Free Republic

In yet another move that feels designed to tick off long time fans while boosting the returns for short term investors, the San Francisco Giants announced this morning that effective this season, fans ages 17 and under will no longer be permitted to attend games at Oracle Park. Yes, the move is surprising, because Baseball is a kids’ game and the sport has always been a draw for families, but some stark market realities have influenced the decision. On the condition of anonymity, I exchanged some texts with an unnamed exec in the Giants front office, who had this to...

Prior to Monday night's game between Iowa and LSU, there were plenty of people who already respected Caitlin Clark's game. Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce, however, needed to see Clark dismantle LSU's star-studded to truly admire her skillset and talent. Unfortunately, Pierce's commentary about Clark on FS1's "Undisputed" wasn't well articulated. "We saw a white girl in Iowa do it to a bunch of Black girls," Pierce said. "That gained my respect. That gained my respect. She didn't beat other white girls from Colorado or wherever. She did it to LSU, who we thought were some dogs. She put them...

Monday night’s women’s basketball game between Iowa and LSU was the most watched women’s basketball game ever.Monday night's rematch between @IowaWBB & @LSUwbkb scores as the MOST-WATCHED WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL GAME ON RECORD12.3M viewers Most-watched college basketball game EVER on ESPN platformsMore details to come…#NCAAWBB | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/55FU8C1NwD— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) April 2, 2024How big of a night was it?At 12.3 million viewers, last night's Iowa-LSU game had more viewers than:• Any women's CBB game ever • The 2023 NBA Finals • The 2023 World Series • The 2023 Orange Bowl • The 2023 Big Ten Championship • The 2023...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The future of the Royals and Chiefs in Kansas City was thrown into question Tuesday night when residents of Jackson County, Missouri, resoundingly voted down a sales tax measure that would helped to fund a new downtown ballpark along with major renovations to Arrowhead Stadium. Royals owner John Sherman and Chiefs president Mark Donovan acknowledged long before the final tally that the initiative would fail. More than 58% of voters ultimately rejected the plan, which would have replaced an existing three-eighths of a cent sales tax that has been paying for the upkeep of Truman...

Vontae Davis, a former NFL cornerback and the brother of Super Bowl champion tight end Vernon Davis, has died at the age of 35, according to WSVN 7. Davis’ body was found dead at a home belonging to his grandmother in Southwest Ranches, Fla. No foul play was suspected, police told the outlet. He spent the first three seasons of his NFL career in Miami before being traded to the Colts ahead of the 2012 NFL season.

Police were searching for Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice in connection with a major multivehicle accident Saturday evening in northeast Dallas, law enforcement officials confirmed to The Dallas Morning News. A vehicle believed to be registered or leased to Rice was involved in a crash in the 6600 block of North Central Expressway at about 6:20 p.m., officials told The News. The law enforcement officials said police are looking for Rice, and a police call sheet obtained by The News confirmed that law enforcement was searching for him in connection with the accident.His alleged involvement in the crash...

Whomever planned March Madness Basketball Playoffs on Easter Weekend and on 4/8 Eclipse should be FIRED!!!

A new published report from international researchers marshals every line of evidence in defense of fairness in women’s sports.The International Olympic Committee (IOC) developed its 2021 framework on sex and “gender” around the concepts of fairness, inclusion, and non-discrimination. This framework leaves it to each sport’s governing body “to determine how an athlete may be at a disproportionate advantage against their peers.” However, they admonish sports organizations against “targeted testing … aimed at determining [athletes’] sex, gender identity and/or sex variations.” Instead, it’s up to each sport to “[provide] confidence that no athlete within a category has an unfair and...

Mathew Bowyer was a former commodities trader, owner of a failed pest control business and operator of a Brazilian jujitsu studioMathew Bowyer was a former commodities trader, owner of a failed pest control business and operator of a Brazilian jujitsu studio As a gambler, Mathew Bowyer bet big, often unsuccessfully, listing nearly half a million dollars in losses to two Las Vegas casinos in his 2011 bankruptcy. As a bookmaker, the Orange County man wagered that a client’s relationship with baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani would pay off by boosting Bowyer’s reputation in the gambling world. Bowyer, who turns 49 next...

The Phillies and the Atlanta Braves reputedly are among the elite teams of major-league baseball, but if the quality of play at Citizens Bank Park during their season-opening series doesn’t quite measure up to expectations, go gentle on the booing. These players are experiencing a form of abrupt climate change, says Struan Coleman, a sports medicine specialist who practices in New York and Philly. When the Phillies left Clearwater, Fla., after their final spring training game Monday, the high was 83 degrees, and daily highs since the team began playing their practice games in Florida on Feb. 25 have averaged...

