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Daniel Faalele is going to play professional football for quite a while once he makes the jump to the NFL. The 6’9, 380 pound tackle for the Minnesota Golden Gophers is one of the most interesting offensive line prospects in the 2022 NFL Draft, and because he is a senior, Tuesday night’s bowl game is the last time he will suit up at this level.

The game itself is not exactly one of the tentpoles of college football’s bowl season, as Minnesota is playing West Virginia in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. Having said that, the big fella gave us one of the best moments in this year’s bowl calendar during the second quarter, when the Golden Gophers faced a first-and-goal from WVU’s 2.

Instead of lining him up on the line, Minnesota thought it’d be cool to put Faalele at fullback. You can guess what happened next: Faalele received a handoff, trudged forward, was not taken down by a single Mountaineer, and broke the scoreless tie.

Faalele was an All-Big Ten offensive lineman this year, so we assume that any NFL team that drafts him is going to, you know, take him because he is huge and hope they can mold him into a bookend on the line for the next decade-plus. But please, whichever team takes him, let Faalele play some fullback.

This year already proved to be a huge year for vinyl record sales. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), vinyls generated $467 million in the United States by mid-2021, more than doubling the $207 million that was made at that point in 2020. The success of vinyl records this year can be credited to projects like Adele’s 30, Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour, Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever, Taylor Swift’s Evermore, and more. In fact, 30 recently edged out Evermore to become the best-selling vinyl album of 2021. With just a few days left in the year, vinyls have crossed a mark previously untouched in the last 30 years.

According to Billboard, in the week ending on December 23, 2.11 million vinyl records were sold making it the largest sales week for vinyls since MRC Data began tracking music sales back in 1991. It’s also the first time that vinyl sales have surpassed the 2 million mark in the MRC Data era. It’s a 45% increase from the week prior (1.46 million), which suggests that the spike was caused by the Christmas holiday. In fact, the previous high was set on December 24, 2020 with 1.84 million vinyls being sold. Adele’s 30 was the top-selling album of the week as it moved 59,000 copies.

Furthermore, the week ending on December 23 was the sixth consecutive week that vinyl sales surpassed the one million mark. This past week, vinyl records also accounted for 50% of all albums and 57% of all physical albums that were sold in the United States.

We live in an age of Mad Libs news, but this is one might be the most leftfield story of 2021: Dr. Oz is running for Senate. As a Republican. The surgeon-turned-TV star recently quit his extremely successful daytime show to become a Trumpist politician, to the bafflement of many, including the hosts of The View. It hasn’t been going so hot. He even badly flubbed an abortion question on Fox News.

But what of the person who made him a household name? What of Oprah Winfrey, who regularly brought him on as a health expert on her own old daytime talk show? So far, she’s remained shtum. But a couple days before the year ended, Winfrey broke her silence — or at least gave a canned and kind of awkward statement to her spokesperson, who gave it to a journalist.

A new profile of Dr. Mehmet Oz in New York (as caught by The Daily Beast) looks at both his back story and his unexpected, possibly doomed new life choice. Oprah is all over it, but she only makes an actual appearance very, very briefly. When reporter Olivia Nuzzi reached out to Winfrey, asking for an interview, she was turned down. Instead, Oprah let her spokesperson, Nicole Nichols, pass along her response.

Here is Nichols’ response, containing Winfrey’s response, in full:

“I have one statement for you from Ms. Winfrey. No other comments: ‘One of the great things about our democracy is that every citizen can decide to run for public office. Mehmet Oz has made that decision. And now it’s up to the residents of Pennsylvania to decide who will represent them.’ —Oprah Winfrey.”

Not exactly a glowing recommendation! There’s not much there, though read between the stiff lines and you can spot a rift. She clearly doesn’t want to burn the man whose name she made, but she also probably doesn’t want to fully endorse someone who one could argue is cynically courting a new kind of Republican voter. And so Dr. Oz has received the kind of quote you don’t put in a campaign ad.

