cam

Cam Skattebo shouts out Giants teammates after ankle surgery

New York Giants rookie running back Cam Skattebo had a long day Sunday, having suffered what appears to be a season-ending ankle injury and reportedly undergoing surgery that night.

Nonetheless, the player who has become one of the breakout stars of the 2025 appeared to be up early Monday.

Skattebo took to his Instagram Story to post a video showing clips of Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart, receiver Darius Slayton, defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux and offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor all expressing concern for their injured teammate following New York’s 38-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

“My guys love tall boys,” Skattebo wrote in the caption, making an apparent reference to his relatively small (by NFL standards) 5-foot-11 stature.

Skattebo was injured midway through the second quarter after attempting to catch a pass over the middle. His right foot appeared to get caught under another player and was bent in an unnatural direction. Players from both teams huddled around Skattebo in concern as he was treated by medical staff.

Even the notoriously harsh Philadelphia fans gave their NFC East rival’s rising star a standing ovation as he was carted off the field with an air cast on his leg. Skattebo responded by waving in appreciation.

“I feel absolutely terrible for the young man,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said. “Looked bad. You feel for anybody that goes down and has a really bad injury. I know the players feel the same way about Skatt.”

Dart added: “That’s my boy, man. That sucks. It’s just the worst part of the game.”

The Giants said Sunday that Skattebo had suffered a dislocated ankle and would undergo surgery that night. ESPN reported Monday morning that the fourth-round draft pick out of Arizona State remained in the hospital after the previous night’s surgery and was “doing well given the circumstances of what was described as an emergency situation.”

Skattebo leads Giants this season with 410 rushing yards in 101 carries with five touchdowns. He also has 24 receptions for 207 yards with two touchdowns, including one on an 18-yard pass from Dart in the first quarter of Sunday’s game.

Skattebo’s injury leaves New York with second-year player Tyrone Tracy Jr. and seven-year veteran Devin Singletary at running back. On Sunday, Tracy had 10 carries for 39 yards and two receptions for 14 yards while Singletary rushed twice for no yards but had a 28-yard reception.

For the season, Tracy has 45 carries for 159 yards with one touchdown and 10 catches for 68 yards; Singletary has 28 carries for 84 yards and three receptions for 28 yards.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.



Source link

‘Boots’ review: Timely, if predictable, show about gay military service

In “Boots,” a new miniseries set in 1990, Miles Heizer plays Cameron Cope, a scrawny, bullied gay teenager who is out only to his best (and only) friend, Ray (Liam Oh). Ray, who is joining the Marines to make his disciplinarian but not unkind father proud, convinces Cam to join alongside him. (The recruiters sell a buddy system, which is a bit of a come-on.) Cam told his messy but not unkind mother, Barbara (Vera Farmiga), where he was going, but she wasn’t listening.

Though the series, which premieres Thursday on Netflix and is based on Greg Cope White’s 2016 memoir, “The Pink Marine,” is novel as regards the sexuality of its main character, it’s also essentially conventional — not a pejorative — and largely predictable. It’s a classic Boot Camp Film, like “An Officer and a Gentleman,” or Abbott and Costello’s “Buck Privates,” in which imperfect human material is molded through exercise, ego death and yelling into a better person, and it replays many tropes of the genre. And like most every military drama, it gathers diverse types into a not necessarily close-knit group.

Cam’s confusion is represented by externalizing his inner voice into a double, “the angel on my shoulder and, honestly, sometimes the devil,” with whom he argues, like a difficult imaginary friend. (It’s the voice of his hidden gayness.) Where basic training stories like this usually involve a cocky or spoiled character learning a lesson about humbleness and teamwork, Cam is coming from a place of insecurity and fear. At first he wants to leave — he had expected nothing worse than “mud and some bug bites and wearing the same underwear two days in a row” — and plots to wash out; but he blows the chance when he helps a struggling comrade pass a test. He’s a good guy. (Heizer is very fine in the part.)

Two men sit on a bottom bunk bed.

Cameron (Miles Heizer), left, is convinced by his best friend (and only friend), Ray (Liam Oh), to join the Marines with him.

