High school basketball team banned from tournament for wearing 'I Can't Breathe' T-shirts: Report

A California high school basketball tournament has become the latest center of controversy in the ongoing protests over police killings of unarmed black men after a team was banned from playing because of concerns its players would wear T-shirts printed with the words 'I Can't Breathe' during warmups.

According to 5KPIX, the athletic director for Mendocino High School was informed by his counterpart at Fort Bragg High School this week that neither the boys nor girls teams would be allowed to participate in the three-day tournament hosted by Fort Bragg High starting Monday, Mendocino Unified School District Superintendent Jason Morse said.

The boys were reinstated after all but one player agreed not to wear the shirts inspired by the last words of Eric Garner, the New York man who died after an officer put him in a chokehold, while on the Fort Bragg campus during the Vern Piver Holiday Classic tournament, said Morse. 

Too few girl players accepted the condition for the team to field a tournament squad, he said.

Principal Rebecca Walker issued a written statement Friday saying school administrators respected the Mendocino teams "for paying attention to what is going on in the world around them" and that the T-shirts were being prohibited as a security precaution.

"To protect the safety and well-being of all tournament participants it is necessary to ensure that all political statements and or protests are kept away from this tournament," wrote Walker, who said she was speaking on behalf of the athletic director and the Fort Bragg school superintendent. 

Mendocino varsity teams first wore the "I Can't Breathe" T-shirts before a game with Fort Bragg on December 16, according to the girls coach, Caedyn Feehan. 

The student bodies at the picturesque Northern California schools are 1 percent black and 50 percent white and 41 percent Hispanic at Fort Bragg, 75 percent white and 9 percent Hispanic at Mendocino, respectively.

Georgetown the first college team to wear 'I Can't Breathe' T-shirts (PHOTOS)

They've already made their debuts in the NFL and NBA, and now, The Georgetown Hoyas are the first college team to wear "I Can't Breathe" T-shirts during their pre-game warmups.

The @georgetownhoyas are wearing "I can't breathe" shirts during warmups before Kansa game @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/lUoMEeCv2A
— Kristen B. (@KristenBerset) December 10, 2014

The entire Hoyas roster took its final pregame warmup Wednesday night in black shirts with white letters before their game against No. 10 Kansas. A team spokesman told ESPN.com the decision to wear the shirts was made collectively between the players.

The "I Can't Breathe" quote on the T-shirts are in reference to the last words uttered by Eric Garner, a New York man who died in July after he was placed in a choke hold by police officers for selling cigarettes on the street.

More #Hoyas wearing #ICantBreathe shirts prior to the game. pic.twitter.com/iZWxal7Vib
— Hoyas247 (@Hoyas247) December 10, 2014

It's sort of ironic that Georgetown is the first college team to join the"I Can't Breathe" movement with this public display of free speech because for much of the '80s and early 90's, coach John Thompson's Hoya Paranoia philosophy kept his players muzzled when it came to voicing their opinions to the media.

Although the Hoyas program — now coached by Thompson's son, John Thompson Jr. — was once an in-your-face symbol of urban culture in Washington, D.C. area, some things have not changed.

Only the symbolic Georgetown jacket has been replaced by a T-shirt — and it fits them well.

High school bans football T-shirts with slogan that glorifies rape: Report

A Texas school district has banned a football team from wearing T-shirts with the slogan "Shhhhhhh just let it happen" after questions over whether the message could also glorify rape. 

The shirt was designed by senior members of the Arlington Martin High School football team and printed by the football booster club. 

It reads "Martin Football" in big gray letters above an image of a Native American man that represents the school's Warrior mascot. 

To the left of the man is a pirate flag, with a skull and crossbones, along with the words "We take what we want, and below the flag is the phrase "Shhhhhhh just let it happen."

The issue came up after the school's newspaper staff raised concerns about the shirt in a meeting and published an editorial in the bi-monthly publication.

 The editorial titled "Out of bounds" read: "The shirt's main message is to state the player's idea that there is no need for the opponent to put up a fight in letting our team take the ball away from them. 

"Can this saying be easily misunderstood? Yes. Though it certainly was not the goal of the shirt, its slogan connotes rape culture. This is not what we want to display as a slogan for our Varsity football program," it adds.

The Warrior Post's editor-in-chief Jerred Osterman, a Martin HS senior, told NBC 5 that the newspaper was motivated to write its editorial after a female student approached a staff member with concerns over the T-shirt.  

