Free Republic

The 2024 Olympics opening ceremony in Paris has sparked international outrage with drag-queen themed imagery of religious and historical figures. In between listing all the countries participating in the Olympic Games, there have been several performances riffing on France's history and culture, such as a headless Marie Antoinette, the last queen prior to being executed amid French Revolution, singing with her severed head in her hands sporting drag-style makeup. This was part of numerous drag queens that appeared to be a recurring theme throughout the ceremonies. Three drag queens were among the 10,000 torchbearers who relayed the Olympic flame as...

Lady Gaga put on quite the show at the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony in Paris, but you know what it was missing? Pyrotechnics, headless women in a castle, and a boat carrying an opera singer. Enter: Gojira. The group became the first metal band to ever perform during the opening ceremonies. They were chosen because a) they’re French, and b) they put on a sick show. The band — made up of vocalist Joe Duplantier, drummer Mario Duplantier, lead guitarist Christian Andreu, and bassist Jean-Michel Labadie — played a cover of “Ah! Ca Ira,” a song that was popular during...

Matt Driscoll, a 43-year-old columnist and opinion editor for The News Tribune (TNT), died unexpectedly at his Tacoma home this Sunday. Driscoll’s death was announced by his news network. “We’ve lost a friend and beloved colleague, but Tacoma and Pierce County have lost someone who never stopped caring,” said fellow TNT writer Sean Robinson. Washington Governor Jay Inslee (D-WA) also paid tribute to Driscoll on social media. “Tacoma still has the Rainiers and the Narrows Bridge, but our City of Destiny has a hole in our hearts at the loss of Matt Driscoll. What a big heart and an insightful...

I have not watched an NFL game for 7+ years. I started to try to watch it but still there was too much woke crap. I do play NFL Pro Era on my Quest headset and I love. Understand: before kaperdink I LOVED the NFL. I am one of those guys who digs deep into strategy and tactics and know the difference between the two. I hear the NFL as cleaned up its act and is not allowing any of the nonsense they used to do but I have no way of knowing. One last note - pre kaperdink I...

MLB and the Players Association have agreed to a change to the collective bargaining agreement that’ll help teams whose television rights situations are uncertain. Evan Drellich of The Athletic reports that the league is now permitted to redirect its portion of competitive balance tax money to clubs that have lost TV revenue. Those teams can receive a maximum of $15MM or the necessary amount to compensate for their revenue drop. Teams that exceed the competitive balance tax threshold are required to pay fees at the end of each season. The league and union split the money. The MLBPA’s portion funds...

Former NBA center Vin Baker lost more than $100 million in career earnings and later became a Starbucks barista. Former NBA guard Kenny Anderson made $63 million and filed for bankruptcy the year he retired. Former NBA MVP Allen Iverson made more than $200 million but said during a 2012 divorce proceeding that he didn't have enough to afford a cheeseburger. Former All-Star Latrell Sprewell lost more than $97 million.

Team USA men’s basketball star Stephen Curry and head coach Steve Kerr backed Vice President Kamala Harris for president while talking to reporters on Thursday. President Biden announced Sunday he was withdrawing from his re-election campaign and endorsed Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee for president. Biden’s decision came after weeks of upheaval from top Democrats and donors following his disastrous debate with former President Trump. Curry and Kerr, who are with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA, made their comments days before the team begins its Olympics matchups. "Vice President Harris is primed to bring her energy to...

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps First Grand Prix1950 Number of Laps44 Circuit Length7.004 kmRace Distance308.052 kmLap Record1:46.286Valtteri Bottas (2018)NEED TO KNOW:

Former President Donald Trump missed 12 putts while playing a round of golf alongside Bryson DeChambeau. The 2024 Republican nominee for president appeared on the professional golfer's popular "Break 50" series, where they raised money for charity. Trump, 78, and DeChambeau, 30, played a two-person scramble, a common golf game in which "each player plays from the teeing area on each hole, one of the tee shots is selected and all the players play their second shots from within one club length of that location, no closer to the hole, and in the same height of grass in the general...

PARIS -- US Open champion Coco Gauff will be the female flag-bearer for the United States at the Paris Olympics' opening ceremony, joining four-time NBA champion LeBron James, the American team said Wednesday. Gauff, 20, will be the first U.S. tennis player to carry the flag, three years after she was forced to miss the Tokyo Olympics when she tested positive for COVID. "I never thought in a million years I would have the honour of carrying the American flag for Team USA in the opening ceremony," Gauff said in a statement. "I could not be more proud to lead...

The Winter Olympics are officially coming back to Utah. A boisterous crowd of about 2,000 people erupted into jubilation as International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach announced the vote Wednesday to award Salt Lake City the 2034 Winter Olympics during a meeting in Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympics. Some launched fireworks they brought with them in the morning, while the crowd stuck around to view an Olympic-themed drone show over the Salt Lake City-County Building. It marks just the fifth time that the United States has hosted the Winter Olympics and the future event will be the first on...

ALAMEDA. Calif. (KGO) -- There is a police investigation over what is seen on video in this story. One 13-year-old basketball player stomping on an opposing player's head. "He was down on the floor and this kid just came and just stomped on him and on his head." Eva and Roderick Guingab's son was playing on the Tumakbo United team, which is a Filipino-American youth team based in the Bay Area, with players from all across the U.S. The game took place Sunday at the College of Alameda versus Payton's Place, another Bay Area team. There was a scuffle to...

For parts of three decades, Bob Costas was the television face of the Olympics in the United States, leading NBC’s coverage of 11 Games and talking Americans through celebration, scandal and even a bomb in Atlanta. Eight years after his last Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Costas believes the Games have lost some of the magic that once made them mandatory viewing. Maybe it’s because the past three Olympics were held in distant Asian time zones while America slept. Or perhaps it’s the sense that the two most recent Games, held in pandemic Tokyo and Beijing, seemed to happen less...

@brysondechambeau 12 hours ago (edited) I want to thank President Trump for coming on this episode of Break 50! It was an honor to play a round with the former president and raise a ton of money for the Wounded Warrior Project. This was all meant to be about golf, good fun, and supporting a great cause. I’ve also added the Wounded Warrior Project as a fundraiser on this video for those of you who would like to take part in giving back to our nation’s veterans as well! Edit: To confirm and clear any speculation, the Break 50 video...

In 2004, when LeBron James was participating in his career-first Olympics, little did he know he would achieve a wonderous honor 2 decades later. Yes, that’s right. The “kid from Akron” was chosen to be the official male flag bearer, representing all Americans in Friday’s opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics. His fellow U.S. Olympians picked him for the honor of leading a 592-player contingent. With the honor bestowed upon him, King James became the third basketball player to do so. In fact, he’s the first men’s basketball player to carry the US red and blue colors at the opening...

They promised to host the “greenest” Olympics ever, a Games that would double as an eco-friendly model for a warming world. All involved in the planning of Paris 2024, from the IOC to politicians, seemed to be on board. They touted a plan to halve the carbon footprint of the Olympics. They’d ditch diesel generators for renewable energy; they’d shun gas-guzzling buses for electric vehicles; they’d repurpose existing venues and build repurposable ones, with seats made from recycled plastic.

"Fight! Fight!"Earlier this month, former United States President Donald Trump was grazed by a bullet in the ear during an assassination attempt. Immediately after he was brought to his feet, Trump sent a message to his supporters by pumping his fist in the air and saying “fight! fight!” And one Major League Baseball star made reference to that moment during a game this weekend. During Sunday afternoon’s game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees, Rays star shortstop Taylor Walls hit a double at the top of the fifth inning, and he sent quite a strong...

A professional soccer game was suspended in Norway when fans threw fish cakes and other objects onto the field to protest the use of a Video Assistant Referee, or VAR. The Norwegian Eliteserien game between Rosenborg BK and Lillestrom was initially stopped mere minutes after kickoff due to the fish cakes raining down on the field. Players returned to the field from the locker room, but the game was stopped a second time when fans from both sides continued to throw fish cakes, and started adding tennis balls and smoke bombs into the mix. The game was officially suspended after...

At least 144 out LGBTQ athletes will be heading to Paris for the 2024 Summer Games, with a record number of out male Olympians participating, according to the LGBTQ sports site OutSports. In the last Summer Olympics, held in Tokyo in 2021, there were at least 186 out competitors, but the list originally started at 121, according to OutSports co-founder Cyd Zeigler, who said the number increased as the sports news site became aware of additional publicly out athletes. This year, at least 18 male athletes participating in the summer Olympics are publicly out. Zeigler said equestrian, an Olympic sport...