Month: September 2020

English football sides are in a tough place right now, as games are happening extremely quickly in an attempt to pack a full season in following last campaign’s COVID-19 hiatus. This has led to a whole lot of matches in a relatively short period of time and some pretty weird things popping up through the first few weeks of the season.

An example of this came on Tuesday afternoon, when Tottenham Hotspur hosted Chelsea in the Carabao Cup just days after both sides played at the weekend. This led to Tottenham turning over much of its starting XI, with an exception being center back Eric Dier, who played 90 minutes on Sunday and followed that up with 90 minutes on Tuesday.

Still, it looked for a moment like Dier might have hit a bump in the road. During the second half against Chelsea with Spurs down 1-0, Dier disappeared for a minute, which led to Spurs manager Jose Mourinho running to the dressing room to figure out what he was doing.

There was, understandably, plenty of speculation that Dier had to go to the bathroom, and after the match, both himself and Mourinho made clear that, yes, nature called and the England international answered.

“Maybe it’s a normal thing when you are completely dehydrated, when you you have nothing in your muscles, which was the case,” Mourinho said. “I knew that he had to go, but I was just trying to put some pressure on him to have him back for the remaining time.”

As for how that went, as Dier alluded to, Chelsea had a chance to score while he was taking care of business, but they came up short. He returned to the pitch, Tottenham’s Erik Lamela scored to draw level soon after, and at the conclusion of the match, things went to penalties. Dier stepped up to the spot first, buried his chance, and Spurs ended up coming out on top in PKs. Dier was named Man of the Match and celebrated accordingly.

The High School Musical franchise ended a long time ago — so long ago that one of its stars, Zac Efron, is already playing dads. He’s even playing adults in reboots of movies that were vehicles from younger actors. According to Variety, Efron is set to appear in a new version of Firestarter, the classic Stephen King novel that was, once upon a time, a very young Drew Barrymore’s first movie after becoming a star with E.T.

The 1984 Firestarter starred Barrymore as a young girl with pyrokinetic powers, i.e., she can burn stuff with her mind. A shadowy government agency catches wind of this, decides to abduct her, and eventually learns the hard way that they shouldn’t have. Not surprisingly, the reboot is being shepherded by Blumhouse Productions, who’ve cornered the market on remakes of horror classics, among them the new Halloween films, last year’s Black Christmas, and the ever-delayed Candyman.

Who Efron will be playing is currently unknown. Will he play the girl’s dad, who bestows upon her freaky superpowers after he and her mother take an LSD-like drug? (This post-hippie plot point will presumably be changed. Or not!) Or will he continue his streak of playing bad by taking on the role of one of the government stooges, perhaps the one once essayed by a ponytailed George C. Scott? Whatever the case, it will remind you that 17 Again was a long time ago.

(Via Variety)

Everyone has strong opinions on the Game of Thrones TV show, and that includes George R.R. Martin, author of the literary doorstops that fueled the HBO juggernaut. Martin has been so infamously slow to complete the sixth installment in his A Song of Ice and Fire cycle that the showrunners just had to make up an ending themselves. But his beef isn’t with the show’s highly contested final stretch. In fact, it’s incredibly small and one could argue kind of nit-picky.

For his forthcoming new Thrones book Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, due on Oct. 6, Entertainment Weekly critic James Hibberd spoke with Martin about his thoughts on the show. Many of them are positive; he digs how they depicted Ned Stark’s death, and ditto the “Red Wedding.” But he does take umbrage with one scene from the first season. His complaint is partly budgetary: Though Game of Thrones had one of the largest budgets for TV at the time — a whopping $6 million per episode — they evidently had to cut a few corners when fleshing out one part of the first book.

″Where we really fell down in terms of budget was my least favorite scene in the entire show, in all eight seasons: King Robert [Mark Addy] goes hunting,″ Martin told Hibbert, referring to a scene from the Season 1, Episode 7 episode “You Win or Your Die.” Martin elaborated:

″Four guys walking on foot through the woods carrying spears and Robert is giving Renly s—. In the books, Robert goes off hunting, we get word he was gored by a boar, and they bring him back and he dies. So I never did [a hunting scene]. But I knew what a royal hunting party was like. There would have been a hundred guys. There would have been pavilions. There would have been huntsmen. There would have been dogs. There would have been horns blowing — that’s how a king goes hunting! He wouldn’t have just been walking through the woods with three of his friends holding spears hoping to meet a boar. But at that point, we couldn’t afford horses or dogs or pavilions.”

