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The question raised by NBA’s Stephen A. Smith, Spike Lee, and several NBA players, current and past, is “Why is it taking so long to fire Donald Sterling?” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was so strong and strident in his announcement that steps would be taken “immediately” to do just that. There was no ambiguity about whether they were going to fire Sterling for his racist comments against African Americans. It is a done deal. Commissioner Silver surely would not have made such a profound announcement without having consulted the other NBA owners. So why hasn’t the first shoe dropped? Like...

The Out Games are coming to St. Louis in 2016. The games, created by the Gay and Lesbian International Sports Association, are held every four to five years.

Jackie Robinson is the blueprint, or at least that's what so many seem to believe. It certainly wouldn't be a bad example for Michael Sam to follow. Robinson broke MLB's color barrier by putting his head down and competing. He won over critics by winning games for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Just shut up and play. Jackie Robinson is an undeniable American hero for what he did. How he accomplished it was his choice. For him and his day, it was perfect. That day, though, was 1947. The suggestion Michael Sam – as he reported for duty in St. Louis on...

MIAMI — Roger Mason Jr. hasn't played for the Miami Heat, or any NBA organization, since his February trade to Sacramento to clear roster space. The veteran guard and Miami resident has remained in touch, and in tune, with team and league matters, however. He's frequently visiting the Heat locker room, when he hasn't been traveling the country in his role as vice president of the NBA players association, and he's remained close to several Heat players. That includes James Jones, another member of the players association's executive council, and LeBron James, who has been one of the most outspoken...

From Ray Leonard's facebook page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Hqwku_iHRv8

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Shelly Sterling said today that "eventually, I am going to" divorce her estranged husband, Donald Sterling, and if the NBA tries to force her to sell her half of the Los Angeles Clippers, she would "absolutely" fight to keep her stake in the team. "I will fight that decision," she told ABC News' Barbara Walters today in an exclusive interview. "To be honest with you, I'm wondering if a wife of one of the owners, and there's 30 owners, did something like that, said those racial slurs, would they oust the husband? Or would they leave the husband in?" Sterling...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) President Barack Obama congratulated Michael Sam on Saturday for being the first openly gay football player taken in the National Football League draft, the White House said in a statement. "From the playing field to the corporate boardroom, LGBT Americans prove everyday that you should be judged by what you do and not who you are," Obama said. He also congratulated the NFL and the St. Louis Rams, the team that drafted Sam. Sam, an All-American defensive end who played for the University of Missouri, made history when he was picked by the Rams in the seventh and final...

Green Bay — The Green Bay Packers were one player away from disaster Thursday night in the first round of the National Football League draft. Prospect after prospect the Packers held in high regard and held out hopes might be available at their No. 21 position had to be removed from their draft board. Finally, it came down to the slot just ahead of Green Bay. What would have been the reaction among the Packers' decision-makers if the New Orleans Saints would have selected safety Ha'Sean "Ha Ha" Clinton-Dix of Alabama with pick No. 20. "I would have been crushed,"...

So, here I am, still in Denver, a lovely city, but too high up. Herewith, a few lowly thoughts about Mr. Donald Sterling, his private conversations with his mistress, the media lynching of him, and the actions of the NBA sanctioning him severely for those private thoughts and comments. “It’s a slippery slope,” said billionaire sports club owner Mark Cuban when asked about the sanctions. I am not sure what he meant, but he’s right. Sterling is being punished for his thoughts. He is being punished for actions that make the NBA look bad even though they were not actions...

The NFL draft — the league’s Radio City-staged, nationally televised, endlessly hyped off-season spectacle — opens Thursday night, and for the first time an openly gay player will be waiting for a phone call. But it could be a long wait for Michael Sam, the University of Missouri defender and all-American who came out in February. Draft analysts say he might not be selected until the last picks are made on Saturday — and perhaps not at all. If that happens, Sam could still sign with a team as an undrafted free agent and play on Sundays this fall. But...

His comments when Jason Collins came out didn't square for team with gay president. ...I’ve often wondered how comfortable it was for Jackson and team president Rick Welts to co-exist in the same organization. Welts is openly gay, becoming the first high-ranking executive in professional sports to come out back in 2011...Jackson is a fundamental [sic] Christian, who embraces what some call “traditional values”. And he wasn’t shy about letting people know his views. ... When Jason Collins made his historic pronouncement last year that he was gay, Jackson’s immediate response came out sounding less-than-supportive.

