Month: July 2023

The USWNT’s rematch against their 2019 World Cup rivals The Netherlands might be the most important game of this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup … and it’s happening in the group stage.

When the Americans face off against the Oranje Wednesday night, they’ll be battling for control of Group E and an easier path forward in their bracket. But those are just the on-paper consequences. What’s really at stake is a bit more abstract – a clearer sense of whether the USWNT can actually achieve the impossible or if the dreams of a three-peat are just too optimistic given the injuries and chemistry questions that plague the squad.

Coming off a decisive – though less-than-impressive – win in their first game against Vietnam, Vlatko Andonovski has plenty of depth to pull from when it comes to his starting lineup. Julie Ertz, recently back from maternity leave, commanded the back line in her old post as center back while Sophia Smith ran defenders ragged to score a brace in her World Cup debut. Rose Lavelle got some much-needed minutes — as did promising young forward Alyssa Thompson – while co-captains Lindsey Horan and Alex Morgan pulled focus and netted goals to help their team advance with three points and a comfortable goal differential. The Netherlands aren’t Vietnam – they’re more organized, more physical, and deadly in the air – but there’s reason to hope, and even feel confident about, the US’ chances when the match kicks off on Fox Sports at 9 p.m. ET.

Here’s what the USWNT starting lineup could look like come game time – and what they need to do better in order to silence the threat from their orange-colored opponents.

Frontline Fixes

Sophia Smith appears to be the answered prayer for the team’s scoring deficit after an in-top-form Mallory Swanson suffered a knee injury earlier this year but she’ll need help to break down the Netherlands’ experienced defense. Trinity Rodman eventually found her footing in the Vietnam match, but Lynn Williams might be the better starting choice for this game given her speed and her unmatched ability to switch to a defensive position when needed. She’s been on a goal-scoring streak with her club, Gotham FC, so she brings a sense of confidence up front that the US desperately needs. If they can let Alex Morgan draw the attention of defensive backs like Stefanie van der Gragt while Smith and Williams pummel the flanks, the US will find the space they need to create more chances at net.

Giving Rose Lavelle A Start

Midfielder Rose Lavelle played just 27 minutes in the match against Vietnam, coming in off the bench during the second half to create a bit of magic the team was lacking up to that point. She’s been battling an injury since April and her fitness level has been in question since before the tournament began, but that early look felt promising for fans missing the fluidity and fierce left foot she can bring. Whether Coach Vlatko simply wanted to conserve her energy for the game against the Netherlands, or she’s just not fit enough to last a full 90 minutes, we’d love to see Lavelle get a start against the Oranje tonight. She’s a game-changer, poised and patient on the ball, and able to see lines of attack in a way few of her teammates can. Amidst questions of chemistry in the final third, Lavelle offers a solution – a bridge from the midfield that shrinks the gap between Horan and Andi Sullivan’s possession-minded play and the speed of a Smith or Williams. Let her start and impact the match early and the US will get off on the right foot.

Making Space For Julie Ertz

Julie Ertz has proven she can play anywhere and make a difference so her spot in the starting lineup is just a question of where the team needs her most. Against Vietnam, she dominated defensively while also pushing play forward, connecting passes from the halfway mark and exploiting lanes in the middle. But the Netherlands won’t play a man-to-man defense like Vietnam did and they’ll attack centrally in a way that might challenge Ertz if her fitness isn’t 100%. The answer then could be to start Alana Cook as central back with the ever-capable Naomi Girma and move Ertz to a defensive mid position, freeing up Horan to play more offensively and giving Ertz some defensive breathing room.

Set Pieces

Unless Megan Rapinoe is behind the ball, the US seems incapable of producing anything off a set piece. That hasn’t miraculously changed during this tournament, but as they continue to face off against tougher opponents like the Netherlands, they’re going to need to get creative and clinical with their free kicks and corners. But the real danger when it comes to set pieces in this match lies with the Oranje’s ability to defy gravity. They’ve got a presence in the air that might knock our defense off balance if they’re not prepared for it. They scored their lone goal against Portugal from a set piece. And, because they’re missing prolific strikers like Vivianne Miedema and Lineth Beerensteyn, they might pour even more energy and effort into converting those opportunities.

Ever since entering the 2024 presidential race, Chris Christie has relentlessly hammered Donald Trump. The former New Jersey governor hasn’t hesitated to call out Trump’s failed policies and pending indictments, nor is he willing to let Trump walk all over him.

On Tuesday night, the former president attempted to attack Christie by bringing up his 2012 meeting with Barack Obama after Hurricane Sandy devastated New Jersey. Understanding the gravity of quickly receiving federal aid, Christie warmly welcomed Obama and Trump claims the move sandbagged Mitt Romney in the 2012 election.

Via Truth Social:

Christie was so star-struck with Barack Hussein Obuma, that Romney, who is a terrible politician and horrible representative of the Republican Party, never had a chance of winning the Presidency. Christie sold Romney out, making one of the worst Convention Speeches in History—Virtually not even mentioning Romney by name. Romney sat watching, in a trance—He couldn’t believe it!

Christie wasted no time pointing out the irony in Trump’s remarks and landed a solid blow on the embattled frontrunner by bringing up his well-documented history with Hillary Clinton.

“Yeah… I invited the sitting President to New Jersey during the worst natural disaster in our state’s history,” Christie tweeted. “But I didn’t invite him to my wedding… Donald – did you dance the night away with Hillary?”

(Via Donald Trump on Truth Social, Chris Christie on Twitter)

On Monday of this week, a clip of Mikal Bridges on Paul George’s show, Podcast P, made the rounds as he made clear that he and the Nets are big supporters of Ben Simmons and have full belief that he’ll be a positive contributor to their team next season.

Bridges makes his point with some colorful language that should have required anyone airing the clip on television to do a little bit of censoring. However, over at NBA Today the clip somehow made it through unedited, with the F-bombs flying at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, which led to a very funny quip from Malika Andrews on the desk when they cut back to the studio as Ramona Shelburne and Marc Spears sat there a bit wide-eyed.

Things like this happen, but it is pretty funny seeing the reaction from the folks on the desk — although I’m sure the control room was far less composed trying to figure out how that happened. It’s funnier that it’s two F-bombs back to back that made it through. It’s not like it was one that snuck in there, they really let Mikal cook. I’m sure podcast clips will get scrubbed a bit more in the future, but I do like the idea of an uncensored ESPN — it’d make games more fun if they didn’t smash the mute button on the rim mics every possession.

James Blake‘s sixth album, Playing Robots Into Heaven arrives this fall. Ahead of the album, the singer and prolific producer has shared the latest song, “Loading.” The song opens with a smooth, melancholy instrumental, over which, Blake sings with pitched-up vocals.

“Wherever I go, I’m only as good as my mind / Which is only good if you’re mine / Which is only good if you’re mine,” he sings, before the instrumental transitions into a rapid percussion pattern. The distorted vocal effects continue throughout the song, symbolizing a wide range of emotions.

Over the years, Blake has collaborated with the likes of Travis Scott, SZA, Rosalía, and several others, delivering his transcendent musical stylings across a variety of genres. However, it appears that Blake will be the only vocalist on Playing Robots Into Heaven, as the tracklist doesn’t list any featured artists.

Blake has been rather quiet during this particular era, not having done a whole lot of interviews and press appearances. But the music speaks for itself, as “Loading” taps into Blake’s vulnerability and allows the listener to dance the pain away.

You can listen to “Loading” above.

Playing Robots Into Heaven is out 9/8 via Republic. Find more information here.

Jeopardy! fans are not thrilled with Ken Jennings after the host dared a contestant to lick his own elbow during a recent episode. Despite Jennings being a favorite of grandmas everywhere, social media fans were quick to turn on him following the gross-out stunt.

The incident went down during Tuesday night’s episode after contestant Andrew Knowles revealed that he has a crazy long tongue.

“Yeah, so I figured out at a young age I have a long tongue, and the whole nose-to-tongue thing was easy,” Knowles told Jennings via Decider. “And then one day I heard that, you know, touching your elbow, or licking your elbow basically, is impossible. And I tried it, and I was able to do it.”

Obviously, with that information out in the open, Jennings wanted a demonstration, and to the dismay of Jeopardy! fans, Knowles obliged.

“Wow, look at that,” a clearly amused Jennings said. “I can do the nose thing, but I didn’t know there was a whole Olympic level that I knew nothing of.”

While Jennings and Knowles seemed to be having a good time on camera, Jeopardy! fans were not loving the moment at home.

“@Jeopardy has just jumped the shark into classless mediocrity when a contestant just licked his elbow with his tongue. Sad that the only intelligent game show on tv has stooped to this level,” a disgruntled fan tweeted. “Thanks @kenjennings for lowering the standard of a once great show.”

