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This Man Giving "Free Hugs" At The Boston Marathon Is Wonderfully Uplifting

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You’re never too busy for a free hug.

Like this lady, who actually ran back for a hug.

Like this lady, who actually ran back for a hug.

And this woman, who received a really warm embrace.

And this woman, who received a really warm embrace.

This guy picked up the man giving free hugs.

This guy picked up the man giving free hugs.


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22 Sports Movies That Will Bring A Tear To Your Eye

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So much camaraderie. All of the feels.

Ali

Ali

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." Yeah, good luck not getting emotional over this Muhammad Ali biography starring Will Smith.

tasteofcinema.com / Via Columbia Pictures

Varsity Blues

Varsity Blues

If you don't want to scream at Coach Kilmer you're watching this movie the wrong way.

giphy.com / Via Paramount Pictures

The Natural

The Natural

Based on Bernard Malamud's book The Natural, the story of a middle aged man making it in the big leagues will definitely inspire you to get out there and play some baseball.

wegotthiscovered.com / Via TriStar Pictures

The Blind Side

The Blind Side

Break out the box of tissues for this one. You'll fall in love with Big Mike, a homeless and uneducated African American boy, who is taken in by the Tuohy family and ends up a first round pick in the NFL draft. Incredible movie.

tearsandrants.tumblr.com / Via Alcon Entertainment


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When Does Chanting A Soccer Team's Nickname Become A Crime?

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Cal Sport Media / Landov

The first time I hear it, it sounds small, like a secret escaping from the corner of someone’s mouth.

“Yiddo.”

Then comes the response, a little louder, echoing back like a bird call.

“Yiddo!”

The Courtfield pub in southwest London.

Flickr: terry_love_uk / Creative Commons (CC BY 2.0)

It’s a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon in early March and I’m in a pub, the Courtfield, across from Earl’s Court Tube stop in southwest London. All around me are fans of Tottenham Hotspur, the North London-based soccer team, who will play their bitter cross-city rivals and current Premier League leaders, Chelsea, this evening at Chelsea’s stadium, Stamford Bridge, a little over a mile from here. Going for a drink — many drinks — on the way to a game is British football’s equivalent of tailgating, though it’s probably even more deeply ingrained into the match-day ritual here than standing around a parking lot, gorging on bratwurst and Budweiser. By a fairly mysterious — to me, anyway — alchemy, the Courtfield was chosen by Spurs supporters as a place to meet en masse this afternoon. The police are obviously hip to this alchemy and have stationed several officers on the corner in front of the pub.

As fans arrive at the door, they’re often met with this singsong call of “Yiddo” from those already inside; it’s part-greeting, part-password to acknowledge that, yes, you’ve found the right place and are now safely among your own kind. As drinks are consumed and kickoff time approaches, the little murmurs of “Yiddo” grow into full-throated, pub-wide chants. There’s one that involves stomping or banging out a beat (boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-buh-buh-buh-boom-“Yids!”), another that repurposes the Baha Men’s dreadful 2002 hit (“Who, who, who, who let the Yids out!”), one that opts for simplicity (“Yids! Yids! Yids! Yids!”), and the favorite, a tribal war cry (“Yid Army! Yid Army! Yid Army!”). As an American Jew, it’s both thrilling and a little unnerving. As one Jewish fan told me, "At first I thought it was like a Nuremberg rally."

How Tottenham — a club formed by Christians, with a fan base that even by the most generous estimates probably isn’t more than 5–10% Jewish (almost certainly no more than local rivals Arsenal) — became, unofficially, at least, the Yids, is a complicated tale filled with as much conjecture as actual fact. But there’s no doubt that their identification as such has caused considerable consternation in Britain, where free speech laws are making routine fandom a potentially prosecutable offense. This fall, near the start of the current Premier League season, the Football Association and the Metropolitan Police each announced that the chanting of “Yid” was offensive to some and those who continued doing it could get ejected from a game or even arrested for violating the country’s Public Order Act, which prohibits the use of “threatening, abusive or insulting” language. (In January, the law was amended to remove the word “insulting.”) Naturally, fans dug in their heels, and over the next few matches, the chanting continued.

Though most everyone agrees that Spurs fans use the term “Yid” affectionately, many observers believe it fuels vile, anti-Semitic chanting by opposing fans. Along with fairly mild cracks about big noses and foreskin, rival supporters have been known to sing, “Spurs are on their way to Auschwitz / Sieg Heil! / Hitler’s gonna gas ‘em again,” “Adolf Hitler, he’s coming for you!”, or simply hiss to simulate gas chambers.

