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vip slots Article content The great National Hockey League contradiction of sports, celebration and politics is upon us. We have already begun the daily Alexander Ovechkin watch, the giant leap as he makes his way toward the career goal-scoring lead in hockey history. This all comes at a time when the league couldn’t — or wouldn’t — find a place for a Russian team in its major in-house tournament in February. It will be Ovechkin — yay — in the days and months to come, game by game, as he chases down Wayne Gretzky for a record none of us thought was possible. It will be Ovechkin — yay and Russia boo. All in the same convoluted sentence. All happening in a season in which Kirill Kaprizov of Minnesota and Nikita Kucherov of Tampa Bay are among the leading candidates for the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player in the NHL and the Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin signing a contract making him the highest paid goaltender in hockey history. Russian hockey is alive and well, individually. But it’s not alive in any team concept internationally. Ovechkin has been a long-time supporter of Russian president Vladimir Putin. So has the Stanley Cup-winning goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky, who was just named Russian athlete of the year. We like their hockey but don’t care much for their politics or the war that continues in Ukraine. Ovechkin has had an incredible run since entering the NHL in 2005. His 868 goals are 266 more than anyone who has played during his time. Sidney Crosby is second in goals at 602, as of Saturday. Steven Stamkos and another Russian, Evgeni Malkin, are the only others within 300 goals of Ovie’s totals. In Gretzky’s career, he finished 186 goals ahead of Mike Gartner, 281 and 284 ahead of Mario Lemieux and Mark Messier. Ovechkin, in his time, is individually more of a dominant goal-scorer than Gretzky was in his time. And there’s a certain discomfort that goes along with it all in current times. I can cheer for Ovechkin the hockey player, while at the same time feel disdain for his politics and those of his leader and country. Sports and politics mix, whether we want them to or not. Rarely are they as separate as they should be or as they seem right now while Ovechkin works his way to a mark that may never be equalled. THIS AND THAT There is nothing wrong with Mitch Marner that a playoff series against Detroit or Buffalo or Pittsburgh wouldn’t solve. Marner has 13 goals this season, 10 of them against teams that won’t be in the playoffs. He has six playoff goals in his past 37 playoff games ... Marner, having a terrific season, still ranks below Mikko Rantanen and Kucherov in scoring among right wingers ... The Florida Panthers’ second line has Sam Bennett centring Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe. Not sure anyone would relish playing against them in a best-of-seven series in April ... If Auston Matthews doesn’t play for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Americans will still have Jack Hughes, Jack Eichel and Dylan Larkin at centre. But it becomes a tougher matchup, depending on what Canada does with Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Crosby as either their first three centres, or two of the top three with one of Crosby or MacKinnon going to the wing ... Nearing the halfway point of the NHL season, Cale Makar leads all defencemen in scoring. But he’s also been on the ice for 37 even-strength goals-against. That’s significantly more than Victor Hedman and Gustav Forsling with 24, and Darnell Nurse, if you can believe this one, at just 15 ... A Canadian network would be wise to snap up fired Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde for panel work, at least for the short term. Lalonde was sharp on TV in the playoffs between periods a few years back ... Outdoor hockey games are wonderful spectacles for the city in which they take place. But as a must-see TV event, they’ve kind of lost their way. I can’t imagine there are a lot of people waiting for this Chicago-St. Louis outdoor event ... When I first met Scott Arniel, he was playing left wing on a line in Winnipeg with Dale Hawerchuk and Paul MacLean. All three of them became coaches, and Arniel is now a coach of the year candidate in the NHL with the Jets ... The last talk I had with Hawerchuk was when he was coaching Barrie of the OHL. He was telling me all about his underrated centre, Mark Scheifele. He said NHL scouts had him rated too low and he was going to be a good one. The great Hawerchuk, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 57, was right on Scheifele. HEAR AND THERE I had this conversation with a Blue Jays front office man after they traded Teoscar Hernandez to Seattle following the 2022 season. “Would you pay Teoscar $20 million a year?” I was asked. I said I would not. He said neither would the Jays. Since then, Hernandez has won a World Series in Los Angeles and has recently signed to remain with the Dodgers for the next three years at an average of $22 million a season. And the Jays remain in need of a power bat for the outfield. Which means two things: 1) Don’t expect financial advice from me; 2) don’t trust whatever financial advice you might get from the Blue Jays front office, either ... A question to ask yourself, Mr. Edward Rogers. How is it the Blue Jays keep offering more money for free agents, but aren’t signing any? What does that say about the perception of the franchise around Major League Baseball and those operating it? ... This has not been the best of years for shareholders of Bell or Rogers Communications, the former majority owners