| | | | | | | | | | | Axios Sports | | By Kendall Baker ·Oct 04, 2021 | | 👋 Good morning! Apologies for jumping the gun on "Ted Lasso" on Friday. Turns out, we get one more episode this season! Source: Nathan. Today's word count: 1,650 words (6 minutes). Let's sports... | | | | | | 1 big thing: ⚾️ Bring on the playoffs |  | | | Aaron Judge gets a postgame shower after playing the hero. Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images | | | | A day that began with a chance of maximum chaos ended by maintaining the status quo. And just like that, the MLB playoffs are set, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. - American League: Rays, Astros, White Sox, Red Sox (WC1), Yankees (WC2)
- National League: Giants, Brewers, Braves, Dodgers (WC1), Cardinals (WC2)
Here's how Sunday shook out... AL Wild Card: The Blue Jays did their part, hammering the O's for their 91st win. But it wasn't enough, as the Yanks and Sox each won their 92nd. - How it happened: The Yankees clinched on Aaron Judge's first career walk-off hit, while the Red Sox came back to beat the Nationals on Rafael Devers' ninth-inning, go-ahead homer.
- Wild stat: The AL East is the first division with four 90-win teams since MLB split each league into three divisions (1994).
What's next: The Red Sox host the Yankees in tomorrow's Wild Card game (8:08pm ET, ESPN). Starters: Gerrit Cole vs. Nathan Eovaldi. Buster Posey and Dominic Leone celebrate the final out. Photo: Brandon Vallance/Getty Images NL West: The Giants' magical regular season concluded with their first division crown since 2012, ending the Dodgers' eight-year streak. - How it happened: Both teams won big on Sunday, giving San Francisco (107-55) a one-game edge over Los Angeles (106-56).
- Wild stat: This is the first time in MLB history that two teams in the same division won at least 105 games. The Giants set a new franchise wins record, while the Dodgers tied theirs.
What's next: The Dodgers host the Cardinals in Wednesday's Wild Card game (8:10pm, TBS). Starters: Max Scherzer vs. Adam Wainwright. Meanwhile, in Seattle ... North America's longest postseason drought has reached 20 years. The Mariners have won 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90 (this year) and 93 games (twice) in that span, with nothing to show for it. We'll have a full season recap tomorrow. |     | | | | | | 2. 🏈 NFL Week 4: Brady beats Belichick | | Source: Giphy Tom Brady emerged victorious in his highly-anticipated return to Foxborough, beating Bill Belichick and the Patriots, 19-17, in a rain-soaked nightcap. Quick recap: New England had a chance to win, but Nick Folk's 56-yard field goal doinked off the left upright with less than a minute to play, snapping his streak of 36 straight made field goals. - QB matchup: Mac Jones (31/40, 275 yds, 2 TD, INT) was impressive, completing 19 straight passes ... Brady (22/43, 269 yds) broke Drew Brees' passing yards record and engineered the winning drive.
- Wild stat: Brady rushed for three yards — four more than the Patriots had as a team (-4).
What they're saying: "I feel like I'll always be a part of this community," Brady said after the game. "It's been an amazing place for me. It still is." As for breaking Brees' record, he added: "I just hope everybody who caught passes from me over the years had a little smile on their face tonight knowing that they contributed to a very cool record." Cardinals RB James Conner celebrates a TD. Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images More NFL: - Juggernaut: The Cardinals are the NFL's only 4-0 team after beating the Rams. They're just the fifth team in NFL history to post 30+ points and 400+ yards of offense in each of their first four games.
- 100 x 2: Andy Reid became the first NFL coach to win 100 games with two different teams, and his 100th win with the Chiefs came against his former team, the Eagles.
- Russ joins Peyton: Russell Wilson, who has never missed a game, joined Peyton Manning as the only players to win 100 regular-season games in their first 10 seasons.
- OT fever: For the fifth time in NFL history, at least one game has gone to overtime in each of the first four weeks. Sunday featured two such contests, with the Giants and Jets earning their first wins.
Scoreboard: Away teams won nine of Sunday's 14 games, improving to 33-29 on the season. - Home team won (5): Bills 40, Texans 0; Jets 27, Titans 24 (OT); Cowboys 36, Panthers 28; Packers 27, Steelers 17; Bears 24, Lions 14
- Away team won (9): Giants 27, Saints 21 (OT); Washington 34, Falcons 30; Colts 27, Dolphins 17; Browns 14, Vikings 7; Chiefs 42, Eagles 30; Cardinals 37, Rams 20; Seahawks 28, 49ers 21; Ravens 23, Broncos 7; Buccaneers 18, Patriots 17
📆 Tonight: Raiders at Chargers (-3) | | | | | | | | 3. 🏈 AP poll: The Bearcats are hungry |  Data: AP; Table: Axios Visuals Alabama and Georgia top the rankings once again, but No. 5 Cincinnati had Saturday's most consequential win, Jeff writes. - Cincy's 24-13 victory over former coach Brian Kelly and then-No. 9 Notre Dame was the school's first ever road win against a top-10 team (previously 0-23).
- The Bearcats have just one game left against a currently-ranked team (No. 24 SMU in November). Could this be the year the Group of Five finally gets a CFP berth?
Kentucky fans after storming the field. Photo: Jeff Moreland/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The landscape: The SEC leads the way with seven top-25 teams, while the Big Ten has five — and they're in the top 11. The Big 12 (3), ACC (2), Pac-12 (2) and AAC (2) also have multiple ranked teams. - Moving in: No. 16 Kentucky is in after beating Florida at home for the first time since 1986. No. 21 Texas, No. 22 Arizona State, No. 24 SMU and No. 25 San Diego State also joined.
- Moving out: Clemson is unranked for the first time since 2014. Texas A&M, Fresno State, UCLA and Baylor are also out.
Wild stats: Nick Saban improved to 24-0 against his former Alabama assistants with a 42-21 win over Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss ... Georgia has outscored its opponents 205-23. 📆 Coming up ... No. 4 Penn State visits No. 3 Iowa in Saturday's main event. Plus: No. 6 Oklahoma vs. No. 21 Texas, No. 13 Arkansas at No. 17 Ole Miss, No. 2 Georgia at No. 18 Auburn. | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Keep up with your home team with Axios Local | | |  | | | | Get a daily digest of what's happening in your hometown with Axios Local newsletters. Local reporters will deliver the latest news and insights on sports, politics, and more. Subscribe for free. | | | | | | 4. ⚽️ U.S. Soccer hires Yates to investigate NWSL |  | | | Sally Yates in the Senate. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | | | | U.S. Soccer has retained former acting Attorney General Sally Yates to lead an investigation into "allegations of abusive behavior and sexual misconduct in women's professional soccer." Driving the news: The NWSL canceled its entire slate of games this weekend amid widespread allegations of harassment and abuse. - The North Carolina Courage fired coach Paul Riley on Thursday after two former players went on the record with allegations that included Riley coercing one of them into having sex.
- Commissioner Lisa Baird resigned on Saturday after emails were released by USWNT star Alex Morgan that showed NWSL leadership was aware of at least some of the incidents for several months.
The big picture: This reckoning comes during the NWSL's first-ever CBA negotiations, as well as U.S. Soccer's ongoing equal pay fight. A lot is happening in women's soccer right now. | | | | | | | | 5. 🌎 The world in photos | | Photo: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ryan Zimmerman (aka "Mr. National") received an emotional ovation Sunday afternoon in what was possibly his final game for the only franchise he's ever known. "Every town has their guy, the one whose importance can't be explained to out-of-towners with numbers or awards. For DC, Zimmerman is that guy and then some. An absolute pillar. A generation of fans grew up alongside him, and the next generation will always know his name." Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images LOS ANGELES — The Nets beat the Lakers, 123-97, in the NBA preseason opener Sunday night. Both teams sat most of their stars, allowing Nets rookie Cam Thomas to steal show (21 points). Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images LIVERPOOL — Liverpool and Manchester City played to a 2-2 draw on Sunday, with all four goals — including Mo Salah's stunner — coming in a thrilling second half. Photo: Rob Pinney/Getty Images LONDON — 50,000 runners took to the streets — and bridges — on Sunday for the 41st edition of the London Marathon. | | | | | | | | 6. ⚾️ Chicago's shifting allegiances |  Data: Vivid Seats; Map: Kavya Beheraj/Axios Chicago's baseball allegiances are shifting as the playoffs get underway, Axios' Justin Kaufmann and Monica Eng write. Driving the news: The White Sox are in the postseason, while the Cubs are not. The question is whether Chicago will come together to root for the White Sox. The intrigue: When it comes to ticket sales, several ZIP codes have switched sides since the Cubs' 2016 World Series win, per data from ticket marketplace Vivid Seats. - North Side neighborhoods still bleed Cubbie blue. But that's where it ends.
