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Jerry Seinfeld turns tables on radical anti-Israel agitators after chaotic Chicago stunt backfires
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld turned the tables on anti-Israel hecklers who attempted to derail his Chicago performance last Friday, mocking the protesters as security removed them from the venue.
Viral video from the confrontation shows activists shouting at Seinfeld at the Chicago Theatre, accusing Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza and alleging that American taxpayer dollars are funding the deaths of thousands of civilians.
"Twenty-two thousand Palestinians who are children now are killed with our taxpayer money, and you’re making jokes!" a woman shouted in clips posted online.
JERRY SEINFELD GIVES BLUNT THREE-WORD RESPONSE TO INFLUENCER ASKING FOR A 'FREE PALESTINE'
Seinfeld then dances on stage and mocks the protesters with sarcastic remarks, calling himself "racist" and saying, "It’s a genocide. I’m into it." He also joked that he would find out how much the protesters paid for their tickets and send the money directly to Israel.
As security personnel escorted the demonstrators out of the auditorium, one audience member shouted, "Rough her up!"
The Anti-War Committee Chicago and the Chicago branch of the US Palestinian Community Network have taken credit for organizing the disruption, writing on Instagram, "Friday’s disruption sent a clear message: Those who defend Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza and throughout Palestine will be met with protest and are not welcome on Chicago’s stages without opposition."
COMEDIAN DECLARES JERRY SEINFELD 'UNCANCELLABLE' DESPITE 'WOKE' ANTI-ISRAEL FESTIVAL BOYCOTT
Fox News Digital reached out to Seinfeld’s team for comment but did not hear back.
The altercation is the latest in a string of protests targeting the 72-year-old Jewish comedian over his staunch defense of Israel.
ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS LABEL MAMDANI A 'TRAITOR,' ACCUSE HIM OF 'GENOCIDE' OUTSIDE OCT 7 VIGIL
Comedian and media analyst Tim Young told Fox News Digital he believes protesters are paying top dollar to hijack comedy shows for viral attention rather than political discourse.
"They know that once they start yelling, everyone will whip their cameras out, and it is a very direct interaction and maybe one of the only direct interactions protesters get to have with celebrities and with the internet," Young said.
"If you are in a very intimate environment where everyone is quiet, listening to one person, you will be heard. And, so, that's what they're taking advantage of here."
Young compared the disruptions at Seinfeld's shows to protests at political rallies, arguing that some activists are willing to pay steep ticket prices to confront the comedian.
"It seems like people are going to Jerry Seinfeld's shows like they're going to a Trump rally to protest," Young said. "They wanted to get Jerry's attention. They want to, for some reason, they're very, very adamant on getting him to react to the Israel-Palestine conflict."
Young also linked the disruptions to Seinfeld's past criticism of performing at universities.
30% OF COLLEGE STUDENTS SAY VIOLENCE ACCEPTABLE WAY TO STOP SPEAKERS ON CAMPUSES, SURVEY FINDS
"It's why Jerry doesn't like to go and perform at college campuses. And he said he hates performing at college campuses specifically for that reason," Young said.
"He doesn't want to get into the political thing. He doesn't want to have protesters yelling back and forth with him. It's a waste of the rest of the audience's time, and he knows that."
In May 2024, dozens of students walked out during Seinfeld's commencement address at Duke University, some holding Palestinian flags.
Seinfeld returned to the university in September 2025 to introduce freed Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov at a campus event, where he addressed anti-Israel protests, saying, "Free Palestine is, to me, just — you’re free to say you don’t like Jews. Just say you don’t like Jews."
QUIET PART OUT LOUD: ANTI-ISRAEL MOBS WANT ONE STATE CALLED 'PALESTINE,' ERASING ISRAEL
"By saying ‘Free Palestine,’ you’re not admitting what you really think," he said. "So, it’s actually — compared to the Ku Klux Klan, I’m actually thinking the Klan is actually a little better here because they can come right out and say, ‘We don’t like Blacks, we don’t like Jews.’ OK, that’s honest."
Seinfeld also faced controversy overseas last month when several European acts withdrew from the inaugural MEO Commedia a La Carte Fest in Lisbon, Portugal, where he is scheduled to headline later this year.
The acts did not name Seinfeld directly in their withdrawal statements, but some cited concerns about the Israel-Gaza conflict. One performer said someone involved in the festival defended ideas they considered indefensible.
Young, who previously dismissed efforts to cancel Seinfeld over his support for Israel, argued that protesters target the billionaire comedian because of his influence and celebrity status.
"This is all about control. It's all about power. And it's all about the left having power over these very influential and powerful people," Young said. "And they’re not having it."
I lost half my right lung to cancer. Pope Leo's diagnosis gives me hope
When Pope Leo told the crowd in St. Peter's Square on Sunday that doctors had found "a small, localized nodule" in his lung, the reassurances came fast. Most nodules are benign, media medical experts quickly said. Probably nothing to worry about.
