LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The final day of the 2014 NFCA Convention at Bally’s Las Vegas concluded on Saturday with the Coaching Staff of the Year Brunch, along with several speakers, roundtable discussions and the travel ball curriculum.

The day began with attorney Tracy Warren, who spoke about contracts during her “How to Protect Your Job” seminar. Following Warren, the Coaching Staff of the Year brunch recognized coaches from all memberships (regionally & nationally) and allowed all the National Coaching Staffs of the Year to speak in front and thank their peers.

Another popular portion of the morning was “Drills, Drills, Drills” where coaches shared their own drills on different parts of the game, which included head coach Mike Lambros of North Davidson (N.C.) High School (slapping), Cal State Fullerton head coach Kelly Ford and her staff (Team Competition Drill Series) and Kentucky associate head coach Kristine Himes (Offensive Drills).

Follow lunch, roundtable topics included West Texas A&M’s Kevin Blaskowski (Preparing Your Team For the Post-Season, Stanford’s Rachel Lawson (Systematizing for Excellence) and Darcy Brownell of Sierra College (Building Blocks to Team Chemistry).

The convention wrapped up with three speakers in the afternoon and the Travel Ball Curriculum. The afternoon presentations featured Rick Pauly, pitching coach at Georgia (Pitching Performance Measures), Tori Nyberg from Elevate Performance Counseling (Why and How to Teach the Mental Game as Part of Regular Preparation) and Orthopedic Surgeon (University of South Carolina) Dr. Chris Mazoue (Epidemic of Overuse Injuries of Softball).

The three-hour travel ball curriculum, featured a college head coaching panel featuring Tim Walton of Florida, Jen McIntyre of UConn, Larissa Anderson of Hofstra, Randy Simkins of Dixie State, Ketih Parr of Christopher Newport, Darci Brownell of Sierra College and Joe Yegge of Kirkwood Community College. It was followed by Texas Glory’s Kevin Shelton, Fury Fastpitch’s (Tenn.) Pat Moyer and Hanson, who presented “Measurements and Standards.”

This year’s convention was one of the most successful in the Organization’s history with approximately 1,450 attendees (record high) and 600 vendors (120 companies).

Artifact, Valve’s online trading card game, has received some considerable backlash from fans for its “pay for everything” payment model – and Valve has given an official response.

As reported by PC Gamer, fans have a bevy of complaints about the game’s payment model. Despite the base game with its initial set of cards costing $20, fans will have to pay $2 for every booster pack of cards. Fans can also win more cards by playing drafting modes using event tickets (which cost real-world money to purchase) or buy and sell specific cards in the marketplace, which Valve also profits off of.

The backlash to this got so bad that one of the most popular Artifact threads on Reddit urged fans not to buy the game to dissuade this sort of monetization.

Valve has responded to some of these complaints in a blog post yesterday before the game’s public beta went live. Issues pertaining to drafting were addressed, with Valve noting fans couldn’t draft with friends, or practice draft modes without spending an event ticket. Fans also noted that starter cards (which everyone begins the game with) would be next to useless on the marketplace, necessitating the purchase of booster packs anyway.

To somewhat remedy this, the next beta build will include a “Casual Phantom Draft gauntlet available in the Casual Play section,” though that appears to be more of a practice mode. Another complaint, that starter cards which everyone begins with would be included in booster packs and would therefore be next to useless on the marketplace, is being dealt with by allowing “extra, unwanted cards to be recycled into event tickets.”

For more on Artifact, check out our first look at game’s draft mode, and read about how Valve won’t force you to chat with your opponent in the game.

Artifact is set to be released on November 28 for PC, MacOS and Linux on Steam, and later in 2019 for iOS and Android devices.

Colin Stevens is a news writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The National Pro Fastpitch League and CBS Sports Network have signed an agreement making CBS Sports Network the exclusive television home of NPF for the second consecutive season and expands the overall coverage package of NPF action.

CBS Sports Network will continue to provide exclusive coverage of the NPF’s regular season competition featuring 8 weeks of Monday and Tuesday night live primetime telecasts. Regular season coverage will take place from 7 different cities in 5 different states.  In addition to regular season coverage, CBS Sports Network will carry live action of every single Championship Series game in 2015 from the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama.

Leading the way in 2015 coverage, CBS Sports Network will air the NPF College Draft Presented by Bownet in a live telecast on April 1 at 6:30 pm EST. The addition of the Draft to the NPF broadcast schedule will mark the first time in League history for live television coverage. 2015 NPF College Draft Presented by Bownet, will take place at the CMA Theatre in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, located in Nashville, TN.

“We are extremely proud to continue our partnership with CBS Sports Network for the second year in a row,” said NPF Commissioner, Cheri Kempf. “We realize there is a very broad audience following the sport of fastpitch softball, and we look forward to expanding the coverage of the very highest level of competition the sport has to offer in 2015.”

The 2015 NPF College Draft Presented by Bownet, the NPF regular season competition and the NPF Championship Series are all produced by the NPF in conjunction with Guenther Productions, an Orlando-based production company.

The NPF regular season coverage will begin June 8 at 7:00 pm EST, with the defending Cowles Cup Champions, USSSA Pride visiting the league’s newest team addition, the Dallas Charge. The teams will square off at the home field of the Charge, The Ballfields at Craig Ranch in McKinney, TX, a suburb of Dallas.

— Courtesy of Gaye Lynn Wilson (NPF)

New U.K. research has found that sleeping longer than the recommended amount could be bad for your health. More than eight hours of shut-eye is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death, compared to sleeping less than seven hours.

Led by researchers from Keele University, along with colleagues at the University of Manchester, the University of Leeds and the University of East Anglia, the new analysis looked at 74 studies which investigated the link between sleep duration and sleep quality and the risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease.

Together, the studies included 3,340,684 participants who self-reported their sleep duration.

The researchers found that participants who reported sleeping for more than eight hours a night had a greater mortality and cardiovascular risk than those who slept for less than seven hours.

A sleep duration of 10 hours a night was linked with a 30 per cent increased risk of dying compared to sleeping for seven hours, a 56 per cent increased risk of dying from a stroke and a 49 per cent increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

In addition, poor-quality sleep was associated with a 44 per cent increase in coronary heart disease.

Lead researcher Dr. Chun Shing Kwok said, “Sleep affects everyone. The amount and quality of our sleep is complex. There are cultural, social, psychological, behavioural, pathophysiological and environmental influences on our sleep such as the need to care for children or family members, irregular working shift patterns, physical or mental illness, and the 24-hour availability of commodities in modern society.”

“This research began because we were interested to know if it was more harmful to sleep below or beyond the recommended sleep duration of seven to eight hours. We further wanted to know how incremental deviation from recommended sleep duration altered risk of mortality and cardiovascular risk.”

“Our study has an important public health impact in that it shows that excessive sleep is a marker of elevated cardiovascular risk.”

“Our findings have important implications as clinicians should have greater consideration for exploring sleep duration and quality during consultations. If excessive sleep patterns are found, particularly prolonged durations of eight hours or more, then clinicians should consider screening for adverse cardiovascular risk factors and obstructive sleep apnea, which is a serious sleep disorder that occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep.”

The results were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s senior economic adviser gave Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a symbolic pat on the back Sunday for how the federal government has been “hanging tough” on the diplomatically delicate extradition case of senior Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou.

Larry Kudlow said he’s “proud” of how Canada has handled the Meng matter — a tacit acknowledgment of the diplomatic bind the U.S. Justice Department created for the federal Liberals in December when they asked that the chief financial officer and telecom scion be arrested and held in Vancouver, pending extradition.

Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, is at the centre of a sprawling U.S. indictment unsealed last month that accuses the growing tech juggernaut of misrepresenting its ownership of a Hong Kong-based subsidiary between 2007 and 2017 to circumvent U.S. sanctions against Iran. She and the company are facing 13 counts of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction of justice.