“Alex Trebek must be rolling over in his grave. This is not the Gong Show!” another angry fan replied to the Jeopardy! clip.

However, not all of the replies were angry. Other Jeopardy! fans were more concern with why Knowles looks a lot like Bill Hader’s Stefon character from SNL, which honestly, we can see. There is a resemblance.

(Via Decider)

Over the weekend, The 1975 took the stage at Malaysia’s Good Vibes Festival, where lead singer Matty Healy criticized the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws and kissed his bandmate Ross MacDonald during their set.

“I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with,” Healy told the crowd.

This didn’t go over to well, as after their Friday performance, the rest of the festival was canceled, and the band has apparently since been banned from Malaysia as a whole. Julian Casablancas — of the other lineup acts, The Strokes — opened up about his thoughts on the situation in several Instagram comments.

“It def helped the white outsider awareness yes, for sure,” Casablancas replied. “I felt the same. had no idea. but when you look into it, it likely will change little to nothing in Malaysia. It’s like saying you helped awareness of injustices in n korea… not one of those situations where twitter pressure’s gonna work, they don’t care, govt is intense there.”

“many thing to fix but we should be strategic was all,” he added. “Wasn’t commenting on the thing – just an outider thinking it would make any difference in Malaysia… it appears to have more negative consequences… your nit allowed to show straight public kissing affection there i believe… it’s a different world not his job to come fix then bail… if he stayed and went to jail then damn, respect. but i think he just made a joke/ laughted and flew home first class imm guessing.”

In the days since, according to The Star, 18 police reports have been filed about The 1975’s set.

Fans have waited a little over a year, but season two of Rap Sh!t is set to finally return in just a couple of weeks. Max announced that the show would return to the platform on August 10 with a pair of episodes to start season two. That means fans will be able to check back in with Shawna and Mia as they continue their journey towards becoming the hottest rappers in Miami, and then the country. Before the new season kicks off next month, let’s get you up to speed with everything you need to know heading into season two.

Release Date

Rap Sh!t season two will make its return to Max on August 10. The first two episodes of the season will debut on the platform that day while the remaining episodes will be released on a weekly basis every Thursday.

Cast

The cast for Rap Sh!t season two is largely the same as season one. The returning names include Aida Osman as Shawna Clark, KaMillion as Mia Knight, Jonica Booth as Chastity, Devon Terrell as Cliff Lewis, RJ Cyler as Lamont, Daniel Augustin as Maurice, Amandla Jahava as Jill, Jaboukie Young-White as Francois Boom, and Brittney Jefferson as Alesia. Some new names to the season 2 cast include Jacob Romero as Lord AK, a successful rapper, and Kyle Bary as Courtney Taylor, a rising rapper who’s the opener for Lord AK’s tour.

Plot

Here is the official logline for Rap Sh!t season two:

Rap Sh!t follows two estranged high school friends from Miami, Shawna and Mia, who reunite to form a rap group. In their rise to fame, Shawna and Mia find themselves at a pivotal moment in their rap career as they are forced to decide if they will stay true to themselves or conform to the demands of the music industry.

Trailer

You can view the official trailer for Rap Sh!t season two below:

How Many Episodes Are In Rap Sh!t Season 2?

There will be eight episodes in Rap Sh!t season two. The first two episodes will premiere on August 10 and the remaining six episodes will be released on a weekly basis up until the show’s season two finale on September 21. Each episode will be available on the Max app and website at 3 am EST/ 12 am PST.

Where Can I Stream Rap Sh!t Season 2

You can stream Rap Sh!t season two through weekly episodes that are released every Thursday starting on August 10. Each episode will be available on the Max app and website at 3 am EST/ 12 am PST.

‘Rap Sh!t’ season two debuts on Max on August 10. Season one is available now to stream on Max.

Travis Scott had plans to kick off his fourth album era in a big way. In addition to plans to reveal four different cover arts for Utopia — his first album in five years — Scott was also set to perform the album in full at the Giza Pyramids in Egypt.

Over the past couple of weeks, there have been rumors of the Egypt concert’s cancellation, though Scott and Live Nation have shut those rumors down. Unfortunately, the concert has since actually been canceled.

Why was Travis Scott’s Egypt concert canceled?

According to Live Nation, who put out the official statement today (July 27), Scott’s concert has been cancelled due to “complex production issues.” Fans who purchased tickets will receive a refund from their point of purchase.

You can read the full statement below.

