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In this week’s edition of Moxie Indicator Minutes, TG notes that the markets are deciding to hang on tight to their upper levels over the holiday week. He thinks we still need a pullback, but perhaps it will be more of a flag. Either way, initiating long trades right here and now is not ideal, so he argues that it’s time be patient, waiting for dips to show up and provide buying opportunities.

This video was originally broadcast on November 24, 2023. Click this link to watch on YouTube.

New episodes of Moxie Indicator Minutes premiere weekly. Archived episodes of the show are available at this link.

Qualyn Margain consulted with their children and decided to skip Thanksgiving this year.

Margain, a life insurance agent and barista based in Seattle, told NBC News the savings from skipping a Thanksgiving feast will let their family more comfortably celebrate Christmas along with the childrens’ birthdays, which also fall over the end-of-year holidays.

Challenges like rising rents and higher food prices made marking every holiday impractical this year. There will also be slightly fewer toys and more essentials this season, they added.

“Everything is just too expensive, and you have to work twice as hard to survive in a less enjoyable way,” Margain said. “We’re just going to have a normal, relaxing day, and that way we are going to have the ability to do Christmas.”

Margain is just one of many shoppers who are trying hard to make their dollars go further this season. There are some indications the holiday shopping period got off to a slow start ahead of Black Friday on Nov. 24.

Consumer spending is responsible for about 70% of all economic activity in the U.S., and consumers have continued to spend at a surprising pace despite the upheaval of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But now, shoppers are getting squeezed by multiple factors at once. Rents continue to rise and housing prices are near record highs. The steep rise in interest rates over the last two years has pushed credit card rates much higher, and that has helped drive up credit card debt as well.

The pandemic-era student loan pause has finally ended, and the expanded child tax credit is long gone.

Most people have spent their Covid-era savings and stimulus cash as well, although people who have higher incomes have held on to more of those funds.

Just as important are changes in people’s spending habits. Ted Rossman, who covers credit and retail spending and consumer finance trends for Bankrate, said people are still shopping, but they’re less interested in traditional holiday gifts than they were in the past.

The effect is that holiday-season spending has just kept pace with inflation over the last couple of years, even as retailers have launched big promotions in October instead of waiting for Black Friday. Rossman says that’s likely to be the case again — and while retailers might find that disappointing, it’s far from a disaster for the economy.

“When we’re talking about physical retail, clothing, toys, a lot of the holiday favorites, a lot of those sales have been lackluster over the last year,” he said.

That has to do with the famous adage that millennials prefer to spend on experiences, like travel or concerts, instead of material goods. This hasn’t hurt overall consumer spending, but spending has shifted away from the holiday period.

The National Retail Federation, a trade group of retailers, says sales will rise 3% to 4% in November and December, to a total of around $960 billion.

The financial pressures on consumers have also caused credit card delinquency rates to rise over the last few years. In the third quarter, almost 3% of cards had late payments, according to the Federal Reserve. That’s the highest rate since 2012.

Lindsey Tallent told NBC News that she’s scaling back her holiday shopping after she unexpectedly lost her warehouse job this month. She said she’s picking up work when she can and looking for a new job, but she’s still had to make some difficult calls.

“I was planning a bunch of things. A lot of nieces and nephews I was hoping to buy for that I wasn’t able to buy for last year,” said Tallent, who lives in Washington state. “I’m going to buy gifts for my child who is still at home out of the two, and probably not friends or family beyond that.”

Similar strains have more people using buy now, pay later loans to make major purchases. Buy now, pay later, or BNPL, programs are short-term, zero-interest installment loans that allow customers to get items immediately and pay for them over time.

Adobe Analytics estimates consumers made $4.9 billion in purchases on those loans between Nov. 1 and Nov. 20.

According to a 2021 survey by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the five leading firms in that business originated 180 million loans in 2021, an increase of 900% from 2019.

While retailers and shoppers have both found something to like in those loans, they still come with risks. Eden Iscil, public policy manager for the National Consumers League, a consumer advocacy group, said that the BNPL industry is new and regulated far less stringently than the credit card industry.

While banks and credit cards have to be strict about how much they let people borrow, Iscil said BNPL programs are less stringent and users are sometimes allowed to borrow more than they can afford. They can also be tripped up by items like unusual repayment periods, resulting in additional fees and damage to their credit scores.

