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dan6085 · 1 year

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Top 20 most saleable jerseys of all time:

1. Michael Jordan, NBA - #23 - Estimated sales: over 100 million. Jordan's Chicago Bulls jersey is the top-selling individual sports jersey of all time, with his #23 being the most popular.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo, Soccer - #7 - Estimated sales: over 70 million. Ronaldo has played for several clubs throughout his career, but his #7 jersey with Real Madrid and Portugal is the most popular.

3. LeBron James, NBA - #23 - Estimated sales: over 40 million. James has played for several NBA teams, but his #23 jersey with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers is the most popular.

4. Lionel Messi, Soccer - #10 - Estimated sales: over 25 million. Messi has played his entire career with FC Barcelona and his #10 jersey is one of the most popular in the sport.

5. Kobe Bryant, NBA - #24 - Estimated sales: over 20 million. Bryant was one of the most beloved and respected players in NBA history, and his #24 jersey remains popular following his untimely death in 2020.

6. Tom Brady, NFL - #12 - Estimated sales: over 2.5 million. Brady has won seven Super Bowl championships over the course of his career, with his #12 jersey with the New England Patriots being the most popular.

7. Derek Jeter, MLB - #2 - Estimated sales: over 1.5 million. Jeter is one of the most iconic players in the history of the Yankees and MLB, and his #2 jersey remains a popular seller.

8. Tiger Woods, Golf - #23 - Estimated sales: over 1 million. Woods is one of the most successful and recognizable golfers of all time, with his #23 Nike golf shirt being one of the most popular.

9. Wayne Gretzky, NHL - #99 - Estimated sales: over 1 million. Gretzky is widely regarded as the greatest hockey player of all time, and his #99 Edmonton Oilers jersey remains a popular seller.

10. Shaquille O'Neal, NBA - #32 - Estimated sales: over 1 million. O'Neal was one of the most dominant players in NBA history, and his #32 jersey with the Los Angeles Lakers remains popular.

11. David Beckham, Soccer - #23 - Estimated sales: over 1 million. Beckham played for several clubs throughout his career, but his #23 jersey with Manchester United and Real Madrid is the most popular.

12. Kobe Bryant, NBA - #8 - Estimated sales: over 1 million. Bryant's #8 jersey with the Los Angeles Lakers was popular during the early part of his career.

13. Steph Curry, NBA - #30 - Estimated sales: over 750,000. Curry is one of the most exciting players in the NBA today, and his #30 Golden State Warriors jersey is a popular seller.

14. Peyton Manning, NFL - #18 - Estimated sales: over 500,000. Manning is one of the most successful quarterbacks in NFL history, with his #18 jersey with the Indianapolis Colts being the most popular.

15. Kevin Durant, NBA - #35 - Estimated sales: over 400,000. Durant is one of the most talented and versatile players in the NBA today, and his #35 jersey with the Golden State Warriors and Brooklyn Nets is popular.

16. Floyd Mayweather Jr., Boxing - #50 - Estimated sales: over 300,000. Mayweather is one of the greatest boxers of all time, and his #50 TMT (The Money Team) jersey is popular among fans.

17. Cam Newton, NFL - #1 - Estimated sales: over 250,000. Newton is one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the NFL today, and his #1 jersey with the Carolina Panthers is popular.

18. Serena Williams, Tennis - #23 - Estimated sales: over 200,000. Williams is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, and her #23 Nike tennis dress is popular among fans of the sport.

19. Usain Bolt, Track and Field - #6 - Estimated sales: over 100,000. Bolt is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter in history, and his #6 Puma track suit is popular among track and field fans.

20. Conor McGregor, MMA - #12 - Estimated sales: over 50,000. McGregor is one of the most popular and controversial fighters in MMA history, and his #12 Reebok jersey is popular among fans of the sport.

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deadpresidents · 3 years

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We Remember: When 9/11 Forged a Genuinely United States of America

Today, we remember.

We remember that the weather was perfect throughout nearly the entire country on that Tuesday morning. We remember where we were when we heard about the first plane hitting the tower. We remember what we thought as the new just began to trickle in. We remember our horror as we watched the second plane hit the South tower. We remember the evacuations -- people running out of our monuments of freedom and democracy, our centers of government and finance, and spilling out on to the streets of our nation’s capital. We remember the dust and debris chasing thousands of New Yorkers through the streets of our most iconic city. We remember the smoke rising from the Pentagon. We remember that impact site in Pennsylvania -- a smoldering hole in an empty field instead of the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building because Americans decided to fight back. We remember watching the towers fall.

We remember the fear, the chaos, the sadness, and the feeling of not knowing what was happening or when it would end. We remember a feeling that Americans were not used to experiencing up to September 11, 2001: the helpless feeling of being attacked as went about our normal lives. We no longer remember what it felt like on September 10th.

Do you remember pointing fingers? Do remember placing blame? Do you remember partisanship? I remember patriotism. Not bumper sticker and window decals. Genuine patriotism. I remember flags and candles and donating water and giving blood and having a new appreciation for first responders. I remember that, for at least one week, we weren’t Democrats or Republicans. I remember that we were Americans. I remember that we cared a little bit more about each other for at least a couple of weeks.

When Democrat Lyndon Johnson was the Senate Majority Leader and Republican Dwight Eisenhower was President of the United States, LBJ -- one of the most intense, passionate, partisan political animals in our history -- never attacked President Eisenhower. It wasn’t because LBJ agreed with Eisenhower’s policies. It wasn’t because LBJ was scared. It was because, as LBJ explained in 1953 in a comment that has an unfortunately haunting connection to 9/11, “If you’re in an airplane, and you’re flying somewhere, you don’t run up to the cockpit and attack the pilot. Mr. Eisenhower is the only President we’ve got.”

The only President we’ve got.

We all want to head in the same direction. We all want to move forward. We all want to progress and be happy and healthy and safe. But now, more than ever, our country’s prosperity is crippled by divisive partisanship. As World War I and World War II approached and the world realized that we are clearly connected on a global level, the people who seemed the most out-of-touch -- the people who were wrong -- were the isolationists. In both of those great wars, the isolationists were proven wrong. Yet, in the span of our grandparents’ lives we have regressed to the point where most Americans have become individual isolationists -- not isolationism on a national level, but on a personal level. We’ve tried to disconnect from the people in our own country -- especially if they look, love, or think differently than us. Don’t you remember how powerful it felt after 9/11 to be united? Don’t you remember how we helped each other in so many different ways?

