In an unexpected twist, ESPN’s heartfelt homage to its creator, Bill Rasmussen, met an abrupt interruption, replaced by a boisterous welcome to The Pat McAfee Show.

During the closing moments of First Take, the show aimed to honor Rasmussen’s substantial contributions. The man behind the concept of 24/7 sports broadcasting had recently passed at 93, leaving behind a legacy that reshaped sports media.

Reflecting on Rasmussen’s profound influence, personalities Evan Cohen, Jason McCourty, and Chris Canty shared poignant memories, while a tribute graphic adorned the screen. Host Courtney Cronin was in the midst of her closing remarks, beginning with ‘his legacy lives on’.

However, her solemn delivery was unexpectedly halted by the exuberant voice of Pat McAfee, who burst onto the airwaves with: ‘Hello and welcome to the Thunderdome beautiful people!’

Transitioning swiftly to his dynamic setting, the ex-NFL punter continued with flair: ‘And welcome to our humble abode, the DraftKings Thunderdome on this big ball Tuesday.’

The awkward end to the tribute quickly generated attention on social media, particularly given it involved McAfee, who has become a controversial new face of the network as one of its highest-paid employees.

ESPN has invested heavily in McAfee, funding his show with a $30-million-a-year contract while making a host of cuts in other areas. He is also set for a pay rise, according to reports, as talks continue over an extension of his contract.

Cronin broke news of Rasmussen’s passing earlier in the show after his battle with Parkinson’s disease ended in his Florida home. 

‘He was a sports fan turned broadcaster and entrepreneur who’s out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour, cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the landscape of sports media,’ she said. 

‘Bill was a remarkable man – a visionary and an innovator who conceived the idea of a network entirely devoted to sports,’ said ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro.

‘Quite simply, none of us would be here today if it wasn’t for Bill’s passion and all the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit he put into building ESPN in the late 1970s – key aspects of our company culture that still carry on to this day.’  

Pitaro added: ‘One of my greatest thrills since joining ESPN was getting to know Bill on a personal level. I will always cherish the memory of catching the ceremonial first pitch that he threw at Fenway Park in Boston in celebration of our 40th anniversary. His legacy will always be a part of ESPN.’

Rasmussen is survived by his two sons, Scott and Glenn, daughter Lynn, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He lost Lois, his wife of 56 years, back in 2011.   

The Chicago-born executive conceived the idea of ESPN with his son, Scott, in the 1970s after being fired as communications director of the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association.

While many initially dismissed his idea, he launched ESPN in 1.4 million homes on September 7, 1979. After serving as the company’s first president and CEO, he left after a few years having laid the groundwork for its astronomical success. 

‘Bill was our George Washington and a good friend,’ said veteran anchor Chris Berman, who joined ESPN three weeks after the original network launch in 1979.

‘He was such a grateful person and every sports fan can be grateful for Bill. He wasn’t a glass half-full guy; his glass was always overflowing with optimism. He greeted everyone with a smile and we can all smile knowing Bill’s legacy.’

Rasmussen revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2019. He became an ‘ambassador for Parkinson’s patients through both the American Parkinson Disease Association and The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research,’ per ESPN. 

In a dramatic courtroom moment on Tuesday, prosecutors sought to leverage religious beliefs in their case against Lindsay Clancy, questioning her Catholic mother-in-law about the sinfulness of murder. Their line of inquiry aimed to establish that Clancy comprehended her actions when she tragically took the lives of her children, countering the defense’s narrative of postpartum psychosis.

Lindsay Clancy, aged 36, faces charges of first-degree murder following the deaths of her young children—Cora, Dawson, and Callan—all under the age of six. They were found strangled in their home in Duxbury in 2023. The prosecution wrapped up their arguments on Monday morning.

During Tuesday’s proceedings, Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham posed a pointed question to Susan Clancy, Lindsay’s devout mother-in-law, asking if she believed murder to be a “mortal sin.”

Dramatic Moment in Court as Postpartum Mother Lindsay Clancy’s Trial is Disrupted by Emotional Breakdown

Susan Clancy didn’t answer the question, and Judge William Sullivan immediately called a sidebar and struck the remark from the record.

Susan Clancy told jurors Tuesday that she had concerns about Lindsay’s mental health during the 2022 holiday season, though she described her as a devoted mother.

“Lindsay was struggling. We were all very concerned,” Susan Clancy said. “She was very nurturing, very loving. She was a wonderful mother. Wonderful.”

