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Sports fans have grown used to bad news when it comes to streaming services in recent years, but word that NBCSN is getting the axe in 2021 still came as a shock on Friday. The network, which grew from Outdoor Life Network and became a hub for watching the NHL, English Premiere League soccer, and NASCAR was an important part of watching sports in America.

But according to multiple reports, NBCSN will be scuttled amid a reshuffling of NBC properties, putting NHL and other live broadcasts on USA Network as the company reevaluates how it does live sports. The news made many wonder how much the decision was made because of a number of factors, including the impending cancelation of the Tokyo Olympics. But a report from Kevin Draper of the New York Times offered some new insight into the decision. Namely, that the network was both profitable and popular when NBC decided it would be taken off the air.

NBCSN is still quite popular and generates plenty of revenue. It was the second most viewed cable sports channel in 2020, behind only ESPN and ahead of FS1 and ESPN2. The channel is available in 76.6 million homes, each of which pays 42 cents per month for it, according to Kagan, a media research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence. That means NBCSN is on track to earn more than $380 million in revenue this year, even before advertising is taken into account.

In other words, NBCSN wasn’t dragging down the company’s bottom line, which means changes were not made because it was not working. By comparison, it was doing a better job than every other sports network not named ESPN. Which means it’s likely many sports fans’ worst fears were behind the move: NBC merely wanted to prop up its Peacock streaming service with more live sports, as well as save some money on other networks by jettisoning broadcasts to places like USA Network instead of operating a dedicated sports channel.

It’s worth noting that the Times obtained an internal memo about the decision, and nowhere mentioned in that was where the glut of Olympic broadcasts will go if the still-scheduled games actually happen. But as the coronavirus pandemic continues and the likelihood of that event being staged decreasing by the day, it seems that NBC made a move assuming the Olympics won’t happen and people will continue to move their attention to a streaming service where episodes of The Office and EPL soccer can hang out behind various paywalls.

[via The New York Times]

By now you’ve probably seen over a thousand iterations of the Bernie Sanders inauguration meme. This is easily the biggest meme to hit the internet in 2021. It’s so widespread that I’ve even received a text from my mom about it, and there is no way she knows what a meme is.

The image of a supremely comfortable Bernie Sanders sitting cross-legged in a fold-out chair wearing a jacket he’s definitely owned for over a decade and heavy (sustainably sourced and locally made!) mittens is an image that will probably continue to register in the cultural zeitgeist for a long time. But what all Bernie memes carry weight online, this is the first one to get so big that there’s official merch.

That’s right, the Bernie meme is now a sweatshirt. An official sweatshirt — which means there are definitely already bootlegs — sold by the Bernie Sanders campaign in an effort to raise funds for Meals on Wheels Vermont. The $45 crewneck runs from sizes small to 2X and features the now-famous image screen printed on a charcoal grey base. 100% of the proceeds go directly towards Meals on Wheels Vermont and the sweatshirt sports combed ring-spun organic cotton fleece, made in the USA, and Union printed, which is just so Bernie.

Right now the sweaters are so back-ordered that they won’t ship out for at least 4-8 weeks, which will hopefully give Bernie’s people enough time for a stock replenishment. Otherwise, these sweaters are definitely going to end up on aftermarket sites like StockX or eBay for an exorbitant price.

Some festivals like Governors Ball are holding on to hope that large gatherings will be possible by September, but concert dates before the fall seem unlikely. It looks like Halsey agrees as she’s decided to officially cancel her Manic World Tour, which was slated to kick off in June.

The singer took to social media to share the news, saying she “dreams” of being together with fans in the near future:

“Despite our absolute best efforts, there is no guarantee I’ll be able to tour the currently scheduled dates. I miss seeing all of you in the crowd every night more than anything, but I need to prioritize your health and safety. That being said, the Manic tour is now officially cancelled. As much as we wanted to hold out hope that this tour could eventually happen, our priority is now getting your ticket money back to you immediately. […] This tour was supposed to be my most unique yet for a number of reasons. I was really looking forward to sharing this chapter of my life with you in the ways I best know how. But for now, I am dreaming of days where we can all be together again. I love you and we will adapt and grow and find new ways to connect despite the circumstances.”

Read Halsey’s full message above.

Manic is out now via Capitol. Get it here.

The penicillin is a modern classic. The mix of scotch, honey, ginger, and lemon also really hits well this time of year, with the snow falling and the air icy cold. Think of it this way, the penicillin is kind of like an ice-cold hot toddy. It’s medicinal at its core with all that honey, ginger, and lemon, while still feeling like a well-rounded professional-level cocktail.

