Trinity Rodman has been dubbed the future of the USWNT so many times that, frankly, it’s starting to get old. The problem with being anointed is the misconception that a player has yet to reach their potential. Being “the next” anything is to exist in hypotheticals — with all the hopes, expectations, and pressures that come from that.

But watching Rodman play, either at the club level with her Washington Spirit side or on the international stage during a pair of farewell friendlies last month, it’s pretty clear: the future for Trinity Rodman is right now.

With goals in back-to-back games against South Africa and her club team making a push to finish in the top half of league play, Rodman isn’t waiting in the wings to fill a void. She’s forging her own path, leaning on her speed, agility, and attack-minded style of play to deliver the one thing every coach, squad, player, and fan want more of: goals. She’s always exhausted her opponents on both sides of the ball, trekking back to help defend, sprinting forward to infiltrate backlines with ease. Now, after a disappointing performance at the World Cup, she’s gained the confidence that should terrify any team playing against her.

When we caught up with Rodman recently, she was partnering with Marriott Bonvoy for the Marriott Bonvoy Moments One Point Moments Drop campaign, which offers members a chance to put all their travel points to good use by bidding on unique experiences, like being able to train with one of the most talented young players in women’s soccer.

Rodman walked us through the partnership, sharing some memorable travel experiences of her own. She also broke down how the national team feels different post-World Cup, gave us insight into her FYP, and revealed what she and teammate Ashley Sanchez got up to Down Under.

It felt like we saw a different look to the USWNT during those farewell games against South Africa. What was it like returning to that camp after the World Cup?

Yeah, I do feel like there was a type of freedom. I don’t know where that came from. The World Cup obviously didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but I do think it was a learning experience for everybody. It tested our new group with the younger players coming in, integrating with the veterans. I think this camp there was a lot more trust, communication, and just willingness to play for each other. And if things weren’t going right, we fixed it really fast. We leaned on each other a little bit more.

What was the atmosphere like in the locker room after that World Cup loss, especially for the younger players?

For us younger players, it was so hard to gauge where or how this World Cup was going to go just because we had no similar experience. Nothing really sets you up for what the World Cup is really like. I think being new players, it’s easy to just have an automatic connection. But going into this camp after the World Cup, I think the conversation changed more to like, this is the future. It’s us. It’s taking it game by game and not thinking about, “Oh, the next game we have to beat this team by eight goals.” I think it was more about us having joy in celebrating the little wins rather than needing to score a certain amount or needing to do this and that for the media or the fans or anything like that.

How have you dealt with adjusting back with the Washington Spirit, especially during the tail end of an NWSL season that’s been so competitive?

It’s definitely a shift. There’s a comfort level with your own club, there’s freedom of play and not worrying about minutes and the big stage, I think. Coming back to the club is always an amazing feeling, just to have the people that you’re with all year long behind you no matter what happens. I think the biggest thing is taking it game by game, fixing the little things because, at the end of the day, that’s what wins or loses games.

Were there “little things” about your game that you wanted to fix after playing in Australia and New Zealand?

Going into the World Cup, I kept reiterating the fact that I was very nervous. It’s so easy to let the pressure get to your head and to only think about what’s going to help you keep that starting spot or what’s going to keep you in the game. I don’t want to say I lost it, but during the World Cup, I think a lot of people weren’t being as true to themselves because they were scared about either coming out, messing up, or not being in a good position for the next game. That was a big reason why we didn’t do well. For me during the World Cup, I don’t think I brought what my special quality was, and I’m kind of kicking myself for that. But again, it’s a learning experience. Obviously, this past camp against South Africa, I kind of threw it all out the door and I was like, “I got here for a reason and I need to show my true qualities. I need to be the goal scorer that I am and do that.”

You travel so much as a professional athlete. What’s one moment or experience on the road that’s stayed with you?

I go back to Wembley Stadium when we played there. I don’t know what it was. In youth camp, we traveled a lot and I played in London multiple times. And I think going there again, the familiarization with that place and then it also being the biggest stadium and the most amount of people I had played in front of was so surreal. That stadium is absolutely beautiful. And I’ll never forget the moment I walked out, getting that start for that game, because I think that was a huge [moment] in my USWNT career.

What’s your favorite way to experience a new city? Are you dining out, are you hitting up a museum, or going to watch a game?

I have a problem with shopping, so if you were to ask me if I’ve been to a mall in every place that I’ve traveled, I would say yes, probably twice. I think malls are really cool. Just the scenery is cool, being able to see the different types of people and interact with them. But I also love food. I mean, who doesn’t? When we were in New Zealand … the pastries there were amazing.

TikTok dances have become your go-to celly on the field. What’s on your FYP right now?

Oh gosh, the Vampire Diaries is always on my For You Page. There are always organization videos — food organization, closet organization. I love those. And then obviously dances. I mean, those will always be on my For You Page because I’m always filming them.

EA just released EA Sports FC 24. You’re a big gamer. Are you playing yourself or someone else in the game?

I’ve been getting that question a lot lately. I’m definitely going to play, but I just feel like I can’t play as myself. I’d want to play against myself to see what she’s all about.

When you’re not critiquing your FIFA avatar, what’s your go-to game?

Oh, Fortnite, absolutely. I think all my biggest fans and all my friends know that I love Fortnite. I was just talking to somebody [about this], I was like, “If I could get myself in a Fortnite game, I would lose it.”

In World Cup interviews, you and Washington Spirit teammate Ashley Sanchez said you spent your downtime solving a crime. What can you tell us about the case?

[laughs] So one of our massage therapists had an emotional support ducky that she traveled with. This sounds so stupid. It was a half duck, half banana, and it was her thing that she got at camp and she brought it to practice. She stood it up on the cooler, she brought it to meals, everything, and our security guards decided they wanted to steal it. They were sending cryptic messages of the banana duck in random locations saying, “We have your duck,” all this stuff. And me, Kelley O’Hara, Ashley Sanchez, and Alyssa Thompson, were doing the most to find this duck. We got to the bottom of it.

We can all get a little fascinated by doppelgängers and it’s fun to find people who look alike. But what do you do when your baby girl looks uncannily like a famous middle-aged man?

Mom Dani Grier Mulvenna shared a photo of her infant daughter Cora side by side with a photo of Woody Harrelson on Twitter, with the caption “Ok but how does our daughter look like Woody Harrelson.” The resemblance truly is remarkable, and the tweet quickly racked up hundreds of thousands of likes, shares and replies.

Naturally, the jokes about Harrelson being the baby’s secret father came next, but then Harrelson himself got wind of it.

The actor shared a screenshot of Mulvenna’s tweet on his Instagram page and included a delightful little poem he called “Ode to Cora.”

u201cOk but how does our daughter look like Woody Harreslonu201d

— Dani Grier Mulvenna (@Dani Grier Mulvenna)
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You’re an adorable child
Flattered to be compared
You have a wonderful smile
I just wish I had your hair

How adorable and wholesome is that? Not only did he acknowledge his look-alike, but he even made a self-deprecating joke about his receding hairline.

See on Instagram

People gushed in the comments and Mulvenna shared how tickled her daughter will be someday by the connection.

“You’ve made our day ❤️ can’t wait to show her this when she’s older, you have another fan for life xxx,” she wrote.

Mulvenna also shared on Twitter that her daughter doesn’t always look like Woody Harrelson, but when she does, she really does.

u201cCora says, thank you all so much for the likes and retweets and also that she doesn’t always look like Woody Harreslon, it’s just that when she does…she really really does xxxu201d

— Dani Grier Mulvenna (@Dani Grier Mulvenna)
1659529434

What a cutie. What’s hilarious is that sweet little Cora has no clue about any of this excitement and she won’t for many more years. What a fun story her parents will be able to share with her.

