Month: July 2021

The USWNT failed to medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. After getting through group play, the Americans ran into Sweden, which beat them in penalties in the first match of the knockout round. A chance for redemption presented itself on Wednesday, when the two sides kicked off group play in Tokyo, but once again, the Swedes picked up a win.

This time, it was an emphatic 3-0 victory for Sweden, which snapped the USWNT’s 44-match winning streak and handed them their first loss since France beat them in a friendly in 2019. Forward Stina Blackstenius started the scoring in the 25th minute by burying a stellar cross from Sofia Jakobsson, which marked all of the scoring in the game’s first 45, although Rose Lavelle hit the post for the Americans just before heading into the locker room.

But instead of that chance shaking the Swedes, Blackstenius struck again less than 10 minutes into the second half. A headed effort on a corner by Amanda Ilestedt beat American keeper Alyssa Naeher but could not beat the post. By the time it landed to Blackstenius, she was totally unmarked, and while Naeher tried to challenge her, it was all for naught.

The moment where it perhaps became evident for the U.S. that it was not their day came in the 71st minute, when Megan Rapinoe threaded a pass to Christen Press, who was totally unmarked at the edge of the 6-yard box and had a completely open net. She couldn’t quite get her feet right, causing the ball to come off her feet awkwardly and hit the post, and a little more than 90 seconds later, Lina Hurtig, who came in for Blackstenius, sealed things with a header that found the back of the net.

While the Swedes are the No. 5 team in the world, the Americans were viewed as the clear-cut favorites to win this result. Now, they’re facing a major uphill battle to even win their group. They’ll need to beat both New Zealand (July 24) and Australia (July 27) emphatically, then hope one of them beats Sweden, then hope the goal differential in group play is so stark that they can secure the top spot. More likely, they’ll finish in second place and have a slightly different path to the Final — if they make it, of course — than originally planned.

Dolly Parton is basically a superhero at this point. Last year, she donated millions to help create one of the Covid-19 vaccines, made clear her support for Black Lives Matter, and even recently launched an ice cream flavor with the beloved Jeni’s.

Today, she decided it was time to remind the world that even at her age, she’s still got what it takes to rock a Playboy cover. Recreating her iconic, vintage cover for her husband Carl’s birthday, Dolly strutted her stuff in a tiny black teddy. She joked about how her body has outlasted the publication’s ability to release a print cover.

“Remember sometime back I said I was going to pose on Playboy magazine when I was 75?” Dolly asked in the social media clip. “Well, I’m 75, and they don’t have a magazine anymore. But, my husband always loved the original cover of Playboy, so I was trying to think of something to do to make him happy. He still thinks I’m a hot chick after fifty-seven years, and I’m not going to try to talk him out of that.” Clearly, this married couple is doing something right.

Don’t worry, she’s already gotten a co-sign from the patron saint of #HotGirlSummer herself, who quickly dubbed the country icon “Hot Girl Dolly”:

And since Megan just graced the cover of Sports Illustrated herself this week, she knows what she’s talking about. So no, there’s nothing Dolly can’t do.

Less than a year ago, the Milwaukee Bucks exited the second round of the NBA Playoffs in disappointing fashion, losing to the Miami Heat in five games in the Bubble, and all of the talk about the Bucks for the next few months was about whether they would be able to hold on to Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The two-time MVP chose to sign his supermax contract to stay in Milwaukee, promising to eventually bring a championship to the place that drafted him, and on Tuesday night he delivered on that with an all-time performance in a Game 6 win over the Suns, scoring 50 points to wow the NBA world and earn his first championship. Afterwards, many quickly pointed out that this was a win for small markets, as a star stayed at home rather than searching to team up with another star and was rewarded with a title.

This wasn’t lost on Giannis himself, and when asked about winning a championship in Milwaukee after re-signing and what that meant to him, he didn’t hold back in noting that he did it “the hard way.”

Now, there are never really “easy” championships, but stars can certainly stack the odds in their favor to win one. Giannis, for all the flack he’s received after the last two early exits for the Bucks, has earned the right to pound his chest a bit and talk his talk here, though, and you can see how much it means to him to prove those who thought he couldn’t get it done leading the way in Milwaukee wrong. The superteam discourse and “does this ring mean more than others” talk is, sadly, inevitable, but you can’t blame Giannis for pounding the table, literally, for himself in this moment.

