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Analysis: Conference realignment has mangled the college sports map, but to what benefit?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:30 GMT

The Power Five has been whittled down to a Super Four in college sports.The Pac-12 was the victim, stripped for parts that were redistributed to its competitors for financial gain.Beyond dollars moving from one bank account to another it’s hard to see the overall benefit, but the most disruptive round of conference realignment at the highest level of college sports appears to be almost over — at least for the near future.“Are we better or worse? We’ll probably have to have that conversation in five years to see what the second-, third-, fourth-order effects of the decisions that have been made over the last two years,” California athletic director Jim Knowlton said Friday, hours after the Northern California school joined the Atlantic Coast Conference out of pure desperation.Starting next year, Cal and Bay Area rival Stanford long with SMU, located in Dallas, will compete in an 18-school conference — 17 for football because Notre Dame remains an independent —- that until Frida...

Man convicted of 4-month-old son’s 1997 death dies on Alabama death row

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:30 GMT

ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — A man convicted in the killing of his 4-month-old son has died on Alabama’s death row, state corrections officials said.The Alabama Department of Corrections, in a statement Friday to The Associated Press, confirmed corrections officers found John Michael Ward, 58, unresponsive late Tuesday in his cell at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.Ward was transported to a medical facility “where life-saving measures were unsuccessfully performed,” the department said.Physicians pronounced Ward dead on Wednesday, the department said. A cause of death is pending an autopsy and conclusion of an investigation by the ADOC’s Law Enforcement Services Division, officials said. Ward had been on death row for 26 years and four months, according to the ADOC, after a Baldwin County jury sentenced him to death in December 1998 for the murder of his infant son who, court records show, was smothered in January 1997, al.com reported.Source

Wozniacki’s comeback to tennis and US Open rolls on with victory over American Brady

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:30 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Caroline Wozniacki’s comeback to tennis and the U.S. Open rolled on Friday with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over American Jennifer Brady, another player making a return to the game after a yearslong absence.The 33-year-old from Denmark raised her fists in the air and glanced over to her husband in the stands when she closed out the match to move into the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows in just her third tournament back after 3 ½ years in retirement. “To actually be here in Arthur Ashe Stadium with all of you supporting me is a dream come true,” she said in her post-match interview. “What an honor this is.”Wozniacki, who will play the winner of the match later Friday between No. 6 Coco Gauff and 32nd-seeded Elise Mertens, said she won’t start thinking about that until after she spends some time celebrating with her 2-year-old daughter Olivia and 10-month old son, James.The former No. 1 and 2018 Australian Open champion left the sport in early 2020 to start a family and la...

Man United signs Amrabat on loan from Fiorentina. Morocco star says he is at ‘club of my dreams’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:30 GMT

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Morocco midfielder Sofyan Amrabat described Manchester United as the “club of my dreams” after completing a season-long loan move to the English team in the final hours of the last day of the transfer window.Amrabat moved on Friday from Italian club Fiorentina, which reportedly received a loan fee of 10 million euros ($10.8 million). United has the option to make the signing permanent for 20 million euros ($21.5 million).The 27-year-old Amrabat didn’t feature in any of Fiorentina’s four matches this season after demanding a transfer. He rose to global prominence thanks to a string of impressive performances at the World Cup in Qatar last year when — as a shield in front of the defense — he helped Morocco become the first team from Africa or the Arab world to reach the semifinals.Amrabat also played a key role as Fiorentina reached the finals of the Coppa Italia and Europa Conference League last season.“I’ve had to be patient for this moment,” Amrabat said,...

Missing Colorado climber found dead in Glacier National Park

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:30 GMT

WEST GLACIER, Mont. (AP) — A Colorado man who went missing on a climbing trip in Glacier National Park was found dead Friday morning, park officials said.Adam Fuselier, 32, of Castle Pines, Colorado, was reported overdue on Wednesday from a planned climb on Reynolds Mountain. His family had last talked to him on Tuesday. Masked robbery attempt now suspected in US 287 shooting that led to fiery crash Rangers found his vehicle at Logan Pass on Wednesday.Tips from fellow hikers helped narrow the search area and his body was found Friday morning. His cause of death is still under investigation, park officials said.

Check out this orange sculpture downtown on Speer Boulevard

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:30 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Next time you're near the University of Colorado Denver, look out for the bright orange geometric sculpture on the Speer median between Larimer and Market streets.Renovated sculpture on Speer Blvd. Photo courtesy of Denver arts and venues.Renovated sculpture on Speer Blvd. Photo courtesy of Denver arts and venues.Renovated sculpture on Speer Blvd. Photo courtesy of Denver arts and venues.Renovated sculpture on Speer Blvd. Photo courtesy of Denver arts and venues.The sculpture was originally built by Gerald Cross in 1975. It was located on Speer Boulevard and Colfax Avenue before it was renovated and relocated on Aug. 26, 2023. It's made from orange-painted steel and blue Plexiglas. While the sculpture is untitled, the creator put a lot of thought behind his work. “Now this giant, perfectly ordered, tidy, geometric expression will be surrounded by the imperfect messy real-life truth we live of traffic, pedestrians, bicyclists, traffic lights, trees, grass and sunshi...

5 things to know for student loans starting back up

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:30 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- On Sept. 1, student loan interest starts back up, and by October, 40 million Americans' student loan payments are due. While it may feel like Dooms Day is here, a college financial advisor says it's not as bad as you think. The U.S. Department of Education began a COVID-19 relief for student loans three years ago. President Joe Biden planned to cancel what would have cost roughly $400 billion in student loans until the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down in late June. What Biden’s SAVE plan means for student loan borrowers While Biden just shared his new plan for student loan relief, it's time to start paying your student loans again.FOX31 spoke with Kerline Eglaus, Metropolitan State University's executive director of Financial Aid and Scholarships, about some of the most important things you should know when it comes to paying for your student loans:1. Take the first stepsEspecially for new graduates who haven't had to pay a loan yet, Eglaus recommends taking the ...

Mohamed Al-Fayed, billionaire former Harrods owner who waged a war of words with Britain’s royals, dead at 94

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:30 GMT

(CNN) — Mohamed Al-Fayed, the outspoken Egyptian tycoon who transformed the fortunes of two London institutions, the Harrods department store and Fulham Football Club, and waged a war of words with Britain’s royals after his son was killed in a car crash alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, has died, according to a statement from his family. He was 94.“Mrs Mohamed Al Fayed, her children and grandchildren wish to confirm that her beloved husband, their father and their grandfather, Mohamed, has passed away peacefully of old age on Wednesday August 30, 2023,” the family statement, which was released by Fulham FC on Friday, said.Al-Fayed forced his way into London’s high society by purchasing a number of lavish establishments after arriving in the UK in the 1970s, and also owned the storied Ritz Hotel in Paris for four decades.But he proved an increasingly controversial figure during his public fight for British citizenship, and even more so after the death of Diana and his son, Dodi Fa...

Blink-182 postpones concerts in Europe as Travis Barker returns stateside for ‘urgent family matter’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:30 GMT

(CNN) — Travis Barker has had to put family first instead of continuing to tour with his rock band Blink-182.The band announced on its verified Instagram Story on Friday that “due to an urgent family matter,” their drummer Barker “has had to return home to the States.”Their shows in Glasgow, Scotland, Belfast, Northern Ireland and Dublin, Ireland “are being postponed,” the message read. The shows were part of Blink-182’s “World Tour 2023/2024,” which started in April, and were slated for the beginning of this month.The tour is currently scheduled to resume on September 8 in Antwerp, Belgium.No additional information was made available about the nature of the family matter.CNN has reached out to a representative for Barker and Blink-182 for comment.Barker is married to Kourtney Kardashian, and the pair are currently expecting their first child together (Kardashian already has three children with her ex, Scott Disick).Barker is also a dad to two children and stepdad to one, from a pre...

Ukraine’s most powerful spiritual force faces a choice

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:30 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine — One Friday afternoon in late July, on the bank of Kyiv’s Lake Jordan, more than 400 Ukrainians gathered to celebrate their national christening. Cupcakes, pies, and cookies with blue-and-gold frosting, knitted and stitched handicrafts and pictures of national poet Taras Shevchenko filled kiosks that also sold boozy fruit juice and humongous slabs of brisket. Uniformed soldiers from the 244th battalion of the Ukrainian army chatted with wives, girlfriends, civilians and vendors intending to donate their earnings to that unit. High school kids horsed around with what looked to be an empty rocket case near moms presiding over screeching toddlers in a sandbox.An hour into the eclectic festivities everyone hushed, and Father Georgi Kovalenko took over and chanted prayers. Another priest, Father Cyril Hovorun, gave a sermon and spritzed the gathering from the waters with which — 1,035 years ago to the day, according to lore — the baptism of Prince Volodymyr of Ky...