⚾️ Axios Sports: He did it

Plus: Chess scandal latest | Wednesday, October 05, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Upside   Axios Sports By Kendall Baker · Oct 05, 2022 👋 Happy Wednesday! The Braves clinched the NL East on Tuesday after spending just eight days in first all season. The Mets spent 175 days in first. Today's word count: 1,495 words (6 minutes). Let's sports...     1 big thing: ⚾️ The AL home run king The face of a man relieved his chase is over. Photo: Cooper Neill/MLB Photos via Getty Images   On the penultimate day of the season, Aaron Judge finally hit No. 62, passing Roger Maris to become the AL's new single-season HR king, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. 🎥 Watch: The historic blast came off Rangers righty Jesús Tinoco, a 391-foot shot to left that led off the second leg of Tuesday's doubleheader. Between the lines: Unlike No. 61, which landed in Toronto's bullpen, No. 62 was caught by a Rangers fan from Dallas named Cory Youmans, who was quickly taken by security to get the ball authenticated. He's reportedly already received offers of $2 million, which would be the second-most expensive HR ball ever. Photo: Ron Jenkins/Getty Images The bottom line: All season, but particularly in the last two pressure-packed weeks as the world watched his every at-bat, Judge has chased history. On Tuesday night in Arlington, he finally caught it. 💪🏼 Watch: Progressive timeline of AL single-season HR leaders (Twitter)     2. 🏈 The college football buyout boom Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios   Last year, an unprecedented three FBS coaches were fired during the first five weeks of the college football season. This season, five have lost their jobs in that same span. Why it matters: These firings come at a steep cost, as it has become the norm for coaches to negotiate huge buyouts into their contracts that guarantee a substantial portion of their salary if they're canned. By the numbers: The five universities that have fired their coaches this season — all Power 5 programs — owe them a total of $56.7 million in buyout money. Scott Frost, Nebraska ($15 million buyout) Karl Dorell, Colorado ($11.4 million buyout) Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech ($11.3 million buyout) Paul Chryst, Wisconsin ($11 million buyout) Herm Edwards, Arizona State ($8 million buyout) The big picture: Over the past decade, public universities have spent $530 million to fire college football coaches, per the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. That's an exorbitant sum to pay coaches to go away, but schools — flush with cash from lucrative TV deals and rich boosters willing to write checks — can afford it. Consider this: Nebraska could have saved itself north of $8 million on Frost's buyout if they waited 20 days to fire him. They decided it wasn't worth it. What they're saying: These ballooning buyout figures "reflect the backwards economic logic of college sports," writes WSJ's Laine Higgins ($). "As long as the money isn't permitted to flow from schools to athletes, it has to be spent somewhere." "Hiring a good coach — or firing a bad one — is seen as one of the most sound investments an athletic department can make."     3. 🏈 NFL power rankings: Week 5 Table: Axios Visuals The Eagles, the lone undefeated team remaining, edged out the Bills for the top spot this week, Jeff writes. State of play: 15 teams are 2-2, tying 2017 for the most teams to start the season with that record in NFL history.     A message from Upside This app is helping users treat themselves     Upside is on a mission to make sure that, even during expensive times, people still have a little extra money for a rainy day fund. The free app gets users cash back on: Gas. Groceries. Convenience stores. Restaurants. On average, users earn $148 annually. Download the free Upside app to start earning.     4. ⚡️ Lightning round Tiffany Jackson after being the No. 5 pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft. Photo: Kelly Kline/Getty Images   💔 RIP, Tiffany: Former WNBA player and Texas basketball legend Tiffany Jackson died Monday after a seven-year battle with breast cancer. She was 37 years old. ⚽️ NWSL owners step away: The owners of the Portland Thorns (Merritt Paulson) and Chicago Red Stars (Arnim Whisler) announced Tuesday they're stepping away from decision-making roles until the investigation into reports of league-wide sexual misconduct concludes. 🏀 LeBron on Kareem: LeBron James is set to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time NBA scoring record this season. Ask about his thoughts and their relationship, he said: "Nah, no thoughts. And no relationship." ⚽️ Broadcast boycott: Paris will not show World Cup matches in public fan zones in protest of human rights and environmental abuses in Qatar. Of note: The city's biggest soccer club, PSG, is effectively owned by Qatar. 🍔 Tailgate foods: Burgers (65.9% of respondents), hot dogs (56.4%), chips (51.7%) and pulled pork barbecue (26.1%) are the best four tailgate foods, per a new FiveThirtyEight survey. Ice cream/popsicles (41.4%) and veggie burgers (30.5%) are the two worst.     