Hardy brings in Morgan Wallen, Eric Church and Tim McGraw for “McArthur,” a four-verse generational story told through lyrics that hit hard. Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs
Author: alaskaadmin
Sen. Tillis: ‘Get the amateurs out of the Oval Office’ | The Conversation
lead image
Politics
Each winter, the college football coaching carousel sets social media ablaze with speculation surrounding who might leave for new jobs, which athletic directors and donors will give their existing coach another chance and which up-and-comers might get a big opportunity for the first time. The frenzied discussion is reasonable, considering just how much can change when a team swaps head coaches in the modern era. Not only will a new crew of assistants be coming in, but hordes of behind-the-scenes staffers are shuffled to and fro, as are scores of players via the transfer portal. Modern rules — or the absence of them — really do facilitate fresh starts in every sense of the term. Once the dust settles, few decisions are more important than which coordinators a new head coach will hire, especially if the program’s leader isn’t a play caller himself. The offensive and defensive coordinators will be the ones building the playbook, scheming for opponents and matching wits with their counterparts on the opposite sideline every Saturday. That said, our FOX Sports experts gathered for a discussion about some of the most interesting assistant coach hires of the current cycle: Which college football assistant coaching hire will have an immediate positive impact on the team? Laken Litman: Texas’ hiring of Will Muschamp as its new defensive coordinator Muschamp, who was most recently on Kirby Smart’s staff at Georgia, was the Longhorns’ defensive coordinator from 2008-10 and helped the program get to the national championship game in 2009. He was also Mack Brown’s head coach in waiting before later leaving to become the head coach at Florida. Muschamp knows Texas, and he knows Steve Sarkisian — both are former Nick Saban assistants. The Longhorns’ defense was supposed to be one of the best in 2025, but underperformed, leading to Sarkisian firing former defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski. Now, it’s Muschamp’s turn to work some magic and help Sarkisian get the most out of a talented defensive roster. Michael Cohen: Northwestern’s hiring of Chip Kelly as its new offensive coordinator If this was two years ago, imagine being able to tell Northwestern head coach David Braun that he’d soon be able to hire someone who won a national championship with Ohio State in 2024 and then became one of the highest-paid play-callers in the NFL in 2025. And before all that, this same individual was the head coach of two different NFL franchises on the heels of an incredible run as the leading man at Oregon that included four consecutive 10-win seasons and a closet stuffed with national coach of the year awards. Talk about a farfetched idea. Yet here we are, entering the 2026 season with Kelly as the new offensive guru for Northwestern. On paper, it’s an incredible hire by Braun and one that should significantly elevate the Wildcats’ ceiling for as long as Kelly remains with the program. He’s as sharp an offensive mind as there is in college football. RJ Young: USC’s hiring of Gary Patterson as its new defensive coordinator Patterson’s hiring at USC stands out. While many were waiting on just who Ryan Day would appoint to call the offense at Ohio State — even if it was Day himself — I was waiting on just who Lincoln Riley would replace departed defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, who took the same job at Penn State. When Riley pulled out progenitor of the 4-2-5 defense, a College Football Hall of Fame coach and all-but-retired Gary Patterson, I was taken aback. Riley and Patterson are friends, and each is renowned for their play-calling acumen and innovation on their respective sides of the ball. There’s no question that Patterson will be an asset — not just as head coach of the Trojans’ defense, but as a former Power 4 head coach who has seen and coached against Riley’s offense before — and a sounding board for what might turn out to be a pivotal season for USC. If Patterson can marry his scheme with Riley’s — an offense that is notoriously unfriendly to playing complimentary football — the Trojans might be a dark horse in the race to secure the 2026 Big Ten crown. I’m intrigued to find out just how a coach who hasn’t worked for anyone other than himself (as an on-the-field assistant) in 26 years meshes with Riley in this new era of the sport. [COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Top-10 Most Impactful Transfer Players From 2025] Which college football assistant coaching hire is the most perplexing? Laken Litman: Ohio State’s reported hiring of Arthur Smith as its new offensive coordinator The thing that’s most perplexing or intriguing about this hire is that Smith is the former Atlanta Falcons’ head coach, and most recently, he was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator. That will give Day two former NFL coaches as his offensive and defensive coordinators (Matt Patricia joined the Buckeyes’ staff before last season). Both Smith and Patricia are experienced at what they do and overqualified for their respective jobs. It’s an interesting tactic that Day is implementing in having former NFL coaches on his staff. The players love it, and it prepares