The Grizzlies are looking good heading into the second half of the NBA season, while the Magic are desperate for a win to get back into the postseason conversation. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series with a Grizzlies-Magic prediction and pick. The Grizzlies are 36-18 and have been red-hot this year. They should […]
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The Pistons are playing great basketball right now, compared to the Spurs, who sometimes struggle. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series with a Pistons-Spurs prediction and pick. The Pistons look like a completely different team this season. They won four straight to get a 29-26 record before the All-Star break. Cade Cunningham has […]
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The Dallas Cowboys were one of the more disappointing teams in the NFL during the 2024 season. Dallas only managed to win seven games during the regular season and missed the playoffs. Cowboys QB Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending injury, but the team was already in a deep hole by the time he left the […]
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Team Canada beat Team USA 3-2 in overtime to win the 4 Nations Face-Off championship. After two weeks of political discourse around the tournament, Canadians were clowning Americans on social media. Included in that is Paul Bissonnette, the former NHL enforcer turned TNT and Barstool Sports personality, who took to X, formerly Twitter, while gloating […]
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The New York Yankees have changed their longstanding facial hair policy, allowing well-groomed beards. Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner announced the change on Friday morning, launching the baseball world into mania. Yankees fans, MLB fans, insiders, and analysts all reacted to the stunning beard rule change. Statement from Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner on […]
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DAN SHEEHAN has revealed he has lost his Jonah Lomu photograph – as he aims to make new memories against Wales tomorrow.
Leinster hooker Sheehan will captain Ireland for the first time as they aim to secure a Triple Crown and stay on course for a third Championship, and second Grand Slam in three years.
But his elevation to captain in place of the injured Caelan Doris meant an old photograph of Sheehan as a four-year resurfaced – of the time he met All Blacks legend Lomu.
But the 26-year-old admitted he does not know when the originals are now.
He said: “There was a photo but I can’t remember where it is anymore. We moved house a few times so it’s probably been lost.
“I think my auntie was in a marketing agency at the time (for a Ballygowan ad with Lomu). They needed a kid willing to shave his head and my parents willingly put me forward!
“I have a vague memory of it. I was very young but I remember it being pretty cool. I remember rocking back into school the next day with the hair cut and getting a good giggle out of the lads.”
But Sheehan admitted that playing for Ireland, let alone captaining the team, were the furthest thing from his mind until more recently.
He added: “We were just a big rugby fan family. Dad would have got us in at a very young age, down in Bective.
“As the years went on I got a bit more serious but it wasn’t until I left school that I really took it seriously and saw that I might have a shot at going in pro.
“We were always a massive rugby family, it’s all we talked about and we’d be excited going to these games and watching these games on Saturdays, especially Six Nations.
“It’s kind of weird to look back through eyes of a child and it’s nice to be here now and I’m absolutely loving everything that has to go with the team.”
A CAR dealership much loved in its town is set to soon be shut for good and demolished as part of plans to build four huge new homes.
Hadleigh Garage in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, is at risk of closure after architects submitted plans for a number of three-storey terraced homes in place of the building and its forecourt.
Plans which have been recommended for approval would see the three-bedroom homes built with two-storey front bays, small gardens, and a parking area to the side and rear for four cars.
Southend-on-Sea City Council has received two representations following public notices for the site, located at the junction of Leigh Road and Beach Avenue, Essex Live reported.
Some of the objections have concerned a loss of privacy from overlooking, inadequate parking provision, and the scale of the homes as well as their design.
The redevelopment of the site as houses rather than flats has been welcomed by Chalkwell Ward Residents Association, although it said the number of homes represented a state of “over-development”.
A spokesman for the association slammed the plans as “inadequate” for providing just four car parking spaces and for two of the houses having “virtually no garden or amenity space”.
They said it was concerned that each home, which would be three-stories tall and have three bedrooms, would lack appropriate facilities.
Despite this, planning officers, who also had to weigh up the loss of a commercial space with the need for new homes, have recommended the plans for approval.
Ahead of the meeting, a report by council officers highlighted the decline of the physical car sales industry and claimed that the need for car showrooms and car lots was “decreasing year by year”.
The report further explained that the location would be unviable and that the tenant was looking to move their business to an out of town site.