“It’ll be concerning if we see consumers go beyond their means to pay for extra holiday shopping,” Iscil said.

Rossman agrees that it’s a bad time to overspend, as credit card interest rates are at all-time highs thanks to repeated interest rate hikes. Bankrate data shows the average interest rate on a card is now above 20%.

“People are being more thoughtful about their spending and being worried about the state of the economy,” he said.

There’s good news buried in there as well, Rossman says: Because inflation has come down and supply chains and inventory management have improved, shoppers will be able to find better deals in 2023 than they have in the last few years.

Qualyn Margain said they are looking for positives this season as well. While they’re not having friends over for Thanksgiving, they said they’ve seen a lot of people coming together via food and clothing swaps or mutual aid groups in response to the struggles of the season.

“I think it’s really beautiful how many people are coming together to support each other,” they said. “It’s really cool that the human spirit is so resistant.”

CORRECTION (Nov. 24, 2023, 5:43 p.m. ET) A previous version of this article misstated Qualyn Margain’s last name. It is Margain, not Morgan.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi football closed out its 2023 regular season with an Egg Bowl win and a reminder that these Rebels are a bit different from what has become typical during the first three years of coach Lane Kiffin’s tenure.

Ugly games, such as the one that Mississippi State dragged Mississippi into on Thursday at Davis Wade Stadium, no longer spell doom. With the team’s offense sputtering for most of the night, Mississippi’s defense spearheaded a 17-7 victory and earned Rebels fans the right to scoreboard watch this weekend as they hope for a trip to a New Year’s Six bowl game.

Mississippi rides huge defensive performance to win

Mississippi (10-2, 6-2 SEC) is paying defensive coordinator Pete Golding $1.9 million this year for performances like the one his group delivered against the Bulldogs (5-7, 1-7).

With its offense totally out of sorts until late in the third quarter, Mississippi had something to fall back on. Its defense kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard for the game’s first 36 minutes.

And, though the Rebels certainly dictated the line of scrimmage, they did so in a different way than usual. Sacking Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers just once despite their top-15 pass rush, the Rebels showcased an impressive ability to rally to the football as the Bulldogs tried time after time to get the ball to their playmakers in the short game. Mississippi effectively defended against the rush, too, limiting Mississippi State to 3.4 yards per carry.

Thursday marked the fifth time this season that the Rebels have limited an SEC foe to fewer than 25 points. They had done so eight times in 25 SEC games before this season.

Jaxson Dart leaves game, returns as Mississippi offense sparks

The first touchdown drive of the night for Mississippi was also its most complicated.

As quarterback Jaxson Dart dove headfirst for the first down marker in the third quarter, Mississippi State’s DeShawn Page committed a targeting penalty that left Dart receiving attention from the training staff.

Backup Spencer Sanders briefly entered the game in his stead, but Dart returned to lead the Rebels to their first touchdown of the night, putting them ahead 10-7. That drive was capped off by a 2-yard touchdown scamper from Quinshon Judkins, who rampaged his way to a 119-yard night.

Dart gave the Rebels some insurance early in the fourth quarter, when just about the entire Mississippi State defense bit on his play-action fake, leaving Caden Prieskorn wide-open for a 26-yard TD.

How Mississippi can make a New Year’s Six bowl game

The victory saw Mississippi take a step toward playing in its second New Year’s Six bowl game under Kiffin. The Rebels will need help.

They entered this week at No. 12 in the College Football Playoff rankings. With six top-tier bowl games available, Mississippi appears to be in a strong spot at first glance. But one of the bids goes to the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion, currently Tulane at No. 23. Additionally, the Orange Bowl needs an ACC team to fulfill its tie-in. If No. 5 Florida State qualifies for the College Football Playoff, that locks No. 10 Louisville into that game even if the Rebels pass the Cardinals in the rankings.

So, Mississippi fans have a weekend of scoreboard watching ahead of them. No. 9 Missouri travels to Arkansas on Friday. Louisville hosts Kentucky on Saturday, when No. 11 Penn State travels to Michigan State.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Dallas Cowboys defender DaRon Bland lassoed in his fifth pick-six on Thanksgiving, and he is now the NFL record holder for most pick-sixes in a season.

With the Dallas Cowboys already headed toward a Thursday win over the Washington Commanders, Bland capped off the victory by picking off Sam Howell with less than five minutes left and returned it 63-yards into the end zone. It looked like Bland could’ve gotten tackled before crossing the goal line, but he was able to stay on his feet to get the record.

The second-year cornerback celebrated the touchdown by jumping into the Salvation Army bucket, capping off a 45-10 win for Dallas.

NFL pick-six season record

With his fifth pick-six of the 2023 season, DaRon Bland is in NFL history books for the most interceptions returned for a touchdown in a season in NFL history, doing it just 11 games into the season.

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The most recent defender to have gotten four pick-sixes in one season was 30 years ago when Eric Allen had four in a Pro Bowl year for the Philadelphia Eagles. Ken Houston also had four interception returns for a touchdown during the 1971 season for the Houston Oilers and Jim Kearney did so a season later for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The other four times Bland has reached the end zone to match the NFL record were in Week 1 against the New York Giants, Week 4 against the New England Patriots, Week 8 against the Los Angeles Rams and Week 11 against the Carolina Panthers.

When Trevon Diggs tore his ACL in September and was benched for the season, Bland had the opportunity to step up.

‘Any time the ball comes near me, I’m trying to think, ‘What can I do to try and pick it?” Bland told ESPN, adding that part of his sauce is letting plays unfold naturally. ‘… It’s just opportunities. You can’t go in chasing a pick-six or you’re going to get a touchdown scored on you. … When it comes to you, just be ready.’

DaRon Bland stats

DaRon Bland had 10 tackles to go with the interception return in the Week 12 win over Washington.

On the season, he has 58 tackles and 7 interceptions through 11 games.

In his rookie campaign last year, Bland started eight games and played in all 17 matchups, registering 54 tackles and a team-high 5 interceptions.

He’s the only defender in the NFL to have 12 interceptions in the past two seasons.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Move over Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, Dolly Parton is here.

The country music icon and Tennessee native performed during the halftime show for the Thanksgiving Day game between the Cowboys and the Washington Commanders on Thursday. Parton was dressed in an iconic Cowboys cheerleader uniform, complete with a star-studded white vest, white short shorts and a star belly button embellishment.

Parton, 77, performed a medley of her greatest hits on a stage constructed in the middle of the Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, including ‘Jolene’ and ‘9 to 5.’ She also sang Queen’s ‘We Are The Champions’ and ‘We Will Rock You.’

‘Happy Thanksgiving everybody,’ Parton said after her halftime show.

Parton has had a busy week. On Saturday, she sang ‘Rocky Top’ during Tennessee football’s 38-10 loss to Georgia. She was escorted on the field by fellow Tennessee icon Peyton Manning.

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‘I couldn’t hear because my sound went out and the stadium was so loud,’ Parton said after the game. ‘But I was so honored to be here, and I love Peyton, I love the crowd. It’s just good to be home.’

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

The players of different NFL teams have varying opinions about the loudest and proudest fans in their stands. Some consider it a good trait of a fan, whereas others find it very annoying. Recently, The Athletic conducted an anonymous poll of NFL players to determine the most annoying fanbase in the NFL, and the results were not all that surprising.

According to the poll, the Philadelphia Eagles fans were voted as the most annoying fans in the league with 25.3 percent of the vote. The Dallas Cowboys fans came in second with 24.7 percent of the vote.

A anonymous NFL player who took part in a poll described Eagles fans as noisy, impolite, and unpleasant.

Another voter stated that ‘they feel like they are the most knowledgeable football fans in the world’ when referring to an Eagles fan.

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A player who voted for the Cowboys fanbase as the most irritating said, ‘They usually believe that they should win the Super Bowl every year.’

Apart from the Eagles and Cowboys, the Buffalo Bills fans received 7.5 percent of the vote, securing the fourth position, while the New York Jets fanbase got 6.8 percent of the votes

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

The San Francisco 49ers distanced themselves from their next-closest competitor in the NFC West. The Dallas Cowboys flexed against another overmatched opponent. And the Green Bay Packers made the Detroit Lions look like pretenders.

The Thanksgiving Day tripleheader featured three games that would alter the NFC playoff picture. While the 49ers and the Cowboys look like legitimate contenders, the Lions gave pause as to whether they are in that stratosphere, and the Packers might have entered the postseason race.

Thanksgiving also featured some outstanding individual performances, highlighted by a record-setting pick-six from DaRon Bland.

