Viral

The NHL is following the MLB, NBA, WNBA and MLS' lead ... with the league officially postponing games following the Jacob Blake shooting.

"After much discussion, NHL Players believe that the best course of action would be to take a step back and not play tonight’s and tomorrow’s games as scheduled," the league announced Thursday.

The decision comes after several players -- including Matt Dumba and Evander Kane -- criticized the league's response to the boycotts sweeping the sports world.

The NHL says they support the players' wishes ... and will make up the games starting Saturday.

NHL continued ... "Black and Brown communities continue to face real, painful experiences. The NHL and NHLPA recognize that much work remains to be done before we can play an appropriate role in a discussion centered on diversity, inclusion and social justice.

As we previously reported ... the NBA kickstarted a massive movement on Wednesday after the Milwaukee Bucks elected to stay in the locker rooms in protest ... and have since agreed to continue the season.

"We understand that the tragedies involving Jacob Blake, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others require us to recognize this moment," the NHL added.

Every week is Shark Week for the United States Coast Guard ... a shark was stalking a ton of swimmers in the ocean, and a hail of bullets saved the day!!!

Check out this video from the Coast Guard Cutter Kimball deployed near Hawaii ... there are 40 crew members swimming just off the boat when all of a sudden a massive shark surfaces and swim towards the swimmers.

Petty Officer 1st Class Samuel Cintron springs into action ... the maritime enforcement specialist -- pretty sweet job title -- takes aim and fires several rounds at the shark, which the Coast Guard says was between 6 and 8 feet long!

It's pretty wild ... the bullets hit the water scarily close to the swimmers, as they scramble to avoid the shark and swim back to safety on the boat.

The scene is straight outta "Jaws" and it comes with a happy ending ... all 40 crew members safely cleared the water and the shark appeared uninjured as it swam back into the depths.

This time they did NOT need a bigger boat ... thanks to the Coast Guard.

There's still hope the NBA players and league execs can work out a plan to save the season ... with players compiling a list of "actionable items" they want the NBA to endorse in order to proceed.

A high-ranking NBA source tells us ... the feeling among several players is they will lose their biggest platform if they stop the season.

Of course, a stoppage won't affect the impact of superstars like LeBron James ... but we're told the majority of players see real value in being able to use the NBA platform to speak to the masses about social justice issues.

In fact, Draymond Green just posted about it -- saying, "The notion that athletes should just stop working but no one else in the world should stop is baffling to me."

"Why stop doing the very thing that offers you the biggest platform to speak for those that look like me/a lot of us?"

"To do that is to actually give up the platform to speak for them, because without us using our platforms which is afforded by the influence of the sport, it actually stops us from echoing what those in the back are saying."

So, the hope is both sides can reach a compromise -- with players coming together after a tense Wednesday night meeting in order to put together a list of demands for the league.

Obviously, the NBA wants to proceed -- there’s so much money at stake. And, from what we understand, the league execs and owners are meeting Thursday morning to figure out a way to work out a deal with the players.

As we previously reported, the Milwaukee Bucks were the first team to boycott on Wednesday when they refused to take the floor for Game 5 of their playoff series with the Orlando Magic.

Other teams followed suit ... until the league officially announced that all games would be rescheduled to a later date.

We're told the league had already planned for possible COVID-related postponements ... so they're not super worried about getting back on schedule.

But, word is ... play almost certainly will not resume Thursday -- everybody still needs some time.

The Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers have also canceled their Thursday practices.

Several NFL teams -- including the NY Jets and the Indianapolis Colts -- are canceling practice Thursday so players can focus on social justice issues.

Just one day after multiple NBA teams refused to take the court for their Game 5 playoff games as a "boycott" to show outrage over the Jacob Blake shooting, NFL players are also taking action.

The Washington Football Team is among those canceling team activities Thursday.

Head coach Ron Rivera says the decision came after a conversation with new team president Jason Wright.

"Jason Wright and I worked this afternoon to develop a response that has the right balance between the business of football and being truly thoughtful about the social injustice we witnessed with this latest incident in Wisconsin."