Of course, your pick for worst Game of Thrones scene is almost certainly different. Or who knows? Maybe you too are well-acquainted with medieval hunts and your nostrils were flaring seeing something so minimalist and inaccurate. It’s also worth underlining that this was still the first season, and that after GoT became a sensation beyond HBO’s wildest dreams, the network would give them even more money to better emulate Martin’s pricy vision.

Meanwhile, you can see the scene that so roiled Martin below:

(Via EW)

You can say it about almost any championship series, but the Lakers-Heat Finals is legitimately loaded with story lines and intrigue. You have LeBron facing his former team in Miami where he won two championships. You have Anthony Davis appearing in his first ever Finals series. You have Dion Waiters poised to take home a championship ring regardless of which team wins.

And then there’s Jimmy Butler getting his ultimate vindication after acrimonious exits from his last two teams. The Heat have been perhaps the most surprising team of the Bubble, upending Giannis and the No. 1 seeded Bucks and following that up with a decisive win over a Celtics team in the Eastern Conference Finals that many considered more talented.

Semantics aside, the Heat have exceeded expectations this postseason, and now they have a chance to spoil the Lakers’ designs on a 17th title to add to the rafters at Staples Center. To do that, they’ll have to go through James and Davis, but regardless, Butler doesn’t see his team as the underdogs in this scenario.

Via Tim Bontempts of ESPN:

“A really good team,” Butler said Tuesday, during the NBA’s annual Finals media day, of how he views the Heat entering this series. “That’s it. A really good team. Not going to say that we’re any better than anybody else, but I just don’t think that we’re underdogs. I don’t.

“So what that nobody picked us to be here? That’s okay. Pretty sure nobody is picking us to win, either. That’s okay. But we understand that. We embrace that, because, at the end of the day, we truly don’t care. We’re just going to go out here and compete, play together like we always have, and I’m going to see where we end up.”

By this point of the playoffs, the Heat have erased any doubt about their ability to hang with top-tier teams. Butler, for his part, has found the perfect marriage with an organization that prides itself on work ethic and determination. Still, because of the dominance of their superstar duo, the Lakers are the odds-on favorite to take home the title, and it will take Butler and the Heat continuing to play at an extraordinary level to remove that underdog status once and for all.

(Via ESPN)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away at the age of 87 earlier this month and she leaves an unparalleled legacy of fighting for gender equality and women’s rights.

One of the most important aspects of her legacy is how she has continued to be an inspiration across generations, and is particularly popular among young women.

“I think it is absolutely extraordinary that Justice Ginsburg was both a hero to the women of the 1970s and then an icon to the little girls of today,” Abbe Gluck, a Yale Law School professor and former clerk of Justice Ginsburg, told ABC News.

“She was an amazing teacher and her influence remains with me today and will remain with me forever,” she continued.

via Yashmori / Flickr

Many young people learned about her fight for equality through a 2016 children’s book, “I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark,” by Debbie Levy.

A wonderful example of RBG’s influence on the younger generations comes out of Portland, Oregon. Ruby Waas Shull, a fifth-grader at Bridger K – 8, has started a petition to rename nearby Kellogg Middle School after Ginsburg.

The school is currently being rebuilt as part of a modernization project and she believes it should reopen with a new name.

Ruby’s mother, Rachael Was Shull, says her daughter has been trying to get a school in the district named after Ginsburg for years. However, Portland Publics Schools’ naming policy requires someone to have been deceased for at least three years before being considered for having a building named after them.

In the wake of Ginsburg’s death, Ruby has sent two letters to the district requesting the name change, the most recent made a case for waiving the three-year qualification.

“We are working out next steps, but Ruby’s goal is to present directly to the school board,” Racheal told Scary Mommy. “We are all feeling excited about the possibility of better representation in our monuments and institutions.”

The school district says that the children’s voices will be taken into consideration when deciding on renaming school buildings.

“PPS is very committed to the student voice and the renaming process,” the district said in a statement. “This summer we proposed a new process that aligns with our PPS Vision, our values, commitment to Racial Equity and Social Justice, and is culturally responsive.”

The refurbished Kellogg Middle Schoolvia Google

In the meantime, Ruby is garnering support for the renaming process through a Change.org petition that already has over 2100 signatures. The goal of the campaign is to reach 2500.

