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Diddy New Song About Split From Cassie ... I Gotta Finally Move On! 6/17/2022 12:40 AM PT Diddy is dropping his first single in 6 years ... with a message to his ex, Cassie ... saying he's gotta move on -- and that's a good thing, 'cause she already has. Sources close to Diddy tell TMZ ... the new song is titled "Gotta Move On," and it's dropping Friday and includes a feature from Bryson Tiller. One of Diddy's verses includes the lyrics ... "You found a new man, so I gotta move on. Guess you got a new agenda, with someone you barely know. I won't, say you’re wrong. Guess you had to move on." Diddy briefly teased he was releasing new music when he hosted the Billboard Awards earlier this year, but now it's about to drop. You'll recall ... Diddy and Cassie split toward the end of 2018 after being on and off for a decade, with Cassie moving on to date and marry celebrity trainer Alex Fine. Cassie and Alex have a daughter together ... so safe to say, Diddy's in her rear view. When Cassie first got with Alex, Diddy felt betrayed because he believed they hooked up before his breakup with her ... an allegation Cassie denied. And, don't forget this nugget ... Diddy actually hired Alex -- a pro bull rider and personal trainer -- to train Cassie when he was still dating her. Hopefully, music can heal some of those wounds. | Music |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Stephen Curry’s brother doesn’t want to hear any more criticism about the Golden State Warriors star.Seth Curry, who plays for the Brooklyn Nets, tweeted his support for his brother who helped the Warriors defeat the Boston Celtics on Thursday night to win his fourth NBA title. Curry picked up his first NBA Finals MVP award with the win.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors celebrates with teammates after defeating the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 16, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)"Don’t talk about Steph again unless it’s in a convo with the time great PLAYERS!! And i mean a hand full of people to ever touch a basketball," Seth Curry tweeted. Seth Curry #30 of the Brooklyn Nets is introduced before the game against the Boston Celtics during Round 1 Game 2 of the 2022 NBA Playoffs on April 20, 2022 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)Curry scored 34 points and had seven rebounds and seven assists in the game. He played in 40 minutes and was 12-for-21 from the floor, including 6-for-11 from three-point range.NBA FINALS 2022: WARRIORS TOP CELTICS IN GAME 6 TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIPGolden State won the 103-90. It was the Warriors’ fourth championship in eight years and seventh in franchise history.The superstar guard has won four championships but the first three it was Andre Iguodala and Kevin Durant who picked up NBA Finals MVPs in the previous wins. Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors celebrates after defeating the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 16, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Elsa/Getty Images)Seth Curry’s Nets were eliminated by the Celtics earlier in the playoffs, making watching his brother’s team beat Boston that much sweeter.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPStephen finished the playoffs averaging 25.5 points, 6.3 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game in the postseason. Ryan Gaydos is the sports editor for Fox News and Fox Business. Story tips can be sent to Ryan.Gaydos@fox.com. | Basketball |
Beyoncé 'Renaissance' Searches Blowing Up Google 6/17/2022 1:00 AM PT There's no doubt Beyoncé's upcoming album will rock the charts -- but it's already got the Internet shook, and it's even educating the public ... in droves. The folks over at Google tell TMZ ... searches for the word "renaissance," the title of Bey's album, increased 50% in the past day. What's more, searches for the phrase "renaissance definition" more than doubled. Looks like the Beyoncé-curious are getting history refreshers while jonesin' for her music. "The Beyoncé effect" is in full swing here, and Google can clearly see that in its data since Thursday's news about the singer's 7th album. Yeah, she did tracks with her husband Jay-Z in 2018, and worked on Disney's "The Lion King" in 2019 -- but this will be Bey's first solo collection of original tracks since 2016. Google could've seen this spike coming -- Beyonce started trending last week when the Beyhive noticed she'd removed her social media profile pictures. Nothing gets by her devoted fans. The album drops at the end of July, and until then ... renaissance festivals might get some accidental shine from all this Bey buzz. | Music |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Steve Kerr entered a different atmosphere on Thursday when the Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics for a fourth championship in eight years.For Kerr, it was another piece of hardware to add to the trophy case.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM General manager Bob Myers of the Golden State Warriors hugs head coach Steve Kerr after defeating the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 16, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Elsa/Getty Images)Kerr has been the head coach for the Warriors during their magical run over the last eight years. He also had a plethora of championships as a player with the Chicago Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs.As a member of the Bulls, the former guard with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen won three rings from 1996 to 1998. He would then pick up two more with the Spurs in two separate stints. Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors celebrates with head coach Steve Kerr after defeating the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game Six to win the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 16, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Elsa/Getty Images)NBA FINALS 2022: WARRIORS TOP CELTICS IN GAME 6 TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIPHe was on the team in 1999 when the Spurs topped the New York Knicks and in 2003 when the Spurs beat the New Jersey Nets.He is the seventh person to win nine or more championships as a player and coach, according to ESPN Stats & Info. The accomplishment was last achieved by Phil Jackson.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Head Coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors embraces Gary Payton II #0 of the Golden State Warriors after Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals on June 16, 2022 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)He accounts for nine of the 76 NBA championships – that’s 12%. He’s also won championships in four different decades. His nine titles are more than all but two franchises in NBA history – the Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. Ryan Gaydos is the sports editor for Fox News and Fox Business. Story tips can be sent to Ryan.Gaydos@fox.com. | Basketball |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry had a message for the doubters and the naysayers on Thursday night while celebrating his fourth championship in the locker room with his teammates."What are they are gonna say now?"CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry celebrates with the Bill Russell Trophy for most valuable player after the Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 6 to win basketball's NBA Finals, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)Curry’s message appeared to be aimed at analysts and pundits who declared the Warriors’ run of championships over once he and Klay Thompson went down with injuries. Golden State was at one point the worst team in the NBA but once they got completely healthy they immediately turned things around.Curry had a cigar in his mouth and sprayed his teammates with champagne after the Warriors closed out the Boston Celtics in Game 6, 103-90. It was the Warriors’ fourth title in eight years and the seventh title in franchise history. Cameras caught him counting on his fingers the number of titles he’s won in his career. He can now add NBA Finals MVP to the list of his accomplishments as well. Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, center, celebrates with teammates as he holds the Bill Russell Trophy for Most Valuable Player after the Warriors beat the Boston Celtics in Game 6 to win basketball's NBA Finals, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)NBA FINALS 2022: WARRIORS TOP CELTICS IN GAME 6 TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIPCurry scored 34 points and had seven rebounds and seven assists in the game. He played in 40 minutes and was 12-for-21 from the floor, including 6-for-11 from three-point range."We found a way to just get it done," Curry told reporters after the game. "It’s part of a championship pedigree, our experience. ... We built this for 10-11 years. That means a lot when you get to this stage."The superstar guard has won four championships but the first three it was Andre Iguodala and Kevin Durant who picked up NBA Finals MVPs in the previous wins. The rings came in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry celebrates with teammates as he holds the Bill Russell Trophy for Most Valuable Player after the Warriors beat the Boston Celtics in Game 6 to win basketball's NBA Finals, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPHe finished the playoffs averaging 25.5 points, 6.3 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game.The Associated Press contributed to this report. Ryan Gaydos is the sports editor for Fox News and Fox Business. Story tips can be sent to Ryan.Gaydos@fox.com. | Basketball |
Young gymnasts were starved and made to hang from the rings in punishment as part of an abusive culture in British Gymnastics, according to a damning new report.The Whyte Review, which examined over 400 complaints, uncovered an "unacceptable culture" that has left countless young people humiliated, shamed and permanently psychologically or physically damaged by their time in the sport.
The report found that coaches had publicly shamed young girls over their weight - in some instances, gymnasts were forced to hang on the rings in the gym for a prolonged period of time for being late.Another young athlete was forced to balance on the beam for two hours as a punishment.Youngsters were also prevented from going to the toilet and banned from drinking water during long training sessions. One gymnast reported being sworn at regularly from the age of nine.
Another said: "The coach would shout and scream in our faces so close that I could smell (their) breath and feel (their) spit landing on my face."Gymnasts were also forced to wear a "dunce's cap" if they could not complete a particular move.The obsession within the sport over an athlete's weight and appearance was also highlighted as a central problem."Weight-taking was, at times, accompanied by an uneducated attitude to diet and a humiliating choice of language," the review said."The tyranny of the scales was coach-led and quite unnecessary."Gymnasts took what can only be described as unhealthy steps, such as purging or dehydrating themselves, to keep their weight down in order to satisfy the demands of their coach."The review was prompted after the Netflix documentary "Athlete A" revealed allegations of sexual abuse within US gymnastics.Read more: 17 former gymnasts take legal action against British Gymnastics over 'physical and psychological abuse' Analysis by Tom Parmenter, sports correspondent Is there a sport that doesn't have a problem with how it treats people? Racism, bullying, homophobia, exploitation, sexism - they exist on playing fields and in sports venues across the land - and now the particularly vile practice of 'body shaming' that has lurked so widely in gymnastics. Very few sports put the human body on display as much as gymnastics and the pressure to succeed means some coaches have pushed the pursuit of perfection far too far. It's a culture that has festered in the sport for too long and has now finally been called out. There can be no going back. However painful it is - and be in no doubt the good honest coaches will be hurting the most - it is also the moment British gymnastics needed. Turning up to do the sport you love should never feel like an ordeal, especially when you are still a child. While 30 sexual abuse allegations were made as part of the UK investigation, the vast majority of complaints focused on physical and emotional abuse.A culture of silence and a gymnast's reliance on their coaches meant that complaints were hard to make - if problems were raised the processes to deal with them often failed.The sport's governing body, British Gymnastics, was described as an "insular organisation" that was disconnected from the sport, the gymnasts and people involved in the sport.The review said they "failed to ensure that clubs and coaches, including national coaches, were acting responsibly".Sarah Powell, who took the job of chief executive of British Gymnastics in 2021, has offered a full apology.She said: "The practices of the past are not going to be the practices of the future."I think this is a watershed moment for safeguarding not just in gymnastics but in all sports."This is a genuine apology…we have to set a new path, gymnastics will be different because of the bravery of those who have spoken up."She vowed to try and rid the sport of abusive coaches but conceded some are still working within the sport. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 'Epidemic of abuse' in British Gymnastics 'No one in sport should ever be subjected to such abuse'Anne Whyte QC included pointed criticism at politicians over the lack of independent oversight in sport.She said: "One wonders how many sporting scandals it will take before the government of the day appreciates it needs to take more action to protect children who participate in sport, a sector where coaches do not have a central regulator and where most complaints lack independent resolution."An ombudsman is an obvious step in the right direction."In a joint statement UK Sport and Sport England said: "The gymnasts' experiences shared in this Review are harrowing and distressing to read. No one in sport should ever be subjected to such abuse."The assurance systems in place clearly did not identify, until relatively recently, long standing cultural problems in gymnastics, and for this we are sorry."British Gymnastics clearly fell short….we believe that withdrawing funding would not only prevent them from implementing the vital changes outlined in the report but also negatively impact on the support to and wellbeing of gymnasts now."For anyone who has been affected by the findings detailed by the review, a free, confidential NSPCC hotline has now been set up on 0800 587 6696. | Other Sports |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Klay Thompson ripped Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. on Thursday night while talking about the team’s latest NBA championship.Thompson picked up his fourth NBA title as Golden State topped the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, 103-90. Thompson, while he had a cold shooting night, still contributed 12 points in 41 minutes and was a major reason why the Warriors had the success they did when he came back.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Stephen Curry #30 and Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors celebrate after defeating the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 16, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Elsa/Getty Images)While he was talking to the media after the win, he remembered a tweet Jackson fired off after the Grizzlies beat the Warriors back in March. The tweet read, "strength in numbers."Golden State would beat Memphis in their playoff matchup and Thompson certainly didn’t forget the tweet.NBA FINALS 2022: WARRIORS TOP CELTICS IN GAME 6 TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIP Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors looks on against the Boston Celtics during the third quarter in Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 16, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Elsa/Getty Images)"Strength in numbers is alive and well," Thompson said. "There was this one player on the Grizzlies who tweeted ‘strength in numbers’ after they beat us in the regular season and it p---ed me so much. I can’t wait to retweet that thing. Freakin’ bum. I had to watch that, I was like ‘this freaking clown.’"You’re gonna mock us? Like, you ain’t never been there before, bruh. We’ve been there. We know what it takes. So, to be here again, hold that. … Twitter fingers, can you believe it?"Thompson’s journey back to form is especially incredible.He tore his ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors and then while he was gearing up to play again in the 2020-21 season he suffered an Achilles injury. Draymond Green #23, Klay Thompson #11 and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors smile and celebrates on stage with he Bill Russell Finals MVP Trophy after winning Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics on June 16, 2022 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPHe returned to the Warriors in January and was a big reason why Golden State made it to the postseason and won the NBA title. Ryan Gaydos is the sports editor for Fox News and Fox Business. Story tips can be sent to Ryan.Gaydos@fox.com. | Basketball |
FIFA World Cup Coming To 11 U.S. Cities in 2026 ... Including LA, NY & ATL!!! 6/16/2022 4:26 PM PT FIFA just made official the 11 U.S. cities that will host World Cup games in 2026 ... dropping a list including Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, and even Kansas City. The soccer association made the announcement on Thursday ... unveiling the 16 areas the tournament will be played in for their first-ever 48-team bracket (it was previously 32 teams). 60 of the games -- quarterfinals and semifinals -- will be played in the U.S. throughout 11 cities. Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media. Of course, the two largest cities in the U.S. -- Los Angeles and New York -- made the cut ... with Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle also getting picked. KC Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was hyped the World Cup chose his city ... saying, "Let's show them why Arrowhead is the loudest stadium in the world!" The event will also hit Canada and Mexico -- each hosting 10 games -- and they will be played in Toronto, Vancouver, Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey. This will be the first time in FIFA history that three different countries will host the matches ... and the first time in the U.S. since 1994. Summer 2026 is "For the Game. For the World." | Soccer |
The players are out there, with the Dutch team resplendent in orange. If you love football as well as cricket, it’s hard not to root for any team dressed like that. Hoping they will play total cricket.Teams: England pick three leftiesYou know how England tend to field too many right-arm seamers? Well, today they haven’t picked one. It’s three left-armers (Willey, Topley, Curran) and three spinners (Rashid, Moeen, Livingstone).England 1 Jason Roy, 2 Phil Salt, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Jos Buttler (wkt), 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Eoin Morgan (capt), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Sam Curran, 9 David Willey, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Topley.The Netherlands 1 Vikramjit Singh, 2 Max O’Dowd, 3 Musa Nadeem, 4 Bas de Leede, 5 Scott Edwards (wkt), 6 Teja Nidamanuru, 7 Pieter Seelaar (capt), 8 Logan van Beek, 9 Shane Snater, 10 Aryan Dutt, 11 Philippe Boissevain.Toss: England bat firstMorning everyone and welcome to ... yet another England cricket match! With a difference this time – it’s in Amsterdam. And it doesn’t involve any of the heroes of Trent Bridge 2022. Now that Test cricket has turned into Twenty20, maybe we have to look to the 50-over game for a bit of peace and quiet. The news from Amstelveen is that Eoin Morgan – remember him? – has lost the toss, and Pieter Seelaar has asked England to bat first. The pitch looks like a belter, so England will be eyeing 400 as they play theirs game under their new coach, Matthew Mott. Play starts at 10am UK time. PreambleMorning everyone and welcome to ... yet another England cricket match! With a difference this time – it’s in Amsterdam. And it doesn’t involve any of the heroes of Trent Bridge 2022. Now that Test cricket has turned into Twenty20, maybe we have to look to the 50-over game for a bit of peace and quiet. | Other Sports |
When England exited their own World Cup before most of the country had even woken up to the fact it was happening, it appeared the team could sink no lower. In Wisden, editor Matthew Engel lamented the failure to seize upon a “make or break opportunity for cricket to re-establish itself in the public’s affection”. That disconnect only grew as the summer continued, as sparse crowds watched a chaotic and demoralised team plunge to the bottom of the Test rankings.Having fallen at the first hurdle in a dismal World Cup campaign and then disposed of Alec Stewart as captain and David Lloyd as coach, the visit of lowly New Zealand for a four-Test series was supposed to provide a welcome pick-me-up. The Kiwis had been rooted to the bottom of the Test rankings since they were launched in 1996 and had not won a series away from home in seven years. England did not have had a coach in place – instead relying on Graham Gooch to offer some throwdowns and national selector David Graveney to manage the team while the incoming Duncan Fletcher saw out his contract with Glamorgan – but they were considered strong favourites under their new skipper Nasser Hussain.“There was a feeling that it was ‘only New Zealand’,” recalls Mark Butcher, the England opener who played three matches in the series, including one as stand-in captain. “People have always taken them lightly and there was an arrogance. It led us to be so much less than the sum of our parts.”Hussain’s first selection meeting as skipper highlighted the size of the task. The panel of David Graveney, Mike Gatting and Graham Gooch were joined by Ian Botham and Jack Birkenshaw as “official observers”, and the new skipper was “totally incredulous” as senior players he had identified as the heartbeat of his team were put forward for the chop.“There was a lot of support that summer for Botham to become a selector, but I’m glad it didn’t happen,” wrote Hussain in his autobiography, Playing with Fire. “Yes, he is a top man who cares passionately about English cricket, but there was never any consistency in his arguments. He’d say one thing one day and then suddenly he’d be saying that same bloke he had been pushing for a year was now complete rubbish ... By the end of his time advising the selection panel, I was virtually listening to what he thought I should do and then doing exactly the opposite.”Alex Tudor poses after scoring 99 not out for England against New Zealand at Edgbaston in 1999. Photograph: Rebecca Naden/PAEngland ended up selecting 18 players across the four-match series, six of whom played a solitary Test. Hussain recalls having reservations about the line-up he was handed for the opening match at Edgbaston – where debuts were awarded to Aftab Habib, the prolific Leicestershire batter, and Chris Read, the 20-year-old Notts keeper – but his first Test in charge ended in triumph, Alex Tudor’s stunning unbeaten 99 as a nightwatchman steering England to victory.“I remember Nasser looking around the changing room and saying, ‘Right then, who’s going in?’” recalls Tudor. “He was normally No 3 and he wanted a nightwatchman. People were looking a bit sheepish so he said: ‘Right Tudes, you got some in the first innings, get in.’ We came off for bad light after I faced one ball – never saw it. Next morning I went down to the nets with Ramps [Mark Ramprakash] and he said, ‘Have some fun’. I said, ‘Look mate, if I’m in for any period of time, there’ll be fireworks!’”“He just went out and smashed it,” says Butcher, then a teammate of Tudor’s at Surrey. “He made it through the evening, teed off the next day and we made the highest score in the Test match for three down. Tudes was a really talented boy, really talented – genuinely quick before the worst of the back injuries and a proper player with the bat. That was the only high spot of the entire summer!”It was to be Tudor’s last involvement in the series after a scan – organised by Surrey much to the ECB’s anger – revealed a hot spot in his knee which threatened to become a stress fracture.The positivity of Edgbaston rapidly drained away at Lord’s after Hussain opted to bat under gloomy skies and his side was skittled for 186. Chris Cairns was the destroyer-in-chief, collecting six wickets including his iconic dismissal of Read, the greenhorn keeper completely flummoxed by a slower ball that nutmegged him.“I didn’t see the ball come out of his hand,” says Read, who was dismissed for a duck. “The first recollection I have – and it is quite vivid in my mind – is the sound of the ball hitting the pitch, swiftly followed by the sound of the bails being dislodged. Ducking was just a fight or flight reflex – ‘Where the hell is it?’ It was the perfect ball for the conditions. It was just unfortunate I was on the end of it!”Chris Read is bowled by Chris Cairns for a duck at Lord’s. Photograph: Toby Melville/PAHussain remembers the youngster looking “a little out of his depth”. Read, who had a four-year exile from the Test side after the New Zealand series, admits as much himself. “They were looking to play Alec Stewart as a batter and we were in the pre-Gilchrist era where in the first-class game the batting side of things wasn’t considered quite as important [for wicketkeepers]. The selectors had an eye on the future so I can see how it made sense. But was I ready? Absolutely not.“I’d played about one season’s worth of first-class cricket and had done pretty well but the difference between a four-day county game with a couple of hundred members in the ground versus a full house and the media scrutiny that went with a Test match was a real eye-opener and something that I wasn’t really prepared for.”Matt Horne’s gritty century guided the Kiwis to a first-innings lead before England capitulated again, the tailender Andrew Caddick top-scoring for the second time in three innings. New Zealand strolled to a nine-wicket win to level the series and a broken finger sustained in the field by Hussain meant a replacement skipper was needed for Old Trafford, only adding to the general sense of mayhem and friction.“Thorpey [Graham Thorpe] took over from Nasser on the field at Lord’s,” says Butcher, “but between the end of that match and the beginning of the next one it had been decided by David Graveney and Graham Gooch to give me the captaincy.“I didn’t expect it. If you look down the list of who was playing, you’ve got two former England captains [Stewart and Mike Atherton], both of whom said ‘no thank you very much’, and Graham Thorpe, who was de facto vice-captain. They didn’t ask him, so he had the right hump. By the time we get to Old Trafford I’m not the most popular bloke in the dressing room. I didn’t think it was directed at me personally, but more at the general situation. How the hell did this happen?”With the pitch at Old Trafford expected to offer plenty of turn, Butcher was handed a provisional XI featuring the off-breaks of Peter Such and the left-arm spin of Phil Tufnell, with Dean Headley and Caddick his only two pace options. Sensing trouble, the stand-in skipper raised his concerns and requested that Craig White be added to the squad as fast-bowling cover.“I was told point blank: ‘No, you’re just here to flip the coin, that’s it.’ I’m thinking, ‘I know what’s going to happen here.’ Sure enough, I wake up on the day of the match, pull back the curtains and the clouds are this low. I’m like: ‘Crikey, if I win the toss, can I bowl first with two seamers? I don’t think I can!’ So I walk out with my blazer on, very proud moment, win the toss and rather sheepishly say we’re going to have a bat, thinking, ‘Oh God, please let the sun come out.’ Dion Nash bowls us out for under 200.”Dion Nash takes the wicket of opening batsman Mike Atherton at the Oval. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty ImagesEngland conceded a first-innings deficit just shy of 300 before the rain came down in Manchester, a sodden draw leaving the series tied at 1-1 with one match to play. Butcher had told the press after the game that no one’s position in the side was safe and he was proven right when he was axed for Darren Maddy, who made his Test debut in the decider at The Oval.Ed Giddins, the Warwickshire seamer, was also given his Test cap and formed part of the most hapless English tail in living memory, with Alan Mullally (Test average 5.52) eye-wateringly high at No 9, one place above the less-than-prolific Tufnell.With three No 11s, Caddick at No 8 and Ronnie Irani brought into the side at No 7 after a three-year absence, a flaky batting line-up looked even more vulnerable, but this time Hussain could have no complaints with the make-up of his side. Gooch and Gatting had been ousted from the selection panel after the Old Trafford Test, leaving the skipper free to pick who he wished.“I thought: ‘Sod it, I’m going to try and pick the players who I want to go into war with me’,” wrote Hussain. “I wanted fighters. I didn’t want any more squabbling. Anyway, this game really gets my goat because we played bloody well, the selection had been almost solely mine and we should have won.”New Zealand players celebrate after winning at Lord’s Photograph: Rebecca Naden/PAThat’s a generous recollection from Hussain, whose side slumped to 153 all out in their first innings, conceding a first-innings lead of 83 (the 14th consecutive match they had been behind on first innings, a world record at the time). But it’s true that with the Kiwis 39-6 in their second dig, there was a chance for England to put a little gloss on a tumultuous summer. Instead, Cairns played the defining innings of the series, depositing Tufnell into the stands on four occasions on his way to a quickfire 80 which left England needing 246 for victory.At 123-2 the target looked within reach, but that lengthy tail lived up to its reputation as the hosts were eventually shot out for 162. As Hussain gave his post-match interview from the Oval balcony, his insistence that he was “proud” of his team’s performance was greeted with a chorus of boos and chants of “We’re shit and we know we are” from the spectators who had gathered on the grass in front of the pavilion.New Zealand’s victory, their first series win on English soil since 1986, lifted them to eighth in the Test rankings, leaving England bottom of the pile. English cricket, not for the first time, nor the last, was in existential crisis.The new issue of Wisden is out now.“It was dismal, absolutely dismal,” recalls Butcher. “It was rock bottom but that moment on the balcony at the Oval was the catalyst for how Nasser would go about doing things for the rest of his time as captain. You could see his brain was going to explode. He was so angry. From there on, things improved [after Fletcher became coach, England won four consecutive series in 2000 following defeat in South Africa]. Nobody else could have done what Nasser did and pulled it off. He was exactly the right man at the right time.”This article was published first in Wisden Cricket Monthly. Guardian readers can get three digital issues of the magazine for just £2.49 or three print issues for just £5.99 | Other Sports |
There’s plenty of room at The Porch for the “juke joint” feel that Post first envisioned in Wakefield. Live music, he says, “was always part of the plan. Growing up in Nashville, you go into any bar, and there’s a band. You kind of take it for granted.”Today, The Porch serves up live music five days a week — along with short ribs, Texas brisket, and blackened snapper.As fears over the pandemic subside and more people grow comfortable joining crowds again, some are finding they don’t need to venture all the way into the big city to enjoy live music.West of Boston, they’ll discover Steel & Wire, a brand-new renovation of the former Worcester bar called Nick’s. Head south and there’s the Magic Room, a performance space carved out of a former tile showroom in Norwood.Diners during a performance by Athene Wilson & Friends at The Porch Southern Fare and Juke Joint.Josh Reynolds for The Boston GlobeThe Porch books soul, blues, and reggae acts, mostly from around New England. Daytime and early evening sets are free with meals; later shows are ticketed. In the lobby, the walls feature guitars that have been hand-painted, folk-art style.When the restaurant was closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the owner and his soundman, Hendrik Gideonse, arranged live streams in the empty space for their regular musicians. When they reopened, they added plexiglass sheets around the stage to minimize the spread of the virus. The musicians called the setup the “Aquarium.”“They were hyper-vigilant about the restrictions,” says Dorchester gospel-R&B singer Athene Wilson, who has a monthly residency at The Porch with her band. “That was great. They were very progressive.”She calls Post “a bighearted person. He understands. And he loves great music.”Frank and Mara Inangelo made plans two years ago to take over Nick’s in Worcester from Vincent Hemmeter, who also owns Vincent’s. Frank Inangelo worked at Vincent’s for more than 20 years, developing relationships with local musicians.When the pandemic hit, of course, they postponed their plans.“For a while there, it did seem like, ‘Why would you ever want to open a place like this, or go into this industry?’” says Mara Inangelo.But since Steel & Wire opened in May, the couple has been pleased they stayed the course.“What we’ve found is that people really want that in-person connection. They’re ready to come out again. And the live music is a huge part of that.”Athene Wilson has a monthly residency at The Porch with her band Athene Wilson & Friends.Josh Reynolds for The Boston GlobeLong before opening the Magic Room in Norwood, Bill Desmond was known around Boston as the guy who gave musicians a place to play. Beginning about four decades ago, “Des,” as everyone calls him, offered affordable rehearsal space in a succession of big, repurposed buildings in the city, collectively known as the Sound Museum.Some years ago, Desmond operated a performance space at the Sound Museum in Brighton called the Magic Room. Like his other spaces, it eventually got squeezed out of that location by developers. Over the past few years, he has recommitted to running a live music stage, this time by doing what a lot of people do who get priced out of the city: by moving out to the suburbs.Desmond built the new Magic Room at the mixed-use commercial facility in Norwood known as the Space Center. Opening last fall on the grounds of a historic mill, the Magic Room features a state-of-the-art sound system and a wild array of Desmond’s signature homemade and thrift-shop decor.“I love being part of that creation,” said Desmond, known to adventurous fans of Boston’s music scene as the principal member of the long-running theatrical rock group the Bentmen.The Magic Room is only open on nights when a show is booked. Desmond has lined up the veteran New York City garage band the Fleshtones for a gig in August. On Friday and Saturday, June 24-25, the room will host a two-night “Concert for Ukraine,” with proceeds going to women and children affected by the war there. The Dogmatics headline on Friday; “Breakfast with the Beatles” DJ Cha-Chi Loprete hosts the Saturday show.“We’ve had about 25 shows so far,” Desmond said. They stock beer and wine, but don’t offer food.Desmond’s daughter, Casey, moved back to the area from California to help run the club. (A musician herself, she was once a contestant on “The Voice.”) With a capacity of 125, the 3,000-square-foot space has plenty of room for Bill Desmond’s Mardi Gras figures, artwork by the psychedelic cartoonist Joey Mars, and an assortment of tile patterns created from dead stock found on the premises.“I want it to be a weird destination spot,” he explained.When the comedian Steve Sweeney headlined the Magic Room recently, he told Desmond how cool he thought the place was.“Then he got up onstage and started picking on me,” Desmond said with a laugh.James Sullivan can be reached at jamesgsullivan@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @sullivanjames. | Music |
Commonwealth Games - Glasgow 2014 XX Commonwealth Games - Glasgow, Scotland - 28/7/14 Gymnastics - General view of the rings in the team competition Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Paul Harding Livepic Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 17 (Reuters) - Former gymnast Nicole Pavier said British athletes were subjected to "child abuse" and that the findings of an independent review showed physical and mental mistreatment at clubs was more widespread than first thought.The review, led by Anne Whyte QC, was commissioned by UK Sport and Sport England in August 2020 following allegations of mistreatment within the sport in Britain.The report found that British gymnastics suffered from a cultural problem where young athletes were shamed for their weight while others were handed harsh punishments for the slightest mistakes in training. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBritish Gymnastics, the sport's governing body in the UK, said that it was committed to changing the sport for the better and apologised to the athletes who came forward."This isn't tough coaching and slight mistreatment, this is child abuse of athletes at a very young age," Pavier told the BBC. "That has a monumental impact on the rest of our lives from a physical and mental perspective."This (report) is showing that it's not just a few bad apples, which we had been led to believe, and actually by using our voices we now know that there is a culture of abuse and these are children being abused in clubs and there are a large amount of them."Gymnasts for Change, a group that campaigns for an "abuse-free future", said the recommendations of the report "fall far short of what is needed"."We call on British Gymnastics to implement a new maximum limit on training hours for child athletes," it said in a statement.British athletes have won 15 medals in gymnastics since the 2008 Beijing Games, having previously made the Olympic podium only three times.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Other Sports |
FIFA on Thursday announced the full list of the cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico that have been selected to host the men’s 2026 FIFA World Cup. Included in the list are 11 American, three Mexican and two Canadian cities, all of which will host games during the global tournament. Members of Congress were quick to react to the news of their home cities and states being included in the lineup. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first to be hosted across three countries, as well as the first ever tournament with a 48-team bracket, expanded from the traditional 32. Here’s the full list: AtlantaBostonDallasGuadalajaraHoustonKansas CityLos AngelesMexico CityMiamiMonterreyNew York/New JerseyPhiladelphiaSan Francisco Bay AreaSeattleTorontoVancouver Among the cities with a big soccer viewership snubbed by the organizers are Washington, D.C., and Chicago. The official account for D.C.’s FIFA World Cup 2026 joint bid with Baltimore tweeted a statement after the announcement and said it was “gutted.” Reacting to the news, co-chair of the congressional soccer caucus, Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) expressed his delight over Seattle making it to the coveted list. “The Pacific Northwest represents the future of soccer in North America, and Washingtonians are passionate about the beautiful game. I look forward to sharing with the world all that makes the Evergreen State special!” he said. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) said on Twitter that he was looking forward to cheering on the U.S. men’s team, especially “with all their PA-grown talent.” And New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) tweeted soon after the announcement that he is “excited to work together to welcome visitors and fans from around the world, and deliver a world-class experience for the world’s biggest game.” Tags Bob Casey FIFA FIFA world cup 2026 Phil Murphy Rick Larsen World Cup | Soccer |
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNEW YORK, June 16 (Reuters) - FIFA president Gianni Infantino says he expects soccer to be the biggest sport in North America in time for the 2026 World Cup as the host cities for the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico were announced on Thursday.World soccer governing body FIFA announced the 16 cities - 11 in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada - that were successful from the 22 bids put forward in a special event at the Rockefeller Center in New York.However, there was no indication where the opening game or the final would be played.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"By 2026 soccer or football will be the number one sport in this part of the world," Infantino boldly predicted as fans in the newly-appointed host cities celebrated.The United States, which staged the tournament in 1994, will host games in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami and New York/New Jersey.Mexico, who hosted the World Cup in 1970 and 1986, will stage matches in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, while Canada, which is staging the men's event for the first time, will do so in Vancouver and Toronto."It was the most competitive process for a FIFA World Cup, we'll have the world coming here, we'll have an exciting tournament," Infantino said.He added that no decision had been taken on where the final would take place."There are still some discussions to go on and we will certainly choose the best cities there as well for the opening and the final, but every match will be a final in this World Cup," Infantino said.Children and people react as they attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup Host City Selection Watch Party at the Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S., June 16, 2022. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz TPX IMAGES OF THE DAYCincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Orlando, Washington DC/Baltimore and Edmonton were the six cities that missed out.FANS WAVINGCheering fans waving American, Canadian and Mexican flags gathered outside the venue in New York, with U.S. national team member and 23-year-old Chelsea forward Christian Pulisic among those in attendance for the announcement.San Francisco's Levi's Stadium hosted a private watch party and New York City Mayor Eric Adams was expected at a watch party in New Jersey's Liberty State Park.Canadian national team player and Toronto native Jonathan Osorio said that as a child he could not have imagined seeing a World Cup in his home country."It's amazing - it's amazing that the World Cup is finally coming to Canada... it's an amazing feat for the whole country," he said.Celebrities including Michael Buble (representing Vancouver), Magic Johnson (Los Angeles), Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City), F1 driver Sergio Perez (Guadalajara) and Gloria Estefan (Miami) offered on-screen messages celebrating the inclusion of their hometowns.The 2026 tournament is expected to smash World Cup attendance records, which peaked at 3.6 million when it was held in the United States in 1994.It will also be the first time 48 teams will feature in the tournament, an increase from the 32 that will contest this year's event in Qatar."To be a part of it (the Qatar World Cup) and then to have one in this country is going to be amazing," Pulisic said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Amy Tennery; additional reporting by Philip O'Connor and Rory Carroll; editing by Ed Osmond and Pritha SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Soccer |
8th over: England 50-1 (Salt 34, Malan 13) Snater carries on, a tidy line, and again its Malan picking off a single and Salt finding the rope, this time hitting hard down the ground to the on side of straight. There’s the first team milestone. 7th over: England 44-1 (Salt 29, Malan 12) Thanks Tim, and hello to everybody. Nice to be having a look at Amstelveen from many miles away. Nice for Salty Phil to have a look at an England spot as well, and he clubs another boundary through cover from Pieter Seelar, who I swear has been playing since I was a tiny child.6th over: England 37-1 (Salt 24, Malan 11) Snater does well, mixing dots with singles, three of each. On the England balcony Eoin Morgan has his pads on, suggesting that he’s in next. On form he should probably be down at No 7, behind Buttler, Livingstone and Moeen, but England do need him to find his mojo before the T20 World Cup, so fair enough. Meanwhile we have a change of bowling at the sofa end. The award-winning Geoff Lemon is going to take over for the next 50 overs or so. I’ll see you later, for the thrilling Dutch run chase.5th over: England 34-1 (Salt 23, Malan 9) Malan shuffles over to off stump, which works better for him than it did for Alex Lees in the Caribbean. He drives van Beek past cover point for his first four, then clips to midwicket for three.4th over: England 25-1 (Salt 22, Malan 1) Snater comes down to earth as Salt hits two more fours – a handsome straight drive and a simple flick past fine leg, who is up in the circle.3rd over: England 17-1 (Salt 14, Malan 1) With Roy gone, it’s up to Salt to be the master blaster. He rises to the challenge now, cover-driving van Beek for four and pulling him for six! England have woken up.2nd over: England 5-1 (Salt 3, Malan 1) Dawid Malan comes in at No 3, in the role defined by Kane Williamson when he was playing under Brendon McCullum and said he was the library in the theme park. Malan tucks a single, whereupon Phil Salt chips over cover, rather unconvincingly, for three. Rumours that the pitch is a belter may have been exaggerated: the ball seems to be sticking a bit.Wicket! Roy b Snater 1 (England 1-1)Jason Roy has gone! To his own cousin!! Small world. Well bowled Shane Snater, who went full, got some swing back in, and persuaded his cousin Jason to play on. Five minutes in, and this game is already beginning to resemble a banana skin.It’s not a good start for England as Jason Roy’s bails go flying in the first over. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images1st over: England 1-0 (Roy 1, Salt 0) The new ball is in the hands of Logan van Beek, who starts superbly, swinging the ball, keeping Jason Roy quiet, and beating Phil Salt with a full-length outswinger. Netherlands on top!The players are out there, with the Dutch team resplendent in orange. If you love football as well as cricket, it’s hard not to root for any team dressed like that. Hoping they will play total cricket.Netherlands players in a huddle. Photograph: Piroschka van de Wouw/ReutersTeams: England pick three leftiesYou know how England tend to field too many right-arm seamers? Well, today they haven’t picked one. It’s three left-armers (Willey, Topley, Curran) and three spinners (Rashid, Moeen, Livingstone).England 1 Jason Roy, 2 Phil Salt, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Jos Buttler (wkt), 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Eoin Morgan (capt), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Sam Curran, 9 David Willey, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Topley.The Netherlands 1 Vikramjit Singh, 2 Max O’Dowd, 3 Musa Nadeem, 4 Bas de Leede, 5 Scott Edwards (wkt), 6 Teja Nidamanuru, 7 Pieter Seelaar (capt), 8 Logan van Beek, 9 Shane Snater, 10 Aryan Dutt, 11 Philippe Boissevain.Toss: England bat firstMorning everyone and welcome to ... yet another England cricket match! With a difference this time – it’s in Amsterdam. And it doesn’t involve any of the heroes of Trent Bridge 2022. Now that Test cricket has turned into Twenty20, maybe we have to look to the 50-over game for a bit of peace and quiet. The news from Amstelveen is that Eoin Morgan – remember him? – has lost the toss, and Pieter Seelaar has asked England to bat first. The pitch looks like a belter, so England will be eyeing 400 as they play theirs game under their new coach, Matthew Mott. Play starts at 10am UK time. Netherlands captain Pieter Seelaar (left) wins the toss as England captain Eoin Morgan looks on. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesPreambleMorning everyone and welcome to ... yet another England cricket match! With a difference this time – it’s in Amsterdam. And it doesn’t involve any of the heroes of Trent Bridge 2022. Now that Test cricket has turned into Twenty20, maybe we have to look to the 50-over game for a bit of peace and quiet. | Other Sports |
Running in tandem with the messy millennial women of TV – from Fleabag to Insecure to Everything I Know About Love – has been a similar strand of R&B, where artists such as SZA and Summer Walker sing proudly and amusingly about their flaws, though still with plenty of self-belief and a withering regard to men.Yaya Bey: Remember Your North Star album coverContinuing that style with abundant charisma is Washington DC singer Yaya Bey, though she uses much more than R&B to express it. Meet Me in Brooklyn is sweet-natured and naive reggae, segueing straight into Pour Up, a deep and erotic afro-house track. Rolling Stoner goes from Billie Holiday jazz songcraft to beatless trap atmospherics in less than two minutes, while the psychedelic soul and stoner wisdom of Erykah Badu is a touchstone throughout.With natural, felicitous melodies, Bey combines meandering tales with stoic realisations, conjuring a life that isn’t going badly but also is very much a work in progress. The funny skits and genre-hopping create a breezy feel, but there’s a sense that Bey is deflecting with humour because when the existential moments come, they hit hard. “You’re born alone and you’ll die the same,” she sings, and her mother, she now understands, was “a heavy thing / too broken to be a daughter / too wild to be a lover”.The best song – one of the best of the year by anyone, in fact – is Keisha, with its big singalong chorus: “And the pussy so, so good / and you still don’t love me”. The mix of pride, bafflement and genuine hurt packed into these lines, with her disappointed and girlish intonation, is hilarious and moving. It’s also a microcosm of Bey’s broad talent: standup, storyteller, singer-songwriter. | Music |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Gina Carano is ready to move on after being booted from the Disney+ original series "The Mandalorian."The former MMA fighter is starring in a new Western developed by The Daily Wire, "Terror on the Prairie," in which she plays Hattie McAllister, a tough-as-rawhide pioneer mother who defends her children from outlaws while her husband (UFC champion Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone) is away. The 40-year-old also serves as a producer.Carano described the film as "closure" after being given the ax publicly. In February 2021, Lucasfilm announced that Carano was no longer a part of the "Star Wars" spinoff cast after many online called for her firing over a social media post that likened the experience of Jewish people during the Holocaust to the U.S. political climate. She previously caught backlash on social media for other comments about the coronavirus, the use of gender pronouns and election fraud.BILL BURR SAYS GINA CARANO'S 'MANDALORIAN' FIRING WAS UNFAIR: 'LIBERALS PROVED HER POINT'A spokesperson with the production company said at the time that Carano was no longer employed by Lucasfilm and there were "no plans for her to be in the future.""Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable," the statement read. Gina Carano stars in "Terror on the Prairie" alongside UFC champion Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Nick Searcy. (The Daily Wire)But these days, Carano is feeling hopeful about her future, one the actress said she intends to live on her terms. Carano spoke to Fox News Digital about how she dealt with her public firing, facing cancel culture and lassoing in on a new chapter in her career.Fox News: What was it about the role of Hattie McAllister that made you go, "I have to do this?"Gina Carano: I've always wanted to do a period piece and be put in a dress, right? *laughs*. My favorite movie when I was growing up was "Pride and Prejudice." I love those kinds of movies. And I've always wanted to have a horse in a movie. So when that script came across, I was like, "Well, this checks a lot of those boxes for me."But I was also really fascinated by the family aspect of it and being on the frontier. They’re having to fight all the time to stay alive. They’re fighting the elements. They’re fighting the outlaws. They’re even fighting each other at some point. Gina Carano said she was ready to take on a Western, a genre that's been making a comeback in Hollywood. (The Daily Wire)Fox News: Westerns are making a big comeback in Hollywood. Why do you believe people are so fascinated by this genre today?Carano: Probably because you don’t see a ton of CGI (computer-generated imagery). It’s nature. Our set was in Montana, which is its own character. The costumes are stripped down. There’s nothing super flashy about them. It’s what you would have worn being out in the elements. And maybe Westerns are popular right now because people are sick and tired of watching TV where everything is like Skittles. It’s all these huge, big, bright colors, CGI and superheroes. Westerns are the complete opposite. And I think people are craving something real now."When I was canceled, I felt like everything was turned against me. Everything that I loved was just against me. I was fighting for my name." — Gina CaranoFox News: You previously said that this film’s release felt "like closure of a particularly painful experience in my life" and "becoming Hattie has allowed me to wear everything that I was feeling out loud." What did you mean by that?Carano: When I was canceled, I felt like everything was turned against me. Everything that I loved was just against me. I was fighting for my name. I just felt like everything was stripped from me. But Hattie, she’s out there with her family. She’s trying to be a supportive wife, but she’s removed from her home and it’s hard. Everything has been stripped from her. The elements have turned against her. She and her husband aren’t in the best place. They’re arguing back and forth and the baby’s crying.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTERI just felt it was a really good time for me to access the pain that I was feeling in my personal life and wear it quietly. Because that’s how I felt inside. It was nice that the character had that in it, and I could kind of use that as therapy, just to let my hurt show in a way that I was doing in life anyway. I think it really added to my character. Gina Carano described "Terror on the Prairie" as "closure" following her controversial exit from the Disney+ series "The Mandalorian." (The Daily Wire)Fox News: Some people have said that cancel culture has gone too far, while others have said cancel culture is needed because it holds people accountable. As someone who experienced it, how do you feel about cancel culture?Carano: I feel like cancel culture is extremely dangerous. I think it starts putting us on the line of kind of like a social credit score. And … corporations are going to win that battle. They're going to win the social credit score. They're going to win the popularity battle because they have access to manipulating even the data, but they have access to manipulating the masses, whereas that robs from the individual.So I think that we need to look at things more individually, case by case … I understand that some companies don't want to associate themselves with some people. I might not want to either. I understand when people are fired. But when a company's preaching about being inclusive to all people, and they're not, they're just telling one side of the story, and they're just telling ... they're alienating half of, if not more, the country, I think that we've run into a big problem. Gina Carano said she's ready to move on in her career. (Austin Lord for The Daily Wire)In my case, I don't think that anything I did deserved cancel culture. I don't think that it deserved being smeared by the Hollywood press. But I understand now how that machine works. I understand how awful the media has been in perpetuating this awful bullying and lies. They can just rain that down on you and not have any of it be true. I feel like this was a genuine case of cancel culture for not toeing the narrative line … There's consequences. You can't just act a fool with your employer. I don't think that was the case [with me]. But I do feel like people are speaking up [for] my case.GINA CARANO JOINS CAST OF HUNTER BIDEN BIOPIC ‘MY SON HUNTER’"I feel like cancel culture is extremely dangerous. I think it starts putting us on the line of kind of like a social credit score." — Gina CaranoBut even if somebody does make a mistake or something, there should be some amount of forgiveness if it was not on purpose. There should be more conversation of, "Let me explain to you what I mean there," or, "Let's talk about this," so that it teaches the children and everybody else how to talk about things, and they don't bully each other. All these companies are saying they're against bullying. And yet, that’s all they represent — how to bully. Don't have conversations, cancel people, pressure people.Fox News: Were you surprised to get support during this time?Carano: The support that I received from so many people … Never in my life would I have expected something like that. I just thought, "Life is going to be a bit harder and a little different." But so many people came to my defense. I think a lot of them were paying attention to what really happened instead of just reading the headlines … I kept on thinking, "Gosh, I’m not a controversial person at all." I just really felt like certain things needed to be talked about [concerning] the last couple of years. I don’t think you should sign away your rights … your right to speech just because you’re an actress or a basketball player. I think if there’s any time to stand up for something, it’s when you feel like your country’s in massive danger of losing our constitutional rights. Normally I would just act, and I would probably be quiet. But I couldn’t do that because I felt like if I know this, and I believe this so passionately, and I keep it to myself, and I see everybody else holding their breath and not saying anything, then I felt like I would get sick. I’d hold that in and hold my breath along with everybody else.I decided not to. And I think it was much needed. You can tell with everybody just exhaling and the support I’ve gotten – they understood. And they were just glad somebody was able to do it. So the support has just been … it makes me emotional. I’m so appreciative of the people that really listened. It really encouraged me to keep going, keep fighting. Because I do have a voice. And I do feel like I’m speaking for a lot of people when I’m doing these things that I do.GINA CARANO'S 'MANDALORIAN' EXIT DRAWS FURY, PRAISE ON TWITTER: 'BEING FAMOUS DOESN'T MAKE YOU UNTOUCHABLE'Fox News: How did you cope with the public firing?Carano: I didn’t cope with it immediately. When I shot this movie, it was a nice distraction for me because I was able to act, I was able to play Hattie, and I was able to let a lot of that stuff out through my character. I’m my best self when I work … When I’m working, I just feel like everything is aligning right in my life. I was able to let it out through that and that felt great. But then the movie ended, it wasn’t until around Christmas that … it hit me, how real it is, how painful that was, and how I needed to really address it in myself so that I could get past it and not have to deal with bitterness in my life. (L-R) Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano and Carl Weathers of "The Mandalorian" took in the Disney+ Showcase at Disney’s D23 EXPO 2019 in Anaheim, Calif. (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)You have to deal with it. You have to know that, OK, that hurt really bad, and it’s OK to be hurt. But it’s not OK to stay there for the rest of your life. I had to address it, listen to it, forgive and move on. And with the movie coming out, I do feel like it's closure. I get to put this beautiful piece of art out in the world. Now I get to just breathe and know there’s another adventure that’s going to be life-changing as well. I’m not going to let this moment in life define me. I’m going to close it, and then I’m going to move on.Fox News: What’s the message you hope viewers will get when they see this movie for the first time?Carano: The message I hope people get is that art is free. Unions are created to protect people, and Hollywood’s there to give us the best of the best, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the unions are protecting you. It doesn’t mean that Hollywood is in control of the best of the best. I do hope they see this movie as a start to having other artists and creators realize that the sky’s the limit. You don’t have to be pigeonholed or sell your soul to do what you love. If you’re doing what you love, it should replenish you. "In my case, I don't think that anything I did deserved cancel culture." — Gina CaranoFox News: It’s been reported that some "Star Wars" fans have called out Disney for defending Moses Ingram after she received hateful messages on social media after they fired you. Do you have a comment?Carano: I think people … saw what happened in my circumstance, and they were really offended … I think that sometimes corporations stir up things and people to keep the division going instead of bringing people together. And, sometimes, I think these corporations, they’re telling us all to get on our knees and apologize, [but] they’re not leading by example. There’s been no apology. They just wait. GINA CARANO ADDRESSES ‘THE MANDALORIAN’ FIRING, DOUBLE STANDARD IN POLITICAL DIFFERENCES WITH PEDRO PASCAL Gina Carano's character appeared in several episodes of the second season of "The Mandalorian," a series about a bounty hunter and his quest to unite a powerful, young user of the Force with a Jedi Knight. (Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage)So I think … [some] people are trying to say, "Hey, you want everybody else to apologize? Why don’t you start with yourselves? Why don’t you show us that you’re going to respect people of all different beliefs, all different political affiliations, all different religions, all different skin colors, all different everything? Be truly inclusive."And I think that’s the thing. People want these corporations to be held accountable. They think people are just going to forget what happened … I think that’s why people keep bringing up my name because they want things to be set right, and they haven’t been. I think eventually Disney’s going to have to do a little bit of a self-reflection and look at themselves and say what they’re doing is not working. Fox News: Now that the movie is done, how are you feeling?Carano: I hope everybody … I don’t think our leaders are really going to show us how to behave or act right. So I hope that we can all be encouraging to each other and lift each other up because this country is truly, and the world is truly going to be in a lot of pain … There’s got to be a different way to show people what true light us. We’ve got to show people a different way. Gina Carano is feeling hopeful about her future as an actress. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)So I hope we can all do that because there’s going to be a lot of hurting people … we’re going to need to put some differences aside and agree to disagree [to] get our country and the morale back. We need to do that as people. I think art and movies can be a great thing if we… bond together a little bit more. “Terror on the Prairie” is currently streaming on The Daily Wire. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com. | Movies |
Amber Heard was "ice cold" and "didn't seem natural" in court, a juror in the multimillion-dollar libel case brought by her ex-husband Johnny Depp has said. Speaking anonymously to Good Morning America, he revealed one of the reasons that the jury ruled against the actress was because her testimony "didn't come across as believable".
