
Aaron Rodgers addresses talk of him missing Week 17 with knee injuryBrowns vs. Dolphins Predictions & Picks: Odds, Moneyline, Spread – Week 17
Premier Kinew and Mayor Gillingham face off in friendly hockey game for Winnipeg’s 150th anniversaryUCF will attempt to shake off a dreadful offensive performance when it collides with LSU on Sunday afternoon in the third-place game of the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. The Knights (4-1) couldn't get anything going against No. 19 Wisconsin on Friday, going 21-for-62 from the field (33.9 percent) and just 2-for-17 from 3-point range (11.8 percent) en route to an 86-70 loss. Jordan Ivy-Curry finished with 13 points while Keyshawn Hall and Dior Johnson added 11 apiece for UCF, which never led and fell behind by as many as 23. Knights coach Johnny Dawkins is hoping that his team's struggles don't carry over into the meeting with the Tigers (4-1). "We have to do better offensively," Dawkins said. "We have to space the floor better. We have to balance our offense between our perimeter and our bigs. Those are things that we didn't do consistently (on Friday)." LSU also needs to clean things up after committing 15 turnovers in a 74-63 setback against Pitt on Friday. Tigers forward Jalen Reed doesn't believe giving the ball away will be a lingering issue. "I feel like a lot of our turnovers were more on us than them," Reed said. "I feel like a lot of the turnovers were careless, but we're a better team than that and I feel like we'll take care of the ball better moving forward." Reed and Vyctorius Miller each posted 14 points in the loss to the Panthers, with Reed also hauling in seven rebounds. Cam Carter chipped in 11 points. Carter is putting up a team-leading 16.4 points per game. Jordan Sears (12.0 points per game), Reed (11.0) and Miller (10.2) also have scoring averages in double figures. Ivy-Curry (16.8 points per game), Hall (16.2) and Darius Johnson (13.0) have been leading the way for UCF. Sunday marks the first-ever meeting between the Knights and Tigers. --Field Level Media
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Published 3:37 pm Saturday, December 28, 2024 By Data Skrive A victory by the Minnesota Vikings over the Green Bay Packers is our computer model projection for these teams’ upcoming game, on Sunday, Dec. 29 at 4:25 p.m. ET (at U.S. Bank Stadium). For a full breakdown, including the spread, over/under and final score, continue reading. Looking for NFL tickets? Head to StubHub today and see your team live. The Vikings are averaging 346.3 yards per game on offense (12th in NFL), and they rank 16th defensively with 335.8 yards allowed per game. The Packers are compiling 27.5 points per contest on offense this season (seventh-ranked). Meanwhile, they are allowing 19.1 points per game (sixth-ranked) on defense. BetMGM is one of the most trusted Sportsbooks in the nation. Start with as little as $1 and place your bets today . Ready to make your pick? Head to BetMGM using our link and start betting today. Watch this game on Fubo (Regional restrictions may apply) Rep your favorite NFL players with officially licensed gear. Head to Fanatics to find jerseys, shirts, hats, and much more. Catch every NFL touchdown with NFL RedZone on Fubo. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER .GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Even though their long-shot hopes of winning the NFC North have vanished, the playoff-bound Green Bay Packers believe they can make a legitimate run at their first Super Bowl appearance since their 2010 championship season. A rapidly improving defense gives them ample reason for confidence. The Packers (11-4) followed up a seven-sack performance in a 30-13 victory at Seattle by producing the first shutout of the NFL season, a 34-0 playoff-clinching blowout of the New Orleans Saints on Monday night. Green Bay delivered its first shutout since a 17-0 triumph over Seattle in 2021 and its most lopsided victory since a 55-14 rout of the Chicago Bears in 2014. “We’ve noticed all along that the defense is a lot different this year, and they’ve been making some big-time plays all along,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “But any time you can hold anybody to zero points in the National Football League is pretty awesome.” The Packers were seeking to produce a championship-caliber defense to go along with their dynamic offense when they fired Joe Barry as coordinator in the offseason and brought in former Boston College coach Jeff Hafley to replace him. Green Bay switched from a 3-4 scheme to a 4-3, with Hafley emphasizing the need to produce more big plays. Green Bay has done just that by collecting 28 takeaways — 10 more than it had all of last year — to match the NFL’s third-highest total. The Packers haven’t forced this many turnovers since 2011, when they had 38 takeaways. That’s not the only area in which the defense has made strides. Green Bay is allowing just 19.1 points per game to rank sixth in the league in scoring defense. The Packers haven’t finished a season among the top six teams in scoring defense since their 2010 title run, when they yielded just 15 points per game to rank second. The Packers are giving up 312.1 yards per game for the league’s seventh-best total. That also puts them on pace for their highest season-ending rank since 2010, when they finished fifth in total defense. “We’re all working together, and we’ve just got some nice playmakers,” linebacker and rookie second-round pick Edgerrin Cooper said. The Packers have given up as many as 20 points just once in their last six games, a 34-31 defeat at Detroit on Dec. 5. That is the only time Green Bay has lost during that stretch. Whether this kind of success can carry over to the playoffs remains uncertain. The Packers’ shutout performance came against a New Orleans offense that was starting rookie fifth-round draft pick Spencer Rattler at quarterback in place of the injured Derek Carr and was missing five-time Pro Bowl running back Alvin Kamara. Green Bay’s defense faces a much tougher task Sunday night against the Minnesota Vikings (13-2), who beat the Packers 31-29 at Lambeau Field on Sept. 29. This will mark the first time in the series’ 64-year history that both teams had at least 11 wins when they face off. The Packers are eager to see what they can do against another team headed for the playoffs as their defense gears up for another postseason. “We can do whatever we want to do,” defensive lineman Kenny Clark said. “We write our own story at the end of the day. We’ve just got to keep on building.” What’s working Green Bay outrushed New Orleans 188-67 and improved its season total to 2,209 yards rushing. The Packers haven’t rushed for that many yards in a season since 2003, when they had 2,558. ... The pass rush has produced 16 sacks over Green Bay’s last four games. ... Green Bay is outscoring teams 102-34 in the first quarter. ... The Packers didn’t give up a sack Monday and have allowed just five over their last eight games. That represents the fewest sacks the Packers have given up over an eight-game stretch within a single season since 2004. What needs work Penalties remain a bit of an issue. The Packers were penalized six times for 60 yards. Stock up Love has thrown eight touchdown passes without an interception over his last five games. ... RB Josh Jacobs has run for a touchdown in six straight games. His 13 TD runs this season are a career high. ... K Brandon McManus made field goals from 55 and 46 yards to improve to 16 of 17 this season. His 55-yarder was a season long. ... S Zayne Anderson had his first career interception in his first career start. ... DL Brenton Cox Jr. has three sacks over his last four games. Stock down There really aren’t any candidates for this category, considering the Packers produced their biggest victory margin in a decade. Injuries WR Christian Watson injured a knee Monday night. ... CB Jaire Alexander (knee) missed a fifth straight game. S Javon Bullard (ankle), S Evan Williams (quadriceps) and LB Quay Walker (ankle) also didn’t play. Key number 30 – The Packers have scored at least 30 points in each of their last five games. That represents the second-longest string of games with 30-plus points in franchise history. Green Bay had seven such straight games in 1963. Next steps The Packers close the regular season with two divisional games, visiting Minnesota on Sunday before hosting the Bears (4-11). Green Bay is 1-3 against NFC North opponents this season. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflDecember 7: We’ll resist any military intimidation during polls
Trump wants pardoned real estate developer Charles Kushner to be ambassador to FranceCALGARY, Alberta (AP) — A Ukrainian girls’ hockey team is in Canada for a few days of peace and hockey in an arena that doesn’t have a missile-sized hole in its roof. After 56 hours of travel to Calgary, including a 24-hour bus ride from Dnipro to Warsaw, Poland, that required army escort for a portion of it, the Ukrainian Wings will join Wickfest, Hayley Wickenheiser’s annual girls’ hockey festival, on Thursday. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, obituaries, sports, and more.
