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Kurtenbach: 5 under-the-radar free agents that could salvage the SF Giants’ offseason

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:40:26 GMT

Contrary to popular belief, the Giants do not need to spend the massive pile of money they allocated for Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.In fact, the Giants would be foolish to sign a big-money free agent now that those two players are Dodgers.No, San Francisco needs to stay nimble. With big money comes long terms — the Giants might be able to afford the pay, but they can’t afford four-plus years of a second-tier free agent.(If those guys were sure things, they’d be signed by now.)After going for the big play and failing — again — the Giants need to stay true to their systems (it did win 107 games one season) and remain flexible. Don’t do anything this offseason that you’ll regret next offseason.Of course, the Giants still need to augment their whole roster, but director of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi tries to turn the organization into a self-sustaining winning machine — one that might create a big-time free agent one day.Luckily, baseball’s ...

Pac-12 bowl review: Breaking down the highs (UW, Arizona) and lows (Cal, OSU) and everything in between

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:40:26 GMT

Powered by its first College Football Playoff victory in nine years, the Pac-12 finished the bowl season in much the same fashion it opened the regular season: As arguably the best conference in the country.Washington’s harrowing win over Texas on Monday night in the Sugar Bowl provided the signature victory. But the conference won its other marquee matchups as Oregon smashed Liberty in the Fiesta Bowl and Arizona rallied to slay Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.All in all, the Pac-12 finished Bowl Season — yes, that’s the official name — with the best record among the Power Five conferences:Pac-12: 5-3Big 12: 5-4Big Ten: 5-4SEC: 5-4ACC: 5-6(Source: NCAA.)The Hotline is wary of parsing each result across the postseason because so many players opt out of games in order to prepare for the NFL Draft or transfer.But every Power Five conference must navigate the attrition, so we’re comfortable drawing broad conclusions. And from here, it’s abundantly clear t...

Apparent Israeli drone strike kills Hamas leader in Beirut

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:40:26 GMT

By Melanie Lidman, Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy | Associated PressTEL AVIV, Israel — An apparent Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut killed Hamas’ second-highest ranking political leader Tuesday, marking a potential escalation of Israel’s war against the militant group and heightening the risk of a wider Middle East conflict.Saleh Arouri, who was the most senior Hamas figure killed since the war with Israel began, was also a founder of the group’s military wing. His death could provoke major retaliation by Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah militia.The strike hit an apartment in a building in a Shiite district of Beirut that is a Hezbollah stronghold, and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to strike back against any Israeli targeting of Palestinian officials in Lebanon.Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been exchanging fire almost daily over the Israeli-Lebanese border since Israel’s military campaign in Gaza began nearly thr...

South Korean politician stabbed in neck, hospitalized

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:40:26 GMT

By Hyung-Jin Kim and Jiwon Song | Associated PressSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s tough-speaking liberal opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, was stabbed in the neck Tuesday by an unidentified knife-wielding man who attempted to kill the politician during his visit to the southeastern city of Busan, police said.Lee, 59, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party, was airlifted to a Seoul hospital after receiving emergency treatment in Busan. Lee’s party later said he was recovering at an intensive care unit at the Seoul National University Hospital following a two-hour operation.The attack happened as Lee walked through a crowd of journalists and others after a tour of the proposed site of a new airport in Busan. The attacker approached Lee, saying he wanted his autograph, then stabbed him in the left side of his neck, senior Busan police officer Sohn Jae-han said in a briefing.Sohn said Democratic Party officials quickly subdued the attacker before police officers...

Man killed in SF's South of Market last week identified

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:40:26 GMT

(BCN) -- A man who died in a stabbing that also injured a woman in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood last week has been identified by the city's Medical Examiner's Office as 45-year-old Brandon Mitchell.The stabbing was reported shortly after 5:30 a.m. Thursday in the area of Mission and Washburn streets, where officers arrived to find Mitchell and a 38-year-old woman injured, according to San Francisco police.Mitchell was pronounced dead at a hospital while the woman was treated at the hospital for injuries that are considered life-threatening, police said. San Francisco street vendors are back in Mission District No arrest has been made in the case and investigators have not released any suspect details. Anyone with information about the fatal stabbing is asked to call the SFPD tip line at (415) 575-4444 or to send a tip by text message to TIP411 with SFPD at the start of the message.Copyright © 2024 Bay City News, Inc.

