O crimă violentă de profil înaltă provoacă, în mod obișnuit, rețelele de socializare în vâltoare cu sfaturi și teorii de la detectivi amatori de internet, care vânează presupusul făptuitor.
Dar după ce CEO-ul UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, a fost împușcat săptămâna aceasta în New York, fără ca un suspect principal să fie identificat, un eveniment rar s-a întâmplat în lumea înfloritoare a crimelor adevărate: tăcerea online de la detectivii de fotolii foarte urmăriți.
„Încă nu am văzut un singur videoclip care să bată tamburul „trebuie să-l găsim”, și acesta este unic”, a spus Michael McWhorter, mai cunoscut sub numele de TizzyEnt pe TikTok, unde postează conținut de știri virale și crime adevărate pentru el. 6,7 milioane de urmăritori. „Și în alte situații de un fel de violență flagrantă, aș vedea cu siguranță asta.”
Un bărbat înarmat mascat, care se află încă în fugă, l-a împușcat miercuri pe directorul de 50 de ani în fața unui hotel aglomerat din New York, a declarat poliția. Carcasele de ochiuri găsite la fața locului aveau scrise „nega”, „apără” și „depozitează”, potrivit unui oficial înalt de aplicare a legii din New York, informat despre anchetă.
Uciderea vizată a lui Thompson a stârnit laude online din partea oamenilor supărați pentru starea asistenței medicale din SUA. Zeci de mii de oameni și-au exprimat sprijinul pe rețelele de socializare pentru asasinat sau au simpatizat cu acesta. Unii chiar păreau să-l sărbătorească.
„Abundența postărilor pe rețelele de socializare care laudă și gloriifică uciderea CEO-ului UnitedHealth, Brian Thompson, este profund îngrijorătoare”, a declarat anterior Alex Goldenberg, consilier principal la Institutul de Cercetare a Rețelei de Contagiune de la Universitatea Rutgers, pentru NBC News. (Thompson a fost CEO al UnitedHealthcare, nu al UnitedHealth Group, compania mamă.)
Într-o declarație, familia lui Thompson a spus că el a fost „un tată incredibil de iubitor” pentru doi fii și „va fi foarte dor de”.
„Suntem zdrobiți să auzim despre uciderea fără sens a iubitului nostru Brian”, se spune în declarație. „Brian a fost un om incredibil de iubitor, generos și talentat, care a trăit cu adevărat viața la maxim și a atins atât de multe vieți.”
Cu toate acestea, unii dintre cei mai populari detectivi de internet au exclus investigația.
„Suntem destul de apatici față de asta”, a spus Savannah Sparks, care are 1,3 milioane de urmăritori pe contul ei TikTok – unde urmărește și dezvăluie identitățile persoanelor care comit acte rasiste sau aparent criminale în videoclipuri virale – despre a ajuta la identificarea trăgător. Ea a adăugat că, mai degrabă decât să detecteze, comunitatea ei are „concepte de gânduri și rugăciuni. Este, știți, pretenția refuzată cu privire la rugăciunile mele de acolo”, referindu-se la condoleanțe memorabile și lipsite de seriozitate.
Deși Sparks, în vârstă de 34 de ani, a fost apelată de forțele de ordine în trecut pentru a ajuta ofițerii să-i instruiască pe cum să găsească suspecți online, potrivit e-mailurilor văzute de NBC News, ea a spus de data aceasta că nu este interesată să ajute poliția.
Sparks, care lucrează și în domeniul sănătății ca consultant în alăptare și deține un doctorat în farmacie, nu a tocat cuvintele când a fost întrebată dacă comunitatea ei lucrează pentru a găsi suspectul în uciderea lui Thompson.
„Absolut la naiba, nu”, a spus ea.
Un alt detectiv popular TikTok, thatdaneshguy, care are 2 milioane de urmăritori pe platformă, a realizat un videoclip care critică industria sănătății, spunând că nu va încerca să identifice criminalul. „Nu trebuie să încurajez violența. Nu trebuie să accept violența sub nicio formă. Dar nici eu nu trebuie să ajut”, a spus el.
Această atitudine în rândul unor creatori de conținut vine pe fondul atenției amplificate asupra frustrărilor legate de asistența medicală din SUA în urma crimei.
Un sondaj Gallup publicat vineri a constatat că americanii cred că calitatea asistenței medicale este la cel mai scăzut nivel din ultimii 24 de ani. Cei intervievați au spus că acoperirea asistenței medicale este și mai proastă, 54% spunând că este corectă sau slabă.
Detectivii online au ajutat FBI să identifice sute de răzvrătiți din Capitoliu și să-i prindă pe inculpații arestați anterior pe 6 ianuarie, care comit crime pe care biroul le-a omis, într-un caz chiar găsind dovezi că un Proud Boy a agresat un ofițer în mijlocul procesului său sedițios pentru conspirație. .
Și când Gabby Petito, în vârstă de 22 de ani, a dispărut în timp ce își documenta călătoriile prin țară pe rețelele de socializare cu logodnicul ei, detectivii online au intrat în acțiune. Ulterior s-a stabilit că Petito a fost ucisă de logodnicul ei Brian Laundrie, care s-a sinucis.
Cel puțin o persoană care a încercat să ajute la găsirea ucigașului lui Thompson a fost criticată pe X, cunoscută anterior ca Twitter, pentru că a făcut acest lucru.
Într-o postare virală, Riley Walz, un inginer de software, a spus că este „destul de încrezător” în ceea ce privește locul în care a fugit împușatorul pe o bicicletă, după ce a căutat datele din programul de partajare a bicicletelor Citi Bike. El a spus că a împărtășit informațiile cu poliția.
Dar o sursă apropiată de Lyft, care operează Citi Bike, a declarat mai târziu că NYPD a spus companiei direct că incidentul nu a implicat programul de bikeshare.
Walz a refuzat să comenteze vineri. De la postarea sa, unii utilizatori X l-au numit „snitch”. McWhorter, sau TizzyEnt de la TikTok, a spus că reacția împotriva celor care au încercat să ajute ar putea determina pe alții să nu vrea să intervină.
„Dacă o vezi într-o astfel de slăbire, trebuie să-mi imaginez că acest lucru influențează decizia unor oameni”, a spus el.
Dar în mare parte, a spus McWhorter, „există acest lucru ciudat, această atmosferă de genul, nu văd o grămadă de oameni care simt doar o urgență”.
McWhorter a postat primul său videoclip despre incident vineri seară. Videoclipul de aproximativ două minute era despre „cât de mult nu le pasă oamenilor”.
Sukrit Venkatagiri, profesor asistent de informatică la Swarthmore College, a spus că mulți oameni simt o lipsă de legătură cu un CEO bogat.
„Ei nu empatizează cu adevărat cu cine este victima în acest scenariu”, a spus Venkatagiri.
Venkatagiri, care a studiat daunele dezinformării și dezinformarii, precum și investigațiile privind aprovizionarea cu mulțime, a spus, în mod anecdotic, că s-a vorbit mai puțin despre găsirea ucigașului lui Thompson în spații precum subreddit r/Reddit Bureau of Investigations, o pagină online de investigare pe Reddit care susține că „folosește puterea internetului pentru a rezolva problemele din lumea reală”.
„Oamenii sunt mai puțin motivați, dintr-o perspectivă altruistă, să ajute această victimă în acest caz specific”, a spus Venkatagiri.
Dincolo de lipsa de investigații online, care uneori poate tulbura investigațiile forțelor de ordine, a existat o serie de informații publicate de Departamentul de Poliție din New York.
Poliția a publicat două imagini cu o „persoană de interes”, inclusiv una în care zâmbește în timp ce folosește un act de identitate fals pentru a ieși dintr-un hostel din Upper West Side din New York City, precum și mai multe videoclipuri de supraveghere, inclusiv una în care suspectul îl împușcă pe Thompson.
Anchetatorii cred că împușcatorul ar fi putut călători în New York City din Atlanta luna trecută cu autobuzul, au declarat trei oficiali înalți ai forțelor de ordine familiarizați cu cazul pentru NBC News.
Anchetatorii nu au identificat un suspect, deși ancheta este în desfășurare, a declarat vineri un înalt oficial al forțelor de ordine informat cu privire la acest subiect. Poliția a găsit zeci de imagini de la camerele de supraveghere ale suspectului urmărind cronologia lui în Manhattan, a spus oficialul.
Poliția a oferit o recompensă de până la 10.000 de dolari pentru informațiile care au condus la arestare și condamnare.
Acest articol a fost publicat inițial pe NBCNews.com
The outfield, if you don’t already know, is actually three positions in one, so it only makes sense to go deeper there than at any singular infield spot.
This year, I’ve chosen 25 as the arbitrary cutoff. In truth, 20 or even 15 would have made for a more natural one since the distinctions there are clearer, with the top 15 being musts on any overall top 100 list and the next five being at least on the border.
Top Prospects: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | P
So why have five more? Mainly because I want to highlight a few personal cheeseballs who might wind up rounding out my top 100 overall. You could argue that 2024 draft picks James Tibbs and Theo Gillen have more upside than my Nos. 21-25 or that Spencer Jones, Jacob Melton, or Drew Gilbert would make for more conventional choices. They and about about a dozen others were in contention for those final five spots, and I feel like any permutation thereof would have been just as viable.
But ultimately, it’s my list, and so to add that personal touch, I’ve devoted Nos. 21-25 to the outfield prospects that I think the consensus has sold short, even if I could find an excuse to leave them out myself.
Because once you break through that consensus layer of the prospect pool, at the bottom of everything, it’s all cheeseballs.
Note: These rankings are intended mainly for Dynasty use, emphasizing long-term value over a quick payoff, but to say proximity holds no weight wouldn’t be entirely accurate either. Not all of these players will contribute in 2025 — most, in fact, will not — but among prospects, they’re the names Fantasy Baseballers most need to know.
Age (on opening day): 20 Where he played in 2024: Double-A, Triple-A Minor-league stats: .291 BA (454 AB), 18 HR, 21 SB, .894 OPS, 79 BB, 127 K
Though he always earned high marks for his plate discipline and exit velocity readings, it was the first annual Futures Skills Showcase, which he won by way of a gaudy power display, that likely clinched Anthony’s spot as the No. 1 overall prospect. He caught fire thereafter, batting .353 with eight homers and a 1.022 OPS over his final 52 games, much of it coming after his promotion to Triple-A.
Age (on opening day): 23 Where he played in 2024: Double-A, Triple-A, majors Minor-league stats: .270 BA (397 AB), 13 HR, 25 SB, .792 OPS, 36 BB, 92 K Major-league stats: .219 BA (119 AB), 3 HR, 12 SB, .641 OPS, 11 BB, 26 K
Crews’ top-line production was nothing to write home about, but the Nationals still saw fit to hurry him to the majors, trusting that his secondary characteristics had more to say about his readiness. Indeed, he hits the ball consistently and hard, so if he can simply improve the direction it takes off the bat, good days are ahead. And really, with as much as he runs, it won’t take much power production to make him a Fantasy standout.
Age (on opening day): 22 Where he played in 2024: Low-A, Double-A, Triple-A, majors Minor-league stats: .314 BA (226 AB), 11 HR, 16 SB, .880 OPS, 22 BB, 50 K Major-league stats: .179 BA (56 AB), 2 HR, 5 SB, .617 OPS, 11 BB, 19 K
Dominguez followed up his eight-game barnstorming tour in 2023 with an injury-plagued 2024 that kept his rookie status intact for another year. While his second stint with the Yankees was a relative letdown, he still shined in every respect in the minors, with most of the remaining hurdles being finer things like route-running in the outfield and elevating with his swing. I suspect he’ll be shoring up those in the majors.
Age (on opening day): 20 Where he played in 2024: Rookie, Low-A, High-A, Double-A Minor-league stats: .282 BA (305 AB), 6 HR, 17 SB, .833 OPS, 56 BB, 47 K
If you’re underwhelmed by Jenkins’ production relative to the hype, understand that projectability is a big part of the equation here. He’s still growing into his 6-foot-3 frame, but his picture-perfect swing and beyond-his-years approach were enough to propel him to Double-A at age 19. The way the scouting reports extol him, you’d think he’s Larry Walker or something, and at this stage of development, who’s to say he isn’t?
