Members phkrause Posted September 16 Author Members Posted September 16 👋 Good morning! It's Tuesday, which means two things: Tacos for dinner and GeoSports for breakfast. Tap in to play today's edition. Where's the defense? NFL teams combined for 791 points this week (49.4 points per game), tying the post-merger Week 1 record set in 2012. In today's edition: Cavan Sullivan has arrived, Chiefs blast Broncos (and complete a truly unbelievable stat), Dodgers and Yankees clinch, America's top college football markets, 12,000+ bounces, Tottenham still stinks, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... 🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⚾️ Dodgers, Yankees clinch: The Dodgers are playoff-bound for an MLB record-tying 14th consecutive season (Braves, 1991-2005), and the Yankees are heading back to October for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons. Could a World Series rematch be in store? 🏀 Kawhi trade completed: The Raptors' deal to reacquire Kawhi Leonard is now official following the conclusion of the Clippers saga (well, kind of). In exchange for the seven-time All-Star, Los Angeles receives forward Brandon Ingram, guard Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, two second-round picks and a first-round pick swap. 🎶 Kraft drops Macklemore: Rapper Macklemore says Patriots owner Robert Kraft barred him from performing in upcoming shows at Gillette Stadium due to his support for Palestine. Macklemore also alleges that Kraft "rallied" other stadium owners to do the same, leading to his removal as an opener on Ed Sheeran's current tour. ⚽️ Macario shut down: The San Diego Wave placed Catarina Macario on the season-ending injury list as she recovers from an "ongoing knee issue." The USWNT forward and Chelsea transfer will have to wait until next season to debut for her hometown club after signing for an NWSL-record $8 million in March. 🏀 From player to coach: After 17 NBA seasons, Taj Gibson is retiring and joining the Bulls as an assistant coach under Tiago Splitter. The former 2009 first-round pick spent almost half his career in Chicago and is one of just 35 players to make an NBA appearance while in his 40s. ⚽️ SWEET 16 CAVAN SULLIVAN HAS ARRIVED (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) Cavan Sullivan became the youngest debutant in MLS history when he was just 14 years old.* Now 16, he's playing at an MVP level for the Philadelphia Union, who have surged from last place into playoff position behind a breakout month from their tantalizing prodigy. How he got here: Sullivan was born in Philadelphia (in 2009!) and joined the Union's heralded youth academy in 2020, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Quinn, who also plays for the club. Four years later, he signed a historic contract with the team that included a notable clause: a transfer to English giant Manchester City the day he turns 18. Sullivan spent his first two MLS seasons growing up on Philadelphia's bench, making 14 appearances and just one start. But signs of future stardom were present from the jump. "When a practice starts and guys give you the ball, that's the ultimate sign of respect," Sullivan's first Union head coach, Jim Curtin, said in 2024. "10 seconds into the first training session, they gave him the ball." Making the leap: Just a few months ago, Sullivan had not yet earned back-to-back MLS starts. Now he's "the primary catalyst for the hottest team in the league," notes The Athletic's Henry Bushnell, with 11 goal contributions (six goals, five assists) in his past eight games dating back to Aug. 9. Some of those goals have been highlight-worthy, including this gorgeous strike (Aug. 29), this hustle goal (Sept. 5) and this backheel finish on Sunday (Sept. 13), when he bagged his first career brace (two goals). After winning just one MLS match before the World Cup break, the Union are unbeaten since the season resumed (eight wins, two draws), and the flashy right winger — who is routinely taking on defenders twice his age — is a big reason why. Buying stock: Sullivan's one-of-one MLS Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card sold for $324,000 at auction this month, shattering the previous MLS record of $111,057, held by some guy named Lionel Messi. No wonder this kid from Philly has so much confidence — though his critics might call it cockiness. (Howard Smith/ISI Photos via Getty Images) A demon with the ball: Sullivan is already one of MLS' most effective ball carriers, ranking fourth among all players in both dribbles attempted and completed per 90 minutes, per Gradient Sports. Despite his age, he's already taking roughly 10% of his team's touches, per The Guardian's John Muller, who attempted to put his electric playing style into words: When trying to describe a precocious, small, left-footed right winger who loves to perform tricks, it's too easy to reach for the most unfair comparison of all time, yet it's a documented fact that Sullivan modeled his game after Lionel Messi. … But Sullivan's style on the ball is less a young Messi and more like his other childhood hero, Alexis Sánchez: hips low, elbows out, juking defenders with feints, stutters, stepovers and changes of direction. What to watch: USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino will name his first post-World Cup squad on Thursday ahead of the team's upcoming four-game slate, and Sullivan (plus other MLS youngsters) are firmly in the mix. "It's not my team yet," Sullivan said during a recent interview. "But I'm obviously always dreaming and hoping for call-ups." *Sullivan debuted at 14 years, 293 days old, making him 13 days younger than Freddy Adu was when he first took the field for D.C. United in 2004. Adu never lived up to the enormous hype, becoming a cautionary tale for American wunderkinds. Sullivan already appears to be on a more promising trajectory, especially with his impending move to Man City, but projecting greatness onto teenagers remains a perilous exercise. 🏈 WEEK 1 WHAT ARE THE ODDS?! Kenneth Walker celebrates with teammate Trey Smith after scoring a touchdown. (Michael Owens/Getty Images) The Chiefs routed the Broncos, 31-10, on Monday night behind a huge game from offseason addition Kenneth Walker (23 car, 173 yds, TD; 3 rec, 18 yds, TD) to put a bow on the opening week of the NFL season — and complete a truly unbelievable stat. Crazy, but true: Every Week 1 game had a different margin of victory, making this the first 16-game week in NFL history with 16 unique point differentials. 1 point: Lions 31, Saints 30 2 points: Eagles 24, Commanders 22 3 points: Seahawks 13, Patriots 10 5 points: Bills 36, Texans 31 6 points: Bengals 33, Buccaneers 27 7 points: Steelers 20, Falcons 13 8 points: Giants 28, Cowboys 20 12 points: Cardinals 26, Chargers 14 13 points: Jets 23, Titans 10 14 points: Raiders 27, Dolphins 13 17 points: Vikings 39, Packers 22 18 points: Ravens 41, Colts 23 20 points: 49ers 27, Rams 7 21 points: Chiefs 31, Broncos 10 22 points: Bears 59, Panthers 37 24 points: Jaguars 34, Browns 10 Shoutout to stat guru Lee Sharpe for being the first person to notice that this quirky feat was in play heading into "Monday Night Football." And shoutout to data scientist Timo Riske for crunching the numbers to determine the odds of this happening: 430-to-1. 📊 BIZ VIZ CHART PARTY We love a good chart. Dylan Dittrich has been producing some terrific ones for Yahoo Sports Biz, our new newsletter exploring the business of sports (sign up, it's free!). Here's a sampling of his latest work. 🏈 College football country Nielsen recently released its Local College Football Fandom Index, determining America's top 20 most avid college football markets. Outside of New Orleans (No. 9) and Atlanta (No. 10), the markets that top the rankings have effectively no competition from professional sports, as locals channel all of their rooting energies toward their beloved universities. The coast is lava: The easternmost market in the rankings is Jacksonville. The westernmost market is Austin. The longitudinal distance between those two covers only 28% of the width of the continental United States. When it comes to college football, the middle of America is the "Double Stuf" that makes the Oreo. 🏟️ Stadium name game A stadium's naming rights are among the most valuable assets a team can sell, but who teams sell to — and whether they sell them at all — has changed significantly over the last 20 years. A collapse in clean venues: Nearly half of the NFL's 32 teams had no naming rights sponsor on their stadium in 2006. Fast forward to today, and only three of the league's stadiums (Arrowhead Stadium, Soldier Field, Lambeau Field) have no commercial sponsor. While sponsors geared toward fans' consumption were more prevalent a decade ago, their presence is now limited, as sponsors instead target their investment, savings, and insurance needs. ⛳️ LIV Golf's livelihood LIV Golf officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, seeking a path out from under $500+ million in liabilities for a company with only $15 million remaining in the bank after receiving $5+ billion in funding. Beyond those numbers, the bankruptcy filings revealed several striking data points from the LIV business. No broadcast bankroll: Sponsorship sales generated the lion's share of revenues, followed by hosting fees and ticketing for the circuit's events. Most jarring is the dearth of broadcasting rights revenues, which were on par with merchandise sales. That balance is almost unthinkable in established professional sports leagues with comparable player compensation. 💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS (Frank Franklin II/AP Photo) 🎾 12,000+ bounces Alexander Zverev displayed a rather annoying habit during his run to the US Open title, bouncing the ball well over 12,000 times before serves across his seven matches. That's roughly two and a half hours of bouncing during the span of the tournament. Is that even allowed? Technically, yes. There's currently a 25-second serve clock between points, but no such limit on second serves, which is when Zverev gets bounce-happy. "You shouldn't have unlimited time," Ben Shelton said after the final. "For our sport, for the fans. I think it's tough to be sitting there for that long for the next action to happen." (Jon Blacker/AP Photo) 🏈 18 straight losses The Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League extended their historic losing streak to 18 games (longest in CFL's modern era) on Saturday with a 26-23 loss to the Toronto Argonauts. They've now gone more than a full calendar year since their last win, a one-point victory over the BC Lions on Sept. 5, 2025. Historically futile: It's not just the record losing streak. The Redblacks (0-12) are also just the fourth team in CFL history to start a season with 12 straight losses, joining the 1979 Saskatchewan Roughriders, 1994 Shreveport Pirates and 2003 Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Ottawa has six games left to avoid becoming the first CFL team ever to go winless in a season. (Michael Steele/Getty Images) 👟 10.62 seconds Melissa Jefferson-Wooden was among the biggest winners from the inaugural World Ultimate Championship, sweeping the 100m (10.62 seconds) and 200m (21.47) with world-leading times in both races over the weekend. After sweeping the same races at last year's worlds, the 25-year-old American has established herself as the new queen of sprinting. More highlights: Two-time Olympic gold medalist Jakob Ingebrigtsen proved he's still the man to beat in the 5000m (12:59.24) after undergoing Achilles surgery in February; American Kenny Bednarek swept the men's 100m (9.85) and 200m (19.52) while rival Noah Lyles sat out with an injury; reigning Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino surged from last to first in the 400m final (49.07) to win her 12th straight race at that distance. ⚽️ SHOOTING BLANKS SPURS STILL STINK (Shaun Brooks/CameraSport via Getty Images) Tottenham have finished one spot out of the relegation zone in back-to-back Premier League seasons. If early returns are any indication, they could be headed for a similar fate next spring. Scoreless Spurs: For the first time in their 132-year history, Spurs have failed to score in their first four league matches. They're 0-2-2 and join last-place Coventry City as the only clubs that have yet to find the back of the net. Not quite what you're hoping for after spending the third-most of any team in the world ($423 million) during the summer transfer window. 📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: TUESDAY, SEPT. 15 (Nick Cammett/Getty Images) There isn't a whole lot going on today besides baseball, but the baseball is good, headlined by three critical series between playoff contenders in Cleveland (6:40pm ET, ESPN+), Chicago (7:40pm, TBS) and Arlington (8pm, MLB.TV). White Sox at Guardians: Chicago (77-73) gave themselves a modicum of breathing room over Cleveland (76-75, 1.5 GB) atop the AL Central thanks to Monday's series-opening win. Braves at Cubs: Atlanta (88-63) remains in the driver's seat for the NL East despite losing Monday's opener, while Chicago (84-67) is narrowly hanging onto its lead in the wild card race. Red Sox at Rangers: Boston (82-68) looks firmly ticketed for the second wild card, while Texas (74-76) needs every win it can get if it hopes to pass Cleveland (76-75) and Toronto (75-76) for the final wild card. More to watch: Three NL Cy Young contenders take the mound today, as Jacob Misiorowski (14-5, 1.95 ERA) and the Brewers visit the Pirates (6:40pm), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (13-8, 2.62 ERA) and the Dodgers visit the Reds (6:40pm) and Cristopher Sánchez (17-5, 2.79 ERA) and the Phillies visit the Nationals (6:45pm). Plus: There are nine more games on the docket, including Tigers at Blue Jays (7:07pm), Orioles at Mets (7:10pm), Yankees at Twins (7:40pm) and Marlins at Diamondbacks (9:40pm). 🌍 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. Tap where it happened! The closer you are, the more points you get. Play today's round. 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 16 Author Members Posted September 16 🚩 1 fun thing: Fastest-growing sport Data: NFHS. Map: Brad Jennings/Axios Girls' flag football has become the fastest-growing high school sport, as tens of thousands take up a game that barely had a varsity footprint a few years ago, Axios' Brad Jennings writes. More than 102,000 girls played high school flag football in 2025-26, a 551% increase in the past four years, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. In 2024, just 12 states sanctioned high school girls flag football, viewed as a safer, more accessible version of America's most popular spectator sport. Today, 23 states plus D.C. sanction it as an official varsity sport, and 3,990 schools reported participants in 2025-26. 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 17 Author Members Posted September 17 👋 Good morning! Happy Hump Day. In today's edition: NFL power rankings, Alonso mashes 300th career homer, America's richest sports owners, Kiffin needs to pick a lane, Wingsuit World Championships, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... 🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⚾️ MLB roundup: Pete Alonso hit his 300th career home run at Citi Field (and in a classy move, got a curtain call from his former home fans); the Brewers clinched the NL Central following another gem from Jacob Misiorowski (5 IP, 7 K, 0 R); Rays 3B Junior Caminero hit his second walk-off homer in his past four games as he makes a late push for the AL MVP. 🎰 Betting backlash: The NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and MLS are banding together to crack down on betting-related harassment of players, coaches and families, with the leagues issuing a joint statement suggesting punishments for those who engage in such behavior. The WNBA criticized the NBA for failing to include them in their joint statement. 🏈 Big weekend ratings: Texas' comeback win over Ohio State on Saturday was ESPN's most-watched regular-season college football game in a decade (14M viewers), and the Giants' win over the Cowboys on NBC was the most-watched Week 1 Sunday night game since 2015 (25.7M viewers). 🇦🇷 Messi's last dance: Lionel Messi, who already announced his retirement from international soccer, will take part in one final farewell match with Argentina on Oct. 6 against Benin in Buenos Aires as part of the upcoming international break. ⛳️ Sorry, LIV: PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp on Tuesday unveiled the qualification system for the Tour's new two-tier structure debuting in 2028. He also addressed the elephant in the room, making it clear that the Tour will not offer a return opportunity for LIV Golf players like the one Brooks Koepka used earlier this year. 🏈 RISERS AND FALLERS NFL POWER RANKINGS: WEEK 2 (Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports) Welcome to the first in-season edition of our 2026 NFL power rankings, courtesy of Yahoo Sports' Frank Schwab. It's good to be back. It would be foolish to draw long-term conclusions after one week of football — and equally foolish to pretend the openers meant nothing. So let's review what we learned from the biggest risers and fallers. Biggest risers Four teams climbed at least five spots in this week's rankings, with the 49ers making the biggest leap (up 11) following their rout of the preseason Super Bowl favorites in Melbourne. No. 5 49ers (▲11): Few teams looked better in Week 1 than the Niners, who scored a resounding victory in the battle of dueling jet lag strategies. The only bad news for San Francisco: They lost exciting rookie WR De'Zhaun Stribling (ankle) for at least a month. No. 6 Jaguars (▲8): The Jags picked up right where they left off, destroying the Browns for their ninth straight regular-season win behind Trevor Lawrence (18/23, 245 yards, 4 TD), who looks poised for another big season. No. 7 Chiefs (▲5): Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III looks like he's ready to transform Kansas City's offense, which will only get better as Patrick Mahomes gets more comfortable in his return from a torn ACL. No. 14 Giants (▲9): Big Blue bullied the Cowboys in primetime to deliver a statement victory for new head coach John Harbaugh, who has already given the Giants something they haven't had in years: hope. More risers: No. 1 Bills (▲2), No. 3 Ravens (▲3), No. 10 Bears (▲1), No. 12 Bengals (▲3), No. 17 Vikings (▲1), No. 13 Saints (▲1), No. 25 Raiders (▲1), No. 27 Jets (▲2), No. 28 Cardinals (▲3). Biggest fallers Five teams fell at least five spots, with the Broncos tumbling the furthest (down 11) following their blowout defeat at Arrowhead on Monday night. No. 11 Patriots (▼6): They won't look this bad every week, but some negative regression should probably be expected in New England after last season's storybook run came against the third-easiest schedule in NFL history. No. 15 Broncos (▼11): Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong in Denver's opening contest. You have to wonder if Sean Payton is already considering taking back play-calling duties from first-year OC Davis Webb. No. 16 Cowboys (▼9): Was New York's offense really that good on Sunday night? Or is Dallas' supposedly improved defense still just as bad as it was last season? Time will tell. No. 19 Chargers (▼6): Their loss to the Cardinals was so bad it had Jim Harbaugh lamenting the decision to sit his starters for most of the preseason. Things could get ugly in a hurry with an absolutely brutal schedule coming up. No. 24 Colts (▼5): Daniel Jones didn't look great nine months after tearing his Achilles, and Indianapolis looked a lot more like the team that ended last season on a seven-game losing streak than the one that started it 8-2. More fallers: No. 4 Rams (▼3), No. 13 Texans (▼3), No. 18 Packers (▼1), No. 26 Panthers (▼1), No. 29 Falcons (▼1), No. 31 Titans (▼4). Don't see your squad? The No. 2 Seahawks, No. 8 Eagles, No. 9 Lions, No. 20 Steelers, No. 21 Buccaneers, No. 22 Commanders, No. 30 Browns and No. 32 Dolphins all stood pat and maintained their position from last week's rankings. 💰 BILLIONAIRE BALLCLUBS YOUR OWNER CAN AFFORD IT The top 20 owners in sports are collectively worth an estimated $666 billion, according to Forbes' annual rankings, up 10% from last year. For context: The cumulative market capitalization of the S&P 500 is approximately $69 trillion. The cumulative wealth of just 20 sports owners equates to nearly 1% of that figure. How about U.S. household wealth? That totals $186 trillion. 0.36% of it is represented here. Around the leagues: 10 NFL teams are represented in the top 20, just two more than the NBA and one more than MLS, thanks to the popularity of bolting on a soccer franchise to existing NFL infrastructure. The richest owners in each league are as follows: NBA: Steve Ballmer, Clippers ($156 billion) NFL: Rob Walton, Broncos ($132 billion) NHL: Henry Samueli, Ducks ($34 billion) MLB: Steve Cohen, Mets* ($27 billion) Bottom line: If your team's owner is featured on this list, they have little reason not to invest in their competitiveness… within the rules, of course (right, Steve?). *Soon to be replaced by Stan Kroenke with the completion of his Angels acquisition. Until then, MLB appears on the list just once! 🏈 REBEL REUNION DEAR LANE, YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS (Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports) Lane Kiffin stiff-arming Ole Miss for LSU is one thing. But his reimagining of the whole saga on the eve of his return to Oxford is another, writes Yahoo Sports' Dan Wolken, who pulls no punches in his latest column. Here's a teaser: Lane Kiffin has been through so many lifetimes in college football and tried on so many different versions of himself that sometimes you wonder if he gets confused about which character he's supposed to play. When Kiffin left Ole Miss last December for LSU, sacrificing a viable chance to win a national championship in the process, he did it for a defensible reason. Though everything about the timing and execution was terrible, there was nothing controversial about the belief he'd have a better chance of consistently contending for titles at LSU. Why won't he just own it? What he's saying: "I told the players today, man, you don't have anything to worry about as far as like attention on you all week," Kiffin said during Monday's press conference in Baton Rouge. "There's going to be so much attention and hatred and everything on me … Really, the pressure's on them [Ole Miss]. We won seven games last year, they won 13. They return two Heisman candidates. … So you guys get to go play. The pressure's not on you." Huh? If there is one thing we know for sure about why Kiffin left Ole Miss, it wasn't to be the underdog. Not in this game, not in any game. He went to LSU not just to win, but to dominate — backed by a university administration that would rather jump in Mike the Tiger's cage than tell their football coach no. "They've been playing this matchup for a long time and this is the first time in the last 64 years both teams are in the top 10," added Kiffin. "I think it's a really good thing that a lot of people could look at it and say, hey, both sides are doing really well and both sides won." Baloney. The idea that "both sides won" is laughable gaslighting. It only turned out that way because Ole Miss refused to let Kiffin get everything he wanted. Put on the black hat once and for all and own it, Lane. If not, what was the point of going to LSU in the first place? Read the full story. 🇨🇳 MEANWHILE, IN CHINA IN PHOTOS: WINGSUIT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (Wang HE/Getty Images) The 12th World Wingsuit League World Championship took place last week in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park* in central China's Hunan province, where 16 competitors from 11 countries participated in the thrilling, high-speed action sport. (Wang HE/Getty Images) Race to the bottom: Athletes took off from a platform on the 1,458-meter (4,783 feet) Yuhu Peak atop Tianmen Mountain before embarking on a nearly mile-long flight to the base. (Zhou Guoqiang/VCG via Getty Images) Target practice: The competition included both speed and precision races, with the latter featuring small targets that racers tried to pierce with a rod attached to their helmet. The bullseye they were trying to hit at speeds of 130+ mph? About the size of a water bottle cap. (Zhou Guoqiang/VCG via Getty Images) What they're saying: "I feel incredibly free when I fly, really like a bird," said China's Zhang Shupeng (in the pink above). "The wingsuit becomes one with my body when I'm wearing it. By changing my posture I can turn, speed up or slow down, so it's like a bird flying in the sky." *Fun fact: Zhangjiajie's trademark sandstone quartz pillars were the inspiration for the floating "Hallelujah Mountains" in the Avatar film franchise. In fact, following the release of the first film in 2009, the park officially renamed one of its pillars "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain." 📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 16 (Sarah Stier/Getty Images) ⚾️ MLB on ESPN The day begins with another crucial game between the White Sox and Guardians in Cleveland (1pm ET), where Chicago will try to extend its narrow division lead. Then we head to Queens (7pm), where the Mets host the Orioles a day after Pete Alonso hit his 300th career home run. Can former teammate Francisco Lindor, sitting on 299, join him tonight? Best of the rest: Cade Cavalli (12-5, 3.12 ERA) and the Nationals host Zack Wheeler (12-5, 3.14 ERA) and the Phillies in a matchup of aces, while three former Cy Young winners take the mound elsewhere: Max Scherzer's Blue Jays host the Tigers (3:07pm), Blake Snell's Dodgers visit the Reds (6:40pm) and Robbie Ray's Padres visit the Rockies (8:40pm). More to watch: ⚾️ WPBL Championship: Los Angeles vs. San Francisco (7pm, ESPN+) … Game 1 in the best-of-five series to determine the inaugural champion of the pioneering league. ⚽️ US Open Cup: Columbus Crew vs. Orlando City (7pm, CBSSN); Colorado Rapids vs. St. Louis City (9:30pm, CBSSN) … Semifinals of the long-running domestic cup competition. ⚽️ Campeones Cup: Inter Miami vs. Cruz Azul (8pm, Apple) … The eighth annual match between the reigning MLS and Liga MX champions. 🏈 LET'S PLAY TRIVIA TIME (Michael Owens/Getty Images) Travis Kelce (13,073) passed Jason Witten (13,002) on Monday for second on the all-time tight end receiving yards list, trailing only Tony Gonzalez (15,127). Question: Which two tight ends round out the top five on that list? Hint: Rob Gronkowski is sixth (9,286), so he's not one of the answers. Answer at the bottom. ⚽️ YAHOO SPORTS x APPLE TV TUNE IN: MLS ALTCAST Yahoo Sports and Apple TV are teaming up to deliver alternate broadcasts of "Friday Night Baseball" and MLS games, with the first such soccer altcast coming during tonight's Campeones Cup match between Inter Miami CF and Cruz Azul. Tune in: The Cooligans hosts Alexis Guerreros and Christian Polanco will broadcast the full game, including a brief pregame show (7:55pm ET), on Yahoo Sports. Viewers can also watch the main broadcast of the match on Apple TV. Trivia answer: Antonio Gates (11,841 receiving yards) and Shannon Sharpe (9,961) 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 Friday at 08:11 PM Author Members Posted Friday at 08:11 PM 👋 Good morning! 106 years ago today, the NFL was born. We revisit the league’s humble beginnings at the bottom of today’s newsletter. In today’s edition: Expansion on multiple fronts, Ovechkin faces backlash, Mark Walter sells another team, MLB power rankings, stuck in football limbo, Guess The Number, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... 🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🏈 The wrong team won: The FBS Oversight Committee said Wednesday that instant replay protocols were not followed in the waning seconds of Michigan’s 13-12 win over Western Michigan earlier this month. Had they been followed, the committee says the Broncos would have won the game, but the result cannot be changed. 🏒 Ovechkin ad sparks backlash: Alex Ovechkin, a longtime supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, appeared in an ad for Putin’s ruling party, prompting widespread criticism. The Capitals responded with a statement saying their longtime captain was asked to participate while visiting his home country this summer. 🇺🇸 Cavan in, Christian out: USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino reportedly plans to call up 16-year-old Cavan Sullivan (who we profiled this week) for the upcoming international window. Christian Pulisic, who’s still working his way back to full strength after suffering an injury during the World Cup, will reportedly not be included on the squad. 🎓 Seats on the house: UCLA students will receive free admission to all regular-season home football and basketball games, the school announced. The policy goes into effect on Saturday when the Bruins host Purdue at the Rose Bowl, the 90,000-seat stadium they’ve been struggling to fill for years. $0 tickets should help. ⚽️ Walter sells another team: Mark Walter has sold his shares in Chelsea Football Club, roughly a month after selling his majority stake in the Lakers amid a federal investigation into possible fraud. He still owns the Dodgers … at least for now. 📍 LEAGUE EXPANSION COMING SOON TO A MARKET NEAR YOU (Dillon Minshall/Yahoo Sports) Amid the acceleration of the sports business and the appetite to own a piece of it, North American leagues are preparing to put more pins on the map in their quests for domestic and even global domination. Catch up quick: Expansion talk is heating up across several major professional leagues, as existing owners prepare to clip healthy expansion fees from prospective newcomers in exchange for a slice of league revenues. 🏀 NBA: Adam Silver confirmed this week that the league hopes to reach expansion decisions by the end of the year, with the next round of bids due shortly. Discussion at the Board of Governors meetings centered on Las Vegas, where questions remain about a potential arena site. The Seattle process is more straightforward thanks to infrastructure at Climate Pledge Arena (home of the NHL's Kraken and WNBA's Storm). 