Good evening, good morning, wherever you are. A huge boxing event, a huge sporting event: a classic match-up between a power puncher and a classy boxer. They fought to draw last time out, you can make a great case for each of them to go one better tonight, and the eyes of the sporting world are on this.

Here is our chief sportswriter Paul Hayward, who is in Las Vegas.

The best way to explain it is to list the fightersTyson Furywill joinif he seizes the most prestigious belt in boxing: the World Boxing Council heavyweight title, which shines brightest in the neoncity.

Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton, Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis and nowDeontay Wilder, who has owned it since Jan 17, 2015. Modern boxing is littered with titles but this one has retained its allure and authenticity.

Tyson Fury can join the greats but needs to avoidDeontay Wilder'sAlabama hammer

Meanwhile, our boxing correspondent Gareth A Davies sets the scene here.

The truth is that the margins are on a knife-edge. The styles of the two men are utterly converse, and the result wholly unpredictable. Yet we know this: Fury is leagues above Wilder as a pure boxer, with skills defying his 6ft 9ins, 19st physique. In the other corner, Wilder has power in his hands which is far above that which can be mustered by Fury. The American has an equalising punch in both fists.

Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder come together in clash of styles which will crown heavyweight king

The fight is being shown on BT Sport Box Office in the UK, if you fancy that, or you can obviously follow the action with us here on this blog for the attractive price of zero pounds and zero pence.

That's Paul and Gareth, what do some other experts thinks is going to happen?

Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury 2 predictions:Who the experts think will win

One man who will surely be paying more than the average amount of interest in the evening's action is Anthony Joshua. Here's what the other heavyweight champion thinks:

I think Fury wins. I said it. I think the man that nearly done it the first time wont get it wrong the second time.

I think that he came close the first time to the point of a draw, it wasnt like a 12-round masterclass then got battered in the 12th and that just separated it.

It was a draw, it was that close. So I just think Tyson Fury is going to correct his wrongs and come back and win.

Read the original here:
Wilder vs Fury 2 result: Tyson Fury wins in seventh round as Deontay Wilder corner throws in towel - The Telegraph

By the year 2000 all children will enter school ready to learn.

National Education Panel, 1991.

Like other well-intended programs that set overly optimistic goals, Ready to Learn fell short. A headline from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in March 2019 shows how far short it fell: Nearly half of Floridas children are not ready for kindergarten.

Florida is not unique in failing to reach the goal.

A project sponsored by the Center for Children and Families of the Brookings Institute in 2012 found that while 75% of children from moderate income and higher income families were ready for school at age five, just 48% of poor children were.

Why is that a big deal? Theyre 5 years old. They will catch up, right?

According to Deborah Stipek, former dean of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, Childrens skills at the beginning of kindergarten strongly predict their achievement throughout their schooling.

Speaking at the Clergy Consortium for Education and Anti-poverty in the City of Winston-Salem in January, Don Flow said, For children born into poverty, reading on grade level by third grade dramatically increases their likelihood of escaping poverty.

If that sounds extravagant, consider a study funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation that found that 16% of children who were not reading proficiently at the end of third grade did not graduate from high school. That number ballooned to 35% for children who were poor and lived in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty.

Put simply: Too many children who start behind never catch up.

Why are some children not ready for kindergarten?

The Brookings Institute project found that the key influences on school readiness include poverty, preschool attendance, parenting behavior, parents education, maternal depression, prenatal exposure to tobacco, and low birth weight.

What is striking about the factors that influence a childs readiness for kindergarten is that, with the exception of universal pre-kindergarten, none of them fall within the purview of the public school system.

Who is addressing the factors that influence a childs prospects before she or he begins school?

That was a rhetorical question when I asked it, but Claudia Barrett, executive director of Imprints Cares, answered quickly, We are.

Imprints Cares most intensive program uses materials provided by Parents as Teachers, which promotes optimal early development, learning and health of young children by supporting and engaging their parents and caregivers. (My emphasis.)

If it is true and common sense says it is that the parent is the childs first teacher, it stands to reason that preparing children, especially children from low income families, for school begins with the parents and the home.

Imprints Cares family educators commit to visiting families twice a month from pregnancy to the time the child enters kindergarten, providing information on child development and parenting strategies, as well as connecting them to resources in the community. Last year the family educators made 3,000 home visits and gave 14,000 age-appropriate books to children.

Imprints Cares is not the only local agency that is tackling school readiness.

Smart Start Forsyth County administers the NC Pre-K Program in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.

Family Services promotes school readiness through Head Start and Early Head Start, which offer low-income families access to early learning and child development programs.

Nurses in the Nurse Family Partnership visit low income families regularly for the first two years of the childs life.

Together programs like these have begun to make a dent in the problem.

Research at the University of Virginia compared children who entered kindergarten in 1998 with children who entered in 2010 and found that students in 2010 entered kindergarten substantially more proficient at both math and literacy skills. Increases in academic skills over this period were particularly pronounced among black children.

