The Full Belmonte, 11/6/2022
Alvarez blasts Baker, Astros to World Series title vs Phils
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
“HOUSTON (AP) — Yordan Alvarez hit a moon shot that sent Space City into a frenzy, and the Houston Astros to their second World Series title.
While the stain on Houston’s first championship might never completely fade, Alvarez’s majestic three-run homer helped fashion a fresh crown for the Astros -- and the first for Dusty Baker as manager -- in a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 on Saturday night.
‘What happened before, it doesn’t ever pass over completely,’ said Baker, the veteran manager hired by the Astros in the wake of their sign-stealing scandal. ‘But we have turned the page and hopefully we’ll continue this run.’
Alvarez blasted a ball over the 40-foot batter’s eye in center field during the sixth inning immediately after Phillies starter Zack Wheeler was pulled with a 1-0 lead.
As Alvarez’s 450-foot shot sailed, Astros starter Framber Valdez jumped and wildly screamed in the dugout while the crowd of 42,958 went crazy waving orange rally towels.
“When I was rounding second base, I felt the whole stadium moving,” Alvarez said through a translator.
The 73-year-old Baker finally got his first title in his 25th season as a manager. He’s spent the past three with the Astros after they hired him to help the team regain credibility after their trash can banging scheme cost manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow their jobs, and made Houston the most reviled team in baseball.” Read more at AP News
UN weather report: Climate woes bad and getting worse faster
By SETH BORENSTEIN
“SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — Earth’s warming weather and rising seas are getting worse and doing so faster than before, the World Meteorological Organization warned Sunday in a somber note as world leaders started gathering for international climate negotiations.
‘The latest State of the Global Climate report is a chronicle of climate chaos,’ United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. ‘We must answer the planet’s distress signal with action -- ambitious, credible climate action.’
In its annual state of the climate report, the United Nations’ weather agency said that sea level rise in the past decade was double what it was in the 1990s and since January 2020 has jumped at a higher rate than that. Since the decade began, seas are rising at 5 millimeters a year (.2 inches) compared to 2.1 millimeters (.08 inches) in the 1990s.
The last eight years have been the warmest on record, the WMO said in a report that didn’t break new ground but was a collection of recent weather trends, data and impacts in one central place.” Read more at AP News
Trump says US ‘in decline’; Biden has his own dire warning
By STEVE PEOPLES, AAMER MADHANI and MARC LEVY
“LATROBE, Pa. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is predicting America’s destruction if his fellow Republicans don’t deliver a massive electoral wave on Tuesday. Democrats, led by President Joe Biden and two other former presidents, are warning that abortion rights, Social Security and even democracy itself are at stake.
Three of the six living presidents delivered dire closing messages Saturday in battleground Pennsylvania entering the final weekend of the 2022 midterm elections, but their words echoed across the country as millions of Americans cast ballots to decide the balance of power in Washington and in key state capitals. Polls across America will close on Tuesday, but more than 39 million people have already voted.
On Sunday, Biden was set to campaign in suburban New York, while Trump was headed to Florida.
‘If you want to stop the destruction of our country and save the American dream, then on Tuesday you must vote Republican in a giant red wave,’ Trump told thousands of cheering supporters as he campaigned Saturday in western Pennsylvania, describing the United States as ‘a country in decline.’
Earlier in the day, Biden shared the stage with former President Barack Obama in Philadelphia, the former running mates campaigning together for the first time since Biden took office. In neighboring New York, even former President Bill Clinton, largely absent from national politics in recent years, was out defending his party.
‘Sulking and moping is not an option,’ Obama charged. ‘On Tuesday, let’s make sure our country doesn’t get set back 50 years.’
Not everyone, it seemed, was on message as the weekend began.
Even before arriving in Pennsylvania, Biden was dealing with a fresh political mess after upsetting some in his party for promoting plans to shut down fossil fuel plants in favor of green energy. While he made the comments in California the day before, the fossil fuel industry is a major employer in Pennsylvania.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said the president owed coal workers across the country an apology. He called Biden’s comments ‘offensive and disgusting.’
Trump seized on the riff in western Pennsylvania, charging that Biden ‘has resumed the war on coal, your coal.’
Earlier in the day, Biden shared the stage with former President Barack Obama in Philadelphia, the former running mates campaigning together for the first time since Biden took office. In neighboring New York, even former President Bill Clinton, largely absent from national politics in recent years, was out defending his party.” Read more at AP News
Banned book lesson thrusts Oklahoma teacher into campaign
By SEAN MURPHY
“NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Summer Boismier was living her childhood dream. She grew up a bookworm, became a high school English teacher, and filled both her classroom and home with her favorite literature.
She taught her students: ‘Stories are what is fundamental about the human experience. We all have them.’
Boismier especially loves the fantasy genre, a passion sprouted from childhood favorite ‘Harry Potter.’ But even in a world of fantasy, she couldn’t have dreamed that a lesson from her English class would land her in the center of a vigorous statewide political campaign and turn her into a target for candidates and voters on social media.
Over the past two years, the nine-year teaching veteran was growing alarmed with the Republican-controlled Oklahoma Legislature’s increasing efforts to restrict access to books in public schools. In her classroom, she covered some bookshelves with red butcher tape and labeled them ‘Books the state doesn’t want you to read.’ She gave students a QR code link to the Brooklyn Public Library, which provides access to a variety of banned books.
She hoped to spark a discussion about the legislators’ book restrictions and a new law prohibiting lessons on critical race theory and other concepts about race and gender. Instead, she was summoned to a meeting with school administrators after a parent complained.
A firestorm erupted as Boismier resigned and a reporter from a local television station covered the story. The state’s Republican candidate for superintendent of public schools, Ryan Walters, wrote a letter to the State Board of Education calling for Boismier’s teaching license to be revoked.
‘There is no place for a teacher with a liberal political agenda in the classroom,’ Walters wrote in the letter he then tweeted and sent to reporters, even accusing Boismier of providing access to ‘pornographic material.’ The incident gained traction on social media, and people claimed she was part of a larger movement of teachers indoctrinating students with liberal ideology.
Boismier, 34, and other teachers have found themselves at the center of a renewed conservative interest in public education as a political issue. The movement gained steam with parents opposing mask mandates and other COVID-19 measures. It has since broadened, and some supporters focus on issues they say clash with conservative values — such as teaching about social justice, gender, race and history.
For weeks, Boismier – a book-loving English teacher without any political aspirations – was the focus of an ugly and heated statewide campaign. People on social media called for her to be prosecuted, thrown in prison or even lynched.
‘It was a little bit of a firehose of bigotry,’ Boismier said.
Even after she resigned, the campaign against her continued, and she left home for a short time when someone emailed a threatening note that included her address. She called her mother in tears.
‘That’s hard enough to read to yourself,’ Boismier said. ‘It’s even harder, I think, to read that to your mother. I’m not going to lie. I was scared.’
As Oklahoma struggles to hire enough qualified teachers, those already in the jobs have increasingly found themselves the target of such conservative attacks and politicians. On the campaign stump and social media, Walters has relentlessly attacked public school teachers as liberal indoctrinators. Norman, one of Oklahoma’s most liberal cities, and Tulsa Public Schools, one of its largest districts, both have been singled out by conservative politicians. Similar attacks against schools and libraries also have proliferated across the country.
‘I’ve seen the propaganda Democrats want in our schools. It’s sick,’ Walters said in one of many online videos he’s posted during his campaign to lead the state’s public schools system. ‘I’m here to fix our schools and teach leftists a lesson.’
Walters also has leaned hard into his opposition to transgender students playing sports or using bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity. He recently suggested at a GOP gathering that all history teachers in Oklahoma should undergo patriotic education training from a private, conservative Christian college in Michigan.
