lucky fish
lucky fish
The AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) — All Wright had 26 points in Valparaiso’s 93-77 victory against Central Michigan on Saturday night. Wright shot 7 for 16 (4 for 8 from 3-point range) and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line for the Beacons (5-4). Tyler Schmidt scored 21 points and added six rebounds. Jefferson Monegro had 16 points and shot 3 for 5 (2 for 3 from 3-point range) and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line. The Chippewas (5-4) were led in scoring by Anthony Pritchard, who finished with 20 points and six rebounds. Ugnius Jarusevicius added 18 points and six rebounds for Central Michigan. Jakobi Heady had 13 points, six rebounds and three steals. Valparaiso led Central Michigan 36-31 at the half, with Wright (13 points) its high scorer before the break. Valparaiso took the lead for what would be the final time on Schmidt’s 3-pointer with 10:13 remaining in the second half. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Richmond may have shelved Dustin Martin’s No.4 for the time being, but the Sydney Swans have opted to refill the No.23 made famous by superstar Lance Franklin with a draftee. Ned Bowman, who was drafted from Norwood in South Australia as Sydney’s second pick, will wear the number Franklin wore with distinction in 354 games, including 172 for the Sydney Swans, after being traded to the Harbour City at the end of the 2013 season from Hawthorn. Franklin retired with little fanfare at the end of 2023, finishing with a mind-boggling 1066 goals. His number 23 was left vacant for the 2024 season but will be on the field again in 2025. Clubs are increasingly making efforts to hand famous jumper numbers to top draftees, with West Coast giving No.9, worn with distinction by club greats Ben Cousins and then Nic Naitanui, to No.1 draft pick Harley Reid in 2024. Sydney officials haven’t shied away from lofty ambitions for all their draftees either. The club’s third pick in the draft, Riley Bice, will wear No.26, which was recently vacated by champion Swan Luke Parker, who moved to North Melbourne. Parker was a former club co-captain, a 2012 premiership player, multiple best-and-fairest winner and played 293 games in the guernsey. “We think long and hard about the allocation of jumper numbers and we feel these new players will wear them with pride,” Swans football boss Leon Cameron said. “Obviously, jumper numbers 20, 23 and 26 have recently been worn by Sydney Swans champions, so we didn’t hand these out lightly, but we believe these kids will represent themselves well. “I look forward to seeing all the new players run out in the red and white next year, hoping they will make these jumpers their own.” Samantha Rogers Chris Robinson The Swans are entering a new phase after a horror grand final loss to the Brisbane Lions, with Dean Cox replacing long-term coach John Longmire, who stood down last month after 15 seasons in charge.
PHILADELPHIA — Eagles fans serenaded Saquon Barkley with chants of “MVP!” after a 9-yard run gave him the team’s season rushing record. Barkley set the record in style — passing Eagles Hall of Famers Wilbert Montgomery and record holder LeSean McCoy in a single game — as he rushed for 124 yards to push his season total to 1,623 in a 22-16 victory over Carolina. The total was enough for Barkley to top McCoy’s 1,607 yards in 2013. Barkley also maintained his pace to break Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards, set in 1984 with the Los Angeles Rams. At his pace, Barkley should that reach milestone, even possibly ahead of the 17th game of the season that Dickerson and the NFL did not have in 1984. Barkley captioned an Instagram post “Thankful” with a checked box next to “franchise single-season rushing yards record.” Here’s a look at what’s ahead for Barkley and his chances of catching Dickerson: Where does Barkley stand in the record chase? Barkley leads the NFL in rushing with 1,623 yards, a hefty 216 yards ahead of Baltimore’s Derrick Henry at 1,407 (though the Ravens had a bye Sunday). He is averaging 124.8 yards per game. At that pace, and with one more game to play than Dickerson had, he would become the top single-season rusher in NFL history. He needs 483 yards over the final four games to top Dickerson’s 40-year-old record. Barkley is on pace for 2,122 yards, which would put him just 17 yards beyond Dickerson’s 2,105 total. What’s the schedule like for Barkley? Just on the quality of defenses alone, Barkley faces little pushback down the stretch. He feasted against a Panthers defense that was one of the worst against the run in the NFL. Barkley averaged 6.2 yards on 20 carries against Carolina and could easily expect to match that pace over at least three of the next four games. The Steelers come to Philadelphia on Sunday and should provide the stiffest test to Barkley in his record pursuit. Pittsburgh is fourth in the NFL in run defense. After the Steelers, Barkley could run wild. The Eagles’ final three opponents — Washington, Dallas and the Giants — all rank near the bottom of the league against the run. Why is