I heard the same reassurances about my own lung not long ago. They were wrong then, and on Tuesday the Vatican confirmed they were wrong now. The nodule was adenocarcinoma, lung cancer. Surgeons removed the lower lobe of the Holy Father's right lung through a few small incisions, guided by a camera rather than an open chest, and he was back in his room the same afternoon.
POPE LEO DIAGNOSED WITH LUNG CANCER AFTER SURGEONS REMOVE PART OF RIGHT LUNG, VATICAN SAYS
That is almost exactly what happened to me. Half of my right lung was removed just 12 months ago, and I was running just four weeks after that. So, my first reaction when I heard the pope's diagnosis was not dread. It was hope.
I was 43, a mother of four, a daily runner, and the daughter of a lung doctor. The morning I learned I had lung cancer, I had already completed a six-mile run without a hint that anything was wrong. I had no symptoms. Under current guidelines, I was not supposed to be at risk, and I did not qualify for screening.
POPE LEO UNDERGOES BLOOD TESTS, X-RAY FOLLOWING CANCER SURGERY, VATICAN SAYS
My diagnosis came from a scan I chose, not from a symptom. My husband and I have always leaned toward proactive testing, and at his urging I scheduled what I assumed would be a baseline full-body scan, paid for out of pocket. It showed a 3.8-centimeter nodule on my right lung. Initial advice from the reading radiologist recommended to follow-up if symptoms occurred. But with a father as a lung doctor and a friend as a lung radiologist, they pushed me to follow up sooner. The new low dose CT of my chest showed the mass had grown in just two months. But that scan led to a diagnosis of stage 1B lung cancer and, like the pope, to surgery to remove it. Still, no symptoms ever appeared.
Four weeks to the day after my operation, I was on a plane. I was running again within weeks. Caught early and handled by a skilled medical team and a surgeon who does this every day, lung cancer is not a death sentence. It is a survivable disease, a fixable problem. If the pope keeps his November trip to South America, he will board that plane about as far out from surgery as I was.
DR MARC SIEGEL: POPE LEO'S LUNG SURGERY PUTS MODERN MEDICINE ALONGSIDE FAITH
So the gloom I see in my text threads with Catholic friends this week is misplaced. What should worry Americans is something else entirely. The pope's cancer was found during a routine checkup. Mine was found because I paid for a scan no one recommended. Most Americans get neither.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and one of the most expensive cancers to treat, because it is usually found late. Current guidelines recommend screening only for adults ages 50 to 80 with a heavy smoking history. Fewer than one in five people who qualify ever get the scan. And nearly two-thirds of people diagnosed with lung cancer would not have qualified at all. I am one of them.
POPE LEO'S LUNG TUMOR RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT CANCER RISK FOR NONSMOKERS
Stage at diagnosis is the strongest predictor of both survival and cost. Found at stage I, five-year survival can exceed 90%. Yet most cases are still found after the disease has spread, when curative treatment becomes unlikely.
There is a fix on the table. The Saving Health by Identifying Risk for Americans (SHIRA) Act, a draft bill now circulating in the White House, HHS and Congress, would make lung cancer screening free to the patient under Medicare — no copay, no deductible. It would cover veterans exposed to burn pits, guarantee a first scan to cancer survivors and those with a family history, and require Medicare to modernize who counts as "high risk" so that never-smokers, like me, stop being invisible. It builds a path toward age-based screening after 40, the way we already screen for breast and colorectal cancer.
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I was fortunate. A preventive scan, a persistent friend and father, and an early diagnosis gave me a future I might not otherwise have had. The pope was fortunate too: a routine check found his cancer before he felt a thing. Luck should not decide who survives lung cancer. Screening policy should.
I am praying for the pope this week, and I am confident. I would like every American to have the same reason for confidence he does.
Zach Bryan drops 'Young Manhood & Other Donatable Organs' EP featuring Lana Del Rey collaboration
Zach Bryan's new music is officially out.
There has been a ton of hype surrounding the country music star since he announced that "Young Manhood & Other Donatable Organs" would arrive Friday.
Bryan is one of the biggest names in the music industry, and after announcing he was collaborating with Lana Del Rey and Turnpike Troubadours, it was obvious the EP would move the needle.
That's exactly what happened.
Bryan dropped the eight-song EP Friday morning for his millions of fans, and it's everything people have come to expect from him.
It's an emotional roller coaster.
The full track list is below:
His song "Lies" with Lana Del Rey is absolutely a major standout on the EP. Give it a listen below, and let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.
People on YouTube offered plenty of reactions to "Lies." One person wrote in the comments, "Lana's voice just feels like home."
Another added, "Putting Lana on this was Zach Bryan’s best decision ever."
A third commented, "These two poets are going to make me cry 💔."
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The YouTube video of "Lies" has more than 50,000 views in just a few hours after being released to the public.
