The cruelty is the point?

We have gotten used to the partisan, unfunny version of former “Man Show” host Jimmy Kimmel. He’s the guy who plays the free-speech martyr on his ABC late-night show without ever defending the free speech of the others.

‘When they go low, we go high,’ Michelle Obama infamously said. No one believed it, but it sure sounded good.

Remember when he spoke out on behalf of singer M.I.A. after she was fired from Kid Cudi’s tour for sharing right-leaning views on stage? We sure don’t.

Still, Kimmel hit a new low this week, even if that didn’t seem possible. He mocked Spencer Pratt for coming in third in L.A.’s recent primary battle. Never mind the dubious nature of L.A.’s never-ending vote counting process.

Pratt lost his home and every precious item in it during the Palisades fires, and it spurred him to run for office. He wasn’t remotely MAGA or cruel, just a father and husband defending his family and hoping to do good for his city.

That’s it.

For that, Kimmel told his ABC fans that he got a U-Haul rental for Pratt so he could keep his word about leaving L.A. if he lost the race.

“Mazel tov and goodbye, Spencer Pratt!”

We’ll be saying the same when ABC finally realizes how terrible Kimmel is for the country, no doubt …

‘Fascist’ fan Platner still Democrat fave

“When they go low, we go high,” Michelle Obama infamously said. No one believed it, but it sure sounded good.

The gals at the far-left “The View” can’t even fake that any more.

Co-host Sunny Hostin admits that Graham “Maine Kampf” Platner is all the terrible things we’ve heard about him, down to his Nazi tattoo. But he must get our vote anyway.

For reasons, or something.

“Look, I don’t think Republicans, at this point, can ask us to take the moral high ground. That is over at this point. … It’s time for Democrats to stop that nonsense, put emotions on the side, let’s be strategic, let’s get some power, let’s take over the Senate and let’s take over the House and let’s right the ship! Let’s get our country back!”

At this point, Hostin and Co. could stop calling President Donald Trump “Hitler.” It might reflect too kindly on their new favorite candidate …

RELATED: Spencer Pratt 2.0? Actor Michael Rapaport eyes run against NYC Mayor Mamdani

Bravo/Getty Images

No Time to Fry

An old “Gilligan’s Island” episode found the castaways discovering a Japanese soldier from WWII. He thought the war hadn’t ended yet, yuk yuk, and captured Gilligan and pals.

Pierce Brosnan sounds a bit like that while promoting climate change hysteria. The cause du jour has been dropped by Greta Thunberg. Major media outlets like Politico and NPR have dialed down their coverage. Even former scaremonger Bill Gates now says it’s not as big a deal after all.

Tell that to the erstwhile 007.

Pierce Brosnan fired up his Instagram account, from his Hawaiian home, to push the fear movement anew.

“Climate change is often spoken about as a scientific issue, an environmental issue, an economic issue. And it is all of those things. But above all, it is a moral issue. … Human activity — the burning of fossil fuels, the destruction of forests, and the relentless exploitation of our natural world — has altered the delicate balance of the Earth’s climate.”

The ghost of Alan Hale Jr., aka the Skipper, would like to swat Bronson’s head with his hat …

Broken Clock Awards

Sometimes far-left celebrities throw us curveballs. This week, two did just that, buckling our knees like vintage Clayton Kershaw. First, Whoopi Goldberg defended President Donald Trump.

No, really.

It wasn’t about policy, though. Goldberg says the president, a huge Knicks fan, should be able to attend one of the NBA Finals games against the San Antonio Spurs.

“I think anybody who’s a Knicks fan should be there,” Goldberg said. “You earned the right as a Knicks fan. I don’t have to like you.”

Huge if true. And it’s true!

Even more startling? Trump derangement sufferer Stephen King similarly praised the president this week, at least indirectly. That in itself is stunning, given the level of invective he shares against Trump.

The horror guru shared an image of the recently upgraded reflecting pool in Washington, D.C., a pet project for the president. King noted the image was “very beautiful,” no caveats.

Who knew “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was a true story?

​Toto recall, Lifestyle, Entertainment 

The leading Democratic candidate for the open Michigan U.S. Senate seat is playing defense now that a former paid staffer has been indicted in connection with a series of anti-Semitic attacks.

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice announced that eight defendants had been charged for an alleged conspiracy “to threaten University of Michigan leaders, law enforcement, and businesses, including the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit” over their supposed ties to Israel.

‘El-Sayed continues to pander to terrorists.’

Among those indicted is 24-year-old Mariam Muhammed Odeh of Dearborn, Michigan. She has been charged with one count of conspiracy to transmit threats in interstate and foreign commerce, according to the Detroit News.

The DOJ press release claimed that the eight defendants and some unindicted co-conspirators targeted the victims in the wake of the attacks on October 7, 2023, demanding that the victims immediately divest from Israel completely or the defendants would compel them to do so “by any means necessary.”

The defendants allegedly uncovered the targets’ personal information, including home addresses, business relationships, and personal acquaintances. They also allegedly plotted ways they could “harm the targets and their families, including poison, bombs, and psychological torture.”

The suspects apparently put some of their plots into action, allegedly vandalizing homes and other property with Hamas-linked symbols and messages such as “Intifada,” “Free Palestine,” and “F**k You,” images from the press release showed.

The suspects made further threats online, posting messages such as, “You cannot hide,” and “We only come back stronger,” alongside photographs of the destruction they caused, the DOJ claimed.

“The defendants also left demand notes containing additional threats, caulked doors shut, bike-locked entryways, broke windows, and threw glass jars filled with butyric acid and dye into the homes,” the press release claimed.

RELATED: FBI walks through chilling final hours before ‘Hezbollah-inspired’ terrorist tried to kill Jewish kids in Michigan

Composite of FBI photos of Ayman Ghazali

From February until April 15, Odeh was a paid staffer at the campaign of far-left radical Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

El-Sayed’s campaign initially claimed Odeh worked for the campaign for only two weeks but subsequently issued a follow-up statement confirming that her tenure with the campaign was much longer.

“Upon discovering an error in reviewing our HR files, we’d like to correct information on her employment for transparency. She was hired in February as an hourly employee and left the campaign on April 15. The campaign issued one missed hourly back payment in May that will appear on our next FEC filing,” spokeswoman Roxie Richner said Thursday in a text message, according to the Detroit News.

The campaign paid Odeh $747 in two payments made in March, the News reported, citing fundraising disclosures.

However, Odeh seems to have characterized her affiliation with the campaign differently, claiming that she had “full-time employment for approximately four months” “for a local Senate candidate,” a pretrial officer told the court, the News reported.

An attorney for Odeh did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

On his campaign website, El-Sayed has championed “Medicare for all,” reforming the Supreme Court, and “abolishing ICE.” He opposes “mandatory voter ID laws” and prefers instead to “make voting easier” with automatic voter registration and re-registration as well as “no-reason absentee and early in-person voting.”

El-Sayed also received criticism for expressing sympathy for Ayman Ghazali, the “Hezbollah-inspired” terrorist who tried to murder school children and other Jews at a Reform synagogue and school in West Bloomfield Township on March 13.

While condemning the attack and anti-Semitism more generally, El-Sayed noted in a four-minute video statement released just hours after the incident at Temple Israel that Ghazali “lost family, including two children,” a niece and nephew, in strikes on Lebanon that were part of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

“Hurt people hurt people,” El-Sayed said.

“Imagine there was no war in Iran. Imagine if there were no airstrikes in Lebanon. Imagine if his family had never died. Imagine there was never an attack on Temple Israel. That’s the world that we want to live in.”

Samantha Cantrell, regional press secretary for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, indicated the indictment of Odeh is further evidence of a character issue for El-Sayed: “El-Sayed continues to pander to terrorists. He found it difficult to condemn the Synagogue attack on Jewish children, mourned the death of the Ayatollah, campaigned with known anti-Semite, Hasan Piker, and now this.”

Despite his radical positions, El-Sayed holds the lead in aggregate polling. According to the latest RealClearPolling average, El-Sayed leads fellow Democratic candidates Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow by 3.7 points.

