Politics and hard news have moved to the back burner of the national conversation, with sports — and particularly the NFL — generating more interest, new data shows.
Why it matters: It's a huge shift from a year ago, when most of the top stories in the U.S. were about hot-button political topics.
President Biden welcomed the Milwaukee Bucks, the NBA's 2021 champion, at the White House for a ceremony Monday, a return for a tradition that was briefly halted during the Trump administration.
The intrigue: The Bucks are the first NBA champions to visit the White House since the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, just two days after former President Trump was elected.
Insurance company State Farm called Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers a "great ambassador" for the company on Monday and said he is allowed to have "his own personal point of view" on vaccines.
Driving the news: After testing positive for COVID-19, Rodgers confirmed on the "Pat McAfee Show" last week that he had been unvaccinated, despite previous statements that he had been "immunized."
Those looking for a lucrative career in sports should consider becoming a college football or basketball coach — and then getting fired.
State of play: FBS schools from Jan. 1, 2010, to Jan. 31, 2021, paid $533.6 million to their football and basketball coaches after firing them, per a new report from ESPN.
The NBA is calling on players, coaches and referees to get COVID-19 vaccine booster shots — with a particular urgent emphasis for those who received Johnson & Johnson's single-dose option, AP first reported on Sunday.
Why it matters: Those who don't get a booster will face game-day testing beginning Dec. 1, notes AP, which obtained the league's memo for its article, which the NBA published on its site.