There are few artists in the music world who can move the needle like Zach Bryan can, and he, once again, proved that with "Young Manhood & Other Donatable Organs." Have you already listened? Let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.
Josh Jacobs sues police to permanently seal video evidence in battery case against him
Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs filed a lawsuit against the Hobart-Lawrence Police Department, seeking to have evidence in his battery case permanently sealed.
According to the criminal complaint, Jacobs was accused of throwing his ex-girlfriend onto the ground and damaging her phone, and video would show the portion that occurred in the garage. The NFL is attempting to obtain the video as part of its own investigation, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Jacobs' complaint says the police should be prohibited from publicly releasing "descriptions, images, audio recordings, video recordings, statements, communications, or other materials" whose disclosure might threaten the woman’s "privacy, dignity, safety, emotional well-being, or ability to obtain closure."
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The complaint also notes that public sports figures have recently been targeted for robberies and other related property crimes, and that releasing the video would reveal details of the garage’s interior that might put Jacobs at risk.
"The public availability of (Jacobs’) schedule or travel information increases the risk that persons could identify periods when (Jacobs) is away from home and use released information concerning the residence, garage, access points, security arrangements, or property to target the property," the complaint says. "Widespread public dissemination of those details would materially increase (Jacobs’) vulnerability to theft, burglary, robbery, trespass, or other targeted criminal conduct."
Jacobs pleaded no contest to battery and criminal damage to property from the May 23 incident, which were both misdemeanors. Jacobs was also ordered to have no contact with the woman involved, pay restitution, attend counseling and be under supervision for one year.
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That video hasn’t been released, and lawyers representing the woman filed a motion last month asking that the evidence be sealed.
The veteran running back remains on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, though time spent there would count toward a suspension. The matter remains under review by the league's personal conduct policy and there's no timeline for a decision.
The NFL’s baseline suspension for a first-time domestic violence offense is six games without pay as part of its conduct policy. The suspension could increase depending on factors including the involvement of a weapon, repeated striking and more.
OutKick's Scott Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Controversy over Abdul El-Sayed's family ties to Muslim Brotherhood ignored, downplayed by liberal media
Several legacy news organizations have not covered allegations involving the family of Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
El-Sayed's denial of having any family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood has drawn questions after several social media posts from his half-sister suggested that members of their family, including their mother, were active in the Islamist group.
ABC and CBS had not mentioned the allegations on their morning or evening news broadcasts as of Thursday, Oct. 15, according to a Fox News Digital review of Grabien transcripts.
The allegations were finally mentioned on CBS’ morning show on Friday, but simply to note that El-Sayed has denied claims by his Republican opponent Mike Rogers.
CNN and MS NOW have similarly not aired dedicated news reports about the allegations as of Thursday, despite several hours of daily programming per transcripts. A conservative panelist made a brief reference to the controversy on Monday's "CNN This Morning," which went without acknowledgment by host Audie Cornish. On Thursday night, CNN's Abby Phillip disputed concerns raised by another conservative guest, arguing that the allegations did not establish a connection between El-Sayed and the Muslim Brotherhood.
"Abdul was not raised by his biological mother," Phillip said. "His parents divorced when he was 3. He doesn't have that kind of relationship with her. So the idea that he would be tarred and feathered for a Muslim Brotherhood connection that frankly A. is not verified, and B., does not actually say anything about how he was raised here in Michigan."
"He said to his knowledge, he is not aware of any connections with the Muslim Brotherhood. And you know what? You can take that up with him, but the insinuation is that he is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood," she later added.
On Friday morning, conservative guest Jesse Arm told CNN viewers that El-Sayed’s family had "deep ties" to the Muslim Brotherhood in a comment that was met with pushback.
"We should really point out there’s also a lot of CNN fact checking, and specifically on the mother and brother, what he has responded to," anchor Erica Hill said. "There is so much for all candidates that is in their past and needs fact-checking."
MS NOW's most direct reference to the allegations came Monday night when guest host Jacob Soboroff knocked El-Sayed's Republican opponent for focusing on the "smears" against the Muslim Democrat, including tying El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The New York Times, widely dubbed "The Paper of Record," has not published a single report on the subject this week, according to search results on its website.
NBC was the only broadcast network identified in the review as having covered the allegations, having questioned El-Sayed directly in two interviews.
During an interview that aired on Sunday's "Meet the Press," NBC's Kristen Welker asked El-Sayed if he could "set the record straight" on allegations that he and his family had connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. He firmly replied, "No," before suggesting his GOP rival was using Islamophobic attacks against him and his family.
However, according to social media posts made by his half-sister Eman Abdelhadi, members of their family, including their mother, had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
"Had an amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early 70s while she was in college #respect," Abdelhadi wrote in a 2012 X post, as first reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
Their mother, Fatten Elkomy, had attended Egypt's Alexandria University, which, according to a report from the Brookings Institution, had strong Muslim Brotherhood activity back in the 1970s.
