Jack Sawyer became an Ohio State legend Friday night with his scoop and score at the expense of his former roommate.
On 4th and goal, Sawyer evaded blockers and forced a Quinn Ewers fumble, which Sawyer picked up and took 82 yards to the end zone to help the Buckeyes to a 28-14 win over Texas and a spot in the national championship.
When Ewers spent his lone season in Columbus before transferring to Texas, Sawyer was his roommate.
So, Ewers couldn't help but jab Sawyer when they spoke on the field.
"He was walking off, he said ‘screw you’ and started laughing," Sawyer told ESPN.
"That's my boy. Obviously, we were roommates when he was here. Got a lot of respect for him and the rest of the Texas team."
The Longhorns had a chance to tie the game, but a nightmare ensued. After getting stuffed on first down at the goal line, Quintrevion Wisner lost seven yards on a second-down toss, putting Texas in trouble. A third down pass fell incomplete. And Sawyer's scoop and score happened on fourth down.
Hoping for a miracle, Ewers threw a pick on the next drive, and, just like that, it was all over.
Before the game, Ewers implied he expected to be playing in the NFL next season. So, it will be interesting to see if his plans change.
Now, the eighth-seeded Buckeyes will face No. 7 Notre Dame Jan. 20 in the national championship. Despite Ohio State's lower seed, sportsbooks have the Buckeyes as a favorite by over a touchdown.
Saturday's Lakers game was postponed, and James sent a message on X.
"I pray this nightmare ends soon! So many prayers," James posted with several praying hands and fingers-crossed emojis.
James joined the Lakers in 2018; his eldest son, Bronny, played high school and college basketball in the area before being drafted by the Lakers last year. His younger son, Bryce, who currently plays for Sierra Canyon, the same school as his older brother, has committed to play at Arizona.
An emotional Redick opened up about losing his home in the flames.
"We were renting for the year to try to figure out where to be long-term, and everything we own that was of importance to us — almost 20 years of being together and 10 years of parenting — was in that house," Redick told reporters on Friday. "There's certain things you can't replace. They'll never be replaced.
"The material stuff is whatever. My family and I, we're processing the self side, the individual side of losing your home. You don't ever want to wish that on anybody. It's an awful feeling to lose your home. . . . Not sure I've wept or wailed like that in several years."
Monday night's Vikings-Rams NFL playoff game was moved from Inglewood to Arizona because of the fires. Two Clippers games, a Kings game and the Rose Bowl half-marathon and 5K were also postponed.
Former NFL player Robert Quinn was arrested in South Carolina early Friday morning over his alleged involvement in a hit-and-run crash involving multiple vehicles, according to reports.
The former Rams’ defensive end was taken into custody by law enforcement in North Charleston at around 2 a.m. after police say he attempted to leave the scene of a crash that he is accused of causing, FOX 4 reported.
Online jail records show that Quinn, 34, was booked into the Charleston County Jail on one charge of leaving the scene and one charge of reckless driving.
According to reports, the incident took place at a car dealership. The North Charleston Fire Department arrived on the scene first and told police that the suspect, later identified as Quinn, appeared to be trying to leave the scene in a different vehicle.
FOX 4 reports that a pickup truck registered to Quinn crashed into a car, causing that vehicle to hit two more vehicles. Police said video evidence showed Quinn’s truck veering on the road before eventually driving onto the dealership property.
According to the report, Quinn had visible injuries to his face, and his speech was slurred. He was also allegedly uncooperative with law enforcement and was eventually removed from the car he was in before being arrested.
Friday’s arrest comes just 18 months after the former NFL player was arrested for a similar situation in August 2023 when he was accused of hitting four cars before fleeing the scene, WMBF reported.
Quinn last played in the NFL during the 2022 season.
A first-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, he played the majority of his career with the Rams. In 2018, he was traded to Miami, where he led the team with 6.5 sacks. He was traded to the Cowboys the following season where he again led the team in sacks with (11.5).