Watch: Trudeau says ‘rule of law’ followed in Meng Wanzhou case

“I’ll just say how proud I am of Prime Minister Trudeau, and Canada, for hanging tough on Huawei,” said Kudlow, director of the U.S. National Economic Council.

He acknowledged the grief the case has caused Canada since Meng, who remains under house arrest in Vancouver pending an extradition hearing, was detained at the city’s airport in early December: two Canadians have since been detained in China, ostensibly for national security reasons, while a third — convicted by a Chinese court of drug trafficking — is facing the death penalty.

“That’s why I’m so proud of Prime Minister Trudeau for staying with the rule of law and assisting the United States. I’m very proud of him.”

Kudlow made the comments following an appearance on a free-trade panel at the winter meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington alongside federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau. And it wasn’t the only instance that he dropped the prime minister’s name.

As world leaders were gathering last year in Argentina, where Trump, Trudeau and former Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto signed the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the prime minister approached Kudlow in an effort to move past the animosity that had erupted six months earlier at the G7 meetings in June in Quebec.

Trump, apparently piqued by Trudeau’s hard-line rhetoric on tariffs and trade, unleashed a Twitter tirade that denounced the prime minister as “dishonest” and “weak,” refusing in the end to sign on to the agreed-upon end-of-summit communique. Kudlow called Trudeau’s comments a “betrayal,” while U.S. trade adviser Peter Navarro suggested he deserved a “special place in hell.”

The dust-up left Canada-U.S. relations, already strained over the ongoing NAFTA talks and a burgeoning cross-border tariff war, at their lowest point in recent memory — until Trudeau crossed the corridor to reach out to Kudlow.

“He came up to me — this is a true story — after the USMCA ceremony, he walked across the hall to come up and grab my hand and give me a hug,” Kudlow said. “I asked him if we could please turn the page on any of that stuff that occurred last spring, and he said, ‘Absolutely,’ and then we started having some policy discussions.

“Justin just grabbed my hand and gave me a bear hug, and I was thrilled.”

Asked whether the animosity has similarly diminished between the two leaders, Kudlow said: “I think it’s partly happened.”

Trump floats possibility of dropping charges

On Friday, Trump himself floated the possibility — again — that the U.S. could drop criminal charges against Huawei, as the president wrapped up two days of negotiations at the White House aimed at resolving America’s own ongoing trade dispute with China.

“We’re going to be discussing all of that during the course of the next couple of weeks,” Trump said at the White House during an Oval Office meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special envoy, Vice Premier Liu He.

“We’ll be talking to the U.S. attorneys. We’ll be talking to the attorney general. We’ll be making that decision. Right now, it’s not something we’ve discussed.”

Late Sunday, Trump announced he would hold off on a dramatic spike in tariffs on Chinese exports, originally scheduled for Friday, pending the outcome of U.S.-China trade talks that he said on Twitter have “made substantial progress.”

“Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself at Mar-a-Lago to conclude an agreement.”

The Coalition has provided a first look at Gears Pop! gameplay, which offers a condensed real-time strategy experience with a few special Gears of War touches.

Revealed in a developer video, you can watch a single PvP match between studio head Rod Fergusson and lead game designer Tyler Bielman. Though a “soft” launch is coming soon, a wide release of the game will come sometime in 2019 for iPhones and Androids.

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“The object of the game is to play out your units and push forward and take down the outposts and the leader at the opposite end of the field,” said Bielman.

You progressively take cover attempting to get to the other end of the field: destroying an enemy outpost at the other end will net you a single point. A power bar at the bottom of the screen fills up in discrete segments, with each unit costing a certain ammount of these segments to play.

Teams can be comprised of famous human characters like Marcus Fenix, JD Fenix, Kait, etc., but can also include Locust units for greater team diversity. All units, of course, are in cute, Funko Pop! proportions – massive heads and all. Specific characters have special abilities: Marcus takes cover faster than other units, JD has a “down but not out” ability and Kait can run past enemy units to directly attack outposts. The more field you’ve taken, the further up you can spawn units.