In the Courtfield, I meet a guy in his twenties named Harry, who, like several Spurs fans I interviewed, doesn’t want his last name printed because of fears that his opinion could cause him trouble at work or even with the police. Harry, who is not Jewish, is sitting at a table in the back corner of the pub with his brother and a friend. He was raised in North London and goes to nearly every Spurs match, home and away. He says that growing up, he never really associated the word “Yid” with Jews.

“I later came to understand the history behind the word, but to us, a Yid always just meant a Spurs fan,” he says. “Once at school, my brother actually got called a ‘dirty Yid’ by a Jewish Arsenal fan.”

In the pub, the chants and songs are not all “Yid”-related — some simply hail Spurs, others denounce Chelsea, one maligns the parentage of Chelsea star John Terry. The best of them are funny and profane. The worst cause even Spurs supporters to wince a little. As one fan put it to me, “Football is about 10 to 20 years behind the rest of society.”

But it’s changing. Money has softened some of the sport’s jagged edges, for better and worse. Campaigns against racism have been paramount — and largely successful — during the past two decades, but this effort to combat anti-Semitism has run aground amid a quagmire of complex issues and competing motivations. If nothing else, the anti-“Yid” contingent seems to have picked a fight with a group of fans just disheartened enough by the state of their national pastime to be spoiling for one.

The fans of Lazio hold up a sign showing support for Palestinians during a match between S.S. Lazio and Tottenham Hotspur on November 22, 2012 in Rome.

Giuseppe Bellini / Getty Images

Last season, Peter Herbert, chairman of the Society of Black Lawyers and a frequent campaigner against bigotry inside and outside of football, publicly called the “Yid” chants “casual racism,” and threatened to lodge a complaint with the Metropolitan Police if they continued. Soon after his comments, a group of Tottenham fans, in Rome to watch Spurs play against Italian powerhouse Lazio, were attacked in a pub by masked, knife-wielding assailants who reportedly hurled anti-Semitic slurs throughout the assault. At the game the following day, Lazio fans chanted, “Juden Tottenham,” waved Palestinian flags, and unfurled a “Free Palestine” banner.

During a late September game versus Chelsea, police gave one Spurs fan an official written “warning.” At the next league game, against fellow London club West Ham — whose fans, along with those of Chelsea, have been frequently singled out as the most egregious purveyors of anti-Semitic abuse — police arrested three Spurs fans for “Yid” chanting and gave out warnings to several others. The issue had quickly grown from a quirky football problem into a full-blown national debate about religion, race, identity, political correctness, the gentrification of football, and the limits of free speech. Lawyers were hired, tightly worded public statements were parsed, prominent Jewish figures in Britain were consulted, former Spurs players picked sides, and even Prime Minister David Cameron weighed in, saying he saw nothing wrong with the way Spurs fans employed the word.

The club, for its part, said very little on the subject initially, and in doing so, managed to upset nearly everyone. Early this season, it sent out a questionnaire to its season ticket holders, polling their opinions on the subject, and received more than 11,000 responses. But as the issue grew to a boil, the results of the research remained under lock and key.

Simon Felstein, Spurs press officer, declined to make anyone from the club available to be interviewed for this story and referred me to the statement that had been crafted following the arrest of the three Tottenham fans. It read, in part: “At this point in time, whilst we believe that our fans do not use the word with any deliberate intent to offend, we would once again remind our fans that the Metropolitan Police has stated that the use of the word can be considered a criminal offence...” In a move that upset many of the Tottenham faithful, the three arrested fans were banned from the stadium while their cases went to trial.

One of those fans was due to have his day in court the Monday after I arrived in London, but around the time my plane landed, the Crown Prosecution Service dropped all three cases, having determined that based on the context of the chanting, there was little likelihood of scoring convictions. The CPS made clear, however, that it was not closing the door to the possibility of further arrests or prosecutions. The club rescinded the fans’ bans, but didn’t issue any new policy on the chants.

Harry believes that the entire campaign surrounding the “the y-word” is aimed in the wrong direction. “They shouldn’t be going after Spurs supporters,” he says. “They should be focused on Chelsea and West Ham, who are the worst when it comes to the hissing gas chambers and all that.”

