Le Journal

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs expects to be able to roll out new app software nationwide to enable online appointment scheduling beginning this January. Patients initially will be able to set up primary-care appointments via an app that will be available on their computers, phones or tablets.

All 15 WNBA teams released a 44-game 2026 schedule on Wednesday afternoon, shepherding in the league’s 30th season and the league’s two newest teams in Toronto and Portland. Yet, instead of excitement, the announcement was met with pure confusion. How, if the WNBA has yet to come to terms with its players on a Collective Bargaining Agreement, is it possible to schedule a season? Why release the schedule if we don’t know for certain there will even BE a 2026 WNBA season? Apparently, it comes down to league operations, venue booking, and logistics, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou. Teams need time to sell ticket packages, make broadcast plans, and ensure the arenas are booked before other events come in and take the dates they need. The league views the schedule release as a necessary part of business operations that allows teams to start logistical planning, sell ticket packages… also to secure optimal arena dates, all the more crucial for teams who don't own their arenas https://t.co/atKTctzofC— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) January 21, 2026 When the teams around the WNBA started teasing an announcement for this afternoon, there was speculation on what it could be. Especially knowing there has been no real news about the CBA negotiations in over a week. A 30th anniversary celebration? Jersey updates? Merchandise? If it were the CBA itself, the announcement would have probably been leaked to a journalist and not teased out by the league. Surely, fans thought, they couldn’t release the dates without a contract? Well, that was wrong. The WNBA is planning a 44-game season for 2026, starting on May 8 and ending on Sept. 24, with the playoffs to follow. There will be a break from Aug. 31 to Sept. 16 for the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Germany, with the regular season resuming for just over a week after that break. Another confusing aspect of the 2026 campaign is taking a two-and-a-half-week break, right when the season is ramping up, and the playoffs are just around the corner. In previous years, the WNBA has condensed the season during a World Cup year, ending before the tournament, yet with 44-games now, that’s not possible. The WNBA All-Star Game will happen in Chicago on July 24 and 25. The WNBA will also be welcoming its first international team in Toronto, and the Tempo will play two games in Vancouver on Aug. 21 and 23, as well as two in Montreal on July 10 and 12. The rest of Toronto’s home games will be played in their home city, with three special games at Scotiabank Arena and the rest at the Tempo’s home arena of Coca Cola Coliseum. Yet, all of this needs to be taken with a grain of salt. There is still no guarantee that there will be a 2026 WNBA season, or that this current schedule will hold. There have been few recent updates on the state of CBA negotiations, and the league and players still seem far apart on their wants and needs. Maybe this is a bit of a push to get the ball rolling on that, but it was still strange to see so many straight-faced updates on a season that is far from guaranteed to even take place.

Getty Image Rocky will be on the road for a large chunk of 2026.

In Tuesday’s ACC Action, NC State surprised Clemson on the road, 80-76 in overtime, Florida State pulled an impressive upset over Miami, 65-63 and SMU thumped Wake Forest, 91-79. Will Wade said State would need a big win to offset the home loss to Georgia Tech and they got it at Clemson, where the Tigers had won 14 straight home games. They had also won 14 straight ACC games, which is really impressive. But State ripped off a 12-2 run in the first half and put the Tigers behind the 8-ball. Clemson was under a lot of pressure and had six turnovers in a 6:22 stretch. Neither team shot overly well but State had 7 turnovers to Clemson’s 13 and got seven more points at the foul line than did the Tigers. Ven-Allen Lubin racked up 22 points on 9-12 from the floor. This was a gut check for State and the Pack passed the test. It was a huge resume win and will put them back on track for the post-season. We picked Clemson and Miami and both lost. In the latter case, we probably underestimated the power of a rivalry game. While Miami was solid early, Florida State was ahead for most of the second half. Never far ahead mind you and behind a couple of times, but still, the ‘Noles didn’t fall off late as they have done on occasion this season and Luke Loucks got his first ACC win. What we like about where FSU is now is that this team does not have that much talent and certainly not a major post presence. However, for our money, Loucks has done something that his predecessor Leonard Hamilton struggled to do almost annually: under the new guy, Florida State has an offensive identity. This is a team that moves the ball well and finds open shots. Loucks looks like he’s a guy who will only get better at that. He needs better players, but once he gets them, this will be a fun team to watch. You heard it here first. This game was tied 63-63 with :01 left when Miami’s Tre Donaldson fouled Robert McCray, who hit both. McCray had 20 to lead FSU and Chauncey Wiggins had 10. Shelton Henderson led Miami with 19 while Malik Reanu had 16. SMU built a nine-point halftime lead and cruised to a relatively easy win over Wake Forest in the Joel. Cooper Schweiger and Omaha Biliew combined for 8 points and 4 rebounds in the loss, which wasn’t hard to see coming against massive bigs Samet Yigitoglu and Jaden Toombs. Wake has two basic offensive problems: 1) a lack of size and productive big men, and 2) an offense that is overly reliant on Juke Harris, Myles Colvin and Nate Calmese. Harris finished with 27 here, Colvin had 17 but Calmese had just 4. Tre’Von Spillers moved back into the starting lineup and had 19. In the three previous games, he finished with 4 (Miami), 7 (UNC) and 6 (FSU). Clearly he can be a helpful player, but he’s 6-7 and 215 and bigger guys will abuse him in the paint. In his return to Lawrence Joel, Boopie Miller had a modest game with 12 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. The discussion about what to with the Dean Dome rages on and prominent figures are beginning to weigh in. Ol’ Roy Williams has already stated his preference is to renovate the Dean Dome and now he’s joined by Brice Johnson and Tyler Hansbrough. Speaking of UNC, struggling Notre Dame visits Wednesday while Pitt and BC, both 8-10, square off in Boston. And in the nightcap, Virginia Tech and Syracuse go at it in the Dome. Tuesday’s ACC Action Notre Dame at UNC || 7:00 || ESPN2 Pitt at Boston College || 7:00 || ACCN Virginia Tech at Syracuse || 9:00 || ACCN NC State head coach Will Wade following ranked road win over Clemson: ‘Hopefully this gives us some pop’ NC State Upsets No. 18 Clemson In a Nail-Biting 80-76 Overtime Finish NC State upsets No. 16 Clemson in OT to end Tigers’ winning streak Wade, NC State Take Down Tigers in Return to Clemson Clemson Basketball: Clemson 76 – NC State 80 NC State coach Will Wade reflects on his return to Clemson, seeing how much has changed Three major takeaways from FSU basketball upset road win over Miami…

In 1986, Mike Krzyzewski took Duke to the Final Four for the first time since the 1978 team got there. Naturally, the immediate question after the championship game, which Duke narrowly lost to Louisville, was whether Duke was a flash in the pan. Was this a one-time thing, like it turned out to be for Jim Valvano at NC State and Bobby Cremins at Georgia Tech? The 1986-87 team became crucial and by the end of the season, it made the Sweet Sixteen. Led by senior guard Tommy Amaker and star sophomore Danny Ferry, the Blue Devils were again a tough out despite losing four starters. And on January 24th, Duke went down to Clemson’t notorious Littlejohn Coliseum and got into one heck of a game. This one went to overtime and with just seconds left and Duke up 105-103, Billy King was fouled. Clemson called a timeout and when the teams came back on the court, a new rule caused a problem: that year: teams had 15 seconds to get out of time out and in position at the foul line or it would be a turnover. And that happened to King, much to his shock and dismay. Clemson got the ball back and came up court and someone – we think Michael Tait – took a shot, and Ferry blocked it. Duke played keep away for the last few seconds before the Tigers gave up. Games like this showed that Duke was not going anywhere. Go to the DBR Boards to find Blue Healer Auctions | Drop us a line