📰🏟️ Does size matter?
Plus: Euro-stepping across the pond…
Good afternoon. The top sports stories of the day are at your fingertips. Just keep scrolling.
—Kyle
1) Dream roll Valkyries, take 2-1 WNBA Finals lead
The Atlanta Dream cruised in the second half to a 97-71 victory over the Golden State Valkyries in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals last night.
- Atlanta never trailed after scoring the first 6 points, with all 7 rotation players scoring at least 7 points.
- C Angel Reese led the way with 21 points and 12 rebounds, becoming the only WNBA player to record a double-double in each of her first 3 Finals appearances.
- Game 4 is Saturday at the Atlanta Hawks’ State Farm Arena, which drew a sold-out 17K+ crowd for Game 3.
📣 FULL-COURT PRESS
Headlines across the sports world
- 🏈📺 JJ Watt signs multiyear deal to become the full-time lead NFL game analyst for CBS Sports, filling the role previously held by Tony Romo.
- 🏀 T’Wolves star Anthony Edwards joins Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history with multiple 40-pt season openers, dropping 45 with 10 REB in a season-opening win over the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Miami Heat.
- ⚾ Dodgers OF/P Shohei Ohtani won’t require offseason surgery for lingering knee or biceps injuries, and is expected to return as a two-way player next season, team officials said.
🙌🥶 In Partnership with Morozko
Keep score on yourself
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2) World Series is a battle of ‘small ball’
The World Series begins tomorrow night between the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers, pitting together two of the MLB’s model small-market teams.
- Their home markets combine for just 3.24M TV households, ranking slightly behind 2006 (3.22M) as the 2nd-smallest World Series matchup since the 1980s.
- It also marks the first time since 1991 that two MLB teams with bottom-half payrolls will meet in the World Series (Brewers: 19th; Rays: 25th).
- And unlike most modern MLB contenders, neither team relies much on HRs—Milwaukee hit the 3rd-fewest this season, while Tampa Bay hit the 9th-fewest.
It’s a small-ball world after all
🌐 WEB GEMS
Interesting things to click
🏀 Euro-stepping across the pond: Why Europe is pumping out NBA superstars.
🎟️ Golden ticket, nosebleed seats: The offer that left Brewers fans stewing.
🏌️ Money isn’t everything: Scottie Scheffler is leaving millions on the table. He has his reasons.
3) CFB Week 8 features a pair of ranked matchups
After a historic upset-filled slate of games last weekend, Week 8 features several major in-conference matchups:
- #7 Ole Miss (5-1) visits #19 Texas (4-2) as the Longhorns look to keep their playoff hopes alive.
- #14 Houston (6-1) travels to #10 Utah (6-0) in a matchup of 2 opponents atop the Big 12 conference standings.
- Other major games include #6 Indiana at Michigan, #11 Tennessee at South Carolina, and #16 USC at Wisconsin.