On Monday, six-time Ballon D’Or winner and FC Barcelona captain Lionel Messi announced on Instagram that Barcelona players will take a 70% pay cut while the La Liga season remains suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. The players will also assist the club in order to ensure that its workers will receive their full wages.

His full message, which the rest of the players also shared, reads:

“Much has been written and said about the Barcelona first team in relation to the players’ salaries during this state of alarm.

Before going any further, we want to make it clear that we were always willing to reduce our salaries because we understand perfectly that we are in an exceptional situation. We, as players, are always here to help the club when they ask. Sometimes, we have done things on our own initiative during times when we felt it necessary and important.

It didn’t surprise us that inside the club there are some trying to put us under the microscope and pressure us into doing something that we were always clear we would do. In fact, if the agreement came a little late is it because we have been looking for the formula to help the club and also the workers of the club at this difficult time.

For our part, the moment has arrived to say that the cut will be 70% of our wage during the state of alarm. We will also help out the club in order for the workers to be paid 100% of their wages.

If we didn’t speak until now, it’s because the priority was to find solutions to help the club and to see who the most affected were during this situation.

We don’t want to sign off without giving a massive salute and our strength to all of the cules who are going through a bad moment in these difficult times and those waiting patiently in their homes until this crisis is over. Soon, we will come out on the other side of this and we will all join together.”

Other Spanish first division clubs such as Atletico Madrid and Espanyol have also announced temporary pay cuts during the suspension and there had been earlier reports of Barcelona’s wage cut plan, but the club had been unable to negotiate a deal with the players (an earlier plan was to . The players allude to this in the message, and it appears that Messi and the squad do not appreciate the pressure from some inside the club to submit to its leadership.

This is not the first instance of conflict between the Barcelona board and the players — and Messi in particular. Last month, former player and current sporting director Eric Abidal publicly accused the players of not playing hard enough under former manager Ernesto Valverde, seemingly suggesting that they were the reason the head coach was fired in January. Messi hit back at Abidal two weeks later, writing that Abidal should be accountable for his own role in the firing of Valverde. “Lastly, I think that when one speaks about the players, they should give names because if not they’re dirtying everyone and feeding things that are said and are not true,” he continued.

Then there was the rumor that club president Josep Maria Bartomeu had hired a PR firm to covertly attack current and former players on social media. The club, of course, denied these allegations and Messi said that we would have to “wait and see if it is true or not,” but that it was certainly “strange.”

In recent years, the club has strayed from its tradition of promoting young players from its famed academy, La Masia, in favor of splashing cash on top players like Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezman and Martin Braithwaite without seemingly contemplating how they fit into the team’s system and style of play.

Additionally, the club has seen a carousel of managers come and go with four coaches in the past seven years. And since Neymar’s record-breaking departure in the summer of 2017, the team has looked worse for wear, struggling with injuries, consistency and form on all parts of the pitch.

Things at Barcelona have not been good between the club and players for some time, but that all needs to get sorted rather quickly.

Messi’s current contract runs out at the end of next season, and it would be a shocking and complete failure on the side of the club if the world’s best player and face of the team were to leave.

With no live sports for the foreseeable future, many sports fans, teams and Tom Brady have turned to re-watching old games while social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many sports providers are trying to fill the gaps of time typically spent on discussing and analyzing the previous day’s games and events. First there was the return of The Ocho, ESPN’s eclectic roundup of peculiar sports like the Stupid Robot Fighting League, marble racing and stone throwing. Then, on what would have been this year’s Opening Day, MLB Network aired classic Opening Day games including Derek Jeter’s debut in 1996.

On Monday night, in a celebration of Women’s History Month, four classic U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team matches will be broadcast on ESPN2 beginning at 6 p.m. ET. The eight-hour soccer marathon will start off with the 1-0 USA victory over Canada on July 19, 2009 when all-time women’s national team goal-scorer Abby Wambach scored her 100th national team goal.

At 8 p.m., the network will then air the showdown between the USA and Mexico from December 2004 — the last game for longtime captain Julie Foudy, two-time FIFA Women’s Player of Year Mia Hamm and legendary defender Joy Fawcett. That game will be followed by the USWNT’s comeback victory against Brazil in the 2017 Tournament of Nations at 10 p.m. ET and a replay of the March 11 SheBelieves Cup final against Japan at midnight ET.

The USWNT is the most successful international women’s soccer team in history, with four Women’s World Cup trophies, four Olympic gold medals and eight CONCACAF Gold Cups. Aside from trophies and on-field accolades, many of the team’s players have always been a beacon for feminism and social justice.

