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Donovan McNabb. Jason Taylor. LaDainian Tomlinson. Hines Ward.These distinguished former football stars are among the players who were announced Thursday as nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fames Class of 2017.Also on the list of 94? Darren Sharper.You know, the five-time Pro Bowl safety currently serving 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to drugging and raping multiple women in several states. Yes, that Darren Sharper is among those being considered for enshrinement in the sports most hallowed of spaces.While several cuts remain before the finalists are ultimately determined, and Sharper is unlikely to make it that far in the process, it still begs the obvious question: How did this happen?To be considered for nomination, a player must be retired from the league for at least five years. And, as clearly evidenced by Sharpers inclusion, there is no character clause in the bylaws.There are several players currently in the Hall with criminal records, including O.J. Simpson and Lawrence Taylor. The Hall neither removed Simpsons bust or on-field honors after he was convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping, nor after he was accused of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. But in 2013, the Hall did remove a mere photo of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez in the spirit of good taste after he was charged with first-degree murder.However, the NFL has come under heavy scrutiny over the past few years regarding the leagues treatment of women, most notably coming to a head after then-Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was suspended just two games after brutally attacking his then-girlfriend (now-wife) in an elevator in 2014. The team ultimately released Rice, the league suspended him indefinitely, and a string of promises from NFL brass to do better quickly followed.One might, perhaps foolishly, believe that in the wake of this, the league would make sure it did everything in its power to ensure that crimes involving violence toward women are always treated with the utmost importance. At the very least, one would assume the league would go out of its way to avoid another public relations nightmare.Both the NFL and Hall of Fame claim they have no input in who is nominated or ultimately elected. Any fan may nominate any player, coach or contributor who has been connected with pro football simply by writing to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Halls website says. Of course, the 48-member selection committee decides who will ultimately appear on the ballot (based solely on the contributions they have made to the sport), but this open nomination conveniently takes the blame off of the league and the Hall. It could be anyone who nominated Sharper. Yet, is there no one who reviews this list -- the last version before winnowing it to 25 -- before releasing to the public?It goes without saying, that someone at the very least checked the list to ensure eligibility, or just made sure there were no spelling errors. But at no point did anyone raise a red flag? At no point, did someone say, We have a convicted serial rapist on this list?Because when seeing the name of someone who has committed such disgusting crimes on such an illustrious list, it should be called into question. And if not because its the right thing to do, then because it devalues the other 93 names on the list.Yes, Sharper had a good career over his 14 seasons in the league, but does that really overshadow the pain and suffering he inflicted on as many as 16 women? If you are unsure, please take a moment to review his crimes. One would have to be delusional to truly believe anyone could just brush over what he has done.The College of William & Mary, his alma mater, couldnt overlook it. Despite having a storied career at the school, he was removed from its Athletics Hall of Fame in April 2015 -- almost immediately after he pleaded guilty.A friend recently asked me how I could justify watching football as a feminist. I stumbled then in finding an adequate answer, as I have for the past several years. And now, when seeing something like this, it really makes me once again question my fandom. Even if Sharpers inclusion didnt violate any standards of the Hall of Fame, perhaps its time to set new standards.Perhaps its time to make sure a SERIAL RAPIST, who even called his own actions heinous during sentencing, cant be considered for footballs greatest honor.And if not, perhaps its time for the rest of us to realize this is a sport that really doesnt care about keeping us as fans.Do better, football. Seriously. 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Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. Clearance Jordans Australia Online . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup. RIO DE JANEIRO -- International Boxing Association President Ching-Kuo Wu attended all 16 days of the Olympic boxing tournament, and he believes Rio de Janeiro saw the best competition ever staged at the games.In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press on Sunday before the final gold-medal bouts, Wu discussed AIBAs decision to send home several referees and judges after a handful of controversial verdicts.He also criticized Irish world champion Michael Conlan, who profanely expressed his disappointment with a loss. The president saw nothing wrong with the decision in the heavyweight title fight, in which Russian winner Evgeny Tishchenko was booed for his victory over Kazakhstans Vassiliy Levit.Wu also spoke about his plans for the 2020 Tokyo Games, revealing AIBA will consider a move to five-round bouts using all five ringside judges scorecards. He expects more professional boxers to compete, and he confirmed his interest in removing head guards from womens boxers and vests from men.Here is APs discussion with Wu, with answers edited only for length.---AP: Several debatable judging decisions spurred a strong reaction from AIBA, which dismissed several referees and judges. How did AIBA choose this action?Wu: This is not the first time. In every major competition, we always assign the evaluators of the referees and judges to watch for fair play. If they find certain referees and judges not meeting expectations, or if some mistake is made, then immediately we interview them. We are always telling them, `OK, this is not correct, so tomorrow, you are suspended. No assignment. The (suspension usually) runs three days. This time, we sent them home. Our policy is zero tolerance. I want perfect. The best.AP: Have they been fired, or will they work for AIBA again?Wu: We will evaluate the whole management system of the referee-judges after the games. We have continuously made adjustments in the last 10 years, and we keep training and keep changing our rules. We want to make our rules perfect. Theres no way you can penetrate into the system and try to manipulate or cheat. So far, you can see that the majority of the competition went very well. Some people will accept it. Even some of the losing national federations, or even the ministers of sport sitting with me, will say, `Although we lost, I think its a very good judgment. So when you consider it, out of 273 bouts, one or two have the complaint. But we never, never hide anything. We immediately take action. That is our policy. If he is incompetent, we put him aside with a suspension. After that, you