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Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner, actress Issa Rae part of group buying sailing league’s Team USA

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Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner, actress Issa Rae part of group buying sailing league’s Team USA


SAN DIEGO (AP) — Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner and actress/producer Issa Rae are part of a diverse group of investors joining founding Uber engineer Ryan McKillen and professional sailor Mike Buckley in buying the United States SailGP Team in tech titan Larry Ellison’s global sailing league.

Turner said he is using some of his name, image and likeness income to buy into the group that also includes Tennessee Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and former heavyweight champion and Olympic bronze medalist Deontay Wilder. Avenue Sports Fund, led by former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, is the lead investor. Other investors include NFL players Roquan Smith and Kayvon Thibodeaux, and DJ and producer Gryffin.

“I think I can say we’ve put together the most diverse ownership group in the history of our sport,” said Buckley, who will be team CEO. “I have always dreamed about bringing sailing into the mainstream, a little bit more in line with today’s American dream. This is a pretty epic step.”

The purchase has been in the works for several months and was announced Wednesday. On Saturday, former Team USA CEO and skipper Jimmy Spithill told The Associated Press he was leaving the squad and will start a new Italian team for Season 5 that will begin after the 37th America’s Cup ends in mid-October 2024.

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Seven-time world champion Taylor Canfield takes over as skipper. Team USA is currently third in the 10-team league after five of 13 regattas in Season 4. The next regatta is in Dubai on Dec. 9-10.

Ellison and five-time America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts of New Zealand co-founded SailGP after their Oracle Team USA lost the America’s Cup to Emirates Team New Zealand in 2017. SailGP uses a souped-up version of the 50-foot foiling catamarans that were introduced in the 2017 America’s Cup. Powered by a wingsail, the cats skim over the waves at highway speeds.

Ellison and Coutts intended SailGP to be commercially sustainable with its regular schedule of TV-friendly regattas around the world, whereas the America’s Cup often has gaps of up to three or four years in between regattas.

SailGP includes most of the world’s top sailors, many of whom also compete in the America’s Cup and Olympics. It offers a $1 million, winner-take-all season championship, which has been won three straight times by Tom Slingsby and Team Australia.

The new group said this is the biggest acquisition in SailGP history but declined to give a valuation. By comparison, when British sailing star Ben Ainslie helped take his team private a year ago, the valuation was announced at $40 million. Ellison originally covered the league’s costs but intended for it to eventually move to a franchise ownership model.

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Turner, whose No. 8 Crimson Tide faces No. 1 Georgia on Saturday in the SEC championship game, is part of a syndicate of athletes put together by LifeLine Investment Group. He declined to say how much his investment is.

“It was definitely new for me,” Turner told the AP. “I was kind of surprised at first but it’s still a good opportunity so I couldn’t really miss out on it.”

Turner is ranked No. 57 in on3.com Top 100 NIL valuation at $736,000.

“I’m going to be honest, I don’t know too much,” Turner said about SailGP. “But ever since they brought the offer, I’ve been doing a little research on it. I’ve been watching a bunch of videos.”

Rae, who was in the movie “Barbie” released last summer, attended SailGP’s Los Angeles regatta in late July. “I fell in love with the fan experience and loved the competitive global aspect,” she said. “After that, it was a matter of expressing interest.”

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She added that she likes being on boats and throwing yacht parties, “so look out for a SailGP-sponsored yacht party soon.”

Buckley said his group was looking for investors “that were doing epic things in their lives.”

Sponsors Red Bull, T-Mobile for Business and Zhik have reaffirmed their commitment, the team said.

SailGP said it drew its largest American audience of nearly 1.8 million viewers on Nov. 5 for a CBS broadcast of the Spain Sail Grand Prix, which was won by Team USA. Season 4 wraps up in New York on June 22-23 and San Francisco July 13-14.

___

Follow Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson

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Dallas, TX

Dallas police pension won big against the city, but there is still room for agreement

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Dallas police pension won big against the city, but there is still room for agreement


In August, when the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System filed a lawsuit against City Hall, we winced in concern.

The difference boiled down to which entity, the city or the pension board, had the authority to send a plan to the Texas Legislature to get the badly underfunded system back on track.

Well, the pension system won that fight in district court in Travis County. The plan it has crafted would offer substantially more funding to the pension system, with cost-of-living increases and a reduction in employee contributions in later years.

The city could drag this through an appeal, but as things stand, the pension system’s plan would become the required funding formula.

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Most readers know the pension system is underfunded by more than $3 billion. The difference here boils down to how much additional money the city will contribute per year to get us back on track. Under the pension system’s plan, it would be millions more per year.

But this is a wholly negotiable matter. Two sides have different figures in mind. The sides need to hash out those differences in a way that ensures the city is aligned with a 2017 state law that was passed for the express purpose of getting this pension funded.

There are serious people on both sides. What we need now is a leader at City Hall who has the standing to get this done. Normally, that would be the mayor, but our mayor hasn’t been doing the hard work at City Hall for a long time and we don’t expect him to start now. It could be the city manager, but that job is in the hands of an interim manager now.

