SportsPulse: Trysta Krick overreacts to the top stories from this Week 2 of NFL preseason action. The high-profile rookie QB class is looking good. USA TODAY
Dez Bryant’s Hard Knocks introduction begins with a pop quiz.
Which wide receiver has the most touchdown receptions from 2012-17?
And, he seems fresh to the idea of signing with the Browns.
Bryant hustles around the facility, seemingly introducing himself to everybody in the complex. He meets with head coach Hue Jackson.
“I’m just looking for realness, that’s all,” Bryant said. “Just being honest, the way you’re expressing yourself, the way you’re talking to me. We barely even know each other and I feel comfortable.”
Jackson does his best to sell Bryant on the Browns.
“This will be the greatest turnaround in sports history,” he says.
Of course, Bryant left Cleveland without a contract offer. Less than 48 hours after Bryant was in Cleveland, the team announced that Josh Gordon would return after taking time off for personal reasons. Gordon’s return most likely means Bryant is out of the picture and his next visit to Cleveland will be as an opponent.
The return of Gordon — the NFL’s leader in receiving yards in 2013 who has only played in 10 games since due to substance-abuse suspensions — and what that might mean for Bryant gets the “on the next Hard Knocks” tease.
Other notable moments from the third episode of Hard Knocks:
The episode opens with a training camp fight. Receiver Jarvis Landry is involved.
Landry throws a football at defensive back Terrance Mitchell’s head. Teammates quickly intervene and there’s a pile of players. There are f-bombs. Most fans would suggest that training camp fights are fun. Hue Jackson seems to agree. After the fight, he’s shown with Landry. After a brief silent pause, Jackson smiles and pats his star receiver on the back.
Later, Alonzo Highsmith — the VP of player personnel with the Browns — is shown talking to general manager John Dorsey. He tells an anecdote about how Damarious Randall told him “I (expletive) love it here. We’re a bunch of (expletive) junkyard dogs.” Highsmith goes on to compare what he’s seeing with this year’s Browns team to Jimmy Johnson’s first year as coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 1989 (Highsmith was a running back for Dallas in 1990). The Cowboys finished 1-15 that year; the Browns, as we are all well aware, went 0-16 last year.
“I see a lot of similarities. I see a lot of the same energy,” Highsmith said. “I see a lot of the same little issues, but you know what, these players are going to overcome.”
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One of the players the Browns’ turnaround hinges on can’t stop hitting quarterbacks in practice. Second-year defensive end Myles Garrett runs into quarterback Tyrod Taylor. Offensive coordinator Todd Haley has seen enough and yells, “Good teams don’t touch the (expletive) quarterback in practice. Good teams don’t do it.”
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams barks back, “then block him!”
Having those two Über-alpha males in the coaching meetings is going to be lot of fun for Jackson this season.
Assistant coach Bob Wylie finally gets his moment in the sun. The offensive line coach of a — how do we say this nicely? — hefty carriage isn’t a fan of stretching (“way overrated” … well, other than the stretching sessions give him a moment to take a seat). A stretching session somehow turns into a discussion about soldiers in World War I and II.
“Did you know, World War I and World War II, all those guys that fought in that war … they did pushups, jumping jacks, situps, climb the rope and ran. None of this fancy (expletive). And they won two World Wars,” Wylie said. “Do you think they were worried when they were running across Normandy about (expletive) stretching?”
If you’ve seen any of the D-Day documentaries that air on the History Channel or American Heroes Channel, you’ll know the answer to that. Later Wylie gets into zoology. He shows his players pictures of animals that would be great offensive linemen. Hogs, rhinos and gorillas (which are compared to his ex-mother in law) have tremendous centers of gravity and balance, Wylie tells them. Another bonus for Wylie … you’ll also never see one of those animals stretch once!
Country music artist Brad Paisley pays a visit to Browns camp. While talking to John Dorsey, Paisley drops a Brett Favre comparison for Baker Mayfield. Dorsey — whose time in the Green Bay Packers’ front office intersected with Favre’s career there — responds, “I can see why people say that, because some of the mannerisms. But you have to earn that respect.”
Paisley then delivers a speech to the team.
“No pressure. I’ve been a fan since third grade. I was a Brian Sipe fan. That’s how far back I go,” Paisley said. “Go win some this year. I’m really rooting for you, and I can’t wait to see what you do. So, win this for Cleveland. Go out there, and go get ’em.”
Tyrod Taylor is about to become the 29th different starting quarterback for the Browns since the franchise came off hiatus in 1999. Last season, Taylor delivered the Buffalo Bills to the playoffs for the first time in 18 years, but then was traded to Cleveland in the offseason. While his status as Week 1 starter seems secure, confusion reigns over how to pronounce his first name. Is it Tuh-rod, or Tyrod?
“It’s Tuh-rod, but I call him ‘Ty’ so I guess I’m doing it wrong,” Baker Mayfield said.
We get to spend more time with undrafted rookie quarterback Brogan Roback, who met his girlfriend by sliding into her DMs on Instagram.
“The DMs are the power moves,” Roback said.
OF COURSE Brogan Roback would slide in the DMS….I wouldn’t expect any less from the pic.twitter.com/wStmEA3M4N
His Instagram girlfriend is one of the few brave Browns fans who endured the rain and grind that is watching an entire preseason game. Unfortunately for her (and probably her boyfriend, too), Roback doesn’t get into the Browns’ preseason game against the Bills.
Last week, we were introduced to tight end Devon Cajuste and his father, who has battled numerous medical issues over the years — including three heart attacks, a stroke and a tracheotomy. It was as powerful a moment as Hard Knocks has produced in its 13 seasons. In the preseason game against the Bills, Cajuste’s 27-yard catch and run gets the full NFL Films treatment … slow-mo replay, exhilarating pulse-pounding score. Later, he appears to recover a fumble on punt coverage, but replay reversed the call. Cajuste is fighting for a roster spot, and his struggle to make the team will be followed closely by the cameras for the remainder of the series.
Puppies! Since 2015, the Browns — with the Northeast Ohio SPCA — have been hosting puppy adoptions at training camp. This is an awesome tradition, and as a result hundreds of good dogs have found homes. Some dogs have been named after Browns past and present: Barker Mayfield, Tyruff Taylor (or, Tuh-ruff?), Jabrill Puppers, Myles Garuff, MarmaDuke Johnson, Carlos Rawhide, Antonio Callawag, Snarl Nassib, Emmanuel Dogbah, Pawstin Corbett, Joe “voted Best in Schobert”, Briean Doggy-Calhound, Larry Ogoodboyjobi, John Dogsey, Lou “The Paw” Growlza.
If you love talking football, we have the perfect spot for you. Join our new Facebook Group, The Ruling Off the Field, to engage in friendly debate and conversation with fellow football fans and our NFL insiders.
If you enjoyed the dark humour and acerbic one-liners from The End of the F***ing World (TEOTFW), then we have some splendid news for you: it’s going to be back for a second season.
The Netflix black comedy, based on Charles Forsman’s graphic novel, ran for eight episodes earlier this year and ended on something of a cliffhanger.
A cliffhanger that’s now — hopefully — going to be resolved.
That tweet was posted by the official TEOTFW Twitter account on Tuesday night. BuzzFeedreports that the announcement of a second season was made at the Edinburgh TV Festival, and that the new episodes will again be based on material written by Forsman.
Netflix posted a tweet confirming that Charlie Covell, who wrote Season 1, will return.
We don’t know much more than that at this stage, but it’s definitely more than enough to justify some early excitement.
US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser has warned that the United States would respond “very strongly” if forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad use chemical weapons in an offensive to retake Idlib province.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday during a visit to Jerusalem, John Bolton said: “We now see plans for the Syrian regime to resume offensive military activities in Idlib province.
“We are obviously concerned about the possibility that Assad may use chemical weapons again.
“Just so there’s no confusion here, if the Syrian regime uses chemical weapons we will respond very strongly and they really ought to think about this a long time,” he added.
The Idlib region, a refuge for civilians and rebels displaced from other areas of Syria as well as powerful armed forces, was hit by a wave of air strikes and shelling this month, in a possible prelude to a full-scale government offensive.
In April, the Trump administration mustered a coalition of US, French and British forces to attack Syrian government facilities allegedly related to the production of chemical weapons after a poison gas attack killed dozens of people in Douma district.
Damascus, endorsed by Moscow, has denied using such weapons.
Under Trump, the US has sought to disengage from Syria, where the previous administration deployed some troops and gave limited support to rebel Kurdish forces over the objections of NATO partner Turkey.
Iran sanctions
Bolton also said that the Trump administration was not seeking to oust Iran’s leadership with its reimposition of sanctions on Tehran.
“Regime change in Iran is not American policy but what we want is massive change in the regime’s behaviour,” he said.
Iran unemployment crisis, rising living costs bite amid sanctions
Bolton arrived in Israel on Sunday for three days of talks expected to focus mainly on Iran and its presence in Syria.
Israel and Syria share a border and Iran is backing Assad in his country’s civil war, along with Russia and Iranian-backed Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to prevent Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria, and a series of recent strikes that killed Iranians there has been attributed to Israel.
“Every time that Iran has brought missiles or other threatening weapons into Syria in recent months Israel has struck those targets,” Bolton said.
“I think that’s a legitimate act of self-defence on the part of Israel,” he added.
The Trump administration slapped back sanctions this month after withdrawing from the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran, which Washington regards as insufficient for denying Tehran the means to make an atomic bomb and as a spur for its meddling in neighbouring Middle East countries.
The US turnaround outraged Iran, which has taken a defiant stance, and has rattled other world powers where some businesses have been debating whether to divest from Iran.
“Let me be clear, the reimposition of the sanctions, we think, is already having a significant effect on Iran’s economy and on, really, popular opinion inside Iran,” Bolton told Reuters ahead of Wednesday’s press conference.
“I think the effects, the economic effects certainly, are even stronger than we anticipated,” Bolton said.
“But Iranian activity in the region has continued to be belligerent: what they are doing in Iraq, what they are doing in Syria, what they are doing with Hezbollah in Lebanon, what they are doing in Yemen, what they have threatened to do in the Strait of Hormuz.”
The Iranian economy has been beset by high unemployment and inflation and a rial currency that has lost half its value since April. The reimposition of sanctions could make matters worse.
Thousands of Iranians have protested in recent weeks against sharp price rises of some food items, a lack of jobs and state corruption. The protests over the cost of living have often turned into anti-government rallies.
Commenting on the speech, Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett, reporting from Jerusalem, said: “It is clear that both he [Bolton] and Israeli prime minister and Israeli government are almost in lockstep in their view on the ‘Iran problem’, as Netanyahu continues to outline it.”
“Particularly in terms of the rejection of the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran and its deleterious effects and the need for continued pressure for the sanctions the US has imposed to be shared and endorsed by the [other] countries,” he added.
How sanctions and tariffs became Trump’s weapons of choice
Makayla Phillips got emotional on “America’s Got Talent” after paying tribute to her father.
“My dad is absolutely, 100 percent my hero because he’s a firefighter,” the 15-year-old vocalist said Tuesday during the quarterfinals round. “His job is so incredibly tough, there are days where I am scared my dad won’t come home.”
Phillips brought the house down singing “Issues” by Julia Michaels, a rendition that judge Heidi Klum called better than the original. “That is the best compliment I can give you,” Klum said after giving her golden buzzer winner a standing ovation.
Music festivals are a double edged sword. Sure they can be a showcase for the best and most progressive in style, but they can also bring out some of the worst trash outfits the fashion industry has to offer.
From cultural appropriation to just begging for heat stroke, here are nine terrible festival trends that need to be retired.
Who among us has not wanted to look like a goth Big Bird?