There are two key elements at play with this cocktail. One is the whisky. The base of the cocktail is a blended scotch, usually a sweeter one. Then, there’s a smoky or peated scotch float that goes over the cocktail at the end. It adds this really vibrant opening to the drink that soon fades into the sweeter flavors that define the rest of the cocktail.

The second element is the honey-ginger syrup (we’ll explain how to make it below — but it’s easy, don’t worry). The marrying of fresh ginger to the honey cannot be skipped. It adds this sharply spicy yet sweetly honeyed depth to the cocktail that helps it really pop.

Besides that, this is a pretty straightforward shaker. You don’t need much to make it in your kitchen either. If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, just use a jar with a lid.

Let’s get shaking!

Penicillin

Ingredients:

• 2-oz. blended Scotch whisky
• 0.75-oz. honey-ginger syrup (see recipe below)
• 0.75-oz. fresh lemon juice
• 0.5-oz. peated Scotch whisky
• Lemon peel
• Ice

I’m using Johnnie Walker Black because that’s the blended scotch that I find matches best with the peaty scotch I’m using for the float. For that bit, I’m using Lagavulin Distiller’s Edition — a subtly smoky scotch that I feel will really shine with this drink’s sharpness and sweetness.

What You’ll Need:

• Rocks glass
• Shaker
• Strainer
• Knife
• Barspoon
• Juicer
• Sieve
• Small pot
• Box grater
• Tupperware
• Small bottle

For the honey-ginger syrup:

Ideally, you’re going to need to make this at least one day ahead of time. It needs to steep overnight to really allow the ginger to infuse into the honey syrup. All told, you’ll have enough to make plenty of cocktails, hot toddies, and honey-ginger lemonades for a week or two.

• Add 1 cup water and 1 cup honey to a small pan.
• Grate a 4-inch piece of ginger and add it to the pan.
• Bring to a low simmer while stirring occasionally for five minutes.
• Pour the syrup into a jar or Tupperware, cool in the fridge overnight.
• The next day, run the syrup through a sieve (making sure to press down on the ginger to get all those juices) and into a waiting bottle.

Method:

• Fill a rocks glass with ice.
• Add the blended scotch, lemon juice, and syrup to the shaker.
• Top with ice, secure lid, and shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker is frosted over.
• Strain the cocktail into the waiting rocks glass over the ice.
• Float the smoky whisky over the cocktail.*
• Spritz the oils from the lemon peel over the drink, rub the peel around the glass, and then drop the peel in as a garnish.
• Serve.

* I generally eyeball this pour. I hold a bar spoon over the cocktail so that the bowl of the spoon is facing down. I then gently pour a little bit of whisky on the back of the spoon. It should rest the whisky nicely on top of the cocktail.

Bottom Line:

I could drink about five of these, if that’s what a cold winter’s day demanded of me. The beauty of this drink is that moment of smoky whisky cut with lemon oils that greets you but quickly fades into the sharpness of the ginger and velvet of the honey.

By the second half of the drink, you’re getting plenty of malty whisky notes with a real lemon brightness. The ginger and honey never really fades, holding the center of the drink the whole time. The end has a distant echo of the smoky whisky, adding a nice dimension to the overall experience.

This is a wintry winner and is going to stay in the rotation for the next couple of months.

Apple and Brie do go quite well together, which perhaps is why Brie Larson signing on for an Apple TV drama makes so much sense. The Captain Marvel actress has reportedly signed on to star in Lessons In Chemistry for the streaming service.

Variety reported Friday that Larson would take the lead role and serve as executive producer in the project, which will go straight to series on Apply TV drama from Susannah Grant, who got an Oscar nomination for Erin Brockovich. The period piece actually does have a culinary angle to it, but also looks to be a series Apple has high hopes for given the casting.

The series is based on the upcoming debut novel from author, science editor, and copywriter Bonnie Garmus. Set in the early 1960s, “Lessons in Chemistry” follows Elizabeth Zott (Larson), whose dream of being a scientist is put on hold in a society deeming that women belong in the domestic sphere, not the professional one. When Elizabeth finds herself pregnant, alone and fired from her lab, she musters the ingenuity only a single mother has. She accepts a job as a host on a TV cooking show, and sets out to teach a nation of overlooked housewives – and the men who are suddenly listening – a lot more than recipes, all the while craving a return to her true love: science.

