The Delta Fire, feasting on dead and dying timber and dry brush in rain-starved northern California, continued to gather momentum heading into its third day Friday, while paralyzing traffic on one of the nation’s busiest freeways.

The fast-moving wildfire, which has sent flames soaring 300 feet into the air and choked the surrounding area with smoke, forced mandatory evacuations orders in Shasta and Trinity counties, both of which were ravaged by the deadly Carr Fire earlier this summer, and is threatening scores of homes and seasonal residences.

At last report on Thursday night, InciWeb listed the Delta Fire at 22,000 acres, with zero containment. There were 1,224 personnel – nearly double the number from a night earlier – working against the flames.

The 24-hour incident forecast said fire activity would “increase as a dry cold front approaches from the northwest with increased southwest winds.”

Interstate 5 remained closed in both directions north of Redding, littered with burned-out vehicles and threatened by charred trees that could be in danger of falling into the freeway.

“We are trying to get in there right now to assess the damage and safety concerns,” Caltrans spokeswoman Denise Yergenson told the Redding Record-Searchlight, part of the USA TODAY Network. “Right now, we know we have damaged culverts, we have damaged guard rail, we may have damaged pavement where the trucks burned, but we’re not sure.”

‘The new normal’: Battling wildfires year-round is now the norm. How did we get here?

There is no estimate on when I-5 will be reopened. When it does, Caltrans told the Record-Searchlight that motorists should expect long delays, closed ramps and law enforcement presence.

The Delta Fire sparked Wednesday afternoon, then tripled in size from 5,000 to 15,000 acres overnight while burning in mostly steep terrain in a part of the Golden State that hasn’t seen measurable rain since May, according to the University of California Cooperative Extension.

‘His house is safe’: Fireproof homes could be the answer to massive wildfires across the West

Officials labeled the fire as “human-caused” but haven’t said whether it was arson or accidental.

The Delta Fire could push Cal Fire’s annual budget to its breaking point. The agency’s director, Ken Pimlott, on Thursday asked lawmakers for additional funding, the earliest such request in state history, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Already, Cal Fire has spent $431 million on firefighting efforts, out of a total budget of $443 million, the Bee reported.

The insured residential and commercial losses from the Carr and Mendocino Complex fires, the summer’s two most destructive blazes, were also exorbitant – an estimated $845 million – Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said Thursday.

Those costs could rise, too, “as insurance companies process claims and more claims are filed,” Jones was quoted as saying in the Bee.

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Editors, USA TODAY
Published 3:51 a.m. ET Sept. 7, 2018

Kavanaugh coasts toward confirmation despite document dispute, protests 

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing is scheduled to conclude Friday, after sidestepping tough questions from Democrats and a Senate battle over documents withheld from his years in George W. Bush’s White House. Thursday’s session began with a bitter dispute over documents as Democrats have complained about getting none for three years of Kavanaugh’s career, when he served as White House staff secretary, and focused on 190,000 pages released to the Senate but withheld from public release. Despite the challenges, Kavanaugh, a defender of presidential powers, stands weeks away from being confirmed to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose votes most often decided 5-4 cases for more than a decade. 

Sentencing hearing for Trump campaign aide Papadopoulos 

George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser for the Donald Trump campaign,  faces prison time at his sentencing hearing Friday as prosecutors have called for a jail sentence of up to six months. Papadopoulos was the first Trump campaign adviser to plead guilty in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. In October, he admitted to lying to the FBI about his interactions with several Russians who had high-level connections to the Kremlin. His defense team argues that Papadopolous was “caught off-guard by an impromptu interrogation” when he lied to the FBI and called for leniency, preferably probation.

