On July 10, the WNBA’s best and brightest will showcase their skills in the 2022 All-Star Game in Chicago. The starters for the game have already been announced and will feature future hall of famer Sue Bird in her final season.
While the fans, players, and media vote to determine the starters, the reserves are selected by the coaches. 12 players were selected to join the starters the the teams will be decided by a captain’s draft. Minnesota’s Sylvia Fowles and Seattle’s Breanna Stewart will serve as co-captains for one team while Seattle’s Sue Bird and Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson will serve as co-captains for the other team. Here is the full list of All-Star reserves that will be added to the player pool.
Ariel Atkins
Kahleah Copper
Skylar Diggins-Smith
Dearica Hamby
Natasha Howard
Rhyne Howard
Brionna Jones
Jewell Loyd
Emma Messeman
Arike Ogunbowale
Alyssa Thomas
Courtney Vandersloot
They will join the 10 starters announced last week and will find out who their All-Star teammates will be when the All-Star Team Selection Special airs on July 3.
Sue Bird
Sylvia Fowles
Candace Parker
Nneka Ogwumike
Breanna Stewart
A’ja Wilson
Jonquel Jones
Sabrina Ionescu
Kelsey Plum
Jackie Young
The All-Star reserves are highlighted by Phoenix’s Skylar Diggins-Smith, who will be making her sixth All-Star appearance, and Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard, who will be making the team as a rookie. Also Chicago Sky teammates, Emma Meeseman and Courtney Vandersloot get to team up with Candace Parker to serve as hosts for the festivities.
As far as snubs go, the general consensus among WNBA fans and media was that Dallas’ Allisha Gray and Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell were worthy of selections, but missed the cut for the 12 reserve spots.
Rudy Giuliani‘s desperate need to play up being “attacked” at a supermarket is starting to have serious repercussions. After being ruthlessly mocked for the incident over the past 48 hours thanks to footage showing Giuliani suffering no more than a light slap on the back, New York City Mayor Eric Adams is now accusing his predecessor of filing a false report. According to Gothamist, Adams went so far to suggest that the district attorney should be looking into America’s Mayor instead of the alleged assailant, who’s already had charges downgraded to a misdemeanor.
“Someone needs to remind former Mayor Giuliani that falsely reporting a crime is a crime,” Adams said. “And from what he stated about being ‘punched in the head’, ‘felt like a bullet’ … That was a lot of creativity. And I think the district attorney — he has the wrong person that he’s investigating.”
Adams’ remarks are yet another embarrassing blow to Giuliani. The once respected attorney hasn’t been able to get any of the right wing networks to take his story seriously. Fox News isn’t covering the “assault,” but when Giuliani found a seemingly sympathetic ear after being booked on Newsmax, anchor Greg Kelly couldn’t help but blurt out what everyone’s thinking.
“I’ve got to be honest, it doesn’t look that bad,” Kelly said to Giuliani, who then tried to argue that the anchor was looking at the wrong person. “That was the woman who was rubbing my back,” Giuliani said because, apparently, random women are always rubbing his back in supermarkets. Has he not mentioned that before?
Most of us know that the pandemic has taken a significant toll on people’s mental health. Everyone from young kids who missed out on important socialization and learning during the lockdowns to older adults who experienced isolation, to teens, college students, young people just starting out in the world of work and parents … every slice of the population had legitimate struggles. Those seeking therapy were often left stranded due to long waitlists or difficulty finding a therapist that accepts their insurance. That’s if they were lucky enough to get a callback.
Therapists themselves have become so overwhelmed and badly burned out that many have just thrown in the towel, and the situation continues to get worse. I was one of those therapists! Walking away was the hardest thing I’ve done because of how much I care about the people I help.
For a therapist, the decision to leave the field doesn’t come easily. By nature, many therapists are compassionate and empathetic people who truly care about their clients and the practice of mental health. For some therapists, walking away can be a choice between life and death. Therapists being pushed to the brink of suicide is not unheard of. Some even succeed in taking their own lives. I knew several therapists who ended their lives, and I was forced to push through the grief until finally the overwhelm became unmanageable. I felt guilty adding to the shortage of therapists, but something had to give.
Like everyone else, therapists have been hit by the pandemic and other tragic events such as mass shootings, but unlike everyone else they are expected to hold the fear and pain of every client they see on top of their own. Many therapists have their own therapists to help them carry the load. The number of therapists to go around just isn’t enough.
The exodus from the profession is more than simply the high demands of clients. There are multiple factors, including the grind of dealing with insurance companies, many of which require therapists to jump through a lot of hoops to get paid. Insurance companies often reimburse therapists well below what their actual rate of service is, and insurance companies are notorious for doing “clawbacks,” which is essentially when they take money back. Clawbacks can be done for minor things like using a 60-minute code instead of a 45-minute code even though you spent a full hour with the client. Some insurance companies don’t feel that every diagnosis deserves a 60-minute session. There have been reports of clawbacks being tens of thousands of dollars and collected several years after the date of service.
Big box therapy providers have also come in the mix, promising better hours and more control over schedules, only for therapists to feel duped and exploited. Companies like Better Help and Talkspace offer low rates of pay and often require overscheduling for a therapist to be able to make a decent salary without them having to hold a second job.
All in all, therapists are just tired, and trying to figure out what’s best for themselves as well as their clients in that state is not enjoyable or rewarding. For those seeking mental health services, the outlook is a little bleak. Of course, it is possible to find a mental health professionals to help, but it generally takes a good measure of time and effort to find the right one.
Directories such as Therapy Den and Psychology Today are good places to look to find a local therapist who is accepting new clients. Then there’s Therapy for Black Girls and Clinicians of Color specifically for people looking for a Black, Indigenous or POC therapist. If you’re uninsured or underinsured you can search for a therapist offering low-cost slots on Open Path Collective.
It’s not a stretch to say that the current system is broken, and that negatively impacts both therapists and clients. Of course, there are new therapists joining the profession, and therapists who have taken a step away may well rejoin the profession after a much-needed break. Let’s hope that these professionals are eager (again) to help shoulder the problems of the world.
I can’t roller-skate to save my life. It looks like so much fun—I’ve never seen people not look happy while roller-skating. There’s the freedom to glide across the floor, even if it’s only temporary, and it’s such a good way to get out on the floor and move your body. What’s not to love?
Brothers Marcus and Michael Griffin, also known as The Griffin Brothers, share videos of themselves roller-skating on TikTok and Instagram. In the videos, the pair performs synchronized skating moves to a variety of old-school hits (and more current ones), mostly at their local roller rink in Delaware. It’s clear from the videos that the brothers get a great deal of joy out of roller-skating.
“As soon as you step on the floor, like, you ascend into another dimension and I think that’s where the love comes from now,” Marcus Griffin told Good Morning America in an exclusive interview.
“It’s not even about us anymore. It’s about our supporters and the comments and the messages we get from people,” continued Marcus.
Those messages are nothing but overwhelmingly positive:
“I love watching your tik toks!! And I want to learn to skate!!”
“Just purchased my skates, I’m ready😁”
“You all make it look so easy.”
“These videos so make my day.🌞🥰 I love it when they hit my feed.❤️❤️❤️”
“I have never wanted to go back to skating until I watched your videos. I remember being a little girl wishing I could groove on skates like those cool adults who’s whooshed passed me with headphones and a Walkman while dancing. I am 46 years old and studying your feet to figure it all out lol… keep skating and bringing joy!!!”
Often wearing coordinating (or in some cases matching) outfits, the Griffin brothers tear up the rink with the smoothest moves. They clap, slap and perform other fun moves that keep the videos fresh and entertaining. Seriously, you can’t watch just one video—it’s like eating potato chips. The pure joy radiates through the screen.
“We’re bringing back those old feelings that people had when they used to go skating, when they didn’t have to worry about the bills, the houses, everything,” Marcus told GMA. “When they watch us, they get a certain joy in themselves, what they felt when they were younger, like when times were good, no pandemic, no mass shootings, no nothing. They don’t think about that.”