EL-SAYED’S HALF SISTER OFFERED OCT 7 ‘BLESSING,’ ONE YEAR AFTER HAMAS ATTACK: ‘ALLAHU AKBAR’
In another 2012 post, Abdelhadi, a professor at the University of Chicago, wrote: "My family has long been MB, but I've always felt that it has navigated the political sphere poorly/destructively."
In a third post from 2013, she wrote, "Praying for all my family that supports the #MB in #Egypt. Lie low, stay safe."
On Wednesday's "NBC Nightly News," El-Sayed was confronted by NBC's Tom Llamas about how Abdelhadi's posts appear to contradict his own denial to Welker.
"It's funny to me," El-Sayed responded. "I was born in 1984 down the street in Rochester Hills. I was raised here in Michigan, went to the University of Michigan, rebuilt the health department in this city, led the health department in this county — and you want to ask me about what's happening in Egypt in 1970? Are you serious?"
"I get it, but you were asked a question, and you gave an answer," Llamas responded.
"I have no ties, we have no ties," El-Sayed said, reiterating his denial.
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The Democratic hopeful told Llamas he hadn't had conversations with his mother about her alleged Muslim Brotherhood activity and accused the anchor of using "hearsay evidence from a tweet."
"That's just not serious," El-Sayed said.
"But you've also gone after the president for truthfulness and when people ask you a question, do you expect the truth?" Llamas then asked.
"Are you insinuating that somehow I was lying?" El-Sayed fired back.
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking," Llamas responded.
"And I'm telling you that I was not," El-Sayed told him.
Representatives for ABC, CBS, CNN, MS NOW and The New York Times did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
Amazon About You may know you a little too well
Amazon knows what you buy, what you search for and even what you tell its shopping assistant. Now, the company is giving you a look at the personality profile it has built from all that information. When I checked my own Amazon About You profile, I found 81 results, including a reference to my mother that caught me off guard. The feature brings together details about your shopping habits and preferences. Some are helpful. Others might make you wonder how Amazon reached those conclusions in the first place.
Shoppers are now sharing screenshots of descriptions that range from funny to completely inaccurate. Amazon says the feature helps improve shopping recommendations. However, it also raises an interesting privacy question. How much should a retailer know about you, and how much control do you really have over that information?
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WHAT YOUR INTERNET PROVIDER, WEBSITES AND ADVERTISERS SEE
Amazon introduced About You in May 2026, although the feature has recently attracted widespread attention as shoppers share their profiles on social media. Amazon has personalized shopping recommendations for years. If you bought a coffee maker, you probably noticed suggestions for filters or other accessories soon afterward. That kind of recommendation has become familiar to anyone who shops online. Now, Amazon is taking personalization further with About You, a section that shows shoppers what the company believes about their interests and preferences.
According to Amazon's announcement, the feature draws on information from several sources, including your purchase history, product reviews and items saved to Lists. Searches and conversations with Alexa for Shopping can also influence what Amazon learns.
For example, someone who regularly buys dairy-free milk might receive recommendations for other dairy-free products. A shopper researching gardening supplies could start seeing suggestions for fertilizer or companion plants. That sounds useful enough. However, Amazon can also develop assumptions about your personal preferences from individual purchases or short-lived interests. That's where things can get awkward.
Some shoppers have started sharing screenshots of their Amazon profiles on social media. The results range from remarkably accurate to unintentionally hilarious. One Threads user discovered that Amazon had included the description "flat buttocks" in her profile. "I stumbled upon a page of assumptions that Amazon has made about me based on my purchases and I'm literally speechless," she wrote.
She even acknowledged that the assessment wasn't entirely wrong. Still, it's hard to imagine anyone asking an online retailer for that particular evaluation. Meanwhile, another shopper shared a profile describing an obsession with minimalist, one-bag travel and a preference for Anker charging products. The shopper confirmed that Amazon had accurately identified those interests. A different user discovered that Amazon had recorded a "one-time specialty cheese exploration." The response was simple: "guilty."
Other shoppers have shared descriptions such as "has no friends" and "cannot keep real plants alive." One woman even reported that Amazon had described her as a "fifty-year-old man." These are the kinds of assumptions that can leave you wondering whether Amazon knows you at all.
My own profile included some remarkably specific observations. Amazon said I "do not like scary movies," "value professional grade audio equipment," "prefer dark chocolate treats" and "enjoy swimming." It even noted my regular fresh flower purchases. But one entry really surprised me. Amazon claimed my mother had stayed at a hotel with another person, whom it identified by name, and had a negative experience. I certainly didn't expect to find that kind of information about a family member in my shopping profile.
These examples show how an algorithm can turn shopping activity into surprisingly specific personal descriptions. Of course, Amazon's conclusions may be incomplete or inaccurate. Buying something for a friend, for example, doesn't necessarily mean you have any personal interest in that product.
YOUR PHONE MAY REVEAL DOCTOR, CHURCH AND PHARMACY VISITS
Every time you interact with Amazon, you potentially give the company another clue about your preferences. A product search can suggest an interest, while a purchase provides a stronger signal about something you wanted at that moment. Amazon also uses information from its AI shopping assistant. If you tell Alexa for Shopping that your cat prefers a particular flavor of food, Amazon can use that detail to recommend similar products later.
According to the company, these interactions help make recommendations more relevant. However, a single purchase might reflect a temporary need rather than a lasting preference. Think about buying an unusual gift for a relative. You might suddenly find Amazon treating that purchase as evidence of a personal hobby. That raises another concern. Some purchases can indicate sensitive interests involving health, relationships or other aspects of your private life. Even when Amazon draws an incorrect conclusion, you may still want to remove it from your shopping profile.
Amazon makes About You available through its Shopping app, mobile website and desktop website. You can review the information the company has associated with your profile and make changes.
If you don't see About You using those steps, try this alternate route in the Amazon Shopping app:
Here's where I would spend a few minutes if you use Amazon regularly. The company says About You lets you correct preferences, provide feedback and remove information you don't want used for personalization.
If you want to correct a detail instead of removing it, open the entry and look for an edit or feedback option. Make your changes and follow the prompts to save them. Amazon hasn't established that every account will show identical editing controls. The available options may depend on the information displayed. Removing a detail from About You changes how Amazon uses that preference for personalization. It does not necessarily erase the original purchase, search or conversation from every Amazon system.
Editing your About You profile is a useful starting point. However, you should also review the activity that influences Amazon's suggestions.
Amazon provides browsing history controls that can help reduce recommendations based on products you've viewed.
Removing a product from the browsing history display should not be treated as confirmation that Amazon has deleted every record of the interaction.
Amazon also provides controls for managing recommendations associated with past purchases.
This can be particularly helpful when you've purchased gifts or products that have nothing to do with your interests.
If you regularly use Alexa for Shopping, consider what you share during those conversations. Amazon says the assistant can remember details you provide and use them to improve future shopping experiences. Ask "What do you know about me?" to review the preferences Alexa can describe. Then use About You to correct or remove unwanted details. For additional privacy controls, review your Alexa privacy settings and voice history in the Alexa app or your Amazon account. Deleting voice recordings and removing shopping preferences are separate actions, so check both.
Amazon provides ways to edit preferences and manage certain recommendation signals. However, the company hasn't established that removing everything displayed in About You permanently deletes all underlying information. Your purchase history, for example, can remain associated with your account even after you exclude an item from recommendations. Amazon may retain certain transaction records for operational or legal reasons. Also, About You is only one part of Amazon's broader personalization system. Correcting an assumption doesn't necessarily stop Amazon from generating new recommendations based on future shopping activity. If privacy is your priority, review your browsing history, recommendation settings and Alexa privacy controls rather than relying exclusively on the new profile page.
I've always found Amazon's recommendations fascinating, but seeing 81 personal details in my own profile was an eye-opener. Some were surprisingly accurate. Others, including information about my mother, left me wondering how Amazon reached those conclusions. I appreciate being able to review and remove these details, but I'd like more transparency about what happens to that information afterward. My advice? Take a few minutes to check your own Amazon About You profile. You might be surprised by what the company thinks it knows about you.
Would you be comfortable with Amazon building a personality profile from everything you buy and search for, or has online shopping personalization gone too far? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.
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The College Football Playoff is sacrificing its soul to be an ATM for conferences with expansion to 24 teams
INDIANAPOLIS - We are on the cusp of the college football playoff once again undergoing a drastic change in teams allowed into the postseason, and there are plenty of fans across the sport asking why it's needed.
That question, along with plenty of others, is the catalyst of the most impactful kerfuffle we have seen in recent memory involving the college football universe.
But, the answer to said argument is pretty simple when you peel through the layers of talking points each conference commissioner will recite over the next few weeks.
Money.
This entire ordeal can be traced back to the infamous BCS formula, which captivated audiences with computer rankings that led to fans essentially yelling at computers at seasons end.
Fast forward to 2026, college football fans are vastly united in their stance that a jump from 12 to 24 teams is just not warranted during this current era of the sport. Sure, we are watching schools across the country make tough decisions about the ramifications that have come with increased spending within the sport.
Because schools are now spending a large amount of money on piecing together rosters, with college football being the main driving force in universities paying their athletic department bills, conference officials have decided that they will use the College Football Playoff as their own line of credit to help pay the bills that keep accumulating.
If you haven’t noticed over the past five years, we are now living in a professional sports model, within what was once described as amateur sports. The amount of money that is needed to keep up with rival schools has shot through the perceived roof, with some programs spending upwards of $50 million this season to compete for a CFP title.
The thinking behind the closed doors of universities mostly centers around the idea that if they are going to spend that amount of money for a roster, they need more assurances that they will also receive a spot in the postseason, or at least in some way justify this thinking.
COACHES PUSH FOR 24-TEAM CFP, AS COLLEGE FOOTBALL HEADS TOWARDS PARTICIPATION TROPHY TERRITORY
Now, when a team finishes the regular season with an 8-4 record, they'll be able to hang a banner inside the football facility that reads 'College Football Playoff First Round', which they know is not the flex that it has been over the past two seasons.
Yes, remember that we are only two years into the already expanded playoff system, after starting at four teams.
Now, with a straight face, those in favor of expanding the playoff want you to think it's anything other than a money grab, or justification, during an era in which schools are having to find different ways to raise capital.
On Thursday, after 34 days of negotiating, ESPN formally presented CFP committee members a formal offer of how much it is willing to spend for the extra games that would come from increasing the amount of teams by 12.
Yes, this move would also be the end of conference title weekend across college football, though I could see this move actually opening up an avenue for Group of Six leagues to continue putting on a show for fans, if they chose to.
According to sources, there was no vote taken on Thursday by members of the committee that are made up of conference commissioners and Notre Dame. And, there were some questions raised by those same committee members about whether they should take this to the open market, even though they essentially know how much other networks would be willing to offer.
"Constructive discussions with ESPN continued this week," the CFP said in a statement. "We have enjoyed a strong partnership with ESPN since our inception and are appreciative of the productive dialogue we have had throughout the negotiating period and continuing over the last several days.
"We will provide additional updates on the matters of future format and media rights when appropriate."
It's simple: the regular season.
Three weeks ago, I watched Ohio State lose to Texas in what was a thrilling game in Austin, with the Longhorns providing themselves with some cushion in case they were to drop two games over the remainder of this season.
Last weekend, even though folks wanted to proclaim loudly that this game did not really mean much in terms of punishment pertaining to the regular season, Alabama and Georgia battled until the final seconds of what turned into a heavyweight fight in Tuscaloosa.
Sure, Alabama can afford another loss this season and still make the playoff. But, two losses? Nope, the Crimson Tide would most likely be on the outside looking in, while someone else from the SEC grabs their spot in the postseason.
What if Texas were to lose on Saturday to a Florida team that will be heading to Austin with consecutive losses? Well, we'd be having a serious conversation about Steve Sarkisian missing the CFP with a roster that costs more than $40 million this season.
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In the eyes of the conferences, and CFP committee, the allure of a postseason bid is the carrot that would dangle in front of them so that fans would look the other way at the nonsense this creates for the football played in September or October.
Sure, fans will continue to show up, but the sport will have officially lowered the stakes of the intense showdowns we witness on a weekly basis across the sport during a regular season.
The point is that in this new format, games that take place in September, or even early October, will feel more meaningless than ever. Showdowns this weekend, like Missouri versus Ole Miss or Notre Dame versus BYU, will be looked upon with a different eye by those attending or watching at home.
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Any team with a 9-3 record, or maybe even 8-4, who calls the SEC or Big Ten home will no longer feel the tension that comes with sitting at home to watch the CFP selection show in hopes of pulling off a miracle and being selected by the committee.
We have officially lost the plot to what made college football so great, with every dollar that this new deal creates for every conference that makes up the sport.
If they actually cared about what is best for college football, those in charge of helping the sport grow would have read the room and kept this playoff at 12 teams, or 16 at most.
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But, since everyone deserves an trophy to justify the amount of money they are spending to field a football team, we are now just waiting on CFP members to sign off on creating 12 more spots so everyone can feel like they accomplished something.
Hang that banner. I hope that 8-5 season made you feel better, and paid off when the check clears.
Lindsey Vonn kicks off birthday weekend with a European bikini beach day, my Bob Dylan memory & money
Welcome to Screencaps, "America's Best Daily Column," as named by the readers. Screencaps, which publishes seven-days-a-week, is a mix of sports, pop culture, and emails from sane readers from around the world. This column isn't for the coastal elites. Give us a week to steal your heart. Our track record is pretty good. Let's have some fun.
At 41, Vonn could say screw it. She could start a podcast, sit on her ass all day yapping about random topics while crushing red wine. Instead, she's been in the gym staying fit. Instead of using her platform to sit around her house yelling about politics and everything else that these losers do with their platforms, she's doing exactly what multi-millionaires should be doing — she's having fun in Europe blowing some money.
It just happens that this weekend, Lindsey turns 42. Hell yeah, girl, go have fun with the new boyfriend. Live life.
What incentive do schools have unless ESPN is going to throw a massive pile of cash at them? This year, Indiana's football season didn't begin until Oct. 10 when it faced its first road test at Nebraska. Yes, there was the home game against Northwestern that was way closer than it should've been, but let's not act like facing Northwestern, in this era, is considered a massive game.
These schools don't have the depth to get through these seasons as is, why make it any tougher? Cignetti knows the formula. Treat the first 3-4 games as the preseason. Get your transfer NIL quarterback acquainted. Build continuity with the playoff as the target. Indiana had to win three games to win the title in January. With the 24-game tournament, it would now need to win four games.
