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Chandler Smith earns first NASCAR Xfinity Series win

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:34:28 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Chandler Smith outran John Hunter Nemechek out of a restart with six laps to go Saturday at Richmond Raceway to win his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race. Nemechek chose the inside lane on a restart with 12 laps left, relegating Smith to the outside. When another caution came for a crash at the back of the field, Smith had taken the lead and chose the outside for the sprint to the finish.Smith won in just his 10th career start in the series. Nemechek was second, followed by Josh Berry, Kaz Grala and Cole Custer.Justin Allgaier, one of four drivers contending for the Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus, gambled by stopping under green for his last set of tires with about 40 laps to and was cruising through the field.But when another caution came with 28 to go, the rest of the leaders pitted, leaving him on older tires and basically defenseless. Three contenders — Sammy Smith, Daniel Hemric and Sam Mayer — had more difficult days and Allgaier won despite finishing 13th. “It...

Morris reunion with Mulkey has NCAA title game finale at LSU

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:34:28 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Alexis Morris will finish her college career playing in a national championship game for Kim Mulkey, the coach who five years ago kicked the standout guard off another team.For Morris, it has been quite a journey of growth and maturation from her freshman season at Baylor and through two other programs before a reunion with Mulkey at LSU that will end on the biggest stage. “Every player just has that coach that’s for them. Coach Mulkey, she’s my coach,” Morris said Saturday, a day before the Tigers play Iowa. “I asked God, if you ever gave the opportunity (to play for her again), I will never waste that. I will literally maximize it, maximize the opportunity, and that’s what you’re witnessing.”Morris had 27 points in the national semifinal game Friday night, when the Tigers beat top-seeded Virginia Tech 79-72 to advance to the school’s first national championship game in basketball — for women or men.Mulkey has known Morris since she was a seventh-grader at a private s...

Man City vs. Liverpool turns toxic again after 4-1 rout

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:34:28 GMT

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City’s 4-1 rout of Liverpool on Saturday was marred by more off-field trouble as one of English soccer’s fiercest rivalries turned toxic again. Despite securing a statement win in the race for the Premier League title, the defending champions were left to condemn an apparent attack on their rivals’ team bus and address “hateful” chants from its supporters. Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, was forced to defend his touchline antics, after accusations he showed a lack of respect by celebrating directly in front of Liverpool substitutes Kostas Tsimikas and Arthur Melo.“I was happy and I said how nice our goal was. That’s all,” the City manager said when asked about his actions. “Do you think it’s a lack of respect? Ah OK, sorry. I’m so sorry.” As if those incidents weren’t enough to sour the mood around the club’s Etihad Stadium, Arsenal’s 4-1 win against Leeds later in the day restored the league leaders’ ei...

Official confirms 3 more deaths in Illinois from storms, bringing death toll in US to 21

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:34:28 GMT

NEW HEBRON, Ill. (AP) — Official confirms 3 more deaths in Illinois from storms, bringing death toll in US to 21.Source

Wildfire burning in the Cache la Poudre Wilderness

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:34:28 GMT

BELLVUE, Colo. (KDVR) — A fire spanned dozens of acres in northern Colorado on Saturday afternoon.The Stove Prairie Fire was burning grass in the Cache la Poudre Wilderness, according to the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the U.S. Forest Service. Colorado Wildfire Map: Updates, warnings, and smoke forecast No structures were threatened as of around 2:45 p.m. The fire was estimated to be about 34 acres.The fire marked yet another after days of whipping winds in Colorado, including hurricane-force winds on Friday, which led to fires across the Front Range. The Pinpoint Weather team said gusts continued to hit northern Colorado on Saturday and were expected to pick up at night, with more windy weather in the forecast ahead.The National Weather Service had issued a hazardous weather outlook for northeast Colorado and into the Front Range mountains, with a red flag warning also in effect for South Park, the Palmer Divide and adjacent plains south and east."Wind gusts up to 25 to 35 mp...

Pop, Wade, Gasol, Hammon, Parker, Nowitzki heading to Basketball Hall of Fame

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:34:28 GMT

(AP) — Tony Parker and Pau Gasol played for him. Becky Hammon coached alongside him. Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade waged battles against him.He is Gregg Popovich.And he, finally, is a Hall of Famer.The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame made it official Saturday, with three of the NBA’s all-time international greats — Nowitzki, Parker and Gasol — joining Wade, Hammon and Popovich as the headliners of the 2023 class that will be enshrined on Aug. 11 and 12 at ceremonies in Connecticut and Massachusetts.“This is basketball heaven,” Wade said on the ESPN telecast of the announcement in Houston.https://twitter.com/TheMozKnowz/status/1642259029215805442?s=20Also getting the Hall’s call: the 1976 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team; former Purdue coach Gene Keady, a seven-time Big Ten coach of the year; former Texas A&M women’s coach Gary Blair, who took t...

David Pastrnak’s hat trick lifts B’s to 4-3 win in Pittsburgh

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:34:28 GMT

If anyone thought the Bruins were going to mail it in for the final seven games since clinching the Presidents’ Trophy, they are sadly mistaken.With the Pittsburgh Penguins desperately trying to hold onto the final playoff spot and a date with the B’s in the first round, David Pastrnak posted his second hat trick of the year in dramatic fashion and beat the Pens, 4-3, at PPG Pains Arena on Saturday. It was win No. 59 for the B’s.Pastrnak notched his third goal of the game and 56th of the season when he ripped home a David Krejci feed to give he B’s a 4-3 lead.Pastrnak then had to sit in the box and watch his team kill off the sixth Penguin power play after his was called for high-sticking with 57 seconds left.Pittsburgh tied the game for the third time on the afternoon with 7:30 left in the third period when Brandon Carlo did not connect with Hampus Lindholm pass behind the net. Eventually, Jake Guentzel rifled home a Brian Dumoulin pass when Jeremy Swayman w...

How NBA’s new CBA could impact Jaylen Brown’s future with Celtics

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:34:28 GMT

The NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement may improve the Celtics’ chances to lock up a long-term future with Jaylen Brown.The NBA and the NBA Players’ Association agreed to a tentative deal on a new seven-year CBA in the early hours of Saturday morning that will cover the rest of the decade. The league and players are expected to ratify the agreement – which would begin for the start of the 2023-24 season – in the coming weeks before it becomes official, according to ESPN.ESPN and The Athletic reported several details of the new CBA, and one major change in the deal could have immediate ripple effects for the Celtics on contract negotiations with Brown, whose future in Boston has been the subject of widespread speculation in the last couple of weeks after his recent comments to The Ringer.Brown is in the third year of his four-year deal with the Celtics and will be eligible for a contract extension this summer. Under current CBA rules, the Celtics can only offer a 120% increase...

‘It’s not a race’: Magic make case for Paolo Banchero to win Rookie of the Year

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:34:28 GMT

Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley isn’t on social media and limits his exposure to external narratives.To the point that he said he wasn’t aware that some prominent media members, including former Magic player and 15-year NBA vet JJ Redick, were making arguments that Oklahoma City Thunder wing Jalen Williams was making a push for the Rookie of the Year award.So when this was brought to Mosley’s attention, he was — respectfully — surprised.And had no problem making his case for Magic forward Paolo Banchero, who has been significantly favored to win the award for most of the season.“With all due respect, it’s not a race in my opinion,” Mosley told the Orlando Sentinel ahead of Friday’s 116-107 road win over the Washington Wizards. “[Banchero] has impacted winning. His ability to help us get to the free throw line [is] huge. Our paint touches have been huge. We talked about the tough month he had shooting — his ability t...

Tornado survivors recount flying debris, destroyed buildings

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:34:28 GMT

WYNNE, Ark. (AP) — With tornadoes hitting the Midwest and the South this weekend, some survivors said they emerged from their homes to find buildings ripped apart, vehicles tossed around like toys, shattered glass and felled trees.J.W. Spencer, 88, had never experienced a tornado before, but when he and his wife saw on TV that a tornado was nearing their small town of Wynne, Arkansas, he opened a front window and rear door in his house to relieve air pressure. The couple scurried into the bathroom, where they got into the bathtub and covered themselves with quilts and blankets for protection.Fifteen minutes later, the storm unleashed its fury. Debris came whistling through the house. “We just rode it out,” Spencer said on Saturday. “We heard stuff falling, loud noises. And then it quit. It got quiet.”After it passed, the couple emerged to see their neighborhood devastated by the tornado. Many large trees were down. Houses were severely damaged. The high school’s roof was...