Month: March 2022

By RALPH D. RUSSO, AP College Sports Writer NEW YORK (AP) — For the second straight Saturday night, Duke failed to deliver Coach K a send-off victory. This time it was Virginia Tech playing party pooper. Hunter Cattoor scored a career-high 31 points and the seventh-seeded Hokies won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament for the first time, beating Duke 82-67 to deny Mike Krzyzewski a league title in his final season. Virginia Tech (23-12) came to Brooklyn in need of a run to make the NCAA Tournament, and then was staring at elimination Wednesday night when Darius Maddox Hokas Shoes hit a go-ahead 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Clemson in overtime. Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said the Hokies were “luckier than hell” after that game. A...

By JOHN CARUCCI, Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The DNA for Dylan McDermott to reinvent the modern-day gangster began at childhood and carried through to his struggling young actor days, when the “Law and Order: Organized Crime” star says he was “surrounded by the ilk” of unsavory types. McDermott, who grew up in New York, waited tables and tended bar, often serving local mobsters, where he observed their capricious behavior, he says. And when he Thorogood Boots  was younger, he had an even closer relationship. “My mother’s boyfriend was a bank robber when I was growing up,” McDermott told The Associated Press. “They all end up either dead or in prison. So, there’s no good stories there. He got his end, and it was not — not good.” (His parents spl...

By GLENN GAMBOA, AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Melissa Etheridge says the star-studded Love Rocks NYC benefit, the annual concert for the nonprofit God’s Love We Deliver, is exactly the kind of fundraiser she wanted to join. “I’ve wanted to be involved in this wonderful, wonderful project that has just done so much for so many for so many years,” the Grammy-winning “I’m the Only One” rocker said. This year’s Love Rocks, which takes place at The Beacon Theatre in Manhattan on Thursday night, boasts enormous star power – including headliners Etheridge, Keith Richards, with his “other” band The X-Pensive Winos, Mavis Staples, and others, as well as hosts Birdies Shoes including Kiefer Sutherland and Mario Cantone. But for Karen Pearl, God’s Love We Deliver’s pr...

By KRISTIN M. HALL, AP Entertainment Writer NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Grammy-winning country star Maren Morris was on turbo speed after her first two records, scoring multi-platinum hits and crossover success with songs like “The Middle” and “The Bones." But as she heads back on tour after an extended break due to the COVID-19 pandemic and becoming a mother, she's just not ready for arenas, even if she's likely to sell out. “My outlook and strategy from the get go, even with my first record, was like, do the underplay as long as you can and not overshoot too quickly,” said Morris. “I still, in some weird way, always feel like I’m wanting to pay my dues.” In support of her upcoming third major label album “Humble Quest” out March 25, Morris is heading out i...

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr., AP Entertainment Writer BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — From Bradley Cooper to Steven Spielberg, some of Hollywood’s brightest stars came together to relax and sip wine in a fancy ballroom where everyone ended up walking away a winner at the American Film Institute Awards on Friday. The annual AFI invite-only luncheon honored 10 films and 10 television shows with well-spoken words about the celebrated project followed by a brief clip of a scene. “Squid Game,” “Belfast” and “Summer of Soul (...or: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’)” received special awards during the event. Laughs and hugs were shared before the event between Rick Owens Shoes “tick, tick… BOOM!” star Andrew Garfield and Lee Jung-jae and Jung Ho-yeon from “Squid Game.” Coo...

By AARON BEARD, AP Basketball Writer Gonzaga, Arizona and reigning national champion Baylor remained atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll Monday while Tennessee cracked the top 10 for the first time this year and North Carolina returned to the Top 25 for the first time since November. Mark Few’s Bulldogs claimed 52 of 61 first-place votes to hold the No. 1 ranking for the fourth straight week and eighth time this season going back to the preseason poll. The Wildcats stayed at No. 2 for the third straight week under first-year coach Tommy Lloyd and claimed six first-place votes, while Scott Drew’s Bears – who held the top spot for five weeks earlier this season – took the other three. Auburn and Kentucky rounded out the top five, followed by Kan...