Running back J.K. Dobbins suffered an MCL injury midway through the year, but the Chargers starter should return to the field before long. Recently activated from the injured reserve, Dobbins began the season fighting for the starting job with fellow former Raven Gus Edwards . While the two split carries early in the season, Dobbins quickly earned the starting job and never looked back. Through the first 11 games of the season, the former second-round pick recorded 158 carries for 766 yards and eight touchdowns, good for 4.8 yards per attempt. Unfortunately, the injury bug bit, landing Dobbins on the injured reserve. However, the Chargers activated his practice window, which means he should be back on the field for the start of the playoffs. Based on potential seeding, there’s a decent chance Dobbins makes his return against his old team, the Baltimore Ravens. J.K. Dobbins Could Get Revenge Against Ravens With Chargers Return J.K. Dobbins entered the league as a second-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft . Selected by the Baltimore Ravens, the Ohio State product impressed as a rookie, averaging 6.0 yards per attempt while splitting work with Edwards and veteran Mark Ingram. After Ingram departed in 2021, Dobbins had a clear path to the unquestioned starting job. Unfortunately, a knee injury sidelined him for all of 2022 and limited him to eight games in 2023. Entering the final year of his rookie contract, Dobbins tried to secure an extension prior to the start of the 2024 season. Unfortunately, nothing came of his request and the running back entered the season hoping to prove himself. That didn’t happen, as he tore his Achilles during Week 1. Historically considered the kiss of death to running backs , Baltimore believed Dobbins would never return to form, allowing him to walk in free agency while bringing in superstar Derrick Henry . While his MCL injury sidelined him for part of the season, Dobbins proved he could return to form with the Chargers. While every player brings their best to the postseason, the Wild Card round could be personal for Dobbins. Playoff Seeding As of this posting, the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers are the fifth and sixth seeds in the playoff picture , respectively. If this remains the case heading after Week 18, then the earliest these teams could face off is in the AFC Championship Game . However, there is a decent chance the seedings change between now and the end of the regular season. At 10-5, the Ravens are tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the AFC North lead. While Pittsburgh has the tiebreaker, the final two games could determine who hosts a playoff game. Baltimore finishes the season with two winnable matchups against a banged-up Houston Texans squad and Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s Cleveland Browns . Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has to play the Kansas City Chiefs and a desperate Cincinnati Bengals squad. If the Ravens win out and the Steelers lose a game, then Baltimore will win the AFC North and likely claim the third seed in the playoff picture. This means they will host the sixth seed in the Wild Card round, which could easily be the Chargers. While the Ravens should be favored in this matchup, Dobbins will do everything in his power to make sure the Chargers don’t go down without a fight. This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — As spontaneous celebrations rippled throughout the Los Angeles Chargers' locker room after their resounding 40-7 win over the New England Patriots, coach Jim Harbaugh grabbed general manager Joe Hortiz and wrapped him up in a bear hug. “Love you!” Harbaugh said. “Love you!” Hortiz responded. “Great job! Let's keep it going,” Harbaugh replied, finally loosening his grasp. The Chargers (10-6) are back in the playoffs. But the message is clear: They have their eyes on achieving much more. Justin Herbert threw three touchdown passes and Los Angeles locked up its second playoff appearance in three seasons with Saturday's victory. “We had a good opportunity tonight and we went out and took it," Herbert said. “We had a good plan. All week we knew how big of a game this was for us. Guys were dialed in, focused and we executed today.” It also secured the fourth postseason appearance in Harbaugh’s five seasons as an NFL coach, adding to the three he made during his stint with the San Francisco 49ers. “You talk to them and there's more to do,” Harbaugh said. “There's no coach who could have it better than to be coaching these players. Nobody. Maybe the only person would be future us, could have it better than us.” Herbert finished 26 of 38 for 281 yards to become the third player in NFL history with at least 3,000 passing yards and 20 touchdown passes in each of his first five seasons. He joins Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson. Ladd McConkey had eight catches for 94 yards and pulled in TD throws of 6 and 40 yards. With a 10-yard reception in the second quarter, he passed 1,000 yards receiving for the season, making him the third Chargers rookie receiver to reach that milestone. JK Dobbins rushed 19 times for 76 yards and a TD. The Patriots (3-13) have lost six straight games, their second such losing streak of the season. They are now 2-14 the last two seasons at