Daily Archives: January 29, 2021

Ron Rivera has added another win to his record, and his team didnt even have to play a game.

The head coach of the Washington Football Team is officially cancer-free, according to tweets from his wife and daughter on Thursday. Rivera had been battling a case of squamous cell cancer during the season, and he now appears to be out of the woods:

Rivera announced the good news himself later Thursday, posting a picture with some very good dogs.

Riveras diagnosis was first reported in August, weeks before he was about to begin his first season as the head coach in Washington. Riveras case was reported to be very treatable, but that treatment still had to come during the always-stressful NFL season.

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Rivera didnt miss a single game while undergoing treatment, leading Washington to a 7-9 record and its first playoff berth since 2015 despite cycling through four different starting quarterbacks. He did have to miss a practice due to side effects from chemotherapy, but still managed to coach his teams game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Washington announced in October that Rivera had undergone his final cancer treatment, and it appears his follow-up examination revealed no trace of the illness.

Riveras strength through his teams turbulence under center, his cancer treatments and the overall instability in D.C. was enough to earn him the title of NFC Coach of the Year as voted by his peers. Hopefully, next season will be a bit easier.

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Ive come to appreciate the sheer fact of consistency, of availability. Not just day-to-day, though you can certainly expect that from LeBron James, but year-to-year. He is the rare timeless athlete, one of the few constants in my life in anyones life.

Eighteen years. LeBrons career is old enough to be my drinking buddy, and it pretty much is.

Memories are unreliable, frustrating narrators, but I remember moments involving him with perfect clarity.

When James made his playoff debut with the Miami Heat, I snuck in looks at the TV at my sister-in-laws bridal shower. When I was in college, I used to find study rooms with projectors that somehow always ended up streaming League Pass. I had no idea back then that hed vanquish far greater foes than Paul Pierce.

In 2017, when the Cleveland Cavaliers insisted on making Game 3 of the NBA Finals close, I sprinted from a Future concert before he took the stage to a bar across the street, only to watch Kevin Durant nail a dagger in LeBrons face. I watched him in Toronto. I watched him in Los Angeles. I watch him now, when I have no concerts to run away from.

I still cry every time I watch The Block, watch James crumpled up on the hardwood, clinging to the trophy that will always mean more than the rest.

After watching him for almost two decades, our collective awareness of his particular form of dominance has inevitably receded into the NBAs fabric. We cant help but take him for granted. Our minds dont pay attention to information we already recognize, so we miss whats right in front of our faces. We hardly notice his workaday greatness except for the days he tops himself.

His current arsenal is essentially an advertisement for NBA history: Dirk Nowitzkis one-foot fadeaway, Kareem Abdul-Jabbars skyhook, Kobes fadeaway from the left baseline. The San Antonio Spurs used to let him fire mid-range jumpers. Now, hes shooting 40 percent from the logo. The Dallas Mavericks let point guard Jason Kidd guard him on the block. Now, James is one of the most efficient post players in the NBA.

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As the league evolves, you have to be able to evolve with it if you wanna be able to keep up with the times, keep up with the Joneses, or the Jameses in my case, James said, laughing. For me, [its] just never putting a cap on myself. I just want to always continue to get better and do things out on the floor that maybe hasnt been done in other peoples careers and continue to push the envelope and see how much juice I can squeeze out of the lemon.

James game has been molded by postseason failures that forced him to evolve. James failed against Doc Rivers Boston Celtics twice as a Cavalier, but never with the Heat.

Rivers, now the coach of the Sixers, remembers they would come out and attack LeBron, even out of timeouts, because at that point, he was a great player, but as far as the defensive game plan and all that, he was into it, but he was young. Then we get to Miami, I remember him calling out sets. Our sets. I remember turning to I think Lawrence Frank was my assistant I remember turning to him and he said, Uh oh, this is not good for anybody. Now, hes becoming not only the great LeBron, but the great LeBron student of the game. Once he crossed that threshold, hes really not looked back.

James reimagined his game to stay on top, but these days, Im more impressed by how its basic essence, its raison dtre, has remained the same. He has never stopped imposing his will with playmaking, giving rise to a style so ubiquitous its impact on the NBA goes almost unnoticed. When James melded his preternatural playmaking intelligence with diligent study, he remade the league.

I rewatched Game 7 of the 2010 Finals a few days ago and realized two things: Kobe did indeed shoot over too many double-teams, but the offensive layout didnt present any easy outlets. And man, we thought very differently about basketball just a decade ago.

When LeBron used to pass to open shooters for potential winners, he triggered DEFCON 1 protocols on sports shows across America, hosts begging him to score, to assert his will, questioning his killer instinct, his very manhood all because he saw things no one else did.

Now, we see it his way. James is far from being the only reason the game is spaced out, but good offenses now simplify decision-making for star playmakers. The choices Luka Doncic and James Harden make with the ball in their hands are an evolution of LeBrons style. The modern offense is built in his super-computing image.

My para-relationship with James took a turn for the strange when I started covering the NBA.

In 2018, when I was covering the Toronto Raptors playoff run, Game 5 of Pacers-Cavaliers was in its final stretch after the Raptors beat the Wizards. Long story short: James hit the winner, and I squealed and shook in my seat in the middle of a news conference. I tried not to look anyone in the eye for another five minutes.

Then James came to Toronto. Ill never forget the first time I asked him a question, or my boyfriend at the time yelling no no no while James dribbled calmly up full court and nailed a strange, floating bank shot over OG Anunoby from the wing in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, destroying the Raptors thoroughly and nonchalantly in four games. The Raptors did not, as James once put it, present an adverse situation. You could feel that in his stride.

Imagine a pincer opening up, and youll see how most people react to change: One side trying to adapt to everything new while, with equal force, another side clings to the familiar.

The older I get, the more I cling to watching LeBron. I tried to stifle this impulse until one day I stopped trying. Ive come to believe that the sheer attempt to be unbiased while covering sports, at least in the way that I cover them, is a sham: self-deception of the highest order, and it translates to reporters who arent honest with themselves and therefore cannot be honest with readers. It accomplishes little outside of twisting ones mind into knots that prevent it from thinking straight. We chase this line of work because we love sports, crave sports, want even need to be near them.

I imagine LeBron has inspired this tug of war in a lot of young writers. Its a symptom of his longevity. Everyone else I loved to watch before it was my job has retired. I wonder if NFL writers feel this conundrum with Tom Brady. LeBron has been the planets best player for so long that he can still connect me to my childhood, so Ill keep performing this exercise of pretending not to root for him while rooting for him perpetually, until the day he retires, which I hope never comes.

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Larry King's interview with Jerry Seinfeld is going viral after his death. (Photo: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)

Since news of Larry Kings death broke Saturday, fans have been revisiting some of the more memorable interview clips from the 87-year-olds broadcasting career spanning more than 60 years, including a 25-year stretch as host of CNNs Larry King Live. One clip in particular has been getting a lot of attention: a 2007 interview with Jerry Seinfeld in which the comedian, there to promote his animated film Bee Movie, seemed bewildered by Kings suggestion that his hit sitcom Seinfeld might have been canceled. (As Seinfeld noted during the viral interview, he opted to end the popular NBC show on a high note

You gave it up, right? King asked. You canceled them, they didnt cancel you.

Youre not aware of this? Seinfeld responded, as King stood his ground. You think I got canceled? Are you under the impression I got canceled? I thought it was pretty well-documented. Is this still CNN?

Seinfeld went on to playfully persist, [When] I went off the air I was the number-one show on television, Larry. Do you know who I am?

Jewish guy. Brooklyn, King quipped in response.

As his rant at King again made the rounds in the hours following Kings death, Seinfeld took to social media to pay tribute and set the record straight. According to the former sitcom star, it was all in good fun.

The canceled bit was just me having fun with his little mistake, wrote Seinfeld. Nothing more. Or less.

He added that he will miss the veteran broadcaster.

Seinfeld isnt the only star from his 90s sitcom who appeared to butt heads with King mid-interview. A 2013 interview with his former co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who defended herself over the claim she had a mans name, resurfaced last month.

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Meanwhile, Larry Kings three sons Larry Jr., Cannon and Chance have issued a statement expressing their heartbreak over the veteran TV hosts death. Kings son Andy and daughter Chaia both died last summer, less than a month apart.

We are heartbroken over our fathers death, and together with our extended family mourn his passing, the statement reads. The world knew Larry King as a great broadcaster and interviewer, but to us he was dad. He was the man who lovingly obsessed over our daily schedules and our well-being, and who took such immense pride in our accomplishments large, small or imagined. And, through it all, we knew without a doubt in the world that he loved us more than life itself. He was an amazing father, and he was fiercely loyal to those lucky enough to call him a friend. We will miss him every single day of our lives.

