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Florida State has taken off fast. Can Mike Norvell’s team avoid the long way down?

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Five sleeps before one of the more seismic jolts in recent Florida State football history, Mike Norvell paces inside the Dunlap Training Facility as players loosen up for practice. He stops occasionally, cupping his hands to his mouth to shout something. It’s an accident if anyone hears him. The school’s ubiquitous “War Chant” aggressively churns over the loudspeakers; the man who runs this program has made it nearly impossible to listen to him, while choosing to scream into the din anyway.

This happens every day, mostly because once the head coach does a thing, he often obligates himself to do that thing in perpetuity. Norvell decided the chant would start practices, so best anyone remembers, the chant has started every practice since he arrived in late 2019. Same way he daily yells “Good morning!” loud enough to be heard two floors up in the Moore Athletic Center. Same way a “Hi, everybody!” precedes media sessions like a starter’s gun popping.

A coach compelling everyone into his time loop. Florida State football, a flat circle. “Every day, he’s the same person,” says junior tight end Markeston Douglas. “He’s never changed.”

Some things, of course, shift. Sometimes a hurricane closes in on the area during preparation for a massive season opener. Sometimes a work crew props open an emergency exit door and an alarm annoyingly whoops throughout the entire practice. Sometimes the Seminoles have been a punchline, losing more games in a month than in whole seasons. Sometimes they’re five days away from beating LSU to launch College Football Playoff expectations, like they are in this particular moment. Sometimes they fly into a storm in Boston and barely come out the other side, prompting everyone to ask who they are again.

Norvell has been around for all that, shouting into the noise, sprinting from one field to another, telling everyone to hurry up. He chose to be the same. Now everything’s different.

Places to be. One way there.

“You need to prove,” Florida State’s coach says, “you can get through it.”

This is Mike Norvell’s eighth year running his own college football program.

He’s asked if it feels more like 80.

“Well,” Norvell says, “a couple of those middle years were really, really interesting.”

He laughs a little, because he knows they were interesting in the way piloting a space shuttle through a magnetic storm is interesting. It’s the same this week as the fervor over that opening-night win against LSU has run up against a disquieting struggle at Boston College last weekend, after which the head coach flatly conceded his team didn’t play to its standard. A trip to Clemson awaits on Saturday. The identity of Norvell’s 2023 Seminoles, suddenly in the balance again.

Going a long way up, really fast, creates a long way down, too.

Norvell became a passing-game coordinator at Tulsa in 2009, his second season as a full-time assistant coach. He was an offensive coordinator at Pittsburgh two years after that. He was 34 when Memphis made him the youngest head coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision at the time. Norvell had the Tigers in the Top 25 in Year 2 and the Cotton Bowl in Year 4. It happened that Florida State had jettisoned Willie Taggart after just 21 games and needed yet another new head coach, so Norvell bounced to Tallahassee the day after Memphis’ New Year’s Six bowl invitation landed. Into the exosphere. Full speed ahead.

Then the engines dropped clean off. Florida State lost 10 of its first 13 games under Norvell, including the ignominious 0-4 run to start 2021 that included the program’s first loss to an FCS team. By the end of that season, the Seminoles coach infamously had a Twitter Space devoted to his two-year tenure. It was titled “Fire Mike Norvell.”

Around every corner, someone with a razor-edged opinion of him. “It’s really easy to question what you’re doing, how you’re doing it,” Norvell says of those dimmer days. Meanwhile, he didn’t do that. Florida State would change, and the coach wouldn’t. Because the coach wouldn’t. It was going to work like that or not at all.

“I mean, I was very passionate about what we were doing,” Norvell says now. “I was very convicted. I got to watch the players. I saw the practice. I saw the belief; I saw they didn’t stop, they didn’t question, they didn’t pull back. So I was very passionate about where we were going. And I had the utmost confidence of what it would be.

“Obviously, there’s plenty of outside noise. And there’s the internal drive of wanting to be successful. When I came to Florida State, my expectations were to win every game from the very beginning. And that didn’t happen. We had to go through some challenging moments. But I never lost belief in what it would be, and then it just came down to the work.”

The most effective part of the work has been consistent talent evaluations. Florida State under Norvell has been as good as anyone – or better – at one of college athletics’ increasingly critical chores: plucking high-end contributors out of the transfer portal.

Thirteen offensive and defensive players who started against LSU, for example, began their college careers elsewhere. Quarterback Jordan Travis, an early Heisman Trophy front-runner, decamped from Louisville for Tallahassee a year before Norvell arrived. Jared Verse, meanwhile, was not happenstance. He was a sack-happy defensive end for Albany, an FCS school, when he decided to transfer. Soon after, a former high school coach checked in with a question.

Why did the Florida State coach just call me?

“That was before I even heard from Florida State,” Verse says now. Norvell had begun a background check before he even made contact with the player who would record 17 tackles-for-loss, including nine sacks, and earn first-team All-American honors from The Athletic in 2022. Norvell was struck by Verse’s “relentless motor;” the Seminoles coach still recalls a clip of Verse chasing a Syracuse running back, maybe 50 or 60 yards down the field, during a blowout loss. Even more intriguing was Verse using downtime on his official visit to launch his phone’s Google Docs app to finish an eight-page paper for a class at Albany.

Some dogged enthusiasm helped sell Verse, yes. But Florida State’s relatively dire predicament did, too. “All I know is hard work,” Verse says. “That’s just how I am. When someone puts in that much work and you know what kind of people they’re bringing in, you know it’s going to be a good program. You know no matter what their record was – this is somewhere I want to be.”

Still, though transfers remain a boon – receiver Keon Coleman was the breakout star of the LSU win, months after leaving Michigan State – Norvell pushes back on the notion of winning primarily due to instant, ready-made talent infusions.

He points to Patrick Payton, the redshirt sophomore defensive end typically opposite Verse, the future first-round NFL Draft pick. Payton was a four-star prospect from Miami, sure, but he also was ranked 155th in the country, a 205-pound, all-gas-no-brakes player likely too lean and too raw to contribute immediately. “Speed, speed, speed, every time,” Payton says.

Florida State’s coaching staff called or texted every day anyway. He redshirted his first season – a personal disappointment for the player – as he learned how to use his hands, among other things, to contend with college-level offensive linemen. By the end of 2022, Payton was Florida State’s first ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year in a decade. “When I had those dark days, (Norvell) still was pushing, pushing, pushing,” Payton says. “After the season, I looked back, and I saw they were real for that.”

Florida State’s 2023 recruiting haul was its highest ranked since Norvell’s arrival – 16th nationally, according to 247 Sports’ ratings – and contributed to the depth of talent raising the competitive level internally during the preseason. “You got top guys on both sides of the ball you can learn from,” linebacker Kalen DeLoach says. But the roster is not an entirely instant-mix product. It’s a lot of solid projection and attentive follow-through.

“It’s still about who,” Norvell says. “The talent is one thing. But who’s behind the talent?”

There is that, yes.

It is not because things went smoothly that a crowd gathered in a Twitter Space to rage about Norvell in December 2022. The transition was an emery-board rub to people outside the building … and many people inside it. The on-field results reflected the latter. “When he first got here, everybody was against him; a lot of people were selfish,” offensive lineman Maurice Smith says. “He had to get through that and weed out the cancers in the group.”

Even when it was a subtle revolt, it was insidious enough. Players who were disinclined to give the best practice looks if they weren’t seeing the field enough, and so forth, eroding the foundation. “In the moment, you didn’t notice that,” running back Lawrance Toafili says. “Until you see the change. I saw the change once everybody started to see how it works. How the work works.”

That word greets Florida State each day, to the left of the ramp to the practice fields: WORK. It’s the only catchphrase splashed on the only way into the area. The one sign with directions for the way through.

“A lot of coaches, one day they’ll be hyped, the next day it’ll be less,” Verse says. “Even with him, I’m sure that happens … but you can never tell. Because he doesn’t do fake energy.”

