Big day for road pasta.

Tractor trailers tipping over are simply a part of a truck-reliant society, but once in a while fate comes together to bring us something so uniquely hilarious that it’s sublime.

Early in the morning on Tuesday a truck was involved in a wreck out in California that spilled tens of thousands of pounds of tomatoes on the highway — with passing motorists quickly turning them into sauce.

It took over six hours to clean up the mess, and by eyewitness accounts the pulp was over two feet deep in places. Now, a whole bunch of tomatoes on a highway isn’t that funny on its own, until later in the day when Tennessee decided to join the party.

Firstly, it’s kind of incredible to imagine there are trucks on the road just carrying thousands of gallons of alfredo sauce, desperate to supply an alfredo-reliant society with the cream blanket so many need to enjoy their pasta. I never really think about what’s in trucks as they’re flying down the road, but moments like this make you consider it all a little differently.

Secondly, I’m just in love with the duality here. The red and the white, the yin and yang of pasta. United together in roadway disaster on the same day.

In the end motorists were only delayed for a little while, and nobody was critically injured. It just might be a little while drivers look at pasta sauce the same way again.

LeBron would be 43 years old by the time Bryce James can play in the NBA.

LeBron James will turn 38 years old in December during the 2022-2023 NBA season, but he isn’t thinking about retiring anytime soon. James may not be the best player in the league anymore, but he’s still comfortably in the top-10 and has the ability to take over any game he plays in. When considering James’ future in basketball, he has one desire that just about everyone knows of: LeBron hopes to play with his oldest son, LeBron James Jr. (better known as Bronny James), before he calls it quits.

Bronny is set to begin his senior year of high school at Sierra Canyon in Los Angeles. He is reportedly favoring going to college (as opposed to playing in the G League or overseas) before he’s eligible to enter the draft, with Ohio State, UCLA, and Oregon among the front-runners in his recruitment.

When Bronny takes the floor for his senior year, he won’t be the only James on the team: his younger Bryce will also be on varsity this season as a sophomore. Bryce James has kept a much lower profile than Bronny, but he’s turning into a prospect in his own right. Bryce now stands a few inches taller than his older brother, and is reportedly listed at 6’6. While he isn’t listed in the recruiting rankings for the class of 2025 just yet (where the top-rated prospect is Carlos Boozer’s son Cameron), Bryce will certainly have the ability to build a name for himself in the coming years as he plays for Sierra Canyon and on the EYBL circuit.

All three James boys shared the cover of Sports Illustrated this month 20 years after LeBron first famously appeared on the magazine’s cover as “The Chosen One.” Chris Ballard wrote a wonderful cover story I’d encourage everyone to read, and it includes a few notable tidbits of information. One of them is that LeBron is thinking about hanging on in the NBA until Bryce gets a chance to play in the league.

Still, the wheels are already turning. The free-agency deals and trades swirling around us?

“I’d definitely be looking at who got first-round picks in 2024, 2025, things of that nature; 2026, ’27. I pay attention to that type of stuff.”

I do the math—2027?—and nod at Bryce. “Is there a chance you’d stick around for this guy, too?”

LeBron smiles. “I feel like I could play for quite a while. So it’s all up to my body, but more importantly, my mind. If my mind can stay sharp and fresh and motivated, then the sky’s not even a limit for me. I can go beyond that. But we shall see.

”It’s a lot to imagine: LeBron at 43, playing in an NBA game with both of his sons. But then, Tom Brady is still rolling at 45. Why can’t it happen?

Much of the cover story touches on the pressure LeBron has put on Bronny by publicly stating he hopes to play with him. That comment reportedly came as news to both Bronny and LeBron’s wife Savannah, who never knew LeBron had been planning that in his head. Bronny is a high-major college prospect, but still has a long way to go to earn a spot in the NBA. At this point, the general consensus seems to be that he won’t be a first round pick, but he’s objectively a talented player who should have a path to the league even without his dad’s help.

Now Bryce may face the same pressure. There isn’t much known about LeBron’s youngest son to this point. He’s long been in the background of photos wearing glasses, and now he wears goggles on the court. His mother Savannah said Bryce is more like her in terms of his demeanor: “he’ll clap back if you talk to him,” she told SI.

Assuming the current NBA rules remain the same, Bryce would not be able to enter the NBA Draft until 2026. LeBron would be about to turn 43 years old the following season. That would not make him the oldest player in the NBA’s modern era — Kevin Willis played until he was 44 years old before retiring in 2007 — but he would certainly be touching history. The great ones have a way of sticking around, though, with 45-year-old Tom Brady as one recent example.

