sports facilities
S&P/TSX composite index slightly up Wednesday, U.S. stock markets also rise
An offense that was one of the most dynamic in the NFL during a run to the Super Bowl last season has been just ordinary for most of 2024 and was downright bad in a 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night that just about ended San Francisco's playoff hopes. San Francisco (6-8) was held to its fewest yards (191) in a regular-season game in eight seasons under coach Kyle Shanahan and its fewest points since Shanahan's debut in 2017 on a rainy night that will be remembered mostly for Campbell walking off the field in the middle of the game with a towel draped over his head. The game also featured San Francisco going three-and-out on four drives as Brock Purdy struggled to connect with his receivers. Deebo Samuel dropped a potential touchdown pass after complaining earlier in the week about a lack of touches. Purdy then missed Ricky Pearsall on an underthrown deep shot in the fourth quarter before throwing an interception into the end zone that ended the Niners' comeback attempt. “I just feel like I had a lot of plays left out there that I could have made for our team,” Purdy said. “I thought the defense and special teams played so good. That’s what’s hurting me is I just feel like I failed the team. I could have been better for our offense and we could have put up more points.” Scoring has been an issue this season for the 49ers, who have been missing key playmakers like Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Aiyuk for much of the season. San Francisco is scoring 8.5 fewer points per game on offense than the Niners did through 14 games last season. Red-zone defense. After allowing touchdowns on 13 consecutive red-zone drives over the previous four games, the 49ers kept the Rams out of the end zone on all three drives that went inside the 20. Receivers. The 49ers failed to get much production from their wide receivers with Purdy going 6 for 20 for 63 yards with an INT and a 19.4 rating when targeting wideouts. Samuel had 16 yards on seven targets with the key drop. Jauan Jennings had two drops and was the target on the interception. Pearsall had one catch for 16 yards on four targets. LB Dre Greenlaw returned for the first time since tearing his left Achilles tendon in last season's Super Bowl. Greenlaw had eight tackles in the first half as he brought needed intensity and physical play that had been missing for much of the season. Campbell. The 49ers are deciding whether to waive or suspend Campbell, who lost his starting job when Greenlaw returned and then refused to play when he was needed. “His actions from the game just is not something you can do to your team or your teammates and still expect to be a part of our team,” Shanahan said. “We’re working through exactly the semantics of it right now, but we’ll handle the situation appropriately.” Greenlaw came out of the game feeling OK after leaving with soreness in his knee and Achilles tendon. He is day to day. ... S Ji’Ayir Brown (groin) and LB Dee Winters (neck) are also day to day. ... LT Trent Williams (ankle) is still trying to get back to play after missing the last four games. Shanahan said Williams' recovery has been "a lot slower than anticipated.” 0 — The Niners didn't reach the red zone once all game, with their deepest penetration into Rams territory being when they reached the 27 on a third-quarter field goal drive. This marked the first time since Week 11 in 2010 that the 49ers didn't run a single play inside the opponent's 25. The 49ers visit Miami on Dec. 22. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Gary Lineker jokes about his Match Of The Day exit as he returns to showLANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Allowing two kickoff return touchdowns and missing an extra point all in the final few minutes added up to the Washington Commanders losing a third consecutive game in excruciating fashion. The underlying reason for this slide continuing was a problem long before that. An offense led by dynamic rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels that was among the NFL’s best for a long stretch of the season put up just nine points and 169 yards for the first three-plus quarters against Dallas before falling behind 20-9 and teeing off on the Cowboys’ conservative defense. “We just couldn’t really get it going,” said receiver Terry McLaurin , whose lengthy touchdown with 21 seconds left masked that he had just three catches for 16 yards through three quarters. “We’ve got to find a way to start faster and sustain drives, and that’s everybody: the whole coaching staff and the offensive players just going out there and figuring out ways that we can stay on the field.” This is not a new problem for Washington, which had a season-low 242 yards in a Nov. 10 home loss to Pittsburgh and 264 yards four days later in a defeat at Philadelphia. Since returning from a rib injury that knocked him out of a game last month, Daniels has completed just under 61% of his passes, after 75.6% over his first seven professional starts. RELATED COVERAGE Late kickoff return TDs by Turpin and Thomas spark the Cowboys as they end their 5-game skid Austin Ekeler was concussed late in the Commanders’ loss and taken to hospital for evaluation Seibert misses an extra point late as the Commanders lose their 3rd in a row, 34-26 to the Cowboys Daniels and coach Dan Quinn have insisted this isn’t about injury. The coaching staff blamed a lack of adequate practice time, but a full week of it before facing the Cowboys did not solve the problem. It is now fair to wonder if opponents have seen enough film of offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury’s system to figure it out. The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . “I think teams and coordinators are going to see what other teams have success against us and try to figure out how they could incorporate that into their scheme,” Daniels said after going 12 of 22 for 80 yards passing through three quarters in the Dallas game. “We’ve been in third and longer a lot these past couple games, so that’s kind of where you get into the exotic pressures and stuff like that. We’ve just