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June 30, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.
Staff Report
The post Prep football primer: Region preview series shifts to TSSAA teams this weekend appeared first on REPORT DOOR.
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Tag: teams
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Prep football primer: Region preview series shifts to TSSAA teams this weekend
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Christian Mainor, who took over as Tyner’s head football coach this offseason, talks to players during a spring practice for the Rams on May 10. Tyner won the TSSAA Class 2A state title last fall. -
Harrison Bader, Jordan Montgomery thriving with new teams
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When the Yankees came to Busch Stadium last season, it was three days after their stunning trade with the Cardinals.
Harrison Bader stayed back in New York, still in a walking boot and six weeks away from playing his first game as a Yankee, while Jordan Montgomery tossed five shutout innings against his former team in his first start as a Cardinal.
Roughly 11 months later, the Yankees returned to Busch Stadium on Friday with Bader as a key cog in their lineup when healthy, and both players more entrenched on their respective teams.
“It was crazy,” manager Aaron Boone said Friday. “[The trade] obviously came together quick and Monty was gone all of a sudden. Then we came right here and faced him right away, which was really weird.
“Obviously, it was hard to lose Monty and glad he’s doing well here.
“But also knew we were getting a dynamic player in the center of the diamond. It took a little while for [Bader] to get going, but once he did and joined our lineup, he was a real difference-maker. That’s what we’ve seen so far when he’s been healthy this year.”
Bader missed 46 games during his two times on the injured list this season. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con Maintaining good health has been a battle for Bader, who recently returned from his second stint on the injured list th is season — the first for a strained oblique and the second for a strained hamstring.
The center fielder missed 46 games between the two trips to the IL, but the Yankees entered Friday 24-11 in games he has played this season.
“Wow,” Boone said when told of the stat. “Look, I think part of that is a testament to him and the kind of impact player he is on both sides of the ball. Also parts of that, you never know what goes into a game and by baseball terms, kind of a small sample.
“At the end of the day, everyone can acknowledge and knows he’s a really good two-way player.
“The thing is he’s come over here and fit in so well. He feels like a Yankee.”
Whether Bader will remain a Yankee after this season remains to be seen, as he is set to hit free agency this offseason. He has been a spark plug when available to the Yankees — including providing some surprising power during the playoffs last year — but his injury history will certainly factor into the Yankees’ ultimate decision.
Montgomery says it may be easier to pitch against former Yankee teammates this season. as the trade isn’t as ‘fresh.’ USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con Montgomery, meanwhile, will face the Yankees on Sunday.
The left-hander posted a 3.11 ERA in 11 starts with the Cardinals last season and currently owns a 3.52 ERA across 16 starts and 92 innings this year, providing them the kind of consistency that the Yankees came to expect from him.
The bearded 30-year-old said facing his former teammates Sunday will feel different than when he had to pitch against them last season when the trade was still so “fresh.”
“This one might be a little easier,” Montgomery said. “I still keep in contact with a lot of guys over there. I don’t know if it’ll ever be easy facing your friends, but it’s just part of it.
“Plenty of guys got friends in the league.”
Montgomery said he does not spend much time thinking about what could have been had he stayed with the Yankees because “it was their decision getting rid of me.”
He shared plenty of hugs with his former teammates and coaches on Friday afternoon but made it clear he was looking forward to facing them this weekend.
Jordan Montgomery #47 of the St. Louis Cardinals. Getty Images “I’m not scared,” he said. “I’m the one holding the ball. It’s just playing a game.”
Those looking for a “winner” of the trade may have gone back and forth at times over the last 11 months, but both Bader and Montgomery insisted they are happy where they currently are.
“It feels like one of those that’s kind of worked out for both teams,” Boone said. “I know we’re rooting on Monty outside of Sunday from afar.”
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Beyoncé teams up with Amazon Music on Renaissance tour merch
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The “Countdown” to the North American leg of Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” tour is almost over.
