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Burnley beats Fulham in first EPL game handled by a female referee

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Burnley scored long-range goals through Wilson Odobert and Sander Berge to beat Fulham 2-0 in the first English Premier League game to be handled by a female referee on Saturday.Rebecca Welch was the match official for the game at Craven Cottage in a landmark moment for the competition, and she made her first big intervention when brandishing a yellow card to Calvin Bassey late in the first half after the defender struck Josh Brownhill with his hand.Burnley, which earned its third win, took the lead in the 47th minute after neat build-up play saw the ball arrive at the feet of Odobert. He took a touch and curled a shot into the top right corner of the net.Berge made it 2-0 after 66 minutes when he retrieved the ball on the halfway line and drove to the edge of Fulham’s box where he rifled his strike past Bernd Leno.Next-to-last Burnley stayed in the relegation zone but moved to within three points of safety.It was mid-table Fulham’s second straight league loss, w...

10-man Atletico edges Sevilla to end mini-slump in Spanish league before winter break

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Ten-man Atletico Madrid edged Sevilla 1-0 at home on Saturday to ensure it entered the Spanish league winter break still in touch with the front-runners.The game in Spain’s capital was originally scheduled for September but was postponed due to a forecast for bad weather.Halftime substitute Marcos Llorente made an immediate impact by scoring just a minute after the restart. Atletico then defended with poise while playing a man down for the final 20 minutes after substitute Caglar Soyuncu received a direct red card in the 70th.“When you come off the bench you always try to give your team something extra,” Llorente said. “We only had winning on our minds. Now it is time to disconnect and then we are right back at it.”Real Madrid and surprise package Girona are at the top of the standings with a seven-point lead over Atletico and Barcelona one round before the competition reaches its halfway point.Atletico had been in a bit of a slump after winning just one of i...

Luton beats Newcastle a week after captain suffered cardiac arrest on the field

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

LUTON, England (AP) — Andros Townsend dedicated his winning goal to captain Tom Lockyer after Luton beat Newcastle 1-0 in the English Premier League on Saturday. A week after Lockyer suffered cardiac arrest on the field in a league game, which was abandoned, Luton picked up three valuable points in the fight to avoid relegation.Townsend scored in the 25th minute at Kenilworth Road — converting Ross Barkley’s flick on from a corner — to secure a third win for his club and move it to within two points of safety. Lockyer has had a defibrillator fitted after collapsing on the field and has left hospital to rehabilitate at home.After his goal, Townsend ran to the sideline and was handed a jersey with “Lockyer No. 4” on the back. He raised it in the air in celebration with the home fans, who also applauded their captain in the fourth minute.Luton also laid out Lockyer’s kit in the locker room ahead of kickoff. Newcastle fans paid their own tribute by unfurling a banner that re...

2022 Luxury Tax Payrolls

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Final 2023 payrolls for the 30 major league teams for purposes of the luxury tax, as defined by baseball’s collective bargaining agreement and sent to clubs by the commissioner’s office.Figures are for 40-man rosters and include the average annual values of contracts and $17,090,029 per club for benefits and extended benefits, which include items such as health and pension benefits; club medical costs; insurance; workman’s compensation, payroll, unemployment and Social Security taxes; spring training allowances; meal and tip money; All-Star game expenses; travel and moving expenses; postseason pay; and college scholarships. Also included is $1,666,667 per team for the pre-arbitration bonus pool.Salaries include earned incentive bonuses, non-cash compensation, buyouts of unexercised options and cash transactions. In some cases, parts of salaries that are deferred are discounted to reflect present-day values.The luxury tax is assessed starting on the ...

20RBtax23,h23 Baseball Luxury Tax

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball’s luxury tax assessments for the 2023 season, as compiled by the commissioner’s office and obtained by The Associated Press. Payments are due by Jan. 21:New York Mets$100,781,932San Diego39,693,954New York Yankees32,399,366Los Angeles Dodgers19,423,297Philadelphia6,977,345Toronto5,535,492Atlanta3,159,536Texas1,827,142Total209,798,065Source

Column: Jaylon Johnson bet on himself — and it paid off. The cornerback is due a big contract, but will it be with the Chicago Bears?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Credit Jaylon Johnson for acknowledging the elephant in the room — and finding a way to use it as motivation from the beginning.Johnson is the rare NFL player who will emerge a big winner for betting on himself and playing out his contract. He’s not alone, but in an era when teams are motivated to give early extensions with the idea of saving a little money and players love to cash in as soon as possible, Johnson is three games from completing the four-year, $6.46 million contract he signed after being drafted in the second round in 2020.What’s next for Johnson? He likely will sign a contract that makes him one of the higher-paid cornerbacks in the league, and despite some interesting twists in the road — ones that easily could have created acrimony from both sides — it appears the Bears are motivated to get something done.A few Bears players over the years have played out their deals and wound up being rewarded — but not a lot. Linebacker Lance B...