can come back.AP: In particular, the heavyweight gold medal fight has been widely criticized for the decision that favored Tishchenko over Levit. You were in the audience that night with IOC President Thomas Bach. What was your opinion of that bout?Wu: When we were sitting and watching, I felt in my mind, nothing wrong. Nothing wrong. But the next day, suddenly it becomes a very controversial issue. It was really surprising. Even Thomas Bach and I, we were sitting and watching, and I think we all clapped hands for the winner, because in our mind, sport is sport. Respecting the judges judgment is very important. If we always wanted to change (results), then why do we have the judges? They are all highly qualified through our process of examination. For me, theres nothing to see that is intentional. We have five judges, with three judges scores being taken randomly by computer, and the three scores that were selected and shown, I think, were fine. (But) because its causing so many people concern, we did ask the referee-judges commission chairman, the discipline chairman, the evaluator, all were asked to review the video and see if theres something really obviously (wrong). But after viewing this, they all agree it is correct. We can even open this video to the media, to the public, and let everybody see. So this is open, nothing to hide. I just want to emphasize it: This is a subjective judging sport.AP: The other decision that received the most widespread criticism was Irish world champion Michael Conlans loss to Russias Vladimir Nikitin. What was your opinion of that fight and Conlans scathing criticism of AIBA?Wu: (Tishchenko) never said anything. (Levit) never said anything. They all accept the result. But (Conlan), he immediately showed his finger to the referee-judges. The IOC says this is totally unacceptable. You cannot humiliate people. They are officials. He put himself in a difficult position, I can tell you. A lot of disciplinary action will follow. You should show proper behavior. If you are not happy about the result, you cannot humiliate in public our referee-judges. That has already drawn a lot of peoples attention who want to punish him, so we are going to have a disciplinary commission for the case. ... You can go through the right channel to say, `OK, may I have the chance to really review this bout? We do have the ability to review. This bout particularly, with his behavior that drew a lot of attention, we wanted to review whether its correct or not. ... Judges have no intentions.dddddddddddd Why do (you think) they hate your country? The judges, why do they want it in favor of this (country) over the other one? Theres no reason. But since that happened, we want to totally review our system, how to improve in our mind. Maybe five judges will score all fights, and all scores will be open. No more computer selection. I proposed these changes to our referee-judge management. We look at five and select three by computer, only showing the three. Maybe in the future we should change it to all five judges all showing, nothing to hide. It will be transparent. We will continue to work to make it in a more perfect condition.AP: From athletes and coaches to media and fans, many people still claim to see evidence of corruption in Olympic boxing. Do you believe corruption still exists in AIBA?Wu: People accusing AIBA of corruption, please give me the evidence. I have no mercy to those (corrupt) people. I hate manipulation, corruption. You will see how severe punishment I punch to those people. Really! People say corruption. What corruption? I have no salary. I am absolutely a volunteer. Everybody knows Im only working for sport. I dont have an account, nothing. Even if people wanted to give me money, I have no account. I dont need money. I dont like it. Money can help you. Money can kill you if you dont handle it carefully. Thats why from the first day Im elected to the AIBA presidency, I said, `I dont need a salary. ... A lot of reform and changes happened because I hate corruption. I will immediately punish the people involved in corruption or taking money. Maybe (corruption) happened 10 years ago with the old administration, my predecessor (Anwar Chowdhry), but that is no more. During that time, I watched carefully, and thats why I already removed four vice presidents, now three secretary generals, six executive committee members. There is zero tolerance. You are a good friend, but when youve broken the rules, I dont know you. I will let you see what severe punishment Im going to give to those bad people.AP: Despite the negative publicity generated by a few heavily criticized decisions, does AIBA feel it is making progress on improvements to judging and refereeing?Wu: Every Olympics are very similar. Its a subjective judging sport. Everybody has different views. We always have many bad losers, and once they lose, theyre attacking without any reason, no evidence. This is a legal issue. We are bringing all the cases, because without any evidence, accusing an organization of corruption is a very serious allegation. We consult with lawyers. If you dont have evidence, why are you saying the organization is corrupted? One competition, maybe one misjudgment? How could you say this is corruption of the organization? We are 200 countries. AIBA does not belong to me. It belongs to everybody. They select me to be the head. They know I can bring them to a higher improvement of the sport.AP: You welcomed traditional professional boxers to the Olympics for the first time in Rio, although they had little success. What is boxings Olympic future?Wu: I think many professional boxers, to go to the Olympic Games is their dream. And since we opened the door now, everybody wants to go. In amateur boxing, there is a lot of training, a lot of competition experience. There is a perception that professional means stronger, amateur means you are weaker. Putting them together is dangerous. But I think the facts show it is dangerous the other way. AIBA is looking at a series of changes for 2020. Three rounds, we all feel, is too short. Maybe we will extend it for five rounds. It will immediately change the tactics. I can already give you a hint that that is in the reforms. We will have much new thinking. Five rounds, three minutes, five scores all showing from the judges. Maybe we will take the (mens) vests off. So that would really make 2020 a very exciting Olympic Games. I think many professionals will want to come.AP: How do you evaluate AIBAs decision to remove head guards from the men for the first time in 36 years? Do you anticipate removing headgear from womens boxers soon?Wu: We removed the headgear from the men (for Rio), and I just checked with our medical commission. Only one concussion, very minor. He immediately stood up and continued. I think youre seeing why fighting without head guards is safer, because boxers are changing their tactics. The head is up. No more bending down to receive the punch. ... Our women, they watch the men, and then they all come to me and say, President, please remove our head guard. I said, OK, we will have a process. I want to start to have some experimental womens competition without head guards. Based on that, we collect data on injuries and (see whether) its absolutely safe. In 2020 in Tokyo, I want to increase to five categories of women without head guards. More professionals will come. Five rounds, five scores. You can see all of those changes. ' ' '