(Alfonso “Pompo” Bresciani / Netflix)

Press materials describe “Boots,” created by Andy Parker, as a comedic drama, although, after the opening scenes, there’s not much comedy in it — even a food fight is more stressful than funny. Using “Also Sprach Zarathustra” as the soundtrack to a long-in-coming bowel movement — I just report the news — was already dated and exhausted in 1990, and is bizarrely out of joint with the rest of the production. “Boots” isn’t anywhere near as disturbing as, say, “Full Metal Jacket” — which Ray told Cam to watch to prepare, though he opted for a “Golden Girls” marathon instead. But it makes no bones about the fact that these kids are being trained to kill. “Kill, kill, blood makes the grass grow,” they chant, and “God, country, Corps, kill.” And sometimes just, “Kill, kill, kill.” And things do turn violent, sometimes for purposes of training and sometimes because someone just goes off his head.

Still, that Cam survives, and, after a period of adjustment, thrives (that’s not a spoiler, Cope White lived to write the book) makes this, strictly speaking, a comedy. (And, by implication, an endorsement of the program.) “We’re killing our old selves so we can be our best selves,” he’ll say to Ray. The Marines may make a man of him, but it won’t be a straight man.

Rhythmically, “Boots” follows scenes in which someone will break a little or big rule — I suppose in the Marines, all rules are big, even the little ones — with some sort of punishment, for an individual or the platoon. Laid across this ostinato are various storylines involving recruits working out the issues that have brought them to this Parris Island of Misfit Boys. Cody (Brandon Tyler Moore) was taught by his father to look down on his twin brother, John (Blake Burt), who is in the same outfit, because he’s fat. Slovacek (Kieron Moore), a bully, has been given a choice between prison and the military. Mason (Logan Gould) can barely read. Santos (Rico Paris) is slowed down by a bum knee. Ochoa (Johnathan Nieves) is a little too much in love with his wife. And Hicks (Angus O’Brien) is a chaos-relishing loon, having the time of his life. Obviously, not everyone who joins the Marines is compensating for something; Nash (Dominic Goodman), a more or less balanced character who seems to be sending Cameron signals, is there to pad his resume in case he runs for president one day; but he’ll have his moment of shame.

A man in a blue T-shirt and camouflage pants watches a man try to scale a wooden fence.

Sgt. Sullivan (Max Parker), left, is one of the drill instructors who takes an interest in Cameron (Miles Heizer).

(Alfonso “Pompo” Bresciani / Netflix)

Though they all raise their voices and get in people’s faces, the drill instructors do come in various flavors. Staff Sgt. McKinnon (Cedrick Cooper), the senior instructor, is imposing but obviously sane and sometimes kind; Sgt. Howitt (Nicholas Logan) is an unsettling sort who will prove to have some depth, while Sgt. Knox (Zach Roerig) is a twitchy racist, soon to be replaced by Sgt. Sullivan (Max Parker), tall, steely and tightly wound. He doesn’t yell as loud as the others, but even his posture is intimidating. He focuses immediately on Cameron; make of that what you will. He’s the series second lead, basically.

There are some respites from the training, the running and marching, the room full of tear gas, the dead man’s float test, the hand-to-hand combat, the flower planting. (That part was nice, actually.) The yelling.

Ray winds up in sick bay, where he flirts with a female Marine. We get a few perfunctory glimpses of what the brass is like when they’re out of uniform and quiet; it comes as a relief. McKinnon’s wife is having a baby; he makes Cookie Monster noises on the phone for his son. Capt. Fajardo (Ana Ayora), “the first woman to lead a male company on Parris Island,” is heard talking to her mother, presumably about her daughter’s wedding: “I would rather not spend the time or the money because she can’t live without love.” Of her position, she observes that it “only took 215 years and a congressional mandate.” McKinnon, who is Black, offers a brief history of Black people in the Marine Corps as lived by his forebears.

The social themes become more prominent in the second half, and we learn or are reminded just how toxic the military was to gay people, and how backward was its attitude. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” wasn’t in effect until 1994, and it wasn’t until 2011 that openly gay soldiers could serve. Now, as civil rights are being beaten back to … backwardness by small-minded politicians, there’s a timely element to this perfectly decent, good-hearted, unsurprisingly sentimental miniseries.

Source link

Astronomer’s new CEO admits Coldplay kiss cam video raised brand awareness

Chris Martin of Coldplay performs in concert. On Monday, Astronomer’s new chief executive officer Pete DeJoy issued a statement regarding the now viral video of the tech firm’s former CEO and human resources director caught embracing on Coldplay’s kiss cam last week. DeJoy called the company’s mission “bigger than any one moment.” File Photo by David Silpa/UPI | License Photo

July 21 (UPI) — The new chief executive officer at Astronomer is speaking out following last week’s Coldplay concert kiss cam controversy, as he acknowledged the now viral video has raised brand awareness for the tech firm.

