Members phkrause Posted August 25 Author Members Posted August 25 👋 Good morning! Welcome back. Stat du jour: Only three players in MLB history have homered on the first and last pitch their team saw in a game. Two of them did it in the last week: Pete Crow-Armstrong (Monday) and Randy Arozarena (Saturday). In today's edition: Back to campus, another NBA team sale, Wyndham wins in St. Louis, Coco crowned in Cincy, Premier League kicks off, Spider-Man catch, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... 🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🎾 US Open headlines: World No. 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew from the season's final Grand Slam due to the knee injury that's kept him out since winning Wimbledon; Carlos Alcaraz and Serena Williams are teaming up in mixed doubles. ⚾️ 9 in a row: The Phillies (73-58) are on some kind of roll, winning their ninth straight game on Sunday despite trailing the Cardinals, 4-0, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. The hero? Who else but Kyle Schwarber, who crushed a walk-off bomb for his MLB-leading 39th homer. 🏀 Veterans on the move: Klay Thompson is signing a two-year, $13 million deal with the Heat after agreeing to a buyout with the Mavericks; DeMar DeRozan is signing a one-year deal with the Nuggets for $3.9 million, the veteran minimum. 🏎️ Norris wins again: McLaren's Lando Norris won Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix, giving the reigning F1 champion back-to-back victories. Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli finished second to maintain a sizable lead atop the standings. 🤖 Score one for the robots: A two-legged machine finished the 100-meter race in 9.39 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, besting Usain Bolt's world record of 9.58 seconds set in 2009. 🎓 COLLEGE SPORTS CHAOS BACK TO CAMPUS: FROM THE NFL TO LSU Dae'Quan Wright warms up prior to Saturday's preseason game. (Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) College sports had another first last week: An NFL player entered the NCAA transfer portal. Four days later, that player is on track to land at LSU. Driving the news: The Browns waived rookie Dae'Quan Wright on Sunday. If he clears waivers, the former Ole Miss tight end has an agreement in place to reunite with Lane Kiffin and play for the Tigers this season, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. Wright spent four years in college before entering the 2026 NFL Draft. He went undrafted, signed with the Eagles and later landed in Browns training camp. Now, thanks to the chaos engulfing college sports, he could become the first player to suit up for an NFL team and then return to NCAA football. How is this possible? Wright is part of a group of players who sued the NCAA in Louisiana seeking a fifth year of eligibility after the association adopted a new five-year, age-based eligibility policy in June. The players argue that while they're ineligible under the old rules, they would be eligible under the new ones, and shouldn't be punished simply because the change came after their college careers ended. A Louisiana judge agreed, granting the players a fifth season and opening a special week-long transfer portal for them that opened on Thursday. Crucially for Wright, the judge also barred the NCAA from enforcing its longtime ban on players returning to college after signing professional contracts. Wright during an Ole Miss game last fall. (Justin Ford/Getty Images) The backdrop: The lawsuit's lead plaintiff is former LSU edge rusher (and current Tampa Bay Buccaneer) Jack Pyburn, while Wright is one of three former Ole Miss players in the suit who played for Kiffin. In other words, this wasn't random: The lawsuit was an orchestrated effort out of Baton Rouge to bring players like Pyburn and Wright back to campus — and LSU isn't the only school engaging in this. The eligibility madness isn't limited to football, either. Similar lawsuits are unfolding in college basketball, where schools are fighting to gain eligibility for players seeking fifth seasons or attempting to return after going pro. Ross Dellenger, Yahoo Sports: Schools across the country — the same schools that create these eligibility rules that the NCAA is tasked with enforcing — are fighting against those very rules as a way to gain a competitive advantage. Economists will tell you that this is just how a competitive market works: Schools, now paying millions directly to their athletes, are under more financial pressure than ever to win in a competitive market where court rulings have crippled any logical rules enforcement. Much of this is driven by coaches who don't trust that coaches at other schools aren't planning on improving their roster by skirting the rules. As one person put it, "We'll do it before they do." It's another bizarre chapter in major college sports' evolution from amateurism to professionalism — the latest indicator that, perhaps, congressional legislation and/or a collective bargaining agreement is necessary to have regulation. What to watch: The college football season kicks off in less than two weeks, while NFL teams must trim their rosters to 53 players by Aug. 30 — potentially sending another wave of recently cut players searching for a way back to campus. "I need to figure this s*** out," one power conference GM told Yahoo Sports. "It's such a wild time." 🤝 TEAM SALES FIRST A TRICKLE, THEN A FLOOD We can't promise that another professional sports team won't have sold by the time you finish this sentence. Or this one. After the reported sale of the Timberwolves on Friday, the fourth control sale of a "Big Four" franchise this year, all bets are off. Hardwood hustle: The flood of investment money seeking sports ownership has been a boon to minority stake sales, as majority owners can access liquidity without relinquishing their teams. But control sales remain relatively infrequent… except in the NBA, where recent sales are piling up in comparison to peers. NBA: Rockets (2017), Nets (2019), Jazz (2020), Suns (2023), Bucks (2023), Hornets (2023), Mavericks (2023), Timberwolves (2025), Celtics (2025), Lakers (2025), Trail Blazers (2025), Lakers (2026), Timberwolves (2026) NHL: Hurricanes (2018), Coyotes (2019), Penguins (2021), Senators (2023), Lightning (2024), Mammoth (2024), Predators (2025), Penguins (2025) MLB: Marlins (2017), Royals (2019), Mets (2020), Orioles (2024), Rays (2025), Padres (2026) NFL: Panthers (2018), Broncos (2022), Commanders (2023), Seahawks (2026) Trickle, then a flood: Of all 31 control sales in these leagues over the past decade, 23 have come in the last five years, including 16 in the last three years and nine in the last 12 months alone. Sales occur for myriad reasons, from estate matters and planning (Blazers, Seahawks, Padres), to the completion of an investment cycle (Penguins), to extraneous circumstances (Lakers). Uniting most of the exits, though, has been the availability of attractive offers, many of them multiplying the seller's previous entry price. This is an excerpt from today’s Yahoo Sports Biz. 🇺🇸 SNAPSHOTS PHOTOS ACROSS AMERICA "Good game." (Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images) Williamsport, Pennsylvania — The Braves beat the Brewers, 4-2, in Sunday's Little League Classic, which ended on a beautiful double play and, more importantly, with a handshake line to honor their hosts. Who's got next? The Cubs and Blue Jays have already been tabbed to play in next year's Little League Classic, the 10th annual edition of one of MLB's best new traditions. (James Gilbert/PGA Tour via Getty Images) St. Louis, Missouri — Wyndham Clark held on to win the BMW Championship on Sunday for his third victory of the season, tied for the most on Tour. And with that, the 30-man PGA Tour Championship is set. Team USA taking shape: Clark's victory vaulted him into one of the six automatic spots on the U.S. Presidents Cup team for next month's competition. He'll be joined by Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa, plus six picks still to come from captain Brandt Snedeker. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images) Cincinnati, Ohio — Coco Gauff dominated Jessica Pegula on Sunday to capture her second Cincinnati Open crown, joining Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka as the only women with two titles in the event. On the men's side: Arthur Fils beat Frances Tiafoe to win his first Masters 1000 title. With the win, the 22-year-old moves up to a career-best No. 11 in the world rankings. Kirkwood speeds past the U.S. Capitol. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images) Washington, D.C. — Kyle Kirkwood won Sunday's Freedom 250 Grand Prix, an elaborate 250-mile spectacle that saw IndyCar drivers race around the National Mall to celebrate America's 250th birthday. Chasing the champ: Kirkwood took a big chunk out of Álex Palou's lead atop the standings, but he's still a distant second behind the four-time IndyCar champion (2021, 2023, 2024, 2025) with three races left in the season. 💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS Nobel Mendy celebrates Hull City's second goal in front of an elated home crowd. (George Wood/Getty Images) ⚽️ 52 years Newly-promoted Hull City — the last team to earn promotion to the Premier League this season — opened their campaign with a stunner as they took down Manchester United, 2-0, for their first league win over the Red Devils since 1974. Scoreboard: The Tigers' shutout was one of six during opening weekend, alongside Brighton over Aston Villa (4-0), Arsenal over Coventry (3-0), Brentford over Spurs (3-0), Everton over Palace (2-0) and Leeds over Forest (1-0). Elsewhere: Man City beat Bournemouth (2-1), Ipswich Town beat Sunderland (2-1) and Liverpool salvaged a draw against Newcastle (2-2). 🏈 5.0 YPC Four-time Pro Bowler Nick Chubb is retiring at age 30, walking away from the NFL as one of the most efficient rushers the league has ever seen. His career mark of 5.0 yards per carry is tied with Gale Sayers and Barry Sanders for the third-best among running backs (min. 900 attempts), trailing only Jim Brown (5.2) and Jamaal Charles (5.4). Career cut short: Chubb was a wrecking ball for the Browns until he suffered a devastating knee injury in 2023 followed by a broken foot in 2024. Now, rather than push his luck, he's confidently calling it quits. "I say this to all my brothers still on the field, still in the heat of it: There's a life waiting for you after football, too. And health is the real wealth." DeGrom acknowledges the crowd after his 2,000th strikeout. (Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) ⚾️ 2,000 strikeouts Jacob deGrom notched his 2,000th career strikeout on Friday — in his 1,661st career inning. That's the second-fastest any pitcher has ever reached the milestone, trailing only Chris Sale (1,626 innings). 2K strikeout club: The Rangers ace is the 94th pitcher in MLB history with at least 2,000 strikeouts, and the ninth active player after Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Sale, Gerrit Cole, Kevin Gausman, Yu Darvish, Sonny Gray and Aaron Nola. Next up is likely Zack Wheeler (1,964 K), who could reach the mark by season's end. 🏀 7 of 8 The WNBA postseason field is nearly set after the Dream (24-13), Fever (25-14), Liberty (23-15) and Mystics (22-15) all clinched their spots over the weekend. Those four join the Lynx (31-7), Valkyries (25-11) and Aces (26-13) to account for seven of the eight playoff spots. Eighth coming soon: The Wings (22-16) can clinch the final spot as soon as tomorrow considering their only competition is the Fire (15-22). The remaining six teams have already been eliminated with a month left in the regular season. 📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: MONDAY, AUG. 24 Kayla McBride hits the "Night Night" celebration during Minnesota's win over Golden State last week. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) 🏀 Valkyries at Lynx The WNBA's top two teams meet for the second time in a week (8pm ET, USA), as first-place Minnesota (31-7) — seeking its seventh straight win — hosts second-place Golden State (25-11). The Valkyries are 0-3 against the Lynx this season, and 25-8 against everyone else. Not slowing down: Rookie phenom Olivia Miles' outstanding numbers have only gotten better as of late. During Minnesota's six-game winning streak, the MVP contender is averaging 21.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 8.2 assists, while shooting a scorching 46% from long range. More to watch: ⚾️ MLB: Rays at Tigers (6:40pm, FS1) … Tampa Bay's Drew Rasmussen (13-5, 3.01 ERA, 0.95 WHIP) has quietly been one of the AL's best pitchers this year. ⚽️ Premier League: Fulham vs. Chelsea (3pm, USA) … The West London derby closes out Week 1. 🚴 Vuelta a España: Stage 3 (8:45am, NBCSN) … The peloton travels 104 miles through France as the race makes its way to Spain. 🎾 U.S. Open: Qualifying (11am, ESPN2) … Players battle for the final 16 spots in the men's and women's singles draws. 🏀 LET'S PLAY TRIVIA TIME (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) 18 years ago today, the "Redeem Team" won gold at the Beijing Olympics, restoring order to the basketball world after Team USA's disappointing bronze in 2004. Question: Which country did the U.S. beat in that gold medal game? Answer at the bottom. 🎥 HIGHLIGHT REEL CATCH OF THE YEAR?! (Washington Nationals) Nationals center fielder Jacob Young climbed the wall like Spider-Man on Sunday in Miami to make one of the best catches you'll ever see. Trivia answer: Spain Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted August 27 Author Members Posted August 27 👋 Good morning! Today's GeoSports is live, with questions written by yours truly. Tap in and see how you score. In today's edition: The Brewers' recipe for success, Angel Reese's historic night, mixed doubles takes center stage, Yahoo Fantasy introduces a new position, a bearish bet on baseball, Robot Olympics, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... 🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🏀 Angel's historic night: Angel Reese grabbed 26 rebounds in Atlanta's win over the Sparks, breaking Chamique Holdsclaw's record of 24 for the most in a single WNBA game. With the performance, Reese also broke A'ja Wilson’s record for most rebounds in a season (458 and counting). 🏈 Watson named QB1: Deshaun Watson has won the starting job in Cleveland over Shedeur Sanders, the team announced Monday. After multiple Achilles injuries, he's now in line to start his first game since 2024. ⚾️ 3 HR for Big Dumper: Cal Raleigh had by far the best game of his disappointing season on Monday, posting the first three-homer game of his career in the Mariners' win over the Phillies. He now has 17 HR and a .618 OPS on the year after posting 60 HR and a .948 OPS last year. 🚲 Vuelta halted for hail: Stage 3 of the Vuelta a España was abandoned due to a dangerous hailstorm with just a few kilometers left on Monday. The season's final grand tour resumes today with Tadej Pogačar (who else?) leading the way. ⛳️ Bryson's cryptic message: Is Bryson DeChambeau's run with LIV Golf over? That seems like a distinct possibility after the breakaway tour's biggest name shared a series of photos from LIV Golf events on Instagram with the caption, "It was a good run." ⚾️ SMALL BALL, BABY THE BEST TEAM IN BASEBALL DOESN'T HIT HOME RUNS (John Fisher/Getty Images) Last season, the Brewers won a franchise-record 97 games. This season, they're on pace to eclipse 100 wins as they hurtle toward their fourth straight division crown. How does a small-market club keep doing this? What's their recipe for success? Small ball, baby: Milwaukee (81-50) has the best record in baseball despite ranking dead last in home runs (120). Instead of slugging long balls, they manufacture runs in a way that would make Billy Beane proud: they get on base. The Brewers have the second-best OBP in the majors (.337), powered by the second-best walk rate (10.7%) and third-best batting average (.254). And once they get on base the fun really begins, as they also rank third in stolen bases (129) and sacrifice bunts (30). The combination of smart baseball and just enough slugging (they're top five in doubles) has yielded a team with MLB's best run differential (+161). Pitching helps, too: NL Cy Young frontrunner Jacob Misiorowski (13-5, 1.68 ERA) gets the headlines, and deservedly so, but the rotation would fall apart behind him if not for the excellence of Logan Henderson (8-2, 2.60 ERA) and Kyle Harrison (10-3, 2.84 ERA). And in the latter half of games, the Brewers hand the reins over to MLB's third-best bullpen (3.33 ERA). What they're saying: "I don't think we've played great," manager Pat Murphy said last week despite mountains of evidence to the contrary. "We haven't really jelled. We haven't really come together." And yet here they are with MLB's best record even as some of their clubhouse leaders have had down years. "Maybe that's the secret," he added. "Maybe this team still plays well enough to be close when they're not at their best." Will it translate in October? Small ball-reliant teams can thrive over the course of 162 games, but they tend to struggle in the playoffs, just as the Brewers have in the past three years (two wild card exits, one NLCS sweep). Could this be the year Milwaukee bucks that trend? Or will power hitters rule the postseason* once again? *Teams that out-homer their opponents have gone 53-13 (.803) across the last two postseasons, and each of the last six World Series champions ranked in the top four in home runs during the regular season. 🎾 US OPEN MIXED DOUBLES TAKES CENTER STAGE Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka. (Ben Whitley/PA Images via Getty Images) A reimagined mixed doubles event has transformed the week before the US Open main draw from an overlooked sideshow into a must-see event. Shlomo Sprung, Yahoo Sports: Across the tennis world, mixed doubles had been considered an afterthought. For years, the US Open had placed it in the third week of the tournament, overshadowed by men's and women's singles while the sport's best players are either still participating in singles or moving on to the next tournament. In 2025, the United States Tennis Association made a scheduling change that singlehandedly revived the competition. In an effort for the US Open to legitimize what it calls Fan Week, the qualifying week before the main singles and doubles draws begin with free admission for spectators, the USTA moved mixed doubles to the last full week in August, when top players were more available, and gave the winning team $1 million. The plan was a spectacular success. The tournament drove 78,000 fans to the Open grounds and sold out the nearly 24,000-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium on both nights, which meant millions in added revenue from concession and merchandise sales. More than 2 million fans visited the Open's mobile app and website, and its YouTube channel set a single-day record with 12.8 million views, the USTA said. "We wanted to give [mixed doubles] the spotlight it deserved," Brendan McIntyre, the US Open's head of communications and content, told Yahoo Sports. "The players also embraced it, and the star power in the field was evidence of that. There was never a doubt that we would be bringing it back for this year." Star-studded bracket: This year's tournament, which began with Monday's qualifiers, features seven of the top 10 ranked women in the world and six of the top 10 men. Notable pairings include: Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz: The GOAT continues her comeback tour alongside the young Spaniard, who's back from an injury. Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic: The two-time defending singles champ teams up with the legendary 24-time grand slam champion. Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz: This all-American pair is poised to be fan favorites. And both are in good form. Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils: Husband and wife will compete together as Monfils plays in his final grand slam before his retirement after this season. 🏈 NEW FEATURE OFFENSE COMES TO YAHOO FANTASY Our 29 Days of Fantasy is still going strong, and we just dropped one of the biggest new features yet: an entirely new roster position. Introducing Team Offense: Defenses have been a standard part of fantasy leagues for decades; now, offenses are joining the fray. The position was introduced as a default roster spot when we launched College Fantasy Football last month, and now it's an option in our NFL game, too. How it works: For leagues that choose to include this roster spot, full team offenses will be a draftable position, earning (or losing) points in seven different ways: TD scored: +3 First 300 yards of offense: +1.5 Every 50 additional yards: +0.25 FG made: +1 Turnover: -2 Win: +1 Loss: -1 Pro tip: Based on last season's stats, offenses score appreciably more fantasy points than defense/special teams (the top D/ST would not have cracked the top 10 OFF), so you should target the position accordingly in your draft, writes Yahoo Sports' Hayden Winks. Not sure who to take? Here are Hayden's top 10 fantasy offenses entering the season: (Yahoo Sports) The NFL regular season kicks off two weeks from tomorrow. Create or join a Yahoo Fantasy Football league today! 📉 JOCK STOCKS A BEARISH BET ON BASEBALL Sports team valuations are rising at a breakneck pace, but at least some investors are betting they'll head in the other direction. A Brave trade: Investors are shorting Atlanta Braves stock in record numbers. The company's short interest, the percentage of shares available for trading that have been sold short, is sitting just off the highest levels seen in its trading history, as highlighted last week by Bloomberg. As of July 31, short interest was 6.59% of the float. For context, the median short interest of S&P 500 stocks was 3.0% this spring. Shorting activity has increased sharply in the spring and summer against the backdrop of an ongoing MLB labor dispute and a challenging local media environment. Heavy lies the crown: As one of the few publicly traded major American sports teams — and the only MLB team — the Braves could serve as a proxy for pessimistic views on the league or the broader sports ecosystem. The former is more likely given current circumstances, with the prospect of a lockout looming large. An outcome favorable to ownership, however, could send shares higher. No rally caps needed: Though short interest may be on the rise, it has done little to slow the momentum of Braves shares, which have risen steadily in recent months in reaction to surging investment interest in the sports world. The stock is up over 33% in 2026. This story first appeared in Yahoo Sports Biz, our new sports business newsletter authored by Dylan Dittrich. Join 300,000+ subscribers and get it in your inbox. 🤖 MEANWHILE, IN CHINA IN PHOTOS: ROBOT OLYMPICS (Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images) The second annual World Humanoid Robot Games are underway in Beijing, where over 600 teams — and 2,000 robots — from 16 countries are competing in the five-day event at the National Speed Skating Oval, built for the 2022 Winter Olympics. (Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images) Rise of the machines: The robots, which in some cases are fully autonomous (i.e. required no remote control), are competing in 51 different events ranging from sports like soccer, kickboxing, running and table tennis to non-athletic endeavors such as household chores and hotel services. (Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images) Run, robot, run: The biggest headline so far is that a robot ran the 100m dash in 9.39 seconds, faster than Usain Bolt's world record from 2009 (9.58). But perhaps the bigger headline should be that the fastest 100m time last year was 21.5 seconds, illustrating how rapidly these machines are improving. (Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images) Made in China: The government-backed Games remain part of a larger initiative in China, where the country is investing heavily in robotics and artificial intelligence. To wit, the World Robot Conference is also currently underway in Beijing. 📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: TUESDAY, AUG. 25 (Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) ⚾️ Dodgers at Braves Atlanta hosts tonight's battle of first-place teams (7:15pm ET, TBS), as Tyler Glasnow (3-0, 2.72 ERA) takes the mound for the Dodgers and Bryce Elder (8-7, 3.92 ERA) gets the start for the Braves. Hot and cold: The Dodgers (80-51) have put their post-deadline swoon behind them, winning six straight to increase their division lead over the Padres to 9.5 games. The Braves (76-55), on the other hand, have lost seven of 10, and their lead over the surging Phillies is down to just 3.5 games. 🎾 US Open, Mixed Doubles The star-studded event kicks off in earnest today (10am, ESPN2) in Flushing Meadows, where some of the top names in the sport will compete for a $1 million grand prize. Legends in primetime: Later on this evening, Roger Federer returns to the court for an exhibition match (8pm, ESPN2) alongside fellow US Open champions Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe. More to watch: 🏀 WNBA: Fire at Wings (8pm, NBA) … Dallas (22-16) clinches the final playoff spot with a win. ⚽️ Leagues Cup: Chicago Fire vs. Monterrey (8:30pm, Apple); Real Salt Lake vs. León (10:30pm, Apple) … Quarterfinals. 🚴 Vuelta a España: Stage 4 (8:45am, Peacock) … Riders travel 65 miles through the mountains of Andorra. 🌍 LET'S PLAY GEOSPORTS GeoSports is back in Yahoo Sports AM, and I'll be writing the questions every Tuesday. How to play: You'll be asked five trivia questions that combine sports with geography (like the question pictured above). Tap where it happened! The closer you are, the more points you get. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted August 27 Author Members Posted August 27 👋 Good morning! Happy Hump Day. In today's edition: New alarming CTE study, conferences ban pro players, match play returns to PGA Tour, stadiums getting smaller and more premium, old man on campus, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... 🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🎓 Big Ten, SEC ban pros: In the midst of college sports' eligibility crisis, the Big Ten and SEC have both approved bans on former professional athletes who want to return to play in college. Which, I don't know, seems pretty obvious? The ACC and Big 12 are considering the same ban. 🏀 The field is set: The Wings beat the Fire on Tuesday to clinch the WNBA's eighth and final playoff spot. While the field is set, seeding is still very much up for grabs, with second-place Golden State (26-11) and eighth-place Dallas (23-16) separated by just four games. ⚾️ 9 in a row: The last-place Royals (59-74) won their ninth straight game on Tuesday, becoming the first AL team since the 1910 White Sox to win that many consecutive games after entering said streak at least 24 games under .500. 🏈 49ers owner arrested: Jed York, the principal owner of the 49ers, was arrested on Sunday in Ohio after responding to a fictitious prostitution ad posted online by the police. York was charged with a pair of misdemeanors and sentenced to two days in jail. ⚾️ NCAA approves ABS: The automated ball-strike system has been approved for all divisions of college baseball. The ruling gives teams the option, when available, to implement a system to challenge balls and strikes like the one now seen in MLB. 🧠 BRAIN DISEASE STUDY: AT LEAST 25% OF NFL PLAYERS HAD CTE (Amber Matsumoto/Yahoo Sports) A new study of NFL players who had played in at least one game and died between 2016-2021 showed at least 25% of them had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease known as CTE. What they're saying: "We've known that this disease process can be caused by, in part, repeated traumatic brain injury. But we didn't know how common it was," said Dr. Daniel Daneshvar of Mass General Brigham, the lead author of the study. The study used brain samples from the UNITE Brain Bank at Boston University, where the brains of more than 330 players who died from 2008-2021 have been donated. Researchers tested the brains of 235 of the 878 players who died from 2016-2021 for CTE and found the disease in 215 of them. Of note: The authors of the study, published Tuesday in The British Medical Journal, said the 25% estimate is likely low, as it doesn't account for deceased players whose brains were not tested. Jori Epstein, Yahoo Sports: The NFL has tweaked rules in recent decades in hopes of reducing the frequency and severity of concussions and associated traumatic brain injuries. Helmet regulations have advanced, including the increasing popularity of the league's Guardian Cap. Concussion protocols have become stricter and more formalized. The most dangerous phase of the game for head injuries — the NFL kickoff, where high-speed collisions unfolded often — has been overhauled. Still, the football ecosystem seems to tacitly acknowledge head injuries will not be eliminated from the sport anytime soon. Instead, the league, union and researchers wonder how to treat the conditions that result from this inherent risk. NFLPA executive director JC Tretter and NFLPA medical director Dr. Thom Mayer met with the lead author of the study published Tuesday, a union source told Yahoo Sports. The union will hold a call with medical experts in the coming weeks to answer player questions and create a forum for discussion. The league said it will continue to consider in-game safety strategies. The last word: "Many of the symptoms associated with CTE are treatable with the right care," Dr. Daneshvar advised in an email to players. "While we don't have a cure yet, we have seen improvements in players who receive care from doctors specializing in neurodegenerative disease and who know how to treat athletes. No one should walk away thinking there's nothing they can do." ⛳️ COMING SOON MATCH PLAY RETURNS TO THE PGA TOUR Tommy Fleetwood hoists the FedEx Cup trophy after winning last year's Tour Championship. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) On the eve of the season finale at East Lake Golf Club, the PGA Tour has announced plans for a radical reinvention of its playoff system: match play is coming back. How it works: Starting in 2028 — which is also the first year the tour will split into its dual-track Championship and Challenger Series — the PGA Tour will replace the current three-round stroke-play playoffs with two weeks of match play to determine that year's champion. This will mark the first time match play has taken place on the PGA Tour since 2023. Series Finale: The final 72-hole stroke-play event of the season will feature the top 90 players on the season-long points list. When the event ends, the No. 1 player will be crowned regular-season champion and the top 32 will advance to the Tour Championship. Tour Championship, Week 1: The field of 32 will be split into eight groups of four, similar to the World Cup. Group members will square off in a round-robin of 1v1 matches, with the top two per group advancing to Week 2. Tour Championship, Week 2: The 16 remaining players compete in a bracket-style match play event, culminating in the final 1v1 match on Sunday afternoon for the title of Tour Champion. How about the venues? Unlike the current Tour Championship, which has been held at East Lake outside Atlanta since 2004, the new format will take place at "rotating, prestigious venues." That change is made possible because the new format is about player vs. player instead of player vs. course, as explained in this excellent infographic video. Big picture: This new playoff model is part of new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp's plan to make the season more comprehensible to fans and more competitive for players. The current format allows top players to ease their way through the first few rounds or even skip them entirely, while the new one will more closely mirror an actual playoff. 💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS (Ethan Palowitz/Yahoo Sports) 🏈 413 touches Those considering drafting Christian McCaffrey for their fantasy team, beware: He had an NFL-high 413 touches last season, which has historically spelled disaster for running backs in the subsequent season. As you can see above, just one RB in the past decade posted a top-10 fantasy season a year after leading the league in touches (Ezekiel Elliott in 2019). Wild stat: Over the last 11 seasons, the first RB selected in the NFL Draft has outscored the previous season's fantasy RB1 nine times, notes Yahoo Sports' Joel Smyth. In other words, history says you should take Jeremiyah Love over McCaffrey in your upcoming draft. ⚾️ 30 saves Aroldis Chapman keeps racking up milestones, notching his 30th save of the season on Monday to become just the fourth pitcher in MLB history with 10 such seasons. The others are Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera (15), Trevor Hoffman (14) and Lee Smith (10). Speaking of milestones: The hard-throwing lefty, enjoying another excellent year in Boston (1.81 ERA), is just three saves shy of becoming the ninth pitcher ever with 400 career saves. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images) ⚽️ $3.35 million The "Hand of God" ball that Diego Maradona infamously netted during the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals has sold for $3.35 million at auction. That's well short of its estimated $10 million price tag, though still above the bidding levels reached in two prior auction attempts in the early 2020s, when the ball failed to meet its reserve.* Booming market: Ambitious estimate aside, this is another multimillion-dollar sale in a market where those are suddenly commonplace. Put together Maradona's jersey ($3.35M), armband ($512k) and the ball ($9.3M) from the game and you have over $13 million in memorabilia. 🏀 2,899 threes Klay Thompson, officially introduced by the Heat on Tuesday, is sitting on 2,899 career 3-pointers, just 75 shy of passing Ray Allen for the third-most all-time. And given he hit 202 triples last season in Dallas even in a supporting role, it's safe to assume the 36-year-old — who called his upcoming campaign "a redemption season" — will catch Allen. How high can he climb? Third place is likely Thompson's ceiling considering the only other players ahead of him are James Harden (3,390) and Steph Curry (4,248), who are both still active and playing at a pretty high level. *A reserve price is set by the consignor (seller) of an item at auction. If bidding doesn't reach that reserve price, which is often known only to the consignor and the auction house, the item does not sell and the consignor retains it. 🏗️ FIXER UPPERS BIGGER AND BETTER IS NO MORE (Ishika Samant/Getty Images) As the US Open welcomes hundreds of thousands of people for Fan Week, they'll notice that Arthur Ashe Stadium has a new look after extensive renovations. But if fans around the world look closely, they'll see that what happened at Ashe is happening just about everywhere. Down to the court and upmarket: Arthur Ashe, the US Open's crown jewel, is in the midst of $800 million worth of renovations, the results of which will be visible at this year's tournament. The stadium's total capacity has not changed materially, but the reallocation of that capacity is significant. The courtside-level bowl has been expanded from 3,000 to 5,000 seats, and there are now two dedicated luxury suite levels. Much of this new capacity was created by a reduction in the loge level, which lost 3,500 seats. In simpler terms, cheaper seats were removed to make way for premium and hospitality offerings, which generate higher revenue. Global phenomenon: Frustration with the increasingly costly US Open is inescapable, but the adjustments to Ashe are merely one example of a far more common trend across professional sports. In fact, that Ashe's capacity remained stable perhaps positions it among the friendlier updates. The broader trend is for stadiums to get smaller and more premium. NFL: The new Highmark Stadium (Bills) seats approximately 9,600 fewer people than Ralph Wilson, and ticket prices are reportedly up 88% over last year. MLB: Recent renovations to Citi Field (Mets) and Progressive Field (Guardians) have shifted seating allocations to more premium options. NBA/NHL: The upcoming transformation of Capital One Arena (Wizards, Capitals) will roughly double the percentage of capacity allocated to premium seating to ~40%. Soccer: Manchester United controversially relocated long-time season ticket holders to clear space for new hospitality seating. Optimize and ostracize? The quest to optimize seating allocations and maximize per-seat revenue yield is generally not lost on fans. It adds another arrow to the fan-frustration quiver in a revenue-crazed professional sports industry. This is an excerpt from today's edition of Yahoo Sports Biz. To read the full story, and get the inside scoop on all things sports business, sign up here. 🇨🇴 MEANWHILE, IN COLOMBIA IN PHOTOS: SOCCER FESTIVAL (Diego Cuevas/Getty Images) The annual Botas, Ruana y Sombrero Festival took place last week in Jenesano, Colombia, as the four-day event brought together residents from different towns for a soccer tournament in which participants wear boots, traditional ruana (woolen poncho) and hats. (Diego Cuevas/Getty Images) There are separate men's and women's tournaments, and people of all ages are welcome to participate. The festival also includes other cultural expressions of the region like its music and food. (Diego Cuevas/Getty Images) A player takes a swig of Guarapo, a traditional beverage made from fresh-squeezed sugarcane juice mixed with ice and lime. (Diego Cuevas/Getty Images) Either this guy is making a highlight-worthy save, or the soccer rules at this festival are more lenient than we're used to. 📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: WEDNESDAY, AUG. 26 Married couple Monfils and Svitolina are in the semis tonight. (Brad Penner/USTA via Getty Images) 🎾 US Open, Mixed Doubles Elina Svitolina and Gaël Monfils face Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli in tonight's first semifinal (7pm ET, ESPN2), followed by Karolína Muchová and Jakub Menšík vs. Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev in the second. Then the winners square off in the $1 million championship (9pm, ESPN). Abbreviated format: The only way they can squeeze this tournament into two days is with quicker contests. All matches before the final are best-of-three sets to four games, with no-ad scoring (i.e. just one deciding point at deuce) and a 10-point tiebreak used in lieu of a deciding third set. The final is the same, but with sets to six games instead of four. More to watch: ⚾️ MLB: Astros at Yankees (7:05pm, Prime) … Houston (66-66) is in a tight race for both the AL West and third wild card, while New York (74-57) sits comfortably in the first wild card spot. ⚾️ LLWS: Nicaragua vs Curaçao (1 pm, ESPN); Nevada vs Iowa (3pm, ESPN) … Winners book their spots in the International and U.S. Championships. ⚽️ Leagues Cup: Austin FC vs. Toluca (8:30pm, Apple/FS1); Columbus Crew vs. Club América (10:45pm, Apple/FS1) … Quarterfinals. 🚴 Vuelta a España: Stage 5 (8:45am, Peacock) … Five stages in, the Vuelta has finally reached Spain. 🎾 LET'S PLAY TRIVIA TIME (Caleb Bowlin/Getty Images) Roger Federer, who returned to Flushing Meadows on Tuesday for a special exhibition, is one of three men in the Open Era to win five US Open singles titles. Question: Who are the other two? Hint: Same country. Answer at the bottom. 🏈 RISK OR RUST OLD MAN ON CAMPUS (Justin Buzzard) Justin Buzzard, a 47-year-old pastor, husband and father of three, has made the football team at San Jose City College. Buzzard played growing up, but thought an injury had ended his career in the 1990s; now, he's back in game shape and ready to contribute as a defensive end. What he's saying: "Risk or rust," said Buzzard, spreading his message as he's taken on this new chapter in his life. "You're either risking or you're rusting as a man. Take risks. Don't rust." Trivia answer: Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted August 28 Author Members Posted August 28 👋 Good morning! There's a new UConn women's basketball docuseries on Apple TV, and a new Vince Young documentary on Netflix. Highly recommend both. In today's edition: LIV Golf timeline, NFL axes the Pro Bowl, Behind the Lens with Getty Images, fantasy football punishments, Champions League draw, the US Open's $23 pour, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... 🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🏈 NFL axes Pro Bowl: The NFL is pulling the plug on the Pro Bowl amid declining interest. Instead, the league will simply name a Pro Bowl team — consisting of 88 players — and invite them to Los Angeles for an in-person celebration in February, presumably during Super Bowl week. 🏀 Historic viewership: Sunday's Fever-Sky matchup drew 3.3 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, making it the most-watched WNBA regular-season game since the league's inaugural weekend in 1997. 🎾 Doubles champs: Karolína Muchová and Jakub Menšík won the US Open's unique mixed doubles tournament on Wednesday, taking home a $1 million grand prize (or $500,000 each). Not bad for two days' work. 💵 Battles of the Busses: Jeanie Buss has petitioned a Los Angeles Superior Court to block her five siblings from selling the family's 17.8% stake in the Lakers. Meanwhile, two of those siblings, Joey and Jesse, acquired 5% of the Padres. ⚾️ Ohtani nears return: Shohei Ohtani will throw a bullpen session tomorrow and, if all goes well, could start on Sunday against the Tigers, according to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. The two-way star hasn't pitched since July 3 due to knee and biceps injuries. ⛳️ MONEY GAME SPLITTING THE FAIRWAY: HOW LIV FRACTURED GOLF (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) As the curtain closed on LIV Golf Indianapolis this past weekend, it may have ended not just the season but — at minimum — version 1.0 of the upstart golf league, which plans to lay off the majority of its staff amid an uncertain future. Whether LIV ultimately lives on or not, the disruption it unleashed forever changed golf. The build-up (2020-21) Rumblings of an upstart PGA Tour challenger materialized in the early 2020s, a startling reality that the Tour met swiftly with both repudiation (for competitors) and retention efforts (for players). January 2020: The World Golf Group, believed to be financed by Saudi backers, announces plans for the Premier Golf League. PGA commissioner Jay Monahan warns that aligning with PGL could lead to PGA ineligibility. April 2021: PGA unveils the Player Impact Program, which will reward the top 10 "needle-moving" players with a $40 million bonus pool. October 2021: LIV Golf Investments is officially announced, with Greg Norman named CEO. November 2021: The PGA reveals significant increases in player pay for the upcoming season. The launch (2022) LIV played its first events in mid 2022. With those events came the first defections, many of them high-profile, thoroughly unsettling a golf establishment religious in its traditions. February 2022: It's revealed that Phil Mickelson is involved with LIV Golf, and he extolls the newfound leverage over the PGA Tour to Alan Shipnuck. March 2022: LIV announces inaugural eight-event, $255 million series for 2022 beginning in London in June. May 2022: PGA Tour denies players' release request to play in LIV events. Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, and Louis Oosthuizen are among the players revealed as participants in the first event. June 2022: Charl Schwartzel wins LIV Golf London, the competition's first event. Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka are among the stars to join in the following weeks. August 2022: 11 LIV Players file an antitrust suit against the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour announces the addition of new Elevated Events, increased purses, and commitments from top players to play 20 events. October 2022: The PGA Tour files a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and its governor. (Matthew Lewis/Getty Images) The negotiations (2023-24) The opposing parties soon began a negotiating dance, exploring the terms of a possible merger while also navigating their own independent business aspirations. June 2023: The PGA Tour, PIF and DP World Tour announce a "framework agreement" to form a new entity and end litigation. December 2023: Parties move to extend the December 31 deadline for their merger. Jon Rahm joins LIV. January 2024: The PGA Tour announces a $3 billion investment deal with Strategic Sports Group. The deal will give players up to $1.5 billion in equity in a new commercial entity, PGA Tour Enterprises. March 2024: A PGA Tour delegation that includes Tiger Woods meets with LIV officials in the Bahamas for "constructive" talks. A false new dawn (2025) 2025 brought new blood into LIV leadership, but the weight of past investment began to catch up with the upstart league, and cracks emerged. January 2025: Scott O'Neil replaces Greg Norman as CEO of LIV Golf. The competition signs a multi-year media rights agreement with Fox Sports. February 2025: Adam Scott, Jay Monahan, Tiger Woods and Yasir Al-Rumayyan join President Trump at the White House for merger talks, briefly increasing prospects of reunification. October 2025: Financial disclosures show that LIV's international division lost $590 million in 2024, bringing three-year losses to $1.4 billion. The company had reportedly received $4 billion in equity injections through the end of 2024. December 2025: Koepka leaves LIV, citing "personal reasons." The beginning of the end of LIV 1.0 (2026) Speculation about the loss of ongoing funding soon became reality, as LIV scrambled to court prospective investors and forge a path toward the end of this season and the beginning of a new one. January 2026: Koepka rejoins the PGA Tour through the Returning Member Program, which applies to four elite players. April 2026: PIF releases its new 2026-2030 investment strategy, which appears to deemphasize sports relative to the prior cycle. An emergency meeting is called at LIV's Mexico event amid (later confirmed) speculation that PIF is pulling funding. August 2026: LIV announces that it has secured a new lead investor to fund the upcoming season in a structure that will make its players the majority equity holders. LIV's Team Championship event is canceled, and the purse for LIV Golf Indianapolis is halved. Looking ahead: LIV's new structure could reportedly require reduced purses, a bankruptcy filing and restructured player contracts, raising questions about the league's viability, whether its players want to stick around and what their potential path back to the PGA Tour might look like. This story first appeared in Yahoo Sports Biz, our new sports business newsletter. Sign up here to begin receiving it every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 📸 PHOTOGRAPHY BEHIND THE LENS (Donald Miralle/Getty Images) Each week in Yahoo Sports AM, we'll be going "Behind the Lens" with Getty Images to get the backstory on the best photographs in sports. This week's photo: A woman competes during the preliminary heats of the 2026 Super Girl Surf Festival, the world's largest women's surf and music festival. Photographer: Donald Miralle Location: Oceanside, California Date: August 22 📸 Behind the lens: Here's Donald… As a life-long surfer, I love the opportunity to shoot the "Sport of Kings," especially if it's in my own backyard. I saw the forecast called for epic weather and clean surf all weekend for the event, which is now in its 20th year. I have been a licensed and insured drone pilot since the inception of the first prosumer DJI drones circa 2010, back when they were pretty rudimentary and no one used them yet at sporting events. Now most photographers and videographers carry them as an essential part of their camera bag for good reason! In this particular shot, I saw how the light was cutting through the water, revealing the sand churning below, as well as the contrast of the breaking wave with the surfer wearing the red jersey. I captured this frame about 60 feet above the surfer to avoid distracting her with the drone props while still capturing a wider scene. I composed the surfer off-center in the frame using the rule of thirds, giving the photo room to breathe a little with the dynamic of her cutback and the wave. Since I was only shooting photos and not video, I really didn't have to fly very long to capture this, but just had to predict when her turn was going to happen on the wave as there's a long delay on triggering of the shutter for the drone, and you really only get one frame. Happy it all came together in the photo, and shows the beauty of the sport and our local break! Equipment and technique: Donald shot this with a DJI Mavic Pro, using a wide angle lens with an f/4 aperture and a shutter speed of 1/2500th of a second at a setting of ISO 100. 📚 GO DEEPER GOOD READS (Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports) 🏈 Jeff Eisenberg: Lose your fantasy league, suffer the consequences: Inside the wild world of last-place punishments Last-place punishments have long been a fantasy football staple, providing incentive for bottom-dwelling managers to keep trying after they've already been eliminated from playoff contention. In recent years, leagues have become increasingly creative and ruthless with their punishments, making the battle to avoid last place as high stakes as the race to finish first. (Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports) 🥊 Elliot Worsell: What does boxing's world heavyweight title actually mean in 2026? In the old days, back when the meaning was clearer, the belts of boxers were pretty things coveted by all. Now, all we hear is that there are too many belts in boxing and that the proliferation of them has diluted what it means to be seen wearing one. There is even talk of boxing's belts being removed altogether. (Amy Monks/Yahoo Sports) 🏈 Ross Dellenger: SEC v. LSU? Lane Kiffin's brazen approach raises question of whether league would sue its own school A month ago, Lane Kiffin turned toward a reporter and agreed that LSU had, indeed, become the villain of college football. He is the central figure — the brash man who signed a $90 million contract, who unabashedly exploits loopholes, who left his former program for an archrival amid a postseason run, and who, one day, believes he'll be a hero. Why? Kiffin smiled. "You'll be a hero if you win." 📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: THURSDAY, AUG. 27 The clubhouse and 18th green at East Lake. (Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images) ⛳️ Tour Championship The top 30 golfers tee it up today (11am ET, ESPN; 1pm, Golf) at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for the season finale, where a staggering $40 million purse, including a $10 million grand prize, is up for grabs. Notable tee times: Three-time champion Rory McIlroy and three-time runner-up Xander Schauffele (12:54pm); defending champion Tommy Fleetwood and Ludvig Åberg (1:12pm); Wyndham Clark and Cameron Young (1:48pm); Scottie Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick (2pm). 🏈 NFL Preseason, Week 3 The final week of the preseason begins tonight with a four-game slate: Steelers at Bills (7pm, NFL); Patriots at Browns (8pm, Prime); 49ers at Raiders (8pm, ESPN+); Rams at Chargers (10pm, NFL). Counting down the days: The NFL regular season kicks off in 13 days, with the Seahawks hosting the Patriots on Sept. 9 in a rematch of Super Bowl LX. More to watch: ⚾️ LLWS: Iowa vs. Ohio (9am, ESPN); Nicaragua vs. Japan (9am, ESPN2) … Winners join Nevada and Curaçao in the U.S. and International Championship games. ⚾️ MLB: Dodgers at Braves (7:15pm, FS1) … Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-7, 2.61 ERA) and Chris Sale (12-9, 2.20 ERA) square off in a battle of aces. 🏀 WNBA: Valkyries at Liberty (8pm, Prime) … Golden State's defense is in a league of its own, allowing just 76.3 ppg. Plus: ⛳️ LPGA: FM Championship at TPC Boston (9am, Golf); 🚲 Vuelta a España: Stage 6 (8:45am, Peacock); 🎾 US Open: Rising Stars Exhibitions (6pm, ESPN+) ⚽️ LET'S PLAY TRIVIA TIME The Champions League trophy ahead of today's draw. (Francesco Scaccianoce/UEFA via Getty Images) The 2026-27 Champions League field is officially set, and the draw to determine the League Phase fixtures will take place today. Question: Can you name the five clubs that have won at least five Champions League titles? Hint: Spain (2x), England, Italy, Germany. Answer at the bottom. 🍈 LIQUID GOLD THE US OPEN'S $23 POUR Fans of the US Open's famous novelty drink, the Honey Deuce, can rejoice, as the price of the drink was frozen at an ever-so-modest $23 this year. Yes, but: Despite the price freeze, the drink's price has still risen far more sharply than broader inflation and alcoholic-beverage-specific inflation since its introduction at $12 in 2007. No deterrent: The price has not hampered demand. The USTA sold 738,459 Honey Deuces (+32%) at last year's tournament, grossing over $17 million in revenue. Trivia answer: Real Madrid (15 titles), AC Milan (7), Liverpool (6), Bayern Munich (6), Barcelona (5) Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted August 29 Author Members Posted August 29 > Yayoi Kusama, a Japanese pop artist known for her polka-dot designs, dies at age 97 (More) | Scroll through a gallery of her life and artwork (More) > Voice actor Peter Cullen dies at age 85; the Canadian star voiced Optimus Prime in "Transformers" and Eeyore in several "Winnie the Pooh" projects (More) | Listen to over 45 of his character voices (More) > UEFA is reportedly preparing a criminal complaint against FIFA president Gianni Infantino for alleged financial mismanagement over his dead $20B plan to sell stake in the World Cup (More) Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted August 30 Author Members Posted August 30 🎉 Yahoo! It's Friday! You made it. In today's edition: College football primer, Braves sweep Dodgers, Air Jordan 41, Broadcast Box Score, the next Mike Tyson, LLWS Final Four, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... 🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⚾️ Braves sweep Dodgers: The Braves completed a sweep of the Dodgers behind Chris Sale's first complete game shutout since 2019, an 11-strikeout, no-walk gem. The Cy Young contender's ERA is down to a microscopic 2.06, not that far off Jacob Misiorowski's 1.73. 🏒 Helly wants out: After months of rumors, longtime Jets goaltender and three-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck has confirmed he's ready to move on from the team, saying in a statement shared by his agent that he "privately requested a trade" months ago. ⚽️ The draw is set: Some of the most intriguing matchups from Thursday's Champions League draw include Arsenal hosting Real Madrid, Man City visiting PSG and Barcelona, and Atlético Madrid hosting Bayern Munich and Man United. The action kicks off in 11 days. ⚾️ CBA update: MLB's latest proposal in the ongoing CBA negotiations includes shortening the free agency window while sticking firm on a salary cap system. The union quickly expressed its displeasure at the idea, saying it "would eliminate player rights…and reduce player leverage." 👟 Records fall in Zurich: Hurdlers ran wild on Thursday at Zurich's Diamond League event, where Brazil's Alison dos Santos broke the men's 400m hurdle world record (45.80 seconds) and USA's Masai Russell broke the women's 100m hurdle world record (12.09 seconds). 🏈 WEEK 0 COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS BACK (Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports) The college football season kicks off tomorrow after yet another change-filled offseason. Here's a quick primer to prepare you for the weeks and months ahead. 5 storylines: Eligibility crisis: The current rules about who can or cannot play college sports — up to and including former professionals — are as confusing as they are impermanent, thanks to court rulings, conference bans and more. The only certainty is that this eligibility crisis will continue to dominate headlines as the season gets underway. The CFP is different, again: The third year of the 12-team playoff features two key changes. First, all four power conference champions will automatically qualify (last season, that would have helped Duke); second, Notre Dame is guaranteed a playoff spot as long they're in the top 12 in the final rankings (that would have helped them last season, too). Big Ten > SEC? Fans of the Big Ten believe their conference has supplanted the SEC as the top dog, and there's plenty of evidence to support their claim. The Big Ten is seeking a fourth straight national championship, and earned all 69 first-place votes in the AP preseason poll, marking the first time since 2015 that SEC teams earned none. Pac 12, reborn: After two years with just Oregon State and Washington State, the Pac-12 has added six new members: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State (via Mountain West) and Texas State (via Sun Belt). It's a far cry from what the Pac-12 used to be, but it might just be the best of the Group of Six. Old faces, new places: Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss to LSU), Kyle Whittingham (Utah to Michigan) and Matt Campbell (Iowa State to Penn State) headline the list of coaches with new teams; QB Darian Mensah (Duke to Miami), WR Cam Coleman (Auburn to Texas) and QB Sam Leavitt (ASU to LSU) headline the most notable QB and non-QB transfers. (Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports) Fast facts: Yahoo Top 25: Oregon leads our preseason rankings, with Notre Dame, defending champion Indiana, betting favorite Ohio State and Texas rounding out the top five. Heisman favorites: Notre Dame QB CJ Carr (+750) and Texas QB Arch Manning (+750) are the co-favorites, followed by Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss (+900) and Oregon QB Dante Moore (10-1). Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith has the best odds for any non-QB at 12-1. Welcome to the FBS: Perennial FCS powerhouse North Dakota State (10 national titles since 2011) made the jump to the Mountain West, while Sacramento State joined the MAC.* Both make their FBS debuts tomorrow. Further reading: Dark horse playoff contenders 10 coaches on the hot seat 10 best non-conference games *Frequent flyers: Sacramento State is the latest team to experience the wonkiness of modern realignment, as they join a league comprising mostly schools in the Great Lakes region, roughly 2,000 miles away. 💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS No player has driven in more runs this season than this Reds 22-year-old rookie. (Bryan Kennedy/MLB Photos via Getty Images) ⚾️ 100 RBI Reds infielder Sal Stewart leads the majors with 100 RBI, making him just the third rookie in MLB history to be the first player in a season to cross the century mark. The other two? Jose Canseco in 1986 and Ted Williams in 1939. Stacked race: You'd think a guy with 28 HR, 100 RBI and an .806 OPS would be a shoo-in for NL ROY, but Stewart is in a fascinating four-man race with Cardinals 2B JJ Wetherholt (4.8 WAR), Mets OF Carson Benge (.990 OPS in August) and Mets RHP Nolan McLean (2.37 ERA in last 15 starts). The Air Jordan 41 "Ruby" launches today in China. (Nike) 👟 Air Jordan 41 The 41st edition (!!!) of Michael Jordan's iconic basketball shoe is available starting today in China ahead of its global release in late October. Jordan, 63, remains actively involved in the process of designing the sneaker that helped make him a billionaire, writes Yahoo Sports' Shlomo Sprung. What they're saying: "He's our competitive advantage," says Jordan Brand executive Donald Kelsey. "If you think about his access to what he sees, it's like the top 1%. Whether that's watches, automobiles, aircrafts. What he sees in the world of innovation and technology, he's already like five, 10 years ahead." Club América players celebrate a goal during their quarterfinal win over Columbus Crew. (Jim Sabo/ISI Photos via Getty Images) ⚽️ 0 MLS teams The Leagues Cup semifinals are set, and not a single MLS team made the final four. Only Liga MX sides León, Toluca, Monterrey and Club América remain in contention — a fitting conclusion to the first edition of the annual tournament to hold games in Mexico. Streak snapped: The MLS no-show is rather surprising considering the last three champions and runners-up all hailed from the U.S.