Wildfire in drought-ravaged northern California gains strength

Firefighters are still battling an explosive wildfire that has been spewing flames 300 feet into the air in Northern California. Scores of homes and seasonal residences were threatened by the Delta Fire in Shasta County, and some mandatory evacuations were ordered. Weather forecasts for Friday called for hot and dry conditions with gusty winds. A 24-hour incident forecast by InciWeb late Thursday said fire activity would “increase as a dry cold front approaches from the northwest with increased southwest winds.” The blaze was burning on both sides of Interstate 5, the only continuous highway to touch the borders of Mexico and Canada.

Trump administration seeks to detain migrant families indefinitely

Under proposed regulations to be filed Friday, the Trump administration will seek to terminate a decades-old legal settlement as part of its effort to deter thousands of undocumented families arriving at the border.  The Flores agreement, reached in 1997, was initially intended to provide humanitarian protections to undocumented minors who arrive at the border unaccompanied by parents. The Trump administration has characterized the Flores agreement as a “loophole” and has vowed to seek to replace it with new regulations after being forced to back off a “zero-tolerance policy” this summer. Nearly 3,000 children were separated from their parents as a result of the policy, drawing intense criticism and a global outcry. 

A year ago, Equifax data breach shocked the nation

It was a year ago that Equifax, one of the nation’s three major credit bureaus, announced that a cyberattack on the company’s computers had exposed the personal data of many as 148 million consumers. The breach caused the company’s stock to tumble and generated at least $300 million in expenses. A multitude of lawsuits are still pending, including a 50-state consumer class-action suit alleging many cases of identity theft. But today, Equifax’s stock price has rebounded, and new chief executive Mark Begor has publicly touted a corporate turnaround. If you were a victim of the Equifax theft, experts say it’s not too late to protect yourself by freezing your credit report.

 

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From the outside, England’s international future appears bright.

In the past 15 months, the country’s youth teams – ranging from under-17 to under-21 – have claimed two World Cups, a European Championship and a third successive Toulon Tournament, with the protagonists of these sides some of the most sought-after young players in Europe.

In Russia this summer, the senior side came as close to winning the World Cup as at any time in the past 28 years, utilising a squad with the tournament’s joint average youngest age.

However, in the offices of St George’s Park, there is justifiable concern at what is seen as a growing threat to sustaining this success.

“Our pool [of players] is getting smaller and smaller,” England boss Gareth Southgate told reporters last week, referring to statistics showing that English players have played 30.4% of the 79,200 minutes in the Premier League so far this season, down from 33% in 2017-18.

The late return of England’s World Cup squad after their journey to the last four partly accounts for this, but the percentage is even lower – closer to 20% – at the Premier League’s ‘big six’ clubs, those most likely to expose English players to the pressures of European football.

Bottom of the pile

“There are so many positive things that have contributed to where we are now,” continued Southgate during last week’s news conference.

“But there is still this link between 17 to 21 where the bridge into first-team football and the financial power of the Premier League has a big impact as does the precarious nature of managers in the top flight in particular.

“I think it’s worth us having that debate and getting people around the table to discuss that missing piece. If players are as good as any young players around the world then that opportunity needs to be there.

“If we are encouraging young players about entering academies we are selling them the dream and there’s an ethical element there too.”

Since the start of the 2018-19 campaign, 17 English players under the age of 21 have featured in the Premier League, which represents the lowest number of home-grown players in any of Europe’s top five leagues – those in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Granted, the current Premier League season is only four games old – hardly a sample size from which to draw cast-iron conclusions – but this is a continuation of a worrying trend.

In 2017-18, 43 English players under the age of 21 featured in the Premier League. No prizes for guessing where this places the English top-flight in comparison to its major European peers.

It is interesting to see France’s Ligue 1 top both of these tables. This factor alone cannot account for such success, but Didier Deschamps’ side’s victory in Russia this summer suggests they are doing something right over the channel.

Under-21 and under-exposed

The England Under-21 side makes for a particularly damning case study, partly explaining why Southgate says he may have to look to those competing in the Championship for future squads.