While her concert dates in the US are still approaching, the pop phenom’s been hitting stages across Europe for weeks, sporting a sparkling selection of high-fashion looks from the likes of Thierry Mugler, Balmain and David Koma along the way.
And although you might not be able to shop her custom couture, Amazon Music’s exclusive drop is the ticket to shopping special tour merchandise from home — whether or not you’ve scored sought-after tour tickets.
The online collection, dubbed Drop 1.0, features a selection of wearable merch, plus a Renaissance Marquee Poster ($20) and a vinyl version of the album ($40).
Amazon Renaissance Tee ($40)
Amazon Renaissance Marquee Tee ($40)
If it’s a traditional T-shirt you’re after, Amazon has you covered with the Renaissance Tee ($40) and Renaissance Marquee Tee ($40) — both of which feature images of Beyoncé striking a pose in one of her bedazzled “Renaissance” era looks.
For something on the cozier side, there’s also a Renaissance Marquee Sweatshirt ($80) and Renaissance Sweatpants ($75), the latter of which read “Renaissance World Tour” down the left leg.
With many styles already becoming bestsellers on Amazon, just be sure to shop fast if you’re “Crazy in Love” with one of the designs.
The star kicked off the much-anticipated tour in May. WireImage for Parkwood Amazon Renaissance Sweatpants ($75)
The styles mark the first drop of four collections — all set to release throughout the North American leg of the “Break My Soul” singer’s tour, which starts July 7 in Toronto, Canada and includes 36 stops.
Beyoncé’s return to stadiums has been style-filled from the start, as she kicked things off by co-designing a Balmain collection inspired by the tracks from her latest album.
She’s also been giving the BeyHive plenty to buzz about on Instagram as of late, as she seemingly teased an upcoming haircare collection in a recent post.
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MLB 2022 season preview video: Players, teams to watch
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In this Post Sports+ video exclusive, Post columnists Joel Sherman and Mike Vaccaro go around the horn with an in-depth preview of the 2022 baseball season. They discuss which young stars around the game they are most excited to watch, their thoughts on the arrival of the DH to the National League, what’s wrong with the ghost runner rule and what has to happen for the Yankees and the Mets to each reach the World Series.
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Yankees, Mets both have the obscene payrolls NY teams need
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Look, we get it. In Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, perhaps the notion of an Armageddon-level work stoppage was almost appealing. In Kansas City and Cleveland, the lockout probably felt less apocalyptic and more like an opportunity for profound market correction.
In Minneapolis and Milwaukee, in Miami and Tampa, the notion of cost-control would certainly seem like a reasonable idea.
But we are not Pittsburgh or Cincinnati. We are not Kansas City or Cleveland. We are not Minneapolis or Milwaukee or Miami or Tampa. We are New York City. We are Batman’s Gotham and Superman’s Metropolis. We are the biggest of big markets. We have never before apologized for that, and we shouldn’t start now.
Only now, both of our baseball teams are taking that to heart.
This summer, the Mets and the Yankees will combine to spend well over a half-billion dollars on baseball players, and if that seems outrageous … well, sure, on one level, a practical and logical level, it probably is outrageous. And there will be times the next six months, when you’re shelling out $12 for a beer and $55 for parking, when it will almost certainly be outrageous.
The Yankees and Mets both have obscene payrolls this season. NY Post illustration But there will be other nights, many other nights, when you simply lose yourself in the nightly rituals of baseball, when you click on SNY or YES in your living room, when you tune to WFAN or WCBS on your patio, and you will simply lose yourself in the baseball season, when you’ll allow John and Suzyn and Howie and Wayne to carry you away.
And to get carried away.
Because you can say all you want about the manner in which both teams constructed their rosters; you can take issue with this player who wasn’t traded for or that free agent who wasn’t signed. But one thing you cannot say about baseball New York, in Queens or in The Bronx, on either side of the RFK Bridge, is this:
They are not scrimping.
The Mets signed Francisco Lindor to a deal worth $341 million over 10 years Getty Images They have both shattered the luxury-tax ceiling, and as of Monday, according to sportrac.com’s MLB payroll tracker, the Mets were prepared to pay $278 million and the Yankees $254 million, including the likely surcharges for surging past the competitive balance tax limits. As Casey Stengel — who as a player once threatened to hold out over $75 — might have said: you can look it up. Or, better yet, just use a calculator.
That’s $532 million. One city. Two teams.
(And both still trail the Dodgers, who before all is said and done may well scrape or splinter the $300 million payroll plateau.)
“It’s great for the fans in New York to have two competitive baseball teams,” Hal Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ managing general partner, said a few weeks ago in Tampa. “We’re in different leagues, but to a certain extent we’re rivals, and it’s going to make the summer a lot of fun.”
Steinbrenner, of course, has been the object of some Yankee-fan derision. Part of that is because he runs the team far differently than his father, who out of either habit or addiction would often approach free-agent season like an all-you-can-eat buffet. And part of that is because the Mets’ owner, Steve Cohen, the sport’s richest man, has made little secret of his willingness to spend chunks of his fortune on his baseball team.
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen talks to the media Getty Images 
New York Yankees Managing General Partner/Co-Chairperson Hal Steinbrenner Getty Images Still — if Steinbrenner is being “cheap,” then $256.5 million kind of redefines the definition.
“I think,” Steinbrenner said, “we have a pretty good history of having high payrolls and putting a good amount of resources into the players we have.”
They do have history, and it would behoove Yankees fans to remember that.
The Mets? There have been years when they flexed their financial muscle — often to disastrous results. But the Wilpon family’s final decade-plus of stewardship was played almost entirely under a post-Madoff smog cloud, and so what is remembered are payrolls and rosters that always felt a little short — and often turned out to be just that.
The Mets may or may not start to stack championships like Jenga pieces, but for as long as Cohen owns them, they aren’t likely to ever again stand accused of parading around in a small-market team’s modest garments.
“Listen, $290 million is a lot of money to spend overall,” Cohen told reporters last month during a visit to Port St. Lucie. “Like I said before, I’m OK with it, and I’m willing to live with it. And we’ll leave it at that.”
So we are left with this: the feeling you get after you surpass your personal high on a bench press, or a bicep curl, or a pull-down. New York’s baseball muscles are flexed. That may not guarantee a mutual date in late October. But it won’t be for lack of trying. Or spending.
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NFL teams ‘monitoring’ potential Terry McLaurin trade opening
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Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin has the attention of other NFL teams.
According to The Athletic, teams are monitoring his contract status in Washington “in case an opening to acquire McLaurin emerges.”
The 26-year-old and the Commanders are reportedly expecting to amp up extension talks sometime around the NFL Draft, which takes place from April 28-30. According to the report, both sides anticipate a June or July resolution.
During last week’s NFL owners’ meetings, Washington head coach Ron Rivera said the Commanders “wouldn’t entertain” calls about McLaurin.
“I think the biggest thing is just [telling] everybody patience,” Rivera said. “We’ve got plenty of time. We’re mapping things out as an organization. We’re prepared for all that stuff.”
McLaurin is entering the final year of his four-year rookie deal that includes a $2.79 million salary in 2022, with a $3.04 million cap hit. But he could demand a lot more money being a first-option wide receiver in a current market that has wideouts landing mega deals.
McLaurin has recorded 222 receptions, 3,090 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns during his three seasons in Washington. Getty Images The Ohio State product is coming off his second consecutive 1,000-yard season — and has remained productive since arriving in Washington in 2019, while playing with eight different starting quarterbacks.
If McLaurin and the Commanders fail to reach a contract extension, the team could franchise tag him for the 2023 season — which would result in Washington paying the receiver $20.16 million.
McLaurin left his future open-ended in January, telling The Athletic, “We just have to see what the future holds. I’m proud of the way I conducted myself and looking forward to seeing what’s next.”
