The late-1990s Pacers are just one of a slew of great teams that have become forgotten to history because they could not overcome Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. Begin in the Eastern Conference at this time was just a bad draw, but the Pacers came awfully close to ending the Bulls’ dynasty when they Chicago to a Game 7 in 1998, the season chronicled in The Last Dance. In a new episode of Detail on ESPN+, those Pacers’ floor general and current ESPN broadcaster Mark Jackson broke the back-and-forth game down for us.
As with the Dennis Rodman episode from last week, what comes across immediately is the reverence Jackson has for Jordan. The media buzz around The Last Dance has provided incredible insight into just how many people Jordan touched, even among the elite players and coaches who competed against him. Jackson has every right to be angry that Jordan is a big reason he never won a championship, yet all Jackson can do is praise him.
Breaking down a dribble drive from Jordan from the top of the key, Jackson explains a pass fake as Jordan telling poor Travis Best to “mind his own business,” and then replays the whole thing to marvel at Jordan’s fadeaway over the arms of Derrick McKey.
Jackson also shows how Indiana actually got off to a good start thanks to Dale Davis and Rick Smits making plays from the post, but how Scottie Pippen turned the tide of the game in the first half. After Pippen forces two straight Pacers turnovers, Jackson says, “this is suicide when it comes to winning a Game 7 on the road: unforced errors.” These Bulls had a way of making basketball feel like a zero-sum game for opponents.
“Yeah, you could say it’s a lot of contact, but it’s 1998,” Jackson says. “This is a different brand of basketball.”
In the same vein, Jackson breaks down how Reggie Miller was able to overcome Pippen’s defense over the course of the game. Pippen stalks Miller all game, so Miller begins using Pippen’s aggressiveness against him, faking and using misdirection to get open. By engaging Miller in the offense, the Pacers are also able to force Pippen off of Jackson himself, making their halfcourt sets smoother without Pippen in the face of the point guard.
Screenshot via ESPN
But look, this isn’t all just nerdy basketball jargon from Jackson. The analyst who invented “Mama, there goes that man” can’t help himself but turn up the flair dial to 11 here and there. Early in the fourth quarter, the Pacers cut the lead, but without Miller on the floor, Jordan goes into attack mode to try to end the game early.
After a classic driving dunk from His Airness, Jackson quips, “Jordan, doing what Jordan does best, turns the corner, tongue wagging out, answers the call. That’s called greatness.” Cue the commercial break and NBA on ESPN soundtrack.
With the score tied at 79 with about five minutes to go, Jackson shows how poor rebounding killed Indiana late. Then he throws out a Pat Riley truism: “No rebounds, no rings.” The disappointment of the loss starts to come through from Jackson here.
Ron Harper pressures Jackson with under two minutes to go and the Pacers unable to get within one basket.
“That’s bad basketball,” Jackson says. “That’s careless point guard play.”
Ultimately, the Pacers lost by five and wouldn’t make it to the Finals until 2000, by which point a new Phil Jackson-led dynasty was in place, and another superstar tandem was on its way to a three-peat in Los Angeles. Mark Jackson never got his ring, and though he still gets hung up on the “bad basketball” he played in crunch time in 1998, he truly could chalk up his poor title luck to bad timing.
While an unlikely choice to host Detail and break down the Bulls having of course never played with Jordan, Jackson is nevertheless enlightening. Hearing him break down what it was like to take on Jordan, Pippen and the Triangle shows how well-oiled the machine was by 1998, even for a confident veteran group like Jackson’s Pacers.
The landscape for TV programming tied to pro wrestling continues to expand. Not only do multiple networks air wrestling shows from numerous promotions weekly, we’ve also seen a slew of WWE-themed spinoff reality shows on basic cable channels E! and USA such as Miz & Mrs. and Total Divas. (That doesn’t even include online shows like the Quibi-exclusiveFight Like A Girl or YouTube talk showThe Bump.)
Now, yet another cable channel is throwing their hat into the ring, as today, A&E announced their expanded partnership with WWE alongside the renewal of Live PD and the announcement of a Jeff Foxworthy-hosted auction show What’s It Worth? Live. The companies had already agreed last year to put together five episodes of Biography on five WWE legends, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Booker T, Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels. Adding to their combined plate is a show with the working title The Quest For Lost WWE Treasures, which will follow Stephanie McMahon and Triple H across the country as they track down rare WWE memorabilia and collectibles previously lost to time. The one-hour series has received a 10-episode order.
