LeBron James is about to enter his 19th NBA season, and based on what we saw out of the Los Angeles Lakers star last season, he doesn’t seem like he has any plans to give up his spot among the game’s elite any time soon. Before the season tips off, though, James is lending his name to the newest gigantic facility at the heart of Nike’s campus in Oregon.
Nike unveiled the LeBron James Innovation Center on Monday, which will include the new Nike Sport Research Lab. The 750,000 square foot facility, according to a release from Nike, “s where listening to the voice of the athlete is made tangible,” as researchers will use data accrued while folks are participating in their various sports to help create things that assist them on and off of their respective playing surfaces.
The new scope of the NSRL is fivefold the footprint of its predecessor. Facilities include a full-size basketball court, a 200-meter endurance track, a 100-meter straightaway, and an artificial-turf training pitch — all in service of capturing athletes in motion at full speed. Along with the force plates and motion-capture equipment mentioned above, a series of four advanced climate chambers mimic a variety of conditions. These advancements support an expansion of research and development that encompasses both mental and physical well-being.
Nike has unveiled the new LeBron James Innovation Center at its Oregon HQ
84,000 sq ft Nike Sport Research Lab 906 rooftop solar panels World’s largest motion-capture system Full-size basketball court, turf pitch, 200m track, 500ft incline training ramp pic.twitter.com/hEpyUTI8oA
“Over the course of my career and my time here at Nike, for all of this to come together is surreal,” James said in a statement. “Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to me, but I’m definitely honored. Having my name on the Innovation building feels very fitting because I’m always trying to figure out ways I can continue to innovate and continue to break the timeline of what they say is your prime.”
Now that the facility is opened, James can now focus 100 percent on the Lakers, whose regular season begins on Oct. 19 at Staples Center against the Golden State Warriors.
Two intriguing AFC West rivals take the field in Los Angeles for the Week 4 edition of Monday Night Football. The Los Angeles Chargers welcome the undefeated Las Vegas Raiders to SoFi Stadium with real anticipation but, despite a scheduled start time of 8:15 pm ET, kickoff didn’t take place in its typical time slot. In fact, it was delayed for weather and, more specifically, for lightning in Los Angeles.
tonight’s game is currently delayed due to lightning. kickoff time is TBD.
The issue, though, is that SoFi Stadium is a domed venue, meaning that exterior weather wouldn’t normally cause a delay. That left observers quite confused, even as the official kickoff time of 8:55 pm ET was distributed.
A weather delay in a dome is the MOST 2021 thing ever. #MNF
There was seemingly a real reason for the delay, though, as the weather was pretty ugly outside the venue. Given that SoFi Stadium does have open sides, there would be some potential issues for fans in certain areas, even if the field was not affected.
Since people are firing off bits at a truly breathtaking rate: SoFi Stadium has a roof, but the sides are open. (See: yellow circle.) There is lightning in the area, hence the danger. pic.twitter.com/gKNCdkvx8a
All told, it appears as if the only real fallout will be a delay of under an hour, and football is on schedule — ESPN reports the scheduled kick is 8:55 p.m. ET. Still, this is a bizarre situation and, with all of the renewed attention on sports betting in 2021, one could ask what the odds were of an indoor weather delay on Monday night.
Britney Spears has been on a rollercoaster. Not just for the last few months as she battles it out in court with her father and the corrupt legal team who allegedly orchestrated her abusive conservatorship, but for the last thirteen years where her situation seemed dire and permanent. It was her fans rallying together to create the #FreeBritney movement — which kicked off amateur, and then professional — investigations into her predicament, and after years of not quite knowing what was happening, or if their work mattered, those loyal few are finally getting gratitude straight from the source.
On Twitter today, Britney let her #FreeBritney fans know that she credits her newfound freedom directly to them.
