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I spent the first 20 years of my life in Appalachia. Although I moved away from eastern Kentucky 10 years ago, my two brothers still live there, and I try to return at least four times a year. Now I live in Lexington, where I am an associate in a prestigious law firm. But I still have a deep affection for the area I call home. Somehow the beauty and charm of the area never seem to reach people beyond the mountains, and television images manage to make it all look so grim and depressing....

Just don’t expect any hymns to the pony express. Two of the most notable ex-mailmen in American letters, Richard Wright and Charles Bukowski, attacked their former employers in early novels. In “Cesspool”—later retitled “Lawd Today!"—Wright poured his experience as a Chicago mail clerk into the bleak story of a Windy City postman who brutalizes his wife. (Fortunately, Wright was single.) Three decades later, Bukowski channeled 12 years as a mail carrier to write “Post Office,” described by one critic as “the ultimate I-hate-my-job story....

The August 5 episode of Monday Night RAW ended with a segment of Miz TV, which acted as the stage for Miz and Dolph’s contract signing. For weeks, Miz and Dolph have argued on RAW and SmackDown over how Ziggler has become someone who believes the world owes him everything. Dolph would arrive for the signing, giving his usual speech before signing the contract. Miz states that he looks forward to facing Dolph at Monday Night RAW next week, which confuses Ziggler....

During the era of the Wii, there were plenty of developers who produced a variety of games for the console. Many of these games had to utilize the console’s motion controls in some fashion, which left some games lacking polish while others were considered to be genuinely terrible. It’s no surprise then that the Wii had a lot of bad games, with one of these tied to the story of a marketing stunt that involved a gold-plated Wii console....

CHASKA, Minnesota (Reuters) - Europe captain Darren Clarke denied that heckling from the Hazeltine National fans had been over the top after his team trailed the United States by 9 1/2 - 6 1/2 points at the 41st Ryder Cup on Saturday. World number three Rory McIlroy complained the partisan home crowd “overstepped the boundaries” while Ryder Cup veteran Sergio Garcia said 15 percent of the spectators had been “really bad” and that he “felt ashamed” for his American girlfriend....

If Langer has a few more rounds like he had Friday, there's a good chance he'll be in the running for the $1 million annuity that goes to the season champion. The two-time Masters champion birdied the final hole Friday for a 6-under 64 and a share of the first-round lead with Anders Forsbrand and Dick Mast in the Greater Hickory Classic. Perry opened with a 68. "Every little bit helps," said Langer, who trails Kenny Perry by 609 points in the Charles Schwab Cup standings with three events remaining....

Jaysinh carded a nett score of 72 to emerge victorious on day three of the Mumbai qualifications. He will now be competing at the National Finals of the tournament to be played at the Oxford Golf Resort in Pune from 4-6 April, 2018 along with two other qualifiers from here- actor R Madhavan and Rajesh Natrajan, a media release said today. A total of 300 golfers participated in the three days of the Mumbai qualifications....

The Portugal international has endured a difficult campaign at Camp Nou - his form deteriorating to the point he described life at Barca as “hell” - but he returned to the starting line-up for a LaLiga game for the first time since January against Leganes on Saturday. There is talk of a move to Manchester United, but Gomes is focused on performing again for Ernesto Valverde’s side as they chase a treble....

Omar Gonzalez joins a veteran-laden 26-man squad called in by Arena for the upcoming qualifiers against Costa Rica and Honduras. His return from injury comes just in time to have him available to help deal with the injury absence of John Brooks. There were no real surprises in the squad, with 23 of the 26 players Arena summoned having been called in for last June’s qualifiers. Eric Lichaj, Cristian Roldan and Chris Wondolowski are the only players on the squad who didn’t take part in the June qualifiers, with Wondolowski being the lone call-up not to take part in either the June qualifiers or the Gold Cup....

The Germany midfielder sealed a 3-1 win 11 minutes from time after Callum Wilson cancelled out a lead earned for the hosts by Bernardo Silva and restored by Raheem Sterling. As in the midweek 2-2 draw against Lyon in the Champions League, where Pep Guardiola’s men twice game back from behind, Gundogan felt his team-mates responded well when their character was called upon. “We tried to play better because we started quite well in the beginning, moved the ball very quickly and scored,” he said....

