Free Republic

NBA legend Charles Barkley isn’t taking any chances with the coronavirus. Barkley reportedly wasn’t feeling well and took it upon himself to get tested for the virus and self-quarantine until he receives his results. Barkley made headlines on Thursday when he suggested March Madness be suspended until there was more information about the coronavirus. The NCAA followed the rest of sports and suspended all operations.

The fight between the U.S. women’s national soccer team and U.S. Soccer – the federation that oversees the women’s team and their male counterparts – got uglier Wednesday night. It included strong words from a star player after the team hid their U.S. Soccer uniform logos during a national anthem protest prior to a 3-1 win over Japan in the final of the SheBelieves Cup in Frisco, Texas. Megan Rapinoe, who led last year’s U.S. triumph in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, tore into U.S. Soccer and boss Carlos Cordeiro after the game, just hours after Cordeiro apologized...

The US women's football team is less skilled and has fewer responsibilities than their male colleagues, according to US Soccer. Lawyers for the football governing body in the US have submitted the claims in legal papers as part of a lawsuit over equal pay filed by 28 women's national team players - the court trial is expected to start on 5 May. It stated that the job of a male footballer on the national team "requires a higher level of skill based on speed and strength" than their female counterparts. While the men's national team has never won a relevant...

( It’s like the Democrats are running baseball) Goose Gossage doesn’t need to be welcomed at spring training to chime in on the sign-stealing scandal that has rocked baseball. Gossage, who was banned as a Yankee spring instructor in 2018 for various criticisms of GM Brian Cashman and the team’s analytics department, offered his latest “Get off my lawn” rant this week, including what his response would be to the Astros’ cheating scheme to steal signs via electronics during the 2017 season. “Guys used to steal signs all the time,” the Hall of Fame closer told the Tampa Bay Times....

After outscoring its opposition 25-0 at the 2020 Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament and qualifying for the 2020 Olympics in Japan, the U.S. Women’s National Team now embarks on an ambitious pre-Olympic preparation schedule, beginning with the 2020 SheBelieves Cup, Presented by Visa. The USA has participated in all six Olympic Games in which women’s soccer has been contested, winning four gold medals (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012) and a silver (2000).

I’m a big fan of accountability – if you break the rules there has to be consequences, or else there are no rules. But I’m also for sanity and proportional punishment, which is why I think it’s time (well past, to be honest) to lift the lifetime ban on Pete Rose and allow him into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Pete Rose bet on baseball, he also lied about it when caught. All of this is well known and not irrelevant, but the price for that has been paid. Rose is baseball’s hit king, slapping out 67 more hits and Ty...

Members of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" U.S. Olympic ice hockey team are under fire for sporting "Keep America Great" hats at a recent rally for President Trump in Las Vegas. The team initially was invited to be in a separate photo line with the president at last week's rally, but they later appeared onstage, according to The Washington Post, with many wearing the hats. Trump had invited team captain Mike Eruzione, 65, along with other players to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the "Miracle on Ice" game in which they beat the four-time defending gold medalist Soviet Union team...

A Virginia Beach man is embracing a major challenge: Seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. It’s called the World Marathon Challenge. “I’m feeling good. I’m looking forward to it,” said Ashoka Arora. Ashoka Arora Arora said he has run ultra-marathons - which are 100 miles - and he has completed a few Ironman races, but now he’s taking on a whole new challenge. He said when he got into running, this was a bucket list item for him. News 3 met up with up with the 58-year-old at Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach. He said it is his...

Wow! A big enough story to bump the Impeachment trial off the front page.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Eli Manning is ready to write the final chapter of his historic career. One of the best, most popular and most decorated players in Giants history, Manning, a two-time Super Bowl winner and most valuable player, will announce his retirement Friday, ending a 16-year career spent entirely with the team he joined in a draft-day trade in 2004.

Baseball needs a chairman who represents owners, players, and fans. They need someone who will truly act in the best interests of the game, not the best interest of the owners. Baseball is a great game, and the news on the field continues to be good. Top talent performs at the highest level and great players challenge the records of old.But the news off the field is bleak. Service time manipulation and rumors of electronic cheating scandals have been scandals for years, and now the news has come from Major League BaseballÂ’s leadership that they want to reduce the number...

