Category: News

For the second time in as many games, the Toronto (Tampa) Raptors saw a double-digit fourth quarter lead evaporate on them as the Portland Trail Blazers erased a 10-point deficit entering the final period to get a 112-111 win that felt like an absolute theft.

CJ McCollum, fresh off watching his beloved Cleveland Browns win their first playoff game since 1995, led the way with 30 points, six rebounds, and five assists — with Damian Lillard and Carmelo Anthony chipping in 23 and 20 respectively. On the other side, it was Pascal Siakam who tallied his first career triple double with 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists leading the Raptors, who had three others who scored at least 18 points.

Fittingly, the game came down to the two stars of the game, with McCollum getting the best of that battle, as he hit a midrange jumper to take the lead off of some dazzling ball-handling to get to his spot and rise and fire.

With nine seconds to go, the Raptors had plenty of time to dial up a play for the game-winner and chose a Pascal Siakam isolation, much like they did a night ago against the Warriors. Unfortunately, the end result was also the same with Siakam getting a pretty good look after some hectic dribbling and backing down of Robert Covington, missing a short, spinning push shot as time expired.

The loss drops the Raptors to 2-8, with yet another close game going the wrong way for Toronto who have now lost six games by single digit margins. The inability to close games out has become a significant issue for the Raptors, and in this one it was the shot-making of the Blazers, led by McCollum, that gave their defense fits late and then they just couldn’t get enough buckets on the other end to keep up with the late charge from Portland.

The 2021 CFP National Championship looked like it might be a competitive one after Ohio State tied the game at 14-14 after forcing a Mac Jones fumble deep in Alabama territory, but from that point the Tide outscored the Buckeyes 38-10, steamrolling their way to a 52-24 win and Nick Saban’s record seventh national championship as a head coach.

The stars for Alabama showed out, with Heisman winner DeVonta Smith racking up 12 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, before injuring his finger on the opening drive of the second half.

Najee Harris likewise picked up three touchdowns, as he had 79 yards rushing and 79 yards receiving, with Mac Jones delivering five touchdowns through the air on a ridiculous 36-of-45 passing night for 464 yards.

By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the result in Miami was a mere formality, but that provided an opportunity no one expected for one of the Tide’s best players. Landon Dickerson, who won the Rimington Trophy for the best center in the country, tore his ACL against Florida, but was on the sidelines in full uniform for the title game (and served as their captain for the coin toss), and successfully lobbied Nick Saban to let him go on the field and snap the ball for the final kneeldowns.

It was clearly a big moment for Dickerson, who hugged everyone on the line as he entered the huddle and then carried Saban off the field once the clock hit 0:00. Dickerson will head off to the NFL with so many of his Alabama teammates, but it was a very cool gesture for Saban to let him get those snaps in a title game that he was such a big part of helping Alabama get to.

UK MC Bree Runway has been turning heads since the release of her first single in 2016, but her 2019 major-label debut EP Be Runway is what put her on the map and allowed her to work with some big-name artists. Late last year, Runway dropped her anticipated debut album 2000And4Eva, managing to secure features from Missy Elliott and Rico Nasty. Now returning to share a visual to the project, Runway tapped Elliott once again for the glamorous “ATM” video.

The visual opens with Runway and her crew dressed in diamond-encrusted burlesque outfits. Flexing her femininity, Runway and her backup dancers put on a sultry show. She then makes her way through the audience, which is filled with men who have ATM machines in place of their heads. The rapper returns to the stage while Elliott appears on a big screen and shows off her icy jewelry.

Ahead of the video’s release, Runway explained to Dork Magazine how she managed to secure a guest verse from the iconic Elliott. “Well, we’ve already had a previous interaction when the internet went into a frenzy over me apparently being like her lil daughter when I dropped ‘APESH*T,’” she said. “Fans were begging for an ‘APESH*T’ remix from her, but it didn’t happen, but I remember literally saying to myself, me and her will make a song THIS year… I dropped ‘GUCCI’, and I was literally about to sleep and received a call from my A&R and it was to tell me that Missy wants to do a record with me, safe to say I didn’t end up sleeping that night.”

Watch Bree Runway and Missy Elliott’s “ATM” video above.

2000And4Eva is out now via Universal. Get it here.

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

Throughout everything, outgoing president Donald Trump has been able to hold onto his coterie of sycophants and hangers-on. Two of his loudest cheerleaders have been Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan, representatives for Florida and Ohio, respectively. (The only the former has gotten into a Twitter fight with Hellboy.) The two frequently appear together, going on the news to spout fulsome praise for their fearless, soon-to-depart leader. These appearances often inspire memes. And on Monday, they inspired some next level mockery: They finally reminded everyone of Beavis and Butt-Head.

The two appeared on Fox News to rail against social media companies coming for users who have spread misinformation about the 2020 election and who have inspired violence. A lot of those people happen to be conservative. One of them happens to be Donald Trump, who on Friday was permanently banned from Twitter after continuing to do both. Over the weekend numerous noted Republicans, Gaetz among them, complained that they’d suddenly lost a ton of followers, inadvertently outing themselves as being attractive to fascists.

But their complaints fell on deaf ears. People couldn’t get over how the pair — whose intelligence is routinely questioned, to put it nicely — resembled MTV’s most famous dynamic duo. In fact, some felt it was about time people made the comparison.

And suddenly Twitter suffered an avalanche of Beavis and Butthead comparisons.

Then again, some people don’t think Gaetz needs Jordan.

Others made other, non-Beavis and Butt-Head jokes.

It’s worth noting that last week the two were among the many congresspeople who were vocal about trying to stop the congressional ratification of the election results, thus formally declaring Joe Biden the next president. There have been widespread calls for them to resign or be expelled for whipping up a mob that turned violent. But in the meantime, people online will probably keep calling them idiots.

Along with being a musician, actor, and beauty mogul, Selena Gomez has added the label “chef” to her repertoire. The singer learned several important lessons about cooking in her first HBO Max series Selena + Chef. The show’s inaugural season saw her trying out some new techniques, and even featured a cameo by Taylor Swift. Gomez has just shared the first look at the show’s second season — and it depicts her nearly setting her kitchen on fire.

The trailer opens with Gomez giving an honest account of her cooking skills. “As you all know by now, I’m not the best cook,” she says. “But I’m not going to stop trying to get better. So I’m back in my kitchen to get schooled by the best chefs.” Throughout the remainder of the preview, Gomez tries her hand at making complex dinners from salmon to mole and shares some memorable meals with her family.

The show was originally announced in March of 2020 as a way to show Gomez attempting to hone her cooking skills during quarantine. At the time, she said she has always dreamed of being a chef in another life. “I’ve always been very vocal about my love of food. I think I’ve been asked hundreds of times in interviews if I had another career, what would I do and I’ve answered that it would be fun to be a chef,” Gomez said. “I definitely don’t have formal training though! Like many of us while being home I find myself cooking more and experimenting in the kitchen.”

Watch a trailer for Selena + Chef Season 2 above.

Some fans were shocked over the summer when Lil Baby said he will only agree to feature on a song if he’s offered $100,000. It may seem like a lot of money, but according to 21 Savage‘s manager, it’s actually a pretty standard rate for big-name rappers.

Savage’s manager Meezy recently took to Twitter to share his client’s feature rate. Meezy’s intention was to curb lesser-known artists from sliding into his DMs and asking Savage to hop on a track. In order to get Savage to agree to a feature, a musician has to be willing to shell out. “Dawg a 21 Savage feature is 6 FIGURES,” Meezy wrote. “y’all gotta stop wit da ‘check ya dm bra u playin.’”

Meezy revealing that Savage accepts no less than six figures for a verse shows just how far the rapper has come in his career. When he was just starting out, he asked T.I. to sign him for $1 million — but Tip turned him down. Tip recently recounted the events on his ExpediTIously podcast, saying he advised Savage to instead accept a deal that let him keep the rights to his music. “I had the same conversation with Thug,” Tip said. “If I give you a $1 million, I’m going to take 10 times as much because that’s just the way the game goes. If you want to maintain ownership of your art and equity in your art, you need to go through those tough times in the beginning.” He added, “Can’t accept upfront money and cushion your blow. You have to go ahead and get it out the mud the same way you do anything else.”

Ivanka Trump has always at least given the illusion that she’s nothing like her father. She’s claimed to have supported progressive causes; she presented herself as someone who would stop him from his following his worst impulses. She was not, most would agree, terribly successful at either, and she went right along with his final push to baselessly dispute the election that he lost. She even praised the failed MAGA rioters. While her dad has sworn off next week’s Joe Biden inauguration, a source told The Daily Mail she was planning on attending, in an almost certainly failed attempt to save face.

The source says that Ivanka is “worried that her promising political career is in jeopardy.” As such, she’s “doing whatever she can to save her reputation.”

Ivanka is right about one thing: Any hopes of a future in politics is definitely in jeopardy, if it’s not already permanently ruined. She has not come close to even questioning, let alone disavowing her father, who has been accused of inciting his followers to storm the Capitol last week, in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. Her father has since been banned from Twitter and many other social media sites, some of whom have merely limited his abilities.

So when word spread that Ivanka still thought she had a chance in politics going forward, it was met with some, shall we say, skepticism.

Some pointed out that she wasn’t even invited.

There’s someone else who reportedly agrees with them: Her dad. According to the Daily Mail source, Donald “told his daughter that her presence at the inauguration will cost her thousands of supporters and would be the worst decision she could ever make.” Well, surely she’s made plenty of even worse decisions than that.

(Via The Daily Mail)

After a violent, pro-Trump mob gathered and stormed the capitol last week in an attempt to prevent the Senate from finalizing the process of confirming Joe Biden as president, many celebrities and entertainers have been weighing in on the aftermath. For her part, Keri Hilson lamented Twitter removing the president from their platform after inciting this violent mob that killed five people.