Per the SI story, James sees Brady as an inspiration:

(Also: James told me he draws inspiration from Brady. “He took a chunk of me when he retired, and then when he came back I was like, ‘I needed that for sure.’ “)

Is LeBron James really going to play in the NBA until his mid-40s? It would seem foolish to rule it out. James is past his prime at this point, and he’s still incredible. The NBA is made up of the best 450 players in the world, and it’s hard to imagine a time when LeBron wouldn’t make that cut-off as long as he can stay healthy. Whether his children are among the best 450 players in the world remains to be seen — but having a famous father with a ton of influence will certainly help, whether it’s fair to everyone else or not.

No father-son duo has ever played in an NBA game together. LeBron might try to do it twice.

There is absolutely no way we’re getting a new football, but they’re saying it’s real.

Nobody really cares about Thursday Night Football, but Amazon sure does. After spending $1.3B to air games this season, they’re trying to amp up the excitement — and that includes making ludicrous claims like this one.

Amazon is claiming that it has teamed up with Wilson to create a new football exclusively for Thursday Night Football, which is thinner, longer, and purportedly more aerodynamic. It should be noted that this is absolutely impossible. There is no planet in which the NFL would subvert the basic rules of football size and weight to appease a broadcaster, let alone allow a different football to be used on Thursday compared with Sunday or Monday.

Continuing this prank, Russell Wilson jumped on board to show off the new ball with the most preposterous example possible.

A safe estimate for an NFL tackle dummy is roughly 100 pounds, though they vary greatly. So let’s assume that this is an even 100 for sake of argument. Russ throws the new ball and blasts it off its spot, causing it to travel almost 15 yards downfield.

In order for this to be accurate the new football would need to generate approximately 500N of force at the point of contact, and that’s not taking into account the friction coefficient with the ground, or the distance it travels — frankly because I suck at math. That said, to knock the dummy over at all it would require Russell Wilson to throw a 15 ounce football at approximately 64 mph. It would take much, much more than that to throw the dummy back like it had been hit with a cannon.

Throw velocity isn’t something that’s typically measured in the NFL, but Drew Brees was clocked at 52 mph in an episode of Sports Science, and Patrick Mahomes allegedly hit 60 mph at the 2017 combine, the fastest ever recorded.

So yeah, this is absolute B.S. I don’t understand why anyone would imagine this was fun or exciting. It’s just dumb.

BYU had a slow and weak response after a fan hurled racial slurs at Duke volleyball’s Rachel Richardson during a game.

BYU’s athletic department is under fire after Duke women’s volleyball player Rachel Richardson was heckled with racial slurs during a match in Provo over the weekend. Richardson and Duke have criticized the slow response from BYU to adequately handle the situation both during and after the game.

The incident first went public when Richardson’s godmother, Lesa Pamplin, tweeted details of the abuse Richardson and her teammates heard during the game. Richardson put out her own statement on Sunday sharing her experience at the game, and calling for this to be used as a teaching moment throughout college athletics.

Richardson was called racial slurs including the “n-word” when she was serving during the second set from a fan in BYU’s student section. Richardson’s father told The News and Observer the comments came from multiple fans, and continued into the fourth set.

When BYU was made aware of the situation, they reportedly placed a police officer between the Duke bench and student section, but didn’t kick the fan or fans out of the arena.

“There was knowledge of the slurs, on behalf of the officials and the coaching staffs,” Richardson’s father told the News and Observer. “And nothing was done.”

A BYU spokesman said the school couldn’t pinpoint the heckler during the game. After Duke identified the perpetrator after the game, the person was banned by BYU from all athletic venues on campus. The person who received the ban was not a student.

“This is an opportunity to dig deep into closed cultures which tolerate amoral racist acts, such as those exhibited Friday night, and change them for the better,” Richardson wrote. Here’s here full statement:

Richardson spoke about what she heard during the game in her statement:

“The slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe. Both the officials and BYU coaching staff were made aware of the incident during the game, but failed to take the necessary steps to stop the unacceptable behavior and create a safe environment. As a result, my teammates and I had to struggled just to get through the rest of the game, instead of just being able to focus on our playing so that we could compete at the highest level possible. They also failed to adequately address the situation immediately following the game when it was brought to their attention again. No athlete, regardless of their race should ever be subject to such hostile conditions.”

BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe addressed the situation at the next game, but has faced criticism for refusing to call the incident racist.

Richardson was scheduled to meet with Holmoe and BYU volleyball coach Heather Olmstead over the weekend, but Olmstead reportedly didn’t show up to the meeting.

Here’s the full statement from BYU. Duke has also issued a statement.

We’ll update this story as it develops.

Now the legality of the tackle is sparking debate.

Any rugby match between Australia and South Africa is an emotional affair, and another chapter was written into the books of this rivalry with a legendary tackle by Marika Koroibete.

Australia was locked in a close battle with South Africa at the rugby championship over the weekend when it looked like the Springboks were destined to score. Makazole Mapimpi received a pass on the wing, and despite closing defenders it felt academic — he would dive for the corner, plant the ball down, and score.

Nobody could have expected Koroibete not only making contact, but obliterating Mapimpi with a tackle that’s polarizing rugby. Some are loving the hit, saying there needs to be more physicality in rugby to bolster the popularity of the game — particularly in the United States, while others are calling it borderline illegal. The reason for criticism is that this was not a traditional wrap rugby tackle, but could be viewed as a “cannonball tackle,” which is defined as a hit to the legs while an opponent is being held upright by other defenders.

Even staunch critics are noting that the speed with which the tackle was made would make it difficult for Koroibete to pull up in time, so the pearl clutching about whether it should have been a penalty or not is a little silly. What we do know is that this one of the most impactful hits we’ve seen in a long time, and it’s beautiful.

This is why we love college football.

UNLV is not exactly known as a football school. The Rebels are perennially the doormat of the Mountain West with just two winning seasons since 1995. The once proud men’s basketball program has had a rough go of it lately, too.

The nice thing about college football that your team can still be fun even if it’s not exactly good. There are several teams around the country that have come up with creative ways to celebrate success on the defensive side of the ball, whether it’s Miami’s infamous turnover chain or Boise State’s turnover throne. UNLV is taking that idea to the next level.

As UNLV faced Idaho State to open the season, the Revels tapped into their local roots by busting out the “turnover slot machine.”

Does that slot machine always come up with all Rebels logos? Sounds rigged.

This is not the first time we’ve seen the turnover slot machine. UNLV debuted it last season, and it caught on in a game against Utah State.

We’re giving this an A+ for creativity and commitment to the bit.

UNLV ran away with a victory against Idaho State for a W to start the year. Maybe the “turnover slot machine” is finally going to usher in some good luck for the program.

Even the Big South conference is dunking on Nebraska football.

If you’re a certain age, it doesn’t seem like all that long ago that the Nebraska Cornhuskers were one of the proudest programs in college football. The Cornhuskers claimed national championships in 1994, 1995, and 1997 (as well as two in the ‘70s) under legendary coach Tom Osborne, and had some of the coolest players in the sport.

Unfortunately for Nebraska, it’s been a hard fall over the last 20 years since the program’s heyday. The Cornhuskers have posted a losing record in five straight seasons, and are coming off a nightmare 3-9 campaign that put head coach Scott Frost firmly on the hot seat entering this year. On Saturday, Nebraska opened its 2022 season against Northwestern in Dublin as a 12-point favorite in the Week 0 matchup. If most expected the sweeping changes the Cornhuskers made on the offensive side of the ball over the offseason to immediately translate, they were again left disappointed.

Northwestern beat Nebraska, 31-28, with a come-from-behind victory that gives the Cornhuskers another sour start. Nebraska led 28-17 in the third quarter, but couldn’t hold on. It’s the program’s seventh straight loss dating back to last year. Hey, at least the beer was free.

As college football fans around the country made fun of Nebraska’s fall from grace, even the Big Sky Conference got in on the action. After a fan suggested Nebraska move down from the mighty Big Ten to the low-major Big South, one of the smallest conference in college football made it clear the Cornhuskers weren’t welcome.

The Big South is as low-major as it gets, and even they’re taking shots at Nebraska football. Is this what rock bottom looks like?

Of course, the rest of the internet had fun mocking the Cornhuskers, too.

Our Nebraska team community Corn Nation published a hilarious live blog that reacted to the team blowing another winnable game. Our Northwestern community Inside NU has a happier look at the winning side.

By the way, Nebraska didn’t schedule a bye week coming back from Ireland, and have to get ready for North Dakota in seven days. It might be another long year for Frost and the Cornhuskers. The ‘90s have never seemed so long ago.