Free Republic

Blame it on lingering effects of the pandemic, resentment over the lockout or economic fears. Major League Baseball is struggling to fill the stands at pre-COVID levels as the sport heads into the last 2½ months of its first season since 2019 without capacity restrictions. MLB reached the All-Star break with an average attendance of 26,409. That represents a drop of 5.4% from the All-Star break of 2019 — which was 10 days earlier than this year. League officials remain encouraged and point to the recovery. […] … Victor Matheson, a Holy Cross economics professor who specializes in sports economics...

I no see live thread. Me post one. Notify me of any video of "FJB" chants.

New York Times columnist David Brooks supported journalist Katie Couric’s decision to edit out the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s criticism of athletes who kneel to protest the national anthem — according to Couric herself. In her new memoir, Going There, journalist Katie Couric admitted that she edited comments from the now-deceased Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for her 2016 interview with Yahoo! News to protect her from severe public backlash. The Justice’s crime? Criticizing the national anthem kneelers.

Stats and Predictions in Body of Comment. My average over more than 30 years is around 60%. If a favored team loses, just replace with the next highest ranked team to figure out the next predicted winner(s). Remember my average is really good, but just like the stock market, you don’t bet on one stock or one year. It’s an overall average over many years. According to the stats I use (Points For minus Points Against), the “World Series” (best two teams in baseball) would be the NLDS between the Dodgers vs. the Giants.

Earlier this month several women from the US soccer team turned away from the US flag as 98-year-old WWII veteran Pete DuPré played the national anthem on a harmonica. The US women’s soccer team was playing an exhibition game against Mexico in East Hartford, Connecticut in a pre-Olympic sendoff game before heading to Japan. The US Soccer Federation later denied this but the video was clear. On Wednesday the US Women’s Soccer Team took a knee before their Olympic opening game. Then they proceeded to get spanked 3-0 by the Swedish women.

The United States women's soccer team was just trounced by Sweden at the Olympics — and forward Megan Rapinoe is acknowledging, "We got our asses kicked." Sweden scored a stunning 3-0 victory over the United States in women's soccer at the Olympics on Wednesday, The Associated Press reports. It was an upset after the U.S. had been the favorites to win gold, the AP notes, while Sweden was ranked No. 5. The loss came after Sweden previously defeated the U.S. in the quarterfinals at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016. "We got our asses kicked, didn't we?" Rapinoe said...

Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving isn’t afraid to speak his mind. And like many others across the league, Irving wants to see change when it comes to the NBA logo. Los Angeles Lakers legend Jerry West has been the symbol of the league since 1969, but Irving believes that the league should do whatever it takes to make the late Kobe Bryant the new logo. "Gotta Happen," Irving wrote on his Instagram. "Idc what anyone says. BLACK KINGS BUILT THE LEAGUE." Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told TMZ Sports that he’s on board with changing the NBA logo to...

More important is that Trump win. One week from now.

The Austin City Council voted unanimously on Thursday in favor of a new city budget that sees an estimated $150 million in planned cuts to the Austin Police Department. About $20 million will be immediately removed from the department’s funding, according to the Austin American-Statesman. The vote took place after the city council listen to hours of public testimony on Wednesday, which saw many speakers in favor of cutting the police budget. The cuts that will take place immediately will include: "Cutting three upcoming cadet classes, slashing overtime costs by nearly $3 million, pulling more than $3 million from commodities...

The "woke" movement of major sport leagues like the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, and Major League Baseball has filtered down into the collegiate ranks. Given today's insane environment, how could it be otherwise? A case in point is that players from the Pac-12 Conference have issued demands and are threatening to sit out the 2020 season unless they are met. This was done in a letter to conference commissioner Larry Scott and is said to be backed by hundreds of players from all 12 universities in the Pac-12. A number of the demands are reasonable such as...

The Michigan State University administration pressured professor Stephen Hsu to resign from his position as vice president of research and innovation because he touted research that found police are not more likely to shoot black Americans. The study found: "The race of a police officer did not predict the race of the citizen shot. In other words, black officers were just as likely to shoot black citizens as white officers were." For political reasons, the authors of the study sought its retraction. The U.S. Department of Education warned UCLA that it may impose fines for improperly and abusively targeting white...

