Retirement not for St. John's coach Rick Pitino; planning to 'stay as long as I can'

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- St. John's coach Rick Pitino might not have plans for his 74th birthday in September, but he'll sooner consider putting them on his calendar than weigh the prospect of retirement.

Pitino has St. John's back in the Sweet 16 with a shot at No. 1 seed Duke in the East Region semifinals on Friday. Win or lose, he's exceedingly confident it won't be his final game as a head coach. That's because he already felt what it was like without basketball in his life for a few years.

"I think the lifestyle that I was leading was certainly, I shouldn't complain about it. But I just missed it every single day I was out of it," Pitino said Thursday as the Red Storm prepare for the Blue Devils. "So I realized there's no reason to try and get out because I knew how much I missed it.

"I'd like to stay in as long as I can. As long as God willing is giving me good health, I'd like to stay in it as long as I can."

St. John's hired Pitino in 2023 and he enters Friday's game with a record of 81-24 and a chance to make his eighth trip to the Final Four with two victories this weekend.

To advance to the Sweet 16, St. John's knocked off Kansas in the second round. Getting to Indianapolis would require taking down a few more of college basketball's so-called bluebloods. Duke is up first and the winner of that matchup draws either Michigan State or UConn on Sunday.

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But Pitino, previously head coach at Kentucky and Louisville before heading to Iona, said the idea of bluebloods having any advantage over the rest of college basketball is history.

That means something coming from a coach who lost the "Christian Laettner Game" to Duke in 1992 at Kentucky and then won a national title with the Wildcats. And if you need more context on his perspective of the eras of the college game, consider Boston University gave Pitino his first (non-interim) Division I head-coaching gig when the 3-point line was only an "experiment" under consideration.

He said the elimination of bluebloods is great for the game.

"All that's gone now. We are an offshoot of professional basketball. I look at it totally different. I think it's great because I just want excellence on the court between the lines. I want to see great players, execution, coaching. We are getting that now," Pitino said.

"For you guys in the media and me as a bystander looking at my non-coaching days, I want to see great basketball with great players. We're getting that now. I think it's awesome.

"I think the fact there are no more blue bloods, I think it's great. Kentucky will always be Kentucky. Duke will always be Duke because of their great, the legacy they left in the game, the history of their game."

--Field Level Media

byAnio Baumeister

in

March 26, 2026

Retirement not for St. John's coach Rick Pitino; planning to 'stay as long as I can'

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- St. John's coach Rick Pitino might not have plans for his 74th birthday in September, but he...

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Bill Maher will win the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain humor prize following White House denial

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bill Maher will win the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the Kennedy Center said Thursday, less than a week after the White House forcefully denied that the comedian, who has had a hot-and-cold relationship with PresidentDonald Trump, would win it.

"For nearly three decades, the Mark Twain Prize has celebrated some of the greatest minds in comedy," Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center's vice president of public relations, said in a statement. "For even longer, Bill has been influencing American discourse — one politically incorrect joke at a time."

Maher said in a statement that he "just had the award explained to me, and apparently it's like an Emmy, except I win."

After The Atlantic reported last week that Maher would win the award, the White House pushed back hard. White House communications director Steven Cheung said on social media that the story was "literally FAKE NEWS." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also called the initial report "fake news" and said Maher "will NOT be getting this award."

An administration official who refused to speak on the record about the award on Thursday said the situation changed after further conversations between the Kennedy Center and event organizers.

The Kennedy Center has presented the award since 1998 as a way to recognize those who have made significant contributions to humor and commentary in the United States. Previous winners includeConan O'Brien,Dave Chappelle,Julia Louis-Dreyfus,David Letterman,Carol BurnettandTina Fey.

The award will be presented on June 28, just before Trump plans to close the Kennedy Center for renovations expected to last about two years. Since returning to office, the Republican president has wielded tremendous influence over the venue,ousting its previous leadershipand replacing it with a handpicked board of trustees that named him chairman.

The boardadded Trump's nameto the Kennedy Center and approved the closure, actions that haveprompted legal proceedingsthat are ongoing.

Maher and the president have long had a fraught relationship.

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Before he entered politics, Trump filed a $5 million lawsuit against Maher in 2013 for breach of contract. Appearing on Jay Leno's "The Tonight Show," Maher said he would give $5 million to the charity of Trump's choice if he could prove he was not "the spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan."

Trump claimed that when he provided his birth certificate, Maher didn't pay up, prompting the lawsuit. Trump ended up dropping it.

The Trump-Maher relationship exploded again earlier this year, when the president claimed on social media that he wasted time sitting down for a meal with the comedian last year.

"He came into the famed Oval Office much different than I thought he would be," Trump wrote online. "He was extremely nervous, had ZERO confidence in himself." Trump said the comedian admitted he was "scared."

Maher described the dinner as a "good time" during his April 11 episode of"Real Time,"noting that Trump was "gracious and measured" and not like the "person who plays a crazy person on TV." He said he wasn't scared.

He took time in his "New Rules" segment to point out the various Trump policies he liked, including the "mass removal of stone cold criminals" and makingNATO memberspay "their fair share."

"I may be the last person from the lunatic left that is still an honest broker when it comes to you," he said. "I always want the American president to succeed, and I do give credit when you have, but there's lots of stuff you do that is not my idea of success, and I have every right to say so in a democracy."

Associated Press writer Mark Kennedy in New York contributed to this report.

byAnio Baumeister

in

March 26, 2026

Bill Maher will win the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain humor prize following White House denial

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bill Maher will win the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the Kennedy Center said Thurs...

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NBA Seattle: Does expansion news mean SuperSonics are back?

So,does this all mean the Seattle SuperSonics are coming back?

Not necessarily, but the chance did just get a lot better.

With the news Wednesday, March 25 that NBA owners hadapproved the formal exploration of expansion opportunitiesin Seattle and Las Vegas, the natural question is whether the SuperSonics, the team that eventually relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008 to become the Thunder, would be making a reappearance.

In short: the chance is there for a prospective ownership group to take that step, though it's not a guarantee. According to language in the contract agreement from the franchise's move to Oklahoma City, which was obtained byNBC King5 in Seattle, the ownership group for the Thunder became prohibited from using the SuperSonics branding, color scheme, logo or any intellectual property.

Seattle SuperSonics center Bob Rule (45) shoots against the Cincinnati Royals.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Seattle SuperSonics guard Gary Payton lays the ball up against the Chicago Bulls during the 1996 NBA Finals at Key Arena in June 1996.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Seattle SuperSonics fans stand between plays during the second quarter between the Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, Calif. on Feb. 13, 2011.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Seattle SuperSonics point guard Gary Payton drives to the basket around Toronto Raptor Damon Stoudamire in the second half at Toronto's Skydome on Nov. 21, 1995.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> New York Knicks forward Phil Jackson, left, forward Dave DeBusschere and Seattle SuperSonics guard Lenny Wilkens in action at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 1971.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Seattle SuperSonics player Shawn Kemp slam dunks the ball for two of his 21 points against the Phoenix Suns during their Western Conference NBA playoff game on May 3, 1997. The Sonics beat the Suns 116-92 to advance to the conference semi-finals against the Houston Rockets.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Seattle SuperSonics center Spencer Haywood in action against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 1971.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Seattle SuperSonics head coach Tom Nissalke against the Atlanta Hawks during the 1972-73 season at The Omni in Atlanta.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bill Russell, left, head coach and general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics, talks to fans while waiting to coach the Pacific-8 against the SEC in the first round of the first annual Four-Star Classic at Memorial Gym in Nashville on April 9, 1974.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Miami Heat guard Tim Hardaway (10) in action against Seattle Seattle SuperSonics guard Gary Payton (20) at the Miami Arena on Feb. 28, 1997.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Fans hold a flag for the Seattle SuperSonics during the fourth quarter of a game between the Utah Jazz and LA Clippers at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Oct. 10, 2023.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Seattle SuperSonics guard Butch Beard (21) in action against the Atlanta Hawks at The Omni on Feb. 27, 1973 in Atlanta.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Seattle SuperSonics guard Dennis Johnson passes the ball.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Seattle SuperSonics fan Ervin Fleshman of Edison, Washington holds a sign with his mother Allison (right) during pregame warmups for a game between the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings at KeyArena on Oct. 5, 2018.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Former Seattle SuperSonics forward Detlef Schremph shows off a Sonics t-shirt during a pregame between the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors at KeyArena in Seattle on Oct. 5, 2018.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

Fans are ready for a Seattle SuperSonics return to Emerald City

According to the contract, should certain conditions be met under the approval of a new team located in Seattle, the Thunder ownership group will transfer intellectual property, including logos, color scheme, branding and even team history and statistics, to the new ownership group in place. In fact, there's even language in the agreement that banners, retired jerseys and trophies may be transferred to the new team owner in Seattle.

Any prospective ownership group, however, is under no obligation to reestablish the SuperSonics should an expansion franchise be approved in Seattle, and the NBA would leave it up to the prospective ownership group.

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It makes logical — if not easy — business sense, though, for new owners to simply reincorporate the SuperSonics back into the NBA. For one, it takes years of trust, marketing outreach, capital investment and performance to build brand loyalty. Compared to a prospective expansion team in Las Vegas, the Sonics already have that.