home. “We just didn’t play well enough in any phase of the game,” coach Jerod Mayo said. “No complementary football, and that’s what you get.” Asked if he thinks he is coaching for his job, Mayo said it comes with the territory. “I’m always under pressure and it’s been that way for a very long time, not just when I became the head coach of the Patriots," he said. New England quarterback Drake Maye finished 12 of 22 for 117 yards and a touchdown. He became the first rookie quarterback in franchise history with a TD pass in eight straight games. But he was sacked four times, and a second-quarter fumble marked his eighth straight game with at least one turnover. Los Angeles outgained New England 428-181 for the game. Maye briefly left the game to be evaluated for a head injury following a blow to his helmet in the first quarter. He was scrambling near the sideline on third down of the Patriots’ first possession when he was hit by Chargers cornerback Cam Hart, jarring the ball loose as Maye spun out of bounds. No flag was thrown on the play and Maye stayed down on the turf for several seconds before eventually getting up and jogging off the field. He initially sat on the bench before going to the medical tent for evaluation. He was replaced by backup Jacoby Brissett in the next series, which ended in a punt. But after further evaluation in the locker room and a Cameron Dicker 27-yard field goal put the Chargers in front 10-0, Maye returned to the game for the Patriots’ third series, at the 10:15 mark of the second quarter. Maye scrambled for 9 yards on his first play back, ending with him being hit by linebacker Junior Colson as he slid to the ground. Colson was flagged for unnecessary roughness. Five plays later, Maye mistimed a toss to Demario Douglas, causing a fumble that was recovered by Derwin James. The Chargers took over on the New England 24 and nine plays later, Herbert connected with McConkey for a 6-yard touchdown pass to put Los Angeles in front 17-0. Chargers: WR Joshua Palmer left the game in the third quarter with a heel injury. DB Elijah Molden limped off the field after a collision in the third quarter. He returned but was later driven off the field on a golf cart because of a shin injury. Patriots: In addition to Maye, CB Christian Gonzalez left the game in the second quarter to be evaluated for a head injury and was later ruled out with a concussion. McConkey, a second-round draft selection, also set a Chargers rookie record for catches, surpassing Keenan Allen, who had 71 in 2013. Chargers: Visit Las Vegas in their regular-season finale. Patriots: Host Buffalo next Sunday in their season finale. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The Christmas tradition has become nearly global in scope: Children from around the world track Santa Claus as he sweeps across the earth, delivering presents and defying time. Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the to inquire about Santa’s location. Millions more follow online in nine languages, from English to Japanese. On any other night, NORAD is scanning the heavens for potential threats, such as last year’s Chinese spy balloon. But on Christmas Eve, volunteers in Colorado Springs are fielding questions like, “When is Santa coming to my house?” and, “Am I on the naughty or nice list?” “There are screams and giggles and laughter,” said Bob Sommers, 63, a civilian contractor and NORAD volunteer. Sommers often says on the call that everyone must be asleep before Santa arrives, prompting parents to say, “Do you hear what he said? We got to go to bed early.” NORAD’s annual tracking of Santa has endured since the Cold War, predating ugly sweater parties and Mariah Carey classics. The tradition continues regardless of government shutdowns, such as the one in 2018, and this year. Here’s how it began and why the phones keep ringing. It started with a child’s accidental phone call in 1955. The Colorado Springs newspaper printed a Sears advertisement that encouraged children to call Santa, listing a phone number. A boy called. But he reached the Continental Air Defense Command, now NORAD, a joint U.S. and Canadian effort to spot potential enemy attacks. Tensions were growing with the Soviet Union, along with anxieties about nuclear war. Air Force Col. Harry W. Shoup picked up an emergency-only “red phone” and was greeted by a tiny voice that began to recite a Christmas wish list. “He went on a little bit, and he takes a breath, then says, ‘Hey, you’re not Santa,’” Shoup told The Associated Press in 1999. Realizing an explanation would be lost on the youngster, Shoup summoned a deep, jolly voice and replied, “Ho, ho, ho! Yes, I am Santa Claus. Have you been a good boy?” Shoup said he learned from the boy’s mother that Sears mistakenly printed the top-secret number. He hung up, but the phone soon rang again with a young girl reciting her Christmas list. Fifty calls a day followed, he said. In the pre-digital age, the agency used a 60-by-80 foot (18-by-24 meter) plexiglass map of North America to track unidentified objects. A staff member jokingly drew Santa and his sleigh over the North Pole. The tradition was born. “Note to the kiddies,” began an AP story from Colorado Springs on Dec. 23, 1955. “Santa Claus Friday was assured safe passage into the United States by the Continental Air Defense Command.” In a