Sports
June 6, 2026 — John Hinderaker
I don’t usually write about un-American sports, but who can resist Norway’s World Cup soccer squad and its iconic team photo? Certainly not me, as an almost 100% descendant of Norwegians. Click to enlarge: The Norwegian players are evidently proud of their Viking heritage. As are many in my home state, Minnesota, where our NFL team is called, as everyone knows, the Vikings. Yet there are always killjoys. One of
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May 29, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Jaxson Dart is the second-year starting quarterback for the New York Giants. The Giants have been a terrible team, but Dart, from the University of Mississippi, excelled as a rookie and has brought hope to the franchise. Last week he had the opportunity to introduce President Trump at a rally in New York. His introduction was brief and anodyne: Nevertheless, it sparked a storm of controversy. One of Dart’s teammates
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May 20, 2026 — John Hinderaker
I am willing to assume that there was a time when the NAACP did some good. (I do not make the same assumption about the SPLC.) But that time is long, long gone. For many years, the NAACP has been a force for ill, not for good. An excellent example is its just-launched boycott campaign: The NAACP is calling on Black athletes and fans to boycott the athletic programs of
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April 29, 2026 — Scott Johnson
We have covered the case of JayCee Cooper v. USA Powerlifting in several posts over the past two years. The case raised the question whether USAPL’s separation of men from women in USAPL’s Minnesota competitions violates the Minnesota Human Rights Act and must yield to Cooper’s self-identification as a woman. The case gestated for nearly a year at the Minnesota Supreme Court only to be delivered as Rosemary’s baby (the
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April 25, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Jake Mangum is having a good season. When I first saw the video featuring his throw to a young fan on the second deck at PNC Park, I loved it but wasn’t sure what was going on. The ABC News clip below fills in the story told by Sherri Unfiltered™ on X. Mangum has perfect touch on his throw — what a great thing to be
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April 3, 2026 — Bill Glahn
Or, on second thought, maybe not. Today was the home opener for the Minnesota Twins and, thankfully, I was not there. The problems started with the weather, cold and wet, as can be expected this time of year in Minnesota. The matchup featured the 2-4 Twins taking on the 2-4 Tampa Bay Rays. Then came the power outage. The Twins tried to make up for the debacle by extending $2
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February 24, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The United States Olympic men’s hockey team touched down in Miami to celebrate their gold medal in patriotic style at E11leven Miami. I can’t find an embeddable version of the video on X. The YouTube video below is the local CBS affiliate’s news story. It provides a brief glimpse of the team leading the E11even crowd in — what else? — the national anthem. On to the State of the
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February 22, 2026 — John Hinderaker
One last item on today’s hockey game: President Trump called the US team in the locker room, on Kash Patel’s phone, to congratulate them–and to invite them to the State of the Union on Tuesday. Listen in: You can hear the genuine pride in Donald Trumps voice when he called the Team USA Hockey Team pic.twitter.com/ch6GbXShwh — Harrison Krank (@HarrisonKrank) February 23, 2026
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February 22, 2026 — John Hinderaker
I am related by marriage to the Christian family of Warroad, Minnesota, the first family of American hockey: Gordon Christian was on the U.S. team that won a silver medal in Cortina, Italy in 1956; his brothers Bill and Roger Christian were on the gold medal team of 1960, and Bill scored the tying and winning goals against the USSR, while Roger scored four goals in the gold medal game
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February 14, 2026 — John Hinderaker
What would the Olympics be without controversies? Judging scandals, sure. But those have gotten pretty boring. This year, we have something better: a scandal in the genteel world of curling. In a match between Canada and Sweden, a Canadian curler was accused of cheating by pushing the stone with his finger after letting it go. Accused by a Swede, the Canadian told him to “f*ck off.” The officials apparently did
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January 20, 2026 — John Hinderaker
The fact that Marco Rubio is filling many roles in the Trump administration has turned into a meme. It is also a good thing, as Marco is a man of both unusual talents and outstanding character. And also a serious football fan. Tom Cotton told me years ago that it takes time for senators to assemble when they are being summoned for a vote, and while they are waiting for
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December 20, 2025 — Scott Johnson
John C. “Chuck” Chalberg, is retired professor of history at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota and the author of Rickey and Robinson: The Preacher, the Player, and America’s Game as well as Emma Goldman: American Individualist. He advises that he is of half-Scandinavian ancestry and has been a full-time Vikings fan for, well, for long enough. Putting the Vikings to their highest and best use in this lost season,
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November 21, 2025 — Scott Johnson
We can’t turn to Ammo Grrrll on Power Line for our Friday laughs anymore, but today we have Wall Street Journal sports columnist Jason Gay. Writing about Boston Celtics coach Jason Mazzulla (links omitted), Gay observes: This is a coach who delivers injury updates like he’s at an FBI briefing, who’s opined at length about his affection for the Boston heist movie “The Town,” who’s lamented the end of fighting
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November 18, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell explains the struggles of alleged franchise-quarterback-to-be J.J. McCarthy as a matter of mechanics. O’Connell says he reminds McCarthy during the game, “Feet and eyes.” It sounds like a basic problem, even for an NFL rookie. From my own youth I recalled the successful debut of rookie Fran Tarkenton versus the Bears in September 1961. Sixteen years later, Vikings coach Bud Grant pulled the quarterback in
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November 17, 2025 — Scott Johnson
The Minnesota Vikings are headed south in the standings as quarterback J.J. McCarthy plays at a sub-NFL level. The Vikings coach, the local sportswriters, and the local sports broadcasters seem to attribute McCarthy’s poor performance to his youth and inexperience. They may be right. I don’t know. However, I think back to Fran Tarkenton’s debut with the Vikings in September 1961. It was the Vikings’ first game, period. They were
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November 10, 2025 — John Hinderaker
The Democrats’ signature issue is their demand that men be allowed to participate in women’s sports. But around the world, opinion is moving in the opposite direction, on this and other “trans” issues. Thus, it was reported today that the International Olympic Committee will ban men from women’s competitions: The International Olympic Committee is set to announce a ban on transgender women in female competition early next year after a
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October 27, 2025 — Scott Johnson
I’m not a gambling man, but I bet the indictments handed up last week against Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and others will be hard to beat for human drama. It may be time for The Godfather Part IV and Godfather Part V. Either one might rival Part II as a sequel. I want to focus on Chauncey Billups in these comments as a
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