A couple of decades ago, Jeff Alger, then a senior manager at Microsoft, was coaching state-level soccer teams and realised that there was very little science to player development.

There were no objective ways of measuring how good players are, Alger said, and without being able to measure, you have nothing.

He said it offended his sense of systems design to recognise a problem but do nothing about it, so he quit his job, got a masters degree in sports management and started a company that would use artificial intelligence (AI) to assess athletic talent and training.

His company, Seattle Sports Sciences, is one of a handful using the pattern-recognising power of machine learning to revolutionise coaching and make advanced analytics available to teams of all kinds.

The trend is touching professional sports and changing sports medicine. And, perhaps inevitably, it has altered the odds in sports betting.

John Milton, architect of Seattle Sports Sciences artificial intelligence system, spent a week in October with Spanish soccer team Mlaga, which plays in Spains second division, capturing everything that happened on the pitch with about 20 synchronised cameras in 4K ultra high-definition video.

Its like omniscience, Milton said. The system, ISOTechne, evaluates a players skill and consistency and who is passing or receiving with what frequency, as well as the structure of the teams defence. It even tracks the axis of spin and rate of rotation of the ball.

That is not the only way that the companys technology is being used. Professional soccer teams derive a growing slice of revenue from selling players. Soccer academies have become profit centers for many teams as they develop talented players and then sell them to other teams. It is now a $7 billion business. But without objective measurements of a players ability, putting a value on an athlete is difficult.

Its a matter of whether that players movements and what they do with the ball correspond to the demands that they will have on your particular team, said Alger, now the President and Chief Executive of Seattle Sports Sciences. He said, for example, that his company could identify a player who was less skilled at other phases of the game but was better at delivering the ball on a corner kick or a free kick a skill that a coach could be looking for.

Some systems can also detect and predict injuries. Dr Phil Wagner, Chief Executive and founder of Sparta Science, works from a warehouse in Silicon Valley that has a running track and is scattered with equipment for assessing athletes physical condition.

The company uses machine learning to gather data from electronic plates on the ground that measure force and balance. The system gathers 3,000 data points a second and a test jumping or balancing takes about 20 seconds.

Athletes dont recognise that theres an injury coming or theres an injury that exists, Wagner said, adding that the system has a proven record of diagnosing or predicting injury. Were identifying risk and then providing the best recommendation to reduce that risk.

Tyson Ross, a pitcher competing for a roster spot with the San Francisco Giants, has been using Sparta Sciences system since he was drafted in 2008. He visits the companys facilities roughly every other week during the offseason to do vertical jumps, sway tests, a single leg balance test and a one-arm plank on the plate, blindfolded.

Based on the data thats collected, it tells me how Im moving compared to previously and how Im moving compared to my ideal movement signature, as they call it, Ross said. Sparta Science then tailors his workouts to move him closer to that ideal.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, the Detroit Lions and the Washington Redskins, among others, use the system regularly, Wagner said. Sparta Science is also used to evaluate college players in the National Football Leagues annual scouting combine.

Of course, it is inevitable that machine learnings predictive power would be applied to another lucrative end of the sports industry: betting. Sportlogiq, a Montreal-based firm, has a system that primarily relies on broadcast feeds to analyse players and teams in hockey, soccer, football and lacrosse.

Mehrsan Javan, the companys Chief Technology Officer and one of its co-founders, said the majority of National Hockey League teams, including the last four Stanley Cup champions, used Sportlogiqs system to evaluate players.

Josh Flynn, Assistant General Manager for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Ohios professional hockey franchise, said the team used Sportlogiq to analyse players and strategy. We can dive levels deeper into questions we have about the game than we did before, Flynn said.

But Sportlogiq also sells analytic data to bookmakers in the United States, helping them set odds on bets, and hopes to sell information to individual bettors soon. Javan is looking to hire a vice president of betting.

They key to all of this sports-focused technology is data.

Algorithms come and go, but data is forever, Alger is fond of saying. Computer vision systems have to be told what to look for, whether it be tumours in an X-ray or bicycles on the road. In Seattle Sports Sciences case, the computers must be trained to recognise the ball in various lighting conditions as well as understand which plane of the foot is striking the ball.

To do that, teams of workers first have to painstakingly annotate millions of images. The more annotated data, the more accurate the machine-learning analysis will be. Basically, whoever has the most labelled data wins, said Milton, the AI architect.

Seattle Sports Sciences uses Labelbox, a training data platform that allows Miltons data science team in Seattle to work with shifts of workers in India who label data 24 hours a day. Thats how fast you have to move to compete in modern vision AI, Milton said. Its basically a labelling arms race.

Wagner of Sparta Science agrees, noting that with algorithms readily available and cloud computing power now available everywhere, the differentiator is data. He said it took Sparta Science 10 years to build up enough data to train its machine-learning system adequately.

Sam Robertson, who runs the sports performance and business programme at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia, said it would take time for the technology to transform sports. The decision-making component of this right now is still almost exclusively done by humans, he said.

We need to work on the quality of the inputs, he said, meaning the labelled data. Thats whats going to improve things.

