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Inside the second job of Colorado high school baseball coaches: Head groundskeepers and diamond advocators

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

While his players are still in school, and the baseball field is deserted, Graham Baughn plugs in his earbuds, hops on a mini-mower under the beaming sun at Thomas Jefferson High School and spends the next three hours on cruise.Another hour or two of prep work follows, as he waters the infield dirt, drags it, tamps the mound and batter’s box, chalks the baselines.The to-do list is endless just to keep the diamond in shape.Such is the life of a high school baseball coach, a title that almost always comes with a second job, and one that usually doesn’t pay: Head groundskeeper. Because if the varsity coach isn’t taking care of the field before games and on off-days, nobody is.“We have a personal riding lawn mower that you would cut your house grass with, and it goes four miles per hour tops,” Baughn says. “To cut the entire field, it takes a while. It’s definitely a time commitment to put in the work that myself and other coaches do to make the...

Rockies’ Justin Lawrence throwing sweeper, reaping rewards

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

Justin Lawrence is not trying to be trendy. It just so happens that his most devasting pitch happens to be the “it pitch” in baseball right now.It’s called the sweeper.“It’s kind of a cool name, don’t you think?” the Rockies’ right-handed reliever said. “It’s a good description.”The pitch, which is even more effective for Lawrence because he throws it with a sidearm delivery, has made him one of baseball’s best relievers through the first month. Entering Colorado’s weekend series against the Mets in New York, Lawrence had a 1.65 ERA and 0.918 WHIP in 13 appearances (16 1/3 innings). Batters were hitting just .167 against him.In simple terms, a sweeper is a slider with more horizontal break than a traditional slider. Despite all the hoopla it’s garnering, it’s not really a new pitch. David Cone threw an effective sweeper for the Yankees in the 1990s and early 2000s. Adam Ottavino, now pitching w...

For Broncos coach Sean Payton, acquisition of former Saints is not about culture. It’s about familiarity.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

Broncos head coach Sean Payton knows what he wants when assembling a roster.It’s a quality that shows through in his meticulous attention to detail, clean and tight game plans, and ability to emphasize his players’ strengths through a variety of offensive schemes.For Payton to get the ball rolling in his first season with the Broncos — a franchise looking to end a seven-year playoff drought — he chose to sprinkle in some of his past throughout the team. That began with the addition of seven coaches who worked with him at different times during his 15-year tenure with New Orleans. And it continued as the Broncos added six former Saints players since the start of free agency.Payton knows what each player brings to the table. More importantly, they understand Payton’s vision and can help translate it to teammates.“On offense, (Payton) is sprinkling (six) different guys across three different (position) rooms,” said tight end Adam Trautman, whom the Broncos acquired fr...

Walters: California politicians: look before you leap on issues

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

Decisions by governors, legislators and bureaucrats have consequences, some intended and some not.Were politics a rational exercise, decision-makers would fully explore potential effects before acting, thereby minimizing chances that what they have wrought would backfire.However, politics and politicians tend to act in the here and now, rather than worry about what might happen in the future when their decrees collide with the real world.Examples of short-term decisions that have turned sour abound. One obvious one is California’s ill-starred bullet train project, which has limped along year after year, and still lacks enough money even to complete one initial segment, much less a complete financial plan.If we had known then what we know now, would voters, governors and legislators have so willingly begun a project that seems to exist merely to exist, but serves no discernible purpose?Several other notions kicking around the Capitol currently could use some critical thinking about p...

In three words, Draymond Green explains reason for Warriors’ Game 3 loss to Lakers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

LOS ANGELES — Draymond Green doesn’t usually hold back. Even after a loss, he’ll take a deep dive into what went wrong and often detail his own mistakes in the game’s low points.But Green was short, and muttered only a few words following the Warriors 127-97 drubbing by the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night. The game was lost in a brutal second quarter in which a Warriors’ 11-point lead flipped to an 11-point deficit by the next quarter.The Lakers took 15 free throws in the second quarter.“The game stopped,” Green said. “They on the free throw line every time.”Asked if he was satisfied with how the game was officiated, Green said: “It is what it is. The game’s over now. Don’t matter if I’m satisfied.”What does watching the Lakers go to the line continually do to the team mentally?“It’s frustrating.”Green’s answers might...

Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez venció a John Ryder, pero no lo pudo noquear en su regreso a México

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

(CNN Español) — Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez volvió a México y se llevó la victoria del campeonato de peso supermediano ante un combativo John Ryder por decisión unánime. La pelea en el estadio Akron, en Guadalajara, duró doce asaltos, y los casi 50.000 espectadores no pudieron ver al “Canelo” ganar con la espectacularidad de un nocaut.El “Canelo” llegó al cuadrilátero vestido con una túnica verde en medio de un espectáculo de luces y mariachi.Los primeros dos rounds contaron con puro trabajo de pies y el “Canelo” buscó golpear el cuerpo del rival, pero Ryder demostró tener una buena guardia baja.El tercer round aumentó en emoción y el “Canelo” empezó a castigar con su derecha a Ryder, que empezó a sangrar mucho por la nariz. El boxeador mexicano también sufrió un corte en la cara, pero se le vio mejor con su derecha.Posteriormente, en el cuarto asalto, el mexicano aprovecha a impactar más golpes con su derecha y empieza a tener al inglés más contra las cuerdas. Claramente , las heri...

Slovak caretaker PM quits, adding momentum to pro-Russia rival

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

Political uncertainty deepened in Slovakia on Sunday, as the pro-Western caretaker prime minister resigned ahead of an election that’s forecast to favor the Moscow-friendly party.Eduard Heger announced that he would tender his resignation with President Zuzana Čaputová later on Sunday, two days after his Foreign Minister Rastislav Káčer quit his cabinet.“I decided to ask the president to remove my authority and to leave the president space to try with a technocrat government to stably and peacefully lead Slovakia to democratic parliamentary elections,” Heger said in a televized address, according to Reuters.Heger, elected in 2021, has been running a caretaker government since last September, when the ruling coalition lost its majority over disagreements about energy costs.Čaputová, who just completed a trip to London for the King Charles III’s coronation, will now decide on the head of a new caretaker government until the election scheduled in September. Poll...

Thousands lacing up for annual Walk for Hunger in Boston

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

Thousands of area residents will come together on Boston Common on Sunday for Project Bread’s 55th Walk for Hunger, which is expected to raise more than $1 million to help get food assistance to kids and families across the Commonwealth. The 2023 fundraiser will be the first in-person event to be celebrated on the Boston Common since 2019 with a hybrid component for additional walkers to participate virtually from their own neighborhoods.7NEWS is a proud partner with Project Bread. Money raised through The Walk is funding the organization’s mission to ensure kids have reliable access to food, to directly help individuals and families, and to advocate at the state and federal levels for expedited and efficient relief for those in need. Walk funds are also supporting community organizations that are helping people access food locally and ensuring communities have the resources neces...

Mage wins the 149th Kentucky Derby

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

(CNN) — Mage won the 149th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday.The 3-year-old chestnut colt, trained by Gustavo Delgado, edged out Two Phil’s, who crossed the line to finish in second place, and Angel of Empire finished third, in front of the over 150,000 fans in attendance.Mage’s win came after heavily favored Forte was scratched from the race earlier in the day after a Kentucky Horse Racing Commission veterinarian found the horse had a bruised right front foot, Churchill Downs said.Forte had been listed as the 3-1 morning line favorite to win the first leg of the sport’s Triple Crown. Forte was the fifth horse to be scratched from the race and so the number of horses in the main event dropped to 18. It is the first time since 1936 that five horses have been scratched from the Derby.“I never give up, I always try hard,” jockey Javier Castellano said. “It took me a little while to get there, to fi...

Arab governments vote for Syria’s return to the Arab League

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Arab government representatives in Cairo voted Sunday to return Syria to the Arab League after a 12-year suspension, according to the organization. The vote in the Egyptian capital came days after regional top diplomats met in Jordan to discuss a roadmap to return Syria to the Arab fold as the conflict continues to de-escalate, and soon before Saudi Arabia hosts the upcoming Arab League Summit on May 19.Syria’s membership in the Arab League was suspended 12 years ago early on in the uprising-turned-conflict, which has killed nearly a half million people since March 2011 and displaced half of the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.All 13 of the 22 member states that attended the session endorsed the decision. The Arab League generally tries to reach agreements by consensus but sometimes opts for simple majorities.There is still no Arab consensus on normalization with Damascus. Several governments did not attend the meeting. Among the most notable absentees was Qa...