-based league. Miami beat Nashville in 2023, Columbus beat LAFC in 2024 and Seattle beat Miami in 2025. 📺 TUNE IN BROADCAST BOX SCORE (Michael Reaves/Getty Images) This story is from Yahoo Sports Biz, our new sports business newsletter authored by Dylan Dittrich. 🏀 WNBA: The Indiana Fever have set two ratings records in the last week. Last Thursday's game against Dallas averaged 1.07 million viewers, the most ever for a WNBA broadcast on Prime Video. Then, Sunday's tilt against Chicago averaged 3.31 million viewers on NBC, making it the most-watched game since the league's inaugural weekend in 1997. Only prescription is more Fever: Caitlin Clark and company have entirely rewritten the leaderboards for the most-watched games in WNBA history this season. In addition to the above, their game against the Dream in August was the most-watched game on cable in WNBA history, reaching 2.6 million viewers on ESPN. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images) 🏎️ IndyCar: The Freedom 250 Grand Prix averaged 3.28 million viewers on Fox, becoming the most-watched non-Indianapolis 500 race for the series since before the open-wheel merger in 2008. The strength of spectacle: Per Nielsen, 44% of the race's audience hadn't watched any other IndyCar action this year. The introduction of new viewers is a worthy reward for an extensive investment in the race. It's also more good news for an IndyCar series performing well this season; the average viewership on Fox through 15 races is up 32% from 2025 and 70% from 2024. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images) ⛳️ PGA Tour: Across weekend telecasts on NBC and CBS, the PGA Tour's 2026 regular season tournaments averaged 2.5 million viewers, according to Sports Business Journal's Josh Carpenter. That was a narrow 2% increase over the prior year, when compared on a like-for-like basis using Nielsen's Big Data methodology. 'Yoff and running: The FedEx Cup Playoffs are off to a strong start. The final round of Scottie Scheffler's win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship averaged 3.9 million viewers, making it the tournament's most-watched final round in 13 years. The final round of the BMW Championship averaged 3.85 million viewers on CBS, a 10% improvement over last year and the largest audience for the event since Tiger Woods' 2007 win. 🥊 FIGHT NIGHT THE NEXT MIKE TYSON? (Hayden Hodge/Yahoo Sports) Moses Itauma, 21, has long been hailed as the next Mike Tyson. On Saturday, the British heavyweight prodigy finally gets his chance. Can boxing's next wunderkind live up to a lifetime of expectations? Elliot Worsell, Uncrowned: Call him Moses. It's easier that way. Easier to say, easier to remember, easier to promote. Call him Moses on the fight poster, the billboard and the on-screen graphics and call him Moses when trying to attract either sponsors or the eyes of the public. Simplify him, in other words. Make him a brand, a product. Think of him as one of those superstars whose power is so great they need only their first name. Think Beyoncé. Think Prince. Think Shaq. Think of all the Brazilian soccer players who achieved international fame with just their first name on the back of their shirt, like Romário, Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Neymar. If it can work for them, it can work for you too, Enriko Moses Itauma. That is the view of Itauma's team at least. They, with good reason, sensed they had a superstar on their hands the day Itauma hatched and have started to now nudge him toward the light ahead of his IBF heavyweight title fight against Filip Hrgovic on Saturday. To get him the attention his talent deserves, they have made a conscious effort to simplify Itauma for a mainstream audience. That's why his next fight was billed as "Moses X Hrgovic" on the DAZN ad I saw on the big red bus that passed while I began to write this piece. It's also why, on that same bus, we were greeted with the tagline "Britain's youngest ever world heavyweight champion awaits," and why Mike Tyson, the world's youngest, is someone to whom Itauma, just 21 years of age, is often compared. 📺 VIEWING GUIDE WEEKEND WATCHLIST For the second year in a row, the CFB season is kicking off at Dublin's Aviva Stadium. (Ben McShane/Sportsfile via Getty Images) 🏈 NCAA Football, Week 0 It's been 222 days since the Hoosiers toppled the Hurricanes for their first national championship. Finally, college football is back. Saturday's slate: UNC vs. TCU in Dublin (12pm ET, ESPN); San José State at No. 14 USC (3pm, NBC); NC State at Virginia (3:30pm, ESPN); Jax State at North Dakota State (5:30pm, CBSSN); Sac State at EMU (6:30pm, ESPN+); Hawaii at Stanford (7pm, ACC); New Mexico State at FSU (7pm, CW); Memphis at UNLV (10pm, Fox) ⛳️ Tour Championship The season finale continues at East Lake Golf Club (Fri-Sun, ESPN/Golf/CBS), where $40 million and the title of Tour Champion are up for grabs. Leaderboard: Min Woo Lee, who was struggling entering the playoffs, fired an 8-under 62 to take a two-stroke lead over Viktor Hovland, Chris Gotterup and Collin Morikawa. Scottie Scheffler is among those lurking at 5-under, and the entire field shot at least even par. 🎾 US Open, First Round The year's final grand slam begins on Sunday in Flushing Meadows, with matches beginning at 11am and cycling throughout ESPN's properties. The field is competing for a record $108 million purse, including $5.5 million each for the men's and women's singles champions. The late-summer double: Young Frenchman Arthur Fils is coming off the biggest win of his career in Cincinnati, which could bode well for his chances in New York: Each of the last three men's Cincy champions went on to win the US Open, too (Novak Djokovic in 2023, Jannik Sinner in 2024, Carlos Alcaraz in 2025). ⚾️ Red Sox at Yankees Baseball's biggest rivalry takes center stage this weekend in the Bronx, where Boston (73-60) could possibly pass New York (75-58) for the first wild card. There's a doubleheader tomorrow (1:05pm, MLB; 7:15pm, Fox) and a matinee on Sunday (1:35pm, ESPN+), while tonight's game (7:15pm, Apple) is available in VR for those with Apple Vision Pro headsets. Best of the rest: Mariners at Blue Jays (Fri. 7:15pm, Apple); Rangers at Brewers (Sat. 7:15pm, Fox); Astros at Mets (Sun. 3:10pm, NBC); Reds at Cubs (Sun. 7:20pm, NBC). ⚾️ LLWS, Final Four We're down to the last four in Williamsport, where Curaçao and Japan play in tomorrow's International Championship (12:30pm, ABC), followed by Nevada vs. Ohio in the U.S. Championship (3:30pm, ABC). The winners meet on Sunday (3pm, ABC) in the grand finale. A star is born: Though her team was eliminated on Wednesday, the breakout star of this LLWS was undoubtedly Kinley Rasmus. The daughter of former MLB pitcher Cory Rasmus tied Mo'ne Davis' record for most strikeouts by a girl (14) and broke the record for most hits by a girl (5). More to watch: 🏈 NFL Preseason: Commanders at Ravens (Fri. 6pm, NFL); Bengals at Eagles (Fri. 8pm, CBS); Vikings at Broncos (Fri. 9pm, NFL); Lions at Colts (Sat. 1pm, NFL); Bears at Titans (Sat. 6pm, NFL) … Final weekend. 🏀 WNBA: Sky at Liberty (Sat. 1pm, CBS); Lynx at Dream (Sun. 3pm, NBA) … The final weekend of games before the league takes a 17-day break for the FIBA World Cup. ⚽️ Premier League: Crystal Palace vs. Manchester City (Fri. 3pm, USA); Tottenham vs. Newcastle (Sat. 12:30pm, NBC); Chelsea vs. Brighton (Sun. 9am, Peacock) … Matchday 2. 🏁 NASCAR: Daytona (Sat. 7:30pm, NBC) … Five drivers are fighting for the final three playoff spots in the regular-season finale. 🥊 Boxing: Moses Itauma vs. Filip Hrgović (Sat. 5:30pm ET, DAZN); Chantelle Cameron vs. Mikaela Mayer (Sat. 2pm, ESPN+) … Title fights in England. Plus: 🚴 Vuelta a España: Stages 7-9 (Fri-Sun, Peacock);🥍 PLL: Quarterfinals (Sat. 6pm, ESPN+); 🏁 IndyCar in Milwaukee (Sat. 2:30pm, Fox); ⚽️ MLS: Week 23 (Sat-Sun, Apple); ⚽️ NWSL: Week 23 (Fri-Sun, Prime/ION/ESPN2); ⛳️ LPGA: FM Championship (Fri-Sun, Golf); ⚾️ WPBL (Fri-Sun, ESPN+) 🔎 LET'S PLAY GUESS THE LOGO Question: Can you guess this zoomed in FBS logo? Hint: They won a national championship this century. Answer at the bottom. 📸 THROUGH THE LENS PHOTO FINISH Jackson Goldstone of Canada competes during the Mountainbike World Series in Les Gets, France. (Billy Ceusters/Getty Images) Soaring into the weekend like… Logo reveal: Florida Gators Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted August 31 Author Members Posted August 31 🎥 1 film thing: Wile E. Coyote's back Wile E. Coyote, voiced by Eric Bauza, in "Coyote vs. Acme." Photo: Ketchup Entertainment via AP The abrupt termination of "Coyote vs. Acme" sent shockwaves through Hollywood. Everyone in the movie business is accustomed to sudden, painful twists of fate. But the wholesale elimination of a finished film faster than you can say "Meep! Meep!" was something new. But nearly three years later, the movie is, like its ever-undaunted protagonist, back from the dead. After an outcry, Warner Bros. put "Coyote vs. Acme" up for sale. Ketchup Entertainment, an independent distributor that last year released the Looney Tunes movie "The Day the Earth Blew Up," picked it up for about $50 million. Now it's in theaters. The movie opened with a respectable $15 million box-office haul, second only to the juggernaut that is "Spider-Man." More from AP. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted August 31 Author Members Posted August 31 👋 Good morning! Welcome back. In today's edition: Djokovic stunned in New York, Aaron Donald is back, Scottie passes Tiger, Messi goes wild, Curaçao wins LLWS, OBJ makes the team, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... SPORTS MOVE FAST. SO DO THE MARKETS. Polymarket turns sports predictions into markets you can trade. Find the matchup or future you like, take your position, then watch the price move as the action unfolds. Stay in or trade out before it's over. Your call. 🎾 US OPEN NOVAK BOUNCED IN NEW YORK (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) For the first time in 20 years, Novak Djokovic has been eliminated in the first round of a Grand Slam. Is this the end? Dan Wolken, Yahoo Sports: For so long, Djokovic has done things that 39-year old tennis players were not meant to do. On Monday night, that battle finally turned in the direction of time and mortality. He lost 7-6, 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 to Mariano Navone, not because he has lost any skills or desire, but because he has a body he can no longer tame on command. A body that, on Monday night, was crouching to the ground after long points, stumbling into his chair during changeovers and was so generally unwell that on multiple occasions he went to the corner to vomit into his towel box. And then, in the middle of the fifth game of the fifth set, when Djokovic knew it was lost, he stood behind the baseline and sobbed. "I think it was obvious that it was an awful feeling on the court for me," he said after the match. "Pretty much despised every moment I spent on court." Battling his body: Sunday was the ultimate manifestation of what Djokovic called "a condition that I have, health-wise, that has been bothering me for the past couple of years" after a loss in Cincinnati a couple weeks ago where he looked similarly exhausted almost from the start. What exactly is ailing the 24-time major champion? He hasn't said specifically, but whatever it is, it gets exacerbated by heat and humidity — not a great combination for a sport played mostly outdoors and in warm weather. Asked Sunday night if this issue was something he could fix, his response was not reassuring. "I don't know," he said. "I'm trying, man. I'm trying. Let's see." Streak snapped: Djokovic had won his previous 77 first-round matches at majors (longest streak in the Open Era) entering the day, and he was a perfect 19-0 in the first round at the US Open. No more. End of an era: The last time none of the "Big Three" (Djokovic, Roger Federer, Nadal) were in the second round of a major was Roland Garros back in 2003 (!!!). 🏈 BACK TO WORK THE RETURN OF AARON DONALD (Yahoo Sports) After weeks of speculation, Aaron Donald is officially coming out of retirement to re-join the Rams on a one-year deal worth up to $30 million. He'll team up with the newly-acquired Myles Garrett, forming a dynamic duo of future Hall of Famers. Two-headed monster: Donald and Garrett boast a combined 236.5 sacks, five DPOY Awards and 17 Pro Bowl selections. "You bring a guy in like Myles, a generational talent, and it's like, 'That can be fun,'" said Donald, whose arrival makes LA even bigger Super Bowl favorites (+500 odds). Yes, but: While Sean McVay's squad is indeed loaded on both sides of the ball, it's a long road to a championship — and winning one will require these Rams to buck a daunting trend: Over the past 30 years, the preseason favorite has had title odds of +500 or better 20 times. All 20 of those teams failed to win the Super Bowl. 💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) ⛳️ $130.4 million Scottie Scheffler won the Tour Championship by three strokes on Sunday, claiming a $10 million prize that vaulted him past Tiger Woods atop the PGA Tour's all-time earnings list. Scheffler — who as of January 2022 had not won a single PGA Tour event — has now earned $130.4 million. Chasing the GOAT: Woods still laps Scheffler when it comes to wins (82 to 22) and majors (15 to 4). But the trend here is unmistakable, writes Yahoo Sports' Jay Busbee: Scottie is entering all-time territory. (Leonardo Fernandez/Getty Images) ⚽️ 18 goals A third straight MLS MVP award is looking increasingly likely for Lionel Messi, who scored four goals in Inter Miami's 7-1 thrashing of Montréal, giving him an MLS-best 18 goals on the season. He also added his 10th assist, one off the league lead. Rewriting the record books: Messi needed just 72 MLS matches to record 20 multi-goal games. The next fastest to reach that milestone? Josef Martinez (100 matches), Robbie Keane (124), Bradley Wright-Phillips (149) and Landon Donovan (178). (Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) 🏒 $20.4 million Cale Makar and the Avalanche have agreed to a historic eight-year, $163.2 million extension ($20.4 million average annual value) that makes the superstar defenseman the first NHL player to sign a deal exceeding $20 million in annual salary. Hall of Fame trajectory: Makar, 27, is already Colorado's all-time leader among defensemen in goals (136), assists (371) and points (507). He's one of 14 players in history to win multiple Norris Trophies (best defenseman) and one of just two (Bobby Orr) to be a Norris Trophy finalist at least six times in his first seven seasons. 