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Want to Be Better at Sports? Listen to the Machines - Moneycontrol

A Great Historian, statesman and writer, Winston S. Churchill, is quoted on many occasions during his illustrious career on the subjects of history and politics:

"The Farther Backward You Can Look, The Farther Forward You Can See"

Our present COVID-19 pandemic is fearful for all Americans during during this spring season. Our Easter and Passover holidays celebrate the renewal of life and of new beginnings during the spring. America has not been through a serious worldwide pandemic for over 100 years. In 2020, America now has the advantages of over 100 years with state of the art advances in science, medical, computer, mass communication, technologies, etc. combined with the required skills, knowledge, talents and historical memory and data unheard of and unknown in 1918. In 2020, America must wage a common cause of nonpartisan total warfare against the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, America has 100 years of accumulated wisdom and knowledge on how to wage an effective war on modern pandemics.

The so-called "Spanish Flu" of 1918 (which actually began in America!) killed more than 500,000 Americans more deaths than caused by WWI of American Soldiers in 1917-1918. The estimated, staggering and still unbelievable, death toll from the Spanish Flu number at least 50 million deaths.

A short historical comparison/analysis on the communication of knowledge and know-how between worldwide pandemics in 1918 versus 2020:

In 1918: America had nationwide telegraph and cable transmissions. However, public telephone usage was in its infancy and there were no public national or local radio broadcast stations nor radios for public use in 1918. In 1918, there were no national or worldwide mass communication networks for the dissemination of data, information, news to the public and only paper-printed newspapers, weekly magazines and periodicals for distribution and use.

In 2020: America has mass communications for social media distribution, use of satellite communications to transfer data and information and use of worldwide internet for 24/7 news, TV and radio, news in electronic and print form, etc. All of which were unheard of nor were available to wage total war on worldwide health and medical pandemics in 1918.

George Bernard Shaw (who was a great writer and a good friend of Winston S. Churchill) is quoted on whether or not "history repeats itself":

"If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must man be of learning from experience?"

Finally, there is no easy way out of the COVID-19 pandemic except time and patience, and a vaccine, however, the essential question remains to be answered: "When?"

The fear of the unknown is a terrible fear.

Weintraub writes from Stroudsburg, Pa.

Read the original:
For What Its Worth: The fear of the unknown is a terrible fear - Pocono Record

April is alcohol awareness month, and in the spirit of things, it seems that Americans are reacting to shelter-in-place orders by drinking more wine.

Well leave the reason for skyrocketing sales of Chardonnay to what playwright George Bernard Shaw said about it in the past, Grit Daily readers.

Shaw, who famously quipped, Alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life, aptly described what we are seeing today. In other words, people are turning to their alcoholic drink of choice as a coping mechanism for the extreme worry and isolation that goes hand-in-hand with the pandemic quarantine.

C.Vaile Wright, director of clinical research and quality in the Practice Directorate for the American Psychological Association,spoke out recentlyabout why the stress COVID-19 is leaving in its wake is causing you to reach for that soothing glass of wine.

Wright said,

Stress is a common trigger for drinking, and this pandemic has led to an unprecedented period of stress. We are seeing more people using alcohol as a way to cope with the anxiety and stress and uncertainty of this situation.

I think a lot of people use it to numb out, Wright added. She also cautioned against self-medicating yourself with alcohol, indicating that it isnt the best way to fight stress. She went on to say,

For one thing, alcohol is a depressant, both physically and mentally, so those already prone to depression or sadness may find those feelings exacerbated by drinking.

And it can actually increase ones anxiety because it interferes with the ability to get quality sleep at night. Without quality sleep, it can be hard to manage stress the next day.

If you are part of the shelter-in-place scenario, it sometimes feels as if wine and other alcoholic beverages are essential items. Of course, they are not, but many isolated people such as Noelle Farrara are turning en masse to them.

Noelle Farrara is a human resources officer who lives in New Jersey. She told reporters that cocktails definitely assuaged her anxiety. Since the pandemic unfolded in her hard-hit state, she indicated that the cocktail she normally drank on the weekend has morphed into one or sometimes two that she has every night.

The human resources officer blamed a real fear on the virus, coupled with fear manufactured by the media, for her unease. She said, Getting to the end of the day without paralyzing anxiety is almost a goal. I reward myself with a glass of wine or light beer.

Recently, she realized that she had a new worry to think about. And that was that her husband might run out of wine.

Thats not a thought that wouldve cropped up in the past, Farrara said.

Alcohol represents one of the few creature comforts that are still obtainable. Whether its because its a good way to take the edge off or because people are maintaining some semblance of a social life through virtual happy hours on Zoom, wine sales shot up66 percent.

One liquor store owner Erik Conley said that some vino is selling better than others. Conley, who owns Conleys Wine and Spirits with his wife Kate, told Grit Daily that customers like to hunker down with white wines the most during the shelter-in-place orders.

Conley said go-to brands of choice for them included Chateau Ste Michelle (Riesling), Dark Horse (Rose), Manu (Pinot Grigio), McManis (Chardonnay), Josh (Sauvignon Blanc) and Blindfold White Blend by the Prisoner Wine Company.

Another survey reported that in the week ending March 21, off-premises sales of all alcoholic beverages in the U.S. grew 55 percent. Whats more, the online purchases of beer, wine, and spirits were up 243 percent more than they were the same week of the previous year.

