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Soto bet on himself turning down $440 million. He got $765M instead

Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated New York Mets owner Steve Cohen’s approximate net worth

DALLAS — Juan Soto made it quite clear that he was going to sign with the highest bidder when he became a free agent after the New York Yankees lost the World Series.

He was a man of his word.

Soto agreed to a staggering 15-year, $765 million contract Sunday night with the New York Mets, shattering the record for the biggest contract in sports history.

The Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays all made bids of at least $700 million, but the Mets came in with the highest, just $5 million more than the Yankees’ 16-year, $760 million contract, a high-ranking Yankees executive told USA TODAY Sports.

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Yet, while there was only a $5 million difference overall, the annual average salary of the Mets’ contract is $51 million compared to the Yankees’ $47.5 million AAV.

The deal also does not include a penny of deferred money with a $75 million signing bonus, along with an opt-out after the fifth year.

If the contract wasn’t already big enough, it could be worth $805 million, a person with direct knowledge of the deal told USA TODAY Sports. The Mets have the right to void Soto’s buyout if they increase his salary from $51 million to $55 million beginning in 2030 for 10 years.

Soto’s deal is more than $300 million richer than any contract in the history of baseball.

Shohei Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract last year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but with $680 million deferred, it lowered the present-day value to about $460 million.

And, just like that, Mets owner Steve Cohen, the richest owner in baseball with a net worth of about $21 billion, showed off his financial clout by refusing to be out-bid.

He also views it as a shrewd investment opportunity, not only helping the Mets escape the Yankees’ shadow in New York, but providing a significant boost at the gates. The Mets suffered the largest attendance decline in the National League last season, drawing 2.5 million fans – 244,526 fewer than in 2023 – despite ultimately reaching the NLCS. Now, they believe with Soto aboard, they’ll gain a significant uptick in season ticket sales, hoping to draw 3 million fans for the first time since 2009.

It’s the reason why executives told USA TODAY Sports two weeks ago that the Mets were the “clear-cut favorites’ to land Soto, believing that Cohen simply would not lose.

While Soto was informing the Mets that he was coming their way, the Washington Nationals front office was having dinner at the Anatole Hotel, remembering that 2 ½ years ago they had offered Soto a 15-year, $440 million deferred contract.

Soto’s declining of the offer turned out to be the best financial investment since Tesla, and perhaps the Nats’ most prudent decision by trading him to San Diego in July 2022, knowing they couldn’t afford to sign him to an extension.

While the talk was always that Soto was seeking a $500 million contract, and perhaps even broaching $600 million once Ohtani signed, no one could have imagined that he’d hit $700 million with four teams still in the bidding, with the Mets adding $30 million to their last offer on Sunday.

Then again, who ever thought that the Mets would be paying Soto more than twice the amount of money MVP Aaron Judge received two years ago from the Yankees in his nine-year, $360 million deal?

The question now is how the losing teams in the Soto sweepstakes rebound? The Yankees now are expected to make a serious push for free agent first baseman Christian Walker, make a run at third baseman Alex Bregman, and perhaps trade for Chicago Cubs outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger. The Red Sox are seeking to sign either starter Max Fried or Corbin Burnes, who’s being pursued by the San Francisco Giants. The Red Sox want at least Fried or Burnes, and could trade for Nolan Arenado of the St. Louis Cardinals. And the Blue Jays hope to sign slugger Anthony Santander or Teoscar Hernandez.

The dominos will soon start falling at these winter meetings, but when the dust settles, the Mets will still be the ones smiling the widest, knowing they landed the big whale in the free-agent market waters.

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

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This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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32 things we learned in NFL Week 14: Whose playoff hopes are rising?

The 32 things we learned from Week 14 of the 2024 NFL season:

0. The number of touchdown passes thrown by Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins since Week 9. Over that same stretch, he has eight interceptions – including two more in Sunday’s 42-21 loss against his former team, the Minnesota Vikings, who knocked the Dirty Birds out of first place in the NFC South.

0. The number of combined sacks and turnovers between the teams in the Los Angeles Rams’ 44-42 upset of the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

0. The number of teams, per NFL Media, to score six touchdowns while committing zero turnovers and lose a game during the Super Bowl era (since 1970) … before Sunday, that is.

1. The Bills made such clubs’ record 245-1 after falling to the Rams and seeing their seven-game winning streak come to an end. The Bills had never lost a game in which they’d scored at least 42 points.

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1a. The number of players to pass and run for at least three touchdowns apiece in a game in NFL history – Bills QB Josh Allen doing so during Sunday’s defeat. Regardless, he might’ve actually given his MVP résumé a nice boost.

