Captain America: Civil War - what to expect

Anticipation is building for today's "world trailer premiere" of Captain America: Civil War, with just eight weeks to go until the film is released.

Marvel fans are facing the painful choice between two of their favourite superheroes: Captain America or Iron Man…

What's the film about?

A year after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, an international incident involving the team leads politicians to introduce new rules about when the superheroes should be called in to help. The new regime sparks a bitter rift between former allies Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) – an unprecedented scenario on the big screen but one that has been touched upon in the comic book Civil War.

Who else is in it?

As well as the leads, the film boasts a treasure chest of supporting talent, including Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch), Sebastian Stan (Winter Soldier) and Anthony Mackie (Falcon). There is also speculation that Tom Holland's Spider-Man could make an appearance. Behind the scenes are directors Anthony and Joe Russo and scriptwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

What are people saying about it?

Forbes predicts Captain America: Civil War will be another "feather in Marvel's cap" and Downey Jr has even described it as "the Godfather of superhero movies".

Expectation of an epic affair has only been swollen by co-director Joe Russo's talk of a "sprawling film with a lot of characters that tells very intricate stories".

Some of the more complex storylines are expected to surround Johansson's Black Widow, with Russo telling IGN that he took inspiration from a televisual juggernaut to pen her particularly emotional journey. "I always said what I loved about Breaking Bad is that Vince Gilligan always wrote himself into the hardest corner," he said. "I would watch an episode and go 'I have no f******* idea how he's going to solve this next week,' and he would solve it."

Captain America: Civil War is scheduled to be released on 6 May 2016.

Civil War trailer: why is Iron Man fighting Captain America?

25 November

The new trailer for Captain America: Civil War has revealed a new hostility rising up between the superhero and his Avengers companion Iron Man.

The film is officially part of the Captain America series, but has been dubbed "Avengers 2.5" as it is also seen as a bridge to the next Avengers movie, Infinity War.

In the new trailer, Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, played by Chris Evans, is heard telling Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr: "I'm sorry, Tony, you know I wouldn't do this if I had any other choice. But he's my friend."

"So was I," responds Tony, before the trailer cuts to footage of the two men fighting.

It appears the pair have fallen out over Captain America's best friend Bucky Barns (Sebastian Stan), who was brainwashed into becoming villainous assassin The Winter Soldier in the last Captain America film.

But their dispute boils down to the "age old question of security versus liberty", says Entertainment Weekly. The governments of the world want all would-be heroes to work under strict oversight. Iron Man is on board with the idea, but Captain America has no faith left in bureaucracy and government, and wants to protect his friend Bucky, causing a fracture in the Avengers just as they try to protect the world from another new villain.

Evans has previously said the "flip-flop" in perspective of the two characters is why the film will be so effective.

Tony has always been the one to buck authority, while the Captain comes from a world of order, hierarchy and structure. However, after the last Captain America film, The Winter Solder, he realises that one cannot always trust the system. "I think he now is starting to follow his own heart, and do his own thing, and as a result there becomes this kind of flip-flop in perspective," said Evans.

His rebellion means veteran characters such as Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) are forced to choose sides. Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther will also make a debut appearance in the film.

Directed by The Winter Soldier filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo, the movie is due out in May 2016.

Read More

Brian Orakpo sends Twitter threat to Chris Cooley for bashing RG3

If Chris Cooley plans on going out in public anytime soon, he should probably do his best to make sure he doesn't run in to Titans linebacker Brian Orakpo, because if that happens, things could get ugly for Cooley.

The feud between Orakpo and Cooley started this week when the former Redskins tight end did a radio interview where he bashed Robert Griffin III.

During the interview with ESPN 980 in Washington, D.C., Cooley basically said that RG3 was a horrible teammate and that, for the most part, no one liked him.

Orakpo took issue with several of Cooley's comments and let him know on Twitter. Orakpo made sure to let Cooley know that that he's going "smack the shit" out of Cooley if he sees him out in public.

Get this BUM Chris Cooley off the radio and tv please... don't worry still got property in VA when I see him Ima smack the shit out of him

— Brian Orakpo (@rak98) March 9, 2016

Cooley, RG3 and Orakpo were all teammates in Washington in 2012.

At that point, another teammate from 2012 also chimed in. Redskins tight end Niles Paul sent out a tweet that was basically telling Cooley to close his mouth.

"Can't keep shittin on people you worked with and called your teammates," Paul wrote on twitter.

Can't keep shittin on people you worked with & called your teammates.

— Niles Paul (@Niles_Paul84) March 9, 2016

Former NFL defensive back Ryan Clark, who played for the Redskins in 2014, also said Cooley's comments were ridiculous.

"First of all ... Anything he says I don't necessarily pay attention to," Clark said on ESPN's First Take. "A lot of people get out of football and forget who they were when they played football. He's just a dude who gets his rocks off bashing people in Washington."

Clark seems to have a point with that "bashing people" thing, because Cooley didn't seem to have a problem with RG3 when he was playing with him. Back in 2012, the Redskins tight end told our Jason La Canfora that RG3 was a great leader.

"He's the leader of this football team," Cooley said at the time. "I can honestly say that. He's so real. There's no B.S. This is who he is. I sit next to him in the team meetings, and there isn't a guy on the team he doesn't have a relationship with. Not one."

Maybe Cooley's just mad because he only caught one pass in 2012, which ended up being his final year in the NFL.

Read More

Eagles Sign S Rodney McLeod

The Philadelphia Eagles have signed former St. Louis Rams safety Rodney McLeod to a five-year deal.

#Eagles and S Rodney McLeod agree to terms on a five-year contract. Welcome to Philadelphia!#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/SqmWyADpLQ

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) March 10, 2016

The deal is reportedly worth $37 million over five-years, but more importantly, $17 million guaranteed.

The #Eagles agreement with safety Rodney McLeod, 5 years, $37M, includes $17M guaranteed. Huge move for Philly.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 9, 2016

In four seasons with the Rams, the undrafted safety has never missed a game. McLeod, 25, had 82 tackles, three forced fumbles, and one interception last season. He has eight career forced fumbles and five career interceptions.

New #Eagles FS Rodney McLeod has forced 12 turnovers last 3 years. Was PFF's No. 10 safety out of 88 in '15. Turns 26 in June.

— Evan Silva (@evansilva) March 9, 2016

The Eagles will likely move on from safety Walter Thurmond, who is an unrestricted free-agent.

Read More

Calvin Harris, Martin Garrix And More AMAZING Stars Confirmed For Wireless Festival 2016 Line-Up!

This summer’s looking to be HUGE for amazing music after today’s massive announcement that Wireless Festival returns to London’s Finsbury Park this July with a truly EPIC line-up of performers.

Today (9th March) it’s been confirmed that the three-day festival arrives on the weekend of the 8th to the 10th July, and with names like Calvin Harris, Sigma, Martin Garrix, The 1975 and Jess Glynne among the announced performers… it’s shaping up to be the festival EVERYONE will be talking about.

How do I get tickets for Wireless Festival 2016?

Tickets for Wireless Festival 2016 go on sale from Friday 11th March at 9am.

What date is Wireless Festival this year?

This year’s event takes place at Finsbury Park on the weekend of the 8th-10th July.

Check out the INCREDIBLE line-up announced for Wireless 2016 so far below: 

Friday, 8th July :

- Calvin Harris

- The 1975

- Miguel

Saturday, 9th July :

- Chase & Status

- J. Cole

- Future

- Krept & Konan

- Sigma 

- A$AP Ferg

- Craig David’s TS5

- WSTRN

Sunday, 10th July :

- Martin Garrix

- Kygo

- Skepta

Also appearing: Jess Glynne, Jeremih, Yelawolf, Ty Dollar $ign

Read More

Arsenal players held crisis meeting before FA Cup victory at Hull

 

Arsenal’s players held a crisis meeting called by Per Mertesacker, Petr Cech, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky before their FA Cup victory at Hull City on Tuesday night, in a bid to stave off the dire run of form that is threatening their season.

Before the 4-0 win against Hull in the fifth-round replay at the KC Stadium, Arsène Wenger’s team had won only once in six games, a sequence stretching back to the defeat of Leicester City on Valentine’s Day.

It left the Gunners eight points behind the leaders, Leicester, and facing a 2-0 deficit to Barcelona ahead of the Champions League last-16 second leg at the Camp Nou next week.

Theo Walcott, who scored twice against Hull, along with Olivier Giroud, revealed that a core of senior players decided they should try to thrash out their problems ahead of the game.

“We are not going to lie,” he said. “We know as a unit it has been tough and we all had a good chat among us behind closed doors, without even any of the coaches or the manager knowing about anything and I think it is important that as a team we have got it in us. We just have to produce it more often.”

Walcott pointed to the 2-2 draw at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, in which Arsenal fell 2-1 behind to Mauricio Pochettino’s side having gone down to 10 men following the sending off of Francis Coquelin on 55 minutes. Alexis Sánchez’s 76th-minute equaliser secured a point at White Hart Lane and Walcott said: “You had a sense of the Tottenham game especially, when you go down to 10 men in a big game like that, the belief and the character was there."

“The never-give-up spirit was there as well. In the derby matches, they could be the matches that turn your season and we may have turned the corner maybe.”

Walcott outlined how the meeting was called. “We have quite a lot of experienced players in the dressing room,” the 26-year-old said. “It came from Cech, Mikel, Per and Tomas. We have four good old heads there. I’d like to keep what was said among ourselves but it was very important. We have had a reaction from it anyway.”

He said of Wenger: “He probably knows about it anyway – he’s got ears everywhere at the club. The manager respects the players’ privacy and what’s happening personally among us all. It was a meeting to express how everyone was feeling basically and it worked.”

Arsenal now host Watford in the sixth-round tie at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Wenger could be without Aaron Ramsey, who sustained a thigh problem against Hull, having come on for Mertesacker. While the latter’s head injury may not rule him out of Sunday, Wenger will await tests on Gabriel Paulista’s hamstring problem after he was also forced off during the match. Nacho Monreal, who replaced the Brazilian, was seen limping after the game and is a further doubt.

Walcott said: “The pitch was quite heavy but the injuries are probably the disappointing thing coming out of the game. But we can’t speculate until we know what the damage is. Injuries come in the game and that is one of those things."

“The most important thing was just a clean sheet. We have been conceding too many goals cheaply as a unit. We haven’t been scoring enough. It was a confidence boost to everyone that it was good.”

Arsenal have won the trophy for the past two seasons and want to become the first club to claim a hat-trick of triumphs since Blackburn Rovers, who achieved the feat between 1884 and 1886.

Walcott said: “We want to stay in this competition because it is massive for us. We want to make those history books and try and push on to Wembley and do it on the third occasion but we have got a big test against Watford first. Obviously we are looking too far ahead and the players don’t really like to do that."

But as you get closer and closer, there is a sense of belief that we can do it and create history which would be a great achievement for everyone. But we all know what we want this year and we would swap it in a heartbeat without a doubt.

“The competition has been pretty good for us. People say we have had some kind draws but you can see in the cup competitions that anyone can beat anyone. You saw the first game against Hull and how they played against us (in a goalless draw). It was there for the taking, to be honest, but luckily it paid off in the end.”

Read More

Zlatan Ibrahimovic says PSG owners will ‘hunt down Champions League’

Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes Paris Saint-Germain’s Qatari owners will relentlessly “hunt down the Champions League” after financing the French club’s staggering progress over the last five years and transforming them into contenders for the European Cup.

The Sweden international moved to Paris from Milan in the summer of 2012 as the figurehead purchase of Qatar Sport Investments’ vast outlay on new players. Now 34 and enjoying arguably the most productive campaign of a glittering career, Ibrahimovic, sent off in this fixture last season, is aiming to inspire his side beyond Chelsea in the second leg of their knockout tie on Wednesday as PSG target progress into the competition’s latter stages.

The striker suggested PSG’s history really began only when they were bought by QSI, in 2011, though he actually charted their arrival from the moment he signed for the club a year later. “The team, the club I’m playing in now, is a project that began three-and-a-half years ago,” said Ibrahimovic, whose contract at Parc des Princes expires in the summer. What happened before that, with all respect … this club was born the day the Qataris took over. People aim to measure our development since, but look at Chelsea. They had the same thing 12 years ago and when did they win the Champions League? In 2012.

What the owners have done is amazing. We’ve made such a good team in such a short time. Why haven’t we advanced [beyond the Champions League quarter-finals]? This comes with experience. You don’t do these miracles in 24 hours. With time these things will come. With time these owners can achieve anything here. There are no limits. They will hunt down this Champions League until they get it and they will not stop, with me or without me. I wanted to be part of this and to take on this challenge. I want to do things, individual and collective, that will be written in history books. Please give it time and we will see.

