Vanquishing Bears, Thanksgiving losing streak tops Lions' holiday listNorth Carolina fired Mack Brown on Tuesday, setting in motion a coaching carousel that has been lacking movement at the power conference level. While the American Athletic Conference already has a half-dozen coaching changes in progress, and CBS Sports insiders expect a robust market for power conference coordinators and assistants, the apparent cooling of multiple hot seats over the past month suggests a quiet year for change at major programs. But North Carolina moving on from Brown puts the program in an unfamiliar position. For the first time in the modern era, the national coaching carousel runs through Chapel Hill. This is not a school that has ever held all the cards when it comes to football searches. Thanks to the work of Brown's second stint, however, North Carolina football is as healthy and attractive a job as it has been in decades. Brown raised the floor, ushered the fan base and donors into the NIL era, and repaired relationships throughout the state that had become fractured during previous tenures. He will end the "Mack 2.0" era with six consecutive bowl-eligible seasons, an ACC runner-up finish in 2022, and an Orange Bowl appearance in 2020. In comparison, previous North Carolina football hires have inherited: A program that won just five games combined across 2017-18 A program in the midst of NCAA scandal with sanctions on the way A program that had gone 27-45 across six seasons with just two bowl appearances A program that had lost its footing from the highs of the Mack Brown 1.0 era -- 1999 was its first losing season since 1989. Every coach hired since Brown's exit (which led to the promotion of defensive coordinator Carl Torbush) was tasked with fixing major issues within the program. By moving on from Mack Brown in the 2024-25 offseason, North Carolina is hitting the coach market in the best condition it has been in during the modern era. North Carolina may be doing so with less competition than it has ever faced--or may ever face--in the coaching carousel marketplace. It has been suggested that many hot-seat situations cooled in recent weeks because of the upcoming House ruling and the uncertain financial future of revenue sharing. That may be the case, and if so, North Carolina is taking a calculated risk. If the school had let Brown's tenure extend into 2025 only to make this same move next season, perhaps more clarity about the financials of college sports would have made schools less hesitant to fire their coaches. If North Carolina entered the marketplace in 2025, it could have been competing with multiple SEC programs for top candidates. Brown's Hall of Fame career in perspective Tulane's Jon Sumrall could be best candidate for UNC Why Dennis Dodd says today was another case of Brown being done wrong UNC alum Chip Patterson says Tar Heels in rare spot (in rare time, too) The North Carolina job is a strong position that would attract interest from top candidates. Top SEC coordinators and rising coaches were all mentioned as potential targets before Butch Davis was hired in 2006, but questions remain about the actual candidacy of those individuals given the timeline of the coaching change. John Bunting was fired midseason and allowed to finish the year, while Davis, who was not coaching at the time, was announced as the next coach on Nov. 13, 2006. Now, athletic director Bubba Cunningham and the university leadership get to hold a proper search, within a normal timeframe, with a job to offer that is as attractive as it has been in decades -- and, for now, the best available job in the country. That's an enormous opportunity and a pivot point for the school. Coaches often talk about building programs by following a progression: "lose big, then lose small, then win small, and finally win big." Outsiders often discuss the potential of North Carolina football, citing the rising level of talent in the state, the school's national brand, and a passionate fan base familiar with celebrating big wins in other sports. The reality, however, is that most of the Tar Heels' coaching hires in the modern era have been restoration jobs to bring the program back to its historical average -- winning about 55% of its games. The expectation, based on 120-plus years of North Carolina football, has been to win more games than you lose and, once every four to five years, produce a team that contends for conference championships and a top-25 finish. If North Carolina wants more than that, this is an opportunity to bring in a qualified candidate who doesn't have to start over with the "lose big" or "lose small" stages of building a successful program. Thanks to the work of Mack Brown's second tenure, North Carolina football doesn't need to be rebuilt to its historical 55% average--because that's where the next head coach will begin. Considering the health of the program and the apparent lack of competition, there is no excuse for North Carolina not to make a great hire who can lead the team into a new era of college athletics. That's the calculated risk North Carolina is taking by making a change while others wait for things to settle. This is a job that hasn't been the best available before and might not be again.
WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — Namibia elected its first female leader as Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was declared the winner Tuesday of a presidential election last week that was tarnished by technical glitches that caused a three-day extension to allow votes to be cast, and rejected as illegal by opposition parties. The 72-year-old Nandi-Ndaitwah won with 57% of the vote, defying predictions that she might be forced into a runoff. Her ruling SWAPO party also retained its parliamentary majority, although by a very thin margin, and extended its 34-year hold on power since the southern African country gained independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990. Namibia, a sparsely populated country of around 3 million on the southwestern coast of Africa, has a reputation for being one of the continent's more stable democracies and the problems around the election have caused consternation. Last Wednesday's vote was marred by shortages of ballot papers and other problems that led election officials to extend voting until Saturday. Opposition parties have said the extension is unconstitutional, and some have pledged to join together in a legal appeal to have the election invalidated. The Electoral Commission of Namibia, which ran the election, rejected opposition calls for a redo of the vote. It has undermined Nandi-Ndaitwah's place in history. She is set to become her country's fifth president since independence and a rare female leader in Africa. She was a member of Namibia's underground independence movement in the 1970s and received part of her higher education in the then-Soviet Union. She was promoted to vice president in February after President Hage Geingob died while in office . Nangolo Mbumba, who became president after Geingob's death, didn't run in the election. The ruling SWAPO party won 51 seats in the parliamentary vote, only just passing the 49 it needed to keep its majority and narrowly avoiding becoming another long-ruling party to be rejected in southern Africa this year. It was SWAPO's worst parliamentary election result. A mood of change has swept across the region, with parties that led their countries out of white minority or colonial rule in neighboring South Africa and Botswana both losing their long-held political dominance. South Africa's African National Congress, which freed the country from the racist system of apartheid, lost its 30-year majority in an election in May and had to form a coalition. Botswana's ruling party was stunningly removed in a landslide in October after governing for 58 years since independence from Britain. Mozambique's long-ruling Frelimo has been accused of rigging an October election and has faced weeks of violent protests against its rule. SWAPO faced similar challenges as those countries, with frustration at high unemployment and economic hardship, especially among young people, driving a desire for era-ending change. In a brief speech after the results were announced late Tuesday night, Nandi-Ndaitwah said Namibians had voted for peace, stability and youth empowerment. “We are going to do what we promised you during the campaigns. Thank you for your confidence and trust in us," she said. Nandi-Ndaitwah was also due to address the nation on Wednesday morning. “SWAPO Wins. Netumbo Wins. Namibia Wins. Now Hard Work,” the ruling party posted on its official account on social media site X. Some opposition parties boycotted the announcement by the Electoral Commission of Namibia at its results center in the capital, Windhoek. The commission has been roundly criticized for its running of the vote, with many angry Namibians complaining they had to wait hours and sometimes over multiple days for the chance to vote. Just over 1 million votes were cast out of 1.4 million registered voters, according to the electoral commission. Panduleni Itula, the leading opposition candidate from the Independent Patriots for Change party, was second in the presidential election with 25% of the vote. His party won the second-largest number of seats in Parliament behind SWAPO. Itula and his party have led the criticism of the vote and said they will lodge their appeal against the election this week. Other opposition parties said they will join that legal challenge. Itula has said that thousands of voters may have been prevented from voting as only some polling stations allowed an extension. "This election has violated the very tenets of our Electoral Act. Namibians deserve the right to choose their leaders freely and fairly, not through a rigged process,” he said. Namibia is a former German colony that came under South African control after World War I and its Black majority was later subjected to some of South Africa’s apartheid policies. SWAPO was at the forefront of the battle for independence from South Africa. While the country has swaths of desert running through it, it has diamond and uranium resources and untapped oil and gas off its coast that is being explored by international companies and could make it a major producer of both. ___ AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa The Associated PressSAN JOSE, Calif. , Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) will host its 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders on Monday, December 9, 2024 , beginning at 8:00 a.m. PST via audio webcast. Participants will include Cisco Chair and CEO Chuck Robbins . What: 2024 Cisco Virtual Annual Meeting of Stockholders When: Monday, December 9, 2024, 8:00 a.m. PST Listen and Watch: A live audio (including closed captioning) webcast of the meeting with synchronized slides will be available online. Cisco stockholders of record as of October 10, 2024 , can vote and ask questions online during the meeting. Visit www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/CSCO2024 to attend. Online Annual Report: View Cisco's 2024 Annual Report and Proxy at www.cisco.com/c/en/us/about/annual-reports.html Replay: A replay of the Annual Stockholder Meeting with synchronized slides will be available on the Cisco Investor Relations website at investor.cisco.com within 24 hours of the conclusion. About Cisco Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that securely connects everything to make anything possible. Our purpose is to power an inclusive future for all by helping our customers reimagine their applications, power hybrid work, secure their enterprise, transform their infrastructure, and meet their sustainability goals. Discover more on The Newsroom and follow us on X at @Cisco . Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks . Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. Investor Relations Contact: Press Contact: Sami Badri Robyn Blum Cisco Cisco 469-420-4834 408-930-8548 sambadri@cisco.com rojenkin@cisco.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cisco-to-host-2024-virtual-annual-meeting-of-stockholders-302316943.html SOURCE Cisco Systems, Inc.Foley Automotive Update 26 November 2024
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister has withdrawn his nomination to lead the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) under President-elect Donald Trump . In a statement shared on social media Tuesday, Chronister expressed gratitude for being nominated by President-elect Donald Trump, calling it "the honor of a lifetime." However, he said the gravity of the position led him to conclude that he should remain focused on serving the citizens of Hillsborough County. "Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I've concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration," Chronister wrote. "There is more work to be done for the citizens of Hillsborough County and a lot of initiatives I am committed to fulfilling," he added. Chronister did not elaborate, and Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment from Newsweek . To have been nominated by President-Elect @realDonaldTrump to serve as Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration is the honor of a lifetime. Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully... pic.twitter.com/bvNF8m9Bh4 Chronister faced strong opposition from conservative lawmakers like Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and Texas Rep. Chip Roy over his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, he ordered the arrest of Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne for holding in-person church services in violation of lockdown orders. On Saturday, Trump announced plans to nominate Chronister to run the DEA. But the move sparked backlash from some of the businessman-turned-politician's biggest backers, including Republican colleagues and followers within the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. Republican Congressman Thomas Massie , who represents a district in Kentucky, to o k to X to say : "I'm going to call 'em like I see 'em. Trump's nominee for head of DEA should be disqualified for ordering the arrest a pastor who defied COVID lockdowns." Some X users, who identified themselves as "MAGA" in their profiles, were equally outraged. "Totally makes him unqualified. Yuck!" one wrote. Another added: "No Covid nazis allowed anywhere in the administration. Automatic disqualification." The backlash from conservatives stemmed for his perceived, progressive stances. In 2018, Chronister became the first Hillsborough County Sheriff to join the Tampa Pride Parade and later launched the agency's LGBTQ Liaison program. Additionally, his support for red flag laws, which allow the temporary removal of firearms from individuals deemed a threat, sparked criticism from gun rights advocates. Trump has been busy assembling his cabinet and filling top agency roles ahead of his return to the White House in January. Most of the positions were filled by last week , with political analysts and voters split in terms of their opinions on Trump's choices . But Trump's choice of Chronister for the DEA prompted pushback, even amongst the president-elect's biggest fans. Chronister follows former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz , Trump's first pick to serve as attorney general, in withdrawing his name for a post in the administration. Gaetz withdrew following scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation's chief federal law enforcement officer. The DEA post requires Senate confirmation. Update: 12/3/24, 6:13 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with more information.The AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — LJ Thomas had 25 points in Austin Peay’s 62-50 win over Georgia State on Tuesday. Thomas added five assists for the Governors (4-2). Tekao Carpenter scored 12 points while finishing 4 of 9 from 3-point range. The Panthers (3-3) were led by Zarigue Nutter, who recorded 17 points. Malachi Brown added 10 points and two steals for Georgia State. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .