Finally, football.

The first Sunday of the NFL regular season kicked off and it clarified some story lines expected to shape the entire year. And though there’s still plenty of time left to play, it’s not too early to examine some winners and losers.

Winners

Ryan Fitzpatrick: Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said in the preseason that suspended quarterback Jameis Winston wasn’t guaranteed to get his job back upon his return in Week 4. Fitzpatrick may be making the decision on Winston’s future more difficult. In a stunner, the Bucs outgunned the Saints, a popular preseason Super Bowl pick, 48-40. Fitzpatrick was in top form, completing 21 of 28 passes for a career-high 417 yards and four touchdowns. He also added 12 carries for 36 yards and a rushing score. 

More: 32 things we learned from Week 1 of the 2018 NFL season

More: Aaron Rodgers completes Packers’ wild comeback vs. Bears after returning from injury

More: Browns aren’t satisfied with tie, but stalemate with Steelers is sign of progress

Andy Reid and Brett Veach: Reid, the head coach of the Chiefs, and Veach, the general manager, made a bold move in trading Alex Smith to the Redskins in January after the veteran quarterback enjoyed a career year. But Patrick Mahomes appeared to validate that choice in his second career start, a 38-28 victory against the Chargers. Kansas City’s offense popped thanks to Mahomes’ arm strength and ability to extend plays. He finished finished with 256 yards and four touchdowns on 15-of-27 passing. A crisp connection with speedy receiver Tyreek Hill (seven catches, 169 yards, two scores) may be a sign of even more fireworks to come in 2018.

Minnesota Vikings:Quarterback Kirk Cousins had a successful debut in Minnesota, and running back Dalvin Cook returned from last season’s torn anterior cruciate ligament, but the Vikings’ defense was the true star of a 24-16 win over the 49ers. Minnesota forced four turnovers, including three picks (one of which was returned for a TD) against Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The Vikings also sacked him three times and hit him nine times. After ranking as the NFL’s top defense last year, Minnesota is in good position to hold onto that title this season.

Green Bay Packers: First they dodged a season-changing blow when Aaron Rodgers was carted off with a knee injury only to return in the second half. But then Rodgers helped erase a 20-point second-half deficit to pull off a stunning comeback and beat the Bears 24-23. The two-time MVP reaffirmed his standing and reminded many why the Packers gave him the richest contract in NFL history. His injury will continue to be monitored, but this is a victory that can spark momentum and get Green Bay rolling.

Losers

Le’Veon Bell: Not only did he miss out on more than $855,000 by not signing his franchise tender in time for the Steelers’ 21-21 tie against the Browns, but his current (and potential long-term) replacement James Conner played extremely well. Though he lost a key fumble late in the game, Conner had 34 total touches for 192 yards and a pair of touchdowns, showing good vision and an ability to make defenders miss. Bell did appear to have a pointed message on Twitter minutes after the game ended, but the Steelers’ result was tied more so to the team’s six turnovers than his absence.

More: Dak Prescott takes another step back as Dallas Cowboys’ season begins with loss

More: With Tom Brady, Patriots show they can endure whatever changes come their way

Buffalo Bills: They got absolutely demolished in a 47-3 loss against the Ravens, the worst season-opening loss in franchise history. In the first quarter, Buffalo gained just 2 yards. They failed to register a first down in the first half, running 23 plays for only 33 yards. Nathan Peterman completed just five of 18 passes and was benched for rookie Josh Allen when the game got out of hand. The defense yielded far too many big plays, and Buffalo looks more like a team destined for the No. 1 overall draft pick than the one that snapped a 17-year postseason drought last season.

Dallas Cowboys offense: Maybe going into the season without a true No. 1 receiver wasn’t the best idea, as Dallas’ offense sputtered in a 16-8 loss against the Carolina Panthers. Newly signed Allen Hurns, rookie Michael Gallup and veteran Terrance Williams were expected to step up with Dez Bryant’s release earlier this year. They each struggled to gain separation and combined for just three catches and 35 yards. The offensive line, still reeling with center Travis Frederick sidelined indefinitely, could not manage Carolina’s pressure and yielded six sacks, including three in the final 3:30. If the receivers can’t win one-on-one matchups, opposing defenses may just stack the box to bottle up Ezekiel Elliott and the running game.