To that point, it's not uncommon at NBA games in the Western Conference to occasionally have some fans in attendance with jerseys, flags and gear with the old SuperSonics branding.

And given this rich history — the SuperSonics played 40 seasons in the city and won an NBA Finals in 1979 — it's a near guarantee that basketball fans will once again embrace the brand in the city, which has been without an NBA outfit since 2008; the Seattle Storm, the city's WNBA franchise, held its inaugural season in 2000.

All this to say that it would be a missed opportunity, if not a massive blunder, for a new team to not embrace the Sonics brand.

In a brief conversation with USA TODAY Sports following his press conference Wednesday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver reiterated that any potential decision to reestablish the SuperSonics brand would be up to the prospective owner, though Silver also acknowledged the wide reach and loyalty fans have to the brand.

"I do a great deal of traveling around the country and the world," Silver said. "And one of the top five, six questions I get, easily, is 'When are the Sonics coming back?' "

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:NBA Seattle expansion news: Does this mean SuperSonics are back?

byAnio Baumeister

in

March 26, 2026

NBA Seattle: Does expansion news mean SuperSonics are back?

So,does this all mean the Seattle SuperSonics are coming back? Not necessarily, but the chance did just get a...

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Mbappé denies that Real Madrid examined the wrong knee after his injury

BOSTON (AP) —Kylian Mbappéon Wednesday denied media reports that claimed Real Madrid examined the wrong leg when the France star sustained a knee injury late last year.

Spain La Liga Soccer

The soccer show "After Foot" on French broadcaster RMC Sport reported this week that the Spanish club had initially scanned his right knee, rather than the left one, in December. Other media outlets in Spain ran similar stories, nearly all of them citing RMC.

Mbappé played throughout January but was then sidelined for three-and-a-half weeks before making his latest comeback.

"The report that said that they (examined) the wrong knee is false," Mbappé said at a press conference ahead of France'sWorld Cupwarmup against Brazil.

"I am maybe responsible indirectly for this situation, because when you don't communicate on what's happening, it opens doors to others' interpretations."

The club said in late December that Mbappé hadsprained his left knee.

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Mbappé said he has "very clear communication" with Real Madrid.

France plays Brazil on Thursday in Foxborough and faces Colombia on Sunday in Landover.

On Monday in Paris,Mbappé said his knee feels fine. He was used as a substitute in Real Madrid's last two matches as he works his way back into form.

"There was a lot of frustration, a lot of anger, and then also some anxiety at one point," Mbappé told French media late Monday at a promotional event. "I had reached a stage where I didn't know what was wrong with me. I didn't go through that period in the best way. I wasn't the happiest player in the world. But I'm happy now because it's truly behind me. It's all gone."

AP soccer:https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

byAnio Baumeister

in

March 26, 2026

Mbappé denies that Real Madrid examined the wrong knee after his injury

BOSTON (AP) —Kylian Mbappéon Wednesday denied media reports that claimed Real Madrid examined the wrong leg when the Fra...

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Reality TV thrives on messy people — but the Taylor Frankie Paul backlash reveals when audiences finally draw the line

Taylor Frankie Paul didn't become a reality TV star in spite of controversy. She became one because of it.

OnThe Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, her messy, highly public personal life wasn't a backstory;it was the premise. The show leaned into it, audiences responded and the formula of taking someone already generating attention online and giving that attention a bigger stage worked. Then,The Bachelorettetried to follow the same playbook.

When Paul wasannounced as the leadfor the long-running ABC franchise last September, both the public and the network were aware of her past. The mom of three was known for a"soft-swinging" scandalthat led to the dissolution of her marriage to Tate Paul and was introduced to television screensthrough the lens of her 2023 arrestfollowing analtercation with her then-boyfriendDakota Mortensen.

What viewers knew about Paul — the good, the bad and the ugly — only fed their curiosity. Reality TV has long depended on that dynamic: controversy as a draw, not a deterrent. But the past week exposed the limit of that logic, whenTMZ released videoof the 2023 incident.

The swift shift in public opinion of Paul and the unprecedentedcancellationof herBacheloretteseason, days before it was set to premiere, wasn't about new information. It was about how that information was experienced. What had been a watchable drama suddenly became unwatchable. Now media experts say it's not aboutwherethe line is, but when viewers decide it's been crossed.

The appeal of messy TV

Paul's selection as theBacheloretteinitially raised eyebrows. She was a single mother of three with no prior ties to the franchise, known largely for the volatility of her past relationships. But for a series struggling to maintain relevance, the choice was strategic. Reality TV has increasingly trained audiences to see controversy not as a liability, but as a compelling narrative.

