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🚨 Headlines
🏀 Wemby’s monster night: Victor Wembanyama put up 25 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals and 5 blocks in the Spurs’ 106-88 win over the Jazz, making him just the third NBA player with multiple 5×5 games.
🎙️ Costas retires from play-by-play: Bob Costas is retiring as an MLB play-by-play announcer after 44 years, though the Hall of Fame broadcaster will continue working as an analyst and commentator on MLB Network.
🏀 Banchero out indefinitely: Magic star Paolo Banchero is out indefinitely (torn oblique), putting a halt to what was looking like a breakout season for the young forward.
⚾️ World Series ratings: The 2024 Fall Classic averaged 15.8 million viewers per game on Fox, the best number since 2017.
🏀 $1 million offer: Caitlin Clark has reportedly been offered $1 million to play in the inaugural season of Unrivaled, the new 3×3 women’s league tipping off in January. The deal also includes an equity stake.
⚾️ “Dad, I’m never going to stop”
We knew World Series MVP Freddie Freeman was nursing a sprained right ankle throughout the postseason.
What we didn’t know: A day before the playoffs began, Freeman was unable to pick himself up off the floor after taking swings in the batting cage. Turns out, he had broken the costal cartilage in his sixth rib, an injury that can sideline players for months.
Devastation set in. Walking hurt. Breathing stung. Swinging a bat felt like an impossibility.
Freeman’s father, Fred, worried about his youngest son, whom he raised after Freeman’s mother, Rosemary, died of melanoma when Freddie was 10. He saw the anguish in every minuscule movement.
Considering the injuries to his rib and ankle and the lasting soreness from a middle finger he fractured in August, surely Freeman was too beaten up to keep playing. Surely there would be more postseasons, more opportunities.
“I actually told him to stop,” Fred said. “I said, ‘Freddie, this is not worth it. I know you love baseball. I love baseball. But it’s not worth what you’re going through.’ And he looked at me like I was crazy, and he said, ‘Dad, I’m never going to stop.'”
Legendary quote: “It only hurts when I miss,” Freeman told his father during the NLDS. “So I’m just going to have to stop missing.”
🏈 Catch of the year
Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson made the catch of the year on Thursday in New York’s 21-13 win over the Texans.
Davante Adams: “I told him he might get kicked from Adidas after that one. That one looked like he headed over to Jumpman with me. I’m gonna talk to some people.”
Looking ahead: Aaron Rodgers and his two star wideouts finally clicked in the second half of Thursday’s win. But do the Jets have enough time to dig out of a hole?
⚾️ MLB offseason: Top free agents
With the World Series behind us, it’s time to turn our attention to another winter of transactional activity.
Our top 10 free agents, courtesy of Yahoo Sports’ Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman:
Juan Soto (RF, 26 years old): Yes, he’s somehow still just 26. Coming off a career-high 41 HR and five straight seasons with more walks than strikeouts, his contract may start with the number 5, at least.
Corbin Burnes (RHP, 30): The 2021 Cy Young has started at least 32 games in three consecutive seasons, and his 2.92 ERA with Baltimore this year was fourth-best in the AL.
Alex Bregman (3B, 31): His 2019 extension with Houston was a relative bargain (6 years, $100M), and his elite bat-and-glove combo should net him much more this time around.
Willy Adames (SS, 29): The Brewers star picked a great year to set career highs in games played (161), doubles (33), homers (32) and steals (21).
Blake Snell (LHP, 32): The two-time Cy Young has another chance to land the mega-deal he missed out on last season after rattling off a 1.23 ERA in his last 14 starts with the Giants.
Max Fried (LHP, 31): There’s just one stat you need to know about the longtime Brave: Among the 55 pitchers with 100+ starts since 2020, his 2.81 ERA ranks first.
Pete Alonso (1B, 30): Speaking of key stats: The Polar Bear’s 226 home runs since his debut in 2019 rank second only to Aaron Judge (232).
Teoscar Hernández (OF, 32): The veteran proved his worth on a one-year show-me deal with the Dodgers, mashing a career-high 33 HR and winning the World Series.
Christian Walker (1B, 34): He may win his third straight Gold Glove this year, which was also his third straight season with at least 50 extra-base hits.
Anthony Santander (RF, 30): The Orioles slugger erupted for a career-high 44 HR, making him just the eighth switch hitter ever to eclipse 40 (and first since 2006).
What’s next: Teams have until 5pm ET on Monday to make qualifying offers to pending free agents, then it’s off to the races at next week’s GM meetings in San Antonio. The stove should really start heating up at the Winter Meetings in Dallas (Dec. 8-11).