I guess I could be cynical. I guess I could remember the look on President George W. Bush’s face when his Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, whispered news of the attacks in the President’s ear as he sat in a Florida classroom. I guess I could remember The Pet Goat, and the fact that Bush didn’t immediately get up, sprint from the room, and change out of his Clark Kent clothes into the Superman suit. I guess I could remember Air Force One zig-zagging across the country, the only plane in the air besides military escorts and combat air patrols over our major cities. I guess I could remember the surveillance videos of the well-dressed hijackers walking through airport terminals that morning before they turned our planes into weapons. I guess I could remember that the passengers of Flight 93 didn’t actually get through the cockpit door and force the plane to crash into that Pennsylvania field. I guess I could remember our government’s alphabet agencies -- the FBI, CIA, NSA, and everyone else listening in on our world -- being unable to work together and stop the attacks from happening in the first place. I guess I could choose to remember those things, but that doesn’t make me feel better. It doesn’t make 9/11 anything but a success to those who tried to frighten and frustrate and intimidate us through terrorism.

This is what I choose to remember:

I remember that the passengers of Flight 93 tried to get into that cockpit. I remember that their plane didn’t make it to Washington, D.C., and even if they never actually breached the cockpit and physically forced the plane into that meadow in Pennsylvania themselves, they certainly fought back and forced the hijackers to abort the mission that they had planned. That plane didn’t crash into the White House or the Capitol, and that’s not because the hijackers got lost.

I remember driving to the wedding rehearsal for two of my best friends on the Friday after the attacks, feeling bad for them that they were getting married in the shadow of 9/11. I remember being amazed at thousands of people in the streets of Sacramento -- neighborhood after neighborhood, thousands of miles away from any of the attack sites -- holding a candlelight vigil. I remember that it was then, as I drove through the silence of these peaceful vigils, with flags and flames and tears all around me, that I thought, “We’re going to be okay.”

I remember George W. Bush -- a President I never voted for -- who, like all of us, was a bit unsteady with his words in the hours immediately following the attacks as he processed the magnitude of what we were living through. But I remember how he found his footing and found his voice quickly and began to speak for all of us. I remember him returning to Washington, D.C. that night, against the wishes of his government and his Secret Service protection. I remember how this President -- a President I didn’t agree with, a President I never cast a supportive ballot for or whose campaign I ever donated a cent to, a President whose beliefs were diametrically opposed to almost everything that I believe in -- went to Ground Zero and met with the families of those who were dead or missing, and gave them all the time they needed with him.

I remember how that President visited the rescue workers at Ground Zero. I remember, more than anything else, how President Bush climbed on to a pile of rubble from the fallen towers of the World Trade Center, grabbed a bullhorn and began to speak, but was interrupted by the workers yelling, “We can’t hear you!”

I remember that the President -- the only President we had at the time -- shouted to these exhausted, weary, grieving, heroic rescuers, “Well, I can hear you! And the people who knocked these buildings down are gonna hear from all of us soon!” I remember that it was genuine, that there was nothing manufactured about that moment, and that, despite all of his faults and deficiencies, George W. Bush said exactly what those people -- our people -- needed to hear. As the workers chanted, “USA! USA! USA!”, I remember thinking that I didn’t vote for him and I won’t vote for him in 2004, but at that moment he was my President and I was proud of him.

As we look back, we can’t help but think about everything else that has come out of 9/11 -- the interminable war in Afghanistan, the unjust and unnecessary war in Iraq, the humiliating and annoying experience that flying in an airplane became in this country -- but I think about that stuff pretty much every day, and I feel like this should always be a day where we think differently.

So, even if it’s just for this day, I’m going to think about those flags and candles and President Bush on top of the rubble of the World Trade Center with a bullhorn. I’m going to think about being an American -- just like I was in the weeks following 9/11 -- rather than who I voted for or what team I like or any of the millions of things that divide us and can get back to tearing us apart tomorrow like they did yesterday.

I’m going to remember thinking, “That’s my President,” as President Bush spoke to the rescue workers, just as I did a few weeks later when he went to Yankee Stadium for Game 3 of the World Series, strapped on a bulky bulletproof vest under his FDNY jacket, walked to the pitcher’s mound, and with millions of Americans watching on television, with thousands of rabid New Yorkers watching in the stands, and with Derek Jeter’s words of warning (”Don’t bounce it or they’ll boo you”) rattling around in his head, threw a perfect strike.

I’ll remember thinking, “That’s my President,” about a guy I never voted for and didn’t agree with, and I’ll hope that you do that when the guy you didn’t vote for and didn’t agree with says the right words, does the right things, and throws a strike when our nation needs it -- not because you’re a Democrat or a Republican, but because you’re an American and that’s the only President we’ve got. We don’t have to disagree about everything just because we don’t agree about most things, and we don’t have to like everything about one another to understand that, sometimes, we need each other.

What do you remember?

#September 11th #9/11 #September 11th Attacks #History #Personal #Politics #Americans #20th Anniversary of 9/11 #Never Forget #Never Forgot #I Remember #We Remember #George W. Bush #President Bush #Bush 43

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baseball-babe · 7 years

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official

#derek jeter #looking official #with him wearing a suit an carrying a briefcase to a frickin baseball stadium everyday #this new gig seems like something he's always wanted to do #marlins #yankees

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drgiov · 4 years

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Kobes’ Mindset

The Mamba Mentality and How It Can Help You Be Better at Golf and Life.

Gio Valiante, Ph.D. - Author: Fearless Golf & Golf Flow.

Over the course of my 20 year career as a performance psychologist for athletes and executives, I have worked with hundreds of high achievers across some of the most competitive domains: NFL, NBA, PGA Tour, MLB, and C-suite executives ranging from Silicon Valley to Wall Street. I say all this only to convey that I have had the privilege of a front row seat, in the most competitive environments, to the Best of The Best (BoTB).

Even in this sea of excellence in which I have been lucky enough to swim, Kobe Bryant stands out as having perhaps the best mental game I’ve ever studied. The Mamba Mentality is more than an attitude or a mindset; it is a virtual manifesto of a life well lived – what the Greeks (most notably, Aristotle) call Arete – the best expression of oneself, day in and day out. So outstanding was Kobe’s psychological toolbox, that it is the key feature to take away from Kobe’s legacy. It wasn’t Kobe’s 81 point game, nor his 5 championships, nor his business acumen that Tiger Woods recollected in the wake of Kobe’s passing. Rather, Tiger (along with the majority of people with whom I’ve spoken) say the greatest thing they’ve taken from Kobe’s passing was the mindset with which he approached and played the games of basketball and life.

Though my work takes me across many achievement domains, golf remains at the forefront of my thinking because more than any other arena, it puts a premium on one’s mindset. To master the game, one must master so many things, including mastery of oneself. Golf is expository, meaning whatever your weakness, golf will expose it. Golf exposes overconfidence, under-confidence, sloppiness, risk appetite or aversion, motivation, resilience, lack of attention to detail, laziness, self-awareness, imbalance, physical conditioning … and literally every meaningful trait that performance psychologists deem important.