Age (on opening day): 21 Where he played in 2024: High-A Minor-league stats: .180 BA (100 AB), 1 HR, 4 SB, .518 OPS, 4 BB, 34 K
It was an ugly debut for Condon, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 draft who put up historic power numbers at the University of Georgia, but I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt given that he went straight to High-A and was dealing with a hand injury. Most of his-swing-and-miss comes on secondary stuff, with fastballs being tattooed beyond recognition, so you have to like that he’ll be making his home in the venue notorious for straightening out breaking balls.
Age (on opening day): 22 Where he played in 2024: Rookie, Low-A, Double-A, Triple-A Minor-league stats: .280 BA (157 AB), 9 HR, 9 SB, 1.026 OPS, 51 BB, 62 K
Rodriguez has always struck out a lot, but the rate hasn’t gotten worse as he’s moved up the ladder, which makes it easier to qualify as a non-issue. And if it’s a non-issue, hoo boy, there are some preternatural talents here. The man simply doesn’t chase, which obviously leads to oodles of walks even if it sometimes puts him in bad counts, and his exit velocity readings are among the highest in all the minors as well.
Age (on opening day): 19 Where he played in 2024: Low-A, High-A Minor-league stats: 268 BA (385 AB), 10 HR, 27 SB, .809 OPS, 84 BB, 95 K
The Dodgers once traded away Yordan Alvarez for relief pitcher Josh Fields and now have a chance for a mulligan with De Paula, another defensively challenged left-handed slugger whose most fundamental hitting traits are almost too good to be true. Though only a teenager, he already generates near-elite exit velocities and unreal plate discipline, which actually improved after his midseason move up to High-A with 50 walks vs. 38 strikeouts.
Age (on opening day): 20 Where he played in 2024: Low-A, High-A Minor-league stats: .288 BA (448 AB), 21 HR, .881 OPS, 78 BB, 128 K
Montes used to be the one drawing Yordan Alvarez comparisons, seeing as he’s a Cubs expatriate with a similar build who trained with the same hitting instructor in the Dominican Republic, but just when it seemed like he was making strides with his strikeout rate at Low-A, it jumped back to 30 percent at High-A. I still think he’ll be a premier slugger in the majors, given how hard he hits the ball, but the downside case is also easy to make.
Age (on opening day): 20 Where he played in 2024: Low-A, High-A Minor-league stats: .279 BA (420 AB), 9 HR, 29 SB, .794 OPS, 61 BB, 94 K
Clark is well known for his high school accolades, high-effort style of play, and social media presence, but so far, defense looks to be his carrying tool. That’ll keep him high on real-life lists, though still behind Wyatt Langford and Walker Jenkins, who were drafted behind him. The longer Clark goes without actualizing his power potential, the more fearful I’ll be of him becoming another Mark Kotsay or Nick Markakis type, but I’m not there yet.
Age (on opening day): 23 Where he played in 2024: Rookie, Double-A, Triple-A Minor-league stats: .261 BA (142 AB), 8 HR, .842 OPS, 19 BB, 22 K
DeLauter basically checks every box as a hitter, making all the right swing decisions and manipulating the barrel for optimal contact. But he broke the same foot in 2024 that’s already been operated on twice, which is a little too reminiscent of Alex Kirilloff’s wrist for my liking. There’s no reason to believe DeLauter’s plight will go as that one did, but he’ll begin to lose value if he doesn’t force his way into the big-league picture this year.
11. Zyhir Hope, Dodgers
Age (on opening day): 20 Where he played in 2024: Rookie, Low-A Minor-league stats: .290 BA (221 AB), 9 HR, 9 SB, .903 OPS, 41 BB, 62 K
Stealing him away from the Cubs in the Michael Busch deal, the Dodgers unlocked Hope’s potential almost immediately, encouraging him to attack in a way that didn’t compromise his natural plate discipline. A fractured rib interrupted a hot start and cost him three months, but he returned even stronger, putting him in a neck-and-neck race with De Paula for most upside in the system.
Age (on opening day): 19 Where he played in 2024: Rookie, Low-A Minor-league stats: .344 BA (221 AB), 12 HR, 15 SB, 1.079 OPS, 37 BB, 63 K
Calaz stands out from the other teenage hopefuls with upside for days in that he’s already realized his power potential, checking off the most important box at an early stage of development. He still has much to prove with regard to pitch identification and selection — which is true for any hitter in Rookie ball, really — but he slashed .327/.386/.571 in a 13-game trial at Low-A.
Age (on opening day): 22 Where he played in 2024: Triple-A Minor-league stats: .278 BA (472 AB), 19 HR, 11 SB, .848 OPS, 71 BB, 156 K
The scouting reports all rave about Caissie’s power potential, which is plain to see from the exit velocity readings, but as he stands at the precipice of the majors, that potential still isn’t fully realized due to suboptimal launch and spray angles. That’s a fairly small hurdle to clear, though, and presuming he clears it, he projects as a classic three-true-outcomes type, with Kyle Schwarber being one possible outcome.
Age (on opening day): 20 Where he played in 2024: Low-A Minor-league stats: .264 BA (178 AB), 4 HR, 18 SB, .820 OPS, 36 BB, 52 K
Farmelo has football-level athleticism that manifests mostly as speed and defense right now but is expected to burgeon into left-handed power, especially given the work the Mariners have already put into cleaning up his swing. It’s not raw athleticism either, with plate discipline and pitch recognition already being standout qualities for him, which is why his stock is on the rise even as he works his way back from ACL surgery.
Age (on opening day): 21 Where he played in 2024: did not play — fractured ankle
The 12th pick in the 2024 draft has yet to debut because of a fractured ankle, and part of me wonders if the separation between him and the 13th pick, fellow outfielder James Tibbs, is mainly because the former hasn’t taken any lumps yet. Montgomery has a powerful swing and knows a ball from a strike, but his tendency to miss could be more disqualifying as a pro than it was in college. If any organization deserves the benefit of the doubt with hitters right now, though, it’s the Red Sox.
Age (on opening day): 22 Where he played in 2024: Rookie, High-A Minor-league stats: .283 BA (456 AB), 17 HR, 53 SB, .851 OPS, 51 BB, 100 K
Between his 53-steal 2024, his switch-hitting, and the fact he split his debut season (2023) between catcher, shortstop, and center field, Carrigg exudes athleticism, and so far, his hitting has been on point as well. The scouting reports seem to be holding something back still, giving little explanation for why he doesn’t rank higher, but I’m beginning to think there’s a Shane Victorino-type player here.
Age (on opening day): 22 Where he played in 2024: Double-A, Triple-A, majors Minor-league stats: .278 BA (421 AB), 14 HR, 14 SB, .781 OPS, 47 BB, 123 K
Alcantara still has the makings of a star player, but he’s beginning to run out of minor-league runaway, having actually debuted in September, and still hasn’t quite taken flight. His numbers have always been decent, but after five minor-league seasons, he still doesn’t run much, still doesn’t elevate well, and still can’t hit a breaking ball. Maybe it all comes together for him one year, but I sense that his stock is nearing a make-or-break point.
Age (on opening day): 19 Where he played in 2024: Low-A Minor-league stats: .270 BA (334 AB), 5 HR, 44 SB, .813 OPS, 86 BB, 69 K
Jaison gets outsized attention as the brother of Jackson, but this Chourio is more of a prototypical leadoff hitter, standing out most for his on-base and base-stealing abilities. The contrast is similar to the one between Ronald Acuna and Luisangel Acuna, though perhaps not as stark. Some evaluators think Chourio could grow into more power, which would be particularly exciting given his uncommon batting eye.
Age (on opening day): 21 Where he played in 2024: High-A, Double-A Minor-league stats: .313 BA (457 AB), 9 HR, 42 SB, .805 OPS, 32 BB, 93 K
Former Rays outfielder Carl Crawford brought a unique skill set to the aughts, delivering an elite batting average and stolen base total without being a total liability in home runs, and you don’t have to squint too hard to see his son Justin doing something similar. He’s a bit too slash-and-dash right now with a ground-ball rate over 60 percent, but his exit velocities are good enough for modest power if the requisite adjustment doesn’t cost him too much in the way of batting average.
Age (on opening day): 23 Where he played in 2024: High-A, Double-A Minor-league stats: .272 BA (404 AB), 4 HR, 74 SB, .729 OPS, 50 BB, 72 K
A true 80 grade for both speed and defense with exceptional contact skills to boot, Bradfield is almost certainly going to be a major-leaguer of some note. But that note may be too singular for Fantasy, particularly with stolen bases no longer being in such demand. It’ll come down to whether he plays every day and offers anything in the way of batting average, but the upside is limited, clearly.
Age (on opening day): 20 Where he played in 2024: Low-A Minor-league stats: .288 BA (368 AB), 11 HR, 41 SB, .874 OPS, 64 BB, 103 K
The Rays liked Smith enough to trade Randy Arozarena for him, and while you could knock him for being a skinny Minnie right now, strength gains are maybe the easiest projection to make for a professional athlete in his early 20s. Meanwhile, Smith reached base at a .401 clip this past season and stole a boatload of bases. With a little muscle mass added, his swing is already built for power with high fly-ball and pull rates.
22. Bo Davidson, Giants
Age (on opening day): 22 Where he played in 2024: Rookie, Low-A Minor-league stats: .327 BA (220 AB), 11 HR, 7 SB, 1.042 OPS, 38 BB, 65 K
I’m sticking my neck out for this guy, who did some special things at the plate this year but remains mostly ignored by prospect hounds because he went undrafted in 2023. The overall numbers are impressive enough, but would you believe Davidson slashed .405/.522/.763 with nine homers in 38 games after returning from a hamstring injury in July? He earns high marks for athleticism, too, so while unsustainable in the strictest sense, the performance doesn’t strike me as some A-ball fakeout.
Age (on opening day): 24 Where he played in 2024: High-A, Double-A Minor-league stats: .355 BA (451 AB), 1 HR, 104 SB, .807 OPS, 44 BB, 43 K
Could he be any more any more of a throwback? Players with Simpson’s skill set haven’t been en vogue since about the time the The Simpsons first aired and haven’t been even viable since Michael Bourn or Juan Pierre. You have to admire how committed Simpson is to not hitting homers, though, judging by his tiny fly-ball and pull rates. He knows who he is, and it’ll either work or it won’t. Xavier Edwards’ initial success offers some hope.
Age (on opening day): 23 Where he played in 2024: Rookie, High-A, Double-A, Triple-A Minor-league stats: .258 BA (233 AB), 11 HR, 21 SB, .805 OPS, 30 BB, 67 K
While many have abandoned ship, I’m willing to see Veen through, believing that injuries have basically sabotaged his entire minor-league career. He finally had surgery last offseason to address a two-year battle with wrist issues and came out of gate slashing .326/.418/.568 in 28 games before back and thumb injuries derailed him once again. He doesn’t project as a middle-of-the-order slugger anymore, but there’s hope for stolen bases and batting average, particularly in Colorado.
Age (on opening day): 25 Where he played in 2024: Double-A, Triple-A Minor-league stats: .293 BA (451 AB), 16 HR, 14 SB, .865 OPS, 64 BB, 75 K
Roden beats out other personal cheeseballs like the Athletics’ Colby Thomas and the Angels’ Matthew Lugo because I think the odds of him being an out-and-out failure are next to nothing. His contact, line-drive, and on-base skills are simply too good. Whether the power is enough to make him Fantasy viable is harder to say, but his max exit velocity (112.2 mph) and pull rate (50.5) at Triple-A this past year are high enough for me to believe so.
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🚨 Headlines
🏀 Loyd wants out: Perennial WNBA All-Star Jewell Loyd has requested a trade from the Seattle Storm. The two-time champion was reportedly at the center of complaints about bullying and harassment by the Storm coaching staff.
🏈 National Signing Day: College football’s early signing period began Wednesday, and there was no shortage of activity among 2025 recruits. Oregon currently has the No. 1 class, per Rivals, followed by Georgia, Ohio State, Texas and Alabama.
⚾️ Korean star to MLB: Hyeseong Kim has been posted by the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO (South Korea’s top league). MLB teams have until Jan. 3 to work out a deal for the 25-year-old second baseman, who hit .326 last year with 41 extra-base hits and 30 steals.
