Zoom, the video conferencing company that became everyone’s primary means of communication around work during the pandemic, will no longer be acquiring Five9, a maker of cloud-based customer-service software. Though the all-stock deal, announced in July, was expected to enable Zoom to tap into the lucrative contact center market, a few major hiccups along the way seemingly led to today’s decision.
First, Zoom’s shares, which moved in nearly a straight line toward the sky over the last couple of years, have more recently come under pressure, so the deal for Five9, which was valued at $14.7 billion in July, would have been considerably less today. (On the day that the deal was announced, Zoom’s shares were trading at around $360 each; they’re now trading at closer to $260 per share.)
It certainly didn’t help matters when Zoom last week disclosed that a U.S. Justice Department-led panel has been investigating the tie-up over concerns that it might create national security risks given Zoom’s ties to China.
Founder Eric Yuan is a naturalized American citizen who was born in China and moved to the U.S. as a 27-year-old in 1997. (Several years ago, we talked with Yuan about overcoming numerous hurdles to do this.)
Zoom also said last year that it had mistakenly routed some meetings through servers in China and that it shut down the account of an activist who was using the platform to commemorate China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown. Afterward, the company, which has said previously that a sizable part of its development team is in China (as is the case with many multinational companies), announced it would not permit requests from the Chinese government to impact anyone outside of mainland China.
Still, the figurative nail the coffin might have been a recommendation two weeks ago by the proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Service that Five9 shareholders vote against the acquisition over concerns about Zoom’s slowing growth.
That advice appears to have been heeded, with Five9 today issuing a news release that the merger plan had been “terminated by mutual agreement” between the two companies. It was also expected, evidently. As news broke that the deal was off, the share prices of both Zoom and Five9 barely budged.
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Texas House members on Thursday released the first proposal for a new map redrawing the chamber's 150-member districts. The initial draft would both increase Republicans' strength across the state and the number of districts in which white residents make up a majority of eligible voters.
House Bill 1, authored by Corpus Christi Rep. Todd Hunter, the GOP chair of the House Redistricting Committee, is just the first draft, and it will likely change as it makes its way through the legislative process before it’s signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott.
The Texas Legislature is in the midst of its third special session. This one is dedicated to redrawing political maps based on the latest census data that showed people of color fueled 95% of Texas’ population growth over the past decade. The percent of Hispanics is now nearly equal to white people in Texas.
But, the new map creates fewer districts where Black and Hispanic people make up a majority of eligible voters. Black and Hispanic Texans make up two racial groups that along with Asian Texans outpaced the growth of white residents in the state over the last decade.
Currently 83 of the chamber’s 150 districts are areas in which white residents make up a majority of eligible voters; 33 are districts where Hispanic voters make up the majority, while Black residents are the majority of eligible voters in seven districts.
Under the new proposal, the map adds six more districts where white residents make up the majority of eligible voters while the number of Hispanic and Black districts would each drop by three.
The proposed map would also change the partisan breakdown among the 150 districts, tilting the scale toward Republicans.
Currently, there are 76 districts that went to former President Donald Trump during the 2020 general election while 74 went to President Joe Biden. Among those, 50 districts voted 60% or more for Trump, — indicating the district is safely Republican — while 40 districts had more than 60% support for Biden — indicating strong Democratic support. Under the proposed new map, 86 districts would have gone for Trump, while 64 would have went for Biden. The number of districts that voted 60% or more for Trump or Biden would be tied at 46.
The House draft would also pit several incumbents against one another, including two El Paso Democrats — state Reps. Evelina "Lina" Ortega and Claudia Ordaz Perez — who would have to vie for the new House District 77.
In statements soon after the initial draft was released, both lawmakers criticized the proposal for pitting two Hispanic incumbents against the other.
Ortega, who referred to the proposal as "a direct attack on our border community," said she was "committed to working for our community to stop this injustice from occurring." Ordaz Perez said she would "refuse to sell out my values or those of the people I represent for political gain," adding that she intends to return to the lower chamber for another term "to fight for the people of El Paso."
In two other cases, state Reps. Jacey Jetton, R-Richmond, and Phil Stephenson, R-Wharton, would have to compete for the proposed House District 26, while state Reps. Kyle Biedermann, R-Fredericksburg, and Terry Wilson, R-Marble Falls, would face off for the new House District 19.
Later Thursday, disagreement emerged between Jetton and Stephenson over whether the latter had been drawn out of his district.
Stephenson's office told the Tribune that Jetton "isn't playing the nicest with this new map" and blamed him for drawing Stephenson out of his district.
Jetton, in a statement to the Tribune, acknowledged that while "there has been some confusion about Representative Stephenson's residence," it was his understanding that Stephenson resides in Wharton County, "so we are not actually paired in HD-26."
As for the other GOP matchup, it appeared later Thursday that the two incumbents could avoid a primary after Biedermann tweeted he may run in another district.
The first draft of the redistricted map of Texas House districts.Credit: Texas Legislative Council
Other incumbent pairings under the House proposal involve a lawmaker who is either running for another office or has already announced their retirement.
