Latest news with #Seattle
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Newly-engaged AJ Odudu flaunts her jaw-dropping figure in a TINY yellow bikini before cosying up to hunky fiancé Peter Gibson amid loved-up US getaway
Newly-engaged AJ Odudu looked happier than ever amid her 'romance tour' of the US with fiancé Peter Gibson this week. The Celebrity Big Brother host, 37, took to her Instagram with a slew of snaps after MailOnline exclusively revealed her partner was the Idaho born art director. AJ flaunted her jaw-dropping figure in a tiny yellow bikini as she posed up a storm during the couple's beach day, before slipping into a plunging brown gown which she wore with her huge diamond engagement ring for a romantic boat trip. Peter, who refrains from showing his face on social media, captained the vessel while the stunner wrapped her arms around him. While in Seattle the lovebirds also attended a Mariners baseball game and sipped on beer with AJ opting for a pair of skimpy leather hot pants. She captioned the post: 'The romance tour'. Peter popped the question last month and AJ's engagement ring is reportedly worth an estimated £14,500 according to The Sun's expert. Zack Stone, from UK retailer Steven Stone, told the publication: 'At its heart is a 1.5-carat cushion-cut diamond, known for its romantic, pillow-like shape and vintage charm. Last month AJ announced she was engaged to a mystery man after sharing images of her diamond ring and the couple together, captioning the loved-up post: 'Hiya love.' Pete, who was pictured backstage with AJ as she filmed Celebrity Big Brother this year, currently works at brand agency Wieden + Kennedy, who also have offices in London and Mexico as well as the Big Apple. Pete, who's previously worked as a graphic designer for Apple and an art director at Hypebeast, as they start to plan their nuptials. It's believed the former Strictly star has been taking secret trips to New York to spend quality time with Pete, but the couple agrees that for the long-term, it makes sense for them to be London based. A source revealed: 'AJ prefers her romantic relationships to be private but when it came to her engagement, she was so happy and excited, she wanted to share the news with her followers. 'Pete, living in New York, worked out perfectly for AJ because they were able to date and get to know each other away from prying eyes plus he doesn't regularly use social media. 'He's now planning a move to the UK so that he and AJ can live together and properly set themselves up for the future. 'With many strings to his bow as an art director and creator, it made more sense for Pete to relocate, especially given AJ's career has taken off to new heights in the UK. 'They're both so happy and can't wait to make their relationship official by getting married.' The announcement of AJ's engagement came out of the blue because her fanbase were unaware she had a boyfriend. But AJ has been posting about Pete for years, as he attended group work out sessions with her and accompanied the star behind the scenes as she presented Celebrity Big Brother in April. Although, AJ, who also presented The Big Breakfast reboot and Channel 4's The Bridge, keeps her love life under wraps, she was previously linked to her former Strictly pro partner, Kai Widdrington. MailOnline has contacted AJ's representative for comment. AJ competed with Kai on the 2021 series of Strictly but was forced to quit the competition just days before the final after suffering from an injury. She was one of the frontrunners to win the show but after tearing a ligament in her right ankle, had to withdraw from the final, leaving Rose Ayling-Ellis to triumph. At the time AJ said she was 'deeply upset' that she was unable to perform. Proving her love for dance remains, AJ shared a video of her being twirled by Pete on Instagram this week alongside a thread of happy family pictures following a celebration of the pair's engagement. AJ also posted another intimate black and white snap of the couple as she laughed in Pete's arms while in the past 24 hours, she added an Instagram story showcasing her diamond ring over breakfast.
