Meta refused to remove a deepfake ad cloning Clark Howard's face to sell fraudulent insurance, telling him it meets their standards.
Meta earns nearly all of its $59 billion quarterly revenue from ads, giving automated systems little incentive to reject borderline content.
Credit cards are the only payment method offering strong fraud recovery; wire transfers, gift cards, and peer-to-peer payments are virtually unrecoverable.
Read More: Learn 7 secret wealth tips high net worth investors use that most investors miss (sponsor)
On his September 16 podcast, consumer advocate Clark Howard said an AI-generated Facebook ad cloning his face and voice is selling a fraudulent insurance product, and that the platform refuses to take it down.

#clark #face #fraudulent #insurance

Both the Steelers and the Falcons have new coaching staffs heading into Week 1. It's safe to say both franchises will be looking to start their new era off on the right foot with a victory. I spoke with Kevin Knight of The Falcoholic to learn a bit about what's new with the Atlanta Falcons.
Kevin Knight: Well, now even Tua Tagovailoa is out of the lineup thanks to an oblique injury suffered during individual drills on Thursday. That means Cooper Rush at the helm (who, in truth, may not be any worse than Tua based on the aforementioned preseason). What you're going to see is a lot of quick game, and as much Bijan Robinson as the team can muster. If Atlanta can run the ball well and get Bijan going, they can score points. So that'll be the plan, with the passing game largely taking a complementary role until Michael Penix Jr. returns.
Kevin Knight: This is a good defense that will have to find ways to manufacture pass rush. Thankfully, Jeff Ulbrich is an evil genius with his blitz packages, and he's got a lot of interesting looks planned. Expect to see a lot of linebacker and slot blitzes to supplement their weaker edge rusher room, along with a lot of emphasis on interior pass rush. Atlanta has a really nice interior duo with Brandon Dorlus (who was leading all interior defensive linemen in the NFC with 8.5 sacks last season before injury) and trade acquisition Gervon Dexter Sr. They're hoping the interior can offset some of their weaknesses outside.
Kevin Knight: I like Kevin Stefanski and think it pretty much takes a miracle worker to extract any amount of success from the Cleveland Browns organization. It does seem like there's a coherent, forward-thinking plan in place for this Falcons team for the first time in years. I don't necessarily expect a lot of success in 2026 based on the moves made to this point and the way the team is structured, but I do expect Atlanta to be one of the most aggressive teams in free agency and the draft in 2027.
Kevin Knight: As I mentioned before, Brandon Dorlus is a borderline-elite interior pass rusher who may also get some run on the edge. Linebacker Divine Deablo was the biggest surprise in last year's free agent class and completely transformed the defense when he was on the field. Second-year safety Xavier Watts was a DROY candidate in 2025 and forms a dynamic duo with veteran Jessie Bates III. Atlanta will be starting two rookies on defense: Avieon Terrell (brother of A.J. Terrell) in the slot, and Kendal Daniels at linebacker. Both impressed in training camp, with Daniels being a particularly pleasant surprise given his Day 3 selection.

#expect

Former NBA player Byron Scott won three championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s, but he doesn't see this current iteration of the team going all the way. On the latest episode of Byron Scott's Fast Break podcast, Scott was asked whether the new-look Lakers are contenders or pretenders.
"I'm not going to say borderline," Scott said. "They're pretenders… I think they'll make the playoffs, but again, to [Olden Polynice's] point, defense wins championships still in this league. I know we glorify the threes and all the offense and things of that nature, but at the end of the day, you got to get stops, right?
"And [Walker] Kessler at the center position, he better average about eight blocks a game," Scott added. "Because they going to be getting a lot of blowbys, and the guys going to get to that basket."
Walker Kessler is the Lakers' biggest summer acquisition, and they desperately needed a defensive anchor like him. The Lakers gave up two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps to the Utah Jazz for Kessler and gave him a four-year, $130 million contract as part of a sign-and-trade.
Scott, who also coached the Lakers from 2014 to 2016, believes Kessler will help, but doesn't see too many other good defensive players around him. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are the two other guaranteed starters, and both have had their struggles on that end of the floor.