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“Ultimate abilities” are in the game and can offer tactical advantages, like using the Hammer of Dawn to eviscerate enemy units – though after using one, it will have to recharge over time. With a minute left in a match, the bar will begin filling more quickly for both players. If the game is tied after the three minutes are over, players go into sudden death and the first player to score a point wins the match.

Gears Pop! was announced at E3 2018 alongside Gears Tactics and Gears 5 (which most definitely won’t be called Gears of War 5). For more on Gears 5, check out how its tone reminds us of God of War (in a great way).

Colin Stevens is a news writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

SALEM, Va. — By becoming the first Division III team to win three straight NCAA softball championships, the Tufts Jumbos have earned the right to be mentioned alongside such softball powerhouses as UCLA, Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Northridge.

The Jumbos finished the season a perfect 51-0 and closed the year on a Division III-record 53-game win streak with two wins Monday over Texas-Tyler in the NCAA Championship Series. Tufts won game one of the best-of-three series 2-0 and rallied from two runs down in the sixth to score a 7-4 victory in game two.

Tufts hasn’t lost since falling 2-1 to Salisbury in the opening game of the NCAA Championship Series on May 26, 2014.

In the three NCAA divisions, only UCLA (1988-90) in Division I and Cal State Northridge (1983-85) and Cal State Bakersfield (1988-90) in Division II have won three straight crowns.

The Jumbos rallied from two runs down in the top of the sixth, scoring four times to claim a lead it would not relinquish. Cassie Ruscz hit an one-out homer to left to get Tufts on the scoreboard, pinch hitter Raina Galbiati drove in two runs with a single to center and Christina Raso doubled home another run.

Texas-Tyler (50-5) fought right back in the bottom half, getting one run back on Shelby Shelton’s single down the left field line before four-time NFCA All-American and Tournament Most Outstanding Player (for the third straight year) Allyson Fournier struck out fellow All-American Vanessa Carrizales to escape a bases-loaded jam.

The previous inning Jackie Mendez hit the first home run off Fournier this season, a solo shot to left with two outs, which was the first earned run she allowed in 54.2 innings. Mendez also scored the first Patriot run, coming all the way around from first (she got on with a two-out walk) when Carrizales reached on a throwing error.

Ruscz added some insurance in the top of the seventh with her second homer to left in as many innings.

KK Stevens homered to lead off the bottom of the seventh, and Texas-Tyler loaded the bases with two out, but Fournier induced a fly out to left to end the contest.

Fournier finished with six strikeouts, but walked five and allowed nine hits in the win. Counterpart Alaina Kissinger scattered six hits and allowed one run over five innings for the Patriots, while All-American Kelsie Batten was the losing pitcher in relief, allowing four hits and five runs in two-thirds of an inning, but only two of the runs were earned, as Texas-Tyler made three of its five errors in the sixth.

In the opening game, Fournier struck out seven and walked two in a two-hit shutout and Gracie Marshall went 2-for-2 and Bri Keenan drove in both Jumbo runs.

With one out in the fifth, All-American Raven Fournier singled to right and Samantha Siciliano walked. Marshall followed with a single to center to load the bases.

Keenan then singled to left center to score both Fournier and Siciliano.

Whitney Burt and Stevens provided Texas-Tyler’s two hits, while fellow All-American Kelsie Batten allowed five hits and struck out three in the first 4.1 innings before Alison Kissinger allowed nothing over the final 1.2 innings.

Jumbo teammates Michelle Cooprider, Keenan and Ruscz joined Fournier on the All-Tournament team, while Batten, Christa Hartnett — who had ESPN SportCenter’s No. 1 Top Play in Sunday’s win over Salisbury — and Mendez were selected for the Patriots.

Tufts matched Linfield’s 51 wins in the Wildcats’ 2011 title run for the most by a team in a season in Division III history. Texas-Tyler, meanwhile, had the second-most wins in a Division III season.

School is almost out, and soon we’ll be enjoying all that is wonderful about spending those long summer days with our kids. Whether your summer itinerary includes lots of beach days, trips to museums and cultural events, road trips, a big family vacation, or even just chilling at home, it helps to be prepared.

Here’s how you can get the summer started off right, and keep on top of things until school starts up again.

Covering the basics

Because last summer’s swimsuit likely isn’t going to fit your kid anymore, it’s a good idea to make a list of their summer essentials and buy them before you actually need them. You don’t want to be caught scrambling on that first trip to the beach/pool/cottage when your kid can’t squeeze into their old shorts. Also, depending on how rough your child is on their things, you might discover that even if the shorts fit, they may no longer be in wearable condition.

Take time to go through your kids drawers and to work out what they need. Going through the clothes with your kids will also help you decide whether they actually need new things, or if they just want them. Just asking kids, especially those who are more fashion-aware, may result in you spending more than is needed.

Well-stocked summer supplies

We’ve all been in that situation where we’ve had to buy an emergency bottle of sunscreen or bug-spray at a place that charges premium prices, and it’s hugely frustrating. You either end up paying double the price for your usual brand, or your only choice may be a fancy sunscreen you’ve never heard of that sets you back even more, just because you’re in a pinch. The same could be said for other summer fun essentials, like sand toys, hats, flip-flops and more.

Be smart this year, and stock up on summer essentials now, so you can use the brands you trust, shop the stores you like and pay the prices you expect. And don’t get caught in the same situation next summer! If you see an end-of-season summer clearance, stock up on sale items or summer styles a size or two up for your kids now so you don’t have to pay full-price.

Beat Backyard Blues

If you have a backyard, keep a basket of everything your kids need near the door they are using to go in and outside. That way they can help themselves to towels, sunscreen, a hat and flip flops when they are heading out the door. Every so often add something new to the basket, like sidewalk chalk or bubbles, to keep things fresh and exciting. This works well in small spaces too — just adjust the contents of the basket to match the outdoor space and activities that best suit your needs.

Screen-free boredom busters

The battle to keep kids off screens is something most parents struggle with, and it only gets worse over the summer when the kids don’t have school and their regular activities to distract them. Advance planning here can help too.

Clever parents set limits on screens that are manageable and easy to enforce. Depending on the age of your kids, this could include no screens until they’ve fulfilled certain tasks — cleaned their room, read for 20 minutes, played outside for 30 minutes, etc. — or by allowing them a certain amount of screen time per day/week, divvied up however they decide.

If you’d like your kids to read more over the summer, you could order them a gift of a series of books to work their way through, or join a summer reading program at your local library. Library reading programs often offer incentives to those who read a certain number of books, such as theme park tickets or meal vouchers, and this is something that you could easily emulate at home.

For kids that are too young to read solo, you could stock up on age-appropriate art supplies, stickers, and colouring books that’ll keep them busy. This way, you still get time to yourself without resorting to screens.

Plan ahead – for summer and back to school!

Take inventory of what your kids have and know what they’ll need for the upcoming year. Being organized and planning ahead will allow parents to make the most of their time this summer and scoop up school savings.

Most stores will begin having school savings beginning in July, so slowly check items off your list to relieve that last-minute school shopping that can be extremely stressful.

A little planning and preparation will help ensure parents, and kids, get the most out of summer, with the least amount of spending surprises.

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA Division II Softball Committee has selected the 64 teams that will participate in the 2015 NCAA Division II Softball Championship. Four teams will participate at each of 16 regional sites in double-elimination tournaments. Regional competition will take place May 7-9 or May 8-10. Winners will advance to the super regionals May 15-16. The finals will be held May 21-25 at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and will be hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma and the Oklahoma City All Sports Association.

In the 2014 championship, West Texas A&M University captured its first national championship title with a 3-2 victory against Valdosta State University.

REGIONAL BRACKETS | FINALS BRACKET (OKLAHOMA CITY)

Here’s a list of the 22 automatic qualifiers: 
California Collegiate Athletic Association: California State University, Monterey Bay
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference: Caldwell University
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association: Saint Augustine’s University
Conference Carolinas: Limestone College
East Coast Conference: Queens College (New York)
Great American Conference: East Central University
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Wayne State University (Michigan)
Great Lakes Valley Conference: University of Missouri-St. Louis
Great Northwest Athletic Conference: Montana State University Billings
Gulf South Conference: Shorter University
Heartland Conference: St. Mary’s University (Texas)
Lone Star Conference: West Texas A&M University
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association: University of Central Missouri
Northeast-10 Conference: Southern New Hampshire University
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Winona State University
Pacific West Conference: Dixie State University
Peach Belt Conference: University of North Georgia
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference: California University of Pennsylvania
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference: Regis University (Colorado)
South Atlantic Conference: Catawba College
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Tuskegee University
Sunshine State Conference: University of Tampa

— Courtesy of NCAA.com

SITES/PAIRINGS:

*Denotes host institution

Atlantic 1 Regional at California, Pennsylvania

1. California (Pa.)*  35-10

8. Saint Augustine’s 20-12

4. Charleston (W.Va.) 36-12

5. Gannon 28-14

Atlantic 2 Regional at Buckhannon, W.Va.

2. West Virginia Wesleyan 35-8

7. Seton Hill 31-13-1

3. West Chester 41-14

6. Concord 33-17

Central 1 Regional at Sioux Falls, S.D.

1. Augustana (S.D.)* 43-13

8. East Central 32-14

4. Central Oklahoma 40-18

5. Winona State 46-12

Central 2 Regional at Warrensburg, Mo.

2. Central Missouri* 44-14

7. Missouri Western State 36-19

3. Henderson State 41-13

6. Arkansas Tech 40-20

East 1 Regional at Garden City, N.Y.

1. Caldwell 34-12-1

8. Pace 25-15

4. Adelphi* 25-19

5. Wilmington (Del.) 31-16

East 2 Regional at Manchester, N.H.

2. Southern New Hampshire* 31-6

7. St. Anselm 22-11

3. Queens (N.Y.) 35-14

6. LIU Post 30-15-1

Midwest 1 Regional at St. Louis, Mo.

1. Missouri-St. Louis* 44-6

8. Wayne State (Mich.) 42-17-1

4. Grand Valley State 32-15

5. Southern Indiana 37-9

Midwest 2 Regional at Indianapolis, Ind.

2. Indianapolis* 42-12

7. Trevecca Nazarene 38-8

3. Ashland 38-8

6. Truman 33-14

South 1 Regional at Valdosta, Ga.

1. Valdosta State* 46-7

8. Tuskegee 13-18

4. Shorter 36-15

5. Alabama-Huntsville 39-14

South 2 Regional at Florence, Ala.

2. Rollins 37-11

7. Tampa 28-11

3. North Alabama* 35-12

6. Florida Tech 35-17

South Central 1 Regional at Canyon, Texas

1. West Texas A&M* 44-9

8. Tarleton State 30-20

4. Cameron 39-16

5. Angelo State 33-15-1

South Central 2 Regional at San Angelo, Texas

2. St. Mary’s* (Texas) 42-9

7. Texas Woman’s 28-20-2

3. Metro State 42-14

6. Regis (Colo.) 31-17

Southeast 1 Regional at Dahlonega, Ga.

1. North Georgia * 43-9

8. Limestone 30-13

4. Catawba 29-15

5. Anderson (S.C.) 39-13

Southeast 2 Regional at Milledgeville, Ga.

2. Georgia College* 44-9

7. Armstrong State 30-14

3. GRU Augusta 32-12

6. Carson-Newman 35-13

West 1 Regional at Seaside, Calif.

1. Cal State Monterey Bay* 47-10

8. Montana St. Billings 29-21

4. Humboldt State 41-17

5. Sonoma State 39-19

West 2 Regional at St. George, Utah

2. Dixie State* 44-7

7. Saint Martin’s 41-18

3. California Baptist 40-9

6. Chico State 28-20