It added: “Due to the site’s small size, lack of on-site parking and difficult access, the site is not attractive to the commercial market.
“The development would provide four new family-sized dwellings on previously developed land in a sustainable location in the city for which there is a clear and significant identified need.
“The housing proposed in this location will give greater potential benefits to the community and environment than the existing employment use of the site given its small scale nature.”
The dealership is rated five stars on Google Maps, with buyers having praised its owner.
One reviewer said: “Steve is a great guy and very honest, his knowledge of cars is second to none.
After buying my wife’s car from him I couldn’t be more happy to recommend anyone to pop down and take a look at his cars for sale.
“Top man and thanks for making my wife happy with her new car – thanks again Steve.”
Another said: “I just bought a car from Steve.
“He came recommended by a friend and had just the car I was looking for.
“Honest, good value for money and a three month warranty too. Highly recommended.”
Councillors will meet next Wednesday to vote on the plans and decide the fate of the much-loved dealership.
A LOVE Island beauty looks totally different after transforming her hair.
The bombshell, who took part in the show last summer, revealed her new style at the Oh Polly London Fashion Week show last night.
She wrote on Instagram: “Came out of hibernation for @ohpolly LFW ps first and last time you’ll see me brunette.”
The dramatic new look was a hit with followers, with one writing: “Omg just beautiful.”
Another said: “A brunette BOMB.”
Third wrote: “Love the darker hair.”
It is none other than 26-year-old Tiffany Leighton.
The for HR co-ordinator slammed the ITV show after her exit, claiming she was made to look “ditzy and vacant”.
The beauty didn’t think that her personality got to shine through properly and that she came across as a bit of a “weirdo”.
Speaking about her time in the villa, Tiffany exclusively told The Sun: “They did portray me to be like a bit like a weirdo that made dolphin noises and stuff.
“So I thought that the public kind of gave me a bit of abuse for that I mean, like I came across a bit ditzy, which I am a bit ditzy.”
To make matters worse it resulted in cruel online taunts and comments about her looks.
“I got quite a lot of trolling like ‘lights on no one’s home’, and I got a lot of abuse like about like my teeth and things,” she said.
“I think I was self-conscious before I got Invisalign and composite bonding.
“Everyone was giving me hate for my teeth, calling me ‘Teethany’. It wasn’t nice.”
She added: “Everyone was like this girl all she does is just smile and open her mouth.
“I think it is obviously a very surreal thing in there.
“But yeah, the way they portrayed me is like I literally like have no personality, and that I don’t know how to have a conversation, and all I speak about is like raspberries.
“But I actually do like have a bit about me. I’m actually a normal person… I do have a personality.”
CHINA has launched shock war drills near Australia and New Zealand forcing flights to divert dramatically.
The unusual appearance of Chinese naval ships in the Tasman Sea sparked fears that live-fire exercises were launched, putting the area on high alert.
Airlines flying over the sea were warned by the Chinese military to change their flight path over an allegedly secret exercise.
China’s potential live-fire drills were a shock to Australian authorities who reportedly only learned about these exercises from surprised commercial pilots, Defense Minister Richard Marles revealed on Friday.
Marles said: “To be clear, we weren’t notified by China.
“What China did was put out a notification that it was intending to engage in live firing.
“By that, I mean a broadcast that was picked up by airlines or literally … commercial planes that were flying across the Tasman.”
The minister explained this was unprecedented because authorities typically give a 12 to 24-hour notice of live-fire drills.
Three Chinese warships were reportedly running these exercises just 150 nautical miles east of Sydney.
The vessels were supposedly seen changing formation, deploying a floating target, and resetting formations, which resembled a live-fire drill, according to ABC News.
Airline pilots were reportedly claiming they were being “harassed” by the Chinese military, per the MailOnline.
Three flights, from Sydney to Christchurch, were affected by this surprise display of force from China.
Airlines like Emirates, Qantas, and Air New Zealand flights reported changing their flight paths over the Tasman Sea.
Earlier this week, New Zealand’s Defence Minister revealed the Chinese government and embassy had not given any notice that it would send warships to the region.
Minister Judith Collins said: “They have not deigned to advise us on what they are doing in the middle of the Tasman Sea.”
China’s foreign ministry confirmed they were doing naval training and exercises in “distant waters”, on Friday.
Despite New Zealand’s comments, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Chinese fleet had sent an alert saying they could run live-fire exercises in the area.
He said: “This is activity that has occurred in waters consistent with international law… there has been no imminent risk of danger to any Australian assets or New Zealand assets.”
The Prime Minister did not confirm whether live firing had taken place.
Despite this, Marles insisted China had not directly notified authorities.
This has not been China’s first shock military exercise on the waters.
Xi Jinping’s military has increased its naval presence around its neighbours too.
China’s President issued a brutal New Year warning to Taiwan as the nation continues its war games against the self-ruled province.
Bringing the self-governed province back in line with mainland China has been a goal of Xi’s for a long time and recent military activity has shown that China is ready to take it back by force.
A swarm of fighter jets and warships were launched to circle and intimidate the island in October 2024.
A damaged deep-sea cable, off the coast of Taiwan in January, launched fears of potential Chinese sabotage.
A telecommunications cable was reportedly damaged near Yehliu, New Taipei City.
Officials believed the cable was cut near the busy port of Keelung on Taiwan’s north coast.
TAIWAN insists it is an independent nation after splitting from mainland China amid civil war in 1949.
But China claims Taiwan remains a part of its territory with which it must eventually be reunified – and has not ruled out the use of force to take the island and place it under Beijing’s control.
The island, which is roughly 100 miles from the coast of south-east China, sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders.
Taiwan sits in the so-called “first island chain”, which includes a list of US-friendly territories that are crucial to Washington’s foreign policy in the region.
This also puts it in an ideal situation to slow a Chinese attack on the West.
And with tensions between the two nations high, Taiwan is likely to aid China’s enemy if it means keeping its independence.
Taiwan’s economy is another factor in China’s desperation to reclaim the land.
If China takes the island, it could be freer to project power in the western Pacific and rival the US, thanks to much of the world’s electronics being made in Taiwan.
This would allow Beijing to have control over an industry that drives the global economy.
China insists that its intentions are peaceful, but President Xi Jinping has also used threats towards the small island nation.
GRASSROOTS football in England is set for a major revamp after the FA announced its plan to implement sizeable changes from 2026.
The new format promises to revolutionise the way football is taught to youngsters, with the FA taking inspiration from the European youth set up.
The first major change is the introduction of a new 3v3 entry format for the youngest players in the pathway at U7s level.
Six to seven year old’s go straight into 5v5 at the moment, but will shift to fielding three players on each side from the 2026-2027 season.
The smaller set up aims to maximise engagement and provide the best introduction to football that will allow kids more touches on the ball.
This means that every increase in playing sides will be pushed back by a year.
For example, U11s will go from playing 9-a-side matches currently, to 7-a-side matches from 2026-2017.
England Football explained: “Each format will be played one year later as players transition through the pathway.”
The next biggest change means that 11v11 which will move from U13s to U14s level.
The FA will also evolve the Laws of the Game that are age-appropriate and best support the overall development of youth players.
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For example, amendments have already been made to game restarts for U7s-U9s to increase ball in play time.
The decision was informed by a two-year study of over 400 grassroots games (U6-U14) and insights from stakeholders.
The FA said: “We aim to further improve the experience for young players across the country – giving them more time on the ball, more time on the pitch and increasing their physical activity levels.”
A series of workshops and tools will be provided to support all coaches, clubs and leagues across the country to further understand the changes that will be implemented.
The Director of Football Development, James Kendall, said: “We’re excited about these new changes which follow a two-year period of consultation with the grassroots game.
“Our approach is about evolution, not revolution, helping to increase the levels of engagement, physical activity, skill development and the volume of technical actions for every player.”
The announcement has received a mixed response online.
One footie fan wrote: “Ive seen 3v3 in Europe. You’re all fretting about nothing. Works great and the kids love it.
“Coaches just supervise. No more yelling generic instructions required.”
A second added: “I think it’s great, the kids will get more playing time and more time on the ball to work on their own ability.”
But another social media user questioned: “But won’t this reduced squad sizes?”