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — A possible moonshine cave has been discovered under the stands at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, according to a statement released by the NWS on Tuesday. During cleaning and inspection last week, staff noticed cracks in concrete in section N. Crews began removing seats to evaluate damage and repair needs. “When we began renovating and restoring North Wilkesboro Speedway in 2022, we’d often hear stories of how an old moonshine still was operated here on the property under the grandstands,” said Steve Swift, senior vice president of operations and development at Speedway Motorsports. “Well, we haven’t...

Gisele Bündchen, for the first time, addressed speculation that she cheated on Tom Brady before the power couple’s divorce, stating definitively that she did not while claiming that people wondering if she stepped out were doing so because she’s a woman. “That is a lie,” Bündchen said in an interview with the New York Times about whether she cheated on her ex-husband. Bündchen reportedly began dating her jiu-jitsu trainer Joaquim Valente in June 2023; she and Brady announced their divorce in October 2022.

New York weed shops are stocking their shelves with Mike Tyson-branded edibles shaped like an ear with a bite mark – a callback to Iron Mike’s heavyweight showdown with Evander Holyfield. The 57-year-old Brooklyn native — who’s planning a comeback fight against Jake Paul in July — is rolling out his Tyson 2.0 brand “Mike Bites” and he’s planning a promotional blitz at shops next month, including an event in Times Square, a spokesperson told The Post. But the gummies have already appeared at dispensaries Strain Stars in Farmingdale, Housing Works in Greenwich Village, Grow Together in Brooklyn, Flynnstoned in...

Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner responded to criticism over controversial remarks that he made about Jewish people during a live stream over the weekend. The incident happened while Gardner had been appearing with popular streamer Adin Ross – who is Jewish – and as part of a conversation about Ross’ ability to get a Tesla Cybertruck from another Jewish man, Gardner said “ya’ll run the world.” After receiving backlash online, Gardner tried to clarify the remarks with two separate but similar comments on X, which included him claiming what he had said “was meant to be a good thing.” “I love...

Engineers at INRS Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre in Canada have developed the world’s fastest camera, which can shoot at an astonishing 156.3 trillion frames per second (fps). The best slow-mo cameras in phones are usually working with a few hundred fps. Professional cinematic cameras might use a few thousand, to achieve a smoother effect. But if you want to see what’s going on at the nanoscale, you’ll need to slow things way down, to the billions or even trillions of frames per second. The new camera can reportedly capture events that occur in the realm of femtoseconds – quadrillionths...

It was only a matter of time before Pete Rose chimed in about the ongoing drama surrounding baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, who is alleged to have stolen $4.5 million from Ohtani to cover his own gambling debt. Rose, the all-time Major League Baseball hit king, commented on the matter in what appeared to be a sarcastic manner in a video that was posted to Instagram and spread across social media. “Well, back in the 70s and 80s I wish I’d had an interpreter. I’d be scott-free,” Rose said in the 21-second clip. Rose is...

Two lawmakers who are pushing bills aimed at reining in the sports betting industry say there is a silver lining to the scandal that has ensnared the Japanese interpreter of Los Angeles Dodgers baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani: It will shine a spotlight on the plague of gambling addiction. “This situation clearly demonstrates the impact and harm that gambling addiction can inflict,” said Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y, who this month introduced the SAFE Bet Act to deal with what he has called a “public health crisis.” Both Tonko and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced their bills before the news broke that...

LOS ANGELES, CA — The National Association Of Perverts (NAP) Rated Planet Fitness 'The Best Gym In America' after learning this week the workout chain giant allows men to use the women's locker rooms whenever they want. "We couldn't be happier to learn that our members will have access to women's changing rooms all over the country," NAP Spokesperson Lester Johnson told reporters. "For years, we perverts have been forced to peep through closed doors and leer around corners. Thankfully, with the rise of the transgender movement, we can now move freely through the women's locker room and stare all...

Ohtani will reportedly read a prepared statement and not take questions from reporters on Monday afternoonLos Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani will speak with the media on Monday for the first time since Major League Baseball opened an investigation into allegations that his longtime interpreter Ippei Mizuhara -- since fired by the Dodgers -- had placed illegal bets on non-baseball sports and Ohtani's bank account was used to pay an illegal bookmaker. Ohtani will reportedly speak around 5:45 p.m. ET and make a statement. He is not expected to answer questions from reporters, per ESPN. MLB's policy allows personnel...

Brazil's Vinícius Júnior broke down in tears at Monday's news conference as he admitted he has "less will to play" because of racist abuse directed toward him in Spain. The Real Madrid forward, however, said he is not considering leaving LaLiga despite the racist chants he has heard by opposing fans since he arrived at Madrid more than five years ago. "I've been here for a long time watching this and I feel more and more sad," Vinícius said. "I have less and less will to play. With each complaint made I feel worse, but I have to appear here...