🏒 Axios Sports: The tremendous trio

Plus: Best team in Europe? | Friday, October 14, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Upside   Axios Sports By Kendall Baker · Oct 14, 2022 🎉 Happy Friday! Is Tennessee football back? We'll find out tomorrow in Knoxville. Today's word count: 1,630 words (6 minutes). Let's sports...     1 big thing: 🏒 The tremendous trio Kris Letang (L), Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin pose for a photo ahead of the 2019 NHL Stadium Series game in Philadelphia. Photo: Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images   Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang made their season debuts on Thursday, marking their 17th season together with the Penguins. Why it matters: That matches Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada as the longest-tenured trio in the history of the Big Four sports leagues. The Penguins trio has won three Stanley Cups together (2009, 2016, 2017). The Yankees trio won four World Series together (1998, 1999, 2000, 2009). By the numbers: Naturally, all three starred in Pittsburgh's season-opening 6-2 win over Arizona. Crosby had a goal and two assists, Malkin had a goal and Letang had two assists. Wild stat: Crosby, 35, has played more than half his life with the Penguins. This is his franchise-record 18th season.     2. 🏈 Snyder, Watson back on the front page Photos: Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images; Nick Cammett/Getty Images   "Thursday Night Football" was a snoozefest (again). But off the field, the drama and dysfunction that clouded the NFL offseason roared back into view. Driving the news: An ESPN report published Thursday alleges that Commanders owner Dan Snyder has used private investigators to get dirt on other owners. The goal: Ensure he doesn't "lose his beloved franchise without a fight that would end with multiple casualties," per ESPN. "They can't f--- with me," Snyder has said privately, per ESPN. "The NFL is a mafia ... All the owners hate each other." "That's not true," one veteran owner told ESPN. "All the owners hate Dan." The other side: The Commanders called the report "categorically untrue" and "clearly part of a well-funded, two-year campaign to coerce the sale of the team, which will continue to be unsuccessful." Between the lines: The timing of ESPN's report was no mistake. It was published just hours before the Commanders played on national TV and just days before the NFL owners meet in New York on Tuesday. "Just my feeling, I think what the league would love is for Snyder to sell the team," Al Michaels said during the "TNF" broadcast. "Not have to go to a vote but just sell the team. Because it's become a major problem around the league, obviously." Meanwhile, in Houston ... Another woman has filed a civil lawsuit against Deshaun Watson, alleging the Browns QB pressured her into oral sex during a massage session in 2020. This is the first lawsuit since the NFL suspended Watson for 11 games after investigating previous allegations. It's also the first lawsuit filed by an attorney other than Tony Buzbee. Of the previous 24 lawsuits that were active until earlier this year, 23 have reached undisclosed settlement agreements, per Buzbee.     3. ⚾️ Pic du jour: Yordan does it again Photo: Bob Levey/Getty Images   Yordan Álvarez ripped the Mariners' hearts out again on Thursday, launching a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning to lift the Astros to a 4-2 win and a 2-0 ALDS lead. The big picture: Álvarez is the first player in MLB postseason history with multiple career go-ahead HR in the sixth inning or later when his team is trailing — and both happened this week.     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 Source: Giphy 🏈 Absolutely bonkers stat: Since the start of 2018, Patrick Mahomes is 12-9 (.571) when facing a 10+ point deficit at any point in a game. All other QBs are 156-873 (.152) during that same span. (h/t Field Yates) ⚽️ £2.5 million ball: The ball used when Diego Maradona scored his notorious "Hand of God" goal has been put up for auction by the referee who missed the call and is expected to fetch £2.5 million. ⚾️ Weather delay: Game 2 between the Yankees and Guardians was postponed from Thursday to today. If this series goes the distance, they'll play four games on consecutive days, while traveling twice. 🏀 New refs: The NBA has promoted Cheryl Flores and Dannica Mosher from the G League, giving the league a record eight women at the full-time referee level.     5. ⚽️ Napoli: Europe's best team? Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images   A surprising club has entered the race for the title of best team in Europe, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. State of play: Just four clubs from Europe's Big Five leagues are undefeated in domestic and Champions League play. Three are super teams (Man City, Real Madrid, PSG) and the other is Napoli, which has destroyed the competition through 13 games. Serie A (7-2-0): Napoli sits atop the table with a league-leading 22 goals and a +15 scoring differential that ranks second. They've allowed multiple goals just once all season — in a 5-2 win. Champions League (4-0-0): They've already clinched a spot in the knockout round with a 17-4 cumulative shellacking of their group, including a 4-1 win over mighty Liverpool. The backdrop: Though Napoli has been competitive over the past decade (eight top-three finishes in Serie A since 2011), few thought this season had the potential to be their best ever. In what looked like a classic rebuild, they parted ways with numerous stars during the summer transfer window, pocketing $12.8 million in profit. They also slashed their payroll by more than 30%, from $100.2 million last year to $66.4 million this year, per Capology. Liverpool's payroll, by comparison, is $138.6 million. Yes, but: What no one outside the Napoli dressing room seemed to realize was that this wasn't a rebuild at all, but rather a reload fueled by the old guard's talented young replacements. The most exciting newcomer is undoubtedly 21-year-old Georgian phenom Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has seven goals and five assists. He's already earned the nicknames "Georgian Messi" and "Kvaradona," an ode to club legend Diego Maradona. The big picture: It's been an exceedingly long road to this point for a club whose heyday is 30 years in the rear view. Two decades ago, Napoli was bankrupt. Now, they're soaring.     