article_text
stringlengths 294
32.8k
⌀ | topic
stringlengths 3
42
|
|---|---|
SAN FRANCISCO — James Wiseman said he’ll “most likely play” in Summer League next month. If that’s the case, he might not be the only reigning NBA champion worth watching in Las Vegas.
Jonathan Kuminga said Saturday afternoon that he would “love to” play in the annual offseason competition.
“I would want to do it especially if I’m trying to grow and learn and get better every day, I got to play more,” he said. “I feel like the Summer League would be good.”
Some players go through their entire careers without winning an NBA championship. But at 19, Kuminga is the second youngest player to earn a championship ring. Kuminga acknowledged how special it was for him to win at the highest level at such a young age. He enjoyed his cousin sending a video of his family doing the Griddy dance after the Warriors knocked off the Celtics in six games. His brother, who is back in Africa, also told him that “everybody is happy that you’re a champion.”
But reaching the mountaintop of the NBA only made Kuminga more motivated to get back work in hopes to return to this spot at the end of next season.
“I learned how to be a winner… and now I know what it takes to actually get to the Finals and get the job done,” Kuminga said. “By being out there watching what was going on, listening to coaches, listening to vets, that really helped me and I feel like if we just keep up with the good work hopefully next year we’ll get there and I’m going to be one of the guys helping the team to get there.” Kuminga said he’s focusing a lot of his offseason work on improving his shooting. He averaged 9.3 points while shooting 51.3% on 6.6 field goal attempts per game in 70 regular-season contests this season. He also shot 33.6% from 3-point range, taking about 2.1 shots from deep each game.
“If I get my shooting to where I want it to get [it], it’s really going to open up a lot of stuff,” he said. Kuminga could benefit from getting some game reps in during Summer League. He’s also considering the chance of playing for the Dominican Republic of Congo national men’s basketball team this offseason.
“I’m still working on that one, I’m still thinking” about playing for his national team, he said. “I’m not going to take a break for too long. I’m just gonna be back at it again.” | Basketball |
HOUSTON — Michael Kopech gave a thumbs-up after a bullpen session Thursday at Minute Maid Park.The right-hander passed his tests, putting him in line to start Sunday for the Chicago White Sox against the Houston Astros.“The big test for me was (Thursday) having that bullpen and seeing if it would be extra sore (Friday) and how it was going to feel,” Kopech said Friday. “I came in and it felt better (Friday) than it did (Thursday). It’s a good sign. I’m improving every day. I think I’ll be ready to go.”Kopech left his last start Sunday against the Texas Rangers after two-thirds of an inning with right knee discomfort. He exited after throwing 13 pitches.“I definitely didn’t think it was going to be this quick,” Kopech said. “I don’t know what it was, but the way it felt and not being able to bear weight on it when I got on the mound and tried to throw another pitch, I definitely thought it would be pretty bad news. I’m definitely grateful for what I did get.”He hobbled off the mound after throwing a pitch to Adolis García in the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field.White Sox starting pitcher Michael Kopech reacts after suffering a right knee injury in the first inning against the Rangers on June 12, 2022, at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Quinn Harris / Getty Images)After a discussion with the training staff, Kopech went back on the mound to prepare for a warmup pitch. He stopped just as he was beginning, walked behind the mound and threw the ball to the ground in frustration. But after the game, Kopech said he was relieved to hear it wasn’t a more serious injury, and manager Tony La Russa brought up the possibility of Kopech pitching in Houston.“I came back with surprisingly good news from that and every day has been surprisingly better,” Kopech said. “If you had asked me (Sunday) if this would be the case, I probably would have been pretty doubtful about it. I feel good.”The good news meant he didn’t have to miss extended time.“I think there would have been that thought if there was anything structurally going on,” Kopech said. “But looking at the MRI and seeing the movements I’ve been able to make in a short amount of time since, I just don’t think there’s any point in doing that. Try to keep going.”As far as having to keep tabs on the knee the rest of the season, Kopech said, “I think TBD,”“For the most part, where I’m at with it, I think I’m going to feel it for the rest of the year probably,” Kopech said. “But it’s just being able to tolerate it, and I can tolerate it. As long as it’s not painful and getting in the way of me doing what I need to do, I can deal with a little discomfort.“But it’s gotten better day to day. Who knows? Maybe by Sunday I’m not feeling anything at all.”Kopech threw between 30-35 pitches Thursday. La Russa liked what he saw.“He feels great,” La Russa said. “He’s ready.”White Sox starting pitcher Michael Kopech, right, is checked on by a team trainer after suffering an injury during the first inning of a game against the Rangers on June 12, 2022, at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)Kopech has been one of the team’s top pitchers as he moved back into the rotation after spending most of 2021 in the bullpen. He’s 2-2 with a 1.92 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 11 starts. He has limited opponents to one hit while pitching at least five innings in four of his starts.One of his best outings came in a Sunday night game. Kopech allowed one hit with six strikeouts and two walks in seven innings in Game 2 of a May 22 doubleheader against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. He retired the first 17 batters before Rob Brantly broke up the perfect game with a two-out double in the sixth.He’s set for another opportunity on that stage, this time in his home state. Kopech resides in Tyler, Texas.“As far as how it feels physically, the humidity reminds me of home,” Kopech said. “Definitely being closer to the family and closer to some friends that I’m familiar with over here, I’m excited.” | Baseball |
LONG BEACH, Long Island (WABC) -- Remembrances were held on Saturday for a Little League baseball player as his team won their championship game.The Long Beach Braves led a moment of silence for Lazar LaPenna before they played. They defeated their opponents, the Astros 10-6.Lazar collapsed and died last month after making it to first base. He had an epileptic seizure which may have been triggered by his excitement about getting on base.Lazar turned 10 the day before his death.The night before he died, Lazar and his family celebrated his 10th birthday at a local restaurant."It's just so sad," he said.Lazar was a huge Mets fan and loved playing baseball.ALSO READ | Three members of the same family killed in Queens fireEMBED More News VideosThree members of the same family were killed in a fast-moving fire in Queens.----------* More Long Island news* Send us a news tip* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts * Follow us on YouTubeSubmit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness NewsHave a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply. Report a correction or typo Related topics:sportslong beachnassau countychild deathbaseballlittle leagueShare:ShareTweetEmailCopyright © 2022 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved. | Baseball |
For the second time in six weeks, Joe Lauzon’s highly-anticipated fight with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone has been canceled after Lauzon had to withdraw with a knee injury.Both fighters made the official weight of 155 pounds on Friday morning, but Lauzon did not attend the ceremonial weigh-in Friday afternoon after his knee locked up earlier in the day. The fight was called off Saturday morning.The two were originally scheduled to fight April 30 in front of a small crowd at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, but Cerrone, who had fought in empty arenas during the pandemic, wanted no part of that. So the fight was scheduled for May 7 to open the main PPV card of UFC 274, but it was canceled after Cerrone had to withdraw with a non-COVID related illness.The fight was eventually rescheduled for Saturday night as the co-main event in Austin, serving as the lead-in to Calvin Kattar’s main event with Josh Emmett.Get Sports HeadlinesThe Globe's most recent sports headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.Lauzon spoke with the Globe about the strange journey this fight has taken earlier this week.“This has definitely been a matchup that has taken a lot more twists and turns than I would like,” said the Bridgewater resident. “I was ok with moving from the Apex to 274. That was fine, like a minor thing to happen pretty early in the whole process.“When Cowboy got sick, that threw me for a loop. That was super crappy, but it’s OK. I’m glad we’re getting it done, but it’s been like the longest training camp, we’re going on like 26 weeks. It’s been a six-month training camp.”As of Saturday afternoon, there was no word on if the lightweight bout would be rescheduled for the two long-established veterans that have combined for 13 Fights of the Night and 20 other post-fight bonuses.Kattar’s fight with Emmett is still scheduled to go on Saturday and will air on ESPN, with the combatants set to make their ring walk at 9:10 p.m.Follow Andrew Mahoney on Twitter @GlobeMahoney. | MMA |
BROOKLINE — Justin Thomas’s 319-yard drive on the fourth hole Saturday quickly took a turn — or rather a roll — for the worst.The shot gained several extra feet after it landed, but couldn’t have stopped any closer to a drain on the fairway.Thomas knew the awkward lay would affect his next stroke, but he also knew he wouldn’t hit the drain in the process.“I felt like I very easily could have told [the rules official] that I was going to [hit the drain] and gotten a free drop, but I wasn’t,” said Thomas.Instead, Thomas played the ball from where it was, stroking his pitching wedge for a 100-yard shot into the bunker, and went on to bogey the hole.The scene was a microcosm of the 29-year-old’s rough week at the US Open.Thomas is 3-over par and tied for 25th entering Sunday’s final round. Only on Thursday did he shoot under par (69) and posted a 2-over 72 on each day that followed.Thomas also found trouble on 6, posting a bogey for the second day in a row. He bogeyed five holes on Saturday.After winning his second PGA Championship last month, Thomas was expected to be a close competitor for the title at The Country Club. He’s ranked fifth in the world and quickly elevated his game since winning five PGA Tour events in 2017.Thomas lamented the way things went down on the fourth hole.“It’s unfortunate because it was a great drive,” said Thomas. “It’s very clear that my stance and where my ball was was altered and sitting bad because of that drain, but didn’t get a drop from it. That’s just how it is. You have to be able to hit the drain to get a drop.”He also knew he could have taken advantage of the situation.“That’s what pisses me off, because so many other people would lie about being able to hit that,” he said.Now, facing an early tee time and a near-miracle to contend, he can only hope the leaderboard doesn’t get too far away from him.“Hopefully I can get hot tomorrow and then go post a number and give them a score to look at for a couple of hours,” he said. “Selfishly, for my sake, hopefully they can stay within striking distance because this is a great place to post.”Jayna Bardahl can be reached at [email protected]. | Golf |
FORT WORTH — At age 18, South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim on Saturday night became the youngest gold medal winner in the 60-year history of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.At an awards ceremony at Bass Performance Hall, the second prize silver medal went to the oldest of the competitors, 31-year-old Russian Anna Geniushene, and the third prize bronze medal to Ukrainian Dmytro Choni, 28.One of the world’s highest visibility classical music contests, the Cliburn presents cash awards of, respectively, $100,000, $50,000 and $25,000 to its three top winners. More valuable almost certainly are guarantees of three years of concert tours and career management. Selections were made by an international jury including prominent concert pianists, with conductor Marin Alsop as chair.In addition to live audiences in Fort Worth, the contest was followed avidly by other pianists, teachers, conductors and artist managers around the world via live and delayed video streams.Lim is the second South Korean in a row, after 2017′s Yekwon Sunwoo, to win the top prize. His stunningly virtuosic and mature performance of the Liszt Transcendental Etudes in the semifinal round obviously carried the day, and he also took two other awards. Here’s an enormous talent to watch.Geniushene is clearly a solid and substantial musician. Her performances of Brahms’ Op. 10 Rhapsodies and Beethoven’s Op. 33 Bagatelles were magical.Choni offered playing at once sophisticated and natural, and he’s clearly another major talent to watch.The ceremony concluded an 18-day schedule of solo recitals and, with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, concerto performances. The final concertos Saturday, led by Alsop, featured pianists from three countries tragically in the news lately: Ukraine (Choni), Russia (Geniushene) and Belarus (Uladzislau Khandohi).The Saturday night ceremony also presented numerous other awards.Each of three finalists who didn’t win a medal — Uladzislau Khandohi from Belarus, Ilya Shmukler from Russia and Clayton Stephenson from the United States — received a $10,000 cash award. Semifinalists received $5,000 each, quarterfinalists $2,500, preliminary round competitors $1,000. Other awards worth thousands also were announced.Jury Discretionary Awards, $4,000 each:Patricia and Neal Steffen Family Jury Discretionary Award: Andrew Li, 18, United StatesRaymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award: Changyong Shin, 28, South KoreaJohn Giordano Jury Chairman Discretionary Award: Marcel Takokoro, 28, France/JapanOther awards were:$5,000 Beverley Taylor Smith Award for Best Performance of a New Work (this year, competition juror Stephen Hough’s Fanfare Toccata): Yunchan Lim$5,000 Best Performance of the Mozart Concerto: Ilya Shmukler, 27, Russia$2,500 Carla and Kelly Thompson Audience Award: Yunchan LimPandemic delayThe normally quadrennial Cliburn was delayed one year by the COVID-19 pandemic. The competition is named after Texas-raised pianist Van Cliburn, whose win at the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in 1958, at the height of Cold War tensions, catapulted him into instant fame. The competition was launched four years later by Fort Worth fans of the pianist, who moved to the city in 1986 and spoke at awards ceremonies before his death in February 2013.Screening auditions identified 30 competitors ages 18 to 31, representing 15 countries (counting double nationalities claimed by two pianists). During the three first rounds, the list of competitors was narrowed to six finalists.There were some changes this year. Preliminary and quarterfinal rounds, devoted to solo recitals, were held not at Bass Performance Hall, but at Texas Christian University’s handsome new 717-seat Van Cliburn Concert Hall.Then at Bass Hall, each of 12 semifinalists played a 60-minute solo recital and, with the FWSO and guest conductor Nicholas McGegan, a Mozart piano concerto. The Mozart concerto performances replaced a chamber music round that had been a Cliburn staple.This represented a third concerto in advance of the traditional two contrasting ones in the final round. Alsop, who also served as the jury chair this time, conducted the final round performances.Related:Cliburn 2022 competition finals: Day 4 is a wrap, with the last three concertosGeopolitics shadow the CliburnThe Russian invasion of Ukraine loomed over this year’s Cliburn.The Cliburn’s decision to let Russians compete triggered backlash from some who thought 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,” said Jacques Marquis, president and CEO of the Cliburn.“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.”Related:At Cliburn 2022 finals, Russia-Ukraine war looms over the competition | Music |
An international piano competition back in 1958 — the Tchaikovsky, in Moscow — made Texas-raised Van Cliburn an overnight international celebrity. In the height of Cold War tensions, his face was splashed across front pages, and he was feted with a ticker tape parade on Wall Street.No classical music competition anywhere stirs up that kind of brouhaha today. But the quadrennial contest that bears the late American pianist’s name still gets international attention.After a year’s COVID-19 delay, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition returns to Fort Worth on June 2. It’s bringing 30 pianists ages 19 to 31 from 15 countries — counting the double nationalities claimed by two competitors — for four rounds: a mix of solo recitals and concertos with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. At a June 18 awards ceremony, cash prizes totaling $265,000 will be presented, along with management services worth more than $1 million.The Cliburn brings rabid fans from around the world as well as teachers, conductors and artist managers to check out the next crop of up-and-comers. Thanks to webcasts — including all live performances plus interviews and behind-the-scenes features — the audience spreads far beyond Fort Worth.New to the Cliburn this yearThere are some changes this time. The preliminary and quarterfinal rounds, devoted to solo recitals, will be held not at Bass Performance Hall, but at Texas Christian University’s handsome new 717-seat Van Cliburn Concert Hall.The preliminary round will include a new commissioned work by competition juror Stephen Hough, a composer as well as a concert pianist. “I wanted to write a piece that was fun,” he says, “in the tradition of glittery keyboard pieces from Scarlatti to Prokofiev.”Stephen Hough combines a distinguished career as a pianist with those of composer, writer and painter.(Van Cliburn International Piano Competition)Gone, to the regret of some of us, is the chamber music round that in past competitions often revealed the most interpretive depth and personality.The competition moves to Bass Hall for the next two rounds, when 12 semifinalists are narrowed to six finalists. In past years, competitors played two concertos with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. This time, three concertos are on the schedule.The semifinal round will include a Mozart concerto as well as a solo recital. The final round will include no solo recital, but each finalist will perform two contrasting concertos from longish lists. Nicholas McGegan, a specialist in 18th century repertory, will conduct the Mozart concertos. Marin Alsop, who’s also serving as chair of the competition jury, will conduct the final round concertos.“We talked with past winners of the competition,” says Jacques Marquis, president and CEO of the Cliburn, “and the first year they were playing on tour they had to have seven, eight, nine concertos in their hands. It will be interesting to hear pianists who play Mozart, Ravel and Rachmaninoff, for example. What we’re most interested in is giving the jury as much information as possible for making decisions.”Cliburn veterans will remember past competitions when many of the same jurors — definitely skewing “mature” — appeared year after year. A couple of jurors often had protégés in the competition, and, although they were required to abstain from voting on their students, eyebrows did rise.Marquis has made a point of refreshing the lineup of judges this year, with only one overlap — Anne-Marie McDermott — from 2017. Others include active performers Alessio Bax, Lilya Zilberstein, Andreas Haefliger, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and Wu Han.“I like new eyes and ears,” Marquis says. “If you have too many times the same jury, the jury becomes a club. We’re very keen on no conversation between jurors. If they’re too long involved in the jury, they become friends, exchange ideas.”Cliburn CEO Jacques Marquis speaks during The Dallas Morning News' "Duets" event held at the Dallas Public Library in Dallas on March 5, 2019.(Daniel Carde / Staff Photographer)“I’m also interested to have pianists who are still playing a lot. Since we’re launching careers, we have to have people on the jury who have careers and know what it takes to stay there for a long time.”Search for that special ‘something’So what are jurors looking and listening for? And how valid is a 2 1/2-week endurance contest as a way to identify great musicians?“I do expect the basic level to be incredibly high,” says Bax, whose own career was promoted by winning the 2000 Leeds Competition in England. “Not only technically, but in terms of musicianship, knowledge of music. In the end, you look for an artist that is incredibly complete, and able to fulfill the many engagements the Cliburn offers. At the end, what we’re there for is to look for someone who has a unique voice and is able to sustain a major career.”Piano soloist Alessio Bax performs with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth on Oct. 26, 2018.(Lawrence Jenkins / Special Contributor)Hough’s career was boosted by his 1983 win in the Naumburg Competition. “In an incredibly crowded field of young players, there are things that make me sit up,” he says. “In a couple of minutes you can tell when you’re in the presence of greatness.“I’m not looking necessarily for what I would do, or how I would play it, but for something that is deeply felt within, not maybe consciously. I want something original, but not thinking, ‘How original I am!’ I don’t want that self-consciousness, but someone who does have a voice.”Alsop won’t have a vote on the jury, except in a rare case of a tie. But she, too, will be looking for “a point of view, that someone has something to say. I’m looking for that defining X factor, the thing that really defines an artist.”As conductor in the final round concertos, Alsop may need to give a little extra guidance to young pianists with less orchestral experience.Marin Alsop, who will conduct and serve as chair of the competition jury, led the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as a guest conductor in 2005.(REX C. CURRY / 84223)“I wouldn’t call it coaching,” Alsop says. “I would say it’s trying to help them develop their interpretation and build it out a bit. Some are more equipped than others, or have more experience, or have performed these works many more times and are at different points in their life experience. It’s helping support their vision and helping amplify it, and when necessary stepping in with some suggestions.”Pros and consMusic competitions remain ambiguous in their accomplishments — and controversial. How do we decide one pianist is “the best” out of 30? Is a jury’s top vote-getter the one most likely to have a major career?Competitions sometimes seem to reward technically brilliant players who don’t go too far off on interpretive limbs, at the expense of players with more personality. Hoping to dazzle, competitors often favor flashy Liszt pieces over subtler Schubert and Brahms. With its multiple rounds and extensive repertory requirements, the Cliburn can seem to reward sheer endurance above all.While some wins have propelled major careers, other winners — including some from the Cliburn — have disappeared into teaching or playing with third tier orchestras. The Cliburn has also had winners who’ve died early: Steven De Groote, Alexei Sultanov and José Feghali.In the end, juries can only make a judgment at one point in time. They’re no more clairvoyant than the rest of us in predicting lives that will be affected by health, personal relationships and sheer luck, good and bad. Burnout happens to the best.“I don’t think music is a competitive sport,” Alsop says. “Fundamentally, I’m not an advocate of competitions. But a competition is like a magnified version of the kind of lives that very successful soloists have. They have to have so much repertoire available. It’s kind of a microscopic immersion into the professional life. Competitions are good because they allow young artists a platform to be heard.”The Cliburn is unusual among music competitions in lining up so many performance dates for its winners, and providing career advice along the way. In early years, those dates often included Carnegie Hall debuts and engagements with top orchestras, and winners weren’t always ready for the top-tier exposure. Engagements now favor gradual growth over big splashes.“We’re not pretentious enough to say that this is the only way a great talent can rise,” Marquis says, “but we can surely help to get attention, awareness. The webcast is getting bigger and bigger every year. That’s fantastic publicity.“The competition will help you open doors, and the Cliburn is the champion in the world for opening doors for concerts.”DetailsVan Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth. Preliminary (June 2-4) and quarterfinal (June 5-6) rounds at Van Cliburn Concert Hall at Texas Christian University, 2900 W. Lowden St. Semifinal (June 8-12) and final (June 14-18) rounds at Bass Performance Hall, Fourth and Commerce. Single tickets $30 to $225; subscription packages from $162 to $2,900. Details on webcasts will be announced Monday. 817-738-6536. cliburn.org. | Music |
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 Belarusian (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 3: Formidable fingers, less subtletyJacques 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 [email protected] @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 |
Clayton Stephenson didn’t start playing piano by his own accord. The award-winning pianist said his mother made him take lessons at age 7.“I guess it was a cheaper baby sitter,” laughed Stephenson as he spoke to a crowd at the Dallas Public Library auditorium.Stephenson, now 20, has probably thanked his mother for those initial piano lessons.He was accepted to the Juilliard Pre-College at age 10 and is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Harvard University and a master’s degree at the New England Conservatory. In 2017 he was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and in 2015 he won a Jury Discretionary Award at the Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition.Stephenson joined Jacques Marquis, presidentCEO of The Cliburn, and Scott Cantrell, contributing classical music critic ofThe Dallas Morning News, for the first 2019 installment of “Duets,” a conversation series hosted by the Arts & Life team ofThe News. The trio, in between performances by Stephenson, talked about the Cliburn’s Junior Piano Competition, which is being held for the first time in Dallas this year.1/3Cliburn pianist Clayton Stephenson (left) and Cliburn CEO Jacques Marquis speak during the Morning News' first "Duets" event held at the Dallas Public Library in Dallas on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. "Duets," a live-conversation program offered exclusively to subscribers, was hosted by host Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News contributing classical music critic, not pictured. (Daniel Carde/The Dallas Morning News)(Daniel Carde / Staff Photographer)The organization is named after the American pianist Van Cliburn, who won the very first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958. The Cliburn International Piano Competition was first held in Fort Worth in 1964 and is.Itsjunior competition started in 2015, two years after Marquis joined the organization. It caters to students ages 13 to 17, and the goal, Marquis said, is to recruit the best pianist in the world who can live up to “the Cliburn brand.”Even though he was taking lessons and moving from teacher to teacher, Stephenson said he started to seriously consider a musical career after he became part of the competition in 2015. He said that he admired the camaraderie and that everyone competing seemed to love music. Most importantly, the jury treated him like an artist rather than a student.Cantrell, who is well-versed in The Cliburn’s work, asked Marquis about the integrity of turning art into a competition. Marquis said because they are meeting on an international stage, the Cliburn students are indeed “meeting kings of other kingdoms.” But it is meant to help students advance their journey in a musical career and to let them know that they “are all in this together.”Marquis said he believes that music is always evolving, so student competitors are taught how to conduct themselves on social media. The entirety of the competition is also streamed online, allowing for the most exposure to the music world as possible, he says. Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News contributing classical music critic, applauds as Cliburn CEO Jacques Marquis takes the stage. "Duets," a live-conversation program offered exclusively to subscribers, was hosted by Cantrell. (Daniel Carde/The Dallas Morning News)(Daniel Carde / Staff Photographer)The Cliburn competition is seen as one of the most demanding, according to Marquis. Students are to have and build a “deep repertoire” of 20-40-minute recitals, études and full concertos. Competitors are whittled down each of the four rounds, starting from 24 and ending with three in the finals.Though most of the conversation was focused on different parts of the competition, one of the highlights of the night was the performances by Stephenson; every 10 minutes, he played a piece on the piano for the audience. They included Moszkowski's Étincelles, a virtuosic show-off piece, and Liebermann's Gargoyles, Op. 29, Movement 3/4. He also performed Uehara's animated The Tom and Jerry Show, finishing the piece with a hop off the bench.At the end of the conversation, Marquis asked Stephenson, who at a young age has performed many times before, how he prepares for his recitals and competitions. He said he listens to music.“All kinds of music,” Stephenson beamed. “Before my last performance, I listened to Kanye.”Nataly Keomoungkhoun, Engagement/Breaking News reporter. Nataly is the lead writer on Curious Texas and a breaking news reporter. She is a D-FW native with a B.A. in emerging media and communication from the University of Texas at Dallas and an M.S. in journalism from the University of Southern California. [email protected] @natalykeo | Music |
“I would like to thank you for making time for us tonight,” said Anna Wintour, addressing Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin at last night’s Manhattan screening of Elvis. Between them, the husband-and-wife duo claim a lengthy list of credits on the film, which offers a whistle-stop romp through the life of the king of rock and roll: He’s the director and co-writer, she’s the costume and production designer, both are producers. And since the film’s debut at Cannes last month (which earned it a 12-minute ovation), the pair, along with their cast, have been on a whirlwind promotional tour. “Baz, if this audience knew your mind-blowing travel schedule over the past few months, they would either think you’d missed your life calling as a Qantas pilot or that you were suffering from a severe sleep disorder.”Baz, on stage at the DGA theater in Midtown Manhattan, gamely acknowledged the Elvis crew’s geographical zig-zagging: Paris, Cannes, three premieres in Australia, and another in Los Angeles were followed by a trip to Graceland, Elvis’s Memphis, Tennessee home, where the Presley family saw the film. (From the start, Elvis Presley’s estate granted Luhrmann permission to make the film, but more than that, it gave him access to Presley’s extensive archives, which he eagerly mined to guide his storytelling.) “But here we bring it back to New York City,” Luhrmann said, “to the city we live in and the city we love, with the people that we love.” Like in Luhrmann’s masterpiece Moulin Rouge!, Elvis relies on a narrator—though in this case, it’s the antagonist, Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’s lifelong manager, who sets the stage. Played by Tom Hanks (who dons a prosthetic nose and some bodily padding), Parker has a nebulous background, a hard-to-place accent, and a self-serving professional style that pushes Elvis toward cringey career moves, drug use, and an endless Las Vegas residency. In the film’s opening scene, Parker explains that while he tends to be blamed for Elvis’s death at age 42, everyone’s gotten it all wrong—without him, Elvis wouldn’t have existed in the first place. Still, he’s hardly the movie’s hero: From the minute Austin Butler’s Elvis hits the stage, clad in a billowing rockabilly-pink suit, the audience is presented with its object of affection.Among those seated was a fashion-heavy crowd that included Vera Wang, Batsheva Hay, Victor Glemaud, Jonathan Cohen, and more. And from the film, there was Butler, Olivia DeJonge, Yola, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Alton Mason, and Tom Hanks. Beaming, Luhrmann welcomed them all to the stage one by one before the 159-minute cinematic extravaganza began.Introducing DeJonge, who plays Priscilla Presley, Luhrmann shared remarks from Priscilla herself. “She said, ‘Thank you for selecting a young actor who could really make me look so good and be so true to me.’” The British musician Yola, meanwhile, appears in the film as Sister Rosetta Tharpe. “[She was] the inventor of rock and roll—no doubt about it,” Luhrmann explained.Luhrmann went on to praise Harrison Jr. for his role as the legendary B.B. King—a confidente of Elvis’s—and Mason for his rousing interpretation of Little Richard. He then amused the audience with Hanks’s introduction. “One of the real joys is to find a new name, to give them a chance, a few lines, and see how they'll do. And this one has done fairly well.”Regarding Butler, whose portrayal of Elvis was electric and, at times, uncanny, Luhrmann also recounted Priscilla’s reaction: “I can't believe, after all this time, what Austin Butler has done to create my husband,” she told him, adding, “If he was here today, he would say, ‘Hot damn, you are me.’”Yvonne Tnt/BFA.comBaz Luhrmann, Anna WintourYvonne Tnt/BFA.comAustin ButlerYvonne Tnt/BFA.comKelvin Harrison Jr., Yola | Movies |
Dallas Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin (35) rests on the goal during a second period timeout against the Carolina Hurricanes at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Tuesday, April 27, 2021. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News)(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)The Stars know who will be their No. 1 goaltender next season.As for who is backing up Jake Oettinger? That part remains up in the air.“We’re going to look at all options, keep all options open,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said last month. “As I said, we had a plan last year. We thought we had two or three guys in place and it ended up being five guys. We’re going to look at all those situations.”Oettinger ascended to the top spot in the Stars crease because of a combination of injuries and performance after entering training camp buried on the depth chart. But Ben Bishop’s career ended because of a knee injury. Anton Khudobin was sent to the AHL before he had season-ending hip surgery. Braden Holtby’s season ended because of a hip injury.The injuries led to Nill and the Stars acquiring Scott Wedgewood from the trade deadline for a conditional draft pick that turned into a 2023 third-round draft pick.Khudobin is under contract for one more season, and Wedgewood is an unrestricted free agent this summer.Khudobin’s initial recovery timeline that was announced in March put him on track to be ready for training camp, and making use of his $3.333 million cap hit would behoove the Stars. But, as we’ve seen with Tyler Seguin, hip surgeries can be tricky with uneven rehabilitation schedules. Plus, Khudobin (.879 save percentage and 3.63 goals against average) was not good during his nine NHL games.He went unclaimed on waivers and spent the rest of the season on the AHL roster.“We’re going to assess Anton Khudobin, see where he’s at,” Nill said in May. “He’s doing his rehab here, and we’ll have a good feel over the next six weeks where he’s at. Is he going to be ready for training camp? Is he going to be somebody that’s ready in November, December? We’ll have to figure that out to see where he’s at.”If Khudobin is not in the Stars’ plans next season, they have a few options. They could try to trade him, but that may be tough to do given his age, contract, production and recent injury. They could bury him in the AHL, meaning that only $2.208 million of his cap hit would count against the cap.They could also try to put him on long-term injured reserve (if only until he’s ready to play) to create some cap flexibility. The Stars tried to do that last season, but the league did not allow them to because Khudobin was already on the minor league roster. During training camp, everyone begins on the NHL roster.Wedgewood could be an option after his strong showing down the stretch with the Stars. Dallas picked up points in six of the seven games he started and his .913 save percentage was highlighted by a 44-save performance in Carolina during a shootout win.Wedgewood is looking for a multiyear contract, which would be the first multi-year, one-way contract of his career.In 2022, there have been three multiyear contracts signed by backup goalies: Anton Forsberg for three years at a $2.75 million cap hit in Ottawa, Karel Vejmelka for three years at $2.725 million annually in Arizona and Pavel Francouz for two years at a $2 million cap hit.Wedgewood could be looking at something in that range.If Khudobin isn’t ready, and Wedgewood signs elsewhere, the backup goaltending market is a bit thin in free agency. There are only six pending unrestricted free agent goaltenders who played between 10 and 40 games last season (a backup’s workload) with a save percentage above .900.Wedgewood is one, and so is Holtby (.913 in 24 games). Martin Jones (.900 in 35 games) is three years older than Wedgewood, and has been inconsistent in recent years. Casey DeSmith (.914 in 26 games) may not be a fit and Jaroslav Halak (.903 in 17 games) is 37 years old. Twenty-six-year-old Eric Comrie (.920 in 19 games) could fit the mold of a young, affordable backup that can spell Oettinger like he did Connor Hellebuyck.+++Related:Stanley Cup Final guide for Stars fans: Enemies of Dallas’ past, present collideRelated:Jim Nill: Stars narrowing coaching search full of intriguing candidatesFind more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.Matthew DeFranks. Matt began covering the Stars for SportsDay in 2018-19, and previously covered the Florida Panthers for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He's also covered college football, the Miami Marlins, the Kansas City Royals and the Los Angeles Angels for a variety of outlets. He graduated from the University of Notre [email protected] /mdefranks @MDeFranks Be the smartest Stars fanNews, analysis and opinion about the Dallas Stars delivered FREE to your inbox.By signing up you agree to our privacy policyMost Popular on DallasNews.com123456 | Hockey |
Jun 18, 2022; Brookline, Massachusetts, USA; Matthew Fitzpatrick plays his shot from the 17th tee during the third round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY SportsRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBROOKLINE, Mass., June 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Open co-leader Matt Fitzpatrick has tasted success at The Country Club before and feels that experience will serve him well when he goes up against some of golf's top players in the final round of the year's third major.The 27-year-old Englishman won the 2013 U.S. Amateur held at Brookline and feels that triumph will give him an edge over the competition in Sunday's final round, where defending champion and world number two Jon Rahm is lurking on shot back."I certainly think it gives me an edge over the others, yeah. I genuinely do believe that. It's a real, obviously, positive moment in my career. It kind of kickstarted me," said Fitzpatrick.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"To come back here and play so well again, it kind of just gives me growing confidence round by round."The Boston crowd has been behind Fitzpatrick all week, and the cheers only got louder on Saturday as he carded four late birdies over a sizzling four-hole stretch en route to a two-under-par 68 that left him at four under on the week.The support has not gone unnoticed as the Englishman said he has never heard "Fitzy" yelled more on American soil before and said as much to his caddie Billy Foster on the final hole."I was walking down 18 and said the same thing to Billy. I said, obviously, winning the U.S. Am here helps, but it just feels a bit more like a home game this week, and that's why it feels different and for the better," said Fitzpatrick."It's been great to have the support this week. Any moments I've had of success around here during this week, it's been celebrated pretty loud."Sunday's final round marks the second successive major with Fitzpatrick in the final pairing after last month's PGA Championship, in which he shot a three-over-par 73 and finished in a share of fifth.He obviously hopes for a better result this time around and could not have picked a better layout given the Country Club is one that he feels suits him well."You've got to plot your way around. You really have to think about where you want to hit it, where you don't want to hit it," said Fitzpatrick."Compared to other golf courses we play on Tour, it certainly gives that to me, and that's why I like it."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Frank Pingue in Brookline, Massachusetts; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Golf |
Nick Kyrgios was upstaged in a battle of the monster servers as Hubert Hurkacz ruined the Australian wildcard’s hopes of reaching a first grass-court final in Halle.Kyrgios, in such brilliant form all week at the German event that he fancied his maiden final on the green stuff was firmly on the cards, met his match in an almost inevitable tiebreak decider in Saturday’s semi-final, losing 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4) to the Pole.It was a grievous disappointment for the 27-year-old but there was definitely enough in Kyrgios’s big week to encourage him with Wimbledon just over a week away.The Australian was brilliant behind his own serve, unbroken and having given up just two break points the whole game, but, ultimately, he was beaten at his own game as Hurkacz pounded down 27 aces, the most he’s ever bombed in any match.So Kyrgios, who was even more prolific with 30 aces, couldn’t capitalise on his first-set domination when he was the more aggressive and ambitious of the pair.Neither player was troubled on their own delivery until the ninth game of the opener when two brilliant forehand winners helped Kyrgios land what was to be the only break of the match to go 5-4 ahead. He sealed the deal with two aces in the following game but from then on, never himself really threatened Hurkacz on serve as the Polish world No 12 began to grow in confidence.With some inevitability, it all came down to one final tiebreak shoot-out, with Hurkacz earning the crucial mini-break with Kyrgios failing to deal with a floated deep service return.“One or two shots was the difference,” Hurkacz conceded. “Definitely super close. Nick played a really, really great match. He’s a great player, so it was definitely a super tough one.”Kyrgios, on his debut at the German venue, was deprived of a chance of playing world No.1 Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final, after the Russian survived a set point in the first stanza before beating German hope Oscar Otte 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.But though there was just one flashpoint with Kyrgios - he picked up a warning for ball abuse after he smashed one high, wide and out of the arena in a moment of frustration - this will be a week he can look back on with real satisfaction.For the man who reckons that he’s a top-five player on grass courts really did indeed look like one for much of the week and he will go on to one final Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Mallorca next week, believing he’s on course for perhaps his best week at SW19.One thing is for sure - nobody, as Hurkacz intimated, will want to meet this dangerous floater in the main draw of a slam in which he’s previously reached one quarter-final and the last 16 on two other occasions. | Tennis |
Ezra Miller One Last Go-Around as 'Flash' ... Nixed Thereafter: Report 6/18/2022 11:31 AM PT Ezra Miller is apparently on the outs with Warner Bros. Discovery amid a tumultuous time -- a new report suggests this is the embattled actor's last outing as DC's fastest superhero. The 'Flash' star is said to be getting the boot after this final time starring as Barry Allen in the yet-to-be-released flick (which is already in the can) -- meaning they won't reprise the role going forward in the DCEU ... this according to Deadline, which seems to have softened its position, but is still suggesting they're a goner. Zaslav’s First Movie Crisis: What To Do With Ezra Miller, The Erratic Star Of Warner Bros’ $200M ‘Flash’ Franchise Launch https://t.co/TMJKZ9YMHG— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) June 18, 2022 @DEADLINE Here's what Deadline first said about Miller's future ... "In (David) Zaslav's plan to make DC an explosively successful division like Marvel under his newly structured studio, with its own new boss, the non-binary identifying Miller, we hear, is simply not a part of those plans going forward in the future universe regardless if there are more allegations or not." Deadline has since revised its story to read ... "Sources said even if no more allegations surface, the studio won't likely keep Miller in the Flash role in future DC films. That would mean replacing him in the future, but there is still a $200 million investment on the line with the first film and Warner Bros execs have to be cringing at each new press report." MEGA Indeed ... they hedged on the off chance WB keeps them around. But, by most accounts -- including from other reporters who say they've confirmed the news -- it appears Ezra's nixed. Essentially, Warner is praying no more negative headlines emerge about EM ... but on the issue of the ones that have surfaced thus far -- a source told Deadline, "There is no winning in this for Warner Bros. This is an inherited problem for Zaslav. The hope is that the scandal will remain at a low level before the movie is released, and hope for the best to turn out." The saga is far from over. Not only have the parents of 18-year-old activist Tokata Iron Eyes filed for a protection order against them -- albeit, without success as they can't find Ezra to serve them -- but a second protective order was reportedly issued this past week in favor of the mother of a 12-year-old child out of Massachusetts ... who has her own claims against them. Amid all this chaos, Miller reportedly posted a series of memes that some interpreted as mocking the authorities, who are trying to track them down. Then, they deleted their IG. Ezra Miller storying these memes while on the run for kidnapping a girl is the craziest shit I’ve ever heard 😭 pic.twitter.com/05X2dlYWLP— عمیر (@OmairrrrS) June 16, 2022 @OmairrrrS FWIW, Iron Eyes says she's fine and that her parents are wrong -- but nonetheless, people are deeply concerned ... and it appears both Ezra and TIE are off the radar. Meanwhile, it sounds like Warner's made a decision. And there may still be more to come. | Movies |
BROOKLINE — Even if he falls short of winning the US Open Sunday, Keegan Bradley still had his Boston duck boat parade moment Saturday.Walking up the fairway toward the 18th green, Bradley — the pride of Hopkinton, native of Vermont, a super-sized Boston sports fan and just two strokes off the lead at 2 under — found himself surrounded by a wall of noise cascading from the grandstand on his left, hundreds of fans getting up on their feet, shouting “Kee-gan, Kee-gan” over and over.Bradley didn’t slow down and he didn’t try to wipe the smile off his face, either, as he gave a fist-pump to each section he passed.“I got to feel what it feels like to play in Fenway, to play in the Garden, to play in Gillette Stadium, I felt like a Boston player there,” said Bradley, whose footwear here consists of white shoes with Celtics-green laces on his right foot, Bruins-gold laces on his left, along with the Red Sox’ No. 27 of his wife’s uncle, Carlton Fisk. “That was a moment I’ll never forget the rest of my life, and I appreciate the fans giving me that, and I hope to have them cheer again tomorrow.”Everyone knows Bradley’s going to hear the love again Sunday.And even though Bradley is locked in a tight competition with an elite field on an international stage, he was able to channel his familiarity with the New England vibe, weather and sports history into a moment to cherish.“That walk up 18 was the best I’ve ever felt at a tournament, that was really cool, it’s got a British Open feel, that 18th, it really does,” said Bradley. “It was nice that I hit a good shot in there, so I could kind of walk up, and I told myself, ‘let’s try to enjoy this walk up 18 today because it’s been a hard-fought day. Let’s take this in.’ I didn’t know they were going to do that, and it just made it that much better.”“‘‘That walk up 18 was the best I’ve ever felt at a tournament, that was really cool, it’s got a British Open feel, that 18th, it really does.’’Keegan BradleyShare on TwitterShare on facebookBradley was peppered with questions after the round about his Boston sports fandom, and he delivered, citing Tom Brady as the protagonist of most of his favorite memories. He remembers “watching the first [Patriots] Super Bowl [victory] with my dad in the basement of my house in Vermont, I remember watching Vinatieri’s kick go through,” and Bradley recalled running onto the 18th green here as a kid during the Unites States’s Ryder Cup victory in 1999.And now he’s starring in his own made-in-Boston highlight reel.“As a kid, I dreamed of playing in front of Boston fans and being a Patriot or being in the Garden,” said Bradley. “Out here today felt like I was in a home game, which is something that as a kid, it’s a dream.”Bradley is thriving on his home turf.He said he has felt “this weird sense of calm over me this week” and his performance reflects that.He shot par Thursday, and went 1 under Friday and Saturday. He said during practice rounds how pleased he felt with his overall game, and his performance backs it up. Despite all the ticket requests and being surrounded by his extended family, Bradley is keeping his pulse rate low.“My wife sent me this picture as I was basically walking to the tee [Friday] of my son completely passed out sleeping on his bed, and I texted her back ‘It brings me such calm to know that he has no idea what sort of stress I’m under right now.’ ”Bradley bogeyed three of his first six holes, an inauspicious start he was able to correct.First, he birdied the par-5 eighth, then birdied No. 9.Despite a bogey on No. 10, Bradley settled in and birdied three more holes before his “victory” walk up the 18th.Before the birdie putt on No. 9, “I walked up to the green, and the crowd really went crazy for me, and then I made the putt, and they went wild, it really gave me a jolt of energy,” said Bradley. “It put me on a path to, ‘All right, we no longer are trying to save this round, let’s try to get ourselves into contention here.’ And I did that.”And his fellow Boston fans let him know he did that, too.Michael Silverman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @MikeSilvermanBB. | Golf |
