March 9, 2015

Mack Rhoades Named Mizzou Athletic Director

The Board of Curators for the University of Missouri system today approved the hiring of Mack Rhoades as the new Athletic Director at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Rhoades is currently in the same position at the University of Houston. He took that job in 2009, leaving the University of Akron. Rhoades hold a degree in physical education from the University of Arizona and a master’s degree from Indiana. He takes over for Mike Alden, who announced his Aug. 31 resignation back in January after 17 years on the job.

Diana Ross Headlining Bob Costas Benefit In St. Louis

This year will be the 26th Annual Bob Costas Benefit at the Fox Theatre to benefit the Costas Center at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. It was announced today that Diana Ross will headline the May 23 event. A comedy act will also appear, though that hasn’t been announced yet. A date for ticket sales has not been announced yet. The annual Homers For Health fundraising campaign with the St. Louis Cardinals is also kicking into gear to benefit the Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation.

Northern Iowa Takes Arch Madness Crown

Northern Iowa roared back from a 14-point halftime deficit yesterday at Scottrade Center to beat Illinois State 69-60 and take the Missouri Valley Conference tourney championship. Seth Tuttle, the conference player of the year and the tourney MVP, spurred a 25-4 run in the second half to take control of the game. With the win, the Panthers of UNI receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Jerry Palm of CBS Sports is predicting Northern Iowa will be a #5 seed in the West.

According to Mike Kern, the Associate Commissioner of the Missouri Valley Conference, 50,187 people passed through the gates at Scottrade Center over the course of the tourney. This marked the 13th season in a row that at least 50,000 people have attended the tournament.

Chappie Wins Slow Box Office Weekend

Chappie took in $13.3 million over the weekend to win the weekend box office race. The box office took in $88.7 million overall, which is the lowest weekend total of 2015 and the lowest since the first part of December 2014. Focus finished second over the weekend with $10 million in its second weekend. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel came in third with an estimated $8.6 million.

We’ll have more on the box office numbers on Thursday in our Weekend Movie Guide. We’ll also preview Cinderella and Run All Night, the two movies opening in wide release this weekend.

Apple To Announce New Products At “Spring Forward” Event

Apple is holding a “Spring Forward” press event today where they are expected to announce plans for the Apple Watch as well as a new Macbook. The Verge is among the outlets covering Apple’s “Spring Forward” event live. It’s already been announced that the lowest-end Apple Watch will retail at $349, but people are guessing that a 18-karat gold version may be priced as high as $20,000. Apple has thrown a ton of money behind a PR and marketing campaign pushing the Apple Watch. There’s a 12-page advertisement in the March issue of Vogue that is estimated to have cost them $2.2 million. MacRumors.com has some ideas on what to expect today from Apple.

You can watch Apple’s Spring Forward event live on the Apple website. The stream is apparently only available on Apple devices, however.

John Oliver Takes On Daylight Savings Time

John Oliver took on Daylight Savings Time in this week’s edition of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Oliver goes over the origin Daylight Savings Time and wonders “How Is This Still A Thing?”

 

HBO Now Launching On Apple TV

HBO took the opportunity at the Apple “Spring Forward” event to announce that it’s streaming service, HBO Now will launch next month on Apple TV for $14.99 per month. As a special promotion, if you sign up in April for the service you can get your first month free. The promotion is marketed as “get HBO Now on your Apple TV in time for the Game of Thrones season premiere. A trailer for the new season of the show was then played. Season 5 of the show will premiere on April 12.

Dog Poisoned At Dog Show

Jagger, a three-year-old Irish Setter, collapsed and died less than 24 hours after competing in the world’s largest dog show. It’s suspected that the dog was fed a poisoned steak by a rival breeder. Two other dogs have reportedly shown symptoms of possibly being poisoned at the event. The latest reports say as many as six dogs may have been poisoned.

Jagger’s real name was Thendara Satisfaction and was owned by professional dog breeders Willem and Aleksandra Lauwers.

 

President Obama Announces TechHire Program

President Barack Obama has announced a new program aimed to train folks and then connect them with jobs in the technology sector. $100 million in Federal funding will be used to support “training opportunities for low-skilled workers”. 300 employers have committed to increasing efforts to train and hire folks in software development, network administration and cybersecurity. It sure sounds like TechHire just needs to give that $100 million to LaunchCode so they can expand across the country. Actually, President Obama said in his speech that LaunchCode is a model for TechHire.

John Legend And Sam Smith Sing “Lay Me Down” For Red Nose Day 2015

John Legend and Sam Smith released a new version of Smith’s “Lay Me Down” today for Red Nose Day, an event sponsored by Comic Relief Charity. Proceeds from the sale of the song will go to the charity.

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