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🚨 Headline
🏀 Statue Fail: The Heat honored franchise legend Dwyane Wade with a statue outside the arena. Unfortunately, the statue looks nothing like him.
⚽️ United make changes: Erik ten Hag has been sacked as Manchester United manager, the club announced this morning. Ruud van Nistelrooy will be appointed interim head coach.
🏀 Fever Fireside: Caitlin Clark has a new head coach. The Fever parted ways with Christy Sides on Sunday, just weeks after leading Indiana to its first playoff berth since 2016. She had a 33-47 record in two seasons.
🏒 San Jose stinks (again): The Sharks become the first team in NHL history to go nine games without a win in consecutive seasons. Last year, they started 0-10-1 before getting their first win, and are now 0-7-2.
🏁 Race Recap: Tyler Reddick wins the playoff race, sending Michael Jordan (his team’s owner) into the NASCAR title race. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took his second win of the season and fourth of his F1 career at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
🎉 31st Sports Equinox
(Jakel Anderson/Yahoo Sports)
Happy sports vernal equinox! Today marks the 31st time in history that North America’s “Big Four” sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL) all play on the same day.
⚾️ MLB: The Yankees take on the Dodgers in Game 3 of the World Series (8:08 p.m. ET, Fox) as New York tries to avoid falling into a 3-0 hole.
🏈 NFL: Steelers host Giants at Pittsburgh (8:15 p.m., ABC/ESPN/ESPN2). They haven’t lost a Monday night game there since 1991 and are on a 21-game winning streak.
🏀 NBA: 11 games featuring two star matchups on NBA TV: Bucks vs. Celtics (7:30 p.m.) and Lakers vs. Suns (10 p.m.).
🏒 NHL: 8 games, Maple Leafs vs. Jets headliner (7:30 p.m., Prime) on “Monday Night Hockey.” Winnipeg (8-0-0) is the only team remaining undefeated.
But wait, that’s not all… For the fourth year in a row, MLS will also be held during the Sports Equinox. Cincinnati hosts New York FC (6:45 p.m., FS1) and Seattle hosts Houston (8:50 p.m., FS1) to begin a best-of-three first round series of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Pirates catcher Manny Sanguillen and pitcher Steve Blass celebrate their 1971 World Series victory. (Rusty Kennedy/AP Photo)
A brief history: The first Sports Equinox was held on Sunday, October 17, 1971. Roberto Clemente and the Pirates defeated the Orioles in Game 7 of the World Series, which also included 12 NFL games, three NBA games, and six NHL games. That day.
The Sports Equinox occurred nine more times between 1972 and 1985, all on Sundays. This was followed by 15 years without a single drought (1986-2001), followed immediately by another seven-year drought (2002-2009).
It has now become an annual holiday. At least one sports equinox (and sometimes more) has occurred every year since 2015, thanks to a late start for the World Series, an early start for the NBA and NHL, and the weekly broadcast of “Thursday Night Football.”
Who will win the ratings battle?* The NFL dominates the TV ratings, but MLB has a rare chance to take home the crown tonight thanks to the most-watched Fall Classic in years. I have it in my hand. Games 1 and 2 averaged 14.5 million viewers, which is similar to last year’s “Monday Night Football” viewership for the Raiders vs. Lions and Rangers vs. Diamondbacks (15.2 million). .
*My prediction: Many Giants fans are also Yankees fans and will prioritize baseball tonight, so that may help MLB win the New York market. But even if that were to happen, I think Daniel Jones vs. Russell Wilson would be better nationally than Shohei Ohtani vs. Aaron Judge. As crazy as it sounds, I’ve learned to never underestimate America’s obsession with football.
🏈 Maryland Miracle!
(Scott Tetch/Getty Images)
Fans of Daniel Snyder’s manager, who has stuck by his team through a quarter of a century, were honored Sunday with a prestigious award: Play of the Year.
ICYMI: With three points left against the Bears and zero time remaining, Jayden Daniels throws a Hail Mary, chips a bunch of defenders to a wide-open Noah Brown, and scores a walk-off touchdown, making it 18. I won with 15.