“#FreeBritney movement… I have no words… because of you guys and your constant resilience in freeing me from my conservatorship…. my life is now in that direction !!!!! I cried last night for two hours cause my fans are the best and I know it…”
#FreeBritney movement … I have no words … because of you guys and your constant resilience in freeing me from my conservatorship … my life is now in that direction !!!!! I cried last night for two hours cause my fans are the best and I know it … pic.twitter.com/7OpsOKoHNc
She’s not completely out of the conservatorship yet, but a landmark decision last week to suspend her father from the proceedings means that dissolution of the system is likely the next step. Meanwhile, she got engaged, and then went on vacation and posted nudes to celebrate. Frankly I can’t think of a better way to acknowledge the shift in control and begin to come to terms with having her life back. As long as she’s also focusing on the fact that she’s got a lot of healing to do.
It was a crazy day on social media Monday, just not on Facebook and its sister services Instagram and WhatsApp. The week kicked off with a massive outage at the social media company. Jokes flew wild…on Twitter. But by the end of the day, all three services started slowly roaring back to life.
To the huge community of people and businesses around the world who depend on us: we’re sorry. We’ve been working hard to restore access to our apps and services and are happy to report they are coming back online now. Thank you for bearing with us.
It all began around 11:30 EST, the morning after 60 Minutes aired a shocking — though not that shocking — report from a whistleblower about how higher-ups allegedly allowed various strains of misinformation to spread because it was good for traffic. As the company was being accused of favoring profits over public safety, they suddenly went AWOL. Around 6:30 EST, some seven hours later, the company announced — on Twitter — that things would soon be back to normal.
“To the huge community of people and businesses around the world who depend on us: we’re sorry,” Facebook said. “We’ve been working hard to restore access to our apps and services and are happy to report they are coming back online now. Thank you for bearing with us.”
It remains a mystery what happened, beyond some vague chatter about “networking issues.” All three services spent the day reassuring people — again, on Twitter — that they were on it.
Though the outage caused a lot of jokes, some pointed out the parts of it that are no laughing matter. Some suggested that Facebook Inc. should run afoul of antitrust laws.
If Facebook’s monopolistic behavior was checked back when it should’ve been (perhaps around the time it started acquiring competitors like Instagram), the continents of people who depend on WhatsApp & IG for either communication or commerce would be fine right now. Break them up.
And because “Watermelon Sugar” has become one of the singer’s most beloved songs, apparently Harry felt it was time to let everyone know exactly what the song is about. I mean, we all had our theories based on some choice imagery and parallels, but to have the songwriter himself weigh in, well, that’s true pleasure. “This song is about… it doesn’t really matter what it’s about,” Styles said before launching into the song at a recent show in Nashville. “It’s about the, uh, the sweetness of life.” After singing a few lines, though, he decided to give us more: “It’s also about the female orgasm, but that’s totally different. It’s not relevant.”
The ensuing screams from the audience seem to imply otherwise, my dear Mr. Styles.
Check out a fan-captured video of the moment above, and make sure to smugly tell your friends and family that you knew what the sexual innuendo before it was revealed! That’s true fandom.
After six months of chemotherapy, iconic Blink-182’s vocalist and bassist Mark Hoppus announced on Twitter that he is cancer free. His Twitter bio now reads: “bassist singer person in the blink-182 and simple creatures. he/him. Cancer Destroyer.”
Since sharing his diagnosis in June, Hoppus has been the epitome of good spirits while being open about his struggle. In his first online message to the public, he stated “It sucks and I’m scared, and at the same time I’m blessed with incredible doctors and family and friends to get me through this. … I’m trying to remain hopeful and positive. Can’t wait to be cancer free and see you all at a concert in the near future. Love to you all.”
This initial announcement, though tragic, incited an outpouring of heartfelt support from fellow music legends and loyal fans. Clearly, this musician—who helped create that distinctly bombastic, aggressively playful sound loved by headbangers everywhere—had made a positive impact.
the news about Mark Hoppus having cancer is so so so incredibly sad and I truly hope that as the godfather of pop p… https://t.co/Mmw5n7KC1V
As Hoppus underwent chemotherapy, he candidly documented his treatment updates. Usually with an added joke, like this Instagram photo, where he wrote, “Yes hello. One cancer treatment, please.”
Clearly, some days were more lighthearted than others. Recently, Hoppus shared how dismally uncomfortable the process was, plainly describing his new normal as “getting pumped full of poison every three weeks.”
But for the most part, it appears he’s been in fairly high spirits. He even posted a picture to his Instagram of his previously bald scalp (which had begun to grow white hairs) with the added caption:
“I mean what the shit is this? Is my hair growing back white? If it does I wonder if I’ll look more like George Clooney or Doc Brown? I feel like this is still the cancery peach fuzz hair and maybe my normal hair will start growing again? It’s so strange to have hair growing back more on my head while my leg hair continues to fall out further and further down, now at the bottom of my shins. I’ve been in chemotherapy for five months and TODAY the hair on my shins decides it’s time to peace out? Cancer is weird.”
It’s the sort of comedy I would lovingly expect from a guy made famous by singing about running around naked and dancing like an animal.
The optimism clearly paid off, as yesterday he was able to give his cancer free announcement on Twitter and Instagram. Hoppus’ words were full of gratitude and warmth as he wrote, “Thank you God and the universe and friends and family and everyone who sent support and kindness and love. Still have to get scanned every six months and it’ll take me until the end of the year to get back to normal but today is an amazing day and I feel so blessed.”
Of course, this was fantastic news for more than just Hoppus. In addition to responses from John Mayer, Adam DeVine and Benjamin Madden, even Blink-182’s drummer Travis Barker joined in congratulating his band brother, according to Us Weekly. And let’s not forget the touching fan comments:
@markhoppus Just thinking how much you meant to two kids from Peru… who learned all your songs… fuck… I wanted to b… https://t.co/Gif0wLy9RF
SNL “Weekend Update” host Colin Jost and his wife actor Scarlett Johansson welcomed a baby into this world in August. The high-profile, private couple was able to keep news of the pregnancy relatively quiet until Jost announced it the day before the baby was born.
The couple was married in October 2020. Cosmo is Jost’s first child and their first as a couple. Johansson is already mom to daughter Rose, 6, who she shares with French journalist Romain Dauriac.
Jost announced the baby’s arrival on Instagram where he couldn’t waste the opportunity to take a jab at his “Weekend Update” co-host, Michael Che. He jokingly said to refer any questions to his publicist @chethinks, Che’s Instagram account.
Your weekday update:
Colin Jost & Scarlett Johansson have welcomed a son. ✔️
Michael Che officially has a new IG b… https://t.co/evM1Sbaq0q
Like many creative types, Jost and Johansson chose a name that’s a little quirky and uncommon. In fact, the name hasn’t been a popular American baby name in the past 100 years.
Cosmo hasn’t appeared in the top 1000 U.S. baby names since 1926. However, it’ll probably make a comeback in the coming years after being chosen by celebrity parents.
Appellation Mountain says the name Cosmo has a “quirky, not-quite-real quality,” that could be why it was revealed as the first name of Kramer on “Seinfeld” in 1995.
Scarlett Johansson is pregnant and expecting her first child with Colin Jost. https://t.co/hWmUHErWWw
Jost was on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” on Thursday where he revealed that his mother wasn’t really on board with the name and did everything she could to have it changed without seeming too pushy.
“My mom, I would say, was slightly thrown by it and didn’t quite understand it,” Jost said. “I don’t know if she thought it was kind of like a hippie thing.”
Even though the couple made the name official on the birth certificate, his mother wouldn’t let the issue go.
“She would call us after three or four days,” he explained. “And she’d be like, ‘And now, is it final? Like, did you submit the birth certificate?’ And we’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, we did that at the hospital.'”
Then she started suggesting names that sounded like Cosmo, but were a few letters off.
