Free Republic

The recent pardon of the late world heavy weight champion Jack Johnson by our president was a gracious act long overdue. A previous motion had passed the House but died in the Senate in 2008. Johnson’s racially motivated conviction for violating the Mann Act after he had married a white woman resulted in his beginning a year term in Leavenworth prison in 1920. It was not a salutary place; I buried one of its inmates who had done much more than a year there. Johnson skipped bail and spent several years in Europe via Canada. In Barcelona, much in need...

NBA star LeBron James appeared to snub a fan wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat at Game 3 of the NBA playoffs Saturday by beginning to toss his towel to the Trump supporter — before throwing it in another direction, out of the fan’s reach. James, no supporter of President Donald Trump, made clear last year his thoughts on the Republican president, for whom his home state of Ohio voted for in 2016. “I don’t think a lot of people was educated,” James said of Trump voters. “And I think that’s one of the biggest problems when it becomes...

Russia did not in fact win their first gold medal in men’s hockey in 26 years with a heart-stopping 4-3 overtime win over Germany on Sunday afternoon. Instead a team competing neutrally as Olympic Athletes from Russia, the IOC’s inspired nomenclatural workaround to incorporate Russians at the Pyeongchang Games despite a wholesale doping ban, held off a stingy German team in the game of the tournament to capture Olympic men’s hockey gold, the first for a Russian-affiliated team since Albertville 1992. Kirill Kaprizov’s one-time winner from the right circle on a power play in overtime followed a white-knuckle finish to...

Correlation is not causation, but superstitious Eagles fans may want to turn their state red every four years The Philadelphia Eagles are basking in the glory of their Super Bowl win this week, but many fans are surely wondering how they can continue their championship ways. But the Eagles have seen long stretches of success and droughts of failure in recent history. Over the past 30 years, the Eagles have appeared in two Super Bowls and six NFC Championships. In the 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, and 2017 seasons, the Eagles advanced to the conference championship, with the 2004 and...

Fans of the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers will be able to sign up for the TSA's $85 PreCheck program at their respective stadiums. The drive is expected to expand to other stadiums in the current weeks.

Just logged on to see who was winning the game. I hated to see that Camping World was the main sponsor of the ALCS and the NLCS. The CEO of Camping World is a virulent anti-Trumper. He even said people who voted for Trump need not give him any business...or something like that. See ya, Championship Series. I hope the World Series isn't sponsored by a Trump hater.

Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed Tuesday that the Boston Red Sox used electronic communication from the dugout to steal opponents' signs and relay them to Boston players during games. Baseball's investigation of the Red Sox is ongoing, Manfred said from Fenway Park ahead of Boston's game against Toronto, but he expects it will be completed before the end of the regular season. News of the investigation was first reported by the New York Times. The Red Sox were accused of stealing signs electronically against the Yankees at Fenway Park. Adam Glanzman/Getty Images Major League Baseball does not have a policy against...

They've been begged by star players to stop it, fined repeatedly, and threatened with dramatic sanctions that could hurt their national team’s chances in.... Mexican soccer fans have been loath to give up their favorite game-day chant, a homophobic slur that has been condemned by gay rights groups, government officials and international soccer authorities. .....Each time the goalie for the United States team picked up the ball to punt it, the crowd began chanting, “Eehhh,” stretching out the sound like a long musical note on a crescendo. When the goalie finally kicked the ball, the crowd shouted, “puto!” in unison....

Germany were made to work for their gold medal as they recorded a narrow 2-1 win over Sweden in the Olympic Women's final. Dzsenifer Marozsan netted a beauty for the Germans just after the break and Linda Sembrant scored in the wrong net to double the opposition's lead before Stina Blackstenius pulled one back for Sweden. The Swedes had booked their place in the final with a 4-3 penalty shootout win over Brazil in the semi-finals to come up against a German outfit that had cruised past Canada in their previous fixture. With 12 goals en route to the final...

Curt Schilling was recently fired by ESPN in large part because of his frequent social-media activity, specifically controversial memes and comments shared by the former pitcher. So when reports circulated online that ESPN had cut Schilling’s memorable “bloody sock” performance in the 2004 ALCS from its Sunday airing of a “30 for 30″ documentary about that Red Sox-Yankees showdown, it was no surprise to see him weigh in quickly, and strongly.

Deep in the Qatari desert, Musharif spends his afternoons “swimming” in a large pool that doubles as a Jacuzzi, just one of the perks of being a racing camel. “It is for his muscles, it is good for the speed,” shouts one of Musharif’s handlers, pointing at the water as the calm three-year-old animal is led by a rope along the length of the pool at the Tharb camel hospital. SNIP In a region where camel racing is big business, Tharb’s work is increasingly important, and the first camels bred at the center are already racing in Qatar. Tibary admitted...

"It's not fair!" may be the most pitiful lament in the English language, but Donald Trump seems intent upon adopting it as his battle cry heading into this summer's Republican convention. The GOP's poorly designed nominating process includes more than its share of problems, but is it really unfair to Trump? ..... < snip > ..... open primaries invite abuse from voters whose goals may not involve selecting the party's strongest representative. Those with deep ties to the party deserve greater input than those with tenuous or nonexistent connections. Yet Democrats and Republicans alike have chosen to pretend otherwise. ........

Look, everyone is excited about Pat Venditte. But we can't be too busy to fact-check things like "the word for someone who can use both hands equally well."

A 'sexy' Czech hunter who has been widely criticized for posting photos of her big game trophies and an American TV host paired up for a controversial outing in Slovakia. Michaela Fialova and Larysa Switlyk documented their trip as they hunted roe deer in Europe together, filming as they went in search of the animals. The ladies documented not just the kill, but also the aftermath as they cooked and ate the animals. Fiavola, 27, who is from Litomerice, Czech Republic, spends the rest of her time working as a personal trainer, kick-boxer and guide for other hunters in Africa...

The first time Dave Sweet went surfing, in 1945, he was 16 and his wooden board weighed more than he did. A decade later, he was launching a revolution that would turn those bulky boards into relics. Sweet, who played a pioneering role in introducing the foam surfboard that transformed the sport and helped propel it into the mainstream, died of renal failure May 18 at the Veterans Affairs West Los Angeles Medical Center, said his son, Greg Sweet. He was 86. The development and marketing of the foam surfboard has often been credited to Orange County surf entrepreneurs Hobie...

PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce, Mich./St. John’s University) made 26 saves, but the U.S. Men’s National Team fell to Russia, 4-0, here today in semifinal action at the 2015 World Ice Hockey Championship. Team USA will face the Czech Republic tomorrow (May 17) in the bronze-medal game. Puck drop is set for 10:15 a.m. ET at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.

This is a Jeep thread, for all Jeep owners and Jeep lovers. Contribute as you wish or are driven. Long live Freedom. May God Bless You!

Is this true? This must be a sign. A sign of what, I'm not sure.

If Michael Sam doesn't have a job by next Monday, he has at least one standing offer. WWE has invited Sam to appear on the Sept. 8 episode of Raw....

...Diana Nyad - the first to swim across the Florida Straits without a shark cage - was presented with Cuba’s Order of Sporting Merit on Saturday, the first American athlete to receive the award. Nyad, after four failed attempts, successfully swam from Cuba to Key West Florida in September 2013 without a shark cage, in a 53-hour feat. Speaking in Spanish, the 65-year-old said the Cuban award was “the most precious honour of my whole life.”