The growth is most likely attributed to bars and restaurants that closed their doors due to the pandemic. COVID-19 has been tough on the industry. Its aftermath left many bars, restaurant owners, tasting rooms and liquor stores fighting for survival.

Many had to move fast to stay in business. Some shifted their focus to home delivery in areas that it is legal. While others worked to get online sites that facilitate alcohol purchases live.

When the governor of Pennsylvaniaordered liquor storesto shut their doors, customers flooded the establishments. They emptied the stores in record time. In response to that void, a site geared to facilitate online alcohol purchases went live. Unfortunately, it proceeded to crash soon after because of the high demand.

Is the rush for wine and other spirits to pass the time going to lead to a wave of alcoholics? That isnt likely to happen, according toColumbia University neuroscientist Carl Hart.Hart said there is no indication that a wave of alcohol addiction will follow this pandemic. And new cases of addiction will be caused by the devastation the pandemic inflicted. Not because of one drink too many.

Thats good news for us oenophiles. However, remember to consume everything in moderation except for Grit Daily articles extolling the virtues of wine. Reading them helps you chill, and you can consume as many of them as you like.

See more here:
America Reacts To Shelter-in-place Orders By Drinking More Wine - Grit Daily

I started reading MAD on a regular basis starting around the 2nd grade back in 1981. Especially the parodies of the great Mort Drucker, who died on April 8th in his Woodbury, NY home at age 91.

I remember how dense it was to get throughit would take me literally the entire month to read. And I had like this rhythm to reading it. Id always, always start at Spy Vs. Spy, then the Don Martin page before checking out what kind of super fresh 70s clothing that the folks on Dave Bergs The Lighter Side were rocking. My curiosity about the foldable folly on the back cover would usually get the best of me as well, rendering every issue I ever owned worthless on the collectors market.

But I saved the best part for last. The movie spoofs. One of the very first issues I picked up with my allowance money was the January 81 edition, which featured Alfred E. Newmans iconic face drawn on the body of Yoda. I got it strictly for The Empire Strikes Out, the very parody that would spark the ire of Star Wars creator George Lucas, or rather his team of lawyers.

What piqued my particular interest in this parody, however was not just my undying love of all things Star Wars. Albeit unwittingly because I was eight, it was the first time I got to read a Mort Drucker film parody penned by writer Dick DeBartolo. The first time Drucker and DeBartolo worked together was Issue 98 from October 196 on Flapper, a super funny piss-take on the beloved porpoise sitcom Flipper. And from that issue until their last collaboration in 2009, the duo spoofed hundreds of shows and movies across five decades. Oftentimes their targets were the summer blockbusters of that year, be it The Flying Ace or The Towering Inferno or Alien or Robocop or even Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The team of Mort Drucker and Dick DeBartolo were so good at what they did that George Lucas himself wound up writing a letter to MAD Magazine. Only this time it wasnt to cease and desist but rather hail the duo as the Leonardo da Vinci and George Bernard Shaw of comic satire.

Here are five Drucker/DeBartolo productions that, as a lifelong reader of MAD, I believe serve as ample justification for such a bold declaration.

Even a cinematic mind as brilliant as Stanley Kubrick has been called an idiot. But in the case of the iconic director of The Killing and Full Metal Jacket, it was the team of Drucker and DeBartolo who first did the honors in this purposefully prolonged and drawn-out pisstake on the Oscar winning space epic. And, as it turns out, that giant monolith turns out to be a book entitled How To Make An Incomprehensible Sci-Fi Movie and Several Million Dollars.

Milos Formans asylum life masterpiece was turnkey ready for a satirical spin the moment it hit box offices nationwide. But the way by which Drucker and DeBartolo not only lampooned Cuckoo but cranked up the films manic energy to 11 gave the story a whole new dimension. It was features like this that made these guys the dream team of MADison Avenue.

None of the flicks parodied in this issue dated October 1982 are not exactly household favorites (though Im sure there are cult audiences for each of them). The only reason I remember On Golden Pond was on account of all the old folks taking up room on line at the LOEWS box office while I was going to see Clash of the Titans for the 10th time, and Death Wish II because Jimmy Page did the soundtrack. As for Deathtrap, I owe it to myself as a lifelong Michael Caine fan to give it a revisit. However, what makes this particular edition so special is that its the only issue of MAD to feature three Drucker/DeBartolo spoofs between its pages, making this a highly sought-after collectors item for MAD folk.

As a sixth grader in 1985, Back To The Future hit my demo like an atom bomb. And indeed Issue no. 260 was high on my list when I picked it up at my local Waldenbooks. Having seen the Robert Zemeckis-directed sci-fi comedy classic at least twice before I copped this edition of MAD, I felt especially prepared for anything DeBartolo and Drucker was gonna throw our way. But leave it to them to pretty much whittle the entire premise of the movie down to the bizarre love triangle between Marquee McFly and his parents. Not to mention a few jabs at producer Steven Spielberg for good measure.

Drucker and DeBartolo worked together only a handful more times before turning in their last feature in 2009 (a sendup of the Chronicles of Narnia). However, clearly their best work during this time was the pairs return to doing what they did bestbeating up George Lucas. And their parody of The Phantom Menace spoke to so many of us who grew up on these fellas poking fun at the Star Bores saga our whole lives. Only there was a shared sense of cynicism between reader and creators because most of us felt gypped by this movie, as awash of Gungan jibjab piss away any new hopes of a classic Star Wars chapter.