🏀 Irving lawsuit: Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving is being sued for allegedly declining to pay a $390k bill for a 150-person family retreat this summer, which ended early due to a “tragic death of a participant.”
⚽️ Back in the win column: Manchester City beat Nottingham Forest, 3-0, to snap a seven-game winless streak across all competitions. The four-time reigning champs hadn’t won a Premier league match since October.
🏈 No breathing room for the 11-1 Lions
(Yahoo Sports)
The Lions are 11-1, haven’t lost since mid-September and sit atop our NFL power rankings for the sixth consecutive week. Usually, a team in that position has some breathing room. But for Detroit, there’s little room for error as the schedule flips to Week 14.
From Yahoo Sports’ Frank Schwab:
In 1999, the Titans went 13-3 but finished second in their division to the 14-2 Jaguars, giving Tennessee the distinction of having the most wins for a wild-card team in NFL history. The 1986 Bears, 1998 Falcons and 2004 Patriots are the only teams ever to win 14 games and not get a No. 1 seed.
This season could end up being a historical anomaly in the NFC. Usually when a team like the Detroit Lions is 11-1 and seemingly headed toward 15 or 16 wins, it doesn’t have to worry much about winning its division or getting a No. 1 seed. But the Eagles and Vikings, both at 10-2, might keep the pressure on all season.
The Lions have the NFL’s third-hardest remaining schedule, according to Tankathon, which doesn’t help. The Vikings are fourth, and part of the problem for each team is they play each other in Week 18 at Detroit. Philadelphia, meanwhile, has the 23rd toughest remaining schedule.
And don’t forget about Green Bay… The 9-3 Packers visit the Lions tonight in a high-stakes NFC North clash. If Green Bay wins, Detroit will have yet another 10-win team on its tail, further crowding the race for the division crown and No. 1 seed.
💵 Clarkonomics
(Sportico)
Caitlin Clark only earned $100,000 playing basketball this year ($76,535 WNBA base salary plus bonuses), but she was still the 10th highest-paid female athlete in the world, per Sportico’s 2024 calculations.
How is that possible? Endorsement deals, of course. Thanks to her lucrative partnerships with brands like Nike, Gatorade and State Farm, Clark’s overall earnings in 2024 were $11.1 million. That puts her on par with Simone Biles, who had a similar salary/endorsement mix.
The Caitlin Effect: Clark was responsible for 26.5% of WNBA economic activity during the 2024 season (attendance, merch sales, TV viewership), one expert told the Indianapolis Star. That’s crazy. Even crazier? One of every six tickets sold at a WNBA arena this past year can be attributed to Clark.
📸 In photos: Hump Day hoops
Creighton fans celebrate on the court. (Rebecca S. Gratz/AP Photo)
For the first time since December 10, 1983, three of the AP Top 5 men’s college basketball teams lost on the same night in non-conference games. And this comes one day after unranked Clemson upset No. 4 Kentucky. December Madness!
Omaha, Nebraska — Fans stormed the court after unranked Creighton upset No. 1 Kansas, 76-63, to hand the Jayhawks their first loss. The Bluejays have now beaten a No. 1 team at home in back-to-back seasons, following last year’s win over UConn.
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Duke’s Isaiah Evans reacts during the first half. (Ben McKeown/AP Photo)
Durham, N.C. — No. 9 Duke knocked off No. 2 Auburn, 84-78, behind freshmen studs Cooper Flagg (22 pts, 11 reb) and Isaiah Evans (18 pts, 6-8 3PT). That was the extent of the good for the ACC, which went 2-14 in the ACC-SEC Challenge this week. Woof.
Ladies and gentlemen, Dan Hurley. (Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
Storrs, Connecticut — No. 25 UConn came back from an early deficit to defeat No. 15 Baylor, 76-72, and help the Big East take a 4-2 lead in the Big East-Big 12 Battle. Dan Hurley was so hyped at one point he head-butted his own player.
Keshon Gilbert drives to the basket. (Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo)
Ames, Iowa — Keshon Gilbert (24 pts, 7 ast) and No. 6 Iowa State beat No. 5 Marquette, 81-70, to win their 22nd straight game at Hilton Coliseum. Huge victory for Cyclone Nation; now their attention turns to Saturday’s Big 12 title game on the gridiron.
More from Wednesday: No. 10 Alabama beat No. 20 UNC, 94-79, in a rematch of last year’s Sweet 16 matchup, which Alabama also won … Unranked Mississippi State blew out No. 18 Pitt by 33 points … Belmont beat Illinois State, 99-97 (OT), on a buzzer-beater.
⚽️ Club World Cup 2025: What to know
(FIFA)
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is still months away, but the buzz is building ahead of today’s draw, where the 32 participating teams will be sorted into groups ahead of the first-of-its-kind event hosted by the U.S.
Who’s in the field? The Club World Cup is modeled after soccer’s actual World Cup, with one key difference: top professional clubs (like Real Madrid), rather than national teams (like Spain), are the contestants.
Europe (12): Manchester City (England), Chelsea (England), Real Madrid (Spain), Atlético Madrid (Spain), Bayern Munich (Germany), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Juventus (Italy), Inter Milan (Italy), PSG (France), Benfica (Portugal), Porto (Portugal), RB Salzburg (Austria)
North America (5): Inter Miami (U.S.), Seattle Sounders (U.S.), Monterrey (Mexico), Pachuca (Mexico), León (Mexico)
South America (6): Flamengo (Brazil), Palmeiras (Brazil), Fluminense (Brazil), Botafogo (Brazil), River Plate (Argentina), Boca Juniors (Argentina)
Asia (4): Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Ulsan (South Korea), Urawa Reds (Japan), Al Ain (UAE)
Africa (4): Al Ahly (Egypt), Wydad (Morocco), Espérance (Tunisia), Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
Oceania (1): Auckland City (New Zealand)
Where will games be played? The tournament begins June 15 at Hard Rock Stadium (Miami) and concludes July 13 at MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ), with 10 other venues hosting matches along the way. The full schedule should be released soon after today’s draw.
📆 Dec. 5, 1968: The Esposito brothers
Phil (left) and Tony Esposito before the 1970 All-Star Game. (Bettmann Archives/Getty Images)
56 years ago today, Bruins center Phil Esposito spoiled his younger brother Tony’s NHL debut, scoring twice on the young Canadiens’ goalie in a 2-2 tie.
Hall of Fame siblings: The Esposito brothers are both enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame and are considered among the best ever at their positions.
Phil played 18 years for the Bruins, Rangers and Blackhawks, winning two MVPs and two Stanley Cups. He was the first NHL player to eclipse 100 points in a season (1968-69) and is one of four skaters with at least four 60-goal seasons.
Tony won that season’s Stanley Cup with Montreal before spending the rest of his 16-year career with the Blackhawks. He won three Vezina Trophies (top goalie) and popularized the now-ubiquitous “butterfly style” of goaltending.
Origin story: The Espositos spent their childhood playing hockey together on their backyard rink in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. And according to Phil, that’s where their future positions were cemented.
“Tony and I would play by ourselves or we’d get two other guys and practice shooting. One guy would be the goaltender and the others would shoot, and the guy with the fewest goals would take over in goal. Tony won’t like me saying this, but he always lost. I guess you could say that’s how he wound up as a goalie.”
📺 Watchlist: NFC North showdown
Amon-Ra St. Brown celebrates with fans in the stands after Detroit’s Week 9 win over Green Bay. (Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
The Lions host the Packers tonight(8:15pm ET, Prime) as Detroit (11-1) looks to extend its 10-game win streak and Green Bay (9-3) looks to tighten the NFC North race.
Wild stat: If the Lions win tonight, they will have more 12-win seasons in the last two years (2) than they did in their first 93 seasons (1).
More to watch:
🏀 NBA: Nuggets at Cavaliers (7pm, NBA); Rockets at Warriors (10pm, NBA)
🏀 NCAAW: No. 14 Kentucky at No. 16 North Carolina (5pm, ESPN2); No. 4 Texas at No. 10 Notre Dame (7pm, ESPN); No. 8 Duke at No. 3 South Carolina (9pm, ESPN)
🏀 NCAAM: No. 8 Purdue at Penn State (6:30pm, FS1)
⚽️ Premier League: Fulham vs. Brighton (2:30pm, Peacock); Bournemouth vs. Tottenham (3:15pm, USA)
⛳️ PGA: Hero World Challenge (10:45am, ESPN+; 1:30pm, Golf) … Scottie Scheffler headlines the 20-man event in the Bahamas, hosted by Tiger Woods.
🏐 NCAA Volleyball Tournament*: First round (3:30-9:30pm, ESPN+) … The first 18 games in the 64-team bracket.
*Top seeds: Pitt, which has made the Final Four three years in a row but never won, is the No. 1 overall seed. The other No. 1 seeds are Nebraska, Penn State and Louisville.
🏈 College football trivia
(Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
Four FBS programs that changed conferences this year will play for a league championship this weekend in their inaugural seasons.
Question: Can you name those four programs?
Answer at the bottom.
🏈 Trade proposal: Football team for fighter jets
RFK Stadium, pictured in 1972. (Bettmann Archive/Yahoo Sports)
The 2024 NFL trade deadline has passed, but the Commanders could still be involved in a major swap, writes Yahoo Sports’ Jack Baer.
Let’s make a deal: Maryland senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen have proposed a trade that would allow D.C. to lure the Commanders from their current home at Northwest Stadium (formerly FedEx Field) in Landover, Maryland.
D.C. gets: Maryland senators not opposing a bill that would allow the District to redevelop the RFK Stadium site, where the Commanders franchise played from 1961-96.
Maryland gets: One of D.C.’s two Air National Guard squadrons (and the only one with fighter jets), and assurances about what would be built in place of Northwest Stadium.
My take as a D.C. resident… The Commanders belong in the nation’s capital. I am willing to donate my fighter jet for this cause, and I encourage my fellow Washingtonians to also consider donating their fighter jets to Maryland.
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În primul lor apel, șeful apărării al Rusiei l-a avertizat pe generalul de vârf al SUA cu privire la un exercițiu militar rusesc la scară largă în estul Mării Mediterane, potrivit unui oficial american, tensiunile fiind mari între cele două țări din cauza escaladării războiului din Ucraina.
Convorbirea dintre șeful Statului Major General rus, general Valery Gerasimov și președintele SUA al Statului Major General CQ Brown, care a fost inițiată de Gerasimov, a avut loc pe 27 noiembrie.
Marți, Ministerul rus al Apărării a anunțat că a lansat rachete hipersonice și rachete de croazieră în cadrul unui exercițiu în estul Mării Mediterane. Fregate rusești, Amiralul Flotei Uniunii Sovietice Gorșkov și Amiralul Golovko, au tras rachete hipersonice Tsirkon în cadrul exercițiului, care a inclus Forțele Navale și Aerospațiale Ruse. Submarinul Novorossiysk a lansat rachete de croazieră Kalibr către o țintă navală, potrivit ministerului.
Exercițiul a implicat peste 1.000 de militari; 10 nave; și 24 de avioane, inclusiv avioane de luptă MiG-31 înarmate cu rachete hipersonice Kinzhal, a spus ministerul.
Gerasimov nu a menționat în mod explicit lansarea de rachete hipersonice în apel, potrivit oficialului american.
SUA au în prezent două distrugătoare care operează în Marea Mediterană, USS Bulkeley și USS Arleigh Burke, potrivit unui purtător de cuvânt al Marinei.
New York Times a fost primul care a raportat despre apelul dintre Gerasimov și Brown.
Acesta a fost primul apel între Gerasimov și Brown de când Brown a devenit președinte al șefilor de stat major în urmă cu mai bine de un an. O citire oficială a discuției urmează în mod normal apelurilor între Brown și omologii săi militari, dar rușii au cerut să nu facă acest lucru în acest caz.
Un purtător de cuvânt al lui Brown a confirmat că apelul a avut loc, dar nu a oferit detalii, spunând doar: „Liderii au discutat o serie de probleme de securitate globală și regională, inclusiv conflictul în curs din Ucraina”.
Căpitanul Jereal Dorsey a declarat într-o declarație: „La cererea generalului Gerasimov, generalul Brown a fost de acord să nu anunțe proactiv apelul”. Nu s-a făcut nicio mențiune în declarația exercițiilor din Marea Mediterană.
