NFL to Add Heightened Security for Paris Game Due to Civil Unrest

Firas Abdullah/Anadolu via Getty Images

Dylan Gwinn 20 Oct 2026157

Paris has descended into flames and anarchy as thousands have taken to the streets for what amounted to nearly a week of rioting.

But that doesn’t mean the NFL will cancel its game there.

NFL executive Peter O’Reilly said Tuesday that the league will increase security for Sunday’s game between the Steelers and the Saints and will work with the U.S. State Department and Parisian and national authorities to ensure fan and player safety.

“There’s nothing more important from our standpoint than the teams’ security, the fans’ security — everybody involved with this game,” O’Reilly said at the fall league meetings, via the Associated Press. “Obviously being very vigilant in everything we do, in all of our planning on an hour-by-hour basis, working closely with the two teams.”

As for heightened security for the NFL game at the Stade de France drawing critical security resources away from other areas, O’Reilly doesn’t see it as an issue.

“We feel confident that we would not have any impact on the broader resources needed,” O’Reilly said. “That’s always top of mind for us, and we feel confident that we wouldn’t be depleting resources in a negative way around this game.”

O’Reilly added that other sporting events in and around Paris have continued as scheduled despite the unrest, and the NFL never considered canceling the game.

“The Saints flew to Paris after their victory over the Giants on Sunday. The Steelers will travel later this week,” Pro Football Talk reports.

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Pope Leo hat giveaway turns White Sox game into the church of baseball

CHICAGO (RNS) — After three terrible years, the White Sox are in the midst of a revival — with good young players and perhaps a little divine intervention. The team's best-known fan is Pope Leo XIV.

White Sox fans cheer while wearing Pope hats during "Pope Night," Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Chicago. (Photo courtesy of the Chicago White Sox)

Bob Smietana

August 12, 2026 at 1:17 p.m. ET

CHICAGO (RNS) — On a hot August night on the South Side of Chicago, Rate Field, home of the White Sox, turned into a church of baseball, filled to capacity with true believers who sang, passed the peace, cheered on a celebrity nun and, of course, wore their pope hats.

Those hats, emblazoned with the Sox logo, were given to every fan who entered the park on Tuesday (Aug. 11). It was, according to team officials, the biggest promotional giveaway in White Sox history, with more than 40,000 pope hats given away. The night was a testimony to the resurgent White Sox, who appear to be playoff-bound after three years of losing 100 games a season, as well as to the appeal of Pope Leo XIV, a longtime fan of the team and Chicago native.

“It doesn’t matter your religion or your denomination,” said Brooks Boyer, chief revenue and marketing officer for the White Sox. “Everyone respects the pope. For us, it’s obviously fun that he is a White Sox fan.”

As soon as the gate opened, the park was flooded with fans, young and old, some with jerseys with the pope’s name on the back, many already wearing their pope hats. They stood in line for hot dogs or beers, where some greeted Sister Mary Jo Sobieck of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois, who was grabbing a hot dog before throwing out the first pitch.

Jaime Garcia and his wife were decked out in Sox garb and their new pope hats. Garcia, who is from the Back of the Yards neighborhood on Chicago’s southwest side, grew up both Catholic and a Sox fan. He got off work early to get to the game.

Jaime Garcia attends the White Sox’s “Pope Night,” Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Chicago. (RNS photo/Bob Smietana)

“Got to get the hat,” he said. “Got to represent.”

Sports Gambling Is Still a Bad Bet

Where betting is legalized, lives are being destroyed.

07/31/26
John StonestreetandTimothy D Padgett


A recently released report shows a clear correlation between legalized gambling and gambling addiction. While this should surprise absolutely no one, there is further evidence that the explosion of legalized sports gambling was a bad idea.

In 2018, a Supreme Court decision cleared the way for states to legalize sports betting. Since then, according to the study shared by Epic Research, gambling disorders have risen by 61% in states that allow it but is down 29% in states that have not.

That’s a big spread, pun intended. The time frame is also significant. Only Nevada allowed sports gambling prior to 2018. Today, it is legal in 39 states and DC, though app-based gambling has made it ubiquitous. The results of this experience speak for themselves:

Of the overall population, adults aged 30 to 49 had the highest overall quarterly rate of diagnosed gambling disorder throughout the study period. . .. The largest proportional increase was among adults aged 18 to 29, whose rate more than doubled. Rates rose in both sexes and in every age group, but the male-to-female gap was substantially larger in adults under 50.

