Latest news with #Fawkes
NBC Sports
5 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
The Steelers' odds don't move much, if at all, post-Aaron Rodgers
The Steelers have added quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The move hasn't added much to their betting odds for 2025. At DraftKings, the Steelers have dropped from a +4500 underdog to win the Super Bowl to +4000. While that reflects some movement, it still has them as 40-1 long shots to win their seventh Lombardi Trophy. Others sports books haven't changed the Super Bowl odds at all, post-Rodgers. Via Ben Fawkes of Yahoo Sports, the Steelers' odds remain 45-1 at BetMGM. The odds haven't changed because the Rodgers move has been expected. As noted by Fawkes, the Steelers opened at 80-1 to win the Super Bowl. Even with Rodgers, the Steelers remain decidedly below elite teams like the Bills (+700), the Ravens (+700), the Chiefs (+750), and the Bengals (+2000). Even the Chargers and Broncos — both at +2500 — are viewed as significantly better bets than the Steelers to win it all. One sports book executive summarized the situation in blunt terms. 'Rodgers has been awful,' Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook V.P. of risk Ed Salmons told Fawkes. 'Before he ruptured his Achilles, his last year in Green Bay he wasn't good. Since the [Achilles] injury, he can't move — he just dumps it off so he doesn't get hit. [Mason] Rudolph and Rodgers are the same thing for me.' Most would say the two aren't the same. The question is whether, with Rodgers, the Steelers become anything more than a team that gets to the postseason and might or might not win a playoff game for the first time in nine years.
New York Post
6 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
$1 million NBA Finals bet on Thunder placed but public loves Pacers
Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our editorial standards for more information. Big money is coming in on the heavily-favored Thunder in the NBA Finals. Yahoo Sports' Ben Fawkes reported Thursday that an MGM bettor in Las Vegas put down $1.05 million on Oklahoma City to win the series at -700 odds. They would win $150,000 if the Thunder can take down the Pacers. It's the biggest NBA Finals bet at legal sportsbooks in the United States thus far, Fawkes added. The betting whales have consistently backed OKC, with 88.2 percent of the handle going to the Thunder at ESPN BET. The public is a different story. Just 22.2 percent of tickets at ESPN BET are on the Thunder. The Oklahoma City Thunder are the favorites in the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect It's a similar story at BetMGM Sportsbook where 94 percent of bets are on the Pacers to win the series. With Indiana around +500 at most major sportsbooks, Vegas bookies are hoping it's the Thunder that emerge victorious. 'The Thunder are big favorites to win the NBA Championship and a great result for the sportsbook on the futures market,' BetMGM Sportsbook trading manager Christian Cipollini said in a press release. 'We are cheering against the Pacers lifting the Larry O'Brien Trophy.' Betting on the NBA? The Thunder come into the series as a historic favorite. They have the second-shortest odds in an NBA Finals match-up since 2005, with the only bigger favorites being the 2017-18 Warriors, who were -1075 against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. OKC is a 9.5-point home favorite for Game 1 against the Pacers on Thursday night.