Alameda Co. detectives working to solve 1986 death of woman found by side of road

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:40:26 GMT

(BCN) -- Detectives are still working to solve the death of a young woman whose nude body was found on the side of an East Bay road 37 years ago.Dana Ramm's body was found on Dec. 29, 1986, on Andrade Road in Sunol, according to the Alameda County Sheriff's Department.The 20-year-old woman had been strangled, authorities said. She was last seen alive the night before at a Chevron gas station at the corner of Valley Avenue and Santa Rita Road in Pleasanton. One dead, two injured in SF rollover vehicle accident Ramm was with two acquaintances in a brown Oldsmobile that had run out of gas, and she waited alone in the car while they went to get money to buy gas, the sheriff's office said.When they returned, she was gone.Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the sheriff's cold case investigators at (510) 667-3661. To remain anonymous, information may be submitted via the anonymous tip line at (510) 667-3622.Copyright © 2024 Bay City News, Inc.

Harvard President Claudine Gay resigns amid plagiarism, antisemitism scandals: Crimson

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:40:26 GMT

(The Hill) – Harvard University President Claudine Gay has resigned from her position after multiple controversies clouded her short-lived administration.  The Harvard Crimson, the school’s newspaper, reported that Gay resigned on Tuesday afternoon, only six months after she was hired. Her presidency was the shortest in the school's history.The Hill has reached out to Harvard for comment.   Gen Z seeks to grow ranks in Congress Gay had faced two major controversies in a matter of weeks: one about the school’s response to growing antisemitism and another more personal matter regarding accusations of plagiarism.  The first came after Gay participated in a House hearing on campus antisemitism where she was asked by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) if calls for the genocide of Jewish people would be considered harassment at Harvard.  Gay, along with the heads of two other elite universities, said it would depend on the context, refusing at the time to give a cut-and-dry res...

Russian missiles hit Ukrainian cities, killing 5 and injuring at least 130, Kyiv officials say

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:40:26 GMT

Fire and smoke rises after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)(AP/Efrem Lukatsky) Fire and smoke rises after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)(AP/Efrem Lukatsky) KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s two largest cities came under attack early Tuesday from Russian missiles that killed five people and injured as many as 130, officials said, as the war approached its two-year mark and the Kremlin stepped up its winter bombardment of urban areas.Air defenses shot down all 10 of the Russian Kinzhal missiles, which can fly at 10 times the speed of sound, out of about 100 of various types that were launched, claimed Gen. Vale...

CFP 1.0 changed college football, not all for better, and was necessary step in postseason evolution

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:40:26 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The four-team playoff changed college football. Not just the postseason and crowning of a national champion that finally could be called undisputed.College Football Playoff 1.0, which wraps up a 10-year run Monday night when No. 1 Michigan (14-0) faces No. 2 Washington (14-0) in the national championship game, created a new standard for success — and failure — for teams and conferences. It helped the rich and powerful become more rich and powerful, further nationalized a sport with regional roots and was an imperfect but necessary step in the evolution of the postseason.“I think what’s coming is going to be better, but this worked really well,” said Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, one of the architects of the 12-team system that goes into effect next season.But not without unintended consequences.THE POSITIVEA four-team playoff made sense for college football when it was conceived in 2012, following 16 years of the Bowl Championship Series, whic...

Steelers QB Pickett denies speculation he told coaching staff he wouldn’t be No. 2 behind Rudolph

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:40:26 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett says the coaching staff felt he wasn’t ready to play against Seattle, which is why he was inactive during Pittsburgh’s 30-20 win over the Seahawks.The second-year pro, who had right ankle surgery a month ago, denied online speculation that he told the coaching staff he didn’t want to suit up as a backup behind Mason Rudolph.“There was no talk of me being a backup quarterback this week in terms of being a two,” Pickett said Tuesday. “If I was healthy enough to play and the trainers and coaches felt like I looked good enough to play, I was going to start and play, if they believed that I was not, which they believed I was not, was not going to dress and suit up for the game.”Coach Mike Tomlin said on Monday that Pickett had been cleared by the medical staff to play but opted to make Pickett inactive because of his lack of reps during practice. Pickett was listed as “questionable” going into the game, but...