Rest in Peace, Mort Drucker. Thank you for your part in my idiocy. I mean literacy.

See original here:
The Best of Drucker and DeBartolo in MAD - Book and Film Globe

Mort Drucker, Madly Prolific

For over 55 years, Mort Drucker drew caricatures of people, actors, creatures, public figures, historic personalities, and politicians for cartoon stories and spoofs in Mad magazine. His extraordinary talent has been beloved by millions of the magazine's fansas well as by other artists, and even by the stars he was often parodying.

Beyond Mad, Drucker worked on movie posters, Time magazine covers, music album covers and sleeves, comic strips, children's books, coloring books, and other works of satire and humor. Out of his prolific work, some of his pieces, like his covers for Time, have been included in the U.S. National Portrait Gallery in D.C. At the age of 91, he passed away last Thursday, April 9th, 2020.

Like many of us, during this time of the ongoing global pandemic, I found myself at home so much that I started going through things in the house and in closets and storage shelves just to pass some time and maybe organize a few things. I pulled out my collection of Mad and Cracked magazines that feature Star Wars parodies and couldn't resist thumbing through the old pages to relive some of the spoofs they drew up from back in the day. Some jokes were downright hilarious, some jokes fell flat, some were dated and perhaps a bit offensive to today's tastesbut what remained enjoyable the most was the artwork. I loved the caricatures of Han, Leia, Luke, and others with their exaggerated expressions and often clueless faces that could tell their own story even without the speech bubbles. Thinking these would make for great content on my next article here on MousePlanet, I began compiling some images when the news hit that Mort Drucker had passed away. Looking back through some of the scanned pictures I was pulling together I saw that the great majority of them were drawn by Drucker himself. I decided to modify my goal a bit and turn this month's article into atribute to Mort Drucker's Star Wars parodies from Mad.

I thought this image of Lando Calrissian and Mickey Mouse would fit the theme of this article perfectly. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

In the December 1978 issue of Mad, the writer's put together a musical revue by changing the words of popular songs into the context of the galaxy far, far away. This resulted in "The Mad Star Wars Musical," that began with one of Drucker's famous opening spreads shown here in its reprinted colorized version.

If a musical spoof of Star Wars were made today, Mad Magazine had it beat by a few decades. Here Drucker provides a cavalcade of characters from the first movie. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

He often added visual gags that weren't park of the dialog, like the presence of the random Lucy mixed in with the Jawas (where one Jawa appears to be looking at her like, "What are you doing here?") or the spaceship with a dopey bird's beak or giving Darth Vader googly eyes.

Speaking of music parodies, this practice continued even into the 90s where we find a fantastic 2-page spread of our Star Wars folks cutting a rug to the "Macarena," complete with George Lucas commentary and lyrics. (1999 "Star Wars Spectacular" issue, note Harrison Ford's other alter ego)

Mad specialized in combining pop culture ideas into their spoofs. Drucker includes many visual gags with the Star Wars characters to the tune of the Macarena. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

Mocking popular TV shows and movies was Mad's specialty, and Star Wars was no exception. The writers and artist took to Star Wars in some of the earliest parodies of the franchise. When it came to the second film, The Empire Stikes Back, Mad didn't hold back, and Drucker was there to bring the comedy to life. It was common practice for the magazine to begin its story with a full-page spread of gags like this one.

Mad's spoof of The Empire Strikes Back began with this set of gags including Spock at his terminal and a literal price on Han's head. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

These spreads often held hidden jokes, like the easy-to-miss snowball fight in the foreground.

As important as his faces, Drucker had stated that his character's hands also told much of their story and were just as expressive as eyes and mouths. There are many examples one could point to in order to exemplify that, and I think this one of Han and Leia (and Luke) are both subtle and revealing.

Drucker's caricatures always served the spoof's story, including this comical stare by Princess Leia and Han's sarcastic reaction. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

Still, the faces were so good and make me laugh every time.

Drucker's drawings were madcap even in contrast with the serious portrayal of other characters. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

As I enjoyed looking through these strips it was quickly evident that Mort Drucker always tried to outdo himself and never settled on using the same portrayal frame after frame. Even in later issues he'd go for different proportions or exaggerations to great effect.

It seemed that Drucker never repeated any poses of his characters, and had fun stretching their proportions. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

I love the subtlety of many of his pictures. The ugnaught in the background is trying to point out Lando's mistake while bearing an expression of, "Hey stupid, look over there."

Drucker was masterful in setting a scene that was both silly and true to the look of the original like this one from the freezing chamber in Empire. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

It's great when he allows the characters we're familiar with to take on silly postures and actions that are a delight to see. For insance, Vader isn't immune to wackiness in the pages of Mad.

Even a villain as stiff as Vader can't escape a goofy fencing pose by Drucker. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

Sometimes without the word balloons, his drawings could be stirring like the melancholy ending of Empire Strikes Back shown below without any faces as, with them, we look over their shoulder to the outer space scene ... and then we spot the wind-up key of the Millennium Falcon.

