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Men’s College World Series: Jac Caglianone and Brandon Neely extend Florida’s season men,s,college,world,series,jac,caglianone,and,brandon,neely,extend,florida,s,season,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

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With Florida’s season on the line, Jac Caglianone took the bump for the Gators in an elimination game against NC State. However, a shaky outing saw Caglianone last just one inning for Florida.

He still found a way to help extend Florida’s season at least one more game.

Caglianone was lifted after allowing a run during a shaky first inning, which included both a walk and a hit batter. But the two-way star for the Gators came through with a massive blast in the top of the second, a three-run blast to right that was part of a four-run second inning for Florida.

Caglianone’s three-run shot came on this 91-mph pitch on the inner half of the plate, that the lefty slugger was able to turn on in a hurry:

The home run was clocked at 116 miles per hour off Caglianone’s bat. It also made the Gators two-way star the first starting pitcher to homer in the MCWS since Tim Hudson accomplished that feat for Auburn back in 1997.

Yes, that Tim Hudson, who is now the head coach at his alma mater.

Of course, Caglianone’s short outing on the bump meant the Gators needed to go deep into their bullpen to outlast the gators. Caglianone was lifted in favor of Cade Fisher, who lasted four innings and allowed three earned runs to pick up the victory. But after Jake Clemente pitched a scoreless sixth inning, Brandon Neely came on to start the seventh for the Gators.

Neely closed things out, going the distance for the rare three-inning save. The Florida right hander allowed just one hit and one walk, striking out six over three nearly-perfect innings for his fifth save of the season. The three innings of work brought Neely’s total innings pitched over the postseason to 21, meaning Neely has pitched 25% of the team’s 84 innings in the postseason.

Following the game, Neely praised the entire team, and Florida’s toughness:

Florida’s season is now extended by at least one game, as the Gators await the loser of tonight’s contest between Texas A&M and Kentucky.

U.S. Open: Rory McIlroy speaks out; announces next PGA Tour event u,s,open,rory,mcilroy,speaks,out,announces,next,pga,tour,event,sbnation,com,golf,us-open-golf,golf-majors,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

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Almost 24 hours after Rory McIlroy collapsed at the U.S. Open, he took to social media to distill his thoughts.

“Yesterday was a tough day, probably the toughest I’ve had in my nearly 17 years as a professional golfer. Firstly, I’d like to congratulate Bryson. He is a worthy champion and exactly what professional golf needs right now. I think we can all agree on that,” McIlroy posted to his social media account.

“As I reflect on my week, I’ll rue a few things over the course of the tournament, mostly the 2 missed putts on 16 and 18 on the final day. But, as I always try to do, I’ll look at the positives of the week that far outweigh the negatives. As I said at the start of the tournament, I feel closer to winning my next major championship than I ever have.

“The one word that I would describe my career as is resilient. I’ve shown my resilience over and over again in the last 17 years and I will again. I’m going to take a few weeks away from the game to process everything and build myself back up for my defense of the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open at Royal Troon. See you in Scotland.”

McIlroy will skip this week’s Travelers Championship, the final Signature Event of the 2024 season. He will also not play in the Rocket Mortgage Classic and the John Deere Classic in the subsequent weeks—the final two events before the PGA Tour heads to Scotland.

Golf fans will see him next at the Genesis Scottish Open, scheduled to begin on Thursday, Jul. 11. McIlroy won that event last year in thrilling fashion, making a birdie on the final hole to eclipse Robert MacIntyre by one.

McIlroy has also had a lot going on in his personal life. He was spotted in Florida on Monday with his wife, Erica, and daughter, Poppy, just one week after the couple called off their divorce. The New York Post first reported the news of their sighting.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

U.S. women’s coach Emma Hayes is saying all the right things. Here’s a few of the best so far u,s,women,s,coach,emma,hayes,is,saying,all,the,right,things,here,s,a,few,of,the,best,so,far,sbnation,com,front-page,soccer,united-states-womens-national-team,soccer-sg,all-womens-sports,womens-soccer,usmnt-coverage

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Many believe Emma Hayes has what it takes to return the U.S. women’s national team to the No. 1 status in the world it coveted for decades.

Over the last few years, the prominence of the U.S. women’s team has dropped considerably as key players have retired from the world stage and young newcomers are asked to hold the line.

Despite wins in a pair of recent matches, the U.S. dropped to No. 5 in the latest FIFA women’s world rankings. And while it may not appear as though being the fifth best team in the world is that big of a scare, anyone who knows the dominance of the States for the last 40 years as the preeminent team to beat knows that the latest designation certainly came as a surprise.

For the first time, fans got an insider’s look at the philosophy of Hayes through the latest version of Inside the Crest, U.S. Soccer’s mini-documentary series which chronicles the exploits of both the men’s and women’s programs.

Usually, these are not much more than fluff for the program, but the latest offered a direct look at Hayes and a player pool eager to make her roster in advance of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

Hayes had several poignant comments to the group but these were the Top 5 quotables from Hayes to the team ahead of their back-to-back tune-up games against Korea Republic.

After the Olympic squad is selected, the group will have two tune up games in July. The first against rival Mexico on July 13 (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT, NBC Universo) and Costa Rica on July 16 (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT, NBC Universo).

— Emma Hayes to the group ahead of their first game, a 4-0 win against Korea Republic. This is now a group that is 7-1-2 overall in 2024, scoring 26 goals and allowing just seven.

Hayes was adamant in a team meeting that she’s not looking to change much but elevate with the group she’s got. And, right now even with the loss of players like Megan Rapinoe, Julie Ertz and others due to retiring from international duty, Hayes feels she can work what she’s got into one of the world’s best.

This was great as it added a bit of her philosophy on coaching and style and what she expects out of every player. There’s also an acknowledgment off the bat that she and her staff know that it comes down to their preparation as much as the execution. No scapegoating here.

Took this to mean she doesn’t really care about the pressures from the federation. They hired her to do a job and gave her some pretty moldable tools to do it, so what is there to complain about? Results are all that matter and so far, she’s off to a good start.

This quote says it all. Pressure’s off when it comes to worrying about playing for your country. You’re already here. Do your job and enjoy the ride.

Brandon Aiyuk talks 49ers with Jayden Daniels: ‘They don’t want me back… I swear’ brandon,aiyuk,talks,ers,with,jayden,daniels,they,don,t,want,me,back,i,swear,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,draftkings

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The ongoing saga between Brandon Aiyuk and the 49ers took a twist on Monday when video released was posted on TikTok of a conversation between Aiyuk and Jayden Daniels of the Commanders.

Admittedly this feels a little contrived. Even if you’re going to have this kind of private conversation about your contract situation, why would you allow it to be posted on your own TikTok account? Sure, it might be a way to pressure the 49ers into taking some action and move the extension along — but it could also sour whatever progress has been made.

There’s been a lot of talk about whether Aiyuk will be on the Niners long term. This year he’s playing on his fifth-year option, but after drafting Ricky Pearsall in the 2024 NFL Draft the team seems poised to part with either Aiyuk or Deebo Samuel moving forward.

It’s been reported that Aiyuk is seeking a contract in the ballpark of what other top receivers have gotten, which would put him anywhere from the $30-40M mark in AAV. That’s no necessarily an unfair ask given his recent performance, but it’s unclear if paying a receiver big money meshes with the 49ers philosophy.

Time will tell how this plays out, but it appears this mess is going to get uglier.

Derrick Henry and Ravens are match made in smash-mouth football heaven derrick,henry,and,ravens,are,match,made,in,smash,mouth,football,heaven,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,draftkings

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When running back Derrick Henry signed with the Baltimore Ravens, it was immediately lauded as an extremely good choice. The powerful back is moving on from a storied career in Tennessee in hopes of finally winning a title with a Ravens team that is consistently on the brink of a breakthrough.

