Jay Leno has suffered “serious burns from a gasoline fire,” the comedian revealed in a statement to Variety and Deadline Monday.

“I am ok. Just need a week or two to get back on my feet,” he said.

People reported earlier Monday that the comedian, 72, canceled a performance at The Financial Brand’s Forum 2022, a conference in Las Vegas, as a result of a “serious medical emergency.”

“His family was not able to provide us very many details, but there was a very serious medical emergency that is preventing Jay from traveling,” an email sent to Forum 2022 attendees on Sunday and obtained by People stated. “All we know is that he is alive, so our prayers go out to him and his family tonight.”

USA TODAY has reached out to Leno’s representative and The Financial Brand for comment and further details.

Leno has been open about his health challenges in the past, speaking with USA TODAY in 2019 about managing his high cholesterol, which he was diagnosed with over two decades ago.

Leno said he urges people to seek out qualified physicians rather than taking advice from “your idiot friend down the street who says, ‘oh, my uncle had that.’ “

“Go to a doctor, and find out what (medicine) you should take and maybe augment that with laughter,” Leno said. “Laughter (alone) is a terrible medicine, it doesn’t do anything. It’s amusing and fun, but as a medicine it just sucks.”

Leno hosted “The Tonight Show” from 1992 to 2014. In fall 2021, he began presiding over a nationally syndicated revival of “You Bet Your Life,” the comedy game show made famous more than a half-century ago by legendary comedian Groucho Marx.

“I’m thrilled to be hosting the latest version of ‘You Bet Your Life,'” Leno said in a statement in September 2020. “One of my favorite things to do is talk to regular people and draw humor out of them. This is a comedy show wrapped in a game show that allows me to do just that.”

Read more at usatoday.com

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Three University of Virginia football players killed in an on-campus shooting were remembered Monday by their head coach as “all good kids.”

Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry were juniors returning to campus from a class trip to see a play Sunday night when authorities say they were killed by a fellow student.

The young men were also members of the Virginia football team, journeying through periods of transition in their careers — whether it was bouncing back from a season-ending injury, changing positions on the team or transferring in from another school.

“They were all good kids,” head football coach Tony Elliott said early Monday afternoon. He said he would talk about the victims “when the time is right.”

A couple hours later, teammate Aaron Faumui spoke briefly through tears to reporters as he struggled to make sense of the loss.

“I don’t even know what to say right now,” said the college senior who plays defensive tackle. “I just want to say they were three young great men.”

The grief was felt widely, reverberating through football programs across the country — in part because college athletes can move around more with the easing of transfer restrictions. Players from Wisconsin to Utah and Washington state mourned because they had played at Virginia.

“Can’t put into words the physical and mental pain that comes with losing not just teammates, but brothers,” tweeted Wayne Taulapapa, a running back who transferred from Virginia to the University of Washington. “You were never just football players, but rather examples of great and honorable young men.”

The shooting happened just after 10:15 p.m. Sunday as a charter bus full of students returned from seeing a play in Washington. University President Jim Ryan said authorities did not have a “full understanding” of the motive or circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Police on Monday captured a university student, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, whom they say is suspected of shooting the three football players and wounding two others. Jones had once played on the football team, but had not been a member of the team for at least a year, police said.

Davis was a 6-foot-7 wide receiver from Dorchester, South Carolina. He finished the 2020 season ranked No. 2 in the nation and No. 1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference for average yards per reception, among many other accolades.

An undisclosed injury sidelined Davis for 2021 season but he returned this year, starting six of the first seven games. In the season opener against the University of Richmond, Davis caught four passes for 89 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown. He was on a watch list for 2022 Comeback Player of the Year.

Perry was a linebacker from Miami, Florida. In September, Perry told the Daily Progress he was called to the Cavaliers’ football offices where linebackers coach Clint Sintim said he needed Perry to move from linebacker to defensive end.

Perry told the newspaper it was “no problem at all. It was a smooth transition.”

“Honestly, I feel like I can do both (linebacker and defensive end),” Perry said. “And I prepared myself well to work in space and pass rush during the offseason. … So, both positions I’m very comfortable with and I’m just trying to help the team win.”

Perry appeared in seven games this year and made seven tackles.

Chandler was a wide receiver from Huntersville, North Carolina. He recently transferred from Wisconsin. His accomplishments for the Badgers included a 59-yard kickoff return and 18-yard rush in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against Wake Forest in 2020.

“Once a badger, always a badger,” Jim Leonhard, the University of Wisconsin’s interim head football coach, tweeted Monday in the wake of Chandler’s death.

“He had a lasting impact on his teammates, even after he left UW, which is a testament to the type of person he was,” Leonhard wrote. “His personality was infectious and he was a joy to be around. Our team is hurting for him and his family.”

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Colin McGrath was resting on his friend’s shoulder on the St. Ignatius College Prep hockey team’s bus Saturday evening after a tournament in Indiana.

“All of a sudden I hear a crash, bang, and I blacked out,” said McGrath, a player on the school’s junior varsity Wolfpack team.

A semitruck had plowed into their bus as the team returned to a hotel from dinner in Warsaw, about 50 miles south of South Bend.

McGrath woke up on top of his friend, shattered glass was strewn everywhere.

“I picked up my friend and some pedestrian came and opened the emergency door for us,” he said. “After that it was just walking, freaking out, just getting out and figuring out what was happening and getting everyone safe.”

McGrath was seated in the rear of the bus, near where the truck struck it.

“If I was one row back, it would’ve been a lot worse,” he said.

Sixteen students were hurt and three of them were taken in “very critical” condition to Fort Wayne Lutheran Hospital, police said.

McGrath suffered a dislocated shoulder and swollen jaw, he said. His left arm was in a sling as he returned to class Monday morning, wearing his Wolfpack hockey jersey.

The crash happened around 8 p.m. Saturday. The school’s junior varsity hockey team had competed in a tournament at Culver Military Academy.

Felony DUI charges were pending against a semi driver who police say ran a red light and crashed into a bus carrying 23 students and two hockey coaches.

One of the seriously injured students was discharged from a hospital Sunday evening, school spokeswoman Kristyn Hartman said Monday. Two other students were expected to remain hospitalized for three to five more days, she said.

Ten others on the bus were uninjured, police said. All were taken by another school bus to Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital, where officers notified relatives, police said. The students are 14 to 17 years old.

The seriously injured players will require more surgery for internal injuries, McGrath said.

McGrath was eager to leave the hospital and reunite with his team.

“I didn’t want to be there because I wanted to be with my teammates. We all stayed together and prayed,” he said.

Members of the team have been visiting the hospitalized players, he said. The whole team plans to visit them again sometime this week, McGrath said.

The students were returning from dinner when the crash happened, according to school officials. The bus driver was turning left off U.S. 30 when the semi driver went through a red light and struck the rear of the bus, flipping the bus on its side, police said.

The semi driver continued west and was stopped less than a mile away after driving off the road and into a ditch, police said. Police officers on the scene “detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person and in the cab of the semi,” according to police.

Police said they already were responding to calls reporting a semi driver “swerving into other lanes and driving at excessive speed” before being alerted that the driver had crashed into the school bus.

The driver, 58, from Brooklyn, New York, was in custody and facing charges of driving while intoxicated and causing great bodily harm.

In an email to parents Sunday, the school said it was “happy to share that coaches were able to speak with all three students who remain in the hospital. They say they were heartened to hear the young men ask about their brothers on the team.”

Hockey director and varsity head coach Spencer Montgomery thanked the police and emergency crews who responded. “They were timely, organized and put the health of our boys at the forefront,” he said.

A Mass for the team will be held at the Church of the Holy Family at 3:30 p.m. Monday. The school said students will also be provided with counseling.

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For the first time in the history of the franchise, the Chicago Bears are relying on their offense to keep them competitive in games, while their defense has become an absolute sieve.

The Chicago Bears have scored 29 points in three consecutive games and have lost primarily because the defense has struggled to stop anyone.  There have been signs late in games that the Chicago Bears defense is up to the task but overall they’ve been the primary reason the Bears are on their current three-game losing streak.

Up front there have been some plays made by Justin Jones as a defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears, he is the team leader in tackles for a loss with seven on the season.  Once a game it seems Jones makes some penetration into the backfield to drop the running back for a loss or disrupt the play enough for it to be stopped for a loss.  Justin Jones however never generates the level of consistency you want from a top-level defensive tackle.