Drucker often drew many images that were poignant even when the text was still humorous like this one spoofing Empire's final shot. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

In a case funnier than parody, Lucasfilm's legal department almost sued Mort Drucker for his spoof of Empire Strikes Back. The parody, called "The Empire Srikes Out," somehow got the lawyers in a tizzy where they composed a cease-and-desist letter to the artist to stop and recall the whole thing. Unbeknownst to Lucasfilm's legal team, George Lucas absolutely loved the parody (and had liked the parody from Mad on the first film) and had even written the magazine praising them and Drucker for the piece, and going so far as to request a copy of the original artwork for himself. The letter famously included Lucas's acclaim, "Special Oscars should be awarded to Drucker and DeBartolo, the George Bernard Shaw and Leonardo da Vinci of comic satire. Their sequel to my sequel was sheer galactic madnessKeep up the good Farce!" (Source) Needless to say, that put an end to any thoughts of a lawsuit from Lucasfilm ever again.

Lucasfilm's legal beagles must have forgotten that George Lucas's film, American Graffiti had its poster created by none other than the mad artist himself.

American Graffiti's movie poster illustrated by Mort Drucker. Lucasfilm.

Drucker's work on the original trilogy continued into Return of the Jedi with even more hilarity and of course, beginning with a full-page drawing.

Mad often began their stories with a wild "pile up" of characters like this one at the start of their spoof of Return of the Jedi. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

In Star Wars, creatures were as much the stars as the humans, and Drucker could bring out the silliness of them, too.

Drucker often threw in characters from anywhere and everywhere to add to the absurdity of such scenes as this one of Jabba and his cast of monsters. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

As noted earlier, he often changed up his caricature's looks, like this new take on Yoda.

A different, but no less silly look for Yoda, in his 'cough' death scene with Luke. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

I just can't get over Luke's nonplussed expression in this next drawing. It looks like he's desperately trying to be serious but just doesn't know how stupid he looks.

Both of these caricatures of Luke and Leia are so funny, not because they're simply drawn funny, but because their expressions are serious bringing the perfect irony. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

He was very much like a movie director in his comic stips, where would vary his shots, not always rely on close-ups, and depict action to underscore the humor.

Drucker is able to depict a quick-action gag when Vader "mistakenly" throws the Emperor to his death. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

But when it's time for close-ups and gags, he's your artist especially in this joke which is mostly visual anyway.

When needed, Drucker would also go full-on ridiculous for comedic effect, like this face of the unmasked Vader. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

Even without faces and cariciatures, Drucker could spice up the stories and spoof the style of the original concept like in the picture below of a sweeping action sequence of a war in the stars.

Drucker's talent went even beyond caricatures and into scenery like this space battle, with the kitchen sink gag not looking out of place. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

He would sometimes take his queues from the writers, who would sometimes add scenes not from the source material but from inferred actions and their own imaginations. Drucker could accommodate those acts of whimsy and set the scene just right.

Not a scene from the movie, but one left to our imagination. With Drucker's imagination, we get this hilarious image of what surely would have been a weird-looking wedding. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

Maybe his visual gag of, "May Divorce be with You," could be seen as prophetic, since later films show Han and Leia separatedbut perhaps it was just his play on words from the strangeness of all things in Star Wars.

I hope this does well to honor the memory of Mort Drucker, especially for his parodies of Star Wars characters from Mad. He and the magazine blazed many trails in the world of spoofs, that so many have been inspired by their workthat countless farces and mockeries have come and gone from many different mediums up to this day.

I see things like Drucker's work and Mad's writing to be among the best of parodies, and also some of the earliest ones of the franchise. It reminds us all to not take it all too seriously, to remember to laugh at silliness (how could we forget?), to see things in different ways, to find humor in the world and in ourselves, and to appreciate art in its many forms. As a Star Wars fan, I thank him for his comedy. As a person who needs levity in these trying times, I cherish him for his art.

Mort Drucker produced many covers for Mad including this cute Star Wars title from the Summer 1999 issue. Illustration by Mort Drucker.

Thank you, Mr. Drucker.

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Star Wars and Mad Magazine's Mort Drucker by Todd King - MousePlanet

Just five days after the previous FIFA 20 database update, EA SPORTS have confirmed their latest database update, with a number of Manchester United players upgraded, but there are also a few downgrades.

In the previous database update only two United players were changed, with Bruno Fernandes upgraded and Brandon Williams downgraded, but the latest update sees 11 United players have their attributes or details changed on the game.

Marcus Rashford, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Mason Greenwood and Scott McTominay have all been upgraded, but there are also a few downgrades.

Here is how the United squad has been affected in the latest FIFA 20 database update, as of April 15, 2020.

Despite being out for a few months through injury, FIFA 20 have given Rashford a big upgrade on the game.

The striker's crossing (74-75), long passing (66-67) and reactions (84-85) have all been increased. This has led to Rashford's overall rating going up from 83 to 84, with his potential also being increased from 88 to 89.

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Martial has been given a downgrade overall, with the Frenchman's heading accuracy (69-71) upgraded, but his short passing (79-78) and shot power (84-83) have been reduced.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka - Upgrade

Wan-Bissaka has seen his overall rating upgraded from 81 to 82, following individual attribute upgrades like dribbling (81-82), curve (59-62), reactions (78-80) and strength (70-71).

Luke Shaw - Upgrade

Although Shaw's penalties (53-44), agility (75-73) and FK accuracy (58-54) attributes have both been downgraded, he's been given an upgrade overall, with the full-back's stamina (74-76), interceptions (77-78) and marking (80-81) seeing an increase.

