Beaver golfers honored

CALCUTTA — Several Beaver Local golfers were named Div. II All-Eastern District Golf Coaches Association recently.

Junior Owen Hill (41.03 average), sophomore Britton Hickman (41.38) and junior Braxton Hickman (41.99) all were awarded second team honors.

Sophomore Andre Wiegand (43.68) was named to the third team.

Big ratings for World Series

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The World Series had its most-watched game in five years Tuesday night as the New York Yankees avoided a sweep.

The Yankees’ 11-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 averaged 16.28 million viewers on Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming, according to Nielsen. That is the most-watched game in the Fall Classic since Game 7 in 2019 when the Washington Nationals’ victory over the Houston Astros averaged 23.22 million.

It is the highest-viewed Game 4 since the 2016 series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians (16.71 million).

Fox is hoping for the same increase for Wednesday night’s fifth game that it got eight years ago. The audience for that game grew by seven million to 23.64 million.

Tuesday’s audience peaked at 18.22 million from 10-10:15 p.m. EDT. It also was a 92% increase over last year’s Game 4 between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks (8.48 million).

Through four games, the World Series is averaging 14.98 million, its highest number in seven years.

Tuesday’s game had a 19.7 rating and 54 share in Los Angeles and 12.8 rating and 33 share in New York.

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned in. The share refers to a percentage of the audience viewing it at the time.

Lamar Jackson misses practice for Ravens

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Lamar Jackson missed practice for the Baltimore Ravens on Wednesday.

Coach John Harbaugh said the star quarterback had a rest day, but the Ravens did list him on their injury report with back and knee issues.

Jackson played until the end of Baltimore’s loss to Cleveland on Sunday, and there wasn’t any sign of a significant problem. The Ravens host Denver this weekend.

Jackson is off to perhaps the best start of his career, with a passer rating of 115.4. He’s thrown for 2,099 yards and 17 touchdowns with only two interceptions. He also has 501 yards rushing.

Flacco given Colts’ starting job

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson was hurt when he was told he was being benched.

His replacement, 39-year-old Joe Flacco, tried to keep everything in perspective.

One day after news broke that Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 draft, had been demoted, coach Shane Steichen told reporters Flacco would remain the starter the rest of this season for one simple reason.

“It’s my obligation to 53 guys and to this organization to win football games,” Steichen said Wednesday in his first comments since making the change. “Tough decision, but one I felt was in the best interest of our football team. I feel Joe gives us the best chance to win right now. With that being said, not giving up on Anthony (Richardson) by any means.”

Indy (4-4) drafted Richardson to stop a seemingly endless spinning quarterback carousel, projecting him to be the franchise’s long-term solution.

Since then, though, the 22-year-old has struggled both with his performance and his health.

His completion rate, 44.4%, is the worst in the NFL this season and he’s thrown four touchdown passes and seven interceptions. His nine total turnovers are tied for third most in the NFL despite missing two games with an injured right hip.

Seeing Richardson on the sideline is hardly a new phenomenon. He’s missed 15 of the 25 games in his career and has finished just five of his 10 career starts — all because of an assortment of injuries. including season-ending surgery on his throwing shoulder last October.

Then came Sunday’s game.

Houston (6-2) made Richardson pay for a poor decision by picking off an errant pass into double coverage in the final minute of the first half. The Texans quickly converted the turnover into a touchdown and eventually won 23-20 to take a two-game lead in the AFC South while sweeping the season series from Indy.

Worse yet, Richardson briefly left the game in the second half after tapping his helmet to signal he needed a breather. Though he returned on Indy’s next series, his decision to leave — on what Steichen said was going to be a handoff — was so heavily scrutinized, Richardson acknowledged he made a mistake though he didn’t say when he realized it was a mistake.

Headsets vulnerable

Coaches have been communicating with players through their helmets on unencrypted frequencies in games involving Power 4 teams this season, leading to the possibility that plays could be intercepted by unauthorized people using certain scanners.

The SEC acknowledged it was aware of the issue, first reported by The Athletic on Wednesday, and that it was in touch with other conferences and the helmet maker, GSC, about the issue.

“We are not aware of any instances of the system being compromised during games,” the SEC said in a statement. “GSC has developed an update to resolve the issue and we have made our schools aware of their ability to update their systems at a time of their choosing.”

All FBS conferences are using helmet communications this season after the NCAA passed a rule allowing them. The SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC hired GSC, which is also the company the NFL uses.

The Big Ten told The Associated Press it has not had any issues related to the encryption problem.

The Athletic reported the vulnerability was discovered Sept. 28 in an SEC game between Texas A&M and Arkansas, saying it was possible, but not easy, for frequencies to be accessed by unauthorized people using scanners.

The vulnerable communications are limited to the plays and instructions coaches relay to players via their helmets — usually a quarterback on offense and a linebacker on defense — by pressing a button to activate the system. Communications are cut off when the play clock reaches 15 seconds.

Last year, the Big Ten suspended Michigan’s coach, Jim Harbaugh, for three games after allegations that the Wolverines were using video to steal opponents’ signals. The NCAA approved the helmet rule about six months after starting an investigation into the Michigan allegations.

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