Kevin Quiambao–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net Both University of the Philippines (UP) and La Salle talked down Game 1 of their UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament title duel like the result mattered less than what it did on paper. “Game 1 doesn’t win a championship,” UP coach Goldwin Monteverde said after the Maroons’ 73-65 victory in Sunday’s series opener. “[Part of] the process [toward getting a championship] is to get the Game 1. And [we’ve done that] so we’ll just have to focus on what we need to improve in terms of [our] lapses [during] the game.” “The only thing that I told the team [was] there’s a reason why this is a series: you don’t win a championship by winning one game, you need two games,” La Salle coach Topex Robinson said after the Archers lost to the Maroons for the first time since, coincidentally, Game 1 of their title bout last season. It could be that the lessons from that championship duel last season watered down the effect of this finale’s opener. After the Maroons won Game 1 of that series—by 30 points, in fact, the Archers stormed back to take the next two games and run away with the crown. But as if reading from the same script, both coaches dismissed that slice of UAAP history, too. “We don’t look back at the past, that’s done and over with,” Robinson said. “We [know] UP has thought of that as well, that they lost [the series last year after winning] Game 1. We just need to let things go and focus on what we have.” “We never dwelled in the past,” Monteverde said. “So right now, as I said, part of the process of winning a championship is winning Game 1. So we got it right now so we’re gonna prepare for Game 2. So we’re gonna do our best, [do] everything that we can to [win] it, and when that game day comes, whatever comes our way, we’re gonna face the challenge there.” There’s a reason why La Salle isn’t putting too much stock on its comeback last season. A lot of the key cogs of that champion team have already left, putting the Archers in a slight disadvantage when it comes to experience in this kind of pressure test. “The players are different now; we have a younger team,” Robinson said. “The team that played last season is gone and [the players] have moved forward, so we just have to slug it out. We just have to make sure we will give ourselves a chance to win ... they did a good job defensively and credit goes to them they really came in prepared.” Robinson said. Monteverde, on the other hand, still has players that have been with him in all four Finals appearances of the Maroons. UP ended a 36-year title drought in Season 84 but lost Season 85 to the Ateneo Blue Eagles before crashing against La Salle in Season 86. In both Finals losses, UP took Game 1. So maybe there’s a little of those memories that keep the Maroons guarded. “The series doesn’t end in Game 1,” JD Cagulangan, whose dramatic three-pointer down the wire sealed UP’s Season 84 triumph, said. “We’ll just go back to practice and [expect] that [La Salle] will adjust [to] what we are doing.” And maybe that comeback last season means something for La Salle after all. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . “We still have a chance. We’ve been in this situation before, we just have to keep on being positive and try to learn from this experience. Again thats a tough team we played, we just have to slug it out in the end,” Robinson said. INQ
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Arkansas receiver Andrew Armstrong said Tuesday that he is entering the NFL Draft. Later in the day, a school spokesman told reporters that Armstrong will skip the Razorbacks' bowl game. The destination isn't yet known. Armstrong led the Southeastern Conference in both receptions (78) and receiving yards (1,140) but caught just one touchdown in 11 games this season. His catches and yardage were both second-most in Arkansas history behind Cobi Hamilton, who had 90 receptions for 1,335 yards in 2012. "It's been a journey for the books and I wouldn't trade it for anything because it has made me into the man I am today," Armstrong said of his Razorbacks tenure in a social media post. "... I will never forget all the moments that were shared here in Fayetteville." Armstrong played two seasons at Texas A&M-Commerce before transferring to Arkansas ahead of the 2023 season. In two seasons with the Razorbacks, he caught 134 passes for 1,904 yards and six scores. --Field Level MediaIt’s “year in review” time for most political columnists, so here’s my opinion on 2024, along with a recommendation for 2025. Opinion: Zero out of ten, would not recommend. If you’re reading this in the year 2525 as you’re preparing to test a time machine and trying to decide what past year to visit, avoid this one. At the societal level, I can’t think of any major positive events — political or cultural — worth your energy. No Armistice Day, Beatles on Ed Sullivan, or man on the moon moments come to mind (maybe the Bob Dylan biopic, “A Complete Unknown,” will help with that — it comes out on Christmas Day, after this column goes to press). The year was equal parts anger, outrage, violence, and boredom. The U.S. presidential campaign was weird in certain ways, but not in ways that make it uniquely interesting unless dementia, opportunistic ladder-climbing, and the Truth Social equivalent of “mean tweets” happen to be hobbies of yours. Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East continued, but they were more “major downer” than “major development” in character. A lot of bodies, not very many moves toward peace or even closure. And so on, and so forth. It just really hasn’t been a very good year. I’m not complaining on a PERSONAL level, mind you. I’m happy that my family made it through 2024 without major medical or financial setbacks, and that I started getting a little more adventurous as my golden (grayen?) years approach (to wit, with my nuclear birth family all dead and unable to worry about, or scold, me, I started riding a motorcycle). I hope your year was good as well and suspect it probably went better in inverse relation to the attention you paid to politics and world affairs. I also wish you and yours a happy, healthy, prosperous holiday season and new year. Which brings me to my recommendation for helping bring that result about NEXT year. There oughta be a law. If you know me at all, you know I don’t say that very often. But I really think this one could be important. In faux legalese, here’s my proposal: “No government employee, elected or appointed government official, or candidate for election or appointment to government office, shall make, utter, or issue any public statement relating to those positions between midnight on December 18 of the current year and midnight on January 1 of the next year.” No speeches. No press conferences. No press releases. No social media posts on “official” accounts. If you want to tell family members “Merry Christmas,” etc., in person, by phone, or on your personal social media accounts, fine. But none of this “my fellow Americans” stuff. When you’re not annoying or enraging your fellow Americans, you’re just boring us. So shut your yappers for a couple of weeks and leave us alone. I guess that kind of law would run afoul of the First Amendment ... but most of the people affected don’t care about the First Amendment anyway, right? Happy holidays.
Arkansas receiver Andrew Armstrong said Tuesday that he is entering the NFL Draft. Later in the day, a school spokesman told reporters that Armstrong will skip the Razorbacks' bowl game. The destination isn't yet known. Armstrong led the Southeastern Conference in both receptions (78) and receiving yards (1,140) but caught just one touchdown in 11 games this season. His catches and yardage were both second-most in Arkansas history behind Cobi Hamilton, who had 90 receptions for 1,335 yards in 2012. "It's been a journey for the books and I wouldn't trade it for anything because it has made me into the man I am today," Armstrong said of his Razorbacks tenure in a social media post. "... I will never forget all the moments that were shared here in Fayetteville." Armstrong played two seasons at Texas A&M-Commerce before transferring to Arkansas ahead of the 2023 season. In two seasons with the Razorbacks, he caught 134 passes for 1,904 yards and six scores. --Field Level Media
CNBC Daily Open: Tech firms in the spotlightWASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has promised to end birthright citizenship as soon as he gets into office to make good on campaign promises aiming to restrict immigration and redefining what it means to be American. But any efforts to halt the policy would face steep legal hurdles. Birthright citizenship means anyone born in the United States automatically becomes an American citizen. It's been in place for decades and applies to children born to someone in the country illegally or in the U.S. on a tourist or student visa who plans to return to their home country. It's not the practice of every country, and Trump and his supporters have argued that the system is being abused and that there should be tougher standards for becoming an American citizen. But others say this is a right enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, it would be extremely difficult to overturn and even if it's possible, it's a bad idea. Here's a look at birthright citizenship, what Trump has said about it and the prospects for ending it: During an interview Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Trump said he “absolutely” planned to halt birthright citizenship once in office. “We’re going to end that because it’s ridiculous,” he said. Trump and other opponents of birthright citizenship have argued that it creates an incentive for people to come to the U.S. illegally or take part in “birth tourism,” in which pregnant women enter the U.S. specifically to give birth so their children can have citizenship before returning to their home countries. “Simply crossing the border and having a child should not entitle anyone to citizenship,” said Eric Ruark, director of research for NumbersUSA, which argues for reducing immigration. The organization supports changes that would require at least one parent to be a permanent legal resident or a U.S. citizen for their children to automatically get citizenship. Others have argued that ending birthright citizenship would profoundly damage the country. “One of our big benefits is that people born here are citizens, are not an illegal underclass. There’s better assimilation and integration of immigrants and their children because of birthright citizenship,” said Alex Nowrasteh, vice president for economic and social policy studies at the pro-immigration Cato Institute. In 2019, the Migration Policy Institute estimated that 5.5 million children under age 18 lived with at least one parent in the country illegally in 2019, representing 7% of the U.S. child population. The vast majority of those children were U.S. citizens. The nonpartisan think tank said during Trump’s campaign for president in 2015 that the number of people in the country illegally would “balloon” if birthright citizenship were repealed, creating “a self-perpetuating class that would be excluded from social membership for generations.” In the aftermath of the Civil War, Congress ratified the 14th Amendment in July 1868. That amendment assured citizenship for all, including Black people. “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” the 14th Amendment says. “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” But the 14th Amendment didn't always translate to everyone being afforded birthright citizenship. For example, it wasn't until 1924 that Congress finally granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. A key case in the history of birthright citizenship came in 1898, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Wong Kim Ark, born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants, was a U.S. citizen because he was born in the states. The federal government had tried to deny him reentry into the county after a trip abroad on grounds he wasn’t a citizen under the Chinese Exclusion Act. But some have argued that the 1898 case clearly applied to children born of parents who are both legal immigrants to America but that it's less clear whether it applies to children born to parents without legal status or, for example, who come for a short-term like a tourist visa. “That is the leading case on this. In fact, it’s the only case on this,” said Andrew Arthur, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports immigration restrictions. “It’s a lot more of an open legal question than most people think.” Some proponents of immigration restrictions have argued the words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” in the 14th Amendment allows the U.S. to deny citizenship to babies born to those in the country illegally. Trump himself used that language in his 2023 announcement that he would aim to end birthright citizenship if reelected. Trump wasn't clear in his Sunday interview how he aims to end birthright citizenship. Asked how he could get around the 14th Amendment with an executive action, Trump said: “Well, we’re going to have to get it changed. We’ll maybe have to go back to the people. But we have to end it.” Pressed further on whether he'd use an executive order, Trump said “if we can, through executive action." He gave a lot more details in a 2023 post on his campaign website . In it, he said he would issue an executive order the first day of his presidency, making it clear that federal agencies “require that at least one parent be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident for their future children to become automatic U.S. citizens.” Trump wrote that the executive order would make clear that children of people in the U.S. illegally “should not be issued passports, Social Security numbers, or be eligible for certain taxpayer funded welfare benefits.” This would almost certainly end up in litigation. Nowrasteh from the Cato Institute said the law is clear that birthright citizenship can’t be ended by executive order but that Trump may be inclined to take a shot anyway through the courts. “I don’t take his statements very seriously. He has been saying things like this for almost a decade," Nowrasteh said. "He didn’t do anything to further this agenda when he was president before. The law and judges are near uniformly opposed to his legal theory that the children of illegal immigrants born in the United States are not citizens." Trump could steer Congress to pass a law to end birthright citizenship but would still face a legal challenge that it violates the Constitution. Associated Press reporter Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson kept the overall lead in fan voting numbers revealed Monday for the NFL Pro Bowl Games with Philadelphia running back Saquon Barkley a close second. Jackson topped vote-getters with 82,402 and Barkley was next, only 320 votes behind. Barkley was 4,079 votes back of Jackson in last week's first voting results. Eagles star Barkley, who set a team one-season rushing record on Sunday in a victory over Carolina, leaped ahead of Ravens rusher Derrick Henry, who fell to third on 76,582. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was fourth on 73,627 with Detroit Lions rusher Jahmyr Gibbs fifth on 73,617. The Lions garnered the most votes from NFL fans overall followed by Baltimore, two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City, Philadelphia and Minnesota. The NFL's all-star event will be staged February 2 in Orlando, Florida, for the second consecutive year as 88 players take part in skills competitions, including a flag football showdown with former NFL star quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning serving as coaches. Fan voting concludes on December 23. No other voting totals were revealed but top vote-getters at their position in the AFC and NFC also were revealed, including NFC rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels of Washington and wide receivers Justin Jefferson of Minnesota in the NFC and Ja'Marr Chase of Cincinnati in the AFC. js/bb
Mexico’s Massive Clean Energy PotentialNPFL: El-Kanemi Warriors’ Coach Zubairu happy with training in BulgariaLOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams faced fourth-and-5 at the Buffalo 35 with a 38-35 lead and just under four minutes to play Sunday in their high-octane showdown with the Bills. Sean McVay is often a conservative coach, and it would not have been surprising to see him try a long field goal, or even punt. He kept his offense on the field, and Matthew Stafford calmly went through his progression before finding Tutu Atwell across the middle for an 11-yard gain that played a major role in the Rams' ability to hold on for a season-altering, 44-42 victory over the powerhouse Bills . “We felt like we needed to make it a two-possession game,” McVay said Monday. “They were rolling. We talked about aggressively going to win that game. ... It was just a reflection of the confidence in that group and what we felt like we needed to do to be able to win the game.” The Rams offense has earned the confidence McVay showed in it at that crucial moment. That unit hasn't always been good this season, entering last weekend rated just 18th in the league, but the Rams finally are mostly healthy heading down the stretch — and Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams are again playing at last season's Pro Bowl level. That was bad news for Buffalo, and it could mean trouble for the rest of the NFC if the Rams (7-6) can keep scoring like this. Los Angeles will hope to keep this offensive momentum on a short week heading to San Francisco on Thursday night. Nacua said it was “fantastic being able to feel like, man, this is what it feels like when the Rams are moving and connecting on all cylinders.” Los Angeles had six scoring drives of at least 65 yards while racking up 457 yards against Buffalo. Stafford had a season-high 320 yards passing, while Nacua had another spectacular game with 162 yards receiving and two touchdowns along with 16 yards rushing and another TD on five carries. Incredibly, it was the Rams’ first 40-point game with Stafford behind center. Thanks to that stellar offensive performance, the Rams are above .500 for the first time all season and just one game back of Seattle (8-5) in the NFC West after winning six of their past eight games. A team that appeared to be headed for a grim season after a 1-4 start is still firmly in the playoff race, also trailing Washington (8-5) by just one game for the final wild-card spot. “It’s cool to be able to play meaningful football in December,” said McVay, who led the Rams to five playoff berths in his first seven seasons. "You never take that for granted.” The offense hummed largely because it went 11 of 15 on third downs. That's the Rams' highest success rate in a game since 2001 — and don't forget that crucial fourth down conversion, either. Few teams can stop Josh Allen, but the Rams' defense didn't come close. The defensive backs particularly struggled, from Darious Williams getting beaten repeatedly in coverage to Quentin Lake's 34-yard pass-interference penalty in the final moments. Two weeks after Philadelphia dropped 481 yards at SoFi Stadium, Buffalo had 445 to push the Rams down to 26th in total defense entering Monday. The Rams' offensive line has struggled mightily at times this season, but it allowed no sacks and just three hits on Stafford while clearing the way for 137 yards rushing. With full health, the line is no longer a liability. Edge rusher Byron Young had a rough outing that included two penalties on Buffalo's first drive — an egregious late hit on Allen and a defensive offside that negated a 2-yard Bills loss on second down from the LA 1. The Rams' overall defensive discipline was repeatedly poor, and it cost them. CB Cobie Durant has a bruised lung, McVay revealed Monday. The Rams are uncertain whether it will prevent him from playing Thursday. Durant has started all 13 games this season. ... WR Demarcus Robinson sprained his shoulder against Buffalo, but kept playing. 1 — The numbers of NFL games played with two teams scoring at least 40 points and making no turnovers. The Rams and Bills made history. The 49ers haven't been this vulnerable in four years, but Kyle Shanahan has had McVay's number throughout their careers — notwithstanding the Rams' 27-24 comeback win in September when both teams' top offensive playmakers were all injured. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL
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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Baker Mayfield already has matched his career high for touchdown passes in a season, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won three straight games to climb back to the top of the NFC South standings. The quarterback is trying to lead Tampa Bay to a fourth consecutive division title, and he thinks the Buccaneers (7-6) are going to have to play even better down the stretch not only to achieve their goal of earning a playoff berth but making a deep postseason run. “We will take wins. I don’t really care how it looks,” Mayfield said after a lifted Tampa Bay back over .500 in its bid to overcome a stretch in which it lost five of six games. “But offensively, we will have to be a lot more consistent for us to be able to make this push that we want to do, and we know that,” Mayfield added. “There is a lot of ball left, and we have to continue to get better.” Mayfield threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns against the Raiders. He also turned the ball over three times in the first half to help Las Vegas stay close until the fourth quarter. This is the third straight season the Bucs have needed a strong stretch run to pull out of a midseason tailspin and give themselves a chance to get back to the postseason. Mayfield has thrown for 28 TDs to match the total he threw in resurrecting a stalled career with Tampa Bay a year ago. The Bucs, 7-1 in December/January games dating to last season, are the only NFC team that made the playoffs each of the past four seasons. “We’ve got four weeks to play. We’re happy to be playing meaningful football in December. We understand what that means,” coach Todd Bowles said. “We have to go out every week and try to squeeze out these games, but it feels good.” What’s working The improvement of the running game has been a big part of the team’s success. The Bucs rushed for 152 yards against the Raiders, giving them 100-plus on the ground in 10 of 13 games. They reached that number in nine of 34 games over the previous two regular seasons. Rachaad White scored the team’s 14th rushing touchdown. That’s one more than the Bucs had combined in 2022 (five) and 2023 (eight). What needs help While the offensive line opened gaping holes for the running game against Las Vegas, it failed to provide adequate pass protection for Mayfield. The Raiders had four sacks and eight quarterback hits. Mayfield was intercepted twice and lost a fumble that led to Las Vegas’ only touchdown. Stock up Rookie WR Jalen McMillan had four receptions for 59 yards and two TDs — all season highs — against the Raiders. He’s the first Tampa Bay rookie with multiple TDs receiving in a game since O.J. Howard in 2017. Stock down Rookie punter Jack Browning didn’t distinguish himself in his Bucs debut. After hitting a 49-yarder that was returned 16 yards on his first punt, he had a 39-yarder returned 14 yards and a 40-yarder that Raiders punt returner Ameer Abdullah was able to fair catch at the Las Vegas 20. “It’s a work in progress,” Bowles said of how Browning, the third punter the Bucs have used this season, looked. “I’m going to brush it off to rookie jitters and we’ll go from there.” Injuries S Antoine Winfield Jr (knee) and RB Bucky Irving (back) were lost during the first half against the Raiders. Bowles said Monday that Winfield may be sidelined a couple of weeks, meaning he could miss road games against the Los Angeles Chargers and Dallas Cowboys. Irving’s status will be determined later in the week. Key numbers 19, 37 1/2. LB Lavonte David continues to impress in his 13th season. He had a sack, quarterback hit and fumble recovery against Las Vegas. The fumble recovery was the 19th of his career, most among players since he entered the NFL in 2012. He has 37 1/2 career sacks, including four this season. Next up Visit the Chargers, the only opponent the Bucs will face over the remaining four games that has a winning record. ___ NFL:Rōki Sasaki Met With Rangers; Giants Reportedly 'Believed to Have Met' With Pitcher