Oficialul american a spus că cei doi au discutat, de asemenea, despre îngrijorarea SUA cu privire la desfășurarea trupelor nord-coreene pe câmpul de luptă și utilizarea de către Rusia a unei rachete balistice cu rază medie de acțiune cu mai multe focoase la sfârșitul lunii noiembrie. Un alt subiect care a apărut în apel, a spus oficialul, a fost că SUA a dat Ucrainei permisiunea de a lansa rachete ATACMS cu rază lungă de acțiune în Rusia.
SUA și Rusia mențin linii de deconflict în anumite zone de luptă pentru a evita întâlnirile neintenționate atunci când cele două armate operează una lângă cealaltă. Această linie a fost folosită recent în Orientul Mijlociu pentru a preveni orice frecare între forțele americane și ruse care operează în Siria, a spus Pentagonul.
Dar de la începutul războiului din Ucraina în urmă cu aproape trei ani, șefii militarilor americani și ruși au vorbit rar, în ciuda eforturilor repetate de sensibilizare ale SUA la începutul războiului. Gerasimov a vorbit cu fostul președinte al șefilor de stat major, generalul Mark Milley, în martie 2023, după ce un avion de luptă rus a lovit și doborât o dronă americană MQ-9 Reaper deasupra Mării Negre.
Pentru mai multe știri și buletine informative CNN, creați un cont la CNN.com
Problemele de branding ACC au lovit din nou. Și SEC a primit din nou beneficiul îndoielii.
Așa cum a fost vreodată, nu?
Acesta a fost sentimentul emanat de la ACC Country marți după playoff-ul de fotbal colegial penultimul clasament a propulsat o echipă din Alabama cu trei înfrângeri față de Miami cu două înfrângeri. Dacă SMU îl învinge pe Clemson în campionatul ACC de sâmbătă, ACC va avea o singură echipă în Teren de playoff cu 12 echipe în timp ce SEC va primi patru.
Pentru o conferință care părea că ar putea primi trei echipe în urmă cu doar o săptămână, este o lovitură devastatoare. Comisarul ACC, Jim Phillips, a spus că conferința a fost „șocată și dezamăgită” Miami a căzut cu șase locuri pe locul 12. Pentru al doilea an consecutiv, se pare că o echipă ACC va rata reducerea în favoarea unei echipe din Alabama care are o pierdere suplimentară. Anul trecut, o echipă din Florida State cu 13-0 a fost exclusă pentru o echipă campioană SEC 12-1 din Alabama, după accidentarea lui Jordan Travis.
Miami a alunecat în spatele Alabamei în acest an este o pastilă deosebit de dificil de înghițit, având în vedere programul ușor al lui Hurricanes și quarterback-ul vedet Cam Ward. Tot ce trebuia să facă Miami a fost să învingă Syracuse pentru a ajunge pe teren, indiferent de ce a făcut împotriva SMU în campionatul ACC.
ACC, care a căutat soluții pentru a remedia problemele percepute de brand, avea mare nevoie de Hurricanes să facă acest lucru. Pentru o conferință care a fost susținută în mare măsură de jocul lui Dabo Swinney Clemson în anii 2010, „U”-ul care a jucat în playoff ar fi fost o bună expunere pentru ACC. Ar dovedi că pașii pe care i-a făcut conferința pentru a-și promova brandul au funcționat.
În schimb, Miami este eliminat după ce a aruncat avansul cu 21-0 în înfrângerea cu 42-38 în fața Orange. Alabama este cel mai mare beneficiar al prăbușirii târzii din Miami.
Este Alabama o echipă deosebit de bună? Nu, deși este greu să identifici echipe grozave cu NIL care aduce din ce în ce mai multă egalitate fotbalului universitar. Alabama a arătat pentru scurt timp ca poate cea mai bună echipă a națiunii într-o victorie palpitantă pe teren propriu împotriva Georgiei. A avut victorii impresionante peste numărul 19 Missouri și LSU. Totuși, nu părea nimic aproape de o echipă de playoff, într-o înfrângere cu 24-3 în fața Oklahoma în urmă cu două săptămâni, care a simțit că ar fi trebuit să distrugă șansele Tide la playoff. Înfrângerea cu 6-6 Vanderbilt a fost un șoc pentru sistem și suficient pentru a elimina un concurent și în formatul anterior cu patru echipe.
Dar comitetului i-au plăcut victoriile marcante ale Alabamei față de CV-ul neimpresionant al Miami. Warde Manuel, președintele comisiei de selecție, a evidențiat recordul Tide de 3-1 împotriva celor mai bune 25 de echipe, în timp ce Miami a fost 0-1. Syracuse a intrat în top 25 pe locul 22 după victoria sa sâmbătă în fața Hurricanes. Alabama a avut un CV mai bun (10) decât Miami (14), în ciuda pierderii sale suplimentare.
O echipă cu 9-3 din Alabama cu înfrângeri în fața Oklahoma și Vanderbilt merită să fie în playoff? Nu chiar.
Dar întrebarea mai importantă este dacă merită să fie peste Miami.
În mod clar, comisia de selecție crede că așa este.
Până la punctul lor, victoriile Tide asupra Georgiei, Carolina de Sud și Missouri sunt mai bune decât orice a realizat Miami în acest sezon. Respingerea ACC este că poți juca doar echipele pe care le ai în programul tău, dar asta nu diminuează faptul că programele grele ar trebui să fie recompensate. Echipa cu cele mai bune victorii a avut avantaj în fața argumentului lui Miami că cele două înfrângeri ale sale — atât pe drum, cât și cu un total de nouă puncte — au justificat includerea sa față de cele trei înfrângeri ale Alabamei, dintre care cea mai recentă cu 21 de puncte. Fără o victorie în top 25, două înfrângeri s-au dovedit a fi prea mult pentru ca comitetul să pună Miami pe teren.
Problema este că, din nou, comisia de selecție nu a fost consecventă în abordarea sa. Dacă Alabama a beneficiat de îndoiala cu privire la Miami, la fel ar trebui să aibă numărul 13 Ole Miss și numărul 14 South Carolina, celelalte echipe ale SEC cu trei înfrângeri, în această linie de gândire. Ole Miss (nr. 5 Georgia) și South Carolina (nr. 17 Clemson) au ambele victorii mai bune decât orice a realizat Miami. Susținută de fundașul star în ascensiune LaNorris Sellers, Carolina de Sud este cea mai tare echipă din SEC în acest moment, dar în afara mixului de playoff.
Iată cum a explicat Manuel acele clasamente:
În Miami până în ultimele trei săptămâni au avut un sezon foarte bun. Au pierdut doi în ultimele trei săptămâni. Mississippi, de exemplu, are o victorie împotriva Georgiei, după cum știți, o victorie împotriva Carolinei de Sud. Dar au o pierdere împotriva Kentucky, pierderea în prelungiri împotriva LSU. Uneori, atacul lor aduce multe puncte, apărarea conduce țara în multe sacuri. Miami, ofensiva de top din țară cu 44 de puncte și peste 500 de metri pe joc. Deci este foarte aproape. Nu este doar un punct de date peste celălalt. Încercăm doar să aruncăm o privire — nu să încercăm; ne uităm la corpul lor de lucru pentru a le evalua și a lua decizii.
Evident, Mississippi va fi înaintea Carolinei de Sud cu cap la cap, același record. Pe măsură ce le-am evaluat, așa a ieșit votul în ceea ce privește Miami, Mississippi și apoi Carolina de Sud.
Și mai îngrijorător pentru ACC a fost răspunsul lui Manuel dacă o echipă SMU cu 11-1, aflată în prezent pe locul 9, ar putea scădea sub Alabama cu o pierdere în fața lui Clemson în jocul pentru titlul ACC.
— Potenţial da, spuse Manuel.
Dacă s-ar întâmpla acest lucru — și ar avea sens dacă urmați clasamentul comitetului, dat fiind că SMU ar avea un CV similar cu 10-2 Miami — ar pune serios sub semnul întrebării valoarea jocului de jocuri din campionatul conferinței dacă învinsul ar putea fi doborât. în afara câmpului. Ar fi deosebit de dureros pentru ACC, de asemenea, dacă numărul 5 Georgia ar putea pierde campionatul SEC, ar avea trei înfrângeri și totuși să intre în timp ce o echipă SMU cu două înfrângeri ar fi fost eliminată. Penalizarea unei echipe precum SMU în favoarea unei echipe din Alabama cu trei înfrângeri ar putea ucide jocurile de campionat de conferință pe termen lung dacă această logică ar fi aplicată peste tot.
Dar lecția pe care comitetul a amintit-o tuturor marți seara este că beneficiul îndoielii va merge întotdeauna în Alabama în privința ACC. Dacă SMU pierde sâmbătă, s-ar putea să învețe că pe calea grea, la fel cum a făcut-o Miami.
Oricine a suferit un curs de management al afacerilor știe că este o pierdere de timp în cel mai bun caz și un efort care corodă sufletul în cel mai rău caz. Acele suflete nefericite au auzit, în plus, de conceptul de „echipă roșie” sau de „echipă roșie”. Pentru toți ceilalți din mulțime, aceasta este terminologia unui consultant pentru a juca rolul de avocat al diavolului. Este un exercițiu simplu care îi vede pe indivizi respingând o idee, gândirea fiind că ideile bune vor rezista atacului critic, iar cele rele nu.
Același lucru este valabil și pentru jucătorii de minge. Știm atât de multe pentru că din când în când desfășurăm un exercițiu similar într-un context de baseball. Acest articol special este o astfel de ocazie. Mai jos, am luat primii 10 agenți liberi la bordul nostru și a prezentat un argument împotriva semnându-le. Scopul nu este de a distruge acești jucători — toți sunt incredibil de pricepuți și demni de bogățiile care le ies în cale — ci de a stârni un pic de gândire în timp ce ilustrăm complexitatea evaluării jucătorilor. În unele cazuri, raționamentul nostru te poate convinge; in altele nici nu ne va convinge.
Acum, cu tot acel mumbo jumbo din drum, să ajungem la motivul pentru care ai dat clic.
Argumentul de pe teren împotriva semnării lui Soto este că el este un fundaș substandard care ar putea cere rolul de lovitor desemnat înainte de a împlini 30 de ani.
Acest lucru nu este convingător în ochii noștri, având în vedere că Soto este un lovitor de calibru Hall of Fame, care mai mult decât ispășește mănușa lui lipsită de strălucire la farfurie. Ca atare, argumentul real pe care l-am aduce împotriva semnării lui Soto are de-a face cu posibilul său impact fiscal.
Echipele care doresc să se aducă la socoteală pentru Soto, aparent, nu le pasă de penalitățile pentru depășire, care vin odată cu depășirea cu mult a liniei fiscale. La un moment dat, însă, taxa de lux este un joc de matematică și este incontestabil mai greu să eviți acest sau acel prag dacă un singur jucător de pe listă are o taxă care depășește 50 de milioane de dolari anual.
Din nou, nu ne-am lăsa influențați împotriva semnării lui Soto de această rațiune și arată cât de bun este el că este cel mai bun lucru pe care îl putem aduna.
Burnes și-a văzut rata de lovituri în scădere în trei sezoane consecutive, iar eficiența tăietorului său marca înregistrată a scăzut de-a lungul anului, până când a făcut o corecție târzie pentru a induce mai multe lovituri swinging. Totuși, cea mai mare problemă a noastră se referă la volumul de muncă al lui Burnes și șansele de a rezista înainte.
Burnes a aruncat a patra cea mai mare repriză din baseball de la începutul anului 2021, câștigându-i eticheta de „cal de muncă”. Dacă sunteți abonat la ideea că fiecare ulcior depășește o linie de timp suficient de lungă, atunci probabil că vă trageți de guler gândindu-vă să faceți o ofertă de șapte sau mai mulți ani oricărui ulcior titular veteran.
