Patriots hook up Navy Football with nice transportation to Liberty Bowl – 98.5 The Sports Hub

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December 26, 2019

Adam Hagy-USA TODAY

By Matt Dolloff, 985TheSportsHub.com

FOXBORO, Mass. -- The Patriots won't be needing either of their two team planes this weekend, with the Miami Dolphins coming to Foxboro for a game at Gillette Stadium. And apparently, they're willing and able to loan their private transportation when another team can spring for it.

So the Navy football team decided this week that they want to fly high in the same plane as the six-time Super Bowl champions. They are renting one of the Patriots' team planes for their trip to Memphis, Tenn. for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl against Kansas State.

Thank you @Patriots and Team 125 for sending us to the @AZOLibertyBowl the right way! #NavyFB | #BuiltDifferent

@NavyFB traveling to the @AZOLibertyBowl in STYLE. Thank you @Patriots

Obviously, some very clever internet sleuths had to try to catch Navy blatantly violating NCAA rules by accepting the ride on the Patriots' plane as a gift. Navy Athletics was quick to put the very cool and awesome tattles in their place.

@Bruinman86 @PhilBlueRibbon @BobSocci @NavyFB @AZOLibertyBowl @Patriots It was paid for.

Damn. That was close. The Angry Internet People almost nabbed another one.

Ultimately, it was a nice gesture by the Patriots to let a college team get a taste of the life of an NFL traveler. Didn't come without a price, but for the players the experience was probably priceless.

Sweet ride ???? https://t.co/V6x6PFwXi0

Matt Dolloff is a digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff or email him at [emailprotected].

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Patriots hook up Navy Football with nice transportation to Liberty Bowl - 98.5 The Sports Hub

Donald Trump, Jerry Falwell Jr., and Liberty Universitys Football Vision – The Ringer

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Ill tell you a funny story, Jerry Falwell Jr. says.

Its about his school, Liberty University, and about its football team, the Flames, and about his friend, the most powerful man in the world. My wife and I attend a lot of Friday-night dinners with recruits, says Falwell, the president of Liberty, the conservative Southern Baptist university that ascended in 2018 from FCS to FBS football and will play in its first-ever bowl game this Saturday. Were talking last August, a few days before Libertys first FBS game.

Were sitting around a table like this one, Falwell continues, gesturing to our table in a conference room high above Libertys Lynchburg, Virginia, campus. Its me and my wife, and its the recruits father and his son, whos a running back.

He leans forward. He has a gray beard, blue eyes, and a charmed bluster. He smiles. The story is just getting good. And then my phone rings, he says. Its an unknown number. And I answered it. His eyes brighten.

It was the president.

Donald J. Trump, calling Falwell right in the middle of a recruiting dinner. He grins, remembering the moment. Hey, Jerry, he remembers Trump saying, I just wanted to tell you that you did a great job on CNN the other night. Falwell often appears on cable news to defend Trumps decisions and to bolster his connection with evangelical Christians.

We talk politics for a minute, he says, and he asks about BeckiFalwells wifeand he says hes glad she and Melania are becoming friends. And then, Falwell remembers, after a few minutes of small talk, Trump had a question:

So, hows the football team looking?

I went to Liberty to write about football. I went twice, once last year, for the programs very first FBS game, and again this July, to talk with the schools new head coach, Hugh Freeze. But thinking about Libertys football team is impossible without also thinking about the university at large, and any consideration of the university is colored by the legacy of its founder, Jerry Falwell Sr., and the public impact of its president, Falwell Jr., both giant figures in the history and present of politicized American evangelicalism; and all of this leads, inevitably, from thinking about football to thinking about God.

The difference between Liberty and other schools, says Turner Gill, Libertys coach until he resigned last winter to care for his wife as she deals with a heart condition, is that at Liberty, everywhere you go, you pray. Professors pray with you. Staff prays with you. If youre talking about something serious with someone, theyll say, Hey, lets pray about this. Liberty is the largest nonprofit Christian university in the country, a place where students and faculty enter most every conversation with an expectation that theyre talking to someone who shares their Christian faith. Prayer opens many classes and meetings. Casual conversation, even among strangers, is often peppered with evangelical slang. I was really on fire for the Lord, senior Ivory Edosomwan says of first arriving on campus as a first-year student, and Id never been surrounded by 15,000 Christians before. I was amazed.

Walk around Libertys campus, and it can feel at first glance like any other university, with gleaming facilities and cranes for new construction and students shuffling between classes, some in sweats and sandals, a few in Yeezys and Supreme. I graduated from another evangelical university, and the first layer of Libertys culture felt familiar: aggressively and startlingly nice. People are so happy and excited to talk with you, says Jake Page, the former student government association president, who graduated this spring. Whether youre passing in the hall or just walking outside, theyll welcome you, give you directions. Theres a spirit in Liberty students thats contagious. Theres a genuine joy.

Just underneath that first layer, though, the campuss culture reflects an assumed ideological sameness. Just like Harvard is known as a liberal institution, but you dont have to be a liberal to go there, says Falwell, you dont have to be a Christian here. But we attract Christians for the most part, and we attract conservative students for the most part, because everyone knows what Liberty stands for. Liberal students have to go searching for like minds. Students describe the English and religion departments as home to more liberal professors, and say social-justice-oriented ministry organizations are more liable to attract liberal students. Online, private Facebook groups serve as havens for LGBTQ students. For students who are a little more on the woke sidequote unquotefinding a community can be a struggle, says Hannah Hartsook, a student who helped start a group called LU for #MeToo. Ive definitely found that community, but its small.

Each student arrives on Libertys campus for their own personal reasons. Hartsook faced pressure from her parents. Edosomwan chose LU because it had a mechanical engineering program and the distinction of the worlds largest Christian university (though it has since been passed in enrollment by Arizonas Grand Canyon University). A number of football players say they chose the school for the same reason recruits choose any other school: They wanted playing time.

All arrive with their own personal mission, their own ambitions and desires. In 2019, though, its difficult to understand exactly what the universitys mission is. Though his father founded the Moral Majority, the Reagan-era movement that solidified the alliance between evangelicals and the Republican Party, Falwell Jr. is a lawyer, not a minister. His public comments focus far more on a Trumpian brand of conservative politics than on any expressions of faith. He has built the once-modest university into a national brand, using revenue from online education to fund a building boom on campus. It is a university founded on evangelical Christian theology, led by a president spreading nativist politics, expanding with the money of online students, most of whom live many miles away.

Libertys football players compete for themselves and their teammates. Its a family-like atmosphere, says Juwan Wells, who played defensive line for the Flames from 2015 to 2018. Like in any college football program, though, their play also serves to draw attention to their school. This Saturday, Liberty will play in the Cure Bowl, perhaps the biggest game in the programs history. All around the country, college football fans starved for games will flip to the CBS Sports Network and watch the Flames play Georgia Southern. Some might be learning about Libertys existence for the very first time.

In 2019, Liberty continues growing in size and stature, Falwell in influence and notoriety. The reputation of the university and that of the man who runs it are bound up together, intertwined. And lately Falwells personal conduct has drawn more scrutiny than ever before. In September, Politico published an investigative piece by Liberty alumnus Brandon Ambrosino, outlining a university culture that one administrator called a dictatorship. The piece also detailed university financial dealings that appeared to enrich people close to Falwell, including his son Trey, and anecdotes about Falwells loud and enthusiastic descriptions of his own sex life to subordinates on campus.

Students staged a protest against Falwell in September, a few holding signs that said We Want Change and calling for an independent investigation into Falwells leadership and conduct. (As of December, no investigation has been announced.) Falwell has threatened to sue Ambrosino and has called for the FBI to investigate an alleged criminal conspiracy by former board members who may have participated in the story. On campus, some students feel a certain tension. They love their classmates and many professors, but feel uneasy about what their university and its leader now represent. Says Hartsook: Jerry kinda sucks, but the school itself does not. Theyre pretty good people here.

Falwells father, Jerry Falwell Sr., founded the university in 1971, its football program two years later. He spoke then about building Liberty football into a national power, a program to compete with the likes of Alabama and USC. The idea, then as now, was that Liberty could represent for evangelicals what Notre Dame does for Catholics and Brigham Young University for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintsa cultural unifier, a team and an institution in which members of the faith could feel a sense of investment, whether or not they attended the school. My dads goal, says Falwell Jr., was to create for evangelical young people a university that had all the facilities, the NCAA Division I sports, and the academics that any major secular university would have. That was the goal. It took decades for the university to build the resources necessary to compete anywhere near that level. Now, though, Falwell Jr. says the move to FBS is sort of the realization of that.

Just ask the coach. Here we are, getting to walk in that vision, says Freeze. Pretty neat.

Freeze is talking to me this July, sitting in a press box in Libertys stadium, a few weeks before his first season kicks off. I love a challenge, he says. If we can take this program to a bowl game in the first two, three, even four years, that would be pretty neat. Five months later, hes done it in year one. Im just overjoyed, he said after the Flames bowl matchup was announced. To stand here today knowing its a reality and that we are achieving something thats never been done before is really, really special.

Freeze has led his program to new heights and brought national attention, sometimes for reasons that have little to do with its play on the field. Early this season, he coped with a health scare in ways that became one of the strangest story lines in college football. In August, weeks after I interviewed Freeze, he underwent surgery for a debilitating staph infection. As he recovered, Freeze coached from a hospital bed and Skyped into a postgame press conference.

The images of Freeze coaching from a bed seemed to perfectly capture the beautiful ridiculousness of college football. Here was a man so committed to coachingor perhaps to giving the appearance of coachingthat he would lie prone on a mattress, shouting calls into a headset from beginning to end of a blowout loss.

This is Libertys coach. Offensive whiz, talented recruiter, man willing to coach from any surface, prone or upright, that his body allows. Freeze has also long been one of the sports most outspoken evangelical Christians. When we meet, Freeze looks healthy. He sounds confident. He talks about the opportunity before him. Freeze says he was drawn to Liberty by the schools faith-based mission, but admits, I wouldnt say thats the biggest thing.

The primary draw? It was the one school, he says, that offered me the opportunity to step back in as head coach.

You may have heard why.

The light was soft and warm, the stage massive and spare. Freeze stood before 13,000 students one morning in January 2018, his wife and his hometown pastor seated behind him, and started talking about sin. Freeze had been invited to speak at Libertys convocation, the thrice-weekly services held in the Vines Convocation Center, to tell the story of how he had lost his job.

