Home Blog Page 2314

Tomi Lahren: Mainstream Media Makes Republicans Look Bad

0

Conservative media pundit Tomi Lahren has not been proud of the work Republicans have done in Congress this week, and made her feelings known during her digital show on OutKick Wednesday.

Congressional Republicans have failed to elect Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speak of the House after — as of this publication — eight votes, and Lahren argued that media outlets are trying to make Republicans look worse.

“I know these last few days may not have been our best and brightest, at least that’s how it appears to the Democrats and much of the rest of the country, but allow me to try to put lipstick on a pig here…the messy elephant in the room, or should I say the entire U.S. House, is that our first few days with our slim majority have been a little rough,” Lahren argued. “I’ve been hard on our Republican leaders and you have too because the mainstream media and Democrats hacks make us look bad even when we look good, so the last thing we need to do is do the work for them.”

Lahren then launched into an unrelated attack of new Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) for her thoughts that Fetterman is unfit for office.

Chris Stigall: CNN and MSNBC ‘Delight’ In Speaker of the House Conundrum

0

Congressional Republicans have yet to name a Speaker of the House after eight votes without a majority electing Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). Conservative radio host Chris Stigall believes cable news outlets are welcoming the drama unfolding on Capitol Hill.

“I restate what I said yesterday. This silliness that you’re watching all over cable news ‘This is chaos!’, let the Democrats have their day,” Stigall said. “By the way, don’t tell me ‘The reason we have to have a speaker is because Democrats are gonna make fun of us!’ Shut up. I don’t care what the Democrats have to say about any of this. Do CNN and MSNBC delight in this story? Of course they do.”

The host added that other conservative media members should simply stop discussing the issue.

“To my all colleagues in media who find this embarrassing and untenable, this fight in the House, I say: shut up.”

Stigall concluded by noting that — in his view — cable news host “that make millions of dollars, the names you know, in their fancy suits” are in part responsible for the situation.

Monday Night Football Draws Record Numbers

0

It is a rarity that record ratings highs are nothing to celebrate, but that is the situation ESPN is facing today. Monday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals was expected to be one of the league’s best games of the year. Instead, it was tragedy and fear that brought viewers to their televisions.

Across ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, and ESPN Deportes, an average audience of 23.6 million people watched as broadcasters tried to make sense of what they were seeing as Bills safety Damar Hamlin had to be revived on the field by first responders during the first quarter. The audience was calculated between 8:28 p.m. and 10:10 p.m. when ESPN went to SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt.

That is the biggest audience for Monday Night Football since it became an ESPN property in 2006. The previous high was 21.8 million viewers for the Packers and Vikings in 2009.

Don’t expect a celebration though. Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports reports that a Disney spokesman has said that the network may not include the numbers for Week 17 in its 2022 season average. It may not even consider them a part of the Monday Night Football historical record, given the terrible circumstances.

On Thursday, Dr. Timothy Pritts updated Hamlin’s condition saying that he is awake and following commands.

Joe Rogan Edits Podcast After Falling for Twitter Hoax

0

Joe Rogan has edited a recent podcast after falling for a Twitter hoax about the COVID-19 vaccine.

During the episode, Rogan quoted a tweet that claimed the user was proud of receiving the vaccine “even if it turns out I injected actual poison and have only days to live” and that they “got vaccinated out of love, while antivaxxers did everything out of hate”.

The host — who has been outspoken in his criticism of the COVID-19 vaccine — took issue with the insinuation that he acted out of hate.

“I didn’t get vaccinated out of hate, I find so ridiculous. Like, I don’t hate anyone,” Rogan said. “I am a loving person. I do it on purpose. I go outta my way to be as charitable and as kind as possible.”

The account of Dr. Natalia is real, however, the photo of the tweet had been edited with text the original author did not type.

Rogan admitted on Twitter that the show was already published once he was made aware of the doctored photo, but instead of editing the episode to reveal “we got tricked”, producers of The Joe Rogan Experience simply decided to remove the portion of the episode.

Rogan apologized for the mistake, adding he felt sorry for the person who’s tweet was edited for the hoax.

Alyssa Farah Griffin: Sean Hannity, Fox News to Blame for Republican Speaker Crisis

0

The United States Congress is currently without a Speaker of the House after a delegation of Republicans have refused to vote for Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), creating a nearly unprecedented gridlock after the House Majority leader has failed to garner enough votes for a seventh time as of publication. The View panelist and former Trump White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah Griffin says conservative media personalities and to blame for the situation.

After the show played a clip of Lauren Boebert (R-CO) — one of the Republicans refusing to vote for McCarthy — interviewing with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Griffin launched into her attack on the outlet.

“I say a big boohoo to Sean Hannity. Fox News and the right-wing media created Lauren Boebert. They featured her on air, they’ve turned her into a star, so now she’s weaponizing that power,” Griffin said.

“And it honestly kind of reminded me of when Hannity — before January 6th — had people on his airwaves spreading election lies, waving affidavits of alleged voter fraud, and then after January 6th saying ‘We need to stop with these election lies. We need to not be spreading that anymore’,” Griffin continued. “You created this. You own it. That’s the reason the Republican House is in chaos right now and we can’t get a government majority.”

Boomer Esiason to Caller: ‘I Have Pretty Good Credibility On QB Hits’

0

Football is a game that stirs complicated emotions in both players and fans. That was clear to New Yorkers Thursday when Debbie from Upstate called into WFAN to tell Boomer Esiason that she did not appreciate him chastizing the Giants’ Kayvon Thibodeaux for his celebration after knocking Nick Foles out of the game on Sunday.

