Ratings and viewership for NASCAR’s Daytona Speedweeks look quite impressive if one is comparing to last year. The Daytona 500 had a 7.7 rating and 13.4 million viewers, up 38 in ratings and 44 percent in viewership from last year’s 5.6 and 9.3 million — the largest year-over-year increases since live start-to-finish coverage of the race began in 1979. The Sprint Unlimited had a 3.2 and 5.6 million, up an even larger 60 and 59 percent, respectively, from last year’s 1....

Adams acknowledged that enforcement of the newly emphasized rules against contacting ballhandlers was superior in November and December to what it has been in January and February, but declared the game “is still in a better place” than a year ago. There are statistics to support this position. In 2012-13, college basketball teams scored fewer points per game than at any point in six decades. Even in the past week, according to statistics compiled by Kevin Pauga of Michigan State’s basketball office, we were up roughly a basket per team from a year ago....

According to industry-tracking marketing firm the NPD Group, the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles helped set sales records in the month of November. In a Twitter thread on Friday, NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said that consumers spent $1.4 billion on new video game hardware—that’s an increase of 58 percent from a year ago. (Of course, November 2019 didn’t have the release of a couple of once-every-seven-years consoles to help bolster numbers....

When the Supreme Court handed down its ruling, the Shelby County decision was unjustly criticized and misunderstood by many who claimed the decision abrogated the Voting Rights Act. That claim was simply not true. The act’s main provision—a permanent, nationwide ban on racial discrimination in the voting context—is alive and well today. It has been so effective that discriminatory practices by state and local officials have become a rare exception rather than the rule....

With spring officially arriving on Sunday, March 20, at 11:33 a.m. EDT, AccuWeather is ready to announce the end of winter weather, at least for part of the contiguous U.S. Around two-thirds of the country may want to keep a show shovel or ice scraper handy over the next few weeks as the arrival of spring will not shut the door on Old Man Winter. “A few more storms will track from the Northwest to the southern Rockies then cutting across the Plains and the Ohio Valley through early April,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist and Long-Range Forecaster Paul Pastelok said....

In a poll of U.S. adults conducted in September, agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Census Bureau, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency all earned overwhelming approval ratings despite the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine the offices privately or through the president’s Twitter feed. This news comes as public trust in the federal government has declined to historically-low levels among members of both parties....

Newton is guaranteed only $550,000 for 2020, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported Thursday. The contract does have a maximum value of $7.5 million, but it has a base of only $1.05 million. To get anywhere near the max, Newton will need to earn $700,000 per-game roster bonuses and hit $5.75 million in incentives. When Newton signed his second contract with the Panthers in 2015 before leading them to the Super Bowl as NFL MVP, he received $41 million of his $103....

Identified as Detective Joseph Seals during a press conference, the married father of five was “our leading police officer in removing guns from the street”, said Police Chief Michael Kelly, who spoke at the press conference Tuesday. Kelly said Seals was a 15-year veteran police officer. He was promoted to detective within the last couple years, assigned to the city’s Cease Fire Unit, the Jersey City shooting response team....

Politics and sex scandals go together like peanut butter and jelly. Just ask Larry Craig and Bill Clinton. But what makes this one extraordinary are the lengths to which the forbidden lovers went to cover up their trysts. Back in April 2002, only four months into Kilpatrick’s first term, rumors emerged of a wild party involving a stripper at the mayoral mansion. Around the same time, one of the mayor’s bodyguards, Harold Nelthrope, reported that the mayor’s personal police posse was running amuck, crashing cars and racking up overtime....

In a statement released on Thursday, DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf said that “while there are no specific, credible threats against the Super Bowl,” his department was prepared for any potentially “violent actors” looking to exploit the NFL event. In addition to warning of a potential surge in cyber crime and counterfeit marketing, Wolf said he also had concerns about human trafficking. “The Department of Homeland Security and nearly every one of the component agencies are in Miami working with our Federal, State, and local partners to ensure a safe and secure Super Bowl week,” Wolf said in a statement....