Or as Smith puts it: “Now nobody complains. Everybody just follows what he says. We were against him, and, obviously, he proved us wrong.”


Florida State coach Mike Norvell, 41, is 21-16 in his fourth season with the No. 4 Seminoles. (Joe Petro / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

On Aug. 2, Florida State had a moment.

As conference realignment roiled, a Board of Trustees meeting convened and the school’s president declared the shake-ups in the Big Ten and SEC had plunged Seminoles athletics into an “existential crisis,” saying Florida State would have to leave the ACC “unless there were a radical change to the revenue distribution,” which prompted one trustee to propose the school build and execute a strategy to leave the ACC within a year. This didn’t materialize – or at least Florida State didn’t give the ACC the requisite notice by an Aug. 15 deadline – but the school wound up as one of a trio unapologetically opposed to the league’s eventual annexation of Stanford, Cal and SMU.

Sound and fury. War chant, indeed.

Curiously, the discussion did not involve the man most responsible for making Florida State’s best case. But then Mike Norvell is accustomed to existing in the middle of all the noise.

“Control the controllables,” he says. “That’s what I’m here trying to do every day. That’s been my focus. I get to do this with some great people. Got a wonderful administration, from the president, board of trustees, athletic director, just all that represents Florida State. I let them handle that. If I’m ever needed in a conversation, I’m always available. But I’ve got a job to do.”

Not too long after he said that, his team scored 31 straight second-half points to beat then-No. 5 LSU. More than 10 million people, at the peak, bore witness on television. The Seminoles vaulted into the top 5 of the national rankings for the first time in seven years. Then came a trip to Boston College two weeks later, with yet another hurricane churning nearby along the Atlantic coast. Florida State nearly blew a three-touchdown lead before escaping with a 31-29 win against a mediocre and masochistic outfit; Boston College committed an absurd 18 penalties, including a disastrous face mask on a third-down stop with a minute left to play. The Seminoles ran out the clock. They could not avoid the juxtaposition of their two games against power conference teams, something that the head coach seemed altogether too aware of.

“That game didn’t need to be what it was,” Norvell said during his weekly news conference Monday. “But maybe it was just the thing we needed to show the importance of every snap, every rep, every opportunity. I think our guys, they got the message. And now we have to go do something about it.”

On Saturday, a vulnerable but capable Clemson team awaits, at home in Death Valley and parked just outside the national polls. Beat the Tigers, and the imaginations start running wild again. Florida State can claim to be everything it insists it is. Fall short, and the Seminoles are far from dismissable … but they also spend the next two months clambering to recapture what they found against LSU, only to let it slip too quickly.

Mike Norvell’s team has gone up fast. Now it has to avoid the long way down. We’ll see if Florida State can hear its coach through the noise.

(Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic; photos: Maddie Meyer, Joe Robbins / Getty Images)

The Reach of Wildfire Smoke Is Going Global and Undoing Progress on Clean Air

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On the heels of an exceptionally fiery and smoky summer, two new reports released Wednesday confirmed what many Americans have been already seeing and breathing.

Smoke from increasingly frequent and increasingly large fires has started to undo decades of hard-won gains in air quality, and the problem is expected to only get worse, not just in the United States but also around the world.

More than two billion people were exposed to at least a day of fire-related air pollution each year between 2010 and 2019, a report from researchers in Australia found. And in the United States, wildfires have undone about 25 percent of past progress in cleaning up air pollution in states from coast to coast.

“People have known that it’s becoming a bigger issue in the Western states,” said Marissa Childs, a fellow at Harvard University’s Center for the Environment and a co-author of the study that focused on the United States. “But I was really shocked when we were running some of these estimates and seeing that states all the way to the East Coast were being influenced.”

While her paper doesn’t include data from 2023, Dr. Childs said the wildfires in Canada and subsequent smoke over large swaths of the northern United States this year had shown “more than ever” that everyone is going to be affected by the growing problem of wildfires, no matter where they live.

Climate change is one of the driving forces behind worsening fires worldwide. As the atmosphere warms, many forests and other natural ecosystems are becoming drier and more prone to catching on fire. “It’s just so clear that, sometime in the last five to 10 years, something’s changed,” said Marshall Burke, a professor of environmental policy at Stanford University and a co-author of the report that focused on the United States. “You don’t have to cook the books.”

Together, the two studies show how wildfires are a growing health threat. Wildfire smoke can contain a variety of pollutants, including fine particulate matter, or PM 2.5, a type of air pollution made up of very small particles that can invade the lungs and bloodstream.

Thanks to the Clean Air Act, air pollution in the United States has generally improved since the 1970s. But levels of PM 2.5, which are routinely tracked by the Environmental Protection Agency and had been declining, took a marked turn back up around 2016.

Since 2016, wildfire smoke has had a statistically significant effect on PM 2.5 trends in 35 out of 48 continental states, according to Dr. Burke and Dr. Childs’s study. (The data set did not include Alaska or Hawaii.) The effect was most notable on the West Coast, where air quality has worsened drastically in recent years. But even in some New England states, smoke caused pollution levels to plateau after many years of decline.

Although the air is now cleaner in the United States than in many other parts of the world, air pollution remains a problem for public health. “It’s pretty clear that wildfire smoke is affecting a lot more people on a lot more days than it used to,” said Christopher Tessum, a professor of environmental engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who researches air pollution but wasn’t involved in either study.

Globally, pollution from fires is taking a bigger toll on residents of poorer countries.

The study that was led by scientists from Monash University in Australia found that each year between 2010 and 2019, every person worldwide had an average of almost 10 days of wildfire smoke exposure. The concentration of polluted air was significantly higher in poorer countries, the researchers found.

Smoke exposure between 2010 and 2019 was also higher than during the decade prior, and it underscores the prevalence and health risks of wildfires.

“We need to put a lot more resources to low-income countries to fight the fire smoke,” said Yuming Guo, an environmental expert at Monash who co-wrote the study.

The study incorporated data from both wildfires and those planned or controlled by people, such as prescribed burns. The researchers used a number of sources to collect data on pollution, and examined ground-level ozone levels in addition to levels of PM 2.5 While ozone high in the atmosphere protects us from harmful radiation, ozone close to the ground can cause breathing problems and can aggravate respiratory illnesses like asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.

Countries with hot and dry conditions that make them vulnerable to wildfires were particularly choked by PM 2.5, including those in central Africa, Southeast Asia and South America.

“Different countries experience different fire smoke,” Dr. Guo said. “So different countries should deploy different resources.”

Determining what approaches to use is going to be a complicated effort anywhere.

“It can’t be done the way that we’ve dealt with, say, industrial pollution or cars,” said Colleen Reid, a professor of geography at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who studies the health impacts of wildfires, but was not involved in either of the papers released Wednesday. “There’s not like a scrubber or a catalytic converter, some sort of technological thing you can put on a wildfire.”

“While we work on policy solutions to try and deal with wildfires, we also can protect people’s health by investing in better air quality in indoor spaces,” Dr. Reid added, noting that it was important to make sure people knew how to protect themselves outside on smoky days by wearing masks or respirators. She also emphasized the importance of tackling climate change.

“In addition to all the policies to address wildfire smoke, obviously we need significant change to decrease our greenhouse gas emissions,” she said, “so we can try to deal with the climate side of the equation that’s increasing wildfire risk.”

Disney Plans to Spend $60 Billion on Parks and Cruises

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Disney’s theme parks will generate an estimated $10 billion in profit this year, up from $2.2 billion a decade ago. Not bad for a 68-year-old business, especially considering the devastation wrought by the pandemic just a couple of years ago.

But how much boom is left?

Last month, when Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive officer, singled out the parks division as “a key growth engine” on an earnings-related conference call, Wall Street furrowed its brow. Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., has long been viewed as maxed out, with little room to expand. Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., has become a question mark, given that Mr. Iger has said the company’s legal battle with Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, could imperil $17 billion in planned expansion at the resort over the next decade. Disney’s overseas parks — aside from Tokyo Disney Resort, which it receives royalties from but does not own — have sometimes struggled to turn a profit.

On Tuesday, Disney offered a clearer picture of the opportunity it sees, which can only be described as colossal: The company disclosed in a security filing that it planned to spend roughly $60 billion over the next decade to expand its domestic and international parks and to continue building Disney Cruise Line. That amount is double what Disney spent on parks and the cruise line over the past decade, which was itself a period of greatly increased investment.

In the past decade, Disney has opened the Shanghai Disney Resort, more than doubled its cruise line capacity and added rides based on intellectual properties like “Star Wars,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Tron,” Spider-Man, “Avatar” and “Toy Story” to its domestic parks. Disney has also poured money into its Paris and Hong Kong parks, with themed expansions tied to “Frozen” and other Disney films scheduled to open soon. Three more ocean liners are on the way, bringing the Disney fleet to eight ships, and Disney is nearing completion of a new port on a Bahamian island. (Disney already has one private island port.)

If that is what $30 billion can buy, imagine what $60 billion might bring.

“There are far fewer limits to our parks business than people think,” Mr. Iger said in an email.

“The growth trajectory is very compelling if we do nothing beyond what we have already committed,” he continued, referring to attractions and ships that have been announced but are not yet operational. “By dramatically increasing our investment — building big, being ambitious, maintaining quality and high standards and using our most popular I.P. — it will be turbocharged.”

Disney shares fell 3 percent on Tuesday on the news, to about $82. Analysts said some investors had been worried about the company’s ability to generate free cash flow at a time when its television business — traditionally a major generator of cash — has been undercut by streaming services.

Disney already has a sizable amount of debt, largely because of the pandemic. The company suspended its semiannual shareholder dividend in 2020 to preserve cash, but is expected to restart dividend payments later this year.

“We’re incredibly mindful of the financial underpinning of the company, the need to continue to grow in terms of bottom line, the need to invest wisely so that we’re increasing the returns on invested capital, and the need to maintain a balance sheet, for a variety of reasons,” Mr. Iger said on Tuesday afternoon in a blog post.

Disney is expanding the investment after a stretch of trouble in almost all its divisions. Cable television, including ESPN, has become a shadow of its former self, the result of cord cutting, advertising weakness and rising sports programming costs. Disney had a disappointing summer at the box office, with movies like “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and “Haunted Mansion” selling sharply fewer tickets than anticipated. The company’s Disney+ streaming service continues to lose money; Mr. Iger has said it will be profitable by fall 2024, but some investors are skeptical.

In contrast, Disney’s parks and cruise business has been a bright spot, in many ways propping up the whole company. In the most recent quarter, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products generated $2.4 billion in operating income, an 11 percent increase from a year earlier. Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution had $1.1 billion in operating profit, an 18 percent decline.

Spending per guest at Disney parks has increased 42 percent since 2019, in part because of higher prices for tickets, food, merchandise and hotel rooms.

Still, increased investment in theme parks brings increased risk. It is a business that will always be sensitive to factors beyond Disney’s control: swings in the economy, gas prices, hurricanes, earthquakes, tension between the United States and China. Disney has greatly increased security, deploying undercover guards and installing metal detectors, but these teeming resorts — Disney parks attracted an estimated 121 million visitors last year — could become ghost towns if a violent event took place.

Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, said people who focused on such risks overlooked the resilience of theme park fans. He noted that customers had come flooding back when Disney parks reopened during the pandemic.

“Every time there has been a moment of crisis or concern, we have managed to bounce back faster than anyone expected,” he said.

Mr. D’Amaro declined to specify how the company planned to spend the $60 billion. But he gave hints, noting that Disney movies like “Coco,” “Zootopia,” “Encanto” and others had not yet been incorporated into the company’s parks in meaningful ways.

“Imagine bringing Wakanda to life,” he said, referring to the fictional “Black Panther” kingdom. “In terms of bringing the latest Disney-Marvel-Pixar intellectual property to the parks, we haven’t come close to scratching the surface. And we have learned that incorporating Disney I.P. increases the return on investment significantly.”

Disney owns 1,000 undeveloped acres across its existing theme park resorts, Mr. D’Amaro noted. (For comparison, he said, that’s the size of seven Disneylands.) One of the biggest areas of opportunity, he said, involves the original Disneyland, which opened in 1955. If the company can persuade the City of Anaheim to change a plan, adopted in the 1990s, that limits where hotels, parking lots and attractions can be built, Disney intends to redevelop land adjacent to Disneyland, greatly expanding capacity. Disney also plans to turn a parking area south of the park into a themed shopping, dining and hotel district.

Disney released a 17,000-page environmental impact study for the project last week. The Anaheim City Council is expected to vote on the changes in mid- to late 2024.

How much Disney invests in Florida may depend on the courts, where the company is battling Mr. DeSantis and his allies for control over Disney World’s growth plan. Angered over Disney’s criticism of a Florida education law, Mr. DeSantis in April ended the company’s long-held ability to self-govern its 25,000-acre resort as if it were a county. Disney maintains that prior contracts preserve its ability to control development, however.

“We want to keep growing and investing and have ambitious plans in Florida,” Mr. D’Amaro said. “For the benefit of our guests, our cast members and the economy of central Florida, we hope the conditions will be there for us to do so.” He declined to comment further.

At the moment, Disney does not plan to build parks in new countries or cities. (In the past, the company looked at building a park in India, for instance, and expanding beyond Hong Kong and Shanghai in China.) Rather, the company will focus on developing new ports for its ships.

Starting in 2025, a new cruise ship — the biggest in Disney’s fleet so far, with space for more than 6,000 guests — will be based in Singapore. Disney’s ships have grown increasingly themed, with characters and artwork from franchises like “Frozen,” “Star Wars” and Marvel’s Avengers incorporated into restaurants and entertainment zones.

“It’s like bringing a theme park to a new part of the world,” Mr. D’Amaro said of Disney Cruise Line, which has recently been booked to 98 percent of capacity.

Load management has frustrated NBA, fans and TV partners, but will new rules help?

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For the past several years it has not been clear if the NBA fully understood the damage that the league and players were creating as a result of the load management that was becoming more and more fashionable.

Teams and players were “following the science.” Anyone who complained too loudly on behalf of the fans was dismissed as a curmudgeonly dinosaur who didn’t understand the advancements in research and data that have come along in the last decade-plus.

It appears as if, finally, a reckoning has arrived.

When commissioner Adam Silver stood behind a podium last week to discuss the league’s new fight against load management, it was a recognition of the precarious position the league finds itself in with fans and television partners about a product that has, too often in recent seasons, left the two most important outside stakeholders feeling slighted during the regular season when a star or multiple stars sat out.

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NBA board of governors approves new star rest policy

“There’s a sense from all the different constituent groups in the league that this is ultimately about the fans and we’ve taken this too far,” Silver said. “This is an acknowledgment that it’s gotten away from us a bit, and that, particularly I think when you see young, healthy players who are resting and it becomes maybe even more a notion of stature around the league as opposed to absolute needed rest, or it’s part of being an NBA player that you rest on certain days.

“That’s what we’re trying to move away from.”

It was quite the populist stance for Silver to take. Fans have belabored the practice of resting healthy players for years, gnashing their teeth when they purchase tickets for a game only to find out shortly before tipoff that a high-profile player was sitting out to rest. Though the conversations have not often been public, one would assume executives for ESPN and TNT weren’t happy either when those players sat out games in which they paid billions to broadcast.

Silver has said in the past that load management was an issue for the league, But in February, at the All-Star game in Salt Lake City, he defended the practice and said there was “medical data” to support teams giving their most important players a day off here and there.

