News. Sports. Arts & Entertainment. Politics
By Frankie Wallace
Image Source: Pexels
In February, eight basketball players from the University of Mississippi knelt during the national anthem in order to protest two confederate sympathizer groups who had gathered on their college campus. The hate groups’ rallies were formed in support of a sculpture of a confederate soldier on the school’s campus. Regardless, the Ole Miss players’ silent protest stirred up some controversy around the sports media world.
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Chelsea FC have had a very troubled recent history when it comes to their supporters engaging in racist and anti-Semitic behavior. It’s been a re-occurring theme this season, but in this instance it is Chelsea who are the victims of racial abuse.
It was supporters of the opponent, in this case Dynamo Kiev, engaging in the deplorable behavior this time. The incident occurred Thursday night in the closing stages of Chelsea’s 5-0 Europa League win at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine.
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Social change is accomplished when hearts and minds are moved to change. The first time I heard the “IU Sucks” chant at a Purdue home game (win over Northwestern in 2016), I admit that I thought it quirky and funny. It reminded me of the times I’ve been to Fenway Park, when the Boston Red Sox are playing the Detroit Tigers and the fans chant “Yankees Suck!”
Over time though, my opinion has evolved, and if you clicked here with an open mind, perhaps yours will too. Or maybe it won’t, but the point is Purdue head coach Matt Painter believes it’s time to abolish the “IU Sucks” chant, and I agree with him wholeheartedly.
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Manchester United central defender Chris Smalling, these days sporting a hairdo reminiscent of ’90s hip-hop icon Busta Rhymes, has had a vegan diet for over a year. In August he gave a very revealing interview in which he credited his new vegan diet for the recent durability that he’s been able to achieve on the pitch.
The English international believes veganism has played an integral part in helping him to better avoid injury, recover from fatigue faster and make the transition from offseason to regular season much quicker.
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By Bill Burke
Like many people, you may not have much time left over in your day due to family responsibilities, social engagements, and work obligations. Therefore, squeezing in play time is difficult. Like any other extra-curricular activity or hobby, playing games takes time, and you have to plan for it. However, there are things you can do to find time to play games even if you are busy building your business, advancing your career or taking care of other responsibilities.
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It’s a big news day for Chelsea FC, with the club making a couple of major announcements within the past 24 hours. Yesterday, we learned the date and the official marketing title of the friendly that Chelsea will stage at the New England Revolution with the purposes of combating Anti-Semitism.
Today, we saw Chelsea formally announce their appeal of the transfer ban FIFA imposed on them late last month.
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Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku has joined Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling in hitting out at certain aspects of media coverage in the British press. Both of the Manchester forwards find the English media to act racist at times, but Lukaku did not single out any outlet or reporter by name.
Which is in stark contrast to Sterling, who posted an example of the practices he found to be offensive on his social media page back in December.
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Monday saw the Chicago Cubs move from damage control mode to the damage repair phase of addressing the fallout caused by Joe Ricketts’ leaked emails. The billionaire TD Ameritrade founder, already previously notorious for holding some bigoted and racist world views, saw his e-mail messages that conveyed severe Islamophobia, consistent bigotry and belief in bizarre conspiracy theories leaked to the press last month.
Since the deplorable electronic missives surfaced, both Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts and Cubs President Theo Epstein have spoken out and publicly condemned racism and Islamophobia. Ricketts the younger is also expected to address this issue with the team soon, as he annually gives a speech to the players before the first workout of spring training where the full roster is present.
Somewhere within the conflicted but always colorful world of Cubs Twitter, I saw a tweet somewhere that echoed my sentiments exactly. “Less Addison Russell talking to the media, more Addison Russell getting released by the Chicago Cubs.”
Unless something drastic happens and an unexpected bombshell drops that is just not going to happen. Despite the growing number of Cubs fans who want Russell jettisoned, the Cubs remain steadfast in their decision to give him another chance, and see if he can turn his life around after a divorce marred by accusations of domestic abuse.
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By Joe Plunkett
When a tragic loss hits you, there will be more things to deal with other than the the event itself. You have to deal with the grief and then with how this loss will impact your life. Many of us will seek the help of professional care, too many others might divert into unhealthy ways to cope with overwhelming feelings, while others will try to do it on their own. In all cases, it’s difficult to imagine yourself being happy ever again.
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With the Los Angeles Rams now back in the Super Bowl, it’s the perfect time to revisit their 1986 music video “Let’s Ram It,” which didn’t exactly specialize in the art of subtlety.
Remember, when the L.A. Rams recorded this monstrosity it was a very different time and political climate. When the Rams moved back to L.A. a couple of years ago, the internet’s virtual time capsule was dug up and “Let’s Ram it” was written about in several different publications. [Read more…]
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Newly minted Northern Illinois football coach Thomas Hammock spent the past five seasons as running backs coach of the Baltimore Ravens, and his first year on the job was tumultuous to say the least. During Hammock’s third month on the job, the video of Ray Rice beating his fiancee was released, and the team promptly terminated the contract of the franchise’s all-time second leading rusher.
On Friday, Hammock, a NIU alum, was introduced to the Chicago media as the next head football coach. During the media session, Hammock was asked about how he grew and developed as a person during his time in Baltimore.
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