Quantcast
Photo courtesy of Live Nation

Comedian and actor Adam Sandler is embarking on a new tour in October, with a stop at San Antonio’s AT&T Center on December 7.

Sandler's "The I Missed You Tour” will begin in Vancouver, British Columbia as its first stop on the 25-city North American run.

Sandler and an undisclosed "surprise guest" will make their way down the West and East coasts, hit the Midwest, then arrive in San Antonio for the one and only Texas stop. (He played Austin, Houston, and Dallas last February as part of his "Adam Sandler Live" stand-up tour, but they're not getting his new tour.)

Following two Oklahoma shows and a Kansas stop after San Antonio, the tour will conclude at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on December 12.

The shows are a rare chance for fans to see Sandler perform live, as he is an ultra-successful actor who's usually off making movies. The tour is coming on the heels of his latest Netflix film, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, which also features his wife and daughters.

Sandler's full tour schedule is as follows:

  • October 12 – Vancouver, British Columbia – Rogers Arena
  • October 13 – Seattle, Washington – Climate Pledge Arena
  • October 14 – Portland, Oregon – Veterans Memorial Coliseum
  • October 15 – Nampa, Idaho – Ford Idaho Center Arena
  • October 16 – Spokane, Washington – Spokane Arena
  • October 18 – San Jose, California – SAP Center at San Jose
  • October 19 – Stateline, Nevada – Tahoe Blue Event Center
  • October 20 – Fresno, California – Save Mart Center
  • October 21 – Palm Desert, California – Acrisure Arena
  • October 23 – Anaheim, California – Honda Center
  • November 7 – Toronto, Ontario – Scotiabank Arena
  • November 8 – Rochester, New York – Blue Cross Arena
  • November 9 – Washington, D.C. – Capital One Arena
  • November 11 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Fiserv Forum
  • November 12 – Minneapolis, Minnesota – Target Center
  • November 13 – Des Moines, Idaho – Wells Fargo Arena
  • November 15 – Indianapolis, Indiana – Gainbridge Fieldhouse
  • November 16 – Memphis, Tennessee – FedExForum
  • December 2 – Las Vegas, Nevada – Michelob ULTRA Arena
  • December 3 – Salt Lake City, Utah – Delta Center
  • December 7 – San Antonio, Texas – AT&T Center
  • December 8 – Thackerville, Oklahoma – WinStar Casino
  • December 9 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – Paycom Center
  • December 10 – Wichita, Kansas – INTRUST Bank Arena
  • December 12 – Denver, Colorado – Ball Arena
Live Nation pre-sale tickets are available for purchase online via Ticketmaster, and the general on-sale will begin Friday, September 15 at 12 pm.
Johnny-Manziel.com

New Netflix documentary tackles rise and fall of Texas A&M football idol Johnny Manziel

Sports on film

A decade after “Johnny Football” frenzy swept into Aggieland, through Texas, and across the nation, a Netflix documentary sheds new light on the troubles that led to Johnny Manziel’s rapid rise and precipitous fall from grace, on and off the field. Untold: Johnny Footballwas released August 8 and within 24 hours, trended as Netflix’s No. 1 movie in the United States.

Manziel, born in Tyler and raised in Kerrville, shot to superstardom in 2012 as the scrappy Texas A&M quarterback who played what seemed like sandlot football in ultra-regimented, Division 1 college football.

A highlight reel favorite, Manziel generally skipped the traditional drop back, read, and fling the ball QB approach. Instead, he had a penchant for holding onto the ball, evading tacklers, and dramatically scurrying down the field and into the endzone to beat nationally ranked powerhouse teams.

He also had a penchant for partying. Big time.

Despite early headlines for extra-curricular antics that might have been a neon-flashing warning sign of things to come, Manziel went on to become the first redshirt freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, college football's most prestigious award for players, in 2012.

That, according to the documentary, is when "Johnny Football's" demise began in earnest.

While Texas A&M made hundreds of millions off Manziel mania, the player himself earned nothing, per NCAA rules (which have since changed). In Untold, Manziel says he still has a “deep hatred against the NCAA."

A secret scheme to profit from autograph sessions led to a lavish lifestyle that eventually raised eyebrows and got him suspended for half a game in 2013. But hero-worship went to his head that year, and by the time he left A&M and entered the NFL Draft in 2014, he was a mess.

Being a mess didn't stop the fascination with Manziel by certain pro teams (including the Dallas Cowboys).

Manziel was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, and the two years he spent with them are a well-documented series of professional, personal, and legal screw-ups. (YouTube viewers can watch his often brutal "career lowlights.") Manziel admits on the show he was doing everything he could to get out of the NFL; he admits he didn't even watch game tape, a weekly must for any NFL quarterback.

