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🚨Heads
⛳️ Scottie wins again: Scottie Scheffler capped off his incredible year with a ninth victory, dominating the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas by six strokes over Tom Kim.
🏀 Paul passes Kidd: Chris Paul passed Jason Kidd for second place on the NBA’s all-time assists leaderboard (12,099) on Sunday. Only John Stockton (15,806) has more.
⚾️ Welcome to Cooperstown: Dick Allen and Dave Parker were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday by the 16-member Classic Era committee.
🏁 Back at the top: Lando Norris won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the F1 season finale on Sunday, capturing McLaren’s first constructors’ title (teams championship) since 1998.
⚽️ Messi wins MVP: Lionel Messi was named MLS MVP despite missing half the season. He received 38.4% of the votes, leaving Columbus forward Cucho Hernández (33.7%) behind.
⚾️Soto to the Mets
After one season in the Bronx, Juan Soto is on his way to Queens.
Record-breaking contract: Soto, 26, agreed to a 15-year, $765 million deal with the Mets on Sunday, the richest contract in the history of sports.
For context: Soto will earn…
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$51 million per year
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$980,000 per week
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$140,000 per day
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$6,000 per hour
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$100 per minute
… Until the year 2040. And maybe he will earn even more than that.
A changing of the guard: Soto is a Met because their owner Steve Cohen (~$21.3 billion net worth) is a much, much richer man than Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner (~$1.5 billion net worth), whose best offer was reportedly 16 years, $760 million — about $4 million less per year than the final deal.
From Jake Mintz of Yahoo Sports:
For decades, the Yankees have functioned as a colossus, an unquestioned, untouchable financial juggernaut at the top of the baseball world. It’s a record of economic superiority that goes all the way back to Babe Ruth.
Now they’re not even the top dogs in their own city. Suddenly the Mets, who long took a baseball punch for their austerity under old ownership and their propensity for shaky controversy, are all grown up.
Not only do they sit at the adult table, but they run it with ungodly amounts of money. Cohen once spent $244 million on a pair of images; Soto is pocket money to him.
Steinbrenner, whose fortunes stem directly from the Yankees’ success, simply cannot operate in that hemisphere. And if he had outbid Cohen, Cohen would certainly have raised the bar again.
That dynamic represents a significant changing of the guard, both in the Big Apple and in the MLB. The Mets and Dodgers are in a financial league of their own. The Yankees are one level lower.
Such a statement would have sounded ridiculous fifteen years ago, when the Mets were run by the greedy Wilpon family and the Dodgers were bankrupted by an ignorant owner.
But times have certainly changed and the Yankees, now without Soto, must find a way to adapt to this new, brutal reality.
The last word: “This is a pivotal moment in New York baseball history,” SNY’s Andy Martino said. “Last night the Mets were a joke on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ They were joking, “Oh, Soto’s going to the Mets to support a good cause.” Well, this is no joke.”
🏈 The first bracket of 12 teams has been determined
Nearly seven years in the making, The twelve-team College Football Playoff made its debut on Sunday with the announcement of the final rankings.
Four teams received byes:
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Oregon
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Georgia
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Boise State
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State of Arizona
First Round Matchups: We kick things off on Friday, December 20th with an in-state matchup between the Fighting Irish and Hoosiers. Three more matches will follow on Saturday, December 21.
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No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame (-8.5)
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No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas (-10.5)
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No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State (-9.5)
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No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State (-7)
No clear favorite: Oregon (13-0) is the only undefeated team in college football and opens with the best odds to win it all (+325 at BetMGM). But Georgia (+350), Texas (+375) and Ohio State (+450) aren’t far behind.
Story coming tomorrow… Has the twelve-team play-off already been broken? An easy way to fix it.
📸 In photos: NFL Sunday
Inglewood Puka Nacua (12 catches, 178 total yards, 2 TD) and the Rams held off the Bills, 44-42, in the highest-scoring game of the season. Josh Allen’s 51.88 fantasy points (342 pass yds, 3 TD; 82 rush yds, 3 TD) are the most by a QB in Yahoo Fantasy history… and he lost.
Kansas City — The Chiefs defeated the Chargers 19-17 on a walk-off FG that disappeared from the upright to capture their ninth straight AFC West title and earn their victory. 15th consecutive one-score match dating back to last December.
Miami The Dolphins defeated the Jets 32-26 (OT), on a walk-off TD to officially eliminate New York from the playoffs. Fun fact: 32-26 is the 1,089th unique final score in NFL history.
Minneapolis— The career day of Sam Darnold (22-28, 347 yards, 5 TD) in the Vikings’ 42-21 loss to the Falcons validated Minnesota’s decision to move on from Kirk Cousins, who had two INTs in the loss and failed to throw a TD for the fourth straight game.
Elsewhere… The Eagles clinched a playoff berth with a 22-16 victory over the Panthers; the Titans (10-6 loss to Jaguars) and Browns (27-14 loss to Steelers) were both eliminated.
Sunday summary: Winners and losers
⚽️ Galaxy wins sixth title, complete revival
The Los Angeles Galaxy defeated the New York Red Bulls, 2-1, on Saturday to win their record sixth MLS Cup and lift the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy, named after their owner.
A return to glory: The Galaxy spent nearly two decades at the top of MLS, reaching nine of the first 19 MLS Cup finals. Then came the dark years.
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From 2015 to 2023, they failed to advance past the MLS quarterfinals, missed the playoffs five times in seven years and bottomed out in 2023 with their worst season ever.
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In 2024, their turnaround was immediate. And they end the campaign with a win at their old fortress, Dignity Health Sports Park, where they haven’t lost all season.
That was then, this is now… The Galaxy and Red Bulls (then called the MetroStars) were two of the ten founding clubs of MLS when the league debuted in 1996. Now there are 29 teams, with San Diego FC debuting next season as the 30th.
Consider how much has changed: In 1996, all ten MLS teams played in soccer stadiums. This season, 21 of the 29 teams played in soccer-specific stadiums, including six that have opened since 2020.
📆 December 9, 1984: Dickerson breaks the record
40 years ago today, Rams running back Eric Dickerson broke OJ Simpson’s NFL single-season record (2,003 yards). He would finish the year with 2,105 yards, which is still the most ever.
A match earlier than planned: Dickerson, who had 1,792 yards entering this Week 15 matchup with the Oilers, had it all planned: He would get about 100 yards against Houston and then break the record in the season finale, a nationally televised game with Simpson himself in the booth . .
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But the Oilers talked so much trash (they were angry because the Houston native said at the draft a year earlier that he didn’t want to play there) that he decided to break the record against them instead.
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“I went crazy,” Dickerson said. “I told them, ‘It’s going to be tough for all of you today.’” And it was tough: He ran for two TDs and a career-high 215 yards in the regular season, eclipsing Simpson’s record by four yards with a game over.
The 2,000 meter club:
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Dickerson: 2,105 meters (1984)
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Adrian Peterson: 2,097 (2012)
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Jamal Lewis: 2,066 (2003)
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Barry Sanders: 2,053 (1997)
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Dirk Hendrik: 2,027 (2020)
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Terrell Davis: 2008 (1998)
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Chris Johnson: 2.006 (2009)
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Simpson: 2.003 (1973)
What to watch: Saquon Barkley (1,623 yards in 13 games) is currently on pace to break Dickerson’s record. What helps him, of course, is the addition of a 17th game. Dickerson only had 16 games (and Simpson only 14).
📺 Watchlist: Women’s College Cup Final
North Carolina and Wake Forest face it tonight (7 p.m. ET, ESPNU) in Cary, North Carolina, for the NCAA women’s soccer national championship.
David vs. Goliath: This is the first title game appearance for the Demon Deacons and the 28th (!!!) for the Tar Heels, who are seeking their 22nd national championship.* No other team has more than four.
More to watch:
*National Championships by School: UNC (21), FSU (4), Stanford (3), Notre Dame (3), Santa Clara (2), USC (2), Portland (2), UCLA (2), Penn State ( 1), Florida (1), George Mason (1).
❌ Post-season trivia
It’s official: The Jets will miss the playoffs for the 14th consecutive season, the longest active drought in the “Big Four” leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL).
Ask: Which team has the second-longest active playoff drought?
Tip: They are one of two “Big Four” teams in their city.
Answer below.
🍿 Baker’s Dozen: Top 13 plays of the weekend
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🏀 Yes Morant!
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🏈 Puka steps in with both feet
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🏈The FG is blocked!
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🏐 How did she do that?
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🏒 Nasty finish
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🥍 Goal behind us
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🏈 Lawson Luckie!
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🏈 Jumps, jukes defender
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🏒 What a pass, what a goal
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🏀Shaedon Sharpe!
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🏀UCLA buzzer beater
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🏈 He bothered him!
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🏀 Luka’s no-look dime
View all 13.
Trivia answer: Buffalo Sabers (13 seasons)
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