On the other end of the musical spectrum, vehement leftist Neil Young issued a statement today that expresses empathy for those in the mob. He shared his thoughts today on his website in a post called A Message From Neil, touching on his sadness about those who have had their beliefs used as political weapons and how hatred is not the answer. Read the full message below.

Sadness and compassion hit me last night as I watched fellow Americans telling their stories

A young lady in tears spoke of being maced in the Capital [sic]. She was crying because she had been attacked and all she was doing was trying to have her voice heard in the Revolution. She was one of thousands who have been carrying the feeling of being persecuted for their beliefs, their feeling that American power just didn’t care.

This, to me is beyond my own feelings that our president has betrayed the people, exaggerated and amplified the truth to foment hatred. Resentment of the Democratic party among the insurrectionists at the Capitol was rampant. We don’t need this hate. We need discussion and solutions. Respect for one another’s beliefs. Not hatred.

I was devastated to see the double standard. The way people were treated in the BLM demonstrations recently, compared to the other day. There is no place here for White Supremacy. People need each other to be truly free. Hatred will never find Freedom.

I learned that a some of the people storming the Capitol were police themselves, and gained peaceful entry by showing their badges. I was shocked to see the Confederate flag being waved inside the chamber; the destruction and disrespect. But mostly I felt bad for the people. With Social media, issues are turned to psychological weapons and used to gather hatred in support of one side or the other. This is what Donald J. Trump has as his legacy.

I still have my strong beliefs. That has not changed. But now I feel empathy for the people who have been so manipulated and had their beliefs used as political weapons. I may be among them. I wish internet news was two-sided. Both sides represented on the same programs. Social media, at the hands of powerful people – influencers, amplifying lies and untruths, is crippling our belief system, turning us against one another.

We are not enemies. We must find a way home.
ny

As Donald Trump enters the final days of his presidency, he has become more erratic and even some of his longest and most loyal supporters have jumped ship following the Capitol insurrection he incited last week.

Numerous members of his cabinet and staff have resigned — albeit, with just two weeks left it’s little more than an empty gesture — and he now faces another impeachment trial as the House prepares to move forward with a vote in coming days on bringing impeachment charges against him once again for his actions last week. However, the thing that has hurt Trump most is how the world of sports is even turning on him, most notably with the PGA announcing they would be moving the 2022 PGA Championship away from Trump’s Bedminster course, which reportedly left him more “gutted” than being impeached again.

Over the weekend, word emerged that among Trump’s plans for his final full week in office was to give Patriots coach Bill Belichick the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to which Belichick has now politely declined citing the actions of Trump last week and how this year “conversations about social justice, equality, and human rights moved to the forefront and became actions.”

Given Trump’s adoration of football, an arena he’s never successfully gotten into despite his best efforts both in trying to buy the Buffalo Bills and then in helping to sink the USFL, this, like the PGA moving on from him, will almost assuredly sting him as bad if not worse than the other, far more important things happening right now in the nation’s capital.

It is the latest instance of people who have previously been supporters of Trump beginning to distance themselves publicly as he becomes increasingly toxic on his way out of office.

Since the terrifying events of last Wednesday, in which a whipped-up crowd of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, trying (and, luckily, failing) to overturn the 2020 election, people have been looking for humor — anything to bring some levity to what could have gone even worse. There’s been the “Chewbacca bikini” guy, and the claim that he wishes his prison food was organic. There’s been the Goodfellas-inspired supercut of perpetrators being rounded up by the feds. And there was this: one of the five people who died was a Trumpist who tased himself in the balls. Alas, that last one is, as the outgoing president would put it, fake news.

Snopes, the internet’s beloved team of tireless investigators, went to work on the claim, which had spread around social media late last week. It involved one Kevin Greeson, a 55-year-old Alabama man who died of a fatal heart attack during the skirmish. Soon some, notably comedian Kyle Hess, were spreading word about what really happened: “apparently a guy accidentally tasered himself in the balls and then died of a heart attack while trying to steal a painting yesterday and if we can’t all come together over how hilarious that is we may be beyond hope”

But that, Snopes reports, is just a fantasy. They spoke to Kristi Greeson, Kevin’s widow, who said there was no stealing of paintings and no fatal tasering. In fact, it had more to do with the fact the had high blood pressure and had put himself in a highly stressful situation:

Greeson said that her husband attended the Capitol riot but never entered the building. Kevin had told his wife that he was in a safe area, but then he described seeing people pushing a barrier at a nearby location.
“He just stopped talking, and I could hear all the people. That’s when he had the heart attack,” Greeson told Snopes over the phone. “He died instantly.”

Greeson’s account of her late husband’s whereabouts on that day are corroborated by a report in The New York Times. Greeson told the paper that she “didn’t want him to go. I didn’t feel like it was safe.”

(Via Snopes and The New York Times)