American Legends: Your Late Night Fix 4.17.07 [J. Mark English]

Following the tragedy of the massacre at Virginia Tech, all of sports at the University will be suspended, including the annual spring football game.

Fox Sports has more on how the tragedy will affect the sporting world of Virginia Tech.

To honor those who perished at Virginia Tech yesterday, the Washington Nationals wear VT hats during their game against the Atlanta Braves.

Alex Rodriguez (and oh by the way he hit another HR tonight) leads the way of famous sports athletes to donate to the Rudy Giuliani presidential bid. Other baseball icons to donate to the Giuliani campaign are Keith Hernandez and George Steinbrenner.

Tom Verducci of SI has reason to believe that the New York Mets' shortstop Jose Reyes is a true superstar in the making: Jackie Robinson would have loved Jose Reyes, the New York Mets shortstop whose mentor may be Rickey Henderson but whose dynamic energy on the field recalls Robinson. Baseball's tribute Sunday to the 60th anniversary of Robinson's debut was classy (thanks to Ken Griffey Jr.'s idea to honor Robinson by wearing his No. 42, an idea that spread with enthusiasm), touching (Andruw Jones giving the literal and figurative tip of the helmet to Robinson) and inspiring (C.C. Sabathia pitching with a higher purpose). Given Robinson's importance to American culture and society, Jackie Robinson Day should be part of our country's official calendar, not just the baseball season.

In a classy move, the New York Yankees honored Jackie Robinson tonight by dedicating a memorial to him in Monument Park.

The United States Supreme Court will hear a case concerning high school recruiting: The U.S. Supreme Court gets the case again Wednesday: Did a Tennessee high school football power violate recruiting rules or simply exercise free speech?
The 10-year-old dispute pits Brentwood Academy, a wealthy private school in suburban Nashville, against the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, the state body governing high school sports.
Brentwood Academy sent a letter inviting 12 eighth-graders to attend spring football practice in 1997. The students' parents already had signed contracts and paid deposits to attend the high school.
But the athletic association said the letter violated rules against recruiting high school players, and it penalized the school with a $3,000 fine and four years' probation. School officials unsuccessfully appealed twice before suing.
There have been three appeals to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court and one previous trip to the U.S. Supreme Court. Mediation ordered by a federal judge failed to resolve the case.
The city of Chicago gets the nod from the United States Olympic Committee to have a chance to make a bid to host the 2016 Olympic games.