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As widely expected, Barcelona have fired head coach Quique Setien following their humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League quarter finals. Setien leaves the club after just eight months at the helm, and after a season in which Barcelona lost out on the La Liga title race, got eliminated from the Copa Del Rey in February and fell short in the Champions League for the fifth year in a row.

Setien was never the right choice for Barcelona, with his inexperience and gutless tactics, but the truth is Barcelona wouldn’t have returned to glory no matter who was giving orders on the sideline.

Setien was Barcelona’s fourth manager in six seasons; fans greeted, celebrated and then disgustedly called for the departures of Tata Martino, Luis Enrique, Ernesto Valverde and now the 61-year-old Setien. The club is rumored to go after ex-Tottenham Hotspur coach Mauricio Pochettino, Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman or even Xavi, their former midfield maestro. But does it matter who comes next if Barcelona does not address the problems that permeate through every facet of the club, from the top down?

Barcelona’s humiliating crash out of the Champions League this year was not a surprise to anyone. The signs were there in Rome in 2018 and in Liverpool last year. The red flags waved even more strongly this season with losses to Granada, Levante and Osasuna, proving that Barcelona could no longer perform — whether it’s a cold night on the Spanish coast or under the bright lights of Europe. But the Board, whether out of sheer hubris or absolute idiocy, ignored all the signs. In five short (or long) years, they destroyed a club that was once the model of success around the world. And in doing so, they cruelly wasted precious years of Lionel Messi’s career.

Gerard Pique is right: after Friday’s loss to Bayern Munich, the veteran defender said the Catalan club had hit “rock bottom.” Poor transfer decisions as the club has spent 800 million euros on players since the 2015 transfer window on an aging roster full of players who don’t seem to be able to compete anymore, and deficient tactics have led to this point. If Barcelona is to return to the level and success of the years between 2008 and 2014 — a time when teams feared lining up against the Catalan giants and fans raved about the tiki taka style of play — then a complete overhaul must take place — and that starts with the removal of club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who has held the role since 2014.

With Bartomeu still in charge, it doesn’t really matter who the next manager is. This Barcelona is no longer the Barcelona of old. Under electrifying manager Pep Guardiola, the team flourished. Under Bartomeu, a corrupt and inept president, the club has collapsed.

After its surprise announcement and release 24 hours later, Taylor Swift’s Folklore had a monster first week, the album raking in 846,000 equivalent album units — a feat that gave her the most No. 1 debuts and the third-most No. 1 albums among female artists. She scored the top spot for a second consecutive week, and now she’s done it a third time.

In landing a third week at No. 1, Swift becomes the first woman to spend her first three weeks at No. 1 since 2018, after Lady Gaga did the same with her A Star Is Born joint album with Bradley Cooper. Swift’s continued reign can be credited to the newly-released CD edition of Folklore. The feat also makes her the second overall artist to spend their first three weeks at the top of the Billboard albums charts, after The Weeknd spent four weeks at No. 1 following the release of his After Hours album. Prior to The Weeknd, the last album to achieve this was Drake’s 2018 album Scorpion, which spent its first five weeks atop the charts.

Swift’s latest feat comes a day after she publicly criticized President Donald Trump’s handling of USPS issues in a pair of tweets. “Donald Trump’s ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely,” she wrote in her post. “Request a ballot early. Vote early.”

(via Billboard)

The 2020 WNBA regular season is in full flow, with games every day and plenty of action. This week, the Seattle Storm stayed atop the league standings with some utterly dominant performances, the Connecticut Sun showed signs of life and Minnesota got hit with the injury bug while Phoenix got Diana Taurasi back healthy.

Here’s everything we learned from week three in the WNBA:

1. The Seattle Storm are absolutely unstoppable

The Seattle Storm proved that they are far and away the greatest team in this league right now, with eight straight wins — making it the longest regular-season streak for Seattle since they won 13 straight in 2010, when they won the championship. They are sitting pretty atop the league standings with a 10-1 record — their best season start in franchise history — and have shown no signs of slowing down.

Sue Bird returned in a rout of the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday, finishing with nine points and seven assists in the 100-63 win. In that game, the Storm reached 100 points for the first time since 2018 and in doing so, they tied the WNBA record of 18 three-pointers in a game — set last year by the Washington Mystics. Breanna Stewart continues to play like an MVP (reminder: this is her first WNBA season back from an Achilles injury) and Sami Whitcomb has been electric from beyond the arc.

2. How will the Minnesota Lynx fare without Sylvia Fowles?

When Sylvia Fowles limped off with a calf injury during Thursday’s game against the Las Vegas Aces, the biggest question was how the Lynx would fare without their leader. Well, if Saturday night’s game against the New York Liberty was any indication, they’ll do just fine with Napheesa Collier in the kind of form she showed this weekend.

The 6’1 forward has quickly grown into such an important figure for the Lynx, and that was evident in how she took control of what could’ve been a shaky game for the team. In the win, she earned her second consecutive double-double, exploding for 26 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists. Rookie guard Crystal Dangerfield had another strong performance as well, scoring 22 points on 75% shooting. If the two Minnesota youngsters keep putting up strong numbers, the Lynx should be able to stay in the top half of the standings — they’re currently fourth with a 7-3 overall record.

3. DeWanna Bonner is shining for the Sun

As previously noted, DeWanna Bonner has really hit the ground running in her first season with the Connecticut Sun. She is the fifth-highest scorer in the league this season, averaging 18.7 points per game along with 7.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.6 steals. This season, she’s also leading on both ends of the floor, shooting 41% from the field while maintaining a strong presence in the paint with her rebounding and blocks.

The Sun, though, have had a bumpy road so far in Florida. On Sunday, the team went 3-of-20 from beyond the arc in a 95-72 loss to the Seattle Storm. The Sun looked to be finding some rhythm with three consecutive wins this week against Atlanta, Dallas and Chicago before falling to the Storm. Connecticut currently sits in eight place, occupying the last playoff spot, but there’s no guarantee they’ll keep their spot unless they start being more consistent. The good news, though, is they seem to have a clear top star to rally around in Bonner.

4. The Washington Mystics have officially hit reality

At the beginning of the 2020 season, the Washington Mystics defied everyone’s expectations by winning their three straight opening games and becoming the only undefeated team in the league. Misha Hines-Allen, Aerial Powers, Emma Meesseman and Ariel Atkins had put the team on their backs in the absences of Elena Delle Donne, Natasha Cloud and Kristi Toliver, who left for Los Angeles in the offseason.

But the honeymoon phase is over for the reigning champions, who have lost their last seven games. Powers is out with a hamstring injury, and the team brought in Stella Johnson to replace her. But this season is likely lost for the team, and head coach Mike Thibault seems to be eagerly looking to next year. It was always difficult to imagine this team, without so many key players, maintaining its hot start to the season — especially in such a tightly packed season.

5. Give us all the Wubble kids content

WNBA players were allowed to bring their children to Bradenton, Florida for the 2020 regular season, and the content that we have gotten from the kids’ time in the Wubble has been absolutely precious. Phoenix Mercury guard Bria Hartley’s three-year-old son, Bryson, seems to have taken up photography in his spare time and the results are glorious. The Mercury’s social media accounts are laden with Bryson photos and it’s too cute to handle.

Dearica Hamby of the Las Vegas Aces brought her daughter, Amaya, to the Wubble, with the young Hamby eating Fruit Loops on the sidelines, enjoying some time in the swimming pool and even taking part in postgame interviews. Over with the Connecticut Sun, Bria Holmes’ “Baby D,” has stolen all the attention with her adorable outfits and infectious smile. All of the Wubble kids are too cute, and they deserve the world.

Saturday marked what would’ve been Nipsey Hussle’s 35th birthday. A number of celebrities took to social media to remember the celebrated hip-hop figure. Among those were Kehlani, who sent out a tweet reading “happy birthday big nip.” LeBron posted a tweet that said, “Bumping Nip All Day Long/Night!! Happy G-Day! I know you gone have one helluva shindig in Paradise today!” YG, Meek Mill, Fabolous, and more also shared posts commemorating Nipsey’s birthday on Instagram. And Lauren London, Nipsey’s widow, shared a heartfelt tribute to her late husband.

Sharing a black and white picture of Nipsey, London kept her message short and sweet as she mentioned the roles Nipsey played in her life.

King Ermias
Best friend
Twin Flame
Greatest Teacher
Beautiful Strong Vessel
The Spiritual Giant that walked Earth.
“I Miss You” will never be deep enough for the void left in my soul.
Yet, I know you walk with me- always still.
Happy 35th
Eternally Yours, Boogie

London’s words arrived just a day after Snoop Dogg celebrated Nipsey’s birthday by taking things a step further, dropping his “Nipsey Blue” song in honor of the late rapper.

You can view London’s Instagram post above.

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

A number of Comedians have always imagined themselves as truth-tellers, saying the things that most of “polite” society is afraid to say. That’s amped up during the Trump administration, and especially during a summer that’s given us both the pandemic and also the Black Lives Matter protests. Shortly after the killing of George Floyd, Dave Chappelle surprise released a new, short stand-up special, performed for a spartan, socially distancing crowd, in which he mostly kept things serious, speaking truth to power. Now, some two months later, Katt Williams has done something similar as Election Day gets closer and closer.

Ostensibly the comic’s set was a commercial, for the fashion line Supreme. But it was really an excuse for Williams to perform a set, lasting some seven minutes, to what looks like an empty crowd, his intended audience being those of us watching online. Williams did not hold back on the numerous ills that have turned the United States into a fractured, chaotic nightmare.

“If it doesn’t fit, it ain’t s*it. And things in this world are starting to not fit. Right now, we have a perfectly suitable clown running the free world,” he says in the ad. “We got a guy who’s advice included things that no decent crackhead would tell you to do with a gunshot wound.”

Williams addressed the protests that have been raging across the nation since late May. “Civil unrest is what happens every time a place is ruled by a people, and the people’s needs are not being met,” he said. He said he not only supported them, but was among the crowds.

“I’m not going to hide in a bunker. I’m on the front lines with you,” Williams said. He was optimistic about the passion displayed all over America. “Finally the chickens are coming home to roost. We are going to get rid of racism this time, once and for all, no matter what has to happen.”

Williams also discussed the pandemic, noting that it wasn’t the first one he’d experienced in his lifetime. That would be the AIDs crisis in the ’80s, which he said “filled up” Hart Island in the Bronx, an island used for mass burials. “It’s an airborne virus, folks,” he said. “If you breathe air, put on a mask.”

He then pivoted back to police brutality. “Because we can all agree breathing is important, we can all agree that you putting your knee on a man’s neck for eight minutes … It’s just murder,” Williams said.

At the end, he reminded viewers that comedians like him sometimes wind up having to step up when others won’t, saying, “I have already done more than an elected official.”

You can watch the full commercial/set in the tweet embedded above.

(Via Complex)

When the words “budget,” “cheap,” or even “inexpensive” are used to describe spirits, our minds quickly envision plastic handles of bottom-shelf, low-quality, hangover-inducing liquor. It’s a fair stigma — but not always the case. In fact, there are exceptions to this stereotype across the board. Especially in the world of rum.

Though the popularity of booze culture and mixology has increased in recent years (and spiked like crazy in quarantine), the rum marketplace is still full of superb value buys. You don’t even need to use the terms “budget” or “cheap.” The fact is, there are myriad bottles of low-cost, high-quality rum to be found.

To highlight rums that are worth every penny, we turned to some of our favorite bartenders. The slow sippers they named will turn your apartment into a tiki lounge in a hurry and make it feel like you’re maximizing your summer, even in a pandemic.

Brugal Anejo Rum

Ryan Andrews, beverage director at Prohibition in San Diego

What’s my favorite budget rum and why? Brugal Añejo rum. The Solera-style aging makes this rum incredibly smooth as a sipper and in cocktails.

Flor de Cana Grand Reserve 7 Year

Young Kim, beverage director at The Flatiron Room in New York City

I go with Flor de Cana Grand Reserve 7 Year which is priced around $20 and is not as sweet as many of the rums in the same price range. You can taste the vanilla, caramel, and butterscotch from the ex-bourbon barrel. That’s followed with a hint of leather, pencil shavings, and tobacco notes.

This bottle is smooth and full-bodied enough to sip or enjoy with ice. It also pairs perfectly in cocktails such as an Old Fashioned, Dark and Stormy, or Rum-groni [Rum Negroni].

Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple Rum

Casey Lyons, lead bartender at Pacific Hideaway in Huntington Beach, California

Plantation has changed the game [and will soon be changing its name]. Between the 3 Star and Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple expressions, they not only make me look like a wizard with the budget, but they also make delicious crowd-pleasers for guests.

Ron del Barrilito Tres Estrellas

Spencer Elliott, head bartender at The Boogie Room in New York City

My favorite budget rum is a one-way JetBlue flight to Puerto Rico during non-quarantine times and a shot of Three Star (Ron De Barrilito Tres Estrellas). You can find this rum stateside, but, for a few bucks a shot, it’s well worth the flight and the inevitable sunburn.

