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Report: ESPN fires Robert Griffin III, Samantha Ponder amid cutbacks

ESPN has fired football analyst Robert Griffin III and host Samantha Ponder, according to a report from The Athletic.

Griffin, a former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner at Baylor, was hired by the network in 2021 as a college football and NFL analyst.

Griffin joined ‘Monday Night Countdown’ in the 2022 season and appeared on the network’s various shows.

According to The Athletic, he had two years remaining on his contract, and the report stated that Griffin’s seven-figure annual salary would be honored. This offseason, he was replaced on ‘Monday Night Countdown’ by former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.

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Griffin, 34, played eight seasons in the NFL with Washington, the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens after being selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft. His first season ended up being his best as he was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year while leading Washington to a postseason berth. He had a 16-26 record as a starter, throwing for 9,271 yards and 43 touchdowns and rushing for 1,809 yards and 10 scores.

Griffin posted a video on X, formerly Twitter, in an apparent reference to the news report.

Later Thursday, Griffin posted a lengthy statement that essentially confirmed the news.

‘Thankful for so many people in my time at ESPN that helped me grow because they are some of the best in the business,’ Griffin said. ‘From the broadcast booth to the studio and ESPECIALLY the people many of you never see behind the camera. They are the REAL MVPs and sacrifice so much time with their families just to ensure people like myself in front of the camera even have the opportunity to shine.

‘There were so many awesome experiences and moments that my family and I will never forget from the last 3 years.’

According to the same report, Ponder, who hosted ‘Sunday NFL Countdown,’ was also let go. Both Griffin and Ponder were casualties of yearly budgetary evaluations at Disney, ESPN’s parent company, as it closes in on its fiscal year.

Ponder had been with ESPN since 2011. Before hosting ‘Sunday NFL Countdown,’ she was a reporter for ‘Saturday Night Football’ on ABC and a contributor to ‘College GameDay.’ According to the report, possible replacements for Ponder on ‘Sunday NFL Countdown’ include “NFL Live” host Laura Rutledge and “Get Up” host Mike Greenberg.

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This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Sports

Judge temporarily blocks Disney sports streaming venture

A federal judge on Friday put on pause a plan by Walt Disney, Fox and Warner Bros Discovery to launch a new sports streaming platform, saying that FuboTV is likely to be successful in proving its claim that the partnership would be anti-competitive.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett in New York said in the ruling that a temporary injunction blocking the new streaming venture was appropriate.

Fubo said in its Feb. 20 lawsuit that the proposed venture would ‘destroy competition and inflate prices for consumers.’

Venu Sports a Fox, Disney, Warner Bros Discovery partnership

Earlier in February, Fox, Disney’s ESPN and Warner Bros Discovery had disclosed plans to launch a sports streaming service, later dubbed Venu Sports, to capture younger viewers.

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The three companies said in a statement they believed Fubo’s arguments were wrong and that they would appeal the court’s ruling.

‘Venu Sports is a pro-competitive option that aims to enhance consumer choice by reaching a segment of viewers who currently are not served by existing subscription options,’ they said.

Representatives for the other parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.

Earlier this month, Venu Sports said it planned to launch in the United States this fall, with a broad portfolio of sports offerings, including 14 live sports channels and a library of content. It has said it hoped to attract 5 million subscribers within five years of its debut.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Sports

No. 2 Ohio State names starting quarterback after fall competition

Ohio State has its starting quarterback.

Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said Thursday that Kansas State transfer Will Howard has won the quarterback competition and will start the season opener Aug. 31 against Akron.

Since early in training camp, it seemed just a matter of time before Howard would be named the starter. The fifth-year senior took most of the reps with the starters in practices open to reporters and looked in command of the offense.

‘(Offensive coordinator) Chip (Kelly) has done a great job of rolling the quarterbacks from the first day of spring all the way to now, so you’re talking about 27-28 practices,’ Day said. ‘When you take the aggregate of all the numbers, Will graded out significantly ahead of the other guys.’

Howard had been shaky during the spring, but since then he has reshaped his body by losing 15 pounds and tweaked his throwing mechanics.

