Axios Sports: Each presidency's best team — NBA vaccines — RIP, Don Sutton

1 big thing: 🇺🇸 Each presidency's best team | Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Open in app View in browser     Axios Sports By Kendall Baker ·Jan 20, 2021 👋 Good morning! Let's sports. Today's word count: 1,853 words (7 minutes).     1 big thing: 🇺🇸 Each presidency's best team Logos: SportsLogos.Net; Table: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration is today. To commemorate the pending transfer of power, we reviewed the best teams of the past 20 administrations (1901–present), Axios' Jeff Tracy and I write. Theodore Roosevelt → The Pirates won the NL twice, played in the inaugural 1903 World Series and dominated the decade (.650 win percentage). Runners-up: Cubs; Ottawa Hockey Club William Howard Taft → The Philadelphia Athletics (now in Oakland) won consecutive World Series behind legendary manager Connie Mack and a slew of Hall of Famers led by Frank "Home Run" Baker. Runners-up: Harvard football; Penn State football President Woodrow Wilson throwing out the first ball on Opening Day, 1916. Photo: Underwood Archives/Getty Images Woodrow Wilson → The Red Sox won three World Series and nurtured the career of a young Babe Ruth. Runners-up: Pittsburgh football; Georgia Tech football Warren G. Harding → The New York Giants won consecutive World Series and were on their way to two more appearances, which counted toward the next term after Harding died in office. Runners-up: Ottawa Hockey Club; Canton Bulldogs Calvin Coolidge → The beginning of the Yankees' dynasty. They won their first three World Series under Coolidge and fielded arguably the greatest team ever. Runners-up: Alabama football; Illinois football Herbert Hoover → Curly Lambeau and the Packers were named NFL champion three straight years, going 34-5-2 just before the Championship Game era began. Runners-up: Athletics; Canadiens; Notre Dame football Franklin D. Roosevelt → The Bears won the inaugural NFL Championship game in 1933 — their first of four wins (and seven appearances) during FDR's term. Runners-up: Red Wings; Yankees; Packers; Minnesota football Harry S. Truman → The Yankees are our first two-term champ, winning five more World Series behind Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle. Runners-up: Maple Leafs; Lakers; Notre Dame football; Kentucky men's basketball Dwight Eisenhower → The Canadiens won more Stanley Cups during Eisenhower's presidency (six) than all but four other teams have won, period. Runners-up: Yankees; Celtics John F. Kennedy → The Celtics' run of dominance began pre-JFK, but they won all three NBA titles contested during his brief presidency. Runners-up: Yankees; Packers; Maple Leafs; Cincinnati men's basketball Bill Russell (R), Red Auerbach and Tommy Heinsohn celebrating their 1964 NBA title. Photo: Bettmann Archives/Getty Images Lyndon B. Johnson → The Celtics are our second and final two-term champ, winning four more titles during Johnson's presidency and becoming the only pro sports team to win eight in a row. Runners-up: UCLA men's basketball; Canadiens Richard Nixon → UCLA men's basketball won five titles in six years behind a duo of generational superstars and the greatest college coach ever. Runners-up: Athletics; Knicks; Dolphins Gerald Ford → The Reds won two of the three World Series during Ford's term, as the "Big Red Machine" was in full effect. Runners-up: Steelers; Flyers Jimmy Carter → The Steelers won back-to-back Super Bowls for the second time in a half decade behind Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris and Lynn Swann. Runners-up: Canadiens; Yankees; Alabama football Ronald Reagan → The "Showtime" Lakers won four titles behind the unstoppable trio of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy. Runners-up: Islanders; Oilers; Celtics; 49ers George H.W. Bush → Duke men's basketball played in three title games (winning two) and four Final Fours in four years. And who can forget The Shot? Runners-up: Pistons; Bulls; Cowboys; Penguins Bill Clinton → Michael Jordan and the Bulls owned the 90's, and four of their six rings came with Clinton in office. Runners-up: Yankees; Broncos; Nebraska football; FSU football George W. Bush → The Patriots won their first three Super Bowls and six division titles under Bush, as Tom Brady announced himself to the world. Runners-up: Lakers; UConn women's basketball; Spurs; Red Sox Barack Obama with the Alabama football team at the White House in 2013. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images Barack Obama → Alabama won four national championships, spanning both the BCS and CFP eras, and dominated college football in a way few thought possible. Runners-up: San Francisco Giants; Heat; Blackhawks; Kentucky men's basketball Donald Trump → The USWNT won its record-extending fourth World Cup and captivated the nation, all while fighting tirelessly for gender equity across sports. Runners-up: Warriors; Clemson; Alabama; Patriots; Dodgers 🔮 Looking ahead ... Which team will take the crown during the Biden-Harris years? Our top three candidates: Chiefs Alabama Lakers     2. 