Well, kind of. Freeze spent much of his time telling stories of others whove come back from failures, before eventually offering vague references to his own personal shortcomings. Can you have a genuine faith, he asked, and have a season in your life when you struggle with a sin?

Six months earlier, Freeze had resigned as head coach at the University of Mississippi, amid an NCAA investigation and reports of personal misconduct. Ole Miss faced 17 allegations of NCAA rules violations during Freezes tenure, most regarding impermissible benefits in the form of cash, merchandise, or food for recruits. Also in 2017, university phone records emerged showing multiple calls placed from Freezes university phone to numbers held by escort services. When Freeze resigned, the universitys statement said that he admitted to the administration a pattern of personal misconduct.

On stage, Freeze made no mention of specific ways hed failed. He kept things vague. I didnt honor my wife totally, he said. Freeze did, however, explain that hed been privately dealing with the consequences of his failures long before anything became public. He said, What I thought was a private sin I had struggled with, confessed to my wife. It became public. My world crumbled.

Libertys convocation felt like a fitting setting for a public apology. Liberty is a place where people come to get forgiveness from the public, says Edosomwan. Michael Vick has spoken there. So has Ray Rice. Forgiveness is, after all, baked into the core of evangelical Christian theology, which teaches that Jesuss crucifixion served as atonement for all of humanitys sins, and that anyone who asks God for forgiveness is saved from punishment for those sins.

During his talk, Freeze said to the crowd, I am sorry. Please forgive me. In a matter of seconds, someone called back, We forgive you! The students cheered.

In our interview, Freeze again declined to give details on his misconduct, but he said of his family, They know exactly what I did. He spoke about initial anger at the coverage of his resignation. I used to really get frustrated with that, he said. But I finally came to the conclusion, Look, if I had never done anything wrong, they couldnt write anything or get their own assumptions.

Once, a coach with Freezes rsum would have been well out of Libertys league. For years, the university barely remained afloat. I remember times when my father and I spent weekends talking to donors and lenders about loaning us money to cover the paychecks that had gone out the Friday before, Falwell Jr. says. We were that close to the edge for so long. The school turned around its finances by investing in online and distance learning, becoming a nonprofit competitor with institutions such as the University of Phoenix.

Liberty now has more than 100,000 students, about 85 percent of whom attend online. As the university found solid financial footing and the quality of its facilities rose, Liberty began exploring the possibility of finally making the jump to FBS earlier this decade. NCAA rules require a team to move up into a conference, rather than as an independent, but Liberty couldnt come to an agreement after conversations with the Sun Belt and Conference USA. (Falwell said the Sun Belt rejected Liberty because of its politics. The Sun Belt disagreed.) In 2017, the NCAA granted the school an exception, allowing it to move up with no conference.

The move has been overseen by athletic director Ian McCaw. Like Freeze, McCaw once worked in the highest levels of college sports, as AD at Baylor. And like Freeze, he resigned amid scandal. McCaw stepped down in 2016, after the university released the findings of an external investigation, in which the law firm Pepper Hamilton found specific failings within both the football program and the Athletics Department leadership, including a failure to identify and respond to a pattern of sexual violence by a football player, to take action in response to reports of a sexual assault by multiple football players, and to take action in response to a report of dating violence. The report also expressed significant concerns about the tone and culture within Baylors football program as it relates to accountability for all forms of athlete misconduct.

Several students I interviewed did not even know who McCaw was, much less what had happened under his watch at Baylor. Joel Schmieg, the former sports editor of Libertys student newspaper, The Liberty Champion, followed his hire closely. I was really upset, he says. To me, that was the biggest step in Liberty putting sports above everything, just like any other school. Schmieg had followed Liberty sports obsessively since the moment he arrived on campus, traveling to road games as a fan, covering playoff runs as a student reporter. It was like, What do I do now? How do I root for this? Its my own school, and I dont even want to root for them anymore.

Falwell bristles when asked about McCaws handling of sexual assault reports at Baylor. We did a lot of due diligence, he says, and I believe in him. We looked into it and couldnt find where he had done anything wrong. And everybody we talked to on the board down there said, He will never embarrass you. Hes golden.

McCaw denies responsibility for the culture of his department at Baylor. It was a university-wide, systemic problem, he says, sitting in his office in 2018. He points to a deposition, which he gave last year as part of an ongoing lawsuit, in which he discussed the dynamics at Baylor in greater depth. In the deposition, McCaw referred to the Pepper Hamilton report and other moves by the university as an elaborate plan that essentially scapegoated the black football players and the football program for being responsible for what was a decades-long, university-wide sexual assault scandal.

I relayed all of this to Brenda Tracy, the woman who has become the most prominent activist voice regarding issues related to sexual violence in college football. Of course there was a campus-wide problem, says Tracy, who spoke to Baylors football team several months after McCaws resignation. But to say that athletics wasnt centered in all of thisthat is wrong for them to say that.

Like Schmieg, Hartsook says that McCaws hiring mostly went unnoticed by students, but among those paying attention, she says, It was politicized. In Hartsooks conversations with other students about McCaws hiring, she says, Most people took a really defensive stance on it. They either said he did nothing wrong, or they said, Were supposed to be Christians and forgive. This emphasis can feel, at times, like weaponized theology. Grace becomes the enemy of justice. As a Christian university, Hartsook says, we should be holding leadership to a higher standard. But it feels like were not.

Liberty wants to compete. This means recruiting the best players it can find, regardless of how closely they hew to the universitys professed beliefs. I dont treat it any differently from any other schools Ive been, says Freeze. I dont know if I should or I shouldnt. I dont know what the answer is. I still look for the same kind of kid I looked for at Arkansas State or Ole Miss. Number one, does he fit with our program? Is he a gym rat? Does he love to compete? I dont ask, Well, is he an angel?

Freeze says he doesnt bring up the universitys faith-based mission early in the recruitment process, but that he discusses it openly when asked. Im happy to tell them, This is a difference between this university and others. How you view that difference is ultimately going to be up to you. He tells them its a Christian school, that they will hear and see Christian teaching most every day theyre on campus. I hope it attracts you at some point, he says he tells them, but that doesnt go into me deciding whether we offer you a scholarship.

Libertys last two recruiting classes have ranked near the bottom of FBS, as expected of a program new to this level. (The current class looks to be an improvement, ranked no. 92 in the country.) When I ask players what drew them to Liberty, most say their decision was about football first. The coaches made it clear, says Wells, who chose Liberty over offers from Old Dominion and Troy, you can have the chance to compete for a starting job from the moment you get on campus. If you have the talent, youre going to get a shot. Says senior quarterback Stephen Calvert, a former three-star recruit who had offers from FIU and USF: The facilities are amazing. These are way better than at any of the other programs that were recruiting me. Bejour Wilson says that on his visit he could sense that the team felt like family, and Ceneca Espinoza Jr. explains that he felt a loyalty to the Flames for offering him a scholarship before anyone else.

But Espinoza also felt drawn to the schools religious affiliation. At home I believed in God, but I wasnt really a strong believer, said Espinoza. I felt like here I could really develop myself. Others liked what the schools culture can help to limit: I wanted no distractions, said Antonio Gandy-Golden, seeming to refer to the lack of a party atmosphere on campus. Just focus on football and school and nothing else. I love that aspect of it.

While neither Freeze nor Gill told me their players needed to be Christians, Gill emphasized the fact that once his players arrive on campus, theyd be fed a steady diet of Scripture and Christian teachingsin their classes and in convocation, at the very least. This university is evangelical, he said. That means youre trying to find the lost and bring them to Christ.

Christianity is built around a man who taught peace and nonviolence; football is among the worlds most brutal sports. I tell Falwell a story about someone I know, a high-level administrator at a Christian university, who has resisted developing a football program because of worries that the sports culture clashes with its mission. Its a challenge, Falwell says, but the positives outweigh the negatives. It brings attention to your school. That shines a light on your Christian mission.

I mention this to Schmieg. The idea of using sports to broadcast the message of Jesus is awesome, he says. But here, I think most of the time it comes off as broadcasting Liberty instead of the message of Jesus.

And these days, drawing attention to Liberty means drawing attention to Falwell. The universitys president has carved out a public identity as a Trump-promoting talking head, appearing regularly on camera to defend the president on everything ranging from charges of stoking anti-Semitism to criticisms of his personal morality after the release of an Access Hollywood tape in which Trump bragging about grabbing women by the pussy.

Falwell insists, time and again, that these are only his personal views, that hes not representing the university. But after the release of the Access Hollywood tape, Falwell spiked a student newspaper column by Schmieg in which Schmieg criticized Trumps defense of his words as locker-room talk. Schmieg says he felt compelled by his own faith to speak out against Trumps words and actions. After the administration killed his column, he resigned from the student paper. I wasnt fired, but if I had stayed it would have felt like I had to fall in line, or else, he says. I wasnt interested in that. By giving up his role at the paper, Schmieg says, he was giving up the scholarship money that came with it too. It sucked, he says. I loved my job. I loved being a part of that newspaper. (Falwell said that he spiked the column because the paper was already running a proHillary Clinton letter to the editor, and that running both would be redundant.)

Falwell used the same defense of Trump then that he has used so many times since, the same defense that seems to follow so many around campus. Were all sinners, he says. People say, How can you support a sinner like Donald Trump? Were all sinners. Come on now. Nobodys better than anybody else. Here, again, is the tension between the Christian compulsion toward forgiveness and the Christian compulsion toward just doing the right thing. Says Hartsook: Forgiveness is used as a manipulative tool. Its like, Forgive me because the Bible says so, even if I never have to take responsibility for anything I did wrong.

Falwell uses Jesuss words as justification for his support of Trump. Yet the core of what Jesus taught centered on embracing the stranger, caring for the poor and the sick. (On Thursday, Christianity Todays editor-in-chief wrote an editorial using a theological justification to advocate for Trumps removal from office.) How does Falwell reconcile his faith with his support of a president who has consistently spoken ill of racial and religious minorities in this country, who has drawn the support of white supremacists, who has built much of his political identity around policies of keeping those less fortunate strangers from entering our country?

Jesus never told Caesar how to run Rome, he said. He told us as his followers, as believershe told us that its our job to help those in need, to help the least of these. He never said to Caesar to take money from the rich and give it to the poor. This is a common refrain among some conservative Christians regarding social welfare policies. Caring for the poor is the job of the church, not of the government. Its very clear, he continues. And people get confused by that. They think, Oh, Jesus said to help the poor. Doesnt that mean the United States should let in anybody that wants to come? Well, the United States is not a theocracy. Its not meant to be run according to the teachings of Jesus. Im sorry, but its not.

