During the opening segment of the second episode of the series, Aaron Hernandez is on the phone with his agent. During the call, which is audibly played over a slow-motion video of a prisoner in handcuffs and chains, his agent, Brian Murphy, jokingly says that he’s having trouble securing marketing deals with Nike, claiming that they said it would be tough to put the swooshes on orange jumpsuits.

“It should be all rise, baby,” are the words that Barney Stinson declares in an episode of How I Met Your Mother. He’s referring to a mixtape he made — remember those? — and how there’s a misconception that mixtapes should inevitably rise and fall to keep people pumped and wanting more.

Not Barney’s CD, though, and not The Rise of Skywalker, either.

The opening crawl of TRoS is just the beginning, literally, as the words “The dead speak!” are plastered immediately across the screen and opens the return of Emperor Palpatine. …

There’s a moment in any career — let alone a professional skating career — where you have to stare down the barrel of a gun that is retirement. For most people, this is a momentous occasion, full of celebration. But, for Mikey Taylor, it was troublesome as the choice was outside of his own volition.

“I tore a ligament in my leg […] so I ended up having surgery. Then, DC [Taylor’s shoe sponsor] let me go two months after I had surgery, so I still had four months to go until I was able to skate again. …

Let me preface this with a fact: I am no baseball savant or aficionado. I only ever really watch baseball in October, but have found a recent liking to the sport. Yet, what the Nationals just thrillingly accomplished was exactly what I hoped for heading into October baseball.

The Ewing Theory — popularized by Bill Simmons — is the idea that a team performs better after the departure of a franchise player. In this case, the Nationals lost Bryce Harper, their seemingly all-time great player, to free agency before the season. …

Suciu isn’t as heavily regarded as his counterparts, Shane O’Neill or Paul Rodriguez, who make their due with flip-in, flip-out types of tricks. Methodically, both O’Neill and Rodriguez attack their prey with a slow roll, but tenacity nonetheless. Suciu, I’d argue, looks not nearly as technical as these two, but upon closer look and review actually uses his quick feet to attempt and complete tricks that are unlike other skateboarders.

Quick Footed Attack

Suciu has some gravity-defying tricks up his sleeves in “Verso.” But, there are a few that quickly points out his approach to precision in his tricks.

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Tebow made his way back into the headlines by claiming a belief that college athletes should remain unpaid. His opinion isn’t unheard of per se — but it perfectly summarized his privilege as an unknowing, white male among a sea of marginalized groups.

Tim Tebow emphatically went on ESPN’s First Take to stake his position in the oft-debated question of whether or not collegiate athletes should be compensated with some of the profit made from their likeness. The segment comes on the heels of California state legislature passing a bill that would allow college athletes to make money from their…

When I was six years old, my first-grade teacher had an interesting book project for my class. We designed our own stories and illustrated them. She then took our pages and bound them to create a version of a softcover book. At six years old when you see your name prefaced with the title “Author” your imagination lights up like fireflies on a humid summer night. In turn, it summons an unknown, yet inherent drive from deep inside. It also sets you up for a future of uncertainty, depression, and failure. But, these may not all be bad things necessarily.

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Dan Woike floated a photograph onto Twitter that showed the roster of the last Team USA to lose in international competition. The names are quite astounding: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, and Chris Bosh all graced their presence on the team.

Mind you, this was all the way back in 2006. Back then, this roster full of players were definitely being heralded as the future of the NBA, but hadn’t made their mark just yet. Except, perhaps Wade, who had just come off a championship season with the Miami Heat. …