Quinn also played for the Bears and Eagles, reaching the Super Bowl in 2023.
In October, players on the University of Nevada Reno women's volleyball team were engaged in a highly publicized dispute with its university and athletic department over whether to play a match against San Jose State University.
San Jose State, at the time, rostered a trans athlete.
The Nevada players approached university administrators privately to express their desire to forfeit the match and join four other programs that refused to play SJSU. But Nevada did not honor that request and instead released a statement insisting it would play the match. Nevada also insisted its players would be allowed to skip the contest without facing discipline.
The team ultimately forfeited the day before the match was scheduled to be played, due to not having enough players. However, the university has said it had discussions with the players about potential "legal issues" that would emerge if the match were not played.
"University administrators met with the Nevada volleyball team and discussed scenarios of what could happen if they chose not to play. One of the scenarios that was discussed revolved around possible legal issues for violating the Nevada Constitution," read a statement that was provided exclusively to Fox News Digital.
The state's constitution was revised in 2022, when Democrat lawmakers voted to adopt the Equal Rights Amendment, which added gender identity to its list of diversity classifications that are protected under state law.
"The University of Nevada was prohibited by laws and regulations to forfeit for reasons related to gender identity or expression. As a State university, a forfeiture for reasons involving gender identity or expression could constitute per se discrimination and violate the Nevada Constitution," Nevada's statement read.
Nevada's statement was in response to allegations made by co-founder of the Independent Council on Women's Sports (ICONS), Marshi Smith.
Smith met and spoke with multiple players on the Nevada team during ther dispute, and heads the legal advocacy group that has brought a lawsuit against San Jose State and the Mountain West conference for its handling of the situation involving the trans athlete.
"At UNR, school administrators warned athletes they could face legal action if they refused to compete against SJSU’s team, which included a male starter," Smith told Fox News Digital.
The dispute between the players escalated into a national controversy that even garnered mainstream political attention in the weeks leading up to November's election.
Nevada players, including captain Sia Liilii, spoke out publicly against the university multiple times for its refusal to forfeit the match. Trump's Director of National Intelligence presumptive nominee Tulsi Gabbard and former Nevada U.S. Senate candidate Sam Brown even visited the team for a photo-op and interview.
The scale of the controversy only heightened as the Oct. 26 match date approached. On Oct. 22, Nevada and San Jose State announced that the match would be moved from Nevada's campus in Reno to San Jose State's campus in the Bay Area in California, claiming the location change was "in the best interest of both programs and the well-being of the student-athletes, coaches, athletic staff and spectators."
But then, the day before the match, Nevada announced that its team would forfeit, citing the fact that it didn't have enough players who were willing to participate. Nevada took a loss on its record, for the match, then went just 1-7 to finish the season.
Nevada players previously spoke about pressures they faced from the university to play the match in a press conference at their university that was held the day of the originally scheduled match on Oct. 26.
Liilii broke down in tears from the minute she took the podium while she recounted her experience telling school officials she didn't want to compete against a transgender player.
"We felt unsafe and dismissed," Liilii said, sobbing. "We met with our school officials to give them our team's new statement, but they wouldn't even hear it. We were told that we weren't educated enough and that we didn't understand the science. We were told to reconsider our position."
Nevada sophomore Masyn Navarro alleged her teammates had been told to "stay quiet" about the controversy during the press conference.
"It should not be this difficult to stand up for women. However, we will now take this opportunity to stand up as a team, as some of us have been told to stay quiet," Navarro said.
Nevada athletic director Stephanie Rempe previously provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing the allegations that were made at the press conference.
"I did not tell, and am unaware of any member of the athletics administrative team telling members of our women’s volleyball team that they ‘weren’t educated enough,’ that they ‘didn’t understand the science,’ that they should reconsider their position or that they should ‘stay quiet’ regarding their participation in an Oct. 26 match that was scheduled against San Jose State University."
