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NPR’s Ailsa Chang speaks with sports journalist Bruce Schoenfeld about the history of black athletes using their platforms for political protests.

President Donald Trump tweeted he was proud of NASCAR because no drivers, crew or other team members protested during the national anthem Sunday prior to a race at New Hampshire Motorspeedway. “So proud of NASCAR and its supporters and fans. They won’t put up with disrespecting our Country or our Flag – they said it loud and clear!” Trump tweeted Monday. Several team owners and executives had said Sunday they…

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Last week, I slipped away from Disrupt for a couple of hours to watch a Giants game at nearby AT&T park — or, more precisely, watch a Giants game through an iPad. It was a small gathering hosted by Major League Baseball that points toward a possible future for fandom that’s exciting and fascinating, all while bringing out the crotchety old tech journalist in me that’s hidden not too far…

The pitcher comes set. Enacts his delivery. His offering sails wide of the plate. Just like the last one, he thinks. He checks over his shoulder, glancing at the scoreboard that displays the strike zone, the pitch speed, and the exit velocity of batted balls. Yup. Instant feedback and validation, right there, right as soon as the ball leaves his hand. To think, this is only practice — yet all…

CINCINNATI — Nobody on the Red Sox kneeled or sat during the national anthem yesterday. Nobody locked arms, either. If this news surprises or disappoints you, consider baseball players usually trail the pro sports pack when it comes to being outwardly vocal on divisive social issues. It’s as if Jackie Robinson in the ’40s and Curt Flood in the ’70s was enough outside of maintaining their formidable players’ union. For…

Sports, to President Trump, has long been about the spectacle more than the spectators. He has a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame, and briefly and unsuccessfully owned a team in the USFL, the would-be competitor to the NFL that flamed out in the 1980s. But Trump loves winners, and he is also keenly aware of sports’ ability to inflame passions. The president knew exactly what he was doing…

It’s a demand that anyone who has ever written about sports has heard; an old refrain from readers who just want you to stay in your lane: “Stick to sports.” Any time analysis strays from the confines of a field or locker room to, say, what one thinks of the latest U2 album (it’s bad) or our current political climate (also bad), the call comes out: “Stick to sports.” Sports,…

Facebook may have openly distanced itself from live streaming prime-time sports. But soccer chiefs believe it’s only a matter of time before the social network will rival broadcasters for rights, and the world’s biggest sports will be watched regularly on Facebook as well as Amazon and Google. Facebook did, after all, attempt to get the digital rights to cricket’s Indian Premier League earlier this month. Meanwhile, Amazon is getting ready to live…

Inside sports business Word last week that a planned $600 million renovation of KeyArena could be exempted from a city bylaw prohibiting sports subsidies has raised eyebrows locally. But two creators of Initiative 91 said what’s most important is whether the bylaw’s “spirit’’ was followed during the city’s negotiation with Los Angeles-based developer Oak View Group (OVG). Nick Licata and Chris Van Dyk said much has changed since I-91 was crafted…

1. I think these are my quick (and apolitical) thoughts of Week 3: a. I can’t imagine the all-22 tape exonerating the official who called the offensive pass interference against San Francisco’s Trent Taylor in the last seconds of Rams 41, Niners 39. Huge call. Mega-huge call. And I will wait before judging, but man, that looked like the ultimate marginal call, and you’ve only got 16 of these football…

Several owners of Nascar teams in America have warned that they will back Donald Trump’s suggestion that NFL players who protest during the playing of the country’s national anthem should be sacked. There were no signs of dissent on Sunday prior to a race at the New Hampshire Motorspeedway after the warnings, and Trump tweeted his support for the stance on Monday: “So proud of Nascar and its supporters and…

Last week, I slipped away from Disrupt for a couple of hours to watch a Giants game at nearby AT&T park — or, more precisely, watch a Giants game through an iPad. It was a small gathering hosted by Major League Baseball that points toward a possible future for fandom that’s exciting and fascinating, all while bringing out the crotchety old tech journalist in me that’s hidden not too far…

CINCINNATI — Nobody on the Red Sox kneeled or sat during the national anthem yesterday. Nobody locked arms, either. If this news surprises or disappoints you, consider baseball players usually trail the pro sports pack when it comes to being outwardly vocal on divisive social issues. It’s as if Jackie Robinson in the ’40s and Curt Flood in the ’70s was enough outside of maintaining their formidable players’ union. For…

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Trump said Sunday the White House has “totally finalized” a tax plan, but the particulars are substantially different from what’s been reported about the proposal. The rates he cited seem low. The Supreme Court opens its new term Oct. 2. David G. Savage has a preview of the major questions before the court, involving Trump, immigration policy, religious liberty, gay rights and partisan gerrymandering. What’s a dotard, anyway? ABOUT THAT…

Trump tries to sack NFL, NBA Athletes, executives hit back at president Admit it: Wouldn’t you rather have Donald Trump hurling verbal grenades at football and basketball stars than a guy with nuclear weapons? I’m not minimizing the seriousness of the controversy. But Trump has an acute sense of when it’s in his interest to fight the culture war—and at least this is a war fought with words,…

Fox and CBS broadcast the national anthem live during football games Sunday — a notable shift away from the usual practice. NBC says it will do the same in prime time. ESPN, which also abandoned its usual pregame chatter to talk politics, will air the anthem live on Monday. And as photos of athletes kneeling and locking arms during the anthem streamed in, the news media quickly repurposed those images,…

Believe me, my friends, I wanted to “stick to sports” this weekend. After the prior week of ESPN madness, I was eager to get back to the goofy. You know: My usual, meaningless sports insanity, with a couple of spelling errors and grammatical mistakes sprinkled in for fun. Maybe, for a column, I’d take my kids to the annual meatball-eating contest at the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy….

Kyle Busch clinched a spot in the second round of the NASCAR playoffs with his win at New Hampshire on Sunday, but there are other implications from the race, too. Here are the three biggest takeaways from Sunday’s race: 1. Busch presents himself as Truex’s biggest challenger – for now For most of the season, Martin Truex Jr. has been in control of the NASCAR standings. He won four races…