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Obama kicked off the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles on Saturday, welcoming thousands of intellectually disabled athletes. "To all of our athletes, I just want you to know that all those people won't just be cheering for you, they're going to be learning from you," the first lady told the cheering crowd during the opening ceremony. "You're filling us with so much hope. And you're uniting us in a way that nothing else can."

Bobby Marks who now offers incredible NBA insight on Twitter, recently said something sort of remarkable about San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon.

What is with the current fad of major league baseball players displaying full beards and their sycophant fans exhibiting the same? In today’s political climate, the only individuals I see sporting that facial hair are the Islamic extremists such as ISIS who are killing people throughout the world. Is this their attempt to identify with that religion and somehow send a message that they are badasses? I’m sorry but I just don’t get it………..I have no problem with men and properly trimmed beards but these players are going to the extreme. With that being said, there should be a dress...

The long and fruitful marriage between Dwyane Wade and Miami Heat will continue, as the two sides have agreed to a new deal.... Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press reported the deal is worth $20 million for one year.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft arrives in Jewish state for a week of events with 19 football hall-of-famers. Nineteen members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame arrived in Israel on Thursday for a week of events as part of the "Touchdown in Israel – Mission of Excellence" program, including meeting local Israeli football players. Jewish philanthropist and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is participating in this week of festivities alongside Israel’s Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer. Kraft and the Kraft family have been sponsoring football in Israel since 1999, with the building of the Kraft Family Stadium in...

Farah Ann Abdul Hadi is a Malaysian gymnast who recently won six medals (including two golds) at the SEA Games. Normally, this would be a joyful occasion for a country that isn't exactly known as a gymnastics powerhouse, but Hadi is in the news for a different reason. A photo of her posted by a Malaysian news station led to massive criticism from religious clerics, sports officials, and ordinary Malaysians who were horrified by the fact that she was...wearing a leotard. As Hadi is a Muslim, the criticism centered on the fact that her leotard revealed her "aurat," an Arabic...

If the Golden State Warriors can finish off the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals in Tuesday’s Game 6 in Cleveland, the welcome they receive on arriving home could rival the one they received in 1975 after Golden State’s only other NBA title win. On May 26, 1975, the Warriors beat the Washington Bullets in Landover, Maryland, completing an improbable four-game sweep of the highly-favored Bullets. Many hours later, a crowd of several thousand people swarmed the arrival gate at San Francisco International Airport for the late night arrival of the newly-crowned NBA champions. Footage from KPIX showed Finals MVP...

While making an appearance on "SportsCenter," ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith decided to chime in on a Women's World Cup highlight. Then he said something really dumb. Shocking, I know. Smith joked German players allowed Norway to score a goal because "they might not have wanted to mess their hair up."

Michael Sam's CFL career has hit a snag. The Alouettes released a statement regarding Sam Friday evening: "The Montreal Alouettes organization would like to clarify the situation surrounding international defensive end Michael Sam. Friday morning, Michael asked the team a special permission to leave training camp and return home for personal reasons. "With all due respect for Michael Sam, the nature of this decision will remain confidential. "The Montreal Alouettes fully respect Michael Sam's decision and rally around him to offer him all time and support needed. The team has left the door open and Michael is welcome to come...

The International Olympic Committee has made its first statement about Caitlyn Jenner's transition to a woman, responding to an online petition requesting that the organization, which runs the Olympic Games, revoke the gold medal Caitlyn (then Bruce) won during the 1976 Montreal Olympics. In its response to the petition, IOC Communications Director Mark Adams tells Yahoo, "Bruce Jenner won his gold medal in the 1976 Olympic Games and there is no issue for the IOC." The IOC has had difficulty in the past defining the difference between men and women as it pertains to athletic competition. While it's rare, several...

It started innocently enough, when there was a curious sighting after the Dodgers lost to the Cardinals on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium -- a skunk, roaming around on the warning track, just minding his own business.... When the Cardinals took the field for pregame warmup, they were greeted with not one, not two, but a family of four skunks, all stuck under one of the photography wells in the visiting dugout.

