Seahawks Rookie Tyler Lockett Takes the Rams First Punt to the House | Seahawks vs. Rams | NFL
The Seattle Seahawks and St. Louis Rams will get NFC West hostilities underway on Sunday.
The Seattle Seahawks are set to take on the St. Louis Rams for an early leg-up in the NFC West in Week 1. Seattle took the division last season, edging out the Arizona Cardinals, soundly beating the San Francisco 49ers and the Rams ... well, the Rams weren"t really in the picture much at all.
But it"s a new season, and both teams have made strides to improve over the course of the offseason. St. Louis finished last season with a 6-10 record, but the Rams got a new starting quarterback, a new starting running back, a new offensive line and a defense that"s looking like it could be dominant on its best days.
Still, the big story of this game is Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor and his contract holdout. Chancellor started holding out for a new deal in training camp, missed all of preseason and has not practiced with the team at all leading up to Sunday"s game. The Seahawks were practicing as though Chancellor was injured and don"t expect him to play on Sunday.
Chancellor is one of the top safeties in the NFL, and while the Seahawks have a secondary that also features Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman -- players with legitimate claim to being the best players at their position -- having to play without Chancellor would change things significantly.
Fortunately for the Seahawks, the Rams aren"t looking like a team set to test any secondary, let alone one that features Sherman and Thomas. Still, the Rams are something of a question mark on offense with new quarterback Nick Foles. They traded Sam Bradford for Foles and some draft picks this offseason, and while Bradford has looked better than Foles in the NFL, he also has a massive injury history.
Foles went 15-9 as a starter in three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, though he also sustained injuries with them. But two years ago, Foles threw 27 touchdowns with just two interceptions and it"s safe to say the Rams are hoping that"s the guy that winds up under center for them this season. He has essentially the toughest test in the NFL ahead of him, so a poor performance isn"t confirmation that everything is on fire for the Rams, but a good game would do so much for the offense and the confidence of this team.
That said, Foles does not currently suffer from an overabundance of receiving targets. Brian Quick and Kenny Britt are Foles" starting receivers, with Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey behind them. Tight end Jared Cook will likely get the most targets if the Rams can exploit a matchup, but this certainly isn"t an ideal situation for Foles.
As noted, the team also has a new running back in Todd Gurley, a first-round rookie. Unfortunately for St. Louis, Gurley is out for this game with a knee injury -- he"s still recovering from a torn ACL suffered in college -- and Tre Mason also has an injury. That means Benny Cunningham and Isaiah Pead will likely get the majority of the carries against a Seattle defensive front that isn"t quite as good as its secondary, but is still plenty fearsome.
St. Louis will likely find most of its success in this game coming from the defensive side of the ball. The Rams have an absolutely ridiculous offensive line, featuring Robert Quinn, Chris Long, Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers and free agent acquisition Nick Fairley. That line will be tasked with stopping Marshawn Lynch and containing Russell Wilson, and If they can halt Seattle"s offensive production and keep this a low-scoring game, they might be able to pull out an upset.
How to Watch
When: 1 p.m. ET
Where: Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Mo.
TV: FOX
Announcers: Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Laura Okmin
MIDDLETOWN A terrifying wildfire exploded Saturday through woodland communities in southern Lake County, forcing thousands to flee their homes and sending four firefighters to the hospital with second-degree burns.
Saturdays raging flames destroyed scores of structures and placed the county, already the stage for four major wildfires this summer, under renewed siege. Some evacuees were cut off from escape routes, while others abandoned their cars to burn on roadways. Hundreds of firefighters streamed into the area to battle the blaze, which grew from 50 acres to more than 10,000 acres in the span of five hours Saturday. It doubled in size again over the next four hours, swelling to 25,000 acres by 10:25p.m.
By 10 p.m., the flames were burning homes, apartments and commercial buildings in Middletown, home to more than 1,300 people. Firefighters made a stand at the towns high school, knocking down a fire that started to burn the main building.
