The Loop NFL Picks: Week 6

posted in: All news | 0

Broncos vs. Jets (+7½)
Former Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is facing felony charges after a bloody encounter with a grease truck driver in Indianapolis. Upon hearing the shocking news, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt recommended Sanchez for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Pick: Broncos by 14

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Bears at Commanders (-4½)
It’s the rematch of last year’s infamous Hail Mary Game. They’ll mark the occasion in a touching pregame coin toss, where Chicago’s Tyrique Stevenson will run out onto the field late, then bat the coin to Noah Brown.
Pick: Commanders by 3

FILE – Washington Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown (85) catches a 52-yard touchdown pass in the end zone as time expires to give the Commanders an 18-15 win over the Chicago Bears in an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

Seahawks at Jaguars (+1½)
Jacksonville upset the mighty Chiefs on Monday night when QB Trevor Lawrence scrambled after falling down for the winning touchdown. Kansas City defensive star Chris Jones said it was the most amazing play he had ever witnessed while standing still on the field.
Pick: Seahawks by 3

Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones (95) reacts to play against the Buffalo Bills during the second half of the AFC Championship NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Lions at Chiefs (-1½)
Taylor Swift has vehemently denied she will be giving up her music career when she marries Travis Kelce. In contrast, the Kansas City tight end has not denied that he has given up on this season.
Pick: Lions by 7

Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs attend the Men’s Singles Final match between Taylor Fritz of the United States and Jannik Sinner of Italy on Day Fourteen of the 2024 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 08, 2024 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Browns at Steelers (-4½)
Former Browns wideout Odell Beckham Jr. revealed this week that he has been suspended six games for use of performance-enhancing drugs. NFL insiders report that nobody’s interested, and nobody cares.
Pick: Steelers by 7

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (13) on the sideline against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Chargers at Dolphins (+4½)
The once perfect 1972 Dolphins toasted the demise of the two remaining undefeated teams on Sunday. While many significant members of that 17-0 team have passed away, those Dolphins in 2025 would still wipe the floor with this Miami mess.
Pick: Chargers by 7

FILE- Former Miami Dolphin’s quarterback Bob Griese, left, holds a signed jersey with President Barack Obama and Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, forty-one years after their perfect football season as President Barack Obama honors the Super Bowl VII Champion Miami Dolphins in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013. The 1972 Miami Dolphins remain the only undefeated team in NFL history. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Cowboys at Panthers (+3½)
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was fined $250,000 for flipping off Jets fans last Sunday in New Jersey. Jones said his middle fingers were “inadvertent,” which is the same adjective he uses to describe how the Johnnie Walker keeps finding its way into his coffee mug.
Pick: Cowboys by 7

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones stands on the sidelines prior to an NFL preseason football game against the Denver Broncos, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Rams at Ravens (+7½)
Injury-riddled Baltimore has dropped to 1-4 but is still the betting favorite to win the AFC North on both FanDuel and DraftKings. It’s the surest sign yet that bettors on FanDuel and DraftKings are mostly clueless.
Pick: Rams by 11

Derrick Henry #22 of the Baltimore Ravens is tackled as he rushes with the ball during the first quarter against the Houston Texans at M&T Bank Stadium on Oct. 05, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Cardinals at Colts (-6½)
Arizona’s Emeri Demercado became the latest NFL pariah to drop the football in celebration in front of the end zone and cost his team a victory against then-winless Tennessee. The Cardinals’ running back was subsequently named an honorary Indianapolis Colt.
Pick: Colts by 3

Arizona Cardinals running back Emari Demercado (31) reacts on the sideline after fumbling the ball out of the end zone on a touchdown run during the second half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Titans at Raiders (-4½)
Vegas coach Pete Carroll and QB Geno Smith are struggling mightily at 1-4. It’s a cautionary tale for teams looking for a coaching-quarterbacking combo with a combined age of a hundred and eight.
Pick: Raiders by 7

Head coach Pete Carroll of the Las Vegas Raiders talks with Geno Smith #7 during the NFL Preseason 2025 game between Las Vegas Raiders and Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on Aug. 07, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Other games

Bills at Falcons (+3 ½)
Pick: Bills by 7

Patriots at Saints (+3 ½)
Pick: Patriots by 7

49ers at Buccaneers (-2½)
Pick: Buccaneers by 3

Bengals at Packers (-14½)
Pick: Packers by 14

Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills makes a pass during the third quarter of the game against the New England Patriots at Highmark Stadium on Oct. 05, 2025 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images)

Bye week

Texans, Vikings

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell leaves the field after a win over the Cleveland Browns in an NFL football game in London, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (Adam Bettcher/AP Content Services for the NFL)

Record

Week 5
4-10 straight up
4-10 vs. spread

Season
44-33-1 straight up (.571)
36-42 vs. spread (.462)

All-time (2003-25)
3863-2134-15 straight up (.644)
2946-2921-145 vs spread (.502)

Another proud Northwestern moment. (File photo)

You can hear Kevin Cusick on Thursdays on Bob Sansevere’s “BS Show” podcast on iTunes. You can follow Kevin on X– @theloopnow. He can be reached at kcusick@pioneerpress.com.

