10 Most Anticipated Rematches of the 2019 College Football Season

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Ohio State WR Chris OlaveJay LaPrete/Associated Press

The Game is one of the most popular, no-love-lost battles in college football every season. With both Ohio State and Michigan mortal locks to open the 2019 season ranked in the AP Top 10, it should come as no surprise that their November showdown tops our list of the most anticipated rematches from 2018.

In ranking these 10 repeat affairs, the goal was to find games that will be guaranteed appointment television.

If it’s a battle between teams that played each other in 2018 and will enter 2019 with legitimate aspirations of a national championship, it probably made the list. If last year’s affair was also one of the more exciting contests of the season, the rematch was a lock for a spot in the top five.

But even if last year’s game was a blowout, we were willing to consider any rematch with a good chance of playing host to College GameDay for that week.

The following 10 games were ranked on a combination of how good they were in 2018, how evenly matched the teams should be in 2019 and how likely the contest is to have College Football Playoff implications.

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James Franklin and Jim HarbaughAssociated Press

Auburn at Texas A&M (Sept. 21)

Auburn at LSU (Oct. 26)

Florida at LSU (Oct. 12)

Alabama at Texas A&M (Oct. 12)

We have four SEC showdowns in the top 10, and there’s a strong case to be made that each of these rematches belongs on the list as well.

Last year’s September battle between LSU and Auburn was arguably one of the 10 best games of the season, decided by a last-second, 42-yard field goal by LSU’s Cole Tracy. Another nail-biter between those sets of Tigers wouldn’t surprise anyone.

Nor would it be much of a shock if LSU and Florida—two teams with a good chance to appear in the Top 10 of the preseason AP poll—wage another war decided by a defensive touchdown in the final two minutes.

Of all these options, however, the most difficult one to cut was Alabama at Texas A&M.

No one came close to upsetting the Crimson Tide during the 2018 regular season, but Texas A&M was the closest, “only” losing by a 45-23 margin. Might things play out differently in College Station? This is definitely one of the must-watch games of the first half of the season. But with both teams already represented twice in our top 10, we went elsewhere to round out the list.

Michigan at Penn State (Oct. 19)

Penn State at Ohio State (Nov. 23)

While the last three contests between Michigan and Penn State each had a final margin of at least 29 points, the Nittany Lions and the Buckeyes have played three consecutive games decided by three points or fewer. If Penn State is a top-15 type of team for the fourth straight year, either one of these matchups could be spectacular.

With the departures of Trace McSorley, Miles Sanders and a couple of key wide receivers, though, we are far from convinced that Penn State will have enough offensive firepower to hang with these two College Football Playoff contenders. However, the Nittany Lions should have one of the better defenses in the nation, so a pair of 17-14 drama-filled affairs is a real possibility.

Clemson at Syracuse (Sept. 14)

Clemson is 17-1 against the ACC over the past two seasons, and 15 of those wins came by at least a 14-point margin. Syracuse has been the exception to the rule, upsetting the Tigers two years ago when Kelly Bryant suffered an injury in the first half and darn near knocking off Clemson in Death Valley last year when Trevor Lawrence got hurt late in the second quarter. Could the Orange do it again despite losing quarterback Eric Dungey?

Notre Dame at Stanford (Nov. 30)

If either the Irish or the Cardinal are still in the playoff hunt by the end of November, this will be one of the most important games—perhaps the singularly most important one—of the year. Conversely, if both teams are hovering at 8-3 and this is merely a nonconference showdown between teams on the outer fringe of the New Year’s Six conversation, it wouldn’t even be one of the five most intriguing games of the day.

And the latter scenario is more likely, given the difficulty of each team’s schedule leading up to this point.

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Oregon QB Justin HerbertThomas Boyd/Associated Press

What happened in 2018: Neither Oregon nor Washington led by more than a touchdown at any juncture. The Ducks and Huskies were tied at the end of each of the four quarters, necessitating an overtime period in which CJ Verdell capped off a big day with the game-winning touchdown for Oregon. Washington entered the day at No. 7 in the AP poll, but this result all but eliminated the Pac-12 from the College Football Playoff by the midway point of the season.

What’s changed: Washington had eight players selected in the NFL draft, and four-year starting quarterback Jake Browning wasn’t even one of them. The Huskies aren’t exactly starting over from scratch, but they have a ton of holes to plug. Head coach Chris Petersen will keep them from slipping far, but the three-year streak of 10 or more victories is in jeopardy.

Oregon, on the other hand, only lost a few noteworthy players and brings back quarterback Justin Herbert. Though he struggled in this matchup last year, he is on the short list of legitimate candidates for the Heisman Trophy. With so much of Washington’s 2018 secondary now in the NFL, Herbert should have a better day.

Early outlook: If the Pac-12 is going to have a horse in this year’s playoff race—a huge “if,” according to recent playoff betting odds—this game is likely to determine whether that horse will be a duck or a husky. Oregon (40-1) and Washington (50-1) are the league’s best hope for a national championship.

Washington smashed Oregon in both 2016 and 2017, ending a 12-year losing streak in this series in emphatic fashion. With last year’s letdown in Eugene, another losing streak may have already begun. Even with home-field advantage, the roster attrition will be too much for the Huskies to overcome. Herbert leads Oregon to a crucial 31-23 victory.

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Nebraska QB Adrian MartinezJay LaPrete/Associated Press

What happened in 2018: In their first action after the embarrassing loss to Purdue, the Buckeyes darn near blew another one against an inferior foe. Nebraska scored first and had a five-point halftime lead at the Horseshoe, but J.K. Dobbins shouldered the load and weathered the storm with 163 rushing yards and three touchdowns in a 36-31 Ohio State victory.

What’s changed: For starters, expectations for Nebraska are much higher. After an 0-6 start to Scott Frost’s tenure as head coach, the Cornhuskers won four of their final six games and are going to receive more than a few votes in the preseason AP Top 25 poll. But they lost their leading rusher (Devine Ozigbo) and leading receiver (Stanley Morgan Jr.), so we’ll see who emerges as the playmakers alongside dual-threat quarterback Adrian Martinez.

Ohio State also lost quite a few stars from its offense, most notably Heisman finalist and first-round draft pick Dwayne Haskins. Excluding the outrageous fake-punt rushing attempt in the SEC Championship Game last year, this will likely be the first time that Georgia transfer Justin Fields is on the field at critical junctures of a close college game. Throw in the road-game factor and this could get wild.

Early outlook: With the possible exception of Ohio State’s Week 2 home game against Cincinnati, neither of these teams figures to face much of a challenge in the first four weeks. Expect a battle between 4-0 teams, and expect Nebraska to bring everything it has for this potential upset.

Ohio State should be able to secure the victory. Let’s call it 35-21 for the Buckeyes. If the Cornhuskers win, though, get ready for some phenomenal hyperbole as we entertain the possibility that this is the best Nebraska has been since the 1990s. After this one, the Huskers won’t need to deal with Michigan, Michigan State or Penn State, and they’ll get Wisconsin, Iowa and Northwestern at home.

Not saying they would run the table, but you better believe the conversation would begin in earnest at that point.

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LSU QB Joe BurrowRoss D. Franklin/Associated Press

What happened in 2018: No big deal. Just an unbelievable seven-overtime affair in which LSU head coach Ed Orgeron spent the entirety of those extra sessions drenched in Gatorade following a premature celebration near the end of regulation. After more than an hour of transitioning from cold and wet to sticky and miserable, Orgeron and the Tigers ended up on the wrong end of a 74-72 classic.