Arkansas Razorbacks Football 2015-16 // Strive For Greatness
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Last seasons Class 7A runner-up, Fayetteville, is a near-unanimous pick as the top team in Arkansas in the preseason Associated Press high school football poll.
The Bulldogs, led by coach Daryl Patton, received 13 of 14 first-place votes in the overall poll and are favored to win their first state championship since winning back-to-back titles in 2011-12.
Two-time defending Class 7A champion Bentonville received the other first-place vote and is second in the poll, followed by Class 6A defending champion Pine Bluff, Fort Smith Northside and North Little Rock. Fort Smith Southside is sixth, followed by Conway, Cabot, Pulaski Academy and Springdale Har-Ber.
Pine Bluff tops the Class 6A poll, followed by Pulaski Academy in 5A, Dardanelle in 4A, Smackover in 3A and three-time defending champion Junction City in 2A.
"Fantastic" Martial! | Manchester United 3 Liverpool 1 | Louis Van Gaal Press Conference
Of course, yeah, he says. When Man United came in for me, there were other clubs - Barcelona, Madrid, Roma, Chelsea - that potentially wanted me. But my whole thinking was: "I want trophies." If I"m looking at it now and all those clubs come in for me now, I"m thinking, Who"s got a better chance of giving me a trophy. Is it Man United? Would you sit there and say Man United have got the best chance of winning me silverware as a player? That"s the question you"ve got to ask yourself. I don"t think Man United are going to win the league this year.
Ferdinand then offers the prediction that City will canter to the Premier League title by at least six points and will also provide the best hope for English clubs in the Champions League. The simple reason, says Ferdinand, is that Manuel Pellegrini how ditched 4-4-2 and is now playing three in the centre.
How Man Utd stars turned on Van Gaal
Don"t play 4-4-2 in the big games, says Ferdinand. You get out numbered in midfield, you"ve not got the personnel to cope with it. People talk about 4-4-2 with Man United but, in our big games we played three in midfield every time.
Van Gaal will probably again start with three in midfield against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday but the similarities with what Ferdinand experienced under Sir Alex Ferguson pretty much end there.
The philosophy is completely different, says Ferdinand. Their philosophy at the moment seems to be, we"ll keep the ball more than you, you won"t have comfortable possession. Us suffocating you with possession is our first form of defence. Man United supporters now have to go away and re-educate themselves on how to watch Man United. Don"t go there expecting to see free-flowing, attacking, gung-ho football. It"s methodical, side to side, wait for an opportunity to come. They suffocate other teams.
"People who are old enough to remember those times, they want fairytales and they"re going to reminisce. The younger generation, they"re not so attached to that and they can move on, but they"re going to want to move on to a style that they like. Everyone"s got different tastes. I think Van Gaal is big enough, strong enough and experienced enough to know that he"s not going to please everyone.
Man Utd vs Liverpool: as it happened
The departure on loan of Adnan Januzaj to Borussia Dortmund reinforces Ferdinands assessment. He is a wonderfully talented kid, says Ferdinand. He is one to take people on and plays with a little bit of fairytale and imagination but if you look at Angel Di Maria, what he said when he left, he had a way of playing and his idea of playing was free-flowing and off the cuff and you can"t do that in a Van Gaal team.
Ferdinand would still have liked the chance last season to play under the Dutchman. I was disappointed that I wasn"t allowed to stay, he says. Speaking to the lads now, they say it"s a great education. It"s different to what they"ve ever know. Everything"s changing other than the groundsman and the chef. I was talking to Nemanja Vidic and we were both saying the change is unreal in terms of the personnel and the transfer policy. We were saying, "If they"d spent 50 million when we were there, we"d have won how much more?
When it is pointed out that his United team did regularly reach the Champions League semi-final or better with less investment, Ferdinand replies: Yeah, that gets on my nerves as well.
Some of the spending, though, has clearly also bemused the former United captain. For all their attacking flair, the last great Ferguson team was built on a defensive foundation of Ferdinand and Vidic that has never truly been replaced.