Paul Greenwood/BPI / Rex/REX USA

Tottenham Hotspur with the Southern League Championship Shield in 1900.Popperfoto / Getty Images

Popperfoto / Getty Images

The Jewish population in Britain is estimated to be between 250,000 and 300,000, or roughly 0.5% of an overall populace of about 56,000,000. (By comparison, there are more than 5.4 million Jews in the U.S., about 2% of the population.) Jews had been an even smaller sliver of Britain until the late 1800s, when pogroms and oppression in Eastern Europe sent them scattering for safer ground.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club was founded around this time, in 1882, but with no connections to the then-burgeoning Jewish community in Britain. The club’s first secretary was an Anglican church officer and its first president, a YMCA leader. The area around the club’s stadium, White Hart Lane, built in 1899, wasn’t populated with Jews back then; from the late 1800s through the early to mid-1900s, most Jewish immigrants to London settled in the East End. But according to Anthony Clavane’s history of Jews in British football, Does Your Rabbi Know You’re Here?, a sizable number of those East End Jews made the trip north to Tottenham on Saturdays to see Spurs play.

“Driving or using combustion-engine-powered vehicles on the Sabbath was strictly forbidden, but catching the tram or the train was not,” Clavane writes. “The public transport network … made access to the stadium from the east and centre of London relatively easy.” For football-minded secular Jews, the tramline made going to watch Spurs after synagogue part of their Shabbat ritual.

In the post-war years, Jews began leaving the overcrowded East End and resettling, mostly in North London, some not far from White Hart Lane. Opposing fans walking up Tottenham High Road toward the stadium 50 years ago would likely see their fair share of Jewish-owned businesses, kosher butchers, and the like, further cementing the club’s image as a bastion of Jewishness.

In 1982, Irving Scholar, a Jewish businessman and longtime Spurs fan, bought the club, becoming the first in a string of Jewish owners and club chairmen, a string that continues through the present day with Tottenham’s current owner, Joe Lewis, and chairman, Daniel Levy, both Jews. In the '90s, Spurs briefly had a Jewish manager, David Pleat, and at least a couple of Jews have suited up for the first team, most notably the Israeli Ronny Rosenthal, who spent four seasons with Spurs in the mid-'90s.

But none of these things necessarily set Tottenham apart from several other English clubs. Many of the London teams have a strong Jewish following. When Jews began leaving the East End for North London, just as many settled near Arsenal’s home ground at the time, Highbury, as did near White Hart Lane. Jews own or have been majority shareholders in many prominent English clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham, Manchester United, and Aston Villa. Jews had run clubs including Leyton Orient and Leeds United, long before Scholar took over at Tottenham. Other teams have employed more Jewish managers and players.

The German Football Team doing a Nazi salute before the international match against England at White Hart Lane in 1935.

Daily Mail / Rex/ REX USA

The fact is Jews have never been more than a small minority of Spurs’ fan base, and the club itself has done little to woo them. In 1935, when the English national team hosted their German counterparts at White Hart Lane, the Nazi flag was flown at the stadium. In 2002, Israel hoped to play several international matches at Tottenham’s home ground, but Levy declined their request.

Today, nearly all the Jewish businesses close to White Hart Lane are gone. The area has fallen on hard times — the High Road itself was a prominent focus of the rioting that shook London in 2011 — and the demographics have changed considerably. When I spend an afternoon walking through the neighborhoods of Bruce Grove, Northumberland Park, Tottenham-Hale, and Edmonton Green near the stadium, the area seems a magnet for immigrants of many stripes — Turks, Cypriots, Ghanaians, Poles, Brazilians, Nigerians, Jamaicans — but there’s no evidence of any Jews around here anymore. The only real signs of Jewish life in Tottenham are in Stamford Hill, a neighborhood home to a visible community of Hasidic Jews, but which is nearly three miles south and a solid 45-minute walk from White Hart Lane.

Nonetheless, Tottenham’s Jewish image remains undiminished. Danny Fenton, a Jewish TV executive and Spurs supporter, says when he started attending games in the late '70s and early '80s, that connection was immediately evident.

“My dad took me to the 1981 FA Cup Final against Manchester City,” he says. “I remember seeing people wearing kippah and tallit at the match, not because they were religious but because they were identifying with being Tottenham fans, being Yiddos. I remember Leeds fans doing the ‘Sieg Heil’ and throwing coins at the Tottenham fans. In the late '80s, a lot of fans used to take Israeli flags to the games. We played Arsenal in the League Cup semifinal in 1987 and they unfurled this massive swastika with ‘Arsenal Nazis’ written on it. [After that], they made a plea for Tottenham fans to stop taking Israel flags to matches.”

Most Spurs fans trace the roots of the “Yid” chants to the late '70s. After being on the receiving end of anti-Semitic abuse for years, fans decided that instead of being victimized by shouts of “Yid” or “Yiddo,” they would own them, claim them, and shout them back with pride.