Caitlyn Jenner can make Olympic history again -- the doors to the Hall of Fame are swinging wide open for her to enter ... all she has to do is ask. Caitlyn was inducted into the H.O.F. back in 1986 thanks to her legendary gold medal in the 1976 Olympic decathlon. But, of course ... Bruce is the name attached to that honor. At least for now. Patrick Sandusky, spokesperson for the US Olympic Committee, tells TMZ they would gladly update the name to Caitlyn. He says if she files a formal request, the Committee would review it, and presto...

Sepp Blatter has resigned as Fifa president amid growing pressure following widespread allegations of corruption at football's world governing body. A new election will be held on May 13th.

.....FIFA, the powerful and polarizing governing body for soccer, came under prosecutorial assault from two fronts Wednesday. Acting on an indictment by the U.S. Justice Department, Swiss police arrested several top FIFA officials, including two vice presidents, during an overnight raid in Zurich on charges of corruption Wednesday. The U.S. investigation targets alleged wrongdoing that spans 24 years. U.S. prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 14 people, on charges ranging from money laundering to fraud and racketeering.

Swiss authorities began an extraordinary early-morning operation here Wednesday to arrest several top soccer officials and extradite them to the United States on federal corruption charges. As leaders of FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, gathered for their annual meeting, more than a dozen plain-clothed Swiss law enforcement officials arrived unannounced at the Baur au Lac hotel, an elegant five-star property with views of the Alps and Lake Zurich. The officers went to the registration desk to get keys, then headed upstairs toward the hotel rooms. One FIFA official was led by the authorities from his room to a side-door exit...

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Brian Burke believes the Montreal Alouettes signing of Michael Sam is a tipping point in professional sports. The Calgary Flames president of hockey operations, who co-founded You Can Play in memory of his late son, says the arrival of the openly gay player in the CFL will be a watershed moment. "I think it's huge," Burke told The Canadian Press on Tuesday. "To me, this is one of those 20, 30, 40 years from now, people will look back and say 'remember when Michael Sam signed with the Alouettes?' "We know we have gay athletes in...

By KEN BELSONMAY 25, 2015 The Chicago Bears released defensive lineman Ray McDonald after he was arrested Monday in California on a domestic violence charge, the latest in a string of run-ins that have tested the boundaries of the N.F.L.’s tougher personal conduct policy. McDonald’s release came nine months after he was arrested in a separate domestic violence case and just two months after the Bears signed him to an incentive-laden free-agent contract. McDonald was not charged in the first case, and the San Francisco 49ers, his team last season, did not penalize him. But in December, three months later,...

MADISON — Critics are blasting Wisconsin legislators after the state's budget committee passed a surprise motion last week that would allow private, home-schooled and online charter students to participate in public school district athletics and activities. The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee passed a motion early Wednesday morning that included the plan. The plan wasn't addressed in the meeting. "For that to be done in a sneaky, behind the scenes fashion and passed at 1:30 in the morning without any discussion ... that's a problem," said Larry Kaseman, executive director of the Wisconsin Parents Association. While nonpublic school students in some...

Marques Haynes, the legendary Harlem Globetrotters showman often called the greatest dribbler in basketball history, has died. He was 89. He died Friday in Plano, Texas, of natural causes, the Globetrotters said. CEO Kurt Schneider said “basketball has lost one of its most iconic figures.” Haynes made the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998, the first Globetrotter to be so honored. He had two stints with the touring team — from 1947-53 and 1972-79.

...MLB faces headwinds that have been years in the making and forces that are outside its direct control. In 2002, nine million people between the ages of 7 and 17 played baseball in the U.S., according to the National Sporting Goods Association, an industry trade group. By 2013, the most recent year for which data is available, that figure had dropped by more than 41%, to 5.3 million.