777 jili casino slots game Javon Small scored 31 points to rally West Virginia to an 86-78 overtime upset of No. 3 Gonzaga in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, Wednesday in Nassau, Bahamas. The Mountaineers (4-1) trailed by 10 points early in the second half and by five in the final minute. But over the final 19 seconds of regulation, Tucker DeVries scored five straight points to send the game to overtime. In the extra session, Small scored five points and West Virginia held Gonzaga to a single field goal, which came after the outcome was decided with 19 seconds left. Amani Hansberry added a career-high 19 points and eight rebounds for West Virginia, which advances to the semifinals Thursday against another surprise first-round winner, Louisville, which stunned No. 15 Indiana. Braden Huff scored 19 points and Khalif Battle added 16 points for Gonzaga (5-1) which settles for a consolation-round game Thursday against Indiana. Nolan Hickman tallied 13 points. Ryan Nembhard delivered seven points and 12 assists for the Bulldogs. Huff put Gonzaga in position to win when he made three hook shots in the final 2:34 of regulation as the Bulldogs turned a one-point deficit into a 69-66 lead. Two free throws by Nembhard expanded the lead to 71-66 with 25 seconds left. But DeVries followed with a 3-pointer from the top of the key and then made a mid-court steal and drew a foul with 5.9 seconds left. His two free throws sent it to overtime. The Mountaineers never trailed in overtime. Sencire Harris wrapped it up with a steal and a breakaway slam that put West Virginia up 84-76 with 26 seconds left. Battle, a transfer from Arkansas, scored eight points in a span of 90 seconds late in the first half as the Bulldogs took control on their way to a 39-31 lead at the break. Gonzaga earned its biggest lead early in the second half when Graham Ike scored inside with an assist from Nembhard to make it 43-33. But West Virginia responded with a 17-2 run, fueled by Small as he hit two 3-pointers and two layups. Hansberry drained a trey and DeVries grinded for a putback layup to give the Mountaineers a 50-45 lead with 12:26 left. DeVries finished the game with 16 points and four blocks. --Field Level MediaIt was a perfect measuring stick for a team still trying to find itself a quarter of the way through a season that isn’t going the way anyone expected. Bring in one of the best teams in the NHL, turn them loose in Rogers Place and let’s see where the inexplicably average stand. Turns out they didn’t stand at all. They got rolled over. They weren’t good enough. And they didn’t play hard enough. The Minnesota Wild schooled them on both counts Thursday. Despite the Oilers getting more gifts than a rich kid whose birthday falls on Christmas, the Wild still beat them for fun in a 5-3 victory that everyone in the place knew was more like 6-1. Minnesota had one goal taken off the board and another disallowed while Edmonton had one goal go in off a Wild skate and another beat Marc-Andre Fleury from 160 feet away. And the game still wasn’t close. There is no sugar-coating it: The gap between the Oilers and the best teams in the league is disturbingly large. Against opponents with winning records, Edmonton has just two wins in 10 tries (2-6-2), beating Calgary and Vancouver and losing to Winnipeg, Calgary, Dallas, Carolina, Jersey, Vegas, Toronto and Minnesota by a combined score of 33-12. “I don’t think we’ve played close to our potential many nights,” said defenceman Mattias Ekholm. “We know we played a lot better hockey (at their peak) last year but in order to get there it starts with the work, it starts with the defensive side of the game.” The sky isn’t falling yet. The Oilers are still hanging around a wildcard spot (10th in Western Conference winning percentage) with 61 games to go. Teams that sit 10-9-2 in mid November can still make it to the Stanley Cup Final. But teams that play like the Oilers are playing right now don’t make it past the first round. “I definitely believe in this team,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch, who has no other choice. “I think we should be better than our record, but it’s a hard game. You need good players, but you need good players working hard. Collectively, we can do more.” That’s the issue right now. In the hard areas of the ice, Edmonton isn’t hard enough. “We talk about that all the time,” said 39-year-old winger Corey Perry, who is third among Oilers forwards in goals this year with four. “The (other) goalies are seeing too many shots and we’re trying to be too cute playing the perimeter game. It just doesn’t work.” Remember at the start of the season when Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner came to