1b. Allen is also the first player in league annals with five career games in which he passed for and rushed for multiple TDs.

2. The Rams’ place in the NFC West after their miraculous effort to upend the Bills. Though LA is one game behind the surging Seattle Seahawks, if the Rams can remain that close, they’d win the division by completing a season sweep of Seattle in Week 18.

2a. The Vikings’ place in the NFC North despite their remarkable 11-2 record – which leaves them one game behind the conference-leading Detroit Lions, who beat the Vikes in Week 7. The rivals meet again in Motown in the regular-season finale.

3. The number of teams mathematically eliminated from postseason contention Sunday – the New York Jets, Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns all seeing their already remote chances extinguished.

4. Back to that Vikings win. WRs Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison became the first duo in team history to post at least 100 receiving yards with multiple TD catches apiece. Both cleared 130 yards, and Addison hauled in three scoring strikes. And let’s not forget this franchise has had some very accomplished pass catchers over the years.

5. The number of touchdown passes thrown by Vikes QB Sam Darnold – the most in a game during his seven-year career – in the victory over Atlanta. Darnold’s 347 passing yards Sunday were also the most he’s ever posted in an NFL game, and his 157.9 passer rating was a personal best, too. Good thing the Jets got rid of him … in order to pivot to Zach Wilson and, later, Aaron Rodgers (more on him later).

6. The number of teams on bye – Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots and Washington Commanders – in Week 14. Here’s hoping you didn’t need Derrick Henry, Nico Collins, Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, etc., etc., etc. to qualify for your fantasy playoffs over the weekend.

7. With four games still to play, Philadelphia Eagles RB Saquon Barkley has already broken the 91-year-old franchise’s single-season rushing record – his 124 yards on the ground Sunday giving him a league-best 1,623.

8. Barkley is the first player in a decade to exceed 1,600 rushing yards through 13 games in a season.

9. He needs to average 120.8 per game over the final month to break Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson’s single-season record of 2,105.

10. Barkley would need to average 161 over the next three weeks to eclipse Dickerson in 16 games, the number the NFL played in 1984 when he set the mark.

11. The number of consecutive games the New York Giants had gone without intercepting a pass – another NFL record – before picking off New Orleans Saints QB Derek Carr on Sunday. That didn’t prevent the Giants from avoiding an eight-game losing streak. They have not won a home game this season.

12. Carr, who injured his left (non-throwing) hand, could be headed for the shelf with his 5-8 team still clinging to hopes of winning the NFC South.

12a. Carr’s former team, the Las Vegas Raiders, could also need yet another signal-caller after Aidan O’Connell injured a knee Sunday in Tampa. The Silver and Black have already lost Gardner Minshew II to a busted clavicle.

13. What isn’t busted is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ playoff hopes after topping Vegas 28-13 and overtaking the Falcons in the NFC South … which the Bucs have won every season going back to the 2021 campaign.

14. The number of consecutive seasons the Jets have missed the playoffs, extending what is currently the league’s longest drought.

15. The team with the second-longest postseason absence, the Broncos – they last appeared when Peyton Manning and Co. won Super Bowl 50 – have a 77% chance to qualify this season, per NFL.com.

16. The number of total points scored – fewest in the league this season – in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 10-6 defeat of the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

16a. The Jags entered Week 14 with the lowest-ranked defense in the league.

17. Meanwhile, a few time zones away, the Rams and Bills combined for 86 points – the most in a game this season.

18. The number of tackles made Sunday by the Arizona Cardinals’ Budda Baker.

18a. Any time a safety is making 18 tackles, it’s a near-surefire sign your defense is getting torched – and the Cards were for more than 400 yards in a 30-18 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, who completed a season sweep of Arizona and put the Cardinals’ playoff aspirations on life support.

19. The Raiders’ Brock Bowers now has 87 receptions, breaking the rookie tight end record the Lions’ Sam LaPorta didn’t hold for even a year. Bowers is on pace for 114 catches and has a shot to pace the league overall in 2024.

20. Ironically, Las Vegas TE2 Michael Mayer, a second-year player, outshone Bowers on Sunday with a career-high seven receptions and team-leading 68 receiving yards.

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21. The number of consecutive seasons in which the Browns have lost at Pittsburgh.

22. The Steelers’ Chris Boswell drilled two more field goals in the 27-14 triumph, tying his single-season team standard with 36 three-pointers this season.

23.Rodgers cracked 300 passing yards Sunday, the first time he’d done that in the past three seasons.

