Gareth Bale on the brink of immortality with Wales epic quest to seize World Cup dream – The Independent

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Brazil were still the reigning world champions when Gareth Bale entered the international stage. One of his opponents as he made his debut, Trinidad and Tobagos Russell Latapy, was born in the 1960s. Bale was two decades his junior and the 2006 World Cup lay in the future.

If 2006 has a particular meaning to Ukraine, quarter-finalists in their only World Cup to date, it frames Bales career, too. This has been an epic quest. He has been the British games most successful export and, whether or not he is the greatest Welsh footballer John Charles, Cliff Jones, Ian Rush and Ryan Giggs have competing claims he has a compelling case to be the finest ever Wales player. He has dragged them to the brink of a first World Cup in 64 years.

Without his hat-trick away in Belarus last September, there may have been no play-off. He has not scored for Real Madrid since then. He went into Marchs semi-final against Austria with 77 minutes of club football in six months and delivered a match-winning double; the first a sensational free kick, the second a sharp shot on the turn. Now, after a mere 20 minutes in a further two months at Real, Ukraine beckon. Bales cause may pale into comparison with theirs but he can seem footballs most patriotic Welshman, drawing inspiration from his countrys colours.

The wording on an infamous Wales flag will need to be edited. Wales. Golf. Madrid, has become just Wales and golf, his farewell to Real Madrid written this week. I realised a dream, Bale said and, if the experience soured in recent years, he was wise enough to overlook an increasingly fractious relationship with their fans. His fifth Champions League came as a spectator, an unused substitute, but the first four came courtesy of his three goals, heading Real into the lead in the 2014 final and scoring a sensational overhead kick in 2018, as well as a penalty in the 2016 shootout. In the Champions League era, only Cristiano Ronaldo has more goals in finals.

In the international arena, the Southampton left-back who debuted 16 years ago has been transformed into an attacking talisman. Greatness came in Euro 2016, in Wales surge to the semi-finals, in qualifiers, in accumulating a national record 38 goals. But not in World Cups: in 2014, when Bale was arguably at his peak, they had finished fifth in a qualifying pool. In 2018, when he scored twice in a Champions League final, they came third. He has another dream to realise. There is a solitary gap on his CV; it could be filled long after physical decline set in. While Wales have a younger generation and disproportionate reserves of talent for a country of 3 million, they are still defined by the two ageing superstars. This feels both a best and a last chance for Bale and Aaron Ramsey.

Gareth Bale looks on after Real Madrid win the Champions League in Paris

(Getty)

They have had parallel lives, parallel careers. Ramseys experience of a European final this summer contrasted with Bales: two minutes on the pitch, summoned for a shootout, his missed penalty costing Rangers the Europa League. Yet each has felt unwanted at club level, trapped by dint of being overpaid: Juventus loaned Ramsey out this season, Real let Bale go back to Tottenham the previous campaign.

They have inverted a trend: where others retire from international football to concentrate on club careers, Bale and Ramsey feel part-time footballers, mainstays of their national teams, marginalised by their club sides. They are trying to patch their bodies up and drive their country on by force of personality. Rob Page has sought to build teams around them, getting others to do their running and defending, looking for their quality on the ball to compensate. It is a formula that can reflect the nature of international football, with a greater difference in talent levels within a side, with its slower pace and less scope for fervent pressing meaning star vehicles can progress further. This is one of the better Welsh groups in the decades since they were quarter-finalists in the 1958 World Cup and yet only Ben Davies is now a regular starter for a top-15 finisher in any of Europes five major leagues.

Wales celebrate after Gareth Bale scores against Austria

(EPA)

Wales began Wednesdays Nations League defeat to Poland with three starters from League One and a scorer, in Jonny Williams, from League Two, but minus a quartet of Euro 2016 heroes, with Bale, Ramsey, Davies and Joe Allen all held back for Ukraine.

And this could be their last stand. This week, Bale has gained an MBE and lost an employer. The uncertainty around the captains own future means that defeat could hasten the end of the Bale-Ramsey era. Ivor Allchurch and Cliff Jones stand apart in Wales history, the only players to score the goals in a game that took them to a World Cup. For their modern-day counterparts, it feels like a case of now or never.

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Gareth Bale on the brink of immortality with Wales epic quest to seize World Cup dream - The Independent

Romeo Crennel Belongs in the Patriots Hall of Fame – Barstool Sports

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You know how the Baseball Hall of Fame voting went from a fun, harmless conversation we got to have that provided hundreds of hours of sports TV and radio every year into a tedious, desultory, soul-crushing referendum on PEDs and Curt Schilling's social media posts? To the point you just dread the thing you used to enjoy?

Well a similar dynamic has threatened the Patriots Hall of Fame voting over the last few years. And that is, every year when three names are put on the ballot, the issue of one name that's not on the ballot sucks all the air out of the room. And that name is Bill Parcells. The Parcells stans in Boston media are not as numerous as they once were, in that way there are fewer World War II vets in your town's Memorial Day parade every year. But like the men who saved the world from tyranny in the '40s, they are a fiercely loyal bunch. And can't simply stay focused on how great, say, Vince Wilfork's career was and how much he deserves the immortality Pats fans bestowed upon him. They want their Tuna in. Like the very justification for the existence of the Hall at Patriots Place depends on his induction. And they suggest the only thing standing between this grave injustice and their dream coming true is that meddling Kraft family. And not Parcells' .500 record in New England (32-32 regular season, 2-2 postseason) or the dozens of calls he made to the Jets offices from his hotel room in New Orleans when he was supposed to be getting his team ready for the Super Bowl. Until that wrong is righted, in their eyes no one can truly be free.

Which brings us to Romeo Crennel. Who could - and should - be the first coordinator inducted into the Patriots Hall. If you want a cause to take up, you could not have a better one.

I concede that RAC was only in charge of the Patriots defense for four seasons. Which, coincidentally, is exactly how long Parcells was here. The difference being that Crennel left after four years because he was wildly successful and turned himself into the hottest head coaching candidate in the league. And that interest was vindicated by the fact he's still drawing an NFL paycheck 17 years later and is leaving football of his own volition just a few days shy of his 75th birthday. Parcells, in contrast, left in 1997 after four years because he didn't like getting questions from Mr. Kraft, the man who wildly overspent $175 million of his own money to save the franchise a couple of years earlier.

And what did Crennel accomplish in those four seasons? He was the leader of a defensive unit that had one of the best runs in the modern history of football. The year before he came to Foxboro, the 2000 Patriots allowed the 15th most points in the league. In his first season, they improved to 6th fewest.

In the years 2003-04, when the Pats had the best back-to-back seasons in NFL history, winning two Super Bowls and going 34-4 in that stretch, Crennel's defenses gave up the fewest and second fewest points in the league, respectively. That '03 team was particularly nasty. They had three shutouts on the season and were one garbage time score by Jacksonville from putting together six straight home games without giving up a touchdown. The combined a league low 11 passing touchdowns with a league high 29 interceptions and 121 passes defensed, for an astonishing passer rating against of just 56.2. To put that in perspective, the Browns Kordell Stewart was 32nd among all QBs with a passer rating of 56.8. So the Patriots turned every quarterback they faced into the worst in football.

More to the point is what Crennel's teams did when it counted most. Not only did they go 9-0 in the postseason in his tenure, they beat league MVPs Rich Gannon, Marshall Faulk, Kurt Warner, Steve McNair and Peyton Manning (twice). The game plan to beat The Greatest Show on Turf Rams belongs in Canton. Crennel and Bill Belichick determined Mike Martz's entire scheme ran through the running back. And as the NFL Films version of the game put it, "The plan was to hit Marshall Faulk when he had the ball. And hit him when he doesn't." Mission accomplished.

But the numbers they did on Manning and the Colts in those two postseasons are where Crennel's true greatness shone through. Two weeks after Manning had a perfect passer rating in the 2003 Wild Card against Denver and a week after he posted a 22-for-30, 73.3%, 304 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 138.7 passer rating against Kansas City, the Patriots produced this gem: 23-for-47, 48.9%, 237 yards, 1 TD, 4 INTs, 35.5 passer rating. A game in which Hall of Famer Ty Law caught as many of Manning's passes (3) as Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison. And had more yards on his returns than Harrison on his receptions.

And as a testament to Crennel's genius, the Colts Bill (Na)Polian, who just happened to be on the Rules Committee, got the league to essentially outlaw the Patriots physical style of play. And so the next postseason, a week after the Colts put up 49 on Denver without having to punt, the Pats held them to 3 points. The game after that, these three glorious sons of bitches were taking a Gatorade shower together for the third and final time.

Of course Belichick gets most of the credit. And deserves it. But if you ask him - and someone most definitely will later on today, he'll tell you with first hand knowledge how indispensable RAC was in those early days of the Dynasty. Give this man his due and put him in the Hall in Foxboro. It's the only way to cap off his incredible career. Andthat will be justice.

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Romeo Crennel Belongs in the Patriots Hall of Fame - Barstool Sports

What Voyager space probes tell us about immortality as they sail through space – Religion News Service

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(The Conversation) Voyager 1 is the farthest human-made object from Earth. After sweeping by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, it is now almost 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth in interstellar space. Both Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, carry little pieces of humanity in the form of their Golden Records. These messages in a bottle include spoken greetings in 55 languages, sounds and images from nature, an album of recordings and images from numerous cultures, and a written message of welcome from Jimmy Carter, who was U.S. president when the spacecraft left Earth in 1977.

Each Voyager spacecraft carries a Golden Record containing two hours of sounds, music and greetings from around the world. Carl Sagan and other scientists assumed that any civilization advanced enough to detect and capture the record in space could figure out how to play it.NASA/Wikimedia Commons

The Golden Records were built to last a billion years in the environment of space, but in a recent analysis of the paths and perils these explorers may face, astronomers calculated that they could exist for trillions of years without coming remotely close to any stars.

Having spent my career in the field of religion and science, Ive thought a lot about how spiritual ideas intersect with technological achievements. The incredible longevity of the Voyager spacecraft presents a uniquely tangible entry point into exploring ideas of immortality.

For many people, immortality is the everlasting existence of a soul or spirit that follows death. It can also mean the continuation of ones legacy in memory and records. With its Golden Record, each Voyager provides such a legacy, but only if it is discovered and appreciated by an alien civilization in the distant future.

Religious beliefs about immortality are numerous and diverse. Most religions foresee a postmortem career for a personal soul or spirit, and these range from everlasting residence among the stars to reincarnation.

The ideal eternal life for many Christians and Muslims is to abide forever in Gods presence in heaven or paradise. Judaisms teachings about what happens after death are less clear. In the Hebrew Bible, the dead are mere shades in a darkened place called Sheol. Some rabbinical authorities give credence to the resurrection of the righteous and even to the eternal status of souls.

Immortality is not limited to the individual. It can be collective as well. For many Jews, the final destiny of the nation of Israel or its people is of paramount importance. Many Christians anticipate a future general resurrection of all who have died and the coming of the kingdom of God for the faithful.

Jimmy Carter, whose message and autograph are immortalized in the Golden Records, is a progressive Southern Baptist and a living example of religious hope for immortality. Now battling brain cancer and approaching centenarian status, he has thought about dying. Following his diagnosis, Carter concluded in a sermon: It didnt matter to me whether I died or lived. My Christian faith includes complete confidence in life after death. So Im going to live again after I die.

It is plausible to conclude that the potential of an alien witnessing the Golden Record and becoming aware of Carters identity billions of years in the future would offer only marginal additional consolation for him. Carters knowledge in his ultimate destiny is a measure of his deep faith in the immortality of his soul. In this sense, he likely represents people of numerous faiths.

For people who are secular or nonreligious there is little solace to be found in an appeal to the continuing existence of a soul or spirit following ones death. Carl Sagan, who came up with the idea for the Golden Records and led their development, wrote of the afterlife: I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than just wishful thinking. He was more saddened by thoughts of missing important life experiences like seeing his children grow up than fearful about the expected annihilation of his conscious self with the death of his brain.

For those like Sagan there are other possible options for immortality. They include freezing and preserving the body for future physical resurrection or uploading ones consciousness and turning it into a digital form that would long outlast the brain. Neither of these potential paths to physical immortality has proved to be feasible yet.

The Golden Records contain a snapshot of Earth and humanity.

Most people, whether secular or religious, want the actions they do while alive to bear continuing meaning into the future as their fruitful legacy. People want to be remembered and appreciated, even cherished. Sagan summed it up nicely: To live in the hearts we leave behind is to live forever.

With Voyagers 1 and 2 estimated to exist for more than a trillion years, they are about as immortal as it gets for human artifacts. Even before the Suns expected demise when it runs out of fuel in about 5 billion years, all living species, mountains, seas and forests will have long been obliterated. It will be as if we and all the marvelous and extravagant beauty of planet Earth never existed a devastating thought to me.

Voyager 1s path, in white, has taken the craft well past the orbits of the outer planets into interstellar space, where aliens may someday come across the relic of humanity.NASA/JPL via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

But in the distant future, the two Voyager spacecraft will still be floating in space, awaiting discovery by an advanced alien civilization for whom the messages on the Golden Records were intended. Only those records will likely remain as testimony and legacy of Earth, a kind of objective immortality.

Religious and spiritual people can find solace in the belief that God or an afterlife waits for them after death. For the secular, hoping that someone or something will remember humanity, any wakeful and appreciative aliens will have to do.

(James Edward Huchingson, Professor Emeritus and Lecturer in Religion and Science, Florida International University. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

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What to expect from this summer’s big video game shows – Engadget

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Its June, and video game fans across the globe know what that means its not E3. Again. The old, in-person gaming show has been canceled for the third year in a row, but this summer will still be filled with news and virtual events, thanks in large part to Canadas sweetheart Geoff Keighley.

It all takes place in early June, which is like right now, so lets take a look at the schedule for Summer Game Fest and break down what to expect from the studios involved.

Summer Game Fest is less a singular event and more a state of mind. It comprises a handful of virtual shows spread over 10 days, starting on June 2nd with the PlayStation State of Play stream. This one already happened, and it was short and sweet, focusing on content for PlayStation VR 2. Capcom kicked things off with a reveal of the Resident Evil 4 remake, the announcement of a VR version of Resident Evil: Village, and a release window of 2023 for Street Fighter 6. Square Enix also showed off the first gameplay trailer for Final Fantasy XVI, complete with a 2023 timeframe for launch. Oddly enough, theres still no word on when the PSVR2 will actually come out.

Capcom

After that, Activision is hosting its own little party for the reveal of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II on June 8th at 1pm ET. The game is a sequel to 2019's Modern Warfare and a reboot of the series. This show literally just wrapped up, and Activision shared its plans to bring Modern Warfare II's technology to the new Warzone, which will land after October this year. No Russian, the controversial airport mission from the original Modern Warfare II, will not be included in the reboot.

Summer Game Fest officially kicks off with a big live-streamed event on June 9th at 2pm ET. Hosted by Keighley, the show is expected to be two hours long and will feature announcements from the usual suspects, including 2K, Atlus, Bloober Team, Capcom, EA, Epic Games, Warner Bros. and Square Enix. The Day of the Devs stream directly after the main show will spotlight indie games specifically, backed by iam8bit and Double Fine.

Not much has been publicly confirmed for the kickoff show, but well definitely get a fresh look at Gotham Knights, an appearance by The Rock, and lots of raw gameplay footage, according to Keighley. Even with State of Play last week, theres still room for Capcom to drop some details about DLC for Resident Evil: Village, and for Square Enix to showcase Forspoken, which comes out in October. Atlus may show off something in the Persona universe, and rumor has it Bloober Team is working on a Silent Hill game but it could also be building a new Layers of Fear.

Next on the calendar is indie publisher Devolver Digital, with a Twitch stream on June 9th at 6pm ET, the same night as the main Summer Game Fest event. Its Devolver, so this shows gonna be weird. Its gonna have a lot of f-bombs. Its gonna leave you with the feeling that Devolver is scrappy and relatable, but also way too cool for you. Its gonna try really hard to disguise the fact that yes, even Devolvers show is simply another long ad from a company entrenched in the video game industrys multibillion dollar corporate system but most of all, I bet itll be funny as hell. Devolver always puts on a good show, and they always have a rich roster of indie developers to choose from. This year should be no different, with Suda51 hosting the stream and recent hits like Deaths Door, Inscryption, Trek to Yomi and Weird West on the publishers roster.

Half Mermaid

On June 10th, theres a Netflix Geeked Week stream followed by a Tribeca Games Spotlight focusing on a curated selection of upcoming indie titles, including Immortality, Thirsty Suitors, As Dusk Falls and Oxenfree II. And then, on June 12th, its time for the most E3 event of the summer the Xbox and Bethesda showcase.

The Xbox and Bethesda stream kicks off at 1pm ET on Sunday, June 12th. There are no confirmed announcements so far, but the shows cosmic marketing scheme suggests well see something from Starfield, Bethesdas huge new sci-fi RPG. This will be bittersweet for anyone whos been following the games development just last month, Bethesda delayed Starfieldinto the first half of 2023, pushing it back from an initial release date of November 11th, 2022. Aside from a few teaser videos and dev diaries, we havent seen much of Starfield, and the Xbox show is the ideal time to break out some actual gameplay and maybe even convince fans that the delay will be worthwhile.

Its very possible well get a good look at another delayed Bethesda property Redfall, the open-world, co-op vampire shooterdeveloped by Dishonored studio Arkane. Redfall was originally supposed to come out this summer, but Bethesda pushed it into the first half of 2023 alongside Starfield. Itd be great to see some gameplay from this title, since so far the marketing has consisted of stylized, cinematic videos. And to round out the Bethesda properties, theres always a chance that Elder Scrolls 6 will make an appearance, considering we havent seen anything about it since 2018 you know, back when E3 was still a thing.

But thats enough about Bethesda Xbox owns 23 game studios and it has Game Pass, the companys subscription game-streaming service thats sure to be mentioned every other minute during the show. Other potential hits for the Xbox stream include Senuas Saga: Hellblade II, the next Forza Motorsport, and maybe even something about the new Fable that was announced in 2020. And of course theres always room for Halo: Infinite updates.

Ninja Theory

With Sony and Microsoft chugging along in the latest console generation, the focus right now is on software, and both studios have plenty to prove in this space. Sony barely participated in the summers events and the company doesnt seem interested in talking about major in-house projects like God of War: Ragnarok or Insomniacs Spider-Man 2. Meanwhile, two significant delays from Xbox this year were a big blow to the companys reputation, especially considering how important first-party exclusives are in a subscription-based ecosystem. Xbox promises to include its blockbuster games in Game Pass subscriptions on day one, at no extra charge, while that isnt the case with Sonys new subscription service, PlayStation Plus Premium. This poses a significant consumer-facing advantage for Xbox and I expect to hear a lot about first-party exclusives in Game Pass during the companys big show.

And with that, it looks like Summer Game Fest is done but theres still plenty more gaming news to come this year. Nintendo loves to host digital showcases whenever it damn well pleases and were just about due for another one; EA usually has a show of its own at some point; Sony still has plenty of PSVR2 and PS Plus Premium details to share, and Microsoft will never stop talking about Game Pass. In fact, Xbox is hosting a second showcase on June 14th. And when all else fails, there are so many indie games, you guys. Lets all have some fun.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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Kung Fus Eddie Liu on Henrys Daddy Issues and His Place In The Shooby Gang – The Nerds of Color

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Eddie Liu suggested this season of Kung Fu should be called Daddy Issues.

It seems like everyone except the Shen family are dealing with dad problems. Mias (Vanessa Yao) father sold her out to Russell Tan (Kee Chan). Juliette (Annie Q) was straight up murdered by her dad ollowed by Kerwin (Ludi Lin), whose father took over his body as a vessel.

As for Lius character, Henrys estranged father Daniel (Terry Chen), who abandoned his family years ago, returned to make amends with his son, revealing the truth behind his absence. Daniel is part of the Wan Zei, an organization that protects the world from the supernatural, and wanted to keep Henry away from that life. But, like father, like son, Henry has become a part of that world and, together, they team up to fight Russell Tans plan for immortality. Unfortunately, Daniel is shot after saving Henrys life, leaving the episode on a cliffhanger until next weeks episode. Its a lot to process, especially for Henry who just welcomed his father back into his life and Liu agrees.

To have his dad come back into his life in such a literally hard hitting way, it definitely takes him for a loop, Liu tells The Nerds of Color. The crazy thing is, up until this point, I dont think Henry has really had that much time to process where [or] how things are with his dad. This is really intense. These intense extremes of lows to highs that youve seen from [Henry] when Danny comes back into his life and where theyre at now. I dont think Henry has had too much of a process [to think about it].

Still, Liu believes Henry is coming to understand his fathers journey and dedication to serving the greater good. Liu, himself, doesnt buy the excuse for Daniel leaving the family, but he says Henry has a lot of compassion to forgive his father.

The ironic thing is that all this time he thought all these negative things about his father being absent and dishonorable, like running away from the family, [but] Henry is so much more like his father than anyone ever could have expected, says Liu.

Of course, the storyline isnt just focused on Henrys relationship with his father, but also Henry finally standing up for himself in his relationship with Nicky (Olivia Liang). After an intense argument between the fan-favorite couple, Henry tells her that they need to work together as partners in this relationship instead of Nicky making decisions, that affect both of them, without consulting him. Although Liu doesnt agree with the timing of the confrontation (Ryan was in the hospital), he says what Henry said is valid. In order to work, Nicky and Henry have to work as a team.

Liu revealed more details on Henrys relationship with his father and Nicky, as well as figuring out his place in this supernatural world. Of course, we talk about ships, with Liu revealing shit [does] get weird in the finale.Interesting.

Check out the conversation below:

Honestly, Id like to see a series of Henry and Daniel as fighting duos. I love Terry Chen. With what happened to his dad, and if Daniel survives, do you feel like Henry would like to travel with his dad for a bit to get to know him and work together with the promise of returning to Nicky, of course?

Henry would absolutely be game to repair his relationship with his father to learn about what his father has been up to all these years and what this mission that hes been serving as a lifelong member of the Wan Zei. Theres this great moment in episode 7 when Henry is very much reluctant to team up with his dad, especially because his dads team just kidnapped him before that. But, theres a great moment when theyre stealing the painting to give back to the original owners, and he sees his father show real honor in the heat of battle and that definitely earned some respect and some honor points in Henrys book regarding Danny. So I do think that with time and seeing that his father isnt this bad person. [Danny] didnt know any better as far as how to be a better dad. I mean, Danny does kind of give a poor excuse as to why he chose to stay out his sons life but I think Henry has enough compassion and patience to see theres a possibility to explore that relationship. And yeah, I think that Nicky would be very supportive of something like that for Henry trying to make amends with his dad in the long term.

Lets break it down here. Nicky and Henry had their first fight this season with Henry feeling like its always been about Nicky and now his feelings. I know they made up at the end of the episode, but things dont usually get resolved like that in real life. How is Henry still feeling about that whole thing?

I feel like Henry has been taken for a real loop this season. He just needed to be heard. I know that were glad that they were able to resolve it in that episode. Personally, I wasnt feeling so comfortable about Henrys timing, regarding when he brought it up given that Nickys brother was fighting for his life in the hospital. But there is a lot of validity where hes coming from. This has to be a team effort. Weve seen Henry and Nicky be great partners. Sometimes all the best bands and all the best duos in the world have to address some relationship issues.

It is hard being the boyfriend of a supernatural chosen one. There is something to be said about superheroines protecting their significant others and how some men cant help but feel helpless. I know Henry is secure with himself, but I know theres some hidden masculinity issues behind it. How does Henry feel about it?

I think Henry has zero issues with his masculinity [or] any insecurity as far as his girlfriend being the chosen one and being the sheer dominant superhero force this generations warrior. He understands the lore. He understands her destiny. For any team to fire on all cylinders and succeed together, they just have to be willing to work together and just hear each other out. Other than that, Henry is just incredibly supportive and fully on board with his girl being the warrior.

Henry does have so many amazing skills hes a fighter, knowledgeable in history, a pickpocket/thief does he feel like he could do more than just be in the Shooby Gang or is he complacent because the love of his life is there?

Henry is a real team player. Hes gonna find whatever role needs to be done. There is a role for everyone in this team and it goes beyond Henry. You see Althea (Shannon Dang) brings to the table and Ryan (Jon Prasida), Evan (Gavin Stenhouse), and even Dennis (Tony Chung) as well. We love it when everybody contributes to the team like that and thats just me speaking as a fan. We, the cast, love seeing the group together because we love to work together but you see that the strength of team good guys Scooby gang really lies in its cohesion and unity.

I do want to focus more on Henry than the Shooby gang, because yeah, we all love seeing the Shooby gang come together, but we know Henry can do so much more and be a hero of his own. Will we see that he feels like he could do more than just be in San Francisco with the group versus traveling the world and using his skills on a wider range?

Henry is super focused on the mission at hand. He isnt really the kind of person to make it about himself. Hopefully, when we can take the bad guys [down], theyll have a little time to take a sabbatical, write a book, take a painting [class] or something like that. I do think that Henry does have so many skills and there is a lot of potential to explore how much he could grow both as a fighter and makeshift spy. Hes gonna explore more. Hes gonna want to explore more ways to serve the greater good and to help those in need whether thats with his team or anyone else outside of that.

Obviously, Im going to talk about ships because its me. I do want to ask this because Ive asked Olivia and Gavin this, because it still blows my mind that Nicky, Henry, and Evan have a wonderful and healthy relationship. Evan and Henry seem like best friends despite the fact that Evan was Nickys former lover and not too long ago, investigated Henrys past. So whats up with this friendship?

Sometimes things seem a little too good to be true. It takes something like a fictional TV show to put that in the minds of the audience that, hey, we can all strive to be better. We can all be like that even if we dont see it that much in real life. That doesnt mean that we cant work for it [or] that doesnt mean it cant ever exist. Were really relieved that we dont have to make Henry and Evan into these petty toxic bros fighting for Nickys attention. That storyline has been done in so many different ways and its cool to see that [these two characters[ can be above that. We definitely had our fun playing [with that] and some of those colors in season 1. But we do really love the point that theyve arrived at.

I spoke to Gavin about these relationships and asked if he believes theres a chance for Nevan to happen again. We know there is a third season and he said you never know that there could be a catalyst to create a fight between the ships. Whats your take on what could potentially happen for season 3 regarding your characters relationship with Nicky because its a CW series, the potential love triangle?

All of that is still in play. We never know. We dont even know what direction it could go in. As long as youre staying true to what these characters stand for and who they are as people at their core. If a rivalry comes back [or] if theres conflict in the ships, as long as you shoot these characters doing what feels real and honest, then were game to play that, for sure.

The episode ended on a cliffhanger and so many lives are on the line. I know you cant tell us much, but what can you tell us about the season finale?

Shit is gonna get weird. Yeah. If you dont think its weird already, it will get even weirder. I will say that I really enjoy asking friends and family what their predictions are. Its really fun not answering them and just listening and knowing that no one can predict whats coming.

Are we going to see Zhilan (Yvonne Chapman) end up being Eddies mother? [Joke reference to a fan theory]

It is a fantasy show. All it takes is one witch and one spell gone real weird and yeah. I hope that one day that if that does come true, a fan is ready to make some fanart like the Monster-In-Law poster, but instead of Jane Fonda, itll be Yvonne [Chapman] and then Nicky doing the uh-oh face.

Kung Fus season finale airs next week on Wednesday at 9pm on The CW.

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Kung Fus Eddie Liu on Henrys Daddy Issues and His Place In The Shooby Gang - The Nerds of Color

Book tells tale of 1920s reporters who warned the world of the war that was coming – Kingsport Times News

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There is no immortality for newspaper reporters.

One of them, Ben Hecht, addressed this matter in a short poem written long ago: We know each others daydreams / And the hopes that come to grief / For we write each others obits / And theyre Godalmighty brief.

There is no immortality for newspaper reporters, but Deborah Cohen has done a remarkably powerful, enlightening and entertaining job of bringing back to life a quartet of long gone reporters along with dozens of other interesting sorts, in her new book, Last Call at the Hotel Imperial: The Reporters Who Took on a World at War (Random House).

It is a journey, she writes, into the 1920s and 1930s, (when) millions of Americans got their news from a very small number of international reporters. In the interwar years, American foreign correspondents became the kings of the hill. Armed with a peculiarly American obsession with personalities, they sounded an early warning about the rise of the dictators.

She focuses on four of them, each a vessel of immense curiosity and energy.

There was Chicago-born John Gunther, who was a student at the University of Chicago before becoming a reporter for the Chicago Daily News, where he struck his colleagues as a young man going somewhere. Did he ever, taking off for Europe with no job (he had quit the News) and $150 in his pocket but with big ambitions. He would report prolifically and marry another writer named Frances. He would become a bestselling author with what was known as the Inside books, a series that included the bestseller Inside U.S.A in 1947. He basically invented the grief memoir with the heart-wrenching 1949 book about his young sons death, Death Be Not Proud, which is sadly the only one of his many books still in print.

H.R. Knickerbocker, Knick to his friends, was Texas-born and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1931 for his newspaper series on Stalin.

Vincent (Jimmy) Sheean came to the University of Chicago from tiny downstate Pana, Illinois, and was soon reporting from far, far away, from Spain and elsewhere. His 1935 political memoir Personal Historybecame the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcocks 1940 film Foreign Correspondent.

Dorothy Thompson, perhaps the most famous of the gang, was a native New Yorker. As she wrote to a friend in 1921, when she was in her late 20s, I have been a wild cat walking by my wild lone self most of my life since 16. What she did becoming the first female syndicated political columnist and a radio broadcaster, made her so prominent that, as Cohen tells us, On the eve of the Second World War, Time magazine described Thompson and Eleanor Roosevelt as the most influential women in the United States. She was also married for a helter- skelter time to novelist Sinclair Lewis. Her life became the inspiration for the Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn 1942 film Woman of the Year.

Cohen informs us of so much, bringing the characters of this era to vivid and raucous life. She makes them all unforgettable, and allows us to understand what made them tick and work as they visited European capitals and traveled to Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Their Midwestern roots were crucial, she says. They understood their readers. They were able to speak to Americans. They were as famous in their time as famous could be and they were also pioneers in new journalism. They were subjective, intimate, emotional, powerful.

They also had active social and drinking lives. They were in and out of each others lives, sharing late nights, talking, sharing beds, Cohen says.

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As she writes, Even when they were far apart, even after they fell out, they kept right on talking and arguing, long after the conversations had ended.

The eight years Cohen devoted to researching and writing this splendid book was time well spent. We encounter in fresh ways such figures as Hitler, Mussolini, Gandhi, Nehru and Stalin. We also meet such now-forgotten people as Polly Adler, the proprietor of Manhattans most famous brothel and a friend of Gunthers: It was difficult to find girls to work because they were all doing war service, she told John. The sexual peculiarities these days! The higher the tensions got in Europe, the stranger the perversions.

So prolific and active were the reporters that they make the most famous writer of the period, a fellow named Hemingway, seem a slacker by comparison.

The maps detailing the travels of these reporters are admirable and dizzying. As Gunther would put it later, We were scavengers, buzzards, out to get the news, no matter whose wings got clipped.

Cohen was born and raised in Louisville and at a tender age flirted with a career as a newspaper reporter. She started and edited a paper in high school but, admitting to being hijacked by archives, earned a degree in history and womens studies at Harvard-Radcliffe and then a masters and doctorate at the University of California at Berkeley. She taught at American University and Brown University before coming to Northwestern in 2010, where she now academically resides, living in the Lakeview neighborhood with her husband and teenage daughter.

I love teaching, first-year students to graduate level, she says.

She is also a writer of palpable power and deep understanding.

After WWII, her quartet, more or less, she says, moved off stage. Their moment was the moment of warning, so once the conflict started, what was there for them to say, I told you so?

In their time they told us more than enough and they came at us in an intimate fashion. Cohen writes with easy authority and a powerful narrative drive. This is a great book about great and flawed people caught up in a world going mad.

She credits the voluminous archives that she pored through for making it possible to capture the texture and the course of (her subjects) thoughts at very close hand My aim as an author has been to follow their own lead as journalists to convey how it felt to lie so exposed to history in the making.

For what its worth, Cohen would have made one hell of a reporter.

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Book tells tale of 1920s reporters who warned the world of the war that was coming - Kingsport Times News

Inside Klopps Liverpool a season that flirted with immortality and ended in heartbreak – The Athletic

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Champions dont complain, they are too busy getting better.

That was the motivational message, written in large letters, that greeted Jurgen Klopps squad when they assembled in the western Austrian state of Tyrol after a two-hour drive from Salzburg.

It was late last July and the Liverpool squad were at the midway point of an unprecedented four-week European training camp. Limbs were weary but spirits were high.

With the ongoing effects of the pandemic again ruling out the possibility of a lucrative pre-season tour to either America or Asia, Klopp and assistant Pep Lijnders had free reign to create what they regarded as the perfect base for the challenges ahead.

No long-haul travel, no commercial appearances, no unwanted distractions. They kept things fresh by dividing that precious month away between Salzburg, Tyrol and the French spa town of Evian. Both on and off the field, every box was ticked.

The contrast to the previous summer, when a spate of positive COVID-19 tests led to players isolating in their Austrian hotel rooms and training was hampered by monsoon conditions, could hardly have been more stark.

Liverpool had been running on empty by the end of the 2020-21 season. Their defence of the Premier League title had been derailed by a series of devastating injuries. The players hated the soulless environment of behind closed doors football and the strict protocols which meant they couldnt even eat meals together.

After a gutsy resurgence on the run-in salvaged Champions League qualification, Klopps men had nothing left to give. But when they were reunited in Salzburg two months later the mood was very different.

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane had enjoyed the rare luxury of an extended summer break and the benefits were there for all to see. Trent Alexander-Arnold was similarly revitalised after a thigh injury in a pre-tournament warm-up game forced him to sit out the European Championship. Englands loss proved to be Liverpools gain.

The feel-good factor was fuelled by the return to the fold of centre-backs Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez after lengthy injury rehabilitation programmes. The spine and structure of the team were being restored.

Groundstaff team manager Warren Scott was there too, at Klopps request, to ensure the training pitches were prepared exactly how the manager wanted them.

Klopp knew that being away from home for so long was a big ask for the players but he passionately explained to them how they would all benefit over the course of the season.

There were punishing double sessions.

Were not going to kill you on the first day I thought wed do that on the second day, roared Klopp.

Players had to complete six 1km runs, with just a minutes rest in between. James Milner once again proved himself to be the king of endurance as he showed others a clean pair of heels.

There was a big emphasis on training drills designed to increase the intensity of Liverpools counter-pressing as well as the fluency and potency of their counter-attacks. Lijnders, who puts together the training programme, spoke about the need to fine-tune the ability to hit opponents with organised chaos. There was a competitive element to every exercise with forfeits such as 30 push-ups for the losers.

The better you play, the more you play. The better you finish, the less you run. The worse you play, the more you run. Natural pressure, explained Lijnders.

Three months later, he would liken Liverpools ravenous front line to the raptors from Jurassic Park after Manchester United had been humiliated 5-0 at Old Trafford.

Away from the turf, the spirit and camaraderie in the squad were enhanced by quizzes, table-tennis competitions, bike rides and karaoke nights.

Towards the end of the Austrian leg of the trip, Klopp organised a party for the 40 or so staff members who had supported the players across the previous weeks. The manager wanted to say thank you for everyones commitment throughout a gruelling period during which many of them had spent a considerable amount of time away from their families. The pandemic meant the creation of two bubbles throughout July, with one set of employees being replaced by another halfway through the camp.

The venue was a mountain cabin set away from the team hotel in a secluded wooded area, high above the alpine town of Seefeld. There was a buffet of smoked meats and cheeses. Attendees could order whatever they wanted from a free bar.

Klopp did not give a speech but ensured he made his way around the room, starting conversations with each person.

It became clear during the course of the evening how highly he valued Harvey Elliott. In one of the UKs national newspapers, there was a story linking Liverpool to Saul Niguez, the Atletico Madrid midfielder who eventually signed for Chelsea. Klopp suggested the story was not true why would it be when Elliott, a teenager recently returned from a successful loan at Championship Blackburn, had trained so fantastically in Austria?

When Liverpool moved on to Evian, Klopp invited TV presenter, author and adventurer Ben Fogle to talk to the players about pushing yourself to the limit both physically and mentally. Fogle drew upon his experiences of rowing across the Atlantic Ocean, running 160 miles through the Sahara Desert and climbing Mount Everest. It went down well with his audience.

I helped them with their mind control and mental agility under pressure through the context of my own expeditions, Fogle said. Already great footballers, the challenge was how to keep on top of their game when it is not one single mountain, but a whole mountain range that you have to climb each season consistency in the face of expectation and pressure.

Attitude comes from the top. A positive mindset is key to success. Jurgen glows with optimism. His smile is infectious.

When the transfer window closed at the end of August, there was a debate raging over whether Liverpool had been active enough in the market to be regarded as serious contenders for the biggest prizes, and a section of the fanbase was restless.

Georginio Wijnaldum hadnt been replaced following his Bosman move to Paris Saint-Germain. The sole recruit was young centre-back Ibrahima Konate, a 35 million signing who had not been a first-choice pick at RB Leipzig, a team a struggling Liverpool had beaten convincingly, 2-0 home and away, in the 2020-21 Champions League last-16. Konate was an unused substitute in both games. It was hardly a booming statement of intent.

When the Kop started singing the Reds have got no money but well still win the league, it was belted out more in hope than expectation.

In contrast, Manchester City had spent 100 million on Jack Grealish and Chelsea 97.5 million on Romelu Lukaku. Manchester United had brought in Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo.

We cant spend money we dont have, insisted Klopp. You cannot compare to the other clubs. They obviously dont have any limits, but we have limits.

I am more than happy with the squad I have. We have so many things that you cannot sign. You cannot sign counter-pressing, you cannot sign the atmosphere that we create in the stadium, you cannot sign togetherness, you cannot sign Anfield, you cannot sign our anthem. Thats what we have to use.

Klopp was equally bullish behind the scenes as he repeatedly talked up the talent in front of him during team meetings. Being written off suited the manager perfectly in his mission to create an us versus the world mentality.

It had been a summer when Liverpool had prioritised retention. Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Alisson, Van Dijk, Andrew Robertson and Jordan Henderson all signed new long-term contracts. As well as key senior players returning from injuries, youthful exuberance had been added to the mix in the forms of teenagers Elliott and Kaide Gordon.

Liverpool would have to evolve with Wijnaldum gone but Klopp felt it would also enable them to be more unpredictable.

There were brainstorming sessions with his staff in Austria. They came up with a plan designed to get more out of Alexander-Arnold by having him operate in pockets of space more centrally, where his range of passing could do more damage. Salahs presence throughout pre-season meant the tactical tweaks on Liverpools right side could be worked on day after day.

Circumstances meant Klopp had rarely been able to field a midfield three of Fabinho, Thiago and Henderson previously. Much more was expected from Thiago in his second season with Liverpool, Henderson had fully recovered from groin surgery in the February and the ease with which Elliott adjusted to a new midfield role also gave them another option in that department.

It would prove to be Wijnaldum, who was in and out of the PSG side all season and started only 18 of their 38 league games and three of eight in the Champions League, rather than Liverpool who had regrets over their parting of ways.

The priority was always to bolster the squad defensively and they landed their top target in Konate. Villarreals Pau Torres, Benoit Badiashile of Monaco and Sevillas Jules Kounde had also been on the shortlist.

Konate was the preferred option because they felt his pace and physicality were ideally suited to playing in Klopps high line. The character references as well as the scouting reports had been glowing. Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid were also interested, but the players heart was set on Anfield after a video call with Klopp.

I saw sincerity on his face, Konate said. Which players dont want to come here? I know if I have a problem in my life, Klopp will help.

Konate grew in stature over the course of his debut season, from being a back-up to starting both the FA Cup and Champions League finals. His aerial prowess proved to be a huge asset at both ends of the field.

Whereas Konate needed a period of adaptation before really coming to the fore, a surprise addition to the squad at the end of the January window got off to a flyer and never looked back.

Liverpool had intended to pursue a deal for Porto attacker Luis Diaz this summer but those plans were urgently brought forward when it emerged that Tottenham were close to securing his signature. By then, Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards, whose decision to stand down at the end of the season had been revealed by The Athletic in November, was in the process of gradually handing over responsibilities to his successor Julian Ward.

It was Ward who led the negotiations with Porto and managed to out-flank Spurs. An initial fee of 35 million, potentially rising to 50 million, was agreed. A key element for the cash-strapped Portuguese club was Liverpools willingness to transfer 7 million instantly so they could pay debts and stave off the threat of being banned from European competition by UEFA.

Klopp said the signing of Diaz was made with one eye on tomorrow but the Colombia international was a man in a hurry. He lit up Anfield on his debut off the bench against Cardiff City in the FA Cup and quickly established himself on the left side of Liverpools front line.

His impact was such that Klopp opted to utilise Mane as his No 9, and that switch worked a treat.

With Diaz on board, Liverpool had a new dimension. Bringing in someone of such calibre gave everyone in the dressing room a lift.

After Liverpool scraped into the Champions League by winning their final game of the season against Crystal Palace at Anfield, Klopp went on holiday for nearly eight weeks.

It was his longest summer break since becoming Liverpool manager in October 2015. For the first seven days, he left his phone in his suitcase and did not even look at it. The separation afforded him a period of reflection.

He had hated pandemic football. It seemed like a different sport.

Klopp is an emotional coach. Liverpool are an emotional club. Performing in empty stadiums felt like his wings had been cut in half. You try to fly but it is pretty difficult, he later concluded.

Matches were usually the reward for hard weeks work. The atmosphere in the stadium would energise the players. Now, playing felt like an extension of everyones toil.

Training also suffered. Klopp was not allowed to drive to work with a colleague on the coaching staff, as he sometimes does. He was not allowed to eat his breakfast at the same table as someone else. The players got changed separately and, during COVID-19 outbreaks, were encouraged to keep their distance from one another even while outside in the fresh air.

The pandemic world did not afford the closeness that he craves and needs to have an impact. Liverpools 2020-21 season nearly collapsed for all sorts of reasons. The conditions did not favour them and the injuries stacked up. Klopp felt he was able to deal with the death of his mother in Germany despite not being allowed to fly home for the funeral. Yet the circumstances of his job meant he was under immense pressure all of the time.

He felt support from Liverpools owners, particularly Mike Gordon. His relationship with Fenway Sports Groups president, it is said, will outlast his tenure at the club. There is a brotherly instinct between the two men a rare respect, the sort that is difficult to find in football. FSGs involvement in the European Super League project did not rock that, even though Klopp privately and publicly was firmly against the idea.

Klopp felt as though Gordon had been compassionate throughout Liverpools struggles. He also felt guilty about not reciprocating such kindness because he had been so down about his performance as a coach.

He was obsessed with solving Liverpools problems that between January and May last year, Klopp barely took a day off. He had never thought more about football. How could he make it work? Was he missing something obvious?

He hated hearing it when Liverpool were described as the Premier Leagues worst-ever defending champions but he came to realise he possessed the ability to be calmer than he thought when the going got really tough.

During this period, Liverpool lost six consecutive home matches a club record.

Explaining defeats was a lot more difficult than detailing victories. Sometimes, it was impossible for Klopp to say what he really believed because there was always another match just around the corner in a compressed season that began later than usual after 2019-20s three-month hiatus and had to finish in time for the postponed-by-a-year Euros. It added to the feeling that he was living in a cage.

He would go home to Formby, considering what had gone wrong again: individual and collective performances, injuries, the weather and decisions from the match officials had all gone against Liverpool. He felt guilty about earning so much money but not being able to come up with any solutions.

Liverpool went into the final day only joint-fourth, ahead of Leicester on goal difference, but secured a third-placed finish. Klopp considers it one of his greatest achievements.

Yet by the end of May, after that last win over Palace, the pursuit had drained him more than hed ever been. He did not care about what came next. The pursuit of trying to sign this player and sell that one could wait. For a while, he was done. It had been the hardest time of our football lives.

By the middle of the July, however, Klopp was ready to go again.

Liverpools long pre-season camp made him feel confident about the teams prospects. There were big early wins, over Atletico Madrid away in the Champions League and then battering Manchester United on their own pitch five days later. That Sunday at Old Trafford, his wife Ulla was in the away end. She was in with the travelling fans again six months later when Liverpool returned to Manchester to face their title rivals at the Etihad. Though Liverpool could not beat City that day, Ulla returned home telling her husband about how much Liverpools fans loved him.

Whereas Liverpool had stumbled from game to game in the previous season, the rhythm was now back. Klopp, who leaves most of the coaching to Ljinders during any week, could see his players were responding to his words when he stepped into the routine the day before a match.

The quadruple was not a realistic target for him, but the possibility of it made him think again about his future at Liverpool.

The club, he concluded, had not even felt the positive impact of the new training ground in Kirkby yet because of COVID-19 restrictions. He was building a second great team at Liverpool something he had not really been able to do in any of his previous jobs. Could he just hand over everything hed built to someone else?

He and Ulla were in their kitchen when Klopp started the conversation about extending his contract, which was due to expire in two years time. It became clear Ulla was just as happy living in Formby as her husband. Klopp called his agent, Marc Kosicke, who then contacted FSGs principal owner John W Henry. Klopp was not seeking a pay rise, just an extension. FSG had been keen to open negotiations but did not want Klopp to feel pressurised.

The other key element for Klopp was the future of his staff. He only wanted to be with them. Had some decided to move on, maybe hed have thought differently about extending. Instead, an agreement was reached with a month of the season remaining. The news he was staying until 2026 came just at the right time, sharpening excitement among the fanbase.

Two days later, Liverpool won at Newcastle in the league to maintain their pursuit of the title; three days after that, they secured their third appearance in the Champions League final in five years.

These are the days, read a banner in the away end at the semi-final second leg away to Villarreal.

They certainly were.

Klopp gathered his players together in the meeting room at the AXA Training Centre and delivered a passionate speech about what needed to change. Those present in January described it as a crucial reset.

The first month of the calendar year has traditionally been a time when Liverpools fortunes have dipped during Klopps reign and there were fears that history was about to repeat itself.

Liverpool had kicked off 2022 by letting a two-goal lead slip in a 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Klopp had been forced to watch those events unfold at home after testing positive for COVID-19. Alisson, Joel Matip and Roberto Firmino were absent for the same reason.

Salah, Mane and Naby Keita flew straight from London to Cameroon to play in the Africa Cup of Nations.

By the time Liverpools next Premier League game, at home to Brentford, came around two weeks later, the gap to City had grown to 14 points. Although Klopps men had two games in hand, talk of trying to catch Pep Guardiolas defending champions appeared fanciful.

Liverpool had taken just two of the previous nine points available. There had been mitigating circumstances, not least away to Tottenham, where Klopp had been forced to hand a first top-flight start to 19-year-old midfielder Tyler Morton with Fabinho, Thiago and Henderson all out.

Klopp had raged at referee Paul Tierney after the 2-2 draw that followed for his failure to award a penalty when Diogo Jota was barged over by Emerson Royal and the decision not to send Harry Kane off for a wild lunge at Robertson, who was later dismissed himself.

I have no problems with any referees, only you, he told Tierney.

Liverpool then ended the calendar year with a dismal 1-0 defeat in Leicester three days after Christmas.

Klopp felt the balance of the team wasnt right. There were too many gaps to be exploited and game management was letting them down. The protection had to be better. They needed to tighten up collectively. He wanted them to be more aggressive out of possession.

Before those draws with Spurs and Chelsea, Liverpool had also relinquished winning positions away to promoted Brentford and at home to Brighton. Novembers defeat at West Ham had also exposed a lack of solidity.

Klopp struck a defiant tone in that meeting room in January about what could still be achieved if you commit with all you have. He told his players this was the deepest, most gifted squad hed ever worked with and that everyone would have a part to play. Lets go on an unbeaten run, give it our best and see where it takes us, he said.

We had to readjust, to be honest, Klopp later admitted. We had to agree on defence first, because otherwise youre like any team. Hard-fought, gritty 1-0 wins over Burnley and West Ham underlined that his message had got through. It helped that Van Dijk was back to his imperious best after the ruptured ACL that rocked his world early the previous season and his defensive partner Matip produced the best form of his career.

During AFCON, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Curtis Jones, Takumi Minamino and Jota all stepped up and made pivotal contributions. When Salah, Mane and Keita returned, the landscape looked considerably brighter. Thiago had also recovered from a hip problem and momentum was growing. The Spaniards influence on the team grew as his midfield double act with Fabinho gave Klopp the perfect combination of silk and steel.

The dressing room has evolved in recent years following the exits of Adam Lallana and Wijnaldum. New leaders have emerged. Alexander-Arnold, Robertson and Alisson were voted on to the expanded captains group last summer.

Klopp listens to his senior players and takes feedback on board like allowing recovery sessions to take place at home. One change that went down well with the squad in the second half of this season was the decision to train earlier in the day, with most sessions starting at noon.

Previously, training times had fluctuated significantly depending on the kick-off of the next match. Now, only the session the day before a game tends to be at 4pm, usually to fit in with travel and hotel arrangements. Players felt training earlier meant they had more energy in the sessions and had a positive impact on their personal lives.

The Carabao Cup final triumph over Chelsea in late February helped propel Liverpool forward. You have a taste of it and then you want more, says goalkeeping coach John Achterberg.

Klopps faith in second-choice keeper Caoimhin Kelleher was richly rewarded as the Irishman, who pulled off some smart saves during a goalless 120 minutes, then scored from the spot as a shootout went to sudden death, before opposite number Kepa Arrizabalaga blazed the final penalty over.

Henderson, who sets the tone for Klopp on a daily basis with his professionalism, thrust the trophy into Kellehers hands and ushered him towards the army of pitchside photographers before standing back to applaud him.

As Liverpool ate into Citys lead at the Premier League summit with a run of 10 straight wins from January to April, while also advancing in both the Champions League and the FA Cup, talk of pulling off an unprecedented quadruple intensified.

Publicly, Klopp dismissed the idea as crazy. no British team has ever done it because its so difficult.

Behind the scenes, he urged his players to just embrace the situation. This is opportunity, not pressure. Lets enjoy the journey, he told them.

Salah had provided the inspiration in the first half of the season. He scored 23 of his 31 goals before AFCON.

At times, it felt like he was having a goal of the season competition with himself. There were breathtaking individual efforts against City and Watford, a hat-trick in that Old Trafford drubbing of United and a double in the 4-1 rout of Everton at Goodison Park.

However, Salah was stung by the punishing setbacks of losing both Februarys final of AFCON and a World Cup play-off the following month to Manes Senegal.

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Inside Klopps Liverpool a season that flirted with immortality and ended in heartbreak - The Athletic

What is Klaus Hargreeves power in The Umbrella Academy? – Netflix Life

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The self-described spiritual one of the Hargreeves siblings and The Umbrella Academy, Klaus Hargreeves (Robert Sheehan) has several powers and abilities that revolve around death and the void.In The Umbrella Academy season 3, Klaus finally starts to learn more about his abilities with some surprising assistance from an unlikely source.

Spoilers ahead for The Umbrella Academy season 3

In the third season, the new, alternate-timeline version of Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) opts to assist his son with learning how to control his powers, namely his immortality. The show has strongly hinted at Klaus immortality in previous seasons, but it really delves into it in the latest batch of episodes and confirms, without a doubt, that Klaus is immortal and has died and come back many times already.

But what is the extent of Klaus powers?

Klaus can communicate with the dead. However, when he was a child, Reginald locked him in a crypt with a bunch of ghosts, so he has always been more hesitant to use his abilities due to fearing the undead. The only ghost we have seen him communicate with on a consistent basis is his brother, Ben Hargreeves (Justin H. Min). But Reginald has always suggested that Klaus is unaware of his true potential.

Its not just that he can talk to spirits like a medium, but Klaus is also able to conjure spirits. He did so with Reginald and weve seen him do it with other ghosts in different circumstances, summoning them to help him mid-battle or otherwise. In the second season, Klaus also starts interacting with Ben in a more physical capacity, even allowing Ben to take possession of his body for brief spells.

The third season really digs into Klaus immortality. After Stanley(Javon Wanna Walton) accidentally kills Klaus with a harpoon gun in the White Buffalo Suite, Klaus finds himself in the void where he meets the spirit of his mother. Later, he and Reginald try to figure out how Klaus can die and return to life more quickly, ultimately teaching Klaus how to successfully resurrect himself within just minutes of death. We learn that many of Klaus brushes with death from the past were really him dying and coming back to life.

Klaus increased mastery of his powers is shown at the end of The Umbrella Academy season 3 when he creates a safe place for Luthers spirit(Tom Hopper) and travels to Hotel Oblivionfrom the void to assist his siblings.

The Umbrella Academy season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.

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What is Klaus Hargreeves power in The Umbrella Academy? - Netflix Life

2022 NBA Finals: Will Draymond Green be why the Warriors win another title, or why they’ll wilt? – CBS Sports

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BOSTON -- Draymond Green is many fascinating things on and off the court, all of which combine into a potent mix capable of supercharging a championship team or making it so combustible that it can wreck those ambitions from the inside.

Green is a future Hall of Famer. An all-time great defensive player. A funny, candid, thoughtful voice on hoops, and its intersection with things much more important. A provocateur. A broadcaster and podcaster who's effectively live streaming his own career and his team's pursuit of basketball immortality. A bold -- sometimes rash -- competitor. A clutch closer who can also careen into self-destruction. A guy who loves calling out others, yet will bristle at even minor criticism.

Green has been one of the key touchstones to the Warriors greatest achievements, and to their most bitter disappointments.

That may be more true today than at any other point in his career, especially with his Golden State Warriors tied heading into Wednesday's Game 3 of their NBA Finals series with the Boston Celtics.

Effective Draymond is a world-class winner, a player whose individual basketball impact and overall influence on his team are key to the Warriors greatness. Golden State has never lost a seven-game playoff series in which Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green have started each game.

The need for Green to be great, and available, feels even starker now, with Thompson looking diminished and Green's own output in Games 1 and 2 directly connected to his team's respective loss and win so for far against Boston.

Take Game 2: Green's defense on Jaylen Brown helped turn off the Boston star's hot start, which was key in short circuiting a Celtics team that had been looking to put the series away early. Green's mind games can also prove critical, and they also toe that fine line between just right and too much.

But that's Green in a nutshell. He's a star so critical to his team's greatness that he must perfectly calibrate his unique competitive fire and how it expresses itself to be hero rather than heel. His approach is one that straddles all the lines -- between dirty and dogged, between awesome and downright annoying, between limiting an opposing star or limiting his own presence because he went too far. Between winning and losing.

The most glaring example of Way-Too-Far Draymond was on full display during the 2016 NBA Finals. The Warriors were favored that June to cement their epic 73-9 regular season and the mantle of the league's greatest team of all-time with a championship over LeBron James and his 57-25 Cleveland Cavaliers.

But Green crossed that line in that series, striking LeBron where (and when) he should not have. Late in Game 4, with Golden State less than three minutes from taking a 3-1 series lead, Green's actions led to him being suspended from a potential closeout game on the Warriors home floor. Instead, the incident provided enough of a momentum for the Cavs to rally all the way back, helping LeBron's legacy by providing the oxygen to simultaneously fuel the greatest comeback -- and collapse -- in NBA Finals history.

Green toed that line again Sunday, earning himself an early technical foul and then, as if he was daring the officials to give him another, flirted with ejection time after time. A play with Brown in particular, in which they both fell to the ground after Green fouled his three-point attempt, and then kept his feet on the Celtics star, pulled some collective gasps from the Chase Center crowd.

The tension was palpable as the play -- and, yet again, the very idea of Effective Draymond vs. Way-Too-Far-Draymond -- went under review.

Warriors fans had seen this show before, and it's one they would rather not relive: Their team is on a title track, with Draymond at its heart, and then that same star goes too far and costs the club dearly.

He wasn't ejected, and his nine points, five rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one block -- plus his exquisite defense -- helped the Warriors win.

But had he gone a little further on that play or several that followed or had the right official been around on the wrong day, disaster could have struck Golden State. Again.

That is one example of many. There's the Flagrant-2 that Green unleashed on Memphis' Brandon Clarke earlier in this postseason. That didn't lead to a suspension, but probably should have. Green's toes were over the line that night, yet he came out ahead.

As his stardom and thoughtfulness have rightfully given him an unprecedented platform in real time, Green's tough talk and willingness to say whatever the hell he wants has invited a new level of scrutiny and expectation -- for him, sure, but also his teammates.

It's one thing for Green to get to say to the media that Flagrant-2 was nothing. It's another to chastise Charles Barkley, in the NBA's most influential space, for not understanding the inherent blamelessness of one Draymond Green. That Memphis responded with a dangerous play that took Gary Payton II out of a chunk of the postseason is surely related.

Green's podcast and appearances on the NBA On TNT are great for those outlets, for us fans, for Draymond Green. The jury is still out on whether they benefit the Golden State Warriors.

Ask LeBron James about summoning massive expectations and angst and inviting the ire of the rest of the league. Those things were critical in the Heat failing to win an NBA title the first year of Miami's Big Three era.

Green is one of my absolute favorite players in the game, and his rebel-may-die approach on and off the court is captivating. Authenticity is rare, and rarer still when combined with actual greatness. But sometimes the rebel not caring has real consequences -- say like in 2016, or perhaps at some point in this series.