In the proposed Dallas-area House District 108, for example, state Rep. John Turner, D-Dallas, who would have to face off against state Rep. Morgan Meyer, R-Dallas, has already announced he will not seek another term to the lower chamber.
And in another North Texas race for House District 63, state Rep. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, who would have to compete against his colleague state Rep. Michelle Beckley, D-Carrollton, is running for a seat in the Senate, while Beckley is vying for a spot in Congress.
This is the first time in decades federal law allows Texas to draw and use political maps without first getting federal approval to ensure that they’re not violating the rights people of color. That federal preclearance requirement in the Voting Rights Act was gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013.
Since the enactment of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, Texas has not made it through a single decade without a federal court admonishing it for violating federal protections for voters of color.
The 2021 Texas Tribune Festival, the weeklong celebration of politics and policy featuring big names and bold ideas, wrapped on Sept. 25, but there’s still time to tune in. Explore dozens of free, on-demand events before midnight Thursday, Sept. 30, at tribfest.org.
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Texas House proposes map that increases Republican strength and decreases Black and Hispanic majority districts - The Texas Tribune
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Wyze, the budget-focused tech company that now sells everything from security cameras to headphones, has launched a new smart scale with four built-in electrodes capable of measuring everything from body fat percentage to body water percentage. In addition to weighing humans, there is also a dedicated mode to let you weigh your “baby, pet, luggage, or your kid’s absurdly heavy backpack,” Wyze says. The Scale S follows the original Wyze Scale released last year, but it’s $5 cheaper with a price of just $15.
Weight is displayed on the built-in 3.5-inch LED display, while a companion app (of course) allows you to set goals and track progress over time. It can sync data with Fitbit, Google Fit, and Apple Health and track data for up to eight different users. Battery life is rated at 18 months from the included trio of AAA batteries.
In total, Wyze says the Scale S is capable of measuring 11 body composition metrics, which is broadly in line with its original scale. These include: weight, body fat percentage, lean body mass, BMI, muscle weight, visceral fat, basal metabolic rate, bone mass, metabolic age, protein, and body water percentage. The Scale S will also eventually be able to track heart rate, Wyze says, although this functionality is launching later.
Alongside its scales, Wyze is also announcing a version of its Wyze Cam Outdoor with a Forest Camo skin made in collaboration with Dbrand. The camera is shipping now for $59.99, which translates to a $10 premium over the standard outdoor security camera. The Wyze Scale S, meanwhile, is available to preorder starting today and will ship in November.
Travel experts offer advice on finding rental cars this summer
Travel experts say even if you can find a rental car, you might end up paying 10 times the normal amount as rental car companies struggle to increase their inventory — but there are ways to find a cheaper ride.
Pernell Anthony Jones Jr., 31, and Donmonick Martin, 29, are accused of booking flights under false identities and making false claims to commercial airlines including American, Alaska, Southwest, United and JetBlue, for reimbursement for lost luggage, according to prosecutors.
Since 2015, the duo submitted over 180 phony claims for flights in and out of Louisiana's Louis Armstrong International Airport and requested over $550,000 in reimbursement, according to prosecutors, which noted that the airlines paid over $300,000 in fraudulent claims.
The scam started in 2015 when Jones would book flights under a false identity using pre-loaded gift cards, according to court documents.
When arriving at the airport, Jones would "obtain a ticket for a checked bag even though he would not check a bag," court documents say. In some cases, Jones allegedly brought a bag "for the purpose of claiming that he had lost it."
After landing, Jones would then issue a false claim to the airline that his luggage had been lost and requested reimbursement as compensation, causing "airlines to mail reimbursement checks through the United States Postal Service," according to prosecutors.
Meanwhile, Martin is accused of going to the Louis Armstrong International Airport in January 2020 under a false identity and claiming to American Airlines that his bag was lost, prosecutors say. On four separate occasions, Martin accepted reimbursement funds from airlines for false claims for lost baggage, according to prosecutors.
As part of the scam, Jones and Martin would "provide the commercial airlines with a false list of high value items that were purportedly in the lost baggage to ensure the commercial airlines would agree to pay the maximum reimbursement of $3,500 for domestic flights," according to court documents.
The Global Luggage & Travel Bags Market size was estimated at USD 24.07 Billion in 2020 and expected to reach USD 25.53 Billion in 2021, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) 6.39% to reach USD 34.91 Billion by 2026.
Market Statistics:
The report provides market sizing and forecast across five major currencies - USD, EUR GBP, JPY, and AUD. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2018 and 2019 are considered historical years, 2020 as the base year, 2021 as the estimated year, and years from 2022 to 2026 are considered the forecast period.
Competitive Strategic Window:
The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.
FPNV Positioning Matrix:
The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Luggage & Travel Bags Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.
Market Share Analysis:
The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.