What’s changed: Each team retained its starting quarterback—Joe Burrow for the Tigers and Kellen Mond for the Aggies—and a bunch of key starters. Each squad also lost two vital players, though. LSU needs to replace linebacker Devin White and cornerback Greedy Williams. Texas A&M’s main departures are on the other side of the ball, as running back Trayveon Williams and tight end Jace Sternberger took their combined 29 touchdowns and nearly 2,900 yards from scrimmage to the NFL.

Early outlook: LSU gets home-field advantage and is the slightly better team as far as most of the still-way-too-early projections are concerned. Things may be different by the end of November, though, especially given what coach Jimbo Fisher was able to get out of the Aggies in his first season with the program. If they are able to adequately replace Williams in the backfield, they’ll be in the hunt for a title.

But we’ll take the Tigers by a 24-20 margin. Both teams have brutal schedules and figure to be all sorts of battered and bruised by this season finale. Texas A&M has the tougher closing stretch, playing at Georgia seven days before this road game. The Aggies will give it everything they’ve got, of course, but there won’t be much left in the tank to give.

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Alabama QB Tua TagovailoaGerald Herbert/Associated Press

What happened in 2018: It took more than two months, but LSU became the first team to pick off Tua Tagovailoa or even remotely slow down Alabama’s offense. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they were unable to accomplish anything against the Crimson Tide defense, losing in the bayou 29-0. Alabama has now won eight in a row in this series, three of them in shutout fashion.

What’s changed: Alabama lost 10 players to the NFL draft—the most among any program this year—but this still figures to be one of the most potent offenses in the nation. The Tide lost a running back in the first round and the third round, but they still have Najee Harris, Brian Robinson Jr. and a true freshman (Trey Sanders) who would be the starter from day one at about 125 other schools. More importantly, Tagovailoa and his top four wide receivers are back.

Perhaps LSU will have better luck moving the ball against a somewhat depleted Alabama front seven, though. The Tigers had 25 carries for 12 yards last November, but no Quinnen Williams, Christian Miller or Mack Wilson should make that quest a little easier.

Early outlook: LSU hasn’t scored more than 17 points in any of its last nine tries against Alabama, and the Crimson Tide averaged better than 45 points per game last season. It’s a great SEC rivalry and a battle between teams that should debut in the AP Top 10, but it probably won’t be that close of a game—especially in Tuscaloosa with Alabama fresh off a bye week. Crimson Tide roll 31-10.

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Texas QB Sam EhlingerJeffrey McWhorter/Associated Press

What happened in 2018: Which time? Texas won the regular-season matchup 48-45 behind five touchdowns (two passing, three rushing) by Sam Ehlinger. But Oklahoma returned the favor in the Big 12 championship, securing its spot in the College Football Playoff with a 39-27 victory. In both games, each team had at least 300 yards and multiple scores through the air.

But it’s because the regular-season game didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things that we’re keeping this rematch outside our top five—even though it’s a marquee battle between teams who should be ranked in the preseason Top 10. Unless Iowa State can beat one of these teams and finish in the top two of the Big 12 standings, Texas and Oklahoma will probably meet in the conference championship game for a second straight year.

What’s changed: Oklahoma lost No. 1 overall draft pick Kyler Murray and just about the entire offensive line that protected him, but the Sooners acquired Jalen Hurts from Alabama in their search for a third consecutive Heisman winner. Texas’ most significant roster changes were on the defensive side of things where the Longhorns need to replace six of last year’s 12 leading tacklers. They should be OK in the secondary with Caden Sterns leading the unit, but that front seven may be porous.

Early outlook: There will be scoring, and probably plenty of it. Between Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb and Texas’ Collin Johnson, this game will feature two of the best wide receivers in the country. The Sooners also have an excellent running back in Kennedy Brooks, but we’ll see how the aforementioned pressing of the reset button along the offensive line affects his production.

Five consecutive regular-season games in this series have been decided by seven points or fewer, and we’ll take Texas to win another white-knuckle affair, this time by a 42-38 final score.

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Michigan WR Donovan Peoples-JonesTony Ding/Associated Press

What happened in 2018: In a Week 1 showdown with massive season-long implications, Notre Dame jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first eight minutes of what then became a defensive grind. Aside from a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and a relatively meaningless 80-yard drive in the closing minutes, Michigan never got going in a 24-17 Notre Dame victory.

What’s changed: It was Shea Patterson’s first game with Michigan and Ian Book didn’t even take a snap for Notre Dame in last year’s contest, so the quarterback situation is different on both sides. And each team lost critical starters from all three levels of the defense, making it tough to know if either, both or neither will be great on that side of the field again. We’re fairly confident Michigan will be, but Notre Dame is a tougher call.

Early outlook: Instead of facing off right away again, the Wolverines and Fighting Irish will duke it out in the second half of the 2019 season. That’s probably a bigger benefit for Notre Dame, as it will have additional time to figure out its replacements for RB Dexter Williams, WR Miles Boykin and TE Alize Mack. Notre Dame will also enter this game coming off a bye week while Michigan will be playing for the sixth consecutive week—and immediately after back-to-back road games against Illinois and Penn State.

Those factors will help the Irish keep this one close, but Michigan will find a way to get the W at the Big House. The Wolverines have gone undefeated at home in two of the past three seasons and have won 10 consecutive nonconference home games by at least a 16-point margin. Granted, Notre Dame is a whole heck of a lot better than any of those 10 teams were, but beating Jim Harbaugh’s guys in Ann Arbor is a tall order. Michigan 27-24.

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Butch Dill/Associated Press

What happened in 2018: Auburn never led in last year’s installment of the Iron Bowl, but the Tigers at least kept things interesting in the first half—more than can be said for most of Alabama’s 2018 opponents. The Crimson Tide only led 17-14 at the intermission. But things got ugly in a hurry as Alabama scored touchdowns on five of its next six possessions, none of which lasted more than five plays. UA ran away from AU for a 52-21 win.

What’s changed: As previously mentioned, Alabama lost 10 draft picks but still has talent to spare. Auburn also took a heavy attrition hit, most notably quarterback Jarrett Stidham, top receivers Darius Slayton and Ryan Davis and defensive leader Deshaun Davis. Good thing the Tigers will have 11 games prior to this one to figure out who their new stars are.

Early outlook: Is Auburn going to win at least nine games this season? If so, then the Tigers will probably win this one. Auburn has won 11 of the last 23 games in this series dating back to 1996. In 10 of those 11 seasons, it finished with at least nine wins. In each of the other 12 years, it won eight games or fewer. One of the few apparently predictable things in this incalculable sport is that Auburn wins the Iron Bowl whenever it’s having a great year.

Here’s the problem, though: Between the unknowns at quarterback and the sheer difficulty of this schedule—seven games (four away from home) against likely preseason AP Top 25 teams—it’s probably going to be a seven-win season for Auburn. That means Alabama wins this road game—and by a comfortable margin: 35-17.

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Dabo Swinney and Jimbo FisherSam Craft/Associated Press

What happened in 2018: Following months of hearing about how impenetrable Clemson’s defense was going to be, Kellen Mond threw for 430 yards and three touchdowns while leading the Aggies back from a 21-6 third-quarter deficit. The Tigers were able to hang on for a 28-26 victory, but only after denying a two-point conversion attempt in the final minute.

What’s changed: Clemson lost almost its entire starting defensive front seven, but Texas A&M also lost 1,760 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns with the departure of Trayveon Williams. This will be an early litmus test to let us know which squad has done the best job of filling its most noteworthy void this offseason.

