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49ers February 1, 2020
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Throwing down for Super Bowl LIV weekend? Here’s to doing it right

We are finally here: Super Bowl LIV weekend.

For the time being, gone are the polarizing and constantly-entrenched-in-scandal New England Patriots. No more are the defensive-minded Denver Broncos led by 60-year-old Peyton Manning who couldn’t throw the ball past 10 feet.

No longer do we have to watch Bill Belichick’s stoic face on the sideline and suffer through a scoreline that looks more like it should be for a hockey game than a football one.

The point is, for now, we have two franchises in the Super Bowl that have not been regulars here; both teams are new, young, and exciting.

The Chiefs are led by QB Patrick Mahomes, the most electric player in the NFL with the most explosive offense at his disposal. Then there are the 49ers. A team led by a defense that has stifled opponents at every turn.

These two heavyweights are matching up in a game that is set to be thrilling and has tons on the line for both teams. Even if neither of these teams are your favorite, if you’re a fan of football, you’re going to put this game on and want to keep it on for its entirety.

With so much on the line, with the unrivaled anticipation for this game, we wanted to take a look at an aspect of the game outside of the stadium and TV screen: how to best spend your Super Bowl Sunday.

Get your work done first, fam

We all want to get a little saucy on a Sunday night, and the Super Bowl gives the perfect excuse. But there are more important things to finish first, fam.

That drink tastes better when your work is done. That spliff hits different when that email is sent. That rendezvous is elevated when you get your sh*t done beforehand.

So, get it done during the day because kickoff isn’t until 6:30 pm EST fam. Treat yourself, but not until after you unburden yourself.

Spend it with people you truly appreciate

We all have those weddings we need to attend where we couldn’t care much for 80 percent of the people there.

Some of us have family gatherings where the majority of people stress us out. And some of us have friends that just annoy the waking f*** out of us with every new insensitive comment.

But Super Bowl Sunday is not a time to put yourself in an undesired position. For f***s sake, we don’t even have the next day off, just more work to get to. So give yourself the night off from the stress of unwanted visitors.

Say no to your uncle’s party. Say no to your friend asking if their childish friend can pull up too. Spend the night the way you want to spend it; you owe yourself that much.

Take it easy on the drinks

I know I previously said to treat yourself, and that definitely includes self-indulging with drinks. But I also said the majority of us have school or work the next day, so don’t dig yourself too deep a hole, family!

We’ve all been the unmerciful victims of a nasty, nasty hangover. Like Ramsay Bolton nasty. Wake up feeling like you got hit with a Conor McGregor side-kick or catapulted onto a rocky shore by a truck driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

So put down that last glass; save it for a rainy day. You’ll wake up glad that you did.

Enjoy the game and put your troubles aside

Sports are about detaching from our issues and reveling in the joy of a beautiful game.

The passion felt for the NFL is unlike any other sport in America. This means you must give yourself the night off from your worries, preferably because you helped to solve them during the day.

You deserve a night of food, funny commercials, beautiful football, and good friends. The combination of all of my directions is to enjoy yourself this night with solid preparation and love and appreciation for the things you care about.

Athletes January 30, 2020
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Kobe Bryant’s Mamba Mentality lives on through women athletes

Legend Kobe Bryant passed away this Sunday, January 26, 2020, aged 41, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna (Gigi) Bryant, and seven other people.

For hours upon hours, the Earth seemed to stand still. Fans looking from afar could not comprehend that their beloved superstar had passed, and close friends of Kobe similarly could not make any sense of the tragedy.

After retiring from the NBA in 2016, Kobe transitioned into his next chapter of life seamlessly.

The questions of how such an obsessor of basketball would fair in a world outside of it were put to bed almost immediately. Kobe got to spend more time with his lovely family.

He wrote a basketball/wizardry book in the same vein as Harry Potter. He even won an Oscar for his short film based on a letter he wrote, titled, Dear Basketball.

https://twitter.com/Dave11W/status/1221532455443681281?s=20

And as a man with three daughters and an expected fourth (who has since been born), Kobe became a figure that in the past may have been impossible to predict: a champion for women and specifically women’s athletics.