His efforts paid off: the Browns released him in 2016.

But, the biggest revelation in Untold is about what happened next (spoiler alert): a bipolar-disorder diagnosis, severed ties with his family, a $5 million “bender,” and a suicide attempt.

The hour-long documentary is not a redemption story; in fact, the story is not yet finished. Manziel returned home to live with his family in Texas, and announced recently he’s opening a nightclub and bar in College Station. (Whoop?)

The show (directed by Ryan Duffy and part of Netflix’ Untold docuseries) lets Manziel tell his own tales, and at times he comes across as a kinda likable schmuck all these years later. “I was a frat boy and my frat was the football team,” he says at the end.

It also lets his enablers blather on about the gross behavior they encouraged — a friend who ran Manziel's autograph-profiting “business;” coaches who looked the other way when he won games hung over; an agent who dreamed up vile ways to spin his misdeeds; and even (or especially) his parents, who got so caught up in their son — the idol — that they once faked a hospital stay to delay a make-or-break NFL Draft drug test in 2014.

Not interviewed: Reps from the Cleveland Browns, his alleged victims of domestic violence, or anyone in his orbit with a moral compass.

Untold is sympathetic but stops short of making Manziel a victim.

Now, all told, die-hard fans still love him. The documentary opens in a surprising setting, in fact - Manziel’s induction into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame in September 2022. After his speech, he’s shaking hands and thanking supporters.

"I loved you when you were here, through all the shenanigans, I still loved you," says one man. "Thank you very much," Manziel says and pats him on the shoulder.

Cut to next scene: Manziel is lighting up and partying with friends beside a pool.

"There is who you are as a football player, and then there is who you are as a human being," he says in a voiceover, "and the two, for me, were just really, really different."

---

Untold: Johnny Football is now streaming on Netflix.

Getty Images

How to watch Texas icon Simone Biles' big gymnastics comeback this weekend

Stick the landing

Two years after her historic and headline-making run at the Tokyo Olympics, Texas gymnastics superstar Simone Biles is returning to competition. She - along with Olympic teammates Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Jade Carey - will go head-to-head at the 2023 Core Hydration Classic, August 4-6, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

The competition will be the final qualifier to the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, one of the biggest indicators of who might get picked for the 2024 Olympic team. (Biles, Lee, Chiles, and Cary all have declared their Paris Olympic intentions.)

It will be Biles' first competition since being sidelined with "the twisties" at the 2020 Olympics (in 2021), and her first since her high-profile wedding this spring.

Gymnastics fans don't have to book a flight to Chicago to catch all the vaults, leaps, and flips this weekend. The entire event will be live-streamed, and highlights will air on major network television. Competition organizers have released the following viewing schedule, all times local to San Antonio:

Saturday, August 5: Two sessions of women’s competition will take place, with Session 1 at 1-3 pm and Session 2, featuring all Team USA Olympic and World Championships medalists, at 7-9 pm.

Women’s sessions on Saturday will be broadcast live on CNBC and streamed live on Peacock.

Both sessions also will stream live on USA Gymnastics’ YouTube channel.

Sunday, August 6: NBC will air a highlight package of the women's competition at 2:30 pm.

Also on Sunday, the men's competition will take place in two sessions, at 10:45 am and 4:45 pm. They will stream live on USA Gymnastics’ YouTube channel.

In addition to headliners Biles, Chiles, Lee, and Carey, the women's competition will include 2021 Worlds all-around silver medalist and floor bronze medalist Leanne Wong, 2021 Worlds all-around bronze medalist Kayla DiCello, and 2022 Worlds team gold medalist Skye Blakely.

They are all names Texas gymnastics fans will recognize from both the 2021 U.S. Gymnastics Championships held in Fort Worth (at which Biles won her record seventh national title) and from the Biles-led "Gold Over America Tour," which stopped in Fort Worth and Houston.

On the men’s side, competitors will include 2020 Olympian, 2017 World Championships floor bronze medalist and eight-time Pan American gold medalist Yul Moldauer, 2015 Worlds vault bronze medalist and 2014 team bronze medalist Donnell Whittenburg, 2021 World pommel horse gold medalist Stephen Nedoroscik, and 2020 Olympian and three-time NCAA champion Shane Wiskus.

A junior competition also will be contested.

For more information on the event, schedule, and competitors, visit the competition website.

PopStroke/ Facebook

Mini golf entertainment concept swings into San Antonio with Tiger Woods-designed course

TEE TIME

The name may sound like a celebrity gossip site, but the latest hospitality chain coming to San Antonio has nothing to do with Hollywood intrigue. Well, at least one household name is involved — golf legend Tiger Woods.

According to Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation records, the entertainment concept PopStroke is teeing up to enter the Alamo City market at Anthem Parkway and Presidio Parkway. The five-million-dollar buildout, set to wrap up in early August, will include 37 golf holes and an outdoor children’s playground, according to the filing.

The Florida-based brand first teased the news in an April press release sharing its plan to open thirteen new venues, including outposts in North Dallas and College Station. The company first dipped its toes into the Texas market in 2021 with a complex in Katy.

PopStroke venues are centered around two 18-hole miniature golf courses designed by Woods’ TGR Design team — offering options for novice and seasoned putters (the 37th hole mentioned in TDLR records remains a mystery). Guests play with special edition TaylorMade golf balls, which can be pocketed as a keepsake.

In addition to games, the spot offers a full food menu of pub grub like nachos, wings, and sandwiches. Though approachable, it’s not without a few upscale flourishes — tuna tartare is served with English cucumber and microgreens, and the street tacos have a dollop of chimichurri.

For drinks, PopStroke offers wine, domestic beers, and local selections on draft. The place also has a full bar with cocktails like the Kick Your Putt Margarita (Waka! Waka!) and peach puree-sweetened Irish Tee Time.

There’s no word yet on the opening date, but if construction goes to plan, PopShelf should be swinging by early fall.

Photo courtesy of John Cusack

An Evening with John Cusack

Actor John Cusack will host a screening of one of his most popular movies, High Fidelity, followed by a live conversation about his career and the making of the film, as well as a Q&A.

Photo courtesy of Apple TV+

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie paints a complete picture of the actor's complex life

Movie Review

Of all the big stars that rose to fame in the 1980s, few appealed as broadly as Michael J. Fox, who hit his peak in 1985 when he was simultaneously on the second-most popular TV show, Family Ties, and in the No. 1 movie of the year, Back to the Future (not to mention Teen Wolf, a schlocky werewolf comedy that rode the BTTF wave to a No. 23 finish).

However, as the new Apple TV+ documentary Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie demonstrates, Fox’s life has come to be defined more by a disease that is out of his control than by the career he crafted. Directed by Oscar and Emmy winner Davis Guggenheim, the film could have been a standard one where Fox and his celebrity friends talk about his career, extolling his winning personality and his positivity in the face of living with Parkinson’s disease the past 30 years.

Instead, Fox and Guggenheim let Fox do almost all the talking, whether through a direct-to-camera interview, candid moments with his family and others, narrating stories about his life, or scenes from his many projects. While all of these methods are illuminating in one way of another, Guggenheim’s clever usage of actors to re-create stories from Fox’s life, as well as scenes from different Fox projects to emphasize real-life moments, are the most effective in crafting a compelling narrative.

Those stories are consistently interesting, whether it’s about him pulling double duty with Family Ties and Back to the Future, where he only got 2-3 hours of sleep each night while filming both over the course of three months; or talking about his bad behavior in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, when he let success go to his head. Fox also talks about how the idea of being still was foreign to him for many years, and Guggenheim illustrates this with countless scenes of the diminutive-but-athletic actor running, jumping, and flipping in a variety of roles.

Anyone who has not seen Fox in recent years may be shocked by the degree to which his Parkinson’s has progressed, as he’s shown to have difficulty walking and having to do special vocal exercises to speak clearly. But lest you think Fox is asking for pity, he’s the first one to dispel that notion. Despite clear frustration with the more onerous parts of the disease, he’s always ready with a joke to deflect from uncomfortable situations, and readily acknowledges what a blessed life he has led.

Still paints a complete picture of Fox the man, someone who’s been to the height of fame and brought low by a disease that can be managed but not cured. Like all of us, he contains multitudes, and the film shows all sides of him, even if it’s his affability that shines through time and again.

---

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie debuts on Apple TV+ on May 12.

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

H-E-B soars to No. 2 in Forbes' prestigious list of best employers in Texas, plus more top stories

hot headlines

Editor's note: It’s that time again — time to check in with our top stories. From animal crossings to page turning, here are five articles that captured our collective attention over the past seven days.

1. H-E-B soars to No. 2 in Forbes' prestigious list of best employers in Texas. In addition to being based in San Antonio, H-E-B operates more than 300 stores in Texas and employs 154,000 people.

2. Wildlife advocacy tour treks to San Antonio's spectacular land bridge. The land bridge is getting national attention through a promotional road trip meant to highlight the structure's role in protecting local ecosystems.

