ALLEN PARK — The Detroit Lions are taking a wait-and-see approach to a knee injury suffered by receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown in Sunday’s 29-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

St. Brown, who was listed Monday as a non-participant on the team’s estimated practice report, was not known to have an injury as Sunday’s game ended. Lions coach Dan Campbell said he’s unsure if the injury is serious.

“We’ll know more a little bit later. This is just something that just popped up when he came in today, so hopeful this is just some type of irritation from the game,” Campbell said Monday. “That’s what I’m hoping. But I’ll know more tonight.”

St. Brown caught four passes for 54 yards in Detroit’s loss to Pittsburgh and was in the game until the very end. He caught a would-be go-ahead touchdown pass that was nullified by an offensive pass interference penalty on Isaac TeSlaa, then caught a pass on the final play of the game, which he lateraled to Jared Goff for a would-be score as time expired. St. Brown was called for offensive pass interference on his route, and the game ended quickly after officials sorted it out.

St. Brown has tallied 98 catches for 1,194 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.

Practice report

The Lions provided an estimated practice report on the first day of this week’s practices before Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium.

St. Brown, defensive back Avonte Maddox (back) and offensive tackle Taylor Decker (shoulder) were all non-participants.

The Lions had nine players limited: offensive linemen Trystan Colon (wrist), Graham Glasgow (knee), Christian Mahogany (fibula) and Giovanni Manu (knee); defensive linemen Marcus Davenport (shoulder), Alim McNeill (abdomen) and Al-Quadin Muhammad (knee); wide receiver Tom Kennedy (abdomen) and cornerback Amik Robertson (hand).

DETROIT — Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard stood at the podium last Thursday and, for the umpteenth time this season, tried to distort reality.

The question was about how the Los Angeles Rams’ rushing offense ran buck wild on the Lions in a loss on Dec. 14. And, as he’s done at many points throughout this disappointing campaign, Sheppard pointed out that the Lions’ overall performance wouldn’t have been that bad if you take out all of the biggest plays that went against them.

“You can’t play this game of taking plays away, but nobody — and I can stand on the table behind this — nobody has just lined up and ran the ball down our throats,” Sheppard said.

Then, with the league’s 28th-ranked rushing offense, the Pittsburgh Steelers ran the ball down the Lions’ throats in Sunday’s 29-24 loss. It was the Steelers’ most rushing yards (230) since 2016 and the most allowed by the Lions since 2022. In the home finale. With the season on the line.

The Lions (8-7) are now on the verge of being eliminated from playoff contention with two games remaining — one Detroit loss or one Green Bay Packers win will officially end it. But whether they make the postseason does not change the notion that failure to confront reality has been the one ugly wart on this team’s face all season, and the primary reason why it’s fair to doubt the strength of the culture that has built this team.

After three and four seasons with coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, respectively, this year was always going to present its challenges. But after failing to keep the ship aimed in the right direction, this upcoming offseason feels even more critical.

Lions coach Dan Campbell opted to go with guys he trusted during a critical offseason, hiring an in-house, first-time defensive coordinator in Sheppard and hiring a second-time offensive coordinator in John Morton. Morton had his play-calling duties stripped in Week 10, and Sheppard’s defense has been one of the league’s worst over the last month.

Morton passed the buck amid struggles, while Sheppard downplayed concerns about his unit until they eventually became so glaring that it forced the Lions to drive right off the road.

In a long line of concerning trends that have emerged over the last year, chief among them is the coaching staff’s willingness to make excuses or bend reality to make things seem different from what they truly are, and it started in Week 1. In Sheppard’s opening statement after the Green Bay game, he said that if you took out a 48-yard completion and a 17-yard touchdown pass on back-to-back plays, the Lions’ performance was actually quite good.

“I’m not a math major but I believe that’s 65 yards. You take that off of (185), you’re looking at 120 yards passing on the day,” Sheppard said.

And in that specific context, maybe he wasn’t entirely wrong. The Lions’ defense held running back Josh Jacobs to 3.5 yards per carry, an impressive mark, and kept quarterback Jordan Love under 200 passing yards. But as the Lions’ defense started to show genuinely concerning trends down the stretch, this messaging never wavered.

Sheppard will tell you he won’t make excuses. He’ll tell you things are being addressed. But he’ll also, with a high degree of regularity, tell you that the biggest concerns stemming from a game are overblown, and that the stats make the performance look worse than it actually was. And now, over the last five games, the Lions are allowing 458.6 yards per game. For context, the Cincinnati Bengals have allowed the most yards per game this season at 402.8.

There’s no way to contort this one: Over the most important stretch of the season, the Lions’ defense has been the worst in the league.

And sure, they’ve got injuries. The team didn’t have All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph (knee) for more than half the season, just lost Pro Bowl safety Brian Branch (Achilles) and cornerback Terrion Arnold (shoulder) for the year, and cornerback D.J. Reed hasn’t looked the same since coming back from his hamstring injury.

As the Lions withstood countless defensive injuries en route to a 15-2 record last season, it was easy to understand why. They didn’t make excuses. If anything, it was a mere extension of the gritty mentality that had come to define the Lions’ identity under Campbell. They seemed to thrive on finding a way.

But outside of Levi Onwuzurike and Josh Paschal, neither of whom suited up this season, this front seven is completely healthy. There is absolutely no way to square how a defense with this much talent has so consistently come up short in the biggest moments.

Inherited issue

Now, if I can momentarily come to Sheppard’s defense: This is a defense that he inherited, and over the four years that Glenn was in charge, there were very few stretches where the Lions’ defense actually looked much better than what we’ve seen from this year’s unit. Sheppard is running the scheme Campbell wants him to, which Glenn ran before him, with the players already in place before Sheppard was promoted this past offseason.

I’ll actually tip my cap to Sheppard for being a little more flexible than Glenn on a week-to-week level. With their passing defense in shambles, Sheppard called zone coverage on a season-high 82.2% of passing plays. It just didn’t produce a winning level of defense. And really, Sheppard is just one of many culprits; the flavor of the week after a bold proclamation blew up in his face.

Campbell hasn’t made excuses for the team’s play, but his blind optimism that everything would work itself out, that all of the adversity they faced in the back half of the season would only prepare them for a Super Bowl run, that he could hire a longtime coach with very little actual play-calling experience and continue operating the best offense in the league, hurt his team.

I see the vision, even in hindsight, with Morton. If all had gone well, they would’ve had a play-calling offensive coordinator for potentially years to come. I can buy the argument that it’s a better option than continuing to develop new, young play-callers who will inevitably leave for better opportunities.

But it ultimately blew up in Detroit’s face. Morton couldn’t hack it, and by Week 10, when he’d lost his play-calling duties, he’d pointed the finger more times than one can count. Over and over, Morton would say everything with the scheme was fine; players simply needed to win their one-on-ones.

Here’s the third sentence of Morton’s opening statement after Week 1, when the Lions sputtered their way to six points before a miraculous one-handed touchdown catch by Isaac TeSlaa tightened the score in a 27-13 loss: “The bottom line is, this is about execution and the details of everything.”

Three questions in, he was asked if there’s anything that can be done to help attention to detail for an offensive line with two first-time starters and a 33-year-old center who was changing positions for the third straight season.

“Look, we’re running plays that these guys have done,” Morton said at the time. “Now, there’s some new guys in there, but the bottom line is, you’ve got to go execute and we didn’t do that every single play. We just didn’t.”

Following a shocking 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings — which, if won, would have put the Lions just a half-game out of the playoffs in the present day — he was asked what the worst part was of watching the Minnesota film.

Jahmyr Gibbs was dominated in pass protection down-in, down-out, by the Vikings’ “cross-dog blitz,” as the Vikings’ front seven made life hell for the Lions’ offense that also couldn’t get the run game going. Gibbs was held to 25 rushing yards on nine carries.

