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Alex Honnold Scales El Capitan Without Ropes, And The Climbing World Reels

A post shared by National Geographic (@natgeo) on Jun 3, 2017 at 12:18pm PDT

Alex Honnold has shocked the sport of climbing by reaching the peak of El Capitan without using ropes, climbing one of the world’s largest monoliths in less than four hours with little gear other than a bag of chalk.

“So stoked to realize a life dream today,” Honnold wrote on Facebook on Saturday. He shared a photo of himself on the Yosemite National Park landmark taken by Jimmy Chin of National Geographic, which is basing a new documentary on Saturday’s climb.

“Speechless,” wrote the American Alpine Journal in its response to the news that Honnold had tackled the imposing 3,000-foot granite wall in a “free-solo,” ascent, climbing alone and without safety gear.

Honnold raced up the wall in 3 hours and 56 minutes, prompting Alpinist magazine to say, “This is indisputably the greatest free solo of all time. Congratulations, Alex!”

“This man,” Honnold’s friend and fellow climbing star Conrad Anker wrote on Facebook. “Respect. Life goal realized.”

After his climb, Honnold told National Geographic that the first challenge was simply to walk up to the California monolith, sit next to the base and put his climbing shoes on.

“Because you look up and go, ‘that’s a f****** big wall,’ ” he said. “It’s like, pretty crazy.”

Alex Honnold smiles after scaling El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, in a photo provided by National Geographic. Honnold became the first person to climb alone to the top of the massive granite wall without ropes or safety gear.

Jimmy Chin/National Geographic via AP

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Jimmy Chin/National Geographic via AP

A lighter moment came later, Honnold said, when he passed some climbers who had spent the night on a ledge. He did his best not to wake them.

“I woke up one guy and he sort of said, ‘Oh, hey.’ Then when I went by, I think he discreetly woke up his buddies because when I looked down they were all three standing there like ‘What the f***?’ “

By conquering El Capitan, Honnold fulfilled a goal he had worked toward for years. He first wrote about the potential record-setting climb in his journal in 2009 — but he repeatedly found reasons to set it aside, as he said last year on the Basecamp podcast with Gripped editor Brandon Pullan.

“Obviously, that’s like, the thing to do,” Honnold said when discussing El Capitan with Pullan in 2016, adding, “it’s always seemed really scary.”

Honnold, 31, has become famous for eye-popping ascents that rely on his unique blend of athleticism and mental focus, ascending Yosemite’s Half Dome and Zion National Park’s Moonlight Buttress. But Gripped says of Honnold’s El Capitan free-solo climb, “this is by far the most groundbreaking.”

While Honnold said in the podcast that he found the idea of free-soloing the monolith “out of the question,” he also told Pullan that he’d been studying it for years and “El Cap is definitely doable.”

“I mean, there are two routes that you could potentially do, like Freeride or Golden Gate — they’re the two easiest free routes,” Honnold said, in a statement that only makes sense coming from someone who’s often called one of the greatest rock climbers the world has ever seen.

The challenges on El Capitan, he said, start early, no matter which route you take.

“They all start with Freeblast, which is like a 10-pitch slab,” Honnold said, adding that large sections of the granite slab are “basically like walking on a sheet of glass.”

The crux of one pitch, he said, is “like this no-hands, foot traverse thing, where you’re just like, shuffling across a blank wall.”

Honnold added, “That’s before the [main] wall even starts, that’s just like getting up there.”

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There May Not Be Flying, But Quidditch Still Creates Magic

The Washington Admirals quidditch team practices at Thomas Jefferson Community and Fitness Center in Arlington, Va. The real-life sport was inspired by the magical one described in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, in which players fly about on broomsticks.

Jared Soares for NPR

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Jared Soares for NPR

When Colby Palmer started his freshman year at Virginia Commonwealth University, some students approached him in his dorm and asked whether he wanted to play quidditch.

Palmer had read all of the Harry Potter books and knew about the sport but said he felt reluctant to try it out.

“My impressions of quidditch was just that it’s for nerds by nerds — that they wouldn’t be like people who I would find things in common with,” Palmer says.

Despite his hesitations, Palmer did give it a try and found he loved it and the community. Now, he’s heading into his senior year at VCU and is spending the summer playing for the Washington Admirals, one of 16 Major League Quidditch teams. The season starts this weekend.

Colby Palmer (right) started playing quidditch in college. “My impressions of quidditch was just that it’s for nerds by nerds — that they wouldn’t be like people who I would find things in common with,” Palmer says. Now he’s heading into his senior year at Virginia Commonwealth University and is spending the summer playing for the Washington Admirals.

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Jared Soares for NPR

Maybe you’ve never heard of quidditch. And you might have missed the images of actor Daniel Radcliffe as the boy wizard Harry Potter plunging toward the ground on a flying broomstick in the screen adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s series. If that is the case, you have a lot to learn. But then again, so does everyone who comes to the sport.

“There’s such a dichotomy within the community because there are people who got into it because of Harry Potter and became athletic through friendship and playing, and then there are people like me who are looking for something to really stay in shape,” Palmer says.

Quidditch 101

Unlike the majority of large spectator sports, quidditch is more complex — partly because it is rooted in magic. Teams may have only seven players on the field, or pitch, at a time: three chasers, two beaters, one keeper and one seeker. All of the players wear headbands, and each color designates their position. Chasers wear white, beaters wear black, keepers wear green, and seekers wear yellow.

There are three hoops mounted on each side of the pitch, and each player has a broom or stick. And, unlike basketball, baseball and football, in quidditch, up to five balls can be moving around the pitch at all times.

First, there is the quaffle. In the real-life version of the game, it’s a volleyball handled by the chasers and is the only ball that results in a score when it goes through the hoops. Each goal is 10 points.

A chaser handles a quaffle during practice. In the real-life version of the game, it’s a volleyball and is the only ball that results in a score when it goes through the hoops. Each goal is 10 points.

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Jared Soares for NPR

Then there are the bludgers. Those familiar with Harry Potter might remember that these balls have a mind of their own and are sent speeding toward other players to knock them off brooms. In real life, these balls don’t fly, but they can still knock players off their brooms. There are three bludgers on the field at a time. The bludgers are dodgeballs and are used by the beaters like they would a regular dodgeball. If players are hit by a bludger, they dismount from their brooms and run back to their hoops and tag up. On both defense and offense, the bludgers are used to clear paths for a team’s chasers as players run toward the opposing team’s hoops and help the keepers — or goalies — protect their own hoops. Bludgers also used to keep the opposing team’s seeker away from the snitch, the last of the balls.

Quidditch’s requisite sticks lie on a field, or pitch, next to a bludger, or a dodgeball in the real-life game. One of the scoring hoops — there are three — are set up on the pitch.

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Like in the fictional sport quidditch is based on, the snitch is vastly smaller than the other balls — about the size of a tennis ball — and it’s worth 30 points if caught. But the snitch is also a position in the game, though this person is not a member of either team on the field, to keep things fair. The ball is secured in a cloth strip, which is Velcroed to the back of the person’s shorts, similar to flag football. The person who is the snitch can do just about anything, including running, dodging and grappling, to make sure the seekers — whose sole focus is to catch the snitch — don’t get the ball. Once a seeker catches the snitch, the match is over.

The snitch is not just a ball, it’s also a position in the game. Ricky Nelson — the snitch in this match — prevents someone from grabbing the ball, which is attached to his uniform.

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With all of that going on at once on the field, it can seem a little chaotic to first-time viewers, but that complex strategy is what a lot of players enjoy about the game.

“If you don’t have the snitch, you have the quaffle and three bludgers active at all time on the field. It creates such a more dynamic sport, and it can kind of play out in crazy ways,” says Ethan Sturm, a co-commissioner of Major League Quidditch. “There’s so many things you can do strategically because there’s so much more variety … you have to worry about a bludger taking you out of the play and allowing the quaffle to be easily scored.”

The gender rule

Additionally, quidditch has proven itself to be one of the most progressive sports in terms of gender equality. The game isn’t divided based on sex, and anyone, regardless of their gender identity, is welcome to play.

The rule was established in US Quidditch, which serves as the governing body for the sport and has a league and season that takes place during the school year.

“It’s not strictly the gender binary by either male or female, so it creates a really unique way for people to identify outside of that binary to have a way that they can play sports and be accepted for who they are and really be able to have an atmosphere and a community that fully accepts them and be themselves,” says Sarah Woolsey, executive director of US Quidditch.

The Washington Admirals quidditch team prepares for the Major League Quidditch season, which begins this weekend.

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The main rule regarding gender on the field only allows a maximum of four members of a team who identify the same way to be playing at a time. This is something that many players, such as Augie Monroe of the Texas Cavalry team, like about the sport. Monroe played football in high school but says the locker room culture turned him off. That is not a problem with quidditch, he says.

“I wasn’t all that big on the [football] culture, and I love co-ed teams because there’s a balance of opinions and perspectives just in communicating with people on your team,” Monroe says. “I think it’s a more fun group to be a part of.”

And Monroe has been a part of the quidditch community for a while. He started his career in 2011 at the University of Texas, where he played with theLonghorns as they won three straight national titles from 2013 to 2015. After graduating, he knew he wasn’t done playing and founded the Texas Cavalry team, which plays in the US Quidditch league and won the championship cup in April.

Quidditch isn’t divided by sex, and anyone, regardless of their gender identity, is welcome to play. The main rule regarding gender allows a maximum of four people from each team who identify the same way to play at a time.

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Although he has been on four championship teams, Monroe was far from the best player on the pitch when he started out. It was the people that made him come back. Once he found his place on the pitch, Monroe just had to work on the skills.

“The thing that proved the most difficult was running around with a broom and getting used to that,” Monroe says. “I kept like tripping over myself and didn’t have a clue what was going on with the team, but then again at the same time, it wasn’t the most competitive at that point.”

Quidditch through the ages

The level of competition has quickly changed despite the sport’s young age.

The first quidditch match took place at Middlebury College in Vermont in 2005. Initially, the sport spread slowly, with the concentration of teams located in the Northeast.

As time went on, teams from the across the country started to compete in the annual championship tournament, but they weren’t limited to colleges and universities. Community teams started to form and are also part of the US Quidditch league.

The Washington Admirals roster for this season includes Cody Nardone (clockwise from top left), Julia Rankin, Paige Bellamy and Patrick Rardin, who also serves as head coach.

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By 2012, more than 110 teams had registered with US Quidditch, and along with that growth came rule changes. One of the major shifts involved the snitch. Back in 2005, the snitch wasn’t limited to just running around the pitch and could often run off to completely different areas of a campus where a match was taking place. While that was great for keeping with the spirit of how the snitch is in the magical world, it turned out to not be the best implementation for consistent play.

“Some of those changes are a lot bigger than others, and you know we’re just always kind of looking at what we can do to make this sport as safe as possible and as effective as possible for quality competition and fair opportunity for all players,” Woolsey says.

And significant changes are on the horizon. One of the biggest issues facing US Quidditch right now is the debate surrounding the mixture of collegiate and community teams. Community teams are largely made up of previous collegiate players who, after graduating, didn’t want to stop playing. These players often have more experience than those on college teams who just joined the sport, and when community teams form, they are usually made up of many strong players, so issues of fairness arise.

Quidditch matches can get rough, which is why when US Quidditch adapted rules for high school and middle school teams, it banned tackling.

