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| Presented By Exodus |
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| Axios Sports |
| By Kendall Baker ·Jun 25, 2021 |
| 🎉 Happy Friday! A short, breezy edition taking you into the weekend. 🏈 Stat du jour: Only seven times in NFL history has a QB thrown 500+ passes with five or fewer INTs. Aaron Rodgers owns four of those seven seasons (h/t Warren Sharp). Today's word count: 1,189 words (4 minutes). Let's sports... |
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| 1 big thing: 🏒 O Canada! The drought is over |
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| Photo: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images |
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| The Canadiens are headed to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993 after beating the Golden Knights, 3-2 (OT), to win the series in six games. Why it matters: The last time a team from Canada made the Stanley Cup Final was in 2011 (Canucks), a span of 3,684 days. The last time a team from Canada won the title? The 1993 Canadiens. Notes: - A+ penalty kill: The Canadiens have 30 straight penalty kills and they're 43-for-46 this postseason. They have more shorthanded goals (4) than power play goals allowed (3). Remarkable.
- Unlikely run: The Habs join the 2010 Flyers and 2017 Predators as the only teams in the expansion era (since 1968) to make the Stanley Cup Final after having the worst record of any playoff team.
- Scorching hot: Since trailing Toronto 3-1 in the opening round, Montreal is 11-2 with a +14 goal differential.
- Youth movement: 19 goals have been scored this postseason by players 21-and-under, and 14 were by Canadiens.
- Perfect timing: Thursday night's series-clinching victory fell on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, one of Quebec's biggest holidays.
What's next: Montreal will play the winner of tonight's Game 7 meeting between the Islanders and Lightning (8pm ET). |
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| 2. 🚨 Thursday scoreboard |
| Photo: Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images CUBS 4, DODGERS 0 — The Cubs threw their first combined no-hitter as four pitchers blanked the Dodgers. It's the seventh no-hitter this season, the most ever before July 1 and tied for the most in a season since 1900. Photo: Harry How/Getty Images CLIPPERS 106, SUNS 92 — Chris Paul returned for Phoenix, but this one was all Los Angeles, as Paul George (27-15-8) and Reggie Jackson (23 pts) led the Clippers to a Game 3 win. Courtesy: Texas Athletics TEXAS 6, VIRGINIA 2 — The Longhorns knocked off the Cavaliers to advance to their first national semifinals since 2014. Today's slate: NC State vs. Vanderbilt, 2pm ET; Mississippi State vs. Texas, 7pm. |
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| 3. 🥍 Exclusive: PLL sees strong growth |
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| Photo: Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images |
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| In its first two weeks since returning to a tour-based model (2020 was in a bubble), the Premier Lacrosse League has seen strong growth across the board. By the numbers: The PLL plans to send out a press release every two weeks with the metrics they use to gauge success as a digitally-native company. Here's a first look, provided to Axios by the league: - Social: 55.1 million impressions across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, and a 5% engagement rate — highest among sports leagues, per social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle.
- Tickets: Tickets sold are up 93.5% and ticket revenue is up 76.2% compared to the first two weeks of the PLL's inaugural 2019 season.
- Streaming: 5.2 million live minutes were streamed on Peacock in Week 1 (+162%), and 6.6 million live minutes were streamed on Peacock in Week 2 (+132%).
- Website: 536,270 total sessions (+16%).
The backdrop: It's been a big month for the PLL. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft co-led a new funding round, two-time Super Bowl champ Chris Hogan made his debut, and league co-founder Paul Rabil appeared on "Late Night with Seth Meyers." 📆 This weekend: The PLL is in Baltimore for Week 3, with five games at Johns Hopkins' Homewood Field starting tonight. |
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| A message from Exodus |
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| 4. ❤️ Chris Nikic to receive Jimmy V Award |
| Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images for Ironman Chris Nikic, the first person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman triathlon, will be honored with the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at next month's ESPYs. - In November, Nikic, then 21, finished a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon run in Panama City Beach, Florida, in 16 hours, 46 minutes and nine seconds.
- Chris' father, Nick, was filmed putting shoes on his son's feet before the marathon. His voice cracks as he tells him, "You're almost an Ironman buddy!"
The big picture: There have been 14 recipients of the Jimmy V Award since it was first presented in 2007, including Stuart Scott, Jim Kelly, Craig Sager, Eric LeGrand and Kay Yow. Congrats, buddy. Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images for Ironman |
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| 5. 🥇 NBC readies Tokyo streaming push |
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| Courtesy: NBCUniversal |
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| NBCUniversal will stream some of the most popular Olympics events exclusively on Peacock, Axios' Sara Fischer writes. - Most notably, USA Men's Basketball live coverage will be available on the streaming platform only to subscribers of Peacock's premium paid tier, executives said Wednesday.
- Other sports, like gymnastics and track and field will stream live on Peacock for free, in addition to daily live shows and original programming made custom for the Olympics on Peacock.
Why it matters: The Tokyo Games will mark the first time that NBC — the longtime exclusive media partner for the Olympics — will be able to stream events on Peacock, which launched in April 2020. |
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| 6. ⚡️ Lightning round |
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| Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios |
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| 🏒 Seattle's skipper: The Kraken have named Dave Hakstol as their first head coach. The 52-year-old coached the Flyers for three-plus seasons last decade and was a Maple Leafs assistant for the past two years. ⚽️ Away goals abolished: UEFA is abolishing the away goals rule, which has been used to determine a winner when teams are level after two legs since 1965 (more away goals scored = winner). Now, they'll use extra time and penalties instead. Huge change. 🏀 Kidd to Dallas: Jason Kidd is expected to return to the Mavericks to become the franchise's next head coach, per multiple reports. 🎾 Wimbledon update: Defending champion Simona Halep and men's No. 5 Dominic Thiem have withdrawn, joining other big names like Rafael Nadal, Naomi Osaka and Stan Wawrinka. Here's the draw. 🎵 Fun fact: The "NBA on TNT" theme song was created by Trevor Rabin, the same guy who did the "Remember the Titans" theme song. Go deeper. |
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| 7. 📆 June 25, 1999: Spurs win first title |
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| Photo: Mike Holmes/Getty Images |
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| 22 years ago today, the Spurs beat the Knicks in five games to win their first of five NBA championships The backdrop: San Antonio's title came exactly two years to the day after they drafted Tim Duncan with the No. 1 pick. - The season was shortened due to a lockout, so teams only played 50 regular season games.
- The 1999 Knicks remain the only No. 8 seed to ever advance to the NBA Finals.
- Fun fact: This is the last NBA Finals where neither team scored 100 or more points in any game during the series.
Wild stat ... The Spurs failed to make the NBA Finals in 2000, becoming the first defending champion since the 1985-86 Celtics not to repeat. 🎥 Watch: Game 5 highlights (YouTube) |
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| 8. 🏁 The Ocho: Flying car racing has arrived |
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| Courtesy: Airspeeder |
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| "We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters," Peter Thiel famously said in 2013. - Well, Peter, start tweeting the good news (in 280 characters now!) because we not only got flying cars — we got flying racing cars.
Driving the news: Flying car producer Alauda Aeronautics will launch the Airspeeder Racing Series later this year following a successful test flight this month. - Grand Prix races will take place in 2021 with remotely-piloted vehicles, and the plan is to introduce manned races in 2022.
- The aircraft is an electric vertical takeoff multicopter, which is abbreviated eVTOL (electric vertical take off and landing).
The big picture: Morgan Stanley predicts the global eVTOL market will be worth $9 trillion by 2050. |
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| 9. 🏀 NBA trivia |
| Source: Giphy Paul George has scored 20+ points in 16 straight playoff games, something only three other players have done in the last 20 seasons. - Question: Who are those three players?
- Hint: They've won a combined 10 NBA championships (5+3+2).
Answer at the bottom. |
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| 10. ❤️ Why we love sports |
| Photo: Adam K. (in the green shorts on the far right) Adam K. (Santa Barbara, Calif.) writes: Every time the Olympics come around, I get goosebumps thinking about the "Kabul Olympics." It was 2011, and I was working for an engineering firm rebuilding schools, roads, and hospitals in Afghanistan. I lived in a large house next to the U.S. embassy in Kabul with 14 other Americans. And every morning about 30 local Afghans joined us to solve the problems of the day. These Afghans were mostly around 30–40 years old, and they would tell us stories about growing up in the 1990s under Taliban rule, when public executions in their own Olympic Stadium were commonplace. During lunch breaks some of us would shoot hoops or play volleyball on the makeshift dirt court. Slowly, the Afghans began joining us for volleyball games or to learn basketball (tackling is NOT legal guys!). One day I had the idea to create a "Kabul Olympics," where Americans and Afghans would compete side by side in a basketball, volleyball and ping pong tournament for ultimate bragging rights. My good friend in Seattle quickly designed a T-shirt logo for us, we divided up teams and were off and running. I can't remember who won that first year, but I do know that a bridge between two very different cultures was created that day. Men and women who would normally have nothing in common were now hugging and laughing at their airballs and aces. Sports, man... Photo: Adam K. ✍️ Submit your story: Do you have a fondest sports memory? Or an example of sports having a positive impact on your life? To share your story, simply reply to this newsletter or email me at kendall@axios.com. |
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| A message from Exodus |
| Buying the crypto dip? Exodus makes it easy and secure |
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| It's not too late to hop aboard the Bitcoin rocket. Take the first step toward financial freedom and download Exodus — your personal crypto wallet. Easily and securely buy bitcoin with Apple Pay and trade over 130 crypto-assets all in one place. |
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| Enjoy the weekend, Kendall "Can't think of a nickname" Baker Trivia answer: Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade 🙏 Thanks for reading. Don't forget to refer your friends (axios.com/referral) and follow me on Twitter: @thekendallbaker. |
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