6. 🏀 LeBron: Last prep-to-pro standing LeBron James on draft night. Photo: Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE via Getty Images   If the NBA season started today, LeBron James would be the only player drafted straight out of high school. James was drafted out of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School (Akron, Ohio) in 2003, two years before the prep-to-pro era ended and gave way to the one-and-done era. Dwight Howard and Lou Williams, drafted out of high school in 2004 and 2005, respectively, are currently free agents but could find roster spots soon. Opening night is Tuesday. Looking ahead: The one-and-done rule, which requires draftees to be at least 19 years old and one year removed from high school, is expected to be eliminated in the next few years. So James should have company soon.     7. ⚾️ The kids are (more than) alright Óscar González and Julio Rodríguez. Photos: Patrick Smith/Getty Images; Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images   Numerous rookies have already made their mark this MLB postseason, which we probably should have expected after their historic regular season, Jeff writes. By the numbers: A record six rookie position players amassed 4+ WAR (wins above replacement) this year. Five of them made the playoffs and four are still fighting for a championship. Julio Rodríguez, SEA (6.0 WAR) Steven Kwan, CLE (5.5) Michael Harris II, ATL (5.3) Adley Rutschman, BAL (5.2) Jeremy Peña, HOU (4.8) Brendan Donovan, STL (4.1) Zoom out: As a group, rookie position players had their second-best season since 1900 by both wRC+ (run creation) and WAR and there were a ton of them: 303 players made their MLB debut this season, lapping last year's record of 265, per The Ringer. Between the lines: Here's a brief look at some notable moments and stats from rookies through the first week-plus of the postseason: Clutch hitting: Before Yordan Álvarez's walk-off on Tuesday, there were two clutch plate appearances by Peña and fellow rookie David Hensley. Peña came through again on Thursday. The J-Rod Show: Rodríguez has scored five runs in four games and hit a double and triple off Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander. Power display: Óscar González's 15th inning walk-off homer sent Cleveland to the ALDS, where Kwan homered off Gerrit Cole. Critical hold: Padres righty Robert Suárez, a 31-year-old former construction worker, has thrown four scoreless innings, including a critical hold against the Dodgers on Wednesday.     8. 📺 Watchlist: Saturday's epic slate Neyland Stadium should be rocking tomorrow. Photo: Donald Page/Getty Images   For just the second time in college football history, Saturday features three matchups between teams 5-0 or better. 12pm ET, Fox: No. 10 Penn State (5-0) at No. 5 Michigan (6-0) 3:30pm, CBS: No. 3 Alabama (6-0) at No. 6 Tennessee (5-0) 3:30pm, ABC: No. 8 Oklahoma State (5-0) at No. 13 TCU (5-0) Plus: There are three more games between ranked teams: No. 15 NC State at No. 18 Syracuse (3:30pm, ACC); No. 16 Mississippi State at No. 22 Kentucky (7:30pm, SEC); No. 7 USC at No. 20 Utah (8pm, Fox). More to watch: ⚾️ MLB playoffs: ALDS and NLDS (Fri.–Sun. FS1/TBS) 🏈 NFL: Ravens at Giants (Sun. 1pm, CBS); Bills at Chiefs (Sun. 4:25pm, CBS); Cowboys at Eagles (Sun. 8:20pm, NBC) ⚽️ MLS playoffs: Red Bulls vs. Cincinnati (Sat. 12pm, MLS app); Galaxy vs. Nashville (Sat. 3pm, MLS app); Austin vs. Salt Lake (Sun. 3pm, ABC); Montréal vs. Orlando (Sun. 8pm, ESPN) ... Round one. ⚽️ NWSL playoffs: Houston vs. Kansas City (Sun. 5pm, Paramount+); San Diego vs. Chicago (Sun. 10pm, CBSSN) ... Round one. ⚽️ La Liga: Real Madrid vs. Barcelona (Sun. 10:15am, ESPN+/ESPN Deportes) ... 250th El Clásico. ⚽️ EPL: Tottenham vs. Everton (Sat. 12:30pm, NBC); Man United vs. Newcastle (Sun. 9am, USA); Liverpool vs. Man City (Sun. 11:30am, USA) 🏒 NHL: 18 games (Fri.–Sat. NHL/ESPN+) 🏀 NBA preseason: Celtics at Raptors (Fri. 7:30pm, NBA); Nuggets at Warriors (Fri. 10pm, ESPN2) ... Final day of preseason. 🥊 Boxing: Claressa Shields vs. Savannah Marshall (Sat. 5:30pm, ESPN); Devin Haney vs. George Kambosos Jr. (Sat. 10:30pm, ESPN) ... For undisputed middleweight and lightweight titles, respectively. 🏁 NASCAR playoffs: South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Sun. 2:30pm, NBC) ⛳️ PGA: Zozo Championship (Fri.–Sun. Golf) ⛳️ LIV: Jeddah (Fri.–Sun. LIVGolf.com)     9. 🏈 College football trivia Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photo: Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images   Three college football coaches are making over $10 million this season, per USA Today. Question: Who are they? Hint: They all share an initial. Answer at the bottom.     10. ⚾️ 1 Dave thing: 16 years later... Dave Roberts, then and now. Photos: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images; Jennifer Stewart/MLB via Getty Images   The Padres host the Dodgers today in their first playoff game in front of fans since 2006. How long ago was that? San Diego's leadoff hitter that day was current Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.     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.   Enjoy the weekend, Kendall "Feeling old" Baker Trivia answer: Alabama's Nick Saban ($10.96 million), Clemson's Dabo Swinney ($10.54 million), Georgia's Kirby Smart ($10.25 million) Editor's note: Yesterday's intro has been corrected to state that, for the first time since 1998, the Padres are tied or leading in a postseason series in the NLDS or later, not just a postseason series. 🙏 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. 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