“I feel strongly that we should change the name of Kellogg Middle School to Ruth Bader Ginsburg Middle School,” the petition reads. “We have a lot of schools (far too many, in my opinion) named after white businessmen. Lastly, if kids go to schools centered only on white males then kids who are not those two things may feel unimportant, or worthless even.”

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was known for her persistence and Ruby is a fine example of how her dedication has had a tremendous influence on subsequent generations.

“It just really impresses me that [Ginsburg] hasn’t ever given up, even when people said no,” Ruby told WHAM.

Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger made an international name for himself in 2009 when he safely landed US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River, saving all 155 people aboard. The former Air Force pilot and airline captain earned the nickname “Hero of the Hudson” for his cool head and expert execution of the near-impossible feat, and a feature film with Tom Hanks playing him told the story of that fateful flight.

In 2009, the GOP approached Sully, a registered Republican, about running for office in his home state of California, but he said he had no interest in public office. In 2018, he wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that although he’d been a Republican for most of his adult life, he had “always voted as American.”

Now, Sully is putting country above party again in an ad created with The Lincoln Project and VoteVets. In it, Sully details what leadership entails. “Leadership is not just about sitting in the pilot’s seat. It’s about knowing what you’re doing, and taking responsibility for it. Being prepared, ready, and able to handle anything that might come your way.”

He points out that he’s been flying over this country for 53 years, and all but one of those flights, no one ever heard about. He explains how he learned about “the awesome responsibility of command” and leadership from his father, who was a Naval officer in WWII. “I know that serving a cause greater than oneself is the highest calling. And it’s in that highest calling of leadership that Donald Trump has failed us so miserably.”

Sully says “it’s up to us to overcome his attacks on our very democracy.”

“Eleven years ago I was called to my moment. Now, we are all called to this moment,” he says. “When you look down at this beautiful, boundless country, you don’t see political divisions. It reminds us of who we are and what we can be. That we are in control of this nation’s destiny.”

“All we have to do,” he adds, “is vote him out.”

Sully is one of many Republicans who have risen above party loyalties to vote their conscience. Earlier this month, in a series of tweets following news reports that Trump had badmouthed the military on multiple occasions, Sully wrote, “While I am not surprised, I am disgusted by the current occupant of the Oval Office. He has repeatedly and consistently shown himself to be completely unfit for and to have no respect for the office he holds.”

The Republicans who see Donald Trump as a threat to the nation and want to see a return to decency, dignity, and competency in the nation’s highest office are making their voices heard and calling on all Americans to do the right thing. In a mere handful of weeks, we’ll see how many are listening and heeding that call.

The Los Angeles Lakers enter the NBA Finals as prohibitive favorites, with many sportsbooks listing them as high as -450 favorites over the Miami Heat. Then again, Miami’s entered their last two series as underdogs and emerged victorious. As such, the Lakers know they have to be on their game to pick up another Larry O’Brien Trophy, because the Heat always find a way to ask a number of questions of their opponents.

Here, we’ll look at three keys for the Lakers that will be crucial for them to take a championship home to L.A. from the Disney Bubble. There are some things that go without explanation — like they’ll be better if guys around LeBron and Anthony Davis hit shots — but there are some matchups and focal points beyond that which could tip this series in favor of the Lakers.

1. Anthony Davis needs to be better than Bam Adebayo

Anthony Davis has been excellent this postseason, adapting his game to the needs of the Lakers based on their opponent. That meant battling the size in Portland’s frontcourt, playing small-ball five against the Rockets, and attacking as a power forward against the Nuggets. In the Finals, he will face his stiffest competition yet, at least in terms of versatility on both ends of the floor, in the form of Bam Adebayo. The 23-year-old Heat big man has emerged as a star in his own right, and can post Davis-like stat lines as evidenced by his 32 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists in the series-clinching Game 6 win over Boston.

To this point, Miami has seen its top trio of Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, and Goran Dragic match or out-perform their star counterparts from the Bucks and Celtics, but the Lakers present a much greater challenge with James and Davis. The Davis-Adebayo matchup has the chance to be a pivot point in this series on either side, with Davis needing to find a way to consistently dominate in this series against a formidable matchup. Davis has been fantastic this playoffs, but does have his lulls and at times has been too willing to hoist contested jump shots in the midrange. Being consistently aggressive and assertive against Adebayo is important because if you can get Adebayo off the floor with foul trouble — which, to his credit, he’s usually very good at avoiding — the Lakers will have a significant advantage.