Still, it is estimated that 48% of children in Forsyth County are not ready to go to school at age 5.

The potential loss to society in terms of the unrealized contributions of a substantial percentage of our children is staggering. The potential loss to the children is heartbreaking.

The strength of programs like Parents as Teachers their intensive focus on parents and caregivers is also their limitation. Providing similarly intensive services on a large scale would be expensive.

You know whats expensive? Claudia Barrett counters. Young people who drop out and dont graduate from high school.

Point taken. Like so many social problems, it depends on what we want to spend money on.

Richard Groves is a former pastor of Wake Forest Baptist Church and former adjunct instructor at High Point University.

See original here:
Richard Groves: We can't leave them behind - Winston-Salem Journal

Weak Links

To understand these changes, it helps to look to the East Coast, where the 64,000 square-mile Chesapeake Bay watershed touches six states and the District of Columbia. Decades of concerted effort and millions of dollars have helped clean up and protect its network of creeks, streams, rivers and wetlands that flow into the tidal bay.

Experts fear the new rule could undo some of that effort.

Chesapeake Bay wetlands in Maryland. Timothy Pohlhaus / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

State Safeguards

Those states with stronger state-level environmental laws, however, will be less vulnerable.

California, for example, has enacted state laws that protect all its wetlands and ephemeral streams. That means the clean water rollbacks would be less damaging but it doesn't mean that California is entirely unaffected.

Federal funding that helps support water-quality protections in the state would be lost and just like in the Chesapeake watershed there's concern about waterways that cross into California from other states like Oregon, Arizona and even Colorado.

"Ephemeral streams across the Colorado River Basin states and Oregon contribute significant volumes of water to rivers flowing adjacent to and into California," said George Kostyrko, director of the Office of Communications for California's State Water Resources Control Board. "Millions of Californians and hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland in the Imperial and Coachella valleys depend on Colorado River water that will no longer have minimal federal protections."

Will the feds step in if one state's waters start to cause pollution in another? California officials aren't so sure.

"Generally, the Clean Water Act will still require federal agencies to follow state water laws," Kostyrko said. "We have grave concerns about how the federal administration could push boundaries here, though."

Costly Burden, Bigger Picture

The rule was sold to states as a way to boost their authority and give them more control over how waters within their boundaries are designated.

"All states have their own protections for waters within their borders and many already regulate more broadly than the federal government," EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement announcing the rule.

Unfortunately, that's not true for states like New Mexico.

"The premise that all states are capable of addressing water quality issues in their state is false," officials from the New Mexico Environment Department wrote in their public comments on the rule last year. "Not all states can implement a robust and successful water quality program without significant federal assistance."

Roose said they originally estimated that around 96% of New Mexico's waterways would lose federal protections. Since the final rule has been released, they're re-evaluating it and believe it may be slightly less, but the vast majority of the state's waterways would still fall outside the scope of federal jurisdiction under the new rule.

For a state with the second-worst economy in the United States, that poses some big problems.

New Mexico is already more reliant than most states on the federal government's help implementing Clean Water Act regulations. Under the Act certain programs, like the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System, which issues permits to regulate pollution discharges from large sources like mining operations, municipal sewage-treatment plants and big construction operations, can be relegated to states. But New Mexico is one of just three states where the federal government administers and enforces the program.

With the federal government now relinquishing regulatory authority to huge amounts of New Mexico's waterways, the state will need to find a way to fill those gaping holes to protect water quality a process that won't be easy, cheap or fast.

"If we already had a built-in program for permitting discharges to our surface waters, then we might be able to pick up that regulatory permitting slack with existing state and rules, like some other states are planning to do," said Roose.

She says the state will do all it can to leverage its groundwater program and other regulations as it begins to work with the legislature to find funding and build capacity for a new regulatory program. It's a process that would take a minimum of three to four years at best, she estimates.

Barring legal challenges that result in an injunction, the rule would be implemented in just a few months.

That means that for years some drinking-water sources will be more at risk, and so will wildlife. In New Mexico this includes imperiled species such as the Gila trout, Chiricahua leopard frog, Jemez salamander, Rio Grande silvery minnow and yellow-billed cuckoo.

A yellow-billed cuckoo in the Gila National Forest, N.M. Bettina Arrigoni / CC BY 2.0

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By The Herald Staff

FridayFeb21,2020at2:46PM

Learning to keep an eye on cattles health could be the difference in minimizing economic loss.

The Frontier Extension District will host Beef Cattle Health Night at 7 p.m. March 12 at the Overbrook Livestock Commission Company, 305 W. 1st, Overbrook.

A.J. Tarpoff, Kansas State University Extension beef veterinarian, will be the speaker and will discuss lameness and the fact that not all lameness is a foot rot problem. In addition, Tarpoff will speak about internal and external parasites and their control options.