According to Deadline, WWE Studios is producing the program with Susan Levison and Ben Zierten as WWE’s executive producers alongside A&E’s Elaine Frontain Bryant, Dolores Gavin and Jonathan Partridge. Frontain Bryant had this to say about the partnership:
“A&E has always been on the forefront in bringing new nonfiction formats to television, most recently evidenced in the live space. We are proud to not only continue this success with additional episodes of the groundbreaking live documentary series ‘Live PD‘ but to also expand into new horizons with a never-before-attempted live television auction with ‘What’s It Worth? Live.’ These must-see live series coupled with our growing partnership with WWE and the evolution of the premium ‘Biography’ brand position A&E for continued growth in the year to come.”
There are no air dates scheduled for The Quest For Lost WWE Treasures or any of the WWE Biography episodes yet.
Soccer Mommy released their acclaimed sophomore record Color Theory in late February. But, along with other artists, the band’s album promotion was thrown off the rails with the coronavirus outbreak. While Soccer Mommy’s tours have been put on hold, the band is giving fans a way to experience their city’s concert virtually. Soccer Mommy unveiled different 8-bit versions of a “Crawling In My Skin” video that show the band performing in 5 different cities.
Alongside the project’s release, vocalist Sophia Allison said in a statement that she hopes the videos provide enough entertainment for fans until they can tour once again. “It’s really hard having our tour be postponed because I was really excited to play all of the songs on color theory for everyone, ‘crawling in my skin’ in particular,” Allison said. “I hope this little 8-bit performance can hold everyone over until the tour can happen.”
Each 8-bit video shows the band playing in an area of the city. In Chicago, Soccer Mommy performs on top of the haunted Congress Hotel, and in Seattle, they play near the infamous Space Needle. While the videos only appear in five cities, the band is offering a downloadable package fo fans to create their own versions, whether it be in a city or in their living rooms.
This isn’t the first time Allison has combined her love of video games with her music. The singer recently cooked up a plan to host a virtual Color Theory listening party in the multiplayer game Club Penguin, which recently relaunched after it shut down in 2017. But the singer was forced to postpone the event because the site crashed after being too overloaded with users waiting to catch a glimpse of Allison’s penguin. In the end, the virtual concert was a success and over 10,000 users logged on to view it.
Watch Soccer Mommy’s Chicago “Crawling In My Skin” video above. Find her videos for Seattle, Minneapolis, Austin, and Toronto here.
Color Theory is out now via Loma Vista. Get it here.
Madden NFL 21 does not have a formal release date, but if it follows in the footsteps of its predecessors, we should expect it to be released sometime in the summer. It remains to be seen if the COVID-19 pandemic impacts that at all, but regardless, a question existed ahead of its launch: What will the game look like when Xbox Series X drops later this year?
That question got answered on Thursday morning by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and Madden NFL 20 cover athlete Patrick Mahomes. Amid a host of other bits of news that was announced on Microsoft’s Inside Xbox live stream, the Super Bowl MVP appeared in a video to tell gamers that this year’s Madden will not only appear on the company’s latest console, but those who purchase the game for Xbox One will get it on Xbox Series X for free.
“There’s loads of Madden 21 news coming soon, and the game isn’t just about what you can see, it’s about what you can feel” Mahomes said. “But here’s the best news: When you buy Madden NFL 21 on Xbox One, you get it free on Xbox Series X.”
The video also included a few quick glimpses at the gameplay in the upcoming game, and for those of us who have been playing Madden for years, it reminded us of what past games looked like. We don’t get quite enough of what will be in there this time around — Mahomes mentioned that is on the horizon — but for now, the big news is that Xbox One won’t be the only Microsoft console that gets this year’s game.
It’s been two years since the indie-pop Brooklyn group Wet shared their sophomore record, Still Run, and the group has kept any word of a new project under wraps since. Back in February, Wet quietly unveiled the track “Still Fog.” The single was originally written to appear on their 2016 debut album but didn’t fit either record properly. Now, the band returns with another hushed release. The Brooklyn trio shares the comforting track “Come To You.”
“Come To You” opens with moody synths and slight percussive elements, leaving room for vocalist Kelly Zutrau’s earnest musings to stand at the track’s forefront. To write the single, Zutrau teamed up with producer DJ Dahi, who has previously worked with the likes of Dr. Dre, Mac Miller, and 21 Savage. “We both know what it’s like to need someone too much / And you know what it’s like to be left on your own / No one told you that someone could just come and change your world,” Zutrau sings.