Sam Bradford: After the Cardinals took Josh Rosen with the No. 10 overall pick, it became clear that Bradford, who signed a one-year deal in March, was merely a bridge quarterback. And after a season-opening 24-6 loss against the Redskins, Rosen might be in line to see action even sooner than anticipated. Bradford completed 20 of 34 passes for 153 yards with one interception. Arizona’s offense stalled and converted just one of eight third-down attempts. The Cards recorded 14 first downs, compared to Washington’s 30. If 2018 looks to be a rebuild, maybe new head coach Steve Wilks will opt to give Rosen some snaps in the early going. 

Tennessee Titans: They endured three hours and 59 minutes of lightning delays and ended up losing to the Miami Dolphins 27-20 in the longest game since the 1970 merger at seven hours and eight minutes. That was just the start. Quarterback Marcus Mariota left the game with an elbow injury. Starting left tackle Taylor Lewan suffered a concussion. And tight end Delanie Walker suffered a dislocated ankle, according to multiple reports, and will likely miss the entire season.

***

Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes

 

Olivia Newton-John revealed that she has been diagnosed with cancer for the third time in three decades.

The 69-year-old announced the news in an interview with Australia’s Channel Seven on Sunday, saying that cancer has returned to her back, where she has a tumor at the base of her spine.

Newton-John, whose career has spanned from her breakout role in “Grease” to a decades-long, internationally renowned singing career, has battled cancer twice before. She revealed in the interview for the first time that along with her initial 1992 breast cancer diagnosis, doctors found cancer in her shoulder after she was involved in a car accident in 2013.

When asked if she was scared, Newton-John said, “No, I don’t go there. I’d be lying if I said I never go there. There are moments, I’m human. If I allowed myself to go there, I could easily create that big fear. But my husband’s always there, and he’s there to support me.”

“I believe I will win over it,” she continued. “That’s my goal.”

More: Olivia Newton-John: Cancer return delays tour dates

The interview unveiled that Newton-John is eating healthily and undergoing radiation treatment to treat her cancer and taking cannabis oil for pain relief.

Newton-John said she decided to keep her second bout of cancer to herself.

“The first time I talked about it, and the second time I thought I didn’t really need to share this, it’s not something I need to share with people,” she said. “It’s my life and I decided to keep it to myself.”

Outside of her own battles with cancer, the disease has struck another member of her family: Her sister died six weeks after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2013.

 

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The X-Files

type

TV Show

Genre

Drama, Mystery, Sci-fi

performer

Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny

author

Chris Carter

broadcaster

Fox

seasons

11

Current Status

In Season

tvpgr

TV-14

The X-Files was intended as a horror show, but today only a select few episodes look genuinely scary. There’s an influence problem here, maybe. You could argue that in the 2010s the single most defining form of TV drama has been serialized horror: The Walking Dead and American Horror Story, vamp-y True Blood and antler-y True Detective, Hannibal for the gourmands, Black Mirror for the self-loathing tech addicts, Stranger Things for the nostalgists, just recently Castle Rock, and don’t forget Game of Thrones is endgaming towards a zombie apocalypse.

And this decade there was also, well, The X-Files: an old franchise rebooted to brief ratings success and then declining goofery, ending in March with an energetically dire finale that seemingly drove Gillian Anderson toward self-banishment. Compared to its successors, the show’s moves looked a bit stale when rebooted. And history gets revised rather often these days. Twin Peaks had a better revival, predated X-Files in the FBI-Agent-Investigates-Haunted-Woods-With-Aliens-And-Boomer-Iconography subgenre, is now such a hip creative influence that even Archie Andrews tries to act Lynchian.

But time hasn’t dimmed the best thing about The X-Files. It remains very funny, one of the most darkly humorous procedurals in TV history — and you can strike that “one of” if we’re not counting anything British.

