they sled down the track. At the end of the video is the tagline: “The Games have always been a little gay. Let’s fight to keep it that way.” “They’re making fun of our sport for their cause and it doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me,” Christian...

He hasn't been behind the wheel since 1992, but there still is only one King of NASCAR, and when Richard Petty speaks, the words carry some weight. On the subject of Danica Patrick's chances of winning in her second full season behind the wheel of a Sprint Cup car, Petty is quite clear.

<p>Tennis star Maria Sharapova led a group of six notable Russian athletes for the torch lighting at Friday's Opening Ceremony.</p> <p>Sharapova was joined by pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, former gymnast Alina Kabaeva (who has been linked romantically to Vladimir Putin), figure-skating legend Irina Rodnina, wrestling star Alexander Karelin and former hockey goaltender Vladislav Tretiak.</p>

...celebrity boxing promoter Damon Feldman says he got Zimmerman to agree to engage in a celebrity boxing match for charity. However Sharpton, the civil rights activist and leader of the National Action Network, is warning people against being quick to label Zimmerman a celebrity. "We must be very careful not to glorify or in any way sidestep the implications of making someone whose only claim to fame was killing an unarmed young man named Trayvon Martin into a cultural celebrity or hero," Sharpton told CNN. "It is perfectly legal for him to exploit his fame but we should never forget...

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Sochi on Tuesday, state media reported, as the Black Sea resort city enters the final stages of preparations for hosting the Winter Olympics. Putin is on a "working visit" to Sochi, with only three days to go before the Games open Friday, state news agency RIA Novosti reported. A leopard rehabilitation center was the first stop on Putin's schedule. The animals at the center, which opened nearly four years ago, are under the President's personal protection, state media say. One of them is reportedly a 6-month-old leopard kitten called Thunder. Putin will also attend...

Football. Olympics. The mere terms reflect pride, passion and the American way. Football is one of the best pastimes in our country, and its crescendo reached its zenith this past Sunday with the Super Bowl. Congratulations to the NFL champions, the Seattle Seahawks. There are few events better than sitting (and standing) with family and friends cheering on your favorite team in that ultimate competition. And it's a pretty good excuse for munching the best of American grub as you do! Also, the Winter Olympics are about to begin -- Friday, Feb. 7, in Sochi, Russia -- so I thought...

While everyone was paying attention to the demise of the U.S. economy, the U.S. workforce, the checks and balances written into the U.S. Constitution, a terrible tragedy has ensued almost unnoticed. Yes, while the rest of were working to “save” the country from galloping Big Government, the most perfect game in the history of the universe has brought itself to the brink of extinction. The downfall of the National Football League is imminent There are many signs and symptoms of the NFL’s impending doom there for the thinking person to see. The NFL used to have the problem that...

(CNSNews.com) - The nation’s attention will be riveted tonight on MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. where 92 professional football players--46 per team--will be suited up to play Super Bowl XLVIII. But for each of those 92 professional football players who have made it to the Super Bowl, there are approximately 11,828 students playing high school football in this country. In the 2012-2013 school year, 14,048 U.S. high schools fielded teams to play 11-man per side American tackle football. The 1,088,158 athletes who played on these teams in the 2012-2013 school year made football the No. 1 participation sport in...

Former Arizona Governor and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will be part of the United States delegation to the Winter Olympics in Sochi next month.

Kicker Conner Mertens of Willamette (Oregon) University became the first active college football player to publicly come out as LGBT this week when he told his coach, followed by his team, followed by the world via social media, that he is bisexual. According to outsports.com, Mertens received an overwhelming show of support from coach Glen Fowles and teammates. Mertens also wrote a letter to his hometown of Kennewick, Wash., and published it on his Twitter account. "I'm bisexual," Mertens reportedly told Fowles. "I like dudes. I have a boyfriend. And next week, I'm going to tell the world."

Okay, who gives a Rats Arse about the 2014 Stupor Bowl? I sure don't.

