Lee Corso Epitomizes The Spectacle Of Modern College Football
On Saturday, Lee Corso will make his final appearance on College GameDay, the ESPN show he has worked for since its inception in 1987.On Saturday, Lee Corso will make his final appearance on College GameDay, the ESPN show he has worked for since its inception in 1987.ESPN torpedoes Colin Kaepernick-Spike Lee documentary
Spike Lee was reportedly hard at work on a documentary series for ESPN featuring ex-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, until it was scrapped.
“ESPN, Colin Kaepernick, and Spike Lee have collectively decided to no longer proceed with this project as a result of certain creative differences,” ESPN said in a statement. “Despite not reaching finality, we appreciate all the hard work and collaboration that went into this film.”
The series was supposed to chronicle Kaepernick’s career with the San Francisco 49ers, which ended in 2016 when his dedication to social justice causes overtook his dedication to his sport. Most famously, Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem before games to protest racial injustice in America.
He has been unable to sign with any other team since, and in 2019 he reached a confidential settlement with the NFL after filing a grievance that accused the league of actively working against him to keep him unemployed.
BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock has his theories as to why the documentary series didn’t work out.
“Spike Lee is not talking about why. He signed an NDA — nondisclosure agreement. He got paid, got his money, so he’s going to keep his mouth shut,” Whitlock says.
“I think more than anything, there were all these people that were promising Colin Kaepernick, ‘Man, you’re going to go down in history. It doesn’t matter what they say now. Fifty years from now, people are going to be talking about you like you were MLK,’” he continues.
“And here we are just nine years from 2016, and Colin Kaepernick is a laughingstock. ... And so they just scrapped the whole thing that Spike Lee was going to do. It was just going to cause a bunch of negative publicity. The Colin Kaepernick psyop is a failure,” he says. “That’s my takeaway.”
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Amid Endless Streaming Silos, Live Sports Still Attract Millions Of Eyeballs
Two recent deals demonstrate the immense power of live sports.One company may just have killed pay-per-view forever
A pair of monumental streaming deals have likely ended the chances of two major brands ever appearing on pay-per-view again.
In recent years, sports fans have typically only dished out cash for pay-per-view events if they were for boxing, mixed martial arts, or professional wrestling.
'It’s an outdated, antiquated model.'
Fans of the latter two have been left frustrated in recent years, as events they would have simply paid a one-time fee to watch in the past now get locked behind subscription paywalls.
Rope a dope
When the UFC inked a deal with ESPN in 2019, the fight promoter abandoned standard PPV and made its events purchasable only through ESPN+, which requires a separate subscription. Viewers, now effectively required to pay for the opportunity to pay for an event, were understandably miffed.
Meanwhile, WWE, also owned by TKO Holdings along with UFC, has until now been showing its premium events through Comcast's subscription-based streamer Peacock, without an additional fee.
Now, in the span of a week, TKO Holdings may have eliminated this hurdle — and the business model — forever.
As part of its new rights deal, UFC will abandon a PPV scheme, as viewing options slowly creep toward looking like traditional TV again.
Down for the count
Last week, TKO signed with ESPN to provide the WWE's biggest live events to the Disney-owned network, which will shift ESPN+ to a direct-to-consumer model. Simply put, WWE events will either appear on the ESPN app or on television and the app at the same time.
As for UFC, it will depart ESPN for Paramount, which on Monday acquired the rights to UFC events for $7.7 billion over seven years, per CNBC.
All 13 marquee UFC events along with 30 "Fight Nights" will appear on the Paramount+ app, but it will not charge subscribers an added fee the way ESPN+ did.
Fight club
What is left are two gigantic brands, no longer on PPV models, with some of the biggest wrestling events of the year appearing on ESPN's cable channels.
"The pay-per-view model is a thing of the past," Mark Shapiro, TKO Group's president, said. "What’s on pay-per-view any more? Boxing? Movies on DirecTV? It’s an outdated, antiquated model," he told CNBC.
"When [fans] find out, 'Wait, if I just sign up for Paramount+ for $12.99 a month, I'm going to automatically get UFC's numbered fights and the rest of the portfolio?' That's a message we want to amplify."
For now, subscription models may reign supreme, but it seems entirely possible that premium products may wind up being free for viewers on whichever type of screen they choose to view it on, even if it is the dreaded living-room TV.
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Jason Whitlock goes wild after Michelle Obama’s ESPN slam — 'She's right!'
You know it’s gotten dire over at ESPN when Michelle Obama compares the analysts to Bravo’s “The Real Housewives” franchise while chatting with two gay men.
On the July 30 episode of her podcast, “IMO,” the former first lady was candid with fellow podcasters Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang about her thoughts regarding ESPN.
“If I listen to ESPN for an hour, it's like watching ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta,’ you know? I mean, you know, it's the same drama, and they're yelling at each other, and they don't get along, you know? I mean, Stephen A. Smith, he's just like every other talk show host,” she said, calling ESPN’s dynamics “sociological drama.”
Jason Whitlock finds the comment hilarious and accurate. It perfectly captures what he’s been saying about ESPN all along: It’s a “feminized clown show.”
“Hats off to Stephen A. Smith and Bob Iger and Ryan Clark and Gilbert Arenas and Shannon Sharpe. You have feminized ESPN to the point that a supermodel first lady, one of the most beautiful women to ever walk in the White House, is talking with her gay friends ... about how you remind them of a bunch of housewives in Atlanta,” he jeers.
“[Michelle Obama] is right. It’s a soap opera at ESPN."
But it’s not just the antics of the hosts on air that make them comparable to Bravo’s bickering, shallow housewives; it’s also the scandals many of them are entangled in.
Whitlock points to Shannon Sharpe’s latest controversy as an example. He had just settled a $50 million lawsuit with 20-year-old OnlyFans model Gabriella Zuniga, who accused him of sexual assault and recording intimate moments without consent, when he was hit with yet another lawsuit — this time a $20 million defamation lawsuit by another woman.
Or take former NBA player Gilbert Arenas, a guest analyst on ESPN's "First Take," who was recently arrested and charged with three federal counts for allegedly running high-stakes illegal poker games out of his California mansion. Following the charges, Arenas live-streamed a video of himself laughing about the experience.
Whitlock plays the clip of his incoherent, expletive-ridden recount, during which he laughs maniacally in front of a social media filter of flames.
“I don't blame [Michelle Obama]. She's actually accurate here. This is a bunch of feminized men who allow Bob Iger to put puppet strings on them and behave and talk in a buffoonish ghetto fashion,” he sighs.
To see the footage of Michelle’s recent comments and Arenas’ bizarre rant and hear more of Whitlock’s analysis and commentary, watch the episode above.
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God got ghosted at the ESPYs
The 2024 ESPY Awards ended Wednesday night with bright lights, political speeches, and corporate jingles — but not a single “Thank God.”
From the Dolby Theatre stage to the post-show press scrum, winners thanked coaches, trainers, parents, and activists. The Author of Every Talent didn’t even make the credits. The omission wasn’t just noticeable — it felt deliberate. And for those of us who still believe sports can lift our eyes toward Heaven, the silence thundered.
God is still in the game, because we the people keep inviting Him.
Simone Biles, who took home two trophies, captured the event’s tone. While accepting Best Championship Performance, she closed with: “I believe in the power of sport, the power of us, and, of course, the power of she.” A slick nod to gender politics, sure — but no hint of the divine.
The Icon Award segment turned up the ideological volume. Soccer star Alex Morgan credited a legacy of “women who gave us the confidence and will to play, to fight, to advocate.” She declared: “We’re standing on the shoulders of giants. ... It’s because of you that we never have to apologize for speaking up or for fighting to raise the bar.”
Rugby player Ilona Maher, named Best Breakthrough Athlete, offered her viral mantra: “Strong is beautiful. Strong is powerful. It’s sexy — whatever you want it to be.” Empowerment rang from every line. Gratitude to God? Missing again.
Even the evening’s most historic honor, the Arthur Ashe Courage Award, stayed strictly secular. NBA legend Oscar Robertson described his long battle for player rights: “It was a desperate need for players to have more security. ... It’s important to do the right thing even if it comes at personal sacrifice.” Admirable. But no recognition that courage itself might be a gift.
Now compare that to what fans reward outside the ESPN echo chamber.
Just 24 hours earlier at MLB’s All-Star festivities, Yankees captain Aaron Judge was asked what truly satisfies him. His answer came without hesitation: “Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He’s given me this platform. ... The fame is great and all, but it’s not as fulfilling as the relationship I have with Him.” Social media lit up. Judge’s bat — engraved with 2 Corinthians 5:7 — sold out in hours. Open faith still resonates. That’s the marketplace talking.
Football fans feel it every Sunday. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, now chasing a Super Bowl three-peat, once told reporters: “Before every game, I walk the field and do a prayer at the goalpost. ... I thank God for letting me be on a stage where I can glorify Him.” That clip has tens of millions of views on TikTok — and thousands of comments from rival fans typing “Amen.” Stadiums full of people may disagree on who wins, but they unite in prayer.
College football delivered another reminder. LSU’s Jayden Daniels opened his 2023 Heisman speech with: “I want to first give thanks to God. ... He’s my rock, my savior. He blessed me with the talents and ability to get here.” The ballroom erupted. ESPN’s own cameras showed fans rising to their feet. Hashtags like #GloryToGod trended for days.
Spectators haven’t rejected God. The gatekeepers have.
RELATED: Simone Biles signals defeat in feud with Riley Gaines on trans athletes
The same networks that replay Mahomes’ pregame prayer for clicks strip divine gratitude from their own scripts. They celebrate activism in every language — except the one that thanks Heaven. But when tragedy strikes, like Damar Hamlin’s collapse, the crowd knows what to do. Silence falls. Heads bow. The reflex is prayer. The reflex is God.
As a father of three, a Catholic convert, and host of the YouTube show and podcast “We the People,” I see what’s at stake. We welcome current and Hall of Fame athletes and popular entertainers on every episode to talk about faith, family, and freedom. And of the three, the one they speak most freely and fervently about is their faith in God.
Sport remains one of the last places in American life capable of binding us across lines of class, creed, and color. Strip out its spiritual bloodstream, and all that’s left is a corporate pageant — flashy but hollow.
So here’s the call to action the ESPYs missed: If you hoist a trophy the size of a small child and can’t spare one breath to credit the One who designed your lungs, hand the mic to someone who will. Fans still cheer character as loudly as clutch shots. They did it for Judge, Mahomes, and Daniels — and yes, even Biles, when she thanked God after winning gold in Rio.
The appetite is there. The crowd is ready. Only the stage managers lack the courage to serve it.
Until then, award shows will keep cutting Heaven from the highlight reel. But the roar in the stadium — and the quiet prayers whispered at home — tells a different story. God is still in the game, because we the people keep inviting Him.
Shane Gillis’ ESPY Monologue Proves Woke Is On The Run
A mass rejection of nonsense is exactly what society needs.Comedian Shane Gillis shocks ESPN crowd with Epstein and illegal alien jokes: 'This is Disney'
Comedian Shane Gillis has been synonymous with the downfall of cancel culture ever since his firing from "Saturday Night Live" skyrocketed his career.
Gillis was fired from the sketch-comedy show in 2019 for doing impressions of Chinese people on his podcast, and since then, he has filled arenas, starred in his own Netflix series, and become a podcasting juggernaut.
The comedian's love of sports, especially football, has kept him connected to that world, and surprisingly, he was tapped by Disney's ESPN to host its annual award show last night, the ESPYs.
Gillis was as offensive as always, leaving mouths agape in shock more than once.
'Actually, there was supposed to be an Epstein joke here, guess it got deleted.'
Gillis wasted no time bringing up deportations of illegal immigrants and President Trump, saying that Trump was hoping Gillis would capture New York Mets' Dominican baseball star Juan Soto at the award show.
"Joe Rogan wanted me to be here to host this award show so that I could capture [NBA Commissioner] Adam Silver, because Joe thinks he's an alien. And Donald Trump wanted me to be here to capture Juan Soto for the same reason."
As audience members buried their heads in their hands, Gillis added, "It's an alien joke. Who booed? Shut up!"
The Philadelphia comedian then poked fun at the president for wanting to host a UFC event on the White House lawn.
"The last time he staged a fight in D.C., Mike Pence almost died," Gillis joked about January 6, 2021.