Altfel spus, cu un deceniu în urmă, primii cinci reprize care au consumat în ultimii patru ani au fost James Shields (care intră în sezonul său de 33 de ani), Justin Verlander (32), Félix Hernández (29), Clayton Kershaw (27) și RA Dickey (40). Toți cei cinci aruncători au avut o medie de peste 220 de reprize în ultimii patru ani. La acea vreme, probabil că te-ai fi simțit cel mai încrezător în Hernández și Kershaw, cei mai tineri ulciori din grupă, care înregistrau câteva sezoane de 200 de reprize ale grupului înainte. Nu așa s-au derulat lucrurile. Mai degrabă, doar Verlander (patru) și Shields (doi) au înregistrat mai multe sezoane de 200 de reprize de atunci. Între timp, Hernández și Kershaw au crestat doar câte unul alături de vechiul Dickey.
Echipele au acces la dosarele medicale și la date biomecanice, lucruri care ar trebui să transforme proiectarea sănătății ulciorului din mersul unui bețiv în ceva mai eficient. Din perspectiva noastră, concluzia de aici este că nu ar trebui să te simți niciodată prea încrezător în ceea ce privește sarcinile de lucru viitoare bazate pe vârstă sau durabilitate demonstrată.
Am expus deja cazul pentru a fi oarecum îngrijorat de aspectul pe termen lung al lui Bregman, ca parte a capsulei sale de top 50. Iată ce am scris:
Cu cât ne-am concentrat mai mult pe Bregman, cu atât am dezvoltat mai multe rezerve în legătură cu bâta lui. Nu se poate nega sentimentul lui pentru contact, dar nu suntem la fel de încrezători în celelalte elemente. De exemplu, calculele lui Statcast sugerează că ar avea cu cel puțin 30 de home run-uri mai puține în carieră dacă ar fi lovit aceeași gamă de mingi bătute într-unul din alte 17 terenuri MLB. Nu poți ține asta împotriva lui Bregman — faci golf pe terenul pe care te afli — dar asta sugerează că puterea lui s-ar putea reduce în altă parte. Mai este și problema ratei sale de mers, care a scăzut la un nivel scăzut în carieră de 6,9% în sezonul trecut, pe măsură ce a devenit mai agresiv. Abilitățile de bâtă la minge și defensive ale lui Bregman rămân suficient de bune pentru ca el să ofere valoare; Există doar puțin mai multe motive pentru a spune „hm” aici decât indică valoarea numelui său.
Nu are sens să pretinzi că Bregman este Chone Figgins sau chiar DJ LeMahieu. Dar modul în care puterea lui se transferă (sau nu) în alte medii este ceva cu care echipele vor trebui să se lupte înainte de a trimite genul de ofertă pe care cariera lui de până acum o merită.
O mare parte din analizele și prognozele de baseball se bazează pe precedent. Este important de remarcat acest lucru, deoarece ajută la explicarea unei neliniști persistente cu privire la viitorul lui Snell – neliniște pe care Dodgers în mod clar nu o împărtășeau, având în vedere că l-a semnat la un pact de cinci ani în valoare de aproximativ 160 de milioane de dolari în valoare actuală (veți fi uimit să aflați că contractul include bani amânați).
Într-adevăr, nu am experimentat niciodată o carieră ca Snell de la un pitcher titular. El este la egalitate cu Pedro Martinez pentru cea mai mare rată de lovituri pentru un pitcher titular de la ultima rundă de expansiune până la sezonul lor de 31 de ani. El nu este considerat un as asemănător lui Pedro din câteva motive, începând cu faptul că Martinez a fost genial în timpul erei steroizilor, înainte ca loviturile să devină mai frecvente la nivelul întregii ligi.
Există, de asemenea, problema că Snell este mai predispus să acorde pase gratuite și să ieși din timp devreme din jocuri. Dacă ar trebui să-i găsești un contemporan, probabil că te-ai mulțumi pe cineva ca Robbie Ray — iar Ray a ratat aproape întregul sezon de vârstă de 31 și -32 de ani în timp ce era supus și se recupera de la o intervenție chirurgicală la cot.
Ne așteptam ca piața să fie mai bună cu Snell în această iarnă decât cea trecută și, cu siguranță, a fost într-un mod semnificativ. Chiar și așa, probabil că este corect să continuăm să credem că perspectiva lui pe termen lung are două cozi grase.
Iertați-ne pentru lipsa de imaginație în această privință, dar credem că cel mai bun argument împotriva semnării lui Fried are de-a face cu ideea menționată mai sus că toți ulciorii se rupe în cele din urmă. Fried a experimentat asta în 2023, când a fost limitat la 14 starturi, în parte din cauza încordării antebrațului. În caz contrar, nu există o deficiență reală legată de abilități sau un semnal roșu pe care să le putem observa.
Strikeout-urile sunt mai acceptate acum decât în orice moment anterior din istoria baseballului. Oricum ar fi, este corect să dezvolți collywobbles atunci când pui rata K a lui Adames în context.
Mai exact, iată o listă a celor șase opriri scurte cu cele mai mari rate de lovituri de la ultima rundă de extindere (1998), minim 2.000 de călătorii la platou: Danny Espinosa, Trevor Story, José Hernández, Javier Báez, Paul DeJong și Adames . Acum, iată ce au realizat aceiași jucători începând cu sezoanele de 29 de ani:
Espinosa era în penultimul sezon de ligă mare. El ar lovi pentru un 79 OPS+ care ar părea Judgeian în comparație cu producția din anul următor (42 OPS+).
Story, în primul său an cu Red Sox, a oferit o ofensă medie în ligă. Din păcate, el ar începe să se confrunte cu problemele de accidentare care l-au afectat în Boston. El este lovit pentru 89 OPS+ și a înregistrat o medie de 54 de jocuri per pop în trei ani.
Hernández a fost un pionierat – toți ceilalți jucători de pe această listă au fost activi în ultimul deceniu. Nu el; trăia această viață înainte să fie cool. Hernández a avut cea mai bună carieră după ce a împlinit 29 de ani din grup: a avut un număr de sezoane solide după aceea, inclusiv singura sa apariție la All-Star în 2002. Din păcate, a devenit efectiv ca un obișnuit până la sfârșitul campaniei următoare.
Báez era în primul său an cu Tigrii, un sezon care l-a văzut cu 91 OPS+ în 144 de jocuri. Până acum, a fost cea mai sănătoasă și mai productivă campanie a lui cu Detroit. Împreună, este lovit pentru un 71 OPS+ în Motor City.
Campania lui DeJong în vârstă de 29 de ani sa dublat față de sezonul 2023. A început anul în forță, punându-l în ritm pentru cel mai bun efort al său din 2019. Apoi a căzut după o tranzacție la mijlocul sezonului, producând un sezon de 66 OPS+. DeJong s-a descurcat bine în 2024, dar este corect să vedem abordarea sa cu lovituri grele și ușoare ca pe un castel de cărți.
Asta îl lasă pe Adames, care își va începe sezonul de 29 de ani în primăvara viitoare, în primul an al contractului pe termen lung pe care îl semnează în această iarnă. Vom vedea cum merge.
7. Roki Sasaki, RHP
Simplu ca un cântec: Sasaki a fost limitat la 33 de starturi în ultimii doi ani din cauza accidentărilor, inclusiv o criză de oboseală a umerilor. Este exploziv și incitant, dar este corect să ne întrebăm cât de mult va rezista corpul lui dacă se confruntă deja cu acest tip de probleme la începutul lui 20 de ani. Vom recunoaște că circumstanțele agenției libere a lui Sasaki (de exemplu, suprimarea salarială încorporată) diferă de toți ceilalți de pe această listă. La naiba, vom merge până la a scrie că toate cele 30 de echipe s-ar înscrie cu plăcere pentru Sasaki, având o medie între 15 și 20 de starturi în următoarele șase sezoane, având în vedere costul și potențialul avantaj la îndemână.
Flaherty este la doar un an îndepărtat de la un hat trick de nedemnitate: postarea unui ERA+ de 87; fiind retrogradat la munca de curățare în postsezon; și apoi să se mulțumească cu un contract de pernă cu ceea ce părea a fi la acea vreme o echipă necompetitivă. De atunci, a făcut câteva modificări evidente la arsenalul său, scăpându-se de un tăietor și îmbunătățind verticalitatea mingii sale rapide. Cât de mult ai încredere că aceste câștiguri vor rămâne înainte? Mai mult, cât de mult ai încredere că corpul lui va rezista? Există câteva probleme reale de durabilitate aici, care sunt trecute cu vederea de întrebările despre performanța lui. Cele 162 de reprize ale lui Flaherty au fost al doilea cel mai mult pe care le-a aruncat într-un sezon de ligă mare și anterior a avut o medie de doar 75 de reprize per pop în ultimii patru ani.
Vorbind despre credință și reinventare. Pentru a doua iarnă consecutiv, narațiunea despre agenția liberă a lui Manaea are de-a face cu schimbările pe care le-a făcut în sezon care i-au crescut adevăratul talent. Anul trecut, Mike Axisa a subliniat cum Manaea și-a mărit viteza și a adăugat o măturătoare; anul acesta, accentul este pus pe punctul de lansare modificat care a rezultat din faptul că Manaea și-a făcut cea mai bună uzurpare a lui Chris Sale. Fără îndoială, Manaea a funcționat bine (foarte bine, de fapt) după ce a făcut acele ajustări mecanice. Este corect să ne întrebăm, totuși, dacă va avea randamente în scădere, pe măsură ce baterii din întreaga ligă își vor actualiza anteriori când vine vorba de aspectul pe care îl oferă.
Eovaldi a fost un starter robust la mijlocul rotației de ani de zile, până la punctul în care s-ar putea să fii ademenit într-un fals sentiment de încredere că va continua să facă asta și anii următori. Cu toate acestea, intră la jumătatea anilor de 30 de ani, iar istoria este plină de ulciori similari care au semnat contracte multianuale de agent liber chiar înainte de a strica sau de a pierde eficacitatea.
David Hale, ESPN Staff WriterDec 1, 2024, 01:45 AM ET
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College football reporter.
Joined ESPN in 2012.
Graduate of the University of Delaware.
We all have baggage. It’s the cost we pay for choices made, experiences endured, a life lived. For some, it might be the girl who got away. Maybe it’s the job they didn’t get. Or perhaps it’s the time you pretended to pee like a dog in the end zone during an Egg Bowl. The point is, to live life to its fullest is to understand that regret is part of the package.
The good news, however, is there is always a chance to do better, to set down that baggage and find something approaching redemption.
That’s what Saturday was supposed to be about for Ryan Day, Mario Cristobal and Dabo Swinney. Week 14 was going to be a redemption story. Instead, the college football gods delivered misery.
Well, unless you’re a Michigan fan. Then it was all comedy.
A quick accounting of where things began Saturday.
It had been 1,442 days since Clemson made a College Football Playoff, but with a win against South Carolina, the Tigers would’ve been poised to squeeze into the first 12-team postseason and erase years of doubts about Swinney’s ability to win in the modern era of college football.
It had been 1,828 days since Ohio State beat Michigan, but on Saturday, the odds were stacked so heavily in the Buckeyes’ favor, any other result was unfathomable. This was an Ohio State roster as talented as any in program history and a Michigan team put together with duct tape and glue sticks.
It had been 7,672 days since Miami won a conference championship. But the Hurricanes spent this season as the class of the ACC, finally living up to the immense expectations that have followed the program since its glory years, even if Miami has spent the past 20 years as college football’s version of U2 — still releasing new work, but effectively just a nostalgia act.
It’s tough to say how many days it had been since Cristobal properly handled a late-game scenario since you can’t divide by zero.
Week 14 didn’t promise to erase every blemish, forgive every sin or rewrite history for anyone, but it offered a bridge to somewhere better, some new timeline in which Day isn’t defined by a single game each year against his rival, Swinney isn’t lamented as an old man yelling at clouds and someone under the age of 40 can remember a time in which Miami mattered.
And on Saturday, Ohio State, Clemson and Miami saw those bridges and opted to light a flamethrower.
It’s hard to say exactly where things went wrong for Day and the Buckeyes in an excruciating 13-10 loss to Michigan. The slow starts have been a signature of 2024, the result of a team that knows it’s good enough to flip a switch or, perhaps, a result of so many noon kickoffs that even Gus Johnson’s voice started to go awry.
