As jury selection began yesterday in the corruption trial of veteran Chicago fixer Antoin “Tony” Rezko, there was an unexpected face in the courtroom audience: an unidentified staffer scoping out the scene for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama. As Newsweek reported this week, Obama is a long-time friend of Rezko’s. In 2005, Rezko and his wife were involved in a tangled property deal in which Rezko’s wife bought a vacant lot next to a historical house purchased by Obama and his wife; Obama later acknowledged that his real-estate dealings with Rezko were “boneheaded....

We looked beyond the top overall players to find some interesting notes buried deep within the player ratings system. It’s worth noting these are just the launch ratings for the game. Every week, EA Sports will update the ratings based on player performance to account for breakout stars, such as Patrick Mahomes last season. But for the most part, these ratings provide an important base for the remainder of the season....

This topic is often very confusing and is a distinction that is typically made for insurance purposes, as the care is often exactly the same whether you are in the hospital for a brief observational stay or a longer (admitted) course of care. First, let’s talk about what the terms inpatient, outpatient, being admitted and observation means. For the layperson spending the night in the hospital, they often assume they are an admitted inpatient....

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PARTING SHOT WITH H. ALAN SCOTT ON APPLE PODCASTS OR SPOTIFY What was the catalyst for you to do this show? My agent at the time, who is now my producing partner, Brian Clisham, has always known that I’ve had this affinity for true-crime and investigative journalism. I’ve been that person, I watch most procedural shows, especially during the ’80s. So it was just a natural progression for me....

“We expect to take an eight figure (handle) on the outcome of the U.S. Election, and thus far two thirds of what we have taken on who will win has been staked on Hillary,” William Hill’s Graham Sharpe said in a statement. Sharpe added,“Hillary Clinton has long been regarded as a U.S. President in waiting and certainly has the family connections to make her a credible contender. Some of our clients backed her years ago at odds of 100-to-1 to be the first female President of the U....

Both the Panthers and Saints were able to win their Saturday afternoon games in Week 16. Carolina shellacked Detroit in a 37-23 victory that saw them run for a whopping 240 yards in the first half. D’Onta Foreman rebounded from a 10-carry, 9-yard outing with 165 yards and a touchdown and helped the Panthers end the Lions’ three-game winning streak. The Saints had a bit more trouble dispatching the Browns....

NFL PRESEASON SCHEDULE Aug. 8-11, all times ET Thursday, Aug. 8 Baltimore at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m. Washington at Tennessee, 8 p.m. Cincinnati at Atlanta, 8 p.m. St. Louis at Cleveland, 8 p.m. Denver at San Francisco, 9 p.m. Seattle at San Diego, 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9 N.Y. Jets at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. Miami at Jacksonville, 7:30 p.m. New England at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m. Houston at Minnesota, 8 p....

The uncalled foul occurred on the Cowboys’ game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh pressured Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, but was hooked by guard Ronald Leary. Holding was not called and Romo completed a 21-yard pass on fourth-and-6 to tight end Jason Witten. Had holding been called, Dallas would’ve been facing a fourth-and-16 with about six minutes remaining and likely would’ve punted with Detroit holding a 20-17 lead....

When the Panthers take on the Broncos on Feb. 7 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., the other members of the officiating crew announced Wednesday will be Jeff Rice (umpire), Wayne Mackie (head linesman), Rusty Baynes (line judge), Boris Cheek (field judge), Scott Edwards (side judge), and Keith Ferguson (back judge). MORE: Mike Carey needs to go | Want to go to the Super Bowl? It’ll cost you...

That said, things are starting to level out after a crazy start to the season. The NFL is still full of parity and underdogs will continue to pull off upsets on a week-to-week basis. But the better teams will continue to emerge the further we get into each season. MORE: Full list of odds for NFL Week 5 We’re now a month into the NFL season and bettors should be excited at using the collection of data that they now have to influence their decisions....

Pereira appeared Wednesday on The Pat McAfee Show, a daily (10 a.m.-noon ET) program on DAZN, and diagnosed the source of the issue that has catalyzed a weekly crescendo of officiating-related complaints from the NFL’s players, coaches and observers in 2019. “We’ve taken something in this pass interference rule and we’ve adopted a second standard,” Pereira told McAfee. “You have one standard, and that’s the way the officials look at it in real time, and you have a second standard, which is how replay looks at it....

Goodell told Mike Greenberg on ESPN’s “The Return of Sports” special, that it would be up to an individual team to sign Kaepernick, not the league to force it upon a team. Goodell said Kaepernick’s ideas on helping reform social justice issues in America would be welcome in the league. “Well, listen, if he wants to resume his career in the NFL, then obviously it’s gonna take a team to make that decision,” Goodell said....

All season long, we have targeted under-the-radar values and high-upside dart throws to find you cheap production. By capitalizing on affordable sleepers in certain DFS roster spots, we leave ourselves the budget to greatly improve other roster spots with weekly studs. Let’s face it, in order to afford a Christian McCaffrey ($9,000 on DK), sometimes you must invest in the occasional Trey McBride ($3,300). This column has consistently produced this season, with readers seeing healthy returns on their DraftKings and FanDuel accounts....

Here we break down their five core draft questions and provide our best answers. NFL Draft 2017: Mock Draft | Big Board 1. Should the 49ers think defense at No. 2 overall? Yes. Even after Texas A&M edge rusher Myles Garrett (presumably) goes No. 1 to the Browns, the 49ers would be reaching if they tried to jump on a quarterback. The team also is not in a luxury position to take another offensive skill player, and the best offensive linemen in this class aren’t worth such high picks....

Once thought to be the consensus No. 3 back in the class, McCaffrey has gained ground on LSU’s Leonard Fournette in mock drafts, now being taken ahead of Florida State’s Dalvin Cook in many of them. That has taken McCaffrey from fringe first-rounder to a surefire top 32 overall pick. Although that means his perfect NFL team won’t be able to draft him — the Patriots no longer have a first-round pick — there are still several excellent fits for his services....

The latest two visits this week for Melifonwu are on the West Coast. Sporting News has learned that the UConn defensive back, who projects as either a cornerback or a safety, has visited the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers this week. The visits add to his busy schedule in recent weeks that includes workouts and visits with the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns. With a 4....

According to The Boston Globe, New England brought in top quarterback prospects Will Grier and Daniel Jones for pre-draft visits last week. The Patriots also hosted some prospective targets for Brady, given the recent retirement of tight end Rob Gronkowski. Per The Globe: The Patriots had an intriguing week with their pre-draft visits. Monday, they brought Texas A&M tight end Jace Sternberger to Foxborough. Wednesday they hosted a pair of quarterbacks, West Virginia’s Will Grier and Duke’s Daniel Jones....

Someone has to be the last player selected, and that’s the case in the NFL Draft as well, only the final player taken in each draft has come to be celebrated in a strange way with the bizarre title, “Mr. Irrelevant.” Meet Mr. Irrelevant of the 2019 NFL Draft, UCLA tight end Caleb Wilson, who was selected with the final pick of the seventh round (No. 254 overall) by the Arizona Cardinals....