Related Articles


The Loop Fantasy Football Report Week 6: Subs turning into saviors


The Loop Fantasy Football Update Week 5: Last-minute moves


The Loop NFL Picks: Week 5


The Loop Fantasy Football Update Week 4: Last-minute moves


The Loop NFL Picks: Week 4

‘John Candy: I Like Me’ review: Loving portrait predictable but potent

posted in: All news | 0

An interview with Bill Murray opens “John Candy: I Like Me,” director Colin Hanks’ formulaic but richly enjoyable documentary about the late, great Canadian comedic actor.

Murray apologizes for having nothing bad to say about the man he shared the screen in the 1981 movie “Stripes” — he thinks it would be more interesting if he did, he says, and eventually manages that maybe Candy overdid it in one of their scenes.

Murray’s a good actor, but barely tries to sell the idea.

What becomes clear watching “I Like Me,” the title taken from a line of dialogue in one of Candy’s best-known films, 1987’s “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” is that seemingly everyone liked Candy — even if, like the rest of us, he was far from perfect.

Available to stream on Prime Video starting Oct. 10, the movie world-premiered as the opening-night offering of the 50th Toronto International Film Festival in early September.

“I Like Me” is stuffed with terrific archival footage sure to prove nostalgic for those who followed Candy back to his days on the sketch show “SCTV,” essentially Canada’s answer to “Saturday Night Live.” You watch as he breaks into movies and even eventually becomes an owner of the professional football team the Toronto Argonauts, helping to reach his dream of becoming his envisioned cooler alter ego, “Johnny Toronto.”

The movie also boasts many more interviews with those who knew and loved him, including family and famous friends. Along with Murray, the latter group includes Canadian comedic actor peers Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short and Dave Thomas.

Hanks also somehow (cough) managed to get his very well-known father, Tom, who acted opposite Candy in 1984’s “Splash,” to reminisce about first taking note of Candy while watching “SCTV” and of later finding him to be a giving screen partner.

And then there’s Candy’s “Planes” co-star Steve Martin, who didn’t know him well before filming the John Hughes-directed classic and expresses something that comes close to regret for how his character brutally lays into Candy’s in that memorable scene that eventually delivers the “I like me” quip.

“His facial response in that scene told a huge story,” Martin says, adding with an uneasy laugh: “And I’d always feel bad. I’d say, ‘We are just pretending, you know?’”

Actor John Candy is shown in a scene from the new documentary “John Candy: I Like Me.” (Prime Video/TNS)

Following predictable beats, the younger Hanks doesn’t shy away from the fact that Candy was large in more than just personality. Increasingly overweight, he drank and ate too much, possibly in part to deal with the tremendous anxiety he felt.

We spend time early on and deep into the film at his funeral in 1994, after he’d died of a heart attack.

So, yes, “I Like Me” offers the obligatory gut punches, so perhaps have a tissue or three at the ready, but mostly it’s a celebration of a life spent making others laugh.

And fear not, fans of 1987 “Star Wars” spoof “Spaceballs,” the Mel Brooks-directed classic — in which Candy plays the vaguely Chewbacca-like man-dog hybrid Barf — receives its delightful moment in the spotlight.

“He had a wild and weird, beautiful sense of humor — and blessed with a sweet nature and a smile, that ever-loving smile,” Brooks says. “Two generations passed, and … his memory is still as vivid and as lively as ever.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

‘John Candy: I Like Me’

3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for smoking, some strong language, drug material and suggestive material)

Running time: 1:53

How to watch: On Prime Video Oct. 10

Related Articles


Taylor Swift’s ‘The Official Release Party of a Show Girl’ debuts at No. 1 with $33 million


For Stillwater singer Colin Bracewell, appearing on ‘The Voice’ is the chance of a lifetime


A biopic about cult Minneapolis band the Replacements is in the works


Movie review: ‘The Smashing Machine’ an unusual, appealingly weird sports biopic


Movie review: Horror thriller ‘Bone Lake’ stranded in the shallows

Today in History: October 10, Malala Yousafzai, Kailash Satyarthi awarded Nobel Peace Prize

posted in: All news | 0

Today is Friday, Oct. 10, the 283rd day of 2025. There are 82 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 10, 2014, Malala Yousafzai (mah-LAH’-lah YOO’-suhf-zeye), a 17-year-old Pakistani girl, and Kailash Satyarthi (KY’-lash saht-YAHR’-thee), a 60-year-old Indian man, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for risking their lives for the right of children to receive an education and to live free from abuse.

Also on this date:

In 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy was established in Annapolis, Maryland, with an inaugural class of 50 students.

Related Articles


She saw a car-sized object above a Texas farm and found a wayward hunk of NASA equipment


California company recalls nearly 245,000 pounds of pasta tied to listeria outbreak


Judge tosses out Drake’s defamation lawsuit against label over Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’


New York Attorney General Letitia James charged in fraud case after pressure campaign by Trump


5 executions in 8 days: Why the death penalty is being used more in the US this year

In 1911, Chinese revolutionaries launched an uprising that led to the collapse of the Qing (or Manchu) Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China.

In 1935, the George Gershwin opera “Porgy and Bess,” featuring an all-Black cast, opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 124 performances.

In 1964, the Summer Olympics began in Tokyo, the first Summer Games to be telecast around the world.

In 1966, the Beach Boys’ single “Good Vibrations,” written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, was released by Capitol Records.

In 1970, Fiji became independent of the United Kingdom, 96 years after the South Pacific island archipelago had been colonized.

In 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, accused of accepting bribes, resigned his office and pleaded no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion. President Richard Nixon soon after appointed Congressman Gerald Ford to replace Agnew. Nixon resigned in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal and Ford succeeded him.

In 2001, a month after the Sept. 11 attacks, U.S. jets stepped up bombing of the Afghan capital of Kabul while President George W. Bush unveiled a list of 22 most-wanted terrorists, including Osama bin Laden.

In 2018, Hurricane Michael, the first to strike the U.S. mainland as a Category 5 hurricane in 26 years, barreled onto the Florida Panhandle with 160 mph (257 kph) winds, causing nearly $7 billion in total insured losses.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Peter Coyote is 84.
Entertainer Ben Vereen is 79.
Actor Charles Dance is 79.
Author Nora Roberts is 75.
Rock singer David Lee Roth is 71.
Country singer Tanya Tucker is 67.
Actor Julia Sweeney is 66.
Actor Bradley Whitford is 66.
Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre is 56.
Actor/TV host Mario Lopez is 52.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 51.
Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Pronger is 51.

Concert review: Mumford and Sons thrill fans at first local show in nearly a decade

posted in: All news | 0

The last time Mumford and Sons were in town — in April 2016, on the same day Prince died(!) — they were in their so-called experimental phase, when the London foursome began slathering slick stadium rock vibes over the earnest Appalachian folk that made them famous.

In the nearly decade that has passed, they released another rock album, took an extended break and lost banjo player Winston Marshall, who left the group due to his increasingly far-right politics. In March, they released their back-to-basics fifth album “Rushmere” and, Thursday night, headlined Grand Casino Arena, the downtown St. Paul hockey rink formerly known as Xcel Energy Center.

The time away clearly didn’t cost them any listeners, as more than 14,500 showed up to see the guys live. But “Rushmere” failed to generate much buzz from fans or critics. So it wasn’t too surprising to see the new stuff they played receive a polite response, while the crowd went nuts for the old hits, singing along to “Little Lion Man” and dutifully clapping during “Lover of the Light.”

That said, it was a brand-new number that spoke to where Mumford and Sons stand in 2025. They opened the show with “Run Together” a song so fresh, it made its world debut Wednesday night in Chicago. And it’s a real barn burner, at least in the Mumford and Sons sense, with an anthemic chorus and a hook so immediate and indelible, it seems inevitable that they ripped it off from another song, consciously or not.

Stomping, clapping numbers like “Run Together” are what attract folks to the Mumfords and they rolled them out one after the other Thursday. The three remaining members stood up front, while a small army of touring musicians crowded near the back, adding more guitars and more keyboards along with drums, trombone, trumpet and a few other random instruments.

The trio did take a mid-set break for some scaled-back acoustic numbers on a small stage at the back of the arena floor. Joined by touring banjo player Matt Menefee, they dialed back the energy and got intimate with “Ghosts That We Knew,” “Caroline” and “Feel the Tide,” a song they haven’t played live in 15 years. (They were still up-and-comers in the States at that time and headlined the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown on that tour.)

While he doesn’t have a particularly distinct voice, band leader Marcus Mumford does know how to work a crowd, whether it was hopping onto the drums or sprinting directly through the general admission crowd after the acoustic set. He’s got a certain charm to him as well, which probably helps forgive some of his weaker material.

Whatever the case, “Run Together” sure sounds like a smash hit in waiting that will stand with any of the big ones from the good old days. Expect it to be inescapable in the near future and used in a prescription drug ad at whatever point the royalty checks start petering out for the Mumfords.

Related Articles


British rockers Bring Me the Horizon to headline Grand Casino Arena in May


Review: An improvisation-infused mash-up of electronic and classical music


Nine-piece K-Pop group Twice to headline Grand Casino Arena in April


Pop star Doja Cat is coming back to Target Center next October


Concert review: Keith Urban scores a jackpot at St. Paul’s Grand Casino Arena