#kessler #doesn 't

Amid all of the madness of last Tuesday's deadline day scramble, involving three new signings, private jets allegedly bound for Sunderland and South London, some last-minute involvement from Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and a mysterious, guru-like figure known only as Uncle Bouba, it would've been easy to wed yourself to the view that "Sunderland have panicked! We've got it wrong and this isn't how it was supposed to be with such a historic season to come!"
OK, had we actually failed to sign Belgian winger Malick Fofana after protracted moves for the likes of Geny Catamo, Igor Paixão and Dodi Lukebakio failed to materialise for one reason or another, there might've been a case in favour of that.
However, as we took to our beds on Tuesday night with Fofana and Tottenham loanee Kevin Danso on board, and young Ecuadorian forward Juan Riquelme Angulo Caicedo to follow in the early hours of Wednesday, it felt as though we'd hauled what could've been an underwhelming window up into the 7/10 bracket — not dazzling, but solid enough.
Could it have been better? Perhaps.
Could it have been even more frustrating and ultimately underwhelming? Most definitely, and it must be said that the fact we were able to retain the services of Robin Roefs, Noah Sadiki and Brian Brobbey, as well as being willing to shut down any speculation surrounding Wilson Isidor's future with a new deal, felt borderline miraculous.

#last #amid #south #kyril

Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell says his previously announced cancer diagnosis will likely take his life within five years.
In a candid interview on The Adam Carolla Show podcast, Campbell said, "I'm in a five-year prognosis. With the type of cancer that I have, which I don't want to get into, the current thing is a five-year deal."
More from Deadline
Bruce Campbell Clarifies He's "Tapped Out" Of The 'Evil Dead' Franchise, Didn't Want Ash To Be "Borderline Geezer"
'Evil Dead Burn' Director Had To "Trim" A Scene To Avoid NC-17 Rating: "Still Intense And Pretty Brutal"

#campbell #bruce #carolla

Since Sophie Cunningham spoke out against transgender women competing in women's sports in an ESPN profile in late July, the Indiana Fever forward has been everywhere.
The media flocked to her with follow-up questions and pushback. A rival coach confronted her during a nationally televised game. In countless cable news segments, social media posts, and podcast clips, Cunningham's words have been chewed over and debated. Her personal social media profiles draw millions of views.
Yet during the entire news cycle, Cunningham has been conspicuously absent from her own podcast, Show Me Something. No new episodes of the show have been published since July 21.
The podcast, produced and distributed by The Volume, was launched as a destination for the outspoken veteran's musings on the WNBA and her very closely watched Indiana Fever team. Early on, Cunningham used the platform to defend her teammate, Caitlin Clark, and dispute controversial foul calls and league decisions.
Shortly after Cunningham's initial comments about transgender athletes in a Rolling Stone interview, her co-host, West Wilson, posted a TikTok that directly contradicted Cunningham's perspective. The reality television star, with whom Cunningham grew up in Missouri, called transgender women's participation in sports "a borderline nonexistent issue" that right-wing commentators amplify. Wilson added that discourse about transgender athletes further isolates transgender people and distracts Americans from "actual harmful sh*t" such as the cost of living.

#transgender #Media #podcast #show

Sean Penn told his Casualties of War costar John Leguizamo that his then-wife Madonna had a crush on him.
Leguizamo has become friends with the pop star in the years since.
Penn and Madonna split in 1989, after four years of marriage.
Sean Penn made a confession to John Leguizamo.
While filming Casualties of War, Penn revealed that his then-wife Madonna had a "crush" on Leguizamo — whose start in entertainment was as an extra in her "Borderline" music video.

#casualties #crush #borderline

The check-swing call that got San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello ejected on Wednesday afternoon was borderline, a maybe, maybe not.
Vitello's fiery response to getting tossed, though, was crisp and clear on the visiting TV audio. After yelling – at the very least – "Get it right!" before home-plate umpire Ryan Blakney sent him to an early shower, Vitello popped out of the dugout with some words that got the crowd-mic volume hastily turned down on NBC Sports Bay Area.
Pointing at first-base umpire Ben May, Vitello unleashed some swear words while continuing to interject "get it f---ing right" after May ruled that Eugenio Suárez hadn't swung at a 1-2 pitch from Logan Webb.
Vitello was known for his occasional displays of temper while at the University of Tennessee, but in his first three ejections this season, he was relatively restrained in his responses. Director of major league pitching Frank Anderson, Vitello's pitching coach at Tennessee, was more animated when he was ejected along with Adrian Houser on May 2.
On Wednesday, with his team going for its first sweep of the season, Vitello let loose and at the least, got his money's worth for the fine that comes along with getting ejected.