Company Usability Profiles:
The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Luggage & Travel Bags Market, including Ace Co. Ltd., Adidas AG, Delsey SA., Kering SA, Luggage Company, LVMH, LVMH Group, Nike Inc., Rimowa GmbH, Samsonite, TGHI, Inc., Travelpro Products, Inc., and VIP Industries.
The report provides insights on the following pointers:
1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players
2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets
3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments
4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players
5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments
The report answers questions such as:
1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Luggage & Travel Bags Market?
2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Luggage & Travel Bags Market during the forecast period?
3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Luggage & Travel Bags Market?
4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Luggage & Travel Bags Market?
5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Luggage & Travel Bags Market?
6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Luggage & Travel Bags Market?
7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Luggage & Travel Bags Market?
Key Topics Covered:
1. Preface
2. Research Methodology
3. Executive Summary
4. Market Overview
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Cumulative Impact of COVID-19
5. Market Insights
5.1. Market Dynamics
5.1.1. Drivers
5.1.1.1. Booming travel and tourism industry globally
5.1.1.2. Rapid urbanization and changing lifestyles with growing per capita income among middle class population
5.1.1.3. Potential demand for innovative products such as polycarbonate luggage
5.1.2. Restraints
5.1.2.1. Highly unorganized market
5.1.3. Opportunities
5.1.3.1. Technological advancements such as smart luggage with GPS tracker
5.1.3.2. Rising demand from the emerging economies
5.1.4. Challenges
5.1.4.1. Availability of cheaper substitutes
5.2. Porters Five Forces Analysis
5.2.1. Threat of New Entrants
5.2.2. Threat of Substitutes
5.2.3. Bargaining Power of Customers
5.2.4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers
5.2.5. Industry Rivalry
6. Luggage & Travel Bags Market, by Product
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Business Bags
6.3. Casual Bags
6.4. Travel Bags
7. Luggage & Travel Bags Market, by Distribution Channel
7.1. Introduction
7.2. Factory Outlets
7.3. Internet Sales
7.4. Specialist Retailers
9. Americas Luggage & Travel Bags Market
9.1. Introduction
9.2. Argentina
9.3. Brazil
9.4. Canada
9.5. Mexico
9.6. United States
10. Asia-Pacific Luggage & Travel Bags Market
10.1. Introduction
10.2. Australia
10.3. China
10.4. India
10.5. Indonesia
10.6. Japan
10.7. Malaysia
10.8. Philippines
10.9. Singapore
10.10. South Korea
10.11. Thailand
11. Europe, Middle East & Africa Luggage & Travel Bags Market
11.1. Introduction
11.2. France
11.3. Germany
11.4. Italy
11.5. Netherlands
11.6. Qatar
11.7. Russia
11.8. Saudi Arabia
11.9. South Africa
11.10. Spain
11.11. United Arab Emirates
11.12. United Kingdom
13. Company Usability Profiles
13.1. Ace Co. Ltd.
13.2. Adidas AG
13.3. Delsey SA.
13.4. Kering SA
13.5. Luggage Company
13.6. LVMH
13.7. LVMH Group
13.8. Nike Inc.
13.9. Rimowa GmbH
13.10. Samsonite
13.11. TGHI, Inc.
13.12. Travelpro Products, Inc.
13.13. VIP Industries
A vacation packed with outdoor adventures is not always synonymous with roughing it. There are numerous adventure lodges across the world that offer activities to satisfy the outdoor enthusiast in you, capped off with five star accommodations to unwind at night. Sounds pretty good right? Whether you decide to head to a bonefishing lodge in the Caribbean, a five-star hunting lodge, or one of the world’s best ski resorts, you do need to make sure you bring the proper gear to maximize your experience. The one thing these lodges don't provide is luggage — but not to worry because YETI has all the bags you need to get your gear there and back safely.
Crossroads Luggage 29"
Gear Patrol Studios
Gear Patrol Studios
YETI's Crossroads 29" is a durable piece of rolling luggage that's perfect for a trip to an adventure lodge. It's loaded with features that will make packing for your destination as seamless as possible. Made with rugged TuffSkin™ Nylon, this is the no-sacrifices-carry-on ready to take on the dirt, grime and mud that travel throws your way. It also features removable modular compression straps that make even the worst packer a pro. Plus, you can use the straps on the inside or on the exterior of the bag, depending on your preference. And with an interior Pocket Divider Panel, you’ll never lose track of any of your valuables. So pick your dream destination, throw your bag in the overhead bin and start your next adventure.
Island Lake Lodge is in the heart of scenic British Columbia, Canada, and has activities for outdoor enthusiasts 365 days of the year. If you're looking for a fall getaway, check out its hiking, mountain biking and fly fishing excursions. If you plan to go in the winter, then the legendary cat skiing is a must. With three extraordinary mountain lodges and multiple dining options, this is a must-see destination.
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Former Alabama quarterback Blake Sims can still remember the feeling of that November night back in 2014, when he and the offense were standing on the field in overtime at LSU. With his mind and heart racing, and the roar of the Tiger Stadium crowd ringing in his ears, he shot a glance toward the sideline and Coach Nick Saban.