The Finals MVP’s postgame was filled with some tremendous moments,from his excitement in talking about how he and Khris Middleton made this happen to his guttural scream when Malika Andrews noted all three Antetokounmbros are now NBA champions, as well as getting emotional talking about what he hopes this can mean to kids around the world.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks won four straight games over the Phoenix Suns to secure the 2021 NBA championship, finishing off the series victory in Game 6 on Tuesday evening. While there is plenty of time to praise Antetokounmpo for his brilliance and celebrate Milwaukee’s accomplishments, it is also never too early to look ahead to the 2021-22 campaign. In fact, some betting outlets put together title odds that were ready to roll out as the offseason begins.

Though the Bucks project to “run it back” with a loaded roster in an effort to repeat, the folks at William Hill Sportsbook actually list the Brooklyn Nets (+225) and Los Angeles Lakers (+400) as betting favorites to win the 2022 crown. The Nets famously came within a whisker of knocking off the Bucks, even while short-handed, and the Lakers are the 2020 champions with LeBron James and Anthony Davis projected to return healthy and motivated next season. From there, the Bucks have the third-best odds (+900), but there are some other notable contenders on the list.

Many will have their eyebrows raised by the presence of the Golden State Warriors (+1000) as the team with the fourth-best odds. The Warriors fell short in the play-in after winning only 39 games, but Golden State could push their chips into the middle on the trade market and Klay Thompson is on track to return after missing the entire 2020-21 campaign. Elsewhere, the Phoenix Suns (+1500) have the same odds as the Utah Jazz after Utah finished atop the West in the regular season and Phoenix made its run to the 2021 NBA Finals.

Things will undoubtedly change in the coming weeks as the draft and free agency loom. However, the betting market never sleeps, and here is the full list of odds from top to bottom.

Brooklyn Nets +225
Los Angeles Lakers +400
Milwaukee Bucks +900
Golden State Warriors +1000
Phoenix Suns +1500
Utah Jazz +1500
Philadelphia 76ers +1800
Los Angeles Clippers +2000
Denver Nuggets +2500
Atlanta Hawks +3000
Dallas Mavericks +3000
Miami Heat +3000
Boston Celtics +5000
Portland Trail Blazers +5000
New York Knicks +6000
Indiana Pacers +8000
Memphis Grizzlies +8000
New Orleans Pelicans +8000
Toronto Raptors +8000
Charlotte Hornets +10000
Chicago Bulls +10000
Washington Wizards +10000
Sacramento Kings +25000
San Antonio Spurs +25000
Minnesota Timberwolves +30000
Orlando Magic +30000
Cleveland Cavaliers +50000
Detroit Pistons +50000
Houston Rockets +50000
Oklahoma City Thunder +50000

In Game 6, the series-clinching win for the Milwaukee Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo put forth an all-time performance with a 50-point, 14-rebound, five-block night. When Milwaukee won, there was no real doubt that he would be named NBA Finals MVP.

What Antetokounmpo did in the NBA Finals, his first, is nothing short of remarkable. He became the first player since Shaquille O’Neal in 2001 to post a 40-10-5 line in any playoff game. He became the first player to post a 50-10-5 line since 1973-74, when blocks started getting tracked as a stat. And for the series, Antetokounmpo largely dominated, averaging 35.1 points and 13.1 rebounds across six games.

When he accepted his trophy, Antetokounmpo also made a point to shout out Khris Middleton, saying “Khris, we did it huh?” before going over to hug the teammate he’s been playing with since entering the league in 2013.

In his full speech, Antetokounmpo also thanked Milwaukee while being doused with MVP chants from the crowd.

“I want to thank Milwaukee for believing in me,” Antetokounmpo said. “You know, I thank my teammates, man. They played hard every freaking game. I trusted this team. I wanted to do it here. I wanted to do it with these guys. I’m happy. I’m happy that we were able to get it done.”

Antetokounmpo was, by far, the most dominant player in the series from start to finish, and by Game 6, nothing the Suns threw at him worked. As a result, he’s adding a couple of trophies to his rapidly-expanding trophy case.

It’s been a little while since Lupe Fiasco delivered a full-length project to his fans. His last album came back in 2018 with Drogas Wave and while three years isn’t an unusual amount of time to wait for a new project, supports of the rapper would certainly love a new effort from him. Until that time comes, they’ll have to enjoy his sporadic drops like his latest release.

Lupe takes on Kali Uchis’ “Telepatia” in a new remix. The track is a highlight effort from the singer’s sophomore album, Sin Miedo (Del Amor Y Otros Demonios), and on the remix, Lupe lays a couple of verses over the track’s colorful and breezy production. The song is not the first remix that Lupe has dropped in remix months. At the end of last year, he shared a triumphant freestyle titled “Mobb Deep,” which saw him rapping over Beanie Siegel’s 2001 song, “Nothing Like It.” He premiered the new track during a room on the audio-based social media app, Clubhouse.

