Tag: reaction

What is the ‘something BIG’ The Rock is teasing for Feb. 19?

Maybe it’s WWE related, maybe it isn’t, but The Rock has our attention.

Next Monday is going to be a big day, according to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. We just don’t know why yet.

Knowing it would get people talking, The Rock took to social media today with a 15-second video full of teases for … something. As you can see below, it looks like it’s Johnson in several different roles/outfits — including the famous black turtleneck and fanny pack from the ’90s that he also busted out during the holidays.

The post also has the hashtags #FEBRUARY19, which is pretty self-explanatory, and #BDE, which we’re going to advise you to look up if you don’t understand.

Johnson can be seen sipping on a can of ZOA Energy, with the drink’s logo briefly in the background, so it could just be something about the beverage brand he co-founded. It’s also possible it has something to do with his role as Maui in “Moana,” which has both an animated sequel coming soon and a live-action adaptation in the pipeline.

And since it’s a tease for a Monday, perhaps it has something to do with next week’s WWE Raw. Cody Rhodes is on that show after all, and in case you haven’t heard, The Rock has been pretty hands on with the American Nightmare recently. Dare we hope for some kind of music video dedicated to the “Cody Crybabies?”

We’ll be watching to see if it’s wrestling-related, and even if it isn’t, color us intrigued.

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Cowboys hiring longtime DE Greg Ellis to defensive coaching staff

From @ToddBrock24f7: Ellis was a Dallas fixture for 11 seasons and played under Mike Zimmer for nine. After 2 short college stints, he’ll get his first NFL job.

A former first-round draft pick is coming back to the Cowboys after a long time away.

Greg Ellis, a fixture at defensive end in Dallas for 11 seasons though 2008, has been hired as the team’s next assistant defensive line coach, it was revealed on Friday. He’ll work under Jeff Zgonina, the D-line coach whose addition was announced the same day.

Ellis was the eighth overall pick in 1998, the North Carolina player infamously chosen by Dallas over wide receiver Randy Moss that year. Mike Zimmer was his defensive coordinator for Ellis’s last nine years as a Cowboy, including his 2007 Pro Bowl season, for which he was also named NFL Comeback Player of the Year following a 2006 Achilles tear.

He compiled 77 sacks as a Cowboy and added 502 tackles, 75 tackles for loss, 34 QB hits, 41 passes defended, 20 forced fumbles, four interceptions, and two touchdowns- one by fumble return and one pick-six.

After his 2009 release by the Cowboys, Ellis played one season with the Raiders.

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Ellis returned to football in 2020 when he was named head coach at the NAIA’s Texas College, an HBCU located in Tyler. That season’s schedule was canceled due to COVID-19; Ellis led the Steers to an 0-11 record in 2021. The next year saw him move to Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, where he took the Lions to a 7-3 mark in 2022 and a 4-6 record last season.

His new role with the Cowboys will mark his first foray into coaching at the NFL level.

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No. 12 Duke kicks off 2024 campaign with 6-3 win over Indiana behind Santucci, transfer Logan Bravo

No.12 Duke baseball kicked off 2024 campaign with a 6-3 win over Indiana.

Friday started what head baseball coach Chris Pollard hopes to be a historic season for the Duke Blue Devils baseball team.

No. 12 Duke got their 2024 campaign started as they hope that this year is the year they break down the door and punch their ticket to Omaha, Nebraska, and the College World Series.

Duke started its campaign with a win over the Indiana Hoosiers of the Big 10. Preseason second-team All-American Jonathan Santucci has been tabbed as the ace of Duke’s staff, so it was only fitting the junior was given the ball in the season’s first game. His first inning was rocky as he allowed a walk and a hit but fought back to strike out three Hoosiers to get out of the gym.

Braden Risedorph started for Indiana and held the Blue Devils in check for four innings before the top of the fifth rolled around, and the Blue Devils scratched across their first run of the season. True freshman Kyle Johnson doubled with two outs and was knocked in on an RBI double from Oklahoma transfer Wallace Clark. Indiana would bring in Ryan Kraft, and he’d close the door on the Blue Devils in the fifth.

Santucci would give Duke one more scoreless inning before his day was over. He threw 86 pitches in his 2024 debut and struck out seven batters while walking two and allowing zero runs on four singles.

Back-to-back home runs by catcher and captain Alex Stone and Harvard transfer Logan Bravo stretched Duke’s lead to 3-0 in the top half of the sixth before Indiana answered with two runs courtesy of shortstop Tyler Cerny, who took Duke reliever Owen Proksch deep.

Duke responded with two more runs at the top of the seventh, thanks again to the combination of Stone and Bravo. Stone hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Wallace Clark. Bravo would come behind him and rip a single down the left-field line to score Zac Morris and make it 5-2 Duke.

Indiana pushed back on Duke again with a home run by center fielder Carter Mathison in the bottom of the seventh against Proksch before Pollard went to his bullpen to call on 2024 stopper-of-the-year nominee Charlie Beilinson to get Duke out of a two-on-and-one-out jam with the game at 5-3. Beilinson would do just that: strike out the two batters to end the Hoosiers’ threat and send the game to the 8th inning.

North Carolina native and sophomore outfielder Tyler Albright hit a hanging breaking ball deep to left field to give Duke a 6-3 lead in the top half of the eighth, and Beilinson would shut the door in the eight and ninth to end his day and secure the win for the Blue Devils.

Logan Bravo led the way with a 3/5 one-home run and two RBIs. Alex Stone had two RBIs as well. In total, Duke amassed ten hits and had zero errors defensively.

The Blue Devils will rest up and prepare for a Saturday matinee affair with the George Mason Patriots tomorrow with lefty Andrew Healy on the bump.

College football players with the best 2024 Heisman odds

An updated way-too-early look at the 2024 Heisman race including UGA football quarterback Carson Beck rank

Georgia Bulldogs starting quarterback Carson Beck is projected to be a Heisman contender in 2024. LSU Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Heisman last season after an incredible year. Who will win the prestigious award in 2024?

The 2024 Heisman race will primarily feature quarterbacks. Twelve of the last 14 Heisman winners have played quarterback and almost all of the top preseason Heisman contenders play quarterback.

There will be a few more transfers following the spring, but most of the country’s top rosters are fairly set. Four of the top Heisman contenders transferred to new schools this offseason. Transfers have won four of the last seven Heisman trophies.

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What college football players have the best odds to win the 2024 Heisman? All betting odds are per FanDuel.

Series Preview: Florida baseball kicks off 2024 season against St. John’s

It’s time for Florida baseball once again, and the Gators are set to kick off the season off with a three-game series against St. John’s.

Baseball is finally back in Gainesville.

It’s been eight months since Florida fell to LSU in the final game of the season, finishing the 2023 campaign as College World Series runner-ups, but now the grass is cut, the field has been drug and Kevin O’Sullivan is ready to bring a second championship back to Hogtown.

Of course, a new year means new faces, and plenty of Florida’s stars from 2023 are no longer with the team. Familiar names such as Wyatt Langford, Josh Rivera and Brandon Sproat are now in the pros, and Florida needs to find appropriate replacements for them.

After fall and spring practices, the team looks ready to make another run. One freshman said, “We’re going to be better than most people think,” and that this is a consensus top-five team in the country.

Up first, the St. John’s Red Storm in a three-game series.

Paul Guenther joining Cowboys defensive staff as run game coordinator, reuniting with Mike Zimmer

From @ToddBrock24f7: Guenther has been an NFL coach for 19 years; seven of them have been spent under Mike Zimmer. He’ll look to fix the Cowboys’ run defense.

Mike Zimmer is bringing a familiar face to his new defensive coaching staff in Dallas.

The Cowboys are hiring Paul Guenther as their next run game coordinator, according to multiple outlets. The 52-year-old first worked with Zimmer in Cincinnati, already on staff when Zimmer took over as defensive coordinator in 2008. Guenther worked as a special teams assistant, assistant linebackers coach, assistant defensive backs coach, and linebackers coach for the Bengals during Zimmer’s time there. He was promoted to defensive coordinator after Zimmer left for Minnesota in 2014. After four seasons as DC in Cincinnati,  he then served in the same role for the Raiders for another three years.

The Pennsylvania native was later reunited with Zimmer in Minnesota for the 2021 season, working for the Vikings as a senior defensive assistant.

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In all, Guenther has spent 19 years in various NFL coaching positions; he worked under Zimmer for seven of them.

With the Cowboys, Guenther will be charged with shoring up the defense’s Achilles heel. Dallas gave up over 112 rushing yards per game last season.

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Report: Cowboys to hire Jeff Zgonina as new defensive line coach

From @ToddBrock24f7: The 17-year defensive tackle has also been on staff with four different clubs since 2013, spending the last 4 seasons in Washington.

The Cowboys have a new defensive line coach for coordinator Mike Zimmer.

According to a report first made by Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post, the Cowboys are hiring Jeff Zgonina to fill the role recently vacated by Aden Durde.

The 53-year-old Zgonina was a defensive tackle in the league for 17 seasons, playing with seven teams from 1993 to 2009. He’s been on staff with four different clubs since then, most recently the Washington Commanders, where he’d been since 2020.

A seventh-round draft pick out of Purdue in 1993, Zgonina (pronounced ska-NEE-na) started his pro career with Pittsburgh. He spent time in Carolina, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Miami, and Houston, but is probably best remembered for his two stints with the St. Louis Rams that totaled five seasons and a championship in Super Bowl XXXIV.

After three years away from the game, Zgonina was hired by his last team, the Texans, to serve as their assistant defensive line coach. In 2016, he took on the same role for the New York Giants. The 49ers called him to be their defensive line coach in 2017 and 2018. He joined Washington in 2020 as assistant D-line coach, then was promoted to helm the D-line in 2022.

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Zgonina has worked under some solid defensive minds, including Wade Phillips, Jack Del Rio, Robert Saleh, Steve Spagnuolo, and most recently, Ron Rivera.

The Commanders did not retain Zgonina for Dan Quinn’s staff in 2024.

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Darius Muasau catches attention after East-West Shrine Bowl

Darius Muasau listed as one of the most intriguing prospects from the Shrine Bowl.

The Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Bowl came and went and were overshadowed by some more coaching changes across college football.

As college players did their best to stand out in front of NFL scouts and talent evaluators, a number of UCLA players boosted their resumes.

Laiatu Latu is the obvious one and looks like an easy choice to go in the first round. However, Darius Muasau drew some praise from Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic in his piece listing the most intriguing prospects at the Shrine Bowl (subscription required):

The best linebacker at the Shrine Bowl, Muasau (more than 50 combined starts between UCLA and Hawaii) led a stingy Bruins defense with 38 run stops last season. He showed great burst and fluidity in coverage this week and was the most physical in the group via run fits. He ran alongside Penn State linebacker Curtis Jacobs — a very fast defender — in most individual drills.

Muasau also was the loudest linebacker on the field and seemed to be the most in control setting defenses during team periods. He could be bigger, but he’s a quality high-floor linebacker prospect.

Muasau clearly made an impression at the Shrine Bowl as four total players from UCLA made the trip. The Murphy twins also stood out, but it was Muasau who might have benefitted the most from it.

It will be interesting to see how Muasau does over the next few weeks as he tries to impress NFL scouts.

6 toughest decisions for Ravens GM Eric DeCosta this offseason

We’re looking at the six toughest offseason decisions for Baltimore Ravens GM Eric DeCosta ahead of the 2024 NFL free agency period

The Ravens have concluded their 2023 season, and the focus now shifts to what’s shaping up to be a franchise-altering offseason for general manager Eric DeCosta.

Where things currently stand, the Ravens are expected to have roughly $7,328,828 in cap space via OverTheCap, the 20th most in the NFL.

That number could grow if the team opts to part ways with some expensive contracts (perhaps Ronnie Stanley and Marlon Humphrey.

The Ravens have 48 players currently under contract for the 2024 season; we’re looking at the six most challenging decisions facing GM Eric DeCosta.

Robert Horry’s son commits to UCLA basketball

UCLA basketball landed a commitment from Robert Horry’s son on Thursday night.

The UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team won its sixth straight game on Thursday night. The Bruins defeated Colorado at home and won their eighth game in the last nine to surge to the top of the Pac-12 Conference and even garner some bubble talks.

On the same night, the Bruins got a huge commitment from Christian Horry, the son of former Los Angeles Lakers star Robert Horry, per Christian’s X account.

Horry is a small forward from Harvard-Westlake and is in the Class of 2024, so this could be a massive commitment for Mick Cronin’s team going forward.

Horry made sure to mention associate head coach Darren Savino in his post and is looking forward to his future with the UCLA program.

Horry was also recently named a California McDonald’s All-American Game 2024 nominee along with two other Harvard-Westlake teammates: Robert Hinton and Trent Perry.

So, UCLA wins its sixth in a row and lands Christian Horry on the same night.