Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 16h

The sports TV documentary industrial complex is bad *because* it shields powerful figures from public embarrassment in the service of access.

Bill couldn't even use that feature to his advantage. He has lost his fastball. It's over

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 16h

Belichick and UNC got sloppy with the Hulu documentary stuff. CFB is rife with documentary shoots for things that will never get made, because the coaches or athletic departments retain editorial privileges. I know of one right now that may never see the light of day because the team's bad

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 20h

I would be speculating and it wouldn't even be that educated of speculation

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 20h

You can see it in there, even when he's taking six sacks and looking like a nincompoop at The Swamp. I think you are spiking the football too early if you think he's bad. But you are free to take a victory lap over the sick media members who hyped him up

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 20h

Radical centrist Arch take: He has already flopped relative to his billing. At best he'll turn in 1.5 seasons of good play before leaving college football. He will not meet expectations. But he'll still be pretty good and take Texas to at least one playoff w/ above-average QB numbers

-30-

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 22h

I'd like to return to the idea of UNC lawyers finding a way to fire him for cause. At least you can move it into the settlement arena this way bsky.app/profile/drew...

Drew Magary @drewmagary.bsky.social · 22h

“It's an unstructured mess. There's no culture, no organization. It's a complete disaster."
www.wral.com/sports/belic...

Divided locker room, disastrous results: Players, parents blame Belichick culture for UNC problems

Multiple sources with knowledge of the inner workings of Bill Belichick's program say that UNC football's losses are a product of a divided locker room, a disorganized coaching staff and a failure to ...

www.wral.com

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Reposted by Alex Kirshner

Kate Glenn @findingtangle.bsky.social · 1d

Admittedly I had only read the headline when we started watching but this review convinced me to stick with it and I am really glad we did. Can’t wait until next week.

Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 7d

This is my review of CHAD POWERS for @slate.com.

I am legit shocked (even dismayed) to tell you this, but I really liked it and think it's one of the best cracks Hollywood has taken at college football in a long time, if you stick with it for a few eps. I explain in here: slate.com/culture/2025...

We Now Have Our Ted Lasso of College Football. It’s Surprisingly Great.

Chad Powers feels true to the scenery and the characters of college football.

slate.com

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

can't

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

did castellanos get the worst jump in the history of jumps? not to endorse the bunt but it was a good bunt

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

I would pay real money to have my brain altered so I could forget they ever existed

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

It's probably the best run sports franchise in the world on pure business terms. Never seen anything like the connection between the Dodgers and LA, though the team has compromised itself on that front this year. Huge loyal fanbase AND huge bandwagon

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

that would be a very believable first step if our podcast went downhill and i had to do a whitlock arc

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

Yes but. If you are in many parts of LA you will see people who love the Dodgers more than life itself. If you are in other parts of LA, including mine, you will see valor thieves who wear an off-color Dodgers hat to the dog park and say "I just love Shohei so much" bsky.app/profile/jmte...

Jacquie @jmteo.bsky.social · 1d

Pretends? LA bleeds blue.

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

They're used to prop up other hats in the far left corner of my closet

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

Dodgers vs. Phillies is such an interesting matchup for me because everyone I know on the computer pretends to be a Phillies fan but everyone I encounter in real life pretends to be a Dodgers fan. And I don't really like any of you because I don't like seeing people take joy in baseball

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

Also in this episode w/ @lindsaygibbs.bsky.social and @benlindbergh.bsky.social:

The unmitigated disaster that is Belichick at UNC

Napheesa Collier v. the WNBA commissioner, a collective bargaining power play that also feels very personal and cutting bsky.app/profile/alex...

Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

Good podcast discussion on HANG UP AND LISTEN this week w/ @nitishpahwa.com: How prediction markets like Kalshi have ensured that 1) there are in essence no state bans on sports betting now and 2) literally everything is now sports betting

slate.com/podcasts/han...

How Prediction Markets Became the Future of Sports Betting.

Prediction markets blur the lines between trading and gambling, allowing bets on almost anything.

slate.com

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

Good podcast discussion on HANG UP AND LISTEN this week w/ @nitishpahwa.com: How prediction markets like Kalshi have ensured that 1) there are in essence no state bans on sports betting now and 2) literally everything is now sports betting

slate.com/podcasts/han...

How Prediction Markets Became the Future of Sports Betting.

Prediction markets blur the lines between trading and gambling, allowing bets on almost anything.

slate.com

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

A major part of Elon's desire to dismantle Wikipedia revolves around this one page, in my opinion en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

I think there's something in that. Rogan's show is not built from a root level to push a party line. It often DOES, but you can go into that environment and give something a shot. The equivalent in our line of work is that there'd be a big diff between doing a Barstool appearance and, say, Outkick

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

I would call this The Bassem Yousself Strategy www.msnbc.com/top-stories/...

Comedian Bassem Youssef schools MAGA podcasters on their Netanyahu propaganda

The Egyptian American comedian reprimanded the “Nelk Boys” for their softball interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

www.msnbc.com

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

As a matter of fact this is exactly what Bassem Youssef did to the Nelk Boys a few weeks ago and it seems like he was pretty persuasive

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

You got a whole ecosystem of guys who reach millions of people and have at least a 55% chance of adopting the opinion of whoever talked to them last. You don't have to like it, but the "just ignore them" strat is not looking like a winner

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

These guys are not very ideological, and like it or not (and I know for 99% of you the answer is "not") this is why I don't think it's useful to get mad at people who choose to play on their turf over the next three years

Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 1d

“I voted for none of this."

Prominent influencers, including Theo Von, Joe Rogan, and Andrew Schulz, are starting to distance themselves from the president they helped propel to the White House.

Story: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

I am aware of this, and my strong guess is that none of the people involved thought Penn State/Iowa in mid-October would be one of them bsky.app/profile/poco...

Bell @pocono.bsky.social · 1d

Everybody in the Big ten plays a peacock game.

bsky.app/profile/stuf...

Darian Somers @stuffsomerssays.com · 1d

And there may only be 2 or 1 Peacock exclusive games left after Week 8.

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Alex Kirshner @alexkirshner.com · 1d

This is a sham and if you credulously say that Auburn might get $5 million in NIL deals out of this, I question if you have paid any attention to how college sports business has worked the past five years. I thought we were past doing this with big numbers in press releases bsky.app/profile/chri...

Chris Vannini @chrisvannini.com · 1d

Auburn is moving a home game vs. Baylor to Atlanta for "NIL."

Sorry, but I'm going to need to see proof and actual numbers that these money decisions by schools are actually real and not just PR spin. This game will be a near-sellout anyway. How much player marketing is needed?

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