Free Republic

by Becca LondonAll three contestants on "Celebrity Jeopardy!" failed to solve a very simple clue about a midwestern state referenced in a popular movie classic, and the interaction went viral on social media.The video showed contestant Torrey DeVitto, a TV actress and model, pick the category "The Fifty States" for $300. "In 'Field of Dreams' a question is asked, 'Is this heaven?' - No, it's this midwestern state also known as 'the corn state,'" read host Mayim Bialik. DeVitto guessed Wisconsin and was shot down. Candace Parker, a WNBA player, offered Nebraska, which was also wrong. Comedian Patton Oswalt, a...

America loves college football, loves its flyovers and cheers and opportunities to show patriotic pride, and doesn't want it tainted by politics.When college football came roaring back in September, sticking it to the Faucian fear porn that gathering with fellow fans in stadiums (or with anyone, anywhere) wasn’t “smart,” fans cheered the camaraderie of mass sports gatherings — as well as the lack of politicized messaging, in contrast to the wokeness of pro leagues like the NFL. Fans made their disdain for the COVID establishment known with chants of “F-ck Joe Biden,” and later the more tactful euphemism “Let’s go,...

People cope with disappointment in all kinds of different ways, but what one Eagles fan reportedly did after Sunday’s playoff loss takes things to an entirely different level. According to court records, a 31-year-old Eagles fan became so enraged after Philadelphia’s loss to the Saints on Sunday, that she assaulted her girlfriend and put her dog in a microwave. The incident occurred at a Best Western motel in Hanover Township, Northampton County. As the Daily News reports, “Kirsten Gaskins of Philadelphia was charged with simple assault, harassment, cruelty to animals and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was arraigned by District...

Book Review: God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (and How We Can Get It Back) Written by Will Leitch. Published by HarperCollins, 2008. If you would like a truly fresh and hilarious perspective on the protests surrounding the passing of the Olympic torch, pick up a copy of Will Leitch's book, God Save the Fan, and read his essay concerning the Olympics that starts on page 97. Leitch wrote the book long before the Chinese oppression of Tibet became the...

September 1, 2002 Skilled Ballplayers and Fans Who Are BratsBy IRA BERKOW MONG the homemade signs exhibited by fans at some of the ballparks recently in which the major-league players threatened to strike, the one in PNC Park in Pittsburgh, where the Pirates play, was particularly eye-catching: "Play 4 the Love of the Game." This is part of the fairy tale that some fans like to believe — that players ought to play simply for the love of the game. The fact is, they are professionals, and from the time professional baseball began, in 1869, with the Red Stockings...