They went on to thank those sharing remembrances of their father and directed donations to the American Heart Association and Beverly Hills Fire Department EMS.

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Jerry Seinfeld sets the record straight after Larry King interview resurfaces: 'Just me having fun with his little mistake' - Yahoo Entertainment

Quarterbacks dont play one-on-one. While there have been seven QBs to beat Tom Brady in the postseason over his 21 NFL seasons, none of them were on the field at the same time as Brady.

Still, looking at the quarterbacks who were on the other side of Bradys playoff losses is shocking. It also should drive home the point that assigning quarterbacks wins is a flawed premise.

The list is one all-time great, another quarterback some will argue is a Hall of Famer and then ... well, a strange group. Patrick Mahomes will try to join it in Super Bowl LV.

Lets rank the seven quarterbacks who have been on the winning end of playoff games against Bradys teams.

Looking back, the Jets 28-21 win over the Patriots at the end of the 2010 season is one of the craziest upsets in NFL playoff history. It was a great Patriots team that went 14-2 in the regular season. They beat the Jets 45-3 a little more than a month before a divisional-round matchup. And behind two Sanchez touchdown passes in the first half, the Jets jumped out 14-3 and hung on for the upset. Sanchez was very good that day, with three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 127.3 passer rating.

Sanchez was at the end of his second season, a former top-five draft pick, and he looked like he might be on a good career path. That win over the Patriots was probably the high point, as turnovers plagued him the rest of his time with the Jets. He eventually retired after eight seasons. At least Sanchez is one of the few who can claim to have led a playoff win over Bradys Patriots.

Wild highs and some dreadful lows defined Foles career. It peaked when he won Super Bowl LIIs MVP and led the Eagles to their first title against Brady and the Patriots. Brady threw for a record 505 yards in that game.

Foles has had other hot stretches. He had a strong 2013 season with Chip Kelly, tied an NFL record with seven touchdown passes in a game and replaced Carson Wentz (again) to lead the Eagles back to the playoffs the year after the Super Bowl. He has also had long stretches of mediocrity in an odd career. His legacy will be centered on one great day in a Super Bowl, with Brady on the losing end.

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Tannehill could move up the list before hes done. His years as a first-round draft disappointment with the Miami Dolphins are fading away as he puts together a very good stretch with the Titans. Tannehill did not have a big day when the Titans beat the Patriots last season in a wild-card game, which was Bradys last game in New England. Tannehill threw for just 72 yards, with eight completions. Maybe Derrick Henry should instead be on this list.

Plummers Broncos were the first team to hand Brady a playoff loss. It was a game at the end of the 2005 season that is remembered best for Champ Baileys long interception return and Ben Watsons hustle play to chase him down. Plummer had a career with exciting plays, good and bad. He had memorable years with the Arizona Cardinals, then a few solid seasons with the Broncos before Mike Shanahan drafted Jay Cutler to replace him a few months after Denvers playoff win over New England. Plummer made too many mistakes to be a great quarterback but still had a memorable 11-year run.

Flacco won a playoff game against Bradys Patriots when he was 4-of-10 for 34 yards and had a passer rating of 10. The Ravens took a big lead early in that game at the end of the 2009 season and didnt need Flacco to do much. Flacco did more in the 2012 AFC championship game, throwing three touchdowns in a win. That led to a Super Bowl title that changed Flaccos NFL legacy and his bank account.

Flacco has never been one of the NFLs best quarterbacks, and would be fairly forgettable if not for the one Super Bowl run that included the big win over Brady and the Pats.

Imagine Mannings career without his two Super Bowl wins over Brady. Hed be a quarterback who never was an MVP contender, with four Pro Bowls but three seasons leading the NFL in interceptions, and never leading the NFL in any other major passing statistic. In 14 of Mannings 16 seasons, the Giants didnt win a playoff game.

But because he had the two wins over Brady, hell probably make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Brady has wrecked more than a few quarterback legacies in the playoffs, but Mannings two wins over Brady completely changed how his career will be viewed. And it still bothers Brady.

The only no-doubt legend on this list, Manning led three playoff wins over Bradys Patriots. The 2006 seasons AFC championship game comeback is one of the most underrated games in NFL history. Manning also helped the Broncos beat the Patriots twice in AFC title games, throwing for four touchdowns with no interceptions in those contests.