🏒 NHL: Though nothing is finalized, league officials are currently working with the Friedkin family (owners of AS Roma and Everton) to determine whether a 33rd team should be placed in Houston or Austin. There is also interest in Atlanta and Phoenix, both of which previously lost franchises to relocation (this time will be different!), for a 34th team if the league pursues another after Texas. ⚾️ MLB: Once the battle over a new CBA concludes, MLB is expected to begin its own expansion process, per ESPN's Jeff Passan, who reports that Salt Lake City currently has the most "compelling case." Other potential contenders in the pursuit of one East Coast and one West Coast team include Nashville, Raleigh, Portland, Orlando, and Montreal. 🏀 WNBA: Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia will take the court in 2028, 2029, and 2030, respectively. But the W isn't stopping at 18 teams. The latest buzz? A group in Vancouver is laying the groundwork for a future bid that would give the Toronto Tempo (debuted this season) a Canadian counterpart. In 2025, Vancouver's Rogers Arena hosted a sellout crowd for the first WNBA game played outside the U.S. The winning formula: The recipe for securing a successful bid begins with the expansion fee. NBA fees, for example, could exceed $10 billion in Vegas and land near $7 billion in Seattle, per ESPN's Shams Charania. But it's not just about who can say the biggest number, to paraphrase Logan Roy. Groups also need a credible ownership structure, a feasible site or a path to one, and a market that can grow the pie. In many cases, clearing the arena hurdle requires public advocacy and financial support from the government. Extending abroad: The NBA also has ambitious European aspirations, as it continues negotiating with the EuroLeague over a potential new competition. And you'll notice the NFL has no domestic expansion in the offing. Could it expand across the Atlantic instead? Roger Goodell has "no doubt" there will eventually be a team based outside the U.S. — though perhaps not until the league finishes expanding to Wednesday and every other day of the week first. Today, the calendar. Tomorrow, the world. This story was written in collaboration with Dylan Dittrich, who authors our new sports business newsletter, Yahoo Sports Biz. 🌎 THROUGH THE LENS THE WORLD IN PHOTOS What a ballplayer. (Michael Hirschuber/Getty Images) 🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois National League MVP favorite Pete Crow-Armstrong launched his 43rd and 44th homers of the season in Wednesday’s 8-4 win over the Braves, pulling him within one of Kyle Schwarber (45) for the MLB lead. Adding to the intrigue: PCA’s Cubs (85-68) and Schwarber’s Phillies (84-68) are battling for the NL’s top wild-card spot. Game on. The view from 101st place. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images) 🏴 Northamptonshire, England Max Verstappen stormed from the back of a 101-kart grid on Wednesday to win Red Bull’s “Max vs. 100” event at Silverstone. The four-time F1 world champion needed just 14 laps (and 35 minutes) to overtake a field made up of content creators, athletes and motorsport fans. What he’s saying: "When I went to the grid and I saw where I had to start, with 100 karts in front of me, I was a little bit worried," said Verstappen. Those concerns didn’t last long: He surged from 101st to 37th on the opening lap alone. Full speed ahead. (Malcolm Griffiths/Getty Images) 🇦🇴 Luanda, Angola The E1 World Championship (electric powerboat racing) rolled into southern Africa for the fifth race of the season. Among those in attendance: Team owners LeBron James and Will Smith. Speaking of LeBron: Polymarket will pay him $15 million per year under his new endorsement deal with the prediction-market platform, FOS reports. That’s $11.2 million more than the 76ers will pay him to play basketball this season ($3.8 million). ⚾️ LAST CALL MLB POWER RANKINGS: FINAL EDITION (Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports) The MLB regular season ends in just 10 short days, and as has been the case all summer, the final edition of our power rankings illustrates the National League’s superiority over the American League, with seven of the top 10 teams hailing from the Senior Circuit. By the numbers: The National League’s dominance is hardly just subjective. NL teams are 43 games over .500 this season (1,165-1,122) while AL teams are 43 games under .500 (1,120-1,163). Nine NL teams have a positive run differential (compared to five in the AL) and eight NL teams are over .500 against AL competition (compared to five such AL teams). (Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports) The messy middle: With the NL owning the top 10, the American League has taken up residence in the messy middle, representing nine of the 13 teams ranked from 11-23 — including all five ranked from 11-15. Parting thought: All 30 teams might not have something to play for, but they all have the same 10 days left. So a word to the wise for fans of eliminated clubs: Don’t take these final games for granted. Come mid-January, when the only baseball storyline is, “How much of the 2027 season could the lockout potentially cost us?” you’ll be glad you stuck it out for all 162. 🏈 FOOTBALL LIMBO TOO PRO FOR COLLEGE, TOO COLLEGE FOR THE PROS Dae'Quan Wright during Eagles training camp in July. (Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Zxavian Harris and Dae'Quan Wright are stuck between football worlds: barred from college and now ineligible for the NFL. How we got here: The two former Ole Miss players went undrafted this past spring before signing with NFL teams. Harris, a defensive tackle, joined the Saints. Wright, a tight end, spent time with the Eagles and Browns. Both were eventually waived, prompting their attempted return to college and igniting an eligibility fight that ultimately left them in football limbo. Back to campus: A Louisiana judge ruled in favor of players seeking a fifth year of eligibility, opening a pathway for athletes who signed professional contracts to play college football in 2026. That same day, Harris and Wright said they intended to join their former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin at LSU. A firestorm erupts: In response to the ruling, the four power conferences adopted policies barring professionals from joining their respective leagues. Kiffin pressed ahead anyway, spurring the SEC to sue LSU and reportedly consider expelling the school. LSU stands down: Amid the backlash, the Tigers left Harris and Wright off the roster for their opener against Clemson. Four days later, they added two different players to complete their 105-man squad, eliminating the possibility of adding Harris or Wright. The NFL shuts the door: The league informed teams on Wednesday that because Harris and Wright returned to college after training camps opened, they are ineligible to visit, try out or sign with any club this season. To recap: Harris and Wright lost their college eligibility by turning pro, then lost their NFL eligibility by trying to return to college. Caught between competing rulebooks, both are sidelined until 2027… at least on this side of the border. I hear the 0-12 Ottawa Redblacks are in the market for reinforcements. 📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: THURSDAY, SEPT. 17 (Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports) 🏈 Lions at Bills "Thursday Night Football" returns tonight (8:15pm ET, Prime) in Buffalo, where Josh Allen and the Bills host Jahmyr Gibbs and the Lions in the first regular-season game at the new $2 billion Highmark Stadium. Familiar voice: This will mark the 10th time* in Al Michaels' legendary broadcasting career that he's been on the mic for an NFL stadium's regular-season debut. ⛳️ BMW PGA Championship The DP World Tour's flagship event tees off today (7am, Golf) at Wentworth Club in Surrey, England, where a stacked 144-player field is competing for $9 million. Stacked, you say? Rory McIlroy is the headliner alongside Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland, Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose and more. More to watch: ⚾️ MLB: Phillies at Mets (7:15pm, Fox); Royals at Astros (7:15pm, Fox) … Philly (84-67) and Houston (76-76) are among those battling for playoff spots in today's nine-game slate. 🏀 WNBA: Sparks at Wings (8pm, USA); Aces at Storm (10pm, USA) … Play resumes after a three-week break for the FIBA World Cup. 🏈 NCAAF: Syracuse at Pitt (7:30pm, ESPN) … Pitt is off to a 2-0 start behind sophomore QB Mason Heintschel (49/70, 665 yards, 7 TD). ⛳️ PGA: Biltmore Championship (7am, ESPN+; 3pm, Golf) … Jackson Koivun headlines the field in Asheville as the eight-event Fall Series begins. ⚾️ WPBL Championship: Los Angeles (up 1-0) vs. San Francisco (7pm, ESPN+) … The Queens won Wednesday's opener in the best-of-five series. *The other nine: Denver's Invesco Field at Mile High (2001), New England's Gillette Stadium (2002), Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field (2003), Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium (2008), Dallas' AT&T Stadium (2009), San Francisco's Levi's Stadium (2014), Minnesota's U.S. Bank Stadium (2016), Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium (2017) and Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium (2020). 💰 LET'S PLAY GUESS THE NUMBER Joe Buck (L) and Troy Aikman. (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) ESPN broadcaster Joe Buck has agreed to a six-year extension that will see him call “Monday Night Football” into the next decade, as well as Super Bowls in 2027 and 2031. Question: How much will Buck earn annually under his new deal? (A) $5 million (B) $9 million (C) $18 million (D) $25 million Answer at the bottom. 