Here’s Morton on the run game: “I mean we had things for it, we had chances. Again, I’m going back, ‘Oh, one guy didn’t do that. Nope, we didn’t get it and it could’ve been big.’ I mean you guys watch the game and when you watch it in detail and everything, ‘Man, if he would’ve got that. Oh, if we would’ve done this.’ That’s the biggest thing.

“We had a good scheme.”

I’m in the camp that Campbell’s play-calling helped the offense, even as they’ve continued to put up subpar rushing performances in the second half of the season, but it’s clear he didn’t have the structure in place to handle the game-management aspects of his job.

Against the Rams last week, Campbell wasted one of his challenges on a 1-yard difference in ball placement on a play where L.A. had blown past the first-down marker. Not only was he not allowed to challenge the play, costing him one of his two challenges and a timeout, but even if it had been a challengeable play, I can’t wrap my head around why he’d take such a risk for a measly yard.

These little missteps have occurred on a seemingly weekly basis, and you can point to several of them as major inflection points in losses.

Against Pittsburgh on Sunday, the Lions were forced to burn one of their second-half timeouts when they only had 10 players on the field before a fourth-and-2. That timeout would’ve come in handy on the final drive, when the Lions were operating with just one timeout while trying to punch in the go-ahead score.

In a pivotal Thanksgiving clash with Green Bay, the Lions had 10 players on the field before Green Bay’s first third-down attempt of the game, as they were gashed for an explosive run. Then, later in that contest, the Lions’ defense was flagged in the red zone for having 12 players on the field.

Ultimately, Campbell is the captain of this ship and is responsible for the lack of attention to detail on both sides of the ball. And the Lions’ attention to detail has plainly been terrible.

Not enough contributors

Lastly, we have Lions general manager Brad Holmes. With Arnold’s season-ending injury, the Lions are getting zero offensive or defensive contributions from any 2024 draft pick besides left guard Christian Mahogany, who was the offensive line’s lowest-graded run and pass blocker, per PFF, in his return to action on Sunday.

Of the 21 players drafted since 2023, seven of them are giving the team regular offensive or defensive contributions. Four of those players are rookies, and one of those rookies is Miles Frazier, who’s a reserve player in a unique guard rotation.

Sure, injuries heavily impact these numbers. But I can’t help but notice that for a guy who preaches depth, Holmes has no problem giving up bites at the apple to get his guys. Now, as the Lions suddenly have long-term concerns at multiple positions, the Lions are short a third-round pick after trading three of them to move up for TeSlaa, and have gotten extremely little from their most recent classes.

The Packers have also dealt with injuries to players from recent draft classes, including their own third-year tight end, Tucker Kraft, who’s been lost for the season with an ACL. But they drafted 24 players in 2023 and 2024 alone, and as some have fallen by the wayside due to injury, plenty more have stepped up. Outside of the injuries, Green Bay is getting regular contributions from more than a dozen players from those classes alone.

Culture crumbling

It should be noted that everything the Lions achieved in 2023 and 2024 was because of Campbell and Holmes. Yet, the culture they’ve built seems to be falling apart at the seams as the Lions’ season goes with it.

The occasional early playoff exit is certainly understandable, if not expected. This is a league built on parity. But a completely lost season in which most of your best players are in the prime of their careers is a legitimate travesty when you consider how talented this roster is.

Again, the Lions could very well shock the world and make the playoffs. But the simple fact of the matter is that they have a .400 winning percentage over their last 10 games. Every move they’ve made has been to become a sustainable contender, but somewhere in that pursuit, they forgot to be a contender in the here and now.

And yeah, you could talk about the injuries, or the calls that have gone against Detroit in its losses, or the tough schedule and division, but those would be excuses.

Right now, the Lions — from the top down — need a heavy dose of honesty and reflection.

By JAMES POLLARD and LINLEY SANDERS The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Most Americans aren’t making end-of-year charitable giving plans, according to the results of a new AP-NORC poll, despite the many fundraising appeals made by nonprofits that rely on donation surges in the calendar’s final month to reach budget targets.

The survey, which was conducted in early December by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found that about half U.S. adults say they’ve already made their charitable contributions for 2025. Just 18% say they’ve donated and will donate again before the year is over. Only 6% report they haven’t given yet but will do so by December’s end. The rest, 30%, haven’t donated and don’t plan to.

Everyday donors faced competing priorities this year. President Donald Trump’s social services grant cuts, severe foreign aid rollbacks and November SNAP benefits freeze — plus natural disasters like Los Angeles’ historically destructive wildfires — left no shortage of urgent causes in need of heightened support. Trump’s tax and spending legislation offered an extra incentive to give, too; most tax filers will see a new charitable deduction of up to $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for married couples.

But weaker income gains and steep price inflation meant that lower-income households had less money to redistribute. Other surveys have also found a yearslong decline in the number of individuals who give.

December still serves as a “very important deadline” for donors, according to Dianne Chipps Bailey, managing director of Bank of America’s Philanthropic Solutions division. She cited estimates from the National Philanthropic Trust that nearly one-third of annual giving happens in the final month.

“December 31 does provide a target to make sure that they’ve given what they intended to give before the year is over,” Bailey said.

Few donate on GivingTuesday

Perhaps no day is more consequential for fundraisers than GivingTuesday. Beginning as a hashtag in 2012, the well-known celebration of generosity now sees many nonprofits leverage the attention to solicit donations on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Americans donated an estimated $4 billion to nonprofits this most recent GivingTuesday.

But Americans were much more likely to make a Black Friday purchase than a GivingTuesday gift this year. Just under half say they bought something for Black Friday, according to the poll, compared to about 1 in 10 who say they donated to a charity for GivingTuesday.

“Black Friday gets the lion’s share of things,” said Oakley Graham, a 32-year-old from Missouri. “And then you’ve got GivingTuesday a couple days later. Most people have probably spent all their spending money at that point.”

Graham said his family has “definitely tightened the financial belt” in recent years. He and his wife are dealing with student loan debts now that the Trump administration suspended their repayment plan. Their two young children are always growing out of their clothes. It’s good if there’s anything left for savings.

He still tries to help out his neighbors — from handiwork to Salvation Army clothing donations.

“Not that I’m not willing to give here and there,” he said. “But it seems like it’s pretty tough to find the extra funds.”

Checkout charity proves more popular

Another avenue for nudging Americans to give is more widely used, even if individual donations are small. The AP-NORC poll found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults say they donated to a charity when checking out at a store this year.

Graham is among those who reported giving at the cash register. As an outdoorsy person who enjoys hunting and fishing when he can, he said he is “always susceptible to giving for conservation.” He said he likely rounded up once or twice at Bass Pro Shops for that reason.

“With the finances, I don’t do a lot of buying these days. But a couple cents here or there is like — I can do that,” he said. “It doesn’t sound like much. But I know if everybody did it would make a difference.”

The poll found that older adults — those over 60 — are more likely than Americans overall to donate at store checkouts.

One Texas architect’s unusual process for year-end donations

About one-quarter of Americans plan to donate in the last weeks of the year, and Chuck Dietrick is one of them. The 69-year-old architect applies what he calls a “shotgun approach” as the year comes to a close.

He and his wife give monthly to Valley Hope, a nonprofit addiction services provider where their son did inpatient rehab. And then there are eight or so organizations that they support with end-of-the-year gifts.

“We’re doing our own thing,” he said. “I don’t do Black Friday or Cyber Monday, either … So, I don’t do the GivingTuesday thing.”

Dietrick estimates their household donated somewhere between $501 and $2,500. The Dallas-Fort Worth area couple mostly contributes to organizations that have touched their lives or those of their friends.

