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Red Sox decline club option for LHP Joely Rodriguez

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:48:06 GMT

The Red Sox announced Saturday they’ve declined left-hander Joely Rodriguez’s $4.25 million club option, making the oft-injured reliever a free agent.Rodriguez, 31, was the first free agent signed by the Red Sox last winter, agreeing to a one-year, $2 million deal with the club option for 2024. Rodriguez was originally envisioned as the club’s top left-hander out of the bullpen, but his season was derailed by three separate trips to the injured list. The lefty ultimately appeared in only 11 games for Boston, posting a 6.55 ERA with a 1.727 WHIP in 11 innings.Instead of the option, Rodriguez will now receive a $500,000 buyout and will be eligible to sign with any other team starting Monday.The Red Sox decision came a day after the team also declined the $11 million club option for right-handed pitcher Corey Kluber, and after designated hitter Justin Turner declined his $13.4 million player option. With all three of Boston’s option decisions finalized, the team...

Skeleton marching bands and dancers in butterfly skirts join in Mexico City’s Day of the Dead parade

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:48:06 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Thousands of people turned out Saturday to watch Mexico City’s Day of the Dead parade as costumed dancers, drummers and floats took a festive turn down the Paseo de la Reforma boulevard all the way to the historic colonial main square.There were marching bands disguised as skeletons and dancers with skull face paint performing in Indigenous costumes. The smell of traditional resinous copal incense hung heavy over the parade.A skeleton drum group pounded out a samba-style beat, while blocks away dancers swirled long skirts painted to resemble the wings of monarch butterflies, which traditionally return to spend the winter in Mexico around the time of the Day of the Dead. In a nod to social change, there was a contingent of drag performers costumed as “Catrinas,” skeletal dames dressed in the height of 1870s fashion.The holiday begins Oct. 31, remembering those who died in accidents. It continues Nov. 1 to recall those who died in childhood and then on Nov. 2 celebr...

Texas State thumps Georgia Southern 45-24, becomes bowl-eligible for 1st time in 9 seasons

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:48:06 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas State Bobcats are bowl-eligible for the first time since 2014 after a 45-24 win Saturday over Georgia Southern at Bobcat Stadium.Buoyed by 24 second-quarter points, the Bobcats pulled away from the Eagles to move to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in the Sun Belt Conference. Quarterback TJ Finley accounted for five touchdowns, three passing and two rushing, and finished with 301 yards on 25 of 31 passing. No. 7 Texas avoids disaster, stays in Big 12 title game hunt with OT win over No. 23 Kansas State Wide receiver Joey Hobert went off on Georgia Southern, hauling in 13 passes for 141 yards with a touchdown, and running back Ismail Mahdi rushed for 99 yards on 20 carries.The Bobcats trailed 10-7 after the first quarter, but then their offense went bonkers. Finley threw two of his scoring passes in the frame and ran for another while Mason Shipley booted a 31-yard field goal. Finley's rushing score in the quarter came with 0:42 seconds left on a 16-yard run.MORE THAN...

Kiszla: Air Force Falcons squander chance to prove there’s still room for underdog story in college football

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:48:06 GMT

Playing on the biggest stage in decades, Air Force squandered its claim for a big bowl bid, coughed up the football six times and lost 23-3 Saturday to Army.As 52,401 fans headed to the exit, Falcons cornerback Jamari Bellamy took a slow and silent walk the length of a stadium draped in shadows. His silence spoke volumes: With the dream of an undefeated season broken, the chances of challenging Alabama or Oregon in a New Year’s Six bowl now hover somewhere between slim and none.“We had high expectations to come out here and win this game and we didn’t. So we’re very disappointed,” said Air Force tailback John Lee Eldridge III, the emotional letdown so great his words were robotic. “We just didn’t go out there and execute the small things like we usually do.”Is college football now such a big business that it’s naïve to believe in an underdog story?When the playoffs expand to 12 teams in 2024, it’s hard to make a case that any team from the have-no...

Colorado saw record number of hail reports in 2023 water year

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:48:06 GMT

Colorado saw record-breaking hail reports during the 2023 water year, according to the year-in-review report from the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University.A water year, in which precipitation is measured, begins Oct. 1 of any year and ends Sept. 30 of the following year. Colorado saw its 31st wettest water year on record this water year, with some areas northeast of Denver, including Denver International Airport and some of the northern suburbs, recording their wettest year.Colorado saw nearly 800 reports of hail over an inch, and hail reports at every inch mark from one to four inches set a record in 2023, according to the report.There were 796 reports of hail over one inch in 2023, over 200 reports higher than the previous record of 561 reports in 2018.Reports of hail over two inches nearly doubled the previous record of 91 also set in 2018, with 176 reports in 2023.The 37 three-inch-and-over and the 15 four-inch-and-over hail reports in 2023 tripled the previous r...

Ready for takeoff: Cody Williams set for CU Buffs debut

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:48:06 GMT

Ranked as the No. 4 recruit in the class of 2023, freshman Cody Williams (right) is ready for his Colorado Buffaloes debut. (Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)After a recent practice, Colorado freshman Cody Williams lingered on the CU Events Center floor to get in extra shots with a couple of his veteran teammates.As he was winding down, the right-handed Williams lined up a left-handed 3-point attempt. Swish. A bystander, unsure if he saw what he just saw, asked Williams as he was coming off the floor if that was left-handed.“Yeah,” Williams replied. “I want to do one in a game.”Whether that happens — or exactly how many games Williams will play in a Buffs jersey in order to meet that goal — remains to be seen. Regardless of the ultimate fate of that potential left-handed 3-ball, Williams’ pending debut with the CU men’s basketball team is certain to offer more than a few eye-popping highlights.One of the most anticipated player debuts in program history finally arrives on Monday e...

Southern California woman disappears in Guatemala

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:48:06 GMT

The search is underway for a missing Southern California woman who disappeared while on a yoga retreat in Guatemala.The missing woman, Nancy Ng, 29, from Monterey Park, disappeared on Oct. 19 at a retreat in Lake Atitlán, according to her family.Nancy, a former Cal State L.A. student who works for the Alhambra Unified School District, had planned to relax at a week-long yoga retreat, something she had done for the second year in a row.She left on Oct. 14 and just a few days into her trip, her family said the retreat organizer called to say she had disappeared.She was officially reported missing on Oct. 19 and her family said the worst part is not knowing where she is or what exactly happened that day. The details of her disappearance remain few and far between.Loved ones are searching for Nancy Ng, 29, a Monterey Park woman who disappeared on Oct. 19, 2023 while at a yoga retreat in Lake Atitlán, Guatemala. (Ng Family)Loved ones are searching for Nancy Ng, 29, a Monterey Park woman ...

No. 6 Oregon hands Cal a 63-19 loss as Bears suffer four straight loss to Top 25 opponent

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:48:06 GMT

Cal, with just one road victory over Oregon in the past 35 years, was right there, trailing just 14-13 in the second quarter at rainy Autzen Stadium.And in seemingly no time, it was over.The No. 6 Ducks scored 21 points in the final 5:21 of the first half, including a pair of touchdown passes by Bo Nix, and Oregon took a commanding 35-13 lead into halftime on a rainy afternoon in Eugene, Ore.When it was over, the Ducks (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) owned a 63-19 victory which should allow them to at least maintain their No. 6 spot in the College Football Playoff rankings.The Bears (3-6, 1-5) lost their fourth straight game to a Top-25 conference opponent and have clinched their 14th consecutive losing record in Pac-12 play. Cal closes its home schedule next Saturday against Washington State and needs to sweep its final three games to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2019.Freshman running back Jaivan Thomas of Oakland was injured with 4:05 to play in the third quarter after fumbling...

Cal player hospitalized after tackle leaves him motionless

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:48:06 GMT

Cal running back Jaivian Thomas, a freshman from McClymonds High in Oakland, was taken off the field on a hardboard stretcher in the third quarter of the Bears’ game at Oregon on Saturday.Thomas lay motionless for about 15 minutes while attendants strapped him to the cart and transported him to a nearby hospital. There was no immediate word on Thomas’ condition.The injury occurred on a first-down play from the Oregon 5. Thomas took a handoff from quarterback Fernando Mendoza and immediately lost control of the ball, fumbling it forward.The hit occurred after the fumble, away from the play and from TV cameras.This breaking news story will be updated when more is known.  

Miller’s 4 TD day leads Southern Utah past winless Lincoln (CA), 35-6

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:48:06 GMT

CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) — Justin Miller threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score after Southern Utah staked winless Lincoln (California) to a 6-0 lead, leading the Thunderbirds to a 35-6 victory Saturday. Lincoln drove 61 yards on 12 plays to take a 6-0 lead. TJ Goodwin ran 12 yards for the score midway through the first quarter, but a two-point conversion pass fell incomplete). Miller found Braedon Wissler with a 27-yard touchdown with :26 left in the first quarter and Tyler Graham’s PAT kick put the T-Birds in front for good and Isaiah Wooden caught a 58-yard touchdown pass from Miller and followed it with a 45-yard score before Miller capped the first-half scoring with a 1-yard keeper for a 27-6 lead. Miller completed 17 of 30 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns but was picked off twice to lead Southern Utah (2-2, 4-5 United Athletic Conference). Wooden finished with seven catches for 168 yards.Goodwin was 17-of-33 passing for 139 yards and was picked off ...