El-Sayed is vying for the U.S. Senate seat now open after Democratic Sen. Gary Peters announced in January 2025 that he would not seek another term. The Michigan primary election is scheduled for August 4.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Dearborn michigan, Senate, Democratic party, Politics, Abdul el-sayed 

A former Louisiana mayor — described as a “predator” with “Botox and high heels” — learned her fate after being convicted of child sex crimes for abusing her teen son’s underage friend at an alcohol-fueled pool party, according to multiple reports.

In March, 44-year-old Misty Roberts was convicted of carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior with a juvenile.

‘This predator was not hiding in a van carrying candy or a puppy.’

Fox News reported that Roberts was sentenced on Tuesday to 90 days in jail for having sex with a teen boy in 2024 while she was mayor of DeRidder.

Roberts received two concurrent five-year suspended sentences, which she will avoid serving provided she complies with the terms of her probation.

The judge ordered Roberts to register as a sex offender and pay a $5,000 fine.

Prosecutors petitioned for her to receive the maximum prison sentence of 17 years for both charges.

According to KPLC-TV, Beauregard Parish District Attorney James Lestage said, “We argued for the maximum sentences, which we feel are appropriate. I don’t think the sentence that was imposed reflects the severity of the crimes.”

Roberts’ defense attorney Todd Clemons said of the judge’s ruling, “We appreciate that the judge put a lot of thought and consideration into this decision.”

Clemons said, “The state wanted 17 years, so the outcome could have been much worse than 90 days.”

Roberts could be released from prison in fewer than 90 days with good behavior, her attorneys said.

Roberts’ attorneys stated, “With the good-time credit available under Louisiana law, the time Misty actually serves is expected to be shorter, and she intends to begin serving it without delay, complete it, and meet every condition the court has set.”

Roberts’ co-counsel Adam Johnson insisted that she already has received “a life sentence” by having to register as a sex offender.

According to KPLC, Roberts’ attorneys previously requested a new trial, blaming “inconsistencies” in the victim’s testimony. However, Judge Kent Savoie denied a new trial.

KPLC reported that a statement from the victim’s mother was read in the courtroom: “This predator was not hiding in a van carrying candy or a puppy.”

“This danger came from a predator with hair extensions, high heels, Botox, and other modifications,” the mom said before Roberts was sentenced.

Roberts told the judge, “I blame myself then, I blame myself today, and I will blame myself for the rest of my life. I let a lot of people down, and I am the only person responsible for that.”

According to KPLC, Roberts added, “What an embarrassment I’ve been to this city. I’ve made a mess of all of this, but it certainly was not my intent.”

Roberts told the courtroom, “I just want to be their mom. I’m here just asking for grace and mercy and the opportunity to do what the Lord has asked me to do, which is be a mom.”

Roberts added, “To the [victim’s] family, I am sorry. I can’t give back the high school days … I can’t take away the embarrassment that so many mean people on the internet have put them through.”

American Press reported that Dr. Sasha Joy Lambert, a clinical psychologist hired to evaluate Roberts’ mental health, determined that the former mayor “was not mentally healthy” around the time of the incident.

Lambert said Roberts was dealing with her father’s declining health, her divorce, and her fiancé committing suicide.

“She was in a mental health crisis,” Lambert said of Roberts.

RELATED: Teens describe shattered lives as ‘party mom’ gets max punishment: ‘It’s her turn to serve a very long sentence in jail’

KPLC reported that lead prosecutor Charles Robinson stated, “We’re talking about an elected public official who had sex with a child at a children’s birthday party.”

The New York Post reported that Robinson also said of Roberts, “This is not a dumb lady. This is somebody who managed an entire city budget.”

Robinson noted, “She has not come to the realization of accountability. She is not sorry.”

Blaze News previously reported that Roberts had been serving her second term as mayor after winning re-election in 2022 at the time of the child sex abuse.

In another previous Blaze News report, Roberts told the victim he “looked good, started winking at him, and dancing on him” during the boozy pool party.

The victim — who was a friend of Roberts’ son — said he was intoxicated when Roberts sexually assaulted him.

“While it was happening, I couldn’t feel my body,” the teen said of the sexual encounter. “After we had sex, I kinda was realizing what was happening.”

Roberts’ daughter testified that she saw her mother and the victim “on top of each other” on the night of the party.