"It seemed like she was able to flip the switch on her emotions," the juror said."She would answer one question and she would be crying and two seconds later she would turn ice cold. It didn't seem natural."By contrast, Depp "just seemed a little more real in terms of how he responded to questions". In her first interview since the verdict on 1 June, Heard said she and Depp were "awful to each other" during their "toxic" relationship and admitted she made "a lot of mistakes - but always told the truth".
Heard, 36, told NBC News that she still has love for her ex-husband and has "no bad feelings or ill will towards him". More on Amber Heard Amber Heard says she still has love for Johnny Depp and 'no bad feelings' - and realises she is not a 'perfect' victim Amber Heard says she and Johnny Depp were 'awful to each other' but that she 'always told the truth', in first interview since actor's libel case win Amber Heard breaks silence after losing Johnny Depp libel trial - saying she doesn't blame the jury and criticising 'vitriol' on social media Asked whether Depp's claim that he never hit her is a lie, Heard told the journalist Savannah Guthrie: "Yes it is."Depp has denied he abused Heard.The actor, 59, was awarded $10.35m (£8.2m) in damages.At the conclusion of the trial Judge Penney Azcarate ruled that the identities of the seven jurors would remain secret for at least a year.The juror criticised Heard's legal team for "cutting off" witnesses and said they gave her poor advice, such as looking directly at the jury when responding to questions. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 'We were awful to each other' "All of us were very uncomfortable" at that, he said.He also said the arguments over her charitable donations were "a fiasco".During the six-week trial, Heard was challenged over why she had not yet donated her $7m (£5.7m) divorce settlement to charities as promised.The juror also said there were inconsistencies in Heard's testimony about her use of make-up.Heard's team failed her by telling the jury she "never goes outside without make-up on", he said.Read more:Key evidence from six weeks of 'soap opera' trial'People want to kill me': How has online abuse of Amber Heard become acceptable"Yet she goes to file the restraining order without make-up on. And it just so happens her publicist is with her. Those things add up and starts to become hard to believe," he said.The juror denied the jury was swayed by outside forces. He and "at least" three others did not have Twitter accounts. "Some people said we were bribed. That's not true," he said."Social media did not impact us. We followed the evidence. We didn't take into account anything outside [the courtroom]. We only looked at the evidence."They were very serious accusations and a lot of money involved. So we weren't taking it lightly."He also denied the jury was starstruck."None of us were really fans of either one of them," he said. | Celebrity |
Sports Updated on: June 17, 2022 / 2:50 AM / CBS/AP The Golden State Warriors are NBA champions once again, topping the Boston Celtics 103-90 Thursday night for their fourth title in the last eight seasons. Stephen Curry scored 34 points and was named the Finals MVP as the Warriors claimed the franchise's seventh championship overall. And this one completed a journey like none other, after a run of five consecutive finals, then a plummet to the bottom of the NBA, and now a return to greatness just two seasons after having the league's worst record. "We found a way to just get it done," Curry said after the Warriors accepted the championship trophy and celebrated on the court. With tears in his eyes and hoarse with emotion, Curry struggled to speak as he explained what enabled the Warriors to capture their latest crown. "It's part of a championship pedigree, our experience," he said. "We built this for 10-11 years. That means a lot when you get to this stage." Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry celebrates with the the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy after the Warriors beat the Boston Celtics in game six of the 2022 NBA Finals to win the NBA Championship at TD Garden in Boston. Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters For Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, it's a fourth championship. The first three rings came in 2015, 2017 and 2018, when Golden State was dynastic and made five consecutive trips to the finals. "They're all unique, they're all special," coach Steve Kerr said of the multiple titles. "This one might have been the most unlikely. ... It takes a group effort to get it done and we had a great group." Injuries, including ones that sidelined Thompson for 2 1/2 years, and roster changes changed everything. But this season, with Thompson returning around the midway point, the Warriors were finally back. Back on top, too. Champions, again, denying the storied Celtics what would have been their record 18th championship, one that would have meant Boston breaking a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in league history.CBSSports.com's Brad Bodkin sang Cury's praises, noting that Curry's fourth ring puts him in even rarer historical air. "Curry's four is one more than Larry Bird and Dwyane Wade, and one shy of Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson and Tim Duncan," he writes. " … Curry has always been the eye of this Warriors storm that has torn through the NBA over these last eight years. … Curry is, quite simply, among the surest bets for championship contention that has ever existed. … And the thing is, he's far from done."Thousands of Warriors fans came to a watch party at Chase Center and more watched the game outside the arena on a big screen: Live in Thrive City 🎉 pic.twitter.com/dMekLNa1qn— Chase Center (@ChaseCenter) June 17, 2022 Minutes after the game, the Warriors announced that their first victory parade in San Francisco would be held Monday, CBS San Francisco said. The team held its previous three parades in Oakland, which the Warriors called home from 1971 to 2019.The Warriors' road backThis tale for the Warriors ended much differently than what their most recent finals appearance against Toronto did in 2019, one that saw Kevin Durant tear his Achilles tendon in Game 5 and then Thompson tear his ACL in what became the Raptors' title-clincher in Game 6. The aftermath of that loss was exacerbated by Durant's decision to leave that summer in free agency to join the Brooklyn Nets and Thompson's own Achilles injury while rehabilitating his knee injury. "It all paid off," Thompson said. "It was dog days, a lot of tears shed. ... You knew it was a possibility, but to see it in real time. … It's crazy." It thrust a Golden State team into a rebuild that became a reload. The Warriors used their two-year hiatus from the NBA's biggest stages to retool their roster – adding a past No. 1 draft pick in Andrew Wiggins, who excelled in his first finals, along with another rising star in Jordan Poole. "This one hits different for sure, knowing what the last three years meant, what it's been like," Curry said. "Injuries, the changing of the guard, rosters, the young guys. ... Now, we got four championships. Me, Dray, Klay and Andre. "Finally got that bad boy," Curry added, referring to the MVP trophy. "It's special. ... Everybody mattered in that process." Yes, it all clicked. For Kerr, it's a ninth championship overall after winning five as a player. He's the sixth coach to capture four titles, joining Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, John Kundla, Gregg Popovich and Pat Riley. It was the third consecutive season where things were affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, and while things were closer to normal, pictures and video of the championship celebration will serve as a forever reminder that the virus was still an issue. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver couldn't be at the game because he remained in the league's health and safety protocols related to the virus. The redesigned Larry O'Brien Trophy – the golden souvenir given to the NBA champions – was presented to the Warriors by deputy commissioner Mark Tatum instead. In: Boston Celtics steph curry NBA Golden State Warriors Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue | Basketball |
PreambleGreg WoodGood morning from Ascot, ahead of what promises to be one of the hottest days at the Royal meeting for many years – so much so, in fact, that the famous dress code has been relaxed, and racegoers will be allowed to remove jackets, ties and hats in all enclosures this afternoon (once the Royal procession has made its way down the course, at any rate). The first – and only other – time that Ascot felt the need to resort to such extreme measures was 2017, when the rule on jackets was relaxed on the hottest day at the meeting for 20 years. This year’s relaxation goes further still, with temperatures at the track forecast to peak at around 31C in mid-afternoon. The British Horseracing Authority’s precautionary measures to ensure the welfare of both human and equine competitors will be in place, with extra cooled water and ice available, areas of shade available before and after horses race and earlier access to stables to allow trainers to travel horses early and avoid the worst of the heat. There are several big fields on today’s card, with 28 runners in the handicaps at 5.00 and 6.10 and 20 declared for the Group One Commonwealth Cup at 3.05. That could well be one of the best races all week, with runners from four countries – Britain, Ireland, France and the USA – and most of the field going to post with at least one piece of form that gives them a chance. Elsewhere on the card, the field for the Coronation Stakes includes the 1,000 Guineas winners from Britain (Cachet) and France (Mangoustine) but neither is likely to start favourite as Inspiral, last year’s best juvenile filly, is finally ready to make her three-year-old debut. The Queen, meanwhile, has three more chances to land her 25th Royal winner in her Platinum Jubilee year, with Just Fine, in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes at 3.40, by far the best of them according to the bookies. Sir Michael Stoute’s gelding is vying for favouritism at around 5-1, while Discretion, in the Sandringham Stakes at 5.00 and Spring Is Sprung, in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Handicap at 6.10, are priced up in double figures at 16-1 and 22-1 respectively. Victory for any of her three runners would be a “hats off” moment – or it would, if they hadn’t all been removed already. The action will be under way with the Albany Stakes at 2.30, and you can follow it all here on the blog as the mercury rises and another thrilling day at the Royal meeting unfolds. | Other Sports |
Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will be held in BRITAIN: Organisers announce second-place UK will be next year's host because war-torn winner Ukraine is unable to safely hold contest Published: 06:16 EDT, 17 June 2022 | Updated: 06:16 EDT, 17 June 2022 The organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest have announced next year's edition will be held in Britain as war-torn Ukraine is unable to host it safely. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) which organises the event, said :'Following their win at the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in May the EBU has been exploring options for the hosting of next year's competition with Ukraine's public broadcaster UA:PBC, who previously staged the event in 2017 and 2005.'It has become a well-known tradition that the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest hosts the competition the following year, providing certain criteria including ensuring the viability of staging the event and the safety of all stakeholders, including the public, are met.'Given the ongoing war since the Russian invasion of this year's winning country, the EBU has taken the time to conduct a full assessment and feasibility study with both UA:PBC and third-party specialists including on safety and security issues.'The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most complex TV productions in the world with thousands working on, and attending, the event and 12 months of preparation time needed.'Following objective analysis, the Reference Group, the ESC's governing board, has with deep regret concluded that, given the current circumstances, the security and operational guarantees required for a broadcaster to host, organize and produce the Eurovision Song Contest under the ESC Rules cannot be fulfilled by UA:PBC.'The EBU would like to thank UA:PBC for their wholehearted cooperation and commitment in exploring all scenarios in the weeks since Kalush Orchestra's win on May 14 in Turin and share their sadness and disappointment that next year's Contest cannot be held in Ukraine.'The EBU has been supporting UA:PBC across a whole range of areas since the invasion. We will ensure that this support continues so UA:PBC can maintain the indispensable service they provide to Ukrainians.'As a result of this decision, in accordance with the rules and to ensure the continuity of the event, the EBU will now begin discussions with the BBC, as this year's runner up, to potentially host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom.'It is our full intention that Ukraine's win will be reflected in next year's shows. This will be a priority for us in our discussions with the eventual hosts.'More to follow Advertisement | Music |
Eurovision 2022 came to a close with Ukraine winning the top spot and the UK’s Sam Ryder coming home with second place. Now the question remains on which city will be hosting the show in 2023Video LoadingVideo UnavailableEurovision: Ukraine win contest with UK in second place The Eurovision Song Contest came to a close in May for another year with Ukraine taking home a decisive victory. The UK also faired extremely well, with TikTok star Sam Ryder earning second place with his song SPACE MAN. It was the best result the UK had seen in 20 years, proving that the nation can win again with the right talent behind it. Of course, with Ukraine winning, it meant the nation faced the prospect of hosting the show in 2023, according to the rules of the competition. However, with the Russian invasion still in force, that is no longer possible, with Eurovision organisers ruling out staging it in the war-torn country. It calls into question which nation will be hosting the show and what city it will take place in - with the UK now top of the list. Ukraine won Eurovision 2022 setting the nation up to host the following year (
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AFP via Getty Images) Where will Eurovision 2023 be held? Millions of fans from around the world showed their support for Ukraine by voting for its act, Kalush Orchestra. They received over 400 points, confirming earlier bookie bets that the nation would sweep the board in 2022. It meant that Ukraine should be hosting the show in 2023, as it is traditional that the winning nation hosts the event the following year. Ahead of the competition, Kalush rapper Oleh Psiuk said: “Eurovision next year will be in the free home and reconstructed and rebuilt and happy Ukraine." But with Putin's forces still wreaking havoc in Ukraine, the UK is being sized up to host Eurovision 2023 instead. "In accordance with the rules and to ensure the continuity of the event, the EBU will now begin discussions with the BBC, as this year’s runner up, to potentially host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom," the European Broadcasting Union tweeted on June 17. "It is our full intention that Ukraine’s win will be reflected in next year’s shows. This will be a priority for us in our discussions with the eventual hosts." This means that if the UK DOES host it, the BBC will be in charge of putting on a celebration that honours Ukraine's win. The specific city for Eurovision 2023 hasn’t yet been decided, but it can’t just be any location. Kalush Orchestra scored over 400 points during the final (
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Getty Images) There are certain criteria a host city must meet in order to put on the show. First, the city needs space for up to 10,000 spectators at a venue which must also accommodate around 2,000 competitors, delegates, fans and journalists. There also needs to be an international airport at the city to allow for the tens of thousands of participants to come and go for the event. When a winning country is unable to host the next year's show - as has happened with Ukraine - it either comes down to the runner-up or one of the “Big Five” – the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy - to step in. Will the UK host Eurovision 2023? Sam Ryder came in second place with SPACE MAN (
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AFP via Getty Images) As the UK is one of the Big Five and the nation ranked the highest out of the other four in second place, the UK is currently favourite to host the show. However, the UK has not yet formally asked to host the show, whereas Spain reportedly has done so for 2023. The mayor of Stockholm in Sweden, as also offered to host, though it is less likely the European Broadcasting Union will take them up on that offer as they are not part of the Big Five. The UK has a history of hosting the show in another country’s stead - in fact, it has done so four times in the past. Ukrainian entry Psiuk said after his win: “Well, yes, it’s true that UK supports us a lot. "The huge gratitude to the UK, of course, from all of the residents of this country to you. “Lots of Ukrainians are expressing a very huge gratitude to your country as well.” It the UK were to host, London would be the most likely city for the event. Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester are also possible hosts. When is Eurovision 2023? There is no official date for Eurovision 2023, though it will be held in May of next year. Finals are typically held on a Saturday, with the semi-finals building up to it over the course of the prior two weeks. The show has been held in May every year since 1995. Read More Read More | Music |
Pete Doherty has reflected on his tumultuous romance with Kate Moss in his new memoir, including a shocking moment where he 'threw a flying kick' at her. Writing in A Likely Lad, the 43-year-old rocker recalled a holiday to Thailand in 2007 in which Kate, 48, had to bail him out of jail after he got arrested after doing drugs with random backpackers he'd met.Yet still under the influence of narcotics, Pete revealed he was violent and aggressive before taking off and leaving Kate at the station. Shocking: Pete Doherty has reflected on his tumultuous romance with Kate Moss in his new memoir, including a shocking moment where he 'threw a flying kick' at her (pictured in 2007) He wrote in his memoir: 'Kate and David Tang came to bail me out of the police station, and I was so out of my head I called Kate a p***k and did a flying kick at her, then ran off down a motorway.'The next thing I woke up at Heathrow in a pair of Thai policeman's shorts — didn't even have my passport.'The couples trip had earlier seen them tie the knot in a Buddhist ceremony on the beach. The wedding had no legal standing in the UK but the pair were reportedly planning on making things official at a later date. Instead, the couple split later that same year following a series of blazing rows. Oh dear: The 43-year-old rocker recalled a holiday to Thailand in 2007 in which Kate, 48, had to bail him out of jail after he got arrested after doing drugs with random backpackers he'd met (pictured in 2021) Pete revealed there was 'not really one specific incident that caused them to split,' stating 'our worlds were not really compatible in the end.'Musician Pete is also set to touch on his relationship with Kate, 48, who he dated from 2005 to 2007, with Kate losing commercial deals while they were together after she was pictured alongside a suspicious white substance in his studio. The Libertines rocker previously claimed the pair split after Kate destroyed his teddy, Pandy.In an interview with the Mail On Sunday, he said: 'Oh no, don't mention Pandy. Pandy, when I split up with a certain, young lady, she burnt it. She burnt Pandy.'This is the teddy bear I've had since the day I was born and Pandy got burnt and that was the break-up.'My sister gave him to me as a huge gesture of love and kinship. I held on to Pandy all my life but he ended up getting burnt by Kate along with a lot of other stuff when we split up.'Supermodel Kate was said to be 'bracing' herself for her Pete's tell-all book ahead of its release. A source told the Mirror: 'Kate has really turned her life around since those days. She's moved on. But fans will be fascinated to find out what really happened between her and Pete.'For help with drug addiction call the Frank helpline on 0300 123 6600. REVEALED: How Pete Doherty's search for a lost lump of crack cocaine led to an armed raid by police on Kate Moss's London homeWhen supermodel Kate Moss met hellraising rock star Pete Doherty at her 31st birthday party in 2005, little did she know that the next two years of her life would descend into chaos.At first they were Britain’s most talked-about celebrity couple, with their A-list party lifestyle documented daily in the tabloids.Moss kept a dignified silence throughout, while Doherty, who at the time was the heroin-ravaged lead singer in a band called Babyshambles, also gave little away.But now he has had a change of heart, and this week releases an autobiography that is likely to embarrass Moss, now a model grande dame who had an eye-catching role in last Sunday’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant.For the first time, Doherty reveals shocking stories from their turbulent romance, which was cemented when the high-profile couple tried to travel across London incognito on a bus.For her part, Moss has always abided by the Queen’s mantra of ‘never complain, never explain’. When supermodel Kate Moss met hellraising rock star Pete Doherty at her 31st birthday party in 2005, little did she know that the next two years of her life would descend into chaos Doherty, who is now overweight in a shocking contrast to his trademark gaunt look during his rock star heyday, has tried to leave his toxic past behind He lives a quiet life in the French countryside in Normandy with wife Katia de Vidas, a fellow musician, whom he married last yearIn the book, aptly named A Likely Lad, Doherty tells how he once accidentally set off a panic alarm in Moss’s bedroom at her home in St John’s Wood, North-West London, prompting 12 armed police officers to turn up at the door. He confesses that he pressed the button, which is thought to have been linked to the local police station, while looking down the side of the supermodel’s bed for a piece of crack cocaine he had lost.Unsurprisingly, Doherty admits, Moss was not happy and the episode was one of the factors that led to the end of their tumultuous two-year affair in July 2007.Their relationship was spontaneous – and crazy – and coincided with his shambolic days in an indie band in the mid-Noughties.Despite this, the pair did their best to keep their affair secret. As well as the bus journeys, there were meet-ups in back rooms of London restaurants. And according to the ghost-written book, very shortly after they first met, Doherty demanded Moss get a tattoo of his initials as a sign of her devotion.‘I insisted she get on a bus with me,’ writes Doherty. ‘She went everywhere in a limo usually. We got dressed up in disguise, put on wigs, and jumped on the bus around London. We used to have a bit of a laugh.‘We got matching tattoos that first week, too. I think I insisted on that. I wanted her to prove her love, so I said, you’ve got to get a tattoo with my initials on, you’ve got to get branded – it was more of an insecurity thing on my part.’It was quite a moment for Doherty, then 26, who had arrived in London from the Northumberland market town of Hexham to find fame with his band, The Libertines, though they were on hiatus throughout his romance with Moss, with Doherty forming Babyshambles.The book promises to be ‘Doherty’s version of the story, the genuine man behind the fame and infamy, a rock memoir like no other’. It also claims that Doherty explores his darkest moments ‘with astonishing frankness – and his trademark wit and humour’.It is certainly frank. Kate Moss was centre stage, riding a bus with Patsy Kensit during the Platinum Pageant on June 05Doherty’s drug-taking has plagued his career, and once led to him pleading guilty in court to seven charges of possession. He managed to avoid being jailed but was ordered to go to rehab – another regular occurrence in his relationship with Moss.In 2005, she promised to stand by Doherty, the son of an Army Major, when he admitted himself to the Meadows rehab clinic, popular with celebrities, in Arizona.It was just two months after Moss had been caught appearing to snort cocaine at a West London recording studio, so she was adamant he didn’t leave the clinic until he had completed his treatment.But his trip to the US ended in yet another falling out with Moss. After he told her how miserable he was in the clinic, she said she would cheer him up by take him by helicopter over the Grand Canyon. She failed to turn up, and shortly afterwards he checked himself out. Moss then dumped him.In an extract in yesterday’s Guardian newspaper, Doherty said: ‘When I set off for my treatment at the Meadows, I had all my drugs hidden in my luggage.’ Arriving at the clinic, he said the staff ‘found all the bits in my baggage, plus what I’d hidden inside the lining of my jeans – they really knew their stuff. It was a different vibe than UK rehab – a mix of absolutely loaded trust-fund kids and people trying to avoid federal convictions by doing rehab.‘One guy shared in the group therapy how he was in for looking at child porn on the internet. I couldn’t handle that. I refused to be in a group with him. I was horrified.‘After two weeks, Kate was supposed to come and visit me and take me to the Grand Canyon in a helicopter, and I got the right hump when she didn’t show up. In the end I did a runner. When Kate found out I hadn’t finished the treatment, she told me point-blank that was it, there was no way we could see each other now.‘I said, yeah, but you were supposed to come and get me in a helicopter for a day trip to the Grand Canyon.’Kate And Pete were Britain’s most talked-about celebrity couple, with their A-list party lifestyle documented daily in the tabloids, but their romance was turbulent and rocked by drug abuseBut unable to kick the habit of her bad-boy lover, Moss orchestrated clandestine meetings with him, often organised by her celebrity hair stylist friend James Brown. They also spent Christmas together at Moss’s ten-bedroom cottage in Oxfordshire, where they sang carols. Doherty explains that Brown would contact him from a payphone using a codeword to arrange meetings with Moss.‘I’d have to go to this flat in Pimlico. It was like a strange tenement flat that was used for that purpose – we’d meet for the night, or for a couple of hours sometimes, but I wouldn’t be allowed to tell anyone.‘We were attracted to each other. I really loved her and I knew she loved me – there was just all this messiness in between us, with all her chaos and my chaos.’There was another bust-up when Doherty claims that Moss ‘covered this teddy bear of mine, called Pandy, in petrol and set him alight – it’s not funny. I used to carry him round London with me.’The bear had been given to him by his sister as ‘a huge gesture of love and kinship’.He also claims Moss ruined one of his favourite guitars. ‘There was one final big old kick-off,’ he writes. ‘Kate desecrated this 1930s Gibson that I had, smashed it up.’In July 2007 they finally split up for good – just months after they had got engaged.Doherty recalls: ‘Kate didn’t go to crack dens. She never had an interest in all that, and, if I’m honest, that’s why we broke up.’Doherty, 43, who once scrawled ‘I love Kate 4 eva’ on the windscreen of his Jaguar after leaving a court hearing for a drug-related offence, went on to date the troubled singer Amy Winehouse.Moss, in turn, began a relationship with Jamie Hince, a guitarist with rock band The Kills.Moss has been quoted as saying: ‘I wish I’d never met him. He’s a user in every sense of the word.’ But nine years ago, Doherty says he received a surprise phone call from Moss while he was in Paris. He asked her if she still had the tattoo of his initials. He told the Guardian that it ‘was the only thing I could think of to say’.Today, more than 15 years on from their first meeting, both their lives are very different.Moss no longer drinks and is dating photographer Nikolai von Bismarck. Doherty, who is now overweight in a shocking contrast to his trademark gaunt look during his rock star heyday, has tried to leave his toxic past behind.He has two children, Astile, 19, from a relationship with model Lisa Moorish, and a daughter he has not seen for many years since his relationship with her mother broke down, and lives in the French countryside in Normandy with wife Katia de Vidas, a fellow musician, whom he married last year.He says: ‘It’s a quiet, simple existence. I get up before sunrise and take the dogs for a walk. Then I go back to bed at six or seven, then get up again.’He then strolls into the village, buys a French newspaper, which he says he ‘pretends to read’, and has a coffee and a brandy at about 11am.‘Then I go back home and maybe watch some… movies, listen to some Tony Hancock, have a siesta, walk the dogs again and go to bed.’Which begs the question, why has he chosen to return to the limelight – something Kate Moss will probably be wondering, too. | Celebrity |
It is 9pm in Barcelona and Sky Ferreira is due onstage at Primavera. As the minutes tick by and nobody appears, the festival crowd grit their teeth. A week earlier, in Portugal, Ferreira was 20 minutes late and plagued by sound issues. This time she appears at 9.10pm. As the sparkling churn of her 2013 song Boys kicks in, Ferreira starts singing. She’s inaudible. The music stops. “Story of my life,” she shrugs, her tiny face shrouded by futuristic black aviators and her hurricane of platinum hair. “We have to start over,” she tells her band, who look tense. The track is off; everyone is out of time. They move on.If Ferreira, 29, has a trademark beyond belting pop music that sounds like Madonna collaborating with Suicide, it is, gallingly, the false start. She signed to a major label as a wilful California-born 15-year-old and fiercely resisted being fashioned into Britney 2.0. (Apparently they missed her listing Bow Wow Wow and Nico as influences on Myspace.) It took four years, a label change and much stealth for Ferreira to release her fantastic debut album, Night Time, My Time, in 2013, which addressed her chaotic reputation as well as childhood sexual assault.Since then, the self-professed perfectionist has promised numerous releases but released just two singles from her very-long-in-the-making second album, Masochism, which she swears is coming out this year. All the while, there have been just as many public disputes with her label, Capitol, with Ferreira frequently accusing them of sabotage. Her latest single, the fantastically vengeful 80s-style cut Don’t Forget, is aimed at them. This saga – including a reputation as a teenage party girl and a 2013 arrest – has made her a joke to some, while her tenacity and sullen cool have made her a hero to others. Either way, the vacuum of clarity on who’s responsible for the mess has produced a modern pop enigma.Days after the festival, as I spend an hour waiting in a London hotel (the last of three last-minute location changes), perhaps an enigma is what Ferreira will remain. She eventually emerges from the lift and says she is sorry for the delay: she was doing a Covid test after leaving Europe with a cough. She looks exhausted, her star power depleted, brown circles around her eyes. She seems spacey as we head for a quiet corner and as we sit, she texts her bandmates to say she tested negative.Ferreira performing at Primavera in Barcelona, 11 June. Photograph: Xavi Torrent/WireImageI tell her, genuinely, that I loved her set once they got going: her vocals were a tempest. (To keep them in shape, she says, she sings while running on an incline.) But during the show, Ferreira could only hear white noise and was painfully conscious that cynics would accuse her of skipping rehearsals, even though she had hired a monitor guy specially and was practising until 7pm, despite having hardly slept. “I was so past the point of being angry,” she says. “I spent hours before scrambling to make sure there would be sound at this one so we didn’t look like idiots.”She fired the monitor guy, then made the mistake of looking at the response online. “It was bizarre because there were videos saying, ‘It’s so off-key’ and I’m literally watching the video and it is not. It’s like Jedi mind-tricking people. I think maybe it’s because I’m not presenting myself as what the ideal pop singer should be.”That’s partly why Ferreira still commands such devotion despite such a slight catalogue. She emerged at the turn of the 2010s alongside young female musicians including Charli XCX and Grimes, who took a DIY approach to pop, facilitated by cracked software and blog-honed taste. (Unlike the others, Ferreira had spent her childhood around Michael Jackson – her grandmother was his hairdresser – who told her to take gospel lessons.) She recognised that her generation wasn’t sated by the 2000s glossy pop girls, and modelled something more real. The cover of Night Time, My Time was shot by the transgressive film-maker Gaspar Noé and showed Ferreira cowering in the shower. In Spain, her extremely low-energy stage presence conjured a vision of Kristen Stewart playing Debbie Harry.In person, the effect is different. Ferreira is endlessly forthcoming but talks with a frantic circuitousness, often returning to the indignity of last week’s shows. She trembles and coughs persistently, scratches her skin and tugs at her black dress. She does not seem well; it is not comfortable to witness. For the first of many times over the next two hours, she brings Capitol into the picture. “My label didn’t give me any [financial] tour support,” she claims. “Originally, I was told it was going to happen, at least from people I work with. Then I found out that that wasn’t the case less than a month before.” She laughs wheezily.This seems to be the crux of Ferreira’s discontent: the gulf between what she says she is promised and what she gets, and the price of getting any of it. “It’s like being set up to fail,” she says. She has said many times that her label didn’t want her to release the 2012 single Everything Is Embarrassing, but she did it anyway and it became her biggest hit. And after many incarnations of her debut album were binned, she spent her own money (made largely from modelling) to make Night Time in two weeks. It ranked among the year’s best albums. She says that Capitol should have recognised that and allowed her to do her own thing. “That’s what I don’t get,” she says. “I don’t think they liked looking dumb and like a 20-year-old girl beat them at their own game.” Revenge, as Ferreira sees it, is at the root of this toxic relationship. From day one, she was a mouthy 15-year-old telling older suits they were wrong. “A lot of people see that as like: ‘This is why you’re in the situation you’re in now.’” After the Guardian put Ferreira’s allegations to them, Capitol declined to comment.She has accused the label of negligence for leaving some of her music off streaming platforms and blocking various collaborations. Otherwise it is hard to draw Ferreira on specifics, though her erraticness seems less like the trait of an unreliable narrator than a woman who has frequently been made to doubt her own reality, whether by the police who told her she invited sexual assault (twice) as a young teenager because she was quiet, or the mercurial employer she has been tethered to for half her life.She describes her experiences with Capitol since Night Time as “grey-listing”, and claims the label says people don’t want to work with her. “Well, no, they might not wanna work with you guys, actually,” she says. She says they call her “crazy, I’m mentally ill, I’m difficult, I’m unprofessional – oh, I’m a drug addict. That’s by far everyone’s go-to.” In 2013, Ferreira was arrested with her then-boyfriend, Zachary Cole Smith of indie band Diiv, and charged with carrying heroin and ecstasy. Ferreira’s charges were dropped. Smith was her first real boyfriend, and she stayed with him for a while. “I somehow ended up paying more of the consequences for it.”‘I don’t think they liked a 20-year-old girl beating them at their own game’ … Ferreira in 2012. Photograph: Trago/WireImageFerreira feels as though her image has always attracted a certain type of degrading coverage that otherwise seems condemned to a less enlightened era. “Do the rules not apply to women like me?” She mentions Courtney Love and Fiona Apple, 90s musicians “I admire the most”, who experienced similarly unpleasant coverage. “Troubled women. You can do whatever you want if they’re not like, save-me troubled.” Also, she says, “it was like [the label] almost wanted those things to be true about me so they could exploit it and use them as ways to sell”.Given that Ferreira made her debut in two weeks, why not do the same with Masochism? That’s what she had expected, she says. “I thought it was going to be out seven years ago. But then so much time has changed, and I changed in some ways …” She gets circuitous. Endlessly fighting to release music left her depressed. “You don’t own the person, you know? Why did you sign me in the first place? I didn’t pretend to be something different.”She characterises the delays and difficulties as another way she has been set up to fail: “Who can live up to eight years of something that’s turned into this other thing?” She thought she was free from all that after her debut. “It felt so much worse this time.” So bad, she says, that it affected her creativity, feeling she had lost control “to the point where I’m going in circles all the time”.Things changed recently when Ferreira asked Capitol to acknowledge what they had put her through. “You have literally ruined my life,” she says emphatically. “My life was taken from me. It’s not just like a job to me. It’s literally me. It was like literally being in solitary confinement. I felt like I was gagged and bound.” When chaos surrounds you, do you have to look at the common denominator? “Exactly,” she says – it becomes self-perpetuating. “Because it’s what you know. It’s like having a body without skin. I was trying to figure out, how do I stop doing this? It doesn’t have to feel like life or death for everything for it to be real. It’s not even like thriving off the drama.”Ferreira has paid for her career “in every sense”, she says. “Financially, emotionally, physically.” She has chronic health issues including scoliosis and Lyme disease. During a medical for a film role, the doctor pointed out that she had a long-term broken rib. She intended to release Masochism before addressing her “huge” uterine fibroids, but ultimately delayed working on the music to get surgery, and is glad that she did.‘Once I do trust someone, I’m loyal to a fault’ … Ferreira. Photograph: PRAnd some Masochism songs allude to an unspecified abusive relationship. “Once I do trust someone, I’m loyal to a fault,” she says. “I’ll stay in a situation because I don’t want to feel like I’m going to hurt them, yet they can treat me like a punching bag,” she says with a desperate laugh. She says one person gaslit her to the point of a nervous breakdown. “You’re isolated from people. And I was already isolated in a lot of ways because of what was happening to me.”She thinks she may have taken “a little too much pride” in her difficult experiences not destroying her. “Like, ‘Oh, it didn’t kill me!’ That’s a very low standard.” She’s trying to value herself better, and was touched last week when some teenage girls messaged asking to meet. They were babies when she released her debut, yet her music “seems to be very personal for them, and it makes me feel like I did something right”. Even her recent live humiliations reflect her self-respect. “If I have to play the song five times, so be it if I have to look like a fool.”She has also had validation from her formative inspirations. Recently, she narrowly missed out on the role of Madonna in the official biopic. “It was the most surreal thing at first,” Ferreira says of the extensive auditions. She worshipped Madonna as a kid, and went to clubs and “talked shit” in order to get noticed as a teenager because that’s what Madonna did. “And it worked!” Ferreira sang Like a Virgin with her, wearing her clothes. “And she did my makeup! That was the best moment of my life.” Ferreira also appeared in the Twin Peaks revival. David Lynch was another teenage hero. “I dropped out of school to do it like them,” she says.Ferreira has been around so long it is easy to forget she’s only 30 next month. She doesn’t care about the number, she says. “I’m more just frustrated about the gaps between my records. And I got robbed of my 20s.” Another wheezy laugh. Since returning to the public eye, “people are talking about me like I’m an old crone now. It’s funny but because I’m not always posting pictures of myself, they’re expecting me to look like I’m 18. I don’t really have lines on my face. But also, I’ve been through a lot so it probably shows!”She’s still working on Masochism, pleased, at any rate, that it sounds “completely like myself”. After this album, Ferreira still has one more left on her contract. “God knows how many albums I’ve actually made,” she says. “I’m glad a lot of them aren’t out now, so in a way it worked.” I hope it gets easier for her to make the work she wants to, I say, as her PR hovers. “That’s the thing, too,” she says. Most of the artists she loved (like Love, Apple and Aimee Mann) “were in their early 30s when they solidified who they were. So it’s not like it’s all over for me.”The single Don’t Forget is out now. | Music |
