Le Journal

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Fernando Mendoza bulldozed his way into the end zone and Indiana bullied its way into the history books Monday night, toppling Miami 27-21 to put the finishing touch on a rags-to-riches story, an undefeated season and the national title.The Heisman Trophy winner finished with 186 yards passing, but it was his tackle-breaking, sprawled-out 12-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-4 with 9:18 left that defined this game — and the Hoosiers' season.Indiana would not be denied.“I had to go airborne,” said Mendoza, who had his lip split and his arm bloodied by a ferocious Miami defense that sacked him three times and hit him many more. “I would die for my team.”Mendoza's TD gave turnaround artist Curt Cignetti’s team a 24-14 lead — barely enough breathing room to hold off a frenzied charge by the hard-hitting Hurricanes, who came to life in the second half behind 112 yards and two scores from Mark Fletcher but never took the lead.The College Football Playoff trophy now heads to the most unlikely of places: Bloomington, Indiana — a campus that endured a nation-leading 713 losses over 130-plus years of football before Cignetti arrived two years ago to embark on a revival for the ages.“Took some chances, found a way. Let me tell you: We won the national championship at Indiana University. It can be done,” Cignetti said.Indiana finished 16-0 — using the extra games afforded by the expanded 12-team playoff to match a perfect-season win total last compiled by Yale in 1894.In a fitting bit of symmetry, this undefeated title comes 50 years after Bob Knight’s basketball team went 32-0 to win it all in that state’s favorite sport.That hasn’t happened since, and there’s already some thought that college football — in its evolving, money-soaked era — might not see a team like this again, either.Players like Mendoza — a transfer from Cal who grew up just a few miles away from Miami’s campus, “The U” — certainly don’t come around often.Two fourth-down gambles by Cignetti in the fourth quarter, after Fletcher’s second touchdown carved the Hurricanes' deficit to three, put Mendoza in position to shine.The first was a 19-yard-completion to Charlie Becker on a back-shoulder fade those guys have been perfecting all season. Four plays later came a decision and play that wins championships.Cignetti sent his kicker out on fourth-and-4 from the 12, but quickly called his second timeout. The team huddled on the field and the coach drew up a quarterback draw, hoping the Hurricanes would be in a defense they had shown before.“We rolled the dice and said, ‘They’re going to be in it again and they were,’” Cignetti said. “We blocked it well, he broke a tackle or two and got in the end zone.”Not known as a run-first guy, Mendoza slipped one tackle, then took a hit and spun around. He kept his feet, then left them, going horizontal and stretching the ball out — a ready-made poster pic for a title run straight from the movies.Maybe they’ll call it “Hoosiers.” This was a program so bad that a coach once stopped the game early to take a picture of the scoreboard when it read “Indiana 7, Ohio State 6.” The Hoosiers lost 47-7.This year, though, they beat Ohio State in the Big Ten title game on their way to the top seed in the playoff.They won their first two games by a combined score of 94-25 and Mendoza threw more touchdown passes (eight) than incompletions (five).This one was nowhere near as easy.Fletcher was a one-man force, hitting triple digits for the third time in four playoff games and turning a moribund offense into something much more.It ended as a one-score game, and the ’Canes — the visiting team playing on their home field — moved into Indiana territory before Carson Beck’s heave got picked off by Jamari Sharpe, a Miami native who made sure the only miracle in this season would be Indiana's.“Did I think something like this was possible? Probably not,” Cignetti said. “But if you keep your nose down and keep working, anything is…

In spite of subfreezing temperatures, hundreds rallied Downtown on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to protest the policies of President Donald Trump on the first anniversary of his second inauguration. Community leaders and representatives from nearly 60 grassroots organizations gathered at the Chicago Water Tower on North Michigan Avenue and marched to Trump Tower while chanting slogans, beating drums and carrying signs.They demanded an end to enhanced federal immigration enforcement and called on agents with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to leave Chicago. Others sought a halt to hostilities in Gaza and a pause to the U.S. intervention in Venezuela and other countries. Protesters carry signs denouncing military action in Gaza as well as ICE enforcement in U.S. cities at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally Monday outside Trump Tower. Sun-Times staff Protesters carried signs that read: “Stop ICE Terror Now;” “No U.S. War on Venezuela;” “Honor MLK Jr., End War;" “Immigrants Are Our Families;” “Justice For Renee Nicole Good;” and “Justice for Silverio Villegas González.” Good was shot to death this month by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Villegas González was a restaurant worker and father killed by ICE in Franklin Park in September. At the foot of Trump Tower they unfurled banners that read Abolish ICE and F- - - Trump.“Politicians and courts have demonstrably failed us. ICE continues to run rampant. The wars continue unchecked. The genocide in Palestine continues unchecked,” said Andy Thayer, of the Chicago Committee Against War and Racism and one of the protest organizers.“The whole history of civil rights progress is that people force change and courts and politicians follow. That’s why we were out today on the bitterest cold day of the season,” Thayer said.More than 200 people turned out for the protest and march, which was energized and upbeat despite temperature in the single digits with 40 mph winds. The frigid weather couldn't keep Caitlin Kearney away. “What’s happening is not OK. Being out here is easy compared to what’s happening in Chicago and around the world,” said Kearney, who lives in Logan Square. “We have a moral obligation to stand up for what’s right.”Chris Petruccelli of Ravenswood held a sign depicting a hoagie sandwich that read: “This Machine Kills Fascists.” What’s happening now in the U.S. “is too important to not show up,” he said. His sign referred to a viral video of a protester in Washington, D.C., who threw a sandwich at federal agents last year. The man was arrested and found not guilty on assault charges. Chris Petruccelli, left, and Laurel McKenzie hold signs at a protest on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. What’s happening now in the U.S. “is too important to not show up,” Petruccelli said. Amy Yee/Sun-Times Speakers at Monday's rally Downtown included Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) and Ariel Basora of About Face: Veterans Against the War.“I am thankful for the bravery of working people fighting against fascists, imperialism, poverty, racism and militarism dividing working people so the billionaire class continues to exploit people,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “In Chicago we fight back. Remember MLK Jr, because we have to look at the past so we can fight for the future.”Basora reminded the crowd that “Every time they make a missile to kill someone else, they steal from us.”About Face is “against all wars that aren’t for pure defense, and we haven’t fought one of those in any of our lifetimes," he continued. "It’s hard to admit that. It’s hard to go through those years of service and think your time is wasted, your soul is spent. But it can be rejuvenated by healing those around you. You can prevent further wars,” Basora said.Other speakers included Danelle Wylder of Stop Trans Genocide; Nino Brown of the Party for Socialism and Liberation; Christina Perez of Dominican University; representatives of the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation and Students for Justice in Palestine; Abla Gharib…

Cardinal Blase Cupich joined two other U.S. Catholic leaders in denouncing President Donald Trump’s military action in Venezuela and overtures to take over Greenland.The policies raise “basic questions about the use of military force and the meaning of peace,” Cupich and two other cardinals wrote. Trump’s name was not used in the letter.“Our country’s moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination,” the cardinals wrote. “And the building of just and sustainable peace, so crucial to humanity’s well-being now and in the future, is being reduced to partisan categories that encourage polarization and destructive policies.”Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington, D.C., and Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, co-authored the statement titled "Charting a Moral Vision of American Foreign Policy."Cupich heads the Archdiocese of Chicago, which includes about 2 million Catholics in Cook and Lake counties. Cardinal Robert McElroy, left, of Washington, D.C.; Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, N.J.; and Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago are prominent figures in the more progressive wing of the U.S. church. “Our country’s moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination,” the cardinals wrote.Gregorio Borgia/Gregory Bull/AP Photos In an interview with the Sun-Times on Monday, Cupich said the three cardinals began talking more than a week ago about making a statement that expanded on an address by Pope Leo XIV earlier this month.“We wanted to make sure that we talked about the important principles,” Cupich said, adding that he hopes Chicago-area Catholics will reflect on the concerns. Related Pope Leo appoints Cupich to Vatican post weeks after Durbin award controversy The pope, a Chicago-area native and the first American to lead the worldwide Catholic Church, came out swinging in his address Jan. 9.“War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading,” Leo said. “The principle established after the Second World War, which prohibited nations from using force to violate the borders of others, has been completely undermined.”White House officials didn’t respond to a request for comment on the cardinals’ missive.Last year, the pope, who grew up in Dolton as Robert Prevost, criticized Trump’s immigration policies.The foreign policy statement Monday also calls out Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. Pope Leo has called for the two sides in that conflict to negotiate a peace.The cardinals said they “embrace this vision for the establishment of a genuinely moral foreign policy for our nation. We seek to build a truly just and lasting peace, that peace which Jesus proclaimed in the Gospel.”They continue: “We renounce war as an instrument for narrow national interests and proclaim that military action must be seen only as a last resort in extreme situations, not a normal instrument of national policy. We seek a foreign policy that respects and advances the right to human life, religious liberty, and the enhancement of human dignity throughout the world, especially through economic assistance.”Cupich said he and his fellow U.S. cardinals are echoing worries from clergy around the world. Related Pope Leo appoints Cupich to Vatican post weeks after Durbin award controversy Raised in South Holland, Joliet’s bishop is appointed by Pope Leo XIV to oversee Archdiocese of New York “Cardinals across the globe are sounding the alarm,” he said.The statement wasn’t meant to be timed for Monday's holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Cupich said, but he called it “a wonderful coincidence” to come out on a day to “honor a man who stood for human dignity.”

It looks like it might be a lengthy wait for AMD's next generation of graphics cards.