Kobe initially expected to take a step away from basketball when he retired.

The Laker legend would be welcomed with open arms to any game he wanted to attend, but instead, Kobe found himself happier just being at home, surrounded by his family.

It allowed Kobe to take part in other activities that he has always been interested in and excelled at like reading, writing, learning different languages.

But then his daughter Gianna started to show an even bigger interest in basketball. She wanted to go watch games and her favorite players playing. She wanted to sit with her dad, enjoy the beauty of the game, and listen to her father’s wisdom.

@kulturehubto all the wisdom we’ll miss out on 🙏 🙏 🙏 #ripkobebryant #kobebryant♬ original sound – kulturehub

Kobe opened up the Mamba Sports Academy, a place where his daughter and kids like her could play basketball and train with the Mamba Mentality.

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He taught Gigi and her teammates that winning was a mindset, and you should always push yourself beyond the limits of what you thought was attainable.

Kobe was always a present father, but after retirement, he took it to another level.

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Kobe was a frequent attendee of Oregon’s women’s basketball team. Along with Gianna, Kobe would visit the Ducks, sign their shoes, complement their games.

Kobe also spoke very highly of the WNBA, a sport he said Gianna wanted to play in “for sure.” The mamba went so far as to say certain WNBA players Diana Taurasi, Elena Delle Donne and Maya Moore could play in the NBA.

Kobe’s high regard for the league did not go unnoticed.

The Commissioner of the WNBA, Cathy Engelbert, said in a statement Sunday,

“Kobe’s support for the WNBA and women’s basketball along with his passion for helping young girls and boys follow their dreams made him a true legend for our sport.”

It wasn’t just women’s basketball that Kobe spoke out on behalf of. He was a longtime fan and friend of the star-studded women’s national soccer team.

The team that still doesn’t earn the same wages as their male counterparts, even though they out-perform the men in every accolade and identifiable metric.

U.S. Forward Carli Lloyd had this to say after Kobe’s passing:

“Kobe’s been out to many of our games. He’s been a huge supporter of our team over the years. Just a huge female athlete supporter. It’s just heartbreaking, it honestly is.”

Only three years after retiring, Kobe was already doing so many great things and inspiring so many people. It is disheartening to know his life was taken so soon and we won’t be able to witness what else was in store for him.

And what else was in store for Gigi, a sweet young girl with her whole life ahead of her. A girl who was confident in her basketball skill, and beloved by everyone she came across.

But we must not be disheartened for too long. We must not succumb to the haunting depths of despair. The whole message of the Mamba Mentality is to push through adversity, fight beyond where we thought we could.

We must let love lead the way, which, before Sunday, seemed more absent recently than in a very long time. We must stick up for the disenfranchised, the underappreciated, which is so often women athletes.

By supporting women’s athletics, you are supporting Kobe. You are supporting Gigi. There is no doubt about it, this is part of Kobe’s legacy.

Clairefontaine January 29, 2020
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What is the INF Clairefontaine? The youth academy molding soccer stars

The Institut National du Football de Clairefontaine, a football academy located in Northern France, is setting the standard for youth programs across the globe.

INF Clairefontaine’s model is simple: focus on the individual player’s development, and this will ultimately lead to the benefit of the collective team.

While other programs, such as Barcelona’s La Masia, focus on instilling a larger philosophy in their youth players, Clairefontaine aims to identify certain talents and help them reach their best selves, which will end up serving the team better in the future.

Clairefontaine is situated in the magnificent Rambouillet Forest, about an hour south of Paris.

Considered the brainchild of former French Football President Fernand Sastre and head coach Stefan Kovács, the academy is modeled after Romanian-born Kovács’s philosophy that individual skill should be rigidly honed for the good of the collective team.

Only the best players in the Île-de-France region in France are selected to attend. Twenty-three teenagers, 13 to 15 years old, are selected each season. Additionally, they train with the academy during the week, before returning to their local side to play during the weekends.

Clairefontaine has identified and produced top-tier talents such as Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka, Louis Saha, Blaise Matuidi, and the new crown prince of the academy, PSG star Kylian Mbappé.