No player on the Heat is more impactful to their team success than Adebayo, as they simply don’t have an adequate replacement behind him on the bench. Kelly Olynyk can provide shooting but is a major drop off on defense, while Andre Iguodala played “center” in small-ball lineups against the Celtics, but takes away the threat in the pick-and-roll game offensively along with giving up rebounding. And besides, while going small with Iguodala has its benefits, doing it against a gigantic Lakers frontcourt has serious drawbacks. When Adebayo’s on the floor in these playoffs, Miami has a +8.2 net rating. That drops to a -3.9 net rating when he sits, which is by far the biggest difference among Miami’s main rotation players.

The Lakers have the best two players in this series in theory, but they have to play as such for them to win. The biggest opportunity for the Heat to close that gap is in the Adebayo-Davis matchup, and it’s incumbent on Davis to win that battle and do what he can to frustrate Miami’s do-everything big on both ends of the floor.

2. Beware of the fourth quarter Heat

The Lakers have cruised to the Finals in 15 games, dropping only one game in each series, but they’ve had some close calls down the stretch against both the Rockets and Nuggets. Miami has been, by far, the NBA’s best fourth quarter team and the Lakers will have to execute better down the stretch to avoid letting some of those close games tilt in favor of the Heat.

One thing Miami has done extremely well in fourth quarters is turn opponents over, maybe best evidenced by their Game 2 comeback against Boston in which Butler had a pair of critical late steals that led to fast break buckets in a 106-101 come from behind win. The Lakers have had turnover issues of their own in the final quarter, with a turnover rate of 18 percent in the fourth. The only team in this postseason with a higher turnover rate in the fourth quarter are the Celtics at 18.8 percent, thanks in part to what the Heat were able to do to speed them up and force them into mistakes late in games.

The Lakers will have to be better with the ball in fourth quarters of close games because Miami excels at forcing live-ball turnovers and converting them into immediate points. Their ball pressure is tremendous and guys like Butler, Iguodala, Adebayo, and Jae Crowder all have excellent hands to get in passing lanes for deflections and steals.

On the other end, the Lakers have to be ready for a diverse attack from the Heat and adapt coverages based on what they’re doing in that specific game, rather than relying on tape or previous experience. Butler is the obvious focal point, as he’s had some spectacular closing quarters this postseason, but Miami has five players averaging five or more points per fourth quarter this postseason in Butler, Dragic, Adebayo, and Tyler Herro. Those three guards all can become the primary ball-handler depending on who has the hot hand and the favorable matchup, and as such, you have to adjust your defense to them. They also attack the basket relentlessly, putting stress on the defense for kickouts, lobs, and dropoffs when defenders collapse, and are tremendous at drawing contact to the tune of nearly nine free throw attempts per fourth quarter. Discipline on shooters, strong closeouts, and timely rotations are all put to the test by the Heat, and you can bet that’s a focal point for Frank Vogel in preparations.

3. Attack the mismatches, and be ready for the zone

The Heat have some incredible offensive lineups, but their best offensive perimeter players are also their weakest defenders. As such, they typically try to keep one of Crowder or Iguodala on the floor to bring a bit more defensive balance whenever they have a combination of Dragic, Robinson, and Herro out there together. Those three are solid team defenders, but aren’t good one-on-one, on-ball defenders. Against Denver, LeBron relentlessly hunted Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. when they were out there to a great deal of success.

The Nuggets, to an almost frustrating degree, gave James whatever switch he wanted, and it’ll be interesting to see if Miami tries to reject switches when James calls for a pick from a fellow perimeter player to get Dragic, Herro, or Robinson on him — or Olynyk and Meyers Leonard any time Miami possibly goes to their bench bigs. The Celtics did this a lot, and were able to get Robinson in particular in foul trouble by going at him, as he has a tendency to make too much contact while trying to contain drives.

The adjustment to the Lakers aggressively hunting their guards in switches is for Miami to deploy the 2-3 zone we saw them use against the Celtics to great success. If the Lakers, and LeBron especially, begin targeting certain mismatches, expect the Heat to at least sprinkle in zone looks to throw them off of rhythm — I’d be surprised if they play as much zone as they showed against Boston, but they’ll play some. As such, L.A. better be putting in at least some work on zone offense, flashing Davis to the free throw line and attacking the seams quickly off of passes. If they can adapt to zone looks and take advantage of soft spots with Davis and their excellent cutters like Alex Caruso and Kyle Kuzma when he gets the ball in that pocket, they can force Miami out of their zone and back into man-to-man, where James can again do what he does best.

After making an unusual proclamation that he’s “part of” the LGBT community, Eric Trump quickly became a Trending topic on Tuesday, which forced the president’s son to clarify his remarks.

While defending his father from a damaging New York Times report that seemingly enraged the president going into his first debate with Joe Biden, the younger Trump appeared to have outed himself on Fox & Friends while discussing how even a lesbian New Yorker supports his father.

“I’m telling you, I see it every day, the LGBT community, they are incredible and you should see how they’ve come out in full force for my father every single day,” Trump said. “I’m part of that community and we love the man and thank you for protecting our neighborhoods and thank you for protecting our cities.”

After social media latched onto the strange admission that he’s part of the LGBT community, Trump issued a statement to the New York Post clarifying that he is a happily married, heterosexual man. He also confirmed that he is not bisexual:

“To clarify, many of our close friends are part of the LGBT community, which was the intent of my statement — the left has taken that vote for granted for a long time and support from the gay community for my father is incredible,” Trump said.

“As to me personally, as I think you know, I am a happily married man to my wife, Lara.”

Naturally, Trump’s remark arrived far too late to stop social media users from having a field day with the Fox News clip as actual members of the LGBT community made it clear that Eric Trump joining their ranks is the last thing they need right now.

(Via New York Post)

The Chicago Bulls have been in perpetual turmoil the past several years, undergoing constant personnel turnover, roster upheaval, and behind-the-scenes issues that have made an already-tough situation that much worse. They became one of the first teams to join the coaching carousel when they fired Jim Boylen after two seasons, but recently filled that vacancy with former Thunder coach Billy Donovan.

Donovan had spent five seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, making the playoffs each year but being eliminated in the first round in all but one of those seasons: the year they blew a 3-1 series lead to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.

Perhaps it’s that somewhat spotty postseason resume that’s at the heart of Scottie Pippen’s apprehension about his hiring. During a recent interview, Pippen made no bones about how he felt about Donovan getting the nod to helm the team where he spent the bulk of his career and won six titles.

Via Chris Cason of Forbes:

“I like Billy Donovan as a person but I don’t think he’s proved anything in the NBA that proves he’s worth investing in and bringing a team up that needs help like Chicago does. They’re a team that has been struggling for a long time. To me, I don’t see the value he brings to them. He’s going to be a coach but there are a lot of them out there. He didn’t do anything special in OKC that warranted him a second opportunity. That’s just my opinion.”

This season, Donovan earned plenty of well-deserved Coach of the Year consideration for shepherding an OKC team through an unexpected playoff run after many picked them to finish near the bottom of the Western Conference standings last summer. Prior to that, Donovan was the longtime coach at Florida, where he won back-to-back NCAA championships.

Still, Donovan will have his hands full with the roster he’s inherited in Chicago and a new front office trying to build a team as they see fit. It’s a team that has been blessed with young talent but has yet to pull all the pieces together. Bulls fans are hoping he can replicate what he accomplished with the Thunder last season and make the Bulls relevant again.

(Forbes)

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

Kal Penn Approves This Message (Freeform, 10:30pm EST) — Actor turned Obama administration member turned actor Kal Penn (House, the Harold and Kumar trilogy) is here to celebrate the changes that young voters can make. This promises to be a non-partisan approach with comedic sketches and in-depth interviews that will help Gen Z make their voices more impactful than they already are. This week, Kal speaks with Hillary Clinton and takes on education, including the different paths (including the faux beef between college vs. trade school) that students can take to bolster their future.

2020 Presidential Debate 1 (Everywhere, 9:00pm EST) — Donald Trump faces off with Joe Biden. Anything could happen during this dumpster fire of a year.

Michelle Buteau: Welcome to Buteaupia (Netflix standup special) — Buteau’s determined to deliver a dynamic hour of comedy on cultural differences and why women should give short men a chance.

Tell Me A Story (CW, 9:00pm EST) — Hannah’s working hard to get Gabe released while Jordan’s just about had enough.

Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Senator Cory Booker, Public Enemy

Jimmy Kimmel Live — Bernie Sanders, Kal Penn, Haim

The Late Late Show With James Corden — Andrew Rannells, Brittany Howard

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — John Cena, BTS

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Sarah Silverman, Lili Reinhart, Phoebe Bridgers