#ejected

The Mariners brought a dumper to a duel.
George Kirby outpitched Aaron Nola on Tuesday in the Mariners electric 4-1 win over the Phillies. Kirby struck out nine over 7 2/3 innings and turned in his best outing of the year. Cal Raleigh smacked another homer, giving him four on the series. And the rest of the lineup scratched and clawed a few more runs late to give the Mariners an impressive, all around, and fun win. That's back-to-back series victories over the top two Wild Card teams in the National League.
It's been a weird season for Kirby, something I feel I've written a dozen times in the last five months. He's walked a lot of batters (relative to himself) and struck out very few (relative to everyone). He survived the early part of the season by keeping the ball on the ground, but that's no longer the case and he's since been getting crushed. He's often seemed to nibble at the edges of the zone, unable to get chase out of it, and unable to get whiffs in it. He gave up 11 runs in his last two starts, making early exits in both.
But Kirby on Tuesday looked like the near-ace level pitcher of the past. He attacked the zone relentlessly with his four-seamer, ripping upper-90s fastballs with his best velocity of the season (97.9 mph). When he did expand the zone with the slow and bendy stuff, he got chase 49% of the time. Kirby generated 21 whiffs on Tuesday — the second most in a game for his career. He was aggressive, sharp, and borderline unhittable.
It was obvious right from the jump that something was special for Kirby. He led off the game throwing three pretty much middle-middle fastballs to Kyle Schwarber, each greater than 98 mph, and Schwarber swung through them all. "I knew I had it today," Kirby said of the four-seamer after the game. He then got ahead of Trea Turner with a few more fastballs registering 99 mph, before finishing him off with devastating sweeper away.

#four #season #zone #schwarber

Some college programs are waiting for a chance to pounce on current NFL players who may end up finagling another year of college football. Notre Dame is not.
Via Adam Rittenberg of ESPN, Irish coach Marcus Freeman said Friday that it's "too late" to add players. Freeman cited the admissions process and the academic calendar in support of the position that the time has passed for thinking about plucking late arrivals to the transfer portal.
Freeman was specifically asked about defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka. He made seven starts in four seasons for Notre Dame. He's one of the players who won a temporary restraining order earlier this week, granting them another season of eligibility.
"For us at Notre Dame, it's just too late [with] the graduate admissions process, and I don't think it would put a person in a good situation this late -- school starts on Monday -- to have success in the classroom and on the field, so that's been our stance on it," Freeman said. "Our admissions has already done their admissions and cycles. That's where the university and the athletic program stands right now."
It's refreshing, and borderline quaint, to hear a college football coach talk about admissions and academics. For most college programs, that ship sailed a long time ago.

#freeman #admissions #college #dame

Recent weeks on the NFL media rights beat have marked a changing of the tides.
Last September, the NFL publicly acknowledged for the first time that it would seek to strike early renewals with its broadcast partners several years prior to the 2029-30 season, when it has the contractual option to exit most of its agreements. The goal for the league was simple: negotiate higher rights fees now and, in return, remove the exit option at the end of the decade, allowing its partners to guarantee themselves NFL inventory well into the 2030s.
At first, it looked as if new deals were inevitable. After all, NFL programming is borderline existential to legacy broadcast networks like CBS, Fox, and NBC, all of which still rely on lucrative retransmission fees from distributors and local affiliates to fund their businesses. But then, things began to change. The NFL started facing pressure from all corners of Washington. Congress, the FCC, the DOJ, and others all started scrutinizing the shift of live sports off of linear television and onto streaming services. Those roadblocks seemingly bought league partners enough time to where no new deals were finalized prior to the 2026-27 season, as the NFL reportedly wanted.
Now, any early deals would only grant the NFL three additional seasons at higher rights fees (assuming it would otherwise exercise its opt-out clause at the end of the decade). And it seems like the league's broadcast partners are starting to sense they have a bit of leverage to hold out without risk of losing the NFL following the 2029-30 season.
During a recent earnings call, Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch outright said his network won't negotiate early, instead saying Fox will negotiate with the NFL on a normal cadence around the 2029-30 timeline. Further reporting suggested that negotiations between CBS and the NFL were "on hold" amid Paramount's ongoing effort to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. And while CBS Sports president David Berson did not outright rule out early negotiations when speaking with Awful Announcing last week, the undertones of his answers suggested nothing was imminent between the two sides.

#broadcast #last

Texas A&M's 2026 season opener vs. Missouri State is just over three weeks away, while the Aggies have already completed two preseason practices since Wednesday evening. Overall, the takeaways have been varied, ranging from starting quarterback Marcel Reed's increased accuracy and confidence as a passer to junior wide receiver Terry Bussey, who bulked up this summer and improved as a route runner.
Sticking with Texas A&M's borderline elite wide receiver corps, former Alabama wideout Isaiah Horton brings much-needed size to a rotation built on NFL-level talent, led by Mario Cravers' elite twitch and quickness, paired with Ashton Bethel-Roman and Terry Bussey's track speed. After transferring from Mississippi State before the 2025 season, Craver reeled in 59 receptions for 917 yards and 4 touchdowns, developing immediate chemistry with Marcel Reed.
Reed and Isaiah Horton go back to their high school playing days in Tennessee, and while they have yet to play together at the college level, it's clear that after two practices, both players are on the same page. Horton's catch radius was on full display during Thursday's practice, captured by Texas A&M's media team after the senior wideout snagged Reed's well-thrown pass.
Horton is in line to earn the starting X receiver job, and, on paper, will open up the passing game for Reed, allowing Mario Craver to roam the middle of the field and allowing the redshirt junior to take more 50/50 shots downfield, which was not the case last season given the lack of size on the outside.
Losing star WR KC Concepcion, who led the Aggies in receiving yards and touchdowns last season, likely won't have a massive impact on new OC Holmon Wiggins' ability to push the ball down the field on early downs given his background as one of the top wide receivers coaches.

#season #wide #receiver #marcel

Serie A side Inter have been in the race for Tottenham's Cristian Romero but the deal has been held up by the lack of exits. Now, it is ****** nal who have attempted a shock move, as the player heads towards the Lilywhites' exit door.
Alfredo Pedulla has reported about the Argentine, saying that Tottenham and Atletico Madrid are now in direct contact over a transfer.
The Spanish side are moving forward with the deal, taking advantage of the fact that Inter are yet to close the move despite an agreement in principle. They are yet to move on Benjamin Pavard, who has been offered to a lot of clubs but there has been no club for him so far.
Even ****** nal have been pushing hard for Romero in recent days. But the deal remains borderline impossible because of the frosty relationship between the London rivals, which is only helping Atletico Madrid.
Los Rojiblancos should find no problems in agreeing personal terms with Romero and would also be willing to offer Spurs more than Inter were.

#move #atletico #side #serie

You follow the San Francisco Giants, so you're familiar with bad baseball. You're well aware of it from watching the Giants, both this year and in many other years. But you've also become keenly alert to bad baseball through divisional foes such as the woeful Colorado Rockies, who, in most years, make you feel a little better about the Giants.
Through all of this you've learned something critical to the baseball-watching experience: there are levels to the badness. There are bad teams and there are bad teams, and there's a whole gradient betwixt the badness, plus a little something something past the extreme end of the spectrum.
The Giants have been a bad team if you look at the year as a whole, but they've sneakily only been a bad bordering on mediocre team in recent weeks. Entering tonight's game, the Giants were 25-27 over the last two months. Not the stuff dreams or even playoff teams are made of, but certainly not bad.
Well let me tell you something, folks: that have been a borderline competent team you watched for the last two months, but it's going to be a downright bad team that you watch for the next two months. That's just the nature of the best when you sell at the deadline, as the Giants absolutely, positively, most definitely needed to do and, thankfully, did (and very well, I might).
You don't get rid of your best hitter, your second-best starting pitcher, your fourth-best starting pitch, two of your best relievers, and your everyday outfielder and expect to get anything other than categorically worse, especially when the haul in return only featured two rostered players, one of which is playing fairly poorly in AAA, and the other of which is injured with no timetable for a return.

#best #teams

It was another day of Seattle Seahawks training camp in Renton, albeit not in the best of conditions. The terrifying and deadly wildfires in Spokane have impacted and will impact the Seattle area throughout the week. Winds have blown the wildfire smoke in a westerly direction, which has decreased the air quality through thick throughout Western Washington on an otherwise very warm Tuesday. With Wednesday's forecast set to be worse in terms of air quality, there is a chance that practice could be held indoors, but we'll see how it goes. As I type this from my hotel room in Renton, the air quality index (AQI) is a moderate 99, but that's borderline unhealthy.
Our thoughts and condolences go out to everyone affected in the Spokane region.
Here are the news and notes from Day 9 of camp.
The defense barks back
If you've read previous recaps and just watched the season premiere of 'Hard Knocks', you would think the Seahawks offense was making the Seahawks defense look like it was 2023 all over again. And while there's perhaps a kernel of truth there given Mike Macdonald's palpable dissatisfaction with the defensive performances in practice (including the first padded one), the NFL's best defense was not going to just roll over.

#defense #spokane #best

Vanderbilt is coming off one of the most successful seasons in program history, going 10-3 overall and 6-2 in the SEC while being in the playoff conversation the whole year. Head coach Clark Lea has built up the Vandy program into something extremely respectful, if not borderline borderline playoff contending – will need a couple more years of sustained success to go that far.
Offense
In 2025, the Commodores finished 8th in the nation in points per game at 38.5 thanks in large part to quarterback Diego Pavia. Pavia was the engine of the Vandy offense and finished as the Heisman runner-up. 2026, though, will see a new signal caller under center. Most believe that true freshman and former UGA commit Jared Curtis will be the starter in Week 1. A former five-star recruit and Nashville native, Curtis flipped to Vanderbilt just prior to putting pen to paper for his signing. Curtis is by far the biggest recruit in the history of Vanderbilt football, who had never had even a top 50 commit prior to Curtis signing. Having already drawn comparisons from his head coach Lea, it seems that Curtis will indeed be the starter. Other quarterbacks pushing Curtis for the starting spot are third year quarterback Blaze Berlowitz and and Whit Muschamp, son of Will Muschamp.
Though the quarterback will be new, the main player they will hand the ball off to is not. Sedrick Alexander returns for another year as the starting running back after averaging 5.4 yard per carry and accumulating 15 total touchdowns last season. Alexander will likely be tasked with carrying a bigger workload in 2026 to ease the pressure off the true-freshman Curtis.
The Commodores did lose All-American tight end Eli Stowers who will now be catching passes from Jalen Hurts for the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite the loss of their leading pass catcher in terms of receptions, Vanderbilt does return their top wide receiver in Junior Sherrill who led the team with 800 yards through the air.

#vandy #head

USC football needs a lot of things to happen if this season is going to come together perfectly. ESPN's Bill Connelly explored the "ifs" which need to emerge for the Trojans to achieve up to their expectations (and maybe even exceed them).
Connelly writes that USC's season can be special "If ... Jayden Maiava has pass catchers. Maiava is one of the most proven returning quarterbacks in the sport and should have a dynamite run game at his disposal thanks to backs Waymond Jordan and King Miller, and an experienced line. But of the seven players with at least 125 receiving yards last season, only sophomore wideout Tanook Hines returns. Transfer Terrell Anderson (NC State) will need to be an immediate hit, as will a few young, unproven options."
Tanook Hines is generally viewed and accepted as a USC receiver who will do well in 2026. The Terrell Anderson portal pickup has to hit. Other depth pieces in the wide receiver room have to become legitimate options who will demand attention and respect from opposing defenses. Part of the discussion here is that Dennis Simmons needs to develop depth at the wide receiver position. He has created stars at USC but not a lot of rooms in which there were four or five really good receivers. He had that in 2022 but hasn't matched that standard since. That's an important goal for USC this season. It could make the difference between this team being moderately good and very good, borderline great.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: National football experts agree that USC needs depth at wide receiver

#tanook

Generally speaking, when a fighter says they're in the best shape of their lives before a fight, there's an urge to take a big swig of the old giggle water, because there's scarcely been a fighter in world history who wasn't.
Yet when Daniel Rodriguez says he notices he's been working harder than usual, almost as an outside observer to himself with a new lease on reason, you tend to listen. That's because until April, Rodriguez was in a Tijuana jail cell, where he'd spent the last eight months on a marijuana possession rap, far longer than a borderline bogus charge should warrant. He was able to hit some pads and do some "roadwork" in the yard, and even had a heavy bag at his disposal, but there was nary a nutritionist on site, nor were his coaches there to guide him, or a sauna, a ring, or really any of the creature comforts of a training facility.
Since April he's been working like a madman splitting time in Las Vegas and Los Angeles to catch his body up to the task of fighting Uros Medic this Saturday at UFC Belgrade in Serbia, yet it's doubtful Rodriguez is in the best physical shape of his life at 39.
But so what? He has never felt freer than he is right now in Belgrade, walking straight into the wheelhouse of the country's free-swinging ****** assin.
"You know what?" Rodriguez says, "I think I've handled it pretty well, man. I've handled this like a true professional. From the condition that I was in when I was released to where I'm at now and all the preparation and the whole fight camp and everything in between from then till now, the ups and downs, it's been a roller-coaster.