During the late '70s and '80s, hooliganism was at its peak. Each weekend hardcore fans of rival clubs would battle it out in stadiums, pubs, train stations — wherever they could get at each other. Racism was endemic. Black players were taunted with monkey noises, bananas were tossed on the field at them, and much, much worse. The country’s economy was in tatters. The far-right, neo-fascist political party, the National Front, was in its ascendancy and saw the disaffected youth that frequented football grounds as a prime target for its racist, virulently nationalistic, anti-immigrant message. Hardcore fans at Chelsea and West Ham, in particular, had ties to the National Front.

Daniel Wynne

Courtesy of Daniel Wynne / Via Twitter: @danielwynnethfc

Forget Pitbull, J.Lo's Song With Wisin And Ricky Martin Is The Real World Cup Anthem

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Ricky Martin and J.Lo are perfect and will never age.

There's a lot of music officially attached to this year's World Cup. Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez, and Claudia Leitte's "We Are One (Ole Ola)" is the official song.

youtube.com

Don't confuse that with the official anthem, a forthcoming collab from Santana, Wyclef Jean, Avicii, and Alexandre Pires.

Don't confuse that with the official anthem , a forthcoming collab from Santana, Wyclef Jean, Avicii, and Alexandre Pires.

And there's more: Brazilian singer Arlindo Cruz made an official song for the Cup's mascot, called "Tatu Bom De Bola." Coca Cola's official anthem is a collaboration between Puerto Rico's Wisin and Mexican singer Paty Cantú called "La Copa De Todos," which is different from Coca Cola Colombia's official anthem.

Sony Music Entertainment

Ricky Martin also released a FIFA-sanctioned "Super Song." It's called "Vida."

Pause: remember Ricky's perfect 1998 World Cup song, "The Cup of Life."

youtube.com

But none of those songs sound as much like PURE VICTORY as "Adrenalina," a March single from reggaeton star Wisin, that features Ricky Martin and J.Lo.

But none of those songs sound as much like PURE VICTORY as "Adrenalina," a March single from reggaeton star Wisin, that features Ricky Martin and J.Lo.

Sony Music Entertainment


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A Guide To Cheating In Baseball

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Not all methods are created equal.

Some ways to cheat should stay away forever. Others are worth checking out again. We took a look at some known methods and considered the harm done to the sport and the shameless attempts by players who wanted to get ahead.

Spitball

Spitball

How it works:
1) Saliva is applied to one side of a baseball, causing it to break sideways in the direction of the slobbery side.
2) With their fingers not on the seams, the pitcher used saliva to grease the ball before pinching it between their thumb and fingers. The ball was essentially squeezed out during the throw, giving it minimal spin and maximum drop.

Why it's illegal:
It's totally unsanitary and more importantly, super dangerous. The only fatality in MLB history occurred when Ray Chapman was struck in the side of the head by a spitball. This is why umpires regularly swap out dirty balls during the game.

Spitballers:
- There were a few players grandfathered in after the 1920 ban, including Burleigh Grimes and Urban Shocker.
-Gaylord Perry.
- Alex Sanabia of the Miami Marlins threw a blatant spitball in 2013.
- Clay Buchholz has been accused of the practice.
- Jose Valverde might have tossed one in 2012.

Should it be legal?
Lindsey: There's no reason to bring it back. There are a few pitches with similar advantages as the spitball.

Logan: For some reason, I'm okay with this. I guess it's because the pitchers are just using what they got, you know? Way to be resourceful, fellas.

Matt: The spitball is a lost art form, and the reason it's lost is because it's dangerous. You can't have a guy throwing 95 mph and having no idea where the ball in ending up.

Badass meter: 6.

APA / Getty Images

Stealing signs

Stealing signs

How it works: Signals used by the opposing team are studied and deciphered.

Why it's illegal: It's not fully illegal. It's viewed as unsportsmanlike, but deciphering signals during gameplay is not in violation of the rules. Reviewing footage after the play is illegal.

Notable examples:
- "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" (1951): Bobby Thomson of the New York Giants hit a game-winning home run against the Brooklyn Dodgers, winning them the National League pennant. 50 years later, it was revealed that the Giants were watching and relaying catchers' signs, suggesting Thomson knew he would be facing a fastball.
- In 2010, it was suggested that Mick Billmeyer, then the bullpen coach for the Phillies, used binoculars to scope out the Rockies' bullpen.

Should it be legal?
Lindsey: We should ask Bill Belichick. Just kidding. Decoding signals from recordings is lame as hell and tells me your team can't win on their own abilities. I am, however, aggressively in support of figuring it out during gameplay, though that once went really poorly for Greg Maddux and Will Clark.

Logan: I am totally for this. If you can steal a sign and pass that info along before the play happens, that's just outsmarting and outplaying your opponent. It's not stealing if the information is available, yo. Come up with better signs or learn to hide them better.

Matt: Stealing signals by simply observing is part of the game. I have no problem with people in the dugout paying attention to coaches signs as long as there are no electronics involved. Although any hitter that peeks at a catcher's signs is a scumbag — firm rule.

Badass meter: 5.

FSN Rocky Mountain / AP Photo

Pine tar

Pine tar

How it works: Gives the pitcher a better grip/more control over the ball. It might actually benefit hitter safety.

Why it's illegal: Rule 8.02 from the Official Baseball Rules states a pitcher may not " apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball".

Pitchers who have been said to use pine tar:
- Michael Pineda, who might be the most courageous or idiotic cheater in recent history.
- Kenny Rogers of the Detroit Tigers.
- Craig Kimbrel of the Atlanta Braves.

Should it be legal?
Lindsey: Hell yes. Pine tar is legally used to control bats and it lowers the chances of a batter being hit by a pitch.

Logan: Eh, screw it. Pine tar for everyone!

Matt: Pitchers claim that "sometimes" they use pine tar to "get a better grip on the ball," but isn't that exactly what the rosin bag is for?

Badass meter: 8.

MLB / Via Twitter: @SBNationGIF


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Soccer Player Dani Alves Had The Best Reaction To A Racist Fan Throwing A Banana At Him Mid-Game

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Dani Alves 1, Racism 0

During Barcelona's game in La Liga today, a fan threw a banana at Dani Alves while he was getting ready for a corner kick. Without missing a beat, the player picked up the banana, peeled it, and ate it whole.

Throwing bananas at athletes has historically been a racist act.

FC Barcelona went on to win 3-2, making Alves a winner in more ways than one.

FC Barcelona went on to win 3-2, making Alves a winner in more ways than one.

David Ramos / Getty Images

People Are Posting Selfies With Bananas To Protest Racism In Soccer

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After a spectator threw a banana at FC Barcelona’s Dani Alves, fans took to #WeAreAllMonkeys to show their support for him and denounce racism in soccer.

Over the weekend, Dani Alves, a Brazilian player with FC Barcelona, became a hero after calmly picking up a banana thrown by a racist fan and eating it — turning a racist gesture all too common on the soccer pitch on its head.

Barcelona beat Villarreal 3-2. Both Barcelona and Villarreal have denounced the act. "I have been in Spain 11 years and it has been the same for 11 years," Alves told AFP after Sunday's game. "You have to laugh at these backward people... We are not going to change it, so you have to take it almost as a joke and laugh at them."

vine.co

Later that day, Alves' teammate, Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, posted this photo of him and his kid, using #somostodosmacacos, or #weareallmonkeys. The mocking appropriation of the racist phrase soon spread online.

instagram.com


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Clippers Coach "Disappointed" By Owner's Alleged Racist Remarks

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“I would like to reiterate how disappointed I am in the comments attributed to [Sterling] and I can’t even begin to tell you how upset I am and our players are.”

Doc Rivers, head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, issued a statement Monday, regarding Donald Sterling's alleged racist remarks.

Doc Rivers, head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, issued a statement Monday, regarding Donald Sterling's alleged racist remarks .

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times / MCT

Doc Rivers, the head coach and senior vice president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Clippers, broke his silence Monday on the alleged racist remarks made by team owner Donald Sterling.

"I would like to reiterate how disappointed I am in the comments attributed to [Donald Sterling] and I can't even begin to tell you how upset I am and our players are,' said Rivers.

"Today, I had a meeting with the members of our organization," he said. "When you are around all these people, you realize they are just as upset and embarrassed by the situation and it does not reflect who they really are."

The statement by the head coach comes on the same day the majority of the team's sponsors either ended or suspended ties with the Clippers.

Rivers continued and had a message for the fans, as well.

"We want to make the right decisions here. We're doing our very best to try and do that. We know that fans are in a dilemma as well. We want them to cheer for their players and their team. It will always be their players and their team. From the fans that I have heard from, that's how they feel," he said.

Rivers said Sterling reached out via a phone call, but the head coach declined to speak with him, according to USA Today.

"I would like to reiterate how disappointed I am in the comments attributed to [Donald Sterling] and I can't even begin to tell you how upset I am and our players are. Today, I had a meeting with the members of our organization. When you are around all these people, you realize they are just as upset and embarrassed by the situation and it does not reflect who they really are. That was what I got from all of them. They are now a part of this and they are upset at this. But, they are all going to hang in there and so are we — I can tell you that as a group and as a team. From our fans' standpoint, I want to say that they have been amazing, I can tell you that. We need unbelievable support right now from other people and I'm hoping we get that. My hope is that whatever the fans do, it is as one. I think that is what we all should do.