The radio calls and Spanish language broadcasts are worth a listen (“Prayer to Mary” is also great, but “Ave Maria” is much better).
And the field-level celebration immediately after the score is replayed on repeat around the DMV today. Not a bad way to end a game between this year’s No. 1 pick (Caleb Williams) and No. 2 pick (Daniels).
Did the play have a name? “It was just called a ‘Hail Mary,'” Daniels told SportsCenter’s Scott Van Pelt after the game. But “Maryland Miracle” has a nice ring to it.
More from Sunday: Chiefs improve to 7-0, winning 13 straight… Jets fall to 0-3 after firing Robert Saleh… Jameis Winston leads Browns to defeat Ravens ( (quoting Eminem at the time)…The Lions had 85 passing yards and 52 points…The 49ers stopped the Cowboys’ late comeback with “SNF.”
Full scoreboard.
⚾️ World Series: Both teams have history
Freeman dropped his bat after hitting a walk-off grand slam on Friday. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The Dodgers enter Yankee Stadium tonight with the momentum of winning the first two games of the World Series. Surely history is on their side, right? Yes and no.
Meanwhile, MLB teams lead 2-0 in best-of-seven postseason series and have won 77 of 92 times (84%) in the series.
On the other hand, the last two times the Yankees and Dodgers met in the World Series (1978 and 1981), the home team won the first two games and lost the next four.
Three stories:
🚑 Ohtani injury watch: Shohei Ohtani left Game 2 with a partially dislocated left shoulder, but is expected to be in the lineup tonight. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday’s initial test result was positive and Sunday that Ohtani was in “great condition.”
🔥 Freddie is on fire: Freddie Freeman has one healthy ankle and two home runs. The left-handed slugger hit the first walk-off home run in World Series history on Friday and ran for the yard again on Saturday.
🧊 Judge is as cold as ice: Reggie Sanders (.195) and Aaron Judge (.199) are the only two players with at least 200 at-bats in the postseason to bat under .200. That’s all. The pending AL MVP is 1 of 9 in the World Series and 6 of 40 in the playoffs, an impressive whiff rate. *
Recommended article: Did the Dodgers beat Aaron Judge? (Jake Mintz, Yahoo Sports)
*Swings and whiffs: Judges whiffed on 47 of 109 swings (43.1%) in October of this year. For reference: The highest whiff rate for a player during the regular season was 36.4%.
🏈 Undefeated is unlikely: Indiana is 8-0.
Indiana is 8-0 in football for the first time since 1967, and the Hoosiers are barely breaking a sweat. (Daron Cummings/AP Photo)
Indiana State, yes, Indiana State, is off to a historically dominant start under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti, who was poached from James Madison 11 months ago.
Barely breaking a sweat: According to ESPN, the Hoosiers are the first FBS team in at least 20 years to start 8-0 without trailing in a single game. Not bad for a program with three winning seasons in the past 29 years.
Their schedule is questionable — they haven’t really played anyone — but the 13th-ranked Hoosiers are one of only eight undefeated teams in the country and a playoff possibility. is firmly grasped.
“This is the start of something special,” Pat McAfee said on “College GameDay” during his first visit to Bloomington on Saturday with former Indiana head coach Lee Corso in tow.
“It’s very simple. I win. Search me on Google.” Last winter, when asked how he would sell his vision to new hires, Mr. Cininetti boldly said: I answered. I Googled him (actually, I used Yahoo search because I’m a model employee). We can confirm that he is a certified winner. He is 127-35 (.784) in 14 seasons and 27-4 (.871) at the FBS level.
(Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire)
Speaking of first-year head coaches…how about Mike Elko? With the replacement of Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M sits alone atop the SEC with a 38-23 win over LSU, and the Aggies are 5-0 in the conference for the first time.
Elsewhere:
Boise State 29, UNLV 24: Ashton Giunty was relatively subdued, but the nation’s leading rusher still ran for 128 yards and scored the game-winning score to keep the Broncos’ playoff hopes alive.
Oregon State 38, Illinois State 9: Leading Ducks trail Dillon Gabriel and second on the all-time passing TD list (143 in 58 games) behind Houston’s Case Keenum (155 in 57 games). surfaced.
Ole Miss 26, Oklahoma 14: The Sooners are 1-4 in their first season in the SEC and could finish 1-7 with games against No. 25 Missouri (Nov. 9) and No. 14 Alabama (Nov. 23). There are also enough. ) and No. 16 LSU (November 30).
Ohio State 21, Nebraska 17: The Cornhuskers nearly pulled off the upset, but have now lost 27 straight games (!!) against opponents who have moved up in the ranks since 2016.
More from Saturday: Kansas State beats Kansas State for 16th consecutive time, Michigan State defeats Michigan State to retain Paul Bunyan Trophy, Notre Dame* hands Navy its first loss, Texas State defeats Vander Alabama defeated Missouri State, BYU remained perfect, and FSU suffered a 7-1 loss to eliminated Miami.
Quick links: Scores | Statistics | Headlines
*Bonkers Stats: Notre Dame has scored more TDs in one game at MetLife Stadium (seven) than the Jets and Giants have scored at the same stadium all season (six).
📸 Today’s photo
(Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)
🇺🇸 LOS ANGELES — LeBron James, the NBA’s oldest player, recorded his 142nd career triple-double (32-14-10) in Saturday’s 131-127 win over the Kings. The timeless wonder scored 16 points in the fourth quarter*, helping the Lakers go up 3-0.
(Oscar J. Barroso/European Press via Getty Images)
🇪🇸 MADRID, Spain — 17-year-old Lamine Yamal scored the back of the net during Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Real Madrid in El Clasico, giving a rival crowd a brace.
(Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
🇦🇪 ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Ilya Topria has vowed to become the first person to knock out Max Holloway at UFC 308. As the MMA world continues to unravel, the featherweight champion is a man of his word.
*We’re all witnesses… Lakers coach JJ Redick called the experience of watching James in the fourth quarter “surreal.” “What can I say?” he said. “We’ve all seen his greatness for so long and we’ve all been so fortunate to see the fact that he’s able to keep doing it. It’s actually really crazy. Really crazy. is.”
📆 October 28, 1973: Elmore’s Block Party
(Vernon Bieber/NBAE via Getty Images)
51 years ago today, Lakers center Elmore “The Rejector” Smith blocked an NBA-record 17 shots in a 111-98 win over the Trail Blazers. The 7-footer added 12 points and 16 rebounds for a triple-double.
An unbreakable record? Shaquille O’Neal (15 blocks in 1993) and Manute Bol (15 blocks in 1986 and 1987) came closest to matching Smith’s feat, but now that big men are spending more time outside the paint this season As the progress progresses, it seems more and more out of reach. Hassan Whiteside (12 blocks in 2015) is the only player in the past decade to come within five blocks of Smith’s mark.
Important background: Blocked shots weren’t an official statistic until 1973, but it arrived just in time for Smith, as did Wilt Chamberlain (who once blocked 23 shots on national television) and Bill Russell ( (career average of about 8.1 blocks). . These two legends will top every statistical category if their rejection is official.
🏀 NBA Trivia
Durant will take the court on Saturday. (Kate Frese/NBAE via Getty Images)
Kevin Durant joined the elite club on Saturday, becoming the eighth player in NBA history to score 29,000 career points.
Question: Who are the other seven members of the 29,000 point club?
Hint: Durant shared the court with three of them.
The answer is at the bottom.
🍿 Baker’s Dozen: Top 13 plays of the weekend
(Yahoo Sports)
⚾️Freddy plays the main character
🏈 Maryland Miracle
🏈 Score horizontally!
🏀 Giannis poster dunk
⛳️ The driver gets off the deck.
🏈 This year’s panto
⚾️Alex Verdugo!
🏈 Here, one hand
🏒 Epic game winner
🏈 Fake punt!
🏒 Forsberg is dirty
🏀 I met him at the rim
🏈 Great grab
Please watch all 13 videos.
Trivia answers: LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain
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