The political correctness mob is now coming after professional baseball. This was on the horizon. When the lefty mob scalped the Washington Redskins, whose new name is unknown, this was bound to happen. If you give the Left an inch, they'll take several hundred miles. You cannot give an inch of land. The same applies to statues. This wasn't about Confederate statues, folks. Any person could see the long game here. The Confederacy was the flank march to move against the real target: The Founding Fathers. This nation's history is the target. The Left wants to erase it—all of it....

In 2019, Sacramento Police Officer Tara O’Sullivan was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call. O’Sullivan was ambushed at a Sacramento residential home by Abel Sambrano Ramos, who continued shooting at police for hours. O’Sullivan was left unattended for 45 minutes because police had difficulty getting to her because of multiple fences between them and where she was lying. She later died at an area hospital. Abel Sambrano Ramos was charged with murder, attempted murder and possessing two illegal assault rifles when he was captured. However, Ramos, is now facing a total of 13 felony counts as...

Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy says white people should find black strangers, go up to them, and shine their shoes to show repentance for their sins of racism. He once bought 1,500 shoe brushes for his employees to shine strangers’ shoes to exhibit their remorse for racism, Cathy said Sunday during a panel discussion at Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia. By shining shoes, white Americans can express shame, embarrassment, humility and contrition, Cathy said.

Chick-fil-A is in the hot seat again, this time because of a viral image of an employee wearing a "Back the Blue" shirt. But the photo was from years ago and had nothing to do with the current protests against the death of a black man in police custody. In fact, the post was meant to promote a local athletic team. The Deseret News reported the image has been used as a trigger for those who claim the company is "racist." "What I have come to understand is that they are tired of the violence, abuse and injustice. They are...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Nascar driver Ray Ciccarelli took to Facebook Wednesday to announce he is leaving the sport once the 2020 season is over. In his Facebook post, Ciccarelli said he does not like the direction Nascar is headed, adding that he does not believe in kneeling during the National Anthem nor does he believe in taking away the right for people to fly whatever flag they choose. He made the announcement shortly after Nascar decided to ban the Confederate flag from its races and tracks. Ciccarelli explained that he could care less about the Confederate flag, but said some people fly it...

Despite flashing elite arm strength and fluidity in the pocket during his public workout last week, Colin Kaepernick has reportedly received "zero" interest from NFL teams. “Zero. Absolutely zero. The workout last week did absolutely nothing to enhance the chances that Colin Kaepernick is going to wind up with another team," ESPN's Adam Schefter said Sunday on SportsCenter. "There hasn’t been a team that has requested a workout. There hasn’t been a team that has requested a visit. There hasn’t been a team that has expressed interest in signing him. So, despite the fact that one week ago we saw...

NFL Live Thread: Week 10 Thursday, November 7, 2019 (All Times Eastern) L.A. Chargers at Oakland 8:20 pm FOX-NFL Network-Amazon Prime Video RingCentral Coliseum Sunday, November 10, 2019 Buffalo at Cleveland 1:00 pm CBS FirstEnergy Stadium Detroit at Chicago 1:00 pm CBS Soldier Field N.Y. Giants at N.Y. Jets 1:00 pm FOX MetLife Stadium Baltimore at Cincinnati 1:00 pm CBS Paul Brown Stadium Kansas City at Tennessee 1:00 pm CBS Nissan Stadium Atlanta at New Orleans 1:00 pm FOX Mercedes-Benz Superdome Arizona at Tampa Bay 1:00 pm FOX Raymond James Stadium Miami at Indianapolis 4:05 pm CBS Lucas Oil Stadium...

MIAMI, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Miami Dolphins wide receiver Kenny Stills criticized owner Stephen Ross for hosting a Donald Trump fundraiser Wednesday on Twitter. The Dolphins' billionaire owner responded with a statement hours later. "You can't have a nonprofit with this mission statement [and] then open your doors to Trump," Stills tweeted.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — They just won’t die. The Patriots survived a wild, back-and-forth game to beat the Chiefs 37-31 in overtime in the AFC Championship at Arrowhead Stadium. The win puts them back in the Super Bowl for the third straight year and fourth time in five years where they will face the Rams in two weeks in Atlanta.