Former San Antonio Spurs psychologist Hillary Cauthen is suing the Spurs and the team’s 2021 No. 12 draft pick Josh Primo over alleged incidents involving indecent exposure by Primo, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Bexar County, Texas.
Cauthen will also file a criminal complaint against Primo for “multiple counts of indecent exposure,” her attorney Tony Buzbee said Thursday during a news conference in Houston.
“We expect them to prosecute,” Buzbee said.
Cauthen was hired under contract by the Spurs in September 2021. According to the suit, Primo exposed himself nine times in front of Cauthen, beginning in December 2021.
“I’m a clinical sports psychologist; I’m a mother of four wonderful daughters. I’m a woman, and I am a victim,” Cauthen said Thursday.
According to the suit, Cauthen first raised her concerns over Primo’s conduct with Spurs GM Brian Wright in January 2022. Cauthen had her first meeting with Wright on March 21 and continued to voice her concerns about Primo, expressing to Wright that she felt uncomfortable meeting with Primo alone, the lawsuit says.
After the meeting with Wright, Cauthen alleges that she continued to be called upon to visit Primo. Cauthen met with Wright again in April to express her frustration and concern that no action had been taken, according to the lawsuit. Wright asked Cauthen “what consequence” she wanted to occur, and Cauthen responded that she felt it was up to the team to address the situation, the suit says. Wright then informed her that the organization’s legal team would be in contact with her.
According to the lawsuit, in May, Cauthen met multiple times with lawyers from the Spurs organization, including its deputy general counsel and as well as the chief legal officer and general counsel, and was promised an investigation would occur. At this time, Cauthen was instructed to avoid contact with Primo and was told that the team was preparing a “write-up.”
A week or more later, after requesting an update on the status of the investigation, deputy general counsel Brandon James and head of human resources Kara Allen told Cauthen that Primo would continue to participate in team activities and suggested Cauthen work from home, according to the suit.
In June, James and Allen disclosed that they had spoken with Primo, the lawsuit says, and suggested setting up a conversation with Primo to address his behavior. Cauthen refused.
At a meeting later in June, James and Allen informed Cauthen that the franchise was considering a “corrective process for the timely reporting of incidents.” They also informed Cauthen that head coach Gregg Popovich “was aware of her complaints and accusations and that he ‘wanted to do right by her.’ ”
Later on Thursday, Spurs Sports & Entertainment CEO R.C. Buford released a statement, that read in part: “We disagree with the accuracy of facts, details and timeline presented today. While we would like to share more information, we will allow the legal process to play out.”
The Spurs waived Primo last week after he had played just four games with the team this season.
William J. Briggs, II, attorney for Primo, issued a statement Thursday, defending the accusations against his client.
“Josh Primo is a 19-year-old NBA player who has suffered a lifetime of trauma and challenges,” Briggs said. “He is now being victimized by his former team-appointed sports psychologist, who is playing to ugly stereotypes and racially charged fears for her own financial benefit.”
The statement went on to deny the accusations that Primo exposed himself, calling them “a complete fabrication, a gross embellishment or utter fantasy. Josh Primo never intentionally exposed himself to her or anyone else and was not even aware that his private parts were visible outside of his workout shorts.”
The midway point of the 2022 NFL regular season is here, well, kind of. Technically, it’s halftime of Week 9, so feel free to read this article then. The selections won’t change based on first-half play Sunday.
This is your first-half-of-2022 All-Rookie team. The 2022 draft class wasn’t lauded for its strength at quarterback, and that’s absolutely played out on the field thus far.
We’re running “11 personnel” — one back, one tight end, and three receivers — offensively, and a nickel look — two linebackers, five defensive backs — on defense, the most common personnel packages on each side of the ball in today’s NFL.
Zappe’s play in his relief appearances of Mac Jones had Patriots fans buying Zappe Hour shirts and conjuring Bledsoe-to-Brady storylines in their heads. Individually, Zappe wasn’t tremendous in those starts, but the New England offense got a jolt of energy every time he stepped onto the field. There are clear limitations to his game — average arm and mobility — but there’s minimal timidness, which I respect for a rookie passer. Don’t be surprised when we see Zappe later this season.
Pierce was the seventh running back and second Pierce (!) picked in the 2022 draft. (No relation to Colts wideout Alec Pierce, by the way.) And the rugged runner has been the best, most consistent ball-carrier from his class to date. Kenneth Walker III in Seattle is closing in, but Pierce’s 540 yards lead all rookies as do his 41 forced missed tackles. Pierce is a thunderous back has lightning-quick feet.
Alabama isn’t the only marquee college program pumping out first-round pick receivers. Ohio State gets two members on this team, and they were the shoo-ins. And the first half of Olave’s NFL career has been bananas. He was thrust into a No. 1 wideout role with Andy Dalton throwing him passes — not exactly what New Orleans envisioned when the club traded up to get the long-time Buckeyes star — and he’s produced, leading his draft class in receiving yards (547). He’s also made a few spectacular grabs in traffic.
Wilson, the springier of the duo, has managed the second-most rookie receiving yards (430) despite less-than-stellar quarterback play. He’s forced 11 missed tackles on 34 receptions. That’s staggering.
Wide receiver: Alec Pierce, Colts
Pierce sneaks onto the list because of his steadiness in another offense held back by its quarterback. He’s third in rookie receiving yards and first in yards-per-reception, and maybe the latter statistic shouldn’t surprise us — Pierce is 6-foot-3 with 4.41 speed and a 40.5-inch vertical.
Bellinger’s currently dealing with a nasty eye injury, yet the former San Diego State phenom whom the Giants picked in the fourth round has been a focal point of the Giants’ low-volume passing offense during the team’s surprising 6-2 start. He has 16 catches for 152 yards with two scores, and his 6.4 yards-after-the-catch-per-reception average leads all qualifying rookie tight ends.
Playing the “five best” blockers is a common coaching adage, and I’m following it here, with four tackles and a center for this list. They’ve all earned it. Linderbaum hasn’t been quite as dominant as he was in the Big 10 at Iowa. However, he’s playing well beyond his years in Baltimore’s offense.
