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Ravens agree to 5-year deal with QB Lamar Jackson, ending difficult standoff with their franchise player

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:15 GMT

After more than a year of complicated negotiations and a trade request, Lamar Jackson will be the Ravens’ quarterback for the long term after he agreed to a five-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday.Terms of the deal were not immediately announced.“You know, for the last few months, there’s been a lot of he-said, she-said, a lot of nail biting, a lot of head scratching going on,” Jackson said in a video posted by the team. “But for the next five years, there’s a lot of ‘Flock’ going on. Let’s go baby. Can’t wait to get there. Can’t wait to be there. Can’t wait to light up M&T Bank [Stadium] for the next five years. Let’s get it.”Though general manager Eric DeCosta had said an extension was his all-consuming goal, there had been little hint of progress in negotiations, which stalled for more than a year as Jackson, who represents himself, sought a deal that would make him one of th...

Saquon Barkley situation worth monitoring as Giants enter 2023 NFL Draft

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:15 GMT

Saquon Barkley’s contract standoff with the Giants could get more complicated during or after this weekend’s NFL Draft if GM Joe Schoen adds a dynamic rookie running back.A disgruntled player like Barkley can become a trade candidate at these pressure points if the conflict escalates and the team has the chance to land draft capital in return.Co-owner John Mara and Schoen have indicated trading Barkley isn’t in their plans.“I don’t want to trade him,” Mara said of Barkley at the NFL owners meetings in late March. “We’re not looking to trade him. We’re not shopping him. And I’d be very surprised if we made that decision.”Mara didn’t rule it out as impossible, though.And don’t forget: although a lot has happened in the last year, Schoen started his tenure as Giants GM by declaring in March 2022 that he was “open for business” and “open to everything,” including entertaining trade offe...

Wendell Smith covered sports, history and civil rights and traveled with Jackie Robinson. A new book remembers his work

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:15 GMT

Rick Kogan | Chicago TribuneWendell Smith was 58 when he died and he was famous then.It was 1972 and the words of praise in the wake of his death came from such big shots as Mayor Richard J. Daley, who said, “We have lost a very great citizen, who was interested in the city and most of all the city’s children.”Smith’s funeral was attended by such admirers as Bears owner George Halas, Gale Sayers, Johnny Morris, Billy Williams, other sports figures, politicians and many from the media world. Columnist Irv Kupcinet would write in the Sun-Times, “His death had a numbing effect. He was an able newsman, but more, a respected gentleman in his profession and a dear friend.”There were quick posthumous honors, a scholarship in his name, various awards. But fame faded and Smith’s name and accomplishments became buried in history dust.Coming to the rescue, so to speak, was “42,” the 2013 movie about Jackie Robinson, the ballplayer played by the late Chadwick Boseman. Actor André Holland portra...

NFL Draft 2023 Live Updates | Who will be the first pick?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:15 GMT

By The Associated PressKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The NFL draft begins tonight! The Carolina Panthers are on the clock with the No. 1 pick and likely will choose between quarterbacks Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud. The events at Kansas City’s Union Station start at 1 p.m. Eastern and will include a red carpet and musical acts highlighted by Fall Out Boy. The draft will begin at 8 p.m. EST and can be viewed on NFL Network, ABC, ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Follow for live updates from Associated Press reporters across the country (all times EST).What to know:— When, where and how to watch the NFL draft.— Mock Draft! See if your predictions are better than ours. ___4:50 p.m.C.J. Stroud has gone from being considered the likely No. 1 overall pick to potentially dropping out of the top 10 after reports the Ohio State quarterback scored poorly in the S2 Cognition test.“First, second, third, 20th, 105th, whatever it looks like, I’m just blessed to be able to have ...

Dave Hyde: How did the Heat pull the NBA’s biggest playoff upset in history?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:15 GMT

There’s only one question about the Miami Heat today, and it’s not how they match up against the New York Knicks, or who will be healthy, or even whether that old Heat-Knicks rivalry has any embers today (it doesn’t).That’s for tomorrow.Todays’ question: How did the Heat just pull off the biggest upset in NBA history?Only six times has an eighth-seeded team beaten a top seed to advance. So this was rare ground the Heat walked in. Throw in the idea Milwaukee was healthy for the last two games while the Heat were without their second-best offensive player in Tyler Herro and rotational player in Victor Oladipo and there’s no debate.So, again, how did they do it?1. Jimmy Butler. This was his series. Fifty-six points in Game 4? Forty-two in the closing Game 5? Playoff Jimmy now has nine postseason games of more than 40 points in his four Heat years — one more than Dwyane Wade had in his 15 Heat seasons. No one in the league does more in the playo...

Bruins notebook: Better communication needed against the Panthers in Game 6

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:15 GMT

BEDFORD – “Miscommunication.”Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery repeatedly emphasized that word during a press conference on Thursday afternoon prior to the team’s departure for Florida from Hanscom Air Force Base.The Bruins had a chance to eliminate the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of their opening round Stanley Cup playoff series on Wednesday night at the TD Garden but were thwarted 4-3 in overtime. Adding insult to injury, the game winner was scored by despised villain Mathew Tkachuk at 6:05 of the extra frame.Montgomery said the setback in Game 5 was caused by miscommunications in the Bruins’ end that created turnovers at critical moments. The Bruins made a host of similar miscommunication errors in their 6-3 loss at home in Game 2.Montgomery said that problem has been clarified headed into Friday night’s Game 6 encounter with the Panthers at FLA Live Arena. The Bruins swept Games 3 and 4 in Florida to lead the series 3-2.“Communication on goals against needs to be higher, tha...

Montana trans lawmaker fights on during 1st day of exile

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:15 GMT

By AMY BETH HANSON, BRITTANY PETERSON and SAM METZ (Associated Press)HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr spent her first day in legislative exile Thursday relegated to a bench in a noisy hallway across from a snack bar outside the state House chambers where she is no longer allowed.Zephyr defiantly stayed put even after the Republican House speaker said she couldn’t be there and a House security officer threatened to move the bench where she had set up her laptop. She listened to debate and voted remotely from there, with a gold sticky note on the wall above her head with “Seat 31” written on it, her seat assignment in the house. The note was placed there by transgender and nonbinary Rep. SJ Howell. Republicans had wanted Zephyr to participate from behind the doors of the House Minority’s offices a day after they voted to ban her from the House floor for the rest of the session, which ends early next week.Her refusal to do so ...

Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday concerts feature ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ lineup of stars

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:15 GMT

Dozens of artists and thousands of fans will come together at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on April 29-30 to wish country music icon Willie Nelson a very happy birthday.The “On the Road Again” singer-songwriter, musician and political activist turns 90 on Saturday, April 29 and several of his famous friends and longtime collaborators will be performing alongside him during a special concert to mark the occasion.“He certainly seems to be having a moment this year,” said Bill Silva, promoter of Live Nation Hewitt Silva, during a recent phone interview. “If you just look at this year, he won two Grammy awards and has a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination. It really feels like the year of Willie and it just happens to coincide with this 90th.”RELATED: George Strait, Kris Kristofferson, Stephen Stills added to Willie Nelson’s 90th at Hollywood Bowl“(This) is one of the best lineups we have ever put together for one show,” Silva’s booking partner Andrew Hewitt added.Willie Nelson (...

Abraham Verghese says ‘The Covenant of Water’ dips into his family’s past

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:15 GMT

When asked to describe the south Indian state of Kerala, the word that springs to mind for Dr. Abraham Verghese is this: “Water – 44 rivers, countless streams and lagoons and hundreds of miles of waterways.” More than a decade after the publication of his previous novel, “Cutting for Stone,” these waterways are where Dr. Verghese, author and professor of medicine at Stanford University, has set his latest book “The Covenant of Water,” out May 2 from Grove Atlantic.Water is the “defining element” of Kerala, Dr. Verghese says, which is why the central tragedy of “Covenant” is one of a family cursed by inexplicable drownings. The novel begins with the arranged marriage of the family’s matriarch, known as “Big Ammachy,” or “Big Mother,” who discovers something is very wrong with the family she’s just joined: They’ve been fighting a war with the waters of their homeland for generations.Related: Sign up for our free newsletter about books, authors, reading and moreGeography is intentional...

Westbound I-8 lanes reopen in El Cajon after multi-vehicle collision

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:15 GMT

EL CAJON, Calif. — All lanes of westbound Interstate 8 in El Cajon have reopened Thursday following a multi-vehicle collision that prompted a several hour closure, Caltrans said.The crash happened around 10:20 a.m. on westbound I-8 near East Main Street, according to the California Highway Patrol's Traffic Incident Information Page.A Sig Alert was issued around 10:40 a.m., prompting all westbound lanes to close.Around 1:20 p.m., Caltrans announced that all lanes had reopened. Rules of the Road: Are tinted windows legal in California? All vehicles are being detoured to the East Main Street off-ramp, Caltrans said.The circumstances that led to the collision were not immediately available and it is not yet known if there were any reported injuries related to the crash.SkyFOX footage captured of the crash showed one vehicle overturned in the middle of the traffic lanes.You can monitor the latest traffic conditions with the FOX 5 Traffic Map.Officials have not announced how long the fr...