NEW YORK -- Don Larsen, the journeyman pitcher who reached the heights of baseball glory when he pitched the only perfect game in World Series history in 1956 with the New York Yankees, died Wednesday, his representative, Andrew Levy, tweeted Wednesday night. Larsen was 90. Levy said the former pitcher died of esophageal cancer in hospice care in Hayden, Idaho. Levy said Larsen's son, Scott, confirmed the death.

SHERMAN, Texas (KETK) – Texas high school football is king in Texas with many saying it is almost like a religion. Well, two high schoolers are going viral for their sharing of religion after a game last week. Sherman High School senior Gage Smith said he knew West Mesquite player Ty Jordan from a select 7-on-7 team they both played on. Jordan's mom is battling cancer and Smith asked to pray with him after the game. "I just had a moment with him praying over him, his mom, and his family," Smith said. Smith said that it wasn't about the...

The NCAA Board of Governors has taken the first step toward allowing athletes to cash in on their fame. The board voted unanimously on Tuesday to clear the way for the amateur athletes to “benefit from the use of their name, image and likeness.”

“I refuse to go to movies anymore. I don’t want to support Hollywood’s politics.” How many readers have heard or uttered a variation of the previous sentence over the years? Oh well, annoying and uninformed as the politics of Hollywood’s leading lights may be, they’re great at their chosen profession. Too bad they don’t keep their politics to themselves as they all-too-often know not of what they speak. But it says here that the movies and television shows produced by the left-leaning entertainment industry are way too good to miss all because of policy and/or political disagreements. It seems many...

NBA superstar LeBron James says Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey was “misinformed” and “wasn’t educated on the situation at hand” when he tweeted in support of Hong Kong’s freedom demonstrations. Morey’s sin was sharing an image of a slogan that read, “Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” Even though the GM, regrettably, deleted his tweet, one strongly suspects his grasp of China— where the state is running “re-education” camps filled with Uyghurs—is considerably stronger than any of the NBA’s leading apologists.Only last year, James, a purported champion of social justice, came out in support of former quarterback Colin...

The defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues visited the White House and met with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. Tuesday. A tradition of North American sports teams visiting the U.S. capital dates back to at least 1865 , but the practice has grown divisive under the Trump administration. The White House livestreamed the public ceremony on YouTube, which fans can watch below. President Trump complimented multiple Blues players, including Alex Steen, Jaden Schwartz and Jordan Binnington for their play during the team's championship run during his speech. He also recognized superfan Laila Anderson , who was in attendance...

There was a rather heartbreaking op-ed in the New York Post on Sunday that’s probably worth your time to read. It was written by Cheryl Radachowsky, a Connecticut mother of a daughter, Alanna Smith, who is a rising star in high school track and field competition, particularly the 100, 200 and 400-meter sprinting events. But like too many parents of promising young female athletes, she is watching her daughter’s collegiate dreams be derailed by a pair of boys who “identify” as girls, though they have never had hormone therapy or surgery.Cheryl first goes through all of the studies that...

A conservative group notes polling data shows an eight-point swing in voters’ shift to incumbent GOP Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin from Democrat candidate Andy Beshear after they view ads highlighting Beshear’s support of biological men competing in women’s sports. The Campaign for American Principles (CAP) states: The ads are moving voters in an incredible way — the chart below represents over 2,000 respondents. The gray bar represents Bevin’s support among voters BEFORE seeing the ad and the blue bar is Bevin’s support from voters AFTER seeing the ad. For voters 45-54, Bevin sees an 8pt increase in support, 55-64 give...

I’m sure there are many cool baseball stories this season of which I’m unaware. However, I doubt that any of them is as cool as the one I’m about to discuss. Mike Yastrzemski, grandson of the great Carl Yastrzemski, hit a home run in his first appearance at Fenway Park in Boston, where Carl excelled for 23 seasons. Mike was playing for the visiting San Francisco Giants. The elder Yastrzemski toured the field with his grandson before the game. He provided tips on how to play balls hit off of left-field wall (the Green Monster). Many say that no one...