Indeed, the Jazz have endured their fair share of challenges over the years, from injuries to tough losses on the court. However, it is during these moments of adversity that the team has truly come together and shown resilience. Gobert credits their shared experiences for shaping the team's identity and fostering a sense of camaraderie that is unparalleled.He’s a fourth-generation rancher with one of the biggest spreads in one of the most beautiful parts of Montana. His ranch is so expansive, in fact, that he flies a helicopter when he needs to tend to his herd or put out a fire in a hurry. And he’s from a deeply entrenched and politically powerful family. But, no, he’s not John Dutton, the character who Kevin Costner played up until the start of its new season last month, on the hit “Yellowstone” TV show. He’s Bill Galt, and he’s well aware that art appears to be imitating his life. “Oh, I’ve heard that a lot,” Galt said of the comparisons. “But I think mostly that’s attributed to the fact that I’m a rancher that flies a helicopter and that those first few episodes of ‘Yellowstone’ had that helicopter in there. But that being said, they do use a lot of my sayings. I don’t know where the hell they get them.” People are also reading... Here's a list of Lincoln restaurants open on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day Lincoln native purchases Michael Jordan's iconic Chicago mansion for $9.5 million Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen hospitalized at UNMC after falling from horse Nebraska volleyball libero Lexi Rodriguez signs to play with Omaha pro team Amie Just: Lexi Rodriguez deserved a national title. For her career to end like this? 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Jim Pillen sustained fractured ribs, lacerated spleen in fall from horse Honor walk pays tribute to Lincoln man who made organ donation Transfer tracker: The latest on the Nebraska football roster One source might be “ The Cowboy Way: Seasons of a Montana Ranch, “ a nonfiction account of former Lee Montana editor — and current Arizona Daily Star editor — David McCumber’s year spent working on Galt’s ranch in the late 1990s. But Galt can’t be certain. And publicists from the Paramount Network, where “Yellowstone” airs, did not respond to questions about Galt’s role in inspiring John Dutton. “I’ve never talked to anybody from the ‘Yellowstone’ show or anybody that had anything to do with it,” Galt said. “One of the big reasons I wanted to work for Bill to do the research for ‘The Cowboy Way’ was that the ranch – both the ground and the family – represents a straight line through the history of Montana ranching,” McCumber said, “and I think that’s a lot of what ‘Yellowstone’ wanted to capture as well.” Like his fictional alter ego, Galt has made no secret of his desire to protect his big piece of Big Sky Country, even from the stray angler trying to fish on his property. And he has made his case, like Dutton, on television. In a 2016 episode of Anthony Bourdain’s show “Parts Unknown,” Galt and McCumber debated Montana’s 1985 stream-access law, which grants fishermen a right to use streams on private property, so long as they get where they are going within that stream’s high-water mark. Galt called that practice “thievery” back then. Nowadays, he begrudgingly accepts it. “Well, you know, stream access is a law, and we abide by it,” Galt said. “And I guess we’ll learn to live with it.” But there’s another form of encroachment on his land from sportsmen he’s less willing to look past: illegal hunting. “We have county roads running through each of the ranches,” Galt said. “So sometimes they just can’t resist themselves, and they shoot one off the county road.” And as Montana’s human population has grown, so has its elk population, especially on large tracts of private land like the Galt ranch. In hunting season, he said, his land has been “plagued” by such illegal shoots, even though he allows hunters onto his land through the state’s block-management program. For Galt, it all falls under a plainspoken philosophy, one you can almost hear coming out of Kevin Costner’s mouth: “I just think private land’s private land, and you should be able to do what’s legal on it. Put it that way.” While no one has yet proposed a subdivision or a golf course on the land around his 90,000-acre spread — a scenario from the hit television show — Galt doesn’t necessarily think there would be anything wrong with it if they decided to do so. “If they’re just selling to the highest bidder,” Galt said, “I think that’s the American way.” He said such development can sometimes be about preserving ranching, not pushing it out, by acting as a financial “parachute” for people looking to “keep their ranch running.” “I know a lot of ranches that have literally been saved by being able to carve off a piece of ground, whether it’s to sell to a neighbor or for development that actually saved their ranch from going broke,” Galt said. But Galt said “that’s just about impossible anymore. You know, they’re so heavily restricted.” In what’s been viewed as a landmark case as the state tries to balance demand for development with laws that protect land and water, Galt’s brother Errol Galt was on the losing end of a recent District Court order that stopped his plans to build 39 homes and two commercial properties on 442 acres of land on the east side of the Canyon Ferry Reservoir. Bill Galt said he has “never tried to do any of that kind of development on my ranch. So I understand my brother has issues with it, although, amazingly, we don’t talk much about it. When we’re talking, it’s about ranching stuff.” And there’s lots to talk about. Recent drought has shrunk the size of Montana’s cattle herd. That means ranchers have less livestock to sell, but it has also meant they can get a higher price from the feed lots that buy the yearlings they produce. And as Montana’s population has grown — partly due to the popularity of “Yellowstone” itself — so has the demand for land, hemming in some ranchers who rely on the state’s wide open spaces to give their cattle a place to roam. Like the character he seemingly inspired, Galt has been on his land long enough to feel the forces of change swirling all around his ranch as new neighbors move in and bring with them new ways of doing things. “I’m surrounded by what we call the non-resident ranchers,” Galt said. While “every one of them does run some cattle and tries to make them look like a ranch” and “most of them do a pretty good job,” Galt said the fact that his neighbors aren’t making a living off the land is a sign of a broader shift. It’s a shift that ranchers and brokers from across the state say they are seeing too, as wealthy buyers, often from out of state, purchase agricultural properties for prices that cattle production can’t possibly pay for. “All the ranching they do won’t pay the interest on that ranch that they bought for that $1,500-an-acre price,” Galt said. While his business is focused on raising black Angus cattle and quarterhorses, Galt has embraced the use of new technologies to do the traditional job of cowboying. “The basics of ranching I don’t think have changed much,” Galt said. “We still raise calves that we make into yearlings. But the mechanization is what has really changed. We used to go, when we were weaning, we would have a crew of maybe 16 riders down to now we do it with four just because of mechanization, because of the helicopter and four-wheelers and better hand machinery. We’ve become way more efficient as time goes on.” McCumber said his interest in Galt had to do with this approach that combines old-fashioned and modern approaches. “There was a mix of old and new in everything – fencing, feeding, gathering, range management, predator control, irrigating, haying, you name it,” McCumber said. “Things like big irrigation pivots, swathers and balers, artificial insemination, and the helicopter are modern ways. But lots of things don’t change. One of those is helping your neighbors. All of that seems to show up in ‘Yellowstone,’ and that authenticity is what makes the show as enduring as it has proved to be.” Though he acknowledged “Yellowstone” undoubtedly takes liberties with reality, Galt said he’s a devoted viewer of a show that deals with real issues that ranchers like him face, including everything from how to resist “the encroachment on ranches by the big money people” to how to handle estate taxes. “There’s parts of it that are absolutely correct,” Galt said of the show. “Yellowstone” has closed its run, with the seemingly Galt-inspired character killed off after Costner quit the show. Or was supposedly killed off. “I guess I’m not real sure he’s dead,” Galt said. “Just watching it, it seems to be there’s some doubt.”TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — This isn’t a week when coach Todd Bowles feels he needs to find the right words to ensure his Tampa Bay Buccaneers are motivated to face the last-place Carolina Panthers. The Bucs (8-7) have won eight of the last nine meetings between the NFC South rivals, including the past three with Baker Mayfield at quarterback. It hasn’t exactly been smoothly sailing against the Panthers (4-11), though, for the three-time defending division champions. And, with at least a share of first place on the line Sunday, Bowles and his players say they are focused solely on rebounding from last week’s disappointing loss to the Dallas Cowboys. “We know it’s going to be a tough ballgame. It went overtime last time. They’re coached very well; they play very hard,” Bowles said, referencing Tampa Bay’s 26-23 win at Carolina on Dec. 1. “We know what’s at stake for us. It doesn’t need to be talked about. Everybody understands that,” Bowles added. “We’ve got to clean up our own mistakes, and we’ve got to play an error-free football game.” The Bucs are tied with Atlanta for the best record in the NFC South, however the Falcons (8-7) hold the tiebreaker after sweeping the season series between the teams. To claim a fourth straight division title, Tampa Bay needs to win remaining home games against the Panthers and New Orleans Saints while Atlanta loses at least once in the last two weeks of the regular season. If the Falcons hold on to win the South, the Bucs can earn a wild-card playoff berth if they win out and the Washington Commanders lose twice. Mayfield, who has resurrected his career since being released by Carolina two years ago, summed up the attitude in a resilient locker room. The Bucs have won four of five games following a four-game losing streak threatened their playoff hopes. “I keep saying it, this team has the mental makeup of a great team. We just have to continue to fight and find ways to win,” the quarterback said. “If we don’t take of business, we won’t be in the playoffs.” Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard cost his team the game four weeks ago against Tampa Bay when he fumbled on the second possession of overtime just after Carolina had reached field goal range. Mayfield responded by leading the Bucs back down the field for the winning field goal. The loss was devastating for Hubbard at the time, but he promised himself when the opportunity arose again he’d make the most of it. He did that this past Sunday, when he carried twice for 49 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown run in which he broke two tackles, in overtime to lift the Panthers to a 36-30 win over Arizona, knocking the Cardinals out of the playoff hunt. “I’d let it go, but it’s definitely been in the back of my head a little bit,” Hubbard said. “Like I said, when the next opportunity came, I told myself I’m going to get it back for them. To be able to have them trust me in that opportunity again, and to have it in that way is a blessing from God.” Bryce Young has shown solid progress in his decision making, particularly when the pocket begins to break down. Last week, the second-year QB ran for a career-best 68 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown. Young was benched after two games this season, but since returning to the lineup has played better, restoring some faith that perhaps the No. 1 overall pick in 2023 can be the team’s quarterback of the future. “Just time in the system and time as a team for us to come together,” Young said of why he has improved. “For me, being able to get reps, and get time with everyone. It’s just all of us being able to feed off of each other, and it’s been able to allow us to turn in the right direction.” The Panthers have been abysmal against the run, allowing nearly 200 yards per game on the ground over the last seven games. In the last meeting with Tampa Bay, Bucky Irving ran for a career-high 152 yards and a touchdown, so Carolina’s defense has a good idea of what's coming Sunday. Mayfield has beaten Carolina three times since joining the Bucs in 2023. All of the meetings have been close, though, with the Panthers losing twice by three points and Tampa Bay settling for three field goals in a 9-0 regular season-ending victory that clinched its third straight NFC South championship last January. “We know them well. They know us well,” Mayfield said. AP Sports Writer Steve Reed in Charlotte, North Carolina, contributed to this report. NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Take it from Kansas State and Rutgers. Bowl preparation isn't what it used to be. The teams will meet in the Rate Bowl on Thursday in Phoenix, but the list of matters rotating atop the priority list this month is deep and wide. Coaches have to balance prep time with recruiting and keeping track of their roster and other names in the transfer portal. And both teams are away from home to play the day after Christmas. "We're limited in the amount of time (to game plan) because of portal kids on campus pretty much every day," Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman said. "That's the balance we have to adjust to. I hope we get it figured out in college football in the near future." The game itself features clubs from the Big 12 and Big Ten that had aspirations higher than this game after starting the season with success. Kansas State (8-4) started the season 7-1 and had its sights set on playing for the Big 12 championship and a possible spot in the College Football Playoff. The Wildcats lost three of their final four games. Rutgers (7-5) started the season 4-0 before losing four straight. Kansas State is led by dual-threat quarterback Avery Johnson, who rushed for 548 yards (45.7 per game), second most on the team, and passed for 2,517 yards (209.8 per game) with 28 total touchdowns (22 passing and six rushing). DJ Giddens, who averaged 111.9 yards per game, has declared for the NFL draft and will sit out, but the Wildcats still have plenty of firepower. The Wildcats prioritize the ground game -- running the ball on offense and working to take away their opponent's running game on defense. Their 204.5 rushing yards per game were third in the Big 12 and their 114.9 yards allowed on the ground led the conference. Klieman said the Wildcats have weathered the storm created by the lure of the transfer portal. "The core of our best players returned," Klieman said. "Those kids are still getting contacted. It is what it is. I'm excited that those core players have stuck together. We're excited (about the Rate Bowl). We're going to play a lot of young kids on the 26th, but we've got a lot of veterans who have played a lot of football who are going to play on the 26th. "I'm excited for (running backs Dylan Edwards and Joe Jackson). It's their chance to get established. We know a lot of things Dylan can do, and we're excited to be able to showcase those things." Rutgers has the idea of balance figured out schematically. The Scarlet Knights are averaging 381.2 yards per game overall and allowing 381.5 yards per game. They get 204.9 of those yards through the air and 176.3 on the ground. Their rushing offense is heavily dependent on Kyle Monangai, who averaged 116.3 yards per game and 13 of Rutgers' 24 rushing touchdowns. On the passing side, quarterback Athan Kaliakmanus has thrown every pass this season. He completed 54.8 percent of his throws for 2,459 yards, 17 touchdowns and six interceptions. His primary targets are Dymere Miller (57 catches, 731 yards and four touchdowns) and Ian Strong (38, 571, five). "Offensively, we've been finding our stride," head coach Greg Schiano said. "It's important to keep up the continuity." Schiano said his team knows a tough game awaits. "We've had some good practices, because Kansas State is a really good team. I've done a lot of studying. This is quite a formidable opponent. "We've transitioned over from development (work) to game planning. Some guys have had a little bit of rest, so I'm really excited about getting into the meat and potatoes of getting ready." --Field Level MediaTAMPA, Fla. (AP) — This isn’t a week when coach Todd Bowles feels he needs to find the right words to ensure his Tampa Bay Buccaneers are motivated to face the last-place Carolina Panthers. The Bucs (8-7) have won eight of the last nine meetings between the NFC South rivals, including the past three with Baker Mayfield at quarterback. It hasn’t exactly been smoothly sailing against the Panthers (4-11), though, for the three-time defending division champions. And, with at least a share of first place on the line Sunday, Bowles and his players say they are focused solely on rebounding from last week’s disappointing loss to the Dallas Cowboys. “We know it’s going to be a tough ballgame. It went overtime last time. They’re coached very well; they play very hard,” Bowles said, referencing Tampa Bay’s 26-23 win at Carolina on Dec. 1. “We know what’s at stake for us. It doesn’t need to be talked about. Everybody understands that,” Bowles added. “We’ve got to clean up our own mistakes, and we’ve got to play an error-free football game.” The Bucs are tied with Atlanta for the best record in the NFC South, however the Falcons (8-7) hold the tiebreaker after sweeping the season series between the teams. To claim a fourth straight division title, Tampa Bay needs to win remaining home games against the Panthers and New Orleans Saints while Atlanta loses at least once in the last two weeks of the regular season. If the Falcons hold on to win the South, the Bucs can earn a wild-card playoff berth if they win out and the Washington Commanders lose twice. Mayfield, who has resurrected his career since being released by Carolina two years ago, summed up the attitude in a resilient locker room. The Bucs have won four of five games following a four-game losing streak threatened their playoff hopes. “I keep saying it, this team has the mental makeup of a great team. We just have to continue to fight and find ways to win,” the quarterback said. “If we don’t take of business, we won’t be in the playoffs.” Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard cost his team the game four weeks ago against Tampa Bay when he fumbled on the second possession of overtime just after Carolina had reached field goal range. Mayfield responded by leading the Bucs back down the field for the winning field goal. The loss was devastating for Hubbard at the time, but he promised himself when the opportunity arose again he’d make the most of it. He did that this past Sunday, when he carried twice for 49 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown run in which he broke two tackles, in overtime to lift the Panthers to a 36-30 win over Arizona, knocking the Cardinals out of the playoff hunt. “I’d let it go, but it’s definitely been in the back of my head a little bit,” Hubbard said. “Like I said, when the next opportunity came, I told myself I’m going to get it back for them. To be able to have them trust me in that opportunity again, and to have it in that way is a blessing from God.” Bryce Young has shown solid progress in his decision making, particularly when the pocket begins to break down. Last week, the second-year QB ran for a career-best 68 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown. Young was benched after two games this season, but since returning to the lineup has played better, restoring some faith that perhaps the No. 1 overall pick in 2023 can be the team’s quarterback of the future. “Just time in the system and time as a team for us to come together,” Young said of why he has improved. “For me, being able to get reps, and get time with everyone. It’s just all of us being able to feed off of each other, and it’s been able to allow us to turn in the right direction.” The Panthers have been abysmal against the run, allowing nearly 200 yards per game on the ground over the last seven games. In the last meeting with Tampa Bay, Bucky Irving ran for a career-high 152 yards and a touchdown, so Carolina’s defense has a good idea of what's coming Sunday. Mayfield has beaten Carolina three times since joining the Bucs in 2023. All of the meetings have been close, though, with the Panthers losing twice by three points and Tampa Bay settling for three field goals in a 9-0 regular season-ending victory that clinched its third straight NFC South championship last January. “We know them well. They know us well,” Mayfield said. AP Sports Writer Steve Reed in Charlotte, North Carolina, contributed to this report. NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
In recent days, a false rumor claiming that South Nanning Zoo is recruiting wild man actors has once again been circulating online. The zoo officials have firmly denied the claim, emphasizing that it is entirely baseless and irresponsible. The rumor has caused unnecessary panic and confusion among the public, prompting the need for clarifications to put an end to the misinformation.