In 1999, Brandi Chastain shocked the world after celebrating scoring the winning penalty in the World Cup final by ripping off her jersey and falling to her knees in jubilation before being swarmed by her teammates. Chastain received a lot of flak from pundits and critics who called her actions disrespectful and inappropriate. But she, along with the rest of the 99ers, as they are affectionately dubbed, inspired an entire generation of young girls who would grow up playing soccer and idolizing Chastain, Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers and many more.

The current crop of USWNT stars has embraced their role as models of women who are unabashed in their success. After smashing in 13 goals against Thailand for the most lopsided win in World Cup history last summer, the team was criticized for being excessive in both scoring and celebration but the players stood up for each other. “I think it’s disrespectful if we don’t show up and give our best and play our game for 90 minutes,” captain Alex Morgan, who was targeted for scoring and celebrating five goals, said after the game. “It’s disrespectful to the Thai team. I believe they wanted us to play them straight up. For the celebrations, these are goals that we have dreamed of our entire lives.”

From Megan Rapinoe kneeling during the national anthem in support of Colin Kaepernick and the Black Lives Matter movement to the USWNT’s equal pay lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, the players have stood up time and again for what they believe in and inspired many fans along the way.

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

Conan — Late-night hosts are largely on hiatus right now to protect their crews and audiences, but Conan O’Brien’s found a way to get the job done regardless. Yes, he’s using an iPhone to shoot the whole darn thing, and his Monday guest will be Adam Sandler. In a statement, Coco promises, “The quality of my work will not go down because technically that’s not possible.” Nice.

9-1-1 (FOX, 8:00 p.m.) — A bowling alley catastrophe may need to yield to a home renovation accident while a car thief only leads to further distraction.

Better Call Saul (AMC, 9:00 p.m.) — Gus is at war against everyone and attempting to calm folks while plotting an empire while Mike attempts damage control. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Kim go to work on a legal firewall.

Roswell, New Mexico (CW, 9:00 p.m.) — Nora’s 1947 spaceship crash is the subject of an investigation by Alex and Michael while Isobel weighs a risky decision.

The Plot Against America (HBO, 9:00 p.m.) — Philip Roth’s novel sees part three of its chilling alternate history involving an anti-Semite becoming U.S. president.

Prodigal Son (Fox, 9:00 p.m.) — The NYPD dives into the dance world following the mysterious poisoning of an up-and-coming ballet star.

Breeders (FX, 10:00 p.m.) — Following Michael’s death, his family moves in with Darren, whose fixation upon work doesn’t sit will with Ally.

Manifest (NBC, 10:00 p.m.) — Ben must work with a guilt-ridden passenger while Saavani tries to find help to fend off the Major. Manwhile, a trio of ruthless meth dealers are hell bent upon enacting revenge.

Dispatches From Elsewhere (AMC, 10:00 p.m.) — The gang’s all searching for Clara, Janice’s artwork preoccupies herself and Simone, and Fred Wynn and Peter tie the game to a large corporation.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Guest John Oliver will follow up on his trio of coronavirus deep dives, so you’ll wanna tune in for this one.

For the past two weeks Broken Matt Hardy has owned the main event slot of AEW Dynamite, and he hasn’t even made his in-ring debut yet. Week before last was his surprise debut (which admittedly was mostly a surprise because he debuted as a babyface instead of as the Exalted One), and then last week he and Chris Jericho had a confrontation in the ring, after Jericho called Hardy’s beloved drone Vanguard-1 “a piece of shit.”

Dave Meltzer mentioned on Wrestling Observer Radio that the segment was originally pre-taped on Tuesday, but Jericho hated how it came out. They decided to do it again, but they couldn’t shoot it before Dynamite on Wesnesday, because it’s an outdoor arena and the sky would be too light to make sense at the end of the show.

Fortunately they had one pre-taped match for Dynamite — Kip Sabian versus Darby Allin — so while viewers at home were watching that match, Hardy and Jericho reshot the segment in the ring, which was then quickly edited to go up at the end of that same show. Sounds pretty stressful, but I thought it was fun to watch in the end.

Jericho confirmed the story in a Facebook Live video, saying of the original version, “It wasn’t my vision, really.”

View Entire Post ›

Singer-songwriters have away of placing their finger on the pulse of society and capturing a piece of our humanity. And for five decades, Paul Simon has been a master at it.

Simon wrote “American Tune” in 1973, but his recent live performance of it during the coronavirus pandemic feels incredibly relevant. As he sings outside, a chorus of songbirds insists on accompanying him, which somehow makes it all the more lovely and heartfelt and real.

If you need a cathartic moment, here it is. Enjoy.

