Robbie Rogers comes out as gay, retires

Former Columbus Crew and United States midfielder Robbie Rogers has come out as gay and announced his retirement effective immediately.

The 25-year-old American, who played for Leeds United and left League One side Stevenage last month, wrote on his blog that he had been afraid of revealing his sexuality - but that he is now leaving football.

Rogers, who won 18 caps for the United States men's national team, wrote: "Secrets can cause so much internal damage. People love to preach about honesty, how honesty is so plain and simple. Try explaining to your loved ones after 25 years you are gay.

"Try convincing yourself that your creator has the most wonderful purpose for you even though you were taught differently.''

He added: "Now is my time to step away. It's time to discover myself away from football.''.sky sports

Francisco Liriano Breaks Arm Scaring Kids?

Francisco Liriano was set to sign a two-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates this offseason, but the deal nearly fell apart when the left-hander suffered a broken arm. Fortunately the injury is to Liriano’s right arm, so he ended up agreeing to a one-year deal with the Pirates with a team option for 2014.
What makes Liriano’s broken arm so bizarre are the stories that have come along with it. A few weeks ago, a Dominican newspaper reported that Liriano fractured his right arm after he slipped and fell in a bathroom. The 29-year-old said that is not what happened at all, but that doesn’t make the injury any less of a fluke.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Liriano said he broke his arm while intentionally slamming it into a door on Christmas Day in an attempt to scare his children, who were in the room next door. The left-hander said he felt little pain at first but decided he needed to go to the hospital after about 20 minutes.
“I was surprised when I got to the hospital and they told me it was broken,” he explained.
Liriano said that his agent, Greg Genske, couldn’t believe it when he told him what had happened and that he would not be able to make the trip to Pittsburgh for his physical with the Pirates. He also said that he never spoke with anyone in the Dominican Republic about the injury, so he has no idea where the report from El Caribe came from.larry brown sports

Kaepernick tough on himself After Loss

Kaepernick said Tuesday that he'll be training in the Atlanta area within a week, and the strong-armed and fleet-footed quarterback will bring some of his receivers along with him. All of it is part of Kaepernick's quick evolution from backup to starter that will continue when he enters training camp as the unquestioned franchise star.

After losing 34-31 to the Baltimore Ravens in New Orleans on Sunday, Kaepernick summed up his breakout second season ''as not being good enough.'' He said the Super Bowl loss will stick with him ''for the rest of my life.'
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''It's good to get the experience,'' Kaepernick said. ''We should have won that game regardless, though.''
A man of few words and a lot of yards, Kaepernick's potential might give 49ers fans reason to be optimistic more than anything following the first Super Bowl loss in the franchise's storied history.
Kaepernick threw for 1,814 yards and 10 touchdowns with three interceptions in the regular season, starting seven games after taking over for Alex Smith, who will likely be traded or released in the coming months to clear salary-cap space. He also ran for 415 yards and five touchdowns.
Kaepernick really ran away with his new role in the playoffs.

As San Francisco started utilizing more of the Pistol offense he made famous at Nevada, Kaepernick threw for 798 yards and four touchdowns in three postseason games. He also ran for 264 yards and three scores, including a quarterback-playoff record 181 yards rushing in a divisional-round victory over Green Bay.

''He was fantastic the entire season,'' 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. ''The stage was not too big for him. He competed at the highest level and played extremely well. He showed a lot of poise, a lot of leadership the entire game. I can't say enough, really. With Colin, it's always just appropriate.A/P

Super Bowl 2013 sets ratings record

Nielsen ratings reported the game scored a 48.1 rating and 71 share in its select measurement of big cities. That's 1 percent over a similar measurement in last year's game.
For three years in a row, the Super Bowl has set a new record for most-watched event in U.S. television history. Nielsen is expected to have an estimate of how many people watched the game later on Monday.

One ratings point represents 1,147,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 114.7 million TV homes. The share means that 71 percent of TVs that were on at the time were tuned to the Super Bowl.

At CBS' request, that ratings figure did not include a 30-minute period when there was a partial power outage in the Superdome. During that period, the metered market rating was 46.5, nearly two full points behind the 45-minute period directly before it.
The network also drew criticism by the Parents Television Council for not moving quickly enough to edit out a profanity said by Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco shortly after the game. Flacco was caught by microphones describing his team's victory as ''f------ awesome.''

The game also illustrated the explosive growth of second screen activity. The company Trendrr TV, which tracks activity on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, estimated there were 47.7 million social media posts during the game. That compares to 17 million during the 2012 Super Bowl and 3 million the year before that.a/p

X GAMES Caleb Moore, 25, Dies After Crash

The innovative freestyle snowmobile rider, who was hurt in a crash at the Winter X Games in Colorado, died Thursday morning. He was 25.

Moore had been undergoing care at a hospital in Grand Junction since the Jan. 24 crash. Family spokeswoman Chelsea Lawson confirmed his death, the first in the 18-year history of the X Games.
''He lived his life to the fullest. He was an inspiration,'' Lawson said.

A former all-terrain vehicle racer, Moore switched over to snowmobiles as a teenager and quickly rose to the top of the sport. He won four Winter X Games medals, including a bronze last season when his younger brother, Colten, captured gold.

Caleb Moore was attempting a backflip in the freestyle event in Aspen last week when the skis on his 450-pound snowmobile caught the lip of the landing area, sending him flying over the handlebars. Moore landed face first into the snow with his snowmobile rolling over him.
Moore stayed down for quite some time, before walking off with help and going to a hospital to treat a concussion. Moore developed bleeding around his heart and was flown to a hospital in Grand Junction for surgery. The family later said that Moore, of Krum, Texas, also had a complication involving his brain.A/P

Jerry Rice to Moss: Check the stats

''This is not about Randy and Jerry,'' Rice said Thursday. ''It's OK. I don't need to talk about being the best receiver. I don't need to do that. I don't need to pat myself on the back.''
Rice has a strong opinion on the matter, yet insists he won't come out and say he is the best ever. The former San Francisco 49ers star turned television man will offer one thought to Moss: Check the stats.
''I know he says you can't bring the stats into the scenario, but I think that's part of being the best receiver to play the game,'' Rice said Thursday. ''I'm just having fun with it right now. I think the thing is, I never took any plays off and I always gave 100 percent. Also, you put my numbers up against Randy's and my body of work compared to his, and there's a big difference.''

During media day Tuesday at the Superdome, Moss declared himself ''the greatest receiver ever to play this game.'' The 35-year-old Moss, who returned to the league this season after a year off, Moss made 28 catches for 434 yards and three touchdowns this season. In 2007, he broke Rice's single-season record for touchdown catches with 23. Rice had 22 in 1987.
Rice had 14 1,000-yard seasons. Moss is second with 10.

Rice, who played the first 16 of his 21 NFL seasons with San Francisco from 1985-2000, holds virtually every significant receiving mark. That includes most career receptions (1,549); yards receiving (22,895); total touchdowns (208); and combined net yards (23,546) in his career with San Francisco, Oakland and Seattle.

Rice gives Moss the nod for pure talent and athletic ability, but that's not all it takes.
''The thing about me guys - and I still say this today - I think Randy Moss was the most talented,'' Rice said. ''But along with being the most talented, you have to work hard - every season, every play. I was not the most talented, but I was going to outwork you. He probably could have been the greatest player ever to play the game. He's 6-5, could run a 4.3. Could outjump you. Struck fear in the heart of the defense. But you have to have it here, in your heart.''

Rice later pointed out that he wasn't questioning Moss' heart, just emphasizing his own and the passion for the game.
''This is how I impacted the game,'' Rice said, holding up the sparkly 1988-89 championship ring on his middle right finger, ''with Super Bowl rings. I'm hoping he can go out there and win his first one and be a big factor.''