Theoretically the final testing ground for young English players before they graduate to the seniors, the current Under-21 squad contains 23 players, only six of whom have played with any kind of regularity for a Premier League club this season – Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Everton’s Tom Davies, Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon, Leicester’s Ben Chilwell, Demarai Gray and James Maddison.

Players in the Under-21 squad contracted to Premier League clubs have played 1,861 of the 7,560 minutes potentially available to them this season – just 24.62%.

Under-21 manager Aidy Boothroyd echoed Southgate’s sentiments in his assessment of the situation, describing the current statistics as a “massive red flag”.

“If we don’t put this right we’re going to have a chronic situation,” Boothroyd told BBC Sport. “We want the players to play and there seems to be a ceiling of development at the moment.

“I haven’t got the answers, but it certainly is a concern. The governing bodies need to get together and focus on what the long-term problems are, rather than what the short-term is.

“You will always have a certain amount of quality players who will play but there are more who need an opportunity.”

Maddison has impressed while playing 306 of the 360 minutes available this season for Leicester, whom he joined from Championship side Norwich this summer, having previously played in League One as a teenager for Coventry.

“I’ve played a lot of minutes from a young age but everyone has a different route or path,” said the 21-year-old. “We all want to play in the first team and hopefully more English young lads can.

“The Premier League is the toughest league in the world and there is so much money teams can just go and buy players. You have to take it into your own hands. It’s not always easy but that’s what you’ve got to do and if you are given that opportunity you have to take it by the scruff of the neck.”

The solution?

Maddison is not alone in his belief that hard work and perseverance are the key to gaining first-team opportunities in the Premier League.

“It’s about being patient and waiting for that opportunity to come and when it does you have to take it,” says Kieran Trippier, one of the stars of England’s 2018 World Cup campaign.

“It took a long time for me personally but I was willing to wait. If you look down at the youth, the under-21s, 20s, there are so many good players. They’ve just got to keep learning, improving and be patient.”

The home-grown player rule was designed to promote English talent, ensuring that Premier League clubs must name eight players in their 25-man squad that have been on their books for at least three years before they turn 21 – but there is no stipulation they must be English.

Such a quota-based way of engineering squads could well be influenced by Brexit, although the Premier League are pursuing means to avoid tough regulations on signing European players when Britain leaves the European Union.

In a statement to BBC Sport, a Premier League spokesman said: “Premier League clubs have made significant enhancements to their academies through the implementation of the Elite Player Performance Plan, which has the number one aim of developing better home-grown players.

“Some of their very best young talent, with the benefit of excellent coaching and management from the FA at St George’s Park, have played key roles in recent age group national team successes. The clubs are committed to continuing this approach and strive to develop the best possible players and to pit them with and against some of the best talent from across the world.”

An increasing number of young English players clearly believe that the door is closed on home soil and that first-team opportunities are more plentiful elsewhere in Europe.

In addition to the 17 English youngsters to have featured in the Premier League this season, there are four who have appeared for foreign clubs in 2018-19: Ronaldo Vieira at Sampdoria, Jadon Sancho of Borussia Dortmund, Sheyi Ojo, who is on loan at Reims from Liverpool and Patrick Roberts, on loan at Girona from Manchester City.

Reiss Nelson, who made three league appearances for Arsenal last season, is yet to play for Hoffenheim after joining the German club on loan.

Eric Dier, another of England’s senior World Cup players, who began his career in Portugal before returning to this country to join Tottenham in 2014, is supportive of young players moving abroad, but feels the key is to find an environment that is supportive to their development, regardless of location.

“I have only positive things to take from it [living abroad],” Dier told BBC Sport. “It was a fantastic time for me to live there and grow up there and learn football there, it benefitted me in lots of ways and it still benefits me today.

“It’s very difficult for me to speak about different people, everyone has a different take and situations. However, I do feel for a young player the most important thing is to be in an environment where they are supported, where they feel like they will get a lot of game time and learn not be judged all the time on mistakes, because they are going to make mistakes.”

Tehran, Iran – Presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey are meeting in Tehran to talk about how to shape the future of a country torn apart by years of civil war amid a possible military offensive to retake the last rebel-held bastion of Idlib.

At Friday’s summit, Hassan Rouhani, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan are expected to sign an agreement about ongoing military cooperation in Syria, the rights of return for refugees displaced by the conflict, and the creation of a committee to investigate the fates of people arrested by the government or who went missing during the conflict, according to Iran’s foreign ministry.

Syria’s civil war, in its eighth year, has seen more than half a million Syrians dead, 11 million – more than half the country’s population – either internally displaced or living as refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Europe.

Syrian President Bashar al Assad is the clear winner. But he now presides over a country where large areas more closely resemble fields of rubble than cities or towns. 

On Monday, just days before the trilateral summit in Tehran, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif made a surprise visit to Damascus where he looked ahead to reconstruction.

“Reconstruction of Syria and Iraq is a good opportunity for the presence of Iranian companies,” said Zarif.

“God willing, we will have talks with the three members of the Astana process on Friday to prevent any harm to the Syrian people and pave the way for the process of purging extremists.”

But even though world leaders who helped fuel the Syrian civil war are talking about returning refugees and reconstruction, Syrian lives are still at risk.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi appealed to Iranian leaders to prevent more bloodshed in the Syrian conflict.

“It is clear that the risks of a military confrontation causing massive loss of life is very high and I told Zarif that my appeal, just like the UN Secretary General and others, is for them to minimise the loss of life,” Grandi told Al Jazeera.

“I also pointed out that the government of Syria wants people to go back. Other governments, like Russia, want people to go back. The refugees are watching how the war will continue.”

Grandi added that world leaders were not doing enough to stop the conflicts that result in large refugee crises and that the circumstances for civilians displaced by war is getting worse every year.

While he commended Iran’s long-continuing help for Afghan refugees, he said the country could do more.

“Iran already shoulders a very heavy responsibility with Afghan and some Iraqi refugees on its own territory and I think it would be unfair to ask Iran to do more,” said Grandi.

“We’re asking Iran to add its voice to those that request more support for Syrian refugees, for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to ask for more support and to ask for solutions to those conflicts that determine the flight of these populations.” 

 

As the Toronto International Film Festival kicks off Thursday, fall movie season (and the ensuing awards chatter) is starting to heat up.

The festival is jam-packed with buzzy titles, including world premieres (Halloween, Green Book, If Beale Street Could Talk) and screenings of films already garnering early praise (Roma, First Man, The Front Runner). For much of Hollywood, the ten days of TIFF marks the first chance to see many of these films, while the viewing public will wait for them to roll out over the next few months.

In the meantime, we can enjoy the hot new trailers for some of the most anticipated releases of the festival. Here’s 10 of the must-see trailers from this year’s TIFF line-up:

The Outlaw King

Hollywood Chris alert! Chris Pine re-teams with Hell or High Water director David Mackenzie to tell the story of Scottish hero Robert the Bruce, known as the outlaw king for his efforts to free medieval Scotland from the oppressive English rule. The film has landed the buzzy opening night slot at TIFF, which marks a major win for Netflix as it continues to fight for legitimacy in the Oscar race.

Widows

Steve McQueen follows up his Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave with this high-octane action thriller about four women (Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Erivo, and Elizabeth Debicki) who unite after the demise of their criminally connected husbands. With a script co-written by McQueen and Sharp Object’s Gillian Flynn, the twisty thriller makes its highly anticipated world premiere at TIFF on Saturday, Sept 8.

Roma

Netflix has a strong showing at this year’s festival, including this entry from Alfonso Cuarón, marking his first film since 2013’s Oscar-winning Gravity. Roma chronicles one year in the life of a middle-class family in 1970s Mexico City. The film already made its U.S. debut at last weekend’s Telluride film festival, earning rave reviews, with many critics calling it a “masterpiece.” It first plays TIFF on Monday, Sept. 10.

Beautiful Boy

After becoming the darling of awards season last year, Timothée Chalamet is poised for another exciting fall with his work in Beautiful Boy, making its world premiere in Toronto. Chalamet portrays Nic Sheff, a young man struggling with addiction. He’s matched by Steve Carell, who adds another dramatic role to his repertoire as Nic’s devastated father David. Based on the bestselling pair of memoirs by father and son David and Nic Sheff, the film offers an unflinching, inspiring look at addiction that makes its premiere on Friday, Sept 7.

Green Book

Green Book marks another heralded TIFF world premiere with Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) returning to the awards season conversation as African-American classical pianist Don Shirley. Viggo Mortensen stars opposite him as Shirley’s working-class Italian American chauffeur. The two travel through the segregated 1960s American South with the aid of the Negro Motorist Green Book, which outlined hotels, restaurants, and more establishments that were friendly to black patrons. It premieres Tuesday, Sept. 11 in Toronto.

If Beale Street Could Talk

Perhaps the most-anticipated world premiere of TIFF is Barry Jenkins’ follow-up to best picture winner Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk. Based on a novel from renowned writer James Baldwin, the film follows Tish (KiKi Layne), a young woman fighting to free her falsely accused husband Fonny (Stephan James) from prison before the birth of their child. Regina King also stars as Tish’s mother. Set in 1970s New York, the film is a powerful exploration of love and justice. It premieres Sunday, Sept. 9.

Ben is Back

Julia Roberts returns to awards season fare for the first time in years in this TIFF world premiere about a mother coping with the unexpected return of her son Ben after he comes home from rehab on Christmas Eve. Lucas Hedges (Lady Bird), who can also be seen in Boy Erased and Mid90s at TIFF, co-stars as the titular Ben. The film makes its world premiere Saturday, Sept. 8.

The Front Runner

Jason Reitman draws on Michael Ritchie’s The Candidate for inspiration in this true story of the 1988 Gary Hart presidential campaign and the alleged extramarital affair that derailed it. A look at the relationship between politicians and the press, as political journalism veered into tabloid-esque reporting for the first time, the film premiered at last weekend’s Telluride film festival and looks to continue racking up awards buzz, particularly for leading man Hugh Jackman with a Sept. 7 launch in Toronto.

First Man

Ryan Gosling is Neil Armstrong in this biopic that marks wunderkind director Damien Chazelle’s follow-up to awards darling La La Land. The film has already played Venice and Telluride to rave reviews and looks to continue building its awards buzz with a Sept. 9 TIFF showing. Claire Foy also stars.

Halloween

Michael Myers returns. Toronto is more noted for its awards fodder than it is for commercial genre films, but Halloween is making a comeback with a world premiere at TIFF on Sept. 8. Jamie Lee Curtis returns to the role that first made her a star in this highly anticipated entry in the franchise, which director John Carpenter is calling the best entry in the franchise since the original film.

The family of an unarmed black man who was fatally shot by Sacramento police filed preliminary paperwork for a lawsuit seeking more than $15 million in wrongful death damages, city officials reported Thursday.

Stephon Clark’s family filed the forms to begin the process to seek millions of dollars in damages from the city of Sacramento related to the deadly officer-involved shooting.

The forms are the first step before a lawsuit can be brought against the city. 

According to a Sacramento city press release, the claims seek damages “in excess of $15 million” citing nine “causes of action” related to the shooting, including negligence and wrongful death. Some of the damages sought by the family include loss of financial support, funeral expenses, attorney fees, and punitive damages, ABC 10 News reported.

Clark, 22, was shot and killed by Sacramento Police on March 18 in the backyard of his grandparents’ home. Police said they thought he was pointing a gun, but it turned out to be a cell phone. Sacramento police have not released the names of the officers, saying that both have received numerous threats.