Edmonton, joining Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman as wingmen for and Leon Draisaitl? And the Oilers had the best top six in the NHL? Well, it’s 21 games in and after you get past McDavid and Draisaitl four of the next five leading scorers on this team are defencemen. After McDavid and Draisaitl, the forward with the most five-on-five points is third line winger Mattias Janmark. Arvidsson, who can’t seem to stay healthy, is injured, Skinner has bounced through all four lines already and Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins are a rumour, combining for four even-strength goals (two each) in 41 man games. “Overall, we have to find ways to score goals,” said Knoblauch. “You need skill to do that but you also need some grit, simplifying your game and going hard to the net.” Knoblauch wonders if some of his forwards are getting caught up in the McDavid-Draisaitl hype and forgetting what it takes to score goals when you aren’t one of the best players in the world. “We have incredibly skilled players who can make those plays,” Knoblauch said of his two lead dogs. “And when you’re playing with those guys and you see them doing it, sometimes the other players get mistaken identity and try that extra pass and play on the perimeter rather than shooting for a rebound and getting to the net. It’s little things like that.” It’s a similar theme around Edmonton’s net, where opposing players are setting up shop with very little resistance. “In the defensive zone it’s not being able to close things out and also losing battles around the net, the most important area,” said Knoblauch. “All (Minnesota’s) goals were five or 10 feet away from the blue paint. I don’t think we did enough to get there and defensively we didn’t do a good enough job boxing out.” And, in goal, Stuart Skinner ranks 52nd in the NHL in save percentage out of 60 goalies who’ve played five or more games this year. On a team that can’t score and isn’t committed enough around its own net, this is the last straw. “He’s not playing the level he was last year,” said Knoblauch. “Last year I thought he was one of the top goaltenders and if he had a bad game it was turned around the next night.” But while Skinner hasn’t been good enough, the Oilers are also not an easy team to be a goalie on. “For a goalie to play well we have to be more predictable for him,” said Knoblauch. “What kind of shots are we giving up? Where are they coming from? Taking away the high danger shots. Tonight was not a predictable game for a goaltender to turn his game around.” So the mystery continues. Is this another slow start that’s going to be wiped from the memory banks when the real show up and start tearing through the league? Or is this it? Is this who they are now? E-mail:

None

Advertisement 2 This advertisement has not loaded yet.Musk calls for abolishing consumer protection agency

What both sides are saying about ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah2024 in pop culture: In a bruising year, we sought out fantasy, escapism — and cute little animals

DENVER — So you're the most valuable player of that annual Thanksgiving Day backyard flag football game. Or played tackle football on any level. Or ran track. Or dabbled in basketball. Or toyed with any sport, really. Well, this may be just for you: USA Football is holding talent identification camps all over the country to find that next flag football star. It's "America's Got Talent" meets "American Idol," with the stage being the field and the grand prize a chance to compete for a spot on a national team. Because it's never too early to start planning for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, where flag football will make its Summer Games debut. Know this, though — it's not an easy team to make. The men's and women's national team rosters are at "Dream Team" status given the men's side has captured six of the last seven world championships and the women three in a row. To remain on top, the sport's national governing body is scouring every football field, park, track, basketball court and gym to find hidden talent to cultivate. USA Football has organized camps and tryouts from coast to coast for anyone ages 11 to 23. There are more than a dozen sites set up so far, ranging from Dallas (Sunday) to Chicago (Dec. 14) to Tampa (March 29) to Los Angeles (TBD) and the Boston area (April 27), where it will be held at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. The organization has already partnered with the NFL on flag football initiatives and programs. The numbers have been through the roof, with engagement on social media platforms increasing by 86% since flag football was announced as an Olympic invitational sport in October 2023. The