It’s fairly simple on the surface why this signing will work out for Baltimore: QB Lamar Jackson plus Henry in the run game equals instant success, right? However, there’s even more to it that I think makes this signing have the potential to elevate the Ravens’ offense to a new level.

***

In the offseason, the Ravens lost RB Gus Edwards to free agency. Edwards was the hammer of the Raven’s run game, taking most of the carries between the tackles with Jackson and Keaton Mitchell (pre-injury) provided the lightning and explosion in the offense. According to Sports Information Solutions, Edwards led all ballcarriers on runs in between the tackles, and was second on the team in Positive Play Rate. Edwards ability to simply always fall forward kept the offense humming and allowed the Ravens to singles and doubles, as well as home runs.

Now that Edwards is on the Chargers, the Ravens needed someone who could keep the run game on track while keeping hits off of Jackson. Enter Henry, one of the better between the tackles runners in the entire NFL. Henry’s ability to get downhill and make life difficult for second level defenders is going to play perfectly with Jackson and Mitchell’s big play ability in the backfield.

Although when Henry takes snaps in the backfield for Baltimore, they’ll probably see even more loaded boxes than they did in the previous season. Last year, Baltimore finished second in the NFL in rushing attempts into a box with seven or more defenders and finished fifth in Positive Play Rate. Gus Edwards took most of those carries with him to Los Angeles, but in 2023 Henry had the most carries in the league into loaded boxes behind a Tennessee offensive line that was poor for most of the season, but behind a much better line in Baltimore, he should be able to be more effective than he was in 2023.

Where the rubber really hits the road for the Ravens and Henry is with their use of the pistol offense in 2023. With more offenses wanting to run traditional under center run game stuff like duo and counter, but still wanting to have RPOs built into the offense with a mobile QB like Jackson. I believe NFL offenses are going to start leaning more into the pistol offense in 2024, and that’s going to really benefit the Ravens and Henry. Henry led the NFL in under center rushing attempts, and while that’s something the Ravens don’t exactly major in (28th in the NFL in total under center rushing attempts), Henry and Edwards both were near the top of the NFL in snaps from the pistol, which is a great blend of both their skills.

The Ravens ran a lot of power and counter out of the pistol, a great way to get backs downhill in a hurry without sacrificing the RPO or shotgun diet of most offenses today. Edwards was really good at getting downhill out of pistol, not wasting any time and getting right into the gaps to keep the offense humming.

While both the Titans and the Ravens ran a lot of the pistol offense on the ground, what they ran out of this formation was a bit different. The Titans were big on running duo out of pistol, a staple of that part of their offense. It really worked with Henry because when you give Henry a runway, he can build up that speed and power and become more of a force. Tennessee did run counter out of pistol as a changeup, though, and you can see where Henry fits within the meshing of this part of the Raven’s offensive game.

What Henry brings to this offense is essentially a super version of what Gus Edwards brought to Baltimore: tough inside running and the ability to win in the red zone. Among all players with 20 or more carries in the red area, Henry was ninth in the NFL in Positive Play Rate. Combining his physicality with Jackson’s ability as a runner will make the Ravens more dangerous there, a scary thought for opposing defenses.

What Baltimore will have to do is continue to monitor Henry’s carries to keep him fresh for those early down and red zone opportunities. This is where Justice Hill and hopefully a healthy Keaton Mitchell comes into play. While Henry isn’t a guy who will carry a team to victory anymore, where Baltimore can really use him as the thunder to everyone else’s lightning.

And that’s some thunder I wouldn’t want to get in front of.

Chiefs Super Bowl ring error; who’s the Bryson DeChambeau of the NFL chiefs,super,bowl,ring,error,who,s,the,bryson,dechambeau,of,the,nfl,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,dot-com-grid-coverage

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We have passed the midway point in June and have just over a month to go until NFL training camps kick off in earnest. Thankfully House of the Dragon is back to help us bide a bit more time.