them even further for when they’re ready to turn pro. Will this become a trend in college football? We will see. Michael Cohen: Bill Belichick and North Carolina’s hiring of Bobby Petrino Alarm bells rang out around college football in early January when embattled UNC head coach Bill Belichick — whose debut season with the Tar Heels was closer to soap opera than success — made the stunning decision to hire Petrino as his new offensive coordinator. Petrino, who turns 65 in March, was previously the offensive coordinator and interim head coach at Arkansas the past two seasons, overseeing a unit that ranked 23rd in scoring (32.9 points per game) and 13th in total offense (454.8 yards per game) this fall. Nobody has ever doubted Petrino’s football acumen, particularly when it comes to putting together high-level offenses. A résumé that now includes more than five decades of coaching experience in college and the NFL demonstrates how attractive his services have been over the years. Even with all that success, Petrino is perhaps best known for a motorcycle accident that occurred while he was the head coach at Arkansas in which his significantly younger mistress was riding with him. The story became a tabloid sensation and has followed Petrino ever since. Is that really the type of figure Belichick, whose own romantic interests have become a defining narrative during his time at UNC, needs by his side? Some messes are self-inflicted. [COLLEGE FOOTBALL: 7 Bold Predictions for the 2026 CFB Season] RJ Young: Ohio State’s reported hiring of Arthur Smith as its new offensive coordinator. I’m with Laken on this: Smith as the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator is going to feel odd for those who have not followed Day’s career as head coach. Bear in mind, former Ohio State offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline is the only coach to call offensive plays at Ohio State without NFL position coaching experience or better since 2016. With his hiring of Chip Kelly in 2024, Day set a precedent that he has continued to follow through. He wants his play-callers to have experience as NFL coordinators and head coaches. So far, that strategy has been an unmitigated success. Kelly helped lead Ohio State to a national championship, and Patricia fielded the nation’s best scoring defense — all in their first years. Who’s to say Smith won’t be just as good? Not me.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
Everyone knows Valentine’s Day calls for romantic and sexy fragrances. While “romantic” is subjective and up for your nose’s interpretation, there’s nothing quite like a classic rose…
E! Online (US) – Top Stories
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Let’s be honest:
Sydney Sweeney is mostly known for what she says.
The actress has typically made headlines away from the screen for what she wears and, on occasion, what she does NOT wear.
Earlier this week, however, the 28-year old spoke to Cosmopolitan about the launch of her lingerie line SYRN and made some interesting remarks with her mouth.
During the interview,Sweeney was asked about folks on social media speculating about her political leanings … and often frequently dubbed “MAGA Barbie” on social media.
“I’ve never been here to talk about politics. I’ve always been here to make art, so this is just not a conversation I want to be at the forefront of,” said the Euphoria cast member.
“And I think because of that, people want to take it even further and use me as their own pawn. But it’s somebody else assigning something to me, and I can’t control that.”
Back in July, Sweeney stirred up a rather absurd controversy when she posed for an American Eagle ad that some people believed to be racially insensitive.
Sydney stayed mostly silent amid the annoying discourse.
She has chosen to mostly NOT correct assumptions about her.
“I haven’t figured it out. I’m not a hateful person. If I say, ‘That’s not true,’ they’ll come at me like, ‘You’re just saying that to look better.’ There’s no winning. There’s never any winning,” Sydney told Cosmo, adding:
“I just have to continue being who I am, because I know who I am. I can’t make everyone love me. I know what I stand for.”
Sydney Sweeney is one of the best looking humans on the planet.
That’s really it. We have no real follow-up to that sentence.
“I’m in the arts. I’m not here to speak on politics,” she explained in this new feature.
“That’s not an area I’ve ever even imagined getting into. It’s not why I became who I am. I became an actor because I like to tell stories, but I don’t believe in hate in any form. I believe we should all love each other and have respect and understanding for one another.”
Sweeney made a similar comment back after the American Eagle ad went viral, stating at the time:
“Anyone who knows me knows that I’m always trying to bring people together. I’m against hate and divisiveness.
“In the past my stance has been to never respond to negative or positive press, but recently I have come to realize that my silence regarding this issue has only widened the divide, not closed it. So I hope this new year brings more focus on what connects us instead of what divides us.”
Sydney Sweeney Responds to “MAGA Barbie” Label, Sorta Talks Politics was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip
It may shock some, but there are plenty of highly renown chefs who swear by cooking with a microwave, including this six-time James Beard award winner.
