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The hallmarks of a good sports bar might seem obvious — lots of big TVs, a sound system that can cut through conversation, reliable finger foods. But the qualities that separate the truly great from the good go beyond the basics. In early September, we asked Washington Post readers a simple question: What’s the best sports bar in the D.C. area?
Over the following two weeks, we received nominations for dozens of bars, extolling giant screens, friendly bartenders and irresistible chicken wings. The Top 10 bars moved on to the second round, where readers voted for their favorite establishment from the list and told us why it deserved to take the crown.
When polls closed Monday, one sports bar stood above the rest: Franklin Hall, which earned almost a quarter of the more than 700 votes cast. The spacious nine-year-old beer hall, located near the corner of 14th Street and Florida Avenue NW in Washington’s Shaw neighborhood, has a broad base of support: “The vibes are immaculate and the space is exquisite,” one reader wrote. “Incredible atmosphere to watch sports and connect with friends,” said another. The diversity of the crowds also earned praise: “It is, quite frankly, a bar for everyone.”
Over the last few weeks, photographer Louie Palu and I visited each of the Top 10 bars to see what makes them stand out.
Among the highlights:
- Minnesota Vikings fans banging drums
- Many, many pink Jell-O shots
- A New York Jets fan club with the motto “Misery Loves Company”
- The “best wings in the DMV”
See the full Top 10, and read about what locals love about each bar.
East Potomac Golf Links has undergone plenty of changes since golfers first teed off there more than a century ago. Few, though, have transformed the landscape as quickly as what happened last weekend.
In a matter of hours Saturday, National Park Service crews cut down hundreds of trees across two large swaths of the federally-owned course. By Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes had ordered the cutting to stop through at least Oct. 26, finding that NPS probably violated federal environmental law and warning of damage that could not be undone.
“Destroyed trees cannot be replaced,” she wrote.
According to court filings and testimony, crews removed hundreds of trees from Zone A, which runs from the 17th green to about midway down the 16th fairway on the blue course. They also cut 90 trees in Zone B, which stretches from behind the 12th green through the 13th hole and into the first half of the 14th. Plaintiffs say 529 trees were felled in all, though government attorneys have put the number at approximately 430.
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Satellite images of East Potomac Golf Links from October 8 and October 13 show views before and after the Park Service removed hundreds of trees. Source: Satellite imagery via Planet Labs PBC.
Before removal
After removal
Oct. 8
Oct. 13
Areas where
trees were
removed
Zone A
Zone A
Potomac River
Zone B
Zone B
D.C.
Detail
2,000 FEET
Source: Satellite imagery via Planet Labs PBC
Before removal
After removal
Thursday, Oct. 8
Tuesday, Oct. 13
Zone A
Zone A
Areas where
trees were
removed
Washington Channel
Potomac River
Zone B
Zone B
D.C.
Detail
Hains
Point
2,000 FEET
Source: Satellite imagery via Planet Labs PBC
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Unlike trees NPS removed earlier this year because they were dead, dying, hazardous or invasive, the trees targeted last weekend were healthy and noninvasive, according to NPS officials’ testimony. This week, freshly cut trunks and leafy branches remained piled between the fairways.
NPS said the removals were intended to carry out recommendations in a 2019 cultural landscape report that called for thinning trees to restore the open, links-style character envisioned when the course was designed a century ago. The agency has maintained that the work is separate from President Donald Trump’s planned overhaul of East Potomac.
Reyes was skeptical, concluding that officials raced to undertake the tree work because Trump “demands haste on his redesign,” rather than because of “some newfound zeal” to implement the old report.
Additional Coverage
In the wake of two scandals that involved federal investigations, the NBA on Friday reportedly directed its sportsbook partners to ban certain kinds of bets. Bettors will no longer be allowed to bet on the under on one player in multiple statistical categories, or on a player to miss a specific shot, or the under on a player who is expected to play fewer than 12 minutes in a particular game.
The idea is to make it harder for players to collude with bettors and underperform on purpose, as former Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter and former Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier are accused of doing.
Porter admitted in court in 2024 that in an attempt to clear the large gambling debts he had amassed, he had removed himself from games early to help his debtors win bets. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was banned for life from the NBA. He is awaiting sentencing.
Rozier has pleaded not guilty and denied allegations that he engaged in similar behavior.
The league also reportedly sent a memo to teams describing additional steps it will take to ensure competitive integrity, including using AI to flag unusual betting activity.
Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins invoked her vote against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday night when asked during a debate whether she could cite a vote against her party that changed the outcome.
The one issue? The vote did not change the outcome, and Hegseth was confirmed.
“There are several examples of that,” Collins said. “At one point, I had organized people to vote against Secretary Hegseth. As you undoubtedly have read, at the very last minute, one of our Republicans changed his mind. Otherwise, he would’ve been defeated for that job.”
“So that didn’t change the outcome,” the moderator said.
“But it would have had that person stayed there,” Collins replied.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), who is retiring, changed his mind on Hegseth at the last minute, a decision he has since called the “biggest regret” of his career.
The exchange — and Collins’s difficulty finding an answer — underscores a central question in the Maine Senate race: Does Collins, a Republican in a state that disapproves of President Donald Trump and has grown bluer in recent years, stand up to her party enough to earn the independent streak she has staked her career on?
Polls show Maine voters feel Collins isn’t tough enough on the Republican president, who is deeply unpopular in the state, leading some to plan to vote against her solely out of anger at the president.
ROME — Pope Leo XIV, recovering from lung cancer surgery at a Rome hospital, spoke Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressing what the Vatican described as “deep concern” over a grave humanitarian crisis in Russian-controlled territory of Ukraine, indicating that the Chicago-born pontiff is continuing official duties as he convalesces.
In the call, Leo pointed to the plight of the city of Oleshky, in the Kherson region, calling for a ceasefire to allow for the delivery of food, medicines and the safe evacuation of civilians, the Vatican said. A Russian readout noted that Putin wished Leo a “a swift recovery” and thanked the pope for “his readiness to contribute” to resolving the conflict.
Concern over the 71-year-old pope’s health has sharply escalated following a Vatican disclosure that Leo had a malignant nodule and part of his right lung removed in surgery Tuesday. The lung cancer diagnosis shocked Vatican City and the Catholic world, with top cardinals close to Leo signaling their surprise and musing about whether Leo’s steamroller pace may change.
The Vatican, however, has been eager to show Leo on the mend, and released photos Friday of the pontiff in green and white robes saying a private Mass at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he is receiving care. The Vatican had said Leo’s agenda has been cleared through Oct. 20 to allow for his recovery.
The Cook Political Report on Friday shifted 11 more House races toward Democrats’ favor as Republicans’ hopes of keeping their slim majority dim.
The election prognosticator moved five “likely Republican” races to “lean Republican,” and three “solid Republican” races to “likely Republican.” These re-rated races include two in Ohio and one each in South Carolina, Kansas and Nebraska — all traditional GOP strongholds. Republican Senate candidates in those states also face unexpectedly competitive races.
Additionally, Cook reclassified a “lean Democrat” district in Ohio held by Rep. Greg Landsman (D) to “likely Democrat” and moved Rep. Jared Moskowitz’s (D) reelection race in a new Florida district from “toss-up” to “lean Democrat.”
Cook also re-rated an open seat in Montana’s 1st District from “lean Republican” to “toss-up.” In a sign of how unfavorable the winds are looking for the GOP, President Donald Trump won that district by 12 points in 2024.
The Cook Political Report’s House analyst, Erin Covey, wrote that the re-ratings are largely a result of growing discontent with Republicans’ handling of economic issues.
Covey also noted that some districts that voted for Barack Obama before swinging toward the GOP are now looking “much more competitive.”
The Trump administration has moved forward with its effort to return a controversial Confederate statue to Arlington National Cemetery next year.
The Office of Army Cemeteries submitted final plans to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts on Thursday to return the Confederate Memorial to a small section of the cemetery where more than 400 Confederate soldiers were reinterred in the early 1900s.
The Confederate Memorial, a 32-foot bronze statue designed by sculptor Moses Ezekiel, a Confederate veteran and the first Jewish graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, was commissioned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It was unveiled in 1914 at a ceremony presided over by President Woodrow Wilson.
The statue was removed from the cemetery in 2023 as part of a congressional mandate to rid U.S. military property of names and symbols honoring the Confederacy. Critics said elements of the memorial glossed over the horrors of slavery and romanticized the pre-Civil War South.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last year the statue would return to Arlington. “It never should have been taken down by woke lemmings,” Hegseth posted on X in August 2025. “Unlike the Left, we don’t believe in erasing American history — we honor it.”
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