Internal and external parasites are a problem to cattle which can reduce productivity and profitability of a cattle operation. Internal parasites affect the gastrointestinal tract by damaging and irritating the stomach and intestinal lining. The damage results in decreased digestion and absorption of nutrients as well as protein and blood loss. This can lead to further production losses like decreased feed intake, reduced weaning weight, poor feed efficiency, reduced milk production and reduced reproductive performance. Tarpoffs discussion will identify types and symptoms of internal and external parasites as well as ways to diagnose and treat the parasite problems.

Lameness is leg or foot pain that affects how cattle move. If left untreated, this can lead to lost production and animal welfare concerns. There are many causes of lameness, it can be caused by nutrition, injury, environmental factors and infections. It is important that the source of the lameness be diagnosed and treated quickly to reduce or minimize economic loss.

For more information, contact Rod Schaub, Frontier District Extension agent, at 785-828-4438 or by email at rschaub@ksu.edu.

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Cattle health night planned in Overbrook - News - The Ottawa Herald

Despite the approaching winter weather, the Jacksonville-Onslow Chamber of Commerce gathered Thursday night to honor its members during the 76th annual Membership Celebration.

Held at the Marston Pavilion on Camp Lejeune, awards were presented for the Golden Eagle Man of the Year, Woman of the Year, the Civic Honoree, Ambassador and Hospitality Person of the Year.

Laurette Leagon, Jacksonville-Onslow Chamber president, said the region faced a number of challenges over the last year, but emerged stronger as a result.

If the effects of the hurricane weren't enough, lets throw in a cyber attack to your chambers cloud service provider, which left us crippled for several months. But through it all, we as a community survived and we did so through partnerships, collaboration and determination. We celebrated recovery and resiliency with many ribbon cuttings and grand re-openings throughout the last year. Now I believe its a time for us to thrive, to grow, and to prosper, said Leagon.

Tiffany Choice, 2019 Chamber Board chair and senior director of operations for the Jacksonville Mall Chick-fil-A, said the community rebounded from setbacks such as the heavy damage sustained to the Jacksonville Country Club and its golf course and the loss of half of the Jacksonville Mall.

There was one obstacle after another and one point when we did not know if we would be able to reopen, Choice said about Chick-fil-A. It took over a year to gratefully get back to serving our guests. Although there were significant challenges, we preserved just like the other residents of this great community.

The Hospitality Person of the Year was presented to Jessica Eckart, of Hampton Inn & Suites. Onslow County Tourism Manager Salem Clarke said that Eckart had shown great professionalism and dedication over her years in the hospitality industry.

The attention to detail, work ethic, efficiency, and ambition has earned the praise of past and present employers and co-workers alike. In this past year alone, Eckart has received three awards for skills and positive attitude. With great communication, a calm demeanor, and a talent to quickly resolve issues, this professional has managed various stressful situations which is especially beneficial in the hotel industry, said Clarke.

The Chambers Ambassador of the Year award went to Michelle Ennis, of Onslow Weight Loss and Wellness. Terri Bock, owner of Business Solutions & Mobile Marketing, described Ennis as a Jacksonville native and successful entrepreneur who is quick to lend a helping hand to the chamber, fellow business owners and residents of Onslow County.

She has dedicated her professional life to the health and wellness of Onslow County neighbors for more 25 years. This certified wellness instructor is certainly worthy of the title of Ambassador of the Year for 2019, said Brock.

Presenting the Civic Honoree Award, David Heatherly, president of Coastal Carolina Community College, said winners Mat Raymond Jr. and Mat Raymond III of Sanders Ford are regular supporters of Relay for Life, Onslow Womens Center, Onslow Memorial Hospital Foundation, and Onslow County Partnership for Children. He said they continue to be actively involved with the Chamber, especially the Military Affairs Committee in support of the Service Members of the Month.

They have a long track record of community service as stated on their business website, We have worked tirelessly to make a difference and give back to those who have supported us, said Heatherly.

The Marine Chevrolet Cadillac Woman of the Year was presented to Adrienne James, of M&S Sanitation. Former Chamber chair Cindy Edwards said the award recognizes women who achieve the highest level of professional accomplishments and have devoted their time and energy to the betterment of their community. She described James as a United Way of Onslow County Board member who has served on the Emergency Response Team for Onslow Womens Shelter and as a passionate advocate for children as a Guardian Ad-Litem volunteer.

This years honoree is a dedicated, community-driven woman who doesnt serve for praise or awards, she serves because its the right thing to do, said Edwards. She has helped the needy by organizing clothing drives, back-to-school events, feeding the homeless and helping single parents provide a memorable Christmas for their children.

Jeff Clark, CEO of Marine Federal Credit Union and a past Chamber board chair, presented the nights final award, the Golden Eagle Man of the Year, to Ed Garris of First National Bank. Clark said that since 1986, the award has been presented to men who have demonstrated excellence in their profession and have devoted tremendous time and energy to better our community.

Clark said Garris is the recipient of the Governors North Carolina Award for Volunteer Service and has volunteered his time and expertise to 18 different organizations, serving as treasurer five times and as a chairman four times.

I have served with him on several boards, including the Chamber Board, Executive Committee and Military Affairs Steering Committee and the Jacksonville Onslow Economic Development Board, which he chaired. This man was not only faithful to these boards and committees, but he brought insight and sometimes just good old fashioned common sense to the table when it was most needed said Clark.

Original post:
Chamber honors people of the year at 76th celebration - Jacksonville Daily News

Dylan Wisman stood up at the center of the mat and quickly shook the hand of Arizona States Zahid Valencia, the No. 1 wrestler in the country at 184 pounds. He walked back towards the Tigers bench to the sound of a Hearnes Center crowd roaring in approval, despite the ref having raised Valencias hand, not his.

Wisman a respected grappler in his own right, ranked as high as No. 14 in the country at the beginning of the season went toe-to-toe with Valencia for seven minutes and lost, 14-10. That result stuck with Missouris redshirt senior from Winchester, Virginia, much more than the standing ovation he received.

It was cool and all, but I mean, I still lost, Wisman said. Its nice to have a close match like that, but its still a loss. Kinda just put some fuel in the tank, realizing theres little things I gotta get back in the room and start working on.

While many wrestlers will work almost exclusively to defend when they face a top-ranked opponent, Wismans game plan couldnt have been further from that. He was constantly attacking Valencia, draining the defending national champions energy and controlling the tempo of the match.

He also seemed to fluster Valencia, who was noticeably chippier than usual. The ASU redshirt senior won the match due to a run that began at the end of the second period and ended at the beginning of the third, but he didnt do it without a significant fight.

I could tell he was getting frustrated, so I just continued to stick with my game plan of riding him tough, making him work for every point, Wisman said.

Wisman made it clear that he wasnt intimidated whatsoever by Valencias ability or reputation. When he approaches matches like these, he treats them as if theyre any other bout.

I really dont care about what youre ranked in the country or what people say about you, Wisman said. If someone has high expectations of someone else, well, Im just gonna go out there and prove to you that thats just what you think of someone.

Close losses to top opponents have been a theme for Wisman in an up-and-down senior season. His ranking has dipped slightly from its mid-teens starting point, with most publications placing him in the twenties. Per wrestlestat.com, the seven wrestlers who have defeated Wisman this year make up an average ranking of 12.3. He has lost to each of the top three wrestlers in his weight class by a combined margin of 10.

Despite the defeats, Wismans strongest supporter is Tigers coach Brian Smith, who has called him out for positive reasons in two consecutive post-dual press conferences.

Hes just putting it together with week after week after week of good practices, and thats what its about, Smith said. The way hes getting in the practice room and working the little details that he does right. His mindset is I dont care anymore; Im going and competing hard.

That mindset translates to the Hearnes Center mat in the form of refusing to give up two points after failing on a shot, which was an example from the Valencia bout that Smith used. The coach of 21 years has also lauded Wisman for his attitude towards his time at Missouri nearing its conclusion.

Sometimes as a senior, you get that urgency that this could be my last, this is my second-to-last match at home, Smith said. I wish more of our guys that are younger would wrestle with that.

Its more so just making the most of every moment, Wisman said. I only get so many more practices in this room, and I only get one more chance at wrestling at Hearnes, so Im just making the most of every opportunity and not holding anything back.

That urgency will play well in an NCAA Tournament that a Wisman doesnt just believe he can win, but expects to win. In fact, the losses to highly ranked opponents may prove to be beneficial come March, when Wisman will face many of those grapplers again. Valencia, in particular, is a likely opponent, and to say that Wisman is looking forward to a rematch with the top-ranked Sun Devil is a massive understatement.

I pushed him the whole match, Wisman said. I wore him out, got him pretty tired. Well probably end up having to run into each other at the national tournament, and I think thatll be something thats in his mind, knowing that he doesnt want to have to face me again.

Edited by Eli Hoff | ehoff@themaneater.com

Continue reading here:
On the heels of Valencia battle, Dylan Wisman looks to finish career strong - The Maneater

With the NFL Scouting Combine set to kick off next week, the focus of the Steelers will shift from prepping for free agency, which is what the front office and coaching staff spent time focusing on this week, back to the draft.

The Steelers' staff will spend the week in Indianapolis meeting with draft prospects, checking out their medicals and watching them work out on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium.

But with the Steelers not holding a first-round draft pick, their focus might be a little different than most other teams.

As general manager Kevin Colbert noted last week when talking about how the team might handle mock drafts prior to the draft, the Steelers know there at least 20 or so players they will have no shot at acquiring with the 49th pick, where their top pick lies.

"Take 20 guys out and say theres no way theyre getting to 18 in the second round," Colbert said.

