‘Dumbest thing I’ve heard’: Kash Patel humiliates Stephen A. Smith



Stephen A. Smith has gotten himself on the FBI’s radar, but not for anything impressive.

After the FBI announced a sweeping probe into two separate illegal sports gambling-related cases that included the arrest of Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former NBA player Damon Jones — among some mob families — the ESPN star complained on “First Take” that President Trump is “coming” for the sports world.

FBI Director Kash Patel then joked about Smith’s comments on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.”

“I’m the FBI director. I decide which arrests to conduct and which not to conduct. That may be the single dumbest thing I’ve everheard out of anyone in modern history, and I live most of my time in Washington, D.C. It’s right up there with Adam Schiff,” Patel told host Laura Ingraham.

“We arrest people for crimes,” he added.


“How would anybody connected to the sports world hear this story — that an NBA hall of famer, an NBA champion, an NBA head coach, active head coach, is involved in some sort of poker scheme involving mafia members — and the reaction be, ‘Oh man, Trump’s coming,’ and, you know, ‘Trump’s coming after his enemies,’ and, ‘Trump is the bad guy here,’” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says on “Fearless.”

“The entire media is now rigged around a system of ‘the only crimes that are punishable are crimes committed by Donald Trump or his supporters,’” he continues. “If you’re an enemy of Trump, there’s nothing we can’t rationalize by saying, ‘What about Brett Favre?’ or ‘What about Donald Trump?’ or ‘What about some random white guy?’”

While many are asking why those who are already rich through professional sports would then engage in illegal gambling to pad their pockets further, Whitlock believes its a symptom of the culture surrounding sports.

“Why wouldn’t they do it given the environment and the culture that we’ve built around sports? They show up to arenas. The arenas play a style of music that promotes corruption and greed and debauchery,” Whitlock says.

“We want athletes to mimic the behavior of criminals, gangsters, men that are incarcerated. So, athletes, we want you to tat yourself up, dress with your pants hanging off your ass. We want you to pretend like you’re some Iceberg Slim-type pimp and rapper, and that’s your brand now,” he continues.

“That’s what’s been promoted to all of these athletes, and that’s what they’ve done,” he adds.

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‘Wokeness is feminization’: The true origins of cancel culture



Journalist Helen Andrews has written what BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock calls “one of the most important pieces of journalism in quite some time.”

The article for the online publication Compact, titled “The Great Feminization,” dives into the dangers of feminism and the havoc it has wreaked on society as a whole — starting with “cancel culture.”

“Cancel culture is simply what women do whenever there are enough of them in a given organization or field. That is the Great Feminization thesis. … Everything you think of as ‘wokeness’ is simply an epiphenomenon of demographic feminization,” Andrews writes.

“Wokeness is not a new ideology, an outgrowth of Marxism, or a result of post-Obama disillusionment. It is simply feminine patterns of behavior applied to institutions where women were few in number until recently,” she continues. “How did I not see it before?”


Andrews notes that women “became a majority of college-educated workforce nationwide in 2019,” which was followed by women becoming a “majority of college instructors in 2023.”

“Wokeness arose around the same time that many important institutions tipped demographically from majority male to majority female,” she writes.

“The substance fits, too. Everything you think of as wokeness involves prioritizing the feminine over the masculine: empathy over rationality, safety over risk, cohesion over competition,” she adds.

Andrews also points out that within group dynamics, the “most important sex difference” is the “attitude to conflict.” While “men wage conflict openly,” women “covertly undermine or ostracize their enemies.”

“We’ve all been in denial, that we all just, you know, ‘Women and men, they’re all the same and welcoming them into the workforce and into all positions of power — this is long overdue and this is good for America,’ and this article points out in great detail, and very powerfully, like no, they’re not the same,” Whitlock says in response.

However, while BlazeTV contributor Chad Jackson agrees somewhat with Andrews, he points out that the article was still “written from a spirit of feminism.”

“And what I mean by that is that she describes wokeism kind of rising up out of nowhere, seemingly out of nowhere here recently. When the reality of it is that what we’re seeing in these recent years is actually a culmination of what’s been going on for a few centuries, actually,” Jackson explains.

“When you’re coming from a kind of evolutionary worldview, you might get a lot of things right, but you miss the mark when it comes to certain key points. … I think that we tend to miss the mark when it comes to how these things have been brewing up for much longer than the recent history," he adds.

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Is Michael Jordan’s NBA halftime series a flop or a gold mine of insight?