Rempe said she had offered an apology to the players regarding how they were informed that the university planned to proceed with the game, even after the players had voted to forfeit.
"On Oct. 14 and Oct. 22, I spoke with the team for less than five minutes each time and those gatherings were operational in nature. At all three meetings, I shared our genuine apology for not sharing the statement released on Oct. 3 in advance of their match against UNLV. As has been stated on multiple occasions, we continue to support the rights of the volleyball players who choose and choose not to participate," Rempe said.
Article I, Section 24 of the Nevada Constitution provides that "Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by this state or any of its political subdivisions on account of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry or national origin."
But Liilii is now one of 11 former or current Mountain West volleyball players engaged in the lawsuit against San Jose State and the Mountain West for its handling of the situation involving the trans athlete.
San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser leads the suit and is engaged in a separate lawsuit against the NCAA citing her experience of having to share a team, bedroom and changing spaces with the trans athlete while knowledge of the player's birth sex was actively withheld from her for an entire season by the school and conference.
The other players on the plaintiff list are Alyssa Sugai, Elle Patterson, Nicanora Clarke, Kaylie Ray, Macey Boggs, Sierra Grizzle, Jordan Sandy, Katelyn Van Kirk and Kiersten Van Kirk. Former SJSU Assistant volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose, who was suspended by San Jose State after filing a Title IX complaint alleging favorable treatment toward the trans player, is also a plaintiff.
Smith told Fox News Digital that many of the players had expressed fear of retaliation by their schools when deciding whether or not to join in the lawsuit.
"The most common first question we hear from NCAA female athletes seeking support is: 'What can my school or the NCAA do to retaliate against me if I speak out against allowing men in women’s sports?' They’re often terrified of losing scholarships or being kicked off their teams," Smith told Fox News Digital.
"The first reassurance we provide is that these athletes have a Constitutional right to free speech. They can speak out or forfeit in protest against discrimination, Title IX violations, or increased safety risks when competing against a male athlete—without fear of retaliation, regardless of the lies their schools may tell them."
"His impact was felt both on and off the field, and his spirit will forever remain in the hearts of those he inspired," McCartney's family said in a statement
Two North Korean soldiers fighting in Russia were captured by Ukrainian troops this week, giving officials "irrefutable evidence" that the two countries are allied in the war against Ukraine, officials announced on Saturday.
CES (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show) is the biggest tech convention of the year. It helps set the stage for all the wonderful gadgets we're going to see over the next 12 months. However, among all the quadcopters, questionably benevolent robots and devices with fancy flexible screens, there's a lot of small things that go into making CES a one-of-a-kind event. To highlight some of the silly, stupid and occasionally wholesome things we encountered at the show this year, we humbly present the very unofficial Dumb Fun awards for CES 2025.
Cutest digger - Komatsu PC01E-2
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Komatsu’s PC01E-2 looks like a children’s playground toy, except that it actually works and is really goddam cute. You almost want to walk over and pinch that little bucket until it turns pink. But it’s not all fun and games because this little digger is meant to help excavate things — even in tight spaces. In fact, it’s small enough to fit in most elevators, so if you run into a situation where you need to get some digging done, say, on the roof, Komatsu's got you.
We generally try to be optimistic about new tech. But ever since Faraday Future announced its first concept car back in 2016, the company has made less than 20 cars in total. And for the massive accomplishment of producing less than two dozen vehicles, Faraday Future’s founder and CEO went and gave themselves raises. Now at CES 2025, the company is trying to make a comeback with its new line of FX EVs, except that it couldn't even be bothered to paint them. That special camouflage automakers use is usually meant to help hide a vehicle’s design BEFORE it gets announced, not make it look like a half-finished product at its own press event. That said, calling it 50 percent done is probably way too generous. So while there's always a chance a company turns it around, don’t be surprised if you never see a FX Super One on the road.