Less than 24 hours earlier, first-year offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin had come up with the play Sims was about to run -- a daring empty set formation in which the offensive tackle, Cam Robinson, would split out wide as a receiver and a 305-pound reserve tight end, Brandon Greene, would masquerade as an offensive lineman.
The play's name doubled as a sort of warning: Oh S---.
"Oh s---," Kiffin had warned Sims and the rest of the offense in their team meeting the night before, "if this doesn't work guys, Coach Saban is going to kill me on national TV."
No blood was shed. LSU didn't pick up on the fact that Greene was actually an eligible receiver as he took off down the middle of the field after the snap and hauled in a 24-yard reception on the first play of overtime, leading to a 20-13 Alabama victory.
"We all would have gotten our asses ripped if that play would have gone bad, not just Coach Kiffin," said Sims. "But that's the way Coach Kiffin rolls. He wasn't afraid to take chances, and Coach Saban wasn't afraid to take a chance on him ... and you see what that's led to."
Much like that play, the pairing of Saban and Kiffin was high-risk at the time and genius in hindsight. And it has now come full circle, as Kiffin returns to Bryant-Denny Stadium to lead his No. 12 Ole Miss Rebels against Saban's No. 1 Crimson Tide on Saturday.
But for the full story of how Alabama transitioned from ground-and-pound, game-manager-QB Alabama to high-flying, first-round-QBs-and-Heisman-winning-receiver Alabama, you have to start at the beginning, when the sport's most accomplished head coach took a chance on the game's most controversial.
"I remember him saying, 'I feel like our offense is a Lamborghini, but it's headed off a cliff,' meaning we've got these great players, but are behind the times in what we're doing," said Kiffin, recalling their first meeting after he was hired. "So we needed to change directions."
When Auburn's Chris Davis caught a missed field goal and returned it more than 100 yards for a game-winning score against Alabama in the 2013 Iron Bowl, it did more than dash any hope the Crimson Tide had of winning a third straight national title. It was the final signal to Saban that his program, despite its massive success, was beginning to grow outdated offensively.
While Auburn, Ole Miss and Texas A&M were using tempo and spreading the field with multiple receivers, Alabama was still putting the quarterback under center and still utilizing a mostly pro-style playbook.
Saban, after years of complaining about how the rules were tilted in favor of spread and hurry-up offenses, was eager to play catch-up with what he called the "fastball guys."
So two weeks after losing to Auburn, an unlikely visitor started popping up at the Alabama practice field.
Center Ryan Kelly barely noticed Kiffin hanging around those few days in mid-December. Former coaches were always coming and going, Kelly explained.
Speaking to reporters, Saban brushed off the importance of Kiffin's visit. Never mind that Kiffin was one of the most eccentric and divisive figures in college football. The 38-year-old had recently been fired by USC and was only four years removed from bailing on Tennessee after just one season.
Saban said hosting Kiffin was an opportunity for "professional development."
"Obviously," Kelly said, "that was the precursor to what was coming."
Sims, who was a backup at the time but knew Kiffin from his recruitment by Tennessee, was one of the few players who put two and two together.
"I said, 'We're about to be deadly, so cold,' because I knew what he would do with our offense," Sims said. "It was the perfect combination, Coach Saban's structure and Coach Kiffin's creative mind."
In the ensuing days, everything came together. Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier told Sims and the rest of the offense that the Sugar Bowl would be his last game at Alabama. He would eventually land the same job at Michigan.
During a recruiting visit, Saban pulled linebackers coach Lance Thompson into a bathroom for a private conversation. Thompson said Saban told him he had three candidates in mind to replace Nussmeier. One of them was Kiffin, whom Thompson had worked for at Tennessee.
Saban asked Thompson, now the inside linebackers coach at Florida Atlantic, what he thought.
"I'd hire Lane, Coach," he said. "He's a special playcaller."
Thompson then paused for a moment. "But I'm going to tell you," he said, "he's different."
Saban didn't miss a beat.
"I ain't never had a problem handling an assistant coach," he said.
Saban would ultimately hire Kiffin and test his confidence about wrangling wayward assistants. Their personalities were so far apart, Thompson said, "It was like Earth and Neptune."
Their collision caused fireworks at times, but more importantly, it led to the total re-imagining of Alabama's offense and the resurrection of Kiffin's career.
"People think you go there because it's coaching rehab and you get a head job somewhere else," Kiffin told ESPN earlier this week. "I guess that's one way to approach it, and some people do. But for me, I look back at all of the things I learned under [Saban] that made me a better coach despite everything that's been said about our time together and any differences we might have had."
There were plenty of skeptics when Saban brought Kiffin on board.
"A lot of people might have been surprised when I brought Lane in as coordinator, probably even here in the building," Saban told ESPN. "But I wanted to grow on offense. We needed to grow, and I felt like he was the best guy at that time to help us do that."
But this wouldn't be a simple course correction. Because while Saban wanted to implement the spread and use more tempo, Kiffin had very little history of doing either. At Tennessee and USC, he had run a similar pro-style attack as Alabama.