So on which players will the Steelers focus on in Indianapolis? Here are a few on which to keep an eye:

RUNNING BACKS

Zack Moss, Utah: A 5-foot-10, 222-pound bowling ball-type, Moss has excellent balance and runs hard. What kind of speed does he have? And he had a meniscus injury in 2018. How does that check out? Moss' running style has been compared to that of Marion Barber. He enjoys contact, but has the wherewithal to roll through it. His cousins are speedy receivers Santana and Sinorice Moss, so it will be interesting to see what he runs in the 40. He also got a medical flag at the Senior Bowl. Is he healthy? Rounds 2-3

Cam Akers, Florida State: Akers' production at Florida State was up-and-down but it wasn't his fault. The Seminoles' offensive line was a mess. A lot of what he did came on his own. At 5-foot-11, 212 pounds, he has good size. Like Moss, a key for him will be his 40 time, not that the 40 time is a deal breaker at running back. Both guys are elusive. But unlike Moss, who had a number of big runs at Utah, Akers doesn't have those on his resume. Rounds 2-3

Clyde Edwards-Helaire, LSU: Listed at 5-foot-8, Edwards-Helaire will be considered a small back by most. But how much weight does he pack onto that diminutive frame. He was listed at 205 pounds at LSU, which for a guy his height, is solid. Is that his actual weight or is he under 200 pounds? LSU has a good track record of producing solid NFL backs in recent years --Joseph Addai, Stevan Ridley, Spencer Ware, Alfred Blue, Jeremy Hill, Leonard Fournette and Derrius Guice. Edwards-Helaire should be the next. Edwards-Helaire also returned kicks at LSU. Rounds 2-3

Eno Benjamin, Arizona State: Like Edwards-Helaire, at 5-foot-9, Benjamin is slightly vertically challenged. He's listed at around 200 pounds, but carried the ball 300 times in 2018 and over 200 in 2019. He also caught 77 passes over the past two seasons. Benjamin has an unorthodox running style that reminds some of the Bills' Devin Singletary. That's not a bad comparison. He's got some escapability, but like the others above him, how fast is he? Singletary ran a 4.66 40 at last year's combine, but it didn't affect his production. Can Benjamin be that type of player, as well? Rounds 3-4

Darrynton Evans, Appalachian State: There has to be at least one small-school gem on this list, right? Evans will be that guy among the running backs. He's a little undersized at 5-11, 200 pounds, but he's elusive, productive and tough. In 462 career college carries, he did not have a fumble. Evans also averaged over 25 yards per kick return in his career, scoring a touchdown on a kickoff in each of his three seasons. Rounds 4-5

Darius "Jet" Anderson, TCU: When you have the nickname "Jet," you'd better be fast. The question with Anderson, is whether he's big enough to be anything more than a change-of-pace back. Anderson is listed at 195 pounds on some draft sites and 212 on others. Nearly 20 pounds is a big difference. Rounds 4-5

TIGHT ENDS

Harrison Bryant, Florida Atlantic: At 6-foot-5, 240 pounds, Bryant has decent size. Can he add more weight to his frame or is he just a big receiver? Bryant is an accomplished receiver and might be the most well-rounded tight end in this draft. It's his ability to block -- at least his willingness to do so -- that could interest the Steelers. He could wind up being the top tight end in this draft. Round 2

AlbertOkwuegbunam, Missouri:Okwuegbunam (pronounced O-coo-WAY-boo-nham) has excellent size at 6-foot-5, 255 pounds. Despite that, his blocking is a big question mark. Can he pick that up quickly at the NFL level?Okwuegbunam is an interesting prospect in a class that has a lot of "big receivers" but few guys who look like they will fit into the well-rounded game the Steelers expect out of their tight ends. Rounds 2-3

Cole Kmet, Notre Dame: Kmet is an interesting prospect. He's still very much a work in progress as a run blocker. But as a pass catcher, he's solid. He's a better all-around prospect than Zach Gentry, the Steelers' 2019 fifth-round draft pick, to be sure. At 6-foot-4, 250 pounds, he's got good size. Does he have what it takes to become a future starter? Rounds 2-3

Devin Asiasi, UCLA: At 6-foot-3, 260 pounds, Asiasi is built like a fullback. But he's a downfield threat -- he averaged 15.2 yards per catch in his career -- who can block. He was used most as a blocker early in his career -- at Michigan and then after his transfer to UCLA -- before having a breakout season as a pass catcher in 2019, when he caught 44 passes for 641 yards and four scores. His weight has gotten up as high as the 270s, so it will be critical for Asiasi to show he can be a natural 260-pound player. Rounds 3-5

Thaddeus Moss, LSU: Some Steelers fans are suggesting the team use its second round pick on Moss, the son of Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss. That's too high for him, in my opinion. He's slightly undersized at 6-foot-3, 249 pounds. Can he get a little bigger than that? There also are injury concerns as he missed the entire 2018 season with a foot injury after transferring from North Carolina State to LSU. That meant the bulk of his college production came in 2019, when he caught 47 passes for 520 yards and four touchdowns. He's decent as a blocker, which works in his favor, but he's not a second-round prospect, folks. Rounds 4-5