The math speaks for itself. For example, sports betting companies make enough to pay out a fortune in constant commercials while still raking in incredible profits. As of last year, gambling businesses have taken in around $300 billion, which is as much as China spends on its military each year.

The cost to consumers, however, is not only in the bet. According to a 2025 article by Charles Fain Lehman in The Atlantic, for every dollar spent on betting, household investing fell by an average of two dollars. The years since 2018 have been marked by large increases in over-drafted bank accounts and maxed-out credit cards. Legalized sports gambling has increased “the risk that a household goes bankrupt by 25 to 30 percent” and has caused debt delinquency to surge.  

The financial strain, in turn, worsens social pathologies. According to research cited by Lehman, an upset loss for an NFL home team correlates to a 10% spike in male domestic abuse. Overall, states with legalized sports gambling have seen an estimated 9% increase in “intimate-partner violence.”

As it turns out, it is possible to legislate morality, or, in this case, to legislate an increase in immorality. The legalization of sports gambling, and the general betting industrial complex, is a scourge on society, as if a highly contagious illness had a multi-billion-dollar PR campaign behind it. This is a cause for both the Left and the Right to get behind. Progressives would be hard pressed to find a better example of the rich getting richer on the backs of the poor. Conservatives have a horribly perfect example of the effects of moral decay and the corruption of domestic life.

Moral decline isn’t inevitable. Too many are convinced that things always go from bad to worse, so why try to turn the tide? Fighting the new normal, especially one with so much money and political power behind it, is an uphill battle. But Christians are commanded to love our neighbors. Sometimes that means giving to a local charity. Sometimes that means pressing leaders to ban what is destroying lives.

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MLB warns players against writing Bible verses on their hats during Pride month

 

Giants’ Pride hat controversy: Tolerance does not apply to Christians

Opinion

By Matt Sieger

Published June 15, 2026.

The San Francisco Giants held their annual Pride Night last week to honor the LGBTQ+ community. The celebration included 10 gay couples renewing their wedding vows and a drag queen standing along the first base line.

Four Christian ballplayers on the Giants chose to make a statement about their faith. While all the other players wore a “Pride” hat (a Giants hat with a rainbow patch attached), one pitcher, Sam Hentges, wore his regular Giants cap without the rainbow.

Three other Giants pitchers — Landon Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker — wore the Pride hat, but cited Bible verses next to the rainbow logo.

A Giants logo is displayed over a heart with various LGBTQ colors at Oracle Park.

Hentges added: “It’s just something that I feel like I was forced to support when I don’t morally support it. There wasn’t hatred behind it. I think that’s kind of something that’s misinterpreted. I don’t hate the LGBTQ community.”

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Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner met Pope Francis before Aaron Judge signing

Published December 8, 2022 5:55pm EST

Steinbrenner might have prayed Judge would choose Yankees in free agency

 

By Scott Thompson | Fox News


The Aaron Judge sweepstakes seemed to be swaying in the direction of the San Francisco Giants, though that report was later backtracked. Even so, many believed Judge was going to play for his hometown team instead.

That is until Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner got on the phone to call Judge and ask what he needed to remain in pinstripes.

But that phone call didn't come until Steinbrenner met Pope Francis during his vacation in Italy.



FILE - New York Yankees' Aaron Judge (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

A photo was posted via YES Network that showed Steinbrenner about to shake hands with Pope Francis on Dec. 1.

Five days later, Steinbrenner called Judge from Italy when the Giants seemed to be gaining some traction to figure out how to keep their perennial All-Star and potential next captain in the Bronx, per SNY.

The answer was an extra year to make it a total of nine at $360 million. The Yankees had a deal.

Judge ended up turning down the Giants and reportedly the San Diego Padres and their $400 million offer.



FILE - New York Yankees' Aaron Judge ended up turning down the Giants and reportedly the San Diego Padres and their $400 million offer. (Thomas A. Ferrara/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

With the massive multiyear deal, which is now the highest AAV for a position player in MLB history, the SNY report says it’s "likely" the Yankees will also name Judge their next captain since Derek Jeter.

After winning the AL MVP this past season with his record-setting performance, Judge was always going to cash in after leaving the Yankees’ Opening Day offer on the table and betting on himself.

FILE - Hal Steinbrenner, managing general partner of the New York Yankees (J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images)


New York is ultimately where he wanted to be, but it was never a sure-fire decision. Steinbrenner sealed the deal, and perhaps it had a bit of a divine touch.


Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital

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What Adventists need to know about this World Cup

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee demands Russia release Brittney Griner: 'No right'

By
Andrew Mark Miller, Fox News
March 6, 2022 4:25am
Updated

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee demanded the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia.REUTERS/Erin Scott


Texas Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is demanding the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner who was detained by authorities in Russia for allegedly possessing a vape with cannabis oil.

“We know that there were some issues dealing with vape cartridges and other items but let me be very clear,” Lee, who represents Griner’s hometown of Houston, Texas, in Congress, said on Saturday. “Brittney Griner is a United States citizen, she was a guest in Russia…and I will be demanding her release.”

Lee added that she has spoken with the State Department to “try and get them to focus on her circumstances.”

“I don’t want to disregard a sovereign nation but Putin has disregarded sovereign nations his entire service in this world,” Lee said. “Anyone that is killing and attacking and destroying Ukraine, a neighboring country that is not bothering them, has no right to hold Ms. Griner. Period.”

Lee called for any alleged infraction to be dealt with “diplomatically” and referenced Griner’s “storied history of Olympic gold medals” and said that a Moscow prison is “no place for her” especially when considering the fact that Putin has reportedly thrown thousands of Ukraine war protesters into jail.

WNBA star Brittney Griner allegedly possessed a vape with cannabis oil.Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Russian state media announced on Saturday that Griner, a member of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, had been arrested last month after allegedly being caught with a vape cartridge that contained hash oil.

The Russian Federal Customs Service released a video of the incident that appeared to show Griner going through security at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow.

According to Russian authorities, Griner could face anywhere between 5-10 years if found guilty.

SEE ALSO

WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner has been detained for 3 weeks in Russia after drug arrest

Griner was in Russia playing for the women’s basketball team UMMC Ekaterinburg during the WNBA’s offseason. Playing overseas during the WNBA’s offseason is common among WNBA players who have the opportunity to earn lucrative contracts that oftentimes exceed what they earn in the United States.

Griner’s agent told ESPN in a statement on Saturday that it was an “ongoing legal matter” and they are in talks with the WNBA and NBA.

“We are aware of the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia and are in close contact with her, her legal representation in Russia, her family, her teams, and the WNBA and NBA,” the statement from the agent read. “As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are not able to comment further on the specifics of her case but can confirm that as we work to get her home, her mental and physical health remain our primary concern.

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An Alabama high school basketball team say they were forced to choose faith over a tournament game

An Alabama high school basketball team say they were forced to choose faith over a tournament game. The governor is demanding answers


By Sara Smart, CNN


Updated 8:30 PM ET, Thu February 24, 2022



Oakwood Adventist Academy's men's basketball team forfeited a tournament game that fell during Sabbath.



(CNN)Alabama's governor is demanding answers after a high school basketball team say they were forced to choose between their faith or a game.
Oakwood Adventist Academy is a Seventh-Day Adventist school in Huntsville, located 100 miles north of Birmingham. Their men's basketball team had advanced to the semifinals of the state tournament last week, the school's Athletic Director, Calvin Morton, told CNN Wednesday.
But the regional semifinal game was set for Saturday, February 19 at 4:30 p.m., and would interfere with Sabbath, which is observed from sundown Friday to sundown on Saturday.




West Virginia school district says students' rights were violated during religious gathering on campus

Morton said he emailed the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) to ask if they could play at 7:30 p.m. instead, after sunset, to meet their religious beliefs.

That request was denied.

"We weren't asking for a change of stadium or venue or a change of a different day," Morton told CNN. "It was a simple two-to-three hour game change ... which we thought was a reasonable ask."

The other teams participating in the tournament were willing to accommodate and swap game times, Morton said. When he relayed that message to AHSAA in a follow up, they still denied the change.
AHSAA told CNN they have no comment at this time.