of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Bell stock is down 36.5% on the year. Rogers stock is down 35%. Netflix stock, by the way, is up 85% on the year and 227% over the past two years ... This was Thursday in the NBA: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 45 points for Oklahoma City and teammate Lu Dort had 13 against Indiana. Meanwhile, Andrew Nembhard and Ben Mathurin combined for 41 for the Pacers. That’s 99 points scored by four Canadians in the same game. Not sure that’s ever happened before ... Some things in life don’t make sense: The Raptors are a better three-point shooting team on the road than the 24-5 first-place Thunder is ... Simon Benoit is hardly a sexy name among NHL defencemen, but few are on the ice as much as he is while being scored upon so infrequently. SCENE AND HEARD My favourite sporting things of 2024, in no particular order: The Paris Olympics; Paris itself; Roland Garros Stadium; everything that is Summer McIntosh ; the American League Championship Series; the Patrick Mahomes comeback in the Super Bowl; the Stanley Cup final, never mind the result; Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Vladdy Guerrero Jr.; the unlikely Argos; Matthews’ almost 70-goal season; Andre De Grasse and his 100-metre teammates in the 4 x100 relay at the Olympics; Team USA vs. Serbia in men’s basketball, the greatest game I’ve ever seen; Steph Curry ... Terrible time to be a sports fan in Chicago. The Bears stink. The Blackhawks stink. The White Sox stink. The Bulls aren’t any good. Not much to care about in one of the great sporting towns in America ... It’s wonderful for the hammer thrower Ethan Katzberg to be named The Canadian Press male athlete of the year. But I don’t quite understand how you can compare a hammer thrower — a singular event in athletics with a very small competitive field — with an NBA star such as Gilgeous-Alexander, who plays 82 games, plus playoffs. Or McDavid or MacKinnon, who played more than 100 NHL games in the calendar year ... The challenge for Leafs coach Craig Berube in the second half of the NHL season: Finding the right defensive partner for Morgan Rielly. He hasn’t had the right partner since Ron Hainsey was a Leaf ... First baseman Pete Alonso, a good player, not a great one, seems to be pricing himself out of the free-agent market in baseball. Even the high-priced Mets seem to be willing to walk away from Alonso ... Brendan Shanahan takes a lot of heat for his time running the Leafs, but consider this: Steve Yzerman is six years in as GM in Detroit, nowhere near the playoffs; Buffalo hasn’t made the playoffs in a lifetime. Shanahan missed the playoffs once, hasn’t missed since drafting Matthews ... Don’t know where Darko Rajakovic rates as an all-time coach — probably near the bottom — but his tantrum in Memphis the other night is an all-time unforgettable Raptors moment ... So many tough questions this time of year. What presents to keep, which to return, which games to watch when you’re not screaming about junior hockey. Are you watching the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl or the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl? ... And good luck to all those playing fantasy football championship games on Sunday. I started the wrong kicker two weeks ago. Cost me and my partner a title shot. AND ANOTHER THING There are four sound candidates for MVP in the NFL, although if you watch enough television these days, you would think there is only one: Josh Allen. It’s a quarterback’s job to produce wins and Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City have the most in the league. Two-time MVP Lamar Jackson has combined yardage of 4,807 passing and rushing in Baltimore, which blows everyone else away. The giant Allen is unstoppable, having run for 11 touchdowns and passed for 3,549 yards with the Bills. And Saquon Barkley is in contention for all-time numbers as a running back, leading the Philadelphia Eagles. In any given year, any one of the four could, or should, be MVP. This year it will come down to Allen or Jackson, and a sound case could be made right now for either quarterback ... It drives me a little batty when I see Tkachuk or Steelers wide receiver George Pickens dangling or chewing on their mouthguard, rather than keeping it where it should be. We try to convince kids about the necessity of mouthguard usage. This kind of example doesn’t help ... Wonder how many owners in sports are paying attention to what the Suns are doing in Phoenix, charging $2 at concession stands for water, soda, hotdogs, and popcorn? A small popcorn at Cineplex is $9 now. And you wonder why people don’t go to movies anymore ... It’s highly possible that Cody Bellinger will be batting next to Giancarlo Stanton in the Yankees batting order this coming season. Bellinger, by the way, is married to Stanton’s old girlfriend ... The NBA was excited to have five million people watching games on Christmas Day on television, especially those up against NFL games on Netflix for the first time. But follow me here for a second: The U.S. is 10 times the size of Canada. A five-million-person audience in the U.S. is about half a million Canadians. By my translation, the NBA audience in the U.S. at Christmas is basically equal to the average CFL audience in Canada throughout the season ... Happy birthday to Ray Bourque (64), Myles Garrett (29), Bill Lee (78), George Parros (45), Julio Rodriguez (24), Sean Payton (61) Theo Epstein (51), Adam Vinatieri (52) and B.J. Ryan (49) ... And hey, whatever became of Jonathan Toews? ssimmons@postmedia.com twitter.com/simmonssteve

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What is the best internet provider in Iowa? Mediacom is the best internet service provider for most Iowa households because of its high availability and low introductory pricing. Mediacom is the largest cable internet provider in the state and is available to nearly two-thirds of Iowa residences, according to the Federal Communication Commission. It also has the cheapest internet plan of any major provider, with service starting at $20 per month for download speeds up to 250 megabits per second. Mediacom won't always be the best option for every person. Fiber internet providers such as Metronet, Google Fiber or Quantum Fiber often present better speeds, reliability and overall value than Mediacom, although availability is more limited in Iowa. Metronet, for example, offers the second cheapest internet in the state, starting at $35 per month, while Google Fiber has the fastest plan, with speeds up to 8 gigabits per second (8,000Mbps) starting at $150 per month. Wireless internet is also a practical choice for broadband, especially throughout Iowa's many rural areas. Speeds and pricing may rival Mediacom's, depending on the providers in your area. Best internet in Iowa Source: CNET analysis of provider data. Other internet providers in Iowa CenturyLink / Quantum Fiber : Lumen Technologies offers DSL internet (CenturyLink) throughout much of Iowa and fiber internet (Quantum Fiber) in select areas. Quantum Fiber is preferable, with speeds of 500 and 8,000Mbps starting at $50 and $165 per month, respectively. Still, CenturyLink is a decent choice for broadband in rural areas, with speeds ranging from 20 to 100Mbps starting at $55 monthly. Lumen Technologies offers DSL internet (CenturyLink) throughout much of Iowa and fiber internet (Quantum Fiber) in select areas. Quantum Fiber is preferable, with speeds of 500 and 8,000Mbps starting at $50 and $165 per month, respectively. Still, CenturyLink is a decent choice for broadband in rural areas, with speeds ranging... David Anders

25 Financial Moves to Consider Before December 31Thiago Motta maintains Juventus decided not to take too many risks to avoid ‘giving Aston Villa the spaces they were looking for’ and accepts The Bianconeri knew they had few real options to fight at Villa Park, as they had only 14 outfield players in the squad and no centre-forwards, so Timothy Weah was a makeshift False 9. They nonetheless had the chance to win it when Dibu Martinez somehow managed to claw the Francisco Conceicao header off the line from point-blank range with one hand. “A point is valuable, the team is continuing to play in a solid and balanced fashion,” “Aston Villa are dangerous on rapid counter-attacks and seek their striker with a long ball, but we didn’t allow them to do that often. “Clearly, we also didn’t create many chances of our own, but that was to not give Aston Villa the spaces they were looking for. “It was another good performance, a valuable point and we continue to seek qualification.” Villa also had opportunities, as the Lucas Digne free kick bounced off the top of the crossbar, then with the last kick of the game Morgan Rogers turned the loose ball into an empty net, but it “We always want to win, we have three games to go in order to secure qualification. It’s an important moment where we play every game to the full, as we did today,” continued Thiago Motta. “We have big games coming up between Serie A, the Coppa Italia and Champions League, always stepping onto the pitch with our idea of football and trying to win.” The injury crisis deteriorated further this evening, because Nicolò Savona went off in the second half, while Teun Koopmeiners is struggling for form. “Koopmeiners is playing in a position that is not easy, it’s complicated for him to be between the lines. When he gets deeper, he can see more of the pitch and feels more at ease. “He has to give his contribution in the more advanced area of the field too, he is capable of it and in many games went close to scoring a goal,” concluded Motta. “Koop is a special player who can cover many different roles. I am very happy to have him here, which is why he is difficult to substitute.”

Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. ( NYSE:GSBD – Get Free Report ) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th, Zacks Dividends reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Goldman Sachs BDC has a payout ratio of 102.9% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Goldman Sachs BDC to earn $1.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 98.4%. Goldman Sachs BDC Price Performance Shares of GSBD opened at $12.79 on Friday. Goldman Sachs BDC has a 12 month low of $12.65 and a 12 month high of $15.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.01. The company has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 1.06. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Separately, StockNews.com raised Goldman Sachs BDC from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Get Our Latest Analysis on GSBD About Goldman Sachs BDC ( Get Free Report ) Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc is a business development company specializing in middle market and mezzanine investment in private companies. It seeks to make capital appreciation through direct originations of secured debt, senior secured debt, junior secured debt, including first lien, first lien/last-out unitranche and second lien debt, unsecured debt, including mezzanine debt and, to a lesser extent, investments in equities. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Goldman Sachs BDC Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Goldman Sachs BDC and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .Jimmy Carter’s death: What N.J. officials are saying