HAVE you or Dan Patrick ever apologised for the years of lame sports-presenting imitators you set upon the world? For nearly 20 years I’ve acknowledged that if any of the world’s major religions are correct, I’ll be going not (necessarily) to hell, but I will be going to purgatory. Some bureaucrat will ask me if I had ever considered the implications of opening that particular Pandora’s box, and then he’ll tell me to go over and sit on the bench and think about what I did for a few thousand years. I’m hoping I can get a seat near the...

Donald Sterling may be down, but he’s not out and he’s out looking for a law firm to help him sue the NBA, who are attempting to force him to sell the LA Clippers. According to media reports the combative and controversial Clippers boss is preparing to sue the NBA and fight attempts to make him sell the lucrative franchise. The reports are not entirely authoritative, coming from TMZ, but they are likely true given the nature of Donald Sterling, 80, and his humiliation over what has occurred in recent times. For him, the issue is of his own making...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Was Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson fired for his Christian views on gay marriage? That's what Ann Killion is asking at sfgate.com, noting that Jackson's lukewarm reaction to the coming-out of Jason Collins, last year was something of a mismatch for the Bay Area, which is the global capital of gay politics and culture. Killion writes: Everything about Jackson was under scrutiny, which includes his very public persona as a religious man. It was probably not at the top of the list, but was probably on the list.... When Jason Collins made his historic pronouncement last year that...

Cable TV's sports costs are prompting a growing number of people to "cut the cord". Exhibit A: The $8 billion charged by the Dodgers for broadcast rights to their games knowing full well that pay-TV companies would have to pass along this sky-high cost to all customers. Time Warner Cable is the Dodgers' partner in crime. It paid that whopping sum for exclusive rights to distribute the Dodgers channel to other pay-TV companies, assuming, like the team, that it would get away with sticking both fans and non-fans with an extra $4 to $5 fee every month. The harsh reality,...

Donald Sterling’s reputation had a bad week, but his pocketbook has never looked better. The punishment meted out by NBA Commissioner Silver—the maximum league fine of $2.5 million—pales in comparison to the billion dollars Sterling stands to make from selling the Clippers. Ironically, the league’s nuclear option—a forced sale—could also end up lining Sterling’s pocketbook with millions in tax savings. Instead of his just deserts, will Sterling end up with a sweet tax treat? First, there’s never been a better time for Sterling to sell, financially speaking. The Clippers have historically been regarded as one of the worst teams in...

Los Angeles Clippers guard J.J. Redick says that owner Donald Sterling was hesitant to sign him last summer because he’s white. Speaking to USA Today, Redick went into detail about how his four-year, $27 million sign-and-trade deal almost fell apart despite being initially agreed upon. “I’ve been told both ways: one, that he didn’t want to pay me because I was white, and that he didn’t want to pay me because I was a bench player,” Redick, the former Duke University star told USA Today. “I didn’t know until after the face. I just got a weird phone call from...

If you think about it, most American sports involve an animal hide. Baseballs, basketballs and footballs are all made with leather. In Afghanistan, they don’t just use the skin — the game ball is a whole goat. Minus the head and hooves. Buzkashi, the name of Afghanistan's national sport, translates into something like "goat-grabbing." That's the object: Grab the headless, disemboweled animal carcass (sometimes a calf), circle the field and deliver it to the goal. It originated among the Turkic people of Central Asia centuries ago, and for generations they’ve been passing down the game, and the goat, relatively unchanged....

As the Donald Sterling mess was going down earlier this week, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made an interesting and prescient point. He said he’d rather that Sterling—who said that he didn’t want his mistress to bring black fellers to his basketball team’s games—was not a NBA owner but that he felt uncomfortable forcing a sale of the team for what amounted to the man’s thoughts. Here’s Cuban in the New York Daily News: “In this country, people are allowed to be morons,” Cuban said. “They’re allowed to be stupid. They’re allowed to think idiotic thoughts. … Within an organization...

It's Jew Vs. Jew as Battle Over Team Heats Up.Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Sunday he expects Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling to put up a “long, protracted fight” to retain ownership of the team after being banned for life from the National Basketball Association because of racial comments. Garcetti, appearing on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” program, was asked about a potential boycott of Clippers games if Sterling balks and said, “I would certainly keep that arrow in my quiver.” Last week NBA Commissioner Adam Silver fined Sterling $2.5 million and imposed a lifetime ban after...