Also, Trevor Lawrence did not take a snap in the fourth quarter of last year’s game. Had Dabo Swinney already handed him the reins by that time, there’s reason to believe the game wouldn’t have been as close.

Early outlook: With Lawrence, Travis Etienne, Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross all returning, Clemson’s offense should be some kind of special. But Texas A&M still has Mond and four of his five favorite targets in the fold, so the Aggies will be able to move the ball, too. Translation: Expect a lot of points. Expect more for the home team, though. Clemson wins 41-28 and takes the first big step toward yet another playoff appearance.

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Georgia QB Jake FrommJohn Raoux/Associated Press

What happened in 2018: Florida turned the ball over on its first two possessions yet managed to take a 14-13 lead early in the second half. The Gators simply could not stop D’Andre Swift or Jake Fromm, though. Georgia scored on five of its final six possessions (excluding running out the clock at the end of the game) and forced a fumble on the first play after a punt on the lone exception to that rule. The Bulldogs cruised to a 36-17 victory.

What’s changed: Georgia lost four of its top five receiving options, but the Dawgs still have Fromm, Swift and more than a few candidates to replace those wideouts and tight ends.

Similarly, Florida lost three of its best defenders (Vosean Joseph, Jachai Polite and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson), but the cupboards are far from barren. Look for Jabari Zuniga and Louisville transfer Jon Greenard to become the best pass-rushing combo in the SEC.

Early outlook: It’s almost a foregone conclusion that this game will determine who wins the SEC East Division. That means it will also decide who plays for the SEC championship, which will inevitably produce at least one College Football Playoff team. So, yeah, kind of a big game, and both sides will have two full weeks to prepare for it with an idle week on October 26.

As far as a prediction goes, this one will be won by Georgia in the trenches. The Dawgs should have one of the best offensive lines in the nation, which will mitigate the impact of Zuniga and Greenard. Meanwhile, Florida lost four of its five starters along the OL, which could spell trouble—even though Georgia doesn’t have a single returning player who had more than two sacks last season. UGA ekes out a 27-23 win.

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Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

What happened in 2018: In one of the stunning outcomes of last year, Ohio State boat-raced what previously appeared to be an outstanding Michigan defense. Dwayne Haskins threw for 396 yards and six touchdowns in a 62-39 beatdown. Chris Olave was on the receiving end of two of those TD passes. He also had the blocked punt in the third quarter that opened up the floodgates. Quite the end-of-season breakout for the true freshman.

What’s changed: Not much. Just each team losing a pair of top-15 draft picks and Ohio State replacing Urban Meyer at head coach. Oh, and Ohio State acquired one elite quarterback via the transfer market (Justin Fields) and lost another one (Tate Martell).

But they’re both still expected to be Top 10 teams and the front-runners for the Big Ten East Division crown, which means you can already circle this game in sharpie on your calendar as a must-watch affair.

Early outlook: Ohio State has won seven straight in this series, four of the last five by a double-digit margin. But with Meyer, Haskins and a bunch of other key Buckeyes out of the picture, who knows what to expect?

Might change our tune on this one about a dozen times over the course of the more than five months until it begins, but for now we’ll take Michigan 28-24 at home in what could be the best game of the entire season. At any rate, if the Wolverines don’t win, it’ll be time to seriously consider cutting ties with Jim Harbaugh. Fool me once, shame on you. Fall to 0-5 against your bitterest rival, shame on the head coach.

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Here’s When Justin and Hailey Bieber Are Reportedly Having Their Big Wedding

We haven’t heard a lot out of Justin and Hailey Bieber in some time regarding their “official” wedding ceremony, but it looks like that’s finally changed.

According to a source via Us Weekly, the pair are no longer putting their lavish celebration on hold anymore. In fact, it looks like they may be waiting to plan the event “closer to their one-year marriage anniversary date in September.”

Giphy

The two were initially married in a very low-key courthouse ceremony in New York in September 2018. Much like Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner, the pair planned on getting the legal proceedings out of the way first, then inviting friends and family in a religious ceremony to celebrate in the way only the Biebs and his lucky lady could.

Unfortunately, when Justin began seeking treatment for depression in February, it seemed that those plans had been put on hold. The singer’s mental health obviously comes first, so everyone’s been waiting patiently to see when the couple had planned to celebrate their nuptials. But up until now, no one’s had any real idea as far as when they could expect to see the pair coming together for the big bash.

In fact, even Hailey’s older sister Alaia was seemingly out of the loop as recently as last month, according to Us.

“We will see. Who knows what their plans are,” she told the publication. “They’re very up and down, so I just…I’ll be there at some point in a dress, in sweats – we don’t know!” A sweats wedding sounds comfy AF, but hopefully Alaia has more time than that to prepare.

So while the Biebs and Hailey are already officially married, the world can’t wait to see what kind of wedding event they end up throwing – they’re just taking their time a bit. If you’re keeping track, they didn’t even begin publicly wearing their wedding rings in public until this week, according to Cosmo.

Hey, it’s whatever you guys are comfortable with, honestly. The world can wait. We’ll all still be here whenever you’re ready – take your time! Enjoy being newlyweds as long as you can, and you’ll know when the time is right to party like a rockstar.

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How Blackpink, Red Velvet, And More Are Redefining Womanhood In K-pop

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By T.K. Park and Youngdae Kim

When you think of K-pop, the seven young men of BTS most likely come to mind, but the women artists are enjoying a heyday of their own. Red Velvet recently hit seven cities on their first North American tour, while Blackpink took Coachella by storm, mingling backstage with their fans Ariana Grande and Will Smith. Wonder Girls’ Sunmi and Girls’ Generation’s Tiffany have broken free from the girl groups that made them and are now headlining their own U.S. tours. And these women are doing it with confidence, strength, and flair, completely unconcerned with the male gaze — or with anyone else’s gaze for that matter.

The English-language discourse about K-pop idols, and in particular female idols, is still shaped in large part by the 2012 New Yorker article by John Seabrook titled “Factory Girls.” Published in the same year that “Gangnam Style” became a global phenomenon, Seabrook’s article painted a picture of women K-pop idols as carefully-crafted objects, using Girls’ Generation — the most successful K-pop girl group until that point — as the primary focus. It was a familiar story to anyone who had been following K-pop. The artists are recruited in their adolescence, put through a rigorous training regimen, and undergo plastic surgery so that they can execute the vision of their producer: an image of beautiful yet demure Korean women, in contrast to the male idols who more freely deviate from the conventional gender norms.

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Girls’ Generation perform at the KBS Korea-China Music Festival in August 2012

This caricature won a great deal of purchase, in part because it contained a modicum of truth, and also because it fit female K-pop stars into the prevailing U.S. preconception about Asians and women: Asians are supposed to be mechanical, women are meant to be objectified, and therefore it made sense that Asian women pop stars were mechanically objectified.

But even in 2012, this description was not entirely on the mark. It is true enough to say a persistent strain in K-pop’s girl groups involves turning women into an object of male desire — as is the case with female pop artists anywhere. But it is a mistake to think the women of K-pop solely traffick in marketing themselves as manufactured objects of that desire. In truth, even the most “manufactured” K-pop girl groups display a great deal of agency, and their profile evolves as their careers progress.