The offseason drought makes talking about the NFL a bit more challenging than usual but that only makes it more fun. Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa are once again up for the latest edition of The Skinny Post to discuss all things Football League of National.

Some required reading so that all of the jokes and points hit you properly:

  • The Kansas City Chiefs are probably mad at their ring designer
  • Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Open on Sunday
  • There is a new fantasy football punishment everyone has thoughts on

Let’s begin.

The Kansas City Chiefs messed up their Super Bowl rings and that is hilarious

Michael:

If I didn’t make it abundantly clear in the first edition of The Skinny Post, I am a Chargers fan so this bit of news was a real juicy morsel when it dropped last week. Now let’s be frank, I’d trade my life savings and the deed to my house if it meant the Chargers could win a Super Bowl in my lifetime but that won’t stop me from dunking on the Chiefs when I can.

This is one of those moments.

Kansas City unveiled their latest Super Bowl rings and while they’re as gorgeous as you’d expect, there was a minor mistake that was missed. Inside the ring, the Chiefs listed all of their opponents they defeated en route to winning the championship along with their seed for the postseason. However, the Chiefs engraved a “7” next to the Dolphins, denoting them as the seventh seed. Here’s the thing: The Steelers were the seventh seed while the Dolphins were the sixth seed.

I cannot express just how embarrassing this must be for the back-to-back Super Bowl champs. It’s so embarrassing they may end up finishing last in the AFC West this season. The expected ridicule will simply be too much for Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid.

It was a great dynasty while it lasted though!

RJ:

Objectively speaking, the ring thing is a disaster. Nobody can change my mind on this.

In our day and age where teams focus on the symbolism and meaning behind things like how many diamonds are in the ring and whatnot, messing up a crucial detail is a bad look and hilarious from the outside. What’s more is that it seems like the reason Kansas City put the seeds in the first place was to emphasize how tough their path to their latest title was given that they beat the Buffalo Bills (No. 2), Baltimore Ravens (No. 1) and San Francisco 49ers (No. 1). They literally beat both No 1 seeds and that is in fact ridiculously impressive.

So with this being the case… the mistake in question actually makes their playoff path look less impressive. The flub makes the Dolphins look worse than they were, which is once again hilarious given everything involved. Ultimately a detail on your third Super Bowl ring in five years is the pinnacle definition of rich people problems, but imagine being the person who signed off on this getting the phone call about it all once the internet saw the rings.

Under the radar players who could completely change perception with a title

RJ:

As noted up top, Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Open on Sunday, his second major championship. Incidentally both of them are U.S. Open victories.

I am a massive golf fan (shout out to our colleagues here at SB Nation over at Playing Through for being a daily read of mine) and in case you aren’t then what you need to know is that Bryson was a bit, um, unpopular over the last few years.

It is difficult to explain exactly why Bryson was so not liked, given that it is a lot of things. His personality rubbed people the wrong way (he had a lot to do with that), but in the last year or so he has really turned things around.

DeChambeau lost golf’s most recent major championship (the PGA Championship at Valhalla) to Xander Schauffele by one stroke, and even as someone who appreciates Xander a ton I was so bummed for Bryson. It was confusing.

Watching Bryson get it done on Sunday at Pinehurst and taking down a fan favorite like Rory McIlroy in the process and being overwhelmingly happy for Bryson was such a weird sequence of emotions given everything up to this point. In the spirit of this… I wanted Michael and I to take a shot at figuring out which NFL players could elicit similar emotions.

Ultimately I think that the answer is Kirk Cousins. Netflix’s Quarterback really elevated Kirk’s reputation for a lot of people and his season-ending Achilles injury last year while he was playing great football seemed to pull even more people into his corner. Then there is also the fact that his new team in the Atlanta Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr. right after paying Kirk to join them in the first place.

Imagine if Kirk led the Falcons to the Super Bowl this season? If Kirk was the person to slay the 28-3 demons? If Kirk were the one to do it all? Given everything that has happened up to this point?

Dare I say it would be Bryson DeChambeau winning the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

Michael:

I’m going to hop into your neck of the woods and use Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott as my choice here.

Prescott is widely viewed as one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. Depending on who you ask, he probably varies anywhere between the top 15, top 10, and even the top 5 of NFL quarterbacks during some stretches of the season. The unfortunate part is that, despite being on a team that had both a top-5 offense and top-10 defense over the past three seasons, Prescott has not been able to guide the Cowboys out of the Divisional Round in three consecutive playoff appearances. He’s 2-5 in the playoffs and 1-3 since 2021. Those numbers are not becoming of a team that has been one of the best regular-season clubs of the past 10 years and has 12 wins in each of the past three seasons.

So similar to what you had to say about Kirk Cousins, the recent narrative around Prescott and the Cowboys could be flipped on its head were they to win their first Super Bowl since 1995. The thing is, maybe they need to stop being so successful during the regular season so the pressure isn’t nearly as high come the postseason? Maybe they should barely squeak into the playoffs and then they can play with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Thoughts? Prayers? Sounds like a steel-clad plan to me.

How we would approach the McDonald’s fantasy football eating punishment

Michael:

Alright so I loved this story when you sent it to me.

A guy got last place in his fantasy football league and his punishment was that he has to spend 24 hours inside a McDonald’s. However, he has the opportunity to “eat his way out” by consuming menu items, each of which are paired with a time amount that gets taken off the clock. So for example, if he eats a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit, he gets 45 minutes taken off the clock. If he consumes an entire hotcakes and sausage combo meal, he gets an hour taken off.

Here is the full structure:

So now let’s talk how I would personally attack this thing.

If I began at the crack of dawn, I would start with a plethora of Sausage McMuffins with Egg. Normally I’m just an Egg McMuffin guy, but the additional sausage would provide 15 more minutes off the clock and that little slab of meat added won’t affect my overall stomach capacity. I would gorge myself on those until I simply couldn’t anymore. Maybe that’s six or seven of them which amounts to about 5 hours already gone. From there, I’d intermittently nap to pass the time and digest. When I wake, I’d consume another McMuffin or switch to the double cheeseburgers as the morning turns to afternoon.

While a McDouble is only 30 minutes off, a double cheeseburger is 45 minutes. I’m not entirely sure what the difference is between the two, but it can’t be much of anything so we’re going with the item that takes more time off the clock.

If I can get out of there before the sun sets entirely, I’d be happy (and grossly full).

RJ:

Full disclosure: I sent this to a lot of people on Saturday morning, coincidentally while I was in the drive-thru at McDonald’s of all places. Life can be funny like that.

But my perspective on this is that the goal should not be to get out of there as quickly as possible. My goal would be to spend something like 7-8 hours physically in the building and spend the time writing, reading or watching something. Determining that getting out in an hour is the first step of acceptance here. You’ve got to lean into the ordeal.

Understanding that I’m trying to shave about 16 hours off I feel the need to say that as a kid I really enjoyed the hash browns from McDonald’s. I would eat around four in a single sitting… as a kid.

With the belly of an adult I really think that this would be the cheat code for me as my child-like order of four would knock out an hour at a time. Hash browns are also really small relative to everything else so I think I could do about 16 over the course of my first hour. After some time to settle I think I could repeat this and boom, half the time I want to take off is now gone. Presto, baby.

For the record I do not think I have had an actual hamburger from McDonald’s since around the time that I was crushing hash browns with regularity (as a Texan I am a Whataburger loyalist). That being said I think a cheeseburger is an easy mountain to climb four times to take another two hours off. Six to go.

I think at this point you kind of have to accept that this is where things start to suck so I would just do the “Big Breakfast with Hotcakes” three times to drag myself across the finish line.

Boom. Done. Easy.