Go too far on the court, as he almost did in Game 2, and missing gametime could be enough to turn things the Celtics way. Go too far off it, and the Celtics may find that extra motivation and anger in deciding it's time to shut up the overconfident superstar, just as many wanted to with LeBron & Co. back in 2010.

Pressure is real, and too so are the forces that Green has the potential to unleash.

They say not to let your mouth write checks your body can't cash. In Draymond's case, whether it's the line he flirts with while playing or the lines he drops when he's not, he should be cautious not to write checks that his team won't be able to cash.

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2022 NBA Finals: Will Draymond Green be why the Warriors win another title, or why they'll wilt? - CBS Sports

Science reaches the limit of knowledge – Socialpost

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Jhim in the first moment? Or is this world of space, time, and matter always present? It is known that philosophy has differed on this matter since Aristotle contradicted his teacher Plato. In his dialogue Timaeus, he wrote that there was no such thing as a period of time before the appearance of heaven, meaning that the world and time began to move at the same time. But Aristotle demanded the immortality of the world. Immanuel Kant I finally declare that the question is unsolvable. In his major epistemological work, he presented it in 1781 as a contradiction of pure reason: both the beginning of time and the limits of the universe as well as against all logical proofs can be presented but neither can be true. Kant wanted to show how easily a ship could be wrecked with pure, i.e., non-empirical thinking.

Ulf von Rauchaupt

Editor in the Science section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper on Sunday.

The question arises whether this is so, and to what extent empirical natural science can answer the question. In fact, this person went much further than Kant thought possible. Modern astrophysics can claim, on the best empirical grounds, that the observable universe 13.8 billion years ago was a hot, dense ball say the size of a grapefruit and then expanded to its present size. This is the Big Bang theory. Today it is universally accepted, even if there is resistance, including from the beginning Albert Einstein.

Total coffee aficionado. Travel buff. Music ninja. Bacon nerd. Beeraholic.

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Week 6 Poem of the Week: ‘Five Minutes’ by Sasha Brealey – The Tab

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Sasha talks to us about the concept of time in her poem and describes how university has helped her explore writing further

The five minute leewayBetween clocks south and north striking twelve,A disagreement of cosmic measurement A dance of timeLinearity cannot step with.

An hourly infinityWhere all stands undefined,eternal, ephemeral When reality fails to enforce,And clocks cannot endorse,And indefinity preoccupies the mindsOf the inattentive

We wonder when we stand

And as the north clock strikes,We listen to its final chime,Awaiting our next five minute eternity.

First off, I wanted to ask Sasha for a deeper insight into the background of her poem and its inspiration. She tells me that it came after a period of writers block, during which she felt she ought to have been writing about really great themes that poetry has often written about, like love, loss, immortality and family but found these themes impenetrable and difficult to access.

I found it really disheartening and I stopped writing poetry for a while; and then I went to a Poetry Society and I had the privilege of hearing the incredible Isobel Maxwells poem called My Mother Makes Marmalade, and I found it so inspiring.

It accessed all these themes through this very domestic image and beautiful motif of an orange that had been woven throughout the poem really elegantly; and it made me realise that poetry didnt have to be so overt in its exploration of bigger experiences, but that it can access things through everyday life. And so it made me look at the beauty in everyday objects and the poetry of small things, and thats when I noticed there was this five minute difference between when the bells chime on Kings Parade: thats where the idea for the poem came from.

Sasha goes on to explain that time is a concept of particular interest to her and thus runs as a motif throughout her poetry. In Five Minutes particularly, the sense of times eternality is designed to be ironic in a way, since it is at the point of twelve that you notice more immediately this eternity of time, although at the same time it is subjective and something weve dictated on our own but we also clearly arent set on measuring.

Moreover, each technique employed is designed to fragment the poem and convey a sense of irregularity. Rhyme is used only in the middle to create a sudden sense of pace, and enjambment helps mimic the flow of time. But above all as Sasha is keen to emphasise there is deliberately no consolidation to the methods, and the stanzas are broken up unequally to show this fragmentation of time that I was trying to echo through the metaphor of the clocks.

Home is further theme woven through the poem, which Sasha says comes from the difficulty upon coming to university of pinpointing exactly where home is.

I feel like uni is a time when its often really difficult to locate where home is, so I thought Id locate it in a when rather than a where and see how that settled. I feel like every time I hear that chime now, I do feel a sense of relief having noticed and explored this beauty in it, and its similar to the relief that people often associate with home. So I thought it was interesting to explore that home can be in a different realm to the physical.

Sasha finds that poetry-writing, aside from being an outlet, is also just a really fruitful way of exploring an idea, seeing as it can be so specific, and yet you have the liberty to be abstract with it at the same time.

I also like how it has no bounds, and you dont have to follow it necessarily in a straight order: you can dissect it throughout and incapsulate it in this fragmentation. But I find it a really cathartic way to organise my thoughts and almost realise what Im feeling as Im writing it.

However, beyond this more individualistic side to writing, Sasha has also found enjoyment in the communal experience of poetry societies, wherein students have the chance to share their work with others.

Ive always tried to write poetry, though Ive done it more since coming to uni because I attend a few poetry societies, and that really inspired me to get going again. A lot of students read and write their poetry there, so this literary community really spurred me to write more; and I just found it a really inspiring environment because I often considered writing to be solitary, and so this more communal aspect of it was really fun.

As for her influences, Sasha cites Emily Dickinson, a 19th century American poet who only began to rise to prominence after her death, as well as Sufjan Stevens, a current American singer-songwriter.

[Dickinsons poems] almost feel like a series of comments that work not only as individual lines, but also as part of a greater whole. I like that you can read them singularly but also within the greater aspect of both all her poetry and the poem itself. I think her writing is so incredible and so beautiful.

I know hes not a poet but Ive also been really into Sufjan Stevens recently and Ive been treating his music as poetry. Its interesting to look at different expression of poetry, and how sound and the way that we would take it in is a different experience of poetry to just reading it.

Thats all for Week 6s poetry feature, but there are still a few weeks left to submit your poems! Just email The Tabs Poetry Editor ([emailprotected]) with your submission. It would be great to hear from you!

Feature image credits: Keira Quirk

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Immortalitys first trailer shows off an interactive …

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Sam Barlow, creator of Her Story and Telling Lies, is back with a new game and a new mystery. Immortality centers on the story of actor Marissa Marcel, who made three unreleased movies, then disappeared. The games first trailer, released on Wednesday, gives us our first look at each of the movies and lets us know exactly how players will be able to piece together the clues.

Immortalitys trailer bills the game as an interactive movie trilogy. Based on the gameplay footage, it seems that players will have to work off match cuts in the films to figure out what exactly happened to Marissa. Players can click on specific areas of each scene theyre shown, and will be taken to a new scene where the character or object they clicked will be in a similar pose or position. Based on the trailer, it seems that Immortality features dozens of scenes from each movie, and maybe all three movies in their entirety.

Thus far, all Barlows games have been about unravelling mysteries using unique, often fairly simple gameplay mechanics. Her Story lets players comb through interrogation footage using keyword searches, while Telling Lies allows players to use several features of a desktop computer for their sleuthing.

Immortality does not have a release date yet, but will be out sometime this summer on Xbox Series X, Xbox Game Pass, and Windows.

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Liverpool have squad of 25 Formula One cars and a once-in-a-lifetime shot at footballing immortality – The Athletic

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Liverpool, Liverpool, taking the piss, chanted the Kop gleefully. With the points long since secure and Manchester United humiliated for the second time this season, Jurgen Klopps side nonchalantly retained possession.

Title races are supposed to be nervy affairs. This is the time of year when fatigue is usually an issue, squads are feeling the strain and the pressure starts to take a toll.

Not here. Liverpool are growing stronger as the finish line comes into view. They are embracing it. Anfield is awash with hope and euphoria. The booming statements of intent keep on coming.

Publicly, Klopp and his players will continue to play down talk of landing an unprecedented quadruple. However, deep down they know that a season of rich promise has now become a once-in-a-lifetime shot at achieving footballing immortality.

The Carabao Cup is already in the cabinet, an FA Cup final date with Chelsea has been secured and only Villarreal stand between Liverpool and a third Champions League final appearance in the space of five seasons.

In the Premier League, they need a favour from somewhere to beat Manchester City to the big prize but belief abounds. Its Liverpool who have momentum on their side. This Klopp-fuelled juggernaut keeps gathering pace.

Since the turn of the year they have taken 35 points out of a possible 39. They have only failed to win at Stamford Bridge and the Etihad. There are no guarantees. How can there be when they arent masters of their own destiny?

But Klopp couldnt wish to have Liverpool in better shape for the run-in and its hard to believe he will ever work with a squad as strong as this again. I would say the club has 25 Formula One cars, was the verdict of Uniteds interim boss Ralf Rangnick.

Even with Roberto Firmino sidelined by a minor foot problem, there still wasnt room for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Takumi Minamino or Harvey Elliott on the bench against United.

Key to the remarkable consistency Liverpool have shown this season has been Klopps knack of rotating and still keeping standards high. He has gambled at the right times and got the contributions he craved from those on the fringes.

It certainly helped that the club brought their summer plans to sign Luis Diaz from Porto forward to January. What a revelation the Colombian attacker has been. Klopp owes a debt of gratitude to Tottenham for trying to sign Diaz and forcing Liverpool to act fast to secure his signature.

No one else has firepower on this scale. The only real concern of late has been Mohamed Salahs barren run. He hadnt scored from open play for two months three penalties his only return from 11 games in all competitions.

Yet the biggest bonus against United was the sight of Salah rediscovering his ruthless streak in the final third. The Egyptian provided the final touch to a slick team move which will be a strong contender for goal of the season. Twenty-five passes, involving every Liverpool player apart from Virgil van Dijk, ended with Salah tucking the ball away after Sadio Mane had swept it expertly into his path.

Salah had created Diazs opener. Diaz laid on the third for Mane before substitute Diogo Jota set up Salah for Liverpools fourth. Some of the incisive interplay between the front three was breathtaking. Salah now has 30 goals for the season the third time he has reached that milestone for the club. Hes the first player in Premier League history to score five goals against United in a single campaign.

If you were picking a front three on form currently Jota would probably miss out despite having 21 goals in all competitions. Thats how crazy the competition for places is.

Liverpool have five elite attackers with Divock Origi and Minamino providing further cover. Its simply unrealistic to think they will have that kind of depth next season. Some will inevitably move on.

Klopp has had injury issues to contend with at various stages but they havent been on anything like the scale that wrecked their challenge for trophies in 2020-21.

Thiagos influence in midfield has grown considerably to the point where he ran the show against United. He completed 105 of his 110 passes (96 per cent). He had 129 touches more than anyone else on the field and made three tackles, two interceptions and a clearance. The standing ovation he received when substituted late on was pure adulation after the crowd had witnessed a master at work.

With Fabinho excelling in the holding role, its currently captain Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita vying for that third midfield spot with Curtis Jones and James Milner among those waiting in the wings. Milner is out of contract this summer. It would also be a surprise if Oxlade-Chamberlain stayed around.

Defensively, this challenge for a clean sweep is built on the firmest of foundations with nine clean sheets in the past dozen Premier League matches. Theres Van Dijk back to his commanding best after a serious knee injury and Joel Matip enjoying an extended resurgence. Ibrahima Konate has scored in his past three appearances but still finds himself playing second fiddle. Joe Gomez has done nothing wrong but is the fourth-choice centre-back.

Full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson still look full of energy, and behind them Alisson keeps on making vital contributions. This time there was a double save from the Brazilian keeper to deny Marcus Rashford and then Anthony Elanga at 2-0.

