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Little League player who fractured his skull heads home to Utah

Oliverson Family

(NEW YORK) — The Little League player who fractured his skull after falling from a bunk bed has thanked people for their well wishes amid his recovery as he heads back to his home state of Utah.

On Tuesday, in a video posted on the Instagram account set up to document his journey, the 12-year-old, Easton Oliverson, whose nickname is “Tank,” said that prayers for his recovery are working.

“Hi everyone, this is Easton — thank you for all of your prayers,” the Santa Clara, Utah, native said. “Please keep praying for me as I continue to get better, I know the prayers and blessings have worked, and that heavenly father is blessing me.”

Easton’s family has been amazed by his recovery two weeks after major surgery following the accident, and five days after successfully undergoing another procedure to put his skull cap back in, his family documented on Instagram.

Earlier this month, Easton fell off one of the bunk beds in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania, right before the Little League World Series and suffered an epidural hematoma, where his fractured skull injury was coupled with a punctured artery outside the brain that caused internal bleeding, according to his father, Jace Oliverson.

The Instagram support page thanked the doctors, nurses and medical staff who cared for Easton while he was admitted to Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital. The page said Easton and his mother, Nancy, would head back to Salt Lake City on Tuesday.

“While this is a great step forward, it’s bittersweet leaving behind the people that have put their heart and souls into Easton’s recovery. THANK YOU to each and every individual at Geisinger Hospital who played a role in taking care of, and saving our boy,” the page wrote.

The Snow Canyon player has seen remarkable support online since his admission to the hospital. Both the Brigham Young University football team and Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts posted videos on Instagram wishing the young player well.

Other videos Easton’s family posted included two nurses helping him walk down the hospital hallway.

“We are at a loss for words. There are none that seem fitting other than: God is Good,” the caption read.

“We love our Easton so much. Thank you for loving and supporting him with us. Keep the prayers coming — he’s getting stronger every day,” it added.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

 

Boyz II Men, Ne-Yo, Johnny Gill and more headline the Serenade tour

ABC/Mitch Haaseth

Boyz II Men, Ne-Yo, Johnny Gill, and his fellow New Edition group member Ralph Tresvant are among the male stars set to entertain the ladies on the new Serenade tour.

Each show will feature different performers, including Morris Day, Eric Benet, Dru Hill, 112, Donell Jones and Jacquees.

“This all-star lineup of male artists proves that R&B is not dead and that men celebrate women too,” promoter Heather Lowery, of Femme It Forward, said in a statement, according to Vibe.

Ty Dolla $ign will headline the first concert on September 16 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, followed by an October 7 show at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, starring Ne-Yo, Musiq Soulchild and J. Holiday. Boyz II Men, Dru Hill and 112 will also perform at the casino on November 25.

More concerts will be announced later on the Femme It Forward website. 

Tickets for the November and December shows go on sale this Friday, September 2, at 10 a.m. local time on Ticketmaster.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

 

Mariah Carey tells Meghan Markle being labeled a diva is both a compliment and a criticism

Courtesy Spotify

Mariah Carey is a guest on the latest episode of Archetypes, Meghan Markle’s podcast. The two women bond over being biracial, but also discuss a word that’s been used to describe both of them over the years: diva. Mariah says she doesn’t mind being called that, but she also doesn’t like its negative connotations.

The word originally meant a very talented women, usually in the arts, like an opera singer. Mariah tells Meghan, “People take it as a compliment now, some people, and then some people take it as, ‘Oh, she’s such a diva.'” When Meghan asks her if it’s a compliment or a criticism, Mariah says, “I think it’s both. For me, it’s both.”

Mariah says growing up, she used to hear her mom, who was an opera singer, describe friends as “very much the diva,” so she wasn’t entirely sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Of course, she now knows the origin of “diva,” but notes that it’s become an insult in the past 20 years or so.

“It became, like … they mean you’re a successful woman, usually,” she tells Meghan. “But also … a b***h. Like, it’s not O.K. for you to be a boss. It’s not O.K. for you to be a strong woman.” Mariah admits that most of the time, her super-extra diva behavior is “for laughs,” and her fans know it.

When asked by Meghan to describe herself in three words, Mariah doesn’t choose diva. Instead, she says, “Exhausted, angry…yet hopeful … But if I have to describe the whole thing, it’s faith, honestly.”

You can listen to the entire discussion now wherever you get your podcasts.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

 

Scoreboard roundup — 8/30/22

iStock

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE

Arizona 3, Chicago White Sox 2

Minnesota 8, San Francisco 3

Kansas City 15, San Diego 7

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Tampa Bay 12, Boston 4

LA Angels 8, Toronto 3

Houston 3, Baltimore 1

Detroit 9, Texas 8

Seattle 4, Cleveland 0

Oakland 4, NY Yankees 1

NATIONAL LEAGUE

LA Dodgers 8, Miami 1

Washington 3, Cincinnati 2

Pittsburgh 5, Philadelphia 0

Colorado 1, NY Mets 0

Milwaukee 9, Chicago Cubs 7

St. Louis 6, Atlanta 3

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PRESEASON

NY Jets 31, NY Giants 27

Pittsburgh 19, Detroit 9

WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS

Seattle 76, Las Vegas 73

Connecticut 68, Chicago 63

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER

Atlanta 3, DC United 2

Orlando City 2, New York City FC 1

LA Galaxy 2, New England 1

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

 

Duke volleyball player subjected to racial slurs hopes for changes in college sports

goduke.com

(DURHAM, N.C.) — A Duke University women’s volleyball player targeted by a fan using hateful, racial slurs while playing a game against Brigham Young University calls the incident an “opportunity” to curate a healthy environment for Black people in collegiate athletics.

Rachel Richardson, a sophomore at Duke, said she’s not angered by the situation that occurred at last Friday’s game, but would rather show compassion and educate people using her platform to spread awareness for similar incidents in the future.

“I’m not the first person, I’m not the last person,” Richardson told ABC News Tuesday. “This isn’t an isolated incident, but it’s an opportunity for not just me, but for anyone who has an opinion, anyone who has a voice to decide that it should be the last time.”

Richardson heard the slur “every time she served,” according to former Texas county prosecutor Lesa Pamplin, who is running for county judge and said Richardson is her goddaughter in a tweet posted on Saturday.

“She was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus. A police officer had to be put by their bench,” Pamplin tweeted. “Not one freaking adult did anything to protect her.”

Richardson didn’t condemn BYU for this incident, but singled out the alleged perpetrator.

“I know a lot of times when things like this happen, the perpetrators are met with anger. And that’s not what I want to happen in this moment,” Richardson said. “I don’t think that all of BYU should be condemned because grouping all of BYU together with the few students or non-students that were doing it would be the same thing that those people did to me, like viewing all Black people as less than. And I don’t want to sit down to a level.”

The fan, who was not a student, was sitting in the BYU student section, and was identified by Duke during the game, according to BYU. The fan has since been banned from all BYU athletic venues.

“To say we are extremely disheartened in the actions of a small number of fans in last night’s volleyball game in the Smith Fieldhouse between BYU and Duke is not strong enough language,” BYU said in a statement. “We will not tolerate behavior of this kind. Specifically, the use of a racial slur at any of our athletic events is absolutely unacceptable and BYU Athletics holds a zero-tolerance approach to this behavior. We wholeheartedly apologize to Duke University and especially its student-athletes competing last night for what they experienced.”

BYU Athletic Director Tom Holmoe, spoke out following the incident involving Richardson, telling their supporters to “not cross the line where you would hurt or harm anyone in any way,” and is taking the necessary steps to better educate his staff and student-athletes on ways to handle inappropriate behavior from fans in the future.

Although Holmoe spoke out against the racism, Richardson posted a statement on Twitter Sunday, claiming officials and BYU coaching staff were aware of what was happening during the game but failed to stop the fan and end the behavior.

“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 said Sunday. “It is not enough to indicate that you are not racist, instead you must demonstrate that you are anti-racist.”

Nina King, Duke University Vice President & Director of Athletics, said Friday’s alleged incident is unacceptable and all players should be able to compete in a safe environment.

“Duke student-athletes should always have the opportunity to compete in an inclusive, anti-racist environment which promotes equality and fair play,” King said in a statement on Saturday.

As for Richardson, she plans to continue making strides and serving nets on the volleyball court and to continue spreading light and compassion on and off the court.

“It’s not that you’re just a terrible person because you made that mistake the one time, it’s that you’re ignorant and that you need to be educated,” Richardson said. “Hopefully, that person can also meet you with compassion, open their heart, and be willing to learn and be willing to share what they’ve learned, because that’s how it happens. You know, it starts with one place and then it spreads.”

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