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“I think it’s a whole lot easier to get people involved and excited about quidditch when school teams are competing against other school teams and having that as something that’s kind of reassuring and something that is familiar and makes sense to people in the general public who are college sports fans,” says Jack McGovern, media outreach coordinator for Major League Quidditch.

US Quidditch is working on changing how the collegiate and community teams compete against one another, but as that is taking place, a new league has emerged.

Playing in the majors

Major League Quidditch started when co-commissioner Sturm saw the potential for the sport to draw more fans and become more established. Sturm played quidditch throughout his undergraduate and graduate years at Tufts University and watched as his teammates graduated and got involved with community teams.

“While I could tell, and people who knew the sport well could see how far it was coming, it was just in the format which was a really helter skelter regular season and then a giant tournament at the end,” Sturm says. “It was just really hard to kind of reach out using that format to a wider audience to get them to perceive it as a sport.”

Unlike US Quidditch, MLQ’s season is much shorter and takes place over the summer. The 16 teams are divided into four regions, with four teams in each region. Like any other major league, the teams travel and compete against one another in series and then all the teams converge for a championship at the end of the summer.

“I knew that if we wanted quidditch to succeed and kind of pop into the public eye, we needed to do it in a more consumable form,” he says.

Before the season started, each team held tryouts for collegiate and noncollegiate players. Once the rosters were formed, each team had 30 players. The players and teams are self-funded but hold fundraisers to pay for their equipment and travel.

The Washington Admirals is one of 16 teams divided into four regions that compete in Major League Quidditch. The season runs over the summer.

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Jared Soares for NPR

Sturm says that in addition to being consumable, the sport also has to be sustainable, which prompted MLQ to create practice teams in each of the 16 cities for players who may not have made the roster but are still working on developing their skills.

In addition to players having room for improvement, Sturm says the sport does as well.

“I think we’ve still barely scratched the surface on what can be done in the sport. I think it’s easy to be lazy and do what’s been working,” he says. “We definitely want to get into more people’s eyes and have a larger following.”

The next generation

Growth of the sport is something many in the sport want to make happen.

“We’re kind of getting to a point where some of the older players are starting to retire,” Sturm says. “Is there going to be a kind of a second generation of great players or is it kind of dissipated out because of this stagnation at the top?”

The way the structure is now, and because quidditch was founded on a college campus, the majority of the players and teams are at a college level. And while there are community teams, many of the players are graduates of college teams.

There are some high school teams, but there is not a solid structure for them. That doesn’t mean there isn’t interest though. US Quidditch has adapted rules for high school and middle school teams. One big difference is that tackling is not allowed, because quidditch can get rough and sometimes players get concussions and broken bones.

Rardin sports a Deathly Hollows tattoo, a reference to the Harry Potter books. Many quidditch players are fans of the books.

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Sturm admits that a lot of people who play or who come to the sport eagerly are fans of the Harry Potter series and says that is something that will always be a factor. But he says that people who aren’t fans learn to love the game, but the key to getting recruits isn’t asking them whether they want to play.

“You can’t talk to them about quidditch — you’ll never change their mind on it and you’re not going to get past any preconceived notions they have,” Sturm says. “You really need to show them … because if people watching quidditch can see the technicalities and see the athleticism, it 9 times out of 10 gets rid of all those preconceived notions, and then you have somebody who can potentially get into the sport.”

Though he was at first hesitant to join the game, this is Colby Palmer’s second season with the Washington Admirals. Once he joined the game, he found it was more than a way to stay in shape.

“The people on this pitch right here are some of my lifelong friends,” Palmer says. “These are the people that I’ll be friends with for the rest of my life and that’s something that other sports really don’t afford you in the same way that quidditch does. It gives you a sense of community as well as a sense of competition, and to me, nothing binds people more than being on a team and working towards a goal. And it just so happens they’re some of the coolest people on the planet.”

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Golden State Buries Cleveland In Game 1 Of NBA Finals, 113-91

Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) dunks against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half of Game 1 of basketball’s NBA Finals in Oakland, Calif.

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There’s good news and bad news for the Cleveland Cavaliers following their 113-91 loss last night to the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Their bad news first.

They lost.

Their good news? The reasons they lost were pretty clear. Meaning they don’t have to dig too deeply to understand what they have to correct for Game 2. Or try to correct.

Cleveland turned the ball over 20 times. Compared to four for the Warriors.

“Twenty turnovers in the Finals definitely is not going to get it done,” said Cleveland point guard Kyrie Irving.

Perhaps the Cavs should listen to Golden State point guard Steph Curry explain his team’s lowturnover rate.

“Keepin’ it simple man,” Curry said. “Making the pass that’s in front of you. Turnovers happen when you get away from the simple play. [When you] try to do too much or rush.”

Cleveland gave up 56 points in the paint. Meaning the Warriors scored half their points near the basket, where, in theory, it’s easier to score. Cleveland has to defend near the basket better.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) drives against Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) during the first half of Game 1 of basketball’s NBA Finals in Oakland, Calif.

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Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

Part of the problem is Cleveland also has to defend against Golden State’s superlative long-range, three-point shooters as well. That draws defenders away from the basket.

No one said it’s easy to guard Golden State.

And then this – Cleveland had nine fast-break points. Golden State had 27.

Cavaliers knew what was coming

Go back and look at any Finals preview, and you’ll hear the Cavs talk about the need to limit Golden State’s ability to run with the basketball. That’s where the Warriors are deadliest, on the run, and in Game 1 Cleveland couldn’t slow down the express.

The Cavs gave the Warriors running opportunities by turning the ball over and by missing a lot of shots, which can ignite a fast break the other way.

So Cleveland’s Game 2 mission is clear – on offense, don’t turn the ball over and make shots. On defense, stop the Warriors from scoring close in and don’t forget to defend them closely at the three-point line and stop them from running.