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Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins has been doing the heavy lifting for the city, but whether he can lead the city’s side in negotiations is unclear.

All we know is that there is an opportunity for a solution that gets this thing out of court and a solid plan to the Legislature that, yes, includes sacrifices but that also stops the drumbeat about this important public benefit.

Someone needs to get on the phone, book a conference room, order some takeout and work the spreadsheets. There is time, but the clock is ticking.

We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com



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Dallas, TX

Victor Cruz agrees that playing the Cowboys comes with a bit of extra motiviation

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Victor Cruz agrees that playing the Cowboys comes with a bit of extra motiviation


Something I have come to realize is that if you are a Dallas Cowboys fan around the age of 40 (a little room for flexibility at the top) or younger, you have only gotten the bad in this. Your friends, family, co-workers, etc. all tease you and mock you when your team loses and for the majority of your life, for all of your adult life, that has been the case.

You get the treatment that fans of the Los Angeles Lakers or New York Yankees get in terms of meme-ability but without any sort of hardware to make crawling through the mud worth it. Consider that each of those teams are dealing with droughts of their own, the youngest of which was born when Dallas’ was already 14 years old.

It is for this reason that when CeeDee Lamb said following Monday night’s loss that teams are looking to “embarrass” the Cowboys that I found it interesting. I’m not here to act like playing the Cowboys “is so and so’s Super Bowl”, but I do put some stock into the idea that opposing teams smell blood in the water so to speak and know that a domination against America’s Team lives a little bit louder than most. Consider all the fanfare that the New Orleans Saints picked up earlier this season as a recent example.

These are just my two cents though so I was curious how someone who has actually been in those shoes/cleats feels about the whole thing. Thankfully I had an opportunity to talk to former New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz earlier this week and asked him about the idea among other things.

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You can watch our conversation here:

Cruz’s Giants team won the Super Bowl 13 years ago when Dallas’ drought was already 16 years old (I’d imagine Jerry Jones bought them a brand new Mercedes for the occasion). They famously defeated the Cowboys in an NFC East title game in Week 17 at MetLife Stadium, the first of three in a row that Dallas would lose to each of their division rivals. I lived those three years like every one of you and still cannot believe that they actually happened in that exact way.

The Murphy’s Law of who the Cowboys are speaks for itself in that what can go wrong will and while Cruz didn’t exactly agree with that particular sentiment, he did note that playing the Cowboys comes with a little bit of extra motivation. He added that playing for the Giants brings with it a big stage in and of itself, an objectively true statement, and said the right things about how you want to embarrass anybody you play because it’s the NFL.

Whatever the case you can add Cruz to people who at least partially share the sentiment that CeeDee Lamb offered on Monday night. The whole thing is depressing and it is hard to know when it will end.

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Cruz and I discussed a variety of things, including his recent partnership with Captain Morgan and a particularly sweet new crewneck.

Starting November 22, limited quantities of the Captain Morgan Crewneck will drop on KidSuper.com. Miss the drop? You’re in luck – Captain Morgan is unlocking access for fans 21+ to score the coolest merch of the season. Head over to FollowTheCaptain.com, and while you’re there, dive into a world of hidden clues and surprises, because you never know what Captain Morgan has in store as we gear up for Super Bowl LIX.

Our thanks to Victor Cruz and Captain Morgan for the time.



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Dallas, TX

Stephen Jones doubles down on Dallas Cowboys failed trade

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Stephen Jones doubles down on Dallas Cowboys failed trade


When Brock Purdy took over as the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, Trey Lance was left without a spot. That led to a trade with the Dallas Cowboys, who sent a fourth-round pick to the 49ers for the former North Dakota State quarterback.

Adding Lance wasn’t a bad idea on the surface, since he was the No. 3 overall pick in 2021. The problem was that Dallas gave up a fourth-round pick when it appeared there were no serious contenders for Lance.

The trade doesn’t look any better given the fact that Lance is sitting on the bench while Cooper Rush starts in place of an injured Dak Prescott.

MORE: Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy comments on Giants’ release of QB Daniel Jones

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Despite this, Stephen Jones believes the team made the right move. While speaking on 105.3 The Fan, he even said they would do the trade again.

Ironically enough, the Cowboys said repeatedly that adding Lance had nothing to do with Dak Prescott. Now, Jones is admitting that was a factor in their decision.

Dallas also never truly gave Lance an opportunity. He was the inactive third quarterback all season in 2023, with Rush playing in garbage time games. Not only did they get no look at him during his first season with the franchise, but he’s now only played in spot duty.

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Dallas Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance / Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

Lance has completed 4-of-6 attempts for 21 yards with one interception. He’s also picked up 17 yards on three attempts.

Such a low usage proves the coaching staff doesn’t believe Lance has the ability to be a starter. Even so, Jones would do the trade all over again.

— Enjoy free coverage of the Cowboys from Dallas Cowboys on SI 

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