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Before Clairefontaine’s inception in 1988, France had little success on the national stage. The country of Franks watched as its neighboring rivals Italy and Germany outperformed it consistently in national competitions like the World Cup.

But with Clairefontaine’s influence, the willingness to switch play-styles and adapt based on current personnel changed France’s fortunes.

In 1998, France won the World Cup due to a forceful, defensive-minded squad led by star central midfielder Zinedine Zidane.

Two years later, France won the UEFA European Championship, in-large-part due to their two brilliant attackers Nicolas Anelka and Thierry Henry.

In 2018, the French won the World Cup again, bolstered by their star forward Mbappé and the defensive midfield pairing of N’Golo Kanté and Paul Pogba.

Jean-Claude Lefargue, director of Clairefontaine, sees the youth academy as innovative for football in France. He told the Telegraph in 2018,

“All the coaches of the professional clubs come through Clairefontaine.”

He continued, “Over the years we have been able to convince them of the philosophy, about what they have to find in a player. And so we have started to have this common idea across France.”

Establishing a national identity has done wonders for French football. It may seem contrarian to have a philosophy that is anti-rigid philosophy. Still, the adaptability of Clairefontaine has directly affected the success of football in France, not just with the players produced, but with the change in mindset.

The process of identifying star players isn’t easy and establishing a play-style based on a variance of different players is even harder.

Still, Clairefontaine has shown the ability to adjust the club’s skill set based on the players on the roster. Now based on its success over the last 25 years, France has too.

There is no right way to go about constructing a youth academy and then establishing a philosophy for it. Barcelona is perhaps the greatest club in the world over the last 20 years.

Furthermore, its academy, La Masia’s philosophy of making the right passes, moving without the ball, and team-building is a direct cause of this success.

Creating chemistry between players at a young age serves the club better moving forward, represented by the beautiful chemistry between stars Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi, and Xavi. 

While this method has worked for the Spanish, Clairefontaine has adopted a different method, focused more solely on the individual.

The academy’s idea is to identify certain players that will be stars, build up their games by focusing on their strengths, and work on improving their weaknesses. Thus making the player, and in turn, the French National Team, better situated for success in the future.

That is all with the understanding that all players should be technically astute, strong, quick, and technically precise.

Clairefontaine has set the mold for football in France and academies across the globe. By churning out youngsters with abilities that have been optimally fostered, the academy has set a path for France to be dominant for generations to come.

The UEFA European Championship is this summer. I wouldn’t bet on anyone other than France to win it all.

Blueface January 29, 2020
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Rap Super Bowl: Which squad of rappers who played football would get the W?

The Super Bowl is coming up, and it is going to feature an all-time dynamic offense and an all-time forceful defense. And with the Grammys not far in the rearview, hot music weighs heavily on our minds.

There is actually a large number of rap stars who played football in high school or even college. We wanted to peep the intersection between these two supremely hot elements of today’s culture, so we’re drafting a rap artist Super Bowl.

Did anybody necessarily ask for this? No. But nobody asked for Lil Nas X to dress like the inside of Paris Hilton’s purse for the Grammy’s either, and we got that too.

Here are the ground rules: two teams, East and West, two captains, three Players. Quavo is the captain of the East, and Blueface is the captain of the West.

Let’s get it.

The Beastcoast

Quavo grew up in Gwinnett County, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. He attended Berkmar High School (Ninth Grade!) and was the starting quarterback during his senior season.

The quick, crafty lefty, Quavo had the ability to move outside the pocket and make the proper passes to his receivers. That will be big in this fictional Rap Super Bowl.

Quavo’s smooth voice on his hooks is reminiscent of his game in athletics, with a smooth, calm demeanor, and a solid jumper when he wants to shoot hoops too.

With his first pick as captain, Quavo chooses Rick Ross, the lineman.

Rick Ross (huh) was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, but raised in Carol City, Florida. The rap mogul excelled as an offensive lineman for his high school, Miami Carol City High School.