3. Texas Book Festival releases full lineup of 300 authors, including Roxane Gay and Ali Hazelwood. The weekend will be full of panel discussions, author readings, book signings, and much more.

4. San Antonio foundation pounces on bold program to return ocelots to the wild. Following the proposal, the East Foundation will release ocelots onto a section of its San Antonio Viejo Ranch.

5. Famous furniture store Louis Shanks shutters last remaining San Antonio location. The furniture retailer first opened in 1945, with the San Antonio store opening in 1983.

San Antonio International Airport clears runway for 1st nonstop flight to Europe

booking tix now

Big news for Texas travelers: San Antonio International Airport's first-ever nonstop flights to Europe will begin in 2024.

Passengers can now book tickets via Condor Airlines for flights from San Antonio International Airport (SAT) to Germany's Frankfurt Airport (FRA) between May 17 and September 6, 2024. Flights will initially operate three days a week – Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays – and flights to Frankfurt are expected to take a little more than 10 hours, while flights coming in from overseas will last about 11.5 hours.

The seasonal service is a "spectacular win" for the city, according to Mayor Ron Nirenberg, and could bring in an estimated $34 million annually. The airport has been seeing wins left and right, having just been named one of the nation's least stressful airports, and consistently handling busier and busier days.

"Germany is where San Antonio has the most demand for travel in Europe because of the cultural, historic, tourism, military, and business ties," Mayor Nirenberg said in a news conference on September 21.

San Antonio Airport System Director of Airports Jesus Saenz foreshadows that the SAT-FRA flight is "just the beginning" of possible flight expansions for the airport in the future.

"We fully believe San Antonio will utilize this service to Europe and take advantage of Condor’s extremely competitive airfares," he said. "Once that happens, we anticipate Condor will expand their services even further."

The airline will be using a brand new Airbus A330-900neo aircraft for the nonstop flights, which features 30 business class seats, 64 premium economy seats, and 216 economy seats.

"With our growing fleet of A330neos, we can provide better travel options to more Americans every year," said Condor CEO Ralf Teckentrup said in a release. "I am particularly proud to offer the only nonstop connection from San Antonio, Texas to Frankfurt, Germany – the heart of Europe, where travelers can enjoy the popular touristic sights of Germany or travel beyond conveniently by air, road, or rail. I invite everyone to try out our newest and most luxurious in-flight experience ever."

Monday flights will depart from SAT at 10:05 pm and arrive in Frankfurt at 3:20 pm the following day. Returning flights from FRA on Mondays will depart at 3:40 pm and arrive at SAT at 8:05 pm.

For Wednesday and Friday flights, departures from SAT will take place at 8:25 pm and arrive at FRA at 1:40 pm the next day. Returning flights from FRA will depart at 2:00 pm and arrive at SAT at 6:25 pm.

New honky-tonk surprisingly two-steps into St. Paul's Square

SPUR OF THE MOMENT

When Steve Mahoney first relaunched Francis Bogside and sibling wine bar, Anne’s, in the former home of Smoke BBQ, rumors circulated on how he would use the expansive upstairs space. Now, San Antonio has its answer. In a surprise move, the veteran bar owner debuted his latest venture — honky-tonk concept Blayne’s — on September 22.

The name pays homage to the late Blayne Tucker, the former co-owner of the Mix and managing partner of Floore’s Country Store. A tireless advocate for the city’s musical scene, he helped usher in the Save Our Stages Act, assisting hundreds of venues to stay afloat nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“[Blayne’s] impact in San Antonio is nothing short of extraordinary,” said Mahoney via a release. “We hope to continue his efforts and support live music in the city.”

Fittingly, music will be in the air at Blayne’s, starting with The Babylonz and DJ Guero Vaquero from 5 pm to 2 am on the soft opening night. A large dance floor, pool tables, and bar games complete the honky-tonk vibe.

Like many of Mahoney’s bars, Blayne’s has a solid food program. The Tex-Mex fusion menu features eclectic pub grub like red curry short rib mini tacos, southwest eggrolls, street corn bites, smoked barbacoa pizza, and customizable nachos. The initial press announcement didn’t deeply discuss the drink options but promised margaritas, house cocktails, and beer.

Though no official announcement has been made, Mahoney has another bar up his sleeve. The Francis Bogside website teases the January 2024 opening of Robert’s, named after Mahoney’s late business partner, Robert Darilek. Details, including the location, are slim, but the landing page touts “feature club-style seating, an extensive whiskey list, and a cigar menu.”

Following the September 22 sneak peek, Blayne’s will be open Wednesday through Saturday, 5 pm to 2 am.

Blayne's San Antonio

Photo by TXTroublemaker

Blayne's food menu includes red curry short rib mini tacos.