Oh and while they’re at it, maybe figure out what to do about Kevin Durant.

Asked after the game if there was one thing that stood out for the Warriors — their speed or anything else — Cavs star Lebron James answered with two letters.

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue gestures during the first half of Game 1 of basketball’s NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cavaliers in Oakland, Calif.

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Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

“K.D.”

Durant, one of the NBA’s most versatile scoring machines, had quite the coming-out party in his first Finals game with his new team (he signed with them last July). He scored 38 points, 23 in the first half, and a number of those points came on wide-open, unguarded slam dunks.

How many times did we look up and see Durant’s 6′ 11″ body looking more like 20 feet as he flew to the hoop for a thunderous finish?

When asked why Durant was so open so often in the first half, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue implied there were mistakes on defense.

“When Kevin Durant has the ball you don’t want to leave him for [other] shooters. You can’t give a great scorer like Durant easy baskets.”

Sang-froid from the defending champions

So in the action/reaction world of playoff series basketball, it’s Cleveland’s turn to react. But know this – there’s not even a hint of panic with the Cavaliers.

First, it’s a best four-out-of-seven game series. And the Cavaliers have a special bit of history on their side. Last year, they became the first team ever to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals. Against these Warriors.

Well OK, not exactlythese Warriors. Last year Golden State didn’t have Kevin Durant. But still, the 3-1 comeback is the Cavs’ ultimate comfort card.

And it works both ways.

Golden State knows never to get complacent. Steph Curry gave a nod to that last night.

“The goal is to lock in,” he said, “every 48 minutes. It should be very easy for us to do, all things considered.”

It’s the Warriors’ biggest challenge. Not to marvel at themselves the way the outside world does. After the game, the Cavs’ Lue was asked to weigh-in on how good the Warriors are right now.

“They’re the best I’ve ever seen,” he said.

There were titters at the press conference. Was he joking?

He was asked to elaborate.

“No other team has done this, right?” He was referring to Golden State’s 13-0 record in these playoffs.

“They constantly break records – last year being 73-9 [a regular season record]; this year starting the playoffs 13-0. So, they’re playing good basketball. But we can play better.”

Yes, Cleveland can. And believe it or not, Golden State can, too. Or so Kevin Durant and Steph Curry said after last night’s game.

Anything to stay locked in. Said Durant, “That’s all this is about.”

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Live Tweets: Cavs-Warriors Are Back For NBA Game One

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry shoots against Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James during last year’s NBA finals. The two meet up again this year.

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The wait for the finals is finally over. Well, at least for game one. Follow along with with NPR reporters and fans before and during tonight’s game here or on Twitter:

  • Tom Goldman, Sports Reporter at NPR
  • Mike Urycki, Reporter at Ideastream/WCPN Cleveland
  • Laura Roman, Social Media Editor at NPR, LeBron James/Cavs Fan
  • Christianna Silva, Digital Intern at NPR, Warriors Fan

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A Preview Of The NBA Finals

David Greene talks with Bay Area sports reporter Marcus Thompson, who previews the NBA Finals. It’s a historic third consecutive meeting of the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The NBA Finals start tomorrow, the Golden State Warriors against the Cleveland Cavaliers – for a third consecutive year, the same two teams. Not to embarrass our friend David Greene, but when he spoke with Bay Area sports reporter Marcus Thompson the other day, Marcus correctly predicted the Warriors-Cavaliers rematch, and then he asked David his prediction.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

DAVID GREENE, BYLINE: I’m going to go with the Warriors. But I’m going to say this – it’s not going to be against the Cavs.

INSKEEP: OK, 50 percent right, 50 percent. We called Marcus back to preview the NBA Finals matchup and hear David fall on his sword.

GREENE: Marcus Thompson, I got that wrong. You were right.

MARCUS THOMPSON: Wow, I forgot you said that.

GREENE: Is this getting a little boring, having the same teams in the finals for the third year in a row?

THOMPSON: The lead-up was boring. Like, getting to this moment that we all knew would happened – well, all of us except for you…

GREENE: Right.

THOMPSON: …Was boring.

GREENE: Thank you.

THOMPSON: But now that we’re here, it’s great. Like, it’s the rivalries and the back and forth. And – this is what I grew up on. Whether it was Lakers-Celtics or Bulls-Pistons, that’s what I remember. So I’m glad that I get to see this in my adulthood.

GREENE: Is it getting to that point, like, where you can – it’s almost like you have two dynasties that we’re looking at?

THOMPSON: I mean, without question. One of the things that I think can get lost is that we are watching one of the greatest players of all time, maybe even three of them. Like, if you’re watching LeBron James, you are watching a living legend. And Kevin Durant and Steph Curry are also Hall of Fame players. Throw in Draymond Green, maybe Kyrie Irving – I mean, this is the epitome of star-studded basketball. And here’s the crazy part – it might be like this for another two or three years.

GREENE: Which would not be bad for basketball fans, as you’ve said. But – so what would this mean – this championship, this year – for LeBron’s legacy and his place in history and his place in conversations with, you know, names like Michael Jordan?

THOMPSON: I think that’s all that’s left for LeBron is he’s chasing the ghost of Michael Jordan. I think if he beats these Warriors – this loaded Warriors team now, it’s like – OK, Jordan’s never done that before. He’s never taken down a team with two MVPs and four All-Stars and been a major underdog and somehow willed his way to victory. So I think this legitimizes LeBron’s legacy as probably the best of all time if he can pull this off.

GREENE: All right. Marcus Thompson covers sports for the Bay Area News Group, and he’s the author of Golden: The Miraculous Rise Of Steph Curry.

I’ll talk to you on the other side of the finals. Thanks, Marcus.

