A little bit about a lot …
It’s hard to explain how Padres’ batting champion Luis Arraez, who hit .318 during the regular season, tumbled to .226 in the playoffs.
It’s hard to understand how Manny Machado, who led the team with 29 home runs, fell to .179 and an on-base percentage plus slugging total that dropped nearly 300 points.
How did Jurickson Profar‘s long-run .836 OPS bottom out to .486 against the Braves and Dodgers?
It’s easier to realize the Padres would not have been there without all of them.
That’s what makes it all the more confounding. Baseball is going to baseball sometimes. The playoffs amount to small-sample-size theater, without a doubt. But that’s what that spot on the calendar demands you navigate.
There are few, if any, second chances. That’s what makes championships so special. And so hard. …
New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart revealed Tuesday that her wife received a threatening, anti-gay email after the Liberty lost to the Minnesota Lynx in the opening game of the WNBA Finals.
The two-time league MVP wore the USA uniform on the way to three Olympic gold medals. With pride and effort. For this country.
Stewart and her partner have kids. Unacceptable. Be kinder. Be better. …
Soccer superstar Lionel Messi scored three goals and added two assists Tuesday as Argentina steamrolled Bolivia 6-0 in South American World Cup qualifying.
Afterward, the 37-year-old said he realizes his days on the national team are running out.
“I am more emotional than ever and taking all the love from the people because I know these can be my last games,” he said.
A virtuoso performance. Enjoy it while you can. …
The Jets and Raiders came together on a trade that will ship Davante Adams to New York and a reunion with Aaron Rodgers. The pair combined for 68 touchdowns in Green Bay from 2014-21.
What it doesn’t factor in: Rodgers already has taken a beating with the Jets. He’s 40.
You see why they’re making the move, but this may be more romance than the reality they seek. …
There is a question about whether Landon Donovan will have the word “interim” deleted from the “coach” part with San Diego Wave FC. He deserves that, if he wants it.
Though the team will miss the NWSL playoffs, that’s the position the Wave found themselves in when he took over very late in the game. Donovan is the only player in U.S. men’s national team history to score 50 goals at record 50 assists.
He knows scoring, which they need. He understands cohesion, at an international level.
Bring him back so he finish the job. …
The Bay Area News Group’s Jon Wilner, in his a-bit-too-early predictions, pegged Colorado for the Holiday Bowl. It’s an interesting possibility.
If it happens, that would mean San Diegans would gain a front-row seat to watch not only Heisman Trophy candidate, but two.
Two-way player Travis Hunter, a cornerback and receiver, is as dynamic as they come. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the son of headline-making Deion Sanders, is mobile, accurate and makes all kinds of throws despite a makeshift line.
It would draw plenty of eyes to the Holiday Bowl, though Hunter is the true stiff-armed-trophy option among the two.
Now the Buffaloes’ defense? That’s another story. …
Give Oregon football coach Dan Lanning points for creativity. He essentially itted his team intentionally put 12 players on the field at the end of the game to induce a penalty while burning some of the final seconds at the same time.
The penalty gave Ohio State 5 yards, but also drained the clock to allow them just one more play in a 32-31 loss between two of the top three ranked teams in the country.
The NCAA immediately implemented a rule change where the time could be restored in the final two minutes of a half, unless a player was running off the field and did not affect the play itself.
Smart. And now, gone. …
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler said he will repeat the tournament-winners meal that followed his 2021 win in 2022. The menu: Cheeseburger sliders or firecracker shrimp, ribeye steak or blackened redfish, macaroni and cheese, jalapeno creamed corn, fried Brussel sprouts and seasoned fries, with a chocolate chip skillet cookie and ice cream for dessert.
His theory: Why switch things up? He won again in 2023.
No Georgia peach pie? …
One of the best stories in college football is Navy and Army being unbeaten and ranked with the refreshing College Football Playoff possibilities that sparks.
They could meet in the American Athletic Conference championship on Dec. 6, then again in the annual game eight days later.
I spent most of a week at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., before a 2018 meeting between Navy and Notre Dame. You cannot walk away without immense respect for how the grueling, academics- and service-based academies find ways to win on the field, too. …
When Rafael Nadal said he plans to retire from tennis next month, it means two of the “Big Three,” along with Roger Federer, will have stepped away from the court. That leaves Novak Djokovic, who has hinted he may be nearing the end, as well.
Truly, the sunset of an era.
The All-WNBA first team includes a rookie for the first time in more than a decade and a half. Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark rounded out a team that included A’ja Wilson of Las Vegas, Napheesa Collier of Minnesota, Alyssa Thomas of Connecticut and Stewart.
The last rookie to make the first team was Candace Parker in 2008. The all-time list includes Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings and Diana Taurasi.
Clark continues to stay away from the noise and prove she belongs in discussions about rare players.