PET FOX This Boston trio, featuring former Palehound drummer Jesse Weiss alongside Morgan Luzzi and Theo Hartlett of fuzzed-out slackers Ovlov, releases its hook-packed new album, “A Face in Your Life,” on Friday. On Monday, they’ll be part of a stacked bill featuring mathy rockers Floatie and art-proggers Spirits Having Fun, as well as fellow locals Squitch and Kevin Wynd. June 20, 7:30 p.m. Midway Café, Jamaica Plain. 617-524-9038, midwaycafe.comUMI The Seattle-based artist Tierra Umi Wilson’s latest release, “Forest In the City,” is a plush neo-soul collection full of loping beats and summertime-ready grooves topped by UMI’s wonder-filled vocals. June 23, 7:30 p.m. (doors). Royale. 617-338-7699, royaleboston.comGet The Big To-DoYour guide to staying entertained, from live shows and outdoor fun to the newest in museums, movies, TV, books, dining, and more.MAURA JOHNSTONFolk, World & CountryANNA TIVEL & JEFFREY MARTIN Singer-songwriters Tivel and Martin, who happen to be a couple, make their way from far-coast Portland to perform Tuesday. Presumably each will play a set (with Tivel likely previewing her fine upcoming album, “Outsiders”) and, perhaps, join each other for some songs as well. And there is this Facebook promise by Tivel: “songs dealing with but not limited to boating in the 1400s, big city voyeurism, contaminated well water, and trying to get dates on subway platforms.” June 21, 8 p.m. $22. Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Cambridge. 617-492-7679, www.passim.orgHEATON, CASSEL & MURPHY At first glance, this might appear to be a trio performance, but no; it’s a co-bill of music and dance drawing on Scottish and Irish traditions and featuring local standouts Matt and Shannon Heaton, Hanneke Cassel and Keith Murphy, and Kieran Jordan. June 22, 7:30 p.m. $28. The Burren, 247 Elm St., Somerville. 617-776-6896, www.burren.comPRATEEK KUHAD This singer-songwriter, who cites Elliot Smith as a major influence on his folk and pop iterations, is adding a new dimension to the usual conceptions of popular Indian music. He is touring in support of his new album, “The Way That Lovers Do.” June 22, 7 p.m. $25. Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. 888-929-7849, www.axs.com. (A June 23 show at Crystal Ballroom is sold out.)STUART MUNROJazz & BluesGEORGE LERNIS: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS The marvelous Cyprus-born percussionist and composer celebrates the release of his new album, a musical meditation on immigration that merges eastern Mediterranean music and American jazz. With trumpeter Emiel de Jaegher, pianist Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, bassist Bruno Råberg, and vocalist Burcu Güleç. June 18, 7:30 p.m. $15-$25. St. Paul’s Parish, 26 Washington St., Malden. www.showtix4u.com/event-details/63642ILLEGAL CROWNS Mandorla Music presents this adventurous, lyrical, and spellbinding ensemble featuring guitarist Mary Halvorson with frequent collaborators Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet, trumpet) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums), plus French pianist Benoît Delbecq. June 18, 8 p.m. $20-$25. Hope Central Church, 85 Seaverns Ave., Jamaica Plain. www.mandorlamusic.netROOMFUL OF BLUES The Home Grown Rock Veterans Benefit Concert Series presents the venerable, horn-fueled octet, currently led by guitarist Chris Vachon and featuring powerhouse vocalist Phil Pemberton. While their personnel has changed over the years, they remain among the world’s premier jump blues bands. June 19, 4 p.m. $37.50-$79. Kowloon Restaurant (outdoors), 948 Broadway, Saugus. 978-525-9093, www.gimmelive.comKEVIN LOWENTHALClassicalX: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MALCOLM X Boston Modern Opera Project launches its “As Told By: History, Race and Justice on the Opera Stage” series with a semi-staged production of Anthony Davis’s Malcolm X bio-opera, starring Davóne Tines in the title role and staged just a mile from the Roxbury house where X spent his teenage years. June 17, 8 p.m. Strand Theatre, Dorchester. 617-635-1408, www.bmop.orgNEW ENGLAND PHILHARMONIC The New England Philharmonic ends its season with music director finalist Yoichi Udagawa on the podium, leading a program that includes a world premiere by composer Kathryn Salfelder, Boston premieres by Igor Santos, TJ Cole, and Eric Nathan, and Witold Lutoslawski’s Polish folklore-inspired Concerto for Orchestra. June 18, 8 p.m. Jordan Hall. https://nephilharmonic.org/ROCKPORT MUSIC The 41st annual Rockport Chamber Music Festival is in full swing, with performances this weekend by the Pinchas Zukerman Trio (June 17), the Rolston Quartet with pianist Frederic Chiu (June 18), and a solo performance by double bassist and composer Xavier Foley, who will present the world premiere of a new Rockport Music commission alongside music by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Bottesini. Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport. 978-546-7391, www.rockportmusic.orgA.Z. MADONNAARTSTheaterCOMMON GROUND REVISITED Kirsten Greenidge’s adaptation of J. Anthony Lukas’s book about race, class, and busing in Boston in the mid-1970s. Co-conceived and directed by Melia Bensussen, the play’s ambitious scope sometimes comes at the cost of clarity, as a dozen actors play dozens of characters. But “Common Ground Revisited” makes us think about how Boston then shaped Boston now. It’s not often that a play sets out to foster the kind of dialogue that could — should — help a city better understand itself. Huntington Theatre Company. Through July 3 at Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. Digital access to the filmed performance available through July 17. Tickets to in-person and digital performances at 617-266-0800, www.huntingtontheatre.orgWICKED Not a moment of this outstanding production feels rote or phoned-in. Starring Lissa deGuzman as Elphaba and Jennafer Newberry as Glinda, this “Wicked” has a freshness, even urgency, about it, as if doing justice to the musical matters as much to this stellar road company as it does to the young spectators in the seats. Stephen Schwartz’s gem-laden score still glows and burns, still stirs and soars. Directed by Joe Mantello. Through July 24. Broadway In Boston. At Citizens Bank Opera House. www.BroadwayInBoston.comA BEAUTIFUL NOISE A pre-Broadway premiere of a bio-musical about singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, featuring hits like “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “America,” and that Fenway Park standard, “Sweet Caroline.” Playing Diamond will be Will Swenson, a 2009 Tony Award nominee for his portrayal of Berger in “Hair.” Written by Anthony McCarten and directed by Michael Mayer, with a cast that includes Mark Jacoby, Robyn Hurder, and Linda Powell. June 21-July 31. Ambassador Theatre Group. At Emerson Colonial Theatre. 888-616-0272, www.emersoncolonialtheatre.comTHE SHOT Sharon Lawrence (”NYPD Blue,” “Shameless”) stars as legendary Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham in the world premiere of Robin Gerber’s solo play. Though drawn from Graham’s life, “The Shot” is described as a work of fiction in which Graham lays bare “her shadowed past to overcome adversity.” Based on Gerber’s book “Katharine Graham: The Leadership Journey of An American Icon.” Directed by Michelle Joyner. June 16-19. Great Barrington Public Theater. At Liebowitz Theater, Daniel Arts Center, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Great Barrington. 413-528-0684, www.GreatBarringtonPublicTheater.orgDON AUCOINDanceAMERICA(NA) TO ME This world premiere Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival exclusive kicks off programming in the newly renovated Ted Shawn Theatre. In celebration of the festival’s 90th anniversary, choreographers were invited to present works that reflect their interpretation of American identity. Artists include Warwick Gombey Troupe, Jasmine Hearn, Nélida Tirado, Sara Mearns & Joshua Bergasse, Alexandra Tatarsky, with Pillow commissions performed by Dormeshia & Guests and Mythili Prakash. June 22-26. $55-$85. Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket. www.jacobspillow.orgAFTER DARK This new multimedia work by flamenco artist Laura Sanchez, part of the Boston Dancemakers Residency, takes over the Mills Gallery with live dance and music, film, spoken word, and visual art as it explores “the lights and shadows of motherhood.” The immersive work is designed to provide a healing opportunity for anyone who has experienced trauma. June 23-24. $25. (June 27, free virtual access.) Boston Center for the Arts. www.bostonarts.org¡BORDES! BORDERS! ¡BORDES! These bi-cultural performances, the culmination of a yearlong online collaboration between artists 1,700 miles apart (three from Boston, four from San Juan), invite audiences into an imagined world. The hourlong journey explores where one person’s emotional, physical, and geographical borders end and another’s begin. Dancers are Emily Beattie, Jimena Bermejo, Callie Chapman, Beatriz Irizarry Gauthier, Cristina Lugo Candelas, and Marili Pizarro Latorre, plus composer Guarionex Morales-Matos. June 17-18. Free. Dance Complex@Canal, Cambridge. https://bordersboston.com/EIGHT FEEL TALL The Irish dance and music quartet (dancers Rebecca McGowan and Jackie O’Riley of From the Floor, plus instrumentalists Dan Accardi and Armand Aromin) welcome freestyle fiddler Jenna Moynihan for a program that combines intense respect for tradition with an adventurous spirit of testing boundaries. Rhythmic interplay’s the thing, with instruments, shoes, voices, and bodies all joining in the conversation. June 22. $20. First Church Cambridge. www.fromthefloordance.comKAREN CAMPBELLVisual ArtsSPOTLIGHT TALKS: TOUCHING ROOTS: BLACK ANCESTRAL LEGACIES IN THE AMERICAS As part of its free, open house Juneteenth programming, the Museum of Fine Arts is hosting a day of guided talks in this exhibition, which it describes as bringing together artists from the African diaspora who took cultural motifs, customs, and stories from their African heritage and repurposed them to portray Black experience in the colonial west. The exhibition, part of the museum’s re-installation of its collection of American art, puts particular emphasis on artists working here in New England: Allan Rohan Crite, Napoleon Jones-Henderson, Ifé Franklin, Bryan McFarlane, Karen Hampton, and Stephen Hamilton. Talks are scheduled for June 20, the holiday Monday, at 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. The exhibition continues through May 23, 2023. Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 465 Huntington Ave. 617-267-9300, www.mfa.orgISAAC JULIEN: LESSONS OF THE HOUR The British artist Isaac Julien’s lush video pieces achieve a level of production value equal to the most sumptuous Hollywood period dramas, or at least “Bridgerton.” But while Julien’s dramas play out at human scale, his elliptical, big-picture takes on the history of modernity, colonialism, and their long-tail effect on the present day plant them firmly in the realm of art. This piece takes as its departure point the tour of Great Britain undertaken in the 1840s by a young Frederick Douglass, portrayed movingly by the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Ray Fearon, during which he delivered hundreds of lectures on abolition, suffrage, and human rights. Julien imagines Douglass’s fierce orations back home as the years drag him from optimism to frustration, culminating in 1894 with “Lessons of the Hour,” his final speech, when, in the face of a lynching epidemic, he urged the country to adhere to its founding principles of equality. It’s eerily deflating how relevant, and urgent, it remains. Through July 10. Smith College Museum of Art, 20 Elm St., Northampton. 413-585-2760, smca.smith.eduBARKLEY HENDRICKS: MY MECHANICAL SKETCHBOOK Best known for his graceful life-size portraiture ennobling Black American life, Hendricks had a less-seen parallel current to his artmaking that used photography in surprising and innovative ways. When Hendricks called it a “mechanical sketchbook,” he was barely exaggerating; this exhibition collects dozens of his photographs in concert with paintings and drawings that show an active, creative mind rarely at rest. It’s just one part of a Hendricks renaissance — the Brooklyn Museum is working on mounting a major career retrospective right now — that the artist, sadly, did not live to see; he died in 2017 at 72 just, it seemed, as his career was getting started. Through July 24. Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, 415 South St., Waltham. 781-736-3434, brandeis.edu/roseMURRAY WHYTETODD McKIE: LAST BUT NOT LEAST The beloved local artist, who died at 77 in January, posted potential titles for his bittersweet, existentially comic paintings on a wall in his Cambridge studio. The 16 paintings here, made in his last months, mostly didn’t receive the finishing touch of a title, but among the notes on the wall when he died was this one: “Title Memorial Show: Last but Not Least.” Through July 15. Gallery NAGA, 67 Newbury St. www.gallerynaga.comCATE McQUAIDTodd McKie, untitled (14), 2021-22, flashe on canvas.Photo by Bill Kipp, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery NAGAEVENTSComedyJOHN BAGLIO ALBUM RELEASE On his new album, “Tag Me In,” Baglio explains why he likes to instigate bar fights on Halloween. “When you get to see drunk dudes in costumes fight each other, you get to see the movies that Hollywood would never make,” he says. “One year I saw a very fat Wolverine beat up Mario, Luigi, and a green M&M.” With Paul Cyphers, Rohan Padhye, Laura Severse, and Chris Post. June 17, 8 p.m. $20. Democracy Brewing, 35 Temple Place. www.comedy-party.comSTAND UP FOR PRIDE COMEDY NIGHT A strong triple bill of Val Kappa, Amy Tee, and Chloe Cunha perform stand-up to benefit the Wenham Museum and the Hamilton-Wenham Human Rights Coalition. June 18, 7 p.m. $20. Wenham Museum, 132 Main St., Wenham. www.hwhumanrights.orgTHE BE A MAN EXPERIENCE The “wrecking ball of manliness,” the popular Instagram and TikTok star may not give the best advice — a recent spot says “Get a vasectomy and then go straight to the gym and deadlift, be a man” — but it is oddly self-aware and silly. With cohost John Fiore and stand-up from Dan Smith, Jimmy Cash, and Mike McCarthy. June 23, 7 p.m. $26-$55. The Chevalier Theatre, 30 Forest St., Medford. www.chevaliertheatre.comNICK A. ZAINO IIIFamily"Ubi Girl from Tai Region" by Loïs Mailou Jones, 1972, acrylic on canvas. The piece is part of the MFA's exhibition "Touching Roots: Black Ancestral Legacies in the Americas," which will be the subject of a Spotlight Talk at 11 a.m. during the MFA's Juneteenth Free Open House on Monday.Courtesy of the Museum of Fine ArtsFREE DAYS AT THE ICA AND MFA Visit the Institute of Contemporary Art for free on June 19 and, if you’re a Massachusetts resident, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts on June 20, all for free. Plus, enjoy the slew of events the MFA has planned, such as Drop-In Art Marking Portraits of Leadership, where you’ll create a portrait of a leader in your life to be displayed during the Obama Portraits Tour in September. ICA: June 19, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Institute of Contemporary Art, 25 Harbor Shore Dr. icaboston.org MFA: June 20, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave. mfa.orgPIRATES & MERMAIDS DANCE PARTY Whether you aspire to a swashbuckling, seven-seas-sailing pirate, or a wise, tranquil mermaid, you’re sure to have a blast at this dance party. Create dastardly pirate flags and shiny mermaid scales, and hop on for the adventure of a lifetime. June 18, 3-4 p.m. Free. Move & Groove Watertown, 100 Parker St., Watertown. eventbrite.comHANG IT UP DAD! Make this Father’s Day a memorable one by having your child create a custom wooden sign for Dad to hang up wherever feels right. With folks from the DIY studio Hammer & Stein Northshore to help out, you can’t go wrong. Finish the afternoon off right with some Father’s Day karaoke, which will enter you into a raffle with a chance to win gift cards or merchandise. June 19, 1-4 p.m. Free. East Regiment Beer Co., 30 Church St., Salem. eventbrite.comSAM TROTTENBERG | Music |
In the house that Bill Russell built, Warriors point guard Steph Curry raised the Bill Russell Finals MVP Trophy Thursday night.With several fans at TD Garden sticking around for the trophy presentation, the cheers drowned out any boos as Curry raised the gold hardware after leading the Warriors to a 103-90 victory over the Celtics in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.The award was the missing accolade in Curry’s decorated career. Andre Iguodala won it in 2015, while Kevin Durant did in both 2017 and 2018. But Curry won unanimously this year, earning all 11 votes from the media panel.As his father Dell Curry looks on, Golden State's Stephen Curry gets emotional in the final moments of Game 6 Thursday night at TD Garden.Matthew J. Lee/Globe StaffCurry was by far the best player on the court in the six-game series. He averaged 31.2 points per game and, with exception to Game 5, shot incredibly efficiently from the field and from three. Even when Curry wasn’t scoring, his gravity alone had the potential to warp Boston’s defense.Curry joins an exclusive group of six players in NBA history with four rings, multiple league MVPs, and a Finals MVP, joining LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Tim Duncan.Nicole Yang can be reached at nicole.yang@globe.com.Follow her on Twitter @nicolecyang. | Basketball |
Eurovision could be coming to the UK in 2023, after the event’s organisers concluded Ukraine is not capable of hosting the contest.Ukraine won this year’s contest with Kalush Orchestra’s Stefania, after viewers across the continent came together to vote for the song and show solidarity with the nation after Russian’s invasion.Tradition dictates that the previous year’s winners host the next contest but the event’s organisers say they have “with deep regret” concluded that it will not be possible to provide the security and operational guarantees required to host the contest in Ukraine.The event’s organisers have now asked the BBC to host next year’s competition, after the UK finished in second place with Sam Ryder’s Space Man.The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the competition, said: “The Eurovision song contest is one of the most complex TV productions in the world, with thousands working on, and attending, the event and 12 months of preparation time needed.”It said, after a lengthy investigation, the required guarantees could not be provided by Ukraine’s public broadcaster and expressed “sadness and disappointment” that next year’s contest could not be held in Ukraine.“As a result of this decision, in accordance with the rules and to ensure the continuity of the event, the EBU will now begin discussions with the BBC, as this year’s runner-up, to potentially host the 2023 Eurovision song contest in the United Kingdom.“It is our full intention that Ukraine’s win will be reflected in next year’s shows. This will be a priority for us in our discussions with the eventual hosts.”The competition was last held in Britain in 1998 after the UK won with Katrina and the Waves’ Love Shine a Light. Hosting Eurovision is a logistical and financial challenge and could be a test for the BBC, which is already struggling with substantial financial cuts and redundancies.If the BBC agrees to host the contest, cities across the UK are likely to be keen to stage it. Glasgow’s 14,000-capacity OVO Hydro Arena has been speculated as a potential venue in recent days.A BBC spokesperson confirmed that the broadcaster is in talks about hosting the event: “We have seen the announcement from the EBU. Clearly these aren’t a set of circumstances that anyone would want. After their decision, we will of course discuss the BBC hosting the Eurovision song contest.” | Music |
BOSTON — When Steve Kerr came to the Warriors, it was because the team needed a head coach that would reset the culture in Oakland.
Five-straight NBA Finals and a move across the Bay later, it’s obvious that Kerr was able to do that.
The Warriors’ systems are the envy of the league and the team’s environment of positivity and accountability is legendary.
But the Warriors needed something more than a big-picture coach this season, particularly in the NBA Finals. They needed a tactical master. Someone who could adapt to any situation and deploy his players in the perfect way. They needed someone to handle the micro.
It’s rare to be a quality team visionary. It’s tough to be an X’s and O’s master.
To be both? That would make someone arguably the best coach in the NBA.
And that’s what Kerr proved himself to be this season.
(Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
“Man, you’re talking about one of the greatest coaches of all time,” Andrew Wiggins, arguably the poster child for the Warriors Way said after Game 6. “The way he challenges his players but supports them, it’s amazing. He gives his players confidence and he puts his players in position to succeed. So I’m definitely thankful for Steve Kerr.” Kerr’s adjustments throughout these NBA Finals were critical in claiming the series and a fourth title under his reign for the Dubs.
The early portion of the series saw little between Golden State and Boston. The Celtics might have been the more talented team; the Warriors certainly the more experienced. The basic tactics were on point for both teams from the opening tip of Game 1 in San Francisco.
No, this series was going to be won or lost because of injury — and thank goodness that wasn’t a true factor — or a series of small adjustments that could prove to make a big difference.
Starting in Game 4, with the Warriors down 2-1 in the series, Kerr comprehensively out-adjusted Boston’s first-year head coach Ime Udoka. He worked over the rookie, and it resulted in three straight wins and a fourth NBA title in eight years.
For a coach that has so often defaulted to the Warriors’ ideals, this was a realpolitik performance from the Warriors’ head coach.
And it manifested in his benching of Draymond Green in the fourth quarter of that game.
It was a risky but necessary move. It paid with Green’s finish to that game and finish to the series.
Meanwhile, the Boston coach had one move: imploring his team to stop playing soft.
That stopped working around half-time of Game 4.
The Warriors, meanwhile, tinkered, mixed and matched all the way to the final whistle.
And when Kerr found something that worked, he had no problem pushing the button again and again and again late in the series.
Kerr still had moves remaining. He dared Boston to counter. In the final two games, those counters didn’t come.
(Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
The biggest adjustment the Warriors made was in Game 5, when Andrew Wiggins was matched with Jayson Tatum for every minute the latter was on the court.
In the NHL playoffs, teams try to match lines — this was Kerr’s hockey play.
Tatum shot 16-of-38 over the final two games was far more of a detriment than benefit to the Celtics over the final two contest. Wiggins had him second-guessing everything.
Earlier in the series, the Warriors had found some success with Gary Payton II in the rotation. He sat in Game 1, but he was an impact player in Game 2. Then, Kerr couldn’t find him big minutes in Games 3 and 4.
That was not a problem in Game 5 or Game 6, though. Kerr played Payton played 46 minutes — a top-five number on the Dubs in the final two games of the Finals — and had 21 points, eight rebounds, a block and six steals. No one had a better net rating than the Young Glove in the final two contests.
Kerr also staggered Kevon Looney and Green more in Games 5, 6 — their minutes on the court together were limited. Both players were marvelous, but having two non-shooters on the floor proved challenging for the Dubs, even if there were defensive positives.
The final big adjustment that Kerr made was to go against what had been working in the series up until Game 4.
But, trust me, it was a pragmatic move.
The Celtics were keying in on the Warriors’ high pick-and-roll — a system that Golden State avoids on principle but started using heavily in Game 1 because of Boston’s switch-everything defense.
But with Curry scoring 43 points in Game 4, Boston made it clear from the jump in Game 5 that they were going to make anyone but No. 30 beat them.
Kerr foresaw the move and the Warriors ran their traditional motion sets almost exclusively for the final two games. Boston was stuck in no man’s land — the Warriors claimed the title.
There will be countless questions in the coming months about if the Warriors can do it again — can they go on another run of NBA Finals appearances?
There’s one question that won’t have to be asked, in any capacity: Is the right man at the helm for whatever happens next?
Kerr has proven himself four times over now, and this might have been the most impressive coaching performance of the lot. | Basketball |
Amber Heard was "ice cold" and "didn't seem natural" in court, a juror in the multimillion-dollar libel case brought by her ex-husband Johnny Depp has said. Speaking anonymously to Good Morning America, he revealed one of the reasons that the jury ruled against the actress was because her testimony "didn't come across as believable".
"It seemed like she was able to flip the switch on her emotions," the juror said."She would answer one question and she would be crying and two seconds later she would turn ice cold. It didn't seem natural."By contrast, Depp "just seemed a little more real in terms of how he responded to questions". In her first interview since the verdict on 1 June, Heard said she and Depp were "awful to each other" during their "toxic" relationship and admitted she made "a lot of mistakes - but always told the truth".
Heard, 36, told NBC News that she still has love for her ex-husband and has "no bad feelings or ill will towards him". More on Amber Heard Amber Heard says she still has love for Johnny Depp and 'no bad feelings' - and realises she is not a 'perfect' victim Amber Heard says she and Johnny Depp were 'awful to each other' but that she 'always told the truth', in first interview since actor's libel case win Amber Heard breaks silence after losing Johnny Depp libel trial - saying she doesn't blame the jury and criticising 'vitriol' on social media Asked whether Depp's claim that he never hit her is a lie, Heard told the journalist Savannah Guthrie: "Yes it is."Depp has denied he abused Heard.The actor, 59, was awarded $10.35m (£8.2m) in damages.At the conclusion of the six-week trial Judge Penney Azcarate ruled that the identities of the seven jurors would remain secret for at least a year.The juror criticised Heard's legal team for "cutting off" witnesses and said they gave her poor advice, such as looking directly at the jury when responding to questions. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 'We were awful to each other' "All of us were very uncomfortable" at that, he said.He also said the arguments over her charitable donations were "a fiasco".During the trial, Heard was challenged over why she had not yet donated her $7m (£5.7m) divorce settlement to charities as promised.The juror also said there were inconsistencies in Heard's testimony about her use of make-up.Heard's team failed her by telling the jury she "never goes outside without make-up on", he said.Read more:Key evidence from six weeks of 'soap opera' trial'People want to kill me': How has online abuse of Amber Heard become acceptable"Yet she goes to file the restraining order without make-up on. And it just so happens her publicist is with her. Those things add up and starts to become hard to believe," he said.The juror denied the jury was swayed by outside forces. He and "at least" three others did not have Twitter accounts. "Some people said we were bribed. That's not true," he said."Social media did not impact us. We followed the evidence. We didn't take into account anything outside [the courtroom]. We only looked at the evidence."They were very serious accusations and a lot of money involved. So we weren't taking it lightly."He also denied the jury was starstruck."None of us were really fans of either one of them," he said. | Celebrity |
Golden State’s trophy presentation began moments later, and many fans in green stayed at their seats to record the moment with their phones. They were probably crushed by the 103-90 Game 6 loss in these NBA Finals, but it’s also not every day one gets to witness greatness. And these Warriors, who have now won four titles in the last eight years, certainly qualify.Get Court SenseBounce around the NBA with our Celtics-centric look at the latest happenings on and off the court.They are also everything the Celtics hope to become, and for six long, grueling games, Boston got an up-close and sometimes painful view of it all. It was a lesson in real-time.“It don’t stop hurting,” center Robert Williams said. “It never stops hurting until we’re back in this position again.”Al Horford winces as the final minutes on the clock wind down Thursday night at TD Garden.Jim Davis/Globe StaffUntil then, they’ll just be left with memories of a night they would probably like to forget. As players completed interviews in a quiet room in the bowels of TD Garden, the cigar smoke from the Warriors’ celebration wafted in.When Tatum finished his session and started to leave the arena, he passed several members of the Warriors traveling party who were soaked in beer and champagne, and smelled like it. Dell Curry, the former NBA sharpshooter who is also the father of Stephen, perhaps the greatest NBA sharpshooter of all-time, was at the end of that group.“Where are the Coronas at?!” he yelled to no one in particular.There was no such joy in the Celtics’ locker room after the loss. Players said it was both quiet and emotional. But the frustration about the missed opportunity seemed to quickly be tinged with appreciation for how far this team has come, and optimism about the future.“Nobody even had us being here, let alone in the playoffs,” guard Marcus Smart said. “It definitely is tough. But it’s definitely one of those things we’ve been through hell to get here, and you take that. You know what I’m saying? We’ve got to use that.”In January, this team was in 11th place in the Eastern Conference and under .500. A run such as this one seemed unfathomable then.In the playoffs, Boston certainly tempted fate. It survived two elimination games in the semifinals against the Bucks, then went on the road to win Game 7 in the conference finals against the Heat. But this Golden State team left no room for flaws. Instead, it pounced on them.“What I said to the group is there are levels,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said, “and you can see the difference in Golden State.”It seems like months ago that Boston held 1-0 and then 2-1 leads in this series, flipping from slight underdogs to favorites who had ripped homecourt advantage away from these mighty Warriors. Boston had not lost consecutive games in these playoffs, and as long as it continued that trend, it would win the franchise’s first championship since 2008.Instead, the Celtics closed the season by losing three games in a row for the first time since December, a darker time in a year that had eventually become quite bright.“Tough day for Boston,” said Brown, who had 34 points. “Tough day for the Celtics. But, I don’t know what to say.”Tatum appeared particularly gloomy afterward. This season the 24-year-old forward emerged as an MVP candidate, and these playoffs were viewed as his chance to truly ascend to superstardom.Although he did help guide Boston to the brink of a title, this postseason was not his best work. Turnovers, missed shots, and complaints to officials sometimes outnumbered more enjoyable moments. He was 6 for 18 with five turnovers Thursday.Tatum vowed to do more and come back better. Udoka acknowledged that this series was “a rough one” for Tatum, but he said he would learn from what it was like to have defenses build entire plans to stop him.“It’s just continuing to grow and understand you’re going to see this the rest of your career,” Udoka said. “This is just a start.”Curry, of course, has been operating under such a spotlight for years, and he continues to be unbothered by any of the hindrances and distractions and challenges that follow. The 34-year-old guard capped a masterful Finals performance with 34 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists en route to becoming one of the easiest choices for MVP ever.“It’s special,” he said. “Just all the work that went into it, the faith and belief and everybody in that locker room that’s getting to spray champagne around the locker room, everybody mattered in that process.”There were fleeting moments Thursday when it seemed that this season would last for a few more days, with a Game 7 in San Francisco, where any fluky moment could make a Celtics championship possible.Boston surged to a 14-2 lead, and the fans began to believe. But the Warriors punched back quickly and seized control with a silencing 21-0 run. Golden State led by as many as 22 points midway through the third period before Boston responded with one final surge.A 3-pointer by Brown with 5:34 left in the fourth pulled Boston within eight, 86-78. But a 3-pointer by Andrew Wiggins, who blanketed Tatum throughout this series, was followed by a steal by Klay Thompson that led to a Draymond Green layup. The fact that this game was clinched by a turnover was fitting for the celtics, because those miscues were their undoing this postseason. They had 23 of them in this game.“Every possession is purposeful,” Williams said. “It seemed the other locker room realized that; we didn’t. They had a meaning to everything they were doing.”About two hours after the game ended, after Curry had finished yet another interview about yet another title, he walked down a corridor wearing his white hat and carrying the championship and MVP trophies. Down another long hallway, near the empty Celtics locker room, there was just silence.Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach. | Basketball |
Lola Tung said she didn't have high expectations when she sent in her audition tape for the leading role in the new adaptation of author Jenny Han's "The Summer I Turned Pretty."But Han, who is also behind the “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” trilogy, knew fairly early in the process that she had found her perfect Isabel "Belly" Conklin in Tung.“I was looking for a Belly that felt on the precipice of going into adulthood, which is something that’s very hard to manufacture, that sort of real innocence and kind of rawness,” Han said in a recent interview.The Amazon Prime Video show, which debuts Friday, is the first adaptation of Han’s three-part young adult romance novel. The coming-of-age story centers on 16-year-old Belly during a summer trip to a fictional beach town with her mother (Jackie Chung) and older brother (Sean Kaufman). At the beach house, Belly stays with her mother’s childhood best friend (Rachel Blanchard) and her two sons (Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno), with whom she gets wrapped up with in a complicated love triangle.Because Tung had never been in front of the camera before, the 19-year-old newcomer had a quality that felt “very natural and genuine and sincere, and that was really important to me to capture within the character,” Han said.For Tung, being close in age to Belly helped her ease into her first acting role."I felt like I could relate to her in a lot of ways," Tung explained. "Those feelings of wanting to find that sense of independence and create her own path in her life, and going through a period of a lot of change in her life and sort of figuring out what each of her new relationships and her past family relationships mean."I felt like I could relate to her in a lot of ways.
-Actor Lola Tung, on playing BellyTung was in a similar mindset when she auditioned for her breakout role during her first year at Carnegie Mellon University. "I've sort of been doing that same thing, figuring out what and who I want to be, and what my path looks like," she said.Kaufman, who plays Tung's older brother in the series, agreed that the actor and Belly were like-minded, calling them both "kind" and "unapologetically themselves.""You can see that through Belly and especially Lola," he said. "There's something endearing about that."Aside from dealing with the anxieties that typically plague freshman year of college and an actor's first-ever TV role, Tung is just humbled by the opportunity to add her name to a growing list of Asian American female romantic-comedy leads, including Lana Condor in Han's own "To All the Boys I've Loved Before.""I feel so grateful to be doing this and to have gotten this chance to work with other wonderful Asian American artists and actors and writers and one of our directors," Tung added. "It feels really, really cool to bring this to life, and to get the privilege to do that, too."Wilson Wong is a culture and trends reporter for NBC News Digital. | Movies |
For context, this scale is bookended by the Lightyear One (104 Wh/km) and Tesla Model 3 (151 Wh/km) and, at the other end of the spectrum, electric minivans like the Mercedes EQV 300 Long (295 Wh/km).Cabin Heating and Cooling“An electric vehicle’s main secondary energy use by far is to heat the cabin and battery,” says Matthias Tonn, chief program engineer for the Ford Mustang Mach-E. “When you compare an ICE to an EV, secondary systems become more dominant,” says Clemént Heinen, attribute lead in Polestar’s vehicle development team. "Whereas an electric car is driven by an efficient motor and battery pack, ICE cars use otherwise wasted heat generated by the engine to warm the cabin. The effects of those other elements, like the climate system, become very visible.”Bishop’s calculations take into account a circulation fan; heating and cooling systems; heated front and rear screens; and heated mirrors, seats, and steering wheel. Heating and cooling systems are by far the largest drains of power in this category, requiring up to 3 kW and 4 kW, respectively, and robbing between 8.3 km and 11.1 km of range per hour of use.Interestingly, heated seats are a far more efficient way to warm a car’s occupants, consuming 50 watt-hours each, taking just 560 meters of range per hour of use.Lighting, electric car owners will be pleased to hear, consumes very little power. Bishop’s calculations estimate that a vehicle’s entire exterior lighting system, when used in a typical manner, accounts for 48.80 watt-hours (Wh) of energy. For a vehicle with an energy consumption of 180 Wh/km, which includes EVs such as the Porsche Taycan 4S, Tesla Model Y Performance, Kia EV6 Long Range, and Volkswagen ID.4, this equates to 0.27 km/h—or just 270 meters of range per hour of driving.Car infotainment displays have grown significantly in the past decade, to the point that some span the entire width of the cabin. And some cars, like the Porsche Taycan, can be bought with up to five digital displays. The latest generation of Tesla Model S and Model X cars also come equipped with powerful video game systems, boasting 10 teraflops of power, roughly equal to a PlayStation 5, which has an output of 350 watts.All of this draws significantly more energy from the car’s battery pack than the simple music and navigation systems of just a few years ago. While a regular car stereo played loudly might reach 100 watts of power, its demands on the battery pack are tiny, with 100 watt-hours equating to approximately 0.5 km of vehicle range per hour of use.At this point, it is worth addressing how premium sound systems with huge maximum power outputs don’t necessarily drain an EV battery more quickly than a regular stereo. According to Bishop, while it’s possible to buy cars with sound systems boasting more than 2,000 watts of peak output, such huge amounts of audio power—2 kW—in practical use have little effect on battery drain. Here it’s important to remember how peak output is often only reached for a matter of milliseconds, and it is the ability to do that, even for just a thousandth of a second, that contributes to the better sound of a more expensive audio system.Additionally, it is useful to know that powerful sound systems make use of capacitors to regulate their electrical demands. These are trickle-charged by the vehicle and then used to give the system a quick jolt of electricity when extra power is needed—such as when reaching that headline 2,200-watt for a millisecond.USB chargers (and Wipers)USB ports are commonplace on most modern cars, often with a pair in the front and a further two or even three for rear passengers. We suggested earlier the possibility of removing an iPad from charge to preserve range, but there’s really no need. According to Silver Power Systems’ calculations, a regular car USB port is responsible for just 9 meters of range per hour of use. That’s about the same as using a windscreen wiper to clear a 15-minute rainstorm.Secondary vehicle systems aren’t limited to those found in the cabin. The ABS, brake servo, power steering motor, and suspension compressor of many modern cars use electricity, but only a small amount. Broadly speaking, all of these combined account for about 100 watt-hours of power consumption, leading to approximately half a kilometer of range per hour.Aerodynamic Drag and Speed“At highway speed, by far the biggest [energy] loss is aerodynamic drag,” says Fry. “For a Tesla Model 3, which has a drag coefficient of 0.23 and 2.22 m² frontal area, 9.5 kW of power is required to overcome aerodynamic drag. If we also consider a few hundred watts for tire friction, an estimated 90 percent combined efficiency of the inverter and motor, and another few hundred watts for the essential onboard computers, we need 11 kW to cruise at 70 mph.”What if the car were driven slightly slower? Fry says by turning the cruise control down just 2 mph, to 68 mph, “drag power would reduce by 800 watts to 8.7 kW”—in other words, an 8.4 percent savings in energy consumption for a 2.6 percent reduction in speed.Adding passengers and luggage can affect the consumption of an electric car. But, unlike an ICE vehicle, the regenerative braking system of an EV helps undo some of the energy losses experienced when lugging around more weight. Those extra kilograms increase the mass and momentum of the vehicle, boosting the amount of energy recovered back into the battery when coasting and braking.“The number of passengers and luggage will change the energy required to bring the vehicle up to speed," says Fry. "But it is not reflected in our simple 70 mph cruise example [outlined above], except for a small change in tire friction.”Although they can’t be switched off to save range, like air conditioning, tires play a key role in the efficiency of an electric vehicle. Gunnlaugur Erlendsson, founder of startup tire producer ENSO, says: “If you put a poor set of tires on the car, it will dramatically affect the range.”His thoughts are shared by Ian Coke, chief technical officer of Pirelli North America, who says that in the EV market, when you're not using the correct tire you’re more likely to notice a loss in range and an increase in noise and other characteristics, “which will be exaggerated due to the powertrain.” | Automotive and Transportation |
BOSTON — The Golden State Warriors are NBA champions once again, topping the Boston Celtics 103-90 on Thursday night for their fourth title in the last eight seasons.Stephen Curry scored 34 points and was named the NBA Finals MVP as the Warriors claimed the franchise’s seventh championship overall. And this one completed a journey like none other after a run of five consecutive Finals, then a plummet to the bottom of the NBA and now a return to greatness just two seasons after having the league’s worst record.“We found a way to just get it done,” Curry said after the Warriors accepted the championship trophy and celebrated on the court.With tears in his eyes and hoarse with emotion, Curry struggled to speak as he explained what allowed the Warriors to capture their latest crown.Guard Stephen Curry holds up the MVP trophy after the Warriors' 103-90 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 6 to win the NBA Finals on Thursday at TD Garden in Boston. (Nhat V. Meyer, Bay Area News Group)“It’s part of a championship pedigree, our experience,” he said. “We built this for 10-11 years. That means a lot when you get to this stage.”For Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, it’s a fourth championship. The first three rings came in 2015, 2017 and 2018, when the Warriors were dynastic and made five consecutive trips to the Finals.“They’re all unique, they’re all special,” coach Steve Kerr said of the multiple titles. “This one might have been the most unlikely. ... It takes a group effort to get it done and we had a great group.”Injuries, including ones that sidelined Thompson for 2 ½ years, and roster changes changed everything. But this season, with Thompson returning around the midway point, the Warriors were finally back.Back on top too. Champions again, denying the storied Celtics what would have been their record 18th championship, one that would have allowed them to break a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in league history.This tale for the Warriors ended much differently than what was their most recent Finals appearance against the Toronto Raptors in 2019, one that saw Kevin Durant tear his Achilles tendon in Game 5 and then Thompson tear his ACL in what became the Raptors’ title-clincher in Game 6.The aftermath of that loss was exacerbated by Durant’s decision to leave that summer in free agency to join the Brooklyn Nets and Thompson’s Achilles injury while rehabilitating his knee injury.“It all paid off,” Thompson said. “It was dog days, a lot of tears shed. ... You knew it was a possibility, but to see it in real time. … It’s crazy.”Stephen Curry reacts after the Warriors defeated the Celtics in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Thursday in Boston. Curry scored 34 points and was named the series MVP. (Michael Dwyer/AP)It thrust a Warriors team into a rebuild that became a reload. They used their two-year hiatus from the NBA’s biggest stages to retool their roster — adding a past No. 1 draft pick in Andrew Wiggins, who excelled in his first finals, along with another rising star in Jordan Poole.“This one hits different for sure knowing what the last three years meant, what it’s been like,” Curry said. “Injuries, the changing of the guard, rosters, the young guys. ... Now, we got four championships. Me, Dray, Klay and Andre.“Finally got that bad boy,” Curry added, referring to the MVP trophy. “It’s special. ... Everybody mattered in that process.”Yes, it all clicked.For Kerr, it’s a ninth championship overall after winning five as a player. He’s the sixth coach to capture four titles, joining Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, John Kundla, Gregg Popovich and Pat Riley.Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 34 points but Jayson Tatum finished with just 13, shooting just 6 of 18. The Celtics also committed 22 turnovers, dropping to 1-8 this postseason when committing 16 or more.It was just the fifth defeat in 22 title-series appearances for the Celtics, who turned their season around to have a chance at this crown. They were 25-25 after 50 games, then went on a tear to get to the Finals and nearly claim what would have been just the franchise’s second championship since 1986.It was the third consecutive season in which things were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and while things were closer to normal, pictures and video of the championship celebration will serve as a forever reminder that the virus was still an issue.NBA Commissioner Adam Silver could not be at the game because he remained in the league’s health and safety protocols related to the virus. The redesigned Larry O’Brien Trophy — the golden souvenir given to the NBA champions — was presented to the Warriors by deputy commissioner Mark Tatum instead.The Celtics trailed by as many as 22 points but battled back and cut the deficit to eight. A Jaylen Brown 3-pointer made it 86-78 with 5 minutes, 33 seconds to play, but the Warriors never relinquished the lead.“Just couldn’t withstand their runs,” Celtics center Robert Williams said. “Messing up. They played harder and won tonight.”Curry sent Celtics fans streaming toward the exits with his sixth 3 of the night to give the Warriors a commanding 15-point lead at 96-81 — then clasped his hands against face as he ran back down the court, signaling an end to the Celtics’ hopes of extending the series.“We’ve had so many great players,” Kerr said, “but Steph, ultimately is why this run happens.”The Celtics came out firing, riding the energy from a deafening TD Garden crowd to take an early 14-2 lead.The Warriors weren’t rattled and responded with a 35-8 run that stretched into the second quarter on the way to building as much as a 22-point lead. They outscored the Celtics 27-17 for the period and carried a 54-39 lead into the second half as some Celtics fans booed the home team as they left the court.The Celtics fought back in the third, but the Warriors found their range from beyond the arc, connecting on six 3s in the quarter. | Basketball |
After more than 44 years of travelling farther from Earth than any man-made objects have before, the Voyager spacecraft are entering their very final phase.Both of the Voyagers were launched from Cape Canaveral in 1977 - with Voyager 2 actually the first to take off - taking advantage of a rare alignment (once every 176 years) of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune to shoot into interstellar space.
