Miami Heat center Meyers Leonard will undergo shoulder surgery and miss the remainder of the 2020-21 season. Leonard has been dealing with a left shoulder strain since Jan. 9, when he was forced to leave a game against the Washington Wizards because of the injury. He hasn’t played since then, and he’s only appeared in three games overall this season.
The 28-year-old Leonard finishes his season averaging 3.3 points and 2.3 rebounds in 9.7 minutes per game.
A major storm hit the mid-Atlantic coast and northeast with a snow accumulation of more than a foot in some areas on Monday, and is expected to intensify Tuesday overnight. The National Weather Service said that areas from the northern Mid-Atlantic to southern New England experienced heavy snow and increasingly strong winds together with increasing waves along the coast that were predicted to cause coastal flooding overnight during high tides.
The NWS also said in a Monday afternoon briefing that more than 2 feet of snow could cover the region from Pennsylvania to Maine, including the metro areas of Philadelphia, New York and Boston. Unnecessary travel was discouraged by local emergency departments. On the coast, the NWS warned of flooding between 2 and 3 feet above ground level at high tide in and around Long Island. Strong winds gusting between 35 to 55 mph were predicted, causing near blizzard conditions. Courts and schools were closed in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
New York City and New Jersey issued states of emergency and New York City put travel restrictions in place to keep nonessential personnel off the roads. Boston and area municipalities imposed parking bans, and most flights in and out of New York City and Boston airports Monday were canceled due to the heavy snow.
On Monday, SpaceX announced plans for the first all-civilian mission to space in late 2021. The mission will be a days long orbit of the Earth, to be led by finance company executive and pilot Jared Isaacman. Isaacman has purchased a four-person mission in the SpaceX Dragon capsule Resilience to launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida.He expects a mission duration ranging from two to four days. Isaacman pledged to donate $100 million to Memphis-based St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in connection with the space flight. Isaacman also promised to hold a raffle for one of the four seats on the Dragon mission — to prompt efforts to raise $200 million for the hospital.
Elon Musk said during a news conference Monday evening that the mission is “an important milestone toward enabling access to space for everyone because at first things are very expensive, and as only through missions like this that we’re able to bring the cost down over time and make space accessible.”
New York Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo was put on waivers after he got in an altercation with goalie Alexandar Georgiev on Saturday night. The incident came after a 5-4 overtime loss to thePittsburgh Penguinswith the two players separated after an altercation in the tunnel leading up to the locker room.
DeAngelo didn’t practice with the team Sunday and was waived; according to head coach David Quinn, “It’s a decision we made as an organization…This isn’t about one incident, it’s not about one thing. This is a situation the organization felt was best at this current time. We’ll see how the situation plays out.”
The move to waive DeAngelo comes after he was already benched earlier this year for a needless unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.n The 25-year-old has also been involved in controversies off the ice as well.
Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia announced his retirement from Major League Baseball on Monday. Pedroia, 37, announced the new in a statement from the Red Sox. The four-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion hasn’t played since 2019 due to a knee injury. He spent his entire 17-year career with the Red Sox.
Pedroia joined the Red Sox as a second-round pick in the 2004 MLB Draft. He won the 2007 Rookie of the Year award before he earned MVP honors in 2008. Pedroia hit a career-high .326 with 17 home runs, 83 RBIs and had a league-high 213 hits and 54 doubles during his MVP campaign. He hit .299 with 140 home runs in 1,512 career appearances for the Red Sox.
Red Sox owner John Henry said, “Dustin is so much more than his American League Most Valuable Player award, his All-Star Game selections, and the Gold Gloves he amassed throughout his impressive 17-year career in our organization. Dustin came to represent the kind of grit, passion, and competitive drive that resonates with baseball fans everywhere and especially with Red Sox fans. He played the game he loves in service to our club, its principles and in pursuit of championships. Most of all we are forever grateful to him for what he brought to our club and to our region as an important role model showing all of us how much one can accomplish with determination and hard work.”
Just one day after CNN first reported that five members of former President Trump’s defense team had departed, his office announced that David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor, Jr. will now head the legal team for his second impeachment trial.
Trump faces an article of impeachment charging incitement of insurrection, and the trial is slated to begin next month after Senate leaders agreed to wait until Feb. 9 to give the former president enough time to form a defense.
Schoen, a federal criminal defense lawyer, called it “an honor” to represent Trump “and the United States Constitution” in a press release. Castor, the former acting attorney general in Pennsylvania, similarly labeled his joining the team “a privilege.” “The strength of our Constitution is about to be tested like never before in our history,” Castor said. “It is strong and resilient. A document written for the ages, and it will triumph over partisanship yet again, and always.”
The new legal team members were announced following reports that Butch Bowers, the former lead attorney expected to defend Trump, left the defense team. Four other members also departed the team, including Deborah Barbier, Josh Howard, Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris.
A major nor’easter traveling toward the East Coast is expected to affect approximately 110 million people on the East Coast with blizzard-like conditions including heavy snow, rain and high winds.
The storm, which forecasters predicted will last until at least Tuesday, had already dumped a half-foot of snow in the Midwest by Sunday into parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as the system travels east.
Forecasters predicted that New York City should expect snow all day Monday. New Jersey declared a state of emergency Sunday afternoon as forecasters predicted that much of the region will get 18 to 24 inches of snow. The Poconos, the lower Hudson Valley, eastern Pennsylvania and parts of Long Island and western Connecticut should also expect around up to 2 feet of snow.
By Tuesday, the snow is expected to move north affecting more of New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
The St. Louis Cardinals are acquiring All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado in a blockbuster trade with the Colorado Rockies. St. Louis is sending multiple unnamed players and more than $50 million to the Rockies in the deal. The 29-year-old Arenado will need to formally waive his no-trade clause before the trade can be finalized, and his opt-out clause after the 2021 season must be addressed. MLB and the players’ union also must approve the agreement.
Arenado is scheduled to earn $35 million in 2021 as part of an eight-year, $260 million contract he signed with the Rockies in 2019. The deal includes an opt-out clause after the 2021 campaign.
Arenado, a five-time All-Star selection, had a .253 batting average with eight home runs and 26 RBIs in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He also earned an eighth straight Gold Glove Award. Since making his major league debut in 2013, Arenado has recorded a .293 average with 235 home runs and 760 RBIs in 1,079 career games with the Rockies.
The Detroit Lions traded quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for quarterback Jared Goff, two future first-round draft picks and a third-round pick. The deal has not been completed and will not become official until the start of the new league year March 17. ESPN first reported the news.
Stafford asked to be traded shortly after the current season ended with the Lions’ third straight campaign with at least 10 losses. During his 12-year career spent entirely in Detroit, he has never won a playoff game. Meanwhile, Los Angeles earned its third playoff berth and posted its fourth straight winning record during Goff’s four years under coach Sean McVay. Goff also led the Rams to the Super Bowl after the 2018 season.
Stafford, who turns 33 in February, has two years left on a $135 million, five-year contract. Goff is about to start a four-year, $134 million contract with $110 million guaranteed, and is leaving the Rams before his huge contract extension even begins.