5. ⚾️ MLB's anti-climactic finish Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   MLB's regular season concludes today, and though the league's new expanded playoff format helped end the two longest active playoff droughts, it also robbed us of late-season drama, Jeff writes. State of play: The Phillies clinched the 12th and final postseason berth on Monday despite having lost 11 of their previous 18 games, leaving two full days of the regular season with wild card teams fighting for nothing but seeding. Under the old format, the Padres, Phillies and Brewers would have been locked in a tight race for the NL's second wild card through much of the final month. The Blue Jays, Mariners and Rays would have similarly been jockeying for two spots the past couple weeks instead of merely trying to hold off the upstart Orioles. The other side: Though adding two wild cards may have made for an anti-climactic final stretch, it also meant more teams were alive — and more fanbases were excited — deeper into the season. MLB's postseason is still the most exclusive among the Big Four, with 40% of teams making the field compared to 44% in the NFL, 50% in the NHL and 53% in the NBA. There's also nothing about the new format that inherently leads to anti-climax. It just happens to have shaken out this way in year one. Looking ahead: The playoffs begin Friday. Here's how it works: The top two seeds in each league — the Astros, Yankees, Dodgers and Braves — earn a bye into the Division Series. The Nos. 3-6 seeds in each league play best-of-three Wild Card series hosted by the higher seeds.     6. ♟ Niemann "likely cheated" 100+ times Magnus Carlsen (L) and Hans Niemann during their match at the Sinquefield Cup. Photo courtesy of Grand Chess Tour   A Chess.com investigation alleges that Hans Niemann, the American grandmaster at the center of a cheating scandal, likely cheated in over 100 online games, as recently as 2020. The backdrop: When world champion Magnus Carlsen suggested Niemann was a cheater after losing to him at last month's Sinquefield Cup, Niemann admitted he'd cheated — but only twice online as a kid. Details: The 72-page report states that Niemann privately confessed to the allegations in a phone call, and that he was banned from Chess.com for a period of time, per WSJ ($), which was first to review the report. The site uses a variety of cheating-detection tools, including analytics that compare moves to those recommended by chess engines. They also monitor whether players open other browsers while playing. Identifying cheating during in-person chess is far more difficult, and while Chess.com stopped short of claiming Niemann had done so, the report flags "unusual patterns" and calls for a further investigation. Context: Chess.com is in the process of acquiring Carlsen's Play Magnus app for $82.9 million. That relationship could explain why the world champion was so confident Niemann was a serial cheater. Perhaps he already knew what was in this report.     7. 🌎 The world in photos Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images HENDERSON, Nev. — Scoot Henderson's (28 pts, 5 reb, 9 ast) G League Ignite beat Victor Wembanyama's (37 pts, 7 threes, 5 blk) Metropolitans 92 on Tuesday, 122-115, in a game that had NBA fans salivating. Two future studs. 🏀 Watch: Smooth Wembanyama, shifty Henderson (Twitter) Photo: Christof Stache/AFP via Getty Images MUNICH — Bayern Munich's 5-0 rout over Viktoria Plzeň extended their Champions League group stage unbeaten streak to 31 games, breaking the record previously held by Real Madrid (2012-17). ⚽️ By the numbers: They've outscored opponents 98-21 (!) during the run. Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images ROME — One year ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup, being played 10 miles northeast of Rome, team captains Luke Donald (Europe) and Zach Johnson (U.S.) met at the Coliseum. ⛳️ Watch: Captains play closest to the pin (Twitter)     8. 📺 Watchlist: MLS playoff race Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   Two MLS games tonight on ESPN+ have huge playoff implications, as all four teams are fighting for a spot with just two games left. 7pm ET: Charlotte vs. Columbus ... Charlotte needs a win to stay alive. 8pm: Miami vs. Orlando ... Miami clinches the playoffs with a win; Orlando clinches with a win and a Columbus loss. More to watch: ⚽️ Champions League: Eight games (12:45pm, 3pm, Paramount+) ⚾️ MLB: 16 games ... Most games start around 4pm. 🏈 CFB: SMU at UCF (7pm, ESPN2) 🏀 NBA preseason: Cavaliers at 76ers (7pm, NBA); Suns at Lakers (10pm, NBA) 🏒 NHL preseason: Bruins at Rangers (7pm, TNT); Stars at Avalanche (9:30pm, TNT)     9. ⚾️ MLB trivia Photos: Steph Chambers/Getty Images; Logan Riely/Getty Images   The two longest MLB postseason droughts entering the season (Mariners since 2001, Phillies since 2011) have been snapped. Question: Which two teams are now tied for the longest active drought? Hint: They last made the playoffs in 2014. Answer at the bottom.     10. ❤️ 1 dad thing: A father's love Photo: Bill Frakes /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images   Jim Redmond, who helped his son Derek across the finish line in one of the best Olympic moments ever, has died at age 81. The moment: Redmond cruised into the 400-meter semifinal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. But 250 meters into the race, he pulled his hamstring and collapsed to the track in agony. Determined to finish, Redmond began hobbling towards the finish line. As the crowd stood and applauded, Jim fought his way onto the track to assist him. "We started this thing together and now we'll finish it together," Jim told his son. "You're a champion — you've got nothing to prove." Start your morning with a good cry.     A message from Upside How to fight inflation with your everyday spending     The Upside app pays you back a little from each purchase to help offset rising costs. On average, users earn $148 annually. You can get cash back at: Gas stations. Convenience stores. Grocery stores. Restaurants. Take back control of your budget and download the free Upside app.   Talk tomorrow, Kendall "Just missed it" Baker Trivia answer: Angels and Tigers 🙏 Have a great day! Follow us for more (@kendallbaker and @jeffreytracy). Friends can sign up here. Thanks to Bryan McBournie for copy edits. Are you a fan of this email format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 300 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications.   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, 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: