Monthly Archives: August 2021

The rapid takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban left many surprised.

To Ali Olomi, a historian of the Middle East and Islam at Penn State University, a key to understanding what is happening now and what might take place next is looking at the past and how the Taliban came to prominence.

How far back do you

trace the Talibans origins?

While the Taliban emerged as a force in the 1990s Afghan civil war, you have to go back to the Saur Revolution of 1978 to truly understand the group, and what theyre trying to achieve.

The Saur Revolution was a turning point in the history of Afghanistan. By the mid-1970s, Afghanistan had been modernizing for decades.

The two countries that were most eager to get involved in building up Afghan infrastructure were the United States and the Soviet Union both of which hoped to have a foothold in Afghanistan to exert power over central and south Asia.

As a result of the influx of foreign aid, the Afghan government became the primary employer of the country and that led to endemic corruption, setting the stage for the revolution.

By that time, differing ideologies were fighting for ascendancy in the nation.

On one end you had a group of mainly young activists, journalists, professors and military commanders influenced by Marxism.

On the other end, you had Islamists beginning to emerge, who wanted to put in place a type of a Muslim Brotherhood-style Islamic state.

Daud Khan, the then-president of Afghanistan, originally allied himself with the young military commanders.

But concerned over the threat of a revolutionary coup, he started to suppress certain groups.

In April 1978, a coup deposed Khan.

This led to the establishment of the Peoples Republic of Afghanistan, headed by a Marxist-Leninist government.

How did a leftist government help ferment Taliban?

After an initial purge of the ruling Communist Party members, the new government turned toward suppressing Islamist and other opposition groups, which led to a nascent resistance movement.

The United States saw this as an opportunity and started to funnel money to Pakistans intelligence services, which were allied with Islamists in Afghanistan.

At first, the United States funneled only limited funds and just gave symbolic gestures of support.

But it ended up allying with an Islamist group that formed part of the growing resistance movement known as the mujahedeen, which was a loose coalition more than a unified group.

Alongside the Islamist factions, there were groups led by leftists purged by the ruling government.

The only thing they all had in common was opposition to the increasingly oppressive government.

This opposition intensified in 1979, when then-Afghan leader Nur Mohammad Taraki was assassinated by his second-in-command Hafizullah Amin, who took over and turned out to be a wildly repressive leader.

Soviet fears of the U.S. capitalizing on the growing instability contributed to the Soviet Union invasion in 1979.

This resulted in the U.S. funneling further money to the mujahedeen, who were now fighting a foreign enemy on their land.

And the Taliban emerged from this resistance movement?

The mujahedeen waged a guerrilla-style war against Soviet forces for several years, until exhausting the invaders militarily and politically.

That and international pressure brought the Soviet Union to the negotiating table.

After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, chaos reigned.

Within three years, the new government collapsed and the old mujahedeen commanders turned into warlords with different factions in different regions, increasingly turning on one another.

Amid this chaos, one former Islamist mujahedeen commander, Mullah Mohammad Omar, looked to Pakistan where a generation of young Afghans had grown up in refugee camps, going to various madrassas where they were trained in a brand of strict Islamic ideology, known as Deobandi.

From these camps he drew support for what became the Taliban taliban means students.

The bulk of Taliban members are not from the mujahedeen; they are the next generation and they actually ended up fighting the mujahedeen.

The Taliban continued to draw members from the refugee camps into the 1990s.

Mullah Omar, from a stronghold in Kandahar, slowly took over more land in Afghanistan until the Taliban conquered Kabul in 1996 and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

But they never took full control of all of Afghanistan the north remained in the hands of other groups.

What was behind Talibans success in the 1990s?

One of the keys to the Taliban success was they offered an alternative.

They said, Look, the mujahedeen fought heroically to liberate your country but have now turned it into a war zone. We offer security, we will end the drug trade, we will end the human trafficking trade. We will end the corruption.

What people forget is that the Taliban were seen as welcome relief for some Afghan villagers. The Talibans initial message of security and stability was an alternative to the chaos.

And it took a year before they started to institute repressive measures such as restrictions on women and the banning of music.

The other thing that cemented their position in the 1990s was they recruited local people through force sometimes, or bribery. In every village they entered, the Taliban added to their ranks with local people.

It was really a decentralized network.

Mullah Omar was ostensibly their leader, but he relied on local commanders who tapped into other factions aligned with their ideology such as the Haqqani network, a family-based Islamist group that became crucial to the Taliban in the 2000s, when it become the de facto diplomatic arm of the Taliban by leveraging old tribal alliances in order to convince more people to join the cause.

How crucial is this history to understand what is happening now?

An understanding of what was going in the Saur Revolution, or how it led to the chaos of the 1990s and the emergence of the Taliban, is crucial to today.

Many were surprised by the quick takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban after President Biden announced a withdrawal of U.S. troops.

But if you look at how the Taliban came to be a force in the 1990s, you realize they are doing the same thing now.

They are saying to Afghans, Look at the corruption, look at the violence, look at the drones that are falling from U.S. planes.

And again the Taliban are offering what they say is an alternative based on stability and security just as they did in the 1990s. And again they are leveraging localism as a strategy.

When you understand the history of the Taliban, you can recognize these patterns and what might happen next. At the moment, the Taliban are telling the world they will allow women to have an education and rights.

They said the exact same thing in the 1990s. But like in the 1990s, their promises always have qualifiers.

The last time they were in power, those promises were replaced by brutal oppression.

History isnt just a set of dates or facts. Its a lens of analysis that can help us understand the present and what will happen next.

Ali A. Olomi is an assistant Professor of History at Penn State University.

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The history of the Taliban is crucial to understanding their success now, and also what might happen next - Lock Haven Express

Roberto Clemente won two championships with the Pittsburgh Pirates, one when he was young and the other near the end of his brief life. For the first, in 1960, everyone else on the World Series roster was white, except for two teammates at the end of the bench. The second roster, in 1971, was much different.

Fifty years ago on Wednesday about a month before the start of a postseason he would make his own Clemente found himself batting third in a lineup unlike any that had come before. For the first time in the history of the National or the American League, a team fielded a lineup that was entirely composed of people of color.

Roberto said to me, Sangy, I never thought Id see that in my life, said Manny Sanguillen, 77, the catcher that night. He was proud to see nine guys playing, and he said, Im glad Im participating in that for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates will honor the legacy of that game on Wednesday by hosting a panel discussion at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh with Sanguillen and the three other living members of the lineup: third baseman Dave Cash, center fielder Gene Clines and first baseman Al Oliver. The team will wear commemorative T-shirts before its road game that day and will hold a pregame ceremony before its next home game on Sept. 6.

It means a lot more to me now than it did then, because at that time, we didnt give it much thought, said Oliver, 74, who played first base. The reason we didnt is because the Pirates were always loaded with Black and Latin players, and so it wasnt something that was really noticeable to us as players. I dont know how it was to other people, but to us, it was almost routine.

While Black participation in Major League Baseball has declined in recent years, the 1971 Pirates stand as an early example of the international game M.L.B. would become. In the lineup that Sept. 1 were two players from Panama (Sanguillen and second baseman Rennie Stennett), one from Cuba (shortstop Jackie Hernandez) and Clemente, from Puerto Rico.

Five others were Black Americans: Cash, Clines, Oliver, left fielder Willie Stargell and pitcher Dock Ellis. They were different in birthplace but connected in spirit.

Some people said, Latino, its not the same but its not true; were Black, Sanguillen said, laughing. Like Willie said to me, Your colors even darker than mine!

Such brotherly ribbing was a hallmark of the Pirates in the 1970s, even as they transitioned to other stars of color like Dave Parker, Bill Madlock, Jim Bibby and Omar Moreno. The visual on Sept. 1, 1971, was unremarkable, like the game itself: a Wednesday night affair at Three Rivers Stadium against the overmatched Philadelphia Phillies before 11,278 fans.

Standing in the on-deck circle at first pitch, Phillies shortstop Larry Bowa had the same reaction as Oliver: same old Pirates, the class of the league. Baseball had been integrated since 1947, so a diverse lineup, in general, was nothing new. Twelve different players of color had won the leagues Most Valuable Player Award, including Clemente in 1966.

You look at every one of those guys that night, and they were great players, Bowa said. It didnt even enter my mind that, Oh, wow, thats different. I just looked at the talent out there and went, Wow pretty good baseball team.

Two white Pirates infielders were out of the lineup first baseman Bob Robertson had sprained a knee, and third baseman Richie Hebner was recovering from a viral infection. But the Pirates were so deep that their manager, Danny Murtaugh, had plenty of strong options to replace them.

The first six hitters in Murtaughs lineup were all batting over .300 Stennett, Clines, Clemente, Stargell, Sanguillen and Cash. Oliver, who had a .303 career average, batted seventh. Hernandez, the light-hitting shortstop, was next, followed by Ellis, who had started the All-Star Game that summer.

Im not saying we were intimidated, but you knew youd better play your A game or it would be a long series in Pittsburgh, Bowa said. They were that much better than us. Every one of those hitters used the whole field. They hit balls hard, they could run, they could throw. And all those guys used big bats. Even the ground balls they hit to you, they came at you with authority.

Bowa worked two walks off Ellis, helping force the Pirates bullpen into the game in the second inning. The Pirates would win, 10-7, and the pitching star, as The Sporting News noted, was white.

Ironically, the paper reported, it took six innings of strong relief by Luke Walker, a Caucasian from Texas, to quiet the Phillies.

The Pirates unique lineup was treated more as an amusing footnote than a watershed moment. The Sporting News story was a brief item tucked in the corner of a box score page. The Pittsburgh newspapers were not publishing because of a strike, and The Philadelphia Daily News made only a passing reference the next day to the Pirates all-soul lineup. A United Press International reporter took more of an interest.

When it comes to making the lineup, Im colorblind, Murtaugh said in that report. And my athletes know it. They dont know it because I told them, but they know it because theyre familiar with the way I operate.

Murtaugh, who died in 1976, insisted he did not even notice the racial makeup of the lineup. In that way, he was like Red Auerbach, the impresario of the Boston Celtics, who always maintained that he did not realize he had used the first all-Black lineup in N.B.A. history when he did so on Dec. 26, 1964.

Murtaugh was a man that wanted to win, and it didnt matter what formula he had to come up with, he was just looking at who was the best fit for that particular game, said Roberto Clemente Jr., who was 6 years old at the time. Obviously, it was a historic moment, but I dont think he really even thought about it. He just wanted to have the best lineup to win that game.

Oliver said the distinction had only dawned on him in the third or fourth inning. But Stargell who would effectively replace Clemente as the Pirates leader after Clementes fatal plane crash on Dec. 31, 1972 was keenly aware. In the clubhouse later, Clines said he was sure the Pirates had started nine brothers before. Stargell corrected him.

This is the first time, he said in the U.P.I. story. Back in 1967, in Philadelphia, Harry Walker started eight of us, but the pitcher, Denny Ribant, was white.

Stargell died in 2001, on the very day the Pirates opened PNC Park, which replaced Three Rivers Stadium. Ellis died in 2008, and Oliver eulogized him at his funeral in California. Most fans remember Ellis for claiming to have thrown a no-hitter while on LSD, or for wearing rollers in his hair. Oliver said his friend had a more meaningful legacy.

I dont think too many people knew that what Dock was really doing out in Los Angeles was saving lives, he said. Because I recall at his funeral, when I was looking out over the congregation, most of the people there were the people that he had brought out of addictions and saved their lives.

Though he pitched only briefly that night 50 years ago, Elliss presence helped the Pirates do something for the very first time. Before long, Clemente would lead them to a place he had been once before: the World Series.

He was on a mission, the younger Clemente said. He knew he was here for a short period of time. As he told my mother, he was going to die young, and I believe thats how he lived his life, in a flash. So understanding that he wanted to win that World Series, that is something that needed to happen.

The Pirates started September by symbolically flipping a league that had once been all white. They ended October as champions.

Excerpt from:

50 Years Later, the Pirates' Lineup of Color Still Resonates - The New York Times

History was made at the Belgian Grand Prix Sunday and it had nothing to do with the racers.

Max Verstappen was declared the official winner of the Belgian Grand Prix when the race was stopped after two laps due to bad weather. According to F1, the top 10 racers will take half points from the race.

The Belgian Grand Prix is typically 44 laps, but disastrous weather conditions forced officials to call the race after just two rounds. This is Verstappens sixth win of the 2021 Formula One championship.

Its been a tight competition this year between him and Lewis Hamilton, the reigning Formula One champion. Hamilton entered Sundays race with an eight-point lead on Verstappen atop the leaderboard. Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas, and Sergio Perez followed in a distance third through fifth.

Next weekend, the circuit is headed to Circuit Zandvoort in North Holland, Netherlands for the Dutch Grand Prix. This is the first Dutch Grand Prix since 1985.

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Belgian Grand Prix winner: Max Verstappen wins shortest race in F1 history due to bad weather - DraftKings Nation

With the doldrums of the offseason here in the NBA, now is the time to look back on history and acknowledge some greats in the franchise history of the Philadelphia 76ers before looking ahead to the excitement of a new season.

In this edition, we are going to take a look at some of the best passers in the history of the Sixers. The guys out on the floor who led the team on offense making sure everybody is in the right position so things can run smoothly out on the hardwood.

Most of the players on this list are point guards, but others are bigger players while some focused mostly on scoring while out on the floor. Here is the list of the top 10 assist leaders for the Sixers:

Cheeks has his No. 10 jersey hanging from the rafters at the Wells Fargo Center after a decorated career with the Sixers. The Hall of Famer made an All-Star game four times in his career and he helped the team win a title in 1983. He averaged 7.3 assists in his 11-year career in Philadelphia.

Greer also has his No. 15 jersey hanging at the Wells Fargo Center and he helped the franchise win a title in 1967. He spent the entirety of his 15 seasons with the Sixers and he averaged 19.2 points and 4.0 assists as scoring was his main focus for this team.

Much like Greer, Iverson was obviously known more for his scoring rather than his passing skills, but when he had to get his teammates involved, he did. He ended up averaging 6.1 assists for his career with the Sixers and he won a league MVP in 2001 while guiding the team to an NBA finals appearance.

Erving was also known more for his scoring than his assists, but he did play long enough to garner up a ton of assists in his career in Philadelphia. He averaged 22.0 points and 3.9 assists in his career with the Sixers and he guided the team to a title in 1983.

Schayes led the Syracuse Nationalsthe franchises name before they became the 76ers in 1963to a title in 1955. As the teams big man, he averaged 18.5 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in his 15-year career with the Sixers.

Iguodala was a do-it-all forward in his eight seasons in Philadelphia. He averaged 15.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.9 assists leading the team to a handful of playoff appearances while being named an All-Star in 2012.

Snow was just a solid point guard during his time with the Sixers. He was not a flashy player by any means, but he is a guy who could be counted on to get the ball to Iverson and the other scorers. He averaged 9.7 points and 6.6 assists during his time in Philadelphia.

Costello spent 10 seasons with the Nationals and he was named an All-Star six times while being a part of Philadelphias 1967 NBA title team. He was also named to the All-NBA Team in 1961 and he averaged 12.9 points and 4.7 assists while with the Sixers.

Cunningham was also a big part of Philadelphias 1967 title team and he was named an All-Star four times in his career. He averaged 20.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 4.0 assists with the Sixers on his way to a Hall of Fame career.

Seymourwho is No. 5 in the photo abovespent 11 seasons with the Nationals and he averaged 9.6 points and 3.9 assists with the franchise. He was a part of the 1955 NBA title team as he helped Schayes get the job done.

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A list of the top 10 assist leaders in Philadelphia 76ers franchise history - Sixers Wire

Originally Published: 29 AUG 21 02:39 ET

Updated: 29 AUG 21 12:36 ET

By Jay Croft, CNN

(CNN) --Hurricane Idais beginning to move ashore and is set to make landfall early this afternoon likely tied as Louisiana's most powerful storm ever.

The current forecast calls for sustained winds of 150 mph when Ida hits on the 16th anniversary of the historically devastating Hurricane Katrina.

That's just 7 mph below the Category 5 ranking, and if Ida arrives at that level, it would be just the fifth to do so on the US mainland.

Last year's Hurricane Laura and the Last Island Hurricane of 1856 share the current record at 150 mph.

The northern eyewall is moving onshore along the southeast Louisiana coast, according to the 12 p.m. ET update from the National Hurricane Center. The eyewall is the most dangerous part of a hurricane and contains the highest winds.

The center of Ida was around 25 miles from Grand Isle, Louisiana. A wind gust of 104 mph was recently reported at Southwest Pass, Louisiana. Ida will be making landfall around 1 or 2 p.m. ET when the center of the eye is halfway over the coast. Extreme winds and surge will accompany landfall over the next several hours.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Sunday he expects Ida to be "a big challenge for us."

Edwards told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" that his state "is as ready as we can be," but he expects Ida to be "a very serious test of our levy systems, especially in our coastal Louisiana."

The state invested significantly in shoring up the levy system after the catastrophic fail after Katrina. Edwards said Ida "will be the most severe test," but he expects the levees to hold. "The next 24, 36 hours are just going to be very, very critical for us here in Louisiana."

Ida became a Category 4 storm early Sunday morning, rapidly intensifying to sustained winds of 150 mph, according to theNational Hurricane Center.

Ronald Dufrene, a commercial shrimper, plans to ride out the storm on 100-foot shrimp boat in Jean Lafitte, Louisiana, with his wife. He said he's stayed on his boat for every storm for the last 42 years.

"I rode out three of them last year. Don't get me wrong. This is a buzz saw we have coming," he said. "Mother Nature's a beast.

"I feel it's the safest place for me and my family is on that boat. You get on the highway and you drive 10 to 15 hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic. ... I've got enough food and water for months."

Sharlette Landry evacuated Grand Isle, Louisiana, and watched her security camera feeds, which showed water quickly rising before her home lost power Sunday.

"I did prepare, but you can never be prepared for this magnitude of a storm," Landry,who posted a video onFacebook, told CNN. "I was very surprised at how fast it rose. I've never seen it that high and I'm sure it's higher now at my place."

On Twitter, Wyatt Northrup wrote from Alabama, "Wind and waves really starting to pickup with #Ida in Fort Morgan."

A tornado watch is in effect until 8 p.m. ET for parts of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, according to the Storm Prediction Center. Quick-moving, brief tornadoes will be possible throughout Sunday.

There is also a danger of life-threatening storm surge Sunday in areas along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Sign up for email updates for significant storms

Ida will become the fourth hurricane to slam Louisiana since last August and the state's third major hurricane landfall in thattime span.

Live updates: Hurricane Ida heads toward the Gulf Coast

A Sunday strike would also fall on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina'sGulf Coast landfall, which led to the deaths of more than 1,800 people in the region.

TRACK IDA'S PATH >>>

Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005 as a Category 3 storm with 125 mph sustained winds. Storm surge with Katrina measured up to 24-28 feet, according to the NHC.

The water topped levees and flood walls, and more than 80% of New Orleans flooded. More than 1,500 people in Louisiana died.

Katrina brought storm surge of 15 to 19 feet in eastern New Orleans, St. Bernard Parish, and Plaquemines Parish, while the surge was 10 to 14 feet in western New Orleans along the southern shores of Lake Pontchartrain, according to the NHC.

By comparison, Hurricane Ida is forecast to bring a lower storm surge of 12-16 feet to some areas of southeast Louisiana, the NHC says. And near New Orleans it's expected to be even lower: 8-12 feet outside New Orleans and 5-8 feet along Lake Pontchartrain.

That's because the wind field was larger for Katrina: 90 miles from center at landfall, compared to 50 miles for Ida.

Since Katrina, the levee and water control systems in New Orleans were improved: Pumps were upgradedwith backup generatorsand gates were added at key canals to help block water from entering the city during storm surge.

"This is a different city than it was August 28th 2005, in terms of infrastructure and safety," Ramsey Green, New Orleans deputy chief administrative officer for infrastructure, told reporters Saturday at a News Conference ahead of Hurricane Ida's landfall.

Green called the city's levee system "an unprecedentedly powerful protection for the city," which has three lines of defense: the coast, the wetlands and the levee system.

"From that perspective, we need to be comfortable and we need to know that we'll be in a much better place than we were 16 years ago," Green said. "That said, if we have 10 to 20 inches of rain over an abbreviated period of time, we will see flooding. We don't know at this moment -- we see 15 to 20 inches over 48 hours or less, and we can handle it, depending on the event."

Officials throughout the state have implored people to evacuate, with some issuing mandatory orders to do so.

Arnold urged people to stock up on enough food and water for at least three days.

"We say the first 72 (hours) is on you," Arnold said. "The first three days of this will be difficult for responders to get to you."

The NWS warned of "structural damage to buildings, with many washing away" as well as winds that could bring "widespread power and communication outages."

Airlines canceled all flights arriving to and leaving from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on Sunday, theairport said.

Tulane University in New Orleans is closed Sunday and Monday, less than a week after students returned to campus.

In Mississippi, at least 15 school districts and universities will be closed Monday, with the majority of schools announcing plans to resume classes on Tuesday, pending the weather forecast.

Nearly 65,000 power outages have been reported across Louisiana, poweroutage.us.

Energy Louisiana said Sunday some of its customers could be without power for weeks.

The company warned that while 90% of customers will likely have their power restored in a timely manner, flooding and storm damage may prevent crews from accessing certain areas.

The company said it expects to deploy around 16,000 restoration personnel once the storm passes.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced Friday evening that the National Weather Service and Edwards had indicated there was no time to implement contraflow traffic, meaning New Orleans could not issue a mandatory evacuation for areas inside the levee system.

Contraflow is when authorities use some lanes of traffic for travel in the opposite direction of what was intended so more vehicles can leave an area.

Cantrell on Saturday said that if people planned to voluntarily evacuate -- which she recommended -- it was time to go.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said Friday that once the storm starts, people need to stay off the roads to protect first responders.

As the storm approached, mandatory evacuations were ordered for parts of at least seven Louisiana parishes as well as the towns of Grande Isle and Port Fourchon. Voluntary evacuations were issued in six parishes.

With 2,450 patients in the hospital with Covid-19, Edwards reiterated his concern that Ida is colliding with a fourth wave of infections throughout the state.

"I will tell you it's going to be a very, very challenging storm for our state, and it comes at a very difficult time as well," he said.

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Hurricane Ida is moving ashore with history-making power on the anniversary of Katrina - ABC 57 News

Days after she became the first female journalist to interview a Taliban representative on live television, news anchor Beheshta Arghand fled Afghanistan, after several members of the media receivedintimidating messages from the Taliban.

Arghand, 24, worked for the TOLO news station, and conducted her groundbreaking interview on Aug. 17. She told CNN Business it wasn't easy to sit across from the Taliban spokesman, but "I did it for Afghan women." When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s and early 2000s, women were oppressed, forced to wear burqas and unable to hold most jobs. Arghand said she went to TOLO's offices so the Taliban couldn't say "ladies don't want to work," and when she was face to face with the representative, told him, "We want our rights. We want to work. We want we must be in society. This is our right."

On Aug. 19, Arghand interviewed activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot by a member of the Taliban in Pakistan, in what TOLO said was Yousafzai's first-ever interview with an Afghan television station. Following her interview with Yousafzai, Arghand said she contacted an activist and asked for help escaping Afghanistan, and was able to flee with several of her relatives on a Qatari Air Force evacuation flight. "I left the country because, like millions of people, I fear the Taliban," she said.

Arghand told CNN Business that if the Taliban "do what they said what they promised and the situation becomes better, and I know I am safe and there is no threat for me, I will go back to my country and I will work for my country. For my people." TOLO's owner, Saeed Mohseni, told CNN's Reliable Source on Sunday that nearly every one of the station's "well known reporters and journalists have left. We have been working like crazy to replace them with new people."

Excerpt from:

Female journalist who made history interviewing Taliban representative flees Afghanistan - The Week Magazine

One of the most polarizing periods in Sixers history was the Process years. What went into one of the most contentious eras in NBA history?

Sam Hinkie may be one of the most controversial figures in all of recent sports history. On the one hand, he rebuilt a storied Philadelphia franchise from mediocrity to championship contender. He took a roster devoid of talent and turned it into a citadel of high draft picks and All-Stars. On the other hand, he did this by intentionally lowering the quality of his roster during the year and by losing consistently for years to come.

With the 76ers recent collapse in the playoffs, many are stating that The Process didnt work. That all of the losses and suffering the Philadelphia faithful went through was for nothing. However, it is important to remember where this team was and where they are now so we may no longer take for granted how beautiful and one of a kind The Process truly was.

In the beginning, there was darkness. A roster full of serviceable backups, failed experiments, and lonely bright spots. Their own future draft picks are traded around the nation. A record of 34-48, good enough for the ninth seed in the East. This is not Hell; this is worse. This is basketball purgatory. The state of being where the ceiling is only as high as an eighth seed, losing in the first round, and a floor that will cause you to finish no lower than the tenth seed, consistently missing out on all of the sure-fire top prospects.