Social media has created a world where people can connect in ways they never would have before. When these platforms are so often used for negative means, it’s lovely to see something so sweet and pure come out of them.

This article originally appeared on 08.05.22

Over the past 40 years, a sea change has occurred in how kids get to school. Throughout most Western countries, an increasing number of children are driven to school instead of walking or taking a bike. In a new video called “Why did kids stop walking to school?” About Here’s founder, Uytae Lee, cites the U.S. Department of Transportation statistic that in 1969, 48% of kids walked or biked to school, and that number has plummeted to just 11%.

Uytae Lee is an urban planner and videographer passionate about sharing stories about our cities. The video was produced in partnership with TransLink, Metro Vancouver’s regional transportation authority.

The video makes a compelling case that more children should walk to school. It’s better for children’s health and reduces congestion and pollution from car exhaust. In a world where we are pushing for people to be greener, flooding the road with cars every morning to take kids on a short drive seems counter-productive.

Some parents drive their kids to school because they fear they could be abducted or hit by a car while walking to school. But Lee doesn’t believe that those fears should be a reason for parents to change their behavior over the past few decades. “As terrible as [kidnappings and car accidents] are, the statistics behind those risks haven’t changed significantly over the decades,” Lee says.

The video is a great reminder that reevaluating how kids get to school may be a good idea. When they take a bike or walk, it’s better for their health and that of the planet as well.

This article originally appeared on 5.9.23

Simon Beck didn’t set out to become a world-renowned snowshoe artist, yet here he is. The former cartographer was trained in engineering at Oxford, but has spent the past ten years making jaw-dropping art in the snow and sand using only his feet.

Beck uses geometrical and geographical tools to plot out his designs, but it’s still baffling to see him walk exactly where he needs to to create them. His designs can take 12 hours of walking or more, and he’ll take around 40,000 steps for an average-sized piece. It’s beautiful, it’s creative, it’s exercise—and it’s fleeting.

Being made out of snow and sand, which are constantly being blown or washed away, Beck’s artwork doesn’t last. Such is the nature of creating art in nature, but that doesn’t bother him in the slightest. “Most people will only ever see most of the world’s artwork as photographs,” he said in an article in Artsy. “Even with the Mona Lisa—probably only a minority of people have actually seen the real thing, but everyone’s seen a photograph of it.” As long as Beck gets a photo of his massive designs, it’s all good.

And the photographs are truly something to behold. Check out some of his snow creations on Facebook and Instagram.

See on Instagram

See on Instagram

One of the challenges of working in the snow is that conditions can change throughout the creation of a piece. Snow might melt or become exceptionally icy.

Or, other people might not realize what is happening and inadvertently mess up your work. For instance, there’s nothing to stop a skier from plowing right through a design.

Beck’s sand drawings offer a different kind of challenge. Timing out the tides and dealing with the wind—as well as other beachgoers—makes sand art tricky, but the final product is totally worth it.

See on Instagram

On occasion, Beck even uses his art to make statements about issues in the world. For instance, there are 81 triangles in this drawing, but he says he left 77 unshaded to represent “the 77 countries where LGBT people are given a hard time.”

Beck has created most of his 300-plus land drawings in Europe. However, he will be spending two weeks of January 2020 in Silverthorne, Colorado, where he will create between five and 15 of his iconic works of snow art.

ABC News did a segment on Beck and his work, where he explains a bit of his process and how he uses a ski pole to measure parts of the design. Watch and enjoy:

Simon Beck has become a global sensation for his installations made by stepping through snow with snowshoes and a ski pole.

This article originally appeared on 01.01.20

It’s almost time for Offset to return with his new album, Set It Off. The album will be his first solo release since 2019’s Father Of 4. You can check out the tracklist, which features Cardi B, Chlöe, Don Toliver, Future, Latto, Mango Foo, Travis Scott, and Young Nudy, below.