There’s the Florida hospice that Dietrick said did a “super job” caring for his mother. He has relatives and friends who served in the military, so he also gives to the Disabled American Veterans and the Wounded Warrior Project.

“I would rather give a smaller amount of money to a variety of institutions that I care about rather than giving a big chunk of money to one,” he explained.

Giving plans went unaffected by federal funding cuts or the shutdown

Most 2025 donors say the amount they gave wasn’t affected much by this year’s federal funding cuts or the government shutdown, according to the AP-NORC poll, although about 3 in 10 say those situations did impact the charities they chose to support.

The survey suggests that, while private donors mobilized millions to fill funding gaps and hunger relief groups saw donation totals spike last month, many Americans did not respond with their pocketbooks to the nonprofit sector’s newfound pressures this year.

Jeannine Disviscour, a 63-year-old Baltimore teacher, is among 2025 donors who say the cuts prompted them to give more.

“I did not donate on GivingTuesday,” she said. “But I did donate that week because I was feeling the need to support organizations that I felt might not continue to get the support they needed to get to be successful.”

She estimates her household gave between $501 and $2,500. That included support for National Public Radio. Congress eliminated $1.1 billion allocated to public broadcasting this summer, leaving hundreds of NPR stations with some sort of budget hole. She said she wanted to ensure journalism reached news deserts where residents have few media options.

Living in an area that is home to many refugees, Disviscour also donated her time and money to the Asylee Women Enterprise. She said the local nonprofit helps asylum-seekers and other forced migrants find food, shelter, clothing, transportation and language classes.

“There is a gap in funding and there’s more need than ever,” she said. “And I wanted to step up. And it’s in my community.”

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Sanders reported from Washington.

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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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The AP-NORC poll of 1,146 adults was conducted Dec. 4-8 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 23, the 357th day of 2025. There are eight days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Dec. 23, 1972, in an NFL playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders, Steelers running back Franco Harris scored a game-winning touchdown on a deflected pass with less than 10 seconds left. The “Immaculate Reception,” as the catch came to be known, is often cited as the greatest NFL play of all time.

Also on this date:

In 1823, the poem “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” was published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel of New York; the verse, more popularly known as “The Night Before Christmas,” was later attributed to Clement C. Moore.

In 1913, the Federal Reserve System was created as President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act.

In 1941, during World War II, American forces on Wake Island surrendered to Japanese forces.

In 1948, former Japanese Premier Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese World War II leaders were executed in Tokyo after being tried for war crimes and sentenced to death by hanging.

In 1968, 82 crew members of the intelligence ship USS Pueblo were released by North Korea, 11 months after they had been captured.

In 1986, the experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana (JEE’-nuh) Yeager, completed the first nonstop, non-refueled round-the-world flight as it returned safely to Edwards Air Force Base in California.

In 2003, a Virginia jury sentenced teen sniper Lee Boyd Malvo to life in prison, sparing him the death penalty. Malvo and his older partner in crime, John Allen Muhammad, shot and killed 10 people over three weeks in October 2002, terrorizing the Washington, D.C., area. Muhammad was executed in 2009.

In 2024, President Joe Biden announced he was commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment weeks before Donald Trump, an outspoken proponent of capital punishment, was to begin a second term.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Former Emperor Akihito of Japan is 92.
• Actor-comedian Harry Shearer is 82.
• Retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark is 81.
• Actor Susan Lucci is 79.
• Distance runner Bill Rodgers is 78.
• Football Hall of Famer Jack Ham is 77.
• Political commentator William Kristol is 73.
• Author Donna Tartt is 62.
• Rock musician Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam is 61.
• Singer, model and former first lady of France Carla Bruni is 58.
• Actor Finn Wolfhard is 23.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jalen Duren had 26 points and 10 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons held off the Portland Trail Blazers 110-102 on Monday night after blowing a 21-point lead.

Ausar Thompson added 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons (23-6). Duncan Robinson scored 15 and Cade Cunningham had 14 before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.

Shaedon Sharpe led the Trail Blazers (12-17) with 25 points on 11-of-21 shooting but also committed eight turnovers. Deni Avdija added 18 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

Donovan Clingan had 17 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for Portland. Sidy Cissoko scored 16 off the bench.

After trailing by 21 late in the third quarter, Portland was still down nine when Cunningham fouled out with 8:32 remaining. But the Blazers outscored the Pistons 12-2 over the next 4:20 to take a one-point lead. Detroit then closed with an 11-2 run to put away the game.

HAZEL PARK – Sometimes Julius Wilson wants the ball in his hands.

Whenever Macomb L’Anse Creuse North needed something to happen Monday, it was usually the 6-foot-2 senior guard making something happen. Whether it’s a bucket, assist, rebound or extra pass, Wilson came through in the clutch on numerous times against Orchard Lake St. Mary’s at the D Zone Showcase at Hazel Park High School.

Wilson finished the night with 12 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three assists in leading the Crusaders to a 47-40 victory over St. Mary’s, which won a Division 1 state title in 2024.

The win moved L’Anse Creuse North to 5-1 in December – not a bad start for a team that lost most of its players to graduation and transfer.   

“We don’t have a lot of guys back,” admitted Wilson. “We lost three starters to graduation and another transferred. Plus, we had some key guys off our bench that graduated, too. So, I need to step up and lead this team.”

Wilson’s defense, experience, passing and shot-making abilities was on display at Hazel Park. After his team fell behind 14-10 after the first quarter, Wilson spearheaded a team defensive effort that turned the four-point deficit into a 25-20 lead at the half.

Wilson made a multitude of hustle plays in the frame, and a pair of assists helped L’Anse Creuse North close the period with a 12-2 run. In fact, it was his quick dime that set up Preston Ellul with a wide open three-pointer from the corner with 1:30 left in the quarter that gave the Crusaders a 25-19 advantage.

“We do have a young team, but he does a good job leading us and we need him to play that way,” said L’Anse Creuse North coach Kurt Wilson, Julius’ grandfather. “But I do like the way we fought back as a team after not playing so well in the first quarter. We played with a lot more energy in the second quarter than we did in the first quarter.”

Although St. Mary’s was able to trim the LCN lead down to 25-22 with 7:38 left in the third quarter and again whittled the lead down to 29-28 with 2:16 left in the frame on a jumper from Bella Matyus, the young Eaglets could never regain the lead in the second half.

L’Anse Creuse North closed the third stanza with a 7-2 run where sophomore forward James Zipay scored six points in the spurt. Wilson also scored four points with an assist in the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, St. Mary’s did close it down to 36-32 with 7:14 to play on two free throws from Kareem Pruitt, but that was as close as the Eaglets would get. The Crusaders went on a 10-3 run with Wilson’s driving layup gave LCN its largest lead at 47-35 with 1:45 remaining in the contest.

Arber Ljajcaj, a 6-foot-8 junior forward, added eight points, six rebounds, three blocks and two assists, while Zipay twined 11 points and Ellul finished with eight points for the Crusaders.

L’Anse Creuse North finished 12-for-14 from the foul line (85.8) to overcome just shooting 40.5 percent from the floor (17-for-42). The Crusaders did outrebound OLSM 30-23.

“We didn’t bring back a whole lot, so I’m pleased with our 5-1 start,” said Coach Wilson. “We brought back Julius – he’s our only returning starter. We brought back Arber, but he was only just a sophomore last year and he is playing a lot more this season. We have mostly a new team. We do have some things to work on and things to clean up. But I do like the fact that we are winning and learning as we win.”

St. Mary’s lost its top seven players from last year, including graduation loses and transfers, and the Eaglets lack some toughness according to coach Todd Covert.

