Minnesota United’s sporting staff had to work around a small construction zone within its offices inside the National Sports Center in Blaine on Thursday.

That’s because new Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad is literally having walls torn down, having a contractor remove the drywall between the Loons’ first-team and academy operations.

Given that four of the five substitutions MNUFC used in the season-opening win at Austin FC on Saturday were under 24 years old, El-Ahmad’s influence is starting to be seen on the field as well.

El-Ahmad spoke on-the-record with reporters for the first time  on Thursday. The key points centered on last week’s hiring of permanent head coach Eric Ramsay, El-Ahmad’s vision for the club and how they will approach building the roster.

Huge net cast for head coach

MNUFC had more than 100 candidates for the head-coaching position, from assistants to high-level coaches, both foreign and domestic, El-Ahmad shared. Through an extensive and difficult process, the wide-ranging field was narrowed down to a handful of candidates in the past few weeks.

El-Ahmad said the club used different key performance indicators (KPIs) to rank candidates. Interviews extended to CEO Shari Ballard and others.

“Some of (the candidates) weren’t available, some couldn’t come, some are too expensive,” EL-Ahmad said. “It just the combination of things that ultimately then just narrows it all down.”

In his previous role at Barnsley in England, El-Ahmad was familiar with Ramsay during his time as Manchester United assistant coach.

“We thought that Eric was best suited in terms of intelligence,” El-Ahmad told reporters. “His approach to football aligns with the way I look at it, and where we want Minnesota to go. His experience for managing and being in the highest level possible in football (the English Premier League). Both to learn from some of the coaches that he’s been around, but also connecting and managing players from Cristiano Ronaldo to Casimiro.”

El-Ahmad discussed how he and Ramsay’s values align and how Ramsay’s ability to speak multiple languages, including Spanish and French, added to his attributes.

El-Ahmad has routinely mentioned four tenants for how he and MNUFC will operate: “Be a good person, be positive, be professional and be transparent at all times.”

El-Ahmad shared dinners with Ramsay in England last week. “He’s really excited,” El-Ahmad shared.

Challenge with Ramsay

At age 32, Ramsay will be the youngest head coach in MLS and will take over a first team for the first time in a new-to-him league.

El-Ahmad, however, doesn’t see that as a “challenge.”

“I think it’s all potential; I don’t see it as a challenge,” El-Ahmad said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for him to put in place all the things that he’s experienced and learned. And it’s also not just Eric. He’s got a great supportive staff, whether it’s me, (interim head coach Cameron Knowles), all the people around. Again, I’ve said it from our first meeting, this is a collaborative effort. And Eric is just a good addition to this.”

A youthful coach was not a prerequisite for the job, El-Ahmad said. He said the primary factor was “quality.”

“I don’t see him being too young (as) an issue,” El-Ahmad said. “I actually didn’t really think about: ‘I want a coach that’s 30 or 40 or 50.’ I just want the best person possible.”

Knowles is a candidate to remain on Ramsay’s coaching staff as an assistant, while Ramsay will bring in one assistant from outside the club.

“It’s a collaborative decision,” Knowles said. “In the past, the way I do it is the head coach has the ability to bring one staff member, which will be the case this time as well.”

Knowles would bring an understanding of MLS and his existing relationship with players, while the other to-be-named assistant will be expected to bring his own complimentary attributes.

What is El-Ahmad’s vision of MNUFC?

“I want us to be brave,” El-Ahmad said. “I want us to show a bit of belief in what we’re doing. And yes, we will adapt pending who we play, where we play, but people should know that this is Minnesota United.

“… I think alignment from top to bottom, from owners all the way to academy,” El-Ahmad added. “I think if you would walk in (to the offices), I just tore down a wall that was separating academy to the first team. That was gone.”

The Austin match showed the high-pressing style El-Ahmad has brought to the club, a style that Knowles implemented and Ramsay will continue to use.

El-Ahmad said that an energetic, high-pressing tactic was picked based on his assessment of the Loons and Minnesota.

“It’s not necessarily my preferred (style) generally,” El-Ahmad clarified. “It’s when I go into clubs, I look at it each club has a kind of its own organism. I look at the geographic location, I look at the fact that we’re four seasons, I look at our fans … the history of Minnesota, you have an (iron ore) state. And I also analyze the players that we had.

