By doing two jobs – each like all other player within the country – Travis Hunter lived up to teach Deion Sanders' hype and brought the Heisman Trophy to Colorado for the primary time in 30 years.

The Buffaloes' two-way superstar won college football's most prestigious individual player of the yr award Saturday night, edging Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty into CU's second Heisman winner.

Hunter received 552 first-place votes and a couple of,231 points to Jeanty's 309 and a couple of,017. In terms of total points, it was the closest Heisman vote since 2009, as Hunter and Jeanty took all two top votes, leaving the opposite candidates within the lurch.

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel (24 first-place votes, 516 points) was third and Miami quarterback Cam Ward (6,229) was fourth.

When Hunter, wearing a baby blue suit with a white turtleneck underneath, was announced because the winner, he ducked his head for a number of seconds to take it in. He gave his fiancée and mother, Ferrante Edmonds, an enormous hug. Then an extra-long song for Coach Prime before he hypes up his quarterback, Shedeur Sanders from Colorado, and rapper and friend Lil' Wayne.

Hunter belted out, “Let's go!” As he reached the stage, he clapped his hands before gathering himself to present his acceptance speech.

“First I want to say thank God,” Hunter began. “Thank God, man. I never thought I can be on this position. It's crazy. Your faith will take you far. It's really crazy now. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.”

Hunter joins the late Rashaan Salaam, who won the Heisman in 1994 with a 2,000-yard rushing season, as CU's only Heisman winners.

With Hunter and Jeanty at the helm, the 90th Heisman was the first since 2015 that did not feature a quarterback in the top two of voting. Three straight times and seven of the last eight Heisman winners had played quarterback. In 2000, 20 Heisman winners were QBs.

It took two remarkable performances to break the trend.

Hunter was both an unguarded receiver and a lock-down cornerback, validating Sanders' decision to unleash the five-star recruit on both sides of the ball in a way that hasn't matched the junior with a Heisman winner in over a half Century makes comparisons.

One would have to go back to the waning days of one-platoon football in the 1950s and early '60s to find Heisman winners who made major contributions on offense and defense, such as Navy's Joe Bellino (1960) and Ernie Davis of Syracuse (1961). .

Charles Woodson of Michigan is closest to Hunter among recent winners. Woodson was a star cornerback for the national champion Wolverines and also played wide receiver and return man.

Even Woodson, who won the Heisman in 1997, doesn't see himself as a two-way player.

“They threw me out (on offense) when they needed a play. I didn’t attack much,” Woodson said. “Travis actually plays both sides of the ball. You can say he’s a two-way player who played defense, but I’m still the only defensive player who won it.”

Hunter played 688 defensive snaps and 672 on offense as Colorado jumped from four wins to nine in Sanders' second season as coach. And Hunter's performance was top-notch at both positions.

Entering the postseason — and Hunter plans to play in Colorado's bowl game — he is fifth in the country with 92 catches, sixth with 1,152 yards and second with 14 touchdown catches. He also leads the team with four interceptions. Earlier this week, Hunter won the Bednarik Award as the country's top defensive player and the Biletnikoff, which goes to the top receiver.

Sanders, the Football Hall of Famer and two-sport pro during his playing days, never held back when it came to pushing Hunter for the Heisman, even over his talented son Shedeur.

“Travis gets my vote. “Travis is the best player in college football,” Sanders said in November. “Really, Shedeur is that guy. He’s the catalyst, he gets everything going and allows Travis to be Travis, but Travis Hunter does something we’ve never seen before.”

Jeanty only played one position, but few in college football history have ever played it better. His decision to return to Boise State for a third year rather than transfer to a Power 5 school changed the course of the season. Jeanty enters the College Football Playoff needing 132 rushing yards to break Barry Sanders' sacred record of 2,628 set in 1988. Sanders finished his Heisman-winning season with an impressive 2,850, including his bowl performance, doing it all in just 12 games.

Nevertheless, Jeanty has left his modern teammates – and the opposing defense – behind him this season. Jeanty leads the country with 2,497 yards rushing and 30 touchdowns. He has five rushes of at least 70 yards this season. Only five other players have two.

Jeanty is the first player from outside the traditional power conferences to finish second in the Heisman voting since San Diego State University running back Marshall Faulk in 1992.

Jeanty would have been the first running back to win the Heisman since Derrick Henry in 2015, but Hunter's unique season was too good to overcome.

Hunter's route to the stage Saturday night in midtown Manhattan was also unique.

One of the nation's top 2022 high school recruits hailing from Georgia, the Florida native made a verbal commitment to Florida State on signing day to attend Jackson State, the historically Black university in Mississippi, where Sanders began his college coaching career.

No player rated as highly as Hunter had ever signed with an FCS program out of high school.

“Coach Prime, Shedeur, you all changed my life forever,” said Hunter, who grew up in the same area of ​​South Florida as 2016 Heisman winner Lamar Jackson of Louisville and watched Jackson in high school games.

Hunter was limited to nine games as a freshman due to injuries and showed star potential on both ends.

When Sanders left for Colorado, Hunter, who says his coach was like a father, followed him to Boulder to help rebuild a program after an 1-11 season.

Hunter was also limited to nine games in 2023, this time after suffering a late hit against Colorado State that left him with a ruptured liver. The injuries have never stopped Sanders from playing Hunter as often as possible, and this season the results have been undeniable.

Led by Hunter and Shedeur, Colorado fought for the Big 12 title until the final weekend of the regular season.

With the expanded playoffs casting a wider net of games with postseason implications this season, Hunter had a strong final statement: 10 catches for 116 yards and three touchdowns and an interception in a 52-0 win over Oklahoma State.

Hunter said his Heisman moment came in the Baylor game when he forced a game-winning fumble at the goal line in the Buffs' overtime win.

The fifth through 10th Heisman voters were Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo, Army quarterback Bryson Daily, Penn State tight end Tyler Warren, Shedeur Sanders, Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke and Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord.

Hunter has one more game left, in the Alamo Bowl against BYU, before heading to the NFL, where he is expected to be one of the first players taken in April's draft. Many are already wondering what position he will play in the professionals.

Hunter's historic season suggests why not both?

Required reading

APTOS – A historic hotel in the guts of Aptos Village will likely soon come under recent ownership for the primary time in greater than twenty years.

An offer to buy the Bayview Hotel has been accepted, in response to Datta Khalsa of Main Street Realtors, who listed for the vendor in early October. While the client has placed a deposit on the local landmark in escrow and the deal is predicted to shut before the tip of the yr, Khalsa didn’t reveal the client's name out of business policy, referring only to him as a neighborhood developer and operator who was highly qualified.

When asked in regards to the alleged recent owner's intentions, Khalsa replied: “I would say to realize the full potential of a historic hotel, bar and grill and event center.”

Built in 1878, Bayview is a Bed & Breakfast with 14 rooms It is three stories high and almost 10,000 square meters in size. The The property has been listed for $3.9 million and while he also couldn't reveal the ultimate purchase price, Khalsa said the accepted offer was above the asking price.

Part of what makes the property so unique, he added, is that it will not be only equipped for hotel stays, but additionally has a full kitchen, a bar, a courtyard and, because the name suggests, an actual view on Monterey Bay. According to Khalsa, the hotel has been a valued asset for owner Cristina Locke and the Locke family since 2002. Although it has not been in lively use for greater than 4 years, Locke is working to revive some permits that can allow the brand new owner to revive the architectural gem to its former glory.

According to Aptos historian and Aptos Chamber of Commerce co-executive director John Hibble, the hotel was originally commissioned by Joseph Arano, who was born in Montepelier, France in 1837 and emigrated to the United States before retiring settled in Aptos for 17 years.

The constructing at 8041 Soquel Drive features late Victorian Italianate Parisian-style architecture and was originally intended as Arano's home before he converted it right into a hotel and event center that became famous for its extravagant Spanish dinners.

“It's kind of the 'Grande Dame' of Aptos Village,” Hibble said. “It’s the old Victorian footprint of the village.”

Hibble said the Bayview, originally called the Anchor House before the hotel remodel, is the last of 4 remaining turn-of-the-century hotels in Aptos Village. It has survived several fires, including one current as in 2022, which occurred on the primary floor and was quickly contained.

It was designated a California State Historic Monument in 1974 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. A big magnolia tree stands at its entrance and is rumored to be home to several elusive apparitions.

“For example, in the 33 years I have been doing this, this is the first time I have disclosed that multiple parties have told me that there are at least two ghosts in the hotel,” Khalsa said.

The front door can be just a couple of large steps from the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, which was founded a couple of years before the hotel, in 1876. The hotel's location was strategic because it helped attract business from travelers moving from Watsonville to Santa Cruz, however it has since change into a degree of contention.

The rail corridor is owned by the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, which plans to construct a motorcycle and pedestrian path along the rail line as a part of its Coastal Rail Trail project. Segment 12 of this projectSet to interrupt ground in 2026, it includes the Aptos Village area and will impact the car parking zone outside the Bayview and neighboring businesses within the Trout Gulch Crossing constructing, home to Norma Jean's Coffee, Jet Set Bohemian and Caroline's Thrift Store.

The Transportation Commission claims that property deeds indicate that it owns about half of the car parking zone area closest to the tracks. However, Locke and the owners of the Trout Gulch Crossing property, Betty forty first LLC, represented by Laurie Negro, maintain, in response to court documents, that the car parking zone is legally theirs and that the lack of the automobile parking space would impact needed parking for patrons.

The transportation commission asked a Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge to resolve the dispute and filed a quiet property criticism last October. According to the court's website, Locke and Betty forty first LLC have since filed their very own countersuits and the litigation remains to be pending.

As indicated by the client's offer, the dispute didn’t appear to affect the hotel's purchase, and Khalsa identified that there may be some unused land directly behind the Bayview that might make up for its own parking deficit.

“Historically, hotels were built guess where? Right next to the railway depot,” said Khalsa.

Originally published: November 4, 2024 at 7:42 am PST

Claudia Sheinbaum has made history. On June 2, she was elected as the primary woman president of Mexico. Almost 36 million Mexicans voted for Sheinbaum, greater than twice as many as for her closest competitor and fellow candidate Xóchitl Gálvez.

In the last twenty years, political reforms Mandatory gender parity in the chief, legislative and judicial branches has strengthened women's political representation in Mexico. These reforms paved the best way for this historic election.

But despite this achievement, indigenous, African and dealing class women remain underrepresented There has been a discount in gender inequality in political positions, but in other areas gender differences have hardly improved.

For example, gender imbalances live on within the distribution of care and domestic work, in addition to within the participation in paid work. And gender-based violence is ascendingIn fact, ten women are actually murdered in Mexico on average daily, with a Third of those cases is assessed as femicide (where women are killed due to their gender).

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Sheinbaum has made some promising proposals to advance gender equality in Mexico, but she lacks a comprehensive approach to combating gender-based violence and a transparent technique to fund a much-needed national care system.

It also didn’t outline steps to combat male-chauvinistic gender norms in Mexico and paid little attention to the long-standing inequalities faced by indigenous and Afro-Colombian women in Mexico.

In their plan (100 Steps to Transformation), Sheinbaum takes a human rights-based approach to gender equality. This implies that policies on this area are supported by legal protections for girls's rights.

This approach is according to the views of Olga Sanchez Corderoa outstanding feminist and former lawyer and senator who became the primary woman to function Mexican Interior Minister in 2018. Sánchez Cordero worked closely with Sheinbaum to develop the plan’s women’s rights proposals, and was mentioned as a possible Minister for Women.

