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Everyone also knows him as the guy calling college basketball games on ESPN.
So something will be different for Bill Raftery this week, when he opens his 33yrd season as a broadcaster on an entirely new network, Fox Sports 1, assigned principally to a new league with an old brand name. Fox teamed him with a new partner, electrifying play-by-play voice Gus Johnson.
Raf’s first game with Fox will take him back to his old Big East roots, with Boston College (of the new ACC) taking on Providence (of the new Big East) at 6 p....

The former All-American treats college basketball broadcasts like a choose-your-own-adventure book, often inserting bizarre anecdotes along with game commentary in a way that people either love or hate. No in-between. MORE: Ranking tourney’s best coaches | Bubble watch | Ex-Card Jones wanted on rape, sodomy charges One such example came during Wednesday night’s UCLA-Washington broadcast. Walton began comparing the two schools’ mascots and describing how the battle would play out if they squared off in the animal kingdom....

The “Ocean Eyes” singer took to Instagram late on Monday where she shared a series of photos and videos of her new do along with snaps of her mother sporting the same look when she was younger. The 19-year-old also shared two new posts showing off her new chop with one captioned “gone” and the pixie emoji. In the second post, Eilish captioned some artful snaps with a quote from the Fleetwood Mac song “Rhiannon”: “wouldn’t you love to love her....

Wenger has been in charge of Arsenal’s first-team affairs since 1996, leading the Gunners to seven FA Cups, three Premier League titles, and a Champions League final. Arsenal 7/1 to beat Stoke 1-0 Without a title-winning campaign since 2003-04, though, pressure has grown on the Frenchman to leave his position. Wenger signed a two-year contract extension at the club at the end of the 2016-17 season, despite finishing fifth in the Premier League table....

Bean, an openly gay former player and now Major League Baseball’s ambassador for inclusion, said he appreciated Murphy being honest when the Mets second baseman said Tuesday he “disagreed” with Bean’s lifestyle, citing his religious beliefs. MORE: Openly gay athletes | What next after Mets’ dual controversies? | Syndergaard among impact rookies Writing for MLB.com, Bean also said he had “tremendous admiration and respect” for Murphy’s dedication to his family....

Irwin posted a photo of herself and Powell holding a baby-sized zookeeper uniform as they stood in their own Australia Zoo gear. She also revealed she’s only in her first trimester, and the baby will be due sometime in 2021. “It’s an honour to share this special moment in our lives with you,” she wrote. “Though I’m still in my first trimester, we really want you to be part of our journey from the beginning of this new life chapter....

Those wanting continued cooperation on the MIA issue should want the United States to normalize diplomatic relations with Vietnam. Last year Bill Clinton lifted a 19-year trade embargo. Since then the record has been clear: warmer contacts mean that Americans get more information about MIAs. One year of friendly cooperation has worked better than 19 years of acting like a sore loser. Yet if the summer passes with no decision on norrealization, the onset of the long American election season could mean a delay of nearly two years....

Experiment 101 confirmed on its official Twitter account for Biomutant that it’s working to optimize Biomutant for fans and critics alike. The team is working on an update that will improve the combat, dialogue, bug fixes, and more when it releases for PC first and eventually rolls out to consoles. RELATED: Biomutant Won’t Run at 4K on PS5 Because of Technical Reasons Thanks to feedback from people who have played Biomutant, the upcoming update will address known issues in the open-world RPG....

Luckily, the minds behind Biomutant have recently obliged these requests, with THQ Nordic revealing a lengthy gameplay trailer that details just how varied and brilliantly bizarre this brand new RPG is. Clocking in at just under 10 minutes, the trailer is chock full of colorful landscapes, colossal monsters, eccentric characters, and a whole heap of crazy game mechanics. RELATED: Biomutant Gets New Release Window The first thing that becomes apparent from the footage is just how breathtaking the world of Biomutant is, with luscious green fields, prominent rainbows, and sprawling tree roots covering the landscape....

As noted by VG247, BioMutant managed to hit an impressive peak player count on launch day, with fans flooding in to check out what the post-apocalyptic game has to offer. According to SteamDB, which tracks which games Steams users are playing, 55,048 gamers were checking out BioMutant at once on launch day. In the last 24 hours, the game managed to snag a peak count of 54,437 players, just under what it was doing right at launch....

It’s not news to hear that BioWare has big plans for the Mass Effect series, and the game’s developers have claimed for quite some time that Mass Effect 3 would bring a satisfying end to Shepard’s trilogy. But perhaps we hadn’t realized just how final Mass Effect 3 could prove to be in terms of Commander Shepard’s time in the spotlight. But even if other games took place in the Mass Effect universe, BioWare wouldn’t abandon a character that they had spent so much time and energy perfecting (in both genders, no less), right?...

The deal backed by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Joe Manchin (D-WV.) and a handful of other lawmakers would offer $25 billion in rental assistance to state and local governments, as well as Native Americans tribes. An outline of the proposal revealed earlier this week stated that 90 percent of the funds would be used on rent payments, arrears, utility bills and “related housing stability services” offered at the local level....

Yet it’s the silver she captured on uneven bars that the Olympic and world champion may cherish more. For years Biles viewed bars with a mixture of skepticism and scorn. There was a point in time she admits she would have been OK with taking a “chainsaw” to every bars set in the country. Those days are over. Helped in part by the influence of new head coach Laurent Landi, Biles now considers the event a challenge more than a chore....

Many, including Bill Goldberg himself, never envisioned that he would return to the wrestling ring. His last time around didn’t end the way he or the WWE had hoped, including a sendoff match at WrestleMania XX against Brock Lesnar that was poorly received. MORE: Xavier Woods explains why The New Day will last forever But things have a way of changing in the wrestling world. Everyone was buzzing after the former WCW and WWE champion signed on with 2K as the pre-order exclusive character in the latest installment of the “WWE 2K17” video game....

The commercial for Simmons’ new sports/pop culture show, “Any Given Wednesday,” shows the former ESPN columnist taking aim at greedy NFL owners who use taxpayer dollars to finance their new sports palaces. “I believe that billionaires should pay for their own f— football stadiums,” says Simmons, in the promo for the half-show show which premieres June 22 at 10 p.m. ET. MORE: Stephen A. will have near-veto power for new partner Simmons, of course, was suspended by ESPN for calling Goodell a “liar” on his podcast....

The “Bad Guy” singer recorded a video for Senator MJ Hegar stressing that the outcome in Texas could determine the future of the country. The polls are currently showing a tightening race in Texas, which has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1980, with just days to go until election day on November 3. “Hello, Texas, the presidential race is really close and so is the U.S. Senate race with MJ Hagar and a really close fight,” the 18-year-old say in the short video....

The Daily News’ Manish Mehta writes, “There was a thought Sunday night that he could miss the rest of the season,” although he believes the receiver will instead miss several weeks. Mehta adds, via sources, no surgical procedure can fix his issue. MARVEZ: What stood out in Week 1 The report ties in with Adam Schefter’s report from Sunday morning, in which the ESPN reporter said Watkins “is not 100 percent,” adding, “In fact, about a week or so ago, that foot got tired on him during practice....

We’ve seen some receivers pull off some Odell Beckham Jr.-type catches before, but Watkins’ came on a huge stage against the Patriots. It was his first catch of the game, good for 15 yards. MORE: Week 11 Power Rankings | Officials stop Patriots’ big play with inadvertent whistle He finished with three catches for 39 yards.

However, some members of the organization stayed behind to remain with Hamlin, who is in critical condition. That included star wide receiver Stefon Diggs. Diggs went to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center — located roughly five miles from Paycor Stadium — shortly after the NFL announced that the Bills vs. Bengals game had been postponed. MORE: Latest updates on Damar Hamlin after on-field cardiac arrest Diggs attempted to enter the hospital but was originally stopped by a police officer at the scene, per ESPN’s Coley Harvey....

The Bills announced Wednesday they have promoted Kathryn Smith to special teams quality control coach. Smith will be the first full-time female coach in NFL history. MORE: Other female NFL pioneers | Five things to know about Smith “Kathryn Smith has done an outstanding job in the seven years that she has worked with our staff,” Ryan said in a team statement . “She certainly deserves this promotion based on her knowledge and strong commitment, just to name a couple of her outstanding qualities, and I just know she’s going to do a great job serving in the role of Quality Control-Special Teams....