Free Republic

New San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin has instituted a new rule for his club in his first year with the the franchise, and it’s difficult to miss during spring training. Melvin is requiring every person in the team’s dugout to stand for the national anthem, and he explained why. “It’s all about the perception that we’re out there ready to play,” Melvin said, per The Athletic. “That’s it. You want your team ready to play, and I want the other team to notice it, too. It’s really as simple as that.” Melvin also made it clear his reasoning has...

Megyn Kelly is joined by Andrew Klavan, author of "The House of Love and Death,” to discuss major layoffs at the Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated potentially shutting down, media outlets losing audience and money after going woke, and more.

I have no beef with Sports Illustrated, but they made their bed when they went ‘woke’ with the transgender swimsuit edition. It was the most straightforward edition of that publication, and they ruined it. Many ‘Bud Light’ comparisons are being made because the magazine announced that virtually all staff will be fired. The revenue isn’t there to sustain the brand, so this Friday was like the Red Wedding for a lot of people (via Washington Post): Devastating news. I grew up reading SI cover to cover. It was a huge influence on me wanting to pursue a career in sports...

The publisher of Sports Illustrated and dozens of other magazines is reportedly negotiating to sell a majority stake in the company to Group Black, an African American-owned investment firm, according to a report. Arena Group, whose portfolio of publications includes Men’s Journal, Parade Media, and TheStreet, is in talks with Group Black, whose media and entertainment holdings include Essence, Afropunk, AfrolandTV, and Crater, according to the Wall Street Journal. Group Black, which was founded in 2021 by African American entrepreneurs Travis Montaque, Richelieu Dennis and Bonin Bough, bills itself as a “collective” devoted to “build[ing] solutions that accelerate inclusive spending...

Sports Illustrated clearly sought to ingratiate itself with the radical left when they put trans pop star Kim Petras on their swimsuit cover. However, just like Bud Light and every other misfiring woke corporation, they ingratiated themselves with the left and infuriated their customers. Sports Illustrated is releasing a series of swimsuit issues this week with four different cover models: Megan Fox, Kim Petras, Martha Stewart, and Brooks Nader. “According to the magazine, the German-born singer is being applauded “as the first transgender woman in history to win a Grammy Award for best pop duo/group performance, for her collaboration ‘Unholy’...

Chelsea Ritschel Mon, 15 May 2023 at 9:24 am GMT-5·3-min read Martha Stewart has made history as Sports Illustrated Swimsuit’s oldest cover model, an achievement the 81 year old described as “kind of historic”. The businesswoman has been chosen as one of four cover models to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s annual Swimsuit Issue, joining Megan Fox, Kim Petras, and Brooks Nader. Speaking to SI about her cover model status, Stewart said she doesn’t often think about age, but that she was impressed by her feat. “When I heard that I was going to be on the...

Wahl was covering his eighth World Cup. He wrote Monday that he had visited a hospital while in Qatar. “My body finally broke down on me. Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you,” Wahl wrote. “What had been a cold over the last 10 days turned into something more severe on the night of the USA-Netherlands game, and I could feel my upper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort. I didn’t have Covid (I test regularly here), but I went into the medical clinic at the main...

Sports Illustrated has been taking a beating on social media after it criticized a Supreme Court case centered on religious freedom. As Breitbart News profiled, Sports Illustrated waded into political waters on Monday with an article by Greg Bishop bashing the Supreme Court case centered on Bremerton High School assistant coach Joe Kennedy, who was sanctioned by his school district in 2015 for praying on the field with his players. Tellingly, Bishop argued that Kennedy’s potential win in court could be an “erosion” of American democracy. “This Sports Illustrated article is little else but a long smear against Christians, conservatives,...

ATLANTA—In what many are calling a long-overdue act of democracy, justice, and equity, Sports Illustrated has honored Stacey Abrams as this year’s Swimsuit Edition cover model. “Despite decades of unfair Abrams-suppression measures, we have finally ascended the pinnacle of what our institution represents: beautiful governors ignoring haters, racists, and meanies,” said Sports Illustrated managing editor Gob Dibbons to the press at yesterday’s unveiling event for the highly-anticipated magazine issue. Amid cheers for Abrams finally being recognized as a beautiful, powerful governor, several members of the press fainted when Dibbons drew back the black felt curtain to reveal the cover depicting...

On Thursday, Sports Illustrated published a long retrospective of the highly controversial University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas portraying the swimmer as an embattled hero who insists, “I am here to swim.” Born male, Thomas has undergone hormone replacement therapy but has not engaged in any surgical measures to “transition.” And Thomas swam on the men’s team for several years at the university before announcing a change of gender. The article never dwells on the fact that, on the men’s team, Thomas’ career was far less remarkable than what he achieved on the women’s team. The magazine takes pains...