But it’s not clear that Walters’ message, which helped him win the Republican primary, is resonating in deep-red Oklahoma. A Democrat hasn’t been elected to statewide office since 2006. Walters, a former classroom teacher who was tapped as secretary of education by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, is in a tight race with Democrat Jena Nelson, a veteran English teacher and the state’s 2020 teacher of the year.
“We need a state superintendent who believes in our public schools, elevates our teachers, not threatens to defund schools or threatens teachers,” Nelson said in a recent televised debate.
Jamie Qualls, a special education teacher at Madill Public Schools, a rural district in far south Oklahoma, said she’s a Republican who plans to vote for Nelson because she dislikes Walters’ rhetoric.
‘If we could indoctrinate children, we’d have them bring a pencil to class,’ Qualls said. ‘If we had the power to brainwash kids, we’d have them do their homework.’
For Boismier, her story has a happy ending. She found comfort in the community that rallied around her amid the attacks — some even printed yard signs, buttons and T-shirts with the QR code she shared with students. One yard sign is prominently displayed in the front lawn that can be seen from the football stadium.
Now, she’s heading to New York for a job with the Brooklyn Public Library — her first move away from Oklahoma since a brief internship in Washington after college.
Despite the controversy and roller coaster of emotions she’s experienced over the last two months, she said she’d be willing to go through it all again — she’s proud she stood up for her students and now has the opportunity to reach more young people.
‘My teaching certificate may very well be on the chopping block,’ she said. ‘But I’d do it all again with zero hesitation.’
‘My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.’” Read more at AP News
Week 10 college football winners and losers: TCU stays on playoff path as Tennessee falls back
“Every week finds No. 7 TCU responding to a challenge during Big 12 play and inching one step closer to an absolutely out-of-left-field bid to the College Football Playoff.
That's been the case for more than a month for the Horned Frogs, who get pushed deep into the second half but always seem to respond with a key defensive stop and a barrage of points from one of the top offenses in the Bowl Subdivision.
On Saturday, TCU trailed Texas Tech 17-13 entering the fourth quarter but put together three scoring drives in under eight minutes to win 34-24 and move to 9-0 for the first time since 2010.
There's an aspect to this brilliant start under coach Sonny Dykes that seems untenable. TCU has trailed in the second half in four of six Big 12 wins, explaining in part why the Horned Frogs slotted in behind one-loss Alabama in the debut playoff rankings. Any single one of the three teams left in November — Texas, Baylor and Iowa State — seem capable of ending this unbeaten streak.
But asking whether TCU is good enough to reach the national semifinals misses the point. While conference races in the SEC and Big Ten will eventually be decided by head-to-head matchups between some of the best teams in the FBS, the Horned Frogs can punch a ticket to the playoff regardless of beauty points.
TOP 25 RUNDOWN:Scores and breakdowns of the biggest games for Week 10
As the only unbeaten team in the Big 12, TCU is basically a lock to reach the conference championship game and at least play for a spot in one of the New Year's Six bowls. There's the potential for much more given the Horned Frogs' ability to flip a switch in the fourth quarter and turn close games into double-digit wins.
This latest win puts TCU atop the list of Saturday's winners and losers:
Winners
Georgia
Two months after christening the regular season with a 46-point win against Oregon, the top-ranked Bulldogs made another huge statement by pushing around No. 3 Tennessee in a 27-13 win that essentially locks down the SEC East. Not nearly as close as even the score suggests, Georgia set the tone early with three touchdown drives and led 24-6 at halftime. Up front, the Bulldogs upset Tennessee's offensive tempo and held quarterback Hendon Hooker in check — becoming the first team this season to slow down what had been the most explosive and prolific group in the country. There's no longer any question over which team is the best in the FBS: Georgia is the undisputed No. 1 and the current favorites to repeat as national champions.
LSU
It was easy to write off No. 17 LSU last month after an ugly loss to Tennessee dropped the Tigers to 4-2 in Brian Kelly's first season. Three games later, LSU is atop the SEC West, surging into playoff contention and set to at least reach a New Year's Six bowl. What does it mean to beat No. 6 Alabama 32-31 in overtime? As an early tenure-defining win for Kelly, topping the Crimson Tide this soon could indicate a changing of the guard in the SEC power rankings. Now 7-2, LSU could rise as high as No. 8 in this week's USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll and will come in even higher in the playoff rankings.