1990s-2000s: The Dueling Sides of Femininity

Fin.K.L’s “To My Boyfriend,” released in 1998

Objectification and agency formed the current and countercurrent as long as girl groups have existed in the modern K-pop idol scene. For the first generation of K-pop girl groups of the late 1990s, this was partly a function of their reference materials: The girl groups that emulated U.S. artists leaned more toward displaying confidence and independence, while groups that emulated Japanese acts hewed closer to the conventional image of demure Asian women. The latter was the mainstream at first. Influenced by Japanese groups like SPEED, the leading first generation K-pop girl groups, such as S.E.S. and Fin.K.L, established the course that many came to regard as the standard K-pop path for women as an object of male desire: a gaggle of cute girls growing into adorable young women over time. Meanwhile, groups like Baby V.O.X. and Diva, which emulated the hip-hop-based music and images of TLC, formed the countercurrent of women artists with confident and spunky attitudes.

Girls’ Generation’s “Gee,” released in 2009

The first generation K-pop girl groups’ popularity entered a fallow period around 2003, when idol groups overall lost ground to R&B acts. Then in 2007 Wonder Girls, Kara, and Girls’ Generation debuted, forming the second generation of K-pop girl groups. It was also this generation that perfected the strategy of turning female artists into a carefully-curated product, cultivating what came to be known as “uncle fans” — middle-aged men with disposable income and dubious motives. These are the “factory girls” that Seabrook encountered, as the second-generation girl groups were the first ones that enjoyed meaningful popularity in the U.S. market by appearing on Billboard charts, performing on late night talk shows, and going on nationwide tours.

But not even Girls’ Generation, the archetype of a female K-pop idol group, was content only to project an image of demure young women. From the beginning, Girls’ Generation had a streak of strength and independence that was overshadowed during the peak of their careers but re-discovered later. For example, the lyrics of 2007’s “Into the New World,” the group’s first hit single, showed unflinching resolve: “Don’t wait for any special miracle / The rough road ahead of us is / The unknown future and a wall / We won’t change, we won’t give up.” These words re-emerged as a slogan for the 2016-17 Candlelight Protests that led to the impeachment and removal of then-president Park Geun-hye.

Even in this “peak objectification” period, there were plenty of female K-pop idols that emphasized confidence and agency. 2NE1, debuting in 2009, is a notable example. 2NE1 inherited the spunky image of Baby V.O.X. and Diva, and blended the contemporary hip-hop aesthetics favored by their production company YG Entertainment. The result is a group that consciously rejected the conventional cute-sexy axis in favor of being swag-based alpha girls. Further, the female idols of the first generation would evolve toward being more dominant and in-charge as their careers progressed. Lee Hyo-ri, who began her solo career in 2003 after a successful run in Fin.K.L, did more than merely project an image. By actively participating in the creation of her own music, she was claiming true agency over every aspect of her artistry. This pattern would repeat with other female idols who advanced their careers, like BoA, Tiffany, and Sunmi.

Gain’s “Bloom,” released in 2012

The later part of this period was also characterized by an aggressive marketing of sexuality. Three notable examples — HyunA, Gain, and IU — demonstrate three distinct ways in which women of K-pop sublimated their sexuality into artistry. Provocateur HyunA is the grown-up version of her former group Wonder Girls, maintaining the bright and cheerful atmospherics but with more skin and suggestive dance moves. Gain, on the other hand, does not suggest — she affirmatively expresses her sexuality, making her presentation not about the gaze that she would attract, but about the desire she feels. This is especially evident in the music video of her 2012 single “Bloom” with its jaw-dropping depiction of self-pleasure, making Gain more popular among women than men. IU is arguably the most cerebral of the three, as she relishes the subversive force created by the knowing look behind her girlish face. Like Madonna, IU leverages her feminine charm as a means of control. IU’s seemingly more traditional sexuality is in fact a highly-cultivated device, inducing submission from men to whom she appears to be submissive.

2010s-Present: Redefining Womanhood

The women of K-pop face a unique challenge compared to their male counterparts. Unlike K-pop boy bands whose fandom is mostly women, K-pop girl groups are beloved by men and women alike, with each artist having a different mixture of male and female fans. In the past few years, the women of K-pop became more attuned than ever to the complex gender dynamics of their fans, who are living in the age of #MeToo-era feminism and fluid gender identity. Of course, the more “conventional” K-pop girl groups, such as Twice or IZ*One, continue to remain hugely popular. Yet equally popular are groups like MAMAMOO, who flaunt their sexuality and do it on their own terms, not to meet anyone else’s expectations.

Blackpink’s “DDU-DU DDU-DU,” released in 2018

Blackpink arguably is the leader of the latter group. Fresh from their Coachella debut, Blackpink is this generation’s 2NE1, combining their predecessor’s alpha-girl swag with model-like looks. With more flash, more glam, and more swag, the four women of Blackpink — Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa — dominate the stage like four Beyoncés, totally devoid of any aegyo (cute expressions) that has long characterized K-pop girl groups.

Red Velvet, on the other hand, continues SM Entertainment’s girl-group tradition of cute girls growing into cheery young women. Yet like their predecessor Girls’ Generation, Red Velvet maintains a streak of independence that rejects being mere objects of desire (for example in “Bad Boy,” in which they view the men who refuse to bow to them as a challenge worth conquering.) Further, Red Velvet wears its feminism proudly: The group’s leader Irene recently made waves by saying at a fan meeting that she read Kim Ji-young, Born 1982, Cho Nam-ju’s best-selling feminist novel. Irene’s statement was met with howls of sexist outrage. But Irene and Red Velvet persisted, never apologizing for her belief in gender equality.

LOONA’s “Butterfly,” released in 2019

LOONA presents still another possibility, attracting LGBT fandom with gender fluidity. With its “girl of the month” concept — introducing a new member every month for a calendar year — LOONA initially appeared to be on a similar track as Red Velvet. Yet with songs and music videos that appealed to the aesthetics of same-sex attraction, intricate choreography that puts them on-par with their male counterparts, and an inclusive concept that allows them to represent every girl, LOONA is cultivating an entirely new kind of diverse fanbase.

Where will the female K-pop idols go next? Of course, the previous generation will continue the process of maturing into their own artistry. Taeyeon of Girls’ Generation, for example, is rapidly emerging as a major figure in her own right. But the latest development is suggesting that the women of K-pop are on their way to overcoming the final frontier of idol music: gaining agency over the presentation of their looks, image, and music. With new girl groups such as (G)I-dle featuring women artists who are producing their own music and narrative, that reality doesn’t seem so unlikely. Far from being “factory girls,” the women of K-pop are increasingly charting their own course with greater independence than ever.

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‘Thank you’: D-Day veterans commemorated on 75th anniversary

Veterans of the second world war D-Day landings have been joined by world leaders for a second day of events to mark the 75th anniversary of the allied operation in northern France that helped liberate Western Europe from Nazi occupation.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron joined former soldiers at a ceremony in Normandy on Thursday morning to commemorate the June 6, 1944, operation – the largest combined land, air and naval deployment in history.

More than 150,000 mostly American, British and Canadian allied troops took part in the landings, which saw soldiers set off from southern England’s port city of Portsmouth and surrounding areas to begin an air, sea and land attack on some 50,000 German forces stationed across the English Channel.

Speaking at the event at Ver-Sur-Mer, May said: “Standing here as the waves wash quietly onto the shore below us, it is almost impossible to grasp the raw courage it must have taken that day to leap from the landing craft and into the surf despite the fury of battle.”

“If one day can be said to have determined the fate of generations to come in France, in Britain, in Europe and the world, that day was June 6, 1944,” she added. “To our veterans here in Normandy today, I want to say the only words we can: thank you.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron, left, lay a wreath of flowers at the commemorative first stone for a British memorial during a Franco-British ceremony to mark

May and Macron laid a wreath at the commemorative first stone for a British memorial at Ver-Sur-Mer, Normandy [Philippe Wojazer/AP]

Macron also thanked “all those who were killed so that France could become free again”.

