Taylor Swift’s ‘New Heights’ podcast appearance drew over 1 million concurrent YouTube viewers, but the stream experienced a temporary outage.
Similar concerns arose with Netflix before streaming NFL games last season, but they ultimately delivered a smooth viewing experience.
A spokeswoman from Google confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that it was not a YouTube issue that led to the glitch.

Taylor Swift’s appearance on the ‘New Heights’ podcast led to more than 1 million concurrent viewers on YouTube.

The video feed on the platform abruptly ended about one hour and 45 minutes into the stream, which left many confused, since the show had a timestamp of more than two hours.

The issue was resolved, but with the NFL and YouTube streaming the Week 1 game in Brazil between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 5, it begged the question: should the NFL be concerned about YouTube’s capability to stream a game to a worldwide audience that will command far more than one million viewers at once?

It’s not an unfamiliar situation for the league.

Last season, as the first-ever NFL games aired live on Netflix set for Christmas Day approached, the streaming service also faced questions about the streaming capabilities in the wake of the issues viewers experienced during the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight.

Netflix had roughly one month to figure out the issues and largely aced the test, with hardly any complaints throughout the two games (and a Beyoncé live halftime performance).

YouTube does provide the NFL Sunday Ticket Package and many people watch the league through YouTubeTV. But those are premium, subscription-based services with a number of viewers the company – owned by Google – is now accustomed to. (The tech issues for Sunday Ticket during the 2023 season certainly irked fans.) The scale of the Chiefs-Chargers game will exponentially increase the viewership numbers compared to those products, especially since the game is free to watch.

A spokeswoman from Google confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that it was not a YouTube issue that led to the glitch.

After the calamities of the Paul-Tyson fight, Netflix addressed its issues in connecting its backup servers – utilized to account for the heightened traffic on the platform – with the countless internet service providers (ISPs) throughout the world.

Worth noting is that millions of people will be using YouTube simultaneously not for the purposes of watching the AFC West matchup, which could also strain streaming capacity.

The NFL would not have handed out exclusive rights to YouTube – financial terms have not been disclosed but its almost certainly in the nine-figure range after NBCUniversal paid more than $100 million to air the first-ever game in Brazil in 2024 on Peacock – if the league didn’t think the company could pull it off without issue.

Ultimately, YouTube corrected the ‘New Heights’ issue and fans had their ‘Tayvis’ moment. But come Week 1, the company won’t have that leeway.

Rams QB Matthew Stafford will have a workout on Saturday to test his aggravated back injury.
Stafford missed recent practices after experiencing discomfort following a previous workout.
The Rams held a joint practice with the Saints after the Chargers canceled a planned session due to injury concerns.

Matthew Stafford’s back injury is the biggest storyline surrounding the Los Angeles Rams this summer. Rams head coach Sean McVay provided an encouraging update about the veteran quarterback on Thursday.

Stafford will have a workout on Saturday, Aug. 16, McVay told reporters. The Rams coach said Stafford’s session is expected to be like the one he had last Saturday.

Stafford’s been bothered by an aggravated disk in his back that’s caused him to miss training camp. The veteran quarterback was supposed to practice in some capacity on Monday, Aug. 11, after his previous throwing session last Saturday, but he didn’t “feel great” following the workout.

The Rams quarterback will give it another try this weekend with the hopes his back responds better to the workout.

Stafford could be back on the field in relatively short order if all goes well.

The Rams host their crosstown rival, the Los Angeles Chargers, on Saturday at SoFi Stadium in a preseason exhibition. The Rams and Chargers were scheduled to have a joint practice on Wednesday, but Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh canceled the session because of injury concerns.

The Rams pivoted and conducted a joint practice with the New Orleans Saints on Thursday.

No state does Little League baseball like Hawaii does.

Forget the bat flips. It’s deep breathing, hugs and visualization for the 11- and 12-year-old boys from Honolulu playing under manager Gerald Oda. This year Oda has led the Honolulu team back to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, site of the Little League World Series (LLWS), for the fourth time in the last seven tournaments during Aloha dominance.

Hawaii is the only state to have won four LLWS titles in the last two decades.

A team from Ewa Beach won the first in 2005 and a team from Waipahu won the second in 2008. Oda, meanwhile, has led Honolulu’s juggernaut to the LLWS championship in 2018 and 2022.