NOSE TACKLES

Neville Gallimore, Oklahoma: Gallimore is very much in the Javon Hargrave-class of nose tackles. It's all about a quick first step. He had seven sacks the past two seasons for the Sooners to go along with 11.5 tackles for a loss. But he might be a little undersized at 6-foot-2, 304 pounds. What's his base look like? Can he hold up inside or is he simply a player who has to rely on shooting gaps? Rounds 2-3

Rashard Lawrence, LSU: Like Gallimore, Lawrence possesses strong hands and a good motor. But is he a true nose tackle? Does he possess the base to hold up inside taking on double teams? At 6-foot-2, 308 pounds, he's only slightly bigger than Gallimore. He also was much better in 2018 than he was in 2019. Was that because of an undisclosed injury? Rounds 2-3

Leki Fotu, Utah: A former rugby star, Fotu didn't play football until his senior year in high school. So the best days are likely still ahead for this 6-foot-4, 335-pound behemoth. He's a massive run stuffer but isn't going to provide much as a pass rusher. Like Zack Moss, his Utah teammate, Fotu got a medical red flag at the Senior Bowl and was unable to participate. Is he healthy? And is it a lingering issue? Rounds 3-4

Benito Jones, Mississippi: At 6-foot-1, 326 pounds, Jones has the look of a true nose tackle. He's a bowling ball, though he's a little top heavy. Will that hurt him as an anchor or will his natural strength make up for that? Jones also has some pass rush skills as his 5.5 sacks in 2019 might suggest. Rounds 3-4

WIDE RECEIVERS

K.J. Hamler, Penn State: At just 5-foot-9, 174 pounds, Hamler isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. But he should kill the 40-yard dash. Can he be a Tyreek Hill-type, or will he be relegated to being a very fast slot receiver. Hamler also had some injury issues in college. Can he hold up to the beating against bigger, faster, stronger NFL players? Round 2

Michael Pittman, USC: At 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, Pittman is a specimen. He probably won't run anything below a 4.55 40, but with his size, he won't need to. He's plenty fast enough. He dealt with ankle and shoulder injuries in college. In this deep class of receivers, he falls into the second round, at the earliest, unless he surprises with an outstanding workout. Rounds 2-3

Tyler Johnson, Minnesota: Unlike Hamler, the question with Johnson is whether he's fast enough to play in the NFL. He's got everything else. His production at Minnesota was outstanding. And he was very good on the contested catch, much like a poor man's version of DeAndre Hopkins. At 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, he's a good-sized receiver. But if he runs anything over a 4.6 40, he's in trouble. Rounds 2-4

OFFENSIVE LINE

I'm sorry, but I'm not going to bore you with offensive linemen prospects to watch, especially since I don't believe the Steelers will take one before the fourth round.

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Forget the top guys, watch these Steelers prospects at the NFL Combine - DKPittsburghSports.com

Your vision needs a spark.It doesnt need a blaze.

So often, when we read articles about individuals in successful businesses, we assume its a blaze of an idea that sweeps through their life and lights their purpose and vision. While yes, that can be true, its also important to know that to strike light in the darkness, you only need a spark.

Think about your own life for a moment. Press into what elements of your life are the match. When youre around them, do they spark? Can you physically feel it? Does it immediately fuel your flame? That very thing is part of the leadership journey you are on. Listen to it. Let it be your guide.

What is rarely spoken about during your leadership journey is losing that light. Ask yourself, what happens when your light is snuffed out? Do you know how to overcome the challenge offinding it again? Its reclamation does not have to be a solitary one. It begins by allowing yourself to share with others what youre going through. The more comfortable you are at sharing 1-1, the more likely you are to feel a sense of acceptance and that youre not alone Theres additional insight on how to navigate the path. Not sharing whats going on, leaves us isolated and alone to fight the fight. As leaders, were not stronger fighting alone. We heal faster and continuously improve our resilience by having supporters cheering us on. Pursuing the mentorship of others comes at all ages and can refill your cup when it feels half empty. We may miss an opportunity to feel relief if we isolate ourselves from the support of others by placing potential mentors or guides in a box. Have you ever done this? Maybe you assumed that someone would not understand what youve been through only to hear later that they fully understood and had incredible wisdom to share?

Think about this. What does it mean to put a potential mentor or a guide in a box?Do you have a particular vision or thought of who your mentor should be? Maybe that they should live in the same city? That they were only meant for a specific season? If we exclude mentorship opportunities through false assumptions of what a mentor should be, we lose an opportunity for growth.

Mentors are here to guide our path. They encourage the positive aspects in us, help to make us stronger, wiser, and more articulate. Often times they will help purge the false thinking we create in our minds. Mentors can help us identify the truth and understand areas of improvement. Pause for a second and be honest with yourself.

Do you think of yourself as a mentor? You might carry a false belief that after x years of experience you can mentor others. However, the opposite is often true, and teaching moments can strike anytime. An example of this was in 2010 when I attended a Summer Seminar from Bradley University. It was an opportunity to meet advertising professionals from the Chicago area. It was on this trip I met David Bard (Senior Account Executive at Corporate Imaging Concepts) after submitting a presentation for the group. The classic you can never take back a first impression still remains and demonstrates the opportunities that can unfold if you treat every opportunity as one of growth.

