Brian Fowler

That's the thing; Nico did sign a multi-year deal with Tennessee's collective, for a then believed record $8 million, and was scheduled to make $2.2 million for this season. But with reports that guys were getting as much as $4 million for one year out of the portal, Nico apparently felt underpaid.

If they sell it, then can T-Mobile pretty please cut a deal with NBA for league pass as a replacement perk?

My third year at Alma College, the Scots made the playoffs. My roommate was on the team (albeit buried on the depth chart) so I naturally went to the game (and most home games that year) We got absolutely destroyed, and I dejectedly left early in the second half and got back to the dorm just in time... To watch John Navarre throw an interception deep in Buckeye territory when Michigan was driving for the win against undefeated Ohio State. One of the worst days of football I've ever experienced.

In other news, reports and sources are indicating that Nico Iamaleava is, essentially, holding out at Tennessee and threatening to enter the Spring portal.

Another FWIW, but the belt Cody has arguably contains not only the WWWF/WWF/WWE lineage, but also the lineage of the WCW world title, WCW international World Title, the WWWF/WWF/WWE Intercontinental title up through 2002, the WWF European championship, the WWF/WWE Hardcore title, the World/World Heavyweight title WWE promoted from 2002 through 2013, and the WWE Universal title, and quite likely another championship or two I've forgotten.

Two weeks ago, Kent State put head coach Kennin Burns on administrative leave while investigating him for an undisclosed reason. Whatever that reason was must not be good, because they just fired him and named the OC interim coach for the upcoming season.

Oh God, can you imagine three of the Pistons shooters surrounding him and Cade on the PnR? Or him having Ausar Thompson playing the Aaron Gordon super athlete who cuts to the rim role with him? Not to mention the chaos he unleashes on defense. (What's most amazing is Thompson is probably legitimately in the top five percent of most athletic players in NBA history... And is the second best athlete his mother gave birth to on Jan 30, 2003. If the two of them were ever teammates at this level, I cannot imagine how much they could fuck up an entire opposing offense.)

I think the Suns if only because they owe Bradley Beal another 110 million with a no trade clause.

Jokic has still never played with a teammate who in that season made an all-star team, all-defensive team, or received a single vote for even All-NBA third team. The fact that he has a ring is jaw dropping.

There's definitely a time and place to blow a team up, but the NBA is full of teams that either refuse to tear it down for years when they obviously should, or blow up teams that probably just need tweaked, or get impatient with a slow and steady build and mortgage their future on an aging star. But enough about the Phoenix Suns.

Firing one or both of them because of that conflict makes sense. But damn that timing is weird.

It led to a lot of people switching the channel, but Nitro hadn't won a head to head since October of 98 when they had to air Page/Goldberg because of the Halloween Havoc fuck up, and that was the only time they had won since sometime in the summer. WWF was fully in control of the war by then.

Out of curiosity, did you watch the theatrical or director's cut? Because the DC is a massive improvement.

The league has now rescinded the tech that got him kicked. Which saves him a tiny amount of pocket change (relative to his salary) but does fuck all for the Lakers who had a real chance to win that game in a tough seeding race. ------ I don't disagree that those moves might've mostly made sense, but it's still a really weird situation how many title winning coaches have been fired in less than a decade.

I'm not particularly bothered by new number ones, I get that it usually helps boost sales, etc. But I do think there's a difference between doing a new number one as part of a significantly hard reset of a character (Wally replacing Barry*, Heroes Reborn) and doing a new number one every time a new writer takes over or what have you. It doesn't bother me, but I get why it might other people. *Also, to be fair, The Flash was cancelled out right. There was something like twenty months between The Flash #350 and The Flash v 2 #1.

In less terrifying news, Lakers were up one fairly late when Luka got ejected. Thunder closed the game on a 28-11 run to get a comfortable win. The funny part: according to both Luka and the fan in question, the insult Luka yelled that got him kicked out was at a heckler, but the ref thought it was directed at him, so he tossed Luka.

Broken wrist, but it appears he's otherwise okay, at least from initial tests. Conscience and coherent, with full movement in his extremities.

BTW, of the last seven coaches to win an NBA championship, only Steve Kerr and Joe Mazzula are still with the team. Ty Lue, Nick Nurse, Frank Vogel, Mike Budenholzer, and now Michael Malone.

Kinda a shame them not getting a final shot, but every high school and lower coach in the country should be salivating about how they can now prove to their players how important closing out on shooters is. So Houston remains probably the most accomplished program in the country without a national title.

I definitely recommend them both. I love Cruel Intentions, but turning it a (then) modern teen movie causes problems that are not in more faithful adaptations. Dangerous Liaisons is directly based on a Christopher Hampton written stage adatation of the novel, and it has Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfieffer, Uma Thurmond, and a deeply miscast Keanu Reeves in the major character roles, while Valmont is a bit looser take, directly from the novel, and has Annette Benning, Colin Firth, Meg Tilly, an absolutely fantastic Fairuze Balk, and Henry Thomas (yes, the E.T. kid) in the same roles. It was kinda a Deep Impact/Armageddon situation with both having been in production at the same time. There are also a few versions from France, and both North Korean (Untold Scandal) and Chinese (also called Dangerous Liaisons) versions. (Um, is it obvious that Les Liaisons dangereuses is one of my favorite books ever?)

So the second movie was originally the pilot for a TV show that didn't get picked up (in part because multiple UPN affiliates said they wouldn't air it because it was too edgy.) So they filmed a conclusion and the added nudity (there was nudity in a deleted scene in the first movie FWIW.) Have you watched either of the two major more faithful English language adaptations of the novel? Dangerous Liaisons and Valmont both have a lot of strengths and some weaknesses and are worth your time. Edited to add that I'm pretty sure in 3 they are supposed to be college kids, not high schoolers. Not that it makes it much better, but still...

TIL there is a remake of The Champ. Huh, had no idea. The original from 1931 has a great child performance from Jackie Cooper, who of course grew up to be Perry White in Superman.

Huh, and here all the sports websites were telling me just to accept that Duke is going to win the Natty.

So Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony will both technically be getting inducted twice in one night, with the 2008 Redeem Team also going in.

Anyway, Pistons are officially back in the playoffs.