💉 NBA could vaccine players as PSA Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   The NBA has discussed having players receive COVID-19 vaccines to educate the public about their safety and effectiveness, commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday. Why it matters: The coronavirus has disproportionately struck Black communities, who have developed resistance towards vaccinations — and a general distrust of medical institutions — for understandable historic reasons. By the numbers: Roughly 75% of NBA players are Black, and superstars like LeBron James (77.6 million Instagram followers) and Steph Curry (32.4 million) can reach a large swath of the population with a single social media post. The backstory: In the early 1930s, the federal government launched the Tuskegee experiment, which denied Black men in Alabama treatment for syphilis and secretly documented how the disease destroyed their bodies, Axios' Russell Contreras writes. A U.S. Senate committee in 1972 heard testimony that around 2,000 poor Black women had undergone forced sterilization in previous years stemming from a eugenics-inspired policy. These episodes wrecked African Americans' trust in medical institutions that continues to this day. Go deeper: Battling Black mistrust of the vaccines (Axios)     3. 💵 Instead of cutting sports, one school is adding more Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   Fairleigh Dickinson, a private university in northern New Jersey, announced it's adding two new athletics programs: men's volleyball (debuts in 2021) and women's lacrosse (debuts in 2023), Jeff writes. Why it matters: Since the pandemic began, 93 D-I programs comprising 1,459 athletes have been cut to save money, per one online database, but FDU is actually doing the opposite: adding sports to increase revenue. The big picture: FDU — whose current undergraduate enrollment is 8,944 — expects the programs to add roughly 58 athletes to the student body, increasing the athletic department's population by 23%. The athletics budget sits at $14 million, and these sports will add "hundreds of thousands" in expenses, AD Brad Hurlbut told Sportico. Yes, but: They could also add over $1 million in revenue. How it works: We tend to think of athletics revenue as TV deals and gate receipts, with scholarship-heavy sports like football and basketball ruling the roost. But "non-revenue" sports still generate money for schools — just in a different way. With fewer scholarships to go around, more athletes pay full tuition. In FDU's case, ~38 of the 58 new athletes won't receive a scholarship, and could therefore generate up to $1.2 million annually for the school. And, since athletes have a higher graduation rate than non-athletes, this is a better option than merely opening the admissions faucet. Between the lines: This solution isn't a magic bullet; FDU simply checks all the boxes required to make it work. They're under-enrolled, meaning they don't have to extend themselves by accepting more students. New facilities aren't needed, as men's volleyball will play in the basketball arena and women's lacrosse will play in the soccer stadium. And the kicker: FDU received a $200,000 grant from First Point Volleyball, which promotes the growth of the sport among men. The bottom line: Money is fungible — why should it matter if the school earns it in the classroom rather than on the field? Go deeper: How college sports make money (Axios)     A message from Axios Axios Twin Cities launches on January 25th     Get a daily digest of what's new in your hometown with Axios Twin Cities. Why it matters: It's more important than ever to stay up to date on the events unfolding around you. Subscribe for free     4. 👁 Kids' screen time up 50% during pandemic Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   When the coronavirus lockdowns started in March, kidstech firm SuperAwesome found that screen time was up 50%. Nearly a year later, that percentage hasn't budged, according to new figures from the firm, Axios' Sara Fischer and Margaret Harding McGill report. Why it matters: For most parents, pre-pandemic expectations around screen time are no longer realistic. The concern now has shifted from the number of hours in front of screens to the quality of screen time. 📚 Further reading ... With many youth sports still on pause and kids still missing out on regular gym class, the pandemic has severely limited their physical activity level. A 15-week exercise plan for kids and families (Outside Magazine) The pandemic has made the childhood obesity crisis worse (The Counter)     5. ⚡️ Lightning round Source: @GQMagazine (Twitter) ⚽️ Pulisic profile: GQ profiled Christian Pulisic, who looks like a combination of Drake, Adam Levine and a rowdy fan from "Green Street Hooligans." 