Earlier this year, the NBA announced a new halftime series with Peacock streaming services: “MJ: Insights to Excellence,” featuring the one and only Michael Jordan. The news was shocking for the sports world, as Jordan has largely avoided the public spotlight since his retirement. For him to step back in front of NBA audiences again, this time ready to share his wisdom, has had basketball fans sitting on the edge of their seats.

On Tuesday, October 21, the first episode of Jordan’s new series aired during halftime of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets game. The NBA legend revealed that he hasn’t picked up a basketball in years and shared a memory of feeling “the most nervous I’ve been in years” when asked to shoot a free throw in front of kids during a stay at a rental house for the Ryder Cup.

Many were charmed by Jordan’s candor, but Jason Whitlock says his “insights” flopped.

He was expecting basketball analysis, not personal anecdotes.

“This is [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander] and the Oklahoma City Thunder raising a banner, getting championship rings — the future of the NBA versus the past of the NBA in Kevin Durant, and we had time to go hear stories about Michael Jordan shooting a free throw?” he complains.

Jason doesn’t understand why the entirety of sports media is “genuflecting” to Jordan and treating him “as an idol” when all he did was share some personal stories. “Michael Jordan did nothing, and we shouldn't be celebrating it,” he says, calling himself an “iconoclast” who wants to “tear down icons.”

“Fearless” guest Jay Skapinac, host of “Skap Attack,” agrees: “I was led to believe that this was going to be Michael Jordan kind of as an NBA analyst, not regaling us with stories of what he's been doing for the last 25, 30 years outside of the NBA.”

His fear is that “MJ: Insights to Excellence” is actually just a long pre-recorded interview that the NBA is going to chop up and slow-release throughout the season.

T.J. Moe, however, completely understands the hype surrounding Jordan’s series. “When people don't speak very often, people's ears perk up when that person speaks. The first time we heard Michael Jordan say virtually anything since his retirement was ‘The Last Dance,’ and people were captivated by that. I don't think we should be surprised that people are somewhat captivated by just seeing inside of a guy's life that is a total mystery,” he counters.

But Jason’s opinion is set: Jordan’s “insights” are a distraction from the game. “NBC screwed up here.”

To hear more of the debate, watch the episode above.

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NBA coach, former player arrested in Mafia-tied nationwide gambling bust



Current and former NBA coaches and players were caught up in a massive FBI operation that resulted in dozens of arrests.

The arrests involved not only illegal gambling on NBA games but also illegal and rigged poker games allegedly put on by the Italian mob families of La Cosa Nostra.

'We're talking about tens of millions of dollars of fraud.'

Current Portland Trail Blazers coach and NBA champion (as a player) Chauncey Billups, current Miami Heat player Terry Rozier, and former NBA player and championship-winning coach Damon Jones were all named by the FBI in unsealed indictments on Thursday.

In both the betting and poker cases, there were three overlapping suspects, one of whom was Jones.

FBI Director Kash Patel and U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella announced the criminal enterprises, which included wild cases of extortion and fraud, resulting in 31 arrests.

According to Nocella, six defendants participated in brazen sports corruption schemes that involved insider sports betting conspiracies and included confidential information about NBA players and teams.

"Betting on inside, non-public information about NBA athletes and teams," which included "when specific players would be sitting out" or when they would be taken out early for injuries or illnesses, the gamblers "relied on corrupt individuals, including Jones and Rozier," who abused their long-standing friendships with players and coaches to get inside information.

"In at least one instance they got their information by threatening a current player, [Jontay] Porter, because of his pre-existing gambling debts," Nocella revealed. Porter, who played for the Toronto Raptors, was banned from the NBA for life in 2024 after disclosing information to a bettor that resulted in a $1.1 million bet.

The U.S. attorney said that hundreds of thousands of dollars were made through fraudulent bets on the Charlotte Hornets, Los Angeles Lakers, Trail Blazers, and Raptors. Most of the money was made through prop bets, both online and in person at casinos. Those involved placed the maximum bets possible, and most of their bets were successful. The money was allegedly laundered through wire transfers and cash exchanges.

Things get even more complex and strange regarding the illegal poker games, which utilized obscure technology and even robberies.

RELATED: Toronto Raptors' Jontay Porter banned from NBA for life after disclosing info to bettor for $1.1 million bet

Dozens were arrested in a nationwide scheme to rig illegal poker games put on by the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese crime families of the Italian mob.

As early as 2019, poker games in the Hamptons, Las Vegas, Miami, and Manhattan lured high-rolling players who were excited at the idea of playing cards with well-known former NBA players like Billups and Jones. These victims, Nocella noted, were known as "fish."

The superstar athletes were referred to as "face cards."

"Everybody else at the poker game, from the dealer to the players, including the 'face cards,' were in on the scam," Nocella explained.

Once the game was under way, the defendants "fleeced" the victims out of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per game. The organizers also used a variety of complicated technology. For example, they used off-the-shelf shuffling machines that had been secretly altered so that they could read the hands that were dealt and relay that information to an off-site operator.

The operator would then send that info to a person at the table via cell phone, who was known as the "quarterback."

The "quarterback" would then signal to others at the table who had the best hand.

Other technology included poker trays that read cards, special contact lenses or glasses that could read premarked cards, and an X-ray table that could read cards.

Crimes related to the card games included robbery at gunpoint in order to obtain the rigged shuffling machine and extortion to ensure that gambling debts were repaid.

RELATED: More MLB players suspended for gambling, including top Oakland reliever Michael Kelly, World Series pitcher Andrew Saalfrank

Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Pistons. JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images

While the mob families were already hosting non-rigged but illegal card games in New York, they allegedly became involved in the high-tech games by organizing them, taking cuts of the winnings, and ensuring that debts were collected.

Director Patel called the indictments a result of "an illegal gambling operation and sports-rigging operation" that has been going on for years.

"We're talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud," Patel added.

Charges related to the NBA gambling included conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering

For the poker games, wire fraud conspiracy, illegal gambling, money laundering, Hobbs Act robbery, and extortion were examples of the charges.

Rozier will appear in front of a judge on Thursday after he was arrested in Orlando, Florida, whereas Billups will see a judge in federal court in Portland.

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Snoop Dogg caves to woke pressure and drops LGBTQ anthem for KIDS



Not months ago, Snoop Dogg took aim at the LGBTQ+ messaging littering children’s television and movies — but in an embarrassing show of defeat, he’s now doing a complete 180.

The rapper has now partnered with LGBTQ+ nonprofit GLAAD to create a new song for his animated children's show “Doggyland” titled “Love Is Love.”

The song features animated dog families, which include same-sex couples and single and elder dogs as parents, with lyrics like, “Our parents are different, no two are the same, but the one thing that’s for certain is the love won’t change.”

“‘Love Is Love’ is a record that my kids' program ‘Doggyland’ presented me, where it’s the song where it’s teaching love is love. It’s teaching parenthood, it’s teaching the situations that kids and the world is going through right now in a beautiful way through song, dance, melody, and just trying to get more understanding, clarity on how we live and the way we live,” the rapper told Jeremy Beloate — who makes a cameo in the new song — in an interview.


“And I felt like this music is a beautiful, you know, bridge to bringing understanding. This is a program that we’ve been doing for years where we involve kids, and these are things that kids have questions about. So now hopefully we can help answer these questions and, you know, help them to live a happy life and understand that love is love,” he continued.

“When we spoke about this a month ago, we said that he would not stand 10 toes down,” BlazeTV contributor Shemeka Michelle tells BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock on “Jason Whitlock Harmony.”

“Snoop is just showing that he goes wherever the check is. He has no morals. He has no values, and he’s not a gangster. He’s a fake gangster because gangsters stand on their business and they stand 10 toes down. Snoop doesn’t do that. Never has and never will,” she adds.

“These gangsters can bully women and talk crazy with women, but when it comes to the LGBTQ, it’s a Deion Sanders like backpedal, and the next thing you know, you’re coming out with a song ‘Love Is Love,’” Whitlock agrees.

“It’s one of the most demonic songs that’s ever been written,” he adds.

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Transgender boxer makes shocking return, brutally beats 19-year-old girl



An Olympic gold medalist who failed gender testing has returned to competition for the first time.

Not to be confused with Algerian Olympic champion Imane Khelif — whose gender is confirmed to be male — Taiwan's Lin Yu‑ting also brutalized women at the Paris 2024 Olympics under tough scrutiny.

'Pan Yan-fei's coach threw in the towel.'

The boxer dominated the women's 57kg division last summer, despite having been disqualified by the International Boxing Association in 2023. That March, Lin was denied a bronze medal after failing to meet gender eligibility requirements. The IBA also disqualified Khelif from the same event, and the Algerian was later exposed as a male in three other reports.

Lin had not been seen in competition for over a year until his recent appearance at the Taiwan National Games. Reduxx reported that the competition does not have any known sex testing protocols in place, so the 30-year-old was allowed to compete in the women's 60kg category.

It did not take long for Lin to overwhelm an opponent, defeating 19-year-old female Pan Yan-fei in just one minute and 34 seconds. After repeated punches to the head, Pan's coach threw in the towel.

Pan was, "a little breathless because of being hit on the head," Taiwanese outlet CNA reported. "Then Pan Yan-fei’s coach threw in the towel and gave up the game."

If Lin wins the tournament, that would make six consecutive national titles for the controversial boxer.

The Trump Olympic ban

The controversy around Lin's gender is parallel to Khelif's, as the latter was proven by a multitude of sources to be, in fact, a male. However, less is known about Lin specifically, although it was discussed internally at the Olympics that the boxer had failed gender testing.

RELATED: Trump wins: US Olympic Committee bans men from women's sports

Photo by MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images

The Guardian reported at the time that the International Olympic Committee had prior knowledge that Lin was "stripped of her bronze medal after failing to meet eligibility requirements based on the results of a biochemical test," and noted such in its internal system.

This came after IBA president Umar Krevlev told Russian outlet TASS that both Lin and Khelif had "XY chromosomes."

While the IBA has faced criticism over its credibility, it was proven to be right about Khelif.

Still, neither boxer is likely to see the ring at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. New IOC president Kirsty Coventry and President Donald Trump have made it clear that males will not be beating up females in the United States.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced a rules update in July that stated it would "ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201."

Executive Order 14201, Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports, bans males from participating in "all-female athletic opportunities" or entering "all-female locker rooms."

After their Olympic performances, Lin and Khelif were not permitted to box in other competitions until Lin's latest appearance.

Khelif, though, has vowed to compete in the 2028 Olympics and even submitted an appeal to World Boxing after being booted from a Dutch event in June. The boxer asked to be declared "eligible to participate in the 2025 World Boxing Championships from 4 to 14 September," without having to submit to a genetic test.

The ban stood. Lin was also not permitted to compete at the world championships.

RELATED: New Olympic president strikes huge blow to transgender athletes ahead of 2028 games in LA

Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images

Lin's latest opponent

Lin's opponent, Pan, was a young boxer who was making her first appearance at the senior national games after winning a national high school title in 2023.

She previously competed in Taiwan's under-22 category at 54-57kg.

Despite the brutal loss, event officials reportedly examined her after the fight, and she did not suffer any serious injuries. She was able to walk unaided and was described as stable.

Lin reportedly declined to be interviewed after the fight.

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San Jose Sharks apologize for displaying pro-ICE message on scoreboard during Hispanic celebration



The San Jose Sharks hockey team will not explain how a message in support of Immigration and Customs Enforcement made its way onto the big screen.

The incident happened during the first intermission on Saturday at the Sharks' annual Hispanic celebration at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

'The Sharks organization sincerely apologizes for this oversight.'

During the break in the scoreless game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a text image appeared on the arena's scoreboard reading, "SJ SHARKS FANS LOVE ICE!! GET'EM BOYZ!" along with a video of the team mascot, S.J. Sharkie, waving next to the message.

A fan captured the message in a video and posted it to X.

"Hey [Sharks], how on earth is this an acceptable thing to have on your Jumbotron, like, ever, much less on a night honoring Hispanic heritage? I'm so appalled and disappointed in you right now," the fan wrote.

This prompted an apology from the organization later that night, describing the message as offensive and coming from an "outside source."

"During the first intermission of tonight's game, an offensively worded message which had been externally submitted was inadvertently displayed on the in-arena scoreboard," the message explained. "Sharks Sports & Entertainment deeply regrets that this message, which does not meet our organization's values, was not detected during our standard review process. The Sharks organization sincerely apologizes for this oversight, and we are actively working to determine the origin of the message."

RELATED: Trump administration responds to Bad Bunny's promise to perform in Spanish for 'woke' halftime show

— (@)

Blaze News asked the team if the investigation was concluded and what exactly the team was apologizing for.

Scott Emmert, the team's senior vice president of communications, responded and said the organization declined to provide further comment on the situation.

In video of the incident, at the bottom of the screen, a scrolling message stated, "Want to see your personalized greeting here? Visit sjsharkie.com."

That URL leads to a website offering a "Name in Lights" scoreboard greeting program.

"The Sharks are offering completely customizable greetings. Your greeting will appear in lights during the 1st intermission and you may add any greeting to the center hung scoreboard," the program states.