Fitzpatrick, who has not won a PGA Tour event and has not finished higher than 12th at a US Open, shot an impressive 2-under-par 68 Saturday to sit at 4 under for the championship, tied with Will Zalatoris for the lead entering Sunday’s final round. Zalatoris was nearly flawless, carding four birdies and just one bogey for a 3-under 67, the low round of a punishing day at TCC.Only 12 golfers in history, and two in the last 40 years, have won both the US Amateur and US Open (Tiger Woods, Bryson DeChambeau). Only Jack Nicklaus has done it at the same course (Pebble Beach).Fitzpatrick, a 27-year-old native of Sheffield, England, clearly likes the setup at The Country Club, shooting 68-70-68 this week.He just needs one more flawless round.“I certainly think it gives me an edge over the others,” Fitzpatrick said of his 2013 Amateur championship, in a field that included Scottie Scheffler, DeChambeau, Zalatoris and Justin Thomas. “It’s a real, obviously, positive moment in my career. It kind of kick-started me. To come back here and play so well again, it kind of just gives me growing confidence round by round.”Jon Rahm, too, will be aiming for history after shooting a roller-coaster 71. Sitting one back at 3 under, Rahm can become the eighth player to repeat as US Open champion, a list that includes Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and, most recently, Brooks Koepka. Rahm, ranked No. 2 in the world, won last year’s championship at Torrey Pines for his first major.“I have 18 holes, and I’m only one shot back,” Rahm said. “I just have to do me. That’s it.”Of course, the championship is wide open entering Sunday’s final round, with seven players sitting within three shots of Zalatoris and Fitzpatrick. Rahm will play with New England native Keegan Bradley, who wowed the home crowd with a 2-under 68 and sits two shots back. Scheffler (two back), Rory McIlroy (three back) and a handful of others are well within range.If Saturday’s conditions were any indication, Sunday’s final round is going to be a wild and grueling test. With unseasonably cool temperatures, a slick course that has barely seen a drop of rain this week, and winds consistently gusting between 20-30 miles per hour, only seven of 64 golfers finished under par Saturday.While Zalatoris and Fitzpatrick handled the wind superbly, Rahm’s 1-over 71 was much more indicative of the course’s difficulty. He had four birdies, three bogeys and finished his day with a double on 18.Rahm certainly was not alone in his struggles. Collin Morikawa, who began the day as the co-leader, shot 7 over and dropped to a tie for 17th. Co-leader Joel Dahmen shot 3 over. McIlroy was 3 over, and Hayden Buckley was 5 over. Scheffler shot a 3-under 32 on the front nine, and imploded with a 4-over 39 on the back.“I said to [my caddie] Bones walking up 18, this is how a US Open should be,” said Justin Thomas, who sits tied for 25th after shooting 2 over. “We don’t do this very often, and I think it’s very, very fitting and totally acceptable to have this kind of test and this difficult setup for a US Open. The greens are getting firm. It’s windy, and it should be tough.”But while Fitzpatrick and Rahm will be chasing history, Zalatoris looks ready to spoil the party. One of golf’s fastest-rising stars, Zalatoris has been knocking on the door of majors the past three years.Zalatoris finished tied for sixth at the 2020 US Open. Second at the 2021 Masters. Eighth at the 2021 PGA. Sixth at the 2022 Masters. Second at last month’s PGA, losing to Justin Thomas in a playoff.Zalatoris has not won a PGA Tour event, but the 2021 Rookie of the Year has six top-10 finishes this season. He hasn’t carded anything worse than a bogey all week at TCC.Just three years ago, Zalatoris couldn’t even get status on the Korn Ferry Tour. He failed to make it through the minor league tour’s quaifying school in 2019, and had to rely on sponsor’s exemptions just to play in a handful of events.Now he’s tied for the US Open lead after three rounds, in prime position to win his first major.“Especially coming off the PGA, it gave me a lot of belief and confidence that I belong in this situation,” he said. “There’s a difference in thinking it, and then actually being in the situation and believing it. So I think that’s probably the biggest change.”While Fitzpatrick has the history of 2013 on his side, Zalatoris might have the history of 1988 on his. The winner of the 1988 US Open, the last one played at TCC, was Curtis Strange, who played collegiately at Wake Forest. Zalatoris, too, was a Demon Deacon, winning 2017 ACC Player of the Year before turning pro in 2018.Fitzpatrick and Zalatoris have a few commonalities. Zalatoris is ranked 14th in the world, Fitzpatrick 18th. They are also the only golfers ranked in the top 20 never to have won a PGA Tour event.They are surrounded on the leaderboard by major champions — Rahm, Bradley, Scheffler, McIlroy, and Gary Woodland all within reach.And they know Sunday at The Country Club can be a punishing day of golf.“Literally when people ask me what’s the toughest golf course you’ve ever played, I’ve said, ‘The Country Club,’ since 2013,” Zalatoris said. “This place is a beast. It’s just so easy to compound mistakes out here. By no means is the job done. Not even close.”Ben Volin can be reached at [email protected]. | Golf |
Elijah Winnington has powered to his first global gold while the all-conquering 4x100m relay women won again to give Australia the perfect flying start to the world swimming championships.Winnington earned redemption after his Olympic disappointment, speeding to an emphatic victory in the 400m freestyle, the first final of the entire week-long programme in Budapest, on Saturday.Inspired by his lead, sprint freestylers Mollie O’Callaghan, Madi Wilson, Meg Harris and Shayna Jack maintained Australia’s recent dominance in the event, winning the last race of the day with the fifth fastest time in history, 3 minutes 30.95 seconds.A superb launchpad for the Dolphins also saw Kyle Chalmers deliver an anchor leg masterpiece in the men’s 4x100m, enabling his teammates William Yang, Matthew Temple and Jack Cartwright to celebrate the most unlikely silver behind a dominant US quartet.The 22-year-old Gold Coast freestyler Winnington kicked it all off after the opening ceremony, swimming the race of his life and even flirting with the world record for much of his 400m final.He eventually settled for a new lifetime best of 3:41.22 as he demolished the field at the Duna Arena in the Hungarian capital by over one-and-a-half seconds and became the fifth fastest ever at the distance.Ian Thorpe is the only Australian to have gone quicker than his mark, the fastest in the world this year.“It’s incredible. I was really relaxed, I’m just trying to enjoy this experience and that definitely helps,” the ecstatic Winnington said. “In the call room, I’ve heard the noise, the MC’s voice and it was a total boost for me. I haven’t had this feeling for a long time.”Last year Winnington, who has suffered from nerves before, was left crestfallen after going into the Olympics with high hopes but finishing only seventh in the final. But this time, he set off operating inside German world record holder Paul Biedermann’s mark of 3:40.07 set 13 years ago, admitting that he hadn’t realised.2016 Olympic champ Mack Horton had just missed out on making the final from the morning prelims but Winnington took it to No 1-ranked German Lukas Martens (3:42.85) from the start.Winnington led through the first half of the race before Martens controlled the next two lengths, which only prompted a blistering finish from the Aussie who powered down the final stretch in just 26.5 seconds while the German faded badly.Even without three of the quartet who blitzed the world record en route to Olympic gold in Tokyo, the 4x100 women were way too good for the rest with O’Callaghan (52.70sec), Wilson (52.60), Harris (53.00) and Jack finishing with 52.65 on her global return after a two-year doping ban.In the equivalent men’s event, Chalmers, the Rio Olympic champion, recorded the seventh fastest 100m relay leg ever as he picked up over a second on the last leg to edge out Italian Lorenzo Zazzeri and snatch the silver by just 0.15sec.In the women’s 400, Australian Lani Pallister just missed out on a medal in fourth, just 0.08sec outside the medals, as Katie Ledecky reclaimed her crown but failed to grab back her world record off Ariarne Titmus.In the absence of Australian Titmus, who pipped the great freestyler to the title in 2019 and took her world record in 3:56.40 last month, the American legend clocked 3:58.15 for her fourth world 400m free title.Wollongong’s Brendon Smith was fifth in the 400m IM (4:11.36) which was won by the brilliant French allrounder Leon Marchand, who threatened Michael Phelps’ venerable world record of 4:03.84 before settling for the second fastest ever (4:04.28). | Swimming |
BROOKLINE — Serenity is typically welcome on a golf course, unless you’re planning for chaos.“The wind died? Come on,” Jon Rahm roared, incredulous, after sailing his approach on No. 13 well past the hole. “What a freaking day.”On that particular shot, Rahm was anticipating the ripping gales that enveloped The Country Club on Saturday, and was instead handed a gentle breeze. That was a rare gift. Like the rest of the field during the third round of the US Open, Rahm’s offerings were mostly blown around the course.According to the USGA, the average wind speed was around 16 miles per hour, with the average gust clocking 22 mph and a max gust of 31 mph. The galleries were on high alert. The trees picked up a few extra dents.It added up to a day where red figures were hard to come by. Entering Sunday’s final round, when conditions are expected to be chillier — temperatures in the 50s — and less windy, Will Zalatoris and Matthew Fitzpatrick were leading the field at 4-under. Let other tournaments hand out birdies like door prizes. This weekend is all about the struggle.“Today was a prime example of a US Open Saturday,” Fitzpatrick said.Comfort is never a constant during major tournaments, and few are at home in Brookline. This course is where a 9-over score won the 1963 US Open. The winner, Julius Boros, lifted the Wanamaker Trophy after Jacky Cupit’s double bogey on 17 forced a three-man playoff with Arnold Palmer.On an idyllic day, The Country Club’s craterous bunkers and ridiculous roughs would have been tough enough. Zalatoris (4-under 67), said he didn’t even try aiming at flagsticks, given how little room the greens provided.“This place is a beast,” Zalatoris said. “When I played during the Am in 2013 I said this was the hardest golf course that I had ever played. It’s just so easy to compound mistakes out here — which, of course, you can do that in major championships in general, but especially this one.”Rahm was tied for second on No. 8, when he found himself nestled behind a tree. He addressed his ball in fits and starts, pressing his body against the trunk as he tried to set up a shot. He finally turned his back to the hole, measured a one-armed, backhand stab, and whacked it 22 yards out of trouble.No. 8, a 576-yard par 5, was where Dustin Johnson had an adventure of his own.On the dogleg left, Johnson went way left. He and his caddie, his brother Austin Johnson, moved the gallery as they sized up a wall of trees 50 feet high. Johnson wasn’t getting over it, so they parted the seas once more. He smacked his ball to the neighboring fairway on 9.Johnson, who finished with a 2-over 71, got it back on track. He strolled off the eighth green with a smile after picking up a birdie, and flipped his ball to the crowd.On No. 5, Joaquin Niemann had two shots in the deep woods, both up a hill, and three-putted on the green for a triple-bogey.Scottie Scheffler, who led by 3 after a 102-yard eagle on No. 8, dropped to three shots back by No. 15. In that stretch, he double-bogeyed 11, then bogeyed the next two.His playing partner, Matthew NeSmith, got his taste of the hardscape on No. 10. He bounced his drive over a patch of granite, which forced him to clamber up the craggy rocks, slippery grass underneath his spikes, and take a split-legged stance before hammering his second shot over a creek.As Justin Thomas was closing his round, he turned to his caddie, Jim Mackay.“I said to Bones walking up 18, ‘This is how a US Open should be,’” Thomas said. “It’s very difficult. Par is a great score on a lot of holes. Bogeys aren’t going to kill you.“We don’t do this very often, and I think it’s very, very fitting and totally acceptable to have this kind of test and this difficult setup for a US Open, and it’s strictly because of conditions.”How did he feel about his standing?“Not great,” Thomas said. “I would feel better if I was five or six shots better.”It has been a dry spring, with nary a drop of rain the week of the tournament. The course was playing fast, making wind-swept shots even tougher to control.Local favorite Keegan Bradley, of Hopkinton High, was ready for Sunday.“New England weather,” he said. “We love it. It’s perfect.”Matt Porter can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyports. | Golf |
BROOKLINE, Mass. — There’s a fine line between reality and one’s own perceived position. That’s especially true in golf, where one bad hole can sink an entire round’s worth of solid play, and a few good shots can turn around an otherwise unremarkable day. Just let Will Zalatoris explain the feeling. “When we’re playing poorly, we think we’re playing worse,” he said Saturday. “When we’re playing well, we think we’re Tiger.”But every now and then, something — something rooted in evidence — happens that transcends those thoughts of self doubt. Zalatoris got that at last month’s PGA Championship, where he led the tournament in the final round and pulled himself into a playoff with eventual winner Justin Thomas. So even though he’d finished within the top 10 at four previous major championships, it was then, the Dallas resident said, that he realized he belonged in that position. Leading a major. Battling with, and even out-playing, the best-of-the-best on the PGA Tour. Through three rounds at the U.S. Open, Zalatoris is where he believes he belongs. Zalatoris shot a 3-under 67 on Saturday — the lowest round of any golfer — to climb from 16th place to a tie for first at The Country Club. He’ll tee off on Sunday at 4-under par alongside Matt Fitzpatrick, who, like Zalatoris, has yet to win on the PGA Tour. Reigning U.S. Open winner Jon Rahm sits one shot back at -3, while three others — including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler — are tied for fourth at -2. Will Zalatoris hits on the 18th hole during the third round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club, Saturday, June 18, 2022, in Brookline, Mass. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)(Charlie Riedel / ASSOCIATED PRESS)Zalatoris was one of seven golfers who shot under par in the third round, as wind speeds reached upward of 20 miles per hour and temperatures dropped into the low 60′s. That, coupled with the usual ferocity of the 140-year-old course, reduced even the world’s best to over-par rounds and double bogeys. And even though Zalatoris took the conditions’ best punch (”That was brutal,” he said to open his post-round press conference), the 25-year-old bested them better than any. He made four birdies to just one bogey, finished seventh in strokes gained off the tee, hit the fifth-most greens in regulation and led the field in strokes gained putting. That last figure may be most impressive for someone who’s been, at times, limited on the green. He ranks 160th on Tour in strokes gained putting this season, but at the PGA Championship he ranked 10th, and through three rounds at the U.S. Open he ranks fourth. Of his four birdies Saturday, three came on putts which measured in at 15 feet or longer. “I think speed has always been the best part of my putting, and I keep giving myself as many 25-to-35-footers that I can out here, and I think it just makes the round a little bit more stress-free,” Zalatoris said. “By no means is it stress-free. I should say less stressful. Just keep getting the ball just around the hole.”Zalatoris, the world’s 14th-ranked golfer, will need to hold off Rahm on Sunday to win his first major. Three other former major champions — Scottie Scheffler (-2), Keegan Bradley (-2) and Rory McIlroy (-1) — are within striking distance as well. Fitzpatrick is not a major-winner yet, though he did win the U.S. Amateur in 2013 at The Country Club. The competition is stiff, star-studded and loaded with golfers who know how to win on Sunday. Zalatoris has yet to ever do the latter. No matter, he’ll say. He’s supposed to be here. “I belong in this situation,” he said. ***Related:As Will Zalatoris finds continued major success, Scottie Scheffler credits his confidenceRelated:With patient approach, Scottie Scheffler charges up U.S. Open leaderboard in second roundFind more golf coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.Shawn McFarland, SportsDay HS reporter. Shawn covers preps for SportsDay HS. He joined The Dallas Morning News after covering UConn basketball, football and high school sports for The Hartford Courant. A Boston area native, Shawn graduated from Springfield College in 2018 and previously worked for The Boston Globe and Baseball America. [email protected] McFarland_Shawn | Golf |
Jun 18, 2022; Brookline, Massachusetts, USA; Jon Rahm plays his shot from the 16th tee during the third round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY SportsRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryFitzpatrick and Zalatoris co-leaders after third roundRahm cards closing double-bogey to drop out of leadScheffler and McIlroy within two shots of leadersBROOKLINE, Mass., June 18 (Reuters) - Defending champion Jon Rahm squandered a chance to take the lead into the final round of the U.S. Open after a closing double-bogey left him one shot back of co-leaders Matt Fitzpatrick and Will Zalatoris on Saturday.Rahm arrived at the par-four 18th one shot clear but needed two shots to get out of a fairway bunker after the first attempt hit the face of the trap en route to a one-over-par 71 that left him at three under on the week at The Country Club.Rahm, looking to become only the eighth player to win back-to-back U.S. Open titles, appeared in total control late in the round with three birdies over a four-hole stretch starting at the par-five 14th to seize control.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBut the Spaniard handed over the lead on the closing hole as he did not properly judge his lie in the sand as it started to get dark and tried to be more aggressive than he needed to be."Maybe I was trying to get too cute, making sure -- looking for another birdie, where I could have just hit a nine-iron and hope it gets over the bunker and see what happens," said Rahm."It is what it is. I think I got a little bit too cute with the shot.Fitzpatrick, one of few players in the field with any prior success at Brookline having won the 2013 U.S. Amateur at the venue, made three late birdies over a sizzling four-hole stretch before closing his two-under-par 68 round with a bogey.Zalatoris, who finished runner-up at last month's PGA Championship, carded just one bogey on what was a challenging scoring day when only seven of the 64 players who made the cut at the year's third major managed to break par."I didn't have a plan of firing at pins or being aggressive. I knew it was going to play hard and just needed to stay patient," said Zalatoris."I knew if I make an early bogey or two, don't change the game plan, don't try to get extra aggressive because that's how you make a mess of it."Masters champion and world number one Scottie Scheffler (71), was among a pack of three sitting two shots off the pace while pre-tournament favourite Rory McIlroy (73) was in a group sitting a further shot adrift.Scheffler started to pull away from the pack when he holed out from 101 yards for eagle at the par-five eighth for a two-shot lead but struggled early on the back nine to drop back down the leaderboard.At the par-three 11th, Scheffler's ball bounced hard and high into the second cut of rough, leading to a double-bogey which he followed with three consecutive bogeys.But Scheffler made a late birdie that will put him right in the mix on Sunday when he tries to become the first player to win multiple majors in a year since Brooks Koepka accomplished the feat in 2018."The golf course is just hard. The conditions are hard. The scores are high," said Scheffler. "All I was going to do is just try and hang in there. That was my only goal. Just kind of hang and keep myself in position."World number three McIlroy looked set to drop out of contention after three early bogeys but was solid on the greens on the back nine for his efforts is one of three majors champions within three shots of the lead."It was one of the toughest days on a golf course I've had in a long time. I just needed to grind it out, and I did on the back nine," said McIlroy."You know, to play that back nine at even par today was a really good effort, I thought. Just kept myself in the tournament. That's all I was trying to do. Just keep hanging around."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Frank Pingue; Editing by Ken Ferris, Pritha Sarkar, Grant McCool and Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Golf |
Caroline Flack reportedly stepped down from her Love Island presenting role in December 2019 before she took her own life less than two months later at the age of 40Christine Flack believes more should be done to protect the mental health of TV presentersCaroline Flack's mum Christine believes more should be done to protect the mental health of TV presenters following her tragic death in 2020. Family and friends of Caroline have worked together to put on a star-studded festival in honour of the former Love Island host, Flackstock, in order to raise valuable funds for mental health charities. Caroline took her own life on February 15th, 2020, at the age of 40. Her passing came two months after her arrest following an incident involving her boyfriend, Lewis Burton. She had later discovered that prosecutors were to press ahead with an assault charge. Caroline Flack was the host of Love Island from 2015 to 2019 (
Image:
ITV/REX) Caroline reportedly stepped down from her Love Island role in December 2019 and her mother thinks ITV should have done more to help her daughter. Speaking to The Sun, she said: "The duty of care with presenters needs to be better. If you work in an office you’re safe-guarded, but on TV you’re not — you’re exposed." She added: "Love Island thrived on arguments and they probably still do, I haven’t watched it since. Caroline with her mum Christine (
Image:
Instagram) "But when it came to Caroline, they sacked her because of her love life. It was totally wrong. "I watched it because Carrie was on it and I loved it because she absolutely loved it. She loved the crew and the contestants. It was ironic when her love life was in trouble." Christine also revealed that Caroline was diagnosed with bipolar just weeks before her death. She said: "I think Carrie didn’t say anything about her mental health publicly because she didn’t want anyone to know. Caroline as a child with her mum (
Image:
Flack Family) "That was part of the condition. You’d have massive highs, but then when you’re low it’s bad. I hope people who are suffering realise that of course it is OK to feel like that." The idea for Flackstock came from close friend and fellow TV presenter Natalie Pinkham, who dreamt of the idea before ringing Christine for her thoughts. With the help of other celebrity friends such as Dawn O'Porter and Leigh Francis among others, Flackstock came to fruition and will see performances from the likes of Tom Grennan, Natalie Imbruglia and Pixie Lott and appearances from Dermot O'Leary, Joel Dommett and Paddy McGuinness. Christine insists talking about Caroline is not a 'taboo subject' (
Image:
ITV Grab) The festival will be held at Englefield House near Reading on Monday July 25, supporting mental charities; the Charlie Waller Trust, Choose Love, Mind and the Samaritans. Friends of Caroline have expressed their pride over taking part in the event and raising awareness of mental health treatments. Natalie Imbruglia, who is set to perform, told the Sunday Mirror: “Caroline’s life was music, dance and comedy on repeat. That is all she lived for. The lockdown happened straight after she died. We had a funeral but we didn’t have a proper memorial. "Her death has been hard to process and we had to do it on our own. It’s a coming together of all her friends and family. I still find it difficult to talk about her in the past tense.” Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at [email protected] or call us direct 0207 29 33033. Read More Read More | Celebrity |
Nothing Compares 2 U singer Sinead O'Connor had been due to perform at a number of Ireland-based gigs, including Live at The Marquee, Cork on Sunday (June 19)Video LoadingVideo UnavailableSinead O’Connor’s heartache as her son Shane dies aged 17Sinead O'Connor has cancelled all her upcoming concerts in 2022 "for her own health and well being" following the death of her son earlier this year. Shane, 17, was found dead after he went missing from the hospital while he was under suicide watch in January. The Nothing Compares 2 U singer had been due to perform at a number of Ireland-based gigs, including Live at The Marquee, Cork on Sunday. She was also due to take to the stage Galway International Arts Festival and Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens next month but will now take time off until at least 2023. A statement on O'Connor's official website read: "We would like to respectfully announce that due to the ongoing bereavement process, Sinead has been advised it would be healthier for her to take the remainder of this year off and we hope to reschedule shows for 2023 when she is feeling stronger. "This has not been an easy decision for Sinead but, having been advised, a decision she has had to make for her own health and wellbeing at this time. "We would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to Sinead's worldwide agency ICM who have handled this with the utmost respect and dignity and have worked tirelessly. "We would also extend our gratitude for the continuing support and understanding of local and international promoters. "Thank you also to Sinead's friends and fans whose support and understanding we hold in the highest esteem throughout this period. "The love being shown has been a source of great comfort and peace for Sinead." Shane - the son of Sinead and musician Donal Lunny, 74 - had been missing for two days in January with police launching a missing person appeal to help find him. He was last seen in Tallaght, South Dublin on Friday, January 7 with the appeal being renewed on the same day. Sinead was due to perform at Live At The Marquee in Cork on Sunday (
Image:
Getty Images) However, police confirmed the following day that the search for the 17-year-old was called off. "Following the recovery of a body in the Bray area of Wicklow on Friday, 7th January 2022, a Missing Person Appeal in respect of Shane O'Connor, 17 years, has been stood down," a spokesperson said. In February, Sinead vowed to never perform again because there is "nothing to sing about". She wrote on Twitter : "Just to say, suggestions there’ll be any performances this year or next year or ever again are erroneous. There will never be anything to sing about again." Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at [email protected] or call us direct 0207 29 33033. Read More Read More | Music |
Sox successfully parachuted back down to earth, landing in the Lincolnshire town of Spalding after a successful trip to 'infinity and beyond'Buzz Lightyear's robot companion cat Sox, set to be an audience favourite, has been sent beyond the Earths atmosphere into spaceA stuffed toy from the new Lightyear movie has been launched into space from the Peak District. The toy version of Buzz Lightyear's robot cat, Sox, travelled beyond the Earth's atmosphere before returning to land in Lincolnshire. The stunt was undertaken by Showcase Cinemas to celebrate the release of Disney and Pixar's new "Lightyear" movie, reported the Manchester Evening News. Sox was transported into space using what appeared to be a type of propelled balloon, travelling up to 250mph as he broke through the Earth's atmosphere. Incredible images showed the toy floating around 130,000 feet above the Earth in crisp 4k definition. Following the flight, Sox successfully parachuted back down to earth, landing in the Lincolnshire town of Spalding. Buzz Lightyear's robot sidekick Sox travels to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere The Toy Story spin-off movie "Lightyear" was released on June 17 and features a star-studded voice cast including Chris Evans as Buzz Lightyear, James Brolin as Emperor Zurg and Bill Hader as Featheringhamstan. Animator and voice artist Peter Sohn plays Sox, while British astronaut Tim Peake also makes an appearance as himself. Disney and Pixar's 'Lightyear' movie was released on June 17, 2022 Get the news you want straight to your inbox. Sign up for a Mirror newsletter here Mark Barlow, UK General Manager of Showcase Cinemas, said: “The new Lightyear film promises to be a favourite this year, following the iconic character that has become much-loved by families across the world. “To celebrate this, we wanted to do something ‘out of this world’, so what better way than sending the toy version of Sox to infinity and beyond? We can’t wait to welcome visitors to our cinemas to see one of our favourite animated characters of all time back on the big screen, in his very own origin story”. The spacefaring Sox toy is now available to be won by members of the public - details of how to enter can be found on the Showcase Cinemas UK Facebook page. Read More Read More | Movies |
The former husband and wife were both sat courtside on Friday to watch their daughter North West play - with eyewitnesses impressed by their calm appearance following months of online clashingVideo LoadingVideo UnavailableKim Kardashian opens up about her divorce with Kanye WestKim Kardashian and Kanye West have reunited for the benefit of their eldest daughter to watch her playing a basketball game – while keeping their current relationships off the court. The 41-year-old reality star and the 45-year-old rap sensation were married from 2007 until 2021 and have four children together – with nine-year-old daughter North the eldest of the group. The collapse of their marriage was explosive as Kanye struggled to let his wife go and he repeated lashed out at her and her new boyfriend Pete Davidson, 28, online. But the proud parents put on a brave face as they sat close to each other the watch North dribbling and shooting hoops on Friday. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West reunited to watch their daughter play basketball last week (
Image:
Getty Images North America) TMZ have shared snaps of the duo looking civil as they sat near each other. The outlet reports: “[Kim and Kanye were snapped] looking on as North does her thing with her team. They weren't even that far apart – just a row back from one another, in very close proximity. “Eyewitnesses tell us they did speak from time to time throughout the evening, and appeared to be cordial. Kim has been dating Pete Davidson since the beginning of the year (
Image:
Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue) “Neither parent made a big scene by cheering or much of anything else ... we're told they looked like they were just trying to lay low and just watch North together.” It’s not the first time Kim and Kanye have put on a brave face for the benefit of their kids. Back in March the duo joined forces to watch their son Saint, six, playing football where onlookers noted that Kim and Kanye were ‘peacefully co-parenting’. Noticeably absent from both sporting events was Kim’s current squeeze, Pete – as the two have been largely inseparable since going public with their romance at the start of the year. It is believed the duo began dating last October, weeks after Kim was a guest on Saturday Night Live where Pete is a comedian. Kanye is said to have been left heartbroken over the fact his younger love rival has been bonding with his kids – which includes three-year-old son Psalm and four-year-old daughter Chicago. A source told Hollywood Life earlier this month: "For Pete and the kids to get so close, so fast, is deeply unsettling for Kanye. It's really difficult seeing photos of them together everywhere he goes, and he just wishes things were different." Kim and Kanye share four children together; North West, Chicago, and sons Saint, and Psalm (
Image:
Instagram) However, Kanye has also quietened down since he publicly lashed out at Pete for weeks on end earlier this year - including ‘killing and burying him’ in a dark music video. Kanye's social media attacks on Pete saw Kim unfollow her ex back in February this year, and even publicly appealed for the Donda rapper to calm down with his antics. Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at [email protected] or call us direct at 0207 29 33033. Read More Read More | Celebrity |
The Red Sox nimbly dodged trouble with starting pitchers Nate Eovaldi and Garrett Whitlock on the injured list, getting well-pitched games by Triple A call-ups Kutter Crawford and Josh Winckowski to keep their momentum flowing in the right direction.But beating the weak-hitting lineups fielded by the Athletics and Mariners is not the same as facing the St. Louis Cardinals.Crawford was hit hard and it was even worse for the bullpen on Saturday night as the Cardinals beat the Red Sox, 11-2.St. Louis had 14 hits off five pitchers, three of them home runs. The Sox managed only five hits, all singles.Most of the fans remaining at Fenway Park for the final two innings were rooting for the visitors.Their only disappointment came in the eighth inning when Albert Pujols pinch hit and struck out after fouling off six two-strike pitches.No matter. Pujols received the same supportive standing ovation walking back to the dugout as he did walking to the plate.Get 108 StitchesAn email newsletter about everything baseball from the Globe's Red Sox reporters, in your inbox on weekdays during the season.The Sox can still take the three-game series with a victory on Sunday. They’ll have one of their best starters, Nick Pivetta, facing righthander Andre Pallante.Pivetta is 6-1 with a 1.83 earned run average in his last eight starts.The Sox have won 12 of their last 16 games but now trail the Yankees by a season-high 14½ games in the division. New York has won nine in a row. Crawford made a strong start at Seattle on Sunday, working five shutout innings in a 2-0 victory. But the Cardinals are not the Mariners.Crawford got two quick outs in the first inning before Paul Goldschmidt singled to left field. Nolan Arenado worked the count full and crushed a cutter from Crawford into the Monster Seats for his second homer in as many nights.The pitch was flat and Arenado sent it sizzling over the wall.The Cardinals took a 3-0 lead in the second inning on a double into the right field corner by Dylan Carson that scored Tyler O’Neill from first.Xander Bogaerts led off the bottom of the inning with a single off Dakota Hudson. Franchy Cordero walked with one out before Bobby Dalbec singled sharply to center to drive in a run.With Cordero at third, Jackie Bradley Jr. grounded into a double play to end the inning.Nolan Gorman led off the fourth inning with a 440-foot home run to center. Crawford (1-2) left the changeup floating at the top of the strike zone and Gorman let his power do the rest.With a runner on first and two outs in the fourth, Hudson walked Dalbec, Cordero and Bradley on 16 pitches to force in a run. He threw nine balls in a row at one point.With a chance to make it hurt even more, Jarren Duran grounded to third. Arenado, a nine-time Gold Glove winner, had to pause to avoid hitting Bradley but still had the arm strength to get the speedy Duran by half a step.The Cardinals wrapped the game up with six runs in the sixth inning as they sent 12 batters to the plate against Hansel Robles and Hirokazu Sawamura.Tyler O’Neill started it with a home run to center. Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmidt each had two-run singles. By the end of the inning, many of the Sox fans in the crowd of 36,141 were fleeing for the exits on an unseasonably chilly night.Hudson (5-3) wasn’t particularly sharp but was the winner. He allowed two runs on four hits and five walks over five innings.Peter Abraham can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe. | Baseball |
For Red Sox players and staff members, Father’s Day in 2022 is already assured of being a special one — just as this season will be cherished for reasons that go beyond anything that occurs on the field.The perks of being a big leaguer are considerable. But for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, one of the most meaningful joys of life in the game proved impossible.With field and clubhouse access restricted in deference to COVID-19 protocols, players and coaches could not bring their kids to the field or into the clubhouse. In 2020, while teams played in empty ballparks, the closest players came to their kids at the field was in the form of cardboard cutouts. In 2021, family members returned to the ballpark but only in the stands, permitting waves but not the chance to enjoy the uniqueness of an inside view of the game.This year, for the first time since 2019, those doors have been reopened, allowing uniform personnel to again share the inner workings of their profession. The restored ability to do so has been met with delight and appreciation by members of the Red Sox.Get 108 StitchesAn email newsletter about everything baseball from the Globe's Red Sox reporters, in your inbox on weekdays during the season.“Obviously being able to get through this period of COVID and now coming back, it’s been great,” said Sox starter Rich Hill, who signed in Boston in part to be able to share such experiences with his 10-year-old son, Brice. “Guys have been able to bring their kids into the office and have them go out [on the field] for batting practice. It’s been a very inviting work environment.“It makes it that much better for us as players to feel comfortable in this area that we work in, where we can bring our families and especially, our sons that can come [into the clubhouse] and see this environment and be a part of it. I know it’s special to [Brice]. As short-lived as this is and as short-lived as a career is, to be able to have him be part of it and see the inner workings in the clubhouse is really unique and fortunate . . . And to be able to have these moments, share them, it’s memories for a lifetime.”The baseball schedule tends to separate team members from their families for months at a time. During the season, many families only reunite once the school year ends in the summer — and sometimes only briefly, given the swirl of summer camps and travel ball teams. Even when baseball players’ families are together for the summer, their time is whittled by teams’ frequent travel to play on the road.The chance for fathers to spend time on the field with their family members serves as something of an offset to the missed time — a very special sort of “take your kid to work” setting. On Saturday afternoon, Sox third base coach Carlos Febles played catch with his 16-year-old son, Carlos Febles Jr., on the infield prior to running Red Sox infielders through their pregame work, for the first time in three years.“It means a lot. It’s been two tough years — not just for me, but for [his family] as well, not being able to be together during the season, during the summer,” said Febles. “Just having the opportunity to have him back, hanging out with him on the field, playing catch, just being friends, this is huge. This is an opportunity not many kids get.”Ryan Brasier brought his 11-year-old son, Kolten, into the home clubhouse at the start of the season. Then, when the Sox went to Texas to play the Rangers, Brasier had the chance to hit balls to his son on the field and let him shag during batting practice.“He was pretty jacked up about,” said Brasier. “He loves coming in here, B.S.-ing with the guys, giving guys knuckles after a win. I enjoy it ever more so because he loves coming in here.”Catcher Kevin Plawecki was able to bring his son, Kasen, into the dugout prior to Friday’s game. The 3 ½-year-old was treated like a returning family member by other members of the Red Sox, affording both father and son a joy that will transcend Plawecki’s career.“It’s everything,” said Plawecki. “To share it with your kids and with your family, it’s extremely special. The last couple of years, it’s kind of been taken away from us — the access that the families have had, that kids have had with being able to come into the locker room, come early, play catch, be with their dads. It’s cool stuff. It’s been nice to get back to some normalcy in that.“Thankfully, [Kasen is] older now and knows what dad is doing. It doesn’t make it any easier when we have to go on the road. But at least you know we’re able to share those moments together like we had the other day.”After Sunday’s game, Red Sox players and staff members will assemble on the field at Fenway to enjoy a picnic gathering with their families in celebration of Father’s Day. Such get-togethers have always been understood to be special, but this year, the .“Hopefully it’s gonna be something that they remember for years to come. I know I will,” said Jackie Bradley Jr., who is spending time this weekend with his wife, Erin, three children, as well as his father and father-in-law. “I know I will. At this stage in my life, with my wife and kids, I didn’t have all of that when I was first coming up. It just kind of just shows you how much life has has changed and you’ve grown. Not only how I’ve matured, but my family as well. So“It’s going to be pretty special. Each Father’s Day is. I don’t take that for granted.”Alex Speier can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @alexspeier. | Baseball |
Kirsty Graham said her late grandmother Helen Gauntlett 'is watching from heaven but left these to throw' at legendary Welsh singer Tom Jones, during a live show in CardiffKirsty Graham, the granddaughter of a late Tom Jones superfan Helen Gauntlett, brought her knickers to Saturday's concertThe granddaughter of a late Tom Jones superfan brought a pair of her beloved gran's knickers to thrown on stage during his gig this weekend. Kirsty Graham was looking to commemorate her grandmother Helen Gauntlett, who died in February at the age of 75, in unique style by chucking the pants towards the stage before the Welsh singer began his set on Saturday night in Cardiff. She also wrote a message on the underwear, which reads: “These are my nan's (clean) knickers. She is watching from heaven but left these to throw at Tom. Get them to him please." In a post on Facebook, 34-year-old from Caerphilly asked everyone in front of her to "pass them as far down the front as possible”. She added: "I know if she was here, she would be swinging her knickers for Tom ... she loved him." Kirsty Graham was extremely close with her grandmother Helen Gauntlett, who died with cancer in February at the age of 75 Kirsty as a child with her gran (
Image:
MEDIA WALES) Kirsty described her grandmother as "the best woman who ever lived" and said they had an inseparable bond. She told WalesOnline that Helen, who had 10 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren, never got to see Tom Jones perform live, but she was a huge fan who enjoyed singing his songs. Her favourites were Delilah and You Are My World. Her late grandmother was also “adamant” she kissed the world-famous musician in a phone box when she was a teenager, even though many did not believe her. “My nan was a massive fan of Tom, she passed away sadly in February 2021 and it shattered my whole world," said Kirsty. Kirsty was looking for help in getting the knickers to Tom (
Image:
MEDIA WALES) "She had just turned 75 when she died. She was the bravest lady ever. "She had lung cancer and she didn't even moan, she took it all in her stride and she passed away in my arms. “She loved a rollie and loved watching the soaps, she was just so funny and cheeky. She was the best woman who ever lived and I miss her so, so much." Kirsty said throwing a pair of her pants towards Tom Jones is exactly what Helen would have wanted. Kirsty even believes that her nanny gave a sign to show her approval at the plan. Kirsty Graham said that if her grandmother Helen Gauntlett was at the gig, she would be 'shaking her hips and swinging her knickers and she'd want to throw them at Tom' The knickers Kirsty aimed to throw She said: "I took all her clothes when she passed and kept them. When we booked Tom back in December when it was cancelled, I went to her grave and told her all about it. "I just know that if she was here with us she'd be there, shaking her hips and swinging her knickers and she'd want to throw them at Tom, so that's my aim today. We had his song Green Green Grass of Home played at her funeral and then when I was writing on her knickers, it came on the radio." Kirsty was attending the show on Saturday night, at the Principality Stadium along with her fiancé and cousins. The Stereophonics were set to headline the show along with Tom and other Welsh performers. Helen held Kirsty when she was a baby (
Image:
MEDIA WALES) "I'm not even bothered about the Stereophonics, we're just going down to see Tom for my nan," Kirsty said. "I'm up in the top block As soon as Tom comes on, I'm going to throw them as far as I can and hope that people keep throwing them and that they get to Tom - or at least Tom gets to hear about it." Kirsty said she wants to assure Tom Jones she has picked her nanny's best pants to throw his way. She said: "Out of all the knickers she had I had to make sure I picked her best Marks & Spencer ones, otherwise she'd be smacking my bum. She was quite particular about her knickers." Read More Read More | Music |
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — John Michael Bertrand and two relievers held Texas’ potent offense in check and Notre Dame scored in all kinds of ways in a 7-3 victory Friday night in its first College World Series game in 20 years.The Irish (41-15) carried over their momentum from eliminating No. 1 national seed Tennessee in the super regionals with a strong all-around performance against the program making its record 38th appearance in Omaha.“It was fun for you and the fans and the country that watched our team because I feel like when we’re playing well, that’s what we do,” Irish coach Link Jarrett said. “I’m very proud of them to come into this atmosphere and perform for the first time that well-rounded of a game against clearly a phenomenal program.”Notre Dame will play Oklahoma on Sunday. The Longhorns (47-21) will face rival Texas A&M in an elimination game.“It just wasn’t our day,” Texas coach David Pierce said. “We couldn’t get that flow going and we just couldn’t get their traffic off the bases all day. We were constantly under stress defensively and pitching.”Bertrand (10-3), roughed up in his start against Tennessee last week, limited the Longhorns to three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. Alex Rao and Jack Findlay gave up no hits in 3 1/3 innings, with Findlay earning his fourth save.The Irish scored six runs on nine hits against Texas starter Pete Hansen (11-3). They picked up single runs on Jared Miller’s home run in the first inning, an RBI groundout in the third and a safety squeeze in the fourth, and they scored three more in the fifth on Tristan Stevens’ balk and a couple singles.Carter Putz’s homer in the ninth gave the Irish a four-run lead.“When you come out of the corners in a boxing match and you can land the first blow, it’s a really good feeling,” Jarrett said. “It gives you the momentum and the mojo, and when you’re coaching the game with the lead, you have some options ... and the playbook opens up a little bit more.”The Longhorns arrived in Omaha with a program-record 128 homers, most among the CWS teams and fourth nationally, and had hit three or more in each of its previous four games.They mustered only six singles against the Irish and were the only team in the first two CWS games to not hit a homer.Douglas Hodo II had an RBI single, and the Longhorns scored on a squeeze play and wild pitch.It was the first game this season that Texas didn’t have an extra-base hit.Last year, the Longhorns lost their CWS opener and then won three straight to reach their bracket final, where they lost to eventual national champion Mississippi State.“We’ve been in this situation before,” Stevens said. “We can’t look three games ahead, two games ahead. Our next target is A&M.”WORTH THE SQUEEZETexas and Notre Dame traded runs on safety squeeze plays.The Longhorns’ Dylan Campbell came home on Eric Kennedy’s bunt in the third. Bertrand picked it up and threw to second for the force rather than try to get Campbell at the plate.In the fourth, Hansen flipped to catcher Silas Ardoin after fielding Spencer Myer’s bunt, but the Irish’s Jack Brannigan was able to touch the plate with his hand just ahead of Ardoin’s sweep tag. Brannigan was called out initially but ruled safe after a video review.OLD HOME WEEKPaul Mainieri, who coached Notre Dame in its previous CWS appearance in 2002, watched from a stadium suite with Brian O’Connor, who was the team’s pitching coach.Mainieri went on to coach at LSU from 2007 until he retired last year. O’Connor left to become head coach at Virginia in 2003 and has been there since.OMAHA, OMAHATwo-time Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning watched the game from the stands. Fittingly, the retired quarterback wore a hat bearing his signature line at the line of scrimmage: “OMAHA!”Related:Sooners get on roll early, beat Aggies 13-8 in CWS opener Find more Texas coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here. | Baseball |
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The legendary Paul McCartney turned 80 years old on Saturday.McCartney received a touching birthday tribute from the youngest son of his former songwriting partner, John Lennon.Sean Ono Lennon posted an acoustic cover of the Beatles' song, 'Here, There and Everywhere' on his Instagram.https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce7hauYo29R/Lennon captioned the song with a note to McCartney that read,"A little birdy told me this was one of your fav Beatles tunes. So Happy Birthday! Thank you for all the beautiful music. You have mine and the whole world's undying love and respect." Copyright © 2022 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved. | Music |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Drake released his latest album "Honestly, Nevermind" by surprise on Friday and the project has sparked mixed reactions.During the rapper’s "Honestly, Nevermind" release party, Drake addressed the negative response."It’s all good if you don’t get it yet," he said of his album as "Calling My Name," played in the background of the video. "That’s what we do! We wait for you to catch up. We in here, though, we caught up already. On to the next. My goodness!" Drake addressed the negative reactions over his latest album "Honestly, Nevermind." (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)Social media went ablaze with fans sharing their opinions of the release. "Drake going platinum in Zara and H&M with this album," one user wrote.DRAKE, OLIVIA RODRIGO CLEAN UP AT 2022 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS: WINNERS LIST"played the first song of this drake album and said Honestly, Nevermind," another added."drake making the worst album in his discography," another wrote alongside a photo of Walter White mixing chemicals in "Breaking Bad."Although there were negative responses, many fans have enjoyed his latest release."Everyone is saying they don't like Drake's new album, I give them two weeks max! It's definitely a vibe, perfect for summer!" one social media user wrote."if you don't like Drake's new album, you can go to the studio and f---ing make your own taste," another added.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER"Honestly, Nevermind" was released nine months after Drake's last studio album, "Certified Lover Boy."When Drake released the surprise album, he teased an upcoming addition to his "Scary Hours" collection. Drake surprise released his seventh studio album "Honestly, Nevermind" on Friday. (Photo by Bennett Raglin/BET)On Friday, the star released a music video for a song on the album "Falling Back." In the video, the Toronto native was seen marrying 23 different women. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPTristan Thompson, Khloe Kardashian’s ex-boyfriend, made a cameo appearance in the video.Fox News' Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report. Janelle Ash is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. | Music |
A passenger plane arrives at the Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago, Chile May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 18 (Reuters) - A U.S. court has approved LATAM Airlines Group SA's (LTM.SN) bankruptcy reorganization plan, the largest air transport group in Latin America said on Saturday.The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved the plan for a restructuring under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, the airline said, adding it hoped to emerge from bankruptcy protection in the second half of the year.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Latin America Economy |