Among probably the most promising measures of the plan are the creation of public early education centers and the extension of parental leave. These measures aim to cut back the care burden on women, who in Mexico two and a half times more of their time on unpaid home tasks and care work in comparison with men. The plan also proposes legal reforms to guard women's sexual and reproductive rights and combat discrimination against LGBTQ+ communities.

In terms of political participation, the plan goals to advertise gender-balanced cabinets and increase the representation of ladies in the general public prosecution service. It also goals to enhance land law for rural women, lower than a 3rd the communal landowners.

The plan also sets out several goals to be achieved by 2030. The most vital ones include reducing the variety of femicides by 30%, reducing the gender pay gap to zero and achieving 50% gender parity in mayoral positions.

The weak points

Violence against women is some of the pressing issues Sheinbaum will face. Femicide is probably the most extreme type of violence faced by women in Mexico. But it is much from the just one. In 2021, over 70% of ladies in Mexico were reported have experienced some type of violence of their lives – a situation that worsened during the last decade.

Gender-based violence is widespread and complicated in Mexico, so it’s surprising that the plan doesn’t include strategies that address gender norms in on a regular basis life. Sheinbaum's proposals to combat violence against women focus almost exclusively on strengthening the justice system.

Of particular concern is a selected measure she has proposed to guard victims of gender-based violence. Sheinbaum's plan proposes that “initiatives be sent to Congress to ensure shelter, but above all to require perpetrators to leave the home so that women can stay with their children.”

Encouraging survivors to remain at home, where perpetrators may return, endangers the physical safety and well-being of ladies and youngsters and poses the danger of re-victimization.

Women in Mexico don’t only struggle with violence. In addition to addressing the gendered division of care work, investments in care infrastructure and services are needed to support women's participation in paid employment and entrepreneurship.

But a long time of Underinvestment implies that Sheinbaum will inherit weakened health and care systems. To address this problem, she has arrange a national care systemwhich has already been set out in a law passed by the present government.

This law makes the best to care a state responsibility and requires paid care employees to be trained and to have decent working conditions. It also sets quality standards for the availability of services, creates a register of service providers and promotes the inclusion of ladies and men in care roles.

Time will tell whether the needed budget Funds are being made available for this initiative and to enhance all the healthcare system.

Gender equality shouldn’t be only a “women’s issue”, but one which requires coordination across ministries and policy areas – from health and care to industry and innovation.

When Sheinbaum takes office in October, she is going to have a novel opportunity to advance gender equality in Mexico. She can be supported by a a majority in Congress, which should give her the leeway to pursue a feminist political agenda if she so desires.

This majority can be crucial to creating progress in probably the most controversial areas, corresponding to women's sexual and reproductive rights, and to making sure that the needed resources are made available for gender equality.

BRENTWOOD – Doreen Pierce Forlow remembers the unmistakable smell of flicks from years passed by – the freshly made popcorn dripping with real butter, the chocolate candies and even the marginally chemical smell of the large film reels.

Forlow grew up within the Art Deco Delta Theater in downtown Brentwood, which her family bought in 1955 and owned and operated for nearly twenty years. She has seen all of the classics – “The Ten Commandments,” “Ben-Hur,” “Hercules” and lots of more – and is happy to reopen the nearly 100-year-old theater after a four-year closure.

“There's a huge difference between a 50-inch screen in your home and a screen in a movie theater — a huge difference,” said Forlow, now museum archivist on the East Contra Costa Historical Society. “When I see people watching movies on their phones, I say, 'Why don't you just watch it on a postage stamp?' The bigger the screen, the better for me.”

Forlow's wish will soon come true, as Sean McCauley and his partner Ron Harrison and their team are working feverishly to revive the 1937 theater at 641 First Street for a late May opening. Despite competition from other theaters, reminiscent of the 14-screen theater on the Streets of Brentwood mall several miles away, local developers imagine the restored, iconic two-screen theater will likely be a significant draw.

“We didn't really want to buy it, but the previous owners didn't want to put a lot of money into that particular building,” McCauley said of his 2019 purchase. “We knew it was the anchor of downtown Brentwood, and that's the only building that brings 1,000 people downtown every day on a weekend.”

But McCauley, who has bought and renovated about 10 downtown buildings alone and with Harrison, said renovating and reopening the theater made sense “to maintain the momentum” of the “thriving businesses there.”

With the arrival of chain stores and other retail stores, downtown Brentwood was “more of a ghost town” until it began transforming into “a more social neighborhood” in 2016, starting with the opening of upscale restaurants like Zephyr's Grill and Bar in a constructing he renovated, he says.

“The downtown area is now a social district, and we see a lot of downtown areas like Martinez and even San Francisco, Antioch and now Brentwood moving in that direction,” he said. “When I was a kid, this was more about retail.”

However, McCauley acknowledged that the timing proved difficult, because the COVID-19 pandemic broke out shortly after he purchased the theater, then called Cinelux Delta Cinema, which was forced to shut in 2020.

“We were hit by this perfect storm of evil,” he said. “We had to do a massive remodel, and because of COVID, the city locked down and the operator pulled out.”

McCauley said the pandemic modified moviegoing and the previous operator has since been “instrumental in getting us back open.” Despite this, McCauley and his partner decided to operate the brand new theater themselves, but hired someone to administer day-to-day operations.

“Netflix, Prime Video and streaming have ruined cinema after COVID,” he said. “The film industry is very different than it is today. The cinema business is definitely not what it used to be.”

However, McCauley is optimistic that things will likely be different in Brentwood, as he has received quite a lot of support from residents thus far.

“The difference is we try to keep our prices low. There's all the charm of Brentwood and the old town charm of this particular theater,” McCauley said. “We've had really insane support from the residents of Brentwood.”