Restrictions on the messages include those with a commercial purpose or any that are "obscene, offensive, or refer negatively to any NHL team."

Using NHL players' names is also prohibited, and the team reserves the right to remove or edit any message. In the case of a removal, the $75 fee is refunded.

RELATED: Former ESPN host criticizes NFL star Travis Hunter for surprise baptism before Sunday game

The night in question was the team's ninth annual Los Tiburones game, "a celebration of the team's commitment to the Bay Area's vibrant Hispanic community."

The night spotlights Latino performers and concessions, a Spanish-language broadcast, and, of course, a bevy of merchandise.

In the aftermath of the scoreboard message, fans were outraged, but their political leanings depended on the platform.

On X, the team saw an overwhelmingly pro-ICE response, with messages such as "why is supporting law enforcement offensive," and "So the Sharks are in favor of illegal immigration? Is that what I’m gathering?"

On Instagram, however, multiple unrelated posts by the team saw messages calling the team racist or asking "you guys gonna start calling ice on fans or what?"

The Sharks did not make a dedicated post with their apology on Instagram.

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LA Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen puts Christian faith front and center ahead of World Series: 'Make heaven crowded'



Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen is putting his Christianity front and center yet again.

Treinen is part of a pitching staff that, along with star Clayton Kershaw, has stood up for religious freedoms in the face of disturbing times in California.

'Every single one of us have been given a gift ...'

When a transgender-promoting, anti-Christian activist group was invited to Dodger Stadium in 2023, Treinen accused the group of "mocking the religious habits of nuns" and "mocking what [Catholics] hold most deeply."

Now, ahead of the Dodgers' second straight trip to the World Series, Treinen made it clear how important his Christian faith is in his life.

"I think my family's name is great in the eyes of God, but in the eyes of the world, nobody really knew the Treinens," the pitcher told CBN Sports.

"I don't really care if they do," he continued. "I want them to see Christ's greatness and what he's accomplished in my career."

Treinen said he wanted to see everyone go to heaven while also expressing care for others, saying, "I don't want to see any of my teammates or anybody in the stands or anybody in this world face the alternative."

"How do we make heaven crowded?" Treinen asked. "That's really my goal."

"Every single one of us have been given a gift, and our way of repaying it to the Lord is how do we honor Him with that gift?" he concluded. "When I am welcomed into the gates of heaven, I want to hear 'job well done, good and faithful servant.'"

RELATED: Christian LA Dodgers pitcher defies Pride Night with subtle in-game protest

Teammate Kershaw, meanwhile, stood out for his own religious fervor earlier this season when the Dodgers celebrated gay Pride Night.

While Kershaw took issue with the same event as Treinen in 2023, on Pride Night this June, the pitcher participated in wearing his team's rainbow-themed cap — but added a caveat.

"Gen 9:12-16," Kershaw's hat read. The player had written a Bible passage next to the Pride logo.

In the King James Bible, the passage states the following:

And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

The Dodgers have been mired in controversy all year as the team seemingly battles the ethics of a far-left California setting with its generally conservative baseball fan base.

Also in June, an activist singer purposely sang the national anthem in Spanish at a Dodgers game to protest against the deportation of illegal immigrants who are Hispanic.

RELATED: Make-A-Wish exec resigns and loses job after threatening to call ICE on Dodgers fan at Brewers baseball game

Photo by Josie Lepe/MLB Photos via Getty Images

There were also reports in June of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents using Dodgers property as a staging area; the team and ICE gave conflicting reports on the matter.

Furthermore, in July, the Dodgers were hit with an anti-discrimination lawsuit over alleged diversity hiring initiatives.

Lastly, a Make-A-Wish foundation executive resigned in October after being caught on camera threatening to call ICE on a Dodgers fan at a playoff game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

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Ketanji Brown Jackson exposes her own worldview, compares black people to disabled people



Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is under fire after invoking the Americans with Disabilities Act during oral arguments in defense of ensuring black representation in Congress — however, many are now accusing her of comparing black people to the disabled.

"The fact that remedial action, absent discriminatory intent, is really not a new idea in the civil rights laws. And my kind of paradigmatic example of this is something like the ADA.”

"Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act against the backdrop of a world that was generally not accessible to people with disabilities. And so it was discriminatory, in effect, because these folks were not able to access these buildings — and it didn't matter whether the person who built the building, or the person who owned the building, intended for them to be exclusionary. That's irrelevant," she continued.

"Congress said the facilities have to be made equally open to people with disabilities, if readily possible. I guess I don't understand why that's not what's happening here."