Mannings teams were 3-2 against Brady in the playoffs, and he is one of the few quarterbacks who has a reasonable argument against Brady as the greatest of all time. Youd expect a list of quarterbacks who have playoff wins over Brady to be a whos-who of the greatest of the past 20 years. As you can see, its not.

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Which 7 QBs have beaten Tom Brady in playoffs? Let's rank a weird list. - Yahoo Sports

If you didnt know the name Quinn Meinerz entering Senior Bowl week, youre more than forgiven. By now, the word is very much out on one of the most surprising performers at the most important pre-NFL draft event.

One reason you might not have heard of Meinerz is that he played his college football at Wisconsin-Whitewater. Another is that he didnt play last season.

With the cancellation of FCS football in 2020, the UWW offensive lineman named D-III All-American and his teams MVP in 2019 was robbed of a senior season. He was forced to do whatever he could without a season to earn attention and improve as an NFL prospect while social distancing, naturally, and, for a while anyway, do so without a gym.

This is a man who is used to taking it to an extreme, spending most past summers working out alone in a remote part of Canada, where he had only one hour per day of internet access. It was there the 6-foot-3 1/4, 320-pound Meinerz underwent his annual Rocky IV-like regimen of clearing brush, rolling 400-pound fuel tanks and clearing trees.

After that eight-hour daily routine, helping his uncle run a popular fly-fishing spot up there, only then Meinerz got around to his football workout. There were no weights. So he improvised, pushing giant rocks. And some of those trees? If they were small enough, hed just do it with his bare hands.

Hitting wood wasnt the most fun thing I had to do up there, but it was what I had, he told NFL Network on Thursday.

This summer, Meinerz was focused on adding versatility to his game. Given the circumstances, though, how? He taught himself to play center.

Meinerz started shotgun snapping into garbage cans. He set up a GoPro in the backyard of the house he stayed in and analyzed his technique. When its a pandemic, you adjust to the surroundings.

All of his years of spartan training have helped prepare Meinerz for this week, his biggest opportunity to date. When Alabama center Landon Dickerson suffered a torn ACL in the Sugar Bowl, it opened a spot on the Senior Bowl roster.

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Shortly after, Meinerz got the call from Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy, asking him if he wanted to attend the premier pre-draft evaluation event. Scouts hadnt seen Meinerz play since the D-III title game on Dec. 20, 2019. And with the NFL scouting combine canceled, along with most of the other pre-draft all-star events, it was a no-brainer.

Ive been working really hard to do what I do, he said. It was super exciting to get that call from Jim Nagy, saying, Hey, you want to put on the Warhawks helmet one more time?

Meinerz might have arrived in Mobile, Alabama a relative unknown to many, but hes on his way to leaving Senior Bowl week something of a folk hero.

Like previous small-school offensive linemen such as 2015 second-rounder Ali Marpet from Hobart (New York), 2019 first-rounder Tytus Howard of Alabama State and 2020 fourth-rounder Ben Bartch from St. Johns (Minnesota), Meinerz is making a big name for himself in just a few days worth of practices.

A big chunk of that has been from his performance during the National Team practices, coached by the Miami Dolphins. Meinerz was highlighted as one of the big winners from Wednesdays session, defeating rushers from the Pac-12, Big Ten and Big East, sometimes with ease despite it having been more than a year since his last true live action.

Meinerz knocked a few of them down like those birches up in Ontario.

Ive put in the work, to be able to be this dominant, Meinerz said. Its been fun.

And get this: Meinerz suffered a broken hand on the first snap of Thursdays session and kept practicing for nearly two hours.

His reaction to the injury? How did this happen? Ive drank whole milk my whole life!

Alas, Meinerz plans to get his hand clubbed up and play in Saturdays Senior Bowl game. Meanwhile, one of the other injured prospects who sat out Thursdays practice, Washington defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike, was hurt Wednesday when Meinerz dominated the possible top-50 pick in a one-on-one rep.

Meinerz isnt at that level of appreciation among scouts yet. So hes just going to keep trying to play through his injury.

Its 100 percent clich, Meinerzs agent, Ron Slavin, said, but its completely true: Hes all about football. Hes been training and practicing for this moment, and hes absolutely making the most of it. Hes not letting [the broken hand] slow him down at all.

Part of Meinerzs sudden emergence has been for his on-field look. With his Senior Bowl jersey tucked up underneath his shoulder pads, exposing his glorious gut, Meinerz has taken social media by storm the past few days.

Its one thing when DK Metcalf with his Adonis-like frame disrobed at a pre-draft meeting with Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll (who also took off his shirt) during a viral moment a few years ago. Its quite another when a 320-pound lineman takes the skin-to-win approach.

Im working on it, he joked. I dont have the abs. Right now, Ive got the keg.

The look is not novel to this week. Former UWW teammate Nate Trewyn said Meinerz adopted the belly-out approach a few years back in practices, keeping it exposed even when the Wisconsin winter reared its ugly head.

He always liked to ... let the belly breathe, Trewyn said.

Trewyn certainly can appreciate Meinerzs rise from the D-III level to the NFL, having spent time the past few years on the rosters of the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and having paid close attention to Meinerzs belly and his performance this week.

When they played together with the Warhawks, Trewyn was the center and Meinerz the left guard. The Warhawks averaged nearly 6 rushing yards per attempt, rolled up nearly 42 points per game and finished 13-1, losing only in the national title game to Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas).

Trewyn isnt surprised at Meinerzs rise since then. Meinerz emerged as an NFL prospect during his junior season in 2019 after which scouts gave him mostly later-round draft grades. Now after a strong start at the Senior Bowl, Meinerz is one of the best stories from this years game.

Everyone who knows him knows about his work ethic, and having worked alongside him, I can tell you its real, Trewyn said. But whats impressive to me is how well hes doing at center. Its hard to go from guard to never playing center and taking your first center reps at the Senior Bowl, going up against the top guys in your class.

I cant tell you how hard that is for most people to make that adjustment. Hes just been phenomenal so far. But then again, knowing him, I am not surprised either.

This week in Mobile, hes taken reps at center and guard, and that versatility has paid off.

Centers try to help get everybody together, being on the same page with all five [offensive linemen], Meinerz said. Its a lot of new things, and very quickly I had to learn it. I put in the time that I had to [prepare for the Senior Bowl], and I wanted to show [the Dolphins coaching staff] I could learn things quickly.

With the combine canceled and many schools preventing outside athletes work out at their pro days because of COVID-related precautions, Meinerz might not receive the same pro-day stage that other 2021 draft prospects will be counting on. Its possible that hell head back to the EXOS training center in Dallas, where he has been prepping for the Senior Bowl, to be tested for combine workouts. And though he wont put predictions on his testing numbers, Meinerz is expected to post times that are better than those of Marpet, who worked his way into being the 61st pick in the draft the highest-drafted pick in D-III history.

Can Meinerz beat that? That would be tough considering he didnt play this past season. But given the work Meinerz has put in, it cant be ruled out.

It has been a wild few months for the 22-year-old, having left the Whitewater program in October, spending a few months training at the Watt brothers (J.J. T.J. and Derek) facility in Milwaukee, working with OL guru Duke Manyweather in Texas in December before landing at the Senior Bowl, which has been his unofficial coming-out party this month.

Im just playing football again, doing what I do, he said.

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NFL draft: Meet the D-III prospect (with exposed belly and broken hand) stealing the Senior Bowl show - Yahoo Sports

The Philadelphia 76ers notched quite possibly the biggest win of a very good season on Wednesday, but the team had to hold its breath after one play in particular.

Sixers MVP candidate Joel Embiid fell down hard in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers. The big man jumped in the paint and was going up for a dunk when LeBron James shoved him in the midsection, causing him to land with much of his weight on his tailbone.

Embiid remained on the floor for a few moments and could be seen walking gingerly, but managed to stay in the game. For his shove, James was assessed a flagrant 1 foul, which he could later be seen arguing about with officials.

Embiid has been dealing with back issues this season, most recently missing Mondays game due to back tightness.

The Sixers eventually held on and won 107-106 thanks to a Tobias Harris winner. Embiid posted 28 points on 8-of-18 shooting with six rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes.

After the game, Embiid didnt seem very amused by James shove, saying he would have been ejected from the game if he made the same play:

In case you need a refresher, here are the NBAs definitions for flagrant fouls, the latter of which carries an automatic ejection:

Flagrant Foul Penalty 1: Unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent

Flagrant Foul Penalty 2: Unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent

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The officials apparently deemed James shove unnecessary, but not excessive in guarding the paint. Embiid appears to think differently.

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Joel Embiid not happy after shove from LeBron James: 'If it was me, I would have probably been ejected' - Yahoo Sports

Slovenia, which in 2021 is the proud holder of the title of European Region of Gastronomy, has been repeatedly included in important lists of world media charts; this time, the renowned Forbes magazine highlighted it as a popular and "hot" wine destination, and Yahoo Finance listed it among eco-friendly countries.

Slovenia has been repeatedly included in important lists of world media charts | Author STO

An article was published on the Forbes magazine website last week toasting the new "hot" wine destinations. Slovenia is also listed as one of them. In the article, journalist Nicole Trilivas described Slovenia as a destination that should be on every oenophiles radar for this year and beyond. She highlighted Maribor and the Dolenjska region and mentioned the Michelin-star restaurant Gostilna pri Lojzetu.

Last week, Slovenia found itself on another list; an important medium, Yahoo Finance, has placed Slovenia on the list of eco-friendly destinations to visit in 2021. This is mainly because Slovenia boasts the title of the world's first green country, and in 2016 the capital of Ljubljana also became the Green Capital of Europe.

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Forbes and Yahoo Finance include Slovenia on the lists of recommended destinations | GOV.SI - Gov.si

Bitcoin

Bitcoin, BTC to USD, slid by 9.97% in the week ending 24th January. Following on from a 6.02% decline from the previous week, Bitcoin ended the week at $32,320.0.

A mixed start to the week saw Bitcoin rise to a Tuesday intraweek high $37,936.6 before hitting reverse.

Falling well short of the first major resistance level at $40,389, Bitcoin slid to a Friday intraweek low $28,989.0.

The sell-off saw Bitcoin fall through the 23.6% FIB of $33,008 and the first major support level at $31,023.

It was Bitcoins first visit to sub-$30,000 levels since 5th January.

Finding support on Friday, Bitcoin broke back through the 23.6% FIB before ending the day at sub-$32,500 levels.

4 days in the red that included an 13.08% tumble on Thursday delivered the downside for the week.

Bitcoin would need to move through the 23.6% FIB of $33,008 and the $33,082 pivot to support a run the first major resistance level at $37,175.

Support from the broader market would be needed for Bitcoin to break back through to $37,000 levels.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and last weeks high $37,936.6 would likely cap any upside.

In the event of an extended breakout, Bitcoin could test resistance at the swing hi $41,969 before any pullback. The second major resistance level sits at $42,029.

Failure to move through the 23.6% FIB and the $33,082 pivot would bring the first major support level at $28,227 into play.

Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Bitcoin should steer clear of the second major support level at $24,134. The 38.2% FIB of $27,465 should limit the downside in the event of an extended sell-off.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 1.68% to $32,863.4. A mixed start to the week saw Bitcoin fall to an early Monday low $32,253.0 before rising to a high $32,919.0.

Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested at the start of the week.

Ethereum rose by 13.09% in the week ending 24th January. Reversing a 1.76% loss from the previous week, Ethereum ended the week at $1,394.00.

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It was a bullish start to the week. Ethereum rose to a Tuesday intraweek high and a new swing hi $1,440.0 before hitting reverse.

The breakout saw Ethereum break through the first major resistance level before sliding to a Friday intraweek low $1,039.62.

While steering clear of the first major support level at $994, Ethereum fell through the 23.6% FIB of $1,119.

A recovery on Friday and a bullish weekend, however, saw Ethereum break back through the 23.6% FIB to end the week at $1,390 levels.

6-days in the green included an 8.71% rally on Tuesday, an 11.07% jump on Friday, and a 12.92% breakout on Sunday delivered the upside in the week. A 19.34% slump on Thursday pared some of the gains, however.

Ethereum would need to avoid a fall through the pivot level at $1,291 to support a run at the first major resistance level at $1,543.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ethereum to break through to $1,500 levels.

Barring another extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level would likely cap any upside.

In the event of an extended breakout, Ethereum could test resistance at $1,750 before any pullback. The second major resistance level sits at $1,692.

Failure to avoid a fall through the pivot level at $1,291 would bring the first major support level at $1,142 and the 23.6% FIB of $1,119 into play.

Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Ethereum should steer clear of the 38.2% FIB of $921 and the second major support level at $891.

At the time of writing, Ethereum was up by 3.31% to $1,440.19. A mixed start to the week saw Ethereum fall to an early Monday low $1,384.15 before striking a new swing hi $1,477.30.

Ethereum left the major support and resistance levels untested at the start of the week.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

Excerpt from:

Bitcoin and Ethereum Weekly Technical Analysis January 25th, 2021 - Yahoo Finance

After seven seasons with the New York Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka is returning home.

The Rakuten Eagles, the team Tanaka spent his first seven professional seasons with, announced on Thursday that theyve signed the the right-handed pitcher to a contract. They announced the signing with a Welcome Home our Hero graphic, a call back to Tanakas major role in leading Rakuten to its first Japan Series title in 2013.

Tanaka came to the US before the 2014 season, signing a seven-year, $155 million contract with the Yankees. Since he arrived, hes been one of the most consistent pitchers in the Yankees rotation. He has a 3.74 ERA over 174 games, including seven complete games. He battled injuries occasionally, most notably in the his first season with the Yankees when doctors found in July that hed partially torn a ligament in his pitching elbow. Tanaka also missed time in 2020 after being struck in the head by a Giancarlo Stanton line drive during a simulated game.

Tanaka was considered a top 10 free agent this offseason, but the market has been slow and teams have generally been reluctant to spend money. That could have contributed to Tanakas decision to return to Japan.

After Rakuten announced the signing on Thursday, Tanaka thanked his fans with a heartfelt message on Twitter.

In an earlier tweet, Tanaka said that he plans to explain why he decided to return to Japan at a later date.

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Masahiro Tanaka returning to original Japanese team after 7 seasons with Yankees - Yahoo Sports

Its late February 2020 and Brandon Payne is sitting in the Accelerate Basketball office lined with framed basketball jerseys and clipped newspaper articles. Hes in Fort Mills, South Carolina, less than a mile from the North Carolina border, but over 2,500 miles from the Golden State Warriors practice facility.

He opens an Instagram story that bridges the gap between him and his client, Stephen Curry, who is shooting the rust off of the shot that turned the Warriors into the Beatles, searching for the finishing touch to his rehab after breaking his wrist early in the season.

For fans, the video builds excitement for the return of the baby-faced assassin. But Payne finds reason for alarm. He texts Curry. Please stop shooting until I get there in a few days. We cant let this keep going. I gotta show you something.

He had some dead spots from the surgery, Payne explains. He couldnt necessarily feel his hand great. His left hand was rotating behind the basketball a little. What happens when you rotate behind the ball is you actually end up pushing it with your left hand. But if you cant feel it you dont know that.

Payne, alongside Warriors assistant coach Bruce Fraser, have watched Curry shoot more than anyone on the planet. They scrutinize the worlds greatest shot, in search of what it lacks, imperfections the naked eye can hardly perceive, so the rest of us can bask in the sublime beauty of its seeming perfection.

Both are careful not to take credit for Currys success. Fraser compares himself to a caddy for a great golfer, a dream come true for a basketball junkie. Theyre like air traffic control, analyzing the flight of the ball when Curry shoots so it comes as close to a 45-degree angle as possible before swirling through the net. So much has to go right, but so much is oriented to go wrong.

The enemies of Currys jumper, in no particular order: defenders lunging into his chest, pulling at his wrists one of which was broken last year the bruises and scratches we blithely refer to as the blanket wear-and-tear of the regular season, a test of will in which one fights not only 29 other teams but the fatigue triggered by multiple plane rides to different time zones, a jagged sleep pattern and the bad habits it gives rise to.

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Then there is the fact that like the rest of us, every second Curry is alive is another second that hes aging. If Curry gets out of bed with a perfect shot, by the time hes arrived at the arena, its atrophied slightly, as has the rest of his body.

As we get older our mobility changes, says Payne. Our strength changes. We have micro-injuries or big injuries. Your movement mechanics change and naturally your skill mechanics will change. You can probably ask any 50-year-old golfer that played since they were in their 20s if their swing has changed as their ability to move has changed, and Im pretty sure youre going to get a resounding, Yes.

Hes human, Fraser reminds us, so he can get into places where his body is not operating the same every day, and you see that. Fraser and Payne are charged with noticing these factors and correcting them.

Payne is a competitive, detail-oriented, demanding teacher. On deep perimeter shots, he tells Curry to tell himself topush the ground harder, to hit the right pressure points in the feet to generate equal power from both legs. When Curry is tired, he over-rotates his hip to the right. I literally just point at my hip and he knows what Im talking about, says Payne.

Fraser played college ball at Arizona with Steve Kerr, and became his shooting coach. When Kerr took over the Warriors, he tapped Fraser to work with the Splash Brothers. Fraser imparted the lessons he learned from working with other all-time shooters, like Steve Nash and Reggie Miller.

If something is that good, says Fraser, the last thing you want to do is be a know-it-all and mess something up. I watched a lot, learned their processes, watched what they did.

I think shooting is definitely an art. Theres a skill to it, but theres an art to it. No two people are the same. Everyones shots just a little different. Theres a rhythm to it and a power. I try not to be super textbook with my approach anymore because I feel like youre taking away some of the persons art.

Each shot is tailored to each individuals body mechanics. The perfect shot for Curry is not the perfect shot for Klay Thompson. Shooting mechanics are as individual as your fingerprints, Payne says.

Fans used to line up hours before games to bear witness to Currys pregame routine, to be able to say they were there, that they saw him. These days, with fans locked out of arenas, Currys audience has been reduced. But Fraser, who estimates he watches Curry take 70,000 practice shots per year, is still in the crowd.

When Fraser notices a hitch in Currys mechanics, he gives him parameters to feel out rather than strict instructions. Curry started the season cold, 18-for-56 from three before exploding for a career-high 62 points against Portland. While Curry was warming up pregame, Fraser noticed he kept coming up short on his shots. He simply told Curry to generate more power from his midsection, rather than his arms. Fraser seems uncomfortable recounting the timing. I dont want to say thats the reason he had 60, he says, so its worth mentioning: Curry took it from there.

He works better that way, says Fraser. If someone doesnt have that kind of feel, that kind of motor memory, then you have to be more specific.

When Payne was in middle school, he used to trudge home from practice and list off all the things his basketball coach, the schools history teacher, did wrong. In high school, he saw gaps his teammates didnt, but he couldnt bridge the gap between mind and body, couldnt execute on the openings he saw. By then, he was already training young kids. His dad coached basketball. He grew up around the game, knew and loved every contour of it.

Early on in life I kinda decided that I want the most stressful thing in my life to be whether a ball goes into a basket or not, he says. He coached at Wingate University after graduating. The wins, he says, were a blur. The losses he remembers vividly.

Basketball cant be perfected because no in-game situation can be perfectly replicated in a practice setting. Payne tries to confront this challenge in ways big and small.

We never take multiple shots from the same spot. Thats too easy. I dont even let my 13-year-old take shots from the same spot. We change ranges, Payne says. Even if its just by one step or two steps. What happens is your mechanics can get really grooved at one range. That can create bad habits.

Youve probably seen Curry dribble a tennis ball in one hand and a basketball in another, a drill thats proliferated across the NBA since his rise. Payne doesnt see it as a dribbling drill, but an assessment drill. He watches Currys mouth, not his ballhandling speed. The first place neural overload can show itself is if a player stops breathing normally, Payne says.

He watches Currys nose to make sure its not leaning over his toes, that his core is still working to keep him stable, that his knees arent starting to angle inward. If youre paying attention, it wont happen, but if youre overloaded by something else, its gonna happen. If all those things are happening on a simple tennis ballhandling basketball drill, think about all the stimulus going on in a game when youre playing at a high level, playing fast and you gotta do all these things and keep yourself breathing, keep your body upright and keep moving with the right mechanics.

When Payne first devised the tennis ball drill, he asked neuroscientists and sports scientists to review it. Their first response would be to ask him what he studied in college. I asked him the same thing.

He laughs. Not this!

When Payne became fascinated with the idea of helping players with physical limitations rise to the level of physical specimens, the confines of the court became limiting. He looked for gains in the body, in the brain. It doesnt take a lot of talent or knowledge or expertise to come up with a shooting workout, he says. Everything about how I train players is all about neutralizing physical disadvantage. I was never fast, I was never the guy that was jumping over people. Curry and Payne are a perfect match, thanks to their shared desire to maximize the body in search of an edge.

Shooting is an act of constant maintenance and renewal, of paring down and becoming. But no matter how much he practices, every time Curry launches a shot, its more likely to miss than not. The quest for perfection is futile, evasive, walking in lockstep with the acceptance of imperfection.

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