Notebook: Kansas Prepares for Puerto Rico

The Rock Chalkboard

Offseason improvement puts McCullar in spotlight entering Puerto Rico trip - KU Sports
“I think it’s the exact same thing that Ochai (Agbaji) and J-Wil (Jalen Wilson) did,” he said. “I think they tested the waters, they went and did all the NBA stuff, they saw (it), they have a better feel for what it takes to play at a really high level, and they realize that in order to do that, some certain things have to change.”

How and why Mass St. Collective brought KU alumni to The Basketball Tournament - KU Sports
Mass St. serves primarily as the name, image and likeness partner of Kansas Athletics, helping secure financial partnerships for current Jayhawk athletes — thus making the connection to their predecessors somewhat more tangential. But Dan Beckler, the president and chief operating officer of Mass St., said he sees TBT as an “extension” of the Mass St. brand, rather than a deviation.

Listen: Rock Chalk Sports Talk on KU football, men’s basketball and more - KU Sports
On the July 28 episode of the Best of Rock Chalk Sports Talk Podcast from KLWN, Derek Johnson and Nick Springer discuss Kansas’ rapidly approaching home opener against Missouri State, interview the Journal-World’s own Sports Editor Henry Greenstein, conduct RCST Football Trivia and a lie detector test and talk more KU football.

Bits o Chalk

Colts: Jonathan Taylor refutes reports of injury suffered away from team
Colts running back Jonathan Taylor issued a stark rebuttal Sunday night to multiple reports that he’d suffered a back injury working out while away from the team this offseason, an injury that could lead to Indianapolis placing him on the non-football injury list.

Women's World Cup: Latest Scores and Match Updates - The New York Times
Sam Kerr stayed on the bench, but Australia did not need her in a 4-0 victory. Japan cruised past Spain, though both had already clinched spots in the round of 16.

USWNT vs. Portugal start time, odds, lines: Top soccer expert reveals Women's World Cup picks, predictions - CBSSports.com
There is major danger lurking Tuesday when the United States Women's National Team face Portugal in their final group-stage match at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. The USWNT, winners of four Women's World Cups, including the past two, could be packing up early if they lose this match. They opened with a 3-0 victory against Vietnam, but a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands has them tied atop the Group E standings with the Dutch. Portugal beat Vietnam 2-0 on Wednesday after losing their first match 1-0 to the Netherlands. That leaves Portugal just one point behind the Americans and gives them a chance for an Earth-shaking result Tuesday.

Eraser Dust

Trump leadership PAC spends more than $40 million on legal fees amid indictments | CNN Politics
The PAC, which raises most of its funds through small-dollar donations from Trump’s supporters, is expected to report to the Federal Election Commission on Monday that it spent $40.2 million on legal costs in the first half of the year – more than double the amount the group spent on legal fees in all of 2022.

Barbie bonanza continues at the box office as Greta Gerwig film keeps breaking records | The Independent
The comedy, which stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, took in a massive $93m (£72m) in its second weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday (30 July).

Madonna says she feels 'lucky' to be alive after hospitalization
Madonna said she feels "lucky" to be alive and grateful to her loved ones for supporting her after the “Queen of Pop” was hospitalized due to a bacterial infection that forced her to postpone the launch of an international tour.

Ranking the Big 12’s football stadiums from worst to first
Here’s a ranking of the Big 12 football stadiums that I’m most looking forward to watching the Buffs invade:

Federal judge blocks Arkansas law allowing librarians to be criminally charged over ‘harmful’ books | AP News
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas is temporarily blocked from enforcing a law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing “harmful” materials to minors, a federal judge ruled Saturday.

ImagineIF Libraries increases security presence at Kalispell branch | Daily Inter Lake
“Now they've kind of figured out our schedule,” Cummins said on July 27. “Where we used to have problems in the afternoons and end of day on Friday and Saturday, now we're having more incidents in the morning, when we don't have a security presence.”

Blake's Odds and Ends brings fun gifts to Evergreen | Daily Inter Lake
When Lisa Blake moved to the Flathead Valley 22 years ago she knew she wanted to continue to sell collector items.