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ATLANTA — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023, spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. ''Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,'' the center said in posting about his death on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation's highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. ''My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,'' Carter once said. A president from Plains A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon's disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. ''If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don't vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,'' Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women's rights and America's global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter's electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 ''White House Diary'' that he could be ''micromanaging'' and ''excessively autocratic,'' complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington's news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. ''It didn't take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,'' Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had ''an inherent incompatibility'' with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to ''protect our nation's security and interests peacefully'' and ''enhance human rights here and abroad'' — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. And then, the world Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. ''I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,'' Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. ''I wanted a place where we could work.'' That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter's stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors. He went ''where others are not treading,'' he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. ''I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don't,'' Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton's White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America's approach to Israel with his 2006 book ''Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.'' And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center's many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee's 2002 Peace Prize cites his ''untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.'' Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. ''The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,'' he said. ''The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.'' ‘An epic American life' Carter's globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little ''Jimmy Carters,'' so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington's National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners. He acknowledged America's historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. ''I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,'' Stuart Eizenstat, Carter's domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. ''He was not a great president'' but also not the ''hapless and weak'' caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was ''good and productive'' and ''delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office.'' Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton's secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat's forward that Carter was ''consequential and successful'' and expressed hope that ''perceptions will continue to evolve'' about his presidency. ''Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,'' said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for ''an epic American life'' spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. ''He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,'' Alter told The Associated Press. A small-town start James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter's political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery's tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian, would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it ''inconceivable'' not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. ''My wife is much more political,'' Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn't long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist ''Dixiecrats'' as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as ''Cufflinks Carl.'' Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. ''I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,'' he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. 'Jimmy Who?' His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader's home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats' national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: ''Jimmy Who?'' The Carters and a ''Peanut Brigade'' of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter's ability to navigate America's complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared ''born-again Christian,'' Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he ''had looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times.'' The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC's new ''Saturday Night Live'' show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter ''Fritz'' Mondale as his running mate on a ''Grits and Fritz'' ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady's office. Mondale's governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname ''Jimmy'' even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band's ''Hail to the Chief.'' They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington's social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that ''he hated politics,'' according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Accomplishments, and ‘malaise' Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation's second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon's opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn't immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his ''malaise'' speech, although he didn't use that word. He declared the nation was suffering ''a crisis of confidence.'' By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he'd ''kick his ass,'' but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with ''make America great again'' appeals and asking voters whether they were ''better off than you were four years ago.'' Reagan further capitalized on Carter's lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: ''There you go again.'' Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages' freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. 'A wonderful life' At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with ''no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.'' Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. ''I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything,'' Carter told the AP in 2021. ''But it's turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years.'' Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. ''I'm perfectly at ease with whatever comes,'' he said in 2015. ''I've had a wonderful life. I've had thousands of friends, I've had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.'' ___ Former Associated Press journalist Alex Sanz contributed to this report.Tenant advocates suffered a big defeat this fall when California voters decided against expanding cities’ ability to limit rent increases. But a state law set to take effect Jan. 1 will give renters facing eviction a little more breathing room. The law doubles the time tenants have to respond after receiving an eviction notice from five business days to ten. Lawyers who work with renters say that what may seem like a minor procedural change could make a big difference in allowing people to stay in their homes. Tenants who are served an eviction notice and don’t respond in writing within the legal timeframe can lose their case by default, potentially incurring financial penalties and a black mark on their record that affects their future ability to obtain housing. That’s true even if a tenant has a valid legal defense – for example, if their landlord increased the rent above state limits or refused to fix problems like lack of heat or broken door locks. About 40% of California tenants lose their cases this way, researchers have estimated . “Five days has never been enough for a tenant to find legal assistance and try to decipher the complaint filed against them, find out what kind of defenses they have, fill out the paperwork and make it to court,” Lorraine López, a senior attorney with the Western Center on Law and Poverty, told CalMatters earlier this fall. Access to legal services varies widely across California . San Francisco guarantees legal representation to any tenant facing eviction, and in other cities like Oakland and Los Angeles, robust networks of pro-bono lawyers help renters file responses. But Californians who live in so-called “legal deserts” – often in rural areas – must travel many miles to meet with an attorney. We have launched our year-end campaign. Our goal: Raise $50,000 by Dec. 31. Help us get there. Times of San Diego is devoted to producing timely, comprehensive news about San Diego County. Your donation helps keep our work free-to-read, funds reporters who cover local issues and allows us to write stories that hold public officials accountable. Join the growing list of donors investing in our community's long-term future. Tenants with lawyers are less likely to get locked out of their homes , some studies have shown – though fewer than 5% of renters in eviction cases nationwide have legal help , compared with more than 80% of landlords, the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel estimates. Authored by Assemblymember Ash Kalra , a San Jose Democrat, the new law also offers something for landlords, who generally like eviction cases to move faster. It limits the amount of time tenant lawyers can take to file certain motions alleging errors in a landlord’s complaint. Landlord representatives said lawyers would use those motions to drag out cases unnecessarily. The change convinced the state’s largest landlord lobby, the California Apartment Association, to remain neutral on the law while legislators debated it. Some local property owner groups still opposed the law. “The longer these things take, the more expensive it is (for landlords) and the more rent is lost,” said Daniel Bornstein, an attorney who represents property owners. Felicia Mello covers the state’s economic divide for CalMatters , including such issues as affordable housing, labor rights and environmental and social justice. Get Our Free Daily Email Newsletter Get the latest local and California news from Times of San Diego delivered to your inbox at 8 a.m. daily. Sign up for our free email newsletter and be fully informed of the most important developments.live casino 247 。

Unlike scores of people who scrambled for the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy to lose weight in recent years, Danielle Griffin had no trouble getting them. The 38-year-old information technology worker from New Mexico had a prescription. Her pharmacy had the drugs in stock. And her health insurance covered all but $25 to $50 of the monthly cost. For Griffin, the hardest part of using the new drugs wasn’t access. It was finding out that the much-hyped medications didn’t really work for her. “I have been on Wegovy for a year and a half and have only lost 13 pounds,” said Griffin, who watches her diet, drinks plenty of water and exercises regularly. “I’ve done everything right with no success. It’s discouraging.” In clinical trials, most participants taking Wegovy or Mounjaro to treat obesity lost an average of 15% to 22% of their body weight — up to 50 pounds or more in many cases. But roughly 10% to 15% of patients in those trials were “nonresponders” who lost less than 5% of their body weight. Now that millions of people have used the drugs, several obesity experts told The Associated Press that perhaps 20% of patients — as many as 1 in 5 — may not respond well to the medications. It's a little-known consequence of the obesity drug boom, according to doctors who caution eager patients not to expect one-size-fits-all results. “It's all about explaining that different people have different responses,” said Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity expert at Massachusetts General Hospital The drugs are known as GLP-1 receptor agonists because they mimic a hormone in the body known as glucagon-like peptide 1. Genetics, hormones and variability in how the brain regulates energy can all influence weight — and a person's response to the drugs, Stanford said. Medical conditions such as sleep apnea can prevent weight loss, as can certain common medications, such as antidepressants, steroids and contraceptives. “This is a disease that stems from the brain,” said Stanford. “The dysfunction may not be the same” from patient to patient. Despite such cautions, patients are often upset when they start getting the weekly injections but the numbers on the scale barely budge. “It can be devastating,” said Dr. Katherine Saunders, an obesity expert at Weill Cornell Medicine and co-founder of the obesity treatment company FlyteHealth. “With such high expectations, there’s so much room for disappointment.” That was the case for Griffin, who has battled obesity since childhood and hoped to shed 70 pounds using Wegovy. The drug helped reduce her appetite and lowered her risk of diabetes, but she saw little change in weight. “It’s an emotional roller coaster,” she said. “You want it to work like it does for everybody else.” The medications are typically prescribed along with eating behavior and lifestyle changes. It’s usually clear within weeks whether someone will respond to the drugs, said Dr. Jody Dushay, an endocrine specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Weight loss typically begins right away and continues as the dosage increases. For some patients, that just doesn't happen. For others, side effects such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea force them to halt the medications, Dushay said. In such situations, patients who were counting on the new drugs to pare pounds may think they’re out of options. “I tell them: It's not game over,” Dushay said. Trying a different version of the new class of drugs may help. Griffin, who didn't respond well to Wegovy, has started using Zepbound, which targets an additional hormone pathway in the body. After three months of using the drug, she has lost 7 pounds. “I'm hoping it's slow and steady,” she said. Other people respond well to older drugs, the experts said. Changing diet, exercise, sleep and stress habits can also have profound effects. Figuring out what works typically requires a doctor trained to treat obesity, Saunders noted. “Obesity is such a complex disease that really needs to be treated very comprehensively,” she said. “If what we’re prescribing doesn’t work, we always have a backup plan.”Guardiola hits back at claims of De Bruyne rift

Pep Guardiola has said his Manchester City side facing problems after giving up a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday. City went into the game with Feyenoord on the back of five consecutive games without a win. The Premier League champions looked set to halt the poor as they led 3-0 thanks to a goal from Ilkay Gundogan and a brace from Erling Haaland. But with 15 minutes left Feyenoord erased the 3-0 deficit to secure a 3-3 draw. ““We have problems, yes,” Guardiola said in his post match. “Three changes? The game is never over, but at 3-0, I could not see any danger.” Up next for City is a difficult trip to Anfield to face Premier League leaders Liverpool.