THOMPSON: Hey – keep the predictions coming, though. We all miss them here and there. You’ll be all right. You just keep doing it.

GREENE: I appreciate that. Got to take risks if you’re in this business, right?

THOMPSON: That’s correct.

INSKEEP: (Laughter).

GREENE: Thanks a lot.

INSKEEP: The whole point is just to forget the prediction after you make it. That’s David Greene.

Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

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The 'Best Of' Frank Deford, According To Frank Deford

Frank Deford in 1991, holding a dummy copy of the final edition of The National Sports Daily, which he edited and published. It’s hard to distill 37 years of Deford’s sports commentaries down to a few “best of” pieces. But, before he retired, he shared some of his favorites with us.

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Renowned sports writer and commentator Frank Deford, 78, died on Sunday, just a few weeks after his last piece aired on Morning Edition. He had recorded 1,656 commentaries for NPR over nearly 40 years.

Deford left everything on the field when choosing topics for his commentaries. One of his early 1980 pieces argued that losing teams didn’t deserve support, and later that year he opined that the Heisman Trophy was “the second stupidest award given in sports.” In 1992, he told us “television coverage of football is abysmal. It stinks.” A few years later, he weighed in on then-rookie NBA player Jason Williams’ nickname, “White Chocolate.”

But Deford wasn’t always the sports curmudgeon, as Jon Wertheim, executive editor for SportsIllustrated, told Morning Edition.

“I think there was a real versatility to him,” said Wertheim, who knew Deford for more than 20 years. Many sports writers, Wertheim said, got into the business because of Deford.

“He could write with empathy, compassion, and sweetness. He could take stands — as NPR listeners know there were certainly, there were dimensions to sport that bothered him. There was a level of moral outrage,” Wertheim said. “And then he could come back the next week and write about something with real sweetness and tenderness. And he did the same thing in his prose. And he is just an absolute giant in the field.”

For Wertheim, what made Deford’s writing so good, was his reporting and analysis.

“And I think something that gets lost with Frank Deford — you hear what a brilliant writer he was, and all of that is true — but I think his writing in some ways was really shaped by his ability to report, and his ability to analyze. Analyze situations, analyze people, analyze games,” Wertheim said. “And too often we talk about brilliant writers and we lose sight of the fact that they were brilliant reporters as well. Which made the writing easy. And I think Frank is a classic example of that.”

It’s hard to distill 37 years of Deford’s Sweetness and Light commentaries down to a few “best of” pieces. But, before he retired, he shared some of his favorites with us and, here, we share them with you.

Plays, Monet, Faure and football?

Deford came to the defense of Gary Walters, the athletic director at Princeton University, who compared sports to art, in his Oct. 17, 2007, commentary:

What we accepted as great art — whether the book, the script, the painting, the symphony — is that which could be saved and savored. But the performances of the athletic artists who ran and jumped and wrestled were gone with the wind.

Now, however, that we can study the grace of the athlete on film, a double play can be viewed as pretty as any pas de deux. Or, please: Is not what we saw Michael Jordan do every bit as artistic as what we saw Mikhail Baryshnikov do?

Toss the ball to Shakespeare

There are plays on the field and court, and, well, plays. Deford put the ball in The Bard’s hands for his Jan. 30, 2008, commentary:

Methinks the crunch upon his presence is so great,
And the paparazzi do shine forth such a spangled glare
That the great golden orb above must be dimmed
And the sounds of Niagara itself seem noiseless
Before the din of questions that confront our great Brady.

Hey, you guys!

Deford observed that there was a new “linguistic phenomenon” in his Sept. 27, 2011, commentary — the “guy-ification of America”:

How did females become guys? How did everyone become guys? Remember, too, that a male guy was something of a scoundrel. And a wise guy was a fresh kid, a whippersnapper. In its most other famous evocation, men in Brooklyn said “youse guys.” Damon Runyon referred to hustlers, gamblers and other nefarious types as guys.

Now every mother’s son is a guy and every mother’s daughter, too. If they wrote the musical now, it wouldn’t be called Guys and Dolls –– just Guys and Guys.

Our indecent joy

Deford revisited the topic of concussions and football over and over again, and in his Jan. 16, 2013, commentary he reflected on Americans’ love of the game despite what he called, its “violent nature”:

Football teams represent cities and colleges and schools. The people have built great stadiums, and the game is culturally intertwined with our calendar. We don’t go back to college for the college. We go back for a football game, and, yes, we even call that “homecoming.” It would take some unimagined cataclysmic event to take football from us. Concussions for young men are the price of our love for football, as broken hearts are what we pay for young love.

Put down the ball, pick up a book

In his Sept. 4, 2013, commentary, Deford weighed in on the whistleblower who called attention to fake classes for athletes at UNC-Chapel Hill:

So much about big-time college sports is criticized. But the worst scandal is almost never mentioned: the academic fraud wherein the student-athletes, so-called, are admitted without even remotely adequate credentials and then aren’t educated so much as they are just kept eligible.

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Top-Seeded Woman Defeated In First Round Of French Open

The French Open just started and already the women’s No. 1 seed is out. NPR’s Robert Siegel talks with Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

The French Open tennis championship began yesterday in Paris. And this year, the most celebrated clay court tournament is missing some big names. Here to tell us more is Jon Wertheim, executive editor with Sports Illustrated. He joins us on the line from Paris. Hi, John.

JON WERTHEIM: Hi, Robert.

SIEGEL: There’s been some exciting play in the first round for the women. The number one seed, Angelique Kerber, is out. And there was a heartwarming victory for the Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova. Tell us about those two matches.

WETHEIM: Angelique Kerber was the top seed and shown the egress by about lunchtime on the first day. This is in keeping with women’s tennis these days which is wide open. That’s accelerated by some of the absences here, but the women’s field really wide open. But you’re right, the big heartwarming story, Patra Kvitova, who has won Wimbledon twice, a very accomplished player.