This is where the Philadelphia 76ers found themselves in the year 2013. As team owner Joshua Harris watched the NBA Playoffs, he realized whom he would need to hire to replace ex-president Rod Thorn and general manager Tony DiLeo. The same man that Mr. Harris had previously passed on for Tony DiLeo. Joshua Harris decides to hire Samuel Blake Hinkie.

Sam Hinkie was, at the time, the Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Houston Rockets. He had been a cornerstone in the development of their analytically-driven organization. Hinkie had been a very successful student at the University of Oklahoma and even more so when he completed his MBA at Stanford University, working as a consultant for two different NFL teams on draft strategies. With all of this in mind, on May 13th, 2013, acting owner Joshua Harris hired the man who would take a team from basketball purgatory, drag it through the deepest depths of hell, and back to contention in one of the most successful rebuilds of all time.

Sam Hinkie was clear about what he wanted to do. He wanted to build a perennial championship contender. He wanted to get superstars to build his team around, and he wanted to acquire them in a very specific way. Hinkie didnt want to fall victim to the allure of trades which causes teams to pour out the cupboards to achieve a good, not great team. Hinkie instead wanted to hold onto his assets. He also didnt want to rely on free agents coming to or teaming up on his team. Sam Hinkie was only interested in building his team through the draft, understanding that drafting players led to cheap contracts, team control, and advantages when attempting to negotiate new contracts three things very important to a struggling franchise.

Hinkies ideology was simple. Acquire as many picks as possible in every draft, have his team be as bad as possible in order to have a better chance to secure top prospects, and maintain a long view that allowed for the Sixers to become a perennial contender. The Process for escaping basketball purgatory is rarely a fun one, often leading to suffering and a whole lot of losing. This was something that Hinkie had understood. This escape would cause Hinkie to also sell everything with value during these early times, and this was made abundantly clear during the 2013 NBA draft.

On July 27th, 2013, Sam Hinkie traded away the sole beacon of hope for the Philadelphia faithful in All-StarJrue Holidayand the 42nd pick (Pierre Jackson) to the New Orleans Pelicans for the rights to the sixth overall pick, an injuredNerlens Noel., and rights to the Pelicans 2014 first-round pick, top 5 protected. This trade and pick are seen to many as the start of the Process. With this trade, the Sixers would be allowed to escape from basketball purgatory and finally begin their rebuild.

After trading away his star guard and securing a top prospect with cornerstone potential, Hinkie then turned to his two remaining draft picks: Pick 11 of the first round, and pick 35 in the second. With the 11th overall pick, Hinkie selectedMichael Carter-Williams, a point guard out of Syracuse, and with the 35th pickGlen Rice Jr, a shooting guard out of Georgia Tech and the then titled NBA D-League.

Even after gaining these three young players, Hinkie would end up trading Glen Rice Jr. to the Washington Wizards for the rights to Pick 38 Nate Wolters (point guard, SDSU) and Pick 54Arsalan Kazemi(power forward, Rice University). Then, using Pick 38Nate Wolters, Hinkie made a trade sending Wolters to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Pick 43Ricky Ledofrom Providence University and a 2014 second-round pick. Immediately following this trade for Ledo, Hinkie then flipped him to the Dallas Mavericks for another 2014 second-round pick.

At the root of these seemingly sporadic trades is a clear desire to acquire more draft picks, demonstrated so clearly here by taking one player (Glen Rice Jr.) and turning it into two future second-round picks and another player in Arsalan Kazemi. The key toThe Processwas never to be perfect at drafting but simply to give his team as many chances to get the right draft pick as possible.

While all of these trades, draft selections and future picks are nice, Sam Hinkie now had to find a head coach to keep his team playing basketball throughout this long process. He found the man for the job on August 14th, 2013, when he hired a man named Brett Brown as head coach after Brown had spent the few previous years underneath San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich. Although his time in Philadelphia didnt come to the mostpoetic of endings, his work ethic, defensive focus, and steady hand were extremely valuable to the Philadelphia 76ers during this era.

After Hinkie filled out the rest of the staff, he once again hit the trade market. On August 22nd, the Philadelphia 76ers agreed to a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies. The team acquired former first-round pick and one year proTony Wrotenin exchange for a heavily protected second-round pick that would never, and never did convey.

The beauty in this trade is in the exchange of value. While Wroten never lived up to the expectations that come with being a first-round pick, the value of finding that out should have cost something. Instead, the Sixers traded a pick that everyone knew meant nothing to bring a player who had a chance to become something for basically nothing. Hinkie, in this trade, turned a literal nothing into the potential for something, and that is all that we could ask for.

Following this transaction, Hinkie signed former Georgetown and Tulsa 66ers forwardHollis Thompsonto a multi-year deal on September 24th. During Thompsons three and a half years in the city of brotherly love, he became both an important starter and a valuable rotation piece who averaged 7.9 points per game while shooting 38.6% from beyond the arc, all while playing solid defense.

With such an unproven core of incoming players, Hinkie continued to tinker with the roster as the season went on. From September 2013 to April 2014, Hinkie went on a string of signings, signing former Florida State centerSolomon Alabi, Depaul power forwardMac Koshwal, Georgia Tech power forwardGani Lawal, Kentucky CenterDaniel Orton, BYU power forwardBrandon Davies, Memphis shooting guardElliot Williams, NC State point guardLorenzo Brown, current Miami Heat centerDewayne Dedmond, Mississippi State power forwardJarvis Varnado, Marquette shooting guardDarius Johnson-Odom, UC Santa Barbara small forwardJames Nunnally, and Memphis small forwardAdonis Thomas.

