Kyrie Irving played in his first game of the season on Wednesday, scoring 22 points in a 129-121 win for the Nets in Indiana. We won’t see Irving back on the court until January 10 because Brooklyn’s next two games are at home and Irving still cannot play in home games as he continues to refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine and does not meet New York City’s mandate.
After the game, Irving, who recently said he knew the potential consequences of his actions but at the same time wasn’t prepared for them, was asked if he’s changed his stance and may get the vaccine soon to be able to play in all games. As was the case when he spoke at length about his decision not to get the vaccine in the first place, Irving said an awful lot of words — including some weird sports cliches that don’t make a lot of sense in this situation — to effectively just say “no.”
Kyrie Irving was asked whether his stance on getting the vaccine has changed. Below is his full answer. pic.twitter.com/t05Dp8H5Su
I honestly do not know what “I’m just taking it one day at a time” means regarding a vaccine, but that’s what Kyrie is going to be doing. He talks about hoping for a “collective agreement” with the league, but the NBA isn’t the issue here, as it’s a city mandate that’s keeping him out rather than an NBA rule. As for the “However it looks later in the season, we’ll address it then” part, that is almost certainly Irving knowing that while it’s one thing for him to play in only road games during the regular season, that’s not a very tenable situation come playoff time — particularly for a Nets team that will likely have homecourt advantage for two rounds, if not through the NBA Finals should they make it there.
The new year is already off to a bizarrestart (though it could have been even weirder). So here’s another news story that’s perhaps too random even to be considered Mad Libs-y: As per The New York Times, the FBI arrested a young man who had allegedly been scamming hundreds of people in the publishing industry out of unpublished manuscripts by the likes of Ethan Hawke and Margaret Atwood. Why? The feds will have to figure that one out, too.
That man is Filippo Bernardini, a 29-year-old who works as a rights coordinator for Simon & Schuster UK, who over the span of five years “impersonated, defrauded, and attempted to defraud, hundreds of individuals” out of hundreds of manuscripts. He’s been charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Bernardini certainly went above and beyond:
According to the indictment, to get his hands on the manuscripts, Mr. Bernardini would send out emails impersonating real people working in the publishing industry — a specific editor, for example — by using fake email addresses. He would employ slightly tweaked domain names like penguinrandornhouse.com instead of penguinrandomhouse.com, — putting an “rn” in place of an “m.” The indictment said he had registered more than 160 fraudulent internet domains that impersonated publishing professionals and companies.
Mr. Bernardini also targeted a New York City-based literary scouting company. He set up impostor login pages that prompted his victims to enter their usernames and passwords, which gave him broad access to the scouting company’s database.
Bernardini’s phishing emails spanned the globe, hitting targets in the United States, Sweden, and Taiwan. The case has haunted the publishing industry for years, and it was so wide-spread, NYT pointed out, that some assumed it couldn’t possibly have been the work of one person. Not only is no motive yet known, but it’s not clear what Bernardini did with his pilfered manuscripts. None showed up on the black market or the dark web, and ransom demands were never issued. Perhaps the guy just really wanted some free books.
Kyle Lowry picked up an early technical foul against the Blazers, arguing a call with the officials, and quickly added one of the weakest second T’s you’ll ever see after tossing the ball back to the official after a foul call, who seemed startled by it and immediately ejected Lowry from the game.
Kyle Lowry has received his 2nd technical and has been ejected from the game after tossing the ball back to the official after a play…
There is the slightest hint of frustration from Lowry in the toss, but he doesn’t launch the ball at the referee. It just happens to catch the ref off guard and, somehow, that ends in Lowry getting tossed from the game. There are times where we don’t know things that are said and what magic words earn players technical fouls in what otherwise looks relatively tame, but this one is just inexcusable. Lowry isn’t trying to hit the ref or fire the ball at him, but rather seems a little upset about the situation as a whole with a foul being called and lobs the ball underhand back to the ref with the slightest bit of pace.
This might be a technical that, upon review tomorrow, gets rescinded to save Lowry the fine and take it off his record for the season, but that won’t get him back on the floor for the second half and Miami’s task in holding onto their 11-point lead will be quite difficult.
Dirk Nowitzki was honored on Wednesday night in Dallas with his jersey retirement ceremony following a 99-82 Mavs win over the Warriors, as the future Hall of Famer saw his No. 41 go into the rafters, with many of his former teammates coming together for the occasion to honor him.
Among them is current Mavs head coach Jason Kidd, who donned a Nowitzki jersey after the game to give a speech about Dirk, and while he eventually got to talking about Nowitzki’s work ethic, what he meant to the franchise and the league, and thanking him for that 2011 title, he had to shoot his shot with an offer to come back.