In 2016, after a 10th-anniversary concert, Rick Ross shouted into a nearby microphone,

“Miami Herald is a part of our mother—-ing tradition! That’s since we was little mother—-ers. I’m talking about when we made All-Dade back in mother—-ing ’94!”

Ross went on to receive a full football scholarship to play at Albany State University.

With his final pick, Quavo selects Joey Bada$$, the Brooklyn-born rapper.

Joey Bada$$ was born in East Flatbush and raised in Bed-Stuy. While the music was his focus throughout high school, he still dabbled with sports.

“Yeah, I played whatever; football, basketball. I played every position; I was pretty flexible, he told USA Today Sports. Not to mention his love for Madden.

@eamaddennflToo much sauce in #superstarko!!😤 #madden20 #madden #fire #migos #joeybadmon #football #fy #foryou #fyp

♬ Bad and Boujee – Migos

This flexibility will surely help out Quavo’s team against a stacked squad from the West.

The West Side

Finally time for the West squad.

Blueface is the captain, at quarterback, growing up all across southern Cali, from Mid-City LA, to Santa Clarita Valley, to Oakland.

After settling down in San Fernando Valley, Blueface attended Arleta High School and became the starting quarterback in 2014.

As the starting quarterback, Blueface led the team to an East Valley League championship that same year.

A tall and dominant player, Blueface threw for 1,234 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2013 and 1,724 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2014, and briefly played in college before dropping out.

https://twitter.com/FlowsAndolini/status/1073326530921725954?s=20

For his first pick, Blueface selects Snoop Dogg , the west coast OG. Snoop is a talented wide receiver, and a big fan of the game. In fact, Snoop’s youth football league, Snoop Youth Football League (SYFL), produced three NFL signings in the Spring of 2014.

Ever since being a talented wideout earlier in his life, Snoop has been devoted to helping the younger generation grow on and off the football field. Salute.

With the last pick, Blueface selects talented multifaceted Schoolboy Q for his squad. Q was born on a military base in Germany, before his family settled in South Central, LA.

Schoolboy played football from the young age of six all the way until 21 and played receiver, cornerback, and tailback. This diversity in positions will surely help Blueface’s squad in the Rap Superbowl.

For every Patrick Mahomes, there is a Quavo. For every Richard Sherman, there is a Schoolboy Q.

For real though, these talented rappers have excelled in football in their lives and we wanted to take a look at how an East Coast-West Bowl would shake out between the two squads.

Who do you got?

Pete & Bas
Bruh January 29, 2020
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Who are Pete & Bas? Meet the old head grime-duo dishing out fire

“Old people aren’t in tune with young people. Perhaps, we are.” – Bas

You don’t often find two old head rappers teeming with drip and flow. It’s rare we find “the washed” engaging with new-age rap culture at all for that matter.

But just like with anything in this world, there are exceptions, and sometimes these exceptions break the mold. The rap group, Pete & Bas, is a revelation to the music industry.

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“Back then I had dents in the Peugeot. Now I’ve got chains on my chest. Gold, one on each finger. Brand new Range in the shed,” rap Pete and Bas, two old lads from South London.

In an interview with Noisey, Pete explains how he met Bas in a shop, they became friends, and have been friends ever since.

Pete’s raspy, guttural sound and Bas’ deep voice produce great tones, especially when rapping together. They truly sound and look, like they could be two London drug lords.

Noisey asked the pair how they got into rapping. Pete explained how his granddaughter loves rap and would play it every time she was in the car with him.

“At first I was turning it off and returning it all. But then I found myself listening to it more and more…” Pete explained.

“The more you listen to it, the more you get into it,” Bas added.

The two old chaps use contemporary slang and flows that would lead you to believe they’ve listened to rap for decades and decades.

Pete & Bas have amassed a following that makes them one of the UK’s hottest new rap groups. Their newest song, “Windowframe Cypher,” features other elderly lads new to the rap scene.

We’re not ageist over here, but the plethora of old folks in this song shows that Pete & Bas are certainly leaning into their roles as the old rappers breaking barriers.

This knowledge begs the question: are old heads winning? Because from this perspective they’re looking to take over the rap game.