"We want to make the right decisions here. We're doing our very best to try and do that. We know that fans are in a dilemma as well. We want them to cheer for their players and their team. It will always be their players and their team. From the fans that I have heard from, that's how they feel. 'This is my team. These are my players that I'm cheering for and that's not going to change.' I hope STAPLES Center is packed and people are cheering for the players. The players are now in the middle of this, and they have to deal with it.

"We are all trying to figure out everything as it goes and just do our best and we hope that it is the right answer. I'm still going to do my best and do what I think is best for the team and for everybody in this case. It is very difficult because there are so many emotions in this. This is a very emotional subject, this is personal.

"My belief is that the longer we keep winning, the more we talk about this. I believe that is good. If we want to make a statement — I believe that is how we have to do it. I think that is the right way to do it, but that doesn't mean we still don't wrestle with it every day and every moment. That is the difficult part.

"We are all doing our best here. Our players are doing their best. There are a lot of people involved in this. From one man's comments, a lot of people have been affected and the conversations that we're all having do need to be had."

The Top 10 World Cup Songs Of All Time

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Have you heard them all?

The official World Cup songs originated in Chile in 1962 with the track "El Rock del Mundial" by Los Ramblers. This and many other songs weren't as popular as they are today, and they also weren't required by the host country. For the most part, these songs were focused more so on having great lyrics, and their purpose was to capture the feeling of the sport. It wasn't until 1998 that host country France decided to hire Latin artist Ricky Martin to create a less traditional theme for the World Cup. His song "Copa de la Vida" debuted as No. 1 on the United States charts, which inspired all other countries to pick a fun, catchy song for the World Cup moving forward. With this, the French really revolutionized the way other countries saw this music.

The most recent World Cup song is "We Are One, Ole Ola," by Pitbull, J.Lo, and Claudia Leitte.

Below we give you our ranking of the top 10 World Cup songs of all time. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Herbert Grönemeye, "Celebrate the Day" (2006)

Why? This song was extremely important because it promoted the theme of human unity through the sport of soccer.

youtube.com

Il Divo and Tony Braxton, "The Time of Our Lives" (2006)

Why? This song talks about how all of us can create a better world by working as a team. The powerful message of peace and unity is what makes this song one of the best.

youtube.com

Los Ramblers, "El Rock del Mundial" (1962)

Why? This was the song that started it all. Without Los Ramblers, there may have not been music created specifically for the World Cup.

youtube.com


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NBA Bans Donald Sterling For Life

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Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling will also be fined $2.5 million, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced Tuesday.

Kirby Lee / Reuters

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday announced unprecedented sanctions against Clippers owner Donald Sterling — banning Sterling for life and fining him $2.5 million.

Silver called the racist comments by Sterling "deeply offensive" and "hateful."

Silver also announced that he will urge the league's Board of Governors to exercise its authority to force a sale of the team.

Silver said he fully expects to get the support needed from other owners to remove Sterling as Clippers owner.

"I believe the players will be satisfied with the decision," Silver said.

The NBA conducted a three-day investigation following the leak of a recording of him telling his former mistress, V. Stiviano, that he doesn't want her bringing black people to games, among other racist statements.

Silver announced Tuesday that forensic experts determined the voice on the tape is Sterling's and it was not altered in any way.

After the tape was made public, the backlash against Sterling's remarks led more than ten corporate team sponsors including Red Bull, Adidas, CarMax and State Farm to announce they are suspending or ending their relationship with the Clippers.

Clippers coach Doc Rivers also reportedly said Tuesday that if Sterling remained team owner he would not be back for the 2014-15 season.

Sterling bought the team in 1981 and his more than 32-year tenure as owner is the longest in the NBA. During that time, the Clippers have had the worst winning percentage of any team in the league, but recently have rose to prominence (number three playoff seed in the Western Conference this year) with the addition of stars such as Blake Griffin and Chris Paul.

The Clippers are scheduled to take on the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday in Game 5 of the teams' first round playoff series at the Staples Arena — the first Clippers game in Los Angeles since the news of the Sterling's racist remarks broke on Saturday


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NBA Players React To The Lifetime Ban Of Clippers Owner Donald Sterling

Professional Teams Tweet Support Of Clippers 'We Are One' Statement

This Is What A Professional Wrestling Script From The WWE Looks Like

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SPOILERS: Professional wrestling is scripted.