Offset originally planned to release Set It Off in 2022, but he pushed the album back in response to the death of his friend and Migos bandmate Takeoff.

At the time of Takeoff’s death, Offset was on the outs with his bandmates, but after reportedly getting into a fight with Quavo backstage at the 2023 Grammys in February, the two Atlanta natives were apparently able to settle their dispute, reuniting with a performance at the 2023 BET Awards.

Quavo released the reflective solo album Rocket Power in August, while Offset kicked off his own album rollout with “Jealousy” in July.

1. “On The River”
2. “Say My Grace” (Feat. Travis Scott)
3. “Worth It” (Feat. Don Toliver)
4. “Broad Day” (Feat. Future)
5. “Fan”
6. “Freaky“ Feat. Cardi B
7. “Hop Out The Van”
8.“ Don’t You Lie“
9. “I’m On“
10. “Big Dawg“
11. “Night Vision“
12. “Skyami” (Feat. Mango Foo)
13. “Dissolve“
14. “Fine As Can Be” Feat. Latto
15. “Buss My Watch“
16. “Dope Boy” (Feat. Yung Nudy)
17. “Princess Cut” (Feat. Chloe)
18. “Jealousy” (Feat. Cardi B)
19. “Blame It On Set“
20. “Upside Down“
21. “Healthy“

This syndicated game show has been using recycled clues and contestants due to the Writers Guild of America strike.

If your answer in the form of a question is “what is Jeopardy!?”, congratulations you won [frantically looks around the room for a prize] a half-eaten bag of Oreo Minis. But wait, there’s even more good news.

TVLine reports that Jeopardy! writers have returned to work following an agreement being reached between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The show will return to “normal,” with new clues and new contestants, before the end of the year.

Beginning Tuesday, Dec. 19 (or the week of Jan. 1, if the show chooses to fill 2023’s remaining days with reruns), the season 39 “postseason” — which, pre-strike, was intended to kick off season 40 — will begin. At that point, viewers will see new WGA-written clues, essentially returning the show to normal. (Reminder: The postseason is comprised of season 39 Second Chance, season 39 Champions Wildcard, and the Tournament of Champions.)

In other Jeopardy! news, super-champ Amy Schneider weighed in on the Ken Jennings vs. Mayim Bialik debate. “I only had Ken as a host, so to some extent, I can’t judge exactly, but I loved Ken as a host,” she told TV Insider. “I think that it’s so comforting as a contestant to know that he has been where you are, and I think he has a real feel for the flow of the game.” I’m sorry, but the correct answer is: Will Ferrell’s Alex Trebek.

(Via TVLine)

Russell Wilson has had a pretty tremendous NFL career, winning a Super Bowl in Seattle and helping the Seahawks be a perennial playoff contender for the first decade of his career.

However, despite the on-field success of the Seahawks, he is not exactly a beloved figure with his former teammates, with plenty of them willing to call him out on isolating from the team and having less than flattering recollections of playing with Wilson. On the most recent episode of Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast, Marshawn Lynch spent a good bit of time talking about his former QB and how there wasn’t any relationship between the two stars off the field — to the point that Lynch does not even have Russ’ phone number.

The best part was Shannon trying to understand how he and Wilson never spent time together off the field, explaining that even “7” (John Elway) would come to the original Club Shay Shay at Broncos camp to have beers, play cards, and hang out with the guys. However when asked if he ever went to a party with Russ, Lynch, without saying a word, gave a priceless reaction.

I do love the visual of Lynch and Wilson going to a function together, as you’d be hard-pressed to find two guys in the NFL with more opposite vibes. That said, given Marshawn seems capable of getting along with just about anyone, as evidenced by pretty much everything he’s done in the media space, it does feel notable that he didn’t have any kind of off-field conversations with Wilson. Marshawn also knows that the way things ended in Seattle and the notable Super Bowl loss where he didn’t get the ball on the 1 yard line will make anything he says about Russ come off as sour grapes. He was quick to note he thought Russ was a great QB and he’d happily play next to him, but even by saying very little, Lynch was able to tell an awful lot about Russell Wilson off the field.