The sense that the stars have aligned for Liverpool has been strengthened by the luck of the draws. Norwich, Preston, Leicester, Arsenal and Chelsea to lift the Carabao Cup. Shrewsbury, Cardiff, Norwich, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City to reach the FA Cup final. Inter Milan, Benfica and Villarreal in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Having suffered at the hands of United for so much of the Premier League era, how Anfield relished the sight of their arch rivals being put to the sword and made to suffer like this. Imagine the damage that could have been done had Liverpool not eased off for 20 minutes after the break after United changed their shape.

Not even during Liverpools darkest days when United were the dominant force in English football was the gulf in class between the two clubs as evident as this. The 9-0 aggregate score across the two meetings this season represents Uniteds worst since they faced Sunderland twice in 1892-93 (11-0). They have thrown so much money at it but remain so far behind what Klopp has created.

Youre so shit its unbelievable, was the Kops verdict as the away end emptied long before the end.

Salah was fuming with himself for not accepting a late opportunity to seal another hat-trick and inflict another 5-0 demolition. Thats the mentality running through this squad. They are always striving for more.

Another one ticked off for Liverpool. Another Anfield show of force.Another step closer to achieving the impossible. Now they can only sit and watch how City respond.

(Top photo: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

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Liverpool have squad of 25 Formula One cars and a once-in-a-lifetime shot at footballing immortality - The Athletic

CBA ice hockey completes run to immortality with state …

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Northern Highlands celebrates Public B state hockey title

Northern Highlands celebrates a 3-1 win over Middletown North for the Public B state championship.

Robert Aitken Jr., NorthJersey.com

Christian Brothers Academy's ice hockey team concluded a season that will go down in the lore of New Jersey scholastic ice hockey Monday night with a 3-0 win over Delbarton in the NJSIAA Non-Public championship game at Prudential Center, Newark.

CBA (27-0-3), which won a state title for the ninth time and second straight time the NJSIAA has had a state tournament, became the first team in the state to go unbeaten in a season since St. Augustine went 23-0 in the 2006-07 season.

When the horn blew, CBA's players celebrated first in the center of the ice and then went toward their delirious fans - "The Colt Crazies''.

The Coltswon their final 26 games after a 2-2 tie against Seton Hall Prep on Dec. 8. They also recorded their ninth shutout of the season. They outscored their opposition 144-30 on the season. They went 2-0-1 against Delbarton on the season.

Junior defenseman Patrick Reiley scored two goals, including the opening one with 4:42 left in the second period. He also added an empty net goal with 1:35 remaining. Junior forward William Thygeson had the insurance goal 3:27 into the third period.

Senior goaltender John Donohue stopped 22 shots as he recorded his fifth shutout of the season and fourth in the last five games.

"It's incredible, especially beating Delbarton," Reilly said."Their goalie (Jason Cai) is incredible. The CBA-Delbarton rivalry is probably one of the most iconic in all of high school sports. You're playing for more than just your school."

MORE:Christian Brothers Academy defeats Delbarton to repeat as NJSIAA Non-Public ice hockey champs

After an evenly-played first period, CBA took control with a dominant second period. The Colts had the first nine shots of the period and outshot the Green Wave 20-2 in the period.

Reilly's goal came off a rebound of a shot from the right point by senior forward Ray Cartigano. He fired a shotpast goaltender Jason Cai from the left faceoff circle.

Thygeson's goal came 22 seconds after the Colts had killed off a Delbarton power play on the only penalty of the game. He took a puck bounced off a linesman and roofed a shot into the net from the left faceoff circle. Junior forward Leighton Biesiadeckiand sophomore forward Derek Fiore had the assists.

Reilly's empty net goal came on a shot from the corner to the right of Donohue. The shot went right into the center of the net.

-- Jane Havsy contributed to this story

Middletown North boys team fell short of its goal of winning the NJSIAA Public B championship, but its memorable run to the final was something it can remember for a long time.

Two goals in the final 6:23 gave top-seeded Northern Highlands a 3-1 win at the Prudential Center, Newark in a game which sixth-seeded Middletown North (16-8-1) had a 31-18 advantage in shots.

"Our guys battled like crazy,'' Middletown North coach Don Wood said. "They have nothing to hang their heads about. They played as hard as possible for 45 minutes, I thought.''

It was Northern Highlands' second state championship. Middletown North was denied its second state title and first since it won Public B in 2015.

Northern Highlands (22-3-3) broke a 1-1 tiein the game that was attended by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on a breakaway goal by senior forward Will Fuller from the slot.

Fuller's second goal of the game came just after a Middletown North flurry, which included a rebound of an Andrew Grossgoing wide.

The Lions then pulled goaltender Luke Chrzan with 1:25 remaining and 23 seconds later, Brett Beswick iced it for the Highlanders by firing a shot into the empty net from center ice.

Rewind: Watch New Jerseyan Ross Colton's Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning

Shore things: A look at 7 NHL players who came from Jersey Shore high schools

Middletown North, which had an advantage in shots in every period, tied the game with 1:07 remaining in the second period as senior forward Jace Koenigsmark scored from the right faceoff circle off a feed from senior John Betz.

The goal sent the large contingent of Middletown North fans into a frenzy.

Fuller, who had the game-winner in Northern Highlands'3-2 win over Ramapo in the semifinal gave the Highlanders the lead4:45 into the second period when he stuffed the puck in off a wild scramble in front of the Middletown North goal.

Middletown North players and coaches thought the whistle should have been blown during the scramble, but the puck was still visible to the officials and the goal stood.

The Lions controlled large portions of the play, but they could not generate many clear-cut chances. When they did create chances, Highlanders' goaltender Daniel Moor was up to the challenge. Moor had 30 saves.

"It wasn't like we just showed up and they threw the pucks out and that was that,'' Wood said. "Our guys weren't satisfied with just the RFH game the other night (Middletown North defeated Rumson-Fair Haven in a state semifinal). They came to play. Northern Highlands just got the best of us.''

Middletown North's run to the state final included a dramatic 4-3 shootout win over No. 2 seed Rumson-Fair Haven as Koenigsmark scored twice 1:04 apart in the final 1:39 to send the game into overtime. The Lions then converted all four of their attempts in the shootout, including one by Koenigsmark. Chrzan had three saves during that shootout.

"These kids are like family. They did a heck of a job all year,'' Wood said. "These kids really took ownership of their season.''

In the quarterfinal, Middletown North defeated No. 3 seed Summit 4-0 with the aid of two short-handed goals.

The Lions defeated Wall 6-3 in the first round of the tournament.

Prior to the state tournament, they won the Shore Conference's Handchen Cup with a 2-1 win over St. John Vianney.

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Katie Taylor on the cusp of boxing immortality as she gears up for battle with Amanda Serrano in historic… – The Sun

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KATIE TAYLOR is on the cusp of becoming boxings greatest female at the sports most famous venue but she cannot wait to retreat back to the shadows.

Irelands 2012 London Olympics golden girl and undisputed lightweight queen faces seven-weight world champion Amanda Serrano on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

2

And the softly spoken superstar who has never even seen the 2018 Netflix documentary on her incredible career cannot wait for all the fanfare to end and the fighting to start.

On a visit to SunSport HQ, the Wicklow warrior, 35, said: The most awkward part of boxing is the business and the media events, we both just want to get in there and fight.

The build-up and interviews and Press conferences feel like the most draining part, even more than the training and the weight cutting, but it is just part of the job.

We havent sat down and had a chat, I wouldnt do that. We have the utmost respect for each other but we have also kept our distance.

You wont be hearing trash talk from either of us, I dont think.

I dont like talking about myself much, let alone anyone else. And, no, I still havent watched the film, I might stick it on when I retire.

Taylor had to go into childhood amateur bouts pretending to be a boy and fighting other lads. Stuffy judges and officials would rage when she whipped off her headguard to celebrate and a tumble of hidden brown locks fell out.

But her face will be plastered all over New York this weekend when she follows in the footsteps of boxing legends like Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier by competing on hallowed ground.

And her first thought is not even about her own success, but the path she has cleared for younger girls like Katelynn Phelan, Caroline Dubois and Ellie Scotney to follow.

She explained: Its amazing where womens boxing is right now. We are at MSG, the Mecca of boxing, and breaking records for female boxing.

However, it isnt just about me and Amanda, it is also for the next generation of female fighters.

We want to break down barriers and we do feel like we are elevating the sport.

This bout collapsed a couple of times before Serrano, 33, penned a promotional deal with American YouTube prankster turned celebrity fighter, Jake Paul.

The controversial social media sensation divides opinion in the sport but he has thrown enough financial support behind the Puerto Rico legend that Taylor the antithesis of the headline-chasing blond bad boy manages to thank him for his high-profile input.

Taylor said: Im surprised that he has moved into womens boxing but it must be surprising for Jake Paul as well.

I am not sure he would have expected to be in this position involved in promoting female boxing.

He had a big part to play because it fell through a couple of times but, since he got on board with Amanda, everything has gotten over the line. For that alone, I am grateful he is involved.

Taylor comes from Bray, Co Wicklow, and has her country behind her.

But she is well aware that her opponent has tradition and pride to match.

She said: Me and Amanda come from small countries that punch above their weight in terms of boxing.

So it will be great for us both to represent them.

I am coming after the likes of Wayne McCullough, Barry McGuigan, Steve Collins and Carl Frampton and she has heroes like Miguel Cotto and Felix Trinidad.

We are bringing all our pride and our heritage into the ring and that will add a lot more.

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One unlikely inspiration for Taylor is a Swiss sporting icon who has never laid a hand on any of his opponents.

But his magnificent demeanour has earned his photo a spot on the wall of fame in her home gym.

When asked about all the posters that are dotted around her punchbag in Connecticut, where she now trains, Taylor said: Yes, Roger Federer is on my wall at home. He is one of my favourite athletes of all time.

There are others on there, like Michael Jordan, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler the usual guys really.

But Federer is not just a great sportsman but he has a great manner as well.

Ive loved watching him since I was a teenager. I am a really big tennis fan even though I have never really even played it I just love watching.

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Katie Taylor on the cusp of boxing immortality as she gears up for battle with Amanda Serrano in historic... - The Sun

Everything We Know About AMC’s ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Series 2022 – The Mary Sue

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In 2020, AMC announced they gained the rights to Anne Rices The Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches series. The deal happened prior to Rices death in 2021, so it is not clear what her involvement was in the development of the first projectan Interview with the Vampire television show.

I first read Interview with the Vampire as a young teenager and it instantly shaped my lifelong love of pansexual vampires. To this day, the vampire Lestat is one of my all-time favorite literary characters. Yet, the Interview with the Vampire film and the proceeding sequel, Queen of the Damned, did not do nearly as well as the Vampire Chronicles book series did. As a side note, I am still bitter they never attempted the novel The Vampire Lestat since that is my favorite of all the books and went between the two films they made. Why did they skip it?!

Because of my past disappointments, I had little hope for this series. But after seeing the actors cast in the show and watching the recently released teaser trailer, I am actually looking forward to it! Here is everything we know about the upcoming show.

Louis de Pointe du Lac Jacob Anderson, who is best known for playing Grey Worm on Game of Thrones (or as he is called by Jonathan Van Ness, Little Baby Barack Obama), will play Louis. The novel begins with Louis telling the boy (later in the series he gets the name Daniel Molloy) about his life as a vampire. It starts when Lestat de Lioncourt chose Louis as his consort. Louis is beautiful and sad, something that keeps Lestat eternally hooked.

Lestat de Lioncourt Sam Reid (Anonymous) will play Lestat. A French vampire who comes to New Orleans looking for a new lease on the afterlife, he feels Louiss humanity will bring him into the new era. Lestat has a dark humor that no one understands. He feels everything deeply, love and hate, but reveals nothing to those around him.

