High school football player flagged for praying after touchdown (VIDEO)

A Florida high school football player was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after scoring the first touchdown of his career and going to a knee with raised arms in the end zone.

17-year-old Sam Turner said the gesture was meant for a teammate who was killed in a drive-by shooting last year.

During the second quarter of Ft. Myers' 49-0 rout of Riverdale Friday night, Turner scored on a 27-yard pass from Dylan DeGroot and briefly dropped to a knee in prayer in the end zone (Video below). He pointed toward the sky in tribute to his dead friend, Jo Jo Brunson, and instantly drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from an official.

“I told God that after the first touchdown I scored I was going to give him the glory” Turner said. “I said ‘thank you, God, for this talent you’ve blessed me with.’

“I threw up a No. 1 for Jo Jo to honor him on Senior Night (Brunson was honored in a pregame ceremony).

“The official threw the flag. The official told me I was drawing attention to myself with a celebratory action.”

Turner’s raised arms gesture has been drawing mostly positive feedback. Turner is a member of Next Level Church and one of nine siblings.

“It’s very cool to see how everyone is taking it,” he said. “I use my faith as a platform for my talents. My teammates are giving my tons of support. They all know I’m strong believer, even though it cost us 15 yards.”

And Turner isn't the first.

The NFL apologized for penalizing a Kansas City Chief player for praying after a touchdown in September.

Husain Abdullah, a devout Muslim, was penalized for "unsportsmanlike conduct" after he knelt down during a game against the Patriots.

Hope Solo to stand trial for domestic violence charges: Report

Hope Solo will stand trial early in 2015 on misdemeanor assault charges following a brawl with two members of her family last summer.

The 33-year-old goalkeeper, who has won two Olympic gold medals with the USA women's national team, has pleaded not guilty to the domestic violence charges.

The trial is set to begin on January 20 with Kirkland Municipal Court Judge Michael Lambo setting Solo's next court hearing for January 6, according to the Seattle Times.

Solo is charged with two counts of fourth-degree domestic violence assault stemming from the June 21 altercation with her sister and 17-year-old nephew at a family gathering where alcohol was being served.

The nephew told police (via the Times) that Solo had been drinking and was angry because her husband, former NFL player Jerramy Stevens, refused to take her to the airport to catch a flight. 

 She reportedly told her nephew he was “too fat and overweight and crazy to ever be an athlete,” the documents allege.

The teenager called Solo a name, told her to get out of the house and then walked to another part of the house, documents say. Solo allegedly followed him and called him crazy.

Prosecutors allege that Solo attacked the teen, punched him in the face and tackled him after he retorted that both she and her father were crazy.

When the teen’s mother tried to intervene, Solo attacked her as well, the document says. The teen tried to pull Solo off his mother and then broke a wooden broom over her head, the document reported.

The 17-year-old then allegedly “got an old gun that did not work” and pointed it at her in an attempt to get her to stop assaulting him and his mother and to leave. The handgun was ultimately determined by police to be a broken BB gun.

Solo has claimed she was only acting in self-defense.

There was also an email from a Kirkland city prosecutor to Solo's attorney, Todd Maybrown, three and a half weeks ago, which offered a plea deal to Solo if she plead guilty to at least one count. It is not clear if Maybrown or Solo responded. It may be, because at this point, Solo's career and endorsement deals could be affected if she is found guilty of a crime.

In the interim, Solo will continue to play for the U.S. national soccer team as it prepares for next summer’s World Cup. Her presence on the national team has been met with some criticism after the NFL was grilled by the media for the league's lax handling of domestic violence by its players.

Rick Nash scores 'Buttgoal' against Red Wings (VIDEO)

Rick Nash continued his hot start on Wednesday night, scoring his 10th goal of the season for the New York Rangers against the Detroit Red Wings — using his rear end!

Derick Brassard got the assist for the opening score, but it was Nash's ass which got the goal.

Nash's deflection helped the Rangers go on to a 4-3 overime win.

Call it hockey's version of the Buttfumble.

Adam LaRoche bags giant buck and Dan Haren isn't happy about it (PHOTO)

Free-agent first baseman Adam LaRoche will be spending a lot of his offseason looking for big bucks  this winter — and not only those with dollar signs.

LaRoche tweeted a picture Wednesday of himself and a gigantic, 12-point Rocky Mountain elk he bagged this week in Wyoming.

The avid hunter posted the photo on the official Instagram account for Buck Commander, a group which LaRoche co-founded, with the caption:

“Adam LaRoche is on the board with a GIANT bull taken in the back country of WY! Congrats brother!” 

Thank you Lord for the Rocky Mountain Elk! #BuckCommander pic.twitter.com/GFJdiJhvuk
— Adam LaRoche (@e3laroche) November 5, 2014

Needless to say, not everyone thinks hunting is a good offseason activity including his Nationals' teammate from 2013, pitcher Dan Haren. Haren seems to think the only bucks LaRoche should be hunting are from a team's front office. He responded to LaRoche's picture on Twitter with this wry observation:

@e3laroche poor elk, just minding his own business eating some leaves and boom, dead. Atleast you're having fun.
— dan haren (@ithrow88) November 5, 2014

Most of Haren's tweets are in jest, so it's highly likely he's just giving LaRoche a hard time, but a lot of people might agree with the sentiments.

Although, for the record, LaRoche puts his game on the dinner table.

Israeli soccer match called off after fans attack players (VIDEO)

An Israeli league match had to be called off on Monday night after a fan broke onto the pitch and attacked an visiting player before other fans joined in on the chaos.

The first pitch invader ran onto the field shortly after Maccabi midfielder Eran Zahavi’s 33rd minute penalty evened things up against Hapoel in the match. 

 The shirtless man ran up to Zahavi and the two men took turns kicking each other before more fans swarmed the pitch and mixed it up with the players.

The match was suspended for a brief time until the wild scene got out of hand — forcing the cancellation of the game.

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. 

Brandon Knight blocks own jump shot during game (VIDEO)

Can't really put my finger on what happened to Brandon Knight during this play but, it looks like someone  — or something — got their hands on the ball while the Bucks guard was lining up for an easy jump shot against the Pacers.

Considering that no one else was even within five feet of the ball, it begs the question: Is there such a thing as fouling yourself?