We don’t live in a vacuum.

But we also shouldn’t let that fact be weaponized against the very people being squeezed from all sides.

Once fandom becomes a referendum on every belief held by everyone involved, the only people who “win” are the ones already rigging the system, because fans fracture while power stays consolidated.

We don’t (or at least shouldn’t) expect musicians, actors, or chefs to pass an ideological purity test before enjoying their work, even though those industries are just as exploitative and political.

I also think the “role model” framing is a double-edged sword. Athletes are presented to kids as admirable for excellence, discipline, and teamwork

Players have power now too, but it’s uneven, short-lived, and often overstated compared to ownership.

Where I’d still draw a line is how that accountability is applied. Owners especially should be under a microscope, they’re the ones lobbying governments, extracting public funds, shaping labor terms, and hiding behind the brand of the team.

Wanting transparency isn’t the same thing as demanding ideological conformity, though. If players, owners, and leagues want time, attention, money, tax dollars, and cultural relevance, it’s reasonable to say show us who you are and stand by it

“People don’t have the same political agenda as me so I can’t root for them anymore” has been the worst development in sports fandom recently, and the Olympics are highlighting that

Just like you wouldn’t vote for someone because they can skate, don’t take your political advice from hockey players

Munetaka Murakami on his teammates: “Communication is the biggest thing. They talk to me in Japanese, they’ll say things like ‘teach me Japanese,’ and they actually try to listen to my broken English. Stuff like that, you know.”

#WhiteSox

Utah Tech's Dario Domingos receives a Flagrant 2 foul for purposefully elbowing Tarleton State's Chris Mpaka in the back of the neck.

After this, the WAC conference issued a statement publicly reprimanding the Utah Tech basketball program today.

Domingos has been suspended for one game.

#cbbsky

#Twins broadcaster attempts to pronounce Wilyer Abreu’s name

First graphic error of the year, baseball is back!

Spencer Jones absolutely destroys this baseball for his first homer of Spring Training

#Yankees

Arte Moreno doesn’t think #angels fans want to win

#GoHalos

Austin Hays hits a home run on the first pitch he sees!

#WhiteSox

Pete Alonso hits his first home run as an Oriole

#Orioles

Seattle #Mariners Josh Naylor hanging out with Tucker the Mariner Pup

#goms

Contender for most bizarre end to a game of the year.

Game Tied

Technical foul for calling a time out with no timeouts left

UNF free throw shooter makes one of two

Austin Peay full court pass turns into two point bucket at the buzzer

While Arizona State’s Dominic Longo is up to bat, a kid in the stands yells “23, my mom thinks you’re hot!”

He then hits an opposite field home run

The Church has always distinguished between ordinary faculty roles, where broad academic freedom is rightly protected, and positions that represent the institution’s identity to the wider world.

The question is whether someone who has been openly and persistently critical of the Catholic Church should be elevated into a role that functions, de facto, as a public face of a Catholic institution.

watching basketball @jonbois.bsky.social

Osterman is a professor at ND. As are plenty of non-Catholics.

The issue here is elevation to a high visibility leadership position while she has been overtly critical of the Catholic Church.

I didn’t realize it was the Major League Baseball Playa’s Association

Harry Potter has signed with the Puerto Rican semi pro team Guaynabo City Mets

300lb LSU First Baseman Zach Yorke steals 2nd!

LSU’s Jake Brown celebrates his home run by motorboating his teammate

#GeauxTigers

Godspeed, Jerome Tang

#EMAW

The Georgia-Oklahoma basketball game was delayed after a popcorn machine at the concession stand caught on fire