10K80 January 27, 2020
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Broken Record Podcast co-host Justin Richmond tells us there’s more to music

“In my opinion, human beings are all about communication and they’re about connecting, and music is another form of that,” says Justin Richmond, host of the Broken Record podcast. 

Music is a medium available to all individuals. It is an art that transcends emotions and what is conventional within the dotted lines.

An artist offers themselves up when they release music. Through the music, they express their inspirations, their insecurities, their muses, and their inner demons.

Still, what the audience might miss is the extra layer behind the music, and only through speaking with the artist can this layer be unraveled. And Broken Record, a podcast for music lovers, offers up the perfect solution.

The origin of the Broken Record podcast

 

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Co-hosted by Justin Richmond, the Broken Record Podcast follows interviews conducted by producer Rick Rubin, writer Malcolm Gladwell, and former New York Times editor Bruce Headlam.

The podcast focuses on finding narratives behind the music, and in turn, gives listeners more insight into their favorite artists and their processes, or puts them on to new ones.

Malcolm Gladwell is a published author and staff writer for the New Yorker. He also has a podcast called Revisionist History, in which he “reinterprets something from the past.”

Gladwell has written a couple of pieces on music history.

Throughout his career, he’s managed to dedicate an entire chapter of his book, Outliers, to The Beatles. Not to mention, the in-depth piece he did on The Beastie Boys for the New Yorker, just to name a few.

As Justin Richmond told me, for Gladwell these writings and episodes he did for Revisionist History “stoked the fire,” and completely captured his interest in audio storytelling about music.

Simultaneously, Rick Rubin became interested in podcasting, and the two friends realized that a podcast centered around music would be really interesting.

Richmond and Headlam, also two big music fans, joined the project with their connection to Gladwell, and from there Broken Record was born.

Behind the music

 

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The Broken Record podcast has since taken the music scene by storm, featuring iconic artists like The Black Keys, Jack White, Tyler The Creator, and more recently, Andre 3000.

The team brainstorms artists they would like to speak with, artists they think would make a great interview or have projects that are coming up. We had the chance to ask Richmond, among other things, why the Broken Record team works so well together.

Richmond passionately professed:

“It’s just organic, you know?”

Rick, who has been in the industry for some time now, has always been a fan of music.  Plus, with his crazy music knowledge, he can take conversations to outer space.

When you put Malcolm and Rick together you have this combo of knowledge and know-how that “brings things back to earth.”

“When those two are together, you have Rick who can musically take it to the stratosphere, and you have Malcolm who is journalistically sound enough to bring things back to earth and ground things.”

The dichotomy of personalities and professional expertise works wonders for Broken Record’s content production. Richmond stressed how whether you are a “music head,” or just a more casual listener of music, the podcast offers up something for everyone.

While audio storytelling is not new, podcasting is a branch of media where an up-and-coming broadcaster can practice their craft. We asked Richmond what advice he would give to an aspiring podcaster.

“Don’t be afraid to professionally take on things that you are maybe not so interested in, if it gets you necessary experience.”

 

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Richmond emphasized how important it is to do what you love. Doing what he loves allows him to hone in on his passion, daily, and helps with his work and projects down the line.

“So when it came then to do things that I loved, especially as it concerns music, it was second nature.”

Richmond continued, “You’ve got to immerse yourself in the world of audio if you want to do a podcast; know what you can contribute to the space, and what you can’t. What you want to and what you don’t want to.”

Richmond stated how by listening to an artist’s life, their craft, their struggles, and their labor, you gain a better understanding of the person, and in turn, a better understanding of the art.

“From my opinion, human beings are all about communication and they’re about connecting, and music is another form of that.

That moment when you hear an artist communicate their emotions, create a project, or the man-hours they’ve put-in to curate a sound it “endears us to the work even more.”

“So when you hear how [artists] created it, how they labored over it, all the amount of work and pain it took to feel the feelings to make it, and then to go through the creative process to get it out, I think that endears us to the work even more.”

Richmond added, “I think it also just kind of helps people become a little more fluent in music and music culture. That, I think, is a win for everyone.”

Takeaways from the Broken Record podcast

We asked Richmond what were some of the greatest messages/takeaways he has gotten from Broken Record.

“I get the most probably out of Rick, and Malcolm… Both of them are brilliant. I get a lot from just listening to them. I incorporate a lot from the things that they talk about to my processes and my life. They’re incredible people.”

Closing out the interview, we asked, what keeps you creating? Richmond answered,

“I love it. I love creating, I love music, I love storytelling, I love people. It’s just fun, and that’s what keeps me going.”

anthony davis January 24, 2020
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From the court to the field: Klutch Sports plans their NFL takeover

The mighty force that is Klutch Sports has just gotten even stronger.

Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports Group has worked out a deal to acquire Damarius Bilbo’s Revolution Sports.

Bilbo will head Klutch’s football division, already having signed top prospects Chase Young and Jeff Okudah. Plus, current NFL standouts Jarvis Landry and Alvin Kamara.

Damarius Bilbo is not just an addition to Klutch. He is an integral piece of an expansion that will give Klutch Sports an even bigger foothold into the world of athletics and entertainment.

Already having set the bar, Klutch is continuing to change the way agents and athletes coexist and use their respective platforms.

Klutch Sports was started in 2012 by Rich Paul, a longtime friend and close confidant of NBA superstar LeBron James.

Since then, Paul has grown his brand and cemented his status as a smart and innovative agent, and now has a multitude of NBA stars and veterans signed under Klutch.

Among these names with LeBron are Ben Simmons, Anthony Davis, John Wall, and Draymond Green.

 

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The power that Rich Paul has amassed in the NBA over such a short period of time has scared the establishment. The powers that be over the last several decades sat idly by and watched as their superstar players raked in money for them.

But Paul came in and flipped the script.

 

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NBA players have more power now than ever. Now owners actually have to do right by their players, and if they don’t? They’ll force their way out like Anthony Davis.

Paul came under scrutiny by a litany of NBA personnel for orchestrating Davis’ departure from the New Orleans Pelicans.

The moniker #KlutchMafia was used by haters and fans alike to describe the power that the agency holds. But Paul was only doing right by his client in Davis, and is that not exactly what agents are supposed to do?

Now Klutch Sports enters into the realm of the NFL, a league where players hold significantly less power than players in the NBA. The NFL is about the team, the shield, an entity bigger than the player themselves. But Bilbo sees it a bit differently.

“Football is a game that’s played with a helmet. It hides your identity. It hides certain expressions. It hides certain things you say. But the helmet has to come off. You’re not in the helmet 24/7.”

Citing his client Alvin Kamara and his individuality, Bilbo further told GQ, “You have very few players like the Alvin Kamaras of the world, that are not afraid of being themselves.

He continued, “I think when players start to see that, they start to follow suit and say, ‘Look, I’m different. I’m not like everybody else. I can play football, but I’m just not a football player…

“I’m more than an athlete.'”

Empowering athletes is what Klutch Sports is all about. With the news of Bilbo and Revolutionary Sports’ inclusion into Klutch Sports, NFL owners are not just a little bit shook.

In Bilbo’s interview with GQ, he also spoke up about how the NFL could have used the Kaepernick-kneeling situation to its benefit.

“It’s no different than the NFL and breast cancer. ‘Think pink.’ They turned a whole month into something that benefits people across the world with breast cancer. The NFL could have easily taken what Colin Kaepernick did and turned it into a whole month, done programs around it, no different than they did with breast cancer.”

Bilbo stressed how owners are the ones with power, the ones that can make changes, but, aside from Jerry Jones, owners don’t really speak up on issues, and if they did, people wouldn’t really listen.

 

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Players have the public’s attention, and they should be encouraged to speak up. It is their ethical right. Additionally, it would be mutually beneficial for both the players’ and NFL’s brands.

“So train the players on how to address certain issues. They need to meet with someone inside the organization, [to talk about] what they’re passionate about and what difference they want to make as community leaders,” said Bilbo.

He continued, “When you look at guys like LeBron—and the roster that Rich has with Klutch—that’s the message he sent and that’s what will continue to be done.”

Klutch Sports is the poster child for athletes getting their full worth, positing the position that athletes are more than their sport, and encouraging athletes to use their platform and power to promote positive change in their communities.

Damarius Bilbo’s addition to the Klutch brand should be a warning sign for the NFL and a welcome sign for sports fans. Change is coming, and Paul and Bilbo don’t care if you like it.

 

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Athletes January 24, 2020
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Laurent Duvernay-Tardif could be the first doctor to win a Super Bowl

One goal or ambition in life does not have to come at the expense of another.

For Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, starting right guard for the Kansas City Chiefs, this realization wasn’t just enlightening. It served as fuel for his lifelong goal: becoming a doctor in medicine.

“My goal and my ambition was to be the first ever football player in the NFL to graduate in medicine from a prestigious university like McGill,” said Duvernay-Tardif.

In May 2018, he did just this, becoming the first active player ever to become a medical graduate. Duvernay-Tardif graduated from McGill University Faculty of Medicine with a Doctor in Medicine and Master in Surgery (M.D., C.M.).

“I really try to give myself 100% to everything I do,” said Duvernay-Tardif, citing his desire to achieve an adrenaline-rush in everything he does.

Duvernay-Tardif was born in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, and grew up in Montreal. He started playing football in his teenage years, and then attended McGill University, where he played as a lineman for the McGill Redmen.

Duvernay-Tardif was named an all-Canadian for his junior and senior seasons, and in the latter, won the J.P. Metras Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding lineman in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (now U Sports) system.

The McGill graduate was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the sixth round (200th overall) of the 2014 draft. The Chiefs, a first-class organization that has often been very good but not great, is headed to its first Super Bowl in franchise history.

Duvernay-Tardif will have the responsibility of protecting star quarterback Patrick Mahomes from the ferocious San Francisco 49ers’ defensive line, headed by defensive ends Solomon Thomas and Nick Bosa.

“This is the only time … I have a chance to finish the season winning. You’ve reached the top,” Duvernay-Tardif said. “It gives me goosebumps thinking about it.”

 

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Victory monday! #superbowl #bound #nfl #chiefs

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Duvernay-Tardif is not just protecting his franchise’s star player, but most people’s pick for the best player in the entire NFL. With Mahomes as the leader, the Chiefs offense is as dynamic and electric as we have seen in the last half-decade, and Duvernay-Tardif is part of the line that protects it all.

The Canadian spread his curriculum over eight years, because of the lofty training schedule required as an NFL player.

Every offseason he would study, amidst the constant pressure of keeping his body and mind fit for the upcoming season. When 2018 finally came around, it was time for Duvernay-Tardif to pass the final exam, and pass he did.

“I’m really a guy that thrives in stressful environments, and that’s why I enjoy so much the emergency room,” explained Duvernay-Tardif.

Duvernay-Tardif’s story is inspiring; he is a physical embodiment of hard work paying off and a reminder that physical and mental progress can occur at the same time. But more than all of this, he proves that we can all pursue several passions and perform them at the highest level possible.

Bonne chance dans le Super Bowl Laurent, we are rooting for you.

Kulture January 22, 2020
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How Lyft and LeBron James are ensuring the youth can ride out too

LeBron James surprised a group of enthusiastic teens in Harlem on Tuesday by announcing a program that would give thousands of young people across the country access to free bikes.

The giddy youths at the YMCA in Harlem were shocked to see James and then hear his announcement. A partnership between James’ company Uninterrupted and the ridesharing company Lyft.

James described the joy and opportunities bikes offered him as a young boy growing up in the inner-city of Akron, Ohio.

“To be able just to travel, beautiful fresh air, to be able to clear your mind at times; it’s a segue to be able to do so many things that can also carry you for the rest of your life,” said James.

The lucky 50 Harlem teenagers that attended the announcement were gifted a free bike membership. But Uninterrupted and Lyft did not stop there.

 

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They plan to launch the program in the Spring in New York City and then expand to Chicago and the Bay Area later this year.

James’ charitable efforts are well-documented, but it was especially kind of him to make the announcement in person for the New York teens in attendance.

Ahead of his Lakers game against the Knicks Wednesday night, he could have been doing a number of other things. Instead, those kids’ days were made. James showed how much he cares for the inner-city youth in this country.

Lyft plans to offer thousands of free bike-share memberships to kids between the ages of 16-20, and are affiliated with the YMCA and meet certain income requirements.

Walking around big cities can be brolic, and not many families have a car or multiple cars to move around the city.

Giving the youth access to free bikes is a way to allow them to explore, to get to events that they are interested in, and engage in activities where they would otherwise not be able.

James’ cofounder of Uninterrupted, Maverick Carter, has known Lyft’s co-founder John Zimmer since Lyft’s inception.

“He was one of the first people to believe in me and the company,” said Zimmer.

“We always wanted to find a way to work together and find something truly authentic.”

While Lyft will distribute the bikes to the youth, Uninterrupted will help the production and videos for the new program.

This initiative is a kind gesture by Uninterrupted and Lyft. The youth are the future of this country, and bikes are extremely underrated as catalysts for kids to be creative and explore themselves as they enter adulthood.

 

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Athletes January 14, 2020
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Why we shouldn’t mind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s drip

Is it remotely hyperbolic to say that we’ve never seen a player like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

Last night, after recording a stat line of 20 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists, SGA became the youngest player in NBA history to notch a 20-rebound triple-double, passing The Big Aristotle himself, Shaq.

The Kentucky product is a 6’5″ combo-guard, and in his sophomore season, is already showing signs of becoming one of the best guards in the league.

SGA, the son of Charmaine Gilgeous, a former track star who competed in the 1992 Olympics for Antigua and Barbuda, was born in Toronto, Ontario.

His father, Vaughn Alexander, coached him as a boy. Gilgeous-Alexander made his way through the ranks of high school ball and eventually became a highly-sought-after four-star recruit.

He declared for Kentucky, and after coming off the bench the first half of the season, SGA earned a starting spot and helped bring Kentucky to the Sweet 16, before bowing out to Kansas State.

The Toronto-born guard was selected with the 11th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, and then quickly got dealt to the Los Angeles Clippers.

In his freshman season for a scrappy, underdog Clippers team, SGA played all 82 games, putting up 10.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game.

But even in his ultra-impressive first season at age 20, outside forces were out of his control. That was exactly the case when Kawhi Leonard essentially forced the Clippers’ hand to trade for Paul George of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Thunder were not going to trade their star forward without receiving promising youngster SGA in return, and so the deal went, along with a haul of draft picks and Danilo Gallinari to the Thunder.

SGA has not withered under the change of scenery. Instead, he has embraced it, relished the new opportunity, and under the tutelage of one of the greatest point guards of all time in Chris Paul, shown hints that he was the prize of the deal, not Paul George.

Chris Paul and SGA together in the backcourt form a tandem that is savvy defensively, brilliant on the ball, and are leaders of a team that is outperforming expectations.

Paul is the wise leader who, in a year many thought he would show increased signs of age, is leading the league in clutch buckets.

SGA is the motor, displaying his crafty skills at getting to the basket and opening up shots and opportunities for his teammates.

The two guards complement each other perfectly, and as the Thunder stare at Chris Paul’s lofty contract and have the incentive to trade him, instead they might look to keep him on the books as he is a perfect mentor for their young superstar SGA.

A 20-rebound game is outrageous for a guard, but to put up that feat in a game where he also scores 20 points and dishes out 10 assists, at the age of 21? This man is special.

SGA lowkey also is exceptionally fly in his downtime and as he pulls up to arenas to play. In a league full of players making fashion statements nightly, SGA, much like his game, has drip that goes under the radar.

 

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BIG FIT❕BIG WIN❕… new year same me🤷🏾‍♂️ #dontmindmydrip

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Shai’s game is so crafty it is truly a joy to watch. He has an uncanny ability for a young player to get to his spots, delicately slinking his way through the defense to get to the rim or pull up for a jumper.

As the 11th pick, it was clear not everybody knew about Shai and his potential. They are surely rueing that decision now. Keep eating Shai, we definitely #dontmindthedrip.