SMU football signee Pierre Goree of Duncanville is now a national champion in track.Goree won the boys 100-meter dash at the Nike Outdoor Nationals on Saturday at the University of Oregon’s legendary Hayward Field by running 10.36 seconds. Goree didn’t break the national record of 10.00 like he had hoped, but it was his second big championship of the season after he won the Class 6A state title in 10.22.On Sunday, Goree will have another chance to break a national record when he runs the 4x100 relay with Sam Houston State football signee Chris Hicks Jr., Caden Durham and Jaylen Washington. Duncanville won the 6A state title in the 4x100 in 39.98, not far off the national record of 39.76 run by Fort Worth O.D. Wyatt in 1998.Goree, who was The Dallas Morning News All-Area Boys Track Athlete of the Year, ran a wind-aided 10.08 in the preliminaries at the 6A Region II meet to set his personal best. He also had times of 10.09 and 10.10 that weren’t wind-legal.Goree wasn’t the only Duncanville sprinter to win a national title Saturday. Hicks won the 100 in the emerging elite division, running 10.84.Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.Greg Riddle, SportsDayHS writer and editor. I have worked at The Dallas Morning News since 2000. I cover high school sports as a reporter and help coordinate our coverage. I graduated from TCU, where I ran track and cross country. I previously worked at the Weatherford Democrat, Marshall News Messenger, Amarillo Globe-News and Arlington Morning [email protected] /greg.riddle.94 @DMNGregRiddle | Other Sports |
It was a project that launched a thousand interstellar dreams.Fifty years ago, NASA published a fat, 253-page book titled, “Project Cyclops.” It summarized the results of a NASA workshop on how to detect alien civilizations. What was needed, the assembled group of astronomers, engineers and biologists concluded, was Cyclops, a vast array of radio telescopes with as many as 1,000 100-meter-diameter antennas. At the time, the project would have cost $10 billion. It could, the astronomers said, detect alien signals from as far away as 1,000 light-years.Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York TimesThe report kicked off with a quotation from astronomer Frank Drake, now an emeritus professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz:“At this very minute, with almost absolute certainty, radio waves sent forth by other intelligent civilizations are falling on the earth. A telescope can be built that, pointed in the right place and tuned to the right frequency, could discover these waves. Someday, from somewhere out among the stars, will come the answers to many of the oldest, most important and most exciting questions mankind has asked.”The Cyclops report, long out of print but available online, would become a bible for a generation of astronomers drawn to the dream that science could answer existential questions.“For the very first time, we had technology where we could do an experiment instead of asking priests and philosophers,” Jill Tarter, who read the report when she was a graduate student and who has devoted her life to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, said a decade ago.A book published 50 years ago titled I was reminded of Cyclops and the work it inspired this week when word flashed around the world that Chinese astronomers had detected a radio signal that had the characteristics of being from an extraterrestrial civilization — namely, it had a very narrow bandwidth at a frequency of 140.604 MHz, a precision nature doesn’t usually achieve on its own.They made the detection using a giant new telescope called the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope, or FAST. The telescope was pointed in the direction of an exoplanet named Kepler 438 b, a rocky planet about 1 1/2 times the size of Earth that orbits in the so-called habitable zone of Kepler 438, a red dwarf star hundreds of light years from here, in the constellation Lyra. It has an estimated surface temperature of 37 degrees Fahrenheit, making it a candidate to harbor life.Just as quickly, however, an article in the state-run newspaper Science and Technology Daily reporting the discovery vanished. And Chinese astronomers were pouring cold water on the result.Zhang Tong-Jie, the chief scientist of China ET Civilization Research Group, was quoted by Andrew Jones, a journalist who tracks Chinese space and astronomy developments, as saying, “The possibility that the suspicious signal is some kind of radio interference is also very high, and it needs to be further confirmed or ruled out. This may be a long process.”Dan Werthimer, of the University of California, Berkeley, who is among the authors of a scientific paper on the signal, was more blunt.“These signals are from radio interference; they are due to radio pollution from earthlings, not from E.T.,” he wrote in an email.This has become a familiar story. For half a century, SETI, or the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, has been a game of whack-a-mole, finding promising signals before tracking them down to orbiting satellites, microwave ovens and other earthly sources. Drake himself pointed a radio telescope at a pair of stars in 1960 and soon thought he had struck gold, only to find out the signal was a stray radar.More recently, a signal that appeared to be coming from the direction of the sun’s closest stellar neighbor, Proxima Centauri, was tracked down to radio interference in Australia.Just as NASA’s announcement last week that it would make a modest investment in the scientific study of unidentified flying objects was intended to bring rigor and practicality to what many criticized as wishful thinking, so, too, was the agency’s Cyclops workshop held at Stanford University over three months in 1971. The conference was organized by John Billingham, an astrobiologist, and Bernard Oliver, who was the head of research for Hewlett-Packard. The men also edited the conference’s report.In the introduction, Oliver wrote that if anything came of Cyclops he would consider this the most important year of his life.“Cyclops was, indeed, a milestone, largely in pulling together a coherent SETI strategy, and the clear calculations and engineering design that followed,” said Paul Horowitz, an emeritus professor of physics at Harvard University who went on to design and start his own listening campaign called Project Meta, funded by the Planetary Society. Movie director Steven Spielberg (“E.T.” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”) attended the official opening in 1985 at the Harvard-Smithsonian Agassiz Station in Harvard, Massachusetts.“SETI was for real!” Horowitz added.But what Oliver initially received was only a “Golden Fleece” award from Sen. William Proxmire, D-Wis., who crusaded against what he considered government waste.“In my view, this project should be postponed for a few million light years,” he said.On Columbus Day in 1992, NASA did initiate a limited search; a year later, Congress canceled it at the behest of Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev. Denied federal support ever since, the SETI endeavor has limped along, supported by donations to a nonprofit organization, the SETI Institute, in Mountain View, California. Recently, through a $100 million grant, Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner set up a new effort called Breakthrough Listen. Horowitz and others have expanded the search to what they call “Optical SETI,” monitoring the sky for laser flashes from distant civilizations.Cyclops was never built, which is just as well, Horowitz said, “because, by today’s standards, it would have been an expensive hulking monster.” Technological developments like radio receivers that can listen to billions of radio frequencies at once have changed the game.China’s big new FAST telescope, also nicknamed “Sky Eye,” was built in 2016 partly with SETI in mind. Its antenna occupies a sinkhole in Guizhou in Southwest China. The size of the antenna eclipses what was the iconic Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico, which collapsed ignominiously in December 2020.Now FAST and its observers have experienced their own trial by false alarm. There will be many more, SETI astronomers say.The generation of astronomers who were inspired by the Cyclops report is getting old. Billingham died in 2013. Oliver died in 1995. Tarter retired from the SETI Institute in 2012, proud that she had never sounded a false alarm.Those who endure profess not to be discouraged by the Great Silence, as it is called, from out there. They’ve always been in the search for the long run, they say.“The Great Silence is hardly unexpected,” said Horowitz, including because only a fraction of a percent of the 200 million stars in the Milky Way have been surveyed. Nobody ever said that detecting that rain of alien radio signals would be easy.“It might not happen in my lifetime, but it will happen,” Werthimer said.“All of the signals detected by SETI researchers so far are made by our own civilization, not another civilization,” Werthimer grumbled in a series of emails and telephone conversations. Earthlings, he said, might have to build a telescope on the backside of the moon to escape the growing radio pollution on Earth and the interference from constellations of satellites in orbit.The present time, he said, might be a unique window in which to pursue SETI from Earth.“One hundred years ago, the sky was clear, but we didn’t know what to do,” he said. “One hundred years from now, there will be no sky left.”© 2022 The New York Times Company | Space Exploration |
June 19 - Nolan Arenado belted a two-run homer, and Nolan Gorman and Tyler O'Neill each added a solo shot to fuel the visiting St. Louis Cardinals to an 11-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.St. Louis' Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmidt each had two-run singles and Arenado added an RBI single during a six-run sixth inning. Dylan Carlson and Andrew Knizner each had an RBI double, and Harrison Bader and O'Neill each had three hits to help the Cardinals snap a two-game losing skid.The offense was more than enough for Dakota Hudson (5-3), who picked up the win after allowing two runs on four hits in five innings.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBobby Dalbec had an RBI single and Kevin Plawecki drew a walk with the bases loaded for the Red Sox, who lost for just the fourth time in their last 16 games.White Sox 7, Astros 0Johnny Cueto twirled a season-best seven shutout innings while Andrew Vaughn and Luis Robert recorded three-hit games as visiting Chicago cruised to a victory over Houston.Cueto (1-3) worked a combined 12 scoreless innings over his first two starts with Chicago after May 16. In four subsequent appearances, he posted a 5.32 ERA while surrendering a .785 opponent OPS and almost as many runs (15) as strikeouts (16) over 23 2/3 innings.He reclaimed his mid-May form against the Astros on Saturday.After allowing a leadoff single to Jose Altuve in the first, Cueto induced Michael Brantley to line into a double play before retiring the ensuing nine batters. He worked around a two-out walk to Alex Bregman in the fourth inning and did not allow another baserunner until Martin Maldonado walked with one out in the bottom of the sixth.Brewers 7, Reds 3Willy Adames and Hunter Renfroe each homered for the second straight day as visiting Milwaukee beat Cincinnati.Jace Peterson added a pair of hits and two RBIs. The third baseman made several athletic plays on sharply hit balls to help rookie Jason Alexander (1-0) earn his first Major League win in his fourth career start.The Brewers got to Reds' starter Graham Ashcraft (3-1) early on to hand the right-hander his first taste of defeat in the majors. The Reds had won Ashcraft's first five starts.The Brewers won back-to-back games for the first time since sweeping a doubleheader against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on May 30.Tigers 14, Rangers 7Eric Haase led a 19-hit barrage with three hits, including a three-run homer, and scored three runs as host Detroit snapped a six-game losing streak by thumping Texas.Robbie Grossman also had three hits, including his first homer this season. Javier Baez hit a two-run homer, while Willi Castro and Kody Clemens drove in two runs apiece. Detroit's run total was its highest this season.Tigers outfielder Riley Greene reached base four times in his major league debut, including a pair of singles. Detroit starter Rony Garcia (1-2) gave up four runs (three earned) and five hits in six innings.Cubs 6, Braves 3Willson Contreras had three of his team's 13 hits and an RBI, and Justin Steele delivered five solid innings as host Chicago kept recently surging Atlanta down for a second straight game.Steele (2-5) didn't allow his two runs until the fifth inning. He also yielded five hits and three walks, but that was good enough to help the Cubs win their first series since May 16-18. Rafael Ortega homered and Jonathan Villar had two RBIs for Chicago, which has won back-to-back games for the first time since June 1-2.Adam Duvall homered and doubled for Atlanta, which averaged 7.2 runs during its 14-game win streak, but didn't score its first of this series until Saturday. Kyle Wright (7-4) had won three straight starts, but yielded five runs with a season-high 11 hits while striking out eight.Mets 3, Marlins 2Francisco Lindor homered for the second straight game and Taijuan Walker retired 18 straight batters for New York, which edged visiting Miami.The Mets have won the first two games of the four-game set and five of their last six overall. The Marlins have lost three straight and five of six.Lindor's homer and Jeff McNeil's second-inning RBI single off Braxton Garrett (1-2) provided the support for Walker (5-2), who allowed one run on two hits and one walk while striking out nine over 6 2/3 innings.Phillies 2, Nationals 1 (10 innings)Rhys Hoskins singled home Matt Vierling with the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and Philadelphia ended Ryan Zimmerman's special day with a win at Washington.Pinch hitter Hoskins opened the 10th with a ground-ball single to center off Reed Garrett (0-1), scoring Vierling from second to make it 2-1. Didi Gregorius had two hits for the Phillies, who have won five straight and 15 of their last 17.Before the game, the Nationals held a ceremony retiring the No. 11 worn by Zimmerman, who spent his entire 16-year career with Washington. Juan Soto singled and walked twice for Washington, which has lost eight straight.Yankees 4, Blue Jays 0Aaron Hicks hit a three-run double, right-hander Jameson Taillon struck out a season-best eight and visiting New York defeated Toronto to extend its win streak to nine games.Taillon (8-1) allowed four hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. The Yankees scored three runs in the fourth inning. Anthony Rizzo walked with one out and Gleyber Torres singled. After Joey Gallo struck out, Isiah Kiner-Falefa beat out an infield single to shortstop to load the bases before Hicks cleared them with a double to right.Toronto right-hander Alek Manoah (8-2) allowed four runs, six hits and one walk while striking out five in 5 1/3 innings.Royals 2, Athletics 0Right-hander Brad Keller threw seven innings of one-hit ball and Ryan O'Hearn's pinch-hit, RBI double broke a scoreless tie in the top of the seventh as Kansas City made it two straight over host Oakland.Michael A. Taylor scored the game's first run after smacking a one-out triple in the seventh off Oakland starter Cole Irvin (2-4). When the A's pulled the left-hander in favor of righty Domingo Acevedo, the left-handed-hitting O'Hearn was called upon to pinch hit for Emmanuel Rivera and came through with his RBI double. The pinch-hit was O'Hearn's seventh in 12 at-bats this season. He leads the majors in pinch hits.The triple by Taylor and double by O'Hearn were the only extra-base hits for the Royals, who out-hit the A's 7-2. The shutout loss was Oakland's eighth of the season. Both of the A's hits -- by Bride and Barrera -- were doubles.Rays 7, Orioles 6Harold Ramirez drove in three runs, including a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning, and visiting Tampa Bay snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over Baltimore.Robinson Chirinos had three hits and four RBIs for Baltimore, which rallied from a 6-2 deficit to tie the game in the sixth inning. Tampa Bay loaded the bases with one out in the ninth against Dillon Tate (0-3) and moved ahead when Ramirez's fly ball to right field easily scored Yandy Diaz from third.Ji-Man Choi hit a two-run homer for Tampa Bay, which recorded 14 hits after scoring a total of four runs in its past four games. Manuel Margot drove in two runs and Diaz had three hits and three runs.Giants 7, Pirates 5Wilmer Flores and Austin Slater homered as visiting San Francisco came back from a two-run deficit to top Pittsburgh.Brandon Crawford added an RBI double and an RBI single, Luis Gonzalez had an RBI double and Darin Ruf singled home a run for the Giants, who have won seven of eight. San Francisco starter Alex Wood (5-5) allowed four runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings, with four strikeouts and two walks.Diego Castillo hit a three-run homer and Daniel Vogelbach launched a solo shot for the Pirates, who have lost 11 of 12. Pittsburgh went ahead in the bottom of the third. Ke'Bryan Hayes doubled, and after Bryan Reynolds struck out, Hayes stole third. Michael Chavis drew a walk, and Castillo followed with his fourth homer of the season to make it 4-2.Angels 4, Mariners 2 (Game 1, 10 innings)Mike Trout hit a tiebreaking two-run homer with two outs in the top of the 10th inning as Los Angeles defeated host Seattle in the opening game of a doubleheader.With a runner at second to open the inning, Mariners right-hander Diego Castillo (3-1) retired the first two batters before Trout hit a 1-1 pitch at the bottom of the strike zone over the center-field wall. It was Trout's third homer in the first three games of the series and the 50th of his career against the Mariners.Seattle had tied the score at 2-2 in the seventh. Dylan Moore was hit by a pitch and stole second. Abraham Toro lined a single to left, with Moore stopping at third. An out later, rookie Julio Rodriguez greeted reliever Archie Bradley with a run-scoring single to right, with Toro taking third.Dodgers 7, Guardians 1Trea Turner hit a go-ahead home run and Julio Urias did not give up an earned run over six innings as Los Angeles topped visiting Cleveland, which saw its five-game winning streak come to an end.Freddie Freeman had three hits and Justin Turner drove in two runs as the Dodgers won for just the third time in seven games. Los Angeles entered having scored two runs or less in five of the previous six games.Amed Rosario had one of the Guardians' two hits to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. Cleveland dropped to 4-1 on a nine-game, three-city road trip that moves to Minnesota on Tuesday.--Field Level MediaRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Baseball |
Downtown Providence geared up for another weekend of fun and festivities, as the city came together on Saturday to celebrate PrideFest for the first time since 2019. More than 100,000 people were expected to attend the event.The event is considered one of the largest LGBTQIA+ marketplaces in New England, featuring more than 200 vendors, exhibitors, and non-profit organizations. A full-service beer, wine, and spirits garden was set up along South Water Street, where guests settled in to watch a full day of performances before taking in the Illuminated Night Parade.US Congressman David Cicilline, state Senator Tiara Mack, Governor Dan McKee, Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos, and others turned out for the event, which had been cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic.“It’s been a difficult couple of years for everyone, but it’s been particularly difficult years for members of our community,” Cicilline said. “There are anti-LGBTQ+ legislations being introduced all across this country in state legislatures. We’re fighting hard. I introduced the Equality Act that will ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in all areas of life. We passed it out of the House. It’s stuck in the Senate.”“We all have to continue to demand to live in a country where we can live life free of discrimination of any kind,” he said as the crowd cheered.Festival goers were more than ready for the illuminated parade, which was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. By 7 p.m., crowds lined both sides of the streets along the parade route. Bubbles were being blown, the Stable’s block party was in full swing, rainbow flags were waiving and some stopped to add more glitter to their faces.Here’s what the scene was like on Saturday. Long lines for food trucks like Frisky Fries, Ming’s Asian Street Food, Hometown (Poke), and Blount’s Clam Shack. Green Line Apothecary is also here serving from their mobile soda fountain at RI Pride Fest. @Globe_RI pic.twitter.com/ZcrYhdi85s— Alexa Gagosz (@AlexaGagosz) June 18, 2022 It should be noted that Haus of Codec, Providence’s first emergency shelter for LGBTQIA+ youth, is boycotting the Pride event. Here’s why: https://t.co/SuCBq6A8si— Alexa Gagosz (@AlexaGagosz) June 18, 2022 Rodney Davis, the president of Rhode Island Pride, sang a passionate tribute song to the late Chris Harris — the “King of Clubs” — during PrideFest this afternoon.Harris died in early 2019 from cancer.Harris co-owned EGO here in Providence and clubs in Boston. @Globe_RI pic.twitter.com/3WeRhHm7bX— Alexa Gagosz (@AlexaGagosz) June 18, 2022 Alexa Gagosz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz. | Festivals |
Suspect9pm, Channel 4James Nesbitt is doing his familiar detective bit again, but otherwise there’s nothing generic about this intriguing thriller which takes the form of eight tightly written two-handers. Nesbitt is Danny Frater, a veteran cop who turns up for a routine mortuary check only to find his daughter Christina on the slab. Danny’s initial anguish is quickly overridden by what must be a defence mechanism; his professionalism. He’s convinced Christina was murdered. But why? The opener sees Nesbitt lock horns with Joely Richardson’s brisk pathologist Jackie. Subsequent episodes introduce, one by one, an impressive cast which includes Anne-Marie Duff, Richard E Grant and Sacha Dhawan. Phil HarrisonGlastonbury: 50 Years and Counting9pm, BBC TwoAs Worthy Farm gears up for its first proper festival since 2019, this freewheeling film hopscotches through Glasto history to try and unlock what makes it so magical. What emerges from the artful mix of A-list talking heads (including Stormzy, Thom Yorke and Florence Welch) and a goldmine of archive footage is a utopian alternate vision of the UK: one where activism, equality and creativity thrive. Graeme VirtueMcDonald & Dodds8pm, ITVThe dream team of Jason Watkins and Tala Gouveia return as the mismatched detectives, getting into yet more hot water in Bath. Here they investigate the death in broad daylight of a woman in a busy park. A possible trail leads to an anthropologist (Alan Davies) and his eccentric mother (Sian Phillips), dwelling, Grey Gardens-style, in a ramshackle mansion … Ali CatterallTutankhamun: Secrets of the Tomb8pm, Channel 4This year marks a century since King Tut’s treasure-filled tomb was uncovered in Egypt, and the legend of the “pharaoh’s curse” still lingers. Why did people who entered the tomb meet mysterious ends? And what do their deaths have to do with another supposedly cursed shrine in Kraków, Poland? Paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi investigates. Ellen E JonesThe Outlaws9pm, BBC OneAs overwhelmed dealers Christian and Rani recruit Bristol schoolkids as drug runners, Stephen Merchant’s community service comedy is starting to look like Bristol’s answer to the Wire. But after the stressful second series opener, even the zingers can’t shake off a growing sense of dread. GVThe Cruise9pm, Channel 5Sheridan Smith narrates this new show shadowing staff and guests on Virgin Voyages cruise ships. It begins in Miami on an anxious day for the flagship Scarlet Lady. As the captain weighs up the weather, greeter Ryan leads a “grog walk” of the swankiest bars on board. GVFilm choicePhilomena, 10.30pm, BBC OneJudi Dench and Steeve Coogan in Philomena. Photograph: Bbc Films/AllstarA devastating true story gave rise to this terrifically moving drama, featuring Steve Coogan as co-writer and co-star. He plays former BBC journalist and spin doctor Martin Sixsmith, who escapes work woes by taking up the case of Philomena Lee (Judi Dench). Fifty years earlier, she was an unmarried teenage mother stuck in a Catholic convent laundry in Ireland when her son was sold for adoption – against her wishes. She still hasn’t found him, so Martin agrees to join her search. The revelations that follow are skilfully drip-fed by director Stephen Frears, while the two leads are a wonderful study in contrasts, debating faith, loss and forgiveness with some pain but plenty of humour. Simon WardellThe Electrical Life of Louis Wain, 12.05pm, 8pm, Sky Cinema PremiereIn his TV dramas Flowers and Landscapers, writer-director Will Sharpe has given a sympathetic ear to loners and eccentrics. His stylish, and at times trippy, new film adds another to the canon: the Edwardian illustrator known for his pictures of big-eyed, anthropomorphised cats. Benedict Cumberbatch is sad and endearing as Louis, who keeps his mental health troubles – and extreme championing of felines – just about within the realms of social acceptability, while supporting his mother, five sisters and wife Emily (Claire Foy). SWMoana, 4pm, BBC OneMoana. Photograph: Walt Disney Pictures/AllstarRon Clements and John Musker’s animation weaves the art, music and myths of Polynesia into an entertaining coming-of-age drama/eco-parable/origin story for the region’s seafaring people. Moana (Auli’i Cravalho), daughter of an island chief, is forbidden to explore beyond the reef, but when she hears that the theft of a nature goddess’s heart stone by demi-god Maui (Dwayne Johnson) is leading to climate disaster, she sets sails to return it to its owner. A Mad Max: Fury Road homage and an imbecilic rooster are just two highlights of this accomplished Disney film. SWThe Searchers, 6.30pm, TCM MoviesAs with Citizen Kane, just because John Ford’s 1956 western is forever being rolled out as one of the greatest films ever doesn’t mean it isn’t. It’s also John Wayne’s finest hour – he plays Ethan Edwards, a Confederate veteran brutalised by war who rediscovers his humanity and sense of community in his obsessive search for a niece abducted by Comanche raiders. Ford surrounds Ethan with vivid characters and epic Monument Valley landscapes in a film more profound than it lets on. SWLike Father, Like Son, 1.30am, Film4The sharp end of the nature v nurture debate hits two families hard in Hirokazu Kore-eda’s poignant 2013 drama. Masaharu Fukuyama’s Ryota is a city architect whose drive to succeed at work means he neglects his wife Midori (Machiko Ono) and young son Keita. Then they discover Keita was swapped at birth with Ryusei, eldest son of small-town shopworkers Yudai (Lily Franky) and Yukari (Yōko Maki). The difference between the easygoing, playful Yudai and the pushy, emotionally repressed Ryota is clear as the four parents negotiate their new reality – some with more compassion than others. SWLive sportOne-Day International Cricket: Netherlands v England, 10am, Sky Sports Main Event The second ODI in the series at VRA Cricket Ground in Amstelveen. The third one-dayer is on Wed at 10am.F1 Canadian Grand Prix, 6.55pm, Sky Sports Main Event Round nine at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal. | Movies |
Peter Bol has lowered the Australian 800 metres for the third time and thought for a moment he’d earned a perfect early birthday present for his coach at the Paris Diamond League meeting.The brilliant half-miler was outpaced for victory on Saturday night by an inspired but controversial finish from home favourite Benjamin Robert, with Bol’s handsome consolation being a new Oceanian landmark of one minute 44.00 seconds for the two-lap event.When news came through that the Frenchman had been disqualified, it left the Perth runner to wonder if he’d been handed the ideal gift for his coach Justin Rinaldi, whose birthday is on Sunday.But an appeal from the French runner was upheld later.“I wanted to run 1:43 and give Justin an early birthday present for tomorrow. Came a bit short but stoked with the PB and national record,” Bol, who bettered his own Oceanian mark of 1:44.11 set at the Olympics last year when he finished fourth, said.“It was no surprise at all. We’ve built this new level of confidence and when training is going well there’s no reason why we can’t run those fast times and be competitive on the world stage.“Seeing (training partner and former Australian record holder) Joseph (Deng) run the (world championship) standard last week was awesome and running a 1500m PB last week was just part of training.“We’ve just been building strength and endurance. The difference is though since Joseph ran his qualifier last week the energy has been high and that’s a major benefit in itself.”In a frenetic finish, it would have been harsh for Robert to have the win taken from him after he’d only nudged through as easily the fastest finisher, with Bol the next quickest on the outside.“In the last 200m, I was burnt,” said Robert. “I said to myself, ‘It’s gonna be hard to finish’. Then something happened in the last 50 metres - the second wind.“It’s difficult to explain but it proves that you cannot give up, everything can happen. It’s my first victory on Diamond League - and it happens in Paris. The pressure was strong with this crowd, but we need to get used to that before Paris 2024 Olympics!”Bol was not too upset he couldn’t quite break the magic 1:44 mark, convinced “we can definitely go 1:43” and that he’s well-primed to challenge for a medal at both the world championships and Commonwealth Games.“My goal for both Championships is to medal. Keep my head up, keep ticking off sessions and competing strong against any field. I believe medals are within reach,” added Bol, who’s now joint-top of the Diamond League 800m standings with Canadian Marco Arop.Australia’s Olympic high jump silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers - formerly McDermott, before her recent marriage - cleared 1.95m but it was only enough for joint-third as she was eclipsed by Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who jumped a 2022 world best of 2.01m.Kelsey Lee Barber, bronze medallist from Tokyo, was fifth in the javelin (60.60 metres), finishing one place behind her Aussie teammate Mackenzie Little (61.23m).International star of the night at the Stade Charlety was Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who equalled her world-leading time of the year in the 100m in 10.67 seconds and looked in fine nick to go for a 10th world championship gold in Eugene next month.Bol’s record-breaking feat completes a stellar week for Australian athletics after Sydney’s Ollie Hoare shattered the Australian record for the mile in Oslo, Norway.Hoare ran an astonishing 3.47:48 when second in the Oslo Mile – beaten only by the Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebritsen. It makes Hoare a leading contender for the upcoming World Track and Field Championships in the 1500m, and clear favourite to win gold at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in July. | Olympic Sports |
Cycling - Tour de France - The 31-km Stage 20 Individual Time Trial from Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle to Espelette - July 28, 2018 - BORA-Hansgrohe rider Rafal Majka of Poland finishes. REUTERS/Benoit TessierRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 19 (Reuters) - Stage four of the Tour of Slovenia was decided by a game of chance, as Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar finished second behind team mate Rafal Majka following a round of rock, paper, scissors to determine the victor.Pogacar and Majka were in no danger of being caught after surging ahead with 5 km (3 miles) left, taking their hands off the handlebars in the final stretch to indulge in a quick game, with Majka's paper trumping Pogacar's rock.The UAE Team Emirates duo shared an embrace as Majka crossed the finish line inches ahead of Pogacar, who retained the overall leader's jersey."We had a great day. We did the last climb together, then Tadej said I should win the stage," Majka said on Saturday. "I'm now also in a good position for second overall. This is all very good before the Tour de France, we try to stay safe and win races."Pogacar will be looking to win the Tour de France for a third consecutive year in July.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Other Sports |
Freddie Burns earned his first Premiership title since starting his English top-flight career 13 years agoFreddie Burns says he realised a childhood dream as he kicked Leicester to an 11th Premiership title with a last-minute drop-goal against Saracens.The ex-England fly-half, 32, who has played more than 200 Premiership games, sealed the 15-12 win in his first appearance in the showpiece event.He came off the bench in the final as a replacement for injured George Ford."At the age of five I had two goals - to play for my country and to win a Premiership," said Burns."To win a Premiership is special, but to win it at this club with this group of players means more than anything."Rugby Union Weekly podcast: Burns NightRelive Leicester's Premiership final win at TwickenhamBurns returned from a stint playing in Japan to rejoin Tigers this season, having made 75 appearances for the East Midlands side between 2014 and 2017.He told BBC Radio Leicester he feared he had blown a drop-goal chance earlier, and admits it would have looked as if Tigers were "dead and buried" when Owen Farrell landed a late penalty to level the scores at 12-12 against 14-man Leicester, who had Matt Scott sin-binned four minutes from the end."We are always in the fight," Burns continued. "We are never dead - we have showed that time and again."Tigers winger Chris Ashton praised Burns for "taking his chance when he came on" in difficult circumstances, as a replacement for influential fly-half Ford - who a week earlier scored 22 points in their 27-14 semi-final win against Northampton."That's how good of a player he is," Ashton told BBC Radio 5 Live."This week he was actually telling me about a drop-goal out in Japan that he tried to win a game and he completely missed, so who'd have thought that he'd have the chance today to win it for Leicester?"Tigers head coach Borthwick, who has overseen Leicester's rise back to the summit of the English game in just his second full season at Welford Road, hailed Burns as "phenomenal" after the game at Twickenham. "He is an incredible character who has added enormously to the team on the pitch, but also off the pitch," Borthwick said.'We were suffocated' Saracens boss Mark McCall congratulated Tigers on a "phenomenal season" having been top of the table at the end of every regular-season round before going on to win the final."They were the better team and deserved to win the match," McCall said."They trapped us in our half for long periods and backed that up with brilliant defensive work. We were a bit suffocated. We didn't get anywhere near our best."Hopefully we can use the pain that we're going to feel over the next few days in a constructive way to come back stronger next summer."Beaten Saracens hooker Jamie George acknowledged Tigers had been the better side, but said he was disappointed in the manner of the defeat."It's tough. Horrible, really. We didn't show up and that's the most disappointing thing," he said. "Some of our big players didn't show up," added George.The England man likened Leicester's performance to the style that his own side employed to great effect to win so many domestic and European honours."They play a pretty traditional style of rugby and when they get ahead they're really hard to beat as they keep pinning you back, a bit like the Saracens of old," said George. "We didn't have an answer to it today and that is disappointing."Are you stuck for Father's Day ideas? Here's some simple yet sophisticated recipes that will do the trickSaudi Arabia's $2bn golf series: Is this a new exciting tournament for golf or a method to cleanse the country's global reputation? | Other Sports |
Thirty years ago, audiences came out in droves to see an over-the-top political satire about the mayoral campaign of a disgusting sewer mutant – a movie that also doubled as an oddball romantic comedy about two weirdos with mask fetishes, trading blows and spit in a snowglobe metropolis. Hindsight has a way of turning every box-office sensation into a curious time capsule, letting us gawk at the strange attractions that used to put butts in seats. But through the lens of the modern blockbuster machine, and the reigning superhero-industrial complex that powers it, Batman Returns looks like a true anomaly, as weird and horny and maybe personal as mega-budget Hollywood spectacles get.It’s certainly a more idiosyncratic movie than its predecessor, Tim Burton’s record-breaking popcorn sensation Batman, released to teeming, cheering crowds in the summer of 1989. To lure Burton back to the world of the caped crusader, Warner Bros had to offer him greater creative control over the sequel. The director exercised it from top to bottom. In place of the original’s art deco noir aesthetic, Batman Returns goes full baroque fairytale. When the camera swoops like a creature of the night through the twisted architecture of the Gotham Zoo, it’s clear we’re fully in Burtonville, previous home to wisecracking prankster apparitions and lonely hairdressing androids.With Batman Returns, Burton turned Gotham into the biggest of big tops, terrorized by a gang of criminal carnies and populated by freaks on both sides of the hero/villain divide. That includes billionaire vigilante Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton, slipping back into the cumbersome cape and cowl), ostensible hero of the movie, who at one point likens himself to Norman Bates or Ted Bundy, serial killers with split personalities or secret pastimes.Bruce’s problems are doubled, his screen-time halved. Just about everyone agrees that Jack Nicholson’s Joker stole the first Batman. The second surrenders the spotlight to the rogues’ gallery immediately, depriving Keaton of any dialogue for the opening half-hour. The movie belongs more to Danny DeVito’s deformed, anguished Oswald Cobblepot, AKA the Penguin, and to Michelle Pfeiffer’s Selina Kyle, reborn into the vengeful, vamping Catwoman.The other thing that drew Burton back was the involvement of the Heathers screenwriter Daniel Waters, who gave the material an arch, black-comic zinginess. The absurdist political angle of the plot was his idea. It’s an inspired gag, imagining that a creature as vulgar as the Penguin could steal the electorate’s heart. In the film’s funniest reveal, DeVito’s supervillain is interrupted mid-meal, chowing down messily on a raw fish, by the new staff of beaming operatives and volunteers applauding his candidacy. What seemed cynical in 1992 now looks rather touchingly naive. Imagine a politician dropping out of a race just because he got caught on tape disparaging his base.Waters’ plot is lumpy, forcing an illogical allegiance between the villains. No matter – for Burton, it’s just an excuse to collide these outsized cartoon personalities, to build a vaudeville stage for three tortured, animal-themed outlaws. The director twists that classic Batman theme of the bad guys being warped reflections of the good guy to suit his own enduring love affair with misfits. DeVito, deliciously overacting under mounds and hours of daily prosthetic labor, makes the Penguin a sympathetic monster: horrifying in appearance, crass and corrupt in nature, but still a tragic figure. Burton loves him as only a father could. And he recognizes him as a kindred spirit to his archnemesis. Who is Cobblepot but Wayne without privilege, abandoned instead of orphaned? “You’re just jealous because I’m a genuine freak and you have to wear a mask,” he tells Batman. It’s a point the dark knight concedes.Pfeiffer, meanwhile, who nabbed the role after Annette Bening got pregnant and vacated it, delivers one of the great movie star turns in all of comic-book cinema: a slinking embodiment of hell-hath-no-fury attitude, hissing venomous one-liners with aplomb and waging war on the powerful, sexist exploiters of Gotham. In both stylized performance and instantly iconic skin-tight, patchwork attire, she could have strutted straight out of the panels of the source material. Yet Pfeiffer also summons the raw desperation of a true identity crisis, which comes roaring to the surface during a great alter-ego, ballroom tango with the enemy in the film’s quiet before the climax.If the political contest suggests a classic Preston Sturges comedy in superhero drag, there’s a touch of Ernst Lubitsch to the screwball romance between Keaton and Pfeiffer, circling each other in different forms of evening wear, concealing their double lives, secret identities and battle scars during a fireside canoodle. Batman Returns is easily the kinkiest big-screen treatment of these characters: the one that dares to see some S&M fantasy in people burying their svelte physiques under rubber and leather. It’s one reason parents were so incensed by the stranger sequel, and why McDonald’s nixed the Happy Meals line. The dialogue drips with innuendo. The Penguin, a cackling pervert, ravenously sniffs Catwoman’s boot and lusts after his interns.Danny DeVito plays the deformed and anguished Oswald Cobblepot AKA the Penguin in Batman Returns. Photograph: Warner Bros./AllstarRemarkably, the film has a class conscience, too. Its real villain is neither the Penguin nor Catwoman but Christopher Walken’s shock-wigged robber baron Max Shreck, named for the actor who played Nosferatu but plainly modeled on a younger Donald Trump. He is, of course, another distorted mirror image of Batman – a Bruce Wayne looking to prey on the people instead of protecting them. “The law doesn’t apply to men like him,” Pfeiffer’s Catwoman astutely says of her boss, the man who pushed her out of a window to complete her supervillain origin story. Years before Christopher Nolan sent Bane to occupy Wall Street, Burton more casually sent a jolt of class warfare through Gotham.As an adaptation, Batman Returns plays as fast and loose as, well, the first Batman. Burton was quick to admit, in the memoir Burton on Burton, that he wasn’t much of a comic-book reader – a confession that underscored his disregard for canonical backstory and elements such as the character’s traditional aversion to killing. For some diehards, his Batman movies are heresy. Certainly, they hail from a less faithful or fan-pleasing era of comic-book blockbusters. Yet their exaggerated visual pleasures and splash-panel-sized performances have their own fidelity to the original medium, a kinship of pulp spirit. They reject realism, which might be the more suitable approach to the story of a guy who dresses up as a bat to clobber those with a similar flair for the dramatic.What really marks Batman Returns as a product of a very different age of superhero spectaculars is the decisive victory of authorship Burton claims over his borrowed intellectual property. Joel Schumacher, Nolan, Zack Snyder, Todd Phillips – all these film-makers have found ways to put their own brand on the Batman mythos. But none of them so fully, successfully molded it into the shape of their own preoccupations and obsessions. Batman Returns is a Tim Burton movie first, a Batman movie second. And to watch it today, at a time when finding the directorial soul of a superhero movie often requires some true detective work, is to bask in the eccentricity of its achievement. The bat signal just can’t compete with the freak flag Burton flies over the Gotham skyline. | Movies |
Flashes of what may become a transformative new technology are coursing through a network of optic fibers under Chicago.Researchers have created one of the world’s largest networks for sharing quantum information — a field of science that depends on paradoxes so strange that Albert Einstein didn’t believe them.The network, which connects the University of Chicago with Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, is a rudimentary version of what scientists hope someday to become the internet of the future. For now, it’s opened up to businesses and researchers to test fundamentals of quantum information sharing.The network was announced this week by the Chicago Quantum Exchange — which also involves Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin.People work in the Pritzker Nanofabrication Facility, June 15, 2022, inside the William Eckhardt Research Center at the University of Chicago. The Chicago Quantum Exchange is expanding its quantum network to make it available to more researchers and companies. Quantum computing is a pioneering, secure format said to be hacker-proof and of possible use by banks, the health care industry, and others for secure communications. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)With a $500 million federal investment in recent years and $200 million from the state, Chicago, Urbana-Champaign, and Madison form a leading region for quantum information research.Why does this matter to the average person? Because quantum information has the potential to help crack currently unsolvable problems, both threaten and protect private information, and lead to breakthroughs in agriculture, medicine and climate change.While classical computing uses bits of information containing either a 1 or zero, quantum bits, or qubits, are like a coin flipped in the air — they contain both a 1 and zero, to be determined once it’s observed.That quality of being in two or more states at once, called superposition, is one of the many paradoxes of quantum mechanics — how particles behave at the atomic and subatomic level. It’s also a potentially crucial advantage, because it can handle exponentially more complex problems.Another key aspect is the property of entanglement, in which qubits separated by great distances can still be correlated, so a measurement in one place reveals a measurement far away.The newly expanded Chicago network, created in collaboration with Toshiba, distributes particles of light, called photons. Trying to intercept the photons destroys them and the information they contain — making it far more difficult to hack.The new network allows researchers to “push the boundaries of what is currently possible,” said University of Chicago professor David Awschalom, director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange.Fourth-year graduate student Cyrus Zeledon, left, and postdoctoral student Leah Weiss, right, show senior undergraduate Tiarna Wise around one of the quantum science laboratories, June 15, 2022, inside the William Eckhardt Research Center at the University of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)However, researchers must solve many practical problems before large-scale quantum computing and networking are possible.For instance, researchers at Argonne are working on creating a “foundry” where dependable qubits could be forged. One example is a diamond membrane with tiny pockets to hold and process qubits of information. Researchers at Argonne also have created a qubit by freezing neon to hold a single electron.Because quantum phenomena are extremely sensitive to any disturbance, they might also be used as tiny sensors for medical or other applications — but they’d also have to be made more durable.The quantum network was launched at Argonne in 2020, but has now expanded to Hyde Park and opened for use by businesses and researchers to test new communication devices, security protocols and algorithms. Any venture that depends on secure information, such as banks’ financial records of hospital medical records, would potentially use such a system.Quantum computers, while in development now, may someday be able to perform far more complex calculations than current computers, such as folding proteins, which could be useful in developing drugs to treat diseases such as Alzheimer’s.In addition to driving research, the quantum field is stimulating economic development in the region. A hardware company, EeroQ, announced in January that it’s moving its headquarters to Chicago. Another local software company, Super.tech, was recently acquired, and several others are starting up in the region.Because quantum computing could be used to hack into traditional encryption, it has also attracted the bipartisan attention of federal lawmakers. The National Quantum Initiative Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2018 to accelerate quantum development for national security purposes.In May, President Joe Biden directed federal agency to migrate to quantum-resistant cryptography on its most critical defense and intelligence systems.Ironically, basic mathematical problems, such as 5+5=10, are somewhat difficult through quantum computing. Quantum information is likely to be used for high-end applications, while classical computing will likely continue to be practical for many daily uses.Renowned physicist Einstein famously scoffed at the paradoxes and uncertainties of quantum mechanics, saying that God does not “play dice” with the universe. But quantum theories have been proven correct in applications from nuclear energy to MRIs.Stephen Gray, senior scientist at Argonne, who works on algorithms to run on quantum computers, said quantum work is very difficult, and that no one understands it fully.But there have been significant developments in the field over the past 30 years, leading to what some scientists jokingly called Quantum 2.0, with practical advances expected over the next decade.“We’re betting in the next five to 10 years there’ll be a true quantum advantage (over classical computing),” Gray said. “We’re not there yet. Some naysayers shake their canes and say it’s never going to happen. But we’re positive.”Just as early work on conventional computers eventually led to cellphones, it’s hard to predict where quantum research will lead, said Brian DeMarco, professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who works with the Chicago Quantum Exchange.“That’s why it’s an exciting time,” he said. “The most important applications are yet to be discovered.”[email protected] | Emerging Technologies |
Caroline Flack reportedly stepped down from her Love Island presenting role in December 2019 before she took her own life less than two months later at the age of 40Christine Flack believes more should be done to protect the mental health of TV presentersCaroline Flack's mum Christine believes more should be done to protect the mental health of TV presenters following her tragic death in 2020. Family and friends of Caroline have worked together to put on a star-studded festival in honour of the former Love Island host, Flackstock, in order to raise valuable funds for mental health charities. Caroline took her own life on February 15th, 2020, at the age of 40. Her passing came two months after her arrest following an incident involving her boyfriend, Lewis Burton. She had later discovered that prosecutors were to press ahead with an assault charge. Caroline Flack was the host of Love Island from 2015 to 2019 (
Image:
ITV/REX) Caroline reportedly stepped down from her Love Island role in December 2019 and her mother thinks ITV should have done more to help her daughter. Speaking to The Sun, she said: "The duty of care with presenters needs to be better. If you work in an office you’re safe-guarded, but on TV you’re not — you’re exposed." She added: "Love Island thrived on arguments and they probably still do, I haven’t watched it since. Caroline with her mum Christine (
Image:
Instagram) "But when it came to Caroline, they sacked her because of her love life. It was totally wrong. "I watched it because Carrie was on it and I loved it because she absolutely loved it. She loved the crew and the contestants. It was ironic when her love life was in trouble." Christine also revealed that Caroline was diagnosed with bipolar just weeks before her death. She said: "I think Carrie didn’t say anything about her mental health publicly because she didn’t want anyone to know. Caroline as a child with her mum (
Image:
Flack Family) "That was part of the condition. You’d have massive highs, but then when you’re low it’s bad. I hope people who are suffering realise that of course it is OK to feel like that." The idea for Flackstock came from close friend and fellow TV presenter Natalie Pinkham, who dreamt of the idea before ringing Christine for her thoughts. With the help of other celebrity friends such as Dawn O'Porter and Leigh Francis among others, Flackstock came to fruition and will see performances from the likes of Tom Grennan, Natalie Imbruglia and Pixie Lott and appearances from Dermot O'Leary, Joel Dommett and Paddy McGuinness. Christine insists talking about Caroline is not a 'taboo subject' (
Image:
ITV Grab) The festival will be held at Englefield House near Reading on Monday July 25, supporting mental charities; the Charlie Waller Trust, Choose Love, Mind and the Samaritans. Friends of Caroline have expressed their pride over taking part in the event and raising awareness of mental health treatments. Natalie Imbruglia, who is set to perform, told the Sunday Mirror: “Caroline’s life was music, dance and comedy on repeat. That is all she lived for. The lockdown happened straight after she died. We had a funeral but we didn’t have a proper memorial. "Her death has been hard to process and we had to do it on our own. It’s a coming together of all her friends and family. I still find it difficult to talk about her in the past tense.” The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email [email protected] or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter. Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at [email protected] or call us direct 0207 29 33033. Read More Read More | Celebrity |
Andy Cohen Good Genes or Good Docs?! 6/19/2022 12:01 AM PT Watch What Happens when Andy Cohen's looks over the years age like a fine wine! Here's a 41-year-old version of the late-night talk show host casually posing at a screening of "I Love You, Man" at the Tribeca Grand Hotel in New York City back in 2009 (left). This was just a few years after he pioneered "The Real Housewives" franchise. And, 13 years later ... the now 54-year-old father of two little munchkins recently stepped out from the Club House and into the 'NBCUniversal's Upfront's' event in New York City (right) - still showcasing his unchanging smise. There is absolutely NO pleading the fifth here! The question is ... | Celebrity |
Nothing Compares 2 U singer Sinead O'Connor had been due to perform at a number of Ireland-based gigs, including Live at The Marquee, Cork on Sunday but she has now pulled outVideo LoadingVideo UnavailableSinead O’Connor’s heartache as her son Shane dies aged 17Sinead O'Connor has cancelled all her upcoming concerts in 2022 "for her own health and well being" following the death of her son earlier this year. Shane, 17, was found dead after he went missing from the hospital while he was under suicide watch in January. The Nothing Compares 2 U singer had been due to perform at a number of Ireland-based gigs, including Live at The Marquee, Cork on Sunday. She was also due to take to the stage Galway International Arts Festival and Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens next month but will now take time off until at least 2023. A statement on O'Connor's official website read: "We would like to respectfully announce that due to the ongoing bereavement process, Sinead has been advised it would be healthier for her to take the remainder of this year off and we hope to reschedule shows for 2023 when she is feeling stronger. "This has not been an easy decision for Sinead but, having been advised, a decision she has had to make for her own health and wellbeing at this time. "We would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to Sinead's worldwide agency ICM who have handled this with the utmost respect and dignity and have worked tirelessly. "We would also extend our gratitude for the continuing support and understanding of local and international promoters. "Thank you also to Sinead's friends and fans whose support and understanding we hold in the highest esteem throughout this period. "The love being shown has been a source of great comfort and peace for Sinead." Shane - the son of Sinead and musician Donal Lunny, 74 - had been missing for two days in January with police launching a missing person appeal to help find him. He was last seen in Tallaght, South Dublin on Friday, January 7 with the appeal being renewed on the same day. Sinead was due to perform at Live At The Marquee in Cork on Sunday (
Image:
Getty Images) However, police confirmed the following day that the search for the 17-year-old was called off. "Following the recovery of a body in the Bray area of Wicklow on Friday, 7th January 2022, a Missing Person Appeal in respect of Shane O'Connor, 17 years, has been stood down," a spokesperson said. In February, Sinead vowed to never perform again because there is "nothing to sing about". She wrote on Twitter : "Just to say, suggestions there’ll be any performances this year or next year or ever again are erroneous. There will never be anything to sing about again." Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at [email protected] or call us direct 0207 29 33033. Read More Read More | Music |
A passenger plane arrives at the Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago, Chile May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 18 (Reuters) - A U.S. court has approved LATAM Airlines Group SA's (LTM.SN) bankruptcy reorganization plan, the region's largest air transport group said on Saturday.The U.S. bankruptcy court for the southern district of New York approved the plan for a restructuring under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, the airline said, adding it hoped to emerge from bankruptcy protection in the year's second half.Its plan will inject about $8 billion through a combination of capital increase, issue of convertible bonds, and the new debt.Born in 2012 from the merger of Chile's LAN with Brazilian rival TAM, LATAM filed for bankruptcy protection two years ago in the United States because of the fallout of pandemic curbs.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard and Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Latin America Economy |
'RHOC' STAR'S SON JOSH WARING Busted for Fentanyl, Meth Possession Cops Say He Was Dealing 6/19/2022 12:20 AM PT The son of ex-"Real Housewives of Orange County" star Lauri Peterson is allegedly dealing drugs ... at least according to prosecutors who claim he was angling to sell fentanyl. According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Josh Waring is facing criminal charges from an arrest back in January, including felony possession and the sale of fentanyl, plus a misdemeanor charge of methamphetamine possession. Orange County Sheriff's Dept. sources tell TMZ ... a deputy saw Josh in the passenger seat of a car, recognizing him from a prior drug arrest. The deputy was aware Josh was on parole for an assault, which meant the cop could conduct a random search, which he did, and allegedly found drugs right on Josh's lap. Our sources say the deputy saw Josh brush the drugs onto the car's floorboard ... drugs later identified as fentanyl and meth. We're told Josh was arrested on the spot and taken to jail. As for why he was charged with the sale of fentanyl ... it's because of the amount found. TMZ.com As you know, Josh has a history of legal troubles ... he was arrested back in 2016 when he was accused of shooting a man outside a sober living home. Josh spent 4 years in jail, where he was once ambushed and assaulted by another inmate who was wielding razors wrapped in towels -- the attack was caught on video. He was later released on parole. Now, Josh could face more time behind bars. | Celebrity |
Mike Tyson Flying Commercial Again ... No Worries About Future Altercations!!! 6/19/2022 12:40 AM PT TMZSports.com Despite getting into a physical altercation with an overzealous fan on a plane in April ... Mike Tyson is still flying commercial -- telling TMZ Sports he's got no worries about similar situations in the future. We got the legendary boxer on his way to what appeared to be another commercial flight at LAX on Friday ... and had to ask -- is he at least somewhat concerned about flying with normies going forward just three months after he punched a man on a plane for annoying him. 4/20/22 TMZSports.com Tyson, though, said it's absolutely not crossing his mind ... telling us, "No way!" The 55-year-old former fighter insisted he's more zen now. "You know about [my weed brand] Tyson 2.0?" Tyson said. "That's what I'm about now, man. I'm all about Tyson 2.0." 4/20/22 TMZSports.com It's interesting ... because Tyson previously said his wife was urging him to strictly fly private now. As for the advice he'd give to celebs who will deal with similar overly excited fans like the one he faced in April -- Iron Mike said there's only one solution ... "Love them." | Boxing |
Amy Schneider 'Jeopardy!' Champ Unfazed by Unaired First Pitch ... I'll Take Fox Sports at Its Word 6/19/2022 12:50 AM PT "Jeopardy!" champ Amy Schneider says she's gonna take Fox Sports at its word, that they did not intentionally cut out her first pitch at a Giants game celebrating Pride Day at the stadium. Amy tells TMZ ... "They say the reason they misled their viewers was for cross-promotion, not anything to do with me, so I'll take them at their word." The director of the broadcast reached out to her personally to apologize and reiterate it had nothing to do with her identity. She believed him and accepted his apology. Fox Sports refused to show Jeopardy champ Amy Schneider throw the first pitch on Pride Day during their coverage of the Giants/Dodgers game. Schneider is a trans icon with the 2nd longest winning streak in Jeopardy history. Here's a clip of her pitch:pic.twitter.com/wgopQZOak1— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) June 13, 2022 @davenewworld_2 ICYMI, Amy, the 1st openly transgender "Jeopardy!" champ, was invited to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the Dodgers/Giants game. Problem was ... Amy's pitch never made air. Instead, Fox Sports ran another first pitch from several days earlier ... at the hands of Kurt Busch. "Kurt Busch threw out the first pitch." pic.twitter.com/DzolTVrLey— The Comeback (@thecomeback) June 12, 2022 @thecomeback Fox Sports said the video of that pitch was part of a promotional package for an upcoming NASCAR race in Northern California. They made it clear ... the intention was not to disrespect Amy, adding first pitches are rarely aired on the Network during games. Jeopardy! Amy Schneider's 'Jeopardy!' Win Streak Ends There are doubters on social media who aren't buying the story, but Amy is taking the explanation at face value. BTW ... the pitch was better than lots of other celebs, bouncing just short and a bit outside of home plate. | Baseball |
Bam Margera Recent Split From Wife ... Caused Him To Bounce From Rehab 6/19/2022 12:55 AM PT Bam Margera has another crisis on his plate besides recently fleeing rehab -- although they're related -- we've learned a split from his wife played a big part in his decision to leave the facility. A rep for Bam tells TMZ ... he and his wife Nikki Boyd broke up a couple of weeks ago. Since then, he hasn't been able to get ahold of her or see his son, Phoenix Wolf. We're told she has not responded to any of Bam's calls or texts, and has been absent from his recovery process. Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media. Due to the separation, Bam was staying at a sober living home when he made his unauthorized exit from rehab. We're told he held it together for a while, but after not hearing from Nikki or his son for 2 weeks ... he showed poor judgment and left the treatment center. We're also told the facility wasn't giving him special celeb treatment -- which isn't a bad thing, but in the past others have, so that set him off too. TMZ broke the story ... the "Jackass" star was reported missing Monday after leaving the FL rehab center, and cops went looking for him. When they found him on Wednesday, a crisis intervention team went into a Delray Beach hotel and escorted him back to treatment. He learned Nikki took Phoenix out of Florida without telling him, and voluntarily went back to treatment. Last year Nikki filed documents in Los Angeles seeking full custody of their son, allowing Bam supervised visitation. We obtained photos of Bam out Tuesday night at a few bars close to his hotel. We're told he'd been off his medication for several days, and his team was worried he'd relapsed. The good news is he's back in treatment. | Celebrity |
A not-funny thing happened on their way to becoming a superhero: Ezra Miller is now a toxic asset. A promising young actor with musical ability scores in several indie movies, gets cast as a key character in two big franchises, and starts getting into trouble with the law. They get hit with abuse, assault, and harassment allegations, is arrested twice for disorderly conduct, and a frightened couple takes out a restraining order against them.
Johnny Depp? Nope. Ezra Miller.
Miller, 29, scored rave reviews in “We Need to Talk About Kevin” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” before landing the role of Credence Barebone in JK Rowling’s “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” and two sequels, as well as Barry Allen/The Scarlet Speedster/The Flash, which they (Miller uses “they/them” pronouns) portrayed in four DCEU films leading up to the 14th DC feature film, time-travel multiverse adventure “The Flash,” which features two alternate Batmans (Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck) and is now in post-production. Warners Bros. announced the project as part of the extended DCEU on October 2014, with a March 23, 2018 release date. From there, it faced delay upon delay: Multiple director departures, multiple scripts (including one by Miller), and then the pandemic, which pushed the shoot to 2021. The film wrapped production in November 2021 under the direction of “It” series filmmaker Andy Muschietti, with a June 23, 2023 release date.
“Justice League”Warner Bros.
A not-funny thing happened on their way to becoming a superhero: Ezra Miller is now a toxic asset. There’s the ongoing run-ins with the law; videos of them attacking fans; and this week’s protective order from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Court involving Tokata Iron Eyes, who is now 18 but has been close to Miller since she was 12. When Miller flew her to the “Fantastic Beasts” set in 2017 when she was 14, her parents say the actor tried to sleep with her. They are trying to get their daughter away from their influence, stating: “Ezra uses violence, intimidation, threat of violence, fear, paranoia, delusions, and drugs to hold sway over a young adolescent Tokata.”
Remember when Warners had to replace Depp with Mads Mikkelsen on “Fantastic Beasts”? Those were the good old days. Today, the studio must contend with an unrepentant and potentially criminal movie star, one that has a protective order filed against them but the court has been unable to serve because their location is unknown. So far they’re sticking with their 2023 release date: They figure time is on their side.
In June 2020, when then-26-year-old “West Side Story” star Ansel Elgort got hit with an underage sexual harassment accusation (she was 17 he was 20), Disney and Steven Spielberg simply cited the pandemic in pushing back the release date. The hope was the story would lose its potency and it did. Disney focused its publicity campaign on Elgort’s Latina costars, and Ariana DeBose won the Oscar. Similarly, with the luxury of an ensemble, Disney shifted focus from Armie Hammer in “Death on the Nile.” However, neither of those movies could have been titled “Tony” or “Simon Doyle.” Warners has “The Flash,” which stars Miller as The Flash in two different roles: in one the character is 18, the other is the speedster at age 28. It also take place in a multiverse, with multiple versions of superheroes (which is why both Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck are playing Batman).
Back in our universe, Miller’s Instagram account was deactivated this week and another parent was granted a temporary harassment prevention order against the actor June 15. A mother in Greenfield, Massachusetts charged that the actor confronted her and her 11-year-old nonbinary child while Miller wore a bulletproof vest and flashed a gun. According to The Daily Beast, Miller (who also identifies as nonbinary) told the mother of her child: “They’re an elevated being, and they would be lucky to have someone like me guide them.”
“The Fast and The Furious”Everett Collection
Elgort’s transgressions dated back to 2014; between the time passed and deprecating his promotion in “West Side Story,” Elgort went on to Michael Mann’s “Tokyo Vice,” which HBO Max picked up for a second season earlier this week. Likewise, Armie Hammer’s accusations were more recent, with claims of cannibal kink and violent rape. He dropped out/was dropped from multiple projects, including Paramount+ miniseries “The Offer,” Starz miniseries “Gaslit,” and a Broadway play, and his career has yet to recover.
However, neither of these actors is an analog for Miller. Depp isn’t, either. No one is. Hollywood has never had to deal with a star of a nearly $200 million franchise — one who’s received upbeat buzz in early previews and is meant to be a long-term asset — who’s also engaging in ongoing, real-time criminal behavior and can’t be located by anyone because they’re currently dodging the law. (It’s worth noting that neither Elgort nor Hammer ever faced criminal charges.)
In the analog era, Warner Bros. would dump the movie and do its best to hide the leading man from publicity. Today, the studio has several expensive options if it wants to replace Miller.
When Paul Walker unexpectedly died in 2013 in the midst of shooting “Furious 7,” the filmmakers rewrote the ensemble piece and added a poignant farewell, using the late actor’s two brothers to create 350 shots that allowed his character to remain on screen.
It cost $10 million for Ridley Scott to remove Kevin Spacey from the 2018 release “All the Money in the World.” The director rebuilt sets, re-edited, and re-shot the supporting role with Christopher Plummer.
Similarly, Zack Snyder removed comedian Chris D’Elia from “Army of the Dead” in 2020 after multiple women accused him of pursuing them as teenagers, replacing him with Tig Notaro. (He denies the allegations.)
“The Flash” boasts some 2500 VFX shots and digital replacement has become easier than ever, but it’s one thing to replace faces; live-action close-ups are another matter. “There is much that can be done with using multiple types of techniques,” wrote one VFX master in an email. “But with LED wall technology, [they] can be erased in many cases and the new actor replace [them] and it would look pretty authentic without rebuilding sets or re-staging the sequences. That works in some or perhaps many cases. Full-on face replacement, but using their body, would work for other scenes. Once [they are] in the suit I imagine it would be hard to tell the difference. The full CG Flash of course is simple. The last version is wholesale replacing and re-filming in the set practically. Things are easier than ever with deep fake face and voice alteration getting so realistic.”
Even more than how much Warners wants to spend, it comes down to the new leadership. Warners’ executives held an emergency meeting about the fate of “The Flash” in April, but that was just before the creation of Warner Bros. Discovery and the installment of David Zaslav — not to mention new studio chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who take over for Toby Emmerich after the July 4th holiday.
Zaslav will not only weigh the ROI for keeping or replacing Miller, but also how much he’s willing to add to his bottom line. (He’s promised $3 billion in post-merger savings over the next two years.) He could decide it’s a lost cause and decline to throw good money after bad, which might mean a smaller marketing spend and an HBO Max debut — but that’s an ignominious start for a new, would-be theatrical franchise.
At this writing, we are 53 weeks away from the release date for “The Flash.” By my math, a year and a week is nowhere near enough time to make “The Flash” a franchise-shaping smash and Ezra Miller the full-throttle movie star that Warners desperately wants. Miller — wherever they may be — does not appear to be headed toward an apology or rehab or any other willing and enthusiastic desire to put this chapter behind them.
Warners would not respond to requests for comment for this story. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. | Celebrity |
Soon after the pandemic plunged Spain into confinement, Josep Maria García received a panicked call from his brother-in-law.“He told me not to worry, but that I should google the phrase ‘the worst person you know’,” said García. “I put it in and there I was, everywhere. I scrolled down and it was my face, my face, my face. I thought what is going on?”Paranoia washed over him as he scrambled to piece together what had happened. He had posed for the photo in 2014 as he accompanied his brother-in-law, a professional photographer, on a work trip to Barcelona. As his brother-in-law, who García asked not to be named, prepared for a photo session with an American writer, he asked García to stand in so that he could adjust for the light.The photo of García, then 34, turned out well – so well that the pair decided to upload it to the Getty Images catalogue.García vaguely recalled that in 2018 his brother had told him that the image had been used to illustrate an article for a US satirical magazine. At the time he had paid little heed; now as he sifted through the internet he realised he had unwittingly become a global meme. The picture had been used to illustrate a light-hearted piece about an obnoxious colleague who normally talks rubbish for once coming out with a killer observation about politics that no one can top.“You wonder, okay, now what happens,” he told the Guardian. “Will people show up here, wanting to get to know me? Or wanting to beat me up?”He struggled to reconcile his online renown with his life in Molins de Rei, a municipality of 26,000 people near Barcelona. Online he was super-famous, – a quick search of the phrase ‘worst person you know’ pulls up almost two billion results – but the fact that it was in English meant that few in his hometown or in the marketing agency where he works knew anything about it.“I would go to work and everything was normal, nobody greeted me differently,” said García.His day-to-day life rarely intersected with his online infamy, until a journalist dropped clues on how to find him in a series of social media posts. Messages came pouring in from across the English-speaking world, prompting his brother-in-law to remove the photo.But it had already come to define García online. “I’ve read comments that say ‘he has the face of a Nazi supremacist’ or that ‘there is no empathy in my look’,” he said. He shrugged off the comments, adding with a laugh: “I’ve got a lot of photos with that look – that’s my look.”One of the few people globally who shares his experience of having a face that precedes them is András Arató, a retired Hungarian engineer who in 2019 went public with what it was like to discover his face was a global meme, in his case “Hide the Pain Harold”.“At first it was a shocking experience,” Arató, then 73, told TEDxKyiv. “I didn’t know what to do.”Arató’s first reaction was to shut it all down by taking back the stock photos he had sat for one year earlier. Once he calmed down, he opted to wait and see. “My only hope was that with so many new things day after day on the internet, people will slowly forget about me,” he said. “I must say I was totally wrong.”His eureka moment came when he decided to reclaim his image, launching his own Facebook fan page with videos and stories of his travels. Offers to collaborate soon came rolling in, transforming Arató into a celebrity in his own right; from a role in a Hungarian TV commercial to a bit part in a video about Manchester City.More than two years after stumbling upon the ubiquity of his meme, García – who described himself as reserved – has come to accept his singular status. “It’s not easy. It’s surprising how many millions of hits there are,” he said. “But it’s true that with the passing of time, you start to see it differently.”For years he rebuffed interview requests, choosing to instead to stay out of the spotlight. But in recent months, as he mulls launching T-shirts that feature his meme, he has opened up to a handful of media. He has steadfastly refused to be photographed – “lest it go viral again”, he told one newspaper – hinting at the scars that continue to linger.He brushed off suggestions that his meme may have been harder to accept than others. Instead he pointed to swirling debate online as to whether the photo depicts him as the worst person or whether he is captured looking at such a person.Even so, the adverse association was hammered home during a recent appearance on Spanish TV, when he was greeted with the line: “You don’t have the face of a bad person.”The TV hosts proceeded to playfully quiz him on whether he might be the worst person they knew, asking him what kind of commission he would charge if supplying face masks during the pandemic or if he would tidy up after throwing a party at a hotel. “Thank you for your sense of humour,” one host said as García proved himself a charming guest.He has learned to lean on his sense of humour. “I find it quite funny, it’s a good article. It doesn’t disturb me or anything,” he said. “But that surprises people. There are some who ask me ‘are you seriously okay with all this?’” | Celebrity |
June 19 - Nolan Arenado belted a two-run homer, and Nolan Gorman and Tyler O'Neill each added a solo shot to fuel the visiting St. Louis Cardinals to an 11-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.St. Louis' Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmidt each had two-run singles and Arenado added an RBI single during a six-run sixth inning. Dylan Carlson and Andrew Knizner each had an RBI double, and Harrison Bader and O'Neill each had three hits to help the Cardinals snap a two-game losing skid.The offense was more than enough for Dakota Hudson (5-3), who picked up the win after allowing two runs on four hits in five innings.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBobby Dalbec had an RBI single and Kevin Plawecki drew a walk with the bases loaded for the Red Sox, who lost for just the fourth time in their last 16 games.White Sox 7, Astros 0Johnny Cueto twirled a season-best seven shutout innings while Andrew Vaughn and Luis Robert recorded three-hit games as visiting Chicago cruised to a victory over Houston.Cueto (1-3) worked a combined 12 scoreless innings over his first two starts with Chicago after May 16. In four subsequent appearances, he posted a 5.32 ERA while surrendering a .785 opponent OPS and almost as many runs (15) as strikeouts (16) over 23 2/3 innings.He reclaimed his mid-May form against the Astros on Saturday.After allowing a leadoff single to Jose Altuve in the first, Cueto induced Michael Brantley to line into a double play before retiring the ensuing nine batters. He worked around a two-out walk to Alex Bregman in the fourth inning and did not allow another baserunner until Martin Maldonado walked with one out in the bottom of the sixth.Brewers 7, Reds 3Willy Adames and Hunter Renfroe each homered for the second straight day as visiting Milwaukee beat Cincinnati.Jace Peterson added a pair of hits and two RBIs. The third baseman made several athletic plays on sharply hit balls to help rookie Jason Alexander (1-0) earn his first Major League win in his fourth career start.The Brewers got to Reds' starter Graham Ashcraft (3-1) early on to hand the right-hander his first taste of defeat in the majors. The Reds had won Ashcraft's first five starts.The Brewers won back-to-back games for the first time since sweeping a doubleheader against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on May 30.Tigers 14, Rangers 7Eric Haase led a 19-hit barrage with three hits, including a three-run homer, and scored three runs as host Detroit snapped a six-game losing streak by thumping Texas.Robbie Grossman also had three hits, including his first homer this season. Javier Baez hit a two-run homer, while Willi Castro and Kody Clemens drove in two runs apiece. Detroit's run total was its highest this season.Tigers outfielder Riley Greene reached base four times in his major league debut, including a pair of singles. Detroit starter Rony Garcia (1-2) gave up four runs (three earned) and five hits in six innings.Cubs 6, Braves 3Willson Contreras had three of his team's 13 hits and an RBI, and Justin Steele delivered five solid innings as host Chicago kept recently surging Atlanta down for a second straight game.Steele (2-5) didn't allow his two runs until the fifth inning. He also yielded five hits and three walks, but that was good enough to help the Cubs win their first series since May 16-18. Rafael Ortega homered and Jonathan Villar had two RBIs for Chicago, which has won back-to-back games for the first time since June 1-2.Adam Duvall homered and doubled for Atlanta, which averaged 7.2 runs during its 14-game win streak, but didn't score its first of this series until Saturday. Kyle Wright (7-4) had won three straight starts, but yielded five runs with a season-high 11 hits while striking out eight.Mets 3, Marlins 2Francisco Lindor homered for the second straight game and Taijuan Walker retired 18 straight batters for New York, which edged visiting Miami.The Mets have won the first two games of the four-game set and five of their last six overall. The Marlins have lost three straight and five of six.Lindor's homer and Jeff McNeil's second-inning RBI single off Braxton Garrett (1-2) provided the support for Walker (5-2), who allowed one run on two hits and one walk while striking out nine over 6 2/3 innings.Phillies 2, Nationals 1 (10 innings)Rhys Hoskins singled home Matt Vierling with the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and Philadelphia ended Ryan Zimmerman's special day with a win at Washington.Pinch hitter Hoskins opened the 10th with a ground-ball single to center off Reed Garrett (0-1), scoring Vierling from second to make it 2-1. Didi Gregorius had two hits for the Phillies, who have won five straight and 15 of their last 17.Before the game, the Nationals held a ceremony retiring the No. 11 worn by Zimmerman, who spent his entire 16-year career with Washington. Juan Soto singled and walked twice for Washington, which has lost eight straight.Yankees 4, Blue Jays 0Aaron Hicks hit a three-run double, right-hander Jameson Taillon struck out a season-best eight and visiting New York defeated Toronto to extend its win streak to nine games.Taillon (8-1) allowed four hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. The Yankees scored three runs in the fourth inning. Anthony Rizzo walked with one out and Gleyber Torres singled. After Joey Gallo struck out, Isiah Kiner-Falefa beat out an infield single to shortstop to load the bases before Hicks cleared them with a double to right.Toronto right-hander Alek Manoah (8-2) allowed four runs, six hits and one walk while striking out five in 5 1/3 innings.Royals 2, Athletics 0Right-hander Brad Keller threw seven innings of one-hit ball and Ryan O'Hearn's pinch-hit, RBI double broke a scoreless tie in the top of the seventh as Kansas City made it two straight over host Oakland.Michael A. Taylor scored the game's first run after smacking a one-out triple in the seventh off Oakland starter Cole Irvin (2-4). When the A's pulled the left-hander in favor of righty Domingo Acevedo, the left-handed-hitting O'Hearn was called upon to pinch hit for Emmanuel Rivera and came through with his RBI double. The pinch-hit was O'Hearn's seventh in 12 at-bats this season. He leads the majors in pinch hits.The triple by Taylor and double by O'Hearn were the only extra-base hits for the Royals, who out-hit the A's 7-2. The shutout loss was Oakland's eighth of the season. Both of the A's hits -- by Bride and Barrera -- were doubles.Rays 7, Orioles 6Harold Ramirez drove in three runs, including a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning, and visiting Tampa Bay snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over Baltimore.Robinson Chirinos had three hits and four RBIs for Baltimore, which rallied from a 6-2 deficit to tie the game in the sixth inning. Tampa Bay loaded the bases with one out in the ninth against Dillon Tate (0-3) and moved ahead when Ramirez's fly ball to right field easily scored Yandy Diaz from third.Ji-Man Choi hit a two-run homer for Tampa Bay, which recorded 14 hits after scoring a total of four runs in its past four games. Manuel Margot drove in two runs and Diaz had three hits and three runs.Giants 7, Pirates 5Wilmer Flores and Austin Slater homered as visiting San Francisco came back from a two-run deficit to top Pittsburgh.Brandon Crawford added an RBI double and an RBI single, Luis Gonzalez had an RBI double and Darin Ruf singled home a run for the Giants, who have won seven of eight. San Francisco starter Alex Wood (5-5) allowed four runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings, with four strikeouts and two walks.Diego Castillo hit a three-run homer and Daniel Vogelbach launched a solo shot for the Pirates, who have lost 11 of 12. Pittsburgh went ahead in the bottom of the third. Ke'Bryan Hayes doubled, and after Bryan Reynolds struck out, Hayes stole third. Michael Chavis drew a walk, and Castillo followed with his fourth homer of the season to make it 4-2.Angels 4, Mariners 2 (Game 1, 10 innings)Mike Trout hit a tiebreaking two-run homer with two outs in the top of the 10th inning as Los Angeles defeated host Seattle in the opening game of a doubleheader.With a runner at second to open the inning, Mariners right-hander Diego Castillo (3-1) retired the first two batters before Trout hit a 1-1 pitch at the bottom of the strike zone over the center-field wall. It was Trout's third homer in the first three games of the series and the 50th of his career against the Mariners.Seattle had tied the score at 2-2 in the seventh. Dylan Moore was hit by a pitch and stole second. Abraham Toro lined a single to left, with Moore stopping at third. An out later, rookie Julio Rodriguez greeted reliever Archie Bradley with a run-scoring single to right, with Toro taking third.Angels 3, Mariners 0 (Game 2)Mike Trout and Jared Walsh hit home runs and three pitchers combined on a five-hitter as Los Angeles defeated host Seattle to complete a sweep of a day-night doubleheader.The Angels won the opener 4-2 as Trout hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the 10th inning.In the nightcap, Jose Suarez, Jimmy Herget (2-1) and Archie Bradley combined to shut down the Mariners. Bradley pitched the ninth for his second save of the season.Dodgers 7, Guardians 1Trea Turner hit a go-ahead home run and Julio Urias did not give up an earned run over six innings as Los Angeles topped visiting Cleveland, which saw its five-game winning streak come to an end.Freddie Freeman had three hits and Justin Turner drove in two runs as the Dodgers won for just the third time in seven games. Los Angeles entered having scored two runs or less in five of the previous six games.Amed Rosario had one of the Guardians' two hits to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. Cleveland dropped to 4-1 on a nine-game, three-city road trip that moves to Minnesota on Tuesday.Rockies 5, Padres 4Ryan McMahon homered off San Diego reliever Luis Garcia with one out in the eighth inning to give host Colorado its ninth straight win between the two teams in Denver.McMahon's drive into the right-field seats was the Rockies' third homer of the game. C.J. Cron and Charlie Blackmon earlier hit two-run homers off Padres starter Nick Martinez. Alex Colome (2-0) worked a perfect eighth inning to earn the win. Daniel Bard picked up his 14th save.Manny Machado hit his 12th homer of the season for the Padres, a two-run shot. Luke Voit also had two hits and drove in a run. Garcia (4-4) took the loss.Twins 11, Diamondbacks 1Gary Sanchez and Ryan Jeffers each hit two-run homers to help visiting Minnesota roll to a victory over Arizona in Phoenix.Max Kepler, Alex Kirilloff and Gio Urshela added two RBIs apiece as the Twins racked up 14 hits. It marked the fifth time Minnesota scored 10 or more runs this season.Dylan Bundy (4-3) gave up one run and four hits over eight innings while recording his first win since April 23. He struck out seven and walked none while halting a seven-start winless stretch. The victory was Minnesota's first in Phoenix since June 8, 2005.--Field Level MediaRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Baseball |
Dame Kelly Holmes, 52, comes out as gay as she says 'I'm finally free' after living a 'secret life' for decadesDame Kelly has spoken about her sexuality for the first time publiclyShe confirmed she has a partner but didn't want to give any further detailsDame Kelly's family and close friends have known for decades she is gayShe revealed fears over breaking the Army's no same-sex relationship rules at the time of her service as one of the reasons for hiding her sexuality Published: 16:56 EDT, 18 June 2022 | Updated: 19:21 EDT, 18 June 2022 Dame Kelly Holmes has publicly come out as gay.The Olympic runner, 52, has spoken about her sexuality for the first time as she declared she 'finally feels free' after years of living a 'secret' life.The athletics star admitted she was 'fully aware' of rumours about her sexual orientation but is now happy to be coming out 'on her own terms'.Speaking to the Mirror, she said: 'There have been lots of dark times where I wished I could scream that I am gay – but I couldn't.' Speaking out: Dame Kelly Holmes has publicly come out as gay (pictured this year)'I needed to do this now, for me. It was my decision. I'm nervous about saying it. I feel like I'm going to explode with excitement. Sometimes I cry with relief. The moment this comes out, I'm essentially getting rid of that fear.'Dame Kelly confirmed she has a partner but didn't want to give any further details, admitting it is the first time she hasn't introduced someone as a 'friend or PA'.She explained how her family and close friends have known for years she is gay but she worried about being in trouble for breaching retrospective rules in the Forces. 'Finally free'! The Olympic runner, 52, has spoken about her sexuality for the first time as she declared she 'finally feels free' after years of living a 'secret' life (pictured 2004)At the time, the forces had a ban on LGBT soldiers, which was only lifted in 2000. Kelly had relationships with other women during her 10 years in service.Kelly, who chose to come out during Pride month, told how she first realised she was gay when she kissed another female soldier at the age of 17. After the kiss, Kelly recalled writing to her stepdad who she shares a close relationship with to explain what had happened. Smiling again: The athletics star admitted she was 'fully aware' of rumours about her sexual orientation but is now happy to be coming out 'on her own terms' Career: Kelly said she dated one woman between the ages of 27 and 32 but broke off the relationship in 2002 so she was able to focus on the Athens OlympicsShe was 'confused and scared' but Kelly revealed her stepfather accepted her straight away before coming out to the rest of her family in 1997.Touching on her previous relationships with women, she said: 'No disrespect to them, but the relationships have only been a small part of my life.'They haven't been in this fearful world with me for 34 years.'Kelly, who was made a Dame in 2005, said she dated one woman between the ages of 27 and 32 but broke off the relationship in 2002 so she was able to focus on the Athens Olympics. Being me! The TV personality, who is currently working on a documentary called Being Me, admitted she kept her true identity hidden for years and experienced episodes of self-harm has she struggled to cope (pictured in 2020)And even her massive achievement of winning gold at the 800 and 1,500 metres at Athens were ruined due to her fears of being outed.The TV personality, who is currently working on a documentary called Being Me, admitted she kept her true identity hidden for years and experienced episodes of self-harm has she struggled to cope.Kelly confessed that even as she celebrated her gold medal in the 800 and 1,500 metres at the Athens Olympics she feared being outed as her fame hit new heights. Historic: Kelly, who chose to come out during Pride month, told how she first realised she was gay when she kissed another female soldier at the age of 17 (pictured during her time in the Army)Before the 2003 World Championship finals, Kelly said she hit an all time low and self-harmed, recalling how she had 'no control' over herself.Kelly didn't ask for any support at the time out of fear she would be dropped from the Olympic team.In 2018, Kelly was made an Honorary Colonel of the Royal Armoured Corps Training Regiment, which she viewed as another barrier for her coming out.After suffering a breakdown in 2020, she made a call to a LGBTQ+ leader to question if she could still face repercussions over her Army relationships.When she was reassured that she wouldn't get in any trouble with the Forces, Kelly revealed she felt like she could 'breathe again'.Her documentary will see Kelly speak to LGBTQ+ soldiers and she said she was 'gobsmacked' about how much the Army has changed since her time serving.She said she talking to some young people in the Forces for the documentary who weren't even aware of the ban. Army: Dame Kelly in her Colonel role at Trooping the Colour Advertisement | Celebrity |
Athletics - 2016 Virgin Money London Marathon Preview - London - 21/4/16
Dame Kelly Holmes during the press conference Action Images via Reuters / Peter Cziborra LivepicRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 19 (Reuters) - Britain's double Olympic champion Kelly Holmes has revealed she is gay, saying she was nervous and excited about coming out in a move that could have saved her years of heartache.The 52-year-old, who won gold in the 800 and 1,500 metres at the 2004 Games in Athens, said on Saturday she had known she was gay since she was 17."I needed to do this now, for me. It was my decision. I'm nervous about saying it. I feel like I'm going to explode with excitement," Holmes told the Sunday Mirror newspaper.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"Sometimes I cry with relief. The moment this (interview) comes out, I'm essentially getting rid of that fear."Holmes, a former army officer who left in 1997 to concentrate on athletics, said she had hidden her sexuality for fear of repercussion, because Britain did not allow gay, lesbian and bisexual people to serve in the military until 2000.Her fears were alleviated when she contacted a military LGBTQ+ leader in 2020, who assured her that she would not face sanctions for coming out, she said."I was convinced throughout my whole life that if I admitted to being gay in the army I'd still be in trouble," Kelly said. "I felt like I could breathe again (after the call). One little call could have saved 28 years of heartache."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Other Sports |
I’ll refrain from recording this as a key event until it’s confirmed, but a delayed start looks likely, reports the indispensable Cricinfo. The scene is wet, plenty of movement from the groundstaff but not much from the players as yet. Would be surprised if the toss is on-time but we shall see.” Some talk of an inspection from the umpires at 10.45am (which would definitely mean a delayed toss).I say this a lot, but for those of us who remember the 80s and 90s, England’s one-day prowess will never cease feeling bizarre. What’s especially ludicrous about it all is the strength in depth – they did what they did the other day without Jonny Bairstow, perhaps their greatest-ever limited overs batter, Joe Root, perhaps their most reliable-ever limited overs batter, and Ben Stokes, their most Ben Stokes-ever limited overs batter. How good they are is not normal. Well, here’s another potential solution: Seelaar mightn’t play today, say Cricinfo – he’s got a back situation – and there might also be a rain situation. It’s dry now, but there was plenty of it overnight, so whether we can start on time depends on the quality of Amstelveen’s drainage. PreambleThere’ve been many fateful words spoken in the cricketing history, but in recent times, few as painful as “We’ll have a bowl please”. But when the coin fell on Friday morning, that’s exactly what Pietaar Seelaar said, and but a few hours later, his team were on the wrong end of an absolute tumping.It’s not hard to see why he made the call he did – he probably fancied chasing and feared the skittling that could end the match quicksmart. But that went as it went, meaning the question of what to do today will be bothering him something fierce this morning. On the one hand, England’s bowling is nowhere near as fearsome as England’s batting, so taking first knock makes some sense. Yet, on the other, why should his improving team compromise? Maybe it’s best just hope that Eoin Morgan – whose golden duck the other day was one of the great captain’s sacrifices – calls wrong. Play 11am local, 10am BST | Other Sports |
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John FettermanAP Photo/Keith SrakocicA poll from Insider's partners at YouGov found American men go to the doctor less often than women.Just 47% of men have been to a doctor in the past 6 months, compared to 64% for women.Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman recently disclosed he hadn't been in 5 years.American men go to the doctor less often than their female counterparts, a new YouGov poll found.While 64% of women said they've been to a doctor or primary care provider in the past 6 months, only 47% of men said the same, a 17-percentage-point gap.After Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. and Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman had a stroke in May, he called attention to what he described as an all-too-common tendency of men not going to the doctor."Like so many others, and so many men in particular, I avoided going to the doctor, even though I knew I didn't feel well," Fetterman said after his doctor said he hadn't heard back from him in over 5 years. "As a result, I almost died. I want to encourage others to not make the same mistake."Like Fetterman, 9% of male respondents said they hadn't been to a doctor in at least 5 years. Only 2% of women had the same response.The YouGov poll also found 21% of men have no primary care provider.The most common reasons those men cited were 28% who said they "didn't have a need for one," 26% who said they "don't like medical visits", and 19% who said they "don't trust medical workers."Among women without a primary care provider, the top reason cited by 34% was that they "can't afford it," a concern held by just 18% of men without a primary doctor.In addition to seeking medical care less frequently, studies have found that men receive less attention from doctors on average, and that they're provided with fewer and briefer explanations.There was also a racial disparity among those in the YouGov poll saying they had no primary care provider, with 29% of Hispanic and 22% of Black respondents saying they don't have one compared to 15% for white respondents.The pollwas conducted among 1,000 Americans from June 7 to June 10 using YouGov's opt-in internet panel using sample matching. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.Read the original article on Business Insider | Men's Health |
A year ago Emma Raducanu was focused on her A-levels. Most aspiring tennis players need to have a backup plan. A talented junior, Raducanu was not being touted as the next big thing even by those within tennis. And then came Wimbledon, breakthrough wins and an abrupt fourth-round exit that put her on the front pages, before that incredible, magical run to the US Open title.While some parts of Raducanu’s story are wildly different from previous eras, Christine Truman finds echoes. “Watching Emma Raducanu in 2021 making her Wimbledon debut as an 18-year-old girl brought back memories of my own debut at 16 in 1957,” she writes in her new memoir, Christine Truman to Serve. Truman was – still is – the youngest British semi-finalist in the women’s singles since Lottie Dod in 1887. “Like Emma I was unseeded with no expectation, but two weeks later everyone knew my name.”Two years later Truman reached a ranking of world No 2 and became the youngest women’s singles champion at the French Open. Her prize? A £40 voucher.When Truman is asked whether she felt pressure walking on to Centre Court, she smiles, a little perplexed: “Pressure? I did not feel pressure. I wasn’t thinking about what pressure was. I was just thinking: ‘I’ve been practising for this, I’ve been dreaming of this. Here I am. I’m going to play on Centre Court. Wow. Terrific. This is what I’ve been waiting for.’ When I lost in the semi-final I was miserable.“Straight after the match I was invited by Princess Marina to the royal box to celebrate. ‘What are we celebrating?’ I thought. I just lost. It didn’t occur to me that getting to the semi-final was an achievement in itself. No. I was upset because my mind was set on being the best tennis player in the world.”This earnest, intense drive to be the best sits surprisingly comfortably alongside her father’s tendency towards understatement: “Christine enjoys a game of tennis.” Her father refused to miss a day’s work to watch her play and so missed all four of her Wimbledon semi-finals. Her mother was, says Truman, very strict. “She did not do nerves or pressure: ‘Just get on with it and don’t make a fuss!’”Christine Truman with the winner’s trophy at Roland Garros after beating Zsuzsi Kormoczy to take the 1959 French Open. Photograph: AFP/Getty ImagesTruman was the fifth of six tennis-playing children. She played mixed doubles at Wimbledon with her brother Humphrey, and her sister Nell was runner-up in the French Open doubles in 1972. Truman had to fight hard to get court time. Her first tennis lesson, at nine years old, was given to her after an older sister, Isabel, fell sick. “I was so happy,” she laughs.In those days there was no agent and no expectation of remuneration. When a BBC producer rang their home to ask if Christine would appear in the panel game Children’s Hour, hosted by Richard Dimbleby, for £3 and 10 shillings, her mother misunderstood the offer: “Certainly not! We cannot afford that sort of money for Christine to appear on television.” For sponsorship Slazenger agreed to supply Christine with two rackets a year and Dunlop provided two pairs of Green Flash tennis shoes.Christine Truman with Althea Gibson, after the American won their 1957 Wimbledon semi-final 6-1, 6-1. Gibson went on to be champion. Photograph: Keystone/Getty ImagesThe prize for being runner-up at Wimbledon in 1961 was £15, the equivalent of just over £100 today. That money could not be spent on anything tennis related, as that would render the winner a professional. This year the runner-up will take home £1.05m and the winner £2m.Despite her amateur status, Truman trained like a professional as did her rivals such as Althea Gibson, Maria Bueno and Margaret Court. “It was not all cucumber sandwiches,” Truman says.Truman had a physical trainer, one of the first to practise circuit training, and a one-to-one coach. But Norman Kitovitz was unpaid and – at his own behest – a secret, even from his children, until the publication of her memoir last month.Kitovitz played to a high standard and had a private income. He watched her play in London but could not travel to her overseas matches. Still, every week for five years, between 1957 and 1961, Truman received a letter from Kitovitz. “It takes courage, patience, perseverance and the firm belief that what you are doing is right – let nobody put you off – don’t listen to a soul. You must not give up now. You have only just begun. I feel that all champions, whether in sport or other professions, have three main qualities: 1, Courage. 2, Confidence in their own ability. 3, Correct technique.”That faith in her never wavered. “Norman was important as a coach,” Truman says. “He always wanted me to enjoy working on the practice court otherwise my improvement would be stunted … He wanted me to be instinctive, which takes hours of practice.”She continues: “I knew what I wanted to do. I felt lucky that I was good. I was grateful for that. I was doing what I loved to do. I wanted to work hard. When I got on to court, with the knowledge that I had trained as hard as I could, I felt like I should be there. I was in the right place. I had given myself the best chance to win.” | Tennis |
Disney's Buzz Lightyear Park Mascot Turns Into a Real Boy!!! ... Er, Space Man, Rather 6/18/2022 12:30 PM PT Buzz Lightyear has a new look at Disney Parks -- instead of the classic toy costume we're used to seeing when their in-house mascots roam around ... now, he's much more lifelike. The change was announced this week by Disney's official Laughing Place social media page -- which handles all their park news. As you can see, Buzz isn't made of plastic anymore ... he's an actual human being dressed in a space suit -- and not just that, but he talks! It seems Disney timed this roll-out with the release of Pixar's "Lightyear" flick, which just hit theaters Friday. Indeed, it was that exact day that this real-life Buzz showed up at Tomorrowland within L.A.'s Disney HQ. Makes sense ... y'know, future-y vibes, etc. As for how new Buzz interacts ... he's still in character as an out-of-place astronaut who doesn't recognize our world, in search of intelligent life -- just like in 'Toy Story.' Buzz Lightyear has landed in Tomorrowland at Disneyland. 🚀✨ pic.twitter.com/Gj1owD4oia— Patrick Dougall (@PatrickADougall) June 17, 2022 @PatrickADougall The strange thing, of course, is that he's missing Buzz's classic purple space cap -- which usually makes him look like a professional swimmer -- and his signature wings. The colors are also kinda dull ... AKA, no green/purple anywhere to be seen. So, interesting iteration. Lastly, you might notice that this Disney Parks Buzz doesn't really sound like the classic Tim Allen character -- or even Chris Evans for that matter. Namely, no deep all-American voice. To infinity and beyond? | Movies |