This means that Shaw's overall rating has gone up from 79 to 80, with his potential also being increased from 81 to 82.

McTominay has been given an overall upgrade in the latest update, with the Scottish midfielder's overall rating going up from 78 to 79, with his potential also being increased from 85 to 86.

In terms of specific attributes, McTominay's interceptions (77-79), standing tackle (78-81) and sliding tackle (71-72) have all been increased.

Due to his impressive performances, Greenwood's FIFA attributes have slowly been increased over the course of the campaign, with the striker given another boost this time.

The youngster's long shots (71-72), vision (68-69), penalties (60-64) and marking (30-35) have all been upgraded.

But, Lingard's attributes have been decreasing over the last few months, and there's been another downgrade in the latest update.

Lingard's overall rating has been reduced from 79 to 78, as too as his potential, with his dribbling (79-78), vision (78-77) and composure (78-77) also being downgraded.

Gomes' crossing (61-63), curve (65-67) and long passing (65-67) have all been upgrade, but his stamina has taken a slight hit (57-55).

Garner is obviously growing as a player, both figuratively and literally according to FIFA 20, with Garner's weight being increased from 165lbs to 176lbs on the game.

But Bernard has had his height being reduced from 6ft 3in to 6ft 2in.

Dylan Levitt - Upgrade

Levitt has been given a big upgrade in the latest FIFA 20 update, with the young midfielder's long passing (63-64), reactions (63-64), shot power (58-60), long shots (58-60), interceptions (54-56), vision (64-66) and composure (67-69) all being increased.

This has led to an overall rating upgrade, up from 63 to 64.

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Latest Manchester United FIFA 20 update released with Rashford, Wan-Bissaka and Greenwood upgraded - Manchester Evening News

Sports Pulse: Easy exercises for when you dont feel like working out USA TODAY

Editor's note: Part 12of USA TODAY'sWorking Out From Home(#WOFH) seriesfocuses on staying motivated while exercisingat home.Sign up forGood Sports, our weekly newsletterthat will bring you more home workout tips and the stories of goodthroughout the world of sports:

In a new environment where gyms are closed, outdoor activities are canceled and social distancing is the new normal, it isnt easy to stay in good physical shape.

Working out at home is possible, but many people find it difficult to stay motivated when there is no specific end date in sight. Thats one area where a fitness app can help.

With over a million active users each month, the FitOn app is one of the more popular ones offering a wide variety of workouts for all skill levels. For free. With no need for additional equipment.

Bree Koegel is one of the many trainers who are leading classes on the app. An aspiring dancer from as far back as she can remember, she achieved a lifelong dream of making it to Broadway. But while touring with a Broadway show, she badly injured her hip and needed surgery to repair a torn labrum.

My recovery wasnt great, she tells USA TODAY Sports, and I lost a lot of range of motion permanently.

What she didnt lose was her desire to perform, even though the injury sapped much of her strength and confidence. Thats when she turned to fitness training full-time, eventually joining up with FitOn for its 2019 launch.

STAY ACTIVE: More tips & ideas to exercise while social distancing

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Bree Koegel works as a trainer for the FitOn app, which gives its users free personal workouts they can do at home.(Photo: FitOn)

Koegels upbeat personality instantly makes you want to join her for a workout on the app: Its everything I love about dance, performance, fitness, connection all wrapped up into one.

She says the app helps keep users engaged in a variety of ways, especially those who want to stay active, but dont quite know where to start.

If youre in the beginning parts of your workout journey, its actually a good thing to be stuck at home figuring it out, she says. Theres no outside pressure, no judgment. Its just what feels good, what doesnt feel good and why.

Finding the time to work out at home can be difficult, but Koegel suggests that everything doesnt have to be done all at once.

Theres a pressure of time often where we feel like if we dont work out for a whole hour it doesnt count. That couldnt be further from the truth, she says. You can break that up during the day. Ten minutes here, 15 minutes there. Thats just as effective too.

The FitOn app can be downloaded on a personal computer or from various mobile formats' app stores.(Photo: FitOn app)

The app has workouts some of them as short as five minutes that target different body parts, offer varying levels of intensity and even some that feature celebrity trainers such as Gabrielle Union (Bring it On) and Jonathan Van Ness (Queer Eye).

In the wake of many states enacting shutdown orders due to the coronavirus outbreak, FitOn says it has seen a 260% increase in workouts and over 200% growth in new users signing up for the app, which can be downloaded for free on a personal computer, from the App Store or on Google Play.(In addition, there'sa premium version, FitOn PRO, with customized meal plans, recipes and music options currently available for $19.99/year.)

The app also has a scheduling feature where friends can sign up for a class together. In Koegels case, its helped fill an unexpected role. Her husband has been in quarantine due to the outbreak, leaving her alone in her New York apartment at a time when shes seven months pregnant.

She says shell often Face Time her husband when its time to exercise. We get to bond in a way where quarantine was holding us back, she says.

For Koegel, the best part is the apps simplicity which can help turn working out at home from a negative into a positive.

What Ive found is by knowing all I have to do is just press play, I dont have to put on a great outfit, I dont have to do anything because Im in my home.

Follow Gardner on Twitter @SteveAGardner

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ASOs announcement that the postponed 2020 Tour de France has been rescheduled for August 29-September 20 was a carefully choreographed affair. France Tlvisions, domestic broadcasting partner for ASO events, led with the news on its Journal des 13 heures bulletin, where an interview with Tour director Christian Prudhomme was followed immediately by reaction from the man who wore the maillot jaune for fourteen days, won two stages and placed 5th overall on last years Tour, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep).

Its super news. I heard yesterday evening that the Tour de France would still go ahead and it was a great joy because I had started to lose hope a little bit in the current climate, Alaphilippe told France Tlvisions via Skype from his residence in Andorra.

Its a boost to the motivation now that we have a date, and I think thats also going to bring a lot of joy to the French people. It will mean that the health situation will have evolved a lot by then I hope so, in any case and thats a great thing.

France has reported more than 15,000 COVID-19 deaths and is currently in a state of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this week, President Emmanuel Macron extended the current period of confinement until May 11 and announced that all public gatherings were suspended until at least the middle of July.

On Tuesday, ASO acknowledged that the Tour could no longer take place on its originally scheduled dates of June 27-July 19 before formally announcing its intention to hold the race in Autumn for the first time in its history.

The latest ever Tour Grand Dparts were in 1908 and 1998, when the race began on July 13. The latest finish was in 1908, when Lucien Petit-Breton claimed his second victory in Paris on August 9.

Traditionally a summer festival centred around the French holiday season, which begins in earnest ahead of the Bastille Day celebrations on July 14, the 2020 Tour if it does indeed take place will be more autumnal in feel and will certainly have fewer fans on the roadside, even before social distancing measures are taken into consideration.

The rescheduled 2020 Tour would start in Nice on August 29 and finish on the Champs-lyses on September 20.

Its just part of the consequences of the long confinement that were experiencing right now, but it would simply be a good thing that the Tour de France was taking place, Alaphilippe said.

The children will be back at school so there might be fewer spectators on the road and on television but there will be a lot of joy all the same. The Tour de France is part of France and it will be a big party because everybody will be happy that the Tour de France is taking place.

Alaphilippe last raced at Paris-Nice in March, when he placed 16th overall in the final WorldTour event to take place before the coronavirus pandemic saw the cycling season suspended.

The UCI announced on Wednesday that all competition is now suspended until at least July 1, but Alaphilippe expressed hope that he might return to action before the end of the year.

The Frenchman is resident in Andorra, which has imposed lockdown restrictions similar to those in place in France, meaning that he is unable to train outdoors and has instead been compelled to ride on his home trainer.

Im respecting the lockdown, which means Im training indoors and thats starting to get a bit long, Alaphilippe said. Im looking forward to getting back to riding outside and starting normal life again.

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Julian Alaphilippe: It's a big motivation to have a date for the Tour de France - Cyclingnews.com

For thousands of people across the world, keeping busy and mentally stimulated has been a crucial aspect of the daily battle against coronavirus (COVID-19).

As a professional footballer, Julia Simic is used to a physically and mentally challenging day-to-day routine. With the global situation forcing her as well as every West Ham United player to train at home, the German has found an outlet to keep herself driven.

It comes with the added bonus of helping people in her home of Nrnberg, Germany.

I want to work, and I want to help people. I am going to work for five or six hours a day and Im really looking forward to it

Julia Simic

From next Monday, Im going to start working in an organic vegetable shop near me, the No10 revealed to whufc.com. Ive done it to give myself a bit of routine during the day and give each day a purpose.

I wanted to help people get through as well. I sent out a few CVs to different companies that needed workers during these tough times. Some are missing employees because they are at a higher risk from the coronavirus, or have family members that are higher risk, so there are gaps and people need help.

For me personally, the biggest struggle is not being busy. Im waking up, doing my training programme, but then thats it. This is my only motivation to get up at the moment, so Im looking forward to getting back to a normal, day-to-day routine, and I think working and assisting people is going to give me that.

I want to work, and I want to help people. I am going to work for five or six hours a day and Im really looking forward to it.

Simics desire to help those in her local community is matched only by her drive to remain match-fit and ready for when the Barclays FA Womens Super League campaign returns.

The playmaker says each West Ham player is helping to keep each other motivated while they work and train at home, with the group conversing daily in a WhatsApp chat group.

Simic continued: West Ham has been really kind. I dont have anything in terms of machines or weights that I can work with in Germany, so the Club helped me get some stuff to do my home training.

I have my programme that I do out in the garden every day, and my Dad does it with me too!

It can be a little difficult to do it on your own day-to-day, but we have a big group chat where, every day, everyone is posting their pictures from their runs or work-outs. That can give you that little bit of extra motivation to get out, get it done, and be ready for when we get back to training.

Having endured a difficult and, at times, seemingly unending 12 months on the sidelines due to injury, Simic returned to action at the end of 2019 for the Irons.

The midfielder had subsequentlyfeatured in seven matches in all competitions for Matt Beards side, beforethe suspension of all professional football leagues at the end of March.

I was having a really good period, personally, Simic continued. I had just got back to playing and I was starting games, so it was tough in that regard.

