Latest news with #Bland
USA Today
24-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Cowboys star defender waiting on new contract leaves camp for family reasons
Dallas Cowboys All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland, who was present at the start of the team's 2025 training camp, is currently absent, as he and his wife await the birth of their newborn. The 26-year old is entering his fourth season in the NFL, all the Cowboys. While much of the attention has been on All-Pro LB Micah Parsons' contract, Bland is also facing a contract year. During his first three seasons, the former 2022 fifth-round pick developed into a late-round steal and of the team's top defenders. In 41 games played and 30 starts, Bland recorded 164 tackles, 27 pass deflections, 14 interceptions, and five touchdowns. In his first two seasons, Bland led the team in interceptions, including a career-high and league-leading nine takeaways in 2023, and was named First-Team All-Pro and a Pro Bowler. Bland waisted no time making what has already become one of the top plays of the young training camp session on Tuesday, after quarterback Dak Prescott hit an open George Pickens during a team session, Pickens turned downed field and outran the defense only to be met by Bland at the end of the play who played through the whistle by sprinting from behind to punch the ball loose for a fumble. Follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans
NZ Herald
15-07-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
On The Up: Whanganui endurance runner James Bland set for 171km Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc
Bland said he completed it in 36 hours last year. 'That was probably the hardest thing I've done in my life. 'I'm doing it again to compete in it, rather than just complete it.' Last year's UTMB winner Vincent Bouillard finished in 19 hours and 54 minutes. The record is held by American James Walmsley, who ran a time of 19:37 in 2023. 'It's the biggest race in the world, like competing at Wimbledon if you're a tennis player,' Bland said. 'You run through France, Italy and Switzerland. 'If everything goes right, I'm aiming for sub-24 hours.' New Zealand runner Scott Hawker finished third at the UTMB in 2019, with a time of 21:48. In 2022, Bland completed the 100-mile (161km) Western States Endurance Run in California, United States, and won the South Island Ultramarathon. He has finished the 165km Tarawera Ultramarathon four times. Speaking to the Chronicle after the Western States event, he said he started running while working at Pak'nSave Whanganui, which sponsors the annual 3 Bridges Marathon. James Bland is aiming to be only the third person to complete the 165km Tarawera ultramarathon five times. 'They give [Pak'nSave employees] free entry to support the cause, and all the 30-odd entrants were just doing the 5km and 10km. 'I just wanted to one-up everyone in the entire store, so I signed up for the half [marathon].' Bland, now based in Melbourne, said he was not in a position to run fulltime and worked as a sales representative to pay the bills. His 'support crew and aid station' was partner Angela Worthy, who would fly with him to France. 'It's not just finding the time to run, it's the saunas, ice baths, stretching, cooking the right food and all the rehab that comes with running 200km a week,' Bland said. 'There's so much in the background. 'If something goes wrong, you pay $100 a session for someone to massage your leg until it comes right.' He said every race funnelled into Tarawera and du Mont-Blanc - 'the big ones'. 'All my training at the moment is running hills every day. 'Basically, the [You Yangs] event at the weekend was to see how long I could hold on for.' Results over the past few years had put him in or around the country's top 10 trail runners, Bland said. He said the sport was growing popular and that meant more competition. 'Even two years ago, if you were above average, you'd do pretty well - top five. 'Above average isn't good enough any more.' Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, which starts and finishes in Chamonix, begins on August 29. Bland said he aimed to complete the Tarawera event again next year, meaning he would be one of only three people to run it five times. Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
USA Today
12-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Cowboys Secondary projected as NFL's second-worst in 2025
Offseason criticism is nothing new for the Dallas Cowboys. After limping to a 7-10 record last season, criticism is expected at this pointm although some critiques are more warranted than others. Some are based on facts, circumstances and logical forecasts. Others are just sensationalization looking for knee-jerk reactions. A case can be made that Pro Football Focus' latest analysis fits either category. In PFF's secondary rankings for 2025 the Cowboys finished second to last. Despite rostering two former All-Pro cornerbacks, and a simultaneously deep and experienced safety room, the Cowboys managed to come in next-to-last. The analysis points out that both Trevon Diggs (2021) and DaRon Bland (2023) have struggled to repeat their All-Pro success. It made no mention of Donovan Wilson, Malik Hooker or anyone else in the safety group and largely focused on the decline of the headliners at CB, saying 'the prime years of these players may already be behind them.' There's no question the Cowboys enter the 2025 season with major concerns in their secondary. The players' abilities aren't the cause for the lost faith, rather it's the health and availability of the CB room that has everyone concerned. Diggs has played