📆 THROWBACK THURSDAY 106 YEARS AGO TODAY... A portrait of the 1920 Akron Professionals, the first APFA/NFL champions. (Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images) On Sept. 17, 1920, representatives from 11 pro football clubs met at Canton Bulldogs owner Ralph Hay's automobile showroom and formed the American Professional Football Association. Two years later, that league was renamed the NFL. Humble beginnings: In 1920, pro football lived in the shadow of the college game and was confined mostly to small Midwestern industrial cities. The teams present at the meeting: Ohio: Akron Professionals, Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Indians, Dayton Triangles, Massillon Tigers, Racine Cardinals Illinois: Decatur Staleys, Rock Island Independents Indiana: Hammond Pros, Muncie Flyers New York: Rochester Jeffersons Rounding out the league: The Massillon Tigers withdrew before the league officially formed while four other clubs (Buffalo All-Americans, Chicago Tigers, Columbus Panhandles, Detroit Heralds) joined later that fall, giving the APFA 14 teams for its inaugural 1920 season. Still standings: Only two of the original franchises exist today: the Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears) and the Racine Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals). Answer: (C) $18 million. Buck’s extension is worth $108 million over six years, per The Athletic. That matches broadcast partner Troy Aikman’s annual salary under his current five-year, $90 million deal, which expires after this season. 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 Friday at 11:32 PM Author Members Posted Friday at 11:32 PM > Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is among a list of at least 64 victims in a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme involving a fraudulent venture capital fund (More) | How to spot Ponzi scheme red flags (More) > Bill Belichick's son Steve resigns from position on North Carolina’s football coaching staff as investigation into team culture concludes; probe included questions about drug use and inappropriate relationships within the program (More) > Dolly Parton posthumously accepts the Americana Music Association's lifetime achievement award in a video recorded before her death (More, w/video) | MTV announces Video Music Awards performers, including Madonna (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 01:33 AM Author Members Posted Sunday at 01:33 AM 🎉 Yahoo! It's Friday! You made it. In today's edition: North Carolina's culture problem, Bills open Highmark Stadium in style, Pochettino names youthful USMNT squad, Behind the Lens, the Swoosh strikes back, Weekend Watchlist, Guess The Logo, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... 🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🏈 Highmark's grand opening: Josh Allen piled up 317 total yards and five TDs as the Bills beat the Lions, 41-31, in the first regular-season game at Buffalo's new Highmark Stadium. It was Allen's record-extending 10th game with multiple passing and rushing TDs, and he improved to 9-1 on Thursdays. This guy might be good. ⚽️ The kids are coming: Mauricio Pochettino named a youthful squad for the USMNT's upcoming friendlies, featuring 13 uncapped players and eight teenagers, none more exciting than 16-year-old Cavan Sullivan. Pochettino wouldn't say why Christian Pulisic was left off the roster, "and that silence is the message," writes Yahoo Sports' Steven Goff. 🙏 Scary scene in Queens: Mets first baseman Jared Young exited Thursday's game on a stretcher after taking a knee to the head from pitcher Nolan McLean, which appeared to momentarily knock him out. He gave the Citi Field crowd a thumbs-up on his way out and was taken to the hospital for further evaluation. 🏒 Standoff in Winnipeg: Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff told reporters that he continues to seek a resolution following a trade request from star goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who was suspended by the team this week for failing to report to training camp. 🎟️ Knicks pause ticket sales: The Knicks suspended all ticket sales on Thursday after a "mistake" led to much higher prices than intended. Fans who already purchased tickets will be refunded the difference once the team corrects the prices. 🏈 CHAPEL BILL "THE PATRIOT WAY" DOESN'T WORK IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL Bill Belichick's stint at North Carolina has been… not great. (Mario Hommes/DeFodi via Getty Images) Steve Belichick is out as North Carolina's defensive coordinator following an internal investigation into "allegations related to the culture and climate" within the football program led by his father. His exit follows that of GM Mike Lombardi, who resigned on Sept. 3. Details: Though we don't know everything North Carolina uncovered, the law firm conducting the investigation looked into whether Steve Belichick "used drugs on the job or provided drugs to at least one player," per Raleigh TV station WRAL. Lawyers also questioned people within the program about possible sexual relationships between staffers and players. Dan Wolken, Yahoo Sports: For nearly a quarter of a century, Bill Belichick's New England Patriots had a reputation for being the most buttoned-up organization in the NFL. Maybe all of sports. It was the place where wayward characters fell in line, where egos blended into the culture. In a piece for The Players Tribune in 2017, former NFL running back Kevin Faulk wrote: "If there's one thing I know after having played for the Patriots for 13 years, it's that you don't want to be late to a Bill Belichick meeting." But in that same piece, Faulk told a story that might explain why Belichick's North Carolina program looks like a complete mess. In 2006, as Faulk remembers it, a good chunk of the team was engaged in a "prank war" where they tried to one-up each other. In one instance, Tom Brady had hired someone to take the tires off backup quarterback Matt Cassel's car. Then some offensive linemen opened up the sunroof of Brady's car and filled it with styrofoam peanuts. Only then, Faulk said, did Belichick learn about and put a stop to the escalating prank war because he was simply oblivious to anything happening outside the meeting rooms and practice fields. "Coach Belichick is the kind of guy who doesn't care what you do on your own time," Faulk wrote. "He wants you to know football … Anything else, he doesn't really care." Steve and Bill Belichick on the sideline during a Tar Heels game last season. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) So the question of the day is this: How could Belichick, famous for his ultra-disciplined "Patriot Way," be running a program at North Carolina that seems to have been dealing with major cultural rot in its building? Perhaps, at age 74, Belichick has simply lost a step. But the more likely reason ties back to Faulk's assessment of his time with the Patriots. In the cloistered environment of an NFL franchise, Belichick treated the team facility like a workplace. You show up, you do your job and you go home. If you don't, you're gone. The culture takes care of itself. College football does not work that way. These are sprawling organizations that exist within an athletic department, which exists within a college campus. It's a complicated and delicate dance with the outside world. If you are not on top of the culture every single day as the head coach, it will devolve into whatever you allow it to be. There is no clocking in and out from that job. It is a 24-hour, 365-day operation, and only a fraction of it relates to what's happening on the field. An aloof boss who "doesn't care what you do on your own time" cannot run a college football program effectively. 📸 PHOTOGRAPHY BEHIND THE LENS (Al Bello/Getty Images) Each week, Yahoo Sports AM goes "Behind the Lens" with Getty Images to share the stories behind the best photographs in sports. This week's photo: Qinwen Zheng serves against eventual champion Elena Rybakina during their US Open quarterfinal. Photographer: Al Bello Location: Queens, New York Date: Sept. 9 Behind the lens: Take it away, Al… There are a number of reasons I chose an overhead position to photograph Qinwen Zheng. It was sunny and clear, and it was the first match at Arthur Ashe Stadium that day. She wasn't wearing a hat and her hair was pulled back, which was good because I could clearly see her face and there were no shadows obscuring her. I took a moment to watch her serve, and noted the placement of where her hand and the ball were positioned across her face when she tossed the ball up to serve. It took me a few tries to line everything up, and I had to wait for her to be on the proper side of the court with regards to the sun. Once I figured out my angle, I got to work on this image. The long focal length I used required a steady hand, so this was not an easy photo to capture. The timing had to be right, and the key to making this a successful photo was keeping sharp focus on her eye while aligning the placement of her hand, her face and the ball. Everything had to come together, and I was happy it did in the end. Equipment and technique: Al shot this with a Canon R1 body, a Canon RF 600mm f/4 L IS USM lens and an RF 2x extender, giving him a focal length of 1200mm. He used a lightning-fast shutter speed of 1/3200th of a second, with settings of f/8 and ISO 400. 🎓 NIKE NATION THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK 11 years after losing the University of Miami to Adidas, Nike is heading back into the eye of the Hurricane, agreeing to a 10-year deal worth more than $200 million, per the Miami Herald. Swoosh supremacy: The $20+ million annual outlay is believed to be Nike's richest ever to a university and follows the 2025 losses of longtime partners Tennessee and Penn State to Adidas, which raised questions about its commitment to college sports. Consider those questions answered: Nike paid up for "The U," and despite the recent tug-of-war for some of the country's top programs, the Swoosh is still king. I mean, just look at that chart. This is a preview of today's edition of Yahoo Sports Biz. Sign up here to get the full Nike breakdown, plus more sports business analysis, in your inbox later this morning. 📺 VIEWING GUIDE WEEKEND WATCHLIST Lane Kiffin returns to Oxford this weekend to face his former team, led by Heisman contender Trinidad Chambliss. (Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) 🏈 College Football Saturday There are three ranked matchups on tap this weekend, with none bigger than No. 7 LSU at No. 8 Ole Miss (Sat. 7:30pm ET, ABC). The others: No. 22 Houston at No. 13 Texas Tech (Fri. 8pm, Fox) and No. 16 SMU at No. 23 Louisville (Sat. 3:30pm, ESPN2). Best of the rest: Saturday's slate also includes Arizona State vs. Kansas at Wembley Stadium (12pm, FS1), Florida State at No. 10 Alabama (3:30pm, ABC), Florida at Auburn (7pm, ESPN), UNC at Clemson (12pm, ESPN) and West Virginia at No. 25 Virginia (7:30pm, ACC). 🏈 NFL Sunday There's plenty of intrigue in Sunday's early window, with the Bears' explosive offense hosting the Vikings' formidable defense (1pm, Fox), the fearsome-looking Ravens hosting the peskier-than-expected Saints (1pm, CBS) and the Texans hosting the Bengals (1pm, CBS) as Joe Burrow takes on Houston's ball-hawking secondary. Later on: The afternoon slate is headlined by Seahawks at Cardinals (4:25pm, Fox), which is somehow one of just two games on Sunday between 1-0 teams (Vikings at Bears). Jaguars at Broncos (4:05pm, CBS) should be a good matchup if Denver can flush Week 1, and the Chiefs host the Colts in the nightcap (8:20pm, NBC). ⚾️ MLB Home Stretch The penultimate weekend of the regular season features five series between teams who have either already clinched the playoffs or are in the hunt: Brewers at Orioles, Red Sox at Rays, Blue Jays at Rangers, Braves at Astros and Yankees at Diamondbacks. Season finale: The Orioles host the Brewers in the season finale of "Sunday Night Baseball" (7:20pm, Peacock), which has drawn an average of 2.7 million viewers per game in its first year on NBC. That's up 48% from the same slot last year on ESPN (1.83 million). 🥍 PLL Championship The eighth Premier Lacrosse League season comes to an end this weekend in New Jersey (Sun. 12:30pm, ABC), where the top-seeded Philadelphia Waterdogs and Denver Outlaws are squaring off in the title game. Dynamic duo: Philadelphia's second-year standout CJ Kirst scored a PLL-record 34 goals this season, while veteran teammate Michael Sowers added 29, trailing only Kirst for most in the league (Sowers also ranked first in assists with 22). Both are MVP finalists, with the winner set to be announced today. More to watch: 🏀 WNBA: Liberty at Lynx (Fri. 7:30pm, ION); Mystics at Fever (Sun. 4pm, NBA) … With the postseason field already set, the final week of the regular season is all about seeding. 🏁 NASCAR: Bristol Motor Speedway (Sat. 7:30pm, USA) … The third stop in the 10-race Chase takes place under the lights in Tennessee. 🎾 Davis Cup: USA vs. Czechia (Fri-Sat, Tennis) … One of seven matches this weekend, with the winners joining defending champion Italy in the eight-team Davis Cup Finals in November. ⛳️ Golf: Biltmore Championship (Fri-Sun, Golf/ESPN+); BMW PGA Championship (Fri-Sun, Golf) … Max Greyserman (-7) leads in Asheville; Aaron Rai and Joakim Lagergren (-6) are the co-leaders in England. ⚽️ European Soccer: Brighton vs. Arsenal (Sat. 10am, USA); Roma vs. Inter Milan (Sat. 12pm, Paramount+); Atlético Madrid vs. Real Madrid (Sun. 10:15am, ESPN2) … Three different leagues, three great matchups. 🏒 NHL Preseason: Maple Leafs at Canadiens (Sat. 7pm, NHL); Islanders at Devils (Sun. 1pm, NHL); Capitals at Bruins (Sun. 5pm, NHL); Kraken at Flames (Sun. 8pm, NHL) … The regular season begins in 11 days. Plus: 👊 UFC 331 in Los Angeles (Sat. 9pm, Paramount+); ⚽️ NWSL Week 22 (Fri-Sun, Prime/ESPN/CBSSN); ⚽️ MLS Week 27 (Fri-Sun, Apple); ⚾️ WPBL Championship (Sat-Sun, ESPN+); 🏍️ MotoGP Austria (Sun. 8am, FS1) 🔎 LET'S PLAY GUESS THE LOGO Question: Can you guess this zoomed in NBA logo? Hint: They made the playoffs last season. Answer at the bottom. 🏈 WHO YA GOT? MAKE YOUR PICKS (OR COPY MINE)! Welcome to Week 3 of our College Football Challenge! Before getting to this week's matchups, I (Jeff) have to address the elephant in the room, which is that by some miracle I'm tied for first place in our 3,000+ person group. (You can still join if you haven't yet!). Tail or fade? Now that I've acknowledged my hot start, it's sure to come crashing down. But we might as well have some fun with this, so I'm sharing my Week 3 picks for you to tail or fade as you please. The most intriguing matchups: No. 8 Ole Miss (+2.5) vs. No. 7 LSU: The first top-10 meeting between these two schools in over 60 years doubles as Lane Kiffin's highly-anticipated return to Oxford. Give me the spurned Rebels in this one. My pick: Ole Miss +2.5 No. 10 Alabama (-20.5) vs. Florida State: The Seminoles nearly upset a ranked SMU squad earlier this month, but I'm going with my gut here and taking the Tide by three touchdowns. My pick: Alabama -20.5 Florida (-2.5) at Auburn: This is somehow the first time these SEC rivals have played each other since 2019. Common sense says to take the home team in what should be a close game, but I'm zagging. My pick: Florida -2.5 No. 6 Ohio State (-52.5) vs. Kent State: The Buckeyes have lost three of their last four games, including last week's fourth-quarter collapse against Texas. 52.5 points is an insane spread. I don't care. Buckeyes by a million. My pick: Ohio State -52.5 The rest (my picks italicized): Arizona State (-5.5) vs. Kansas at Wembley Stadium; No. 2 Georgia (-24.5) at Arkansas; Utah State (+28.5) at No. 17 Utah; No. 12 USC (-23.5) at Rutgers; No. 9 Texas A&M (-16.5) vs. Kentucky; No. 3 Notre Dame (-29.5) vs. Michigan State. ⚾️ YAHOO SPORTS x APPLE TV TUNE IN: 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 second such MLB altcast coming during tonight's game between the Phillies and Mets. 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 pregame show (6:45pm), on Yahoo Sports. Following the two-inning altcast, viewers can watch the rest of the game on Apple TV. Logo reveal: Toronto Raptors 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 08:54 PM Author Members Posted Monday at 08:54 PM 👋 Good morning! Welcome back. Postseason picture: The Red Sox and Braves clinched playoff spots over the weekend, joining the Brewers, Dodgers, Yankees and Rays as the final week of the regular season begins today. In today's edition: Favorites fall on Sunday, Kane makes Bundesliga history, Rebels exact revenge on Kiffin, Waterdogs win second PLL title, Music City Miracle 2.0, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... 🏈 WEEK 2 NFL SUNDAY: UNDERDOGS MAKE WAVES (Patrick Smith/Getty Images) While some of the biggest potential upsets were ultimately snuffed out, the second Sunday of the NFL season was defined by a trio of pretty sizable favorites falling at home. Saints 24, Ravens 17: New Orleans (+8.5) scored 15 unanswered points on the road in the fourth quarter, showing that Tyler Shough and the Saints are legit… and that late collapses still haunt Baltimore even under a new coaching regime. Browns 23, Buccaneers 19: Deshaun Watson (24/30, 238 yards, 2 TD) likely saved his job for at least another week with perhaps the most unexpected result of the day, as Cleveland (+8.5) weathered the literal storm and sent the Bucs to their first 0-2 start since 2014. Raiders 26, Chargers 14: Los Angeles fumbled six times in its second straight upset loss to open the season, while Las Vegas (+6.5) improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2021, which just so happens to be the last time the Raiders made the playoffs. Plus: They might not have been quite the same level of underdog, but Ja'Marr Chase and the Bengals shut down the Texans, 20-6, and the Vikings held the Bears' offense nearly scoreless in a rain-soaked 9-3 victory. The silver lining for Chicago fans is that Caleb Williams' hamstring injury appears to be significantly less serious than it looked at first. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images) More from Sunday: Mahomes magic: Patrick Mahomes (32/47, 382 yards, 3 TD) erupted for his most yards since 2023 as the Chiefs outlasted the Colts, 33-30 (OT), on Sunday night. The two-time MVP engineered his 31st game-winning drive in the 4th quarter/OT (most in the NFL since 2018), and improved to 8-0 in regular-season overtime games in his career. Only the Jets: The Packers beat the Jets, 20-17 (OT), while becoming the first team on record (since 1941) to win a game with fewer than 200 total yards, more than 100 penalty yards and a negative turnover margin. Before today, such teams were 0-44. Sorry, Gang Green. Streak snapped: The Panthers blew out the Falcons, 34-3, to earn their first win as a favorite since 2021 after 12 such losses in a row. Believe it or not, Carolina has scored more points this season (71) than every team besides the Bills (77). CMC joins exclusive club: Christian McCaffrey scored twice in the 49ers 35-13 rout of the Dolphins, becoming just the third player in NFL history to score at least 50 touchdowns for multiple franchises (Panthers). The others? Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk (Colts, Rams) and Randy Moss (Vikings, Patriots). Dak passes Romo: Dak Prescott broke Tony Romo's franchise record with his 249th career touchdown pass in the Cowboys' 37-20 win over the Commanders. Washington, meanwhile, lost more than the game after Jayden Daniels left with a dislocated elbow. The rest: The Eagles avoided disaster with a last-second, 24-20 win over the Titans … the Broncos' offense finally came alive in a 20-13 win over the Jaguars … Jaxon Smith-Njigba (9 catches, 155 yards, 3 TD) and the Seahawks crushed the Cardinals, 31-7 … the Patriots smothered Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers in a 20-3 victory. 💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS (Christian Petersen/Getty Images) ⚾️ 1.16 ERA Yankees ace Cam Schlittler pitched another gem on Saturday in Arizona (6 IP, 1 ER), ending his season with a sparkling 1.16 ERA away from home. That's the fifth-best road ERA in a single season since ER became official in 1913 (min. 100 IP), and the best since Greg Maddux in 1995 (1.12). MVP? With one home start left, winning Cy Young should be a foregone conclusion for the righty who leads the AL in ERA (1.94), WHIP (0.91) and WAR (7.0), is second in innings (190.2) and third in strikeouts (234). The bigger question is whether he can beat out Yordan Alvarez and Junior Caminero to join Clayton Kershaw (2014) and Justin Verlander (2011) as the only full-time pitchers to win MVP this century. (Alexandra Beier/AFP via Getty Images) ⚽️ 100 goals Harry Kane's brace in Bayern Munich's rout of Union Berlin on Saturday gave him 101 goals in just 98 career games since arriving in Germany, absolutely smashing the record for fastest to the century mark in Bundesliga history. The previous record, set 49 years ago, belonged to Cologne's Dieter Müller (129 games). Zoom out: Kane's Bundesliga record ranks second among Europe's Big Five leagues, trailing only Cristiano Ronaldo's La Liga record set with Real Madrid (92 games). The Ligue 1 record belongs to Marseille's Josip Skoblar (100), the Premier League record belongs to Sunderland's Johnny Campbell (102) and the Serie A record belongs to AC Milan's Gunnar Nordahl (110). (Mark Blinch/Getty Images) 🏀 1,056 points Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell broke A'ja Wilson's WNBA single-season scoring record over the weekend, pouring in 1,056 points so far this year to eclipse Wilson's mark set in 2024 (1,021 points). Mitchell still has two games left to add to her tally, though it's worth noting she has the benefit of a 44-game schedule (up from 40 in 2024). More records fall: Minnesota's Olivia Miles, the presumptive ROY, broke Caitlin Clark's record for most points ever scored by a rookie (790); Atlanta's Rhyne Howard broke Sabrina Ionescu's record for most 3-pointers made in a season (132), and Mitchell is right on her tail (131); Atlanta's Angel Reese, who'd already broken Wilson's single-season rebounding record, has now created the 500-rebound club. 🏈 WEEK 3 REBELS GET REVENGE (Justin Ford/Getty Images) No one had a better weekend than Ole Miss, which moved up to No. 4 in the AP poll after winning Saturday's thrilling grudge match over LSU in Lane Kiffin's return to Oxford. Rebels 32, Tigers 24: Ole Miss started hot and held on late behind the brilliant play of QB Trinidad Chambliss, who's now the Heisman favorite after gashing LSU's defense to the tune of 363 yards and 3 total touchdowns. Kiffin, meanwhile, fell to 1-9 on the road against top-10 opponents as the Rebels got revenge on their former coach in the most satisfying way possible, writes Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger: On Wednesday night here, in this college town's famous entertainment district, the Square, Ole Miss fans filled the historic Lyric Theater for a special occasion. A roast of Lane Kiffin. Participants threw darts at cardboard cutouts of his effigy, unveiled a less-than-flattering bust of the coach and, from a mic'd podium, ridiculed the man who fled this place in a blaze of ever-loving glory for rival LSU. Three days later, the football-playing Rebels roasted Lane. Whose offensive line backpedaled all night in a trench beatdown? Lane Kiffin's. Whose defensive secondary failed to cover receivers in a collapse? Lane Kiffin's. Whose offense didn't score until the final two minutes of the first half? Lane Kiffin's. Whose team fell behind 24-7, stormed back with a third-quarter rally and then lost against the very school he left nine months ago? Lane Kiffin's. Amid a hate-charged, booze-fueled sea of the angriest dang Southern folk you'd ever see, the party who was rejected in this star-crossed relationship, the one left in pieces, the lover abandoned at the altar, the Ole Miss Rebels, exacted their revenge on the one who got (flew) away. In the most satisfying roast imaginable, the final joke landed with quite the punchline: Ole Miss 32, Lane 24. For the Oxford crowd, for those madder'n hell, as they might say here, for those angrier than heck, ticked off, p'ed off and just plain unhappy, this one felt good. More from Saturday: Texas A&M tumbled 14 spots to No. 23 after a stunning 31-21 home loss to unranked Kentucky … Florida climbed into the poll at No. 21 after a 44-39 road win over Auburn … Louisville jumped seven spots to No. 16 after a 41-31 win over SMU that featured seven lead changes … Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith became the Buckeyes' all-time receiving yards leader in their rout of Kent State … and more. 📸 SNAPSHOTS THROUGH THE LENS (Premier Lacrosse League) 🇺🇸 Harrison, New Jersey The Philadelphia Waterdogs destroyed the Denver Outlaws, 14-4, on Sunday to win their second Premier Lacrosse League title. Second-year superstar CJ Kirst, named league MVP on Friday, also took home championship MVP honors after erupting for five goals and two assists. Tierney adds another: Bill Tierney retired from college coaching in 2023 after winning a Division I-record seven national titles at Princeton (6) and Denver (1). Now, three years into his tenure with the Waterdogs, the most decorated men's lacrosse coach of all time has added a professional title to his overflowing trophy case. Not the best day for Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images) 🏴 Brighton, England Brighton's hot start continued with Saturday's 3-0 thrashing of Arsenal, which snapped the Gunners' nine-game Premier League winning streak and handed them their biggest loss in a league fixture since May 2023… when they fell 3-0 to Brighton. City on top: Brighton (10 points) are in third and Arsenal (12) are now in second while Manchester City, which beat Sunderland 5-3, are the only side with a perfect 15 points through five matches. And City superstar Erling Haaland's 81st-minute goal means he's now scored against all 25 Premier League clubs he's faced. (Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC) 🇺🇸 Los Angeles, California Retired U.S. Marine Sean Sharaf stunned Gable Steveson on Saturday night at UFC 331, knocking out the Olympic gold medalist in just 12 seconds for the third-fastest finish in UFC heavyweight history. Giant, slayed: Steveson has been on the losing end of some shocking upsets lately, with this weekend's bout — where he was listed as high as a -1800 favorite — coming just 18 months after he was defeated by Oklahoma State's Wyatt Hendrickson in the 2025 NCAA wrestling championship. 📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: MONDAY, SEPT. 21 Aaron Donald before the Rams' playoff game in January 2024, the last time he played in an NFL game. (Ryan Kang/Getty Images) 🏈 Giants at Rams Week 2 ends tonight in Los Angeles (8:15pm ET, ABC/ESPN), where the surprisingly 0-1 Rams host the surprisingly 1-0 Giants, who seek their first 2-0 start since 2022. He's back: Aaron Donald is expected to make his season debut tonight, marking the three-time DPOY's first game since January 2024. And with fellow pass-rushing menace Myles Garrett (knee) missing at least the next four weeks, Donald's role on the Rams — and how he looks in his return from retirement — is of even greater importance. More to watch: ⚾️ MLB: Blue Jays at Orioles (6:35pm, ESPN+) … The final week of the regular season begins with two teams on the fringes of the AL Wild Card race, with Toronto (77-79) three games back of the final spot and Baltimore (75-81) five games back. 🏀 WNBA: Dream at Liberty (8pm, Peacock/NBCSN); Wings at Mercury (10pm, USA) … The battle for playoff seeding takes center stage with just four days left in the regular season. 🏀 LET'S PLAY TRIVIA TIME The 1992 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Team. (Andrew D. Bernstein/ NBAE/ Getty Images) 35 years ago today, the first 10 players on the "Dream Team" roster were announced ahead of the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Question: Who was the head coach of that team, pictured above? Hint: He coached the Pistons at the time. Answer at the bottom. 🏈 HOW?! MUSIC CITY MIRACLE 2.0 (Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images) Entering Saturday, college football teams were 1,046-1* in the past 20 seasons when they had the ball and the lead in the final 10 seconds. Now? Make that 1,046-2. The (new) Music City Miracle: NC State led Vanderbilt, 31-28, with six seconds left and the ball on their own 5-yard line when CJ Bailey scrambled into the end zone to take what would be a game-ending safety. Instead, he lost control of the ball and Vanderbilt recovered the fumble for a walk-off, 35-31 victory. Sports! *The other one? When Michigan's punter had "trouble with the snap" against Michigan State on Oct. 17, 2015, leading to a walk-off scoop-and-score by the Spartans and an all-time great meme. Trivia answer: Chuck Daly 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 7 hours ago Author Members Posted 7 hours ago 👋 Good morning! It's officially fall. Where has the year gone? In today's edition: Pete Crow-Armstrong's historic season, Rams crush Giants on "MNF," Mbappé moves On, NBA power rankings, Barcelona are a scoring machine, GeoSports, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports... ⚾️ WAR-MONGER FORGET MVP. PCA IS CHASING HISTORY (Matt Dirksen/Chicago Cubs/Getty Images) Pete Crow-Armstrong wrapped up the NL MVP award weeks ago. Now, in the final week of the regular season, the Cubs centerfielder is looking to put the finishing touches on one of the greatest all-around campaigns in baseball history. Triple threat: PCA might not pitch like his onetime MVP competition Shohei Ohtani, but he does wield the best glove in the league in addition to his otherworldly combination of power and speed. At the plate he's batting .280 with an NL-best .949 OPS on the strength of 45 home runs. Yes, the speedy centerfielder is now tied with Kyle Schwarber for the MLB lead. He also leads the majors in runs (118) and extra-base hits (83), and ranks third in RBI (107). On the bases he's recorded 38 steals and been caught just seven times, making him the third player in MLB history with 45+ HR and 35+ SB in a season. In the field he leads all players in outs above average (26) and fielding run value (27). His 50% success rate (8 of 16) on 5-star catches (those with a Statcast probability of 0-25%) is also by far the best in the majors. Put another way: He's having the best offensive season of anyone outside of Yordan Alvarez, but while the Astros slugger spends almost all of his time at designated hitter, PCA has also been the single best fielder in baseball at any position. (Kelly Gavin/MLB Photos via Getty Images) Big picture: Add it all up, and Crow-Armstrong has amassed 10.4 wins above replacement at FanGraphs, making him just the seventh position player this century to post a 10-fWAR season. But as impressive as that is in a vacuum, it's in the comparison to his peers where it transcends to historic territory. At 10.4 fWAR, he leads second-place Ohtani (6.7) by 3.7, putting him on pace to become just the fourth player in MLB's Modern Era (since 1900) to finish at least 3 fWAR ahead of second place. Perhaps you've heard of the other three men to accomplish that feat: Babe Ruth (3x), Rogers Hornsby (2x) and Mickey Mantle. Adjusted for era, PCA's season has to be considered one of the greatest ever. And to think, we almost didn't get it. Midseason change: It's easy to forget now, but PCA had a terrible spring, batting .224 with 6 HR and a .676 OPS in 55 games from Opening Day through May 26. As the poor results kept coming and he drifted further away from the player who'd shown flashes of superstardom a year earlier, he and Chicago's coaching staff decided to drastically alter his stance. The changes, as laid out by WSJ's Jared Diamond ($), were three-fold: He stands closer to the plate and deeper in the box, his legs are a foot closer together, and he holds his hands at his chest with the bat pointing up rather than at shoulder-level with the bat parallel to the ground. Safe to say it worked. In 101 games since the changes began taking hold, he's hitting .307 with 39 home runs and a 1.079 OPS. The last word: "You're grateful to see things like this," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said last week after PCA's seventh multi-homer game of the season. "And you're grateful that the fans get to see a season like this, because they're going to talk about it. They're going to tell their kids about it. They're going to tell their grandkids about seasons like this." 🌍 SNAPSHOTS THE WORLD IN PHOTOS Have a day, Davante. (Brooke Sutton/Getty Images) 🇺🇸 Los Angeles, California The Rams destroyed the Giants in their home opener, 28-6, behind huge games from Matthew Stafford (22/31, 327 yards, 4 TD) and Davante Adams (8 catches, 195 yards, 2 TD). New York, meanwhile, joined the injured QB club* as Jaxson Dart was knocked out in the first quarter with what appears to be a sprained MCL. Climbing the leaderboard: With 427 career passing touchdowns, Stafford passed Philip Rivers (425) for sixth-most in NFL history. He'll need to play at least another couple seasons to catch Brett Favre (508) in fifth, and may have a little more trouble catching Aaron Rodgers (528), Peyton Manning (539), Drew Brees (571) and Tom Brady (649). (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images) 🇫🇷 Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines, France Zinedine Zidane oversaw his first training session on Monday since becoming France's new head coach, with his first test coming in Friday's Nations League match against Turkey. The international break, which at 16 days is the longest ever, runs through Oct. 6. Why so long? This is the first such break under FIFA's new calendar, which has been reconfigured to limit travel and minimize disruptions to domestic club schedules. Instead of three short breaks in the fall and one in the spring, there are now two in the fall and one in the spring. (Dario Belingheri/Getty Images) 🇨🇦 Montreal, Canada Belgium's Remco Evenepoel dominated the field on Sunday for his record-tying fourth time trial world title, becoming the first cyclist to win the event four years in a row. That continues an excellent year that also saw the two-time Olympic champion finish second to Tadej Pogačar in the Tour de France. The secret to his success: At 5-foot-7, Evenepoel is smaller than most elite time trialists, but what he lacks in mass he makes up for with his uniquely compact riding position. "He can almost put his head into his trunk and into his arms, and he's still able to look forward," says Evenepoel's physio. "That's why they call him 'the bullet.'" *QB injury updates: Chicago's Caleb Williams (hamstring) "will likely miss some time" but avoided a serious injury and Washington's Jayden Daniels (dislocated elbow) will meet with specialists this week. On the flip side, Minnesota's Kyler Murray (concussion) and Atlanta's Michael Penix Jr. (ACL surgery recovery) will both start in Week 3. 👟 FAREWELL, SWOOSH MBAPPÉ MOVES ON Mbappe's On cleats were not yet ready for primetime in Sunday's Madrid Derby, where he wore whited-out Nikes instead. (Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images) In June, Kylian Mbappé featured centrally in Nike's "Rip the Script" World Cup short film, shortly before tearing through defenses in Nike boots throughout the tournament. Just three months later, his long-time relationship with the Swoosh has ended. Mbappé is moving On… or to On, in this case. Catch up: Swiss sportswear brand On announced on Friday that it's entering football alongside the French superstar. Mbappé will be a global ambassador for the brand, working closely with product teams in developing football footwear and apparel. What it means: This is perhaps the most ambitious extension of On's brand yet, as it tries to establish itself at the highest ranks of the world's most popular sport. However, the company has a track record in precisely this sort of endeavor, executed with a very similar playbook. History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes: The last time On shocked the sports world with a signing of this magnitude, the brand was a lesser-known commodity. Its prize in 2019? Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer, who invested in the company and supported its efforts to build a tennis business. On's efforts in tennis, anchored by Federer and aided by stars like Iga Świątek and Ben Shelton, demonstrate its ability to grow from a nonexistent presence to a major player at a sport's elite levels. With Mbappé in tow, it will try to make the same leap in football. 🏀 SURVEYING THE LANDSCAPE NBA PRESEASON POWER RANKINGS (Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports) With the NBA season tipping off in less than a month (Oct. 20), Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor has ranked every team's chances of winning the 2027 NBA Championship, while also surveying what's changed during the offseason, what's exciting and what's concerning for each team. ⚽️ SCORING MACHINES BARCELONA ARE UNSTOPPABLE (Fran Santiago/Getty Images) Barcelona have opened their 2026-27 campaign in another stratosphere, laying waste to the competition with a goal-scoring frenzy the likes of which haven't been seen in nearly a century. 36 goals for, 8 against: Barça are undefeated in eight matches entering the international break, scoring 31 goals across their first seven La Liga fixtures (second-most in league history behind Sevilla in 1940), and 36 if you include their Champions League opener (their most through eight matches since 1935). Barcelona 5, Elche 0 Barcelona 2, Athletic Club 0 Barcelona 5, Rayo Vallecano 2 Barcelona 5, Valenica 0 Barcelona 5, Feyenoord Rotterdam 1 Barcelona 4, Levante 2 Barcelona 7, Racing Santander 2 Barcelona 3, Sevilla 1 Dynamic duo: At the center of the carnage are Brazilian striker Raphinha and Spanish winger Lamine Yamal, who've combined for 22 goals and nine assists on the young season. Raphinha's 12 domestic goals lead La Liga by a wide margin, while his three assists are tied for second; Lamine's seven goals are tied for second, and his four assists are tied for first. 📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: TUESDAY, SEPT. 22 (Ishika Samant/Getty Images) ⚾️ Rays at Yankees The AL East rivals begin their four-game series with a split doubleheader (1:05pm ET, ESPN+; 7:05pm, TBS), and though the division hasn't been decided yet, the race is all but over. The Rays (95-60) have a six-game lead over the Yankees (89-66), who therefore must sweep this series to have any shot of avoiding the wild card. Best of the rest: The wild-card bound Red Sox (84-72) host the Guardians (81-75), who hold a one-game lead in the AL Central (6:45pm); the White Sox (80-76), currently in the third wild card and chasing Cleveland for the division, visit the Royals (7:40pm); the Rangers (78-78) host the Mets (8:05pm) with a one-game lead in the AL West over the Astros (77-79), who visit the Mariners in the nightcap (9:40pm). ⚾️ WPBL Championship, Game 5 The Women's Professional Baseball League will crown its inaugural champion tonight (7pm, ESPN+) when the San Francisco Firebells — who've fought back from an 0-2 deficit — take on the Los Angeles Queens in a decisive Game 5. Players to watch: This series features arguably the two biggest names in women's baseball. The Firebells are led by No. 1 pick Kelsie Whitmore, a two-way player who hit a league-leading 11 HR this season while also starting six games on the mound; the Queens boast Mo'ne Davis, the trailblazing star of the 2014 Little League World Series. More to watch: 🏀 WNBA: Lynx at Fever (8pm, ESPN); Sparks at Aces (10pm, ESPN) … Minnesota (32-10) clinches the No. 1 seed with a win. ⚽️ Women's Champions League: Bayern Munich vs. Man City (12:45pm, CBSSN); Real Madrid vs. PSG (3pm, Paramount+) … Two of five games as the league phase kicks off. 🏒 NHL Preaseason: Panthers at Hurricanes (7pm, NHL); Golden Knights at Sharks (10pm, NHL) … T-minus one week until the regular season begins. 🌍 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. 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
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