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Taylor Swift fans flying to Vancouver for the Eras Tour were treated to an 'awesome' WestJet boarding call in CalgaryJosh Allen passed for two touchdowns and rushed for one more as the Buffalo Bills clobbered the New York Jets 40-14 on Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park, N.Y. The Bills clinched the No. 2 seed in the AFC with the victory. Allen was showered with "M-V-P" chants after putting the game away with a pair of third-quarter touchdown passes -- a 30-yard connection with Amari Cooper and a 14-yard strike to a leaping Keon Coleman with 12 seconds left in the frame. Those scores sandwiched a 1-yard touchdown run by James Cook. Buffalo (13-3) took a 33-0 lead into the fourth quarter thanks to its 21-point third. Allen, who turned things over to backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky for the final 15 minutes, finished with 182 yards on 16-for-27 passing. Trubisky hit Tyrell Shavers for a 69-yard TD on his first pass of the contest to make it 40-0 with 12:37 to go. It marked Shavers' first career catch. The Bills' defense was in the spotlight just as much as Allen, forcing three turnovers and racking up four sacks. Aaron Rodgers struggled under center for New York (4-12), completing 12 of 18 passes for 112 yards. He was picked off twice. Second-string signal-caller Tyrod Taylor broke the shutout with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson with 6:59 left in the game. The Jets proceeded to convert a two-point try to trim their deficit to 40-8. Wilson hauled in seven receptions for 66 yards and the TD. Tyler Conklin grabbed a 20-yard touchdown with 1:55 remaining to complete the scoring. Taylor ended up with 83 yards and the two TDs on 11-of-14 passing. A.J. Epenesa gave the Bills a boost just before the break, sacking Rodgers for a safety that put Buffalo up 9-0 with 2:31 remaining in the second quarter. Tyler Bass extended the Bills' lead with a 39-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. The teams combined for five penalties on the game's first drive, with a 5-yard defensive pass interference call setting Buffalo up at the Jets 1. Allen then got pushed into the end zone for his franchise-record-tying 65th rushing touchdown. --Field Level Media

TORONTO, Dec. 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Friday December 6, MPP Chris Glover and MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam met with the team at Jumpstart Refugee Talent (Jumpstart) to hear how their $194,700 Resilient Communities grant from the provincial government’s Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) has made an impact. The two-year long grant, awarded in 2022, was used to support Jumpstart in its effort to move beyond the impacts of the pandemic by providing needed resources and technology for its staff to adapt programming and services that continue to meet the needs of refugee communities. “This Resilient Communities Fund grant given through the Ontario Trillium Foundation has enabled Jumpstart Refugee Talent to continue their work empowering refugees to find their careers in Canada,” said Kristyn Wong-Tam, MPP for Toronto Centre. “I am excited to see Jumpstart provide even more services that support their clients in the long run for a more resilient community." Thanks to the grant, Jumpstart was able to increase its accessibility by fully adapting all programming to be remote, in response to the needs of staff, clients, and volunteers at the time. Jumpstart has also invested in cloud-based technologies to deliver virtual programming, provided professional development training to its staff, and hired staff to engage 1,000+ clients more closely through needs assessment and career readiness programming. “Jumpstart does incredible work empowering refugees through meaningful employment and entrepreneurial opportunities,” said Chris Glover, MPP for Spadina-Fort York. “They’ve made a profound impact on the lives of over 2,000 refugees. They’ve provided countless successful programs. Every person living in this province has the right to find meaningful employment and the resources to achieve their full potential. We all benefit from programs like these.” “COVID-19 significantly impacted vulnerable populations, especially refugees, and the organizations serving them,” said Malaz Sebai, Director of Operations, Jumpstart Refugee Talent. “OTF support was critical to adapting our programming and building our organizational resilience so we can better support the economic inclusion of refugees for years to come.” Jumpstart Refugee Talent is a refugee-led charitable organization, headquartered in Toronto with a network of offices throughout Canada and around the world. Its work is dedicated to support the economic inclusion of refugees, refugee claimants, and forcibly displaced individuals, by connecting them with meaningful employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Ontario government with a mission to build healthy and vibrant communities across the province. Last year, OTF invested more than $110M into 1,044 community projects and multi-sector partnerships. Projects aim to enhance economic well-being, foster more active lifestyles, support child and youth development, provide spaces for people to come together and connect, and create a more sustainable environment. Visit otf.ca to learn more. Organization Contact for Media Inquiries: Amanda Fortier, Communications Manager Jumpstart Refugee Talent amanda.fortier@jumpstartrefugee.ca T: (888) 997-3384 x (728)

The Washington Capitals visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, November 27 after Lars Eller scored two goals in the Capitals' 4-1 win against the Florida Panthers. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on TNT. Fans looking to watch this NHL game can do so for free by using DirecTV Stream , which offers a free trial or with SlingTV , which doesn’t offer a free trial but has promotional offers available. Max has plans starting at just $9.99/month and includes movies, original series and more. Wednesday’s game is the second time these teams square off this season. The Lightning won the last matchup 3-0. Jake Guentzel scored two goals in the win. Tampa Bay has a 7-2-1 record at home and an 11-7-2 record overall. The Lightning have gone 11-3-1 when scoring at least three goals. Washington is 14-6-1 overall and 7-2-0 in road games. The Capitals have gone 5-2-0 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent. Who: Washington Capitals vs. Tampa Bay Lightning When : Wednesday, November 27 at 7:30 p.m. ET Where : Tampa, FL Stream : Sling ; DirecTV Stream ; MAX Betting: Check out our MA sports betting guide , where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts. DirecTV Stream is an internet TV service that offers your favorite entertainment, news and sports channels, as well as local TV stations and regional sports networks . DirecTV Stream can be purchased for $79.98/month for your first two months when you sign up for the ENTERTAINMENT package and add DIRECTV Sports Pack. Here’s what you can watch on Sling TV, with plans starting at $40 : Baseball (MLB), Basketball (NBA, NCAAB), Combat Sports (Boxing, UFC, MMA), Football (NCAAF, NFL), Golf, Hockey, Motorsports, Olympics, Soccer, Tennis and Wrestling. MAX offers a wide variety of content from Warner Bros. Discovery, including movies, shows, documentaries, and live sports. Plans start at $9.99 a month. The Associated Press contributed to this article.Emily Ratajkowski stuns in plunging black dress after splitting from boyfriend ShaboozeyMarler to retire from rugby on Friday, a month after quitting international duty with England

Lisa Simpson once said during an episode of “The Simpsons:” What could be more exciting than the savage ballet that is pro football? On Monday night, the entire Simpsons universe gets to experience it in a way not many could have imagined. The prime-time matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys will also take place at Springfield’s Atoms Stadium as part of “The Simpsons Funday Football” alternate broadcast. The altcast will be streamed on ESPN+, Disney+, and NFL+ (on mobile devices). ESPN and ABC have the main broadcast, while ESPN2 will carry the final “ManningCast” of the regular season. The replay will be available on Disney+ for 30 days. Globally, more than 145 countries will have access to either live or on replay. “We’re such huge football fans, and the Simpsons audience and the football audience, I feel, are like the same audience of just American families and football. And the Simpsons are so much a part of the DNA of the American family and culture that for us to, like, mush them together in this crazy video game, it’s so fun,” said Matt Selman, executive producer of “The Simpsons.” While the game is the focal point, the alternate broadcast, in some ways, will resemble a three-hour episode of “The Simpsons.” It starts with Homer eating too many hot dogs and having a dream while watching football. Homer joins the Cowboys in the dream while Bart teams up with the Bengals. Lisa and Marge will be sideline reporters. “That’s the beginning of the story, and the story continues through the entire game until Homer wakes up from his dream at the end of the game. It is like a complete story, and the NFL game will happen in between. It’s just going to be an