pop Page 20 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Listen To Tons Of B.B. King Today
Blues legend B.B. King died late last night, at 89, in his Las Vegas home, relatively peacefully. He’d been one of those guys who logged 100 shows a year even pushing 90, but he’d been laid up after canceling a 2014 jaunt due to dehydration, exhaustion, and other such complications of diabetes. You ...
The-Dream's <i>Jewel</i> EP Is Gonna Be Great
Man, R&B producer/singer/songwriter/legend Terius Nash, better known as The-Dream, is so, so good, even if his last full-length album, 2014’s IV Play, was not. But this year has brought us the old Radio Killa we know and love. Last month, he dropped the excellent six-song Crown EP; on July 10, he’ll...
Wimpy White Dudes With Guitars Ruined <i>American Idol</i>
American Idol is finally dead, to the delight of those who’ve always hated it, and the relief of those who used to love it. At the peak of its reign, the show was everything to everyone: the launching pad for the pop careers of Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Taylor Hicks; the linchpin of the ...
Straight From The Heart
From Whitney Balliett's book American Musicians: Fifty-Six Portraits in Jazz:...
Watching Rocky II With The Champ
Nice work by Longform hipping us to this 1979 article by Roger Ebert about watching Rocky II with Muhammad Ali:...
Not Minding That It Hurts
Little Boy Blues is Malcolm Jones’ beautiful memoir about growing up with his mother (and sometimes, his father) in North Carolina in the late Fifties and early Sixties. It’s my favorite kind of memoir—understated, succinct, honed. The prose is precise without being delicate: “My father was a quiet...
Gregg Popovich Calls Team "Pathetic" After Loss To Knicks
Last night, Gregg Popovich's San Antonio Spurs somehow managed to lose an overtime game to the Knicks, a team that regularly turns possessions into crimes against humanity. This wasn't one of those games where Pop sat all of his starters, either. This was a full-strength squad getting beasted by the...
Cristiano Ronaldo Reminds Us Why He's So Likable
In a weekend that saw Lionel Messi overtake Cristiano Ronaldo as the Spanish league's top scorer this season, Ronaldo can rest easy knowing his Argentine rival isn't likely to catch up to another one of his records: that of world's most-liked Facebook page. What makes him so beloved? Well, besides t...
The "Blurred Lines" Verdict Is Bad News, Even If You Hate Robin Thicke
Thanks to the decision of a Los Angeles jury yesterday afternoon, pop-music fans have a fun, frightening new game to play: Who's Next? No, not named after the Who album—though maybe its infamous pissing-on-the-wall cover shot might now inspire a lawsuit from Andrew Loog Oldham, who as the Rollin...
No Brandon Marshalls Have Been Traded
It's hot-stove season (or whatever) in the NFL, and we've already seen our fair share of surprising moves. But with free agency still yet to actually open, a fake Twitter account and a player with the same name as another have teamed up to sow some quality confusion....
Reeling With Errol Morris
Head on over to Grantland and check out their Errol Morris week. And while you're at it, dig Brin-Jonathan Butler's excellent Kindle Singles interview with Morris:...
Rae Sremmurd Are Human Adderall
If you're like me, you didn't immediately get Rae Sremmurd, because you have a 401k and your hangovers are starting to get worse and you're beginning to feel the oppressiveness of your own mortality. But the pop-rap duo is great and fun—likely created by producer Mike Will Made It in a chemistry-lab...
Straight To The Hole Like My Man Malik Sealy
Monk One has long been one of my favorite DJ's. I've never met him but have been aware of his dope mixes since the late '90s when my pal Jared Boxx hipped me to his work. When I proposed to my wife, I had Monk's dub of this Archie Whitewater classic playing:...
A Brief Guide To Damon Dash's Dogs, AKA His Emotional Support Dragons
I don't quite get what Dame Dash is up to these days. Making movies and clothing and opening up a restaurant and living on the West Coast, I think. His Instagram makes it seem like he has some sort of polyamory thing going on. There's a lot to unpack. But we're not here to parse those things. We're ...
Yes, The Grammys Are Dumb, But It's Not Beck's Fault
So everyone's gonna argue about Beck for a few days, which is a mixed blessing for everyone, Beck included. And, look. He should not have won the Grammy for Album of the Year. I can think of at least nine reasons why. This is all mildly embarrassing, and yet inevitable, as we're talking about th...
Marco Belinelli Sinks Game-Winner To Give Popovich His 1,000th Win
Gregg Popovich won his 1,000th game tonight, becoming just the ninth coach—and only active one—to reach the mark. And at the risk of deifying the man, the way his Spurs beat the Pacers tonight was perfectly Popovich-ian. Tied with 15 seconds remaining, the unheralded draft choice that developed in...
Kind Of Weird: How <i>The Köln Concert </i>Made Keith Jarrett A Pop Star
The most improbably exhilarating record I've ever heard was recorded 40 years ago, at a special late show in the Cologne Opera House, in front of a youthful capacity crowd. It's likely the only opera-related album I've ever listened to more than once, but that's fitting, since few of the 1,400 you...
Michael Jordan: Bull On Parade
A few years ago Wilfred Santiago gave us a beautiful comic book about the life of Roberto Clemente. Now, Santiago is back with Michael Jordan: Bull on Parade. Yet another sure shot from the great publisher, Fantagraphics. ...
Beautiful Baltimore Bums
My father was born and raised in New York City. He idolized, among others, Sid Caesar, Walt Kelly, and Adlai Stevenson. As his son, I campaigned for Mondale/Ferraro when I was in the 8th grade, drew anti-Reagan political cartoons for my social studies class, and hung a huge Keith Haring "Free South ...