Those sentiments were echoed by the PSG manager, Laurent Blanc. The French side have reached three successive Champions League quarter-finals, the first under Carlo Ancelotti in 2013, and edged beyond Chelsea to reach the last eight last season with that progress going hand in hand with their utter dominance of France’s domestic game. A team who are 23 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 go into Wednesday’s match leading 2-1 from the first leg and expected to progress.

“This is a very young project, but we can sense a difference, in our opponents and also how we’re considered,” said Blanc.

PSG are considered a serious proposition in Europe now, which is a serious thing. That’s a sign the club is progressing. Other clubs know that PSG will be able to win the Champions League one day, but it’s going to take time. It is necessary to have a bit of patience, as Zlatan said. He’s been part of the project from day one, from well before me, and can gauge how much progress has been made.

“PSG’s progression in the last four years has been rapid because we’ve made significant investment and brought in a lot of great players. But that’s not enough. There’s a distance still to be covered: not a long distance, but a very tough part of the road still to cover. I hope we can cover it together, Zlatan and I. Regardless, I’m sure that, one day, PSG will get there.”

Ibrahimovic has previously suggested he expects to depart Parc des Princes in the summer, potentially with a move to England on a 12-month deal before a swansong in Major League Soccer with Miami. Asked about his relationship with English football, the Swede referred back to his four-goal performance for his country in a friendly in Stockholm in late 2012. “After my four goals my relationship with England became perfect. Before that there was no relationship,” he said. “I have another two months with PSG and then the Euros with my national team. What happens after that? I’m not in discussions with anybody. It’s not the moment to talk about that. But the future looks good after this season. People say I’m old, but I’m only warming up. The future looks good. Age is just a number and the difference is how you feel. I feel young. I’ve never had better statistics than those from this season. This is the best I’ve had in that sense.”

The forward was sent off for a clumsy challenge on Oscar in last season’s second leg, a game eventually drawn 2-2 in extra time by the depleted visitors to ensure progress on away goals, and suggested post-match that Chelsea’s players had behaved like “babies” in their complaints to the referee, Bjorn Kuipers. “I never think about revenge,” he said. “Every game is a new game but, hopefully, I will stay on the pitch longer than the last time to have the possibility to do things I’m good at, play football."

“In that situation in the last game here I’d never seen anything like that before … from mature players like them, I didn’t expect it. But it’s a new game now. Let’s play it differently. Hopefully I will stay longer this time on the pitch, and there won’t be any mistakes from a person [the referee] who is not involved in the game.”

Read More

Real Madrid Advances in Champions League but Has Reason to Worry

Real Madrid needs to win the Champions League the way a capsized crew needs a life raft. Its team, one of the most expensive ever assembled, won at home, 2-0, to complete what looked like a rout of Roma over the two legs. Looks can be deceiving.

Though Cristiano Ronaldo scored again for his 90th goal in 123 Champions League appearances, the evidence is that the good ship Real Madrid is less of a force and less complete than Barcelona or Bayern Munich, the two most impressive teams in this year’s tournament.

For more than an hour Tuesday in Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, it was Roma that created the better chances. Created, and squandered.

If only Roma had a finisher remotely like Ronaldo, it would have comfortably wiped out the two-goal deficit it dug for itself after losing the first leg. “I’m asking my team to do the impossible,” Roma Coach Luciano Spalletti had said before the game in Madrid. “The way they are training allows me to ask that. But we mustn’t be weak mentally.”

Roma has excelled in Italy this year - it has won seven straight in Serie A - and Spalletti easily identified the obvious flaw in Madrid’s lineup. He told his players, particularly the speedy Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah, to get behind Madrid’s left back, Marcelo, and create havoc there. Salah did that part to perfection. Marcelo is adventurous at going forward and linking up with Ronaldo, but the Brazilian has barely any inclination to fulfill his defensive duties.

Madrid Manager Zinedine Zidane, a marvelous player who now is a rookie coach, appeared happy enough to pick Marcelo. Why? Perhaps because what Zidane best knows and loves about soccer is attacking and exploiting the opponent’s weakness. He did it par excellence as a Real Madrid forward. And earlier this week, one of his players, Raphaël Varane, said, “He is a coach who loves the game and loves attacking football. He likes movement, moving the ball around quickly and playing higher up the pitch.”

Marcelo, then, is a definite Zidane pick. But the risks are obvious: On Tuesday night, Salah (twice), Edin Dzeko and Alessandro Florenzi were in good position to score, one on one, against the Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas. Only once did the goalkeeper need to show his agility to make the save. The other three shots went wide. And Spalletti’s face on the sideline showed that he feared that once such opportunities came Real Madrid’s way, there would be no such wastefulness.

Madrid, to be sure, was carving out its own openings: Statistics had Real having 37 shots on goal to Roma’s 12. But that statistic didn’t tell the whole truth. Most of Real Madrid’s attempts came from long range, against a well-organized double line of Roma defenders. And most were either off target or so tame they were mere catching practice for Roma keeper Wojciech Szczesny.

When he was finally beaten, it was by Ronaldo, of course. A week or so back, when some in Madrid’s media were prematurely calling time on Ronaldo’s career, his response was to tell them to look at the statistics because they never lie. Ronaldo was booed by a sizable portion of the crowd Tuesday, but in a handful of minutes, between the 64th and 68th, he scored the first goal and set up the other by James Rodríguez.

Neither finish was a work of art. Rodríguez’s shot went straight through the legs of the goalkeeper, and Ronaldo’s was tapped in from close range, although it did require him to think and move quickly to reach the low cross by Lucas Vázquez. Vázquez is that rarity, a player actually produced by the Real Madrid youth system. The 24-year-old had to wait a long time for his breakthrough season in Real’s white, and he spent last season at Espanyol, the other club in Barcelona. Vázquez’s role on Tuesday was to come off the bench and replace Gareth Bale - recently returned from injury - once he tired.

After linking up with Luka Modric, Vázquez danced past a defender and demonstrated that he had the talent to shine, if his club allowed him to show it. Ronaldo now has 353 goals in 336 games with Madrid, and no one would deny that he is a superstar. Yet, the Madrid fans boo him. The older supporters look beyond the goal totals and want less hubris. They saw it in previous stars like Alfredo Di Stéfano and, later, in Zidane.

