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Showing posts from August 3, 2019

Breaking down best way to evaluate tight ends

In relation to fantasy football, there are a number of certainties both analysts and players have learned to accept. Loading up on running backs and wide receivers is paramount. Sure, you could go Zero-RB, but that’s usually effective if you’re only seeking out a fifth-place finish. Waiting on quarterbacks is highly recommended. Yes, you can use an early pick on Patrick Mahomes, but with so much depth at the position, your success or failure does not hinge on owning him. Kickers and defenses are a joke. Not much room for debate there. But if there is one position that is not only growing in depth but also in popularity, it’s the tight end. Whether you once subscribed to the theory of drafting Rob Gronkowski in the first round or you preferred to punt the position altogether, we all can agree that the landscape of the position has change and now there is, literally, something for everyone. You can start with the big three — Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz and George Kittle. If you believe i...

Victoria’s Secret hires Valentina Sampaio, first openly transgender ‘Angel’

Victoria’s Secret has hired its first openly transgender “Angel” — stunning Brazilian Valentina Sampaio. The model and actress  broke the news by posting a sultry selfie from her shoot earlier this week for the “VS Pink” sub-brand. “Backstage click,” she posted alongside a photo of herself in a white terry bathrobe. Sampaio is also the first transgender model to grace the cover of Vogue. “First transgender to shoot with Vs!” fellow Angel Lais Ribeirio congratulated Sampaio in a tweet . “This make me so happy!” Victoria’s Secret chief marketing officer Ed Razek had come under scrutiny last year after he told Vogue he didn’t think the the lingerie outlet should feature trans or plus-size models. He later apologized. Share this: Facebook Twitter Flipboard WhatsApp Email Copy Credit: Source link The post Victoria’s Secret hires Valentina Sampaio, first openly transgender ‘Angel’ appeared first on Fox USA Live . from Fox USA Live https://ift.tt/2YPy6gR ...

Marcus Stroman shows why Mets dealt for him

PITTSBURGH — Here’s something the Mets could use down the stretch. A little more winning attitude, a little more will to win. You could call it a refuse to lose attitude. That is what Marcus Stroman brings to the party, and it was on display in his Mets’ debut Saturday night. Stroman had a long layoff but battled his way through 92 pitches and 4 ¹/₃ innings. He made a for-the-ages fielding play, grabbing a slow roller far to his right with his bare hand, hit by Kevin Newman, and made an off-balance, shortstop-like throw home for the force out in the first inning, keeping what was a two-run inning in check. The Mets went on to win in comeback fashion when Robinson Cano led off the eighth inning with a double and catcher Wilson Ramos lifted a two-run home run to put the Mets ahead, 4-3. Ramos added a two-out, three-run double in the ninth. It was needed because Edwin Diaz surrendered a two-run home run to Starling Marte as the Mets held on for the 7-5 win over the Pirates at PNC Pa...

Tight ends’ fantasy value is still not as good as it appears

In the second of a six-part fantasy draft preview series leading up the NFL season, Fantasy Insanity discusses the war-room game plan for tight ends in the draft. Next week: quarterbacks. Everyone has a personal enemy. Someone you don’t get along with, whom you don’t treat with the same respect as your family and friends. Maybe they’re ugly or mean or they don’t have proper respect for Batman. For the Fantasy Madman, we have long held such angst against fantasy tight ends. We didn’t dislike them necessarily, we just didn’t treat them as nicely as other fantasy players and pundits. We routinely have ranked them well below most in the fantasy industry. Last season, according to our Draft Value Quotient (DVQ), our top tight end ranked in the 40s overall. Considering the top tight ends were getting drafted in the second and third rounds, this was far below the standard. This year, we decided we wanted to be nicer, maybe make friends with some tight ends. So we tweaked our methodology t...

Social Security shouldn’t be funding your retirement plans

Your retirement years won’t be very golden if they’re primarily funded by Social Security. That’s what retirement plan advisers are telling clients, warning that they need substantial private savings to augment Social Security income, which averages only about $17,500 annually. “Generally, I don’t want to see someone have more than 20 percent of retirement income from Social Security,” said adviser Charles Hughes in Bay Shore, adding that 10 percent of their current income is the minimum people should be saving for retirement. Employees should take advantage of all employer savings matches, he said. A Heritage Foundation study found Social Security’s rate of return of 1.25 percent is “vastly inferior” to what retirees receive from most private investments. The long-term annual return of the stock market, as measured by the S&P 500, is about 10 percent. Anthony Ogorek, an adviser in Buffalo, thinks most people should save 15 percent for retirement. “If you get a client match a...