“We owe our freedom to our veterans, we will never surrender. And whatever it takes, we will always stand together. Because this is our common destiny,” he said.

‘They did their duty’

The D-Day landings started at 06:30am local time, targeting five code-named beaches, one after the other: Omaha, Utah, Gold, Sword, Juno. The operation also included actions inland, with 24,000 paratroopers deployed overnight over strategic German sites and US forces scaling cliffs to wrestle control of German gun positions.

Thousands were killed on both sides – more than 4,000 allied troops were killed on that day alone, with German fatalities estimated between 4,000 and 9,000. Survivors have since recounted how the coastline around Normandy was red with blood and the air thundered with repeated explosions.

World War Two D-Day veterans, including Richard Llewellyn and Mervyn Kersh from Britain and Norman Duncan from the U.S., attend a ceremony at Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial situated above Oma

More than 150,000 mostly US, British and Canadian troops took part in the D-Day landings [File: Christian Hartmann/Reuters]

“These young men belonged to a very special generation, the greatest generation, a generation whose unconquerable spirit shaped our post war world. They didn’t boast, they didn’t fuss, they served. They did their duty, as they laid down their lives, so that we might have a better life and build a better world,” May said.

Trump to pay respects

Further remembrance ceremonies are planned to take place throughout Thursday at the military cemeteries where those killed during the fighting were buried.

Among those will be an event attended by Macron and US President Donald Trump at the United States war cemetery at Omaha Beach.

“D-Day has for 75 years been a powerful symbol of nations working together, working side by side, and we can expect French President Emmanuel Macron to refer to that in his speech,” said Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler, reporting from Normandy.

“He is, of course, a great believer in multilateralism and multinational institutions and cooperation. That is not the case with US President Donald Trump, who is a firm proponent of his ‘America first’ policy. We expect him to pay his respects to those who died here, but also to talk about how they were members of free and independent sovereign nations. The two leaders clearly have very different views of the world.”

On Thursday morning, Trump said in a tweet the 75th anniversary commemorations would “celebrate some of the bravest that ever lived”.

“We are eternally grateful,” he added.

Trump was one of several world leaders – including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – to attend a remembrance ceremony in Portsmouth on Wednesday to mark the departure of allied troops from British shores for the D-Day operations.

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Trump’s method to the madness on trade

President Donald Trump said tariffs on Mexican goods will “likely” go into effect during a news conference in the United Kingdom. | Stefan Rousseau/Getty Images)

Global Translations

Lost in the tweets and partisan fights is a belief that a bet on freer trade has proved to be a loser.

Donald Trump is not winging it.

Or at least he’s not totally winging it.

Story Continued Below

However improvisational his daily machinations on trade — presenting publicly as motivated by a random mix of mood and twitches of the news cycle, including the latest threat of tariffs against Mexico — Trump and his team are acting on a well-developed theory of the case, one that has been decades in the making.

In Trump’s case, that strategy is intuitive. He’s been saying since the 1980s — and by all evidence genuinely believes — that the United States is letting itself be played for the fool by foreign adversaries, on trade specifically and global competition generally. Strong nations robustly protect domestic industries and keep foreign competitors at heel. Back in the ’80s his focus was more typically Japan; in recent years, but long before 2016, he’s been focused on China.

In the case of his advisers, the theory of the case is more intellectual. They believe that the big bet free trade advocates made in the 1990s — that welcoming China into the WTO would encourage it to integrate into a rules-based global economy — has proved to be a loser. China, by these lights, is happy to take advantage of the U.S. and other players’ commitment to free trade and rules but will continue to steal and subsidize to advance its own interests.

This method to the apparent madness has emerged in interviews for the new Global Translations podcast — which launched Thursday — with people who have worked for Presidents Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. And it helps explain why the Trump administration has made such a break from the strategy of previous administrations.

“I and many others had deceived ourselves that China wanted to be just like us,” said Michael Pillsbury, an influential adviser to the Trump administration on China and author of the book, “The Hundred Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower.”

“I finally woke up,” he said. “But I would not say everybody’s awakened even at this point.”

The Trump doctrine marks a repudiation of decades of U.S. trade orthodoxy — that reached its high point in the 1990s, after the Soviet Union collapsed, and capitalism and liberalism appeared on the march. This “End of History” euphoria culminated in Clinton pushing past his party’s populist instincts on trade and embracing the elite view that the world was becoming more integrated, more rules-based, and more prosperous, and that this meant good things both for American and the rest of humanity.

In 1993, he signed into law NAFTA, which had been negotiated by the Bush administration, and enabled China’s accession into the WTO, stating in a 2000 speech: “By joining the WTO, China is not simply agreeing to import more of our products. It is agreeing to import one of democracy’s most cherished values, economic freedom. The more China liberalizes its economy, the more fully it will liberate the potential of its people — their initiative, their imagination, their remarkable spirit of enterprise. And when individuals have the power, not just to dream, but to realize their dreams, they will demand a greater say.”

That democratic dream now appears dead — and with it American patience to wait for China to reform itself.

The China hawks in the White House believe now is the best — and perhaps last — moment for the U.S. to take dramatic economic action against China, even at the cost of roiling markets and upending a strong U.S. economy.

And they have tethered the rest of U.S. trade policy — demands of Canada, Mexico, Europe and Japan — to an aggressive agenda of increasingly squeezing China out of global supply chains while pressing for structural change in Beijing. When U.S. business leaders have warned, cajoled, and pleaded about the economic risks of a trade war, they have been rebuffed with the argument that it is precisely the strong economy that has wedged open a historic window of opportunity to make the move.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who has described China as an “existential problem,” wants to use U.S. economic leverage to demand serious structural changes in China — while the U.S. still has that leverage.

The urgency behind the strategy concerns technology: China’s attempts to supercharge the growth of nascent tech industries by subsidizing them and forcing the handover of U.S. intellectual property. The goal is to leapfrog from its past status as a developing nation exporting cheap plastic wares to a leader in strategic emerging technologies that will define the next technological age — such as 5G and the next-generation internet, artificial intelligence and renewable energy.

China has copied U.S. technology, sometimes by requiring joint ventures and the sharing of intellectual property and other times by outright theft. The end of these forced technological transfers is Lighthizer’s central aim — even if they mean that soybean farmers will pay the price. If America fails to do so and becomes “number two in technology,” he told a congressional hearing in February, “then the world is going to look very different for our children.”

Pillsbury, the Trump adviser, said the administration fears not only losing a commercial rivalry — but enabling an Orwellian future in which an authoritarian Beijing controls global surveillance, directs online speech and embeds government control into the very plumbing of the internet.

“Their idea is the whole world will have this combination of [surveillance] cameras, your shopping patterns, what magazines you subscribe to, who your friends are, where you go based on your cell phone being geolocated,” with the aim of creating a social credit score, he said. “To what degree do you support the Communist Party of China? Have you ever criticized anything? And then when you apply to get a loan or to go to college or to do anything, your social credit score will tell how the government’s going to treat you.”

“Everybody in the world will be under this kind of system,” Pillsbury said of the authoritarian vision of the future.

Increasingly, the U.S. military is concerned, too. The 2018 national security strategy, signed by former Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis, asserts that China seeks “regional hegemony in the near-term and displacement of the United States to achieve global preeminence in the future.”

This big picture explains in part why the Trump administration has been willing to wrest open trade relations with allies in order to remake the terms of global trade — it’s not just about a better bilateral deal for the U.S., but about a particular approach to China. Take the steel tariffs against Canada and Mexico that were aimed at “closing the back door” to subsidized steel from China, among other places; and the insertion of language in the new North American agreement that would expel a country from the agreement if it entered into a free trade agreement with a “non-market economy,” or new requirements aimed at reducing the share of Chinese parts in North America car production. Likewise, the administration will have China in mind as it opens talks with Japan and Europe.