To ensure uninterrupted delivery of essential services and functioning of vital installations in the valley, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Tuesday chaired a meeting here to review preparedness of various departments to address challenges posed by harsh winter conditions. Abdullah also directed for establishment of joint control rooms in all districts to handle winter-related complaints promptly. An official spokesperson said the meeting was held at the civil secretariat here during which the chief minister also stressed the importance of a swift response system to minimize public inconvenience and ensure seamless delivery of essential services. Abdullah reviewed the preparedness of various departments to address challenges posed by harsh winter conditions, particularly in the snow-bound zones of Kashmir Valley and Jammu Division. The chief minister conducted a department-wise review of the winter preparedness measures, the spokesperson said. During the meeting, Abdullah emphasized the need for a robust mechanism to minimize public inconvenience during severe weather conditions. He also engaged with deputy commissioners to assess district-level preparedness and urged them to prioritize timely and effective responses to weather-related challenges. The meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, Minister for Health and Medical Education Sakina Itoo, Minister for Jal Shakti and Tribal Affairs Javed Ahmad Rana, Minister for Agriculture Javaid Ahmad Dar, and Minister for Transport Satish Sharma. Abdullah stressed the importance of keeping men and machinery in a state of readiness to ensure the routine functioning of essential installations. He directed the departments to prioritize uninterrupted trade, transport, and essential supplies while addressing disruptions caused by snow, waterlogging, or power outages. On snow clearance, he was briefed that a sufficient number of hi-tech machines have been deployed, with additional machines on standby to handle heavy snowfall. The chief minister instructed the authorities to focus on clearing key routes, including inter-district highways and roads leading to hospitals, power grids, water supply systems, and fire and emergency services. The meeting was informed that adequate stocks of ration, petrol, diesel, and LPG are available to meet the needs of residents for several months. Additional provisions have been made to ensure timely distribution across districts. Reviewing the health sector's readiness, Abdullah directed the Health Department to ensure adequate stocks of medicines, oxygen cylinders, and emergency supplies across all hospitals. He also emphasized maintaining functional central heating systems in healthcare facilities and ensuring the deployment of medical personnel in snowbound areas. In the meeting, instructions were given for providing transport service to expecting mothers in remote and far-flung areas. Highlighting the criticality of uninterrupted power supply during winter, the chief minister instructed Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) engineers to prioritize the restoration of electricity, particularly for essential installations. He called for timely replacement of damaged transformers and urged for protection of field staff with proper safety gear to prevent accidents during repair work. (This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Boise State coach Chris Petersen still gets asked about the Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma on the first day of 2007. That game had everything. Underdog Boise State took a 28-10 lead over one of college football's blue bloods that was followed by a 25-point Sooners run capped by what could have been a back-breaking interception return for a touchdown with 1:02 left. Then the Broncos used three trick plays that remain sensations to not only force overtime but win 43-42. And then there was the marriage proposal by Boise State running back Ian Johnson — shortly after scoring the winning two-point play — to cheerleader Chrissy Popadics that was accepted on national TV. That game put Broncos football on the national map for most fans, but looking back 18 years later, Petersen sees it differently. “Everybody wants to talk about that Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl game, which is great how it all worked out and all those things,” Petersen said. “But we go back to play TCU (three years later) again on the big stage. It's not as flashy a game, but to me, that was an even better win.” Going back to the Fiesta Bowl and winning, Petersen reasoned, showed the Broncos weren't a splash soon to fade away, that there was something longer lasting and more substantive happening on the famed blue turf. The winning has continued with few interruptions. No. 8 and third-seeded Boise State is preparing for another trip to the Fiesta Bowl, this time in a playoff quarterfinal against No. 5 and sixth-seeded Penn State on New Year's Eve. That success has continued through a series of coaches, though with a lot more of a common thread than readily apparent. Dirk Koetter was hired from Oregon, where Petersen was the wide receivers coach. Not only did Koetter bring Petersen with him to Oregon, Petersen introduced him to Dan Hawkins, who also was hired for the staff. So the transition from Koetter to Hawkins to Petersen ensured at least some level of consistency. Koetter and Hawkins engineered double-digit victory seasons five times over a six-year span that led to power-conference jobs. Koetter went to Arizona State after three seasons and Hawkins to Colorado after five. Then when Petersen became the coach after the 2005 season, he led Boise State to double-digit wins his first seven seasons and made bowls all eight years. He resisted the temptation to leave for a power-conference program until Washington lured him away toward the end of the 2013 season. Then former Boise State quarterback and offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin took over and posted five double-digit victory seasons over his first six years. After going 5-2 during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he left for Auburn. “They just needed consistency of leadership,” said Koetter, who is back as Boise State's offensive coordinator. “This program had always won at the junior-college level, the Division II level, the I-AA (now FCS) level.” But Koetter referred to “an unfortunate chain of events” that made Boise State a reclamation project when he took over in 1998. Coach Pokey Allen led Boise State to the Division I-AA national championship game in 1994, but was diagnosed with cancer two days later. He died on Dec. 30, 1996, at 53. Allen coached the final two games that season, Boise State's first in Division I-A (now FBS). Houston Nutt became the coach in 1997, went 4-7 and headed to Arkansas. Then Koetter took over. “One coach dies and the other wasn't the right fit for this program,” Koetter said. “Was a really good coach, did a lot of good things, but just wasn't a good fit for here.” But because of Boise State's success at the lower levels, Koetter said the program was set up for success. “As Boise State has risen up the conference food chain, they’ve pretty much always been at the top from a player talent standpoint,” Koetter said. “So it was fairly clear if we got things headed in the right direction and did a good job recruiting, we would be able to win within our conference for sure.” Success didn't take long. He went 6-5 in 1998 and then won 10 games each of the following two seasons. Hawkins built on that winning and Petersen took it to another level. But there is one season, really one game, no really one half that still bugs Petersen. He thought his best team was in 2010, one that entered that late-November game at Nevada ranked No. 3 and had a legitimate chance to play for the national championship. The Colin Kaepernick-led Wolf Pack won 34-31. “I think the best team that I might've been a part of as the head coach was the team that lost one game to Nevada,” Petersen said. "That team, to me, played one poor half of football on offense the entire season. We were winning by a bunch at half (24-7) and we came out and did nothing on offense in the second half and still had a chance to win. “That team would've done some damage.” There aren't any what-ifs with this season's Boise State team. The Broncos are in the field of the first 12-team playoff, representing the Group of Five as its highest-ranked conference champion. That got Boise State a bye into the quarterfinals. Spencer Danielson has restored the championship-level play after taking over as the interim coach late last season during a rare downturn that led to Andy Avalos' dismissal . Danielson received the job full time after leading Boise State to the Mountain West championship . Now the Broncos are 12-1 with their only defeat to top-ranked and No. 1 seed Oregon on a last-second field goal . Running back Ashton Jeanty also was the runner-up to the Heisman Trophy . “Boise State has been built on the backs of years and years of success way before I got here,” Danielson said. "So even this season is not because of me. It’s because the group of young men wanted to leave a legacy, be different. We haven’t been to the Fiesta Bowl in a decade. They said in January, ‘We’re going to get that done.’ They went to work.” As was the case with Danielson, Petersen and Koetter said attracting top talent is the primary reason Boise State has succeeded all these years. Winning, obviously, is the driving force, and with more entry points to the playoffs, the Broncos could make opportunities to keep returning to the postseason a selling point. But there's also something about the blue carpet. Petersen said he didn't get what it was about when he arrived as an assistant coach, and there was some talk about replacing it with more conventional green grass. A poll in the Idaho Statesman was completely against that idea, and Petersen has come to appreciate what that field means to the program. “It's a cumulative period of time where young kids see big-time games when they're in seventh and eighth and ninth and 10th grade and go, ‘Oh, I know that blue turf. I want to go there,’” Petersen said. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballApparently, last Sundays' writer (Post Election 2024: Send in the clowns), forgot the rest of the song: Don't bother, they're already here. Michael Willis Green Valley Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star. Follow these steps to easily submit a letter to the editor or guest opinion to the Arizona Daily Star. Respond: Write a letter to the editor | Write a guest opinion Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!
Thanksgiving Weekend Sports Guide: Your roadmap to NFL matchups, other games, times, oddsJammu: Five soldiers were killed and 5 others injured in a road accident in J&K’s Poonch district on Tuesday, officials said. Officials said that an army vehicle, which was on its way from Nilam Headquarters to the Balnoi Ghora Post, met with an accident upon reaching Ghora Post. “The vehicle fell into a deep gorge around 300-350 feet deep resulting in on-the-spot death of five soldiers and serious injuries to five other soldiers. The vehicle was part of the 11 MLA. After receiving the distress call, the quick reaction team (QRT) of 11 MLI immediately reached the spot and undertook rescue and relief operations,” an official said. The injured soldiers were shifted to the hospital for treatment and the condition of a few of them is said to be critical, the official said. The Nagrota-headquartered White Knight Corps of the army said on X: “All ranks of #WhiteKnightCorps extend their deepest condolences on the tragic loss of five brave soldiers in a vehicle accident during operational duty in the #Poonch sector. Rescue operations are ongoing, and the injured personnel are receiving medical care”. Northern Command chief Lt Gen M.V.SuchindraKumar and all ranks also extended their deepest condolences on the tragic loss of five brave soldiers. “DhruvaCommand stands firm with the bereaved families in this hour of grief”, it said in a post on X. The army has been maintaining heightened vigil on the Line of Control (LoC) after intelligence reports that terrorists are waiting at the launch pads across the border to infiltrate into the Indian side before the mountain passes are closed by heavy snowfall this year.
Thanksgiving Weekend Sports Guide: Your roadmap to NFL matchups, other games, times, odds
NoneTens of thousands of Spaniards protest housing crunch and high rents in Barcelona
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. , Dec. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --WuKong Education, a leading online K-12 education provider, has been named to the highly-anticipated 2025 edition of the GSV 150 : GSV's annual list of the top 150 private companies transforming digital learning and workforce skills. This recognition underscores WuKong Education's transformative role in the EdTech industry and its commitment to empowering students worldwide through AI-powered personalized learning. Out of more than 2,500 global VC- and PE-backed companies, WuKong Education was selected for the 2025 GSV 150 based on a proprietary evaluation framework, including revenue scale, growth, user reach, geographic diversification, and margin profile. The 2025 cohort of the GSV 150 collectively reaches 3B learners and generates over $25B in annual revenue. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.Joe Biden Makes Unexpected 'Secret Service' Admission During Celtics’ White House Visit