The coach of the team, Bob Wager, said that they did not consider the shirt to be inappropriate or offensive in any way adding that they would never have allowed it to be made or worn if they had.

He claims it referred to "the act of piracy, taking what you want. What we want is the football."

School district spokeswoman Leslie Johnston said that officials believed the team had not intended the slogan to be offensive but, nevertheless, that the t-shirts have been banned. 

'Caucasians' T-shirt satirizing Cleveland Indians' logo a big seller: Report

A popular item in Canada this summer on Ontario First Nations’ reserves is a T-shirt with the lettering “Caucasians” and an altered version of Chief Wahoo, the grinning, much-derided mascot of the Cleveland Indians team.

The Caucasians' version of the logo shows a big-toothed, blond-haired man with a dollar sign as a headdress below a bat and ball. 

The T-shirt's design — obviously taking a jab at the offensive Native American caricature — has received lots reaction on and outside of the Canadian reserves — where it has become a hot fashion item, according to the Toronto Star.

“People’s reaction has been all positive and they see the humor in it both on and off the reserve,” said Tracy Bomberry who wore one to a pow wow in her community of Six Nations of the Grand River last weekend. She bought the Caucasians T-shirt after reading that Ojibwa singer DJ NDN of A Tribe Called Red was accused of racism for wearing one last month.

Adidas sexualized World Cup T-shirts get slammed: Report

No if, ands or “butts” about it, Brazilians love their soccer … and their ladies' bumbums as well.

Now, in tribute to Brazil's two biggest passions and in advance of the World Cup, adidas is marketing a pair of tee shirts that play off stereotypes of oversexed Brazilians — and getting criticized for it.

A couple of months before the country begins hosting the soccer tournament in June, the sports equipment giant, has released a pair of tee shirts inspired by Brazil’s reputation for sexiness, reported The Huffington Post. 

One offending shirt features an image of heart that appears to double as a woman’s behind with a thong, while another depicts a thin-waisted woman with a full-figured rear against a Rio de Janeiro backdrop and the words “Looking to Score.”

The “Looking to Score” message presumably refers to both soccer goals and having sex with Brazilian women.

The head of the Brazilian Tourism Board Flávio Dino blasted the shirts in comments to the local press, saying they would encourage illegal activity.

“We don’t accept that the World Cup be used for illegal practices, like so-called sexual tourism,” Dino told Brazilian news agency O Globo. “We ask that Adidas put a stop to the sale of these products… Brazil has harsh laws to deal with sexual abuse and the police will act on these cases in the national territory.”

The quest to find the best bottom in Brazil has become tradition and happens every November in the Miss Bumbum contest. Miss Bumbum has a huge following in the country and around the world. The titleholders often go on to become national celebrities.

Its new counterpart, Miss Butt World Cup aims to find the Brazilian beauty with the best behind before the first goal is scored.

Adidas did not immediately return a request for comment.

T-shirt takes jab at Sochi Opening Ceremony fail (PHOTO)

The days leading up to the Sochi Olympics have been riddled with a seemingly endless stream of structural and technical miscues but none stood out any brighter than the doily-fication of one of the mighty Olympic rings during Friday night's Opening Ceremony.

And it didn't take one entrepreneur long to take advantage of the epic fail.

#sochiproblems The Commerative Tshirt. pic.twitter.com/rBnCsMkaT8
— Michael Miller (@mychelmiller) February 7, 2014

Michael Miller said proceeds from his T-shirt — available in various colors — poking fun at the miscue will be donated to a still undetermined charity.

Just don't wear them on the streets of Sochi.

'Now we're murderers' T-shirts mocking Patriots are for sale in Pittsburgh

A T-shirt for sale at a place called Yinzers in Pittsburgh is emblazoned with "New England: We used to be cheaters, now we're murderers" on the front.  It's a crude reference the Aaron Hernandez murder case and takes liberties with clumping the rest of the Patriots team in with the accused killer.

The tee might be funny to many NFL fans and tasteless to some, but was probably meant to just mock the Steelers' AFC rival and Hernandez in particular.

Bill Belichick isn't going to like this one bit — at least the cheating part.

Great shirt being sold in Yinzers in Pittsburgh @darrenrovell @Deadspin pic.twitter.com/3StJFphonk
— Jimmy Crivella (@BSJimmy) September 2, 2013