got to be better on first and second downs and stay ahead of the chains.” Daniels has a point there, and it predates this losing streak. The Commanders have converted just 36% of third-down opportunities (27 for 75) over their past seven games after 52% (31 for 60) in their first five. That challenge doesn’t get any easier with Tennessee coming to town Sunday. The Titans, despite being 3-8, have the second-best third-down defense in the league at 31.6%. What’s working The defense kept the Commanders in the game against Dallas, allowing just 10 points until the fourth quarter and 20 total before kickoff return touchdowns piled on to the other side of the scoreboard. Even Cooper Rush’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Luke Schoonmaker with five minutes left came after a turnover that gave the Cowboys the ball at the Washington 44. The defense spending more than 35 minutes on the field certainly contributed to fatigue as play wore on. What needs help The running game that contributed to a 7-2 start has taken a hit, in part because of injuries to top back Brian Robinson Jr. The Commanders got 145 yards on the ground because Daniels had 74 on seven carries, but running backs combined for just 57. Daniels could not say how much the rushing attack stalling has contributed to the offense going stagnant. “You’ve got to be able to run the ball, keep the defense honest,” he said. “We got to execute the plays that are called in, and we didn’t do a good job of doing that.” Stock up Linebacker Frankie Luvu keeps making the case to be first-year general manager Adam Peters’ best free agent signing. He and fellow offseason addition Bobby Wagner tied for a team-high eight tackles, and Luvu also knocked down three passes against Dallas. Stock down Kicker Austin Seibert going wide left on the point-after attempt that would have tied the score with 21 seconds left was his third miss of the game. He also was short on a 51-yard field goal attempt and wide left on an earlier extra point. Seibert, signed a week into the season after Cade York struggled in the opener, made 25 of 27 field goal tries and was 22 of 22 on extra points before injuring his right hip and missing the previous two games. He brushed off his health and the low snap from Tyler Ott while taking responsibility for not connecting. “I made the decision to play, and here we are,” Seibert said. “I just wasn’t striking it well. But it means a lot to me to be here with these guys, so I just want to put my best foot moving forward.” Injuries Robinson’s sprained ankle and fellow running back Austin Ekeler’s concussion from a late kickoff return that led to him being hospitalized for further evaluation are two major immediate concerns. Quinn said Monday that Ekeler and starting right tackle Andrew Wylie are in concussion protocol. It’s unclear if Robinson will be available against Tennessee, which could mean Chris Rodriguez Jr. getting elevated from the practice squad to split carries with Jeremy McNichols. The Commanders still have not gotten cornerback Marshon Lattimore into a game since acquiring him at the trade deadline from New Orleans. Lattimore is trying to return from a hamstring injury, and the secondary could use him against Calvin Ridley, who’s coming off a 93-yard performance at Houston. Key number 17 — Handoffs to a running back against Dallas, a significant decrease from much of the season before this losing streak. Next steps Don’t overlook the Titans with the late bye week coming immediately afterward. The Commanders opened as more than a touchdown favorite, but after the results over the weekend, BetMGM Sportsbook had it as 5 1/2 points Monday. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflCheck out the report card from Nebraska's 44-25 win against Wisconsin on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Who can name Nebraska's last 100-yard rusher in a game, before Emmett Johnson achieved the feat Saturday? Johnson ran like he had something to prove, repeatedly shedding the first Badger to get to him. His best run of the day may have been a 19-yard burst in the third quarter when he patiently followed pulling linemen Ben Scott and Henry Lutovsky. Dante Dowdell has a knack for the end zone, scoring three times. (Trivia answer: Chubba Purdy ... against Wisconsin last year). Dylan Raiola has his rhythm back. He spent most of the game hovering around a 70 percent completion rate, which is reminiscent of his first four or five games. The ball is getting out of his hands quicker, and those pitch-and-catches are finally going for big gains. One of his best throws of the day was originally ruled a touchdown on a fade ball to Isaiah Neyor, but replay confirmed he didn't get a foot down. Jahmal Banks had a great TD snag in which he leaped, snared the ball and got his toes down. John Bullock's second tackle for loss of the game stopped Wisconsin's Tawee Walker on fourth-and-1 midway through the third quarter, and it felt like an early dagger for the home team. Bullock was a standout on senior day. The Huskers had some open-field tackling issues but held their own on third- and fourth-down situations. Darrion Dupree was a nice change-of-pace option for the Badgers, averaging 7.5 yards on his seven attempts. Wisconsin found success early on slant passes, including one that went to Vinny Anthony for 42 yards after Isaac Gifford whiffed on a tackle. After that, Braedyn Locke was able to open it for deep balls, including touchdown tosses of 24 and 58 yards. Wisconsin's Vinny Anthony had a big day, racking up six catches for 128 yards and Locke threw for more yards than he has in his past five games. A cool moment for DeShon Singleton, who came down with an interception in his final game at Memorial Stadium. Brian Buschini is having a great season, and Saturday was another notch on his belt. First, he ripped a 52-yard punt that flipped field possession, and he followed that up with a 49-yard boot that went out of bounds at the Wisconsin 3-yard line. Equally as impressive was kicker John "ol' reliable" Hohl, who made all three of his field goals and stayed clean on extra points. Oh, and how about Jacory Barney's 55-yard kick return to open the game? NU's third phase is trending up after a turbulent stretch. A question we might not ever get an answer to: Why was Matt Rhule forced to use a challenge to review Wisconsin's first-quarter touchdown? Don't all scoring plays get reviewed automatically? In a similar situation later in the game, Wisconsin was spared from using a challenge for officials to take another look at a Nebraska touchdown, which was reversed. Also, the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Micah Mazzccua for spiking the ball on a touchdown felt unnecessary. Nebraska scored a touchdown on its first possession of a game for the first time since the Northern Iowa game. A true tone-setter. There's plenty to unpack from Holgorsen's play sheet — it's no coincidence it only took him two games to pop a 100-yard rusher. And, 44 points for a team that has scored 20 (twice), 17, 7 and 14 in its past five games. That'll do. For the first time in 49 days, Nebraska won a football game. That was a long 49 for everyone involved. This one is a little more cathartic than usual, too, as the Huskers finally wrapped their arms around a bowl berth. It also takes a big bite out of the pressure NU faces on Black Friday vs. Iowa, which is no longer a "must-win."
The Denver Broncos thought so much of Jerry Jeudy that they used the 15th overall pick to select him in the 2020 draft. Then they thought so little of him that they swapped him to the Browns in March of this year for a fifth-round and sixth-round pick in the draft this past April. Jeudy notched 79 receiving yards against the Ravens, 73 against the Chargers, 142 against the Saints and 85 against the Steelers. Jameis Winston was the Browns’ quarterback in all four games. Jeudy is happy to be in Cleveland, but he is looking forward to the “Monday [...]LUANDA, Angola (AP) — President Joe Biden's long-delayed trip to Africa had many of the hallmarks of a traditional state visit: There was a 12-shot cannon salute. A series of warm handshakes with Angolan President João Lourenço. Celebratory music. Photo opportunities. But another issue overshadowed the visit. When reporters tried to question the president about why he gave his son Hunter a far-reaching pardon after repeatedly saying he would not do so, Biden tried to brush aside the questions. He gestured toward Lourenço and laughed, declaring, “Welcome to America.” Biden saluted Lourenço for his efforts to bolster stronger U.S. relations, declared that Africa and its booming youth population would shape the world's future and even indulged his love of trains by championing a major railway project that his administration says could change the way the entire continent does business. Some takeaways from the president's visit: Biden offered the joke about America before his meeting with Lourenço, and he answered a question on Tuesday about the political situation in South Korea, saying only that he'd not been briefed — something that was rectified moments later when advisers filled him in on what was happening as the motorcade sped away from a site where he'd given a speech. Other than that, Biden went the entire trip, which began Sunday night and included two brief stopovers in Cape Verde in addition to Angola, dodging reporters. He did similar during last month's six-day visit to South America . Since Biden announced his pardon decision shortly before climbing aboard Air Force One bound for Africa, it fell to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to spend nearly half an hour offering long and awkward answers to uncomfortable questions aboard the aircraft hours later. Biden said in a statement explaining the pardon that, while he believed in the justice system, he also felt that politics had infected the cases against his son and “enough was enough.” Jean-Pierre maintained that he wasn't trying to have it both ways. “I don’t think it’s a contradiction,” she said. “Two things could be true. You can believe in the Department of Justice system, and you could also believe that the process was infected politically.” She also bristled when it was suggested that such complaints about the Department of Justice smacked of President-elect Donald Trump's promises to dismantle the “deep state” of federal bureaucrats that he's said for years are out to unfairly undermine him and fellow top Republicans. During his meeting with Lourenço at the presidential palace, Biden said, “The United States is all in on Africa,” and extolled how strong Angolan relations were with Washington. His administration has invested billions in Angola, with the centerpiece being promoting the Lobito Corridor, a vast project to revitalize supply chains by refurbishing 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) of train lines in Angola, Zambia and Congo. Given where Angola was barely a generation ago, the alliance is in many ways remarkable. An oil-rich nation on Africa's southwest coast, Angola achieved independence from Portugal in 1975, but spent subsequent years embroiled in civil war, which often featured proxy fighting between U.S.-backed forces and those allied with the Soviet Union. Even today, the country's red and black flag features a yellow machete and half-cog, an insignia resembling the Soviet hammer and sickle. But Biden leaves office on Jan. 20, and Lourenço, like many leaders of African nations, has already begun suggesting that he's looking toward a Trump-dominated future. Biden administration officials say they're hopeful Trump and top Republicans will continue a business-friendly approach to investing in Africa that includes continuing to support the Lobito Corridor. Biden lauded Lourenço for helping boost his country's relationship with the United States, and he said the youth of Africa would change the world. He also visited the country’s national slavery museum, stressing how Angola and the United States — which were once linked by the horrors of enslaved human beings, now could increasingly be linked by economic opportunity. But if Biden came to Angola hoping to cement his foreign policy legacy in this country and throughout Africa, it will actually fall to Trump — the man he beat in the 2020 election and spent much of 2024 running against before bowing out of the race in July — to see it through.
Oil production: Nigeria targets 2m barrels per day by December 31 — NNPCL
AP Sports SummaryBrief at 6:40 p.m. ESTTop 3 underappreciated Asian stocks to buy in 2025
AUSTIN, Texas -- Any Texas or Texas A & M player has heard the lore of the rivalry between the two schools, a grudge match that dates to 1894. But for more than a decade — two generations of college football players — that's all it has been: Ghostly memories of great games and great plays made by heroes of the distant past. That changes this week when one of college football's great rivalries is reborn. Third-ranked Texas (10-1, 6-1) and No. 20 Texas A & M (8-3, 5-2) meet Saturday night for the first time since 2011, with a berth in the Southeastern Conference championship game on the line . “Guys that have been in my position and bleed burnt orange, they have not gotten to play this game,” said Texas fourth-year junior safety Michael Taaffe, who grew up in Austin. “Remember them when you step on Kyle Field.” For Aggies fans, who have carried the misery of Texas' 27-25 win in 2011, getting the Longhorns back in front of a frenzied crowd in College Station is a chance for some serious payback. “I was born and raised an Aggie, so I’ve been dreaming about playing in this game my whole life,” Texas A & M offensive lineman Trey Zuhn III said. Zuhn played high school football in Colorado, but his parents and grandparents attended A & M. At SEC media days back in August, Zuhn said his family would turn Texas gear upside down in stores. He keeps a picture of a longhorn in his room, hanging upside down, of course. “It should be the most amazing atmosphere that I’ve ever experienced,” Zuhn said. "I can’t wait for that, and I feel bad for Texas having to play in that." Texas players said they are ready. “That place is going to be rocking,” Texas senior cornerback Jahdae Barron said. “It's good to go on the road and play in hostile environments.” The Longhorns have overcome big and loud road crowds before. They won at Alabama in 2023. They won at Michigan and Arkansas, another old rival, this year. The Longhorns have won 10 in a row on an opponent’s home field. “When the hate is on us, we love it. We enjoy it,” Taaffe said. But some former Texas players say the current group has faced nothing like what awaits them in College Station. Playing at Texas A & M is more than just noise and a lot of “Horns down” hand signals. The “Aggie War Hymn” fight song calls for Aggies to “Saw varsity’s horns off." Beating Texas is their passion, said former Longhorns All-American offensive lineman Dan Neil, who won at Texas A & M in in 1995. He calls that win one of the best of his career. “I was done showering and getting ready to leave, and their fans were still standing outside the locker room screaming and throwing things,” he said. “The (Texas) players have no idea what they are walking into. They have no clue. No one on that team has walked into that stadium in burnt orange.” The rivalry broke up when Texas A & M left the Big 12 for the SEC in 2012. The Aggies have twice finished tied for second but have otherwise found little success there. Texas is in its first year in the SEC and has smashed its way to the top. Texas is the only SEC team with one loss this late in the season, which would make beating Texas that much sweeter for A & M. “The hype is definitely saying it's a rivalry. History says it's a rivalry, but for us, it's the football game we have this week,” Texas senior center Jake Majors said. “It's important for us to not let the environment, the game, get the best of us. ... I get to go out there and play not only for me and my team, but for the guys who came before me, so that's a true honor to have.” Even though the game hasn't been played since 2011, there has always been an element of the rivalry simmering under the surface, Texas A & M coach Mike Elko said. Elko is in his first year as the Aggies' coach, but he was the Texas A & M defensive coordinator under Jimbo Fisher from 2018-2021. “Even though it hasn’t been played, it just doesn’t feel like it’s ever really left the fabric. I really don’t think it’s as removed from the psyche as maybe it feels,” Elko said. “I think our kids are very much aware of what this is all about.” ___ Rieken reported from College Station, Texas. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
- Previous: sports design
- Next: sports icon