The shooting remains under investigation; at least part of the encounter was filmed by police video cameras, and a police surveillance helicopter was in the area at the time of the incident.

The Sacramento Bee, citing an unnamed source, said the claims were filed by Los Angeles attorney Dale Galipo and other lawyers seeking $20 million for Clark’s two children and $15 million for his grandparents and parents.

The amount sought in the claims is nearly the size of the city’s $37 million parks budget, the Bee reported. But often, amounts initially sought in lawsuits are whittled down during legal negotiations and court proceedings.

More: After Stephon Clark shooting, cries for change — and painful echoes of past deaths

More: Stephon Clark shot 8 times, mostly in back, independent autopsy finds

Protests and peaceful rallies in Sacramento disrupted traffic, blocked access to NBA basketball games and interrupted a local city council meeting after Clark was shot.

His death reignited the familiar frustration and anger after similar police shootings of black unarmed men. An independent autopsy his family commissioned claimed that Clark was shot by police mostly from behind. 

But police later said those autopsy findings were “erroneous.” A Sacramento County Coroner’s report, conducted by forensic pathologist Dr. Keng-Chih Su, indicated that Clark had been shot once in the front of the left thigh, three times directly to the side, and three times in the right side of the back. 

 

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Alex McLeish hopes his Scotland side can follow Russia’s example by putting disappointing friendly results behind them when competitive action begins.

The Scots have won one and lost four of their five games since falling short in their World Cup qualification campaign.

Hosts Russia reached the quarter-finals despite their pre-tournament defeats.

“The Russians had taken on seven pretty tough games before hosting the finals and never won a game, but look at the reaction they got,” McLeish said.

“The coach had to take a lot of flak in these previous games, but the team had gelled and he got fantastic results.

“For us to get better, we have to play the better teams and the big example of that is if you look at the World Cup.”

Scotland prepare for Monday’s Nations League opener at home to Albania by hosting World Cup semi-finalists Belgium at Hampden Park on Friday.

McLeish has no fears about his players using up too much energy against Roberto Martinez’s side.

“We certainly feel we’ve got good athleticism in the team – and legs in the team – and they know they are going to have to run about quite a lot and quite a distance against Belgium,” head coach McLeish said.

“But I believe there is enough strength in the squad to play two really competitive teams.

“Obviously there are some new kids on the block over the past few months and they are a part of the squad now and we will be looking to get a good performance level against the Belgians, try to upset them and go on to the Nations League with all guns firing.

“I am treating both games with importance, but the National League is the most important.”

Scotland Women beat Albania this week to qualify for their World Cup finals for the first time and McLeish praised counterpart Shelley Kerr.

“I must congratulate Shelley, her staff and the players for an absolutely phenomenal achievement,” he added.

“It is a very proud week for Scotland and it lays the gauntlet down for the men.”

Writer-director Adam Rifkin fulfilled a decades-old dream by working with his hero Burt Reynolds in this year’s The Last Movie Star, the tale of an aging Hollywood megastar who accepts an invitation to appear at a film festival in Nashville.

“Burt Reynolds was my childhood hero, so getting to work with Burt, getting to know Burt, becoming friends with Burt, was truly a lifelong dream come true,” Rifkin says. “I spoke with him a week ago, two weeks ago. He was in Tennessee for a screening, and he was having a great time.”

Rifkin was working earlier today when he discovered that Reynolds died at age 82.

“I was writing, and I got a text from one of my producers saying, ‘Check the news,’ and that’s how I found out,” he says. “It hit me hard. It’s devastating. It’s heartbreaking. I just didn’t see it coming, and it’s really, really sad.”

The filmmaker recalls that working with Reynolds more than lived up to his childhood dreams.

“He was everything I hoped he’d be like when I was 12 years old, fantasizing of riding off with him in his Trans-Am,” Rifkin says. “He was just as great in real life as you see him on screen. But also he was a real generous actor with the rest of the cast, and the crew, and with me. He was a real collaborator. He loved the creative process, he loved working with people.

“I mean, the actual nuts and bolts of making the movie together was so inspiring because he was not walking through it,” Rifkin continues. “He was there working harder than anybody else. He was there earlier, he left the set later, he always wanted to do more takes. When it looked like he was getting tired out or I was worried that his arthritis was hurting him too much, and I’d say, ‘Burt, I think we got it,’ he’d say, ‘No, let’s do another one, let’s keep doing it until we get it. I will go till I drop.’ He was so committed to doing a great job, it inspired everyone.”

Rifkin wrote the character of onetime movie star Vic Edwards specifically for Reynolds, and the actor found the experience of watching the finished film an emotional one.

“Burt saw it for the first time at the premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, and he cried like a baby,” Rifkin says. “His words: ‘I cried like a baby.’ He said this in the Q&A. And he said he’s embarrassed because you’re not supposed to cry at your own movies, just like you’re not supposed to laugh at your own jokes. But he said a lot of the movie hit close to home, and he could relate to it, because a lot of it echoed part of his real life. He loved it. He felt exposed and vulnerable. But he loved the way it turned out, and he loved the reaction the film got. He loved the way audiences reacted to his performance, he loved the way the reviewers reacted to his performance. He was so happy with the film, and if there’s one thing that I can take a little bit of solace in knowing, it’s that my film and the role that he played in it made him proud, and that makes me proud.”

Reynolds was recently cast by Quentin Tarantino to play a real-life rancher named George Spahn in the director’s upcoming film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Although the actor died before he could shoot his part, Rifkin says Reynolds was delighted to have been chosen for the role.

“He was so excited to be working with Quentin Tarantino,” the director recalls. “He told me that when he came for the table read — there was Brad Pitt, there was Leonardo DiCaprio, there was Margot Robbie, there was Kurt Russell. Everybody was there. And Quentin Tarantino made a huge deal in front of everybody about how beautiful a performance Burt gave in The Last Movie Star, and went on and on about how wonderful Burt was in the film, and even acted out scenes that Burt did, and that just tickled him to no end. Burt was in a great place these last few years, from our movie and Quentin. If nothing else, at least if he had to go now, he went feeling great, he went [out] on top again, which was really sweet.”

Rifkin believes Reynolds’ death will prompt a positive reappraisal of his talents.

“When Burt was the biggest movie star in the world, his larger-than-life offscreen persona overshadowed his talent as an actor,” he says. “He’s a brilliant actor, he’s as good an actor as any of the great actors. He was a true actors’ actor, but he became a big movie star and did all these big popcorn movies, and so that’s what people saw when they saw him, and they didn’t even pay attention to how good he was as an actor at a certain point. Now that people have a little bit of distance, they can look back on his body of work. I think it will be lot easier for people to see what a brilliant actor he’s always been.”

Before a single commercial ever aired, Nike’s new promotional campaign featuring free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick generated a ton of reaction on social media. 

Even President Donald Trump, a frequent Kaepernick critic, felt compelled to weigh in.

With Thursday’s NFL season opener delayed nearly an hour by thunderstorms, the highly anticipated two-minute commercial scheduled to run during NBC’s telecast didn’t air until 10:52 p.m. ET — the first timeout of the third quarter. 

“If people say your dreams are crazy, if they laugh at what you think you can do, good,” Kaepernick says at the start of the ad. “Stay that way because what non-believers fail to understand is that calling a dream crazy is not an insult, it’s a compliment.”

The commercial features LeBron James, Serena Williams, the U.S. women’s national soccer team, Canadian national team/MLS soccer player and African refugee Alphonso Davies and Shaquill Griffin, a one-handed former University of Central Florida linebacker who made the Seattle Seahawks’ roster last weekend.

As one might expect, several pro athletes tweeted words of support for Kaepernick and Nike.