Falwell is one of the bulwarks of the religious right, an heir to his fathers Moral Majority. His family has built its legacy on the intertwinement of faith and politics, fighting for prayer in schools and against gay marriage. Yet Falwell seems to be suggesting that his political activity is no longer guided by his Christian beliefs. So I ask how much his faith informs his political views.

Not at all, he says.

Without pausing, he rushes into an explanation. I mean, I believe what I do politically because I believe its whats best for the country. And I take to heart what Jesus said. Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and unto God the things that are Gods. Theyre two different things. In years past, many within the religious right have seemed to equate Christian belief with conservative politicsparticularly on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage. Falwell, though, justifies his support for Trump by suggesting that faith and politics need not be intertwined. I think you can be a liberal, a conservative, or a libertarian, and still be a good Christian.

I refer back to what Falwell said earlier, that he sees Trump as a Christ-centered man.

Well, Falwell says, Ive never talked to him about that in particular. But I think hes a good man. I do think hes a Christian. To be clear, Jerry Falwell Jr., one of Trumps first and loudest supporters from the religious right, a man who talks to the president often, who began our conversation by bragging about getting a phone call from him during a recruiting dinner, and who has developed his own platform through his presidency of the nations best-known evangelical university, said that he doesnt talk to the president about faith.

Hartsook says that after both the Politico piece and a Reuters piece that quoted emails in which Falwell called a student retarded, support for Falwells leadership has waned, even among more politically and religiously conservative students. The rules we have to follow, he breaks them all the time, says Hartsook. According to the schools code of conduct, The Liberty Way, students can be fined for using obscene, profane, or abusive language. Says Hartsook: Its not enforced with him.

When he ran the program, Gill seemed unbothered by Falwells political outspokenness. It has never been an issue for our football team, he said. Hes speaking on behalf of himself, not on behalf of the university, and people can agree or disagree, and thats OK.

Administrators see the football program as a way to unite Libertys increasingly diverse student body, connecting students and alumni from across the country and even the world. They tell stories of students who never set foot on campus until arriving in Lynchburg to walk across the stage at graduation. Theyre just as much of a part of this school as the on-campus students, says McCaw. Athletics can give them a great way to connect to the university.

In his campaign for student government association president, Page ran on a platform of building school spirit among the student body. Were such a young school, he says, that we dont have the traditions that so many other schools do. I felt like by building those, we can build a deeper sense of pride among the student body. He worked to centralize tailgating before football games, to design and offer class rings available to students near graduation.

How much that translates into a fan base invested in the football programs success remains to be seen. Players and coaches have spoken at length about the energy they feel around campus, the excitement that has accompanied the programs ascension to the highest level. Schmieg says hes seen the administration go all in on promoting the program, but he adds, From a student perspective, though, I dont think most people care.

In 2018, Liberty had an average attendance of 17,047, which ranked 110th out of 130 FBS programs. (The schools stadium capacity is 25,000.) This year, attendance improved to 18,272, though its unclear where that ranks among FBS programs. The product on the field is improving. The energy around the program is growing, if slowly. Liberty remains far from Falwell Sr.s dream of truly competing with the likes of Alabama or Notre Dame, but Liberty football matters more now than it ever has.

Back in his office, Falwell Jr. isnt quite done with his story. The one about the recruiting dinner, about the phone call from Trump, about the time the president told Falwell he did a great job on CNN. Sitting around the table, he holds his smile and continues. After Trump asked about the football program, he says. I handed the phone to Turner.

I used to watch you play at Nebraska, Falwell says, imitating Trumps conversation with Gill, still Libertys coach at the time. You were the best quarterback they ever had!

Soon enough, Gill handed the phone back to Falwell, and Falwell traded banter with Trump for a few moments more. Finally, Falwell says, he hung up and returned his attention to the dinner, as well as to the football recruit and his family who were sitting at his table. The boys dad was just sitting over there, Falwell says, and hes just like, Oh, my God.

He shrugs. Anyway, he says, that was our last recruit. Falwell leans back and he smiles, pleased with his team and his school, his president and himself.

We got him.

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Donald Trump, Jerry Falwell Jr., and Liberty Universitys Football Vision - The Ringer

Stephen Calvert, Liberty Top Georgia Southern 23-16 to Win 2019 Cure Bowl – Bleacher Report

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Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images

The Liberty Flames won a postseason game just two years after their move to the FBS,defeating the Georgia Southern Eagles in the 2019 Cure Bowl at Orlando'sExploriaStadium on Saturday.

Quarterback Stephen Calvert led the way for Liberty. The senior wasn't perfect, as he had two turnovers, but he had 270 yards passing in the win.

The defense did a terrific job of stifling Georgia Southern's potent rushing attack. The Eagles had 154 yards, but they needed 46 carries to get there.

Georgia Southern put together a valiant effort after it fell behind 23-7, but the offense couldn't put the ball in the end zone. Only one of its four trips to the red zone resulted in a touchdown; kicker Tyler Bass did go 3-of-3 on field goalsnone longer than 35 yards.

Notable Game Stats

Big Plays, Defense Carry Liberty to First Bowl Win

The hallmark for Liberty's success in 2019 was its explosive offense, whichranked34th in the FBS with 442.5 yards per game. That group scored at least 35 points in five of its seven regular-season wins.

It wasn't a surprise, then, to see the Flames open up the playbook Saturday. Calvert didn't have a great game by completion percentage, but he still managed two touchdown passes.

Liberty's first score of the game came on a perfect play call when the Eagles were caught off guard on a play-action fake that left Johnny Huntley wide open in the middle of the field for a 57-yard touchdown.

Georgia Southern's offense is the antithesis of Liberty's. Head coach Chad Lunsford utilizes a run-heavy scheme that has produced tremendous success in his two full seasons with the program.

The Eagles entered the Cure Bowl ranked eighth in the nation with 261.5 rushing yards per game. They certainly didn't abandon their ground attack Saturday, especially early on in keeping pace with Liberty.

After Georgia Southern tied the score at seven, the Flames settled in on both sides of the ball to take control. Calvert had consecutive completions of 18 and 30 yards on the next drive, and the defense committed a pass interference penalty for 15 yards.

Those big plays set up Joshua Mack's go-ahead touchdown run from three yards out. The Flames added a field goal at the end of the second quarter to go up 16-7 at the intermission.

Coming out for the third quarter, Hugh Freeze's offense kept its foot on the gas pedal. Antonio Gandy-Golden used his 6'4" size to beat Liberty cornerbackMonquavion Brinsonin one-on-one coverage for an easy touchdown catch.

The Eagles responded with a field goal soon after. Calvert was picked off three plays after that, but his defense came up with a stop on 3rd-and-8 to force a field goal on fourth down.

Neither team could get anything going against the opposing defense over the final 18 minutes of game time. Four consecutive drives ended in punts, including a run of three straight three-and-outs between both offenses until Georgia Southern went 55 yards in 13 plays late in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles had an opportunity to get the ball back with an onside kick in the final two minutes of regulation. It initially appeared like they recovered the ball, but officials called an illegal touch because it didn't travel 10 yards.

Liberty was able to run out the clock and seal the program's biggest win in its short FBS history. Freeze and his staff have this team trending in the right direction as it builds toward 2020.

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Stephen Calvert, Liberty Top Georgia Southern 23-16 to Win 2019 Cure Bowl - Bleacher Report

Akron faces Liberty in Washington – WVVA TV

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Akron (9-2) vs. Liberty (13-0)

, Entertainment & Sports Arena, Washington; Saturday, 12 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Akron and Liberty are set to collide in a postseason game in Washington. Liberty earned a 66-54 win over Towson in its most recent game, while Akron won 62-61 against Tulane in its last outing.

BIG MEN ON CAMPUS: Xeyrius Williams is averaging 14.5 points and 10.5 rebounds to lead the way for the Zips. Loren Cristian Jackson is also a key facilitator, maintaining an average of 14.5 points and 4.9 assists per game. The Flames have been led by Scottie James, who is averaging 9.9 points and 7.8 rebounds.WATCH OUT FOR WILLIAMS: Williams has connected on 28.1 percent of the 89 3-pointers hes attempted and has made 15 of 39 over the last five games. Hes also converted 87.5 percent of his free throws this season.

UNDEFEATED WHEN: Akron is a perfect 9-0 when the team blocks at least three opposing shots. The Zips are 0-2 this season when they block fewer than three shots.

THREAT BEHIND THE ARC: Akrons Tyler Cheese has attempted 46 3-pointers and connected on 37 percent of them, and is 5 for 15 over the last five games.

TOUGH DEFENSE: Liberty has held opposing teams to 50.5 points per game this season, the second-lowest figure among all Division I teams.

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For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com

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Akron faces Liberty in Washington - WVVA TV

Liberty Media Floated the Idea of Buying IndyCar Alongside its F1 Acquisition – Essentially Sports

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According to some reports, Formula 1 owners Liberty Media toyed with the idea of buying American open-wheel series, IndyCar. Back in 2017, the mass media giant acquired the rights to F1, with Chase Carey replacing former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

Since then, the company has been hard at work, trying to modernise the sport and one idea is, potentially expanding Formula 1 into other motorsports.

Chief executive Greg Maffei told Forbes.There are emerging sports that could be considered as well, starting with motorsports would be the most natural but thats not to say theres nothing else that could work.

Recently, Liberty Media entered a bidding war with Penske Corporation, but the latter held firm and completed a takeover of the American series. In addition to the series, Penske also bought the rights to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

According to a report from Auto Motor und Sport, the company backed out an initial asking price of $250 million. Further adding credit to this news, were claims that Sky Sports UK added IndyCar coverage to their F1 channel as part of a huge new broadcast deal.

However, nothing came of it, though Liberty is not giving up the ghost, as Maffei told Forbes that Liberty is continuing to search for mergers and acquisitions and synergistic investments.

He concluded,We think there are things we can do. We like the live event area. We like the sports area. There are things that are synergistic with F1. We bid on a bunch of assets.

Unfortunately prices remain high. We will see but there are things we think we will do over the next four years in this space and we will certainly try.

For now, though, F1 and IndyCar will continue as two separate entities, and the former enters its 70th year.

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Liberty Media Floated the Idea of Buying IndyCar Alongside its F1 Acquisition - Essentially Sports

Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 and 2 Pro true wireless buds are down to $60 and $110 ($40 off) – Android Police

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True wireless earbuds are everywhere these days, and if you don't already own at least one pair, you're probably considering some. If you don't expect to receive a pair for the holidays, perhaps you'll want want to pick some up on a pretty good discount. Anker's Soundcore Liberty 2 earbuds are $40 off, bringing them down to just $59.99 for the standard model and $109.99 for the Pro version.

We reviewed the Liberty 2 Pro and came away with a really good impression of the audio quality, especially with the HearID technology, and a good design for controlling the audio and assistant with the buttons. You should be able to get 8 hours of listening per charge, with a total of 32 hours with assistance from the case, which also happens to support Qi wireless charging. Here's the product page with additional details.

Amazon's price has held pretty steady at $109.99 for the last few days, and it's unclear when it will be returning to MSRP, but you may not want to wait too long if you're interested in the higher-end model.

The lower-priced Liberty 2 is pretty similar to the Pro in most ways, but the case lacks Qi wireless charging, and it's often reported to be less comfortable to wear for long listening sessions, but that will vary depending on the fit to your ears. The official product page has additional details.

Best Buy's discount on the Liberty 2 is available for today only. If you want to jump on some good earbuds for well below $100, this is probably one of the best opportunities, assuming they'll be comfortable for you.

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Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 and 2 Pro true wireless buds are down to $60 and $110 ($40 off) - Android Police

Diventures’ new 60-foot-pool in North Liberty is heated and ready for scuba divers in training – The Gazette

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NORTH LIBERTY Diventures in North Liberty opened a brand-new facility last month not far from Interstate 380, complete with a 60-foot pool and a retail store, and the timing could not be better, say its managers.

The water and the air temperature in our pool is about 88 degrees consistently, so its a really comfortable training environment, Store Manager Ryan Bruns said.

As the temperatures dip, customers from around the Corridor can visit Diventures to not only dream of warm weather destinations, but also stock up on swim and scuba gear and take lessons to prepare for scuba diving experiences.

Our biggest focus is safety and fun in the water, Bruns said.

Diventures opened the new location at the beginning of November.

We really have a wide spectrum of students, he said, noting lessons start for participants as young as 10 years old but that 15- to 18-year-olds make up a big portion or its scuba students, as well as 30- to 35-year-olds and those hitting retirement with plans to travel.

Bruns said one option for courses is its Try Scuba class two and a half hours in one day exposing customers to scuba diving and feeling safe and comfortable.

Diventures Open Water Diver Certification includes four elements, Bruns said, starting with an online learning component and classroom review with a certified instructor.

From there we get in the pool and cover all the skills you need while diving, including what happens if you start cramping, or if you get water in your mask, he said.

The course ends with an open water dive in a local quarry.

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We also have some people do all the certification stuff here at Diventures and then complete their training on one of our trips in Cozumel, for example, Bruns added.

The Diventures team sets up anywhere from 30 to 40 scuba diving adventures each year that are open to the public.

Our travel department takes care of all the footwork, and we send our own instructors along, according to Retail Manager Nate Northup.

Another element of the new building is the increase in space for Diventures retail component.

This is three times the size we had before, Northup said. We have a lot more room to offer more top-brand swim and scuba gear options with our dedicated retail space.

Plus we do offer maintenance and service for anything we sell. We can help customers make sure their equipment is working properly.

General swimming lessons start for as young as 5 months old, up through adults.

With a ratio of four students to one instructor, it offers a better learning environment with individualized attention, Bruns said.

Diventures also offers open swim and family swim sessions.

We are going to start offering dive-in movie nights as well, which we are really looking forward to, he said.

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Diventures which also has locations in Omaha, Neb., Springfield, Mo., and Madison, Wisc. first opened in North Liberty in a different location in 2017 without a pool.

We had a storefront right on Highway 965 as the planning and development for this was underway, Bruns recalled. We came into the market with the intent to build what we have now.

Know a business that just might make an interesting My Biz feature? Tell us about it via michaelchevy.castranova@thegazette.com.

Store manager: Ryan Bruns

Retail manager: Nate Northup

Business: Diventures

Address: 1895 W. Penn St., North Liberty

Phone: (319) 665-2741

Website: diventures.com

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Kiggins, Liberty theaters strive for creativity – Columbian.com – The Columbian

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But Crown and Anchor Church, which rents adjacent community and office space from Wyatt, holds a rocking service in the theater every Sunday and has contributed a new sound system, a tech booth and a modular stage thats 24 feet wide, 12 feet deep and less squeaky than the old one, Wyatt said.

Those infrastructure additions continue to leverage the Kiggins split personality as both movie theater and performance space. The night before Thanksgiving, voice actors and a sound-effects specialist with Metropolitan Performing Arts staged a radio-drama version of a signature local legend: D.B. Coopers 1972 hijacking adventure in the skies over Vancouver. Wyatt himself penned the original script and starred as a shady, grim Cooper during the live performance.

Further leveraging live events at the Kiggins will be the theaters eventual expansion to the south. Wyatt means to add a second, smaller screening room in that adjacent space, providing needed flexibility for simultaneous film screenings and live happenings. Crown and Anchor will move downstairs, he said.

Kiggins programming director Richard Beer, who works for several independent cinemas in the area, said the Kiggins stretch to straddle live performance and movie screenings is unique. I dont know another venue, anywhere, thats trying to do what were trying to do, Beer said.

Thanksgiving likely marked the final Kiggins holiday screenings of the comedy-fantasy The Princess Bride, Wyatt said. Also unlikely to appear on the Kiggins screen again after this year are Home Alone, Die Hard, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the Harry Potter series, Alien and many more so-called repertory favorites.

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Liberty and the Birth of Jesus Go Hand in Hand – Liberty Nation

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In 160 countries, an estimated two billion people worldwide will celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25. In the United States, nine out of ten will partake in this religious holiday, even if they are not Christians. Many will maintain that the meaning of this sacred day is Jesus, the Savior and the Prince of Peace. All this is true, but did you ever consider that Jesus and liberty are closely connected?

When discussing Christianity and Christ, there is but one place to go the Bible, or as those within the faith call it: the Holy Scriptures. So, lets test our proposition about Jesus and liberty against the word of God.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.Stand firm,then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

A yoke is a wooden crosspiece that binds together two animals to work in tandem to pull a cart or a plow. A yoke essentially serves as a restraining device. When the apostle Paul refers to the yoke of slavery, he is talking about something that binds us and makes us slaves.

Many different yokes can bind us today: opioids, alcohol, money, and power are a few. But Christ, Paul says, has set us free. Some erroneously believe that Christianity is a strict system of rules and regulations, but in reality, its essence is liberating.

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

In the eighth chapter of the gospel of John recounts a fascinating story of a woman caught in adultery. The religious leaders of the day wanted to stone her to death for the crime. Today we might think this an excessive response to her behavior, yet, throughout the world, many cultures prescribe shockingly similar punishment. However, the answer Jesus gave to the Pharisees is telling: Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stoneat her. Then, in verse 34, Jesus replied, Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.So if the Son sets you free,you will be free indeed.

Both references are vital to understanding liberty in Christ, for the Scriptures refer to Jesus as the Truth and the Son. Freedom comes from knowing Him and holding to His teachings. These are not yokes but guides that Jesus gives for our freedom and good.

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.And because you belong to him, the powerof the life-giving Spirit has freed youfrom the power of sin that leads to death.The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body, God declared an end to sins control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.

The ultimate liberty Jesus provides the believer is freedom from death. Everyone dies, but it is the Christian who is rewarded with eternal life. Perhaps this is why many Christian burials, while sad, are joyful events. This world is not the final resting place for those who believe in the Truth, the Son, the Savior. His coming into the world saved us from the law, from our sin, and from death, with His promise of a glorious life ever after. Nowhere is this more beautifully elucidated than in the Hallelujah Chorus of George Frideric Handels oratorio Messiah. Within that divine piece of music are the words repeated over and over that He shall reign for ever and ever. The beauty is that, according to the Scriptures, we will reign with Him (Rev. 5:10). As well, this liberty in Christ includes freedom from the following according to Rev. 21:4:

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

So this Christmas, our hope is that you will have joy, peace, and love within your home and heart. But most of all, we hope you will throw off that yoke of slavery and take hold of the freedom and liberty that come with knowing Jesus Christ.

~

Read more fromLeesa K. Donner.

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Liberty and the Birth of Jesus Go Hand in Hand - Liberty Nation

Liberty family seeks justice after ‘targeted attack’ of their dog in its own back yard – WYFF4 Greenville

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A family from Liberty is seeking justice after they say their dog was intentionally shot in his own back yard. Owners found a foot-long arrow lodged in three-year-old Douui's side after letting him out to use the bathroom on the night of Dec. 19. The pit bull was inside his fenced-in back yard and wearing a light on his collar, according to the Moore family. They believe that despite the dog's lovable demeanor, Douui was targeted simply because of his breed. "(He was shot) just because (of) the look of him," Jessica Moore said. "He's broad. He's big. He's a pit bull, (It) doesn't mean you should judge him by that and send something like this through him," she said, holding up the arrow. The vet bill was more than $2,000 but paid for by a family friend. Douui's owner, Matthew Moore, said had it not been for his friend's generosity, Douui would not be here."I'm not the type of person that usually gets this emotional," Matthew said. "At my mom and pops funeral, I didn't get this emotional, and you know ... it's just been devastating."The family hopes that by sharing this story they can help track down whoever is responsible and bring justice to the pain their dog is going through. They also hope to de-stigmatize the pit bull breed and raise more awareness on this gruesome attack against a helpless animal.

A family from Liberty is seeking justice after they say their dog was intentionally shot in his own back yard. Owners found a foot-long arrow lodged in three-year-old Douui's side after letting him out to use the bathroom on the night of Dec. 19. The pit bull was inside his fenced-in back yard and wearing a light on his collar, according to the Moore family.

They believe that despite the dog's lovable demeanor, Douui was targeted simply because of his breed.

"(He was shot) just because (of) the look of him," Jessica Moore said. "He's broad. He's big. He's a pit bull, (It) doesn't mean you should judge him by that and send something like this through him," she said, holding up the arrow.

The vet bill was more than $2,000 but paid for by a family friend. Douui's owner, Matthew Moore, said had it not been for his friend's generosity, Douui would not be here.

