📰🏟️ “Big Dumpster”

Good afternoon. Welcome back to another week full of top sports stories. Let’s get you up to speed.

—Kyle

1) Thunder complete sweep, eliminating Lakers

Oklahoma City held on late in a wild final few minutes to defeat the Lakers and complete a 4-0 series sweep.

• The Thunder’s 8 straight wins to start the playoffs ties the longest such streak by a defending champ in NBA history.
• In the East, the Cavaliers beat the Pistons last night behind an NBA Playoff-record-tying 39 points in the second half from G Devin Mitchell, evening the series at 2-2.
• Tonight’s action will see the Spurs (2-2) host the Timberwolves at 7 pm CT.

The full playoff picture

2) Mariners C Cal Raleigh hitless in last 36 at-bats

After becoming the first catcher in MLB history to swat 60 HRs last year, Mariners star Cal “Big Dumper” Raleigh is struggling mightily nearly a quarter of the way into this season (39 games).

• Raleigh has been one of the worst hitters in the majors, with a slash line of just .157 AVG/.238 OBP/.320 SLG and 7 HRs.
• He’s currently in the midst of an 0-for-36 stretch at the plate, the longest hitless streak so far this MLB season.
• There have also been recent injury concerns, with Raleigh’s hitless streak coinciding with "right side discomfort" that kept him out of the lineup for 3 games.

What’s wrong with Raleigh?

3) Steelers sign K Boswell to record-tying deal

Pittsburgh inked Chris Boswell to a 4-yr, $28M contract extension, matching Cowboys K Brandon Aubrey’s deal as the richest ever for a kicker by annual salary.

• Boswell is a 2-time Pro Bowler who was named 1st-team All-Pro in 2024.
• He’s converted 87.7% of his field-goal attempts across his 11-yr career, good for 6th best in NFL history.
• The 35-year-old kicker also has never missed a field goal attempt in the playoffs, going 19-for-19.

Boswell secures the bag

4) Messi shatters MLS goal contributions record

Lionel Messi notched a goal and two assists in Inter Miami’s recent win over Toronto FC, giving him 100 career goal contributions (59 goals, 41 assists) across just 64 MLS games.

• Messi is by far the fastest to reach that milestone in MLS history, smashing the previous record of 95 games set by Toronto FC legend Sebastian Giovinco.
• It comes one season after Messi led Inter Miami to their first-ever MLS Cup in a season where he finished with a record 62 goal contributions (35 goals, 28 assists).

Legendary Lionel does it again

5) College sports’ NIL watchdog wins first legal appeal

This morning, a 3rd-party arbitrator ruled against 18 Nebraska football players in their appeal of the College Sports Commission’s decision to reject NIL deals worth a combined $7.5M.

• It’s the first-ever completed arbitration process for the CSC, which was established in the wake of the House v. NCAA settlement.
• Under the settlement’s terms, NIL deals must offer fair-market value for a valid business purpose, rather than act as pay-for-play in disguise.
• The arbitrator found that the CSC correctly rejected Nebraska’s NIL deals because they were effectively designed to bypass the NCAA’s $20.5M/school revenue-sharing cap.

Inside the landmark decision

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