Just days after being criticized by former Washington quarterback and current ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III for playing in this week's Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Commanders head coach Ron Rivera's true motives may have come to light Friday. According to The Athletic senior writer Ben Standig, Rivera drove from Pebble to the Bay Area after shooting a best-ball first-round 70 with PGA pro Kevin Roy. The reason for the trip, per Standig? To interview 49ers assistant head coach/running backs coach Anthony Lynn for Washington's open offensive coordinator job. The Commanders fired former offensive coordinator Scott Turner in January, and Washington requested to interview Lynn back on Jan. 25 following an 8-8-1 season that saw them eliminated from playoff contention in Week 18. Lynn, who was in his first year with the 49ers after serving as the Lions OC in 2021, has 23 years of NFL coaching experience, including four years as the Chargers' head coach, where he went 33-31 overall. … [Read more...] about Commanders’ Rivera plays Pebble Beach Pro-Am, then tries to nab 49ers coach
Washington
Christie Faces Scandal on Traffic Jam Aides Ordered
The mystery of who closed two lanes onto the George Washington Bridge — turning the borough of Fort Lee, N.J., into a parking lot for four days in September — exploded into a full-bore political scandal for Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday. Emails and texts revealed that a top aide had ordered the closings to punish the town’s mayor after he did not endorse the governor for re-election. “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Bridget Anne Kelly, a deputy chief of staff to Mr. Christie, emailed David Wildstein , a high school friend of the governor who worked at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the bridge. Later text messages mocked concerns that school buses filled with students were stuck in gridlock: “They are the children of Buono voters,” Mr. Wildstein wrote, referring to Mr. Christie’s opponent Barbara Buono. The emails are striking in their political maneuvering, showing Christie aides gleeful about some of the chaos that resulted. Emergency … [Read more...] about Christie Faces Scandal on Traffic Jam Aides Ordered
Why Chinese Companies Are Investing Billions in Mexico
Bill Chan had never set foot anywhere in Mexico, let alone the lonely stretch of desert in the north of the country where he abruptly decided to build a $300 million factory. But that seemed a trifling detail amid the pressure to adapt to a swiftly changing global economy. It was January 2022, and Mr. Chan’s company, Man Wah Furniture Manufacturing, was confronting grave challenges in moving sofas from its factories in China to customers in the United States. Shipping prices were skyrocketing. Washington and Beijing were locked in a fierce trade war. Man Wah, one of China’s largest furniture companies, was eager to make its products on the North American side of the Pacific. “Our main market is the United States,” said Mr. Chan, chief executive of Man Wah’s Mexico subsidiary. “We don’t want to lose that market.” That same objective explains why scores of major Chinese companies are investing aggressively in Mexico, taking advantage of an expansive North American trade … [Read more...] about Why Chinese Companies Are Investing Billions in Mexico
Scarred by defeat, they gave birth to a golden age of Danish art
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 NEW YORK - Whenever I see the word "identity" in an exhibition title, I have an urge to vanish into the soothing nebulousness of a steamed-up bathroom. On the other hand, I am interested in how artists respond to national defeat and disaster. So I recommend "Beyond the Light: Identity and Place in Nineteenth-Century Danish Art." The show, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, sounds unprepossessing. Danish art from the early 19th century? "Identity and place"? Unless you are a big fan of "Borgen" and eager to know what Birgitte Nyborg meant when she said, in the current season's final episode, that "modern day Denmark was born of defeat," you might be inclined to give it a pass. Reconsider. A lot of terrific art emerges from national trauma. Impressionism would not have taken the form it did without the Franco-Prussian War and the civil war inside Paris of 1870-71. Dada and art deco … [Read more...] about Scarred by defeat, they gave birth to a golden age of Danish art
NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity is transforming pit crews with college and pro athletes
When Tyriq McCord joined NASCAR as a pit crew member a little more than three years ago, his knowledge of what made a car go fast stopped and started with the gas pedal. “I didn’t even know how to change the tire on my car,” he said. But he could bench-press 225 pounds and run 40 yards in 4.5 seconds and those were the kinds of skills Phil Horton was looking for. Advertisement A former athletic trainer in college football and with the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, as the pit crew coach for stock-car racing’s Drive for Diversity development program Horton has recruited more than 100 former college and professional athletes, from lacrosse players to linebackers, to work as tire changers, tire carriers, jackmen — and women — and gasmen for teams in all three of NASCAR’s top three nationwide series. And while that has undoubtedly made NASCAR more diverse, it’s also made pit crews better and faster, which can mean millions of dollars in a sport where the average margin of … [Read more...] about NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity is transforming pit crews with college and pro athletes
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Shoot It Down’ — Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke Rips Biden Admin For Not Taking Out Chinese Balloon Over His State
Republican Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke ripped President Joe Biden’s administration for not immediately shooting down the Chinese balloon that is hovering over the state he represents in a Friday interview with the Daily Caller. Zinke , a former NAVY Seal, weighed in on the news that broke Thursday evening that the Department of Defense is tracking a Chinese surveillance balloon that appears to be collecting data on sensitive sites inside the United States. China on Friday confirmed that the balloon is theirs, as a spokesperson claimed it is a civilian research airship. The Montana Republican had a very simple solution to getting rid of the Chinese balloon, telling the Caller: “We should have shot it down. It’s embarrassing. Because the US faces clear and present danger with the Chinese and we can’t shoot down a balloon over rural Montana?” Zinke also mentioned the area in which the balloon was over, saying Roosevelt County is not a populated area at all, so there is no reason … [Read more...] about EXCLUSIVE: ‘Shoot It Down’ — Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke Rips Biden Admin For Not Taking Out Chinese Balloon Over His State