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David Ayers Reveals Diversified SUICIDE SQUAD Cast in Full Costume

Movie News

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May 4, 2015

David Ayers Reveals Diversified SUICIDE SQUAD Cast in Full Costume

Now, I’m no superhero fan but the more and more I see about the upcoming Suicide Squad movie the more excited I get! A few days ago, David Ayer gave fans a heads up about his important reveal by tweeting “Get Ready.” On May 3, 2015 he revealed the full cast of the movie dressed in costume. Considering the film is in its shooting stages it was totally unexpected and awesome!

So, what has someone like me who really isn’t a superhero fan dying to see this movie? The diversity in the makeup of the cast is just amazing! With mor.e and more ethnic groups being represented on television (finally right?), I for one, was hoping that we would also be represented more on the big screen as well. Finally, here is evidence that YES, YOU CAN DIVERSIFY ACTION PACKED SUPERHERO FILMS!

The cast of the Suicide Squad includes big names such as Will Smith, Viola Davis, Common, Scott Eastwood, Raymond Olubowale, Adam Beach, and Adewale Akinnuoye-agbaje. It’s just so nice to see a very diverse group of people make up a kick-ass assemble for a change.

We’ve all seen the crazy photo of Jared Leto as the Joker for this film and it is far beyond anything we could have imagined. This film has a very exciting and edgy feel to it that I think even non- comic book fans will love. David Ayer is also a very powerful director. I love the gritty rawness his films such as End of Watch, and Training Day had. He clearly knows how to keep a pulse-pounding pace going and how to fill each scene with tension.

The film has lost two big named actor such as Tom Hardy and Jake Gyllenhaal. Hardy however backed out of the role because of a schedule conflict with his upcoming movie Mad Max: Fury Road. Gyllenhaal on the other hand was contacted for to take the role, but apparently never took it. All is well though, because as you can see the cast turned out to be amazing after all.

If you’re not familiar with what the Suicide Squad actually, they’re a team of imprisoned super-villains who perform high-risk missions for the U.S. Government in exchange for shorter sentences. Don’t you just love how they’re villains with redeeming qualities? Their missions are extremely classified to the point where the government simply blames any damage the squad does on random super-villain attacks. Their commander is Amanda Waller who runs the program from Belle Reve prison.

Excited yet? Don’t get to elated because we’ll be waiting a long time to see it! The release date is set for August 5, 2016.

Suicide Squad Cast & Character Breakdown

Celebrity Gossip Weekly: Beyonce, Taylor Swift & Kanye West On Hold

Julie Wein

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May 4, 2015

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Celebrity Gossip Weekly: Beyonce, Taylor Swift & Kanye West On Hold

This week’s celebrity gossip includes some sad news out of Hollywood as legendary singer Ben E. King passed away at the age of 76. Aside from his singing career he was best known for starting the foundation he called Stand By Me, after one of his biggest hits. The purpose of the Stand By Me Foundation is to give people suffering from addictions, poverty and lack of education a better quality of life.

In other news, Beyonce has made a public statement concerning the protesting in Baltimore over the death of Freddy Gray. Using her Instagram, Beyonce posted asking her fans to support the NAACP in efforts to assist Baltimore residents who have been displaced from their homes and belongings due to the riot.

After recently spraining her ankle at a Las Vegas performance last week, Britney Spears has cancelled two of her upcoming Las Vegas shows. Britney used her Twitter account to tell her fans she was heartbroken at having to cancel them.

Though Taylor Swift has been making noise for months now about wanting to collaborate on a recording with Kanye West, due to their varying schedules they have not yet been able to make it happen. Swift said the two have talked about it and that she respects Kanye West’s visions as a music producer.

In other Taylor Swift news the singer recently visited a nearby farm. She took photos and videos of herself interacting with the farm’s sheep and stated on her Instagram account that sheep are rude and impossible to deal with, though she meant it in a joking way.

Proving that even celebrities sometimes turn to dating sites to meet someone special, newly single Hilary Duff responded to a man who contacted her using Tinder. She said on their date they went bowling and didn’t talk much, because he had a friend with him and she had some friends with her. Which begs the question, how in the world does that count as a date? If you’re not ready to date, just admit it don’t half -ass a date because you think you should.

Apparently bowling is something Hilary Duff regularly enjoys, because recently she got together with former co-stars from Lizzie McGuire at a local Los Angele bowling alley.

In some possibly slightly creepy celebrity gossip Demi Lovato recently told the world that at an appointment with her gynecologist the doctor asked for her autograph to give to his daughter.

Modern Family actress Ariel Winter recently attended her high school prom. She posed for pictures with her dad in her prom dress, which she then posted on Instagram. Ariel attended her prom with her boyfriend.

David Letterman recently admitted that his first choice for his replacement as host of “The Daily Show” was not Stephen Colbert, who is taking over when Letterman leaves. Letterman said he thought a good choice would be Jon Stewart but he also felt like maybe the hosting duties should go to a woman. According to Letterman, CBS did not ask for his input in choosing his successor.

Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco Sweeting recently dyed her hair pink now that the show has wrapped filming for the season. She said she had wanted pink hair for a while and she was happy she was finally getting it. Kaley posted photos of her new hair color on her Instagram account to share with friends and fans.

Singer Sam Smith recently had to cancel a planned upcoming tour of Australia. The reason for the cancellation is that his vocal cords have been damaged and he needs time for them to heal. His vocal cords began to hemorrhage, sidelining him for a while. Smith announced on his Instagram that his Australian concert dates would be rescheduled.

Through Bruce Jenner’s gender transition he has battled the media. His latest battle involves a perceived invasion of privacy after photos of Jenner at home wearing a dress were posted on the Internet without his knowledge. CNN and the Daily News both got ahold of copies of the pictures but declined to use them after finding out the pictures of Jenner were taken illegally.

Full House fans were thrilled to find out that Netflix is bringing a new version of the show back. Recently John Stamos called Mary Kate and Ashley Olson out on posting on their Twitter accounts that they were not asked to be in the Full House reboot, which according to Stamos is untrue.

Though he probably made the dreams of many starry eyed teenage girls come true, Justin Bieber upset a high school’s administration by showing up at their prom uninvited. Bieber is working on a new album and apparently the studio he is recording it in is near the high school whose prom he crashed. According to a representative for the school Bieber’s entourage entered the halls of the school against the will of school administration. They argued that Bieber showing up at their prom made it unsafe but Bieber’s people said some of the students at the school had invited him to their prom and that he wasn’t there to cause trouble.

It recently came out that a fan of Ariana Grande went to one of the singer’s concerts in Connecticut in March after having sent Grande several gifts. Police were called to the fan’s home as a result. The fan was told by the police to stay away from Grande, but he showed up at the concert anyway, at which time he was arrested. The fan is now out of jail on a $5,000 bond.

Dave Chappelle recently performed a sold out stand -up comedy show in Detroit, Michigan and was reportedly not coherent during his performance. Those in the audience accused him of being wasted and many asked to have the money they spent on their tickets refunded. This show was the second show in a multi-night deal Chappelle struck with the venue where the show took place.

Marin Cilic Injury Comeback At 2015 Madrid Open

Jackie Warner

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May 4, 2015

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Marin Cilic Injury Comeback At 2015 Madrid Open

Most of the attention at the 2015 Madrid Open has been on whether Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will face off on the courts, but Maric Cilic, Feliciano Lopez and John Isner are also playing. Cilic has had a long road back from his right shoulder injury which has kept him off the courts for the first two months of the year. He’s been limited to only three tournament matches this season, so this will be a full fledged comeback from him along with testing his shoulder to see if it’s ready.

First round action continues on Monday at La Caja Magica, with 10 men’s singles matches on the order of play. Headlining the day’s proceedings are three seeded players – No. 9 Marin Cilic, No. 11 Feliciano Lopez and No. 16 John Isner. Cilic and Lopez go up against Jiri Vesely andBenjamin Becker, respectively, on Manolo Santana, while Isner takes on Adrian Mannarino on the second show court, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario.

CILIC’S COMEBACK: Cilic’s road back to full fitness continues today against Vesely, with the pair facing off for the first time in the night session. The Croat has been limited to just three tournament appearances this season after missing the first two months of the year with a right shoulder injury. He returned at Indian Wells, where he fell in his first match to Juan Monaco, before going on to reach the QF in Monte-Carlo (l. to Djokovic). He arrives in the Spanish capital off the back of an opening round loss to Victor Estrella Burgos in Barcelona.

AMERICANS IN MADRID: Isner is one of five Americans in the main draw in Madrid, joining World No. 37 Jack Sock, No. 39 Sam Querrey, No. 51Donald Young and No. 54 Steve Johnson. This is the first time since Rome 2004 – James Blake, Robby Ginepri, Todd Martin, Andy Roddick and Vince Spadea – that five Americans have featured in an ATP Masters 1000 event on clay. Isner is joined on today’s schedule by Querrey (vs. Kokkinakis) and Johnson (vs. Gonzalez).

RISING STAR: One of the game’s standout teenagers, Thanasi Kokkinakis, makes his Madrid debut today against Querrey. The young Aussie came through qualifying with wins over Matteo Viola and Janko Tipsarevic. This is the fifth time he has come through qualifying in five attempts this season, making him the first teenager to qualify five times in a row at ATP World Tour level tournaments. He is also the first teenager to qualify five times in a season since Marin Cilic in 2006. World No. 103 Kokkinakis is one of four teenagers ranked inside the Top 110 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, lining up alongside World No. 53 Borna Coric, No. 88 Hyeon Chung and No. 110 Alexander Zverev. Kokkinakis’ compatriot Nick Kyrgios turned 20 last week.

DAY 2 FEDEX ATP HEAD2HEADS

MANOLO SANTANA

Benjamin Becker (GER) vs [11] Feliciano Lopez (ESP)

FedEx ATP Head2Head: Lopez leads 2-0
2010 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (Italy) Clay R64 Feliciano Lopez 6-4 6-3
2013 Memphis (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Feliciano Lopez 4-6 6-3 6-4

•   Becker returns to Madrid for the third time. His lone win here was a 6-0, 6-2 victory over then World No. 514 Carlos Moya in the 1R in 2010 (l. to Federer in 2R).
•   Becker arrives on a five-match losing streak at tour-level. He fell to teenage compatriot Alexander Zverev in the 1R in Munich last week.
•   Becker’s best showing this season was a 3R appearance at the Australian Open, where he posted wins over Julien Benneteau and Lleyton Hewitt (l. to Raonic).
•   In 2014, Becker finished the year at No. 40, equaling the year-end high he set in 2009. His best showing came in ‘s-Hertogenbosch where he reached his first final in 5 years (l. to Bautista Agut).
•   Lopez is making his 14th appearance in Madrid. He is a four-time quarter-finalist here – three indoors and one on clay – with his most recent final eight outing coming last year (l. to Nishikori).
•   Lopez comes in off the back of an opening round loss to Robin Haase in Estoril last week.
•   In February, Lopez advanced to a 12th career final in Quito (l. to Estrella Burgos in 3rd set TB).
•   Lopez’s other stand out result came at Indian Wells, where he reached the QF at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the 12th time in his career (d. No. 5 Nishikori in 4R; l. to Murray).
•   On March 2, the 33-year-old Spaniard rose to a career-high No. 12 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.
•   In 2014, Lopez finished in the Top 15 for the first time at a year-end high No. 14, winning a personal-best 39 matches and a fourth career ATP World Tour title.