“There’s also quite a lot of data when you look of sustainable success. There’s certain metrics. It’s also the opportunity or type of players that we can attract where we are. So it kind of tends to be more of a Liverpool/(Tottenham) way of playing versus a (Manchester) City.”

Peek into transfer windows

In the winter, the Loons have brought in a handful of younger, reserve players on bargain deals. Come summer, MNUFC is expected to go bigger with roster flexibility, including one vacant Designated Player and Under-22 Initiative spots.

“First and foremost, we need to look at how we scout and recruit and align it, not just kind of potentially go for ad hoc signings,” El-Ahmad said. “But I think we’re all really focused on the players that we have.

“I think once Eric comes and everything kind of settles a little bit more around the first team, we’ll assess and then tackle the summer when it comes.”

Minnesota United’s identity will factor into which players the club pursues going forward.

“Who are we as a club? What do we want to represent? The style of play?” El-Ahmad asked. “As we’re putting those pieces in place, we will have specific KPIs of how we recruit, certain type of players, whether it’s more technical analogies, what we call a squad balance: X amount of youth or X amount of older players, as those things fall in place. I think we will be a competitive team.”

Briefly

El-Ahmad said MNUFC is planning to add staff to fill video, analysis and data needs. … Hank Stebbins was the interim technical director before El-Ahmad’s arrival. Stebbins remains on staff. … El-Ahmad did not definitively address whether MNUFC will have its first team play in the U.S. Open Cup this spring. … As El-Ahmad has gotten to know players and staff, he asked them for restaurant recommendations. He now has a list of 55 spots and already has gone to Colita and Smack Shack. Some players mentioned Olive Garden. El-Ahmad will pass on that suggestion.

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Carpinteria, a small town some 12 miles outside Santa Barbara, Calif., says it is the home of “the world’s safest beach,” and for 90 years newspaper adverts have boasted of its clean, wide sands and lack of rip current.

For me at least, the only danger here has been blotches of tar sticking to my feet.

It comes from an inland pit that outcrops onto the beach, and still oozes and glistens today. It was mined by the native Chumash people to waterproof their plank-built boats, and the carpentry of their village inspired 18th century Spanish explorers when they renamed the area.

On a clear day you can see oil rigs out in the ocean, but they are dwarfed by the outlines of several of the Channel Islands beyond. A total of eight make up the archipelago, and they are explored at the new Chrisman Channel Islands Center, which officially opens to the public April 4.

The new Chrisman Channel Islands Center explores the eight islands off California’s coast. (Photo by James Bartlett)

“We hope to expand to include all the islands right down to Baja California,” says executive director Emily Duncan, explaining that the center was the long-time goal of the Santa Cruz Island Foundation and especially Marla Daily, who has spent decades writing and researching islapedia.com, a website of more than 2,000 people whose lives intersected with the islands.

The center showcases a variety of artifacts from and about the islands, plus the industries based there in the past and present: cattle raising, wine-making, fishing, seal hunting and pottery, as well as tourism, art and even military use.

The exterior of the Chrisman Channel Islands Center features benches in the shape of islands and a statue of Juana Maria, the “Lone Woman” of San Nicholas Island who inspired the children’s book “Island of the Blue Dolphins.” (Photo by James Bartlett)

Outside, the native plant garden is dotted with sculpture, including metal benches in the shape and proportionate size of the islands. Santa Barbara Island is barely enough for a toddler to sit on.

There is also a statue of Juana Maria, the “Lone Woman” of San Nicholas Island and inspiration for “Island of the Blue Dolphins,” plus the Octopus’s Garden, which features a huge granite cephalopod, and donated whale bones and fossilized stones found on the islands.

The center is located at the top of Linden Avenue, the main street that leads all the way down to the ocean. On Linden you’ll find tourist-friendly stores and coffee shops, but also frozen bananas at Robitaille’s, our favorite lunch place The Cork Tree, and old-school seafood joint Little Dom’s.

This mural, trumpeting Carpinteria’s claim to have the “world’s safest beach” is on Wulbrandt Way near its intersection with Linden Avenue. (Photo by James Bartlett)

Also on Linden is the new Lantern Tree Books, which is located where Carpinteria’s first library opened in 1910. Lest you forget, it has a “world’s safest beach” mural on the side wall.