“The idea in Section 2 is that we are responding to current-day manifestations of past and present decisions that disadvantage minorities and make it so that they don’t have equal access to the voting system, right?” she asked, adding, “They’re disabled.”

BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock admits that it’s “a tricky conversation” and a “tricky subject.”

“If you go back in history, there was legitimate racial discrimination that harmed black people politically. There are a number of us that think that that time has passed, that that sort of discrimination has passed, and there is no … racial impediment to seeking higher office in Congress, in the House, Senate, whatever,” Whitlock says on “Jason Whitlock Harmony.”

“So in her defense of gerrymandering, she’s saying that we have faced so much discrimination that we’re disabled,” he adds.

“She’s not on solid ground,” BlazeTV contributor Virgil Walker says. “She has a false view of mankind. She has a false view of blacks in particular, mankind in general. What she’s exposing in her response is actually her worldview. Her idea that blacks are handicapped, blacks are disabled, blacks are beholden unto white power structures and submitted to that.”

“She has an unbiblical anthropology. All that means is an unbiblical view of who we are, who man is, an unbiblical view that we are not image-bearers of God, that you can assess who we are on the basis of the level of melanin in our skin and the historic narrative that has been permeated throughout American culture and society,” he adds.

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Former ESPN host criticizes NFL star Travis Hunter for surprise baptism before Sunday game



Sports commentator Skip Bayless said Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Travis Hunter is checking out from football.

Bayless, a former ESPN2 and FS1 commentator, posted a 28-minute video on Tuesday in which he claimed that Hunter should not have taken time out of his day last Sunday to get baptized.

'It's Sunday. It's God's day.'

Hunter was baptized on Sunday before a home game against the Seattle Seahawks, completing the ceremony at Celebration Church, a non-denominational congregation in Jacksonville.

In a post on X, Bayless criticized Hunter, stating, "There is no way Travis Hunter should've chosen to be baptized on the morning of a game. He is losing interest. He is mentally checking out on the Jags."

A Christian himself, the 73-year-old went on to tell his audience that the baptism was evidence that Hunter was "starting to lose interest" in his team.

"So he was actually happy to be baptized on a game-day morning because football isn't taking that much concentration, or focus, or pregame mental preparation," he said.

The analyst continued to opine, citing Hunter's college coach Deion Sanders as saying that Hunter needs to be played a lot in order to stay engaged with football. This is allegedly because the athlete likes video games and fishing.

Explaining that he did not think the baptism was any sort of protest, Bayless still claimed that Hunter's attitude in this case was, "Hey, they're not using me that much anyway; why not get baptized on a game-day morning?"'

Hunter, on the other hand, was flabbergasted when asked by reporters about his choice to get baptized.

RELATED: 26 NCAA softball players baptized together before going head-to-head in Conference USA tournament

"Did you get baptized this morning?" a female reporter asked Hunter on Sunday, after his team lost 12-10 to the Seahawks.

"Yes," Hunter plainly replied.

"Why'd you do that?" the reporter continued.

"It's a crazy question: Why did I get baptized?" Hunter said with a smile.

Still pressing, the reporter then asked, "Why did you choose to go to church this morning?"

The 22-year old-provided a simple answer: "Sunday. It's God's day. I've been planning to get baptized for a minute. I changed my life over to become a better man."

A male reporter then chimed in to ask, "What did it mean to you?"

Hunter, turning to his right, revealed, "It means a lot. Becoming a better man, leaving my old flesh and just becoming the new Travis."

RELATED: 'Thank you Jesus for this amazing moment': Minor league baseball player gets baptized by teammate on the field

Bayless had stats to back up his claim that Hunter may not be getting the amount of playing time he is used to, stating that in his last year in college at Colorado, he was used in 87% of offensive plays and 83% of defensive plays. With Jacksonville, through six games, he has been used in just 63% and 39%, respectively.

"If given the correct opportunities, Travis Hunter will revolutionize modern-day pro football as a two-way player [on] offense and defense," Bayless claimed.

The now-independent commentator revealed in his remarks that he knows Hunter's baptism was special because he himself is a Christian who recently rededicated his life to God.

"I'm a God guy," Bayless said. "I was baptized as an infant in Methodist Church."

At the same time, Bayless added that he does not like to call himself Christian any more because "that's been condemned as this term for far-right nutcases, zealots. I believe in God and the Bible with all my heart and all my soul. My life is dedicated, start to finish, to God and the Bible."

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