Chicago Bears’ evaluation of ‘ascending’ LT Braxton Jones will play into offseason moves — and his test against Myles Garrett was big

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Chicago Bears left tackle Braxton Jones faced the ultimate test of his development Sunday against Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, and the second-year player thought he did “an all right job” into the third quarter.In the end, though, Jones said he needed to do more to stop the Browns star.On the Bears’ final drive after the Browns pulled ahead 20-17 with 32 seconds to play, Garrett got around Jones quickly on back-to-back plays to pressure quarterback Justin Fields. The two plays resulted in Fields incompletions, and that set up the final Hail Mary pass that the Browns intercepted to seal the win.“In that fourth quarter, the game is on the line, if we score in that situation we’re going to win the game,” Jones said. “He’s going to do as much as he can to affect that, and he did do that in that last drive. I just think I have to have better sets, be more square. I can see all of the things (on film) I messed up on, but in ...

What chain stores are open on Christmas? Hours for Walmart, Target, CVS and more

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

With Christmas right around the corner, you might want to check the list of what stores are open (and closed) twice.From retail to grocery chains, many companies across the U.S. close early on Christmas Eve and shut their doors entirely on Christmas Day — while others opt to cut back hours. But there’s also a handful of businesses that stay open on the holiday.Before you run out the door this Christmas — whether it’s to buy last-minute gifts or simply get out of the house — it’s wise to double-check operating hours, which can range by location. When in doubt, call ahead or look up more specific schedules for spots in your neighborhood online.Here’s a rundown of how major chains are operating this Christmas Day.IS WALMART OPEN ON CHRISTMAS?Walmart will be closed on Christmas Day — and reopen at 6 a.m. Dec. 26.IS TARGET OPEN ON CHRISTMAS?Most Target stores will be closed on Christmas and reopen at 7 a.m. Dec. 26. You can check location hours here.IS COSTCO OPEN...

Ranking QB Justin Fields’ 35 starts for the Chicago Bears

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Here we are again, Chicago, in the home stretch of another losing Bears season with quarterback uncertainty swirling. Justin Fields has three games remaining in his third season and, quite possibly, in his time with the organization.Empowered with the Carolina Panthers’ first-round pick, the Bears currently hold the No. 1 selection in next spring’s draft. That would allow them, if so desired, to reboot at quarterback with the draft prospect of their choice. Or the Bears could continue to stand behind Fields, a dice roll that would require confidence that he would continue to ascend in his development.Before the season, we laid out realistic 2023 goals for Fields across seven categories, setting up a test that could aid in the ongoing evaluation. Now, with Fields completing his 35th career start in Sunday’s dispiriting 20-17 loss in Cleveland, we are diving into his full body of work as a Bear to paint a comprehensive picture of where Fields has excelled and where h...

Column: MLB tweaks its pace-of-game rules — but why stop there? More ideas to save the game, a few seconds at a time.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Major League Baseball announced some tweaks to its rules Thursday to move the game along and eliminate the dead moments that allegedly cause younger fans to tune out.The boomers who run the game are doing whatever’s necessary to pacify Gen Z and save the game, knocking off seconds of wasted time for the good of all mankind.The pitch clock remains at 15 seconds, but with runners on base it will be reduced from 20 seconds to 18, a two-second time-saver that surely the kids will think is “fire.”Relievers will get only two minutes to get their butts from the bullpen to the pitcher’s mound, shaving 15 seconds off the previous time allowance. That should be enough time for the kids to check out a TikTok video while fidgeting in their seats waiting for the game to continue.According to The Athletic, MLB believes it can take another five minutes off the average game time, which was 2 hours, 40 minutes in 2023, the shortest average since 1985 and about 24 minutes shor...