With student-athletes in high school readily availing themselves of name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities, Morgan Stanley Global Sports & Entertainment (GSE) has launched a new financial education program, Money in the Making™, designed specifically for young athletes and entertainers. The free program provides information that helps young athletes build and manage their assets as well as make wise financial decisions. Over 44% of student-athletes have expressed a desire to strengthen their financial literacy, and about 49% want tax information. Topics include budgeting, saving, investing, and credit. A high-profile partner for Money in the Making is 17-year NFL veteran Larry Fitzgerald Jr., who shares the keys to his post-football financial successes. Another partner is Parity, a brand sponsorship platform focused on closing the gender income and opportunity gap in professional sports.
History-making bobsledder Dr. Seun Adigun, the force behind Nigeria’s 2018 debut at the Olympic Winter Games, has been working with Parity for a couple of years. “I’m one of the athletes who has benefitted,” said Adigun, who noted that Parity has developed high-impact collaborations for female athletes. “They match us with brands to get visibility as well as being appreciated for being women in sports.”
Adigun, a chiropractor and biomechanist, said financial literacy and awareness are crucial parts of success for female athletes. Also, “understanding what it means to be a brand,” said Adigun, a track athlete before taking up bobsled. “I want to be able to help other women to understand that life is about that balance—how to do your life as an athlete and also how to live your life as a financially healthy individual,” she said.
How to finance her professional education and how to finance the improbable bobsled project was something Adigun learned through trial and error. Helping other young athletes not have to face the same challenges is deeply satisfying for her.
“You can be a professional athlete but also understand that you’re a business and you are a personal brand,” she said. “That’s so much more relevant now in the age of social media.”
“Given NIL, there has been an influx of requests to host financial education sessions,” said Sandra L. Richards, managing director, head of GSE and Segment Sales & Engagement, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. “Money in the Making as a digital financial education platform allows us to scale the resource to reach as many student-athletes, their parents, and anybody else in their ecosystem where they are.”
The Jets and Giants completed their preseason schedule facing each other last Saturday at MetLife, their shared home stadium. The Jets earned the win by 32-24, to finish 2-2 and the Giants ended 1-2. The Jets had an additional game as they opened the NFL preseason schedule playing the Cleveland Browns in the league’s annual Hall of Fame game on August 3.
Preseason is essentially immaterial now to the men who survived final cuts and the coaching staff. While sympathetic feelings may linger for those that grinded through the dog days of training camp and strived to make the teams’ 53-man roster but did not survive final cuts, preseason is immaterial now. The remaining players and coach staffs must now look ahead to Week 1.
The Jets open the regular season on a Monday night, September 11, at home against the Buffalo Bills, the defending AFC East winners. The Bills were 13-3 last season. They weren’t credited with playing 17 games because their contest against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2 was canceled after safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field after taking a direct hit to his chest.
The Jets did get through the full 17-game slate and were last in the division at 7-10. This season, with the addition of four-time league MVP Aaron Rodgers resolving the Jets’ seemingly perpetual quarterback issues, they enter this season as one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl.
The oddsmakers don’t foresee the Giants having similar prospects as the Jets, but they have the necessities to be a playoff contender and perhaps go deeper into the postseason than they did last January, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round. It was the Giants’ first playoff appearance since 2016.
After going 9-7-1 last season, holding third place in the NFC East and securing a wildcard spot, the Giants will have a difficult schedule as it stands today and two of the league’s leading Super Bowl contenders in their own division to deal with in the reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys. Five of the Giants first six games are versus teams that all made the playoffs last season. The exception is the Arizona Cardinals, who they face in Week 2.
The Giants open the regular season at MetLife on September 10 in the NFL’s Sunday night
(8:20 p.m.) primetime game hosting the Cowboys. They will play the Jets Week 8 (October 29) in a game the Giants are designated as the home team.
This is what it’s like to have a WNBA team filled with All-Stars. While the New York Liberty had very talented players and winning records in past seasons, nothing has compared to this season as Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Betnijah Laney, Courtney Vandersloot, and Jonquel Jones win the toughest of games—all the while setting records for points, wins, and personal milestones.