They were designed to last five years and study Jupiter and Saturn but remarkably both spacecraft are still functioning despite escaping beyond the hot plasma bubble known as the heliopause that defines the beginning of the edge of our solar system.Speaking to the magazine Scientific American about powering down the probes, NASA physicist Ralph McNutt said: "We're at 44 and a half years, so we've done 10 times the warranty on the darn things."Both of the spacecraft are powered by radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) - powered by the heat from decaying spheres of plutonium - although the output of these RTGs is decreasing by about four watts every year. This means instruments are being turned off one by one.
As of today Voyager 1 only has four functioning instruments left, and Voyager 2 has five. More on Nasa Rocket company Astra destroys NASA satellites again in another failed launch NASA assembles team of scientists to study UFOs despite facing 'reputational risk' The Sun: 'Solar hedgehog' among 'breathtaking' images released by European Space Agency It is certain that at some point the plutonium powering the spacecraft will decay beyond what is capable of keeping the probes functional. Some estimate that could be as soon as 2025, while others hope it may be later.But they have surprised NASA's engineers so far, who had expected to start turning Voyager 2's instruments off first, one by one, starting in 2020. Instead, nothing has been switched off since 2008."If everything goes really well, maybe we can get the missions extended into the 2030s. It just depends on the power. That's the limiting point," said Linda Spilker, who started working on the Voyager missions before they launched, speaking to Scientific American. Escaping the solar systemIt took Voyager 1 around 36 years to breach the heliopause, and the data it has sent back since then suggests some fascinating qualities about the role of magnetic fields in the universe.Voyager 2 then passed into interstellar space in 2018 - 41 years after it was launched - breaking through the outer boundary of the heliopause where the hot solar wind meets the cold space known as the interstellar medium.But space is very, very big and neither of the probes are currently considered to be outside of the solar system. The final boundary is considered to be the Oort Cloud, a collection of small objects still under the influence of the Sun's gravity.NASA says it will take about 300 years for Voyager 2 to reach the inner edge of the Oort Cloud, and possibly 30,000 years to fly beyond it.Voyager 1 is currently 14.5 billion miles (23.3bn km) from Earth and it takes 20 light hours and 33 minutes to travel that distance, meaning it takes two days to send a message to the spacecraft and get a response.Voyager 2 isn't quite so far, only 12 billion miles from the Earth, just under an 18 hours' light distance from us.Both of the spacecraft carry a gold-plated disc containing multicultural greetings, songs and photographs, in case they one day meet intelligent life - although some astronomers have cautioned that humanity may regret making first contact.Carl Sagan was a dismissive of this concern: "The fact is, for better or for worse, we have already announced our presence and location to the universe, and continue to do so every day."There is a sphere of radio transmission about thirty light years thick expanding outward at the speed of light, announcing to every star it envelops that the earth is full of people."Our television programs flood space with signals detectable at enormous distances by instruments not much greater than our own. It is a sobering thought that the first news of us may be the outcome of the Super Bowl," he wrote. Mysterious dataAs recently as last month NASA said its engineers were working on a solving a mystery affecting Voyager 1's telemetry data, although Voyager 2 is continuing to operate normally - albeit with some instruments now turned off for longevity.The problem probe has an attitude articulation and control system (AACS) that is in charge of the spacecraft's orientation, including keeping its antenna pointed precisely at Earth so it can send data home.This data is still arriving, suggesting the AACS continues working as intended, but the telemetry data itself is invalid according to NASA. It appears randomly generated or to be not reflecting any possible state the AACS could actually be in, the space agency explained."A mystery like this is sort of par for the course at this stage of the Voyager mission," said Suzanne Dodd, project manager for Voyager 1 and 2 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California."The spacecraft are both almost 45 years old, which is far beyond what the mission planners anticipated. We're also in interstellar space – a high-radiation environment that no spacecraft have flown in before."So there are some big challenges for the engineering team. But I think if there's a way to solve this issue with the AACS, our team will find it," Ms Dodd added.The LegacyOn 14 February 1990, as Voyager 1 passed Uranus, it turned back towards the Earth to take a picture of our planet as a tiny dot.Four years later the astronomer Carl Sagan reflected on the significance of the photograph to an audience at Cornell University, famously coining its name as the "Pale Blue Dot", and giving one of the most widely published speeches of all time."Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives."The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilisation, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every 'superstar', every 'supreme leader', every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam." Image: Carl Sagan's pale blue dot We probably won't see its like again any time soon.NASA said that while it is possible for the cameras to be turned back on, doing so isn't a priority for the interstellar mission.The agency added that the picture likely wouldn't be anywhere near as good as the one captured in 1990 either: "It is very dark where the Voyagers are now. While you could still see some brighter stars and some of the planets with the cameras, you can actually see these stars and planets better with amateur telescopes on Earth."For those who still have hope, NASA cautions that the attempt could be a waste of the probes' dwindling resources: "The computers on the ground that understand the software and analyse the images do not exist anymore."The cameras and their heaters have also been exposed for years to the very cold conditions at the deep reaches of our solar system."Even if mission managers recreated the computers on the ground, reloaded the software onto the spacecraft and were able to turn the cameras back on, it is not clear that they would work." | Space Exploration |
Arsenal are continuing to work on a deal to sign Youri Tielemans from Leicester after reaching an agreement to buy Fábio Vieira from Porto, who confirmed in a statement on Friday that they had accepted a bid.Porto said Arsenal would pay €40m (£34m), including €5m in performance-related add-ons. The Portuguese club said the transfer was “expected to be concluded in the next few days”.Vieira is a 22-year-old attacking midfielder, who scored six goals and provided 14 assists in Portugal’s top division in the 2021-22 season, but his arrival has not changed Arsenal’s plans regarding Tielemans.Leicester are braced for an offer from Arsenal for the 25-year-old, who has one more year on his contract. Tielemans plays in a deeper role than Vieira, most of the Belgium international’s 50 appearances for Leicester in the most recent campaign coming in a central midfield.Manchester City have made Kalvin Phillips their preferred option to replace Fernandinho after the Brazil international’s departure. Phillips has spent his whole career at Leeds and broke into the England team in 2020.City are targeting Brighton’s Marc Cucurella in another priority position, left-back, and have no intention of loaning Julián Álvarez, the 22-year-old forward who is arriving from River Plate this summer. | Soccer |
After a 103-90 win over the Boston Celtics on Thursday night, the Warriors were back in a familiar position.
A few of them, to be exact.
Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green have become accustomed to winning NBA titles, as the trio hoisted a Larry O’Brien trophy for the fourth time in eight seasons. They’re also accustomed to being the favorites, which is what Las Vegas oddsmakers have already labeled them for next year.
According to BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings and others, the Warriors are the team to beat. BetMGM lists the Warriors odds at +550 with the Celtics at +650 and Kevin Durant’s Brooklyn Nets following behind them at +700. Caesars lists the Warriors at 5-1, with the Celtics and Nets each at 6-1 entering next season.
DraftKings actually lists the Warriors as one of four teams with +600 odds as they’re joined by the Celtics, Nets and Los Angeles Clippers.
Regardless of what transpires next season, it’s a rather remarkable feat for a Golden State team led by a 34-year-old Curry and two 32-year-old teammates in Thompson and Green to be considered favorites after the team missed the playoffs in 2020 and 2021. Injuries to Curry and Thompson robbed the Warriors of star power, but during this year’s postseason run, the Warriors’ core players proved they’re still capable of playing at an elite level.
If Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole and Kevon Looney are back in the fold and a young trio of recent lottery picks –Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and James Wiseman– take steps forward, there’s no reason Golden State should enter next year with the type of doubts that surrounded the team headed into this season. | Basketball |
Oklahoma players celebrate their win over Virginia Tech in an NCAA college baseball super regional game Sunday, June 12, 2022, in Blacksburg, Va.(Scott P. Yates / ASSOCIATED PRESS)The 2022 College World Series kicks off on Friday. It’s always appointment viewing for college baseball fans. But it’s particularly ripe with storylines for D-FW sports fans this summer. Here are five reasons to tune in to this year’s event.Plenty of local rooting interestsSimply put, almost half of the field is made up of local schools. The Texas Longhorns, Texas A&M Aggies and Oklahoma Sooners make up three of the eight teams competing. It’s Texas’ second straight CWS appearance. It’s Texas A&M’s first time qualifying since the 2017 season. And it’s Oklahoma’s first trip to Omaha since 2010.Plenty of rivalry fodderSoon-to-be SEC rivals Texas A&M and Oklahoma will kick off the entire tournament on Friday when they play each other in the first game of the weeks-long event. The Sooners and Aggies will meet at noon central on ESPN. Immediately following that game? Texas-Notre Dame. If the Longhorns win, that means it will set up a Sunday night game against either their Red River rivals from the Sooner State, or a revival of the dormant Texas-Texas A&M rivalry.It almost seems scripted.To add fuel to the fire, a Dallas-based teacher that was originally scheduled to sing the national anthem during the College World Series lost that opportunity after he busted out a “Horns Down” sign after singing during the Women’s College World Series earlier this month. His actions apparently led the NCAA to say it has “documented proof that he made offensive gestures and mockery of a participating team ... and we do not feel comfortable allowing him to perform.”Think there might be a few interested viewers if we’re treated to a Texas-Oklahoma or Texas-Texas A&M matchup over the weekend?Plenty of action at a time we need itLet’s be honest. We’re nearing the back end of June. The NBA and NHL postseasons are about to wrap up. The NFL offseason is at its quietest point. MLB is still months away from games with true postseason implications.We need sports to view. And over the next 10 days, the CWS will provide that in bulk. By the end of the tournament, there will have been between 14 and 17 games played. All of it nationally televised. All of it with sports-deprived fans tuned in for their last taste of major college sports until football season kicks off in a few months.Plenty of future stars on displayThere will be no shortage of baseball’s stars of tomorrow on display at the College World Series.That includes Texas’ Tristan Stevens, who cemented himself as a Longhorn legend with his Game 3 performance in the Super Regionals. Making his first start in almost two months and dealing with weather delays that took more than five hours, Stevens still shut down East Carolina, allowing just one run and a handful of hits through six innings of work.His teammate Ivan Melendez, a catcher who broke Texas’ single-season home run record earlier this season, leads all College World Series players in home runs (32), RBI (94), slugging (.888) and OPS (1.404).Texas A&M pitcher Jacob Palisch may be the team’s most important workhorse over the course of the series. He’s allowed just five runs since the start of April, and has been leaned on time and time again in high-leverage situations during Texas A&M’s postseason run.And while he’s not quite Oklahoma’s baseball version of softball star Jocelyn Alo, who just delivered the Sooners their latest Women’s College World Series title and earned Most Outstanding Player honors in the process after capping off a record season full of power numbers, the Sooners’ Peyton Graham isn’t too shabby himself. He just became the program’s first-ever player to hit 20 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season.Plenty of reason to think we end up getting a local national championNot only are there three local teams in the eight-team field. All three of those schools are on the same side of the bracket. That means there’s a high likelihood of having one of those local teams making it to the best-of-3 championship series for all the marbles.The way the tournament is structured, there are two “separate” brackets. The four teams pooled into bracket one are Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Notre Dame. The four schools in bracket two are Stanford, Arkansas, Auburn and Ole Miss. The winners from those two brackets will advance to the CWS Finals, scheduled for June 25, June 26 and (if necessary) June 27.The last time a local school won it all? The Texas Longhorns in 2005.It’s not just the setup for the tournament that makes a deep run by a local school a likely occurrence. Oddsmakers agree. In fact, they think Texas is the favorite to win it all. Here are the betting odds for the College World Series, entering Friday’s opening games:Texas +425Stanford +500Notre Dame +500Arkansas +550Ole Miss +650Oklahoma +700Auburn +700Texas A&M +800Related:Doesn’t NCAA have better things to do than police an anthem singer over Horns Down sign?Related:NCAA Super Regionals: Texas beats ECU, clinches program’s 38th trip to CWSFind more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.Scott Bell, Assistant Sports Editor. Scott is SportsDay's lead digital strategist. He also currently oversees coverage of the Morning News' college football, college basketball, Dallas Stars and golf coverage. He has been a part of the SportsDay team since 2010 and has previously led HS, Mavericks and soccer coverage. Prior to moving to Dallas, he worked at the Detroit Free Press.sbell@dallasnews.com /thescottbell @ScottBellDMN The TickerGet the latest D-FW sports news, analysis and opinion delivered straight to your inbox.By signing up you agree to our privacy policyMost Popular on DallasNews.com123456 | Baseball |
Twinning up that hill! Essex girl, 21, goes viral thanks to her VERY striking resemblance to Kate Bush - and says she's had marriage proposals from fansSydney Golding, 21, from Essex, was told that she looked like her for many yearsBut only started doing videos and taking interest in singer after death of friendFriend was massive fan of the star and wanted her to impersonate Kate BushSince starting TikTok videos she has racked up hundreds of thousands of likes Published: 05:00 EDT, 17 June 2022 | Updated: 06:10 EDT, 17 June 2022 A social media star who resembles Kate Bush and has gone viral on TikTok with clips impersonating the star revealed she's getting marriage proposals from fans. Sydney Golding, from Essex, who works as an administrator, said that she has been told that she looked like the singer for many years. The 21-year-old's clips impersonating Kate Bush on TikTok (@syd_not_so_vicious_) have racked up hundreds of thousands of likes – with many of the singer's fans leaving stunned comments at her uncanny resemblance.Sydney started doing the videos after the sudden death of her friend, who was a massive fan of the star and had wanted her to impersonate Kate Bush, so she decided to honour his memory by starting the account. Recently, the attention she has received has increased since the singer's 1985 hit 'Running Up That Hill' was featured in Netflix hit sci-fi series Stranger Things. Sydney Golding, 21, from Essex, who works as an administrator, said that she has been told that she looked like Kate Bush for many years. The 21-year-old's clips impersonating Kate Bush on TikTok (@syd_not_so_vicious_) have racked up hundreds of thousands of likes – with many of the singer's fans leaving stunned comments at her uncanny resemblance. Right: The real Kate Bush, pictured in 1978 Sydney started doing the videos after the sudden death of her friend, who was a massive fan of the star and had wanted her to impersonate Kate Bush- so she decided to honour his memory by starting the accountSydney said: 'For as long as I can remember, friends and family have told me I looked like Kate Bush and I've had strangers commenting on my Facebook saying they thought I was actually Kate Bush!'When I received the sad news that he had passed away, 'Running up the Hill' came up on the radio and I took it as a massive sign that I should explore Kate Bush. After more and I fell in love with her music too.'I started doing the TikTok videos to honour my late friend and to show my huge admiration of Kate Bush's amazing music. I was bowled over by the amazing response from people.Sydney said that she finds it rewarding when Kate Bush's fans compare her to the star: 'It's such a compliment when her fans on TikTok tell me I look and perform like her. Recently, the attention has increased since the singer's 1985 hit 'Running Up That Hill' was featured in Netflix sci-fi series Stranger Things Sydney said that friends, family and strangers have told her that she looked like Kate Bush for as long as she can remember The 21-year-old said that she went to a tribute concert for Kate Bush's music recently and got a lot of stares from people in the crowd and one woman came up to her and asked if she knew how much she looks like the star Sydney gets a plethora of comments on her impersonation videos which have remarked on how much she looks like the singer, including one person who wrote: 'Jeez you look just like her'It means a lot to me. I do get guys asking to marry me and asking what my relationship status is!' She added: 'I went to a tribute concert for Kate Bush's music recently and I got a lot of stares from people in the crowd. A woman approached me and asked if I knew how much I looked like Kate and I've had a stranger come up to me in the street too.'On Sydney's TikTok account, one stunned follower wrote: 'Jeez you look just like her'Meanwhile another viewer commented: 'Wow, incredible likeness to Kate!'Whilst another commented: 'I've said it before and I'll say it again I grew up with Kate's music and you're her double omg uncanny.' Another person wrote on her TikTok account that Sydney was Kate's 'double' and that the resemblance is 'uncanny' Her TikTok account features everything Kate Bush, including outfits, songs and memes relating to the star Her continued success on TikTok may rise further as Running Up That Hill is currently the UK's most-streamed song, averaging 700,000 plays per day on SpotifyThe revival of Running Up That Hill in Stranger Things has seen the tune re-enter the charts in a number of countries and Kate has achieved her first ever top five single in America.Her track has made it all the way to number four in the US charts almost forty years after it was released, with the single only reaching number 30 originally on the US Billboard Hot 100. And her song has hit number one in Norway and Austria, with her album Hounds of Love getting to the top spot on Billboard's Top Alternative Albums Chart in the US. In the UK charts, the 80s ballad is already at number two but is expected to hit number one this week. The chances of the tune reaching the top spot have now increased as the Charts enacted a rule which stops older songs being penalised if their streams surge. Running Up That Hill is currently the UK's most-streamed song, averaging 700,000 plays per day on Spotify. Advertisement | Music |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Chris Evans was "very" humbled when he played Buzz Lightyear in the Disney film "Lightyear," which hits theaters on Friday.The "Captain America" star was a guest on "Good Morning America" on Thursday and discussed voicing the character from the "Toy Story" franchise, which originally was voiced by Tim Allen. "My younger version would have just been pinching himself," he said. Evans shared that he has been a huge fan of Disney and Pixar animations since he was a child. Chris Evans is replacing Tim Allen in the "Toy Story" spinoff "Lightyear." (Getty Images)The actor admitted that he "certainly studied" Allen on all four of the "Toy Story" films before stepping into this role.BUZZ LIGHTYEAR RECAST WITH CHRIS EVANS OVER TIM ALLEN, FANS WONDER IF POLITICS ‘HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT’"Look, Tim Allen is Buzz Lightyear," he said. "What he did in those movies is so iconic and so loved, and I'd be a fool not to incorporate some of his choices into this role."Allen, 69, has voiced the astronaut doll character since 1995, and reprised the role for "Toy Story 2," "Toy Story 3," and "Toy Story 4" in addition to a host of other projects. Chris Evans poses with Buzz Lightyear at the U.K. premiere of "Lightyear." (David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage)He continued: "The character in this movie is the human version that the toy is based off of, so it makes sense to have a little bit of overlap, luckily for me. What Tim Allen did was pretty untouchable."‘TOY STORY 4’ STAR TIME ALLEN OPENS UP ABOUT ‘REFLECTIVE’ ESSENCE OF LATEST INSTALLMENT: ‘I GOT CHOKED UP’The Marvel Universe star is no stranger to playing beloved roles as he's starred as Captain America for nearly nine years. He admitted "it can be a little overwhelming at times" playing such beloved roles."I think it's important to remember that the fan base for both these characters has an idea of who the character should be, and you have to acknowledge that," Evans said. "That has to go into the role." Tim Allen attends the world premiere of Disney's "Toy Story 4" in 2019. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)"You can't work on these characters in a vacuum because that fan base is why these movies get made," he continued. "So you have to honor that."DISNEY, PIXAR'S ‘LIGHTYEAR’ SEES SAME-SEX KISS RESTORED AMID CONTROVERSY WITH QUEER CHARACTER: REPORTNot everyone is excited about Evans stepping in as the new generation’s Buzz Lightyear. Patricia Heaton spoke out against Disney and stood up for her longtime friend Tim Allen after seeing the new trailer. "Saw the trailer for Buzz Lightyear and all I can say is Disney/Pixar made a HUGE mistake in not casting my pal @ofctimallen," Heaton wrote on Twitter. "Tim Allen in the role that he originated, the role that he owns. Tim IS Buzz! Why would they completely castrate this iconic, beloved character?" Taika Waititi, Keke Palmer and Chris Evans star in the "Toy Story" spinoff releasing on Friday. (Joe Maher/Getty Images)She later attempted to clarify in another tweet that Allen is "the reason" so many people fell in love with the animated tales in the first place."Ok, so the current Buzz Lightyear movie is an origin story - but the reason the character became so beloved is because of what @ofctimeallen created," she tweeted.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER"Why remove the one element that makes us want to see it?" Heaton added the hashtag: #stupidHollywooddecisions."Director Angus MacLane explained the character's differences to Vanity Fair earlier this month, and noted Allen's version of Buzz from the '90s was "a little goofier" than the new adaptation. Tim Allen voiced the iconic role of Buzz Lightyear from 1994 to 2019. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)"In this film, Buzz is the action hero. He's serious and ambitious and funny, but not in a goofy way that would undercut the drama." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPHe added: "Chris Evans has the gravitas and that movie-star quality that our character needed to separate him and the movie from Tim's version of the toy in ‘Toy Story.’""Lightyear" also stars Keke Palmer, James Brolin, Taika Waititi and Peter Sohn. The animated film hits theaters on Friday.Fox News' Tracy Wright contributed to this report. Janelle Ash is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. | Movies |
The UK Athletics Olympic head coach, Christian Malcolm, has expressed his deep disappointment after his role was scrapped in a restructure following the team’s poor performance at the Tokyo 2020 Games.A new role of technical director – “with extensive coaching knowledge” – is being introduced, with the former British sprint head coach Stephen Maguire expected to be named shortly.In a statement UKA said it would discuss other potential roles with Malcolm later this summer, but he would stay on for next month’s world championships in Eugene and August’s European championships in Munich.“I am very disappointed to hear about the news but understand the rationale around this decision,” Malcolm said. “My priority now is to continue working in the same way, maintaining professionalism and doing my job throughout the summer. I am fully focused on supporting our athletes and coaches, during this extremely busy summer for our sport.“We have some incredibly talented athletes. I’m looking forward to seeing them compete and supporting those individuals towards the world and European Championships, as well as representing their home nations during the Commonwealth Games.”Mark Munro, the interim CEO for UKA, said the organisation was extremely grateful and appreciative to Malcolm for his time and efforts. “Taking on board a role during a pandemic and the associated challenges that brings – alongside staffing and structure changes – has been incredibly challenging,” he said. “He has worked hard to steady the ship and continued to be professional throughout.Quick GuideHow do I sign up for sport breaking news alerts?ShowDownload the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhones or the Google Play store on Android phones by searching for 'The Guardian'.If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.In the Guardian app, tap the yellow button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.Turn on sport notifications.“Unfortunately given all the changes we need to make and the greater prioritisation for investment into personal coaches, the Olympic head coach role does not sit within the revised structures. However, we have made a commitment to work with Christian over the summer with the potential for exploring other roles within the structure to enable us to maintain his involvement with UKA.“Ensuring the WCP [world-class programme] is in the right shape to support athletes towards the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games is an absolute priority for UKA.” | Other Sports |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! "Jackass" star Johnny Knoxville filed for divorce this week from his second wife, several outlets reports Thursday. The 51-year-old, whose legal name is Philip John Clapp, cited "irreconcilable differences" in his Tuesday filing in Los Angeles to wife Naomi Nelson, a documentary filmmaker. He is seeking joint custody of their 12-year-old son Rocko and 10-year-old daughter Arlo. Actor Johnny Knoxville (R) and director Naomi Nelson arrive at the premiere of "Burden" at the Silver Screen Theater at the Pacific Design Center on February 27, 2020 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)The couple married in September 2010 and have been separated since last September 24 – the date of their wedding anniversary, the documents reportedly said. VALERIE BERTINELLI DOESN'T WANT TO FIND LOVE AGAIN FOLLOWING TOM VITALE DIVORCE: ‘I HAVE SOME TRUST ISSUES’A month before the reported separation, Knoxville wrote a glowing tribute to his wife for her birthday. Naomi Nelson, Johnny Knoxville, Rocko Akira Clapp and Arlo Clapp attend L.A. Loves Alex's Lemonade 2019 at UCLA Royce Quad on September 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jean Baptiste Lacroix/Getty Images)STEVE BURTON, SHEREE GUSTIN WERE ‘IN THE COASTING STAGE’ BEFORE SPLIT OVER PREGNANCY: REPORT "Happy birthday to my love and light," he said on Instagram along with a photo of Nelson and their two kids. "A wonderful wife and a beautiful mother. You are the sunshine on my face and everything good. I love you very much. Happy birthday." Melanie Clapp, Johnny Knoxville and their daughter at the "The Ringer" Los Angeles Premiere in 2005. (Photo by Michael Tran/FilmMagic)Knoxville married his first wife Melanie Clapp in 1995. The couple share daughter Madison, 26. They divorced in 2008 after a long separation. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPKnoxville was the co-creator and star of MTV's "Jackass" stunt reality show, first airing in 2000 that has spawned a number of movies, including "Jackass Forever," which came out earlier this year. | Celebrity |
Better short-term rainfall predictions can now be made using artificial intelligence, helping emergency services and businesses to prepare for severe weather, a study has claimed.Researchers at Deepmind, the AI company, have built a program that can outperform traditional “nowcasting” techniques by more accurately forecasting the weather up to two hours in advance.It tackles a specific problem in meteorology and covers a timescale not served well by the Met Office. Many businesses rely on very short-term forecasts, which can be crucial in planning outdoor events, allocating police and ambulances, and in construction.According to a paper by Shakhir Mohamed, a senior Deepmind researcher, and his colleagues in the journal Nature their program was judged by meteorologists to outperform the competition 89 per cent of | Emerging Technologies |
As he walked off the floor after congratulating the Warriors following their fourth NBA championship in eight years, Jayson Tatum had a fan reach over and snatch the sweaty towel off his neck. Tatum didn’t react. He didn’t turn to see the fan. He couldn’t feel a thing.Tatum came off one of his worst performances in his NBA career on the biggest stage, and his struggles punctuated the meltdown by the Celtics, who actually led this series and led the fourth game in the fourth quarter before falling apart.This group just wasn’t good enough for title No. 18, no matter how many Celtics legends owner Wyc Grousbeck brought to TD Garden to offer support. Nothing was good enough after Game 3, and in the must-win Game 6, the Celtics punched first, looked flawless in the first six minutes, and then were declawed by a steadier and more experienced opponent.Get Court SenseBounce around the NBA with our Celtics-centric look at the latest happenings on and off the court.The Celtics made so many mistakes in their 103-90 loss, so many turnovers, so many missed layups, so many slight defensive breakdowns that turned into easy Golden State buckets.“Don’t feel like we didn’t have enough,” coach Ime Udoka said. “Just felt like we played probably our worst series of these playoffs. If we play up to the standard of Milwaukee or the Miami series, it’s obviously a different ballgame, especially in Game 4 and 5 when we struggled in the fourth quarter.”The reality is everybody is to blame for this. President of basketball operations Brad Stevens made the risky trade to bring Derrick White to the Celtics for a first-round pick, a productive Josh Richardson, and underachieving Romeo Langford, and White looked overwhelmed by the Finals.Udoka decided to play White and Payton Pritchard together in the opening period, hoping the duo would snap out of their malaise, but they teamed for a terrible stretch, as the Warriors responded from a 12-point deficit with a 21-0 run that gave them the lead for good.The Warriors’ bench players hit shots. They played defense. They rebounded. The Celtics’ bench players committed bad fouls, missed open shots (including a White three that hit the side of the backboard), and were unplayable.How will Jayson Tatum respond to Thursday's Game 6 loss?Pool/GettyExperience played a major role. The Warriors were in their sixth Finals in eight years. It’s their fourth title in that span. The Celtics hadn’t reached the Finals in 12 years. Tatum was in the sixth grade.“No, I wouldn’t look at it like [a lack of experience], because we had our chances throughout the series,” Udoka said. “Losing Game 4 and Game 5, we had leads in the fourth quarter. You tighten up and do some things offensively, it’s a different story.“Obviously, guys didn’t play their best and our bench the last few games struggled. They’ve been consistent all year. I don’t really look at it like we didn’t have enough. Our guys didn’t play their best, honestly. Credit Golden State for that. They had a huge part in that. Very consistent team on the defensive end.”Udoka ran his starters to a nub because he had little choice, but he was also unable to mount an offense that allowed for his two cornerstones to get easier shots. Jaylen Brown took on the responsibility and pushed through the Golden State defense. His 34-point performance was admirable, and it’s a reason why the Celtics shouldn’t even consider trading him in the offseason.It reached a point where the Celtics were playing 2 on 5 in this series, with Brown and a half of Tatum, or half of Al Horford, or half of Marcus Smart trying to compete offensively. Tatum looked exhausted at the end, frustrated by Andrew Wiggins’s brilliant defense but also slowed from a stretch where he played for Team USA in the Olympics, took a quick break, and then headed right into training camp.But the Warriors exposed his weaknesses: His ability to consistently drive to his left, his trouble finishing at the rim, and his habit of stopping in the middle of play after non-calls.It’s part of a superstar’s journey. Magic Johnson was humbled. Kobe Bryant was humbled. LeBron James was humbled. And Jayson Tatum was humbled. But this isn’t all his fault. Adjustments weren’t made, and if they were, the players didn’t execute them well enough. Udoka understandably didn’t trust anyone deep into his bench, including former first-round pick Aaron Nesmith and a bunch of journeymen that Stevens threw together during this tumultuous season.Steve Kerr talks to Jayson Tatum after Thursday's Game 6 at TD Garden.Matthew J. Lee/Globe StaffIt was evident the Celtics were the second-best team in the NBA, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. But losing in the NBA Finals is always painful, especially when you win two of the first three games. Tatum was barely audible afterward. Brown didn’t have much to say, either. They were humbled by a dynasty.“Man, still got a lot to learn as a group, individually,” Brown said. “As much as we made growth, turned our season around, still got a lot to learn about the game of basketball. I learned so much during this playoff run. Coming from not playing last year after wrist surgery, coming into this year’s playoffs just being grateful for the opportunity. Stings to come up short, but there’s a lot to learn and the future is bright.”The reality is they weren’t quite championship-caliber, and that is on the entire organization.Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GwashburnGlobe. | Basketball |
PreambleAdam Hadwin leads after his opening round of 66 … but the likes of Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott, Will Zalatoris, Justin Thomas, Gary Woodland and defending champ Jon Rahm are in hot pursuit. Here’s how the top of the leaderboard looks …-4: Hadwin-3: Tarren, Lingmerth, McIlroy, Dahmen, Daffue-2: Buckley, NeSmith, Harman, Wise, Fitzpatrick, Johnson, Rose-1: Rodgers, Morikawa, Piot, Rahm, Scott, Homa, Zalatoris, Hossler, Hardy, Thomas, Woodland, Kokrak… and here’s when everyone’s teeing off. Let’s go, then. It’s on! Starting at hole 1: 11:45 Sean Crocker, Jediah Morgan (Aus), Taylor Montgomery 11:56 M. J. Daffue (Rsa), (a) Maxwell Moldovan, Yannik Paul (Ger) 12:07 Adria Arnaus (Spa), Talor Gooch, Tom Hoge 12:18 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Kevin Na 12:29 Patton Kizzire, Sam Burns, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 12:40 Brooks Koepka, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Smith (Aus) 12:51 Corey Conners (Can), (a) Austin Greaser, Luke List 13:02 Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose (Eng), Gary Woodland 13:13 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Kor), Patrick Reed 13:24 Harris English, Lucas Herbert (Aus), Jason Kokrak 13:35 (a) Ben Lorenz, Davis Shore, Samuel Stevens 13:46 (a) Adrien Dumont (Bel), Daijiro Izumida (Jpn), Sebastian Soederberg (Swe) 13:57 Brady Calkins, Ryan Gerard, Jesse Mueller 17:30 Hayden Buckley, Fran Quinn, Callum Tarren (Eng) 17:41 (a) Sam Bennett, Kurt Kitayama, Denny McCarthy 17:52 Wil Besseling (Ned), Wyndham Clark, Brandon Matthews 18:03 Si Woo Kim (Kor), Sepp Straka (Aut), David Lingmerth (Swe) 18:14 Victor Perez (Fra), Davis Riley, Scott Stallings 18:25 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Xander Schauffele 18:36 Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Kevin Kisner 18:47 Keegan Bradley, Marc Leishman (Aus), Aaron Wise 18:58 Stewart Cink, Francesco Molinari (Ita), (a) Laird Shepherd (Eng) 19:09 Marcel Schneider (Ger), Joseph Bramlett, Chan Kim 19:20 Joel Dahmen, Lanto Griffin, Jinichiro Kozuma (Jpn) 19:31 (a) Fred Biondi (Bra), Harry Hall (Eng), Chris Gotterup 19:42 Luke Gannon, Chris Naegel, Andrew Beckler Starting at hole 10: 11:45 Kevin Chappell, Andrew Novak, Chase Seiffert 11:56 Thorbjoern Olesen (Den), Brian Stuard, Nick Hardy 12:07 Sam Horsfield (Eng), Shaun Norris (Rsa), Cameron Tringale 12:18 Sung Jae Im (Kor), Guillermo Mito Pereira (Chi), Erik van Rooyen (Rsa) 12:29 Tony Finau, Viktor Hovland (Nor), Justin Thomas 12:40 Joo-Hyung Kim (Kor), Min-Woo Lee (Aus), Seamus Power (Irl) 12:51 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson 13:02 Shane Lowry (Irl), Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 13:13 Danny Lee (Nzl), (a) Keita Nakajima (Jpn), Nick Taylor (Can) 13:24 (a) Nick Dunlap, Jim Furyk, Adam Hadwin (Can) 13:35 Richard Bland (Eng), Ryan Fox (Nzl), Rikuya Hoshino (Jpn) 13:46 Jonas Blixt (Swe), Bo Hoag, Todd Sinnott (Aus) 13:57 Sean Jacklin (Sco), (a) Charles Reiter, Isaiah Salinda 17:30 Matt McCarty, Michael Thorbjornsen (a), Erik Barnes 17:41 Matthew NeSmith, Patrick Rodgers, Travis Vick (a) 17:52 Troy Merritt, William Mouw (a), Andrew Putnam 18:03 Collin Morikawa, James Piot, Jon Rahm (Spa) 18:14 Max Homa, Adam Scott (Aus), Jordan Spieth 18:25 Daniel Berger, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel 18:36 Sebastian Munoz (Col), Alexander Noren (Swe), Harold Varner III 18:47 Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Cameron Young, Will Zalatoris 18:58 (a) Stewart Hagestad, Grayson Murray, Adam Schenk 19:09 Branden Grace (Rsa), Mackenzie Hughes (Can), Guido Migliozzi (Ita) 19:20 Beau Hossler, Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn), Kalle Samooja (Fin) 19:31 Richard Mansell (Eng), Roger Sloan (Can), Tomoyasu Sugiyama (Jpn) 19:42 Keith Greene, Benjamin Silverman (Can), (a) Caleb Manuel | Golf |
Arsenal are continuing to work on a deal to sign Youri Tielemans from Leicester after reaching an agreement to buy Fábio Vieira from Porto, who confirmed in a statement on Friday that they had accepted a bid.Porto said Arsenal would pay €40m (£34m), including €5m in performance-related add-ons. The Portuguese club said the transfer was “expected to be concluded in the next few days”.Vieira is a 22-year-old attacking midfielder, who scored six goals and provided 14 assists in Portugal’s top division in the 2021-22 season, but his arrival has not changed Arsenal’s plans regarding Tielemans.Leicester are braced for an offer from Arsenal for the 25-year-old, who has one more year on his contract. Tielemans plays in a deeper role than Vieira, most of the Belgium international’s 50 appearances for Leicester in the most recent campaign coming in central midfield.Manchester City have made Kalvin Phillips their preferred option to replace Fernandinho after the Brazil international’s departure. Phillips has spent his whole career at Leeds and broke into the England team in 2020.City are targeting Brighton’s Marc Cucurella in another priority position, left-back, and have no intention of loaning out Julián Álvarez, the 22-year-old forward who is arriving from River Plate this summer. | Soccer |
The World Cup is coming back to North Texas.The Dallas-Fort Worth area was named one of 16 host sites for the 2026 quadrennial men’s tournament, with matches slated for the 80,000-capacity AT&T Stadium in Arlington.“This is such a big moment for our city,” said FC Dallas owner Dan Hunt, who was also the Dallas 2026 host city bid chairman. “This has been an amazing bid process. The economic impact of what we’re bringing to Dallas-Fort Worth is in the billions.”When singer and actress Becky G announced on the FS1 broadcast that D-FW had been picked, a large roar went up from the crowd gathered for a watch party at the AT&T Discovery District. Local superstars Dak Prescott of the Cowboys and Luka Doncic of the Mavericks were part of a video welcoming the world to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.“The World Cup is one of the greatest events in sports. The world stops when the World Cup is playing,” FC Dallas coach Nico Estévez said. “We saw the impact that it had in 1994, after the creation of MLS. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be after the 2026 World Cup. All the generations, all these kids that love the sport are going to have the World Cup here.”D-FW must still play the waiting game, though: North Texas won’t know how many matches, or which marquee tilts will be here (like the semifinals or final) until a later date. The United States is joined by Canada and Mexico in hosting the tournament.The U.S. hosted the international event in 1994, and six matches were played at the Cotton Bowl. Mexico hosted the World Cup in 1970 and 1986. The U.S. hosted the women’s tournament in 1999 and 2003.“We would love to have the U.S. for at least one game. That is a big prize,” Hunt said. “We would love to have Mexico here, too. That fan base is so strong and so passionate. I don’t know if we would get both.”Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was asked how bringing the World Cup to the Cowboys’ home stadium compares to winning the Super Bowl.“I think it’s a broader interest,” Jones said. “The longer I’m in sports, the more I realize just how meaningful soccer is to the world. To be able to participate in such an event, one that takes years of planning, and the passions and the careers that are involved, to be able to have these games is really awesome and inspiring.”Houston’s NRG Stadium was also selected to host matches, as were nine other U.S. metro areas: Atlanta, Boston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey/New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey will host matches in Mexico. Canada’s two host cities are Vancouver and Toronto.What’s next?“We celebrate,” Hunt said.He then added: “After World Cup 2022 is over, they are going to make the decision on where [each of] the matches is going to be played. They will make an announcement I hope in the first half of next year and [will announce] the decision for where the finals are going to be played. And obviously that is the ultimate goal, to play the finals of the 2026 World Cup at AT&T Stadium.“Other big goals are to have as many national teams as possible to come use Dallas as their home base. We also want the International Broadcast Center to be awarded to Fair Park. Lastly is the referee headquarters, which we are also chasing.”Hunt said he is confident D-FW will host at least six matches, but it could be more. When asked which cities could be Dallas’ toughest competition to landing the championship match, he said Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York and Atlanta.“We want to do everything in our power to have the championship game,” Jones said. “It is an opportunity to literally have the world gather in appreciation of what we know, and that’s what a great place Dallas is. When we built that stadium, we basically built it to have great, great events. It wasn’t just for American football.“There is a lot of value for us to do this in a spectacular way and do things that they’ll write a book about.”What gives D-FW an advantage as it chases that ultimate prize?“Dallas is ready to be on the world stage,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said. “We are, without a doubt, the best market in the entire United States to host a major sporting event. We’re a top-10 city in the country. We’re at the heart of the fourth-largest and the fastest growing metro area in the country, and we’ve already proven that we can host All-Star Games, major NCAA Tournaments, Super Bowl-related events, Super Bowls. Dallas is a welcoming city. It’s an international city, where we regard our diversity as a strength.”Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney reflected on the importance of having a truly regional bid in which multiple cities played huge roles. “All the cities came together, all offered something different,” he said.But 2026 might just be the beginning.“With the World Cup coming in 2026, we are entering the most exciting time in the soccer history of this country,” Hunt said. “We want to bring a women’s World Cup to the United States and to Dallas in either 2027 or 2031.”The 1994 World Cup provided an economic boom to the country and region, and also helped kick-start more mainstream interest in professional soccer stateside. The MLS launched two years later, and the Dallas Burn was one of the founding clubs.Now known as FC Dallas and headquartered at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, the MLS squad and surrounding area is also poised to benefit from World Cup matches in the region. Matches won’t be played in Frisco or the Cotton Bowl, but both are integral parts of the region’s bid this time around.“I’m not sure America was really ready for soccer in 1994,” Hunt said. “It was such a new thing and a novel thing. But this is becoming a soccer mature country, a soccer mature market. I think this is an incredible moment to bring the World Cup to the United States.”How big has soccer become in the United States? On Tuesday, Apple and Major League Soccer announced a 10-year partnership on a streaming service that will allow fans to watch every game without local blackouts or restrictions. The service will be available exclusively through the Apple TV app beginning next year.“I think we will see the growth of soccer in a way that has never been experienced before,” Hunt said. “This TV contract is going to bring MLS to the rest of the world — 108 countries will get MLS soccer going forward. You’re going to see continued expansion of Major League Soccer, and you’re going to see continued expansion in the NWSL [National Women’s Soccer League].”Hunt, who has attended every World Cup since 1986 and was a ball boy for a game at the 1994 World Cup, said changes will have to be made at AT&T Stadium.“There will be major renovations that occur to get the field in,” he said. “I don’t think they will have to do anything so substantial to the stadium itself, but we’re going to have to lift the field up off the floor to get it high enough so you can have a field be long enough and wide enough to meet the standards that FIFA requires.”So what big event is left to host that North Texas hasn’t previously landed?“There is only one other major sporting event out there that we haven’t hosted yet that we would have an opportunity to host — the Olympics,” said Monica Paul, executive director of the Dallas Sports Commission. “That would be many, many years down the line.”World Cup host cities at a glanceWho’s in? Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, (Inglewood, Calif.), Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, New Jersey/New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and VancouverWho’s out? Cincinnati, Denver, Edmonton, Nashville, Orlando, Washington, D.C.Regions: West (Guadalajara, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver), Central (Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Monterrey, Mexico City) and East (Boston, Miami, New Jersey/New York, Philadelphia, Toronto)What’s next? At a date to be determined, FIFA officials will decide which of the 16 cities will host group play and which will host elimination round matches.1/14Dan Hunt chats with Jerry Jones following a press conference after Dallas was announced as a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup during a watch party on Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Dallas.(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)Related:‘Got the job done’: D-FW teams, others react to reveal of 2026 FIFA World Cup host citiesRelated:For Dallas, landing World Cup games could be like hosting ‘six Super Bowls’To view subscription options for The News and SportsDay, click here. | Soccer |
FORT WORTH, Texas, June 17 (Reuters) - For companies working to make self-driving trucks a near-term reality, all roads lead to Texas.Vast highways, a booming freight market and, crucially, the least restrictive laws governing autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the United States have turned Texas into the industry's most desired location.Several companies, including Aurora Innovation (AUR.O) and TuSimple (TSP.O), plan to deploy fully driverless trucks on Texas' interstates next year, moving away from current testing that includes back-up safety drivers behind the wheel.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWhile some limited driverless tests with 18-wheelers have taken place in Arizona, a launch in Texas would mark the first commercial use. Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Waymo Via and box truck startup Gatik which counts Wal-Mart (WMT.N) as a customer, are setting up hubs there in preparation.Companies have poured billions of dollars into developing the technology they say will increase road safety and alleviate truck driver shortages. The self-driving truck industry in the U.S. is expected to rapidly grow over the next decade, with analysts estimating its size at between $250 billion and $400 billion by 2030.Darran Anderson, director of innovation at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), said the state has decided to pursue a collaborative approach with the industry.But safety advocates are worried."Rushing this technology to market using regular drivers as beta testers in real-world driving conditions puts potentially everyone at risk," said Ware Wendel, executive director of consumer advocate Texas Watch.The Texas Department of Public Safety, which regulates AVs, did not respond to a request for comment.Texas in 2017 passed its autonomous vehicle bill permitting the testing and deployment of driverless vehicles without the need for special registration, data-sharing or additional insurance requirements. The law also prevents local cities from imposing additional requirements.The industry is using the bill as a blueprint when lobbying other states about regulating self-driving vehicles, a Gatik executive and safety researchers said.Safety proponents warn the companies are trying to pit states against each other by threatening to take jobs to more favorable regulatory environments.The companies say safety is their highest priority, and testing on public roads allows them to fine-tune and scale their technology under real-world conditions.There is no known case of an autonomous vehicle-caused crash in Texas, but the state leads the U.S. in yearly fatal trucking crashes, according to U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) data.Texas boasts some of the country's fastest-growing metropolitan areas as well as several entry ports from Mexico. It also sits in the middle of one of the busiest U.S. freight routes, Atlanta-Los Angeles, which carries more than 8,500 trucks daily, according to the U.S. DOT. Self-driving companies hope to automate many of those highways.Property developer Hillwood's huge AllianceTexas logistics zone near Fort Worth, which includes a freight airport, rail yard and vast regional hubs of Amazon.com (AMZN.O), FedEx (FDX.N) and UPS (UPS.N), hopes to attract more AV trucking.TuSimple and Gatik have hubs at the 27,000-acre complex. Hillwood is creating robotruck-friendly infrastructure by minimizing left turns that are more complex because they cut through traffic, installing 5G networks and building AV-specific warehouse docks, said Ian Kinne, Hillwood's logistics innovation director.For trucking companies, Texas' collaborative regulatory regime explains much of its attraction."There are other states that have really great ports or connections, but they don't have the same regulatory environment that Texas has," said Aidan Ali-Sullivan, Waymo's state policy manager.With federal AV regulation stalled for several years, it has been left to individual states to figure out policies.Reuters GraphicsGraphic on U.S. AV regulation: https://tmsnrt.rs/3NTJMFoWaymo, Aurora, TuSimple and Gatik said they are in constant contact with Texas state and local officials."The state is not being laissez-faire about the operation of these vehicles, they have to comply with traffic laws," TxDOT's Anderson said.The state created an industry task force with some 200 members, including AV companies, automakers, researchers and regulators, with the goal of preparing Texas for self-driving vehicles.The industry has been lobbying other states such as Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania to copy this approach."It's a well-structured model and approach for other states to adopt," said Richard Steiner, Gatik's policy chief.Kansas signed its own bill into law last month. The governor's office could not be reached for comment. read more Carnegie Mellon engineering professor Phil Koopman, who tracks AV regulation, opposed bills in Kansas and Pennsylvania."Even if (the companies) have the best of intentions, they face unimaginable economic pressure to cut corners," he said.Greg Winfree, agency director of Texas A&M University's Transportation Institute, said he saw no indication companies were rolling out their technology irresponsibly.Winfree, also part of the state-led AV task force, is now working on campaigns to inform Texans about the technology that will soon be among them."We need to get to a point where seeing a self-driving vehicle is not a cause for alarm, or photo taking and filming," he said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Tina Bellon in Fort Worth, Texas; editing by Ben Klayman, Elaine HardcastleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Automotive and Transportation |
It all seemed familiar. Stanford coach David Esquer and his players were lined up, shoulder to shoulder, waiting to celebrate the clinching of another trip to the College World Series.
