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The New Orleans Pelicans have gotten off to a solid start to their season, going 4-2 in the first two weeks, following the lead of their trio of stars as Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, and Brandon Ingram are all averaging over 20 points per game.

Injuries have been the primary cause for concern in New Orleans in recent years, and they’ve already dealt with some absences from Ingram to start the year — along with Trey Murphy III working his way back from knee surgery. One of the few constants in the lineup last year was McCollum, as he played 75 games, but he will miss at least a bit of time this week after being diagnosed with a small pneumothorax in his right lung, as the team announced on Sunday.

The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that guard CJ McCollum has been diagnosed with small pneumothorax in his right lung after medical imaging was taken this morning. Additional examination will be performed in the next 48 hours to determine the progress of healing. More information will be provided following examination.

A pneumothorax, per the National Institute of Health, is “a collection of air outside the lung but within the pleural cavity” which can cause the lung to collapse. As the release notes, McCollum will be evaluated further over the next two days, which would indicate he will at least miss New Orleans’ next game against the Nuggets and potentially more as they determine how it will heal and the treatment plan. As for McCollum, he seems to at least be in good spirits as he took to Twitter after the news broke to laugh at a wild picture choice from a news aggregation account.

McCollum is averaging 21.7 points, 5.7 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game in the first six contests for the Pelicans, and is their steady-handed veteran in the backcourt.

While so many teams around the NFL are dealing with mediocre to outright awful quarterback play week in and week out, the Houston Texans, a bit surprisingly, are getting some high level production on a weekly basis.

C.J. Stroud has been terrific as a rookie, not just in comparison to other rookie quarterbacks but to the rest of the signal callers in the league as a whole. Stroud had a bit of a hiccup a week ago in a loss to the Panthers, but he bounced back in a huge way on Sunday to set a rookie record for single game passing yards with 470 in a thrilling win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that moved the Texans to 4-4 on the season.

Stroud finished the game with 470 yards on 30-of-42 passing with 5 touchdowns, more than doubling his season touchdowns total as he continues to grow more comfortable letting it rip. That was evidenced in how he played in the second half, as the Texans scored 29 points in the second half while playing without a kicker — although backup running back Dare Ogunbowale hit a 29-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to put them up by three.

It looked as though Stroud’s effort might not be enough as Baker Mayfield connected with Cade Otton on a touchdown pass with under a minute to play to put the Bucs up four.

However, Stroud calmly marched the Texans deep into Bucs territory with some absolute dimes, linking up with fellow rookie Tank Dell for the two biggest completions of the game. The first was on a deep corner route to the sideline to get within striking distance of the end zone with 11 seconds on the clock, as Stroud lofted a beautiful ball into space and Dell was able to haul it in and get both feet in before stepping out to stop the clock.

On the next play, Stroud ripped one to Dell up the seam for the game-winning touchdown, firmly announcing his presence as a budding star QB in the league.

Stroud will surely see some more ups and downs as his rookie year continues, but you can see the confidence he has in what he’s being asked to do. He now has 1,800 passing yards, nine touchdowns, and just one interception on the season, as he’s not only doing a good job protecting the ball and not making mistakes but is now showing the ability to push the ball downfield with more authority while remaining efficient. Just look at this pass chart, going all over the field to pick apart the Bucs.

Given the prerequisite for being a top team in the NFL these days is high-level QB play — and how few teams feel like they have that — the Texans have to be thrilled with Stroud’s performance this season and feel like they are on a very good track for their rebuild.

Macklemore became popular in the early 2010s thanks to his feeling-good and light-hearted breakout single “Thrift Shop.” Since then, the rapper’s discography has broadened to address several social issues, such as substance abuse. In the years since, he’s kept his artistry intertwined with political discourse, tackling issues like the election of former President Donald Trump, marriage equality, the opioid crisis, and police brutality.

On Saturday, November 4, Macklemore showed his support for the growing Free Palestine movement, delivering a speech at the pro-Palestine rally in Washington, D.C. You can read what he said below.

First and foremost, this is absolutely beautiful to observe today. I didn’t expect to be on a microphone. There are thousands of people here more qualified to speak on the issue of a free Palestine than myself. But I will say this. They told me to be quiet. They told me to do my research, to go back, that it’s too complex to say something, right? To be silent in this moment. In the last three weeks, I’ve gone back, and I’ve done some research … I’m teachable. I don’t know enough. But I know enough that this is a genocide.

Macklemore isn’t the only musician to speak up about the ongoing conflict between the Israeli military and Hamas forces. In a petition directed at President Joe Biden, Cat Powers, Clairo, Kaytranda, Kehlani, Jennifer Lopez, Majid Jordan, Snoh Aalegra, Vic Mensa, Victoria Monét, and more urged the president to demand an immediate cease-fire.

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

When the Houston Texans came out for the second half of their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, they had an unusual look to their kicking unit. Backup running back Dare Ogunbowale was the one kicking it deep to open the half after Ka’imi Fairbairn got injured and couldn’t give it a go coming out of the break.

That led to a fascinating situation where, for much of the second half, every time the Texans got deep into the red zone, they were going for it on fourth down and/or going for two-point conversions after touchdowns. That plan was working well for them, as they’d racked up 20 points in the second half, spurred on by a more aggressive approach due to their kicking situation.

However, with the game tied at 30-30 in the fourth quarter, the offense stalled out in the red zone and, this time, DeMeco Ryans called on Ogunbowale to try a go-ahead field goal from 29 yards out.

The backup running back turned emergency kicker absolutely drilled it, with a field goal that looked better than some we’ve seen from actual kickers in similar situations. It was a very cool scene as you could see how excited the entire special teams unit was for Ogunbowale and even Ryans had to crack a smile after taking a big exhale seeing the go-ahead kick go through the uprights.

On December 8, 2022, Celine Dion revealed that she had to reluctantly cancel her Courage World Tour due to her battle with Stiff-Person Syndrome. Since then, the “My Heart Will Go On” singer has stayed out of the public eye as she seeks treatment. In September, her sister shared an update, stating, “There’s little we can do to support her, to alleviate her pain. We’re crossing our fingers that researchers will find a remedy for this awful illness.”

To fans’ surprise, on Saturday, November 4, Celine was spotted at Katy Perry’s final Las Vegas Residency show Play. In photos and video captured by concertgoers, she appeared to be in good spirits as spectators exchanged pleasantries with her.

People online chimed in after seeing the visuals.

“Omg, I’m glad she’s back on her feet ,” wrote one person.

“Good to see Celine out and strong too,” wrote another.

“Beyond happy to see her outside looking happy ,” penned another.

“It’s nice to see her happy and out. I hope she recovers soon,” remarked yet another.

“QUEEN! I hope she’s feeling better,” wrote yet another.

Dion wasn’t the only notable guest in attendance. Couple Carmen Diaz and Benji Madden were seated behind her. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry also attended the residency.

For years and years — at least since the mid-aughts, if not earlier — there’s been talk of a sequel to Twins. And why not? Stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito not only make an oddball duo, but they clearly love hanging out off-screen. Over the last decade, as reunions and belated sequels became all the rage, it seemed like a no-brainer. At one point the sequel was to be called Triplets, with Eddie Murphy playing the third wheel, then Tracy Morgan. But now it sounds like it’s officially dead.

Per Entertainment Weekly, DeVito recently chatted with GQ, and he was asked about anything he’d want to “revisit” in his career. He said he and Schwarzenegger have been talking about a project together.

“We missed Twins 2, because he became governor—which, he should have done Twins 2 instead of becoming governor,” DeVito said, ragging his bud a ittle. “Now we have a little thing going, a little project that we’ve been chatting about.”

When asked if said project was that long threatened Twins 2, DeVito had a bittersweet response. “No, it’s just two friends, two guys, because we have a good time together,” he said. “We complement each other in a lot of ways. I am way stronger than he is.”

Word of Twins 2’s demise is not new. Earlier this year, Schwarzenegger went into further detail about what happened to the dashed truant sequel.

“Jason Reitman f*ed it up!” Schwarzenegger revealed. “Jason Reitman literally stopped the project when his father died.” He added, “His father wanted to do it really badly. I wanted to do it really badly. Danny DeVito wanted to do it really badly. We had the financing. When his father passed away, Jason says, ‘I never liked the idea’ and put a hold on it.”

The good news, apart from a non-Twins DeVito-Schwarzenegger team-up — maybe they could enlist Emma Thompson for Junior 2? — is that the former is working on reuniting with another old co-star, saying he and Billy Crystal “want to work together again. We were looking at possibly doing Throw Papa From the Train.”

That of course would be a sequel to Throw Momma from the Train, their comedic homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train, in which DeVito’s character enlisted Crystal’s into murdering his tyrannical mother (the late Anne Ramsey). That film came out the year before Twins, and it was a much nastier piece of work, on top of being DeVito’s directorial debut.

(Via GQ and EW)

The NFL has instituted a number of rule changes in recent years to try and make the game safer, particularly for quarterbacks. While some of the rule changes have been welcome to take out big helmet-to-helmet hits and late hits along the sidelines, there’s an argument that the league has gone too far with some of the things they flag now.

The most controversial recent rule is the “body weight” roughing the passer penalties, in which players get penalized for landing on quarterbacks after making a tackle. The idea was to get rid of guys purposefully driving quarterbacks into the ground, but it often gets called on extremely normal tackles where a guy’s momentum simply carries them onto the QB because that’s just how physics work.

On Sunday, the Washington Commanders found themselves on the wrong side of one of those calls that was one of the most egregious we’ve seen this season, as KJ Henry came off the edge on a third down and sacked Mac Jones from the blindside, with Jones tucking and falling to the ground (and maybe fumbling) in the process.

Instead of forcing a punt or getting a fumble recovery near midfield after what would’ve surely been a review, the Patriots got a first down and were moved into field goal range, where they would cash in for three points after stalling further. It’s a fairly big swing to give the Patriots pretty much free points given New England’s offensive woes, and the Commanders and their fans were rightfully furious after the call. The biggest issue with the body weight rule is, that’s just how tackling works. Guys are going to get landed on and if you want defenders to make legal hits to the body and not go high or low (which are both also illegal), flagging them for just finishing a good form tackle is really not working to make the game safer.

Time is of the essence. But fans of Ms. Lauryn Hill feel as if theirs isn’t being respected. Last month, Hill kicked off her The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill 25th Anniversary Tour to share the Grammy Award-winning album. According to ticketholders, Hill’s reputation for chronic tardiness has again reared its ugly face. In 2021, Hill referenced the discourse in her guest appearance on Nas’ song “Nobody.”

On Saturday, November 4, during her tour’s first night stop in Los Angeles, California, Hill addressed her lateness yet again. In the video captured by concertgoers, joined by her children and mother, Hill laid it all out in front of the Crypto.com Arena.

“They say, ‘Oh, she’s late’ and ‘She’s late tonight,’” Hill told the crowd. “Yo, y’all are lucky I make it to this bloodclot stage every night. I leave my soul on this stage. And I don’t do it because they let me do it. I do it because I stand her in the name of God. And I know it. God is who allows me to do it. He surrounded me with family and community when there was no support. When the album sold so many records and no one showed up and said, ‘Hey, would you like to make another one… We’re survivors. Not just survivors, we’re thrivers.”

Several fans chimed into her pushback.

This isn’t the first time Hill has responded to the criticism. In 2016, Hill took to her official Facebook page to share a lengthy note with followers. Read the note below.

Last week George Santos avoided a dark fate: His fellow House representatives voted against expelling him from the chamber. That doesn’t mean he’s out of the woods just yet. The New York lawmaker is still facing a House ethics probe, which may prompt another expulsion vote. (Oh, and he still has a federal investigation to worry about.) But for now, at least, Santos is worrying about that and is doing what he’s been doing for the last 10 months: pretending that everything is normal while constantly fielding questions about the prolific allegations against him.

In an interview that aired in full Sunday, Santos sat down with CNN’s Manu Raju, and the two talked about his chances to keep his House seat in 2024. He seemed cautiously optimistic, saying he would “absolutely” run again even if he’s expelled.

“Elections are tricky,” Santos replied. “There’s no predetermined outcome.”

Santos then made a curious argument: that people probably didn’t even notice the many embellishments and outright lies he told during his election campaign.

“Nobody elected me because I played volleyball or not. Nobody elected me because I graduated college,” Santos said. “Nobody knew my biography, nobody opened my biography who voted for me.”

Santos was of course referring to two of his medium-sized whoppers, namely that he was a college volleyball star and that he has a diploma from Baruch College. Neither is true. And few, it seemed, knew they were true until after he’d already been elected.

Since then, reporters have belatedly dug into Santos’ claims, debunking one bizarre lie after another, including his claim that his mother died in the September 11 attacks. (She wasn’t even in New York then.) Santos has stubbornly held fast, although John Oliver recently argued that his “most transparent lie” may be that he doesn’t care that fellow House Republican Steve Scalise has been snubbing him, because even he doesn’t want his stench on him.

In the meantime, Santos has another year to convince voters that a guy who lied about being a producer on one of Broadway’s biggest disaster is someone to trust with anything.

(Via Huffpost)

Last week George Santos avoided a dark fate: His fellow House representatives voted against expelling him from the chamber. That doesn’t mean he’s out of the woods just yet. The New York lawmaker is still facing a House ethics probe, which may prompt another expulsion vote. (Oh, and he still has a federal investigation to worry about.) But for now, at least, Santos is worrying about that and is doing what he’s been doing for the last 10 months: pretending that everything is normal while constantly fielding questions about the prolific allegations against him.

In an interview that aired in full Sunday, Santos sat down with CNN’s Manu Raju, and the two talked about his chances to keep his House seat in 2024. He seemed cautiously optimistic, saying he would “absolutely” run again even if he’s expelled.

“Elections are tricky,” Santos replied. “There’s no predetermined outcome.”

Santos then made a curious argument: that people probably didn’t even notice the many embellishments and outright lies he told during his election campaign.

“Nobody elected me because I played volleyball or not. Nobody elected me because I graduated college,” Santos said. “Nobody knew my biography, nobody opened my biography who voted for me.”

Santos was of course referring to two of his medium-sized whoppers, namely that he was a college volleyball star and that he has a diploma from Baruch College. Neither is true. And few, it seemed, knew they were true until after he’d already been elected.

Since then, reporters have belatedly dug into Santos’ claims, debunking one bizarre lie after another, including his claim that his mother died in the September 11 attacks. (She wasn’t even in New York then.) Santos has stubbornly held fast, although John Oliver recently argued that his “most transparent lie” may be that he doesn’t care that fellow House Republican Steve Scalise has been snubbing him, because even he doesn’t want his stench on him.

In the meantime, Santos has another year to convince voters that a guy who lied about being a producer on one of Broadway’s biggest disaster is someone to trust with anything.

(Via Huffpost)