You think, You"ve spent all that money, where is the centre-half? says Ferdinand. Daley Blind? Hes a fantastic all-round footballer but he"s not a defender. He"s not going to spot danger as quick as a natural defender. He"s indecisive in certain areas, he"s not comfortable, he"s not used to being in certain positions and then the ball is behind and he can"t recover.
Ferdinand also suggests that it was easier for him to arrive in a dressing-room full of so many established greats 13 years ago than it will be now for Anthony Martial. When I went to Man United, it was a great place in terms of protecting players, he says. I went into a changing room with Roy Keane, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Juan Veron. Martial"s coming in now under huge expectations and there"s no-one there, because I think all of them are still there trying to prove themselves other than Rooney really.
Talk of those United legends also prompts another thought. Ferdinand is currently working as a BT Sport pundit but wants to go into coaching and, while Ryan Giggs is Van Gaals assistant, he is adamant that United must never waste that well of newly retired and legendary former players.
It is vitally important that they keep that lifeblood, says Ferdinand. You saw with Liverpool how it messed them up over the years. I think it is an important part of a club"s DNA. New players coming in need to see the history walking around that club. Sir Bobby Charlton is there all the time. That needs to happen with the next generation of players now.
As for his wider Champions League prediction, Ferdinand believes that Chelsea may suffer for not further reinvigorating their squad and still thinks that the mentality at Arsenal will prevent a realistic challenge. Ultimately, he expects Barcelona to again prevail.
The real top, top drawer players are playing for Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern, says Ferdinand. They make big differences in the big games and you have to be a special team to stop those players.
Watch PSV v Manchester United on Tuesday 15 September live and exclusive from 7.30pm on BT Sport 2. BT Sport is the new home of European football, with all UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches exclusively live. Visit bt sport.com/europe
Saudi Arabia"s civil defense authority says dozens of people have been killed after a crane collapsed on the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca on Sept. 11, 2015.(Photo: 2014 photo by Khalid Mohammed, AP)
Millions of Muslims have made the hajj, the annualpilgrimage to Mecca.But in recent years, the pilgrimage has been marred by tragedies usually the result of a failure of crowd control or the crush of stampedes.
On Friday, just days before the hajj was to begin, tragedy struck again at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia.Ferocious winds caused ahuge construction crane to collapse and crash into the mosque, killing at least 87worshipers. The Saudi Arabia Civil Defense reported that as many as 184people had been injured.
The hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims. It must be carried out at least once in the lifetime of all adult Muslims who are capable of undertaking the journey. The hajj is considered one of the largest annual gatherings of people in the world. The date of the hajj is determined by the Islamic calendar, which is a lunar year. This year"s hajj was set to start from Sept. 21-26.
One of the most recentdisastersoccurred onJan. 12, 2006. At least 340 people were killed and 290 injured in a stampede that started when a busload of pilgrims unloaded near a ramp to the Jamaraat Bridge. Pilgrims began tripping over luggage, which resulted in a deadly crush of people rushing to carry out a devil-stoning ritual in the city of Mina, just outside Mecca.. About 2.5 million people from around the world participated in the hajj that year.
In the devil-stoning ritual,Muslim pilgrims fling pebbles at three walls inMina.It is one of a series of ritual acts that must be performed in the hajj. After the 2006incident, the Jamaraat Bridge and the pillars representing the devilwere demolished and reconstructed. A wider, multilevel bridge was built withmassive columns. Each level of the bridge now allows easier and safer access to the columns representing the devil.
Other incidents:
Feb.1, 2004:A stampede at the devil-stoning ritual left 251 pilgrims deadand244 injured.
Feb.11, 2003:Fourteen pilgrims died during the devil-stoning ritual.
March 5, 2001:A stampede at the devil-stoning ritual resulted in the deaths of 35 pilgrims.
April 9, 1998:At least 118 pilgrims were trampled to death and 180 injured on the Jamaraat Bridge.
May 23, 1994: A stampede at the devil-stoning ritual killed at least 270.
July 2, 1990: A stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel leading from Meccaresulted in the deaths of 1,426 pilgrims.