Food Republic – Restaurants, Reviews, Recipes, Cooking Tips
It’s usually an act of desperation. One last roll of the dice that can produce the most spectacular results. At other times it can be the result of a shambolic mix-up. One for the blooper reel. It doesn’t happen often, but when goalkeepers score, it’s usually memorable for right or wrong reasons. Anatoliy Trubin’s header in the eighth minute of stoppage time for Benfica against Real Madrid on Wednesday produced one of the most dramatic moments in Champions League history. Not only did Trubin seal a 4-2 win over the 15-time European champion, but he also ensured his team clinched the final playoff spot by virtue of goal difference. “I didn’t realize what we needed,” the Ukrainian goalkeeper said. “But then I saw everyone telling me to go up. I also saw the manager, so I went up, went into the box and I don’t know. I don’t know what to say. It was a crazy moment.” No wonder Benfica coach Jose Mourinho celebrated so wildly. The two-time Champions League winner has achieved just about everything in a trophy-laden career, but this was new territory. Leading 3-2 going into stoppage time, the Portuguese club needed another goal to climb into the playoffs. “I remember winning or losing at the last minute, it had happened to me several times before, but in this situation where we are winning, it’s not enough,” Mourinho said. “You have to change things and take risks.” It was a risk that certainly paid off and there is a long history of goalkeepers causing mayhem in the opposition box. The Great Escape — an iconic moment in English soccer While Trubin’s goal came in European club soccer’s elite competition, veteran keeper Jimmy Glass earned iconic status among Carlisle fans his last-ditch effort that saved the then-fourth tier team from falling out of the English Football League. It was back in 1999 when the on-loan goalkeeper volleyed home a stoppage-time winner against Plymouth to secure Carlisle’s survival — a moment that has been dubbed “The Great Escape.” “You just try your luck,” he said at the time. “Never pick up the goalie do they? “I just kept my head down and hit it. I thought I was going to balloon it over the bar, but I couldn’t miss from that distance.” Manchester United’s goalkeeping great Peter Schmeichel scored with a header against Rotor Volgograd in the UEFA Cup in 1995. To prove it wasn’t just a one off, he became the first keeper to score in the Premier League 2001 — netting for Aston Villa. More recently Liverpool’s Alisson glanced in a winner against West Brom in the Premier League in 2021. Paraguay’s prolific penalty-taking keeper Goalscoring keepers don’t have to be agents of chaos, merely sent in to pull off late rescue acts. Paraguay international Jose Luis Chilavert was prolific and once scored a hat trick for Argentine team Velez Sarsfield by converting three penalties. According to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, Chilavert, who also took free kicks, scored 67 goals in his career. He was the only goalkeeper to score a hat trick and is the highest-scoring keeper in international soccer with eight goals for Paraguay. But, the IFFHS says Brazilian Rogerio Ceni is the highest-scoring keeper of all time. According to Guinness World Records, Ceni scored 129 goals in his career. Colombia’s Rene Higuita — famed for his so-called scorpion kick saves and dribbling the ball out of his area — was another keeper known for scoring from free kicks and penalties. The weird and the wonderful Accustomed to punting the ball long from goal kicks, keepers have been responsible for some of the most outrageous goals from distance — but sometimes it can require a following wind, literally — or an embarrassing blunder from their opposite number. Stoke’s stadium is known as one of the windiest in English soccer and that certainly seemed to help keeper Asmir Begovic in 2013 when he scored after just 13 seconds against Southampton. He entered the Guinness Book of Records for the longest goal of all time, with his effort measured at measured at 91.9 meters. But it didn’t come without a little assistance from Southampton’s Artur Boruc, who was wrong-footed and left red-faced as the ball bounced over him. “It’s a cool feeling but it was a fortunate incident. I feel a bit bad for Boruc,” Begovic told the BBC. Tottenham’s Paul Robinson similarly caught out Watford’s Ben Foster with another launched effort from his own half in 2007. And to prove it’s not just a modern phenomenon, Tottenham’s Pat Jennings scored from his own area against Manchester United in 1967. The iconic Bobby Charlton, who played in that match later said: “I immediately turned around to look at the referee because I thought well maybe that’s illegal because I’d never seen it done before.” Reporting by The Associated Press.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
Miles Davis was born to stand out and not just as a pioneer in the world of jazz. The trumpeter’s version of chili also took an out-of-the-box approach.
Mashed – Fast Food, Celebrity Chefs, Grocery, Reviews
Always fresh and popping up everywhere – this Southern fried chicken chain is set to be very hard to miss in 2026, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon.
Mashed – Fast Food, Celebrity Chefs, Grocery, Reviews
Democrats, election experts and even some members of the Trump administration expressed alarm and bewilderment about why Tulsi Gabbard was on the scene as the FBI raided a Georgia election office that has been at the center of Donald Trump’s debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, was photographed late Wednesday outside the Fulton County elections office near Atlanta, Georgia, as the FBI executed a search warrant to seize ballots and other records related to the 2020 election.
As DNI, Gabbard has no domestic law enforcement authority and is not typically involved in criminal investigations, a reality that alarmed many Democrats on Capitol Hill — and even puzzled some Trump officials.