In Trumpland, the long-term goals apparently outweigh the short-term chaos and pain.

Dan Ujczo, an Ohio-based trade lawyer with Dickinson Wright, recalled a meeting with senior Trump administration officials and groups representing industries affected by tariffs, who argued that the economic effects of Trump’s economic policies would be undone by a trade war. “It was really one of the most brilliant presentations I’ve ever seen — PowerPoint graphics, the whole thing — that said, ‘If you do this, administration, if you do what you’re talking about doing on trade,” he recalled, “you’re going to take back all the economic gains you’ve made from tax reform.”

“And everybody thought it was a mic drop moment, right? Aha! And everybody in the administration kind of looked at each other and said, ‘We know. You think we don’t know that?’”

Over two decades, 9/11, the wars in the Middle East and the financial crisis and recovery, made action too difficult, according to Ujczo — and the possibility of a next recession could close the window. “If we don’t do this now, when will we ever do this? It’s really, I think, in the eyes of this administration, a now-or-never moment — and they may be right.”

While Democrats don’t agree with all of Trump’s tactics, long-standing concerns about China have been bipartisan. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was an early opponent of China’s entry into the WTO. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has long decried Chinese currency manipulation. Schumer recently tweeted, “Hang tough on China, President @realDonaldTrump. Don’t back down. Strength is the only way to win with China.”

The Obama administration shared concerns about Chinese subsidies and technological theft but attempted to address them by negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership — a new agreement with 11 other nations. The idea was to encircle China by creating a free-trade zone with its neighbors and set high standards that China would eventually have to accept in order to join. In trying to sell the deal to a skeptical public in 2015, Obama said China had been “putting out feelers” about eventually joining the pact.

But the agreement lacked public and Congressional support amid a backlash against globalization. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement after he was elected and has opted instead for an increasingly bilateral approach to confronting China — using threats, tariffs and negotiations with other nations as a way to influence China. In many ways, it was the administration’s firmest rebuke of the international coalition-building approach of Republican and Democratic administrations that preceded it.

While critics of the TPP said it wasn’t enough to force structural changes in China, supporters say Trump gave up a powerful tool.

“I think [it] is perhaps the most significant strategic blunder in recent American history,” said Michael Froman, the U.S. Trade Representative under Obama. “We’ve lost that position for the United States at least for now, and we have created a void, a vacuum that China is quite effectively filling at the moment.”

Trump’s agenda doesn’t necessarily mean an end to trade. But it does mean surrendering faith in gauzy principles and far-reaching trade protocols. Instead, go toe-to-toe with trade competitors at times and in sectors of one’s own choosing — and know that adversaries won’t respect you unless you prove on occasion that you are willing to inflict pain on others (and accept it yourself) to win a conflict.

And it leaves open the possibility that the confrontation with China could embolden hawks on both sides.

“Over the next year or two we’re going to find out — can we have a trade deal? Can we have some kind of reconciliation with China?” said Pillsbury. “Or… are we moving toward a new Cold War relationship?”

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China concern after Taiwan confirms US arms purchase request

China has expressed serious concern after Taiwan confirmed a request to purchase more than 100 tanks, as well as air defence and anti-tank missile systems, from the United States.

The confirmation on Thursday by Taiwan’s defence ministry came after reports said the US could soon give the green light to sales of tanks and weapons to Taiwan worth more than $2bn.

In a statement, the ministry said it had submitted a letter of request for 108 M1A2 Abrams tanks, 1,240 TOW anti-armour missiles, 409 Javelin anti-tank missiles and 250 Stinger man-portable air defence systems.

The request was proceeding “as normal”, it said. It was not clear when the official request had been issued, after which the US has 120 days to respond.

Reports have also said Taiwan was seeking 66 additional F-16 fighter jets in the most advanced “V” configuration.

Later on Thursday, the Chinese foreign ministry said it was seriously concerned about US arms sales to self-ruled Taiwan, which China regards as part of its territory to be brought under its control by force if necessary.

Geng Shuang, a ministry spokesman, told a daily news briefing in Beijing that China called on the US to stop arms sales to Taiwan to avoid harming bilateral ties.

The developments come as China and the US are engaged in an increasingly acrimonious battle over trade and technology. Washington has imposed up to 25 percent tariffs on $250bn in imports from China and is preparing to increase import duties on another $300bn.

Beijing has responded by imposing tariffs on $60bn worth of US products, which went into effect on June 1.

Significant upgrades

US arms sales to the self-ruled island comply with the 40-year-old US Taiwan Relations Act and are based on an assessment of the island’s defence needs. However, such moves have angered Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of China’s territory to be brought under its control by force if necessary.

The M1 Abrams would mark a significant upgrade from the ageing tanks currently used by Taiwan’s army now uses, while the TOW and Javelin systems would upgrade the island’s ability to repulse an attempt by China to land tanks and troops from across the 160km-wide Taiwan Strait.

The Stingers meanwhile could help strengthen Taiwan’s defences against China, which has more than 1,000 advanced fighter aircraft and 1,500 accurate missiles pointing at the island.

Taiwan, which split from China amid a civil war in 1949, has had no formal diplomatic ties with the US since Washington recognised Beijing in 1979. However, US law requires it to take threats to the island seriously and to “make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability”.

Last month, senior national security officials from Taiwan and the US held their first meeting in four decades with the aim of deepening cooperation, according to Taipei.

China objects to all military and official contacts between the two and says arms sales to the island constitute both interference in its internal affairs and a betrayal of earlier commitments made by Washington to Beijing.

President Tsai Ing-wen has made beefing up Taiwan’s armed forces a central task of her administration amid increasing Chinese military threats and a campaign to increase the island’s diplomatic isolation and weaken its economy.

While China’s military spending and numbers of ships, planes and missiles vastly outstrip those of Taiwan, the island is basing its defence on geographical factors and asymmetrical warfare, in which a weaker opponent can hold off a stronger one by pinpointing weaknesses and using specialised weaponry and tactics.

Tsai has also pushed to revamp the island’s domestic arms industry and last month inaugurated a shipyard to build at least eight diesel-electric submarines. Taiwan currently operates just four aged submarines and pressure from China has prevented it from buying more abroad.

Tsai said on Thursday that Taiwan would continue to boost its self-defence capabilities and remain committed to regional stability and peace.

“In recent years, the international community has increased its support for Taiwan,” Tsai told reporters in Taipei.

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Warriors Need This Stephen Curry, Even If Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant Return

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 05: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors reacts late in the game against the Toronto Raptors during Game Three of the 2019 NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena on June 05, 2019 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

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OAKLAND, Calif. — With two of their stars sidelined by injuries, the odds were stacked against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday. Tied 1-1 in the series, Game 3 of the 2019 NBA Finals felt like a throwaway.

But thanks to Stephen Curry‘s 47 points on 14-of-31 shooting, eight rebounds and seven assists, the Warriors were somehow able to keep things close against the Toronto Raptors.

The Raptors recaptured home-court advantage Wednesday with a 123-109 win against a depleted Warriors team. Golden State has no more room for error. Even if Klay Thompson and/or Kevin Durant return in Game 4 or beyond, the Warriors need this version of Curry to keep showing up for them to win the title.