just 13 games since he signed his extension two seasons ago. His current rehab is expected to significantly delay his debut in 2025, as well. Bland has struggled to repeat his best season as well, playing just seven games in an injury-plagued 2024 season. His play slipped significantly, but injuries are believed to be the primary culprit. Unlike Diggs he's expected to be back to 100% by camp. Celebrating his 26th birthday on July 12 hardly makes him past his 'prime years,' as PFF suggested, and many predict a great season from the soon-to-be free agent. Based on how the Cowboys CB room will look in Week 1, a No. 31 ranking is fair for that particular unit. But to act like Bland's successful season was a fluke and to suggest he's somehow over-the-hill is madness. Lumping him in with Diggs' situation is careless at best and by no means thoughtful analysis. Additionally, the rankings are on the entire secondary and not just the CB room so the safety group should get equal weight in these rankings. Dallas may not have an all-star safety room but they have playmakers, pedigree and playing time on their resumes. Hooker, the free safety, was graded inside PFF's top 15 in two of the last three seasons (out of a field of over 87 each year). As it's their own grading system, that should carry some weight with the website, right? At the end of the day the Cowboys deserve every bit of criticism they get but that doesn't mean the reasons behind every criticism are valid or even logical. Nothing to do now but prove those critics wrong. You can follow Reid on X @ReidDHanson and be sure to follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
Winnipeg Free Press
03-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Man who caused fatal crash gets 4 years in prison
His voice choking with emotion, Matthew Mason struggled to get his words out as he stood up in a Winnipeg courtroom to face the family of the woman who was killed in a car crash that he had caused. Mason, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous driving causing death for an August 2023 collision that took the life of 50-year-old Lisa Bland. On Monday, he was sentenced to four years in prison. 'I know you guys look at me like I'm a monster,' Mason said through tears. 'I know nothing is going to bring her back… I ruined a couple of families,' Mason said. THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES/John Woods Matthew Mason, 43, was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday for causing the August 2023 collision that took the life of 50-year-old Lisa Bland. Still reeling with their own grief, Bland's family responded with compassion and forgiveness. 'We don't think you are a monster,' said Bland's daughter Suzanne, seated with several family members in the court gallery. 'But I'm going to go home. She's never coming home,' Mason said. Mason was originally charged with an additional count of impaired driving causing death. The charge was later stayed by the Crown. The fatal collision took place on Matheson Island, about 150 kilometres north of Gimli. Court heard Mason was behind the wheel of a 2018 GMC Sierra, while Bland was in the front passenger seat. He was driving on a two-lane gravel road around 5 p.m. when he came up behind another vehicle at an intersection that was waiting to turn left. 'Rather than wait, the accused went into the left-side ditch to pass the vehicle,' Crown attorney Thomas Boult told provincial court Judge Don Slough, reading from an agreed statement of facts. Mason didn't brake as he drove nearly 500 metres, crashing into a tree and a concrete planter before ramming into a metal fence outside a cemetery. 'The top rail of the metal fence entered the vehicle and cut off the top half of Lisa Bland's head,' Boult said, eliciting a pained cry from one of her family members in the court gallery. A police officer who was called to the crash site said it was 'one of the most horrific scenes' he had ever responded to and that it had a 'significant impact' on his mental health, Boult said. 'To this day he can't be around people who drink alcohol because it brings back memories of what happened,' he said. Court did not hear how Mason and Bland knew each other or how they came to be together in the vehicle. Police at the scene said Mason smelled of alcohol, 'but did not otherwise show any signs of impairment,' Boult said. Mason told police: 'If you give me your gun, I will kill myself,' and insisted he had consumed only two drinks and was not drunk. Mason initially agreed to give a breath sample but became belligerent with officers and deliberately thwarted early attempts to provide a sample. A breath sample provided more than six hours later estimated his blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash to be .09, just over the legal limit for driving. Mason had a criminal record at the time of the crash, including convictions for assault and drug offences, but had remained out of trouble with the law since 2016. Mason had been working as a fisherman's helper and moving his life in a positive direction, said defence lawyer Manny Bhangu. 'Not a day goes by that he doesn't wake up thinking about (the crash), that he doesn't have a nightmare about it,' he said. 'He knows what he has done is absolutely horrible.' Family members described Bland as a strong, caring woman who held her family together during times of tragedy. 'With everyone, I will slowly heal, let go and forgive,' Suzanne Bland wrote in a victim impact statement read out in court. 'If I could do anything right now, it would be sitting with you, having coffee, talking, laughing,' she said. 