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Headlines
Milton does damage in Tampa: The roof of the Rays’ Tropicana Field was destroyed when Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday, while the Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium field is completely submerged in water.
NWSL Lawsuit: Five former San Diego Wave employees have sued NWSL and Wave over allegations of harassment and discrimination. This comes two months after allegations of a toxic workplace first surfaced.
WR injury news: Texans WR Nico Collins, the NFL’s leading receiver for five weeks, was placed on the injured list with a hamstring injury and Colts WR Michael Pittman is expected to miss several weeks due to a back injury.
Wimbledon ditches linesmen: The All England Club will adopt electronic line calling from next year, ending a 147-year streak of using linesmen. That leaves the French Open as the only major that has not yet made the change.
“The confrontation”: The previously announced match pitting the PGA Tour duo of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler against LIV’s Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau now has a name (“The Showdown”), a date (December 17) and a location (Shadow Creek of Las Vegas). Golf course).
WNBA Finals Preview: Clash of the Titans
Championships sometimes present a David versus Goliath narrative, but the 2024 WNBA Finals will be a battle of giants seeking a legacy-defining title.
No. 1 vs. No. 2: The New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx, the top two teams in the WNBA, begin their best-of-five final clash tonight in Brooklyn. (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
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The Liberty (32-8), who defeated the two-time defending champion Aces to return to the finals for the second straight year, have the league’s No. 2 offense, No. 3 defense and hit a career-best 10.1 three-point percentage WNBA brand. game this season.
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The Lynx (30-10), who won 14 of their last 16 games in their first 30-win season, have the league’s second-ranked defense and led the WNBA in both assists and three-point percentage.
Face to face: Minnesota won the season series, 3-1, including the final of the Commissioner’s Cup, the $500,000 tournament of the season.
Roster Breakdown: The Liberty are a bona fide superteam, while the Lynx have surrounded the league’s most unsung superstar with a perfect complementary cast.
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New York’s Breanna Stewart could be among the top five players of all time, Sabrina Ionescu is arguably the best shooter in the league (except maybe Caitlin Clark), Jonquel Jones is a former MVP, and Courtney Vandersloot is the all-time leader in assists. per game. Then there’s Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, a two-time WNBA All-Defensive player.
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Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier, the defensive POY and runner-up MVP runner-up, is flanked by Courtney Williams, the Lynx’s drink-stirring straw, and a sharpshooting trio of Kayla McBride, Bridget Carleton and Alanna Smith.
Coaches Showdown: Minnesota’s Cheryl Reeve is a four-time coach of the year (including this season) and four-time champion, all with the Lynx. New York’s Sandy Brondello was trainer of the year in 2014 when she won the title in Phoenix, where she coached until 2021.
What is at stake: No matter who wins, history will be made as the Lynx seek a record fifth championship* and the Liberty, the only original WNBA franchise still active without a title, seek their first.
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Minnesota built a dynasty the last decade behind Reeve and superstar Maya Moore, winning four titles between 2011 and 2017, but this is its first trip back to the Finals since then.
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The Liberty have played in five WNBA Finals, more than every team except the Lynx, but they have yet to win them all.
Pre-game reading: Three things you should know
*Tied at the top: El Lince (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017), Tormenta (2004, 2010, 2018, 2020) and Cometas (1997-2000) are tied with four titles each.
Mets advance, Dodgers stay alive
For the first time since 2015, The Mets are back in the National League Championship Series.
ICYMI: The Mets beat the Phillies, 4-1, on Wednesday night in Queens to clinch a spot in MLB’s final four.
Wild Stat: The sixth seed has now defeated the second seed in the NLDS all three years since the playoffs expanded (Phillies over the Braves in 2022, D-Backs over the Dodgers in 2023, Mets over the Phillies in 2024).
Storybook Season: New York still has a lot of work to do, but the fact that they just booked a trip to the National League Championship Series would have been almost unthinkable a few months ago, when in late May they were reeling with a record 22 -33, the third worst in the National League.
Elsewhere: The Dodgers defeated the Padres, 8-0, to force a winner-take-all Game 5, while the Tigers (3-0 over the Guardians) and the Yankees (3-2 over the Royals) took 2-1 lead in the series.
NFL power rankings: Chiefs still on top
The undefeated Chiefs and Vikings remain atop our Week 6 power rankings, courtesy of Frank Schwab of Yahoo Sports.
The best division in football? Three of our top 10 teams (and four of our top 15) play in the NFC North, which is the only division that has all four teams above .500. Unsurprisingly, his 14 wins lead all divisions.
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NFC North (14 wins): Vikings (5-0), Lions (3-1), Packers (3-2), Bears (3-2).
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AFC West (12): Chiefs (5-0), Broncos (3-2), Chargers (2-2), Raiders (2-3).
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NFC East (11): Commanders (4-1), Cowboys (3-2), Eagles (2-2), Giants (2-3).
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NFC South (9): Falcons (3-2), Buccaneers (3-2), Saints (2-3), Panthers (1-4).
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AFC East (8): Bills (3-2), Jets (2-3), Dolphins (2-3), Patriots (1-4).
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AFC North (8): Ravens (3-2), Steelers (3-2), Browns (1-4), Bengals (1-4).
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AFC South (8): Texans (4-1), Colts (2-3), Titans (1-3), Jaguars (1-4).
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NFC West (8): Seahawks (3-2), Cardinals (2-3), 49ers (2-3), Rams (1-4).
Yahoo Fantasy: Players to be traded/targeted before Week 6
October 10, 2004: 19 consecutive victories
20 years ago today, the Patriots beat the Dolphins for their 19th consecutive victory (including playoffs), breaking the record for longest winning streak in NFL history.
What a career: The streak began in Week 5 of 2003, included a Super Bowl victory, and finally ended in Week 8 of 2004 after 21 consecutive victories. After that Week 8 loss, they would lose just one more game all season en route to a second straight Super Bowl.
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His streak of 21 games remains the longest in league historytwo ahead of the 2010-11 Packers, who won 19 in a row.
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The longest active streak belongs to the Chiefs, who have won 11 games in a row. To surpass the Patriots, they would need to win every week from now until Christmas.
Fun fact: The Pats’ record-breaking victory came on one of the least productive days of Tom Brady’s career. While he threw two touchdowns (which, yes, is productive), he also went 7-19 with 76 yards and one interception. That’s his lowest completion percentage (36.84%) and second-fewest yards in his 333 career starts.
Watchlist: ALDS elimination games
ALDS resumes tonight in Detroit and Kansas City, where the Tigers and Yankees are one win away from the American League Championship Series.
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Guardians (down 2-1) in Tigres (6:08 pm ET, TNT/Max)
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Yankees (up 2-1) at Royals (20:08, TNT/Max)
More to see:
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WNBA Finals: Lynx in freedom (8:00 p.m., ESPN)
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NFL: 49ers at Seahawks* (8:15 pm, prime time)
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NCAAF: Coastal Carolina at JMU (7:30 p.m., ESPN2); Middle Tennessee at Louisiana Tech (8:00 p.m., CBSSN); UTEP in Western Kentucky (8:00 p.m., ESPNU)
*One-sided rivalry: The 49ers have won five straight over their NFC West rivals and haven’t been particularly close, winning by an average of 15 points per game during the streak.
MLB Trivia
Only one player in MLB history He has won a batting title in three different decades. Can you name it?
Clue: 70s, 80s and 90s.
Reply at the bottom.
Utah is having a moment
The Beehive State has had a good week. On Tuesday, the Utah Hockey Club won its inaugural game in front of a sold-out crowd in Salt Lake City. Today, the PGA Tour returns to Utah for the first time since 1963, when the Black Desert Championship begins 30 miles west of Zion National Park.
Trivia answer: George Brett (1976, 1980, 1990)
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