But everyone just wants to get back to training and then, when we can, get back to playing. Here in Germany, some teams are starting to get back to training in little groups and theyre really optimistic about finishing the season. Obviously, were not quite there yet in England. We just need to keep ourselves fit and ready to go.

First though, Simic knows the importance of continuing to follow the government-imposed guidelines. Only through continuing to practice social distancing, and self-isolation, can things return to normal sooner rather than later.

She added. Its so important to follow these rules. I go out to get my daily exercise, and walk Coco, but sometimes youll see people breaking those rules. But there are people suffering because of coronavirus, in so many ways.

People are losing their lives and family members. Everyone just needs to remember to be sensible and stay in. Hopefully, by doing it for this short time, everyone can return to their normal lives sooner rather than later. Its about awareness and taking care of everyone, not just ourselves.

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Julia Simic: Part-time work, motivation and keeping fit - West Ham United F.C.

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With four months of speaking engagements lined up in Las Vegas, Phoenix, New York and various spots in California, Daniel Rudy Ruettiger and his representatives had no choice but to cancel them as the coronavirus pandemic reached the United States.

Adversity strikes again. Few are more prepared when life throws him a curveball than the unstoppable force that is Ruettiger. In baseball vernacular, when you have two strikes against you, just choke up and punch it to the opposite field.

My speaking business is no more, at least for now, which is fine, said Ruettiger, 71, who turned his Notre Dame football walk-on story into the wildly successful movie Rudy by TriStar Pictures back in 1993.

It gives me time to reevaluate everything Im doing on the new road I must take. Its like preventive medicine. You knew the good was here for now, but what are you going to do when the bad gets here? Are you going to sit around and feel sorry for yourself? No, you create other opportunities for yourself.

Ruettigers podcast Rise Above With Rudy on Spotify continues the universal message of perseverance, belief and the relentless pursuit of the previously unthinkable, unattainable goal. Hes joined each week by Joe Garner, a six-time New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, including Echoes of Notre Dame Football.

Ive been through tough times and have experienced success, Ruettiger said. I told Joe, Lets talk to the people I know and Ive been around. Lets talk to regular people going through tough times and how theyre getting through it.

Ruettigers message continues to resonate, perhaps even more so in these uncertain times throughout the world. Its a message that has reached former Irish football players such as Kyle Rudolph, Rick Mirer and Jaylon Smith, among many others, as well as baseball greats Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera and former New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi.

Even the late great Kobe Bryant found himself a bit star struck nine years ago when Ruettiger was in the Staples Center before a L.A. Lakers-Sacramento Kings game where Ruettigers daughter Jessica Noel Ruettiger, an aspiring singer/actress was about to offer her rendition of the national anthem.

My daughter, who Im proud to say graduated from the Berkeley School of Music and the Boston Conservatory of Arts in two weeks, was preparing to sing three or four hours before the game, and Kobe comes out and starts shooting around, Ruettiger said. I watched him for about an hour. I thought to myself, How long is he going to shoot? I asked a guy, Does he do this before every game? And he said hes out here two hours before every game.

So I said Id like to meet him and shake his hand, maybe get a picture with him and an autograph. The guy said, You dont disturb Kobe when hes getting ready for the game. And I said, I totally get that.

Then Bryant looked in Ruettigers direction.

He says, Rudy? Are you Rudy Ruettiger? Ruettiger recalled. I said, Yeah. He said, Are you the real Rudy? And I said, Yeah. And he got really emotional. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. He was serious.

He says to my son (Daniel), Your dad is my hero. When I was 16-years-old, my father showed me your dads movie when I was in Italy. The only reason Im out here is because of your dad. It reminds me of my talent and that I cant take it for granted.

Such is the universal and long-lasting appeal of Ruettiger, who spoke to a gathering of businessmen at the World Trade Center two months before a terrorist attack brought both skyscrapers down. Bryants message to Ruettiger resonated back on him and his experience of getting accepted to Notre Dame, playing in the 1975 Georgia Tech game, and sacking Yellow Jackets quarterback Rudy Allen.

It was the philosophy of the movie he picked up on, said Ruettiger of Bryant. He said, I have a tremendous amount of talent, but I also had my pity parties. I said, We all have done that, havent we? He said, Yeah, but what that movie taught me was that if you work hard and I work to get better every day, where will I be 20 years from now?

I said, Thats how I looked at Notre Dame football. I wasnt any good, but if I worked hard, what if I got a chance to play? Would I be ready? Same philosophy.

He said, I swear I watched that movie a hundred times. Weve all made our mistakes, but we learn not to live in our mistakes. Thats the other lesson you taught me, Rudy.

Speaking of indomitable spirits, Ruettiger once found himself at the same event as Major League Baseballs all-time hit leader Pete Rose. Rose wasnt quite as impressed with Ruettigers story as the masses who have gravitated to it.

Pete Rose kept saying, 4,292 hits. 4,292 hits, 4,292 hits, Ruettiger recalled. He kept repeating it. And then he says, One tackle! Way to go, Rudy!

Ruettiger hopes his message via the Rise Above With Rudy podcast will be beneficial during these trying times. The message in good times or bad carries the same weight.

There are way better stories than mine, Ruettiger said. I get that. But anyone who has been through tough times and has remained positive and believed and persevered can relate to it. The message is universal and we want to share that message through our podcast.

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Rudys The Name, Motivation Still His Game - 247Sports