Right by the tiny Amtrak Station is The Spot, a burgers and milkshake shack, and you can go on towards the beach, or instead turn left into the 62-acre State Park, and take the 20-30 min walk past the RV park along the bluffs of the Nature Preserve towards the Seal Sanctuary.

Carpinteria’s Harbor Seal Statue is located off Linden Avenue, just inside Carpinteria State Beach. (Photo by James Bartlett)

From high above you look down on dozens of harbor seals lazing on the sand, and in the winter it’s a rookery for newborns. There are further hikes around, but instead turn back toward town and take a detour off the trail at Palm Avenue to visit Santa Barbara Hives and buy some avocado honey, or a charcoal sourdough sandwich — before they sell out.

Santa Barbara Hives in Carpinteria sells varieties of honey along with candles, cakes, jams, jellies and lip balm made with beeswax. (Photo by James Bartlett)

We have visited Carpinteria many times, and find that it’s not too tiring to combine a walk along the bluffs, which are dotted with twisted, wind-blown trees, with a lazy walk along the white sands. The beach is great for finding sea glass and shells, and you’ll often see dolphins swimming, and pelicans flying overhead.

These places — and popping in to see Wayne at Angel Antiques, which is always bursting with retro pieces and surfing artifacts — are always on our list, but more recently we have made discoveries off the main drag.

After asking the locals, I found that many of them tend to gravitate towards a relatively anonymous industrial-looking area known as The Lot, which is near the 101 Exit from Santa Barbara at the western end of Carpinteria Avenue.

The BrewLab has been serving craft beer in Carpinteria for 10 years. (Photo by James Bartlett)

Within a few steps of each other behind gray/black storefronts are several businesses including the friendly and innovative BrewLab, a taproom which is celebrating 10 years of making unique but often delicious beers.

BrewLab is a taproom that has been serving unique but often delicious beers in Carpinteria. (Photo by James Bartlett)

On the walls are portraits by local artist Ruairi Bateson, who was at the bar enjoying a drink during our visit, and advised us on a flight of eclectic IPAs. “You can’t go wrong with anything here,” he promised.

Next to BrewLAB is the Rincon Mountain Winery, the only one located in Carpinteria.

Rincon Mountain Winery is the only vintner in Carpinteria. Its tasting room features stacks of old vinyl records. (Photo by James Bartlett)

Inside, one wall is stacked floor-to-ceiling with old vinyl, which is played behind the bar on turntables. There’s a heavy accent on jazz, blues and big band, but also plenty of 1960s, ’70s and ’80s staples.

Christian Baker, brother of co-owner Jill Siple, poured a sample of Salvadorean red and explained that they recently branched out into small, 90-gallon batches of beer named Smoke Mountain in tribute to what the original Chumash people called Rincon Mountain.

He steps outside, and points into the distance. “That’s Rincon Mountain. We make our beer there too, and we’re moving into cider.”

A real secret — one that I was first told by Dennis Mitchell, the man behind Carpinteria Valley Radio, and then by several others — was that a man named Luis makes family-recipe frozen and baked Argentinian empanadas at Che Empanadas, which is behind BrewLAB.

He is only there on Friday and Saturday, but knock on the door and he will tell you how to cook, hold and eat them. Otherwise, you can order them at BrewLAB, Rincon, and from nearby Apiary, a brewery that makes gluten-free mead, kombucha, and other honey-based beverages.

A walk along the bluffs in Carpinteria offers breathtaking views and can be combined with a stroll on the sand. (Photo by James Bartlett)

Round the corner — literally — from Rincon is Sade, a Turkish coffee shop owned by Istanbul-born Ali, who excitedly explains the way to make the best coffee, and how he started out selling baklava.

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Bonbons, truffles and chocolates, an ideal complement to the coffee, are a few yards away at the French Chocolats du CaliBressan, and with the beach always close at hand, no wonder Mitchell, who moved here a couple of years ago, simply says:

“I love this town so much it flows.”

If you’re planning a visit, have a look at the Facebook Group for “Carpinteria — the World’s Safest Beach”, and you’ll see pictures from beach combers, sunset-chasers and dog lovers.

One last tip: petroleum jelly gets the tar off your feet!

Karu F. Daniels and Jager Weatherby | New York Daily News (TNS)

NEW YORK — The latest iteration of the Fab Five has a fresh new face on board.