It’s certainly not on Day that Will Howard threw two brutal interceptions, that Jayden Fielding missed two short kicks or that Sherrone Moore opened his desk drawer Saturday morning to find a manila envelope marked, “For Your Eyes Only, Love and Kisses, C. Stalions.” But Day knew the stakes before the season began, and Ohio State spent enough money on this roster to finish third in the American League East, and Michigan was missing two potential first-round NFL draft picks, and it still didn’t matter. The Wolverines managed just 62 yards passing, threw two interceptions, had three different drives inside the Ohio State 5 that didn’t end in touchdowns and still won. There are no logical explanations for this, so it’s fair then to move to the next closest thing: Day is a Michigan sleeper cell installed as head coach in Columbus just to infuriate the Ohio State faithful in some sort of elaborate “Manchurian Candidate” scenario.
Regardless, the game ended with a loss, with a brawl, with police intervening and pepper-spraying players, but no amount of mace could burn away the images of the Wolverines celebrating on Ohio State’s field in what may well be the most devastating loss in the rivalry’s history.
Michigan players on the sideline after the altercation between Ohio State and Michigan pic.twitter.com/m5tdgIOma4
At Clemson, there’s similar frustration with a coach who has won enough to have a long leash, but has also climbed far enough out on a limb to endure the slings and arrows of fans and pundits and the occasional radio caller with some valid points but limited self-awareness.
Clemson has had so many chances in 2024. After being blown out in the opener against Georgia, the tide turned back in the Tigers’ favor amid a six-game winning streak. After a home loss to Louisville, the Tigers clawed their way back up the rankings, thanks in large part to attrition ahead of them, and found themselves as the first team out entering Saturday’s game, with a chance for a signature win — it would’ve been Clemson’s only decent win this year — against red-hot South Carolina. The playoff was within sight, but only if you could see past the imposing figure of LaNorris Sellers.
Clemson led by four with less than two minutes to play, but the Tigers’ defense never had an answer for Sellers. He threw for 164 yards, ran for 166 and scored twice, including a 20-yard run on a third-and-16 with just 1:08 to play to give the Gamecocks a 17-14 lead.
The Tigers had their shot to win — or at least send the game to overtime — but Cade Klubnik’s checkdown throw with 16 seconds left nicked off Phil Mafah’s hands and was picked off by Demetrius Knight Jr.
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South Carolina comes up with game-sealing INT vs. Clemson
South Carolina corrals the tipped pass and secures possession to seal its win over Clemson.
This marks the second time in three years Clemson had a realistic shot at the playoff, only to lose late to rival South Carolina.
Afterward, Shane Beamer gushed over the play of his quarterback and the resurgence of his team, which was 3-3 in mid-October but is now arguably the hottest team in the country. Beamer insisted South Carolina was a playoff team, and it may well be, but the decision by the committee won’t be easy. South Carolina entered the week ranked behind Alabama and Ole Miss, both of whom won in Week 14 to move to 9-3, and both of whom have head-to-head wins over the Gamecocks.
Perhaps ironically, it’s Clemson that remains in control of its own playoff destiny after Saturday’s disaster, and the Tigers can thank Cristobal for that.
All Miami had to do Saturday was knock off Syracuse, and it could punch its ticket — to the ACC title game and to the College Football Playoff. The Hurricanes even jumped out to a 21-0 lead, which should’ve been an insurmountable margin with Cam Ward on their side.
And yet, this is Miami — a program that flirts with disaster like it has had a half-dozen shots of Fireball and defeat is waiting tables at the Waffle House.
Syracuse turned its 21-0 deficit into a 35-28 lead entering the fourth quarter before Miami fought back to tie the game. But the Canes’ defense has been a red flag all year, and on Saturday, it had no answers for Kyle McCord, who threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns (and didn’t lose to Michigan).
McCord engineered a nine-play touchdown drive to put Syracuse up 42-35, but that still afforded Ward and the Canes more than nine minutes to match.
All of that should’ve just been prelude to another Miami win, because Ward was once again exceptional. And yet, this is Miami, where playoff hopes spend too much time on South Beach and wake up looking like the Pop Tarts Bowl.
Ward engineered a 13-play drive, setting up Miami with a first-and-goal at the Syracuse 8, but then things went haywire. An unsportsmanlike penalty pushed the Canes back, and a Ward completion and scramble set up a fourth-and-goal at the 15.
That left Cristobal with a decision: Put the game in the hands of the best quarterback to ever wear a Miami uniform or, with 3:42 remaining, kick a field goal and leave it up to your defense that has served as a maître d’ for Syracuse receivers the entire game.
Cristobal chose pain.
The rest was entirely predictable. Syracuse picked up three first downs and ran out the clock to move to 9-3, a playoff team in its own right had it not imploded against a woeful Stanford team back in September. Miami ceded its spot in the ACC championship to Clemson, may have lost its spot in the College Football Playoff and reminded the world that, even when U2 gives you its new album for free, it’s best to just go ahead and delete it and move on with your life.
And so Week 14 ended without redemption for those most in need of a second act. It ended with Clemson flubbing its best hopes, then being handed another just because the football gods enjoy seeing Swinney’s optimism squashed. It ended with Miami closer to its past than it had been in decades, yet still so far from those glory years that the world rolls its eyes every time the conversation comes up again. And it ended with Ohio State fighting Michigan, handing its conference title shot to Penn State and catching strays from Texas.
Members of the 2021 Ohio State recruiting class to beat Michigan:
The college football gods can be cruel, and while redemption is always within our reach, days like Saturday also remind us that our reach often exceeds our grasp, and redemption slips through our fingers for a backbreaking interception far more easily than we care to imagine.
Maybe Ohio State still makes the playoff and goes on a run.
Maybe Miami does the same.
Maybe Clemson takes its good fortune to be in the ACC title game and turns that into a playoff berth of its own.
Maybe.
So we’ll carry the baggage a little further, in spite of all the grief and hurt and anguish. Even if redemption remains painfully beyond our grasp, the price of admission is still worth it.
Jump to: Irish finish strong | Texas reaches SECCG Rivalry watch | Ducks dynasty Cyclones in Big 12 title game | Pack go bowling Herd win | Trends Heisman five |Under the radar
Irish finish strong
Jadarian Price came on in relief of an injured Jeremiyah Love and finished with 111 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, while Xavier Watts (100 yards) and Christian Gray (99) each had long pick-sixes in the fourth quarter to lead Notre Dame to a 49-35 win over USC that should lock up a home game in the opening round of the playoff for the Irish.
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Notre Dame’s defense steps up for two massive pick-sixes
Notre Dame’s defense returns a 99-yard pick-six and a 100-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter.
USC finishes the regular season at 6-6, and it has now lost 11 of its past 19 games — a track record that would’ve meant past coaches needed an Uber home from the airport tarmac. USC QBs had 12 interceptions this season, one more than the Trojans accounted for in Lincoln Riley’s first two seasons there combined. Notre Dame has also now won six of the past seven games in the rivalry.
On the victorious side, the Irish have now won 10 straight after a disastrous loss to Northern Illinois in Week 2 that seems more like some sort of Tyrone Willingham-era fever dream in retrospect. Notre Dame has averaged 44 points and nearly 240 rushing yards per game during that stretch.
Horns ride to SECCG
After 13 years, the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry is back. Someone should let the Aggies know.
Quinn Ewers threw for 218 yards and a touchdown, Quintrevion Wisner ran for 186, and the Texas defense dominated in a 17-7 win over the Aggies that punches the Longhorns’ ticket to a rematch with Georgia in the SEC championship game.
The game had many of the familiar tones of the old rivalry, from the raucous Aggie Yell on Friday night to the traditional Texas fan ride into the game atop a bull while holding a dog. (Don’t get us started on Austin traffic. It’s a circus.)
Still, it had to be a frustrating outcome for the Aggies, who had a chance to draw to within one score late, but opted to go for it on fourth down at the Texas 1, only to be stuffed.
Texas is like the rich, successful high school friend who comes into town for a visit and guilts you into inviting him to a party, only for all your friends to love him while you sit in the corner eating Cheetos. After 14 years in the SEC, Texas A&M still hasn’t made a conference championship game, while Texas is now headed to Atlanta in Year 1. Still, Cheetos are delicious.
The bigger question for the Longhorns now is whether they’ve figured out any way to block Georgia’s pass rush since the Bulldogs eviscerated the Horns’ front in a 30-15 UGA win on Oct. 19. Even with a loss, Texas likely hosts a home game in Round 1 of the playoff, but it would be a blow for championship hopes to lose for a second time to Georgia.
Rivalry watch
Florida State has been arguing for weeks to throw out the records, but it’s not until Week 14 that we can officially do it. It was rivalry week, which meant major drama and offseason bragging rights across the country. Here’s how it played out.
Clean Old-Fashioned Hate
What was at stake: Georgia had a 30-game home winning streak on the line and appeared poised to make the 12-team playoff with a win. Georgia Tech was looking to remind anyone outside metro Atlanta it still had a football program.
Controversies: Officials appeared to miss a number of key calls that helped Georgia, including a possible red zone fumble, a possible tipped ball that would’ve negated a critical defensive pass interference flag, a possible targeting on a Haynes King fumble that likely cost Tech the game, an egregious hold before a Georgia overtime score and Kirby Smart’s unconventional use of a Ford F-350 at fullback. Perhaps worst of all, by the time the teams had finished with eight overtimes, The Varsity was closed and the Jackets couldn’t get chili dogs like Brent Key had promised if everybody tried their best.
End result: The two QBs were electric, with King throwing for 303 yards, rushing for 110 and accounting for five touchdowns. Carson Beck topped 300 yards of offense, and he tossed five touchdowns. Ultimately, it came down to 2-point tries, as Georgia cashed in on a Nate Frazier run in the eighth overtime session to secure a 44-42 win. The game underscores why college football should revisit its OT rules, which require dueling 2-point tries after the second frame. Instead, we recommend 2-point tries in the third OT, a pie eating contest in the fourth, a rock-paper-scissors competition between the coaches at midfield for the fifth, the QBs taking turns attempting to explain the ending of “Inception” in the sixth, Jimbo Fisher’s nephew wrestling each team’s recruiting coordinator in the seventh, and then it moves to a best-of-three “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” with full “my mother” addendums in use.
Iron Bowl
What was at stake: Alabama hoped to keep its playoff hopes alive with a win. Auburn hoped to secure a bowl bid with a win. Finebaum callers hoped to call for everyone to be fired on both sides.
Controversies: Alabama won, but if this was its statement to the committee, it was hardly an emphatic one. The Tide turned the ball over four times — though Auburn turned those takeaways into just six points — meaning the committee will have to dive back into the secret file marked “How to explain why you’re putting Alabama into the playoff again this time” before releasing the final rankings next weekend.
End result: Jalen Milroe accounted for 360 yards and three rushing touchdowns, and the Tide D held Jarquez Hunter to just 56 yards in the 28-14 win, their fifth straight in the Iron Bowl. The win helps take some heat off Kalen DeBoer, who has suffered some ignominious losses in his debut season. Auburn, on the other hand, has now finished with a losing record in four straight years (and hasn’t won more than six since 2019), something Hugh Freeze chalked up to an unfortunate combination of his players doing dumb things and him being too good at his job to properly connect with players who can’t appreciate his genius.
Territorial Cup
What was at stake: Arizona State could secure a trip to the Big 12 title game with a win (with a little assistance elsewhere), while Arizona could attempt to prevent this game being played and instead just show highlights of last season.
Controversies: In true “Anchorman” fashion, things escalated quickly: Arizona State scored 49, Sam Leavitt threw three touchdowns, and the Sun Devils murdered the rivalry with a trident.
End result: Kenny Dillingham has as good a claim for coach of the year as anyone in the country after turning this program around so quickly. The 49-7 win was a resounding finish to a 10-2 season, and while the committee has yet to truly appreciate the Sun Devils’ résumé, it’s more than worth consideration with or without the conference championship. Arizona State’s two losses came by a combined 18 points. One came without its starting QB. It has three wins over ranked (at game time) opponents. It has won five straight. It’s hard to argue there are 12 teams playing better football today than the Sun Devils.
Egg Bowl
What was at stake: Ole Miss still had flickering playoff hopes if enough chaos happened higher in the rankings. Mississippi State was hoping to avoid a winless season in the SEC. The good news for the Bulldogs, though, is they could still finish with eight quality losses to remain on the committee’s radar.
Controversies: No coach took the field riding an ATV, and no players celebrated a touchdown by mimicking a dog introducing itself to a fire hydrant. Seriously, if no one’s going to give the opposing kicker a wedgie after an extra point, why even bother playing this rivalry game?
End result: Mississippi State led 14-10 at the end of the first quarter, but the Bulldogs couldn’t find any offense beyond that. Ulysses Bentley IV ran for 136 yards and a score, and Ole Miss survived 26-14. A month ago, it would’ve been inconceivable Lane Kiffin wasn’t either taking the Florida job or prepping for the playoff on Dec. 1. Instead, he’ll just be doing what so many of us will be doing this week: resodding his lawn after Charlie Weis Jr.’s ill-fated attempt to deep-fry a turkey.
Governor’s Cup
What was at stake: Louisville was looking to snap a five-game losing streak against Kentucky while also securing the position of “second ACC team that blew a shot at the playoff by losing to Stanford.”
Controversies: Ale 8 is a mediocre ginger ale. There, we said it.
End result: Isaac Brown led the charge with 178 rushing yards and a pair of scores in the Cards’ 41-14 win. One of the nation’s top freshmen, Brown ends the regular season with 1,074 rushing yards, 12 total touchdowns, nearly 1,500 all-purpose yards and a solid fourth-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks.
Florida-FSU
What was at stake: Florida could finish with seven wins and a rivalry win for the first time since 2021. Florida State was hoping that maybe this whole season was just a dream and it would wake up to find a healthy Jordan Travis ready to take on the Gators in November 2023.
Controversies: After demoralizing Florida State on the field, Florida tried to mark its territory, much to Mike Norvell’s displeasure.
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Norvell initially snubs Napier’s handshake as FSU-Florida get into it
FSU coach Mike Norvell initially avoids shaking Florida coach Billy Napier’s hand after the Gators plant their flag in the middle of the Seminoles’ logo at the game’s conclusion.
End result: Florida State’s season began 100 days ago, 4,000 miles across the Atlantic with a top-10 ranking and big expectations. Florida’s season began a week later with an emphatic loss to Miami and an assumption that head coach Billy Napier would be fired. What a difference a college football season makes. Florida’s defense held FSU to just 239 yards and won 31-11 behind two touchdowns from DJ Lagway. The Gators finished the regular season 7-5 with Napier’s job secured for 2025. Florida State can now turn its attention back to its real passion: lawsuits.
Fremont Cannon
What was at stake: UNLV’s faint playoff hopes still flickered, with a win putting the Rebels into the Mountain West championship game. Also the winner got tickets to see Cher at the Bellagio.
Controversies: Remember when UNLV’s quarterback quit because he wanted money the school hadn’t paid and then UNLV just inserted another quarterback who was much better? The lesson: The house always wins.
End result: Hajj-Malik Williams threw for 168 and ran for 135, accounting for three touchdowns in the 38-14 win over Nevada. The Rebels are now 10-2 with a rematch against Boise State pending and a playoff berth on the line.
The Commonwealth Cup
What was at stake: Both teams would be bowl-bound with a win and also get access to the loser’s beach house in Virginia Beach. It’s three blocks off the beach, but there’s a corn hole set in the back storage shed.
Controversies: Virginia Tech was playing without its top two quarterbacks, while Virginia was playing without any real hopes of ever getting the upper hand in this rivalry.
End result: Pop Watson threw for 254 yards and tallied two touchdowns while Bhayshul Tuten ran for 124 yards and two scores in Virginia Tech’s 37-17 win. The Hokies will go bowling and won the Commonwealth Cup for the 23rd time in the past 25 tries, but they also feel sort of like that meme of the guy ignoring his girlfriend to look at another girl who might look a lot like Shane Beamer.
Old Oaken Bucket
What was at stake: Indiana needed the win to effectively lock up its place in the College Football Playoff. Purdue was hopeful to make the game worth skipping a “MythBusters” marathon in order to play.
Controversies: Indiana is poised to make the playoff, despite Purdue somehow being only the fourth-worst team the Hoosiers have played this year, just ahead of Charlotte and just behind the Muncie Boy Scout Troop No. 214.
End result: Kurtis Rourke threw for 349 yards and six touchdowns, while Purdue threw for 54 yards and two interceptions. This would be embarrassing for Purdue if everyone wasn’t already focused on basketball season.
Battle on the Bayou
What was at stake: Louisiana could lock up a 10-win season and a berth in the Sun Belt championship, while Louisiana-Monroe needed a win to get bowl eligible. Also, the loser has to let Louisiana Tech crash on their couch this offseason.
Controversies: Why does Louisiana get to drop the Lafayette and just go by the state name, but ULM has to keep the Monroe? This game should really decide who gets to be “Louisiana” each year and the other school has to go by ULM or ULL.
End result: Zylan Perry rushed for 150 yards and two scores, and the Ragin’ Cajuns’ D picked off three passes in a 37-23 win. For ULM, it’s a frustrating finish to a season that started with the Warhawks at 5-1 but ended on a six-game losing streak.
Ducks dynasty
The No. 1 team in the country may also be the least interesting at this point.
Oregon won again Saturday, 49-21 against Washington, to finish the regular season at 12-0. Yawn.
Since their dramatic 32-31 win over Ohio State on Oct. 12, the Ducks have basically been the work-from-home guy who was told he had to start going into the office again. They show up, swipe their badge, grab a coffee, say hello to Denise in accounts receivable, Dillon Gabriel throws a couple touchdowns, then they’re home in time for “The View.”
So it was Saturday, with Gabriel accounting for three touchdowns, Jordan James running for 99 yards and the defense holding Washington to 244 yards while racking up 10 sacks and 16 tackles for loss. The 10 sacks in this game were more than rival Oregon State has all season, which should be a fun fact for Ducks fans to bring up with Beavers fans this holiday season.
Oregon now gets Penn State in the Big Ten title game, a result of Ohio State’s implosion against Michigan.
The Nittany Lions had no trouble with Maryland, earning a dominant 44-7 win capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass with no time left on the clock that riled Mike Locksley.
It may have been a bit of showmanship by Penn State, but on the other hand, if James Franklin had blindfolded his QB, handed him a football, spun him around a dozen times and sent him on his way, he still might’ve scored on this Maryland defense.
The question now is whether Penn State can give Oregon a real game after the Ducks have won five of their past six by at least 20 points. Franklin’s record in big games against top-10 opponents is probably something someone should look up before the game. There might be a story there.
Cyclones land title game berth
Iowa State is headed to the Big 12 championship game, possibly due to a 29-21 win over Kansas State on Saturday but likely because people are out to get Deion Sanders.
Rocco Becht accounted for three touchdowns in the win over the Wildcats, and combined with BYU’s 30-18 victory over Houston, the Cyclones locked up a shot to play Arizona State for what is almost certainly the league’s only playoff bid.
That leaves Coach Prime and the Colorado on the outside looking in, which is a real slap in the face. First, voters snubbed Travis Hunter for the Thorpe Award and suggest Ashton Jeanty could still win the Heisman. Then they refused to give Hunter a second Michelin star despite his exquisite take on a deconstructed duck confit. And now this. When will the bias end?
Pack go bowling
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1:18
Tempers flare as NC State attempts to plant flag following win over UNC
The end of NC State vs. North Carolina devolves into chaos as NC State players take offense to a Tar Heel player throwing their flag onto the ground.
Hollywood Smothers ran for two touchdowns, including a 2-yarder with 25 seconds to play to secure a 35-30 win over North Carolina — NC State’s fourth straight in the rivalry — and bowl eligibility for the Wolfpack.
Jacolby Criswell’s 47-yard touchdown throw to Omarion Hampton with 1:51 to play had given UNC a late lead, but the Wolfpack engineered a six-play, 75-yard drive for the win. Hampton finished with 185 rushing yards, 78 receiving yards and a pair of scores, putting the finishing touches on a season that would’ve had him in Heisman consideration if he played for anyone better than North Carolina.
This was the possible farewell for Mack Brown, too. In his second tenure with the Heels, the school announced he would not be retained for 2025. This came after he threatened to quit after a miserable loss to JMU this season, then insisted he’d return earlier this week. Now, Brown will retire to a life of quiet solitude, where he’ll work on his memoirs and tend to his garden until a ragtag bunch of UNC boosters arrive at his door in the year 2039, insisting he come out of retirement for one last job, at which time Brown will tip back his cowboy hat, stare off into the middle distance, take a swig from a bottle with a skull on the label and, in a gravelly, world-weary voice, announce, “I’m in.”
Herd rumbles past JMU
Marshall was down 17-0 at halftime, but roared back for a 35-33 win over James Madison to claim sole possession of the Sun Belt East.
Marshall managed just 261 yards in the game, 121 fewer than JMU, and the Dukes had an 11-minute edge in time of possession, but James Madison’s missed two-point try in the second overtime period proved to be the difference.
Marshall’s lone conference loss came by a point to Georgia Southern, but it also lost to Virginia Tech, which is pretty embarrassing.
The Thundering Herd will face Louisiana in the Sun Belt title game — though it won’t be until some time Sunday when computer composite rankings are tabulated before anyone knows who’s the home team, since the two teams didn’t play each other. The lack of a tie-breaker determined by a series of “Yo mama” jokes feels like a real missed opportunity for the Sun Belt.
Regular-season vibe shifts
We’ve reached the end of the regular season, and while each week has featured some seismic shifts in the college football landscape, some trends have simmered just beneath the surface. We’re looking back on those subtle, but significant, trend lines as we put a bow on 2024.
Trending down: The Group of 5
Week 14 began with the Group of 5 in position not only to steal a first-round playoff bye from the Big 12, but perhaps swipe a second playoff bid, too. Tulane checked in ranked ahead of all Big 12 teams except for Arizona State, but a trio of brutal turnovers deep in Memphis territory scuttled those playoff dreams. The Tigers topped the Green Wave 34-24, effectively ceding the Group of 5’s playoff bid to the Mountain West.
Ultimately, that the Group of 5 missed out on a statement opportunity to swipe a bid from the Big 12 should come as no surprise. The rich continue to get richer in college football, and the line of demarcation has never been wider. Despite San José State’s win over Stanford on Friday, the non-autonomy schools finished with a woeful 9-88 record against the Power 4 in the regular season — easily the Group of 5’s worst performance in decades.
Indeed, look back at the 2004-2013 era, just before the demise of the Big East, and teams outside the BCS conferences upended the big boys more than 22% of the time. From 2014 through 2021 — post realignment but before the effects of NIL and the portal were fully felt — these teams still won 20% of the time. Over the past three years though, the non-power schools have just a .153 win percentage against the Power 4/5.
Trending up: Buying your way into a conference
Turns out, coming in at a serious discount wasn’t such a bad move for schools desperate to find greener pastures in 2024.
Oregon will enter championship weekend as the No. 1 overall team in the country, despite getting only about 40 cents on the dollar to play in the Big Ten, and SMU now looks like as close to a sure playoff team as the ACC is capable of producing after effectively electing to play in the ACC for free.
The Mustangs knocked off fellow bargain-bin addition Cal, 38-6, on Saturday. Kevin Jennings threw for 225 yards and two scores, and Brashard Smith accounted for 134 yards from scrimmage and a pair of touchdowns.
SMU is now poised to win an ACC title in its first year, while Miami — conference championship free since 2003! — watches, and it’s happened in large part because of Miami transfers like Smith, Jahfari Harvey and Elijah Roberts.
And if Miami fans all weren’t already in their 16th straight hour of listening to house music at a club off A-1A, that might really bother some people.
Trending up: Big 12 hot seats
A month into the season, the hottest seat in the Big 12 was at Baylor, where Dave Aranda’s Bears were 2-4. But Baylor has now won six straight after Saturday’s 45-17 thumping of Kansas. QB Sawyer Robertson has blossomed into a star, tossing four TDs in the win. He has made 66% of his throws with 17 touchdown passes, 4 picks and nearly 1,600 yards passing during the win streak.
Aranda’s job is safe, but other coaches are now feeling the heat.
After UCF turned the ball over four times in a 28-14 loss to Utah, Gus Malzahn saw the writing on the wall and jumped ship to become the offensive coordinator at Florida State. Mixing Malzahn’s QB history with Florida State’s run of awful QB play by anyone not named Jordan Travis really sets the stage for transfer Thomas Castellanos to lead the country with 106 interceptions next year in Tallahassee.
Meanwhile, West Virginia’s Neal Brown and Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy didn’t exactly end the 2024 season with fireworks.
Gundy’s Cowboys were steamrolled by Colorado 52-0 on Friday, finishing the season 0-9 in Big 12 play. Gundy is an institution at Oklahoma State, and he’s the country’s second-longest-serving head coach, but this season’s implosion might be enough to convince both sides it’s time for a fresh start — like going to the barbershop and finally trimming away an out-of-style haircut and trying something completely new.
Brown was on the hot seat entering 2023, but West Virginia finished a surprising 9-4, seemingly ending any speculation over Brown’s job security. But this season has been a bit of a step back, with an ugly loss to rival Pitt and a 52-15 trouncing in Saturday’s game against Texas Tech. West Virginia will go to a bowl, but the expectations were much higher this season.
And then there’s Scott Satterfield at Cincinnati. The Bearcats fell to TCU 20-13 on Saturday, their fifth straight loss to finish 5-7 after a 5-2 start to the year. Cincinnati is now 8-16 under Satterfield, including a 4-14 mark in conference play.
On the other hand, all could return and be in the Big 12 title game in 2025 because the entire conference is basically just like playing roulette at 4 a.m. at a riverboat casino in Shreveport. There is no logic to what’s happening, anyone can win big and everyone is sort of embarrassed to be there.
Trending down: Goalpost theft
Perhaps the most entertaining trend of the season has been fans celebrating with the theft of goalposts — from Georgia Tech fans bringing the goalposts to a campus pond, to Arizona State tearing down the goalposts, putting them back up when officials added time back onto the clock, then bringing them down again only to learn there’s no bodies of water in the desert in which to deposit them.
But it was Tennessee and Vanderbilt who did the goalpost celebrations best in 2024.
Absolutely dying at the police helicopter night vision of the Vandy goal posts going into the river… the kids tumbling over each ledge 💀 pic.twitter.com/KoXmOnBTc7
On Saturday, the two met with plenty on the line. Tennessee needed a win to all but lock up a playoff berth. Vandy needed a win to ensure a winning season for the first time since 2013.
The Commodores jumped out to the early lead, but it was the Vols who celebrated when it was over. Nico Iamaleava threw four touchdowns, Dylan Sampson ran for 178 yards and Tennessee overcame an early deficit with a 36-23 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Tennessee, which was in a do-or-die situation entering Week 14, now may be poised to host a playoff game after losses by Ohio State and Miami.
Sadly, Vols fans did not tear down the goalposts to celebrate the likely playoff bid, as making a big thing of beating Vanderbilt is like bragging about knowing all the words to “Shake It Off.” It’s nothing to be proud of, and it’s definitely going to hurt your reputation with the other dads. And no, this is not a personal story, so stop asking.
Holding steady: Big Ten tradition
This was supposed to be the year the Big Ten finally evolved into a conference with modern offenses. Wisconsin and Purdue had Air Raid coordinators, Penn State brought in Andy Kotelnicki to rejuvenate its attack, four teams arrived from the Pac-12 and Iowa installed a new game plan to replace Brian Ferentz’s playbook that was just 23 pages repeating the sentence, “What if punts?”
So, how’d it go?
Well, safe to say somewhere Ferentz is reenacting the Leo DiCaprio meme from “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood,” pointing at his TV and yelling, “What if punts!”
On Friday, Iowa won its eighth game of the season — one fewer than it had a year ago with Ferentz calling plays, in spite of scoring 120 more points — by beating Nebraska 13-10 with just five first downs and 164 total yards.
Iowa completed eight passes, averaged 1.9 yards per rush, and may have paused the third quarter for a group nap time, and yet it still won because this is what the Big Ten is all about. Oh, and also because Nebraska accepted the Big Ten’s terms and conditions without reading them and didn’t realize it’s now permanently barred from winning a close game. The loss was the Huskers’ 23rd by a TD or less in the past four seasons.
As for the rest of the league?
Those Air Raid coordinators at Wisconsin and Purdue were both fired. The new Pac-12 teams all averaged fewer points per game in conference play in 2024 than 2023 and, cumulatively, averaged 10 fewer points per game in Big Ten play than they had in the Pac-12 in 2023. Penn State is headed to the Big Ten title game, but still failed to score an offensive TD against Ohio State and finished the regular season with 46 fewer points than it had last year.
And all of these numbers add up to this: It’s not Ryan Day’s fault. This league just hates teams that try to score.
Trending down: Postgame routines
This season, we learned that Syracuse coach Fran Brown punishes himself after losses by refusing to shower because, as he noted, “washing is for winners.”
We also learned that Oklahoma coach Brent Venables celebrated his win over Alabama by spending $94 at Taco Bell, an amount that we hope also included the colonoscopy.
Sure, this forces us to ask several big questions.
For one, had Syracuse lost to Miami on Saturday, would Brown have gone shower-free until the bowl game? Luckily, he didn’t need to answer that, as Syracuse prevailed 42-38 over Miami, moving to 9-3 in Brown’s first season as head coach. Had it not been for a brutal loss to Stanford, the Orange would have an intriguing playoff résumé, including two wins over ranked opponents and a trip to the ACC title game in the offing.
Another: How much is too much money to spend at Taco Bell? Clearly $94 is too much, as the excessive beefy bean burritos had Venables off his game Saturday in Oklahoma’s 37-17 loss to LSU. After the game, Venables announced he would punish himself for the performance by consuming $1.99 worth of food from Arby’s.
Trending up: Stadium naming rights
Before the season kicked off, Pitbull bought the naming rights to Florida International’s home field, changing from its former name, “No, no, This is FIU; You’re Looking for FAU’s Stadium; Yeah, It’s About an Hour North, Just Take the Turnpike to 95 to Exit 48” Field.
Turns out, it was a wise investment for Mr. 305. FIU toppled Middle Tennessee 35-24 on Saturday, moving to 4-2 on the year at Pitbull Stadium, while finishing 0-6 on the road.
With this in mind, Kent State will be selling stadium naming rights to its stadium to its most iconic local musicians, Devo. Next season the Golden Flashes helmets will all just be those weird red Mayan-temple-shaped hats from the “Whip It” video.
Heisman five
The biggest question is whether more than two players need an invite to New York at this point. It’s a two-man race, and only one of them is going to get one last shot to impress voters before the award is handed out.
1. Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty
Four players have rushed for more yards in a season than Jeanty. Three of them won the Heisman. The one who didn’t — UCF’s Kevin Smith in 2007 — was the lone member of that list from outside the Power 5. If that’s the line of demarcation for Jeanty, that’s a shame. He went for 192 yards and three touchdowns against the No. 1 team in the country, so any suggestion that his numbers are the result of a weak schedule seem absurd. His worst game of the season came against his FCS opponent when he got just 11 carries. He has nine games of 150 yards or more. He has scored 29 touchdowns. He has Boise State not just poised for the playoff, but a first-round bye. No, he doesn’t also play cornerback, but he’d probably be pretty good at it if he did.
2. Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter
After Friday’s 52-0 win against Oklahoma State, Deion Sanders said Hunter was the clear favorite to win the Heisman, and anyone who argued differently had an agenda. He has some valid points. Hunter finished Friday with 10 catches for 116 yards and three touchdowns, plus an interception, a tackle and two PBUs. What Hunter has done this season is otherworldly, something that has never been done in college football history. But he has played three defenses ranked among the top 50 in adjusted EPA per game this year (18 catches, 191 yards, no touchdowns) and faced just one opponent who was top 30 in passing EPA (Baylor). If we’re holding schedule against Jeanty, we should do the same for Hunter.
3. Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo
Skattebo finished Saturday’s blowout of Arizona with 21 carries for 177 yards and three touchdowns, giving him 1,866 scrimmage yards and 19 touchdowns this season. In the playoff era, the only other power conference player with 1,300 rush yards, 400 receiving yards and 19 total touchdowns in their first 12 games was Dalvin Cook in 2016. And because Skattebo missed a game, he’s actually done than in 11.
4. Miami QB Cam Ward
For much of the past month, Ward has been playing the Ralph Nader role in the two-man race for the Heisman between Jeanty and Hunter. Saturday’s loss to Syracuse probably dropped him to full Green Party status though. The long odds are hardly fair. Ward has been exceptional this season, and he was excellent again in Week 14, throwing for 349 yards and two scores, and if Cristobal had given him a shot on fourth-and-goal, he might’ve added another genuine Heisman moment to his résumé. Instead, he’ll probably getting an invite to New York, a dinner at Sbarro and a chance to watch Jeanty or Hunter accept the hardware.
5. South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers
Sellers is 245 pounds of utter physics-defying ridiculousness, and he showed it again and again Saturday against Clemson, running for 166 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winner.
Afterward, Shane Beamer insisted Sellers was “the best player in the country” and should be on anyone’s Heisman list. So, we’re obliging. But it’s not just bluster either. Take a look at this comparison.
Past seven games: Ward: 5-2, 82.0 Total QBR, 66% completions, 20 touchdowns, three picks, 2,372 total yards Sellers: 6-1, 80.5 Total QBR, 68% completions, 19 touchdowns, four picks, 2,174 total yards
His entrance into the discussion was a bit too late to win the Heisman, but he has made the season a heck of a lot more fun for the past two months.
Under-the-radar play of the week
Maalik Murphy screwed up the final play of regulation in Duke’s game against Wake Forest, but he and receiver Jordan Moore improvised a bit, turning a 5-yard route into a game-winning 39-yard touchdown with no time left on the clock, upending Wake Forest 23-17.
The Blue Devils finished the game with five sacks and 11 tackles for loss, another stellar day for what has blossomed into one of the most aggressive defenses in the country.
Duke finishes the regular season 9-3 with four wins vs. teams inside the state of North Carolina (Elon, UNC, NC State and Wake) in Manny Diaz’s first season in Durham.
And if Cooper Flagg mentions any of this in his next news conference, Duke fans will be very excited to learn about it for the first time.
Under-the-radar game of the week
Like “Wicked,” Saturday’s Jacksonville State-Western Kentucky game was just three hours of backstory to set the stage for the more significant sequel.
Unlike “Wicked,” this one actually had an exciting ending (though sadly it didn’t involve Rich Rodriguez belting out “Defying Gravity”).
Caden Veltkamp, whose name sounds like he should be the heir to a family tuna-canning dynasty but is actually the QB at Western Kentucky, led a 10-play, 44-yard drive in the final two minutes, and Lucas Carneiro drilled a 50-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to secure a 19-17 win.
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1:55
Jacksonville State Gamecocks vs. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers: Full Highlights
Jacksonville State Gamecocks vs. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers: Full Highlights
That field goal secured WKU’s spot in the Conference USA title game against … Jacksonville State.
Had Jacksonville State prevailed, Sam Houston State would’ve made the title game. Instead, the Hilltoppers have a shot to win the league for the first time since 2016.
Mulți oameni se tem de călătoriile cu avionul de sărbători, iar mai mulți oameni se îngrămădesc pe aeroporturi pentru a ajunge acasă de sărbători.
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Un clasament al Kayak arată două aeroporturi din Ohio în top 10 cele mai la timp aeroporturi.
POVEȘTI LA TENDINȚE:
Aeroportul Internațional Cincinnati și Northern Kentucky este numărul 7 pe listă, având doar 12% din zboruri întârziate de Ziua Recunoștinței și 14% de Crăciun. Potrivit Kayak, întârzierea medie a CVG este de 18 minute.
Aeroportul Internațional John Glenn Columbus este numărul 9, cu 13% din zboruri întârziate de Ziua Recunoștinței și 16% de Crăciun. Potrivit Kayak, întârzierea medie a CMH este de 17 minute.
Aeroportul numărul unu cel mai la timp a fost Aeroportul Internațional Daniel K. Inouye din Honolulu, Hawaii.
Clean Old-Fashioned Hate
Iron Bowl
Territorial Cup
Egg Bowl
Governor’s Cup
Florida-FSU
Fremont Cannon
The Commonwealth Cup
Old Oaken Bucket
Battle on the Bayou