- The biggest surprise? Edison Park on the far Northwest Side is now in the black.
The bottom line: The old Chicago adage that you can only root for one baseball team may just be that: old. Sign up for Axios Chicago or our other local newsletters here. Three new cities launch today: Atlanta, Dallas and Philadelphia. | | | | | | | | 7. ⚡️ Lightning round |  | | | Candace Parker. Photo: Kena Krutsinger/NBAE via Getty Images | | | | 🏀 WNBA semis: Candace Parker and the No. 6 seed Sky are up 2-1 on the No. 1 seed Sun, while Brittney Griner and the No. 5 seed Mercury are up 2-1 on the No. 2 seed Aces. The underdogs are peaking at the perfect time. ⚾️ Tingler fired: The Padres plan to fire manager Jayce Tingler after a disappointing 2021 season and second-half collapse, per MLB Network. ⚽️ Major upset: Eintracht Frankfurt beat Bayern Munich, 2-1, as a +2500 underdog — the largest upset in Europe's top five soccer leagues over the last three years, per ESPN. 😂 Hilarious: This TikToker does the best Stephen A. Smith impersonation. | | | | | | | | 8. 📆 Oct. 4, 1873: Argonauts formed |  | | | Argonauts fans in 2016. Photo: Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star via Getty Images | | | | 148 years ago today, the Toronto Argonauts were formed, making them the oldest North American pro sports team still using its original name. The big picture: The "Argos," founded by the Argonaut Rowing Club, have won a record 17 Grey Cups (the CFL's Super Bowl). - Doug Flutie led Toronto to back-to-back titles in 1996-97 before signing with the Bills.
- Other notable players include Joe Theismann (1971-73), Andre Rison (2004-05) and Ricky Williams (2006).
Go deeper: Canadian football's rugby origins (SaskToday) | | | | | | | | 9. 🏈 Heisman trivia |  | | | Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images | | | | Bryce Young is vying to become the fifth sophomore ever to win the Heisman Trophy. - Question: Can you name the other four?
- Hint: They all won this century.
Answer at the bottom. | | | | | | | | 10. 🎥 Top plays: Weekend edition |  | | | Cole Tucker after his spectacular catch and double play. Photo: Joe Sargent/Getty Images | | | - ⚾️ Epic double play
- 🏈 Bo Nix!
- 🏈 How'd he catch that?
- ⚽️ Mo Salah is a wizard
- ⚾️ Gio pulls a Jeter
- 🏈 J.D. McKissic!
- 🏒 Absurd stick save
- ⚽️ Gorgeous strike
- 🏈 Full extension
- 🏈 Spectacular grab
Watch all 10. | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Keep up with your home team with Axios Local | | | | | | | | Get a daily digest of what's happening in your hometown with Axios Local newsletters. Local reporters will deliver the latest news and insights on sports, politics, and more. Subscribe for free. | | | | Talk tomorrow, Kendall "Don't let the Jets get hot" Baker Trivia answer: Tim Tebow (2007), Sam Bradford (2008), Mark Ingram (2009), Lamar Jackson (2016) 🙏 Thanks for reading. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter: @kendallbaker and @jeffreytracy. |  | | It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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:    | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment