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The Republicans of 2021 are so unlike the Republicans of the pre-Trump era that they might as well be a different party. (SNL even lampooned this unusual development on this weekend’s show.) Case in point: Fox News has gone from a GOP propaganda machine to not right wing enough for the likes of Donald Trump, who will give Newsmax more love than the network that arguably started it all, even though he’s gotten them in financial and legal headaches. Speaking of lawsuits, one of the Trumpiest Trumists, Mike Lindell, is so mad at them that he’s staging a protest — while still giving them advertising dollars.

As per The Daily Beast, the MyPillow Guy took his Fox News hatred to new heights on Friday, telling listeners of his show that he’ll be paying them a visit.

“We are going to do something out in front of Fox News, I think we should have—you know, if people want to go down there, maybe we should give out Frank Speech signs,” Lindell said. “They are a big part of our country being taken from us,” then called them both a “controlled opposition” and the “worst media outlet in probably the history of the planet.”

The beef between Lindell and Fox News dates back to the summer, when he network refused to air ads not for MyPillows but for a viral symposium chockful of voter fraud lies and other misinformation about the year-old 2020 election. Enraged, he took his toys and went home, pulling his pillow ads as well. The stalemate only lasted a couple months. By late September, MyPillow ads were back on the network watched by everyone’s older, Facebook-loving relatives.

But clearly the two have yet to fully patch things up. Lindell’s sidekick, Douglas Frank, doubled down on his compatriot’s anti-Fox rhetoric, claiming they were “not a credible source of news” and calling them “traitors to our country.” Of course, you don’t have to be on the far right to disagree with those sentiments.

(Via The Daily Beast)

When he won his one-term presidency, Donald Trump did more than just radically alter the GOP. He made it trickier-than-ever to tell who’s Republican and who’s Democrat. And in a sketch on this weekend’s Simu Liu-hosted SNL, we got a stark reminder of how blurry the lines separating parties that have long been at loggerheads have become.

SNL premiered a new satirical game show. It’s called “Republican or Not?,” and the premise is simple: Contestants meet strangers and, based on some of their opinions, must guess which side of the political divide they fall on. “ Seems easy, right?” jokes host Keenan Thompson, knowingly.

“I grew up in Ohio so I’ve been playing this game my whole life. Kind of an expert,” boasts contestant Ego Nwodim. But she reveals she’s about as good at this game as her competition, played by Liu.

A typical example: Kyle Mooney plays a man who “thinks Facebook is evil.” But that’s not terribly helpful. “Because they’re spreading misinformation or because they banned Donald Trump?” Liu asks. Other Mooney opinions include “I respect pro-athletes who stand up for their beliefs” and “God, I hate cops.” But does he mean he hates police forces overrun by systemic racism, or does he hate the cops who protected the Capitol building from violent Trump supporters?

One of the people is no stranger: It’s Liz Cheney, the daughter of Dick Cheney and a lifelong, classical Republican, who was ousted last week by the Wyoming Republican Party over her opposition to Donald Trump. “I’ve been fighting for Republican values all my life,” she tells the crowd.

But Thompson knows she’s not conservative, not in 2021’s version of the GOP. “Like it or not you are the Rachel Dolezal of the Republican party,” he informs her. “We will see you on MSNBC in about a week.”

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

A lot happened last week, as it does seemingly every week, and a good amount of the more earth-quaking news was crammed into what should have been a lazy Friday. Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted. The Build Back Better bill passed the House (after a bonkers eight-hour filibuster from Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy). President Biden underwent a colonoscopy, meaning America technically, temporarily had its first female president. And that meant SNL‘s Weekend Update had a lot to joke about this week, some of it grimly.

Michael Che tackled the Rittenhouse verdict. “Hopefully, he got all that shooting out of his system before he becomes a cop,” Che quipped, to a shocked response. The co-anchor also noted the protests that have erupted nationwide. Che called those partaking “brave,” because “Rittenhouse just got off for shooting protesters.” He added, “I don’t know, maybe don’t tempt him?”

Colin Jost then pivoted to troubled Florida representative Matt Gaetz, who said, half-jokingly, that he’d like to hire the 18-year-old Rittenhouse as a congressional intern. “Because Gaetz has always loved teenagers who are willing to do terrible things,” he joked, again eliciting wows.

There were also digs at Steve Bannon (“seen here ordering ‘one liver, please’”), Dave Chappelle, Paul Gosar, Adele, and, of course, Mel Gibson’s claim that he’s directing a fifth Lethal Weapon personally. “If you want to see a broken-down black guy team up with a handsome racist, just watch Weekend Update,” Che joked. And I bet you weren’t ready for an eyebrow joke about Frida Kahlo.

You can watch Weekend Update in the videos above and below.

Back in February, the golf world came to a stop after word broke that Tiger Woods had been involved in a horrible single-car crash in California that required the Jaws of Life to extract him from his vehicle after he ran off the road and rolled down an embankment.

Woods suffered “numerous” injuries to his right leg in the crash that required a number of surgeries in the immediate aftermath, and there was genuine concern that we may have seen the last of golf’s greatest player on the course. In the nine months since the accident, Woods has not been in the public eye as he continues to rehab and recover from his gruesome injuries, and the few times we’ve seen paparazzi footage of Tiger, he’s been wearing a sleeve on that right leg that required all of the surgeries.

On Sunday, Woods was once again donning that leg sleeve but this time was putting out a video himself, two seconds of that sweet swing — the first video of him on a golf course since the injury.

It is a welcome sight for golf fans, who were fired up to see the GOAT in action, even if just for one swing on his range. It’s certainly not the powerful Tiger swing we’re used to seeing, but that’s to be expected as he continues to build strength back in his legs — as he says, “making progress.” Still, post-crash Tiger has a silky stroke and golf fans can now realistically dream of a world where we get to see the big cat back playing competitive golf, something we weren’t sure we’d ever see again nine months ago.

Back in September, Simu Liu, a once-obscure actor, made history: With Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, he became the first Asian lead in a Marvel movie (to say nothing of headlining a pandemic-era money-gobbler). When he hosted the most recent SNL, he found himself working alongside someone else who made history: Bowen Yang, SNL’s first Chinese-American cast member (and perhaps the first to enrage Fran Lebowitz). And in a pre-taped, behind-the-scenes sketch, the two decided to have some fun with it.

The sketch finds Liu visiting Yang in his dressing room, where the two quickly start competing for what they call “Asian First”s. Each has big “firsts,” but what about more specific ones? For Liu, he has “First Asian Man to Deadpan on Splash Mountain.” For Yang, he has “First Gay Asian Cast Member to Mispronounce ‘Boutique.’” As soon as one of them reveals some obscure milestone — e.g., Liu winning for “Mr. Asian Panera,” for picking two at the sandwich joint — Yang tries to one-up him with, say, getting a “Good Job (Asian)” trophy from the state of Michigan.

Sometimes they almost won the same award. Liu shows off a belt bearing the words “First Asian Man to Blow Up a Dragon from the Inside,” for one of Shang-Chi’s stand-out bits. “I got the same one, too,” Yang says, “but it means something else.”

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

For the second time this month, SNL opened with one of Fox News’ most unhinged hosts. No, not Tucker Carlson. Cecil Strong again busted out her deafening Judge Jeanine Pirro, to shout about yet another rollercoaster week. On the plus side: the Biden-led Build Back Better bill passed the House (though not before Kevin McCarthy’s deranged, record-breaking, much-mocked filibuster). On the negative: Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted for shooting three protesters, killing two. One of these things Strong’s Pirro liked.

“That lovable scamp was put through a nightmare of a trial just for doing the bravest thing any American can do — protecting a used car lot in someone else’s town,” her Pirro loudly declared.

She also brought on Rittenhouse trial judge, Bruce Schroeder (Mikey Day), who let loose a little Freudian slip. “It was all standard procedure,” he said. “That’s why I ordered that the prosecution not use the word ‘victims,’ they were rioters, and hey were not shot, they were ge-doinked. That did not give my client and unfair advantage in any way.”

When Strong’s Pirro pointed out that he called Rittenhouse “my client,” not “the defendant,” he apologized. “Oooh, yeah, sure. I keep doing that,” he said.

Talk moved to the Build Back Better bill, even to Joe Biden’s colonoscopy. (“What was President Brandon doing getting socialized buttplay paid for by your tax dollars?”) But she eventually deferred to her favorite former president-turned-failed blogger, Donald J. Trump, played once again, with almost creepy verisimilitude, by new cast member James Austin Johnson. Along with a spot-on impersonation, Johnson also likes to do some free associative rambling, meaning he can start by talking about politics and suddenly, somehow start talking about teen TV.

“We’re coming back,” Johnson’s Trump said. “We’re coming back in 2024. Everyone loves reboots. People loved it before they are going to like it again — just like iCarly. Just like iCarly.” In another rant, he got on the subject of Gossip Girl, bemoaning the reboot and getting into the weeds about the original, which the real Trump probably knows very well, too.

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

Terence Crawford has long been one of boxing’s most talented stars, but many wanted to see the man who briefly sat atop the pound-for-pound rankings step in the ring with some of the current best in the welterweight division. On Saturday night, he gave them the show they wanted when he squared off with Shawn Porter and the two delivered a thrilling 10-round battle that saw Crawford once again deliver some theatrics in the later rounds.

Early on the two were trading shots and through the midway point of the fight, there were a number of ringside observers who had the fight even or had Porter ahead on the cards.

Crawford was able to open up a cut over Porter’s right eye early, but Porter kept moving forward and tagged Crawford with plenty of shots of his own. The two traded shots throughout the fight, providing plenty of action for the capacity crowd at Mandalay Bay.