Owners can find hidden gems at closer

The MLB trade deadline has passed, and the dust has settled. It is now your responsibility as a fantasy baseball owner to pick up the pieces and figure out how to put this puzzle together for your second-half run. The fantasy community was not hit as hard this year as we have been in years past with very few impact position players on the move, but where we did see significant movement — the bullpens — we must be ready to react immediately if we are going to find success. After all, saves continue to be a hot commodity. When the Tigers sent Shane Greene to the Braves, the majority of the fantasy world stayed glued to Braves updates to see if the team would make additional moves or if Greene would retain his job as a closer. The savvy fantasy owner did that as well, but he also turned around and added Joe Jimenez. While the Tigers may be looking ahead to next year, they are still going to finish this season and should a save opportunity arise, they need to have someone available. Thi...

NYSE floor traders are facing job extinction

The New York Stock Exchange’s fabled floor traders, fearing steeper job losses in their already diminished ranks, are an endangered species. With the heyday of the human floor trader now ancient history, many observers say the bell now tolls for the few traders remaining. On a typical day, some 250 floor traders mill about — a far cry from the thousands who once traded securities on the venerable floor. And those who are left claim they are plagued by the heavy hand of regulatory compliance and by competition from advanced technology and high-frequency trading. At the center of the latest storm, say traders, is fallout from NYSE enforcement of a rule that regulates the opening and closing of the regular trading day, a key money-maker for the exchange, and for traders applying their value-added skills. According to official data, the exchange has slapped fines on an increasing number of NYSE floor brokerages for violating the rule, which helps establish credit limits for customer t...

New surgery could delay menopause by 20 years: report

A promising new surgery could delay menopause by 20 years, according to a report in the Sunday Times of London. The 30-minute procedure involves removing a piece of ovarian tissue from women who are under the age of 40. The tissue is frozen, then thawed and replanted up to 20 years later. Doing so can restart natural hormones and stop menopause, the report claims. So far, nine women in England have undergone the procedure, it said. The health benefits of delaying menopause including preventing hot flashes and anxiety, as well as postponing osteoporosis and other aging issues. Credit: Source link The post New surgery could delay menopause by 20 years: report appeared first on Fox USA Live . from Fox USA Live https://ift.tt/2OGTlNK

Gleyber Torres’ power show allows Yankees to sweep away Red Sox

The fact that the Yankees are in firm command of the AL East this far into the season isn’t exactly a surprise. How they got here certainly is. After Domingo German and DJ LeMahieu led them to a 9-2 victory in the opener of Saturday’s split doubleheader against the Red Sox, it was Mike Tauchman who put them ahead for good in the nightcap, a 6-4 victory. Over the course of Friday and Saturday, in front of three straight sellout crowds in The Bronx, the Yankees further distanced themselves from the fading Red Sox. With Saturday’s doubleheader sweep, the Yankees have beaten their rivals four straight times — and also won four in a row overall. The Rays, with their fifth consecutive win, stayed eight games back of the Yankees, who shook off another potentially serious injury, as they lost Edwin Encarnacion to a fractured right wrist in the first game. But just as they have all season, the Yankees hardly missed a beat — although Zack Britton gave them a scare by loading the bases in ...

Wilson Ramos’ heroics let Mets overcome struggling Marcus Stroman

PITTSBURGH — Marcus Stroman went from struggling to rolling to fading in the course of a night’s work Saturday, departing his Mets debut with his team at least still in the game. One good rally was eventually needed to exonerate Stroman, and Wilson Ramos delivered it with a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning (before he drove in three additional runs in the ninth), sending the Mets to a 7-5 win over the Pirates at PNC Park. The victory was the Mets’ eighth in nine games, ensuring a winning road trip. Stroman, the Long Island native who arrived in a trade last weekend that sent pitching prospects Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson to Toronto, joined Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard among Mets starting pitchers with an All-Star pedigree. But this night was largely a slog for Stroman – perhaps the combination of first-game jitters with a new team and a long layoff between starts. In all, Stroman lasted 4 1/3 innings and surrendered three earned runs on seven hits and two walks i...

Distributor rejected wine believing wildfire tainted grapes

Wildfire isn’t the kind of smoky note most winemakers are going for. But it’s apparently become an issue for some California vineyards in regions that saw large brushfires, even when the grapes were nowhere near the smoke. One California vintner is suing a Long Island wine distributor for wrongly accusing it of selling 2017 vino with “smoke taint.” The distributor rejected 4,841 cases of Noble Tree wine because it believed the California grapes used to make it were exposed to smoke from wildfires, according to a lawsuit. The Port Washington-based company, SMT Acquisitions, was under contract to accept 2017 varieties of Noble Tree wine from the Sonoma-based Westside Winery, according to the Brooklyn Federal Court claim filed by Westside. “SMT asserts it is not obligated to take possession of, or pay for, the 2017 varietals on the basis that they are purportedly ‘smoke tainted’ due to certain California wild fires.” It’s simply not true, said Westside, noting in court papers the g...

