Yahoo Sports AM: Oilers vs. Panthers

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🚨Heads

🏈 McManus released: The Commanders cut kicker Brandon McManus, who was accused of sexually assaulting two flight attendants with the Jaguars last season.

⚾️ End of the road: Birmingham-Southern’s inspiring run to the D-III College World Series came to an end Sunday, two days after the school closed forever.

🏈 Bills signing Steveson: Gable Steveson, an Olympic gold medalist and two-time NCAA champion wrestler, has signed with the Bills and will look to make the team as a defensive tackle.

🏀 Still perfect: The Connecticut Sun became the seventh team in WNBA history to start 8-0. The other seven all made it to the WNBA Finals.

⚽️ Hayes wins debut: The USWNT defeated South Korea 4-0 on Saturday in head coach Emma Hayes’ debut.

🏒 Stanley Cup Final: Oilers vs. Panthers

The Oilers and Panthers will meet in the Stanley Cup Final after Edmonton knocks off top-seeded Dallas and Florida knocks off top-seeded New York.*

• The favorite: The Panthers (-125 at BetMGM) are in their second straight Finals (after three straight appearances by the other Florida team in the NHL) and are seeking their first-ever championship.

• The underdog: The Oilers (+105) are making their first Finals appearance since 2006. They are one of only seven franchises with more than five Stanley Cups, but their last title was 34 years ago.

3 storylines:

1. Fuel those planes: At 2,541 miles, Edmonton to Miami is the longest distance between two cities in Stanley Cup Final history, according to ESPN, from Vancouver to Boston (2,500 miles). The flight takes about eight hours, so jet lag can be a real factor if this series covers the entire distance.

2. Can the Oilers break the curse? Most NHL players weren’t even born the last time a team from Canada won the Cup (Canadiens in 1993). Six have reached the Finals since then (Canucks in 1994, Flames in 2004, Oilers in 2006, Senators in 2007, Canucks in 2011, Canadiens in 2021), but all six fell short.

3. McDavid’s moment: Connor McDavid is already one of the best hockey players ever, but he has yet to play on the NHL’s biggest stage. This is his chance to prove he’s a winner and bring Lord Stanley back to his homeland, while also becoming more of a household name in America, where casual sports fans don’t know him as much as they should.

Looking forward: Game 1 is Saturday night in Florida (8 p.m. ET, ABC).

*New York’s drought continues: the Rangers, Islanders, Knicks, Nets, Yankees, Mets, Giants and Jets have now combined for 100 seasons without winning a title, extension of the longest drought in New York’s great sports history.

🇺🇸 Photos across America

Fort Worth, Texas — Simone Biles won her ninth national all-around title at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships on Sunday night. She was near perfect all weekend, winning gold on all four apparatus as she prepares for a third Olympics this summer.

Lancaster, PA — Japan’s Yuka Saso (-4) won the US Women’s Open by three shots on Sunday, becoming the youngest two-time winner of the tournament. The 22-year-old took home $2.4 million of the $12 million purse, a record for women’s golf.

Washington, D.C. — A year after presenting President Biden with a jersey, the Chiefs presented him with a helmet during a White House celebration for the back-to-back Super Bowl champions.

Dallas— The USA defeated Canada in the opening match of the T20 Cricket World Cup, which took place 180 years after their first historic meeting.*

*Canada defeated the US in a two-day match in September 1844, the first international cricket match possibly the first international competition in any sport.

🌎 Photos around the world

Hamilton, ON — Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre won his first PGA Tour title at the Canadian Open. By his side all the time? His father, Dougie, is added at the last minute as his caddie. What a moment for father and son.

Paris — World No. 1 Iga Świątek had one of the most dominant performances ever on Sunday, beating Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0 in a smooth 40 minutes, losing just 10 points the entire match.

Pachuca, Mexico — Liga MX club Pachuca defeated the Columbus Crew 3-0 on Saturday to win their sixth CONCACAF Champions Cup, one shy of Club América’s record.

Taipei city – Former NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins ​​was named Finals MVP of Taiwan’s top league on Saturday, leading the Taiwan Beer Leopards to a title with a 24-point, 24-rebound performance in the clinching game.

⚽️The rich get richer

It was quite a weekend for Real Madrid, which won its 15th Champions League title on Saturday and officially signed Kylian Mbappé on Sunday.

The rich get richer: The Spanish juggernaut have now won more Champions League titles in the last eleven years (six) than all but three other clubs in the history of the European Cup. And now they’re adding arguably the best player in the world.

A match made in heaven: Mbappe to Real Madrid is “the rare compatible marriage between superstar and super club”, writes Henry Bushnell of Yahoo Sports.

This was the only sensible outcome of the saga, even after Mbappe rejected Real Madrid in 2022. This time he never seriously considered or negotiated with another club. Because there was only one who could match and strengthen his ambition.

Madrid was of course also the club that decorated the walls of his childhood room. That is the romantic story, and one that will surely be concocted to distract from the more cynical view – the accusation that this is some kind of competitive cop-out.

Mbappé failed to win the Champions League in seven seasons at PSG. The fact that he joins the team that seemingly always wins, à la Kevin Durant with the Warriors, is not lost on anyone. But the real story here is more pragmatic and rational. The fit is seamless.

Real Madrid was tactically, culturally and commercially the only club capable of accommodating Mbappé’s talent and celebrity. While Lionel Messi and Neymar were bigger than PSG, no one is bigger than Real Madrid.

Mbappe will be entering a club with infrastructure and well-honed systems that are used to supporting and managing players like him. He will lift the club’s football ceiling; but the club could perhaps raise its profile more than theirs.

Speaking of Real Madrid superstars… Luka Dončić, who entered the club’s youth academy at age 15 and led the senior team to the 2018 EuroLeague title, makes his NBA Finals debut this week.

📆 June 3, 1989: Scully plays two

35 years ago today, legendary sportscaster Vin Scully called 23 innings in two cities on the same day.*

So much baseball: Scully started the day in St. Louis, where the Cardinals defeated the Cubs in 10 innings on NBC’s “Game of the Week.” He then flew to Houston, where he would call Dodgers-Astros the next day. But when he landed and discovered the game was about to go into extras, he headed straight to the Astrodome and called the last 13 innings of a 22-inning marathon.

More about this day:

• ⚾️ 2006: Sammy Sosa was sent off and suspended for seven matches after officials found cork in his shattered bat. He said it was an honest mistake, and that may very well be the case, but the incident has forever tarnished his reputation.

• ⛳️ 2012: Tiger Woods tied Jack Nicklaus with his 73rd PGA Tour victory, doing so at the Memorial, which Nicklaus founded. Woods is currently tied with Sam Snead for the most wins ever (82).

*The marathon continues: Scully was back at the Astrodome bright and early the next day for the afternoon finale between the Dodgers and Astros. Naturally, that game lasted 13 innings, bringing his total to 36 innings in 29 hours.

📺 Watchlist: Softball’s Final Four

The Women’s College World Series is nearing its conclusion, with two (or as many as four) matches today to determine who will face off in the best-of-three championship.

• No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 4 Florida (12 p.m. ET, ESPN): Oklahoma, which hasn’t lost yet, moves on with a win. If Florida wins, they will play a winner-take-all game at 2:30 p.m.

• No. 1 Texas vs. No. 8 Stanford (7 p.m., ESPN2): Same situation here as above, with Texas needing one win and Stanford needing two. The second match, if necessary, is at 9:30 PM.

More to watch:

• 🎾 Tennis: French Open* (5 hours, tennis)

• ⚾️ MLB: Giants at Diamondbacks (9:40 p.m., FS1)

*Matchup of the Day: No. 12 Taylor Fritz, the last American man standing, faces No. 7 Casper Ruud (9:30 a.m.) for a spot in the quarterfinals.

⚾️ MLB Trivia

Juan Soto and Aaron Judge have emerged as AL MVP frontrunners. If they keep this up, they could become the first teammates to finish 1-2 in MVP voting since which duo in 2000?

Tip: NL West.

Answer below.

🍿 Baker’s Dozen: Top plays of the weekend

1. 🏒 McJesus is too good

2. ⚾️Hidden Ball Trick!!!

3. 🎾 Shot of the tournament

4. ⚾️Javier Baez!!!

5. 🥇 Simone crazy Biles

6. 🎾 How did he win that?

7. ⚾️What a robbery!!!

8. ⛳️ Holes out for eagle

9. ⚾️ Play Heckuva

10. 🥏 Disc golf bait

11. ⚾️ Full extension

12. 🏈 Kick return TD

13. ⚾️Boomer Sooner

View all 13.

Trivia answer: Giants teammates Jeff Kent (NL MVP) and Barry Bonds (second)

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