This past week has featured three big Liberty victories. Last Thursday, the Liberty defeated the Connecticut Sun 95–90 in overtime in Connecticut. From there, the team headed to Minneapolis, where they drubbed the Minnesota Lynx 111–76, increasing New York’s record of most games with over 100 points.
On Monday, the Liberty returned home for the team’s second regular season victory over the defending WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces (the Liberty also defeated the Aces in the Commissioner’s Cup). The game marked yet another sellout crowd, words that haven’t been uttered in more than a decade.
“Obviously, we wanted to tighten up things and continue to be the best New York Liberty team that we can be,” said Ionescu, the team’s top scorer against the Aces with 25 points. This was the fourth time this month the Liberty and Aces have faced off, with the Liberty prevailing three times. Ionescu likened it to a playoff series in-season. “It was nice to be able to see how we’ve been able to come out every single game and make those adjustments in real time and continue to get better through these games,” she said.
Vandersloot, who contributed 17 points, 10 assists and five rebounds, said she felt confident throughout the game that the Liberty had control. “After our slow start, we came back and we really picked it up defensively. I think we were making things hard for them. We were scoring in transition,” she said.
Head coach Sandy Brondello again noted the depth of the team. When Jones got into foul trouble, Stefanie Dolson was able to step in. She also said the team has gelled over the course of the season. “The chemistry is there,” Brondello said. “The more time we spend together, we can work out how we want to execute.”
The Liberty return to Barclays Center tomorrow night to face the Connecticut Sun and then have a very busy final stretch of regular season play before heading into the playoffs. They face the Sun tomorrow in Brooklyn, the Chicago Sky (Sunday) and Dallas Wings (Tuesday) on the road, and then finish with the Los Angeles Sparks (next Thursday) and Washington Mystics (September 10) at home.
It has been a time of change for Manhattan College athletics. Last spring, the college announced that certain issues within the athletic department had been reviewed for NCAA infractions. After reaching a resolution, information was released. Over a four-year period from 2018–2022, the college did not maintain an academic certification system that incorporated the appropriate checks and balances from both athletics and academic affairs personnel.
With the matter now addressed, the Jaspers are moving forward, and interim director of athletics Irma Garcia is excited to see the fall sports in action. It has also been a time of change for Garcia, the first-ever Hispanic woman to lead a Division I athletic program. Last spring, St. Francis College in Brooklyn, for which Garcia served as director of athletics for 16 years, disbanded its athletic program.
“I love Manhattan College and I’m excited to be here,” said Garcia. “There are a lot of things I can help with. Most of it is just bringing everyone together and believing that we can move on, win, and be successful. The kids are great. The coaches are great. I love being in the grind, being creative, and making this a really special place.”
Garcia has always been a high energy and creative leader. She’s focusing on the present and future. “Success here doesn’t only mean wins and losses,” she said. “You’ve got to win in the classroom and do community service. I love working with the community. Giving back to each other, [and] helping each other get through some tough times.”
All sports continue. Compliance is now a top priority. “Everybody understands what their role is in order to move the college forward,” said Garcia. “It’s going to work as long as we work together, are transparent and communicate.”
The volleyball team began its season last week at the Wildcat Invitational in Utah. Although the Jaspers did not prevail in their matches, there was tenacious play. This weekend, the team heads to the Red Flash Classic in Pennsylvania. The women’s soccer team has played its first two games of the season, winning one. Tonight, the team is on the road playing Loyola University Maryland.
“We’re here to show people that we care and every program is going to feel the energy,” Garcia said. “I see student-athletes ready to compete at a Division I level.”
