
National recognition of Springfield’s Chestnut Middle School ‘dream come true’Getting benched may have been the best thing that happened to Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson. Both second-year quarterbacks are playing well since returning to the starting lineup. Young has steadily improved after coming back in Week 8. He’s displayed the skills that earned him a Heisman Trophy at Alabama and convinced the Carolina Panthers to draft him ahead of C.J. Stroud with the No. 1 overall pick in 2023. Young had his best game on Sunday, nearly leading Carolina to an overtime win over Tampa Bay if it weren’t for Chuba Hubbard’s fumble in field-goal range. He threw for 298 yards and a go-ahead touchdown pass in the final minute of a 26-23 loss . Young almost led the Panthers to a win over the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs a week earlier only to see Patrick Mahomes drive Kansas City into position for a winning field goal as time expired. Rookie coach Dave Canales benched Young for veteran Andy Dalton after just two games in which he had a 44.1 passer rating. The 23-year-old has completed 60.4% of his passes for 1,062 yards, six TDs and three interceptions — none in the past three games — while going 2-3 in the five starts since Young got another opportunity to lead the Panthers (3-9). Richardson has led Indianapolis to a pair of comeback wins late in the fourth quarter in three starts after he regained his starting job. The Colts (6-7) selected Richardson No. 4 last year and he started just 10 games before coach Shane Steichen benched him for Joe Flacco in Week 9. Richardson completed only 44.4% of his passes with four TDs and seven picks in his first six starts. He’s improved to 52.4% with three TDs and two picks since coming back. The 22-year-old tossed a 3-yard TD pass to Alec Pierce on fourth-and-goal with 12 seconds remaining and then ran in for a 2-point conversion to lift the Colts to a 25-24 win over New England on Sunday. Young and Richardson both have a long way to go to prove they can be franchise quarterbacks. But there’s far more optimism now that they’re not busts. Young is on his third head coach and second offensive coordinator in two seasons. Canales is known for getting the best out of quarterbacks, helping Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield revive their careers. He made a bold decision to bench Young after just two games but that allowed him to watch, grow and learn without the pressure of having to perform. Now it appears Young might have a future in Carolina when that seemed unlikely in September. Richardson just needs more experience. He threw only 393 passes in college and started four games as a rookie before he was injured. Steichen’s decision to bench him for Flacco didn’t work out. Flacco, who was the AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year last year after leading Cleveland to the playoffs by going 4-1 in five starts, struggled in two games. Still, that gave Richardson a chance to reset after tapping out for a play in the game before he was benched. Quarterbacks need time to develop. They can’t be judged fairly after one or two seasons, especially when they were high draft picks who joined bad teams that lacked talent. Matt Eberflus lost his job as Chicago’s head coach a day after he watched the offense run out of time with a timeout in hand, missing an opportunity to push Detroit to overtime on Thanksgiving. But Antonio Pierce made an even worse decision on Black Friday that cost the Raiders a chance to beat the Chiefs. Aidan O’Donnell drove Las Vegas to the Chiefs 32 with 15 seconds left. Instead of trying for a game-winning field goal down 19-17, Pierce wanted O’Donnell to take the snap, allow more time to tick and throw the ball away. But O’Donnell wasn’t ready for the snap, the Chiefs recovered the fumble and escaped with the win. aManaging the clock shouldn’t be this difficult for NFL head coaches. Ravens kicker Justin Tucker is having the worst season of his 13-year career. If he wasn’t one of the best kickers in NFL history, Baltimore would’ve made a switch already. But coach John Harbaugh has too much respect for Tucker, who began the season as the most accurate kicker in league history. Tucker has missed a career-high eight field-goal attempts, including two in a 24-19 loss to Philadelphia. Harbaugh, a former special teams coach, isn’t planning to replace Tucker. But the Ravens (8-5) have Super Bowl aspirations and Tucker needs to straighten things out. One solution would be to place him on injured reserve to work on his technique. In this case, Tucker has earned the right not to be released. Plus, he’s signed through 2027. Rob Maaddi covers the NFL for The Associated Press.
PM Modi, Kharge Extend Warm Wishes On Christmas, Highlight Peace, Unity
NoneCARSON, Calif. (AP) — The LA Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls have been Major League Soccer mainstays since the league's inaugural season in 1996, signing glamorous players and regularly competing for championships through years of success and setbacks in a league that's perpetually improving and expanding. Yet just a year ago, both of these clubs appeared to be a very long way from the stage they'll share Saturday in the MLS Cup Final . The Galaxy were one of MLS’ worst teams after a season of internal turmoil and public fan dissent, while the Red Bulls were merely a steady mediocrity seeking yet another coach to chart a new direction. A year later, these MLS founders are meeting in the league's first Cup final between teams from North America's two biggest markets. “Two original clubs being able to put themselves in this situation, I think it’s great,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “To see two clubs that have been at it as long as this league has been around be here, I think it’s a special moment. Couldn’t be two more different and contrasting styles as well, which could make for an interesting game, and I would imagine a high-intensity game.” Everything changed in 2024 after a dismal decade for the Galaxy , who are favored to cap their transformation by winning their team's record sixth MLS championship with a roster that's dramatically different from its past few groups — albeit with one massive injury absence in the final. The transformation of the Red Bulls happened only in the postseason, when a team that hadn't won a playoff game since 2017 suddenly turned into world-beaters under rookie coach Sandro Schwarz. New York struggled through the final three months of league play with only two wins before posting road playoff victories over defending champ Columbus , archrival New York City FC and conference finalist Orlando to storm into the Cup final. “We know about the history (of our club), and we know tomorrow will define what that could mean,” Schwarz said Friday. “To feel the pressure for tomorrow, it’s necessary, because it’s a final, and without pressure it’s not possible to bring the best quality on the field.” The Red Bulls have never won an MLS Cup, only reaching the championship match once before. What's more, they've somehow never won a Cup in any tournament, although they’ve collected three Supporters’ Shields for MLS' best regular-season record. The Galaxy’s trophy case is large and loaded, and those five MLS Cups are on the top shelf. But not much of that team success happened in the past decade for the club that famously brought David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard and many other international stars to Hollywood. In fact, this season has ended a grim era for the Galaxy, who haven't lost all year at their frequently renamed home stadium — which was the site of protests and boycotts just a year ago. The club's fans were tired of LA's steady underachievement and ineptitude in the front office run by team president Chris Klein, who was fired in May 2023. One year ago Thursday, the Galaxy hired Will Kuntz, a longtime Los Angeles FC executive who engineered his new club's roster transformation, most dramatically by landing new designated players Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil — two international talents that LAFC also had in its sights. “I give Will and the group up there a ton of credit,” Vanney said. “It’s one thing to have players you like, and it’s a whole other thing to get them here and get them to connect with your group.” Pec and Paintsil combined for 32 goals and 27 assists while boosting the incumbent talents of striker Dejan Joveljic and Riqui Puig, the gifted Barcelona product who runs the offense from the midfield. The Galaxy clicked in the postseason, scoring a jaw-dropping 16 goals in four matches. Puig has been the Galaxy's most important player all season, but he won't be in the MLS Cup Final after tearing a knee ligament late in last week's conference final victory over Seattle . The loss of Puig — who somehow kept playing on his injured knee, and even delivered the game-winning pass to Joveljic — makes the Galaxy even more difficult to anticipate. “He played a lot in the regular season, so it was not so easy to analyze all these games now without him,” Schwarz said. “But the main focus is to analyze what we need to do, because it’s not clear now how they’re playing without him.” The Galaxy could give some of Puig's responsibilities to Marco Reus, the longtime Dortmund standout who joined LA in August. Reus is nursing a hamstring injury, but Vanney expects him to play. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
'ABC7 Presents: Countdown Chicago 2025' longest-running New Year's Eve show in Chicago airs Dec. 31Callander’s Bill Barber rink is open to skaters but use at your risk. So cautioned the municipality as warm weather is expected to roll into the region this week. You can still use the rink, just be mindful of the quality of ice. Municipal staff noted, “Given the warmer weather expected in the coming days, it will not be possible to flood the ice.” Therefore, expect all the grooves and chips to remain, and for the ice surface to diminish over the next few days. If condition worsen, the town will close the rink. Safety first. However, the lights will stay on from 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., so you can still get your evening skate on. Last year, the rink didn’t open at all during the Christmas break due to the warm weather. Skaters had to wait until January 10th to hit the ice. See: Callander’s Bill Barber rink set to open next week Keep an eye on the municipality’s website and social media page for updates. The Bill Barber rink is located behind Callander’s Community Centre on 1984 Swale Street. David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
Luka Doncic returns to Dallas Mavericks' lineup after missing two games with left heel contusionSouth Korea’s Yoon says he will lift martial law decree
Luka Doncic returns to Dallas Mavericks' lineup after missing two games with left heel contusionThe Popular Oil To Skip When Frying ChickenNeuroPace Completes Enrollment in Feasibility Study of RNS System for Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome
Opinion editor’s note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Minnesota Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom. ••• In 1937, America struggled with the fierce and intractable global economic devastation known as the Great Depression. The nation’s unemployment rate averaged more than 14%, with Minnesota statewide unemployment topping out at 29% but reaching a staggering 70% on the Iron Range. In the spring of 1937, more than a thousand protesters descended on the St. Paul Capitol to support Gov. Elmer Benson as he tried to persuade the state legislature to pass a $17 million aid package for the unemployed. The protest fizzled overnight, as did Benson’s one term as governor. A pithy editorial written several months later for the Minneapolis Journal for Christmas attempted to mine silver linings amid the continuing hardship and fear that roiled Minnesota and the rest of the nation. It has long been a holiday tradition for newspapers all over America (although the number of papers has rapidly diminished) to publish a season’s greetings editorial from their archives. We are proud to continue the tradition. The extremely short and simply worded editorial that we share below was published under the headline “Benediction on Christmas Eve 1937.” It sought to strike a tone of compassion and community. These virtues have never been more needed. “Benediction” ran in the Journal, a paper that would eventually become the newspaper and digital platform rebranded in August 2024 as the Minnesota Star Tribune. Season’s greetings from our 2024 editorial staff and our former colleagues from 1937. ••• Benediction: “Silent Night, Holy Night.” We hear it at this time of year everywhere. It is man’s benediction to man. The song needs no words. The very melody suffices to soften a calloused heart; its simple, throbbing chords send a thrill down into the fingertips. It speaks the language of every civilized people — not alone Christians — and, taking no account of race, color, creed or other social conditions, bids every man be kind and humble. How can anyone, hearing that noble music as he must, contend himself to be cruel, greedy, mean or little — or even smug? We need Silent Night these days quite as much as ever; and if Christmas meant nothing more than its gentle whispering to the souls of men, it would be worth clinging to forever.Luka Doncic returns to Dallas Mavericks' lineup after missing two games with left heel contusion
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Tweet Facebook Mail As festive season gets underway, new research shows Australians continue to pivot to low- or zero- alcohol drinks, as the national consumption shifts. DrinkWise said 62 per cent of Australians aged 25 and over felt more empowered to choose to not drink alcohol compared to 10 years ago. And they said 51 per cent of consumers drank - at least sometimes - zero-alcohol products, compared to 35 per cent in 2021. READ MORE: Home buyer battles neighbours swimming in her $1.29m backyard People are more likely to drink low- and zero-alcohol drinks this holiday season. (Nine) However - and relevant to the season - office parties tend to be the scene of heavier drinking. DrinkWise said 35 per cent of people who drank at parties where employers were footing the bill tended to drink more than four standard drinks, compared to 23 per cent who exceeded that limit when paying for their own alcohol. Nonetheless, 73 per cent of respondents said it was important for people to have access to zero- and low-alcoholic drinks, and 53 per cent said they wanted to cut back. READ MORE: Bank withdrawal fees, cashless trend slammed as 'kick in the gut' Australia's most trusted and distrusted brands View Gallery "We continue to see positive shifts in attitudes and behaviours towards alcohol, with parties and celebrations the main occasion where people alternate between full and lower or zero strength alcohol (71 per cent)," DrinkWise CEO Simon Strahan said. "This demonstrates a growing awareness of the benefits of more responsible drinking habits." DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP : Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play .Luka Doncic returns to Dallas Mavericks' lineup after missing two games with left heel contusion
Luka Doncic returns to Dallas Mavericks' lineup after missing two games with left heel contusion
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