“It’s a work in progress losing a lot of kids and we had some guys come over from football (late) and they’re still getting acclimated and in (basketball) shape. But I think one thing we are lacking is toughness and I think that was one thing we struggled with today,” said Covert. “I can deal with the missed shots and things like that, but they were just reaching in at time to get a rebound and that doesn’t work. (L’Anse Creuse North) does have some great size and you need to be tough and go in there to get rebounds and we didn’t really do that.”

CHEROKEE, N.C. (AP) — Rashunda Jones scored eight of her 13 points in a decisive third quarter, Grace VanSlooten finished with a double-double, and No. 24 Michigan State beat No. 15 Mississippi 66-49 on Monday night in the Cherokee Invitational title game.

Michigan State led 26-20 at the break and scored the first four points of the third quarter. Ole Miss cut the deficit to 30-25, but the Spartans closed on a 17-7 run for a 49-32 advantage heading into the final quarter. Jones hit a pair of 3s and Kennedy Blair scored all of her seven points in the third quarter for the Spartans, who shot 69% (9 of 13) in the period.

VanSlooten finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Isaline Alexander added 12 points for Michigan State (11-1).

Cotie McMahon scored 13 points to lead led Ole Miss (12-2), which shot 33% (17 of 51) overall and missed 15 of its 17 shots from long range.

Michigan State routed Indiana State 115-66 and Ole Miss beat Old Dominion 86-57 in Sunday’s tournament games.

Up next

Michigan State: Hosts Rutgers on Sunday.

Ole Miss: Plays at home against Alcorn State on Sunday.

BOSTON (AP) — Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle will be stepping down as president of the National Basketball Coaches Association at the end of the month and Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff will replace him.

“I guess now might be a good time to announce, I decided about a year ago that this would be my last year,” Carlisle said Monday night before the Pacers played in Boston. “This is my 20th year. My term will end at the end of this month. We’ve held our elections and the membership has made a tremendous and phenomenal choice to succeed me and that’s going to be J.B. Bickerstaff.”

The 66-year-old Carlisle is one win from the 1,000th of his coaching career. He spoke very highly of his soon-to-be replacement.

“J.B. is not only a trusted friend of mine and many, many coaches, he’s proven to be a great leader,” Carlisle said. ”He’s had to take over difficult situations in his career: interim coaching positions etc., etc.

“The job he did in Cleveland, taking that team from the lottery to winning in the playoffs was phenomenal. The job he’s done in Detroit the last year and a half speaks for itself. He’s a great leader and passionate guy for coaches.”

Bickerstaff, 46, started his coaching career with Charlotte as an assistant in 2004. He was an associate head coach with Memphis until becoming interim head coach on Nov. 27, 2017. He became the Grizzlies’ head coach on May 1, 2018.

In February 2020, he was promoted to Cleveland’s head coach after John Beilein resigned.

Bickerstaff was hired as Pistons coach on July 3, 2024.

“I congratulate J.B.,” Carlisle said. “This will be a life-changing experience for him. It has been for me.”

Bickerstaff’s father, Bernie, 81, was a longtime NBA coach before moving into front office roles. Carlisle said he’d like to see Bernie have his place in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

“We’re behind the scenes working trying to help Bernie be recognized by the Hall of Fame as a contributor,” Carlisle said. “There are so many ways that he influenced the game.”

— By KEN POWTAK, Associated Press

With competition present from several other top-10 Division 1 programs, Oxford used three first-place finishes to win Saturday’s Oakland County wrestling championships hosted by Lake Orion.

The Wildcats, who finished fifth at last year’s meet, entered sixth-place in the most recent D1 poll, one spot behind Clarkston and four spots ahead of Rochester Adams. That ended up being Saturday’s top-3, with Oxford taking the top spot by accumulating 279.5 points, followed by Clarkston with 258.5 and Adams with 216.

The hosts came fourth place with 164 points, and Catholic Central, whose best placements came courtesy of third-place finishers Adam Brannan (106) and Ryan Totten (132), finished just behind the Dragons with 159 points. Starting with Lakeland (157.5) in sixth place, Brother Rice (136.5), WL Northern (129.5), West Bloomfield (121.5) and South Lyon (120) rounded out the top-10.

Clarkston also came runner-up in 2024 (Adams ended fourth when Detroit Catholic Central, the top-ranked D1 team and three-time defending state champs, brought enough firepower to the tournament to rack up 294.5 points.

The win gave the Wildcats their third first-place trophy from the county meet in the past five years (2021, 2023).

The 126-pound weight class saw Oxford’s Gavin Lewis, who finished third-place at state last year at 113 (and won the 120 division at the county meet last winter), defeat Adams’ John David Quinlan in the final, 4-1. Landon Johnson defeated Walled Lake Northern’s Dillon Welling 10-0 to claim the championship at 138 pounds, while the 285-pound class belonged to the Wildcats’ Liam Samborski, who pinned Lakeland’s Andrew Neumann in the second period.

Altogether, Oxford had 11 medalists, including three third and fourth-place finishers each.

In the championship round of the 106-pound weight class, Clarkston’s Joey Hahn defeated Oxford’s Rocco Amaya 17-2, and at 113 pounds, Lakeland’s Cameron Schneider defeated Novi’s Ezra Krage, 14-3. In addition to Schneider, the Eagles added another gold at 120 pounds when Benjamin Rickard outpointed Troy Athens’ Derek Gonzalez, 17-4. Gonzalez was the lowest seed (eighth) to reach a final Saturday, defeating top-seeded Nazar Kadi of Stoney Creek by majority decision in the quarterfinals, then South Lyon’s Colin Fournier (a 4-seed) to reach the championship bout.

Photo gallery from the 2025 Oakland County wrestling championships

Hahn wasn't the only one from the Wolves to stand atop the podium. In the 132-pound final, Clarkston's Gavin Culloty defeated Wesley Honniss with a first-round fall, and at 150, his teammate, Nate Carter, defeated West Bloomfield's Christian Ausi by technical fall (18-2). In arguably the most dramatic win by the Wolves, or of the afternoon entirely, Ayden Mutter managed an escape with just five ticks left on the clock to defeat Novi's Anthony Madafferi by a 9-8 decision.

In the 144 division, Isaac Fandakly beat Lake Orion's Donovin Findlay by fall with 1:10 to go in the opening period.

Brother Rice's Deacon Macneill, who reached the third-place match of last year's Division 2 state finals, beat the top-seeded 157-pounder, Stephan Lezotte of Athens, with a 10-4 decision victory. The Warriors had another finalist in Emmanuel Shango, who reached the 175-pound final as a 5-seed before coming up short against Waterford Kettering's Jamari Powell, who beat him 15-6 by majority decision.

After Welling reached the finals at 138, WL Northern got its titlist in the 190-pound division when James Moore scored a pair of takedowns to help beat Trey Setter by technical fall (17-0).

Rounding out the championship action, South Lyon's RJ Green pinned Adams' Maxim Vostryakov with 1:12 remaining in the first period to win the 215-pound title.

TEAM SCORES: 1. Oxford, 279.5. 2. Clarkston, 258.5. 3. Rochester Adams, 216. 4. Lake Orion, 164. 5. Detroit Catholic Central, 159. 6. Lakeland, 157.5. 7. Brother Rice, 136.5. 8. WL Northern, 129.5. 9. West Bloomfield, 121.5. 10. South Lyon, 120. 11. Troy Athens, 112.5. 12. Holly, 108. 13. Novi, 105.5. 14. Bloomfield Hills, 91. 15. Stoney Creek, 87.5. 16. Rochester, 83. 17. Waterford Kettering, 76. 18. Berkley, 63.5. 19. Notre Dame Prep, 50. 20. Avondale, 49. 21. Ferndale, 48.5. 22. Royal Oak, 45.5. 23. Southfield A&T, 44. T-24. Orchard Lake St. Mary's and Troy, 43.5. 26. Birmingham Seaholm, 43. 27. South Lyon East, 30.5. 28. North Farmington, 29. 29. Waterford Mott, 28.5. 30. Brandon, 26.5. 31. Birmingham Groves, 24. T-32. Pontiac and Royal Oak Shrine, 23.5. 34. Milford, 23. 35. Farmington, 21. 36. Clarkston Everest Collegiate, 14.

By Charles E. Ramirez, cramirez@detroitnews.com

The Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills is waiving the admission fee to its museum through Jan. 2.

Officials for the center said they are offering free general admission to encourage reflection, learning, and community engagement during the holiday season, and especially after a mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration last week in Australia.

“In the wake of the antisemitic attack in Australia, we’re again reminded how hate left unchecked can escalate to violence,” Eli Mayerfeld, the center’s CEO, said in a statement Friday. “We remain committed to educating, engaging, and empowering people of all backgrounds to stand up against hatred. If the cost of admission has ever been a barrier, we hope this opportunity encourages everyone to visit.”

The center invites visitors to explore its redesigned core exhibit, which centers on the personal experiences of Holocaust victims and survivors, many of whom rebuilt their lives in Michigan. It features immersive video testimony, archival footage, and artifacts to bring personal stories to the forefront and preserve these voices for future generations. The redesigned exhibit opened in early 2024.

The museum’s hours of operation are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday. Special programming, including additional public tours and survivor presentations, is held daily between 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. The center is closed on Saturday.

Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for senior citizens and college students, and $5 for students with identification.

Located at 28123 Orchard Lake Road north of 12 Mile Road, the Zekelman Holocaust Center was founded in 1984 and receives about 100,000 visitors annually.

By Maya Averbuch, Eric Martin and Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Bloomberg News

The U.S. has pursued a third oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, intensifying a blockade that the Trump administration hopes will cut off a vital economic lifeline for the country and isolate the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

The U.S. Coast Guard chased the U.S.-sanctioned Bella 1 on Sunday as it was en route to Venezuela. It boarded Centuries, a ship owned by a Hong Kong-based entity, on Saturday — the first non-sanctioned vessel to be targeted. Another very large crude carrier, the Skipper, was intercepted on Dec. 10.

The moves on three separate vessels represent the most concerted attempt to date to sever the financial links sustaining a government that Washington says is led by a drug-trafficking cartel, and one that it has also recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Maduro has so far withstood the onslaught, but the blockade is beginning to limit hard currency and to hurt an already battered economy.

State-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA, known as PDVSA, ships most of its cargoes to China, usually through intermediaries using so-called dark-fleet tankers, older vessels with obscure ownership that ferry sanctioned oil from Venezuela as well as Iran and Russia. Imports of feedstock from Russia are also vital to dilute Caracas’ thick crude.

“Washington calculates that Maduro depends far more on oil exports than the US or China depends on his barrels,” said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group. “With global balances loosening and prices falling, the U.S. judges it has growing leverage and is likely to intensify pressure on the Maduro regime.”

Washington’s campaign has caught the attention of oil traders, but Venezuela’s exports have dwindled over the years and now account for less than 1% of global demand. The market is also well supplied, and China has multiple alternative options. Oil prices advanced only marginally in early trade in Asia on Monday, with Brent crude climbing toward $61 a barrel.

Maduro has called the Trump administration’s recent moves — deadly strikes on boats allegedly carrying drugs, the authorization of the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct covert operations and Trump’s order to block tankers — a bid to take Venezuela’s oil and install a puppet government.

“This escalation and stronger enforcement point towards a decline in the volume of exports,” said Francisco Monaldi, an energy expert at Rice University in Houston. “These days are going to be critical.”

The Trump administration’s military deployment in the Caribbean is the largest in the region in decades. The weekend’s maritime offensives are aimed at signaling that all tankers in the waters around Venezuela are at risk of interdiction and seizure, according to a person familiar with this month’s operations, who asked not to be identified discussing deliberations that have not been made public.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the blockade of sanctioned oil tankers would remain in “full force,” according to a post on X on Dec. 20.

The U.S. Treasury imposed oil sanctions on Venezuela in January 2019, during Donald Trump’s first presidential term. Later, the Biden administration adopted a carrot-and-stick approach to try to reverse Venezuela’s democratic backsliding, granting a waiver to Chevron Corp. in 2022 that allowed it to resume oil operations.

This year, U.S. officials reissued its license after it expired, but sought to guarantee that the Houston-based firm pays no royalties or taxes in cash to the Venezuelan government. Chevron has said its “operations in Venezuela continue without disruption and in full compliance with laws and regulations applicable to its business, as well as the sanctions frameworks provided for by the U.S. government.”

Venezuela’s oil industry has seen a dramatic decline in recent years, but Maduro’s administration has weathered sanctions and the exodus of up to eight million Venezuelans.

The country’s oil production reached the government’s 1.2 million barrels per day target, Venezuelan Vice President and Oil Minister Delcy Rodriguez said on Saturday. Production fell to around 400,000 barrels per day after the 2019 sanctions, but rebounded in later years, said Clayton Seigle, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Both ships intercepted over the weekend had Panamanian flags, though people familiar with the matter said a Chinese company holds title to the oil that was aboard the first ship, the Centuries supertanker. A White House spokesperson said the tanker was flying a false flag and carrying sanctioned oil.

“What they’re hoping for is a campaign of maximum pressure that will eventually make the regime collapse, without the need of putting boots on the ground,” said Dany Bahar, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington. “They’re trying to create a credible threat that will make this structure of power collapse, or high-level military turn around and decide to stand up to Maduro, and say, ‘You have to leave.’”

A right-wing shift in recent elections in Latin America is deepening Venezuela’s diplomatic isolation. Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and others signed a statement over the weekend demanding Venezuela respect democratic processes.

Some leaders in the region have still been critical of the campaign. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said she opposes foreign intervention into sovereign nations, when asked about her stance on opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, the recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said at Saturday’s Mercosur summit in his country that armed conflict in Venezuela would set “a dangerous precedent for the world.”

Maduro’s embattled government will have to reduce production quickly if it cannot export its oil as storage facilities are unable to hold much more crude.

(With assistance from Devika Krishna Kumar.)

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©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

DETROIT — As the Red Wings continue to string victories together and work on ending a long playoff drought, there might be something equally important going on, within the foundation and structure of the team.

A winning culture, a culture of “team,” and confidence that everyone on the roster can contribute to the Wings winning, is being formed.

Sunday’s 3-2 overtime victory over Washington was an example.

As part of the mothers’ trip over the weekend, coach Todd McLellan and his staff were intent on playing everyone on the roster.

So despite the victory the day before, McLellan scratched forward Marco Kasper and defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker on Sunday, as Mason Appleton, who was activated earlier in the morning off the injured list, came in for Kasper, while Travis Hamonic replaced Bernard-Docker.

Goaltender Cam Talbot got the start Sunday instead of John Gibson, who had a relatively easy workload Saturday afternoon and could have easily played two games in two afternoons.

But McLellan wanted everyone to get a game in front of their mothers.

It worked. And the culture was further emboldened.

“We preach ‘team’ all the time,” McLellan said. “That’s part of our culture. Not just the players, but the training staff and everybody (in the organization). The right thing to do was to give everybody an opportunity to play in front of their moms.

“Now, did we ice our best lineup? We did, we won the game. Some could argue one way or another, but that’s what we believe in and that’s part of our culture. We had to tell Kasp, and how do you pick who comes out? Everybody played well in Washington. Dock (Docker) didn’t deserve to come out. Gibby deserved to go back in net. But we do things as a team.

“We talked to all of those guys and they were very understanding and they were rooting for the ones that went in.