Susan Clancy said she began seeing a decline in Lindsay’s mental health in November 2022.

“She reached out to me in November and told me that she felt unwell,” Susan Clancy said. “She felt… Mostly she had insomnia. She was losing her appetite. She was very anxious and sad.”

“She was begging for help,” Susan Clancy said.

Paula Musgrove, Lindsay Clancy’s mother, also told jurors about the mental health problems. In an Oct. 20, 2022 text message, Lindsay Clancy asked her mother for help.

“Mom, will you please come up and stay with me for a bit? I’m really sick. Something is wrong. I had horrible insomnia all night, and I just don’t know how I am going to get through the day… It’s just really scary, and I don’t want to be alone,” the text read.

Musgrove said she wasn’t concerned about the children’s safety.

Lindsay Clancy’s defense team will continue presenting its case Wednesday morning as her defense team seeks to convince jurors that she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis when she killed her children.

A history teacher from Beverly Hills, who spent three decades imparting knowledge, found herself experiencing severe distress after losing her job. The turmoil came in the wake of a Facebook post criticizing pro-Trump rhetoric following a Make America Great Again rally held at her school. This firing resulted in panic attacks, feelings of nausea, and physical tremors, as detailed in a recent lawsuit.

Joanie Garratt, an accomplished educator and Harvard alumna, was dismissed just days after the 2024 election. The termination was attributed to her social media post that lambasted Trump supporters celebrating their victory at the high school, according to legal documents.

During the rally, students adorned in MAGA hats and Trump-themed attire proudly waved flags. However, the event was marred by allegations that some individuals directed racial slurs at the Black Student Union, uttering inflammatory statements such as “deport all Mexicans.” These claims are a part of the lawsuit filed and reviewed by the California Post.

In response, Garratt took to social media to denounce what she described as “bullying,” accusing the students of “harassing & intimidating” their peers. She further attributed this behavior to what she termed the influence of “His Majesty, King Trump.”

Joanie Garratt’s dismissal came on November 13, 2024, when Mathew Horvath, the assistant superintendent, informed her that her return to the classroom was unwelcome. The decision, Horvath explained, was directly tied to her controversial Facebook post, as outlined in her lawsuit.

Garratt claims the firing caused severe emotional distress, sleeplessness, nausea, weight loss, tremors, humiliation and “irreparable harm to her reputation.”

The suit cites BHUSD policy stating employees cannot be disciplined for personal beliefs or activities unless they violate the law or district rules.

Garratt, who filed a wrongful termination claim shortly after her firing, is seeking general and special damages and is represented by attorney V. James DeSimone.

“Joanie’s post, which criticized harassment at the rally and attributed student conduct to political rhetoric whipped up as part of Donald Trump’s re-election strategy, is constitutionally protected speech,” DeSimone told The Post.

The Beverly Hills High School Unified School District was contacted by The Post for comment.

Hayden Panettiere was discovered unresponsive in a living room chair by the brother of her boyfriend, as reported by TMZ. 

An unnamed source revealed that it was Zach Hickerson who found the actress around 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. 

The source further reported that her boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, had been resting in a bedroom within the Greenville, South Carolina loft during the incident. 

Upon their inability to wake Hayden, Zach and Brian quickly dialed 911. Emergency medical services worked tirelessly for roughly an hour, but ultimately, she was pronounced dead before them, as detailed in the police report. 

Officers on the scene noted that Zach was visibly distressed while the paramedics administered CPR, whereas Brian’s reaction was more subdued until the official declaration of Hayden’s passing. 

After cops arrived, Brian allegedly then showed police a ‘bag of medication’ that Panettiere had been taking at the time of her death. 

The heavily redacted police report said officers arrived at 1.50pm, and officers found multiple EMS and firemen performing CPR for ‘an extended amount of time’ on the actress, ‘who did not seem to have any obvious physical reasons to be unresponsive.’

The Greenville County Coroner’s Office has said Panettiere’s cause of death remains under investigation, however audio of the 911 call from her apartment showed a dispatcher described it as a ‘cardiac arrest.’ 

A dispatcher could be heard in the audio saying that Panettiere had suffered a suspected overdose, and sources told TMZ that Narcan – a nasal medication used to treat an opioid overdose – was also found on a mattress at the property. 

Panettiere first began dating Brian in 2018, however their on-off relationship became tumultuous as he was arrested several times on domestic violence charges. 

Panettiere had spoken of her troubled childhood in the spotlight in recent months and revealed intimate details of her relationship with Brian in her memoir published three months before her death. 

She had an 11-year-old daughter with her ex-partner Wladimir Klitschko, a former boxer turned Ukrainian government official who has full custody of the youngster.  

In her memoir, titled This Is Me: A Reckoning, Panettiere alleged that Hickerson once beat her so severely that she had to remain in her house for weeks to keep her injuries from the public. 

She said she tried to keep the alleged abuse from the police because she feared the public would find out, and described her relationship as a ‘very dark and complicated time in my life.’

In one incident, Brian was arrested in May 2019, and court records show he was charged with injuring a spouse or girlfriend. He pleaded no contest to the allegations in April 2021, and he was sentenced to 45 days in county jail and four years’ probation. 

Just three days before Panettiere’s death, Brian’s request to reduce his past felony charges was denied by a judge.  

Panettiere’s relationship with Brian appeared to end in 2020, and in July of that year she filed for a restraining order against him. The outcome of her request is not stated in court records. 

The Greenville Police Department said in a statement that ‘the preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances,’ and an autopsy found ‘no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death.’ 

The star and her on-off real estate agent boyfriend were said to have flown from Los Angeles to South Carolina, where he is from, one day before she died. 

Panettiere welcomed daughter Kaya following a life-threatening birth, but later gave full custody to her former fiancé, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko. 

The star began acting as a child, appearing in soap operas, then gained wider recognition for her role in the 2000 sports drama Remember the Titans with Denzel Washington, and as the voice of Dot in Pixar’s 1998 film A Bug’s Life. 

Panettiere later found fame playing cheerleader Claire Bennet in the superhero drama Heroes before starring as country singer Juliette Barnes for six seasons on Nashville.

She earned two Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actress on the show, while her singing produced 11 entries on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.

Panettiere’s film credits include 2006’s Bring It On: All or Nothing, the comedy-drama film Raising Helen, and appearances in Scream 4 and Scream VI as Kirby Reed.

Renowned for his drumming prowess with the iconic blues rock band ZZ Top, Frank Beard has passed away at 77 years old.

A statement released on Tuesday by the band’s publicist confirmed the news of Beard’s passing, revealing he was in hospice and surrounded by family at his Richmond, TX ranch. The cause of his death has not been disclosed.

In March 2025, the band shared on their official X account that Beard had taken a temporary break from their ongoing tour due to an undisclosed health concern, expressing optimism for his swift recovery.

Born on June 11, 1949, in Frankston, Texas, Beard became part of the Houston music scene in 1969 with The Moving Sidewalks, which included Billy Gibbons as a vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. Soon after, the band rebranded to ZZ Top, launching their career after a lineup change that brought in bassist Dusty Hill. Their debut record, fittingly called “ZZ Top’s First Album,” was released in 1971.

Recalling their initial encounter, Billy Gibbons shared in the 2019 documentary “ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas” that he immediately recognized Beard’s drumming skills as exactly what he was seeking, saying, “It didn’t take 30 minutes; it didn’t take 30 seconds.”

“He played fiercely. He played with determination,” Gibbons said.The band’s follow-up, 1972’s “Rio Grande Mud,” featured the modest chart hit “Francine.” But it was ZZ Top’s breakout third album, 1973’s “Tres Hombres,” that put them on the map, largely on the strength of the album’s lead single, the blues rock boogie “La Grange.”

Featuring Beard’s signature snare-rim-tapping triplets intro beneath Billy Gibbons’ sly, growling vocals, then dropping into a hard-pounding shuffle groove two dozen bars in, “La Grange” helped propel “Tres Hombres” into the top 10 of the Billboard 200 all-genre albums chart on the way to becoming RIAA-certified gold for sales of more than 500,000 units.With a lineup unchanged for over half a century, the “Little ‘Ol Band from Texas” released 15 studio albums during Beard’s tenure, the latest being 2012’s “La Futura,” with nine of them reaching RIAA gold or platinum status. Of those, however, the biggest-selling remains 1983’s “Eliminator,” which sold more than 10 million units in the U.S. alone and includes the hits “Sharp-Dressed Man” and “Gimme All Your Lovin'” – both propelled by Beard’s hammering, driving backbeat – and “Legs.” The latter, the band’s highest-charting single, featured neither Beard nor bassist Hill, though they were credited.Other signature ZZ Top songs on which Beard played include “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide,” “Tush,” “Tube Snake Boogie,” “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” “Cheap Sunglasses,” “I Thank You,” “Beer Drinkers