The Manchester United chief executive Richard Arnold met disgruntled supporters in a pub to address concerns about the future of the club.Fans had been planning a protest outside Arnold’s Cheshire home amid ongoing unrest about the ownership of the Glazer family. The CEO, who replaced Ed Woodward earlier this year, bought drinks for the group and discussed a range of topics, including the owners and United’s pursuit of the Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong. Arnold reportedly said money was “not a consideration” in the club’s summer recruitment drive when asked about transfer plans under new boss Erik ten Hag.A spokesperson for Manchester United said: “Richard heard that a group of fans had gathered in a pub near his house. He went to meet them, bought them all a drink, listened to their views, and explained what the club is doing to deliver success on the pitch, improve the stadium, and strengthen engagement with fans.”Footage of the meeting appeared on social media on Saturday evening.United endured their worst Premier League campaign from a points perspective, finishing sixth with a tally of 58 following only 16 wins from their 38 games. The underwhelming season was played out against a backdrop of ongoing protests against the Glazers.A new era is set to begin at Old Trafford following the appointment of Ten Hag. The former Ajax manager has replaced the interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who took over following Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s dismissal in November. Rangnick was initially due to remain with the 20-times English champions in a consultancy role but that plan was scrapped last month. | Soccer |
On the 4rth of may, NASA's InSight Mars Lander measured a record-breaking 'Mars quake' with an estimated magnitude of 5.0 using its onboard seismic instrument. It was the largest quake the lander has encountered since its landing on the red planet in 2018 and the largest ever detected on another planet.The largest ever marsquakeDuring its three and a half year stay on Mars, Insight has registered over 1300 mars quakes. The latest detection now tops that list. The previous record quake came in with an estimated magnitude of 4.2 detected back in 2021.NASA speaks of a "monster quake". The space agency is not yet able to say exactly where the quake occurred and what caused the vibrations. Further research should clarify this.Quakes on Mars probably can't get much more substantial than this one as Mars, unlike Earth, has no moving plates that can cause tremors. Researchers have evidence indicating that marsquakes may instead be caused by volcanic activity. | Space Exploration |
Alan Carr, Oti Mabuse and Iwan Thomas were among the famous faces to share their support for Dame Kelly Holmes after she publicly came out as gay. The Olympic runner, 52, has spoken about her sexuality for the first time as she declared she 'finally feels free' after years of living a 'secret' life.And her celebrity pals were quick to flock to her support and share their praise, with many gushing that they were 'so happy' for the athlete. Speaking out: Dame Kelly Holmes (pictured this year) has publicly come out as gay and stars were quick to share their supportKelly had spoken about coming out in an Instagram post where she wrote: 'This journey has been the hardest part of life. Living with any kind of fear is debilitating. You and here everyday but not fully living every day.'I have lived in fear for 34 years and I am exhausted and don't want to anymore. I hope those that read my story will help me through this next scary phase but also be there for others.'And responding to her candid comments, Dancing On Ice's Oti Mabuse shared her support, commenting on Kelly's Instagram post: 'Really happy for you.'Alan Carr also sent his well wishes as he commented an array of clapping hands emojis underneath Kelly's post. 'Finally free'! The Olympic runner, 52, has spoken about her sexuality for the first time as she declared she 'finally feels free' after years of living a 'secret' life (pictured 2004)Olympic sprinter Iwan Thomas gushed: 'Yes Kelly so much love.' Former heptathlon athlete Denise Lewis, who won the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, penned: 'Yes Kelly.'This Morning's Josie Gibson also said she was 'very proud' of Kelly, while DJ Naughty Boy also commented a string of love heart emojis.Singer Lucy Spraggan added: 'I love this and you. Welcome.' Proud: The TV personality is currently working on a documentary called Being Me (pictured) Pals: Dancing On Ice's Oti Mabuse was quick to share her well wishes just hours after Kelly's announcement, saying: 'Really happy for you'While drag queen Baga Chipz said: 'We love you Dame Kelly.'Former track cyclist Shanaze Reade also penned a string of love heart emojis in the comments of Kelly's post.Elsewhere in the sporting world, weightlifter Emily Muskett, boxer Cathy Brown and netball player Jade Clarke all sent supportive messages to their fellow athlete.The outpouring of support came just hours after Kelly publicly came out as gay after living a 'secret life' for decades. Love: Her celebrity pals were quick to flock to her support and share their praise, with many gushing that they were 'so happy' for the athleteSports: Olympic sprinter Iwan Thomas and former heptathlon athlete Denise Lewis, who won the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, both commented: 'yes Kelly'The athletics star admitted she was 'fully aware' of rumours about her sexual orientation but said she was happy to be coming out 'on her own terms'.Speaking to the Mirror, she said: 'There have been lots of dark times where I wished I could scream that I am gay – but I couldn't.'I needed to do this now, for me. It was my decision. I'm nervous about saying it. I feel like I'm going to explode with excitement. Sometimes I cry with relief. The moment this comes out, I'm essentially getting rid of that fear.'Dame Kelly confirmed she has a partner but didn't want to give any further details, admitting it is the first time she hasn't introduced someone as a 'friend or PA'. 'I have lived in fear': Kelly also spoke about coming out in an Instagram post where she said the journey had been 'the hardest part of life' and said living with fear had been 'debilitating' Smiling again: The athletics star admitted she was 'fully aware' of rumours about her sexual orientation but is now happy to be coming out 'on her own terms'She explained how her family and close friends have known for years she is gay but she worried about being in trouble for breaching retrospective rules in the Forces.At the time, the forces had a ban on LGBT soldiers, which was only lifted in 2000. Kelly had relationships with other women during her 10 years in service.Kelly, who chose to come out during Pride month, told how she first realised she was gay when she kissed another female soldier at the age of 17. After the kiss, Kelly recalled writing to her stepdad who she shares a close relationship with to explain what had happened.She was 'confused and scared' but Kelly revealed her stepfather accepted her straight away before coming out to the rest of her family in 1997. Being me! The TV personality admitted she kept her true identity hidden for years and experienced episodes of self-harm has she struggled to cope (pictured in 2020)Touching on her previous relationships with women, she said: 'No disrespect to them, but the relationships have only been a small part of my life.'They haven't been in this fearful world with me for 34 years.'Kelly, who was made a Dame in 2005, said she dated one woman between the ages of 27 and 32 but broke off the relationship in 2002 so she was able to focus on the Athens Olympics.And even her massive achievement of winning gold at the 800 and 1,500 metres at Athens were ruined due to her fears of being outed.The TV personality, who is currently working on a documentary called Being Me, admitted she kept her true identity hidden for years and experienced episodes of self-harm has she struggled to cope. Historic: Kelly, who chose to come out during Pride month, told how she first realised she was gay when she kissed another female soldier at the age of 17 (pictured during her time in the Army)Kelly confessed that even as she celebrated her gold medal in the 800 and 1,500 metres at the Athens Olympics she feared being outed as her fame hit new heights.Before the 2003 World Championship finals, Kelly said she hit an all time low and self-harmed, recalling how she had 'no control' over herself.Kelly didn't ask for any support at the time out of fear she would be dropped from the Olympic team.In 2018, Kelly was made an Honorary Colonel of the Royal Armoured Corps Training Regiment, which she viewed as another barrier for her coming out.After suffering a breakdown in 2020, she made a call to a LGBTQ+ leader to question if she could still face repercussions over her Army relationships.When she was reassured that she wouldn't get in any trouble with the Forces, Kelly revealed she felt like she could 'breathe again'.Her documentary, which comes out on June 26, will see Kelly speak to LGBTQ+ soldiers and she said she was 'gobsmacked' about how much the Army has changed since her time serving.She said she talking to some young people in the Forces for the documentary who weren't even aware of the ban. Army: Dame Kelly in her Colonel role at Trooping the Colour | Celebrity |
CNN — The US Open is teed up for a tantalizing grandstand finish following a quite literal whirlwind third round at The Country Club Saturday. As heavy winds in Brookline wreaked havoc across the field, the picture at the top of the leaderboard was blown wide-open, with Will Zalatoris and Matt Fitzpatrick sharing the lead at four-under par heading into Sunday’s deciding round. Blustery conditions – a subject in every post-round news conference – contributed to an array of helter-skelter scorecards, with a mere 10 of the 64-man field scoring at least par, and only seven carding under. It means just four strokes separate the leading duo from Nick Hardy in 10th place. Reigning champion Jon Rahm had looked poised to end the day in pole position to defend his crown, surging through the penultimate four holes before double bogeying the 18th to leave him one stroke off the leading pair. The Jekyll and Hyde round of Scottie Scheffler epitomized the day. Having sped into the lead with a blistering front nine featuring two birdies and a stunning eagle, the world number one endured a dismal stretch of a double bogey and three consecutive bogeys after the turn. He ended the day two shots off the lead at two-under, joined by compatriot Keegan Bradley and qualifier Adam Hadwin, the surprise early front-runner from Thursday’s opening round. Co-leader heading into Saturday had been Collin Morikawa, who became one of the biggest casualties of the Brookline winds. After posting 69 and 66 through the first two rounds, the American shot two double bogeys en route to carding a 77, leaving him six strokes off the front. Morikawa’s co-leader at the start of the day, Joel Dahmen, fared better despite also dropping down the leaderboard, shooting a 74 to end the day three strokes off the summit alongside Sam Burns and Rory McIlroy. Ranked 14th in the world, Zalatoris starred with a round-best 67. The American has come agonizingly close in recent years, missing out on the Masters by a stroke in 2021 before suffering a playoff defeat to Justin Thomas at the PGA Championship in May. Having already labeled The Country Club course as the hardest he’d ever played regardless of the weather, Zalatoris revealed conditions were so “brutal” he didn’t aim shots at any of the hole’s flags. Now 18 shots from glory, the 25-year-old believes he has what it takes to get over the line. “Coming off the PGA [Championship] it gave me a lot of belief and confidence that I belong in this situation,” Zalatoris told reporters. “There’s a difference in thinking it, and then actually being in the situation and believing it … I’ve put myself in this situation a few times in my career, and obviously have to go out and get it tomorrow.” World number 18 Fitzpatrick carded a two-under 68 to join Zalatoris at the summit. Though the Englishman is also without a major to his name, he has experience of winning at The Country Club, having won the US Amateur in Brookline in 2013. He has since racked up seven European Tour wins, but admitted his career would feel “incomplete” if he retired without tasting major glory. “I genuinely would be disappointed if I didn’t,” Fitzpatrick told reporters. “I definitely feel like I have much more of a chance now to win a major than I ever have done in my career.” Sunday’s deciding round is set to begin at 8:49 a.m. ET, with pairs’ tee off times staggered in ascending order up the leaderboard. Fitzpatrick and Zalatoris will be the last duo to tee off at around 2:45 p.m. ET. Rahm, the first Spaniard to win the US Open with victory at Torrey Pines in 2021, was left with the paradoxical feeling of being both “very content” with his performance and ruing a late collapse. Discussing the blustery conditions, the 27-year-old said he would “run to the clubhouse” if offered a one-over par to skip the last five holes. “It’s infuriating in a sense to finish that way with how good I played those holes,” Rahm told reporters. “I have 18 holes, and I’m only one shot back. That’s the important thing.” Scheffler also chose to adopt an upbeat mood despite the effect of the elements on his round. Enjoying a spectacular 2022 with victory at the Masters and three further PGA Tour wins, the 25-year-old showed his class to steady the ship after a terrifying stretch, closing with three pars and a birdie. “That little golf ball is just getting thrown around all over the place,” Scheffler told reporters, before discussing what a win come Sunday would mean to him. “If I do, it’s going to be really fun. If I don’t, life will go on,” he said. “Hopefully this won’t be my last US Open, but you never know. Can’t take anything for granted in this life. “So I’m going to approach tomorrow the way I always do and just go out there and try and do my best and see what happens after that.” | Golf |
The Manchester United chief executive Richard Arnold met disgruntled supporters in a pub to address concerns about the future of the club.Fans had been planning a protest outside Arnold’s Cheshire home amid ongoing unrest about the ownership of the Glazer family. The CEO, who replaced Ed Woodward earlier this year, bought drinks for the group and discussed a range of topics, including the owners, financial issues and United’s pursuit of the Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong. Arnold reportedly said money was “not a consideration” in the club’s summer recruitment drive when asked about transfer plans under new boss Erik ten Hag.A spokesperson for Manchester United said: “Richard heard that a group of fans had gathered in a pub near his house. He went to meet them, bought them all a drink, listened to their views, and explained what the club is doing to deliver success on the pitch, improve the stadium, and strengthen engagement with fans.”Footage of the meeting appeared on social media on Saturday evening.United endured their worst Premier League campaign from a points perspective, finishing sixth with a tally of 58 following only 16 wins from their 38 games. The underwhelming season was played out against a backdrop of ongoing protests against the Glazers.A new era is set to begin at Old Trafford following the appointment of Ten Hag. The former Ajax manager has replaced the interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who took over following Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s dismissal in November. Rangnick was initially due to remain with the 20-times English champions in a consultancy role but that plan was scrapped last month. | Soccer |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Two Florida sheriff's deputies shared news of actor and comedian Bob Saget's death from earlier this year with people close to them before officials had notified the "Full House" star's family, an investigative report revealed.The deputies have been disciplined for their actions, the report stated, according to FOX 35 Orlando.‘9-1-1: LONE STAR’ ACTOR TYLER SANDERS DEAD AT 18 Bob Saget Saget died on Jan. 9, 2022, at the age of 65 after he was found unresponsive in his hotel room in Orlando. He was staying in the city while performing comedy shows in the area. The medical examiner concluded that Saget died after falling and hitting his head.In the hours after Saget was found unresponsive, when law enforcement was conducting its investigation, Orange County deputy Emiliano Silva reportedly sent a text message to his brother informing him of Saget's death, the report found. His brother would then share the news in a tweet that was later deleted. Silva was one of the first officers to respond to Saget's collapse at the hotel.TIM SALE, COMEDIC ARTIST, DEAD AT 66 Bob Saget and wife Kelly Rizzo Silva was unaware that his brother shared the news on Twitter until someone showed him a screenshot forty minutes later, the report noted. He had urged his brother to delete the tweet but by that time, several media outlets had begun to ask about Saget's death.And deputy Steven Reed, who was not on duty or part of the investigation at the hotel but was informed of the death by a fellow Orange County deputy, texted the news to two of his neighbors who had reportedly attended one of Saget's shows days before his death, according to the report.‘TEEN MOM' ALUM LANE FERNANDEZ DEAD AT 28 "Full House" stars Dave Coulier, Candice Cameron Bure and Bob Saget reunite. (Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage)Both cases had occurred prior to officials informing Saget's family of his death.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe deputies had violated the sheriff's department's dissemination of information directive and reached disciplinary agreements through the "Discipline Dispute Resolution Process," the report said. The specific disciplinary actions were not included in the report. | Celebrity |
E-40 I Called GSW In 6 After Gm 1 Loss ... And We're Only Getting Started! 6/18/2022 1:03 PM PT TMZSports.com It was June 4. The Warriors just blew a double-digit, 4th-quarter lead to the Celtics at home. Many people thought the championship was there for Boston to take. But, not rap legend E-40 ... who straight up told us Golden State "in 6." And, that's exactly what happened. Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media. TMZ Sports talked to E-40 Saturday morning about everything from his prediction, to Steph Curry's legacy, to Boston fans talking s***, and in what will be music to the Warriors fans' ears ... how the team isn't done winning 'chips. "They definitely did [win in 6], and they did it in classy fashion. With all the trash-talking and slander, with all odds against them. Like I said it takes a strong team, mentally and physically. Strong individuals, to overcome what they overcame with so much doubt." Of course, the Warriors won the series in 6 games. On Steph's legacy, 40 believes he's one of the greatest players ever. "Steph Curry my G.O.A.T., bro. I'm not saying that because I know him and he's such a good person." He continued ... "I've never seen anybody get down like he gets down on the court, ever." FYI, Curry now has 4 NBA titles, 2 NBA MVPs, and 8 All-Star appearances. Golden State Warriors 40 even weighed in on the Boston area bar who infamously wrote "Ayesha Curry Can't Cook" on a sign outside their restaurant ... something the diehard Warriors fan says was out of line. "They're talking about folks wives. That's their livelihood. Even when they were talking about "Ayesha can't cook." They ain't never tasted her cooking, and it's somebody that's also a chef themself, or got a restaurant that said that, that's just straight hatin'," 40 says. "That's her livelihood. She got all kinds of cooking shows, all kinds of cooking endorsements and all kinds of stuff, restaurants, she doing her thing. So, you don't do that. That's some sucker s*** if you ask me." 6/4/22 TMZSports.com When we talked to 40 a few weeks ago, he said he had a special gift for the Finals MVP ... and true to his word, 40 says he's going to hook up Steph with a bunch of his Earl Stevens Selections next week. Now, the part Warriors fans will really like ... 40's prognosis for the squad going forward. GSW has won 4 titles in the last 6 years ... and they've made 6 Finals in the last 8 seasons. But, 40 says they're nowhere near done yet. "We gonna start with this dynasty. We got young players. I think we're gonna get a few more, I don't think it's gonna stop!" | Basketball |
You should care about gases because you live in one—the air around you is a gas. Understanding how gases behave is also useful when dealing with things like air bags, rubber balloons, bicycle pumps, and even underwater sports like scuba diving. But let's be honest. You aren't here for party balloons or bicycle pumps. You are probably here because you are in an introductory chemistry course, and the ideal gas law is very confusing, and so you Googled it.(Or, maybe you’re just here for science kicks. In which case, awesome.)So what is the ideal gas law? The super short answer is that it’s a relationship between the pressure, volume, temperature, and number of particles for a given gas. The equation looks like this:Illustration: Rhett AllainThese five terms are: the pressure (P), volume (V), number of moles (n), a constant (R)—with a value of 8.3145 joules per kelvin-mole—and temperature (T). You can't understand the ideal gas law without knowing what each of these terms describe.There's another version of this equation that physicists sort of like:Illustration: Rhett AllainThere are two differences in this version. Instead of n for the number of moles, we have N for the total number of gas particles. Also, the constant R is replaced with k, the Boltzmann constant, with a value of 1.380649×10−23 joules per kelvin.Let’s explain each of these terms.PressureImagine that the air around you is made of a bunch of tiny balls. These balls are so tiny that you can't see them, but they are moving in all directions. This is exactly what a gas is: It's made of many molecules that are traveling at different speeds and in different directions. In the case of the air you breathe, these molecules are mostly molecular nitrogen (two nitrogen atoms bound together), but there's also some molecular oxygen (two oxygen atoms). These molecules aren't actually tiny balls, but for this model, imagining a ball shape will be fine.If you put this gas inside of a box, some of these balls would collide with its walls. Here is a diagram of one of these collisions:Illustration: Rhett AllainNow we need a little bit of physics. Suppose you have a moving object, like a bowling ball. If there isn't a force that acts on the ball, it will just keep moving along at a constant speed and direction. So, if it does change direction—like when it collides with a wall—then there must be a force pushing on it. But since forces are always an interaction between two things, if the wall pushes on the ball, then the ball also has to push on the wall.The same thing happens with very tiny objects, like the molecules of a gas. Each time one of these little gas-balls collides with the wall of the container, it exerts a tiny force on the wall.We define pressure as the force per area. As an equation, it looks like this:Illustration: Rhett AllainF is the force, and A is the area. The force from a single collision depends on both the speed of the molecule and its mass. Just think of it this way: You could throw a low-mass golf ball at a very high speed or you could roll a very massive bowling ball at a slow speed. It’s possible that the fast golf ball could have the same impact as the slow bowling ball if its velocity makes up for its lower mass.The total force on a wall of a container holding a gas will depend on the speed and mass of the molecules, but also on how many of them collide with the wall. For a given time interval, the number of collisions with the wall depends on two things: the speed of the molecules and the area of the wall. Faster-moving molecules will produce more collisions. So will a larger wall area. To determine the pressure on the wall, you divide this collision force by the area. So, in the end, the pressure of a gas just depends on the mass and speed of the molecules.It’s easy to understand the idea of pressure when the molecules of a gas are colliding with the wall of a container. However, it’s important to remember that these molecules still move—and still have pressure—even when they aren’t contained by anything. In physics, we let the pressure be an attribute of the gas, not of its collisions with the wall.TemperatureEveryone knows that 100-degree Fahrenheit air is hot and 0-degree Fahrenheit air is cold. But what does that actually mean for the tiny molecules of a gas? In short, the molecules in cold air move slower than the ones in hot air.The temperature of an ideal gas is directly related to the average kinetic energy of these molecules. Remember that kinetic energy depends on both the mass and the speed of an object squared (K = 0.5mv2). So, as you increase the temperature of a gas, the molecules move around faster and the average kinetic energy increases.How fast are these molecules of air moving? Air is a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen, and these two have different masses. So, at the same temperature, an average nitrogen molecule will have the same kinetic energy as an oxygen molecule, but they will move at different speeds. We can calculate this average speed with the following equation:Illustration: Rhett AllainSince air has more nitrogen, I will just calculate the speed of that molecule with a mass of 4.65 x 10-26 kilograms. (Yes, molecules are super tiny.)Although it's not that convenient for everyday discussions, the ideal gas law works best in temperature units of kelvins. The Kelvin scale is adjusted so that the absolute coldest thing possible will be 0 kelvins, meaning it has zero kinetic energy. This is also called absolute zero, and it is really super cold: -459.67 Fahrenheit or -273 Celsius. (That’s even colder than the planet Hoth at -40 Celsius, which happens to be -40 Fahrenheit.)Remember that temperature depends on the kinetic energy of molecules. You can't have negative kinetic energy, because mass isn't negative and the velocity is squared. So you shouldn't be able to have negative temperatures. The Kelvin scale fixes this problem by not using them. The lowest you can go is 0. A gas at absolute zero would have no kinetic energy, meaning its molecules aren’t moving at all.Now with the Boltzmann constant, the mass, and the temperature in Kelvin of nitrogen gas, I get an average molecule speed of 511 meters per second. If you like imperial units, that's 1,143 miles per hour. Yeah, those molecules are zooming around for sure. But remember, this isn't a 1,000-mph wind. First, that's just the average speed; some of the molecules are going slower and some are going faster. Second, they are all going in different directions. For wind, the molecules would mostly be moving in the same direction.VolumeI think this one is pretty easy, but I'm going to explain it anyway. Let's say that I have a big cardboard box that is 1 meter on each side. I fill it with air and then close it up. That's a gas volume of 1 cubic meter (1 m x 1 m x 1 m = 1 m3).How about a balloon filled with air? Honestly, that's a little more complicated, since balloons aren't regular shapes. But suppose it's a completely spherical balloon with a radius of 5 centimeters. Then the volume of the balloon will be:Illustration: Rhett AllainThat might seem like a large volume, but it's not. It's almost half of a liter, so that's half a bottle of soda.Moles and ParticlesThese moles aren’t the furry creatures that make holes in the ground. The name comes from molecules (which is apparently too long to write).Here's an example to help you understand the idea of a mole. Suppose you run an electric current through water. A water molecule is made of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. (That's H2O.) This electric current breaks up the water molecule, and you get hydrogen gas (H2) and oxygen gas (O2).This is actually a pretty simple experiment. Check it out here:https://youtu.be/9j8gE4oZ9FQSince water has twice as many hydrogen atoms as oxygen, you get twice the number of hydrogen molecules. We can see this if we collect the gases from that water: We know the ratio of the molecules, but we don't know the number. That's why we use moles. It's basically just a way to count the uncountable.Don't worry, there is indeed a way to find the number of particles in a mole—but you need Avogadro's number for that. If you have a liter of air at room temperature and normal pressure (we call that atmospheric pressure), then there will be about 0.04 moles. (That would be n in the ideal gas law.) Using Avogadro's number, we get 2.4 x 1022 particles. You can't count that high. No one can. But that's N, the number of particles, in the other version of the ideal gas law.ConstantsJust a quick note: You almost always need some kind of constant for an equation with variables representing different things. Just look at the right side of the ideal gas law, where we have pressure multiplied by volume. The units for this left side would be newton-meters, which is the same as a joule, the unit for energy.On the right side, there is the number of moles and the temperature in Kelvin—those two clearly do not multiply to give units of joules. But you must have the same units on both sides of the equation, otherwise it would be like comparing apples and oranges. That's where the constant R comes to the rescue. It has units of joules/(mol × Kelvin) so that the mol × Kelvin cancels and you just get joules. Boom: Now both sides have the same units.Now let's look at some examples of the ideal gas law using an ordinary rubber balloon.Inflating a BalloonWhat happens when you blow up a balloon? You are clearly adding air into the system. As you do this, the balloon gets bigger, so its volume increases.What about the temperature and the pressure inside? Let's just assume they are constant.I'm going to include arrows next to the variables that change. An up arrow means an increase and a down arrow means a decrease.Illustration: Rhett AllainOn the left side of the equation, we have an increase in volume, and on the right an increase in n (number of moles). That can work. Both sides of the equation are increasing, so they can still be equal to each other. If you like, you could say that adding air (increasing n) makes the volume increase and blows up the balloon.But if the rubber part of the balloon stretches, does the pressure really remain constant? What about the temperature—is that also constant?Let's check real quick. Here I'm using both a pressure and temperature sensor. (The temperature probe is inside the balloon.) Now I can record both of these values as the balloon is inflated. Here's what that looks like:Photograph: Rhett AllainAnd here is the data:Illustration: Rhett AllainIf you look at the start of the graph, the pressure is at 102 kilopascals (kPa). The Pa is a pascal, which is the same as a newton per square meter, but it sounds cooler. So this is 102,000 N/m2, which is right around the normal atmospheric pressure.When I start to blow up the balloon, there's a spike in the pressure up to 108 kPa, but then it drops down to 105 kPa. So yes, that's an increase in pressure—but it's not very significant.The same is true for the temperature, which starts at 23.5°C and then rises to 24.2°C. Again, that's really not a big change. After the balloon is inflated, it decreases in temperature. Whenever you have two objects with different temperatures, the hotter thing will get cooler once it’s in contact with a colder thing. (Just like putting hot muffins on the kitchen counter cools them because they contact the colder air). So it seems like assuming a constant pressure and temperature is fairly legit.When you inflate a balloon, you push molecules of air from inside your lungs into the balloon. That means you increase the number of air molecules in the balloon—but these air particles are mostly at the same temperature as the ones that were already there. However, with more molecules in the balloon, you get more collisions between the air and the rubber material of the balloon. If the balloon was rigid, this would increase the pressure. But it's not rigid. The rubber in the balloon stretches and increases the volume so there is a greater area for these molecules to hit. So, you get an increased volume and a greater number of particles.Cooling a BalloonFor the next demonstration, we can start with an inflated balloon that's sealed off. Since it's closed, air can't enter or leave—that makes n constant.What happens if I decrease the temperature of the air? If you want, stick a balloon in the freezer for a few minutes. I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm going to pour some liquid nitrogen on it, with a temperature of -196°C or 77 Kelvin. This is what it looks like:Video: Rhett AllainAgain, the pressure in the balloon stays mostly constant, but the temperature decreases. The only way for the ideal gas law equation to be valid is for the volume to also decrease.Illustration: Rhett AllainThe liquid nitrogen decreases the temperature of the gas. This means that the molecules are moving around at a slower speed, on average. Since they are moving slower, these molecules have fewer collisions with the rubber material of the balloon and these collisions have a smaller impact force. Both of these factors mean that the rubber won't be pushed out as much, so the rubber shrinks and the balloon gets smaller.Of course when the balloon warms back up, the volume also increases. It returns to its starting size.Squeezing a BalloonLet's again start with an inflated balloon that is sealed, so that the amount of air inside is constant (n stays the same). Now I'm going to squeeze the balloon and make it smaller.Photograph: Rhett AllainOverall, the volume of the balloon does indeed decrease. So, what happens to the pressure and the temperature? Let's take a look at the data from the sensors.Illustration: Rhett AllainThe pressure goes from about 104 to 111 kilopascals, and the temperature increases from 296 K to 300 K. (I converted it to Kelvins for you.) Notice that the temperature doesn't actually change that much. In fact, I think it's OK to approximate this as a constant temperature during the "big squeeze." That means that there is an increase in pressure along with a decrease in volume. Using my equation with arrows, it looks like this:The stuff on the right side of the equation is constant (temperature, number of moles, and the R constant).That means the left side of the equation must also be constant. The only way for this to happen is for the pressure to increase by the same factor that the volume decreases. That's obviously what happens, even though I didn't measure the volume because it's a weirdly shaped balloon.The size of the balloon decreases with the squeeze. This makes a smaller surface area for the molecules to collide into. The result is that there are more collisions. With more collisions, the pressure in the gas increases.Ultimately, it doesn't matter if the example is about putting air into a balloon or a bike tire or even your lungs. (We often call this "breathing.") All of these situations can have a change in pressure, temperature, volume, and the amount of gas, and we can understand them by using the ideal gas law.Maybe it wasn’t so confusing after all. | Chemistry and Material Sciences |
Richard Arnold became the CEO of Manchester United in February following Ed Woodward's exitManchester United chief executive Richard Arnold headed off a planned protest outside his Cheshire house by meeting some fans in his local pub.Part of the discussion was secretly filmed and posted on social media.Arnold, 51, appears to be filmed saying United had "burned" through £1bn on players over the past few years.He also says the money that new manager Erik ten Hag and director of football John Murtough want to spend on new players "is there".It is understood talks are continuing with Barcelona over Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who is Ten Hag's number one summer transfer target.United have not won the Premier League since 2013 and last won a trophy in 2017. They finished last season in sixth place, having sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and replaced him with interim boss Ralf Rangnick.Arnold described last season as "a nightmare" but he also criticised the fan protests that were held at many of the club's final home games of the season.Fans held various protests against the Glazer family's ownership of the Old Trafford club last season at home games and the training ground.In May 2021, protests by fans led to their Premier League home game against Liverpool being postponed. It followed United's decision, along with five fellow Premier League clubs, to join the European Super League (ESL) the previous month, before subsequently all pulling out.In January 2020, then executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward's Cheshire home was attacked by fans.Arnold became CEO on 1 February 2022, following the exit of Woodward.'He knows huge mistakes were made' - assessing Woodward's reignThe Sports Desk podcast: Can Manchester United be restored to its former glory? | Soccer |
Kim K & Kanye Attend North's Basketball Game ... No Pete In Sight 6/18/2022 1:44 PM PT Kim Kardashian and Kanye West seem to be on much better terms than some might think -- especially amid Pete Davidson's continued integration -- because the exes reunited again. Check out these photos, obtained by TMZ, which we're told were shot Friday at a multi-purpose gym facility near Thousand Oaks, CA ... where their eldest daughter, North, was playing in a league basketball game for kids around 7 PM. There's mom and dad in the stands ... looking on as North does her thing with her team. They weren't even that far apart -- just a row back from one another, in very close proximity. Eyewitnesses tell us they did speak from time to time throughout the evening, and appeared to be cordial. Neither parent made a big scene by cheering or much of anything else ... we're told they looked like they were just trying to lay low and just watch North together. This is definitely a good sign of successful co-parenting, which Kim and Kanye had already shown they can do without issue. Remember, they did this exact sort of thing back in March when they hit up Saint's soccer game in the same crew. There, too, they looked OK. That was during a time when Kanye was raging online as Pete and Kim's relationship was getting more serious ... but since then, he's calmed down a lot and been mostly silent. 6/4/22 TMZ.com Of course, much has changed in the months that have followed ... including the undeniable fact that PD has not only met Kim and Kanye's kids, but has gotten pretty close with them as well -- evidenced in a recent one-on-one outing he had with their son at The Grove. When people saw this ... they figured Ye might flip his lid again, but based on this latest outing between the two parents, something tells us everyone's on the same page now. | Celebrity |
Victoria Beckham led the celebrity Father's Day celebrations on Sunday, by paying tribute to husband David and her dad Tony.The Spice Girl, 48, took to Instagram to praise both fathers in her life as she shared a slew of snaps of the pair of them.Alongside a string of shots of her and Tony indulging in a few beverages, she wrote: 'Happy Father’s Day to my favourite drinking partner! We all love you so much'. Leading the way: Victoria Beckham led the celebrity Father's Day celebrations on Sunday, by paying tribute to husband David and her dad Tony 'You are out everything': She penned: 'Happy Father’s Day to the best, most loving Daddy in the world!! We all love you so much @davidbeckham, you are our everything'She also shared several photos of David, 47, alongside their four children, Brooklyn, 23, Romeo, 19, Cruz, 17 and Harper, 10, at Brooklyn's wedding to Nicola Pelz in April of this year.Letting the images do the talking, fashion designer Victoria kept her accompanying message short and sweet, penning: 'Happy Father’s Day to the best, most loving Daddy in the world!! We all love you so much @davidbeckham, you are our everything'.Victoria also took to her Instagram Stories, to share an adorable video of David nuzzling Harper's pet rabbit Coco, and writing: 'The best daddy to the whole family, even Coco!' Sweet: The Spice Girl, 48, took to Instagram to praise both fathers in her life as she shared a slew of snaps of the pair of themDaddy's girl: Alongside a string of shots of her and Tony indulging in a few beverages, she wrote: 'Happy Father’s Day to my favourite drinking partner!' Tribute: She added on the end: 'We all love you so much' Nuptials: She also shared several photos of David, 47, alongside their four children, Brooklyn, 23, Romeo, 19, Cruz, 17 and Harper, 10, at Brooklyn's wedding to Nicola Pelz in April of this year The boys: One picture showed the four boys suited and booted for the upcoming wedding celebrations Helping out: Letting the images do the talking, fashion designer Victoria kept her accompanying message short and sweet Cute: Victoria also took to her Instagram Stories, to share an adorable video of David nuzzling Harper's pet rabbit Coco, and writing: 'The best daddy to the whole family, even Coco!Meanwhile, Jodie Marsh also took to Instagram to pay tribute, sharing several pictures of her and her dad, and writing that her dad was her 'hero'.She gushed: 'Happy Father’s Day to the best dad in the whole world !!!!!!!! You are my hero!!!!! The godfather, a legend and the bestest man ever.'Even if I didn’t have such HORRENDOUS taste in men, no man would ever live up to you anyway as you’re the last of the real men!!! love you sooooooo much. 'Thank you for everything you do for me. You are truly the best dad ever and I am so lucky to have you!!! Here’s to many more memories and fun times. Love you, you utter LEGEND !!!!!' 'Hero': Meanwhile, Jodie Marsh also took to Instagram to pay tribute, sharing several pictures of her and her dad, and writing that her dad was her 'hero' Gushing: She gushed: 'Happy Father’s Day to the best dad in the whole world !!!!!!!! You are my hero!!!!! The godfather, a legend and the bestest man ever'Joining her in posting was Jacqueline Jossa, who shared an array of pictures of her three children sweetly surprising dad Dan Osborne with breakfast in bed.Captioning the adorable snaps, she wrote: 'Happy Father’s Day @danosborne ❤️ You truly are a dream come true. Thankyou for being the best daddy ever to our babies ❤️ Morning breakfast made by the kids'.Meanwhile, Sam Palmer also enjoyed a surprise of his own by his kids and fiancee Petra Ecclestone. Surprise! Joining her in posting was Jacqueline Jossa, who shared an array of pictures of her three children sweetly surprising dad Dan Osborne with breakfast in bed High praise: Captioning the adorable snaps, she wrote: 'Happy Father’s Day @danosborne ❤️ You truly are a dream come true' Breakfast in bed: She added: 'Thankyou for being the best daddy ever to our babies ❤️ Morning breakfast made by the kids'Father's Day surprise: Meanwhile, Sam Palmer also enjoyed a surprise of his own by his kids and fiancee Petra EcclestoneSweet gesture: They surprised him with a heart-shaped balloons and a pile of football themed cupcakes, with a card that was emblazoned with 'Best Dad' on it Grateful: Alongside the photos, he simply wrote: 'Lucky man'They surprised him with a heart-shaped balloons and a pile of football themed cupcakes, with a card that was emblazoned with 'Best Dad' on it.Alongside the photos, he simply wrote: 'Lucky man'.Mario Falcone shared an adorable video from his recent wedding to Becky, where he danced with her and their son Parker Jax, three.Captioning the sweet clip, he wrote: 'Being daddy in the Falcone family is the best thing in the world. I am very lucky to have you both. Love you my little Parker Jax'. Dance: Mario Falcone shared an adorable video from his recent wedding to Becky, where he danced with her and their son Parker Jax, three Lucky: Captioning the sweet clip, he wrote: 'Being daddy in the Falcone family is the best thing in the world. I am very lucky to have you both. Love you my little Parker Jax'Meanwhile, Gary Neville paid tribute to his late father, Neville, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 65, saying how much he missed him.Alongside a photo of Neville, Gary wrote: 'Miss you dad so much. What hurts more is what you’re missing. Thunder winning the Netball with Tracey , the holidays , the football in Miami with Phil , Socceraid last week, our girls and the sleep overs, baby Nev, Harvey playing well , Issy and everything she’s achieving and most of all being with mum and travelling everywhere to be with us. He concluded by adding: 'We attack the day because of you'. Tragic: Meanwhile, Gary Neville paid tribute to his late father, Neville, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 65, saying how much he missed him Loss: Alongside a photo of Neville, Gary wrote: 'Miss you dad so much. What hurts more is what you’re missing'Hollywood actor Henry Golding's wife, Liv, shared a sweet tribute to him on Instagram as well, alongside several pictures of him and their daughter.She wrote: 'I know everyone’s dad is the best dad, and this dad certainly is too. 'He takes the best care of us whether near or far and always puts us first. We love you dada!' Adorable: Hollywood actor Henry Golding's wife, Liv, shared a sweet tribute to him on Instagram as well, alongside several pictures of him and their daughterGlowing compliment: She wrote: 'I know everyone’s dad is the best dad, and this dad certainly is too' Happy Father's Day: 'He takes the best care of us whether near or far and always puts us first. We love you dada!'Ronnie Wood's wife Sally, took the time to make an Instagram post, dedicating it to her husband and her dad.She shared a slew of snaps of her father, as well as an adorable video of her and Ronnie's six-year-old twin daughters doing his hair.Captioning them, she wrote: 'Happy Father’s Day! A couple of family pics ~ including one of my dad’s favourite, him with Dave Edmunds! xx Love you Dad, @ronniewood & Andy'. Celebration: Ronnie Wood's wife Sally, took the time to make an Instagram post, dedicating it to her husband and her dad Rock n roll! She shared a slew of snaps of her father, as well as an adorable video of her and Ronnie's six-year-old twin daughters doing his hair Love: Captioning them, she wrote: 'Happy Father’s Day! A couple of family pics ~ including one of my dad’s favourite, him with Dave Edmunds! xx Love you Dad, @ronniewood & Andy'Rebekah Vardy also paid tribute to her footballer husband Jamie with a cute collection of snaps of him with their children.She earnestly captioned them: 'Happy Father’s Day to the most incredible Daddy. Thank you for everything you do for us.'While, new dad and former Love Islander Alex Bowen, shared a photo with his stepdad and wife Olivia, writing: 'Happy Father's Day to the step dad (the legend) stay weird.' Family: Rebekah Vardy also paid tribute to her footballer husband Jamie with a cute collection of snaps of him with their children Touching: She earnestly captioned them: 'Happy Father’s Day to the most incredible Daddy. Thank you for everything you do for us' 'Stay weird: While, new dad and former Love Islander Alex Bowen, shared a photo with his stepdad and wife Olivia, writing: 'Happy Father's Day to the step dad (the legend) stay weird'Mark Wahlberg took to his own Instagram grid to share a video, where he flicked through a photo album while giving a 'shoutout' to all the dads, including his late father Donald.David Seaman shared a photo of his dad holding a giant fish proudly, and captioned it: 'A very happy Dad celebrating Fathers Day in style today!!'Ore Oduba shared a very touching video of his four-year-old son Roman, giving his 85-year-old dad a heartwarming hug. Proud: David Seaman shared a photo of his dad holding a giant fish proudly, and captioned it: 'A very happy Dad celebrating Fathers Day in style today!!' Heartwarming: Ore Oduba shared a very touching video of his four-year-old son Roman, giving his 85-year-old dad a heartwarming hug '81 years apart': He captioned the moving clip: '81 years apart…. Can’t tell you how lucky I feel to be link between these two. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads and father figures out there, including my Paps. Best job in the world'He captioned the moving clip: '81 years apart…. Can’t tell you how lucky I feel to be link between these two. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads and father figures out there, including my Paps. Best job in the world'.Tamara Beckwith paid tribute to her husband Giorgio Veroni, with a lengthy Instagram post and series of shots of him with their children.She gushed: 'HaPpY HaPpY FaThEr’s Day Papa Giorgi.. Your dedication to your children & Noush & Luna is remarkable.. I may pull you up sometimes but really it’s you who keeps us all so tight..'You came from good parenting stock & for that I am extremely lucky… Thank you for everything.. We couldn’t love you anymore than we do.. Be content you make everyone feel loved & safe.. What an amazing quality..'Thank you for making our family just that… a Family… ♥️ You are special in so many ways… Love us all.. xxxxx ♥️ Handsome: Tamara Beckwith paid tribute to her husband Giorgio Veroni, with a lengthy Instagram post and series of shots of him with their children Happy: She gushed: 'HaPpY HaPpY FaThEr’s Day Papa Giorgi.. Your dedication to your children & Noush & Luna is remarkable.. I may pull you up sometimes but really it’s you who keeps us all so tight..' | Celebrity |
