Free Republic

It’s the most busted salary in news. CNN is reportedly paying anchor Anderson Cooper $18 million a year — an eye-popping sum that could be in the crosshairs when the ratings-challenged network is spun off by its debt-ridden parent company. Cooper, the face of the network and host of its primetime show at 8 p.m., has an uncertain future following Monday’s stunning announcement by Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav about the looming split, according to the Puck newsletter. Zaslav tapped WBD Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels to start looking for ways to cut costs when he takes over CNN...

Two former Politico reporters spoke candidly about efforts made by their bosses to either slow-walk or completely quash their reporting on the Biden family during their time at the news outlet. Marc Caputo and Tara Palmeri, now journalists for Axios and Puck respectively, reflected on their time at Politico on Palmeri's "Somebody's Gotta Win" podcast. Caputo called out Politico's "ill-fated headline" downplaying the Hunter Biden laptop scandal during the 2020 election. "I mean, Politico, my former employer, and I knew at the time, didn’t do itself any favors," Caputo said in the exchange, which was shared Thursday on YouTube. "I...

Usually, I get political wisdom from Rahm Emanuel, not his brother Ari. But a quote from Ari, the Hollywood macher, to Puck’s Matthew Belloni about the gender chasm in 2024 caught my eye. “This election is gonna come down to probably 120,000 votes,” Ari said. “You probably have 60 percent of the male vote for Trump, and the female vote is 60-40 for Kamala. It’s a jump ball. We’re gonna find out who wants this more — men or women.” Are we back to the days of Mars versus Venus? Or did we never leave? It is the ultimate battle...

Words to the wise. I pulled out two brand new sealed boxes of canning jar lids today. Both had black mold on them. Both the same brand. A brand with the same name as a round object used in sports.

After a tumultuous weekend at ABC News, Kim Godwin, the first Black president of a network news division, announced she was stepping down, according to an internal memo sent to staff and obtained by The Daily Beast on Sunday night. Godwin’s resignation is a severe public relations blow for Disney CEO Bob Iger, who until recently was publicly backing her despite numerous reports of growing discomfort within the ranks. Critics said she spent more time promoting herself than she did in the newsroom, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported her Sunday announcement that she planned to “retire...

Sources say the ‘Real Time’ host was furious after he wasn’t invited to Bryan Lourd’s Academy Awards bash.Sources say the host of HBO’s Real Time fired CAA, his reps for more than two decades, on Monday after he was not invited to CEO Bryan Lourd’s private Oscar party at his home on Saturday night. Maher, according to sources, was furious that he was snubbed for the event — which was scheduled opposite the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s Night Before bash. The party at Lourd’s home drew the likes of J.J. Abrams, Barry Diller, Kamala Harris, Margot Robbie, Bob Iger,...

Astronomers have used telescope data to color-correct Voyager 2 images of Neptune and Uranus, revealing that the planets have a similar greenish blue hue. VIDEO AT LINK........... Panels a and b show early images of the visible appearance of Uranus and Neptune reconstructed from Voyager 2 ISS images in 1986 and 1989, respectively, showing Uranus to be pale blue-green, and Neptune dark blue (PIA18182 and PIA01492, credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech). While these early Uranus images were close to ‘true’ colour, the Neptune images were actually stretched and enhanced. Panels c and d show more recent reconstructions of the true colours of these...

There is a certain symmetry to the notion that the spokesmouth for the failing Biden administration reportedly is being assiduously courted by the two failing cable news networks, CNN and MSNBC, both of which have endured near-catastrophic ratings declines in the era of Biden. More Biden cowbell...yeah, that's the ticket.A scoop report by Dylan Byers, formerly of NBC and now the founding partner at media website Puck, gushes over Psaki and the reported talks she or her agent are having with the two networks. Earlier this month:CNN interim co-president Amy Entelis and CNN+ programming lead Rebecca Kutler were in Washington...

Greg from Lemont is a Chicago Blackhawks fan who was honored with a chance to play "Shoot The Puck," an intermission hockey shot contest at United Center. He didn't fare well. His consolation prize? An interview with lovely Comcast SportsNet Chicago reporter Sarah Kustok. Greg decided to take full advantage of this opportunity to do what others had only dreamed of doing: Telling Sarah Kustok "I love you" at center ice of a Blackhawks vs. Minnesota Wild game on Thursday night. Here's our hero in action: For the video impaired, the Casanova of Chicago hockey was being congratulated by Kustok,...

An 11-year-old boy who won $50,000 for a miracle hockey shot may lose the prize because he switched with his twin before going on the ice. Nate Smith stunned a crowd in Faribault, Minnesota, Thursday night when he fired a puck 89 feet down the rink into a tiny three-and-a-half-inch goal. His dad had paid $10 for a raffle ticket that would give the winner a shot at the $50,000 jackpot. The only problem was that it was Nate’s brother's name, Nick, on the ticket. Nick had just gone outside when his ticket was drawn so Nate stepped up to...

