Ufez Jones's profile

Sports Illustrated accused of publishing articles written by non-existent, AI-generated authors.: Noting that several "authors" headshots and bios were available for sale from a third-party AI website under descriptions like "neutral white young-adult male with short brown hair and blue eyes" or "joyful asian young-adult female with long brown hair and brown eyes", Maggie Harrison at Futurism investigates suspicious pieces that have been published under the banner of the once-heralded magazine. The Arena Group, who runs SI's current publishing line, says the pieces were published by a third-party contractor named AdVon, who has assured SI that "all of the articles in question were written and edited by humans" and therefore this is all big misunderstanding. SI has admitted no wrongdoing, but has terminated their contract with AdVon.

posted by Ufez Jones to media at 09:41 AM on November 28, 2023 - 4 comments

The NBA Board of Governors approves new Player Participation Policy to combat excessive load management.: The policy, which only pertains to "Star Players" (defined as any player that has made an All NBA Team or All-Star Team in the previous three seasons*) includes measures to ensure that healthy Star Players will play in all nationally televised games and the In-Season Tournament, and will balance rest nights between home and road games in favor of away.

posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 04:43 PM on September 13, 2023 - 3 comments

Stephen Strasburg Retires from Baseball: Stephen Strasburg is calling it quits on a career that saw him debut as the most highly touted fireballer in years, become World Series MVP in 2019 and finally be undone by frequent arm injuries -- all while in the uniform of the Washington Nationals. His 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings is seventh all-time but his 113 wins are 31 lower than anyone in the Hall of Fame. "It's a miracle what he was able to accomplish despite the glitchy pitching mechanics that scouts warned would be his demise," writes D.J. Dunston of Deadspin.

posted by Ufez Jones to baseball at 07:53 PM on August 24, 2023 - 3 comments

Shohei Ohtani is very, very good at baseball.: In the first game of today's doubleheader at Detroit, Ohtani threw his first complete game, an 11K, 1-hit shutout. And then followed that up with a 2-HR performance in Game 2.

posted by Ufez Jones to baseball at 09:52 PM on July 27, 2023 - 7 comments

The NFL’s Running Back Market Has Bottomed Out: After two of the NFL's best young running backs - Saquon Barkley and Josh Jackson - failed to reach new deals with their respective teams and are going to be playing the season under the franchise tag, Danny Heifetz writes: "The running back market has been crashing for years. When it bottomed out on Monday, you could sense players finally beginning to grieve. While it’s noble for (Derrick) Henry to say he will fight for what running backs “deserve,” it’s also sad to think about how unwinnable that fight will be. Whether these individual players are deserving has nothing to do with it."

posted by Ufez Jones to football at 05:51 PM on July 18, 2023 - 3 comments