Morton said they had a team meeting and everyone was on the same page: They would forfeit. "We were taken aback and upset that they weren't going to play," Morton said.
Now, Governor Kay Ivey is stepping in and demanding answers from the association.

The team says they have no regrets in their decision to forfeit the game to meet their religious beliefs.

Ivey took to Twitter on Tuesday to share the letters she sent to AHSAA Director Alvin Briggs and Judy Chiles-Dent, Oakwood's principal.

"I am writing to express my profound concern -- and to get some answers -- about the alleged treatment of Oakwood Adventist Academy," Ivey wrote in the letter to Briggs.
That letter goes on to list questions for the organization that she demands answers to. These include: "Which AHSAA employees were responsible for making this decision?" and "How can we as a State ensure that something like this never occurs again?"
In her letter to Principal Chiles-Dent, Ivey offered solidarity.

"The idea that a team like Oakwood could be denied a chance to compete based on its faith -- without even the most modest of accommodations -- is deeply concerning," Ivey's letter reads.

A student athlete sparked national change after being disqualified from a volleyball match for wearing a hijab

The governor went on to invite the principal, players and coaches of the basketball team to the Alabama Capitol to celebrate the team's achievements and tell her about their time in the tournament. The team plans to accept Governor Ivey's invitation and hope they can meet her in the next week, Morton said.

"It's great that we have that support for us," Morton added. "It's not just for Oakland Adventist Academy, it's for any other school or academy that has religious values or beliefs."

Despite their forced forfeit of the game, the team still traveled to the tournament at Jacksonville State University to cheer on the other teams, according to CNN affiliate WAFF.

The team's senior captain, Raynon Andrews, told WAFF they have no regrets about their decision.

"There is a whole Facebook community, there are people all around the world texting parents, saying how proud they are of us," Andrews said. "That means a lot."

CNN's Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.

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» No more Sunday games for Detroit Catholic parish, school sports teams

No more Sunday games for Detroit Catholic parish, school sports teams

Catholic News Service | Michael Stechschulte | May 17, 2019

A coach kneels in prayer Oct. 13, 2018, during a high school game at Hurley Field in Berkeley, Mich. As part of a new pastoral note encouraging Catholics in the Archdiocese of Detroit to keep Sunday as a day of holiness, rest and family togetherness, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron introduced a new policy requiring Catholic parishes and schools to stop scheduling athletic games and practices on Sundays. CNS photo/Tim Fuller, courtesy Archdiocese of Detroit


As part of a new pastoral note encouraging Catholics in the Archdiocese of Detroit to keep Sunday as a day of holiness, rest and family togetherness, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron introduced a new policy requiring Catholic parishes and schools to stop scheduling athletic games and practices on Sundays.


“In shifting away from the hustle of required sporting activities on Sunday, we will reclaim this holy day and create more time for families to choose activities that prioritize time spent with each other and our Lord,” Archbishop Vigneron wrote in “The Day of the Lord,” released May 15 as the fourth in a series of teaching notes supporting the themes of his 2017 pastoral letter, “Unleash the Gospel.”

The policy, which goes into effect Aug. 1, is not meant to lessen the archdiocese’s commitment to youth athletics, said Father Stephen Pullis, director of the archdiocese’s Department of Evangelization, Catechesis and Schools.

“At the synod, the question came up about how we can best live our life as a church together, to bear witness to the world about what we believe,” Father Pullis told Detroit Catholic, online news source for the archdiocese. “What came through very clearly was that athletics are a wonderful part of the life of our local church, but they’ve also in some ways taken a disproportionate amount of time and attention for families.”

He added, “We really needed to say that Sunday is about being for and with the Lord, for and with the family, and for and with those in need.”

Inside America's Largest Religious Revival You Know Nothing About

Satire

For decades, demographic studies have indicated the steady decline of religion in America, but new measures suggest at least one religion in America is alive and well.

By Heather Smith

November 10, 2017



For decades, demographic studies have indicated the steady decline of religion in America, but new measures suggest that, on the contrary, at least one religion in America is alive and well, thriving in every community, and claiming devoted adherents in nearly every household.

This new religious revival has remained under the radar in large part because its adherents do not claim any religious attachment to this social institution, but by every measure of behaviors typically associated with religion, it is deceitful to label it as anything less. Although it shies away from adopting an overarching organization or name for itself, for the purposes of this study, it will be considered under the name Athletica.