“You’re not an idiot Boomer and you’re talking like an idiot,” Debbie said before proceeding to tell Esiason that he was not being fair to the rookie pass rusher. She said that Esiason and others criticizing Thibodeaux are “picking on” him for being too violent in a game we all know to be brutal.

Esiason was not having it. He told Debbie that he wasn’t going to try to change her mind, but Thibodeaux’s hit was especially violent.

“I’ll give you your say and you can say whatever you want to say and it’s your opinion. I’m just telling you he drove him into the ground. Have you ever been driven into the ground by anybody that’s twice your size?”

Debbie responded by calling Nick Foles “a weenie” and admitting that as a registered nurse, she has a complicated relationship with football. She wouldn’t let her family members play, she was horrified by what happened to Damar Hamlin, but she was comfortable mocking Foles and defending Thibodeaux.

Boomer Esiason said that while he appreciated her passion, Debbie needed to accept that he knows more about sacks than she does.

“This is what I do,” he said. “This is what I do, Debbie. Our job is to come in here and give an opinion and I’d like to think, in this case, because I have been on the other end of hits like that, that I have pretty good credibility when I talk about it.”

SportsTalk 790 Debuts in Louisville

0

iHeartMedia Louisville has consolidated its sports programming into one brand, launching SportsTalk 790.

Previously branded as 790 WKRD, the station will broaden from its formerly University of Louisville-centric focus to a more generic sports format.

The station will feature much of the Kentucky Sports Radio programming produced by the Matt Jones-owned network, which had previously aired on Talk Radio 1080 — also owned by iHeartMedia — in the city.

Tom Leach will host from 8:00-9:00 AM, while the KSR Preshow airs from 9:00-10:00 AM. Kentucky Sports Radio with Jones will be heard from 10:00 AM-12:00 PM, followed by Jerry Eaves for one hour before The Herd With Colin Cowherd airs from 1:00-3:00 PM.

Former 790 WRKD morning host Nick Coffey moves to afternoons to host Coffey & Company from 3:00-6:00 PM. FOX Sports Radio will air in all other dayparts for the newly launched station.

Stephen A. Smith: ‘I Know Skip Bayless’s Heart is in the Right Place’

0

Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless have a complicated relationship. It isn’t that long ago that the two were having a public spat about what the addition of Smith meant to the success of First Take. Now, Smith is coming to the defense of his friend.

In a video interview for USA Today Sports, reporter McKenzie Salmon asked Smith what his thoughts were about Bayless’s tweet in the wake of Damar Hamlin collapsing on the field during Monday Night Football.

He said that he is never going to join the chorus of condemnation.

“I’m not about to judge Skip Bayless or anybody else for saying the wrong thing. God knows I have. Intent matters. Yes, you’ve got to be sensitive out there. Mental health matters, life matters, human beings’ well-being matters. And when you speak, you have to make sure that you’re sensitive to everything that you can be sensitive to.”

Skip Bayless addressed the backlash to his tweet on Tuesday’s edition of Undisputed on FS1. His position is that the people that are angry at him misinterpreted his message because of the emotions wrapped up in what they had just seen. Reading it outside of the moment, it should be clear that he was saying that finishing the game is not important.

Stephen A. Smith did not defend the tweet, but he did say that he and Bayless have a long history and that he knows him better than many that are calling for his friend’s job.

“I’ve spent years disagreeing with Skip Bayless, I disagree with him now, and I’m going to disagree with him into the future. But he’s still my brother, he’s still a guy that brought me here on First Take and I know who he is, I know what he’s about. Do I agree with everything that he says? Or how he says it? Or the timing with which he uses to say things? No. But the flip side to it is that I know, by and large his heart is in the right place and people make mistakes.”

ESPN, XFL Announce 2023 Schedule

0

ESPN, in conjunction with the XFL, has announced the 2023 schedule for the third iteration of the spring football league.

All 43 XFL games will air on Disney-owned networks, with 7 games airing on ABC, 22 games between ESPN and ESPN2, and 15 games airing on FX. Additionally, all games will be streamed on ESPN+.

“Through the global scale and support of Disney and ESPN, our fans will have multiple options to access and experience the XFL across broadcast, cable, and streaming,” said XFL President Russ Brandon. “With six weeks until kickoff, we are excited about our partnership and the immersive game day viewing experience that our collaboration will provide viewers.”

ESPN will televise the entirety of the 2023 XFL Playoffs, with the XFL Championship Game then airing on ABC on Saturday, May 13th.

“Throughout the 2023 XFL season, each platform will have unique opportunities to showcase key moments, from the Championship on ABC, Playoffs on ESPN and ESPN2 and a big opening weekend with games on ESPN, ABC and FX,” said ESPN Vice President of Programming and Acquisitions Tim Reed. “We are also excited to provide another innovative offering for ESPN+ subscribers, with every game available live.”

To view the entire 2023 XFL schedule, click here.

Apple Launches AI-Narrated Audiobooks

0

Apple has launched a text-to-speech AI narrated service for its Apple’s Books platform.

According to The Verge, the move could have implications for the multi-billion dollar audiobook industry. Apple claims the move opens up audiobooks accessibility, saying the “digital narration” reduces the “cost and complexity” of creating the necessary audio.

Currently, the feature is only available for romance and fiction offerings with two different voices. The service hopes to add two more voices for non-fiction books. Also, English is currently the only available language offered.

The shift to AI-narrated books is a direct opposition to Amazon’s current rules for Audible, which expressly state that audiobooks submitted and offered on the platform must be narrated by a human. Amazon Kindle removed text-to-speech offerings more than a decade ago due to copyright concerns.