In the X-Files pilot, which aired 25 years ago this Monday, Dana Scully (Anderson) meets Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). They set off on their first mission, and they don’t really solve anything, not to the extent where anyone could confidently exclaim “Case closed!” They only just barely do anything of note. Mulder kinda saves someone’s life by preventing a shotgun blast, but then the climax is a big light in the sky that decides not to kill its latest victim, for reasons nobody ever understands. It’s possible Mulder and Scully are only making things worse, bringing alien technology into the grasp of darker Pentagon forces. All their evidence gets arsoned. All their work winds up erased. There’s very little feeling of normative TV “goodness,” innocents protected, justice served.

And Mulder and Scully look like they’re having a blast. Drenched in rain, surrounded by empty graves, ranting about aliens summoning comatose man-children into a murder forest, they both start laughing. You have to be some kind of stupid brave to laugh at madness this bleak. Twenty-five years later, TV investigators have trended utterly dour or painfully silly. Mulder and Scully are serious, and funny, and seriously funny. There are jokes about corpses: This was Fox, man, god this was Fox.

The show’s creator, Chris Carter, wrote the pilot episode. He stuffed the story full of suggestively banal bits of alien arcana, curious bumps on bodies, strange clumps of dirt, watches stopped at eerily precise moments. He gilded the tale with documentary stylistics, more believable back when no one assumed documentaries were fake. “THE FOLLOWING STORY IS INSPIRED BY ACTUAL DOCUMENTED ACCOUNTS” promises some opening text. Typewritten chyrons declare specific dates (“March 7, 1992”) and times (“5:07 AM”).

And this first investigation ripples with national tragedy. In Bellefleur, Oregon, horrors beget horrors. The problem begins like a fairy tale, or like American colonial history: Young people get lost in the woods. “We were all in the forest having a party,” says Billy Miles (Zachary Ansley). “All my friends. We were celebrating. And then the light came.” Underage drinking? Hard drugs? Some mysterious “others” take the kids away, return them forever changed, half-ruined from repressed memories, a couple kids institutionalized into perpetual adolescence. It’s the ’60s all over again. The kids aren’t all right, and all the adults become co-conspirators in a hush-hush operation, their history erased and redacted. One dad is a medical examiner forging records. One dad is a sheriff keeping nasty truths from the public eye. The town has a secret everyone knows, and it’s literally killing them.

That’s the nominal plot, one the show would riff on endlessly. In the pantheon of Scary Forest X-Fileses, it’s a bit of a snooze. (Gimme the green bugs any day.) But credit Carter for two brilliant introductions. We meet Scully first, and see the strange new world through her eyes. She’s smart, and Anderson figured out an unnaturally effective way to make her obvious youth look like excessive toughness, like she worked twice as hard as anyone in every room.

In Scully’s first scene, her superior notes that she went to medical school but “chose not to practice,” which almost makes it sound like she did five years of med school for fun. Instead of doctoring, she joined the FBI. “My parents still think it was an act of rebellion,” she says — this bit of la-dee-dah insouciance delivered to a room full of frowning J. Edgars who look like they were crushing the generational spirit of youthful rebellion before Scully was born.

She’s assigned to partner up with Agent Mulder, because nobody likes Agent Mulder. He’s a brilliant agent and an infamous terror. Scully’s superiors need her to document him, so they have a paper trail to justify reassignment. There’s one read on X-Files, unmissable in a 2018 context, where it’s a show about an exceptionally talented woman given grunt detail by powerful men who don’t want to waste one of the old boys from their club.

And that reading is not much helped when we meet Mulder. The myth of X-Files would build him up as a rebellious figure, but the pilot works hard to establish his exceptionalism, with teacher’s-pet snark to match. He’s “an Oxford-educated psychologist,” Scully tells us, “the best analyst in the violent crimes section.” Mulder’s pursuit of the X-Files is almost a lark here, a side project taken up by a brilliant investigator bored of mere human crime. “My success allowed me a certain freedom to pursue my own interests,” he explains, sounding precisely like Shigeru Miyamoto discussing Pikmin 3.

For an outsider, Mulder’s a bit of a namedropper. “The only reason I’ve been allowed to continue with my work is because I’ve made connections in Congress,” he swears, sounding dead serious, like every dope in D.C. doesn’t drop the I’ve made connections in Congress line at least twice per weekend. Of course, some of the essential fun of X-Files was always that Mulder and Scully were insiders, their badges granting them the right to walk through any door anywhere, another week, another State of the Union, another rental car, another motel room. The first time Scully meets Mulder, he tells her they’re flying to Oregon. SMASH CUT TO: Them on a plane, the possibility very real that Mulder expensed two extra seats so he could lay down for a transcontinental nap.

Anderson and Duchovny are perfect costars from millisecond one. They’re clearly established as opposites, just as clearly established as allies, two totally different smart people who are skeptical in very specific ways. Mulder doesn’t believe anyone because he thinks everyone is lying. Scully is more meticulous: She waits for people to lie before she distrusts them.

Director Robert Mandel doesn’t quite have the shadowy flair of some of the series’ great helmers, like Kim Manners or Rob Bowman. But he figures out something essential in the Scully-Mulder dynamic. There’s a dumb scene where Scully strips for no reason so Mulder can scope out some mosquito bumps on her lowest-of-lower back. And then there’s a great scene of genuine intimacy, Mulder unveiling his darkest secrets (sister abducted!) while Scully listens patiently.

It’s a perfect shot. It has nothing to do with crimesolving, and everything to do with, like, the feeling of a long late night in a college dorm, everyone gathered around sharing deep truths with their best friends ever that they met yesterday. Makes sense. These two FBI agents are chasing “the truth,” nominally, but Mulder’s really chasing transcendence, “aliens” as a state of higher being, real Jungian stuff, man, he’s an Oxford-educated psychologist. At one point, they’re driving down a road, and they flip forward in time a few minutes. Mulder gets out of the car, ecstatic, barely able to control himself. Were they abducted? Who cares? He’s almost singing in the rain.

---

So there are many invigoratingly funny ideas in the series premiere of The X-Files. But the funniest one by far is the Cigarette Smoking Man. William B. Davis played the looming villain across 11 seasons, three death scenes, three surprise-paternity revelations. In the X-Files pilot, he’s a quiet man in various meetings. He whispers to FBI directors, walks the gray halls of government, smokes cigarettes like lung cancer would be an improvement. It’s a marvel of character acting. Without saying one word, Davis looks like the dad you never call, the president you didn’t vote for, and the wizard other wizards fear.

But think about it for a few seconds. (Or for 25 years.) The whole point of a shadowy figure is, well, being in the shadows. Yet here he always is, this great conspiracist: Sitting in assignment sessions, lingering in interrogation rooms. He’s enigmatic in the most overt way a person can be enigmatic, neon-lit sign proclaiming all-caps “SECRECY!” arrow-pointing in his direction. Near the end of the first episode, he walks past Agent Scully, timing his approach toward her superior’s office as she exits, assuring that she can really luxuriate in the dispassionate look on his face.

X-Files canon (a dangerous phrase) would establish that nearly everything the protagonists/audience learned about Cancerman’s plot was some kind of lie. The 2016 revival staged retcon after retcon, casting whole TV seasons of bounty hunting alien warfare as an elaborate con job, phony narrative designed to manipulate Scully and Mulder.

This was, obviously, a last ditch effort to slatewipe an impossible story that nobody ever understood. But in some ways it’s the most brilliant twist the X-Files mythology ever coughed up. Rewatching the pilot, or any episode touching the greater alien saga, you’re struck by the renewed possibility that everything you see constitutes unreliable narration. Even the most convincingly objective sightings of the supernatural are probably just the Smoking Man playfully Truman Show-ing Mulder toward another false revelation. Every truth Mulder uncovers is another lie. His motto was his most exploitable weakness: He wanted to believe. How to put this nicely? You rewatch the pilot for The X-Files, and you wonder if Scully was right about everything.