likely reference to the Soviets, the article noted that Santa was guarded against possible attack from “those who do not believe in Christmas.” Some grinchy journalists have nitpicked Shoup’s story, questioning whether a misprint or a misdial prompted the boy’s call. In 2014, tech news site Gizmodo from Dec. 1, 1955, about a child’s call to Shoup. Published in the Pasadena Independent, the article said the child reversed two digits in the Sears number. “When a childish voice asked COC commander Col. Harry Shoup, if there was a Santa Claus at the North Pole, he answered much more roughly than he should — considering the season: ‘There may be a guy called Santa Claus at the North Pole, but he’s not the one I worry about coming from that direction,’” Shoup said in the brief piece. In 2015, The Atlantic magazine to the secret line, while noting that Shoup had a flair for public relations. Phone calls aside, Shoup was indeed media savvy. In 1986, he told the Scripps Howard News Service that he recognized an opportunity when a staff member drew Santa on the glass map in 1955. A lieutenant colonel promised to have it erased. But Shoup said, “You leave it right there,” and summoned public affairs. Shoup wanted to boost morale for the troops and public alike. “Why, it made the military look good — like we’re not all a bunch of snobs who don’t care about Santa Claus,” he said. Shoup died in 2009. His children that it was a misprinted Sears ad that prompted the phone calls. “And later in life he got letters from all over the world,” said Terri Van Keuren, a daughter. “People saying ‘Thank you, Colonel, for having, you know, this sense of humor.’” NORAD’s tradition is one of the few modern additions to the centuries-old Santa story that have endured, according to Gerry Bowler, a Canadian historian who spoke to the AP in 2010. Ad campaigns or movies try to “kidnap” Santa for commercial purposes, said Bowler, who wrote “Santa Claus: A Biography.” NORAD, by contrast, takes an essential element of Santa’s story and views it through a technological lens. In a recent interview with the AP, Air Force Lt. Gen. Case Cunningham explained that NORAD radars in Alaska and Canada —- known as the northern warning system — are the first to detect Santa. He leaves the North Pole and typically heads for the international dateline in the Pacific Ocean. From there he moves west, following the night. “That’s when the satellite systems we use to track and identify targets of interest every single day start to kick in,” Cunningham said. “A probably little-known fact is that Rudolph’s nose that glows red emanates a lot of heat. And so those satellites track (Santa) through that heat source.” NORAD has an app and website, , that will track Santa on Christmas Eve from 4 a.m. to midnight, mountain standard time. People can call 1-877-HI-NORAD to ask live operators about Santa’s location from 6 a.m. to midnight, mountain time.

Trump vows to pursue executions after Biden commutes most of federal death row

The Ducks will ring in December by hosting the Ottawa Senators on Sunday in a matchup of teams that are an eyelash under .500 with designs on gaining some upward momentum. They’ll enter the clash with identical .477 points percentages that situate them near the bottom of their respective divisions but not far behind a crowded pack of middling clubs. The Ducks have had more of a defensive inclination while the Senators have shown more scoring pop to date. Ducks coach Greg Cronin said his team hadn’t “had too many stinkers” of late, and that’s been reflected by their 5-3-1 record across their past nine games, with four of their five-plus-goal games this season arriving in that span. “Since we got back from that New York trip, I think we’ve been on a pretty good path in terms of playing with an identity and competing,” Cronin said. They had to grind hard on Black Friday, when they played what Cronin described as something of a postseason-style game against the Kings at Honda Center. Though they fell 2-1 to what veteran forward Ryan Strome described as a “mature, veteran team” that they couldn’t quite edge past despite playing a “disciplined, structured and north-south” game, the Ducks still felt they carried forward some positive indicators from their recent play. “It was a good hockey game. We competed hard. I thought we dictated a lot of the game. We played similar to the way we’ve been playing,” Strome said. Kings coach Jim Hiller concurred. With teams frequently playing the Southern California franchises back to back, he and Cronin get constant looks at one another’s teams during pre-scouts, and Hiller assessed the Ducks’ performance quite favorably. “I thought – we’ve played them this year, I’ve scouted them this year – I thought that’s the best game they’ve played this year. I thought they played very well,” Hiller said. Time will tell if Sunday’s match elicits similar plaudits from Ottawa coach Travis Green, who spent parts of two seasons with the Ducks as a player and is in his first year as the Sens’ head coach after previously guiding the Vancouver Canucks and New Jersey Devils briefly. Though Brock McGinn has made some progress in his return, he and Robby Fabbri remained unavailable. So, too, did Leo Carlsson, whose upper-body injury has kept him out of the Ducks’ past two matches. Cam Fowler will be a game-time decision. Troy Terry has four points across his three-game scoring streak, while Trevor Zegras just snapped a four-gamer that saw him compile six points. For Ottawa, forwards Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson each have seven points in the Sens’ past five outings. Captain Brady Tkachuk, whom Cronin suggested could be a model for his own power forward Mason McTavish, has racked up five points during a three-game surge. Those are the three Senators scoring above a point per game this season, with Stützle’s 28 points in 22 games leading the way. When: 5 p.m. Sunday Where: Honda Center How to watch: Victory+