ESPN and HBO personality Bomani Jones said bluntly that “white people” are the NFL’s problem following the Brian Flores lawsuit news. Jones, who is Black, appeared the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz earlier this week to discuss Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL. Flores, who was fired by the Dolphins after the 2021 season, is suing the NFL, alleging racism in its hiring process. The NFL head coach has interviewed for multiple jobs this year. Flores was believed by many to be a frontrunner in New York, though the Giants went with Brian Daboll instead. Jones was asked by Le...

So it’s refreshing when a pro athlete like Green Bay Packer quarterback Aaron Rodgers unabashedly states, “I’m an athlete. I’m not an activist.” Rodgers, a Super Bowl winner, three-time Most Valuable Player in the National Football League, and nine-time Pro Bowl selectee, is generally considered one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. He has also become a polarizing, controversial figure and a target of the totalitarian left precisely because he doesn’t conform to the woke expectations of our heavily-politicized culture. Last November, Rodgers triggered the left-dominated media after making statements that did not align with the acceptable narrative about...

When I was a kid, probably 12 or so, I convinced my parents to get me a subscription to Sports Illustrated. I loved collecting baseball cards, playing the game with friends, and the Detroit Tigers weren’t too terrible (at the time), so getting my hands on as much information about baseball in an era before the Internet meant SI was about the only game in town. That it came with the annual swimsuit issue was just a bonus. What has happened to that “bonus” in recent years is yet another piece of proof that leftists will, if left unchecked, eventually...

Sports Illustrated has revealed the first ever black and Asian transgender model to grace the pages of its annual Swimsuit Issue. Though the iconic magazine doesn't launch until July, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Instagram account has been unveiling one model a day throughout the month of March — and this morning, they made waves with the announcement that Chicago-born model, dancer, actor, and activist Leyna Bloom, 27, is joining the likes of Lais Ribeiro and Josephine Skriver in the 2021 edition. Leyna, who is the second trans model to pose for SI Swim, opened up to Good Morning America...

"Personally I think the coronavirus is being used obviously for a bigger agenda," the second-year forward said. "It's being used for population control in terms of being able to control the masses of people. The whole world is being controlled. "You're required to wear masks. And who knows what will happen when this vaccine comes out. You might have to have the vaccine in order to travel. Like that would be crazy." "I've never had any shots or anything like that," he said. "It could get crazy. But it's definitely behind everything that's going on right now and all you...

Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio has made history by becoming the first transgender woman to grace the pages of the iconic Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The 23-year-old trailblazer, who has also posed for Victoria's Secret, will appear in the publication's 2020 issue after being photographed by Josie Clough on Scrub Island in the British Virgin Islands. Valentina appeared on Good Morning America on Friday to announce the news while sharing how much the opportunity means to her and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole.

That's one way to show your patriotism. Caitlyn Jenner is reportedly posing nude for the cover of Sports Illustrated, wearing "nothing but an American flag and her Olympic medal," Us Weekly reported. It will be the first time the former athlete will pose with her gold medal since the bombshell July 2015 Vanity Fair profile in which Jenner came out as transgender. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the 66-year-old's world decathlon record at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games; a source told Us Weekly, "She's excited about that."

Sports Illustrated has introduced its next slate of finalist models for its upcoming swimsuit issue, and a plus-sized model, a 56-year-old model, and a bald fitness trainer will be among them. The magazine introduced the six finalists that the magazine touted as its most diverse ever. The finalists were winnowed down from seventeen hopefuls unveiled last October, the Daily Mail reported. Before this year’s winner is announced, the magazine is set to send the finalists to a photo-shoot conducted in the Turks & Caicos Islands, a British Overseas Territory southeast of the Bahamas. The finalists include Philadelphia native Christie Valdiserri,...

In the days before you could order both groceries and magazine subscriptions online, it was damn near impossible to walk through a supermarket checkout line without seeing the term “bikini body” plastered on glossies at the newsstand. By today’s standards, strapping two pieces of material onto any body fits the bill, but a decade ago, the term was still reserved for only those with six-pack abs and not an inch of perceived bodily "imperfection" in sight. The definition was so narrow, the ideal so unattainable, that when actress and runway model Kate Upton appeared in a bikini on her first...

HOUSTON — The Houston Astros have fired Brandon Taubman, the assistant general manager who came under fire for inappropriate comments he made during the team’s clubhouse celebration. The Astros announced Taubman’s firing Thursday. Sports Illustrated writer Stephanie Apstein reported during the Astros’ clubhouse celebrating after winning the American League Championship Series, Taubman allegedly shouted, “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f------ glad we got Osuna!” during the locker room celebration.