Lionel Messi indicated a willingness to retire from international play — a stance he has since reversed — in the wake of the penalty shootout loss to Chile in June. Reports suggested numerous players, including Di Maria, were considering doing likewise. The Paris Saint-Germain star said he was close to international retirement after a third straight final defeat, following the 2014 World Cup and 2015 Copa America. “When Messi retired, I thought about doing the same,” Di Maria told TyC Sports....

Prieto is expected to work closely with 24-year-old slugging outfielder Yasmany Tomas, who defected from Cuba in June. Tomas signed a contract reported at six years and $68.5 million with the D-backs in November. Prieto handled a similar role with the Athletics from 2012-14, working with Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes. But Prieto brings more than just bilingual skills to Arizona. As the team’s press release notes, “he also has the unique ability to throw ambidextrous batting practice....

The USWNT began its World Cup defense with a 13-0 destruction of Thailand on Tuesday night in Reims, setting an all-time World Cup record for the highest margin of victory in a game. With goal differential a tiebreaker in the group stage, the U.S. was incentivized to score as many goals as it could, but the way the team reacted to several goals late in the match has come under fire....

What Is Diastolic Dysfunction and Diastolic Heart Failure? The cardiac cycle is divided into two parts—systole and diastole. During systole, the ventricles contract, thus ejecting blood out of the heart and into the arteries. After the ventricles have finished contracting, they relax, and during this relaxation they fill up with blood to prepare for the next systole. This relaxation phase of the cardiac cycle is called diastole. Sometimes, as a result of various medical conditions, the ventricles begin to become relatively “stiff....

The 27-year-old makes his return to the reigning Malaysia Super League champions after spending a season in the Mexico Liga MX in the 2017 season. It wasn’t a hugely successful season for the Argentine there in Mexico’s top division, making only nine appearances while contributing one a solitary goal and an assist each. Compared to his 2016 season with JDT where he banged in 30 goals in the entire season, with 17 of those coming in the 22 Super League matches....

Appearing in a CNN interview with anchor Brooke Baldwin, Dr. Jonathan Reiner says he has spoken with a source inside the White House, but their claim that Saturday’s trip was a “routine” visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that they had been “thinking about for a while” doesn’t add up. “There was no sophisticated testing done. It’s a little bit unusual,” said Reiner. “Almost everything that is usually done in a presidential physical like this, can be done in the White House at the White House medical unit....

UNDERHILL: You’ve got a rep as a political savant in America. What are you doing in Britain? MORRIS: Lafayette helped us get our independence from the British. Now I’m helping the British to get their independence from France. A cursory glace at the political map shows that the English Channel is wider than the Atlantic Ocean. The economic policies of Britain and the United States have much more in common than those of Britain and the EU....

The latest numbers drawn were 9, 14, 16, 26 and 49 for the white balls, while the yellow Mega Ball was 14 and the Megaplier was 3x. There were no winners of the top jackpot prize or the second prize, valued at $1 million. The second prize would have been worth $3 million had there been any winners who purchased the Megaplier for an extra $1. However, 16 players correctly matched four white balls and the Mega Ball, winning them each $10,000....

Carroll’s stunning volley, a goal of the season contender, wrapped up the points for West Ham, but the striker is a doubt for Saturday’s trip to Middlesbrough as a result of his injury. Mourinho stalked by crazy fan Bilic is hoping Carroll, who has scored three goals in the 2016-17 campaign, will recover in time to play at the Riverside Stadium. “He’s got a whiplash injury, that’s what I was told from the physios,” Bilic told Sky Sports News....

It appeared that Sirianni never came over to greet him. IYER: Should Eagles explore QB options after Jalen Hurts’ playoff flop? As Arians got to midfield, Fox’s cameras showed him standing alone. Sirianni was nowhere to be seen. It’s unclear whether Sirianni didn’t walk over to Arians or the broadcast didn’t stay with the shot long enough to show him eventually arrive. Neither coach addressed the handshake, or lack thereof, after the game; as such, it doesn’t appear as if this situation is that big of a deal....