(Via New York and The Daily Beast)

Shortly after the second anniversary of his death, Juice WRLD’s estate released the late rapper’s second posthumous album. Fighting Demons arrived nearly a year and a half after Legends Never Die, the first album released after his death. At the same time, there have been a lot of leaks of music he never released. It’s unknown where these leaks are coming from, but it’s reached the point where iJuice WRLD’s mother, Ms. Carmella Wallace, has spoken out against them.

“I understand they loved him,” she said while speaking to XXL. “They loved his music, but there’s a proper way to do it. Let us give you our best. Leaked music is not necessarily cleaned up music, it’s just leaked, it’s not finished. So, it’s just a lot of work just going into it.” She continued, “It’s a bit disrespectul to him, honestly, to leak his music like that. But I know that monster is there, been there and it’s not going anywhere. We can just do our part and put out good music. He made a lot of good music.”

Just a month after Juice WRLD’s death, TMZ reported that he had around 2,000 unreleased songs in his vault. Some of those can be found on Legends Never Die and Fighting Demons while others are set to appear on future efforts, like the trilogy of projects which includes an EP titled The Party Never Ends.

You can read Ms. Carmella Wallace’s full interview with XXL here.

Rand Paul is a doctor but he doesn’t seem to know how vaccines work. He’s a staunch libertarian who’s intransigently against government spending, but he will ask for federal aid, only if it’s for people who could keep him in office. Now he’s a politician who doesn’t seem to understand how voting works.

According to Raw Story, the Kentucky senator posted a link on Tuesday to a piece by The Washington Examiner that detailed how Democrats were able to carry Wisconsin, whose denizens had voted Trump four years prior. Short version: They convinced enough people to vote for them. Amazing how that works! But to Paul, getting voters to vote for you is tantamount to stealing.

Paul quoted a section from the Examiner piece: ‘Seeding an area heavy with potential Democratic votes with as many absentee ballots as possible, targeting and convincing potential voters to complete them in a legally valid way, and then harvesting and counting the results.’” Paul prefaced this with the words, “How to steal an election.”

Thing is, even Paul’s selective, out-of-context quote doesn’t remotely suggest stealing. In fact, it’s how democracy works. Perhaps his beef is with absentee ballots. If so, he would be shocked to learn absentee ballots are legal forms of voting. So is “convincing potential voters to complete them.” Counting votes is also legal. Indeed, there’s no illegal activity going on anywhere in the sentence Paul quoted as evidence of malfeasance.

But don’t take it from us. Take it from the many, many people who dragged Paul on social media over what was either a mental hiccup or a damning self-reveal, suggesting he simply doesn’t like it when voters vote Democratic.

“You literally described the legal voting method,” wrote Project Lincoln’s Fred Wellman. “That’s not stealing you idiot. It’s called letting American’s vote. It feels like stealing because your party is shrinking into nothing.”

Others were happy to educate Paul as well.

Others posited that perhaps Paul simply doesn’t like secure and fair elections.

And others reflected on some of Paul’s other curious positions.

Still, better being mocked online than being told to “get f*cked” by someone over a virtual town hall.

(Via Raw Story)

Legendary football figure John Madden passed away Tuesday at the age of 85. In the moments after the news emerged, there was an outpouring of memories, support, and love towards Madden and his loved ones, including from the NFL’s official announcement.

“On behalf of the entire NFL family, we extend our condolences to Virginia, Mike, Joe and their families,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. “We all know him as the Hall of Fame coach of the Oakland Raiders and broadcaster who worked for every major network, but more than anything, he was a devoted husband, father and grandfather.

“Nobody loved football more than Coach,” Goodell added. “He was football. He was an incredible sounding board to me and so many others. There will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and NFL what it is today.”

From there, former players shared love in celebrating Madden’s impact.

Videos of Madden’s commentary work also made the rounds, remembering his on-air brilliance.

People also took the time to point out that Madden’s coaching record is the stuff of legend.

Media members also attempted to put Madden’s passing in its proper context, extolling his virtues not only as a Hall of Fame coach but also a highly influential media figure and the fact of the most popular football video game franchise ever.