Let me state it unequivocally: Had Kobe chosen to purse golf rather than basketball, he would have been amazing. What did Kobe do that you can learn from to pursue your best game? Read below to find out:

1. Kobe knew his Why. When psychologists study motivation, they do not only look at the amount of motivation someone has (ranging from low to high) but more importantly the quality of their motivation. People are motivated for different reasons, and not all motivations are created equal. For example, people in a state of panic are highly motivated, but seldom does panic produce great results. The highest quality motivation – what we call a Mastery motivation – is driven intrinsically by pure love of the craft, passion for constant improvement (kaizen), and love of challenge. Kobe loved the game itself. As far back as high school, he would show up two hours before practice, alone, to shoot hoops in a dark gym. When Kobe was done playing professionally, he titled his Oscar-winning film “Dear Basketball.” The film wasn’t a testimonial to himself, his ego, his fame, or his achievement … but rather was an ode to the game itself. Kobe’s love of basketball was consistent with another great, Ben Hogan, who said “Golf is a livelihood in doing the thing I love to do. I don’t like the glamour. I just like the game.” The takeaway is to always play for love of challenge, love of improvement, and love of the game. Not to impress others, show off, or validate yourself (aka, Ego golf). Play simply because you love the game and all the various challenges and special moments of wins and losses it offers.

2. Kobe followed his Calling. In Extraordinary Minds, Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner studied the common denominator from the most “extraordinary” individuals in history. One of his inferences was this: there was a perfect *fit* between the individual, their particular makeup, and the domain in which they flourished. Mozart found music, Virginia Woolf found poetry, Yo-Yo Ma found the cello, Tiger Woods found golf, Steve Cohen found the stock market, and Kobe found basketball. It is hard to imagine any one of these extraordinary individuals having achieved what they did if they never found their true purpose in life.

3. Kobe loved to Work. It is hard to imagine outpacing everyone else in any given domain if the work feels laborious. When I interact with the BoTB, what I commonly hear is how much they love their work. How the work is always in the back of their minds, even when they are doing other things. Commonly, an “inversion” happens for these individuals. Whereas most people find a quiet mind when their work is over, the BoTB get anxious and antsy when they are on vacations, having downtime, or otherwise abandoning their pursuit of excellence. Their minds quiet when they are working, not when they are relaxing. Think of what Ben Hogan said: “When I don’t practice for a day, I notice. Two days, my wife notices. Three days, the world notices.” Over the course of 40 years, famed hedge fund investor Steve Cohen has missed four of the 10,000 days the markets were tradeable, and all four of these days, he was in the hospital unable to trade. Kobe’s work ethic was legendary. He was also once quoted as saying: “I can’t relate to lazy people. We don’t speak the same language. I don’t understand you. I don’t want to understand you.” And of course, when a 15 year old Lebron James first asked Kobe the secret to sustained excellence in basketball, Kobe replied “Hard work. There is no substitute for the work.”

4. Kobe was Confident. Make no mistake about, confidence is the great arbiter on the road to success. Kobe was good, and Kobe knew he was good; after all, he’d put in the work (see #3 above). The first time he prepared to face Michael Jordan, a teammate asked Kobe, “‘Hey, you want some advice? Whatever you do, don’t look him in the eye.’ ‘Wait, excuse me? Why the hell would I not look him in the eye?’ I don’t think my teammate understood that I’m THAT too. Can’t ... look me in the eye either, buddy.’” But that is also true of all the great ones: a young Tiger Woods was criticized when he first came out on Tour for picking himself to win tournaments. His father, Earl, was also criticized for publicly saying how much better his son was than the rest of the players. Jack Nicklaus once observed, “What I do know is that inner certitude about one's abilities is a golfer's primary weapon, if only because it's the strongest defense against the enormous pressures the game imposes once a player is in a position to win. Golf's gentlemanly code requires that you always hide self-assuredness very carefully. But hide it or not, you'll never get very far without it." And about Jack, Tom Weiskopf observed: "Jack knew he was going to beat you. You knew Jack was going to beat you. And Jack knew that you knew that he was going to beat you." The takeaway: Don’t doubt yourself. In basketball, just as in golf and in life, you have to believe in yourself, even when the world doesn’t believe in you.

5. Kobe was Resilient. One of the hallmarks of confidence is the ability to overcome adversity (what we call “normative failure”). Resilience does not lead to confidence; it emerges from it. The more authentically confident you are in your preparation, work ethic, and self-awareness … the better you can overcome life’s obstacles. Lest we forget, baseball great Derek Jeter began his professional career 0 for 14. Three-time Super Bowl winning QB Troy Aikman threw 9 TD’s and 18 Interceptions in his first season. Van Gogh sold one profitable painting in his lifetime. Steve Jobs dropped out of college and was fired by Apple before forming Pixar. Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, and Jimmy Johnson accounted for 11 of the 19 Super Bowl victories from 1974 to 1993. They also share the distinction of having the worst records of first- season head coaches in NFL history - their collective record was 1 win, 45 losses. Famously, Thomas Edison failed 1,000 times at inventing the light bulb. All of them share two things: they achieved immortality, and they overcame very big roadblocks on their road to BoTB. The lesson for you is this: never experience a setback as something final. Failure is not the opposite of success. It is temporary and built into success. It is the fabric. Embrace your own setbacks and failures, and weave them into the narrative of your own great story.

6. Kobe practiced with Purpose. Kobe was famous for his relentless work ethic. He often shot 1,000 additional shots a day on top of weight training and team practice to work on particular shots and situations. Kobe mentally rehearsed every scenario he could possibly face so that he was never caught off guard. Shaquille O’Neal noted that he had seen Kobe practicing without a ball – weaving, huffing, faking-out – to practice specific scenarios in his imagination on the court. Similarly, Tiger Woods is known to use his range sessions prior to the Masters practicing each and every shot on the golf course chronologically, starting from the tee shot on hole 1, then shot into 1 green, and so on. They are preparing for battle by rehearsing the situations that will actually occur – having to hit a baby fade off the first tee, carving a draw on the 3rd approach shot; not hitting stock shots ball after ball mindlessly. Make your practice meaningful and applicable to the challenges you will face on the golf course. As Tiger’s father advised him Saturday evening before the 1997 Masters, “expect the best. Prepare for everything.” The BoTB plan for every scenario. They mange risk effectively. They are never caught off guard.

7. Kobe had big dreams. When Kobe was asked about how he continues to push his boundaries and comfort zones, he attributed his success to his dreams. He said, “Make sure that your dreams always stay pure. It’s not a matter of pushing beyond your limitations or expectations. It’s really a matter of protecting your dreams, protecting your imagination. That’s really the key. And when you do that, then the world just seems limitless.” To me, chasing dreams is an act of courage. It is easy to settle in life; easy to live within the parameters of other people’s expectations of you. If you are willing to dream big, to practice with purpose and intent, then you will be occupying space reserved for Gods and Legends.

8. Kobe was Fearless. While I was a young graduate student at Emory University, I did a study on professional golfers. What emerged from that study was something unexpected: the role that fear plays in golf. This finding was both surprising and unexpected because, unlike football or boxing, there is no real danger in golf. Nonetheless, fear was omnipresent, but the best golfers in the world elevated themselves above the rest by playing fearless golf (which ended up being the title of my first book). Kobe went all-in on basketball, and when he was done, he went all-in on film making, parenting, and coaching his kids. He was once photographed in a Bruce Lee shirt which read, “Fear is for other people” and was once interviewed saying, “Being fearless means putting yourself out there and going for it. No matter what. Go for it. Not for anybody else. But for yourself.” Kobe played, and lived, fearlessly. Surely a lesson for us all.

9. Kobe Innovated, Evolved, and Reinvented Himself and his Game. If there is one standout feature of BoTB that is largely ignored, it is their willingness to take risks to get better. Tiger Woods won the 1997 Masters by 12 strokes, then proceeded to win three more Majors (including the 2000 US Open by 15 strokes) and decided his swing wasn’t good enough, so he overhauled it beginning in 2004. He did it again in 2010. Tiger won in so many different ways: overpowering courses, strategizing around trouble, winning with his short game, his putter, his mind. Gary Player has won professional tournaments in 4 decades, evolving his game and his body. The artist Pablo Picasso is known for his ever-evolving style (Blue Period, Rose Period, African, Cubism, Surrealism) and set the stage for artists to follow. Robert Plant, the lead singer of Led Zeppelin, attributed their success to the fact that they “constantly evolved and changed their style” over the course of a 40-year career. Similarly, Kobe evolved his game over time from that of a lone wolf to a distributor of the ball and team leader. Picasso had his periods; Tiger his differing swings. Likewise, Kobe had his stages of development, marked for history by the fact that he has not one, but TWO jerseys retired in the Lakers arena (#8, #24). His first championship was as a 21 year old in 2000; his last as a 31 year old in 2010. He evolved his psychology and even his identity: Kobe became the Black Mamba. As his body broke down, he won more with strategy, preparation, and leadership than sheer overpowering athletic ability. As you age in golf, your game has to evolve with you. This is where the great Socratic dictum of Gnothi Seauton applies. Gnothi Seauton simply means “know thyself” or “self knowledge.” The BoTB don’t always have the most talent or explicit advantages over their competitors (Jack Nicklaus wasn’t close to being the best pure ball striker of his era). But he, and they, have an uncanny ability to know and trust themselves, and make bets that leverage their strengths while covering their weaknesses. You will need to learn how to compete with distance when young; then compete with precision, course management, intelligence, and composure when older ... all within the framework of knowing your own strengths, weaknesses, predilections, temptations, cognitive biases, and habits of mind.

The best way to honor our icons is to fearlessly put forth the best expression of ourselves and our talents. This is why embracing the Mamba Mentality is a good idea to flourish in both life and golf. To recap: Know your Why, Love to Work Hard, Be Confident, Be Resilient, Practice with Purpose, Dream Big, Be Fearless, and always, always, always innovate and evolve.

Bio:

Dr. Gio Valiante is an expert in the area of human performance as applied to business, finance, and sports. In golf he has been the sport psychologist for some of the games’ best players including US Open Champion Justin Rose, Players Champion Matt Kuchar, Henrik Stenson, Jordan Spieth, Davis Love III and many others. He was named Top 40 Under 40 to Influence the game of Golf by Golf Magazine and his players have won over 40 PGA Tour Events in the past 15 years. Dr. Gio is the author of two books, Fearless Golf and Golf Flow and his work been featured in Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, Good Morning America, ESPN, The Financial Times and Time Magazine. He has spent the past 5 years as the in-resident performance coach for Point72 Asset Management, and The Buffalo Bills. He can be reached at www.giovaliante.com, www.fearlessgolf.com, and [email protected].

#Kobe mamba mindset fearlessgolf BoTB

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goldenbloodorange · 5 years

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excerpt - The Windup and The Pitch

a sample from my NaNoWriMo project, completed December 2018 - it is currently being beta’d by a friend of mine, but here are two sample chapters introducing two main characters - if you read I am absolutely open to feedback!!

JENKINS

“You’re one of those lady ballplayers, huh?” The Uber driver, Jed, says with a lower respiratory punctuation as Justina gets in the car.

“Uh, yeah, I am,” Justina says, nodding and smiling.

She pulls out her phone and checks for any new messages. None yet.

Fuck, she curses mentally, and looks out the window. The car is going over the Hoan Bridge on 794, heading towards Downtown Milwaukee and Justina sees the gray stretch of Lake Michigan reaching to her right. There are a few boats bobbing aimlessly in the distance and they make a temporary distraction from checking her phone incessantly,.

“What a season you all had this year, oh boy. Now, I wish I would have gone to one of the games!”

“Uh, heh, yeah.” Usually Justina would love to chat with anyone who just wanted to talk baseball, but she is admittedly preoccupied.

She checks her phone a second time. Nothing.

Jed clears his throat and continues to externalize his thought process. “So uh….you’re...um...I know you, I know who you are. You’re...you’re…” Justina’s 25-foot tall Nike ad is pasted on the side of the building as they drive past; you see her name boldly emblazoned on her Belles uniform as she’s swinging, her side profile looking strong.

Jed means well. He is really trying. Justina doesn’t feel as bad about ignoring him as...he’s not an actual fan.

Justina’s phone finally buzzes. She’s waiting for a text from her agent (and teammate’s sister) Lenore Valenzuela, a lawyer turned sports agent who was almost scarily manipulative and good to have on your side, especially when it came to contract negotiations.

LV: Rumors of buyout are no longer rumors. Want to post for selection? Many MLB teams in the market for a spray hitting outfielder like you.

Justina’s heart stops. If she posts for selection, from the rumors she’s heard she could be drafted by any MLB team. Then what? Marinade in the minor leagues for a few years until the league decides she’s ready?

The pay bump, though. The pay bump.

The highest paid AAGPBL player wasn’t even making nearly what the league minimum in MLB was making - which, in Justina’s opinion, is both sad and to be expected. $535,000 was nothing to sneeze at - plus the luxury of being considered a pro ballplayer in a sport that had denied her participation all her life, and one of the first to finally make baseball a coed sport.

Minor leaguers in the MLB system were still paid like crap; not to mention the prospects of a player from this league posting were admittedly not great. Going from making not-so-great money...to not-so-great money...to possibly making the big bucks was not necessarily guaranteed.

“I played baseball as a kid,” Jed interjects. “They never let girls play with us.”

Justina nods politely at him through the rear view mirror. Though she always had a natural quick reflex when it came to fielding and hitting, Justina grew up being turned away from countless Little League teams. She eventually found a team that accepted her, but her family had to move from Mississippi to the Milwaukee suburbs as her father became unemployed and needed to move for work; he had a connection working in the food processing industry.

Jed rambles on. “My old man always said I’d get a college scholarship if I just practiced more.”

The more time Justina’s dad spent making sausage (he still works at the Klements factory off I-94), the less time he had to help Justina develop her swing. So she watched highlight reels and clinic videos on YouTube on the computers at the Milwaukee Public Library. Emulated the swings of some of her favorite hitters. Frank Thomas. Chipper Jones. Derek Jeter.

And she’d visit the cages after school to put her theories into test.

She’d get weird looks since it was mostly packs of mostly white teenage boys trying to put in cage time for high school ball, but once they saw her hit, they’d ask who she was played for, and the answer was always the same:

Myself.

It was the same deal in college; denied entry on the baseball team, Justina found herself at the cages, again with the same questions being asked. She found acceptance on the UW-Milwaukee intramural baseball team, which is where she met Quinn Braxton.

“But anyway, it’s awesome that you girls are playing ball. Always thought Milwaukee would get a WNBA team before a women’s baseball team, but hey, whatever.”

Justina’s phone buzzes again, and her head jerks from the polite smiling to her lap.

LV: You ready to make history??????

The Uber rounds the corner of Water Street. A couple of the girls are already on the corner, punching each other’s shoulders and acting like the inseparable group this team really was. Bridget McAfee. Quinn Braxton. CJ Willis. Maddie McCarthy.

Her sisters in arms, runs, hits, and errors. She’d miss them, yes, but there was a whole other frontier to explore, and she was just learning what exactly she was capable of.

Hell yes, Justina types, and immediately hits send.

BRAXTON

Last season’s Defensive Player of the Year, (with a 13-vote-margin) Quinn Braxton punches pitcher Maddie McCarthy in the arm for making the twelfth deez nuts joke in the course of ten minutes. Quinn messes with her equilibrium and Maddie nearly falls over.

“Fuck, Quinn, I’ll stop,” she says, laughing, grabbing onto a parking meter. It feels like they haven’t been apart for a month. It feels like no one’s ever left Milwaukee.

Before anything else can transpire, Justina Jenkins gets out of the backseat of what might be an Uber or Lyft Cadillac Escalade, dripping from head to toe as usual, sneaking a few salon appointments in between the last out of the Women’s World Series and this meeting. Her second or third Balenciaga bag rests on her right arm.

Willis snorts a bit. “We put the reservation in under your name, that okay? It’s $10 a minute for every minute you’re late.”

“Hi mom,” Quinn says, shoving her hands into her Nordstrom Rack camo jeans.

“Hello, darling,” Justina replies. She looks at her three teammates. “Well? I didn’t mean to interrupt what y’all were doing?”

“You’re never interrupting,” McAfee comes rushing towards Justina, crushing her in a giant hug. She smells distinctly like fabric softener and dry shampoo. McAfee is 6’1” barefoot and gives some of the best embraces in all of baseball. Willis and McCarthy follow suit, and before everyone knows it, the Belles superstar outfielder and team captain is wrapped in a crushing hug.

Quinn stands, pretending to be annoyed, arms folded and rolls her eyes. “Like y’all ain’t hug enough during the damn season.”

Justina pushes the other girls away and pulls Quinn into her own personal hug. “Bitch,” she says.

Quinn holds her at arm’s length away. “No Cabo for you, slugger? If it were up to me, my ass would be out of….here.”

It’s not that Quinn hates Milwaukee. She’s actually grown to love it. She grew up here, not far away in a modest home with her mom and twin brother Quincy, off National Avenue.

Quinn and Quincy both played on the high school baseball team, until he had a seizure and died right there in the gymnasium of their high school, in the middle of a warm up before practice. Heart failure, they said. Quinn had heart surgery as a child due to arrhythmia, only to see her brother’s own heart fail right in front of her.

It was too much for Quinn; even with the support from coaches and incessant counseling, she eventually resigned from the team. She didn’t dare pick up a baseball bat again until she met Justina Jenkins whom she met in an Early American Literature class at UW-Milwaukee, three years later.

Justina noticed the Ken Griffey Jr. Trapper Keeper Quinn must have found on eBay, because it was in perfect condition, and no one their age even knew what the hell a Trapper Keeper was. And she struck up a conversation, and their friendship blossomed over a mutual love of baseball. Justina grew up watching the Brewers and Quinn grew up watching the Braves, who used to be a Milwaukee team, and yeah yeah, Quinn was well aware of that and loved Hank Aaron and Chipper Jones and even Brandon McCarthy. Justina rued the year 2011 like no other but will recall it as one of the most enthralling in Brewers history, and was ambivalent when Craig Counsell took the helm as manager, but she’s grown to like him.

Quinn enjoyed her baseball chats with Justina, but never imagined playing by her side until she mentioned being thrown off a little league team and the inevitable “wait, you play too?” exchange happened.

You wanna toss a ball after class? Justina asked her one fateful day. I don’t have a glove, Quinn answered. They were all in storage or packed away where she could never reach them, not long after Quincy’s passing. Gotcha covered. I brought one for you, Justina replied. So we throwing or what?

“Nah, where else can I hang with ladies as fine as this?” Justina was always inclusive, inspiring, iridescent.

If Justina ever had a bad day, Quinn didn’t know about it. Quinn did, however, know how quickly they both loved baseball and shared a commonality in that the sport they loved so much never seemed to love them back. When throwing the ball around after class wasn’t enough anymore, they were rejected from trying out for rec leagues, often told apologetically that they had no more open spots, met by the questioning glances of men who probably wore business suits in the daytime.

Then the Milwaukee Belles announced open tryouts, and nothing could have made Quinn happier when they both made the roster.

They also met a few other people who’d develop into the best friends and teammates she could ask for: Bridge, a young mom of three who was part Amazon part golden retriever; Valenzuela, a skittish, deceptively strong olive-skinned girl from Texas with a wicked left hand delivery; Robles, a fearless, rough round the edges pitcher drafted from the Mexican leagues who had experience pitching to men, and Muramoto, a deeply heralded Japanese baseball legend, who had an enthusiastic and ever growing fanbase at every game.

“What’s Mel up to today?” Justina asks. “She browsing the rumor mill?”

“Funny you should ask. She thinks this emergency meeting is news that we signed Hamasaki, who posted for draft last season but she didn’t like any of the offers she got. Must be nice being the top ranked female baseball player in the world.”

“Should be the top ranked baseball player in the world if we’re being honest,” CJ says. “I’d hold out for a nice contract, especially if it means I’d have to move outta Japan.”

Quinn remembers her hands shaking as she signed her contract with the team, and not seeing that much money before in her life. Not long ago she moved into a sunny converted-loft convo in Walker’s Point with her girlfriend, Melia, a lifelong baseball fan who especially loves Korean and Japanese ball.

Melia’s job is painting watercolor portraits of people’s pets, but the paintings she does at home for fun are always Quinn playing baseball. Melia once used Quinn’s roster photo as a reference and the portrait hangs awkwardly in their bathroom, right above the toilet. Quinn doesn’t have the heart to tell Melia that it really doesn’t belong there. It’s what she has to look forward to after every road trip.

The neighborhood is vibrant and welcoming and fun and all full of enough life to sustain a professional athlete and an artist, and on game days, Mel and Quinn wake up early, but stay in bed, giggling and staying warm on those early April mornings and sharing whatever is on each other’s mind, until Quinn really has to leave for the ballpark.