Roughly three months after the news that “Queer Eye” design expert Bobby Berk would be leaving the series after Season 8, Netflix has announced that Jeremiah Brent will be stepping in to replace him.

The new interior designer will join long-time castmates Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness for Season 9 of the Emmy Award-winning series, which is set to be filmed in Las Vegas.

But who is Jeremiah Brent and where might you have seen him before?

Jeremiah Brent visits SiriusXM Studios on Feb. 15, 2024, in New York. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images/TNS)

Who is Jeremiah Brent?

Brent, whose birth name is Jeremy Clevenger Johnson, is a design industry superstar hailing from Modesto, California.

The self-taught interior decorator first made a splash in the world of reality TV as a styling associate on Season 4 of Bravo’s “The Rachel Zoe Project.” Years later, he hosted the Emmy Award-winning “Home Made Simple” for two seasons on the Oprah Winfrey Network and starred in TLC’s “Nate & Jeremiah by Design” alongside his husband, fellow interior designer Nate Berkus.

Berkus and Brent — the first same-sex couple to be featured in ads for Banana Republic — were married in 2014 and are the parents of 8-year-old daughter Poppy and 5-year-old son Oskar, both of whom were born via egg donors and surrogates.

In 2011 — the same year he appeared on “The Rachel Zoe Project” — Brent founded design firm Jeremiah Brent Design (JBD), with offices in Manhattan and Los Angeles.

“My personal design aesthetic is monastic, but obviously, we don’t do just that with the firm,” he told Architectural Digest in 2022.

Why did Bobby Berk leave “Queer Eye”?

Following the premiere of “Queer Eye” in 2018, Berk quickly became a fan favorite thanks to his stunning home makeovers and compassionate conversations. So it came as a surprise to fans when the 42-year-old Houston native announced in November that he was departing the show after Season 8, which dropped Jan. 24 on Netflix.

“It’s with a heavy heart that I announce that Season 8 will be my final season on ‘Queer Eye,’” Berk wrote on social media. “It’s not been an easy decision to be at peace with, but a necessary one. Although my journey with ‘Queer Eye’ is over, my journey with you is not. You will be seeing more of me very soon.”

Berk elaborated on his departure in a recent profile for Vanity Fair, saying he thought the show had come to an end after they had completed the contract they initially signed.

“We thought we were done [after September 2022],” he said. “Mentally and emotionally, I thought we all moved on. I know I did, and I started planning other things.”

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But then, after nearly a year had passed, Netflix decided to renew the show, with a contract that required a commitment of up to four seasons. Having already made other plans, Berk decided not to sign while his fellow castmates did.

“We just assumed that the show wouldn’t come back if we all didn’t come back,” he said.

Berk also confirmed rumors of a rift with fashion expert Tan France.

“Tan and I had a moment. There was a situation, and that’s between Tan and I, and it has nothing to do with the show,” he told Vanity Fair. “It was something personal that had been brewing — and nothing romantic, just to clarify that.”

How to watch “Queer Eye”?

All six episodes of the current season of “Queer Eye” — filmed in New Orleans — are streaming now on Netflix, along with all previous seasons of the series. There’s no word yet on when Season 9 will premiere.

©2024 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

As he begins another year of touring with his band, Mammoth WVH, Wolfgang Van Halen says “he didn’t expect to be where we are this soon in our career. I didn’t see it coming. I feel very lucky to be where we are.”

That seems … odd?

The 32-year-old son of the late Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli is as sincere as his viewpoint is surprising.

He did, after all, start his performing career playing to sold-out arenas as Van Halen’s bassist from 2007 to 2020, and alongside that was part of Creed/Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti’s solo band. He was a known commodity by the time Mammoth WVH released its debut album in 2021, hitting No. 1 on three Billboard charts and launching a pair of No. 1 Mainstream Rock hits in “Distance” and “Don’t Back Down.”

Last year’s “Mammoth II,” meanwhile, also debuted atop the Hard Rock Albums charts, and the band found itself playing to stadiums opening for Metallica. And Van Halen himself was part of the award-nominated “I’m Not Ken” the “Barbie: The Movie” soundtrack.

Wolfgang Van Halen performs at Ford Field in November 2023. (Photo courtesy of Mike Ferdinande)

It’s a lot of good stuff, and it seems that with his experience and his lineage, Van Halen would not be surprised.