NoneLakers looking to get their offense back on trackNPSS Volleyball teams shine at B.C. Provincials, Girls finish 6th in best showing in 15 years

‘Don’t play with me’, threatens Shannon Sharpe in terrifying live First Take rant at ESPN colleague Kirk HerbstreitSaquon Barkley has become the Shohei Ohtani of the NFL. There's no better home run hitter playing football right now. Barkley had touchdown runs of 72 and 70 yards for the Philadelphia Eagles in a 37-20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night. He now has five runs of 50-plus yards this season and is on pace to break Eric Dickerson's single-season record of 2,105 yards set in 1984. Barkley's historic performance against the Rams — his 255 yards set a team record — captivated a national audience and turned him into a fan favorite for the AP NFL MVP award. He's not the betting favorite, however. Josh Allen has the best odds at plus-150, according to Bet MGM Sportsbook. Two-time MVP Lamar Jackson is next at plus-250 followed by Barkley at plus-400. People are also reading... Running backs have won the award 18 times, including three-time winner Jim Brown, who was the AP's first NFL MVP in 1957. Quarterbacks have dominated the award, winning it 45 times. Only three players who weren't QBs or RBs have been MVP. It takes a special season for a non-QB to win it mainly because the offense goes through the signal caller. Quarterbacks handle the ball every offensive snap, run the show and get the credit when things go well and the blame when it doesn't. Adrian Peterson was the most recent non-QB to win it when he ran for 2,097 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Minnesota Vikings in 2012. Playing for a winning team matters, too. Nine of the past 11 winners played for a No. 1 seed with the other two winners on a No. 2 seed. The Vikings earned the sixth seed when Pederson was MVP. Barkley is a major reason why the Eagles (9-2) are leading the NFC East and only trail Detroit (10-1) by one game for the top spot in the conference. Does he have a realistic chance to win the MVP award? Kicker Mark Moseley was the MVP in the strike-shortened 1982 season when he made 20 of 21 field goals and 16 of 19 extra points in nine games for Washington. If voters once selected a kicker, everyone has a chance, especially a game-changer such as Barkley. Defensive tackle Alan Page was the MVP in 1971 and linebacker Lawrence Taylor won it in 1986. Running back Christian McCaffrey finished third in voting last year and wide receiver Justin Jefferson placed fifth in 2022. The Offensive Player of the Year award and Defensive Player of the Year award recognize the best all-around players on both sides of the ball, allowing voters to recognize non-QBs if they choose. Wide receivers and running backs have won the AP OPOY award seven times over the past 11 seasons. McCaffrey was the 2023 winner. The AP's new voting format introduced in 2022 also gives non-QBs a better opportunity to get MVP recognition. Voter submit their top five picks for each award, with a weighted point system. Previously, voters made one choice for each award. A nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league vote for MVP and seven other awards. The awards are based on regular-season performance. Clinching scenarios The Chiefs (10-1) and Bills (9-2) already are in position to lock up postseason berths right after Thanksgiving. Kansas City clinches a playoff berth with a win over Las Vegas on Black Friday and a loss by Miami on Thursday night, or a win plus a loss by Denver on Monday night. Buffalo can wrap up a fifth straight AFC East title with a victory over San Francisco on Sunday and a loss by the Dolphins. Status quo in Dallas? It's not a given that the Dallas Cowboys will be looking for a new head coach after this season. Owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday on local radio that Mike McCarthy could end up getting a contract extension. "I don't think that's crazy at all. This is a Super Bowl-winning coach. Mike McCarthy has been there and done that. He has great ideas. We got a lot of football left," Jones said. McCarthy led the Cowboys (4-7) to three straight 12-win seasons, but they went 1-3 in the playoffs and haven't reached the NFC championship game since winning the Super Bowl 29 years ago. Injuries have contributed to the team's struggles this season, but Dallas was just 3-5 before Dak Prescott was lost for the rest of the season. The Cowboys upset Washington last week and their next four games are against teams that currently have losing records. If they somehow end up 9-8 or even 8-9, Jones could make a case for keeping McCarthy. Be the first to know