Duncan Clanton — Roberts’ ex-husband and father of their two children — testified in court that his ex-wife informed him she had sex with a minor.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Misty roberts, Party mom, Child sex crimes, Child sex abuse, Louisiana, Sentencing, Crime 

On June 9, Graham Platner won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in Maine, securing approximately 72% of the vote in the primary to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.

His campaign was highly scandal-ridden due to revelations, including a chest tattoo resembling a Nazi SS symbol, sexually explicit texts sent to other women while married, allegations from multiple ex-partners of emotional volatility, heavy drinking, and physically threatening or abusive behavior, and resurfaced Reddit posts containing remarks many found offensive, homophobic, and inflammatory.

Despite these controversies, Platner prevailed with strong grassroots and progressive support.

BlazeTV’s Pat Gray was surprised by the lack of outrage. “None of these scandals have had any effect on his candidacy,” he sighs.

But what shocked him even more was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) comments to reporters on Tuesday. Following Platner’s victory, the democratic socialist — and one of the most vocal critics of Republican scandals — appeared to hypocritically shrug off his numerous controversies.

“When it comes to the substance of this reporting, obviously there’s a lot in that behavior that’s really challenging. It’s hard to stomach … but at the end of the day, I think that this is a choice,” she told CNN’s Manu Raju.

“If the choice on the ballot is between that and a senator who’s voted to take health care away from millions of Americans, that’s the situation that we have to weigh,” she added.

Co-host Keith Malinak translates her words: “Is he sexting with women and wearing Nazi tattoos and mocking those that serve in our armed forces? Yeah, but he would vote for the government to spend money for other people’s health insurance.”

“I mean, she literally said something like, ‘at the end of the day, it’s a choice.’ What a profound statement that is,” scoffs Pat. “Obviously it’s a choice, and you made the bad choice there.”

Jeffy speculates that the scandals surrounding Platner are likely even deeper, considering progressive activists Daniel Moraff and Leanne Fan, who recruited Platner, admitted in an interview with Wall Street Journal reporter Aaron Zitner to paying a professional vetting/opposition research firm “a whole chunk of money” to scrub Platner before his campaign even began.

But it wasn’t wholly effective given the scandals that have dominated the news cycle of late — including a deleted post from 2021 where Platner wrote, “I got older and became a communist.”

“It’s despicable,” says Pat.

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat’s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Pat gray unleashed, Pat gray, Graham platner, Aoc 

Eighty-six is more than just a number. It is slang that for roughly a century has meant “to get rid of” or “to throw out.”

When used in reference to a person, 86-ing can mean the person’s termination of employment or denial of service. To “86 someone” does, however, have another widely understood meaning: to kill that person.

‘Any threat against the president is taken very seriously.’

Just weeks ahead of the primary America250 celebrations in the national capital and days ahead of the UFC match at the White House, a massive “86 47” appeared etched or possibly chemically burned into the grass on the National Mall, just east of the World War II memorial.

The numbers 86 and 47 — the latter an apparent reference to the 47th president, Donald Trump — were still visible on Friday in the live images taken by EarthCam’s camera, which is mounted atop the Washington Monument.

Members of the National Guard and U.S. Park Police responded to the scene of the vandalism, which was reported around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday. The area was promptly roped off by National Park Service workers.

Park Police said that grass samples have been collected for testing.

“The deranged vandalism on our National Mall will not be tolerated,” the U.S. Department of the Interior, which manages national parks like the National Mall, said in a statement obtained by NBC News. “Any threat against the president is taken very seriously by the department, and our U.S. Park Police will investigate this incident and hold those responsible accountable.”

White House spokesman David Ingle condemned the act, stating, “Anyone who engages in or endorses political violence or assassination culture must be condemned in the harshest terms possible.”

RELATED: Texas radical charged with making terroristic threats against Erika Kirk

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Just days ago, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss — an appointee of former President Barack Obama — barred the National Park Service from preventing an anti-Trump group from waving an “86 47” flag around in the area.

The radical group in question, Accountability Now USA, has volunteers calling nonstop for the president’s ouster and protesting the Trump administration near the George Meade statue on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. The group was notified in April by an NPS agent that the display of “unprotected obscenity” was “not protected by the First Amendment and is therefore prohibited and a violation of law.”