MONTREAL, - The hockey puck Wayne Gretzky used to score his record-breaking 1,851st NHL goal sold for more than $50,000 in a Montreal-based online auction. Classic Auctions said the puck from the October 1989 game, which put Gretzky over the 1,850 record set by Gordie Howe, was sold to an anonymous Canadian collector with a high bid of $49,870, bringing the total price to more than $50,000 with a buyer's premium, Postmedia News reported Friday. Classic Auctions President Marc Juteau said the puck was kept in storage for many years by a retired NHL timekeeper and recently sold to a...

In a Tuesday night USHL game against the Sioux City Musketeers, 19-year-old defenseman Andrew Prochno of the Sioux Falls Stampede fired a slap shot from the blue line that hit the goal post. Curiously, the referee blew his whistle to stop play, confusing fans and players on what appeared to be a routine occurrence during a hockey game. But there was nothing routine about it, because Prochno's shot off the iron split the puck in half on impact. Check out the first 55 seconds of this clip for one of the oddest moments you'll ever see on the ice:

Shannon, 27, took a shot during Wednesday night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes that deflected out of play and hit one spectator that he was not counting on — his wife.

A Portland man faces charges of burglary and drunken driving after his arrest atop a Zamboni machine at the Cumberland County Civic Center early Tuesday morning. Adam Patterson, 23, had inadvertently summoned the Portland Fire Department to the civic center by driving a forklift, with the forks raised, into part of the sprinkler system, setting off an alarm, police said. Firefighters responded at 2 a.m. to find Patterson trying to drive the large ice resurfacer, which was against an interior wall and not on any ice, police said. When officers arrived to arrest him, Patterson was sitting on the machine...

Category 5 thriller on tap Hurricanes earn Cup berth against Oilers in homecoming of sorts John MacKinnon, The Edmonton Journal Published: Friday, June 02, 2006 The Edmonton Oilers have a Stanley Cup final date, at last, beginning Monday night in NASCAR country. And the speedy, skilled Carolina Hurricanes will be facing the Oilers in the final thanks hugely to Mike Commodore and Ray Whitney of Fort Saskatchewan and ex-Oilers captain Doug Weight, making amends for a costly penalty in Game 6 by scoring a key goal in Game 7, a dramatic, see-saw victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Not to mention...

WARROAD, Minn. — Dennis Fermoyle has coached in state championship games. He has prepared his teams to face some of the top players in Minnesota. But nothing could prepare Fermoyle, the Warroad boys hockey co-coach, for Wednesday night. "I've had more butterflies today than I usually do," he said. Who could blame him? Even some Warroad 8-year-old hockey players such as Dryden Thompson and Cayne Kimble were picking against the Warriors when they played the U.S. women's hockey team in the Gardens. "I think the girls are going to win," Thompson said. The Warriors pulled out a 2-1 victory against...

Environmentalists say outdoor hockey threatened by global warming , Canadian Press Published: Sunday, November 27, 2005 Font: * * * * MONTREAL -- Many Canadians go to their local outdoor hockey rink to skate and live the dream of scoring that winning Stanley Cup goal. But this quintessential slice of Canadian life in wintertime is slowly melting away because of global warming, says a collection of young environmentalists. "A bunch of us are fairly avid hockey fans and hockey players and we noticed that we were waiting longer and longer every year to play, and then we started phoning rink...

Governor Apologizes for Slip of the Tongue Fri Oct 7, 4:26 PM ET ST. PAUL - Gov. Tim Pawlenty apologized for an embarrassing slip of the tongue during the Minnesota Wild's season opener Wednesday night as he led the crowd in a cheer. The script called for him to say: "It's time to drop the puck. So everybody say it with me — 'Let's play hockey!'" It was the governor's tripping over the word "puck" that provoked the snickers. Instead of telling people to drop the puck, he used a very similar-sounding word that made him sound more like Tony...

DUBLIN (Reuters) - A wild mountain goat was crowned King of Ireland on Wednesday in an ancient annual ritual whose origins are lost in the mists of history. For three days, Charlie, a grey male goat with brown trimmings, will reign over this year's Puck Fair -- one of Ireland's oldest and best-loved street festivals -- in Killorglin, in the southwestern county of Kerry. "Nobody really knows how it came about or when," said Jean Kearney, a spokeswoman for the festival, which is expected this year to attract more than 100,000 visitors for a marathon of music, drinking and dancing....

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A 4-year-old girl was hit in the head by a puck at an Ohio State hockey game on Saturday night and taken to a hospital for stitches, officials said. The girl was treated at Children's Hospital and released, a nursing supervisor said Sunday. She did not have details of the girl's injury. Ohio State lost to Ferris State 1-0 in overtime in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoff game at Value City Arena. Three years ago, 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil died after being hit in the head by a puck while watching a Columbus Blue Jackets game at...