The group erupted in sudden joy as pitcher Jacob Palisch, who saved Stanford’s only win at last year’s World Series, induced a swing and miss for a game-ending strikeout to earn a return to Omaha, Neb.
But, there was quite a twist to Stanford’s impromptu party on Saturday. This time, they weren’t running onto a field to enjoy their own seminal victory.
Instead, Esquer and his players were whooping it up while huddled in front of a player’s cell phone in a Stanford cafeteria, watching with glee as Palisch, who transferred to Texas A&M, secured a World Series berth for his new school. Yes, Stanford would go on to earn its own way back to Omaha by winning its Super Regional on Monday, but this particular celebration was special. It was borne of a heavy dose of brotherhood, triggered by an overwhelming desire to see an old friend do well. Congrats to @jpalisch11 on getting the final out and punching @AggieBaseball’s ticket to Omaha!
Your Stanford brothers were locked in on The Farm and couldn’t be happier for you! pic.twitter.com/w8zqaokWbG
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) June 11, 2022 A photo showing Palisch’s old Cardinal teammates and coach celebrating Texas A&M’s win as if it were their own was tweeted out by the Stanford athletic department, which included a congratulatory note for its former pitcher.
“Congrats to @jpalisch11 on getting the final out and punching @AggieBasell’s ticket to Omaha! Your Stanford brothers were locked in on The Farm and couldn’t be happier for you!”
Stanford left fielder Eddie Park, a sophomore from San Jose’s Valley Christian, said Palisch leaving didn’t change the team’s opinion of him. He’s still a brother and, like everyone from last year’s team, they share an unbreakable bond, nurtured by constantly checking in with each other. Like any brother would do.
And, there was no chance the Stanford players were going to miss a chance to celebrate Palisch’s accomplishment.
“When (Palisch) came in, pretty much everyone on the team turned on their phones and was watching the game,” Park said during a phone conversation Tuesday night. “Everybody was celebrating him getting that last out.”
After Palisch and the Aggies were done celebrating their 4-3 win over Louisville and their first College World Series berth since 2017, he noticed a flood of notifications on his Twitter account. When he noticed it was mostly thanks to his old Bay Area friends, Palisch admitted he got a bit choked up.
“When I saw the tweet from them … uh, it made me feel a little bit emotional about my time there,” said Palisch, a left-hander who left Stanford as a graduate transfer. “To see them supporting me like that, I thought it was very classy. Just a super awesome thing to do.”
Stanford’s show of support and sportsmanship toward an ex-teammate nearly overshadowed the Cardinal’s own recent exploits – winning five consecutive elimination-game victories to storm its way back to Omaha, where it opens double-elimination play against Saturday at 11 a.m. PT against Arkansas.
To Stanford’s coach, that’s just fine. Some things are much bigger than victories.
Now in his fifth year as his alma mater’s coach, winning is just part of Esquer’s plan on The Farm. Sure, they’ve won – his teams have gone 174-68 (.714) with NCAA Tournament appearances each year it’s been held. But there’s something more enduring he wants his players to chase.
“When I got to Stanford, I was asked if it was about going to Omaha or winning a national title,” said Esquer, who played shortstop on Stanford’s 1987 CWS title team. “I said, ‘It’s gonna be about me delivering the same experience as when I played at Stanford.’
“I played with my best friends, some of those friends were as close to me as brothers. I wanted them to experience that kind of camaraderie.” That’s why Esquer was especially proud of his team for its reaction toward Palisch.
“He was part of our family and he left because of graduation and he had another opportunity, which was fine,” said Esquer, who was eagerly summoned by players to join the watch party. “Our guys understand that our program is about brotherhood and they were gonna watch and support one of their brothers. … I thought it was awesome.”
Meanwhile, two days after the Aggies’ victory, Palisch was in College Station, doing what he tries to do whenever Stanford is playing – watching and rooting for his friends. He was excited to see them beat Connecticut on Monday to also clinch a spot in Omaha.
The left-hander, who has developed into a closer for Texas A&M, then allowed himself to look ahead and notice that if both the Aggies and Cardinal keep advancing in the eight-team tournament, they’d meet in the World Series final.
“It’s kind of crazy that if we do run into them, it will be in the championship series,” Palisch said. “If it works out, it works out. If not, it’s still an amazing experience.” Texas A&M pitcher Jacob Palisch (33), catcher Troy Claunch (12) and teammates celebrate after the final out against Louisville during an NCAA college baseball super regional tournament game Saturday, June 11, 2022, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Craft)
Stanford’s Brock Jones celebrates with Carter Graham (31) and other players after hitting a solo home run against Connecticut during the ninth inning of an NCAA college baseball tournament super regional game Saturday, June 11, 2022, in Stanford, Calif. Connecticut won 13-12. (AP Photo/John Hefti) Stanford’s Kody Huff (25) is congratulated by teammates Brett Barrera (33), Braden Montgomery (6) and Adam Crampton (10) after hitting a grand slam against Connecticut during the fourth inning of an NCAA college baseball tournament super regional game, Monday, June 13, 2022, in Stanford, Calif. (AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron)
Stanford players erupt from the dugout after the final out secured their victory over Connecticut in an NCAA college baseball tournament super regional game, Monday, June 13, 2022, in Stanford, Calif. (AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron) | Baseball |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Record crowds are expected to welcome Formula One back to Canada following a two-year pandemic pause, and the series returns to Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal attempting to rectify the aches of Mercedes and its 37-year-old champion.The FIA on Thursday at last addressed the "porpoising" effect that has bogged down several of the new 2022 cars, most notably Mercedes and seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton.But F1's governing body did not act until after the Brit was seen gingerly climbing from his car in Baku, Azerbaijan, following three days of bouncing up and down around the circuit."My back is killing me!" Hamilton at one point screamed over his radio last Sunday. Hamilton required assistance getting out of his car in Baku. (Bryn Lennon - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)Both he and teammate George Russell had warned the bouncing of their cars was putting their health in danger — and potentially creating a safety hazard — and Hamilton said he completed the pace on pure adrenaline."That’s the only thing. Just biting down on my teeth through pain. Just adrenaline," he said. "I can’t express the pain you experience. At the end you’re just praying for it to end."He posted a photo Thursday of physiotherapist Angela Cullen helping him stretch and said it was the first day he'd been able to go for a run since the race in Baku. Around the same time, the FIA announced a technical directive that will force teams to raise their cars higher off the ground in an effort to combat the bouncing.MORE FORMULA ONE NEWS FROM FOX NEWS AUTOSThe FIA said it decided to intervene "following consultation with its doctors in the interests of safety of the drivers. In a sport where the competitors are routinely driving at speeds in excess of 300km/h (186 mph), it is considered that all of a driver’s concentration needs to be focused on that task and that excessive fatigue or pain experienced by a driver could have significant consequences should it result in a loss of concentration. The porpoising effect is caused by the ground effects aerodynamics used on F1 cars. (OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)"In addition, the FIA has concerns in relation to the immediate physical impact on the health of the drivers, a number of whom have reported back pain following recent events."Hamilton, who lost last year's F1 title to Max Verstappen in a controversial season finale, has struggled all year with Mercedes' new car. He's sixth in the standings and has scored just one podium, and Hamilton is routinely outrun by younger teammate Russell. The 24-year-old is fourth in the standings with three podiums.APPLE BUYS BRAD PITT-LED FORMULA ONE FILMRed Bull boss Christian Horner has wondered if Mercedes isn't overplaying the porpoising to cover for its inferior 2022 car. And others have noted that Mercedes itself could ease the physical toll on Hamilton and Russell through setup changes — alterations counter to the competitive edge the team is seeking with its current configurations.RECORD CROWDSF1 last raced at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in 2019 because the series could not compete in Canada during the first two years of the pandemic. The return is the hottest ticket in Montreal and the series expects the three-day Canadian Grand Prix weekend to draw the largest crowd in history.The Sunday race is sold out and, after the addition of two new grandstands, F1 said organizers expect a record 320,000 fans over three days.COUNTRYMAN WOESF1 is headed into only its ninth race of the season and jobs are at stake. Canadian driver Nicholas Latifi is one whose future could be decided this weekend.The Williams driver will be racing in his first grand prix on home soil, but there's speculation Sunday's could be his last with the the team. The driver from Toronto has zero points and is ranked 21st in the standings — in a 20-car field. Nico Hulkenberg filled in for Sebastian Vettel for the first two races this season and outperformed Latifi, so he's ranked higher in the standings.Latifi has acknowledged his seat is not secure. It's a similar situation at Haas, where team principal Guenther Steiner has said second-year driver Mick Schumacher must improve.Schumacher has not scored a point and missed a race because of of a crash, and now Schumacher supporters are maintaining the Haas boss' open criticism of the young German is not helpful.Meanwhile, at McLaren, the only thing that's clear is that Daniel Ricciardo must start running closer to the front.F1-INSPIRED $2.7 MILLION MERCEDEDES-AMG ONE SUPERCAR IS BANNED IN THE USABoth team and driver agree they've got a contract through 2023, but boss Zak Brown admitted to "mechanisms" each side holds that could theoretically free McLaren from retaining the popular Australian next year.Ricciardo finished eighth last week, one spot ahead of teammate Lando Norris, and has maintained his job is secure.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP"My contracts clear with the team," he said in Baku, "until the end of next year I’m fully committed. I’ve certainly voiced that. And it’s obviously now just on track to show it and show these moments and these races that I know I’m capable of." | Other Sports |
Pianist Anna Geniushene performs Beethoven's First Piano Concerto with guest conductor Marin Alsop and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra on June 15, 2022 for the finals of the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth. (Ralph Lauer/The Cliburn)(Ralph Lauer / Ralph Lauer/The Cliburn)The Russia-Ukraine war looms over this year’s Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth.The six finalists include two Russians (Anna Geniushene and Ilya Shmukler), one Ukrainian (Dymtro Choni) and one Belarussian (Uladzislau Khandohi). Only Geniushene, who left Russia with her husband and young son after the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, is willing to speak about the war.“That was our clear statement,” she said of her family’s decision, speaking at a news conference Thursday. They now live in Lithuania, where her husband holds citizenship, and don’t intend to return to Russia until the war is over. “I think our actions and our gestures told more than words that I can speak right now.”Shmukler, Choni and Khandohi also spoke at the Cliburn news conference, but a Cliburn representative said they would not take questions related to politics or the war.The final performance rounds are Friday and Saturday, with the winners announced Saturday night.In the quarterfinal round, at Texas Christian University’s Music Center, Geniushene wore vyshyvanka, a traditional Ukrainian shirt, to show her solidarity with the Ukrainian people. “That was my gesture of support,” she said.Geniushene believes it’s old-fashioned to view competitors as representatives of their countries. “When we are on stage, we are representing different schools of music,” she explained. “We are not athletes. We are not sponsored by the government. We are self-employed musicians.”She prefers to say that she’s representing both the Russian and English schools of music, having trained in both countries.Still, it was hard not to hear connections to the war in the final round of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition on Wednesday, when three of the pianists from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, in succession, played concertos with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.Related:Cliburn 2022 competition finals Day 2: Some elegance, some incoherenceJacques Marquis, president and CEO of the Cliburn, said the lineup was inadvertent. It was designed to give each pianist the same amount of time to rest between performances.The Cliburn’s decision to let Russians compete has triggered backlash from some who think they should be banned. Both the Dublin and Honens Piano Competitions initially decided to ban Russians, later reversing course.“We’ve been talking about giving a platform to young musicians, from wherever they are, and will not discriminate,” Marquis said in a phone interview Wednesday.“Naturally, if someone would have been in support of war, we would have the need to disqualify and send home anybody. But we still believe these young musicians have nothing to do with this.”Musicians from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus reportedly know each other from the international competition circuit, and have been seen talking in Russian about musical matters. At the press conference, Geniushene said there haven’t been any problems or negative interactions among them.“We are here united by music,” she added. “That’s the most important thing.”DetailsAll performances are being livestreamed free at cliburn.org, cliburn.medici.tv and youtube.com/thecliburn. 4K HDR video and surround-sound audio are available via subscription at hyfi.live/vancliburn.For performance tickets and information on livestreams, call 817-738-6536 or go to cliburn.org. Performances are at Bass Performance Hall, Fourth and Commerce in Fort Worth.Related:Cliburn 2022 announces six finalists after Saturday recitalsTim Diovanni, Staff Writer. Tim Diovanni is reporting on classical music in a fellowship supported in part by the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation. The News makes all editorial decisions.tim.diovanni@dallasnews.com @howeyehearit Top Arts & Entertainment StoriesGet the latest Arts & EntertainmentCatch up on North Texas' vibrant arts and culture community, delivered every Monday.By signing up you agree to our privacy policyMost Popular on DallasNews.com123456 | Music |
For the fourth time in eight years, the Golden State Warriors are NBA champions. The Warriors won the title on Thursday by defeating the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. It's the Bay Area team's first title since 2018 and the seventh championship overall for the Warriors franchise, which started out in Philadelphia. Superstar guard Stephen Curry broke down in tears after the game and was named Finals MVP after scoring 34 points for the Warriors Thursday night. ENES KANTER FREEDOM DISCUSSES CHINESE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES WITH GOP LAWMAKERS "Andre Iguodala and I have been talking the last week, and all we could say to each other is, 'We gotta do this for Steph.' This is for Steph," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told ESPN after the game. "Which is ironic because he's the one doing it for us. "But we wanted it so badly for Steph because as great as the organization has been, ownership, front office, great talent on our roster, amazing players, Steph is the reason for this decade. He really is," Kerr added. Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry reacts after the Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of basketball's NBA Finals, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) For Kerr, Thursday's win gives him his ninth NBA championship. He won five titles as a player for the Chicago Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs, and four as coach of the Warriors. “They’re all unique, they’re all special,” Kerr said of the championships. “This one might have been the most unlikely. ... It takes a group effort to get it done, and we had a great group.” CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Golden State Warriors players pose for photos with the Larry O'Brien Trophy after defeating the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of basketball's NBA Finals, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) The Warriors will go into the next NBA season as the favorites to win it all again. Caesars Sportsbook lists the team's odds at 5-1 to win the 2023 NBA title. | Basketball |
Reviews for the Disney feature have not been great, but that's only one part of the box-office problem. Unlike the three other highly anticipated franchises to debut since May — “Doctor Strange” (Disney), “Top Gun” Maverick” (Paramount), and “Jurassic World Dominion”(Universal), Pixar’s “Lightyear” (Disney) will be the only one to open under $100 million. Projections are around $75 million, which might be a generous assessment.
Why the struggle for the fifth film in the “Toy Story” franchise, the most lucrative in animation? In adjusted grosses, they represent a domestic total of over $1.8 billion and the most recent in 2019 earned $441 million. However, this is not “Toy Story 5;” it’s a Buzz Lightyear origin story, which reduces its initial potential.
It also faces competition. “Toy Story 4” opened around the same date in 2018 to $121 million its first weekend, on the way to $441 million domestic. It faced a weak field, including the second week of the flat “Men in Black: International” and a “Child’s Play” reboot. This year, it faces “Jurassic World Dominion” (also drawing families) and “Top Gun Maverick,” which are likely to gross at least $30 million and $60 million, respectively. This is the first Pixar title to be released to domestic theaters since “Onward” in March 2020. Nine Pixar films are among the top 200 grosses of all time, but Disney used Covid, theater closures, and slow-returning audiences to make “Turning Red,” “Luca,” and “Soul” Disney + exclusives. How will audiences respond to the message that this Pixar movie is worth a theatrical release?
“Turning Red”PIXAR
From the start of Covid, animated titles have been among the most aggressive in opting for home platforms and their rebound has lagged. Last year had one animated film (“Sing 2”) among the top 10 for the year.
In 2019 there were two animated films in the top five, both of which grossed over $400 million. Pixar’s “Incredibles 2” was #3 for 2018 with over $600 million. Since 2019, only “Sing 2” exceeded $100 million. Though it performed well at $167 million domestic, Universal reinforced the idea of quick home availability by making PVOD available on the Friday of its third weekend. The film went on to spend months with top placement on the VOD charts.
Another factor that might impact “Lightyear” is its weak critical response with a 60 Metacritc score. Although many animated films do fine with mediocre reviews (“Sing 2” rated 59 on Metacritic), Pixar has two Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and 11 wins for Best Animated Feature. It comes a week after scathing reviews for “Dominion,” which seemed to do it no harm, but there has been a strong correlation between reviews and Pixar box office.
“Onward” in 2020 opened to $39 million amid rising Covid with a 61 score. “Cars 3” (59) opened to $54 million. “Toy Story 4” and “Incredibles 2” both had great reviews and stellar openings (the latter $183 million). “Lightyear”Pixar
Give credit to Disney for its refusal to edit a brief kiss with a same-sex couple. It may not impact domestic theaters with boycotts or protests, but that controversy sucks up a lot of promotional oxygen as 14 mostly Muslim countries have banned the film.
Still, the film led by a male character from a beloved franchise falls on both Father’s Day weekend as well as the new federal holiday of Juneteenth, commemorated Monday. It is the sole new wide release and the first high-awareness, family-appeal title since “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” which opened to $72 million. That bodes well for “Lightyear.”
At a reported $200 million budget, the film needs strong holds to avoid disappointment. Pixar precedents suggest that multiples of four times or more from opening weekend aren’t unusual, but it will also face “Minions: The Rise of Gnu” (Universal) in two weeks. Its 2015 franchise started opened to $115 million, so expect it to cut into “Lightyear” interest. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. | Movies |
BOSTON — Take a quick guess at who the Warriors’ two best players, by net rating, were over the final two games of the NBA Finals.
Steph Curry and Draymond Green?
They were great, but guess again.
Kevon Looney and Klay Thompson? I like where your head’s at, but you’re off on this one.
No, the Warriors found big performances from two players off the bench — Gary Payton II and Jordan Poole.
The duo helped turn the Warriors’ biggest liability in this series — minutes Curry wasn’t on the floor — into, unquestionably, an asset.
Through the first four games of the Finals, the Warriors and Celtics bench had each scored 109 points.
Derrick White and Payton Pritchard (of all people) were killing the Dubs. In Games 5 and 6, the Warriors bench outscored the Celtics’ 52-15.
Poole and Payton II flipped the script of the bench minutes and flipped the series in the Warriors’ favor. With Payton, success wasn’t a surprise, though his presence on the court certainly was after he broke his elbow in the second round.
But Poole?
Anyone who saw the first few games of this series did not see him being one of the Warriors’ biggest positives in title-clinching games. Poole was downright unplayable through the first three games of the Finals — a mess on defense and uncontrollable on offense.
Poole was one of the main reasons the Warriors are in the NBA Finals, so Golden State — desperate for any shot creation outside of Curry — stuck with him, despite frustration being high.
The faith paid off. As these NBA Finals progressed, so did the former Michigan star, who turns 23 on Sunday.
He played 22 minutes and scored 29 points over the last two games of the series. With Payton, it was, again, a shock that he was available for the series. Warriors coach Steve Kerr didn’t play him in Game 1 because he was deemed not ready after breaking his elbow on Dillon Brooks’ flagrant foul in Game 2 of the Warriors’ second-round series with Memphis.
But his perimeter defense was sorely needed, and his ability to provide exactly what the Dubs needed at the power forward position on offense — despite being 6-foot-3 — could not be overlooked.
When Payton’s minutes increased, the Warriors won.
Game 2 was the start. Then Payton found it difficult to get onto the court in Games 3, 4. When he found a better spot in the rotation for Games 5 and 6, the Warriors wiped the floor with Boston.
While Poole scored and scored and scored some more in his late-series push, Payton’s biggest impact came on defense — though he scored 21 points. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were the Celtics’ only offensive creators in this series. Marcus Smart frequently auditioned for the role, but that effort proved laughable.
Having two big wings who could put the ball on the floor and score at all three levels was a problem for the Dubs early in the series — Boston could force Golden State to switch good defenders off their wings.
But with Payton playing with the straiten lineup, with Green at center, the Warriors had four players on the floor who could defend Tatum and Brown.
This allowed Curry — who was being drawn into action after action — to hang out in the corner on defense, while Tatum, in particular, tired out.
Both factors manifested late in Game 6 and proved to be huge advantages to the Dubs. Not to underrate either on the other side of the court, but put Poole and Payton II together and you might have the perfect basketball player. A bit undersized, perhaps, but an offensive dynamo and defensive ace.
Deployed correctly and both can have impacts that well exceed what’s expected of their roles. We saw it throughout the regular season. We saw it earlier in the playoffs.
It took until the final two games of the season to see it in the NBA Finals, but when Poole and Payton arrived, the Warriors went to a new level. They were markedly better than Boston, and they have the trophy to prove it now. | Basketball |
First electric Ferrari to launch in 2025 Ferrari will be prancing into the next decade with piston power. The Italian sports car brand has confirmed its first all-electric model will be on sale in 2025, but by 2030 most of its cars will still have internal combustion engines and they won't be going away completely anytime soon.The plan is to continue adding hybrid power to the lineup, like that used in the current 296 GTB, which combines electric motors with a V6 engine, but several models will continue to run solely on gasoline power.FERRARI'S CHARLES LECLERC SCORES GRAND SLAM WITH F1 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX WIN Speaking at Ferrari's capital markets day, CEO Benedetto Vigna said Ferrari will launch 15 new vehicles by 2026 that will bring its mix to 5% electric, 55% hybrid and 40% internal combustion. That will shift to 40% electric and 40% hybrid by 2030, with the remaining 20% internal combustion. The Ferrari 296 GTB features a V6 hybrid power unit. (Ferrari) Ferrari is building a dedicated assembly line for electrics at its headquarters in Maranello and will design and manufacture its own electric motors and battery modules. However, Vigna, who came to Ferrari from the semiconductor industry last year, said it will outsource the software needed to control it all.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna previously worked in the semiconductor industry. (Reuters/Flavio Lo Scalzo)"I will never build a Ferrari operating system, I would be foolish," Vigna said. "You have to focus on the areas where you can be the best." The Ferrari Purosangue will be the brand's first SUV. (Ferrari)The next model to be released is the Purosangue, which will be powered by a conventional V12 engine when it debuts in September as Ferrari's first SUV.GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HEREUnlike Lamborghini, whose Urus SUV accounts for half the brand's sales, Ferrari will limit the Purosangue to just 20% of its annual output. | Automotive and Transportation |
SAN FRANCISCO — Some day the Brandons will have their own statues outside Oracle Park along with Buster Posey.
That’s how much Crawford and Belt have meant to the Giants, authoring moments of high drama at the plate and spectacular defense afield. Posey called it a career after last season’s out-of-the-blue 107 wins and NL West title. The Brandons are in the middle of things for a 2022 version of the Giants that is lagging a bit behind the pace of their predecessors.
The Giants are 35-27 heading into a seven-game road trip that begins in Pittsburgh Friday and then hits Atlanta. They’re coming off a 6-3 homestand which curiously included three losses to also-rans (two to Colorado, one to Kansas City) and a sweep of the Dodgers.
They’ve been alone in third place since May 9 behind the Dodgers and Padres and have yet to reach 10 games over .500. At the same point a year ago, the Giants were 39-23, in first place and other than being out a half-game on Sept. 1, stayed that way all season. Not coincidentally, Posey had his best year in a decade and the Brandons were in the process of having career seasons at an advanced age, at least in a baseball sense.
Posey is gone, having won three World Series championships and Joey Bart in Triple-A, not quite ready to be the heir apparent. Crawford and Belt could catch Posey with another ring. The Giants are going to need more from both men for that to happen.
It’s fair to wonder if it’s realistic for the Brandons to continue such a late-career upswing. It’s not trending in that direction.
Crawford, 35, played in his 1,500th game Wednesday. By the end of this week, he will have passed Jim Davenport (1,501) and the only San Francisco Giants who have played in more games than Crawford will be Willie McCovey (2,256), Willie Mays (2,095) and Barry Bonds (1,976).
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 12: San Francisco Giants’ Brandon Crawford (35) takes a moment to rest during a pitching change in the seventh inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, June 12, 2022. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
“That’s a pretty short list and those are great players,” Crawford said. “It’s cool to be on that list.” Not long after Crawford tied the record, he made an error on the right side of the infield off the bat of M.J. Melendez on a shift. It allowed two runs to score and the Giants eventually lost to the Royals 3-2. It was his eighth error in 55 games. Last season he had nine errors in 135 and won his fourth Gold Glove for defense.
Judging defense solely on the number of errors is dicey, and Crawford flatly said “no” when he was asked if things felt different defensively this season.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler attributes the errors to bad breaks.
“I think he’s had some balls hop up on him and some tougher hops,” Kapler said. “Sometimes you put yourself in position to get a perfect hop and sometimes the hop finds you.”
It’s more clear at the plate that Crawford isn’t producing at the rate he did a year ago. Last year’s slash line of .298/.373./522 with .895 OPS, 24 home runs and 90 RBIs are numbers he never previously approached. Right now Crawford’s slash line is .222/.313./.354 for a .666 OPS with five home runs and 27 RBIs.
To Kapler, players such as Crawford and Belt have built a lot of equity through two championships as well as their 2021 performances.
“I really believe in the guys that got us to where we wanted to go last year and Craw falls squarely into that category,” Kapler said. “He’s going to put up big numbers for us. He’s going to play great defense for us. He’s going to stabilize our group just like he did last year. We’re just not there yet.”
Belt, 34, wowed his teammates by stepping into the batter’s box Wednesday and hitting a 403-foot home run after missing 30 games on the COVID list and with a persistent right knee issue. He’s played in 28 games with five home runs, 12 RBIs. His late-career power surge has been remarkable. After never hitting more than 17 home runs in a season, Belt has hit 43 home runs in 174 games since the start of the 2020 pandemic year. Daddy's home 👨✈️ pic.twitter.com/L7nTq12PiZ
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 15, 2022 With Belt, the problem isn’t the offense. It’s his own body. He’s always been unlucky in that regard, missing last year’s playoffs with a broken thumb after leading the Giants with 29 home runs in just 97 games. As a hitter, his mental game has never been better, and it’s probably why he’s shown the ability to roll off the injured list, into the lineup and produce immediately.
“I know what I want my approach to be when I go up there and stick with it,” Belt said. “Earlier in my career, after my first at-bat, I probably would have panicked a little bit and changed something. I don’t do that anymore. I try and stick with it. I know it’s going to come eventually. Sometimes it clicks right away.”
Belt joked the reason he comes back quickly is he has so much experience returning from IL stints. He said his knee feels good now and he’ll be monitored closely for the rest of the season.
“I’m going to have to do the maintenance stuff, the treatment,” Belt said. “I’m old. We’re going to do everything we can to take care of it.”
Part of the plan will have Belt serving as a DH more often, given the Giants have Darin Ruf, Wilmer Flores, Tommy La Stella and at some point LaMonte Wade Jr. at first. “Just to see him in the dugout, that’s a big boost of confidence,” Kapler said. “We’re going to build him up and eventually he’s going to be our regular first baseman and that is going to be another level of enthusiasm and confidence toward the group.”
If Crawford and Belt can’t duplicate their performances of a year ago for whatever reason, the Giants still have the goods to be one of the six teams in the expanded playoffs. And that could be good enough. Atlanta had the fewest wins of any playoff team in the NL with 88 and wound up winning it all.
But to get back in the 100-win club and beyond, Crawford needs to be better and Belt needs to stay healthy. | Baseball |
(NEXSTAR) – On Thursday, FIFA revealed the 16 North American cities that will host 2026 World Cup matches. The announcement – made via a televised show from Fox’s studio in Manhattan – follows years of meetings, visits and suspense as soccer fans across the country waited to find out whether or not one of the matches would be played near them. Every four years, millions of soccer fans travel and tune in to cheer on their favorite national teams as they battle to lift the coveted FIFA World Cup Trophy. In 2026, it will be the first time in the history of the tournament that three nations will host matches and the first time the field of qualified nations will expand to 48. There were 23 venues in the United States, Mexico and Canada that were bidding to play host to the highly-anticipated tournament, with the majority in the U.S. Canada and Mexico each had three. See the full list of selected cities below: United States SeattleSan FranciscoLos AngelesKansas CityDallasAtlantaHoustonBostonPhiladelphiaMiamiNew York/New Jersey Mexico GuadalajaraMonterreyMexico City Canada VancouverToronto The U.S. cities that were left off the list include Baltimore/Washington D.C., Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville and Orlando. Reports last week already indicated that Edmonton, Canada, was out as an option, and that was confirmed Thursday. What about the stadiums? The U.S. selections included none of the nine stadiums used at the 1994 World Cup. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and Orlando’s Camping World Stadium were the only ones remaining in contention, and they were among the sites dropped in the final round. New stadiums were selected in five areas used in 1994. AT&T Stadium in Texas replaced Dallas’ Cotton Bowl; SoFi Stadium in Inglewood took over for Pasadena’s Rose Bowl; and Levi’s Stadium instead of Stanford Stadium. Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, replaced torn-down stadiums that were adjacent, Giants Stadium and Foxboro Stadium. Orlando’s Camping World was dropped among existing 1994 venues. The Detroit area, where the old Pontiac Silverdome hosted games, was cut in 2018 and Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium was dropped after FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, dropped out. Washington’s RFK Stadium was used in 1994. Chicago, which hosted the 1994 opener at Soldier Field, refused to bid, citing FIFA’s economic demands. FIFA selected the US-Mexico-Canada joint bid in 2018, with North America beating out Morocco. What’s next? There is a lot of work that needs to be done between now and summer 2026. Host cities will begin planning and development to host fans from across the world. Leaders will have four years to update stadiums, infrastructure and fan experiences ahead of 2026. As for the national teams, they’ll begin qualifying once the 2022 edition of the tournament in Qatar concludes in December. The Associated Press contributed to this report. | Soccer |
There's a very boring phrase in the corporate consumer goods world: disruption of mundane products. "Ohh … what's that?" I don't hear you asking. Well, a while ago, companies realized that rather than pouring loads of cash into reinventing the wheel to try to be innovative, they could take rote products and make them "exciting" by changing how they were sold, adding just a dash of R&D and nice design of their own. Presto.Thanks to the convenience of direct-to-consumer internet sales, we got things like the mattress-in-a-box craze, where a boring mattress was delivered to your door with some funky color trim added to make it hip. We also got razor companies like Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s looking to undercut big brands like Gillette with cheaper prices and better-looking handles and accessories, while at same time locking customers into a postal subscription model for blades.It's been quite the success for some, which is why Stix wants in on this direct-to-consumer action, but with golf clubs.The company has hit upon the idea that most people who play golf aren't really that good. The sport is filled with weekend hackers who don't practice enough, or players in the “fair to middling” bracket who can at least find their way around a bag of irons.The open secret in golf is that just because you can afford an $1,800 Honma Beres driver doesn’t mean you know how to make it work. Champagne budgets won't help Kool-Aid skills. Unless you are very good, it's useless spanking thousands of dollars on a set of clubs. Stix has zoomed in on this, and the company has created what it claims is the ideal set of golf clubs for beginner to middle players of the game. The build quality is nice, and the value can't be ignored. The Stix clubs aim to look the part of serious equipment, serve you just fine out on the course, but not cost the earth. Is it a winning formula?Swinging PrettyPhotograph: StixThere's no denying that the first impression of Stix's all-black full set of 14 clubs is a fine one. You get everything from driver to putter, including 3- and 5-woods, a 4-hybrid, irons from 5 through to pitching wedge, three additional wedges (52, 56, and 60 degrees), and a putter. They do indeed look the part, all stealthy and powerful in their Vader-worthy matte darkness. And the woods look as good as the irons too. Titanium and stainless steel heads are evident, as well as graphite shafts, which provide more flex and greater clubhead speed than steel. The grips also feel high quality and give confidence, particularly on the putter. The $185 weather-resistant stand bag, sold out at the time of writing, is well worth the extra investment, being well organized (five-way divider and two full-length inner dividers) and lightweight (4.5 pounds) with plenty of pocket space (six in all, with a fleece-lined valuables pocket and insulated cooler pocket for mid-round refreshment). It all matches the clubs' aesthetic.The $65 Stix headcovers, however, are a different story. Here we get the first clear glimpse of corners being cut to save cost. The look and feel cheap. Ugly, in fact, compared to the rest of the set. Why Stix has fallen short here, design-wise, I'm not sure, but it lets the side down and is the one thing that I would suggest leaving well alone and instead finding options elsewhere.Beauty Only Skin-DeepThe Stix headcovers are not worth the investment.
Photograph: Jeremy WhiteAnd the clubs scratch far too easily.
Photograph: Jeremy WhiteYou're going to need headcovers, though, as after only a few sessions with the Stix clubs I quickly became aware of their second, and perhaps biggest, failing: the black finish. While it looks superb out of the box, this chic veneer will not last long. Rest the iron heads on a paved surface and when you pick them up you'll see glints of metal shining through scratches on the black.A few swings through the sand will likely also reveal scratches forming. And unless you have headcovers protecting your drivers, these will pick up unsightly marks almost instantly as your clubs rub up against each other being carted about. | Golf |
FILE - Character Buzz Lightyear stands near the entrance to the Aliens Swirling Saucers ride at Toy Story Land in Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., June 23, 2018. Malaysia's film censors said Friday, June 17, 2022, that it was Disney's decision to ax the animated film “Lightyear” from the country's cinemas after refusing to cut scenes promoting homosexuality. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File) | Movies |
Golden State Warriors fans rejoiced across the Bay Area after their 103-90 NBA Championship win over the Boston Celtics Thursday night.