24. Rodgers threw for 339 yards – nearly three years to the day since he last hit the benchmark – though it wasn’t sufficient for the NYJ to end their losing skid, the Miami Dolphins prevailing 32-26 in overtime. The Jets haven’t won in South Florida in nine years.

25. The Fins have scored at least 30 points thrice in their past four games – the only occurrences this season in which Miami has topped 30, a benchmark the Jets have yet to clear at all in 2024.

26. Detroit WR Tim Patrick caught a pair of touchdowns in Thursday night’s win over the Green Bay Packers, one that secured a playoff spot for Detroit. It marked the first time in nearly three years that Patrick had reached the end zone, missing the entire 2022 and ’23 seasons as a member of the Broncos with injuries.

27. Per OptaSTATS, Patrick was one of the Lions’ half-dozen receivers to catch at least five passes Thursday, a first in league history.

28. Raiders RB Sincere McCormick received his first NFL start Sunday and responded with a career-high 78 rushing yards. He’s led Las Vegas, which had the league’s least-productive ground game entering Week 14, in rushing each of the past three games.

29. San Francisco 49ers rookie RB Isaac Guerendo received his first NFL start Sunday and responded with 128 yards from scrimmage and two TDs.

30. However after Guerendo suffered a foot injury late in the 38-13 victory over the Chicago Bears, it’s worth wondering if the Niners will have to field their fourth-string tailback in Week 15.

31. A depleted San Francisco defense sacked Bears rookie QB Caleb Williams seven times Sunday, meaning he’s now been taken down a league-leading 56. Williams would have to be sacked 21 more times to break David Carr’s single-season “record.”

31a. Williams did extend his rookie record to 255 straight passes without an INT. 32. How close have the games been this season? According to the league, 98 so far have been decided or six or fewer points, the most at this point of a season ever.

***

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Pentagon announces new counter-drone strategy as unmanned attacks on US interests skyrocket

The Pentagon unveiled a new counter-drone strategy after a spate of incursions near U.S. bases prompted concerns over a lack of an action plan for the increasing threat of unmanned aerial vehicles. 

Though much of the strategy remains classified, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will implement a new counter-drone office within the Pentagon – Joint Counter-Small UAS Office – and a new Warfighter Senior Integration Group, according to a new memo. 

The Pentagon will also begin work on a second Replicator initiative, but it will be up to the incoming Trump administration to decide whether to fund this plan. The first Replicator initiative worked to field inexpensive, dispensable drones to thwart drone attacks by adversarial groups across the Middle East and elsewhere.  

The memo warned that the increased use of unmanned systems must reshape U.S. tactics, as they make it easier for adversaries to ‘surveil, disrupt and attack our forces … potentially without attribution.’ 

The plan outlines a five-pronged approach: deepening understanding of enemy drones, launching offensive campaigns to thwart their ability to build such systems, improving ‘active and passive’ defenses to such attacks, rapid increase of production of counter-drone systems and making counter-drone focus a top priority for future force development. 

For the past year, Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been using small, one-way unmanned aerial systems to strike western shipping routes in the Red Sea. 

That has led to perilous waters along a trade route that typically sees some $1 trillion in goods pass through it, as well as shipments of aid to war-torn Sudan and the Yemeni people. 

Some experts have deemed the U.S. response inadequate in deterring the Houthis from inflicting billions of dollars worth of damage to the global economy. 

Additionally, the cost of U.S. response to such attacks is disproportionate. While the Houthi drones are estimated to cost around $2,000 each, the naval missiles the U.S. fires back can run around $2 million a shot. 

In September, Houthis took out two U.S. Reaper drones in a week, machinery that costs around $30 million a piece. 

Deadly drone strikes have also been launched by both sides in Russia’s war on Ukraine. 

‘Unmanned systems pose both an urgent and enduring threat to U.S. personnel, facilities, and assets overseas,’ the Pentagon said in a statement on Thursday announcing the strategy. 

‘By producing a singular Strategy for Countering Unmanned Systems, the Secretary and the Department are orienting around a common understanding of the challenge and a shared approach to addressing it.’

Three U.S. service members were killed in a drone strike in January in Jordan. Experts warned the U.S. lacks a clear counter-drone procedure after 17 unmanned vehicles traipsed into restricted airspace over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia last December. 

The mystery drones swarmed for more than two weeks. Lack of a standard protocol for such incursions left Langley officials unsure of what to do – other than allow the 20-foot-long drones to hover near their classified facilities. 

Langley is home to some of the nation’s most vital top secret facilities and the F-22 Raptor stealth fighters. 

