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Column: Sleepless nights for David Ross in the wild-card chase unlikely to end after Chicago Cubs’ shocking loss

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:23 GMT

David Ross participated in seven postseasons as a player with four teams and one season on “Dancing With the Stars.” But the pressure Ross faced before is nothing like what he’s going through now managing the Chicago Cubs in this crazy National League wild-card chase.The challenge of getting this Cubs team into the postseason has been one of the biggest of his life and is why Ross sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night.“Way different as a manager than as a player,” Ross said Tuesday before the Cubs’ 7-6 loss to Atlanta Braves at Truist Park. “I don’t know how to describe it. It’s fun, and you try and prepare and keep it all the same, but inside you’re riding it.“But within that it’s fun. (Julian) Merryweather the other day walks the first two guys (in the ninth inning) and gets out of that. You’re carrying it. I don’t get that (feeling) golfing on the weekend. That’s what you sign up for...

Patrick Williams must find his footing in fourth year with the Chicago Bulls: ‘I’m not where I want to be’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:23 GMT

Patrick Williams knows last season wasn’t enough.He knew it from the final buzzer of the Chicago Bulls season, a haphazard run that ended in crushing fashion as the team let a lead — and a shot at the playoffs — slip away in Miami. In the aftermath of the play-in tournament loss, Williams cradled his head in his hands in the cramped visiting locker room, struggling to find words to articulate his own disappointment.Did he live up to his potential?“Hell no,” Williams said.Williams’ third year repeated the patterns that have defined his career — too timid on the boards, too hesitant with the ball in his hands, showing flashes of promise that never evolved into consistent production. The result was a slip from a hopeful position in the starting lineup to a regular role in the secondary rotation, a demotion that sharpened the spotlight on the former No. 4 draft pick.Throughout a frustrating season, Williams reiterated his own frustration —...

Patriots extra points: Bill O’Brien calls Cowboys defender a top-5 player in the NFL

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:23 GMT

During a video conference with reporters Tuesday, Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien called Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons a top-5 player in the NFL regardless of position.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | OBF: Mac Jones creates controversy with saucy confrontation New England Patriots | Patriots place DL Daniel Ekuale on IR, release William Hooper from practice squad New England Patriots | Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez has Cowboys’ attention with early standout play New England Patriots | Why the Cowboys are changing their offense before facing the Patriots New England Patriots | Bill O’Brien responds to Cowboys’ claim Patriots will interrogate ex-QB for intel “He’s a great football player. (Cowboys defensive coordinator) Dan Quinn does a good job of using them in a lot of different areas. And it just jumps out to you on film,” O’Brien said. “S...

Crowds of masked teens ransack Philadelphia stores and arrests are made, police say

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:23 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Groups of teenagers swarmed into stores in several areas of Philadelphia, stuffing plastic bags with merchandise and fleeing, and police arrested 15 to 20 people, authorities said.The flash mob-style ransacking Tuesday night at stores, including Foot Locker, Lululemon and Apple in Center City, followed an earlier peaceful protest over a judge’s decision to dismiss murder and other charges against a Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver, Eddie Irizarry, through a rolled-up window.However, the ransacking was not connected to the protest, Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford said at a news conference. “What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists take advantage of a situation and make an attempt to destroy our city,” he said.The thefts and unrest stretched from Center City to Northeast and West Philadelphia.Stanford said that people appeared to have organized efforts on social media. He said police are investigating “that there wa...

Azerbaijan arrests the former head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist government after an offensive

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:23 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Azerbaijan said Wednesday it has detained the former head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist government as he tried to cross into Armenia following Azerbaijan’s 24-hour blitz last week to reclaim control of the enclave. The arrest of Ruben Vardanyan was announced by Azerbaijan’s border guard service. It appears to reflect Azerbaijan’s intention to quickly and forcefully enforce its grip on the region after the military offensive that also saw an exodus of tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians — more than a third of its population.Vardanyan, a billionaire businessman who made his fortune in Russia where he owned a major investment bank, moved to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2022 and served as the head the regional government for several months before stepping down earlier this year.Azerbaijan’s Health Ministry said earlier Wednesday that a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during the offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh. One Azeri civilian a...

Carbonara burgers and a ‘Spritz Bar’ truck highlight the Ryder Cup food court menu in Italy

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:23 GMT

GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — Beyond the fancy hospitality tents, the Ryder Cup’s food scene is decidedly local at the Marco Simone club outside Rome.There’s an “APECESARE” food truck named after Julius Caesar selling “Street Food Romano,” where the menu highlight is a carbonara burger — a spinoff on Rome’s most famous pasta dish — with Damini beef, carbonara sauce, guanciale, soncino lettuce, pepper and caramelized onion.“Eat one and you’re all set,” vendor Alessandro Favola said.Another option at the same truck is a cacio e pepe burger based on another classic Roman pasta. Both burgers sell for 23 euros ($24), with fries.A few trucks down is an orange-colored “Spritz Bar” on wheels. But don’t expect to find the classic Aperol Spritz here. That’s because Aperol isn’t an official Ryder Cup sponsor.Instead, the spritzes are provided by Ryder Cup champagne partner Moet & Chandon.The “spritzes” — if they can still be called that without prosecco, too — come already mixed with t...

Leader of Spain’s conservatives loses his first bid to become prime minister and will try again

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:23 GMT

MADRID (AP) — The leader of Spain’s conservatives failed Wednesday in his long-shot first bid to become the country’s next prime minister when he fell short of the votes he needed in the Spanish parliament to form a government.As expected, Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo came up four votes shy of the necessary absolute majority of 176 votes in his favor.Feijóo will try again on Friday when the bar is lowered and he needs only more “yes” than “no” votes from parliament’s 350 lawmakers.The Popular Party holds 137 seats in the Madrid-based Congress of the Deputies, the most of any party. But even with backing from the far-right Vox’s 33 lawmakers and two from small conservative parties representing Navarra and the Canary Islands, Feijóo only reached 172 votes in his favor to 178 against him.Spain’s July 23 national election left the parliament highly fragmented with its legislators spread between 11 different parties, setting the stage for a difficult path to power for ...

North Korea says it will expel Travis King, the US soldier who crossed into the country in July

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:23 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Wednesday that it will expel a U.S. soldier who crossed into the country through the heavily armed border between the Koreas in July.The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said that authorities have finished their questioning of Pvt. Travis King. It did not say when officials plan to expel him or to where.King, who had served in South Korea, sprinted into North Korea while on a civilian tour of a border village on July 18, becoming the first American confirmed to be detained in the North in nearly five years.At the time he crossed the border, King was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, following his release from prison in South Korea on an assault conviction.On Wednesday, the state news agency said that King confessed to illegally entering the North because he harbored “ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination” within the U.S. Army and was “disillusioned about the unequal U.S. society.”It has att...

Three astronauts return to Earth after a year in space. NASA’s Frank Rubio sets US space record

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:23 GMT

A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts returned to Earth on Wednesday after being stuck in space for just over a year. American Frank Rubio set a record for the longest U.S. spaceflight — a result of the extended stay.The trio landed in a remote area of Kazakhstan, descending in a Soyuz capsule that was rushed up as a replacement after their original ride was hit by space junk and lost all its coolant while docked to the International Space Station. What should have been a 180-day mission turned into a 371-day stay. Rubio spent more than two weeks longer in space than Mark Vande Hei, who held NASA’s previous endurance record for a single spaceflight. Russia holds the world record of 437 days, set in the mid-1990s.The Soyuz capsule that brought Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin back was a replacement launched in February. Russian engineers suspect a piece of space junk pierced the radiator of their original capsule late last year, midway through what...

Interac expanding e-transfer service, Wealthsimple to join

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:51:23 GMT

TORONTO — Interac Corp. is broadening the range of financial institutions that can participate in its e-transfer service.The company says the move expands access beyond federally regulated banks and provincially regulated credit unions.Interac says financial services provider Wealthsimple is set to become the first new participant under the expansion of the service.Under the new rules, organizations that are both FINTRAC-regulated money service businesses and investment dealers regulated by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization can apply to become participants.To join the e-transfer service, Interac says eligible financial institutions must meet all the same requirements and obligations as the existing participants. The Bank of Canada provides oversight of the service, which is designated as a prominent payment system under the Payment Clearing and Settlement Act.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2023.The Canadian Press