Category: Worldwide

Through four playoff games so far, basketball fans are seeing the best version of Brittney Griner that has ever graced a WNBA court. If she keeps it up, the Phoenix Mercury could upset the 2-seed Las Vegas Aces and punch their ticket to the Finals for the first time since 2014.

The seven-time All-Star is averaging 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 5.3 assists, and two blocks per game on 68 percent shooting from the field. She’s been nothing short of incredible, unlike anything we’ve seen from her since back in 2017, before a gnarly fall caused a bruised knee and a sprained ankle. She was never able to fully recover until last year, when she left the Wubble and had the first extended period of rest of her career.

We shouldn’t be surprised. Griner was Team USA’s fulcrum at the Tokyo Olympics, averaging a team-best 16.5 points per game on an astounding 69 percent from the field. Though Breanna Stewart won MVP of the tournament, it would be easy to make a case for Griner. All she’s done during the WNBA playoffs so far is keep the momentum. Since making a name for herself as a dunking, shot-blocking machine at Baylor, Griner has stood out as a marvel. This fall, she is finally making good on that promise again.

Even in a series in which legendary teammate Diana Taurasi scored her playoff career high, Griner has been the most dominant player on the floor through two games. But her overall greatness and momentum are only part of the reason Griner holds the key to the series.

Griner’s Mercury teammates, to be clear, deserve endless credit for the way they have moved and read the floor when Griner has the ball in the post. Because she generates so much attention and gravity when she’s operating in isolation, Phoenix players know they must take advantage of open space on the floor. Quick decisions from Griner have kept the offense plugging along and helped the Mercury steal a road Game 2.

Here’s an example of Griner feeding Taurasi an easy shot in Game 1 while four Aces defenders have their eyes on the MVP runner-up:

That happens because the energetic Brianna Turner cuts deep into the paint while both Skylar Diggins-Smith and Kia Nurse create space by lifting up beyond the three-point line. As Mike Prada noted on Twitter, the Phoenix coaching staff deserves credit here as well. The organized chaos is clearly designed, as players know the timing and direction of their off-ball movement and have clearly repped it all season.

All of this is important when you consider Phoenix’s opponent, the Aces. Las Vegas is known for playing technically sound basketball and beating teams with their collective size and IQ. Because of Griner’s dominance, the Mercury have been able to reverse that trend. Phoenix has out-rebounded Las Vegas 66-57 through two games, while their field goal percentage is three points higher. Phoenix is scoring nearly 129 points per 100 possessions in the series, a number the Aces just can’t keep up with.

The imbalance on offense isn’t all because the Mercury are dominating, though. Part of the reason Griner’s gravity and play-making have been so important is because it’s allowed Phoenix to bomb away from deep. For how good the Aces are, responding by doing the same is something teams coached by Bill Laimbeer have nearly never done. Through two games, the Mercury have attempted nearly twice the number of threes (57) as Las Vegas (35). Much of that has come from Taurasi, but by having a legit inside-out scoring game and the interior gravity of Griner, Phoenix has been able to squarely win the shooting battle.

The simplest solution would be for Las Vegas to be able to defend Griner with one player, which is of course easier said than done. One reason for optimism, however, is that All-Star center Liz Cambage was able to play more than 24 minutes in Game 2 after fewer than 10 in Game 1 as she recovers from COVID-19.

In plays where Cambage defended Griner on the block, Cambage’s size and length bothered Griner in a way starter Kiah Stokes could not. Simply being able to get a hand in Griner’s face changes a lot.

Of course, not having to send an extra defender helps as well. From a pure geography standpoint, the Aces often end up sending power forward A’ja Wilson as the second defender, leaving Turner, a great cutter, to streak to the basket and cause a domino effect that leaves a shooter open. If Cambage can simply hold her own and contest shots without fouling, the Aces can play a more traditional defense and take fewer risks.

Taurasi’s gaudy 37-point night turned heads on Thursday for good reason, but just about everything the Mercury offense has done has come because of Griner. In order to keep the upset hopes alive, Phoenix will count on Griner to continue to be a step ahead of the defense and use both her mind and body to continue to dominate the Aces.

It looks like Kanye West still isn’t done with Donda. The rapper has been continuously making changes to the album he released at the end of August, including removing Chris Brown from “New Again.” He’s also looking to use the name for an upcoming tech line. According to legal documents that were obtained by TMZ, West filed a trademark application on September 21 that would allow him to use the album title on a wide array of tech products.

Some potential products that West would include in the line are tablet computers, audio speakers, surround sound systems, smartwatches, smart glasses, wearable activity trackers, protective flip cover for tablets, earbuds, headphones, and wireless headsets for both computers and mobile devices. If things go as planned, West may also look to add wireless receivers that come on jewelry and smart rings, as well as downloadable electronic publications that include books, magazines, journals, brochures, leaflets, pamphlets, and newsletters.

There’s no telling when this tech line would launch, but if it does, it could prove to be a big success. Until then, fans can stay tuned for a possible upcoming collaboration between West, Post Malone, and Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold, as the trio was captured in the studio together. West will also join Mike Dean on the production team for Ghostface Killah’s upcoming album, Supreme Clientele 2, which the Wu-Tang rapper says will arrive in February 2022.

While much of the world suffers and burns, the wealthiest elites decided to do something: They became astronauts. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson devoted a chunk of the year to seeing which could go to outer space first. Branson wound up winning (though Bezos had the most mocked ship), while many people left on earth wondered they didn’t spend some of their billions making the planet better. In lieu of their income being properly taxed, they suffered the next best thing: They got mocked on SNL.

Season premiere host Owen Wilson strapped on a bald cap to play Bezos, the Amazon honcho whose already unimaginable wealth ballooned even further during the pandemic. In a time of too many Star Trek shows, he got his own: Star Trek: Ego Quest, in which he ventured further out into the cosmos, along with a crew of “random weirdos.” Among them are his brother Mark, played by Wilson’s own brother, Luke.

Would Bezos make like the Enterprise and cruise around the universe, exploring new life, often intervening to make other species’ lives better? Of course not. Their mission is to “just sort of fly around space goofing off, in a ship that looks like a penis.”

Soon enough Bezos learns he’s not the only idle billionaire doing not much in the outer reaches of space. Branson (Alex Moffat) is out there, too, as is Mikey Day’s Elon Musk, who gets lampooned despite actually hosting the show earlier this year.

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

It seems like the bad things that happen to the Detroit Lions are exponentially worse than the bad things that happen to other teams in professional sports. An example: Last week, the team lost to the Baltimore Ravens at home because Justin Tucker drilled an NFL record 66-yard field goal as time expired. It looked like it might have been short, but Tucker had it bounce off of the crossbar and in.

Fast forward to Sunday and the Chicago Bears’ defense forced a turnover against the Lions that seems like it should not have been possible. Detroit faced a first-and-goal from the Bears’ 8-yard line, and Jared Goff was in the midst of getting thing all organized when the ball was snapped to him prematurely. This part isn’t new, but what is extremely unusual is that the ball hit off of Goff’s shoulder and popped up in the air.

Thanks to some good awareness by Bilal Nichols, the ball landed softly in his hands for a weird fumble/interception hybrid.

It is one of the more absurd turnovers you will ever see, and shortly after, the Bears were able to get out of the shadow of their own uprights thanks to this dime by rookie signal caller Justin Fields.

Chicago would score a little later on the drive to go up, 14-0, thanks to an impressive run by David Montgomery.

Last month, Norm Macdonald passed away, prompting an avalanche of clips being shared across social media. A king of late night TV, he was a regular on chat shows, which he routinely torched with unpredictable, hilarious behavior. He also spent five seasons on SNL, three and a half of those as the solitary fake anchor on Weekend Update. And when the show came back for its 47th season, the current anchors made sure to pay him tribute.

Colin Jost and Michael Che ended this season’s maiden segment by turning it over to the man himself. “It is a bittersweet night for us tonight,” Jost said. “Norm is the reason I ever wanted to do Weekend Update, and so tonight, we thought we’d turn the last few jokes of Update over to Norm.”

What followed was a short montage of Weekend Update bits, in which Macdonald skewered the likes of Bill Clinton and, of course, O.J. Simpson, whose trial he relentlessly and mercilessly mocked. “In a brilliant move during closing arguments, Simpson attorney Johnnie Cochran put on the knit cap prosecutors say O.J. wore during the night of the murders,” Macdonald said in the clip. “Although O.J. may have hurt his case when he suddenly blurted out, ‘Hey, hey. Easy with that! That’s my lucky stabbing hat!’”

Elsewhere on Weekend Update, Pete Davidson did one of his confessional monologues, during which he wore a tee-shirt bearing an image of, you guessed it, Norm Macdonald.

You can watch the montage in the video above.

One has to be a real creep to be booted from MAGA land. But that’s what happened to Corey Lewandowski. Last week, the troubled Trump loyalist was formally ejected from the former president’s PAC after he was accused by a donor of sexual harassment. But there’s more: The same woman who made the allegations has claimed that Lewandowski also confessed that he had murdered two people.

The Daily Mail obtained a statement from Trashelle Odom, a Trump donor who claims that Lewandowski, who has worked as a political operative and a commentator, made inappropriate comments about his genitals and made numerous sexual and physical advances throughout the evening. But that wasn’t all he discussed, as per Odom’s statement:

“That is when Lewandowski told me that he ‘was from a bad part of Boston and have killed people … I initially believed that he was joking and attempted to laugh it off. That is when Lewandowski went into detail and stated something to the effect of, ‘when I was 10, I stabbed someone over and over again, killing him.’ He continued and shared that when he was older he, ‘stabbed a man in the back of the head, also killing him.’”

Odom said that after Lewandowski made these comments, she was “intimidated and frightened and fearful” of her safety. After she resisted his advances, Lewandowski allegedly threw his drink at her, hitting her dress, shoe, and foot. He then called her “stupid.”

After the allegations came out, Lewandowski was fired from Trump’s PAC. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem also severed ties with him. Lewandowksi, through his lawyer, has denied the allegations.

(Via The Daily Mail)

Saturday Night Live returned last night to launch its 47th season. The performer for the night was Kacey Musgraves, who delivered a pair of performances of songs from her most recent album, Star-Crossed. For her first set of the night, Musgraves took the stage to play “Justified,” where she gave a nod to Jenny from Forrest Gump.

Musgraves sat under dim lighting with a guitar in hand and it appeared that the singer was wearing nothing besides calf-high boots. A number of viewers caught on to the reference and hopped on Twitter to share their thoughts. Musgraves later tweeted a picture of a scene in Forest Gump which captured a bare backside view of Jenny, a character played by Robin Wright. Later she returned to the stage to perform “Camera Roll” to conclude the night.

The performances come after Musgraves delivered a fiery rendition of “Star Crossed” at last month’s MTV VMAs show. Next, the singer will hit the road for the Star-Crossed: Unveiled Tour in 2022 for a string of shows that will find her paired with King Princess.

You can watch Musgraves perform “Justified” and “Camera Roll” in the videos above.

Star-Crossed is out now via Interscope/MCA Nashville. Get it here.

In a twist that’s downright Trumpian, the most hated people in D.C. right now are Democrats. Their names are Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, two Senators ostensibly on the left, who refuse to back a a sweeping, game-changing, New Deal-ish bill that’s the bedrock of Joe Biden’s early presidency. It was only right that SNL would debut its 47th season by skewering this bizarre headache. And it was only right that the woman for the job of lampooning the very lampoonable Kyrsten Sinema was no less than Cecily Strong.

When last we saw SNL, Strong appeared to be bidding farewell. She wasn’t. Neither was Pete Davidson (who swung by late in the sketch to do his best Andrew Cuomo). Instead she was back in full force, playing the flamboyant and controversial Sinema as best she could.

New cast member James Austin Johnson also roared out of the gate, replacing Jim Carrey as an eager-to-please (and often failing to do so) Biden. The sketch finds him recuperating from a disastrous summer, which found him dragged over the messy exit from Afghanistan, only to find his dreams torpedoed by two (2) Democratic senators: not just Strong’s Sinema but also West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, played by Aidy Bryant.

“I didn’t come to congress to make friends. And so far: mission accomplished,” Strong’s Sinema cracks. She talks about her passions: “Yellow Starbursts, the film The Polar Express, and when someone eats fish on an airplane.” She then laid out how relatable she is.

“As a wine-drinking bisexual triathlete, I know what the average American wants,” she said. “They want to be put on hold when they dial 911. They want bridges that just stop — car falls down. They want water so thick you can eat it with a fork. And I will fight for that no matter what. Unless my foot hurts, then I’ll go back to Arizona.”

As in life, there is no resolution to this. There are mild digs at two “Squad” members: Edgo Nowdim’s Ilhan Omar and Melissa Villaseñor’s AOC. But the overall gist is that the Dems aren’t so much in disarray as being held hostage by two weirdos.

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

Bo Nix has been one of the most thrilling quarterbacks in college football from the second he stepped on campus at Auburn. This is not necessarily a good thing — while Nix has provided Tigers fans with some extremely fun moments, there have been occasions where he gets a little too wound up and something terrible happens.

This play against LSU seemed like it was primed to be that second thing. The Tigers faced a fourth-and-2 in LSU territory about halfway through the second quarter on Saturday night and facing a 13-0 deficit. Nix took the snap, rolled out to his right, tried to hit one of his pass catchers who were taken totally away, and then, something ridiculous happened.

Nix covered, if I have to estimate, 50-plus yards just running around trying to avoid defenders who wanted to wrap him up and take him down. When someone finally got their hands on him, he just let one rip and threw a dart to Tyler Fromm, who caught it in the end zone. I promise you that the sequence of events is more ridiculous than I could ever put into words, just watch it.

You are probably not seeing a QB do something more ridiculous than this during the 2021 college football season.

The return of concerts over the last couple of months has been a great thing for fans. After going more than a year without the chance to see their favorite artists live, music lovers from all over had that opportunity given back to them, one that also grants artists a chance to meet their many supporters from all over the world. For the most part, the return of concerts has been normal which means there have been equally good and bad events. An example of the latter came at a recent Tinashe concert and after a video of the incident surfaced on social media, the singer had some light-hearted comments to share about it.

During the singer’s recent concert in New York, a fight between two women broke out and a good portion of the incident was caught on camera. While the reason for the fight is unknown, the video shows the ladies throwing a fair amount of punches before fellow concertgoers step in to break things up. Once the video reached social media, Tinashe caught wind of it and shared her response. “This is NOT what I meant when I said bad b*tches link up,” she wrote in reply to the video.

The singer’s comment comes after she released her fifth album 333, a project she is currently on tour for. The 333 Tour began last month in Houston and will continue through this month before coming to an end on October 21 in Seattle, Washington

You can view the fight and Tinashe’s response above.