Offensive line: Abraham Lucas, Seahawks
The two tackles in Seattle are a damn problem. Lucas wants to punish every defender on run plays and of course is a polished pass protector after his long, illustrious career in Washington State’s pass-obsessed offense.
Jones was a fifth-round pick out of Southern Utah, and although the raw and advanced statistics aren’t incredibly kind right now, in watching his film, I see a long, physical, decently balanced left tackle getting better essentially every week, and Chicago isn’t offering him loads of help on the outside.
Cross and Ekwonu, the two blue-chip tackle prospects in the 2022 class, took a week or two to settle in, and now they’re flourishing, particularly when asked to protect their respective quarterback. They’re both calm, athletic blockers. Ekwonu has been studly of late, Cross has been more consistent from the start of the season.
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If you’ve overlooked Ebiketie’s production, you won’t be faulted, because the Falcons defense as a whole has been brittle in the first half of the season. But the second-round pick from Penn State has demonstrated all the traits and refined skills that led to him flying up boards during the pre-draft process. He’s registered the third-most pressures (19) on the fourth-most pass-rush snaps among rookie edge rushers entering Week 9.
As for Thibodeaux, he’s started to come into his own after an injury delayed his NFL debut. Run-stopping, quick pass-run wins — we’re beginning to see the Thibodeaux who shined for three seasons at Oregon. He has multiple pressures in his past five outings.
Believe it or not, Davis is second among all rookie defensive tackles in pressures (seven) at the midway point of the season. He’s been as expected as a rock against the run for Philadelphia’s stout defense, too.
Lost in the Buccaneers’ disappointing start has been a sneaky-good start for Hall. No, he hasn’t lit the world on fire, yet the early second-round selection has looked the part as a versatile pass-rushing specialist on Tampa Bay’s defensive line. He leads all interior rushers with seven quarterback pressures to date.
Rodriguez was an afterthought on the third day of the draft, a lowly sixth-round pick by the Lions. But on a brutal Detroit defense, the former Oklahoma State stud has been a man on a mission. He’s missed just 8.2% of his tackle attempts — a low figure — with a pass breakup, a forced fumble, four pressures and a sack as one of his club’s full-time linebackers.
Lloyd gets the slight nod over Quay Walker in Green Bay mostly due to his ball production in coverage. Lloyd has missed tackles at a higher rate than Walker, yet leads all rookie linebackers in tackles (68) and pressures (eight).
Gardner is the odds-on favorite to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. His 12 pass breakups lead the entire NFL. Despite his lanky frame that typically leads to slower short-area quickness, Gardner’s twitchiness and length help him disrupt passes on a regular basis.
Cornerback: Tariq Woolen, Seahawks
Woolen is another length-based outside corner with blistering 4.26 speed, and frankly, his coverage instincts are much further ahead than anyone — including the Seahawks — probably expected. He has four interceptions to date.
Cornerback: Jack Jones, Patriots
Jones didn’t play early in his rookie season, but then burst onto the scene with a textbook pick-six of Aaron Rodgers a few weeks ago. He had another pick against the Lions. Although he’s missed plenty of tackles, the Arizona State product has been everywhere in New England’s defense.
Yes, a second Lions defender on this list, which feels insane given how porous Detroit’s defense has been. Joseph was incredibly rangy at Illinois in college and has played like that eraser on the back-end during the first half of his debut campaign for the Lions. He has a pass breakup and two forced fumbles, and teams have shied away from him down the field. Joseph has allowed three catches on just eight targets in his coverage area to date.
Brisker was a ferocious, constantly involved defender at Penn State. That style has carried over to Chicago in his rookie season with the Bears. He leads all rookie safeties with 51 tackles and pressures (four). His interception against the Patriots was of the highlight-reel variety. Brisker is a DUDE.
Nahida is a 5-Star Dendro character who was added to Genshin Impact during Phase 1 of the 3.2 update.
Nahida is featured as the boosted 5-Star character in her The Moongrass’ Enlightenment Banner in version 3.2, but she will eventually return at some point in the future when the Banner schedule cycles back to her.
Whether you have her, or want to prepare for if you do Wish for her successfully, it’s good to know the best Nahida build in Genshin Impact, including her best Artifacts and best team. It’s also handy to learn what her Constellation perks are, and what Talent materials and Ascension materials are needed to level up Nahida to her full potential.
Be sure to check out our Genshin Impact codes page to get free Primogems that can be used towards unlocking Nahida and other characters.
Nahida materials and stats:
Nahida build:
Character Teaser – “Nahida: Happy Birthday” | Genshin Impact.
Genshin Impact Nahida Talents, skills, star, element, and weapon
Nahida is a 5-Star Dendro character who uses a catalyst, and is best used in either a sub DPS (Damage Per Second), main DPS, or hybrid of both, depending on how you want to play her, and who is in your team.
Here’s a summary of Nahida’s abilities and stats in Genshin Impact:
Element: Dendro.
Rarity: 5-Star.
Weapon: Catalyst.
Banner: The Moongrass’ Enlightenment.
Best build: Hybrid main and sub DPS.
Normal Attack: Akara.
Elemental Skill: All Schemes to Know.
Elemental Burst: Illusory Heart.
Passive one: Compassion Illuminated (The Shrine of Maya during Nahida’s Elemental Burst increases the active character on the field’s Elemental Mastery by 25% of the party member with the highest Elemental Mastery stat, with a maximum of 250 Elemental Mastery gained).
Passive two: Awakening Elucidated (Each point of Elemental Mastery over 200 will grant Nahida a 0.1% damage bonus and 0.03% critical rate bonus to the Tri-Karma Purification effect from her Elemental Skill, with a maximum of 80% damage and 24% crit rate gained).
Exploration bonus: On All Things Meditated (Nahida can use her Elemental Skill to pick up harvestable materials within a fixed AOE. It can also be used to interact with NPCs in a special way).
Nahida Normal Attack – Akara
Nahida uses her catalyst to perform up to four attacks that deal Dendro damage. Charging the attack consumes stamina instead to deal AOE (Area of Effect) Dendro damage to opponents in front of her. As with most plunging attacks, Nahida slams to the ground from mid-air, damaging all opponents on her way down, and dealing AOE Dendro damage upon impact.
Nahida Elemental Skill – All Schemes to Know
Tapping the Elemental Skill button produces karmic bonds of wood, dealing AOE Dendro damage and marking up to eight opponents with the Seeds of Skandha.
Holding the Elemental Skill button will instead activate an aiming mode, increasing Nahida’s resistance to interruption, and allowing you to select eight opponents within a certain area of the camera. When released after aiming, Dendro Damage is applied to the marked opponents, and also marks them with the Seed of Skandha. This aiming mode can last up to five seconds.
When marked with the Seed of Skandha, opponents are linked if close enough to each other. Linked opponents take damage through the Tri-Karma Purification effect when one is hit with an Elemental Reaction, or takes damage from a Dendro Core – this includes Burgeon and Hyperbloom.
Tri-Karma Purification deals Dendro damage based on Nahida’s Attack and Elemental Mastery stats. You can only trigger one Tri-Karma Purification within a short period of time, and cannot stack the Tri-Karma Purification effect on multiple groups of enemies.
Nahida Elemental Burst – Illusory Heart
Creates a massive AOE Shrine of Maya effect, with the following modifiers gained when inside the shrine based on what elemental types your party are, with the differing effects stacking:
Pyro – Damage dealt by Tri-Karma Purification is increased dependant on Nahida’s character level
Electro – The interval between each Tri-Karma Purification is decreased dependant on Nahida’s character level
Hydro – The Shrine of Maya’s duration is increased dependant on Nahida’s character level
With two teammates of the same element in your party, the above effects are increased even further – again, based on Nahida’s character level.
The Shrine of Maya is still active even when Nahida isn’t on the field.
Genshin Impact Nahida Talent materials
Crystalline Cyst Dust.
To get the most out of using Nahida, you will have to level her skills up by using Talent materials, which vary from character-to-character.
For Nahida, you’ll need to farm a lot of Ingenuity and Crystalline Cyst Dust materials (if you don’t already have them) to fully upgrade her capabilities.
As Nahida has three Talents, you will have to spend three times the Talent materials listed below to fully upgrade all of her abilities, which we’ve also detailed below the table.
Please note that Puppet Strings is a new material sourced from the brand new boss, Scaramouche (referred to as Shouki no Kami, the Prodigal).
Here’s what Nahida Talent materials you need to improve one of her abilities:
x16 Philosophies of Ingenuity, x12 Crystalline Cyst Dust, x2 Puppet Strings, x1 Crown of Insight
700,000
Here’s what Talent Materials you’ll need to fully upgrade one of Nahida’s skills:
x1 Crown of Insight
x3 Teachings of Ingenuity
x6 Fungal Spores
x6 Puppet Strings
x21 Guide to Ingenuity
x22 Luminescent Pollen
x31 Crystalline Cyst Dust
x38 Philosophies to Ingenuity
1,652,500 Mora
To upgrade all three of Nahida’s skills, here’s all the Talent Materials you’ll need:
x3 Crown of Insight
x9 Teachings of Ingenuity
x18 Fungal Spores
x18 Puppet Strings
x63 Guide to Ingenuity
x66 Luminescent Pollen
x93 Crystalline Cyst Dust
x114 Philosophies to Ingenuity
4,957,500 Mora
Genshin Impact Nahida Ascension materials
Kalpalata Lotus.
Just like Talents, you need to use Nahida Ascension materials to upgrade her health, attack, defence, and critical hit effectiveness.
You’ll need to farm a lot of Kalpalata Lotus and Quelled Creeper materials for Nahida (if you don’t already have them) to fully upgrade her capabilities.
Quelled Creeper is a new material that drops from the brand new Dendro Hypostasis located in the Sumeru region.
Unlike Talent materials, you only need to spend the below Ascension materials once to fully raise Nahida to her highest character level. There is also Acquaint Fate rewarded for reaching certain Ascension levels. You can spend this Fate on the standard and beginner Banners to Wish for characters and weapons.
Here’s what Nahida Ascension materials and Mora you need to upgrade her for each Ascension level:
In total, here’s all the Ascension Materials you need for Nahida in Genshin Impact:
x1 Nagadus Emerald Sliver
x6 Nagadus Emerald Gemstone
x9 Nagadus Emerald Fragment
x9 Nagadus Emerald Chunk
x18 Fungal Spores
x30 Luminescent Pollen
x36 Crystalline Cyst Dust
x46 Quelled Creeper
x168 Kalpalata Lotus
420,000 Mora
Genshin Impact Nahida Constellation
By getting duplicates of Nahida from wishing on Banners, you will receive her Stella Fortuna. This material allows you to unlock Constellation levels, with each upgrade either improving an existing Talent or Passive ability.
Although still very effective at C0, if your pulling for Nahida multiple times, it looks like she has some really good Constellation perks, even if stopping at C1 or C2.
Here are all of Nahida’s Constellation level upgrades in Genshin Impact:
The Seed of Stored Knowledge (C1): When the Shrine of Maya is unleashed and the Elemental Types of the party members are being tabulated, the count will add one to the number of Pyro, Electro, and Hydro characters respectively.
The Root of All Fullness (C2): Opponents that are marked by Seeds of Skandha applied by Nahida herself will be affected by Burning, Bloom, Hyperbloom and Burgeon scoring critical hits, with crit rate and crit damage fixed at 20% and 100% respectively. Additionally, within eight seconds of being affected by Quicken, Aggravate, or Spread, enemies’ defence is decreased by 30%.
The Shoot of Conscious Attainment (C3): Increases the level of Nahida’s Elemental Skill, All Schemes to Know, by three, with a maximum upgrade level of 15.