And Tuesday, the crowd that harangued Ronaldo gave a standing ovation to a man who never played for them. As the game neared its end, Roma sent it its longtime magician, Francesco Totti. Now 39, Totti first wore Roma’s distinctive purple and golden yellow when he was 16. Real once bid for him, but Totti always was a one-team kind of a guy.

He can no longer inspire his beloved team to victory, as he once could with instinctive and almost insolent guile. But as he made a cameo during his 595th game for Roma - most likely his last appearance at the Bernabéu - Totti was given the ovation denied to the man who scored the game winner, Ronaldo.

Spalletti reiterated after the contest that his team needed, somehow, to toughen up on the mental side of the game, something Totti never had a problem with.

But by fielding Totti at the end, he demonstrated that Roma is also woefully short in what Madrid has in abundance: the ability to score goals. And Real, which has no chance to win its league and has only the Champions League left to play for, advanced to the quarterfinals for the sixth year in a row.

Read More

Malik Jackson agrees to 6-year deal with Jacksonville Jaguars

General manager John Elway nailed the 2012 draft, selecting defensive end Malik Jackson in the fifth round and linebacker Danny Trevathan in the sixth. They turned into starters, and exceeded expectations. As such, they have exceeded the Broncos' budget as the team tries to make the puzzle pieces fit to defend their Super Bowl 50 title.

Jackson has agreed in principle on a six-year, $90-million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Teammates were told he received close to $40 million guaranteed. The NFL Network reported the figure at $42 million.

What a time to be alive

— Malik Barron Jackson (@TheMalikJackson) March 8, 2016

The Chicago Bears have made a strong push to sign Trevathan. He predicted they would have interest during Super Bowl 50 week. Trevathan developed into a starter and steady contributor under coach John Fox, who is entering his second year in Chicago.

The Broncos made keeping Jackson an offseason priority, but couldn't persuade him to return on an offer at slightly less than $11 million per season. At a $15 million average annual salary, Jackson would be the Broncos' highest-paid player next season when he's not among their top five defensive players.

Congrats Fam @TheMalikJackson #moneyteam lol

— Chris Harris (@ChrisHarrisJr) March 8, 2016

"Congrats Fam @TheMalikJackson," tweeted Broncos cornerback Chris Harris, adding, "Y'all know we still got some Dogs on the D Line ready."

Jackson's deal with the Jaguars won't become official until Wednesday at 2 p.m. It marks the second consecutive year Jacksonville has signed away a top Broncos player with Jackson joining tight end Julius Thomas.

Jackson entered free agency as one of the top players available, attracting interest from Jacksonville, Chicago and Oakland. The Jaguars began free agency with $79 million available in cap space.

"His versatility is unmatched along the Dline," linebacker Brandon Marshall said, explaining why Jackson fit the Broncos so well last season. "He can play anywhere and stop the run and rush the passer from anywhere."

The Broncos wanted Jackson, but have been moving on multiple fronts. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips trusts defensive line coach Bill Kollar to develop young players, as he did this season with defensive end Derek Wolfe, who received a four-year, $36.7 million deal in January, and nose tackle Sylvester Williams. Williams said recently he is open to playing defensive end if asked, and the Broncos are expected to seek depth in the draft and will add help with the the return of a healthy Kenny Anunike.

Read More

Titans Acquire DeMarco Murray From Eagles, His Agents Say

Agents for running back DeMarco Murray confirm that Murray, the N.F.L.’s 2014 rushing leader, has been traded by the Philadelphia Eagles to the Tennessee Titans.

Murray also has a new contract in the deal, his agents, SportsTrust Advisors, wrote on Twitter on Monday night.

The deal gives the Titans the running back threat they have lacked since releasing Chris Johnson, while the Eagles rid themselves of one of the contracts signed by their former coach Chip Kelly.

Murray signed a five-year, $40 million contract with $21 million guaranteed with Philadelphia last year.

Other terms of the deal were not immediately available.

The Titans hold the No. 1 pick in the April draft and have eight draft picks - three in the top 64 selections.

This will be the first big move by the Titans’ new general manager, Jon Robinson, who was hired in January to turn around a franchise that has gone 5-27 since releasing Johnson in April 2014 to avoid the final three seasons of a $53.5 million deal. Johnson was the last running back to run for 100 yards in a game for Tennessee, a drought that stretches to December 2013.

The Titans ranked 25th in the N.F.L. last season, averaging 92.8 yards rushing per game, and the new coach, Mike Mularkey, has talked about running the ball much more next season.

Murray led the N.F.L. in rushing with 1,845 yards and 13 touchdowns for Dallas in 2014 and was the N.F.L. offensive player of the year.

He ran for only 702 yards with the Eagles last season, including 112 yards Oct. 19 against the Giants. Murray, a six-year veteran, has run for 5,228 yards and 34 touchdowns in his career, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. He also has 215 receptions for 1,522 yards.

The move, expected for some time, brings an end to Griffin’s sudden-rise-and-stunning-fall saga with a team that traded a bevy of draft picks to acquire him - and now receives nothing in return as he departs. The move gets Griffin’s 2016 contract, worth about $16 million, off the payroll before Wednesday, when the new league year begins and free agents can be signed.

It also closes the book on Griffin’s tumultuous tenure in Washington. He arrived as a Heisman Trophy winner and the No. 2 overall choice in the 2012 N.F.L. draft - a pick that came from the Rams at the high price of three first-round selections plus a second-rounder - and immediately became a star and national sensation. He leaves having spent all of last season on the sideline.

As a free agent, he can sign anywhere.

In a lengthy posting on Instagram, Griffin wrote: “Although my time here is over, I’m excited about what the future brings!!!! I look forward to finding the team where God has me to be and growing with that team on the way to World Championships.”

The Redskins, the N.F.C. East champions, also released safeties Dashon Goldson and Jeron Johnson, and defensive end Jason Hatcher, part of a busy day that removed nearly $30 million from Washington’s spending toward the cap and brings the team below the ceiling. In addition, fullback Darrel Young and nose tackle Terrance Knighton indicated on Twitter that they would not be brought back.

Read More

5 reasons Eagles traded Byron Maxwell, Kiko Alonso to Dolphins

The Eagles stole the headlines from Peyton Manning's retirement and opened the NFL's legal tampering period by orchestrating a blockbuster trade with the Miami Dolphins. 

In his first offseason back in control of football operations, Eagles executive Vice President of player personnel Howie Roseman dealt cornerback Byron Maxwell and linebacker Kiko Alonso to the Dolphins. There will also be draft pick compensation involved in the deal. 