Although McLaurin is no Davante Adams or Tyreek Hill when it comes to the receiver pool, the Packers and Chiefs could use his talents. The Falcons are also in need of receivers, following Calvin Ridley’s full-season gambling suspension in 2022, and Russell Gage’s exit to Tampa Bay last month.
McLaurin has recorded 222 receptions, 3,090 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns in his three seasons in Washington.
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Examining SEC West’s top 3 teams
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Less than three months after Georgia won its first national championship in 40 years, the 2022 college football season is set to open action over the counter.
WynnBET is first to market with win totals, specifically for the best division in FBS with the SEC West.
There have been plenty of changes from a coaching and transfer portal standpoint. Those player departure and acquisitions have been captured in our TARP (Transfer and Returning Production) Dashboard, a piece that has a heavy influence on the changes in power ratings during the offseason.
Here’s a look at the top three teams in the SEC West.
Alabama
The betting board runs like clockwork for the Crimson Tide, forcing preseason investors to bet on an undefeated regular season.
The theme going into this season is that Ohio State and Alabama are on track to meet in the national championship, with power ratings that make the two teams a touchdown favorite over other upper-echelon teams such as Clemson and Texas A&M.
Believe it or not, 2021 was actually a rebuilding year in Tuscaloosa. TARP took a dive after the NFL draft raided the roster, as new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien took over as offensive coordinator with a freshman at quarterback. That freshman was Bryce Young, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy.
Bryce Young USA Today Network/Sipa USA Not only are Young and O’Brien back, but the Tide will also have improved play from the offensive line and a defense that has some of the most experience returning in all of the SEC.
Young can thank the transfer portal for explosive weapons assembled for both the run and pass game. This team may be able to achieve just as many accolades as the undefeated powerhouse Nick Saban fielded during the 2020 pandemic season.
The Tide will travel to Texas as two-touchdown favorites, but they host both Texas A&M and Auburn in the Iron Bowl. Dropping Georgia for Vanderbilt in cross-division play is a bonus.
The best bet in the preseason for Alabama may be on the division, conference or national title in lieu of a season win total.
Action Network Total: 11.9
WynnBET Total: 11.5 (+200/-250)Texas A&M
The Aggies once again have the second-highest win total projection in the SEC West. The window to win the division may be closing despite numerous top-10 recruiting classes.
Texas A&M saw the departure of Zach Calzada to Auburn through the transfer portal, leaving 2021 injured starter Haynes King to compete for the job. Joining King is transfer Max Johnson from LSU, who spent last season evading pressure from an inconsistent Tigers offensive line.
Jimbo Fisher AP One of the biggest changes for the Aggies comes in the coordinator role on defense, as Mike Elko took the head-coaching position at Duke. Texas A&M hired DJ Durkin away from Ole Miss, but head coach Jimbo Fisher made it clear the Aggies are not moving away from the 4-2-5 scheme.
Durkin previously worked with dime packages, often lining up just two or three defensive linemen in standard downs. The new coordinator will adjust to Texas A&M’s style and is expected to produce the same results as Elko.
There are just three home games in SEC play this year, as Fisher looks for solid contribution at quarterback before a Sept. 17 showdown with Miami.
Action Network Total: 9
WynnBET Total: 9 (-125 / +105)Ole Miss
The Rebels received downgrades in their power rating because they own the lowest TARP mark in the division.
Lane Kiffin worked the transfer portal to bring in quarterback Jaxson Dart from USC and running back Zach Evans from TCU. Both are excellent players, but neither are able to replace the production from the Matt Corral era.
Lane Kiffin talks to Jake Springer. AP While the pieces on the field have changed, the one constant is Kiffin’s ability to put points on the board. There’s a direct correlation to Finishing Drives and covering the spread, as Ole Miss ranked seventh in points per attempt past their opponents’ 40-yard line.