‘Will has really taken command of the offense,’ Day said. ‘You feel him in the huddle. You feel his experience. He did a really good job, as we’ve talked about, of changing his body in the offseason. He’s become a threat, both with his legs and with his arm. The more he understands what he’s doing out there, he’s executing very well. I think the guys are excited when he gets in the huddle.’

Day said Brown is the top backup for now, but that competition will continue. The Buckeyes have another scrimmage on Saturday. Day said he and other coaches told the quarterbacks in a meeting Thursday morning that Howard had won the job.

‘Devin has shown the ability to do just about everything we’ve asked him to do,’ he said. ‘It’s the consistency part and the taking care of the football part that he’s got to do a great job of moving forward.’

“Both guys are getting reps with the 1s. But I will say that Will really has taken some strides in the last couple of practices, making plays on third down again. He hasn’t won the job, but we have seen positive play there.’

Day said then that he wanted to wait until an intrasquad scrimmage last Saturday before making his decision.

Obviously, he and Kelly saw enough.

‘He’s worked extremely hard in the offseason,’ Kelly said. ‘From the end of spring ball on April 13 to now, he’s made great strides. We gave him a plan over the summer to work on, and he took it and ran with it. Where he is now is pretty impressive.’

Day said Ohio State’s stout defense had gotten the better of the offense in the first several practices of training camp, but the offense had more success in Saturday’s scrimmage. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has been impressed with Howard.

‘He’s making all the throws,’ Knowles said. ‘He’s got great vision and arm strength. We’ve got great receivers, and he’s putting the ball in places where only the receiver can catch it. It’s not just the arm strength. He’s making the pinpoint passes.’

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Politics

Expert dismisses Russian commander’s ‘highly unlikely’ claim about crucial military advantage over US

Claims made this week by the head of Russia’s technology development for its Defense Ministry suggesting that Moscow is ‘ahead’ when it comes to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) race that erupted amid the war in Ukraine are being shot down by one top expert.

Speaking from a Military-Technical Forum held in Moscow this week, Gen. Vasily Elistratov, head of the Kremlin’s AI development, claimed on Wednesday that Russia is ‘ahead of our foreign partners’ despite ‘attempts to isolate us at the technical level.’

Russia’s more than two-year-long invasion of Ukraine has driven an AI race as Kyiv, Moscow and NATO nations rush to advance their AI capabilities for wartime applications. 

But while the war has brought renewed focus to AI-integrated defense systems, particularly when it comes to the development of autonomous weapons systems, Russian President Vladimir Putin has long made developing AI a top priority.

In 2017, five years prior to the largest war Europe has seen since World War II, Putin declared, ‘Whoever leads in AI will rule the world,’ and by 2022, Russia had grown its AI market by 18 percent in that year alone, according to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

Moscow doubled down on its AI efforts last year and allocated some $54 million of its federal 2024 budget for AI investment – though that is just a fraction of the $1.8 billion that the U.S. has allocated for AI in its 2024 and 2025 defense budgets.

Despite Moscow’s efforts, former DIA intelligence officer and author of ‘Putin’s Playbook,’ Rebekah Koffler, told Fox News Digital, ‘It is highly unlikely that Russia is ahead of the U.S. in AI development.’

Koffler explained that from the beginning, the U.S. and Russia have taken different approaches when it comes to AI, and while Washington focused its efforts of technological advancement, Moscow also focused on how it could use AI for psychological warfare. 

‘When you have a cyberattack, not only can it disrupt your computer, it can also have a psychological impact on the user,’ she explained. ‘In wartime, you can disorganize forces by attacking computer [systems].’

Koffler pointed to the clear psychological impact that Russia has made on entire populations following its use of disinformation campaigns, propaganda, digital fakes and election interference – a strategy the U.S. and the West typically do not pursue. 

‘The U.S. just doesn’t do that sort of thing,’ she said. ‘That’s just not how we operate.

 ‘In regard to Russia, it’s always been a thing – not just for foreign audiences but for domestic,’ Koffler continued. ‘With the power of AI, you can spread disinformation a lot faster.’

This could mean that Moscow may be ahead when it comes to decision-making technologies, Koffler said, though she reiterated her doubt that Russia was beating the U.S. in any aspect of AI development. 

The U.S. began employing AI technologies in warfare at the tail end of its War on Terror in Afghanistan in a move to alleviate the burden that U.S. and coalition forces were under as they attempted to maintain human intelligence networks on the Taliban amid the drawdown. 

From the beginning, human oversight has played a major role in how the U.S. and its Western allies approach ‘responsible’ AI employment in wartime, and it remains unclear how this specific factor could play a role in adversarial strategizing when it comes to AI on the battlefield. 

But it wasn’t just the U.S. that Elistratov was likely referring to when he propped up Moscow’s AI developments compared to its ‘partners.’

China, a top ally of Russia, has been making great strides when it comes to AI development and is frequently considered the U.S.’s chief competitor in the race to develop all aspects of the burgeoning technology. 

Koffler said that while Moscow is almost certainly beating allies like Iran and North Korea in the AI race, it is more likely that Russia is ‘close’ to China when it comes to AI development.  

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
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Sports

Babe Ruth jersey could sell for record-breaking $30 million

Even though there is dispute about whether Babe Ruth actually ‘called his shot’ in the 1932 World Series, the jersey he wore that day is a hot commodity on the auction block and could go for as much as $30 million.

During Game 3 of the Fall Classic against the Chicago Cubs on October 1, Ruth came up to bat in the fifth inning. During the plate appearance, Ruth allegedly pointed toward the outfield before depositing a pitch from Cubs pitcher Charlie Root into deep center field.

The Yankees went on to win the game 7-5 behind Ruth’s two home runs and four RBIs and beat the Cubs again the next day to complete the sweep and win the World Series.

Ruth’s size 46 game-worn No. 3 road gray New York Yankees jersey is on the block and being offered by Heritage Auctions, headquartered in Dallas, set to take place August 23–25.

‘We know that he pointed but we don’t know if he was pointing to pitcher, toward the players in the Cubs dugout or calling his shot,’ said Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage. ‘But that mystery is why we’re still talking about it almost 100 years later.

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‘What we do know is that this is the shirt Babe Ruth was wearing on that day.’

Other sports memorabilia offered included a bat from Jackie Robinson and a jersey worn by Michael Jordan.

Before the official auction starts next week, the opening bid has already reached nearly $15 million.

Ruth’s memorabilia has been sought after over the years, with a jersey he wore from 1928 to 1930 going for $5.64 million at an auction in 2019.

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Sports

NFC contender makes another big-name addition

The Atlanta Falcons are adding yet another marquee player in their push for the franchise’s first NFC South crown since 2016.

Two-time Pro Bowl safety Justin Simmons is signing a one-year, $8 million contract with the team, his agency confirmed on Instagram.

Simmons, 30, has been a free agent since he was released by the Denver Broncos in March prior to the start of the new league year. He visited with the Falcons on Monday and Tuesday after also meeting with the New Orleans Saints, per multiple reports.

A third-round pick out of Boston College in 2016, Simmons recorded 30 interceptions in his eight years with the Broncos – the most of any player during that span.

Now Simmons could have an opportunity to make the playoffs for the first time in his career as he joins a Falcons defense that has added multiple key starters in the last two offseasons.

All things Falcons: Latest Atlanta Falcons news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

The move comes one day after news broke that Atlanta had agreed to acquire four-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Matthew Judon from the New England Patriots. In 2023, the Falcons added safety Jessie Bates III, defensive tackle David Onyemata and linebacker Kaden Elliss, among others.

Atlanta’s depth at safety took a hit last week when DeMarcco Hellams suffered an ankle injury in the preseason opener. First-year coach Raheem Morris said Hellams is expected to miss a significant amount of time, though he has not been placed on season-ending injured reserve.

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Politics

Biden says admin is ‘closer than we’ve ever been’ to cease-fire deal in Middle East

President Biden claims a cease-fire deal in the Middle East is closer than ever.

Biden made the surprise announcement after signing a proclamation establishing a national monument in memorial of the Springfield 1908 Race Riot — a live event to which he arrived noticeably late.

‘One of the reasons I was late for y’all is because I was dealing with the cease-fire effort in the Middle East,’ Biden told the guests and reporters inside the Oval Office. ‘And we are closer than we’ve ever been.’

‘I don’t want to jinx anything. But as my grandfather said — by the grace of God and with a lot of luck, we might have something,’ he continued. ‘But we’re not there yet. We’re much, much closer than we were three days ago.’

A senior Iranian security official has warned that Iran will attack Israel if its talks with Hamas for a cease-fire in Gaza fall apart, a report says. 

The official, speaking to Reuters, said Iran and its allies, including Hezbollah, would also launch a direct attack on the Jewish State if it believes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is dragging out negotiations with the Palestinian terrorist group. 

Only Israel and Hamas reaching a cease-fire deal would hold Iran back from a direct strike against Israel in the wake of the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July, three senior Iranian officials told Reuters, but the news agency notes that the sources did not say how long Iran would let the talks progress before deciding to take any action. 

Hamas said Sunday that it would not participate in new negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza this week unless mediators present a plan based on previous talks. Talks are expected to resume on Thursday. 

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
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Politics

‘Historic breakthrough’: US ditches defense trade restrictions with top allies to counter China

The U.S. and its top allies have taken a significant step in removing defense trade restrictions to ensure that technology and equipment can be shared at rapid speed as the AUKUS partnership looks to counter growing Chinese threats in the Indo Pacific.

The ‘historic breakthrough’ means the U.K. and Australia will no longer be subject to strict export license controls under the U.S.’s International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR) for the ‘majority’ of Washington’s defense technology.

‘We want the U.K. to be the U.S.’s number-one ally, and Australia’s desire is to be the U.S.’s number-one ally in the Pacific,’ a U.K. official familiar with the agreement told Fox News Digital. ‘AUKUS is about us recognizing the threat that China poses and the need for us, as America’s allies, to do everything we can to be part of competing with China in that space.’

A limited number of sensitive items will remain under tight U.S. control, and the U.K. official said this is another area in which the alliance can look to deepen its trust and partnership in the face of growing adversarial aggression. 

‘We’re looking for deep collaboration with the U.S. over the coming period,’ the official said.  ‘Some of the restrictions that remain on the excluded lists will be in those very advanced technologies where the U.S. is still rightly cautious about controlling access to them and really safeguarding the technology. 

‘What we want to do with this new status quo is use it to show that our industry is equally competent of controlling those secrets, equally competent of safeguarding the technology, so we can build even more trust with the U.S., so we can expand this sharing of technology even further,’ the U.K. official added.  

The official could not pinpoint the percentage of U.S. defense weapons and technology that will remain exempt from the latest trade-sharing deal but noted that those exemptions remain only in the ‘far reaches of technology’ on systems involving artificial intelligence, autonomous weaponry and hypersonic weaponry. 

The reform is estimated to cover up to £500 million in U.K. defense exports annually along with billions of dollars of trade across all three nations, which will in turn ‘boost our shared economic growth,’ Fox News Digital was told.

The AUKUS deal comes as the U.S. and the U.K. look to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines as the alliance looks to bolster its defense posture to counter Chinese aggression in the region and beyond. 

‘I think it’s very difficult to overstate how important the submarines are, in terms of the Indo-Pacific and containing China,’ the official told Fox News Digital. ‘Just because they look quite old school, they are still very, very critical to that theater.’

The alliance, which was formed in 2021 specifically to counter Beijing, was received with some frustration and concern among European allies who feared that the U.S. and the U.K. were distancing themselves from Europe at a time when security threats on the continent had reached a level not seen since World War II. 

But Washington and London have pushed back on these arguments, and in speaking with Fox News Digital, the British official highlighted that increasing ties with the U.S. can only help deepen security in theatres across the globe. 

‘The U.K. being a very close ally of the U.S. helps lock the U.K. and the U.S. together in NATO,’ the official argued. ‘I don’t think this does anything to distance us from that. 

‘If anything, it gives us both even better capability and even better interoperability to work together in the Euro-Atlantic area if we needed to do that militarily,’ the official added. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
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Stocks

Consumer Discretionary New IT BULLISH Bias

The Silver Cross Index measures the number of stocks that have a 20-day EMA above the 50-day EMA, or they are on a “Silver Cross” IT Trend Model BUY Signal. This gives us a more complete picture than simply measuring the number of stocks above their key moving averages.

Yesterday, on Consumer Discretionary (XLY) the Silver Cross Index moved above its signal line. This gives us a new IT BULLISH Bias on the sector. This is a sector to watch. With the release of a positive retail sales report, this sector is likely to see even more upside.

Price has broken above both the 20/50-day EMAs. Participation is shooting up and given the percentage of stocks above their 50-day EMA is higher than the Silver Cross Index, it should continue to rise higher. It is coming out of oversold territory. Stochastics are rising and relative strength is turning up. There is plenty of room for more upside.

Conclusion: The Consumer Discretionary (XLY) sector is showing signs of renewal and based on recent retail sales data, it should continue to see more upside. This sector is likely to continue to lead the market higher now that we have a BULLISH IT Bias in the SP500 and now a BULLISH Bias in the intermediate term for XLY.

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Stocks

Will XRT (Retail) Sink or Soar? Here’s What the Charts Say

Wall Street rallied  Thursday morning as July retail sales jumped 1%—triple what experts expected. Meanwhile, jobless claims dropped, and investors are still riding high on those cooler-than-expected inflation reports (CPI and PPI).

Anticipating a possible Fed rate cut, investors now think that a recession may not be on the horizon. If this means that more consumers are willing to open their wallets, then…

Is it now time to “go long” retail?How does it compare to its sector (Consumer Discretionary) or the S&P 500?Retail is seasonal, so what does that context tell us?

Let’s look at a weekly chart of the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT), an industry proxy.

XRT Macro View – Poised for a Big Move?

XRT’s short-term moves may seem stuck in neutral, but zoom out, and you’ll see a cautious, if not ambivalent, uptrend, sticking close to the rising 200-period simple moving average (SMA) that stopped XRT’s drop back in 2022. It’s not quite screaming bullish, but neither is it waving any red flags.

CHART 1. WEEKLY CHART OF XRT. You need to zoom out to see that XRT’s price actions outline a tame uptrend.

The StockChartsTechnicalRank (SCTR) tool is one way to gauge a stock’s technical strength across multiple timeframes. XRT’s SCTR performance? At 47, it’s serving up some pretty “lukewarm” vibes. But the SCTR line is rising, and the question is whether XRT is poised for a breakout or a breakdown. Fortunately, you can be prepared for either scenario if you analyze the daily chart.

CHART 2. DAILY CHART OF XRT. That’s a wide rectangle.

Thursday’s gap opening may seem like an isolated event, but in the context of the wide trading range, a wide rectangle pattern spanning $70 to $80, its impact looks muted. Also, note that, according to the Chaikin Money Flow (CMF), there’s hardly any momentum backing the near-term spike, as selling pressure (see red box) has prevailed since April.

XRT’s relative performance against the S&P 500 is -6%, meaning there’s room for improvement, but only if economic conditions are conducive to retail’s rise.

XRT – Levels to Watch

For XRT’s longer-term uptrend to resume, it has to break above resistance at the $79 or, to be safe, the $80 level.For this breakout to hold, the CMF must stay above zero, signaling that buying pressure has officially taken the lead over selling pressure.If XRT breaks below the bottom of the rectangle formation at $70, then look for support near $67, which marks the 2024 swing low and the July 2023 swing high.If XRT drops below $67, that’s your cue to watch out for more downside. Time to hit pause and re-evaluate the fundamentals before planning your next move.

What Does XRT’s Seasonality Look Like?

CHART 3. FIVE-YEAR SEASONALITY CHART OF XRT. Note September’s negative higher-close rate.

I’m capping this seasonality chart at five years to add more weight to the inflationary pressures that significantly affect the discretionary segment of the retail industry. As you can see, there’s an almost-shocking zero higher close rate in September (numbers above the bar, but in September, there’s no bar). It also happens to be XRT’s worst performance, with a relative return of -6.3%.

Yet despite inflation, XRT has shown outstanding performance in October and November with a 75% higher-close rate each month and a respective return of 3.1% and 9.4% (November being its strongest seasonal month in the last five years).

At the Close

So, if XRT’s seasonality profile holds true for September, will XRT dip below the current rectangle formation, or will it rise in the next few months to outperform in October and November? Either way, you’ve got the key levels to keep an eye on moving forward.

Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.

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