SAN RAMON — Mayor Dave Hudson suffered a stroke while returning from a cross-country trip and will not be able to fulfill his duties for an undetermined time, city officials said.

Hudson fell ill after returning from Washington D.C., according to a statement from San Ramon Interim City Manager Steven Spedowfski. City officials did not say when exactly Hudson had experienced the stroke.

Vice Mayor Mark Armstrong will govern in Hudson’s place, until he can return. Hudson was recovering, Spedowfski said in a statement.

“We wish Mayor Hudson a speedy recovery and look forward to his return as soon as he feels better,” Spedowfski said.

No timetable has been established for Hudson’s return, he said.

Hudson was elected the city’s mayor in 2020 and also spent five terms on the city council. Armstrong served his first term as a councilmember in 2021.

February’s arrival marks the start of the stretch run across college basketball and a make-or-break month for a quartet of Pac-12 teams.

The mediocre conference has twice as many NCAA bubble-sitters as it does locks for at-large berths:

— UCLA and Arizona are safely in the 68-team field and are playing for seed.

— Arizona State, USC, Utah and Oregon are playing for bids.

The selection process doesn’t take conference affiliation into account; there is no limit to the number of slots for the Pac-12. But the bubble teams will pummel each other in head-to-head meetings, thereby capping the amount of momentum available.

The conference will be fortunate to get two of the four into the NCAAs.

Some notable comparative metrics and rankings for your analysis …

*** NET rankings

No. 50: Utah
No. 55: USC
No. 58: Oregon
No. 64: ASU

*** Record in Quad I (highest level) games:

ASU: 3-3
USC: 2-4
Utah: 2-4
Oregon: 2-5

*** Pomeroy efficiency ratings

No. 42: USC
No. 47: Utah
No. 55: Oregon
No. 66: ASU

*** Pomeroy non-conference schedule strength

No. 44: Oregon
No. 145: USC
No. 173: ASU
No. 314: Utah

*** Remaining intra-bubble games

ASU: vs. Oregon, vs. Utah, at USC
Oregon: at ASU, vs. USC
USC: at Oregon, at Utah, vs. ASU
Utah: at ASU, vs. USC

Our view: USC and Oregon are best positioned to land on the right side of the bubble, while Utah has the toughest road. The selection committee won’t take kindly to the Utes’ schedule.

Then again, we have repeatedly failed to get a proper handle on the Pac-12. Inconsistent teams and wild variances in results are the marks of a mediocre conference — a conference that can claim just two NCAA Tournament locks as the stretch run arrives.

(NET rankings through Monday)

1. UCLA (17-4/8-2)

Last week: 1
Results: lost at USC 77-64
Next up: vs. Washington (Thursday)
NET ranking: 5
Comment: If a slump is unavoidable, this is the best time of year to experience it. We give the Bruins until the third week of February to recapture their groove.

2. Arizona (19-3/8-3)

Last week: 2
Results: won at WSU 63-58 and Washington 95-72
Next up: vs. Oregon (Thursday)
NET ranking: 10
Comment: The Wildcats are faring slightly better with voters than computers at the moment. They are No. 5 in the AP poll but 10th in the NET and 12th in the Pomeroy efficiency ratings.

3. USC (15-6/7-3)

Last week: 3
Results: beat UCLA 77-64
Next up: vs. Washington State (Thursday)
NET ranking: 55
Comment: Boogie Ellis has topped the 25-point mark four times this season, against BYU, Auburn, Washington and UCLA. Not surprisingly, the Trojans won all four.

4. Oregon (13-9/7-4)

Last week: 7
Results: beat Colorado 72-65 and Utah 68-56
Next up: at Arizona (Thursday)
NET ranking: 58
Comment: February has typically been Dana Altman Month in the Pac-12. We’ll see if his players know the history — and can repeat it.

5. Utah (15-8/8-4)

Last week: 4
Results: won at Oregon State 63-44, lost at Oregon 68-56
Next up: vs. Stanford (Thursday)
NET ranking: 50
Comment: We are hereby declaring Craig Smith’s second season a rip-roaring success, regardless of what happens the rest of the way.

6. Arizona State (15-7/6-5)

Last week: 5
Results: lost at Washington 69-66 (OT) and WSU 75-58
Next up: vs. Oregon State (Thursday)
NET ranking: 64
Comment: The Sun Devils have lost four in a row and finish with Arizona and the L.A. schools on the road, which makes sweeping the next six essential.

“Crash, correction or chill” looks at economic and real estate trends that give hints about how deep housing’s troubles may be.

Buzz: California house hunters should be mildly encouraged that prices in three major markets are well off their springtime peaks – though housing values are still quite inflated from pre-pandemic days.

Source: My trusty spreadsheet reviewed Case-Shiller’s November home price indexes that track 20 big U.S. markets, including three in California. It’s a widely watched benchmark that’s essentially a three-month average of values. This yardstick compares pricing from sales of individual existing single-family homes vs. measures such as those that track median sales prices.

Topline

Case-Shiller confirms bargains exist across California, bringing modest relief to budget-strapped folks dreaming of homeownership.

San Francisco prices are off the most from their top of the 20 cities tracked by this math.

Bay Area values fell 14% from May 2022 and are off 2% over 12 months – the only yearly loss among the 20. Prices are at a 17-month low but over three years there’s still a 26% gain.

San Diego had the No. 3 drop in prices – off 10% from May’s all-time high, but up 5% over 12 months. November pricing was the cheapest in 10 months but shoppers navigate a market where there was a 46% gain in three years.

And in Los Angeles and Orange counties, prices are down 7% from the May top – the No. 6 drop. Prices fell to a nine-month low. but stand up 4% over 12 months and 36% higher over three years.

Details

The house hunter’s other challenge is last year’s rising mortgage rates. The historically cheap money that inflated values in the pandemic era became history.

Rates soared from 3.45% to start 2022, rising to 6.9% in October, effectively slashing borrowing power. As a result, affordability headaches crushed California single-family home purchases to a 16-year low, according to a California Association of Realtors index.

Now, there’s been some rate relief through January, as home-loan rates have fallen to 6.27%. Does that create more “affordability” – or simply firm up prices? That remains to be seen.

Crash, correction or chill?

What do pricing patterns suggest about the next twist for the house hunt …

Crash? This argument would focus on August to November when all 20 U.S. markets had month-to-month losses. Previously, across-the-board declines had occurred only 13 times since 1991.

And the last time there was a longer losing streak like this was the six months ending in February 2009. You know, back in the Great Recession’s bubble bust.

Or a mere correction?  Look at December’s local median selling prices from CoreLogic, and you’ll see L.A. prices are 10% off their April peak and O.C. prices are down 11% from their May top.

Attention, house hunters; There’s been additional discounting through at least the end of the year!

Just a chill? Yes, Case-Shiller’s 20-city composite index shows U.S. home prices are off 5% from the June 2022 peak. But the 20-city composite still sits 7% above November 2021.

And U.S. prices are 38% above what was being paid three years ago.

Elsewhere

The other 17 market results, ranked by drop from their price tops …

Seattle: Off 13% from May’s peak but up 1% over 12 months. Three years? 41% gain.

Phoenix: Off 8% from June peak but up 6% over 12 months. Three years? 60% gain.

SANTA CLARA — Nick Bosa, who won his first NFL sack title this season, also won the 49ers’ most prestigious honor: the Len Eshmont Award, for inspirational and courageous play.

Bosa also won the Matt Hazeltine “Iron Man” Award for being the most courageous and inspirational defensive player this season, which ended with Sunday’s NFC Championship Game loss at Philadelphia.

Fred Warner won the Bill Walsh Award, as voted on by coaches for professionalism. Bosa won last year’s honor, following past recipients since 2017 in Kyle Juszczyk, Kittle, Buckner and Warner.

The Bobb McKittrick Award, in recognition of an offensive lineman’s service, went to center Jake Brendel, after Laken Tomlinson won it three of the previous four seasons.

Quarterback Brock Purdy received the Thomas Herrion Award, in recognition of a rookie or first-year player who made the most of their opportunity. Purdy won eight games in relief of an injured Jimmy Garoppolo, then came Sunday’s NFC title game, in which Purdy sustained a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow that will force him to have surgery and keep him out at least six months.

Juszczyk won the Garry Niver Award, as presented by the San Francisco chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America for professionalism and cooperation with the media.

NBA TV will soon premiere an hour-long special on Shaquille O’Neal’s rookie season with the Orlando Magic.

The special, titled “Shaq: The Rookie Season” as part of NBA TV’s “Basketball Stories” series, will look back on O’Neal’s first season with the Magic after they drafted him at No. 1 in 1992.

The special will premiere at 10 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 13.

O’Neal had a historic rookie season.

En route to being named the 1993 NBA Rookie of the Year, O’Neal became the first rookie since Michael Jordan (1984-85) to be voted as an All-Star starter. He was also the first rookie to win Player of the Week honors in the first week of his career.

The special will look back on multiple moments of O’Neal’s rookie season, including breaking the backboard during a one-on-one game with Ahmad Rashad on “NBA Inside Stuff”, his first time playing against Charles Barkley and breaking a backboard in Phoenix, and O’Neal playing the league’s top centers for the first time.

O’Neal, Barkley, Ewing, Rashad, Alonzo Mourning, Dennis Scott, Isiah Thomas and Reggie Miller were among the people interviewed for the special.

The “Basketball Stories” series, in addition to other NBA TV on-demand programming, is also available for consumers through the NBA App.

This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Khobi Price at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @khobi_price.

()

It’s easy throwing shade at a city when you’re 1,250 feet tall. Just be ready for some blowback.

Following a rough couple days, Tuesday’s chipper “Good morning!” message from the Empire State Building’s Twitter account was met by a swift reply from Mattress Firm.

“Heard you had a bit of a rough night buddy…” the bedding company tweeted.

Feuding between the iconic skyscraper and New Yorkers began Sunday when the the Empire State Building shined the Philadelphia Eagles’ colors over Manhattan and tweeted a photo including lyrics from the NFC Champions’ fight song “Fly Eagles Fly!”

A week earlier, the Eagles —arguably the Giants’ biggest rivals — knocked the home team out of the playoffs. Big Apple denizens on radio, TV, social media, in bars and in politics laid into the perceived insult.

“Unfortunately, someone did not get the memo at the Empire State Building, but we want to see good sportsmanship,” Mayor Eric Adams told CNN.

In fairness, the Empire State Building also lit itself red and white Sunday after the Kansas City Chiefs won the AFC championship and advanced to take on the Eagles at the Super Bowl on Feb. 12 in Arizona.

But it didn’t end there. On Monday, the Empire State Building’s Twitter feed posted a selfie with the message “We’ll see you at the big game” and included video of press clippings rehashing Sunday’s controversy.

“What is happening?” one Twitter follower wondered.

“Girl, I was thinking the same thing,” another user wondered.

The bad blood between New Yorkers and their once favorite building also comes with a Taylor Swift element. That video included an audio clip played by Swift — a suburban Philadelphia native — at the start of her 2018 “Reputation” tour performances.

Swift — a New York City transplant — professed her love for the big city in her 2014 song “Welcome to New York.”

“The lights are so bright, but they never blind me,” she sang.

Neither the Empire State Building nor Swift returned a request for comment.

()