Claudia Newcomer Bailey Bass will play vampire-child, Claudia. Although the actress looks to be in her late teens, the character is supposed to be a very young child. Her innocent look dupes her victims into trusting, not knowing she is a cold-blooded killer. There is no official word, but I can imagine they aged the character up for practical (and possibly problematic) reasons. Lestat found orphaned Claudia and made her into a vampire to keep Louis with him, so they would be a proper family.

Daniel Molloy Eric Bogosian (Law & Order: Criminal Intent) will play Daniel Molloy. In the novel, Louis only refers to him as the boy. So I find it amusing that in this context, a man in his early thirties will play Louis, and the boy is a man almost seventy. Daniel interviews interesting people and takes a particular shine to Louis, wanting to know his story.

The original story began at the end of the 18th century in New Orleans. Louis owns a profitable Indigo plantation. He meets an enchanting vampire named Lestat, who offers him immortality. The two become locked forever in an angsty and beautiful romance filled with so many communication and intimacy issues.

The teaser trailer, and all the officially released pictures, seem like the show takes place much more recently during the Jazz Age (1920s-1930s). This could mean several things. Either Louis doesnt become a vampire until later, or the plot explores this portion of their lives as opposed to the earlier times. In many ways, the Jazz Age is much more funit has its own fantastic soundtrack, and those tailored suits look lovely.

At the end of the teaser, it said the shows premiere date for Fall 2022 on AMC. Just in time for some Halloween viewing.

Last year I started re-reading the novel and, honestly, it wasnt as good as I remembered it being. Since its publication in 1976, a lot has changed in our worlds and many parts did not age well. Rices romanticizing of southern plantations and queer-baiting would not be as well-received today. Even since the movies, gay romances (like the one that played out in the books between the two main vampires) have become more mainstream. So I am hoping with all of my (vampire-loving) soul that AMC has the guts to take the series and make it betterfinally giving fans the love affair between Louis and Lestat we have all been waiting for.

(featured image: AMC)

The Mary Sue has a strict comment policythat forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults towardanyone, hate speech, and trolling.

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Nadal on the cusp of tennis immortality – 7NEWS

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It was precisely two weeks ago that Rafael Nadal declared, with all respect, that "it will be a great Australian Open with or without him".

But not even Nadal could have imagined just how "great" the ensuing fortnight might be for him personally without Novak Djokovic lining up for yet another Open title defence.

Barely a month after fearing he may not be healthy enough to compete at Melbourne Park, Nadal is one win away from landing an unprecedented 21st men's grand slam singles crown.

Nadal takes on Russian world No.2 Daniil Medvedev on Sunday night bidding for the record number of majors that most thought Djokovic would be eyeing off before his dramatic deportation from Australia on the eve of the season's first slam.

After two desperate court battles and a fortnight-long saga that drew worldwide attention, Djokovic's departure for not having the necessary visa to enter the country opened the door for Nadal.

After playing just two matches between June and January because of a crippling foot injury aggravated during his devastating French Open finals loss last year to Djokovic, not even the Spaniard dreamed of being in this position.

"We can create histories but the real truth is that two months ago we didn't know if we will be able to be back on tour at all," Nadal said after his epic five-set quarter-final victory over Denis Shapovalov on Wednesday.

Little wonder then, though not surprising, that as he prepares for Medvedev, having initially been slated for a potential semi-final with Djokovic, that Nadal isn't nearly as obsessed with moving one clear of the Serb and fellow tennis titan Roger Federer with a 21st grand slam.

Publicly at least, the 35-year-old former world No.1 said he's merely still playing for the joy of competing in such an extraordinary golden era.

Nadal insisted it's an honour to feature in world sport's most dominate triumvirate come what may.

"I just feel happy to be part of this amazing era of tennis, sharing all these things with another two players," he said.

"That's it. In some ways it doesn't matter if somebody achieve one more or one less (grand slam), no?

"Everyone, we did amazing things and things that will be very difficult to equal."

More important to Nadal, he said, is winning a second Australian Open crown, after losing four finals since his only triumph in 2009.

That in itself would elevate Nadal in the history books alongside Djokovic, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson as the only man to win all four grand slam events at least twice.

"Of course, if just a few people did this during the whole history of this sport it's because it's something very difficult to make it," said Nadal, who also had to overcome a bout of COVID-19 close to Christmas to make it to Melbourne.

"Yeah, I'm happy that I going to have a chance. But for me, at the end, it's about, more than all these statistics.

"It's about be in the final of the Australian Open one more time. That means a lot to me."

History is at stake for Medvedev, too.

After denying Djokovic a fabled calendar-year grand slam with victory over the world No.1 in last year's US Open final, Medvedev is striving to become the first man to capture his second career major in successive slams.

Nadal, typically, has full respect for the Russian, knowing the 25-year-old is a vastly different proposition to the opponent he beat in five gruelling sets in the 2019 final at Flushing Meadows.

"If I'm not able to play at my top level, I will be simply no chance," Nadal said.

"One thing won't change, I need to play at my highest level."

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Nadal on the cusp of tennis immortality - 7NEWS

Retired CFL QB Michael Reilly inducted into Central Washington University Hall of Fame, credits time with Wildcats for pro success – 3downnation.com

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Recently retired CFL quarterback Michael Reilly will have to wait five years to get his bust in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, but the gutsy dual-threat pivot got a taste of richly deserved sports immortality when he was inducted into the Central Washington University Hall of Fame on Saturday.

Reilly quarterbacked the Wildcats football team from 2005 to 2008 and set an NCAA all-division record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass by throwing for a score in all 46 games of his collegiate career. A native of Kennewick, Washington, he finished his time at CWU with a 64 percent completion rate for 12,448 passing yards, 118 touchdowns and 40 interceptions.

As a senior, Reilly was named the 2008 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a runner-up for the Harlon Hill Trophy as the most valuable player in Division II after passing for 3,706 yards and 37 touchdowns and six interceptions. That same season, Reilly earned All-America honours from Daktronics, D2Football.com, and Don Hansens Football Gazette.

Originally a walk-on at Washington State, Reilly admitted in a Q & A with WildcatSports.com that he never imagined a Hall of Fame enshrinement would await him after transferring to the tiny school in Ellensburg.

The thought never really crossed my mind. My goal was always to end up playing professional football, but when I started attending Central in 2005 my sole focus was performing well enough to become the starter and doing the things necessary to earn the respect of my teammates so that I could become a leader for our team, Reilly recalled.

[Former CWU head coach John Zamberlin] was also always quick to remind me that although they had high expectations for me, I hadnt done anything yet on the field and needed to prove myself.

He did more than simply prove himself, joining Jon Kitna on the shortlist of best ever Wildcats quarterbacks. After short stints with four separate NFL franchises, Reilly went on to have an outstanding 12-year career in the CFL with the B.C. Lions and Edmonton Elks. He won Grey Cup championships with both teams, earning Grey Cup MVP honours with Edmonton in 2015 and become the leagues Most Outstanding Player in 2017.

Reilly retired in January as the 14th most productive passer in CFL history. He has finished his career with 34,805 passing yards, 182 touchdowns, 105 interceptions, 3,566 rushing yards, and 56 rushing touchdowns. He threw for over 5,000 yards in three consecutive seasons from 2016 to 2018, a feat that only Doug Flutie and Anthony Calvillo had previously accomplished.

According to Reilly, much of that professional success can be attributed to the lessons he learned while playing for the Wildcats.

The number one thing that Central taught me when it came to football was that I had to earn everything that I wanted, and that nothing would be given to me based on who I was or where I was from, he said.

A lot of great players from big Division I schools would come up to the CFL and thought that they could just coast through and be an all-star and that was rarely the case for them. Coming from CWU and Division II, I had the lunch pail mentality that I needed to prove myself and earn my paycheque every single day and I think that attitude served me well throughout my career.

While the 37-year-old may marvel at the fact he is old enough to have a spot in any Hall of Fame, you can guarantee Central Washingtons ceremony wont be the last one Michael Reilly has to attend.

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Retired CFL QB Michael Reilly inducted into Central Washington University Hall of Fame, credits time with Wildcats for pro success - 3downnation.com

A Mermaid, A King And Immortality – centraljersey.com

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By Paul Hall

An illegitimate daughter, scandalous royalty and a quest for immortality fill the air in The Kings Daughter, the new film from director Sean McNamara (Soul Surfer), in theaters now.

King Louis XIV (Pierce Brosnan) leads his kingdom with an iron rule and all he wants is to continue to do everything for all of France, which really means for his own benefit.

As the king starts to feel the tug of age and sees leaders around him begin to fall, he yearns for a way to extend his rule, as he believes he is the only one to lead the kingdom forward. So when his doctor shares a story of a mystical mermaid who just may possess the secret to everlasting life, Louis orders his men to find her, sparing no expense. If they succeed, Louis just might acquire immortality.

Yves De La Croix (Benjamin Walker) leads the journey to find the mermaid and return her to the king. Although he does not know the reason for the mission, he does realize that he is there to serve the king, and hes the best. When he returns home with the mermaid, he monitors her well-being.

Meanwhile, at a nearby abbey, Marie-Josephe (Kaya Scodelario), the daughter who King Louis hid from the public, is summoned to return and provide music for the king. While her identity remains a mystery to most of the kingdom, the king and his spiritual advisor Pere La Chaise (William Hurt) are acutely aware of Maries identity.

The matter of life and immortality are at the center of The Kings Daughter, but there are a number of subplots involving life, love and family that play a major role in the decisions that are reached. And the fact that there are so many angles being used in the film leads to a bit of a messy execution. So many stories beg for depth and exploration, and yet to get to the bottom of everything, they are lopped off at the knees.

A solid cast leads to a somewhat enjoyable effort, in spite of the messiness that exists. Brosnan and Hurt are enjoyable, while Scodelario was underused and felt lost in the morass that encompassed the story. And the mermaid angle provides graphics that were underwhelming at best and largely distracting. They didnt feel like they belonged in the same film.

The Kings Daughter comes up short of a completely enjoyable excursion to a fantasy world, but it does present an acceptable break for a brief moment in time.

Pauls Grade: C+

The Kings DaughterRated PG-13Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Kaya Scodelario, Benjamin Walker, Rachel Griffiths, William Hurt, Pablo SchreiberDirector: Sean McNamara

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A Mermaid, A King And Immortality - centraljersey.com

Tag teams vie for immortality in the 2022 Mens Dusty Rhodes Classic – WWE

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Tag team immortality and an opportunity to challenge for the NXT Tag Team Titles is on the line as the 2022 Mens Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic semifinals are set!

Defending Dusty Cup Champions MSK are one step closer to back-to-back Dusty Classic victories after defeating Jacket Time in a thrilling first-round match to set up a date with bracket busters Malik Blade & Edris Enof after the duo shocked the NXT Universe with a quick rollupto slip past Legado del Fantasma.

The other side of the bracket features what promises to be a punishing affair between TheCreed Brothers and GYV. Julius & Brutus Creed powered their way through a slugfest with Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen to punch their ticket to the next round while Zack Gibson & James Drake taught Andre Chase and his student Bodhi Hayward a lesson in distraction to defeat the newly formed pair.

Can GYV reach the finals for the third straight year? Will MSK raise the Dusty Cup a second time?Can The Creed Brothers bully their way to a tag team title opportunity? Or will the Cinderella story of Blade & Enof have a fairytale ending?

Catch all the tournament action every Tuesday on NXT 2.0 at 8/7 C on USA over the next few weeks!

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Tag teams vie for immortality in the 2022 Mens Dusty Rhodes Classic - WWE