Prior to the freestyle over “Nothing Like It,” Lupe dropped his double-sided Tape Tape EP with producer Soundtrakk. Before that, he dropped his “BBQ Chicken Freestyle” and his House EP with Florida producer Kaelin Ellis.

Outside of music, Lupe launched the first season of The Lupe & Royce Show, his joint podcast with fellow rapper Royce Da 5’9.” The duo announced the show last fall and described it as “half conversation between friends, half interview show, and 100% weird.”

You can hear the remix in the video above.

Giannis Antetokounmpo put forth one of the greatest performances in NBA Finals history on Tuesday night as the Milwaukee Bucks became NBA champions for the first time since 1971 with a 105-98 win over the Phoenix Suns in Game 6.

Antetokounmpo scored 50 points, tying Bob Petit for the highest scoring closeout game performance in NBA Finals history, carrying the Bucks to a championship. Antetokounmpo was 16-of-25 from the field and, maybe most impressively, was 17-of-19 from the free throw line, shrugging off all his free throw demons to put the Suns away in the biggest game of his life. He also added 14 rebounds and five blocks to put together a complete, dominant game when Milwaukee needed it the most, as the rest of the team was a combined 21-of-57 from the field.

The Giannis takeover began in the third quarter when he scored 20 to bring Milwaukee from down five at the half to tied going to the fourth quarter.

As Giannis went off, LeBron James and CJ McCollum couldn’t help but be taken aback by what they were watching.

As the game came down into the final minutes, Giannis continued to pour it on, punching home an emphatic dunk to keep the Suns at bay and send Milwaukee into a frenzy.

At that point, it seemed like just a matter of time before the coronation ceremony began, and NBA players were in awe of the Giannis performance.

Giannis wasn’t the only one getting love from around the NBA, as Khris Middleton’s dagger with a minute to play to give Milwaukee a six-point lead got serious love.

At the end, Giannis got to put the game on ice with a late free throw to get his 50th point and the celebration was on, with NBA stars giving the two-time MVP (and the undoubted Finals MVP) his flowers for a legendary showing in the game of his life.

The Milwaukee Bucks put together three consecutive wins to erase a 2-0 series deficit against the Phoenix Suns and set up a chance to clinch the 2021 NBA championship at Fiserv Forum on Tuesday. Milwaukee and Phoenix traded runs throughout the evening but, on the strength of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s record-setting performance, the Bucks secured their first title since 1971 with a 105-98 victory in Game 6.

With sky-high stakes, both teams appeared to be nervy and uneven out of the gate. The Suns and Bucks combined to go 3-for-15 in the opening minutes, with seven turnovers and only eight total points in more than five minutes. The only real highlight came on the defensive end, with Antetokounmpo flying around with a blocked shot and a finish on the other end.

Milwaukee found their offense first, asserting control with an 11-2 run to close the first quarter. The Bucks committed seven first-quarter turnovers, but they shot 48 percent and Antetokounmpo produced 10 points and six rebounds in the opening quarter. Phoenix struggled mightily, shooting just 7-for-24 from the floor with five turnovers, and it was the lowest-scoring first quarter of the playoffs for the Suns.

In what was almost the exact inverse of Game 5 in Phoenix, things flipped to the Suns in the second quarter. The visitors scored the first ten points of the quarter, holding the Bucks without a point until the 8:25 mark, and Phoenix used a 23-5 run to take a 39-34 lead. Milwaukee scored just five points on 17 possessions across more than eight minutes, just as the Suns became more comfortable.

Chris Paul was a big part of Phoenix’s run, scoring 10 points in the second quarter and generating mid-range jumpers consistently when he used aggression off the bounce.

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Overall, it was a bizarro half for both teams, but the Bucks trailed by five points at the break. Much of that could be traced to Milwaukee’s 4-for-20 shooting in the second quarter, but the Bucks’ shot quality suffered, just as the Suns were shooting 11-for-18 from the floor in the period.

Out of the locker room, Antetokounmpo asserted himself and made a tremendous impact. He engineered an early 8-0 run, scoring the final six points on his own, and that allowed the Bucks to reclaim the lead. While Phoenix battled back to tie the contest at 77-77 after three quarters, it was a truly magnificent quarter from Antetokounmpo. He finished with 20 of Milwaukee’s 35 points, dominating the proceedings and allowing the Bucks to start the fourth quarter fresh and level.

