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‘Don’t be Dan Snyder’: Local sports management professor weighs in on what the next Commanders owner should do to win fans over

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:20:32 GMT

The next owner of the Washington Commanders will have a long to-do list, but what should be at the top?“The easy answer to that is win, first,” said Matt Winkler, professor and director of the sports analytics and management program at American University, with a laugh.He said the second item on that to-do list should be, “Don’t be Dan Snyder.”That name, said Winkler, “is literally triggering” for fans who long for a return to the glory days under coaches such as Joe Gibbs, who led the team to three Super Bowl victories in the 1982, 1987 and 1991 seasons.Winkler said the next team owner will likely get an initial buy-in from longtime followers of the team.“Let’s face it, we’ve all been waiting for this day for years,” he said about the possible change in ownership.But in order to win younger fans, Winkler suggested the reliance on team history and team loyalty may have to shift.“Millennials and Gen-Z fans are different,” he said. “A lot of them follow the players and not necessarily...

Pelicans’ Griffin addresses Williamson’s health challenges

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:20:32 GMT

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Pelicans basketball operations chief David Griffin expressed confidence Friday in team personnel responsible for managing player health after star forward Zion Williamson missed 48 or more games for the third time in his four NBA seasons.“We’ve got incredibly good people doing it,” Griffin asserted when asked how high his confidence remained in the team training and medical staff. “We’ve got to do a better job of translating those things to availability.”The Pelicans’ season ended Wednesday night with a loss to Oklahoma City in a Western Conference play-in matchup that was also the 46th straight game missed by Williamson since he injured his right hamstring on Jan. 2.The day before the game, Williamson said he was no longer injured but added that he was not ready to play because he didn’t “feel like Zion. ”He was ruled out of the lineup for Wednesday’s play-in game. Yet, he conducted on-court work during pregame warmups, concluding with a windm...

Phillies beat Reds 8-3 to snap 3-game losing streak

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:20:32 GMT

CINCINNATI (AP) — Taijuan Walker pitched six efficient innings, Philadelphia scored five runs in the first three innings and the Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-3 on Friday night to snap a three-game losing streak.Walker (1-1) had his longest outing of the season, allowing four hits and one run. He struck out three and walked two.Edmundo Sosa hit his second homer of the season for the defending National League champion Phillies. They had lost four out of five, scoring a combined 12 runs in the four losses.Seranthony Domínguez and José Alvaredo combined to pitch the seventh and eighth, and Connor Brogdon worked the ninth. Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos, two Phillies with Cincinnati connections, drove in runs with doubles. Schwarber grew up in the area and Castellanos spent two seasons with the Reds.Brandon Marsh and J. Realmuto also got into the RBI parade, Marsh with a ringing triple off the left field wall that missed by a few feet of sailing out. Alec Bohm singled in two ...

Correa rallies Twins over Yank 4-3, overcomes Volpe’s 1st HR

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:20:32 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Correa homered for the second straight game and hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth inning off Clay Holmes as the Minnesota Twins rallied to beat the New York Yankees 4-3 on Friday night.Correa homered in the sixth off Nestor Cortes and helped the Twins overcome a 3-2 deficit in the eighth, dealing the Yankees their first consecutive losses this season. After winning its first four series, New York can at best split four games against the Twins.Anthony Volpe led off of the game with his first big league homer and Aaron Judge hit his fifth of the season on the next pitch. Giancarlo Stanton homered for a 3-1 lead in the sixth, but the Yankees lost for just the third time when Judge and Stanton homered together.Michael A. Taylor singled to start the eighth off Holmes (0-1), brought in to pitch the eighth against right-handed batters at the top of the order rather than in the ninth. Byron Buxton walked, and Correa followed by lining a sinker down the righ...

Colorado Avalanche win Central Division, will face Seattle Kraken in 1st round

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:20:32 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The Colorado Avalanche won the Central Division Friday night with a 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators in the final game of the regular season.Devon Toews scored 30 seconds into the game and Nathan MacKinnon scored a hat trick to win home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs. Friday's game was a makeup from an originally scheduled game on Nov. 26 that was postponed due to a water main break at Bridgestone Arena. The Avalanche finished the season with 109 points and will face the Seattle Kraken in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with the first game on Tuesday night at Ball Arena.

Fuel trucks unable to reach shipments at Port Everglades due to floods, leading to local gas station closures

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:20:32 GMT

Some gas stations in South Florida remained closed on Friday as fuel companies at Port Everglades continued to deal with the aftermath of this week’s wicked weather.7News cameras captured petrol trucks waiting to be filled up after flooding stopped them from picking up fuel on Thursday.The fuel shortage caused a Mobil gas station near Andrews Avenue and State Road 84 to stay closed on Friday.“You know, right now, we’re just holding out,” said Jacobe, a sales clerk at the gas station. “Hopefully we get some gas trucks, man.”Juan Carlos, who is visiting from Colombia, was trying to fill up his rental before heading back home.“I’m about to have a fine for this,” he said. “I don’t know where to find another gas station.”“We’re about to be stranded, so we’ve got to figure something out,” said customer Louis Cuba.There was some relief at the Chevron station along Griffin Road in Dania Beach whe...

In pictures: The endless heartbreak of Turkey’s earthquake

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:20:32 GMT

OPTICSTURKEY’S ENDLESS HEARTBREAKPhotographs by Bradley Secker for POLITICOAntakya, Hatay province, TURKEYSmoke from fires and the smell of burning plastic filled the air; the relentless sirens of ambulances, police, army and fire brigades piercing through the night.It was eerie in the city, stuck without electricity, water, street lighting or a phone signal. Those who were there during the earthquake and were lucky enough to have survived scrambled out of buildings, totally cut off from the rest of humanity, feeling like they were isolated at the end of the world.The body of 6 year old Syrian refugee Adem Ahdeb, lays inside his home, after double earthquakes in southern Turkey caused the family home to collapse. The family wrote on one remaining wall: “There’s a child here,” in Turkish, to ensure demolition workers know to look for his remains. Note: Color photographs were all made in the Turkish province of Hatay in the days following the quakes. | Photogra...

Nuclear power is key to transformation

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:20:32 GMT

Aurore Bergé is president of the Renaissance group in the National Assembly of France in. Christian Dürr is chairmen of the Democratic Party group in the German Bundestag with the Free Democratic Party.We are living in a pivotal moment for the energy transition.As the impact of climate change grows increasingly dramatic — from severe floods in Europe to forest fires in Australia — developing countries least equipped to deal with its consequences have suffered disproportionately, and the need for urgent action has become clear. Here in the European Union, we thus debate and strive to find the best solutions to decarbonize our economy, and our common goal is clear: We need to pave the way for a carbon-neutral future and reach the goals of the Paris Agreement.This transition to carbon neutrality is essential for our future — and it must be an economic and technological success story. At the same time, we need to be able to implement this essential transformation process without risking...

Butler, Strus push Heat into playoffs in harrowing 102-91 comeback against Bulls; Bucks up next on Sunday

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:20:32 GMT

There will be playoffs instead of lottery for the Miami Heat, as they punched their ticket into the first round with a 102-91 victory Friday night over the Chicago Bulls at the Kaseya Center.The payoff? A best-of-seven series against the Eastern Conference No. 1-seeded Milwaukee Bucks for Erik Spoelstra’s team, starting Sunday at Fiserv Forum.As has been typical, the Heat did it the hard way, blowing an early 14-point lead and then 10-point third-quarter lead.But from six down in the fourth, Jimmy Butler helped save the day, with some of his postseason best on a night that started with decidedly less than his postseason best, the Heat closing it out with a 15-1 run.With Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro off with their offense, and Kyle Lowry forced to sit by recurring knee pain, the Heat found themselves in another clutch game, this time with everything at stake in the winner-take-all game in the play-in round.No matter how achieved, even with having to settle for the No. 8 seed and...

Adley Rutschman’s clutch double leads Orioles’ rally in 6-3 comeback win over White Sox

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:20:32 GMT

The Orioles were walking the walk Friday until Adley Rutschman got sick of the free bases.Despite walking eight times in the first seven innings, the Orioles struggled to score against the Chicago White Sox, as Baltimore trailed by two runs with two outs in the seventh.But just as he did Thursday with his first career walk-off home run, Rutschman delivered in a pivotal moment. With the bases loaded, the star catcher roped a bases-clearing double to left-center field to give the Orioles the lead en route to a 6-3 victory.The Orioles (8-6) loaded the bases and scored a run earlier in the seventh with three walks and an infield single. Cedric Mullins’ bases-loaded walk was the Orioles’ first run of the night and their eighth free pass.Rutschman came up against White Sox right-hander Reynaldo López and took the first two pitches for strikes. López then attempted to blow a fastball by Rutschman at 100.3 mph, but the switch-hitter kept his hands inside the low-middle...