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Kansas City Current hire Raven Jemison as president, plus more – SportsPro

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Kansas City Current hire Raven Jemison as president, plus more – SportsPro


National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) franchise the Kansas City Current have appointed Raven Jemison as team president ahead of their inaugural season at CPKC Stadium.

Jemison, who will oversee all business operations for the Current, arrives from the Milwaukee Bucks, where she served as executive vice president of business operations for the past three years. During her tenure with the National Basketball Association (NBA) team, Jemison delivered growth across all departments off the court while also building out the team’s data analytics and digital marketing.

Prior to the Bucks, Jemison worked as a client services manager for the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Florida Panthers, while she has also held roles at Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Pittsburgh Pirates and National Football League (NFL) franchise the San Francisco 49ers.

Jemison replaces Allison Howard, who has served as team president for two seasons and will now be an advisor to the club’s board.

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“I am so excited to come to Kansas City to work with [owners] Angie [Long] and Chris [Long] and this club,” said Jemison, who was part of the steering group for SportsPro’s NEW ERA programme in 2023.

“They have a vision and desire to make this the best women’s football club in the world and they are willing to invest what it takes to make that happen. I am so excited by the opportunity to utilise my experiences to build this club at a time when both it and the league are already on the rise.” 

Elsewhere, sportswear brand Under Armour has appointed Kara Trent as president of the Americas and Yassine Saidi as chief product officer.

Meanwhile, the German Football League (DFL) has hired Bastian Zuber as interim director of digital business development and Silke Kuisle as director of corporate strategy.


Appointments

Emily Prazer
Chief commercial officer, Formula One
Previously: Chief commercial officer, Las Vegas Grand Prix

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Harald Gärtner 
Managing director of Europe, Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC)
Note: Gärtner will lead and direct LAFC’s European business strategy and interests, including the club’s investment in FC Wacker Innsbruck.

Glynn Jones
Director of agency partnerships for Guild Studios, Guild Esports
Note: Jones has over 13 years of experience working with several agencies and clients across the digital industry.

Chris Russell
Director of global basketball sales, Sportfive
Previously: Head of business development, FC Barcelona

Janeen Lalik
Executive vice president, Sabertooth Sports & Entertainment (SS&E)
Previously: Deputy athletics director for external operations, Florida State University

Simon Green  
Chief executive, Supponor
Previously: Chief operating officer, Supponor

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Tom Funk   
President of hospitality, Legends
Previously: Executive vice president, Compass One Healthcare

Keith Houlemard
Chief executive, Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour
Note: APGA Tour co-founder Ken Bentley, who has served as chief executive since the tour’s inception, will remain heavily involved during the transition of leadership.

Ron Li
Head of strategy and growth, Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury and Footprint Center
Previously: Senior vice president, client strategy, Navigate


Departures

Eric Chan
Chief financial officer, Los Angeles Clippers
Note: Chan departs to become chief business and strategy officer at Gap Inc.

Erika Ayers Badan
Chief executive, Barstool Sports
Note: Ayers Badan served as Barstool’s chief executive for nearly eight years, during which time she said revenue at the company grew 5,000 per cent.  

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Cliff Stein
Senior vice president and general counsel, Chicago Bears  
Note: Stein leaves after nearly 22 years with the franchise.


Never miss a major appointment with The Wire, SportsPro’s aggregated feed of international sports business news and feature content.



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Kansas

First responders narrowly miss secondary crash on icy Kansas City interstate

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First responders narrowly miss secondary crash on icy Kansas City interstate


KANSAS CITY, Mo. — First responders helping a stranded truck driver narrowly missed being caught up on a secondary wreck on an icy Interstate 435 Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri.

Around mid-afternoon, a band of freezing rain fell across Kansas City, coating many surfaces with a glaze of ice. Hardest hit were many of the area’s interstates and highways.

Kansas City Scout video recorded by KSHB 41 captured first responders providing assistance around 3:12 p.m. to a stranded truck on I-435 near Missouri Highway 350.