Plantation 3 Stars

Jason O’Bryan, Spirits Director, The Florence in San Diego

What’s my go-to budget rum? Probably Plantation 3-Star. 3 Star is the brands version of a well-balanced, slightly punchier-than-normal blend of rums from Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad. But honestly, any Spanish-style white rum is going to be great and inexpensive. Diplomatico, Flor de Cana, Ron Matusalem…budget rum is an embarrassment of riches.

Bacardi Gold Rum

Nikki McCutcheon, beverage manager at Moxy Times Square in New York City

My go-to would have to be Bacardi. They have such a wide selection of Rums for all occasions, whether you’re making daiquiris in the summer or coquito in the winter. Their moderate prices allow you to purchase a quality product and spend a little extra on fresh decadent mixers to make the perfect cocktail without breaking the bank.

Mount Gay Rum

Big Jon Conkin, Bartender at Wonderland Ocean Pub in San Diego

What’s my favorite budget rum and why? I’ve always been a fan of Mount Gay. Mixing or just sipping on, you can’t go wrong.

Pampero Aniversario Rum

Andrew Holmes, director of food and beverage at Hotel LeVeque in Columbus

What’s my go-to budget rum and why? Pampero Aniversario Rum — maybe not the absolute cheapest, but it never feels like the wrong pick.

Denizen 3 Year Aged White Rum

Andrew Meltzer, bartender at Noosh in San Francisco

Denizen Rum, either their 3-year white or Merchant’s Reserve. They are made with a blend of rums from Trinidad and Jamaica, so it’s smooth and fruity with a hint of funk. The price is equal to or less than a bottle of Bacardi, but there is much more flavor to be had. It’s the perfect companion to a hand-shaken Daiquiri or a bowl of punch for your next party.

Appleton Estate Signature

Hope Ewing, beverage director at Rappahannock Oyster Bar in Los Angeles

Go-to budget rum? My favorite flavor-for-the-money rum is Appleton Estate. It’s a terrific workhorse for tiki drinks and holds its own amidst those wild tiki flavors.

Baseball is a sport full of traditions, and one of the most time-honored of those traditions is managers screaming at umpires at close range. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may have made those arguments somewhat more socially distanced, of course, but they’re still happening as the MLB season continues.

On Sunday, however, we saw something that’s likely never happened during a manager’s argument with an umpire: the latter asking a manager to fix their mask while they exchange words. That happened during the third inning of a game between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland. With the score tied at 3, a play in the outfield made Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire come out to complain about the call.

Gardenhire objected to umpire Tim Timmons calling a ball stuck under the padding in the outfield a ground rule double, rather than letting the play carry on and potentially getting the Tigers extra bases. The argument was notable for a few reasons, the first of which being that Timmons was caught on a hot mic cursing the Tigers manager out.

The other, of course, was something far more of-the-moment: eagle-eyed viewers noticed that Gardenhire was arguing with his mask on, but not covering his nose. And at one point during the close-range discussion, the umpire actually motioned to Gardenhire to pull up his mask, which he did.

It’s definitely another addition to what’s been a very large pile of odd 2020 visuals due to COVID-19, but it is notable for another reason. MLB has had a number of coronavirus outbreaks that have threatened the league’s ability to actually finish the season logistically. With all that in the background, it’s nice to see that people are trying their best to stay safe. Even in a heated moment on the field.

Positioned in ninth place prior to the resumption of the NBA season in Orlando, the Portland Trail Blazers made it their mission to rise into the eighth and final playoff position in order to contend for an NBA title. In a play-in game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday afternoon, the Blazers did just that as they won to clinch the final playoff spot. Celebrating this feat, guard Damian Lilliard tapped into his rap alter-ego, Dame D.O.L.L.A., to drop his new EP, Live From The Bubble.

Presenting three new tracks to fans, Dame posted the EP on his social media pages inviting fans to experience the “Bubble vibes.” Despite the ongoing NBA season stretching well into late summer, Dame has managed to stay active on the music side of things. Earlier this year he called on Raphael Saadiq for his “GOAT Spirit” single and in October 2019, he shared his third full-length project Big D.O.L.L.A., a ten-track effort that called on Lil Wayne, Mozzy, Jeremih, and more.