Here are the winners and losers from the three NFL games on Thanksgiving Day:

WINNERS

Dak Prescott: Prescott was sharp on Thanksgiving and even celebrated with a turkey leg after his final touchdown throw.

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The Cowboys quarterback was efficient throwing the football and looked comfortable as he picked apart the Commanders for 331 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Over his past games, Prescott has thrown for 1,602 yards and 17 TDs with a 124.8 passer rating. Put him squarely in the MVP conversation.

Aaron Rodgers’ former team: The Packers looked pretty good post AR-12, ambushing the Lions at Ford Field 29-22. Despite a litany of injuries to key players, the Pack’s young core – namely fourth-year QB Jordan Love (268 yards, 3 TDs passing, 39 yards rushing) and his receivers – came through in a big way. On the road. In a short week. The Packers may be long shots to reclaim the NFC North throne they sat upon for so long, but at 5-6 they suddenly find themselves just a game out of the conference’s final wild-card spot.

Rashan Gary: The Green Bay linebacker recorded three sacks on Jared Goff, two of which resulted in forced fumbles. One of those fumbles was recovered by safety Jonathan Owens and returned for a touchdown. Gary also recovered a fumble of his own. And he did it in the same stadium where he tore an ACL last season.

Jonathan Owens: In addition to scooping up one of those balls Gary dislodged and returning it 27 yards for his first-career TD, Owens also made a game-high 12 tackles. Probably long past time to start regarding the safety as more than gold medalist Simone Biles’ husband.

Christian Watson: The Packers have been looking for a top receiver to emerge and Watson, 24, has been the most likely candidate. Watson had his best game of the season, being a steady option for Love in both the deep and intermediate passing game. He finished with five catches on seven targets for 94 yards and one touchdown.

Christian McCaffrey’s a touchdown machine: The 49ers running back just has a nose for the end zone. McCaffrey produced 19 carries, 114 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the win over Seattle.

McCaffrey now has four games with multiple touchdowns this season. He has 29 total touchdowns in 25 career games with San Francisco.

DaRon Bland: A 63-yard pick-six ended the scoring in Thursday’s rout of Washington … and gave the Cowboys’ second-year corner a single-season record five TDs off INTs this season. Can you say All-Pro? Perhaps even Defensive Player of the Year?

49ers defense feasts on Seahawks: The 49ers defense held the Seahawks to three first downs and 56 total yards in the first half. Plus, cornerback Ambry Thomas intercepted Geno Smith in the first half. San Francisco had two takeaways and had a commanding 24-3 lead at halftime. Overall, the 49ers kept the Seahawks offense out of the end zone. They sacked Geno Smith six times. Nick Bosa had two of those sacks, and Javon Hargrave had 1 ½.

Deebo Samuel: The versatile wideout had 94 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. His seven catches and 79 receiving yards led both teams.

49ers: The 49ers have won 10 consecutive games against NFC West opponents.

Jordyn Brooks: Brooks was the lone bright spot for the Seahawks. The linebacker had a game-high 12 tackles and scored the Seahawks’ only touchdown on a pick-six.

Philadelphia Eagles: Detroit’s loss gives currently top-seeded Philly the opportunity to end Week 12 two games clear of the field in the race for the first-round bye and home-field advantage if the Eagles can take down the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. However the challengers are bunching, the Cowboys and Niners joining Detroit with 8-3 records Thursday.

John Madden: It’s nice to see the legendary coach and TV analyst’s memory kept alive and well with the NFL amplifying its recognition of the “John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration” – his name painted on end zone back lines, his outline used on jersey patches and commemorative coins and so many memories of his best work re-aired by the networks. NBC’s halftime feature on his little-known relationship with the Stingley family was quite the cherry on top. We all miss you, Coach, but what a great tribute to your legacy.

Dolly Parton: She did a medley of her most popular hits (ahem, mostly), the Country Music and (recently inducted) Rock and Roll Hall of Famer doing the halftime show at AT&T Stadium – while performing in the iconic uniform of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. So this is what the kids are into these days? We dug it. Jack Harlow never stood a chance in Detroit … which is maybe why he didn’t bother to try.

Home cooking: With a 45-10 beatdown of the Washington Commanders, the Dallas Cowboys ran their winning streak in North Texas to a league-best 13 games. Their average margin of victory there in 2023 is 29 points, and ‘Amercia’s Team’ has beaten all five of the visitors to Jerry World by at least 20 points.

LOSERS

Dan Campbell: His decision to go for a fake punt deep in Detroit’s own territory late in the third quarter proved to be rather costly. At the time, the Lions were down nine points and the failed attempt gave Green Bay the ball at the Detroit 23. Three plays later, the Packers scored another touchdown. The Lions ended up 1-for-5 on fourth down attempts.

Detroit pass protection: The Lions are known for having a very good offensive line, but Jared Goff was under constant pressure Thursday, and it wasn’t just Rashan Gary. The Lions allowed 12 quarterback hits, and Goff could never get comfortable in the timing and rhythm of Detroit’s offense. Goff lost three fumbles on the day.

David Montgomery: The Detroit running back was ready to show off a Thanksgiving celebration – maybe using his belt towel as a napkin? – when his third-quarter TD run was nullified by a holding penalty. Montgomery actually scored on the next play but got banged up in the process. No celebrating that.

Commanders offense: Washington only produced 10 points in the rout. Wide receiver Curtis Samuel had nine catches for 100 receiving yards, but he was the lone bright spot on Washington’s offense. Commanders QB Sam Howell was up and down throwing the football. He had several inaccurate throws. He finished 28-of-44 passing for 300 yards. He was sacked four times, putting him at a league-high 55 so far this campaign and on pace for 78 over the course of a full season, which would be a single-season record.

Commanders’ coaching staff: The blowout loss felt more and more like the Ron Rivera and the Commanders coaching staff are on borrowed time. Rivera is rumored to be on the hot seat this year. The loss dropped the Commanders to 3-8 on the season. Washington has lost three straight games and is 0-5 in the NFC East. 

Tony Romo: Maybe the CBS analyst was just trying to do his job talking up Dallas, which employed him for 14 seasons, as a Super Bowl contender. But maybe once was enough? And maybe underscoring the Cowboys’ dominance at home is a little pointless right now given the current likelihood they won’t be hosting any playoff games.

Seahawks offense: Geno Smith and the Seahawks offense was held to 56 yards and three first downs in the first half. The Seahawks couldn’t get into a rhythm passing or running the football, as they were held to 220 yards and just 4.1 yards per play. Smith had 180 passing yards, no touchdowns and one interception. The Seahawks’ lone touchdown came on defense.

Seahawks’ playoff prospects: They’re still in the projected field with a 6-5 record … but barely, falling to the third wild-card spot Thursday after the Minnesota Vikings jumped them due to a better record in NFC games. Seattle will try to retain what’s presently a one-game lead on the Packers but must do so while facing the Cowboys, 49ers (again) and Eagles in their next three games.

Thanksgiving worst?: Every team that lost deserved to, none of them dressing appropriately for the holiday. The Seahawks went with their highlighter green Color Rush unis, Washington opted for its awful all-white roadies with the hideous numbers, and the Lions – after breaking out that fantastic metallic “Honolulu Blue” alternate helmet earlier this season – went with their lifeless, logo-less throwbacks. (And the Cowboys are no great shakes in their throwbacks, either, but those are less offensive to the eyes than the Commanders’ white-on-white look.)

Tradition?: This edition of the Lions may be the franchise’s best in decades, still comfortably atop the NFC North. And it finally felt like Detroit truly deserved its annual Thanksgiving platform. But it sure felt like the same old Lions by Thursday afternoon, their fans suffering a seventh consecutive Thanksgiving defeat.

Kickers: Dallas’ Brandon Aubrey, Detroit’s Riley Patterson and Green Bay’s Anders Carlson all botched extra points.

Aaron Rodgers’ current team: ICYMI, the New York Jets will be in action Friday. Their injured superstar quarterback (still) won’t be. Good thing you can stream the NYJ hosting the AFC East-leading Miami Dolphins for free Friday afternoon on Prime Video given it probably wouldn’t be fair to force anyone to pay for the, uh, privilege of watching Jets QB3 Tim Boyle attempt to resuscitate what’s devolved into the league’s 30th-ranked offense under demoted Zach Wilson’s stewardship. And if you simply opt to go shopping instead, no one would blame you, J-E-T-S fans.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Jeff Bezos must be smiling. 