On the surface, this deal was about flexibility. Roseman's ability to address the team's needs in free agency so the war room could focus on taking the best player available on draft night rather than potentially reaching to fill a need the front office couldn't afford to fill earlier in the offseason. 

Here are five reasons why this trade went down: 

1) Salary cap relief: 

The Eagles entered Monday with just $17.5 million in cap space, but after clearing the remaining money from Maxwell's $63 million contract signed last offseason off the books along with Alonso, the team now has upwards of $23.3 million in spending flexibility when free agency begins Wednesday. 

2) Reallocating resources:

It's no secret that the Eagles have plenty of needs to fill on both sides of the football. This trade allows them to dedicate the hefty cap savings from trading Maxwell on a potential deal to re-sign Nolan Carroll, fortify the offensive line and perhaps ink a box safety to pay alongside Malcolm Jenkins in the secondary of Jim Schwartz's defense that utilizes the wide nine front. 

3) Scheme fit:

Many fans and analysts alike were intrigued by the possibility of a Schwartz-Alonso reunion, but clearly the Eagles' new defensive coordinator had other ideas. Both in his time with the Buffalo Bills and as head coach of the Detroit Lions, Schwartz preferred big, physical linebackers on the outside. At 6-foot-3, 238, Alonso doesn't quite fit that description. Perhaps either former Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch or Tahir Whitehead could be on the Eagles' radar to replace Alonso. 

4) Eradicating Chip Kelly's influence:

Similarly to Kelly moving swiftly last offseason to deal away players drafted during the Roseman/Andy Reid regime, a rejuvenated Roseman appears to be undoing the high priced mistakes the former head coach made last year in his lone offseason with final say over personnel. 

5) Kiko Alonso's injury history:

It is entirely possible that the Dolphins made adding Alonso a requirement to get this deal done after absorbing Maxwell's mammoth contract. Despite the fact that Alonso's cap hit was only $781,891, the Eagles were likely amenable to including him in this trade due to his injury history. Alonso missed the 2014 season with a torn ACL and was sidelined for five games with a knee injury. 

Read More

Project Fi drops invite program, offers $150 off a Nexus 5X with service

Google's Project Fi cellular service is dropping its invite requirement. And to celebrate, the company just announced the deepest discount ever on the Nexus 5X. If you buy the phone through Project Fi and activate it, you can get the normally $349 Nexus 5X for just $199. The offer is valid from today until April 7, 2016.

The deal conjures up images of the two-year contract pricing carriers used to offer on phones, but Project Fi is a pre-pay service with no contracts, so it seems you can cancel at any time. The fine print only says, "You must then activate Fi service on the same account within 30 days of device shipment." We guess that you'd then be on the hook for a month of service, which at the minimum pricing will cost about $30. So even if you have no desire to join Project Fi, around $230 for a 5X while canceling Project Fi is still a deal.

Project Fi is Google's MVNO service that continually switches between Sprint and T-Mobile, while only charging you for the exact amount of the data you use, down to the megabyte. The service also combines all the best features of Google Voice, like visual voicemail, number forwarding, and the ability to send and receive SMS messages from any computer and via the Google Hangouts app. The only real downside is the extremely limited device compatibility - the Network switching feature means Fi only works on the Nexus 5X, 6, and 6P. Project Fi charges a $20 base fee for unlimited texting and calls, plus $10 per GB of data you use.

Google is killing the Project Fi invite program, but that doesn't seem like a huge deal. Getting an invite to Project Fi before never seemed like a huge challenge - we've only heard of customers waiting a week at most. Now Google seems ready to take things out of the "Beta" phase, and it's removing this one last barrier to entry.

Read More

Tom Clancy’s The Division review

Ubisoft’s answer to Destiny is out today, but what are the initial impressions from the first 12 hours with the game?

The first time we saw The Division was in June 2013. At the time it was unclear exactly what kind of game it really was, with all the initial emphasis being on the graphics rather than the vaguely described online play. As such, it’s only in the last few months that the obvious point of comparison has become Destiny. How much of that is a result of Ubisoft altering the design to mimic Activision’s smash hit we’re not sure, but it means it’s going to be equally hard to make a final judgement about the game until well after launch.

By the time you read this The Division will be on sale, and the only head start we’ve had - apart from various previews and betas - is that the servers turned on at 2pm yesterday. Even if we could’ve played it before that there would’ve been no real point as, just like Destiny, this is a game all about interacting with other players in the same online world.

We shouldn’t give the impression that The Division is a clone of any kind though, as there are many important differences between the two games. But if you want to understand the game’s approach to single-player, co-op, and competitive gameplay then Bungie’s game is the obvious frame of reference.

The Division though is eager to portray itself as an action role-player, even though its third person, cover-based shooting works similarly to many other action titles. Starting the game for the first time it comes across very much like a less over-the-top version of Gears Of War, as you’re taught how to aim, fire, roll, and clamber over a training area in New York City’s Brooklyn.

This all works fine but the problem The Division has is that, unlike Destiny, the gunplay isn’t quite as effortlessly perfect. It’s fine, but while Bungie can fudge the reasons why shooting a space alien in the face doesn’t kill them immediately it’s a little harder in The Division. Headshots are acknowledged but the damage you do is dictated by your equipment and stats just as much by your actual aim, and as a result some enemies do come across like bullet sponges.

The rest of the game, or at least the bits we’ve played so far, take part in Manhattan, after a terrorist virus attack has turned the island into an almost post-apocalyptic wasteland. The rather implausible backstory involves you being part of a government sleeper cell who are ready to be activated (by glowing, sci-fi style watches) at a moment’s notice and take control.

As we noted in the beta the backstory is both a little silly and a little dull all at the same time, and seems something of a waste given the quality of the graphics. Inevitably they don’t look as good as when the game was first unveiled, but the open world recreation of Manhattan in the snowy mid-winter is excellent. The world is huge too, filled with side quests and points of interests, but, because of the plot, only fairly ordinary human opponents. And that’s despite the fact that a lot of the visual cues for the game have clearly been taken from more fantastical sources, such as the movie Cloverfield.

It’s perfectly possible to have a role-playing game in a quasi-realistic setting, but it does make it a lot more difficult to create sufficiently interesting loot and upgrades to make the whole business of levelling up seem worthwhile. And yet so far at least The Division seems to be doing well. Within an hour or so we’d picked up a shotgun and an assault rifle, and added our first mod – an extra handle that improved our aiming by 2 per cent.

These are the sort of tiny advantages The Division’s loot offers in the earlier hours, as it’s made clear that you’re not working your way towards unlocking a super laser or a nuclear strike but instead more down-to-earth, incremental improvements to your abilities. A new slot to hold two primary weapons is a big moment, as is starting to unlock more than just your first special ability (from a choice of three: radar ping, sticky bomb, and ballistic shield).

Before leaving Brooklyn you get the chance to try out a co-op mission with three other players, and even when the game was running only on journos and those that had picked up a copy early we managed to get a game quickly and without any sign of launch day problems. It’s a fairly straightforward hostage rescue though, with a generous amount of time given to resurrect a colleague if they go down.

Again, the realistic setting means the level designers will have to work within a fairly narrow range, and although there’s already been questions asked about exactly how many story missions there’ll be we’re more worried about how distinctive they’ll all seem.

The other part of the equation is the Dark Zone, the one area of the game where you can be attacked and killed by other players. Obviously this is not somewhere you want to be hanging out when you’ve only just started, as veteran players start to use it as a hunting ground for experience points and player loot.

Going in on your own is a virtual death wish, because although the loot is generally more useful it’s also more infected and so has to be airlifted out via an extraction chopper. Everyone else in the zone knows when this is happening, and camping out waiting to steal other people’s (probably already stolen) stuff is clearly going to be common practice.

Attacking another player does get you marked on the map as a rogue though, with rewards for hunting down rogues being the other main draw for entering the area. With all these elements combined the Dark Zone is the most interestingly unique set-up in the game, but who knows what it’ll end up like once the general public descend upon it.

We enjoyed our first few hours with The Division, just as we did with the beta. But nothing so far has given us the opportunity to answer the fundamental questions about the game’s longevity and variety. We’ll try and get a review together late this week or early next, but as with Destiny it may be much longer than that before the game’s true nature is revealed.

Read More

Boston Marathon Survivor Victoria McGrath Killed in Dubai Car Crash

On Monday, March 7, Northeastern University announced that 23-year-old student Victoria McGrath, a survivor of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, died in a recent car crash while vacationing in Dubai.

Three years ago, McGrath was critically injured in the April 15 attacks and was photographed in a now-iconic image in which she is seen being carried to safety by firefighter Jim Plourde.

After surviving a bomb exploding just five feet away from her as she was standing near the marathon’s finish line as a spectator, the Weston, Connecticut, native participated in the May 2013 “Boston Strong” concert alongside the first responders who helped rescue her. She was set to graduate from Northeastern’s school of business this spring.

"Victoria and Priscilla were vibrant, beloved members of our community, and their passing leaves a grievous absence in our community and in our hearts," Northeastern University President Joseph E. Aoun said in a statement.

Tufts Medical Center, the treatment facility where McGrath recovered from the bombings, paid tribute to her memory on social media: "Our hearts ache for the family & friends of our former patient Victoria McGrath. She made a lasting impact on those who knew her."

Our hearts ache for the family & friends of our former patient Victoria McGrath. She made a lasting impact on those who knew her.

— Tufts Medical Center (@TuftsMedicalCtr) March 7, 2016

“Her personality her sparkle were amazing during the whole marathon bombing crisis,” Brooke Hynes, a public affairs official at Tufts Medical Center added. “She was wonderfully smart and had a passion for life and people loved talking with her, being with her, and caring for her.”

Though she suffered nerve damage following the attack, McGrath was determined to continue living life to the fullest. “I’m going to get better,” she told the Today show at the time. “This is just a little thing.”

Read More

North Korea threatens nuclear strike as U.S. - South Korea war games begin

North Korea on Monday issued its latest belligerent threat, warning of an indiscriminate "preemptive nuclear strike of justice" on Washington and Seoul, this time in reaction to the start of huge U.S.-South Korean military drills.

Such threats have been a staple of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un since he took power after his dictator father's death in December 2011. But they increase especially when Washington and Seoul stage what they call annual defensive springtime war games. The government in Pyongyang says the drills, which started Monday and run through the end of April, are invasion rehearsals.

The North's powerful National Defense Commission threatened strikes against targets in the South, U.S. bases in the Pacific and the U.S. mainland, saying its enemies "are working with bloodshot eyes to infringe upon the dignity, sovereignty and vital rights" of North Korea.

"If we push the buttons to annihilate the enemies even right now, all bases of provocations will be reduced to seas in flames and ashes in a moment," the North's statement said.

Responding to the North's threat, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said Monday that North Korea must refrain from a "rash act that brings destruction upon itself."

Read More

Cowboys not interested in RG3, more likely to pursue other QBs

It's been long assumed once the Redskins released him, one of the top suitors for Robert Griffin III this offseason would be the Cowboys. Washington released Griffin on Monday (ending a tumultuous run for Griffin in the nation's capital.

According to multiple reports, however, you shouldn't expect to see him donning the big blue star right away.

Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports reports the Cowboys are "not in play" for Griffin at the moment.

Contrary to what I'm hearing from a few analysts, I do not believe the Dallas #Cowboys are in play right now for Robert Griffin.

— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) March 7, 2016

So what will the Cowboys - who very clearly need to work on the backup quarterback position - do if Griffin isn't in their plans?

According to the Dallas Morning News, there are other targets. Namely, Chase Daniel and Colt McCoy.

Although the Cowboys have been linked to Griffin and Manziel in national reports, Dallas is more likely to pursue Texas prep products Colt McCoy or Chase Daniel in free agency as a veteran backup for Tony Romo.

The Morning News also reports similarly to Robinson the Cowboys aren't necessarily interested in pursuing someone like Griffin.

It makes sense from a logical perspective. (We've all just been thinking in terms of Jerry Jones' perspective.) Griffin is a big name and would be a big distraction to a team often attracted to the biggest names.

The biggest concern for Dallas should be finding a capable quarterback who can step in and handle the team if Tony Romo goes down.

Griffin is a really talented quarterback but it can't be assumed he'll waltz onto the Cowboys depth chart and be a fit if something happens to Romo. There's also the matter of the cap space issue -- the Cowboys aren't exactly flush with room and they've got bigger issues.

Going cheap on quarterback and finding talent in other areas is a better move.

Read More

This is why google remove the letter "e" in Google Doodle

Google commemorate the birth date of the legendary novelist Georges Perec, Monday, 7 March 2017. Perec, who was born March 7, 1936 is a French writer who has a life story is quite dramatic.

Google Doodle page displays with animation format. Google uses patterned font crayons when click the play button, the letter "e" will disappear. Animation is apparently part of the commemoration of the birthday of George Perec.

Georges Perec is a novelist with a monumental work La disparition whose entire contents are not using the letter "e".

Georges Perec's works have been translated into English under the title A Void, whose entire contents are also not using the letter "e". Perhaps this phenomenon closely with Gyles Brandreth who rewrote Shakespeare's Hamlet without the letter "i."

There are works of Georges which had been lost. As quoted in The Guardian on Monday 7 March 2017, Georges've never intentionally concealed his first novel about Antonello da Messina's Portrait of a Man. But after the death in 1982, the manuscript Le Condottière nowhere to be found. Had "buried" in the old trunk that was accidentally discharged, the manuscript was finally found and re-printed for later publication.

Warning George Perec is not without reason. Novelis this one has a dramatic life story. He was born in the district of workers in Paris, France. George was the only child of a French soldier in World War I, Icek Judko and Cyrla Peretz.

His mother died in the Nazi Holocaust. So George Perec diadobsi and treated by Bibi and banged Pamnya of the father. Perec had time to write reviews and essays for La Nouvelle Revue Francaise and Les Lettres Nouvelles.

Not only that, he had joined the French Air Force to become a paratrooper. George Perec married a girl named Paulette Petras and stay in Tunisia.

In 1961 he worked at the Research Laboratory Neurofisologis. In the late '60s Perec began working on a series of joint Radio Drama Eugen Helmle and the musician Philippe Brogoz.

Less than a decade later Perec was able to make his first film of the novel is Un Homme Quidort is directed by Bernard Queysanne and won the Prix Jean Vigo in 1974.

In 1981 Perec switch profession as a writer at the University of Queensland Australia. After returning from Australia Perec began developing the disease. He is a heavy smoker and lung cancer. Perec died in 1982 in Ivry-sur-Seine Paris France.

Profile and biography of Georges Perec noted as the one responsible for the world. So today Google through animated images logo Doodle celebrating the birth of Georges Perec's 80th.

Read More

Northern lights illuminate skies as far south as Oxfordshire

Stargazers across the UK have been treated to a dazzling display of the northern lights.

The aurora borealis was visible as far south as Oxfordshire on Sunday evening as the weather cleared, painting the night sky with shades of green, purple and blue.

The ethereal spectacle is caused by charged solar particles interacting with the Earth’s magnetic field and is usually only visible in the far north of Scotland.

A “lucky combination” of conditions in the lower atmosphere and in space meant the aurora was visible across swaths of the country, Met Office space weather adviser Amanda Townsend said.

“Once in a while the solar winds are enhanced to levels stronger than normal, with particles at higher speeds, and on this occasion it has connected really well with the Earth’s magnetic field.”

In addition to the cosmic weather being just right, conditions closer to the ground favoured those who ventured out into the cold to see the spectacle. Skies were clear over much of Scotland and England and many shared their photos of the phenomenon on social media.

Sunderland-based photographer Dean Matthews tweeted this picture of the lights:

The amazing northern lights seen from Seaburn in #Sunderland #CityByTheSea @1034SunFM @SunderlandEcho @itvtynetees pic.twitter.com/x4aZvi1c0k

— Dean Matthews (@Dean_Matthews_) March 7, 2016

And astronomer Joe Llama added his photograph. 

The #NorthernLights are shining over @univofstandrews pic.twitter.com/3byE93IoFi

— Joe Llama (@joe_llama) March 6, 2016

Those who missed the stellar light show in England might have to wait a while for the next display. “The strongest part of the geomagnetic storm has passed and it probably won’t be as strong on Monday night, so the main places to see aurora will be in north Scotland,” Townsend said.

Read More

Brad Keselowski wins the 2016 Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

WINNER: Brad Keselowski passed Kyle Busch with six laps to go to win the Kobalt 400, his second win here in three years. He also won in 2014. Busch was hoping to make it a weekend sweep by going to victory lane at his hometown track on consecutive days after winning Saturday's Xfinity Series race. Busch had a breathtaking move on a late restart in which he went from sixth place to first in just two-thirds of a lap, but he could not hold off the faster Keselowski in the closing laps.

"This rules package - I love it, it's awesome," Keselowski said of the new lower downforce package that debuted last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway. "You can be really fast at the start of the run or at the end of the run, but we had awesome speed at the end of the run. It finally started to take off with 25 to go. This is such a good feeling to be back in victory lane. It's been way too long. What a day, I'm beat. I put everything I had into driving this car.”

It was his first win since March 22, 2015, at Auto Club Speedway.

Keselowski had trouble holding onto the American flag and checkered flag after the race, getting out of his car to pick the American flag up off the track surface. Winds were gusting up to 40 mph in the closing laps in a race that also saw a delay for rain at the start and for a sand storm.

Team Penske teammate Joey Logano was second and Jimmie Johnson - trying to get his 77th win, which would bump him past Dale Earnhardt Sr. on the all-time wins list - was third. Busch faded to fourth.

"I had a vibration when we put the rights on, and it just kept getting worse and worse," Busch said. "There at the end, I didn't know if a tire was coming off or what. And there at the end, I was trying to give it everything I had, but it would just not turn. It just go so tight, it was the tightest we were all day.”

CHASE PICTURE: Keselowski's victory means Team Penske has a driver in the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff. He joins Jimmie Johnson, who won last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Denny Hamlin, who won the Daytona 500.

BIG THREE: Keselowski's win put a Ford in victory lane in week three. Toyota (Hamlin) and Chevrolet (Johnson) already had notched wins this season.

WILD AND WINDY: The race was delayed by 24 minutes due to some rain that blew through the area. But rain wasn’t the big weather factor of the day; instead, it was strong, gale-force wind gusts. The winds of up to 40 mph knocked down pit signs, sent trash flying all over the track and caused static on the team radio communications.

AND SANDY: At one point, a restart was even delayed by a passing sandstorm with 65 laps to go. Spotters had a hard time seeing the cars on the backstretch, a surreal scene that was certainly a rarity for a NASCAR race.

TOO FAST: Kurt Busch led each of the first 30 laps, but was caught speeding on pit road during a competition caution and was sent to the rear of the field. Busch suggested NASCAR should “grow up” and go to a button that would automatically limit cars’ speed on pit road, which he said would be a safer solution.

TOO FAST, THE SEQUEL: Busch was the first of several drivers to be penalized for speeding on pit road during the race. Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Larson and AJ Allmendinger were all caught speeding at various points in the race - with Biffle, Stenhouse and Larson flagged on the same pit stop in the same segment.

ALMOST SAVED IT: With 43 laps to go, Matt Kenseth got loose and started to spin heading into Turn 1. Kenseth drifted and nearly saved it, but Chase Elliott couldn’t avoid the No. 20 car and plowed into the back of him. Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch also were involved in the wreck. “Bad job on my end,” Elliott said. “I should know better than to miss a wreck like that.”

OUT OF SHAPE: There weren’t many other accidents during the race. One small incident occurred when AJ Allmendinger got into the back of Kyle Larson, which sent him up the track and into the wall. Larson mostly saved the car, but it caused a caution with 70 laps to go.

NOT AGAIN: Larson got worse damage with 53 laps remaining when Regan Smith spun in front of him. Larson apparently was trying to avoid the incident when he spun himself into the inside wall and impacted the right rear again.

Read More

Shocking loss the latest test for record-chasing Warriors

Shocking loss the latest test for record-chasing Warriors

Sunday served as a reminder that there's a thin line between wondrous and perilous for the now 55-6 Golden State Warriors.

Even though their unexpected 112-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers left them still on track to surpass the Chicago Bulls' 72-win season of 1995-96, it left them only 2.5 games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs in the pursuit of the NBA's best record and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs this season.

Steve Kerr maintains the No. 1 seed is all that matters, that it's pointless to speculate about winning 73 until it's actually within reach. But the 73 talk is out there, awaiting the Warriors everywhere they go -- to the detriment of the team's focus, some in the Warriors organization believe. Yet it's also possible that the goals are one and the same, that securing the top seed could necessitate winning 73 games. That's how good the Spurs and their .855 winning percentage have been this season, with about 1/90th the buzz of the Warriors' season.

Kerr says he believes any lamenting over missing a chance at history would quickly be erased by refocusing on the task at hand of winning a championship. What about missing out on not only the best team of all time but the best team of 2015-16? That would be, as Kerr said, "anti-climactic." And falling behind the Spurs in the standings would probably mean carrying the additional mental weight of losing at least two of their remaining three games against San Antonio.

EDITOR'S PICKS

Warriors, Lakers seem to reverse roles for a day

What the heck happened to the Golden State Warriors against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday? Stats & Info tries to explain.

Kobe credits 'the power of the socks' for win

The Lakers paid honor to Kobe Bryant on Sunday by wearing themed socks inspired and approved by the future Hall of Famer in their surprising 112-95 win over the Warriors.

Chase for 73: Warriors' chances at breaking Bulls' record

With every victory, Golden State inches closer to history. Get the latest updates on the Warriors' pursuit of the 1995-96 Bulls' record.

But the Warriors aren't at a point of panic about seeding yet. Far from it.

"We're still in control of that conversation," Stephen Curry said. "We want to keep looking ahead, not looking behind us. [The Spurs] are playing well. But we don't need any help down the stretch. We've got control of our own pace. We've allowed ourselves that room to maybe drop one here or there, but we've gotta turn it back on."

If the Warriors are a shooting team, they need to have that shooter's mentality: the belief that no matter how many misses they rack up the next one's going in. Curry made only one of his 10 3-point shots Sunday -- just enough to keep his streak of hitting a 3-pointer in consecutive games alive at 131 straight -- and no one thinks he's about to pack away his jump shot. Klay Thompson surely won't stop firing after his 0-for-8 performance.

The ability to turn it on when they need to has pushed the Warriors to 55 victories so far. It's why Kerr didn't berate them in the locker room for this lackluster effort. He knows the impossibility of asking a room full of athletes to be at their competitive best for 82 regular-season games of varying significance. He recognizes the professionalism they have shown in keeping the lapses to a minimum.

That didn't mean he found Sunday's effort acceptable.

"It's the NBA, and if you're not ready to play, anything can happen," Kerr said. "And we weren't ready. We had zero attention span out there at either end of the floor. Our guards were leaking out, not helping on the glass, turning the ball over, over and over again. Not following the scouting report defensively, not putting any pressure on the ball. And the Lakers played a great game."

It would be easy to point to the Warriors' 4-for-30 long-range shooting display and say, "See! That's what happens when jump-shooting teams go cold." That wasn't what this loss would be about. The Warriors are built to survive cold-shooting performances. Before Sunday, the Warriors had shot below the league average of 35 percent on 3-pointers 14 times and still managed to win 13 of those games. (The lone loss came in Milwaukee the night after a double-overtime win in Boston).

Sunday the Warriors combined poor shooting with pitiful effort. That's what did them in. The Lakers jumped into passing lanes, leaped for rebounds and hustled for loose balls.

"They beat us from start to finish," Andrew Bogut said. "We didn't come out and compete the way that we have to compete."

Kerr likes to joke with Curry that Warrior miscues are due to the "Millennial mentality" of this young team. The undelivered punchline is that the Warriors so often display the opposite of the entitled-attitude stereotype of the generation. But Sunday?

"Guilty as charged," Curry said.

You could chalk it up to an early Sunday afternoon game against an inferior opponent after a Saturday night in Los Angeles, which might be as valid an explanation as any.

"In an 82-game season, there are so many variables that go into it," Curry said. We've been pretty good at mastering those every single night. We haven't played well every night, we haven't brought our A-plus game, but we've found a way to win. That's what we've been most proud of all year.

"The big thing is how we respond [after the loss]."

Not just big, but necessary, for their shot at history and their quest for the No. 1 seed. The teams in the third and fourth Western Conference spots, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers, spent last week saying that seeds didn't matter and only health and momentum going into the playoffs were important. That could be why they're the third and fourth seeds.

The Warriors believe things like the No. 1 seed are important, and have spent much of the season acting in that manner. The response to their previous loss, a road pounding to the Portland Trail Blazers coming out of the All-Star break, was to win the next five games on their trip, culminating in that memorable overtime victory in Oklahoma City. Their response to the loss before that, against the Detroit Pistons, was to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers and Spurs by a combined 107 points over the next four games.

"We'll be all right," Curry said after Golden State's defeat.

It sounded more like belief in what his team can do than denial about the way his team had just played. If the Warriors want everything they've openly sought, they'll need to be more than all right.

Read More