Gadgets get a second life when you buy refurbished. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Most people know that buying a refurbished tech product will save you money compared to buying it new. It also gives a device a second life instead of sending it off to be recycled. Even though demand isn’t as high for gadgets as it was during the height of the pandemic, buying refurbished is sometimes a clever workaround for finding new or tough-to-find products at a lower price. If you’re gifting tech for the holidays (and perhaps you want to avoid the Black Friday and Cyber Monday rush), it’s not a bad idea to see what kinds of stuff you can find refurbished across the web.
Those are all good things — yet “refurbished” is still a loaded word for a lot of people. New means new, a product that nobody else has used. On the other hand,…
In the episode released Monday night, Brady addressed the split with Bündchen to whom he had been married for the last 13 years, calling the situation “amicable.”
“I think there’s a lot of professionals in life that go through things that they deal with at work and they deal with at home,” Brady told Gray. “And obviously the good news is that it’s a very amicable situation and I’m really focused on two things: taking care of my family and certainly my children, and secondly, doing the best job I can to win football games.
“So that’s what professionals do. You focus at work when it’s time to work, and then when you come home you focus on the priorities that are at home. And all you can do is the best you can do, and that’s what I’ll just continue to do as long as I’m working, as long as I’m being a dad.”
Brady and Bündchen, who announced the news in separate social media posts last Friday, share joint custody of two children, Benjamin, 12, and nine-year-old Vivian. The 45-year-old Bucs quarterback, who played at home on Thursday against the Ravens, said that he spent the weekend with his children in Tampa.
On the podcast, Brady spoke about the importance of his family and being present in his children’s lives, while also trying to turn things around from a 3–5 start this season on the field.
“I have incredible parents that have always taught me the right way to do things. And I want to be a great father to my children and always try to do things the right way as well,” he said. “And to deal with things that are in your life, that have challenges—you want to deal with them in the best possible way. So I want to always be able to hold my head high on and off the field, and I’m going to try to continue to do that for as long as I’m here.”
Bündchen last addressed the divorce in her Instagram post, asking for privacy on the matter moving forward.
“The decision to end a marriage is never easy but we have grown apart and while it is, of course, difficult to go through something like this, I feel blessed for the time we had together and only wish the best for Tom always,” she wrote.
Warriors and Kings headline the five most surprising lineups—good and bad—to start the NBA season.
The five most surprising lineups—good and bad—to start the NBA season.
The Kings’ starting five: +22.5 pts per 100 possessions in 41 mins over five games
The grouping of De’Aaron Fox, Kevin Huerter, rookie Keegan Murray, Harrison Barnes and Domantas Sabonis has had a little bit of everything.
Elite rebounding marks, grabbing nearly 30% of its own misses while gobbling up nearly 83% of its opponents’ misfires. Ample shooting, knocking down almost 53% of its shots and 42% of its triples, even with Barnes and Sabonis struggling mightily from deep so far. (The smooth-shooting Murray’s been such an instant fit in this way.) And the defense has been surprisingly solid. That’s due in large part to this group, which has allowed 93.2 points per 100 possessions—a rate that would stand as the league’s best mark on a teamwide scale thus far. The lineup also plays at a blistering pace of 104 possessions per 48 minutes.
The Nets’ starting five: -14.2 pts per 100 possessions in 67 mins over six games
It’s a hell of a thing to look at Brooklyn, which employs Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving—a pair of stars who are part of NBA history’s elusive 50-40-90 club—and see the club’s starting lineup is generating an anemic 101.5 points per 100 possessions. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s near-the-bottom-of-the-league bad; on par with the wayward-shooting Lakers, and the Clippers, who’ve largely played without Kawhi Leonard so far this season.
Yes, we assumed there’d be growing pains for Ben Simmons and, because of his shortcomings on offense, the guys around him. But we didn’t know there’d be this many minutes—97 so far, or almost 17 per night—with Simmons and starting center Nic Claxton sharing the court each night. (Wing Royce O’Neale rounds out Brooklyn’s starting five.)
The Simmons-Claxton pairings are understandable given that Simmons will often be assigned to the opposing team’s best wing scorer, whereas Claxton is more keen to defend traditional bigs than Simmons. But things get cramped quite quickly, even with scorers Durant and Irving, with two non-shooting threats on offense. Especially when you have a shooter like Joe Harris (who started Monday as Simmons sat out with a sore knee) who can be plugged in instead.
