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Roberts was introduced Thursday as coach of the Sparks, becoming the second coach to make the leap from college to the WNBA this month. Karl Smesko of Florida Gulf Coast got the Atlanta Dream job last week. “I was 100 percent invested at Utah,” Roberts said. “It just kind of felt like this is a golden opportunity. As a competitor, the chance to coach the best in the world, it’s what I want.” She replaces Curt Miller , who was let go in September and now is general manager of the Dallas Wings. Roberts inherits a team that has a strong young nucleus of Rickea Jackson, Cameron Brink and Dearica Hamby. The Sparks have the No. 2 pick in next year’s WNBA draft. “We’ve got kind of a cool combination of some veteran leadership and then we’ve got a really dynamic young group,” Roberts said. “That’s a good roster right there and then we can keep working with it.” Los Angeles finished 8-32 last season for the league’s worst record and has missed the playoffs for four straight years. “I want to compete, I want to win now,” Roberts said. “I know that’s easier said than done, but I’m up for the challenge and I can’t wait to get started.” Roberts is friends with Southern California women’s coach Lindsay Gottlieb and UCLA coach Cori Close. “That was intentional,” Sparks general manager Reagan Pebley said. “That we were bringing somebody into this role that had existing relationships because again this is a community of women’s basketball that is exceptional.” Roberts added, “I want to be the top of that pyramid with the Sparks.” Roberts is returning to her native California. The 49-year-old coach grew up in the Northern California city of Redding. She played college ball at Seattle Pacific and then began coaching at Chico State before moving to Pacific and then Utah. Roberts was 165-116 in nine-plus seasons at Utah and recently signed a six-year extension. She led the team to three straight NCAA Tournament berths and was the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2023. The Utes have started this season 3-1 and will be coached by Gavin Petersen, who was promoted from associate head coach. “I poured 10 years of my life into that place and I loved it. I loved every minute of it,” Roberts said. “Where we started wasn’t great, where it is now is great and I’m very proud of that.” Roberts said the current upheaval in college basketball including name, image and likeness, the transfer portal and Utah's move to the Big 12 this season had nothing to do with her leaving. “I'm sitting here because it's a chance to coach the best people in the world and win a championship in LA. That's it,” she said. “As a competitor and as someone that kind of thrives in pressure, being in this market, being in LA, it sounds like heaven to me." AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketballBJMP: Neri Naig taken to hospital for 'medical evaluation"Jalandhar: In preparation for the municipal body elections , Punjab AAP president Aman Arora held a meeting with party leaders in Jalandhar on Saturday. The meeting was attended by Punjab AAP working president Amansher Singh Sherry Kalsi, cabinet minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal, minister Mohinder Bhagat, former minister Inderbir Singh Nijjar, MLA Ajay Gupta and others. Arora said detailed discussions on municipal corporations were held, announcing that AAP would begin accepting applications from Sunday. He stressed that party workers would be given first preference in ticket allocation. “If individuals from other parties join AAP and have a clean image, they may be considered, but majority of tickets will be given to those associated with the party. We have a robust, dedicated cadre of active workers across the state, and they will be considered first,” he said. An official notification has mentioned that the elections to five municipal corporations, including Amritsar, Phagwara, Patiala, Jalandhar and Ludhiana and 42 municipal councils and nagar panchayats, would be held by the end of Dec but no specific date was given. ‘Jakhar MSP remark absurd’ Aman Arora responded sharply to Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar’s statement on MSP, saying that Jakhar is a senior and experienced leader who should refrain from making absurd remarks. “If he has any evidence of such irregularities, he should present it. The Punjab govt will take immediate action." Arora clarified that Punjab govt had no direct role in MSP payments. We also published the following articles recently Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal detained ahead of his fast unto death for MSP in Punjab Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal was detained at the Punjab-Haryana border ahead of his planned fast unto death demanding MSP for all crops. Police took Dallewal to Ludhiana hospital, prompting farmers to gather in large numbers in protest. Despite his detention, the protest fast will continue as planned, farmer groups assert. Punjab byelections: AAP wins Dera Baba Nanak, Congress credits gangsters Gurdeep Singh Randhawa of AAP won the Dera Baba Nanak byelection, defeating Congress's Jatinder Kaur Randhawa by 5,699 votes. The win prompted accusations from Congress of AAP's association with gangsters. Previously held by Jatinder's husband, the seat saw significant voter support for Randhawa, who celebrated his victory as a triumph over nepotism and arrogance. Born on Constitution Day, AAP is a party of people: Kejriwal Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal highlighted the party's dedication to honest governance and the importance of its 'jhadu' symbol on AAP's 13th Foundation Day. Reflecting on their journey since 2012, Kejriwal emphasized the party's resilience against political challenges and underscored their commitment to the Constitution and serving the common people.
Is Outlook down? Thousands of Microsoft 365 users report outage issuesAP Business SummaryBrief at 6:02 p.m. EST
Lynne Roberts wasn't looking to leave as Utah women's basketball coach. Then she got a call from LALeBron James is going to have to make room for the NFL. Wednesday’s doubleheader on Netflix set records as the most-streamed NFL games in U.S. history, with numbers nearly five times more than the NBA. The Baltimore Ravens’ 31-2 victory over the Houston Texans averaged 24.3 million, and Kansas City’s 29-10 win at Pittsburgh averaged 24.1 according to early viewer figures released by Nielsen on Thursday. Nielsen also said there were 65 million U.S. viewers who tuned in for at least one minute of one of the two games. The NBA’s five-game slate averaged about 5.25 million viewers per game across ABC, ESPN and its platforms, according to the league and Nielsen. “I love the NFL,” James said in his televised postgame interview Wednesday night. “But Christmas is our day.” While the NBA’s Christmas lineup has its best viewer numbers in five years, the NFL has made Christmas one of its tentpole events during the regular season, joining Kickoff Weekend and Thanksgiving. “The numbers speak for themselves and LeBron can have his own view, and I’m sure more people will look at that because of this,” said Hans Schroeder, the executive vice president of NFL Media. “But, you know, we’re focused on the NFL, and we’re thrilled with the results this year with the Christmas on Netflix and we’re excited to continue to build that over the next couple of years.” Both NFL games surpassed the previous mark of 23 million for last season’s AFC wild-card game between the Miami Dolphins and Chiefs on Peacock. Viewership for Ravens-Texans peaked with the Beyoncé Bowl. The 20-minute halftime performance averaged more than 27 million viewers. The viewer figures include the audience on Netflix, mobile viewership on NFL+ and those who tuned in on CBS stations in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Baltimore and Houston. Global ratings and final U.S. numbers are expected to be available Tuesday. The NFL’s Christmas numbers decreased from last season but not at the rate that usually happens when something goes from broadcast to streaming. Last year’s three games averaged 28.68 million viewers. The early afternoon contest between the Las Vegas Raiders and Chiefs led the way, averaging 29.48 million on CBS. Once global and Netflix’s first-party data is released, both Christmas games should surpass 30 million. The NBA’s lineup saw an 84% rise over 2023. One reason for the increase is that all five games were on ABC, compared to two last year. The Los Angeles Lakers’ 115-113 victory over the Golden State Warriors — a game pitting Olympic teammates LeBron James and Steph Curry — averaged 7.76 million viewers and peaked with about 8.32 million viewers toward the end of the contest, the league said. Those numbers represent the most-watched NBA regular-season game in five years. The NBA said all five Christmas games on its schedule — San Antonio at New York in Victor Wembanyama’s holiday debut, Minnesota at Dallas, Philadelphia at Boston, Denver at Phoenix and Lakers-Warriors — saw year-over-year viewership increases. Wednesday’s numbers pushed NBA viewership for the season across ESPN platforms to up 4% over last season. The league also saw more than 500 million video views on its social media platforms Wednesday, a new record. For the NBA, those are all good signs amid cries that NBA viewership is hurting. “Ratings are down a bit at beginning of the season. But cable television viewership is down double digits so far this year versus last year,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month. “You know, we’re almost at the inflection point where people are watching more programing on streaming than they are on traditional television. And it’s a reason why for our new television deals, which we enter into next year, every game is going to be available on a streaming service.” Part of that new package of television deals that the NBA is entering into next season also increases the number of regular season games broadcast on television from 15 to 75.