'Our cackles, I can still hear them.' Mitchell Bland, Lisa's son, applauded Mason for addressing his family and taking responsibility for what he had done. 'Respect to you for saying something, it takes a lot of guts to say that,' he said. Mitchell said his mother stepped in to care for his young son after the boy's younger brother was fatally mauled by a dog and Mitchell was in jail. Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. 'She held us all together,' he said. 'In the time she cared (for my son), he changed completely. (He) was mute, but started expressing himself. He talks a bit now. He cared for his grandma a lot. I don't know how he is coping with losing her.' Slough described Mason's driving as 'incomprehensible' and said he 'completely accept(ed)' Mason was remorseful. 'I appreciate the generosity of the (Bland) family in dealing with this in the way they have — having a sense of loss, but not a sense of vengeance,' Slough said. 'I wish I could say something to make it better, but I can't.' At the end of the hearing, several of Mason's family members approached Bland's family and shared words and hugs before filing out of court. Dean PritchardCourts reporter Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean. Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. 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Time of India
29-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
He is 79 and thriving: Student of two-time Nobel laureate reveals 4 daily habits that could add years to your life
At 79, Jeffrey Bland isn't just a survivor of time—he's a torchbearer of a healthier, wiser way of living. Widely celebrated as the 'father of functional medicine ,' Bland has spent decades asking a deceptively simple but revolutionary question: Can healthcare shift its gaze from treating disease to preventing it altogether? It's a philosophy rooted in his time under the mentorship of two-time Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling, during his tenure at the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine in the 1980s. That foundational experience led to the co-founding of the Institute for Functional Medicine in 1991 with his wife, Susan, and later, the Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute. Now, at nearly eight decades of life, Bland not only continues to shape the future of medicine—he lives its ideals every single day. Health Begins with Self-Worth For Bland, health isn't just physical—it begins in the mind. 'I think you need to start off each day believing that you're worthy of good health,' he told CNBC Make It in a feature highlighting his daily habits. This small but mighty shift in mindset is what he considers the foundation of longevity. 'To wake up and say you're grateful for another day—that sets the context for everything that follows.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Investigadora argentina revela hallazgos sobre el magnesio Salud Esencial Leer más Undo Jeffrey Bland, 79, known as the 'father of functional medicine,. An Hour a Day Keeps the Doctor Away Bland dedicates at least one hour daily to physical activity. Whether it's run-walking, aerobic exercises, or using the Pilates reformer with his wife, movement is non-negotiable. 'It doesn't have to be extreme,' he says, 'but it does need to be intentional.' He also advocates keeping a health journal—a simple but powerful tool to track what works best for your body. From meal choices to exercise routines and sleep patterns, monitoring personal trends can offer insight into sustaining energy and health over time. You Might Also Like: Longevity decoded: 70-year-old cardiologist reveals the one change that made him stronger than ever Eat the Rainbow, Literally One of Bland's strongest dietary principles is colour. Not in plating aesthetics—but in nutritional value . 'Colourful fruits and vegetables are rich in phytonutrients ,' he explains. These natural compounds, which give foods their vibrant hues, are linked to reduced risks of chronic illnesses including heart disease, cancer, and cognitive decline. From crimson strawberries to deep-green kale, Bland's meals are nature's palette, designed not just for satisfaction but for cellular health. Unwind with Intention Work never ends—but Bland believes how we close our days is crucial. He commits one hour before bedtime to 'meditating relaxation.' For him, that usually means recreational reading—preferably books about nature or adventure, far from the day's technical literature. 'I don't go to sleep thinking about that last email,' he says. Instead, he chooses mental stillness—a pause from constant cognitive load, and a signal to the body that it's time to rest and restore. You Might Also Like: Want to live longer? Forget expensive experiments; longevity doctor reveals simple secrets to a healthier, happier life Live Beyond Yourself Perhaps the most moving element of Bland's approach to health is his unwavering sense of purpose. Functional medicine, for him, is not just a profession—it's a calling. Whether through research, spirituality, or giving back, he stresses the importance of finding something that connects you to a greater cause. 'It's about recognising that you are part of a much broader system,' he says. 'Whatever you contribute is always going to be there.' In a world obsessed with shortcuts and biohacks, Jeffrey Bland offers a quieter, more profound path to well-being. It's not about chasing youth, but cultivating habits that honour the body, stimulate the mind, and feed the soul. And at 79, the student of a Nobel laureate proves that true health isn't achieved through gimmicks—but through gratitude, movement, nourishment, and a purpose that lives beyond the self.
