100% Austin news, info, and entertainment, straight to your inbox at 6 a.m. every morning.
In five minutes, you're fully informed and ready to start another great day in our city.
Hollywood star James Van Der Beek is the latest in a long line of Californians trading the bright lights for the blue skies of the Lone Star State.
The "Dawson's Creek" star announced on Instagram that he is "onto the next big adventure," moving his family from Beverly Hills to Austin.
Kimberly Van Der Beek, the actor's wife, said in an August episode of "The Make Down" podcast that the family was moving to the Austin area to "get out of the concrete jungle for a little bit." The couple, along with their five young children and four dogs, embarked on a 10-day road trip to their new home state.
The Van Der Beeks join the ranks of other celebrities that call Austin home like Matthew McConaughey and Elijah Wood.
It's not just Hollywood stars that are fleeing California's high cost of living and taxes. According to a 2020 Texas Relocation Report published by Texas Realtors, more than 86,000 California residents moved to Texas in 2019—the most of any other state. The relocation rate has increased by 36.4% since 2017.
More celebrity news:
Elijah Wood's Victorian Austin home goes on the market
- Matthew McConaughey's new book joins Texas Book Festival ... ›
- Anthony Michael Hall apologizes for bad behavior in Austin hotel ... ›
- Joe Rogan's new home is a $14 million mansion on Lake Austin ... ›
- Austin's Andy Roddick is about to get served, charity style - austonia ›
- Tiger King's husband arrested in Travis county - austonia ›
- Austin is one of the least affordable cities in the country - austonia ›
- Dave Chappelle filmed in mask altercation at Austin hotel - austonia ›
- Celebrities who moved to austin, texas in 2020, and those to move in 2021 - austonia ›
- Californian Texodus is affecting Texas on a national political scale - austonia ›
Popular
Cat Osterman is retiring from softball after a 17-year Olympic career and three Olympic medals. (USA Softball/Twitter)
Osterman, a three-time Olympian who has been called the "Michael Jordan of softball," will officially retire from the international realm at 38 after a decorated career that included Olympic golds, years of retirement and plenty of adversity—from a worldwide pandemic to dashed gold-medal dreams.
Osterman and her crew left Tokyo on a bittersweet note on Tuesday with a silver medal in hand.
Osterman with Team USA in 2008. (Antoni Majewski/Twitter)
Osterman in the final in 2021. (Antoni Majewski/Twitter)
After a year of sparse in-person training and over a decadelong hiatus, Team USA and Osterman flew to the finals. In five games, the team beat Italy (2-0), Canada (1-0), Mexico (2-0), Australia (2-1), and Japan (2-1).
Deja vu struck in the final match. On one side, Osterman and fellow 2008 Olympic teammate Monica Abbott took the mound; on the other was the 39-year-old Yukiko Ueno, a familiar foe who helped the team beat Team USA last go-round.
"Just like 13 years ago," Ueno said in a press conference, "we were facing each other in the final."
Ueno, who had lost hopes at gold to Osterman in '04, outpitched her longtime opponent with six scoreless innings as Team USA was held to just three hits. The same team that squandered their gold-medal hopes 13 years before had done it once again.
"There's a little bit of disappointment in not bringing home the gold since that's the eye on the prize when you go over there and you know you have a shot at it," Osterman told Austonia. "But more than anything, I'm very proud of the way our team handled everything that was part of this journey and not just the six games."
It's that very loss at the 2008 Olympics that partially motivated Osterman to get back on the mound. She officially put down the glove in 2015 after six seasons with the USSSA Pride, took time with family and began coaching at Texas State University.
Osterman helped ace Randi Rupp to greatness while a coach at Texas State University. (Active Voice Health/Twitter)
She thought her Olympic endeavors were well over—until talks of reinstating softball into the Games reentered the conversation.
"It wasn't until 2016 or 2017, that it ever crossed my mind to possibly put the USA uniform on again," Osterman said. "After the World Championships in 2010, I walked away, and I thought that my career on the international stage was done. So this was a pleasant kind of new opportunity."
Three years after facing any competition, Osterman was on the field once more with world-class athletes. Some, like Osterman and Abbott, had been playing together long enough to form a formidable "Fire and Ice" duo on the mound. Others had just graduated college.
Osterman said playing with a younger generation of athletes was one of the most rewarding aspects of this year's Games.
"It can be very different when you have 24- and 38-year-olds on the same field," Osterman said. "The adversity put us in some challenging positions and we came through with flying colors. And this group will forever be special just because what we had to go through is so different."
While on the mound, Osterman's job was to give the team a calm start. Off of the field, she felt her role had much of the same effect: she knew that new Olympic feeling, and she served as a deep breath to her first-time teammates.
"There's no words to explain how nervous and excited you get knowing that the whole world can be watching," Osterman. "I think using those emotions and figuring out how to get all our butterflies lined up and going in the right direction, so that way we were all moving together, was kind of my role outside of pitching."
We've heard her retire once before, but this time Osterman said she's gone for good—even from coaching. After her final time with Team USA on Sept. 27, she plans on returning to Austin, where she'll look to work for a nonprofit.
A gold and two silvers will have to do for one of the most decorated athletes in U.S. softball history.
"To be able to say you're a three-time Olympic medalist is a pretty special deal, right?" Osterman. "I played for a long time. But those are the pinnacle, in my mind, and kind of what elicits the dream to keep playing."
- Week 1 roundup: One gold, two silvers and more to come for ... ›
- Going for gold: 27 athletes with Austin ties heading to the '21 Tokyo ... ›
- Week 1 roundup: One gold, two silvers and more to come for ... ›
- Former UT diver Alison Gibson competing at Tokyo Olympics ... ›
- 21 athletes with Austin ties are heading to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics ... ›
- An Austinite's guide to the Olympics: how to watch, who to cheer on ... ›
- UT to host first sporting event at 100% capacity tonight - austonia ›
- Texas State notebook: London signs, Osterman departs - Austin, TX ›
- The Statesman Interview: Cat Osterman - Sports - Austin American ... ›
- Olympian Cat Osterman to coach Round Rock Express softball ... ›
- Charity softball event again brings together Osterman, Ricky ... ›
- Team USA Softball player Cat Osterman comes out of retirement for ... ›