Two months prior to Langley, in October 2023, five drones flew over the Energy Department’s Nevada National Security Site, used for nuclear weapons experiments. U.S. authorities were not sure who was behind those drones either. 

A Chinese surveillance balloon traversed over the U.S. for a week last year before the Air Force shot it down off the coast.

The Air Force’s Plant 42 in California, home to highly classified aerospace development, has also seen a slew of unidentified drone incursions in 2024, prompting flight restrictions around the facility.

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Equities Remain in Strong “Go” Trend as Tech Returns to Leadership

Good morning and welcome to this week’s Flight Path. The “Go” trend in equities continued again this past week and we saw a full week of uninterrupted bright blue bars. Treasury bond prices painted “Go” bars and the week ended with strong blue bars. U.S. commodities also remained in a “Go” trend with the indicator painting strong blue bars. The dollar likewise was able to hold on to its trend but we saw a string of weaker aqua “Go” bars this week.

$SPY Sees Another Strong week of “Go” bars

The GoNoGo chart below shows that price continued to rally this week as the indicator painted nothing but strong blue “Go” bars again. We do see a Go Countertrend Correction Icon (red arrow) at the most recent high which warns us that price may struggle to go higher in the short term. We see that GoNoGo Oscillator has fallen out of overbought territory and is now resting at a value of 4. There is still therefore strong momentum that is confirming the underlying “Go” trend.

On the longer term chart, the trend continues to be strong. Last week saw another higher weekly close albeit on a smaller bar. We will watch to see if price can edge higher again this week. The oscillator panel shows that momentum has been able to remain positive for several months now. It is currently at a value of 5. If momentum wanes, we will look to see if it finds support at the zero level again.

Treasury Rates Fall out of the “Go” Trend

Treasury bond yields completed the transition from a weaker “Go” to strong “NoGo” bars this week. With a couple of amber “Go Fish” bars that expressed uncertainty we can see that the “NoGo” took hold first with a pink bar. This came after GoNoGo Oscillator suggested as much when it failed to find support at the zero line just over a week ago. Now we see that momentum is negative at a value of -3 and confirms the new “NoGo” trend in price.

The Dollar Still Rests in “Go” Trend

We saw the dollar spend another week moving sideways this week and GoNoGo Trend painted a string of weaker aqua “Go” bars.  We turn our eye to the lower panel and we can see that GoNoGo Oscillator has failed to find support at zero after having been stuck there for several bars. The Oscillator has now broken out of a GoNoGo Squeeze into negative territory which tells us that momentum is out of line with the “Go” trend. We will watch to see if this leads to further price deterioration.

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NFL’s best revival? One standout QB finally gets support he needs

Kirk who? 

Let’s have a round of applause for Sam Darnold, the accidental star for the Minnesota Vikings who drove that point home on Sunday to upstage Kirk Cousins’ return to U.S. Bank Stadium by lighting up the place with five touchdown passes. 

While Cousins threw two more interceptions to run his NFL high to 15 picks this season, Darnold was nothing short of flawless – and plenty spectacular – in igniting a 42-21 romp against the Atlanta Falcons that extended Minnesota’s winning streak to six games. 

When it was over, after Darnold passed for a career-high 347 yards, and after Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison left tracks as the first players in Vikings history to both collect 100 receiving yards with at least two touchdowns, the typically stoic quarterback was even moved to let his hair down. Darnold waved a towel as fans chanted, “MVP!”  

Maybe he wanted to pinch himself, too. MVP? When Darnold went to training camp, that was hardly the projection. The table was set instead for the Vikings to roll with first-round rookie J.J. McCarthy, picked 10th overall. But McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury in his preseason debut. 

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Now Darnold, playing on a one-year contract and with his fourth NFL team in seven seasons, is one of the NFL’s biggest comeback stories while the Vikings (11-2) keep demonstrating that they are more than merely a pleasant surprise. 

It’s no wonder he broke from character and acknowledged the crowd by way of the towel. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. 

“I just felt the buzz,” Darnold said during his postgame news conference. “And that was pure passion. Pure joy, man. The way we were able to finish that game off. Even our defense there at the end getting that huge stop. It was a fun game to be a part of.” 

Darnold had such a blast that he threw four passes that generated nearly 200 yards – scoring strikes of 49 and 52 yards, plus a 42-yard completion that led to a TD and a deep shot that drew a 47-yard pass interference penalty to set up another TD. Addison finished with eight catches for 133 yards and three TDs; Jefferson caught seven passes for 132 yards with two TDs. 

Although the game was tied at 21 as the fourth quarter began, the blowout took form after the mistake-prone Falcons (6-7) committed two turnovers in the final quarter and the Vikings went 98 yards on their last TD drive.  

“I think we grew up a lot today,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell declared. 

Yet for all the exploits that fuel intrigue for what could go down in the playoffs with the Vikings, the presence of the struggling Cousins – the four games with a touchdown pass marks the longest-such streak of his career as a starter, coinciding with the four-game losing streak that cost Atlanta its first-place status in the NFC South – served as a reminder of the twists and turns of the NFL marketplace. 

The Vikings let the 36-year-old Cousins walk as a free agent last offseason without offering a long-term deal, poised to secure their quarterback of the future in the draft. McCarthy, who led Michigan to a national championship last season, is certainly pegged for that role. Yet while McCarthy rehabs from a pair of surgeries to repair a torn meniscus, Darnold’s phenomenal play this season – he’s tied for third in the NFL with 28 touchdown passes and has also produced career bests with 3,299 passing yards and a 108.1 passer rating — also changes the equation. 

Would the Vikings let Darnold walk, too? 

Shoot, if you’re Darnold, who entered the NFL from USC in 2018 as the third pick overall, you’re probably not so eager to run away from this. Not after it fell part with the Jets, followed by stop-gap stints with the Panthers and 49ers. To this point, though, the Vikings haven’t had talks with Darnold’s agents about an extension, according to multiple reports.

So, we’ll see if this can be more than a one-year stop-gap bridge. With the market of anticipation surely heating up, much could hinge on how willing the Vikings will be to offer a term longer than the type of year-to-year deal arrangement that Cousins wouldn’t go for, which led to Darnold coming aboard for a one-year, $10 million contract. 

Darnold has obviously increased his value on always-needy NFL quarterback market, even if it comes at the risk not finding a situation as quarterback-friendly as the Vikings’ scenario, which includes a progressive coach who connects with quarterbacks and star receivers who can, well, bring out the best in a quarterback. 

After finally landing in such a position with the Vikings, Darnold’s desires will be tested, too, when the money is weighed against the football fit. 

In any event, Darnold’s connection to Jefferson for a 52-yard touchdown late in the third quarter on Sunday was a moment that defined his present flow. With the Vikings leading, 14-13, the Falcons sent safety Justin Simmons on a looping blitz up the middle on a third-and-8 call. Simmons charged up the middle to force Darnold the to scramble off-script to his left to avoid a sack, before stepping up and the pocket and throwing as he bolted to his right. 

Jefferson waved as he streaked past blown coverage in the middle of the field. 

“I did see him wave his arm,” Darnold said. “That’s probably one of the first signs as a quarterback, that I should probably throw this to him. It was a great play by him.” 

And if it wasn’t Jefferson, it was Addison. Darnold found the second-year pro on a 49-yard TD and a 42-yard completion that set up one of the short TD passes. He was also throwing to Addison on the 47-yard pass interference penalty that set up a TD. 

“Obviously, if teams want to push a little bit of coverage over to ‘Jets,’ “ Darnold said, referring to Jefferson, “we’ve got another guy to be able to make ‘em pay.” 

Not to mention having the perfect quarterback, too. 

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Juan Soto contract details: Historic Mets deal by the numbers

The New York Mets have landed free-agent outfielder Juan Soto with the largest contract in MLB history.

It’s an unprecedented amount for the four-time All-Star, partly because he’s just 26 years old and the peak years of what already looks like a Hall of Fame career could still be ahead of him.

Soto chose the Mets over the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox − preferring to remain in the Big Apple after hitting .288 with a career-high 41 home runs and 109 RBI with the Yankees last season.

Here’s a look at the staggering numbers in his history-making deal with the Mets.

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Juan Soto contract details, by the numbers

Number of years: 15

Signing bonus:  $75 million

Total value of contract: $765 million. That’s $65 million more than the 10-year, $700 million contract Shohei Ohtani signed last offseason with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Deferred money: $0

Average annual value: $51 million. Also a record, since a sizable portion of Ohtani’s contract is deferred until after his playing days are over.

Opt-out clauses: Soto has the right to opt out of his contract after the 2029 season. The Mets also have the right to void Soto’s buyout if they increase his salary from $51 million to $55 million beginning in 2030 for 10 years.

Potential total value of contract: $805 million, if the Mets exercise their option.

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Progressive Dems rage at Biden for giving Trump the spotlight during final weeks in office

Progressive Democrats are frustrated with how President Biden is handling his lame duck era, with President-elect Donald Trump dominating the news cycle with Cabinet nominations and meetings with world leaders.

Biden has remained relatively quiet in the weeks since Trump won re-election and has allowed Trump to steal the show at several notable events. Biden sent his wife, first lady Jill Biden, to attend the re-opening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, giving Trump an opportunity to greet French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in front of the cameras.

‘This is one of the lamest of lame ducks we’ve seen with a Democratic administration. A massive missed opportunity,’ Usamah Andrabi, spokesman for the progressive group Justice Democrats, told the Wall Street Journal.

Democrats also feel that Biden and the White House have not been critical enough of Trump’s Cabinet nominees. Trump has already had one nominee withdraw, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for defense secretary and a former Fox News host, has also drawn criticism.

‘We should be less hobbled and more spurred. We should be vocal, pushing back against these nominees who are nothing but a disaster in the making,’ Washington Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee told the Journal.

‘Most voters don’t know Kash Patel or even who Matt Gaetz or Tulsi Gabbard are,’ Waleed Shahid, a progressive Democratic strategist, told the outlet. ‘But many more Americans would know if President Biden spoke about them… The only way to win the war of attention is by going to the voters and explaining things to them, which President Biden has consistently avoided doing.’

However, the White House pushed back on the criticism, arguing that Biden has been busy on foreign trips.

‘President Biden is making every day of this term count as he accelerates the implementation of an unprecedented agenda that will benefit hardworking Americans for generations,’ White House spokesman Andrew Bates told the Journal.

Top Democratic governors have been far more vocal in criticizing the incoming administration. California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared an effort to ‘Trump-proof’ California last month. Part of that plan includes spending $25 million on potential legal battles with the Trump administration.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy also said he is prepared to ‘fight like hell’ against the Trump administration, but he acknowledged the need to have a working relationship with the White House.

‘If your values are being attacked, or you’ve got communities or people who are being attacked that don’t deserve it, you’ve got to fight like hell,’ said Murphy. ‘And then over here, you’ve got to have a relationship with the guy.’

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Elon Musk agrees with Ron Paul’s call to ‘ELIMINATE foreign aid’

Billionaire business tycoon Elon Musk, who President-elect Donald Trump tapped to lead the new cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), agreed with former Rep. Ron Paul’s suggestion that the U.S. should end foreign aid.

‘Here’s an easy one for @DOGE !’ Paul declared in a post on X. ‘ELIMINATE foreign aid!’ 

‘It’s taking money from the poor and middle class in the US and giving it to the rich in poor countries – with a cut to the facilitators in between! Americans don’t want their government to borrow more money to spend on foreign aid. Besides, it is the immoral transfer of wealth and is unconstitutional,’ Paul asserted.

‘@DOGE will address this with full transparency for the American people,’ Musk replied.

Responding to someone else who posted about Paul’s call to eliminate foreign aid, Musk declared, ‘Ron is not wrong.’

Vivek Ramaswamy, another DOGE leader, responded to Paul’s post, writing, ‘Much of U.S. foreign aid *isn’t even authorized* by Congress.’

Musk and Ramaswamy were both tapped by Trump to work together on DOGE, which the president-elect said in a statement last month ‘will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.’

Musk and Ramaswamy have indicated that they believe funding for non-governmental organizations should be examined.

‘We need to scrutinize U.S. government funding of ‘non-government organizations,” Ramaswamy noted in a post on X. ‘It’s an oxymoron that represents a waste of taxpayer dollars, but the real problem runs deeper: Americans deserve transparency on opaque foreign aid & nonprofit groups abetting our own border crisis.’

‘Absolutely,’ Musk agreed.

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I worked with Kash Patel to expose the Russia hoax and know he’s the best pick to reform the FBI

President-elect Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel as FBI director has sparked a frenzy of outrage from the fake news media. I’m sure none of this surprises Kash, who has faced it all before. 

Fake news outlets don’t typically attack congressional staffers by name, but years ago they made an exception for Kash. At the time, he was my lead staff investigator on the House Intelligence Committee as we examined allegations that President Trump had colluded with Russia to hack the 2016 presidential election. 

We quickly began uncovering evidence that the entire Russia collusion narrative was a hoax funded by the Democratic Party and the Hillary Clinton campaign and weaponized by our own intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Shockingly, the abuses included the Department of Justice and FBI providing false information to a secret court to get a warrant to spy on Trump campaign associate Carter Page.

Back then, Kash was an outstanding sleuth and a bulldog investigator who drew on his own experience as a DOJ prosecutor to figure out what misdeeds these corrupt officials were committing. To get the evidence, we had to overcome their ceaseless stonewalling, over-classification of documents, and countless other tricks and maneuvers they employed to bury the truth. 