#april #like

Sophie Cunningham has won a lot of supporters away from the hardwood this month thanks to her comments on transgender athletes, but just as she has doubled-down, one of her closest friends since childhood in Columbia, Missouri has declared he isn't on her bandwagon.
West Wilson, Cunningham's friend since high school, serves as her co-host on the Show Me Something podcast. Over the weekend, he posted a viral TikTok video in defense of trans athletes.
"Transgender athletes in American sports is such a borderline non-existent issue. Right-wingers have convinced a massive portion of people in our country that these people are, like, a threat to sports in America, when mathematically it's not the case at all," said Wilson, 31. Fans of the reality show Summer House may remember Wilson as one of the housemates. And just like on TV, he's not shy about his opinion on this divisive issue.
"By continuing to platform this, ***** politicians, athletes, journalists, news outlets, you're only isolating transgender people even more by making them seem like this giant group of people is a threat to society, a threat to sports, when that's just not proportionately the truth in any capacity."
While not addressing Cunningham directly, he made it clear he thinks rants like hers are "dumb."

#like #show

Dillon Brooks admits he loves playing the bigger role with the Phoenix Suns originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Dillon Brooks has only been with the Phoenix Suns for a year, but it seems he is loving his life in the desert. He went from being a role player with the Houston Rockets to being a featured player for the Suns, as he played borderline All-Star basketball for almost the entire 2025-26 season.
It was surprising because most people were familiar with Brooks as the 3-and-D player for the Memphis Grizzlies. Now, he still has the pesky defense and the antics, but he is playing higher-level basketball. It could be because of the environment, as it feels like Brooks is loving his life playing for the Suns.
Brooks averaged 20.2 points for the Suns last season, as he filled in for both Booker and Green for most of the season. While those are the most talented players on the roster, they did have struggles with injuries, but the Suns continued to impress during the regular season.
At the end of the day, they reached the Playoffs, where they played against the defending champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. They might have gotten swept, but it was a massive turnaround from pulling off the Kevin Durant trade for Brooks and Green to reaching the Playoffs, which they could not do with Durant in the previous campaign.

#playing #phoenix #playoffs

Miles Bridges was impressed by Phoenix's surprise postseason appearance in 2026 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
After trading Kevin Durant in the 2025 offseason, most people thought the Phoenix Suns would struggle. Many fans and **** ysts thought the Suns would not even make the Playoffs, but they did, playing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.
Of course, they were swept by the then-defending champions, but that was not something people expected. With Devin Booker playing as the superstar, his supporting cast was quite impressive, as Dillon Brooks played borderline All-Star hoops and Jalen Green showed out when he was healthy.
Now that Miles Bridges is on the Suns, he has an interesting outside perspective. Like most people before the 2025-26 season, he also thought the Suns would struggle after making the Durant trade for both Brooks and Green.
However, that panned out well for the Suns because it showed that having a more cohesive team alongside Booker was a good decision. Head coach Jordan Ott was also a big deal for Phoenix because he was an upgrade from Mike Budenholzer.

#bridges

After largely dominating the World Cup, France hit a wall in Tuesday's semifinal in a 2-0 loss to a Spain team that has allowed just a single goal in seven World Cup games.
Spain's defense locked up French stars Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé while getting a goal in each half to advance to Sunday's final. Spain's first goal arrived via a borderline penalty in which Lamine Yamal drew contact in the box from Lucas Digne while he didn't have possession of the ball.
After the game, France coach Didier Deschamps was asked about the officiating, and he was clearly displeased with the decision.
"Now, I'm asking you, and I'm not going to answer it," Deschamps said, via translation from French. "I don't want to come across as a whiner because we lost, but did tonight's referee have the level to officiate a World Cup semifinal?
When asked a follow-up, Deschamps said that he wasn't just displeased with the critical first-half penalty.

The 2026 MLB season has reached the All-Star break. This season has shown many players and teams having sensational seasons. Following the All-Star Game, the second half of the season will be in full swing. Here are the top 10 second basemen at the midway point of the season.
MORE: MLB Power Rankings: All 30 teams ranked ahead of the 2026 All-Star Game
Chisholm is hitting for power and stealing bases. His batting average has struggled, but he’s doing damage at the plate. The question remains whether he will be a Yankee in 2027.
The White Sox are competing for the division, and their second baseman is having a strong season. He has shown the ability to reach base at a high clip. He has produced borderline All-Star numbers.
The rookie is having a strong season. He’s put his bat-to-ball skills on display and hit for power. He will be a finalist for the NL Rookie of the Year Award.

New York Giants training camp is two weeks away. That reality is at the forefront of everything being written about the Giants right now. Let’s get to the headlines.
“One-hundred percent, yes, truly an opportunity,” Harbaugh said In an interview with the Dominique Foxworth Show. “Those are welcome things because those are going to happen. Those types of things — I told the guys, this is not a one-off. This is not the first time we’re going to be thrown into this very thing, the political, social discourse. So we have to have conversations in a reasonable — in a way that respects one another. So, how are we going to go about this? What do you guys think?
“And, really, honestly, Dominique, I didn’t have to do anything. I didn’t have to say anything, really. The players said it. They laid the ground rules down for the guys and decided how it would be approached going forward. So now, when these waves keep coming in from the ocean and crash against our shore, I think we’ll be better prepared for them going forward because we’ll be expecting them. And we’ll be talking about how we’re going to deal with them.”
Perhaps the most critical part to any success for the Giants in Harbaugh’s first season and beyond will be tied to Jaxson Dart’s progression throughout the summer and into the 2026 season. His presence in the spring has garnered headlines on a much wider scale than anticipated, and with that comes the pressure to deliver – both internal, which is always present for Dart, and external from those ready to make a judgment on the Giants’ quarterback after every play.
And it’s already started: the borderline disrespect of Dart’s game with cries of how he has not done enough to celebrate the Knicks’ championship with teammates or appear in Crocs commercials on social media with Cam Skattebo, that he is acting as if he has accomplished more than he has so far and supposedly tearing apart the locker room by veering into the great political divide. That’s all a crock, of course, but perception becomes reality when critics don’t care about taking the time to figure out what’s real and what’s imagined.

The NFC West has some of the best wide receivers across any division in the NFL. The Seattle Seahawks have the reigning Offensive Player of the Year in Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Heading into the 2026 NFL season, we've ranked all four wide receiving corps in the division from best to worst.
We're making the difficult decision of ranking the Los Angeles Rams as having the best receiving corps in the NFC West. Puka Nacua finished second in receiving yards (1,715) behind Smith-Njigba. Opposite Nacua, Davante Adams led all wideouts in receiving touchdowns with 14. That's pretty incredible.
Smith-Njigba will be the focal point of Brian Fleury's 2026 offense for the Seahawks. Aging veteran Cooper Kupp is still impactful, and Rashid Shaheed is expected to be heavily involved after signing a new contract with the Seahawks earlier this offseason. A healthy Tory Horton could also play a role.
The San Francisco 49ers revamped their receiving corps by signing Mike Evans and Christian Kirk in free agency. They also drafted De'Zhaun Stribling at No. 33 overall. They've revamped the room nicely after the fallout with Brandon Aiyuk.
Marvin Harrison Jr. was limited by injury in 2025 and hasn't yet met the borderline unfair expectations he was tagged with coming out of Ohio State. Michael Wilson became a 1,000-yard receiver this past season. The Cardinals also added savvy veteran Kendrick Bourne via free agency.

There are plenty of questions about the Washington Commanders for 2026. Can quarterback Jayden Daniels rebound after last season's disappointing second season due to injuries? Will new offensive coordinator David Blough struggle? Do the Commanders have enough offensive weapons outside of Terry McLaurin? What about the defense?
Did you notice there was one group we didn't question? That's right, Washington's offensive line doesn't appear to be an issue ahead of the new season. That group has a new coach, too, as former ***** istant offensive line coach Darnell Stapleton was promoted to replace Bobby Johnson. Stapleton is a proponent of a zone-based scheme, which Blough plans to employ. Under Johnson, the Commanders ran more of a gap-based scheme.
The good news for Stapleton is his personnel. Left tackle Laremy Tunsil signed a two-year extension this offseason, making him the NFL's highest-paid offensive lineman for the third time in his career. Josh Conerly Jr. enters his second season. While his career got off to a rough start, he looked like a different player in the second half. He's also reshaped his body this offseason, working with Tunsil. Right guard Sam Cosmi returns. Cosmi is a borderline Pro Bowler. Also back is left guard Chris Paul. Brandon Coleman returns and will compete with Paul at left guard. Coleman has been extremely valuable over his first two seasons, showing versatility by playing guard and tackle.
One name is missing from last season: center Tyler Biadasz. The Commanders surprisingly released Biadasz ahead of free agency. Veteran Nick Allegretti is back for his third season in the burgundy and gold and will likely start at center. Veteran Andrew Wylie also returns. Wylie has plenty of starting experience at tackle and guard.
With this many returning starters and key contributors, you'd think Washington's offensive line would be more highly regarded across the NFL. That's not the case, as several outlets rank the Commanders as having the 22nd-ranked offensive line or worse.