The Stem of Manifest Inference (C4): When nearby opponents are affected by All Schemes to Know’s Seeds of Skandha, Nahida’s Elemental Mastery will be increased dependant on how many enemies are affected by the seeds. One will raise Elemental Mastery by 100, two by 120, three by 140, and four or over by 160.
The Leaves of Enlightening Speech (C5): Increases the level of Illusory Heart by three, with a maximum upgrade level of 15.
The Fruit of Reason’s Culmination (C6): When Nahida hits an opponent affected by All Schemes to Know’s Seeds of Skandha with normal or charged attacks after activating Illusory Heart, she will use Tri-Karma Purification – Karmic Oblivion on this enemy and all connected enemies, dealing Dendro damage based on 200% of Nahida’s Attack and 400% of her Elemental Mastery. This damage is considered Elemental Skill damage, and can be triggered once every 0.2 seconds. The effect can last up to ten seconds, but will be removed after Nahida has used six instances of Tri-Karma Purification – Karmic Oblivion.
How to play Nahida in Genshin Impact
Nahida is a very powerful character who can perform well in a main DPS or sub DPS role – or a hybrid of both, as it all depends on what team you want to use her in. Due to this, her playstyle is heavily dependent on what other characters you have in your party.
It seems like her whole kit is pushing players towards pairing Nahida with either Nilou or Cyno, but her playstyle with these two Sumeru characters won’t apply to most other Nahida teams. If you are using Nahida with Nilou or Cyno, then we highly recommend checking out out our Nilou build and Cyno build guides to see exactly how to use Nahida’s Dendro abilities in these teams, and who else should be in your party.
Generally speaking though, when playing Nahida, you’ll want to pair her with at least one Pyro, Electro, or Hydro character, use her Elemental Burst, then hold down her Elemental Skill and mark as many opponents as possible. Lastly, you should use another character to apply an Elemental Reaction with Dendro to one opponent, which will damage all enemies linked with the Seed of Skandha gained from previously marking with Nahida’s Elemental Skill.
As Burgeon and Hyperbloom reactions count, it would be ideal to already have a Pyro or Hydro Element applied to an enemy before using Nahida’s Elemental Skill in this rotation, for maximum DPS potential.
Best Nahida team comp in Genshin Impact
We consider a Nilou Team or Cyno team to be the best team comp to pair with Nahida. For full details on why, you can check out our Nilou and Cyno build pages, but generally speaking, it’s due to the way Nahida can set up devesating Bloom and Quicken Elemental Reactions, respectively.
In a Nilou team, you’ll want a Hydro healer, ideally Kokomi, and either another Hydro support like Yelan or Xingqiu, or another Dendro support like the Dendro Traveler or Collei. You can only have Hydro and Dendro characters on good Nilou teams, which can limit some of Nahida’s abilities.
If you have Nilou or Cyno, it’s best to include Nahida in your team.
In a Cyno team, you’ll want an Electro ‘battery’ who can provide Cyno with Energy Particles towards Elemental Burst recharge, while providing Nahida with a decreased downtime for her Tri-Karma Purification ability. Fischl is the ideal choice for this role, but Kuki Shinobu and Dori can replace her if needed. Kokomi is best to choose for the last team slot due to her benefits to both Cyno and Nahida, but Xingqiu, Yelan, Kazuha, and Zhongli are good options too.
If you don’t have Cyno or Nilou, you can build around other Hydro and Electro DPS characters for Dendro reactions, like Yelan, Mona, Raiden Shogun, Yae Miko, Keqing, or even Beidou.
Best Nahida Artifacts in Genshin Impact
Part of the Deepwood Memories Set.
To take advantage of Nahida’s Dendro damage, you should have someone on your team with the four-piece Deepwood Memories. Ideally, this should be on a Dendro character like Nahida to boost their personal damage, but any party member can equip Deepwood Memories to help decrease enemies’ Dendro resistance and raise your party’s DPS potential.
If you’re not putting the Deepwood Memories set on Nahida, then we recommend the four-piece Gilded Dreams Artifact set for +80% Elemental Mastery with the two-piece, and a buff based on the Elemental Type of the other party members with the full four-piece equipped. With the full set, within eight seconds of triggering an Elemental Reaction, Nahida’s attack is increased by 14% for each Dendro character in the party, and Elemental Mastery is increased by 50 for every member who isn’t Dendro. Even better, this buff is still applied when Nahida is not the active character.
Lastly, for all Artifacts, you should prioritise Elemental Mastery or Crit Rate with your main and sub-stats, with Elemental Mastery taking priority.
Best Nahida weapon in Genshin Impact
The 5-Star A Thousand Floating Dreams catalyst.
As with most signatures, the 5-Star A Thousand Floating Dreams catalyst is Nahida’s best weapon in Genshin Impact. Signature weapons are basically custom built for characters, as is the case with this one.
The A Thousand Floating Dreams catalyst means having other Dendro party members increases Nahida’s Elemental Mastery by 32 for each one. If not Dendro, they will increase Nahida’s damage bonus by 10%. Each of these bonuses can stack three times. Additionally, all party members other than Nahida will have their Elemental Mastery increased by 40.
If you don’t want to spend your Fate on Wishing on character and weapon Banners, however, then you can repurpose other 5-Star catalysts instead, most notably the Wandering Evenstar for its Elemental Mastery increase.
As for 4-Star weapon options, the Sacrificial Fragments and Mappa Mare seem to be great options for enhancing Nahida’s abilities passively, with Sacrificial Fragments having a chance to automatically end the cooldown of Nahida’s Elemental Skill.
Genshin Impact 3.2 is nearly here, so spend make sure to complete Star-Seeker’s Sojourn and spend those Primogems to Wish with Fate for Nilou while you can! You can check out the next and current Banners, and for future events, make sure you’re the right Adventure Rank. If you’re just starting your Sumeru journey, we can help with Sumeru Reputation, Tree of Dreams, and Dendroculus locations.