And she was stabbed in a home invasion in the Czech Republic in December, which was horrific. And she decided to try and come back here. She said she still can’t quite make a clenched fist, but she decided at the last minute to enter. And she played very well in her first round match and seems emotionally to sort of have made a nice comeback as well, so that’s been a heartwarming story here.

SIEGEL: On to one of the big absences – Serena Williams, winner of the Australian Open, is out due to pregnancy. How did her big sister Venus play?

WETHEIM: Venus, who was a few weeks away from turning 37 years old, is the 10th seed and really has to be considered a contender. Venus played quite well. And the fact that Serena is not here emotionally might be different, but I think that opens up the draw for Venus among so many other players.

SIEGEL: These are the headliners. Who are some lesser known women players who may have a shot this year?

WETHEIM: I liken the women’s draw to the, you know, the 2016 GOP slate of candidates. I mean, there are any of 15 names that you could choose from. And who knows how it will go? Simona Halep is a Romanian player who has never won a major, but people suspect it is her time.

American Madison Keys is a big heavy hitter. Clay is not her best surface, but she might be the most powerful ball striker this side of Serena. I’ve never seen an event like this where it’s just – you literally could pick 25 names and you might not get the winner. I mean, it is wide, wide open.

SIEGEL: Let’s turn to the men’s side now. Roger Federer won the first big tournament of the year, the Australian Open, but he’s skipping the French Open, saying scheduling will be the key to my longevity going forward. What is that supposed to mean?

WETHEIM: The clay is always going to be the toughest surface for him, especially as he gets on in years. And Wimbledon really represents his best chance to win another major. He won the Australian Open in January and has had this terrific year so far, but I think he really wants to peak in time for Wimbledon and the U.S. Open then later in the summer.

And I think the thinking was that clay is so demanding, and his body can be so temperamental at this age that sort of the risk-reward didn’t make sense. And so he is skipping this major entirely.

SIEGEL: Rafael Nadal, the so-called king of clay, advanced easily today, as did Novak Djokovic who’s the reigning French Open champion. Are they still the favorites this year?

WETHEIM: They are absolutely the favorites. Nadal is far and away the favorite to win here for the 10th time. Djokovic is the defending champion. He’s probably the second favorite, then a long, long staircase down to other contenders. As wide open as the women’s draw is, the men’s draw looks really to be a two-man race.

SIEGEL: Djokovic made news by hiring tennis legend Andre Agassi to be his coach for this year’s tournament. Any sense of Agassi’s impact or what he’ll offer as a coach?

WETHEIM: I think that’s a really an inspired move by Djokovic. Djokovic has been slumping lately. And Agassi, of course, is known for this career resuscitation right around the same age. He’s a smart guy. He’s a measured guy. He’s a very good communicator. I think it’s really an inspired move by Djokovic. I’m impressed that he was able to talk Agassi into it.

SIEGEL: Jon Wertheim, executive editor of Sports Illustrated at the French Open. Thanks so much.

WETHEIM: Anytime. Thanks, Robert.

(SOUNDBITE OF KHRUANGBIN’S “MASTER OF LIFE”)

Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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From NFL Player To Neurosurgeon: 'Why Can't I Do Both?'

Myron Rolle talks about his long journey from playing football at Florida State University and joining the NFL to going to Harvard medical school to start his residency in neurosurgery.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We will soon crown the latest NBA champion and in honor of that, we’ll continue our series of conversations Across the Generations with father and son ballers Rick and Canyon Barry. They’ll tell you why they tune out the haters and remain true to the underhand free throw. That’s coming up.

But first football and the brain. And when I said that I bet your mind went to all the recent stories about brain trauma and America’s most watched sport. But I’m actually talking about a former NFL player who is now training to become a neurosurgeon. Myron Rolle played at Florida State then after taking a brief detour to enjoy his Rhodes scholarship, he played for the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Last week, though, he graduated from Florida State University’s College of Medicine. And next month, he will head to Harvard Medical School to start his residency in neurosurgery. And Dr. Myron Rolle is with us now from Orlando, Fla. Dr. Rolle, welcome. Congratulations to you.

MYRON ROLLE: Thank you very much for having me.

MARTIN: Now, you know I have to ask you when you were growing up when you were a little boy what did you want to be?

ROLLE: I actually wanted to be a neurosurgeon, believe it or not. I – also a football player, but my brother Marchant gave me this book, “Gifted Hands” by Ben Carson and put him in front of my face as somebody who looked like me, came from a similar background as me.

And as I got older, I started to learn more about neurosurgery, the brain and how it functions. And it just piqued my interest even more. And I’m glad that I am starting this journey soon and going to join the likes of someone like Dr. Carson.

MARTIN: You know, it’s funny because a lot of kids if you ask them they say – well, what do you want to be when they grow up? They’ll say I want to be a baseball player and a veterinarian. You know? When people say that people, you know, generally laugh and pat them on the head and go, yeah, that’s cute. But did people do that to you? I mean, did you ever doubt that you could actually do both?

ROLLE: No. I honestly – I never had a doubt. And I cannot take the credit. I give that to my parents. You know, we came from the islands of the Bahamas, and I left there when I was very young, ended up moving to New Jersey. And in New Jersey, my parents were prophesied to my brothers and I and speak and hardwire into our minds that just because we come from a small country, just because we have dark skin, just because we don’t have a lot of money does not mean that we cannot accomplish our goals in this country that has an abundancy (ph) of resources.

We have to develop our firm foundation of education. We have to believe in ourselves. We have to be good citizens, good leaders, stay true to our Christian principles, and these things could happen for us. So they poured the confidence in me, and I walked out of my house in New Jersey every morning thinking, yeah, why not? Why can’t I do both? Why can’t I do all things? Once I had that firm belief, it gave me, you know, the initiative to kind of go and pursue those things with all veracity.