Shared to the app by Thriftorthat, the clip is overlaid with the text: “Did someone just donate a real Picasso painting to Goodwill?” The footage showcases a black and white stylized portrait of a woman with a high pony tail, staring off into the distance. The piece is signed with Picasso’s signature and has a label affixed to the back of it that reads: “Oil on canvas, Sylvette 1954.”...

Although their high-powered offense did its part as usual, a four-takeaway effort by the defense was even more exciting while the Rams secured a well-deserved week off. Brandin Cooks and Josh Reynolds caught two touchdown passes apiece from Jared Goff, and the Rams wrapped up a six-game sweep of their NFC West opponents with a 48-32 victory over the 49ers on Sunday. Cory Littleton returned one of his two interceptions for a TD as the Rams (13-3) completed their winningest regular season since 2001 by making sure they get a few days off before they attempt to earn their first playoff victory since the 2004 season....

Owens launched a fundraising campaign on the website on Saturday to raise money for Michael Dykes⁠—the founder of Parkside Cafe in Birmingham, Alabama⁠—after he sent a text message to bar co-owner Robert Bagwell and an employee on Friday criticizing Floyd and protesters, according to AL.com. In the text message, Dykes also pushed to implement a “protest tax” at the bar and suggested employees who participated in demonstrations should resign....

One pampered pooch has joined the trend, melting hearts across the internet after being seen to have an evening routine of its own to rival influencers and celebrities. In the TikTok video, which can be seen here, the golden retriever appears to get rigorously cleansed with grooming wipes every evening. How Often Should You Wipe Your Dog? While the golden retriever in the social media post appears to be loving his diligent evening routine, there is a limit to the number of times dog owners should be grooming their dogs per day....

Oh, my, here we go: Another story of some extraordinary “AARPthletes.” Bird and Taurasi were named Monday by USA Basketball to the senior women’s national team that will attempt to earn a seventh consecutive gold medal when the 2021 Olympic Games begin July 23 in Tokyo. This will be fifth Olympics for Bird, who is 40, and for Taurasi, who passed her 39th birthday earlier this month. In a year filled with them, they represent two more examples of athletes extending their excellence well past what had been considered “retirement age” in the past, joining Super Bowl champion Tom Brady (43), PGA champion Phil Mickelson (50) and Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves (46), as well as soccer star Carli Lloyd, aiming to make her fourth Olympic team at 39 and sprinter Allyson Felix, who qualified for her fifth Olympics by finishing second in the 400-meter dash Sunday at the U....

BEDMINSTER, New Jersey (Reuters) - Michelle Wie said it was a “miracle” she had finished her opening round at the U.S. Women’s Open on Thursday, where she took the golfing equivalent of a time out for treatment on a painful neck sprain. Wie, who had her neck massaged on course, contrived a makeshift ice pack after fishing out ice cubes from a tee-side cooler, and trailed her caddie keeping a hand on her golf bag for balance at Trump National....

Lowry, 26, is the defending champion at the Oceanico Victoria Golf Course in Algarve, starting Thursday, and is flying after finishing tied for third at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in late September. He has not added to his Masters win--his second on the European Tour--but is confident of using the positive memories of his one-stroke victory last year to propel him to another piece of silverware come Sunday. LEADERBOARD: Portugal Masters scores via GolfDigest....

Garcia had eight birdies overall to go with a lone bogey on the fourth to move to an 18-under total of 198 at the Asian Tour event. "I was able to hit some really nice shots and then was able to roll two or three really good putts in and it was nice to be able to finish birdie, birdie on this difficult finishing stretch," Garcia said. Henrik Stenson also shot a 65 to sit tied for second with Anirban Lahiri of India (67)....

The 29-year-old Perera has endured a lacklustre season, making only six cuts in 17 starts on the region’s premier Tour, where he sits in 112th position on the Order of Merit. Perera needs a victory at the Panasonic Open India to secure his playing rights for the 2017 season. Only a win will free him of Tour card worries when he heads to the season-ending UBS Hong Kong Open in the following week....