Statistics-driven site FiveThirtyEight published the forecast on Wednesday. Its founder, Nate Silver, noted the model’s prediction matched results shown in FiveThirtyEight’s final forecast prior to Election Day in 2016, when Trump’s win contradicted political polling estimates released during his campaign against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. “Coincidentally, these are the exact same odds as in our final forecast in 2016,” wrote Silver, a statistician who specializes in sports and election analysis, on Twitter Wednesday morning....

Eovaldi, who can’t be activated until Saturday at the earliest, has been on the injured list since late April because of a sore elbow. He had an impressive outing Thursday with Triple-A Pawtucket, striking out the side in one scoreless inning of work. “I felt good,” Eovaldi said after the game. “Cutter felt better. I didn’t throw any splits today, but threw some curveballs and felt really good. I feel like I’ve gone through all the tests I possibly can....

To me, it seemed like the media covering President Trump’s speech at that location last week focused on the crack, and not the monument. It was as if they couldn’t see past the flaw to see how a young nation’s workers overcame adversity and imperfection to achieve something beautiful and historic. It’s true that America at its Founding was flawed—it took nearly a century of work and a bloody Civil War to end the sin of slavery....

Of course, as we live through the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic many of us might have been separated from our elderly relatives for months on end, without a date to see them. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), older adults are more vulnerable to severe illness from COVID-19, with the greatest risk among those aged 85 or older. To help bring families together during this time, Newsweek has sourced the following CouponFollow discounts so grandparents can be pampered without worrying about their health this Sunday....

According to 247Sports’ Composite rankings, Georgia clinched the No. 1 class for the second time in three seasons under Kirby Smart. The Bulldogs edged out national championship contenders Alabama and Clemson for the top class, and Smart showed he has a knack for balancing the early signing period with National Signing Day. That’s life in the SEC — seven of the top-10 recruiting classes came from that conference. NSD 2020: Signings tracker...

The U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently estimates that the Delta variant is behind as much as 99.8 percent of the country’s total COVID cases. Experts predicted that this form of COVID would overwhelm other variants such as Mu in the U.S., just as it did with Alpha in the U.K., and that appears to have occurred. However, the dominance of Delta does not mean that a different approach is needed to tackle it, experts have told Newsweek....

The stimulation of nausea originates in a site in the dorsal brainstem, which receives input from the vagus nerve. Subsequently, this input is relayed to higher brain regions to evoke the sensation of nausea. Nausea Symptoms Nausea can cause an uncomfortable feeling in the back of the throat, the chest, or the top part of the stomach. It may be accompanied by an aversion to eating or an urge to vomit....

Security personnel around the base were immediately alerted, and a lockdown of the base was implemented. The woman’s 2019 Gray Nissan Altima remains at the checkpoint, according to the statement. Around 9:30 p.m. on Thursday night, the lockdown had been lifted. The commanding officer of NWS Earle issued a shelter-in-place order while the base was swept, including the nearby waters, until an all-clear order is issued. Officials at the base said the woman who issued the car-bomb threat had already been barred from the base for previous attempts to access the weapons station....

At the beginning of the season, the Dallas Mavericks sophomore was a 70/1 outsider to be named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in the regular season, with the Baltimore Ravens quarterback a 40/1 to win the corresponding award in the NFL. Combined in a parlay—a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers—those two bets worked out to combined odds of 2,800/1. In other words, a $10 bet placed on the parlay on September 1 could return $28,000....

The NBA 2K21 MyTeam’s Twitter account shared an image on Wednesday, with six different symbols on it, each one representing a different city or area that will be playable in the MyTEAM Season 8 update. One of the symbols had a four-leafed clover, meant to be a nod to the Boston Celtics, and another hinted towards the Philadelphia 76ers by having a cracked Liberty Bell. However, it was noted on social media that one of the images, showing jagged lines emanating from a basketball in the center, is almost identical to the “Black Sun” symbol used by Nazis and other white supremacists....

Keep an eye out for the following: Monta Ellis as a Mav, Andre Iguodala as a Warrior, the new-look Nets, Brandon Jennings on the Pistons, Metta World Peace with the Knicks and Dwight Howard with the Rockets. Notably absent: Kevin Durant, as pointed out by Royce Young. Check out still shots of the players in new places from our friend Steve Noah at Operation Sports.

The NBA admitted that officials missed a foul against Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul on a critical fourth-quarter play that ended with the Golden State Warriors assuming possession. Warriors forward Draymond Green fouled Paul with 18.9 seconds left on the clock and the Clippers guard lost the ball out of bounds. Officials went to the replay monitors to check which team should receive possession, and it went to the Warriors because Paul last touched the ball....

Generally, the picks for starters are mostly no-brainers, but this time around, there are some difficult decisions. TRADE RUMORS: Which teams are willing to give up first-round picks? NBA All-Star starters: Western Conference Guards James Harden, Rockets Not a particularly difficult choice, this one. Harden leads the league at 34.8 points per game, a full 5.3 points better than No. 2 on the list, Stephen Curry (29.5). It hasn’t quite been the season Harden and Co....

Or maybe not. The West is so stocked with upper-level talent that, even without those big names, making the 12-man roster will be difficult. The league has changed the way the game will be played, but the pool of players will still come much the same way — a vote for starters followed by a pool of seven reserves (two guards, three forwards/centers, two wildcards) chosen by the coaches....

With a day remaining in the NBA season, it now seems safe to fill out the ballot for this year’s league awards. While certain categories were easy to pick this season, some were especially difficult, and some categories could yield surprises. Here’s how things stacked up: MORE: LeBron endorses Durant for MVP | Curry, Warriors still learning Most Improved Player I don’t vote this award based on a player making natural year-to-year progress, but rather, someone who has significantly upped his game either by adding a new wrinkle, developing consistency or raising his overall play out of the blue....

Line: Clippers -8, Total: 196.5 (check our current odds) Any time a basketball game turns into a so-called “fight,” that usually spurs an UNDER. In the last five matchups between these two, the UNDER is 3-1-1. Memphis is back to its usual form, too, and the Grizz have been UNDER in five of their last seven. The Clippers have gotten in on this action, too. The UNDER hit in four of their last five games overall....

It’s a possibility — for the NBA. According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Association could look to Disney World in Orlando, Fla., as a potential playing site once the league and its players believe it’s safe to resume games MORE: LeBron James to host TV graduation special for class of 2020 Charania notes that a league doctor shared positive information with the league’s GMs regarding vaccine trials and medicines that could help alleviate the novel coronavirus, which is positive news for the league and sports fans who are waiting for sports to return....

The rumor mill ended up — as it rarely does — disappointing us. DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe and Ty Lawson were among the stars mentioned on the trading block. Teams were going to move up or down in or any direction, if only to move. But when draft night came, all the talk fizzled, and only eight draft-night trades were made, all of which were relatively minor. Only five roster players were traded on draft night, and just four first-round picks were involved — none of which were in the lottery’s first 14....

The early entry deadline to declare is April 24, and the withdrawal deadline is June 13 for international players and May 25 for players hoping to return to college. Under new NCAA rules, players can enter the draft every year of their eligibility and return if they withdraw soon enough and do not hire an agent. MORE: 2016 NBA Mock Draft | Biggest busts of lottery era The 2016 NBA Draft Scouting Combine will be held from May 11-15 in Chicago, and the 2016 NBA Draft Lottery 2016 will be held May 17....