Why play harder early games? That's more chances for injuries. More chances to lose your quarterback. More wear and tear on bodies. More travel (maybe, if your team actually leaves home). Unless we go to two super conferences and ban games against the MAC, Conference USA, etc., Indiana isn't changing a thing.
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Can you picture a time in your life when you needed a car to make this maneuver in your suburban neighborhood? The one feature that would be cool would be the 0-60 in under one second. Imagine showing off that feature to your golf buddies after a round.
Buy one of these. It would raise your T several levels higher than that stuff that Frank Thomas sells.
Kinsey: The only show I've ever thought about walking out on was Bob Dylan at Hara Arena (RIP to the filthy, sticky, legendary barn) in Dayton, OH back in the 1990s. Bob sat in a chair and mumbled for like 70 minutes. I get that Bob mumbles, and that's his thing, but I'm talking mumbling to the point where it felt like he should've been institutionalized. I wouldn't recommend a Dylan show to an enemy.
• Dave in Kitty Hawk gets how my brain works: Thank you for saying what a lot of us have been doing. Sometimes there is nothing better than watching In the Kitchen with David (#NOTSPONSORED) especially this time of year as they start ramping up with the holiday foods. The wife doesn't even complain when switching from one of those political commercial rapid fire segments that come on during a Hallmark movie.
Watching the dudes from Corky's (again #NOTSPONSORED) cut into the turkey breast and scooping all the sides onto a plate while David tries to sell you on what a great deal it is is brain mellowing. That is, until you start calculating the cost per pound and wondering who in their right mind is going to pay $160 for that?
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• John S. writes: The Cowboys are on Sunday night football this week which means Cris Collingsworth will be doing the game. Will he say "Schotty " more times this Sunday than Herbstreit did last week when he did the Tampa Bay/ Dallas game. Can you ever imagine John Madden referring to Marty Schottenheimer as "Schotty".
• Brandon in Northern Kentucky weighs in and gets very honest: This is a great question. We haven’t had friends to our house in like 10 years. We haven’t had family (besides grandparents) over since covid and that was just for birthdays, 1st communions, graduations, not just for a Bengals game. My wife won’t say it but I believe she feels like she will be judged.
Why did we move 11 years into a bigger house with more room to entertain if we will never entertain? We are 44 yrs old with 3 kids that are just as busy as other people who kids that do extracurriculars outside of school, so we do like just chilling out and relaxing all cool, but we should at least have some friends and family come over once in a while.
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• Chris B. in NC says his generation doesn't have this issue: I’m a little north of your targeted age, but we have people over all the time. A few nights ago, we hosted a dinner party for 7 including ourselves. We served charcuterie, beers, prime rib, twice-baked potatoes, sautéed green beans, salad, fresh homemade rolls, homemade applesauce cake, homemade pecan pie, and homemade bourbon whipped cream, with three bottles of drinkable Shiraz (the boss lady puts out a nice spread, obvs.) and I know it didn’t cost us $60.
That’s about what we'd spend for a light dinner (for two) without drinks at our local place — but at home the food is better, the chairs are comfortable, the music is better, and there’s no server trying to rush us off so they can turn the table.
##################
And that is it for this week. The weather has officially turned. It's chili weather. Beans in chili weather. I'm talking hoodie, leaf blower, then chili, then blanket in the recliner weather just as we enter the real college football season.
Enjoy the games. I'll see you guys tomorrow morning.
Democrats call for gun control after Oregon school shooter reportedly uses shotgun purchased by his mother
Several high-profile Democratic lawmakers renewed calls for gun control after a teenager broke into an Oregon elementary school Thursday and fatally shot three children and a teacher before being killed by an armed bystander.
Sen. Ron Wyden, who has represented Oregon in the Senate since 1996, made one of the most explicit calls for tighter gun laws following the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, where the 16-year-old attacker used his mother’s shotgun, according to The Associated Press.
"The best way to honor these victims is to at long last pass common-sense gun laws that reduce the risks of more children, parents, teachers and staff forced to live in fear of similar nightmares for their schools," Wyden said in a statement.
Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., said Thursday night that "the epidemic of gun violence in schools across America must come to an end."
GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING SUSPECT COLT GRAY CHANGES PLEA TO GUILTY, NOW FACES LIFE IN PRISON
"No parent should have to wonder if their child will come home at the end of the day," Bonamici said. "Children deserve to feel safe — and be safe — in school."
Democratic Rep. Janelle Bynum represents Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, which includes Bend. She attended a nighttime vigil for the teacher and children — aged 5, 8 and 11 — who were killed in the shooting.
"When are we going to step up and say enough of killing our babies? When are we going to say that we need safe schools, that we need to make sure that people who should not have firearms don’t have them? When are we going to stop making excuses? When are we going to practice that same bravery that that bystander had?" Bynum told KTVZ 21, a local NBC station in Bend, at the event.
