Watch it all and there is a lot more there.

Professional football isn’t known for being a place that encourages deep intellectual reflection. With its history of silence on head injuries, locker-room harassment, and macho culture, the NFL would be the last place you would expect to find a philosopher and a poet”“and an atheist to boot. But all of those things come together in Houston Texans running back Arian Foster, who was the subject of an ESPN feature yesterday in which he revealed that he didn’t believe in God. That’s unusual in a league where players regularly point to the sky (nevermind the questionable theology behind the assumption that heaven is somewhere up in the sky) and meet for regular Bible studies.

Foster, raised in New Mexico and San Diego, played for the University of Tennessee Volunteers before entering the NFL in 2009. His father was Muslim, and Foster grew up in that tradition, praying five times a day and asking God for help when he was in a difficult situation. He eventually garnered the courage to tell his father that he didn’t believe in God, and instead of a lecture, Foster’s father told him to ” Go find your truth.”

Read it all.

Jake Arrieta pitched four-hit ball into the eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 2-0 on Sunday for a four-game sweep of the defending world champions.

Arrieta also tripled and scored in the second as the Cubs won for the 10th time in 11 games. Chicago’s first four-game sweep of San Francisco since June 1977 increased its lead for the second NL wild card to 3 1/2 games over the reeling Giants.

Read it all.

Casting for Recovery provides an opportunity for women whose lives have been affected by breast cancer the chance to heal and learn how to live again.

Watch it all.

The Rev. George Foreman flipped his Bible open to the Book of Genesis, let fly with a left hook for Jesus and sent Satan sprawling into the ropes.

“You’ve got to learn how to fight!” he exhorted. “If you believe in God, you’ve got to fight for him.”

The Sunday morning faithful, warmed by a hand-clapping round of gospel singing, rocked on their hard wooden pews with the verbal punch.

At 66, Foreman ”” a two-time world heavyweight champion and veteran of more than 80 scarring professional boxing bouts ”” might be graying, his card-topping pugilistic battles long over. But in his bout against sin as pastor of north Houston’s Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is still a powerhouse slugger.

Read it all.

Manchester United began their Premier League season with a nervy 1-0 win over Tottenham at Old Trafford.

United started slowly and Christian Eriksen almost put Spurs ahead inside five minutes when he broke through but chipped his effort over new goalkeeper Sergio Romero — starting in place of the dropped David De Gea — and also over the bar.

But, despite having the better of the opening exchanges, Spurs fell behind soon after as Ashley Young scampered free to cross for Wayne Rooney and the backtracking Kyle Walker diverted the ball into his own net.

Read it all.

Clint Dempsey scored on a fourth-minute header, added a pair of second-half goals for his first international hat trick, and the United States routed Cuba 6-0 on Saturday to reach its eighth straight CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal.

Dempsey converted a penalty kick early in the second half and added a late goal to raise his tournament-leading total to six. Dempsey’s 57 international goals are 10 behind Landon Donovan’s American record.

Gyasi Zardes, Aron Johannsson and Omar Gonzalez also scored as the Americans built a 4-0 halftime lead against a Cuban team depleted by five absent players who may have defected.

Read it all.

The Bishop of London commented:

“The Studd brothers were great servants of two of this country’s most historic institutions: the Church; and the game of cricket. May their memory inspire England as they take on Australia this week at Lord’s.

“The proud tradition of the Church and cricket together continues to this day. Once again, I’m delighted that the Diocese of London’s team continues to fly the flag and has reached the final of the Church Times Cricket Cup.”

The Studd Brothers were from a large cricketing and evangelical family. All three captained Cambridge University, played for Middlesex and one, CT, played for England in the test match giving rise to the Ashes. CT was in the losing Engish side in the 1882 Oval match which prompted the Sporting Times mock obituary, ”˜The body will be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia’. CT and GB were both members of the touring side which recovered the Ashes in the winter of 1882-1883 during which the England captain was presented with the famous urn.

CT went out to China on missionary work and remained there between 1885 and 1895. Invalided home, he did missionary work in England and America. He then went as a missionary to the Belgian Congo. Wisden records that ”˜despite numerous illnesses and many hardships, devoted the remainder of his life to missionary work there.’ In the Congo, he built a church whose aisle measured 22 yards from end to end.

Read it all.

This is an all too little known tale–take the time to watch it all.

What an amazing second set tiebreaker!

In 1985 the US women’s soccer team was such an afterthought that it only received its uniforms the day before it was to depart for an international tournament. The outfits turned out to be in men’s sizes: Team members spent the night cutting and sewing to make them fit.

What a contrast to this year’s women’s FIFA World Cup tournament, capped by a dominating 5-2 win by the United States over defending champion Japan. Interest in US women’s soccer has soared in the interim, and Sunday’s championship match may turn out to be the most-watched soccer match ”“ men’s or women’s ”“ ever on US television when final numbers are released.

The victory embedded the US women as the dominant team in women’s soccer (called football outside the US). Though it was their first World Cup championship since 1999, the team has remained a top contender, most recently losing the finals to Japan in 2011 on penalty kicks. The US team also has won four Olympic gold medals in five tries.

Read it all.

ROFL.

The wait is over for the United States.

The reign is over for Japan.

On the strength of Carli Lloyd’s first-half hat trick and goals from Lauren Holiday and Tobin Heath, the United States beat Japan 5-2 in Sunday’s World Cup final. As a result, for the first time since 1999, the United States holds the sport’s most important trophy.

It was the second consecutive win for the United States against Japan in the final of a major tournament, following a win in the gold medal match of the 2012 Olympics, and it leaves the Americans in possession of both of the major titles in women’s soccer for the first time since 1999, a year that now shares status as the American high-water mark.

Read it all.

The wait is finally over for Chile, while the title drought continues for Argentina.

Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo made a save and striker Alexis Sanchez converted the winning penalty, as the hosts defeated Argentina 4-1 in a shootout after a 0-0 draw after extra time in the Copa America final on Saturday, finally winning their first major tournament.

The result extended Argentina’s 22-year title drought, and the country’s star player Lionel Messi will continue to hear criticism for his lackluster play with the national team.

In the shootout, Bravo stopped Ever Banega’s low shot by diving to his left to make the save, while earlier, Gonzalo Higuain also missed for Argentina, sending his shot over the crossbar.

Read it all.

England’s Women’s World Cup dream was ended in heartbreaking fashion as a stoppage time own goal by the Notts County central defender Laura Bassett handed Japan victory.

Attempting to cut out a pass into the penalty area, Bassett instead sent the ball past the goalkeeper Karen Bardsley and in off the crossbar.

Bassett has been one of her team’s most reliable performers at the this World Cup but will find it hard to forget the moment that meant England would not be making history by reaching the final for the first time.

Read it all.

The United States defeated Germany 2-0 in the Women’s World Cup semifinal on Tuesday night in Montreal.

Second-half goals from Carli Lloyd and Kelley O’Hara were enough see the U.S. through to the final, where they will meet the winner of Wednesday’s clash between England and defending champions Japan.

Read it all.

If the purpose here is to win the World Cup early next month, the United States is going to have to go through either Germany or France. Although the latter had its slip against the same team the United States beat Monday, in this tournament, the Americans haven’t come close to playing as well at their best as Germany and France have at their best.

Now the final opportunity to find fifth gear in advance of that potential game will take place without two of the players who would be integral to it.

Maybe it works out for the best. Maybe Morgan Brian, likely to replace Holiday in the middle of the field, and Christen Press, a good bet to replace Rapinoe wide, will be great against China. The Americans have long touted their depth, and on the oldest roster in the tournament, Brian and Press are two of the potential stars for 2015 and 2019.