Michael A. Taylor has been on fire for the Minnesota Twins lately as they fight to stay atop of the American League Central Division. The Twins will have to win the division if they want a shot at postseason play and that is something that Taylor knows. The 32-year-old Taylor has been one of the Twins’ best hitters during the last week and a half. On August 24, he had one of his best performances of the season, going 2-for-3 with two solo home runs as the Twins defeated the Texas Rangers 7-5. He has provided great production at the bottom of the lineup for the Twins. Taylor’s seven-game hitting streak came to an end on Sunday against the Rangers, but his 19 home runs tie a career-best set back in 2017 with the Washington Nationals. In his first year with Minnesota, Taylor has been a versatile addition, filling various needs for the team. The 10-year MLB veteran has been an efficient player throughout his career and has valuable postseason experience, notably as a member of the Washington Nationals World Series team in 2019. Taylor’s defense has been a critical aspect of his all-around play. He has been a lockdown defender winning a Gold Glove Award in 2021. Going into the Twins’ matchup with the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday through 112 games this season playing centerfield, Taylor has a .989 fielding percentage with one assist. Minnesota was 69-63 and led the American League Central Division by seven games over the Guardians, which were 62-70. At the plate, Taylor is not known as a power hitter, but this season, he’s displayed some pop. His 19 home runs as of Tuesday tie a career high. Despite dealing a with slight hamstring discomfort, he has remained a consistent presence in the lineup. With fellow MLBbro Byron Buxton out of the lineup recovering from a right hamstring strain, Taylor’s contribution has been critical to the Twins’ success. If Minnesota continues on its current path to the playoffs, it will be Taylor’s fourth time making it to the postseason. The previous three all came with the Nationals. His last appearance was back in 2019, when Taylor hit .333 through eight games, including two home runs.
Monday was the first official day of the 2023 US Open and a record-breaking single-day total of 72,957 spectators passed through the gates of the spectacular USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens. The night session attendance totaled 30,429, the highest in one single night.
The evening featured a ceremony honoring tennis great and pioneer Billie Jean King and the 50th Anniversary of the US Open becoming the first sporting event to offer equal prize money to male and female competitors. Grammy-Award-winning singer Sara Bareilles sang her hit song, “Brave,” to an approving audience.
Other celebrities in attendance on opening night included Danny DeVito, Rosie Perez, therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Mike Tyson, Alec Baldwin, Gayle King, fashion designer Vera Wang, playwright and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who also spoke at the opening ceremony.
Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle were in attendance to watch 19-year-old Coco Gauff’s defeat Laura Siegemund 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in her first-round match. After Gauff’s victory, Michelle Obama made her way down to the court to participate in a tribute to honor King.
“Billie Jean teaches us that when things lie in the balance, we all have a choice to make. We can either wait around and accept what we’re given, we can sit silently and hope someone fights our battles. Or we can make our own stand,” Obama said.
“Fifty years ago, everything was hanging in the balance. Billie Jean had a choice. She could put her head down, keep winning tournament after tournament and just accept whatever check she was given, or she could dig deep and break serve, she could make a stand.
“If you know Billie Jean, you know what she chose…and thankfully, the US Open had the guts to listen.”
In 1972, Billie Jean earned $10,000 for winning the singles title at the US Open compared to the men’s champion earning $25,000.
“Thank you, Billie Jean, for always fighting for women’s equality,” Gauff said.
“I appreciate you…so that I can live the life that I live today, in women’s tennis and around the world in general.”
Earlier on opening day, Frances Tiafoe won his first round match defeating Learner Tien in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5, 6-1. He played his second match on Wednesday against Sebastian Ofner. Christopher Eubanks also advanced to the second round defeating Kwon Soon-woo in four sets, 6-3, 6-4, 0-6, 6-4. He played his second-round match Wednesday)against Benjamin Bonzi.
Coco Gauff rallied back from a first set 3-6 deficit to beat German qualifier Laura Siegemund Monday night in the first round of the U.S. Open. After winning a marathon 30-point, 25-plus minute game to start the second set, Gauff took the second and third sets 6-2 and 6-4 respectively to advance to the second round at Flushing Meadows.