Barkley with the Eagles? The 27-year-old Barkley has flourished in his first season with the Eagles. He is among the favorites for league MVP, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was the only player with better MVP odds on Monday. Barkley might enjoy the delicious twist of setting the record against his old team, the Giants — but surely not the 17th-game asterisk that would come with the total. Barkley was drafted out of Penn State with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 draft. He was an instant success in New York and ran for 1,307 yards his rookie season. Barkley ran for 5,211 yards and 35 touchdowns and had 288 receptions for 2,100 yards and 12 TDs in six years with the Giants. He hit free agency after the Giants elected not to put a franchise tag on him. Barkley signed a three-year deal with the Eagles for $26 million guaranteed and $37.75 million overall, making him the highest-paid running back in franchise history. His free agency was chronicled by the reality sports documentary television series “Hard Knocks.” In the crucial scene, Giants general manager Joe Schoen told Barkley the Giants would not make him an offer, nor stick the franchise tag on him. Rather, the Giants would let Barkley test the free-agent market, a move that sent him to an NFC East rival. “I’ll have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia, I’ll tell you that,” team owner John Mara said to Schoen in the series. “As I’ve told you, just being around enough players, he’s the most popular player we have, by far.” Under general manager Howie Roseman, the Eagles generally had been loath to use high draft picks or valuable salary cap space on a running back. Barkley was deemed a worthy exception. Can Barkley stay healthy? Barkley has been a workhorse this season and worked a heavy load in New York — when he was healthy. Barkley only twice played in 16 games with the Giants. He played in 14 games last season, missing three because of a high ankle sprain. He ran for 962 yards and six touchdowns. He was limited to two games in 2020 after he suffered a torn ACL. Barkley has played through minor injuries this season and proved his durability by leading the NFL with 266 carries. But injuries might not be his only potential problem. The Eagles’ nine-game winning streak has them sitting as the No. 2 seed in the NFC. Should they clinch that spot early, the final game against New York could be meaningless and coach Nick Sirianni could have to decide if Barkley goes for the mark or sits out ahead of the playoffs. Who was Eric Dickerson? Sporting his trademark goggles and Jheri curl, Dickerson was one of the great running backs in the 1980s, and the Hall of Famer was widely considered one of the best of all time. Dickerson finished his career with 13,259 yards, the ninth-most in NFL history. Emmitt Smith holds the career NFL rushing record with 18,355 yards. In 1984, Dickerson topped 100 yards rushing 12 times to break Buffalo’s O.J. Simpson’s 1973 record of 2,003 yards rushing in a single season. Simpson set his record in 14 games before the NFL expanded to 16 in 1978. The NFL moved to 17 games in 2021. Stay Informed: Subscribe to Our Newsletter Today
A look at how some of Trump's picks to lead health agencies could help carry out Kennedy's overhaul
New York D.A. Urges Judge Not To Dismiss Donald Trump’s Hush Money Conviction, Proposes Other Sentencing Options
Billionaire Elon Musk has been using his social media platform X to go to bat for President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks and promote his own preferred candidates, advocating for choices he views as change agents who will help remake the US government. In several high-profile cases, however, Musk backed people who either lost out on the roles or withdrew from consideration, suggesting some early limits to the Republican mega donor's influence even as he has emerged as one of Trump's most powerful allies. Musk, who has 206 million followers on X, posted or reposted about Trump's cabinet picks more than 70 times between Nov. 7 and Nov. 20, a Reuters review found. Though the posts represented just a fraction of his more than 2,000 posts during that period, Musk in many cases used them to give attention to Trump's most controversial choices, including former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard for US intelligence chief and environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr to lead the top US health agency. Musk most enthusiastically rallied support for Matt Gaetz, the former congressman Trump initially tapped to be his attorney general. In the days following Gaetz's Nov. 13 nomination, Musk posted 37 times about Gaetz or his wife Ginger, mostly in positive terms. That was far more than his posts about Trump's other appointments. Gaetz backed out of consideration on Nov. 21, saying his candidacy had become a distraction for Trump amid allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug abuse. He has denied wrongdoing. For Trump's Treasury secretary, Musk pushed for Wall Street financier Howard Lutnick over hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, whom