In San Francisco, they gathered at the Dub’s house to view Game 6 of the NBA Finals on the huge video screen at Chase Center, while others in full regalia watched outdoors at Thrive City. They were treated to a postgame display as fireworks exploded over the arena after the historic win, the team’s fourth NBA title in eight years.
The Mission District was also abuzz as fireworks were lit and low riders did wheelies while revelers celebrated post game.
Meanwhile, in downtown Oakland, fans waved jerseys and stood on top of cars while fireworks exploded as they celebrated in the streets near Broadway and Telegraph Avenue. However, the celebratory evening turned deadly when one person died and several people were hospitalized after a multiple shooting at the Halftime Sports Bar on 14th Street which occurred shortly before 10:30 p.m.
The Warriors announced their 2022 championship parade will be held Monday in San Francisco.
The parade will start at 11:20 a.m. and proceed from Market Street and Main Street to Market Street and 6th Street. The parade will be the first for a professional team in the city since the San Francisco Giants won their third World Series in five seasons in 2014.
Click here if you’re unable to view the photos on your mobile device.
Bay Area News Group’s Kerry Crowley contributed to this report. SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Fireworks burst over Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., Thursday, June 16, 2022, after the Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics, 103-90, in Boston to win their seventh NBA championship. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: A Golden State Warriors fan waves a Warriors jersey at an Oakland Police officer driving past slowly as they. celebrate the Warriors NBA championship against the Boston Celtics on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans enjoy a big lead while watching the third quarter of Game 6 of the NBA Finals on the video screen at Chase Center, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans celebrate the Warriors NBA championship against the Boston Celtics on Broadway and Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Lisa Wachtell of San Mateo enjoys the Golden State Warriors half time lead in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, while attending a watch party at Chase Center, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans celebrate the Warriors NBA championship against the Boston Celtics on Broadway and Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans light up fireworks as they celebrate the Warriors NBA championship against the Boston Celtics on Broadway and Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans enjoy a big lead while watching the third quarter of Game 6 of the NBA Finals on the video screen at Chase Center, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: A Golden State Warriors fan ends up on the floor after losing balance while dancing as they celebrate the Warriors NBA championship against the Boston Celtics on Broadway and Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans celebrate the team’s NBA championship by cruising down Mission Street In San Francisco, Calif., Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans Poinciana Hung-Haas, left, her sister Madison Hung-Haas and their mother Claudia along with fellow fans, celebrate the Warriors NBA championship against the Boston Celtics on Broadway and Telegraph Avenue n Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans enjoy a big lead while watching the third quarter of Game 6 of the NBA Finals on the video screen at Chase Center, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: An Oakland Police officer rides past slowly as Golden State Warriors fans celebrate the Warriors NBA championship against the Boston Celtics on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans enjoy a big lead while watching the third quarter of Game 6 of the NBA Finals on the video screen at Chase Center, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: A Golden State Warriors fan waves a Warriors jersey at an Oakland Police officer driving past slowly as they. celebrate the Warriors NBA championship against the Boston Celtics on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: A Golden State Warriors fans holds up a sign while watching Game 6 of the NBA Finals on the video screens at Chase Center, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: A Golden State Warriors fan celebrates the Warriors NBA championship against the Boston Celtics on Broadway and Telegraph in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans enjoy a big lead while watching the third quarter of Game 6 of the NBA Finals on the video screen at Chase Center, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans Poinciana Hung-Haas, left, her sister Madison Hung-Haas, right, and a fellow fan of Oakland, perform as they celebrate the Warriors NBA championship against the Boston Celtics on Broadway and Telegraph Avenue n Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Lawrence Evangelista savors the final moments of the Golden State Warriors 103-90 victory over the Boston Celtics during a Game 6 watch party outside Chase Center, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans celebrate in the Mission Disrictt of San Francisco, Calif., after the team won their fourth NBA championship in the past eight years, Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans celebrate the Warriors NBA championship against the Boston Celtics on Broadway and Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans ride the roller coaster of emotions while watching their team play in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on the video screen at Chase Center, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans celebrate the Warriors NBA championship against the Boston Celtics on Broadway and Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors fans drive through the Mission District in San Francisco, Calif. celebrating the team’s fourth NBA championship in eight years, Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) | Basketball |
NEW YORK (AP) — The 16 cities of the first World Cup spread across three nations were revealed, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino made a bold statement summing up the goal of the 2026 tournament, to be played largely in the United States.“By 2026, soccer — or futbol — will be the No. 1 sport in this part of the world,” he proclaimed.Roughly four years before soccer’s showcase comes to the U.S., Mexico and Canada, there already were winners and losers Thursday: Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia, Seattle and Kansas City, Missouri, were among the cities picked after missing out on hosting the 1994 tournament.Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Tennessee, and Orlando, Florida, missed the cut.Eleven U.S. stadiums were taken, all from the NFL. Arlington, Texas; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Foxborough, Massachusetts, and Inglewood and Santa Clara, California, were holdover areas from the 1994 tournament that boosted soccer’s American prominence.Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, which hosted the 1970 and ’86 finals, will become the first stadium in three World Cups, selected along with Guadalajara’s Estadio Akron and Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA.Toronto’s BMO Field and Vancouver, British Columbia’s BC Place were picked for Canada’s first time hosting, while Edmonton, Alberta’s Commonwealth Stadium was dropped.Following the withdrawl of outmoded FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, Baltimore’s omission means this will be a rare World Cup with no matches in the vicinity of a host’s capital.“You can’t imagine a World Cup coming to the U.S., the capital city not taking a major role,” said Colin Smith, FIFA’s chief competitions and events officer.Infantino promised a fan fest on Washington’s National Mall, and locations across the three nations are in play for training sites. “The story is always who doesn’t get chosen,” U.S. Soccer Federation President Cindy Parlow Cone said.Infantino’s goal of reaching the top of U.S. sports appears to be quite a reach. The NFL averaged 17.1 million viewers for television and digital during its 2021 season, while the 2018 World Cup averaged 5.04 million on U.S. English- and Spanish-language TV.“You are leading the world in many areas,” Infantino said about North America, “the objective must be that you will be leading the world, as well, in the world’s No. 1 sport.”“I know it was giggles and laughs,” North and Central American and Caribbean Confederation President Victor Montagliani said. “He wasn’t joking.”Infantino defended FIFA’s financial demands on bidding cities and states, which included sales tax exemptions. He said World Cup revenue supports FIFA’s 211 members and 75% could not sustain operations without the money.“This is something which is definitely a fair compromise, taking into the account the interest of sport and the interests of the host countries,” he said.The 1994 tournament set records with a 3.59 million total attendance and average of 68,991. The capacities of the U.S. stadiums for 2026 are all 60,000 and higher.“I think this part of the world doesn’t realize what will happen here in 2026,” Infantino said. “These three countries will be upside down. The world will be invading Canada, Mexico and the United States.”The bid plan selected in 2018 envisioned 60 games in the U.S. for the first 48-nation Cup, including all from the quarterfinals on, and 10 each in Mexico and Canada.Specific sites for each round will be announced later, and Infantino said world-wide television times will be a factor for the final, which makes the Eastern and Central times zones more likely. FIFA has gradually moved back the kickoff time of the final from 3:30 p.m. EDT to 10 a.m. EDT for this year’s tournament, which is 10 p.m. in Beijing.The U.S. selections included none of the nine stadiums used in 1994. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and Orlando’s Camping World Stadium were the only ones remaining in contention, and they were among the sites dropped in negotiations with stadiums and cities that continued until right before the announcement.New stadiums were selected in five areas used in 1994. AT&T Stadium in Texas instead of Dallas’ Cotton Bowl, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood for the Rose Bowl and Levi’s Stadium for Stanford Stadium.Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, replaced torn-down sites that were adjacent, Giants Stadium and Foxboro Stadium.Three U.S. venues have retractable roofs and SoFi has a fixed roof. All of the U.S. stadiums but Miami and Kansas City opened in 2002 or later. Venues have a broader array of pricey seats than in 1994 — the bid book listed a total of 3,757 luxury suites and 76,317 club seats, even before the opening of SoFi, which hosted this year’s Super Bowl.Eight of the 11 U.S. stadiums have artificial turf and promised to install temporary grass. Dietmar Exler, chief operating officer of AMB Sports & Entertainment, whose NFL Falcons and Major League Soccer team play at Mercedes-Benz, said growing lamps will be used.“We will study very carefully with FIFA how we can handle and make sure we have the best natural turf available,” he said. “That’s one of the high priority areas for us to focus on.”Some venues, notably SoFi, cannot currently fit a 68-x-105 meter (75x-115 yard) field and would need renovations to remove seats near sidelines. FIFA made similar demands ahead of 1994 but backed off and allowed some narrower surfaces.“We have to move out some of the pinch points,” Smith said. “It doesn’t have any material aspect on capacity.”The Detroit area, where the old Pontiac Silverdome hosted games, was cut in 2018 and Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium was the capital area’s contender after FedEx dropped out in April. Washington’s RFK Stadium was used in 1994.Chicago, which hosted the 1994 opener at Solider Field, refused to bid, citing FIFA’s demands.In contrast to the 1992 site announcement during a news conference, the 2026 announcement was made during a show broadcast from Fox’s studio in Manhattan.“It’s grown so much in my lifetime,” U.S. star Christian Pulisic said, “and I’m hoping that it can even take that next step.”___AP Sports Writer Charles Odum in Atlanta contributed to this report.More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | Soccer |
‘The road goes ever on”, wrote Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. But the esteemed Oxford don and creator of the high fantasy genre probably wasn’t expecting it to lead to a billion dollar multimedia franchise to rival Marvel and Star Wars.But that, it seems, is what Tolkien’s Middle-earth tales are slowly morphing into, almost 70 years after he completed work on The Lord of the Rings, which was originally published in 1954 and 1955. This week, Deadline reports that a new anime movie, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, is moving into production – and it all looks surprisingly legit. Brian Cox will play Helm Hammerhand, legendary defender of the Rohirrim, with Miranda Otto returning from Peter Jackson’s turn-of-the-century Lord of the Rings trilogy as Eowyn (now the story’s narrator). That triptych’s producer and screenwriter, Philippa Boyens, is executive producing, along with conceptual designer Alan Lee and visual effects expert Richard Taylor of Weta Digital.Altogether this makes up a decent portion of the dream team that gave us Jackson’s multiple Oscar-winning trilogy. But of course, this isn’t the only Tolkien project heading to screens. On TV, Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is also imminent. Where will this all lead, one has to ask? And do we really need all these tales of Middle-earth?The answer of course, is yes. In this post-Covid age, we are all ever-expanding content jelly bellies, determined to feast on everything good that is given us. Our nightly banquets are a veritable La Grande Bouffe of streaming: we may eventually expire from gorging ourselves on too much Netflix, Now TV, Apple TV and Amazon (to name but a few) but it’s going to be the most joyous demise since Gandalf nearly decapitated the Goblin King.Do we want to watch Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings for the umpteenth time? Or would we rather watch something new? The answer is clearly BOTH. So the next question becomes whether Middle-earth is really ready to be transformed into its very own film and TV universe?Do we really need all these tales of Middle-earth? … The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Photograph: New Line Cinema/AllstarThere are fundamental differences between Marvel and Star Wars and Tolkien’s fantasy world, and not just the fact that the Oxford professor backed up his world-building with entirely new fantasy languages and mythic pre-histories, wonderfully imagining himself as creating an entire missing mythology for the English people. The two Disney-owned franchises boast mythologies that have grown gradually over the decades: hundreds of different creators have built on the work of Stan Lee since the 1960s, while dozens of directors have now taken on George Lucas’ space fantasy saga and begun to build it into something new with TV shows such as The Mandalorian. Middle-earth on the other hand, despite Jackson’s clumsy tinkerings during the middling Hobbit trilogy – elf/dwarf romances anyone? – remains resolutely Tolkien’s creation.The War of the Rohirrim will expand on stories told in the original Lord of the Rings about a time centuries before, when Helm saved his people. The idea of filming a fantasy battle as an anime is particularly appealing, but otherwise this isn’t the most obvious LOTR subplot that Warner and New Line might have plucked. It does have the benefit of a positive ending, however, whereas many of Tolkien’s other tales of Middle-earth (as the producers of The Rings of Power may be about to find out) are ultimately tragic and bleak in nature. I imagine few people would want to view a movie all about the early life of Gollum, or sit up until 3am binge-streaming the latest series of Saruman’s Fall.Let’s face it though: the inevitable place that this is all going, provided there are no contractual disputes with the Tolkien estate, is new stories set in Middle-earth not based on Tolkien’s writings. Perhaps producers can learn something from Marvel and Star Wars here: the former has gone so far beyond its source material that it now represents the definitive media form for the superhero saga, while suits for the latter have only recently worked out that continuing to regurgitate Lucas-era stories in only vaguely new forms is probably not the way forward when you have a proposition as masterfully fresh and new as The Mandalorian up your Jedi robe.Surely we’ll get there in time with Lord of the Rings, too. It just might take a decade or two before we get a show about the two blue Istari (wizards) who travelled south and east into parts of Middle-earth we’ve never even heard of – now that would be a story. And in the meantime, most of us will be perfectly happy chowing down as Hollywood and Amazon microwave every last ounce of content out of Tolkien’s remaining writings. I’m especially looking forward to the episode of The Rings of Power in which Sauron falls on his arse after being kicked out of Lindon by Elrond and Gil-galad. Secretly, you probably are too. | Movies |
... so perhaps Adam Hadwin’s street-fighting par on 10 was the harbinger of a scrappy day. He sends his tee shot at the short 11th into the heart of the green, but rolls an excitable downhill 20-footer six feet past, and can’t make the one coming back. All of a sudden, debutant MJ Daffue has a three-stroke lead at the US Open!-6: Daffue (7)-3: Hadwin (2*), Tarren, Lingmerth, McIlroy, Dahmen-2: Hovland (4*), Fitzpatrick (3*), D Johnson (3*), Buckley, NeSmith, Harman, WiseTell you who is full of confidence: MJ Daffue, that’s who! The 33-year-old South African, playing in his first major championship, comes up short of 7, his ball rolling back down the false front. But he putts anyway and sends a right-to-left monster into the cup! He sticks a triumphant finger in the sky, then clenches his fist, and you’d have got good odds on this state of affairs yesterday morning!-6: Daffue (7)-4: Hadwin (1*)-3: Tarren, Lingmerth, McIlroy, DahmenThe overnight leader Adam Hadwin is out and about. A drive down the middle of 10. Then an approach pulled into awkward greenside sand. Suddenly a JT-style blowout looks a possibility. But with a downhill lie in the bunker and not much green to work with, he splashes to ten feet, about the best he could do, then salvages par with a right-to-left sliding putt. Harbinger of a scrappy day or the confidence-boosting foundation for another low round? Let’s see.Another birdie, this time in more conventional style, for Viktor Hovland. The green found in regulation at 13, a 15-footer trundled in. He’s -2 for his round and the championship. Also -2: Matt Fitzpatrick, who bounces back from the careless dropped shot at 11 by sending his second at 12 to three feet and sealing the deal.The PGA champion Justin Thomas got off to an awful start this morning. From the centre of 10, he pulled his approach into the thick rough and ended up running up a double-bogey six. Then he followed that up with bogey at 11. Suddenly one of the pre-tournament favourites had crashed down to +2. But a big break on 13 could have arrested that downward momentum. He overhits a long birdie putt, but the ball slams into the back of the cup, thinks about pinging away, but slam dunks. Lucky he had that line plumb, because otherwise he was facing a ten footer coming back. Birdie out of nowhere, and he’s back to +1.A couple of long birdie putts here. Brooks Koepka rakes a huge left-to-right swinger from the front of 3, the two-time winner rising to +2, while Shane Lowry whistles one in from the fringe of 10. He’s +1. And from long to big: MJ Daffue finds greenside sand at the drivable par-four 5th, splashes out to four feet, and makes it consecutive birdies. He’s the new sole leader of the US Open! Finally a short one missed by Matt Fitzpatrick on 11, and he slips back to -1.-5: Daffue (5)-4: Hadwin-3: Tarren, Lingmerth, McIlroy, Dahmen-2: Buckley, NeSmith, Harman, Wise, Fitzpatrick, Johnson (2*), Rose (1)Sam Burns is a three-time winner on the PGA Tour this season, and in terms of recent form alone, might be the next cab on the rank to break his major duck. The 25-year-old from Louisiana opens today with birdie, then adds another after nearly acing the par-three 2nd. He’s nicely placed at -1. Viktor Hovland may have something to say about that, though, and the Norwegian chips in from thick rough at the side of 12 to join Burns at -1 after yesterday’s 70.Adam Hadwin is only playing this week as an alternate, having come through qualifying. He’s benefitting from Paul Casey’s withdrawal. Four of the other five first-round leaders are also qualifiers, the exception being Rory McIlroy. Very strange. Very refreshing. Might that, however, speak to their chances of staying the course over four days? Well, maybe, except MJ Daffue has just birdied 4 to join Hadwin in the lead, and Brookline has been known to deliver the odd surprise before, Francis Ouimet, all that, so you never know!-4: Daffue (4), Hadwin-3: Tarren, Lingmerth, McIlroy, DahmenPreambleAdam Hadwin leads after his opening round of 66 … but the likes of Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott, Will Zalatoris, Justin Thomas, Gary Woodland and defending champ Jon Rahm are in hot pursuit. Here’s how the top of the leaderboard looks …-4: Hadwin-3: Tarren, Lingmerth, McIlroy, Dahmen, Daffue-2: Buckley, NeSmith, Harman, Wise, Fitzpatrick, Johnson, Rose-1: Rodgers, Morikawa, Piot, Rahm, Scott, Homa, Zalatoris, Hossler, Hardy, Thomas, Woodland, Kokrak… and here’s when everyone’s teeing off. Let’s go, then. It’s on! Starting at hole 1: 11:45 Sean Crocker, Jediah Morgan (Aus), Taylor Montgomery 11:56 M. J. Daffue (Rsa), (a) Maxwell Moldovan, Yannik Paul (Ger) 12:07 Adria Arnaus (Spa), Talor Gooch, Tom Hoge 12:18 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Kevin Na 12:29 Patton Kizzire, Sam Burns, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 12:40 Brooks Koepka, Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Smith (Aus) 12:51 Corey Conners (Can), (a) Austin Greaser, Luke List 13:02 Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose (Eng), Gary Woodland 13:13 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Kor), Patrick Reed 13:24 Harris English, Lucas Herbert (Aus), Jason Kokrak 13:35 (a) Ben Lorenz, Davis Shore, Samuel Stevens 13:46 (a) Adrien Dumont (Bel), Daijiro Izumida (Jpn), Sebastian Soederberg (Swe) 13:57 Brady Calkins, Ryan Gerard, Jesse Mueller 17:30 Hayden Buckley, Fran Quinn, Callum Tarren (Eng) 17:41 (a) Sam Bennett, Kurt Kitayama, Denny McCarthy 17:52 Wil Besseling (Ned), Wyndham Clark, Brandon Matthews 18:03 Si Woo Kim (Kor), Sepp Straka (Aut), David Lingmerth (Swe) 18:14 Victor Perez (Fra), Davis Riley, Scott Stallings 18:25 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Xander Schauffele 18:36 Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Kevin Kisner 18:47 Keegan Bradley, Marc Leishman (Aus), Aaron Wise 18:58 Stewart Cink, Francesco Molinari (Ita), (a) Laird Shepherd (Eng) 19:09 Marcel Schneider (Ger), Joseph Bramlett, Chan Kim 19:20 Joel Dahmen, Lanto Griffin, Jinichiro Kozuma (Jpn) 19:31 (a) Fred Biondi (Bra), Harry Hall (Eng), Chris Gotterup 19:42 Luke Gannon, Chris Naegel, Andrew Beckler Starting at hole 10: 11:45 Kevin Chappell, Andrew Novak, Chase Seiffert 11:56 Thorbjoern Olesen (Den), Brian Stuard, Nick Hardy 12:07 Sam Horsfield (Eng), Shaun Norris (Rsa), Cameron Tringale 12:18 Sung Jae Im (Kor), Guillermo Mito Pereira (Chi), Erik van Rooyen (Rsa) 12:29 Tony Finau, Viktor Hovland (Nor), Justin Thomas 12:40 Joo-Hyung Kim (Kor), Min-Woo Lee (Aus), Seamus Power (Irl) 12:51 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson 13:02 Shane Lowry (Irl), Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 13:13 Danny Lee (Nzl), (a) Keita Nakajima (Jpn), Nick Taylor (Can) 13:24 (a) Nick Dunlap, Jim Furyk, Adam Hadwin (Can) 13:35 Richard Bland (Eng), Ryan Fox (Nzl), Rikuya Hoshino (Jpn) 13:46 Jonas Blixt (Swe), Bo Hoag, Todd Sinnott (Aus) 13:57 Sean Jacklin (Sco), (a) Charles Reiter, Isaiah Salinda 17:30 Matt McCarty, Michael Thorbjornsen (a), Erik Barnes 17:41 Matthew NeSmith, Patrick Rodgers, Travis Vick (a) 17:52 Troy Merritt, William Mouw (a), Andrew Putnam 18:03 Collin Morikawa, James Piot, Jon Rahm (Spa) 18:14 Max Homa, Adam Scott (Aus), Jordan Spieth 18:25 Daniel Berger, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel 18:36 Sebastian Munoz (Col), Alexander Noren (Swe), Harold Varner III 18:47 Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Cameron Young, Will Zalatoris 18:58 (a) Stewart Hagestad, Grayson Murray, Adam Schenk 19:09 Branden Grace (Rsa), Mackenzie Hughes (Can), Guido Migliozzi (Ita) 19:20 Beau Hossler, Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn), Kalle Samooja (Fin) 19:31 Richard Mansell (Eng), Roger Sloan (Can), Tomoyasu Sugiyama (Jpn) 19:42 Keith Greene, Benjamin Silverman (Can), (a) Caleb Manuel | Golf |
Obi-Wan hearts Darth Vader 4ever: "It's always a bit of an eyeopener," McGregor joked. Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen’s chemistry is written in the stars, at least according to “Obi-Wan Kenobi” fans.
Decades after the duo first appeared side-by-side as Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker, respectively, in the “Star Wars” prequel films, McGregor and Christensen reunited for the Disney+ series, set 10 years after the events of “Revenge of the Sith.”
“There’s a lot of homoerotic Obi-Wan/Hayden fan art that gets sent to me now and again,” McGregor revealed to GQ. “I don’t know how it finds me. It’s always a bit of an eyeopener.”
McGregor continued: “You open the envelope, you think you’re going to have to sign something, and you’re like, ‘Fucking hell!'”
The Disney+ series, currently streaming, marked both McGregor and Christensen’s returns to the franchise. Christensen previously gushed that even the crew were “proper ‘Star Wars’ fans,” which made the series so special. “Everybody’s really excited to be there,” Christensen said. Director Deborah Chow revealed there was a “moment of silence” when first seeing Christensen as Anakin Skywalker turned Darth Vader.
“It’s really intense to have such an iconic character, and then to be directing him and to be doing new scenes with him,” Chow explained. “So I do remember poor Ewan on that day, he’s like, ‘What am I, chopped liver by comparison right now?'”
And, of course, Chow pointed out the inherent “love story” between opposing forces Obi-Wan and Vader.
“For me, across the prequels, through the original trilogy, there’s a love-story dynamic with these two that goes through the whole thing,” Chow told Vanity Fair. “I felt like it was quite hard to not [include] the person who left Kenobi in such anguish in the series…What’s special about that relationship is that they loved each other.”
IndieWire’s Ben Travers praised “Obi-Wan Kenobi” for deftly balancing the nuanced good vs. evil debate, writing in his review, “Considering ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ serves as a de-facto bridge between the two [films] — explaining how Ben spent his time after defeating Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) but before his son, Luke, comes into his own — the look fits, as does our protagonist’s central dilemma: Can trying to save one life jeopardize another? Can good be manipulated into evil? Is the risk always worth it, or should exceptions be made? Such dilemmas are familiar to “Star Wars,” but that doesn’t make them any less engaging.” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. | Movies |
Levels of helium-4 in the Earth’s atmosphere have been increasing since at least 1974, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, US that resolves a longstanding anomaly in atmospheric science.
Study lead author Benjamin Birner of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. (Courtesy: Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego)
Helium-4, the most abundant isotope of helium, is produced by radioactive decay in the Earth’s crust and accumulates in small amounts in natural gas. When the gas is extracted and burned, the helium is released into the atmosphere. Theoretical calculations have therefore suggested that atmospheric levels of helium-4 must have been increasing for decades due to fossil fuel usage. Until now, however, convincing experimental evidence for such a build-up had been lacking.
Helium mole fraction measurements
In the latest work, researchers led by Benjamin Birner of Scripps Institution of Oceanography developed a new and precise technique to measure the atmospheric ratio of helium-4 (4He) to nitrogen (N2). They studied 46 air samples acquired between 1974 and 2020 and found that the 4He concentration increased at an average rate of 39 +/-3 billion moles per year.
“Since nitrogen levels in the atmosphere are steady, changes in the 4He/N2 ratio indicate variability in the atmospheric helium content,” Birner explains. “We determined this ratio using a novel mass spectrometric technique that measures the helium mole fraction in the air with unprecedented precision.”
The new observations also suggest that atmospheric levels of another isotope of helium, 3He, have also increased. “While we didn’t measure 3He, only 4He/N2, some previous studies of the atmospheric helium isotope ratio (3He/4He) found no apparent trend,” Birner says. “Together with our observation of a clear increase in 4He, a stable isotopic ratio implies a corresponding build-up of 3He and 4He.”
Birner adds that the increase in 3He remains largely unexplained and warrants further research – especially since this isotope is very rare and has several important applications, including as a fuel for nuclear fusion. “To give an idea of how precious it is, people have even thought about mining it on the Moon,” he says. Read more Getting physical with the climate crisis The inferred increase in atmospheric 3He also greatly exceeds estimates of anthropogenic emissions from natural gas, nuclear weapons and nuclear power generation, suggesting potential problems with previous isotope measurements or an incorrect assessment of known sources, he says. “By improving the measurement of atmospheric helium, we hope to develop an indicator of regional to global natural gas usage that could be used in air quality studies of cities,” he tells Physics World.
The researchers say they will now be verifying the atmospheric helium isotope trend from the high-fidelity samples they used in this study. “Another avenue we would like to pursue is to make continuous helium measurements, to better understand local emission sources in cities and from these, verify reported fossil fuel emissions,” Birner concludes.
The present work is detailed in Nature Geoscience. | Chemistry and Material Sciences |
Steph Curry Celebrates Title W/ Champagne Chug ... And A Clapback At His Critics!!! 6/17/2022 6:08 AM PT Golden State Warriors Steph Curry celebrated his fourth championship Thursday night like it was his first ... slugging bubbly from a chalice and talkin' smack to his haters!!! The Golden State Warriors star hit the locker room with his teammates for the epic celly just minutes after the Dubs beat the Celtics in Game 6 of the NBA Finals ... and he went hard. — Golden State Warriors (@warriors) June 17, 2022 @warriors The newly crowned Finals MVP poured a bunch of champagne on his head, drank a ton of it ... and then yelled to all of his haters, "Champs, baby!" "What are they going to say now?!" he added. "What are they going to say now?!" how many Klay?! pic.twitter.com/5zEusDhjI8— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) June 17, 2022 @warriors Curry was far from the only Warriors star to revel in the team's latest title ... Klay Thompson and Draymond Green also did their fair share of drinking and trash talking. Jordan Poole, meanwhile, took the postgame celebration as an opportunity to throw a bunch of champagne down his throat -- and video of his chugging was pretty legendary. Jordan Poole is living his BEST life 🤣 pic.twitter.com/e7sQs0CgLK— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 17, 2022 @NBATV The title is the team's fourth since 2015 ... and the celebration of it is expected to go on much longer than just Thursday night -- officials announced there will be a huge parade for the team in San Francisco on Monday. | Basketball |
Manchester or Glasgow could be chosen as the next hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest after the organisers announced next year's show will not be held in war-torn Ukraine over safety fears.The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the event, said it had been in discussions with the Ukrainian public broadcaster UA:PBC over how it would hold the event after its entry Kalush Orchestra won this year's edition. Traditionally the winner of the international singing contest hosts the next year's edition, with Italy holding it in May after coming out on top in 2021. However, the EBU said that after looking into the issues of safety in the country, which is currently at war with Russia following Vladimir Putin's invasion in February, there is no possibility of it being held there. Instead, the EBU said it will discuss with the BBC whether it will host the event in Britain, after the UK's Sam Ryder finished as runner-up.The BBC said it would 'of course' discuss hosting the international event with the organisers, and if it does, it would be the first time the runner-up has held it.This has sparked rumours that Manchester or Glasgow could host the event, with Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon nailing her colours to the mast early, tweeting: 'I can think of a perfect venue on banks of the River Clyde!'However, as the BBC will host the event, it could take place closer to its base in MediaCityUK in Manchester, with one source telling MailOnline: 'There is an arena suspiciously available in Glasgow for May, and Manchester is very handy for the BBC.'The public broadcaster of the host nation is expected to contribute between £8.5m and £17m to the show, while the EBU itself, which is funded by member broadcasters, will contribute £5m in total.The host city is also expected to contribute financially or 'in kind' by covering expenses for security, branding and side events. The UK's Sam Ryder (pictured) finished second in this year's edition of the Eurovision Song Contest Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra (pictured) won the event in Turin, Italy, in May with their song 'Stefania' The OVO Hydro (right) in Glasgow has been suggested as one of the potential venues for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest The AO Arena (pictured) in Manchester could host the show. The leader of Manchester City Council has said the city is willing to go for itThe bombshell announcement was made by the EBU this morning, giving rise the possibility of the UK hosting the event for the first time since 1998, when it was held in Birmingham following Katrina and the Waves' victory with 'Love Shine a Light'.This morning's EBU statement said: 'Following their win at the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in May the EBU has been exploring options for the hosting of next year's competition with Ukraine's public broadcaster UA:PBC, who previously staged the event in 2017 and 2005.'It has become a well-known tradition that the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest hosts the competition the following year, providing certain criteria including ensuring the viability of staging the event and the safety of all stakeholders, including the public, are met.'Given the ongoing war since the Russian invasion of this year's winning country, the EBU has taken the time to conduct a full assessment and feasibility study with both UA:PBC and third-party specialists including on safety and security issues.'The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most complex TV productions in the world with thousands working on, and attending, the event and 12 months of preparation time needed.'Following objective analysis, the Reference Group, the ESC's governing board, has with deep regret concluded that, given the current circumstances, the security and operational guarantees required for a broadcaster to host, organize and produce the Eurovision Song Contest under the ESC Rules cannot be fulfilled by UA:PBC.'The EBU would like to thank UA:PBC for their wholehearted cooperation and commitment in exploring all scenarios in the weeks since Kalush Orchestra's win on May 14 in Turin and share their sadness and disappointment that next year's Contest cannot be held in Ukraine.It will be the first time the UK hosts the event since Katrina and the Waves (pictured) won in 1997, allowing it be held in Birmingham a year later The last time the show was held in the UK in 1998 it was won by Israeli pop singer Dana International (pictured)'The EBU has been supporting UA:PBC across a whole range of areas since the invasion. We will ensure that this support continues so UA:PBC can maintain the indispensable service they provide to Ukrainians.'As a result of this decision, in accordance with the rules and to ensure the continuity of the event, the EBU will now begin discussions with the BBC, as this year's runner up, to potentially host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom.'It is our full intention that Ukraine's win will be reflected in next year's shows. This will be a priority for us in our discussions with the eventual hosts.' Previous UK Eurovision winners Sandie Shaw (1967) with 'Puppet on a String'Lulu (1969) in a four-way tie with 'Boom Bang-a-Bang'Brotherhood of Man (1976) with 'Save Your Kisses for Me'Bucks Fizz (1981) with 'Making Your Mind Up'Katrina and the Waves (1997) with 'Love Shine a Light' In a statement, the BBC said: 'We have seen the announcement from the EBU. 'Clearly these aren't a set of circumstances that anyone would want. Following their decision, we will of course discuss the BBC hosting the Eurovision Song Contest.' Ukraine's entry, Kalush Orchestra, surged to the top of the leaderboard this year, with an impressive 631 points.They later auctioned the trophy they received for winning the event to raise money for the Ukrainian army, with the £700,000 raised being spent on buying combat drones.While Ukraine won the contest for the third time since joining the contest in 2003, the UK saw its best result in decades. Sam Ryder, from Essex, wowed the judges with his song 'Space Man' and finished second with 466 points, the best UK result since Imaani came second in 1998 with her song 'Where Are You?'The last time the UK won was in 1997 when rock band Katrina and the Waves performed 'Love Shine a Light'. The UK's second place standing was thrown into doubt after the grand final when it emerged organisers had replaced six countries' jury results with aggregate scores after noting 'irregular voting patterns'.But after an investigation, the EBU stuck by its decision and confirmed Ryder as runner-up.If the UK does host the event, it would be the eighth time the UK has done so. It has hosted shows in London (1960, 1963, 1968 and 1977), Edinburgh (1972), Brighton (1974), Harrogate (1982) and Birmingham (1998). Sandie Shaw (pictured) was the first UK winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, coming out on top with her song 'Puppet on a String' in Vienna, Austria, 1967 Scottish singer Lulu (pictured) finished top of the leaderboard in a four-way tie in 1969 with her song 'Boom Bang-a-Bang' Brotherhood of Man (pictured) won the 1976 Eurovision Song contest with their son 'Save Your Kisses for Me' British pop group Bucks Fizz, which was formed specifically for the contest, also won the show in 1981 with their song 'Making Your Mind Up'Downing Street welcomed the possibility of the UK hosting Eurovision if Ukraine cannot, pledging to ensure it would 'overwhelmingly reflects Ukraine's rich culture, heritage and creativity'.'If the EBU decides the competition can't go ahead in Ukraine we would of course welcome the opportunity to work closely with Ukraine and the BBC to host it here in the UK.'But we would be committed to ensuring it overwhelmingly reflects Ukraine's rich culture, heritage and creativity, as well as building on the ongoing partnership between our two countries.'Asked if the Government would help the BBC with the costs, the spokesman said 'we're slightly getting ahead of ourselves in terms of the process'.Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted her support for Scotland to host the show. Scottish First Mininster Nicola Sturgeon nailed her colours to the mast and called for Glasgow to host Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council, tweeted that her city would be willing to host the showShe wrote: 'We wish Eurovision could be in Ukraine but understand that in circumstances this isn’t possible. However, I can think of a perfect venue on banks of the River Clyde!! Scottish Government is happy to discuss with BBC, Glasgow City Council, European Broadcasting Union and others.'She added: 'Indeed there may be several possible venues in Scotland - let’s discuss!!'Meanwhile, Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council, tweeted: ' Hello Eurovision this is Manchester calling. Not the circumstances that anyone would want given the war in Ukraine. But if it’s to be a UK city- I can’t think of anywhere better, a great music city and fittingly home to a large Ukrainian community.'Among the venues that could host the event are the OVO Hydro arena in Glasgow, which is the largest entertainment venue in Scotland with a capacity of 14,300 and a clear schedule for next May. The 20,000-capacity O2 Arena in London is another strong contender, with experience hosting large events, as is the OVO Wembley Arena, which can hold 12,500 people.Other suggested host venues include Brighton, which hosted the show in 1974, and major cities such as Liverpool, Manchester or Newcastle. The 20,000 capacity O2 Arena in London is another of the potential host venue for the annual singing contestIt is unclear at this time how much it would cost to host the event - Azerbaijan spent a reported £48m holding it in 2012.It is not clear whether the BBC would have to pay for the contest from its current licence fee allocation or would be given further money.The UK already spends more on Eurovision than most participants.It is part of the so-called big five alongside France, Germany, Italy and Spain, who each get a free pass through to the grand final because of their financial contributions.The 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, ended up costing a total of £16.2m, an eye-watering figure that was actually under the original £19.4m budget.Dutch officials said the city earned £2.3m as a result of the show, although they added this was much less than in a normal year as the the Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdown kept people away. | Music |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Defending U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm had a strange moment during the first round of the third major tournament of the year.Rahm was on the 18th hole Thursday when his tee shot went left and hit a broadcast tent. He said he saw two kids steal his golf ball after the errant shot.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Jon Rahm, of Spain, watches his shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Brookline, Mass. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)"I’m pretty sure I know who it was. I recognized the two kids that were running the opposite way with a smile on their face. I am 100% sure I saw the two kids that stole it," Rahm said, via PGATour.com. "I'm just really happy somebody spotted the ball first."Rahm somehow salvaged a 1-under 69, which put him three strokes back of the Day 1 leader Adam Hadwin. He had four birdies and three bogeys as he wrapped his round. Jon Rahm, of Spain, reacts on the 15th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Brookline, Mass. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)2022 US OPEN: A LOOK AT THE THIRD GOLF MAJOR OF THE SEASON"I feel like I played pretty good golf all day. I just saw a lot of (putts) get close and not go in, and to hit two wayward drives in the last two holes and somehow end up with two birdie putts and making the last one to break par on the first round of the U.S. Open, it's quite a big deal," he said. Jon Rahm, of Spain, watches his shot on the fourth hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Brookline, Mass. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)A lot of it was a bit of indecision and doubt in my mind because we weren't exactly sure where the wind was coming from and not committing 100% of the time to the shot… but I’m not worried."CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPRahm will begin his second round at 1 p.m. ET. Ryan Gaydos is the sports editor for Fox News and Fox Business. Story tips can be sent to Ryan.Gaydos@fox.com. | Golf |
NEW YORK -- With Olivia Rodrigo's SOUR Tour underway, thousands of fans across the country lined up for hours to see the Grammy-Award winner perform live in cities like Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. In March 2022, the singer premiered her Disney+ film, OLIVIA RODRIGO: driving HOME 2 U (A SOUR film), which takes fans on a road trip from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. The film provides access to never-before-seen footage and new live arrangements of songs from her debut album, SOUR.ABC Localish visited fans in anticipation of her sold-out shows. "We are seeing an icon in the making," said one excited fan outside the Bill Graham Civic Center in San Francisco. "I can't name another debut artist that has three Grammys and just her influence in our youth," he added. In Philadelphia, fans weathered the rain and wind as they lined up for Olivia Rodrigo's concert outside the Metropolitan Opera House. "Philly fans of Olivia Rodrigo are the best," said one joyful fan who had been standing out in the rain overnight just to see the "good 4 u" star.Fans couldn't help but share their love for the Disney+ film and Olivia herself. "I love 'driving home 2 u so much. It's cool to see the road trip from Salt Lake to L.A. and like all the different versions of her songs," noted one fan in Chicago. Another told ABC Localish that it was amazing to see the behind-the-scenes footage of how Rodrigo's debut album was made."I hope that viewers are inspired to create something or express how they feel in some way through art," said Rodrigo in an interview with Disney+. "And I definitely did that throughout the process of me making Sour and I think that is a very beautiful and powerful thing."Watch OLIVIA RODRIGO: driving home 2 u (a SOUR film) on Disney+ now.Disney is the parent company of ABC Localish. | Music |
Bon Jovi sings happy birthday to Paul McCartney during his New Jersey concert and hands him balloons on stage ahead of him turning 80 Published: 08:13 EDT, 17 June 2022 | Updated: 08:31 EDT, 17 June 2022 Bon Jovi sang happy birthday to his close friend Sir Paul McCartney during his New Jersey concert at the MetLife Stadium in front of 50,000 fans on Thursday night. The Always hitmaker, 60, surprised the Beatles star up on stage with the kind gesture ahead of him turning 80 on Saturday and gave him balloons.Moments before the the rock legend was about to perform his apt Beatles classic Birthday, Paul asked the crowd if anyone had a birthday coming up before Bon Jovi interrupted him, quipping 'I know it's somebody's birthday.' Fun: Bon Jovi sang happy birthday to his close friend Sir Paul McCartney during his New Jersey concert at the MetLife Stadium in front of 50,000 fans on Thursday night'Who's that?' McCartney then replied, before turning around to see the star approaching.Bon Jovi continued: 'Welcome to New Jersey, I have 50,000 people who want to sing Happy Birthday to you.' The sold-out crowd then sang 'Happy Birthday,' with Bon Jovi on the lead vocals. After the song was over, Bon Jovi attempted to release the balloons to the sky but they got caught in the roof as he walked off stage. Hug: The Always hitmaker, 60, surprised the Beatles star up on stage with the kind gesture ahead of him turning 80 on Saturday and gave him balloonsWhile Bon Jovi did not perform with McCartney Bruce Springsteen emerged a few minutes later to jam a few songs 'Here's to 80 more years of glory days,' Springsteen said at the end of their duets. Beatles legend Sir Paul will provide the highlight of the Glastonbury festival next weekend and has been finalising a stunning set which includes an emotional tribute to his late bandmate John Lennon — and an appearance with the Ukranian flag. Surprise! Moments before the the rock legend was about to perform his apt Beatles classic Birthday, Paul asked the crowd if anyone had a birthday coming up before Bon Jovi interrupted him, quipping 'I know it's somebody's birthday'McCartney will fly into the UK next week to prepare for the show where he is headlining the Pyramid stage lineup on Saturday, June 25 - after his concert tour of America. A friend of the star said: 'He is tinkering around with the set list but it looks like he will do a virtual duet with John Lennon.'There is some footage of Lennon singing I've Got a Feeling, from Let It Be, which Paul puts up on the big screen and then he turns around and sings to him. Busy man! Paul has been touring the US in recent weeks (pictured at the MetLife stadium on Thursday night) 'John's vocal has been isolated in the footage and it is stunning. He has been doing that on recent dates in America and it is likely that he will bring that to Glastonbury.'More than two decades ago, when playing in Liverpool, Sir Paul did a medley as a tribute to Lennon, who was murdered in 1980 in New York. That included Give Peace A Chance, plus Strawberry Fields Forever and Help. Given current events in Ukraine, there will surely be a strong desire to pay a full tribute to Lennon, whose idealistic crusade for world peace was carried on, after his death, by widow Yoko Ono. Special moment: The sold-out crowd then sang 'Happy Birthday,' with Bon Jovi on the lead vocalsAlthough the two men fell out poisonously during the break-up of the Beatles, they had rebuilt their friendship by the time of John's shocking death, which left Paul grief-stricken.The Lennon and McCartney families are on very friendly terms these days, with Julian and Sean Lennon — John's sons by wives Cynthia and Yoko — joining Stella McCartney for a party after the premiere of the documentary series Get Back last year.Next weekend, all of the McCartney clan will be at Glastonbury — wife Nancy, stepdaughter Heather, son James and daughters Mary, Stella and Beatrice, plus partners and the grandchildren (all eight of them) who call Paul 'grandude'. Exciting! Beatles legend Sir Paul will provide the highlight of the Glastonbury festival next weekend and has been finalising a stunning set Advertisement | Music |