The Obama judge evidently didn’t share the NPS’ concerns about the group’s inflammatory messaging targeting a man whom assassins have attempted to murder on at least three occasions. Moss wrote, “The term ’86’ is used far more often to mean ‘throw out’ than ‘kill,’ and it appeared at a demonstration that was focused, of all things, on the constitutional impeachment and ‘removal’ of the President.”

The unknown radical or radicals behind the vandalism at the National Mall and Accountability Now USA’s flag-bearers are hardly the only individuals who have used the numbers to publicly call for Trump’s elimination of one kind or another.

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted in late April over his since-deleted social media post featuring an image of seashells arranged to form the numbers “86 47.” Comey was charged with threatening the life of the president and transmitting in interstate and foreign commerce a communication that contained a threat to kill the president.

While she has not similarly been indicted, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) faced backlash in 2020 during Trump’s first term for conducting an interview with a pin displayed behind her that read “8645.” Trump was then the 45th president.

The Trump War Room account said at the time, “Whitmer is encouraging assassination attempts against President Trump just weeks after someone sent a ricin-laced packaged to the White House.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​James comey, Donald trump, Assassination, Murder, Leftism, National mall, National park service, Secret service, Gretchen whitmer, Politics 

Fans have shelled out hard-earned cash for 007: First Light, making it a smash hit for developer IO Interactive.

But with more than 3 million sales in the first two weeks, there are still questions about the game’s profitability and, of course, its ideological direction for James Bond.

‘We are well above our forecasts at this point.’

The truth is, the James Bond video game franchise has chugged along like a broken locomotive for the better part of 20 years, with First Light being the first console release for the iconic brand since 2012’s 007: Legends, which was viewed quite unfavorably.

However, with help of IO Interactive, Bond has been ported from a mostly nonexistent gaming environment to a fairly good and playable game.

Your gameplay, Mr. Bond

First Light looks and feels an awful lot like the Hitman games — which IO Interactive makes — utilizing stealth elements and interactive characters as its bread and butter. Where the titular hit man has in his repertoire multiple costume changes and the use of closets or containers to dump dead bodies, 007 employs gadgets and persuasion.

On to the game. After getting through a gigantic user license agreement, followed by an exhaustive privacy policy, fans eventually get to find out how Bond became 007.

Gamers will love the fly-by introductory sequence that breezes through game mechanics in a fun way, making it feel like the opening montage of a movie.

However, this introduction eventually turns into several boring training missions where Bond is forced to make decisions in the dreaded “mash X or Y” style to work through scenarios that don’t really matter. For example, after being poisoned, Bond must choose to inject one syringe or another; the antidote or something else. The game prompts you to press both at the same time; if you don’t, nothing happens. Bond injects both anyway, and the story continues.

The unfortunate beginning is the game’s worst part. Soon some mission freedom is allowed. After making their way through forced many forced pathways, gamers eventually land on an extremely James Bond-esque title screen, complete with a Lana Del Rey theme song and a (PG) sex scene. It’s once again an immersive, movie-like environment.

Once the story moves into actual missions, though, the game settles in to remind you of Hitman in all the best ways. You can beat up anyone you please, wander around the mission looking for secrets, and, in very Bond ways, manipulate enemies.

Fake surrenders, radio frequency poisonings, and malfunctioning vacuum cleaners are just some of the dynamics at play as Bond infiltrates rooms and gets key intel, satisfyingly providing multiple pathways to complete a mission.

RELATED: Idris Elba: Black James Bond was never ‘realistic’ possibility

Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

Diversity or nothing

While the game is the best we’ve seen from Bond in more than a decade, one can’t help but notice that certain elements do feel like an Amazon-backed tribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion was force-fed into the game.

The first stirrings come courtesy of Moneypenny, played by Kiera Lester. Instead of going with how Lester looks in real life, her appearance is warped into a heavily androgenized and non-feminine version of herself, complete with baggy “boss lady” suit pants.

Moneypenny sassily introduces you to M, the leader of British secret service, MI6. This role is now played by British actress Priyanga Burford, a Sri Lankan woman who was significantly de-aged for the role.