Statements from Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and the state's Democratic governor, Tina Kotek, stopped short of calling for new regulation on guns, but both made it clear gun violence should have no place in American schools.
FEDERAL APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS CONTROVERSIAL ILLINOIS BAN ON SEMIAUTOMATIC GUNS
Democrats outside of Oregon appeared a bit freer to express support for going further on gun control, especially in the early aftermath of the shooting, which also left another child, 7, and a teacher, 54, critically injured.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said the gun reforms Congress passed after the Uvalde school shooting — including enhanced background checks for buyers under 21 — did not go far enough.
"Much more must be done. Not a single child should be lost to gun violence. Ever," Heinrich said in a statement posted to social media.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who supports federal red-flag laws and universal background checks, had a similar message.
"No family should ever have to suffer like this—and there have been over 50 school shootings just this year," she wrote on social media. "Congress must do much more to prevent gun violence."
The reactions from lawmakers came as authorities in Bend continue to piece together how the deadly attack unfolded and how the teenage gunman obtained the weapon he used.
Police said they did not know if the shooter knew anyone at the school or if he had attended when he was younger.
The first emergency call came at 12:59 p.m. from a person in a vehicle who reported being shot at multiple times by someone carrying a long gun, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said Thursday. Dispatchers then received dozens of calls reporting that a shooter had entered the school.
Officers arrived within three minutes of the first emergency call. Moments later, an officer reported that a "community member" had shot the teenage suspect.
Silver Rail Elementary School, which is about 125 miles southeast of Portland, has a total of 467 students this academic year. It serves students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
After the shooting, students were bused to a nearby church that served as a family reunification center, where relieved parents embraced their children and walked them to their cars, some carrying stuffed animals and other comfort items they had brought from home, The Associated Press reported.
The Bend-La Pine school district canceled classes, sporting events and extracurricular activities Friday across all 32 of its schools.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ryan Fitzpatrick unloads on Bo Nix after horrific performance in one of the most brutal rants you'll ever hear
Here's the good news for the Denver Broncos: They defeated the Super Bowl champs in overtime Thursday night to improve to 4-2 on this young season.
That's nothing to scoff at, by the way. Especially for a team that's played a brutal schedule through the first six weeks. To come out of that gauntlet above .500 is a huge win.
Now, to the bad news ...
Bo Nix might be horrible.
Fine. I'm being dramatic (sort of). Not horrible. But the Broncos — who fell one game short of the Super Bowl last season — have a serious Bo Nix problem right now. It was painfully obvious last night. It was a glaring hole in an otherwise good, talented football team.
I saw it sitting on my couch back at home. Sean Payton surely saw it on the sidelines given the watered-down calls. The receivers saw it because they were never, ever thrown the ball.
Most of all, former NFL QB Ryan Fitzpatrick saw it from his Amazon Prime chair on the sidelines.
Yikes:
"Bo Nix is not playing competitively. It’s almost disrespectful to the quarterback position how he’s playing football right now," Fitzpatrick said before really digging in.
"I mean, first of all the guy doesn’t want to throw the ball (and) that’s fine. He’s throwing to the flats he’s throwing behind, but he has no trust from his coach. He calls a screen play on third and eight. Just run up and let the clock keep going. What does he do? He throws it away. Seattle gets the ball, they have a timeout, and then in overtime he’s got two chances to be competitive. The last one being a designed run for him to run, make somebody miss, and get a first down for your football team.
"Now, they’re in the locker room right now. They’re excited they won. He’s not playing competitive football right now."
Goodness gracious. Just a wild rant here from Ryan Fitzpatrick. You could tell it even caught the rest of the crew off guard. Richard Sherman, whose been known to go on a rant or two over his career, was stunned.
Nobody saw this coming from Ryan Fitzpatrick.
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But you know what? He's right. Nothing he said was wrong. Nothing. Watching Bo Nix last night was painful. The stats, frankly, were embarrassing.
Look at those two posts. Really look at them. Bo Nix not only refused to throw the ball down the field last night (17 of 27 for 107 yards), he didn't even throw it BEYOND the line of scrimmage!
According to CBS researcher Doug Clawson, he currently ranks 701st out of 701 qualified quarterbacks over the last two decades in average pass length (4.9 air yards per attempt).
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That's indescribably bad. It's unfathomable. I watched Tua Tagovailoa dink and dunk for years in Miami. Bo Nix last night made Tua look like Dan Marino!
The Broncos had seven straight punts at one point. They had eight three-and-outs. Eight! It was painful to watch.
Was Fitzpatrick a bit harsh on Nix? I don't think so. Some do. Perhaps Nix is still feeling the effects of the ankle injury from last January. He's certainly acting like it, given he no longer even tries to run any more. That's probably fair.
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Regardless, it was just horrendous quarterback play. There's no sugarcoating it.
Fitzpatrick certainly didn't.