Table of Contents
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Headlines
BYU lands No. 1 recruit: AJ Dybantsa, the top college basketball recruit in the class of 2025, has committed to BYU. His rumored NIL package: $7 million.
MLB Moves: The Yankees signed LHP Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million deal; RHP Nathan Eovaldi returns to Rangers on three-year, $75 million contract; The Blue Jays landed three-time Gold Glove-winning 2B Andrés Giménez in a trade with the Guardians.
Another theft: Joe Burrow’s home was broken into while he was playing on “Monday Night Football,” the latest in a series of high-profile robberies targeting professional athletes.
Scottie agrees with Tigre: Scottie Scheffler won his third consecutive PGA Tour Player of the Year award, joining Tiger Woods as the only golfers to do so.
Nationals win draft lottery: The number one pick in the 2025 MLB Draft went to the Nationals, who had a 10.2% chance of securing the top spot. The Angels, Mariners, Rockies and Cardinals round out the top five.
Can anyone catch Allen as MVP?
Josh Allen’s Bills may have lost on Sunday, but his grip on the MVP award only strengthened in the process.
Big favorite: Allen’s odds on winning his first MVP increased from -225 to -400 at BetMGM after a historic performance that made him the first player in NFL history to throw and run for 3 touchdowns in the same game.
The four best candidates:
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Allen (-400): Although Buffalo (10-3) is unlikely to catch the Chiefs (12-1) for the top spot (and 13 of the last 15 MVPs have been first-place quarterbacks), Allen’s statistical case should be solid enough to overcome that trend (3,033 yards, 23 TDs, 5 INTs; 416 rushing yards, 9 TDs).
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Saquon Barkley (+400): He is on pace for 2,122 rushing yards, which would break Eric Dickerson’s 40-year-old record of 2,105 in a season. If he gets there and the Eagles take the top spot, he could become just the fifth running back to win MVP this century (and the first since 2012).
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Lamar Jackson (+1200): The reigning MVP is one of two quarterbacks (along with Joe Burrow) on par with Allen statistically (3,290 yards, 29 TDs, 3 INTs; 678 rushing yards, 3 TDs). But his Ravens are just 8-5 and don’t even lead their own division.
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Jared Goff (+1400): If Detroit finishes with a record like 16-1, there could be some default votes for Goff, whose numbers are solid (3,265 yards, 25 TDs, 10 INTs). He also has a chance to surpass Allen on Sunday when the Lions host the Bills.
In a nutshell: There is still almost a quarter of the season left, enough time for the MVP race to change. But for now, it’s Allen’s losing prize.
Caitlin Clark is Time’s Athlete of the Year
Caitlin Clark has been named Time’s 2024 Athlete of the Year, adding another honor to her ever-expanding resume.
From Time’s Sean Gregory:
For Caitlin Clark, few jobs require less physical effort than rebounding. On an early November morning in downtown Indianapolis, Clark runs to different spots along the three-point line in the Fever’s practice gym, trying to make as many shots as possible in a six-minute span.
A Fever coach has tasked me with standing under the basket to make up for his misses. But while Clark runs all over the court to throw long-range bombs, I barely have to move. Hiss, hiss, hiss. Make 14 shots in a row. A dozen in a row. 11 in a row. Hiss, hiss, hiss. Nine in a row. Another nine.
Sure, she’s doing this display in practice. But his skill is still fascinating. Clark, 22, takes shots with a degree of difficulty never before seen in women’s soccer; his signature 30 feet. Shots from almost half the court are similar to home runs, suspended in the air.
After his workout, I tell Clark the stats from his shooting session: 93 three-pointers in six minutes, which equates to an 85% success rate. “Wow,” he responds from the driver’s seat of his gray Lexus GX. “That’s pretty good.”
It’s nice to know that after surprising so many people around the world during her record-breaking year, Clark can still impress herself.
Keep reading.
Photo gallery
Milwaukee— The Bucks beat the Magic, 114-109, to advance to the NBA Cup semifinals thanks to another great game from NBA scoring leader Giannis Antetokounmpo (37 points).
Oklahoma City— The Thunder took advantage of a bad night from Luka Dončić (16 points) and another masterclass from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (39-8-5) to beat the Mavericks, 118-104, and reach the NBA Cup semifinals .
Bergamo, Italy — Kylian Mbappé became the ninth player in history with 50 goals in the Champions League in Real Madrid’s 3-2 victory over Atalanta.
Budapest, Hungary — Gretchen Walsh broke the world record for the 50m short course fly at the World Championships, one of seven world records fall on the first day of competition.
Another World Cup of scandals is coming
The Qatar World Cup 2022 was tainted by human rights abuses and “sham” processes. The 2034 Saudi Arabia World Cup, which will be approved today, is plagued by similar evils.
From Henry Bushnell of Yahoo Sports:
At an extraordinary virtual congress today, FIFA will approve a Saudi bid criticized by human rights organizations, through processes that rights advocates call “an elaborate solution” and “a farce from start to finish.”
Behind closed doors last fall, FIFA officials hammered out a logic-defying deal to spread the 2030 World Cup across six countries and three continents; They then accelerated the race to 2034, for which Saudi Arabia was suddenly the only eligible and realistic bidder.
Then, for 14 months, FIFA organized its once-democratic host selection process, even though FIFA President Gianni Infantino had already celebrated the selection of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi officials laid out extensive plans, including the construction of 11 new stadiums. Among the documents they presented was a “Human Rights Strategy” and an “independent assessment of the context”, which Amnesty International described as a “cover-up”.
December 11, 1951: DiMaggio leaves
73 years ago today, joe dimaggio announced his retirement after 13 seasons with the Yankees, nine of which resulted in championships.
Famous quote: “When baseball is no longer fun, it is no longer a game,” DiMaggio said (listen here). “And just like that, I played my last ball game.”
Watchlist: NBA Cup playoffs
The NBA Cup quarterfinals Conclude tonight with games in New York and Houston, where the winners will advance to Saturday’s semifinals in Las Vegas.
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Hawks vs. Knicks (7 p.m. ET, ESPN): The winner will face the Bucks in the East semifinals.
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Warriors against Rockets (9:30 p.m., TNT): The winner faces the Thunder the West semi-finals.
More to see:
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National Football League: Rangers on Sabers (7:00 p.m., TNT)
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NCAAW: No. 18 Iowa State at No. 21 Iowa (9:00 p.m., FS1)
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Champions League: Day 6* (12:45-15:00, Paramount+)
*Headline: Juventus vs. Man City (3:00 p.m.) lead the day today. nine game board.
NFL Curiosities
If the season ended today, the Raiders would have the first overall pick for the second time in franchise history.
Ask: Who was your only number one overall pick in 2007?
Reply at the bottom.
The chase is on
With four weeks left in the season, Ja’Marr Chase leads all receivers in receptions (93), yards (1,319) and TDs (15), putting him on pace to become just the fifth Triple Crown winner* since the AFL-NFL merger. 1970.
The Hunt is on: The Bengals wide receiver has six more receptions (Brock Bowers), 149 more yards (Justin Jefferson) and six more touchdowns (Terry McLaurin, Amon-Ra St. Brown) than anyone else.
Wild Stat: Chase has three games in the last nine weeks with at least 10 receptions, 175 yards and 2 TDs. No other player in NFL history has had more than one such game in a season.
*Triple Crown winners since 1970: Jerry Rice (1990), Sterling Sharpe (1992), Steve Smith (2005), Cooper Kupp (2021)
Trivia answer: JaMarcus Russell
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