Geek Dad
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Dad
Stack Overflow: Here We Go Again
Today's stack is about time travel. Wait, didn't that just happen last week? Maybe you're stuck in a time loop. Costumes for Time Travelers by A. R. Capetta In this book, time traveling is an ability that some people just develop, usually when they enter adulthood, and they find they're able to walk through the mists of time—though it wreaks havoc on regular footwear. Fortunately, most first-timers end up in Pocket, a little village outside of time, the only place to get time boots with specially formulated soles that can survive these temporal trips. It's here in Pocket that we find Costumes for Time Travelers, a shop where you can get tailor-made outfits for any time period, whether you're visiting the Renaissance or the Industrial Collapse. Calisto is an assistant to the store's capable owner, and when Mena takes an unexpected leave of absence, she puts them in charge of the shop. But things get turned topsy-turvy when Fawkes arrives: he's known as the 'time savant,' and he travels through time like a leaf on the wind. He seems to know Calisto already even though it's the first time they've met, and there's something dangerous following him. Costumes for Time Travelers is a time travel romance: Calisto and Fawkes have a relationship that may be a little reminiscent of The Time Traveler's Wife , if only because Fawkes experiences moments in his life out of order, though that's the main similarity. Who are the people chasing Fawkes—and now Calisto—and what is their aim? The pair end up racing through different eras to escape, and I liked the way that different characters perceive and manipulate time in different ways. Although the story is told in the third person, each chapter usually has one character as a focus—I guess it's called third-person omniscient limited. I've always found that a little bit disorienting at first because I don't realize why I'm getting one character's inner feelings but not the others, but I don't always catch when it shifts to another character. The central conflict involves some pretty creepy villains and high stakes, though I don't want to give too much away there. The romance is sweet and the characters take their time getting to know each other, even though Fawkes has already experienced some moments of their relationship in the future. It's not a very long book, but I love the way it introduces you to Pocket, this little place tucked away outside of time. Time Loops & Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau This book is probably more of a traditional romance novel than most of what I usually read—I wouldn't necessarily call it a rom-com though there are certainly humorous scenes in it, and there are also some pretty steamy and explicit scenes later in the book. But before we get to that, let me tell you about the time loop. Noelle Tom has a fairly mundane life as a mechanical engineer in Toronto. She's reliable (which means she gets a lot of extra work dumped on her), deliberate, and ever since a break-up with a serious boyfriend several years ago, she's decided that romance isn't for her. It's too unpredictable and she's not interested in being hurt again. But then she eats some dumplings at a strange little booth at a night market, and she wakes up to find herself stuck in a loop—and soon she's ready to try anything to get out of it. As she goes about different iterations of her day, she eventually wonders if what she's supposed to do is kiss somebody—kisses are supposed to break magic spells, right? But who would she kiss? Maybe Cam, a handsome brewery owner that she keeps running into at different places. Her first few attempts at flirting with him are definitely rom-com material, but when she hits the no-permanent-consequences phase of her time loop, she's able to start taking some risks, and eventually they hit it off. Well, except that every time she wakes up, things have reset and Cam doesn't remember her at all… or does he? There are little signs that maybe some of their interactions are sticking with him, and Noelle wonders if he's somehow key to getting out of this loop once and for all. One of my favorite parts of this book is the way it plays with the question: what happens to everyone else who isn't stuck in a time loop? What version of the world exists once the time loop ends? In almost every time loop story I've seen or read before, when the time loop ends, the world continues the last iteration of the day that the protagonist experienced. This book manages to introduce an alternative that I found really fascinating. If you love time loop stories, this one is worth reading for that alone. I don't have as much of a read on how it ranks as a romance novel, but I did like Noelle's journey through this weird relationship with its ups and downs: getting to take risks without fearing the consequences, but also the feeling of loss every time she had to start over. (And then the opposite when the loop ends: how do you behave when you know your partner will actually remember the things you do and say?) Oh, and if you love Asian cuisine, this book is full of it. Noelle makes several trips back to the night market, figuring that her time troubles are somehow linked to the mysterious dumplings she ate, so over the course of the book we get a smorgasbord of different dishes that she tries. There's also a few different beers (since the brewery plays a significant role in the story), but not quite as many once she finds one that she likes. That's it for today. It's a short stack because I've got a kid graduating from high school this week and things have been really hectic! If only I had a time machine… Disclosure: I received review copies of these books. Affiliate links to help support my writing and independent booksellers. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
Daily Mirror
13-05-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mirror
Met Office maps show UK 'mini heatwave' to last seven days
New weather maps from the Met Office show a period of glorious sunshine and high temperatures, hovering around the mid-20s, continuing on until next Tuesday Brits can look forward to another pre-summer blast in just a matter of days as a mini-heatwave careens across the UK. The Met Office has shared a series of maps showing searing temperatures hitting the British Isles over the next seven days. Forecasters recently explained this period of glorious weathe r is thanks to an "Omega block", which is keeping the skies sunny and clear. This high pressure system will run until next week, pushing the temperatures up into the mid-20s, according to British weather forecaster Chris Fawkes. Though Brits will enjoy a week of scorching sunshine, there will also be brief spells of the weather "breaking" as thunderstorms and cloud are forced to appear under the pressure. In the new Met Office maps, starting today at 4pm, the highest temperatures will be seen in London, where 25C is expected. However, the rest of the country will enjoy similarly warm conditions, with a roaring high of 22C seen in Glasgow, and the mercury not dropping any lower than 12C - which will be seen in Aberdeen. In the next map for Friday at the same time, London will drop to 22C while Glasgow will be the hottest place in the country with a toasty 23C. The lowest temperatures will be felt in Plymouth, where just 17C is expected. On Tuesday, which is around the time the mini-heatwave is expected to end, London, Manchester, Cardiff and Glasgow will all sit around 21C, while Stornoway, Aberdeen and Belfast will drop to a little chillier as temperatures stay in the high teens. An "Omega block" weather system has been hailed as the reason for the mini-heatwave flowing from the south to the north of the UK. 'Into the weekend, if we take a look at our jet stream pattern, we have this which is an Omega block. We've seen lots of these over recent months, and it is this that causes the air to descend down through the atmosphere and for an area of high pressure to build and become slow moving," said Mr Fawkes. "These blocks can often last a week or more and so we better get used to this dry, settled and sunny weather, not just through the weekend but well into next week as well. "Taking a look at the longer range forecast then and it is pretty much sunshine across the board, most areas will see temperatures into the low to mid-20Cs, high teens in some of our coastal districts. I don't know when the next widespread area of rain is to affect the UK, all I do know is that it isn't going to happen any time soon."