Elly De La Cruz made another ridiculous superhuman play elly,de,la,cruz,made,another,ridiculous,superhuman,play,sbnation,com,front-page,mlb

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Confirmation that Elly De La Cruz is actually human is spotty at best. I mean, everything about him says “I am actually a human,” but then he does something like this and you have to question it.

On Sunday afternoon a routine pickoff attempt became one of the most exciting plays of the day as De La Cruz saw the smallest possible opening and decided it was worth going for it. The pickoff attempt was muffed, rolling into the shallow outfield, which was all Elly needed to know he could make a play.

Getting one base off this was impressive enough, but making it home from second was simply unbelievably.

Haters will point out that he’s only batting .230 this season, but it’s largely immaterial. Every week he’s able to make plays that define games in unexpected ways. whether it’s turning his arm into a cannon to throw someone out — or like this play, putting rockets on his cleats and scoring when nobody else could.

The Carolina Panthers are hurtling towards threats of relocation the,carolina,panthers,are,hurtling,towards,threats,of,relocation,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,draftkings

The Carolina Panthers are hurtling towards threats of relocation thecarolinapanthersarehurtlingtowardsthreatsofrelocationsbnationcomfront pagenfldraftkings
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All is not well with the Carolina Panthers, and it has nothing to do with recent years of putrid performance. Charlotte City Council will hear statements from the public on Monday about whether or not taxpayers believe $650M in revenue should be given to Tepper Sport Entertainment (TSE) to renovate Bank of America Stadium as part of a $1.3B proposal to upgrade the home of the Panthers.

Over 60 percent of residents polled disagree with the proposal, which would exchange the $650M for a 20-year guarantee that the team would not relocate from Charlotte. This “guarantee” gives TSE a 15-year out to leave in 2039 and pay “any outstanding debt” in exchange for the move.

It’s the latest in a back-and-forth between North Carolina residents and David Tepper, who has seemingly done everything in his power to become the most-disliked man in professional sports since purchasing the Panthers in 2018. While there’s little doubt some good has come from Tepper’s time, like the establishment of Charlotte FC in MLS and turning the stadium into a large-scale concert venue, he’s also alienated the public time and time again by making seemingly unnecessary changes that forsake tradition in name of the bottom line.

These changes include:

  • Moving training camp from Spartanburg, South Carolina — which allowed lower-income fans to see the team in person, to the center of Charlotte on Panthers property to transform camp into more of a money-making venue, alienating fans.
  • Removing natural grass from Bank of America Stadium and replacing it with field turf, much to the chagrin of players and fans.
  • A plan to move Panthers headquarters to Rock Hill, South Carolina — which was seen as a positive move, only to have Tepper back out mid-construction and become embroiled in a legal battle with the county.
  • Rumors of exploratory conversations with neighboring Kannapolis to build the stadium, if Charlotte didn’t play ball.

In short: There’s been myriad examples of why people should be wary of any deal involving Tepper that promises it will be better for them — because ultimately everything that has transpired since 2018 has only been better for David Tepper.

Where the current proposal falls short

There has been a lot of mistrust around Bank of America Stadium itself. Completed in 1996, the stadium is not yet 30 years old — but there has been a back-and-forth on whether what level of renovation the stadium actually needs.

Fans anticipated that any redesign for the stadium would include either a full or partial dome, which would allow for the city to host a Super Bowl, as well as other clear-cut amenities for fans. Instead the first stage of the revamp (and the only guaranteed changes) are largely superfluous, outside of restrooms.

There are legitimate questions why this first stage is set to cost over $650M, without really offering much to fans. It’s the Panthers’ argument that funds they’re looking for are already earmarked for tourism and development anyway, but new bathrooms and a video board doesn’t make the team more of a destination.

Essentially we’re seeing some basic infrastructure being pitched as a tourism improvement, with the veiled threat being that if these aren’t delivered then there’s no guarantee the Panthers will stay in Charlotte.

The majority of the changes people actually want come in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 development plans, both of which are at the whim of Tepper and the Panthers. There’s a very real possibility none of the most exciting elements of the redesign are realized — with taxpayers being on the hook for upfits they don’t really want.

Meanwhile, the $677M of public funds could be spent on a variety of tourism-centric public works that drastically improve the city, such as museums, public transportation, and a long-proposed rain line from Charlotte Douglas Airport — all of which would likely garner much more tourism than these changes for the Panthers.

Could the team really move over this?

Yes, absolutely. However, as we’ve seen in more recent NFL arguments over public funding it’s less about mammoth moves to different regions — and more about threats to move from outside city limits and into neighboring suburbs.

Ultimately it’s simple about finding a sucker to fit the bill, and there’s been no shortage of suckers in local government (especially outside of major cities) willing to fund pet projects for billionaires at taxpayer expense. In the case of the Panthers it would likely mean a move to wealthy neighboring areas in either North or South Carolina, both of which are part of the Charlotte suburban area.

In the grand scheme of things this would mean little to the NFL as a whole, but have a mammoth impact on the perception of the Panthers locally, who have called Uptown Charlotte home since the team’s inception.

Relocation for the Panthers has always been a risk. Tepper is the wealthiest individual owner in the NFL with a net worth of $20.6B. It would be peanuts for him to pay a relocation fee and exit the entire region if that’s what he wants, and there would be no shortage of other states willing to become the suckers to gain an NFL team.

The first salvo will be fired on Monday as the public voices their concerns. Ultimately this will help shape whether Charlotte City Council agrees to give the Panthers money, or rejects their overtures. If this funding falls through then the escalation will continue, and there’s no doubt talks of moving will be on the cards.

F1 Spanish Grand Prix: Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, and Sauber seeking ‘comprehensive improvements’ f,spanish,grand,prix,valtteri,bottas,zhou,guanyu,and,sauber,seeking,comprehensive,improvements,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

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The 2024 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix arrives with nine of the ten teams having enjoyed a points finish this year.

Sauber, however, is still seeking their first positive result of the campaign.

While both Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu have shown pace at times this season, the team still has nothing to show for their efforts over the 2024 F1 campaign. Earlier in the season the team was undone by a problem in the pits, and continued lengthy pit stops turned promise into heartbreak.

Now they arrive at the Spanish Grand Prix, the first race of an F1 tripleheader, knowing they need “comprehensive improvements” yet still “confident” in their ability to finally break through into the points.

“We return to Europe after a challenging weekend in Montreal, determined to bounce back at the first possible occasion. The team is united, we understand that comprehensive improvements are essential across all areas, but we remain confident in our ability to compete for points once again,” described Team Representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi.

“The tight margins in this sport mean that even the smallest enhancement can be pivotal, particularly in qualifying. Improving our single-lap performance is vital to positioning ourselves better on race day and targeting a top-10 finish,” continued Alunni Bravi. “Our dedication and hard work will be key to turning our season around and everyone, both trackside and back in Hinwil, is ready to embrace the challenge ahead.”

While Bottas has yet to secure his first points of the F1 season, the driver is coming off his best athletic result of the 2024 calendar year. The driver and his partner Tiffany Cromwell participated in the FNLD GRVL cycling event this past week the duo helped organize.

Bottas captured his first gravel race win, while Cromwell secured victory in the women’s 177 kilometer race

Having tasted success on the bike recently, Bottas is now hoping for more success on the track.

“It’s good to be back in Barcelona, a place that we know like the back of our hands. This is a place that always suited me and feel I can be at my best here. It’s a circuit that has no secrets for the teams: we have reams of data about it, in every condition and with every variable accounted for so, once again, it will be the finest details that will make the difference, especially on Saturday,” described Bottas. “Although we haven’t been as strong in the last few races as we should be, we are confident in our abilities. The team has put in tremendous amounts of effort to understand our issues and improve our performance. It’s a tight field, but with improved qualifying, we know we can be back in the fight for points again.”

While his teammate is not coming off similar athletic success during his week away from the track, Zhou is also hopeful for a positive result in Barcelona.

“I’m excited to be back racing again, and I am determined to get back into the fight for points,” described Zhou. “Unfortunately, the last few races didn’t go well for me and the team, but we are determined to bounce back. We’ve used our little break wisely to identify issues and work hard to be competitive again.

“I have some good memories of Barcelona – last year’s race was a lot of fun and I brought home some points, too. It’s a track we know well and that should mean there will be no surprises – it’ll be all about ultimate performance,” added the Sauber driver. “It’ll be crucial for us to start strong: nailing our setup early into the free practice sessions with lots of running to put us in a good position for qualifying and ultimately the race.”

To date, the team’s best results have come in the past two weeks, when Bottas placed 13th in the Monaco Grand Prix, and then 13th again in Montreal during the Canadian Grand Prix. Perhaps that momentum — and Bottas’ success in FNLD GRVL — gives the team the boost they need to finally open their account in Barcelona.

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This weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix markes the first of three-straight races on the Formula 1 calendar, a fact that poses challenges for all ten teams.

Including Haas.

In the team’s media preview of the Spanish Grand Prix, Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu noted that the sport has reached that part of the schedule where everyone is “feeling it,” a fact that makes the upcoming tripleheader even tougher for the teams.

“A triple-header is always pretty tough, thankfully a lot of our team is UK-based so it helps that the last race of this triple is in the UK, but it is still very hard,” described Komatsu. “It’s getting to that point of the season where everybody’s feeling it, so it’s very important that we look after ourselves to be able to perform at our best, to be efficient and focused, especially on the back of two events where our trackside operations weren’t the best. We can’t let that happen, so we need to look at ourselves and see how we can operate at our best.”

This weekend also marks the return of reserve driver Oliver Bearman to the VF-24, as the reserve driver and Ferrari supersub participated in FP1 ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, driving Kevin Magnussen’s car. This weekend Bearman will again participate in FP1, this time replacing Nico Hülkenberg.

The practice session comes amid consistent rumors that Bearman will be tapped for a full-time seat with the team next season.

Komatsu is hopeful that the team’s recent upgrades will mesh well with the many high-speed corners Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has to offer.

“Spain is the first circuit since we introduced our upgrades which has proper high-speed corners, so I’m really looking forward to assessing our update at that circuit and see what it’s like,” added Komatsu. “We have Bearman joining us again for FP1, this time in place of Nico, so he can continue from where he left off in Imola.”

Like his boss, Hülkenberg is also lookign forward to the high-speed corners the Spanish Grand Prix has to offer.

“It’s one of the classic circuits we’ve been going to over the years. It’s obviously a very high-speed circuit and I think it’s going to be very hot there this year, it used to be the first race of the European season,” added Hülkenberg. “I expect there’s going to be very hot, Spanish, temperatures. The vibes in Barcelona and the Spanish lifestyle are pretty cool and go well with a fun race. I like triple-headers, we’ve known them now for a few years and June is that month when things get quite busy.”

While Hülkenberg has already announced his 2025 plans, as the German driver will head to Sauber for next season ahead of the organization becoming the Audi works team in 2026, Magnussen is one of the drivers currently on the grid facing an uncertain future. But the Danish driver is simply looking forward to the high-speed circuit, and the racing that it offers.

“It’s one of the most well-known tracks for all the drivers, probably the track I’ve done most laps of out of them all. It’s a good track, lots of high-speed corners there, and can be quite difficult to overtake,” described Magnussen. “It’s become better, the track is more enjoyable after they’ve removed the last chicane and that’s also helped overtaking a little bit, so hopefully we can be competitive there. It’s a triple-header, but it’s nice to be in the European part of the season, it’s all familiar surroundings, short flights and no jet lag.”