I understand it’s a perception issue around the country. NFL, NBA, it’s a business. So you don’t want your customers thinking these guys are a bunch of potheads. | | | | | The NBA universe spent the weekend talking about weed. (kenji ross/Flickr) | | | | | | “I understand it’s a perception issue around the country. NFL, NBA, it’s a business. So you don’t want your customers thinking these guys are a bunch of potheads.”
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| | rantnrave:// Everyone probably heard what WARRIORS coach STEVE KERR admitted about marijuana this weekend but did you pay attention to what SUNS coach EARL WATSON said? While Kerr got plenty of plaudits for admitting his use of it – for medical purposes – Watson’s words are just as important because it speaks to a larger conversation that needs to be had. Allowing marijuana to be used as pain medicine in professional sports is a pretty non-controversial stance by now. I’ve done some reporting on this. Marijuana should be legalized by sports leagues as an alternative to pills and needles. But there’s an important cultural point to this. “If you're from an environment or social area where a lot of luck and a lot of blessings is your only way out, you cannot risk that opportunity ever. Ever.” That’s Watson speaking. He’s had a different upbringing than Kerr – and me – and it’s a point I never considered. What are the trickle-down effects of normalizing marijuana use in sports? It may not move you off your position but it’s at least worth thinking about, especially since marijuana is still not legalized in almost every state… This also puts the NBA into an interesting position. What do they do when one of its high-profile coaches admits to marijuana use? It's still banned, after all, and will players wonder about double-standards if the famous coach gets away with it? Especially since marijuana testing is partly an optics issue for leagues... The COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF is set. It’s still not unanimous – as it will be until the powers that be finally choose competitiveness over money. My take: An eight-team playoff, with the conference championships giving auto bids. Every game will still matter and how cool would a playoff game in TUSCALOOSA be?… You don’t need arms to set world records in archery… My favorite cleats in the NFL Sunday? Too many to choose from. But the NFL shouldn’t make this a one-week spectacle. Giving voices to your players is only going to strengthen the league… And don’t penalize snow angels, either... Bringing your own props should be encouraged, though. | | | - Mike Vorkunov, curator |
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| “Anime was a mistake” is a meme for a reason. But for some "Dragon Ball" fans, anime was the best thing that ever happened to them, and to their health. | | |
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| Liberty University, a Christian school that covets a higher athletic profile, looked the other way and found an athletic director who did the same. | | |
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| This is the year that the sidelines, benches, and vapid awards shows of America suddenly became political, controversial, and important. Mark Anthony Green deciphers how athletes seized their platform, and why it was a long time coming. | | |
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| And who seriously thinks doing so will make a lick of difference for a struggling mill town? This guy does. | | |
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| The Chapecoense plane crash should remind of the murder of those on Cubana Flight 455 by once-CIA-supported Cuban exiles. | | |
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| Less than a week ago, the team left for Colombia to chase their improbable football hopes in the Copa Sudamericana. But their charter plane crashed in Medellin, killing 19 players and the entire coaching staff. Twenty-one journalists also died in the accident. Of the 77 who boarded that flight, only six lived.Six days later, military transport planes carrying their bodies landed in a wet haze back in Chapeco. Fans gathered along the window of the airport café, peering out as tears leaked down their faces. | | |
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| Penn State football's Big Ten championship win wasn't "healing." It was just a sensational win in an entertaining game, and that's enough. | | |
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| In a world without institutions or leaders that inspire much excitement or faith, what's a college football coach worth? In some cases, entirely too much. | | |
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| Eric Semborski had not played competitive hockey in more than a year. The Blackhawks signed Semborski for Saturday's game after starting goaltender Corey Crawford underwent an appendectomy. | | |
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| Insider documents reveal trail of deception as leading artificial turf company, FieldTurf, sold high-end sports fields to taxpayers in towns and schools across N.J. and U.S. knowing they might fall apart. | | |
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| Gifted cricketers Chumki Akter and Ismat Ara were born in poverty in Bangladesh. Now they are playing the game at the highest level. How a British charity is offering young women the future of their dreams. | | |
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| After nearly three decades of playing and coaching in NHL took him all over the country, Tony Granato is back home at his alma mater, coaching -- and finishing his college degree. | | |
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| What they had done in a silent, unpopulated stadium was precisely what the fans who would later fill all those seats -- the overwhelming majority of them, not coincidentally, white fans -- most needed to see and to respect and, yes, to honor. | | |
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| We can’t afford to just sit around and expect things to somehow get better on their own. This is a critical moment in time. | | |
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| For better or worse, Philly's identity is intractably entwined with Hollywood's most beloved underdog story. Forty years after the film debuted, here's a look at how it all came to be. | | |
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| The conference is the first to test centralized officiating as the next frontier. | | |
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| Barely three weeks after the accident that changed his right hand - and his whole life - JPP was already moving forward. | | |
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| While others try to turn the field goal operation into robotics, Tucker plays the part of performer—with encore after encore. He’s the only perfect kicker remaining in 2016, entering Week 13’s matchup with Miami 27 of 27 on field goals and 15-of-15 on extra points. He’s been worth an additional three points per game for the Ravens, according to NumberFire’s calculations. And he’s slowly convincing the NFL that kickers can ball, too. | | |
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| This was not a transformative labor deal, far from it, but a wide swath of people familiar with its inner details told Yahoo Sports some version of the same story Thursday: What it lacks in instantaneous impact it may make up for in historical resonance. Because baseball is barreling toward a potentially nuclear negotiation in 2021, when this current deal expires. | | |
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| Dr. Lee battled racial discrimination even after he became a physician, won three Olympic medals in diving and served in the Korean War. | | |
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