While the responders are helping, another semi loses traction and careens straight toward the stranded truck and another stranded vehicle.

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The semi smashed into the stranded vehicles but the force of the collision wasn’t strong and first responders were able to move out of the way.





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It’s a trap! Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos must avoid Kansas City pitfall | Opinion

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It’s a trap! Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos must avoid Kansas City pitfall | Opinion


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In one sense, the playoffs have already begun for the Denver Broncos.

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Win and they’re in. Lose and it is sudden death.

That’s the essence of playoff football. The end of the season is on the line.

Then again, when the Broncos (9-7) host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday with the chance to clinch the final wild-card berth in the AFC playoffs, there’s a key reason why the matchup falls so short of a virtual postseason matchup: Both teams don’t have to win.

I mean, the Chiefs (15-1) won’t be playing with Patrick Mahomes.

What a break for the Broncos. Chiefs coach Andy Reid, with the No. 1 seed locked up, will rest Mahomes and other key players. Maybe in a weird way, Denver is owed such a favor from the Department of Karma. In Week 10, when Mahomes was on the field, the Broncos nearly upset the Chiefs on their own turf, except that Leo Chenel blocked a Will Lutz field goal attempt as time expired.

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Now Denver just needs to take the rematch, with Carson Wentz starting for Mahomes.

Talk about a trap game.

It’s too bad it’s come down to this for Sean Payton & Co. For the third consecutive week, the Broncos have a shot at clinching a playoff berth. And for the third straight week they can try finishing strong and saving face. Lately, that has not been Denver’s forte. And now it might prove to perfectly symbolize a season that has come with bright spots including rookie quarterback Bo Nix and a defense that leads the NFL with a franchise-record 56 sacks but has been undermined by faulty finishes.

They blew an 11-point second half lead in falling at the L.A. Chargers in Week 16, then last weekend lost in overtime at Cincinnati, when they didn’t make a single first down on two OT possessions.

Blow it on Sunday (with the Bengals and Dolphins looking for their own breaks) and the Broncos will walk off as one of the NFL’s biggest collapses in recent seasons.

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Of course, it starts at the top. Payton, in his second season as Broncos coach, has changed the culture as promised. After kicking Russell Wilson to the curb, his first-round selection of Nix and the development of the rookie has been more impressive when considering the Broncos have the NFL’s longest active streak, 33 games, without a 100-yard rusher. He has Denver in position to claim the franchise’s first playoff berth in nine seasons, since it capped the 2015 campaign by winning Super Bowl 50.

Yet Payton might have already clinched that playoff berth if he had elected to go for two at the end of regulation, rather than playing for overtime and kicking a PAT.

Sure, in hindsight, it’s easy to second-guess his decision. He has, too.

“Based on the outcome, you always second-guess,” Payton said during a press conference this week. “I know I kind of felt I trusted my gut in that moment.”

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Think of what happened to set up the decision. Nix escaped a sack and heaved a prayer on fourth down that Mims snagged between two Bengals defenders. The too-close-to-call instant replay decision came back in Denver’s favor.

If there was anytime for Payton to press his luck (or assert his genius), that was it.

But his gut wouldn’t let him do it? Go figure. The conservative PAT decision came from a man who pulled off one of the gutsiest calls in Super Bowl history in calling for an onside kick to open the second half of the New Orleans Saints win against Peyton Manning the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl 44.

Sure, he played last week with a rookie quarterback who has thrown six interceptions in the past four games. But a week after being so aggressive in losing against the Chargers, the flip in Payton’s crunch time strategy was baffling.

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By going for the two points, Payton would have given his team a chance for what could have essentially been a walk-off win, without putting the ball back in the hands of the red-hot Joe Burrow. As it turned out, they still lost.

Now what? At least Payton and his team have another week to claim a playoff berth – or else. He talked this week about the big sign players see each time they enter the locker room at the Broncos headquarters. It reads: Keep Fighting.

“I like the grit on this team,” Payton said.

Well, here’s another message that I’m guessing, with next week not promised, Payton will embrace as their leader.

No guts, no glory.

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NBC’s Team?

Since the end of the 2022 season, when they drew a spicy (and pivotal) Week 18 matchup at Lambeau Field in the NFL’s regular season finale, the Detroit Lions are poised for their seventh appearance on NBC for a key primetime matchup on “Sunday Night Football” or a playoff game.

That’s a nugget that Lions fans can appreciate, but it can easily be overlooked amid the historic ramifications of the matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, when the two 14-2 teams meet with the most victories ever (28) for a regular-season game.

From 2006 (when NBC returned to broadcasting the NFL) to 2022, Detroit had just nine such showcase games. Now the Lions are about to get a seventh showing in 38 games.

And it might be a good omen: In six games under Dan Campbell broadcast by NBC, the Lions are 6-0.

Quick slants

Odd, but true: Browns defensive end Myles Garrett is the first player in NFL history to post at least 14 sacks in four consecutive seasons. Ironically, he’s never led the league in sacks. Garrett heads into the finale at Baltimore tied with Cincinnati’s Trey Hendrickson for the NFL lead.

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Lamar Jackson and Sam Darnold: Both head into Week 18 one game shy of matching the NFL record that Aaron Rodgers set in 2020 with 14 games with a 100 passer rating or better. Jackson, the Ravens star, had an NFL-best 121.6 rating through 17 weeks, while Darnold’s revival with the Minnesota Vikings is also marked by a 106.4 clip that is fifth in the league. Rodgers, by the way, ranks 20th with an 89.1 rating that is his lowest for a season since he became a starter in 2008.



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How To Watch Kansas State-TCU, Lineups, Preview, Stats To Watch

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How To Watch Kansas State-TCU, Lineups, Preview, Stats To Watch


Betting line: K-State (+3.5)

O/U: 141.5

Money Line: CIN -160, KSU +132

Game time: 4:00 pm, EST

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Where: Schollmaier Arena, Fort Worth, TX

TV: CBS (watch here)

VITALS: Kansas State is coming off their first victory after losing three in a row. Dug McDaniel had just his second start of the season, where he scored 17 on 53.8 percent shooting. Coleman Hawkins had his best performance as a Wildcat, logging 20 points, 10 rebounds, and four steals. They face a TCU squad looking for its first Big 12 victory after losing to Arizona Monday.

PROJECTED STARTERS

WILDCATS

G Brendan Hausen: 13.0 PTS, 2.3 REB, 1.3 AST

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G Dug McDaniel: 10.3 PTS, 2.6 REB, 4.3 AST

F Max Jones: 8.7 PTS, 3.5 REB, 2.1 AST

F David N’Guessan: 13.6 PTS, 6.8 REB, 1.6 AST

F Coleman Hawkins: 10.1 PTS, 7.0 REB, 4.1 AST

HORNED FROGS

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G Noah Reynolds: 10.6 PTS, 2.5 REB, 3.9 AST

G Vasean Allette: 10.7 PTS, 3.3 REB, 2.3 AST

F Trazarien White: 10.2 PTS, 3.3 REB, 1.7 STL

F David Punch: 6.1 PTS, 4.8 REB, 1.0 BLK

F Ernest Udeh Jr.: 9.2 PTS, 8.6 REB, 1.3 AST

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QUOTABLE: “It makes us even more versatile,” Dug McDaniel said about Coleman Hawkins’ presence in starting lineup. “When you have a 6’10” guy who can put the ball on the floor and make decisions. Nine times out of 10, their fours and fives are guarding him, and it’s harder for those guys to guard in the perimeter. He’s very versatile, and I feel like if we keep using him the right way, he can go very far.”

Jayden Armant is a graduate of the Howard University School of Communications and a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats on SI. He can be reached at jaydenshome14@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.



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