participation of boys and girls ages 6 to 17 in flag football last year peaked at more than 1.6 million, according to USA Football research. "We pride ourselves on elevating the gold standard across the sport," said Eric Mayes, the managing director of the high performance and national teams for USA Football. "We want to be the best in the world — and stay the best in the world." Flag football was one of five new sports added to the LA28 program. The already soaring profile of American football only figures to be enhanced by an Olympic appearance. Imagine, say, a few familiar faces take the field, too. Perhaps even NFL stars such as Tyreek Hill or Patrick Mahomes, maybe even past pro football greats donning a flag belt for a country to which they may have ties. Soon after flag football's inclusion, there was chatter of NFL players possibly joining in on the fun. Of course, there are logistical issues to tackle before their inclusion at the LA Olympics, which open July 14, 2028. Among them, training camp, because the Olympics will be right in the middle of it. The big question is this: Will owners permit high-priced players to duck out for a gold-medal pursuit? No decisions have yet been made on the status of NFL players for the Olympics. For now, it's simply about growing the game. There are currently 13 states that sanction girls flag football as a high school varsity sport. Just recently, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles helped pave the way to get it adopted in Pennsylvania. Around the world, it's catching on, too. The women's team from Japan took third at the recent word championships, while one of the best players on the planet is Mexico quarterback Diana Flores. "Could flag football globally become the new soccer? That's something to aspire to," said Stephanie Kwok, the NFL's vice president of flag football. This type of flag football though, isn't your Thanksgiving Day game with family and friends. There's a learning curve. And given the small roster sizes, versatility is essential. Most national team members need to be a version of Colorado's two-way standout and Heisman hopeful Travis Hunter. Forget bump-and-run coverage, too, because there's no contact. None. That took some adjusting for Mike Daniels, a defensive back out of West Virginia who earned a rookie minicamp invitation with the Cleveland Browns in 2017. "If a receiver is running around, I'm thinking, 'OK, I can kind of bump him here and there and nudge him,'" Daniels explained. "They're like, 'No, you can't.' I'm just like, 'So I'm supposed to let this guy just run?!' I really rebelled at the idea at first. But you learn." The competition for an Olympic roster spot is going to be fierce because only 10 players are expected to make a squad. The best 10 will earn it, too, as credentials such as college All-American or NFL All-Pro take a backseat. "I would actually love" seeing NFL players try out, said Daniels, who's also a personal trainer in Miami. "I'm not going to let you just waltz in here, thinking, 'I played NFL football for five years. I'm popular. I have a huge name.' I'm still better than you and I'm going to prove it — until you prove otherwise." Around the house, Bruce Mapp constantly swivels his hips when turning a hallway corner or if his daughter tries to reach for a hug. It's his way of working on avoiding a "defender" trying to snare the flag. That approach has earned the receiver out of Coastal Carolina four gold medals with USA Football. The 31-year-old fully plans on going for more gold in Los Angeles. "You grow up watching Usain Bolt (win gold) and the 'Redeem Team' led by Kobe Bryant win a gold medal, you're always thinking, 'That's insane.' Obviously, you couldn't do it in your sport, because I played football," said Mapp, who owns a food truck in the Dallas area. "With the Olympics approaching, that (gold medal) is what my mind is set on." It's a common thought, which is why everything — including talent camps — starts now. "Everybody thinks, 'Yeah, the U.S. just wins,'" Daniels said. "But we work hard all the time. We don't just walk in. We don't just get off the bus thinking, 'We're going to beat people.'" Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!It was a perfect measuring stick for a team still trying to find itself a quarter of the way through a season that isn’t going the way anyone expected. Bring in one of the best teams in the NHL, turn them loose in Rogers Place and let’s see where the inexplicably average stand. Turns out they didn’t stand at all. They got rolled over. They weren’t good enough. And they didn’t play hard enough. The Minnesota Wild schooled them on both counts Thursday. Despite the Oilers getting more gifts than a rich kid whose birthday falls on Christmas, the Wild still beat them for fun in a 5-3 victory that everyone in the place knew was more like 6-1. Minnesota had one goal taken off the board and another disallowed while Edmonton had one goal go in off a Wild skate and another beat Marc-Andre Fleury from 160 feet away. And the game still wasn’t close. There is no sugar-coating it: The gap between the Oilers and the best teams in the league is disturbingly large. Against opponents with winning records, Edmonton has just two wins in 10 tries (2-6-2), beating Calgary and Vancouver and losing to Winnipeg, Calgary, Dallas, Carolina, Jersey, Vegas, Toronto and Minnesota by a combined score of 33-12. “I don’t think we’ve played close to our potential many nights,” said defenceman Mattias Ekholm. “We know we played a lot better hockey (at their peak) last year but in order to get there it starts with the work, it starts with the defensive side of the game.” The sky isn’t falling yet. The Oilers are still hanging around a wildcard spot (10th in Western Conference winning percentage) with 61 games to go. Teams that sit 10-9-2 in mid November can still make it to the Stanley Cup Final. But teams that play like the Oilers are playing right now don’t make it past the first round. “I definitely believe in this team,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch, who has no other choice. “I think we should be better than our record, but it’s a hard game. You need good players, but you need good players working hard. Collectively, we can do more.” That’s the issue right now. In the hard areas of the ice, Edmonton isn’t hard enough. “We talk about that all the time,” said 39-year-old winger Corey Perry, who is third among Oilers forwards in goals this year with four. “The (other) goalies are seeing too many shots and we’re trying to be too cute playing the perimeter game. It just doesn’t work.” Remember at the start of the season when Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner came to Edmonton, joining Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman as wingmen for and Leon Draisaitl? And the Oilers had the best top six in the NHL? Well, it’s 21 games in and after you get past McDavid and Draisaitl four of the next five leading scorers on this team are defencemen. After McDavid and Draisaitl, the forward with the most five-on-five points is third line winger Mattias Janmark. Arvidsson, who can’t seem to stay healthy, is injured, Skinner has bounced through all four lines already and Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins are a rumour, combining for four even-strength goals (two each) in 41 man games. “Overall, we have to find ways to score goals,” said Knoblauch. “You need skill to do that but you also need some grit, simplifying your game and going hard to the net.” Knoblauch wonders if some of his forwards are getting caught up in the McDavid-Draisaitl hype and forgetting what it takes to score goals when you aren’t one of the best players in the world. “We have incredibly skilled players who can make those plays,” Knoblauch said of his two lead dogs. “And when you’re playing with those guys and you see them doing it, sometimes the other players get mistaken identity and try that extra pass and play on the perimeter rather than shooting for a rebound and getting to the net. It’s little things like that.” It’s a similar theme around Edmonton’s net, where opposing players are setting up shop with very little resistance. “In the defensive zone it’s not being able to close things out and also losing battles around the net, the most important area,” said Knoblauch. “All (Minnesota’s) goals were five or 10 feet away from the blue paint. I don’t think we did enough to get there and defensively we didn’t do a good enough job boxing out.” And, in goal, Stuart Skinner ranks 52nd in the NHL in save percentage out of 60 goalies who’ve played five or more games this year. On a team that can’t score and isn’t committed enough around its own net, this is the last straw. “He’s not playing the level he was last year,” said Knoblauch. “Last year I thought he was one of the top goaltenders and if he had a bad game it was turned around the next night.” But while Skinner hasn’t been good enough, the Oilers are also not an easy team to be a goalie on. “For a goalie to play well we have to be more predictable for him,” said Knoblauch. “What kind of shots are we giving up? Where are they coming from? Taking away the high danger shots. Tonight was not a predictable game for a goaltender to turn his game around.” So the mystery continues. Is this another slow start that’s going to be wiped from the memory banks when the real show up and start tearing through the league? Or is this it? Is this who they are now? E-mail:

