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

Photo by Loic Venance / Contributor via Getty Images

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.

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7 reasons why this was the best and worst Pride Month yet



July is here, which means we made it through another Pride Month! Since the 1970s when what used to be called just the gay community first started designating June as the month for gay rights advocacy, we’ve seen parades, events, and the like grow more extreme every year. Now, half the alphabet is employed to describe the ever-increasing number of gender identities; children are routinely dragged into the mix; and sexual fetishes are normalized and celebrated.

However, “this Pride Month in 2025 was very different than Pride Month 2024 or 2023 or 2022,” says Liz Wheeler. “Something in our culture has changed.”

On the latest episode of “The Liz Wheeler Show,” Liz listed out seven reasons 2025’s Pride Month was both the best and worst one to date.

1. Glenn Greenwald sex tape leaked

Just as Pride Month was kicking off, renowned investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald was swept into a scandal when a gay sex tape depicting him engaging in consensual acts that involved a maid’s outfit, fetish behavior, and acts of sexual humiliation was leaked in what he called a "maliciously political" attack.

“Greenwald exposed to the world quite literally what a homosexual lifestyle really is — the reality of the gay lifestyle,” says Liz.

When confronted about the tape, Greenwald “defended” his behavior and even claimed “he was proud.”

“I don’t think Glenn Greenwald brought a lot of people to the LGBTQ+++ side of the aisle this Pride Month,” says Liz.

2. Jojo Siwa likes men now

American singer, dancer, and actress Jojo Siwa launched her career as a child star on the reality TV show “Dance Moms” in 2015, later gaining fame through her vibrant YouTube presence, music singles, and colorful, bow-centric brand.

“[She's] identified as a lesbian from the time she was 17 years old,” but during Pride Month this year, Siwa confessed “she's in love with a man,” “they're talking marriage,” and “she no longer identifies as a lesbian,” says Liz.

But this wasn’t just a sudden change in preference. Siwa also confessed that she was “pressured” into identifying as a lesbian by the supposedly tolerant and accepting LGBTQ+ community.

“As a result of this bombshell revelation, Jojo Siwa was canceled by a massive Pride event” due to “a scheduling conflict,” says Liz, adding sarcastically, “Yeah, I bet it was a scheduling conflict.”

3. SCOTUS says parents CAN opt kids out of LGBTQ+ curriculum

On June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Mahmoud v. Taylor that Maryland parents have a First Amendment right to opt their children out of public school classes using LGBTQ-themed storybooks, citing religious freedom.

“Parental rights won; grooming of children lost,” says Liz.

4. Trump put California on notice

President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from California after transgender athlete AB Hernandez, a 16-year-old biological male, won girls’ high jump and triple jump titles at the state track and field championships, stripping the rightful female winners of their titles.

Trump called the state out for violating Title IX and gave it 10 days to comply with his executive order, prompting the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) to adjust its rules. However, full compliance with federal law has not happened.

5. Target listened

During 2023 and 2024’s Pride Months, Target debuted Pride collections that included “tuck-friendly” swimsuits, LGBTQ-themed children’s and baby clothing, and pro-trans merchandise designed by a self-proclaimed Satanist.

Liz was one of millions who joined the nationwide boycott against Target.

And it worked. This year, the Pride collection has been replaced with patriotic Independence Day-themed merchandise.

“Now you walk into a Target and you see July 4 stuff – red, white, and blue fireworks, patriotism plastered on the walls,” and “you do not see ‘trans the kids’ paraphernalia,” Liz celebrates.

6. Riley Gaines: 1, Simone Biles: 0

In early June, Olympic gold gymnast icon Simone Biles lashed out at NCAA champion swimmer and women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines when Gaines commented on a post from the Minnesota State High School League celebrating Champlin Park High School’s girls’ softball team, which includes a transgender pitcher. “Comments off lol. To be expected when your star player is a boy,” Gaines wrote.

Biles, in a now deleted tweet, responded: “You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!”

A back-and-forth feud quickly sparked, with Gaines accusing Biles of being a “male-apologist at the expense of young girls’ dreams” and Biles firing back with nasty character attacks, such as, “Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”

The dispute ended with Biles apologizing for her body-shaming comments and deleting her X account.

“Riley Gaines made gold medalist Simone Biles … the best female gymnast that ever lived … delete her X account,” says Liz. “If that’s not a win, I don’t know what is.”

7. Anti-ICE riots stole Pride parade media coverage

“You didn't see a lot of coverage this year of Pride parades, did you?” asks Liz. “No, instead we saw anti-ICE riots and really lame boomer No Kings Day protests.” Even better, “the anti-ICE riots were exposed as being paid-for, staged Marxist violence, and the No Kings Day riots were … pathetic, and the people involved in them were losers.”

To hear more of Liz’s analysis, watch the episode above.

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'NULL & VOID': Male NCAA gymnast gives insane take on Simone Biles and men in women's sports



An NCAA gymnast launched himself into the debate about male athletes in women's sports following Olympian Simone Biles' remarks about activist Riley Gaines.

Samuel Phillips, a gymnast at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, weighed in on Biles' remarks after she called Gaines a "sore loser" for losing to a man (Lia Thomas) and "truly sick" for campaigning against the inclusion of men in women's sports.

Phillips not only piled on and threw more insults at Gaines, but he also made a bold claim about how Biles would fair in competitions against men.

'She would actually STEAL GOLDS from LOTS of the best Male floor and vault workers.'

"This whole fight between Riley and Simone is NULL & VOID because the basis of the right's attack is that she would lose medals in the men's gym category," Phillips wrote on X. "When in reality, she would actually STEAL GOLDS from LOTS of the best Male floor and vault workers. So their base is FLAWED."

Blaze News reached out to Jennifer Sey, a seven-time U.S. women's national artistic gymnast, to ask for her thoughts on how Biles would perform against men.

"I think it speaks more so to the fact that women's gymnastics has changed. It's about power not grace and flexibility," Sey replied.

RELATED: She's never had to compete against a man': Female athletes respond to Simone Biles' pro-trans rant

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The XX-XY Clothing founder told Blaze News that now that men's and women's gymnastics are less differentiated than before, men would be "much more likely to be able to compete in women's and win."

Sey added, "What Phillips states is unknowable, but he's not wrong that Simone's skill level is otherworldly. That doesn't change the fact that men are stronger and more powerful overall, and if men entered women's gymnastics, they would displace women from medals and team spots."

Following his remarks about how well Gaines would do against men, Phillips launched his own attacks at Gaines on X, as well.

"Also Null and Void because Riley G.B. is in fact an evil spirited, loser mentality, unreliable, misinformed, hateful person."

Phillips then turned off replies to his remarks, while lashing out at Republicans on X.

"Muting the replies because every Maga cult member who comments on this has Baseless Arguments so elementary and rooted in fear. Nothing to debate about. You’re just here to fight and insight [sic] violence. Goodbye."

Although Biles issued an apology to Gaines, and Phillips shared it, he did not issue an apology or retraction of his own.

RELATED: Simone Biles apologizes to Riley Gaines for 'personal' attack but still falls short of admitting the obvious

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In response to Biles' apology, Gaines said that while she accepted it, she thought some of the gymnast's ideas were "nonsensical."

Gaines welcomed Biles to fight alongside her in the fight to "support fair sports."

Biles has not issued anymore public comments, and her press team has not responded to multiple requests for comment from Blaze News.

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