It will be interesting to see how Steve Nash seeks to go small, with Simmons at center, more often once Seth Curry is back. Using lineups like those would allow the team to better use its shooters, but would come with the downside of making a finesse Brooklyn club even less effective on the glass.
The Warriors’ “PTSD” lineup: -8.3 per 100 possessions in 37 mins over six games
It’s been a relatively common refrain so far this season as it relates to the Dubs: The team’s youngsters haven’t performed well as a second unit, and largely to blame for Golden State’s struggles to start the year.
That isn’t completely wrong, of course. Jonathan Kuminga in particular has been rough, shooting 33.3%. Lineups with him, Jordan Poole and James Wiseman have been blasted by 38.5 points per 100 possessions over 28 minutes so far, while ones with Kuminga, Poole and Moses Moody have lost by 17.3 points per 100 possessions in 22 minutes. With Wiseman, specifically, there just isn’t much second-unit cohesion just yet.
But the early returns on the PTSD lineup—composed of Poole, Klay Thompson, Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins (who gets no part of the acronym here, apparently)—haven’t been very good, either. Especially not when compared to last postseason, when the Warriors outscored playoff opponents by 13.8 points per 100 possessions with that grouping, and logged a 64% true-shooting percentage.
The Warriors have struggled to start the season.
John Hefti/USA TODAY Sports
To this point, the five-man unit has defended very poorly, surrendering 117.2 points per 100 plays while being a sieve from a defensive-rebound perspective. Opponents are grabbing nearly 32% of their misses. Both are marks that would rank near the bottom of the league on a full-time scale.
If there’s a silver lining here, it’s that the Warriors also have one of the best statistical lineups in basketball so far, and it requires just one quick swap: plugging in Kevon Looney for Poole, which immediately mitigates the defensive-rebounding problem. The Dubs are a plus-25.3 per 100 over 81 minutes when Looney plays with that group.
Washington’s (former) starting five: +21.6 pts per 100 possessions in 69 mins over six gms
Interestingly, though, coach Wes Unseld Jr. opted to shake up his starting five Monday night, plugging in 30-year-old forward Anthony Gill in place of the 21-year-old Avdija. It was a move he’d soft-launched a game earlier, against the Celtics, by bringing Avdija off the bench to begin the second half.
Unseld said the club had a need for more playmaking in the second unit following the hamstring injury to Delon Wright, which will sideline the guard for six to eight weeks. Avdija, who possesses point-forward skills at 6′ 9″, figures to have more of a chance to handle the ball with that second group than he would with Beal and Morris in the starting five. (As a starter, Avdija was often taking on the most demanding defensive assignment from night to night.)
Just in case anyone was planning to go to Unseld with a pitchfork over the decision, it’s worth noting that the metrics with Gill as the fifth member of the group are more than solid, too: +12.8 per 100 possessions in 38 minutes of work so far.
The Clippers’ lineups with Kawhi, who’s only been able to play twice so far
It feels too soon to be “out” on the Clippers, who many of us—myself included—picked to reach the Finals this year. And to be sure, it is still a bit too early to have a change of heart, in my opinion.
That said, I wasn’t expecting Kawhi Leonard to have only played two games out of the Clippers’ first seven outings. And he’s going to miss at least the next two games as well, based on what coach Ty Lue said yesterday.
Lue said Leonard was feeling “frustrated” over his inability to be back at this point, after having missed a season and rehabbing for the better part of a year from a partially torn ACL in his right knee.
Numbers probably don’t matter that much for Leonard and Paul George, a pair of players who would illustrate the ability to contend if both are healthy simultaneously. Still, in the 39 minutes those two played alongside each other, Los Angeles was 13.7 points better than its opponents per 100 possessions while notching a 62.2% true-shooting percentage.
Seeing Leonard get more reps with new Clipper John Wall, along with the other roster additions, would be an enormous plus for this team. But the question of how often we’ll see that this season seems very much in the air at the moment.
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Legendary whisky distillery The Macallan has announced two limited edition single malt whiskies created entirely around the idea of pairing whisky with coffee. The Macallan Harmony Collection’s two newest bottles—”Inspired by Intense Arabica” and “Smooth Arabica”—are a pair of never-before-seen Macallan whiskies designed with the help of an international team of coffee experts from around the world.