Pete DeJoy, co-founder and interim CEO, issued a statement Monday — called “Moving Forward at Astronomer” — after former CEO Andy Byron and Astronomer’s head of Human Resources, Kristin Cabot, were caught in an embrace Wednesday night on Coldplay’s jumbotron at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Both Byron and Cabot, who are married to other people, ducked out of the camera shot when they saw themselves on the screen.

“The events of the past few days have received a level of media attention that few companies — let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world — ever encounter,” De Joy said.

“The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team, and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this,” he added, “Astronomer is now a household name.”

DeJoy stepped into his new role at Astronomer, “a company that I’ve proudly poured my entire professional life into helping build,” over the weekend after Byron tendered his resignation.

On Monday, DeJoy seized the company’s current spotlight to highlight its true mission.

“Over the past few years, our business has experienced incredible growth. What was once a mission to help companies with Apache Airflow has turned into so much more,” DeJoy said.

“We’re privileged to sit at the center of our customers’ data and AI strategy, powering data pipelines behind in-game analytics of your favorite sports team, LLM powered chatbots for customer support, training AI for self-driving cars and every mission-critical process in between,” DeJoy continued in an attempt to steer attention away from the controversy.

Astronomer’s “mission is bigger than any one moment,” he said.

Source link

Tech firm CEO resigns amid Coldplay concert kiss cam controversy

July 19 (UPI) — Software developer Astronomer says former Chief Executive Officer Andy Byron resigned amid controversy following his attendance at a recent Coldplay concert.

New York-based Astronomer confirmed Byron’s resignation on Saturday and said co-founder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy is its interim chief executive officer while its board of directors seeks a permanent replacement for Byron.

“Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding,” Astronomer officials said Saturday in a post on X.

“Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.”

Byron is married but was caught attending a Coldplay concert with another woman on Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

The stadium’s “kiss cam” zeroed in on Byron with his arms wrapped around a woman standing in front of him during the concert, NBC News reported.

When they realized they were on the kiss cam, Byron ducked out of the camera shot, while the unidentified woman covered her face.

Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin noticed the pair’s reaction during the concert and opined: “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”

The video of the moment went viral, and social media sleuths identified the man as Byron.

Astronomer placed him on leave on Friday before accepting his resignation a day later, according to NBC News.

The tech firm is a relatively small company with fewer than 500 employees and noted the viral incident’s impact on its operations.

“While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not,” Astronomer said in its X post.

“We’re continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data and AI problems.”

Source link

Coldplay kiss-cam scandal: Merch, memes memorialize mistake

Sometimes you just want a moment back. Just one tiny moment. For example, the moment that a kiss-cam busted you and your head of HR for cheating at a Coldplay concert on Wednesday night.

Andy Byron, chief executive of data-infrastructure company Astronomer Inc., was caught on camera holding human resources chief Kristin Cabot — a woman who is not his wife — tenderly in his arms.

The moment was an instant classic for those attending the concert: “Ohhh, look at these two,” singer Chris Martin said as the cam spotlighted the couple, prompting Byron to suddenly, awkwardly duck out of camera range while Cabot turned her back, covered her face and ultimately fled.

“Wait, what? Either they’re having an affair,” Martin said, “or they’re just very shy.”

Or maybe, just maybe, they were actually really stupid to react that way? No cheating experts here, but if they had simply smiled and continued their loving embrace, the details of their entanglement might have stayed unknown to the 65,000 or so folks packed into Gillette Stadium, home of the NFL’s New England Patriots.

All they had to do was nothing.

But ooh, they did something.

So much for conscious uncoupling. Nice move, Martin.

But the singer wasn’t really to blame for this week’s hottest story. What happened in Foxborough, Mass., could have stayed in Foxborough, Mass., were it not for one Grace Springer. Springer is reportedly the 28-year-old who posted the clip on TikTok. She told the U.K. Sun she made the video public because she thought the couple’s “something” was “an interesting reaction.”

“A part of me feels bad for turning these people’s lives upside down, but, play stupid games … win stupid prizes,” Springer said before adding that she hoped their partners could “heal” and get a second chance at happiness.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Ouch.