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Kawhi leads the Raptors to a 2-1 series lead in the NBA Finals

30 PTS | 7 REB | 6 AST | 2 BLK | 2 STL https://t.co/fdQpsleTPf

This is not how Curry usually plays. It’s not how he likes to play, either. When asked after the game whether he felt extra pressure to shoot the ball without his co-stars, he responded affirmatively.

“For sure,” he said.

Perhaps the most unselfish superstar in NBA history, Curry has made it a priority over the years to be a part of the system rather than dominating it. That approach has resulted in three championships to date.

But the circumstances have changed now.

Curry’s impact on the game doesn’t always show up in the box score. His presence alone garners 10 eyes from the defense at all times. The threat of his shooting changes how the Warriors are defended.

But at some point, that gravity has to turn into points.

That happened Wednesday, and it allowed what felt like a fringe playoff roster to keep most of an NBA Finals game within 10 points for most of the night.

“Steph was incredible,” head coach Steve Kerr said afterward. “The stuff he does is, he does things that honestly I don’t think anybody has ever done before. The way he plays the game, the way he shoots it and the combination of his ball-handling and shooting skills, it’s incredible to watch.”

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 05: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors reacts against the Toronto Raptors in the first half during Game Three of the 2019 NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena on June 05, 2019 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expres

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Great offense usually beats great defense, but the Raptors had success frustrating the Warriors offense with progressive thinking.

There are two schools of thought on defending superstars: throw all of your resources at the star and let the role players beat you, or allow the star to go off but make sure it’s a one-man show. After applying the box-and-one defense in Game 2, the Raptors elected to go with a more straight-up approach Wednesday, guarding Curry individually or collapsing on him.

It worked. Curry played well, but his teammates couldn’t offer enough to put them over the top.

“They were throwing bodies at him,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said afterward. “I think y’all might have talked Nick Nurse off the box-and-one. He folded under pressure a little bit, I think—I’m just playing. But they definitely threw bodies at him, and we got to do a better job of when they’re throwing two and three guys at him of converting.

“That starts with me. If I was better, we probably would have won that game. But he was amazing tonight. Not that he’s not amazing pretty often, but tonight was a special performance for him, and he definitely does stuff that I don’t think we have ever seen anyone ever do, and we probably won’t see anyone ever do it again.”

Green is supremely talented, but like the other Warriors who suited up Wednesday, shooting and scoring is not his forte. When Durant and Thompson return, they’ll take pressure and defensive attention off of Curry, making it that much harder for the Raptors to contain him.

He needs to capitalize on that.

Curry was as aggressive in Game 3 as he’s ever been. He took 31 total shots and drew 14 free throws. He put pressure on the rim to collapse the defense. He chased pull-up threes like it was 2015.

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“After two games, you start to get a feel of what’s available on that end of the floor, just trying to make the right reads,” Curry said afterward. “And for the most part, we, not even myself, just we were aggressive getting to the paint and swinging the ball out.”

“Listen, we were trying to play as straight-up as we could,” Raptors head coach Nick Nurse explained. “We wanted to get back to doing what we normally do. We didn’t do anything really early in the game other than just try to play him. He had a ton in the first half. We tried to up our presence on him a little bit with some double-teams, but it doesn’t really matter, right? I mean, all that matters is—my dad used to tell me the stats don’t matter, just the final score. So we’ll just take the win and be thankful for that.”

Although Curry’s heroics came in a loss that puts the Warriors down 2-1 in the series, it should unearth a mentality that carries the Warriors the rest of the way, even if/when Thompson and Durant return.

Sometimes to their own detriment, the Warriors make it a priority to run their motion-based, egalitarian offense. It makes them special. Curry got plenty of his shots in that motion offense, and that unlocks the rest of the team’s chances.

But in tight, late-game situations, it’s high pick-and-roll time.

Wednesday should serve as a reminder of what Curry can do when he’s fully unleashed.

Follow Will on Twitter, @wontgottlieb.

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In Pictures: The D-Day landings

Allied forces Supreme Commander General Dwight D Eisenhower speaks with US Army paratroopers of Easy Company, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (Strike) of the 101st Airborne Division, at Greenham Common Airfield in England June 5, 1944. [US National Archives/Reuters]

In the early hours of June 6, 1944, waves of allied troops set off from Portsmouth, England and the surrounding area to begin the air, sea and land assault on Normandy that ultimately led to the liberation of Western Europe from the Nazis.

By that time, Soviet forces had been fighting Germany in the east for almost three years and Kremlin chief Josef Stalin had urged British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to open a second front.

The invasion, codenamed Operation Overlord and commanded by US General Dwight D Eisenhower, remains the largest amphibious assault in history and involved almost 7,000 ships and landing craft and 156,000 troops along an 80km stretch of the French coast.

Shortly after midnight, 24,000 paratroopers were dropped. Then came the naval bombardment of German positions overlooking the shore. Then the infantry arrived on the beaches.

Mostly American, British and Canadian men, some just boys, waded ashore as German soldiers tried to kill them with machine guns and artillery. Survivors say the sea was red with blood and the air boiling with the thunder of explosions. More than 4,000 of the invading soldiers were killed that day, with estimates that between 4,000 and 9,000 Germans died.

US troops wade ashore from a Coast Guard landing craft at Omaha Beach during the Normandy D-Day landings near Vierville-sur-Mer, France, on June 6, 1944. [Robert F Sargent/US National Archives/Reuters]

US reinforcements land on Omaha Beach during the Normandy D-Day landings near Vierville-sur-Mer, France, on June 6, 1944. [Cpt Herman Wall/US National Archives/Reuters]

US Army soldiers of the 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, move out over the seawall on Utah Beach after coming ashore in front of a concrete wall near La Madeleine, France, June 6, 1944. [US National Archives/Army Signal Corps Collection/Reuters]

Members of an American landing party assist troops whose landing craft was sunk by enemy fire off Omaha Beach, near Colleville-sur-Mer, France June 6, 1944. [Weintraub/US National Archives/Reuters]

German prisoners of war march along Juno Beach landing area to a ship taking them to England after they were captured by Canadian troops at Bernieres-sur-Mer, France on June 6, 1944. [Ken Bell/National Archives of Canada/Reuters]

A US flag lies as a marker on a destroyed bunker two days after the strategic site overlooking D-Day beaches was captured by US Army Rangers at Pointe du Hoc, France, June 8, 1944. [US National Archives/Reuters]

US Army troops make a battle plan in a farmyard amid cattle, which were killed by artillery bursts, near the D-Day landing zone of Utah Beach in Les Dunes de Varreville, France, on June 6, 1944. [US National Archives/Reuters]

A Cromwell tank leads a British Army column from the 4th County of London Yeomanry, 7th Armoured Division, inland from Gold Beach after landing on D-Day in Ver-sur-Mer, France, on June 6, 1944. The photo was colourised. [National Archives of Canada/Reuters]

US Army paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division drive a captured German Kubelwagen on D-Day at the junction of Rue Holgate and RN13 in Carentan, France, June 6, 1944. [US National Archives/Reuters]

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Klay Thompson Expected to Return from Injury in Game 4, Steve Kerr Says

TORONTO, ONTARIO - JUNE 02: Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors attempts a shot against Fred VanVleet #23 of the Toronto Raptors during Game Two of the 2019 NBA Finals at Scotiabank Arena on June 02, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kyle Terada - Pool/Getty Images)

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Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told Tim Kawakami of The Athletic that he expects shooting guard Klay Thompson to return for Game 4 of the NBA Finals after missing Game 3 on Wednesday with a left hamstring strain.

The Warriors are down 2-1 in the seven-game series to the Toronto Raptors after dropping Wednesday’s contest 123-109. Thompson was active and got shots up before the game but did not play.

