Month: December 2020

College football’s game of the year was not some out-of-conference epic between two major conference programs in an NFL arena, nor was it an SEC or Big Ten showdown that served as a de facto College Football Playoff play-in game. No, the distinction goes to a matchup between 13th-ranked BYU and No. 18 Coastal Carolina in a game that was finalized on Thursday.

The two undefeated programs exchanged haymakers for 60 minutes on Saturday in Conway, SC, in a matchup that only happened because the schools had openings on their calendar. Ultimately, thanks to a CJ Marble rush at the start of the fourth quarter and a breathtaking stop to end the game, the Chanticleers came out on top, 22-17.

BYU had a chance to win the game at the very end, getting the ball on their 18 yard-line with 55 seconds left. Heisman hopeful signal caller Zach Wilson marched them down the field, and with seven seconds left, they got the ball down to the opposite 18. In their only attempt for the end zone, Wilson found Dax Mine, who came this close to scoring. Unfortunately for him, Coastal’s players swarmed him, and safety Mateo Sudipo threw him to the ground.

I, for one, did not expect a game thrown together hours before to have a Kevin Dyson against the Rams ending, but it was absolutely the sort of ending this game deserved. It was that close and that hotly contested that it’s unfortunate that someone had to lose it, but ultimately, the Chanticleers made the play they needed to make to come out on top. Now please, put them in the Playoff, committee.

Black Panther star Letitia Wright was heavily criticized earlier this week for sharing a conspiracy theory-filled video that included openly questioning vaccinations in the middle of a pandemic. And now it appears the backlash to that has caused her to leave social media.

Wright, who is likely to see an increased role in the Black Panther sequel following the death of star Chadwick Boseman earlier this year, shared a 75-minute video that spread vaccine conspiracy theories and other wild misinformation. The tweet, which was widely seen as a co-sign on the contents of the video, came the same day a COVID-19 vaccine was given approval for use in the UK. And despite an apology of sorts for being complicit in vaccine disinformation ahead of one of the most important vaccine distributions in more than a century, the backlash proved too much for her to remain active on social media.

As Deadline reported on Saturday, Wright appears to have at least deactivated her account on Twitter and Instagram.

“This account doesn’t exist” and a blank page is what Twitter users will encounter when they try to search Black Panther star Letitia Wright on the social media platform.

The video and its amplification by Wright was widely condemned online. Don Cheadle, another actor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was one who criticized Wright for sharing the conspiracy-filled video. But also said he “won’t throw her away” over it.

In a time where confidence in public health policy is more important than ever, the dissemination of misleading or outright incorrect information about mask wearing, vaccines and other health initiatives can have very deadly consequences for tens of thousands of people. Getting pushed off a platform in the face of criticism is never a positive thing, but it’s another lesson that people with large followings online need to take the audience they’ve created seriously and not make what’s already been a difficult year any worse with an errant tweet.

The New York Knicks did not have the lofty free agent goals they have in years past, instead opting to go about their business and acquire a handful of veterans to put alongside some of their younger players. One such dude who fits this bill is Austin Rivers, as he moved from Houston to the Big Apple on a three-year deal worth about $10 million.

New York wasn’t the only team that wanted to acquire this services, as a new piece by Marc Berman of the New York Post indicates that the Philadelphia 76ers had him on their list of players to acquire. That did not come to fruition, though, in part because Rivers’ father, Sixers coach Doc Rivers, helped sell him on playing in New York.

“I kept telling him, ‘New York is a great place,’’ Rivers said. “I had a great experience there. That’s what I shared with him. It’s a tough city — in a positive way. He said, ‘What do you mean by that?’ I said, ‘It’s similar to Boston and Philly. Their fans are real. They want you to play hard, give you everything you can and play like a team.’

“I told him, ‘The Knicks fans are still Red Holzman’s Knicks fans. They remember how that basketball was played. They want team basketball, hard-nosed, tough basketball.’”

Doc, who played for the Knicks from 1992-94, and Austin apparently stayed together in Orlando during free agency, at which point the pair discussed the younger Rivers potentially going to the Knicks. The elder Rivers apparently discussed his son with current Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau as well, telling his former assistant that, “Whenever we talked about Austin — and we will a lot less now — Thibs loves competitors.’’

As for that earlier thing about Austin going to Philly, Pittsburgh will remain the only city in Pennsylvania where prominent rivers come together. Doc explained that he was clued in on the team’s interest but talked them out of it.

“He was high on Philly’s list before I took the job,’’ Rivers said. “It was one of the guards they wanted. When I took the job, I said, ‘You don’t want that. You got too many other things we have to deal with.’

“For Austin it’s better. He’s his own player. Unfortunately for him, me being the dad, he’s just an easy guy to target. I have felt since the separation, it’s been really good for him.’’

Austin famously played for Doc for three and a half years with the Clippers. Their relationship was frequently the source of much intrigue, and not always for the better. Perhaps that wouldn’t have been as prominent of an issue in Philly, but when it comes to Austin’s next team, father knows best.

Russell Westbrook is onto his third team in as many seasons. The former league MVP was traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Houston Rockets last offseason, and after a year in H-Town, Westbrook was moved to the Washington Wizards in exchange for John Wall and a future Draft selection.

The move reunites Westbrook with Scott Brooks, his former head coach in Oklahoma City, and makes him one half of an interesting backcourt alongside Bradley Beal. It also includes a fun quirk: For the first time in his NBA career, Westbrook will wear something other than zero on his jersey. The team announced on Friday that Westbrook will adopt the number four on his shirt this year, instead.

For a guy as superstitious as Westbrook — his free throw percentage once dipped because an NBA rule change meant he could not do his usual routine at the line — it’s a bit strange to not see him wear the number he’s always worn. But as he explained on Saturday afternoon during his first media appearance as a member of the Wizards, there are some sentimental reasons for Westbrook to throw this number on his uniform this season.

It might take a little getting used to, but it’s a really cool gesture that pays tribute to a number of things and people who are near and dear to Westbrook’s heart. Still, it won’t take as much getting used to as Russell Westbrook in the Eastern Conference.

While it’s been a few years since we got an album from Lupe Fiasco, the celebrated rapper has shared a good amount of tracks this year, enough to keep fans satisfied for the time being. For his latest release, Lupe used the up and coming social media app, Clubhouse, to share his new track. The video gave listeners in the audience a full listen of the track, which is titled “Mobb Deep.” It finds him laying some triumphant bars over Beanie Sigel’s Kanye West-produced track, “Nothing Like It,” off the Philly rapper’s 2001 album, The Reason.

After giving people in the Clubhouse room a listen, the rapper shared a screenshot of the room with the freestyle playing in the background. The “Mobb Deep” effort arrives after his Tape Tape double-sided EP with Soundtrakk which he delivered back in October. In addition to that, he also dropped a “BBQ Chicken Freestyle” at the end of September and his House EP back in July with Florida producer Kaelin Ellis.

Lupe also caught some flack earlier this year after he declared himself a better rapper than Kendrick Lamar. The statement caused social media to go into a bit of a frenzy. This isn’t the first time that Lupe said he was a better rapper than the DAMN. rapper. Back in 2018, he said Kendrick was not a “top tier lyricist,” a statement that also caught some backlash.

While the future of movie theaters in the United States may have become more fraught this week thanks to WarnerMedia and HBO Max, movies are still reaching the silver screen, especially in other, less diseased nations. But one new release from Sony has generated its own controversy and saw it pulled from Chinese theaters over accusations of racism.

Monster Hunter, the Milla Jovovich feature based on the video game series of the same name, was pulled from theaters in China on Friday after backlash over a scene perceived as racist. According to Deadline, the movie was pulled from theaters because of a 10-second scene that drew outrage from some in the country over its racist language.

The 10-second scene that has generated an outcry features Asian-American rapper/actor Jin Au-Yeung (aka MC Jin), who at one point riffs to his scene partner, “Look at my knees. What kind of knees are these? Chinese.” This is being linked to a racist playground rhyme used to mock children of Asian origin. Upset, we understand, has further been sewn by the scene’s local subtitles.

It’s our understanding that the reaction has taken those involved in the film by surprise. It’s particularly notable given any movie vying for a Chinese theatrical release goes through a rigorous vetting process by censors, and this element was evidently never flagged.

Much of the backlash to the line played out online, which caused the movie to get pulled on its first day of official release. As Deadline pointed out, distribution company Tencent is working with the government in China to remove the scene from the movie, but it’s unclear if it will return to theaters there.

[via Deadline]

It’s been a year since COVID-19 was first detected, and we’re still learning a lot about how it works. There remain many unknowns about a virus that is still mutating. So here’s another fun thing about it: It may cause erectile dysfunction. And many on social media are wondering if this is the news that will finally put a stake in the heart of the anti-mask movement.

This comes from an interview with infectious disease expert Dr. Dana Grayson, who told NBC Philadelphia about some new discoveries. She was talking about the long-term health complications that could stem from even a mild case of COVID-19, which we’re still learning about and which are very worrying. Some of those can be neurological conditions, but Dr. Grayson made sure men heard this one.

“There is some real concern here that men could have longtime issues of erectile dysfunction from this virus,” said Dr. Grayson, “because we know that it causes issues in the vasculature.”

That’s scary news, but there is one silver lining: Any male reluctant to wear a mask may finally change his mind after learning that not putting one on may lead to permanent shrinkage. It was a thought shared by many on Twitter.

Of course, affected dudes could always get another drug from the company releasing one of the vaccines.

But maybe not even the threat of a limp Malcolm Gladwell will change some people’s minds.

Of course, anti-maskers could also be reminded that nearly 300,000 people have died from COVID-19-related symptoms, and we haven’t even felt the post-Thanksgiving explosion yet. But if they can’t care about other people’s safety, perhaps they’ll care about their ween.

(Via NBC Philadelphia)

With the NBA season just around the corner, Dame D.O.L.L.A. takes one last moment in front of the mic before suiting up. After hitting fans with some releases over the past few months, Dame now jumps on Tyla Yaweh’s record “Stuntin On You” for a remix with DDG. It arrives with a video, which finds the Trailblazers point guard leading the way with his verse, rapping beside Tyla and DDG as well as a group of women.

The remix comes nearly three months after Dame shared “Kobe,” his tribute to the late basketball star, with help from Snoop Dogg and Derrick Milano. The NBA All-Star spoke about the Ayo & Keyz track, which appears on the soundtrack of NBA 2K21. “When I found out I was gonna be on the @NBA2K cover the same year Kobe was on the legends cover, I decided [to] use my access to the 2K soundtrack to pay tribute to Kobe through music,” he said. He also thanked his fans for the song’s “positive” response.

Prior to “Kobe,” Dame shared his EP Live From The Bubble after his team clinched a playoff berth at the end of the 2019-20 regular season.

You can watch Dame’s new video above.

Teyana Taylor was one of many artists snubbed by the upcoming 2021 Grammys. After her third album, called simply The Album, failed to receive a single nomination, she expressed her frustration in a tweet, saying, “Y’all was better off just saying best MALE R&B ALBUM cause all I see is d*ck in this category.” A week later, she told people that she is “retiring this chapter” of her career after “being overlooked.” That inspired Cardi B to show the singer some love.

“If you know me then you know Teyana Taylor’s album it’s my favorite of 2020,” the rapper tweeted. “I swear she really got the best album this year. I hate that she feels how she feels cause she sooo talented and the music is soo good.” She also named “Wake Up Love,” “1-800-One-Night,” “Morning,” “69,” and “Lose Each Other” as her favorite songs from The Album, adding that it’s “Just a very good project maaaannn.”

Hopefully this will ease Taylor’s frustrations with “receiving little to no real push from the ‘machine’” and “constantly getting the shorter end of the stick,” as she mentioned in her “retirement” post.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Last week could have gone a whole heck of a lot better for Auburn football and signal caller Bo Nix. The team got thrashed by in-state rival Alabama, 42-13, while Nix didn’t get a ton going through the air (23-for-38, 227 yards, two picks) or on the ground (nine carries, -1 yard, a score).

But this Saturday offered up a chance at redemption for the team, as it played host to fifth-ranked Texas A+M. Whether they end up winning or not remains to be seen, but thanks to Nix and some straight up sorcery, the Tigers were able to take an early lead over their conference foes.

Nix took a second-and-goal snap on the Aggies’ five and looked dead to rights, with multiple A+M players flying into the backfield. No fewer than three opponents had Nix sacked, but he somehow managed to evade all of them, then ran through a tackle, bowled over another opposing player, and picked up six on the ground.

This will go down as a five-yard gain despite the fact that Nix ran back to the 20 and from one side of the field to another. I have no idea how he was able to do this, and I’m sure Auburn fans are pretty flummoxed, too, but they certainly will not complain about any of it.