“We’re giving out 10-days, you want to come back?” is a tremendous line and Kidd delivers it with such a straight face you know he’s just a little bit serious about it. Dirk, wisely, will not be trying to make an appearance in a 22nd season, as he’s living his best life in retirement, but if Joe Johnson can come back and Lance Stephenson can have a 20-point quarter in Indiana again, it was worth a shot from Kidd.
Beyond (kind of) joking about bringing Dirk back, the Mavs also unveiled the statue they’ll put out front of the American Airlines Center, with Nowitzki shooting his signature leg-up fadeaway.
Mark Cuban unveils the concept for the statue that will be placed in front of the Mavericks arena pic.twitter.com/JLSVZfyi6m
It’s an interesting concept for a statue, particularly with the three basketballs to mimic the shot, and we’ll have to see how it looks once its full-size rather than model size.
This time last year, then-vice president Mike Pence could have died. On Jan. 6, 2020, a violent mob of Trump supporters, whipped up by voter fraud lies from the nation’s 45th commander-in-chief, stormed the Capitol building, hoping to overturn the 2020 election. Some of them wanted to hang Pence, who had refused to help. Since then, Pence has downplayed the event that could have led to his death. But his former staff isn’t following suit.
As per Axios, people who were part of or around Pence’s office have been extremely cooperative with the House Select committee investigating that fateful day. Some of them didn’t even need a subpoena. Among those playing ball are his former press secretary Alyssa Farah, who went on to become communications director for White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
There’s also former chief of staff Marc Short, who reportedly said he wouldn’t have cooperated had Pence given him the okay to do so.
Many of the ex-Pence staffers, Axios reports, met solely with the committee’s sole Republican members, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
Among the areas the committee is focusing on are the 187 minutes between the end of Trump’s speech and when he finally called them off, long after those around him, even Fox News stars, were begging him to do so. They’re also interested in learning more about what they call the “procedural coup,” which began on Election Night 2020 and which involved them sowing distrust in the integrity of the election results, in case Trump lost. Which he did.
Meanwhile, Trump was supposed to ring in the first anniversary of the day that effectively ended his single term in disgrace, but he pulled out of it, much as he did his failed blog.
Dubbing something “underrated” really comes down to what your definition of underrated actually is. To us, it has nothing to do with a beer’s sales but entirely with its perception. That’s why both a high-selling macro brew and a little-known craft beer can both be underrated and underappreciated.
When talking about underrated beers, Eric Warner, brewmaster at Karbach Brewing Co. in Houston, refuses to pick one specific beer. Instead, he opts for a whole style.
“I’m a huge fan of helles,” he notes. “The ‘every day’ pale lager that is on tap in every bar and restaurant in Munich. The malt aromas are often reminiscent of light bread and honey, and the subtle hop notes are floral and spicy. The taste is slightly sweet up front but then clean on the finish without being dry or bitter.”
While it’s easy to pick underrated styles, selecting underappreciated beers is a tougher task. To help out, we asked a handful of well-known brewers, beer professionals, and craft beer experts to tell us their picks for the most under-valued beers of all time. Keep reading to see all of their selections.
Professor Fritz Briem 1809
Professor Fritz Briem
Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery in Brooklyn, New York
Dr. Fritz Briem’s 1809 Berliner Weisse is almost single-handedly responsible for the new rise of Berliner Weisse in the United States. When people talk about some seminal punk bands, they say “Almost no one went to their shows, but each person who went started their own band.” That’s Briem Berliner Weisse, the complexity of which showed us that real Berliner Weisse didn’t need a “schuss” of fruit syrup to be great.
Strong Rope JJ Bollerack Brown Ale
Strong Rope
Alex Wenner, owner and brewer at Lasting Joy Brewery in Hudson Valley, New York
ABV: 6.2%
Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
I’ll give you an underrated beer in a criminally underrated style: Strong Rope Brewery’s JJ Bollerack Brown Ale. American brown ales are no longer the staple of every craft brewery that they were a few years ago, and honestly, it makes me sad. Jason Sahler at Strong Rope Brewery however brews this one just the way I like it with dark toast, dank hops, a little spiciness from the rye, and a little bit of a burnt caramel finish. It’s perfectly balanced, sweet, and bitter.
This is a beer that won’t be the one you talk about the next day but will order every time you see it.
Pilsner Urquell
Pilsner Urquell
Andrew Hood, wood cellar manager and brewer at Sun King Brewery in Indianapolis
The most underrated beer would be Pilsner Urquell. It’s a great lager that’s still brewed with an old-world style. Not many breweries are still doing that to this day. It’s crisp, refreshing, light, and highly crushable. What more could you ask for in a beer?
Coors Banquet Beer is that beer for me. This ubiquitous beer — that probably doesn’t rate high on the craft beer list — is wonderful with its refreshing sweet notes, light malt aroma, and zippy carbonation. Beer industry secret follows: It’s one of the favorites with my brewery sisters and brothers.
Zillicoah Kellerpils is my pick. The kellerbier style seems to fall off the radar for most beer-drinkers, but I’m drawn to it. It’s a little less refined than your classic pilsner. It’s unfiltered, dry, and crisp. So crushable.
The most underrated beer in my opinion is the brown ale. While I agree many can fall short and be a little lackluster, when you do find a good one, you’ll know it. The mouthfeel needs to be in that sweet spot: Not too thin or too heavy, sweet yet still refreshing with a hint of brown sugar and perfectly paired hops. My favorite brown ale, when I can get my hands on it, is Face Down Brown by Telluride Brewing Co.
I’m not sure if we’re talking about styles or specific brands, but we don’t make a brown ale anymore and really do love that style. We don’t make the style because it’s close to our Pop’s Porter and we wanted to focus on one dark style throughout the year. I think Cigar City Brewing’s Maduro is an excellent representation of a great brown and it’s delicious. We’re honestly lucky that we can get that beer year-round here in Florida. The malt backbone with the silky mouthfeel makes it a full-bodied brown ale that hits just right. You get some nice hints of chocolate and coffee too.
Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter
Samuel Smith
Stephen Hale, founding brewer at Schlafly Beer in St. Louis
Although we’ve brewed quite a few porters over the years (including Holy Smoke Papal Porter for the Pope’s visit years ago), we currently don’t have a regular one in the lineup. Porters are generally understated, and pretty fabulous black ales without the big roastiness of stouts, and the ABV is often moderate which is a big win. Not that Tadcaster is underrated, it’s just that porters need a brighter spotlight sometimes.
Regardless of the time of year, it’s really hard to beat the clean, crisp, refreshing taste of a well-made pilsner. There’s a reason it’s one of the most popular beer styles in the world. Trumer Pils is a highly crushable 4.9 percent ABV and features a complex, well-balanced flavor profile of bright, floral hops and flavorful malts.
There’s a chance that you’ve never heard of this beer. And if you have, there’s a good possibility your father or grandfather drank it. But maybe they were on to something. This classic cream ale that’s been brewed the same way since its inception in 1960. It’s like a combination of a bold lager and an ale. It’s filled with flavors like caramel, sweet corn, fresh-baked bread, and a creamy vanilla-like sweetness. But there’s also a nice crisp, refreshing aspect as well.
Overall, this is a beer that deserves much more acclaim.
Coachella’s 2022 festival is just three months away, and it seems like organizers have finalized their lineup. Those who were once supposed to headline —Travis Scott, Rage The Machine, and Frank Ocean — wound up not working out. But organizers appear to have found their replacements. Last fall, Swedish House Mafia already confirmed an appearance, reportedly as headliners. Earlier today, TMZ reported that Billie Eilish signed on to the festival to replace Travis Scott. This leaves one remaining open spot for a headliner and it’s reportedly being taken by Kanye West.
Variety reports that Kanye will serve as the headliner for the respective Sunday editions of the festival, which takes place on the weekends of April 15-17 and April 22-24. Billie Eilish will headline on Saturday for the respective weekends. Variety also reports that it’s unclear if Swedish House Mafia will serve as the festival’s third headliner, their traditional “throwback” slot which is often reserved for a veteran artist or group to reunite at the showcase.
While it will be Billie’s first time performing at Coachella since 2019, it would be Kanye’s first time headlining since 2011. The news comes after Kanye said he is planning another show, this one at New York’s Madison Square Garden. It would be his second show in as many months after he and Drake over the Los Angeles Coliseum for their Larry Hoover benefit concert.
Kevin Porter Jr. has had quite the week. The Rockets guard left the arena at halftime after an altercation with an assistant coach in which he reportedly threw something and stormed out, driving home despite there being an entire half of basketball left to play after he and Christian Wood were criticized by their coach for a lack of effort and discipline in front of the entire team.
The two were then suspended for Monday night’s loss to the Sixers in Philly, and for a Rockets team that has been mired in an 8-game losing streak, things seemed to be going off the tracks. However, Porter Jr. and the Rockets team as a whole responded with their best performance in a long time on Wednesday in Washington, where they put an end to their losing streak thanks to some heroics from none other than Porter Jr.
Jalen Green (22 points), Christian Wood (22 points), and Eric Gordon (19 points) did much of the damage over the course of the game for Houston, but Porter Jr. got the biggest bucket of the night on the final possession for Houston, as he got a switch off a screen from Green to get Raul Neto, who he walked down, sized up, and fired a sidestep three just before the buzzer that hit the bottom of the net to give the Rockets a 114-111 win.
The Wizards had 0.4 seconds to try and answer, but Kyle Kuzma, who has a pair of game-winners this season, couldn’t get a shot off in time to force overtime and Houston snapped its skid in impressive fashion. Porter Jr. finished with nine points, eight assists, and seven rebounds in the win and the response from he and Wood coming off of their one-game suspension was exactly what the Rockets were hoping to see.
On Sunday, one of the strangest sagas in the NFL in some time played out on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sideline in the third quarter of what became a comeback win over the Jets in New Jersey.
However, the two sides have disputed exactly what went down, with the Bucs cutting Brown and Bruce Arians unwilling to go into specifics regarding what happened in the build up to Brown leaving the field. According to Brown, it wasn’t him quitting but that he was being told to play through an ankle injury he didn’t feel he could play through anymore, and the Bucs cut him for not playing hurt. That is, of course, a serious accusation and one the league and the players association will both want to look into. The Bucs have denied that was the case, but Brown went into further detail about the situation in a statement through his attorney, in which he claims he was injected with a painkiller before the game but felt he could no longer play in the third quarter when a coach told him “‘You’re done’ while he ran a finger across his throat,” indicating he was being cut for not playing hurt before he walked off the field, as opposed to the Bucs insistence he was cut for leaving the field.
Brown says he will be having surgery on his ankle and says he wasn’t able to cut and push off the line of scrimmage as he felt he needed to in order to perform and the pain was extreme — and explained that there’s a difference between doing those things and jogging off of the field. All told, it seems like the Brown saga will not be coming to an end anytime soon, as an investigation into what happened seems likely and there will be plenty of questions for the Bucs if Brown can prove the alleged conversation on the sideline went down as he says.
The first anniversary of Jan. 6, when violent Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, is upon us, and Republicans have no idea how to commemorate it. Trump, who helped foment the attack, announced what would have almost certainly been an unhinged press conference, but pulled out at the last second. Meanwhile, Fox News hosts keep getting busted for frantic texts they sent that day or, in Sean Hannity’s case, before and after as well.
Ted Cruz, who was instrumental in spreading lies about nonexistent voter fraud, took a truly unpredictable stance: He told the truth. Well, about the insurrectionists, anyway. On the Senate floor, he praised the Capitol police who put themselves in harm’s way, many of whom were injured, some of whom died later as a result of what happened. He even went a step further: He described the siege as a violent terrorist attack.”
Video of @tedcruz today that the Jan 6th mass trespassing event violently cracked down by police was a “violent terrorist attack on the capitol.”
He’s not wrong, although it’s difficult to know who his target audience was, considering his role in the lead-up to the assault. That’s what Tucker Carlson wondered on his show Wednesday night.
The Fox News host spent a segment slamming “supposedly conservative Republican senators” who are “busy repeating the talking points that [Attorney General] Merrick Garland has written for them.” He then singled out Cruz, airing his recent speech, and then tearing him a new one.
After calling him “legitimately smart” and “one of the more articulate people to serve in Congress,” Carlson removed his kid gloves, taking umbrage with his classification of violent people whipped up on lies, trying to overturn a free and fair election.
“Of all the things that January 6 was, it was definitely not a violent terrorist attack. It wasn’t an insurrection. Was it a riot? Sure!” Carlson asserted. “It was not a violent terrorist attack. Sorry! So why are you telling us that it was, Ted Cruz? And why are none of your Republican friends, who are supposed to be representing us and all the people who’ve been arrested during this purge, saying anything? What the hell’s going on here? You’re making us think maybe the Republican party is as worthless as we suspected it was.”
Carlson then admitted, “That can’t be true” and asked Cruz to “reassure us, please.”
It’s yet another example of the Republican in-fighting inspired by the continued investigation into one of the darkest days in American history, which has led multiple Trump allies to come after each other in an attempt to save face, especially as possible jail-time looms forsome.
Mark Meadows throws Sean Hannity under the bus. Peter Navarro throws Cruz and Gosar under the bus. Kerik throws everyone under the bus. Roger Stone throws Bannon under the bus. Pence’s team is talking. Trump canceled his press conference. Melania is having a Garage sale.
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