The last big day for year one came on February 20th, 2014, at the trade deadline where Sam Hinkie engaged in four different trades. First came the trade ofLavoy AllenandEvan Turnerto the Indiana Pacers for walking bucketDanny Grangerand a 2015 second-round pick which becameLuka Mitrovi. Next, Hinkie traded a future second-round pick that would never convey to the Los Angeles Clippers for previous first-round pickByron Mullensand a 2018 second-round pick that would eventually becomeJustin Jackson. Finally,Spencer Haweswas traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers forEarl Clark,Henry Sims, and two 2014 second-round picks, which later would becomeVasilije Miciand current Pistons starJerami Grant.

Hinkie also finalized a three-team trade on this day, that had the Nuggets sendAndre Millerand a heavily protected second-round pick to the Washington Wizards,Jan Veselto the Denver Nuggets from the Wizards while the Sixers gained two future second-round picks (David MichineauandArtras Gudaitis) andEric Maynorfrom the two teams.

Hinkies first year of The Process was a foundation-laying year for that would set in motion the most dramatic and drastic rebuilding plan ever, that would eventually cause the Sixers to become perennial playoff contenders, potential championship contenders, and would cause Sam Hinkie, the mastermind behind it all, to be run out of the league.

Hinkie and his controversial methods were what caused the Sixers to leave a place of darkness and finally start on the path to success. In his first year, Hinkie had a total of 17 signings, 9 trades and made 3 total draft selections.

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Sixers History: A Brief Summary of The Process Part One - Philly Sports Network

CP Photo: Jared Murphy

Dippy the Dinosaur statue in Oakland

But Dippys namesake, Diplodocus carnegii, has a much more complicated and dramatic history than the statue that has become a mascot of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. Author Tom Rea details that history in Bone Wars: The Excavation and Celebrity of Andrew Carnegie's Dinosaur, whose 20th anniversary edition will be released Tue., Sept. 14 from the University of Pittsburgh Press.

Typically, the Bone Wars refers to the larger dinosaur-related dispute between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, but Rea instead digs into the history of Diplodocus carnegii the skeleton that the Dippy statue was modeled afteras an entry point into the evolution of scientific thought regarding dinosaurs and the duplicitous deals, greed, and hubris that permeated the early years of bone hunting.

Rea follows five men involved in the discovery and ownership battle over Andrew Carnegies long-necked dinosaur: fossil hunter Bill Reed, paleontologists Jacob Wortman and John Bell Hatcher, then-Carnegie Museum director William Holland, and Carnegie himself.

Image: courtesy University of Pittsburgh Press

Bone Wars: The Excavation and Celebrity of Andrew Carnegie's Dinosaur

The book will feature a forward by principal dinosaur researcher Matthew C. Lamanna, who is an associate curator and the head of vertebrate paleontology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Rea, a Pittsburgh native who now lives in Casper, Wyoming, will also provide a new afterword.

Rea will also appear in conversation with Lamanna in Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures Made Local series Thu., Sept. 23. The virtual event, free with registration, will begin at 6 p.m.

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Learn the history of Dippy the Dinosaur's namesake in a new edition of Bone Wars - PGH City Paper

In the early 1950s, Giuseppe Nuccio Bertones design house paired up with a then-unknown Franco Scaglione for Alfa Romeo. Together, they penned a series of cars they called Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica, or BATs for short. Each was built on an Alfa Romeo 1900 chassis and featured fanciful, futuristic aviation-inspired bodies.

Of the trio they handmade in a few short yearsBAT 5, BAT 7, and BAT 9the BAT 7 has the most intriguing history of ownership. Sit right there and Ill tell you a tale about innovative art, cross-continental multi-million-dollar exchanges, and heartbreak.

Bertone and Scaglione created Alfa Romeo BAT 5 first, so named because Scaglione created four full-size models before switching to metalwork for the fifth. Incredibly, the car was pushed from concept to creation in less than a year. In May of 1953, it premiered at the Turin Auto Salon and caused a major ripple through the industry; that spurred them to follow up with the BAT 7 in 1954 and finally, the BAT 9 in 1955.

On a recent plane ride, I enjoyed Ford Vs. Ferrari for a third time. This time, I paid special attention to the scene during which Ken Miles drives the car with pieces of wool taped all over it to determine where it wasnt achieving optimal aerodynamics. Working side by side with Alfa Romeo project manufacturing chief Ezio Cingolani, Scaglione photographed his design at speed with a similar set of wool markers. Clearly, they didnt align with Enzo Ferraris philosophy that aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines.

Designed with ambitious wings and a long, Roman nose, the BAT 7 improved upon the BAT 5, achieving an incredible drag coefficient of 0.19. (For comparison purposes, a new Porsche Taycan has the best drag coefficient of all current Porsche models at 0.22.) Bertone and Scaglione worked so hard on this car they ran out of time to ship it to Turin for its reveal in April of 1954, and they had to drive it themselves on the wings of efficient aerodynamics to the show at the last minute.