Fox Sports
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Cal Raleigh successful as 4 of 5 challenges reverse calls in first All-Star use of robot umpire
Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Cal Raleigh was just as successful with the first robot umpire All-Star challenge as he was in the Home Run Derby. Seattle's catcher signaled for an appeal to the Automated Ball-Strike System in the first inning of the National League's win Tuesday night, getting a strikeout for Detroit's Tarik Subal on San Diego's Manny Machado. 'You take 'em any way you can get 'em, boys,' Skubal said on the mound. Four of five challenges of plate umpire Dan Iassogna's calls were successful in the first All-Star use of the ABS system, which could make its regular-season debut next year. Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson won as the first batter to call for a challenge, reversing a 1-0 fastball from Washington's MacKenzie Gore in the fifth inning that had been called a strike. Miami's Kyle Stowers lost when ABS upheld a full-count Andres Munoz fastball at the bottom of the zone for an inning-ending strikeout in the eighth. Mets closer Edwin Diaz earned a three-pitch strikeout against Randy Arozarena to end the top of the ninth on a pitch Iassogna thought was outside. Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk used ABS to get a first-pitch strike on a 100.1 mph Aroldis Chapman offering to Brendan Donovan with two outs in the bottom half. 'The fans enjoy it. I thought the players had fun with it,' NL manager Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers said. 'There's a strategy to it, if it does get to us during the season. But I like it. I think it's good for the game.' Skubal had given up Ketel Marte's two-run double and retired the Dodgers' Freddie Freeman on a groundout for his first out when he got ahead of Machado 0-2 in the count. Skubal threw a 89.5 mph changeup, and Iassogna yelled" 'Ball down!' Raleigh tapped his helmet just before Skubal tipped his cap, triggering a review by the computer umpire that was tested in spring training this year and could be adopted for regular-season use in 2026. 'Obviously, a strike like that it was, so I called for it and it helped us out,' Raleigh said. An animation of the computer analysis was shown on the Truist Park scoreboard and the broadcast. Roberts laughed in the dugout after the challenge. 'I knew it was a strike,' Machado said. Skubal doesn't intend to use challenges during regular-season games if the ABS is put in place. He says he'll rely on his catchers. 'I was joking around that I was going to burn two of them on the first balls just so that way we didn't have them the rest of the game,' he said. 'I'm just going to assume that it's going to happen next year.' Before the game, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred indicated the sport's 11-man competition committee will consider the system for next season. "I think the ability to correct a bad call in a high-leverage situation without interfering with the time of game because it's so fast is something we ought to continue to pursue,' Manfred said. ABS decisions may have an error of margin up to a half-inch. 'Our guys do have a concern with that half inch, what that might otherwise lead to particularly as it relates to the number of challenges you may have, whether you keep those challenges during the course of the game,' union head Tony Clark told the Baseball Writers Association of America. 'Does there need to be some type of buffer zone consideration? Or do we want to find ourselves in a world where it's the most egregious misses that we want focus in on?' Manfred sounded less concerned. 'I don't believe that technology supports the notion that you need a buffer zone,' he said. 'To get into the idea that there's something that is not a strike that you're going to call a strike in a review system, I don't know why I would want to do that.' MLB sets the top of the automated strike zone at 53.5% of a batter's height and the bottom at 27%, basing the decision on the midpoint of the plate, 8 1/2 inches from the front and 8 1/2 inches from the back. That contrasts with the rule book zone called by umpires, which says the zone is a cube. 'We haven't even started talking about the strike zone itself, how that's going to necessarily be measured, and whether or not there are tweaks that need to be made there, too," Clark said. "So there's a lot of discussion that still needs to be had, despite the fact that it seems more inevitable than not.' Manfred has tested ABS in the minor leagues since 2019, using it for all pitches and then switching to a challenge system. Each team gets two challenges and a successful challenge is retained. Only catchers, batters and pitchers can call for a challenge. 'Where we are on ABS has been fundamentally influenced by player input,' he maintained. "If you had two years ago said to me: What do the owners want to do? I think they would have called every pitch with ABS as soon as possible. That's because there is a fundamental, very fundamental interest in getting it right, right? We owe it to our fans to try to get it right because the players as I talked to them over a couple of years really, expressed a very strong interest or preference for the challenge system that we decided to test." Skubal wondered is all contingencies had been planned for. 'If power goes out and we don't have ABS — sometimes we don't have Hawk-Eye data or Trackman data. So what's going to happen then?' he said. 'Are we going to expect umpires to call balls and strikes when it's an ABS zone?' ___ AP MLB: recommended Item 1 of 1
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Silver says NBA to study possible expansion beyond 30 teams
