Because tennis.
The "business casual" Rafa:
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The sad Rafa:
Saeed Khan / AFP
The "stop asking me about whites after Labor Day" Rafa:
Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
The "I prefer to go shirtless anyway" Rafa:
Evan Agostini / AP
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Because tennis.
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Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
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James Blake told the New York Daily News he was thrown to the ground and handcuffed in Midtown Manhattan Wednesday after being mistaken for a suspect in an identity theft ring.
Bob Leverone / Getty Images
Former tennis star James Blake, who holds 10 singles titles and retired in 2013 after 14 years playing professionally, told a reporter for the New York Daily News that he was mistakenly confronted and thrown to the ground by "five plainclothes city cops" hours before attending the U.S. Open on Wednesday.
The officers, who were white, apparently thought Blake was a suspect in an identity theft scam that often operated around the midtown Manhattan hotel, the Daily News reported.
Blake declined to comment further on the incident Thursday when reached by BuzzFeed News, but confirmed that details in the Daily News report attributed to him were correct.
He told the Daily News reporter that he was "slammed to the ground, handcuffed and detained" in front of the Grand Hyatt on East 42nd Street.
The officers looked at his license and his Open credential," according to the Daily News. After he was handcuffed for about 15 minutes, the officers realized they had the wrong person and apologized."
An NYPD spokesperson told BuzzFeed News they don't have an incident report of the confrontation and were unable to confirm details.
Blake, who is black, told the Daily News he is not sure if believes he was racially profiled:
"To me it's as simple as unnecessary police force, no matter what my race is. In my mind there's probably a race factor involved, but no matter what there's no reason for anybody to do that to anybody," he said.
"I have resources to get to the bottom of this," Blake told the Daily News. "I have a voice. But what about someone who doesn't have those resources and doesn't have a voice? The real problem is that I was tackled for no reason and that happens to a lot of people who don't have a media outlet to voice that to."
“Our country is in serious trouble… We don’t have victories anymore.” :(
Via youtube.com
Via youtube.com
Via youtube.com
In July, California became the first state to clarify its labor law to secure employment protections for professional sports teams cheerleaders.
Brian Bahr / Getty Images
Legislators representing eight states sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday urging him to implement a league-wide standard of classifying cheerleaders as employees – entitling them to minimum wage and other employee protections.
Currently, cheerleaders for NFL teams are classified as "independent contractors," which allows teams to avoid paying minimum wage and impose a constant threat of being cut from the squad at any time. Few former and current NFL cheerleaders have spoken out about issue, and those who have brought lawsuits against their employers have spoken of being ostracized.
The letter from the lawmakers – representing California, New York, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania – addressed directly to Goodell, reads in part:
Over the past year, the National Football League has been making headlines due to a series of wage theft lawsuits that have been filed by professional cheerleaders against their respective teams. To date, cheerleaders for the Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, the Cincinnati Bengals have filed lawsuits alleging minimum wage violations. These class action complaints outline a system of abuses against cheerleaders including but not limited to failure to pay in a timely manner, reimburse for mandatory expenses, adhere to the notice and record keeping requirements under state labor laws, and penalties for minor infractions with unlawful deductions from earnings.
As you may know, legislation has been signed into law in California and introduced in New York that addresses these widespread wage theft cases. We write to you as this rampant misclassification of professional cheerleaders has come to the attention of legislators across the country where the issue of "employee" vs. "independent contractor" has been brought into question in various workforce sectors.
In July of this year, a bill introduced by California State Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez to clarify state labor law – classifying cheerleaders for professional teams as employees – was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. California is believed to be the first state to make this clarification, and Assemblywoman Gonzalez is one of nineteen signatures on the letter. New York Assemblywoman Nily Rozic and New York State Senator Diane Savino, both of whom introduced bills similar to Gonzalez's in New York, signed the letter as well.
Gonzalez previously told BuzzFeed News that securing employment protections for all cheerleaders for professional sports teams could theoretically be accomplished by state-by-state legislation, but that the process would be unnecessarily tedious.
"The NFL needs to wake up and say they've been going about this the wrong way," Gonzalez said in July. "They could fix this. The ball is in their court."
The letter concludes with a reference to increased focus on the NFL's handling of players accused of domestic and sexual assault:
"Over the past years, the NFL has had to address cases of sexual assault and domestic violence. Each of them resulting in negative headlines suggesting the League's lack of support for women. With women currently making up 45% of the League's fan base, it is clear that there is opportunity now to take a stance on issues that hinder economic and social progress in a nation that has come far in the fight for fair wages and equal rights."
BuzzFeed News has reached out to an NFL spokesman for a response. The new NFL season begins Thursday.
An Anglo-American football competition could be on the horizon.
Getty / Shaun Clark
The competition would most likely take place in a league format, perhaps with the top two teams taking each other on in a cup final.
Getty / BuzzFeed
English clubs often venture to the US for off-season friendlies during the summer, and "friendly tournaments" have become common place.
But there has never been a regular, competitive, official Anglo-American tournament in the MLS or Premier League era.
Stephen Dunn / Getty Images
How does he stack up?
Getty / BuzzFeed
Though obviously the Lampard/Gerrard duo were always accused of being less than the sum of their parts.
Getty / BuzzFeed
Getty / BuzzFeed
And they were stumped.
Via hotstar.com