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The NY Mets and pitcher Max Scherzer agree to record-breaking $130M contract

The New York Mets and three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer have agreed to a three-year, $130 million contract. Sources told ESPN, The Athletic and MLB.com that the contract was finalized Monday afternoon, and the deal includes an opt-out before the 2024 season.

The contract is worth a Major League Baseball, record-breaking $43.3 million in average annual value; New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole held the previous record at $36 million in average annual value. Scherzer’s deal also is expected to give the Mets the highest payroll in MLB next season.

The 37-year-old Scherzer went a combined 15-3 with a 2.46 ERA last season in 30 appearances for the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers. In July, the Nationals traded the eight-time All-Star, along with infielder Trea Turner, to the Dodgers. Scherzer went 5-4 with a 3.74 ERA in 12 starts during MLB’s COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. He owns a 190-97 record with a 3.16 ERA in 407 career appearances.

Scherzer made his MLB debut in 2008 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He also played for the Detroit Tigers from 2010 through 2014. He won a World Series with the Nationals in 2019. He ranks fifth all-time with 10.715 strikeouts per nine innings for his career. His 10,266 batters faced ranks fifth in MLB history.

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Denver Nuggets’ Michael Porter to have season-ending back surgery

Sources told ESPN, the Denver Post and The Athletic on Monday that Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. will undergo surgery on his lower back Wednesday, which could end his 2021-22 season. Porter’s agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, told ESPN and the Post that the forward will miss an “indefinite” period of time.

The No. 14 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, the 23-year-old Porter averaged 9.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game through nine appearances this season. He last played in a Nuggets win over the Houston Rockets on Nov. 6 in Denver.  Porter averaged 19 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in 61 appearances in 2020-21. Porter also missed his entire rookie season due to a back injury.

Porter agreed to a five-year, $172 million rookie-scale max contract extension with the Nuggets in September. His salary jumps from $5.2 million this season to $29.7 million in 2022-23.

 

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Entertainment Daypop

Jay Leno to play Ed Sullivan in Beatles biopic “Midas Man”

Jay Leno has been cast as the late Ed Sullivan in the forthcoming Beatles biopic Midas Man, marking the Tonight Show host’s first feature film appearance as a character since the ’90s,  The Beatles appeared on Sullivan’s show three times in February 1964, and several more times over the years. Their first appearance was watched by 73 million viewers at the time.

Midas Man recently shut down production after director Jonas Akerlund ‘took a break” from production. A quote from the production read:  “Until some matters become clearer, we are not able to add any further comment to this statement. In the meantime, we can confirm that filming of Midas Man will continue in London in November before breaking for Christmas. Filming will restart in early January in Los Angeles.” It was since confirmed that Vinyl director Sara Sugarman would be taking over from Akerlund.

Midas Man stars ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ actor Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as Epstein, a record shop manager who is credited with signing the biggest band of all time. Epstein also discovered other popular acts including Cilla Black, Billy J Kramer, Gerry And The Pacemakers, and helped promote acts including Jimi Hendrix.

A release date for Midas Man has not been announced as of press time.

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Entertainment Daypop

Take a look at the Season 6 Trailer for the final season of ‘This Is Us’

The final season of ‘This Is Us’ is ahead, and in the first trailer for Season 6, Rebecca (Mandy Moore) looks back at some of her favorite memories. As “Time After Time” (sung by Chrissy Metz aka Kate) plays, Rebecca says: “Sometimes I think about what my very last memory will be before the candle goes out. I don’t know how much longer I have before things get worse. … I’m not worried about forgetting about the big stuff. It’s the little things I’m not ready to let go of.”

As she speaks, we see flashbacks to key moments throughout the series, showing Rebecca when she was younger and dating Jack (Milo Ventimiglia), Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) comforting each other, and the three Pearson siblings celebrate their birthdays as ‘the Big Three’.  The trailer also teases Kate’s future marriage to Phillip (Chris Geere) as he stares at her longingly. The season five finale showed us their wedding, shocking everyone that it wasn’t Toby.

The sixth and final season of “This Is Us” will premiere on Jan. 4, 2022, and will consist of 18 episodes.  Check out the Season 6 trailer – here.

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Pop Daypop

Chance the Rapper and Dionne Warwick share their new single “Nothing’s Impossible”

Chance the Rapper has teamed up with R&B legend Dionne Warwick for the new single, “Nothing’s Impossible.” Chance and Warwick famously made their first interaction on Twitter back in December 2020, when Warwick tweeted: “Hi, @chancetherapper. If you are very obviously a rapper why did you put it in your stage name? I cannot stop thinking about this.”

Shortly after, Warwick teased that the duo would be in the studio together to put out a song benefitting both their charities (Chance’s SocialWorks and Warwick’s Hunger: Not Impossible).  The resulting song, “Nothing’s Impossible,” is an uplifting ballad from the two artists.  Warwick announced the song’s release on Twitter, writing: For those of you asking about the song with @chancetherapper… well, it’s out NOW. I am very excited about this. If you can’t find the link to stream in Chance’s bio, you can find it in mine. Ok… Bye!”

Take a listen to the collaboration from Warwick and Chance – here.

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Pop Daypop

Ed Sheeran & Elton John announce their new Christmas collaboration

Ed Sheeran and Elton John announced in a video posted on social media that their highly-anticipated new song, a holiday collaboration, will be released on Friday, December 3.   In the ‘Love Actually’ themed video, Ed knocks on Elton‘s door with some note cards (channeling Andrew Lincoln‘s character confessing his love for Kiera Knightly‘s character in the 2003 holiday film).

Elton wrote on Twitter: “Just under a year ago, I called @edsheeran to see if he wanted to make a Christmas single with me and now it’s nearly here! ‘Merry Christmas’ will be out Fri 3 Dec with all proceeds from this year’s Christmas period going to the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation & [the Elton John Aids Foundation].”

Sheeran also shared on Instagram: ‘Our song “Merry Christmas” is out this Friday. Link in bio to pre-order it or pre-save it. All UK profits from this year’s Christmas period will go to the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation (www.essmf.com) and the Elton John AIDS Foundation (@ejaf )’

To pre-order/pre-save “Merry Christmas” head here.

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Louis Vuitton designer Virgil Abloh passes away at 41 after private battle with cancer

Fashion designer Virgil Abloh died Sunday after a private battle with cancer, according to a post shared on his social media. He was 41 years old. Abloh, the founder and CEO of fashion house Off-White, battled a “rare, aggressive form of cancer” known as cardia angiosarcoma, for two years before his death, according to the post shared to his verified Instagram account.  The post read: “He chose to endure his battle privately since his diagnosis in 2019, undergoing numerous challenging treatments, all while helming several significant institutions that span fashion, art, and culture.” 

Abloh was the American-born son of Ghanaian immigrants who became fashion’s highest profile Black designer and the creative mind behind Louis Vuitton’s menswear collections. He also worked as a DJ and visual artist, had been men’s artistic director for Vuitton, the world’s biggest luxury brand, since March 2018.  CEO Bernard Arnault said in a statement that he was “shocked after this terrible news,” adding, “Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom. The LVMH family joins me in this moment of great sorrow and we are all thinking of their husband, their father, their brother or their friend.”

Abloh was well-respected in the fashion and music worlds, frequently collaborating with celebrities such as Ye (formerly known as Kanye West). Abloh is survived by his wife, Shannon Abloh, his children Lowe Abloh and Grey Abloh, his sister Edwina Abloh, his parents Nee and Eunice Abloh and “numerous dear friends and colleagues” the post on his Instagram states.

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Texas Rangers and second baseman Marcus Semien agree to 7-year, $175 million contract

The Texas Rangers and All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien have agreed to a seven-year, $175 million contract. Semien, 31, hit 45 home runs last season, the most ever for a second baseman. He made the All-Star team for the first time in his career, batting .265/.334/.538 while playing in all 162 games. He’s finished third in American League MVP voting twice in the last three years.

Semien primarily played shortstop for the White Sox and A’s prior to last season, before moving to second base with Toronto. The move payed off, and earned Semien his first career Gold Glove award.

The Rangers have been struggling in recent years, with five consecutive losing seasons since their back-to-back AL West division titles in 2015 and 2016.  Texas has not won a postseason series since advancing to the World Series in 2011, where they lost in seven games to the Cardinals.

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QB Tua Tagovailoa leads Miami Dolphins past Carolina Panthers 33-10

QB Tua Tagovailoa led the Miami Dolphins past the Carolina Panthers with a 33-10 victory on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. Tagovailoa completed 27 of 31 passes for 230 passing yards and one touchdown to help extended the Dolphins’ win streak to four-consecutive games. Rookie linebacker Jaelan Phillips led the Dolphins defense with three sacks. Xavien Howard, Nik Needham and Jevon Holland each logged interceptions in the win.

Meanwhile, Panthers’ Cam Newton completed just 5 of 21 passes for 92 yards and two interceptions in the loss. His 5.8 passer rating from the performance is a career-low. “We lost footing early,” Newton said. “We just gotta find ways to get back on track. Nothing they did was out of the ordinary. It just comes down to execution.”

Next up:  The Dolphins (5-7) will host the New York Giants (4-7) at 1 p.m. EST Dec. 5 at Hard Rock Stadium. The Panthers (5-7) host the Atlanta Falcons (5-6) at 1 p.m. EST Dec. 12 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C

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Peacock drops first teaser for ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ dramatic reboot, ‘Bel-Air’

The first teaser for Bel-Air, a dramatic reboot of Will Smith’s iconic 90s sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, was released by NBC. The network’s online streaming service Peacock will air the new one-hour Bel-Air starting next year.

The minute-long teaser features Smith voicing lyrics from the original show’s opening theme as star Jabari Banks — who plays Smith’s character — sits on the titular throne.

Peacock announced earlier this year it had ordered two seasons of the drama, which will be set in a modern-day America and delve deep into social issues. Bel-Air is being produced by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Studios and Universal Television.

First teaser for ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air’ reboot reimagines the original theme song

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