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🚨Heads
🏈 Top QBs commit: Five-star QBs Julian Lewis and Bryce Underwood both reversed their commitments on Thursday, with Lewis headed to Colorado (originally USC) and Underwood goes to Michigan (LSU).
⚾️ Robo-umps soon? MLB will test the robo-umpire challenge system during spring training, which could lead to regular season implementation in 2026.
🏒 Ovi 4-6 weeks out: Alex Ovechkin, who leads the NHL with 15 goals, will miss four to six weeks with a broken fibula, putting his Wayne Gretzky pursuit (27 goals short of the all-time record) on hold.
🏈 Kraft denied again: Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who has made a concerted effort to become enshrined in Canton in recent years, was passed over by the Hall of Fame’s contributions committee.
⚽️ MLS record transfer: FC Cincinnati signed forward Kévin Denkey from Cercle Brugge (Belgium) for a fee of $16.2 million, making it the largest transfer in MLS history.
🏈The new Hoosiers
No. No. 5 Indiana visits No. 2 Ohio State Saturday in a game that no one saw coming — and a game, as you might describe it, between major college football’s biggest historical loser and its biggest historical winner.
From Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports:
“Hoosiers” – the story of a small high school that wins the state basketball tournament – is the greatest underdog story ever told from Indiana.
But even though little Hickory High was an unlikely champion, it wasn’t entirely unlikely. After all, lovable shooter Jimmy Chitwood was the equivalent of a five-star talent. He happened to grow up on a nearby farm. Even mighty South Bend Central had no answer for him.
Indiana’s current football team — full of cheap coaches and outcast players that require almost no major program — doesn’t have anyone as heralded as Chitwood. But the new Hoosiers continued to believe they were good enough, kept working to prove it and now have a chance to deliver their best blow to the mighty Buckeyes.
Hollywood endings are hard to come by in real life – so who knows what happens in Columbus, let alone beyond. Ohio State is a nearly two-touchdown favorite for good reason. But the fact that IU is even here… is a testament to everything that’s great about sports.
Recruiting rankings and preseason perception don’t change the scoreboard. Struggle and work and self-determination can still win. After all, the field at Ohio Stadium is 100 yards long. They’ll find the exact same measurement in Bloomington.
Further reading: Curt Cignetti, forever a basketball major, has awakened a ‘sleeping giant’ of an Indiana football program (Ross Dellenger, Yahoo Sports)
⚾️ Judge Ohtani named unanimous MVPs
Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani were unanimously named MVP on Wednesday, a fitting end to their epic 2024 campaigns.
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Judge, who led the MLB with 58 HR, 144 RBI and a 1.159 OPS, defeated Royals SS Bobby Witt Jr. and teammate Juan Soto for his second MVP. He joins Mickey Mantle as the only Yankees to win the award unanimously.
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Ohtani, whose 54 HR, 130 RBI and 1.036 OPS trailed only Judge, defeated Mets SS Francisco Lindor and D-Backs 2B Ketel Marte for his third MVP in four years. He joins Frank Robinson as the only players to win the award in both the AL and NL.
Multi-time MVPs: Judge is the 34th player to win multiple MVPs and Ohtani is the 12th to win at least three, joining Barry Bonds (7x) and three-time winners Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Mike Schmidt, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Stan Musial, Joe DiMaggio and Jimmie Foxx.
The big picture: It’s a joy to see even one player of Judge and Ohtani’s caliber play, but to watch two play this a level high at the same time is nothing short of historic: They are only the fourth duo to each win two MVPs in the same three-year period.
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Judge and Ohtani (2022-24)
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Bonds and Rodriguez (2003-05)
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Bonds and Frank Thomas (1992–1994)
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Berra and Campanella (1953-55)
Zoom out: Their dominance extends far beyond the past three seasons. As of 2018 (Ohtani’s rookie year and Judge’s second full season), they have both ranked in the top five in the MLB for HR, OPS and WAR. And Ohtani also has the 11th-best ERA among starters in that time.
📸 Photo gallery
Cleveland— We got our first snow game of the season and it did not disappoint as the Browns upset the Steelers 24-19, thanks to a game-winning drive in the final minutes.
Washington, D.C. — President Biden hosted the Celtics at the White House to celebrate their 18th championship. Fun fact: Biden’s Secret Service code name is Celtic. ‘Really and truly. Because I’m Irish,” he said. “From this old Irish Celtic, to all Celtics: congratulations.”
Las Vegas— The Sin City circuit is ready for the second annual Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Toronto — It would have been a crime for the Raptors to lose on such a cool court. They achieved victory.
🏀 The NBA is adjusting its All-Star Game
The NBA All-Star Game, long in need of change amid declining ratings and non-competitive action, things are finally turning around.
Available soon: The NBA is reportedly in the process of adjusting the format for this year’s All-Star Game in San Francisco, making it a four-team tournament that is expected to resemble more quick-fire pick-up games.
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The 24 All-Stars will be split into three teams of eight, and the winner of the Rising Stars game (comprised of top rookies, sophomores and G Leaguers) will become the fourth team.
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40 points are awarded in the semi-finals and 25 in the final.
In short: Last year’s All-Star Game, which was the highest scoring ever (211-186) and featured an absurd 168 attempted threes, was universally panned. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith called it “an absolute travesty,” suggesting the NBA would scrap the game entirely. Hopefully all it needed was a refresh.
📆 November 22, 2014: Perine goes wild
10 years ago today, Oklahoma true freshman Samaje Perine rushed for 427 yards against Kansas in a downpour, breaking the FBS record of 408 yards set a week earlier by Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon.
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Perine: 34 cars, 427 km (12.6 average), 5 TD
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Gordon: 25 cars, 408 yds (16.3 average), 4 TD
400 meter club: The only other players to eclipse 400 yards in an FBS game? TCU’s LaDainian Tomlinson in 1999 (406 yards) and Buffalo’s Jaret Patterson in 2020 (409 yards).
Look who it is! That’s Sooners walk-on Baker Mayfield celebrating next to Perine. He was ineligible to play that season due to transfer rules, but became a starter in 2015.
📺 Watchlist: NWSL Championship
A year after missing the playoffs, the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit meet Saturday night for the NWSL Championship (8 p.m. ET, CBS) in Kansas City.
Historic location: The match will be held at CPKC Stadium, home of the KC Current, which opened this spring as the first venue ever built specifically for a professional women’s sports team.
More to watch:
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🏈 CFB Saturday: No. 5 Indiana at No. 2 Ohio State (12:00, Fox); No. 14 BYU at No. 21 Arizona State (3:30 p.m., ESPN); Army #19 at Notre Dame #6 (7 p.m., NBC) …Week 13.
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🏈 NFL Sunday: Lions at Colts (1 p.m., Fox); 49ers at Packers (4:25 p.m., Fox); Cardinals at Seahawks (4:25 p.m., Fox); Eagles at Rams (8:20 p.m., NBC)…Week 12.
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🏁 Formula 1: Grand Prix of Las Vegas (Sun. 1 a.m., ESPN) … Max Verstappen can win his fourth championship in the third-to-last race of the season.
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⚽️ MLS Playoffs: Conference semi-finals (Sat-Sun, Apple/FS1) … Four winner-take-all matches in New York, Orlando and Los Angeles, where two will take place.
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⛳️ LPGA: Tour Championship (Vrij-Zon, ESPN+/Golf) … Narin An (-8) of South Korea leads after round one.
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🏀 NBA: Warriors at Pelicans (Friday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN); Nuggets mavericks (Friday 10 p.m., ESPN) … NBA Cup games.
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🏀 NCAAW: No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 3 USC (Sat. 4 p.m., NBC); No. 1 South Carolina* at No. 5 UCLA (Sun. 4 p.m., FS1)
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🏀 NCAAM: No. No. 11 Tennessee vs. No. 13 Baylor (Friday 9:30 p.m., CBSSN); No. 12 Duke at No. 17 Arizona (Friday 10:30 p.m., ESPN2)
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⚽️ Premier League: Manchester City vs Tottenham (Sat. 12:30 p.m., NBC) … City have lost four games in a row.
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🎾 Daviscup: Netherlands vs Germany (Fri. 11 a.m., Tennis); Australia vs Italy (Sat. 7 a.m., tennis) … The winners will meet in Sunday’s final.
*Cruise control: The Gamecocks have won a program-record 43 consecutive games, dating to their Final Four loss to Iowa in 2023.
🏀 NBA trivia
76ers guard Jared McCain is the new favorite to win Rookie of the Year, which would give Duke a record five ROY recipients.
Ask: Can you name the other four Blue Devils who won Rookie of the Year?
Tip: 1995, 2000, 2012, 2022
Answer below.
🎨 A drawing for every game
Lakers fan or not, this is great: Jack Perkins (@purehoop) will draw an original piece for all 82 games this season, win or lose. Here’s a thread of them all so far.
Trivia answer: Grant Hill, Elton Brand, Kyrie Irving, Paolo Banchero
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