If you ever need someone to sacrifice their sartorial elegance for a story, he’s your man. And yet, even with a floppy photovoltaic-equipped, mess of a head ornament, there’s still no doubt he’s the most dapper Dan.
Everyone is always worried about when our robot overlords are going to come and conquer us. Except it’s the humans we should probably be worried about the most. That’s because during a demo for Unitree’s robot, its homo sapien operator fumbled the controller, resulting in the robot basically tackling our very own Karissa Bell. Human or robot, that’s just not OK.
Originally this list was meant to highlight interesting things we saw at CES that didn't get a lot of praise (or hate) elsewhere, but then the Mirumi went and won an award. But I don’t care. This robot is designed to do one thing, hold onto your arm and stare cutely at things as you walk around. It's basically a puffball with eyes and a clingyness that can't be denied. And I will protect and cherish it with my life.
Look, taking care of your skin is important. It’s the largest organ in your body after all! But if traditional moisturizers, creams and exfoliants aren’t enough for you, I’m not convinced Shark’s red light mask is the answer. If I’m at home and my significant other comes out of the bathroom looking like goddam Doctor Doom, I’m not getting in bed. I’m running out the door and calling Reed Richards for help.
Chillest booth: AARP
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
The AARP describes itself as "the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they live as they age." So instead of encouraging people to hustle around from booth to booth while checking out all the new-fangled gadgets during CES, the AARP went and decided to install a whole-ass pickleball court right on the show floor. Naturally, attendees both young and old stepped up to the net and causally batted balls back and forth with everyone seemingly having a relaxing time in the midst of the biggest tech convention of the year. Good on ya’ll.
Las Vegas is an affront to Mother Nature. It’s an unwalkable city in the middle of the desert filled with all manner of temptations and enough neon lighting to melt your brain. So when a company doesn’t feel like flying in to attend CES, we get it. But that doesn’t mean you can try to weasel your way into the spotlight by sending email pitches about being “perfect for CES, but smart enough to skip it.” Either stop fence sitting and suffer with the rest of us or shut up. So hey Jackrabbit, you say you’re fine not being at CES. That’s cool, we feel the same way.
You know what sounds safe? An electric moped that turns into a quadcopter, but only if you position the propellers and arms yourself. The base model also only has about 25 minutes of flight time while company claims there are a number of built-in safety features, there’s also a built-in parachute. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we can’t have air taxis and such in the future. But this thing does not inspire confidence. However, if you have more guts and than sense, please give it a try and let us know how it goes.
Not every computer part needs to be about pumping out higher framerates and MSI proved that this year by making a CPU cooler with a built-in turntable. What’s the point you ask? Well check out that happy little dragon sitting atop its throne. Just look at him. But really, it could be anything you want up there that makes you happy. The only sad part is that this water block is merely a concept and MSI has no actual plans to put it on sale. What a bummer.
We couldn’t decide which one was more outrageous, so we ended up with a tie for category. For Dell, its new unified branding is largely fine. After all, no one really cares about lines like Latitude, Inspiron and Optiplex. But killing off the XPS name, which is the only Dell sub-brand that has really ever meant something, is a step too far. Meanwhile, in an attempt to woo younger buyers who might not have an affinity for its classic black laptops, Lenovo went and made a ThinkPad with no carbon fiber or a Trackpoint nub. That’s downright sacrilegious. Admittedly, if you’re younger than 50 you might not care, but any nerd who grew up using rotary phones is probably pissed.
Horniest booth: Handy
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
CES is home to all sorts of sex tech, but even among all the vibrators and various toys, the Handy booth somehow managed to be hornier than any other. That’s because in addition to having a selection of kinky gadgets on display, the company had guests lining up to spin a wheel for the chance to take home a prize of their own. And if people eagerly awaiting a chance to take away a pleasure device so they can get their rocks off isn’t horny, I don’t know what is. Just maybe keep it in your pants until you get home.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/our-unofficial-silly-and-meaningless-ces-2025-awards-just-for-fun-210041744.html?src=rss
As devastating wildfires raged across Los Angeles County this week, firefighters battling the blazes encountered fire hydrants that had no water.