Daily Mirror
13-05-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mirror
Sun and high temperatures 'won't end any time soon' thanks to weather phenomenon
A weather pattern called an 'Omega block' is going to bring a prolonged period of sunshine and dry weather say weather forecasters with the balmy conditions running well into next week Brits can look forward to a long spell of high temperatures with blue skies and sunshine thanks to an 'Omega block' weather pattern. The UK can expect 'sunshine across the board' due to a high pressure system which will run into next week with temperatures hitting the mid-20Cs, says BBC weather forecaster Chris Fawkes. There may be some brief spell of cloud and thunderstorms but the overall picture is very settled. Mr Fawkes went on to explain the 'Omega block' which shows the jet stream flowing around the UK to the north and so bringing the high pressure. 'Into the weekend, if we take a look at our jet stream pattern, we have this which is an Omega block. We've seen lots of these over recent months, and it is this that causes the air to descend down through the atmosphere and for an area of high pressure to build and become slow moving," he said. "These blocks can often last a week or more and so we better get used to this dry, settled and sunny weather, not just through the weekend but well into next week as well. "Taking a look at the longer range forecast then and it is pretty much sunshine across the board, most areas will see temperatures into the low to mid-20Cs, high teens in some of our coastal districts. I don't know when the next widespread area of rain is to affect the UK, all I do know is that it isn't going to happen any time soon." Southern and Western parts of England and Wales were hit by ferocious thunderstorms on Monday evening as the sunshine came to abrupt end, and there could be more thunder and lightning today as well as the threat of localised flooding but it will be still remain warm with temperatures in the 20Cs. 'Thundery showers are likely to develop this time across the far south of England and the far south of Wales,' said Mr Fawkes. 'There will be some areas that see some quite slow moving storms bringing a threat of localised downpours and some localised surface water flooding. Those storms then fade away through Tuesday night.' But he told how the rain will not last long and he continued: 'Wednesday itself, we see our area of high pressure start to build from the north of the UK and with that will come a lot of dry weather. It looks as though this high pressure is going to last for a long time. 'Most of the UK we are looking at dry weather conditions with sunshine and the highest temperatures will tend to be across the south and the west at this stage, 23C for Cardiff and for London, 20C feeling very pleasant in the sunshine in Glasgow, it will be in the 20Cs for parts of Northern Ireland too." It is then a similar outlook for the end of this week and going into the start of next. The Met Office forecast from May 17-26 also states: "Dry, fine, and largely sunny conditions are expected to continue for the vast majority as a slow moving area of high pressure remains dominant. "The weather will continue to be warm or very warm, especially in the west, but it will likely be cooler in the east as some coastal areas see more persistent low cloud at times, compared with previous days. "There is an increasing chance that conditions will turn wetter and more unsettled through the mid to latter part of next week, possibly following a hotter spell, as areas of rain and strengthening winds threaten from the west and/or south (the latter bringing a risk of thunderstorms). This would most likely to be accompanied by temperatures dropping nearer to average for the time of year."