What must first impress outsiders studying the life of Athletica is how wholehearted is the devotion of its followers. These disciples are willing to sacrifice almost limitlessly where their dedication to this faith is concerned. Money, time, health, and even family may all be expended for the sake of bettering oneself within Athletica, and it is no exaggeration to say its members orient their lives around the strictures of their religion’s demands.
Forget One Service For Week. We Have Daily Meetings

Whereas in traditional American Christianity followers would regularly meet together once or twice a week (a timetable most now find unduly onerous), members of Athletica gather four, five, six, or even seven days a week. Despite the significant time demands, the families of adherents dutifully and unflinchingly keep these meeting commitments and accept as normal the stringent penalties imparted to those who miss a gathering—penalties usually enacted by limiting the devotee’s rights of participation in important group ceremonies.

Nor are the youngest members of Athletica uninitiated in their family’s devotion. Athletica parents regularly begin teaching their children its basic skills as soon as they are able to toddle, and some begin their benevolent indoctrination well before that by dressing their infants in tiny versions of the liturgical vestments. By age four or five, their parents have already catechized most of these youngsters in the basic tenets of Athletica, though this pious education will continue to deepen through daily family conversations, oral and written retellings of important historical moments in Athletica, and inclusion in the essential Athletica ceremonies.

Eager young zealots of elementary age and upward often relish memorizing not only the many Athletica rules, but also masses of historical information about specific persons and events. Although it is hard to believe such memorization would be undertaken voluntarily, there is no trace of a “drill and kill” mentality about this phenomenon. These youngsters apparently love this imparted faith enough that they simply cannot help trying to absorb everything about it that they can, and they especially find pleasure in learning of the great heroes of Athletica’s past, whom they inevitably long to emulate.

Start ‘Em Young for Optimal Results

It's Trump or the political elite this cycle, says Ben Carson on game day

Dr. Ben Carson tailgates before the rivalry University of Michigan, Michigan State University game on Oct. 29, 2016. He was in Michigan, his home state, to support Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Emily Lawler | elawler@mlive.com


By Emily Lawler | elawler@mlive.com

on October 29, 2016 at 12:31 PM, updated October 29, 2016 at 2:14 PM




EAST LANSING, MI – Former presidential contender Dr. Ben Carson said at a tailgate on Saturday that Michiganders should support Republican nominee Donald Trump, who represents the people against political elite and their "minions in the media."

"I think a lot of people are starting to recognize that this election is not about Democrats and Republicans. This is about the political ruling class and their minions in the media and the people," Carson said at an appearance to support Trump during the football game between Michigan State University and the University of Michigan.

"And as more people realize that, I think you're going to see them abandoning the party loyalty and start thinking about their children in America," Carson added.

And in Michigan, where Trump is trailing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the polls, Carson gave Trump good chances for winning Michigan on Nov. 8.

"I think they're actually pretty good. Because having grown up here one thing I know about Michigan is that there are a lot of people here with common sense," Carson said.

He said Trump had exactly the right solutions for Michigan's manufacturing sector, while Clinton's plan would lead to the continued decline of Michigan's manufacturing sector.

But U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield, said in a statement that Clinton would be better for Michiganders.

"Only one candidate has fought for children and families throughout her entire career: Hillary Clinton," Lawrence said. "...Hillary has always stood up for those who need a champion, and I know that she has the experience necessary to lead our nation and bring us together."

As Michigan and Michigan State fans trailed into the game, they were surprised to see Carson among the tailgaters.

"I'm here for a great football game but to see him just joining in with an everyday crowd, that's amazing," said David Skjaerlund of Owosso.

He's supporting Trump in the presidential election. So is Duke Kelly, of Howell, but Carson was his first choice.

"I wish I could vote for him in two weeks," said Kelly.

Carson toured several tailgates, getting a warm reception from those in attendance.

A graduate of the University of Michigan's medical school, Carson was diplomatic about the state's biggest rivalry.

"I grew up in Michigan so have known about this rivalry for a really long time and have lots of friends who went to both places. And relatives, so I can't be too partisan," Carson said.

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Vatican presents world conference on sport and faith

POPE FRANCIS THE CHURCH OF SPORTS ~ HD