"I'm not the type of person that usually gets this emotional," Matthew said. "At my mom and pops funeral, I didn't get this emotional, and you know ... it's just been devastating."

The family hopes that by sharing this story they can help track down whoever is responsible and bring justice to the pain their dog is going through. They also hope to de-stigmatize the pit bull breed and raise more awareness on this gruesome attack against a helpless animal.

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Liberty family seeks justice after 'targeted attack' of their dog in its own back yard - WYFF4 Greenville

820 Liberty Avenue went from yow to wow creating four large lofts in an extensive renovation – NEXTpittsburgh

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While the two owners of a now gorgeous building Downtown designed its renovation with the market in mind, they may both end up moving in.

Harris Jones, of Swallow Point Ventures, and Bill Krahe, of Grand View Development Co., have been renovating the building at 820 Liberty Ave. into four expansive and high-ceilinged lofts. Each encompasses an entire floor with about 3,000 square feet of living space, private elevator access and reserved parking in the Smithfield-Liberty Garage next door.

Each loft at 820 Liberty features expansive windows overlooking Liberty Avenue. The Northern exposure allows for lots of light without direct sunlight entering.

Theyve spent three years of planning and investment after buying the building from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust for $451,000. While thats very low for its size and location, the building was covered in brown paint and the upper floors had been abandoned for 40 years. Jones said they werent sure what they would find as they started to renovate and they poured a lot of money into it.

Theyll market the rental units to prospective tenants starting in January although one is already committed and another is reserved for Krahe, who is moving from East Liberty. Jones says he would like to move in eventually as well. The units will rent for $7,000 a month. While that price seems high for Downtown, he says the comps justify it. There are few three-bedroom units Downtown one of the few has been renting for $6,000 a month for years, he notes and he says the lofts are unique in their layout and design.

Harris Jones in the kitchen area of a unit still under construction.

Theres nothing like it, says Krahe. Its one of the coolest spaces in Pittsburgh.

Krahe, who has developed automobile dealerships for Rob Cochran, noticed the building one day while touring another property across the street. 820 Liberty Avenue previously housed the Pittsburgh Popcorn Company on the first floor. Krahe and Jones, who spent 20 years in the wireless telecom industry, agreed to be partners in its transformation.

We are big believers in the macro trend of the re-urbanization of America, says Jones, who spent 10 years in London before moving to Pittsburgh in 2010. He has also lived in Philadelphia and Boston. I grew up in the 60s and 70s when the American population was moving quickly to the suburbs and I believe, we believe, that has shifted. Pittsburgh is a touch late to that trend, but it seems to be accelerating now.

Before the renovation, the historic building was covered in brown paint and the four upper floors had been vacant for decades.

What made the building really special for us is, we think Libertys coming back in a big way, says Jones, who adds that the Cultural Trust will be taking over the first floor. It is also uncommon, in that most of the Downtown buildings tend to be much narrower. This is close to 60 feet wide and very lofty in feeling; some of the finished ceiling heights are 16, 18 feet, so you have this immense volume feel to it thats unlike any other building.

Because its north-facing, the buildings massive windows give the apartment lots of natural light without the problems that direct sunlight can cause, he says.

Architect Dan Rothschild with Rothschild Doyno Collaborative made the most of a unique floor plan that contains angles. One angled hallway creates what Jones and Krahe call the knuckle, leading to a bedroom set apart from the rest of the living space. Its where the elevator and stairs will be, enabling secure, private access. Sota Construction Services is the contractor.

Theres not a building like it in the city, configuration-wise, says Krahe, noting that the elevation, ceiling height and windows change with each floor. The windows off the back end of the building are impressive. The views not as great, looking off Strawberry Way, but each one of those floors has unique characteristics, relative to elevation.

Essential to their project was cutting a deal with the Pittsburgh Parking Authority for underground parking and elevator access in the basement of the adjacent garage, Krahe says. Through the garage, residents also could access the Duquesne Club at the rear of the building without having to emerge to street level.

To obtain historic tax credits for the Victorian brick building, which was built in 1881 and sits in a historic district, the partners must lease the apartments for a number of years. During the renovation, Ernie Sota preserved historic elements of the building, exterior and interior, Jones says.

The partners praised Cultural Trust and City of Pittsburgh officials for helping them to navigate many challenges to make the project work.

Its unique, says Krahe. Being part of the Downtown renewal and the excitement thats there, its been fascinating.

The staff at NEXTpittsburgh contributed to this article.

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Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro review: The best-sounding earbuds of 2019 [Video] – 9to5Google

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Weve reviewed a ton of earbuds for Android throughout 2019, and we expect that to increase in 2020 as even more OEMs look to add their own hardware to the mix. However, theyll have a tough act to follow in the Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro earbuds.

The Anker subsidiary was most definitely not the one I expected to produce the best sounding earbuds of the year but here we are. Thats not to say Anker makes poor products far from it. My initial instinct was to be cautious as there is a growing list of companies claiming to have the best-sounding earbuds, I just didnt expect it to be Soundcore.

People will like to overlook the design, the name on the box, and the fact that they are priced closely to more established brands. But by skipping the Liberty 2 Pros though, youll be missing out on some of the most impressive earbuds of the year with a price-tag that puts some of the other big players to shame.

Thats not to say they are perfect as there are some things youll want and need to consider.

Speaking strictly from the design perspective, the Soundcore Liberty 2 Pros are not what I would call the most attractive earbuds. They are large and bulbous, stick out quite a bit and remind me for better or worse of a dung beetle.

Each bud is large and completely at odds with the AirPods clones you tend to see everywhere else on the market. Like the AirPods, you can only pick up the Liberty 2 Pros in one color option: matte steel with black trim. Its a pretty standard design but they do feel weighty and well put together in the hand. There is a fin to help you get a better fit in the ear too. Im usually not a fan of these but the soft silicone seems pretty good in my testing.

I like the case but dang is this little slidey-pebble design is big. It will definitely fit in your pocket but its very noticeable that its there. I like the matte design and the only logo is pretty small. At the back, youll have to unplug a stopper to get at the USB-C charge port. I do like the plug though, as it means the port wont get filled with gunk and dirt if you keep the case in your pocket or floating around in the bottom of a bag.

Placing each bud into the case is easy enough, although the orientation is confusing at first. The magnets will likely guide them into place and once the lid is slid closed, the buds are safe and secure plus the sliding lid means its less likely to pop open and scatter your headphones around.

I was trepidacious simply due to the design of each Liberty 2 Pro earbud. The fin design is not my favorite but the soft silicone means they are easy to maneuver and fix into your ear. The silicone tips on each bud are also similarly soft and fit snugly without discomfort. You can change both the fin and the tips though should they not be right for your ears straight out of the box.

Placing them in you can just twist ever so slightly to effectively lock each bud into place. It doesnt match the feeling of security you get with the Galaxy Buds twist and lock approach though. This really helps for isolation but it also helps seal in the sound exceptionally. Doing so also means that the Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro buds dont wobble or come loose which is important if youre particularly active.

Given the size, you may find that wearing them for mammoth sessions simply isnt possible. I topped out at around two-ish hours of continuous wear before feeling the need to give my ears a rest and pop the Liberty 2 Pros out. Of course, your own mileage may vary significantly and will be determined by battery lifespan too spoiler: youll get uncomfortable quicker than the battery drains.

Like many Bluetooth earbuds, the Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro earbuds can be paired in a couple of ways. You can go the easy route and just pair using Androids in-built pairing menus or you can download the dedicated Soundcore app and connect to your buds and gain some extra controls and personalization tools.

It makes no difference which route you take though. Pairing is quick and painless, especially as the Liberty 2 earbuds have quite a good overall Bluetooth range of around 20 feet.

If you were to read the box-art youd likely read the hyperbole of the sound endorsed by 10 Grammy award-winning producers. To be honest, I felt as though this must have been some paid-for promotion but while I dont know who the producers are, they seem to have actually backed up the bold claims.

While Im not particularly in love with the design, it does mean that the large drivers can pump out full, rich sound that Ive not really heard on many other true wireless earbuds and at least none in over the past 12 months.

The sound profile is pretty sublime. The soundstage is open, wide, and the bass really manages to thump. You get such good overall dynamic sound that handles the nuances of tracks exceptionally. Those larger drivers really help push the audio without crushing the extra details, while the passive isolation of the shape and fit means that tracks are bursting with life.

Im particularly impressed at the separation in busy tracks, with vocals standing out clearly from the mess of audio underneath. Its a pleasure to listen to just about any genre, while podcasts and audiobooks have extra detail and clarity. The fact that you can tune the audio experience of the Liberty 2 Pros using the Soundcore app is just an added bonus.

The Liberty 2 Pros also support Qualcomms aptX HD high-quality audio codec. That means you should see a major step up over cheaper buds that use AAC or SBC when streaming audio. Because most people now stream their music, that means you should see a difference when streaming Spotify at 320kbps or when using other services high-resolution audio streaming options.

Part of the improved sound is the inclusion of the impressive HearID feature. This is essentially a tailored EQ optimizer that allows you to tune the audio in to suit your particular listening capabilities. This is done using the Soundcore app and has you listening to various tones to help identify what your upper and lower hearing limits are to create a unique personal EQ setting.

The controls are one area that really let the Liberty 2 Pros down. Despite the large panels on the side of each bud, there are no touch controls. Instead, youve got one small physical button on each earbud that can do a few things.

It does mean that you dont have to learn any tricky swipe and tap tricks but you only get two controls per bud. A single tap pauses and plays audio nothing, a double-tap on the right bud skips a track, a double-tap on the left bud skips backward. Holding either side will activate the Google Assistant on your Android phone although you can change this to volume up or down controls.

Thats probably just enough for most people in actual fact, but the controls can nudge each bud out of your ear. Using buttons also means that you can get that awful clicky noise right in your ear canal. That said, even touch controls suffer from this and Im not really sure what the best solution really is in all honesty.

Another very impressive area of the Soundcore Liberty 2 Pros is undoubtedly the battery life. For starters, the lifespan of each bud is around seven to eight hours in-between charges. That far exceeds many of the other headphones and earbuds on the market right now although not all. Some of that is, of course, owing to the slightly larger size but it really does mean all-day listening is par for the course.

The oversized carry case adds up to 30 more hours of listening, which in my experience has been pretty much what Ive experienced. Im so glad that Anker decided to go with USB-C and wireless charging, as 10 minutes plugged into a charger will give you around two hours or extra listening. On a wireless charge pad, its a little slower but its still nice to not have to think about cables if you prefer a wireless existence.