There are changes to the defensive staff, but the scheme will remain the same. Ole Miss has improved in stopping the explosive play on defense, coming at the cost of dropping eight defenders into coverage. The Rebels defense finished 80th in Success Rate and 95th in Finishing Drives.
A vanilla non-conference schedule with cross-division play against Vanderbilt will help the Rebels reach five wins. Coin flips with Kentucky, Auburn, LSU and Mississippi State in conference play make Ole Miss a pass from a win total perspective.
Action Network Total: 5.9
WynnBET Total: 8 (-110/-110)[ad_2]
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Commanders allegedly kept ticket revenue from other NFL teams
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The latest accusation of wrongdoing by the Washington Commanders entails stealing from the league’s other 31 teams.
The Commanders did not hand over to the NFL the full 40 percent of ticket sales from home games to be added to the pot and dispersed evenly among visiting teams, according to a FrontOfficeSports.com report. So, Washington is alleged to have skimmed off the top while getting its full 1/32nd of the pie from other teams’ home games.
The House Oversight Committee that has been investigating the Commanders and owner Daniel Snyder for months dating back to allegations of sexual misconduct and a hostile work environment has expanded its scope, according to the report citing two anonymous sources, claiming one person informed Congress of the ticket scheme.
If the allegations are proven accurate, it could be the “death knell” for Snyder’s ownership, a league source told Pro Football Talk
. Owners can vote to force another to sell under extreme circumstances.
Dan Snyder Getty Images Washington reported the second-lowest attendance (52,751 fans per game) in the league for the 2021 season. Other game revenues such as concessions and parking are not pooled to be shared league-wide.
“My understanding is that the early returns of ticket sales are going very well in Washington,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters at the owners’ meetings last week, per Front Office Sports. “They are making a lot of progress. We are very optimistic going into the season.”
Goodell also said last week that Snyder “has not been involved in day-to-day operations” since he was levied a $10 million fine and ceded control to his wife Tanya in July 2021. The Washington Post refuted that report and said Snyder is running the organization on a daily basis.
Revenue from ticket sales is factored into making the league’s annual salary cap.
The NFL declined comment on the report of a ticket scheme.
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Russia’s Yandex lays off two dozen US-based workers from its robot and self-driving teams
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Yandex, the multi-billion dollar Russian tech company that’s been operating a small fleet of autonomous vehicles in Ann Arbor, Michigan, laid off over two dozen US-based workers earlier this month, claiming that its vehicle licenses were suspended by Michigan’s state regulators, Reporter Door has learned. But Michigan says this just isn’t true.
In the days following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Yandex paused its AV testing in Ann Arbor, as well as its tests with six-wheeled delivery robots at several college campuses in Ohio and Arizona. But the pause was only supposed to be temporary — the company said it hoped to resume those operations at a later date.
Yandex claims it was informed on March 9th that its vehicle licenses were suspended by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). Six Ann Arbor-based safety drivers were laid off, the company confirmed. (Yandex employed about 15 people in the city, according to one former employee.) In addition, Yandex also laid off 21 workers in Arizona and Ohio who acted as on-the-ground support staff for the company’s delivery robots.
The state, however, says it isn’t true that Yandex’s licenses were suspended. Yandex still has 14 valid manufacturer plates registered with the state, says Tracy Wimmer, a spokesperson for the Michigan Secretary of State. “We have received no requests to cancel them,” she says. As for the MDOT, it did have a contract with Yandex to operate an autonomous ride-hail service during the 2021 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, but that contract was terminated on July 1st because of the pandemic.
“MDOT had no further business with Yandex,” Cranson said.
But that isn’t what Yandex told its employees — or Reporter Door. Yandex, which has been called “the Google of Russia,” insists that it was pressured by the state to shut down its autonomous vehicle testing operation in Ann Arbor. “In the beginning of March 2022 the company’s legal counsel had a discussion with MDOT and was asked to pause its on-road operations,” said Yulia Shveyko, a spokesperson for Yandex, in an email. “On March 9th we were informed by [the] Michigan Department of Transportation that our testing license was suspended. On-road testing without a license is not possible, so we had to lay off 6 safety-drivers in Ann Arbor.”
When asked to respond to the information provided by MDOT and the Secretary of State, Shevyko declined. “I shared with you all the details from our side available for the moment,” she said.
One employee said that he was told that Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer had received complaints about a Russian company gathering traffic data on public streets and ordered the suspension of Yandex’s licenses. (A spokesperson for the governor deferred comment to MDOT.)
“We were blindsided,” the former Yandex employee said. “And we were told it was the governor of Michigan why we had to cease operations.”
Yandex has been interested in doing business in the US for more than a decade. In 2009, the company opened Yandex Labs in Palo Alto, a 10-minute drive from Google’s headquarters. The company sought to hire nearly two dozen engineers who could share with Moscow the latest trends in Silicon Valley, according to Wired.
That interest expanded to include autonomous vehicles after Yandex’s ride-hailing division, Yandex Taxi, acquired all of Uber’s business in Russia in 2017. The two companies formed a joint venture, with several Uber executives joining Yandex’s board of directors. A year later, Yandex launched what it claimed to be the “world’s first robo-taxi business” in Moscow. The company demonstrated a fully driverless vehicle at CES in Las Vegas in 2020 and then began testing self-driving cars in Ann Arbor. Later that year, it launched a robot delivery pilot with Grubhub, with plans to potentially expand to 250 additional college campuses.
Those plans were upended by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Uber removed its executives from Yandex’s board and, after initiating the sale of its stake in Yandex last August, sped up that process after the invasion. Grubhub terminated its partnership with Yandex, as did privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo.
In Ann Arbor, Yandex’s small team was rocked by the invasion, the former employee said. Many of the employees are immigrants with family back in Russia and friends in Ukraine. And despite the company’s efforts to become less reliant on Moscow, the AV division was still dependent on decisions made at Yandex’s headquarters.
Initially, the message from Moscow was to sit tight, the employee said. “We were told that we have a certain amount of reserves, specifically for international employees,” the employee said. “So you’re gonna be fine.”
Even the banning of Russia from SWIFT, the international payment system employed by banks to send money around the world, seemed to be taken in stride. But then, on March 10th, Yandex told the Ann Arbor team that they were going to be laid off. The license plates were removed from the test vehicles, and they were told that their insurance company had canceled their policy.
“If it wasn’t for the governor shutting us down, I honestly believe that they probably would have footed the bill for another month,” the employee said in an interview that was conducted before the state agencies responded to Yandex’s claims.
After state regulators pointed out that Yandex still had valid vehicle licenses, the employee recalled that some co-workers did express doubts about the claim that Governor Whitmer was indirectly responsible for the layoffs. One former Yandex employee said they reached out to a local Michigan legislator’s office to confirm it but wasn’t able to, according to a screenshot of a group chat shared with Reporter Door.
“So far as I can tell my state legislator has heard nothing of the sort of the governor pulling licenses,” the employee said in the chat.
“Because it’s bogus,” another responded. “But hey, whatever helps them sleep at night.”
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Titans hire Chase Blackburn as assistant special teams coach
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans have hired former Giant Chase Blackburn as an assistant special teams coach after he spent the past six seasons with Carolina.
The Titans announced the hiring Friday along with two other promotions. Clint McMillan and Kylan Butler worked on the coaching staff for the 2021 season and now are full time. McMillan is a defensive line assistant, while Butler is an offensive assistant.
Blackburn played 10 seasons in the NFL after going undrafted out of Akron. Blackburn played linebacker and special teams for the Giants and Panthers, winning two Super Bowl championships with New York.
Blackburn, who spent the past four seasons as Carolina’s special teams coordinator, will work with Titans special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman.
The Panthers ranked eighth in punt return average last season averaging 7.4 yards per return, eighth with a field goal rate of 90.3 percent and 17th in kickoff return average (22.1).
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