“We ask players to trust us as an organization, as a staff, and we have to pay that back to them, too. We have to trust they can all play or they shouldn’t be here. When we get into this sort of a situation, we believe in everybody that is here, and we gave them a chance to play in front of their moms. I know some would say this is the NHL and you don’t do that — but sometimes you do.”

 

Making an impact

John Leonard has given the Wings a spark since being recalled from Grand Rapids, replacing the injured Patrick Kane.

Leonard’s goal Sunday was his second in two games and extended his point streak to three games (two goals, one assist in that span), marking the longest such run of his NHL career.

“Any time a player comes up, you hope he can have an impact, and especially like how he’s been playing like that in Grand Rapids,” McLellan said. “He does have some experience, he’s played in the league (NHL) before, so it’s not like a whole bunch of nerves. He can settle in and use his tool set.

“He’s been real good since he’s been up here. (Coaches) talk about playing players and not worrying about or being afraid of putting them on the ice, John is like that. In overtime, you’re putting him out there. I know he scored an important goal, but the work he did in the neutral zone, along the boards, that’s something we talked about after the first (period).

“His board work was something that kept the whole play alive and he wound up getting rewarded. We’re happy to have him right now.”

Leonard isn’t putting any sort of extra pressure onto himself.

“I try to take it day by day, practice by practice and shift by shift,” Leonard said. “Whatever happens, happens. I’m just grateful for the opportunity to be here. Whether it’s one more game or whatever the case may be, obviously I don’t know, but day by day, try to make the most of it and work as hard as I can.”

It’ll be at least one more game. McLellan said after Sunday’s victory Kane (upper-body) will not be ready before Christmas. There’s a chance, McLellan said, that Kane could return the first game back, Dec. 27 in Carolina. Kane has missed the last four games.

Ice chips

Moritz Seider’s overtime goal Sunday was his third career overtime goal, tying Danny DeKeyser and Jake Walman, and trailing only Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall in franchise history, who both had four in their career.

… Lucas Raymond has 26 points (seven goals, 19 assists) in his last 22 games after scoring a goal Sunday.

… With two assists, Andrew Copp has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) and a plus-11 rating in his last 10 games.

… Talbot is 4-0-0 this season while making 30 or more saves. Talbot had 31 in Sunday’s victory.

… The Wings lead the NHL with 53 second-period goals. They are 16-1-1 when leading after 40 minutes, and 8-1-1 when doing so on home ice.

DETROIT — A season-altering loss by the Detroit Lions ended in controversy.

The Lions appeared to score a go-ahead touchdown twice in the final 25 seconds of Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers but saw both scores nullified by offensive pass interference penalties, including one on fourth down as time expired that featured a lateral to Lions quarterback Jared Goff.

Detroit’s furious comeback attempt, which twice saw them close the deficit in a two-score game, came up just short in a 29-24 loss. With 25 seconds left in the game, Goff rolled right and completed an easy touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who was deemed by officials to have gotten open because of a pick run by wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa.

“The reporting official on that play told me that the offending player picked one of the defenders, creating an opportunity for the offensive player to make the catch,” referee Carl Cheffers said in a PFWA pool report.

Goff called the offensive pass interference penalty on TeSlaa “a bad call.”

“The one where Saint caught it and we thought it was a touchdown, that’s, in my opinion, a bad call,” Goff said. “But listen, man. [The officials] have a tough job and they make calls that go our way all the time, but that one in particular, [TeSlaa] should not hang his head about.”

Then, on fourth-and-goal from the 9 with 8 seconds left, Goff completed a pass to St. Brown, who pitched the ball to Goff right before going to the ground. Goff then leaped into the end zone for a score, but a penalty flag unceremoniously ended the party.

After several minutes of conversation, officials said that the call on the field was a touchdown, but it was nullified by a penalty for offensive pass interference. Since time had expired, the Lions did not have the opportunity to run another play, thus ending the game — and potentially, the season.

“The official who called the foul said that the receiver created separation that gave him an advantage in catching the pass. So, he called pass interference,” Cheffers said. Asked why the on-field conversation took so long, Cheffers added, “It was a pretty complex play.”

“We had the original player who had the ball, lose possession of the ball. So, we had to decide if that was a fumble or a backwards pass because of course we have restrictions on the recovery of a fumble inside of two minutes,” Cheffers said. “We ruled that it was a backward pass, so the recovering player was able to advance it and that recovering player advanced it for a touchdown. We had to rule on that and then because of the offensive pass interference, it negates the touchdown.

“Because it is an offensive foul, we do not extend the half. Therefore, there is no score and there is no replay of the down. That’s the way the rule is written.”

St. Brown, several other Lions players, and head coach Dan Campbell all said that the game came down to more than one or two plays.

“I don’t even want to get into it, because it’s not gonna change anything. We still lost,” Campbell said.

St. brown added, “The call, it is what it is. Those are the rules, can’t change them. It never comes down to one play. It’s never just because of that play. There was plenty of plays throughout that game that we could’ve made. We had calls go our way, too, throughout that last drive, so it goes both ways. We just have to execute better. We have a job to do, the refs have a job to do. We’ve just got to do better.”

Regarding the way Detroit lost, Lions offensive tackle Taylor Decker said, “Ultimately, yeah, it sucks.”

“There’s no sugarcoating it,” Decker said. “We had so many opportunities earlier in the game. Games come down to two-minute drives in the league, but we put ourselves in that position. We did not play well enough, but we still had a chance to win. That’s the frustrating thing, is that we put ourselves in that position and it didn’t have to be that way.”

As St. Brown pointed out, the Lions benefitted from a fourth-down defensive pass interference call against the Steelers earlier in the drive.

“I think we had a PI on them. Jamo did, going down that drive. We got a call, they got a call. If we don’t get that PI on Jamo, that drive is over. So, some might say that,” St. Brown said. “At the end of the day, like I said, the refs have a job to do and they’re trying their best to do it. We have a job to do out there as players and go make plays. Like I said, we didn’t make enough plays today.”

Still, the shock in Detroit’s locker room was clear. Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, who had two sacks, said that he’s “never seen two offensive [pass interference calls] to lose a game like that.”

“I don’t know. I’m sure there will be a discussion between the NFL (about) this game to validate or deny the calls,” Hutchinson continued. “It sucks cause there’s no changing it. I can bitch here all I want about the call, but the fact is, it’s the result.”

The Lions had several paths to the playoffs entering Sunday, but following their loss to Pittsburgh, they now have just one: Detroit needs to win its last two games at Minnesota and Chicago and have Green Bay lose its last two games against Baltimore and Minnesota.

Takeaways from disastrous defensive effort that sinks Lions in 29-24 loss to Steelers

 

Last-play TD nullified; loss to Steelers puts staggering Lions on thinnest ice for making playoffs

 

Photo gallery from Lions hosting the Steelers at Ford Field

 

Lions grades: Must-win game against Steelers was lost in the trenches

By JONATHAN J. COOPER and SEJAL GOVINDARAO The Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — When Turning Point USA’s annual AmericaFest convention reached its halfway point, Erika Kirk tried to put a smiling face on things.

“Say what you want about AmFest, but it’s definitely not boring,” said Kirk, who has led the influential conservative organization since her husband Charlie was assassinated in September. “Feels like a Thanksgiving dinner where your family’s hashing out the family business.”

That’s one way to put it.

Some of the biggest names in conservative media took turns torching each other on the main stage, spending more time targeting right-wing rivals than their left-wing opponents.

The feuds could ultimately define the boundaries of the Republican Party and determine the future of President Donald Trump’s fractious coalition, which appears primed for more schisms in the months and years ahead.

Here are some of the most notable moments from the four-day conference.

Shapiro torches podcasters

Ben Shapiro, co-founder of the conservative media outlet Daily Wire, set the tone with the first speech after Erika Kirk opened the convention. He attacked fellow commentators in deeply personal terms, saying some of the right’s most popular figures are morally bankrupt.

Candace Owens “has been vomiting all sorts of hideous and conspiratorial nonsense into the public square for years,” he said.

Megyn Kelly is “guilty of cowardice” because she’s refused to condemn Owens for spreading unsubstantiated theories about Kirk’s death.

And Tucker Carlson’s decision to host antisemite Nick Fuentes on his podcast was “an act of moral imbecility.”

Shapiro’s targets hit back

Barely an hour later, Carlson took the same stage and mocked Shapiro’s attempt to “deplatform and denounce” people who disagree with him.

“I watched it,” he said. “I laughed.”

Others had their chance the next night.

“Ben Shapiro is like a cancer, and that cancer spreads,” said Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser.

Kelly belittled Shapiro as a marginal figure in the conservative movement and said their friendship is over.

“I resent that he thinks he’s in a position to decide who must say what, to whom, and when,” Kelly said.

Owens, who has spread unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk’s death, wasn’t welcome at the convention. But she responded on her podcast, calling Shapiro a “miserable imp.”

A schism over Israel and antisemitism

Israel came up repeatedly during the conference.

Some on the right have questioned whether the Republican Party’s historically steadfast support for Israel conflicts with Trump’s “America First” platform. Carlson criticized civilian deaths in Gaza in remarks that wouldn’t have been out of place in progressive circles.

Some attendees dug deep into history, highlighting Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty off the Sinai Peninsula in 1967. Israel said it mistook the ship for an Egyptian vessel during the Six Day War, while critics have argued that it was a deliberate strike.

Bannon accused Shapiro, who is Jewish, and others who staunchly support Israel of being part of “the Israel first crowd.” Kelly said criticism from Shapiro and Bari Weiss, the newly installed head of CBS News, “is about Israel.”

Vance gets a helpful endorsement

Erika Kirk pledged Turning Point’s support for Vice President JD Vance to be the next Republican presidential nominee.

“We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” she said on the first night of the convention. Vance would be the 48th president if he takes office after Trump.

Turning Point is a major force on the right, with a massive volunteer network around the country that can be especially helpful in early primary states.

Vance was close with Charlie Kirk, whose backing helped enable his rapid political rise. The vice president is scheduled to close out the convention as the final speaker on Sunday.

MAHA teams up with MAGA

The Make America Healthy Again movement had a big presence at Turning Point, signaling its quick rise in the right-wing ecosystem.

MAHA is spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy, who leads the Department of Health and Human Services. However, there has been friction with other parts of the Make America Great Again coalition, particularly when it comes to rolling back environmental regulations.

Wellness influencer Alex Clark, whose podcast is sponsored by Turning Point, asked the crowd whether the Environmental Protection Agency is “with us or against us?”

“Big chemical, big ag and big food are trying to split MAGA from MAHA so things can go back to business as usual, but we don’t want that, do we?” Clark said.

Clark and others have asked for Trump to fire EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, who responded by reaching out to MAHA activists. The EPA also said it would release a MAHA agenda for the agency.

“The Trump EPA wants to partner with the MAHA community and make sure everyone has a seat at the table,” EPA press secretary Carolyn Holran said in response to Clark’s speech.

By JONATHAN J. COOPER and SEJAL GOVINDARAO The Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — The next presidential election is three years away, but Turning Point USA already knows it wants Vice President JD Vance as the Republican nominee.

Erika Kirk, leader of the powerful conservative youth organization, endorsed him on opening night of its annual AmericaFest convention, drawing cheers from the crowd.

But the four-day gathering revealed more peril than promise for Vance or any other potential successor to President Donald Trump, and the tensions on display foreshadow the treacherous waters that they will need to navigate in the coming years. The “Make America Great Again” movement is fracturing as Republicans begin considering a future without Trump, and there is no clear path to holding his coalition together as different factions jockey for influence.

“Who gets to run it after?” asked commentator Tucker Carlson in his speech at the conference. “Who gets the machinery when the president exits the scene?”

Vance, who has not said whether he will run for president, is Turning Point’s closing speaker Sunday, appearing at the end of a lineup that includes U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Donald Trump Jr.

Turning Point backs Vance for president

Erika Kirk, who took over as Turning Point’s leader when her husband, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated, said Thursday that the group wanted Vance “elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible.” The next president will be the 48th in U.S. history.

Turning Point is a major force on the right, with a nationwide volunteer network that can be especially helpful in early primary states, when candidates rely on grassroots energy to build momentum.

The endorsement carried “at least a little bit of weight” for 20 year-old Kiara Wagner, who traveled from Toms River, New Jersey, for the conference.

“If someone like Erika can support JD Vance, then I can too,” Wagner said.

Vance was close with Charlie Kirk. After Kirk’s assassination on a college campus in Utah, the vice president flew out on Air Force Two to collect Kirk’s remains and bring them home to Arizona. The vice president helped uniformed service members carry the casket to the plane.

A post-Trump Republican Party?

The Republican Party’s identity has been intertwined with Trump for a decade. Now that he is constitutionally ineligible to run for reelection, the party is starting to ponder a future without him at the helm.

So far, it looks like settling that question will require a lot of fighting among conservatives. Turning Point featured arguments about antisemitism, Israel and environmental regulations, not to mention rivalries between leading commentators.

Carlson said the idea of a Republican “civil war” was “totally fake.”

“There are people who are mad at JD Vance, and they’re stirring up a lot of this in order to make sure he doesn’t get the nomination,” he said. Carlson describe Vance as “the one person” who subscribes to the “core idea of the Trump coalition,” which Carlson said was “America first.”

Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kolvet framed the discord as a healthy debate about the future of the movement, an uncomfortable but necessary process of finding consensus.

“We’re not hive-minded commies,” he wrote on X. “Let it play out.”

Vance appeared to have the edge as far as Turning Point attendees are concerned.

“It has to be JD Vance because he has been so awesome when it comes to literally any question,” said Tomas Morales, a videographer from Los Angeles. He said “there’s no other choice.”

Trump has not chosen a successor, though he has spoken highly of both Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, even suggesting they could form a future Republican ticket. Rubio has said he would support Vance.

Asked in August whether Vance was the “heir apparent,” Trump said “most likely.”

“It’s too early, obviously, to talk about it, but certainly he’s doing a great job, and he would be probably favorite at this point,” he said.

Any talk of future campaigns is complicated by Trump’s occasional musings about seeking a third term.

“I’m not allowed to run,” he told reporters during a trip to Asia in October. “It’s too bad.”

Lake Orion hosted the 2025 Oakland County wrestling championships on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. Oxford beat out runner-up Clarkston and third-place Rochester Adams for its third county title in the past five years.

The Powerball jackpot now stands at an estimated $1.6 billion, making it one of the largest lottery prizes in U.S. history, Powerball officials said Sunday.

No ticket matched all six winning numbers on Saturday — white balls 4, 5, 28, 52, 69 and red Powerball 20. That sets up the fifth-largest U.S. jackpot ever for Monday’s drawing, according to a news release from Powerball.

The biggest U.S. jackpot was $2.04 billion in 2022. The winner bought the ticket in California and opted for a lump-sum payment of $997.6 million.

The odds of winning Monday’s jackpot, which is the fourth-largest in Powerball history, are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball.

The winner can opt for a lump-sum payment estimated at $735.3 million or an annuitized prize estimated at $1.6 billion. Both prize options are before taxes.

The annuity option offers one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year, Powerball said.

Powerball is available in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is overseen by the Multi-State Lottery Association, a nonprofit group made up of state lotteries. Profits from ticket sales are used by states to support public education and other services.

DETROIT — Two weeks ago, the Detroit Lions controlled their own destiny to the postseason.

After a loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 15, they needed some help.

Now? Their playoff odds are all but dashed.

The Lions (8-7) were upset by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, a devastating result in a season that begin with Super Bowl aspirations. Technically, Detroit is still in the hunt. But it’ll need to win its next two games — at the Minnesota Vikings (Week 17) and Chicago Bears (Week 18) — and the Green Packers will have to drop their final two contests, at home versus the Baltimore Ravens (Week 17) and on the road at the Vikings (Week 18).

Numbers vary depending on the service you use, but The Athletic’s 2025 NFL Playoff Simulator gives the Lions a 6% chance to secure one of the NFC’s top seven seeds. That number rises to 24% if Detroit wins its next two outings. The Lions are mathematically eliminated from winning the division.

“I don’t know what all of this is or isn’t. I know we’ve got two left, and I just want to see us finish,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said of the Lions’ diminishing odds. “I just want to finish, (play) our style of football with two to go, man. Try to play four straight quarters of good football. Clean football. Efficient football. That’s what I want to do.”

The Lions haven’t won consecutive games since Weeks 4 and 5, when they topped the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, respectively. They were 4-1 after five weeks, but bounced back and forth between wins and losses since then before dropping their second straight on Sunday. It’s the first time in more than three years the Lions have lost two contests in a row within the same season.

In 2024, the only question about the Lions was whether they’d secure the conference’s No. 1 overall seed. In 2023, it was whether they’d win the division. This is territory the team hasn’t been in since 2022.

“We haven’t had that feeling,” quarterback Jared Goff said, when asked how it feels to be on the outside looking in and having to rely on other teams for help. “It’s creeping in on us now. We’ve got to find a way. I think it goes back to what Dan’s message was: Are we who we say we are type of thing? … Are we still going to be what we say we are and show up to work and do the whole thing on a short week?”

Asked to further explain Campbell’s message, Goff said the Lions are going to, “Find out who we are character-wise. Find out what we are made of. We know the percentages and whatnot. We know we are not eliminated, but we need some things to go our way. Find out who we are, see if we can win these last two, and see if we can get in.

“I know we will be dangerous if we can. That’s just the hard part.”

Takeaways from disastrous defensive effort that sinks Lions in 29-24 loss to Steelers

Photo gallery from Lions hosting the Steelers at Ford Field

Last-play TD nullified; loss to Steelers puts staggering Lions on thinnest ice for making playoffs

Lions grades: Must-win game against Steelers was lost in the trenches

DETROIT — Richard Silva grades the Detroit Lions in their 29-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

Quarterback

Jared Goff was clearly uncomfortable behind some shoddy protection, being pressured on more than 40% of his dropbacks. The QB didn’t throw an interception, but four times he put the ball in harm’s way, and four times he got away with it. Goff finished with 34 completions on 54 pass attempts for 364 yards and three touchdowns. He wasn’t a difference-maker, nor was he the chief problem in a loss that neutralizes almost any remaining hope for a playoff spot. Grade: C+

Running backs

The offensive line bears the brunt of the responsibility for Detroit’s poor rushing offense, but you still would’ve liked to see more from Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery; the duo combined for 16 yards on 11 carries, good for an average of 1.5 yards. Remove a 17-yard rush by Montgomery in the first quarter, and the Lions, as a team, managed minus-2 yards the rest of the way. The only noise from Gibbs came through the air, as he caught 10 passes for 66 yards, including one 13-yard gain in which he used a nifty spin move to shake linebacker Patrick Queen, and a 4-yard touchdown with about four minutes remaining to give the Lions a chance late. Grade: D

Wide receivers/tight ends

Amon-Ra St. Brown made two critical mistakes, dropping a potential explosive gain over the middle before committing offensive pass interference on the game’s final play, negating what would’ve been a miraculous touchdown off a lateral to Goff. Four plays before St. Brown’s infraction, rookie Isaac TeSlaa also committed OPI, though this one was less obvious. Jameson Williams (70 yards) did solid work to lead the Lions, and TeSlaa scored his fifth career touchdown, hauling in a catch between two defenders. Kalif Raymond got into the end zone, as well. Tight ends Anthony Firkser (40 yards) and Shane Zylstra (20) had mild contributions, but it was better than what the Lions were getting from the position previously. Grade: B-

Offensive line

Graham Glasgow’s absence was most felt on Detroit’s first possession of the second half, when Michael Niese, filling in for a briefly injured Kingsley Eguakun, sent a low snap to Goff, who was then sacked for a safety by Kyle Dugger. Goff was sacked three times, and Christian Mahogany, in his first game back from a broken bone in his left leg, appeared responsible for two of them. More troubling for the offensive line was its inability to block for Gibbs and Montgomery; through their first three drives, the Lions had only one successful rush. Unblocked defenders on the backside of the play were a consistent problem. Grade: F

Defensive line

Aidan Hutchinson had a multi-sack performance for the first time since Week 4, but the Lions were gashed on the ground by Pittsburgh’s rushing attack, allowing running backs Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell to combine for 193 yards on 23 tries. Two 45-yard scores were the result of poor pursuit lanes at the second and third level of the defense, but Detroit’s front (mainly on the edge) could do little to slow the Steelers. Grade: F

Linebackers

On Pittsburgh’s first 45-yard rushing touchdown (both were by Warren), Alex Anzalone and Derrick Barnes were cleared out of the way, and Jack Campbell, despite his best efforts to avoid his block, couldn’t get an angle on the running back. Anzalone was in coverage against Kenneth Gainwell on a play right before halftime that resulted in an improbable touchdown; Gainwell fought through defensive pass interference to score with two seconds remaining in the second quarter, tying the game at 10. Campbell recovered a fumble and was credited with at least four stops, according to live tracking data from Pro Football Focus, as well as two pass deflections. Grade: F

Secondary

Credit to Thomas Harper for forcing a fumble on enormous tight end Darnell Washington, but he struggled as a run defender, missing a tackle and appearing to crash down too hard on at least one of Warren’s touchdowns. The Lions weren’t devastated with explosive passing plays like they have been in recent weeks (apart from D.K. Metcalf beating Rock Ya-Sin for 20 yards on first-and-long), but Rodgers dinked and dunked the Steelers down the field, and he was efficient when it mattered most. The Steelers went 8-for-16 on third down, and each of those conversions came via a pass. That’s despite Pittsburgh’s average distance on those third downs being more than 7.3 yards. The secondary simply didn’t hold up on money downs. Grade: D

Special teams

The Lions were relatively unimpressive in the return game, starting three drives inside their own 30-yard line following a kickoff return, including one possession that began at the 14-yard line. The Steelers weren’t prolific in their returns, either, so it balanced out. Raymond had one solid punt return (13 yards) and kicker Jake Bates made his only field goal, knocking through an attempt from 36 yards out. Grade: C+

Coaching

Dan Campbell won a challenge in the third quarter, overturning Harper’s forced fumble that was initially ruled down by contact. The playcalling on offense felt less than ideal and at times predictable (a couple screens on third long stick out), but much of that had to do with Detroit’s struggles along the offensive line. As left tackle Taylor Decker said: “It gets to the point where, if you’re not getting positive yards on first or second down, what do you want the coordinator to do? What do you want Dan to do, as far as calling plays?” Defensively, coordinator Kelvin Sheppard pushed back this week on the idea that his unit was beaten soundly on the ground in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 15. There’s absolutely no doubting it this time around. The Steelers averaged 8.5 yards on 27 rushes. Grade: F

Takeaways from disastrous defensive effort that sinks Lions in 29-24 loss to Steelers

 

Last-play TD nullified; loss to Steelers puts staggering Lions on thinnest ice for making playoffs

 

Photo gallery from Lions hosting the Steelers at Ford Field

Can the Lions still make the playoffs after loss to Steelers?