Its been 10 years, and I have still kept in touch with him through my masters program and while living across the country. He reminds me to stay inspired, to reach out to incredible businesswomen for mentorship and shares excellent articles to trigger strategic thinking. As I went through a tragic personal summer in 2019, he reminded me of many professional women who have had to also make smart, sacrificial decisions to improve their future for their mental health, families, and well-being. His mentorship propelled me to undertake necessary and tough life decisions. I was beginning to get my spark back.

As this difficult season carried on, I felt like I was literally lost in the wind which for anyone who knows a Proverb or two can attest that being lost in the wind is anywhere but where you want to be. You feel like you are perishing in the wind. You want your feet on solid ground. You want to trust your gut. You want the self-confidence that once radiated in your decision-making. And guess what? If yours is missing, you can get it back.

There is power in our souls when we can proclaim that we feel grounded. However, when you dont feel grounded personally, financially, and professionally its one of the most uneasy feelings. In this state, youre quickly distracted, disappointed, discouraged and discontent. Youre grasping at straws trying to find the vision. Even the thought of daily habits and vision boarding sounds stressful because youre stuck rebuilding in the dark, desperate for a spark of light.

I thought all the vision I had was going to perish. I allowed so many voices to shift my behavior. I ultimately lost my self-confidence, my identity, and replaced them with needing the approval of others. I created a reliance ofselfbased on the comments of others.

How did this all start for me? Losing vision? If you havent lost it, take note, your chance to speak to others who are in the thick of it may come up.

Years ago, it started with criticism over health and nutrition facts I would share from publications like O and Shape magazine. They were my early on, go-to lifestyle magazines that my mother had influenced me to read. I cant remember a day that I didnt have a subscription. I felt my mindset improve and expand. I felt inspired, encouraged, and self-motivated. My engagement with these magazines influenced my leadership, goal-oriented thinking, and personal values. More specifically, my self-worth. When I stopped reading them because of someones comments, I realized a shift in my happiness and leadership mindset diminish. So, I went back to reading these magazines until the critique happened again years later. Little did I know I was a casual survivor of people-pleasing.

Over time, I realized within about seven years, I began to live a life based upon others opinions. I wasnt filtering their words I was taking it all in. My adaptability became overly adaptable, considerate and ultimately applied all the advice given not necessarily wisdom. I felt directionless, chasing everyone elses ideas lost in the wind.

It was the first time that I began to feel concerned for my future because I learned how imperative it was to carry and cast vision in my life. I would hear what do you want? or whats going to make you happy? and for the life of me, I couldnt find the answer. I was overwhelmed with the realization that I had lost my vision and direction.

In the fall of 2019, while I experienced one of the hardest seasons losing my husband, I opened up with a long-time mentor about what I was really going through. My world had essentially flipped upside down in every way. It was from David. He reminded me that we all ride the roller coaster of life. He sent meSparkby Angie Morgan, Courtney Lynch, and Sean Lynch. The focus of this book is directed around leading yourself to success with the help of others. It helped me articulate and understand the power of receiving help from others through the relentless pursuit of wisdom, inspiration, prayer, encouraging emails/texts, phone call check-ins, hand-written cards and much more. Spark not only helped me to get my life back in order but allowed mentorship into my search for vision, helped me to identify the emotional and leadership loss I was feeling.

The next step was reconciling with myself the grief process, being open to counseling, and being open to feel all the feels as they arrived. I decided Id rather face the loss instead of internalizing the pain of my loss.

Spark walks through values, action, and character. I particularly love how it walks you through establishing credibility principles, including the ability to narrow the say-do gap. For example, what you say and what you execute on. Whats the gap in time? Are you executing it quickly or are you repeatedly saying youll do something and not following through ultimately harming your credibility.

Years prior, I had worked on balancing the say-do gap before I knew it was a thing. I was such a people pleaser that this gap became an ambitious one. Instead, small daily wins helped me narrow the gap between what I said I would do and actually doing it. In your own life, avoid the ambition as that will naturally come with consistent execution. Execution isnt always an easy task, rather recognizing what youre committing to and executing on your word. Furthermore, this leads to accountability in leadership. A loss of vision feels threatening and stems from a root of insecurity in abilities when leadership is pulled from you.

The further I stepped into this book; I realized the action of:

decision making serving others consistency confidence

These were all elements that I was learning to rebuild. I had honestly never realized how innate these four elements were within me until I witnessed a series of events strike and steal these traits from me. Job loss and the loss of my husband, which are two extremely devastating events, however, I carried the weight, the need to push forward. Until I felt utterly shaken by them. I began to allow my mind to feel overwhelmed with failure. This feeling of failure finally evoked a sense of compassion for myself and the tremendous effort to build confidence and strong decision making from the ground up.