Of course, there’s a good story behind these bottlings. It began with Macallan Whisky Maker Steven Bremner bringing world renowned coffee experts to the Macallan Estate for an immersive master class. The cast included Ethiopian coffee grower Kenean Asefa Dukamo, Scottish coffee roaster Lisa Lawson, American barista Andrea Allen, UK-based coffee artist Dhan Tamang, and coffee historian Professor Jonathan Morris.
It was from this meeting that these two bottles were eventually created—and from an appreciation that coffee and whisky actually share many traits: Both beverages require careful preparation of their main ingredients; toasty, dark flavors are common in both great coffee and great whisky; and at least insofar as Irish coffee is concerned, they can get along very nicely in the same glass.
Macallan has plenty of stock to play with for projects like this, and even though the distillery is largely known for its European sherry finishes, its use of American oak barrels seasoned with sherry adds brightness and sweetness to a carefully crafted dram. Bremner selected both American and European oak casks for these whiskies.
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“I sought out intense notes in The Macallan’s traditional sherry-seasoned European oak casks that would offer the rich and satisfying elements of coffee—while the influence of sherry-seasoned American oak casks adds sweeter and softer vanilla notes for a balanced and rounded experience,” Bremner explains. “Exploring the world of coffee with our masters in the industry was both an education and an inspiration,” he adds, in an official statement. “There are many parallels between the approach to creating incomparable whisky and coffee. Each requires unique skills and craftsmanship to achieve depth and complexity of taste and both worlds aim to deliver an extraordinary consumption experience.”
Macallan has done it—not just once, but twice with this newest release.
Intense Arabica is said to have a crema color, with aromas of tiramisu, cappuccino, gingerbread and raisins, and hints of sweet oak and vanilla. On the palate, dark espresso and several of those aromatic notes mix with blackberry and nuts, before a long, balanced, and sweet dark roast finish.
Smooth Arabica, meanwhile, has a toffee color, and notes from the distillery describe aromas of hazelnut, dark cherry, vanilla, oak, and ground coffee. On the palate, it has flavors of an Americano, with hints of raisins, cherries, soft spices, and vanilla. The finish is sweet and creamy, with an upfront hit of coffee bean.
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These are the third and fourth bottles in Macallan’s Harmony Collection, and the first to address coffee. The original release, Macallan Harmony Collection Rich Cacao, was inspired in a similar manner by the world of chocolate. It was followed earlier this year by “Fine Cacao.”
Everything is connected to the world of coffee for these two latest whisky releases, right down to the box they come in. The packaging for these bottles includes a presentation box made from repurposed coffee bean husks by paper expert Michele Posocco from Italian paper mill Favini.
Intense Arabica is released at 44 percent ABV, while Smooth Arabica is bottled at a lower ABV of 40 percent. For around $185 (depending on taxes and other variables), both whiskies are certainly in today’s “affordable” category.
However, tracking them down may require a bit of extra work. Intense Arabica enters the U.S. market in November. As for Smooth Arabica, it’s available exclusively in some duty free shops and airport Macallan Boutiques next month.
So, yes, you may need both types of a “red eye” to get your hands on these coffee-inspired single malts. We do suspect though that with the right barista, you’ll end up with one hell of a boilermaker.
NBA reporter offers trainwreck defense of the Nets star’s recent controversy.
1. Full disclosure: I had never heard of Brandon Robinson until Monday night when I saw a jaw-dropping video on Twitter. Robinson is the lead NBA analyst for Bally Sports, which we don’t have here in New York. And so I was unfamiliar with Robinson and his work.
Robinson may be the nicest guy in the world and may normally do excellent work. However, he needs to seriously rethink his approach to the recent Kyrie Irving controversy.
Over the weekend, the Nets star tweeted a link to a film that was filled with antisemitic tropes. He then defended his promotion of the film in a heated exchange with ESPN’s Nick Friedell in which Irving came off terribly. Shortly afterward, he deleted the tweet in question.
Appearing on WPIX in New York on Sunday night, Robinson defended Irving in a mind-boggling manner. Robinson didn’t take the free speech approach or opine that maybe Irving just made a regretful decision. Instead, he called out the coverage of the Irving saga. And his logic on that was even more mind-boggling.