Weeks later he shared the project’s deluxe version which found six additional tracks and features from Jadakiss, G-Eazy, Sada Baby, Lil Durk, and Benny The Butcher. The EP also arrives after Lillard was chosen as the MVP of the NBA’s Bubble by unanimous vote. Live From The Bubble can be heard in its entirety on SoundCloud here.

Nearly two weeks ago, following the death of The Roots member Malik B, a video that found singer Jaguar Wright accusing Common of sexual assault re-surfaced on social media. Emotional and distraught because of the situation, the video describes the night in question. Continuing to speak on Common as well as The Roots and other members of the industry in an interview with RealLyfe Productions, Wright offered her advice for women in the industry and how they should protect themselves.

Despite her intention with the interview, her comments on Summer Walker were not received well as the “Come Thru” singer caught wind of them and issued a response.

“My advice to any female who wants to get into this business? Have a thick skin, do not drink alcohol. Never get high in front of anybody,” Wright said in her interview around the 30-minute mark. “Keep somebody close to you that you know at all times, Summer. Has anybody bothered to ask why she all of a sudden become claustrophobic and couldn’t perform anymore? Because she had anxiety? Yeah, she got anxiety cause somebody touched her.” Wright later admitted that could not confirm that any harm was done to Walker, but said “I can look in a woman’s eyes and tell when she been touched.”

Responding to Wright’s interview in the comment section of an Instagram post by The Neighborhood Talk, Walker said, “1. I ain’t never been “touched,” I’m a child of God, I’m highly protected and highly favored honey ain’t nothing EVER happened to me, fortunately, I’ve been beyond blessed enough to never have to experience no shit like that. 2. A mf would definitely get clapped, knocked off, anyone who ACTUALLY knows me knows that.” Walker would issue two more points in her response.

3. I’m a highly intelligent introvert and PREFER to not interact with plp cause a a lot mf’s throwed off, like you, your a prime example of why I don’t have time. & 4. You weird AF, you don’t make something up as serious as RAPE about someone you don’t even know and then try to blast someone about it. I need you to be more productive with your time & platform I don’t know you but I expect more from you. You a woman , a fellow black woman at that like what type of time is you on ? For some clout? chile bless your spirit ima pray for you today.

Aside from her comments Walker, Wright has also spoken on her experiences with the likes of Talib Kweli, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, and others.

It has been a very long time since we’ve seen a new episode in The Walking Dead universe. April 5th, to be exact. Thankfully, AMC is putting the finishing touches on what was supposed to be the 10th season finale, but is now just the 16th episode of the season. That will finally air on October 4th, while showrunner Angela Kang has also announced that season 10 will be extended by six episodes, which will air in 2021. Nothing official has been announced, but it is my guess that the extended 10th season of The Walking Dead will air in the Spring of 2021, and the 11th season of the series will kick off in its usual spot in October, a year off its originally scheduled date.

Meanwhile, the sixth-season premiere Fear the Walking Dead has also been scheduled. It will air on the following week, October 11th, and it will continue to share Sunday nights with the spin-off series, The Walking Dead: The World Beyond, which will explicitly tie The Walking Dead universe to the Rick Grimes movies. What isn’t clear, however, is how many episodes of Fear the Walking Dead are ready to go when the series resumes, and if a full sixth season will air.

We don’t have exact answers to that question, but we do now know that Fear the Walking Dead will (try) to resume production on the sixth season. In fact, it’s set to resume production this month, while The Walking Dead will start filming those six The Walking Dead episodes beginning in October. That is, according to AMC CEO Josh Sapan. From Deadline:

AMC Networks said it plans to restart production on the second half of Season 6 of Fear the Walking Dead in Texas in late August, on new series Kevin Can F*** Himself in Boston at the end of September, and on Season 11 of The Walking Dead in Georgia in October.

The Walking Dead films in Georgia, where Tyler Perry has been in production for a number of weeks while in a bubble. Meanwhile, several other high-profile projects are raring to go in Atlanta, as well, like Netflix’s Red Notice with Dwayne Johnson and the final season of Ozark. Meanwhile, with the number of coronavirus cases continuing to climb in Texas, it is not clear when or how Fear will get started — there are not yet any Instagram photos from cast in Texas, so it’s unlikely they are in Austin yet. However, the rapid spit test developed by the NBA and Yale University and recently approved by the FDA could make resuming production in Texas, Georgia, and everywhere else much easier.

Source: Deadline