Shattenkirk is nowhere close to Rangers’ worst free-agent bust

With the Kevin Shattenkirk tenure coming to an unceremonious end as the Rangers bought out the final two years of his contract earlier this week, memories of the club’s past woebegone decisions were awakened. Shattenkirk came to the Blueshirts in 2017 as a free agent with a bit of a hometown discount, and with all the right intentions to help elevate the team he grew up rooting for as a kid in New Rochelle. But a knee injury in his first training camp and subsequent other injuries limited his effectiveness, and helped bring about the organization’s earnest campaign of rebuilding — one that has proven to be quite fruitful and advanced in its timing. But where does the Shattenkirk signing rank among the biggest free-agent disappointments in Rangers history? Just for some perspective, he’s not even close to the top-5 busts. Here’s a look: 5. Brian Skrudland/Mike Keane. General manager Neil Smith was trying to add some veteran leadership around Wayne Gretzky in the summer of 1997, so ...

Hong Kong protestors hurl Chinese national flag into harbor

Protesters hurled a Chinese national flag into Victoria Harbor Saturday as a part of ongoing pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, where the government is bracing for an anticipated general strike set for Monday. Tens of thousands of supporters blocked roads and surrounded police stations — setting fire to the entrance of one station — as part of growing anger over a bill that would permit extraditions to the mainland. Violent protests have engulfed Hong Kong for weeks. The Chinese army this week released a video that depicted soldiers practicing shooting at protesters. Credit: Source link The post Hong Kong protestors hurl Chinese national flag into harbor appeared first on Fox USA Live . from Fox USA Live https://ift.tt/2yDdPMK

De Blasio urges Democrats to back the hard left to defeat Trump

Don’t get duped by moderate Democrats — their message is a loser. That was the warning Bill de Blasio made to union workers Saturday in Las Vegas, where he urged his party to go hard to the left if it hopes to defeat Donald Trump. “Do we need to nominate a moderate to win in 2020? You hear it everywhere,” said hizzoner at a forum hosted by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “No, it is a trap, because when you listen to the moderates — I don’t disrespect them, I want to work with them — but I don’t find them inspiring, don’t find them uplifting. I don’t find them visionary. “I don’t find them to be the people who are going to move all those Democrats who stayed home or don’t feel like things are going to change.” Coming off his second debate performance and still struggling in the polls, the New York City mayor was stumping hard to make the case for his candidacy. Rather hizzoner told unions members that they would be better off casting their lot wi...

Giants’ Evan Engram is working outside the box to fix drops

Highlights from the Giants practice on Saturday: Something Good Corey Ballentine continues to be a bright spot in camp. The rookie cornerback had another strong practice Saturday, with an interception and two pass breakups. He picked off Daniel Jones (again) on a fade in the end zone, leaping up and grabbing the ball away from 6-foot-4 receiver Alonzo Russell. His teammates went crazy for every big play he made. One Bad Thing Bennie Fowler has an opportunity to step into a more regular role at wide receiver and has gotten involved plenty. But he had a hiccup during a red-zone drill when he dropped what should have been a touchdown on a pass from Eli Manning. He knew it, too, slapping the ground in frustration. Caught My Eye During a special teams period, when some regulars get to rest, Evan Engram was off to the side catching tennis balls from two coaches at the same time. The tight end has struggled with drops in the past, but it is not for a lack of effort. Keeping Up With T...

Well-timed rest gives Forbidden Trade narrow Hambletonian win

It was Ham-bombs away on Saturday afternoon at the Meadowlands. Forbidden Trade (15-1) and driver Bob McClure won the $1 million Hambletonian by a neck over 1-5 prohibitive favorite Greenshoe in 1:51. Gimpanzee (7-1 second choice) finished third. McClure gave Forbidden Trade a breather while fourth at the rail before moving him second to follow Green Manalishi S. “I was able to get a little helmet time,” McClure said. “I was following a real good horse in Green Manalishi, and he got me where I needed to go, and the only looming danger was Greenshoe, and when they hooked up, it was a good race.” Forbidden Trade battled Greenshoe down the stretch and when they hit the wire managed to hold onto the narrow victory. “They’re two really incredible colts fighting it out, so I don’t think there’s really a loser in that, but I’m really glad we came out on top,” McClure said. Forbidden Trade, trained by Luc Blais, paid $33.80 to win. This was McClure’s first Hambletonian win in his Hambo...