On the morning of 25 August 2014, a 16-year-old girl arrived at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in a baffling condition. She was short of breath but had no chest pain. She had no history of any lung condition and no abnormal sounds in her breathing. But when the emergency room doctor on duty pressed on her neck and chest, he heard noises like Rice Krispies crackling in a bowl of milk. Spaces behind her throat, around her heart and between her lungs and chest wall were studded with pockets of air, an X-ray confirmed, and her lungs were very slightly collapsed.The doctors were confused until she said that she’d been screaming for hours the night before at the Dallas stop on One Direction’s Where We Are Tour. The exertion, they hypothesised, had forced open a small hole in her respiratory tract. It wasn’t really a big deal – she was given extra oxygen and kept overnight for observation and she required no follow-up treatment. But the incident was described in all its absurd, gory detail in a paper published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine three years later. The lead physician wrote that such a case had “yet to be described in the medical literature”. Doctors were familiar with military pilots, scuba divers and weightlifters straining their respiratory tract, but this case presented the first evidence that “forceful screaming during pop concerts” could have the same physical toll.This was a novelty news item: an easy headline and a culturally salient joke about the overzealousness of teenage girls. It was parody made real and recorded with the deepest of seriousness, for all time, in a medical journal. I know nothing else about the girl who loved One Direction so much that she collapsed her lungs over it. Her doctor wrote to me that he’d asked, at the time, for her permission to tweet at TV host Jimmy Fallon about the incident – he’d argued that maybe she would get to meet One Direction. “But she was too bashful!!!! Classic teenager,” he said, adding a laugh-crying emoji.I’ll never know who she is or hear her personal explanation of what made her scream so much. In this specific circumstance, that’s because of medical privacy laws, which are good. But it’s also emblematic of a bigger lack: we have seen so many screaming girls. Every time we see them, we’re like, “They’re screaming”. And that’s it. Yet the screaming fan doesn’t scream for nothing and screaming isn’t all the fan is doing. It never has been.At “Harryween”, Harry Styles’s “fancy dress party” at Madison Square Garden last year, fewer girls dressed to impress in the “fancy” sense than in the meme sense, signalling fandom knowledge of in-jokes and stories more than a desire to look attractive. My sister dressed as Harry Styles working in a bakery in England in the 00s, while I dressed as the shrine that one fan erected at the site where Styles vomited beside the 101 freeway in Los Angeles in 2014. Of course, part of my costume was confiscated by arena security because if you let one piece of posterboard into the arena you’ll end up letting a chaotic amount of posterboard into the arena – and no one will be able to see the show.Reports about screaming girl fans – like those from Styles’s current tour, which kicked off last week in Glasgow – have rarely, if ever, noticed these kind of subtleties. When the Beatles visited Dublin for the first time, in 1963, the New York Times reported that “young limbs snapped like twigs in a tremendous free-for-all”. When they arrived in New York City in February 1964 – a little more than a month into the US-radio-chart reign of I Want to Hold Your Hand – there were 4,000 fans (and 100 cops) waiting at the airport and reports of a “wild-eyed mob” in front of the Plaza Hotel.Nearly all of the writing about the Beatles in mainstream American publications was done by established white male journalists. Al Aronowitz, the rock critic best known for introducing the Beatles to Bob Dylan and to marijuana (simultaneously) in the summer of 1964, reported that 2,000 fans “mobbed the locked metal gates of Union Station” when the Beatles performed in Washington DC. Then, when the Beatles came to Miami, 7,000 teenagers created a four-mile-long traffic jam at the airport and fans “shattered 23 windows and a plateglass door”. A plateglass door!“Being a fan is very much associated with feminine excess, with working-class people, people of colour, people whose emotions are seen as being out of control,” Allison McCracken, an associate professor and director of the American-studies programme at DePaul University, told me. “Everything is set up against this idea of white straight masculinity, where the emotions are in control and the body is in control.”McCracken is an expert on the history of the “crooner” in American culture and her 2015 book, Real Men Don’t Sing, credits Rudy Vallée and Bing Crosby with making the blueprint for a pop sensation in the late 1920s and early 30s. McCracken visited the American Radio Archives, in Thousand Oaks, California, to see Vallée’s personal archive of fan letters, dating back to 1928. She was fascinated by the way the women who were writing to him were surprised by their own emotional reactions to his music and were confused by the idea of falling in love with a voice they’d heard only over the radio. “They were responding to his voice and saying, ‘I don’t understand why I’m so happy and joyous and why you’re moving me so much,’” she said. “They were writing to him and saying, ‘Can you explain what’s happening to me?’”Bruce Springsteen fans use their idol to mould their identity, rather than being defined by their fan status, a researcher found. Photograph: Pictorial Press Ltd/AlamyThough psychologists had in the early 1900s started describing adolescence as a unique stage of life, the word teenager itself wasn’t widely used until the late 1940s, McCracken explained, and the most eager speakers of the term were also marketers. They realised in the postwar boom years that far fewer kids were dropping out of school to earn money for their families and that far more were being given allowances and plenty of leisure time. The 1950s and 60s saw more and more products marketed explicitly to teenagers, often reinforcing the idea that they were a distinct group of people with a separate identity from their parents and with the rise of teen-marketed products came teen-oriented TV shows during which they could be advertised.So long as teens existed as a lucrative market category, the industry would supply them with a teenybopper idol. When these idols were written about by journalists and critics, it was often with full acquiescence to their marketing, tinged with disdain. This was the case as recently as 2010, when the idol was Justin Bieber. When he performed his first sold-out show at Madison Square Garden that September, the New York Times music critic Jon Caramanica titled his review “Send in the Heart-throbs, Cue the Shrieks” and wrote that Bieber “teased the crowd with flashes of direct emotional manipulation”.Two years later, One Direction were battling Bieber for the No 1 spot on the US charts, and in the hearts of American teenagers, and Caramanica started reviewing the band’s output with equal attentiveness. He called their 2012 second album, Take Me Home, “a reliable shriek-inducer in girls who have not yet decided that shrieking doesn’t become them”. He panned the band’s 2013 album, Midnight Memories, writing: “They play the part almost resentfully, with the mien of people who know better… Whether this is transparent to the squealers who make up their fanbase is tough to tell.”This idea that fans are an amorphous mass and that culture is something that happens to all of them in the same way can be traced back to Theodor Adorno, whose 1938 essay, cited in the New York Times’s coverage of Beatlemania, described fans at live music performances as empty vessels: “Their ecstasy is without content.” Adorno’s work has been the starting point for the past 70 years of pop culture analysis, perhaps right up until the 1990s when cultural historian Daniel Cavicchi spent three years interviewing Bruce Springsteen fans about where their love of Bruce had come from and how it had coloured their lives for his book Tramps Like Us. At the time it was still up for serious debate whether the adoration of a pop star turned a person into an idiot. The cultural anxiety around popular culture then – which has relaxed now, even if it hasn’t totally disappeared – was that it was a homogenising force that turned every participant into a mindless consumer. But in speaking to hundreds of fans, Cavicchi found something different. These people were exploiting the ultra-popular things they loved in order to become more completely themselves. “Springsteen fans… do not indicate that popular culture is shaping their identity but rather that they are shaping their identity with popular culture,” he wrote.What many commentators couldn’t – or wouldn’t – see was that fans have not just passively enjoyed or loudly desired the objects of their fandom. They’ve also edited them and recirculated them and used them as the inspiration for a range of creative works on and offline. The art, the stories, the fan fiction and the in-jokes are as much a part of what it means to be a fan as staking out an airport or memorising dozens of songs. Fans transform their own image by playing with expectations and flouting the rules; dress themselves up in the spirit of Harry Styles – indulging in elaborate cosplay – as an expression of devotion that is also a prolonged creative exercise. When Styles started wearing blouses and pearls and high-waisted trousers, so did they. They bought old-school rocker platform boots or knitted their own sweaters in the styles of his expensive, designer ones and expressed their fandom through aesthetic iteration.Beatles fans in New York, 1964. Photograph: Mirrorpix/Getty ImagesThere’s something else the critics didn’t realise: fan girls are funny. In 1964, a group of girls in Encino, California, founded an organisation they called Beatlesaniacs Ltd. It was advertised as “group therapy” and offered “withdrawal literature” for fans of the Beatles who felt that their emotions had got out of hand. In a 1964 issue of Life magazine, the group is covered credulously. (The spread on Beatlemania features a full-page image of a girl kneeling on the ground, grass clenched in her hand, tears streaming down her face – whether or not she was actually thinking, “Ringo! Ringo walked on this grass!”, that is how the photo is captioned.) The club is mentioned in a small sidebar, entitled “How to Kick the Beatle Habit”. “What Beatlesaniacs Ltd offers is group therapy and withdrawal literature,” it reads. “Its membership card immediately identifies the bearer as someone who needs help.”The club was obviously a joke. Its rules included such items as “Do not mention the word Beatles (or beetles)”, “Do not mention the word England”. But nobody is primed to see self-critique or sarcasm in fans. Seeing them toy with their own image or recognise their own condition contradicts the popular image that has circulated for the past 100 or so years.Take the story of the shrine to Harry Styles’s vomit. The facts are these: in October 2014, Styles went to a party at the British pop singer Lily Allen’s house in Los Angeles. The next morning, riding in a chauffeured Audi, in his gym clothes, on the way back from “a very long hike”, he requested that the driver pull over. On the side of the 101 freeway, just outside Calabasas, he threw up near a metal barrier, looked up and locked eyes with a camera.Harry Styles pictured with fans in 2013. Photograph: Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Sony PicturesThe day they were taken, the photos circulated in tabloids and online, and a few hours later, a Los Angeles-based 18-year-old named Gabrielle Kopera set out to find the spot and label it for posterity. She taped a piece of posterboard to the barrier: “Harry Styles threw-up here 10-12-14,” she wrote in big letters. The grainy photo she posted first to her own Instagram circled the globe. It is referenced in articles about “the moment Harry Styles knew he’d made it”, which was supposedly the moment someone told him his vomit had been scooped off the ground and was up for sale on eBay.At the time she took the shot, Kopera was bored: she didn’t have the money for a four-year university course so she’d stayed home to work and to study at a local community college while most of her friends moved away. Being a fan of Styles and One Direction made her feel as if she had something to do that wasn’t a chore.She was surprised and confused by the way her photo was covered in the media, as if it was something more bizarre than a comedy routine she was performing, primarily with herself as the audience. “It was more a joke about my life than his,” she told me.By the end of One Direction, the media’s treatment of the band’s music and its fans had changed significantly. In part, this was because of a rise in the estimation of pop music among critics and a new focus among content makers on women’s websites for celebrating almost everything any girl did as “inspiring” and “empowering”. Guilty pleasures were to be enjoyed, not insulted, and it was rude to call them guilty pleasures at all. It is inappropriate now to make fun of girls for screaming or boybands for existing or anybody for liking anything.You could argue Harry Styles helped drive this cultural change when he appeared in spring 2017 on the cover of Rolling Stone, interviewed by the music journalist and Almost Famous writer-director Cameron Crowe. “Who’s to say that young girls who like pop music – short for popular, right? – have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That’s not up to you to say,” he told Crowe. “Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they’re not serious? How can you say young girls don’t get it? They’re our future. Our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kind of keep the world going.” He really went for it. “Teenage-girl fans – they don’t lie. If they like you, they’re there. They don’t act ‘too cool’. They like you and they tell you. Which is sick.”Two American fans trying out their Beatles wigs ahead of the group’s arrival in New York, 6 February 1964. Photograph: Keystone/Getty ImagesI’m happy that he said that, because I know it meant something important to a lot of people. But it’s hard to celebrate the fangirls’ coming of age the way I’d like to, because it is also being celebrated by the sort of people who will use it to make more money out of us. And it’s being celebrated by well-meaning people in sort of embarrassing ways – as if liking a boyband is a radical political act, the same way wearing well-designed T-shirts with punchy slogans on them is a sincere expression of feminism and Pantone creating a shade of red called “Period” is empowering for anyone who menstruates. Not all women are “our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents”, I would love to tell Harry Styles. Not all women keep the world going!But alongside the overenthusiastic “acceptance” lies an essential truth: the little indignities and the big disappointments of being young, of not finding the love you want or of not becoming the person you’d hoped – these things are tempered by fandom. Fandom is an interruption; it’s as simple as enjoying something for no reason and it’s as complicated as growing up. It should be celebrated for what it can provide in individual lives. What this is, exactly, is hard to know if you don’t bother to ask. It’s generally much more than a scream. Kaitlyn Tiffany is a writer at the Atlantic. This is an edited extract from her book Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (£13.99). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply | Music |
ABC7 New York 24/7 Eyewitness News StreamTHE LOOP | Live NYC weather and traffic camsWATCH LIVEWelcome, Your AccountLog Out NEW YORK (WABC) -- The legendary Paul McCartney turned 80 years old on Saturday.McCartney received a touching birthday tribute from the youngest son of his former songwriting partner, John Lennon.Sean Ono Lennon posted an acoustic cover of the Beatles' song, 'Here, There and Everywhere' on his Instagram.Lennon captioned the song with a note to McCartney that read,"A little birdy told me this was one of your fav Beatles tunes. So Happy Birthday! Thank you for all the beautiful music. You have mine and the whole world's undying love and respect." Copyright © 2022 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved. | Music |
When a colleague pulled out his iPhone in the Chicago Cubs clubhouse Thursday afternoon to show a factoid he received from the team’s historian, my head began to spin.After the four-game sweep by the San Diego Padres, the Cubs had been outscored by 20 or more runs in back-to-back series for only the second time in franchise history. The other time it happened was in September 1879, when the Cubs were outscored by the Providence Grays by 20 runs (29-9) and the Boston Braves by 23 (31-8).Of all the bad teams in Cubs history, we finally have a matching set, separated by only 143 years.I wondered how the 1879 Cubs handled their beatings. Did they have stand-up players like closer David Robertson or catcher Willson Contreras who stepped up Thursday and faced media members after the embarrassing losing streak reached 10 games? Was the manager on the hot seat afterward? Did Cubs fans of 1879 ignore the drubbings on the field and focus on building the longest beer cup snake known to modern man at Lake Front Park?Thanks to modern technology — a subscription to the Chicago Tribune — I was able to find some answers.The Tribune, which turned 175 on June 10, did not employ a baseball beat writer back in 1879, when the Cubs were known as the White Stockings, Rutherford B. Hayes was president and the telephone had just been invented three years earlier.The 1879 team was managed by Cap Anson, a first baseman who led the White Stockings to the National League pennant in 1876, the first year of the new league. Anson later was called “baseball’s first superstar” by the Society for American Baseball Research, which wrote: “So good was Anson’s bat control that he struck out only once during the 1878 season and twice in 1879.” Cubs slugger Patrick Wisdom, who can strike out three times in one afternoon, is no Cap Anson.Adrian "Cap" Anson, right, was manager of the Chicago White Stockings, the predecessors of the Cubs, from 1877 to 1897. There was no account of the 17-8 loss in Boston on Sept. 10, 1879, the first time in Cubs history the team had lost consecutive series by 20 or more runs. The big sporting news in the Tribune’s Sept. 11 edition was that Syracuse, one of the eight NL clubs, had disbanded, canceling the three games scheduled in New York that weekend with the White Stockings. As it turned out, Anson’s 1879 team had more dissension than manager David Ross’s 2022 version, which has been controversy-free so far. Under the news of Syracuse folding was an item on the release of right fielder George Shaffer, who apparently was a talkative fellow nicknamed “Orator.”“A good many people in Chicago during the present season have objected to George Shaffer… on the ground that he was too much of a ‘chinner,’” the paper reported. “The Tribune has on several occasions alluded to the peculiarity of this young man, but out of consideration for him did not state, as it might have done, that, in addition to being noisy and troublesome on the field, Shaffer was the far worst kind of disorganizer, even going so far not so long ago as to charge another member of the nine with selling games, thus starting a rumor, which spread all over the country, that there was crookedness in the White Stocking camp.”This was before baseball rumors spread on Twitter or TikTok, because, you know, the phone had just been invented. That meant Orator Shaffer’s rumor the White Stockings had been selling (throwing) games was spread by a combination of word of mouth, the telegraph and newspapers.Anyways, Shaffer — whose baseball encyclopedia listing is spelled “Shafer” — had been in a “rough and tumble fight” outside a Boston hotel with teammate Ed Williamson, according to the Tribune. Shaffer was “badly worsted and somewhat used up by the encounter,” the report said, and demanded his immediate release.This was the kind of dust-up White Sox general manager Rick Hahn would refer to as a “nothing burger,” but the Tribune reported the White Stockings refused to release Shaffer until it could telegraph the team president in Chicago. White Stockings president William Hulbert eventually sent a telegraph back to Boston stating it was imperative to release Shaffer, who no longer would orate in Chicago.Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.The Tribune item ended with the unnamed author taking one last shot at Shaffer, concluding Hulbert’s actions would be endorsed “by the Chicago public to a man.” Even 143 years ago Tribune sports writers were trying to dump unpopular players. Imagine that.That was the end of the saga, and the Tribune virtually ignored the White Stockings the next couple weeks. But the paper provided a brief summary of the team’s up-and-down season in a Sept. 28 article headlined: “Providence Wins the Pennant.” The story mentions the White Stockings’ 14-1 start in May, and the slew of injuries that followed: “The Chicago boom continued with great force until the 1st of July, and then began the chapter of accidents and misfortunes that landed the team in third place.”The Trib report was particularly harsh on White Stockings pitcher Terry Larkin, one of the team’s two starters, who went 31-23 with a 2.44 ERA in 58 starts, with 57 complete games:“For the loss of power Larkin himself was alone to blame. He is simply an addition to the long list of ball-players who have ruined themselves by dissipation. They deserve no pity and seldom receive any.”The story included the long list of injuries that doomed the 1879 White Stockings, who went 4-12 in September to finish fourth with a 46-33 record.If you believe the adage “what goes around, comes around,” there could be hope for Ross’ 2022 Cubs. Despite enduring back-to-back series beatings that no team in franchise history would match until now, the 1879 White Stockings would go on to capture three straight NL pennants from 1880-82, a couple decades before the first World Series.And just like in 1879, you can read about it here. | Baseball |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Hollywood has welcomed many new dads in 2022. Here is a look at the men celebrating their first Father's Day this year.Sam HuntSam Hunt and his wife Hannah Lee Fowler welcomed their baby girl, Lucy Lu, in May. The news of the couple’s newest addition to their family comes nearly a month after Fowler called off her divorce from Hunt in early May. In Fowler’s divorce filing, she specifically accused Hunt of being "guilty of inappropriate marital conduct," "guilty of adultery" and "guilty of such cruel and inhuman treatment or conduct toward the spouse as renders cohabitation unsafe or improper." Sam Hunt and Hannah Lee Fowler welcomed their daughter three weeks after she called off her divorce from the singer. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)Nick JonasNick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra welcomed their first child via surrogate in January. Jonas will be celebrating his first Father’s Day with his daughter, Malti Marie.SAM HUNT'S PREGNANT WIFE HANNAH LEE FOWLER CALLS OFF DIVORCE, JUDGE DISMISSES FILINGJonas' introduction to fatherhood has not been the easiest. The Jonas Brothers star shared that his daughter spent her first 100 days in a newborn intensive care unit before she was welcomed home. Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra welcomed their daughter, Malti Marie, in January via surrogate. (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage)A$AP Rocky Rihanna and A$AP Rocky welcomed their first child together in May. Their son’s name has not been revealed, but Rocky recently opened up to Dazed about what kind of children he wants to raise."I will always remind my children to never lose their imagination, even as adults, no matter what. I actually love to watch cartoons – I’ve watched like ‘Teletubbies,’ ‘Blue’s Clues,’ ‘Yo Gabba Gabba,’ ‘Peppa Pig’ and ‘Baby Shark.’"RIHANNA GIVES BIRTH, WELCOMES FIRST CHILD WITH A$AP ROCKY"I hope to raise open-minded children," he continued. "Not people who discriminate. And I’m not trying to describe a saint, but realistically, I just want a cool child with cool parents." Asap Rocky and Rihanna welcomed their son in May. (Photo by Jacopo M. Raule/Getty Images for Gucci)KJ Apa"Riverdale" star KJ Apa and model Clara Berry welcomed their son, Sasha Vai Keneti Apa, together in September. "He is a perfect perfection. I am the luckiest to have now two men of my life, filling my heart with this cosmic gigantic vast love," Berry wrote on Instagram at the time.The couple first sparked romance rumors in August 2020 when Apa shared a series of nude pictures featuring the model while on vacation. KJ Apa is a first time dad. Clara Berry and the actor welcomed their son in September. (Photo by Cindy Ord/WireImage)Colin JostColin Jost is celebrating his first Father’s Day with Scarlett Johansson since the couple welcomed their son, Cosmo, in August. The "Black Widow" actress shares her daughter, Rose, with ex-husband Romain Dauriac, but Cosmo is Jost’s first child. Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost welcomed a son named Cosmo in August. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)John MulaneyJohn Mulaney and Olivia Munn welcomed their son Malcolm Hiệp Mulaney in November. "Meet Malcolm Hiệp Mulaney. He has his whole life ahead of him. He hasn’t even tried seltzer yet," Munn wrote on Instagram at the time. "I’m very in love with him and his whole deal. Happy Holidays." John Mulaney and Olivia Munn welcomed their son in November. (Getty Images)Drew Scott The "Property Brothers" star Drew Scott and his wife Linda Phan welcomed their baby boy, Parker James, in early June. "Our lives are forever changed. Welcome to the world Parker James," Scott wrote on Instagram.The couple married in 2018 and Phan revealed on an episode of their podcast in December that they used IVF treatment in order to get pregnant. Drew Scott and Linda Phan welcomed their baby boy, Parker James, in June. (Getty Images)Odell Beckham Jr.Los Angeles Rams football player Odell Beckham Jr. and his girlfriend, Lauren Wood, welcomed their son shortly after Beckham Jr. won the 2022 Super Bowl in February. Their son Zydn was born on February 17. "THE biggest blessing I've ever had in my life arrived here on earth!" he wrote in an Instagram post. "The words, I can’t even put together for the overwhelming emotions that ran thru me … a moment I will never forget and cherish forever." Los Angeles Rams player Odell Beckham Jr. welcomed his son Zydn with girlfriend Lauren Wood a few days after winning the 2022 Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)Shia LaBeoufShia LaBeouf is a first time dad. Mia Goth and the actor welcomed a child this year, but it's unclear whether their child is a boy or a girl. News of Goth's pregnancy was confirmed in February after she was seen running errands showing off her baby bump.LaBeouf and Goth were seen in March taking a walk together in Pasadena as they pushed a baby stroller. Shia LaBeouf welcomed a child with Mia Goth this year. (Getty Images)CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTERMichael Cera"Superbad" star Michael Cera and his wife Nadine welcomed their first child together in March. Amy Schumer, his co-star in "Life & Beth," shared with Entertainment Tonight."Michael has a baby, too. Is that public knowledge?…I just outed him, I just outed his baby," she said. Michael Cera welcomed a child with his wife, Nadine, this year. (LightRocket via Getty Images)CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPCera confirmed the news to the outlet and said, "We’re right at the beginning of it. We’re doing the very basics right now." The actor did not share details on the gender or birth of his new baby. Janelle Ash is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. | Celebrity |
Somewhere along the way, every parent buys every child a first book. A Goodnight Moon. The Cat in the Hat. Some kind of ABC book. Something to help at bedtime and to foster reading.And so it was with Al Leiter and his third-youngest child, Jack. He brought one home one day.The title: “The Mental ABCs of Pitching.”“My dad’s not the biggest of readers,” Jack said recently. “So, it was about pitching.”“No, no, no,” Al said, laughing, a few days later. “There had to be something else in there first. A nursery rhyme book. Dr. Seuss. Something. My wife, Lori, would be so mad.”OK, so maybe for the record it was something with a far cuter title and immeasurably adorable illustrations.But, as Jack closes in on the first anniversary of being drafted second overall by the Rangers, he’s not carrying around The Very Hungry Caterpillar.The Mental ABCs of Pitching: A Handbook for Performance Enhancement(Evan Grant)Before or after every start, though, he’s still flipping through the highlighted and worn-out pages of the late Harvey A. Dorfman’s third book on the mental side of baseball. This one, published in 2000, the same year Jack was born, was a companion piece to The Mental Game of Baseball, which Dorfman wrote in 1988. The book — and Dorfman — were seminal in the elder Leiter’s career.It helped Al Leiter understand there were things beyond his control on the mound and that he had to let them go. When he did, he blossomed into a 19-year MLB starter. The book, Al wrote in the foreword of its third printing in 2005, helped him “cultivate the right perspective — even about matters beyond baseball.”“It was a difference-maker,” Al said. “He was a difference-maker. The book turned my career and my life around. I miss him. I miss him every day. The things I learned from him, I pass on to Jack and every young player I talk to. Jack has heard some version of Harvey Dorfmanisms since he was born.”Pitching guruIn the pitching fraternity, Harvey Dorfman and his series of books on the mental side remain legendary even more than a decade after he died at the age of 76 in 2011. Rangers GM Chris Young calls the books one of the “pillars” of his philosophy. Co-pitching coach Doug Mathis read the books in his formative years as a pitcher.Over a 20-plus year career in baseball, which followed more than two decades as an English teacher, Dorfman worked with the likes of Leiter, former Rangers Kevin Brown and Jamie Moyer, and Roy Halladay, among others. He held positions with three teams — Oakland, the then-Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay — and won World Series rings with two of them.He was the most unusual looking coach on the field: slight of build, bald and with pants that always seemed too big for him. And he had an innate ability to connect with players and speak directly with them at a point in time when sports psychologists were either rare around the game or mostly hidden. The Rangers now have an entire department dedicated to mental skills. In large part, Dorfman was responsible for the exponential growth in the field.In 1991, Al, then a struggling pitcher who’d been traded once and injured a lot more often, went to meet Dorfman at his home in Arizona. They spent three days talking.If Al made excuses, Dorfman had a way of calling him on it. If Al got too complicated in his thinking, Dorfman helped him unravel it. When Leiter struggled to understand why his “stuff” alone wasn’t allowing him to dominate hitters, Dorfman helped explain it.“I discovered the book at a point in my playing career when I had begun to realize that the difference between mediocrity and greatness was governed by what was between the ears,” is how Al described it in the foreword in 2005. “As a pitcher, I’m now absolutely convinced that pitching a poor game or dominating a game shouldn’t be attributed exclusively to a pitcher’s stuff. A pitcher who can simplify his thoughts to one pitch, one moment in time — and execute that pitch — will be far more successful than one who cannot.”Al also wrote that in that third-edition foreword that there was only thing left to say “about this classic baseball book: The content will always be up to date — relevant.”Prescient words written 17 years ago.1/30Frisco RoughRiders pitcher Jack Leiter (22) pitches during a minor league baseball game between the Midland RockHounds and the Frisco RoughRiders, Saturday, June 18, 2022 in Frisco, Texas.(Matt Strasen / Special Contributor)Chasing perfectionAs Jack Leiter navigates a rather unusual jump in his first year of pro ball, the books are still very worthwhile reads.“It continues to help me,” he said. “The mental game is not something that anyone can easily master. That book is the gospel. I will just go back and read three random chapters the night before a start. It’s just very easy.”Jack likes that The Mental ABCs are in alphabetical order. He had some first inning trouble in a start. There’s a chapter for that.In fact, there are chapters from “Adjustments” to “Zeros.” And everything in between, including “Breathing,” “Excuses,” “Joy,” and “Nice Guys.” It is, after all, an ABC book.The “W” chapters, however, don’t include one on “Wind,” which always seems to be blowing out in the Texas League. Nor is there an “A” is for asphalt, which often describes the sun-baked infields of the league. These are all parts of the adjustment Jack is having to make after dominating the Southeastern Conference in 2021.The strike zone is smaller in pro ball than it is in college. Hitters are better. Even things like “Breathing,” are now a little more complicated thanks to pitch clocks in the minor leagues.With 14 seconds between pitches, it’s hard to step off the mound, catch your breath and refocus. And, in The ABCs, Dorfman actually referred to Al’s mechanism for “Gathering” himself, in which he’d squat behind the mound to “get it together.” While it’s made games quicker, which was the intent, pitchers are having to deal with finding quicker ways to refocus.Through his first 10 starts, entering Saturday, Jack had a 5.75 ERA. It’s hardly telling. The Rangers are pleased with what Young calls “peripheral” numbers, such as Fielding Independent Pitching (4.07) and his robust strikeout rate (11.1 per nine innings). The Rangers are also fine with Leiter having to master challenges now; the challenges only get bigger.It’s difficult to evaluate Leiter’s start. Even if you compare him to recent top pitching picks to come out of the talent-rich SEC. There still isn’t an easy comparison based on experience. Leiter had one real season of college ball, didn’t pitch the summer after he was drafted and made his first pro start at Double-A.Detroit’s Casey Mize, who went first overall out of Auburn in 2018, was more dominant at Double-A. But he also had 11 starts at rookie or Class A before that and pitched in the more pitcher-friendly Eastern League. Kyle Wright, like Leiter a star at Vanderbilt, was fifth overall in 2017. He made nine starts at lower levels before going to Double-A the next season. Both pitchers also had far more college experience than Jack, who essentially had only one season because the pandemic wiped out most of 2020.“But I’m my own worst critic,” Jack said. “I want perfection and I know that’s not possible. To my dad, a perfect game is not 27 up and down, it’s executing every pitch. It’s about how many pitches you execute. I felt like there were times I wasn’t executing as many as I would like.”It’s led Al to occasionally wonder this when he’s gotten off the phone with his son: What would Harvey say?“I was thinking that the other day,” Al said. “Sometimes, there just isn’t an explanation. I can’t tell you how many things there are that are behind here are things beyond your control. The dad in me comes out. I don’t really know what to say sometimes.“I want to be [Jack’s] dad first,” Al added. “I love talking about this stuff, though. I love the mental aspect. I embraced that. I love talking about pitching. I just spew it. I think a lot of that is my dedication to what Harvey taught. But it’s got to be dad first, pitching second.”Sometimes, though, the two become muddled.Father-son bondAl (left) and Jack Leiter (front) with Derek Jeter (middle) and Gary Sheffield (right).(Leiter family)Jack, the only boy in a family that includes daughters Lindsay (27), Carly (25) and Katelyn (17), quickly learned to love the game. When Al retired after 2005, the family did some traveling. Everywhere they went, though, Jack insisted on bringing his glove and a ball. They played catch in Central Park. In London. In Prague.Somewhere, the Leiters have a picture of Jack posed just so it looks like he’s holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But more vivid for Al: Playing catch with his son in the open space between it and the Duomo.“I remember those fondly,” Al said. “It’s not like there is just one memory that sticks out. It’s all those places we threw the ball. A ball is a universal language for a kid. That was so much fun for us.”There is a father-son relationship between them, but pitching is, after all, the family business. Al’s brother Mark pitched parts of 11 years in the big leagues. Mark’s son, Mark Jr. (Jack’s cousin), has appeared in seven games for the Cubs this year and parts of two other major league seasons. Pitching is also a universal language for them all.Conversations will start elsewhere. They will talk about the NBA Finals. Or golf. Or, recently, like everyone else, they’ve bemoaned the price of gas and inflation. But eventually, it gets back to pitching. Jack is driven; Al is invested.“This is his job,” Al said. “It’s healthy to have those diversions and distractions. That’s all part of it. It was good for me when I was more than just a baseball player, but I was on the same treadmill a little when I was pro. And what I’ve learned is that guys who are driven to be great, it’s really hard for them to turn it off.”He believes his son is going to be great. He’s got the work ethic. He’s got the ability. And thanks to a second generation of the late Harvey Dorfman’s influence, he understands The Mental Game of Baseball.From L to R: Lindsay, Katelyn, Al, Jack, Lori and Carly Leiter. (Leiter family)+++Related:How Rangers GM Chris Young convinced Al Leiter that Texas was the place for his son, Jack, to pitchRelated:Is it possible for Rangers to keep both Josh Smith, Ezequiel Durán on MLB roster?Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter. | Baseball |
“The world keeps on ending, but every year new people too dumb to know it show up as if the fun’s just started.” John Updike’s creation Harry Angstrom, antihero of the Rabbit novels, may have been musing on life as a weary middle-aged car salesman in rust‑belt America. But he could just as easily have been speculating on the fate of English cricket down the years: a sport that is always in crisis, that is always dying, that has been dying in some form since the day it was born.No doubt the denizens of 18th-century Hambledon’s Broadhalfpenny Down spent their evenings sighing around the innkeeper’s fire about the collapse of batting techniques, the impatience of the young and how the whole thing will never survive the invention of the electric telegraph. Even the Ashes, Test cricket’s golden-age souvenir and commercial life force, was born out of a funeral rite.Zoom out and it is tempting to conclude that End Times and lost idylls are English cricket’s natural state, a function of where it sits in the calendar, a sporting season that dies every autumn as the skies grow dark, where sunlit days are only ever snatched in between the gloom.That drum has begun to beat a great deal louder in recent years. And with feeling now as the usual notes of doom coincide with genuine contraction and decay, the disappearance from schools, the marketing surveys that rank cricket just below lacrosse and eating sand in lists of favourite activities; along with hard, inconvertible evidence of racism, elitism, exclusion, a monoculture sealed behind its high garden wall. At what point do we reach critical mass?For all the minor chords, there is something else here. As the current season revs on into high summer, as the crowd basks and boozes at sold-out Blast games, as Test cricket begins to stretch out into the corners of the non-football summer, as the Hundred promises a first full season of new things and new sound (plus heavy marketing and cheap tickets), it is hard not to conclude that for a dying sport this thing is very much alive.The patient appears, against all expectations, to be not just vital, but – quietly, and in certain defined spaces – throbbing with good health. For all its flaws and its basic awkwardness, people want this thing. Maybe, just maybe, the problem with English cricket isn’t actually cricket.The Guardian and Observer sports desk has commissioned a series of articles exploring the current state of English cricket. While a note of alarm will always be present, just as striking is the depth of will to preserve this game, the sense the game itself is good, that its struggles are in many ways structural and self-imposed. Are we really confident the England and Wales Cricket Board is best suited to solving them?It is time to have this discussion. The ECB has no chief executive or chairman. Its driving force of the last few years has been Tom Harrison, who kept the lights on, but also oversaw a major racism scandal, the managed decline of red-ball cricket, who took a vast personal bonus out of the game and has alienated many traditional (this is not always a bad word) cricket supporters. Is the ECB, as constituted, still fit to address the issues? Are we happy with it? Do we need to dissolve it and find something new?This is not a fanciful suggestion. It is easy to forget the ECB is a relatively new thing; and that the counties are not simply its subjects. The counties underwrite and endorse the ECB, not the other way round. It is a construct, with a defined role at the top end of English cricket administration, but with no deep cultural roots.No full-time replacement has yet been named for the outgoing ECB chief executive, Tom Harrison. Photograph: Matt Impey/ShutterstockThe ECB is 25 years old. The body it replaced, the Test and County Cricket Board, lasted 28 years. Before that, England cricket was governed by the MCC and the Board of Control for Test Matches. Both of these later bodies were called into being for very specific reasons, related each time to money and control.The TCCB was formed to allow English cricket to draw down government funding, which it couldn’t do as a private club run by the MCC. Its replacement, the ECB, was formed as a mechanism to manage another new stream of money, the pay-TV deals of the 1990s.So the ECB was founded in large part as a negotiator of broadcast rights and from there as a more professional means of distributing this powerful new funding source. On the field of play the aim was quite simple: to make England win by introducing stability, central contracts and a high‑functioning environment, thereby also making its own TV product more valuable.This worked very well for a decade. It worked well with some distractions for a second decade. Right now, it looks like a model that is increasingly challenged. All of these things have a span. And the world has changed again.Franchise cricket is the coming power. The ECB’s golden goose, the England team, with its cycle of settled satellite broadcast rights, is no longer the key driver of future income. The ECB knows this better than anyone, hence the first-idea-is-a-good-idea rustling‑up of the Hundred. And hence in the middle of this altering landscape we have a situation where moves the ECB makes often feel designed to promote and preserve the power of the ECB, as opposed to the health and spread of what other people might recognise as “English cricket”.The Spin: sign up and get our weekly cricket email.It is classic declining dictator behaviour. I am the state. What is good for me is good for all of you. Hence the drive to create that panicky franchise product, the cutting out of the counties, the need to chase the setting sun and create its own piece of intellectual property.Does the ECB, a body obsessed with instant growth, eyeballs and revenue streams, really understand what is required? Because those needs have changed. The real priority for English cricket as a whole is not to wring a little more money out of its broadcasters, but to preserve and spread and find a way to share (not sell) a sport that has already cashed in its captive ancestral audience.The job of any new governing body would be outreach, while dealing properly with the problems the ECB has overseen since 1997 of exclusion, barriers to entry, institutional racism, invisibility and the sense that this sport no longer belongs to the public.These are no longer side issues to be managed by spin and puff. They are critical to survival and in need of a dedicated, expert hand. The ECB has tried to address all of these with an eyewash of gimmickry and slogans. But at bottom it is run by marketing people for marketing purposes. It cannot solve these problems or find a way to do so that isn’t, also at bottom, an act of salesmanship.Cricket being played at Broadhalfpenny Down in Hambledon, Hampshire, in 2019. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The ObserverAny new governing body will also need to engage properly with India. The ECB has always had a cultural fear of being cut out and overshadowed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Indian Premier League. But it is necessary to understand that India’s power centre is simply the reality, that things such as the IPL’s annihilating new rights deal are good for cricket, because this is where cricket is now, that the English game must face that way, a feature of and satellite to this mega-league, not its jealous maiden aunt.There are many other tasks to be stitched into the founding articles of cricket’s new governance. The scrapping of central contracts, which belong to the old ECB model, in favour of simply paying handsomely for each Test played, opening the pool to all active players, re-energising county red-ball cricket as a pathway.Engaging with and nourishing the counties’ interests, not struggling with them, accepting that counties are where the game can be spread and diversified, where access can be fostered.A new body would do well to remember that cricket will always remain a legacy product to some degree, odd and awkward, but still powerfully engaging; that this is a strength, not something to be ashamed of or pointlessly diluted. A new governing body would, above all, have to like cricket.There is a great hunger for sport generally in this country. The biggest Test match crowds are still smaller than the largest weekly crowds in the third tier of English football. It shouldn’t take too much to make the game viable enough, healthy enough, open enough. What is required is will, leadership and a body fit for purpose. | Other Sports |
The former Manchester United treble winner Jaap Stam believes Erik ten Hag has what it takes to succeed at the club, provided they back their new manager in the transfer market.Ten Hag is the latest in an illustrious line of Dutchmen to have been employed by United, including players such as Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Edwin van der Sar and Robin van Persie. United’s only previous Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, experienced mixed fortunes, sacked after two seasons but having won an FA Cup and given debuts to Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard. Stam is confident Ten Hag can thrive with the right support.“We all know what he can do and what he has done over in Holland with Ajax,” Stam said. “Hopefully he can do the same now with United. Obviously, there are certain things that will need to be there for him to help him, maybe in terms of different players and personnel. But I think he’s done a good job in Holland.”Stam, who won Premier League titles in each of his three seasons with United before being controversially sold to Lazio in 2001, thinks Ten Hag may encounter cultural differences over how his new club handles recruitment, judging by what the former centre-back learned while playing under Sir Alex Ferguson.“In Holland, we always say that every player in every position needs to be able to play football,” he said. “So a centre-back needs to be able to dribble forward, to be the extra man in midfield, to have that pass. We try to educate players to be able to do everything.“At United, one of Fergie’s qualities was bringing players in of a certain ability who could do things well in their position; then if they go well together, you’ve got a chance of doing very well. He got the right players for the right positions.”Early in his own managerial career, Stam guided Reading to the 2016-17 Championship playoff final, losing on penalties to Huddersfield. But the 49-year-old has been out of work since being sacked by Cincinnati in September last year, after four months at the Major League Soccer side.Stam played under some of the world’s most venerated managers, including Guus Hiddink, Van Gaal, Roberto Mancini, Carlo Ancelotti and Ferguson. He has previously admitted to being open to an Old Trafford return as a coach.“When you go into coaching, you’re always thinking about the coaches that you’ve had in the past and the managers,” said Stam, who played for United against Liverpool in a Legends of the North match at Old Trafford last month to benefit the club’s charitable arm, the Manchester United Foundation. “You can even learn a lot from the managers you’ve had where the relationship wasn’t good. It can help you with how to approach players in general. I think that’s very important.The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email.“But I’m not the type of person who’s going to copy things from previous managers I’ve had and use that for my own benefit. That’s not how I am and I don’t think it’s a good thing. I’m not saying that there aren’t certain things you can use, but you don’t need to be a copy of somebody else. You need to have your own way of playing and your own style of being a manager.“When you go into management at a certain level, it’s not only about teaching players how to play or how to kick a ball. It’s also how you need to address them, how you need to approach them and how you get them to see your vision so they believe in it and believe in you and are willing to work hard for you.” | Soccer |
Soccer Aid organisers slammed as 'tone deaf' over lavish post-match party at five-star London hotel hours after the charity fundraiser where they urged the public to donate money for Ukraine Bash held at London's exclusive five-star Nobu hotel at cost of tens of thousands Guests included Idris Elba, Line of Duty actress Vicky McClure and Liam Payne No public donations paid for party, which was funded by corporate sponsors Published: 17:15 EDT, 18 June 2022 | Updated: 20:53 EDT, 18 June 2022 ORGANISERS of the Soccer Aid fundraiser have been blasted as ‘tone deaf’ after throwing a lavish showbiz party immediately after appealing for funds to help children hit by poverty, hunger and the war in Ukraine. Several of the celebrities who played in the charity game last Sunday were ‘shocked’ at the decision to hold the bash at London’s exclusive, five-star Nobu hotel at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds. Stars who attended included Idris Elba, Line Of Duty actress Vicky McClure, One Direction star Liam Payne and the former England footballer Teddy Sheringham. As DJs played, guests were treated to free drinks until the early hours of Monday. Line of Duty actress Vicky McClure was among celebrity guests at the lavish Soccer Aid party, which has been slammed as 'tone deaf' for being held just hours after a fundraiser for Ukraine Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina also attended the after-party at the exclusive Nobu hotel Liam Payne was spotted leaving the Soccer Aid bash in the early hours of Monday morningIain Stirling, the narrator on Love Island, was also spotted leaving the party with his wife Laura Whitmore, who presents the ITV2 show. Soccer Aid, which raises money for Unicef, was screened on ITV, with the match interspersed with films urging viewers to donate. In one, actor Damian Lewis shared the stories of Ukrainian children who desperately need help. Former TOWIE cast member James Argent attended the party funded by corporate sponsors Teddy Sheringham and Kristina Andrioti were spotted among the guests at the lavish party Actor James Nesbit was seen at The Nobu Hotel just hours after the Soccer Aid fundraiserNo public donations went towards the party, which was funded by corporate sponsors. But some celebrities questioned whether their backing might have been better directed towards the charity’s work rather than picking up the tab for a bash at a venue where cocktails cost up to £17 each. One source said: ‘There are some players who took part in the game who were genuinely stunned that afterwards there was such a big do that clearly cost so much money. ‘When there are people who have been made homeless in Ukraine, it all seems quite tone deaf. 'You have to wonder if people took the time to think about where the money was coming from and if it could have been put to better use. 'A big deal was made about raising money for those affected by the war so it seems pretty incongruous to have a big celebrity drink-up while that is happening.’ Love Island presenter Laura Whitmore and husband Iain Stirling stayed until around 4am The Mail on Sunday can also reveal that staff involved in the event stayed free at Champneys, a spa hotel where rooms typically cost more than £160 per night, before the match. The cost was again met by sponsors, not from public donations. The match, which was played at the London Stadium home of West Ham, has so far raised £15.6million for Unicef. Sponsors include JD Sports, Primark, delivery firm Evri and Nobu itself. It is understood the party was arranged by Cheshire-based events organiser Julie Perry, who has worked on the weddings of several Manchester United players. Soccer Aid last night said the party was held to thank those who had taken part for free. A spokesman said: ‘One hundred per cent of Soccer Aid donations go to support the vital work of Unicef. ‘The party that followed the conclusion of the match and the organisation of it was funded entirely by third-party sponsors.’ Andriy Shevchenko and Usain Bolt of World XI lift the prize after their 4-1 win on penalties Last Sunday's Soccer Aid match, played at West Ham, has so far raised £15.6million for UnicefLaunched in 2006, Soccer Aid has raised more than £75million. In last weekend’s match, a World XI managed by Arsene Wenger defeated an England coached by Harry Redknapp in a penalty shootout after the sides played out a 2-2 draw in normal time. Payne captained the England side with retired Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt due to lead the opponents. But just before kick-off Bolt made the touching gesture of handing the captain’s armband to Ukrainian football legend Andriy Shevchenko. Advertisement | Other Sports |
Khloe, Tristan and True Let's Not Talk about that Show ... Happy Father's Day!!! 6/19/2022 5:42 AM PT Khloe Kardashian has hard feelings for Tristan Thompson, at least when it comes to romance, but she's clearly not letting that stand in the way of co-parenting their child. Khloe and Tristan got together Saturday with 4-year-old daughter True in tow for a Father's Day lunch. Their destination -- the Sagebrush Cantina and Saloon in Calabasas. They weren't alone either, which makes this even more interesting. Kris Jenner, along with Khloe's nieces Dream, Chicago and nephew Psalm were all there, breaking bread or whatever at the table. By surface glances they all seemed to be getting along. Khloe eviscerated Tristan on a recent episode of the Kardashian's Hulu show, but she's able to somehow compartmentalize things --- they're not only co-parenting ... they also seem to be friendly. Remember, that episode was shot awhile ago, so things had time to reset. Hulu ICYMI, Khloe unloaded her feelings about Tristan on Kim during the show, saying, "If that were me and I was really trying to redeem myself and I was trying to be a better person, I would definitely keep my d*** in my pants," adding, "You would think, you either wear a condom, get a vasectomy or you don't f*** random people that you meet in other states." As you know, Tristan had a kid with Maralee Nichols, who got pregnant while he and Khloe were still together. | Celebrity |
SAN FRANCISCO — Jordan Poole went live on Instagram Thursday night from inside a plastic-wrapped visiting locker room at TD Garden.
