Good morning, everyone! Brigid Kennedy here, mentally preparing for another week of headlines and hopefully another solid episode of Ted Lasso. (Yes, I liked the first two. No, I won’t be taking questions.)
As we gear up for fantasy football drafts over the coming weeks, I urge you to first check in with yourself and your probable leaguemates. Ask yourselves: How can we keep this silly little game from impacting our day-to-day attitudes for the next four to five months? How can we keep ourselves honest? How can we stay sane?
Just kidding. That’s absolutely no fun. What I actually want you to ask your leaguemates about is whether last year’s loser completed their punishment. That’s right, no one’s getting off scot-free… not on my watch! Suckers!
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IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
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PRESEASON SZN: Football is soooo back. Yes, we NFL sickos enjoyed ourselves some preseason action over the weekend, which means it’s high time we overreact to everything, as such is simply the natural order. To that end, Mike Kadlick ranked the five best rookie QB performances from Week 1 of early action. Where did Raiders freshman Fernando Mendoza land? You’ll have to click both links and see. … Elsewhere, Mike Vrabel was asked about Tom Brady’s weird and unexpectedly neutral position in last season’s Super Bowl. … And in New York, the NFL bigwigs would seem to be waging a WAG-related psyop on us unsuspecting fans, and we have some thoughts about that!
SCHEDULE WOES: The NBA released its 2026-27 schedule last week, so we obviously wrote some content about it. In addition to the pieces you have likely already read, I’d like to suggest this analysis of the five teams the NBA doesn’t want you to watch this season (or so it would seem), as well as this winners/losers column on matters of the schedule as a whole. … After that, I’d recommend you get up to speed on Cleveland’s decision to trade near-historically frequent flyer Denis SchrΓΆder to the Hornets, which might be a more significant move than you’d think. … Before following that up with a look at five former NBA players on the doorstep of induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, which enshrined its 2026 class on Saturday.
RIP: And finally, we’d like to say rest in peace to former MLB pitcher Tommy John, who died Saturday at the age of 83. Though John was a four-time All-Star across his 26 years in the league, he will be primarily remembered for the then-cutting-edge surgery he underwent to save his baseball career. As we know, the operation not only worked (John was able to play 14 additional seasons afterward), but also became known as “Tommy John surgery,” a shorthand still employed to this day.
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USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect; Kirby Lee/Imagn Images
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A couple of fun posts to ease the pain that is Monday morning …
HIGH FIVE: You’ve no doubt seen the Jayden Daniels jokes online by now, right? The ones stemming from this dispute with LSU? Man, they just keep getting better. Case in point: a jumbotron graphic for Twins’ player Ryan Kreidler alleged that the shortstop is “currently #5 unless he receives a cease and desist letter.” Too good.
SAD GIRL MEETS SPORTS BRO: If you asked me on Thursday afternoon, I would tell you that the Venn diagram of individuals who listen to both indie darling Phoebe Bridgers and sports podcaster Pat McAfee isn’t actually a Venn diagram at all, but rather two completely separate circles with nothing to do with one another. Now, however, I know that there are at least two of us who streamed both Bridgers’ new album and McAfee’s Diary of a Polarizing Figure this weekend: myself (lol) and my coworker Patrick Andres, who so amazingly compared and contrasted the two, uh, pieces (?) in an article for SI. I highly suggest you read, even if you don’t find yourself a part of the same microscopically small overlap.
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πΊ What we’re watching tonight ... |
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WNBA:
Wings @ Valkyries—10 p.m. ET; Peacock, NBC Sports
The No. 8 Wings are looking to right the ship after a loss to the Fever on Friday, but it won’t be easy—the Valkyries are No. 2 in the league and will enter Monday’s game as winners of five straight. And if Golden State successfully extends that streak to six, they’ll also clinch a playoff berth in the process.
MLB:
Tigers @ Pirates—7 p.m. ET; ESPN
Monday marks the start of a three-game series between the Pirates and the Tigers, the third of which Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes is slated to start (though he has been struggling as of late). As for standings, the Steel City has dropped to fourth place in the NL Central with a record of 61-65, while Detroit sits in second in the AL Central at 60-64.
That’s all I’ve got. We’ll be back on Wednesday for another rundown. Love you, say it back.
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