As always, you can visit our tier list, and learn how Pity and 50/50 works.
If you want to relax, however, why not try fishing at one of the many fishing spot locations?
Remember to also check back regularly for all the latest Genshin Impact codes.
Best Nahida build in Genshin Impact
If you want to take advantage of her hybrid sub and main DPS capabilities, we have compiled what we think is currently the best Nahida build in Genshin Impact:
Nahida Best Weapon: 5-Star A Thousand Floating Dreams catalyst.
Nahida Best Artifacts: 4-Piece Deepowood Memories or Gilded Dreams.
Nahida Best team comp: Cyno, Dendro Traveler, Kokomi.
It can take a lot of time to farm for the materials needed to get Nahida to her full potential, but with great main and sub DPS abilities, she can will be worth it in the long run, especially if pairing her with with either Nilou or Cyno, or other great Hydro and Electro characters.
Good luck levelling up Nahida in Genshin Impact!
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The XFL is back in 2023, its third iteration after trying to launch a spring football league two other times. The first came in 2001, and there was also a COVID-19-shortened attempt in 2020. Before the league, which is being run by an ownership group headed by league co-owners Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia, can get going, however, it first needed its eight teams to have logos and team names.
We now have those, as the XFL released the franchise names and brands Monday, the next step as the league readies for its kickoff in February, which will be shown on the ESPN family of networks. What’s next? Assigning 16 quarterbacks to its franchises (two per team) on Nov. 15, followed by the draft, which will take place Nov. 16-17 at the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada.
Here are the eight team names and logos, along with information about the stadiums and head coaches for each franchise:
Arlington Renegades
Stadium: Choctaw Stadium Coach: Bob Stoops
Stoops is known for his success at the University of Oklahoma, where he coached from 1999 to 2016. He brought a struggling Sooners program back to national prominence, winning a championship in 2000 and leading Oklahoma to 10 Big 12 titles in 18 seasons. Stoops compiled a 191-48 record with the Sooners, making him the winningest coach in Oklahoma history. He also coached the XFL’s Dallas Renegades in 2020, leading them to a 2-3 mark.
D.C. Defenders
Stadium: Audi Field Coach: Reggie Barlow
Barlow, who played eight seasons in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a receiver and kick returner, coached 13 seasons for HBCU teams before joining the XFL. Barlow coached eight seasons at his alma mater, Alabama State, from 2007 to 2014 before coaching another five seasons at Division II Virginia State from 2016 to 2021. He has an 83-58 record as a coach with one conference title.
Houston Roughnecks
Stadium: TDECU Stadium Coach: Wade Phillips
Phillips has coached professional football dating back to 1976, serving as a defensive assistant coach for 10 NFL franchises, most recently as the Los Angeles Rams’ coordinator from 2017 to 2019. Phillips has also been an NFL head coach, compiling an 83-69 record over nine seasons (including playoffs) with the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys.
Orlando Guardians
Stadium: Camping World Stadium Coach: Terrell Buckley
After spending 14 seasons as a cornerback in the NFL from 1992 to 2005 for seven teams, including the Super Bowl XXXVI champion New England Patriots in 2001, Buckley worked as a college coach for 15 seasons after retiring as a player. He was an assistant at the college level from 2007 to 2021, most recently as the cornerbacks coach for Ole Miss from 2020 to 2021. The Florida State product had 50 career interceptions in the NFL.
San Antonio Brahmas
Stadium: Alamodome Coach: Hines Ward
Ward joins the Brahmas as their coach and general manager after an illustrious 14-year playing career for the Pittsburgh Steelers, in which he made four Pro Bowls and was the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XL. Ward finished his playing career with 1,000 receptions for 12,083 yards and 85 touchdowns. He has four seasons of coaching experience, most recently as the wide receivers coach at Florida Atlantic in 2021.
Seattle Sea Dragons
Stadium: Lumen Field Coach: Jim Haslett
Along with playing eight seasons in the NFL as a linebacker for the Bills and New York Jets and coaching the New Orleans Saints for six seasons from 2000 to 2005, Haslett has experience with spinoff football leagues, as he led the United Football League’s Florida Tuskers to a 6-0 record in 2009. Haslett has nearly three decades of NFL coaching experience as a head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
St. Louis BattleHawks
Stadium: The Dome at America’s Center Coach: Anthony Becht
Becht was a first-round draft pick by the Jets in 2000 and spent 11 seasons in the NFL as a tight end for the Jets, Buccaneers, Rams, Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs. Becht, who had 188 career receptions for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns as a player, served as the tight ends coach for the Alliance of American Football’s San Diego Fleet in 2019.
Vegas Vipers
Stadium: TBA Coach: Rod Woodson
Woodson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009 after a 17-year career with the Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens and Raiders, which saw him set an NFL record with 12 interception returns for touchdowns and finish third in league history with 71 interceptions. Woodson, who won a Super Bowl with the Ravens in 2000, spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Raiders from 2015 to 2017.
SAN FRANCISCO — Members of billionaire Elon Musk’s inner circle huddled with Twitter’s remaining senior executives throughout the weekend, conducting detailed discussions regarding the site’s approach to content moderation, as well as plans to lay off 25 percent of the workforce to start.
Alex Spiro, a well-known celebrity lawyer who has represented Musk for several years, led those conversations. Spiro is taking an active role in managing several teams at Twitter, including legal, government relations, policy and marketing, according to four people familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe them, as well as tweets from some of the people involved.
Longtime Musk associates David Sacks and Jason Calcanis appeared in a company directory over the weekend, according to photos obtained by The Washington Post. Both had official company emails and their titles were “staff software engineer.” Musk’s title in the directory was CEO, although that position has not been publicly announced. He refers to himself as “Chief Twit.”