"He researched all that stuff and we'd go over it," Saban said. "... So I was kinda learning it from him, and he was learning it from other people."
For much of the next two years, Kiffin did his homework on those coaches and teams running up-tempo offenses with run-pass elements (RPOs). He paid careful attention to what Steve Sarkisian, whom he worked with at USC, was doing as head coach at Washington, racking up more than 600 total yards of offense in a game five times during the 2013 season.
There were also talks with Tom Herman when he was the offensive coordinator at Ohio State and Doug Meacham at TCU. Kiffin said he remained in touch with Chip Kelly, who was then in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles after coaching against Kiffin while at Oregon.
That April, during Kiffin's first spring at Alabama, the Crimson Tide hosted their annual coaching clinic. There were a few usual suspects, such as former Alabama coaches Gene Stallings and Sylvester Croom, but among the headliners was someone with no ties to the school or Saban: Baylor coach and hurry-up offensive guru Art Briles, who was later fired in response to a review of the school's handling of sexual assault allegations against students, including several football players.
Thompson said Briles' attendance was no coincidence.
"There's not a coach that comes to a clinic that Nick doesn't sit down with individually and talk to and the coaches on the offensive and defensive side of the ball talk to those guys, too," Thompson said. "Every coach from another program, every coach that's brought in for an interview, is brought in for a purpose."
That purpose: "To gain new information."
Saban and Kiffin left no stone unturned. In their second year together, no-huddle guru Eric Kiesau was brought in on staff as an offensive analyst. Kiesau, now the receivers coach at Auburn, worked under Sarkisian at Washington and was previously the offensive coordinator at Colorado and passing game coordinator at Cal. He was a valuable sounding board for Kiffin on such things as using the sideline boards that help teams go faster on offense.
Alabama ran what was then a school-record 1,088 offensive plays in 2015 after running 1,018 the year before. The Tide had not run more than 898 plays in a season the previous four years.
"Everybody says that I go through so many guys on offense," Saban said. "Look, I learn from all of them. We went through a transformation when Lane was here ... intentionally. It was intentional. I wanted to, and he wanted to, too, and we've continued to build."
The transition wasn't seamless, though.
For instance: Kelly remembers how frustrated he was when he found out Kiffin wanted to scrap the traditional way quarterbacks signaled for the snap with a voice command like "hike" in favor of clapping. Kelly said he let it be known to his coaches, "How does this make sense? Like, anybody could be clapping, right?"
"There was give and take," explained Kelly, who's in his sixth season with the Indianapolis Colts.
That applied to the staff's interaction with Kiffin, too.
One time, Kelly recalled, he thought offensive line coach Mario Cristobal was going to lose it on Kiffin.
"He was so close to walking into Lane's office and strangling him," Kelly said. "Because they were going out to practice and there were five new plays we hadn't installed and no one could find Lane."
Over time, Saban grew increasingly frustrated with what he said was a lack of organization on Kiffin's part.
"I wanted things done a certain way," Saban said. "I wanted the coaches to meet. I wanted everybody to have input, and that was not his style. Some of the other coaches complained to me about it, and I always said that Lane would be a much better head coach than an assistant because when you're a head coach and you know what you want to do and you've got organized people around you, you really don't need to be that organized."
One assistant on that staff joked: "Lane Kiffin and Nick Saban were a match. It just wasn't a match made in heaven."
When Kiffin arrived in Tuscaloosa, Blake Sims was no one's idea of a record-setting SEC quarterback.
AJ McCarron had just left for the NFL and former Florida State quarterback Jake Coker had transferred in, becoming the odds-on favorite to start.
The coaching staff loved Sims, but if they're being honest, Thompson said, they were surprised he beat out Coker and started a single game. Even Sims admits he was recruited to Alabama by Kirby Smart to play free safety.
"He'd been Scout Team Player of the Week more than anybody in the history of Alabama football," Thompson said. "He had played running back, safety, quarterback, wide receiver, fullback, tight end. The kid had played everything. He was such a wonderful kid. And then Lane comes and does a great job giving him stuff that he can do."
Overnight, Sims transformed into a deft distributor of the football, making the kind of quick decisions that allowed All-America receiver Amari Cooper and others to shine.
That was no accident. Thompson said that during the lead up to the season, Kiffin shortened the terminology of plays, cutting 10-word calls in half in order to make things easier for everyone to understand, and Sims responded by passing for more yards (3,487) than anybody in the history of Alabama football had passed for to that point.
Whereas the year before the playbook was the size of a novel, Kelly said, it was suddenly condensed into a single chapter.
"To see a guy who really before that played kind of a utility role turn into that," Kelly said of Sims, "that was obviously a lot of Lane's doing. He figured out, 'What's this guy's strengths and weaknesses? And let's play those advantages.' And that's ultimately what he did the entire time I was there my last two years."
Sims, who's now playing for the Spokane Shock in the Indoor Football League, would watch tape with Cooper and running back Kenyan Drake of those Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush USC teams when Kiffin was the Trojans' offensive coordinator.