Think of someone who is a bit off-balance from what you know to be true about them. Take the time to invest, pursue, and stay consistently interested in igniting their fire. Ask them out to coffee. Schedule a bi-weekly FaceTime with them. Be the match to their spark. You never know what someone is facing and how you can help them find their vision again through a book recommendation or simply being a sense of inspiration. One of the greatest lessons from this journey is that this mentor (David) of mine helped me find that I had the ability to authentically be one of the solutions I was so desperately seeking. Spark knows exactly how to articulate this with action. In this tough season, I would repeat to myself that no one else was going to live my life for me or make life-changing decisions for me. And perhaps you have felt this same way.

Who can spark influence into your vision? And can you be the spark for someone?

I was grateful beyond measure to have a mentor who advocated so hard and pressed into the uncomfortable conversations of hard truth. This book walks out this concept in more depth, but I challenge you to consider being that mentor who presses into someone else close to you. Imagine the pressing of fine wine. You ultimately produce something beautiful on the other end with more depth and soul-filled connections with others if youre willing to be pressed in the waiting.

Nonetheless, theres a pressing in the waiting to find your spark. The waiting only renews your strength to encourage you beyond the days in front of you. Most of all, it begins with a leadership mindset. You must pursue the path because no one else can take a hold of this journey for you. Relentlessly pursue the giftings you discover about yourself and apply what others say they see working in and through you. Take time for meditation. Take time to rest and wake up early. Remember, if youre not in this season, you have the audacious ability to refuse to let someone close to you, go uninspired by your leadership or mentorship. Extract what you see good in them. Tell them. Remind them. Remind them again. Be consistent in your pursuit. Allow the pressing of their season to bring new wine from the investment of your time, encouragement, and faithful pursuit of positively influencing their leadership mindset.

Link:
Why Spark Influences Your Vision - Thrive Global

Pexels / Lisa Fotios I Tried Intermittent Fasting to Lose Weight, but I Didn't Expect to Break Free From Sugar

I first became curious about intermittent fasting after putting on an extra five pounds. I've always been comfortable with my weight, so I had limited experience in trying to lose it. I liked that intermittent fasting - in which you simply eat within a set window (usually six to 12 hours) and fast for the remainder of the day - didn't have a lot of complicated rules. You don't have to count calories or cut out any specific foods, for example. Plus, the idea that fasting could help your body more easily burn stored fat didn't seem far-fetched, especially since it had worked for several friends.

There was only one problem: I was accustomed to eating every two to three hours during the day. If I pushed it to fours hours without a snack, I felt sluggish and lightheaded. Naturally, I was concerned that intermittent fasting wouldn't be a good fit, but I decided to give it a try.

After reading up on intermittent fasting, I started with a small fasting window and gradually lengthened it, drinking plenty of water and black coffee to power through. But while I was able to stretch my fasting window, I didn't lose any weight. I also noticed that I sometimes felt headache-y after breaking my fast. Perplexed, I turned to an intermittent-fasting community on Facebook, hoping to find someone who had been in my shoes.

The experienced fasters wanted to know what I was eating, which was simple enough. I stuck mostly to my favorite foods: bread, pasta, and cookies. Wrong answer. Everyone immediately suggested I cut down on sugar and refined carbs (which turn into sugar in the body), switching them out for more dense proteins and fats like eggs, salmon, avocado, and yogurt. They explained that my headaches were likely due to a spike in blood sugar after my fast. They also suggested exercising during my fasting window to help me start losing weight.

As soon as I followed their advice and changed what I was eating, I dropped the weight I wanted to lose, and more importantly, I felt amazing. I had lasting energy for the first time in years, and I no longer experienced lightheadedness, even during longer fasting periods. It was even feasible to exercise during my fast, and as long as I was properly hydrated, I actually felt stronger and more powerful during my workouts than ever before.

Turns out, I had been confusing sugar cravings with hunger for most of my life. I had no idea that what I thought were moments of hanger were actually dips in my blood sugar. I thought it was normal to feel that crash and reach for another snack, but in reality, I was addicted to sugar, whether it came from sweets or refined carbs.

Sugary cereal, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and chocolate chip cookies had been pillars in my diet for almost 30 years. And in that time, I lost touch with what hunger actually feels like. I thought I was hungry when I felt fuzzy and agitated, but because I ate in those moments, I never felt the growl or tightness in my stomach that signals hunger. Intermittent fasting helped me relearn my hunger cues, so now I can eat intuitively and feed my body what it needs when it needs it.

After trying out a few weeks of intermittent fasting, I've settled into a new normal. I eat a variety of foods throughout the day, but I don't snack at night anymore. I'm not overly strict about my sugar intake, but I'm much more aware of what I eat and whether it's really serving my body. And I feel better than ever.

Related video: Intermittent fasting may be the most natural diet trend you try in 2020 [via Veuer]

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I Tried Intermittent Fasting to Lose Weight, but I Didn't Expect to Break Free From Sugar - msnNOW