Tiger Woods at the 2024 Hero World Challenge. Getty Images There were plenty of good vibes emanating from Tiger Woods’ Tuesday reappearance in the Bahamas, his annual State of the Tiger press conference ahead of this week’s Hero World Challenge . Woods isn’t playing this year but he seemed at peace with that, instead reprising his role as smiley tournament host. These days, Woods is largely congenial with the press and vice-versa, each owing a better understanding of what to expect from the other. As expected, the day’s back-and-forth failed to unearth any five-alarm breaking news. In some ways that was the biggest takeaway. But one line was hard to hear without wincing. Woods was asked about a prediction he’d made a year ago in this same chair, when he’d declared his intentions to play once per month in 2024. It seemed ambitious but exciting at the time, a dose of optimism from the greatest player of his generation. But it didn’t pan out that way. Woods’ 2024 began with a mysterious WD at the Genesis Invitational, it peaked with yet another made cut at the Masters and then came disappointing MCs at the PGA, U.S. Open and Open Championship. We didn’t hear much from him after that, just news of another successful back surgery — his sixth. So what happened? “Well, I didn’t think my back was going to go like it did this year,” Woods said. He described the pain that progressed throughout the season, the way it radiated down his leg, and how it stopped responding to treatment and recovery. He said he could commit to one tournament per month again, but he paused. “I truly don’t know.” Now comes the hard part. Prep mode for 2025, a year that promises the TGL and some unknown number of stroke-play golf tournaments. But 2024? “This year was kind of — I had to toss it away,” he said. “I wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be. I didn’t play as much as I needed to going into the major championships and I didn’t play well at them. Hopefully next year will be better, I’ll be physically stronger and better. I know the procedure helped and hopefully I can build upon that.” I had to toss it away. It’s painful to witness pain in another human being. It’s even harder to see what pain does to an athlete — how the body can betray the mind and the spirit. It’s painful to watch Woods in particular, who has pushed his body, mind and spirit past the limit for decades, and is now fighting Father Time for good measure. Woods’ words were painful too in the context of his other work as a central figure in the PGA Tour’s geopolitical negotiations — his lost year on the course felt emblematic of a lost year across the fragmented landscape of professional golf, which remains in frustrating limbo. This December marks the first anniversary of the original deal deadline between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Public Investment Fund. It seems like we’ll breeze past that unfortunate one-year mark without an agreement; Woods’ latest update on that front was a mix between some cautious optimism (“definitely moving”) and one giant shrug (“Even if we had gotten a deal done by now, it’s still in the DOJ’s hands, but we wish we would have had something more concrete”). Across the sport, it was hardly a lost year — think Scottie Scheffler’s stretch of dominance , Xander Schauffele’s validation , Bryson DeChambeau’s U.S. Open heroics . But within the sport, “high-level negotiations” between the interested parties are beginning to feel like intransigence. We’ve seen no progress on a satisfying top-tour resolution, inched no closer to peace or harmony, and we’ve reached December, again, staring down an offseason of LIV signing rumors and merger non-update eye-rolls. At this week’s Hero, we might not find comfort. But through Woods, we might at least find context. This year marks the 25th edition of the World Challenge, an event Woods first hosted in 1999 to benefit his foundation. Woods turns 49 later this month, which means he’s hosted this event for more than half his life. Mostly that seems surreal. Tiger turned 24 in his first year as tournament host, and it’s tough to imagine Ludvig Aberg (who turned 25 last month) or Akshay Bhatia (who turns 23 next month) hosting an invitational or getting the world’s best pros to turn up. But the 25th anniversary of this event is also a reminder that the issues facing pro golf in 2024 haven’t changed much from 1999. Woods was already the biggest player in golf then. He entered the 1999 World Challenge off four PGA Tour victories in a row, he’d kick off 2000 with two more and, later that year, he’d claim the first three legs of the Tiger Slam. But it wasn’t all sunshine and roses; Woods and agent Mark Steinberg had their issues with the operations of the PGA Tour. They didn’t appreciate the hefty rights fee the Tour charged their tournament, which quadrupled from 1999 to 2000. Nor did they approve of the ads used by tournament sponsors featuring Woods’ likeness. (Mercedes plastered Woods’ face on tournament advertising while Buick paid Woods directly for the same privilege.) Tiger and commissioner Tim Finchem had a