Fabio Fognini (ITA) vs Santiago Giraldo (COL)

FedEx ATP Head2Head: Giraldo leads 3-2
2011    Kitzbühel (Austria)           Clay   R16   Santiago Giraldo   6-3 6-4
2013    Acapulco (Mexico)           Clay   QF   Fabio Fognini   7-5 6-4
2014    Barcelona (Spain)               Clay   R32   Santiago Giraldo   6-0 4-0 ret
2014   Stuttgart (Germany)           Clay   QF   Fabio Fognini   6-4 6-3
2015    Sao Paulo (Brazil)           Clay   QF   Santiago Giraldo   7-6(4) 7-5

Other Meetings:
2007 ATP Masters Series Canada Q (Canada) Hard — Fabio Fognini 7-6(7) 5-7 6-4
2008 Turin CH (Italy) Clay R16 Fabio Fognini 6-4 7-5

•   Fognini is back in the Madrid main draw for the seventh time. He has fallen in the 1R here five times, including on his last four appearances – all in three sets.
•   Fognini fell to Dominic Thiem in the 2R in Munich last week.
•   Fognini’s best performance this season came in February in Rio de Janeiro, where he reached the final (l. to Ferrer). The Italian overcame Jiri Vesely after saving 3 MPs and Federico Delbonis in a third-set TB before upsetting Rafael Nadal in the final four, snapping the Spaniard’s 52-match winning streak in clay-court SFs.
•   Fognini also reached the QF at the ATP 500 event in Barcelona with another victory over Nadal. The Italian is just the third player to beat Nadal at least two times in a row on clay (also Gaudio and Djokovic). He then fell toPablo Andujar 6-1, 6-3 in the next round.
•   In late January, Fognini won his first Grand Slam doubles title (w/Bolelli) at the Australian Open (d. Herbert-Mahut). They were the first all-Italian pairing to win a major doubles title since Pietrangeli and Sirola lifted the 1959Roland Garros crown.
•   In 2014, Fognini finished in the Top 20 for the second year in a row and became the first Italian to accomplish the feat since Corrado Barazzutti in 1977-78. He won a third title in Viña del Mar.
•   Giraldo is back in the Madrid main draw for the sixth time. He posted the first and only Top 10 win of his career here last year, defeating No. 8 Andy Murray en route to the QF (l. to Bautista Agut).
•   Giraldo’s best showing this season was a SF run on clay in São Paulo (l. to Cuevas). He also reached QFs on clay in Houston (l. to Sock) and last week in Istanbul (l. to Schwartzman).
•   In 2014, Giraldo finished in the Top 50 for the first time at a year-end high No. 32, highlighted by reaching a second career ATP World Tour final in Barcelona (d. 3 Top 30 players, l. to Nishikori).

Jiri Vesely (CZE) vs [9] Marin Cilic (CRO)

FedEx ATP Head2Head: First ATP World Tour meeting

•   Vesely is making his Mutua Madrid Open debut.
•   Vesely has reached the SF-or-better at three tournaments this year. He clinched his first ATP World Tour title as a qualifier in Auckland in January (d. Mannarino in F) and is now one of seven players born in the 1990s to win a tour-level title: Raonic (6), Dimitrov (4), Goffin (2), Tomic (2), Delbonis (1) and Sock (1). He also finished runner-up in Bucharest (l. to Garcia-Lopez) and reached the SF in Casablanca (l. to Gimeno-Traver).
•   Vesely has fallen in the opening round at eight of the 12 tournaments he has contested in 2015.
•   On April 27, Vesely climbed to a career-high No. 35 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.
•   In 2014, Vesely finished in the Top 100 for the second year in a row at a year-end high No. 66, winning a personal best 16 matches.
•   Cilic is making his eighth appearance in Madrid. He has never gone beyond the 3R here.
•   Cilic missed the first two months of the season with a right shoulder injury. He returned at Indian Wells, where he fell in his first match to Juan Monaco.
•   Since Indian Wells, Cilic has made two other appearances, reaching the QF in Monte-Carlo with wins over Florian Mayer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (l. to Djokovic) and falling in his opening round in Barcelona (l. to Estrella Burgos).
•   In 2014, Cilic finished a year-end best No. 9 and won more than 50 matches for the first time (54), capturing a personal-high four titles, including a first Grand Slam crown at the US Open (d. Nishikori). He was the first Croat in the year-end Top 10 since Ljubicic in 2006.

Andy Murray Beats Kohlschreiber For 2015 Munich Open Title

Jackie Warner

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May 4, 2015

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Andy Murray Beats Kohlschreiber For 2015 Munich Open Title

Third place world ranking tennis star Andy Murray got the best honeymoon present winning his first clay-court title at the 2015 Munich Open. The British tennis star was recently married in the middle of his busy season so this definitely made for the perfect wedding and honeymoon present after defeating German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the Munich Open final 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 7-6 (7-4).

The weather, which was not in Murray’s favor didn’t deter him, and he wound up playing nearly back to back sets with only three hours inbetween on his way to the finals. Then on Sunday, rain pushed his game back another day even though they did get about twenty minutes on the court before realizing it wasn’t meant to be.

It was the 32nd ATP title of the Scot’s career as he prepares for the French Open at the end of the month.

In a rain-interrupted match, the top seed needed just over three hours to beat the world number 24 Kohlschreiber.

“It was a really tough match, he served very close to the line and I was getting frustrated,” said Murray, 27.

He became the first Briton to win an ATP-ranked event on clay since Buster Mottram in Palma in April 1976.

Murray, playing in his first tournament since marrying long-term girlfriend Kim Sears last month, added: “I didn’t realize I was the first Brit to win on clay for so long, so that’s obviously an honour.”