However, as happens so often in Crawford fights, once he drew Porter out to the deep waters of the late rounds, his power remained while Porter’s shots no longer carried the same weight and, slowly but surely, he began to take control. After a strong ninth round, Crawford unloaded on Porter in the 10th with a pair of knockdowns that cemented the fight as his.

After Porter was knocked down twice with 81 seconds still left in the 10th round, Porter’s father stepped in and threw the towel in from the corner, giving Crawford the TKO victory as he became the first person to ever stop Porter.

The win moves Crawford to 38-0 with 29 knockouts, including nine consecutive fights where he’s stopped his opponent before the final bell. The immediate hope for many is to see Crawford tangle with Errol Spence Jr., who was in Vegas for the fight but left almost immediately after Crawford’s scintillating knockout win. For Porter, it’s his second loss in three fights, having lost a split decision to Spence in 2019, and, as mentioned, the first time he hasn’t made it the distance. There will be plenty of chatter about what’s next for Crawford, particularly as he appears set to move on from Top Rank, but in the immediate, we were given a chance to marvel at one of boxing’s very best at any weight class put on another sensational show.

The Sacramento Kings find themselves in unfortunate familiar territory 16 games into the season, sitting at 6-10, which is only good for 12th in the West at the moment. The Kings are in quite the skid of late, going 3-7 in their last 10 games and it has revived hot seat talk around Luke Walton.

To make matters worse, they began a brutal stretch of schedule on Saturday night at home against the Jazz, and with 9:36 to go in the fourth quarter, a fan courtside simply couldn’t take anymore. In what was a heavy-handed metaphor for Kings basketball in the last decade, a fan literally puked on the floor by the Jazz bench and caused what became a very lengthy delay.

It was apparently a lot of vomit, too.

The fan in question, well, looks like a guy who just threw up courtside at an NBA game as the poor Kings arena crew tries to clean it up.

The Jazz had to exit their bench area during the cleanup and seemed to be stunned by what they just witnessed — and trying to enjoy themselves as they passed the time during what became a lengthy cleaning process.

It is honestly a bit stunning that there aren’t more delays for fans spilling things on the court, but puking on the court is another level of courtside mishap. That fan likely won’t be invited back to Kings games, at least near the court, and has to live with the fact that he’ll forever be remembered for this, even if he may not remember what happened tomorrow morning.

There are a lot of injuries one can sustain as a mixed martial artist, but one of the most common (and at times grotesque looking) is cauliflower ear. It can also leave a permanent mark and is one of the telltale signs of a former wrestler or MMA fighter — aka, the guy you do not want to get into a fight with at a bar.

At UFC Vegas 43 on Saturday, bantamweight Adrian Yanez picked up a win in his bout with Davey Grant to move to 15-3 in his career, but also picked up a nasty case of cauliflower ear that he didn’t really notice until after the fight when he was awaiting the decision from the judges scorecards. As he accepted a congrats from a coach, Yanez started feeling at his ear and noticed how bad his left ear had swollen up, offering up some commentary that got picked up by ESPN’s cameras.

That’s the exact reaction I would also have if I just noticed that my ear was approximately three times its normal size. Happily, Yanez got it drained before his presser and looked much better as he spoke to the press — and had a little clamp there to keep the swelling from returning.

There are only three teams that are still undefeated at the FBS level this season. Top-ranked Georgia is the heavy favorite to win the national championship this season, while Cincinnati is steadily making its case to be the first non-Power 5, non-Notre Dame team to make it into the College Football Playoff — with their latest statement coming in a dominant 45-14 win over SMU on Saturday.

The other undefeated squad is one that has flown much further below the radar nationally, as the UTSA Roadrunners from Conference USA entered Saturday at 10-0, ranked 22nd in the most recent CFP rankings. The Roadrunners are an incredible story, a team that is in its 10th year of existence at the FBS level and has never won more than eight games in a season — that season coming in their first in the WAC. Now, Jeff Traylor has them on the rise and with a chance to clinch the C-USA West crown in a big time battle with UAB at home on Saturday.

The Blazers led for much of the proceedings, but UTSA got one final drive to try and get a win, trailing 31-27 late. After getting stuffed on 3rd and goal at the 1, it was one play with four seconds left and a perfect season on the line, when some magic happened for the Roadrunners.

A low snap nearly derails the play from the start, but Frank Harris picks the ball up and rolls to his left, lobbing a pass to Oscar Cardenas that gets tipped, forcing Cardenas to stretch for it, still managing to haul it in for the game-winning score. The scene in San Antonio is incredible afterwards, as the fans go absolutely wild for the biggest moment in program history. UTSA won’t be part of the Playoff conversation no matter how their next two games go, but it’s a reminder of how even beyond the Playoff there’s plenty of great stories in college football.