Musk dismissed as "a business-as-usual choice." Bessent got the job anyway. And in a separate fight over Senate leadership, Musk's endorsed candidate also came up short. One Trump ally said those misses showed the limitations of Musk's sway. Musk's reach on X "doesn’t mean he’s an effective advocate for his positions or chosen cabinet members," the Trump ally said. "He's still learning how to operate in politics." Spokespeople for X and Musk did not respond to Reuters requests for comment for this story. Musk, who owns X and rocket company SpaceX and is chief executive of the electric car company Tesla Inc. TSLA.O, poured at least $119 million into getting Trump elected and has been a near-constant fixture at Trump's Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, since his election victory earlier this month. The two men attended an Ultimate Fighting Championship event in New York and a SpaceX launch in Texas, and Musk traveled with Trump to Washington for his meeting with President Joe Biden. On Saturday, Musk reposted a photo that showed him sitting with Trump, Lutnick and Republican Senator Joni Ernst at Mar-a-Lago, where they were discussing cabinet nominees, according to the caption. "Elon Musk and President Trump are great friends and brilliant leaders working together to Make America Great Again. Elon Musk is a once-in-a-generation business leader, and our federal bureaucracy will certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency," said Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the Trump transition team. Musk's close proximity to Trump has prompted some hand-wringing and complaints from the transition team, who were not accustomed to him being around so much, according to two sources close to Trump staff. Amid increased scrutiny of his unusual role, Musk wrote in a post on X on Nov. 20 that while he had offered his opinion on some candidates, he was not in charge. "Many selections occur without my knowledge and decisions are 100% that of the President," Musk said. Elon Musk: Trump win could hand Tesla billionaire unprecedented power Efficiency and emojis Musk's political posts on X far outnumbered those he used to promote his three businesses, the Reuters review found. He frequently mocks liberals and posts about government waste and Trump's newly created government efficiency panel, which the president-elect tapped Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead. Musk's typical posts consist either of an emoji or a short response to other posts. "Exactly," he wrote on Nov. 14, in response to a post noting that Trump's cabinet picks were "young outsiders" who "skipped the line." He responded with “Awesome” and a smile emoji on Nov. 13 to a post that said: “They put Tulsi Gabbard on a terror watchlist. Now she’s Director of National Intelligence. The biggest ‘F you’ to the Deep State Swamp.” On Nov. 16, as questions swirled about who Trump would pick for his Treasury secretary, Musk wrote on X that Bessent was "a business-as-usual choice," while Lutnick would "actually enact change." Musk also lobbied against Bessent internally, two sources close to Trump said. His efforts fell flat. On Nov. 22, Trump tapped Bessent for the job. Earlier in the month, Musk threw his support behind Republican Senator Rick Scott for Senate majority leader. Trump chose not to weigh in, and Scott ultimately lost to Senator John Thune for the position. One source close to Musk was struck by Musk's willingness to stick with Trump even after he’s been “shut down a couple of times” by the president-elect. "That’s very rare for a billionaire," the source said. "In general when they don’t get what they want, they walk away." The source said Musk was committed to Trump's government efficiency efforts. "He's really focused on the goal," the source said. Another test of Musk's influence lies ahead. Since the election, he has posted six times in support of Trump loyalist Kash Patel running the FBI. Patel, who served on Trump's National Security Council during his first term, has promised to go after politicians and journalists perceived to be enemies of Trump. Musk's X posts make clear that he sees Patel as the best option for change and reform. On Nov. 14, Musk posted a “100%” emoji in response to a clip of Patel saying that he would shut down the FBI’s headquarters on day one of Trump's new administration and reopen it as a “Deep State Museum,” with the caption “Make him FBI director.” Reporting by Helen Coster in New York and Alexandra Ulmer in San Francisco. Additional reporting by Ned Parker. Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Alistair Bell.SMITHFIELD, R.I. (AP) — Malik Grant rushed for 204 yards and three touchdowns and Rhode Island beat Bryant 35-21 on Saturday to capture its first league title in 39 years. Rhode Island (10-2, 7-1 Coastal Athletic Association) secured the program's seventh title, with each of the previous six coming in the Yankee Conference. The Rams tied a program record for total wins in a season with 10, first set in 1984 and matched in 1985.
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