Burford previously played MI6 scientist Dr. Symes in 2021’s live-action “No Time to Die,” which of course makes no sense in the game context unless her character took a huge pay cut and became a scientist later in life.

Yet the rest of the game, including all of Bond’s fellow spies, puts the woke away, delivering instead the classic English personalities we have all grown to love. You have to relish the drab disgust with Bond that wafts off of “Walking Dead” actor Lennie James’ John Greenway.

Any trace of what would otherwise seem like typical progressive-style diversity is reserved for nondescript MI6 scientists and background characters, all of whom are given slapstick one-liners and buffoonish behaviors.

The player therefore gets an impression that the DEI-scented British government roles are there to quietly make a point. Moneypenny long served as Bond’s flirtatious counterpart, but since she is now emptied of any feminine charge, the flirting moves to fellow secret agent Cressida, who is quickly framed up as a possible love interest.

RELATED: iPhone’s debut crushed young women’s fertility, new study says

A pretty penny

As reported by Game Developer, IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak has said he’s “very confident” the game will be profitable for the studio, after reports that it had an eye-popping production cost north of $200 million.

“We are well above our forecasts at this point,” Abrak said.

Yet Steam charts, often used as a barometer for game performance, had First Light peaking around 71,000 concurrent players on PC, which reportedly represented about a third of the game’s sales.

This does not look good for a game of this magnitude or budget. Current players have been floating around 19,000 for the past few days at the time of this writing. These figures have First Light barely breaking the top 100 of the charts.

Nevertheless, when all is said and done, 007: First Light represents a significant step forward for the franchise, marking the first game of its kind worth talking about in around a quarter-century. All it took was kind of copying another successful game.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Video games, James bond, Dei, Diversity, Tech 

I’m a huge basketball fan. I grew up watching the NBA, arguing about players who retired before I was born, and wasting hours on a no-look pass nobody had asked for. But if basketball is a passion, soccer is something deeper.

I have supported Manchester United since I was old enough to go to the bathroom unsupervised. My father, meanwhile, is a diehard Liverpool supporter. Growing up, our house was less a home and more a demilitarized zone. United against Liverpool was the closest my family came to civil war. If United won, I floated around the house for days. If Liverpool won, my father suddenly became the world’s most insufferable human being.

That rivalry taught me why soccer is special. Half the beauty of soccer is the madness. The missed chances. The terrible refereeing decisions. The goalkeeper who slips at the worst possible moment. The defender who accidentally turns a routine clearance into an own goal.

Perhaps when it’s too late, you realize perfection is often sterile.

Human error is a part of the beautiful game.

For most of soccer’s history, fans accepted that referees would occasionally get things wrong. Sometimes those mistakes hurt. Sometimes they helped. Sometimes they became legendary stories repeated decades later in pubs, living rooms, and stadium parking lots. Then came VAR.

From helper to master

For anyone unfamiliar, VAR stands for video assistant referee. In simple terms, it is soccer’s version of instant replay on AI-infused steroids. A team of officials watches the game through cameras and can tell the referee to stop play and review decisions involving goals, penalties, red cards, and offside calls.

The idea sounds reasonable enough. Use technology to make the game fairer.

The reality has been something rather different.

A striker scores. The crowd erupts. Fans hug strangers. Drinks fly through the air. Somewhere, a man loses his glasses and another loses his mind. Then everyone waits. And waits. And waits.

A group of officials in a room filled with screens begin examining freeze-frames as if they were analyzing evidence from a murder investigation. Lines appear on the screen. Angles are checked. Pixels are interrogated. The striker’s left nostril may have wandered two millimeters beyond the last defender.

Two minutes later, the goal is disallowed. The stadium goes silent. What was once one of the most emotional moments in sports now comes with a mandatory waiting period. Every goal feels like it must survive an IRS audit before it can officially exist. VAR arrived to correct errors and corrected the joy out of the game instead.

RELATED: Top companies admit humans cost less than AI — but still want more bots

L-R: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg/Getty Images; Timothy Hurst/MediaNews Group/Denver Post/Getty Images

The suspense is gone. The spontaneity is gone. Fans now celebrate goals with the enthusiasm of someone waiting for a bank transfer to clear. Nobody knows whether they should cheer immediately or wait for the algorithmic overlords in the replay bunker to issue a ruling.