Middle East 2024 Wrapped: Top EventsChristmas is the most wonderful time of the year — especially in an election year. After eleven months of war between Democrats and Republicans, including weeks for the defeated side to mourn the results , Christmas is a season when everyone can rejoice. For Christians, Jesus’ birth is more important than any political battle. The Christmas spirit has something for people of every belief and background, however: It’s a time to cherish family and reflect on peace and goodwill toward all. Our politics, and the world, needs that spirit more than ever. Letting go of the hatreds built up over a bruising election cycle isn’t easy, and it can feel like betraying a cause you’ve spent months or years fighting for. But Christmas is a time of truce, and for the sake of peace among nations, it’s a time for hostilities at home to cease. The New Year kicks off full of peril and promise, from Ukraine to the Middle East. It won’t be easy, but the incoming administration has a chance to bring an end to years of bloodshed. Even many of President Trump’s critics concede his first term was an era of comparative tranquility, marked by the success of the Abraham Accords and a new seriousness on the part of NATO allies to meet their obligations for defense spending. Like Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan before him, Trump was able to engage in bold diplomacy because America’s opponents were afraid to underestimate him, and they knew his doctrine wasn’t to avoid conflict at any price but to keep peace through strength. Today the world is a far more dangerous place than it was when Trump left office, and restoring the peace will require more goodwill at home. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.), who is fast becoming the Democratic Party’s conscience, voiced the right spirit Sunday, saying he wasn’t “rooting against” the incoming president. “If you’re rooting against the president, you are rooting against the nation. And I’m not ever going to be where I want a president to fail,” he said on ABC News’ “This Week.” “So, country first. I know that’s become maybe like a cliché, but it happens to be true.” Other progressives have taken Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump much harder than Sen. Fetterman, and they’re in no mood to forget their ill-feeling toward the GOP. They’ve retreated to Bluesky — the social media site that supplies a leftist alternative to Elon Musk’s X — where they’re constantly reliving and refighting the Nov. 5 election. Yet that’s an online echo chamber, not the real world: Ordinary Americans, even in blue states and cities, put the campaign behind them long before they put up the Christmas decorations. I’ve seen that for myself in the deep-blue suburbs of Washington, DC, where life outside of politics carries on as normal. What the excessively online left and the officeholders who share its mentality need is a reminder that politics isn’t everything — the parties they should be thinking about this month are the Christmas kind. This is the season to overcome the resentments of the past, and not just those of the last year. Trump has given a sign of goodwill with nominations that cut across partisan lines, including a Kennedy for his Republican cabinet. RFK Jr. is controversial , to be sure, and so is Trump’s ex-Democratic nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard . But these were Democrats who gave Trump a fair hearing, and in turn he’s showing how willing he is to work with those who put aside partisanship to work with him. He’s made allies out of onetime rivals within the GOP, too, such as Sen. Marco Rubio , now his nominee for secretary of state. A spirit of generosity served Donald Trump well in building a winning coalition, and it’s the spirit that his nominations reflect, too. The president-elect’s political foes would do themselves a favor, as well as the country, if they displayed more of the charity — and patriotism — Sen. Fetterman expressed last weekend. Christmas is the easiest time of the year to set aside old grievances and embrace good cheer instead. It’s a season of hope and fresh beginnings — two things our politics urgently needs. There will be policy arguments aplenty in 2025, but the election is over, and the American people rendered an unmistakable verdict. Peace and goodwill aren’t just presents for Christmas. They’re the foundations of a successful nation — and a stable, orderly world. Christmas is the day to remember that anew, not only while the tree is up but as a New Year and new administration dawn. Daniel McCarthy is the editor of Modern Age: A Conservative Review and editor-at-large of The American Conservative.