On Oct. 27, Elon Musk completed his purchase of Twitter and began taking control of the social media company, firing several key executives. (Video: Jonathan Baran/The Washington Post)
Meanwhile, the team was deciding on what is expected to be a first round of layoffs, which will target roughly a quarter of the staff totaling more than 7,000, according to one of the people. Layoffs will touch almost all departments, and are expected to specifically impact sales, product, engineering, legal, and trust and safety in the coming days, the person said. After engineers, some of Twitter’s highest paid employees work in sales, where several earn more than $300,000, according to documents viewed by The Post.
Elon Musk acquires Twitter and fires top executives
Twitter, Musk, Spiro, Sacks and Calcanis did not respond to requests for comment.
The billionaire Tesla owner bought Twitter for $44 billion last week after several strenuous months of negotiations and legal wrangling. Musk first made a bid for the company in the spring, then tried to back out months later. Twitter sued to force him to complete the deal, and eventually the entrepreneur acquiesced and offered to buy the company for his original offer price.
Musk has turned to several longtime allies as he begins his overhaul of Twitter.
Sacks, a conservative firebrand and donor, has worked with Musk from their days running PayPal together two decades ago. Sacks has posted strong ideas about content moderation online and has criticized censorship from Big Tech.
Calcanis is also a longtime Musk friend who texted him frequently to offer advice on the deal, including about job cuts, court records showed.
Documents detail plans to gut Twitter’s workforce
Calacanis tweeted that Saturday was “Day Zero” alongside a photo of a Twitter coffee mug, adding that he had discussed safety issues, along with bots and trolls, with Yoel Roth, a Twitter executive responsible for content moderation policy. Roth then posted details about those policies.
On Sunday, Musk posted apparent internal messages from Roth about Twitter metrics, arguing they show Twitter’s board and lawyers “deliberately hid … evidence from the court.” The tweet showed Musk using his newly gained access to internal information to potentially settle scores.
I met Yoel from twitter safety today, and as a long-term twitter user, I was impressed with his dedication to & perspective on security issues.
I asked him to unpack the issue directly to users. This thread is well worth your time & amplification. https://t.co/ocoBjflOqM
— jason@calacanis.com (@Jason) October 30, 2022
The new leadership team is asking questions about every aspect of the business, including details of content moderation, spam and the risks of upcoming elections, the people said.
Another Musk associate who tweeted about his involvement, Sriram Krishnan, a partner focusing on cryptocurrency at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also tweeted he was helping out with the deal. The firm invested $400 million.
Less than three days into Musk’s ownership, Twitter employees remained in the dark about any new plans for the company as of Sunday evening, according to numerous employees contacted by The Post, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their jobs. The company has yet to release a formal announcement of the acquisition. The communications department has gone silent. Rumors have swirled about layoffs, with some notices going out quietly.
Twitter layoffs are imminent
Layoffs are expected to begin ahead of Nov. 1, when Twitter employees are slated to receive additional compensation related to stock grants. On Sunday Musk tweeted that reporting about impending layoffs at Twitter next week was “false.”
Earlier this year, Musk told prospective partners in the deal that he planned to cut nearly 75 percent of Twitter’s total workforce, which would leave the company with about 2,000 employees, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Post. Musk last week told employees when he visited Twitter’s headquarters that he didn’t plan to cut three-fourths of the workforce.
Another person familiar with the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters last week said the total number of layoffs is likely to be closer to 50 percent.
Already, Musk has fired four senior executives, sent Tesla engineers to evaluate Twitter’s software code, and has tweeted that he plans to form a content moderation council of experts.
Meanwhile, illustrating the difficulties of his new task, Musk tweeted out content from a site that is known to publish misinformation this weekend.
On Saturday, Hillary Clinton, the former first lady and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, posted a tweet criticizing the GOP for spreading “hate and deranged conspiracy theories” that she said had emboldened the man who attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, inside the couple’s home in San Francisco early Friday.
Musk wrote, in a reply to the tweet, that “There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye,” sharing a link to an article in the Santa Monica Observer, site described by fact-checkers as a low-credibility source favoring the extreme right. The article alleges, without evidence, that Paul Pelosi was drunk and in a fight with a male prostitute, referencing a conspiracy theory that had previously been spread on the right. Other right-wing influencers who Musk has interacted with online also amplified the conspiratorial narrative.
The actions by Musk, who has since removed the tweet, show that Twitter has a complicated path ahead, particularly in navigating Musk’s public actions and squaring that with what he says privately.
Li Qiang, likely to become the next premier, is pictured here speaking at a major annual financial conference in Shanghai in 2020.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
BEIJING — Chinese stocks’ plunge on Monday over fears about China’s new leadership team “may be misguided,” consulting firm Teneo said.
Chinese stocks in Hong Kong and New York, especially internet tech giants such as Alibaba, dropped on the first trading day after Chinese President Xi Jinping cemented his firm grip on power with a new core leadership team filled with his loyalists.
Over the last several years, Xi has shown a preference for greater state involvement in the economy.
“Close relationships with Xi notwithstanding, Li Qiang, Li Xi, and Cai Qi all enter the [Politburo standing committee] after heading up rich provinces where economic growth is still the top priority,” Teneo Managing Director Gabriel Wildau and a team said in a note.
Xi’s leadership team
The Politburo standing committee is the highest circle of power in China.
Li Xi has led the export-heavy province of Guangdong as party secretary, while Cai Qi held the role for the capital city of Beijing.
Mr Li [Qiang] has been widely regarded as a capable pro-market and pro-growth politician.
Ting Lu
chief China economist, Nomura
Li Qiang, likely to become the next premier, oversaw stringent Covid lockdowns in Shanghai this year in his role as party secretary of the city.
However, analysts such as Nomura’s Chief China Economist Ting Lu pointed out that Li Qiang “has extensive experience in managing some of China’s richest and biggest provincial economies” — Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shanghai.
“Mr Li has been widely regarded as a capable pro-market and pro-growth politician,” the Nomura report said.
“Mr Li suffered some setbacks during the Omicron wave in spring this year, when the entire city of Shanghai was put under a restrictive full lockdown. However, during most of 2020 and 2021, Shanghai under Mr Li’s governorship was perceived as a role model for achieving a reasonable balance between Covid containment and economic growth.”