One problem I do have is that the battery indicator LEDs are a little basic as there are only three LEDs. To make it a little easier to understand, I worked on the principle that one lit LED would be approximately one full charge. However, I found that wasnt always the case so my advice would be to just try and keep the carry case fully charged.

Given the sheer wealth of truly wireless earbuds out there, the Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro definitely have some stiff competition but they bat it away thanks to exceptional battery life and sound that just keeps me coming back for more. Id love the see the case and bud size just shaved down a little but there is no denying that if you value sound quality and experience, Anker has totally and utterly knocked it out of the park here.

Touch controls will likely be a big miss, and phones calls are iffy but these are things that dont ruin the experience and really are secondary to the sound. The fact that the Liberty 2 Pros come priced under the established competition and beat them in the area that matters most is the reason why they are our favorite wireless earbuds of 2019.

The Liberty 2 Pros are currently available for just $109 on Amazon which is an absolute steal for those that value audio over everything else.

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Watch the parade for the 61st AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Local 24! – WATN – Local 24

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Posted: Dec 24, 2019 / 04:24 PM CST / Updated: Dec 24, 2019 / 04:24 PM CST

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) Local 24 News is getting pumped for the 61st AutoZone Liberty Bowl game. And you can see one of the biggest sporting parades hit the iconic Beale Street, only on Local 24.

Bands from both teams, cars, pageant winners, and more will getfans riled up Monday ahead of the big game Tuesday. Meteorologist ChelseaChandler, John Paul, and Kelsie Cairns will all be there announcing the paradelive.

Youll be able to watch the parade at 3:00 p.m. on Local 24, orcatch it all streaming here at Local Memphis.com.

The parade is free and open to the public.

The Bash on Beale follows the parade at 4:30 p.m.

If you plan to go to the game Tuesday, kick off is at 2:45 p.m.

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Watch the parade for the 61st AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Local 24! - WATN - Local 24

Dem Voters Caught Between the Geriatrics and Socialist Swampsters – Liberty Nation

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The 2019 circus portion of the Democratic presidential primary contest has starkly highlighted a major flaw that may handicap the party for another decade or more. The year drove home the disquieting fact that all of the real players within the Dem dynamic today are either rapidly aging career politicians or strikingly immature radicals. Given that an overwhelming percentage of the American people are beyond fatigued with Swamp lifers and every bit as put off by brash young socialists promoting revolutionary unrest, Democrats find themselves stuck between a wheezing rock and a wild-eyed hard place.

Hes not a healthy guy, Dr. David Scheiner, who served as Barack Obamas personal physician for 22 years before the latter became president, stated after examining the medical records released by Joe Bidens campaign. Hes not in bad shape for his age, but I wouldnt say hes in outstanding health, Scheiner told The Washington Examiner. Could I guarantee he wont have issues for the next four years? He has a lot of issues that are just sort of sitting there.

Joe Biden

Scheiner said the information provided on Bidens medical records have him concerned that the 77-year-old former vice president is at a heightened risk for strokes, and the physician declared he would like to see an MRI or CT scan from Biden. The records also reveal Biden suffers from an irregular heartbeat and sleep apnea at his advanced age. I had no idea Biden had such a history. My goodness gracious, hes got a lot of history, Scheiner told the paper.

This alarm from a respected doctor means Democrats feature two candidates atop their 2020 presidential nomination totem pole who are nearing 80 and are saddled with significant health issues. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) suffered a serious heart attack in the Fall, shortly after turning 78. These two fragile White House aspirants combine for some 80-odd years of time spent in elected office. Bidens alleged appeal to moderates in the party is largely built around establishment standing accumulated from 40-plus years of sitting in a cozy chair in the Swamp.

It is certainly reasonable to ponder whether there may be a health component to Bidens highly erratic behavior on the campaign trail. As Liberty Nations Graham Noble aptly put it, every one of Bidens gaffes, bouts of amnesia, inappropriate statements, and uninvited physical interactions will not be cataloged here, but suffice it to say his antics, over the years, can variously be described as baffling, creepy, jaw dropping, and very often unintentionally hilarious. Yes, his record on this score dates back to his disastrous 1988 presidential run, but Biden has exhibited all of these bizarre traits to an even more pronounced degree over the past few months.

Sanders, meanwhile, is eventually going to have to explain how holding down a political office nonstop (with one brief respite) since 1981 qualifies him as a change candidate. He will have to do so while reassuring potential voters that his precarious heart health will not be a liability in a strenuous general election campaign.

On the other edge of the partys movers and shakers are the young radical firebrands. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) just turned 30. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is a bit older at 38. Both scare the daylights out of Heartland Americans with their revolutionary social justice stylings and socialist economic agenda. Yet Ocasio-Cortez went from bartender to leading voice of young Democrats overnight. The fact that she was able to instantly climb such a party pedestal is further evidence of the dearth of responsible and mature non-elderly Dems with real standing on the political landscape.

Kirsten Gillibrand

This points directly toward what is sizing up to be a lost generation of Dem leaders. The 2019 portion of the presidential campaign revealed with searing clarity just how devoid of gravitas the 40-55 age group of Dems has shown itself to be. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, 53, ran a shockingly lightweight campaign flavored with cheesy reality TV posturing instead of forthright policy positions. Trading dresses with drag queens in Des Moines and downing whiskeys on the campaign trail amazingly did not propel a pandering Gillibrand to the top of the heap.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) is 55. Thrust into a larger spotlight after a successful first debate performance, Harris instantly wilted, evincing a total inability to articulate a meaningful vision to potential voters.

From the very beginning of his nondescript run Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), 50, has tried to float by as a 2020 Obama, hoping that a minority face preaching a vague theme of unity would be enough to get him to the top. He has barely registered a pulse.

Former Housing Secretary Julian Castro is 45. He has focused far too much on racial grievance and stumping for illegal aliens. A nonentity in the polls, Castro has been most recently seen lecturing Iowans that they are too white to have the first opportunity to cast votes in the Dem primary race.

This was the heart of the middle-aged Dem presidential field. At an age where life and work experience should have cloaked them in an air of seriousness and heft, there was only pose and vacuity. The older but not quite yet elderly Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), 70, and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), 59, are sputtering in place as we head into 2020. It would seem that Democrats best shot to have a strong, sensible candidate able to do battle with the instinctively talented campaigner that is President Trump has been dashed due to the across-the-board weak performance put up by the forty- and fiftysomethings.

And so Dems are left with doddering geriatric career politicians and immature, inexperienced agitators as the tip of their political spear heading into a presidential election with an incumbent president armed with rock-solid support from his base. Dems like to portray themselves as the dynamic, progressive party of the future, but 2019 has revealed that they lack the combination of liveliness and stability needed to effectively connect with mainstream Americans. President Trump may be 73, but his energy and vitality more than make up for that. Democrats must be heading into the new year scratching their heads over what happened to their middle-aged hopefuls. Before push has even come close to shove, they have all melted away with nary a whimper.

~

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Dem Voters Caught Between the Geriatrics and Socialist Swampsters - Liberty Nation

UFC could have a gambling problem on the horizon – Bloody Elbow

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The UFC could have a gambling problem brewing.

At the current time, the UFC does not seem to have any rules when it comes to UFC fighters, or anyone related to those fighters, wagering on UFC fights. Or, at the very least, the promotion does not enforce those rules if it does have them.

Evidence of this is easy to find.

In 2011, Diego Sanchez told ESPN that he had bet $100 on Tito Ortiz to defeat Ryan Bader.

After his second-round TKO win over Naoyuki Kotani at UFC Fight Night 46, Norman Parke told UFC commentator Dan Hardy that he thought his bet on himself had earned him five grand from Paddy Power.

In 2018, James Vick told MMA Junkie he was waiting until the last minute to bet on himself against Justin Gaethje.

More recently, Anthony Rocco Martin took a photo of seven losing betting slips worth $9,600 from UFC 245. Martin wrote that he was going to stick to betting on himself in the future.

With the UFC preparing a live-betting product that, according to Bloomberg News, will feature more than 50 betting opportunities per bout, including 20 new types of wagers updated in real time.

Some of these new betting options are concerning because they could open up the UFC and its fighters to questions of fight-fixing or stat-fixing.

To eliminate or reduce those questions, the UFC will likely need to come up with clear and concise rules on wagering on UFC fights for UFC employees, the fighters and their teams. Those rules might need to include others outside of the fighters and their immediate camps.

Rules on gambling are not uncommon in other major U.S. sports.

The NBA Constitution states:

Any person who, directly or indirectly, wagers money or anything of value on the outcome of any game played by a Team in the league operated by the Association shall, on being charged with such wagering, be given an opportunity to answer such charges after due notice, and the decision of the Commissioner shall be final, binding, conclusive, and unappealable. The penalty for such offense shall be within the absolute and sole discretion of the Commissioner and may include a fine, suspension, expulsion and/or perpetual disqualification from further association with the Association or any of its Members.

The NFL Gambling Policy forbids illegal gambling. It also has 10 restrictions on legal gambling. The first two of those constraints make it clear that the NFL is serious about any legal sports betting for its employees.

1. Betting on Football: All NFL Personnel are prohibited from placing, soliciting, or facilitating any bet, whether directly or indirectly through third-party, on any NFL game, practice or other event. This includes betting on game outcome, statistics, score, performance of any individual participant, or any other kind of proposition bet on which wagering is offered.

2. Betting on Other Sports: All NFL Personnel other than Players are further prohibited from placing, soliciting, or facilitating bets on any other professional (e.g., NBA, MLB, NHL, PGA, USTA, MLS), college (e.g., NCAA basketball), international (e.g., World Baseball Classic World Cup), or Olympic sports competition, tournament or event.

The NFL goes so far as to prohibit personnel from even visiting a Sportsbook during the season.

MLB has Rule 21, which covers wagering:

(1) Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform, shall be declared ineligible for one year.

(2) Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.

(3) Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee who places bets with illegal book makers or agents for illegal book makers, shall be subject to such penalty as the Commissioner deems appropriate in light of the facts and circumstances of the conduct. Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee who operates or works for an illegal bookmaking business shall be subject to a minimum of a one-year suspension by the Commissioner.

The NHL has a much more succinct mention gambling in its collective bargaining agreement. It merely states, Gambling on any NHL Game is prohibited.

According to Bloomberg, any Sportsbook that uses the app will pay a licensing fee for the software, and a share of gross gaming yield for access to the data. The UFC did not reveal those costs to Bloomberg.

If the UFC wants to appear above the board when it comes to live-betting, its going to need to come up with some written and enforced rules when it comes to wagering on fights.

The UFC was asked about its gambling rules, but did not reply. This story will be updated if the UFC does respond.

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UFC could have a gambling problem on the horizon - Bloody Elbow

Year In Mass. Gambling: Encore, DraftKings And The Lottery – WBUR

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It's been a big year for the gambling industry in Massachusetts. The state lottery set a revenue record. Boston-based DraftKings emerged as a leader in legal sports betting. And, after a high-stakes drama, Wynn Resorts opened a casino in Everett.

Wynn Resorts spent $2.6 billion to build the gleaming casino but scrubbed the Wynn name from the building after a scandal involving company founder Steve Wynn, opting to name it Encore instead. For a while, it was unclear whether the company would be allowed to keep its state gambling license or whether it even wanted to.

Investigators for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission said in the spring that the company had mishandled sexual misconduct allegations against Steve Wynn, andthen concealed those allegations from state regulators. The gaming commission held public hearings as it considered revoking Wynn Resorts' license as punishment.

Chief Executive Matt Maddox argued Wynn Resorts deserved to keep the license because it had cleaned house and changed its corporate culture.

"No matter who the CEO is of Wynn Resorts or who the chairman is, that would never happen again," Maddox said of the lapses that allowed Steve Wynn's alleged misconduct to continue for years. "We were going to transform ourselves from a founder-led company that was about a man, into a progressive company that's about the 25,000 people" who work atWynn Resorts properties around the world.

The company reminded regulators that stripping its license could jeopardize more than 5,000 jobs in Massachusetts. The commission ultimately fined Wynn Resorts $35 million and let it keep the license.

But shortly after that favorable ruling by the gaming commission, Wynn Resorts acknowledged that for several weeks it had been in talks to sell Encore to MGM Resorts. The revelation made officials in Everett wonder whether Wynn was committed to the Encore project, but Wynn and MGM broke off negotiations a few days later, and the casino opened as scheduled in June.

Since then, business at Encore has been slower than anticipated, mirroring a statewide trend. In Encore's first full quarter, gross gaming revenue was about $150 million. At that rate, the casino would fall short of its first-year goal by 25%.

Gambling experts say one reason MGM may have been interested in buying Encore is that its own, year-old casino in Springfield has been missing revenue targets. MGM Springfield President Mike Mathis told New England Public Radio in September that snagging customers from the more established casinos in Connecticut is proving harder than the company expected.

"I think we may have underestimated that level of loyalty and what it would take for those customers to give us a shot," Mathis said.

Meanwhile, in the slot parlor at Plainridge Park Casino, revenue has been trending downward since March.

Overall, casinos are not generating as much tax money as lawmakers hoped.

It's a different story at the state lottery, whichset a record in the 2019 fiscal year with $5.5 billion in revenue. The lottery pays out much of that money in prizes, but the agency's $1.1 billion profit goes to cities and towns as unrestricted local aid.

Despite these great numbers, the lottery's executive director, Michael Sweeney, is worried.

"We have been doing very well," he said at a gambling forum near the end of the fiscal year. "But what I like to remind people is the night before the Titanic hit the iceberg, it was setting a new record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean. And that's where lotteries in this country are right now."

One big concern is that Massachusetts will legalize sports betting. Sweeney's fear is that some of the money spent on scratch tickets today will go toward wagers on the Patriots or Red Sox tomorrow.

A landmark Supreme Court ruling last year opened the door for more states to legalize sports betting. Few companies are more excited than Boston's DraftKings, which started in fantasy sports and is now running sportsbooks for real games wherever it can.

For example: DraftKings recently signed a deal with the state of New Hampshire that allows the company to take bets online and in new gambling halls.

But DraftKings still can't take bets in its home state of Massachusetts. There is political momentum, in the form ofmultiple sports betting bills on Beacon Hill, including one filed by Gov. Charlie Baker.

Lawmakers have not hashed out key details, however, such as whether bets could be placed online or only in person, whether the state lottery should run its own sportsbook, and whether to allow betting on college sports.

So, even if signs point toward sports betting coming to Massachusetts sometime in the future, the first wagers may not be placed in 2020.

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Conn. Gov. Ned Lamont and tribes were close on gambling deal, emails show – GazetteNET

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HARTFORD, Conn. Newly released emails show Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont thought he was close earlier this year to reaching a wide-ranging gambling agreement with the states two federally recognized Native American tribes, a goal he now appears to be scaling back.

The Democrat told Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Chairman Rodney Butler, in an exchange in May, that he thought the two sides were at the finish line in April, but talks apparently hit a snag.

Im very disappointed at where we are we put a good deal on the table (in my opinion) and we worked to make it work for your end investing a lot of time and understanding there would be give and take for both sides. Lets discuss, Lamont wrote in a May 8 email to Butler, obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request.

On May 9, Butler expressed optimism that a deal that works for CT could be reached. Well get there, he said.

Shortly after taking office in January 2019, Lamont and his administration spent months trying to craft a gambling agreement that didnt violate the states revenue-sharing agreement with the two tribes which own and operate Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino in southeastern Connecticut but also included new sports betting and internet gambling. In exchange for exclusive rights to certain forms of gambling, the tribes currently provide the state 25 percent of slot-machine revenues, which amounts to about $270 million annually. The tribes have said they believe their exclusivity rights include sports wagering.

Lamont has also wanted to reach a global gaming resolution that will avoid years and years of complex litigation while strengthening the states gambling industry.

Besides possible legal challenges from the tribes, the governor has expressed hope in avoiding costly legal entanglements with MGM Resorts, the casino company that has challenged the states decision to authorize a third tribal casino in East Windsor that has not yet opened.

Months later, Lamont appears to be taking a different approach, telling reporters last week it might be better to keep it simple and push ahead with legislation in the new General Assembly session that authorizes sports betting and internet lottery games.

Rather than maybe go for a whole hog, lets find places where we think we can get some agreement, he said Friday. Id like a global agreement. Id like to solve everything for world peace. But in the meantime, Im going to take what I can get.

In an interview with the AP, Jeff Hamilton, the new general manager of Mohegan Sun, said passing a sports betting bill next year would be financially beneficial for the two tribes and the state, noting that competition from other states offering sports betting is expected to keep growing since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2018 allowed for it to be legalized in every state.

Were hopeful that the governor and the state is going to be able to get that approved, he said. I think its gotten mucked up in this comprehensive gaming bill. And while we understand that, we understand that the states trying to look at gaming in totality, I think to keep on kicking the can down the road and every month that sports betting does not exist is another month where the state is not generating as much revenue as they possibly can. ... It seems counterintuitive, with the current economic states of the state budget.

Hamilton said it would be good to see aspects of a wider-ranging gambling bill, which have included talks of another casino in Bridgeport, come to fruition, but he said, I dont know that anyone here would complain if Lamont and state lawmakers decided to wait on those concepts and instead focus on quickly passing a sports betting bill.

I think getting one thing approved that I think everyone is in agreement on seems to make the most sense instead of getting nothing approved, which has been what we have been dealing with, he said.

Back in June, however, Butler appeared optimistic that a second round of last-minute, wide-ranging negotiation, this time organized by Democratic House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz and involving the tribes and members of the Bridgeport and southeastern Connecticut legislative delegations, might finally address the concerns raised by Lamont. In June 4 email to Lamont, Butler reported the tribes had a really good dialogue with the mayor of Bridgeport and the citys delegation to come up with a comprehensive deal that encompasses many of the visions you laid out.

While Lamont publicly raised questions about the proposal, Butler urged him not to give up on it.

Nothing will ever be perfect, but we cant let the pursuit of perfection get in the way of progress, Butler wrote in his email. I believe when you have a chance to review where we are at, youll feel the same. Lets see if we can get this across the finish line.

Later that month, more emails showed Lamont and Butler seemed optimistic that a deal could finally be reached. In a June 16 email, Butler wished Lamont a happy Fathers Day, prompting the governor to respond, Back at you Rodney. Now lets make a deal.

A couple hours later, Butler answered: Yessir, I think we are close as we have ever been. Lets get it done!

Ultimately, that second push didnt work out, either.

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Conn. Gov. Ned Lamont and tribes were close on gambling deal, emails show - GazetteNET

Lamont and tribes were close on gambling deal, emails show – News Maven

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Susan HaighAssociated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Newly released emails show Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont thought he was close earlier this year to reaching a wide-ranging gambling agreement with the state's two federally-recognized tribes, a goal he now appears to be scaling back.

The Democrat told Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Chairman Rodney Butler, in an exchange in May, that he thought the two sides were at the finish line in April, but talks apparently hit a snag.

I'm very disappointed at where we are we put a good deal on the table (in my opinion) and we worked to make it work for your end investing a lot of time and understanding there would be give and take for both sides. Let's discuss, Lamont wrote in a May 8 email to Butler, obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request.

On May 9, Butler expressed optimism that a deal that works for CT" could be reached. We'll get there, he said.

Shortly after taking office in January 2019, Lamont and his administration spent months trying to craft a gambling agreement that didn't violate the state's revenue-sharing agreement with the two tribes which own and operate Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino in southeastern Connecticut but also included new sports betting and internet gambling. In exchange for exclusive rights to certain forms of gambling, the tribes currently provide the state 25 percent of slot-machine revenues, which amounts to about $270 million annually. The tribes have said they believe their exclusivity rights include sports wagering.

Lamont has also wanted to reach a global gaming resolution that will avoid years and years of complex litigation" while strengthening the state's gambling industry.

Besides possible legal challenges from the tribes, the governor has expressed hope in avoiding costly legal entanglements with MGM Resorts, the casino company that has challenged the state's decision to authorize a third tribal casino in East Windsor that has not yet opened.

Months later, Lamont appears to be taking a different approach, telling reporters last week it might be better to keep it simple and push ahead with legislation in the new General Assembly session that authorizes sports betting and internet lottery games.

Rather than maybe go for a whole hog, let's find places where we think we can get some agreement, he said Friday. I'd like a global agreement. I'd like to solve everything for world peace. But in the meantime, I'm going to take what I can get.

In an interview with the AP, Jeff Hamilton, the new general manager of Mohegan Sun, said passing a sports betting bill next year would be financially beneficial for the two tribes and the state, noting that competition from other states offering sports betting is expected to keep growing since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2018 allowed for it to be legalized in every state.