“Well, it’s a bit different when it’s your thing from its inception,” Van Halen explains via Zoom from his home in Los Angeles, where he also helps to run his father’s EVH Gear company. “It’s this baby you’ve cradled yourself from the very beginning. It’s such a close thing to my heart because I’ve poured everything into it. So to be able to see people appreciate that, it feels nice … and better than I expected it to be at this point.”

While he does have a touring band, Mammoth WVH is 100% Van Halen in the studio, playing all the instruments and doing all the singing with only producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette and recording engineers alongside. It’s a testament to Van Halen’s DNA and drive, of course. He started out playing drums, then moved on to other instruments, and at this point, he’s comfortable as a one-man band, at least when recording.

“From its inception, it’s been my artistic expression or whatever,” says Van Halen, who married longtime girlfriend Andraia Allsop in October. “And at the end of the day, it’s just plain fun. I have a good time playing everything. Could I see bringing the live guys in at some point? Sure, but I just have such a good time doing it (alone). I’m not ready to give that up.”

And, he adds, being the master of his own musical domain means he can follow his muse in any direction.

“I view it in a way as expanding the scope of Mammoth rather than creating something else,” Van Halen explains. “Mammoth II, I think, skewed in a different direction where there were some heavier things and stuff that wouldn’t have fit in the first album. There are certainly ideas that feel more left field that I’ve come up with lately that are like, ‘Y’know, this would be another cool notch in the belt, another direction Mammoth can go to.’

“So I’m just focused on Mammoth being, I guess, a one-stop shop for any type of vibe I want.”

The “Barbie” involvement, of course, was an unforeseen fork on the creative path. Van Halen was invited on the Ryan Gosling-sung “I’m Not Ken” by Mark Ronson after meeting at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in September 2022 — where Van Halen played a selection of Van Halen band songs. He played guitar on the track, which was a Top 5 hit on Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs and Alternative charts and was nominated for Golden Globe and Academy Awards.

“I’m just honestly happy to be part of it, to have the opportunity to play a super small part in it,” Van Halen says. “I spent two days in the studio and we just kind of played around with ideas, and it was a really good time. I knew (the movie) was good just from being involved in it and seeing what I was able to see, but to see how much it, specifically the song I played on, blow up as much as it did was pretty crazy.”

The only dark cloud in all this silver lining is haters, who have let their opinions be known since Van Halen controversially replaced original bassist Michael Anthony 17 years ago in Van Halen. Some — who obviously don’t listen to the music — slam Van Halen for coasting on his father’s enormous coattails and fill social media with potshots. And Van Halen is more aggressive than most at slapping back at the most egregious comments.

More recently he faced the ire of former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth, who in a lengthy video diatribe referred to Van Halen as “this f***in’ kid” and a “schlemiel kid” and accused him of kicking some of Roth’s guests out of the backstage area during shows. “I’m honored he thinks about me as much as he does, I guess,” Van Halen says with a smirk, adding, “I would sure love to not have to be part of some sort of Van Halen drama at all, so I think I’m just gonna continue to sit in my no-comment zone … ’cause at the end of the day, it’s just not worth it.”

However, he continues: “It’s one thing when there some dude on Twitter being a (jerk), saying a lie about me. But when there’s other people trying to lie about me and make me look bad, it’s just like you can believe whatever you want, I guess. The people who hate me are gonna continue to hate me and I’m just gonna be over here doing my thing.”

As far as Van Halen is concerned, he’s more than proved that his “thing” is nothing less than valid.

“It’s tough and a bit stressful to have so many expectations on you and people having so many opinions on what I should be doing or whatever,” he says. “But I’m confident that just my existence is an honoring of my dad’s legacy, and the fact I am chasing my own musician dreams and doing my own thing in music. … He was very proud and I think he’d be proud to see where everything is now.”

Mammoth WVH and Nita Strauss perform Wednesday, Feb. 28 at Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit. Doors at 7 p.m. 313-961-8961 or saintandrewsdetroit.com.

While he does have a touring band, Mammoth WVH is 100% Wolfgang Van Halen in the studio, playing all the instruments and doing all the singing with only producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette and recording engineers alongside. (Photo courtesy of Bryan Beasley)