Before signing with the Belles, Quinn had never been to any of the cities the Women’s League is in, not counting Chicago, where her mom decided to settle off with a boyfriend she met off some dating site. They still see each other and get lunch here and then; Quinn leaves tickets for her at every visiting game in Chicago but never sees her mom in the stands.

Valenzuela, bless her heart, would always try to distract Quinn when she’d notice her looking at the seats. “You know I might need to throw at you with runners on if you’re covering, right?” She’d say in the dugout between innings, followed by a gentle hug.

Chicago might be her least favorite city to play in, but she still looks at the seats before every at-bat, to see if someone may be in them.

On days when Quinn is especially bad, she expects to see Quincy, yelling at her to pay attention to who’s on second.

But the seats are always empty.

She knows her father lives in Atlanta and she has branches upon branches of cousins sprouting all through the South but she’s never thought about reaching out. She knows she probably shouldn’t for a few reasons.

Quinn is the kind of shortstop that does not know what hesitation is. She goes for what she wants without thinking, almost reflexively. She sees line drives and her glove raises instinctually.

There is no time better than now, and this has always been her motto. It’s gotten her this far in life.

Her future is already written. There will be empty seats in visiting stadiums and blowout games and maybe a defensive error or two, but this is all part of the plan.

The plan is to be the greatest there ever was.

It’s the most she can give Quincy.

He is certainly worth it.

“So we going inside to meet, eat, or both?” It’s Valenzuela, late to the party as usual, wearing a slick black bomber jacket with a rose gold tiger embroidered on the chest.

The rest of the girls fall around her, and with the clouds and fog, they seem like a badass girl gang set on world domination, and once again, the Milwaukee Belles are together again.

#windup and the pitch #this story started as a half baked idea and it's fuckin nuts now #anyway if you actually read this i am very open to feedback!!#hope you liked meeting justina and quinn - they're great #let's go go milwaukee belles

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glenngaylord · 2 years

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Bases Instinct – Theatre Review: Take Me Out (Hayes Theater, New York) ★★★★1/2

As a little budding gay growing up in a small town, I surprised even myself by really being into baseball. I knew everything about the players and their stats. I collected the baseball cards and even rooted for the Pittsburgh Pirates despite being an Ohioan who should have supported the Cleveland Indians. Even as a child, I knew their name and mascot were offensive. I loved going to the games, finding the slow pace a great opportunity to socialize when we weren’t standing up as some legend hit a ball over the fence. Of course, as I got older and gayer, I lost interest, finding the sport too repetitive. Why watch the same thing over and over when I could see a new film or tv show or play? Yes, I became much more “artistic” with my only remaining connection to America’s favorite pastime being my singing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” in the spirit of Ethel Merman whenever anybody brought up the sport. Was there ever a need to come out after doing that?

All of this is to say that I attended the new revival of Richard Greenberg’s 2002 Tony Winning Best Play with some trepidation about the sports content but excitement regarding its gay themes and copious nudity. Yeah, I know, I’m predictable sometimes. Having never seen any previous incarnations, I came to the play fresh and expected a heavy-handed, issue driven show. Little did I know I’d end up in a puddle of tears, profoundly moved by this transformative experience.

Darren Lemming (Grey’s Anatomy’s Jesse Williams in his Broadway debut) plays for the fictitious Empires and is the kind of Derek Jeter-esque All Star who makes a fortune, oozes confidence and has captivated the world of baseball. His teammate and pal, Kippy Sunderstorm (Patrick J. Adams from Suits), acts as our narrator and recounts an inciting incident which led to a whole lot of messiness. Said incident, Lemming casually coming out at a press conference, creates a series of unexpected firestorms despite the fact that Lemming, who has turned everything into gold thus far, fears nothing. While some of his teammates voice their support, others hurl homophobic insults. The locker room and its showers in particular turn into a hotbed of toxic masculinity. Nothing Lemming seemingly cannot handle.

Trouble first comes in the form of Shane Mungett (Michael Oberholzter), a rube from the minor leagues brought in for his excellent pitching skills. At his own press conference, he spits out racist and homophobic insults, leading to an increasingly dangerous series of events. Chief participant in these occurrences is Lemming’s best pal and rival, Davey Battle (Brandon J. Dirden), a religious man who had encouraged Lemming to be his authentic self, not knowing it would lead to Lemming revealing he’s gay. Lemming also meets with his new Financial Manager, Mason Marzac (Jesse Tyler Ferguson of Modern Family), a gay man who tries to keep Lemming from retiring when the tension grows unbearable.

What Greenberg and director and Director Scott Ellis bring us may sound like the hot topic play I’d feared, but its execution far exceeded those expectations. With its breakneck pace, alternately hilarious and heartbreaking dialogue, imaginative staging, crisp, simple but beautifully effective Scenic Design by David Rockwell, and fantastic performances across the board, Take Me Out approaches masterpiece status. Although Julian Cihi’s (Only Murders In The Building) Takeshi Kawabata, a Japanese player, gets a wonderful monologue exposing his poetic mind, two Spanish speaking players, Rodriguez and Martinez (Eduardo Ramos and Hiram Delgado respectively) get strapped with the thankless task of insulting Lemming’s sexual orientation and nothing else. They don’t even get first names. Had they been given monologues along the likes of Kawabata’s, then all would have been forgiven. As it stands, it’s the one glaring error in a near perfect show.

Williams feels like a natural for the stage, nailing his role as a man who fearlessly presents himself to the world, yet unearths his vulnerability when he least expects it. This actor oozes magnetism, holding his own with Ferguson, who blew me away with his richly detailed, expertly timed, multi-layered portrayal of a man who doesn’t feel a part of the gay community yet surprises himself when he grows to love a sport he had previously not felt had any part in his gay experience. His baseball monologue turned me into a blubbering idiot while also making me want to get myself to Dodger stadium ASAP. It’s one of those perfect moments in a theater where you find yourself captivated by a performance and by what he expresses, recognizing a seismic shift in how one can see the world in a different light. It’s here where Greenberg turns what could have been a movie-of-the-week issue into true art.

Oberholtzer finds moments of grace in his seemingly irredeemable character and Dirden, an MVP from The Americans, traverses such a difficult role with such effortless nimbleness. You may not like the character, but you can’t help but love the actor. Same goes for Adams, who does a lot of the heavy lifting with such ease and clarity.

Rather than being that “gay baseball play”, Take Me Out transcends that reductive moniker and brings fresh meaning to the spirit of team work, to its original view of baseball being better than democracy, and to the possibility that this sport, which lost me so long ago, could capture my renewed interest. That salacious nudity turns out to be anything but, as it’s as important as anything else in forcing the audience to examine the ill effects of male social conditioning. Like its title, which has so many meanings, the play has joined the pantheon of productions which I can look at from so many different angles and find meaning in all of them.

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skishop · 2 years

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Combinaison de ski de qualité

J'ai jamais vraiment donné beaucoup de crap sur le 'comment' et 'pourquoi' de celui-ci, jusqu'à ce qu'il a été le cas, mais quand c'était, je savais qu'il avait d'être chic, de sorte que même après 30 ans, si j'étais à regarder les photos de mariage, je pourrais dire avec fierté. plutôt que de street style. Oh, oui, il est un gâteau. D'où mon idée pour ce poste et la façon cara delevingne disant le sien il m'a frappé. Un milliard de styles que je vous dis, avec des aspects essentiels comme blanc ou noir, ce qui constitue une grosse remontée. Il aime Matériel De Ski vraiment celui-ci, ajoutant que le haut de cette ski vêtement est un peu conservateur, mais le fond est différent et vraiment de fille.

Consultez notre choix pour ce week-end les mieux habillés et nous dont le regard que vous convoitez plus dire. Il est juste un Équipement Protection Corporelle Ski moment stupide. Saint Valentin est tout au sujet du flirt et de la chasse, il y a donc cette ski manteaux de frange qui est très, très couvert, mais il est toujours ski estive de l'idée que cette fille est cool et elle aime la frange et le cuir et il peut toujours venir très facilement, qui est le point de Saint Valentin. Comme un gamin, je vivais dans mon nike sur la tenue de la cour tous les jours. Elle est ma femme et je confiance à son avis, David a dit dans une récente interview. Il est amusant de mélanger et assortir rue avec des marques de luxe et de le jeter dans un peu de cru ainsi. Ainsi, au moins je vais être jubilant à moi-même tout en regardant le 'suit' dans ma penderie, lui tapotant l'épaule pour ma propre décision fantastique une fois, j'ai fait avec la permission de certains pays à faible estime de soi phase dans ma vie. Aussi s'amuser avec des bijoux, pile sur la couche de couleur et de tonnes de bagues, et donner au corps-look bijoux d'essayer. Hilary Duff avait un trilby plantés sur sa tête Vetement De Ski Pas Cher pour presque chaque scène et, même si elle n'est apparue dans la saison 5, je pense que Liz Hurley peut avoir des bodyconed serena. Jetez un oeil à certains de mes favoris si loin: peter som Lisa Perry ski Max Azria 10 Crosby Derek Lam veronica barbe chose que je ne savais pas ce qu'est une chose jusqu'à aujourd'hui et ne sera probablement jamais expérience de première main: l'accessoire de mode makech du dendroctone. Chaque année vient avec des robes tendances, et il me semble que si au cours des deux dernières années sont promises en donnant à la simplicité et classique des robes de styles, avec sirène compressions devant de la scène. Couche A recadrée un sur un ourlet manteau ski hiver plus : Voulez porter ce chandail recadrée au problème de bureau résolu.

www.skisoldes.com/

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bunarniwer · 3 years

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These are Design approximately Justin Bieber

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New Justin Bieber digital inkjet printing technologies using ultraviolet (UV) cured inks are getting used for customized wallpaper production. Very small runs may well be made, even a single wall. Justin Bieber Pictures or digital art are output onto clean wallpaper material. Traditional installations are corporate lobbies, restaurants, athletic facilities, and home interiors. This provides a dressmaker the power to offer a space the exact feel and look Justin Bieber desired.

Twice Sana FREE Pictures on GreePX

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Twice Sana FREE Pictures on GreePX New sorts of wallpaper lower than progress or getting into the market in the early twenty first century include Twice Sana FREE Pictures on GreePX wallpaper that blocks sure mobile phone and WiFi signals, within the interest of privacy. The wallpaper is lined with a silver ink which forms crystals that block outgoing signals

Rihanna Rocks Out in Bathing Suit and Space Boots - The Hollywood Gossip

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Rihanna Rocks Out in Bathing Suit and Space Boots - The Hollywood Gossip In 2012, scientists on the Institute of Sturdy Construction and Production Fabric Technologies at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology announced that they'd constructed a wallpaper which could assist maintain a masonry wall from failing in an earthquake. Rihanna Rocks Out in Bathing Suit and Space Boots - The Hollywood Gossip the wallpaper uses glass fibre reinforcement in various instructions and a special adhesive which varieties a powerful bond with the masonry when dry

Derek Jeter’s Upstate New York Castle For Sale - Today's Evil Beet Gossip – Today's Celebrity

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Derek Jeter’s Upstate New York Castle For Sale - Today's Evil Beet Gossip – Today's Celebrity best-known painters, creates large-scale wallpaper installations that evoke the floral designs of William Morris in a mode that has turn out to be called word-art installation.

#wallpaper

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johnrichetterealtor · 4 years

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Yankee legend Derek Jeter and his wife Hannah have listed their Tampa property for $29 million. Construction on the 1.25-acre walled compound was completed in 2012 and includes a dock with two boat lifts and 345 feet of open bay. At just under 22,000 square feet, the estate is the largest in South Tampa. Complete with a heated spa, an 80-foot saltwater lap pool and numerous outdoor covered porches and balconies, no expense was spared on construction of the seven-bedroom, eight full- and eight half-bath residence. Amenities around the estate are almost too numerous to list off. Some features include: a wine cellar, an in-home movie theater, a professional gym, an in-law suite, an au-pair wing complete with a living area and kitchen, an outdoor kitchen and grilling area, an air-conditioned six-car garage and a scullery, among many others. • • • #RealEstate #RealEstateAgent #RealEstateBroker #RealEstateInvestor #RealEstateInvesting #RealEstateLife #RealEstateForSale #RealEstateExpert #Realtor #Broker #Realty #HomeForSale #HouseForSale #PropertyForSale #JustListed #HouseHunting #HouseHunt #NewListing #MillionDollarHome #RealEstateLosAngeles #RealEstateCalifornia #BeverlyHillsRealEstate #CaliforniaRealEstate #HomeForSaleLosAngeles #HomeForSaleCalifornia #LuxuryRealEstate #LuxuryHomes #LuxuryProperties #Luxury (at Beverly Hills, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGDADBvj0hx/?igshid=keumqhxvu16o

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tabloidtoc · 4 years

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Globe, September 21

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: America’s new civil war caused by Trump

Page 2: Up Front & Personal -- Antonio Banderas zips around his native Spain after recovering from coronavirus, Neil Sedaka, Brooke Shields on the phone in the Hamptons

Page 3: Demi Lovato in a mask using her phone, Sofia Richie makes a splash at the beach, Arnold Schwarzenegger blows his nose while biking in Santa Monica

Page 4: Goodfellas toughie Ray Liotta has been forced into wearing a hearing aid at the age of 65 -- a lifetime of firing weapons in screen roles and playing loudmouthed gangsters who scream and get screamed at has slowly eroded his hearing but his love life is sizzling with brunette stunner Jacy Nittolo 20 years his junior

Page 5: Brave Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman took shocking secrets to his grave and left behind a legacy of generosity when he died from colon cancer last month -- in addition to hiding his killer disease he also wed his longtime girlfriend Taylor Simone Ledward on the sly and he was also tight-lipped about his other relationships keeping his close friendships with Denzel Washington and Phylicia Rashad under wraps -- Chadwick fought Marvel before shooting Black Panther to make sure his character T’Challa was played with an African accent to reflect his heritage and culture when the big shots wanted an English or American accent, Amber Heard is at her wit’s end after learning Johnny Depp is ready to embroil her in yet another explosive legal case -- after giving lengthy testimony this summer in a London courtroom where Johnny was suing a British newspaper for labeling him a wife beater rattled Amber has been warned by her legal team that Johnny is coming after her in the U.S. whether or not he wins his London case -- Johnny has made a move to sue Amber for defamation in Virginia for writing a column about sexual violence against women and implying she was battered without mentioning his name -- Amber has been a mess and she believes Johnny’s doing this to grind her into the dirt

Page 6: Angelina Jolie is seething over Brad Pitt’s romance with young German model Nicole Poturalski and she’s dead set on keeping their kids away from his latest squeeze and she feels her ex is flaunting his fling with the 27-year-old to deliberately aggravate her and she’s steamed about him bringing his married galpal to Chateau Miraval which is the former couple’s estate in France

Page 7: Matthew Perry is tormented after being snubbed for the special reunion episode for The West Wing where his guest acting earned him two Emmy nominations and he’s hurt because West Wing really has a special place in his heart, Mariah Carey reveals she penned two songs about her former baseball player beau Derek Jeter -- her song The Roof was about her first smooch with the now-retired New York Yankee and her song My All was about jetting off to spend time with Derek who she credits with helping her get past her doomed marriage to music mogul Tommy Mottola

Page 8: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are bickering because he’s being forced to miss his family’s traditional Balmoral Castle holiday -- while Harry is upset he won’t be spending time with his 94-year-old granny Queen Elizabeth his wife Meghan doesn’t feel like she’s missing out and she’s too busy decorating their new Montecito mansion and never wants to return to Britain

Page 9: Desperately hoping his son Prince Harry will come to his senses and return to the fold Prince Charles is still paying Harry and his wife Meghan Markle a $30,000 monthly allowance -- Charles and Harry have a very strong and close father-and-son relationship despite disagreeing over Harry’s move to the United States and Charles has made it clear that the door is always open

Page 11: Tom Cruise plunked down a whopping $675,000 to hire a cruise ship to house the cast and crew shooting his Mission: Impossible 7 in a bid to beat costly delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic

Page 12: Celebrity Buzz -- Peter Weller in L.A. (picture), This Is Us heartthrob Justin Hartley’s love life is like a soap opera story line involving a trio of daytime divas -- Justin’s first wife Lindsay Korman and mom to his teenage daughter is duking it out with wife No. 2 Chrishell Stause who trashed him on her reality show Selling Sunset after he texted her a divorce demand while meanwhile Justin is distracting himself with yet another soap star Sofia Pernas, it was a real-life high school horror story for Amelia Gray Hamlin daughter of RHOBH star Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin who had her mom trashed by two teachers resulting in her anorexia, Sherri Shepherd’s career went from getting a standing ovation after a guest spot on Friends to answering phones as a legal secretary for David Schwimmer’s dad, Sex and the City creator Candace Bushnell had a romantic dinner with John Corbett while he was dating Bo Derek

Page 13: Tiffani Thiessen goes grocery shopping (picture), Placido Domingo performs in Italy at his first concert since contacting coronavirus (picture), Kevin Hart relaxes behind the wheel while pregnant wife Eniko pumps gas (picture), Macaulay Culkin is reminding everyone that age matters when he tweeted that he’s turning 40

Page 14: Before he hit the jackpot with the British version of The Office Ricky Gervais and his longtime girlfriend lived above a brothel because they has absolutely no money, David Arquette is going to great lengths to revive his wrestling career for a new documentary called You Cannot Kill Me where he undergoes an excruciatingly painful wax job on particularly sensitive body part including his buttocks and in the film he strips stark naked for a spray tan and flashes viewers full-length shots of all his assets as he gets freshly orange-tinted skin blow-dried, Fashion Verdict -- Monica Bellucci 2/10, Kate Bosworth 7/10, Kristen Bell 8/10, Julianne Hough 9/10

Page 16: Kate Winslet says she and co-star Saoirse Ronan decided to self-choreograph their racy lesbian sex scene in the film Ammonite, R. Kelly got a brutal beatdown from a fellow inmate in a Chicago lockup while he was asleep in his cell and a thug with F**k the Feds inked on his face stomped on Kelly’s head and tried to stab him with a pen because the attacker blamed the appearance of Kelly’s supporters outside the jail for triggering recent prison lockdowns

Page 17: Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are on the road to Splitsville as they tussle over where to live their lives as empty nesters -- Faith wants to permanently relocate to California while Tim refuses to budge from Nashville -- their daughter Gracie is living in L.A. pursuing an acting career and Faith wants to follow suit even though she was panned for her work in the flop The Stepford Wives in 2004, Susan Schneider Williams the heartsick widow of tragic funnyman Robin Williams says she and her husband were told to sleep in separate beds as the ailing star struggled with insomnia in the years before his 2014 suicide

Page 19: 10 Things You Don’t Know About Padma Lakshmi, Steve Carell ditched cult hit The Office after seven seasons in 2011 but he recently revealed shooting his farewell episode was emotional torture, Laurence Fishburne is out of The Matrix revealing he has not been invited to appear in the fourth installment of the blockbuster film series and although he won’t be rejoining stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss he admits sci-fi sage Morpheus is probably the role he’ll be best remembered for

Page 21: True Crime

Page 24: Cover Story -- Blood in the Streets

Page 26: Health Report

Page 36: The simmering feud between Madonna and Elton John has erupted into an all-out war with the vengeful Madonna gloating as tormented Elton wages a heart-rending legal battle with his ex-wife -- Madonna is thrilled over Elton’s agonizing court battle because she’s hated him since 2012 when he slammed her as a fairground stripper and called her tour a disaster -- Elton is in a painful brawl in a London court with his former spouse Renate Blauel who accused Elton of shaming her by forcing her into the limelight with his blabbing about their doomed romance in his recent memoir and bio-flick, Mel C claims she and her Spice Girls bandmates were never harassed by men in the music industry because dudes were petrified of the all-female pop group known for their Girl Power slogan

Page 38: Real Life

Page 44: Straight Talk -- screwball actor Jim Belushi has a really nutty solution to America’s homeless problems: he wants to stone them but not with rocks with pot

Page 45: This Is Us star Chrissy Metz has finally gotten over her heartbreaking split from boyfriend Hal Rosenfeld two years ago and now is asking co-star Mandy Moore to help find her a new love, Toni Braxton has one big regret which is she wishes she’d partied hardier and had more sex during her younger years but she insists it’s not too late to add more notches to her belt

Page 47: Hollywood Flashback -- Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in 1987′s Dirty Dancing, Bizarre But True

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