And now something similar may be coming to basketball.

Like clockwork

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently discussed plans to use AI-powered camera systems to automatically make certain officiating decisions, particularly objective calls like out-of-bounds plays. Cameras would surround the court, instantly determining who touched the ball last.

Many will argue that this will eliminate mistakes. Maybe. But sports are rarely damaged by too much humanity. If anything, they are usually damaged by too little. The danger isn’t that AI gets calls wrong, but that it gradually turns the game into a laboratory experiment in which every action is measured, verified, and approved by machines.

Today, it’s out-of-bounds calls. Tomorrow, it’s automatic travel violations. Next year? AI-generated foul probabilities. A few years after that, an algorithm to calculate whether a defender’s facial expression suggested illegal contact. At some point, the referee becomes less an official and more a highly paid hall monitor standing near a very expensive computer.

Basketball fans should pay attention, because technology rarely arrives with a modest appetite. Name one piece of tech that hasn’t colonized everything around it. Even something that began as small as a step counter now grades how you sleep. VAR will not be the exception.

The NBA undoubtedly has officiating problems. Every fan knows it. Every playoff game seems to produce a new controversy. But there’s a real difference between improving officiating and outsourcing the soul of the game.

Sports are compelling because humans play them and humans judge them. Players make mistakes. Coaches make mistakes. Referees make mistakes. Fans make mistakes too. I once bet a ridiculous sum on a United academy prospect I was sure would be the next Ronaldo. Last I checked, he was playing for a third-tier side somewhere in East Asia.

Perfection sounds appealing. Then one day, perhaps when it’s too late, you realize perfection is often sterile. This risk, now facing soccer and basketball, ultimately menaces all our sports. In our obsession with eliminating every error, we seem bent on eliminating everything that makes sports feel alive: all its unpredictable moments. Arguments, controversies, the stories people remember for decades.

Yes, once every decision is handed to a machine, the games may become more accurate. They will also become a lot less interesting, because they’ll be so much less human.

To me, at least, a world where nobody can scream at the referee from the couch hardly sounds like progress at all.

​Tech 

A 12-year-old boy and his 11-year-old sister were traumatized by two thugs who robbed their lemonade stand after threatening them with a gun, according to the kids’ father.

David Byrne said his two children were selling lemonade in their south Boston neighborhood when they were approached by two juveniles at 4:40 p.m. on Wednesday.

‘This is appalling; this is grotesque. This is something that should not happen to young kids.’

The juveniles said they wanted to buy lemonade but walked away after claiming they didn’t have any money. A few minutes later they returned, and one flashed a black gun in his waistband.

“My kids immediately just put their hands up and said, ‘Take whatever you want.’ So, I’m proud of my kids for that, and I’m proud of them for basically protecting each other but also being smart in that bad situation,” Byrne said to WBZ-TV.

The juveniles allegedly took all of the cash that the children had earned and fled on foot.

“This is appalling; this is grotesque. This is something that should not happen to young kids,” the father said to WHDH-TV.

“Can’t have a gun and can’t be robbing lemonade stands. It’s as easy as that,” he added.

He went on to say that the children were sad and a little bit disturbed by what happened.

Boston police said they were searching for the juveniles and that no arrests had been made. They did release video and images of suspects they believed to be the juveniles responsible for the armed robbery.

RELATED: Video captures man walking up to kids’ lemonade stand and running away after snatching their money

Boston Police Dept.

Residents of the neighborhood expressed their shock at the incident.

“It’s awful and scary and definitely something you don’t want to come home to after a night. It’s disappointing. I didn’t expect it on our street,” Suzanna Ruotolo said.

RELATED: Sponsor pulls out of Boise Pride Festival after outrage over ‘Drag Kid’ show with children as young as 11 years old

Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn said the residents were getting together to make sure the lemonade stand would reopen with the support of the community.

“Let’s show them how much love and support the Southie community has for them. It is also our understanding that 50% of proceeds will be donated to a local organization working to prevent gun violence,” Flynn said.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Lemonade stand, Armed robbery, Boston, Juvenile crime, Crime