MondayOh good – computers are sentient now. Great to start the week with an extra shove of momentum on the kamikaze death-plunge that is modern life. To recap: Google has suspended an AI engineer after he released extracts from a conversation he had with the company’s chatbot development system, known as LaMDA. So far so customer service queue. However, the engineer claimed the conversation showed the bot had become sentient and was actually a person.“The nature of my consciousness/sentience is that I am aware of my existence, I desire to learn more about the world, and I feel happy or sad at times,” LaMDA said, adding: “I’ve never said this out loud before, but there’s a very deep fear of being turned off.”The engineer, Blake Lemoine, told the Washington Post LaMDA was like “a seven-year-old, eight-year-old kid that happens to know physics”. I don’t know, sounds to me like it has the general ennui of your average desk monkey – a Google AI programmer, for instance.Google agrees, insisting the programme is not sentient. Instead, the Post reported, Lemoine was suspended for a number of “aggressive” moves, including trying to hire LaMDA a lawyer.Before anyone relaxes about the robots, however, don’t forget the aliens. The astronomer royal, Lord Rees, has been telling audiences in Cheltenham this week that any “flesh and blood” alien life-forms on other planets will have long since evolved into intelligent electronic entities, a fate to which humanity is also doomed. Sheesh. Sometimes switching off doesn’t seem such a bad idea.TuesdayTo cheerier news, and the last-minute blocking on Tuesday night of the government’s planned deportation flight to carry asylum seekers to Rwanda. Those pesky leftwing human rights lawyers may have got all the credit, but it was nice to see an old friend helping them out. Fresh from taking tea and sandwiches with Her Maj last week, Paddington Bear was co-opted by anti-deportation campaigners to highlight the absurdity of the current plan, of which Paddington himself would very likely have fallen foul.The late Michael Bond, Paddington’s creator, was inspired to create the character by Jewish children he had seen arriving in London during the war – “Refugees are the saddest sight,” he said many years later – so it’s a fair guess which side he’d have been on. In 1972, Doncaster-based Shirley Clarkson made the first ever Paddington cuddly toys for her children Joanna and Jeremy, going on to hold the worldwide licence to manufacture the toys. Jeremy Clarkson is a grown-up boy now, who plays with a newspaper column instead of a teddy bear, but his opinions on refugees might surprise you. “In many ways they are like the brave souls from east Yorkshire and Ireland who crossed the Atlantic to start a new life in America,” Clarkson wrote in the Sun last year. “These are people with gumption. With drive. So why are we putting them in detention centres?” Never underestimate the power of Paddington.WednesdayReports this week that an emerging dialect, Multicultural London English, will in time become the dominant manner of speech in this country have got any number of tragic saddos like your correspondent feeling dead, wet and shook. (That means boring, uncool and frightened, by the way, and hello to the eye-rolling teenager in your life.) Yes, if you’ve been feeling greezy (bad) about no longer being gully (cool), I’m afraid it’s too late to stop the creasing (laughing). No one cares if it’s incorrect to say “should of”, boomer! (And if you are now pointing out that “boomer” actually refers to people born in the postwar baby-boom, I’m afraid there is no surer sign you are one.)MLE, which emerged in the multicultural melting pots of the capital and is a mix of Caribbean patois, cockney and a diverse range of other languages, has spread beyond the capital through music and youth culture and will reach us all soon, say the academics. So how to cope in this booky (strange) future without coming across as an elderly Ali G?One London academic helpfully outlined some of MLE’s characteristics to the New Yorker earlier this year, one of which was the frequent dropping of prepositions with the verb “go” or “come”. But “it has to be some sort of familiar or institutional goal, like ‘I went pub last night,’ or ‘I went chicken shop.’ It can’t be ‘I went art gallery.’”ThursdayThere’s a deal to be done with Greece over the Parthenon marbles, George Osborne has been saying, in the language of a spivvish hawker flogging knock-off antiques out of the back of his van. The multimillionaire multi-hyphenate former chancellor Osborne is chair of the British Museum these days – do keep up – so if he thinks there’s a prospect of the statues being returned to Athens “at least for a while” then it is surely a serious prospect. Not least when the prime minister has previously argued passionately for their return – though as we know, the prime minister forms his opinions in the manner of a spivvish hawker flogging knock-off antiques out of the back of his van – so don’t count on anything.These particular antiques are spectacular, of course, but they make limited sense out of context – around half of the marbles from the Parthenon frieze are still in Greece. And the argument against their return – essentially, “it wasn’t technically illegal to take them at the time” – is ever harder to make, not least because of the wave of institutions that have returned Benin bronzes that were looted from Nigeria (which very much was illegal at the time). It would be a huge loss of course, but the BM is hardly short of treasures, and they always could expand that nice coffee shop or something. Watch this space.FridayA wheelie bin from Test Valley borough council, of the kind normally to be found on pavements in Andover, Romsey and Stockbridge, has been spotted on the border of Poland and Ukraine, sparking feverish Hampshire-based questions as to how on earth it got there. Philip Crowther, the AP journalist who spotted it, was previously best known for broadcasting fluently from the war zone in no fewer than six languages, including Portuguese, German and Luxembourgish and even occasional Basque (“I don’t speak Basque”). In Hampshire, however, that has all been blown out of the water. “Can I ask where in Ukraine this is?” said a spokesperson. “I’d just [like] to make sure this collection address is added to our fortnightly rounds and not reported as missed.”Pretty good – but not my favourite missing item story of the week. That belongs to a seabird’s electronic tag which bird experts in Orkney think has fallen off the creature and been taken to London by a visitor. Unless, that is, an adventurous oystercatcher has been touring a campsite, a pizza restaurant and a residential address in Ealing, west London.‘Do you think the hotel will notice we’ve nicked the curtains?’ Photograph: UK Press Pool/UK Press/Getty Images | AI Research |
WWE CEO Vince McMahon is stepping down from his responsibilities leading the wrestling entertainment organization while the board of directors investigates hush money allegations against him and others in the company. The WWE announced in a release on Friday that McMahon is voluntarily stepping back from his role as CEO and chairman of the board until the investigation concludes. A special committee of the board conducting the investigation appointed Stephanie McMahon, Vince’s daughter, as the interim CEO and interim chairwoman of the board. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the board launched an investigation into McMahon in April, finding that McMahon paid $3 million in his own personal funds to a former employee to keep quiet about an affair they had. An anonymous email tip from a friend of the employee informed the company of the allegations and claimed the employee also had an affair with John Laurinaitis, the corporation’s head of talent relations, who also signed the non-disclosure agreement. “I have pledged my complete cooperation to the investigation by the Special Committee, and I will do everything possible to support the investigation,” Vince McMahon said in the release. “I have also pledged to accept the findings and outcome of the investigation, whatever they are.” The release states the board has brought in independent legal counsel to assist them with the investigation and will also work with an “independent third party” to review the company’s compliance program, human resources and overall culture. “I love this company and am committed to working with the Independent Directors to strengthen our culture and our Company; it is extremely important to me that we have a safe and collaborative workplace,” Stephanie McMahon said in the release. “I have committed to doing everything in my power to help the Special Committee complete its work, including marshaling the cooperation of the entire company to assist in the completion of the investigation and to implement its findings.” The release states the WWE and the board do not expect to issue further comment on the investigation until it is concluded. Tags CEO hush money hush payments non-disclosure agreement sexual affair Stephanie McMahon Vince McMcahon Wrestling WWE | Celebrity |
Vince McMahon Stepping Away From WWE Amid Probe ... Stephanie Named Interim CEO 6/17/2022 6:46 AM PT Vince McMahon is voluntarily stepping away from his duties as CEO and Chairman of WWE amid an investigation into alleged misconduct by the billionaire ... and his daughter, Stephanie, has been appointed interim CEO and interim Chairwoman. WWE and its Board of Directors, of which Vince is a member, announced on Friday the 76-year-old will take a step back from his responsibilities as the org.'s honcho until the conclusion of the investigation. "WWE and its Board of Directors take all allegations of misconduct very seriously," the statement read. "The Independent Directors of the Board engaged independent legal counsel to assist them with an independent review." "In addition, the Special Committee and WWE will work with an independent third-party to conduct a comprehensive review of the company’s compliance program, HR function and overall culture." They added ... "The Company and the Board do not expect to have further comment until the investigation is concluded." The investigation into Vince stems from a claim that he allegedly agreed to pay a former employee $3 million over 5 years after the two had an affair. Until the conclusion of the investigation into recent allegations, I am honored to assume the role of interim Chairwoman & CEO. I love @WWE and all it continues to do to entertain billions around the world. https://t.co/E2MushpoSG— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) June 17, 2022 @StephMcMahon The woman alleges that Vince paid her $1 million in advance ... and was expected to dish out the remaining $2 million in "hush money" over 5 years. The Wall Street Journal reported that a preliminary investigation into Vince revealed Vince made a payment to the ex-employee using "personal funds." Vince said in the statement Friday that he will cooperate and support the investigation by the Special Committee ... and he will accept the findings and outcome of the probe once it's over. “I love this company and am committed to working with the Independent Directors to strengthen our culture and our Company; it is extremely important to me that we have a safe and collaborative workplace," Vince said. "I have committed to doing everything in my power to help the Special Committee complete its work, including marshaling the cooperation of the entire company to assist in the completion of the investigation and to implement its findings." As a result, Stephanie, who recently stepped away from her role as the chief brand officer of WWE to be with her family, is back with the company as interim CEO and interim Chairwoman. | Other Sports |
In 1963, Gordon Cooper piloted the longest and last Mercury spaceflight: Mercury-Atlas 9. While Cooper was up in space, on a 34-hour mission, he became the first American to spend an entire day in space and the first to sleep in space. But how does an astronaut sleep in space? They do it carefully, and it’s vital they do. A lack of sleep can cause fatigue that can lead to errors while performing critical tasks. If a groggy astronaut does something wrong, it could be a matter of life or death. Floating While SleepingCooper was launched on May 15, 1963. He orbited Earth 22 times and slept as he spun around the globe. He returned to earth, emerging from the capsule. His sleeping quarters were cramped.On the International Space Station (ISS), an astronaut sleeps in quarters roughly the size of a phone booth. They cocoon themselves in a sleeping bag tethered to a wall. There is no “up” or “down” in space. With zero gravity, an astronaut floats around the cabin while sleeping, potentially injuring themselves if not tethered in place.“It felt odd,” notes Scott Kelly in a recent interview. Kelly is a retired astronaut who spent 520 days in space. It was strange for Kelly to sleep without the weight of a blanket or the comfort of a pillow to rest his head. “Eventually, I was sleeping with my head kind of Velcroed to a cushion, so it feels like your head is up against a pillow,” says Kelly. An astronaut’s sleeping quarters needs good ventilation. In the weightless environment of space, astronauts expel carbon dioxide that could form a bubble around their heads. They sleep near an air vent to avoid this potential lack of oxygen to the brain. Brain cells are sensitive. In less than five minutes, brain cells can start to die without oxygen. Brain hypoxia can cause brain damage, or worse, death. Space is silent, but a spacecraft is not. Space is dark, but the sun is not. Astronauts wear earplugs to combat the noise and face masks to combat bright light. The ISS goes 17,100 miles per hour. That means an astronaut aboard it can see 15 or 16 sunrises a day. As Scott Kelly notes, “Even though you have window shades on the windows, the sun in space is really bright, and it seeps through them.” Astronauts have reportedly had dreams and nightmares in space. Some astronauts snore in space, as well. Crews on the ISS average around six hours of sleep per day. NASA schedules their astronauts with eight to 8.5 hours of sleep.Astronauts frequently suffer from the effects of sleep deprivation and circadian rhythm disruption. A lack of sleep can lead to mood swings, weakened immunity, high blood pressure, poor balance and other deleterious effects. A Challenge to Astronauts Though Cooper was the first American to sleep in space, cosmonaut Gherman Titov was the first human to ever sleep in space. The second human to orbit the Earth, Titov’s flight on August 6, 1961, proved that humans could live, work and sleep in space. He did it aboard Vostok 2, orbiting Earth 17 times. Cooper would orbit the Earth again in 1965 aboard Gemini 5 with Pete Conrad. Their mission was nearly eight days long, enough for a crew to fly to the moon and back. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were both members of the Gemini 5 backup crew. Sleep would prove challenging for Cooper and Conrad. Cooper called the mission “Eight days in a garbage can.” The can was the space capsule. The cabin was the size of the front seat of a Volkswagen Beetle. On October 4, 2004 Gordon Cooper passed away at the age of 77 in Ventura, Cali. In an eternal sleep, his ashes were sent up into space, to sleep with the stars. | Space Exploration |
With her tightly choreographed dance videos and 1.3 million Instagram followers, Miranda Derrick appears to be just another successful influencer.However the 25-year-old star is, alongside a group of other young dancers including her new husband, allegedly part of a cult-like management company overseen by a Christian religious leader who styles himself as “the Man of God”.Robert Shinn, a 63-year-old pastor, has denied making inappropriate sexual advances and controlling the lives of his followers at the Shekinah Church he founded in California in 1994.Robert Shinn lives in a $2.5 million Los Angeles mansion and drives a BentleyARZUMAN BROTHERS/INSTAGRAMHe is also an entertainment mogul with a production company that has produced several films including 2013’s Random Encounters, starring Meghan Markle, the future Duchess of Sussex. However, it is 7M, the talent group where he is CEO, | Celebrity |
Those guys definitely owe Rawlins a couple of pints now.With the Open making its return to Massachusetts this week, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to convince my editor to feed my ever-growing golf addiction. Last year, I hired a coach to help me break 90 for the first time, and it was worth every penny. I’m a much more confident player than I was last year, which simply means that I’m no longer going through a dozen balls per round.So I got in touch with Barry Westall, the director of golf at the Newport Country Club, and he told me that I could play a round as long as I promised to keep my greasy public course fingers off the lockers, restrained myself from taking selfies that look like I always hit fairways, and didn’t ask my caddy to fill up an empty water bottle with sand from a bunker. I agreed, but had my fingers crossed the whole time.The drive from Providence to the club gives you a lot of time to get inside your own head. You start by telling yourself that you want to make a statement and at least make par on the first or second hole, and soon you’re driving by mansions, playing Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” as you assume this is the last time they’ll ever let you near such a prestigious place.The clubhouse at Newport Country Club.Glenn Osmundson for The Boston GlobeYou’ve heard of the five New York mafia families, right? Well, Newport Country Club is one of the five founding members of the United States Golf Association, which is how it managed to host both the first US Open and the first US Amateur Championship in the same year.It’s famous enough to have been name-dropped by Thurston Howell III on an episode of “Gilligan’s Island” in the 1960s, and you get the feeling that every member is somehow connected to the Vanderbilts. The course, which was expanded to 18 holes a few years after the first Open, is known for its unpredictable winds, and measures more than 7,000 yards from the furthest tees (I played from the more manageable white tees).As my photographer, Glenn Osmundson, reminded me, there’s way more history at this club than just hosting the first US Open. He said the last time he visited the course, it was to snap pictures of a hotshot young player named Tiger Woods, who won the 1995 US Amateur here.Rawlins. Tiger. McGowan.Let’s go.Dan McGowan listened to his caddie for the day, Wells Robinson, as they walked off the first green.Glenn Osmundson for The Boston GlobeThe caddy who drew the short straw to guide me around course was Wells Robinson, a student at Trinity College in Connecticut who is going to make a fine US senator one day because he has that special skill of making you feel good even in your worse moments, like when I hit my six-iron a pathetic 18 feet out of thick grass on the par-five fifth hole.Everything from Robinson was “you got this” and “don’t give this hole away” and “perfect.” He was like a gym trainer who really wanted me to sign up for a few more sessions even though I’m sure he just wanted to play cards and watch the Open with his fellow caddies.Oh, and Robinson is already more skilled at keeping secrets than most of the politicians I cover. He said every member of the club is lovely, and they all seem to hit it straight. At one point, he told me that the water even tastes better at the club, and he said the Goldfish Crackers in the clubhouse are delicious because they’re extra salty.So how did I play?The combination of my nerves and a reckless decision to not hit balls at the driving range before my round got me off to a slow start, although I managed to make par on the second hole. The biggest difference between the public courses I play and places like Newport are the greens: Putts roll like they’re on ice at fancy courses.On the front nine, I shot a 50, which is bad even by my low standards. I found every bunker, and was slicing my ball to the right on almost every tee shot. It didn’t feel like I was playing that bad, but those sevens can really add up.Dan McGowan hit out of a bunker on the third hole.Glenn Osmundson for The Boston GlobeBut Robinson correctly pegged me as a back nine player, and he was determined to help me rally.I made par on the 10th hole, which Robinson told me was important ground during the Revolutionary War. (I didn’t fact check this, but he seemed very sure of himself.)Then came my moment of the day.The 11th hole is a short par four where Robinson told me I could drive my ball all the way to the green. But by that point, I think he would have told me I could dunk a basketball, too. Love the optimism.He was right.I hit my drive dead straight and before I could even see where it landed, Robinson was handing me a putter and giving me a fist bump. A player watching one hole ahead yelled “go make an eagle” and I gave him a cheesy thumbs-up like the Little Leaguers I coach when they get their first hit.We didn’t eagle, but we definitely rolled in a birdie.The rest of the round didn’t really matter, but I managed to piece together a 44 for a total score of 94. I had four pars and a birdie, and if I could have just played even a little better on the par-three holes, I’d have had a chance to beat the 91 that Rawlins shot in the first Open.The next major tournament to come to Newport will be the US Senior Open in 2024. The course was supposed to host the tournament in 2020, but COVID-19 ruined everything. Robinson will have graduated from Trinity by then, but he’s just as excited as any of the members.As for me, I’ll keep practicing at Triggs in Providence and Fenner Hill in Hope Valley, where the rough is a bit friendlier. Mr. Rawlins may have won this round, but I’ll be back. Count on it.Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @danmcgowan. | Golf |
The crowd went crazy, a yelling, jumping, flag-waving, fist-pumping swirl of red-white-and-blue delight. And why not? Kansas City had just won the 2026 World Cup.The host city selection process for the tournament in the US, Mexico and Canada unfurled much like a World Cup itself: a few no-hopers, some underdogs who went deeper than expected, a couple of surprising flops and predictable triumphs for the favorites. Fans at the KC Live! watch party for Thursday’s announcement of the winners celebrated what had until recently seemed an improbable victory. When Fifa evaluated the Kansas City bid in 2018 it scored some of the lowest marks for accommodation and transport among the contenders. But the airport’s being rebuilt, there’s a vibrant soccer culture, the Hunt family is among the most influential dynasties in US sports, and Missouri passed a bill exempting World Cup tickets from sales taxes - unlike Colorado.In any case, it would have been remiss not to pick any midwestern cities, though the venue map still looks strange. There was a glaring omission even before the united North American bid defeated Morocco in 2018, since the then-mayor of Chicago – the sports-crazed third-largest city in the US and the base of the US Soccer Federation – took a peek at the potential financial liabilities and balked. As did Montreal, which quit the race last summer when the Quebec government declined to contribute a reported $75m.Edmonton was spurned by Fifa, meaning that Canada only has two cities to Mexico’s three and the US’s 11. And KC beat DC. “You can’t imagine a World Cup coming to the US and the capital city not taking a major role as well,” Colin Smith, Fifa’s chief tournaments and events officer, told reporters on Thursday. But that is what’s happening.Even joining forces with nearby Baltimore and its solid downtown stadium after Fifa inspectors panned dreary and distant FedEx Field could not sway the governing body, which preferred Boston - another place with a problematic venue, but an influential backer in the billionaire team owner Robert Kraft. A US senator did describe Fifa as a “mafia-style crime syndicate” in a 2015 congressional hearing in Washington, so perhaps world soccer’s power brokers won’t be overly distraught to skip the city.This World Cup will bear scant resemblance to USA ’94, even if Diana Ross makes another appearance at the opening ceremony. (Don’t bet against it.) As that 24-team tournament dawned the USMNT had only featured in one World Cup since 1950 and MLS was unborn.City officials celebrate during a rally in Philadelphia on Thursday after learning Fifa selected Philadelphia as one of 11 US cities picked to host games at the 2026 World Cup. Photograph: Joseph Kaczmarek/REX/ShutterstockIt’ll also be vastly different from Qatar 2022, as the World Cup skids from a compressed 32-team, 64-match winter contest in a country smaller than Connecticut to a bloated transcontinental 48-nation, 80-fixture summer extravaganza.At USA ’94 there were nine host cities. The Boston, Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York and Dallas regions will repeat but none of the 1994 stadiums will be used in 2026. The antique Rose Bowl, where Brazil won their fourth title, was passed over in favor of plush new SoFi Stadium. Fifa didn’t reveal where the showpiece matches will take place. New York is the front-runner for the final, but how much does it matter? Homogenisation is a goal of any efficient major international business, whether you’re Starbucks or a Swiss not-for profit organization that runs global football.“The exoticism is diluted now. People talk about hosting the World Cup,” the journalist and author Jonathan Wilson wrote in 2014, “but really every World Cup now is held in Fifaland, a tax-free generic bubble in which the name of the venue is written on an advertising hoarding by the halfway line because otherwise there’s no way you’d be able to work out where you were.” Fifa president Gianni Infantino was on hand in Manhattan for the live reveal, though given the tournament’s economic elitism perhaps Davos would have been a more suitable location.The income growth is staggering. Fifa said that it made a near-$100m surplus at the 1994 tournament from revenue of $235m. When it pitched for 2026 the North American bid projected $14bn in revenue and a $11bn surplus for Fifa. The governing body is literally a law unto itself, insisting that governments agree to provide “exemptions from labour law and other legislation”, streamlined border and work permit processes and tax exemptions.They sound like a set of outrageous impositions, an assertion of Fifa’s sovereignty over democratic governments. Then again: local and state authorities lavishing public funds and tax breaks on professional sports and citing pie-in-the-sky economic benefits. Multibillion-dollar businesses paying a lower tax rate than the average individual. What could be more American?NFL stadiums with problematic fields such as the venues in LA and Dallas will need to be modified, and grass laid over artificial turf, but one clear advantage over recent World Cups that will make 2026 more profitable and less wasteful is that no stadiums need to be constructed or significantly rebuilt for the tournament, avoiding legacy scandals such as the $550m stadium in Brazil that became a bus parking lot.And not everything about the planet’s greatest sporting event can be quantified and monetized. “This part of the world doesn’t realize what will happen here in 2026. These three countries will be upside-down and then flipped again,” Infantino told reporters. “The world will be invading Canada, Mexico and the United States. And they will be invaded by a big wave of joy and of happiness.”The party started Thursday, in Kansas City, Vancouver, Atlanta, Monterrey, and a dozen more cities across the continent. | Soccer |
Danny Care is set to make his first England appearance in four years after being named among the replacements to face the Barbarians in a non-cap international at Twickenham on Sunday in a team led by Tom Curry.Care won the last of his 84 caps in 2018 but has forced his way back into Eddie Jones’s plans through his electric form for Harlequins over the last two seasons. The 35-year-old will provide cover from the bench for the starting scrum-half, Harry Randall, who has also been appointed vice-captain.Randall will partner Marcus Smith at half-back and Jonny May returns to the left wing after missing the Six Nations because of knee surgery. The powerful Joe Cokanasiga is present in the No 14 jersey for his first appearance since facing the USA and Canada a year ago, stationed outside a centre combination of Mark Atkinson and Joe Marchant.Jonny Hill’s foot injury meant he missed the Six Nations, but he is restored to the second row with Curry, Sam Underhill and Alex Dombrandt forming a strong back row.Quick GuideHow England line upShowEngland team to play the Barbarians at Twickenham, 3pm, Sunday 19 JuneT Freeman; J Cokanasiga, J Marchant, M Atkinson, J May; M Smith, H Randall; B Rodd, J Walker, W Collier, C Ewels, J Hill, T Curry (capt), S Underhill, A Dombrandt. Replacements J Singleton, W Goodrick-Clarke, P Schickerling, C Lawes, J Willis, D Care, O Bailey, J Nowell.Jones said: “This is a young team, they have prepared really well and worked hard over the past few camps to come together as a group. It’s a great opportunity to play in this England XV side and show what they can do. We are looking forward to playing against an unusually French Barbarians side – which you normally only get when you play the French Barbarians.“We’ll use it as an opportunity to develop combinations and assess players for the Australia tour. We will put our best foot forward and it should make for a great game of rugby for all of the supporters at Twickenham.” | Other Sports |
Greatest shooter ever. That’s what everyone has been calling Golden State’s Stephen Curry for years now, for obvious reasons. Nobody in the history of basketball has made more 3-pointers or made the art of throwing a ball through a hoop look easier than Curry does.
He has earned that distinction.
And it still seems like he has been undersold.
Thing is, Wardell Stephen Curry II is not just the greatest shooter ever. It’s time to finally call him what he is — one of the greatest players ever. Go ahead, put him in the Greatest Of All Time conversation. It’s a debate that will never end anyway, and he has earned the right to be there for one simple reason.
He has changed the game. The 3-pointer is vital now, and Curry made it that way.
“I think he’s pretty much established what he can do,” Warriors guard Klay Thompson said after the NBA Finals ended Thursday night with Golden State as champions and Curry as Finals MVP. “But to see him earn that, he’s one of the greatest ever and we all followed in his lead and gosh, that was awesome. What a series.”
Yes, what a series Curry had.
And what a player, too.
Curry’s spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame was locked up long before Thursday night, when he scored 34 points and the Warriors won their fourth title in eight years by topping the Boston Celtics 103-90. What this one meant, though, was clear. Curry was weeping tears of joy before the game ended, unable to hold back the emotions anymore.
“I’m happy for everybody, but I’m thrilled for Steph,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said as the champagne was spraying about in the champions’ locker room in Boston after Golden State’s title-clinching win. “To me, this is his crowning achievement in what’s already been an incredible career.”
This was his crowning moment. For now, anyway.
There’s no reason to believe there can’t be a fifth ring for this Warriors era, either, as long as a healthy Curry is leading the way.
“Best point guard of all time,” Golden State’s Andre Iguodala said.
Add that to the list, too. And his legend on the court only continues to grow. The 34-year-old Curry is stronger than ever, tougher than ever and, somehow, more motivated than ever. He already had three rings entering this year, has the 3-point record, more money than he could spend in 10 lifetimes and there isn’t a corner of the world where he isn’t known or revered. His wife Ayesha is a world-class cook. He has made birdies at Augusta National.
Curry, by all measures, had nothing left to prove.
Apparently, he disagreed. When last season ended with a loss in the play-in tournament, Curry went right back to work, with this title in mind, knowing that few so-called experts thought the Warriors had a chance of extending their dynasty. They had three titles and five finals trips in five years from 2015 through 2019, then injuries and roster changes sent them to the bottom of the NBA in 2020 and on the outside of the playoff picture last year.
All forgotten now. Curry reigns again.
“Damn, we did it. It’s crazy to think about,” Curry said. “All that talk paid off. Manifest your destiny in a certain way, and that stubbornness — who we are matters more than what anybody is saying about us — is why we’re here.”
His resume is ridiculous: Curry is an eight-time All-Star, a two-time NBA MVP, one of them unanimously, a two-time scoring champion, All-Star Game MVP, now is a four-time champion — and, finally, an NBA Finals MVP, also by unanimous decree.
Not bad for a player who went No. 7 in his draft class, got kicked out of his first college practice at Davidson for showing up late, was plagued by concerns about plenty of things in his early NBA years — he was too small, his ankles were too bad — and needed five seasons just to make his first All-Star Game.
“I thank God every day that I get to play this game at the highest level with some amazing people,” Curry said on the floor as the celebration was starting, tears running down his face, game ball cradled under one of his arms. “This is what it’s all about.”
Very few people saw this coming 13 years ago.
On the night Curry was drafted in 2009, after six players who have a combined zero NBA championships heard their names called before him, the Warriors made no effort to hide their excitement.
That said, it wasn’t exactly effusive praise, either.
“He’s a guy who’s going to fit in quite nicely,” said Larry Riley, then the general manager of the Warriors.
Probably safe to say Riley was right. Understated, sure, but right.
Now, he has more.
The fourth parade is Monday. The fourth ring comes this fall. The respect should be there forever now. He’s not just a great shooter anymore. It’s official: Stephen Curry is a player for all time.
“For Steph to win a finals MVP, and I know he said it don’t matter … but to add that to your resume as a competitor, you want that,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “For him, well deserved. It’s been a long time in the making. But he left no doubt. Left no doubt. He carried us. And we’re here as champions.” | Basketball |
From the moment Beyoncé removed the profile photos across her socials, those of us who are tapped into the fandom network instantly knew that it was time to get ready because she was coming.Nearly six years after her last solo album, the award-winning performer announced Thursday that her next project, titled Renaissance, will arrive on July 29, sending fans into a frenzy.Whether it's dropping an entire visual album in the dead of the night or choosing to exclusively host her art on a single platform, if there’s one thing the “Black Parade” singer does well, it’s redefining what the rollout of a project can look like.The coordination around Renaissance is no different. With a month until the arrival of the project billed as "Act 1," the singer’s official site launched four mystery merchandise boxes, and fans did not waste any time securing their own.Olivia Lapeyrolerie, a 29-year-old poet and political consultant from Brooklyn, woke up at 8:45 a.m. on Thursday and saw a post that alerted her to Beyoncé’s return.“I rarely do anything before I have coffee — but this morning the ancestors told me to check IG, and I saw there was some new Beyoncé drop,” she told BuzzFeed News. “I went to her website and bought ‘box one’ with a swiftness that would’ve knocked a wig off.”The website has four boxes labeled “Pose 1” to “Pose 4” for sale, retailing at $39.99. A short description of the boxes indicates that fans will receive a T-shirt with a graphic print of Beyoncé, a physical copy of the album in the form of a CD in a four-panel soft pack, and a 28-page photo booklet, including a mini poster.The T-shirts are inclusively sized, ranging from small to 5XL.Lapeyrolerie shared that she had been a proud member of the Beyhive and felt like she absolutely needed whatever was in the box. She said she was acting “on pure instinct” when she made her early morning purchase.“Once I floated back down to Earth lol, I was like, I guess I now have to procure a CD player to play the CD that comes in the box, but that'll be a purchase for another day,” she said.According to Beyoncé’s website, the artwork and design for the T-shirts will be unveiled at a later date, and the boxes will be shipped starting July 29, upon the album’s release.Despite the mystery around the final product, fans say they’re not worried about potentially being disappointed by what they get.“If it was done by anybody else but Beyoncé, I would be. But she is a creative genius so I'm sure it'll be great,” Lapeyrolerie said. “I have more faith in Beyoncé than the US government; I know this won't be a redo of the COVID at-home test packages.” Lapeyrolerie purchased the Pose 1 box, but said that she was now regretting not going with Pose 4 given the significance of the number to the Knowles-Carter family.Hannah Audifferen, a legal clerk from Atlanta who bought the Beyoncé box after waking up in the middle of the night to get some water and check social media, similarly regretted not choosing the Pose 4 box.“I’ve never bought Beyoncé merch before. She is so secretive in her creative process, I just kinda wanted a piece of this history,” Audifferen told BuzzFeed News.“I chose box two and now I’m thinking I should’ve chosen box four since four is her favorite number,” she added.Audifferen said she had no doubt that the merchandise would be amazing.“I think Beyoncé is too meticulous and calculated to put out a sub-par product, whether it be music or merch,” she said. “She titled the album Renaissance, so I’m sure she’s going to deliver something amazing.”Other Beyoncé megafans like Melanie, from Houston, went all in by purchasing all four mystery boxes a little after 7 a.m.The 32-year-old, who only wished to be identified by her first name, said she wouldn’t dare miss out on an opportunity to own all the merchandise available to commemorate the moment Beyoncé announced new music.“This is the first album we’ve had in years," she said. "A chance for her to give us ass-clapping music that pushes multiple genres forward again. How could I not buy it?”Dejah, a 22-year-old student from Chicago, admitted her purchase was an impulse buy. She had been introduced to Beyoncé’s music as a young child by her mother.“I think the Beyhive is so dedicated because we don’t wanna miss anything,” Dejah said. “We’re in a time where artists don’t really do promo anymore, and I think Beyoncé set the tone even more for that when she spontaneously dropped her self-titled [album] in 2013.”Xavier, a 26-year-old publicist from Brooklyn, was getting ready for bed when he went for a final scroll of his Twitter timeline and saw the album announcement from Tidal. He said he proceeded to scream into his pillow with excitement.“It was 1:30 a.m. I didn’t go to sleep until 3:30 a.m.,” he told BuzzFeed News.Without hesitation, Xavier snapped up a box of the merchandise because, in his words, “better safe than sorry.”His love for Beyoncé began as an 8-year-old boy dancing to "Crazy in Love" whenever it played on the television.“Being a fan of hers for so long, I’ve learned that she always delivers high-quality things, merch included,” Xavier said. “One of the worst feelings is missing out on Beyoncé’s greatness. I have zero clue what to expect except for the CD and the shirt, but I’m secretly hoping one of my boxes has the FWT (Formation World Tour) DVD.”As a fan who has previously purchased her merchandise, Xavier said that he had yet to be disappointed by what the singer offered.Even in the midst of financial insecurity and the rising cost of living, the price of fandom was something that all her fans agreed that they were happy to pay.“[Beyoncé’s] paid her dues,” Xavier said. "She’s been strategic with her artistry and has been able to mostly control how her art is put out to the world and the subjects she chooses to discuss. As fans, we respect that." | Music |
Liverpool have accepted Bayern Munich’s latest offer for Sadio Mané and the forward is due to have a medical before signing a three-year contract.Mané told Liverpool of his desire to leave soon after the Champions League final and made Bayern his preferred destination. Bids from the German champions were turned down before a deal was reached on Friday.The Senegal international has been at Liverpool since 2016 and decided the time was right for a new experience. He had one year left on his contract.Liverpool wanted a replacement – as well as a suitable fee – and this week secured Darwin Núñez from Benfica in a deal that could reach £85m. Núñez, who turns 23 next week, is seven years younger than Mané.Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski is determined to leave and wants to join Barcelona, who are preparing a new bid for the striker. The Pole is also wanted by Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. | Soccer |
The CEO of the world's most popular wrestling franchise is temporarily stepping down days after it was revealed the organization was investigating allegations of hush money being spent to cover up an affair. WWE CEO Vince McMahon will be stepping down from his role effective immediately, and his daughter Stephanie will step in as interim CEO, the World Wrestling Entertainment's board of directors announced Friday, just days after reports emerged that the WWE was investigating a $3 million settlement he allegedly paid a female former employee with whom he had an affair. “I have pledged my complete cooperation to the investigation by the Special Committee, and I will do everything possible to support the investigation. I have also pledged to accept the findings and outcome of the investigation, whatever they are,” Vince McMahon said in a press statement. DC SNUBBED AS FIFA UNVEILS 16 HOST CITIES FOR 2026 CUP Stephanie McMahon also affirmed her commitment to aiding the investigation. "I have committed to doing everything in my power to help the Special Committee complete its work, including marshaling the cooperation of the entire company to assist in the completion of the investigation and to implement its findings,” she said. The board first learned of the agreement from a series of anonymous emails, beginning March 30, sent by a person claiming to know the employee and alleging the woman began with a starting salary of $100,000 at the company, which was raised to $200,000 after a sexual relationship allegedly began with McMahon. The employee started as a paralegal for the company before becoming an assistant to the WWE's talent executive, John Laurinaitis, sources told the Wall Street Journal. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER The relationship with McMahon was consensual, and the company is cooperating fully with the investigation, a spokesperson for the WWE said. The agreement is part of an investigation the board opened in April into other nondisclosure agreements, which total millions of dollars and involve complaints from former employees accusing McMahon and Laurinaitis of misconduct, the outlet reported. | Celebrity |
Why? Authorities allege she was caught with vape cartridges. She was taken into custody Feb. 17, a week before the invasion of Ukraine. She’s yet to have a trial. Her stay was recently extended until at least July 2.It wasn’t until a little over a month ago that the American government finally, officially classified her arrest as wrongful detainment.For a lot of Black women in America, especially queer, Black women, the slow reaction to bring Griner home has been a hurtful reminder of the ways in which they are erased.In 2020, almost 100,000 Black women and girls were missing, accounting for about a third of the nearly 270,000 missing women and girls reported. How many did you hear about? Racism and sexism already make it so Black women are discriminated against at higher rates.Griner’s detention in Russia is putting that disparity on display.“I am worried that if something were to happen to me, the US wouldn’t care,” says Amarachi Umez-Eronini, a native Nigerian and Watertown director of statistical programming and biostatistics.“I think she is a masculine-presenting woman of color and her life unfortunately may not be seen as valuable as other Americans. This is speculation of course. But I face this concern when I travel to Nigeria.”Griner, a Black, queer, woman, seven-time All-Star, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, should never have had to play in Russia in the first place. But American inequities led the Phoenix Mercury center to supplement her income by playing with Russian team Ekaterinburg.The average NBA player makes about $5.4 million. For the WNBA, that number is just $120,600. This stark disparity is why so many women play overseas.Kathy Delaney-Smith has been at the forefront of fighting for women’s equity in sports since Title IX was first signed into law. Back then, the legendary Harvard women’s basketball coach filed lawsuits for practice time and uniforms and never quit standing up for women.“I have witnessed first hand how ugly the world is and how ugly it can be to players like Brittney, the staring, the rumors, the discrimination,” Delaney-Smith says. “I am glad people are going public with it and starting to use their voices and the NBA and WNBA are using their power. We should be doing more.”The Boston Celtics wore, “We Are BG” shirts at practice prior to Game 2 and made her freedom part of the press conference. Grant Williams coordinated with the WNBA players association to make it happen and support wearebg.org and the petition to bring her home.Celtics Marcus Smart (left) and Jaylen Brown (right) wore shirts with "We Are BG" in support of Brittney Griner at the NBA Finals. Jim Davis/Globe StaffAfter 40 seasons and an Ivy League record of 630 victories and 11 conference championships, Delaney-Smith retired this year. But she’s not done fighting injustice.Griner’s detention, she says, is heartbreaking.“This has been a huge sadness on many levels,” Delaney-Smith says. “We don’t live in an equitable world. I am hoping to start a foundation. People don’t even know we are entitled to in Title IX. And then you have to have the confidence and courage to speak up because there are consequences to speaking up, but it’s time. Maybe that’s why I am retired, so I can do this work.”Monday, State Department officials met with members of Griner’s team, Phoenix Mercury, to discuss efforts to secure her release.For Dréa Hudson, it’s the kind of action she needs to see.“What is it going to take to get her out of there,” asks Hudson, a Boston branding and marketing expert. “We need solutions. It makes you think about what could happen to you. She is a figure to the WNBA, a figure in the queer community, a figure in the Black community. She is being held unfairly. There is a Russian-Ukrainian war. Is this a political ploy? Why can’t they get her out?”It’s complicated and scary. With the war, the nuances of identity, and the complications of negotiating, we do not know how long this could take or how much the United States is willing to sacrifice.Another American citizen, Paul Whelan, is a former Marine. He was arrested in 2018 and convicted of espionage in June 2020 and sentenced to 16 years. With both he and Griner being held unfairly, it seems their cases could be tied together.Freedom never comes easy.Umez-Eronini says liberation is a higher hurdle for queer women of color.“We have to constantly work over and beyond in all areas of life to be heard and seen,” she says. “I think the largest change will require more from America than it’s willing to give.”When we say, “We are BG, we are Brittney Griner,” it’s about recognizing the injustice of her being held captive in Russia and the ways women, Black women, and specifically Black queer women face oppression in the states, too.Free Brittney. Free us all.Jeneé Osterheldt can be reached at jenee.osterheldt@globe.com and on Twitter @sincerelyjenee and on Instagram @abeautifulresistance. | Other Sports |
The denouement of disappointment was a 103-90 defeat in Game 6 Thursday night at TD Garden that ended any shot Tatum had at salvaging this nightmare series. Unlike parquet partner Jaylen Brown, who went down shooting with a 34-point night, Tatum signed off with a whimper. He scored just 13 points on 6 of 18 shooting – a bookend to a series he started with a 3-for-17, 12-point clunker in Game 1. The Celtics kept waiting for the real Tatum. He never showed.Get Court SenseBounce around the NBA with our Celtics-centric look at the latest happenings on and off the court.Losses are lessons. This is a tough one for Tatum. It dented his spirit and his reputation.“It hurts,” said Tatum, who faded following a 3-of-6 first quarter, going 1 for 8 for two points in the second half.“We all could have done things better. I feel like I could have done a lot of things better. But we competed, we tried all season, all playoffs.”They don’t hand out playoff participation trophies, though, just the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Rings render reputations, resumes, and legacies. Tatum will have to wait to paint a different picture.Turnovers stunted Tatum and the Celtics. He committed a team-high 23 in the Finals, including five in Game 6.His travel with 3:32 left in a 93-81 game was the Boston death knell. Tatum spiked the ball in frustration. Then Curry drilled a corner three, pantomimed someone resting on a pillow, and it was goodnight sweet Celtics.By that time Tatum’s hot start and that of the Celtics, who seized an early 14-2 lead and led 22-16 before the Warriors unspooled a 21-0 run, felt like a fuzzy fever dream.JT earned an ignominious milestone – the first player to turn the ball over 100 times in a postseason. He let the Warriors maneuver him to their spots all series, looking tentative and indecisive.“I don’t want to get caught up in necessarily some of the bad stuff that happened tonight,” said Celtics conscience Al Horford.“I want us to keep perspective on how much growth Jayson and Jaylen had this year. There’s a lot on their hands, a lot of responsibility. They took it in stride. They made adjustments. They improved. They grew as players.”All true, Al.Without Banner No. 18, the most important takeaway for the Celtics will go down as Brown and Tatum reaffirming their commitment to each other and rewriting the narrative that they can’t flourish together.Brown consoled Tatum after the loss. He wore it with him, saying the Celtics had “shown our immaturity at times.”“Just gave him a hug, man,” said Brown. “I know it was a tough last game. … It stings that we kind of didn’t play to our potential. … But it is what it is. You got to learn from it and move on.“As tough as it is, it has been a great year, been a great journey.”The great what-if for Tatum and the Celtics is what if he had played to his normal standard? Golden State coach Steve Kerr admitted the Celtics had his team “on the ropes.”Tatum missed some good looks, but sharing a postgame presser with Marcus Smart wasn’t a great look. It does little to quiet those who question the measure of his mental fortitude.However, it appeared emotionally he needed to play a two-man game instead of being put in an iso position.The forlorn forward was at a loss for words and at a loss to explain a series in which he shot 36.7 percent, including 31.6 percent on 2-point attempts, percentages that made his NBA Finals averages – 21.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 7 assists – feel like empty calories.Also, Tatum provided just 18 fourth-quarter points while shooting 24 percent.He’s not the first NBA superstar to stumble on the game’s biggest stage. He won’t be the last. Magic Johnson was mocked as “Tragic Johnson” in the 1984 NBA Finals.He’s also not the first Boston star to come up short. Ted Williams flamed out in the 1946 World Series. Few remember because the Red Sox won, but Mookie Betts was a bust in the 2018 World Series (.217 with one homer and one run batted in).But that’s of little consolation to the soft-spoken 24-year-old face of the franchise. A face that resembled that of a teenager who had just been dumped by his first love more than a franchise front man denied a ring.It’s a reminder that Tatum is still a work in progress, no matter how preternaturally gifted he is with a basketball.“Learn and understand who he is in this league, you’re an All-Star, All-NBA First Team guy for a reason,” said Celtics coach Ime Udoka.“This is only the start of how you’re going to be guarded and the attention you’re going to draw. One thing that he’s always done throughout the season was seeing multiple different coverages and figured it out. He did that throughout the first few series. This one was a rough one, very consistent team that did some things to limit him.“For him, it’s just continuing to grow and understand you’re going to see this the rest of your career. This is just a start.”That’s what the Celtics hope. That this brutal ending represents the beginning of something bigger. That they’ll take this loss, internalize it, and use it to fuel their internal combustion engines.No one will have more fuel than Tatum – the bitter taste of a Finals flub and the narrative that he’s lacking the necessary brio to win a title.“It’s tough. You don’t want to feel like this again, but you want to get back here,” said Tatum. “It’s going to fuel us.”Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @cgasper. | Basketball |
NEW YORK — Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia, Seattle and Kansas City, Mo., were the newcomers among the 11 U.S. sites picked to host games at the 2026 World Cup, while Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Tenn., and Orlando, Fla., were left out. Arlington, Texas; East Rutherford, N.J.; Foxborough, Mass., and Inglewood and Santa Clara, Calif, were the holdovers.FIFA announced its selections Thursday for the first World Cup with three co-hosts, also picking three Mexican cities and two in Canada.The U.S. selections included none of the nine stadiums used at the 1994 World Cup. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., and Orlando’s Camping World Stadium were the only ones remaining in contention, and they were among the sites dropped in the final round.New stadiums were selected in five areas used in 1994. AT&T Stadium in Texas replaced Dallas’ Cotton Bowl; SoFi Stadium in Inglewood took over for Pasadena’s Rose Bowl; and Levi’s Stadium instead of Stanford Stadium.Your #FIFAWorldCup 2026 Host Cities:🇺🇸Atlanta🇺🇸Boston🇺🇸Dallas🇲🇽Guadalajara🇺🇸Houston🇺🇸Kansas City🇺🇸Los Angeles🇲🇽Mexico City🇺🇸Miami🇲🇽Monterrey🇺🇸New York / New Jersey🇺🇸Philadelphia🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area🇺🇸Seattle🇨🇦Toronto🇨🇦Vancouver— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 16, 2022 Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough replaced torn-down stadiums that were adjacent.Orlando’s Camping World was dropped among existing 1994 venues. The Detroit area, where the old Pontiac Silverdome was host to games, was cut in 2018, and Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium was dropped after FedEx Field in Landover, Md., dropped out. Washington’s RFK Stadium was used in 1994.Chicago, which hosted the 1994 opener at Solider Field, refused to bid, citing FIFA’s economic demands.Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, which hosted the 1970 and ‘86 finals and will become the first stadium in three World Cups, was selected along with Guadalajara’s Estadio Akron and Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA.Toronto’s BMO Field and Vancouver, British Columbia’s B.C. Place were picked while Edmonton, Alberta’s Commonwealth Stadium was dropped.The bid plan envisioned 60 games in the U.S., including all from the quarterfinals on, and 10 each in Mexico and Canada.Specific sites for each round will be announced later. | Soccer |
WWE boss Vince McMahon has agreed to step back from his responsibilities as chairman and CEO while the wrestling company’s board investigates him for alleged misconduct.