Analysts also pointed out the promotions of He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, and securities regulator head Yi Huiman.
He Lifeng will likely “succeed the retiring Liu He as vice premier and director of the party’s Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission,” Teneo analysts said.
In our view, the completion of the [party congress] will enable the top leadership to move on to the next policy agenda soon — relaxing the Covid curbs.
“Though He lacks Liu’s technocratic expertise, He’s record also suggests a strong focus on economic growth,” the report said. “In an article last year, He wrote that economic development was the ‘number one task’ and the foundation and key to solving all our country’s problems.'”
Xi’s speech at the opening of the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress this month emphasized that China will focus on “high-quality development” and “modernization” in the coming years.
Common prosperity — moderate wealth for all, rather than just a few — is a requirement for that modernization, Xi said.
Read more about China from CNBC Pro
Analysts have said China’s renewed pursuit of common prosperity contributed to Beijing’s recent crackdown on internet tech giants.
Chinese officials have signaled that the crackdown is nearing an end. In July, a Politburo meeting readout said officials called for the continued “healthy” development of the “platform economy” and “completing” the businesses’ adjustments.
China’s Covid policy
The party congress that ended over the weekend did not signal whether China’s stringent Covid controls would be changed soon. The restrictions on business activity have weighed on economic growth.
However, Bank of America China and Asia Economist Helen Qiao and a team said in a note Monday that Covid policy changes could happen sooner than the market expects.
“In our view, the completion of the [party congress] will enable the top leadership to move on to the next policy agenda soon — relaxing the Covid curbs,” the report said.
The analysts said some might worry about the new group of leaders’ lack of checks and balances, and the risk of policy mistakes that shock the economy.
But they added that the group’s solidarity “may lead to more effective policy execution” for the country overall.
— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
A new Star Wars film is in the works, with prolific scribe Damon Lindelof co-writing the script and filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy directing, sources confirm to The Hollywood Reporter.
Lindelof’s involvement in a Star Wars feature has long been rumored, with Ms. Marvel director Obaid-Chinoy’s involvement a new development first reported Sunday night by Deadline. Reps for Lucasfilm and Obaid-Chinoy were not available for comment. It is not known who Lindelof is working on the script with.
Lindelof rose to prominence as the co-creator of Lost and is a noteworthy force in the world of TV with credits such as The Leftovers and Watchmen. In the features world he has written multiple Star Trek films as well as Universal’s The Hunt.
Obaid-Chinoy is already in the Disney fold as a helmer of Marvel and Disney+’s Ms. Marvel. Before her foray into the MCU, she came up as a documentarian, becoming the first Pakistan-born filmmaker winning an Oscar. She is behind 2015’s A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness and 2012’s Saving Face. She is also attached to direct the Paramount Will Smith project starrer Brilliance.
The big screen future of Star Wars has been in flux for several years, with Lucasfilm developing multiple takes — including a Patty Jenkins film Rogue Squadron that was to open in December 2022, but is now on the back burner. Other projects include a film to be produced by Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige and written by Loki’s Michael Waldron, while Thor: Love and Thunder filmmaker Taika Waititi film was officially announced as directing the project in May 2020, with 1917 writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns penning the script. Waititi has a history with Star Wars, directing on The Mandalorian and voicing the droid IG-11.
Disney has untitled Star Wars features dated for December 2025 and December 2027.
When Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, it plotted a course to release one Star Wars feature in theaters annually. It was a significant ramping up for the franchise, which had released just six films from 1977-2005. After the troubled Solo: A Star Wars Story underperformed in 2018, becoming the first Star Wars film to lose money, then Disney-CEO Bob Iger conceded it had been “a little too much, too fast.” Lucasfilm shifted its theatrical strategy following The Rise of Skywalker (2019) and put the focus on streaming hits such as The Mandalorian for Disney+.
Lucasfilm currently has the well-received Star Wars series Andor streaming on Disney+, with many more on the way, including more Mandalorian and the Rosario Dawson starrer Ahsoka.
BROOKLYN – As expected, all eyes were on Zion Williamson in his first regular season game in over 17 months. And one of the NBA’s biggest stars delivered the kind of offensive performance we’ve grown used to seeing from him when he’s healthy: 25 points, nine rebounds and tons of paint points.
Instead, Williamson’s night was a small part of a much bigger statement made by the New Orleans Pelicans in their regular-season opener on Wednesday. Williamson was inspired by the Notorious B.I.G. in his return, but it was the Pelicans who kicked in the door and steamrolled the Brooklyn Nets in a 130-108 romping that, frankly, wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
Zion’s 25-9 line was noteworthy, but he was surpassed by his teammate, Brandon Ingram, who had 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists. CJ McCollum also chipped in 21 points and six assists.
After a preseason filled with nagging injuries, it was the first time the Pelicans’ Big 3 took the floor in a game situation. It looked as if they had been playing together for years.
The Pels’ starting five outscored Brooklyn by 23 points in the 14 minutes they played together. New Orleans racked up 31 assists as a team and poured in 72 second-half points as they pulled away from a Nets squad that struggled to find answers on defense.
Publisher Konami Digital Entertainment [994 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/konami”>Konami and developer Bloober Team [66 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/bloober-team”>Bloober Team have announced a remake of Silent Hill 2 (remake) [1 article]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/games/silent-hill-2-remake”>Silent Hill 2 for PS5 [3,497 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/playstation/ps5″>PlayStation 5 and PC [16,040 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/pc”>PC (Steam). A release date was not announced.
Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:
Having received a letter from his deceased wife, James heads to where they shared so many memories, in the hope of seeing her one more time: Silent Hill. There, by the lake, he finds a woman eerily similar to her…
“My name…is Maria,” the woman smiles. Her face, her voice… She’s just like her.
Experience a master-class in psychological survival horror—lauded as the best in the series—on the latest hardware with chilling visuals and visceral sounds.