"We went to Mr. Snyder with our plan for tomorrow and we were given his complete support and approval."

Rivera says the plan is to return to football on Friday -- but Thursday will "be about reflection instead."

"In place of our practice at FedExField, the players, coaches and football staff will meet as a football family and we will continue our open dialogue on the issues of racism and social injustice in our country."

Not all NFL teams scrapped practice Thursday -- the Ravens, Giants, Patriots and Buccaneers proceeded as scheduled.

The Ravens explained, "Our team decided to practice this morning. After practice, the team will come together for a meeting to discuss and work on a plan for continued social justice reform efforts."

Stressed out, anxious and depressed ... it turns out elephants are a lot like us, and a zoo in Poland is going to see if medical marijuana can help them out ... just like us.

The Warsaw Zoo lost one of its 4 elephants in March -- the alpha female named Erna -- and her death has had a significant impact on the others ... especially another female named Fredzia.

The zoo says Fredzia has displayed signs of grieving, stress and depression, and it can take months or even years for her and the others to cope with the loss and get over the behavioral issues caused by the change to the group's structure.

Unless ... medicinal marijuana can help.

The zoo and its doctors have launched a project to test whether CBD oil can reduce anxiety in the animals, starting with the elephants.

The first stage of the trial -- taking blood samples to monitor cortisol levels -- has already been completed ... so now it's time to start giving them the good stuff.

No, the elephants won't be taking bong rips, they'll simply be given drops of CBD via their trunks or mixed into their food ... and no serious side effects are expected.

Raw emotion from NY Mets player Dom Smith -- who just couldn't hold back the tears while talking about Jacob Blake ... and it's powerful stuff.

For the first time this season, Smith took a knee during the national anthem -- right before the Mets took on the Miami Marlins on Wednesday.

After the game, 25-year-old Smith said he's been feeling "very emotional" lately about events like the Jacob Blake shooting -- and wanted to make a statement to the world.

But, when he was pressed about what's been "most difficult" for him over the past few days, Smith couldn't fight back the tears.

"I think the most difficult part is to see like people still don’t care," Smith said.

"For this to continually happen, it just shows the hate in people’s hearts. That just sucks, you know?!"

"Being a Black man in America is not easy."

The Mets won the game 5 to 4, but Smith didn't play particularly well. He went 0-4 but later explained he "just wasn't there [mentally]."

Weather Channel reporters take their job seriously ... maybe too seriously, 'cause they were seriously in danger while reporting from the eye of Hurricane Laura, and this intense video proves it.

A couple of reporters braved the elements beginning late Wednesday night from Lake Charles, Louisiana as Hurricane Laura picks up hurricane gust winds. Check out the video ... eventually, you see the poor reporter holding on for dear life as she struggles staying on her feet.

The winds eventually reach 104 MPH just before 1 AM CT. Things get so bad ... the winds send glass shattering everywhere, prompting the reporter to run for cover. There's another reporter out there who says he's in the eye of the storm at around 1:39 AM CT. Dude's wearing a helmet as debris is flying everywhere.

Kanye West is going after the top election official in Ohio for allegedly going out of his way to keep Ye off the presidential ballot ... according to a new lawsuit.

Kanye's suing the state's Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose days after the election head rejected nearly 15,000 signatures and other paperwork submitted by Kanye's campaign, which deemed him unqualified as an independent candidate for Prez.

LaRose cited mismatched info on the documents as the reason for tossing them out, but according to Kanye's suit ... he didn't have the right to do that in the first place.

Kanye's lawyers claim it's LaRose's duty to accept any petition for an independent candidate as long as there is no protest filed and it doesn't break any Ohio laws.

The emergency filing to get Kanye on Ohio's ballot comes as his presidential bid is reeling -- he was booted off the crucial Wisconsin ballot last week, along with coming up short in Montana.

He was also removed from the ballot in his home state of Illinois -- even after dropping at least $30k to get on it -- because election officials said more than half his submitted signatures were invalid.