Why it matters: The dry fire hydrants sparked political outrage and illustrated just how unprepared municipal water systems are to combat the sorts of large-scale urban wildfires that have become more frequent with climate change.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Friday ordered an independent investigation into the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP), the nation's largest municipal utility, over hydrants and water supply issues. DWP provides water for more than four million L.A. residents and serves Pacific Palisades, a wealthy area of Los Angeles where much of the destruction took place.
"While water supplies from local fire hydrants are not designed to extinguish wildfires over large areas, losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors," Newsom said. "We need answers to how that happened."
President-elect Trump has suggested Newsom was to blame for the dry hydrants — claiming without evidence that he blocked water supply to the south of the state with the state's fish conservation efforts. The governor and other experts have sharply rejected the claims.
"We are looking at a situation that is just completely not part of any domestic water system design," Marty Adams, a former DWP general manager and engineer, told The New York Times.
The big picture: Fire hydrants running out of water isn't unheard of during severe wildfires, according to Kearns, as similar instances were reported during wildfires in Maui, Colorado and Oregon.
"It's something that we have definitely started to see as, essentially, these wildland fires move into urban areas and become urban conflagrations," Faith Kearns, a water and wildfire expert with the Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University, told Axios.
"Our urban water supply is meant to deal more with things like a single house being on fire," she added.
Why did the fire hydrants run dry?
Firefighters battling the Palisades Fire earlier this week encountered swaths of fire hydrants with no water after the three water tanks supplying the Pacific Palisades ran dry by 3 a.m. Wednesday, Janisse Quiñones, chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said at a press briefing later that day.
The area's water system had been pushed "to the extreme," she said. "Four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight, which lowered our water pressure."
The problem persisted for hours while wildfires ravaged the area, the New York Times reported.
Musk wrote on X Wednesday: "These fires are easily avoidable, but nonsense regulations in California prevent action being taken, so year after year homes burn down and more people die."
Trumpclaimed on Truth Social Wednesday that Newsom, a longtime foe, had "refused to sign" a water restoration declaration "that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California" including areas impacted by wildfires.
Newsom in an X post Wednesday called Trump's claim "that a water restoration declaration" exists "pure fiction."
He said — though not mentioning Trump — during a briefing Friday with President Biden that there have been "hurricane force winds of mis and disinformation, lies."
"And it breaks my heart as people are suffering and struggling that we're up against those hurricane forces as well," the governor added.
Newsom also in a letter to Trump Friday invited him to visit and see the damage in L.A.
Would more water have helped?
Even if the water hydrants hadn't run dry, it wouldn't have changed the fact that urban water systems aren't designed to combat multiple, expansive and fast-moving wildfires all at once.
While every bit of water helps, using fire hydrants and water hoses isn't an effective method of battling "multiple onslaughts of fire under high wind conditions,' she said.
"Is it going to save a whole neighborhood under those kinds of ... high wind conditions? Probably not.
Fighting wildland fires in urban areas also limits the methods that can be used, like aerial drops, which could damage structures below, she noted.
High winds can also ground planes, which was the case when a civilian drone hit a Super Scooper aircraft used in the Palisades Fire on Thursday, per an X post from Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Erik Scott.
That fire was only 11% contained as of Saturday morning.
What we're watching: Kearns said cities need, among other things, high-volume pipes and more backup power to pump waters to higher elevations.
"Now we face the question of whether and how there would be enough funding, for example, to actually develop urban water systems that were equipped to deal with these kinds of wildfires," she said.
Fans of an iconic soul duo are mourning the loss of a R&B legend.
Sam Moore, who made up one half of American soul group Sam & Dave alongside Dave Prater—known for hits like “Hold On, I’m...
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