Fake news reporters and ‘resistance’ bureaucrats understood the evidence we found undermined their hoax narrative, so they launched an all-out jihad against Kash, with anonymous sources accusing him of committing every conceivable atrocity known to man. 

The attacks on Kash went beyond these information warfare operations—in a face-to-face meeting with us, top DOJ officials, who apparently didn’t appreciate their dirty laundry being aired, threatened to subpoena Kash’s communications. What we only found out years later was that they had already seized Kash’s emails, along with those of other congressional staffers investigating the collusion hoax, including staffers for Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. 

In sum, the DOJ secretly spied on their own constitutionally mandated overseers to find out what we knew and how we knew it.  

You can imagine how intimidating it would be for a staffer to be directly threatened by top-level Department of Justice officials. But Kash could not be bullied. He was fearless, methodical, and intelligent, and ultimately played a decisive role in exposing the most consequential and damaging hoax in American history. 

In light of the Russia collusion hoax, the politicized January 6 investigations, assorted surveillance abuses, the misuse of confidential human informants for political purposes, pressure on Big Tech to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story, the investigation of parent protesters at school board meetings, and countless other manipulations, the FBI and DOJ clearly need drastic, fundamental reform. 

Tinkering around the edges isn’t enough – the entire culture of these institutions needs to be revamped, and their workforces must be decentralized so they refocus on fighting criminals and terrorists instead of politics. 

To successfully execute that mission at the FBI, the bureau needs a director who understands the problems and how to fix them. Crucially, this person must have the guts to do it notwithstanding the wailing from the media and the whole galaxy of left-wing interest groups alongside the bitter opposition of the upper echelons of the FBI’s own workforce. 

Kash has an extensive record of distinguished government service as a public defender, terrorism prosecutor, senior staff member at the Office of National Intelligence and the National Security Council, and chief of staff to the Department of Defense. But his record at the House Intelligence Committee alone shows Kash has the courage and commitment to reform the FBI.

It’s amusing to watch discredited former officials leap on cable news shows to decry Kash’s nomination like it heralds the end of the republic. After all, those who abused, politicized, and discredited the FBI, and those who tried to cover up those abuses, have a lot to lose if Kash is confirmed. 

Imagine if these people could no longer rely on the FBI to investigate and arrest everyday Americans with dissenting political opinions, leak false information against their political opponents, and actively undermine presidents whom they are supposed to be serving.

Kash understands surveillance abuses and intimidation tactics because he experienced them himself – and he never backed down. 

If you want an FBI director who will go along to get along, you’re better off with someone else. If you want a director who will follow the Constitution and transform the bureau into an impartial, trustworthy law enforcement agency that zealously goes after criminals instead of political targets, then Kash is, bar none, the right man for the job. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
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Sports

What to expect from ‘The Simpsons’ NFL game broadcast

Mike McCarthy as a Homer Simpson avatar is no longer something fans of the NFL and “The Simpsons” no longer have to imagine. 

Welcome to 2024 and this battle of the streaming wars, as Disney and ESPN unveil its most alternative alt-cast for ‘Monday Night Football’ as the Dallas Cowboys host the Cincinnati Bengals. 

“We were just so lucky also that the Cowboys are sort of like a Homer Simpson-type team, American team, and Mike McCarthy might be a Homer-type guy, one might imagine,” “The Simpsons” showrunner Matt Selman said on a conference call last week. “And then you have Joe Burrow on the other side who is a cool young, spiky-haired, blonde bad boy – he’s like Bart. And that fits our character archetypes so perfectly.” 

Monday night’s Bengals-Cowboys game will undergo a virtual, three-dimension animated makeover in the style of a Homer vs. Bart showdown as “The Simpsons Funday Football” streams on Disney+ and ESPN+ across the world. 

Here’s what to expect from the alt-cast and how Disney pulled off the high-tech project. 

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

‘The Simpsons’ and the NFL: A natural fit 

Atoms Stadium in Springfield – not AT&T Stadium in Texas – will be the site of the alt-cast. That’s just one of the references viewers can expect. 

The stream will feature more than 30 original ‘Simpsons’ characters, as writers wrote material for myriad circumstances for ESPN’s creative studio to approve for potential use. There will be at least seven minutes of new, original “Simpsons” content. Voice actors from the show, such as Hank Azaria and Nancy Cartwright, offered their talents for the skits. 

Homer and Bart will rally characters to their respective side throughout the night. Marge will ask animated Bengals and Cowboys players questions in typical Marge fashion. Duff’s blimp will be a jumbotron in the sky. 

“I think what we’ve been working with the ESPN and ‘Simpsons’ team on is also thinking about ways that we can make sure that we’re giving a nod to those different viewers that are tuning in from around the world,” NFL vice president for media strategy and business development Grace Senko said. 

But ‘The Simpsons’ and an NFL game have one similarity that is the most useful connective thread: narrative. 

“Football narratives dominate the American mindscape in a way like nothing else … That is in this game. It is about story. It is about narrative. It’s the spirit of football and it’s the spirit of the Simpsons. Whoever (the NFL) partner(s) with next, I think you can’t do it this good. I hate to be negative. I just don’t know how you’re going to top this. I don’t know. Maybe you should just quit. Maybe this should be the last one. Should we announce that?” Selman said facetiously. 

And there will be some of that sarcasm in the stream. Even the “shield” of the NFL is within bounds. But don’t expect anything too over-the-top. 

“We didn’t go maximum edgy for this, right? It’s not maximum edge, but there is a sense of playfulness and spoofiness of the NFL that the NFL was unbelievably cool with,” Selman said. “That I think where we’re having fun with the tropes of football and the cliches of football and making fun of the family-watching football experience in a way that these other shows wouldn’t really be able to do because they’re not – they don’t have satirical DNA.” 

Why ESPN likes animated alt-cast collaborations with ‘Toy Story’ and ‘The Simpsons’

The goal for ESPN in providing an alt-cast is simple: attract a wider audience, preferably younger, and determine whether the resources devoted to the project can help turn young adults into more traditional sports fans. 

“SpongeBob SquarePants” has done alt-casts for the Super Bowl under the Paramount umbrella. Last year, the NFL and Disney first partnered on an animated alt-cast with a “Toy Story” version for a Week 4 international game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons. 

Disney was the right partner because of the varied and high-quality intellectual property the company owns, NFL Media executive vice president and chief operating officer Hans Schroeder said. 

“They could tell stories to hundreds of different audiences,” Schroder said.

The wide reach and longevity of “The Simpsons” – on the air for 36 seasons since 1989 – made the show a fit for this type of alt-cast; additionally, the stream will be available in more than 145 countries, ESPN said. 

“It’s such a big, broad audience that ‘The Simpsons’ speak to and bring in, as does the NFL, again, not only here domestically but globally,” said Schroeder. 

And like Selman said, the NFL wants to tell unique stories every week. High-tech and creative partners make that goal attainable, and an alt-cast is one vehicle to pull it off.   

“ESPN really has led the way with what they did with the ‘ManningCast’ as one of the truly unique, innovative alternative broadcasts, but we’ve seen other partners add to that now. We have ‘Prime Vision’ with Amazon, which is a great way to tell the really football-focused fan a more insightful view. We did ‘Toy Story’ last year.” 

AI technology makes ‘The Simpsons’ alt-cast possible … and more realistic

The magic is done by Beyond Sports, an AI-based visualization company, working with ESPN and Disney to bring the characters to life in the environment of a NFL game. 

Beyond Sports co-founder and chief technology officer Nico Westerhof said the foundations for the 3-D simulation come from two data sources: positional tracking data (provided by Next Gen Stats) and skeletal data tracking from Sony’s Hawk-Eye trackers. 

The positional tracking data comes from a stable feed in each player’s shoulder pads. But that is simply where the player and ball are on the field. The skeletal data is provided by 29 points per player so the animation looks a lot more like an actual character’s movement. 

“This is where it really becomes a special experience, ‘ Westerhof said. 

Sony owns Beyond Sports, and Sony and the NFL began a technology partnership this summer. 

“What we do at Beyond Sports is combine those two and take the best of both worlds so we deliver an experience to the viewer that is true to the action on the field,” Westerhof said.

Data processing helps the special ‘Simpsons’ characters fit seamlessly into the animation. It would allow a character like Lisa to catch the ball exactly in her hands, even though it would go over her head had the proper data processing not been created by Westerhof’s team. 

“For the viewer it still looks believable,” Westerhof said, “and it all makes sense.” 

Broadcasters for ‘Simpsons’ alt-cast will be immersed in tech 

Play-by-play announcer Drew Carter and analysts Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky will specifically call the alt-cast. The trio have ‘Simpsons’ avatars, as do other ESPN personalities such as the Manning brothers and Stephen A. Smith. 

They will be wearing a virtual-reality headset to transport them to virtual Springfield for which they are describing. 

“We will actually be able to see them in the virtual world and occupy (them) occupying the virtual world even to the point where they can go onto the field and be amongst the players,” Westerhof said. 

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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