NBA commissioner Adam Silver says team owners authorized an in-depth analysis of issues related to expansion but have not committed to add teams nor discussed a timetable (MATTHEW STOCKMAN) NBA team owners authorized league officials to begin an in-depth analysis regarding expansion on Tuesday, but NBA commissioner Adam Silver said there was no timetable for any changes. The NBA Board of Governors meeting in Las Vegas on Tuesday marked the first time team owners officially discussed expanding the league beyond 30 teams, but Silver said they went no deeper than requesting more research into the possibility. Advertisement "There is a significant step now in that we're now engaging in this in-depth analysis," Silver said. "It's something we weren't prepared to do before. "But beyond that, it's really day one of that analysis. In terms of price, potential timing, it's too early to say. "That also assumes the outcome of this analysis. It's truly a complicated issue." Silver said the NBA advisory finance committee "would have primary jurisdiction over this issue" while the league's audit and strategy committee "would be looking at the economics around it", with "roughly half the principal governors in the league" on those committees. Advertisement "We have the focus and attention of our board members on this issue," he said. "You have the right people involved in the process." That will be little consolation to cities such as Las Vegas or Seattle, who are most often mentioned when there is talk of adding NBA clubs. Silver said there was no indication of how many owners would be in favour of expansion. "There was no sense in the room that people were taking sides," said Silver. "There was no straw poll. There was no requesting people to indicate pro or con in terms of expansion. "There was a consensus that quickly formed that the league office should do the work," he said, adding: "The appetite in the room I would define more as curiosity." Advertisement Silver said prior work toward adding teams by the league was more "obvious data" about potential markets rather than the issues they must now confront. "The league office was tasked by our board with doing an in-depth analysis of all the issues around expansion, both economic and non-economic," Silver said. "Non-economic issues include dilution of talent, how it could potentially affect competition around the league if we were to expand, how you would stock those teams. "Economic issues... they are very complex ... how you would potentially value the opportunity has a lot to do with your projections on the future growth of the league, as you are selling equity. Advertisement "For every additional team you add, you are diluting the economics of the current league." With NBA clubs selling recently for record sums, knowing what price to charge for buying into the NBA is an issue. "Had we expanded five years ago, we would have underpriced the market," Silver said. "Those are all things we're in the process of talking about. A lot of analysis still needs to be done. "Nothing has been predetermined one way or another. And without any specific timeline. We also have this obligation to expand, if we do so, in a very deliberate fashion." - European league - Advertisement NBA owners received a presentation on starting an NBA-backed European league, not ruling out such a move with NBA expansion or vice versa but talent dilution was a concern. "There's an expansion of another kind which is the European opportunity," Silver said. "It would be an independent league, what we're contemplating operating in Europe, but the fact we would be creating new basketball teams in Europe is related." Silver said a concern for NBA team owners is a drop in local and regional television viewership and the league would want to solve that matter before expanding. "We would be malpracticing if we didn't figure out how local and regional television is going to work before expanding," he said. js/dh
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Silver says NBA to study possible expansion beyond 30 teams
NBA commissioner Adam Silver says team owners authorized an in-depth analysis of issues related to expansion but have not committed to add teams nor discussed a timetable (MATTHEW STOCKMAN) NBA team owners authorized league officials to begin an in-depth analysis regarding expansion on Tuesday, but NBA commissioner Adam Silver said there was no timetable for any changes. The NBA Board of Governors meeting in Las Vegas on Tuesday marked the first time team owners officially discussed expanding the league beyond 30 teams, but Silver said they went no deeper than requesting more research into the possibility. Advertisement "There is a significant step now in that we're now engaging in this in-depth analysis," Silver said. "It's something we weren't prepared to do before. "But beyond that, it's really day one of that analysis. In terms of price, potential timing, it's too early to say. "That also assumes the outcome of this analysis. It's truly a complicated issue." Silver said the NBA advisory finance committee "would have primary jurisdiction over this issue" while the league's audit and strategy committee "would be looking at the economics around it", with "roughly half the principal governors in the league" on those committees. Advertisement "We have the focus and attention of our board members on this issue," he said. "You have the right people involved in the process." That will be little consolation to cities such as Las Vegas or Seattle, who are most often mentioned when there is talk of adding NBA clubs. Silver said there was no indication of how many owners would be in favour of expansion. "There was no sense in the room that people were taking sides," said Silver. "There was no straw poll. There was no requesting people to indicate pro or con in terms of expansion. "There was a consensus that quickly formed that the league office should do the work," he said, adding: "The appetite in the room I would define more as