“We regret to inform you that the Utopia show, originally scheduled for July 28th at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt is cancelled. Unfortunately, despite highest efforts, complex production issues meant that the show could not be constructed in the desert.

We understand that this news is disappointing and not the outcome any of us desired.

Refunds will be issued to all ticket holders at their point of purchase. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this cancellation may have caused and appreciate your understanding. We remain committed to bringing exceptional live performances to fans and hope to have the opportunity to do so in the future.”

Everyone wants to know how long they will live and there are many indicators that can show whether someone is thriving or on the decline. But people have yet to develop a magic formula to determine exactly how long someone should expect to live.

However, a doctor recently featured on the “Today” show says a straightforward test can reveal the likelihood that someone aged 51 to 80 will die in the near future.

NBC News medical contributor Dr. Natalie Azar was on the “Today” show on March 8 and demonstrated how to perform the simple “sit to stand test” (aka sit-rising test or SRT) that can help determine the longevity of someone between 51 to 80.

---

The test is pretty simple. Go from standing to sitting cross-legged, and then go back to standing without using any parts of your body besides your legs and core to help you get up and down. The test measures multiple longevity factors, including heart health, balance, agility, core and leg strength and flexibility.

You begin the test with a score of 10 and subtract points on your way up and down for doing the following:

Hand used for support: -1 point

Knee used for support: -1 point

Forearm used for support: -1 point

One hand on knee or thigh: -1 point

Side of leg used for support: -1 point

None

— (@)

A 2012 study published by the European Society of Cardiology found a correlation between the SRT score and how long people live. The study was conducted on 2002 people, 68% of whom were men, who performed the SRT test and were followed by researchers in the coming years. The study found that “Musculoskeletal fitness, as assessed by SRT, was a significant predictor of mortality in 51–80-year-old subjects.”

Those who scored in the lowest range, 0 to 3, had up to a 6 times greater chance of dying than those in the highest scores (8 to 10). About 40% of those in the 0 to 3 range died within 11 years of the study.

Azar distilled the study on “Today,” saying: “The study found that the lower the score, you were seven times more likely to die in the next six years.”

“Eight points or higher is what you want,” Azar said. “As we get older, we spend time talking cardiovascular health and aerobic fitness, but balance, flexibility and agility are also really important,” she stressed.

One should note that the people who scored lowest on the test were the oldest, giving them an elevated risk of death.

Dr. Greg Hartley, Board Certified Geriatric Clinical Specialist and associate professor at the University of Miami, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that we should take the study with a grain of salt. “Frailty, strength, muscle mass, physical performance—those things are all correlated to mortality, but I would caution everybody that correlation doesn’t mean causation,” he said.

And of course, the test doesn’t take into account injuries or disabilities that may make doing the test impossible. But one of the study’s authors says that the study is a call to take our mobility seriously.

“The more active we are the better we can accommodate stressors, the more likely we are to handle something bad that happens down the road,” Dr. Claudio Gil Araujo, told USA Today.

This article originally appeared on 3.10.23

Fresh Pair season two continues with another fire episode featuring a legendary hip-hop guest that not only helped define the genre but solidified himself as a cultural icon, transcending to household name status and earning a place on many people’s Mount Rushmore of West Coast hip-hop. In the latest episode, sneaker customizer to the stars Katty Customs and hip hop architect Just Blaze are joined by Ice Cube, who is gifted a custom pair of inspired Air Force 1s, chock-full of details that celebrate Cube’s long and storied career.

If you know anything about Ice Cube — we’re going to assume you do — you’re well aware that his rap moniker isn’t just a random assemblage of words, Cube is supremely cool, but even a pair of sunglasses and his famously chill demeanor wasn’t enough to mask his excitement over what Katty and Just cooked up for him. After the awe-inspiring reveal, Cube looked at his custom AF-1s like a kid in a candy store, eyes wide with wonder. Have you ever heard Ice Cube say ‘wow’ and mean it? That alone makes this episode a must-watch.

The fresh pair led Cube to share stories about how he first linked up with Hank Shocklee in the wake of NWA’s breakup, the making of his legendary album Death Certificate, and explains how “It Was a Good Day” was essentially the song version of his movie Friday, deep diving into the creation of each.

But that’s not all, Cube also talked a bit about the beef between The Big 3 and the NBA, and revealed his top five favorite storytelling rap tracks. It’s a deep interview with a dope pair of shoes and one of the most entertaining personalities in all of hip-hop, you already know what to do!