“She was like ‘OK, interesting. Because I was reading that there’s also a name Cosimo with an ‘I,’ so that could also be an option. Maybe Cosimo, that’s his real name, but then you can call him still Cosmo,'” Jost said as his mother.
He recalled: “Then she goes, ‘There’s a patron saint called Cosmos, so that’s another option.’ We don’t need more worse variants on Cosmo. But thanks, Mom.”
Jost’s mother’s process of dealing with her grandchild’s name followed the five stages of acceptance: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance.
It appears as though she finally came to accept the baby’s name when her neighbors on Staten Island told her that it’s a common name amongst Italian-Americans.
“Eventually, she started meeting various members of the Italian community who have a lot of Cosmo relatives,” Jost said. “And so then she would call, and she would say, ‘I met someone — they said their uncle’s name is Cosmo. So it is OK.'”
South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham has a pretty cushy spot in Trumpworld, even after a disastrous coup attempt left the now-former president essentially marooned at Mar-a-Lago. Save for rallies and golfing, Trump isn’t doing much beyond issuing press releases he wishes were tweets.
While Trump seems to planning a 2024 presidential run, many others who have fallen out of favor with him are doing their best to cash in on their experiences. One of those is ex-press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who is publishing I’ll Take Your Questions Now, a tell-all book about her time with Trump that includes a number of shots at those in and around his orbit.
One anecdote that made waves on Monday was an excerpt about the South Carolina senator who became known as “Senator Freeloader” among those who saw him wine and dine at Mar-a-Lago. As Raw Story detailed, Grisham wrote about how Graham was famous for “lapping up” free stuff at Trump’s Florida resort.
“And Lindsey Graham? Well, it struck me he was using Trump to mop up the freebies like there was no tomorrow (seems that he still is),” she explains. “He would show up at Mar-a-Lago or Bedminster to play free rounds of golf, stuff his face with free food and hang out with Trump and his celebrity pals.”
At one point, according to Grisham, Graham actually kicked a Trump staffer out of a room so he could stay and continue to get free stuff at another Trump resort.
“Senator Freeloader was sitting at a table by the pool, a big grin on his face, lapping up the goodies he was getting like some potentate,” Grisham writes. “He said to me with a creepy little smile, ‘Isn’t this great? Man, this is the life.’”
Grisham called Graham’s behavior “almost schizophrenic” and said he would wildly swing from defending Trump’s actions to being a harsh critic. But it’s clear the word was out on his behavior.
You can read the full excerpt from the book below.
On Monday, everyone’s favorite purveyor of misinformation about horse drugs suddenly went down. Facebook servers, and their services, including Instagram and WhatsApp, went MIA for several hours before slowly roaring back to life. Jokes, of course, flew wild on the other big dicey social media platform, Twitter. And some of these jokes were about the same subject: that old Jeremy Renner app that was too pure for this world.
this would have never happened on the Jeremy Renner app
If you remember, the Marvel actor branched out in a most unusual direction: by establishing his own social media site. Dubbed “the Jeremy Renner of apps” by Ringer, it allowed users to interact, along with plenty of pictures of Hawkeye himself. It lasted over two years before Renner himself pulled the plug after some chuckleheads kept exploiting a strange loophole for yuks.
But though the app — called Jeremy Renner Official on iOS and simply Jeremy Renner on Android — is gone, it’s not forgotten. When Facebook suddenly vanished from the internet, lots and lots of people had the same joke. And that joke was about the Jeremy Renner app.
After several hours, Facebook gradually came back, to the delight of olds who have no nose for obvious misinformation. It was a bad 24 hours for the social media giant, which also had to suffer the slings fired by a whistleblower, who made public some hair-raising — though hardly surprising — intel about how their algorithms may have helped destroy the world. The Jeremy Renner app never had it so bad.