Prominent current players also expressed condolences after the news broke.

Madden’s impact also transcended the football world, crossing over to other sports and firmly into the mainstream.

More tributes will undoubtedly roll in during the coming hours and days. In short, every media and/or football observer has at least one prominent memory of Madden, and the word “legend” is appropriately assigned to his legacy.

Back in March, Rachelle Cordova, who performs under the name Reina del Cid, performed a cover of “Octopus’s Garden” by The Beatles and it’s truly delightful. In the video, Cordova plays with lead guitarist Toni Lindgren and Travis Worth who sat in on bass.

The video has clearly brought a lot of joy to others, it’s received over 788,000 views on YouTube.

The song is so much fun because of Lindren’s note-perfect replication of George Harrison’s iconic lead guitar and the trio’s perfect harmonies. The band also manages to capture The Beatles’ signature joie de vivre.

“Octopus’s Garden” is one of the most popular Beatles’ tunes and was written by drummer Ringo Starr. Starr came up with the idea after hearing Peter Sellers’ boat captain tell him about how octopuses travel along the sea bed picking up stones and shiny objects with which to build gardens.

There’s a sweet moment in Peter Jackson’s epic “Get Back” documentary where you can see Ringo bring the song to the band during the “Let it Be” sessions. While John Lennon and Paul McCartney seem disinterested in the tune, George Harrison steps up and helps the drummer complete his sweet little ditty.

The song would go on to appear on The Beatles’ final album, “Abbey Road” and would become one of Starr’s most popular compositions.

A beautiful piece of footage capturing George encouraging Ringo whilst writing u2018Octopusu2019s Gardenu2019pic.twitter.com/qlGWrt4fHB

— Far Out Magazine (@Far Out Magazine)
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This article originally appeared on 01.09.18

Why should a superintendent get a raise while teachers in the same district struggling to make ends meet see their paychecks flatline — year after year after year?

Teacher Deyshia Hargrave begged the question. Minutes later, she was handcuffed and placed in the backseat of a cop car.

The scene was captured below by YouTube user Chris Rosa, who attended a board meeting for Vermilion Parish Schools in Louisiana.

You can watch Hargrave begin speaking about 33 seconds in. The situation starts becoming contentious around 6:35 minutes. Hargrave is arrested at 8:35, and then walked outside in handcuffs and placed in the back of police vehicle.

Vermilion Parish teacher gets arrested at Vermilion Parish school board meeting

Teacher Deyshia Hargrave was questioning the school board how they can vote to give the superintendent a raise when school employees have not gotten a raise …

“We work very hard with very little to maintain the salaries that we have,” Hargrave, who teaches middle school language arts, said during a public comment portion of the meeting, stating that she’s seen classroom sizes balloon during her time at the school with no increased compensation. “We’re meeting those goals, while someone in that position of leadership [the superintendent] is getting raise? It’s a sad, sad day to be a teacher in Vermilion Parish.”

According to comments Hargrave made to BuzzFeed News, she believes Superintendent Jerome Puyau was already making $110,000 before the board voted to give him a raise of $38,000. The raise alone is roughly the salary of “a teacher, or two cafeteria workers, or two janitors,” Hargrave told the outlet.

After Hargrave spoke out again later in the meeting, a city marshal on duty asked her to leave — even though the school board was still addressing her.

“You’re going to leave, or I’m going to remove you,” the officer told her, as seen in the video. Many people in attendance seemed shocked. “Are you serious?” someone asked, aghast, in the crowd.

Hargrave leaves the room, followed by the officer. But moments later, someone chimed in, “he’s putting her in handcuffs” — and the room erupts in disarray.

“I am not [resisting], you just pushed me to the floor!” Hargrave is heard screaming at the officer, as he forcibly removes her down the hallway and out the building in handcuffs. “Sir, hold on! I am way smaller than you!”

Teacher removed from Vermilion school board meeting in handcuffs

Teacher removed from Vermilion school board meeting in handcuffs

According to KATV News, Hargrave was booked in the city jail for resisting an officer — a fact that left many commenters online flabbergasted. School officials are reportedly not pressing charges. “Umm … what charges could they possibly make?” one Redditor noted.

With help from the Reddit community, Rosa’s video has gone viral, garnering more than 600,000 views in less than 24 hours. Clearly, Hargrave’s earnest question about inequality in our education system — met with a grotesque abuse of power — has clearly touched a nerve with people across the country.

“I don’t know how this teacher could have been more polite and patient in her earnest desire to find out why the superintendent deserves a raise while the teachers work harder with less,” YouTube commenter Scott Wells chimed in. “She continued to press because they refused to come up with an answer. Seems like a good question to me.”

We agree.

Earlier this month, an image of Dr. Dre sitting with a big smile on his face in front of balloons with the words “Divorced AF” hit the internet. The photo was posted by music executive Breyon Prescott, who captioned it, “Hey Well My Brother @drdre Just Told Me It’s Final.” He posted it after a report from TMZ revealed that Dre and his ex-wife Nicole Young’s divorce settlement had ended with him paying her a lump sum of $2 million and an additional $500,000 to cover her attorney fees. Now, new reports from Rolling Stone and TMZ reveal that Dre will have to dish out a lot more money.

Dre has now agreed to pay Nicole a total of $100 million — $50 million now and the remaining half a year from now — which is a sizable cut from his $828 million net worth. The former couple’s prenup barred Nicole from receiving half of Dre’s net worth. However, in addition to the $100 million that Dre will pay her, Nicole keeps four out of the 10 vehicles the couple owned, as well as jewelry, cash, and bank accounts that she maintained during their marriage. Lastly, there are storage lockers filled with items that Dre put in there from their various homes. The settlement says Nicole can keep all of the items in the storage lockers that belong to her.

As for Dre himself, he keeps seven of the properties they own, including a Malibu home, two homes in Calabasas, and four properties in the L.A. area, which includes a $100 million Brentwood estate. He also retains his master recordings, trademarks, interests in various partnerships and trusts, as well as their Apple stocks, which includes proceeds from his Beats By Dre deal.

Sources connected to the former couple say that Nicole could have received an even larger amount from Dre if she had settled a year ago. “She could have even been on the field for the Super Bowl halftime show as a friendly ex-wife,” a source told TMZ.

John Madden, the legendary football coach and broadcaster who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, died on Tuesday morning. The news of Madden’s passing came in a statement from the NFL. He was 85 years old.

“On behalf of the entire NFL family, we extend our condolences to Virginia, Mike, Joe and their families,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said of Madden’s passing. “We all know him as the Hall of Fame coach of the Oakland Raiders and broadcaster who worked for every major network, but more than anything, he was a devoted husband, father and grandfather.

“Nobody loved football more than Coach,” Goodell continued. “He was football. He was an incredible sounding board to me and so many others. There will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and NFL what it is today.”

After injuries prevented Madden from playing in the NFL, the Minnesota native turned to coaching, where he established himself as one of the greatest in league history. Madden was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969-78 and recorded a 103-32-7 record. Under his guidance, the Raiders never finished lower than second in their division and never had a sub-.500 record, making the playoffs eight times in his 10-year tenure. In 1976, Madden and the Raiders lifted the Lombardi Trophy as Super Bowl champions for the only time in his coaching career.

Immediately after retiring in Jan. 1979, Madden made his way into the broadcasting booth, where he became a ubiquitous presence in the biggest games on the NFL’s calendar. Sitting alongside revered play-by-play men like Pat Summerall, Al Michaels, and numerous others, Madden carved out a role as one of the best to ever sit in the booth, as his unique personality and knowledge and love of football were on display whenever he spoke on a broadcast. He announced his retirement from calling games in April of 2009.

Off the field, Madden appeared in numerous commercials and movies, while the most successful football video game series in the world, EA Sports’ Madden NFL, bears his name.