📆 Nov. 1, 1913: The game that changed football
111 years ago today, Notre Dame upset Army, 35-13, at West Point in a game that changed football forever thanks to one simple concept: the forward pass.
Change was needed: College football in its earliest form reflected rugby, and was brutally dangerous. In 1905, the Chicago Tribune reported that 19 players died from injuries sustained during games.
Fearing football could be outlawed if it continued down that path, President Theodore Roosevelt gathered key figures to discuss player safety. One rule that came from that 1905 meeting? The legalization of the forward pass.
But it wasn’t until 1912 that passing rules began resembling those in the modern game (for example, incompletions used to count as turnovers), setting the stage for Notre Dame to revolutionize the sport.
“Everybody seemed astonished”: As Notre Dame QB Gus Dorais carved up Army’s defense with 14 completions, 243 yards and 2 scores, the Irish proved that passing was more than a parlor trick.
No play was more impressive than when Dorais hit the great Knute Rockne in stride for a 40-yard score that left Army players scratching their heads.
“Everybody seemed astonished,” Rockne later wrote. “There had been no hurdling, no tackling, no plunging, no crushing of fiber and sinew. Just a long-distance touchdown by rapid transit.”
The big picture: This game has become a mix of history and myth, aided by the movie “Knute Rockne, All-American,” starring Ronald “Win one for the Gipper” Reagan. And in addition to changing the sport, it was the first meeting in Army and Notre Dame’s once-historic rivalry.
What to watch: That rivalry, which once featured annual games at Yankee Stadium, has fizzled in recent years as they’ve played just three times this century. But in three weeks the Irish and Cadets will again face off at Yankee Stadium for their first matchup since 2016, and both teams are currently ranked.
📺 Watchlist: Buckeyes at Nittany Lions
No. 3 Penn State hosts No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday (12pm ET, Fox) in the college football game of the weekend.
One-sided rivalry: This is the eighth straight year the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions have met as ranked teams, and Ohio State has won each of the previous seven.
More to watch:
🏈 NFL Sunday: Broncos at Ravens (1pm, CBS); Lions at Packers (4:25pm, Fox); Rams at Seahawks (4:25pm, Fox); Colts at Vikings (8:20pm, NBC) … Week 9.
🏀 NBA: Magic at Cavaliers (Fri. 7pm, ESPN); Nuggets at Timberwolves (Fri. 9:30pm, ESPN)
🏒 NHL: Stars vs. Panthers (Fri. 1pm; Sat. 11am, NHL) … In Tampere, Finland.
⚽️ MLS Playoffs: Vancouver (down 1-0) vs. LAFC (Sun. 8:45pm, FS1) … The other seven Round One games are on Apple.
⚽️ NWSL: Portland vs. Angel City (Fri. 10pm, Prime); Chicago vs. KC (Sun. 3pm, ESPN); San Diego vs. Louisville (Sun. 5:30pm, ESPN) … Regular-season finale.
⚽️ Premier League: Liverpool vs. Brighton (Sat. 11am, Peacock); Tottenham vs. Aston Villa (Sun. 9am, USA); Manchester United vs. Chelsea (Sun. 11:30am, USA)
👟 Marathon: 53rd New York City Marathon (Sun. 8am, ESPN2)
🏁 NASCAR Playoffs: Martinsville Speedway (Sun. 2pm, NBC)
🏁 F1: Brazilian GP (Sun. 12pm, ESPN2)
🐎 Horse racing: Breeders’ Cup* (Fri-Sat, USA/NBC)
*The richest race in North America: The two-day Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar, California, features 14 races and a total purse of $30 million.
🏀 College hoops trivia
The college basketball season tips off on Monday.
Question: Can you name the past four men’s and women’s national champions?
Hint: There were multi-time champions for both men and women.
Answer at the bottom.
🏈 NFL draft big board
Here’s the top of our midseason NFL Draft Big Board, courtesy of Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice:
Will Johnson, CB (Michigan)
Travis Hunter, CB (Colorado)
Mykel Williams, EDGE (Georgia)
Abdul Carter, EDGE (Penn State)
Will Campbell, OT (LSU)
Mason Graham, DT (Michigan)
Jalon Walker, LB (Georgia)
Ashton Jeanty, RB (Boise State)
Kelvin Banks Jr., OT/OG (Texas)
Nic Scourton, EDGE (Texas A&M)
Trivia answer: UConn (2024 and 2023), Kansas (2022), Baylor (2021) for the men; South Carolina (2024), LSU (2023), South Carolina (2022), Stanford (2021) for the women
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