And here are some quotes from the staff:
Comment from Producer Motoi Okamoto (Production Manager)
“Silent Hill returns as a high-end game. We are proud to announce the release of Silent Hill 2 for PlayStation [41,153 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/playstation”>PlayStation and Steam, the best of the Silent Hill series. Look forward to this high-quality remake brought back to life by a group of Horror [140 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/horror”>horror game experts.”
Comment from Composer Akira Yamaoka
“Silent Hill is an inspiration to me. I am deeply grateful to be involved in a work that has been loved for such a long time. A new history is about to unfold again. Please look forward to the time when you can immerse yourself in that world again.”
Comment from Concept artist Masahiro Ito
“ Pyramid [32 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/colopl/pyramid”>Pyramid Head is coming back. A new journey for those who know the original, and his origin story for those who know that character. And… the most memorable journey of the man most closely associated with that monster.”
Comment from Bloober Team CEO Piotr Babieno
“Silent Hill 2 was the game that shaped our collective vision at Bloober Team. It’s the game that started us on our Adventure [506 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/adventure”>adventure in game development. Now, we face an ultimate challenge. A challenge to translate our youthful memories of the ultimate game into a language that modern players can engage with, whilst at the same time Crafting [1 article]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/crafting”>crafting an experience true to the original. More than 20 years ago, a team of brilliant minds at Konami developed one of the most remarkable games in the history of electronic entertainment. In partnering together, Konami and Bloober Team will ensure that Silent Hill 2 shines once again to set new standards for the genre and deliver an unforgettable experience for the next generation of fans. With our work, we are determined to showcase that Bloober Team is climbing the heights of what’s possible and aiming for the peak in game development. We can’t wait for the moment when Players will be able to see our work.”
Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.
Physicists have devised a way to synchronize the ticking of two clocks through the air with extreme precision, across a record distance of 113 kilometres.
The feat is a step towards redefining the second using optical clocks — timekeepers that are 100 times more precise than the atomic clocks on which coordinated universal time (UTC) is currently based.
Metrologists hope to use optical clocks to redefine the second in 2030. But a hurdle standing in their way is the need to find a reliable way to transmit signals between optical clocks in laboratories on different continents, to compare their outputs. In practice, this will probably mean transmitting the clocks’ time through air and space, to satellites. But this is a challenge because the atmosphere interferes with signals.
A team led by Jian-Wei Pan, a physicist at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, succeeded in sending precise pulses of laser light between clocks at stations 113 kilometres apart in China’s Xinjiang province1. This is seven times the previous record2 of 16 kilometres.
The result, published in Nature1 on 5 October, is “outstanding”, says David Gozzard, an experimental physicist at the University of Western Australia in Perth. Achieving such a high level of synchronization over that distance of air represents “significant progress in being able to do this between a satellite and the ground”, he adds.
Synchronizing hyper-precise clocks in hard-to-reach places could also have advantages elsewhere in research, says Tetsuya Ido, director of the Space-Time Standards Laboratory at the Radio Research Institute in Tokyo. For instance, the clocks could be used to test the general theory of relativity, which says that time should pass more slowly in places where gravity is stronger, such as at low altitudes. Comparing the ticking of two optical clocks could even reveal subtle changes in gravitational fields caused by the movement of masses — for example by shifting tectonic plates — he says.
Next-generation clocks
Since 1967, the second has been defined by atomic clocks using caesium-33 atoms: a second is the time it takes to cycle through 9,192,631,770 oscillations of the microwave radiation the atoms absorb and emit when they switch between certain states. Today, optical clocks use the higher-frequency ‘ticking’ of elements such as strontium and ytterbium, which allows them to slice time into even finer fractions.
However, official time can’t be generated using just one clock. Metrologists must average the output of hundreds of timepieces across the world. For caesium clocks, the time can be transmitted through microwave signals, but microwave radiation is too low-frequency to convey the high-frequency tick of optical clocks.
Sending signals through the air at optical wavelengths is not as easy as sending microwaves, because molecules in the air readily absorb the light, drastically reducing the strength of the signal. Furthermore, turbulence can send a laser beam off target. To compare optical clocks, physicists have so far relied mostly on transmitting signals through fibre-optic cables, or transporting the bulky, complex timepieces themselves, to compare them side by side. But these methods are impractical for creating the kind of global network needed to define the second.
Pan’s team succeeded by combining several minor developments, says Gozzard. To create their signal, the researchers used optical frequency combs — devices that produce extremely stable and precise pulses of laser light — and boosted their output using high-powered amplifiers, to minimize the signal lost when the pulses travelled through the air. The team also tuned and optimized receivers so that they could pick up low-powered signals and automatically track the direction of the incoming laser.
The group sent out time intervals using two wavelengths of visible light, and transmitted another through a fibre-optic link. By comparing the tiny differences between signals picked up at the receivers, the researchers showed that, when measured over hours, they could disseminate the ticking with a stability high enough to lose or gain only a second roughly every 80 billion years. The level of accuracy was on a par with that of optical clocks.
Not there yet
Although this transfer method is the most stable humanity has so far, it will need to be improved further to match the stability of the best optical clocks, says Gozzard.
Another limitation is that the experiment was done in a remote region with optimal atmospheric conditions, says Ido. “The humidity is quite low and air turbulence could be more quiet than in conventional urban areas,” he says. Future studies will need to check how well the method works in other locations.
But the experiment seems to be a good proxy for sending such signals into space, says Helen Margolis, a physicist at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, UK. The amount of turbulence expected over 113 kilometres on the ground is comparable to that on the way from the ground to a satellite, she says.
Satellite-based transmission will face a further hurdle — the clocks will be orbiting at high speed, which shifts the frequency of their signals, says Gozzard.
Pan says this is one of the challenges his team will take on next. The team previously developed technologies for a quantum-communications satellite, and is now using those to develop ways to transmit between optical clocks in geostationary orbit and on the ground.
Using optical clocks in space, it would also be “possible to provide new probes for fundamental physics, such as hunting for dark matter and detecting gravitational waves”, Pan adds.