Ticket prices would range from $8 to $12, depending on seating and whether there are student or senior discounts, and Tuesday will even be reserved for bargain-priced movies, as prior to now, he said.

As for the renovations, McCauley said he tried to preserve “the old-fashioned feel of this special cinema,” although they installed a wide range of recent, high-quality vinyl reclining seats in addition to non-reclining seats, romantic duet seats for couples, recent screens, a state-of-the-art digital sound system and brand recent digital equipment. They even took over the space of an adjoining former candy store so as to add “beautiful, new, modern bathrooms,” he said.

“We did a lot of research into what it was like, but then we incorporated the really cool amenities that we have in theaters today,” McCauley said of the venue, which now seats 200.

Perhaps the pièce de résistance, nevertheless, is the foyer renovation, which restored the open-air design and restored the cover and green “Delta” plaque to their 1937 glory with neon pink lights. That work alone cost greater than $100,000 and required the detailed work of various contractors, the owner said.

“Our biggest concern was what it looked like when we were kids when I came here in 1970,” McCauley said. “I just wanted it to look more like the way it was originally built, so we removed the front door area that they put in in the '90s and opened it back up to make it look more original.”

Josh Caudle, who oversees the theater's day-to-day operations, said he was impressed by McCauley's dedication to restoring the Art Deco theater to its original Nineteen Thirties look.

“If we had done it differently (with an enclosed foyer), I would have had more space in the foyer; I could have made more money per square foot,” Caudle said, noting that McCauley was more excited by an authentic restoration. “I love that that was the first thing he prioritized.”

“In terms of the overall experience, there will be some nice aesthetic touches that you don’t see anywhere else,” Caudle said.

In addition, gold curtains have been installed on the theater's stage, which will even be available for fundraisers, comedy shows, theater events and lectures by local film stars, he said.

“Well, just try a lot of different things,” Caudle said. “Basically, it's not just movies anymore.”

In the early days, that was the case, too, Forlow said. Her mother, Rose Pierce, a Spanish speaker, made sure to supply Mexican movies and entertainment. She remembers mariachi groups and other Mexican entertainers performing within the Delta, including the wildly popular movie star Cantinflas and the exotic dancer Tongolele (Yolanda Montes).

“We had a lot of farm workers back then and we provided entertainment for them,” she said.

In the Nineteen Fifties, the Great Toussaint, a master hypnotist and magician, performed there. Forlow claimed that her father needed to call him back from Stockton after a show when, at the tip of the night, he found a girl still hypnotized behind the dark theater.

Although no magic or hypnosis shows are planned for the brand new Delta Theater, theatergoers might feel like they’re stepping back in time as they watch among the decades-old cartoons Caudle has planned, including the unique Superman series, before the flicks and through Saturday's farmers market.

And then there's the food, which could have a contemporary twist, with dishes like homemade pizza, panini sandwiches, pretzels and at the very least a handful of gourmet items on the menu, McCauley said. Anthony Roost of Attraversiamo, a farm-to-table restaurant in Brentwood, is designing the menu with locally sourced ingredients, he said. Wine and beer — all locally sourced — will even be served, he said.

Of course, there will likely be popcorn. Caudle said it would be made in a high-end popcorn machine with a pitcher that evenly coats the kernels with hot butter and can are available a wide range of flavors, including piping hot ghost pepper popcorn.

“We really didn’t skimp on anything there,” McCauley said of the $15,000 popcorn machine.

World News

JERUSALEM (AP) — The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Monday he’s looking for arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in reference to their actions throughout the seven-month war between Israel and Hamas.

Karim Khan said he believes Netanyahu, his defense minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders – Yehia Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh – are liable for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel.

The prosecutor must apply for the arrest warrants to a pre-trial panel of three judges, which takes a mean of two months to look at the evidence and judge whether the case can proceed.

Israel shouldn’t be a member of the court, and even when arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant are in no immediate danger of prosecution. However, Khan's announcement deepens Israel's isolation because the country continues its war, and the specter of arrest could make it difficult for Israeli politicians to travel abroad.

Both Sinwar and Deif are believed to be hiding in Gaza as Israel attempts to hunt them down. But Haniyeh, the militant Islamic group's supreme leader, lives in Qatar and travels steadily through the region.

Benny Gantz, a former military chief and member of Israel's war cabinet with Netanyahu and Gallant, sharply criticized Khan's announcement, saying Israel contends with “one of the strictest” moral codes and has a sturdy judiciary able to investigating itself.

“The State of Israel is waging one of the most just wars in modern history following the reprehensible massacre by Hamas terrorists on October 7,” he said. “The prosecutor's ability to request arrest warrants is in itself a crime of historic proportions that will be remembered for generations to come.”

Israel launched its war in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7 that killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 hostage. According to recent estimates by Gaza health authorities, over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed within the Israeli offensive, a minimum of half of them women and youngsters. The Israeli offensive has also triggered a humanitarian crisis in Gaza that has displaced around 80 percent of the population and pushed tons of of 1000’s of individuals to the brink of starvation, in line with UN officials.

In an announcement on Israel's actions, Khan said: “The impact of using starvation as a way of war, in addition to other attacks and collective punishments against the civilian population of Gaza, is acute, visible and widely known. … They include malnutrition, dehydration, profound suffering and a rising variety of deaths among the many Palestinian population, including babies, other children and ladies.”

The United Nations and other aid organizations have repeatedly accused Israel of obstructing aid deliveries throughout the war. Israel disputes this, saying there are not any restrictions on the entry of aid into Gaza and accuses the United Nations of failing to distribute aid. The United Nations says aid employees have repeatedly come under Israeli fire and that ongoing fighting and a security vacuum have hampered deliveries.

Commenting on Hamas' actions on October 7, Khan, who visited the region in December, said he had seen firsthand “the devastating scenes of these attacks and the profound impact of the unconscionable crimes charged in the applications filed today.” Speaking with survivors, I heard how the love inside a family, the deepest bonds between parent and child, were distorted by calculated cruelty and extreme callousness to inflict unimaginable suffering. These actions demand accountability.”

After a temporary period of international support for Israel's war, it has faced increasing criticism because the war is delayed and the death toll rises.

Israel can also be facing a South African case before the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide. Israel denies these charges.

Khan's request for arrest warrants in Israel-Gaza conflict comes 14 months after the court issued an arrest warrant Arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes and accuses him of non-public responsibility for the kidnapping of kids from Ukraine.

NEW YORK – As all the time, Knicks Nation was convincing and significant as its team lost Game 7 to the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden.

“(Bleeping) Scrubs,” said one well-reasoned fan as he left MSG in the ultimate minutes of the 130-108 loss.

The home fans were bitterly upset. No one on this island would have believed that the Pacers and the massive boy, the Knicks, even exhausted, could compete on a winning streak for a spot within the conference finals so long as Jalen Brunson was healthy and New York could proceed to grab a handful offensive rebounds. ESPN seemed clear in its coverage plan. But the Pacers bowed their necks to point out what that they had learned and the way that they had grown in recent months. They cheered on the Knicks and their wealthy fans within the celebrity circle. They noted how few national reporters had been in attendance incessantly this season. Their coach appeared to take enjoyment of stating the disrespect his team had suffered.

And Tyrese Haliburton arrived on the postgame press conference wearing a Reggie Miller hoodie, with Reg in classic “Knicks Choked” mode, a tribute to the franchise's all-time best player and in Gotham.

“I just like to feel comfortable on the plane,” Haliburton said, tongue firmly planted on his cheek.

Tyrese Haliburton in a Reggie Miller sweatshirt after winning Game 7 on the Garden pic.twitter.com/TKuOc3t1zu

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 19, 2024

Even after they broke the previous record for the best field goal percentage by a team in a Game 7, With a success rate of 67 percent (53 of 79 shots) and an NBA playoff record of 24 three-point throws, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle repeatedly relied on his team's defense when it mattered most.

“They flipped the script,” Carlisle said. “They won the series with courage and physical effort. Press 94 feet. And that's how we beat Milwaukee (in the first round). You have to give these guys a lot of credit, not for a total change, but for a very significant change in the attitude towards defense, in the defiance, in the importance of defense and in what they did today. I don’t want to make anything about shooting.”

In fact, the Pacers' metamorphosis has been profound because the first month of the season, when Indy was cosmically bad defensively. It took the exertions of connecting and getting louder on defense. However, Indiana also had to depart its comfort zone and put all of its efforts into the center of the table by signing Pascal Siakam from Toronto in mid-January as a part of a three-team deal that also included New Orleans, after which there was no guarantee of playoffs, that the two-time All-Star and upcoming unrestricted free agent will remain.

“I focused on calming everyone down at the beginning of the game,” Siakam said. “I acted aggressively and just made sure everyone calmed down. After everyone calmed down, (Haliburton) took over. And he can do that with the best in the game. And of course the back and forth gets you going.”

Siakam made his first five shots from the ground en path to 20 points. Haliburton scored three-pointers in the primary quarter, including a dead sprint to the left wing for a 26-foot player in transition, scoring 11 points in lower than two minutes. Indiana scored 39 points in the primary quarter and led 70-55 at halftime. The Pacers' offensive performance was stunning in its completeness.

“It's just the old-fashioned mindset that you can't play that fast in the playoffs,” Haliburton said. “But I think opportunistically you can do it. If we get stops, obviously we can.”

But Carlisle was right. Indiana could have had higher defensive nights numerically within the series against the Knicks, but considering how much was at stake in Game 7 on the road, this was Indiana's finest defensive hour. Before Brunson left the sport within the second half after breaking his left hand, he was just 6 of 17 from the ground. TJ McConnell again caused trouble when he got here off the bench. And after being significantly beaten on the glass in the primary two games of the series, Indy outscored New York in 4 of the last five games, winning all 4 games.

Indiana's defensive metamorphosis began with a run to the in-season tournament finals in December, when Haliburton's star was rising nationally. But even then, Indy got here crashing back all the way down to earth, getting beaten by the Lakers within the IST finals in Las Vegas. The Pacers got LA's best probability and located that what they were doing wasn't ok. Haliburton was impressed with the Lakers' attention to detail on defense and the way closely they followed the Indiana team scout.

“I think the biggest thing was the experience,” Pacers center Myles Turner said. “We had a lot of guys who hadn’t played high-level basketball or important games. The in-season tournament was like a heightened sense of urgency in all of these games. We know how we started the year defensively, but we all came together and said to ourselves: If we can just get from 30 to average, we can be a damn good team.”

The day after Christmas, Carlisle blew up his starting lineup, bringing in Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith and Jalen Smith alongside Haliburton and Turner. This group had a net rating of minus-4.6 and a defensive rating of 120.8. Not great by any means, but no less than the defensive bleeding wasn't as severe because it had been in the primary two months. When Siakam got here on board, the Pacers' D really took off; in 25 games of Haliburton-Nembhard-Nesmith-Siakam-Turner, Indiana's defensive rating was 107.2, with a net rating of 6.4.

McConnell said there was a variety of soul-searching.

“I think it was masked by the hellish offense we were playing with, but it just wasn’t good enough,” McConnell said. “You don’t get to this point without turning things around defensively. My thanks to the coaching staff and everyone else for… just looking in the mirror to get better at the end.”

Acquiring Siakam not only meant gifting away three first-round picks to Toronto – two this season, one in 2026 – but in addition veteran forward Bruce Brown, whom Indiana signed to much fanfare last offseason after Brown left Denver helped Nuggets win the title. Brown wasn't necessarily a great fit for Indy, but he had the pedigree of a champion. Of course, this also applies to Siakam, who helped the Raptors get a hoop in 2019. But Brown is under contract for next season. It's not Siakam.

Siakam is impressed with the way in which the Pacers are doing things, even beyond Haliburton's emergence (though that's essential, too). With President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard and General Manager Chad Buchanan, Indy has experienced executive stability and a transparent vision for tips on how to construct around Haliburton. In Carlisle, the Pacers have among the finest tacticians in the sport who all the time seems to get absolutely the maximum out of his squad.

“After the in-season tournament, we just decided as a team that we needed to get better,” Carlisle said. “… I just told our guys we’re going to compete and get better. Offensively, we were at a historic pace, but to get to where we are now and where we want to be in this next round and in the future, what we did offensively was not sustainable. That just wasn't feasible. Not if you can’t defend and rebound consistently.”

The task of beating top-seeded and well-rested Boston at TD Garden starting Tuesday is Indiana's biggest challenge yet. The Celtics might be without center Kristaps Porziņģis for the beginning of the series, but are otherwise healthy. They have been the most effective team within the league all season. They had a comparatively easy path to the conference finals.

Yet listed below are the Pacers, twiddling with house money and still removed from dominating the town's sports headlines. The 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 takes place next Sunday, and the WNBA's Indiana Fever has a rookie guard who appears to have attracted some attention.

The Pacers will proceed to fly under the radar and like it.

Sports betting is highly regarded throughout the United States. While sports betting has been legal in countries just like the UK for a long time, the US Supreme Court only ruled so in 2018 States could legalize sports betting. Previously, sports betting was only allowed in Nevada.

After the Supreme Court decision, the floodgates opened. Many states were joyful to legalize sports gambling, enticed by the prospect for more Tax income. Sports gambling shall be banned from May 2024 legal in 38 states and the Americans from Washington, DC bet almost $120 billion in 2023 alone on sports.

Until About 10 years agoSports leagues in North America were concerned – if not outright opposed – Legalize sports betting. The long history of Sports gambling scandals within the USA Many feared that legalizing sports betting would damage the credibility and image of their sport. The NCAA was considered one of many governing bodies opposed nationwide legalization of sports gambling.

But now that the Supreme Court has signed off on it, sports leagues have embraced gambling, partnering with brands like… Caesars Entertainment. The sports betting providers and platforms have integrity monitors for monitoring possible inconsistencies. Nevertheless, there have been quite a few scandals involving athletes and people around them for the reason that Supreme Court ruling.

As a Professor of Critical Sport StudiesI teach students in regards to the history of sports betting scandals. And I feel they provide lessons for the current.

Disgruntled players and salary disputes result in temptation

The Black Sox scandal of 1919 helped further organize baseball and led to the creation of the position of baseball commissioner, initially held by former judge and known racist Kennesaw Mountain Landis. In addition to maintaining the colour line, his most notable motion was banning the players for all times Chicago White Sox were involved in rigging the 1919 World Series.

Early Professional Baseball Regulations Gambling is expressly prohibitedbut the cash was too tempting to disregard for a lot of players – and that included members of the 1919 White Sox. The players hated the team's owner, Charles Comiskey, and felt underpaid. However, for this reason, they were unable to vary teams Reserve clause of their contracts, which granted the owners exclusive rights to their players for a limiteless time period.

A faction of the team agreed to host the World Series. These players were ultimately indicted by a grand jury went to court. They were acquitted of the fees, but Landis suspended all players linked to the fixing – including superstar “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, who admitted taking money from a teammate but maintained he was involved in fixing the sport innocent.

This was essentially the most notable of several attempts to repair baseball games within the early twentieth century, as the sport grew in popularity and quite a few people related to baseball, including players, managers and even umpires, desired to earn money.

Addiction isn’t limited to substances

have athlete salaries has increased sharply in recent a long time. However, this money has not protected players and other athletes from gambling addiction.

There are not any rules prohibiting athletes from doing this sitting at a blackjack table or even betting on other sports. Numerous players have bet thousands and thousands of dollars, and a few athletes have even built up a sum massive debt attributable to addiction.

This debt can result in such desperation that athletes determine to risk their careers. Baseball legend and admitted compulsive gambler Pete Rose continues to sit down outside Hall of Fame for betting on baseball games.

The worst gambling scandal in modern sports occurred within the NBA within the 2000s, involving referee Tim Donaghy. He admitted to providing details about NBA games, including the games he refereed. which allegedly influenced his calls. As a result, Donaghy served a jail sentence. So it's not only players who get into trouble.

Unpaid student-athletes are particularly vulnerable to improprieties – and harassment

There were several major scandals about point losses within the history of school basketball, most famously at City College of New York within the Fifties and at Boston College within the late Seventies – the latter of which is involved Henry Hillthe theme of the blockbuster film “Goodfellas.”

The increasing use of prop or proposition bets, the Focus on a selected final result inside a game moderately than the general final result, has created a brand new vulnerability for student-athletes. While it’s difficult to influence a complete team, history shows that individual players are more prone to pressure. Some extent guard or quarterback can slow the sport down and reduce the margin of victory.

And while today's unpaid student-athletes have the identical financial incentives to cheat as previous generations, they face latest pressures: They are sometimes surrounded by players on campus and on social media. Betting isn’t only widespread at large universities, but additionally at smaller schools. According to NCAA surveys, one in three student-athletes have been harassed by players. The range ranged from derogatory comments to death threats.

New regulations and supervisory measures could help

Sportsbooks have little or no incentive to deal with potential violations, so it’s as much as the organizations that oversee the game to make sure the integrity of their games.

NCAA President Charlie Baker's suggestion on this Ban prop betting is a superb first step: the more individual players and gameplay are isolated, the simpler it’s for irregularities to occur.

Providing more guidance to players – and several types of penalties for various violations – may be useful. Gambling violations that don’t affect the outcomes of competitions must be treated in another way than those who do. The NCAA already does this by issuing lighter penalties Student athletes betting on other teams and sports unlike their very own.

Providing treatment for gamblers and others affected by gambling addiction would even be helpful, and there’s some evidence to encourage open discussion Gambling addiction in European football have had a positive impact.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has proposed introducing federal oversight eliminate the uncertainty of federal regulations. Although scandals are still likely, gambling commissions resembling those within the UK can ensure one Framework for Federal Licensing and Oversight.

The sudden introduction of sports betting by states has resulted in windfall profits for gambling corporations and tax revenue for states. But it will possibly also jeopardize the integrity of the game. As policymakers consider tips on how to address the issue, it may be sensible to learn from history.

“The moment has come for Sudan; “Chaos is our chance to sow the seeds of jihad.” warned Abu Hudhaifa al-Sudani, a senior al-Qaeda leader, in a single Manifesto from October 2022.

His words can have seemed premature on the time, but a 12 months later brutal civil war has now plunged Sudan into chaos through which terrorist groups are thriving. The risk of Al-Qaeda is gaining ground in Sudan is now very real and, in my view, endangers not only the country itself, but in addition regional – and possibly global – security.

In April 2023, In between there have been fightings in Sudan the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, an influence vacuum arises which extremists desperately need to fill.

At the identical time, the Rapid Support Forces – a gaggle that developed under and was once allied with him It was Sudan's former al-Qaeda supporter Omar al-Bashir tightens his grip in strategic areas equivalent to Darfur and southern Khartoum.

As a matter of fact, each the paramilitary group and the armed forces They are accused of recruiting Islamist fighters. fire up fears that the civil war – whatever the winner – can be a base for extremist groups.

As a Defense policy researcher and counterterrorism expertI worry that Sudan is prone to becoming an al-Qaeda stronghold – and a possible base for staging attacks on the United States and its allies. A possible takeover of the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan may very well be a mirror image in pre-9/11 Afghanistan, where the Taliban were on top of things facilitated the rise of al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda members on the hunt Opportunities to realize what they may not within the Middle East, they already are Pay attention to calls to the top to Sudan.

Decades of turmoil and extremism

Sudan Civil War predates the present fighting by a long time. It ignited in 1989 when al-Bashir seized power and allied the nation with radical Islamist ideologies. He imposed Sharia law and in 1991 protected al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. Under al-Bashir's regime, bin Laden arrange training camps and expanded al-Qaeda's financial network. lay the inspiration stone for the terrorist attacks of September eleventh.

Sudan faces international sanctions for its support of terrorism Bin Laden expelled in 1996.

But al-Bashir's sponsorship of the Janjaweed militia group, the architects of the 2003 genocide in Darfur, further cemented his connection to Islamist extremists. Under surveillance, al-Bashir renamed the Janjaweed as Rapid Support Forces in 2013 and appointed former Janjaweed member Mohammed Hamdan “Hemeti” Dagalo as their leader maintain their brutal tactics.

The 2021 coup, orchestrated by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of the Sudanese Armed Forces and Hemeti of the Rapid Support Forces, soon became one Power struggle between the 2 men, sparking the present conflict in Sudan.

Today, with Hemeti on the helm, the paramilitary group continues its campaign of repression in West Darfur and is collaborating in alleged ethnic cleansing against the indigenous Masalit people.

Meanwhile a Prison attack in April 2023, which the The Sudanese army blames the Rapid Support Forces rebelsfacilitated the escape of al-Bashir's allies, although the previous president stays hospitalized under guard.

Sudan at the middle of jihad

Given the conflicts within the Middle East and Eastern Europe, the West could also be overlooking the crisis in Sudan and the potential it holds for al-Qaeda, a gaggle that has long harbored ambitions to return to Sudan.

Despite his expulsion, bin Laden continued to emphasise the importance of Sudan in his plans for global jihad. This was evident in his 2006 tape And Diary entries through which he described Sudan because the central base of operations.

A 2023 publication by Al-Qaeda key figure Ibrahim al-Qussi titled “Fragments from the History of Al-Qaeda” revealed that bin Laden led an investment $12 million for jihad in Sudan alone, underscoring the region's continued importance to al-Qaeda's goals.

Sudan's Attraction to Extremists goes beyond his connections to bin Laden. As a strategic bridge between North and sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan is a crucial location for Islamist extremists searching for to expand their influence within the region.

After 2021 US deduction from Afghanistan and the return of the Taliban to power, al-Qaeda reestablished its presence within the country, reopening of coaching camps and madrassas.

However, al-Qaeda had long since developed from a centralized organization in Afghanistan right into a decentralized network with branches worldwide – from the Arabian Peninsula to the Indian subcontinent to sub-Saharan Africa and the Sahel region.

Historical ties, recent ambitions

The latest developments underscore al-Qaeda's increased give attention to Sudan and are driven by detailed information Expansion plans the Sudanese al-Qaeda leader Abu Hudhaifa al-Sudani. A former Bin Laden worker with a infamous background In Afghanistan and Iraq, al-Sudani issued one one other call for jihad.

After the outbreak of the civil war in Sudan, al-Sudani's manifesto “Now the Fighting has Come: War Messages to the Mujahideen in Sudan” was published in 2022 prescribes a military strategy of targeted attacks and guerrilla warfare across Sudan, but in addition a vision of a jihad stretching from Dongola within the north of the country to Darfur within the south, with Khartoum as its command center.

Al-Qaeda further expressed its threat in a message marking the twenty second anniversary of the 2001 attacks on the United States. promising“It is only a matter of time before the next attack eclipses the horrors of 9/11.”

This statement, coupled with The group escalates Presence in conflict zones equivalent to Niger and Libya actively positions it to focus on U.S. interests worldwide. Actually a 2022 United Nations report suggested that al-Qaeda was planning high-profile attacks, possibly at sea.

What an extremist takeover would mean

Al-Qaeda's potential in resource-rich Sudan shouldn’t be underestimated. Historically, the group's operations from resource-limited Afghanistan have been devastating; in Sudan, together with his Abundance of oil, gold and fertile landtheir capabilities may very well be greatly increased.

Sudan offers a lucrative basis for the one who has the ability. Forging ties with either side of the civil war would undoubtedly be of enormous financial profit to al-Qaeda if either side prevails, as al-Bashir's rule did a generation before.

And Sudan's access to the Red Sea potentially makes it an excellent greater threat than Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

Capturing a Sudanese stronghold could strengthen al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen, Somalia and the Sahel, exacerbate regional conflicts and threaten key trade routes within the Red Sea. Interestingly, a United Nations report from July 2022 revealed this The Yemen branch of al-Qaeda had been expanding its maritime capabilities.

The resurgence of al-Qaeda capabilities within the region may lead to increased piracy, militarized blockades and unregulated arms flows, escalating tensions within the region and resulting in greater geopolitical unrest.

But because the United States directs its resources and a spotlight toward wars in Europe and the Middle East and countering China, Sudan has seemingly slipped down its priority list. To make matters worse, US reactions are linked to the conflicting interests of its Gulf allies Support for various factions within the Sudanese civil war.

With scarce resources, overwhelmed by competing threats and bored with a long time within the Middle East, the United States is ill-positioned to counter al-Qaeda's expansion into Sudan.

But as Sudan increasingly becomes a world terror center, the stakes couldn't be higher. Historical examples equivalent to the autumn of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the rise of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria illustrate the potential costs.

LONDON – Britain's ruling Conservative Party suffered heavy losses in local election results on Friday, further cementing expectations that the Labor Party will return to power after 14 years in Britain's general election in the approaching months.

Labor gained control of councils in England, which the party has not held for a long time, and was successful in a special election for a seat in Parliament.

If these results are repeated in the overall election, it will end in one in all the Conservatives' worst ever defeats.

Although the general results, admittedly with a low turnout, represent a dismal consequence for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, he was in a position to breathe a sigh of relief when the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley in north-east England was re-elected, albeit with a muted results of the vote. The victory of Ben Houchen, who ran a really personal campaign, might be enough to guard Sunak from a revolt by Conservative MPs.

For Labor leader Keir Starmer, the outcomes were generally excellent, although the party's candidates in some areas with large Muslim populations, resembling Blackburn and Oldham in northwest England, appear to have suffered from the leadership's strongly pro-Israel stance within the war in Gaza.

Perhaps most vital within the context of the overall election, which must happen by January but could happen next month, is Labor retaking the parliamentary seat of Blackpool South in northwest England. The seat passed to the Conservatives on the last general election in 2019, when then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson made major inroads in pro-Brexit parts of the country.

In the competition, which was triggered by the resignation of a Conservative MP following a lobbying scandal, Labor's Chris Webb secured 10,825 votes in comparison with 3,218 votes for his second-placed Conservative opponent. The 26% swing from Conservatives to Labor was one in all the biggest because the Second World War – good enough to bring the party back to power for the primary time since its expulsion in 2010.

Starmer traveled to Blackpool, a coastal town, to congratulate Webb and called on Sunak to call a general election. Sunak has the facility to come to a decision the date and has indicated it is going to be within the second half of 2024.

“This was aimed directly at Rishi Sunak to say we are fed up with your decline, your chaos and your division and we want change,” Starmer said.

Thursday's election across much of England was vital in itself, as voters decided who would take over many elements of their day by day lives in the approaching years, resembling rubbish collection, road maintenance and native crime prevention. However, with a national election approaching, they can be viewed through a national prism.

John Curtice, professor of politics on the University of Strathclyde, said the Conservatives are losing about half of the seats they’re defending.

“We are probably looking at one of the worst, if not the worst, performance of the Conservatives in local elections in the last 40 years,” he said on BBC radio.

Late on Friday evening, with greater than half of the two,661 seats up for grabs counted, the Conservatives lost greater than 410 seats while Labor gained almost 170 seats. Other parties, resembling the centrist Liberal Democrats and the Greens, also saw gains. Reform UK, which is attempting to usurp the Conservatives from the appropriate, also had some success, particularly in Blackpool South, where it needed lower than 200 votes to secure second place.

Labor won in areas that voted for Britain to depart the European Union in 2016 and where it was defeated by Brexiteer Johnson, resembling Hartlepool in northeast England and Thurrock in southeast England. It also took control of Rushmoor, a green and heavily military council within the south of England, where it had never won.

A brilliant spot for Sunak was the end in Tees Valley, which had been a standard Labor stronghold before Brexit.

Sunak struck a defiant tone on Teesside as he congratulated Houchen, whose share fell almost 20 percentage points from 2021 to 54%, while admitting “disappointing” results elsewhere.

Sunak hopes Andy Street will remain mayor of the West Midlands when the result’s announced on Saturday. Labour's Sadiq Khan is anticipated to stay London's mayor, despite some concerns being raised that he could lose to Conservative rival Susan Hall resulting from low turnout.

Sunak became prime minister in October 2022, following the short term of his predecessor Liz Truss, who left office after 49 days after a Budget containing unfunded tax cuts roiled financial markets and sent borrowing costs soaring for homeowners.

Her chaotic – and traumatic – leadership compounded the Conservatives' difficulties after the circus surrounding her predecessor Johnson, who was forced to resign after being accused of lying to Parliament about breaches of the coronavirus lockdown in his Downing Street offices .

Nothing Sunak has tried to do has modified the political trajectory, with Labor consistently leading by 20 percentage points in opinion polls. Whether anyone else can do higher than Sunak is a matter that would concern nervous Conservative MPs in Parliament ahead of the weekend.