We're hopeful that the governor and the state is going to be able to get that approved, he said. I think it's gotten mucked up in this comprehensive gaming bill. And while we understand that, we understand that the state's trying to look at gaming in totality, I think to keep on kicking the can down the road and every month that sports betting does not exist is another month where the state is not generating as much revenue as they possibly can. ... It seems counterintuitive, with the current economic states of the state budget.

Hamilton said it would be good to see aspects of a wider-ranging gambling bill, which have included talks of another casino in Bridgeport, come to fruition, but he said, I don't know that anyone here would complain if Lamont and state lawmakers decided to wait on those concepts and instead focus on quickly passing a sports betting bill.

I think getting one thing approved that I think everyone is in agreement on seems to make the most sense instead of getting nothing approved, which has been what we have been dealing with, he said.

Back in June, however, Butler appeared optimistic that a second round of last-minute, wide-ranging negotiation, this time organized by Democratic House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz and involving the tribes and members of the Bridgeport and southeastern Connecticut legislative delegations, might finally address the concerns raised by Lamont. In June 4 email to Lamont, Butler reported the tribes had a really good dialogue with the mayor of Bridgeport and the city's delegation to come up with a comprehensive deal that encompasses many of the visions you laid out.

While Lamont publicly raised questions about the proposal, Butler urged him not to give up on it.

Nothing will ever be perfect, but we can't let the pursuit of perfection get in the way of progress, Butler wrote in his email. I believe when you have a chance to review where we are at, you'll feel the same. Let's see if we can get this across the finish line.

Later that month, more emails showed Lamont and Butler seemed optimistic that a deal could finally be reached. In a June 16 email, Butler wished Lamont a happy Father's Day, prompting the governor to respond, Back at you Rodney. Now let's make a deal.

A couple hours later, Butler answered: Yessir, I think we are close as we have ever been. Let's get it done!

Ultimately, that second push didn't work out, either.

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Lamont and tribes were close on gambling deal, emails show - News Maven

Gambling will overwhelm sports media in 2020 – Digiday

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Sports media will rush to embrace gambling in 2020.

With sports book operators hungering for new customers in a growing number of U.S. states, sports leagues looking for ways to bolster the value of their television broadcast rights and casinos looking for ways to build new relationships, sports publishers find themselves in position to significantly bolster their ad revenues over the next several years.

Its reshaping the entire sports marketing industry, and youre seeing a lot of publishers factoring it into their content plans, said Rick Martira, the CMO of the sports book PointsBet. Youll be hard-pressed to find major sports outlets that dont want to incorporate it.

Today, sports betting is legal in just 11 states, with seven more preparing to follow. Research published recently by the consultancy Gambling Compliance projects that 40 U.S. states will have legalized sports betting by 2024. That rush of legalization, encompassing an estimated $150 billion industry, is expected to attract the attention of almost every kind of mainstream sports publisher.

Sports betting appeals to publishers because they can monetize it in so many different ways. For example, sports betting offers a big affiliate commerce opportunity. The ads do have to be geo-targeted to areas where sports gambling is legal, which limits scale, but the affiliate commissions that sports books pay out to publishers who help deliver new customers can be as high as $125 per person, according to Gaming Affiliates Guide.

For us, the biggest opportunity and to really add a lot of oxygen is going to be converting our readers to sports book operators, said Patrick Keane, CEO of the Action Network, which focuses on gambling-related sports coverage.

Over the past year, both Vox Media (with DraftKings) and Bleacher Report (with Caesars Palace) signed long-term deals to create wide varieties of content designed to build interest in sports betting. On the other end of the spectrum, a growing number of publishers are looking to create content that helps familiar or sophisticated sports bettors wager wisely.

Other media companies looking for a slice of sports betting pie will find sports books eager to collaborate on campaigns to promote their wager offers. In some cases, all the publisher has to provide is distribution, thanks to some sport books significant investments in their own content creation operations. For example, FanDuel, which controls the cable television station TVG thanks to its merger with PaddyPower BetFair, has a 100-person studio out in Los Angeles that produces 24 hours of live sports programming every day, most of it focused on horse racing. This past year, that group co-produced NBCs television coverage of The Breeders Cup.

Yet Fan Duel has bigger content ambitions. To date, it has coproduced digital shows about betting with publishers including Barstool Sports and forged exclusive deals with influential sports betting enthusiasts including former NFL punter Pat McAfee. It also produces a show of its own, More Ways to Win, an analysis and punditry show about sports gambling that airs live more than twice a week.

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Gambling will overwhelm sports media in 2020 - Digiday

Taxation of Gambling Income – The CPA Journal

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Thanks to legalized sports gambling, U.S. casinos generated a record amount of gaming revenue in 2018. As might be expected, it is becoming increasingly common for individuals to have questions regarding the taxation of gambling income and losses, and these questions will almost certainly be more complex if the individual is a professional gambler. This article aims to help CPAs answer these questions for taxpayers.

Gambling winnings are fully taxable and must be reported by individuals as income on their tax returns regardless of the size of the winnings. Gambling income includes, but is not limited to, winnings from casino gambling (e.g., slots, blackjack, craps, roulette), lotteries, raffles, and horse and dog races. Noncash prizes such as cars and trips are normally includible in gross income at the fair market value of such prizes.

If the individuals gambling winnings exceed a certain threshold ($600, or 300 times the amount of the wager for most types of gambling winnings), the individual will usually be issued a Form W-2G from the gambling establishment reporting the income and the amount of withholding of taxes. The gambling establishment will also send a corresponding Form W-2G to the IRS.

Gambling winnings and losses are determined on a session basis rather than a per-bet basis. The IRS defines a session of play as beginning when a patron places the first wager on a particular type of game and ending when the same patron completes the last wager on the same type of game before the end of the same calendar day.

Nonprofessional gamblers report winnings as other income on line 21 of their tax returns. Gambling losses are deductible only to the extent of gambling winnings and are reported as itemized deductions on Schedule A that are not subject to the 2%-of-adjusted-gross-income threshold; therefore, deductions for gambling losses are not among the miscellaneous itemized deductions suspended by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). If a taxpayer does not itemize, however, gambling losses cannot offset gambling winnings. Any unused deduction for gambling losses is lost forever (i.e., the losses cannot be carried forward or back).

To substantiate their gambling winnings and losses, taxpayers are required to keep an accurate diary or similar record. The diary or record must contain the following information:

It is extremely rare for a recreational gambler to maintain this type of detailed information. As a result, the IRS will generally also accept other evidence of gambling winnings and losses, such as printouts from the casino.

Nonresident alien individuals are also required to report their U.S.-source gambling winnings as income; however, deductions for nonresidents are only allowed if they are connected with income that is effectively connected with a trade or business. Accordingly, recreational gamblers who are nonresidents are unable to deduct their gambling losses to offset their gambling winnings.

Determining whether an individual is engaged in the trade or business of gambling is based on the facts and circumstances. InCommr v. Groetzinger,480 U.S. 23 (1987), the Supreme Court concluded that if ones gambling activity is pursued full time, in good faith, and with regularity, to the production of income for a livelihood, and is not a mere hobby, it is a trade or business. Courts have considered the following factors in assessing whether a taxpayer has the necessary profit motive (no single factor of which is controlling):

A professional gambler reports gambling income on Schedule C. In computing business income from gambling, the individual can net all wagering activity but cannot report an overall wagering loss. In addition, the individual can deduct any ordinary and necessary business expenses, which can include travel and meal costs, legal and accounting fees, and subscriptions to gambling magazines or services. In contrast to the rule for recreational gamblers who are nonresident aliens, professional gamblers who are nonresidents can deduct their gambling losses to offset their gambling winnings.

Prior to the TCJA, the Tax Court held that a professional gambler with business expenses in excess of net gambling winnings could report a business loss, which would generate a net operating loss. The TCJA reversed this favorable treatment for tax years beginning after 2017 and before 2026. Under the TCJA, losses from any wagering transaction during those years include any expenses incurred by the individual in connection with the conduct of gambling activity. Accordingly, a professional gambler with business expenses in excess of net gambling income would report a net profit of zero on Schedule C.

Certain professional gamblersespecially poker playerswill enter into staking agreements with benefactors, in which the benefactor financially sponsors the professional gambler and, in exchange, receives as a return a percentage of the winnings. Such relationships can raise questions regarding the gamblers withholding and reporting requirements, especially if the benefactor is a foreign individual.

A payment to a foreign individual or entity is subject to a 30% withholding tax if the payment is fixed or determinable annual or periodical income (FDAP) from sources within the United States. The Treasury Regulations broadly define FDAP, which courts and the IRS have held to include gambling winnings. A payor of FDAP is treated as a withholding agent and is required to file Form 1042-S, reporting withholding payments to each recipient, and Form 1042, summarizing all of its Forms 1042-S. Both forms must be filed with the IRS for each calendar year by March 15 of the following year.

The tax consequences to an individual with gambling income and losses can vary significantly depending upon whether the individual participates in the gambling activities on a recreational basis or as a professional gambler.

Payments made to a foreign person under a staking agreement would be treated as gambling winnings and thus subject to withholding if sourced in the United States. Payments made pursuant to these staking agreements for games played in the United States would be U.S.-source income generally subject to 30% withholding. Payments made under a staking agreement for games played by a U.S. person outside the United States could arguably be sourced outside the United States and thus exempt from withholding; however, there is no clear authority stating whether the site of the game or the residence of the payor is the decisive factor here. Accordingly, professional gamblers making payments under staking agreements to foreign payees should withhold on such payments regardless of whether the games occurred within or outside the United States.

If the payee of the staking agreements is also a professional gambler, he may be able to claim that the payments are effectively connected with his U.S. trade or business and thus exempt from withholding. Alternatively, the payee can claim that the payments are subject to reduced or no withholding based on an applicable income tax treaty between the United States and his country of residence. In either circumstance, the payments under the staking agreement may be exempt from withholding if the payee provides the appropriate withholding certificate.

The tax consequences to an individual with gambling income and losses can vary significantly depending upon whether the individual participates in the gambling activities on a recreational basis or as a professional gambler. CPAs whose clients have gambling income and losses will need to understand the specific manner in which those clients engage in such activities and, in certain circumstances, whether they have additional reporting and withholding requirements.

Eric Smith, JD, LLM is counsel at Kostelanetz & Fink, LLP, New York, N.Y.

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Taxation of Gambling Income - The CPA Journal