This is what ya call wedding fireworks, but not the scheduled kind -- Mother Nature dropping a lighting bolt on a happy couple when the groom dares to talk smack about 2020. Best. Timing. Ever.

Ya can't blame Aaron Sawitsky for saying, "Let's face it, 2020 has not been the best year" during the vows of his Marion, MA wedding. He and his bride, Denice, had already postponed their nuptials 3 times this year due to the pandemic.

Last weekend they decided to go for it with an outdoor ceremony, and of course ... there had to be a thunderstorm brewing in the area. So, what are the chances of lighting striking juuuuust as Aaron bemoaned their luck? 100%.

Luckily, the lighting strike came down across the lake behind them -- and no one was harmed -- in fact, it made for a seriously badass photo opportunity.

Aaron and Denice didn't take the bolt as a bad omen, and finished their vows. The ceremony ended without any fires, floods or hurricane winds.

The Milwaukee Brewers have now opted out of their game Wednesday against the Reds ... following the NBA's lead in protesting after the Jacob Blake shooting.

Players from the team met just hours before they were set to take the diamond against Cincinnati at Miller Park ... and eventually decided to sit out.

Of course, Blake was horrifically shot 7 times in the back by a police officer just 45 minutes from Milwaukee on Sunday ... and athletes all across the country are now furious and seeking justice.

In fact, Brewers star reliever Josh Hader spoke about it all just minutes before the team made the decision ... praising the Milwaukee Bucks for being the initial ones to boycott.

"It's more than sports," Hader told media members of the situation. "And [the Bucks] showed it. It's not about the game. It's more than that. And this is a time where we need to really not stay quiet and empower our voices."

Hader added, "It's something that can't just stay quiet and it's nothing that we can just put behind us. It's something that all of us we have to continue to voice and bring light to this situation that we have because it's a big thing."

As we previously reported ... after the Bucks did not come out to the court for their playoff game Wednesday -- the rest of the league's playoff schedule for the day was postponed.

Begs the question ... how many other MLB teams will now follow suit?

The so-called rifle-toting "vigilante" in Kenosha seemed pretty chummy with law enforcement before his alleged shooting spree -- receiving water and even praise from cops ... which could explain a lot.

The guy, Kyle Rittenhouse, who was seen firing rounds at protesters in the street Monday night appears to be part of an extremist militia group that set up shop at a few places in town, including some sort of car dealership ... where a cameraman caught him on film before the madness erupted.

You clearly see it's the same guy with the backward hat -- he's standing guard at the facility with another rifle-bearing man ... and they both say they're locals doing their duty.

Shortly afterward, the camera catches a few armored police vehicles rolling by and seemingly telling the militia group to scram, specifically telling them to move south. However, the cops don't let these boys leave without some replenishment first ... as in a few water bottles.

Check it out ... you see the "vigilante" in question run over and interact with some officers to retrieve some water for the crew -- and you even hear a cop say they appreciate what these guys are doing. Hard to say if they were actually teamed up in a concerted effort to ward off would-be looters, but the cops certainly sanctioned this set-up, unofficially at best.

This connects to later that same night ... when the same man -- who allegedly shot at multiple people, and killed two -- ran up to and eventually past these same armored vehicles, and wasn't stopped or apprehended. If anything, they seemed to recognize him.

A former "Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood" star might take the cake for one of the most tone-deaf publicity stunts ... she faked being beaten and kidnapped to promote her OnlyFans account, but says it was to raise awareness of sex trafficking.

Masika Kalysha posted the video of herself Tuesday in lingerie with apparent cuts, scrapes and bruises all over her body, claiming she got assaulted and was still in danger.

Then, she strangely asked for money to stave off her kidnappers, saying ... "They said you guys have to leave me tips and follow me so they can take the money or they're not gonna let me go."

In the caption to her video, she flat out claimed she was kidnapped and being held in a warehouse, and asked her followers to subscribe to her OnlyFans account and tip her so her captors would let her go.

She later deleted the video and posted a second one ... even more strange than the first.

Kalysha, now wearing a white robe, says she's totally fine and apologizes for possibly scaring people ... but insists she needed that "shock factor" to raise awareness for something important.

The reality star claims she's on set filming a project about child sex trafficking, and her kidnapping stunt was needed to grab people's attention for the important matter.

She even goes as far as to say everyone should know there's a method to her madness, while completely ignoring the insensitivity of her first vid ... or addressing how she might have tricked people into sending her money.

The words of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion came head-to-head with the word of the Lord on a city sidewalk -- and it sounds like the former might've beaten out the good book.

Check out this video of an older guy reading aloud from the Bible on a sidewalk, not too far from a masked young woman also reading from her phone, rattling off lyrics to "WAP." Try as he did, the gent got drowned out by the tune ... then again, the camera's further from him.

It's a funny scene though -- and a testament that blindly preaching to kids these days isn't a good way to reach 'em. Maybe reciting lyrics to Justin Bieber's "Baby" would've been more effective.

Speaking of, if you're wondering what sparked this ... it was a pro-choice rally that clashed with anti-abortion demonstrators, which seems to have gone on for at least 2 days. Both groups had signs touting their beliefs and were keeping a somewhat respectful distance away from each other. But, one secret weapon the young crowd had with them that the holy group didn't ... condoms!

Bette Midler is under fire for making xenophobic comments during Melania Trump's RNC speech, tweeting, "Get that illegal alien off the stage!" and "Oh, God. She still can't speak English."

The First Lady gave her speech in the rose garden of The White House, something that has never been done before. There has always been a figurative wall between 1600 Pennsylvania and campaign speeches. President Trump also appeared during the broadcast in The White House, and he drew fire dragging the military into the campaign. Two members of the military opened the doors as Trump made his entrance.

As for Midler's comments ... she is in fact an American citizen. As some pointed out in reacting to Midler ... Mrs. Trump speaks 5 languages, Slovenian, English, German, French and Italian.

An emotional Doc Rivers choked back tears as he talked about the Jacob Blake police shooting on Tuesday -- explaining why Black people are pissed and railing against republicans.

"It's amazing why we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back," Rivers said.

"It's really so sad. Like, I should just be a coach. I'm so often reminded of my color. It's just really sad. We got to do better. But, we got to demand better."

The L.A. Clippers coach had refused to talk about the shooting BEFORE the playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks "because it's so hard to keep watching it."

But, after the game, the emotions poured out of the 58-year-old, who interestingly enough, used to be friends with Donald Trump.

"If you watch that [Jacob Blake] video, you don’t need to be Black to be outraged. You need to be American and outraged."

"All you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear," Rivers said while referring to the Republican National Convention.

"We're the ones getting killed. We're the ones getting shot. We're the ones that we're denied to live in certain communities. We've been hung. We've been shot. And, all you do is keep hearing about fear."

Doc says he's not anti-cop -- his father was a police officer -- but he demands changes when it comes to training, especially when it comes to policing the Black community.

"The training has to change in the police force. The unions have to be taken down in the police force," Rivers said.

Young children everywhere are returning to schools despite ongoing COVID-19 challenges, and here's a glimpse of what it looks like ... adorable, but concerning.

TMZ's obtained a photo of a little girl attending preschool in Camarillo, CA ... equipped with a clear plastic face shield with rainbow flair to protect herself and others from the coronavirus.

As you can see, she's also on a little island at her desk to adhere to social distancing guidelines, which is a shame ... because ya gotta think the other kids want to check out her 'Little Mermaid' water bottle.

Now, when dealing with 3, 4 and 5-year-olds, there's going to be difficulty in getting them to take proper COVID precautions -- hell, even adults can't get it right -- but we're told the school is trying to make the best of it.

As we've reported ... high schools in several states like Georgia have already demonstrated a lack of proper safety protocols for its returning students, and children are increasingly testing positive for the virus.

Clearly ... there's still a lot to learn.