“I hate it because he’s so nice,’’ Randy Huth, who was manager of the Tennessee team that in 2022 lost to Hawaii twice by a combined score of 18-1, said with a chuckle. “Before every game he walks over and shakes every single kid’s hand on the other team and tells them to have fun. I mean, no other coach does that.’’

Of Hawaii’s players, Huth added, “They’re the nicest kids ever.’’

But the mystique of Oda’s program is about to be tested, with his team scheduled to play its first game Friday, Aug. 15.

It’s an issue of talent.

Of the 14 players on Hawaii’s 2018 championship team, 13 went on to play college baseball, according to Oda. Hawaii’s 2022 championship team outscored its opponents 60-5 and belted 13 home runs while going 6-0.

This year, by contrast, the boys from Honolulu qualified for the LLWS despite hitting under .200 while winning the four-team West Region.

“Nowhere near as powerful as those teams from 2018 and 2022,’’ Oda said. “We’re winning games in different ways.’’

Hawaii practices breathing? Yes

The LLWS titles in 2005 and 2008 proved Hawaii had ample talent. But in Honolulu, Oda has built a program with a unique approach.

“The first couple of years, it was about X’s and O’s,’’ Oda said, then explaining how he and his brother Keith, one of the team’s assistant coaches, began studying the mental game in attempt to understand why certain players thrived under pressure and others didn’t.

A new approach, designed to develop mental toughness, took shape.

“Before every practice, we practice breathing,’’ Oda said. “We practice affirmations. ‘I know I can do this. I’m all-powerful.’ Just simple things like that.

“In the beginning, the kids don’t take it seriously. But the more they do it, the more they get relaxed, the more they get into it. Taking a deep breath, controlling their breathing. And if you ever watched our kids play, you know we teach them this ritual.’’

The ritual takes place at home plate. In a personalized way, players signal to the dugout that they’re ready.

“To show us in they’re resetting (mentally),’’ Oda said. “Focus on being in the moment. Have fun, enjoy the moment.’’

Hawaii embraces the hugs

The motto of Hawaii’s team is “we is greater than me.’’ Or, as is emblazoned on the backs of their jerseys before the LLWS, “We > Me.’’ (LLWS rules mandate that only a player’s jersey number can be on the back of the jersey.)

That started in 2018, when a collection of All-Stars from Honolulu became Oda’s first team to reach Williamsport – and win the LLWS title.

“Even though we won the state tournament (previously), there was something missing,’’ Oda said. “You have all these studs, all these alpha males because they were the man on their team.

“Since then, we’ve never put their names on the back of their uniforms. Because we want them to understand we is greater than me.’’

In part to reinforce togetherness, after each practice Hawaii’s players must hug each other and say “I love you.’’

“In the beginning, of course, kids think it’s silly,’’ Oda said. “You know, it’s funny. But what happens, though, is that when you start getting in these tough tournaments or these tough games, they start doing it naturally.

“We noticed when you use anger and hatred as a way to pump up a team, you shoot like a rocket but you can’t sustain it too long. Whereas when it’s based upon the love, you can do it for the whole entire game.’’

Digging in

Joe Janicke is the manager of the team from Fullerton, California that finished runner-up to Hawaii in the West Region. He said Hawaii benefited from good pitching and fantastic defense but also noted its players crowded the plate.

So while Hawaii managed only nine hits in three games, its players reached base eight times after getting hit by a pitch.

“I don’t want to sound like that’s their thing, getting hit,’’ Janicke said. “But it’s no secret.’’

Oda said it results from the buy-in he gets from his players, who did not budge while following Oda’s instruction: “Own the batter’s box.’’

“Kids are afraid,’’ Oda said. “I mean, they’re 12 years old, you know? They’re going to be scared when they see that (pitcher) throwing that hard.

“But again, it goes all to that whole mental toughness thing, that whole being in the moment thing. What are you willing to do for your teammates?

“It’s not teaching the kids to lean into a pitch. But you got to dig in.’’

Oda said he and his staff continue to dig in, too.

“We’re constantly reading things, trying to learn new ideas,’’ he said. “We’re smart enough to know we don’t know everything.’’

Deion Sanders says he saw a homeless person watching a 50-inch TV under a bridge in LA
He used this example and a pot pie analogy to teach youth about perseverance
Sanders spoke to youth organizations for about 45 minutes in a discussion about ‘the power of purpose’ with BLK & Bold co-founder Rod Johnson.

Homelessness in the United States can be a divisive issue. Some cast blame on individuals for their lack of housing. Others want to help and solve the roots of the problem.

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders had a different reaction to homelessness recently on a trip to Los Angeles. He saw an example of ingenuity in a desperate situation and found it inspiring.

“I just seen something in L.A. that I’ve never seen in my life,” Sanders said on a Zoom webinar Wednesday, Aug. 13 to a group of youth organizations. “I was there to shoot a commercial … and they were taking me to the set. And we went up under this underpass. And I seen like this homeless population there, and the dude had like a 50-inch TV. I had to stop. I mean, I ain’t never seen nothing like that in my life. First of all, how is the TV working? Dude, he was watching the morning news. … How?”

Sanders said it was a 50-inch flat screen television on top of a basket under a bridge.

“Blew my mind,” Sanders said. “And it encouraged me. Because I said, ‘If he can do it, we can do it. If he can do it, we can do it.’”

Sanders brought this up in the context of teaching lessons to youth on behalf of his coffee brand BLK & Bold, which he co-owns. To Sanders, this example showed resourcefulness in an environment that otherwise lacked resources.

Deion Sanders uses pot pies as a life lesson

Taking some time out of preseason camp for the Buffaloes, he spoke to the youth organizations for about 45 minutes in a discussion about ‘the power of purpose’ with BLK & Bold co-founder Rod Johnson.

In another lesson, Sanders told the audience he grew up in the “pot pie” generation, referencing the savory oven pies often filled with chicken and vegetables.

“Follow me now,” Sanders said. “Pot pies. See, I grew up in the pot-pie generation. The pot pie, you put it in there for 45 minutes. That’s what the thing say. They didn’t tell you when you take it out, you got to poke holes in it (to cool it). They didn’t tell you after you poke the holes in it and you take it out, now you’ve got to blow it for about five minutes until it get cool. They didn’t tell you all that. But it’s a process. But when it’s done, oh baby. You do all that for about an hour and 15 minutes and you eat the thing in four minutes. That’s a pot pie.”

Sanders said “that’s who we are.”

“They gonna poke holes in you, OK,” he told the audience. “They gonna try to blow your light out. They gonna try to blow it until it’s cold. … But then they’ve got to leave you alone for a minute and let you just simmer. And when you simmer and get that ready, now it’s time. It ain’t time yet. It’s gonna be there, though. For some of y’all, it is time. And it’s coming. I can’t believe I just gave you the analogy of a pot pie. … See, you can take the man out of the ‘hood but you can’t take the ‘hood out of the man. I’m still there.”

Sanders recently recovered from bladder cancer and bladder surgery in May. His Colorado team opens the season at home against Georgia Tech on Aug. 29.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

A former Denver Nuggets mascot is suing the team’s owner, alleging a violation of Colorado disability protection laws after he was fired following a hip injury.

The lawsuit, obtained by USA TODAY Sports, was filed Tuesday in Denver District Court. It states that 31-year-old Drake Solomon, who donned the Rocky mascot mountain lion suit for three years, wants unspecified damages from the team’s owner, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment.

Solomon is suing on the basis of disability, retaliation and two claims of aiding and abetting unfair employment practices against his Kroenke Sports & Entertainment supervisors, who are also named defendants in the case.

Solomon was hired to portray Rocky in 2021. His father, Kenn, was the original Rocky, starting in 1990 and serving in the role for more than 30 years.

Solomon was diagnosed with avascular necrosis, the death of bone tissue due to a lack of blood supply, during the 2022-23 NBA season, underwent surgery to treat his condition and was later told he would need a total hip replacement.

According to the lawsuit, the team then informed Solomon it would hold tryouts for his position because of ‘his record of impairment and their lack of confidence in his health.’

Solomon says in the lawsuit that he returned from the hip replacement only to endure a “hostile work environment” and that the tryouts for Rocky were being held because Solomon had “burned them last time.’

Solomon, who began his career with the Nuggets in 2012 as a trampoline dunk artist and member of the “Promo Squad, was fired, his says without cause, in August 2024. The lawsuit states the team later told Solomon he was being terminated because he failed to score first during tryouts. His termination violates his rights under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, the lawsuit alleges. 

A potential class-action lawsuit is also in play from the severance package Solomon was offered by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment when he was fired. Solomon says it is unlawful because the company presented other employees with the exact severance agreement.

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Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice will suit up for Week 1 after all.

According to reports, the NFL has set a Sept. 30 date for Rice’s disciplinary hearing for his involvement in a high-speed, multi-car crash in March 2024. That means Rice will be eligible to play in the first four weeks of the 2025 season before he faces consequences – potentially a multi-game suspension – from the league.

Rice would be the third wide receiver – and sixth player overall – to face a multi-game ban in 2025 if the league hands down a suspension as expected. The NFL fined Los Angeles Rams wideout Drake Stoops $93,334 and gave him a two-game suspension for PED use, and Minnesota Vikings receiver Jordan Addison will miss the first three games of the season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

However, because of the scheduling of Rice’s hearing, the Chiefs’ presumptive lead receiver will not receive a suspension until after the first four weeks of the season. He’ll be eligible to play against Kansas City’s first four opponents in 2025 – Los Angeles Chargers (in Brazil), Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens – before the Sept. 30 hearing.

Rice missed 13 games and all but four snaps of a 14th last season after injuring his knee in a collision with quarterback Patrick Mahomes following an interception. He tallied 288 yards and two touchdowns on 24 catches in the four (three full) games he played in.

Say a prayer for the Dads, Brads, Chads and dildo throwers this week.

She lives rent free in these guys’ heads and they’ll never even know her address.

“You should think of your energy as if it’s expensive, as if it’s a luxury item. Not everyone can afford it. Not everyone has invested in you in order to be able to have the capital for you to care about this,” Swift said Wednesday night during her appearance on ‘New Heights,’ the podcast hosted by her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and his older brother Jason.

“What you spend your energy on, that’s the day,” Swift said. “It doesn’t matter where you were. Maybe you went to go get coffee today, maybe you saw friends today. If you were obsessing over one thing that you saw — you literally saw some guy call you mid and you can’t stop thinking about it, dude, that’s the day then. That’s the night then.”

Swift is the most influential entertainer of her generation. Her Eras Tour alone grossed a record $2 billion and helped fuel consumer spending across the globe. A single line in one of her songs can spark an international trend, and her endorsement can turn an opening act into a headliner.

Swift also is, apparently, a very decent human being, giving her cast and crew massive bonuses and making large donations to food banks in the cities where her tour stopped.

But my God does she piss insecure men off.

When Swift began dating Kelce two years ago, she did what any normal, supportive partner does: She showed up for him, going to as many Kansas City Chiefs games as her schedule allowed.

And because she is the most famous woman on the planet and because she is often accompanied by some of her famous friends, Swift’s presence creates something of a frenzy. Cameras are waiting when she enters the stadium and she’s often shown on the broadcast if Kelce makes a big play.

It’s no different than the time or 20 Spike Lee is shown when he’s at a New York Knicks game. Or Eminem ending up on the Jumbotron (and the playlist) when he’s cheering on his beloved Detroit Lions. For famous men, though, their fandom is something to be appreciated and respected.

For Swift, the knives are out.

Some fans, and they are mostly male, complain that she’s “taking over” the game. They gripe about how “much” she’s shown during games, making it sound as if there’s a camera trained on her for the entire game rather than the couple-second glimpses here and there it actually is. (Also ignoring this is the broadcasters’ doing, not hers.)

They accuse Swift of being a distraction. They say the game is being dumbed down because the Swifties who are now Chiefs (and Eagles) fans aren’t “true” fans. Whatever that means.

One writer from the misogynistic swamp that is Barstool Sports even whined that Jason Kelce was overselling Swift’s appearance on ‘New Heights’ and predicting it wouldn’t compare with Donald Trump’s appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast.

Given the teaser of Jason Kelce’s intro did 10 million views in 16 hours on X alone, I’ll take that bet.

What they really mean is they don’t like some woman — a powerful and confident woman, at that — intruding on their male sanctuary. That same toxic attitude is why immature cryptobros are throwing sex toys at WNBA games. Sports is these man-babies’ man cave, and if they can’t drive women away from it with their misogyny and condescension, then they’ll make it as uncomfortable as possible.

The joke is on them, however. Swift is well aware of what these small-minded men think of her and she just doesn’t care, joking in the podcast teaser that, “I think we all know that if there’s one thing that male sports fans want to see in their spaces and on their screens, it’s more of me.’

“My business is making music and taking care of my fans,” Swift said on ‘New Heights.’ “I have ways of monitoring what they want from me and how best to entertain them, which is my job. Everything else, I’m just sort of like, it’s not my business. I have actual business that I need to run.”

The trolls and misogynistic miscreants can gripe all they want, and Swift will go on happily living her life. There’s no better clapback than that.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

When the NCAA allowed college athletes to transfer once without the penalty of having to sit out a year, players were offered an opportunity to seek fresh starts elsewhere while benefitting from the kind of unrestrained mobility coaches had enjoyed for decades.

One of the effects of that change, though, has been a widening gulf between college football’s haves and have nots, with programs from the sport’s biggest, most powerful conferences routinely plucking standouts from lower-level schools that don’t have the platform or financial resources to hold on to them.

It’s a reality that has caused frustration for many, particularly those outside of the Power Four conferences.

This week, one coach gave a loud, passionate voice to those feelings.

During a news conference on August 13, Northern Illinois coach Thomas Hammock said the ability to move from program to program has led to misplaced priorities from players and their parents, who he believes increasingly don’t value some of the non-monetary benefits that college can provide.

“I enjoyed my college experience,” Hammock said. “I didn’t get one dime. But the lessons I learned were more valuable than any money you could ever pay me. I appreciate that because that’s long term. People are losing the fact this is short term…Don’t lose focus of the long term. Get your degree and learn valuable lessons that are going to help you in the long term of your life. That’s the whole purpose. This is a transition from being a kid to a grown up. I hope people don’t lose focus of that. 

“Everyone’s talking about everything else besides the most important thing of going to college. Because if you’re going to college to get a couple of dollars, you might as well go get a job. This is too hard to go get a couple of dollars. Learn the lessons that you need to learn to be successful in life for the next 40 or 50 years of your life. I would do it again for free because of the things I learned. That’s why I’m standing here today, because of what I learned in college. Not because of how much someone gave me.”

Hammock is entering his seventh season as the head coach at Northern Illinois, where he was a two-time academic All-American as a running back in the early 2000s. His Huskies teams have made bowl games in three of the past four seasons, including last season, when they went 8-5 and earned a stunning road win against eventual national runner-up Notre Dame.

That team was raided in the offseason, losing its starting quarterback, top three pass-catchers and many of its top defensive players to the portal, where many of them ended up at Power Four schools.

While Hammock said he loves the challenge of rebuilding a roster — his longer answer had come in response to a question about making the portal “more fair” — he wonders if the greener pastures players seek end up being any better than the places they just left.

“In life, you’re going to make decisions,” Hammock said. “Sometimes, it’s going to work in your favor. Sometimes, it’s not. I told our team the other day, we lost all these guys. Let’s see who plays. It’s all good when people put on Twitter ‘All glory to God, I’m going in the transfer portal.’ Let’s see if they play. How many of them guys are going to play or travel or get snaps?”

Hammock also believes some of the onus for portal decisions falls on the parents of players.

“Parents, they need to learn that lesson, too,” he said. “Stop trying to live through your kids. Teach your kids the things they need to learn to be successful. That’s what I’m telling my kids. I don’t care about no NIL or revenue sharing. I could care less. You need to learn things in college to get you prepared for life, to be a father, a husband, to work, everything else. Those are the most important things. That’s what people are missing.”

The year 2025 has seen a significant increase in crossovers between the NFL and the Olympics.

Months after NFL team owners voted to allow NFL participation in the 2028 Olympics and a day after Michael Phelps helped teach Baltimore Ravens players how to swim, Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Chloe Kim became the latest addition to the recent trend.

Kim, who is dating star Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, attended the Browns’ joint training camp practice with the Eagles on Thursday. She recorded the experience on her Instagram story, first with a picture of Eagles ‘animal ambassador’ Noah the Eagle, then with a video of Garrett warming up with his Browns teammates.

Kim is a two-time Olympic gold medalist after winning the halfpipe snowboarding event at each of the last two Olympic Winter Games. Rumors of her and Garrett’s relationship began earlier this year, when the two attended the Crunchyroll Anime Awards in Tokyo in May.

Garrett is entering his ninth NFL season in 2025. The former No. 1 overall pick has played all eight years of his career with the Browns and signed a four-year, $160 million contract extension with the team in March.

Late last week, Garrett made headlines when he was cited for speeding – driving 100 mph in a 60 mph speed limit zone at around 2 a.m. on Saturday. It was the eighth speeding ticket Garrett has picked up since he was drafted in 2017.