At the defensive end spot, the stats are in and the Bears are getting no zero pass rush from their defensive ends.  In fact in one stat the Bears are the absolute worst in the league at getting off of blocks to make plays.

Since the Robert Quinn trade Trevis Gipson and Dominique Robinson have been completely shut down on the edges from getting any pressure on the QB.  Of the defensive line starters, only Jones and Gipson have registered even a single QB hit each over the last two games.

After starting the season with 1.5 sacks against the 49ers Robinson has been completely shut out.  While Gipson notched two the following week against the Packers, he hasn’t had another sack since.  Clearly, the Bears are going to be in the market either in the draft or free agency for defensive line help.

Right now both Gipson and Robinson are backup players at best, and Gipson may not survive the cut down to 53 after training camp next year.  Robinson a rookie will be given time to develop his game, but it may be a stretch to think he’ll be starting in 2023.

This begs the question, will Chicago Bears fans be okay with Ryan Poles’ first two draft picks in the 2023 draft being defensive players?  Clearly, the draft is lining up to be heavy with top players on the defensive line representing among the top-10 players in the draft.  So the Bears may find themselves by grabbing need and value with a defensive line selection in the first round.

For More Great Chicago Sports Content

Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE

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For the first time in the history of the franchise, the Chicago Bears are relying on their offense to keep them competitive in games, while their defense has become an absolute sieve.

The Chicago Bears have scored 29 points in three consecutive games and have lost primarily because the defense has struggled to stop anyone.  There have been signs late in games that the Chicago Bears defense is up to the task but overall they’ve been the primary reason the Bears are on their current three-game losing streak.

Up front there have been some plays made by Justin Jones as a defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears, he is the team leader in tackles for a loss with seven on the season.  Once a game it seems Jones makes some penetration into the backfield to drop the running back for a loss or disrupt the play enough for it to be stopped for a loss.  Justin Jones however never generates the level of consistency you want from a top-level defensive tackle.

At the defensive end spot, the stats are in and the Bears are getting no zero pass rush from their defensive ends.  In fact in one stat the Bears are the absolute worst in the league at getting off of blocks to make plays.

Since the Robert Quinn trade Trevis Gipson and Dominique Robinson have been completely shut down on the edges from getting any pressure on the QB.  Of the defensive line starters, only Jones and Gipson have registered even a single QB hit each over the last two games.

After starting the season with 1.5 sacks against the 49ers Robinson has been completely shut out.  While Gipson notched two the following week against the Packers, he hasn’t had another sack since.  Clearly, the Bears are going to be in the market either in the draft or free agency for defensive line help.

Right now both Gipson and Robinson are backup players at best, and Gipson may not survive the cut down to 53 after training camp next year.  Robinson a rookie will be given time to develop his game, but it may be a stretch to think he’ll be starting in 2023.

This begs the question, will Chicago Bears fans be okay with Ryan Poles’ first two draft picks in the 2023 draft being defensive players?  Clearly, the draft is lining up to be heavy with top players on the defensive line representing among the top-10 players in the draft.  So the Bears may find themselves by grabbing need and value with a defensive line selection in the first round.

For More Great Chicago Sports Content

Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE

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Colin McGrath was resting on his friend’s shoulder on the St. Ignatius College Prep hockey team’s bus Saturday evening after a tournament in Indiana.

“All of a sudden I hear a crash, bang, and I blacked out,” said McGrath, a player on the school’s junior varsity Wolfpack team.

A semitruck had plowed into their bus as the team returned to a hotel from dinner in Warsaw, about 50 miles south of South Bend.

McGrath woke up on top of his friend, shattered glass was strewn everywhere.

“I picked up my friend and some pedestrian came and opened the emergency door for us,” he said. “After that it was just walking, freaking out, just getting out and figuring out what was happening and getting everyone safe.”

McGrath was seated in the rear of the bus, near where the truck struck it.

“If I was one row back, it would’ve been a lot worse,” he said.

Sixteen students were hurt and three of them were taken in “very critical” condition to Fort Wayne Lutheran Hospital, police said.

McGrath suffered a dislocated shoulder and swollen jaw, he said. His left arm was in a sling as he returned to class Monday morning, wearing his Wolfpack hockey jersey.

The crash happened around 8 p.m. Saturday. The school’s junior varsity hockey team had competed in a tournament at Culver Military Academy.

Felony DUI charges were pending against a semi driver who police say ran a red light and crashed into a bus carrying 23 students and two hockey coaches.

One of the seriously injured students was discharged from a hospital Sunday evening, school spokeswoman Kristyn Hartman said Monday. Two other students were expected to remain hospitalized for three to five more days, she said.

Ten others on the bus were uninjured, police said. All were taken by another school bus to Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital, where officers notified relatives, police said. The students are 14 to 17 years old.

The seriously injured players will require more surgery for internal injuries, McGrath said.

McGrath was eager to leave the hospital and reunite with his team.

“I didn’t want to be there because I wanted to be with my teammates. We all stayed together and prayed,” he said.

Members of the team have been visiting the hospitalized players, he said. The whole team plans to visit them again sometime this week, McGrath said.

The students were returning from dinner when the crash happened, according to school officials. The bus driver was turning left off U.S. 30 when the semi driver went through a red light and struck the rear of the bus, flipping the bus on its side, police said.

The semi driver continued west and was stopped less than a mile away after driving off the road and into a ditch, police said. Police officers on the scene “detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person and in the cab of the semi,” according to police.

Police said they already were responding to calls reporting a semi driver “swerving into other lanes and driving at excessive speed” before being alerted that the driver had crashed into the school bus.

The driver, 58, from Brooklyn, New York, was in custody and facing charges of driving while intoxicated and causing great bodily harm.

In an email to parents Sunday, the school said it was “happy to share that coaches were able to speak with all three students who remain in the hospital. They say they were heartened to hear the young men ask about their brothers on the team.”

Hockey director and varsity head coach Spencer Montgomery thanked the police and emergency crews who responded. “They were timely, organized and put the health of our boys at the forefront,” he said.

A Mass for the team will be held at the Church of the Holy Family at 3:30 p.m. Monday. The school said students will also be provided with counseling.

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Colin McGrath was resting on his friend’s shoulder on the St. Ignatius College Prep hockey team’s bus Saturday evening after a tournament in Indiana.

“All of a sudden I hear a crash, bang, and I blacked out,” said McGrath, a player on the school’s junior varsity Wolfpack team.

A semitruck had plowed into their bus as the team returned to a hotel from dinner in Warsaw, about 50 miles south of South Bend.

McGrath woke up on top of his friend, shattered glass was strewn everywhere.

“I picked up my friend and some pedestrian came and opened the emergency door for us,” he said. “After that it was just walking, freaking out, just getting out and figuring out what was happening and getting everyone safe.”

McGrath was seated in the rear of the bus, near where the truck struck it.

“If I was one row back, it would’ve been a lot worse,” he said.

Sixteen students were hurt and three of them were taken in “very critical” condition to Fort Wayne Lutheran Hospital, police said.

McGrath suffered a dislocated shoulder and swollen jaw, he said. His left arm was in a sling as he returned to class Monday morning, wearing his Wolfpack hockey jersey.

The crash happened around 8 p.m. Saturday. The school’s junior varsity hockey team had competed in a tournament at Culver Military Academy.

Felony DUI charges were pending against a semi driver who police say ran a red light and crashed into a bus carrying 23 students and two hockey coaches.

One of the seriously injured students was discharged from a hospital Sunday evening, school spokeswoman Kristyn Hartman said Monday. Two other students were expected to remain hospitalized for three to five more days, she said.

Ten others on the bus were uninjured, police said. All were taken by another school bus to Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital, where officers notified relatives, police said. The students are 14 to 17 years old.

The seriously injured players will require more surgery for internal injuries, McGrath said.

McGrath was eager to leave the hospital and reunite with his team.

“I didn’t want to be there because I wanted to be with my teammates. We all stayed together and prayed,” he said.

Members of the team have been visiting the hospitalized players, he said. The whole team plans to visit them again sometime this week, McGrath said.

The students were returning from dinner when the crash happened, according to school officials. The bus driver was turning left off U.S. 30 when the semi driver went through a red light and struck the rear of the bus, flipping the bus on its side, police said.

The semi driver continued west and was stopped less than a mile away after driving off the road and into a ditch, police said. Police officers on the scene “detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person and in the cab of the semi,” according to police.

Police said they already were responding to calls reporting a semi driver “swerving into other lanes and driving at excessive speed” before being alerted that the driver had crashed into the school bus.