“My constituents in Georgia and I think much of the American public are quite reasonably alarmed in asking questions after the director of national intelligence was spotted bizarrely and personally lurking in an FBI evidence truck in Fulton County, Georgia, yesterday,” Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) said during an unrelated Senate hearing Thursday morning.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Gabbard was investigating the 2020 election, and has regularly briefed Trump and other administration officials about her search. “President Trump and his entire team are committed to ensuring a U.S. election can never, ever be rigged again. Director Gabbard is playing a key lead role in this important effort,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told The Journal.
Olivia Coleman, a spokesperson for Gabbard, confirmed the DNI was on the scene in Atlanta. She did not immediately respond to follow-up inquiries about her reported probe of the 2020 vote.
Despite concerns raised by Democrats, Gabbard appears to be taking on a more expansive public role in American elections. On Thursday, White House aide Jared Borg told a group of election officials that Gabbard — alongside Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi — is set to address the winter meeting of the National Association of Secretaries of State on Friday.
Trump has long fixated on unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in Georgia in the aftermath of the 2020 election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden. He has continued to falsely suggest that the election was stolen since returning to the White House, including in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle defended Gabbard in an emailed statement. “Director Gabbard has a pivotal role in election security and protecting the integrity of our elections against interference, including operations targeting voting systems, databases and election infrastructure,” he wrote. “She has and will continue to take action on President Trump’s directive to secure our elections and work with our interagency partners to do so.”
Trump spent much of the morning amplifying claims that the Georgia vote was rigged on Truth Social, and even called attention to Gabbard’s role in Wednesday’s raid.
Gabbard’s role remains confusing to some in the administration. Two current Justice Department officials and one Trump administration official said they were also puzzled by Gabbard’s presence in Fulton County. “It remains a mystery to me why she would need to be there,” said the administration official, who, like others interviewed, was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Sen. Mark Warner, (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, argued on X Wednesday that there “are only two explanations” for Gabbard’s presence in the raid.
“Either Director Gabbard believes there was a legitimate foreign intelligence nexus — in which case she is in clear violation of her obligation under the law to keep the intelligence committees ‘fully and currently informed’ of relevant national security concerns — or she is once again demonstrating her utter lack of fitness for the office that she holds by injecting the nonpartisan intelligence community she is supposed to be leading into a domestic political stunt designed to legitimize conspiracy theories that undermine our democracy,” he wrote.
Warner and House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) wrote to Gabbard Thursday to request briefings for both panels about the legal basis, scope, and justification of her participation in the raid.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), who before entering Congress was California’s chief election official, told a panel at NASS on Thursday that Gabbard’s presence at the raid should be a reminder about “the urgency of the situation.”
“I guess they’re still searching for 11,000 more votes,” he quipped, referencing a call Trump had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger after losing the 2020 election. “But it should be a reminder — or a wake up — that this can happen at any point once again between now and this coming November.”
Gabbard’s appearance at the raid led some Democrats to believe she wanted to be there to claim credit for it publicly.
“When the head of a department participates in something, it’s about PR, not about process and the law,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) told POLITICO. “If they have evidence, they want evidence and they have a valid warrant, and you let the professionals go in and do that.”
While Gabbard has veered in and out of the good graces of Trump during her tenure as DNI, she appeared to hit a high point last summer when she alleged that senior U.S. intelligence officials under then-President Barack Obama were guilty of treason because they had fabricated intelligence about Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Trump said last week that individuals who played a role in that year’s vote will soon be prosecuted.
David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, told reporters on Thursday that Gabbard’s Georgia appearance only sparks more concerns that the raid “is an attempt to fuel false claims and disinformation.”
“There is no reason for the director of national intelligence to be in any kind of voting site,” he said. “She has neither the authority nor the competence to assess anything in that voting site. And so it’s incredibly troubling to see something like that.”
Mo Ivory, a Fulton County commissioner, said Thursday that federal officials took 700 boxes of ballots and “ancillary” materials from the 2020 election. The county’s attorney, she said, is “working with a group of local and national lawyers” to formulate a legal response.
The first DOJ official said the ballots are now being stored at an FBI facility in Winchester, Virginia.
Spokespeople for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger did not respond to requests for comment. In 2020, Raffensperger famously rebuffed Trump’s pressure campaign to “find” enough votes to flip the state’s election for him.
The two DOJ officials said the FBI received a heads up that Gabbard would be on site for the raid. They said her participation did not bother FBI Director Kash Patel or other bureau officials.
Democrats, however, worry more broadly that the raid could have a chilling effect on future elections.
“The facts are clear, Trump lost, and he has to accept that and move on with his life,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said in an interview. “And everyone in his administration should do the same, instead of terrorizing election officials and interfering with our work to simply just prepare for the midterm elections.”
Erin Doherty and Andrew Howard contributed to this report.
Politics