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🚨 Headlines
⚾️ MLB playoff tracker: The Yankees beat the Orioles to clinch the AL East crown; the Dodgers beat the Padres to clinch the NL West; the Mariners were officially eliminated.
🏀 D-Rose retires: Derrick Rose is retiring from the NBA after a 16-year career that saw him reach incredible highs (No. 1 pick, youngest-ever MVP) and depressing lows (countless injuries). He walks away having averaged 17.4 points and 5.2 assists in 723 games played.
🏈 Cowboys 20, Giants 15: It wasn’t pretty, but Dak Prescott has now won 13 straight games against the Giants. Meanwhile, Daniel Jones has still never won on a weekday (0-13).
⛳️ Americans take early lead: Scottie Scheffler and the U.S. Team pulled off an opening session sweep to grab a 5-0 lead at the Presidents Cup entering today’s foursomes matches.
🏎️ Red Bull fires Ricciardo: F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo was released by Red Bull Racing, likely ending his career. He’ll be replaced by Liam Lawson for the rest of the season.
⚾️ “Today there is crying in baseball”
After 57 seasons and four World Series titles, the Oakland Coliseum hosted its final Athletics game on Thursday, as the team is set to play in Sacramento for the next 3-4 seasons before relocating to Las Vegas.
The final out: A’s closer Mason Miller sealed the 3-2 win over the Rangers with two of the fastest pitches he’s ever thrown (103.5 mph and 103.8 mph), the latter of which was the fastest pitch in the history of the Coliseum. How can you not be romantic about baseball?
The scene on the ground: From Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Eisenberg…
It was last call at the venerable Oakland Coliseum, but none of the regulars was ready to leave. Thousands of green-and-gold-clad die-hards remained at their seats and soaked in the nostalgia, long after the final out.
A man in a Rickey Henderson jersey lit a joint in the right-field bleachers. A group of friends a few rows away stood with their backs to the field and snapped a selfie together. Someone else raised a middle finger while shouting expletives at A’s owner John Fisher.
A woman along the third-base line held aloft a homemade sign that read, “Today there is crying in baseball.” Proof that she was right was all around her, as a grown man in a World Series cap wiped tears from his eyes and a young girl with an A’s chain around her neck bawled uncontrollably.
While security vigilantly kept watch for people ripping Coliseum seats out, the worst vandalism was a couple of knuckleheads tearing out the cupholders. Caught red-handed, one of the men sheepishly forked over his cupholder and said with a guilty smile, “What, I can’t have a relic?”
Those melancholy, sentimental scenes marked Oakland’s farewell to big-time sports. A fiercely loyal, often underappreciated sports town had its heart ripped from its chest three times in the past five years at the hands of team owners who sought greener pastures.
“Imagine that a loved one was murdered, and you’re told you have to go to that funeral 81 times,” said Bryan Johansen, who has been going to A’s games at the Coliseum for 40 years. “That’s what this entire season has been like. And it has only gotten more intense as the days pass.”
The images are not available for viewing. “Former Sparks coach Curt Miller described her as one of the top five players in the world. So, why is it that someone with such an impressive resume, including being drafted sixth overall out of UConn in 2019, a four-time All-Star, two-time All-WNBA player, and three top-5 MVP finishes, goes relatively unnoticed by the masses?
The simple answer is lack of exposure. Despite the Lynx finishing with the league’s second-best record at 30-10, they had only 20 nationally-televised games compared to 33 for the Liberty, 35 for the Aces, and 36 for Caitlin Clark’s Fever.
A more nuanced explanation is that Collier’s game, which relies on elite basketball IQ and footwork rather than flashy athleticism or long-range shooting, doesn’t grab headlines. She may not be flashy, but she’s always in the right place.
Looking ahead, the Lynx are set to host the Sun in Game 1 of their best-of-five semifinal series, and Collier’s goal is clear: lead Minnesota back to the Finals for the first time since 2017. Perhaps then, the world will start paying attention.
If Collier’s on-court talent isn’t enough to make her a household name, her latest off-court venture might do the trick. She and Stewart recently co-founded Unrivaled, a new 3-on-3 league aimed at keeping WNBA stars at home during the offseason. Unrivaled is scheduled to launch in January, with some of the league’s biggest names already signed on.” Ex-Packer Aaron Jones expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “I’m definitely leaping up there,” during a recent interview on Wednesday. He vowed to jump into the stands if he scores for the Vikings in his return to Lambeau Field.
In other sports news, the NFL is reportedly planning to award the 2028 Super Bowl to Atlanta, marking the city’s fourth time hosting the prestigious event. This decision was reported by Sports Business Journal.
A fun sports trivia question for you: Which city has hosted the most Super Bowls? Here’s a hint: it hosted in 2020. The answer can be found at the bottom of the article.
On the baseball front, Shohei Ohtani made history by becoming the 19th player in MLB history to reach 400 total bases in a season. Meanwhile, Aaron Judge from New York hit his 58th home run, inching closer to joining Ohtani in the 400 club. These two players are putting up some of the best offensive performances in baseball history.
And finally, the trivia answer reveals that Miami has hosted the Super Bowl a total of 11 times.
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