Grimes and Elon Musk have three kids together, with their oldest being named X AE A-XII. That’s not exactly a common name for a person, but there’s one criticism about it that Grimes just doesn’t get and she recently addressed it on X (formerly Twitter),

It started when Grimes saw a tweet introducing a product that functions as an always-on microphone that allows users to play back what they say at all times, as well as ask an AI model questions about whatever audio the device captured. Grimes doesn’t seem to be a fan of the product, as she tweeted, “I feel like a lot of the people making this stuff have either never been in an abusive relationship or don’t have kids and aren’t thinking of the impact constant surveillance has on child development.”

An X user replied, “That’s funny coming from you Claire did you name your kid something that humans can’t even pronounce? How’s that gonna go down for him when he’s in school? Why did you feel like you need to make a comment on this? Bored?” To that, Grimes responded, “This is the most bizarre criticism. He loves his name and mostly ppl think it’s cool. X men etc. x is popular at school lol. Also, I don’t wanna say his friends names cuz they’re civilians but most millenials named their kids weird names – not just me.”

Yesterday (October 3), Spotify announced that premium subscribers in certain countries will receive 15 hours of free audiobook streaming per month. According to a report from NME, the feature has launched in Australia and the UK, and is set to launch in the US by the end of the year.

Spotify is primarily a music streaming platform, however, with the launch of the new feature, many Spotify users have questions about Spotify’s audiobook collection and how to listen to these books.

Do you have to pay for audiobooks on Spotify?

Spotify began carrying audiobooks last September, but at the time of their arrival to the streaming platform, they weren’t free. All users, including premium users, had to pay by the book to listen to each title.

According to a press release, Spotify currently carries “upwards of 70% of bestselling books, with titles from major publishers including Hachette, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and RB Media, as well as independent authors and publishers globally, including Bolinda, Dreamscape, and Pushkin.” Spotify users can begin streaming audiobooks by selecting books marked with “Included With Premium.”

Other titles, as well as the premium titles, will be included in the Spotify library for purchase as à la carte titles.

You can see a trailer for the new feature above.

Despite reportedly solid ratings and positive reactions to its two-part premiere, Ahsoka arrived with minimal fanfare on social media as cautious Star Wars fans were afraid to get burned again after The Mandalorian Season 3 failed to deliver.

However, Ahsoka quietly picked up steam before fans started going absolutely wild thanks to Episode 5 bringing The Clone Wars to life thanks to knockout performances by Hayden Christensen and Arianna Greenblatt. That fan fervor only increased as Grand Admiral Thrawn arrived in Episode 6 along with the live-action debut of Eman Esfandi as Ezra Bridger. Add in Ray Stevenson bringing dramatic gravitas week-after-week as Baylan Skoll, and Star Wars fans were fully hooked going into the Ahsoka finale.

As you can see by the reactions below, fans couldn’t get enough of the climactic ending, which hopefully, set the stage for Ahsoka Season 2. The feedback was off the charts as some fans as Ahsoka seems to have leap-frogged The Mandalorian as the best Star Wars TV series.

On top of the badass lightsaber fights and Clone Wars lore, there was also lots of love for Christensen making a last-minute appearance as Anakin’s Force ghost proved he’s never stopped watching over his apprentice:

Speaking of master and apprentice, Star Wars: Rebels fans could barely contain their emotions after watching Ezra pay tribute to Kanan Jarrus by crafting a lightsaber just like his fallen master’s:

And, of course, there was a Kevin James meme as is the style of the time:

Ahsoka Season 1 is now streaming on Disney+.