The eight-year veteran averaged 21.5 points per game during his fifth straight All-Star campaign for the Warriors. He hit 40 percent or more of his three-pointers for the eighth consecutive season.

Naturally, losing Thompson is a large blow for the Warriors, who struggled offensively without the shooting guard on the floor. Stephen Curry scored 47 of the team’s 109 points, and no one outside Draymond Green scored more than 11. The team also shot just 22-of-60 from the field minus Curry’s efforts.

Golden State was also without Kevin Durant, who averaged 26.0 points per game, for an eighth straight playoff contest because of a right calf strain.

With Thompson back in the mix, however, the Warriors are listed as 5.5-point favorites for Game 4 at the Caesars Palace sportsbook. That number would figure to rise if Durant can return, but as Kawakami noted, Kerr isn’t sure about his status as of yet.

Thompson has averaged 19.5 points per game during the 2018-19 postseason. He’s fared particularly well against the Raps in two games, posting 23.0 points a night and shooting 52.9 percent from the field.

The ex-Washington State star has proved to be a problem for the Toronto defense, and he’d certainly be a welcome sight for a Warriors offense in desperate need of more outside shooting.

Game 4 is Friday at 9 p.m. ET at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

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Steph Curry’s Brilliance Can’t Save Depleted Warriors in Game 3 Loss vs. Raptors

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 05: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors drives to the basket against the Toronto Raptors in the second half during Game Three of the 2019 NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena on June 05, 2019 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

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The Toronto Raptors wasted no time seizing home-court advantage right back in the 2019 NBA Finals.

Toronto defeated the short-handed Golden State Warriors 123-109 in Wednesday’s Game 3 at Oracle Arena, handing the two-time defending champions their first home loss since the first round. With a 2-1 series lead, the Raptors are now two wins away from their first title in franchise history.

All five Raptors starters scored in double figures, including Kawhi Leonard (30 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals, two blocks) and Kyle Lowry (23 points, nine assists, five made three-pointers).

Stephen Curry did his best to save a Warriors team playing without Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Kevon Looney and finished with 47 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, but it wasn’t enough thanks to a poor showing elsewhere. Draymond Green (17 points) and Andre Iguodala (11 points) were the only other Golden State players to score in double figures.

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This is not the lineup Golden State was supposed to trot out for the NBA Finals.

The all-time-great combination of Curry, Thompson, Durant and Green was cut in half with Durant still out with the calf injury he suffered in the second round against the Houston Rockets and Thompson out with the hamstring injury he suffered in Game 2.

What’s more, Kevon Looney is out with a fracture of the first costal cartilage on his rib cage, and DeMarcus Cousins was laboring through his quad injury.

Thompson’s status was the latest development, as head coach Steve Kerr told reporters the shooting guard was a game-time decision left up to the training staff. That staff clearly had the rest of the Finals in mind with a potentially lengthy series on the horizon, but the decision gave the Raptors a notable single-game talent advantage.

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

Klay has been ruled out for Game 3. He played in 120 consecutive playoff games prior to tonight https://t.co/KdQliBsf7u

Given that reality, the only way Golden State was going to win Wednesday’s contest was with an all-around effort to take some of the pressure off Curry’s shoulders.

So much for that.

Curry was the only complete playmaking threat for much of the game. The offense ran through him on seemingly every possession, and he responded by pouring in 17 points in the first quarter alone and 25 by halftime. He needed just a sliver of space to unleash the most dangerous perimeter shot in league history and didn’t hesitate to facilitate whenever he drew multiple defenders.

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

Steph’s on pace for 50.

25 points (7-13 FG) at half. https://t.co/brGcmLxvvV

Trae Young @TheTraeYoung

Steph going for 50…

Shea Serrano @SheaSerrano

this version of steph is so much fun to watch

He danced through the defense when it pressed up on his shot and did everything in his power to keep the home team within striking distance with the greenest of green lights whenever the ball was in his hands.

Even with Curry’s overall brilliance, the Warriors found themselves battling from behind throughout the contest thanks to a lackluster performance from Cousins and the supporting cast.

Cousins, in particular, stands out because this was his chance to prove himself to Warriors fans. The team signed him with June in mind even though he was going to miss the start of the season recovering from a torn Achilles, and it never needed him more than Wednesday.

While he was less than 100 percent, he’s still a four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection who was healthy enough to start. He proved capable of making an impact with a much-needed double-double in Game 2, helping Golden State steal home-court advantage in the process.

But Cousins was nowhere to be found as a secondary or tertiary option in Game 3, which put all the more weight on Curry’s shoulders.

nick wright @getnickwright

Steph learning what LeBron’s life was like in 2015 & 2018 Finals: Clearly be the best player on the court, play every minute, lead everyone in everything… find your team trailing anyways.

He finished with just four points on an ugly 1-of-7 shooting from the field with three turnovers, which allowed Toronto’s interior defenders to shift even more attention toward No. 30 and Green in an effort to clog penetration lanes and stifle pick-and-rolls.

It wasn’t just Cousins’ failure, as Shaun Livingston, Jordan Bell, Jonas Jerebko and Alfonzo McKinnie struggled to make an impact while Green was a mere 2-of-6 from deep.

Thompson’s absence and the supporting cast’s issues were felt on more than just the offensive side, where the shooting guard typically thrives with his deadly three-point shot. The five-time All-Star was a second-team All-Defensive selection this season and often guards the opponent’s best perimeter playmaker.

There were stretches during which he could have picked up any combination of Leonard, Pascal Siakam, Lowry, Danny Green or Fred VanVleet, but Toronto continued to pour in the points whenever the Warriors threatened.

This was the supporting cast’s moment to shine and all of them—Cousins included—let Curry down.

Danny Green Will be Far More Than a Footnote in Raptors History

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If the Raptors win the championship, the narrative will write itself.

Trading DeMar DeRozan for Leonard allowed them to move on from regular-season success and playoff shortcomings to become a championship-caliber team that could finally get over the hump. However, Green would be far more than a footnote in that narrative.

While it was easy to see him as a throw-in added to help facilitate the trade, he was a 2014 champion on the San Antonio Spurs with 100 playoff games on his resume at the start of the 2018-19 season. He was battle-tested against LeBron James from back-to-back Finals clashes with the Miami Heat and is not someone who will back down from the marquee stage.

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

6ix years later.

Danny Green still money in the #NBAFinals https://t.co/q22hRwfHA0

Despite his resume, Green shot an abysmal 17.4 percent from three-point range and 18.8 percent from the field in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks and looked nothing like the veteran leader who, at times, thrived in San Antonio.

He also shot just 35.7 percent from deep in the first round and 37.1 percent in the second—well below his career postseason mark of 39.9 percent.

It would have been easy for Green to play a secondary role and lose confidence heading into the Finals after those showings, but he wasted little time changing the storyline with a combined five triples in the first two games and six in Wednesday’s victory.

The veteran also delivered in critical moments with a chase-down block of Quinn Cook in the fourth quarter when Golden State was attempting to make a run and back-to-back threes in the third quarter to extend an eight-point lead to 14.

SportsCenter @SportsCenter

Danny Green is EVERYWHERE! https://t.co/ZIvGoAe1pG

Entering this postseason, Toronto had never been to an NBA Finals, let alone won one. If it defeats the mighty Warriors and Green is a major part of the victory, he will forever be a Raptors legend regardless of his earlier postseason struggles.

He took a major step toward ensuring that reality in Game 3.

What’s Next?

The series continues at Oracle Arena with Friday’s Game 4.

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