📸 SNAPSHOTS THROUGH THE LENS (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) 🇺🇸 Williamsport, Pennsylvania Curaçao beat Nevada, 11-2, on Sunday to win the country's second Little League World Series title (2004*) and cap a landmark sports year for the tiny island, which earlier this summer became the smallest country (185,000 population) to ever play in the FIFA World Cup. So close, again: Nevada became the first state to reach back-to-back LLWS finals since Georgia in 2006-07. While the Peach State came away with two championships, Nevada came away with none, losing to Taiwan in last year's title game before falling short again this weekend. (Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) 🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland Was that Bill Belichick cracking a smile after North Carolina's 15-10 win over TCU to begin a season where everyone had already written his coaching obituary? It sure looked like it. More importantly, the Tar Heels finally looked like a Bill Belichick team. More from Week 0: Virginia destroyed NC State, 34-8; North Dakota State rolled over Jacksonville State, 33-7, in their FBS debut; No. 14 USC and its core of young talent beat San José State, 42-26; Memphis hung on for a 27-21 win over UNLV in head coach Charles Huff's debut. (Richard Pelham/Getty Images) 🏴 London, England Filip Hrgović (21-1, 16 KOs) pulled off one of the biggest shockers in recent boxing history on Saturday when he stopped an exhausted Moses Itauma (14-1, 12 KOs) in Round 9 to capture the vacant IBF heavyweight world title and become Croatia's first-ever heavyweight champion. Halting the hype: Itauma, 21, was looking to become the second-youngest heavyweight champ in history after Mike Tyson, who achieved the feat in 1986 at age 20. The Brit was considered the natural successor to the heavyweight throne, but those plans were derailed by Hrgović and his iron chin. *That 2004 Curaçao squad featured two future big leaguers in Jurickson Profar (currently on the Braves) and Jonathan Schoop. How many future MLB players will this year's title-winning squad produce? 🏈 LET'S PLAY TRIVIA TIME (Elsa/Getty Images) Odell Beckham Jr. made the Giants' 53-man roster, giving the 33-year-old wideout a chance to finish his career where it began. Question: Can you name the four teams OBJ played for between his first (2014-18) and second stints (2026) with the Giants? Hint: Three AFC, one NFC. Answer at the bottom. 🏈 NEVER SAY DIE A COMEBACK FOR THE AGES (Screenshot: ESPN) William & Mary pulled off an unreal comeback against Villanova on Saturday, erasing a 10-point deficit with less than a minute remaining to take down the nation's No. 7 ranked FCS team in regulation. The Tribe began their rally with a 40-yard Max Lipinski field goal with 53 second left, cutting Villanova's lead to 32-25. Needing a touchdown, they recovered an onside kick inside the Villanova 40 after it bounced off a Wildcat. Three plays later, W&M QB Winston Watkins found WR Kai Austin for a 37-yard TD. With an extra point, they tied the game at 32-32. But the Tribe wasn't finished: Villanova QB Pat McQuaide threw deep with the clock winding down and got picked off by Cade Ellis, setting up Lipinski's 45-yard field goal to win it at the buzzer. Final score: 35-32. Trivia answer: Browns (2019-21), Rams (2021), Ravens (2023), Dolphins (2024) Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 1 Author Members Posted September 1 > Jury finds Duane "Keffe D" Davis guilty of first-degree murder in the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur (More) | See previous write-up (More) > Lionel Messi retires from international soccer at age 39, capping a career that included eight Ballon d'Or awards and one World Cup win; will continue to play for US Major League Soccer club Inter Miami (More) | Watch his 21 FIFA goals (More) > Howard Stern inks deal with HBO Max to bring filmed episodes of his SiriusXM show to the streamer beginning Sept. 17 (More) | Singer D4vd pleads not guilty to murder of 14-year-old girl after parting ways with his legal team (More) Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted September 2 Author Members Posted September 2 > Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke announces he will purchase the Los Angeles Angels, reportedly at a record $4B valuation; deal is expected to close early next year. > Federal judge dismisses harassment and discrimination lawsuit against Lizzo’s production company from her former wardrobe stylist (More) | Miley Cyrus changes stage name to “Miley” ahead of 10th studio album (More) > Jonathan Bailey drops out of West End production of "Sunday in the Park with George" weeks after his "Wicked" costar Ariana Grande also dropped out (More) Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted Thursday at 09:06 PM Author Members Posted Thursday at 09:06 PM 👋 Good morning! The NFL season kicks off a week from today. Stat du jour: In the last 40 years, only two men have won a US Open match at age 40 or older: Jimmy Connors, the day he turned 40, and Gaël Monfils, the day he turned 40, which was yesterday. In today's edition: College sports is eating itself, calling pitches from the dugout, the end of a Big Three streak, KD's investment portfolio, College Football Challenge (make your picks!), and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... 🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⚾️ Kroenke buys Angels: Stan Kroenke, who already owns the Rams, Nuggets, Avalanche, Arsenal and more, has entered an agreement to buy the Angels from Arte Moreno for an MLB-record $4 billion. "It was needed," said Mike Trout, who has won three MVPs, made 12 All-Star teams… and played a grand total of three playoff games in 16 years with the team. 🎾 Disaster averted: Top-seeded Alexander Zverev survived what would have been a historic upset against Lorenzo Sonego at the US Open, coming back to win in five sets to avoid becoming the first No. 1 seed in over 20 years to lose his first round match at a grand slam. 🏒 ASU hockey investigation: An investigation is ongoing after Arizona State hockey player Matthew Mayich collapsed and later fell into a coma during the first day of workouts with the team last month. The 2023 Blues draft pick remains in a coma two weeks later. ⛳️ Presidents Cup teams set: Captains Brandt Snedeker (USA) and Geoff Ogilvy (International) have finalized their 12-man rosters for the Presidents Cup, the biennial tournament coming to Medinah Country Club (Illinois) later this month. The Americans have won 10 straight editions, and 13 of 15 overall. ⚽️ Balogun deal falls apart: After it looked like a transfer was in place to send Folarin Balogun from Monaco to Everton, the deal fell apart on Tuesday ahead of the English transfer window closing. The USMNT star reportedly failed the physical, which led to Everton negotiating the terms, and Balogun ultimately deciding to stay at Monaco. SPORTS MOVE FAST. SO DO THE MARKETS. Polymarket turns sports predictions into markets you can trade. Find the matchup or future you like, take your position, then watch the price move as the action unfolds. Stay in or trade out before it's over. Your call. 🎓 COLLEGE CHAOS HOW DID WE GET HERE? (Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports) Do you ever read a college sports headline in the year 2026, step back for a second, and think, How did we get here? How did we get to the point where players on actual NFL rosters are rejoining the college ranks? (Developing story: LSU is seeking to import ex-NFL and NBA players, and the SEC is not happy about it. A trial looms Thursday.) How did we get to the point where players can hop from school to school, turning entire rosters into hordes of roaming freelancers and destroying any lasting connection with their university? How did we get to the point where southwest legends Texas and Oklahoma are in the SEC, Stanford and Cal are in the ACC, and extremely non-Midwestern schools from California, Washington and Oregon are in the Big Ten? How did we get to the point where Congress is trying to step in and regulate college athletics? Where federal, state and district courts — not schools, conferences or the NCAA — are deciding who can and can't play? Seriously, how did we get to the point where college football has devolved from joyful celebration of everything that makes sports great into vindictive, litigation-filled chaos? What they're saying: "It's embarrassing where we are with college football," Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said on Tuesday ahead of his team's marquee matchup with LSU this weekend. “We have no rules. There's no governance. It's a joke. Never did I think I'd be living in an era like this but that's where we are." Jay Busbee, Yahoo Sports: You can trace all of the "How-did-we-get-to-the-point-wheres" to the tsunami of revenue rolling into the sport, money that effectively obliterates decades of tradition. Every time Money and Tradition collide, Money wins in a five-touchdown rout. And in the stands, plenty of fans, broadcasters and university officials who were once wearing Tradition jerseys have happily changed into Money ones now that they've seen how the game is going. But nobody roots for Money. Nobody roots for new broadcast agreements, or for escalating coaching salaries, or congressional acts "protecting" college sports. People root for their teams on the field, the competition and tradition and aura that surrounds a college football Saturday. Every single grubby money-grab, every tacky justification, every courtroom filing only tarnishes the game a little more. Keep reading: College athletics is eating itself, and LSU is at the head of the table ⚾️ DUGOUT DECISIONS WHO'S CALLING THE PITCHES? (Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports) The role of MLB catchers is changing rapidly, and not just due to the introduction of the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS). The latest evolution? Some teams are calling pitches from the dugout, with coaches making and relaying the pitch selection instead of entrusting catchers with that responsibility. Russell Dorsey, Yahoo Sports: The Marlins began this trend in 2025, opting to have a member of the team's coaching staff call pitches from the dugout and signal them to the catcher via signs. From there, the catcher selects the pitch via PitchCom, and the pitcher executes. The trend is catching on around the league. The Mets, Rockies and, most recently, Nationals have been calling pitches from the dugout this season. Several more teams, while they might not have adopted this practice at the big-league level, have experimented with it in the minor leagues and discussed implementing it. Calling pitches from the dugout isn't uncommon in high school or college ball, where many coaches call pitches from the side. Historically, though, once a catcher reaches pro ball, he is responsible for calling the game. With this latest trend, that could change across the league. "I think it's going to end up being a real thing here soon," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "I thought about this when I was [coaching] in college. I'm like, 'The major-league guys are crazy. Why wouldn't they do what we're doing?' It makes too much sense." What they're saying: Some backstops are excited about the direction this could push the position, while others reject losing a responsibility they consider to be a core part of their craft. For: "I feel like you can focus a lot more on the physical aspect [when not calling pitches]," says Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman. "You can think more about the running game or, like, how I'm going to receive this pitch. Your brain is not so locked down on 'Is this the right pitch? Is this the right spot?' … It kind of frees you up for some of the actual catching stuff." Against: "Hate it, man. I understand that's kind of where the game's heading, but it's taking the feel out of the game," said Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers. "If I'm looking in the dugout trying to get the pitch from the dugout, I'm not paying attention to this guy [at the plate]. He could be adjusting right in front of me, and I'm not paying attention to it." Looking to the future: New trends don't always stick, but plenty of top minds around the game believe this particular change is here to stay. "Five years from now, I would say 90% of teams [are calling pitches from the dugout]," says Marlins assistant pitching coach Rob Marcello. And in 10 years? "I imagine that it's going to be like the NFL, where you have a coordinator calling it from up top," says Reds catcher Jose Trevino. "Like, after I'm done playing, I could get a call from a team and they're like, 'Come call pitches for us.'" 💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS Djokovic falls to the court after losing his opening match at the US Open. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images) 🎾 1,249 weeks later Novak Djokovic will fall out of the top 10 when the next ATP rankings are released on Sept. 14. That will mark the first time since Oct. 7, 2002,* that neither Djokovic nor Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal will be in the top 10 — a 1,249-week stretch of uninterrupted Big Three presence. Never has the end of this era been more apparent. Anatomy of a streak: Federer, who first cracked the top 10 in May 2002, started the streak in October 2002. He stayed there until November 2016, returned three months later, and fell out for good in October 2021. Nadal entered in April 2005 and didn't leave until March 2023, a record 912 consecutive weeks. Djokovic entered in March 2007, briefly fell out due to injury in 2017-18, and has remained there ever since. Alex Bregman rounds the bases after his third homer of the game in Monday night's win over the Brewers. (Matt Dirksen/Chicago Cubs/Getty Images) ⚾️ 62 home runs The Cubs just rattled off one of the most prolific slugging months in MLB history, smacking a National League-record 62 home runs in August. The only team to hit more in a single calendar month was the 2019 Yankees, with 74. Dynamic duo: Pete Crow-Armstrong (14 HR in August) and Alex Bregman (12) became just the third pair of teammates to each hit at least a dozen homers in the same month. The others? Rangers duo Iván Rodríguez and Rafael Palmeiro (August 1999) and Yankees legends Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris (June 1960 and July 1961). Tacko Fall with the Cavaliers in 2021. Otto Porter Jr., the guy on the left, is 6-foot-8. (Jason Miller/Getty Images) 🏀 7-foot-6 The 76ers have signed 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall to give them some more depth behind the oft-injured Joel Embiid. Fall, who last played in the NBA in 2021, is tied with Yao Ming and Shawn Bradley as the third-tallest player in league history. Only Gheorghe Mureșan and Manute Bol, both 7-foot-7, stood taller. In related news: Philadelphia also signed Jameer Nelson Jr., son of the former national college player of the year (remember those Saint Joseph's teams?) and 14-year NBA veteran who now serves as the Sixers' VP of Basketball Operations. Man, that makes me feel old. *Here's what the ATP Top 10 looked like on Oct. 7, 2002: 1. Lleyton Hewitt (Australia), 2. Tommy Haas (Germany), 3. Andre Agassi (USA), 4. Marat Safin (Russia), 5. Tim Henman (Great Britain), 6. Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain), 7. Albert Costa (Spain), 8. Sébastien Grosjean (France), 9. Carlos Moya (Spain), 10. Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) 📈 PORTFOLIO PROFILE THE SLIM REAPER REAPS INVESTMENT GAINS (Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Activision/Call of Duty) Nvidia bought open-source AI platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion last week, handing Kevin Durant another massive investing win. The hoops legend backed the company's seed and Series A rounds in 2017 and 2018, when it was still a chatbot app. Portfolio: Durant's holdings, amassed primarily via Thirty Five Ventures, span a variety of categories, including sports (Philadelphia Union, Paris Saint-Germain, Gotham FC, LOVB). Given last week's news, we're focusing today on his murderer's row of early-stage tech investments. The below victories (plus Hugging Face) only scratch the surface. WHOOP: Invested in 2017, a year before it was valued at $125M, and again in the company's Series E at a $1.2B valuation. WHOOP was valued at $10.1B in March. Robinhood: Invested in Robinhood at a $1.2B valuation in 2017. The company was valued at $32B in its 2021 IPO, and its market cap today is $94B. Coinbase: Invested at a $1.6B valuation in the company's 2017 Series D. Coinbase opened trading in 2021 at a valuation near $100B, though its market cap today is $47B. Postmates: Invested in 2016, reportedly netting Durant $15M when Uber bought the company for $2.65B. Golden opportunity in the Golden State: Durant played for the Warriors from 2016 to 2019. He initiated each of the above investments during that period. Today, his track record ensures he's a desirable name to list on any cap table no matter where he's playing, but his time spent so proximate to Silicon Valley kickstarted a remarkable investing career. This story first appeared in Yahoo Sports Biz, our new sports business newsletter authored by Dylan Dittrich. Sign up here to begin receiving it every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 2 Tiafoe reacts during his first round win. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images) 🎾 US Open, Second Round The second round gets underway today in Queens (11am ET, ESPN/ESPN+), where Jessica Pegula (11:30am), Aryna Sabalenka (7pm), Frances Tiafoe (7pm) and Carlos Alcaraz (8:10pm) are among those headlining the action. Strong openers: Now that Novak Djokovic's staggering streak of 78 consecutive first-round major victories has come to an end, the longest active streak belongs to Tiafoe (22 straight). The next longest, as you might have guessed, belong to Alcaraz (21) and Jannik Sinner (20). More to watch: ⚾️ MLB: Brewers at Cubs (7:40pm, MLB) … What does NL Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski (14-5, 1.73 ERA) have in store for us tonight? ⚽️ Leagues Cup: Toluca vs. León (9pm, Apple); Club América vs. Monterrey (11:30pm, Apple) … Semifinals in Los Angeles and Houston. 🚴 Vuelta a España: Stage 11 (8:45am, Peacock) … Riders travel 97 miles from Cartagena to Lorca. Spain's own Enric Mas holds the lead at the midpoint. 🏈 LET'S PLAY TRIVIA TIME (Chris Graythen/Getty Images) The NFL season kicks off exactly one week from today. Friendly reminder to set a date for your Fantasy Football draft! Question: Which nine franchises have won multiple Super Bowls this century (since Jan. 1, 2000)? Hint: Five NFC, four AFC. Answer at the bottom. 🏆 WHO YA GOT? MAKE YOUR PICKS! Introducing College Football Challenge, a new weekly game where you'll be competing against fellow Yahoo Sports AM readers — and both of us (Kendall and Jeff). How it works: Each week, you'll make 10 picks about Saturday's best matchups, taking into account margin of victory. We'll have winners each week and your stats accumulate, so we'll also have winners at the end of the season. Make your picks: Create your entry now, and join the Yahoo Sports AM group. Trivia answer: Patriots (6 Super Bowls), Chiefs (3), Steelers (2), Ravens (2), Seahawks (2), Eagles (2), Buccaneers (2), Giants (2), Rams (2) Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted Saturday at 12:15 AM Author Members Posted Saturday at 12:15 AM George Lucas presents a galaxy of art that goes far, far past 'Star Wars' in new Los Angeles museum The new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will serve “Star Wars” fans what they crave, but the saga George Lucas spawned represents just one small corner of the galaxy of creative work within the walls of the Los Angeles institution he calls a "temple to the people’s art.” Read More. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted Sunday at 01:18 AM Author Members Posted Sunday at 01:18 AM 👋 Good morning! We have officially entered the "late 2020s." So far, not my favorite decade! In today's edition: NBA punishes Clippers, Tiger pleads guilty, the Year of the QB, Kroenke gets his wings, PCA's stance adjustment, College Football Challenge (make your picks!), and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... 🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⛳️ Tiger pleads guilty: Tiger Woods has pleaded guilty to a chods has pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless driving stemming from his March wreck near his home in Jupiter, Florida. As a result, his license will be suspended for five years, which raised an interesting question: Can he still drive a golf cart? 🎾 Historic victory: Unseeded Bu Yunchaokete made history at the US Open on Wednesday, knocking off No. 12 Rafael Jódar to become the first "lucky loser" to beat a top-15 seed at a grand slam in the Open Era. A "lucky loser" is a player who lost the final qualifying match but still got added to the field due to a player withdrawing. 🏀 War divides LSU: Kate Koval, the former LSU center who left the program last week due to personal reasons, confirmed that her decision was made due to the signing of Russian center Anna Minaeva. "For me, this war is not distant or abstract," wrote Koval, whose father serves in the Ukrainian military. 🏈 Cousins named QB1: The Raiders have officially named Kirk Cousins as their starting QB for Week 1, a long expected move that will allow No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza to learn from the bench behind the 14-year veteran. ❤️ Honoring legends: Notre Dame will honor Lou Holtz with a helmet decal this season after their former coach passed away in March; Tennessee and Middle Tennessee State will both honor Dolly Parton with a helmet decal and uniform patch. SPORTS MOVE FAST. SO DO THE MARKETS. Polymarket turns sports predictions into markets you can trade. Find the matchup or future you like, take your position, then watch the price move as the action unfolds. Stay in or trade out before it's over. Your call. 🏀 KAWHI PROBE NBA DROPS THE HAMMER ON THE CLIPPERS (Yahoo Sports) The NBA came down hard on the Clippers following a yearlong probe into claims that they circumvented the salary cap to pay Kawhi Leonard, allegations first brought to light by journalist Pablo Torre. Among the punishments: The franchise has been stripped of five first-round picks, and owner Steve Ballmer has been fined $30 million and suspended for a year. Leonard, who was traded to the Raptors this offseason, must pay $700,000 in restitution. Tom Haberstroh, Yahoo Sports: Adam Silver didn't just drop the hammer on the Clippers. He busted out the sledgehammer and called in the wrecking ball for good measure. Make no mistake about it, the commissioner sent a message on Wednesday. Not just to the Clippers. He CC'd the entire NBA and anyone who dared to even think about the words, "cap circumvention." Consider this: When you combine these sanctions and the assets the Clippers gave up to acquire Paul George to be Leonard's wingman, here's what it cost them: 2021 first-round pick 2022 first-round pick 2023 first-round pick 2023 first-round pick swap 2024 first-round pick 2025 first-round pick swap 2026 first-round pick 2029 first-round pick 2030 first-round pick 2031 first-round pick 2032 first-round pick 2033 first-round pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Danilo Gallinari $30 million fine Ballmer suspension Frank suspension Zucker suspension And what'd they get? Leonard averaged 47 games in his seven seasons, and the team won three total playoff series (none since 2021) and made one Western Conference Finals appearance. What's next: The Clippers will, of course, be raising a stink. The team released a statement slamming the probe as a "witch hunt" and vowed to explore "every legal remedy to address this gross injustice." Dive in: The Clippers, Kawhi Leonard and the most damaging swing-and-a-miss in NBA history 🏈 ARMS RACE COLLEGE FOOTBALL: THE YEAR OF THE QB (Hayden Hodge/Yahoo Sports) A record six QBs have been taken in the first round of the NFL Draft twice before (1983, 2024), and while breaking that mark will be a tall task, some believe the Class of 2027 could be the one to make history. Top prospects: For seven QBs to go in the first round, you need not only a deep well of talent but also enough teams interested in adding a rookie signal-caller, which it looks like we might have. Here are the top 12 prospects at the position, according to Yahoo Sports' Eric Edholm. Arch Manning (Texas): We might not talk about him quite the same way if he had a different last name, but his talent is undeniable. He has better raw traits than his uncles Peyton and Eli, and looks like an early favorite to go No. 1. Dante Moore (Oregon): Many felt he could have been the second player taken in this year's draft had he gone that route. Instead, he'll get one more year of seasoning while leading one of top preseason title contenders. Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State): A year after leading FBS in passing yards and touchdowns at North Texas, he's followed head coach Eric Morris to Stillwater where he'll bring his raw but enticing skills to the Power Four. CJ Carr (Notre Dame): Carr flourished as a redshirt freshman (24 TD, 6 INT), but he faces a big challenge this season following the departure of first-round RBs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, and third-round pass-catchers Malachi Fields and Eli Raridon. LaNorris Sellers* (South Carolina): The supremely talented Sellers took a surprising step back last year after entering the season as the potential No. 1 pick. Can the hulking junior (6-4, 245 lbs) right the ship this fall? Trinidad Chambliss (Ole Miss): The former D-II star erupted for an SEC-best 3,937 passing yards last year, leading the Rebels all the way to the CFP semifinals. The dual-threat may no longer have Lane Kiffin on the sidelines, but his talent is inescapable. Darian Mensah (Miami): Jack of all trades, master of none, last year's ACC touchdown leader (34) transferred from Duke for a gargantuan $6.5 million NIL package. With a significantly better supporting cast, there's a clear path to Round 1. Julian Sayin (Ohio State): Last year's fourth-place Heisman finisher threw for 32 touchdowns and led the nation in completion rate (77%) as a sophomore, and has now been named captain of a team with championship-or-bust expectations. Drake Lindsey (Minnesota): The redshirt sophomore isn't yet a first-round prospect, but he has the size (6-5, 230 lbs) and tools to get there if he builds on the best bits we saw from him last season in the Twin Cities. CJ Bailey (NC State): The good news is that he's 6-foot-6, athletically blessed and entering his third full year as the Wolfpack's starter. The bad news is he struggled badly in last week's opener, turning the ball over twice in an ugly 34-8 loss at Virginia. Sam Leavitt (LSU): Coming off a season-ending foot injury at Arizona State, the junior is now under the tutelage of Kiffin, who will be tasked with harnessing the best parts — and rooting out the bad habits — of his new QB's hyper-aggressive play. Nico Iamaleava (UCLA): The 6-foot-6 junior with a cannon arm and speedy legs is a first-round athlete with too much fifth-round tape. One big season in Westwood could considerably change his career arc. *School's out: Sellers will be living the dream this fall, as he's already completed his class requirements to graduate in December. His only off-field responsibility during football season? An internship at a local driving range. ⚾️ SMALL TWEAK, BIG LEAP GRAPHIC OF THE DAY Pete Crow-Armstrong was hitting .224 two months into the season. Since changing his batting stance, the Cubs center fielder has been the best player in baseball, and this Wall Street Journal graphic illustrates it perfectly. Full story: The risky mechanical overhaul that built a baseball MVP (Jared Diamond, WSJ) ⚾️ SPORTS EMPIRE KROENKE GETS HIS WINGS (Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports) The biggest empire in sports just got bigger: Kroenke Sports & Entertainment is acquiring the Angels, rounding out a portfolio that already included the NFL (Rams), NBA (Nuggets), NHL (Avalanche), Premier League (Arsenal) and MLS (Rapids). Company of one: With the purchase, Kroenke becomes the only owner with majority stakes in each of the Big Four North American sports leagues. In comic book parlance, Thanos just added the missing stone to his infinity gauntlet. Deal deluge: Kroenke's purchase comes at a reported $4 billion valuation, exceeding the $3.9 billion paid for the Padres, a deal which just closed last month. The Angels' sale is the fifth in 2026 among the Big Four leagues, and the third since the beginning of August. Merciful end of an era: Outgoing owner Arte Moreno bought the Angels in 2003, with the team fresh off a World Series title, paying a reported $183.5 million. 23 years and 14 losing seasons later, he's selling for $4 billion. The team appreciated by 14% annually, but fans haven't appreciated the franchise's direction. Their patience with Moreno's ownership had worn thin, given poor performance, perceived underinvestment in the organization, and comments made earlier this year that deemphasized winning. Glass half full: Angels fans who have longed for on-field success have reason to be optimistic. Though patience has been required at times (Arsenal fans wanted #KroenkeOut just five years ago), Kroenke's portfolio has shown a recent penchant for filling trophy cases. Arsenal: 2026 Premier League Champions Nuggets: 2023 NBA Champions Avalanche: 2022 Stanley Cup Champions Rams: 2021 Super Bowl Champions New ballpark incoming? Kroenke reportedly intends to build a new $2.5 billion ballpark to replace Angel Stadium, which is the fourth-oldest in MLB (1966). This story first appeared in Yahoo Sports Biz, our new sports business newsletter. 📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: THURSDAY, SEPT. 3 Coco during her first round victory. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) 🎾 US Open, Second Round The second round (11am ET, ESPN+/ESPN) should conclude tonight as long as rain doesn't yet again delay the proceedings. No. 17 Alex Eala (12:40pm), No. 9 Taylor Fritz (1pm), No. 4 Coco Gauff (7pm) and No. 1 Alexander Zverev (8:10pm) headline the action. Dan Wolken: Coco Gauff has found her game at exactly the right time Since the start of Wimbledon, Gauff is 16-2 and won the Cincinnati title in dominating fashion — similar to the run of form she found in 2023 when she rode the wave all the way to her first Slam. The other thing in Gauff's favor: There are major questions about the rest of the field. More to watch: 🏈 NCAAF: Colorado at Georgia Tech (8pm, ESPN); Idaho at No. 21 Utah (9pm, ESPNU) … Two of 11 games tonight kicking off Week 1. ⚾️ MLB: Red Sox at Orioles (7:15pm, Fox); Brewers at Cubs (7:15pm, Fox) … Two great games between playoff contenders, depending where you are in the country. 🚴 Vuelta a España: Stage 12 (6:45am, Peacock) … Today's 104-mile mountain stage through Andalusia ends in Calar Alto at the largest astronomical observatory in Europe. 🏆 WHO YA GOT? MAKE YOUR PICKS In lieu of trivia today, we're sharing our new game: College Football Challenge. This is your chance to flex your knowledge week after week and see where you stack up at the end of the season. How it works: Each week, you'll make 10 picks about Saturday's best matchups. If you have a rough week, don't worry: your stats accumulate throughout the season, so you can rebound the next week and get back into the title race. Join us: Make your picks now on the Yahoo Sports app, and join the Yahoo Sports AM group to compete against Kendall, Jeff and fellow subscribers. 🏎️ START YOUR ENGINES YAHOO SPORTS x APPLE TV (Apple) This weekend's Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d'Italia 2026 continues our season-long partnership with Apple TV for F1 coverage. Tune in: All three practice sessions (Fri. 6:30/10am ET; Sat. 6:30am) and Saturday's qualifying (10am) will air for free on Yahoo Sports, while Sunday's race will stream on Apple TV, the new U.S. home of Formula 1. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted Sunday at 07:52 PM Author Members Posted Sunday at 07:52 PM > Sean "Diddy" Combs' prison release date moved up to Feb. 5, 2028 (More) | Music mogul was convicted on prostitution-related charges; see previous write-up (More) > The Athletic's investigation into Dianna Russini’s journalism concludes the NFL reporter violated publication standards by engaging in an undisclosed relationship with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel (More) | Read the full report (More) > Fox News parts ways with longtime host Maria Bartiromo; the network did not specify a reason behind her departure (More) Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted Monday at 12:42 AM Author Members Posted Monday at 12:42 AM 🎉 Yahoo! It's Friday! Make sure to get your picks in for our new College Football Challenge game! 800 of you have entered so far. Let's get 800 more before tomorrow's slate kicks off. Victory at last: UMass stunned Rutgers, 37-21, on Thursday as 29.5-point underdogs to get their first win since Oct. 26, 2024 (0-15 last season). It's the largest FBS upset since Texas lost to Kansas as 31-point favorites in 2021. In today's edition: LSU vs. SEC, Behind the Lens, England dominates soccer's transfer window, college football predictions, NCAA volleyball at Wrigley Field, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... SPORTS MOVE FAST. SO DO THE MARKETS. Polymarket turns sports predictions into markets you can trade. Find the matchup or future you like, take your position, then watch the price move as the action unfolds. Stay in or trade out before it's over. Your call. 🎓 COURTROOM DRAMA LSU VS. SEC BATTLE HEATS UP (Parker S. Freedman/Getty Images) LSU is free to roster players who were on NFL teams earlier this summer. Will the Tigers actually do it? State of play: Louisiana judge William Jorden ruled in favor of players looking for a fifth year of eligibility after a lengthy proceeding on Thursday. Players like former Ole Miss TE Dae'Quan Harris and former Rebels DT Zxavian Harris were granted a preliminary injunction that allows them to play college football in 2026 even though they were cut from NFL teams. Both have committed to play for their former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin at LSU, which has to send its 2026 roster to the SEC today. If they or any other players who had signed contracts with NFL teams are on that roster, an even bigger legal fight could unfold. The other side: The SEC filed a lawsuit against Kiffin and LSU earlier Thursday in an Alabama federal court as the conference attempts to block those ex-pro players from suiting up this season. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey testified for multiple hours, defending the league's right to set and enforce its own rules. The last word: "Court cases. Commissioners testifying. Politicians bickering. College sports stands at an impasse. Kickoff can't get here soon enough," writes Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger. 📺 VIEWING GUIDE WEEKEND WATCHLIST (Giphy) 🏈 NCAA Football, Week 1 After last week's appetizer, the season begins in earnest with a full slate this weekend, headlined by two blockbuster matchups: Clemson at No. 11 LSU (Sat. 7:30pm ET, ABC) and No. 9 Ole Miss vs. No. 24 Louisville (Sun. 7:30pm, ABC) in Nashville. Best of the rest: No. 7 Miami at Stanford (Fri. 9pm, ESPN); Boise State at No. 2 Oregon (Sat. 3:30pm, CBS); Baylor vs. Auburn in Atlanta (Sat. 3:30pm, ABC); UCLA at Cal (Sat. 10:30pm, ESPN); Wisconsin vs. No. 4 Notre Dame at Lambeau Field (Sun. 7:30pm, NBC); No. 19 SMU at Florida State (Mon. 7:30pm, ESPN). 🎾 US Open, Days 6-8 The season's final grand slam continues all weekend (Fri-Mon, ESPN), with the quarterfinals in both the men's and women's draws set to be finalized by Monday night. Matches to watch: No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, No. 8 Ben Shelton, and No. 11 Frances Tiafoe headline the men's action today as the third round gets underway, while No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 3 Jessica Pegula are among the women taking the court. 🏀 FIBA Women's World Cup The 16-team quadrennial tournament tips off today in Berlin, with group stage games all weekend on TNT and HBO Max. The quarterfinals are on Thursday and the championship is next Sunday, Sept. 13, as the WNBA remains paused until Sept. 17. USA against the world: Team USA, led by Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese and other WNBA stars, is heavily favored to win its fifth straight title. They face China today (8:15am), Czechia on Sunday (2:45pm) and Italy on Monday (2:45pm). 🏁 The NASCAR Chase NASCAR's new-look postseason begins on Sunday (5pm, USA) at South Carolina's Darlington Raceway, where 16 drivers begin their 10-race Chase for a title. How it works: Unlike the old elimination format, all 16 drivers remain in contention throughout The Chase. Drivers begin with between 2,000 points (16th-seeded Ryan Preece) and 2,100 points (top-seeded Denny Hamlin), more points are earned depending on finishing position in each race (55 for a win), and whoever has the most points at the end is crowned champion. 🏐 NCAA Volleyball at Wrigley This week's Big Ten/SEC Challenge concludes with a Sunday doubleheader at Wrigley Field. No. 3 Kentucky takes on No. 13 Penn State in the first leg (7pm, Fox), followed by No. 1 Nebraska vs. Missouri in the nightcap (9pm, Fox). Welcome to the big leagues: This is the third specialty showcase of the NCAA volleyball season, following events last month at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Golden Knights) and AT&T Stadium in Dallas (Cowboys), the latter a $1 million spectacle in front of a crowd of 40,000. More to watch: ⛳️ Golf: Walker Cup (Sat-Sun, Golf) … The top 10 American amateurs vs. the top 10 amateurs from Great Britain and Ireland in the 51st edition of the event. ⚾️ MLB: Tigers at Guardians (Fri. 7pm, Apple); Angels at Pirates (Fri. 7pm, Apple); Yankees at Padres (Sat. 7:15pm, Fox); Braves at Phillies (Sun. 1:10pm, NBC); Twins at White Sox (6:20pm, NBC) 🏎️ F1: Italian Grand Prix (Sun. 9am, Apple) … Drivers descend on the "Temple of Speed" as McLaren's Lando Norris goes for his third straight win. ⚽️ Premier League: Arsenal vs. Chelsea (Sun. 11:30am, USA) … The Gunners and Blues are both 2-0-0 to start the season. ⚽️ Leagues Cup: Toluca vs. Monterrey (Sun. 9:15pm, Apple) … Championship in Houston. Plus: ⚽️ MLS: Week 24 (Fri-Sat, Apple); ⚽️ NWSL: Week 24 (Fri-Sun, CBS/ESPN2); 🏁 IndyCar: Monterey (Sun. 2:30pm, Fox); 🚴 Vuelta a España: Stages 13-15 (Fri-Sun, Peacock); ⚾️ WPBL (Fri-Sun, ESPN+) 📸 PHOTOGRAPHY BEHIND THE LENS (Chris Graythen/Getty Images) Each week in Yahoo Sports AM, we'll be going "Behind the Lens" with Getty Images to get the backstory on the best photographs in sports. This week's photo: A pack of cars whips through the straightaway during last weekend's NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway, the final event of the regular season. Photographer: Chris Graythen Location: Daytona Beach, Florida Date: August 29 📸 Behind the lens: Here's Chris… Panning is an essential camera technique in motorsport photography, helping show the real speed and motion of cars going 190mph+, two and three cars wide on Daytona's 31 degrees of banking. I waited until just after sunset, for "blue hour," when the sky and infield start to match in that deep blue color. I used a shutter speed of 1/8th of a second, which is exceptionally slow for cars moving that fast. At 190mph, the car travels about 35 feet during the exposure, so it takes a long-practiced technique to get it right. Point your feet where you want to make the photo, keep your hands and arms in tight, turn at the hips, track the car and follow through. Sounds easy, but even after 20 years of shooting cars I only got a few frames I really liked before the light disappeared! Equipment and technique: Chris shot this from the roof of a building inside Daytona International Speedway with a Canon EOS R1 and Canon RF 100-300mm lens. He used a setting of f/20, ISO 2500, indicating a narrow aperture and a high light sensitivity. ⚽️ SPENDING SPREE CHARTED: TRANSFER WINDOW SLAMS SHUT Soccer's summer transfer window slammed shut this week, bringing an end to the most frenzied spending spree in the sport's history. As is increasingly the case, England's giants flexed their superior financial might. Mind the gap: Premier League transfer spending topped €4.1 billion ($4.8 billion) this summer, almost €3 billion more than the next-highest league (Italy's Serie A, €1.16 billion). Top-to-bottom dominance: Premier League clubs account for eight of the summer's top 10 spenders, leaving only the Spanish giants — Real Madrid and Barcelona — capable of joining them in splashing cash. Ipswich Town, newly promoted from the Championship, spent more than Barcelona. The big fish: $100 million transfers were historically rarefied air. This summer, 10 players commanded more than $100 million; the previous high watermark was five in 2023. Of those 10, nine were purchased by Premier League clubs. And of those nine, six were purchased from Premier League clubs. 🔮 CRYSTAL BALL PREDICTING THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON (Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports) Who will win the Heisman and national championship? Who will be the biggest surprise and biggest disappointment? Our college football experts make their annual predictions. 🏈 WHO YA GOT? MAKE YOUR PICKS! In lieu of trivia today, we're sharing our new game: College Football Challenge. This is your chance to flex your knowledge week after week and see where you stack up at the end of the season. How it works: Each week, you'll make 10 picks about Saturday's best matchups. If you have a rough week, don't worry: your stats accumulate throughout the season, so you can rebound the next week and get back into the title race. Join us: Make your picks now on the Yahoo Sports app, and join the Yahoo Sports AM group to compete against Kendall, Jeff and fellow subscribers. ⚾️ BAR-B-CAST YAHOO SPORTS x APPLE TV: MLB ALTCAST Yahoo Sports and Apple TV are teaming up to deliver alternate broadcasts of "Friday Night Baseball" and Major League Soccer games, with the first such altcast coming during tonight's MLB game between the Tigers and Guardians. Tune in: Baseball Bar-B-Cast hosts Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman will broadcast the first two innings of tonight's game (7:10pm ET), as well as a pre-game show (6:45pm), on Yahoo Sports. Following the two-inning altcast, viewers can watch the rest of the game on Apple TV. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted 16 hours ago Author Members Posted 16 hours ago 🏆 Hollywood icon Rob Reiner was honored with a posthumous Emmy for his performance in the hit FX series "The Bear." Keep reading. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted 11 hours ago Author Members Posted 11 hours ago > Elizabeth Holmes documentary “You Can See Everything” sets October release date, three years after comedian Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim began filming secret A24 project on convicted Theranos founder (More, w/trailer) > Zheng Qinwen knocks Iga Świątek out of US Open, overcoming 5-0 deficit in first set to advance to quarterfinal match against Elena Rybakina (More) | Watch the match highlights (More) > "Spider-Noir" wins five Creative Arts Emmy Awards two days after Prime Video canceled the detective series (More) | See full list of winners (More) Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted 10 hours ago Author Members Posted 10 hours ago 🏀 Summer of sports warfare Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios The WNBA, Major League Baseball and even a golf startup spent the summer as unlikely proxies in some of the country's fiercest national conflicts, Axios' Noah Bressner writes. Why it matters: American culture has shattered into thousands of tiny shards of glass. Sports remain one of the few forces powerful enough to pull much of the country into the same moment — making it a prime target for political fights. 🥊 This summer's fights have blown up far beyond the fan bases: Caitlin Clark, the WNBA's biggest star, spent the season absorbing hard fouls. The fight over whether refs were protecting her quickly became a fight about race. Eleven House Republicans wrote to the league, and the topic has become a staple on conservative media. Clark's Indiana Fever teammate Sophie Cunningham told ESPN in July that girls shouldn't have to compete against "biological men." Competing activist groups have clashed outside WNBA games, with Cunningham's words and photos appearing on signs held by her supporters. Three San Francisco Giants pitchers wrote Bible verses on their rainbow caps for Pride Night in June. The Justice Department referred the league to the EEOC for possible religious discrimination after it warned the players about violating uniform rules. Good Good Golf, a popular YouTube channel and apparel brand, posted an ad last month showing its co-founder shoving a female golfer to the ground. Callaway responded to the uproar by ending a three-year partnership, and Good Good withdrew as the title sponsor of a new PGA Tour event. President Trump's shadow hung over this summer's World Cup. Keep reading. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
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