Stock up the eggnog — you're gonna need it. The holidays are here and that means joy to the world, coming together with your loved ones and spending a ton of money on gifts. Related: Fed inflation gauge ticked higher in October amid consumer spending boost This is the most important time of the year for retailers, given the spike in consumer spending. Holiday shopping is crucial for the chains' overall sales. The National Retail Federation expects holiday sales to grow between 2.5% and 3.5% from a year earlier, to a total of $980 billion from $955 billion. The forecast includes e-commerce, which is expected to grow 8% to 9%, totaling between $295 billion and $300 billion. 🚨 Don’t Miss this amazing Black Friday Move! Get 60% off TheStreet Pro. Act now before it’s gone 😲 “I am optimistic about the pace of economic activity in the final quarter of the year,” Jack Kleinhenz, the trade group's chief economist, said. "Given third-quarter spending performance and comprehensive upward revisions in late September for income, spending and the savings rate, I have increased confidence in the economy’s strength and the near-term outlook," he added. Americans voted to send Donald Trump back to the White House in January. The president-elect wasted no time in rattling a few cages when he vowed to impose a 25% tax on all imports from Mexico and Canada, along with an additional 10% tax on imports from China. Several retailers recently released their quarterly results and investment firms have been adjusting their ratings and stock prices accordingly. Bloomberg/Getty Images Kohl's CEO says results were disappointing Kohl's ( KSS ) started the holidays off on a sour note, as the department-store chain missed Wall Street's fiscal-third-quarter earnings expectations, lowered its full-year guidance and said CEO Tom Kingsbury would step down as of Jan. 15. Kohl’s shares are down 45% this year and off nearly 32% from a year ago. Related: Home Depot stock leaps after Q3 earnings, 2024 forecast Kingsbury spoke bluntly to analysts about the results during the company's earnings call . "They did not meet our expectations and were frankly disappointing," Kingsbury said. "Sales have been a challenge for us throughout 2024 and weakened further in Q3. Over the last several quarters, we have implemented a significant amount of change across our assortment, value strategies, and in-store experience." Kingsbury, who was president and CEO of Burlington Stores ( BURL ) from 2008 to 2018, said Kohl's leadership believed these actions would make the company more competitive in the long term, But he added that "we undervalued the short-term impact this change could have on our sales performance." "We are not satisfied with our performance and are taking aggressive action to reverse the sales declines," he said. Kingsbury was the company's interim CEO starting in late 2022, succeeding former CEO Michelle Gass, who took the helm at Levi Strauss ( LEVI ) in November 2022. He became permanent CEO in early 2023. Ashley Buchanan will take over as CEO effective Jan.15. Buchanan has been CEO of arts and crafts retailer Michaels since 2020; prior to that post she held senior executive roles at Walmart ( WMT ) and the retail giant's membership warehouse chain Sam's Club during her 13 years at the company. Kingsbury will stay on in an advisory role and remain a director through his retirement in May. Baird downgrades Kohl's to neutral Baird downgraded Kohl's to neutral from outperform with a price target of $18, down from $25, according to The Fly. The investment firm said that a number of issues reduce its conviction in the value case for KSS shares: ongoing pressure in Kohl's core apparel and footwear business, implying share losses during the back-to-school period; greater comparables volatility as management iterates on changes to the operating model, and the pending change of CEO. Baird analysts see opportunity for comparisons and margins to stabilize and improve as changes take hold, but with the timeline uncertain amid intense competition, the stock's risk/reward balance appears even today. Bank of America Securities analyst Lorraine Hutchinson cut the firm's price target on Kohl's to $15 from $18 and affirmed an underperform rating on the shares. Related: Billionaire Bill Ackman makes big bet on major consumer stock The move came after management cut fiscal 2024 guidance for sales, comparable sales, operating margin and EPS to reflect continued challenges in the core business and expectations for a highly competitive holiday. Hutchinson also noted the new CEO announcement and while she says Buchanan's customer-facing expertise from Michaels should provide value, the analyst expects many of