Percentages: FG .429, FT 1.000. 3-Point Goals: 11-27, .407 (Lindsay 5-8, Brown 2-6, Williams 1-1, Anderson 1-2, Ricks 1-4, Freeman 1-5, Hutchins-Everett 0-1). Team Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: 3. Blocked Shots: 3 (Hutchins-Everett 2, Smith). Turnovers: 9 (Smith 4, Ricks 2, Freeman, Lindsay, Williams). Steals: 1 (Smith). Technical Fouls: None. Percentages: FG .500, FT .692. 3-Point Goals: 7-18, .389 (Gray 3-3, Burke 1-1, Howell 1-3, Kapic 1-4, McGhie 1-6, Tait-Jones 0-1). Team Rebounds: 4. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 1 (Rochelin). Turnovers: 5 (Gray 2, Milovich 2, Rochelin). Steals: 5 (Gray 4, Kapic). Technical Fouls: None. .Red Sox acquire reliever Jovani Morán from Twins for utility player Mickey GasperThe House Ethics Committee finally released its report about allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida on Monday after Donald Trump’s failed effort to nominate the former congressman as U.S. Attorney General. And while Gaetz has denied allegations that he had sex with a minor, it’s a pretty shocking read all around. From at least 2017 to 2020, Gaetz allegedly paid thousands of dollars for sex with women, as well as a 17-year-old girl. The report also alleges that Gaetz took illegal drugs like cocaine and ecstasy, and accepted a gift trip to the Bahamas that broke congressional rules. Gaetz also helped one of the women he was having sex with to get an expedited passport, falsely telling the State Department that she was one of his constituents, according to the report. Gaetz also allegedly obstructed Congress as the investigation into his behavior was conducted and refused to cooperate as the committee sought to establish whether the congressman had broken ethics rules. It’s unclear whether Gaetz will face state charges over any of the allegations, though the committee no longer has jurisdiction over Gaetz since he resigned his seat, despite winning reelection in November. The congressional report found that based on its investigation, “there was substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress.” The report also includes screenshots of text messages from Joel Greenberg, a friend of Gaetz who’s currently serving 11 years in prison for sex trafficking of a minor. Greenberg pleaded guilty to several charges in 2022 but denied having sex with any underage girls. The report has a breakdown of how much Gaetz allegedly paid various women from 2017 to 2020, totaling over $60,000, including a former girlfriend who was allegedly involved in some of the activities with sex workers, though the report notes “some of the payments may have been of a legitimate nature.” Gaetz did not hand over text messages to the committee, but the report includes some messages from him, presumably obtained through the sex workers he was paying. The texts sometimes refer to “party favors” which the report claims are references to illegal drugs. The committee also details in the report how Gaetz was allegedly introduced to women by Greenberg who found them on the website SeekingArrangement.com, an online dating site now known as just Seeking.com, which specializes in “sugar dating” relationships where a younger woman typically engages with an older man under some kind of steady financial arrangement. Gaetz took to social media after the release of the report to defend himself against the charges in the report. Many Republicans objected to the release of the report, including the chairman of the ethics committee Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi. Guest wrote for the dissenting members of the committee, insisting they no longer had jurisdiction to release the findings since Gaetz had resigned, an argument that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. “We believe that operating outside the jurisdictional bounds set forth by House Rules and Committee standards, especially when making public disclosures, is a dangerous departure with potentially catastrophic consequences,” wrote Guest. It’s not clear what could be “dangerous” about releasing a congressional report unless it contained something inaccurate, which Guest doesn’t allege. Congress releases reports about people who’ve never worked as congressmen all the time. The committee simply doesn’t have jurisdiction to punish him anymore. The state and federal authorities, however, do have jurisdiction if they wish to charge him with any of the offenses outlined in the report. There are hundreds of pages included in the appendices, with everything from airline boarding passes and travel itineraries to questionnaires submitted to the committee and text messages between Gaetz and the women he allegedly paid for sex. And some on social media took the opportunity to joke about some of the details in there, including the fact that at least one of the women was flying Spirit Airlines . Whatever the topic, the internet is going to roast you.