MARTIN: I want to go back to your days as an undergrad at Florida State where you faced a difficult decision. You know, first there was your interview for the Rhodes scholarship and that – for people who, you know, this is a highly competitive award. It’s very prestigious.

People may know that, you know, Bill Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar, Cory Booker was a Rhodes, Susan Rice. So first, the interview conflicted with a game that you were scheduled to play in, and then you knew that if you did win the award that it could interfere with your chance of being a first-round draft pick in the NFL. There had to have been people talking in your ear saying you’re crazy, you know.

ROLLE: Oh, yes.

MARTIN: You get your money, and I just wondered how did you decide what to do?

ROLLE: You’re right. It was an absolutely hard decision, very, very difficult. I had been playing football since I was 6. And I chose Florida State University because I wanted to get to the NFL. That school had a pedigree of putting players into the National Football League, and I had two cousins who played in the NFL. And my daddy started the Commonwealth American Football League back home in the Bahamas, so, you know, it was – all roads were leading towards playing professional football.

And then, as you said, I was projected as a first-round draft pick. But the Rhodes committee – I – I’ll be completely frank with you. I asked them if I could postpone my Oxford experience for a little bit and go to the NFL first, and then go back to Oxford. They said no. So that made it – OK, you either take the Rhodes scholarship now or you lose it forever. I prayed about the decision. I talked to my family, but I think what really helped me make that decision was talking to young people actually, young people who looked at my story and said that they drew inspiration from it.

And the fact that I was up for something so prestigious that was academic based, it kind of gave them, you know, the motivation to pursue knowledge and to, you know, try to go for their degrees and things like that. So the fact that I was placed in this position of being a role model for young people by choosing academics and that Oxford experience over the fast money and the early draft pick in the NFL, that was big for me. So I did it. I made the decision, and I don’t regret it today.

MARTIN: Do you see yourself as having some opportunity to be influential in the issues that are so present in the NFL right now and, frankly, in the minds of the public? Frankly, some people are wondering whether it’s still ethical to be a football fan, knowing what we know about the impact of the sport on players, particularly something as consequential as brain trauma. Do you see yourself having a role in this discussion?

ROLLE: Yes, I do actually. You know, I think that I can potentially have a very strong voice in this coming from the athletic side and now from the scientific side. But neurosurgeons are doing a lot of work in it already. There are some neurosurgeons out of Stanford that are looking at some type of concussions based on the predominant symptoms – is a cognitive decline? Is at equilibrium problems? Is it ocular motor issues? Is it anxiety or depression?

And once you can kind of categorize concussions based on those symptoms, then you could have a more targeted therapy, and then there’s neuroscientists, neurologists looking at the pathophysiology of concussions and then social psychologists looking at the failure to report and physicists looking at the circular or linear rotations. So there are a lot of people taking a bite out of this issue and trying to preserve this game that I love and that we all love.

I want the game to stay, and I want it to be safe. I want it to still exist because it’s done so much for me. It’s giving me tools that I’m using now in the operating room learning how to mitigate pressure, communicating, strategizing – all these things that I did every day on the field in the weight room, I do now as a physician. So it’s a powerful sport. And, like you said, I just definitely hope to have a voice in it and keep it around.

MARTIN: That’s Dr. Myron Rolle, former NFL player. He’s about to start his residency in neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School, and he was kind enough to join us from Orlando. Dr. Rolle, thank you so much for speaking with us.

ROLLE: Thank you very much for having me. I really do appreciate this.

Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Jim Bunning, Hall Of Fame Pitcher And Former U.S. Senator, Dies At 85

Then-Sen. Jim Bunning, a Hall of Fame pitcher, delivers a pitch prior to a game in Arlington, Tex., in 2003. Bunning died Friday at age 85.

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Jim Bunning, an imposing Hall of Fame pitcher and a cantankerous, resolutely conservative U.S. Senator from Kentucky, died Friday at age 85.

The New York Timesreports that he had a stroke last October. The AP confirmed the death with Bunning’s former chief of staff, Jon Deuser.

Bunning served six terms in the House and two in the Senate. As a major league pitcher from 1955 to 1971, he played for the Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was the only Hall of Fame baseball player to have served in Congress, according to the AP.

The six-foot-three ballplayer had a reputation as intimidating. As the Louisville Courier-Journalwrites:

“In his 15-year career in the big leagues, Bunning developed a reputation for throwing the ball close to batters, trying to back them off the plate. ‘If he had to brush back his mother, I think he’d do it to win,’ former Detroit Tigers second baseman Frank Bolling said of his one-time teammate.

In his second career, instead of baseballs, Bunning went after opponents and issues with strong rhetoric and an intense certainty in the correctness of his own views.

That was especially true with abortion. A Roman Catholic with nine children, Bunning voted consistently to limit abortion as an option for women and had contempt for colleagues who softened their position on the highly emotional issue.”

In 1964, Bunning pitched a perfect game, one of just 23 in the modern era. It was the first perfect game pitched in the National League since 1880. In addition to throwing no-hitters in both the American and National Leagues, he was also the second pitcher after Cy Young to win 100 games and pitch 1,000 strikeouts in both leagues, according to the Hall of Fame. Bunning was inducted into the Hall in Cooperstown, NY., in 1996.

[embedded content]

On June 21, 1964, Bunning pitched a perfect game, the ninth in major league history.

MLBYouTube

In 1968 he led Athletes for Nixon, according to the Courier-Journal; Bunning first entered politics in 1977, winning a seat on Fort Thomas, Ky., city council. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1986 and to the Senate in 1998.