Many’s the time I’ve been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
But I’m all right, I’m all right
I’m just weary to my bones
Still, you don’t expect to be
Bright and bon vivant
So far away from home, so far away from home

And I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered
I don’t have a friend who feels at ease
I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered
or driven to its knees
But it’s all right, it’s all right
We’ve lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the road
we’re traveling on
I wonder what went wrong
I can’t help it, I wonder what went wrong

And I dreamed I was dying
And I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassuringly
And I dreamed I was flying
And high up above my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty
Sailing away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying

We come on the ship they call the Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age’s most uncertain hour
and sing an American tune
But it’s all right, it’s all right
You can’t be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow’s going to be another working day
And I’m trying to get some rest
That’s all, I’m trying to get some rest

American Tune for Til Further Notice 03/19/2020

www.youtube.com

This article contains spoilers for the Netflix docuseries Tiger King.

“Oh shit — have you watched Tiger King?”

The first text came a mere two days after Netflix gave birth to the now infamous documentary series on March 20th. A day later, another friend hit me up, “This Tiger King show is fucking wild. Also, your nightmare.” Movie stars started arguing over who would get which roles. Joe Exotic’s music videos resurfaced. An obscure Britney Spears VMAs connection was unearthed.

With so much intrigue, I had to watch Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness. I’m glad I did, too. Not because I was eager to tweet about the chaotic/ accidental humor of it all. But because — at the risk of Joe Exotic, the polygamist, gun-loving, self-righteous tiger hoarder in Oklahoma; or Jeff Lowe, the swinging Las Vegas financier who took over his zoo, coming after me in a poorly-produced attack video — we need to talk about the tigers. The only “good guys” in all this. Those huge, sleek, elegant, creatures that the docuseries seems all too willing to ignore.

Because while this bonkers-but-true seven-part profile on Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin, his equally inscrutable and possibly-mariticidal nemesis in Florida, is the exact tonic needed to distract Americans from the COVID-19 pandemic, it doesn’t offer much insight into the lives on the animals in the title. Even after watching Tiger King start to finish, it’s tough to get a bead on the living conditions and overall livelihood of the big cats themselves. Instead, it’s the wacky-yet-toxic personal dynamics between exotic animal owners that gets all the screen time.

That approach works fine as escapism but it isn’t particularly effective at condemning the industry that it profiles. An industry that absolutely deserves to be condemned.

To me, the poor quality of life experienced by the tigers in Tiger King was beyond obvious within the first minute of the first episode. I’ve dedicated a significant part of my career to exposing wildlife abuses in the travel industry. I’ve sat in the jungles of Central America, fighting off parrot poachers using only a machete. I became a World Wildlife Fund Ambassador to step up my advocacy against the exotic pet trade. I’ve been a veterinary tech, an animal behaviorist, and a wildlife journalist. And I feel 100% convinced that people who keep tigers, wolves, and other exotic animals as pets are a unique kind of human — forged in the melting pot of too much disposable income, a lack of education in animal physiology, and inherent selfishness.

That’s why Tiger King is my nightmare. Watching the show means having to put aside the mostly-unmentioned suffering of the animals featured. It means watching a slew of memes more compassionate to a known animal abuser than the tigers he visibly exploits. And, worst of all, it means knowing that certain viewers were going to start searching “how to buy a tiger cub” before even seeing the final episode.

When Joe Exotic insists Carole Baskin is the insane one for accusing him of committing animal abuse, the series doesn’t question him. Because he is the series. But it damn sure should have. Though we only hear a few passing mentions of it, Joe was sentenced to 22 years for “violence against tigers.” As far back as 2011, the Humane Society of the United States documented GW Zoo’s tiger cubs being punched, dragged, and hit with whips, all after being “pulled from their mothers immediately after birth for public handling,” according to their investigation. Shouldn’t that be at least the b-story in this series? Wasn’t there room for it between the various “blowing shit up” and “meth” segments?

Handled well, this series entering the zeitgeist could have been the moment when Americans collectively began to question the private ownership of tigers. Instead, we’re starting GoFundMe’s for Joe Exotic. Seriously?

More than 20 states currently have comprehensive bans on the ownership of exotic pets and another 13 have partial bans. Meaning over half of the United States recognizes the wide range of problems that comes with allowing literally anybody to cage whatever species makes them feel tough or wealthy or cool. Most of the 5,000-10,000 tigers we’ve trapped in captivity in the U.S (compared to 4,000 tigers living naturally in the wild) are concentrated in private zoos in less-stringent states like Texas or South Carolina. States where private zoo owners prioritize profit over animal wellbeing to a dramatic degree — whether they’re as attention-getting as Joe Exotic or not.

By failing to add some of this context, the directors of Tiger King veered into animal exploitation themselves. The health of these animals is so low on the list of priorities that the fact that white tigers are force-bred from incest isn’t even touched on. Imagine if Blackfish or The Cove, had taken a similar approach? “Sure, Shamu is being tortured but look at this trainer’s funny mullet!” The woke masses would have been furious. Sure, debating whether or not Carole Baskin fed her husband to tigers is more fun than debating the intricacies of animal abuse. But by ignoring the state of captive exotic animals in America in favor of drama, Tiger King has actually perpetuated the abuse of animals by making them serve solely as entertainment.