After its debut, the BAT 7 changed hands a few times, and last year the trio of BAT cars were sold as one lot for nearly $15 million by Sothebys auction house. Along the way, Al Williams was one of the first owners of the BAT 7 and had the side fins removed (ack!) because they restricted visibility on the road. According to the site Secret Classics, Colonel James Sorrell owned the car in the early 60s and brought the BAT 7 to the Van Nuys-based shop of Salvatore di Natale, renowned for high-quality work on Italian cars, to restore it.

Once di Natale finished the work, Col. Sorrell didnt pay for what he had commissioned and he never came back to collect his car. In 1969, di Natale took ownership and kept it for 17 years. According to a commenter on a YouTube video of a younger Jeremy Clarkson driving the BAT cars, the BAT 7 was sold right out from under di Natale by an unexpected party: his own son.

Eric Fischer says back in the mid-90s, he lived in California and owned a 1988 Milano Verde and a 1986 GTV6. He spent a lot of time at di Natales shop.

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The Twisty History of Alfa Romeo's BAT 7 and How It Slipped through One Man's Fingers - The Drive

What happened on August 29 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 2005, the New York Rangers signed 27-year-old free agent defenseman Michal Rozsival, a signing that barely got a mention. A Pittsburgh draft pick who had played four seasons with the Penguins, Rozsival had missed the entire 2003-04 season with a knee injury and then played the lockout 2004-05 season in the Czech Republic.

Ranger fans didnt know what they were getting. The 61, 210 pound defenseman turned into one of Glen Sathers best free agent pickups In his first year in New York, he made just $703k and all he did was play all 82 games, lead all team defensemen in scoring with 30 points and had the best plus/minus rating on the team at +35, even better than Jaromir Jagr who scored a franchise record 123 points.

Rozsival was one of eight Czech-mates on the Rangers, a team that made the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. Paired on defense with fellow Czech Marik Malik, another free agent pickup, Rozsival became the cornerstone of the Rangers blue line.

The highlight of his career in New York was when he scored in double overtime in the playoffs against Buffalo in 2007. That goal ended the longest home playoff game for the Rangers in over 35 years.

He played five full seasons with the Rangers, but was traded to Phoenix for Wojtek Wolski in 2011, a trade that the Rangers badly needed to make. As usual, after making a great decision to sign Roszival, Glen Sather then overpaid him in 2008, giving the 30-year old a four-year, $20 million contract.

Roszival went on to play for the Blackhawks and was an important defensemen for their two Stanley Cup championships teams.

On this date in 1964, a former New York Rangers player was inducted into the Hall of Fame, but Doug Bentley played only 20 games in New York at the tail end of his career. It was the other Hall of Fame inductee who was synonymous with the New York Rangers for many years. That was Bill Chadwick.

Chadwick became a Hall of Famer because of his career as a referee. Despite being blind in one eye, he was an NHL referee for 15 seasons, working 900 regular season games and a record 42 games in the Stanley Cup Final. When he retired in 1955 he had officiated over 1,000 games, the most all time.

Born in Manhattan, Chadwick lost vision in his right eye when he was stuck by a puck while playing in an amateur league and he continued his playing career with the New York Rovers. He became a referee, the first in the NHL born in the United States. As a ref, Chadwick is credited with creating the hand signals used by all hockey referees to denote specific penalties.

Chadwick is best known to Ranger fans as The Big Whistle and he served as a color commentator on Rangers radio and telecasts from 1967 to 1981, working primarily with Jim Gordon. His trademark catchphrases are remembered fondly by anyone who watched the Blueshirts on Channel 9 in the 1970s. Shoot the puck Barry was how he implored Barry Beck to use his cannon of a shot. You could hear the splash from here was how he described a player who took a dive to draw a penalty.

In the broadcast booth he was unique and though he never played for the Rangers, he is an honorary Blueshirt.

20 NHL players were born on August 29 including three former Rangers.

Doug Sulliman was born on this date in 1959 in GlaceBay,Nova Scotia. He was a first round pick in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, picked 13th overall. A big scorer for the Kitchener Rangers, the Blueshirts had high hopes for him, but when he made it to New York he disappointed. He played only 63 games, scoring eight goals for the Rangers and was part of the trade with Hartford that netted the Rangers Mike Rogers. He played nine more seasons in the NHL, scoring over 20 goals five times.

Peter Andersson was a defenseman born on this date in 1965 in Orebro, Sweden. A fourth round pick by the Rangers in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, he spent most of his career in Sweden, before finally deciding to try his hand in the NHL in 1992. He played 39 games for the Rangers and eight games for the Panthers, before returning to Sweden. In 2012, the Rangers drafted his son, defenseman Calle Andersson, but he never made it to New York. He is not related to Lias Andersson.

Hal Cooper was born on this date in 1915 in New Liskeard, Ontario. A small (55, 155 pounds) right winger, he made it to New York for eight games in the 1944-45 season. Scoreless in his NHL career, he played many years for numerous minor league teams.

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On August 29 in Rangers history: Another Czech-mate joins the team - Bluelinestation.com