With the debut of “Come To You,” the band has still yet to confirm their third record. But the single arrives as a promising signal that the group is back in the studio.
Previously on the Ins and Outs of AEW Dynamite: Lance Archer turned Dustin Rhodes inside out to send a message to Cody, Dr. Britt Baker hung up inspirational posters of herself in her own office, and Vickie Guerrero of all people won an app-based “Manitoba Melee.” Let the record books show that Vickie has victories over both Jay AND Silent Bob.
If you’d like to keep up with this column and its thinly veiled Best and Worst format, you can keep tabs on the Ins and Outs of AEW Dynamite tag page. You can keep track of all things All Elite here.
And now, the Ins and Outs of All Elite Wrestling Dynamite for May 6, 2020.
All In: The Secretly Evil (?) Cody Rhodes
One of my favorite ongoing undercurrents of a story is the notion that hero of the people and Face That Runs The Place, Cody Rhodes, is actually secretly evil. It makes sense if you think about it. I’m not sure I can have a cork board ready with all the connections I’ve made — CAROL! CAROL! — but let’s break it down.
A lot of people cut promos on Cody, but the three major, ongoing contributions come from MJF, Shawn Spears, and Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts. MJF was Cody’s right hand man for a while but turned his back on him, with the rationale being that MJF was never Cody’s friend, and was just coattail-riding him to the top. There’s another possible explanation, though … MJF WAS Cody’s friend. The evil Cody. The “American Nightmare” who was (kayfabe) one of the worst people on Earth during his time in New Japan. The guy who spent most of his time in WWE either chilling with Randy Orton, teaming up with bottom-feeder Damien Sandow, or wearing a protective mask like he’s the Phantom of the Opera and putting paper bags on people’s heads. He’s been a bad guy more than he’s been good, and I think that’s what MJF latched onto. I think MJF was just waiting for Cody to flip the switch and reveal his wicked master plan, but Cody got too into the positive crowd reactions and the day-to-day operations of setting up a televised wrestling promotion and forgot to do it. MJF betrayed him, and then spent a long time trying to goad Cody into doing the worst things at the worst times. It’s like he secretly still believes in his friend’s capacity for terribleness.
Spears has had beef with Cody since that time he tried to cave in Cody’s skull with a steel chair. Cody’s victories over Spears pushed him to the bottom of the card where he languished among the Librarians and Brandon Cutlers of the roster, trying to find a tag team partner to face other tag teams on the pre-show. Spears and Cody had a match in the first round of the TNT Championship Tournament, however, and it was Spears’ best performance in ages. He followed that up by busting out the best looking Sharpshooter we’ve seen on TV since Bret stopped doing it, and now he’s got enough confidence to start sticking his nose back into Cody’s business.
For example, this promo.
In it, Spears rationally explains how the person responsible for Dustin Rhodes’ massacre at the hands of Lance Archer is Cody, and Cody alone. Dustin’s out there just trying to do his job and stick up for his little brother. QT Marshall’s at ringside trying to throw in the towel, because he doesn’t want to see his tag team partner and friend’s face get turned into hamburger meat by a crazy person. But Cody showed up and prevented the towel from being thrown. Cody’s the reason Archer’s on this rampage in the first place, because he wouldn’t just give Archer a match. And speaking of that …
Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts makes it very clear that Cody is “Caesar;” a flawed, opportunistic leader who purports to promote the interests of the people but is really only in it for himself. Roberts’ client, Lance Archer, wants a match against Cody. What does Cody do? The honorable babyface thing of, “I never back down from a challenge, how about we do it RIGHT HERE TONIGHT?” Nope. He says Lance needs to prove himself in AEW and can’t just waltz in and start challenging the top stars. Then he goes on Dark to wrestle Joe Alonzo and spends his off weeks from the TNT Championship Tournament wrestling Joey Janela, who is a challenge, sure, but not exactly Lance fucking Archer.
Archer has a match against QT Marshall, which plays into Archer’s quest to outright murder everyone Cody cares about, and is comparable to a fully grown rhinoceros fighting your grandmother. Archer turns apples into apple juice, and when Dr. Britt takes shoe-related matters into her own hands and lays out Brandi Rhodes, Jake Roberts can execute the next step in his plan. Archer can’t beat Brandi bloody and claw her to death, that’d be overkill … but they can bring back Jake’s old standby and humiliate her by planking over her unconscious body and letting a snake crawl over her. And where was Cody when his wife was out here five feet away from a guy who wants to kill him, an evil mastermind, a belligerent dentist, and a literal jungle predator? Not there. JR tries to explain that the locker rooms are far away from the ring because of social distancing, but bruh, even Goldberg with a police escort could’ve gotten out there in time to at least save face and run them off.
Anyway, I’m not saying Cody’s actually evil, necessarily, but I love that they’ve given us enough character development and played on observable character histories enough to let me think about it, and back it up. It’s hella preferable to the alternative, which is Cody losing to Archer on Dynamite four weeks in a row and then pinning him at Double or Nothing, and everyone being a cardboard cut-out.
All In: Wyatts Vs. Shield Forever
While we’re on the topic of reformed bad guys being hunted down and exposed by their old adversaries, here’s AEW World Champion Jon Moxley being attacked by The Exalted One Mr. Brodie Lee, breaker of chains and mother of dragons, after a match against Frankie Kazarian. The match is really good, actually, but the fact that the highlight video begins with the last move of the match should show you how much drama was involved. Mox going out here and doing his best to prop up guys who desperately need it deserves just as much credit as what Cody’s doing.
Anyway, I’m not sure what I find more entertaining … the fact that a former member of the Wyatt Family built his own cult, Gretchen from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt-style, and is using it to attack a former member of The Shield, or the fact that a guy with a Vince McMahon gimmick is out here making Jon Moxley’s life miserable. There’s meta, and then there’s meta.
Jobbers Of The Week
Nyla Rose figuratively and literally squashes 18-year old Kane student (no, seriously) Kenzie Paige in this week’s one women’s division match. Hikaru Shida makes concerned faces during the finish, and Kris Statlander makes an aggressive face and gesture afterward. It’s a delightful trouncing, but I sincerely wish the women’s division could get a story better than, “here is the champion, and the champion has a couple of challengers, I don’t know.” Even the NFL films video package about the division is basically just like, “here are the wrestlers!” They aren’t doing anything, though. Why is Britt Baker the only person in the division allowed to have character development?
All In: Golf Cat Attacks, Scissor Lift Moonsaults, And Ice Chest Transformations
Last and certainly not least we have the falls count anywhere street fight teaming Matt Hardy and the guy named after Matt Hardy’s old wrestling promotion against Le Sex Gods. It’s the perfect main event to celebrate the show’s return to Daily’s Place — not exactly a civic center full of fans, but we’ll take what we can get — and to play on the company’s obsession with having matches wander into that concourse. They fight in that thing so often it might as well be a selectable arena in the AEW video game.
Also of note, Matt Hardy does multiple character transformations during the match, going from Broken Matt to classic Hardy Boyz Matt by getting abandoned in the entrance tunnel, and transforming again into DAMASCUS because he got trapped in an ice chest. WONDERFUL. Le Sex Gods end up winning, however, because of the damned numbers game. Santana, Ortiz, and a boat-ready Jake Hager show up to make it a 5-on-2 attack, and Jericho’s able to powerbomb Omega on the top of the cart and pin him. The Young Bucks, per commentary, are at home due to COVID concerns. Hangman Page smartly bailed on this pandemic shit RIGHT AWAY.
Cody’s still chilling in the back, though. [shifty eyes]
All In: Top 10 comments Of The Week
TheGreenMiles
Cannot overstate how much I love AEW. It’s by & for people who love wrestling & pay attention to what makes it great.
The Voice of Raisin
Sammy Guevara graduated from the Prometheus School of Running Away From Things.
*Ding*
Mr. Bliss
Woj just tweeted that AEW is opening an investigation to see if Spears was using the airhorn to tell the heels when to swing.
dannibalcorpse
TRB
The one Dark Order guy with his shirt off is like when the enemies start to get harder in a 90s beat em up game
Statlander not wearing a space suit to protect herself at ringside feels like a swing & a miss
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
I just want to point out that Dr Britt Baker DMD got her shoe back. A national disaster was averted.
AddMayne
Spears really shouldn’t wear a shirt that says “HEATLESS”
Wendell Baugh
Britt gave Brandi a DDT before feeding her to Jake Roberts. Nice one, doc.
JayBone2
Pineapple Pete vs. Jericho
Additional Notes
AEW
Yes, I already miss Chris Jericho on commentary.
There should be an AEW Ben and Jerry’s flavor called “Chris Jeri-cone.”
The best commentary moment of the night is Excalibur laughing for real when Matt Hardy yelled “I NEED YOU TO DOC-UMENT THESE EVENTS” from the driver’s seat of a golf cart
I hope Darby Allin’s not depressed. I don’t want him to go FULL skeleton face. He already looks too much like the I Like Turtles kid.
MJF having a face mask in the same print as his one Burberry scarf is pretty funny
Also, MJF as the most (delightfully) derivative heel of a generation claiming to be the first of his kind is really entertaining. You can go far with Chris Jericho’s scarf, The Rock’s Nation of Domination haircut, and a prodigious talent for having no filter and saying the meanest possible thing you can think every second you’re awake
anyway, he’s great and I love his ending to Fight Club Zoom background
That does it for this week’s column. Thanks for reading about Dynamite! Leave us a comment below, give the column a share on social media, and make sure you’re back here next week for a stacked card featuring MJF, Brodie Lee vs. Christopher Daniels, Best Friends vs. Jurassic Express, Penelope Ford versus Hikaru Shida versus Kris Statlander versus Hateful Dentist, and the epic confrontation between Chris Jericho and Pineapple Pete. See you then.
The arrival of a new baby into the world should always be a joyful occasion.
But all too often, when babies are born with Down syndrome, the first thing that parents hear is “I’m sorry.”
Brittany Schiavone wants to change that, which is why she founded her nonprofit, Brittany’s Baskets of Hope where she makes and delivers baskets of presents and information to new parents of babies with Down syndrome.
“We’re trying to flip the script,” says Brittany’s mom, Susan Schiavone. “Instead of hearing ‘I’m Sorry,’ new parents are hearing ‘Congratulations!'”
“I give them hope,” says Brittany. “I give them hope and joy and happiness for their child.”
Brittany first got the idea for giving presents to newborns with Down syndrome after watching a video about people helping families and babies on her break at work. So, she went home and declared to her parents that she wanted to do something similar. She wanted to give families and newborns presents. And she wanted to tell the moms that it’s going to be okay.
Before long, this idea transformed from an ambitious idea to a fully operational nonprofit that sends baskets to new parents in all 50 states, thanks in part to Brittany’s awesome family that rallied around her to help make her dream a reality.
Each basket is carefully put together to include baby essentials, like pacifiers, socks and bibs, information for the parents (including a book), onesies with “Down Right Perfect” on the front, and hand-knit blankets, hats and booties.
So far, Brittany has made and sent over 950 baskets. Volunteers all over the country help hand-knit gifts or donate money to help her create each of her very special baskets. And Brittany’s dedication to her cause is why she was chosen as L’Oréal Paris’ 2019 Women of Worth Honorees.
The babies born in the Long Island area also get something else with their baskets too: a visit from Brittany.
Brittany and her mom hand-deliver the baskets to local babies and they stay for a little while to visit.
“It is my favorite thing to see the babies and hold the babies and talk to the parents all about it,” says Brittany. “I try to give them hope…Down syndrome babies can do anything. Really, really anything.”
“It really warms my heart to see Brittany interact with these babies, interact with the families [and] tell her story” Susan says. “She’s very upfront and will tell you she has a great life.”
“We call her the baby whisperer,” she continues. “It’s the most fun seeing Brittany holding these tiny infants and sometimes, no matter how fussy or squiggly they are, they kind of recognize the connection with Brittany, we think. She’s very good at calming them and making them smile and giggle.”
These baskets and visits mean a lot to the new parents.
Melissa and Ryan Lucas were the first parents that Brittany delivered a basket to after their daughter, Maeve, was born with Down syndrome.
“They came and she brought this welcome basket that had a bottle and it had some little clothes for the baby,” says Melissa. “There were tears that just rolled down my face because I felt like life was going to be okay.”
“Meeting Brittany and having her come to our home and deliver a basket truly felt like someone has our back,” says Ryan.
And that’s exactly the power of Brittany’s Baskets of Hope: it’s a way of celebrating these babies and reminding the parents that they’re not alone. They’re joining a supportive community that has their back.
Brittany is one of 10 incredible women who were chosen to be a L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth Honorees in 2019 because of the amazing work they do every day.
The L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth program was started in 2006 as a way of celebrating women like her who are doing wonderful volunteer or philanthropy work in their communities. Each honoree receives a $10,000 grant for their charitable cause and one honoree, chosen by public vote, receives an additional $25,000. Past honorees have included surgeons doing pro-bono surgeries for people in need, women supporting human trafficking victims, advocates for LGBTQ teens and more.
If you know a woman doing amazing things in her community, go to womenofworth.com to nominate her now. Nominations are open until June 30th.
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