frosty relationship, and there was even some concern Woods could look to play his golf elsewhere. “The players and the PGA Tour have been bucking heads on a lot of issues,” Woods said in 2000. “The public has no idea we do it, but we do it all the time.” Asked about speculation that he could leave the PGA Tour, the New York Times described his reaction this way : “Woods hummed, smiled and shrugged his shoulders.” His father Earl fueled the speculation. “He can take his game to Europe, Africa, Asia or wherever he wants,” Earl told the Associated Press, “and the world will follow.” Unlike today, when the tangible threat of departure can beam its advertising on the PGA Tour website, the conversation then was likely just chatter and leverage. Woods and the PGA Tour were better in shared company. But Woods’ displeasure was a reminder of the perennial push-pull between players and institutions — a push-pull echoed by LIV’s arrival, by Policy Board negotiations, by changing field sizes and Tour sizes and equity payments and media rights. And by the discourse around players being paid to play in the Ryder Cup, an issue that resurfaced again at Tiger’s presser on Tuesday. “Going back to my playing days, we had the same conversation back in ’99 and we didn’t want to get paid, we wanted to give more money to charity, and the media turned it around against us and said we want to get paid,” Woods recalled on Tuesday. “The Ryder Cup itself makes so much money, why can’t we allocate it to various charities? And what’s wrong with each player, 12 players getting a million dollars and the ability to divvy out to amazing charities that they’re involved in that they can help out?” A final reference to 1999 came in reference to Woods’ swing changes at the time, and here he made an effort to correct the record. As time has gone by Earl has gotten painted as Woods’ swing coach, but after his early golf days that was never really the case. “My father turned over all the keys to the golf swing, that wasn’t his thing,” Woods said. “My father understood more the mental side of it from his operational days in Special Forces and the mindset that it took to do what he had to do, but as far as golf mechanics, no.” In 1999, Woods underwent a controversial swing change under the watchful eye of Butch Harmon. First things got worse, and then they got much, much better. “We went to work on slowly integrating pieces of the golf swing and it took the better part of a year and a half or so to where it got to where I thought it was where I would like it to be. I had a good run in ’99, 2000, 2001,” Woods said in an understated, satisfied sort of way. The players battled the tour then, as now. They fought for more money, more control, a bigger piece of the pie. They threatened to look elsewhere. Largely they stayed. They battled tough fields and their own swings, and they tweaked both and tried to make ’em better. At the time, Woods did all of those things better than nearly all of his peers. They’ve nearly all gotten tougher with time. On Tuesday, Woods didn’t just look back, though. This is the 10th anniversary of Hero’s sponsorship of the World Challenge, and while Hero’s executive chairman Dr. Pawan Munjal admitted uncertainty — “There is confusion for the sponsors as well right now, what to do, where to go, how to look at the future,” — he also announced a sponsorship extension through 2030. Woods will turn 55 that December. It’s tough to predict the status of LIV Golf, the PGA Tour or their potential intersection. And it’s tough to know whether Woods will have stepped away from competitive golf altogether by that point — or if he’ll be teeing it up as a sponsor invite that week having made the cut at the Masters and dominated in a limited schedule on the PGA Tour Champions. Woods talked about the athlete’s journey and about the roles of recovery, patience, and frustration. His body doesn’t recover like it used to, he said. Still, he remembers and he hopes. Which brings us to his other line, uttered by athletes and sports fans as long as there have been seasons. Hopefully next year will be better. Latest In News Golf.com Editor Dylan Dethier is a senior writer for GOLF Magazine/GOLF.com. The Williamstown, Mass. native joined GOLF in 2017 after two years scuffling on the mini-tours. Dethier is a graduate of Williams College, where he majored in English, and he’s the author of 18 in America , which details the year he spent as an 18-year-old living from his car and playing a round of golf in every state.