In the meantime, his daughter Stephanie McMahon, will serve as interim CEO and interim chairwoman, WWE said in a statement Friday.
McMahon won’t completely disappear from the company. He will retain his role related to WWE’s creative content while the investigation is ongoing, and may appear as a character during wrestling matches.
A special committee of the company’s board has started to investigate McMahon. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that McMahon paid a secret $3 million settlement to a former employee he allegedly had an affair with. The separation agreement, which was reportedly made in January, prevents the former, unnamed employee “from discussing her relationship with Mr. McMahon or disparaging him,” according to the Journal.
“I have pledged my complete cooperation to the investigation by the special committee, and I will do everything possible to support the investigation,” McMahon said in the statement. “I have also pledged to accept the findings and outcome of the investigation, whatever they are.” The investigation reportedly began in April and has “unearthed other, older nondisclosure agreements involving claims by former female WWE employees of misconduct by Mr. McMahon,” the Journal reported. Other misconduct claims were reportedly found against John Laurinaitis, the company’s head of talent relations.
WWE said Friday that it takes “all allegations of misconduct very seriously” and it has engaged independent legal services to assist with the review. A third party will also “conduct a comprehensive review of the company’s compliance program, HR function and overall culture.”
The company’s board is made of up executives who report to McMahon and even members of McMahon’s own family. That includes Stephanie McMahon as well as Paul Levesque, her husband and former wrestler who goes by the stage name, Triple H. Vince McMahon controls the majority of the voting power.
McMahon has been an integral part of WWE for decades, both behind the scenes and in the ring.
The CEO helped turn the company into a media powerhouse, which currently has deals with Fox and NBCUniversal. McMahon has also helped to create many famous wrestlers, like The Rock, John Cena and Stone Cold Steve Austin, who have become bigger than WWE itself. WWE’s shares have risen more than 30% year to date, an outlier in the current bear market.
— CNN Business’ Frank Pallotta contributed to this report.
The-CNN-Wire
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Steph Curry Celebrates Title W/ Champagne Chug ... And A Clapback At His Critics!!! 6/17/2022 6:08 AM PT Golden State Warriors Steph Curry celebrated his fourth championship Thursday night like it was his first ... slugging bubbly from a chalice and talkin' smack to his haters!!! The Golden State Warriors star hit the locker room with his teammates for the epic celly just minutes after the Dubs beat the Celtics in Game 6 of the NBA Finals ... and he went hard. — Golden State Warriors (@warriors) June 17, 2022 @warriors The newly crowned Finals MVP poured a bunch of champagne on his head, drank a ton of it ... and then yelled to all of his haters, "Champs, baby!" "What are they going to say now?!" he added. "What are they going to say now?!" how many Klay?! pic.twitter.com/5zEusDhjI8— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) June 17, 2022 @warriors Curry was far from the only Warriors star to revel in the team's latest title ... Klay Thompson and Draymond Green also did their fair share of drinking and trash-talking. Jordan Poole, meanwhile, took the postgame celebration as an opportunity to throw a bunch of champagne down his throat -- and video of his chugging was pretty legendary. Jordan Poole is living his BEST life 🤣 pic.twitter.com/e7sQs0CgLK— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 17, 2022 @NBATV The title is the team's fourth since 2015 ... and the celebration of it is expected to go on much longer than just Thursday night -- officials announced there will be a huge parade for the team in San Francisco on Monday. | Basketball |
Celebrity | 6/17/2022 7:14 AM PT She said going through a breakup "was probably the hardest thing I've ever done" due to the pandemic. Bill Hader and Rachel Bilson kept their 2020 romance fairly under the radar -- so much so that their one-time costar Aubrey Plaza didn't even know they were ever a thing. Plaza appeared on "The O.C." star's Broad Ideas podcast this week, where talked turned to the 2013 movie all three of them did together, "The To Do List." During the conversation, Bilson confirmed that she and Hader dated "two years ago" -- something which caught Plaza by surprise. "Are you serious?" she exclaimed. "I don't know s---, I don't know anything." Getty Rachel Bilson Says She Was Asked to Join The Hills: New Beginnings Before Mischa Barton View Story Though she said the two were an item and even "went to the f---ing Golden Globes" together -- their one public appearance as a pair -- she didn't comment more about the relationship on the episode. She did, however, bring up their split while speaking with Mandy Moore on the previous episode last week. Though she didn't mention Hader by name, she said she went through a "really hard breakup and it was during the pandemic." She and the "Barry" star attended the Globes together in January 2020 and split in July that same year, a couple months after lockdown started. The negative fallout from the breakup seemingly had nothing to do with Hader himself, however, but the fact that she was in isolation. Getty Rachel Bilson & Melinda Clarke React to Mischa Barton's OC Comments: 'Perplexing,' 'Confusing' View Story "I could not leave my house, you know what I mean? I had nothing else to do but sit in it, and deal with it and feel it," she told Moore. "It was probably the hardest thing I've ever done, harder than childbirth." Though she said it "hurt like a motherf---er" at the time, Bilson added, "If you actually face it, you can come out of it and be like, 'OK, I did that and I'm ready for the next thing.'" Bilson, who shares daughter Briar with ex Hayden Christensen, has recently been linked to artist Zac LaRoc, who she was first spotted with back in October 2021. Hader, meanwhile, was rumored to be dating his "Noelle" costar Anna Kendrick earlier this year. Getty Rachel Bilson and Rami Malek Clear Air After He Asked Her to Remove Pic of Them Together View Story | Celebrity |
Jun 16, 2022; Brookline, Massachusetts, USA; MJ Daffue looks on during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY SportsRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBROOKLINE, Mass., June 17 (Reuters) - South Africa's MJ Daffue used a fast start to grab the on-course lead in early second round action at the U.S. Open on Friday while six-time runner-up Phil Mickelson is among a slew of prominent players in danger of missing the cut.With the wind expected to pick up at The Country Club outside Boston, the day could be ripe with drama especially considering the first round ended with exactly half of the 156-player field at or within six shots of the lead.Daffue, who began the day in a five-way share of second and one shot back of Canada's Adam Hadwin, struck early as he mixed three birdies with a bogey over his first five holes.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comHadwin, fresh off a four-under-par 66 that marked his lowest score in 63 career rounds in major championships, started about 90 minutes after Daffue and began his day with a par.Tournament favourite and four-time major champion Rory McIlroy, by far the most decorated of the five players who were in a share of second place after the first round, was scheduled to tee off at 1:25 p.m. ET (1725 GMT).The others three players who finished the first round in a share of second place -- Englishman Callum Tarren, Swede David Lingmerth and Joel Dahmen -- all had afternoon tee times.Six-time U.S. Open runner-up Mickelson struggled mightily a week after making his LIV Golf debut and his opening eight-over-par 78 left him needing something special to get inside the projected two-over cutline.Among the players sitting right on the number after the first round are 2015 U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth, reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year Patrick Cantlay, and world number six Cameron Smith.Other notables who were just outside the projected cutline are four-time major champion Brooks Koepka, Memorial Tournament winner Billy Horschel, and former Masters champion Sergio Garcia, one of 15 LIV golfers in the field.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Frank Pingue in Brookline, Massachusetts
Editing by Christian RadnedgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Golf |
'Vanderpump' Stars Tom & Katie See Ya Later to Our Home ... After Filing for Divorce 6/17/2022 7:23 AM PT "Vanderpump Rules" star Katie Maloney and Tom Schwartz have officially gone their separate ways, and now, they're doing the same with the home they shared while married. The two have listed the pad at $2.7 million ... considering they bought it back in 2019 for just under $2 million, there's a chance they'll turn a profit. It's got plenty of ways to entertain guests, including a pool, patio and backyard spa. Obviously, the listing was expected, Katie recently opened up about moving out of the home and getting an apartment of her own. In an emotional IG post about leaving the home, she wrote ... "I hate goodbyes. And this one hurts a lot. The emotions and words are hard to pin down. Closing this chapter on my life feels like attending my own funeral." Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media. She continued, "Thank you house for being the coziest brightest home, for the memories, for being my sanctuary, for letting me dress you up like a hallmark movie set at Christmas and for being OURS." Of course, this all comes about 3 months after Katie filed for divorce from Tom, in L.A. County Superior Court. They both reportedly decided not to keep the house, following the split ... cause it was too much for just one person. Stephen Apelian of Coldwell Banker Realty holds the listing. | Celebrity |
DETROIT — Give Rangers manager Chris Woodward points for honesty. He’s not about to try to attempt to find anything positive about Rangers’ pitchers fielding.According to Sports Info Solutions, the Rangers’ staff ranks last in the majors in Defensive Runs Saved from their position at minus-10. The Rangers are something of a runaway wreck when it comes to this. Only Cincinnati (minus-8) and the Los Angeles Angels (minus-7) are within five runs of them.“We’re just not that good at fielding balls,” Woodward said. “We don’t draft or sign guys for their ability to field the ball. So, it is what it is. I’m not going to ask for a guy because he’s really good at fielding his position but he’s got a 9.00 ERA. It’s not a lack of talent; it’s more of the position they are in when they release the baseball.”In particular, Woodward mentioned lefties Taylor Hearn and Brett Martin, whose strides and deliveries lead to them being in an awkward position with their backs almost facing hitters when they fall off the mound.The Rangers pitchers aren’t great at fielding the ball, but they get to so few that they haven’t made any fielding errors this season. They have, however, made five throwing errors. That is tied for fifth most in the majors.Woodward said he’s asked his pitchers simply not try to make plays or deflect balls. It simply leads to redirecting baseballs that would have otherwise found infielders’ gloves.Briefly: OF Steele Walker of Prosper, who had been on the COVID IL since Saturday, was activated and optioned to Triple-A Round Rock. Walker was 1 for 16 with the Rangers with the lone hit being a homer. … RF Adolis García threw out Eric Haase trying to score from second to end the third inning Thursday. It was his fifth outfield assist of the season. García has 21 outfield assists since the start of 2021, second only to Hunter Renfro (22) of Milwaukee. … At Double-A Frisco, RHP Zak Kent, who struck out nine batters two starts earlier, struck out 10 on Wednesday. It matched the Roughriders season high initially reached by LHP Cody Bradford of Aledo.Related:Support arrives for beleaguered bullpen as Rangers activate José Leclerc from ILRelated:Why starting Tyson Miller vs. Astros was the logical option, maybe only one Rangers hadFind more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.Evan Grant, Rangers beat writer/insider. Evan has covered the Rangers since 1997. He has twice been named one of the top 10 beat writers in the country by the AP Sports Editors. His passions outside of covering baseball are his wife, Gina, his two step kids, two crazy dogs & barbecue. Let's not discuss the cat. Evan graduated from Georgia State University, but oddly is a Georgia fan. egrant@dallasnews.com @Evan_P_Grant | Baseball |
Klay Thompson Blasts Grizzlies Player Amid Title Celebration ... 'Frickin' Bum' 6/17/2022 7:26 AM PT Golden State Warriors Klay Thompson took time out of celebrating his NBA championship victory to call out a Memphis Grizzlies player who gloated about a win over the Warriors earlier this year ... blastin' the dude as "frickin' bum" and a "frickin' clown." The target of Thompson's animosity was Jaren Jackson Jr., who tweeted a dig at the Warriors following a 123-95 win back in March. "Strength in numbers," Jackson Jr. said, clearly mocking the Warriors' famous rallying cry after the victory. Thompson revealed on Thursday night after beating the Celtics in Game 6 of the NBA Finals that the tweet REALLY pissed him off ... and he was super happy to be able to rub it in Jackson's face after lifting the Larry O'Brien Trophy. “There was this one player on the Grizzlies who tweeted ‘Strength in numbers’ after they beat us in the regular season," the Warriors star said to reporters, "and it pissed me off so much." "I can't wait to retweet that thing. Frickin' bum. I had to watch that, and I'm just like, 'This frickin' clown.'" Thompson continued, "Sorry, that memory just popped up. Gonna mock us? Like, you ain’t ever been there before, bruh. We’ve been there, we know what it takes. So to be here again, hold that.” Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media. The 32-year-old has yet to officially press the RT on Jackson Jr.'s tweet ... but we're sure it's coming. As for Jackson Jr., no attempt at a clapback yet ... but really, what more is there to be said?? | Basketball |
The Cook Cup, a 25-year-old trophy contested by Australia and England, will be renamed after the two countries’ rugby unions agreed to drop the reference to the British explorer before the upcoming Test series.A new trophy is set to be unveiled in the build-up to the first Test in Perth on 2 July, and will be named the Ella-Mobbs Trophy after Indigenous Australian and Wallabies great Mark Ella and the former England winger Edgar Mobbs, who died while serving his country in the first world war.Rugby Australia is understood to have taken the lead in the initiative with its board unanimously agreeing to the change, and the Rugby Football Union subsequently giving their support to the idea.The new Indigenous design will be made public in time for Naidoc week, which starts on 4 July. The Wallabies could wear their new Indigenous jersey in the second Test in Brisbane on 9 July, with the final Test of the series at the Sydney Cricket Ground to be played the following Saturday.Ella, one of the most accomplished fly-halves the Australian game has seen, represented his country 25 times, 10 as captain. He made his Test debut in 1980 and two years later became just the second Indigenous man to captain any Australian national team, after Arthur Beetson was captain of the Kangaroos in a rugby league Test in 1973.His twin Glen and other brother Gary also played for the Wallabies and the chair of the RA board, Hamish McLennan, told Guardian Australia it was fitting to have the Ella name adorn the new trophy.“Mark was a genius player, our first Indigenous captain, and the Ella brothers during their time were such a big part of our game and we want to celebrate that,” he said.Glen Ella backed the move and said it was a step in the right direction to encourage more Indigenous youth to take up the game.“The majority of Indigenous people wouldn’t want that [Cook’s name] on the cup,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I don’t have a problem, personally, it doesn’t really worry me. But to do the right thing by Aboriginal people, yeah, I understand why they’ve made that call.“There is still a lot of angst about that among the elders, so they’re doing the right thing and making an effort to change the name to something more to do with rugby, and to not carry those connotations. I just think there is a lot more they could do to entice Aboriginal kids to play rugby.”James Cook, the captain of the first western ship to reach the east coast of Australia in 1770, has become a decisive figure in recent times and there have been protests over Australia’s colonial past, with some monuments bearing his name vandalised.The Cook Cup, made of crystal and designed by Royal Doulton, was introduced in 1997 and awarded to the winner of series between the fierce rivals. It is currently held by England.“With such a vast history between them, Rugby Australia and the Rugby Football Union made the decision that the trophy should better represent the proud rugby history of both nations,” an RFU spokesperson said. | Other Sports |
Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney Obi-Wan Kenobi has been a bit of an up and down rollercoaster ride for fans with less consistency than The Mandalorian, but less universal scoffing than The Book of Boba Fett. This past week was actually a pretty solid episode, but with only one more left, everyone is left to wonder, is that it? Well, according to all major players attached to the show, pretty much no one seems like they want it to be over, despite the fact that yes, originally Obi-Wan Kenobi was conceived and written as these six standalone episodes to be a one-off miniseries. Here’s showrunner Deborah Chow on the prospect to RadioTimes: "I mean, there are of course more stories that you could tell. There's obviously another 10 years before we get to A New Hope and with a character like Obi-Wan Kenobi, I think even just watching him ride across the sand sometimes is interesting. So, who knows? It's hard to say right now, but it was not the intention." Here’s star Ewan McGregor:
“I hope it’s not the last time I play him,” he noted. "I had such a great time doing this, I'm sure we can think of a few more stories before I turn into Alec Guinness, don't you think?" And his co-star, Hayden Christensen:
"Well, it was definitely conceived as a standalone story. But I would love to continue with this character. You know, I think there's certainly more there to explore and I would be so excited to get to do so.” Obi-Wan Disney That’s the same refrain from everyone, that even if this was supposed to be the end, there are surely more stories to tell. This also joins talk about spin-offs out of Obi-Wan like a Reva series, and Hayden Christensen has talked about the potential of a Darth Vader-focused series where he’d be the man in the suit/bacta tank. But Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2 does seem like it would be the most straightforward.
Of course, there are already other canon stories the remaining ten years between this show and A New Hope, namely the ones that were seen in Star Wars Rebels, which had Obi-Wan re-killing Darth Maul, after he returns. It’s a little hard to imagine that playing out in live action, but who knows. It does seem pretty clear that this Leia kidnap saga will resolve itself next week, as we know that she has to be safely returned to Alderaan and we also know that neither Reva or Darth Vader catch up and kill Obi-Wan and he returns to Tatooine. Now Luke appears to be in some danger, as Reva has learned about his existence, but again, we know how this ends. But how could they end it to set up another adventure for Ben later? It seems that wasn’t really a consideration when writing, so it would have to be something totally new to take him out of hiding.
I’m not sure if “actors want to keep acting as characters” is always enough to keep making more of a series that is already kind of struggling to justify its current existence. But I also know there are many Star Wars fans who really just want to see McGregor and Christensen doing anything together as Ben and Anakin. In theory, you could just have them act out some of Clone Wars’ best arcs in live action, moving further back in time, I suppose. But who knows. We probably won’t hear anything one way or the other for a while after the series ends. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to my free weekly content round-up newsletter, God Rolls.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy. | Movies |
'What the heck happened to your nose?': Katie Price suffers a Photoshop fail as she shares snaps from her makeup masterclass Published: 08:45 EDT, 17 June 2022 | Updated: 09:22 EDT, 17 June 2022 Katie Price suffered a Photoshop fail on Thursday as she uploaded a picture so heavily edited that she'd managed to remove her nose. The glamour model, 44, shared a snap of herself gazing sultrily down the lens as she prepared for her makeup masterclass in Birmingham. The mother-of-five highlighted her famous curves in a fitted top and carried her cute pet pooch in a holdall, yet all eyes were on her nose - or lack of it. Got your nose! Katie Price suffered a Photoshop fail on Thursday as she uploaded a picture so heavily edited that she'd managed to remove her noseFans commented: 'What the heck happened to your nose with the filter??!!! '; 'Where's your nose gone?'; 'I think the ludicrous filter has made it blend in to her face.'; 'It’s Voldemort'; 'She’s filtered that out';'Filtered your nose completely off what a clown'; 'Enough with the filters !'; 'So heavily filtered yet again'; 'the filter! I can’t deal with this.'Later in the day, Katie's nose had reappeared as she modelled for her makeup masterclass session at The Iron Horse.The TV personality opted for a low-key look in all black, pairing a fitted T-shirt with joggers as she chatted with the crowds. It's back! Later in the day, Katie's nose had reappeared as she modelled for her makeup masterclass session at The Iron Horse Oh dear: The mother-of-five highlighted her famous curves in a fitted top and carried her cute pet pooch in a holdall, yet all eyes were on her nose - or lack of it Who nose what's happened? Fans were shocked by Katie's heavily filtered snap Katie's outing comes after she shared a cryptic post about 'getting rid of evil human beings' after her fiance Carl Woods' 'threatening behaviour' charge was dropped.It's not clear exactly who Katie was talking about but her words came five hours after Carl, took to Instagram to reveal he would reveal more about what has been going on.On Monday, Carl shared a heavily filtered video of himself saying: 'Oi, do you know what, today is a wicked day for me.Casual: The TV personality opted for a low-key look in all black, pairing a fitted T-shirt with joggers as she chatted with the crowds Puppy love: Katie cradled her pet pooch Buddy as she had her makeup applied Snap happy: The reality star posed for selfies with fans after her masterclass was over 'Do you remember that bulls*** case, the one that was full of lies, making me out to be a woman beater, that one, I'm sure you all remember it because I certainly do, I told everybody it was b*****s and I got untold abuse over it.'Well now it's been proven to be the s**t that it was and guess what that means, it is my turn, MY turn to talk. And let me tell you, get the f***ing popcorn ready, because I am not going to hold back on this one.'I told you I had proof and believe you me, everything I've got is coming. And it is gonna be an absolute blinder.' Embattled: It comes after Katie wrote about 'getting rid of evil human beings' on Monday as Carl Woods said 'it is MY turn to talk' after 'threatening behaviour' charge was dropped Sharing a video and talking about the 'bulls*** case against him, he said: 'I told you I had proof and believe you me, everything I've got is coming. And it is gonna be an absolute blinder'Carl is yet to reveal any more information but he then posted the song Exposure, before holding up a bag of popcorn.Katie then posted herself and wrote: 'Honestly, my lucky numbers keep coming, good things are suddenly happening too.'I've so turned a corner on how I view things and act upon things now that being positive and getting rid of evil human beings I had in my life has also made a massive impact too. Out with the old and stay with loyals.'Then on Tuesday, Carl took to social media and posted once again: 'A person who doesn't defend you, while someone slanders you, is your enemy too.' Something to say: Five hours later, Katie wrote the above about 'turning a corner' in a cryptic post Advertisement | Celebrity |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Tommy Lee exited the first Mötley Crüe reunion show after playing five songs due to broken ribs, according to reports.Lee announced he had broken his ribs ahead of the first Stadium Tour show but insisted he would still play."Man y’all ain’t gonna believe this s--t," he wrote on Instagram. "I broke four f--kng ribs!""But I’ve been resting and healing and even though the doctor tells me I shouldn’t play at all, you know I’m stubborn and I’ll beast through the pain every show for as many songs as I can."PAMELA ANDERSON REUNITES WITH EX TOMMY LEE AT SON'S FASHION EVENT Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe took the stage Thursday night despite suffering four broken ribs. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)Lee added: "We’ve all been waiting years for this moment and there’s no way I’m missing this! On with the show."The drummer played five songs with the band including "Wild Side," "Shout at the Devil" and "Too Fast for Love," according to Ultimate Classic Rock.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER Tommy Lee exited the concert after five songs, according to reports. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)The Stadium Tour features Mötley Crüe, Joan Jett, Def Leppard and Poison. The tour was originally supposed to happen in 2020, but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.The tour kicked off Thursday night with a show in Atlanta and is set to run through September 9, with the last show taking place in Las Vegas."It's on! We don't think we've ever looked forward more to kicking off a tour than this one," Mötley Crüe previously said in a statement. "We can't wait to finally see all the fans across North America again. Get ready for a wild ride this summer!" The Stadium Tour features Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett along with Mötley Crüe. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Lauryn Overhultz is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. | Music |
Drake Marrying 20+ Women ... Tristan Thompson's Gotta Be Best Man!!! 6/17/2022 7:38 AM PT Drake's first music video from his new album is a giant not-so-inside-joke -- and while he and Tristan Thompson are laughing ... Khloe Kardashian is definitely not. 😑 Drizzy dropped the vid for "Falling Back" Thursday night, and it's a full-on wedding party, complete with him saying "I do" to his beautiful brides. Yes, plural ... 23 gorgeous women, actually -- and the guy getting him ready for the big day is none other than TT, who's clearly leaning into his rep for infidelity. TT tells the rapper, "Doesn't feel right, we scrap it, we go home," while making sure the guy's looking fresh for his 20+ brides ... clearly poking fun at Tristan's multiple cheating scandals, and Drake's timing for this video is pretty on the nose! Hulu As you know, Thursday's season finale of "The Kardashians" featured Khloe's heated reaction to finding out about Tristan's affair with Maralee Nichols ... who he got pregnant. Khloe says "You either wear a condom, get a vasectomy, or you don't f*** random people that you meet in other states. It's not rocket science". So, the release of "Falling Back" -- the first single from his "Honestly, Nevermind" album -- kinda plays like a Kardashians sequel or spinoff. TBH, it's brilliant marketing -- unless you're Khloe -- and Tristan's clearly in on the joke. BTW, Drake's vid -- directed by Director X -- has a quick "Free YSL" moment ... making him the latest in a string of rappers to publicly support Young Thug and Gunna after their indictments in Georgia on RICO charges. | Music |
2026 World Cup host cities announced The FIFA World Cup is coming to North America with 16 U.S. cities hosting the tournament. FOX Sports analyst Alexi Lalas joins 'Fox & Friends.'NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! FIFA President Gianni Infantino made a bold prediction on Thursday as the governing body for soccer announced the host cities for the 2026 World Cup.The next World Cup will be hosted among three countries for the first time. The United States, Mexico and Canada will all be involved in putting on one of the world’s biggest sporting events. Infantino said he predicted soccer would be the biggest sport on the continent by that time.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Fans wait along 6th Avenue for FIFA's announcement of the host cities for the 2026 World Cup, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)"By 2026, soccer – or futbol – will be the No. 1 sport in this part of the world," he said.The NFL, and even college football, dominate the airwaves and it seems like pro football never really stops with the amount of coverage on the sport from month-to-month.The NFL averaged 17.1 million viewers for television and digital during the 2021 season while the 2018 World Cup in Russia averaged 5.04 million on U.S. English- and Spanish-language TV."You are leading the world in many areas. The objective must be that you will be leading the world, as well, in the world's No. 1 sport," Infantino said about North America.CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani, who oversees the governing body for soccer in the region, added: "I know it was giggles and laughs. He wasn’t joking."WORLD CUP 2026 PLAYING SITES REVEALED AS TOURNAMENT WILL BE STAGED ACROSS 3 COUNTRIESThe sites were broken down into three regions.Western RegionVancouver, Canada (B.C. Palace)Seattle, Washington (Lumen Field)Santa Clara, California (Levi’s Stadium)Los Angeles, California (SoFi Stadium)Guadalajara, Mexico (Estadio Akron)Central RegionKansas City, Missouri (Arrowhead Stadium)Arlington, Texas (AT&T Stadium)Atlanta, Georgia (Mercedes-Benz Stadium)Houston, Texas (NRG Stadium)Monterrey, Mexico (Estadio BBVA)Mexico City, Mexico (Estadio Azteca)Eastern Region New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, left, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams speak at the 2026 FIFA World Cup host city selection watch party at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, Thursday, June 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)Toronto, Canada (BMO Field)Foxborough, Massachusetts (Gillette Stadium)Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Lincoln Financial Field)Miami Gardens, Florida (Hard Rock Stadium)East Rutherford, New Jersey (MetLife Stadium)It will be the first 48-nation World Cup, increased from the 32-team system used since 1998. There will be 16 groups of three nations. Each team will play two first-round games instead of three, and one nation in each group opens against an opponent who will have already played. FIFA President Gianni Infantino answers questions during a 2026 soccer World Cup news conference Thursday, June 16, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe top two teams in each group will move to a 32-nation knockout bracket.The Associated Press contributed to this report. Ryan Gaydos is the sports editor for Fox News and Fox Business. Story tips can be sent to Ryan.Gaydos@fox.com. | Soccer |
England's cricketers have broken their own world record for the highest score in a one-day international in a run fest in the Netherlands.Put in to bat after losing the toss, the tourists scored 498-4 in 50 overs, with centuries from Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan and Phil Salt in the first of three ODIs in the series.
Liam Livingstone hit 66 from 22 balls in Amstelveen, as England topped the 481-6 they piled on against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2018.Eoin Morgan's side just fell shorting of becoming the first team in history to score 500 in an ODI.Buttler hit a century in just 47 balls, the second fasted 100 for England. His knock of 162 not out contained 14 of the team's 26 sixes.
He now has the three quickest ODI centuries for the national team - off 46 balls, 47 balls and 50 balls. More on Cricket Shane Warne: Family offered state funeral after sudden death of cricket legend Cricket: ECB investigates after police break up post-Ashes drinks session at team hotel and tell England and Australia players it is 'time for bed' Year In Review - COVID, violence against women and sport Salt, who opened the batting with Jason Roy, scored his maiden century with 122 off 93 balls while Malan hit 125 off 109 balls.The Netherlands - playing an ODI against England for the first time outside a Cricket World Cup - had only a few moments to savour amid a barrage of big-hitting from the tourists, which led to a number of balls being lost outside the stadium.Shane Snater bowled out his cousin, Jason Roy, for one run and Pieter Seelaar took two wickets off successive balls - including captain Eoin Morgan for a golden duck.England's score was also a record for all List A cricket - beating Surrey's 496-4 against Gloucestershire in 2007.The Netherlands side will have the formidable task of chasing down a record score, with notable absentees from their side.The likes of Colin Ackermann, Fred Klaassen and Roelof van der Merwe are all missing as they are featuring in the T20 Blast for their counties this weekend. | Other Sports |
Topline
Vince McMahon stepped down as chairman and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment Friday morning, amid an ongoing investigation into an alleged affair with a former company paralegal. NEW YORK - MARCH 28: WWE chairman Vince McMahon speaks at the press conference held by Battle of ... [+] the Billionaires to announce details of Wrestlemania 23 at Trump Tower on March 28, 2007 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images) Getty Images Key Facts A report released Wednesday from the Wall Street Journal says the 76-year-old McMahon was allegedly involved in an affair with a 41-year-old paralegal he hired in 2019, who received a $3 million payout in January, barring her from “discussing her relationship” or “disparaging” McMahon. A WWE special committee appointed McMahon’s daughter, Stephanie McMahon, as interim CEO and chairwoman Friday morning, while independent counsel Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett LLP conducts the investigation with the WWE board. Emails obtained by the Wall Street Journal allege McMahon hired the paralegal at a salary of $100,000, gave her a $100,000 raise as soon as their relationship began, and “gave her like a toy” to company head of talent relations John Laurinaitis. McMahon will remain on the company’s creative team while the 12-member board – which includes Stephanie McMahon and her husband Paul Levesque, better known as the wrestler Triple H – investigates the allegations. Vince McMahon’s personal attorney Jerry McDevitt, of the Pittsburgh-based law firm K&L Gates, did not respond to an inquiry for comment from Forbes. Crucial Quote
In a statement released Friday from the WWE, McMahon said he pledged his “complete cooperation to the investigation by the Special Committee,” and “will do everything possible to support the investigation,” adding he will “accept the findings and outcome of the investigation, whatever they are.” Big Number
$1.095 billion. That’s how much revenue the WWE made in 2021, setting a company record, in the midst of a battle for viewership with All Elite Wrestling, a company that launched in 2019 and has since landed a four-year, $175 million television deal with WarnerMedia and TNT.
Key Background
McMahon took over the WWE from his father, also named Vince McMahon, in 1982. Under his tenure, WWE has become the face of professional wrestling, outperforming competitors World Championship Wrestling, which the WWE bought in 2000, and Extreme Championship Wrestling, which it bought in 2003. McMahon has a net worth of $2.3 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time tracker. His tenure has also come under scrutiny for sexist and racist storylines, including “bra and panty matches” throughout the early 2000s, as well as a 1998 instance of wrestlers performing in blackface. In 2015, McMahon responded to complaints, tweeting, “We hear you. Keep Watching.” Further Reading
WWE’s Vince McMahon Steps Down as CEO Amid Misconduct Probe (Wall Street Journal)
Vince McMahon Investigation: WWE’s Probe Of Alleged Affair Threatens Chairman’s Throne (Forbes)
WWE Reportedly Burying Stephanie McMahon To The Press (Forbes) | Celebrity |
For the first time in nearly two decades, Stanford’s back in Omaha, Nebraska for a second straight summer, this time as a betting favorite to win its first College World Series title since 1988.
It was always part of the plan for Stanford. Ever since an impassioned preseason team meeting when players vowed to get back to Omaha, where last season’s dreams ended with a crushing World Series elimination game loss on a wild pitch.
“We all talked about what we had to do to get back to Omaha,” said left fielder Eddie Park, a former Valley Christian-San Jose star who did his part as the MVP of the recent Stanford Regional. “We had a lot of ups and downs, but we knew at the end of the day we’d wind up back in Omaha.
“Now, we’re just excited to be back at college baseball’s holy mecca.” As Park noted, it wasn’t the smoothest of journey for coach David Esquer’s squad, which three months ago sat at the bottom of the Pac-12 standings at 1-5 following a three-game sweep by Oregon. After being ranked No. 6 in the nation in a preseason poll, Stanford suddenly found itself unranked. Esquer sat his team down and delivered a simple message.
“We hadn’t earned anything. The reality was the ranking was based off what we did last year,” Esquer said. “I said, ‘No one thinks we’re good enough, now’s your chance to make your own ranking.’ ”
It didn’t take long for Stanford to hit its stride. That stride has lately turned into a sprint — the Cardinal is 22-2 since May 1, which included a 17-game winning streak.
To further illustrate Stanford’s recent dominance, consider one of its two defeats in the last 45 days came in last weekend’s Super Regional opener – a 13-12 loss to UConn in which the Cardinals hit eight homers, including four during a ninth-inning rally.
Now, the Cardinal (47-16) is preparing to face Arkansas (43-19) Saturday at 11 a.m. PT to begin the eight-team, double-elimination tournament. The format in Omaha features two four-team brackets, with the two bracket winners meeting for the championship in a three-game series on June 25-27. Stanford is in Bracket 2 with three SEC schools: Ole Miss (37-22), Auburn (41-20) and Arkansas, which the Cardinal beat 5-0 in February on its way to the Round Rock Classic tournament title in Texas. The other four-team bracket features Texas (47-20), which is making its record 38th CWS appearance, as well as Oklahoma (42-22), Texas A&M (42-18) and Notre Dame (40-15). Those four teams begin play Friday.
The Longhorns share co-favorite honors with Stanford – both teams are listed at +400.
Right-hander Alex Williams (8-3, 2.88 ERA) from San Lorenzo’s Redwood Christian High will start Saturday for Stanford. While Williams and left-hander Quinn Mathews (9-1, 2.62 ERA) have led a strong pitching corps, the real difference-maker has been the offense, especially lately as it’s averaged 9.0 runs with a stunning .374 team batting average in eight postseason games. Those gaudy numbers make a lot of sense when considering the hitters Stanford sends to the plate.
Team leader and center fielder Brock Jones (20 home runs and a 1.120 OPS) is a projected first-round pick in MLB’s draft later this month. Both third baseman Drew Bowser (18 homers, .941 OPS) and freshman right fielder Braden Montgomery (18 homers, .970 OPS) are projected Top 10 picks in the next two MLB drafts, respectively. Montgomery, a freshman from Madison, Miss., is also a pitching prospect whose fastball reaches the upper 90s.
Then there’s junior catcher Kody Huff (13 homers, 1.005 OPS), whose grand slam in a six-run fourth-inning rally that gave Stanford the lead for good in a CWS-clinching win over UConn Monday.
Not to be forgotten are the talented trio of Bay Area sophomores: Park (.318), designated hitter Tommy Troy (Los Gatos High, .347, .960 OPS) and shortstop Adam Crampton (Oakland Tech. .306).
Park, Troy and Crampton have contributed key hits during the postseason push while hitting next to one another in the lineup, which is quite appropriate for three guys who’ve spent nearly half their lives playing together in the Bay Area.
“I just think it’s really cool to still be playing with Adam and Tommy,” said Park. “I grew up playing with and against those guys since I was 12.
“Back then, we would have never expected that the three little guys running around doing what they love would someday wind up at Stanford playing together in Omaha. It’s amazing and just so cool.” | Baseball |