The crowd was more receptive to that joke, with Gillis telling the audience they did not have to keep quiet. "You don't have to do that, it was fine, I didn't write it," he laughed.
Then, Gillis hammered the president with a Jeffrey Epstein joke.
RELATED: Shane Gillis rocks Austin, Texas, as Donald Trump
"Actually, there was supposed to be an Epstein joke here, guess it got deleted," Gillis immediately continued. "Probably deleted itself, right? Probably never existed, actually. Let's move on as a country and ignore that."
While jokes at the president's expense got cheers from the crowd, Gillis took huge shots at athletes and even the WNBA that quieted the room for a brief period.
As is typical of award show hosts, Gillis calmly pointed to an apparent female basketball player in the crowd and thanked her for being there.
"Four-time WNBA All-Star Brittany Hicks is here, give it up for Brittany," he said. The crowd responded to the prompt with loud applause. But Gillis had set a trap for the audience.
"I'm joking around, that's my friend's wife. I knew none of you knew WNBA players. That's crazy you clapped for that," he revealed.
The comic was not done with the WNBA, shocking the crowd with a joke about how when star player Caitlin Clark retires, she will work at a Waffle House so she can "continue doing what she loves most: fist-fighting black women."
The monologue was another monumental win for free speech, with Gillis bemused that his own content was allowed on a Disney network, no matter how offensive it was.
Gillis expressed his awe when joking about North Carolina coach Bill Belichick's personal relationship. The coach, who is 73 years old, is dating a 24-year-old. Gillis joked that Belichick would read his girlfriend bedtime stories but asked the audience why they would not support such a relationship.
"What happened to this country?" the comedian asked, before telling the crowd that if they had won as many Super Bowls as Belichick, maybe they would not be sitting next to a "fat, ugly dog-wife."
Just as shocked as the attending athletes, Gillis said, "This is Disney. They allowed that."
Like an after-action report by a sergeant, Gillis admitted he still delivered jokes that he should have taken out. This shows just how far American culture has gone in recent years, from woke to Waffle House brawl jokes, with Gillis topping mainstream platforms no matter what he decides to say.
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Stephen A. Smith may be the next Joe Biden, but NOT Joe Rogan
Rumors have been swirling about Stephen A. Smith setting his sights on the presidency in 2028 — but a recent New York Times article attempts to put those rumors to rest.
The article, titled, “Stephen A. Smith is running to be Joe Rogan,” claims that Smith isn’t planning on running for president, but is instead trying to emulate Joe Rogan.
BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock of “Fearless” is not only unimpressed with the article, but doesn’t think Smith is cut out for either position — and simply believes that he’s a “plant.”
“I apologize, but it reads like ChatGPT wrote it, that AI wrote this story, that Mark Shapiro and Ari Emanuel and WME said, ‘Hey, we need the New York Times to write a story promoting Stephen A. Smith; we’ve had ChatGPT write the gist of it. Can we put someone’s name on this?’” Whitlock says.
There’s no mention in the article of Rogan’s own disdain for Smith, which Whitlock recalls as Rogan “trashing” Smith over his fighting skills — or lack thereof — and Smith’s inability to properly commentate on UFC fights.
“Joe Rogan trashed Stephen A. Smith, and the whole thing went viral. It’s the biggest connection between Joe Rogan and Stephen A. Smith, and any reporter that did an ounce of research would have contacted Joe Rogan and/or just mentioned in the article,” Whitlock explains.
“The only thing, only real interaction, only thing interesting that’s ever happened between Joe Rogan and Stephen A. Smith is that Stephen A. Smith went on a UFC podcast, Joe Rogan took a dump on him, and Stephen A. hasn’t been involved with UFC fighting ever since,” he continues.
“This is the selling the protection of Stephen A. Smith,” Whitlock charges. “‘We’re not going to mention that Joe Rogan trashed him and basically ran him out of UFC fight coverage.’ This guy doesn’t want to be Joe Rogan; he wants to be Joe Biden.”
“And that’s how the media is treating Stephen A. Smith — like he’s Joe Biden. There’s a protection racket ahead, because he’s a puppet willing to be put on puppet strings, and so, there’s a level of protection that goes along with that,” he adds.
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