Maybe that will give Holiday and Rapinoe valuable time off to rest and recover.

But the clouds that hovered just beyond Commonwealth Stadium on Monday night didn’t look like they had any silver linings. They just looked like trouble.

Read it all.

Just one strike from a perfect game, Max Scherzer saw it slip away with a misplaced slider. Or, some thought, a misplaced elbow.

Scherzer lost his bid in agonizing fashion, plunking a batter with two outs in the ninth inning before finishing off a no-hitter Saturday in the Washington Nationals’ 6-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

A letdown? Yeah, a little.

“I mean there is, just because you’re so close, one strike away from a perfect game,” Scherzer said. “But to get a no-hitter in front of these fans, there’s nothing better.”

Read it all.

Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson donated $10,000 to each of the families of the nine people killed in Wednesday night’s shooting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina.

The team founder also donated $10,000 to the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where the murders occurred during a bible study.

The $100,000 donation was made in a letter sent Friday to the Mother Emanuel Hope fund. The letter was shared by Bakari Sellers, a Democratic member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, on Twitter.

Read it all (hat tip:KIA).

“Time is catching up to me and because of that I am considering a change,” McKissick said Sunday night amid the first reports that he was considering retirement.

McKissick, who has more coaching wins than any other football coach at any level, is 88 years old. He has a world-record 621 wins during his career at SHS.

He coached 10 Green Wave football teams to a state championship.

Read it all.

At this late stage of her marvelous career, Abby Wambach is no longer the centerpiece of the U.S. women’s national soccer team. The headers are not as powerful and accurate as they once were and the days of 90-minute battles every match are over. But Wambach’s value remains unquestioned, and amid a personal and collective unproductive spell in the World Cup group stage, she added to her record goal haul and clinched first place for the Americans.

Untidy with her headers, Wambach turned to her left foot for a volley on the brink of halftime Tuesday, shattering a scoreless deadlock and lifting the United States to a 1-0 victory over Nigeria before 52,193 at sold-out BC Place in Vancouver.

“Jokingly, I thought when I took the job [last year], if Abby has one leg, she is going to make this roster because she embodies a lot of the spirit of this team and our program,” Coach Jill Ellis said. “Her leadership is tremendous. Her spirit is fantastic. So when I met with her early, I said, ”˜Listen, I have not predetermined your role. Your role will be as big as you deliver.’ I just know Abby, I know big moments, I know she will deliver. I’m really pleased with the investment tonight.”

Read it all.

When it came time for Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers to pick his favorite moment of the season, it wasn’t Stephen Curry winning the Most Valuable Player award or Klay Thompson scoring 37 points in a quarter or even his own moment of glory when he was named NBA Executive of the Year. It came on the quickly assembled stage on the court at Quicken Loans Arena, when Bill Russell handed the trophy named after him to Andre Iguodala in recognition of the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.

“That’s the one,” Myers said. “That he was up there getting it, it was perfect. Sometimes life works out like it should.”

If you have followed the Warriors, you know the reason Myers found Iguodala’s turn in the spotlight so fitting. Coach Steve Kerr told us of Iguodala’s importance all along. Well, maybe not at the moment Kerr lied about his intention to move Iguodala into the starting lineup in Game 4. But again and again, Kerr said the key to the Warriors’ season was Iguodala’s willingness to become a bench player for the first time in his career to open a spot in the starting lineup for Harrison Barnes. It was indicative of the type of unselfish attitude a team needs in order to win a championship. And Tuesday night it came to fruition.

Read it all.

Showing off their grit and determination, the Chicago Blackhawks finally put away the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final.

The city of broad shoulders, strong enough to carry the silver trophy once again. A Windy City party 77 years in the making.

Duncan Keith scored in the second period and directed a dominant defense that shut down Tampa Bay’s high-scoring attack, and the Blackhawks beat the Lightning 2-0 in Game 6 on Monday night for their third NHL title in the past six seasons.

Read it all.