As other players celebrated by puffing cigars and spraying champagne, Poole went back-and-forth with an ebullient Andrew Wiggins about what was to come this offseason.
“You about to get a bag,” Poole said to Wiggins.
“You about to get a bag,” Wiggins replied in a high-pitched voice. “No, no, no, no. You about to get a bag,” the 22-year-old fired back again.
Wiggins corrected him: “We about to get a bag.”
Poole agreed.
The Warriors will continue to relish in their title win for at least a few more days, with a championship parade scheduled for Monday in San Francisco, but there are crucial contract decisions that await the Golden State brass once it recuperates from the well-deserved partying.
The Warriors have seven players who are unrestricted free agents, including Kevon Looney and Gary Payton II. Meanwhile, Wiggins and Poole are both available for extension this offseason. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are, too, but the former appear to be more pressing. It won’t be cheap to keep this team together, but team owner Joe Lacob and general manager Bob Myers have proven they’re not afraid to dish out some serious cash if they see a worthy return on that investment. The Warriors had the highest payroll in the league this season. And Wiggins predicts next year’s team, which could include a healthy James Wiseman and a full season of Thompson who missed 2 1/2 years with two severe injuries, is destined for greatness.
“As good as we were this year, I feel like next year we’re going to be even better,” he said.
Wiggins and Poole exceeded individual expectations this season, making them worthy candidates for extensions.
Wiggins went from top-pick bust to an indispensable piece in a championship-caliber team. Poole was this year’s breakout star, going on an end-of-the-season scoring tear when Stephen Curry went down with a foot injury.
Wiggins revamped his career with the Warriors, becoming a dominant two-way wing after being the scapegoat in Minnesota for most of his career. He’s thrived in his supporting role as he wasn’t relied on to carry the team’s offensive load, though his defense was a difference maker.
Wiggins earned his first All-Star nod this season and averaged 17.2 points on 46.6% shooting overall and a career-best 39.3% from 3-point land. He also grabbed an average of 4.5 rebounds per game.
But Wiggins played even better in the playoffs as the Warriors often relied on him to guard their opponent’s best shooter, including Jayson Tatum in the Finals series. Wiggins became a rebounding machine in the postseason, averaging 7.5 per game. He grabbed 10 or more boards six times in the playoffs and snatched a career-high 16 in Game 5 of the Finals.
Being a champion “felt amazing” for Wiggins. But silencing the doubters once and for was definitely an added bonus.
“Been a lot of talk, a lot of people’s opinions, they got something to say about every little thing, but right now, I’m happy to made it here,” Wiggins said. “A lot of people didn’t think I could ever be in this position or even be help on a championship team. But I feel like I’m proving the doubters wrong and I’m just going to keep it going.”
Next season will mark the final year of Wiggins’ five-year, $147 million deal, which he signed with the Timberwolves when he was 23. While he’s up for a possible extension, the Warriors could also use him as a viable trade piece. What they might do remains to be seen. However, Wiggins has made it clear he would like to stay with the Warriors long term. “I would love to stay here. Being here is top notch,” Wiggins said. “The way they treat their players, we’re all a big family. A lot of places might say that, but here their actions show it.”
However, Poole’s contract extension might be a little pressing because it has to be finalized before the regular season tips off.
Poole, 22, is set to make $3.9 million next season, though he’s eligible for a rookie-scale extension.
Poole, the 28th pick in the 2019 draft, wasn’t named Most Improved Player this season, though many — including Green — believed he should’ve been. Poole went from averaging 12 points during the 2020-21 season to 18.5 points this season while playing a bigger role with the team. While he had up-and-down showings in the postseason, Poole proved he can show up in big moments as he hit a pair of buzzer-beating 3-pointers in the Final series.
Wiggins is rooting for Poole to get a pay day this offseason.
“He definitely deserves one,” said Wiggins, who lauded Poole’s hard work and dedication. “He makes his teammates better, he’s young and he can go out there on the court and dominate. We’ve seen it this playoffs and throughout the year, the sky’s the limit for him, he’s only going to get better, he deserves everything.”
Poole said he hasn’t given much thought to the possibility of signing a new contract.
“I only stayed in school for two years so you’re asking the wrong person,” he said. “I guess we’ll have to see.”
Still, Poole believes he and Wiggins put themselves in situations to be successful going forward.
“Everything will take care of itself,” Poole said. | Basketball |
Warning: This article may contain spoilers for Top Gun: Maverick. Actor Tom Cruise soared to new heights when he reprised his role as Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in the action-packed thriller Top Gun: Maverick, shattering his personal box office records and even blasting past reality at times. The minds behind the '80s nostalgia-laced sequel flick claim they underwent painstaking efforts to keep the rip-roaring fighter jet sequences as tethered to reality as possible. But in an apparent bid to keep theatergoers glued to their seats in suspense, they had to sprinkle in some far-fetched tidbits as well, according to experts. WATCH: RETIRED NAVY COMMANDER ON WHAT’S REAL ABOUT TOP GUN: MAVERICK “The best way I can describe it is extremely accurate with the Hollywood embellishments for entertainment,” T.R. “Wombat” Matson, a former Navy pilot and author of Treason Flight, told the Washington Examiner. “I don't think it would be as exciting or as entertaining as it was if it was 100% realistic.” Producers of the movie, which has become the highest-grossing domestic film of 2022, collaborated with real-life Navy fighter pilots to get authentic shots of fighter jets zooming through the air and actors enduring high G-forces. “In terms of the flying sequences themselves, particularly the effects of G … I think it's better than almost anything we've seen in cinema,” Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow for the Royal United Services Institute, told the Washington Examiner. This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Tom Cruise portraying Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in a scene from "Top Gun: Maverick." (Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures via AP) Thirty-six years after the original movie took place, the impulsive Mitchell finds himself a captain and serving as a test pilot. Audacious and reckless, he takes a stealthy, experimental hypersonic plane called the Darkstar on an unauthorized joy run, whipping through the air at breathtaking speeds in excess of Mach 10 until it heats up and explodes. “What wasn't very accurate was that the aircraft broke apart at like 100,000 feet going Mach 10 and Maverick didn't just turn into oatmeal, which is probably what would really happen,” Alex Hollings, the editor-in-chief of military news publication Sandboxx.us, told the Washington Examiner. As punishment for his roguery (something that would likely get a normal officer fired or arrested, according to Matson), Mitchell is dispatched to train a ragtag group of graduates of the Top Gun program for a perilous mission. TOP GUN: MAVERICK MAKES $400M AT BOX OFFICE AS YEAR'S NO. 1 FILM This is not how the Navy would go about selecting pilots for a mission, Cmdr. Michael Patterson, who is the commanding officer of the real-life TOPGUN program, told the Washington Examiner. “They wouldn't be pulling together and graduates from non-deployed squadrons,” he said. “They're on different carriers. They're on different exercises. What they would do is pull from whatever carrier is closest to the crisis that's happening in the world that requires us to intervene.” Eventually, Mitchell and his pupils embark on a daring mission in which they had to fly through rugged terrain to bomb an underground nuclear facility. The team uses F/A-18 Super Hornets, which have a two-person cockpit, making them ideal for moviemakers to film actors experiencing G-forces while being flown by experienced pilots. However, in real life, the Navy has more optimal and stealthier planes for such missions, according to Bronk. “That's the value of stealth as you can take a very dangerous operation and make it boring and safe. So by using Super Hornets, I think that it really heightened the drama,” Hollings said. A cluster of Tomahawk missiles rained down on the site above the nuclear facility, taking out enemy supplies aircraft, though at least one Iranian Tomcat remained. That fighter would later be used by Mitchell and his pupil, Goose, to escape enemy lines after they had been shot down upon flying past the target facility and forced to parachute to the ground. “The idea that one of them would just be like hanging out in a hangar, and two guys could jump in and like pop-start it — pretty much ridiculous. It takes a ton of people to get a fighter jet in the air,” Hollings said. “A lot of times, it takes a half an hour to get the engines up and running.” CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER One area that the movie excelled in was its portrayal of the toll that military casualties can have on people who serve in the military, according to Matson. “I liked that they paid a little homage to that and showed that, you know, so it's not just all glamour. There's a lot of aspects of the job that are not as pretty, and I liked that they did that,” he said. “Anybody who tells you, they walked out of a theater and have done that job, didn't want to go back into a jet is lying. It’s going to stir that up,” he added. | Movies |
U.S. More U.S. MoneyWatch More MoneyWatch Politics More Politics Health More Health World More World Entertainment More Entertainment Entertainment Christian Lee Hutson: “Just Like Heaven” Hailing from Los Angeles, Christian Lee Hutson started playing guitar at age 12. After two self-released albums, he met up with Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst, who helped produced his new collection. Hutson begins his first headline tour in July and then opens for Bridgers starting in mid-August. For Saturday Sessions, Christian Lee Hutson performs “Just Like Heaven.” Saturday Sessions: Christian Lee Hutson Hailing from Los Angeles, Christian Lee Hutson started playing guitar at age 12. After two self-released albums, he met up with Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst, who helped produced his new collection. Hutson begins his first headline tour in July and then opens for Bridgers starting in mid-August. Performing from his album “Beginners,” Christian Lee Hutson with Phoebe Bridgers performs "Lose This Number.” Christian Lee Hutson performs "Rubberneckers" Hailing from Los Angeles, Christian Lee Hutson started playing guitar at age 12. After two self-released albums, he met up with Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst, who helped produced his new collection. Hutson begins his first headline tour in July and then opens for Bridgers starting in mid-August. Performing from the new album "Quitters," Christian Lee Hutson with Phoebe Bridgers performs "Rubberneckers." Vince McMahon steps back as WWE boss amid misconduct probe Entertainment giant paid $3 million to ex-employee with whom he allegedly had an affair, Wall Street Journal reports. Kim Kardashian did not damage Marilyn Monroe dress, Ripley's says "No matter which side of the debate you are on, the historical importance of the dress has not been negated, but rather highlighted," Ripley's said. More in Entertainment Technology More Technology Science More Science Crime More Crime Space More Space Latest Galleries More Latest Galleries Latest Videos More Latest Videos | Music |
Live on Amazon Prime, Will Skelton is asked what it’s been like being involved with the Barbarians this week: “It’s been pretty shit, eh? ... No I’m kidding, it’s been unbelievable, but we’ve had a few beers this week, and hopefully we can back it up today.“We’re going to look to have some fun with the ball, but make sure we’re playing in the right areas.“‘Kruiso’ [George Kruis, who is retiring after this match] is one of my good mates, I’ve played a lot of footie with him ... he’s been telling us, today is all about me ... No, I’m kidding ... to play with Kruiso in his last match, hopefully we can make it a memorable memory.”PreambleThe domestic rugby season concluded yesterday, and in dramatic fashion too, with Freddie Burns’s last-minute drop goal edging Leicester past Saracens at Twickenham. The notion of giving the players a rest is obviously ridiculous, however, so England begin their summer programme against a French-dominated Barbarians in south-west London this afternoon.The Barbarians concept may be old-fashioned, and today’s match does not have Test status, but there is still plenty to play for: not least for the Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care, poised to play for England for the first time in four years following a clear-the-air coffee with the gaffer Eddie Jones. Jonny May also returns on the wing following a lengthy injury absence, hoping to re-establish himself before next year’s World Cup. It will also be fascinating to see how the likes of Orlando Bailey (Bath) and Patrick Schickerling (Exeter) fare when introduced from the replacements’ bench.The Barbarians team is peppered with world-class Frenchmen, such as Damien Penaud and Charles Ollivon, while the former England and Saracens lock George Kruis will bring the curtain down on his career, at the age of 32, after two seasons in Japan. Will Skelton, so outstanding for La Rochelle in their Champions Cup final triumph against Leinster, partners Kruis in the second row. This might be fun.Kick off: 3pm | Other Sports |
BROOKLINE, Mass. — According to Scottie Scheffler, he feels two emotions when golfing. Happy, and sad. “When I’m playing good, it’s a ton of fun,” Scheffler said. “When I’m playing bad, it’s not a lot of fun.”The Highland Park graduate felt both on Saturday in the third round of the U.S. Open. He felt happy, no doubt, when he stormed out to a two-shot lead over the field with eight holes to play. And he felt sad when, in the ensuing four holes, he carded a double-bogey and three consecutive bogeys to fall three shots back of the lead. He’ll tee off on Sunday at The Country Club tied for fourth at -2, two shots back of co-leaders Will Zalatoris and Matt Fitzpatrick. What looked to be an especially impressive round, given Saturday’s conditions, ended with a 1-over 71 — his worst 18 holes of the tournament thus far. But that, he said, is the nature of the game. “You’re going to have some good moments,” the 25-year-old said. “When I was playing great on the front nine, it was awesome, and then it’s tough when things start going the wrong direction, and then it was happy again when I birdied 17 and made a good par on 18. You kind of have to ride the wave out here.”Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked golfer and reigning Masters winner, shot a 3-under 32 on the front nine. On the eighth hole, he carded his second eagle in as many days with a 101-yard chip shot that landed just past the pin and back-spun into the hole. He moved to -6 — the lowest any golfer had been through three days — still with 10 holes to play. But, on 11, he airmailed his tee shot over the green and into the thick grass. His second shot went just 11 feet and sunk into the greenside rough. His third rolled 25 feet past the green, and he two-putted for double bogey. He followed that with bogeys on 12, 13 and 14 to fall to 1-under for the tournament. A 3-foot-2 birdie putt on 17 dropped him to -2, and a 14-foot-6 par putt on 18 kept him there. He’ll tee off on Sunday at 2:23 alongside Adam Hadwin. “Hopefully this won’t be my last U.S. Open, but, you know, you never know,” Scheffler said. “Can’t take anything for granted in this life, and so I’m going to approach tomorrow the way I always do and just go out there and try and do my best and see what happens after that.”Collin Morikawa hits on the 10th hole during the third round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club, Saturday, June 18, 2022, in Brookline, Mass. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)(Robert F. Bukaty / ASSOCIATED PRESS)Stars struggle in round three: Scheffler wasn’t the only highly-ranked golfer who shot over par on Saturday. Collin Morikawa, a two-time major winner and the 36-hole leader, shot a 7-over 77 and dropped from first place to a tie for 17th at 2-over. World No. 3 Rory McIlory — who began the day in a tie for second at -4 — shot a 3-over 73 and fell to a tie for seventh. Two-time U.S. Open champ Brooks Koepka started the day at even-par but ended at 5-over after shooting a 75. Reigning PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas shot a 2-over 75, and is tied for 25th. “It was one of the toughest days on a golf course I’ve had in a long time,” McIlroy said.Even Jon Rahm, the reigning U.S. Open winner who led the tournament late Saturday, stumbled with a double-bogey on 18 and fell to third place at -3. “It was obviously extremely difficult conditions,” Rahm said. “The wind being a little bit higher and stronger than the last few days, a different direction. Then the course being a little bit firmer, right, that’s just a recipe for difficulty.”Spieth’s up-and-down round ends over par: Jordan Spieth entered round two just a few shots back of the top 10, but ended it tied for 25th — seven shots back of the co-leaders — at -3. The Jesuit graduate shot a 1-over 71 on Saturday, marked by four bogeys and three birdies. Through 54 holes at the U.S. Open, Spieth has 17 bogeys or worse and 12 birdies. Despite the up-and-down round, Spieth remains just three shots back of 10th place Nick Hardy (even par). As low scores have been hard to come by (just seven players shot under par in the third round), a strong fourth-round finish for Spieth, the world’s 10th-ranked golfer, could pull him into a fine finish. ***Related:‘I belong in this situation’: Dallas’ Will Zalatoris co-leads U.S. Open after three roundsFind more golf coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.Shawn McFarland, SportsDay HS reporter. Shawn covers preps for SportsDay HS. He joined The Dallas Morning News after covering UConn basketball, football and high school sports for The Hartford Courant. A Boston area native, Shawn graduated from Springfield College in 2018 and previously worked for The Boston Globe and Baseball America. [email protected] McFarland_Shawn | Golf |
Bay Area singer Kim Nalley says she’s listened to Nina Simone her whole life.
As a teenager, she listened and danced to the singer and civil rights icon’s famous protest song “Mississippi Goddam.” And as part of a Juneteenth concert honoring Simone, she performed the song at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco on Friday.
As Juneteenth, which commemorates the abolition of slavery in the U.S., arrives Sunday, June 19, the celebration has grown more mainstream, with festivals and celebrations planned across the Bay Area and the country. Last year, President Joe Biden signed legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. In California, a bill to make Juneteenth a paid holiday has passed the Assembly and moved to the Senate this month.
The day has been celebrated by African Americans across the county in many ways, but music, a huge part of African American history and culture since slavery, has been a constant. Almost all Juneteenth celebrations in the Bay Area involve spirituals, civil rights songs and the melodies and rhythms of traditional Black music. “If anything is very African American, it’s music,” Nalley said. “There’s always music — drum, dance, voice. Always, for everything.”
MILL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA - June 16: Vocalist Kim Nalley sings during a rehearsal with her band members including Tammy L. Hall (piano) and Michael Zisman (bass) at Nalley’s home in Mill Valley, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)MILL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA - June 16: Kim Nalley Band bassist Michael Zisman plays during a rehearsal at Kim Nalley’s home in Mill Valley, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)MILL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA - June 16: Kim Nalley Band drummer Leon Joyce Jr. plays during a rehearsal at Kim Nalley’s home in Mill Valley, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)MILL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA - June 16: Kim Nalley Band pianist Tammy L. Hall plays during a rehearsal at Kim Nalley’s home in Mill Valley, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)MILL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA - June 16: Kim Nalley Band guitarist Greg Skaff plays during a rehearsal at Kim Nalley’s home in Mill Valley, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)MILL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA - June 16: Vocalist Kim Nalley sings during a rehearsal with her band at her home in Mill Valley, Calif., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
Music will also be a big part of the proceedings on Sunday, when the African American Community Service Agency (AACSA) will hold its 41st annual Juneteenth in the Streets Festival in San Jose, featuring headlining singer Tamar Braxton. Music brings people together and addresses “the ebbs and flows of the community,” said Milan Balinton, the organization’s director.
Brigette LeBlanc, vice chairwoman of the San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce, feels the same way when she hears “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye. The song makes her recall everything from the hustle and bustle of African Americans in their community to talking about revolution and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.
“Music is always giving you history. It can be a melody that makes you laugh or cry. Sometimes artists put the pain of what’s happening into the lyrics,” said LeBlanc, whose group organized Nalley’s concert — dubbed “Juneteenth: A Musical History of Freedom” — in collaboration with the SFJAZZ Center.
But as Nalley notes, her tribute to Simone is more than historical. “Nina taught me to sing not just about the history of black folks, but to also sing about what’s going on now,” said Nalley. “It must be revolutionary. It must be current.”
The first time Nalley sang a tribute to Simone was after the civil rights hero died in 2003. The nightclub where Nalley performed — Jazz at Pearl’s in San Francisco — was filled with regular patrons, as well as people who had never set foot in a club, and there were people lined up outside, pressing their noses against the window. When Nalley sang “Mississippi Goddam” the audience both inside and outside the club chanted the lyrics together.
“It’s really amazing how Nina speaks to such a wide range of people. It’s not just a Black thing. It strikes you to your core,” said Nalley. “She’s always singing about the truth of injustice.”
For Pope Flyne, 73, music and rhythm are part of the language of life. He has played the African drums since he first got one as a toy, and has been teaching African drumming for years. He’ll lead a drumming workshop at the Juneteenth Community Celebration at the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose on Sunday.
Growing up in Ghana, he was often around sailors who worked on cargo ships and traveled overseas, bringing back all kinds of music.
In Africa, drums were used as a way of communicating, Flyne says. Drummers learned the meaning of drum beats across various villages, so they were able to translate messages and stories back and forth, from an invitation to a celebration to a declaration of war.
He believes Juneteenth should be seen as not a rally per se but an event in which people speak out and bring enlightenment to others. The deep connection between the holiday and music, he says, is rooted in the fact that people are attracted to music like “moth to flame.”
Tom Wiggins, 70, knows firsthand how music can address joy and tragedy. He is the longtime leader and drummer of the St. Gabriel’s Celestial Brass Band, which has performed at weddings, funerals, even for Alzheimer’s patients. The band performed at Saturday’s Juneteenth celebration at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco.
Like many, the recent mass shooting in Buffalo has been weighing on Wiggins’ mind. He thinks music also serves as a means for the community to heal and to take action.
“Look at this country with the racial hatred and injustice. It never went away,” he said. “The music takes the raw edge off the emotion. It doesn’t make it go away, but it gives an aching heart a bit of a breather.”
“We have music to celebrate and we have music to grieve. There’s music when we’re free to sing and dance and music when we were working. We sang in jails and we sang in marsh meadows,” Nalley said. “You can’t always eat, but you can always sing and dance.” | Music |
Charlie Sheen Denise Convinced Me ... I'm Down with Sami Joining OnlyFans 6/19/2022 6:17 AM PT Charlie Sheen has done an about-face with daughter Sami ... now saying he's withdrawing his objections to her OnlyFans account. Charlie was initially pissed off that the 18-year-old joined the X-rated site, but his ex-wife proved persuasive in changing his mind. As we reported, Denise Richards supported Sami's decision from the jump, but Charlie begged to differ. He said, "Denise has illuminated a variety of salient points, that in my haste I overlooked and dismissed," this according to Us Weekly. Sami's dad went on ... "Now more than ever, it’s essential that Sami have a united parental front to rely upon, as she embarks on this new adventure. From this moment forward, she’ll have it abundantly." Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media. It's interesting ... Denise and Sami haven't gotten along during much of the time Sami was growing up, and Charlie and Denise had a rocky relationship at best, but now they're presenting a united front ... this after Sami made it clear, she now an adult and can make her own decisions. Charlie's daughter announced that she would be joining the X-rated service earlier this month, prompting her father to express his disapproval. Sami's already made her move on the platform, posting a pic of her Friday, almost naked laying on a bed. Denise and, yes, Charlie have had their own wild days, and she acknowledged it ..."Lots of negative comments on my social this past week. I have to say, I wish I had the confidence my 18 yr old daughter has. And I also can't be judgmental of her choices. I did Wild Things & Playboy, quite frankly her father shouldn't be either." Sami has corralled 2,800 followers on the site ... charging $19.99 a month to follow her. | Celebrity |
TeamsEngland: Freeman, Cokanasiga, Marchant, Atkinson, May, Smith, Randall, Rodd, Walker, Collier, Ewels, J. Hill, Curry, Underhill, Chick. Replacements: Singleton, Goodrick-Clarke, Schickerling, Lawes, Willis, Care, Bailey, Nowell. Barbarians: Spring, Penaud, Vakatawa, Botia, Niniashvili, Hastoy, Couilloud, Gros, Bourgarit, Gigashvili, Kruis, Skelton, Cretin, Ollivon, Tanga. Replacements: Priso, Tolofua, Falatea, Lavault, Le Garrec, Carbonel, Macalou, Vili. The scrum-half Danny Care has a chat in a pre-recorded interview: “I felt like the new kid again [being back in camp at Pennyhill Park] ... I’ve loved every single second. It is intense, you work hard, but that’s what it takes to play for England.“I’ve had to work really hard to battle through and get back in the mix ... to be back in camp has been a surreal experience but one I’ve really, really loved.”Wisely, Amazon Prime have just replayed that Barbarians try against the All Blacks, all started by Phil Bennett, who died a few days ago. It’s jaw-dropping every time you see it. And there are some nice words from David Flatman and Bryan Habana about the great man.Live on Amazon Prime, Will Skelton is asked what it’s been like being involved with the Barbarians this week: “It’s been pretty shit, eh? ... No I’m kidding, it’s been unbelievable, but we’ve had a few beers this week, and hopefully we can back it up today.“We’re going to look to have some fun with the ball, but make sure we’re playing in the right areas.“‘Kruiso’ [George Kruis, who is retiring after this match] is one of my good mates, I’ve played a lot of footie with him ... he’s been telling us, today is all about me ... No, I’m kidding ... to play with Kruiso in his last match, hopefully we can make it a memorable memory.”PreambleThe domestic rugby season concluded yesterday, and in dramatic fashion too, with Freddie Burns’s last-minute drop goal edging Leicester past Saracens at Twickenham. The notion of giving the players a rest is obviously ridiculous, however, so England begin their summer programme against a French-dominated Barbarians in south-west London this afternoon.The Barbarians concept may be old-fashioned, and today’s match does not have Test status, but there is still plenty to play for: not least for the Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care, poised to play for England for the first time in four years following a clear-the-air coffee with the gaffer Eddie Jones. Jonny May also returns on the wing following a lengthy injury absence, hoping to re-establish himself before next year’s World Cup. It will also be fascinating to see how the likes of Orlando Bailey (Bath) and Patrick Schickerling (Exeter) fare when introduced from the replacements’ bench.The Barbarians team is peppered with world-class Frenchmen, such as Damien Penaud and Charles Ollivon, while the former England and Saracens lock George Kruis will bring the curtain down on his career, at the age of 32, after two seasons in Japan. Will Skelton, so outstanding for La Rochelle in their Champions Cup final triumph against Leinster, partners Kruis in the second row. This might be fun.Kick off: 3pm | Other Sports |
SAN FRANCISCO — The champagne buzz is still wearing off from the party in Boston and a parade is planned in San Francisco Monday to celebrate the Warriors’ fourth NBA title in eight years. But the Warriors have one eye looking forward to free agency that starts July 1.
This championship proved that, even with the core in their mid-30s, the contention window is still wide open. Pressure is on the front office to keep the roster well-equipped to run it back in 2023 and beyond.
Nine Warriors will be free agents, seven unrestricted: Gary Payton II, Andre Iguodala, Kevon Looney, Otto Porter Jr., Nemanja Bjelica, Damion Lee and Chris Chiozza are free agents. Juan Toscano-Anderson and Quinndary Weatherspoon are restricted free agents.
With Golden State boasting the league’s highest payroll, will ownership and management be willing to spend to keep the team mostly intact? Or will they lean on some of their cheaper lottery picks to cut down on the luxury tax spending? For the 2021 season, the Warriors held a $178 million payroll pre-tax and $170 million in luxury tax payments, totaling over $346 million in payroll. They’ve led the NBA in spending in four of the last five seasons. So trends tell us Warriors owner Joe Lacob won’t shy away from spending big again. With existing contracts, the Warriors have $171 million on the books pre-tax. By their own standard, there’s room to spend.
Payton, Looney and Porter in particular were key to the Warriors’ success this season and voiced their desire to stay in Golden State.
“I always want to be back here,” said Looney, the Warriors’ 2015 first-round pick. “I want to come back and try to defend what we just won and be a part of something special again.”
The Warriors own Looney’s Bird rights, which means they have no limitations on what they can offer him. After playing all 104 games this year, regular season and playoffs included, Looney evolved as one of the team’s most valuable players and their only true center with James Wiseman sidelined injured.
The Warriors also own Payton’s early-Bird rights, which means the Warriors can offer Payton up to 105 percent of this season’s league average salary. That would be just over $10 million. Payton said he would “absolutely” love to come back to the Warriors next season, but the longtime journeyman who bounced between six G-League teams and four NBA teams is looking for a multi-year deal. “I get to choose this time, I think so it’ll be interesting,” Payton said. “Looking forward to it though.”
Plenty of teams will be interested in Payton for his ability to defend wings despite his 6-foot-3 height, but the Warriors may feel the need to keep and pay their discovery.
Porter signed a one-year deal on a veteran minimum contract and shined, his 3-point shooting spacing the floor with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Porter’s non-Bird rights for this free agency period means the Warriors can’t offer him much. But they could offer him the luxury tax-payer mid-level exception, which could be worth $6 million.
Porter, whose career has been mired by injuries, may be willing to sign on for that.
“I do know that this team can compete again for another championship and it would be a great opportunity if I could stay here,” Porter said. “It would be amazing to be here with that group of guys again and do it all over again.” Iguodala, 38, has yet to announce if he will retire from the league or give another season. He missed the majority of the playoffs and portions of the regular season dealing with a multitude of injuries, but his presence on the sideline was invaluable.
But if the Warriors decide to extend Andrew Wiggins or Jordan Poole — or both — there may be other money to consider flooding the books and squeezing one, if not all, of the more expensive free agent prospects out of the frame.
Plus, the Warriors could just pivot their spending habit and lean into their lottery picks. Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody can theoretically step into Porter and Payton’s roles and Wiseman can take over for Looney at a much cheaper rate.