The Amazon founder can now officially say that two customs of Thanksgiving week, football and shopping, fall under his domain. 

“Who better to sort of merge these two Thanksgiving weekend traditions?” NFL executive vice president for media distribution Hans Schroeder said. 

It won’t be the first time an NFL game has been played on a Friday, but Prime Video will make history by broadcasting the inaugural Black Friday game this week.

The matchup – the New York Jets hosting the Miami Dolphins – lacks the anticipation compared to when it was announced in May. Since then, Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has suffered an Achilles injury that will keep him out, and the Jets’ offense has scored a touchdown on one of its last 46 possessions. 

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Broadcasting the game itself will remain the priority, Amazon global head of sports and Prime Video vice president Jay Marine said. But that’s not what the NFL is particularly intrigued by putting a game on the unofficial shopping holiday. 

“The goal with Amazon wasn’t necessarily just to take what had been a television product and put it on digital,” Schroder said. “It was to innovate and think about how it can be different.” 

How did the Amazon Black Friday NFL game happen? 

As the NFL has experimented with entertainment and presentation – for example, the Nickelodeon and Disney+ broadcasts – the league was ready to combine the viewing experience with commerce. Black Friday is Amazon’s most-trafficked day of the year and the most lucrative for online shopping in general. The potential for significant viewership exists, with many people off from work and school that day.  

“When we talked about it with the NFL, we thought it was a perfect marriage,” Marine said. 

Amazon Black Friday deals for Jets vs. Dolphins

Amazon, which exclusively streams the league’s standalone “Thursday Night Football” package, will start its hour-long pregame show 30 minutes earlier, meaning a 1:30 p.m. ET start time for the 3 p.m. kickoff. Throughout the day, deals will pop up on the screen, including exclusive discounts for those who are watching the game. Most deals will be available via QR code, Marine said. Some of the Prime Video NFL talent will also be integrated into the deals. 

Additionally, the game is free. Anyone without a Prime account can stream the game online or download the Prime Video app to watch.  

“We’re really putting everything behind this,’ Marine said. ‘We want to embrace the day.” 

After the game, Garth Brooks will perform an exclusive concert in partnership with Amazon Music. For anyone looking to watch an alternate stream, trick-shot supergroup “Dude Perfect” returns. 

Over-the-top (OTT) media such as Prime Video face less restrictions to interact with viewers. It also means Amazon has a viewer’s purchasing preferences. 

“It’s a connected experience, which means you can start to build integrations and things that are very simple, whether that be shopping or other things that can be seamless,” Marine said.

What time does Amazon Black Friday NFL game start? How many people will watch? 

The 3 p.m. hour was optimal based on success the league has seen in the 4:30 p.m. ET window on Thanksgiving, although the Dallas Cowboys’ annual participation is a large factor. College football games Friday evening prompted executives to consider nothing after the late afternoon timeslot.

“TNF” ratings have increased 26% year-over-year, per Nielsen metrics, with games averaging 12.27 million viewers. Schroeder cited research saying “TNF” viewers are, on average, eight years younger than the typical NFL fan. 

A new broadcast window means there is no basis for Black Friday viewership.  

“But we’re optimistic,” Marine said. 

Last year, the New York Giants-Cowboys game on Thanksgiving drew 42 million, the most-watched regular-season game of the last two seasons. 

Will there be a Black Friday NFL game in 2024? 

Multiple teams contacted the league wondering if they could be the annual host of the game, like the Detroit Lions or Cowboys on Thanksgiving, Schroeder said. For now, the league is focused on rotating the event and building excitement in other markets, similar to the draft. 

The Black Friday game is a natural next step in deepening the partnership between Amazon and the league. Schroeder said he hopes it will be a tentpole event in the NFL calendar going forward. 

“We’ll see how it goes, but I think our expectation and I think that the NFl’s expectation is that this becomes an annual tradition,” Marine said. “If it goes as we plan.”

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

PULLMAN, Wash. – NCAA President Charlie Baker made a special trip here last week, more than 2,000 miles from his home on the East Coast.

After starting his new job in March, the former governor of Massachusetts was on a mission – to tour the conference realignment wreckage at Washington State University, sort of like how U.S. presidents often visit cities recently clobbered by hurricanes.

He wanted to help and show support.

But how? Washington State is in crisis mode, along with Oregon State, the two schools left behind after the rest of the Pac-12 Conference realigned with the Big Ten, Big 12 and Atlantic Coast conferences starting next year.

“We’re gonna try and do what we can to help them deal with the circumstance as they go forward,” Baker told USA TODAY Sports in an interview during his visit Nov. 17. “I do think also, having talked to a bunch of the student-athletes here, they really love the place. I think it would be unfortunate if we can’t find a way to help these guys find a way, along with Oregon State.”

The problem is there’s not much he can do. Media companies and the people in charge of those other Power Five conferences decided which schools would be left without a place to sit after this latest high-stakes game of musical chairs. The NCAA president doesn’t have the authority to change it.

But what he can do is listen – and then take what he learns to Congress. There was plenty to hear. Ask Pat Chun, the Washington State athletic director, who said he invited Baker to campus to “get a feel” for how realignment has impacted a school.

“This is just more education for him about all the failings of our current model” in college sports, Chun said.

How has realignment impacted Washington State?

After the Pac-12 fell apart, the Cougars and Beavers essentially were orphaned and abandoned from the conference shelter that gave them a regular schedule of opponents and revenue. Now they have to scramble to fill largely vacated sports schedules for next year while hoping their athletes and coaches don’t abandon ship amid the uncertainty.  

Also, who’s going to televise their football games even when they fill their schedules? Where will the revenue come from to replace the $37 million they were getting in the Pac-12 in revenue-sharing? Will they join the Mountain West Conference or let Mountain West teams join them?

“Since Aug. 4 and even before that, this has been an all-consuming thing in what was already an all-consuming job,” Chun said in an interview in his office.

A day that will live in infamy in Pullman

Aug. 4 is the date that Chun brings up often, the day that the Pac-12 crumbled with the announced departure of five schools to other leagues in 2024, including Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten.

His answer to many of the big questions about the future since then is “TBD” − to be determined − though some answers are coming into focus.

In football at least, it’s likely Washington State and Oregon State will fill out a large part of their schedule with six games against teams from the Mountain West. They will also play each other, along with previously scheduled non-conference foes. Beyond that, Washington State’s annual Apple Cup rivalry with Washington will continue through at least 2028, including Saturday in Seattle.

Basketball and other sports present whole other scheduling problems after the breakup of a league that’s included Washington State as a member since 1962.

“Soccer is an issue; volleyball is an issue,” Chun said. “Soccer’s (transfer) portal already opened up. So these are real-time pressures and tensions in our athletic program right now.”

What about the athletes?

During his trip, Baker spent time with Washington State athletes, including football edge rusher Ron Stone Jr. They talked about the impact of realignment.

“It’s just going to be cause for a lot of panic,” Stone told USA TODAY Sports. “A lot of people sign on to play Power Five Pac-12 football or whatever sport and dreamed of playing in the Pac-12 and at the Power Five level. For a lot of people, that just changed drastically.”

Stone also is aware of the risk of a mass exodus at Washington State in this new era of college sports. Since 2021, players have been allowed to transfer freely to other schools. They also now can earn money from their names, images and likenesses (NIL), especially in bigger TV markets for teams that have games on television. Why should Washington State athletes stay amid the uncertainty if they can make more money and play in a stable league somewhere else?

“It’s a lot of confusion and uncertainty for people,” said Stone, a senior at Washington State. “And uncertainty just causes a lot of doubt. That was one of the bigger things we talked about … When you tie in the transfer portal and NIL to a situation like this, it has a major effect on what can happen to the future for a lot of the student-athletes here.”

Asked if teammates are considering transferring, he said, “Absolutely. I think that people are just gonna transfer in general. I think the transfer portal will be filled up every year at the end of every season just because of NIL.”

Will they really be the Pac-2 Conference?

Yes, for now, and that’s part of the plan, Chun said. NCAA rules in the Football Bowl Subdivision allow a two-year grace period for schools in a league that’s shrunk below the minimum eight members. Asked what the goal is right now, Chun said, “Give ourselves as much time and options as possible, which is at the max would be two years.”

He said this time is beneficial because major college football remains unsettled and could realign again within two years in ways that are impossible to predict now. That could mean Washington State ends up in another league or works with Oregon State to build out a new Pac-12 of sorts with the Mountain West.

Washington State and Oregon State won a key court ruling recently when a state court judge gave them control of the Pac-12’s governing board despite opposition from the 10 departing members. The state supreme court since has put a stay on that ruling, but Chun called the ruling a “half step forward.”

Gaining control of the league means gaining control of its assets and liabilities. After the departure of the other 10, it also means gaining control of around $150 million in revenue by Chun’s estimate. That will help bridge the gap over the next two years in a Pac-2.

What can the NCAA do?

It’s arguable that the Pac-12 dissolved and essentially orphaned two schools because college football has nobody in charge looking out for the overall, national interest of the sport. In a perfect world, somebody like Baker would be able to step in as a college football commissioner and prevent what’s happened to the Pac-2.

It doesn’t work that way, however, in large part because of a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that broke up the NCAA’s centralized power over television. “The Supreme Court spoke on this in 1984 and said they wanted this stuff done at the conference level and not the national level,” Baker said.

But Baker can pull the levers of power somewhere else – Washington, D.C. One reason he was hired was to get in the ear of Congress as the NCAA seeks legislative help on various fronts in a turbulent era of college sports, including getting national standards for NIL.

“The challenge on some of these issues is it would be very hard to do it without sort of a Congressional decision on it,” he said.

In the meantime, he can survey the realignment rubble and listen to the fallout. And try to help. Somehow.

“We’re going to try to be as flexible as we can,” Baker said.

‘Terrible for student-athletes‘

If it were up to Stone, the football player, he knows what he’d do.

‘If I had it my way, there’d be no realignment at all,” Stone said. “Just because this is such a historic conference, so much tradition held in it and rivalries between different teams.”

He cites the departure of Cal and Stanford to the Atlantic Coast Conference as one example. Next season, one or the other will be playing at Florida State, Syracuse, North Carolina State, Clemson, Pitt and Wake Forest. Those games replace the easy trips they made in the Pac-12 to Los Angeles, Phoenix and other regional airports.

“That’s terrible for student-athletes,” Stone said. “You’re making it so much harder for student athletes to be students.”

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

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Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee runner who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend, will be released on parole, authorities said on Friday. Pistorius will be released from prison on Jan. 5, but his status moving forward will be monitored by officials until his sentence is complete.

The 37-year-old Pistorius has been in jail since 2014 after being sentenced for shooting model Reeva Steenkamp on February 14, 2013. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison, more than doubling his original sentence, and was denied parole in March.

His new sentence officially expires on Dec. 5, 2029. To be considered for parole in South Africa, offenders must serve half of their sentence.

Who is Oscar Pistorius?

Pistorius was born on November 22, 1986, in South Africa. He was born without the fibula in his legs and other defects in his feet. At 11 months old, he had his legs amputated below the knee.

He won six gold medals at the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Paralympic Games, competing in the T44 events, which are for single below-knee amputees. His gold medals came in the 100, 200, and 400 meters, adding another gold in the 4×100-meter relay.

Pistorius was nicknamed the “Blade Runner, as he ran on specially designed carbon-fiber blades and was the first double amputee sprinter to ever race in the Olympics. Pistorius made it to the semifinals of the 400 meters at the 2012 London Olympics, finishing last. He also ran on South Africa’s 4 x 400-meter relay team at the Olympics.

Who was his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and what were the circumstances of her death?

Steenkamp was a model and reality television star when she met Pistorius in 2012.

On February 14, 2013, she was visiting Pistorius at his home in Pretoria, South Africa.

During his trial, Pistorius testified that he thought Steenkamp was an intruder who was hiding out in his bathroom late at night and fired his weapon by mistake. Pistorius shot her four times, killing the 29-year-old.

Prosecutors said that Pistorius killed her after an argument and that Steenkamp hid out in a toilet cubicle, and he killed her after being in a rage.

Pistorius was convicted under a South African law called ‘dolus eventualis,’ meaning he should have known who was behind that bathroom door and committed the act with extreme recklessness. In the United States, it is comparable to third-degree murder.

“I do not believe Oscar’s version that he thought the person in the toilet was a burglar. I do not know anybody who does. My dearest child screamed for her life, loud enough for the neighbours to hear her,”  Steenkamp’s mother June, wrote in a victim impact statement.

“I do not know what gave rise to his choice to shoot through a closed door four times with hollow-point ammunition when, I believe, he knew it was Reeva.”

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