“This year we’re going to likely break the all-time record for ticket sales,” Silver said at All-Star Weekend. “We’re likely going to have the all-time record for season-ticket renewals. So our fans aren’t necessarily suggesting that they’re that upset with the product that we’re presenting.”

Seven months later, he is singing a bit of a different tune.

“Everyone is acknowledging this is an issue,” Silver said after the league’s board of governors approved a new star rest policy that is aimed at curtailing the resting of healthy stars for nationally televised games, “and it’s an issue for the fans.”

Everyone is acknowledging this is an issue right now because the landscape appears to be rapidly changing around the league. For more than a year, team executives have been putting together long-term salary cap strategies that operate under the assumption that the cap will continue to rise dramatically, especially after the NBA agrees on a new television contract. The NBA’s current $24 billion deal with ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery (the parent company of TNT), is set to expire at the end of the 2024-25 season.

When the current contract was agreed upon in 2014, the sheer size of it came as a shock to many. Conversations in league circles over the last couple of seasons have included estimates that the new deal could triple in size as live sports become more and more important to networks that are trying to keep viewers’ attention in the modern content consumption business.

That doesn’t feel quite so certain anymore after a recent standoff between Charter Communications and Disney that led to more than 15 million cable subscribers losing access to ABC, Disney, ESPN and many more channels earlier this month. The issue was resolved, but it was the first real sign that the seemingly boundless leverage ESPN could exert over its distributors was being challenged for the first time. Add to that the crumbling of regional sports networks and the shift of viewing habits to streaming and there is volatility under the league’s feet when it comes to how to get their games in front of more eyeballs.

So now that the NBA is taking multiple steps to address one of the most scrutinized aspects of its game, it is doing so out of necessity more than epiphany. The board of governors adopted this new rest policy that states that teams must ensure star players are available for national television and In-Season Tournament games and must maintain a balance between the number of one-game absences for a star player in road and home games, with a preference for such absences to occur at home.

The NBA also put into its new collective bargaining agreement a clause that requires players to play at least 65 games to qualify for MVP and All-NBA honors. This is to incentivize players who can trigger escalators in contracts by winning those awards to appear in as many games as possible.

The advent of the In-Season Tournament is yet another sign that the league knows its regular season needs a jolt. If the NBA is going to command enormous money from TV partners that are no longer as bulletproof as they once were, it can no longer get away with some of the resting practices the league was employing.

“There’s an acknowledgment across the league that we need to return to that principle, that this is an 82-game league. … There’s a statement of a principle that if you’re a healthy player in this league, the expectation is that you’re going to play,” Silver said.

That just has not been the case in recent years. Last season Boston’s Jayson Tatum played 74 games. He was the only player on the All-NBA first or second team who played at least 70. The 15 players who made up the three All-NBA teams played in 1,002 of a possible 1,230 games. In 2021-22, those 15 players appeared in 1,010 total games. In addition, there were scores of games missed by other All-Star players who were not All-NBA.

Many of those games were missed for legitimate injury reasons, but the steps the league has taken this offseason suggest that it believes the optics of healthy players sitting out is a serious issue. Silver said the league understands that some players need to rest so that they are healthy for the playoffs, which is the NBA’s most important product. Older players, including LeBron James and Stephen Curry, might need games off so that they can preserve their bodies for the deep playoff runs they hope to make. But the league doesn’t want Anthony Davis sitting on the same night as James with the Lakers or Klay Thompson and Draymond Green sitting right next to Curry in street clothes, which is something the Warriors have done.

Sports science has exploded throughout the league in recent years, with teams hiring more people in the field to examine how players are eating, training, sleeping and, yes, resting. The motivation is noble. More than any other league, the NBA has grown in popularity across the globe on the strength of the allure of its star players. James, Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Dončić and so many more faces are the primary attractions. They are bigger brands than the teams for which they play.

In the interest of preserving the moneymakers and extending their careers, teams have expanded their medical and athletic training staffs to find new and innovative ways of keeping their players on the court.

The 82-game season is an incredible grind on players, which can chew up their bodies before the most important time of year for the league: the playoffs. Home-road back-to-back games, stretches of three games in four nights or four in seven are taxing, not to mention arriving at a hotel at 3 a.m. to play a game later that night. Add to it the absurd workload that so many of the league’s players experienced in the relentless AAU circuit as kids, and it’s challenging for teams to keep them on the court and on television.

Interestingly, Silver said last week that “frankly, the science is inconclusive” as to whether load management keeps players healthy over the long haul.

“The correlation isn’t there,” he said.

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Let’s talk load management: Is it a problem? How do we know it works?

But there is no doubt that many teams think otherwise, or there would be no reason to institute policies like the one adopted last week to try to discourage teams from either resting a star in nationally televised games or resting multiple stars in any game. Silver said the NBA is not trying to infringe on teams’ game-to-game strategies, saying there would be a gradual application of the new rules to allow teams time to adjust. He also made it clear that the league can no longer sit idle, too.

Shortening the season is not an option. That would cost too much money. So it’s time to lace up.

“We’re trying to deal with some of the most egregious examples,” Silver said. “We’re letting down the fans, we’re letting down our partners by doing that.”

Some players, including Curry, have said that the load management trend has been something instituted and dictated by teams, not the players. Silver said last week that there is a belief in some circles that a certain segment of players see it as a symbol of status that they are worthy of being rested on a given night. Either way, the league and the players have a lot to lose if they do not find a way to reduce the frustration of fans and television partners on this front.

Years ago, the late Minnesota Timberwolves president and coach Flip Saunders would often speak about the league missing the bigger picture as load management became fashionable. In the never-ending pursuit of a competitive edge, Saunders believed that the league was risking alienating fans and television partners and forgetting that, first and foremost, NBA basketball is in the entertainment business.

“No doubt we are a business and part of the issue, in some cases those (television) partners are a proxy for fans. … In terms of the scale of the audience we’re reaching when we’re a network game, don’t rest your players on that night and don’t rest multiple star players on any night,” Silver said.

As the league negotiates a new television rights deal with traditional networks and also considers options from tech giants like Apple and Amazon, it appears that the bigger picture is finally coming into clearer focus. If the league wants to continue to maximize revenue, the product it is selling has to feature its headline acts as often as possible.

(Photo of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard: Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images)

King Charles III to be treated for prostate condition, know the signs and symptoms of the cancer found in men

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Prostate cancer is the most common cancer found in men. 

King Charles III is one public figure who has been open about his prostate procedure.

Buckingham Palace announced that the king would receive hospital treatment for an enlarged prostate, a condition also very common in men. 

KING CHARLES II TO UNDERGO ‘CORRECTIVE PROCEDURE’ NEXT WEEK FOR AN ENLARGED PROSTATE

The king’s condition is benign, and a “corrective procedure” is being conducted due to the enlargement, the palace said.

The only type of cancer more common than prostate cancer is skin cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. 

King Charles III will undergo hospital treatment for his enlarged prostate. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

This common cancer is treatable when caught early, with a near 100%, five-year survival rate for cancers that have not spread beyond the prostate or have only spread to nearby areas, per the American Cancer Society (ACS). 

Symptoms of prostate cancer are usually minimal or not experienced at all. 

One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, according to the source.  

9 PROSTATE CANCER MYTHS, DEBUNKED

The survival rate plummets to 32% among stage IV cancer cases, when the disease spreads to distant parts of the body.

King Charles III on a walkabout outside Buckingham Palace, London

King Charles III on a walkabout outside Buckingham Palace, London, to meet wellwishers on Friday, May 5, 2023, ahead of the coronation. (James Manning/PA Images via Getty Images)

Below is all you need to know about prostate cancer.

  1. What is prostate cancer?
  2. What are the types of prostate cancer?
  3. What are the signs and symptoms?
  4. What are some prostate cancer risk factors?
  5. What should you do if you think you have prostate cancer?
  6. What should I know about PSA screening?
  7. Is prostate cancer curable?

1. What is prostate cancer?

Any type of cancer starts when cells grow out of control in certain parts of the body. Nearly every part of the body can be affected by cancerous cells, and they can then spread to other areas. 

man at doctor

Prostate cancer impacts one out of eight men in their lifetimes, according to the American Cancer Society. (iStock)

Prostate cancer is a type of cancer found in men that begins in the prostate gland and can then grow beyond that in more severe cases. 

2. What are the types of prostate cancer?

Most commonly, prostate cancer is adenocarcinomas, meaning it develops in the gland cells, according to ACS.

MOST MEN DIAGNOSED WITH PROSTATE CANCER DON’T NEED TO RUSH TO SURGERY, RADIATION TREATMENTS: STUDY 

There are other types of prostate cancer, according to the source, but these are rare. 

Other types are small cell carcinoma, neuroendocrine tumors, transitional cell carcinomas and sarcomas.

Man at doctor's office

Although symptoms are not always experienced by those with prostate cancer, two common symptoms are pain in the bones and weight loss. (iStock)

In general, prostate cancer grows very slowly. 

Many people who have it die from other causes without ever knowing that they had the cancer, according to the ACS.

3. What are the signs and symptoms?

“The most common symptom is no symptom at all,” Dr. Christopher Anderson, a urologist with New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, told Fox News in 2017.

Some men may experience symptoms like pain in their bones and weight loss when the cancer has already spread, Anderson said.

THE DO’S AND DON’TS OF THE PROSTATE CANCER DIET

Dr. Philip Kantoff, a medical oncologist and chair of the department of medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, reiterated that the disease does not typically cause symptoms. Symptoms could instead be due to an enlarged or inflamed prostate, neither of which are cancerous.

Dr. Ketan Badani, vice chairman of urology at Mount Sinai Health System, said that “some patients may have vague urinary complaints,” like having to urinate more frequently, and that there are no symptoms until the disease is advanced. The majority of men who have urinary issues do not have prostate cancer, he noted.

Doctor with patient

If symptoms are experienced, it may not be due to prostate cancer, but rather another underlying problem, like an enlarged prostate. (iStock)

Advanced cases of prostate cancer may present with symptoms “with benign prostate conditions, including weak or interrupted urine flow; difficulty starting or stopping urine flow; the need to urinate frequently, especially at night; blood in the urine; or pain or burning with urination,” per the ACS.

NEW PROSTATE CANCER TREATMENT COULD BE ON THE HORIZON, SAY UK RESEARCHERS: ‘TREMENDOUSLY EXCITING’ 

Additional symptoms include pain in the hips, ribs and chest, as well as numbness or weakness in the legs or feet.

4. What are some prostate cancer risk factors?

Men ages 60 to 74 are considered more at risk, according to the SEER program. 

Family history, “especially a first-degree relative like a father or brother” who has been diagnosed, is another concern, Badani added.

African, Afro-Caribbean, South Asian and Hispanic men are more at risk for “more aggressive” forms of prostate cancer, he said.

Prostate cancer definition

If you are experiencing symptoms, it is important to have a conversation with your doctor. ( istock)

For men of African descent, there is an increased risk of both prostate cancer diagnosis and dying from prostate cancer, Anderson said.

5. What should you do if you think you have prostate cancer?

“A discussion with your physician is warranted before symptoms occur,” Kantoff advised, adding that men should decide with their doctors if a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, which looks at the level of PSA in blood, is right for them.

Badani recommended that men receive both annual digital rectal exams and PSA tests. Multiple PSA tests over time are a better indicator of potential concerns as opposed to a single test result, he explained.

THESE 10 HIDDEN CARCINOGENS CAN RAISE THE RISK, ACCORDING TO AN ONCOLOGY EXPERT

If you are concerned you might have prostate cancer, speak to an internal medicine doctor or a urologist, Anderson recommended. He stressed that all patients with blood in their urine should see a urologist.

6. What should I know about PSA screening?

PSA screening has been a controversial topic in the past. In 2012, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommended against PSA screening when it said “there is moderate certainty that the benefits of PSA-based screening for prostate cancer do not outweigh the harms.”

PSA screening involves a simple blood test for elevated levels of a protein that may signal cancer but can also be caused by an enlarged or inflamed prostate. It can find cancer that does not need to be treated, as it is too small and slow-growing to become deadly. Radiation or surgery to remove the prostate may result in impotence and incontinence.

In 2018, the task force said in its final recommendation that men ages 55 to 69 should discuss potential benefits and negatives of a PSA screening with their physician before undergoing the test. 

psa test prostate cancer

PSA testing is a way to diagnose prostate cancer. (iStock)

While a PSA screening has the potential to reduce the risk of death, negatives listed by the task force include “false-positive results that require additional testing and possible prostate biopsy; overdiagnosis and overtreatment; and treatment complications, such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction.”

They do not recommend PSA screening in men ages 70 and above.

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“Proper use of PSA is what I recommend from an early detection standpoint,” Kantoff said.

Symptoms should not be the motivating factor for screening, he said, saying it should instead be a decision in one’s 40s about whether PSA testing should be done. He recommended that those with a family history or people of African American descent think about early detection.

An analysis of previous clinical trials published in 2017 said screening lessened the risk of dying from prostate cancer by 25 to 32% compared to men who did not get screened, a summary for patients explains online. 

7. Is prostate cancer curable?

Prostate cancer is curable, but many men choose not to treat it because of the typically slow progression and the fact that it usually stays in the prostate, according to Cleveland Clinic.  

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More severe cases of cancer are usually treated through radiation or surgery. 

The Associated Press contributed reporting, as did Andy Sahadeo and Zoe Szathmary. 

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health.

Ashlyn Messier is a writer for Fox News Digital. 

All about ovarian cancer and how to reduce your risk

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Ovarian cancer is a type of cancer that impacts the female reproductive system. 

The risk of developing ovarian cancer in a woman’s lifetime is 1 in 87, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). 

It’s most commonly seen in older women, particularly over age 63. 

‘DOES SMARTPHONE EXPOSURE CAUSE BRAIN CANCER?’: ASK A DOCTOR

Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month is recognized every September. During the month and all year round, it’s important to spread awareness about ovarian cancer and donate to organizations that conduct vital research regarding the disease. 

Below is more information about ovarian cancer. 

  1. What is ovarian cancer?
  2. How is ovarian cancer usually detected?
  3. What are early warning signs of ovarian cancer?
  4. What should I do if I think I have symptoms?
  5. What should I know about risk reduction of ovarian cancer?
  6. What should I know about risk factors for ovarian cancer?
  7. Is ovarian cancer curable?
  8. What age is ovarian cancer most common?

September is recognized as Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. (iStock)

1. What is ovarian cancer?

Ovarian cancer is a cancer diagnosis specific to women. The type of cancer is found when abnormal cells form in the ovaries or fallopian tubes.

The female reproductive system has two ovaries, one on each side of the uterus. The ovaries produce eggs and also release estrogen and progesterone.

SOME BREAST CANCER PATIENTS COULD BE AT RISK OF ANOTHER TYPE OF CANCER, STUDY REVEALS

When the cells, specifically in the ovaries, start to grow in an uncontrolled way, this is when ovarian cancer is usually detected. 

2. How is ovarian cancer usually detected?

There is no screening test for ovarian cancer.

The ACS says efforts to develop a comprehensive screening test have not yielded “much success so far.” 

The organization, however, provides two options in lieu of a comprehensive screening test: a transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) and a CA-125 blood test.

Doctor holding a model of female reproductive organs

Ovarian cancer impacts a woman’s reproductive organs. (iStock)

A TVUS “uses sound waves to look at the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries by putting an ultrasound wand into the vagina.” Though the test can detect tumors in the ovaries, it is unable to detect whether the tumor is benign or not.

The CA-125 blood test measures the amount of the CA-125 protein in the blood. While researchers have found elevated levels of the protein in women with ovarian cancer, the ACS advises that high levels of the protein have also been found in women with “common conditions such as endometriosis and pelvic inflammatory disease” while further noting that not all women with ovarian cancer test for high levels of CA-125.

3. What are early warning signs of ovarian cancer?

There are not any specific signs of early stage ovarian cancer, Dr. Michael Worley, a surgical gynecological oncologist with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, previously told Fox News Digital.

THESE 17 CANCER TYPES ARE MORE COMMON IN GEN X AND MILLENNIALS AS STUDY NOTES ‘ALARMING TREND’

Ovarian cancer symptoms are often vague, Worley said. 

One symptom is losing or gaining weight.

Other symptoms may include abdominal bloating; bowel changes like diarrhea or constipation; bladder changes such as an increase in frequency or urgency; abdominal discomfort and pressure; and a sense of feeling full, Dr. Jamie Bakkum-Gamez, a gynecologic oncologist with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, previously told Fox News.

4. What should I do if I think I have symptoms?

Often, symptoms associated with ovarian cancer can be difficult for women to spot as a lot of the symptoms are similar to those of a period or menopause. 

If symptoms persist, a woman should see a medical provider for a pelvic ultrasound, Bakkum-Gamez said, adding that women diagnosed should see a gynecologic oncologist.

Going to an OB-GYN “is a good place to start,” Worley said, explaining that an ultrasound or a CT scan may sometimes be ordered.

Woman with cramps

Signs of ovarian cancer are very similar to those that come with a period or menopause. (iStock)

5. What should I know about risk reduction of ovarian cancer?

For middle-aged women with the BRCA-1 gene, it is recommended they get their fallopian tubes tied and ovaries removed, per the CDC.

It is also recommended for women with the BRCA-2 gene, with different age guidelines.

CANCER TRENDS REVEALED, INCLUDING MOST COMMON TYPES OF THE DISEASE AND BIGGEST RISK FACTORS

Other aspects that may reduce a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer include giving birth, having a tubal ligation, having a hysterectomy, breast-feeding and using birth control pills, Bakkum-Gamez said.

Oral birth control is “by far the easiest way” to reduce risk, Worley said. 

The method, he explained, also “works relatively well for people with BRCA mutations,” noting there’s conflicting data about it increasing the risk of breast cancer and that these women should speak to their doctors.

Those who take oral birth control for five or more years have about a 50% lower risk of developing the cancer, according to the ACS. That being said, the pills come with other risks and side effects. Therefore, it is important to talk with your doctor about the risks before making your decision. 

Birth control pills

Taking oral birth control is one way to reduce your risk for ovarian cancer. (iStock)

Risk reduction from a hysterectomy “is a little more controversial,” Worley said, explaining that old data said the procedure didn’t reduce risk, while new data says it’s helpful. Just removing the uterus reduces ovarian risk, he said.

Furthermore, living a healthy lifestyle can help reduce your risk. This includes regular exercise, a healthy diet and avoiding smoking.

6. What should I know about risk factors for ovarian cancer?

One of the biggest risk factors for ovarian cancer is age, since it is typically found in older women.

Family history, not having children and an endometriosis diagnosis are among the risk factors for ovarian cancer, according to the CDC. 

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health

Others include having the BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 gene, which are linked to ovarian and breast cancer.

Additionally, Caucasians are more likely to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer. 

Early onset of menses and late menopause are also risk factors, according to Worley.

Women with a family history of ovarian, fallopian tube cancer and breast cancer “should really be thinking about seeing a genetic counselor,” Bakkum-Gamez said. “It may lead to potential prevention.”

Cancer in uterus

One of the biggest risk factors associated with ovarian cancer is age. (iStock)

7. Is ovarian cancer curable?

The earlier ovarian cancer is diagnosed in a woman, the more treatable the disease is. Typically, ovarian cancer is treated through surgery to remove the tumor and/or chemotherapy.

The life expectancy for someone with ovarian cancer is based on averages and also differs depending on the type of cancer that is present. 

The ACS outlines relative survival rates for ovarian cancer based on women diagnosed between 2012 and 2018. The five-year survival rates are broken down between the type of ovarian cancer, invasive epithelial, stromal or germ cell tumor, and also are sorted based on the stage of cancer, localized, regional and distant. 

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For someone with localized ovarian cancer, the cancer has not spread outside the ovaries. In regional ovarian cancer, it has spread outside but near the ovaries. Lastly, in distant ovarian cancer, it has spread to more distant parts of the body, such as the liver or the lungs.

The ACS says the five-year survival rate of all three stages combined in invasive epithelial ovarian cancer is 50%. This means that women with this type of ovarian cancer are 50% as likely as women who don’t have the cancer to live for at least five years after they are diagnosed.

A woman getting an ultrasound

Early detection is vital in treating ovarian cancer. (iStock)

The survival rate for ovarian stromal tumors of all three stages combined is 89%, according to the source, and the survival rate for germ cell tumors of the ovary, all stages combined, is 92%. 

Lastly, the five-year survival rate for fallopian tube cancer of all three stages combined is 55%.

8. What age is ovarian cancer most common?

One of the main factors that increases the risk of developing ovarian cancer is age. 

For women under the age of 40, their risk of ovarian cancer is rare. Half of all ovarian cancers are found in women 63 and older, according to the ACS.

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Most commonly, ovarian cancer develops after a woman reaches menopause.

Andy Sahadeo and Zoe Szathmary contributed reporting.

Ashlyn Messier is a writer for Fox News Digital. 

Overlooked No More: Margaret Chung, Doctor Who Was ‘Different From Others’

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This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times.

Margaret Chung knew from age 10 that she wanted to become a medical missionary to China. She was inspired by stories her mother had told of life in a mission home, where her mother stayed as a child after emigrating from China to California. It is believed that she named Margaret after the home’s superintendent.

Religion was an important part of young Margaret’s life in California. She was raised in a Presbyterian household in Santa Barbara, where her father insisted that the family pray before every meal and sang hymns with the children before bed.

So it was a blow that after graduating from medical school, at the University of Southern California, in 1916, her application to be a medical missionary was rejected three times by administrative boards. Though she had been born on United States soil, she was regarded as Chinese, and no funding for Chinese missionaries existed.

Still, following that dream led her to a different accolade: Chung became the first known American woman of Chinese ancestry to earn a medical degree, according to her biographer.

She opened a private practice in San Francisco’s Chinatown. It was one of the few places that would provide Western medical care to Chinese and Chinese American patients, who were often scapegoated as the source of epidemics and turned away by hospitals. (Her father died after he was denied treatment for injuries he sustained in a car accident.)

As a physician and surgeon during the Second Sino-Japanese War (beginning in 1937) and World War II, she was praised for her patriotic efforts, including starting a social network in California for pilots, military officials, celebrities and politicians that she leveraged to help in recruitment for the war and to lobby for the creation of a women’s naval reserve.

Every Sunday she hosted dinners for men in the military, catering for crowds of up to 300 people, who called her “Mom.” Her efforts caught the attention of the press, which portrayed her as representing unity between China and the U.S., allies in the war.

Margaret Jessie Chung was born on Oct. 2, 1889, in Santa Barbara, Calif. At the time, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act was in full force. Her parents, who had immigrated from China in the 1870s, were barred from obtaining U.S. citizenship under the act. They faced limited job opportunities, so the family moved around California as they looked for work. Her father, Chung Wong, was a former merchant who toiled on California farms and sold vegetables. Her mother, Ah Yane, also farmed and sometimes worked as a court interpreter.

Margaret herself was no stranger to hard labor. She took on farming chores when her parents were unwell and helped raise all 10 of her siblings, duties that disrupted her schooling; she did not complete the eighth grade until she was 17. To fund the rest of her education, she spent summer evenings knocking on doors to sell copies of The Los Angeles Times as part of a competition for a scholarship, which she won. It paid for preparatory school, which enabled her to gain acceptance to the University of Southern California College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1911.

“As the only Chinese girl in the U.S.C. medical school, I am compelled to be different from others,” she said in a 1913 interview. She reinvented herself as “Mike,” slicking back her black hair and dressing in a long blazer draped over a shirt and tie, completing the outfit with a floor-length skirt. She worked throughout college, according to her biography, sometimes scrubbing dishes at a restaurant while studying textbooks propped on a shelf.

After she graduated and was rejected as a medical missionary, Chung turned to surgery, performing trauma operations at Santa Fe Railroad Hospital in Los Angeles. Touring musicians and actors used the hospital; most famously, she removed the actress Mary Pickford’s tonsils.

Chung soon established her own private practice in Los Angeles, with a clientele that included actors in the movie industry’s early days in Holllywood.

While accompanying two patients to San Francisco, Chung fell in love with the city’s landscape, its dramatic hills cloaked in fog. After learning that no doctor practiced Western medicine in the city’s Chinatown, home to the largest Chinese American population in the country, she left her Los Angeles practice and set up a clinic on Sacramento Street in 1922.

San Francisco was isolating. People from the community invited Chung out, but she declined, writing in her unpublished autobiography, “I was embarrassed because I couldn’t understand their flowery Chinese.” Rumors persisted that because she was single, she must have been interested in women. She was protective of her personal life, but her biographer, Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, said Chung had frequented a North Beach speakeasy with Elsa Gidlow, who openly wrote lesbian poetry.

Chung’s practice initially had difficulty attracting patients. But as word spread, her waiting room filled, in some cases with white tourists curious to see her Chinese-inspired furniture and her consultation room, whose walls were plastered with pictures of her celebrity patients.

Years of planning and community fund-raising culminated in the opening of San Francisco’s Chinese Hospital in 1925. Chung became one of four department heads, leading the gynecology, obstetrics and pediatrics unit while still running her private practice.

When Japan invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria in September 1931, an ensign in the United States Naval Reserves, looking to support the Chinese military, visited Chung at her practice. She invited the man, who was a pilot, and six of his friends for a home-cooked dinner. It was the first of many that she would host almost every night for months. It was, she wrote in her autobiography, “the most selfish thing I’ve ever done because it was more fun than I had ever known in all my life.”

Every Sunday, “Mom” personally catered suppers for hundreds of her “boys.” By the end of World War II, her “family” swelled to about 1,500. To help keep track, everyone had a number and group: Leading pilots were the Phi Beta Kappa of Aviation; those who could not fly (including celebrities and politicians) were Kiwis; and the submarine units were Golden Dolphins.

She called upon influential members of her network to secretly recruit pilots for the American Flying Tigers, an American volunteer group that pushed back against Japan’s invasion of China. She also enlisted two of her Kiwis to introduce a bill in the U.S. House and Senate that led to the creation of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services in 1942, a naval group better known as the WAVES. Eager to support her country, she sought to join the group but her application was rejected.

Despite her efforts, no official recognition of her contributions ever came. After the war ended, attendance at her Sunday dinners dwindled. Nevertheless, Chung continued to practice medicine, visit her military “sons” and write her memoir.

She died of ovarian cancer on Jan. 5, 1959. She was 69.

Cowboys Force Jets, Zach Wilson Into Costly Turnovers

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The Dallas Cowboys throttled the Jets, 30-10, on Sunday afternoon, reminding the visitors from New York — as if any reminders were needed — of what the rest of their season may look like without quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers lasted just three official plays in the Jets’ season opener last week before he tore his left Achilles’ tendon. The Jets (1-1) managed to pull off a 22-16 victory in overtime against the Buffalo Bills thanks to their tremendous defense and pounding run game.

The Jets’ defense did its part Sunday, too, stopping the Cowboys (2-0) several times in the red zone and forcing Dallas to settle for field goals on five drives. But Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott wore down the defense with short passes to neutralize the Jets’ talented defensive backs. He connected with wide receiver CeeDee Lamb 11 times for 143 yards. Running back Tony Pollard caught another seven passes for 37 yards and rushed for 72 yards on 25 carries.

In all, Prescott completed 31 of 38 attempts for 255 yards and two touchdowns, thrown to tight ends Jake Ferguson and Luke Schoonmaker.

The Cowboys had the ball for more than 42 minutes, ran 83 plays and converted 9 of 18 third-down chances, leaving the Jets’ offense little chance to get going.

“Defensively, we just couldn’t get off the field,” Jets Coach Robert Saleh said. “You can’t get anything going if you don’t have the ball that much.”

Rodgers’s replacement, Zach Wilson, the second overall pick in the 2021 draft, picked up where he left off last season. Under pressure all game from Dallas’s fearsome front four, Wilson was sacked three times and threw three fourth-quarter interceptions, as the Jets tried to nip away at a scoring deficit. Wilson finished with 170 yards on 12 of 27 passing, leading the team with 36 yards rushing. He was hounded throughout the night by Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, who had four quarterback hits, including two sacks.

Wilson’s few bright moments came early and with the assistance of his teammates. Dallas took an early lead on Prescott’s first-quarter touchdown pass to Ferguson, and added 3 points on Brandon Aubrey’s 35-yard field goal. Midway through the second quarter, Wilson opened a drive from the Jets’ 32-yard line by finding Garrett Wilson, the 2022 offensive rookie of the year, on a play-action pass. The receiver broke free of a tackle and sprinted 68 yards into the end zone to narrow the score to 10-7.

Dallas followed with a scoring drive of their own, punctuating a 75-yard series with a 1-yard touchdown strike to Schoonmaker.

With 12 seconds remaining before halftime and the Jets having driven to the Cowboys’ 16-yard line, Zach Wilson almost threw a second touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson, who was wide open in the end zone, but the ball was tipped by a Dallas defender and skidded well short of its mark. The Jets settled for a field goal to make the score 18-10.

“It was so frustrating,” Zach Wilson said. “I was going to rip it to him at the front pylon.”

Ultimately, the Cowboys returned to the formula that helped them upend the Giants, 40-0, last week in New Jersey. Prescott got rid of the ball quickly and Pollard, who became the team’s top running back last season, kept the Jets from locking in on the pass rush.

Parsons also stripped running back Dalvin Cook of the ball on the Jets’ second drive of the third quarter, short-circuiting their attempt to close a scoring gap that had ballooned to 21-10.

Playing from behind and under pressure, Zach Wilson threw interceptions on the Jets’ final three possessions. The first of them, early in the fourth quarter, was picked off by Cowboys safety Jayron Kearse, who returned the ball 32 yards to the Jets’ 17-yard line. The Cowboys added a field goal to push their lead to 30-10.

The final two interceptions were nabbed after the Jets approached midfield and the Dallas secondary sat back on Wilson’s throws. The matchup, like much of the Jets’ schedule before Rodgers’s injury, had been an interesting measuring stick for a team with newfound postseason hopes.

Saleh said he didn’t think Sunday’s loss was the start of a long slide for the Jets, who have home games against the division-rival New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs in the coming weeks.

“It won’t snowball, it’s not going to snowball,” he said. “That’s a really good football team. They played as good as I feel you could.”

Unfortunately for Jets fans and the television networks, the Jets, who were hyped on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” during the summer, may continue to struggle as they look for an offensive formula that works without Rodgers, the Hall of Fame caliber quarterback they expected to lead them this season.

Discovering Albania’s Timeless Vjosa River

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“Farmers here are the caretakers of culture,” said Ms. Bejo, who acts as Albanik’s gardener, concierge, yoga instructor and hiking guide. “It’s important that the families with endurance — those who stayed in the valley instead of leaving — are shown appreciation as the economy shifts to tourism.”

My initial hike was a moderate one up to the spring-fed, 65-foot Sopoti Waterfall. The next trek was an hour’s walk south of Permet to the 18th-century Orthodox St. Mary’s Church in the hillside settlement of Leusa. The three-nave, stone-and-brick church, which has an intricately carved wooden iconostasis, is awash with frescoes and murals.

I then met Ms. Bejo, who guided me into the narrow Lengarica Canyon, which cradles the Lengarica River, a Vjosa tributary, and a series of hot springs near the village of Benja. We walked past the Ottoman-era Katiu Bridge that frames the largest of the thermal baths, already crowded. We ambled upstream, in knee-deep water, to more secluded pools. Each of the six sulfur baths has a specific medical benefit. We chose the one for rheumatism and relaxed as a rain shower passed over.

The next day, we made a 45-minute scramble from the riverside town of Kelcyra to the unmarked remains of a 2,400-year-old Illyrian fortress on a ridge overlooking the Vjosa. Hundreds of feet below the ruins, a tour of kayakers — orange boats and red helmets against electric-teal water — paddled through the Kelcyra Gorge. From this strategic vantage, ancient residents once communicated with smoke signals to other outposts, warning of invaders: Greeks, Macedonians, Romans.

Between treks, we walked to villages to visit families who work with Ms. Bejo. In Gostivisht, Flora and Krenar Sali have 150 beehives making honey from mountain flowers called Bedunica. In the village of Peshtan, below the nearly 6,000-foot Mount Golikut, we met Mira Muka, who runs the Bujtina Peshtan guesthouse and camp site. She showed us her collection of weapons from the Vjosa’s Italian-Greek frontline during World War II. “About 10 years ago, 15 people stopped here,” she said. “This year, it will be 1,500. The Vjosa gives us everything: people, fish, water. It is our past and future.”

Tiny Homes Are a Social Media Hit. But Do We Want to Live in Them?

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A series about how cities transform, and the effect of that on everyday life.

In a bustling area of south London, near a busy Underground station and a web of bus routes, is a tiny homes in a dumpster.

The 27-square-foot plywood house has a central floor area; wall shelves for storage (or seating); a kitchen counter with a sink, hot plate and toy-size fridge; and a mezzanine with a mattress under the vaulted roof. There’s no running water, and the bathroom is a portable toilet outside.

The “skip house” is the creation and home of Harrison Marshall, 29, a British architect and artist who designs community buildings, such as schools and health centers, in Britain and abroad. Since he moved into the rent-free dumpster (known as a “skip” in Britain) in January, social media videos of the space have drawn tens of millions of views and dozens of inquiries in a city where studio apartments rent for at least $2,000 a month.

“People are having to move into smaller and smaller places, microapartments, tiny houses, just to try and make ends meet,” Mr. Marshall said in a phone interview. “There are obviously benefits of minimal living, but that should be a choice rather than a necessity.”

Social media platforms are having a field day with microapartments and tiny homes like Mr. Marshall’s, breathing life into the curiosity about that way of living. The small spaces have captivated viewers, whether they are responding to soaring housing prices or to a boundary-pushing alternate lifestyle, as seen on platforms like the Never Too Small YouTube channel. But while there is no precise count on the number of tiny homes and microapartments on the market, the attention on social media has not necessarily made viewers beat a path in droves to move in, perhaps because the spaces sometimes can be a pain to live in.

Mr. Marshall noted that 80 percent of those who contacted him expressing interest in moving into a house like his in the Bermondsey area were not serious about it, and that “most of it is all just buzz and chitchat.”

In his view, tiny homes are being romanticized because the life of luxury is overexposed. “People are almost numb to it from social media,” he said. Mr. Marshall said people were more interested in content about the “nomadic lifestyle, or living off the grid,” which overlooks the flip side: showers at the gym, and a portable outdoor toilet.

The rush back into big cities after the pandemic has pushed rents to new records, intensifying the demand for low-priced housing, including spaces that are barely bigger than a parking spot. But while audiences on social media might find that lifestyle “relatable and entertaining,” as one expert put it, it’s not necessarily an example they will follow.

Viewers of microapartment videos are like visitors to the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay who “get inside of a cell and have the door closed,” said Karen North, a professor of digital social media at the University of Southern California.

Social media users want to experience what it’s like at the “anomalously small end” of the housing scale, she explained.

“Our desire to be social with different people — including influencers and celebrities, or people who are living in a different place in a different way — can all play out on social media, because it feels like we are making a personal connection,” she said.

Pablo J. Boczkowski, a professor of communications studies at Northwestern University, said that despite the belief that new technologies have a powerful influence, millions of clicks don’t translate into people making a wholesale lifestyle change.

“From the data that we have so far, there is no basis to say that social media have the ability to change behavior in that way,” he said.

Although these small spaces aren’t a common choice, residents who do take the plunge are driven by real pressures. For people looking to live and work in big cities, the post-pandemic housing situation is dire. In Manhattan in June, the average rental price was $5,470, according to a report from the real-estate brokerage Douglas Elliman. Across the city, the average rent this month is $3,644, reports Apartments.com, a listing site.

The housing picture is similar in London. In the first three months of this year, the average asking rent in the British capital reached a record of about $3,165 a month, as residents who left the city during lockdown swarmed back.

City dwellers in Asia face similar pressures and costs. In Tokyo in March, the average monthly rent hit a record, for the third month in a row. Currently that rent is roughly $4,900.

So when Ryan Crouse, 21, moved to Tokyo in May 2022 from New York, where he was a business student at Marymount Manhattan College, he rented a 172-square-foot microapartment for $485 a month. Videos of his Tokyo studio went viral, garnering 20 million to 30 million views across platforms, said Mr. Crouse, who moved into a bigger place this May.

Centrally located, the apartment where he lived for a year had a tiny bathroom: “I could literally put my hands wall to wall,” he said. The space also had a mezzanine sleeping area below the roof that was scorchingly hot in the summer, and a sofa so small that he could barely sit on it.

When it comes to microstudios, “a lot of people just like the idea of it, rather than actually doing it,” he said. They enjoy “a glimpse into other people’s lives.”

Mr. Crouse believes the pandemic heightened curiosity. During lockdown, “everyone was on social media, sharing their spaces” and “sharing their lives,” and apartment tour videos “went crazy,” he said. “That really put a light on tiny spaces like this.”

Curiosity on social media seemed to reach a frenzied pitch for Alaina Randazzo, a media planner based in New York, during the year she spent in an 80-square-foot, $650-a-month apartment in Midtown Manhattan. It had a sink, but no toilet or shower: Those were down the hall, and shared.

Having spent the previous six months in a luxury high-rise rental that “ate away my money,” she said, downsizing was a priority when she moved into the microstudio in January 2022.

Unable to do dishes in her tiny sink, Ms. Randazzo ate off paper plates; there was a skylight but no window to air out cooking smells. “I had to be careful what clothes I was buying,” she recalled, “because if I bought too big of a coat, it’s like, where am I going to put it?”

Still, videos of her microapartment on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram received tens of millions of views, she said. YouTube influencers, including one with a cooking series, did an on-location shoot in her microstudio, and rappers messaged her asking to do the same.

“The pictures make it look a little bit bigger than it actually is,” Ms. Randazzo, 26, said. “There are so many little things that you have to maneuver in those apartments that you don’t think about.”

There is “a cool factor” around microstudios nowadays, she said, because “you’re selling someone on a dream”: that they can be successful in New York and “not be judged” for living in a tiny pad. Also, “our generation likes realness,” she explained, “someone who’s actually showing authenticity” and trying to build a career and a future by saving money.

But it was not the kind of life Ms. Randazzo could keep up for longer than a year. She now shares a large New York townhouse where she has a spacious bedroom. She has no regrets about her microapartment: “I love the community that it brought me but I definitely don’t miss bumping my head on the ceiling.”

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