🇮🇪 McGregor lawsuit: Conor McGregor, who is scheduled to fight this weekend for the first time in about a year, has been sued in Ireland by a woman who accused him of raping her in a hotel penthouse in 2018. Go deeper. ⚾️ Mets fire GM: The Mets fired new GM Jared Porter after ESPN published accusations that he sent explicit, unsolicited texts and images to a female journalist in 2016. Sadly, this represents a much bigger problem within sports. 🏒 Faulty pucks: The NHL will stop using pucks with imbedded tracking technology for the foreseeable future due to complaints about their performance so far this season. One player told ESPN the pucks were "terrible" and "don't slide."     6. 📊 By the numbers Photo: De Agostini via Getty Images   🗻 22,251 feet: A Nepali mountain-climbing team said Saturday that it had reached the peak of K2, the world's second-highest mountain, a feat never before accomplished during winter. Humans are incredible. ⛳️ 2 months: Tiger Woods underwent back surgery to remove a pressurized disc fragment that was pinching a nerve, his fifth back surgery in seven years. He'll likely miss two months but expects to return in time for the Masters on April 8. ⚾️ $150 million: George Springer has signed a six-year, $150 million deal with the Blue Jays, the largest contract in franchise history and just the second $100 million deal Toronto has ever handed out. 🏀 23 threes: That's how many Alabama made (SEC record) in a win over LSU. Elsewhere ... Breakout star Justin Champagnie (31 pts, 14 reb) led Pitt past Duke; No. 3 Villanova survived Seton Hall, Florida demolished No. 6 Tennessee, Purdue upset No. 15 Ohio State.     7. 🌍 Photos 'round the world Photo: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images BRISBANE, Australia — Despite missing many of their best players, India's cricket team beat Australia on Tuesday to clinch a four-match series victory, doing so at a venue where the hosts hadn't lost a five-day match in over 30 years. What they're saying: The win is being called one of the greatest in India's cricketing history, emphasizing the country's pre-eminence in a game once dominated by England, the West Indies and Australia. Photo: Lampson Yip/Clicks Images via Getty Images HONG KONG, China — Lai Chi-wai, a former rock climbing champion before becoming paralyzed from the waist down, attempted to scale the 1,050-foot Nina Tower while strapped into a wheelchair. 👀 Look: See that dot to the right of the building? That's him. The outcome: Lai called off the climb at 800 feet due to dangerous gusts of wind and failed to reach his goal. But along the way, he inspired a city and raised roughly $700,000 for charity. Watch the climb. Photo: Alfredo Martinez/Getty Images LA PAZ, Mexico — Kitesurfers ride through the Gulf of California at Playa La Ventana, one of the most popular kiteboarding destinations in the world. 🎥 Watch: The world's best kiteboarding spots (YouTube)     8. Jan. 20, 1980: 🏈 Steelers win Super Bowl XIV Photo: Robert Riger/Getty Images   41 years ago today, the Steelers beat the Rams, 31-19, in Super Bowl XIV to win their fourth title in six years and cement their legacy as "The Team of the 70's." Recap: The Rams led 19-17 in the fourth quarter, but Terry Bradshaw led two touchdown drives to propel Pittsburgh to victory in front of 103,985 fans (still a Super Bowl record) at the Rose Bowl. Fun fact: The famous "Hey Kid, Catch!" Coca-Cola commercial starring Joe Greene aired during CBS' telecast of the game. The aftermath: Pittsburgh celebrated its third major pro championship in 13 months (two by the Steelers, one by the Pirates). 10 days later, the Penguins adopted a black and gold color scheme to match them. Photo: Sporting News via Getty Images 🎥 Watch: Highlights (NFL)     9. ⚾️ MLB trivia Don Sutton pitching at Yankee Stadium during the 1977 World Series. Photo: Focus on Sport via Getty Images   Don Sutton, who passed away Tuesday at age 75, is one of four MLB pitchers to record 100 strikeouts in 20 different seasons. Question: Who are the other three? Hint: Only two are in the Hall of Fame. Answer at the bottom.     10. 🎥 Highlight: Never give up Giphy Down by four seconds heading into the 4x400 relay anchor leg, Michigan's Ziyah Holman blasted a 51.79 split to bring the Wolverines all the way back for the win. Watch her fly.     A message from Axios Axios Twin Cities launches on January 25th     Get a daily digest of what's new in your hometown with Axios Twin Cities. Why it matters: It's more important than ever to stay up to date on the events unfolding around you. Subscribe for free   Talk tomorrow, Kendall "Obsessed with the old Bears logo" Baker Trivia answer: Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux Invite friends to follow Axios Sports Use your personal link to track how many readers you bring into the community You currently have 00 referrals. Share with a friend or use your personal referral link https://www.axios.com/referral/sports?code=BbTjEdwGLRoN For questions email referralsupport@axios.com. Participation in the Axios Sports Referral Program constitutes your acceptance of the Axios Terms and Conditions of Use, which can be viewed here.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: