The Rock Chalkboard

Kansas finding more success with explosive plays in 2021
“This is the way college football has evolved today,” Leipold said. “You have to create explosive plays and you have to get some of those. We will continue to find ways to do so.”

Lance Leipold addresses Kansas' O-line struggles vs. Coastal Carolina
It was a frustration of one of the program's star wideouts a season ago. Andrew Parchment entered the 2020 season with preseason All-Big 12 hype, which made sense given his production as a junior in 2019.

Kansas football dipping into Iowa with latest offers
"He just said he loved my film and that I'd be a good fit for the new culture they're trying to build at KU," Black told Phog.net.

Bits o Chalk

NFLPA recommends Josh Gordon be reinstated by league, sources say
The NFL Players Association determined Josh Gordon has successfully completed his NFL-monitored treatment program and has recommended to the league that he be reinstated, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

U.S. Soccer offers men's, women's teams identical contract proposals
"This proposal will ensure that USWNT and USMNT players remain among the highest paid senior national team players in the world, while providing a revenue sharing structure that would allow all parties to begin anew and share collectively in the opportunity that combined investment in the future of U.S. Soccer will deliver over the course of a new CBA," the statement read.

Are the 1986 New York Mets the best MLB team of the past half-century? We rank the top 10 contenders
I thought it would be fun to compare the Mets to nine of the other best teams of the divisional era (since 1969) -- all teams that won at least 100 games (or, in the case of the 1995 Braves and 2020 Dodgers, were on pace to win 100 over a 162-game schedule) and won the World Series. So apologies to the 1972-74 A's, who won three straight World Series but didn't win 100 games in any of those three years. No 1995 Indians or 2001 Mariners, two of the best regular-season teams of the era, but who failed to win the World Series. And no more than one team per franchise.

Eraser Dust

Philadelphia to pay $2M to Black woman beaten by officers, separated from toddler during unrest
The city of Philadelphia will pay $2 million to a Black woman who was pulled from a car, beaten by officers and had her toddler used for social media fodder by the police union, officials said.

Darrell Hammond on Norm Macdonald: ‘Everybody Loved Him’
“Have you ever heard the thing about, ‘You don’t ever want to appear on Broadway with a child or a dog?’ Because the child and the dog are utterly themselves, and people can’t take their eyes off them. That was Norm,” Hammond says. “Utterly himself. You couldn’t turn away.”

First Thing: Gavin Newsom easily survives recall election attempt | US news | The Guardian
The Associated Press projected the results 45 minutes after polls closed on Tuesday night. Newsom’s most popular challenger was Larry Elder, a rightwing radio host who drew comparisons to the former president Donald Trump.

North Korea Fires Two Ballistic Missiles Into Waters Off Coast : NPR
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into waters off its eastern coast Wednesday afternoon, two days after claiming to have tested a newly developed missile in a resumption of its weapons displays after a six-month lull.

DOJ files for immediate injunction to halt enforcement of Texas abortion law - ABC News
"The State of Texas adopted S.B. 8 to prevent women from exercising their constitutional rights," the DOJ says in their motion. "This attempt to shield a plainly unconstitutional law from review cannot stand. The United States seeks a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction enjoining the enforcement of S.B. 8."

Few people medically exempt from getting COVID-19 vaccine: Experts - ABC News
Dr. David Dowdy, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News that the large and growing data on the three coronavirus vaccines shows there are no immediate health issues or side effects for most people with pre-existing medical conditions.

Democrats Want to End This Lucrative Retirement Account Loophole
Congressional Democrats want to slam shut a tax loophole known as the “backdoor” Roth IRA. In one of several proposed changes that target the retirement accounts of wealthy Americans, Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee want to prohibit people who make more than $400,000 per year from converting pre-tax retirement savings accounts into a Roth IRA. The proposed reforms are part of the Democratic push to raise taxes on the wealthiest to fund a $3.5 trillion spending plan.