Introduced to roller-skating by their mom as children, Marcus explained that they would spend their weekend nights at the roller rink, same as their mom before them. The Griffin Brothers may not realize this, but their roller-skating videos are part of a longstanding tradition in Black culture. A 2019 documentary “United Skates” digs deeper into how roller-skating has been and continues to be a large part of Black culture.
“We were trying to show the importance of roller rinks as community spaces … that were centerpieces for early civil rights battles—one of the first sit-ins in the country was a skate-in at a roller rink,” Dyana Winkler, one of the filmmakers, told VICE in 2019.
The pandemic revived an interest in roller-skating. The Daily Beast reported that a viral skating video on TikTok by actress Ana Coto led to people becoming more interested in roller-skating. It stated that Coto cited Black roller-skaters as her inspiration as well.
It was during the pandemic that the Griffin Brothers saw interest in their skating videos grow as well. When one of their old videos started gaining rapid traction on YouTube, it inspired the brothers to head back to the rink. “I was like, Why did I stop skating? Why did I stop skating? And the love just came right back and then we finally made a video last year,” Michael Griffin told GMA.
“We just want to bring joy and happiness to everybody who lays eyes on this,” Marcus Griffin added.
Only a few short months ago, Trump called for a civil war over “inflation,” and as it turns out, he raged a lot harder (and similarly) on January 6 (during the insurrection) than previously belived. He previously pretended to be all kinds of shocked after his “fight like hell” speech led his MAGA groupies to descend upon the U.S. Capitol and stage an insurrection. He proudly rewound footage and was so happy to see the rioters “fighting for me.”
As it turns out, things were even worse (and more violent) behind the Trump scenes than previously reported. During Tuesday’s edition of the ongoing January 6 hearings, former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson unveiled a lot of interesting testimony. She shared that Trump threw his lunch, including ketchup, all over the wall because he was so angry about Bill Barr declaring that Trump had lost the election. As Hutchinson also described, Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of his Secret Service vehicle after an agent refused to take him to the Capitol, where he wanted to do… what, exactly?
Trump on January 6, 2021:
“I’M THE F’ING PRESIDENT!” (Choking Sec Service Agent)
The above question’s now beside the point because of this, via NBC News:
Hutchinson said that Trump tried to take control of the steering wheel in his motorcade to try to turn the vehicle around and head toward the Capitol and then motioned toward a Secret Service agent as if Trump wanted to choke him.
Trump had, in fact, lost his temper when the agent told him it wasn’t secure enough to drive straight to the Capitol — news that Trump didn’t take well:
“The president had a very strong, very angry response to that. Tony described him as being irate. The president said something to the effect of, ‘I’m the effing president. Take me up to the Capitol now,’” she said.
“Bobby responded, ‘Sir, we have to go back to the West Wing,’” Hutchinson testified. “The president reached up toward the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm and said, ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We’re going back to the West Wing. We’re not going to the Capitol.’ Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel, and when Mr. Ornato recounted this story to me, he motioned toward his clavicles.”
Imagine doing your job and protecting the president of the United States, and he flies off the hook because you won’t drive him to the Capitol after he incited a riot, all because he lost the 2020 election. That sounds like the ultimate sore loser, and it’s amazing that the agent could hold it together under such surreal circumstances.
Finding a good cheap bourbon isn’t hard. But finding a great cheap bourbon is, especially if you’re looking at the bottom shelf. Cheap bourbon is just that — cheap. It’s often made from barrels that, for whatever reason, didn’t meet that distillery’s standards for their high-end expressions’ flavor profiles. That spirit doesn’t go to waste, of course, it’s simply blended out into lower-cost expressions where they’ll likely be mixed with Coke or taken as a shot with a beer.
Theoretically, the critics aren’t going to be tripping over themselves to review these bottles. Yet, here I am, about to run a blind taste test and do exactly that. The thing is, there are good bourbon whiskeys on the bottom shelf. But with every other bourbon shelf, the key is filtering out the cream from the crap.
For this bourbon blind, I went to my local liquor store and grabbed all the bourbons from the bottom shelf. Every one of these was between $8 and $14 in Kentucky (they may cost more or less depending on where you are and are priced on more of an average below). I then had my mom line these up for me in a blind taste test and I dove in.
Today’s Lineup:
Very Old Barton 100
Old Fitzgerald Prime
Old Crow
Benchmark Old No. 8
Evan Williams Black Label
Ezra Brooks
J.W. Dant Bonded
J.T.S. Brown
Let’s see if we can find any gems in this mix!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
This has a really nice nose full of buttery caramel, dark berries in a pie, soft oak, and a hint of peppermint. The palate dials those berries into a slice of blueberry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a dusting of cinnamon and leather. The end is short and sweet but brings back the mintiness but more like menthol tobacco with a dry edge.
This is a pretty solid place to start. I liked this.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This is a bit thinner on the nose with a touch of vanilla and dry cinnamon next to a hint of caramel and maybe a little straw. The palate is fine but feels very average bourbon — orchard fruit, vanilla, wood, caramel — and not much more. The end is a little washed out (this has to be a lower proof) and ends more watery than bourbon-y.
This was a bit disappointing compared to the last pour.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Hum. Fresh Wonder Bread and burnt popcorn lead to buttery caramel and a dab of vanilla oil. The palate is very balanced between a sense of caramel, cherry, and “spice” with a wintry vibe. The end is pretty short and watery with the vanilla and brown spice leading to a dash of dry straw.
This isn’t terrible but it isn’t that good. This feels like a shooter for a strong beer or something you’d bury in Coke or ginger ale for $4 at happy hour.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
It takes a minute to find the nose on this one. There’s a touch of lemon honey next to vanilla wafers but that’s about it. The palate is very middle of the road with clear hints of leather, brown spice, cornmeal, and vanilla. There’s a dash of buttered popcorn and caramel toward the end, but the finish is pretty watery overall.
This was a tough one. I’m super reaching for those flavor notes and they are thin AF by the end.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose is very light but does meander through apple candy, dry corn, vanilla, and a touch of caramel. The taste stays on a similar path with a hint of brown spice and “oak.” The end is short but does touch on more vanilla and oak with a hint of cherry tobacco way in the background before an ethanol note takes over.
Light nose, boozy end… I don’t know.
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this one is pretty distinct with caramel corn balls, vanilla beans, and wintry spice mingling with wet oak and a touch of sweetgrass. The palate builds on that with a layer of dark chocolate that’s touched by cinnamon and mint before a drop of minerality sneaks in. The end circles back around to that caramel popcorn with a hint of butter, cinnamon, and stewed apple rounding things out.
This felt pretty solid all around.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose is thin but does have notes of banana bread with walnuts, plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg, and a hint of brown sugar. The taste has a bit of a No. 2 Pencil vibe next to dry vanilla, salted caramel, and peanuts. The end keeps things nutty and full of dark spices as a whisper of orange oil sneaks in late.
This starts off thin but delivers by the end.
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Cream soda with a dash of cherry opens the nose next to dry leather patches, caramel sauce, and a light touch of floral honey. The palate brings forward dry and woody spices with a hint of eggnog creaminess leading toward Graham Crackers and a sweet tobacco chew. The end turns the woody spice into old oak with more vanilla, honey, and leather lingering the longest.
The juice in this bottle is from Buffalo Trace’s Mash #1, which has a scant amount of barley and rye next to mostly corn. This is the same mash that’s used for bigger hitting brands like Eagle Rare, Stagg, and E.H. Taylor. In this case, this is a standard straight bourbon that’s sort of like a base-level Eagle Rare, in theory, but from barrels that didn’t make the cut and were then proofed all the way down for bottling.
Bottom Line:
This is very entry-level. There are Benchmark releases just above this — Small Batch, Bonded, Full Proof — that are far better and only cost a few dollars more. Buy those instead.
This is a classic bourbon that became part of Jim Beam about 30-odd years ago. Until then, it was famed for being the drink of choice of President Grant, back in the 1870s — which gave it a lot to hang its hat on as a brand. The juice in the bottle is a year younger than a typical Jim Beam bourbon — so three-ish years — and it is cut way down to 80 proof for bottling.
Bottom Line:
This had a nice nose and not much of a body today. That aside, I was shocked that I didn’t rank Old Crow last in this blind. I usually dismiss this stuff. Today, however, it stood out a tiny bit when poured against bourbons in its class. Still, this is a shooter with a beer or a mixer for Coke.
This is the entry-point wheated bourbon from Heaven Hill to the Limited Edition Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond seasonal releases. Overall, this is the same wheated bourbon as that, just aged far less and barreled at a low 80 proof.
Bottom Line:
This feels very much in the “fine” category. There was nothing astringent or off-putting, it was just a little washed out by the end thanks to all that proofing water.
This is more of an entry-point for Evan Williams. The juice is a mix of four to seven-year-old barrels of the standard Heaven Hill bourbon. The difference in this bottle is that it’s proofed at a slightly higher 86 proof, giving it a slight edge against Evan Williams Green Label at 80 proof.
Bottom Line:
This had a really light nose and an okay palate. It’s not bad. It’s just standard stuff with a standard vibe. That’s fine too. Take a shot, sip a beer. You know the drill.
This is the same mash bill as Heaven Hill’s bourbons, like Evan Williams and Elijah Craig. The difference is that the barrels chosen for this brand follow a different flavor profile than the ones for those bottles. This is bottled at 100 proof and bonded, which makes it a slightly cheaper sibling to Evan Williams White Label.
Bottom Line:
This was pretty good. I can see this working in easy cocktails or mixed drinks without a problem. I’d probably pour this over some rocks with bubbly water on a sunny day too.
This was an old-school “bottled in bond” from the Barton Distillery in Bardstown but they dropped the b-i-b designation. The juice in the bottle used to be at least six years old but today it’s at least four. All of that sounds like deterrents from this bottle but it’s still 100 proof and there are still barrels up to six years old in the mix, meaning this still works well at this price point.
Bottom Line:
These top three are all winners in my opinion. It’s very likely that if this had been later in the tasting, it would have ranked higher. All of that aside, this is the first one that felt like it could pose as a sipper (on the rocks) or in a cocktail. I’d also be happy with this as a shot on its own.
Luxco’s Ezra Brooks is a throwback to the Mad Men days of bourbon. The juice is a standard rye-infused bourbon without an age statement. It’s made as a workhorse whiskey that’s easy to find and cheap when you do find it.
Bottom Line:
This felt legitimate from top to bottom. I could also see drinking this over a rock or two and not feeling bad about my decision-making. This feels like it’d work well in a straightforward old fashioned as well.
This is a quality whiskey from Heaven Hill’s expansive bourbon mash bill (78% corn, 12% malted barley, and 10% rye). That means this is the same base juice as Elijah Craig, Evan Williams, several Parker’s Heritages, and Henry McKenna. It’s a bottled-in-bond, meaning it’s from similar stock to their iconic Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond, amongst others on this very list.
Bottom Line:
This was a quality pour. It might even sip this on a rock in a pinch. Though, I’d probably stick to making old fashioned with this one with plenty of raw sugar, orange, bitters, and cherry in there to really amp up the flavors.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
Heaven Hill dominates cheap bourbon. Mostly because, well, they do it well. Four of the top six were all from the distillery. And it tracks. You generally can’t go wrong with Heaven Hill when reaching for the cheaper stuff.
As for the rest, you know, there really wasn’t a terrible one in the batch. I expected a lot more plastic, tinniness, and alcohol burn, but there really wasn’t much of any of that. These all felt and tasted pretty even-keeled and fine for lack of a better term.
And while “fine” isn’t what you’re looking for on a special occasion, it’s perfectly good for an everyday table bourbon. Or a drink you pour when you’re sitting in the garage or your backyard with your crew watching the world go by.
Lastly, when it comes to value, all of these are winners. That said, the value-per-dollar in the cheap stuff comes in on the ABVs. All of the top five had an ABV over 40%. That’s where you find value and taste at this level, folks.
Metal Gear creator and video game legend Hideo Kojima is not exactly a fan of The Boys, but as it turns out the show has made an impact on him as well. As Kojima revealed on Twitter this week, he actually canceled a gaming project once he realized the concept he was working through was very similar to the plot of the show’s first season.
2/2 and put it on hold because the concept was similar (different settings and tricks). A buddy (male/female) thing with a special detective squad facing off against legendary heroes behind the scenes. I was thinking of Mads as the lead.
“I watched a few episodes that were delivered at the time when I was about to start a project that I had been warming up for a long time, and put it on hold because the concept was similar,” Kojima wrote on Twitter this week. “A buddy (male/female) thing with a special detective squad facing off against legendary heroes behind the scenes. I was thinking of Mads as the lead.”
The Mads he’s referring to is presumably Mads Mikkelsen, who has worked with Kojima on Death Stranding. So this is immediately a very fascinating What If to say the least. And while we’ve lost a game concept to the recycling bin of gaming history, some folks associated with The Boys are hoping this could be the start of a lucrative partnership. Showrunner Eric Kripke tweeted at Kojima about a potential The Boys video game, and Homelander actor Antony Starr is already on board.
Please come make a #TheBoys game. We can team up and conquer! Huge fan, btw. #TheBoysTV
Tweets are just tweets and making a video game these days takes years and years, but it’s certainly something to see a bit of how sometimes art influences other art. Or, in this case, makes sure one form of art never even gets off the ground.
Cassidy Hutchinson, who worked under Meadows during and after the 2020 Presidential Election, told the House Oversight Committee that Trump was “f*cking furious” with both the results of the election and how his team responded to the insurrection on Capitol Hill. She detailed an incident when Trump instigated a physical altercation with a secret serviceman who refused to drive him to the Capitol so that he could march with his MAGA supporters and help them infiltrate the Senate chambers. She relayed his outrage, not over the fact that the mob carried AR-15 rifles and flags with spears attached to the ends, but over the small size of the crowd gathered for his speech the day the insurrection took place. But, perhaps the weirdest bit of testimony came when Hutchinson described an argument that took place months earlier, immediately following the election results.
According to Hutchinson, in December 2020, Attorney General Bill Barr gave an interview to the AP where he admitted the Department of Justice had not found evidence of any widespread election fraud, a fact that directly contradicted Trump’s “Big Lie” strategy. Though Hutchinson was not present for that initial conversation, she did witness the aftermath of the confrontation between the two men.
“I remember hearing noise coming from down the hallway,” Hutchinson recalled of the time the AP article went live. She detailed how a valet had requested Meadows immediately head to the dining room because Trump wanted to see him. Hutchinson then went to the dining room herself where she saw a valet changing the table cloths. “He motioned for me to come in and then pointed towards the front of the room … where I first noticed there was ketchup dripping down the wall and there was a shattered porcelain plate on the floor. The valet articulated the president was extremely angry at the attorney general’s interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall.”
“There was ketchup dripping off the wall” — Hutchinson testifies Trump literally threw his lunch against the wall after Bill Barr told the AP there was no evidence of election fraud sufficient to overturn the election pic.twitter.com/CFF2ghfzgk
Apparently, Hutchinson stayed to help with the clean-up saying, “I grabbed a towel and started wiping the ketchup off the wall.”
As bizarre and, frankly, ridiculous as this image is considering the President of the United States is supposed to be a grown man, not a toddler throwing a temper tantrum, people are nevertheless having some fun with this bit of behind-the-scenes drama.
there’s something very darkly funny about trump eating a toddler lunch with ketchup after trying to choke out his limo driver
— kilgore trout, death to putiner (@KT_So_It_Goes) June 28, 2022
Trump as Toddler in Chief — he threw his lunch at the wall because he was upset with AG’s interview.
Ketchup dripping down the walls of the White House because Trump had thrown a plate because he was angry that his attorney general would not go along with his claims of voter fraud…
The imagery from Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony is stunning. Broken dishes, ketchup smeared on the walls of the White House, Trump grabbing the steering wheel and physically attacking an aide when he was prevented from joining the insurrectionists at the Capitol on January 6…
(!) Cassidy Hutchinson says Pres Trump *grabbed* a Secret Service agent’s neck & limo steering wheel as he angrily insisted to that he be driven to the Capitol. She says Trump said, “I’m the F’ing President…Take me to the Capitol.”
And if you’re wondering why ketchup was the stand-out condiment, according to an Eater article, Trump smears everything, even 28-day dry-aged cuts of premium meat, with it. So it sounds very on-brand.
As NFL teams get set for the 2022 season, there are still some contractual negotiations to be done, as teams look to lock down stars for the long-term to avoid having to bid against other teams on the free agency market.
In Washington, that meant Commanders star receiver Terry McLaurin was due for a potentially big payday, and on Tuesday he got just that as word broke that he had hashed out a new three-year extension that will keep him in the nation’s capital as one of the league’s highest paid receivers.
Commanders’ Terry McLaurin is signing a 3-year extension worth up to $71 million in new money that places him amongst the NFL’s top-five highest-paid WRs, sources tell ESPN. Buddy Baker and Tony Bonagura of Exclusive Sports Group finalized deal today w/ Washington SVP Rob Rogers. pic.twitter.com/9O6nxXzNXd
As Field Yates laid out, it has been a very good offseason to be a top wide receiver, as teams have forked over big money to lock down stars at one of the premier positions in the league currently.
WR deals this offseason include: Davante Adams: 5-yrs, $142M Tyreek Hill: 4-yrs, $120M A.J. Brown: 4-yrs, $100M Stefon Diggs: 4-yrs, $96M Cooper Kupp: 3-yrs, $80.1M Terry McLaurin: 3-yrs, $71M D.J. Moore: 3-yrs, $61.884M Mike Williams/Chris Godwin: 3-yrs, $60M
McLaurin has been one of the most consistently productive receivers in the NFL through his first three seasons, with 222 catches for 3,090 yards and 16 touchdowns so far in his young career. Considering the lack of a top quarterback in Washington, that’s an incredibly impressive stat line, and as the Commanders hope to figure out a long-term answer for their QB woes, keeping McLaurin in town to help whoever is under center became a priority.
Ted Cruz is freaking about Sesame Street again. The Texas senator went after Elmo, arguably once of the most beloved children’s TV characters of all time, for getting the COVID vaccine now that it’s available for children under 5 years old. Going all the way back to the ’70s, Sesame Street has long been a proponent for vaccinations, and more importantly, helping kids not be scared about the procedure, so Elmo getting the jab is part of a long storied tradition for the landmark children’s programming.
“Elmo got the COVID vaccine today, just like Elmo’s mommy and daddy!” the official Elmo account tweeted. “Elmo’s daddy had a lot of questions, but Elmo’s doctor said the vaccine would help keep Elmo healthy, and all of Elmo’s friends and family too! #CaringForEachOther”
Elmo got the COVID vaccine today, just like Elmo’s mommy and daddy! Elmo’s daddy had a lot of questions, but Elmo’s doctor said the vaccine would help keep Elmo healthy, and all of Elmo’s friends and family too! #CaringForEachOtherhttps://t.co/do2AcvCfMg
It doesn’t get more wholesome than that. But for Cruz, it was a bridge too far as he proceeded to lash out at a puppet on Twitter.
“Thanks, @sesamestreet for saying parents are allowed to have questions! You then have @elmo aggressively advocate for vaccinating children UNDER 5. But you cite ZERO scientific evidence for this,” Cruz tweeted.
Thanks, @sesamestreet for saying parents are allowed to have questions!
You then have @elmo aggressively advocate for vaccinating children UNDER 5.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Cruz has taken a swing at Sesame Street. The Texas senator went viral back in November 2021 when he went after Big Bird. Again, per the show’s long tradition, the lovable giant bird encouraged children to get the COVID vaccine now that it was available for ages 5 to 11. Unfortunately, America’s right-wing has been adamantly opposed to the vaccine, so to cater to the Republican base, Cruz mocked the Sesame Street campaign. However, all it did was spark calls for Cruz to be replaced in the senate by Big Bird, which obviously, would be a vast improvement for the people of Texas.
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Trump on January 6, 2021:
(@Fam4Fun) 
Davante Adams: 5-yrs, $142M