curiosity." Advertisement Silver said prior work toward adding teams by the league was more "obvious data" about potential markets rather than the issues they must now confront. "The league office was tasked by our board with doing an in-depth analysis of all the issues around expansion, both economic and non-economic," Silver said. "Non-economic issues include dilution of talent, how it could potentially affect competition around the league if we were to expand, how you would stock those teams. "Economic issues... they are very complex ... how you would potentially value the opportunity has a lot to do with your projections on the future growth of the league, as you are selling equity. Advertisement "For every additional team you add, you are diluting the economics of the current league." With NBA clubs selling recently for record sums, knowing what price to charge for buying into the NBA is an issue. "Had we expanded five years ago, we would have underpriced the market," Silver said. "Those are all things we're in the process of talking about. A lot of analysis still needs to be done. "Nothing has been predetermined one way or another. And without any specific timeline. We also have this obligation to expand, if we do so, in a very deliberate fashion." - European league - Advertisement NBA owners received a presentation on starting an NBA-backed European league, not ruling out such a move with NBA expansion or vice versa but talent dilution was a concern. "There's an expansion of another kind which is the European opportunity," Silver said. "It would be an independent league, what we're contemplating operating in Europe, but the fact we would be creating new basketball teams in Europe is related." Silver said a concern for NBA team owners is a drop in local and regional television viewership and the league would want to solve that matter before expanding. "We would be malpracticing if we didn't figure out how local and regional television is going to work before expanding," he said. js/dh
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Yankees manager Aaron Boone is ripped for appalling decision as his AL team loses All-Star Game in historic tiebreaker
The American League has the top-two home run hitters in all of baseball in Cal Raleigh and Aaron Judge. Yet, when faced with a Home Run Derby to win the All-Star Game, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone picked neither of them. After putting on a furious six-run comeback to tie the game, the American League manager completely whiffed on his selections for the first ever 'swing-off' in All-Star Game history. The AL was down 6-0 going into the seventh inning, but put on four runs in the top of the seventh. Then, a miraculous two-run ninth inning extended the game and then forced a 'swing-off' for the first time ever. Rules of the swing-off allowed each manager to pick three hitters to take three swings to try and hit the most home runs. National League manager Dave Roberts, who also leads the Los Angeles Dodgers, sent up Miami's Kyle Stowers, Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber, and New York Mets star Pete Alonso. Boone fell flat. While the selection of Home Run Derby participant Brent Rooker of the Athletics made sense, his other two choices were Seattle's Randy Arozarena and Tampa Bay's Jonathan Aranda. After going down 6-0 by the seventh inning, the AL put up a comeback to tie the game after nine innings. A new rule had the ASG end by a Home Run Derby between three players. Arozarena is 31st in baseball for home runs with 17. Aranda has only hit 11 homers - putting him in a tie for 101st. Rooker took an early lead with two blasts, while Stowers hit only one. Arozarena stepped up and only sent one hit over the wall with his three swings. Next, Schwarber stepped up and hit all three swings for home runs to take a 4-3 lead for the NL. Hope rested on the shoulders of Aranda, who needed to hit at least one more home run to extend the proceedings further. Two home runs would force Alonso's hand even further. Instead, Alonso never came up to bat. Aranda took three swings and missed on all three of them as the NL won the All-Star Game. When the dust settled, Boone was roasted on social media for his mind-boggling decision making. It was only made worse when ESPN's Jesse Rogers reported that Alonso told journalists that participants in the swing-off 'are pre-determined by the managers before the game even starts'. Before the swing-off even happened, sports writer Bill Simmons joked, 'The AL is gonna get killed in the All-Star Game, then Aaron Boone is gonna tell reporters he liked how his guys looked out there - every AL fan gets to be a Yankee fan tonight.' The first ever home run swing off at the All-Star Game was absolute CINEMA 🍿 — FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 16, 2025 The AL took an early lead when Brent Rooker (L) out-swung Kyle Stowers (R) The AL's final batter was Jonathan Aranda, who has only hit eleven home runs on the season and is 101st in all of baseball. Aranda didn't hit a single home run and the NL won the game. Well, the AL didn't get killed per se. But, the Aaron Boone Experience was in full effect and fans pilloried him on social media. 'I'm not even a Yankees fan but I want Aaron Boone fired,' wrote one user on X. Another joked, 'Aaron Boone has been my manager for 7 innings and now I know why Yankee fans are always so grumpy. 'MLB invented those swing-off rules 45 minutes ago and Aaron Boone still found a way to have a managerial disasterclass. God bless him,' a third user said. 'This mf Aaron Boone deadass put Jonathan Aranda in the homerun derby with the All Star Game on the line,' a different post read. Another user posted, 'Leave it to Aaron Boone to make the wrong decisions even in a meaningless game.' Schwarber's heroics led to him being named the MVP for the All-Star Game.