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ star player Shohei Ohtani is about to take on another, equally important role — that of a father! The 30-year-old baseball sensation and his wife, Mamiko Tanaka , 28, made the big announcement via Instagram on Saturday, December 28, 2024. “Can’t wait for the little rookie to join our family soon!” he proudly captioned the post, alongside a photo of their dog Dekopin, a set of pink ruffled baby pajamas, and an ultrasound photo covered by a baby-face emoji. Dekopin, otherwise known as “Decoy,” appeared to be taking the news in stride, laying back with his legs in the air for the sweet snapshot. Ahead of the arrival, here’s what you should about Shohei Ohtani’s wife Mamiko Tanaka and their life together as a married couple. Who is Shohei Ohtani’s Wife? According to PEOPLE , Mamiko Tanaka, 28, is a former pro Japanese basketball player. Per the outlet, early in her career, Tanaka played for Waseeda University. She went on to play professional basketball in 2019, joining the Fujitsu Red Wave of the Women’s Japan Basketball League. She stands tall and graceful at 5’11,” and her career as a pro basketball player spanned four years before she retired in 2023. Perhaps most importantly, she’s proven that Ohtani is not the only talented athlete in the family. How Long Has Shoehei Ohtani Been Married? Without naming the date or the bride, Ohtani announced his marriage in a February 29, 2024 Instagram post . “To all my friends and fans throughout, I have an announcement to make: Not only have I began a new chapter in my career with the Dodgers but I also have began a new life with someone from my Native country of Japan who is very special to me and I wanted everyone to know I am now married,” he wrote. “I am excited for what is to come and thank you for your support.” An adorable snap of Dekopin in the corner of the announcement punctuated the good news. A post shared by Shohei Ohtani | 大谷翔平 (@shoheiohtani) Two weeks later, Ohtani and Tanaka posed with his new wife as they prepared to board a plane to Seoul, South Korea. The Dodgers were on their way to play there, and the team ultimately made the big reveal with a shot on Twitter of Ohtani and Tanaka, as well as a separate photo of Mookie Betts and wife Brianna Hammonds. “Wheels up to Seoul,” the team captioned the post. Beyond his couple of big announcements, Ohtani has kept his personal life with Tanaka private — the baseball star has shared very little information about his daily life with Tanaka on social media. Does Shohei Ohtani Have Kids? As mentioned above, Ohtani has recently announced he’s about to become a father for the first time! His Instagram post, complete with a pink ruffled onesie, indicated that his first child will be a daughter. Fans were thrilled, and took to the comments thread to share their thoughts on the impending arrival. “I am so thrilled for you two! Congratulations, and best wishes for your baby girl! Decoy is going to be such a great sibling,” remarked a follower, while another quipped, “do you need a nanny?” According to The Los Angeles Times, Ohtani’s reveal comes amid a year of change, including switching teams from the Angels to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He signed a $700 million contract with the legendary team in December of 2023. He then led the team to its eighth world series title in November of 2024.LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Andrej Jakimovski converted an off-balance layup with 8 seconds left, and Colorado handed No. 2 UConn its second loss in two days at the Maui Invitational, beating the two-time defending national champion 73-72 on Tuesday. A day after a 99-97 overtime loss to Memphis that left Huskies coach Dan Hurley livid about the officiating, UConn (4-2) couldn't shake the unranked Buffaloes (5-1), who shot 62.5% in the second half. With Colorado trailing 72-71 in the closing seconds, Jakimovski drove to his right and absorbed contact from UConn’s Liam McNeeley. He tossed the ball toward the glass and the shot was good as he fell to the floor. Hassan Diarra missed a 3-pointer just ahead of the buzzer for UConn. Elijah Malone and Julian Hammond III scored 16 points each for Colorado, and Jakimovski had 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Huskies led 40-32 at halftime and by nine points early in the second half, but Colorado quickly closed that gap. McNeeley led UConn with 20 points. Takeaways UConn: Hurley's squad is facing its first adversity in quite a while. The Huskies arrived on Maui with a 17-game winning streak that dated to February. Colorado: The Buffaloes were held to season lows in points (56) and field goal percentage (37%) in a 16-point loss to Michigan State on Monday but shot 51.1% overall and 56.3% (9 of 16) from 3-point range against the Huskies. Key moment Hurley called timeout to set up the Huskies' final possession, but the Buffs forced them to take a contested 3. Key stat Colorado had a 28-26 rebounding advantage after being out-rebounded 42-29 by Michigan State. Up next Colorado will play the Iowa-Dayton winner in the fifth-place game on Wednesday. UConn will play the loser of that matchup in the seventh-place game. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball .