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AP Top 25 Takeaways: Alabama is unrecognizable, raising the question: Will the Tide stay ranked?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:27:09 GMT

Week 3 was about just getting through it for most of the highly ranked teams.No. 1 Georgia, facing its first opponent with a prayer to challenge the two-time defending champs, needed a half to find a groove against South Carolina on Saturday.No. 2 Michigan had to work around four turnovers to beat Bowling Green.No. 3 Florida State fought through early lethargy and second-half sloppiness at Boston College to hang on for dear life.No. 4 Texas used a 21-point fourth quarter to shake Wyoming.No. 7 Penn State needed five takeaways to win ugly at Illinois.No. 18 Colorado made a miraculous comeback to beat Colorado State in overtime.And then there was No. 10 Alabama, which went through two quarterbacks and needed almost three quarters just to get into the end zone at South Florida. The Tide was unrecognizable, even in victory.As unsettling as last week’s loss at home to Texas might have been Alabama fans, this had to feel just as ominous.“I’m really proud of our players for the way t...

Grasso retains belt after split draw with Shevchenko at UFC Fight Night 227

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:27:09 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Some of the greatest rivalries in combat sports have delivered spectacular trilogies.UFC flyweights Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko are poised for an addition to that list.Grasso retained her flyweight title after coming away with a split draw against Shevchenko on Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 227.A spirited crowd of 18,766 turned out for UFC’s first-ever main card on Mexican Independence Day, keeping in tradition for combat sports to hold big fights on Sept. 16.“It was amazing,” Grasso said. “I love that people came out to support all the Mexicans.”It was a long-anticipated rematch from March 4, when Grasso pulled off the stunning upset with a fourth-round submission after Shevchenko missed badly when she led her attack with a back kick. Grasso quickly moved in for the takedown and eventually was able to apply a rear naked choke to win the belt.Saturday, neither fighter made many mistakes but rather made the most of advantageous situations. It took a str...

Neal runs for 3 TDs, Hinshaw Jr. adds runs for another to help Kansas beat Nevada 31-24

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:27:09 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw Jr. combined for 137 rushing yards and four touchdowns, Jalon Daniels threw for 298 yards, and Kansas pulled away from Nevada in the fourth quarter for a 31-24 victory Saturday night at Mackay Stadium.The game was tied at 24-all when Daniels went 4-for-4 for 55 yards, leading to Neal’s third touchdown on a 3-yard run and a 31-24 lead with 6:20 left to play.Nevada was not able to cross midfield on its final two possessions.“We found a way,” Jayhawks coach Lance Leipold said. “We did not play our sharpest. We had too many penalties.“But at the same time, I’m proud of our team for persevering and finding a way. In the end, we found a way to get a big stop and come away here with a win. And road wins aren’t easy.”The Jayhawks (3-0) were a 28-point favorite at Nevada sports books.The Wolf Pack (0-3) was looking to end the nation’s longest losing streak. The now 13-game skid under second-year coach Ken Wilson is also the longest in program hi...

Kyle Schwarber hits his 44th homer and lifts Phillies to 6-1 win over Cardinals

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:27:09 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kyle Schwarber hit his 44th homer, sparking the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6–1 victory Saturday night over the St. Louis Cardinals.“There’s always a chance when you go up to the plate,” Schwarber said. “I don’t worry about numbers. I’ve just got to keep going up there and taking quality at-bats.”Schwarber’s three-run homer came on a 2-2 pitch in the fifth inning, extending the Phillies’ lead to 5-1. The homer snapped an 0-for-16 slump for Schwarber, who sports a .197 season average. He hiked his RBIs total to 97.“That was a big home run,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. ”For whatever reason, he typically doesn’t hit well against the Cardinals.”Schwarber drilled a 114.1 mph line drive that cleared the wall in right field, making it the hardest-hit home run at Busch Stadium this season and his second-hardest-hit homer of the year.It was his fifth homer at Busch Stadium. He has 22 hits in 136 at-bats in 37 career games in St. Louis.“No,...

MLB notes: Who could be candidates to succeed Chaim Bloom as Red Sox baseball boss?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:27:09 GMT

The Chaim Bloom era in Boston is officially over, and in the coming weeks the Red Sox will undertake what club CEO Sam Kennedy promised would be a broad search for a new baseball boss.Who will be the next person to run the Red Sox baseball operation? What title will they hold? Will the Red Sox hire one person or two? Kennedy said all options are on the table, other than former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, who is presumably more interested in tackling new challenges than revisiting old ones at this stage in his career.We’ll no doubt learn more about the club’s preferences as the search unfolds, but for now there are a handful of people around baseball who seem like obvious candidates at first blush. Whether any of these individuals emerge as actual candidates remains to be seen, but here are a few names to watch and why they might be a good fit for the Red Sox going forward.Sam Fuld, Phillies GMAs of this writing Fuld is the betting favorite to become Boston̵...

UN committee votes to list ancient Jericho as a World Heritage Site in Palestine

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:27:09 GMT

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A U.N. conference voted Sunday to list the ancient West Bank city of Jericho as a World Heritage Site in Palestine, a decision likely to anger Israel, which controls the territory and does not recognize a Palestinian state.Jericho is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities on earth, and is in a part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank that is administered by the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.The decision was taken at a meeting of the U.N. World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the auspices of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO. Israel quit UNESCO in 2019, accusing it of being biased against it and of diminishing its connection to the Holy Land. Israel also objected to UNESCO’s acceptance of Palestine as a member state in 2011. But Israel remains a party to the World Heritage Convention, and it sent a delegation to the meeting in Riyadh.Israel captured the West Bank, along with ...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his way home after concluding a trip to Russia’s Far East

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:27:09 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is on his way home Sunday from Russia, ending a six-day trip that triggered global concerns about weapons transfer deals between the two countries locked in separate standoffs with the West.Kim began his journey back to North Korea aboard his armored train from the Primorye region in Russia’s Far East, following a farewell ceremony at a train station, Russia’s state news agency RIA said. Since entering Russia last Tuesday in his first overseas trip in more than four years, Kim had met President Vladimir Putin and visited key military and technology sites. Earlier Sunday, he was in a lighter mode, touring a university and watching a walrus show at a Russian aquarium.Russia’s state media released videos of Kim — dressed in a black suit and accompanied by his top officials — talking with Russian officials through translators as he walked through the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University in Russky Island.Kim was late...

Poland imposes EU ban on all Russian-registered passenger cars

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:27:09 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland began to enforce a European Union ban Sunday on all Russian-registered passenger cars seeking to enter the country — the latest in a series of sanctions on Russia in punishment for its war against Ukraine.Under the EU’s decision, motor vehicles registered in the Russian Federation are no longer allowed to enter the territory of the 27-member bloc. “A car registered in Russia has no right to enter Poland,” Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said Saturday, announcing the ban that took effect hours later at midnight.“This is another element of the sanctions imposed on Russia and its citizens in connection with the brutal war in Ukraine, due to the fact that the Russian state today constitutes a threat to international security,” Kaminski said.The move comes just days after the nearby Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia banned vehicles with Russian license plates from entering their territory — a joint move in line with a recent interpretat...

Now a post-tropical storm, Lee expected to move into Gulf of St. Lawrence today

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:27:09 GMT

Tens of thousands of hydro customers remain without power as Lee, now a strong post-tropical storm, begins moving out of the Maritimes into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.Environment Canada says New Brunswick, the Gaspe Peninsula, and the Quebec Lower North Shore will continue to experience heavy rain Sunday, while high winds and large waves will continue to impact much of Prince Edward Island, eastern Nova Scotia, and the Magdalen Islands.As of 3:30 a.m. ADT, Nova Scotia Power was reporting outages affecting nearly 106,000 customers, more than 11,700 NB Power customers were in the dark and just over 800 Maritime Electric customers were without power in P.E.I.Tropical storm warnings remained in effect for eastern Nova Scotia, much of Prince Edward Island, and the Magdalen Islands, with those regions also under wind warnings, with gusts of up to 100 kilometres an hour in those areas.Environment Canada warned that trees may be uprooted more easily because the ground is oversaturated after h...

Coach Damion Mitchell's brave cancer fight inspires Lutheran North Football

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:27:09 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- Coaching football is one of Damion Mitchell's passions.He loves coaching so much he does so at two places, Matthews Dickey and Lutheran North High School.At Lutheran North, where they affectionately call him "Coach Dee." The Crusaders are preparing for their next opponent. Recently, Coach Dee has been battling an opponent of his own."The last five months, I've been going through chemotherapy," Damion said. "When I go in for chemo, I am in the hospital for five days."Damion is battling lymphoma. The fight, though, hasn't stopped him from continuing to coach."If I didn't have football, my battle wouldn't have been as easy as it's been," Damion said. "Football has helped me through this."A couple of weeks ago, Coach Dee hit a milestone in his cancer battle. After his final round of chemotherapy treatment, he rang the bell at the hospital."It was a sigh of relief to get through that last round of chemotherapy," Damion said. "All the nurses and all the staff just welcomed me...