"It was always amazing to me how he could see one play on film and know immediately how to attack the defense," Sims said. "He could be standing on the field and see things nobody else could."
In the Florida game that 2014 season, Kiffin pulled Sims and Drake aside before the game and devised a play for Drake to split out wide as a receiver and Sims to line up in the shotgun in an empty backfield. On the first play from scrimmage, Drake found himself matched against a linebacker and ran a slant-and-go route for an easy 75-yard touchdown reception.
Kiffin said they had never practiced that "sluggo" route with Drake, but that he had this "weird feeling" that Florida would be in man coverage.
"I thought about it at the last minute and we put it in in the locker room," said Kiffin, adding that Bush ran that similar play for a long touchdown against Notre Dame in 2004.
Sims said: "You just didn't see Alabama doing that kind of stuff before, but Coach Kiffin was great at getting those matchups and finding ways to get his best players the ball."
As a playcaller, Saban said Kiffin is the best he's ever been around.
"He sees how the defense is playing something and immediately knows," Saban said, snapping his fingers for emphasis, "what he wants to run against it."
Saban said it's overblown how much he and Kiffin sparred that first season when it came to football, and even Kiffin said his former boss is a much better listener than people give him credit for, at least in certain areas.
"On scheme, yes. But not when it comes to the structure of his program," Kiffin said. "It's hard to argue that, though. Look at his success."
Much like the "Oh S---" play against LSU, Kiffin was renowned for coming up with plays, even on the day of the game, which made it seem like sandlot football at times. And yes, he felt the wrath of Saban, but it usually was worth it.
"Some people when you get into a very structured environment like that, and you're a little bit more of a color-outside-the-lines guy, just sort of conform because they can't handle the pressure if it doesn't work," said one former assistant coach. "But Lane would color outside the lines, and if two things worked and two things didn't work, it wouldn't faze him mentally."
One of the areas where Kiffin and Saban clashed most often that first season came on resting players, especially during practice, and cutting down on their reps later in the season.
"I didn't win many of those battles," Kiffin said. "Maybe the only one was with Amari Cooper. He was like a running back that year. He caught 124 passes [a school record]. I just wanted to make sure he still had his legs at the end of the season."
Saban admits that he's old-school, but not to the point of being stubborn.
"I'm old-school when it comes to doing things right and being disciplined, all that," Saban said. "I'm not old-school in the technical aspects of playing the game. There are differences, and I don't think people get that sometimes.
"So I do listen. I listen a lot, listened to Lane [on Cooper]. That's how you learn. Now, there are some things I'm just not willing to compromise."
While there might have been some concession on Cooper and his reps that season, a coach on that staff said Saban is unwavering when it comes to practice.
"That wasn't going to change, and it hasn't changed," the coach said. "And anybody who tells you it has changed is lying. The process is the process, and the way [Saban] develops his football team with practice reps is not changing. It wasn't Lane's call. It wasn't my call. It was Coach Saban's call.
"Now, do you have the ability to get him to expand what his intent is? Yes. Lane got him to expand his thinking on certain things. But change? No."
In retrospect, Kiffin admits he might have pressed too hard, too fast, on some things.
"Like a lot of people do with a previous marriage, I look back on my time now with Coach Saban differently," Kiffin said. "I could have done much better with just, 'Yes sir,' no matter what he said. That's the majority of that building. They say, 'Yes sir,' no matter what. I guess my issue was that I wasn't trained that way. I'd been a head coach and an assistant coach to Pete Carroll for six years. Pete Carroll was not a 'yes sir' environment at all. It was more, 'Bring up whatever ideas you want.'"
The two coaches stood at midfield inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium after one of the most exciting games last season, Kiffin wearing an Ole Miss powder blue face covering and shaking hands with his former boss, Saban, who was decked out in head-to-toe Alabama gear.
For three-and-a-half quarters, they'd gone back and forth in an old fashioned shootout. The final score: Alabama 63, Ole Miss 48.
"That damn Lane, he said it after they played us last year: 'Everything I told him for three years, he wrote it down,'" Saban would later say with a smile. "He said after the game, 'I did every one of those things in the game.'
"He had a whole notepad of s--- that I said was a problem to defend when we were together, and he said, 'I did every one of them.'"
The two teams combined for an SEC-record 1,370 yards, and the 647 yards the Rebels churned out were the most ever against the Tide.
It was a brand of football that would have been unrecognizable to Saban and Kiffin when they first joined up.
"We used to recruit against Alabama at USC and Tennessee and would say, 'You're a great quarterback. Don't go there. You'll be a game manager. You'll never put up big numbers,'" Kiffin said. "If you were a receiver, we would tell them not to go there. Here's Julio Jones, one of the greatest of all time, and he never had more than 78 catches, but yet, Amari Cooper had 124."
In Kiffin's three years in Tuscaloosa, the Tide went 40-4 with three College Football Playoff appearances and one national title.
Of course, Kiffin didn't make it to Alabama's national title game that third year, having been dismissed by Saban earlier in the week. Kiffin had taken the head job with Florida Atlantic, and Saban felt he wasn't paying enough attention to his Alabama job after the Tide scored just two offensive touchdowns and freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for just 57 yards in a 24-7 national semifinal win over Washington.
"You look back and see where you were at fault and what I could have done better," Kiffin said. "Now I find myself, which is like a kid saying and doing the same things his parents did, sounding a lot like Coach Saban."
When Kiffin left, Alabama's offense only got scarier under future offensive coordinators Mike Locksley and Sarkisian. The program produced first-round quarterbacks in Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones, who put up record-setting numbers when throwing to game-breaking, first-round receivers like Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III, Jaylen Waddle and last year's Heisman winner, DeVonta Smith.
As one longtime staffer said, "There's a narrative out there that the Alabama offense exploded under Lane, and he was a big part of where it is now. But the explosion came under Locks and Sark. Just look at the numbers over the last few years."
Alabama has finished in the top three in scoring offense each of the past three years and sixth or better in both total offense and passing offense the past three years. Of course, it has done it with three straight quarterbacks drafted in the first round and nine running backs, receivers or tight ends selected in the first three rounds of the past four drafts.
Most in and around the program at that time also agree that Kiffin's offenses helped to attract more elite skill people.
"I do feel like the numbers we put up and what we started to do on offense made it more attractive for offensive skill players to come from all over the country because they always got great defensive players," Kiffin said.
Just look at Alabama's current quarterback: Bryce Young, a former five-star prospect from California. Young's father said they didn't take Alabama seriously as a destination until they saw the offense begin to open up with Tagovailoa at quarterback. Young's top receivers are John Metchie III, who is from Canada, and Jameson Williams, a Missouri native who transferred from Ohio State.
Kiffin enters Saturday's matchup with another another California quarterback, Matt Corral, who is lighting up the scoreboards with 14 touchdowns in three games and is the new Heisman front-runner.
Ole Miss leads the country in scoring offense (52.7 points per game) and total offense (638.3 yards per game), while Alabama isn't far behind with 46.5 points per game.
And now Kiffin has a chance to make good on an old promise when he returns to Tuscaloosa for the first time as an opposing head coach since 2009, his lone year at Tennessee. After the Vols pushed the Tide to the brink before losing, 12-10, the cocky young Kiffin met Saban at midfield.
WASHINGTON — The House is bracing for a much-anticipated vote on a major infrastructure bill that doesn't appear to have the support it needs to pass.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters Wednesday that she wants it to pass Thursday, but she left wiggle room to delay the vote. The legislation, which passed the Senate last month, is opposed by scores of progressive Democratic lawmakers, who say they want progress on legislation to bolster the social safety net, called Build Back Better, to come first.
"If it happens before the Build Back Better Act, I think it will be voted down. I know it will be voted down," said progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., counting himself among the "no" votes.
Sept. 27, 202101:43
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has promised that more than half the 95 members of the group will vote against the infrastructure bill if it comes up before the safety net bill.
The holdup is the result of a standoff between Democratic moderates, who want to de-link the two measures and pass the $550 billion infrastructure bill quickly, and progressive lawmakers, who are holding it up because they don't trust centrists to support the bigger one without the smaller one.
Jayapal said the problem is the Senate, particularly centrist Democrats Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who haven't said what they support or oppose in the $3.5 trillion House version.
"They need to come up with their counteroffer, and then we sit down and negotiate from there," she told reporters Wednesday.
Centrist Democrats say the infrastructure bill must pass Thursday.
Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition, said Democratic leadership "needs to whip this vote as aggressively as they whipped the budget resolution vote."
"If the vote were to fail tomorrow or be delayed, there would be a significant breach in trust that would slow the momentum in moving forward in delivering the Biden agenda," she said.
The heart of the dispute is that progressives believe the infrastructure and safety net bills were part of a packaged deal in which each wing of the party could achieve its priority. Centrists say they never signed off on any such deal and want to separate the two bills. Each side needs the other's votes to pass either bill under the wafer-thin Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate.
House Republicans don't plan to offer much help. They're pressuring their members to vote "no" on the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Rep. Tom Malinowski of New Jersey, a moderate Democrat first elected in 2018, said the party should keep calm and carry on, regardless of what happens Thursday.
He said the infrastructure bill can come up again and pass, and that both proposals ought to pass.
"The only thing that my district cares about is that we deliver. They don't care about the process," he said. "They don't care whether we do it on Sept. 27 or 29 or Oct. 2. What matters is that we deliver. And Democrats win by being the party that delivers."
Malinowski told reporters that House Democrats are frustrated that they don't know where the Senate stands on the bigger bill. Democrats have 50 votes in the Senate and need all of them.
"There's a frustration. For the negotiation to succeed, everybody has to say what they want," Malinowski said, adding that "if everybody were to come to the table" and say what they can support or oppose, Democrats could "come to a deal very quickly."
President Joe Biden has been involved in the talks, meeting and speaking regularly with Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. He recently called on centrists like Manchin to come up with a price tag they can get behind so Democrats can proceed.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a progressive who has said she won't support the infrastructure bill before the safety net package, called on Biden to resolve the dispute, saying he should use "the immense power that he has with the executive to really bring the party together and say: We're going to pass both of these bills at once."
"That eliminates the infighting. It gets rid of all of this drama," she said. "This is the entire agenda. We'll do it in one fell swoop, and we don't have to worry about all of this hostage-taking."
Sahil Kapur is a national political reporter for NBC News.
Garrett Haake, Haley Talbot and Kyle Stewart contributed.
Travel experts offer advice on finding rental cars this summer
Travel experts say even if you can find a rental car, you might end up paying 10 times the normal amount as rental car companies struggle to increase their inventory — but there are ways to find a cheaper ride.
Pernell Anthony Jones Jr., 31, and Donmonick Martin, 29, are accused of booking flights under false identities and making false claims to commercial airlines including American, Alaska, Southwest, United and JetBlue, for reimbursement for lost luggage, according to prosecutors.
Since 2015, the duo submitted over 180 phony claims for flights in and out of Louisiana's Louis Armstrong International Airport and requested over $550,000 in reimbursement, according to prosecutors, which noted that the airlines paid over $300,000 in fraudulent claims.
The scam started in 2015 when Jones would book flights under a false identity using pre-loaded gift cards, according to court documents.
When arriving at the airport, Jones would "obtain a ticket for a checked bag even though he would not check a bag," court documents say. In some cases, Jones allegedly brought a bag "for the purpose of claiming that he had lost it."
After landing, Jones would then issue a false claim to the airline that his luggage had been lost and requested reimbursement as compensation, causing "airlines to mail reimbursement checks through the United States Postal Service," according to prosecutors.
Meanwhile, Martin is accused of going to the Louis Armstrong International Airport in January 2020 under a false identity and claiming to American Airlines that his bag was lost, prosecutors say. On four separate occasions, Martin accepted reimbursement funds from airlines for false claims for lost baggage, according to prosecutors.
As part of the scam, Jones and Martin would "provide the commercial airlines with a false list of high value items that were purportedly in the lost baggage to ensure the commercial airlines would agree to pay the maximum reimbursement of $3,500 for domestic flights," according to court documents.
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It’s officially fall, and that usually means that peak travel season is upon us. With the holidays just around the corner, folks are gearing up to travel for the first time in over a year. For many, that means upgrading their travel bags and suitcases to some of the best hardside luggage options on the market.
There are many reasons why many prefer hardside luggage over softside options. Ranking high on the list is their massive durability, rugged build, expandable form factor and sleeker design.
Most shoppers prefer hardside luggage when checking in bags for flights because, unlike carry-on bags, they need an extra layer of security since it’s not on their person. Once handed over to baggage handlers, checked bags are usually frivolously tossed around and aren’t handled with care or consideration of what’s inside.
This hard outer shell keeps the suitcase’s contents secure, safe and intact no matter how aggressively it’s tossed around.
To make your shopping experience a bit easier, we’ve taken the guessing game out of shopping for the best hardside luggage options on today’s market. From the best option you can buy to the most affordable pick, we’ve got you covered.
Monos’ best-selling Check-In is arguably the best all-in-one and most secure option you can buy. It comes in both medium and large and features an unbreakable polycarbonate shell, so it will maintain its shape while being tossed around.
It also features an ultra-sturdy telescopic handle, a TSA-approved built-in lock, whisper-quiet spinning wheels, vegan leather details, an anti-microbial laundry bag, two shoe bags and a vegan leather luggage tag.
Made specifically for tough handling and longer trips, this hardside suitcase has everything we love about premium luggage: multi-directional spinner wheels, a retractable pull handle, a TSA-compatible lock and more.
One of the biggest misconceptions about hardside luggage is that they’re extremely pricey and unattainable for those on a budget. Proving that this couldn’t be further from the truth, Walmart’s customer-favorite Protege 28-Inch Checked Colossus ABS Hardside Luggage is only $63.
If you’re looking for an option that’s expandable and also extremely lightweight, the DELSEY Paris Helium 29-Inch Aero Hardside Expandable Luggage is the one to buy. In addition to its gorgeous exterior and build, it features the largest capacity possible for a check-in suitcase. However, you won’t be able to tell unless you expand it with the hidden zipper.
The inside is fully lined and features two compartments with multiple pockets for easy access and packing organization. This one also features a TSA-accepted lock and multi-directional spinner wheels.
Away features some of the most beautifully crafted hardside luggage available, and its Large Aluminum suitcase is one of its most stunning designs to date.
The largest option in the brand’s entire line, this suitcase features a striking aluminum hard shell that’s tough enough to handle just about anything thrown at it — literally. It also includes Away’s signature interior compression system and a hidden laundry bag for effortless packing. If you’re a frequent traveler, this one is definitely worth the investment.
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