How Nikola Jokic maintains healthy basketball obsession amid glare of MVP spotlight: “Nothing really rattles him”

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:55:25 GMT

How Nikola Jokic maintains healthy basketball obsession amid glare of MVP spotlight: “Nothing really rattles him” Nikola Jokic waltzed through the drab visitor’s locker room in Houston in early April when he overheard something that piqued his interest.“He’s the most even-keeled superstar I’ve ever been around,” DeAndre Jordan mused to a reporter, prompting Jokic to lean in and inquire.Jordan, a heady 15-year veteran, wasn’t about to miss the layup.“No, not you,” Jordan said, swatting Jokic away like a gnat. “I’m talking about Bruce (Brown).”Content with Jordan’s wit, Jokic barely reacted before ambling on toward his locker room stall.On the eve of the most important postseason of his career to date, Jokic is more at ease than one might think after wading through the mud of a toxic MVP race, carrying a franchise for consecutive seasons, and fighting to protect his humility in the face of increasing celebrity.Even as the noise got louder, and the possibility Jokic could join a club currently occupied by only Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Larry Bird grew more pr...

Prostate cancer awareness is Jack Corrigan’s mission

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:55:25 GMT

Prostate cancer awareness is Jack Corrigan’s mission KOA’s Jack Corrigan was doing interviews at McGregor Square near Coors Field before the Rockies’ home opener on April 6 when a man approached him.“This guy came up to me and said he’d heard me talking about prostate cancer awareness,” Corrigan recalled. “He said, ‘I went to my doctor because you keep driving home the need to get checked.’ Then he said, ‘Thanks, Jack. I finally went to my doctor and I found out that I have prostate cancer.’ ”Corrigan told the man about the various treatments that might stop cancer and not adversely affect the quality of his life. The man’s prognosis is good. According to the National Cancer Institute, an estimated 268,490 American males were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2022. An estimated 34,500 men died from the disease last year.Corrigan was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2016 and had a reoccurrence in 2020. He’s fortunate that he’s had two procedures that p...

After a lifetime in the game, Matt Schalk earns spot in Senior PGA Championship with daughter Hailey as caddy

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:55:25 GMT

After a lifetime in the game, Matt Schalk earns spot in Senior PGA Championship with daughter Hailey as caddy Club pro Matt Schalk uses his trusty 54-degree wedge as he stripes chip shots of varying distances into a gusty crosswind as his daughter, caddy and CU golf standout, Hailey, watches at the Colorado National Golf Club on Thursday, April 13, 2023, in Erie. Schalk, who qualified for next month’s Senior PGA Championship in Frisco, Texas, will travel with Hillary, who will work as his caddy. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)To achieve self-actualization on the links, first Matt Schalk had to fall short of his PGA Tour dream.Then, he had to step away from playing nearly altogether and live vicariously through his role as coach and caddy for his daughter, Hailey Schalk, a three-time state champion at Holy Family and current CU golfer.Once all that happened — once the mini-tours chewed him up and spit him out, once Hailey was off to college — the fairways opened up for him again. That roller-coaster journey in the sport set up Schalk, the 52-year-old director of golf at Colorado N...

Why Sean Payton is “extremely good” at developing late round draft picks and where Broncos might look for steals

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:55:25 GMT

Why Sean Payton is “extremely good” at developing late round draft picks and where Broncos might look for steals By the end of April, hundreds of NFL draft picks and undrafted free agent signees will be packing their bags and gearing up for rookie minicamps.Jake Witt might well be the only one training for that moment in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.The Northern Michigan University offensive lineman is a walking representation of the idea that, if you can play, the NFL will find you. Heck, he’s only just started playing and the league still caught wind of the athletic, 6-foot-7 tackle prospect on the Lake Superior shoreline.Witt chose to play basketball at Michigan Tech out of high school, transferred to NMU after a year to pursue academics, walked onto the football team in the spring of 2020 and then spent the COVID-19 shutdown training for the new sport before beginning his college football career as a tight end in 2021.That alone was a big change for a kid who played 8-man football in high school and starred as a wide receiver.“I had never blocked anybody,” he told The Post recently.Now he...

Me & My Car: ’47 Chevy in San Ramon among first true postwar trucks

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:55:25 GMT

Me & My Car: ’47 Chevy in San Ramon among first true postwar trucks World War II ended in 1945, and General Motors was anxious, as were the other automotive companies, to get back to the business of selling cars and trucks.Related ArticlesLocal News | Me & My Car: Bay Area owner loves his ’34 Ford pickup truck Local News | Me & My Car: New home may be sought for ’69 Mercedes in Contra Costa Local News | Me & My Car: Danville owner doesn’t baby his ’87 BMW 325i at all Switching from making critical war material like aircraft engines, bombers and tanks to making cars and trucks was a big job. All the manufacturers started building basically vehicles styled and even made for the 1942 model year. And business was good as the public had not been able to buy new cars or trucks for almost five years. There wasn’t any real hurry to bring out newly styled models, as they were selling the prewar models faster than they could manufacture them.Most of the postwar models hit the...

Georgia National Guard Will Use Phone Location Tracking to Recruit High School Children

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:55:25 GMT

Georgia National Guard Will Use Phone Location Tracking to Recruit High School Children The Georgia Army National Guard plans to combine two deeply controversial practices — military recruiting at schools and location-based phone surveillance — to persuade teens to enlist, according to contract documents reviewed by The Intercept.The federal contract materials outline plans by the Georgia Army National Guard to geofence 67 different public high schools throughout the state, targeting phones found within a one-mile boundary of their campuses with recruiting advertisements “with the intent of generating qualified leads of potential applicants for enlistment while also raising awareness of the Georgia Army National Guard.” Geofencing refers generally to the practice of drawing a virtual border around a real-world area and is often used in the context of surveillance-based advertising as well as more traditional law enforcement and intelligence surveillance. The Department of Defense expects interested vendors to deliver a minimum of 3.5 million ad views and 250,000 clicks...

Trevor Bauer, shunned by MLB, makes Japanese baseball debut

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:55:25 GMT

Trevor Bauer, shunned by MLB, makes Japanese baseball debut YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — Shunned by major league clubs, Trevor Bauer is trying to find his way in Japan where fans are drawn by his near celebrity status and seem unconcerned by domestic violence allegations against him.The 2020 Cy Young Award winner pitched his first competitive game in almost two years on Sunday and said he’s almost ready to debut in Japanese baseball after being shunned by major league teams.Pitching for the Yokohama BayStars minor league team in nearby Yokosuka, Japan — best known as the home of the United States Seventh Fleet — he allowed four hits, no runs and struck out six in four innings before 2,600 fans.The minor-league park usually draws a few hundred spectators. The team said live streaming views reached 77,000 — 15 times the usual 5,000.“I thought the day went really well,” Bauer said. “The stuff was good, the command was good. The health was good. I feel like I’m ready to compete now, but I have to build my pitch count.”Bauer said he was not sure when h...

DC Emancipation Day celebrates a step toward freedom in 1862

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:55:25 GMT

DC Emancipation Day celebrates a step toward freedom in 1862 Celebrations are underway this weekend to mark the signing of the D.C. Compensated Emancipation Act on April 16, 1862, which was the beginning of the end of slavery in America.The District’s annual celebration that featured a parade and live music took place on Pennsylvania Avenue Saturday, with other programming continuing into Sunday and Monday.“Today we celebrate life, the goodness of life and the ability to be free,” Francis Curtis Johnson of the D.C. Seniors Cameo Club told WTOP Saturday.Venay Lagon says D.C. Emancipation Day is a day of pride for those whose roots run deep in the District.“I am a third generation Washingtonian, born and raised here. I’m not leaving D.C.,” Lagon said.Giant balloons bearing images of former President Barack Obama and civil rights leader Rosa Parks floated above the marchers in the parade.From the sidewalks, people waved and cheered as D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser led the parade up Pennsylvania Avenue to Freedom Pl...

Rüdiger racially abused after Real Madrid’s game in Cadiz

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:55:25 GMT

Rüdiger racially abused after Real Madrid’s game in Cadiz MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger was racially abused by fans after the team’s game at Cadiz in the Spanish league on Saturday.Video posted by Spanish media on Sunday showed Cadiz fans yelling insults at Rüdiger after he went to the stands to give away his shirt to someone who appeared to be a Madrid supporter. Objects were also thrown at the German defender, who is Black.Rüdiger exchanged a few words with some of the fans yelling at him before giving his shirt away and saluting some of the supporters. Two people who appeared to be members of Madrid’s staff came over to lead the player away from the fans. The incident happened after Madrid’s 2-0 win against relegation-threatened Cadiz.Spanish soccer has been marred by racism this season, with Rüdiger’s teammate Vinícius Júnior having been targeted during several matches. Earlier this month, the Brazilian forward testified against a Mallorca fan who was accused of calling him a monkey during a...

Biden and US Congress want to ban TikTok. At this point it may be impossible

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:55:25 GMT

Biden and US Congress want to ban TikTok. At this point it may be impossible As the federal government escalates its efforts against TikTok, it’s coming up against a stark reality: Even a politically united Washington may not have the regulatory and legal powers to wipe TikTok off American phones.A few weeks ago it looked like the company’s days in America were numbered. President Joe Biden’s administration had just demanded that the Chinese-owned video app be sold or face an outright ban in the United States. That effort quickly drew support from Capitol Hill, and gained momentum after the remarkably bipartisan grilling of the company’s CEO last month — with lawmakers accusing TikTok of serving as a Trojan horse for Beijing to “manipulate America” and suck up reams of sensitive data on U.S. citizens.But now, interviews with lawmakers, legal and national security experts and former officials in two administrations — including some directly involved in the TikTok effort — suggest that a ban may simply face too many hurdles to ever work.Some in...