If 80s games are to be deemed retro and the 2000s were innovative, I’d say that makes the decade smack in-between them the era of the classics, and based on the list below that seems a pretty apt title for ’em. In the 90s, video games seemed to find their footing and genres were more clearly defined. We got the definitive racing game, figured out what made a shooter work, adapted arcade-fighters for console in a way that ruled, figured out how to make stealth games a bit less cruel and a bit more clever, and established what it takes to make a fantastic and immersive 3D action-adventure game. In short, the 90s are video games “roots,” and as we all know, our roots are well-worth remembering and celebrating — hence this little list we’ve thrown together.
Just like our previous top games posts we did covering the 2010s and the 2000s, this top ten list was compiled using the aggregate review site Metacritic which I do for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, it just feels way more fair and inclusive than me picking my personal favorites and missing some of the great games I never got around to playing. It also keeps me from taking too much heat for leaving things out, because trust me, I’m just as upset as you that Final Fantasy VII, Poke’mon Red/Blue, and Banjo-Kazooie aren’t on here, among countless others. As always however, feel free to comment on what games you think are missing or shouldn’t have made the cut.
10. Grim Fandango (1998, 94) Grim Fandago is somewhat of an anomaly. After all, how often do you hear about a game that commercially failed so hard it caused a major studio to pull back from developing games, helped contribute to the death of an entire game genre, and is widely considered among one of the best games ever made? Not very often, I’d recon. A film-noir adventure game set in a comedic take on the land of the dead and regarded as a triumph in visual design, Grim Fandango is an experience unlike any other — and perhaps that is what led to its alienation and cult-classic status that didn’t lead to great sales. Either way, you can’t say the adventure genre didn’t go out with quite the bang.
Just for starters, it feels more than fair to say stealth games would not be what they are today without the creation of Metal Gear Solid, and that statement in itself goes to show how important this game is. While still frustrating in its own right, Metal Gear Solid took a lot of what felt unfair about stealth games (namely the genre’s reliance on trial and error to progress) and established you could nail things the first time… if you’re clever enough to figure out how. And boy are there countless clever ways and strokes of brilliance peppered throughout the entirely of Metal Gear Solid. From using cigarette smoke to detect lasers and wearing a box and having a wolf cub pee on you to cover your scent, there are countless moments that will frustrate you with how smart (and ridiculous) they are, which is kind of the theme of the game. While it is undeniably a campy little title filled with over-the-top characters enacting over-the-top-plans, it also is exceedingly grounded and brilliant in both its politically-charged story and its mechanics and puzzles.
When it comes to what game studio was putting out the most adrenaline-pumping hyper violent games folks couldn’t get enough of in the 90s, id Software — the studio behind DOOM, Wolfenstein, and Quake — was basically unrivaled. As such, Quake had a lot of hype and expectations to live up to when it was announced, leaving some folks worried the title might fumble or fail to deliver everything fans expected it to. However, Quake not only lived up to id Software’s reputation, but established the company could also design a disgustingly good multiplayer experience as well. Quake‘s truly 3D world, immersion, and unparalleled multiplayer Deathmatch mode cemented the game as a 90s classic, with the Trent Reznor created soundtrack being merely the cherry on top.
Since Sid Meier’s Civilization hit PC back in 1991, the overall concept of the game hasn’t changed much — which honestly just goes to show you just how perfect this series has always been at what it does. However, the jump from the first entry to the second was one noted and appreciate by fans and critics when Civilization II launched in 1996 and for good reason. While the series has always felt a bit similar to an intense game of Risk, Civilization II upped the thinking required by players with the introduction of new nations, city growth variations, troop types, and more. Civilization II wasn’t just a bigger and better looking game, but one that upheld the series’ original intent of creating a brilliant (and oh-so addicting) strategy game that will either leave you feeling utterly triumphant or ripping out your hair.