The early portion of the fourth quarter kept to the theme of back-and-forth basketball, but Antetokounmpo continued to dominate at an obscene level. He threw down a dunk with approximately six minutes remaining, giving the Bucks a six-point edge and pushing him to 45 points.

Milwaukee extended its lead to as many as eight points on multiple occasions during the closing stretch, though Phoenix wouldn’t fade. Despite the continued absurdity of Antetokounmpo, the Suns were within four points in the last 90 seconds, but Khris Middleton knocked down what became the dagger in the final minute.

Myriad storylines emerged on this night, but the No. 1 focus was an all-time effort from Antetokounmpo. He became the first player since at least 1974 to produce at least 40 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocked shots in an NBA Finals game. The two-time NBA MVP finished with 50 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks in 42 minutes, making him the first player to hit that point total in a closeout game in Finals history. In addition to his productivity and the fact that he became just the seventh player to score 50 points in an NBA Finals game, Antetokounmpo converted a staggering 17-for-19 at the free throw line, helping the Bucks to post a stellar 25-for-29 mark as a team after struggling at the charity stripe throughout the playoffs.

It was a monumental performance from Antetokounmpo, and he wasn’t alone. Middleton and Jrue Holiday didn’t replicate their Game 5 showings offensively, but they were able to to contribute, with Middleton making big shots and Holiday delivering his trademark defensive impact the entire way. As a team, the Bucks did a fantastic job defensively, forcing the Suns into difficult shot attempts throughout the night, securing the glass and forcing 15 turnovers.

When trailing 0-2 after back-to-back losses in Phoenix, the Bucks were seemingly on the ropes as significant underdogs in the best-of-seven series. They finished their run with four straight victories, however, and they did so in memorable and impressive fashion behind a transcendent performance from Antetokounmpo, just days after he suffered a scary knee injury in the Eastern Conference Finals. From there, he will assuredly be showered with deserved praise, and the NBA title is coming to Milwaukee for the first time in five decades.

The sentences for members of the cult NXIVM — whose exploits were detailed in both The Vow on HBO and Starz’s Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult — are still being doled out. Last week saw Allison Mack, one of its top brass, given three years for her role in the organization. Its leader, Keith Raniere, was sentenced last fall, and to a very long stint. But now, several months later, he’s been given an extra form of punishment.

As per The New York Times, Raniere, who was sentenced to a whopping 120 years in prison, was ordered on Tuesday to pay $3.4 million to a total of 21 victims. The court had seen about 100 people submit requests for restitution, which would have totaled some $33 million. At one point the court had whittled that number down to 25.

Of the remaining 22, 17 were deemed to be deserving of restitution under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, which applies to crimes of forced labor, sex trafficking, and document servitude. The other four were part of the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act of 1996, which applies to crimes including racketeering and wire fraud conspiracy.

The victims include people who had been coerced into joining a secret cult then known as The Vow, or D.O.S., details of which — contained in letters that had been sealed in envelopes, in the hopes of protecting the privacy of those involved — were finally made public. As per NYT:

D.O.S. members, known as “slaves,” were required to provide to “masters” sensitive or embarrassing personal material called “collateral,” according to court documents and testimony in the case. That material was then used to coerce compliance with orders, including some to “seduce” Mr. Raniere.

Some were branded with Raniere’s initials. The court-ordered payments would, in part, include attempts to have those brandings removed.

Because Raniere has long presented himself as a “renunciate,” someone who shuns material possessions, it is unclear if he will be able to pay the large sum courts believe he owes his victims.

(Via NYT)

Though Grimes has been known more for her partnership with Elon Musk of late, and has spent time focusing on their new baby, the producer, songwriter and singer is clearly getting back into the musical side of things. Never one to hold back when it comes to issues with her label, the producer shared a clip of herself dancing to a new unreleased track on TikTok today, asking fans what they think of the song because her “label thinks this isn’t a single.”

The track is called “100% Tragedy” and is a bit more of a straightforward electronic banger than Grimes tends to deliver. Which is why it’s a little surprising that her label isn’t excited about releasing the song… then again, we can only hear sections of it in the clip, so maybe they have their reasons for wanting to go in a different direction. Perhaps the title of this song indicates that the space opera Grimes is working on ends with a doomed romance and not a happy endding? While the artist and her team sort it out, she’ll have her hands full judging a new CGI talent contest in the vein of The Masked Singer.