"There is something to the controversy that draws people in,"Vassilis Dalakas, a marketing professor at Point Loma Nazarene University who has studiedthis phenomenon, tells Yahoo. "There is something to their behavior or their personality that automatically makes them more interesting to watch."

The pull isn't always easy to articulate, but Dalakas points to schadenfreude — the pleasure derived from someone else's misfortune — as a key part of it.

[Paul] was fascinating to people because she was putting it all out there, and TV bought into that.Jasmine Weg

"We're watching with the hope that justice is restored," he says. That can mean wanting to see a controversial figure face consequences. But it can also mean hoping for the opposite: a redemption arc. Reality TV thrives on both impulses at once — the desire to see someone struggle and the possibility that they might change.

"There are people who are truly wishing this is a chance for them to get everything together," Dalakas says.

Paul fit neatly into that framework. Her online presence was built on openness about a chaotic personal life, andThe Secret Lives of Mormon Wivesturned that into something that viewers could actively interpret — was she driving the chaos or caught in it? That ambiguity didn't deter audiences; it gave them a reason to keep watching.

Jasmine Weg, a New York-based attorney and host of the podcastExhibit A-List,says that kind of visibility is exactly what reality TV looks for. "[Paul] was fascinating to people because she was putting it all out there, and TV bought into that," Weg tells Yahoo.

Shows aren't just willing to include that mess; they're structured around it. FromReal HousewivestoVanderpump Rules, questionable, even ugly behavior has become part of the draw.

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In that context, casting Paul wasn't a departure, even if she felt outside ofThe Bachelorette's realm. It was a continuation of a formula that works. But this time, it came with real-life consequences.

When it becomes problematic

The rapid unraveling of Paul's casting reveals what's uncomfortable about reality TV: The line between messy and problematic isn't set at the start. It's discovered in real time by audiences and producers alike, often only after it's been crossed.

Paul's past has existed as public information that viewers could process at a distance. Viewers had previously seen bodycam footage of the 2023 incident, which was aired in the debut episode ofThe Secret Lives of Mormon Wivesin September 2024, followed by Paul's own expression of remorse. But therecent release of footagefrom the physical dispute itself, which shows Paul throwing a chair at Mortensen with her young daughter seemingly nearby, shifted the conversation.

"There's this notion of visually undeniable evidence," Dalakas says. "The moment we have that, for most people, that's when it's crossed the line."

That distinction between knowing and seeing matters. As Weg put it, people can sit with something that exists in a document, even if it's uncomfortable. But "when you actually see it in front of your own eyes, you can't really look away." What might have been framed as a storyline or backstory no longer feels contained within the show.

"At that point, you're not watching for schadenfreude anymore. You're just upset that the show is even happening," Dalakas says. That shift forces producers to respond. "Controversy translates into engagement, but producers are hoping it never reaches the point where it's gone too far."

"They will tolerate certain behavior, whether it's erratic or outrageous," adds Weg, "but if it comes to the line where the person doesn't look like they're doing well on TV, it's just no longer good TV."

It's no longer about buzz or ratings, but about risk to the show, to its advertisers and to its network's image. "It's not necessarily a moral line," Weg says. "It's thinking about how this will play out for the show."

You're not watching for schadenfreude anymore. You're just upset that the show is even happening."Vassilis Dalakas

That line is rarely fixed, though cases involving domestic violence raise the stakes in a way that extends beyond entertainment, says Katie Ray-Jones, CEO of theNational Domestic Violence Hotline.

"Domestic violence is not just a plotline or press hook; it's an epidemic. We live in a culture where shock and trauma drive clicks and views. In that skewed version of reality, people may forget that victims and survivors of domestic violence, their families and loved ones, are watching and listening," Ray-Jones says. "I wish it didn't take a public display of crisis and violence to spur a response. … 10 million people experience domestic violence every year. No one should feel as if they are alone, and all those who choose to cause harm should be held accountable — regardless of who they are or how many followers they have."

Moments like this expose a tension at the center of a genre that relies on real people and real experiences, yet packages them for consumption. When those experiences involve undeniable harm, that framing becomes harder to justify.

"There's a question we all have to ask ourselves about whether we're comfortable finding entertainment in someone's real struggles," says Weg. "We all have to decide where to draw that line." For Paul, this was it.

For anyone affected by abuse and needing support, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or if you're unable to speak safely, you can log ontothehotline.orgor text LOVEIS to 22522.

byAnio Baumeister

in

March 26, 2026

Reality TV thrives on messy people — but the Taylor Frankie Paul backlash reveals when audiences finally draw the line

Taylor Frankie Paul didn't become a reality TV star in spite of controversy. She became one because of it. ...

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