ROHNERT PARK — Rancho Cotate High School sophomore Kimberly Rowley is a wrestler who has autism. Just don’t call her an autistic wrestler.

Li Na thanked her agent after winning her second tennis Grand Slam in Australia. "Max, agent, make me rich, thanks a lot" she said." Funny that proclaiming that you are rich is cool in China and Russia, but no longer in the good ole USA. Haven't communist countries heard about income inequality? Sharing the wealth? When is the last time one of our sport's stars proclaimed his or her wealth to the world ? Li Na ranks 85th in the world's highest paid athletes having won over $18 million dollars in her career. Li Na is anything but a communist,...

Before Mikaela Shiffrin even reached her teens, she was like so many small skiers, tugged by a Poma lift up a hill, idle time between runs for adjusting goggles and wiping noses. This was at Burke Mountain Academy, a Vermont school for young, elite ski racers, and Shiffrin was a star there by any measure, with a propensity for seeking the kind of perfect turns that — eventually, linked together, over and over — lead to race wins. She skipped no steps. As she sat back and let the rope tug her up the hill, Shiffrin watched the other skiers...

Nathaniel Wentz is a 17-year-old kid who plays quarterback for his high school football team. He also works — well, he used to work — during his free time. Why did we say he used to work? Because he was fired from his gig at Odyssey 1 family entertainment center in Tacoma, Washington after he wore a Broncos jersey to work last Sunday. Why was he wearing a Broncos jersey? Because his boss told employees that they could wear jerseys of their favorite teams to work since it was the day of the AFC and NFC Championship Games. Wentz's manager...

Happy New Year and welcome to the 60 Minutes/ Vanity Fair poll for January 2014. This month's poll centers on sports in America. What is it about America's fascination with sports? The word fan is short for fanatic, and some people think that sports in our society might be changing from a national pastime to a national obsession. The revenue that sports generates has fueled a large rise in 24/7 media attention and coverage, and with that comes the inevitable excesses and scandals that are all too familiar. But sports also builds bridges and is a big part of America's...

This is old. I think I saw it last year, but still pretty cool. No way around the slideshow, so spare me. Some I don't agree with, and some are missing. But who am I?

Subtitle: Fathers and sons have bonded over football games for generations, but today it's harder for parents to ignore the growing concerns surrounding the sport. Excerpt: My son, unfamiliar with the NFL’s pieties, assumed that hurting the other team’s players was the goal. To his untutored eye, the violence that guilt-ridden fans like myself decry was a feature, not a bug. He didn’t cheer the injuries; he’s too sweet for that. But despite my insistence to the contrary, I suspect the message he took from the experience was: The only thing you need to know about the large man writhing...

Game between Broncos and the mis-named Patriots, from leftist Boston, is about to start. Living in Colorado I will be rooting for Manning against reported liberal Brady. Just knowing that John F'n Kerry will be rooting for his "Patriots" makes me want the Broncos to win even more. Who are other FReeper football fans rooting for?

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday no athlete would face discrimination at next month's Winter Olympics, hoping to ease international concern over a Russian law banning gay "propaganda". Aware that the success or failure of the Sochi Games will help shape his legacy, Putin has closely identified himself with the $50-billion event which opens on February 7. Putin outraged many in the West last year by signing a law banning the spread of homosexual "propaganda" among minors. Critics say the law is discriminatory and aimed at stifling dissent but calls for a boycott of the Games have failed.

Little League Coach Sues Player for $500k for Accidentally Hitting Him With Helmet 14-year-old Little League player is being sued for more than $500,000 by a former coach who claims he was injured when the boy threw his helmet in the air after scoring a game-winning run. The coach, Alan Beck, is looking to recoup lost wages, medical bills, and of course, pain and suffering. Beck alleges that the helmet the boy threw ended up striking him in the ankle, severing his achilles tendon. Beck’s attorney conceded to Sacramento’s KCRA-3 that the boy did not intend to hurt anyone, but...

Now that the U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory to Americans that all but screams don’t go to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, you have to wonder: Why is the U.S. government taking such a contrary position about these Olympics? And what will be the consequences? For any travelers who do go? For the U.S. team? The U.S. Olympic Committee? Longer term, for the prospect of an American bid for the 2024 Summer Games — the International Olympic Committee tending to have a long memory about governments that don’t play ball the Olympic way, especially when it’s...

LONDON (CBS Atlanta) – A cyclist needed medical intervention at an Irish hospital because an injury he suffered caused his penis to remain erect for nearly two months. The unnamed bicyclist sustained an injury on the crossbar of his mountain bike that interfered with the blood flow to his penis. A medical report quoted in the Irish Examiner said the biker’s pain and bruising settled within days, but that he sustained ongoing “high-flow” priapism “with rigid erection”. After suffering in silence for five weeks, he finally sought medical attention. A hospital report said the initial examination “revealed no signs of...

Includes monitoring communication, background checks, even drones When Canadian government officials visited St. Petersburg last year for the G20, they swapped their email addresses with temporary ones and left their Canadian cellphones behind. The U.S. State Department's bureau of diplomatic security, meanwhile, recently warned that visitors to Russia should have "no expectation of privacy," that all means of communication should be "assumed to be monitored." Since the Cold War, Russia's reputation as an intrusive state has been well established. But as the Sochi Olympic Games approach, the host country appears to be aiming for surveillance gold. In fact, security experts...

The NFL play-offs are in full swing, any other Seahawk fans out there? Seahawks beat the New Orleans Saints in rainy Seattle 23-15, Woo-Hoo!

(CNN) -- Early in her career as a learning specialist, Mary Willingham was in her office when a basketball player at the University of North Carolina walked in looking for help with his classwork. He couldn't read or write. "And I kind of panicked. What do you do with that?" she said, recalling the meeting. Willingham's job was to help athletes who weren't quite ready academically for the work required at UNC at Chapel Hill, one of the country's top public universities. But she was shocked that one couldn't read. And then she found he was not an anomaly. Soon,...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Is everyone sure that Florida State beat Auburn to win the National Championship on Monday night? Absolutely sure? Like, 100% sure?

An uncle of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was legally drunk and possibly high on drugs when he died last year in a freak accident, police say. Robert Valentine's toxicology report came back positive for both alcohol and cocaine after he crashed a scooter early in the morning August 3 in Mr Hernandez's hometown of Bristol, Connecticut, he was also wearing sunglasses. Mr Valentine's blood alcohol level was 0.19 per cent, more than double the legal limit, the Hartford Courant said, citing a police report. The combination of alcohol, drugs and sunglasses in the dark led investigators...

The first rule of public relations disasters is to change the narrative as quickly as possible. With that in mind, I’ll give Family Glazer a cookie for their rapid response in turning the 4-12 stench that was sooooo last season into a Loviefest. Well done. New coach Lovie Smith is a proven winner with local ties, and having a team that competes for the playoffs every year would certainly be refreshing. Call me jaded, though, on at least one big point. I’m not sure even winning automatically will fill Raymond James Stadium every Sunday and beyond. I think fans are...

Ex-Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe has said he is ‘pretty confident’ that he was cut from the team last May for being an out-spoken advocate for same-sex marriage. Kluwe has also accused Vikings coach Mike Priefer - currently a contender to become the team’s next head coach - of being a bigot who repeatedly used homophobic language in front him and told him he would ‘wind up burning in hell with the gays.’ The player, whose playing stats were above average, believes his problems began in the fall of 2012 when he started to speak out against the Minnesota Gay...

In an explosive column written for Deadspin, former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe says he is "pretty confident" his May release from the team was because of his outspoken support of gay marriage. Kluwe also accuses Vikings special teams coordinator Mike Priefer of being a bigot and blasts former coach Leslie Frazier and general manager Rick Spielman, calling them cowards.

Enjoy the short video clip of Vin Scully, 2014 Rose Parade Grand Marshal VIN SCULLY TALKS ABOUT BEST MEMORY

The final moments of Mack Brown’s career at Texas were neither triumphant nor tearful. Just quiet. He walked off the Alamodome field surrounded by noise but not saying a word. He gathered his team for his final locker room speech. And one hour later, he was gone. He left the building as Texas’ former head coach, his hellish 16th season finally complete with a 30-7 loss to No. 10 Oregon in the Valero Alamo Bowl. And there was unmistakable finality to this. Mack Brown congratulates QB Case McCoy after a first-half TD, but little else went right for Brown and...

The organizing committee for Russia’s Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics said Thursday it was "not really concerned" that President Barack Obama would not be attending the event. Sochi will be the first games since 2000 not attended by a U.S. president, first lady, or vice president. Obama said his decision not to go was due to a busy schedule in Washington, but it has come against a backdrop of increased tensions with Moscow.

On Thursday evening, CNN’s Piers Morgan appeared before 2,000 Australian cricket fans who watched as he took bowls (they look like pitches to us Americans) from a peeved Aussie bowler. Morgan had apparently long been taunting the Aussies as he was fed up with watching his native English cricket players getting dominated by their Australian counterparts. This led to a public challenge of sorts, where Morgan faced bowler Brett Lee and received several welts from 80 mph throws that struck his body in various spots. Throughout the ordeal, Morgan remained defiant, telling the bowler to “bring it on” after each...

Tickets to the Rose Bowl to see Michigan State play Stanford are hard to get and those who don't already have them will be further restrained if they try to buy them in Michigan because of a state law that makes it illegal to sell tickets above face value. But a new bill would change that. House Bill 5108, sponsored by Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Saginaw Township, would make it legal for people to sell tickets above face value on the secondary market in Michigan. Though much ignored (see websites like Craigslist or StubHub), a 1931 law makes ticket "scalping" illegal...

Brockton cops and Homeland Security raided a strip club authorities say was peddling fake Red Sox and Patriots gear in exchange for lap dances and seized the counterfeit goods — part of a growing problem that one expert says is not necessarily a victimless crime. Employees at the Foxy Lady Brockton were wearing some of the knock-off sports teams shirts when investigators showed up for the strip club sweep Friday afternoon and found about $10,000 worth of counterfeit gear, said Brockton police Lt. Paul Bonanca. “We seized various boxes of sports shirts,” Bonanca said. “The same jerseys sometimes sell for...

LOGAN COUNTY, WV - A fight on a high school basketball court Saturday night led to a coach getting arrested and facing several criminal charges. Logan High School's basketball coach Mark Hatcher was arrested after coaching the school to a victory over Scott High School during the Nationwide Insurance Basketball Classic. According to police, a fight between two opposing players broke out after they struggled for a rebound of a missed shot with only 4:33 on the clock. Punches were thrown during the fight and the two players were eventually ejected from the game.

**UPDATE** Breitbart News exclusively learned on Thursday afternoon that ESPN will air the original ad on Saturday from Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center with the words "Jesus" and "God." ESPN issued this statement to Breitbart News on Thursday: “We have again reviewed the ads submitted for the SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center and have concluded that we will accept the original requested commercial. It will run in Saturday’s VCU at Northern Iowa basketball game on ESPNU. This decision is consistent with our practice of individual review of all ads under our commercial advocacy standards.”

... Heisman hopeful Jameis Winston will not face any charges in a sexual assault case, mostly because there were too many gaps in his accuser’s story... ... the woman’s blood-alcohol content at the hospital was 0.04 percent and investigators estimated it to be about 0.10 percent at the time of the incident, based on the amount of time that had passed....

On Nov. 22, with the national media focused on the 50th anniversary of former President John F. Kennedy's death, few noticed the story of a jury in North Carolina convicting Crystal Mangum of murder in the 2011 kitchen stabbing death of her boyfriend Reginald Daye. Why should that fact fixate the national media? On its own, it shouldn't. But in 2006 and 2007, Mangum's false charges of rape against three Duke University lacrosse players caused a national tsunami of media sensation, an angry wave of prejudiced coverage presuming the guilt of rich white college boys when being accused by an...