amazing presentation with tons of surprises,” said Michael “Spike” Szykowny, ESPN’s VP of edit and animation. This is the second year ESPN has done an alternate broadcast for an NFL game. It used the characters from “Toy Story” for last year’s Sunday morning game from London between the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars. “The Simpsons” has featured many sports-themed episodes during its 35 seasons. Even though “Homer at the Bat” remains the consensus favorite sports episode for many Simpsons fans, there have been football ones such as “Bart Star” and “Lisa The Greek.” There also was a Super Bowl-themed one after Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl 33 between Denver and Atlanta in 1999. Even though “The Simpsons” remains a staple on Fox’s prime-time schedule, it is part of the Disney family after their acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019. All 35 seasons are on Disney+. The show’s creators have worked with ESPN and the NFL to make sure the look and sound is definitely Simpsonsesque. The theme song is a mash-up of “The Simpsons” opening and “Monday Night Football’s” iconic “Heavy Action.” There have also been pre-recorded skits and bits to use during the broadcast featuring Simpson’s legendary voices Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, and Yeardley Smith. The telecast will be entirely animated, with the players’ movements in sync with what is happening in real-time on the field. That is done through player-tracking data enabled by the NFL’s Next Gen Stats system and Sony’s Beyond Sports Technology. While Next Gen Stats tracks where players are on the field with a tracking chip in the shoulder pads, there is skeletal data tracking and limb tracking data — which uses 29 points per player — to get closer to the player’s movements. The other data tracking will allow Beyond Sports and Disney to add special characters to the game. For example, there might be a play where Lisa catches the ball and goes 30 yards instead of Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins. “Lisa is much smaller than the rest of the players. So, in real life, the ball would go over her head, but now, with data processing, we can take the ball and make it go exactly into her hands. So for the viewer, it still looks believable, and it all makes sense,” said Beyond Sports co-founder Nicolaas Westerhof. The other major challenge is making “The Simpsons” two-dimensional cartoon characters into 3-D simulations. Szykowny and his team worked to make that a reality over the past couple of months. “That’s a big leap of faith for them to say, hey, we trust you to make our characters 3-D and work with it. Our ESPN creative studio team has done a wonderful job,” Szykowny said. Lisa, Krusty, Nelson, Milhouse and Ralph will be with Bart and the Bengals; while Carl, Barney, Lenny and Moe join up with with Homer and the Cowboys. The broadcast will also feature ESPN personalities Stephen A. Smith, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. ESPN’s Drew Carter, Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky will call the game from Bristol, Connecticut, and also be animated. They will wear Meta Quest Pro headsets to experience the game from Springfield using VR technology. For Kimes, being part of the broadcast and being an animated Simpsons character is a dream come true. She is a massive fan of the show and has a framed photo of Lisa Simpson — who she said is a personal hero and icon — as part of her backdrop when she makes appearances on ESPN NFL shows from her home in Los Angeles. “I didn’t have any input, and I didn’t see anything beforehand, so I wasn’t sure if it would look like me, but it kind of does, which is very funny,” said Kimes, who drew Simpsons characters when she was a kid. “To see the actual staff turn me into one was a dream.” Even though the Bengals (4-8) and Cowboys (5-7) have struggled this season, Selman thinks both teams have personalities that appeal to “The Simpsons” universe. “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,” he said. ”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. “If Homer is mad at Bart and has a hot dog dream while watching ’Monday Night Football’, and then it’s basically McCarthy versus Burrow, Homer versus Bart, and that’s the simple father versus son strangling — Homer strangling Bart dynamic that has been part of the show for 35 years. I don’t know if that would have worked as well if it was like Titans versus Jacksonville. We would have found something. We would have made it work.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflWorksport ($WKSP) To Showcase Upcoming Innovations Live on FOX & Friends National TV