The internet, of course, has been quite happy to mete out those stupid prizes left and right.

There’s now merch to commemorate the moment, including one tee on Etsy that simply reads, “Not Shy. Just Married. #Coldplaygate.”

Another seller is offering a sweatshirt that screams in all-caps, “I TOOK MY SIDEPIECE TO THE COLDPLAY CONCERT AND IT RUINED MY LIFE.” One T-shirt dips its toes into political waters, urging people to MAPA: “Make Affairs Private Again!” The tee with an actual photo of the couple is unlikely to last long, what with copyright and all, but the animated version might hang around a bit longer.

Alas, there are no koozies for sale. Not yet.

Then there are the memes. One shows the couple with the hitchhiking ghosts from the famous finish of Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride. Another shows Miss Piggy in the arms of a tall Fozzie Bear, with a sign in one corner saying “Coldplay’s Caught-in-the-Act Cam.” On X, Elon Musk chuckled at an image of the couple reimagined in the style of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” Then there was the classic MasterCard meme: “Priceless.”

Coldplay hasn’t made a single in years,” one wit said on X, posting a still from the video. “Last night, they made two.”

“This is outdated,” another account said, commenting on a ChatGPT blurb about a Taylor Swift ticket allegedly selling for $200,000 on the secondary market. “Coldplay now holds the record for most expensive concert ticket ever sold.”

“Uh, it’s time to ‘Kiss It Goodbye,’ ” ESPN’s Randy Scott said as he and “SportsCenter” co-anchor Gary Striewski reenacted the viral moment live Friday morning. “Baseball’s probably not the only thing you could say that about recently.”

And if Andy Byron appeared to be having some really bad days, what about other dudes named Andy Byron? “NOT THE GUY FROM THE COLDPLAY GIG” reads the Threads bio of one such Andy, who apparently hails from Dublin. “The only one having a worse day than Andy Byron is all the other Andy Byrons,” one user snarked.

However, an apology statement attributed to the Astronomer CEO turned out to be fake, according to the company itself.

The real Astronomer Inc. announced Friday that it is looking into the matter and that Alyssa Stoddard, whoever that poor thing is, is not in the video. Um, we were concerned? Turns out Stoddard is the company’s VP of HR, a step or so down from Cabot, and probably doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in this context at all.

“Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability,” the company said in a post on LinkedIn. “The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly.”

Additional. Details. Very. Shortly.

Soooooo — the fun won’t be ending any time soon.

Meanwhile, the real Andy Byron’s real wife, Megan Kerrigan Byron, nuked the “Byron” from her name on Facebook and then deactivated her account entirely amid an onslaught of comments from the public, according to Newsweek.

Looks like she’s choosing to do something instead of nothing, too.



Source link

Former ‘Modern Family’ child star comes out as bisexual

A former ‘Modern Family’ child star has opened up to fans about her sexuality.

Aubrey Anderson-Emmons played Lily Tucker-Pritchett, the adopted daughter of a same-sex couple, on the 22-time Emmy-winning series. And on Sunday, she took to TikTok to announce that she is bisexual. In her post, the 18-year-old lip-syncs to audio of a scene from the hit ABC show.

“No, I’m not, I’m gay! I’m gay!” her character says, while her stepgrandmother, Sofia Vergara’s Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, tells her “You are Vietnamese.” Her father Mitchell Pritchett, played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, responds, “You’re not gay, you’re just confused … Oh, my God, what is wrong with me?”

However, the reveal came in the layover text, in which Anderson-Emmons wrote, “People keep joking so much abt [sic] me being gay when I literally am (I’m bi).” The caption said, “happy pride month and to all a good night.”

Many fans rejoiced in the comments, with one claiming she was “the sassy princess raised by two queens,” referencing her parents in the show, Mitchell Pritchett and Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet).

Another simply joked that she was “half gay, half Vietnamese,” based on the audio.

“Modern Family” has long been celebrated for its LGBTQ+ representation, with a specific highlight being the marriage between Mitch and Cam. Anderson-Emmons’ character joined the show in its third season.

During its 11-season run, the show earned nominations for outstanding comedy series at the GLAAD Media Awards for 10 consecutive years, winning in both 2011 and 2012.

Since the series ended in April 2020, Anderson-Emmons has pivoted toward a music career. She recently released a single, “Telephones and Traffic,” and teased another single, “Don’t Forget Me,” out on June 27.



Source link

Chargers’ Tarheeb Still, Cam Hart eager to prove they can be stars

Tarheeb Still said his farewells and was ready to leave for a three-day weekend. On a Thursday this offseason, the second-year cornerback told Ben Herbert, the Chargers’ executive director of player personnel, that he would “see him Monday.”

A deep voice in the background suddenly changed Still’s schedule.

“Why aren’t you coming in tomorrow?” Khalil Mack asked the 22-year-old.

Motivated by Mack’s example, Still is poised for a breakout season as he competes for a larger role in a stacked secondary group. The former fifth-round pick who started 12 games as a rookie has been working with the 34-year-old, nine-time Pro Bowl selection every Friday, picking Mack’s brain on football and life.

No wonder why Still “seems like he’s a different person,” defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale said.

“I love when you see young players run towards great players, greatness and not the other direction,” Clinkscale said. “It’s awesome to mimic their habits and what they do, especially their good habits, and Tarheeb has really done that. He’s really grown up and matured.”

Still was already working with Herbert from Monday through Thursday, but soon added Fridays with Mack. They begin their strength training around 9 a.m. together, but Still knows Mack gets to the facility earlier in the training room. There’s no way Mack could have built his Hall of Fame-worthy career without putting in every ounce of extra work.

“Khalil is just showing me how to be intentional,” Still said. “Every day, taking advantage of small incremental gains every day to get to where I want to be.”

The Chargers progressed to the next step of their offseason program Tuesday, opening organized team activities. The sight of offense and defense lining up against each other for the first time during the offseason brought excitement to the facility, but frustration for Cam Hart. The second-year cornerback, who, like Still, was drafted in the fifth round last year, is not yet fully cleared after undergoing shoulder surgery in January.

Hart sustained a torn labrum against the Houston Texans in the playoffs, but said he expects to be cleared to return around mandatory minicamp, which begins June 10.

The shoulder injury was a punctuation mark on a promising, but injury-riddled rookie year for Hart. Despite making six starts in 14 appearances with 37 tackles, Hart also battled two concussions and an ankle injury. The injuries tormented Hart as he went through the offseason program, rehabbing twice a day since the shoulder injury.

Chargers cornerback Cam Hart speaks during a news conference in El Segundo on Tuesday.

Chargers cornerback Cam Hart speaks during a news conference in El Segundo on Tuesday.

(Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Associated Press)

“I showed a small percentage of who Cam can be in the NFL last year,” Hart said. “With 17 healthy games, I think I got a lot more to show.”

Although they return most of their top performers from last year’s secondary that ranked seventh in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game compared to 30th in 2023, the Chargers have renewed competition at cornerback without Kristian Fulton and Asante Samuel Jr. Fulton parlayed a resurgent season with the Chargers into a multi-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs as a free agent, and Samuel remains a free agent after a shoulder injury limited the former second-round pick to just four games last year.

Wanting to bolster the secondary with more size and speed, the Chargers brought in free agents Benjamin St-Juste and Donte Jackson. The 6-foot-3 St-Juste started in 42 of his 45 appearances for the Washington Commanders in the last three seasons, and Jackson, an eight-year NFL veteran, is coming off a career-best five interceptions with the Pittsburgh Steelers last year. Still and Hart, who were rookies hoping to make any positive impact a year ago, are now “the cream of the crop,” Clinkscale said.

The newest crop of rookies even flashed their potential Tuesday as seventh-round selection Trikweze Bridges and undrafted free agent Jaylen Jones each got an interception during the no-contact 11-on-11 periods.

The secondary depth could cause headaches for Clinkscale. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Nobody has a spot,” Clinkscale said. “We want to see who’s going to earn it.”

With more than three months remaining until the Chargers open their season in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Still knew he had to dial back the competition Tuesday during practice. The drills are still meant to be non-contact during the voluntary sessions. Keeping everyone on their feet and healthy was more important than breaking up a pass or grabbing an interception, Still said.

Still was attached to receiver Ladd McConkey’s hip on a deep route down the sideline, but didn’t dive or reach for the ball to breakup a slightly underthrown pass from quarterback Justin Herbert. McConkey’s tightrope catch drew cheers from his teammates.

Still said the no-contact periods were perfect opportunities to hone his technique, but when asked if he would have picked off the pass intended for McConkey, Still covered his face.

“No comment,” he said, trying to hide his smile.

The confident look on his face was comment enough.

Source link