Meanwhile, at least one veteran accused Nike of “selling its soul” by using Kaepernick as a spokesman.

The relatively late hour for the commercial during what was to that point a relatively unexciting 6-3 game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons might have slowed social media traffic.

“So, don’t ask if your dreams are crazy,” Kaepernick says at the end of the ad. “Ask if they are crazy enough.”

By the time the commercial finally hit the airwaves, many of the potential viewers and social media commentators might have already started dreaming.

Follow Steve Gardner on Twitter @SteveAGardner.

If you love talking football, we have the perfect spot for you. Join our new Facebook Group, The Ruling Off the Field, to engage in friendly debate and conversation with fellow football fans and our NFL insiders.

Sandra Harwitt, Special for USA TODAY Sports
Published 10:38 p.m. ET Sept. 6, 2018 | Updated 1:55 a.m. ET Sept. 7, 2018

NEW YORK — When Naomi Osaka was a young child she dreamed about playing her idol in a Grand Slam final.  

Now that fantasy has turned into a reality at the US Open. The 20-year-old Osaka will play 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams for the opportunity to become the first Japanese woman to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era.  

The 20th-seeded Osaka earned her shot at the 36-year-old Williams after stunning Madison Keys, a US Open finalist last year, 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals Thursday night. The 17th-seeded Williams already had advanced to her 31st career Grand Slam final with ease, taking a 6-3, 6-0 semifinal decision over 19th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.  

“Of course it feels a little bit, like, surreal,” admitted Osaka, about reaching her first Grand Slam final. “Even when I was a little kid, I always dreamed that I would play Serena in a final of a Grand Slam. Just the fact that it’s happening, I’m very happy about it. 

“At the same time I feel like even though I should enjoy this moment, I should still think of it as another match. Yeah, I shouldn’t really think of her as, like, my idol. I should just try to play her as an opponent.” 

When asked how the match ended in her dreams, Osaka seemed surprised the conclusion wasn’t a given.  

“You already know,” she said, smiling. “You’re just asking me. I don’t dream to lose.” 

The good news for Osaka is she won’t head into the final without any knowledge about playing Williams as she actually holds a 1-0 lead in their career meetings. 

The bad news is the first-round match they played at the Miami Open in March comes with something of an asterisk attached. Yes, it was an official 6-3, 6-2 win for Osaka, but it also occurred in the first month that Williams returned from maternity leave and was hardly showing championship form.  

At the time Osaka was on a career high, just off of winning her first career title at the Indian Wells tournament.  

“I really feel like I don’t want to overthink this match, so I’m not going to think that she’s so much better than she was in Miami,” Osaka said. “I’m just going to go out there and play. Since I already know she’s a good player, I don’t want to be surprised if she plays better or not.” 

For her part, Williams would like to believe she picked up a few tips about Osaka during that Miami loss.  

“It was good that I played her because I kind of know how she plays now,” Williams said. “I was breast-feeding at the time, so it was a totally different situation. It was what it was.  

“Hopefully I won’t play like that again. I can only go up from that match.” 

Osaka, who is a dual Japanese-American citizen, has a history in New York, which makes this tournament the closest she’ll come to a home Grand Slam. 

Born in Osaka, Japan, to a Japanese mother and Haitian father, the family moved to the United States when she was 3, living with her paternal grandparents in nearby Long Island.  

Eventually the family moved to South Florida where Osaka and her older sister, Mari, could receive better tennis training. 

For Williams, the US Open is familiar territory. She’s won the title here on six occasions, and if she succeeds to take a seventh trophy it will break her tie with Chris Evert for most US Open victories in the Open era. 

In the big picture, Williams has way more at stake than Osaka.  

The title would not only be her first Grand Slam as a mother but, a 24th career Grand Slam. That would draw her even with Margaret Court, the Australian who currently holds the record for the most Grand Slam titles.