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Good morning! I hope your sports equinox was lovely.
While You Were Sleeping: The Yankees blew it
This was the Yankees’ night. The home stands were full. Derek Jeter threw out the first pitch. After the Dodgers had won the first two at home in L.A., a New York win was a must in this matchup between superstar-heavy teams.
Instead, the Yankees did … largely nothing. The Dodgers’ 4-2 win gives them a 3-0 lead in the World Series. No team has overcome such a deficit at this stage. The way this has happened — a methodical bulldozing via Dodger bats — has been as surprising as anything.
A couple of takeaways:
- Freddie Freeman is easily the leader for World Series MVP. He hit another home run last night, and has now homered in five straight World Series games, dating back to his time with the Braves. That ties a record, and it comes in the same series in which he produced the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history. We’ll expand on him after this series wraps up.
- The conversation in New York fully turns to the Yankees’ two stars, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, and for opposite reasons. Judge has utterly choked in this series, going 1-12 with seven strikeouts. A free agent as soon as the series ends, Soto might be suiting up as a Yankee for the final time. Double ouch.
- Can the Yankees come back? They absolutely have the talent, but history says no. As our Tyler Kepner noted, no 3-0 World Series has even made it to Game 5 since 1970. The Dodgers can finish the sweep tonight.
Let’s move on to more New York pain:
While You Were Watching Baseball: The Giants also blew it
About 400 miles away from Yankee Stadium, the New York Giants entered a Monday night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers with their season theoretically also on the line, just with much smaller stakes — and they essentially got the same result.
The game was more competitive, a 26-18 Pittsburgh win, yet the G-Men fall to 2-6 with the loss, good for last place in the NFC East. This is when you start thinking about draft picks. Woof.
- We should probably apologize to Russell Wilson, who was fantastic last night: 20-of-28, 278 yards and a touchdown, which is perfect for this team. If he can maintain anything close to that level of play, the Steelers are legit contenders. Wild.
Also, this game answered a question I’d never really thought about: A receiver must get both feet — and not the same foot twice — down in bounds to complete a catch. Poor George Pickens:
No good ❌
🎥@NFLpic.twitter.com/tZ2WylMEbA
— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) October 29, 2024
That counts in my book, George.
News to Know
Man Utd’s shake-up
Erik ten Hag is out as Manchester United manager, the team announced yesterday, ending a strange and disappointing tenure at one of England’s biggest clubs. It was frankly a shock when the club retained him in the offseason, and he leaves this year with Man Utd sitting 14th in the Premier League table. Replacing him in the near term: former striker Ruud van Nistlerooy. In the long term, the club is angling for Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim as its new permanent head coach, a move that’s long been rumored. As for ten Hag? He was constantly overwhelmed in a job that Carl Anka says “looks increasingly impossible.”
McCaffrey eyeing return
Rejoice, 49ers fans and fantasy owners everywhere: Superstar running back Christian McCaffrey is “on track” to make his season debut in two weeks, coach Kyle Shanahan said, adding that McCaffrey will “hit it hard” and simulate a practice during the team’s bye week. McCaffrey has been dealing with Achilles tendonitis since training camp. See our full report here.
More news
Feedback Loop: We’re (mostly) on the same page
I had a feeling we’d get a blowout, but this is a landslide: 98 percent of you think the Dwyane Wade statue is off. We can agree on that.Â
Two final thoughts:Â
- Yes, it’s off, but I’m gathering this is just an extremely hard thing to do. Remember the backlash to the Cristiano Ronaldo statue? I will allow some grace for art’s sake, and affirm that art is hard.
- And yet … Wade himself consulted on this statue multiple times during the sculpting process! He is still very proud of it, too, and says the jokes are funny. I guess it’s still a win overall.Â
It got the Pulse brain trust thinking: Have statues gotten worse, or are all those ancient statues we prize as artifacts also bad? Someone get Julius Caesar on the line.
Watch and Listen
đź“ş NHL: Rangers at Capitals
7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
A matchup between division rivals who have both had a nice start to the season. Throw it on.Â
đź“ş NBA: Mavericks at Timberwolves
7:30 p.m. ET on TNT
These may be two of the most interesting teams in the league this year, both filled with talent old and new, trying to figure out fit. Seeing Klay Thompson in a Dallas uni is still weird, but he looks like a perfect addition so far.Â
đź“ş MLB: Dodgers at Yankees
8 p.m. ET on Fox
Could be a series-ender. Watch a downfall … or the start of a wild comeback? Probably downfall.Â
Get tickets to games like these here.
🎧 “The Athletic FC” weighed in on the Erik ten Hag sack and wondered: What took so long? Listen here.
Pulse Picks
Above all, Chris Paul will be remembered for his basketball IQ, and at 39, he’s as much of a coach as he is a player. Which is exactly why the Spurs, laden with young talent — including, ahem, Victor Wembanyama — signed him. They are already marveling at the CP3 experience.Â
The thread that binds all young NHL players: cooking, as Fluto Shinzawa reveals. The dishes range from spicy vodka sauce to Lunchables. Extremely fun read.Â
Wait, the Jets are favored against the Texans? Hannah Vanbiber explains why.Â
I missed this yesterday, but our MLB staff got a peek into players’ World Series playlists, and then made a Spotify playlist out of their findings.Â
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The latest college football AP Top 25 rankings. More playoff teams means more intrigue.Â
Most-read on the website yesterday: Our live blog from the Ballon d’Or announcement ceremony, where Rodri and Aitana Bonmati were named the best soccer players in the world.
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(Top photo: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
