Daily Archives: July 23, 2022

If Andy Ruiz Jr. isnt the most mismanaged elite boxer in the world, hes certainly in the top two. The former unified heavyweight champion is in the prime of his career and still a factor in the title race, but the odd choices he makes continue.

Ruiz will fight 43-year-old Cuban southpaw Luis Ortiz on Sept. 4 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles in the main event of a pay-per-view card. Its a curious choice of opponents and its hard to see how it helps Ruiz get himself back into the title chase.

It now seems a long time ago when Ruiz made history by becoming the first heavyweight champion of Mexican descent on June 1, 2019, when he knocked out previously unbeaten Anthony Joshua to win the IBF-WBA-WBO belts.

Ruiz at that point was one of the hottest properties in the sport. Mexico is a boxing-mad country and Ruiz was embraced by Mexicans and Mexican Americans fully. He got an invitation to visit President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador of Mexico just 10 days after the stunning KO of Joshua.

He was in huge demand by the media. Hordes of fans showed up everywhere he went. Every elite heavyweight wanted to fight him.

Ruiz partied so much between the time he won the belt and he faced Joshua in the rematch on Dec. 7, 2019, in Diriyah, Saudia Arabia, that he all but surrendered the title back to Joshua. Two of the judges gave Joshua, who fought timidly and conservatively, 10 of the 12 rounds. The third gave Joshua 11 of 12.

Joshua may well have won no matter what, because hes an elite athlete. But Ruiz came in at 283 pounds and wasn't prepared to fight a four-rounder, let alone a 12-round fight against a determined former heavyweight champion looking to make amends.

His only bout since then was against Chris Arreola on May 1, 2021, in Carson, California. Ruiz was in better shape, but what did he prove in that fight? Arreola had come to the end of the line and he wasnt the kind of challenge for Ruiz he would have been had each of them met in their primes.

Story continues

Ruiz won a unanimous decision, but it was a meh fight. At that point, Arreola wasnt an elite opponent and no one considered him a contender. It was a baffling fight for Ruiz to take, as it didnt do much to enhance his position.

Andy Ruiz Jr. has fought just once since losing the unified heavyweight title in December 2019. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

The fight with Ortiz will be his next since then. When Ruiz walks into the ring that night, a week before his 33rd birthday, it will have been more than 16 months since he last fought. Hell be using his third trainer in as many fights.

Manny Robles coached him in his two fights with Joshua. He hired Eddy Reynoso for the Arreola fight and is now with Alfredo Osuna.

I wanted to work with Alfredo Osuna a long time ago, it just wasnt the right time then, Ruiz said at a Los Angeles news conference earlier this week. Hes used to training for lefty fighters. I feel like this is exactly what I needed for this fight. My team is going to bring the best out of me.

Ruizs problems since winning the belt havent been his trainers. Robles is an excellent, professional trainer. Reynoso is one of a handful of the best in the game. Its been his attitude and the matchmaking.

Ortiz is a curious choice of opponents because while hes big and powerful, hes nearing the end of the line and other than two KO losses to Deontay Wilder in WBC heavyweight title fights, hes fought mostly journeymen and fringe contenders.

A Ruiz-Wilder fight would have been great for September. Despite his two losses to WBC champion Tyson Fury, Wilder remains an elite opponent and has a style that would pair well with Ruizs.

A Ruiz-Wilder fight would be bombs away and have fans on the edges of their seats from the beginning of the fight. It would also help raise Ruizs profile because Wilder is not only better than Ortiz but is far better known.

Ruiz is still relatively young and could still be a factor in a division that is getting increasingly better. One-time hot prospect Daniel Dubois is now a legitimate contender and has a secondary world title. Fury, if he doesnt retire, unified champion Oleksandr Usyk, Joshua and Wilder make a formidable top four.

Ruiz is in that next tier with guys like Dubois and Joe Joyce. And then there are guys like Jared Anderson, Filip Hrgovic and Frank Sanchez who are on the rise.

But Ruiz has that massive fan base that could bring a huge amount of excitement and interest to the division, if he gets back to beating the elite contenders.

We didnt come here to cherry-pick anybody, Ruiz said. We wanted a tough opponent and thats why we picked Luis Ortiz. Hes strong, hes awkward, hes a lefty, but weve had a long training camp and well be ready.

The main thing for me is going to be staying busy. Im not underestimating Luis Ortiz, because he comes to fight. He wants to be world champion. On Sept. 4, well go toe-to-toe and well see whos going to win.

Ruiz should win, but he doesnt always do what is expected. He was sitting on a gold mine after beating Joshua, but has let much of that fritter away. A clear, decisive win over Ortiz that leads to a significant opponent in a high-profile fight is critical for him right now.