The Courier-Journalreports that in his 1998 Senate race, Bunning tried to look more moderate, “talking about the need to clean up the environment and educate children, endeavors that he had not emphasized previously. In fact, in the House he voted to cut the Environmental Protection Agency budget and kill the U.S. Department of Education,” it says.

“Bunning was best known for his efforts to safeguard Social Security benefits, sponsoring, among other things, legislation that made the Social Security Administration a separate agency,” writes Politico. “He also supported legislation to aid adoptive parents and was known for actively working on local Kentucky issues and, whenever they came before Congress, baseball-related issues.”

As a politician, he was known as “blunt and abrasive,” according to the publication. “In 1993, for instance, he referred to President Bill Clinton as ‘the most corrupt, the most amoral, the most despicable person I’ve ever seen in the presidency.’ In 2009, he made headlines by predicting Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would be dead of cancer within nine months.”

In 2009, he said he would not seek another term in the Senate; his fellow Kentuckian, then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, “all but pushed Bunning into retirement,” NPR’s David Welna reported at the time. McConnell’s hand-picked choice to succeed Bunning lost in the primary to Tea Party candidate Rand Paul, whom Bunning endorsed.

We mourn the passing of Jim Bunning, a Hall of Fame pitcher and former U.S. Senator. He was 85. pic.twitter.com/NVTdhQuYmr

— MLB (@MLB) May 27, 2017

At the end of his run as a senator, in what NPR’s Ron Elving called “a lonely crusade to become a fiscal hero,” Bunning single-handedly held up unemployment payments for millions of Americans during a two-day filibuster against $10 billion in stimulus spending.

His son David Bunning is a U.S. district judge in Kentucky, who made the headlines in 2015 for jailing Kim Davis, the county clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses. On Saturday morning, David tweeted “Heaven got its No 1 starter today. Our lives & the nation are better off because of your love & dedication to family.”

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Nashville Predators Look To Make History In Stanley Cup Finals

NPR’s Ari Shapiro talks with Justin Bradford, a reporter with Penalty Box Radio, about the Nashville Predators making it to the Stanley Cup finals.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The Nashville Predators have a chance at making history in this year’s Stanley Cup finals. Game one against the Pittsburgh Penguins is Monday night. If Nashville pulls it off, it would be the first championship for the franchise and the first time a team ranked at number 16 in the NHL won it all. Justin Bradford is a longtime Tennessean, and he’s a Predator’s reporter with Penalty Box Radio. Welcome to the program.

JUSTIN BRADFORD: Hey, thanks for having me.

SHAPIRO: OK, so Nashville’s only had a hockey team since the late ’90s, and the team has never been this close to winning the Stanley Cup. How does it feel down there right now?

BRADFORD: It’s absolutely electrifying. This city has not experienced a run to a championship by a team here since the Tennessee Titans made their run of the Super Bowl the very end of the ’90s. So it’s been a long time coming. The city is just – it’s ready to explode.

It’s ready to explode for support for the Nashville Predators and just ready to explode for something that’s really fun, especially when you see everything that’s going on in the world right now, too. People need something to kind of cheer them up and to get them going. And it seems like Predators are kind of becoming America’s team. It’s so exciting to see everything going on in the city and what it’s doing for it.

SHAPIRO: I have to imagine that hockey culture in Tennessee is a little bit different from like Montreal or Detroit. What’s it like?

BRADFORD: Well, the thing that makes Nashville unique is the location of Bridgestone Arena – right in downtown in the middle of everything, next to Broadway where all the neon lights are, all the restaurants, everything. So imagine yourself walking down the street. You see these neon lights. You smell barbecue. You smell all these great foods coming (inaudible). You hear live music as you’re walking into the arena. So just that alone helps paint the picture of how you can get excited go into this game.

And then after the game, what makes it different, too, you’re right there on the streets – all the bars, all the honky-tonks, all the live music, restaurants. During the game, intermissions – it’s not just advertisements playing on a Megatron. You have live music. So you have guys like Charles Esten from Nashville playing live music there. Sometimes you’ll have people from different major bands, as well. You have country music stars singing the national anthem. It is a totally unique experience in every single way.

SHAPIRO: As we said, Nashville’s only had an NHL team for 18 years. Was it an easy transfer to move all the enthusiasm for all the other sports that Tennessee has to hockey or has it been an evolution over time?

BRADFORD: It’s been an evolution over time. The biggest thing here in Nashville is that people are obviously excited when the team came here but that excitement – what was important for that is that you’re excited about. It’s a social gathering. It’s entertainment but then would breed knowledge of the sport. And that’s what’s really important is for the knowledge of the sport to evolve with that as well.

So once they started getting excited, then they started learning the rules more – started learning about other teams, started learning about the hockey culture and learning what prospects are like. And that’s what we see now here in Nashville is that the hockey culture has bred extreme hockey fans that can compete with anybody around the league.

Even though people may not want to believe it, they know the sport here. You can hear with the way they chant and cheer at the right moments, the right opportunities during a game. So the way it’s evolved has been obviously exciting and thrilling. The leagues have a lot to do with that. The organizations have a lot to do with that. And the fans have taken it upon themselves to do it, too.

SHAPIRO: OK, so what do you think the chances are against the Penguins?

BRADFORD: Well, I’ve been telling everybody my pick is Preds in six. And I say that not just as someone in Nashville, but as what I’ve seen from both teams, what they can offer and what Nashville has been able to do through the playoffs. So I will not skirt back from that. I will say Preds in six, and we’ll see if that comes true.

SHAPIRO: Justin Bradford speaking with us via Skype. Thanks a lot for joining us.

BRADFORD: Thanks so much for having me, really do appreciate it.

(SOUNDBITE OF BOB DYLAN SONG, “NASHVILLE SKYLINE RAG”)

Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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