Honestly though, can you imagine how badly feathered clothing sheds? Nobody wants to be around a rapidly molting bird of prey while dancing.
And how do you wash these things? Do you risk tumble drying it and looking like you just murdered a muppet, or do you resign yourself to never washing the grime out?
There’s nothing quite as uncomfortable as being stuck in a crowd of sweaty, dusty festival goers as you wait for the next set to go up. Now imagine that, but while slowly baking in a faux-suede bodysuit.
Granted, suede is pretty cute so if you’re going to risk heat stroke, you might as well look good doing it.
Sure, looking like a fashion forward oil spill is ideal, but why would you ever wear latex to a SUMMER event? The thing will just trap heat and sweat, dooming you to inevitably get stuck in its skintight grasp.
Alternatives to latex: literally any fabric that lets your skin actually breathe.
4. Headdresses
This is just gross — headdresses hold deep cultural significance in many Native American tribes. Aside from cheapening the significance of the headdress by mass-producing these knock-offs, the trend is also glosses over the violent oppression Native American people have faced.
As activist Adrienne Keene wrote in her viral 2010 blog post about the practice of donning headdresses at festivals, “By dismissing and minimizing the continued subordination and oppression of Natives in the U.S. by donning your headdress, you are contributing to the culture of power that continues the cycle today.”
5. Let’s just cancel all this cultural appropriation
First of all, really, Dollskill? It is the year 2018, and you’re still selling something called the “fiery fortune” choker? Not only will you sweat straight through that satiny choker by end of the first set, but you’ll also look like a culturally offensive fool in the process.
Capitalizing on cultural stereotypes has never been cute, but now that Google exists it’s pretty much inexcusable.
6. The Matthew McConaghey
Justin Bieber’s 2018 Coachella outfit really was something else. He paired a floral button-down shirt with matching floral pants and topped it off a belt bag slung across his bare chest. Like Matthew McConaughey, who seems to have given up on his public appearance altogether, Bieber has mastered the art of not giving a shit.
There are few fashion statements more subversive than looking like a hungover dad at a barbecue, so good for Bieber I guess. But if you’re not ultra famous, best of luck pulling it off.
OK, hear me out. While jumpsuits are the ultimate form of comfort — you’ve got the elegance of a dress, but the security of pants — there is no greater struggle than shimmying out of a jumpsuit in a public porta potty.
You have to juggle squatting over the nasty seat while simultaneously holding up the jumpsuit’s hem to keep it safe from whatever hell sludge is on the floor. Is the #ootd post really worth the trauma of dipping your jumpsuit in poop water?
8. Wearing other people
Please stop wearing other people during festivals.
Look, I get that it’s annoying to be at eye level with the rest of us commoners, but putting someone on your shoulders during a music festival is one of the rudest things you could possibly do. Nobody came here to get kicked in the face while your pal awkwardly sways atop your shoulders!
Please, just stop wearing other people at music festivals.
Let me be the first to say that the fanny pack comeback was the best thing to happy to fashion. Finally, women’s apparel could make up for the tragic lack of pockets with a convenient, secure bag to hold your belongings!
But despite the fact that phones are getting bigger, these “belt bags” started getting smaller. How are you supposed to keep your wallet in one of these things, much less other festival essentials like sunscreen and snacks?
We still have a few more months of music festivals coming our way — whatever hellish outfits upcoming festivals spawn, they probably can’t be worse than wearing skintight latex in the sweltering summer.
The United States has placed new sanctions on two Russian shipping companies for violating sanctions against North Korea, as well as two individuals over cyber-related activities.
And Washington is also likely to impose further sanctions against Russia in the coming days, in relation to the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal.
Thomas Maresca, Special to USA TODAY
Published 2:49 a.m. ET Aug. 22, 2018
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Hundreds of Koreans divided by the Korean War are participating in a week of temporary, but emotional reunions, as the rival Koreas boost reconciliation efforts. (Aug. 20) AP
SEOUL — Despite a diplomatic thaw that includes the cancellation of joint military exercises scheduled for this month, U.S. troops in Korea remain poised to confront any military threats from North Korea, the commander of U.S. Forces in Korea, General Vincent Brooks, said Wednesday.
“I received no order to become unready,” Brooks told reporters at a briefing. “No one told me to stand down from readiness or the serious professional work we do as here in the Republic of Korea.”
This month’s canceled drills, called Ulchi Freedom Guardian, had been held annually and are among the largest military exercises in the world. Last year, Ulchi Freedom Guardian was held over 11 days and included 17,500 U.S. and 50,000 South Korean troops. The drills routinely anger Pyongyang, which sees them as a dress rehearsal for a full-scale invasion of the North.
At his historic June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, President Donald Trump surprised observers by announcing he would cancel the “war games,” calling them “provocative,” a term often used by Pyongyang.
The cancellation of the exercises has forced U.S. and South Korean forces to find “other ways to maintain readiness,” Brooks said.
“If we’re not going to train the same way, then we’ll train a different way — but we’re going to remain ready,” he said. “Perhaps we’ve been told for now to put our sword back into its sheath, but we have not been told to forget how to use it.”
There are currently about 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. A U.S. military presence has remained since the Korean War, which ended in an armistice but not a peace treaty, leaving the sides technically still at war.
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President Trump says he is confident denuclearization will happen in North Korea, but according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll many Americans disagree. Buzz60
This year has seen a dramatic improvement of relations on the Korean peninsula, from North Korea’s participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February to an inter-Korean summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim in April.
Kim’s summit with Trump in Singapore produced an agreement that called for a “lasting and stable peace regime” on the Korean Peninsula and a pledge from the North to work toward denuclearization.
The prospect of peace has raised questions about the future of American troops in South Korea, with Trump himself saying he favors removing American forces.
“I want to get our soldiers out,” Trump told reporters at the Singapore summit. “I want to bring our soldiers back home… but that’s not part of the equation right now. At some point, I hope it will be, but not right now.”
A defense policy bill for 2019, passed by Congress earlier this month and signed by Trump, makes it harder to reduce U.S. troop numbers in South Korea.
The $717 billion bill prevents the Pentagon from cutting the number of troops to less than 22,000 unless the defense secretary has certified that it’s in the “national security interest” and it has been done in consultation with regional allies.
A U.S. government scientist who has seen the contents of 55 boxes of remains turned over by North Korea says the remains are “consistent with being Americans.” (Aug. 2) AP
“The presence of United States Forces on the Korean Peninsula should remain strong and enduring,” the bill said.
South Korea, whose own standing military consists of 620,000 troops, is making moves of its own to defuse tensions on the peninsula. On Tuesday, the South’s defense ministry announced that it would begin removing some guard posts along the border with North Korea on a trial basis.
A report by U.N. nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released Monday said that it did not find any indication that Pyongyang had stopped its nuclear activities.
“The continuation and further development of the DPRK’s nuclear program and related statements by the DPRK are a cause for grave concern,” the report said, using the official name for North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Brooks said “North Korea doesn’t have the sufficient degree of trust or confidence right now that it can take those steps [toward denuclearization] and still be safe.”
He called for continued international pressure on Pyongyang, saying that “earnest action” needed to be taken on denuclearization.
“There is still a need for continued pressure so that there is not a reason or even an ability for North Korea to back up,” he said. They’ve already taken important steps towards peace but these steps must be followed by more serious steps on denuclearization as well as trust-building.”
Bob Odenkirk is pretty big these days, thanks to his role on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
He’s that famous now that he “qualifies for an entourage,” which is something we’re sure famous people don’t really look forward to, but inevitably happens anyway.
Nevertheless, Odenkirk doesn’t really know what to do with them. “Can I ask them to do stuff? We don’t have any shared interests,” he said.
Unfortunately, Conan won’t let Odenkirk dump them. Maybe another late night show will take ’em?
The episode opens with a training camp fight. Receiver Jarvis Landry is involved.
Cutest office dog we ever did see.
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