In case you didn't know, professional wrestling is scripted and WWE scripts have found their way online in recent weeks.

In case you didn't know, professional wrestling is scripted and WWE scripts have found their way online in recent weeks.

The page above shows how a match is split up into "segments." It is for a match between Rob Van Dam (RVD) and Alberto Del Rio and shows how the match was scheduled to play out.

Notice halfway down the page where it says "Finish — RVD Over." This is code for "RVD is scheduled to win."

It follows up with "Music," which means the winning wrestler's music will play throughout the arena.

Next, is "Reactions," which means the camera will cut straight to crowd reactions after the three-count and music hits.

Via theweek.com

Watch the last few seconds of the match, played out exactly like the script calls for.

WWE / vine.co

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27 Times You Saw The Hand Of God And Might Have Not Realized It

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We’ve been blessed by it since 1986.

This was the first time we had the pleasure to see it in action.

This was the first time we had the pleasure to see it in action.

Oli Scarff / Getty Images

And since then we've obsessed over every time the hand touches a soccer ball.

And since then we've obsessed over every time the hand touches a soccer ball.

Majestic.

David Cannon / Getty Images

Buuuuut the hand of God has also been all over the place.

Buuuuut the hand of God has also been all over the place.

And proud to be so.

AP Photo/S.K.Mohan

It did this.

It did this.

Darren Staples / Reuters / Reuters


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The 13 Best Things About This Year's Kentucky Derby, As Told By People Who Were There

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“Boys in plaid pants.” Very important.

"Being able to wear a nice dress + a crazy hat!"

buzzfeed.com

"Seeing everyone all dressed up!"

Tracy Clayton / BuzzFeed

"Food & drinks."

Tracy Clayton / BuzzFeed

"I love the white people buying me drinks!"

Editor's note: LOL.

Tracy Clayton / BuzzFeed


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Oregon State Fires Michelle Obama's Brother As Basketball Coach

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Craig Robinson lost more than he won. UPDATE: Now with confirmation from OSU athletic department on Robinson’s firing, as well as background on the coach and his troubles.

Leah Nash for BuzzFeed

Oregon State has fired men's basketball coach Craig Robinson, ending the high-profile tenure of the brother of first lady Michelle Obama.

The school's athletic department made the announcement Monday afternoon, and planned a press conference with Athletic Director Bob De Carolis for later in the day.

"I want to thank Coach Robinson and his family for their contributions to Oregon State University," De Carolis said in a written statement. "This was a difficult decision, but after further evaluation, I believe it is in the best interests of our student-athletes, our basketball program and our University."

The dismissal was first reported by Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel and later confirmed to BuzzFeed by several sources close to the athletic department.

Robinson went 94-105 overall, and 39-69 in the PAC-12 Conference, during his six-year tenure. Most damning for Robinson: Oregon State finished better than eighth place in the league only once and never advanced to the NCAA tournament or even the lightly regarded National Invitation Tournament.

He was reportedly let go with three years remaining on this contract, and will be owed more than $4 million.

BuzzFeed's Joel Anderson wrote of Robinson in March:

[Robinson's] vision includes living meaningful lives on and off the court, the sort of well-rounded experience that so many colleges claim to offer to their athletes. The 6-foot-7-inch Robinson is the embodiment of that ideal: He was a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year, a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He was a successful businessman before he pursued a career as a college basketball coach.

Robinson lived up to expectations at Oregon State in all ways — except basketball. So Craig Robinson epitomizes an uncomfortable question: Is it enough for a coach to mentor boys into accomplished men in full, or does he also have to win?

The move comes more than a month after De Carolis met with Robinson following the Beavers' season-ending loss to Radford in a third-tier post-season tournament called the College Basketball Invitational. The athletic department, which had to pay $35,000 to enter the tournament, had offered free tickets to the first 1,000 students to show up at the game. The promotion was a flop; announced attendance was 1,351.

Compounding his troubles, Robinson apologized to De Carolis for a postgame joke. While leaving the podium, Robinson told reporters, "If I get fired, it's been nice knowing you guys."

De Carolis told The Oregonian, the state's largest daily newspaper, that "it was certainly an ill-advised joke. It was a bad joke at a bad time. Coach Robinson told me he realizes he put me in a bad spot with the comment, and that it was an emotional and tough night."

Still, it appeared as if Robinson had done enough to save his job. The day after the game, De Carolis issued a statement reaffirming support for Robinson.

"I'm looking forward to watching Coach Robinson continue to build our program," De Carolis wrote in the statement. "I ask for your continued support of Beaver basketball."

But Robinson had lost among some big-money boosters, who openly grumbled, and many ordinary fans: After the Radford loss, The Oregonian ran a story headlined, "Should Oregon State Beavers fire Craig Robinson?" Nearly two-thirds of the more than 4,000 voters chose this option: "Yes. He's had enough time to show what he can do … and it's underwhelming."

And things got worse over the next few weeks as three players with eligibility remaining decided to leave the program: Eric Moreland, a junior center who declared for the NBA draft; freshman guard Hallice Cooke, who decided to transfer; and junior guard Challe Barton, who will play professionally overseas.

Sources close to the program said David Grace, a former Robinson assistant now at UCLA, was one of the candidates being considered to replace Robinson. Grace told BuzzFeed that he'd been contacted by several boosters gauging his interest.

Other potential candidates: Damon Stoudamire, a former NBA star and Portland native who's currently an assistant coach at Arizona; Wisconsin assistant Gary Close; Seattle Pacific head coach Ryan Looney; Boise State head coach Leon Rice; and Montana head coach Wayne Tinkle, among others.

LINK: Is Being A Good Mentor (And Michelle Obama’s Brother) Enough To Save Craig Robinson’s Job?

Day Before NFL Draft, Michael Sam Named Recipient Of Arthur Ashe Courage Award

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The award is named for tennis player Arthur Ashe, who became an outspoken AIDS activist after contracting the disease from a blood transfusion.

He will receive the award at the ESPY Awards on July 16.

Usa Today Sports/Usa Today Sports

I understand how big this is. It's a big deal. No one has done this before. And it's kind of a nervous process, but I know what I want to be … I want to be a football player in the NFL.

Via espn.go.com

Michael Sam with Wade Davis, Chris Kluwe, Brendon Ayanbadejo, and Billy Bean.

Twitter: @Wade_Davis28


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NBC's New Olympics Deal Means A Windfall For The NBA

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The NBA’s current TV contract expires in two years, and as the only major sports league or property whose rights become available before 2020, the league is about to score a big-time payday.

Miami Heat forward LeBron James and guard Norris Cole.

© Usa Today Sports / Reuters / Reuters

Now that NBC has locked up television rights for the Olympics through 2032, the NBA league contract that expires in two years is basically the only major sports rights package available before 2020. That means the NBA has a strong negotiating position in the marketplace as its television contract gets close to an expiration date.

"The NBA's television contract is coming up at a favorable time in the cycle," said Marc Ganis, president of Sports Corp Limited, noting that professional football, baseball, and hockey, as well as college football, all signed new long-term national television rights deals in recent years. "There are more networks in the marketplace that need NBA games than will get them."

Put more simply, the NBA is going to get paid.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and IOC President Thomas Bach

Via olympic.org

NBC's Olympics deal caught industry observers flat-footed with the surprise announcement Wednesday. NBC, which is owned by cable giant Comcast, and the International Olympic Committee said that they were extending their U.S. television rights deal for six Olympic events beginning in 2021 through 2032. NBC is paying $7.65 billion in total, or $1.275 billion for each games, for the U.S. broadcast, cable, internet, and mobile rights, along with an additional $100 million signing bonus to promote the games that take place between 2015 and 2020.

NBC previously paid just under $10 billion combined over several deals to broadcast the Olympics from 2000 to 2020. With Wednesday's deal, the network will stand as the sole U.S. broadcast home for the first three decades of the new century.

Steve Burke, NBC's Chief Executive, called the Olympics "part of the fabric of our company" in announcing the deal. He also called them "massively popular and profitable programming," which is only partially true. While the Olympics are indeed a huge ratings draw, they aren't always profitable. For instance, NBC lost $223 million on the 2010 Vancouver games and only eked out a slight profit on the 2012 London games. Burke said during Comcast's first-quarter earnings call last month that the Sochi games were profitable, but he didn't provide an exact figure.

But for Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator which generated more than $17 billion in revenue over the first three months of this year, the Olympics don't need to be profitable. The company views the games as a promotional platform for the programming of NBC and its other networks, aiming to take advantage of the large viewership to attract new audiences to its regular programming. Indeed, in light of the proposed $45.2 billion offer to acquire Time Warner Cable, spending $7.65 billion on the Olympics is basically pocket change for Comcast.

"It is hard to project anything reasonable financially with a deal that doesn't start until eight years from now and ends 18 years from now," Ganis said. "Clearly, they are making a bet using today's money. It's not a massive gamble for them. Even if they miss, they aren't betting the company so it is a worthwhile deal for them to do."


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