Kohl's core challenges to remain. Burlington: Holiday sales started strong Burlington Stores reported higher sales in the latest quarter and said the holiday selling season has started strong. Total sales increased 11% in the fiscal third quarter on top of 12% sales growth last year, CEO Michael O'Sullivan said. "The major driver of this growth is our new-store opening program," O'Sullivan told analysts. "We continue to be very pleased with the performance of our new stores, and we are excited by the strength of our new-store pipeline." The executive said that the company’s back-to-school sales dropped significantly due to temperatures having been much warmer than they were a year earlier. Related: Veteran fund manager issues dire warning on stocks "Unseasonably warm temperatures do not just impact the [comparable] sales trend for cold-weather merchandise," O'Sullivan said. "They're also a drag on overall traffic coming into the store, which affects every business. Anyway, even leaving aside this additional point, we are very encouraged with our underlying comp sales trend." B of A's Hutchinson raised the investment firm's price target on Burlington Stores to $350 from $315 and reiterated a buy rating on the shares. Warm weather and hurricanes hurt Q3 comparable sales at Burlington. But the investment firm models fiscal 2024 sales growth of 8%, driven by a 2.5% comparable and an outsized benefit from productive new stores, adding that Burlington has "outsized sales and margin recovery opportunities." Evercore ISI raised the firm's price target on Burlington Stores to $340 from $315 and kept an outperform rating on the shares. More Retail Stocks: Even with outsized weather exposure, Burlington stayed within same-store sales guidance and managed the profit and loss statement well. That's despite what Evercore says was "the biggest intraquarter peak-to-trough same-store-sales deceleration the off-pricers have seen in years" in Q3. While weather was slightly worse than expected in Q3, the firm said it sees no change to the long-term story and doesn't think comparable sales in a quarter with severe weather headwinds are "a true indicator of the progress being made to sustain competitive off-price comps and with relatively strong margin performance." Best Buy misses on revenue in Q3 Best Buy ( BBY ) missed Wall Street’s third-quarter revenue expectations and cut its full-year sales forecast. The company’s shares are up nearly 14% year-to-date and up 28% from a year ago. "Our sales performance was impacted by overall softer-than-forecasted customer demand during September and October," CEO Corie Sue Barry told analysts during the company's earnings call . "We attribute this to a combination of overall ongoing macro uncertainty, customers waiting for deals and sales, and distraction during the runup to the election, particularly in nonessential categories." Related: Warren Buffett just sold 3 massively popular stocks Barry said the electronics retailer had expected lower demand between sales, "but the impact was even steeper than we estimated." "In the last few weeks, as the holiday sales begun and the election is behind us, we have seen customer demand increase again," she said. "From a category perspective, we drove comparable sales growth in computing, tablets, and services." Loop Capital analyst Anthony Chukumba lowered the investment firm's price target on Best Buy to $100 from $110 while maintaining a buy rating on the shares. Best Buy's Q3 results came up short of the firm's expectations, driven by a disappointing revenue line, but the analyst said he was encouraged by the strong start to the holiday selling season and says management's Q4 guidance could end up being conservative. At the same time, Chukumba said, Best Buy stock is likely to have a significant overhang until the market receives more clarity on Trump administration tariffs since roughly 60% of the company's costs of goods sold are sourced from China. Cost of goods sold refer to the direct costs of goods a company sells. Truist lowered the firm's price target on Best Buy to $95 from $107 and affirmed a hold rating on the shares. Best Buy's Q3 sales and EPS were modestly below the firm's estimates, but margins were solid, and patterns suggest that consumers continue to seek "value" during events with deeper lulls in between, the firm told investors in a research note. While there have been some "green shoots," like positive mid-single-digit-percent comparables in laptops and tablets, and artificial intelligence could provide an incremental lever, natural demand trends have yet to really inflect even after 12 quarters of negative comparables, Truist said. Related: Veteran fund manager sees world of pain coming for stocks