TIGERS STUNNER:LSU shocks No. 6 Alabama after two-point conversion
Kansas
Kansas snapped a three-game losing streak and secured bowl eligibility for the first time since 2008 by beating No. 18 Oklahoma State 37-16 behind an eye-opening 351 rushing yards, the program's highest single-game total since 2018. Running back Devin Neal accounted for 224 of those yards and added another 110 receiving yards as the Jayhawks averaged 8.1 yards per play. Now 6-3, the Jayhawks are still technically alive in the Big 12 race but guaranteed of ending one of the longest bowl-less streaks in modern Power Five history.
BOWL BOUND:Kansas upends No. 18 Oklahoma State to secure sixth win
Texas
The Longhorns are in good position to reach the Big 12 championship game after beating No. 14 Kansas State 34-27 to move to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in conference play. Locked down with a late fumble recovery that dashed the Wildcats' hopes of forcing overtime, the win puts Texas into a tie with Baylor for second place in the conference standings heading into next weekend's home game against TCU. After a rough go in his last time out against Oklahoma State, quarterback Quinn Ewers threw for 197 yards and two scores without an interception. But the star was running back Bijan Robinson, who went for 209 yards and outplayed Kansas State's Deuce Vaughn.
Liberty
No. 23 Liberty has a convoluted and pretty unlikely path to the New Year's Six as an Bowl Subdivision independent, since the access-bowl bid is saved for Group of Five conference champions. Given the state of things in the very top-heavy American, for example, where it seems unlikely that any team will finish with fewer than two losses, the Flames have a chance to factor into the New Year's Six debate after holding on to beat Arkansas 21-19 and move to 8-1 under coach Hugh Freeze. With games against Connecticut, Virginia Tech and New Mexico State to end November, the Flames should be 11-1 heading into the postseason — though they may go to a bowl without Freeze, one of the top names for the opening at Auburn.
Air Force
After topping Navy earlier this season, the Falcons will officially take home the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy for the first time since 2016 and the fifth time overall under coach Troy Calhoun with a 13-7 win against Army. Winning this three-way series takes some sting out of what had been a somewhat disappointing first two months for a team pegged to factor into the Group of Five bid to the New Year's Six — the Falcons have lost three games by a combined 15 points to fall behind in the Mountain West. Overall, Air Force has won the service-academy rivalry 21 times, most coming during a dominant run under former coach Fisher DeBerry from 1990-2002.
Losers
Alabama
There's going to be no playoff berth. No SEC championship. Barring an epic collapse by LSU, no SEC West championship. At least two losses and maybe more, with No. 10 Mississippi and the Rebels' powerful running game looming next weekend. In the very best case, Alabama will land in a New Year's Six bowl. In the worst case, the Crimson Tide won't even finish in the top four in the SEC. Warning signs abounded even during Alabama's unbeaten start; those warning signs are now all-out alarm bells as the Tide cede control of the division to LSU in Kelly's first year. Kelly isn't Ed Orgeron or Gus Malzahn or Hugh Freeze, as good as those coaches are and have been — he may take the SEC West away from the Tide and never give it back.
Clemson
Losing 35-14 at Notre Dame doesn't end No. 5 Clemson's hopes of returning to the playoff after a one-year absence but it does make things very, very tenuous given the Tigers' middling resume relative to other contenders and the perception of the ACC. Had they stayed unbeaten, the Tigers could've overcome both factors and punched a ticket to playoff — already in the top four in the first rankings, the Tigers would've stayed there and even moved up given the unavoidable losses for multiple teams in the Big Ten and SEC. With one loss, the Tigers are now in position where they will need help almost across the board to get into the semifinals at 12-1. In the end, the damage stemming from this debacle might be even more profound than just one loss: Notre Dame was in so much control that it may be hard for selection committee members to view the Tigers as deserving of the top four.
BLOWN AWAY:Clemson stumbles at Notre Dame to damage playoff hopes
Tennessee
Losing to Georgia isn't fatal to Tennessee's playoff hopes, though the Volunteers will need to run the table in style and get some help to factor into the top four. However, there is a question of how the committee will view the loss considering the Bulldogs' wall-to-wall dominance. Will that outweigh Tennessee's overall resume of quality wins against ranked competition, led by Alabama? There's also the impact the loss has on Hooker, who was set to put a headlock on the Heisman Trophy with a strong showing. The Heisman race is more wide open after Hooker threw for 195 yards and an interception on just 5.9 yards per attempt.
UNCERTAIN FUTURE:Tennessee's playoff hopes take hit in loss to Georgia
Virginia Tech
The Hokies are finding new lows and taking the express elevator to the bottom of the Power Five. Ahead 20-10 late in the second quarter and 27-16 after three, Virginia Tech suffered an epic fourth quarter meltdown and lost 28-27 to Georgia Tech for a sixth loss in a row, the program's longest streak since 1987. In the final quarter alone, the Hokies committed multiple turnovers, including one deep inside Georgia Tech territory, and allowed the Yellow Jackets' offense to score twice behind freshman quarterback Zach Pyron, who was making his first career start. While the Hokies have been horrible since the opener under new coach Brent Pry, this specific loss represents the program's lowest point in decades.
Texas A&M
Every week is different for A&M, even if every Saturday ends the same way: in a loss. This time, the undermanned Aggies led Florida 24-20 at halftime by relying on running back Devon Achane, who accounted for 104 yards of total offense and all three touchdowns heading into the break. In the second half, Achane touched the ball just seven times for 17 total yards as A&M coughed up the lead and lost 41-24. Countless times this season, Jimbo Fisher has made decisions on offense — ranging from personnel matters to in-game play calling — that boggle the mind and severely damage the Aggies' chances. They're 3-6 and likely going to miss a bowl game, a stunning conclusion to a season when they started in the top 10.
Ohio State
The No. 2 Buckeyes can exhale after a 21-7 win against Northwestern that wasn't officially sealed until a short touchdown run by Miyan Williams with four minutes left. Favored by nearly 40 points against a bottom-rung conference opponent but hampered by wet and windy conditions, Ohio State's offense was sidelined by the Wildcats' ball-control game plan and effective pass defense. While the weather played a huge role, it's worth asking if this combination can be replicated by Michigan and others: Ohio State managed just 4.6 yards per play and an eye-opening 2.9 yards per pass, with C.J. Stroud hitting on just 10 of 26 attempts for a career-low 76 yards without a touchdown.
SLUGGISH VICTORY:No. 2 Ohio State manages ugly win against Northwestern
Nebraska
Now that Kansas has punched its ticket back into bowl play, there's only one Power Five team without at least one postseason appearance since 2017. Yeah, that's the hard-to-watch Cornhuskers, who gave up a 10-0 halftime lead and lost 20-13 to Minnesota to fall to 3-7 under interim coach Mickey Joseph.” Read more at USA Today
Aaron Carter, singer and reality TV star, found dead at 34 in California home
“Singer Aaron Carter, who began performing as a child and had hit albums starting in his teen years, was found dead Saturday at his home in Southern California. He was 34.
Representatives for Carter’s family confirmed the singer’s death to The Associated Press. They did not provide any immediate further comment.
Carter, the younger brother of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, performed as an opening act for Britney Spears as well as his brother’s boy band, and appeared on the family’s reality series ‘House of Carters’ that aired on E! Entertainment Television. In 2009, he competed on Season 9 of ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ finishing fifth with his professional partner Karina Smirnoff.
Deputies responded around 11 a.m. following reports of a medical emergency at the home in Lancaster, said Deputy Alejandra Parra with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Parra said the deputies found a deceased person at the residence, but she could not immediately confirm it was Carter.” Read more at USA Today