The Warriors are not afraid to spend big, but plenty of factors may not guarantee the title team will all return. | Basketball |
“Man is an abomination of Nature who has turned his back on Mother Earth,” the witch Ježibaba tells the heroine in Dvořák’s Rusalka. In the context of her fury at the Prince’s rejection of the water nymph who has vainly sought to join humanity to experience love, she is, of course, overstating her case. But concern over man’s violation of the natural world lurks within Dvořák’s sad, beautiful fable, and hovers behind Jack Furness’s new production for Garsington Opera, which will also be seen in Edinburgh later this summer.Avoiding fashionable post-Freudian glosses, Furness keeps us more or less within the bounds of fairytale, imbuing the opera with a genuine, if slightly sinister magic. Tom Piper’s set is dominated by a vast platform that rears upwards to reveal the watery world – and an onstage pond – below, where Musa Ngqungwana’s Vodník looks anxiously on as Natalya Romaniw’s Rusalka pines for Gerard Schneider’s Prince. The creatures in the forest above are played by whirling aerialists and acrobats, whose routines are spectacular but prove distracting, while Christine Rice’s Ježibaba, looking like some malign fin de siècle empress, casts her spells in a hut made from a massive skull.‘Glamorous but grim.’ Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The GuardianThe human world, in contrast, is superficially glamorous but grim. The carcasses of slaughtered animals hang from the ceiling of the palace kitchen, and at one point the Prince, ever the huntsman, disembowels a deer to present its heart to Sky Ingram’s imperious Foreign Princess. The court’s codified rituals, meanwhile, barely conceal the hypocrisies of crass sexual intrigue, and it is no wonder that Rusalka, now literally out of her element, is so poignantly and desperately adrift.Much of the evening turns on Romaniw’s long-awaited performance in the title role, and she is unquestionably magnificent in it, her voice generous in tone, her delivery rapturous and ecstatic – particularly in the final scene with the equally passionate Schneider, when the pair of them unleash a torrent of sound and emotion that is overwhelming. Ngqungwana makes a sorrowful, lyrical Vodník, less malign than many. Rice gets Ježibaba’s mix of grotesque comedy and malevolence spot on, while Ingram, slightly steely in tone, bristles with hauteur and contempt. Douglas Boyd’s conducting is on the spacious side: his interpretation, in which Dvořák’s occasional Wagnerisms are much to the fore, slowly gathers weight and intensity as it goes. The playing (the Philharmonia) and choral singing (the Garsington Opera Chorus) are both excellent. | Music |
Oh, for good measure, toss in No. 9, Sam Burns, who has only been roaring along in the PGA Tour’s passing lane all year, and the always popular hometown hero story (No. 47 Keegan Bradley, who was born in Vermont and played his high school golf 30 miles from TCC, in Hopkinton) and you have the makings of a scintillating competition upon one of the world’s greatest golf stages.You also have further validation for the way the folks at the USGA have been overseeing this national championship because, give them their due, it’s been brilliantly consistent.How so? This competition saw 25 players post sub-par scores Thursday, but only 4 under led. There were 23 players under par after Friday’s second round, but 5 under set the pace. After Saturday’s competition, played in coolish, spring-like weather that produced a field average of 73.531, a stroke-and-a-half higher than Friday, there are just nine players under par and guess what?The lead is at just 4 under, shared by Zalatoris and Fitzpatrick, and the fact that Rahm is one stroke back and Bradley and Scheffler are two back and Burns and McIlroy sit just three off the lead is a 54-hole leaderboard on par with a few of the sterling ones in recent years.Harken back to the luster of 2010 at Pebble Beach when five of the top six names on the leaderboard through three rounds were sticks named Dustin Johnson, Graeme McDowell, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, and Phil Mickelson.There was sparkle in 2015 at Chambers Bay when Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Branden Grace, and Johnson were tied for the 54-hole lead.As for 2018 at Shinnecock, the glitter of a four-way tie for the lead between Daniel Berger, Tony Finau, Brooks Koepka, and Johnson — with Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson right there — was pretty good theater.But what will take the stage Sunday at The Country Club doesn’t have to take a back seat to those outstanding dramas. It will feature a mixture of firepower, star power, and colorful story lines and it is owed to a philosophy that the USGA employs beautifully:Soften the course setup slightly in Rounds 1 and 2, let 15-25 players break par each day, allow somewhere around 7 or 6 or 5 or 4 lead for 36, cut the field in half, then tighten things up with pin placements, greens speeds, and firmness.Think it works? It does if you prefer that elite players win in the toughest conditions, because eight of the last 12 US Open winners have been ranked in the top 15 and the lowest-ranked winner was McDowell (37th) in 2010.Formulas, however, can only provide the setting. The story lines are what humanize the competition and with the group that will be assembled at The Country Club, there is much to embrace.OK, so none of these lads used to caddie at TCC and then walked across the street to win the US Open (as Francis Ouimet did 109 years ago). But Fitzpatrick is pretty much a neighborhood kid, isn’t he?True, he’s not New England-born — he’s England-born — but every nine years he takes out Massachusetts residency, moves into Jamaica Plain to stay with Will and Jennifer Fulton, then strolls through the gates of The Country Club to compete for a national championship.Bradley outranks Fitzpatrick for hometown status, of course, unless you know of another competitor in the field who owns a Massachusetts high school golf championship.As for McIlroy, who owns the hearts of most PGA Tour fans here, there and everywhere for being so vocal in loyalty during tumultuous times, the crowd considers him one of them. Scheffler, who played a four-hole stretch in 5 over to squander the lead, is similarly well-liked, mostly because there’s nothing not to like about a kid who won the Green Jacket in April and does nearly everything correctly.Zalatoris lost a PGA Championship playoff last month but always appears on the verge of finally getting that first win, whereas it’s hard to remember the last time when Burns didn’t win.As for Rahm, the choppy double-bogey that knocked him out of the lead at the 18th hole and pushed him one back, the likelihood is it will add fuel to his emotional side. That is good. He got emotional a few times at Torrey Pines last June and that worked out nicely, didn’t it?For the record, there is a sprinkling of unheralded names (Adam Hadwin is 2 under, tied for fourth; Joel Dahmen is joint seventh, at 1 under). But that was the story in past years, too, with Chez Reavie (2019), Brian Harman (2017), Andrew Landry (2016), Erik Compton (2014), Blake Adams (2012), and Gregory Havret (2010).Adding a long shot is part of the formula, too, though it’s the chalk that is riding a healthy winning streak. | Golf |
Kelsie Whitmore is one of three figures on the baseball diamond at the Staten Island Community Park. The stands of the ballpark are empty, give or take a few hotdog sellers opening their kiosks in the concourses. Her coach, Nelson Figueroa, is hitting balls at her, which she waits on before reading the angle it will arrive, motioning towards the ball, then receiving it in her mitt with her left hand and throwing back with her right.Next to her, a girl is watching and then doing the same. She is much smaller than Whitmore. Her throws do not comfortingly thud back into Figueroa’s mitt like Whitmore’s do, but die halfway before bouncing back along the ground. She looks towards Whitmore after each, who nods, shadows the action and then turns to receive.Whitmore wears the No 3 shirt for Staten Island FerryHawks. In April, she signed to play professionally with the team, alongside 24 men. She is the first woman since 1994 to play in a league that is affiliated with Major League Baseball. The Atlantic League, which Staten Island play in, is the highest form of baseball outside the MLB. It is often referenced as “the second chance league”, where players of Major League calibre are trying to get back in while playing the closest possible standard. No woman has played at the same level.“We see a lot more girls coming out to the games these days,” says the team’s general manager, Gary Perone, as he watches from the “best office in the world” on the second tier, overlooking Richmond Park. “Even for the Little League teams. They all want to come out and speak to her. She’s inspiring a lot of people. Not just here, but across all the five boroughs of New York City.”The fan today, he says, has been granted some time with her idol as today’s opponents have forgone their batting practice. Her mother had brought her in early, fully decked in gear, and told Whitmore: “You’re her inspiration.”The FerryHawks’ home sits on the lip of Staten Island, set back from the shore only by the ferry port. From the vantage point of looking on to the game, anything beyond the baseball park appears to be entirely water until it meets the horizon of the rest of New York City. You would be forgiven for imagining, if presented this view alone, that Staten Island might be only the ballpark, the ferry occasionally turning up with the boatload of people that got on for the view of the Statue of Liberty, then leaving with them back the other way again.Though they are bottom of the North Division in the early phase of the season, Perone calls Staten Island culture “bridge to bridge, the best baseball borough in the city”, with attention upon it like never before because of their new pitcher and outfielder.Kelsie Whitmore warms up in the batting cages. Photograph: Bebeto Matthews/APWhitmore walks away from the returning ferries, towards the dugout, back from the impromptu session. The men who make up the rest of the FerryHawks are starting to file out for warm-ups. As they bounce across each other, beginning the ritual of their training drills, there are seas of code in secret handshakes, bodychecks and high fives. A catcher is half-kitted up and receiving throws. One escapes his grasp, alarmingly dropping to the floor. He removes his helmet, retrieves the ball and studies it as if it must be faulty. He shakes his head existentially before tutting, dispensing with the ball and starting again.Whitmore hasn’t seen this, but as if she has, she says, laughing: “If you want to play this game, the first thing you have to know is that you’re going to fail. You have to work out if you’re OK with that.”Whitmore – not starting in the outfield – is in the throes of preparing for potential relief pitching. Like her teammates, and seemingly all baseball players, she is constantly spitting. She has been playing baseball since she was six. She’s now 24. “There just weren’t any women playing,” she says about her beginnings, spitting again. “All my inspirations were men. It just made me want it more. My thing isn’t about trying to be the first. It’s about trying to do something I love.”At 14 years old, the youngest age possible, she was picked for America’s women’s team. Otherwise, she has usually been the only woman in her teams, at each level advancing against the odds. The received wisdom tended to be that the boys were going to get too strong for her and she wouldn’t be able to keep pace. It has never happened. On her debut for the FerryHawks, the first ball hit into play poetically went straight to her. She handled it flawlessly. She sends herself to sleep imagining such plays. “I’ll visualise it and try to feel the feeling. I’m all about feel. I try not to be too robotic.”There was a time when she tried to emulate precisely what the men were doing, but found it counterintuitive. “It was only when I admitted to myself that I will never be able to throw a ball 400ft that it started to really work for me. I realised: ‘Oh, I just need to play how I play.’ That’s the thing with baseball – you make it work for you somehow.”Kelsie Whitmore in a Ferryhawks cap. ‘You’ve got to act like nothing fazes you.’ Photograph: Bebeto Matthews/APThe sport has a particular penchant for people fitting through the cracks, finding ways the game works for them. Whitmore’s skill is manipulating her lack of pitching speed as an asset, developing a delivery now known on the circuit as “the Thing”. Figueroa, a successful major league pitcher despite his own lack of speed, has been overseeing a steadily increasing variety of pitches in her arsenal. She reels through them on the dugout, hand reconfiguring on the ball. As she shows them, her opposite forearm is exposed, bearing a tattoo of crocodile teeth – representing a hunter lurking beneath the surface.Four-seam fastball: a staple diet for a pitcher that takes its name from revealing all four-seams in flight. Change-up: A pitch disguised as a fast ball that arrives slower than it first appears. Splitter with vertical break: so named because the fingers are split across the ball, causing it to die as it reaches the hitter. Circle change “with some positive break on it”: a change-up with the fingers making a circle formation. And finally, the knuckle change (AKA “the Thing”). Figueroa has called it “the weirdest thing he has ever seen”, a pitch that seems to have little precedent.While the reaction to Whitmore’s introduction to the Atlantic League has been overwhelmingly positive, there have been the inevitable incidents. In Charleston, tennis balls were thrown at Figueroa and her before the opponents apologised profusely on the crowd’s behalf. There has been chirping while waiting on base about her not being good enough to be there – Whitmore is keen to point out that accusation is far from exclusive to her. It is an intense lens Whitmore appears to wear lightly, but feels its consistent presence. “I’m in the process of getting past that feeling of all the eyes being on me and having to be perfect.”If she isn’t, she occasionally worries, there are implications beyond herself, “when you hold a title like this, you want to show it so well. If things don’t go well, I can occasionally think to myself: ‘I’ve let all these little girls down,’ or: ‘I’ve just proved all the people that don’t believe, that they’re right.’ There’s a lot of people like that still.“You’ve got to act like nothing fazes you. That’s the part where you get stuck because you feel, as a woman, you can’t show emotion or you’ll be looked at as weak or not powerful. But there’s the other side where it’s like: ‘We want to be OK with being who we are. It’s OK to feel overwhelmed one day.’ You tend to shut it down because if we cave into that, people will say: ‘That’s why you shouldn’t be here.’”There has been a small wave of women carving their way into high-level baseball of late. This year, Alyssa Nakken became the first to coach on-field in the MLB – for the San Francisco Giants, positioned on first base. Alexis Hopkins is employed as a bullpen catcher in the Atlantic League. Rachel Balkovec manages the Tampa Tarpons, part of the New York Yankees organisation.“The question I get asked the most,” she mockingly glazes over for a second, “is: ‘How does it feel to be a girl?’ I just want to be remembered as someone who deserved it. Someone who made it as far as they possibly could.” She considers again before rephrasing: “Someone who made it as far as she possibly could.”She gestures out towards the lush green in front of her. “I’ve learned more about life on this baseball field than I have in school or on the streets. It’s because you go through the mistakes, the ups and the downs, success, interactions, relationships, friendships.” She points again, as if in praise: “And it was all on the diamond.”The first pitch is nearing. “What’s the time?” she is asking. It’s a quarter to five. “Quarter to five? What does that mean? 4.45? Is that the time?” I nod. “I haven’t done math in a while,” she proudly says, smiling. “I’ve been on the field. There goes another day I haven’t used y=mx plus b.”With that she spits again and is back on, blending into her teammates, merging with the handshakes and the body checks.When Staten Island take to the field, Perone is standing next to his office, looking out. The minor league game is sparsely attended, with families and people dressed as hawks or bowling pins making manic and joyful use of the empty seats. Whitmore is there, arms folded over the dugout, watching the game like the rest of her teammates, distinguishable by the shot of straight black hair that falls flat to the bottom of her back.“When I was notified about Kelsie, I spoke to her for about two and a half months,” Perone says, reasoning: “She’s a hard worker and she’s really good.” He stops occasionally as he’s talking to gesture to the in-game DJ, circling his arms to beckon them to turn the music up between plays. “ You know, you’re in a locker room with all men and you have to work that out. She hears her fair share of stuff wherever she goes.”He gestures again for the music to be louder as a hitter is struck out for the end of an inning. “ But whether it’s our team or the visiting teams, all people want to do is meet Kelsie. When you do, you understand she is a special person. She’s going to do something for the future of baseball.” | Baseball |
DETROIT — He called it a “missed opportunity.”And, yeah, it was. Big one, too. Manager Chris Woodward was talking about the day, about the series, about expediting the Rangers’ chase for .500.The Rangers allowed the lowest-scoring offense in baseball a pair of touchdowns — and extra points — in a 14-7 loss to Detroit. It denied them a chance at what appeared to be a four-game sweep against a team stumbling badly. It will keep them from returning to Texas with their record evened.But he might as well have been talking about starter Taylor Hearn. It is starting to feel like the chance to nail down a spot in the Rangers rotation long term is slipping or has finally slipped away. He has made 13 starts this year, every fifth day as regular as can be. His ERA has climbed to 6.25. It is the highest ERA in the AL among the 52 pitchers with at least 50 innings.Afterward, Woodward could not commit to Hearn making a 14th start this coming week. The Rangers will reevaluate their options.“With any young pitcher who’s not established, we always talk about that,” Woodward said. “He’s got to pitch better. I think that’s just the bottom line: he’s got to execute better. You have to consistently give innings and be able to execute pitches. And sometimes, even when you do, you are going to get beat. Today was just way too many balls over the heart of the plate.”Given a 1-0 lead on Adolis García’s homer, Hearn allowed a game-tying homer two batters in, then allowed a Javier Báez blast to put the Rangers in a 3-1 hole five batters into the game. It was the fifth first-inning homer he’s allowed this year, tied for most in the majors.“I’m not trying to put our team in a tough situation early on,” Hearn said. “But I am trying to come after those guys and just missed with some pitches. I was definitely throwing pitches in the zone; they were being aggressive, as well. So, I was trying to focus and left some stuff over the middle or caught just enough of the plate.”The first inning plagues many starters. Among those who have also allowed at least five first-inning homers this year: the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole. The difference: Others are able to make quicker adjustments.With Hearn, this issue continued. He allowed consecutive singles to the bottom of the order to start the second before a double play helped him escape. He could not escape the fourth, though. After a leadoff double, he got consecutive strikeouts to put himself on the precipice of another escape. Three consecutive hits followed. Then came his exit. It left him with 59 innings for the season, giving him the fewest among the group of 43 who have started at least 13 times this year. He has one quality start.For a team simply searching for answers as the Rangers were last year, that’s acceptable to allow for more fact-finding. With higher expectations: not so much.“We want to give ourselves the best chance possible to win every night out,” Woodward said. “What will we do? I can’t tell you right now, but we will definitely talk about it.”If the Rangers are considering a change, an alignment of circumstances makes this the most likely moment to do so.The Rangers will have to trim their roster by at least one pitcher after Sunday’s game to comply with MLB’s mandate that staffs be no larger than 13 pitchers as of Monday. At some point, they are expected to activate starter Glenn Otto from the COVID-19 injured list. Otto and designated hitter Mitch Garver entered COVID protocols on June 10. Otto, who hasn’t pitched since June 4, is likely going to need a rehab outing before he returns.Thanks to two off days in the coming week, however, it gives the Rangers extra latitude for flexibility with the rotation. They can get through until Saturday, if they choose, with just Dane Dunning, Martín Pérez and Jon Gray. They could push a fifth starter — probably Otto — as far back as June 28 at Kansas City.The problem is that there haven’t been many pitchers at the top of the minor league system pushing for opportunities in the majors. If there has been a disappointment to the minor league season for the Rangers, it’s been the relative lack of progress at the top of the system.Spencer Howard, who began the season in the starting rotation, has shown some progress in recent outings at Triple-A Round Rock and is scheduled to start Sunday. It could place him perfectly to join the Rangers’ rotation next weekend. Howard had consecutive five-inning scoreless outings before a rough start against Sugar Land on Tuesday.“I feel like I was on a pretty good stretch the last couple of outings,” Hearn said. “I hate the results. But there’s nothing I can really do about [the past results]. I feel like this is — and spiritually as well — a test. I don’t know what God has in store, but I’ve got to keep pushing.”The question for the Rangers is whether Taylor Hearn gets another opportunity or if he’s already missed this one.Leclerc arrives: After two years of injuries, two canceled flights and a 2:30 a.m. arrival on Saturday, José Leclerc is not about to be picky over how the Rangers use him. The one-time Rangers closer said he is happy to pitch in any role Chris Woodward chooses for him.“I just want to help the team win,” Leclerc said Saturday afternoon. “I don’t care about the situation. Whatever [Woodward] asks, I’m going to do it. I’m excited and a little nervous after two years, but I’m 100% ready to throw at 100%.”Ultimately that meant making his return with the Rangers trailing by seven runs to start the bottom of the sixth inning Saturday. He was rusty, allowing four hits and three runs in a 27-pitch inning.Leclerc underwent shoulder surgery after just two outings in 2020 and had Tommy John surgery last year. He acknowledged some early hesitancy in “letting the ball go,” but said he’s since gotten over that. It’s not an unusual sensation for pitchers coming back from any kind of arm surgery. Leclerc had a 5.00 ERA in nine rehab innings.On Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant+++Related:Rangers’ Jack Leiter learned ‘Mental ABCs’ from Al Leiter’s mistakes and greatnessFind 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. [email protected] @Evan_P_Grant | Baseball |
The words “British sex comedy” will strike an icy chill into the heart of anyone raised on a diet of Brian Rix trouser-losing theatrical farces and films such as Carry on Camping and Confessions of a Window Cleaner. Yet despite such a blush-inducing heritage, the inelegantly named Good Luck To You, Leo Grande manages to keep one foot firmly on the floor of enjoyably progressive entertainment even as it dances around a peculiarly British minefield in which anxiety and openness about intimacy collide.Directed by Sophie Hyde (who made the 2019 Sundance hit Animals) from an often hilarious if somewhat theatrical script by Katy Brand, this stagey two-hander presents a chaptered series of hotel-room encounters between an uptight, recently widowedwoman and an unfeasibly lovable handsome young sex worker. “I don’t like anything going into places where things are meant to come out,” deadpans Emma Thompson’s Nancy, a retired RE teacher who has never had an orgasm (her missionary-positioned marriage was not so much “a furnace of passion that burned out” as simply “the bottom drawer of an Aga”) and now has a list of “attainable goals” that she’d “like to get through” to see what all the fuss was about.Having only ever slept with her husband, Nancy’s knowledge of sex work (a heady cocktail of anxious middle-class guilt and brusque practicality) comes largely from the Wikipedia-copied essays of her students for whom the question “Should it be legalised?” was a regular set topic. Meanwhile, the titular erudite service provider (smoothly played by Peaky Blinders alumnus Daryl McCormack) has mummy issues that dovetail neatly with his jittery client’s own parental shortcomings, something that will become apparent during their extracoital exchanges, which form the backbone of the drama.It’s no surprise that the endlessly versatile Thompson (who effortlessly stole films such as Love, Actually and An Education in which she played ensemble or supporting parts) should be note-perfect in a tragicomic role that requires her to declare: “I don’t want an old man, I want a young one” before swiftly admitting: “I’m just a seedy old pervert – I feel like Rolf Harris!” There’s the merest hint of Death in Venice about her infatuation with youth, a reminder of the grief she feels for the time she has wasted and the erotic spark of the time she has left. “I want to play at being young again,” she tells her paid-for paramour, explicitly stating the film’s barely hidden subtextual intertwining of la petite mort with an awareness of impending mortality.At times, I was reminded of the broad, physically awkward comedy of the Vanessa Taylor-scripted Hope Springs, in particular the scene in which Meryl Streep ends up distractedly eating the banana she’s taken into the bathroom to research oral sex. There’s even an unexpected echo of Leonard Rossiter’s Rigsby from Rising Damp about Thompson’s performance, at least in the early scenes – over-loquacious, physically fiddlesome, befuddled by attraction, yet somehow lacking empathy as if talking to herself, something that will change as she mellows over the course of the drama.Watch a trailer for Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.As for McCormack’s endlessly accommodating gigolo (a distant British descendant of Richard Gere’s American Julian) he’s described as “some sort of sex saint… a master of the menopause” – too good to be true. When Thompson asks: “Are you real?” the answer of course is that he is not. Leo’s profession may call for convincing role play, but McCormack and Thompson are also dexterous actors playing characters into whom I confess I never quite bought. Compare this screen couple with Anne Reid and Daniel Craig in Roger Michell’s The Mother and the air of performative artifice becomes all the more apparent.None of which is to say that Good Luck to You, Leo Grande isn’t admirably subversive and enjoyably whimsical fare, a quality amplified by Stephen Rennicks’s score, which flits lightly between laughter and tears while keeping things firmly in the easy-listening register. | Movies |
The Red Sox nimbly dodged trouble with starting pitchers Nate Eovaldi and Garrett Whitlock on the injured list, getting well-pitched games by Triple A call-ups Kutter Crawford and Josh Winckowski to keep their momentum flowing in the right direction.But beating the weak-hitting lineups fielded by the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners is not the same as facing the St. Louis Cardinals.Crawford was hit hard and it was even worse for the bullpen on Saturday night as the Cardinals beat the Red Sox, 11-2.St. Louis had 14 hits off five Red Sox pitchers, three of them home runs. The Sox managed only five hits, all singles.Most of the fans remaining at Fenway Park for the final two innings were rooting for the visitors. Their only disappointment came in the eighth inning when Albert Pujols pinch hit and struck out after fouling off six two-strike pitches.No matter. Pujols received the same supportive standing ovation walking back to the dugout as he did walking to the plate.Get 108 StitchesAn email newsletter about everything baseball from the Globe's Red Sox reporters, in your inbox on weekdays during the season.The Sox can still take the three-game series with a victory on Sunday. They’ll have one of their best starters, Nick Pivetta, facing rookie righthander Andre Pallante.Pivetta is 6-1 with a 1.83 earned run average in his last eight starts.The Sox have won 12 of their last 16 games but now trail the Yankees by a season-high 14½ games in the division. New York has won nine in a row.Crawford made a strong start at Seattle on Sunday, working five innings in a 2-0 victory. But the Cardinals are not the Mariners.Crawford got two quick outs in the first inning before Paul Goldschmidt singled to left field. Nolan Arenado worked the count full and crushed a cutter from Kutter into the Monster Seats for his second homer in as many nights.The pitch was flat and Arenado sent it sizzling over the wall.“He didn’t miss it,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.The Cardinals took a 3-0 lead in the second inning on a double into the right field corner by Dylan Carson that scored Tyler O’Neill from first base.Xander Bogaerts led off the bottom of the inning with a single off Dakota Hudson. Franchy Cordero walked with one out before Bobby Dalbec singled sharply to center to drive in a run.With Cordero at third, Jackie Bradley Jr. grounded into a double play to end the inning.Nolan Gorman led off the fourth inning with a 440-foot home run to center. Crawford (1-2) left the changeup floating at the top of the strike zone and Gorman let his power do the rest.Crawford was optioned to Triple A Worcester after the game.With a runner on first and two outs in the fourth, Hudson walked Dalbec, Cordero, and Bradley on 16 pitches to force in a run. He threw nine balls in a row at one point.With a chance to make it hurt even more, Jarren Duran grounded to third. Arenado, a nine-time Gold Glove winner, had to pause to avoid hitting Bradley but still had the arm strength to get the speedy Duran by a half-step.“He just couldn’t get the big hit,” Cora said.The Cardinals wrapped the game up with six runs in the sixth inning as they sent 12 batters to the plate against Hansel Robles and Hirokazu Sawamura.“A tough inning right there,” Cora said.O’Neill started it with a home run to center. Tommy Edman and Goldschmidt each had two-run singles. By the end of the inning, many of the Sox fans in the crowd of 36,141 were fleeing for the exits on an unseasonably chilly night.Austin Davis, who faced five batters on Friday, worked the final three innings for the Sox. He threw 56 pitches, a career high, and allowed a run“He wanted to finish,” Cora said. “I always pull for our guys but it got to the point I was really pulling for him to get the last two outs. We were in a bad spot … he saved a few arms in the bullpen.”Hudson (5-3) wasn’t particularly sharp but was the winner. He allowed two runs on four hits and five walks over five innings.Peter Abraham can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe. | Baseball |
OAKLAND – Jonah Bride feels he belongs in the Oakland A’s clubhouse. So far, anyway, the 26-year-old rookie hasn’t looked out of place.
Bride is carrying a four-game hitting streak through his first five games with the A’s, and his double in Saturday’s 2-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals broke up Brad Keller’s no-hit bid in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“It was cool to get called up but at the same time I feel like I belong here,” Bride said. “I’m going to continue to go out there and perform and help this team win anyway.”
With infielders Kevin Smith and Sheldon Neuse struggling at the plate with the A’s, it created a path for Bride, 23rd-round draft pick out of the University of South Carolina, to find himself in a major league lineup. Bride became the 46th player to play for the A’s this season. Bride doesn’t hit for power, but he gets on base. In the minor leagues, he accumulated a .388 on-base percentage over four seasons, as he drew 57 walks last season in Double-A Midland and 44 in 2019 in Single-A Stockton.
“He can hit a fastball, and he’s shown that since he’s been here,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “He’s earning these opportunities, and it’s fun to watch a young player come to the major leagues and have some initial impact.”
Bride also has versatility, being able to play through most of the infield and also learned how to play catcher in the minor leagues.
In the fifth inning of Saturday’s game, Bride made a diving catch behind the mound that might have prevented a bunt single from Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi. Starting pitcher Cole Irvin celebrated after the catch was made and praised him for making the play.“He’s (Bride) has been great for us since he’s been called up and I want to keep him going,” Irvin said.
Many of Bride’s teammates said seeing his success at the plate has given the A’s a jolt during their extended slump, as they’ve now lost 15 out of their last 17 games. Catcher Stephen Vogt spent two weeks with Bride in Triple-A Las Vegas during a rehab assignment.
“He’s a ballplayer. Put him wherever you want defensively. He’s going to give you good defense,” Vogt said. “He doesn’t chase much, but I really like his approach at the plate.”
“He (Vogt) was telling me, look forward to seeing you soon,” said Bride. “When I got here, he said to keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t change anything. Keep playing the same game.” | Baseball |
With three minutes left in the Golden State Warriors’ NBA championship clincher in Boston, Dell Curry and the other players’ dads and their families were ushered down the stands to wait for the celebration.
“Hey, take this with you,” Curry’s buddy said, handing him a victory cigar.
Along the way, Curry – one of four Warriors’ dads who once starred in the NBA – found himself standing under the net with his unlit cigar.
“This is as far as I’m going,” Dell Curry told himself, as the game clock ticked down and his soon-to-be-Finals MVP son Steph Curry started to tear up. With twentysomething seconds still left in the game, the younger Curry spotted his dad and walked to the edge of the court to share an emotional embrace.
“That moment was huge,” Dell said.
For the Warriors, it meant Father’s Day came a few days early this year.
Captured on TV, the hug between the Currys mirrored the joy and tears of Warriors fans as the team beat the Boston Celtics to claim their fourth title in eight years.
The win was a pinnacle moment not only for the Currys but for three other Warriors’ fathers who shared their NBA DNA with their sons, playing pickup basketball together in the driveway and introducing them to locker-room legends with names like Magic and Kobe. When the game finally ended, NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton Sr. found his son, Gary II, in the growing celebration on the court. Former Houston Rocket Mitchell Wiggins caught up to his son, Andrew, the Warriors’ young breakout star. And Mychal Thompson, standing 6-foot-9, scanned over the scrum and spotted Steph Curry’s “Splash Brother,” Klay.
Klay Thompson and his father, Mychal Thompson, shoot hoops on Tuesday, June 4, 2013. The elder Thompson was a No. 1 overall pick and a key role player during the Lakers’ Showtime heyday. (Sean Hiller/Daily Breeze)
“I had to get his attention, grab him by the shoulders, spin him around and give him a big hug like he was back in kindergarten,” said the elder Thompson, who won two NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. “As a parent, you still want to hug your children, no matter even if they’re grown men or women. You still want to hug them as if they’re little babies because that’s how much you love them.”
With four NBA titles now, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have long surpassed their fathers, and Andrew Wiggins, with one, has now done the same. But Gary Payton II, who struggled for years under the enormous shadow of his legendary father, was able to give him something he couldn’t achieve on his own: a title for both father and son.
Andrew Wiggins, center, flanked by his parents Mitchell Wiggins and Marita Payne-Wiggins, as he announces his commitment to the University of Kansas during a ceremony, Tuesday, May 14, 2013, at St. Joseph High School in Huntington, West Virginia. (AP Photo/The Herald-Dispatch, Sholten Singer)
“I told him, ‘Welcome to the club,’ Mychal Thompson said of Payton Sr., who won a championship in 2006 with the Miami Heat. “He’s got a special, unique club now where there have only been five combinations of fathers and sons who have won an NBA title, and now they joined the fraternity.”
That club also includes former Warriors great Rick Barry and his son, Brent, who won a title with the San Antonio Spurs.
Dell Curry never won an NBA championship. But as he stood under the basket as the clock wound down Thursday, he flashed back to his playing days with the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors.
“To get that feeling of what it was like for friggin’ six games – of that atmosphere, with that intensity. I felt that for 10 or 20 seconds as I stood there,” he said. “It just made me aware once again how hard it is to be in the NBA and how hard it is to win a title.”
Both Curry and Thompson also know how hard it was for their sons to recover from devastating injuries over the last two seasons when the Warriors went from five straight NBA Finals to missing the playoffs.
They were there, over the months of rehab, to reassure.
“You’re going to get healthy,” Dell Curry remembers telling Steph when he broke his hand in 2019 and feared it could be a career-altering injury. “Your body will recover.”
Being the son of an NBA star had its benefits. Growing up, Klay Thompson spent time in the locker room with Lakers legend Magic Johnson and was mentored by Kobe Bryant. Curry shot baskets before Toronto Raptors games with NBA All-Star Vince Carter. And Gary Payton II grew up as a ballboy for his father’s team, the Seattle Supersonics, grabbing rebounds from Shawn Kemp and handing out water bottles on the sidelines. Gary Payton and Gary Payton II share a moment! 🥺🏆 pic.twitter.com/R24ky578v0
— NBA (@NBA) June 18, 2022 But relationships between fathers and sons can be complicated. Navigating the fine line between encouragement and expectation is always a challenge – especially when fathers are famous, when fans stop them for autographs at the grocery store, when comparisons are inevitable, when sons carry their fathers’ names.
It’s been particularly tough on Gary Payton II, who has vented publicly about the tension over the years with his father. In an interview with the Bay Area News Group on Thursday, Payton II said that at one point years ago, his father called him “a sorry ass basketball player.”
“He just kept it real with me. And I think the biggest lesson from all this right now is just him being real and just blunt with me and telling me things that I didn’t want to hear,” Payton II said. “But essentially, that lit the fire under me. And essentially, I’m here, right now, because of those words.”
Former NBA player Gary Payton (L) and son, Gary Payton Jr. attend the 28th Anniversary Sports Spectacular Gala at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza on May 19, 2013, in Century City, California. (Photo by Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images for Sports Spectacular)
All the fathers, including Payton’s, have expressed over the years how they wanted their sons to chart their own paths and find their own happiness. But the sons still had to contend with high expectations.
Klay Thompson’s father remembers sharing his grand hopes for his son while driving home from a high school game in Southern California after Klay had scored more than 30 points in a game against DeMar DeRozan, who now plays for the Chicago Bulls.
“That’s when I told him I was real proud of him and he’s gonna be in the Hall of Fame someday,” Thompson said. “He didn’t say much. He wasn’t thinking about being an NBA champion and Hall of Famer, he was just trying to get through the next practice in high school.”
For Dell Curry, finding that balance meant having a relationship with Steph that went “well beyond basketball.” He brought up his two sons and daughter the way his father raised him, he said, spending plenty of time together off the court, including golfing and fishing.
But these past weeks, as the Warriors advanced in the playoffs, it’s been all basketball.
During Thursday night’s game, Dell Curry sat with his other son, Seth, who plays for the Brooklyn Nets, and analyzed each play as Steph racked up 34 points, including six three-pointers. Dell’s son-in-law, Damion Lee, also plays on the Warriors.
“To be able to watch one son win a title,” he said, “and share it with the other son in the bleachers and then share it with both of them after the game – a father couldn’t ask for more.”
By the time Dell Curry found himself under the basket, Steph Curry had already taunted the Boston crowd by pointing to his ring finger and laying his head on his hands in a gesture of “goodnight!”
Dell watched as Steph’s shoulders began to shake and eyes welled with tears. This is the boy who had cheered him on as a toddler from the stands, who was dismissed as too short to amount to much, who has quieted critics every step of the way.
“It’s so hard, so hard,” Dell said, “It takes so much dedication, discipline, sacrifice.”
He didn’t notice the play clock. He didn’t realize that the game was still underway when Steph stepped away from the game for the embrace.
“I’m just so proud of what you’ve accomplished,” Dell told Steph. “I know how hard it is.”
That night, at the team party with the other dads, he lit the cigar.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 16: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) holds up the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy and the MVP trophy with his parents Sonya and Dell following their 103-90 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 6 to win the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) | Basketball |
Abuse can "happen to anyone" and "you have no control over it", Billie Eilish has said as she described singing about an experience she suffered as a child.Speaking ahead of her headlining show at Glastonbury this week, the US star also said it can take time to realise that a relationship "wasn't what you thought it was".
Eilish, 20, said singing about an episode in her own life had made her feel "really vulnerable".She told The Sunday Times: "Here's all these secrets about me and here's all these insecurities I have and here are all the things I keep to myself."The lyrics to her song Getting Older include the phrase "wasn't my decision to be abused". She adds, in a later verse: "For anybody asking, I promise I'll be fine. I've had some trauma, did things I didn't wanna; Was too afraid to tell ya, but now, I think it's time."
She said it happened when she was younger, but did not give any further details.Another song from her album Happier Than Ever, called Your Power, is about abusers who take advantage of underage girls.She sings: "She said you were a hero; You played the part; But you ruined her in a year."Eilish told the newspaper: "There's a verse in Your Power that is about my experience and that's as specific as I'll get."The rest of it is about so many other things I've witnessed - from all these different points of view."She said abuse "does change you" and "makes you feel this responsibility and regret and embarrassment". Image: Billie Eilish at the Grammy Awards in April Eilish continued: "You feel guilty. You feel like it is your fault and it's because of you and you started it and this and that."And you're, like, but wait, I didn't, though, because I was just a kid."We blame ourselves and usually the people abusing you blame you too when it's nothing to do with you. Especially when you're young and your brain isn't developed and you don't know what is right or wrong."Pondering on how an abuser can enter someone's life, Eilish said that when you discover an encounter wasn't what you thought it was it "drives you crazy".She added: "The worst part is it can happen to anyone. It doesn't matter how vigilant your parents are."It doesn't matter how smart you are, it doesn't matter about your judgement, it can just happen to you and you have no control over it."It's crazy. And a lot of the time people who have that ill intention seem to be really charming on the outside, they can be charming to your family, they can make a really good impression on your friends. And they take advantage of that."Eilish headlines the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury on Friday. | Music |
The Country Club was no picnic on Day 3 of the US Open.“This place,” Will Zalatoris proclaimed even after shooting at Saturday-best 67 to assume a share of the lead with a 4-under 206, “is a beast.”With winds whipping at an average of 16 m.p.h., gusting up to 31 m.p.h., and periodically (and rather capriciously) disappearing, an already challenging course became bewildering for the 64 golfers who survived the cut. Even with a narrowed field comprised of the world’s elite, the average score for the third round jumped to 73.5 – up a stroke-and-a-half from the 72.0 average in Round 2.Birdies became scarce, with just 12.0 percent of holes resulting in an under-par score – a significant drop from the 14.8 percent rate on Friday. Bogeys, meanwhile, jumped from 23.5 percent of holes in Round 2 to 27.6 percent of holes in Round 3.Given the weather shift, it comes as little surprise that the field found it increasingly difficult to stay on the fairways and greens. Just 51 percent of drives stayed on fairways (down from 54 percent in Round 2), and the field found their way onto the greens without veering into the rough or hazards on 52 percent of the holes – down from a 59 percent greens in regulation rate on Friday.The difficulty of finding the greens on nearly half of the holes had a birdie-proofing effect. That shift was most evident on the par-5 eighth hole, which had played to a combined 117 strokes under par, with the 156-player field enjoying an average of 0.75 strokes taken off their scores over the first two days of the tournament.On Saturday, the eighth played evenly, averaging exactly 5.0 strokes – up from a 4.625 average on the first two days. The 560-yard hole thus accounted for roughly 25 percent of the day’s jump in scoring.After 81 percent of golfers reached the green in their first three strokes on both Thursday and Friday, with winds creating havoc, that number fell to 69 percent on Saturday, helping to explain the yield of just 13 birdies and four eagles on the hole.Alex Speier can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @alexspeier. | Golf |
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Phil Mickelson missed the U.S. Open cut on Friday as he attempted to pursue the only major tournament he hasn’t won over his career.Mickelson finished toward the bottom of the leaderboard after the first two rounds. He shot a 151. The cut line was projected to be 2-over-140. He told Golf Week after Friday’s round he thought he was going to do better than he did.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Phil Mickelson waits to hit on the 16th 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 thought I was more prepared than I was. The U.S. Open is the ultimate test. And you don’t really know where your game is until you get tested, and I thought I was little bit closer than I was," he said.Mickelson said he could pin his problems on putting.CHARLES BARKLEY WOULD ‘KILL A RELATIVE’ FOR $200 MILLION LIV GOLF PAYDAY Phil Mickelson of the United States stands on the practice range during the second round of the 122nd U.S. Open Championship at The Country Club on June 17, 2022 in Brookline, Massachusetts. ( Andrew Redington/Getty Images)"I really struggled with putting. I’m struggling with the putter, last week and this week," he added.On Thursday, Mickelson finished with a 78. He had five bogeys, two double bogeys and one birdie in the fist round. On Friday, he shot a 73, but it wasn’t good enough to push him past the cut line. He finished with two birdies and five bogeys.Mickelson was coming off the first LIV Golf event, in which he played 54 holes and was 11-over for the tournament in London. Phil Mickelson watches his tee shot on the fifth hole during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament, Tuesday, June 14, 2022, at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe next LIV Golf event is set for Portland, Oregon. It will be LIV Golf’s first U.S. Tournament and it will run from June 30 to July 2 at Pumpkin Ridge. Ryan Gaydos is the sports editor for Fox News and Fox Business. Story tips can be sent to [email protected]. | Golf |
The star of British sitcom Mr. Bean, comedian Rowan Atkinson, blasted what he described as cancel culture’s drain on comedy and free speech. “It does seem to me that the job of comedy is to offend, or have the potential to offend, and it cannot be drained of that potential," Atkinson told the Irish Times. "Every joke has a victim. That’s the definition of a joke. Someone or something or an idea is made to look ridiculous.” British actor Rowan Atkinson, dressed as "Mr Bean", celebrated 25 years of the sitcom in 2015. (Photo by Jonathan Short/Invision/AP) Atkinson pushed back at the notion that comedy should only target those in positions of authority. ‘NO MOUSE IN MY HOUSE’: NYC BILLBOARD SLAMS DISNEY’S ‘WOKE’ CULTURE WAR "I think you’ve got to be very, very careful about saying what you're allowed to make jokes about,” the actor said. "What if there's someone extremely smug, arrogant, aggressive, self-satisfied, who happens to be below in society? They’re not all in houses of parliament or in monarchies.” “In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything,” he added, noting that people use social media to take jokes out of their original context. “Not all jokes are for everyone.” Atkinson joins comedians Bill Maher, Steve Harvey, and Dave Chapelle, who have also blasted cancel culture. While speaking on a Television Critics Association press tour in January, Harvey said only comedians who are not sponsored can say what they want, noting that “every joke hurts somebody’s feelings.” CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Atkinson’s latest comedy show, Man vs. Bee, will be available on Netflix June 24. | Celebrity |
FC Dallas' Jose' Martinez (3), right, controls the ball as he is pursued defensively by Vancouver's Lucas Cavalini (9) during first half action. The two teams played their Major League Soccer match at Toyota Stadium in Frisco on June 18, 2022.(Steve Hamm)FRISCO — FC Dallas returned to action after a three-week break Saturday and looked far more like a rusty team than a rested one, losing 2-0 to the Vancouver Whitecaps at Toyota Stadium.It was the first time since an April 16 draw with the New York Red Bulls that FCD failed to score, snapping a nine-match streak across all competitions of finding the back of the net at least once.“There are things we didn’t do well today. That’s on me,” FCD manager Nico Estévez said after the match. “I think the break sometimes has these issues.“Mentally we weren’t ready. That’s on me.”Things started poorly for FC Dallas, as the Whitecaps took advantage of multiple defensive mistakes to open the scoring in the second minute.Deiber Caicedo got behind the back line and cut the ball back where FC Dallas midfielder Facundo Quignon had a chance to clear but scuffed it. Vancouver forward Lucas Cavallini was there to send a shot past FCD goalkeeper Maarten Paes.Vancouver was happy to defend the lead, but still managed to have the next good scoring chance. Andre Cubas, a new addition making his first-ever MLS start, tried a long-range shot after a Whitecaps counter-attack turned into sustained possession. The Paraguay international hit the post with the effort, but it stayed out.That jolted the FCD attack into life, with Jesus Ferreira getting on the end of a long pass forward from Nkosi Tafari but seeing his shot blocked by Vancouver Whitecaps goalkeeper Cody Cropper’s legs.Ferreira continued to look for the equalizer as the match went on, putting a shot just over the bar in the 41st minute after Farfan set the forward up for an opportunity just outside the 18-yard area.But the visitors found the goal again in the 44th minute. Caicedo fired a free kick over the wall and tucked it inside the post, with Paes unable to get over quickly enough to stop the shot from beating him.Estévez changed the shape at the half in addition to the personnel at the halftime break, bringing forward Franco Jara in to lead the line.Jara had a half-chance in the 55th minute when right back Ema Twumasi put a cross into the box and Jara nearly got a head onto it but was unable to put the ball into the net. Jara had another chance in the 63rd minute, when Pomykal chipped a ball into the box that drew Cropper off his line. Jara beat the shot-stopper to the ball but put the header over the crossbar.Estévez continued making adjustments to try and get the hosts back into the game, with winger Jader Obrian into the game and in possession in the 68th minute running from his own box to Vancouver’s but he was unable to put a shot on target after cutting onto his right foot in the box.FCD has scored eight goals in the final 15 minutes of matches so far this campaign but couldn’t find a breakthrough Saturday. An 86th-minute chance from an Obrian cross that Jara tried to volley in nearly hit the target was off, and FCD’s other forays forward were thwarted by a Whitecaps side happy to pack bodies into the box to protect the victory.FCD now turns its attention to this weekend’s rivalry match at Q2 Stadium against Austin FC. Saturday’s results meant Austin FC leapfrogged FCD into second place in the Western Conference, but the 2021 expansion team is yet to defeat FCD in three all-time meetings.1/16FC Dallas defender Marcus Farfan (4), right, heads the ball away from Vancouver's Lucas Cavallini (9) during first half action. The two teams played their Major League Soccer match at Toyota Stadium in Frisco on June 18, 2022. (Steve Hamm/ Special Contributor)(Steve Hamm)The Dallas Morning News partners with The Striker Texas to bring coverage of FC Dallas and other notable Texas soccer stories to dallasnews.com. Find more soccer coverage at thestrikertexas.com.Related:Dallas area to host FIFA World Cup matches at AT&T Stadium in 2026Related:Rivals in the NFL, Jones and Hunt families worked together on claiming World Cup bidsThe 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 | Soccer |
Subsets and Splits