The driver, 58, from Brooklyn, New York, was in custody and facing charges of driving while intoxicated and causing great bodily harm.

In an email to parents Sunday, the school said it was “happy to share that coaches were able to speak with all three students who remain in the hospital. They say they were heartened to hear the young men ask about their brothers on the team.”

Hockey director and varsity head coach Spencer Montgomery thanked the police and emergency crews who responded. “They were timely, organized and put the health of our boys at the forefront,” he said.

A Mass for the team will be held at the Church of the Holy Family at 3:30 p.m. Monday. The school said students will also be provided with counseling.

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With yet another defeat on Sunday, an end to the Chicago Bulls’ struggle for dominance is not in sight, even as the season progresses.

Before the start of this year’s regular season, the Chicago Bulls were hit with the unfortunate news that Lonzo Ball would miss at least a few months following his off-season knee surgery. Inspite of that, fans remained optimistic about the team’s chances heading into the season.

However, the optimism in Chicago is turning to skepticism from fans who are worried that last year’s return to the playoffs was not a return to relevance but an apparition instead.

The team is one game under .500 after 14 games and has not shown the defensive intensity or offensive consistency that helped them end a five-year playoff drought last season. The team’s three best players, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic, are all putting up solid numbers, but it has not translated into consistent winning.

But the good news is the season is still young, and there is still time for the team to turn the season around. Let’s take a closer look at the areas the franchise need improve upon to return to their winning ways

Score More Points

Currently, the Bulls are averaging 111.4 points per game. That is the 18th-highest average in the NBA. There are only 16 teams that officially qualify for the postseason, so the fact that they are flirting with being on the outside of the playoff picture should come as no surprise.

On the surface, it would seem that Chicago doesn’t struggle to put points on the board. They currently have five players averaging double digits per game. In addition to their well-known “Big 3,” Ayo Dosunmu and Goran Dragić are averaging more than 10 points per game as well. However, a closer look at the team’s shooting splits sheds light on their offensive problems.

Chicago has three of the most reliable offensive weapons in the league:DeRozan, LaVine, and Vučević. The fact that the team is in the bottom half of shooting percentages in the NBA means that they are not creating easy opportunities for their best players.

The Big 3 will always lead the team in shot attempts, as they rightfully should, but if the team created easy scoring opportunities for them, it would force defenses to collapse, create open shots out of double teams, and increase the overall percentage of made shots.

Rebound the Ball

Chicago are 20th in the NBA in rebounds per game with 43.6 boards per contest. There’s an old adage in basketball that the team that wins the battle of the boards will most likely win the game.

In Chicago Bulls’ case, this is proving to be true. It is no coincidence that the team averaging a league-best 51.1 rebounds per game, the Milwaukee Bucks, also has the best record in the league with ten wins and one loss. This trend has plagued the team all season. On Wednesday, the team lost a very close game at home to the upstart New Orleans Pelicans.

While Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson deserve the bulk of the credit for handing the Bulls a loss, Chicago should also reevaluate their commitment to the boards; they were outpaced 50 to 35 in overall rebounds that night. A 15-rebound deficit has a direct correlation to a four-point loss in front of the hometown fans. If the Bulls want to be a playoff team, they cannot continue to be grossly outperformed on the glass on a nightly basis.

Ball Movement and SpacingTo say that the Chicago Bulls rely too heavily on isolation basketball would be an understatement. While DeRozan and LaVine are both elite scorers, they are not as effective as they could be without a facilitator on the court with them. This is where the team misses Lonzo Ball’s presence the most.

Ball is a pass-first player who could make sure his teammates got the ball in scoring position while staying within the flow of the offense. The Bulls are still looking for a player who will fill this void.

Ayo Dosunmu has been receiving Ball’s minutes, and while he certainly has a bright future in the NBA, he is not a true point guard. The Bulls’ top two leaders in assists are currently DeMar DeRozan at 4.2 assists per game and Zach LaVine at 4.1. As a team, they are averaging 24.2 assists per contest, which ranks 18th in the league.

The Chicago Bulls must find a facilitator within the organization or make a trade for a pass-first point guard before the trade deadline. Otherwise, their chances of making the playoffs will decrease, and the odds of them advancing past the first round will be slim to none.

Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE

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