Latest news with #Goodwin
Belfast Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
‘Every year feels more like home': Belfast Giants winger confirms return for sixth season
A day after line-mate Scott Conway was announced as the first returnee for the new season, the 33-year-old American has followed suit to complete two-thirds of the Giants' dynamic top line that is rounded out by dead-eye winger J.J. Piccinich. An experienced operator who has iced in the Finnish Liiga and Sweden's second division, the Allsvenskan, former Giants captain Goodwin has signed back for his sixth season with the organisation where he has become a fan favourite. And they will be relieved to see the No.64 on the roster from the start of the season rather than making a mid-season return, the St Louis native having re-joined the team midway through the last two campaigns, scoring five goals and 33 points in 33 games as the Giants won the Elite League and Challenge Cup double. Goodwin has been a serial winner in Belfast, lifting three League titles, three Cups and a Play-Off crown, and was the man with the 'C' on his jersey when the Giants clinched the Grand Slam in 2023. As well as that, the Penn State alum is no stranger to helping put the puck in the net having scored 79 goals and 266 points in 230 games for the Giants, a role he will likely be expected to assume again in the upcoming campaign. 'I'm really happy to be back in Belfast for another season. Every year I come back, it feels more and more like home. There's something special about playing here – the fans, the city, the pride that comes with putting on that jersey,' said Goodwin. "I'm excited about the group we're building and the opportunity to fight for trophies again. I know what this club is capable of, and I want to be part of bringing more success to Belfast.' Goodwin first joined the Giants in the Covid-19-shortened 2019/20 campaign as a mid-season acquisition from Allsvenskan outfit Mora IK, following two years with Liiga outfit SaiPa, and he would then return to the club for the 2021/22 season, this time as captain. His first season as the team's leader would see him lift the League and Cup double, but his third season at the SSE Arena was both statistically and in terms of silverware his best, Goodwin notching 23 goals and 95 points in 68 games as the team swept all before them on their way to a stunning Grand Slam success. Despite his success in Belfast, the winger shocked most people when it was announced he would be moving to Spanish side C.H. Jaca for the following season, but he would return to the Giants in January 2024, almost helping them to Play-Off joy only for them to fall short against the Sheffield Steelers. But his third mid-season arrival, in January just past after taking some time away from the game, proved to be his most successful in Belfast, Goodwin proving to be a massive boost as the team regained their League title and clinched another Cup crown. 'Goody is a pro in every sense. He brings a calm, focused presence to the locker room and delivers in big moments. He's played a huge role in our culture since arriving and continues to lead by example every day,' added Giants head coach Adam Keefe. "We know what we're getting with him – consistency, character, and a guy who does whatever it takes to win. I'm very pleased to have him back with us.'
Business Insider
21 hours ago
- Automotive
- Business Insider
Local lawmakers are trying to delay Tesla's robotaxi launch in Austin
Tesla's highly anticipated June 22 Austin rollout of its highly anticipated robotaxi could have hit a roadblock. On Wednesday, seven lawmakers in the Texas House of Representatives and Senate signed a letter requesting Tesla to delay its robotaxi launch until new autonomous driving regulations are scheduled to go into effect on September 1. The new regulations would require autonomous cars to be registered under Texas law, meet certain safety and vehicle standards, and also be "capable of achieving a minimal risk condition if the automated driving system is rendered inoperable." Business Insider reached out to Tesla for comment. The regulations would also require companies operating autonomous vehicles to provide a First Responder Interaction Plan to the Department of Public Safety detailing how emergency personnel should interact with driverless vehicles. However, Tesla can still proceed with the June 22 launch if it "respond(s) to this letter with detailed information demonstrating that Tesla will be compliant with the new law upon the launch of driverless operations in Austin," the lawmakers wrote. Representative Vikki Goodwin, one of the letter's authors, expressed concern about Tesla's self-driving safety measures. "I don't know that it is ready to be launched," Goodwin said of Tesla robotaxis on CBS Austin on Wednesday. There is more work that needs to be done before they let them loose on the streets," Goodwin added. According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the company has been testing its full self-driving cars on the streets of Austin over the last month. On June 10, a driverless Tesla Model Y was spotted on public roads in Austin. In May, Musk announced plans to launch thousands of Tesla robotaxis in Austin, with future plans to expand to cities like San Francisco. However, in a safety test conducted by The Dawn Project, a group that has been historically critical of Tesla's self-driving tech, a Tesla Model Y with Full Self-Driving engaged failed to stop in the presence of a school bus stop sign and child-sized dummy, raising concerns about the technology's safety. Musk himself did anticipate potential delays in the Tesla robotaxi launch. "We are being super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift," Musk wrote on X on June 10. But the robotaxi launch is an especially important event that could boost investor confidence in Tesla's ability to compete in the crowded autonomous vehicle space. Texas has few existing regulations surrounding autonomous vehicles, making it an attractive hub for self-driving technology. If the launch moves forward, Tesla's robotaxi will be traveling on Austin 's streets along with Google's Waymo, Amazon's Zoox, and ventures funded by automakers VW and Hyundai. Waymo has been offering autonomous ride-hailing services in the city since March in partnership with Uber.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Commodore makes new record with role
Leading the way is nothing new for a Queensberry woman who has become the first female Commodore of a radio-controlled yacht squadron in New Zealand. Commodore Alexa Bell said she was the worst of the 13 sailors in the Cromwell Radio Yacht Squadron (CRYS) but was keen to learn and raise the profile of the club. Radio-controlled yacht racing was not a great spectator sport, Mrs Bell said. "It's a bit like cricket. You either get it or you don't get it." However, sailing them was highly competitive. The Cromwell squadron started with five members post-Covid. While there were a huge variety of vessels to choose from the 95cm ones were the preference at Cromwell. For the technically minded they are DS95 class 1 boats. Mrs Bell's introduction to the sport was through her husband Roy Goodwin, who was an enthusiast. The couple, who met on a flight from Auckland to Melbourne, and eventually sailed to New Zealand on a yacht, ending up in Kerikeri. While Mrs Bell had always been keen to move south, Mr Goodwin was convinced the best sailing in the country was in the Bay of Islands. However, two trips to cycle the Central Otago trails had him asking why they were not living here, Mrs Bell said. "I said 'I can fix that'," Mrs Bell said. Three months later they moved. Mr Goodwin joined the Cromwell squadron and Mrs Bell was happy to wave him off, she said. The then Commodore Jamie White, of Cromwell, suggested Mrs Bell give it a go. "I was like 'OK, then' and I got hooked." When Mr White decided he was short of time to manage the club he had a solution. "He told me, didn't ask me, that I was going to be commodore." A big part of the appeal of sailing was the competitiveness and the banter between the sailors, she said. "It's just fun. It's technical but it's fun, you know? I'm terrible, I'm the loser. I've just started but it doesn't matter." With her background it was no surprise competitiveness was the aspect that attracted Mrs Bell. Hailing from Montreal, Canada, Mrs Bell was a professional equestrian — riding, caring for and training horses, and in 1985 set the world record, which still stands, with a jump of 7ft4.5in (2.25m) for puissance — essentially high jump for horses and riders, she said. After representing Canada for about 15 years, while on holiday in Australia she landed a job coaching the Australian Showjumping Team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics — the youngest ever coach and first woman to do so. It was on a flight back to Melbourne from Horse of the Year in Hawke's Bay that she met Mr Goodwin. "I wasn't in the mood to talk, I thought. I was very tired, very grumpy. We hadn't won, you guys [New Zealand] had beat us, I was going home tail between my legs and this guy starts chatting away and I was like, I just want to go to sleep. But three hours later that was it." When she gave up working with horses Mrs Bell went to the Le Cordon Bleu school, in Paris and began a new career in food. She ran Pub Grub in Kerikeri, and brought the business with her to Queensberry. She offers everything from easy meal solutions to full catering service. CRYS was a young club with many members in their 30s, Mrs Bell said. That led to meetings on Sundays at 1pm in the winter and 5.15pm on Tuesdays in the summer. They share the Dunstan Boat Club rooms at McNulty Inlet and sail on the water there. Mrs Bell was keen to increase membership and encouraged more women to join up. Radio-controlled yachts were sailed all around the world and there were thousands of clubs sailing a huge range of vessels. "You could travel all over the world and every day go to a different club and sail somewhere. It's really, really large." The CRYS will host the Otago championships on November 7 and 8. Anyone wanting to find out more would be welcome at McNulty Inlet on Sundays at 1pm or contact the club at
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Good enough: Simon Goodwin's done enough repairs to coach Demons next year
In saying that, the Demons should not be rushing to re-contract the coach beyond 2026. They can let the contract run, and re-assess Goodwin in his 10th season (2026), changing the list and potentially some of his support staff. Most premiership coaches end up with 10 years or thereabouts. That Goodwin is contracted for next year makes this call an easier one for the Melbourne board, who is not about to turf out the club's only premiership coach since the introduction of decimal currency. The Melbourne hierarchy, headed by Brad Green until the presidency is passed to another ex-player in Steven Smith this year, has contended that Goodwin has not been afforded sufficient respect for the achievement of breaking that 57-year drought and coaching them to top-four (home and away) finishes in 2022 and 2023. If, as critics asserted, Goodwin had a great collection of players at his disposal from 2021, he was also lumbered with a less-than-great football club. Those cultural deficits – seen outside the Entrecote restaurant in 2022, the Joel Smith drug suspension, and in discord between individual players since – more than offset the talents of a playing list that also had major holes in its forward line and fewer repeat-speed runners than Geelong or Collingwood. In assessing Goodwin's performance, it is only fair to factor in those headwinds he encountered – within both team and club – and to consider the enormous resilience he's shown in handling overlapping problems. On Goodwin's watch, the Demons won a flag in a year when they were sequestered in a pristine bubble in Perth. Did that unnatural environment focus minds? Maybe. But as one who was in Perth and watched the finals at close quarters, I would say their 2021 premiership was as bona fide as any. From a practical vantage, Melbourne would find it difficult to replace their senior coach this year, even if they were leaning that direction (which they aren't), for various reasons. One is that their incoming chief executive, Paul Guerra, doesn't begin his job until September. The far more important consideration is the level of improvement – and trajectory – since that terrible 0-5 start. The recovery began with an upset of Fremantle and was crystallised by the more impressive scalp of Brisbane at the Gabba. The Demons were unlucky to fall short on King's Birthday against Collingwood, too – a defeat that, barring something extraordinary, snuffed out their faint finals prospects. Loading The Demons erred in not letting Oliver have his wish to be traded to Geelong, given the terms of any future trade will not be as favourable. This was an all-club call. To greenlight the prospective trade – as the Demons shrewdly did with Jesse Hogan in 2018 – is an opportunity missed. Kysaiah Pickett has been instrumental in the turnaround, Goodwin having deployed him further upfield in spurts and given the gifted forward more license to create for others. Whether they needed to sign the sublime Kozzy to another mega-contract similar to those handed to Petracca and Oliver is debatable; we'll know sometime in the 2030s. Critically, the Demons have re-discovered a capacity to turn those forays forward into scores, a pattern that began with the Fremantle game, in which Pickett booted five goals, and continued against the Lions and Swans, with only regressions against the Hawks and St Kilda. The Demons are in the process of healing themselves culturally while undertaking a version of rebuilding on the run (hitherto appearing to be in no man's land), as Harvey Langford, Xavier Lindsay and Caleb Windsor are blended into an experienced group. Goodwin deserves more time to oversee the blending, and to see out his contract, at the least.
The Age
6 days ago
- Sport
- The Age
Good enough: Simon Goodwin's done enough repairs to coach Demons next year
In saying that, the Demons should not be rushing to re-contract the coach beyond 2026. They can let the contract run, and re-assess Goodwin in his 10th season (2026), changing the list and potentially some of his support staff. Most premiership coaches end up with 10 years or thereabouts. That Goodwin is contracted for next year makes this call an easier one for the Melbourne board, who is not about to turf out the club's only premiership coach since the introduction of decimal currency. The Melbourne hierarchy, headed by Brad Green until the presidency is passed to another ex-player in Steven Smith this year, has contended that Goodwin has not been afforded sufficient respect for the achievement of breaking that 57-year drought and coaching them to top-four (home and away) finishes in 2022 and 2023. If, as critics asserted, Goodwin had a great collection of players at his disposal from 2021, he was also lumbered with a less-than-great football club. Those cultural deficits – seen outside the Entrecote restaurant in 2022, the Joel Smith drug suspension, and in discord between individual players since – more than offset the talents of a playing list that also had major holes in its forward line and fewer repeat-speed runners than Geelong or Collingwood. In assessing Goodwin's performance, it is only fair to factor in those headwinds he encountered – within both team and club – and to consider the enormous resilience he's shown in handling overlapping problems. On Goodwin's watch, the Demons won a flag in a year when they were sequestered in a pristine bubble in Perth. Did that unnatural environment focus minds? Maybe. But as one who was in Perth and watched the finals at close quarters, I would say their 2021 premiership was as bona fide as any. From a practical vantage, Melbourne would find it difficult to replace their senior coach this year, even if they were leaning that direction (which they aren't), for various reasons. One is that their incoming chief executive, Paul Guerra, doesn't begin his job until September. The far more important consideration is the level of improvement – and trajectory – since that terrible 0-5 start. The recovery began with an upset of Fremantle and was crystallised by the more impressive scalp of Brisbane at the Gabba. The Demons were unlucky to fall short on King's Birthday against Collingwood, too – a defeat that, barring something extraordinary, snuffed out their faint finals prospects. Loading The Demons erred in not letting Oliver have his wish to be traded to Geelong, given the terms of any future trade will not be as favourable. This was an all-club call. To greenlight the prospective trade – as the Demons shrewdly did with Jesse Hogan in 2018 – is an opportunity missed. Kysaiah Pickett has been instrumental in the turnaround, Goodwin having deployed him further upfield in spurts and given the gifted forward more license to create for others. Whether they needed to sign the sublime Kozzy to another mega-contract similar to those handed to Petracca and Oliver is debatable; we'll know sometime in the 2030s. Critically, the Demons have re-discovered a capacity to turn those forays forward into scores, a pattern that began with the Fremantle game, in which Pickett booted five goals, and continued against the Lions and Swans, with only regressions against the Hawks and St Kilda. The Demons are in the process of healing themselves culturally while undertaking a version of rebuilding on the run (hitherto appearing to be in no man's land), as Harvey Langford, Xavier Lindsay and Caleb Windsor are blended into an experienced group. Goodwin deserves more time to oversee the blending, and to see out his contract, at the least.
