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Junkyard Dogs win The League title

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:54 GMT

WORCESTER — It is no different than the fall. Same went for this spring. And if they played high school football in the summer and winter, it would probably be identical: Bo MacCormack can tote the dang rock with the best of them.Behind MacCormack’s standout performance, the Boston Junkyard Dogs defeated the Northern Knights, 19-16, in the championship of The League.With its just-completed third year, The League offers full-padded football in the spring, something you cannot get anywhere else in Massachusetts.And while everyone got to showcase their stuff, it was once again MacCormack — the sophomore from BB&N — who stole the show. He finished with 232 yards and a 40-yard touchdown on 25 carries. Unofficially, 200 of those yards came in the second half as the Dogs, made up mostly of BB&N players, rallied from a 9-0 halftime deficit.The Knights did well to bottle MacCormack up in the first half, but it’s not if he will bust out, but when.“It’s kind of ...

Navratilova says she’s doing ‘OK’ after cancer diagnosis

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:54 GMT

ROME (AP) — Martina Navratilova is doing “OK” after being diagnosed with throat cancer and breast cancer.“I’ve gone through a very difficult year but now I’m OK,” the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame said at the Italian Open on Sunday after receiving the “Racchetta d’Oro” (Golden Racket) award for her contributions to the sport.The 66-year-old Navratilova said in January that her prognosis was good and that she was going to start treatment that month. She said then that she noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck while attending the season-ending WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, in November, and a biopsy showed early stage throat cancer.While Navratilova was undergoing tests on her throat, she said, the unrelated, early stage breast cancer was discovered.Navratilova returned to her work as a TV analyst at Tennis Channel in March, when in an interview with TalkTV’s Pi...

Civil rights groups issue travel advisory about Florida

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:54 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. — The NAACP over the weekend issued a travel advisory for Florida, joining two other civil rights groups in warning potential tourists that recent laws and policies championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.”The NAACP, long an advocate for Black Americans, joined the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a Latino civil rights organization, and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories for the Sunshine State, where tourism is one of the state’s largest job sectors.The warning approved Saturday by the NAACP’s board of directors tells tourists that, before traveling to Florida, they should understand the state of Florida “devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.”An email was sent Sunday morning to DeSantis’...

Scherzer looks solid for second straight outing despite thumb issue

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:54 GMT

The most ace-like performance the Mets have received this season came from a pitcher who is currently in Triple-A. Joey Lucchesi authored the kind of masterpiece one might expect from Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander a month ago in San Francisco. Verlander himself has pitched like that only once, doing so against the lowly Cincinnati Reds two turns ago.But Max Scherzer came close Sunday in the Mets’ 5-4 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Citi Field. He tossed six scoreless innings and struck out five to earn a quality start, limiting the Guardians to only three hits and a walk. His last two starts have been, more or less, what’s expected of him, even if the three-time Cy Young Award winner has higher expectations for himself.“You really don’t take anything from this other than how you compete and how you win,” Scherzer said.Six innings and a 4.01 ERA isn’t where the bar is set for an ace, but this isn’t the same Scherzer from a few years ag...

Hundreds join Writers Guild in picketing Warner Bros. CEO commencement speech at BU

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:54 GMT

The writers’ strike hit Boston in force Sunday — with hundreds boisterously joining Writers Guild of America members to protest Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s commencement speech at Boston University.“(Zaslav) is a very misguided choice as a commencement speaker,” said Nikole Beckwith, the WGA’s Boston area strike captain, on the picket line outside of the ceremony on BU’s Nickerson Field. “I know he’s a BU alum, but to hold an exploitative capitalist CEO up as a model of success is very dangerous.”Picketers represented the guild, as well as many other Boston area unions and the BU community, and marched around two entrances to the field through the ceremony Sunday afternoon. Between 350 to 400 people showed up, Beckwith said.Sunday’s protest comes nearly three weeks into the WGA’s national strike. The guild’s 11,500 writers in the union are currently striking around the country, demanding a new...

Kluber struggles with command again as Red Sox drop finale to Padres 7-0

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:54 GMT

Corey Kluber has put the Red Sox in a really tough place.Signed in large part for his track record of limiting walks, the two-time Cy Young Award winner’s command appears to have completely abandoned him. The 37-year-old has been walking batters at an alarming rate all season, and Sunday he was flat out uncompetitive in Boston’s 7-0 loss to the San Diego Padres.“Frustrating for me, frustrating for everybody, just doing a poor job of finding the correct adjustment to make,” Kluber said. “Trying different stuff to get it done when I’m out there and not being able to do it.”Right from the jump it was clear Kluber didn’t have it. The righty walked the leadoff batter, booted a routine chopper to the mound for an error and then walked Xander Bogaerts to load the bases with no outs. He then walked Matt Carpenter to drive in a run, but while he was almost able to escape the jam, Rougned Odor ultimately punished him with a back-breaking three-r...

Smoke cooled air and helped slow weekend wildfire spread in Alberta, officials say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:54 GMT

EDMONTON — Wildfire activity in Alberta wasn’t as bad over the holiday weekend as officials had feared when they saw the initial hot and dry weather forecasts because of smoke cover and limited rain in some areas.But it’s not all good news because while smoke cools the air, it limits the ability to fly firefighting aircraft and it harms the health of everyone having to breathe it.“It’s a mixed bag, certainly, with smoke,” Christie Tucker of Alberta Wildfire said during a news conference Sunday.“I couldn’t say one outweighs the other. We will take advantage of any opportunity we have, and if it’s providing an opportunity for more on-the-ground firefighting, then that’s what we’re able to do.”Officials reported Sunday that a wildfire that’s a part of the Eagle Lake complex of fires near Fox Creek, Alta., saw some precipitation overnight Saturday, allowing firefighters on the ground and heavy equipment operators th...

Austin FC 'growing and discovering' who they are after 1-0 win over Toronto FC

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — While captain and star midfielder Sebastian Driussi is out with an injury, Austin FC is playing well and is back above the playoff line after a 1-0 win Saturday over Toronto FC at Q2 Stadium. Gyasi Zardes scored his second goal of the season in the first minute of second-half stoppage time to steal victory from the jaws of a scoreless draw. It's the second consecutive win for Verde and Black after ending a winless streak of eight matches with a 2-1 victory over Seattle. Austin FC is now 2-1-2 in its past five matches across both MLS and U.S. Open Cup play in May alone, and they still have three more matches this month. Austin has MLS’ 5th-highest payroll; who makes the most? Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff said the team is trying to find its identity, and Saturday night's win went a long way in that quest."This has been coming," Wolff said. "They are growing and discovering who this 2023 version is. It's next-man-up, real character and grittiness ... knowing it's g...

Debt ceiling: Biden, McCarthy to meet Monday as negotiators ‘keep working’ to resolve standoff

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:54 GMT

By STEPHEN GROVES, ZEKE MILLER and JOSH BOAK (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and House Republicans wrapped up another round of debt ceiling talks Sunday as Washington races to strike a budget compromise along with a deal to raise the nation’s borrowing limit and avert an economy-wrecking federal default. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy spoke by phone Sunday while the president was returning home on Air Force One after the Group of Seven summit in Japan. Upbeat, McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters at the Capitol that the call was “productive” and that the on-again, off-again negotiations between his staff and White House representatives are focused on spending cuts.Biden and McCarthy are set to meet for a pivotal meeting Monday at the White House.Negotiators for the Democratic president and Republican speaker met for 2 1/2 hours as talks appear to be narrowing on a 2024 budget year cap that would be key to resolving the ...

Consistent playing time, new outlook helps Kyle Farmer settle in as Twins’ third baseman

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:54 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Maybe it’s the consistent playing time helping him get into a rhythm at the plate. Maybe it’s all the time he had to reflect while he was on the injured list that helped give him new perspective.Whatever it is, third baseman Kyle Farmer has given the Twins everything they could have hoped for since he stepped into the role full-time. Farmer, who suffered a gruesome injury after being hit by a pitch on the face last month, came back on May 10, took over at third base for a slumping Jose Miranda, who was demoted to Triple-A. He’s hitting .381, .983 with OPS since that day, collecting 15 hits, including a pair of home runs, in his first 11 games back.“Kyle Farmer is a heck of a baseball player. I like it when the ball is hit at him, and I like it when he’s coming to the plate with a bat in his hands,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I like relying on him. He handles what comes with this job very, very well.”Farmer was hitting .226, bouncing around the infield befo...