“I think this backlash is really in poor taste because he is in a contract year,” said Robinson. “I’ll even take it a step further. When you look at this instance here, if the Nets were 5–0, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I think that when you look at a team that is 1–4, and we’re focusing on the issue that is an Amazon Prime link that has over 1,200 reviews and four and a half stars, we’re getting away from the game.”
Robinson later added, “We should be talking about the Nets and their dynamic more than we should be talking about a movie.”
I honestly can’t believe that Robinson really thinks the coverage of Irving sharing an antisemitic film would be different if the Nets had a better record. He can’t possibly think that. You can make the argument that the coverage is more intense because Irving is one of the best players in the league, but you can’t make the argument that his team’s record is a factor here.
As for the take that the backlash is in poor taste because Irving is in a contract year, I don’t even know where to begin with that one. I would be willing to bet big money that there wasn’t one single reporter who was thinking about Irving’s contract situation when they called him out for promoting the disturbing film.
If you watch the clip, it’s clear Robinson likes Irving and wants to defend the Nets star. However, his approach was an absolute trainwreck.
2. QuarterbackJacoby Brissett tried to draw the Bengals offsides late in the Browns’ win Monday night and even taunted them while doing so, much to the delight of analyst Troy Aikman.
4. This was a particularly brutal, yet amusing, week for college football “Bad Beats.”
5. Some ratings nuggets:
CBS drew 16.1 million viewers for its early window, highlighted by Steelers at Eagles, on Sunday. That’s the network’s best number for that time slot this season.
Fox landed 24.9 million viewers for the late window Sunday that featured Niners at Rams.
Game 1 of the World Series drew 11,682,000 on Friday, while Game 2 on Saturday drew 10,993,000 million.
Thursday Night Football finally saw a ratings increase last week for Ravens-Bucs, drawing 10.01 million
6. This week’s SI Media Podcast features a conversation with Sports Business Journal‘s John Ourand about the latest sports media news. Topics covered include:
• Amazon’s declining Thursday Night Football ratings
• Jim Nantz out, Ian Eagle in for the NCAA tournament
• World Series ratings issues
• ManningCast perspective
• NFL Sunday Ticket update
The show closes with my weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment with Sal Licata, where we discuss a terrible gambling loss, the World Series and Taylor Swift.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: The greatest moment in talk-show history happened 15 years ago today when Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David had this moment on Nov. 1, 2007.
The Nets beat the Indiana Pacers 116-109, bringing Brooklyn to 2-5 on the season. With six and a half minutes left in the game, the Pacers went on a run to tie the game at 100, but the Nets pulled away. Kevin Durant had 36 points, Kyrie Irving had 28 and Ben Simmons missed the game due to left knee soreness. Shannon Sharpe shares what the Nets’ close win told him about Brooklyn.
Return to Monkey Island hits Game Pass on November 8th. | Image: Devolver Digital
Xbox Game Pass is getting some great games in November, including the official Xbox releases of two of my favorite games of the year: Return to Monkey Island and Vampire Survivors.
Return to Monkey Island is the newest entry in the Monkey Island point-and-click adventure game series. It’s a delightful homage to the classic titles that adds some much-needed polish to smooth out some of the more annoying aspects of old-school LucasArts adventure games. It first launched on Steam and Nintendo Switch in September, and it will be available on Xbox Series X / S, Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and PlayStation 5 on November 8th.
Return to Monkey Island is pretty chill, so if you’re looking for something that offers complete sensory overload, V…
National Championship Game ticket reservation prices for Tennessee rose 50% ahead of the team’s clash with Georgia.
November is here, and with the calendar change comes rising stakes in the college football landscape. Just four weeks remain until conference championship games are upon us, and the first College Football Playoff rankings will be released Tuesday night to give teams a better understanding of where they stand in the postseason picture. After a busy week of action that featured three ranked-vs-ranked matchups and several more key clashes, what are the latest trends in the sport’s postseason outlook? Here’s a look at some key storylines using insights from SI Tickets’ postseason reservations.
Tennessee Passes Another Test
The college football world may have been looking ahead to this week’s showdown between Tennessee and Georgia, but the Vols took care of business and more in a dominant win Saturday over a ranked Kentucky team. Tennessee scored less than 90 seconds into the contest on a 55-yard touchdown pass from Hendon Hooker to Jalin Hyatt and never looked back, coasting to a 38-point victory in the series’ most lopsided game since 2000. Hooker had little trouble shredding a sturdy Kentucky defense, and Tennessee’s defense made a statement after being less-than-stellar in SEC play.
The win upped National Championship Game ticket reservation prices for Tennessee by nearly 50% on SI Tickets, a huge jump ahead of the College Football Playoff selection committee’s first rankings reveal on Tuesday. Why? In addition to how good the Vols looked, Kentucky was the team’s hardest remaining game on paper other than its showdown with Georgia on Saturday. And while the matchup with UGA will have major SEC title implications, the Vols would have a strong chance of making the CFP even with one loss. But if you want to check out what could be the game of the year in the SEC between the Vols and Bulldogs, tickets are listed on average for over $1,500 on SI Tickets.
Big Ten Races Find Clarity
In both the Big Ten East and West, action this weekend essentially cleared the field of contenders to two teams still in the thick of things in the regular season’s final month.
In the East, Ohio State got a scare from Penn State in Happy Valley but eventually asserted control in the fourth quarter and earned a 44–31 victory over the Nittany Lions. For all intents and purposes, the result eliminates PSU from Big Ten title contention, as James Franklin’s team now trails OSU and Michigan by two games in the loss column and wouldn’t win tiebreakers with either. Penn State’s Big Ten Championship Game ticket reservation prices on SI Tickets dropped 38% after the loss. Now, Ohio State and Michigan (which beat Michigan State Saturday to remain undefeated) are on a collision course for rivalry weekend, with the winner likely headed to the Big Ten Championship Game.
And in the West, Illinois got some breathing room in a crowded division with a road win at Nebraska. The Illini now have at least a two-game lead on everyone other than Purdue in the West, and Bret Bielema’s team owns tiebreakers with all four three-loss teams in the division. That’s why Illinois’ win at Nebraska dropped Big Ten Championship reservation prices for not just the Huskers but also Wisconsin and Minnesota by 38% each. A game on November 12 against Purdue is the last major stumbling block to the Illini winning the West.
Kansas State Makes Move in Big 12 Race
The Big 12’s parity has made for a very entertaining season thus far. The latest twist in the conference race came Saturday when Kansas State dominated Oklahoma State 48–0 despite turning to backup QB Will Howard with Adrian Martinez out. K-State, whose only loss in conference play so far was to undefeated TCU earlier in October, now controls its own destiny to at least get to the Big 12 Championship Game. And while the remaining schedule still presents some challenges, like an upcoming showdown with Texas, the Wildcats saw their conference championship game ticket reservation prices rise by 202% after Saturday’s win. K-State now has the highest reservation price of any Big 12 team, while the Longhorns are second.
A Sleeper Emerging in the ACC
The ACC’s clear favorite remains Clemson, which was on bye this past weekend ahead of a huge game against Notre Dame this weekend. But North Carolina has taken control of the ACC’s Coastal division entering November and even has a dark horse path to the College Football Playoff.
The Heels have rarely been dominant: Four of their seven wins have come by one score or less, and their lone loss came by 13 at the hands of Notre Dame. But UNC played one of its best games of the season Saturday in a 42–24 win over Pittsburgh behind a stellar day from QB Drake Maye, and now the Heels are clearly in the driver’s seat to at least get a shot at Clemson in December. UNC’s ACC Championship Game ticket reservation prices jumped another 22% this week after a 36% jump the week before, and we’ll see Tuesday where the College Football Playoff committee has them heading into a road matchup with Virginia this week.
Looking Ahead in the SEC West
One of the biggest movers in SI Tickets’ ticket reservation prices for conference championship games was LSU, despite the fact that the Tigers were on a bye. LSU’s reservation price for the SEC Championship Game dropped by 34% after fellow SEC West contender Ole Miss won at Texas A&M to stay at one loss.
The next two weeks will all but determine which of LSU, Ole Miss and Alabama ends up winning this division. Saturday, LSU hosts Alabama in Death Valley in the defining game of Brian Kelly’s first year as head coach in Baton Rouge. Tickets are listed on average for $365 on SI Tickets. Then, Alabama heads to Oxford to take on Ole Miss the following weekend. Win both road games, the Tide will be all but assured of a place in the SEC title game and would have bolstered their College Football Playoff hopes in the process. If not, things could get very interesting.