Let’s not allow the suffering of these animals — like the five tigers who got bullets to the head for being inconvenient to Joe Exotic — be for nothing. If you watch this show, have your laughs, share your “Carole Did It” memes, and then stand up against the system that allowed this nightmarish world to exist in the first place. Because the only true protagonists of Tiger King went through the series mostly ignored. And they undoubtedly deserve better.

You can help tigers and other exotic animals by supporting the initiatives of and donating to the World Wildlife Fund and Panthera.

Even before launching her solo career, Hayley Williams ventured outside of Paramore for some collaborative efforts. Most notably, she featured on B.O.B.’s “Airplanes,” which was a No. 2 single in the US. She also had a big Zedd collab in 2013, “Stay The Night.” There are plenty of collaboration opportunities she has turned down, though, including one with Lil Uzi Vert. In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, she gave her reasons for saying no the rapper, saying it was because she didn’t “want to be that famous.”

She told Lowe:

“This is so, so random, but I get asked to do features on country songs sometimes. I’m no hater of country music. I mean, I grew up very young in Mississippi on Shania Twain and Dixie Chicks. I’m pretty sure Jason Aldean asked me to sing on one of his songs. I remember too Uzi asking me to do some stuff with him, and I know that fans are going to be so pissed at me for saying this, but I literally wrote him back on Instagram and I was like, ‘Buddy, I love you so much, but I don’t want to be that famous.’ I told him like we were getting ready to take a break. I obviously had a lot of issues going on that no one really knew about and I was like, ‘Bro, I just need to disappear. I don’t want to be that kind of a famous person.’ Because that is… He’s like a big artist, man. My stepbrother is obsessed with them. He was pissed when I told him the story.”

She’s had a couple of collaborations in recent days that pleased the indie crowd: She and the members of Boygenius teamed up on a new song, and Caroline Polachek also offered a remix of “Simmer.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For some time now ESPN has been putting out commercials about the power of sports. The jubilation people feel during success, the pain in failure, and the powerful emotions it can bring out in the right moment are some of the biggest reasons we watch in the first place. You’ve probably seen one even if you didn’t realize it while watching a game of some kind on ESPN or one of its network channels. They’re nice little moments and the network has a long history of having fun with them.

Recently, ESPN released a new commercial despite there being no sports to watch. And because of it, there’s a bit more somber a tone at play. The entire world is paused at the moment while the impact of COVID-19 aka coronavirus is felt. There will one day be sports again, but right now the best thing for the world is no sports as we all continue to live with social distancing and self quarantining. Of course, we all miss sports and ESPN’s new commercial hits that feeling right on the head.

What’s particularly impactful about this commercial is that it’s full of moments we’re currently missing. There’s no March Madness, no NBA, no hockey, and opening day in baseball has been delayed indefinitely. It’s disappointing, but there will hopefully be brighter days ahead full of sports. When those days are here this will all be a distant memory, but it’s nice to know that the feeling for ESPN is mutual.

Jushin Thunder Liger wrapped up his three-decade pro wrestling career earlier this year, but he’s still a presence in the wrestling world. Since his retirement, he’s been a commentator for New Japan Pro Wrestling and a guest commentator for Stardom, and in March 2020, he joined the ranks of wrestlers with YouTube channels. The Beast God has a ways to go before he’s as legendary on YouTube as he is in the ring, but it seems like he’s already pretty great at the social media platform.

Liger launched his channel on March 13, and it already has several videos up. Two of them have English subtitles, one in which he talks about who he thinks are the top three “most lovable wrestlers” and the other a documentary-style video about his morning routine. In Liger’s opinion, the most adorable wrestlers are Masakatsu Funaki, who started training with New Japan when he was fifteen, Minoru Suzuki (“He can’t tell a lie,” and “Maybe this is bad for his reputation, but he has a good heart. I think his fans know that and that’s why they like him.”), and Hiroyoshi Tenzan, who Liger describes as “easily moved to tears” and easily pranked.

While that video is Liger sharing stories, vlog-style, the morning routine video is more visually interesting, and a very chill and soothing watch. It’s a little kayfabed (a sleeping Liger’s face is blurred, and he puts on his mask immediately after he wakes up) but seems like a mostly legitimate look at the how the man behind the mask lives his day-to-day life. We see him feed the dojo’s outside cat, make miso ramen for breakfast, work on his 25-year hobby of making very impressive clay models of kaiju, and train shoulders in the gym. The whole video is about eighteen minutes long and falls squarely in the genre of low-key YouTube videos to relax/quarantine to.