News: Axios Sports: Sky-Town

Monday, October 18, 2021

Axios Sports: Sky-Town

Axios Sports

By Kendall Baker ·Oct 18, 2021

👋 Good morning! One more sleep until the NBA returns.

⚾️ Just in: MLB said Sunday that it will require teams to provide housing for minor league players starting in 2022. We'll go deeper tomorrow.

Today's word count: 1,448 words (5 minutes).

Let's sports...

1 big thing: 🏀 Chi-Town is Sky-Town

Photo: Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Candace Parker came home this offseason with one goal — to deliver Chicago its first WNBA title. Mission accomplished.

What's happening: The Sky used a furious fourth-quarter rally Sunday afternoon to beat the Mercury, 80-74, and become the first team to ever win a WNBA title with a sub-.500 regular-season record.

Vengeance: The Sky's only other Finals appearance came in 2014, when they were swept by ... the Mercury.
Fun fact: Chicago joins L.A. and Washington, D.C., as the only cities with the "grand sextet" — titles in the Big Four, MLS and WNBA.

Courtney Vandersloot (L) and Allie Quigley kiss the trophy. Photo: Kena Krutsinger/NBAE via Getty Images

Between the lines: The key to Chicago's playoff run was their multitude of weapons. It felt like a different player stepped up every night.

MVP: Kahleah Copper didn't have her best game on Sunday (10 points), but the breakout star of the postseason was named Finals MVP.
Hometown hero: Parker filled up the stat sheet on Sunday with 16 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and four steals. In the final 4:27, she had two assists, six boards and the game-tying three.
Marriage goals: Courtney Vandersloot set a WNBA record with 102 playoff assists, while her teammate — and wife — Allie Quigley scored a career-high 26 points on Sunday.

The last word: "Look at the city, man," an emotional Parker told her daughter while gazing up at the raucous home crowd. "They all showed up."

Go deeper: Parker's legacy comes full circle (ESPN)

2. 🏈 NFL Sunday: The streak is over

Photo: Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images

The Jaguars entered Week 6 on a 20-game losing streak and had not made a field goal all season. Now, they'll enter the bye week with a confident kicker and a "one" in the win column, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes.

The hero: Kicker Matthew Wright — who was a software engineer a month ago — went 3-3 on Sunday in London, including 50-yarders to tie and win the game.
What's next: When the Jags visit the Seahawks in Week 8, they'll have a chance to win back-to-back games for the first time in two years.

Photo: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

More NFL:

King of the North: Aaron Rodgers has thrown 26 straight TDs without an interception against NFC North opponents. "I still own you!" he told Bears fans after scoring Sunday. Yes, he does.
Lamar's big weekend: On Saturday, Lamar Jackson found out Louisville was retiring his number; on Sunday, he broke Dan Marino's record for most wins (35) under the age of 25 since the merger.
Picks keep coming: Trevon Diggs had a pick-six in the Cowboys' OT win over the Patriots. That gives him seven on the year and at least one in all six games, tied for the longest season-opening streak ever.
Burrow's back: Only two QBs have thrown multiple TD passes in every game this season: Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow, who's just 11 months removed from a torn ACL.
Raiders respond: The Raiders capped a tumultuous week by beating the Broncos, delivering longtime special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia his first win as a head coach at any level.

Scoreboard: Away teams are 9-3 so far this week, improving to 50-38 on the season. Home field advantage, where art thou?

Home team won: Colts 31, Texans 3; Ravens 34, Chargers 6; Steelers 23, Seahawks 20
Away team won: Chiefs 31, Washington 13; Packers 24, Bears 14; Bengals 34, Lions 11; Rams 38, Giants 11; Vikings 34, Panthers 28 (OT); Cardinals 37, Browns 14; Raiders 34, Broncos 24; Cowboys 35, Patriots 29 (OT)
Neutral site (London): Jaguars 23, Dolphins 20

📆 Tonight: Bills (-6) at Titans

Go deeper: Week 6 winners and losers (The Ringer)

Bonus: 🏈 Scorigami!

Photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images

The Rams beat the Giants, 38-11, on Sunday — the first "Scorigami" of the season.

What that means: A Scorigami is a final score that has never happened before. 38-11 is the 1,067th unique final score in NFL history.

Fun facts: Tom Brady is 11-0 in Scorigami games, and three Super Bowls have been Scorigamis — all of which involved the Broncos.

Super Bowl XXI: Giants 39, Broncos 20
Super Bowl XXIV: 49ers 55, Broncos 10
Super Bowl XLVIII: Seahawks 43, Broncos 8

The backstory: The concept was created by Jon Bois of SB Nation, and now exists as a Twitter bot that tweets out current scores and chances that games will end in Scorigami.

🎥 Watch: The evolution of Scorigami (ESPN)

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3. 📸 Photo of the night: Braves up 2-0

Photo: Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images

The Braves walked off the Dodgers for the second straight night, winning 5-4 on Sunday to take a 2-0 NLCS lead.

Pictured above: Eddie Rosario, who hit the walk-off single, also scored a crucial run in the eighth on a close play at the plate.

📆 Tonight: Astros (tied 1-1) at Red Sox, 8pm ET

4. ⚡️ Lightning round

Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

⛳️ Rory wins in Vegas: Rory McIlroy battled back from nine shots down to beat Collin Morikawa at the CJ Cup, his 20th PGA Tour victory.

💵 Wild stat: The NBA's top 10 earners this season will pocket a combined $714 million, up 28% from last year.

🎾 Maiden titles: Two unexpected champions emerged at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, with No. 27 Paula Badosa and No. 21 Cameron Norrie winning their first top-tier titles.

🏀 Big brother brand: LiAngelo Ball has signed with the Hornets. If he sees game action, the Balls will be the eighth trio of brothers to all play in the NBA.

🏒 Good read: The ultimate Stanley Cup (ESPN)

"The trophy that fans typically see is a fraction of the complete artifact. What would the Cup look like if all of the rings were put together?"

5. 🏈 AP poll: The return of the Spoilermakers

Data: AP; Table: Axios Visuals

Purdue's huge road victory over then-No. 2 Iowa vaulted the Boilermakers into the top 25 for the first time since 2007, Jeff writes.

Why it matters: This ends the longest unranked streak among Power 5 schools, an honor that now belongs to Kansas (last ranked in 2009).
The big picture: This was Purdue's 13th win over an AP top-two team, trailing only Notre Dame, Ohio State, USC and Oklahoma.

State of play: The Big Ten now has six ranked teams, tied with the SEC for most of any conference.

Moving in: Joining No. 25 Purdue is No. 24 UT San Antonio, ranked for the first time ever. No. 19 Auburn, No. 20 Baylor and No. 23 Pitt are also ranked.
Moving out: Florida's departure leaves the state without a ranked team for the first time since 2011. Arkansas, Arizona State, BYU and Texas also fell out.

Notes:

Knoxville chaos: The SEC has condemned the "unacceptable" fan behavior during Saturday's Tennessee-Ole Miss game, in which fans tossed an endless sea of objects on the field and delayed the game.
LSU update: Ed Orgeron will step down after the season, less than two years after winning a national title.
Heisman watch: Oklahoma true freshman QB Caleb Williams started his first game Saturday and already has the sixth-best Heisman odds.

Go deeper: What's next for each top 25 team (ESPN)

6. 🏒 Chart du jour: The NHL universe

Chart: Axios Visuals

310 of the NHL's 721 active players (43%) when the season began were born in Canada, per the league.

Of note: The nine countries with one player each are Belarus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Kazakhstan (very nice!), Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Uzbekistan and Wales.

7. 📆 Oct. 18, 1974: The first quadruple-double

Nate Thurmond skies for a rebound in 1974. Photo: George Gojkovich/Getty Images

47 years ago today, Nate Thurmond recorded the NBA's first quadruple-double, putting up 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocks in the Bulls' season-opening 120-115 win over the Hawks.

Why it matters: The elusive quadruple-double has occurred just five times in NBA history, with Alvin Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon (2x) and David Robinson joining Thurmond.

Robertson (Feb. 18, 1986): 20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 steals
Olajuwon (March 3, 1990): 29 points, 18 rebounds, 10 assists, 11 blocks
Olajuwon (March 29, 1990): 18 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, 11 blocks
Robinson (Feb. 17, 1994): 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 blocks

🎥 Watch: Thurmond highlights (YouTube)

8. 🎈 The Ocho: Balloon World Cup

Source: Giphy

The inaugural Balloon World Cup took place in Barcelona last week — and it was electric.

How it works: Two players volley a balloon around a 26x26 foot court littered with household items, while trying to prevent it from touching the floor.
Details: 32 teams competed in the tournament, which was organized by Barcelona star Gerard Piqué. Peru beat Germany to become the first-ever world champion.

The backstory: The idea for the event stemmed from a series of viral videos featuring American siblings playing "balloon league" at home during quarantine.

Full highlights.

9. 🏈 NFL trivia

Courtesy: Arizona Cardinals

Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield are the second pair of No. 1 overall picks from the same school (Oklahoma) to start against each other.

Question: Who's the other pair?
Hint: Same first initial.

Answer at the bottom.

10. 🎥 Top plays: Weekend edition

Photo: Mike Comer/Getty Images

Watch all 10.

A message from Axios

Start a new morning habit.

Power your day with the Axios Today podcast. Hear the latest scoops from the White House and Congress, analysis on the economy and insights into trends shaping your world.

In 10 minutes, you'll catch up on the news that matters.

Listen for free.

Talk tomorrow,

Kendall "I threw the mustard" Baker

Trivia answer: Jim Plunkett and John Elway (Stanford)

🙏 Thanks for reading. For more sports coverage, follow us on Twitter: @kendallbaker and @jeffreytracy.

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