He and Kohlschreiber could meet again in the second round of this week’s Madrid Masters.

The final resumed on Monday after heavy rain stopped play on Sunday evening with Kohlschreiber leading 3-2 in the first set.

Both players confidently held serve to take the opener into a tie-break, and it was world number three Murray, watched by new coach Jonas Bjorkman, who got the mini-break to snatch the set after almost an hour.

Murray had three break points at 4-3 up in the second set, but Kohlschreiber held his nerve and then broke Murray in the 11th game before serving out to level the match.

There were no breaks in the third set and Murray clinched victory on his second match point in another tie-break when Kohlschreiber, the winner in Munich in 2007 and 2012, sent a backhand long.

Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal Ready To Conquer 2015 Madrid Open

Jackie Warner

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May 4, 2015

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Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal Ready To Conquer 2015 Madrid Open

Everyone’s wondering if fun rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be meeting on the courts of the 2015 Madrid Open after the draw they chose put them on a collision course for this. This will definitely have a lot of anticipation during this open as Rafi attempts to climb out of his tennis slump. He knows it’s going to be a long climb back up the tennis rankings as he has phenom Kei Nishikori right on his heels at number 5.

Novak Djokovic chose to pull out of this Open which looks to be a smart move as he is settled in nicely in his number one worldwide ranking spot, and he can take a breather while getting ready for the 2015 French Open. He’s looking to earn his first title there so not killing himself in open after open is a wise move. Plus it gives Nadal a chance to work his magic on the courts and again end with he and Federer putting on a great show at the end.

The fourth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament of the season, the Mutual Madrid Open, features 18 of the Top 20 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the second year in a row. The second of three Spanish tournaments (Barcelona, Valencia) on the ATP World Tour takes place at La Caja Mágica. The facility features three main stadiums with a capacity for 12,500, 3,500 and 2,500, respectively. In the case of rain, all three courts have retractable covers that allow play to continue. The tournament was held indoors in October from 2002-08.

Mutua Madrid Open (Madrid, Spain) – World No. 2/three-time championRoger Federer (2006, ’09, ’12) is the top seed in Madrid for the first time since 2010. The No. 2 seed is Andy Murray, who won the title in 2008 (the last year it was held on hard courts). Two-time defending champion Rafael Nadal is the No. 3 seed (also won in ’05) followed by last year’s runner-up, No. 4 seed Kei Nishikori. In the past six years (since 2009) when the tournament moved to clay courts, Nadal, Djokovic or Federer have claimed the title.

• Defending Points – In the next two weeks, Rafael Nadal has 1,600 Emirates ATP Rankings points dropping off before Roland Garros with his Madrid title (1,000) and Rome runner-up (600) showing from last year. In the last six years, Nadal has performed well in the two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournaments leading into Roland Garros, reaching the final 11 of 12 times (Madrid five, Rome six).

• Roger Top Seed – World No. 2 Roger Federer has a 36-9 career record in Madrid and is looking to win the title for the fourth time. He won the title on hard courts in 2006 and was runner-up in ’07. Since the tournament moved to clay courts, Federer lifted the winner’s trophy in 2009 (d. Nadal) and ’12 (d. Berdych). He also was runner-up in ’10. He did not play last year, and in his last appearance two years ago, he lost in the third round (l. to Nishikori).

• FedEx Index 2015 Leaders – Here are the ATP World Tour match wins leaders this season (and their W-L):
1)   Novak Djokovic 30-2
2)   David Ferrer 27-5
2 Tie) Tomas Berdych 27-7
4)   Kei Nishikori 26-5
5) Andy Murray 24-5

• Americans in Draw – The top five Americans in the Emirates ATP Rankings are in the draw, led by No. 16 seed John Isner, who is making his sixth appearance (6-5 record). The others are: Steve Johnson (debut), Sam Querrey (1-4), Jack Sock (debut) and Donald Young (0-1). Sock is off to a 10-2 start and the lone American winner on the ATP World Tour this season, capturing his maiden crown in Houston last month (d. Querrey). The best American finish since the tournament moved to clay is a quarter-final showing by Andy Roddick in 2009.

• Leander Eyes 700 Wins – Leander Paes is one win away from becoming the fourth active player on the ATP World Tour with 700 career match wins in doubles. The other active players with 700-more are: Daniel Nestor (970),Mike Bryan (946) and Bob Bryan (932).

• Bryans Look For Sixth Title – World No. 1 Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan are are five-time champions in Madrid (2006-07, ’10-11, ’13). Last year they fell short of another repeat, losing in the final to Nestor/Zimonjic 6-4, 6-2. The Bryans come into Madrid having captured the past two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in Miami and Monte-Carlo. They have won a doubles record 34 Masters 1000 titles and 106 overall together. They have finished No. 1 in 10 of the past 12 years.

Birthdays

8 May – Benoit Paire (26)
9 May – Gilles Muller (32)

Player To Watch: Rafael Nadal

Nadal’s streak of winning at least two European ATP World Tour clay-court titles coming into Roland Garros ended last year after an impressive nine-year run from 2005-13. But Nadal’s title in Madrid extended his streak to 10 straight years with at least one title on European clay leading into Paris. He’s swept Madrid and Rome titles twice (2010, ’13). Since 2005, Nadal has also won Rome or Madrid eight of the past 10 years (except ’08, ’11). Nadal, coming off a semi-final loss in Monte-Carlo and third-round exit in Barcelona, has an 11-3 record on clay this season. The last time Nadal lost more than three matches on clay in a season came in his rookie campaign in 2003 when he compiled an 11-6 record.

Istanbul

Roger Federer won his 85th ATP World Tour title at the inaugural TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open, beating third seed Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 7-6(11).

Federer: “I’m very happy. Of course i’m very proud to be the first champion here at the first-time tournament here in Istanbul. In Turkey, I’ve had a wonderful week. On and off the court I was able to visit the city a little bit, meet a lot of people, enjoyed the crowd support and experience Turkey.”

Radu Albot and Dusan Lajovic paired for the first time this week and upset top seeds Robert Lindstedt and Jurgen Melzer 6-4, 7-6(2) to win the title in Istanbul.

Estoril

Richard Gasquet exacted revenge on Nick Kyrgios on Sunday, turning aside the Australian young gun 6-3, 6-2 to claim the inaugural Millennium Estoril Open.

Gasquet: “I am really happy with the victory. Yesterday it went three sets and today I was more confident and started better. To feel no pain it’s a good thing for me.”

Treat Huey and Scott Lipsky sped to their first team title Sunday at theMillennium Estoril Open, beating top seeds Marc Lopez and David Marrero in 47 minutes.

Rafael Nadal Returning To Old Ways For Remainder Of Season

Jackie Warner

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May 4, 2015

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Rafael Nadal Returning To Old Ways For Remainder Of Season

Rafael Nadal has realized that sometimes going back to the old ways of doing things can be smart, especially if the new way isn’t working out so well. At least that’s what he’s doing with his tennis racquet, and rather trying to break in a new one, he’s going back to his old faithful one for the rest of the season. Or at least up through the 2015 French Open.

Natually, that may depend on how well he does in the 2015 Madrid Open, but with Novak Djokovic out of this Open, it may give the Spanish tennis star a little more breathing room to grab that title. He naturally wants to retain his Madrid Open Crown, but right now he’s focusing more on his ratings slide and just getting himself back on track. Most tennis players go through this slump which can be mostly mental, and once they realize and pinpoint the issue, it’s all about overcoming and getting back to your old self on the court.

Nadal, a 14-time Grand Slam champion, changed racquets just before the start of the European clay court season a month ago, normally his most successful part of the year.

However, after losing to world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters and suffering a shock early exit at the hands of Fabio Fognini at the Barcelona Open a week later, the Spaniard believes it is better to make a change at the end of the season.

“I’m changing because I’ve been playing for many years with this racquet. I had very little time to play with the other one.

“I know that the other racquet is the right one, and I’ll play well with it in the future, but I had just a few days to prepare with that racquet before Monte Carlo. Even though I played pretty well in Monte Carlo, I know that here we play at altitude and I have less control with the new one.

“I am going to play with the old one until the end of the season when I have enough time to train with the new prototype and time to adapt to it.”

Despite his struggles this season, Nadal remains the favourite for a fifth title at the Madrid Masters this week with Djokovic missing out to rest up ahead of next week’s Rome Masters and the French Open later this month.

2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Montreal Canadiens In Big Trouble With Lighting

Shane Lambert

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May 4, 2015

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2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Montreal Canadiens In Big Trouble With Lighting

The Montreal Canadiens were among the favorites to win the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs when the post-season began. Montreal, in backing up their reputation as one of the best teams in the league, roared out to a 3-0 lead against the Ottawa Senators in the first round. However since that time Montreal fans have seen their team flounder as the Habs have only claimed one win in their last five games. They now appear destined for a second round exit following play on Sunday.

The Canadiens opened the night of NHL hockey on Sunday with a home game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Having already lost game one at home, Montreal were down 1-0 heading into game two. The approach to the game had to be “must-win” as few teams have lost the opening two games, from home, and gone on to claim an NHL series victory.

The fans in the Bell Centre had something to cheer about early in game two. The Habs scored first as Jeff Petry, a healthy scratch at times earlier in the season in Edmonton, tallied his first goal of the 2015 post-season. However after that it was pretty much all Tampa Bay as the Lightning put on a stellar offensive display.

Tampa Bay, from late in the first period to the 6:37 mark of the third, scored five goals unanswered. Steven Stamkos lit the lamp for the first time since the regular season and Nikita Kucherov, among other scorers, scored twice. Montreal barely replied as Tom Gilbert scored about midway through the third but by the time he scored it was too late. The Lightning cruised to a 6-2 victory and they now lead the best-of-seven series comfortably.

The lead appears all the more comfortable as Tampa Bay head home for games three and four. The Lightning were an outstanding team from home during the regular season as they went 32-8-1 when playing in their own rink. That record, good enough for league best, suggests that Montreal’s days are numbered.

On that note the Lightning could eliminate Montreal as soon as Thursday night as back-to-back games will be played on May 6th and 7th in Florida.

2015 NFL Draft Top 10 Takeaways

Shane Mclendon

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May 3, 2015

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After months of mock drafts we finally got to the real thing. I lost count of the number of mock drafts by all the NFL insiders after just a few weeks of their constant shuffling of their predictions. Now the 2015 NFL Draft has come and gone so teams have to live with the realities of the choices they made in their so called war rooms.

The draft ended up being exactly what it’s supposed to be, just plain fun. It is an event to give football fans a dose of hope as we all enter the summer months that hold very little positive football news. If your favorite NFL team or player is a top hit on Google News in the middle of May, then it is time to panic. Summer time football news usually means a freak injury, a team owner DUI, a stupid comment by one of your best players, or news of multiple murders if you were a fan Aaron Hernandez.

There is a ton of real information and conjecture we can glean from the 2015 NFL Draft. The draft is more than just a list of guys in order of their selection. Futures of teams were made and broken at least in part with the picks they started making on Thursday night. All the research in the world by scouts and higher ups in NFL organizations can get thrown out the window with one terrible decision by a player they trusted with a valuable draft pick or a freak injury.

Here are my top 10 takeaways from the 2015 draft.

Gigantic trades in the NFL rarely go through, even with madman Chip Kelly involved. The Eagles didn’t turn into Oregon East by trading up to get Marcus Mariota, and Adrian Peterson is still a Viking for now. It’s fun to talk about blockbuster deals, especially around draft time, but the truth is they usually never come to fruition.

Not having the two top picks at the actual venue was a bit odd. Their choice of party spots made it even more awkward. It appeared that Jameis Winston had his draft party at a funeral home and Mariota’s get together looked like it was staged in a high school cafeteria.

John Elway means to have a dominant defense in Denver. Old #7 moved up in the draft to take Shane Ray which should help an already improved defense over the 2013 version. Ray had a slight misstep with his citation for marijuana possession just before the draft, but that is not a big deal. In about five years, most people won’t blink an eye at any silly criminal marijuana related headlines. Hopefully “criminal” and “marijuana” won’t be in the same sentence much longer.

The NFL Draft just gets better with all the coverage. I know there is too much talk about what may or may not happen leading up to the actual event. Draft night is a different story. There are tons of facts about each player chosen along with great highlight reels of their college heroics.

There were some sharply dressed folks at this year’s draft. The event is looking more and more like a red carpet Hollywood deal each year. It just adds one more element to the event to make it a must watch for football fans. Make no mistake, there were still a great number of fashion disasters. A few guys had hairdos too big to allow their fresh team cap to fit their domes, and of course Dante Fowler Jr. came straight from the prom to hear his name called as the third overall pick.

The Raiders have to show me they are not the same old dumpster fire, but I do like the pick that gives them a deep threat with Amari Cooper out of Bama. David Carr is a promising young QB that could go next level with this guy stretching the field.

NFL fans are the most fanatical of any sport in the USA. This is obvious. If anyone did have doubts about the level of interest in pro football, then the mobs of people outside the event should tell the tale. People who paid good money to see the Pacquiao Mayweather weigh-in think it was ridiculous to wait outside the NFL Draft just to be on the scene.

Running backs are not as valuable as they once were back in the days of Walter Payton or Barry Sanders. That doesn’t mean there are not some special guys at that position who deserve to be top ten picks though. Todd Gurley is one of those guys. The Rams wasted no time as they got Gurley at number ten even though they have a very impressive young runner in Tre Mason already on the roster. Having two studs at running back is a good way to insure one is available if and when the other ends up hurt.

Rookie quarterbacks do not get long to impress a team unless they are a first round pick. The Titans gave up on Zach Mettenberger as a starter after just one season. They decided they would put their offense in the hands of Marcus Mariota, another unproven rookie. With the new rookie pay scale, even first round picks don’t have a huge window to cement their spot on the roster.

Talent and potential trump character. Many regular Joes couldn’t believe Tampa Bay would take a chance on Jameis Winston. “He’ll be in jail in two years” and “He is just a thug” are just a couple of the comments I heard about the former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback.

Trust me, that isn’t the sentiment of 99% of Bucs fans. Their team needed a QB in a bad way and were going nowhere fast without one. It just so happened that their best hope at quarterback happened to have a ton of character questions. Tampa Bay was in need of a football player, not a goodwill ambassador. Every QB isn’t going to be squeaky clean like Russell Wilson or Peyton Manning. Sometimes the best choice on the field is a train wreck off the field. Tampa Bay was willing to roll the dice in the hopes that Winston will stay on track. And most of the other 31 NFL teams would have made the same pick had they been in the same position as the Bucs.

Rain Keeps Andy Murray’s Munich Open Final At Bay

Jackie Warner

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May 3, 2015

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Rain Keeps Andy Murray’s Munich Open Final At Bay

Andy Murray lives in a country where it’s rains a lot, but he wasn’t feeling too homesick when this time it prevented him from finishing his 2015 Munich Open final with German fifth seed Philipp Kohnschreiber on Sunday. They tried to make it work, but the rain seemed determined to make them hold things off until Monday.

They finally made it into court at 16:23 only for the bad weather to return with Kohlschreiber leading 3-2. They lasted twenty-three minutes on the court before realizing it was a fruitless effort.

The final is scheduled to resume at 10:00 BST on Monday.

Murray had to play two singles and one doubles match on Saturday after Friday’s play was washed out.

The Scot, 27, is travelling with new coach Jonas Bjorkman for the first time this week.

Murray and Kohlschreiber have also been drawn to face each other in the second round of next week’s Madrid Open and could play again on Wednesday. The rain has been Murray’s Achilles heel this open as it also caused him to have to play very close matches with only three hours separating them when he beat Lukas Rosol 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, and then returning less than three hours later to defeat Roberto Bautista Agut in the semi-finals 6-4, 6-4.

GAME OF THRONES Ep 503 Recap: High Sparrow Bringing Worlds Together

Shane Mclendon

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May 3, 2015

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GAME OF THRONES Ep 503 Recap: High Sparrow Bringing Worlds Together

This was the best week ever for Game of Thrones, if your name is King Tommen. This episode was very good, but for the boy king it was the greatest ever as he has discovered a favorite hobby. The Lannisters as a whole, seem weaker and weaker each day however. Cersei made an unexpected move to help them maybe stay in power a bit longer.

We see Arya at the “House of Black and White” training to be an assassin by sweeping the floor day after day. It appears that her mentor Jaqen H’ghar is a fan of Mr. Miyagi’s training techniques. Either that or the faceless man is getting a lot of cleaning done for free.
Cersei appears to be a paper tiger now and is seething as a crowd shouts “Queen Margaery” as the wedding march heads through the streets. Tommen and Margaery Tyrell get married then proceed to consummate it that night with glee. Kid is wrapped around the beautiful new queen’s finger. His future plans as king is to sex her up every day, all day. He should make a fine leader! Margaery wasted no time planting the seeds of Cersei’s destruction as Tommen was planting his own seeds. She suggests that his mother is unhappy here and may wish to return to Casterly Rock, her childhood home. Tommen took the bull by the horns the very next day as he all but insisted his mom would be better off leaving his kingdom since she misses her old home so much.

Cersei is pretty much powerless at this point with her daddy gone, her maniacal older son poisoned, and her kingslayer down to one hand. She gets clowned by Margaery in a back and forth that appears civil, but just barely. The new queen and her friends have a nice chuckle at the “queen mother’s” expense once she leaves. Just weeks ago those friends would have been terrified to even look Cersei in the eye, much less laugh at her while she was still within earshot. The new queen is quite brave, maybe too brave.

I don’t know why I would be shocked at a betrayal by Littlefinger, but I am naive I guess. He has promised Sansa Stark to one of the nastiest fellows on the show, Ramsay Bolton. First Joffrey, now this psycho! Sansa should just poison herself. Petyr convinces her that she can use this marriage to strengthen her position and avenge her family since she has been a “bystander of tragedy” to this point. She is sickened by this turn of events but to her credit she puts on a pretty face once she is in front of her future in laws, the Boltons.

Brienne and Pod are overlooking this situation and plan on rescuing Sansa at some point. She may finally be welcomed as a savior by one of the Stark girls….maybe. Pod is going to be trained by Brienne. He may not be a knight afterward, but he will be able to fight. Oh, and Brienne is still intent on killing Stannis for the murder of her childhood friend Renly Baratheon. She tells Pod the story of Renly defending her when they were young and how she failed to do the same for him.
Once again Jon Snow refuses Stannis’ offer of running Winterfell once he takes it back from the Boltons. I wonder if Snow’s answer would be different had he known his sister Sansa is being forced to marry into that family. Stannis keeps giving Snow great advice, even if it is opposite that of Vito Corleone. Keeping enemies close is only a good idea if you don’t have very many according to Baratheon, which is a very good point. Davos Seaworth stays behind to add his own advice after his king leaves the room. He admires the loyalty of Snow to his oath, but advises the last part of the oath means more that defending a castle at the edge of the Earth away from all the fighting. Davos admits to not being the most learned man, but can’t see any wrong in actually getting in the muck to be a worthy “shield to the realms of men.” I hope this has swayed Jon Snow to join Stannis at least in the short term.

Arya’s training continues as she is told she must let go of her old self, including all her belongings. She complies as she tosses all her material items into the sea…except for “Needle.” She just can’t let go of her sword so she hides it away in the rocks. This is reminiscent of Luke Skywalker not quite buying into Master Yoda’s training, then having to go back later to complete it.

Sansa has hidden her disgust at being with the Boltons very well and is escorted to her quarters by an elderly lady. She welcomes Sansa home, telling her that “The North remembers.” Best moment of the episode.

Jon Snow is handing out orders in his first meeting as ruler of Castle Black. He is just in his orders, but the bald coward Janos Slynt decides to refuse his new position and even goes to the “bastard card.” That leads to him being taken outside for his execution. It looked like Snow would show the crying man mercy once he changed his tune saying he was sorry and was just scared and always had been. The label of bastard dropped as soon as the head of Janos was lopped off by Jon Snow. He actually did show this man mercy by ending his life. This world is no place for a sniveling coward. Stannis was as impressed as I was.
The Sparrows cult is gaining momentum. They break into one of Littlefinger’s brothels and take the highest priest in the land out for public scorn for his sins. The priest protests to Cersei, but ends up in prison for his troubles. Cersei can’t stand immoral acts by her religious leaders…actually she just sees the Sparrows gaining more and more power so she wants an ally. She goes to see the High Sparrow, who is a simple old man serving the hungry as he walks barefoot. This cult appears to be doing good things and could get a ton of people behind them in a hurry. Cersei plans on them having her back. Margaery best beware.

Cersei contacts Littlefinger, but Roose Bolton reads the message as well. It is hard to see where Petyr’s loyalties lie. He is clearly out for himself always, but he is playing musical chairs with the ever changing power brokers in Westeros.
Tyrion and Varys get a little screen time at the end of the episode. The dwarf is going mad with no human contact, mainly whores. He demands they take a tour of the city even though he knows he could be beheaded if seen by the wrong person. Everything went well until Tyrion wandered off to a makeshift bathroom on a wall. That’s when Jorah Mormont kidnapped him. This is a recurring theme for Tyrion, who was taken hostage by Catelyn Stark early in the series. Jorah says he is taking the drunken dwarf to the queen. I initially thought that meant Daenerys Targaryen so he could win her trust back. After thinking it over, I think he knows Dany will never trust him again. So I believe him to be taking Tyrion to Cersei. It sounds crazy, but Jorah is without many cards to play. Once again Tyrion is his own worst enemy because he can’t stay out of the damn bottle.

REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA Reunion 1: NeNe Leakes Takes Passive Aggressive Route

The Curvy Girl Diva

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May 3, 2015

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REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA Reunion 1: NeNe Leakes Takes Passive Aggressive Route

You can always count on the ladies of the Real Housewives of Atlanta to give you drama, sass and rachtetedness. Such was the case during the reunion episode Sunday where Nene Leakes has truly honed her passive aggressive skills.

They dressed in all white (heavenly) and the queen of Thotlandia’s (Porsha) THOTness was on overdrive. It was interesting too because she and Kenya had on very similar dresses. They were both see through, cut outs but I really liked Kenya’s more.

Anyway, Andy Cohen MC’d the panel and addressed all the women in his introduction. Afterward, he started with NeNe and her stint on Broadway in Cinderella. He asked her who called her on opening day and she said only Phaedra did although Claudia did email her. He asked Claudia why she brought up NeNe leaving the therapy session and Claudia said because she has to take her chances when she can because she doesn’t really see her.

For the record, NeNe is super annoying here because she keeps saying, “I’m the problem, everyone else is right and I am wrong.” She continues to say this the whole time, which comes off exactly the way she says she is not. But it is clear that she does not care. She rolls her eyes to what the other ladies have to say and even to tweet questions from “fans” that they read on the show.

Andy brings up a tweet NeNe made that said “this girl is such a hater” and asked who she was referring to. She was talking about Kandi, which of course prompted Kandi to interject how she feels. “I don’t hate you, I hate your superior complex.” This is so true because there is definitely an air of cockiness about her that is so superior. I mean she sits there looking like, “I’m just here because my contract says I have to be.”

They talk about Kandi and Phaedra’s “rift” and NeNe says that she didn’t say anything to her about her and Kandi’s relationship. They argue about that and Cynthia Bailey chimes in to give her two cents about NeNe.

We then see Phaedra Parks’s plot line with Apollo and Andy asked her if she has taken the kids to see him and she said no. She gave some excuses as to why and then started crying when asked if she has gotten a divorce, to which she shocked everyone by saying she has not. She says that at the end of the day, when her kids are able to go back and see the footage from the show, she wants them to know that their mother was not doing anything out of spite. Then, he asks her if Apollo ever got physical with. After a very long pause she tells Andy Cohen, “I just don’t know if I need to disgust that with you right now.” It amazes me that even after how they portrayed her situation with Apollo as going down, it still seems like she is protecting him. She is always such a southern belle in how she responds to everything from people to twitter questions.

Then there is Claudia and Porsha. We see Claudia’s reel and Porsha is now on the stage going in on Claudia Jordan. Claudia does not back down when Porsha tries to make it seem like she is lying about the things she has said .It’s funny too because Porsha really tries to make herself out to be a virtuous here by saying “these legs are closed to married men.”

When Porsha Stewart mentions something about slander, Cynthia asks her why she was going around saying that her husband is a “man whore” then. Porsha stutters as Claudia keeps throwing shade at her. You can really feel the Team Kenya/Claudia and the Team Phaedra vibe.

Kenya’s time comes and her reel of course focuses around the Apollo accusation and her show “Life Twirls Own.” Andy brings up a whole bunch of stuff including how Porsha didn’t accept Kenya’s apology. Porsha says that she will not apologize and does not accept her apology. Porsha, in response to Kenya bringing up the fact that her grandfather, civil rights activist Hosea Williams, did too much for black people for his offspring to say that she will not accept an apology, brings up the fact that Kenya didn’t have a mother, didn’t grow up with one and therefore doesn’t know how to love or be genuine. That to me is a low blow and unnecessary.

Phaedra then brings up the point that the platform that they have needs to be a reflection of what the struggle in particular what happened on Bloody Sunday 50 years ago.

Kenya then slams Porsha and shuts it down by saying that if she was a whore she would be the best “god damn whore… I’d have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for being a whore… I wouldn’t have one Bentley, I’d have a fleet of Bentleys.” Well damn Miss America.

She ends the episode, which was pretty mellow to me. We get a peek into next week and it doesn’t look like the moment Kenya Moore and Phaedra Parks shared during the last few episodes lasted. But we will see next week. Check out the sneak peek video below of The Real Housewives of Atlanta Reunion Part 2 where NeNe leakes loses her passive and jumps into aggressive mode on Kenya Moore.

Real Housewives of Atlanta Reunion Part 2

THE WALKING DEAD’s Chad L. Coleman Goes On Heated Subway Rant After Being Called N-Word

TV News

MTTG Staff

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May 3, 2015

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THE WALKING DEAD’s Chad L. Coleman Goes On Heated Subway Rant After Being Called N-Word

The tension in this country over racial relations is very heated right now. I do believe that much of the concern people of color have is valid and a lot of the tension has many of us at an emotional tipping point. Well, I think Chad L. Coleman, known best for his role as Tyrese on The Walking Dead, reached his tipping point and boiled way over it! You can check out the raw footage below that isn’t quite SFW.

According to The Inquisitr ( and later confirmed by the actor himself) a woman asked her friend if he knew who the actor was. The man then replied “No, we don’t know that N-” Now, I don’t know about you but that is certainly enough to make anyone fly off the handle and fly off the handle Chad did!

Much of Chad’s rant did not make much sense and it was clear that he was ranting based on pure emotion. Chad seemed to become angrier when no one came to his defense. It’s at that point he started wandering through the carriage raving sentences like “Where is my humanitarian? If you care, f–ing care!”

He clearly didn’t want people to forget this as he went on to say “Yes! I’m Chad L. Coleman! I’m on The Wire, I’m on The Walking Dead. I’m not trying to play no f–ing games with you! Yes, I’m an actor. You want me on TMZ, record it.” Many passengers hurried to exit the train as soon soon as it stopped.

The video quickly spread courtesy of Youtube and the actor did wind up on TMZ. The actual video did cause many people (including me) to wonder if he wasn’t intoxicated. The actor confirmed he was not intoxicated, but I’m not so sure he’s telling the truth about this one. Although I’m totally all for standing up for yourself, his rant went off the charts crazy. Whether you’re a celebrity or not, you still should handle a situation like this with as much tact and coolness as possible. Nothing makes a bigot feel guiltier than responding to their ridiculous ideas with complete confidence and an even temper.

Chad told TMZ that he did feel bad about not being able to keep his temper in check and that he wanted to apologize to The Walking Dead cast and his family.

It’s OK Chad L. Coleman…we all have a bad day sometimes! It just sucks when you’re famous because the world suddenly becomes a very small place when you do things many of us have with anonymity.

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