IMDb
6. Gran Turismo (1998, 96)
Ready for a kind of unbelievable fun fact? While we might think of God of War, Uncharted, The Last of Us, and Horizon as PlayStation’s biggest exclusive series, when it comes to which exclusive franchise has sold the most on the system, it’s none other than Gran Turismo. Released in 1998, the first Gran Turismo took a whopping five-years to make because of just how hyper-realistic the racing game was intent on being. Ultimately, all the work the studio put in was well-worth it when it quickly became regarded as the greatest racing game ever made. The game featured a staggering 140 cars for players to drive with the most realistic feeling driving to ever grace a racing game, and quickly became the new benchmark for the genre.
Long before Valve was one of the most well known companies in gaming, it was just a little studio working on a very ambitious game: Half-Life. While the overarching story already felt tried and true at the time it was released (scientists experiment goes wrong and now the faculty is overrun by abominations you gotta somehow take care of), Half-Life‘s delivery was handled with such care and precision it turned a cliché into what’s widely regarded as a masterpiece without relying on merely turning the game into something cinematic. That same care and attentiveness ultimately went into every element of the game, ultimately creating a title that felt more realistic and clever than any first-person shooter to come before it, with plenty of puzzles and strokes of brilliance. Alongside the aforementioned Metal Gear Solid, Half-Life was one of the titles that urged action-packed games to think both bigger and smaller than ever before.
The 90s were honestly an incredible time for fighting games. With the rise in home consoles came a concentrated effort to take classic cabinet fighters and turn them into games we could play at home, without pockets full of change and germ-covered joysticks — and by and large, developers did a great job doing it. We got Street Fighter 2, Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat, another little title coming up just a bit further on this list, and, of course, Tekken 3. When it released in 1998, Tekken 3 made a name for itself as a fantastic looking and modern feeling fighter that somehow completely retained the feeling of being an arcade game. Perhaps that’s because above all else, Tekken 3 was concerned with being a balanced game where every type of player could find their go-to fighter and dish-out relentless combos using the hundreds of moves each character came with, making it a must-have entry in the fighting game genre.
While the notion that a licensed game could not only be critically-acclaimed but somehow be groundbreaking seems a bit scoff-able, Goldeneye proves the idea is not an impossible one. While Halo: Combat Evolved would ultimately come along and prove once and for all competitive first-person shooters did have a home in console gaming in just a few short years later, when Goldeneye hit shelves in 1997 it helped move the needle and open people up the idea. With smart AI, great level design, a killer soundtrack, and a multiplayer mode that went on to provide families and friend groups with hundreds of hours of entertainment, Goldeneye became an unlikely staple on the Nintendo 64 alongside the likes of Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 64.
While the Sega Dreamcast might have not have sold the way the company dreamed of (ultimately leading to it being Sega’s last effort in the home console war), it wasn’t for a lack of trying. From Crazy Taxi toShenmue, the system had some seriously innovative and fun exclusive titles, one of which was SoulCalibur. Considered by some to be the sole reason to buy the Dreamcast, the 1998 SoulCalibur revival took a fun arcade game and made it arguably the most powerful and compelling fighting game ever made, with an eight-way direction system, realistic physics, cutting-edge graphics, and fast-and-fluid gameplay. The weapons-fighting game also boasted a cast of character that felt incredibly unique to play in a world where fighting games were becoming a dime-a-dozen and there was some serious overlap between franchises and characters. Ultimately, SoulCalibur stands out as thee fighting game in a decade filled with entries in the genre.
Nintendo Life
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998, 99)
Nowadays, just about the greatest compliment a game can get is it feels “immersive,” meaning it creates a world so fleshed-out and so worthy of getting invested in, we temporarily forget our own. While it doesn’t take a 3D-world, engaging combat, beautiful art, an iconic soundtrack, perfect level design, and a compelling story to make a game immersive, all of these things led to Ocarina of Time being widely regarded as the most immersive action-adventure game to ever hit consoles when it was released in 98. While the Legend of Zelda series was already quite beloved by this point, Ocarina took it to a next level, capturing the the magic, adventure, loneliness, and eerie-quality of the games in a way no entry had before.
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