For a second straight offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers have attempted to rebuild their wide receiver depth chart. The passing offense underwhelmed in 2025 despite the addition of quarterback Aaron Rodger and wide receiver DK Metcalf. So now, with Mike McCarthy at head coach, more help was added to add some spark to the passing game. With training camp less than a month away, let's take a closer look at the Steelers top receivers.
Metcalf was given a No. 1 wide receiver contract last season but he didn't play like one. In fact, throughout his career, Metcalf has been a borderline No. 1 with only two 1,000-yard seasons in seven years. In fairness, Metcalf was held back by Mike Tomlin's offense and the lack of production around him in 2025, so expectations are high.
The big offseason addition was the trade for Michael Pittman Jr. Like Metcalf, Pittman has never been a true No. 1 receiver and always had slightly less production than that of a true top receiver. Also, like Metcalf, Pittman Jr. only has two 1,000-yard seasons on his resume in six years.
Wilson's first two years in the NFL have been a wash and 2026 might be the last shot for him to impress. He's got a clean slate with McCarthy and he's working hard this offseason, hoping to hold off the rookie Germie Bernard to be the team's starting slot receiver.
Bernard was the Steelers second-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft and he brings a diverse skill set that includes playing running back and H-back in addition to multiple spots at wide receiver. Bernard had a strong minicamp and seems to have a stranglehold on the No. 3 receiver spot this year.

It was a festival.
During the 2026 World Cup round-of-16 match between France and Paraguay, the person who probably drew the most attention was not a player.
Completely overwhelmed by events, the match referee, Mr Ilgiz Tantashev, was surprisingly lenient with the Paraguayans.
Whether it was deliberate blows on Les Bleus or blatant fouls, a large number of more-than-borderline actions took place right in front of him and were never punished.
L'Équipe even gave Mr Tantashev a rating of 1, the lowest possible score in the sports daily.

Trevor Lawrence continues to earn recognition as one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks, even if he’s not quite in the league’s highest tier just yet.
CBS Sports placed the former Clemson standout in its Tier 2 group of “borderline stars” in its latest quarterback rankings, pointing to another strong season in Jacksonville despite the instability he’s faced early in his career.
“Lawrence has endured quite a bit of turbulence in Jacksonville, including playing for three different head coaches,” CBS Sports’ Bryan DeArdo wrote. “While he’ll no longer have Travis Etienne Jr. by his side, Lawrence will have some new pass catchers and an improved offensive line at his disposal.”
Lawrence is coming off one of the best seasons of his career. He finished fifth in NFL MVP voting after throwing for 4,007 yards, the third time in four years he’s eclipsed the 4,000-yard mark, while setting a Jaguars franchise record with 38 total touchdowns.
His strongest stretch came in December, when he earned AFC Offensive Player of the Month honors after leading Jacksonville to a perfect 5-0 record. During that run, he completed 105 of 165 passes for 1,371 yards and 13 touchdowns with a 113.5 passer rating, while adding 124 rushing yards and four more scores on the ground.

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A cupcake in a mason jar is not the sort of idea that usually makes Wall Street sit up straighter.
It sounds like a charming gift, a sugar rush and a shipping headache rolled into one. Yet for "Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary, it became proof that even seasoned investors can be spectacularly wrong about what people will buy.
During a 2024 appearance on "The Iced Coffee Hour" podcast, O'Leary looked back at a few deals that seemed strange at first — including cat DNA kits and cupcakes in jars — before becoming major wins.
His lesson was simple: the deals that look obvious can flop, while the ones that sound borderline ridiculous can surprise everyone.