Roddy Ricch replaced by Bleachers on Saturday Night Live after COVID-19 exposure

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L-R: Roddy Ricch, Jack Antonoff of Bleachers

“The Box” rapper Roddy Ricch will no longer be the musical performer for this week’s upcoming Saturday Night Live after a COVID-19 exposure. He’s been replaced by the band Bleachers, fronted by Jack Antonoff. The pop-rock band will now perform on Saturday’s DeBose-hosted episode. First-time host DeBose recently won a Golden Globe for her role in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.

Per Variety, a rep for Ricch confirmed that the change is due to COVID-19 exposure on his team. This week’s line-up was announced last week, and Ricch is the third musical guest shake up on SNL due to COVID-19 this season.

In October, Ed Sheeran kept SNL on its toes when he tested positive 13 days before his planned performance. Despite a petition to have him replaced by The Mountain Goats, Ed Sheeran pulled it together and was released from quarantine just before his SNL appearance.

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And last month, a pared down Paul Rudd-hosted episode featured archival and pre-recorded skits, and the musical performance was scrapped all together. The necessity for a “bare-bones” show due to rising COVID-19 cases resulted in the cancellation of Charli XCX’s set with special guests Christine the Queen and Caroline Polachek.

Grammy-winner Antonoff is known as the producer behind the most recent albums from Lorde, Clairo, Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, The Chicks, and St. Vincent. The former Fun. member also crafted the soundtrack for the teen rom-com Love, Simon under Bleachers.

The band released their third studio album, Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night, over the summer and will most likely pull tracks from the LP for their Saturday Night Live guest-slot. Hopefully they will take some of the sadness out of Roddy Ricch fans over his absence.

Bonnaroo Announce Full, Wide-Ranging 2022 Lineup

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Festival season may still be a few months away but now that we’re almost a couple weeks into the new year we are officially in festival lineup announcement season. Progress!

Bonnaroo was all set to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2021 before torrential rain caused organisers to pull the plug at the last minute. Add to this 2020’s postponement thanks to COVID and you can imagine just how excited the festival’s loyal fanbase is for the 2022 edition.

Today Bonnaroo announced their full lineup for this year and as has come to be the norm over the last few years it is an expertly curated and quite varied bill which balances the festival’s jam band, folky origins with its newer wheelhouses: hip hop and electronic music.

Headlining this year are leaders of three different genres: hip hop’s conscience J. Cole, alt metal rockers Tool, and the legendary witchy woman Stevie Nicks.

Some other notable names joining them over the festival’s four days are the likes of The Chicks, Flume, Machine Gun Kelly, Illenium, 21 Savage, Roddy Ricch, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, and Gryffin. As well, this year’s famed superjam will be hosted by mega producer / Bleachers band leader Jack Antonoff.

After these past couple years I think we can all take comfort in knowing that even though so much has changed, Bonnaroo is still here to give a platform for the healing and unifying powers of music.

Bonnaroo 2022 takes place June 16-19 in Manchester, Tennessee. Find more info and join the Mailing List on our Bonnaroo 2022 guide.

Expanded seating eyed for Toronto school gym

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TORONTO — The Toronto Board of Education Thursday agreed to add more than 200 seats to the Toronto Junior-Senior High School gym and moved forward with plans to create an outdoor classroom for the school.

The board supported a $115,617 contract with the H21 Group to install a new set of higher bleachers that will increase the gym’s seating capacity from 560 to 769.

Superintendent Maureen Taggart said because the additional seating will allow for social distancing, the board may use federal pandemic relief funds for the project.

But she noted if social distancing becomes less a concern, the bleachers can accommodate all of the school district’s students, which currently isn’t possible anywhere else indoors, and reduce the need to limit attendance at the high school’s commencement program.

Board member Andy Reeves said he is aware of the type of seating involved and has found it larger and more comfortable.

The board also agreed to advertise for an architect to plan an outdoor classroom using the junior-senior high school’s courtyard.

Taggart said such plans had been made for the area when the building was being designed but they were dropped because of lack of funding. She said the area also has some drainage issues that need to be addressed.

Taggart said the courtyard in the elementary wing of the building added in 2019 has been well used.

The board hopes in March to advertise for a contractor for the project, which also may be funded with federal pandemic relief funds.

As part of the board’s first meeting for the new year, oaths of office were administered to Julie Ault and Randy Henry, who were re-elected to the panel on Nov. 2; and William “J.J.” Liddick, who was elected to the seat formerly held by George Dobbs.

Dobbs chose not to seek re-election, and the three were unopposed in their election bids.

Employed as a physical therapist for Trinity Health System, Liddick said after living in Toronto all of his life, he felt a need to serve the community.

He and his wife, a Toronto schoolteacher, have three children in the school district.

In re-organizing for the year, the board named Ault, in her ninth year on the panel, as president; and Jay Foster, a past president, vice president.

Board members agreed to continue to meet at 5 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month, with its next meeting to be held Feb. 17.

The board also:

�–� Agreed to join the Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools’ Sunday Creek Horizons program at a cost of $10,000.

Taggart said through the program, the group lobbies state legislators for support of smaller, more rural school districts such as Toronto. She said its successes have included the allocation of funds for pre-school programs in such areas.

Taggart added 24 school districts in Jefferson, Harrison and Carroll counties are among members.

�–� Approved $8,270 for fencing at Red Knights Stadium by Gil Thermes Fencing of Wintersville.

�–� Approved a calendar for the 2022-23 school year that will begin on Aug. 17 for grades 1-12, Aug. 19 for kindergarteners and Aug. 22 for preschoolers.

It includes a Thanksgiving break from Nov. 23 to 28, Christmas break from Dec. 19 to Jan. 1, and Easter break from April 6 to 10.

Pending cancellations or delays, the last day for high school seniors in 2023 will be May 19, with graduation on May 21, a week earlier than in the past, while other students will finish on May 25.

International Free Agency is Here: Cubs Starting With Five Prospect Signings (UPDATE: Four More)

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Happy January 15! Formerly happy July 2! Until there’s an international draft – and it is almost certainly coming over the next few yers – it seems like January 15 is here to stay as the new opening of the International Free Agent signing period. That means the Cubs are getting some new prospects today!

As Bryan explored yesterday, we already knew the top trio the Cubs would be signing, and Jesse Sanchez has confirmed that group, together with their signing bonuses:

Source: #Cubs agree to a $1.3 million deal with SS Alexis Hernandez, #18 on @MLBPipeline’s Top 50 Int’l Prospects list, No. 43 INF Adan Sanchez ($1.5 million) and SS Jefferson Rojas for $1 million. https://t.co/LWetCicBy0 — Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) January 15, 2022

The Cubs have a $5,179,700 bonus pool allotment, so $3.8 million of that will go to Adan Sanchez, Alexis Hernandez, and Jefferson Rojas. You can read more about these three prospects here and here, but the headline is that each is considered a top 20 to top 50 prospect in this year’s class (the variance is super high outside of the top five or so). Sanchez, the top prospect out of Panama, is a catcher for now, but his bat might be what carries him at another position. Hernandez is the younger brother of Cristian Hernandez, and is also a shortstop prospect like his brother. Rojas is also a Dominican shortstop, and a seven-figure bonus, alone, puts a guy like that on your radar.

With nearly another $1.4 million available to spend, we figured the Cubs would have more signings today. Indeed, Baseball America reports two more names: Josefrailyn Alcantata, OF, Dominican Republic, and Carlos Altuve, C, Venezuela. No word on the bonuses yet, and neither shows up on the BA or MLB Pipeline top 50 for this class. That, of course, doesn’t mean they won’t wind up notable prospects, it’s just that they aren’t going to be as immediately on the radar as the bonus babies. More on them and any other signings when we have it.

In the meantime, it’s worth thinking about the implications of whatever remaining funds the Cubs have. It’s possible it is already dedicated to Alcantata, Altuve, and others we haven’t heard about yet. It’s also possible that the Cubs are holding back $500,000 just in case they sign a qualified free agent. Recall, that costs them their second round pick in 2022 AND $500,000 in IFA bonus pool space. Best not to commit to spend those funds just yet if you don’t know if you’re going to have them, especially if the guys to whom you’d already made wink-wink-nod-nod commitments years ago did not fully eat up your pool.

UPDATE: Baseball America adds four more names for the Cubs:

More Dominican signings today for the Cubs with OF Josias Ramirez, SS Moises Febrillet, C Yidel Diaz, OFs Josefrailin Alcantara and Albertina Belliard (L to R) https://t.co/ZG8rEgV8vn pic.twitter.com/FvnjNSsqhF — Ben Badler (@BenBadler) January 15, 2022

No word yet on bonuses, and the scouting reports on non-top 50 guys are pretty much non-existent at the moment. It tends to be the case that the guys who show up on day one as uniformed signings for these events are all at least six-figure bonus guys, though that isn’t always the case. Also, remember that signings with bonuses $10,000 or less do not count against the pool.

Why the Cowboys, Mike McCarthy Face Huge Pressure to Succeed in NFL Playoffs

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Corey Sipkin/Associated Press

The NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys will make their first appearance in the NFL playoffs since 2018 this weekend. They are under a tremendous amount of pressure to make this a successful run, as the team is facing an uncertain offseason—both on the roster and among the coaching staff.

Most prominently, longtime Cowboys owner Jerry Jones might not have much patience left if this group cannot become his first to get out of the divisional round since 1995. Head coach Mike McCarthy signed a five-year deal in 2020, but a disappointing early exit could put him on the hot seat well before that contract expires.

McCarthy will lead his first postseason foray with the franchise, returning to the playoffs for the first time since he reached the NFC Championship Game with the Packers in 2016.

It will be the 58-year-old coach’s most important test yet, as dating back to early in his Packers tenure, he has a long history of making questionable decisions when it comes to stopping the clock, or failing to do so in many cases.

These issues were apparent earlier in the season in a divisional showdown with the Eagles—notably drawing the ire of Peyton Manning, who was providing insight for the broadcast—and recently came to the forefront again in the season’s penultimate contest.

Facing a three-point deficit against the Cardinals late in the fourth quarter, McCarthy had already burned through all his timeouts—including one in the third quarter when Arizona feinted a trick play against Dallas’ field-goal blocking unit—before the two-minute warning.

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

Because of the timeout mismanagement, McCarthy couldn’t challenge what appeared to be a fumble by Chase Edmonds with 2:51 left.

The Cardinals went on to win 25-22, a result that cost Dallas a shot to earn the NFC’s top seed and a first-round bye.

These are concerning game-management mistakes, especially given the head coach doesn’t actually call any plays for the Cowboys. Those duties belong to Kellen Moore and Dan Quinn, the offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively.

The pairing deserves much of the credit for the Cowboys’ turnaround from 6-10 to 12-5, which isn’t lost on other teams.

Moore has been a revelation for Dallas since he was hired to be part of Jason Garrett’s staff following his retirement from playing in 2018.

The 32-year-old quickly ascended the ranks, rising from a quarterbacks coach in his first year to one of the NFL’s most highly regarded offensive coordinators over the last three seasons.

Dallas had the league’s top offense this year, racking up an impressive 407.0 yards and 31.2 points per game. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise after the team led the league in total offense in 2019, putting up an average of 431.5 yards per game.

Even in 2020, the Cowboys still ranked in the top half of the league in total offense after losing starting quarterback Dak Prescott in Week 5 to an ankle injury and being forced to rely on Andy Dalton for much of the campaign.

Ron Jenkins/Associated Press

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, Moore isn’t likely to stick around much longer.

He’s been linked with several clubs as a potential head coaching hire this offseason and seems like a natural fit for those trying to groom a young quarterback prospect. Moore has already spoken with the Jaguars, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, and the Broncos recently requested an interview with him, according to 9News’ Mike Klis, with more clubs sure to follow.

Quinn, a former head coach with the Falcons, has reportedly helped Moore prepare for the interview process, according to ESPN (h/t the Dallas Morning News’ Damon R. Marx).

The defensive coordinator will also audition for at least one team, as the Bears asked for permission to interview Quinn earlier in the week, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

While Quinn isn’t as hot of a commodity as his offensive counterpart, the 51-year-old did take Atlanta to a Super Bowl as the team’s head coach and won a championship while serving as Seattle’s defensive coordinator.

Quinn is heading up a defense that was the NFL’s most opportunistic in 2021, securing a league-best 34 takeaways. Those forced turnovers were a key reason Dallas only conceded 21.1 points per game, the seventh-lowest in football.

It would still be a mild surprise if Quinn were tabbed for another head coaching position after his run in Atlanta ended poorly and Dallas ranked a middling 19th in total defense this season, but organizations have shown a propensity to prefer known assets.

With Quinn and Moore potentially landing new gigs soon, McCarthy might only get one shot at a Lombardi Trophy with his current staff.

The Cowboys not only have the play-callers in place needed to win it all this year, but they also possess a wealth of on-field talent to get the job done.

Prescott returned to form after rehabilitating his ankle in the offseason, finishing the year with 4,449 yards and 37 touchdowns in 16 starts.

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

The team found a dangerous one-two punch in the backfield, toning down Ezekiel Elliott’s usage—although he still eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark on 237 totes—and working in Tony Pollard, who averaged an impressive 5.5 yards per carry on his 130 attempts, more often.

Dallas’ receiving corps is one of the NFL’s best from top to bottom.

CeeDee Lamb has developed into a legit No. 1 target in his second season, racking up 1,102 yards and six scores on 79 receptions this year. Three other Cowboys pass-catchers—Amari Cooper, Dalton Schultz and Cedrick Wilson—all had at least 600 yards and six touchdowns in 2021.

On the other side, the defense has improved greatly after rating among the league’s worst last year.

Cornerback Trevon Diggs had a whopping 11 interceptions, outpacing No. 2 ball hawk J.C. Jackson of the Patriots by three picks. Detroit’s Amani Oruwariye was the only other player to have more than five in 2021.

Rookie linebacker Micah Parsons has been sensational, recording 84 tackles and a team-high 13 sacks. The potential Defensive Player of the Year earned a remarkable 93.0 pass-rushing grade from Pro Football Focus, the best mark of anyone in that category.

But while the offense is at the height of its powers and the defense has improved, the Cowboys could lose some key talent this offseason, as Randy Gregory—a Pro Bowl alternate who had the second-most sacks on the team in 2021 with six—Jayron Kearse, Malik Hooker, Schultz and Wilson are among the most important of the 23 impending free agents on this roster.

David Berding/Associated Press

Even with McCarthy making some foolish mistakes during the regular season, there are still plenty of reasons to believe the Cowboys can finally break through and at least reach the NFC Championship Game.

The 2021 Cowboys accomplished a feat none of Dallas’ five Super Bowl-winning teams were able to by sweeping the NFC East this year. COO Stephen Jones told K&C Masterpiece on 105.3 The Fan it was the “first box to check” on the way to a championship.

Dallas will host the San Francisco 49ers at AT&T Stadium in the Wild Card Round on Sunday. The team is 3-1 in playoff games at the venue since it opened in 2009, although the Cowboys only mustered a 5-3 home record this season.

If Moore and Quinn are at their best against the Niners, McCarthy simply needs to manage the clock well and put his squad in the best possible position to advance.

If McCarthy can’t stay out of his own way, the Cowboys will have a tough time reaching their potential.