Was it just her imagination? It’s hard to say. But when “High School Musical 2” premieres on Aug. 17, Efron & Co. really will be everywhere. The first “HSM,” which debuted last year on the Disney Channel, became the most successful made-for-TV movie ever (total worldwide viewers: 160 million). It was like “Grease” for the “American Idol” generation, a squeaky-clean valentine that played like a time capsule from the 1950s—the happy couple didn’t even get to kiss at the end....

With wild-card weekend in the books, the NFL playoff bracket is down to eight teams. The Kansas City Chiefs continue to lead the way in the 2023 Super Bowl odds, narrowly ahead of the Buffalo Bills. But the favorite in the NFC has shifted heading into the divisional round. Super Bowl 57 Odds The Philadelphia Eagles, who secured the lone bye in the NFC, were narrowly ahead of the San Francisco 49ers at this time last week....

Since Merritt made 24 starts in Triple-A this season, posting a 3.70 ERA, and got call-ups to the majors in May, August and September, you know that the latter option is not true. So, it will be in good health that the 24-year-old left-hander takes the mound on Wednesday, looking to get Cleveland to its first World Series since 1997. MORE: Ranking the best 50 players of the playoffs...

Or unless it’s something that includes both beer and bacon. Like a milkshake. How's it made? Take a look: MORE: Texas unveils ‘Big Hoss TV’ | 2014 Cup schedule | Danica ready for Talladega Texas Motor Speedway has created just such a concoction for fans at the Nov. 3 AAA Texas 500. Levy Restaurants Executive Chef Joel Pena has created the Shake 'n Bacon Brew beer milkshake — a bacon-infused, alcoholic drink....

XFL making a return? In the final minutes of the ESPN “30 For 30” documentary “This Was The XFL”, former NBC Sports chairman and XFL co-founder Dick Ebersol asks Vince McMahon about the failed football league: “Do you ever have thoughts about trying again?” Of course, McMahon responded with “Yes, I do”. So, it shouldn’t have been a surprise when word started making the rounds recently that the WWE CEO was looking to revive the XFL....

The hard-hitting native of Kazakhstan will compete twice a year over the next three years, with his first fight on the sports streaming service in June against an opponent to be determined. With Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs clashing on May 4, obviously a GGG-Canelo trilogy or a Golovkin-Jacobs rematch would be amazing. But there are other intriguing opponents out there for Golovkin and Sporting News explores some of them here....

While the Lebanese was signed by Johor Darul Ta’zim last season, it’s the long term injury this time around that has cost his place with the Red Warriors. Needing to go through four months of healing and recuperation, Kelantan Football Association (KAFA) has decided to cut short Ghaddar’s time with the team. In the same development KAFA have also decided to sign Tunisian Alaeddine Bouslimi for the rest of the season....

U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska denied the request from Maxwell’s lawyers, and now documents from a settled defamation lawsuit in 2015 will likely be unsealed Thursday morning as planned by Preska in a July 23 decision. Despite Preska’s order of releasing the documents Thursday, she gave Maxwell’s attorneys two days to seek a stay from an appeals court from allowing her court to release other documents tied to litigation from the Miami Herald and Michael Cernovich....

Virginia Giuffre goaded her alleged former persecutor by saying “I go to bed at night thanking God you are sleeping in a cage” in a Twitter post. Giuffre says Prince Andrew had sex with her in London, New York and on Epstein’s private island when she was a 17-year-old trafficking victim. She wrote: “#GhislaineMaxwell are you saving your own skin and naming names? “I know you only care about yourself & you hold all the secrets!...

The marquee LaLiga clash always generates unprecedented levels of interest among fans world-wide and it is no different in India. The game is scheduled to be held on 23rd December at 5:30 PM IST and LaLiga are organising an official screening of the game in New Delhi. The venue for the event is the NSIC Grounds in Okhla and star attraction of the evening is former Barcelona and Juventus full-back Gianluca Zambrotta who incidentally is no stranger to football fans from the Indian capital....

Of course, there’s Giannis, the two-time league MVP, one-time Defensive Player of the Year, one-time NBA champion and one-time Finals MVP, but he will be joined by his brothers Thansis and Kostas, who have carved paths of their own during their respective professional careers. While Thanasis is set to head into his fourth season with the Bucks and Kostas spent time with the Mavericks and Lakers franchises, their limited roles on the NBA stage mean fans are largely unfamiliar with their games, which are quite different on the international stage....

The space rock, known as 2015 NU13, is estimated to measure between 1,017 and 2,230 feet in diameter, data from NASA’s Center for Near Earth Studies (CNEOS) shows. At the upper end of this estimate, the asteroid would be almost twice as big as the Empire State Building in New York City. It would also stand slightly short of the world’s tallest building—the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which is about 2,723 feet....

Snake catcher Stuart McKenzie, from Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7, arrived at the home on the Sunshine Coast to find the two male carpet pythons in combat with each other. In footage taken by the snake catcher, the two snakes can be seen with their heads raised, as they grapple with each other. “We are only weeks away from the breeding season starting and the weather slowly warming back up,” McKenzie said in a Facebook post....

The brightly colored spiders are an invasive species that first arrived in the U.S. from East Asia in 2013 and have since become prevalent in Georgia. A study published in the journal Physiological Entomology said that the Joro spider could be expected to spread beyond its current range in the southeastern corner of the U.S. thanks to some evolved attributes. Joro spiders can grow up to 3 inches long and weave large webs with golden or yellow-looking silk....

Its discovery adds to evidence the charismatic bears did not originate in China - but migrated there. The bizarre beast is the last known and most evolved of the ancient European pandas. It was identified from two fossilized upper teeth dug up in northwestern Bulgaria, which had been gathering dust for more than four decades. Remains have also been found in Spain and Hungary. They were rescued from the bowels of the Bulgarian National Museum of Natural History in Sofia....

According to the release, Baker, 22, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years — with a maximum of life — if convicted. His charges stem from a May 13 incident in which he is accused of committing armed robbery at a party in Miramar, Fla. He is also accused of directing Seahawks defensive back Quinton Dunbar to assist in a robbery, and of telling a third individual to shoot someone as they walked into the party....

Now, he’ll get wear the numbers in the pros, too. Thibodeaux will wear No. 5 with the Giants, the team announced Tuesday morning. Kicker Graham Gano wore the number in 2021. He will instead wear No. 9 next season, a number he has sported at different points of his NFL career. Jersey numbers often hold special significance to rookies, offering a sense of familiarity for newcomers entering professional locker rooms for the first time in their careers....

The duo of Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper is somewhat unusual in that both men are former players, although it’s certainly not unprecedented. The best play-by-play man in NFL history, Pat Summerall, was a player before he became a broadcaster, and like Summerall, Krukow and Kuiper have lent their voices to video games for EA Sports. Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper (Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area) MLB Draft 2014: A look at the top 10 prospects...

MORE: Week 9 picks | Picks against the spread | Each team’s fatal flaw Sunday will be Pierre-Paul’s first game since blasting off one of his fingers and suffering extensive damage to another during a fireworks accident over Fourth of July weekend. Some feared the injuries Pierre-Paul sustained could have cost him his career, but the Giants were happy enough with the way he looked in practice this week to let him give it a go and help their pass rush against Tampa Bay....

“Something will come out on that shortly,” Coughlin said on NFL Network. “Those things are important to all of us — I’m not going to downplay that — but I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about that stuff.” The Giants have not been to the playoffs since 2011 but Coughlin also hasn’t had a fully healthy trio of Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz and Eli Manning at his disposal....