Go here to read the rest:

The mismanagement of Andy Ruiz Jr. continues as former champion agrees to fight 43-year-old Luis Ortiz - Yahoo Sports

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The current uptrend in stock prices is more than a typical bear market rally, according to Fundstrat.

The S&P 500 has surged nearly 10% from its June low, and Fundstrat expects the index to touch 4,000 by Friday.

"This should signify the start of some upward progress for markets into September," Fundstrat said.

The current rise in stock prices is not a typical bear market rally and instead has room to run for a couple months, Fundstrat technical analyst Mark Newton said in a note on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 is up nearly 10% from its June low of around 3,600, and Newton expects the index to test the 4,000 level by the end of this week. On Thursday, the S&P 500 hit a high of 3,987. From there, Newton expects some sideways consolidation before the stock market continues its move higher.

The S&P 500 "is knocking on the door of 4000, and while many indices look to be nearing initial resistance, I remain convinced that this week should not be just a bear market bounce," he said. "This rather should signify the start of some upward progress for markets into September."

A sustained rally in stocks through the start of September would be a welcome sign for investors, as it's been nothing but a steady decline lower since the start of the year, with several rallies in January, March, and May all giving way to more selling pressure.

Adding to Newton's conviction is the fact that overall breadth, or participation among individual stocks, has seen improvement more recently.

"The last few days have represented some of the most broad-based rallies that we've seen in recent months and have helped to add some conviction at a time when many remain skeptical," he said, highlighting that the percentage of S&P 500 stocks that are trading above their 50-day moving average recently broke above multi-month resistance.

Newton expects the S&P 500 to face some resistance just above current levels at around 4,000, with the potential for small declines that could materialize next week during a busy week of high-profile earnings and the Fed's July meeting. But any decline will ultimately represent buying opportunities for those that missed the rally off of the June low, he said.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Link:

The current rise in stock prices is more than a bear market rally and could last into September, Fundstrat says - Yahoo Finance

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to northeastern Pennsylvania and Pocono Raceway for Sundays M&Ms Fan Appreciation 400. With three straightaways of varying length and three corners all banked differently, the tracks Tricky Triangle moniker is quite fitting. Heres everything you need to know for the M&Ms Fan Appreciation 400 weekend:

Fans in the United States can watch parts of all sessions and the race on the USA network, the USA mobile app (requires a cable or satellite subscription), the NBC Sports app and Peacock platform. Radio coverage is available on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM.

(All times ET)

Saturday, July 23

Practice: 2:30 - 3:20 p.m. (USA, MRN, SiriusXM)

Qualifying: 3:20 - 4:30 p.m. (USA, MRN, SiriusXM)

Sunday, July 24

M&Ms Fan Appreciation 400: 3 - 6 p.m. ET (USA, MRN, SiriusXM)

Current points leader and 2020 series champion Chase Elliott has the best, odds according to BetMGM at +700. Kyle Busch (+750), Denny Hamlin (+800) and Elliotts Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson (+800) round out those with less than 10-to-1 odds. Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain and William Byron all clock in at +1000. Toyotas have won seven of the last nine races at Pocono with Busch (4) and Hamlin (2) combining for six of those victories.

Kyle Busch looks to win back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series races at Pocono and five of the last 10 at the track. (Photo by Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports)

Yahoo Sports Nick Bromberg suggests you could find mid-tier value with Joey Logano (+1600) and Kurt Busch (+2000) while Bubba Wallace (+2800) is a decent long-shot opportunity.

At 2.5 miles, Pocono is tied with Daytona for the second-longest oval on the calendar behind Talladega but due to the flatter corners and asymmetrical configuration the racing tends to resemble that of the mid-length tracks with more field spread and less pack racing.

Cautions are frequent and green-flag runs rarely exceed 30 laps due to tire degradation and incidents related to it.

Hot and partially cloudy. Highs are projected to be 88-89 degrees, so track temperatures will be up, adding to tire wear concerns.

Read more:

NASCAR Cup Series weekend schedule: TV, streaming info, odds, picks and what to watch for at Pocono - Yahoo Sports

There were five MLB games on last night's slate, but it was actually even less loaded than that; two were doubleheaders. So, it's not an understatement to say that the second half of the fantasy season started off with a whimper, not a bang. The real start is today, Friday, with 14 games on the slate. Today will be the beginning of the end for many fantasy managers; if we squint, we can see the finish line of the 2022 season.

Are you sitting high and pretty in the standings of your roto league? Are you trying to make playoffs in your head-to-head category league? Or are you already throwing in the towel and planning for next year?

Whatever your situation, one thing is for sure: We all want to improve our standings come season's end. Whether it's to win the title, to be in the top three, or to just prove your team is better than your record, these tips can help you to a strong finish.

This is the most obvious tip, but we'd be remiss not to mention it. In fact, this is something all fantasy managers should have been doing during the MLB All-Star Break; if you haven't, then better now than never.

Are you doing great in the batting average category? Then maybe you don't need to use an IL spot waiting on Michael Brantley. On the flip side, are you suffering in batting average but still have a chance to close a gap? Then maybe you need to cut bait on the likes of Rowdy Tellez and Marcell Ozuna, even with their power potential.

[Play in one of Yahoo's MLB DFS contests]

Basically, we need to weigh our strengths and weaknesses while being realistic about which categories we have to chance to compete and/or win in, which we've lost and adjust our daily and weekly lineups accordingly. Again, an obvious point, but it has to be said.

Every year we see less and less steals and saves, less workhorse closers and less speed merchants and yet, those categories can make or break a fantasy team.

Story continues

I have one fantasy team that's currently in fourth place of a 16-team expert league, and the main reason why is due to my advantage in saves. On the flip side, I saw one first-place squad in another league plummet to sixth in a matter of weeks almost solely due to a weakness in stolen bases.

These are the hardest categories to get help from on the waiver wire, yet when you do land someone productive, they can make a huge impact. Think about how Jon Berti totally shifted standings with his outlandish stolen-base binge a month ago. Think about what a cheat code Taylor Rogers has been (he and Kenley Jansen are my primary closers in the aforementioned expert league they're second and third on the MLB saves leaderboard, respectively).

Jon Berti's stolen base prowess flipped fantasy standings in a matter of weeks. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Guys like Tanner Scott (53 percent rostered), Jason Adam (27%), Seranthony Dominguez (44%), Dylan Moore (3%), Ramon Laureano (47%) and Jace Peterson (14%) might not seem like players you should be rushing to add, but their contributions to these scarce categories, respectively, could end up making a huge difference down the stretch.

Let's say your fantasy starting pitcher rotation has left much to be desired this season. You've got the big names, but they're just not delivering on expectations. As such, you find yourself lagging behind in the K, ERA and WHIP categories.

Enter: The elite non-closer reliever.

As mentioned, more and more MLB teams are foregoing one locked-in closer in favor of a committee of talented arms used for specific high-leverage situations (we're looking at you, Rays). Sure, it can be frustrating when the closer you drafted or picked up the guy you thought would be the guy isn't working the big, late innings, but these other relievers could just be the skeleton key to fixing your ratio categories.

Guys to consider off the waiver wire who fit this role are: Joe Mantiply (5%), John Schreiber (30%), Rafael Montero (34%), Evan Phillips (17%), Brock Burke (14%), Ryne Stanek (4%) and Alex Lange (5%) and there's plenty more out there, too.

The 2022 MLB Trade Deadline is August 2 aka, just 11 days from now. Your job as an engaged fantasy manager is to see which of your players are set to suffer or soar thanks to a likely real-life trade.

Did you spend a first-round pick on Juan Soto? You're probably hoping for a trade considering he'd end up in a better lineup. Did you add David Robertson off waivers early in the season and have happily watched as he's put together a solid total of saves and clean ratios? Well, now might be the time to see if a need-saves-now manager will listen to a trade for him, since he probably won't be a Cub (and a ninth-inning option) for much longer. Do you have Luis Castillo in your rotation and are fielding trade offers for him? Don't sell low don't sell medium either, since Castillo will likely be traded to a contender, boosting his win potential and his bottom line.

This is the next step in evaluating your roster: Projecting whether the MLB Trade Deadline will help or hurt your players, and moving forward accordingly.

I must admit, this is something I'm guilty of. I often will get lost in the advanced analytics of a player, falling in love with what they could do and not what they've done, or what they're doing.

Take someone like Max Kepler, for example. You might swoon if you pull up his Statcast page. A sea of glowing red encircles an expected batting average of .279 and expected slugging of .445.

Yet, to date, he's slashing just .245/.345/.394. That's not exactly paying the bills.

I'll be frank: At a certain point, you just can't wait on a player anymore. I know everyone wants to be first, I know everyone wants to be right, but hindsight is 20/20. Even if you cut a player and they suddenly go off for a brief stretch doesn't always mean you were impatient or you made the wrong decision. So, too, is there no shame in picking up a player you know isn't exactly the best but who's on a seven-day hot streak and could win you a couple of H2H matchups, could help boost your category standings for as long as his hot streak lasts.

Only fantasy managers sitting at or very near the top of their standings have the luxury to wait. Everyone else? The time for action is now.

Continued here:

2022 Fantasy Baseball: Tips for making a successful push in the second half - Yahoo Sports

Major League Baseball was upset the league doesnt have feelings, but you know what I mean on Tuesday that commissioner Rob Manfreds response to me in a news conference with the Baseball Writers Association of America that morning had gone viral.

In the course of answering a question about minor league salaries, he said that he kind of reject[s] the premise of the question that minor league players are not paid a living wage.

And after some pushback, he reiterated: I reject the premise that they're not paid a living wage.

This made instant news because it was callous or, as critics of the commissioner might say, characteristically callous and stood in stark contrast to the relatively recent surge of reports and first-person accounts about living conditions in the minor leagues. MLBs concern was that the pull quote lacked context. Which is not wrong.

The shockingly low salaries in minor league baseball dont include whatever signing bonuses a player received. (Although, Manfred specified that his response held true even putting to one side the signing bonuses, which was to his detriment as its the league's strongest argument.) Further, the league also counts as compensation the free housing teams are now required to provide to players, if not their families, although many teams have chosen to do so.

Commissioner Rob Manfred believes that minor league players are paid a living wage. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Manfreds comment was a reflection of his belief that between other forms of compensation and the recent increase in minor league salaries from $290 to $500 a week in Class-A and $502 to $700 in Triple-A minor leaguers are paid a living wage.

OK, that was the context the league wanted out there. So now I want to give some context of my own.

Heres what I asked: There's obviously been efforts, both legal and potentially legislative, to address concerns around minor league pay. I just want to make sure that I understand, is the issue that the owners can't afford to pay them a living wage or just don't want to?

Story continues

Manfred said he didnt hear me so I restated it: The concern around the minor league pay from your owners, is the issue that your owners can't afford to pay them more or they just aren't interested in doing so?

And initially when Manfred rejected the premise that they are not paid a living wage, I pushed back: You reject the premise of the question that there are efforts being made to get them more money?

He explained that I had asked about why theyre not paid a living wage (so, he did hear me the first time?) and once again rejected it.

It made for a pretty good headline, and in the end was plenty revelatory. But, in my humble opinion, the question would have been just as good had I not said living wage the first time. Because being able to survive on a salary is hardly the only metric that matters.

Minor league salaries are artificially suppressed.

The antitrust exemption that MLB has enjoyed for the past 100 years gets mentioned a lot in critiques about the leagues apolitical claims and whenever owners cry poor. But it has no effect on major league salaries, which are carved out as an exemption to the exemption under the Curt Flood Act of 1998 and because the big leaguers are represented by a union whose CBA supersedes the antitrust law. As a result, major leaguers make millions of dollars because theyre able to justify that value to the more than $10 billion industry.

Without those protections, however, minor league minimum salaries are determined unilaterally by Major League Baseball, under the uniform player contract. They are not paid in accordance with their talent or effort or the time commitment required to perform a necessary function within the MLB ecosystem. They are not even paid in accordance with federal minimum wage laws after the league lobbied Congress for dispensation to pay their minor leaguers less than is required by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. They are not paid like people whose bosses appreciate baseball's value to a local community and not just what it can fetch in TV deals. They are also often not paid enough to support themselves. All baseball players are paid only in season which means that even with the recent raises, even Triple-A players not on the 40-man roster make $14,000 annually. (The Federal poverty line for a single-person household in 2022 is $13,590.)

And, crucially, they are not paid as much as they think they deserve. Which is frankly all the reason they or you, or I need to ask for a raise.

Their request also happens to have garnered the interest, if not yet the explicit support, of the bipartisan Senate Judiciary Committee, which is exploring the impact the antitrust exemption has on minor league baseball in response to concerns raised by the nonprofit Advocates for Minor Leaguers. In a letter dated to Monday, the committee sent a series of targeted questions to Manfred, requesting a response by July 26.

What effect would removing the antitrust exemption have on minor league player working conditions and wages? If a more tailored approach, like extending the Curt Flood Act to cover minor league players and operations, was taken, what would be the impact? the letter asks, among other things. Please describe any provision of the CFA that should or should not cover minor league players and why.

Even without whatever responses are forthcoming, a spokesperson for Sen. Richard Durbin, the chair of the committee, said after Manfreds comments on Tuesday, It is reasonable to question the premise that MLB is treating the Minor Leaguers fairly.

Given that MLB pays its employees so much less than they believe they deserve that the plight has attracted the attention of the Congress, and given that the league is repeatedly willing to take the PR hit that inevitably follows defending those salaries, it seems not just fair but necessary to ask why they arent higher. In the absence of normal market forces or other outside influence, there really are only two options: They simply cant or they wont.

So which one is it?

Read more:

Why aren't MLB owners paying minor leaguers more? That's the question Rob Manfred needs to answer - Yahoo Sports

Yahoo Sports Dan Wetzel and Sports Illustrateds Pat Forde discuss the NCAA Division I councils recommendation to drop the one-time transfer limit, and debate how it will affect the college football landscape moving forward.

DAN WETZEL: The one thing I cannot stand about, I-- not stand, but I disagree with it-- that's gone on is the transfer portal. I don't think you should be able to transfer without sitting out a year because I do think there is a-- there has to be a-- this is a product and everyone benefits by the product.

It is not a punishment to spend one year extra at college and getting free room and board, tuition, education, training, all those things. So I think they should still have-- they should never have gone away from having to sit a year. The coaches abused it.

PAT FORDE: Totally.

DAN WETZEL: The athletic directors abused it. They started saying you couldn't transfer in conference. What do we have, that one, was Mike Gundy had like 37 schools on a quarterback? In Miami, he used to try to block everybody in state and everybody in the Southeast.

Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. This is now, they're slaughtered. And now, they're recommending unlimited transfers, no penalty ever.

PAT FORDE: Yeah.

DAN WETZEL: Transfer four straight years.

PAT FORDE: I was fine with the one-time transfer exemption. First of all, you could already do it in every other sport, so why football, basketball? Had to be different. So I was fine with the one-time transfer and then you just say, no waivers, no nothing, sorry. Next time if you want to transfer, you have to sit out.

We are not gonna establish a committee to listen to your sob story about why you need to be immediately eligible or any of that. You're not even gonna be able to try making up a lie for why you need to play right away when you need to be back home, even though, really if you got like a sick relative, spend that time with the relative as opposed to practicing and playing.

Story continues

However, now, yeah, we've got this proposal where apparently just transfer at will on an annual basis, which I think would be disastrous. We've already seen it. I mean, the one-time transfer rule has already been trampled. But if you just allow this completely wide open, that's free agency, that's a problem.

And it's a problem for everybody involved because like the players, your academics are going to be a disaster. And I know they've tried to set up academic progress and you have to be able to make these benchmarks to transfer to here and there at this point in time in your career, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You're going to lose credits. You're going to have to change your major to try to fit in to something. The path of least resistance will be the only path that will be taken, academically.

I just think it would be a colossal, colossal mistake to go from where they were to all the way over on the other end of the spectrum of, yeah, just go wherever every year you want. Four out of four years, five out of five, different school, fine. I think that would be really bad.

DAN WETZEL: Look, this is basically travel sports now. And these players, these athletes, regardless of sport, have come up through travel sports. You sign for one year. If you like your team, you don't, other people start recruiting you in the middle of the year or you start looking at other schools. Now, you got the-- other teams, whatever. It's travel sports. One year, one and done.

This will be massive roster turnover every single year. And coaches put in a tough spot where playing time and decision-- everything's got to be appeasing. I did not-- I mean, I don't know.

Like, right now, Steve Sarkisian has a quarterback battle at Texas-- Quinn Ewers, Hudson Card, OK? Who's gonna be the starting quarterback? He knows Quinn Ewers is not going to leave.

PAT FORDE: Right.

DAN WETZEL: Because Quinn Ewers is already burned his transfer coming Ohio State to Texas. And so he can sit there and say, look, Quinn Ewers might be the QB of the future, but I got a little bit of time here. I can make this decision to best the team.

If he knows Quinn Ewers can leave again, that plays into it. It just-- it's just not a great way to run a sport. And I know that it's like player rights and all that, obviously, I'm pretty vocal on that. But there needs to be a balance to the product.

Everybody involved in this is benefiting from a good product. And letting the teams run them-- letting coaches run the team and teams sticking together for a little bit and all of that is a good thing for the product.

Originally posted here:

How will dropping the one-time transfer limit affect the college football landscape? | College Football Enquirer - Yahoo Sports

At one point this offseason, the Cleveland Browns were the favorites to win the AFC North.

A lot has changed, even without a resolution to the Deshaun Watson mess. The Browns are looking at a long suspension for their new $230 million quarterback. Baker Mayfield was shipped off to the Carolina Panthers, and the Browns will pay $10.5 million of his salary just to be rid of him. Nobody would favor the Browns to win the AFC North with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. The odds at BetMGM have shifted.

There are two teams near the top of the AFC North odds. One has been a contender in the division for a long time. The other is a team on the rise, coming off a surprising run to the Super Bowl.

Here are the odds to win the AFC North:

Baltimore Ravens +150

Cincinnati Bengals +185

Browns +300

Pittsburgh Steelers +900

Before we get to the two top teams, there is a case to be made for the other two.

The Browns might be in trouble if Watson gets a year-long suspension, but no decision has been made by the NFL. It's obviously a complicated issue. Nobody can predict what the NFL will do. If you believe Watson will play at least half of the season, and a talented roster can ground and pound its way to some wins while Cleveland waits, there's a reason the Browns were favored to win the division a few months ago.

The Steelers' odds are long for a franchise that always seems to be in the playoffs. Coach Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season. Ben Roethlisberger is gone, but he hadn't been helping much dating back to late in the 2020 season. If you believe in the infrastructure of the Steelers, a 2021 playoff team, then 9-to-1 odds aren't that bad.

However, it does seem like the AFC North will be decided by a two-team race.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow led his team to an AFC North title last season. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

The Ravens had a hard-luck 2021 season. They had a ton of injuries and a bunch of close losses late in the season that kept them out of the playoffs. But those injured players should be back, Lamar Jackson is still an electrifying player, and coach John Harbaugh has had just two losing seasons since getting the job in 2008. Baltimore was longer than 2-to-1 odds earlier in the offseason but bettors have been taking them and those odds have gotten shorter. That's justified.

It's also OK if you believe in the Bengals. The Bengals got hot late and won the division last year. They dominated the Ravens in both meetings. There is probably some regression coming, but perhaps that will be offset by natural improvement from young stars like quarterback Joe Burrow and receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Perhaps the surge we saw late last season was a sign of things to come.

I prefer the stability of the Ravens, who can't possibly have such bad injury luck two seasons in a row. But even as training camps are about to start, there's still plenty of uncertainty in the AFC North.

Visit link:

NFL division betting: As Browns wait on news, Bengals and Ravens top AFC North odds - Yahoo Sports

ATLANTA As Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin spoke, leading off the final day of SEC Media Days, a grid of the Tigers 2022 schedule flashed on the screen above him. Georgia awaits, as do LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and, of course, Alabama. Its a brutal schedule, and it doesnt even include Auburns toughest opponent.

As always, Auburns greatest challenge in 2022 will be Auburn itself.

Sporting a crisp blue and orange tie and a tight haircut, Harsin leaned forward at the podium, his body language as outwardly aggressive as any coach this week. After a few perfunctory remarks, he took a run at the elephant in the room: the multi-pronged February controversy that nearly cost him his job.

There was an inquiry. It was uncomfortable. It was unfounded. It presented an opportunity for people to personally attack me, my family, and also our program, Harsin said. And it didn't work.

Harsin didnt want to dwell on the events of the offseason, but they will define his tenure at Auburn, whether its measured in months, years or decades. He arrived in Auburn a year ago from Boise State, where hed won nearly 80 percent of his teams games. In the first few weeks at Auburn, he kept that streak going, leading the Tigers to a 6-2 record.

But then the wheels fell off, the engine dropped out, and the entire frame cracked. Auburn lost its last five games of the season, a staggering face-plant that included a blown 28-3 lead to Mississippi State, a blown two-touchdown lead against South Carolina, a blown double-digit lead against Alabama in the quadruple-overtime Iron Bowl and a blown fourth-quarter lead against Houston in the season-ending Birmingham Bowl.

Auburn squandered opportunity after opportunity in the closing weeks of 2021. With every loss, the foundation beneath Harsin cracked a little more, and the support for him within the Auburn administration shrunk.

In the weeks after the Birmingham Bowl, players and coaches alike ran from the Auburn program like it was the last day of school. Twenty players, including quarterback Bo Nix, and five coaches, including one whod been on the job for just six weeks, fled the Plains, some with parting shots.

Story continues

In a since-deleted Instagram post, defensive tackle Lee Hunter, who transferred to UCF, wrote that "Coach Harsin has the true mindset for a winner but has a terrible mindset as a person, adding the reason I chose to leave auburn because we got treated like we wasn't good enough and like dogs."

At the same time, ugly rumors about Harsins personal life surfaced, further complicating his viability as a coach. Social media lit up with allegations, each wilder than the one before. His wife Kes took to Instagram with a message: Rumors are carried by haters, spread by fools, and accepted by idiots.

Several players also expressed support for Harsin on Twitter. We didnt need a best friend we needed a coach, captain Chandler Wooten wrote. thats what we had.

Questions about Harsins personal and professional life alike spurred the Auburn administration into action, starting with a statement indicating that the university was judiciously collecting information from a variety of perspectives.

Decisions regarding the future of Auburn and its Athletics programs, as always, are made in the interests of our great university and in fairness to all concerned, the school said in a statement. We do not make institutional decisions based on social media posts or media headlines.

The university did, however, have to make decisions with an eye on the bottom line. Harsin had an $18 million buyout in his contract, and the university was already paying former coach Gus Malzahn a $21.5 million buyout after firing him in 2020. Paying $40 million to coaches not on staff would be tough for even Auburn to stomach.

All of this unfolded while Harsin was on vacation in Mexico. He returned in mid-February to fight for his job, and met with both outgoing and incoming Auburn presidents, among other university officials. A group of players also campaigned on Harsins behalf, talking him up to various administration members.

We knew we wanted to back him, wanted him to be our head coach, said senior tight end John Samuel Shenker, one of the players who talked up Harsin to university officials. Thats something we all bought into, so we did everything we could to ensure he stayed there.

The gambit worked, at least in the sense that Harsin kept his job. But Harsins critics charge that his recruiting abilities remain a question mark at best. Rivals 2022 rankings place the Tigers at 18th in the nation, fifth in the SEC West and eighth in the SEC overall, 10th if future members Texas and Oklahoma are included.

Moreover, theres that late-season collapse. Either one would be enough to raise concerns on the Plains, but together, theres a sense of urgency around Auburn thats unlike any other in the SEC right now. The doubters and critics are out there waiting for Harsin's first stumble.

We've told our recruits: watch, Harsin said. I think the ones that have been on our campus, they see the energy and the vibe, what's happening, how the players are responding, coaches are connecting, everything that we're doing. There's a great energy in our program right now. There's alignment in our program right now.

The offseason controversy brought us a lot closer, Shenker said. I think there was a flip-the-switch after it happened. Everybody was pushing for him to come back, so when he came back, it was, Lets go. Lets get to work.

Anytime we're going backwards, talking about the past, we're not moving forward, talking about the future, Harsin said. We're focused on bigger and better things It's made us, in my opinion, a much stronger football team and program. That will continue.

Auburn will be at the center of the growing SEC-Big Ten rivalry early in the season, squaring off in a proxy battle against Penn State. If the Tigers can win that game, Harsin will get his wish, to focus on whats ahead. But if Auburn stumbles again, whats momentarily past will once again become the present.

Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin at SEC Media Days. (Dale Zanine / USA TODAY Sports)

_____

Contact Jay Busbee at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or on Twitter at @jaybusbee.

Go here to see the original:

After collapses and offseason chaos, Auburn looks to the future - Yahoo Sports

The North American hardcourt swing is a go after a short stint on clay post-Wimbledon. Three majors are in the books, with Rafael Nadal winning both the 2022 Australian Open and French Open to break the record with 22 major titles won. Former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic won his seventh Wimbledon title to sit one major title behind Nadal. That leaves ATPs fourth major of the year, the US Open, on deck in late August.

Transitioning from clay to grass back to hardcourt makes for an interesting dynamic on tour, one that bettors could benefit from. Heres what you need to know to prepare for the North American hardcourt swing leading up to the US Open in New York.

Novak Djokovic +160

Daniil Medvedev +240

Carlos Alcaraz +335

Rafael Nadal +550

Stefanos Tsitsipas +1000

Daniil Medvedev returns a ball against Aslan Karatsev in his second round match during day five of the Mallorca Championships on June 22. (Cristian Trujillo/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)

Clay brings volatility because of the inconsistency of the surface. The players who excel on the red dirt are good with both physical and mental stamina as the rallies are long and grueling. Grass is about big serves and quick points. Those who can serve and volley or play well at the net typically have a good grass season. Action is back to hardcourt where the player pool of who can win opens up. Those who play well from the baseline will contend, and the ATP has a lot of baseliners nowadays.

Wimbledon put a ban on this group of players from participating in the third major of the year, leaving Daniil Medvedev (No. 1), Andrey Rublev (No. 8), Karen Khachanov (No. 26), Aslan Karatsev (No. 37) and Ilya Ivashka (No. 53) sidelined. Most have made an appearance during the clay break, with the exception of Medvedev. That leads me to the start of my list of players to watch in the lead-up events to the US Open.

Daniil Medvedev

Its easy to forget Medvedev because it feels like its been so long since weve seen him. Clay is not particularly his best surface, but he spent most of the clay season recovering from an injury anyway. He then had a couple of deep runs on grass, losing back-to-back finals in the Libema Open and the Halle Open. Meddy has 13 tour titles, six won on outdoor hard, including 2018 Winston-Salem Open, 2019 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati, 2021 ATP Masters 1000 Canada, and of course, the 2021 US Open, where he defeated Djokovic in straight sets in the final.

Story continues

That makes four of his six outdoor hardcourt titles won during the later part of the year. Djokovic is the best returner in the world but you could definitely put Medvedev up there right next to him. His length and wingspan makes it really difficult to get anything past him. My only gripe is that Medvedev lacks the variety I would expect to see from someone holding the World No. 1 title, but what he is good at, the baseline game, hes really good at. This is Medvedevs time to shine.

Taylor Fritz

Im still waiting for that breakthrough. Its coming. The 24-year-old American is so close to having that big-time win. Im not talking about defeating an injured Nadal in the Indian Wells final, I'm talking about breaking through that big-time moment in a major. Could this be the season it happens? Fritz pushed Djokovic to five sets in the 2021 Australian Open third round, pushed Tsitsipas to five sets in the 2022 Australian Open fourth round, and nearly picked off Nadal losing in a fifth-set tiebreak in the quarterfinals of last months Wimbledon.

Fritz has the weapons to excel in not only these lead-up events but also in New York. He has the serve, power strokes both on the forehand and backhand, and is now gaining the confidence of contending in these marquee matchups. Fritz doesnt hold a good record, 16-16 in the five prelim events to the US Open, but hes evolving. His best record is in Los Cabos, a 9-4 win/loss record that perhaps he could look to expand on.

Dominic Thiem

Is Thiem back? It has been a rough couple of years for the 2020 US Open champ. The Austrian, who peaked as World No. 3 in the rankings from March 2020 through February 2021, has since dropped all the way down to No. 352 and currently sits at No. 274. Why? Surgery from a wrist injury. After winning the 2020 US Open, Thiem delivered one of the greatest comebacks, defeating Nick Kyrgios in five sets of the third round of the 2021 Australian Open after going down two sets to love. I always mark that match as the one that broke him. Thiem went 5-7 after, playing his last match of the year in June 2021 and not making his tour return until April 2022.

Including last year, Thiem was on a 10-match losing streak but has now won six of his last eight matches since early July. The one-handed backhand is still a thing of beauty and his power forehand is making its way back to full force. What Thiem needed was confidence and it looks like hes finding it just in time for a new hardcourt season. Its unclear which events hell be playing prior to the next major but backing him is something to consider again as hes only getting stronger, more confident and more in form with each match.

Carlos Alcaraz

How far can the Spaniard go? Were about to find out. Alcaraz is sixth in the rankings and is still only 19 years old. At the time of writing, Carlitos holds a 38-5 record in 2022, is 13-0 in ATP 500 events, has reached the quarterfinal in seven events, the semifinal in six and has won four titles. Hes played in only 10 tournaments. It was the 2021 US Open where he started to show glimpses of his future progression, defeating Tsitsipas in a fifth-set tiebreak in the third round. He followed that up with another five-set win over Peter Gojowczyk, but by the time he reached the quarterfinal, he did not have the health to continue and retired early in the second set against Felix Auger-Aliassime.

He certainly has health and fitness now. Itll be interesting to see what Alcaraz can produce the rest of the year. He has all the weapons to contend for a major the slice, drop shot, kick serve, power strokes, the court sense. And now he has the experience of running deep in tournaments and winning.

Here is the original post:

Tennis betting: Players to watch leading up to the US Open - Yahoo Sports

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have arrested 18 suspected internet fraudsters in Abuja.

The suspects were identified as Innocent Samson, Obiora Eze, Ifeanyi Joseph, Isidore Chinedu, Badaki Linus, Ameh Nick, Kelvin Chima, Akwa Iwu Promise Ifeanyi, Adekunle Samuel.

Others are Abutu John, Testimony Mathiew, Omale Mary Ochanya (female), Afam Darlington Edwin, Henry John, Urochukwu Abel, Ogieto Gift, Innocent Gideon, Ojimini Maduemyi Raymond, Mathiew Timothy, and Kingsley Chukwuemeka.

A statement issued on the Commissions Twitter page said the suspects were arrested on July 19, 2022, at Army Estate Phase Five, Kurudu, Abuja, following intelligence reports received by the Commission about their alleged involvement in internet-related fraud.

Items recovered from the suspects include three cars: a Lexus RX 350, Lexus ES 350, and Peugeot 306, a motorbike, six laptop computers, and mobile phones.

The anti-graft agency added that the suspects will be charged to court after investigations are concluded.

View original post here:

EFCC arrests 18 suspected Yahoo boys in Abuja - Daily Post Nigeria