Florence strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane Monday and continued its slow but angry dance toward the U.S. East Coast as residents braced for the worst.

The National Hurricane Center said the storm was expected to continuing growing in strength through the day. The center of Florence was forecast to sweep between Bermuda and the Bahamas Tuesday and Wednesday before making its assault on the southeast coast, now targeting North and South Carolina, sometime Thursday.

“Florence is forecast to become a major hurricane this morning, and is expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane through Thursday,” the hurricane center warned.

The hurricane center warned that the swells are likely to cause “life-threatening” surf and current conditions. On North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Dare County emergency officials warned that rough seas and strong rip currents are already creating dangerous conditions.

“Red, no swimming flags are flying and everyone must stay out of the water,” Dare County Emergency Management Director Drew Pearson said.

Satellite imagery indicated that the maximum sustained winds have increased to near 105 mph with higher gusts. A “major” hurricane is one with sustained winds of more than 110 mph. 

Any Category 3, 4, or 5 hurricane is classified as a major hurricane.

More: Despite 2017 hurricane season, US lacks ‘culture of preparedness‘

More: Will hurricanes, wildfires and volcanoes make us a go-bag people?

AccuWeather meteorologist Brett Rossi said the ground in North and South Carolina and Virginia is already saturated from recent rains. Rivers are high, and the storm will be moving slowly when it arrives, exacerbating the situation, Rossi told USA TODAY. 

“This is very scary rain event potentially setting up this week,” Rossi said. “Florence could dump a foot of rain in places that cannot handle it, making for a very scary flooding situation in some areas.”

Some portions of the Carolinas could see as much as 20 inches of rain from Florence, the National Weather Service said, which would lead to river flooding that “could last for days or weeks” after the storm. The Weather Channel warned of a “disastrous” level of flooding for parts of the area. 

The  hurricane center’s breakdown of storm strength says Category 3 storms can bring “devastating” destruction. Homes can be damaged, trees uprooted and electricity and water can be knocked out for days or weeks, the center warns.

The Navy said all ships in Virginia’s coastal Hampton Roads area were preparing to leave port for open seas Monday. Admiral Christopher Grady said ships can better weather “storms of this magnitude when they are underway.” 

South Carolina emergency management officials said they were “preparing for the possibility of a large-scale disaster.” 

Virginia, North and South Carolina have declared states of emergency ahead of the storm. Gov. Ralph Northam said the Virginia National Guard, the Virginia State Police and other state agencies have already begun preparations.

“Now is the time for your family also to prepare and stay tuned for more updates,” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said. “Plan for the worst, pray for the best.”

Florence is now one of three hurricanes spinning in the Atlantic Ocean, along with Helene and Isaac. While Helene is forecast to slide out to sea away from land, Isaac is a very real threat the the Caribbean later this week, the hurricane center said. 

In addition, in the Pacific, what’s now Hurricane Olivia is forecast to approach Hawaii as a tropical storm on Tuesday.

 

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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s pledge to “drain the swamp” – a metaphor for ending Washington corruption – is one of his best-known refrains. 

But the president’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is literally up to his neck in some of the murkiest, greenest swamp water out there in a picture shared on his Instagram account Sunday from his weekend trip to Louisiana. 

“This is what happens when someone bets me a good sum that there’s no way that the guy from New York City would swim in a gator infested swamp/bayou down in Louisiana,” Trump Jr. said in the post. “Easy money!!!” 

Trump Jr. didn’t just go swimming with the gators. On Saturday, he joined House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., in a $5,000-per-head annual alligator hunt to raise money for Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry. 

Also down on the bayou with Trump Jr. was his new romantic interest, former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle.

 

 

 

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Watch the moment England opener Alastair Cook reaches a century in his last-ever Test innings before retiring.

It happens in bizarre circumstances as an overthrow by an India fielder gives him the four runs he needed to reach three figures.

FOLLOW LIVE: England v India – TMS commentary, in-play clips & live text

READ: Cook hits century in final Test innings

Available to UK users only.

Where can you get the most value for your college dollar? According to U.S. News & World Report, among national universities, that would be at Princeton. 

The names at the top of the 2019 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings are the ones you expect to see, but for students and parents who have the ballooning cost of higher education on their minds, two measures may stand out. 

This year, for the first time, the schools were evaluated based on how well they enroll and graduate low-incomestudents. The report also breaks out the colleges where students get the best value for their money after need-based grants kick in. 

A tip for students who could use some financial help to attend college: Study hard and aim high. 

At Princeton University, which is ranked at the top overall among national universities for the eighth consecutive year, the cost of attending for a year can come down to $15,585 including tuition, fees, room and board and other expenses. That’s discounted from a total of $66,950, after need-based assistance is applied.

Harvard, which ranked second in value is slightly more expensive once need-based assistance is considered at $15,996 compared to total costs of $69,600 for a year. 

As for the colleges where low-income students fare well, the University of California-Los Angeles snagged the No. 1 top public school spot among national universities, thanks to that new metric, according to U.S. News, which pointed out that five of the top public schools are in California, including the University of California-Santa Barbara in fifth place and the University of California-Irvine in seventh.

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More: 15 US cities where you can afford to buy a home if you earn less than $40,000 a year

More: Apple vs. Trump: Who is right?

U.S. News uses a variety of factors to compile its annual rankings. That now includes an analysis of the graduation rates of students who receive Pell Grants, federal subsidies for low-income students, and the differences in graduation rates of Pell Grant students and students who didn’t receive this funding. As part of the U.S. News methodology shift, the category called student outcomes, which was weighted 30 percent last year, is now at 35 percent.

“A university is not successful if it does not graduate its students, which is why the Best Colleges rankings place the greatest value on outcomes, including graduation and retention rates,” Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News, said in a statement. “By including social mobility indicators, U.S. News is further recognizing colleges that serve all of their students, regardless of economic status.”

Here are the top schools in some of the major categories:

Best national universities 

1. Princeton University (NJ)
2. Harvard University (MA)
3. Columbia University (NY) (tie)
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (tie)
3. University of Chicago (tie)
3. Yale University (CT) (tie)

Best national liberal arts colleges 

1. Williams College (MA)
2. Amherst College (MA)
3. Swarthmore College (PA) (tie)
3. Wellesley College (MA) (tie)

Best public schools

National universities 
1. University of California-Los Angeles
2. University of California-Berkeley
3. University of Virginia

National liberal arts colleges 
1. United States Military Academy (NY)
2. United States Naval Academy (MD)
3. United States Air Force Academy (CO)

Best value schools

National universities 
1. Princeton University (NJ)
2. Harvard University (MA)
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

National liberal arts colleges
1. Williams College (MA)
2. Pomona College (CA)
3. Amherst College (MA)

Best historically black colleges and universities

1. Spelman College (GA)

2. Howard University (DC)

3. Hampton University (VA) (tie)

3. Morehouse College (GA) (tie)

For the complete U.S. News rankings, visit https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Zlati Meyer on Twitter: @ZlatiMeyer

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Alastair Cook scored a century in his final Test innings for England before international retirement.

The opener was giving a lengthy ovation as an overthrow gave him the five runs he needed to reach three figures.

It is Cook’s 33rd Test century since making his debut in 2006, and his first since December 2017.

Cook earlier surpassed Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara to become the fifth-highest run-scorer in Test cricket.

The former captain has scored more runs and made more centuries for England than any other Test player.

He was given a standing ovation on his way out to bat on Monday and his every run was applauded by a near-capacity crowd.

Although his century was brought up in bizarre fashion – a loose shy at the stumps ending up at the boundary rope – it was a special moment for Cook and the crowd, who sang his name as he raised his bat.

Commentating on the moment on Test Match Special, Daniel Norcross said: “He takes his helmet off. The crowd go bezerk. What a way to get to it. There are waves and waves of applause. You couldn’t write it.

“I’ve not seen anything like this at The Oval. The applause will keep going. It’s like an encore at a theatre.”

More to follow.