While there are plenty of Brie and Apple puns to be made here, the news is significant for the streaming service. It comes the same day another Variety report cited a study that claimed a large number of Apple TV subscribers are getting the service through various free programs. That certainly makes sense, at least anecdotally, given how many people got a year free of Apple TV+ with a new phone purchase since the service launched.

Turning those into people actually paying to watch Season 2 of Ted Lasso is certainly a project the company is working on if those numbers are to be believed, but perhaps adding Larson to the streaming stew is a step in the right direction.

[via Variety]

Mario Judah, Playboi Carti superfan and expert internet troll, has had a steady rise to fame since the viral success of last year’s single “Die Very Rough.” Now returning for his first new song of the year, Judah lays out a very pointed message to cheaters everywhere in his ruthless “I Cannot Love You” video.

Clocking in at just a minute-and-a-half, “I Cannot Love You” is Judah’s way of giving his heartbreak an outlet. The song’s accompanying grainy video is filmed with a red hue and depicts the rapper taking his anger out on a body bag. In the days prior to releasing the song, Judah began consistently sharing tweets and a profanity-laced video about being cheated on:

I gave this f*cking girl the world, bro. Despite being f*cking famous, the money I made, tried to give her everything to make her f*cking happy — and she f*cking took my trust and love and tore it, bro. All the b*tches that hit me up in my DMs, I never responded to one because I tried to give this girl my trust and my love, bro. And she took my f*cking heart. You know what the f*ck she did with it? She f*cking tore it. Never again, bro. This b*tch cheated on me. All the sh*t I got going on in my life, I try to give this b*tch the world and she f*cking cheated on me. F*ck cheaters.

Watch Mario Judah’s “I Cannot Love You” video above.

If you enjoyed Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 in 2019, you were far from alone. Some would argue it’s one of the best games of the year if not THE best. But if you were excited about the possibility of a Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3+4, or maybe a new Tony Hawk title from the makers of last year’s reimagining, Friday brought bad news.

The creators of the modern Tony Hawk game, Vicarious Visions, has merged into the Blizzard umbrella of Activision. This appears to mean that Vicarious Visions will now be working on Blizzard games such as Warcraft and Overwatch. This is potentially exciting news for fans of Blizzard franchises, but what does this mean for fans of series like Tony Hawk? (Via Gameindustry.biz)

“Activision Blizzard has moved its Vicarious Visions studio from the Activision side of the business to the Blizzard side.

The publisher today told GamesIndustry.biz that effective today, it is merging Vicarious Visions into Blizzard Entertainment.

….

After collaborating with Vicarious Visions for some time and developing a great relationship, Blizzard realized there was an opportunity for [Vicarious Visions] to provide long-term support,” a representative explained to us. They declined to specify what the team has been working on with Blizzard, or for how long.

As part of the move, Vicarious Visions studio head Jen Oneal has been promoted to Blizzard executive vice president of development, where she joins the company’s leadership team and will report directly to Blizzard president J. Allen Brack.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 was a surprise hit in the sense that many fans of the series weren’t sure they were ever going to make a good Tony Hawk game again. The franchise had felt dormant for a long time and every chance to bring it back was a flop with both critics and fans. It was always going to take a monumental effort to bring the franchise back to prominence and it’s safe to say that Vicarious Visions hit it out of the park. This is also why fans of the franchise have some concern to see it potentially leave their hands.

Of course, this doesn’t have to mean that another game isn’t coming. Perhaps we see Blizzard developing the next Tony Hawk game, or they could be handing the franchise over to a different studio within Activision. But as video game companies continue to shuffle resources and merge, it’s worrying for some that it may impact the chances we see the series continue.

Even as millions of Americans celebrated the inauguration of President Joe Biden this week, the nation also mourned the fact that, for the first time in modern history, the United States did not have a peaceful transition of power.

With the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, when pro-Trump insurrectionists attempted to stop the constitutional process of counting electoral votes and where terrorists threatened to kill lawmakers and the vice president for not keeping Trump in power, our long and proud tradition was broken. And although presidential power was ultimately transferred without incident on January 20, the presence of 20,000 National Guard troops around the Capitol reminded us of the threat that still lingers.

First Lady Jill Biden showed up today with cookies in hand for a group of National Guard troops at the Capitol to thank them for keeping her family safe. The homemade chocolate chip cookies were a small token of appreciation, but one that came from the heart of a mother whose son had served as well.

“I just wanted to come today to say thank you to all of you for keeping me and my family safe. I know that you’ve left your home states,” she said. “The Bidens are a National Guard family. Our son Beau was Delaware Army National Guard. He served for a year in Iraq in 2008–2009. So, I’m a National Guard mom and when I saw … all that you’ve done and you left your home states and you’ve come here to protect us … I just wanted to say thanks from President Biden and my entire family.”

Dr. Biden explained that she didn’t make the cookies herself—the White House made them—but she wanted to deliver them personally.

“I wanted to give everybody a cookie just as a small thank you for your service and your families’ service and all that you’ve done for our nation … I truly appreciate all that you do. The National Guard will always hold a special place in the hearts of all the Bidens. So thank you. Thank you very much.”

The National Guard troops who have been protecting the U.S. Capitol received some help from members of Congress and the media last night when a news report shared that some of them had been ordered to vacate the building to take rest breaks in a nearby parking garage. It was unclear who gave the order or why, but it caused bipartisan outrage and multiple angry tweets from CNN’s Jake Tapper who called it “just hideous” and “completely unacceptable” before tagging every federal government leader saying “WTF – Fix this ASAP.”

Many members of Congress also expressed outrage on Twitter, but Tammy Duckworth, who served in the armed forces herself, got on the horn to figure out what had happened and fix it. “I am demanding answers ASAP. They can use my office,” she wrote.

After she was informed that the Capitol Police had apologized to the troops and that they were being allowed back in the complex, she kept checking to make sure that it happened.

An hour and a half later, she tweeted, “Troops are all out of the garage. Now I can go to bed.”

When our National Guard troops are sleeping on hard, marble floors already to protect our lawmakers from our own citizens, the last thing we should do is make things any more uncomfortable for them. They’re taking good care of our government representatives, so we should make sure they’re being taken care of as well.

Netflix made chess compelling and evocative for even non-players with The Queen’s Gambit, and Stephen Colbert thinks he’s found the next big drama in another the Rubik’s Cube. The colorful puzzle isn’t a game as much as it is a challenge, but on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert segment on Thursday night pitched the cube as the future of Hollywood.

Colbert mentioned a sourceless report that a Rubik’s Cube movie is in the works in Hollywood, starting a riff where he imagined just what that movie, and a potential game show, might look like.

“Little hint for the contestants, just peel off the stickers, rearrange them and pretend you’ve won,” Colbert said. But he also said he thinks “this Rubik’s Cube thing has legs” and pitched what his version of a cube-filled drama would look like. It’s a 14-part series built for a streaming service, and the intent of the show is clear.

“It mixes the element of The Queen’s Gambit with the strong desire to make a lot of money on the popularity of The Queen’s Gambit,” he said.

“I had to overcome a lot,” a red-haired protagonist said during a montage. “Sexism. A sprained wrist. Temporary color blindness.”

The mentor in the clip teased teaching her a secret move that only experienced cubers would be able to handle.

“Turn the left bottom middle forward to the front-facing part,” the guy said. “It’s not like chess, we don’t get to have cool names for things.”

And just like the show it’s loosely based on, there’s also a lot of crying and substance abuse.

It’s funny to see Colbert’s spoof here, but competitive Rubik’s Cube solving actually does exist and those that do it are wildly talented. If you really do want to see some impressive Rubik’s Cubing, Netflix already has you covered with a quick and really lovely documentary about speed solvers.

It probably isn’t as dramatic as The Queen’s Gambit, but it does tell a nice quick story that will scratch your solving itch until the movie Hollywood cooks up becomes reality.

Fans were shocked, and perhaps a bit envious, when Saweetie showed off her Christmas gift from Quavo: a custom powder blue Bentley convertible that was embossed with a snowflake emoji. The gift was a testament of Quavo’s love, but apparently not the only generous act he does in their relationship. Saweetie recently recalled the first time she knew Quavo was in love with her — and instead of a Bentley, it involves chicken.

Saweetie opened up about some aspects of her relationship with Quavo that’s not seen on social media. Speaking to Page Six, Saweetie explained how Quavo shows his love to her:

“The moment I realized that Quavo really loved me is when he saved me some of his food. He gave me his last piece of chicken. I wasn’t testing him or anything. I’ll be coming out of a Zoom meeting or done doing something and he would have saved me some of his food.”

The rapper went on to say that those small actions are what mean the most to her. “Those are the things that really matter: the things that have no price on them,” she continued. “The Bentley is cool but I’m really into intimacy and how you treat me with my emotional feels.”

Saweetie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.