Turkmen ruler establishes holiday to honor local dog breed
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Turkmenistan’s autocratic leader has established a national holiday to honor the local dog breed. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov ordered the holiday praising the Alabai, the Central Asian shepherd dog, to be celebrated on the last Sunday of April when the ex-Soviet nation also marks the day of the local horse breed, according to Tuesday’s report in the daily Neutral Turkmenistan. The Central Asian nation of 6 million prides itself in horses and dogs, honoring its centuries-old herding traditions. Berdymukhamedov has ruled the gas-rich desert country since 2006 through an all-encompassing personality cult that styles him as Turkmenistan’s “arkadaq,’ or protector.
UCLA job search: Jamie Dixon, Mick Cronin emerge as two top candidates, report says Sources: Memphis Grizzlies assistant Jerry Stackhouse is in contract negotiations to become the next head coach at Vanderbilt. Emerged as a primary candidate in the last 24 hours. Nothing final yet, but the two sides are headed towards a marriage.— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 1, 2019Stackhouse has been an assistant for both the Raptors and Grizzlies. He led Toronto’s G-League affiliate to a championship in 2017 and was named Coach of the Year that season.Stackhouse told The Ringer in 2017 that he hoped G-League success would propel him to a head coaching job in the NBA. But he seems to be heading to the college ranks. Kentucky, John Calipari agree to lifetime deal: ‘Where else would I want to coach?’ Related News
Vanderbilt appears to have found its next basketball coach.The school is having contract negotiations with Grizzlies assistant Jerry Stackhouse, according to a CBS Sports report, which cites unidentified sources. The 44-year-old was a two-time NBA All-Star during his 18-year career as a player. Now, he’ll focus on improving a Vanderbilt team that finished 0-18 in the SEC last season.The Commodores surprisingly fired former coach Bryce Drew after three seasons in late March.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo’s epic open-world take on its classic fantasy adventure franchise, already looks like one of the most massive games Nintendo has ever produced. But the game that launches on March 3 for both the Wii U and new Nintendo Switch won’t be the complete version. Nintendo has just announced that starting on launch day Breath of the Wild owners can purchase an “Expansion Pass” for downloadable Zelda content.For $20 Zelda players on both Wii U and Nintendo Switch can buy two sets of content: one coming in the summer and the other releasing during the holidays. The summer pack includes a new Cave of Trials challenge, and upgraded in-game map, and a hard mode for a game that already appears to be one of the more difficult Zelda titles to survive. The holiday pack adds an entirely new dungeon and storyline, just in time to make the game more enticing to folks picking up the Switch for the first time. Unfortunately, these packs are only available in this season pass. You can’t buy them separately. But the pass does come with some other perks like new treasure chests and a Switch t-shirt Link can wear right away on March 3.Season passes are that curious recent AAA gaming idea that charges users upfront for content released over a period of time. With its open-world format Breath of the Wild has already shown that Nintendo is willing to take inspiration from modern AAA games like Far Cry and The Witcher. We shouldn’t be too surprised these modern business models have also been lifted. The company has gone full Ubisoft. This also seems to confirm a recent Nintendo Switch UI leak that mentions the ability to sell season passes.This isn’t even the first Nintendo season pass. Mario Golf: World Tour and the recent Fire Emblems sold content this way as did action-packed Zelda spin-off Hyrule Warriors. Mario Kart 8 also sold DLC in two big content packs spaced six months apart, the same content appearing in the upcoming Switch port Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This is just the first mainline Zelda game to offer DLC.The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been in development for at least four years across two platforms, one of which is virtually dead. It’s the first original HD Zelda game. It takes place in a huge open-world Nintendo has never made before and features voice-acting. All this to say it was probably a very expensive game to produce for a company with profits not as high as they used to be. So we shouldn’t be surprised Nintendo is trying to recoup as much money as possible with season passes and $100 collector’s editions. Other game companies do it all the time. I just hope the DLC is worth it, and given how great The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has looked and played so far, I have faith.Want to learn more? Here’s everything you need to know about the Nintendo Switch. Stay on target Trade In Your Nintendo Switch For a Better Battery (With a Catch)Controller Patent Teases SNES Games on Switch 