Once Gauff took the lead in the second set, however, she had to contend with Siegemund’s stall tactics, which seemed designed to slow down play and rattle Gauff. Siegemund repeatedly took her time with her serve and leisurely went to the towel between points on Gauff’s serve, forcing the 19-year-old to wait to play the next point. Although the chair umpire, Marijana Veljovic, warned Siegemund early in the third set, the behavior continued. Gauff finally lost her patience and called Veljovic out in a heated exchange. “She’s never ready when I’m serving, she went over the clock like four times, you gave her a time violation once, how is this fair?…I’m going at a normal speed. Ask any ref here—I go at medium-paced speed…I’ve been quiet the whole match…Now it’s ridiculous. I don’t care what she’s doing on her serve, but on my serve, she has to be ready.” The encounter appeared to temporarily fluster Gauff, who was leading the set serving 3-0 but wound up dropping that game. Gauff later double-faulted three times while serving for the match at 5-2—her only double faults of the entire match. Gauff held on in the final set to take the match, beating Siegemund 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in 2-hours and 51 minutes. When asked during her post-match on-court interview to describe what it was like to play the match, Gauff wryly replied: “Slow.” The No. 6 seed Gauff was scheduled to face unranked Mira Andreeva of Russia yesterday (Wednesday) if the weather permitted as rain was an impediment for matches in Queens.
In other pairings on the woman’s side, former world No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams was ousted from the Open in the first round on Tuesday by qualifier Greet Minnen of Belgium, 6-1, 6-1. It was the 43-year-old Williams’s most one-sided defeat in her illustrious career of playing in Grand Slam matches.
Williams is a two-time U.S. Open singles winner (2000, 2001) and two-time doubles titlist (1999, 2009), the latter playing with her younger sister Serena, who retired from competitive professional play after last year’s Open.
The Noel Pointer Foundation (NPF) will hold an open house on Thursday, Sept. 7, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. for families to learn about its music classes for kids. Attendance at the open house can be virtual via Zoom or in person at the foundation (247 Herkimer Street, Brooklyn, NY). Online registration is availableat https://www.noelpointer.org/about-us.
Councilmember Charles Barron and Superintendent Tamra Collins will host East New York’s 2nd annual Black Inventors Youth Parade on Saturday, Sept. 16.
To join in as participants march in unity to celebrate Black intelligence and take part in this showcase for the community’s youth, assemble at 3 p.m. sharp at Linden (Sonny Carson) Park Linden Boulevard & Vermont Street in Brooklyn.
For more information, contact parade coordinator Keron Alleyne at 917-565-3052.
PERRY, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Idalia tore into Florida at the speed of a fast-moving train Wednesday, splitting trees in half, ripping roofs off hotels and turning small cars into boats before sweeping into Georgia as a still-powerful storm that flooded roadways and sent residents running for higher ground.
“All hell broke loose,” said Belond Thomas of Perry, a mill town located just inland from the Big Bend region where Idalia came ashore.
Thomas fled with her family and some friends to a motel, thinking it would be safer than riding out the storm at home. But as Idalia’s eye passed over about 8:30 a.m., a loud whistling noise pierced the air and the high winds ripped the building’s roof off, sending debris down on her pregnant daughter, who was lying in bed. Fortunately, she was not injured.
“It was frightening,” Thomas said. “Things were just going so fast. … Everything was spinning.”
After coming ashore, Idalia made landfall near Keaton Beach at 7:45 a.m. as a high-end Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph (205 kph). It had weakened to a tropical storm with winds of 70 mph (113 kph) by late Wednesday afternoon.
As the eye moved inland, high winds shredded signs, blew off roofs, sent sheet metal flying and snapped tall trees. One person was killed in Georgia. But as of midday Wednesday, there were no confirmed deaths in Florida, although fatal traffic accidents in two counties may end up being storm-related, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
Unlike last year’s Hurricane Ian, which hit the heavily populated Fort Myers area, leaving 149 dead in the state, Idalia blew into a very lightly inhabited area known as Florida’s “nature coast,” one of the state’s most rural regions that lies far from crowded metropolises or busy tourist areas and features millions of acres of undeveloped land.
That doesn’t mean that it didn’t do major damage. Rushing water covered streets near the coast, unmoored small boats and nearly a half-million customers in Florida and Georgia lost power. In Perry, the wind blew out store windows, tore siding off buildings and overturned a gas station canopy. Heavy rains partially flooded Interstate 275 in Tampa and wind toppled power lines onto the northbound side of Interstate 75 just south of Valdosta, Georgia.
Storm surge could rise as high as 16 feet (4.9 meters) in some places. Some counties implemented curfews to keep residents off roads.
Less than 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of where Idalia made landfall, businesses, boat docks and homes in Steinhatchee, Florida, were swallowed up by water surging in from Deadman’s Bay. Police officers blocked traffic into the coastal community of more than 500 residents known for fishing and foresting industries.
State officials, 5,500 National Guardsman and rescue crews were in search-and-recovery mode, inspecting bridges, clearing toppled trees and looking for anyone in distress.
Because of the remoteness of the Big Bend area, search teams may need more time to complete their work compared with past hurricanes in more urban areas, said Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Department of Emergency Management.
“You may have two houses on a 5-mile (8-kilometer) road so it’s going to take some time,” Guthries said.
The National Weather Service in Tallahassee called Idalia “an unprecedented event” since no major hurricanes on record have ever passed through the bay abutting the Big Bend.
On the island of Cedar Key, downed trees and debris blocked roads, and propane tanks exploded.
RJ Wright stayed behind so he could check on elderly neighbors. He hunkered down with friends in a motel and when it was safe, walked outside into chest-high water. It could have been a lot worse for the island, which juts into the Gulf, since it didn’t take a direct hit, he said.
“It got pretty gnarly for a while, but it was nothing compared to some of the other storms,” Wright said.
The system remained a hurricane as it crossed into Georgia with top winds of 90 mph (150 mph), after drenching Florida mostly to the east of Tallahassee, Florida’s capital. Forecasters said it would punish the Carolinas overnight as a tropical storm.
In Tallahassee, the power went out well before the center of the storm arrived, but the city avoided a direct hit. A giant oak tree next to the governor’s mansion split in half, covering the yard with debris.
In Valdosta, Georgia, Idalia’s fierce winds uprooted trees and sent rain flying sideways. Jonathon Wick said he didn’t take the approaching hurricane seriously until Wednesday morning, when he awoke to howling winds outside his home. After rescuing his young nephews from a trampoline in their back yard where the water rose to his knees, he brought them to his car and was climbing into the driver’s seat when a tree toppled right in front of the vehicle.
“If that tree would have fell on the car, I would be dead,” said Wick, who ended up getting rescued by another family member.
One man was killed in Valdosta when a tree fell on him as he was trying to clear another tree out of the road Wednesday, said Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk. Two others, including a sheriff’s deputy, were injured when the tree fell, Paulk said.
Idalia grew into a Category 2 system on Tuesday and then a Category 3 storm on Wednesday before peaking as a Category 4 hurricane.
At 5 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Tropical Storm Idalia was about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Savannah, Georgia, and 115 miles (180 kilometers) west-southwest of Charleston, South Carolina, the National Hurricane Center said. It was moving northeast at 21 mph (33 kph).
More than 30,000 utility workers in Florida were gathering to make repairs as quickly as possible in the hurricane’s wake. Airports in the region, including Tampa International Airport, planned to restart commercial operations either Wednesday afternoon or Thursday. By midday Wednesday, more than 900 flights had been canceled in Florida and Georgia, according to tracking service FlightAware.
Officials in Bermuda warned that Idalia could hit the island early next week as a tropical storm. Bermuda on Wednesday was being lashed by the outer bands of Hurricane Franklin, a Category 2 storm that was on track to pass near the island in the north Atlantic Ocean.
President Joe Biden called the governors of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina on Wednesday and told them their states had his administration’s full support, the White House said.
Associated Press writers Mike Schneider in St. Louis, Missouri; Curt Anderson in Orlando, Florida; Laura Bargfeld and Chris O’Meara in Tampa, Florida; David Fischer in Miami Beach; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Jeff Amy and Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Lisa J. Adams Wagner in Evans, Georgia; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Christopher Megerian in Washington; and Julie Walker and David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report.
