Fanbase: Sports & Climate Change, ANDOR! Sinners, When TikTok Influencers Cosplay Journalists
A Lot Going On At The Moment!
Welcome to Fanbase! A newsletter covering sports, pop culture, and the internet, written by a professional with nearly a decade of experience working across all the above, who also happens to be a lifelong fan.
The Sports Section
Should All Stadiums Be Domes?
I’m posing a rhetorical question to you, dear reader, to start off this edition of Fanbase. Because this is a question I’ve been thinking about for months. Back in January, the LA Rams had to play a playoff game in Arizona, displaced due to the LA wildfires and all of the damage they wrought. This was by no means the first time sports had been disrupted by climate change, and it certainly won’t be the last.
I’m more than a little familiar with the dome debate, as a fan of the Buffalo Bills. The Bills’ new stadium (paid for by New York taxpayers, like myself!) will not be a dome. People on the side of being pro dome like to point out factors like leveling the playing field, athletes’ statistics being stronger inside, and a better fan experience.
Opponents of Big Dome will point to moments in games like this:
Snow games are MAGICAL to watch. I’ve heard they are fun to attend. Some believe1 snow works to Buffalo’s advantage as a football team. But as the earth continues to weather ecological disaster after ecological disaster - are we putting ourselves at a disadvantage? And/or are we simply enjoying the planet while we still can (and sitting outside?)
Consider the threats of heat exhaustion, hurricanes, tornadoes, more intense blizzards and rainstorms, and more! I don’t have the answer to this question, nor is there really a right or wrong. Logically, it probably makes sense to go dome now, for the reasons I just explained. But I recognize you will lose some of the unpredictability and authenticity and fun of playing a sport outside. I just don’t know how much longer that will be sustainable, which is deeply sad!
Some Other Sports Links To Peruse
If Parity Is NWSL’s Superpower vs. European Competition, Is Expansion Its Kryptonite?
The NWSL is expanding again: is that better for competition, or will it make the league weaker?
WNBA players' union leader vows 'aggressive' approach in CBA talks
The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement expires in October, and with added viewership, attendance numbers up, new sponsorship, and a larger spotlight than ever, it’ll be interesting to see what the players can walk away with in terms of new salaries, benefits, and other changes to the league.
Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson: A complete public timeline and analysis of their relationship
Very important analysis on the biggest couple in sports right now (while Taylor and Travis are on vacation)
Stars defeat Avalanche in Game 7 thriller, Mikko Rantanen scores hat trick: Takeaways
It’s good for everyone when NHL playoff series go to a Game 7. And it’s always exciting when there is a revenge/former team narrative playing out like it did for Mikko Rantanen, decimating his former team!
Katie Ledecky breaks her 9-year-old world record in 800-meter freestyle
Is Katie Ledecky the DMV’s greatest athlete of all time?
NBA playoffs 2025: Previewing the second round, biggest questions
So far, we have some fun, historic matchups in the NBA’s second round of the postseason — Knicks vs. Celtics, which means New York will be in adrenaline fueled and hopeful spirts for at least another week (This is a good thing! the weather is nice! The Knicks are in the playoffs!) a sort of midwest battle between the Pacers and Cavs, and a battle of potential 2025 NBA MVPs in Oklahoma City vs. Denver.
Pop of Culture
Andor’s Second Season Rocks So Hard
Everyone’s been asking - after last year’s “brat summer,” what will we call summer 2025? I’m declaring it Mon Mothma Summer: crashing out and dancing as hard as you possibly can while fascism encroaches and your life is falling apart! Relatable queen! Side note, I added the track from this scene, called “Brasso” to my run playlist2 immediately. It slaps.
This season of Andor is split into three episode drops, each set one year apart in the Star Wars chronology, leading up to the events of Rogue One. The season’s storylines are split between Cassian Andor on the ground level, trying to lay the tracks for the tactical attacks and growth of the Rebellion, Mon Mothma in the upper echelons of society and the Imperial Senate, covertly funding the rebels, and Syril and Dedra, mid-level Imperial bureaucrats trying to bring it all down while advancing their own ambitions.
In a time where uhhh ICE is abducting people off the streets, seeing Bix be confronted and nearly SA’d by an Imperial officer was deeply chilling. Seeing Mon Mothma plead with her fellow senators to take action and no one wanting to ruffle the Emperor’s feathers struck a nerve. The banality of evil in the form of Syril and Dedra’s disturbing dinner with Syril’s mother was incredible, but intensely troubling. Andor is telling a story about what it’s like to live and survive through a time that’s mirroring our own. And even though we know the rebels win - the Death Star gets blown up - there are costs to everyone. Rebellions are not easy - and their success takes generations.
Things I Loved/Had Thoughts About After the Second Andor Drop:
Mon Mothma and Krennic interacting for the first time!!! They don’t even pretend to like each other and I loved to see it. I was fist pumping at every barb and zing they hurled at each other. Ben Mendelsohn is so good in this role.
Star Wars finally has a queer love story that is not just “two characters kissing in the background for one single second” - however, it does fall into well trodden tropes of its own. But there is progress!
All of the female characters of Andor feel very deep and real - however, I’m not totally digging where Bix has ended up. People and characters and TV is complex!
I basically do not process anything Forest Whitaker is saying as Saw Gerrera but I do love that character. And I thought of an incredibly niche cosplay for anyone to steal: Jigsaw Gerrera. You would do the scary Jigsaw head from Saw and then the breathing apparatus/Saw Gerrera body!
JIMMY SMITS HAS BEEN RECAST?!?! BENJAMIN BRATT IS NOW BAIL ORGANA AKA PRINCESS LEIA’S ADOPTIVE DAD?? Listen,,,,Ben looked good. But I have questions. To quote my beloved Blank Check podcast, we are pro-Smits here at Fanbase!
In general, I just love that Andor both feels like something that is incredibly, specifically Star Wars, yet there are moments that have me asking, “Wait - this is a Star Wars show?”
I Finally Saw Sinners
First of all, I’ve been thinking about the fact that Josh Allen saw this movie before me. It makes sense, as his fiancee Hailee Steinfeld is the star of the motion picture. I know Josh Allen loves a movie quote, he watches movies. But I would say with confidence, that I am more of a cinephile than Josh Allen. It’s just funny! Josh Allen also probably knows trivia and behind-the-scenes information about the making of Sinners. I want to know his takes.
I also want to know his movie snack situation. Is he a plain popcorn guy? Does he also indulge in a caffeine free vanilla Diet Coke from the Coke freestyle machine? Has he ever gotten chicken tenders and curly fries? What about Dibs? But enough about Josh.
I loved Sinners. You should see it on as big a screen and as LOUD a sound system as possible. It feels like a summer blockbuster in every sense: thrilling, big set pieces, gorgeous costumes, and an unforgettable story. The score and soundtrack RIPPED - I will not spoil some of the aspects of the music, but they were surprising and now have also been added to my run playlist. Sinners is all of my favorite things: a horror-tinged Southern Gothic family drama that’s very funny, extremely horny, and has a lot to say.
Sinners is a fantastic movie if you, like me, like to read about movies. Here are some great pieces I’ve read since seeing Sinners:
Sinners review by Robert Daniels
The Triumph of a Film That Flips on Us Halfway In by David Sims
SPOILERS KIND OF
Horror Hit Sinners Offers A Bracing Examination Of Irish-American History
I’m Too Online
This past week, running influencer Kate Mackz went viral in a bad way after posting an interview at the White House with press secretary Karoline Leavitt. The first time I was made aware of this story was via a TikTok parodying this moment. And throughout my scrolling this week, I saw video after video of influencers speaking out against Mackz, accusing her of normalizing an incredibly harmful administration, and discussing the position of TikTok influencers in the political space.
A refrain which was brought up again and again is that TikTok influencers are not journalists, on principle. Journalists are held to a standard of objectivity3 and truth telling. They are never supposed to be the focus or subject of the story, and they are ethically obligated to present all sides and facts of a story.
TikTok influencers, on the other hand, exist to sell products. Influencers…influence! By sharing their taste, their style, their hobbies, their lives: they shape fashion, beauty, media consumption, anything and everything - and they are the star of their own show. Mackz has no obligation to be politically neutral, and many pointed out the danger in her attempting to do so.
Normalization of this current administration is already happening, all around us, rapidly - and it’s honestly a bit surprising we haven’t seen something like this sooner - especially considering Trump’s affinity for TikTok and its role in appealing to younger voters.4 Kate Mackz is now paying the price (or reaping the benefits, depending on how you look at it, is all press good press?) for playing “both sides” politically, as an influencer. I’ll be curious to see how this conversation around TikTok and politics continues - similarly, the first way I became aware of New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was on TikTok!
That’s it from Fanbase this week. Thanks for reading - if you’re enjoying this newsletter, I’d love to hear from you! If you have topics you think would be interesting to read about in this space - give me a shout! And as always, Go Bills.
I have to believe this.
Other Star Wars tracks on my run playlist: The Mandalorian theme and Troopers, The Fathiers and Canto Bight from The Last Jedi, Duel of the Fates from The Phantom Menace.
The pillar of objectivity in journalism, how we even define it, and how important or possible it REALLY is has also become a topic of debate in the last few years.
Going to need to start a separate newsletter on the fact that there are now “influencer briefings” at the White House.