Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird said U.S. women’s soccer players are better supported by fans because of their perception as “cute little white girls,” in contrast to less popular WNBA players.

“Even though we’re female athletes playing at a high level, our worlds — the soccer world and the basketball world are just totally different,” Bird told CNN in an interview Sunday.

“To be blunt it’s the demographic of who’s playing. Women’s soccer players generally are cute little white girls while WNBA players, we’re all shapes and sizes: a lot of Black, gay, tall women. There’s maybe an intimidation factor and people are quick to judge it and put it down.”

Bird, a 40-year-old veteran who won her fourth WNBA title earlier this month with the Storm, has been dating retired U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe since 2017. Bird spent a majority of her professional career keeping her sexual orientation private before publicly coming out in 2017.

Bird pointed blame to a societal stereotype and noted that the WNBA has struggled to work against that stereotype.

“It’s how society and how the outside world is willing to accept the cute girl next door, but not willing to accept, or embrace, or not judge these basketball players who are tall, Black, gay,” Bird said. “That is where the issue is. Where I feel like I’ve learned throughout that process is you have to be who you are. You have to be to be true to who you are and authentic.”

Rapinoe, a star of the 2019 World Cup team that generated mainstream national attention, shared similar views in a recent Players Tribune article where she wrote: “This country has a deep history of racism, and a deep history of homophobia. And if you look at the players in the ‘W’ (WNBA) most of them are Black, and a lot of them are gay. … Where’s that same energy for the best women’s basketball players on the planet? Where’s that energy for the women’s sports that — instead of scanning cute and white and straight — scan tall and black and queer??”

Read more at usatoday.com

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Chicago Bears: Antonio Brown is clueless about Nick Foles by Ryan Heckman

It is time to start taking the 5-1 Chicago Bears seriously going forward.

When the Chicago Bears were 1-0 or 2-0 it was easy to call it luck. They didn’t blow anyone away with their play and looked mediocre for a lot of it. With that said, they hadn’t lost and that is what matters the most. A lot of smart football people believe that you are what your record says you are and the Bears are 5-1. Most teams in the league would absolutely love to be 5-1 so it is time to start putting respect on the 2020 Bears.

They do have a few wins where you can point to a play or two and the result would be different but the fact of the matter is that they won. In hindsight of 99 percent of football games, there are one or two plays that if they were made differently, the outcome of the game would be different as well. They switched out Mitchell Trubisky for Nick Foles and the defense has been improving every week so there really isn’t much else they could do so far.

The Green Bay Packers went into the week looking like world-beaters. Well, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers destroyed Green Bay yesterday while the Bears took care of them in week five. There is no team in the NFC that hasn’t shown signs of weakness and the Bears are no different. With that said, they find ways to win football games. Most of us would rather be the “worst 5-1 team” than a team with any other record. First-place is first-place.

Now, another big test looms. The Los Angeles Rams are a pretty good team themselves but they were just beat by the San Francisco 49ers pretty handily last night. It was more proof that winning football games is very hard and you just never know. You should be proud of every win no matter what. The Rams and Bears have had big matchups before and this year is no different. It is also on Monday Night Football which is pretty awesome. If the Bears win and go to 6-1, it would be very interesting to see what people say then.

Hot: Antonio Brown is clueless about Nick Foles

No team is perfect in the NFL and every win is hard. This week’s win over the Carolina Panthers had its moments but they pulled out the big win thanks to their defense and a few good offensive plays. Hopefully, the Bears are able to keep it up.

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Purdue coach Jeff Brohm yells to an official during the second half of the team’s NCAA college football game against TCU in West Lafayette, Ind. | Michael Conroy/AP Photo

The Boilermakers are scheduled to play their Big Ten season opener against Iowa on Saturday.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue football coach Jeff Brohm has tested positive for the coronavirus, the school announced Sunday.

Brohm is awaiting a second test to confirm the initial result and is isolating at his home, Purdue’s athletic department said in a statement.

He is expected to speak with reporters during his regularly scheduled Zoom call Monday morning.

The Boilermakers are scheduled to host Iowa in their season opener Saturday when the Big Ten Conference begins its virus-delayed, eight-game, conference-only season.

Other major-college football coaches known to have tested positive for COVID-19 include Florida’s Dan Mullen, Alabama’s Nick Saban, Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Arizona’s Kevin Sumlin and Kansas’ Les Miles. Saban was cleared to coach the Crimson Tide on Saturday, three days after a false positive test.

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Seven people were displaced in a house fire Oct. 18, 2020, in the 8300 block of South Colfax Avenue. | Sun-Times file photo

One woman was taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, fire officials said. Seven residents were displaced.

A woman was injured and seven people were displaced in a house fire Sunday morning in South Chicago.

The blaze was reported at 6:08 a.m. at a home in the 8300 block of South Colfax Avenue, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

One woman was taken to South Shore Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, fire officials said. Seven residents were displaced.

The cause remains under investigation.

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The Chicago Blackhawks need to stop making trades involving Brandon Saad. The Chicago Blackhawks have had the fortune of finding themselves some very good players over the past two decades. Brandon Saad is one of those players for them. He is a multiple-time Stanley Cup champion with the Hawks and was a huge part of […]

Chicago Blackhawks have lost three Brandon Saad trades – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & More

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