Baseball’s two best regular-season teams are also among its lowest spenders. But their unlikely World Series comes with a warning about the sport’s future
The best pitcher in baseball led the best team to victory over the second-best team? Weird.
A World Series that makes the logical feel novel began on Friday as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 in Game 1. Of course the Brewers, with their MLB-topping 103 regular-season victories, should be facing the 98-win Rays on the grandest stage. But of course, since these are two of the smallest and lowest-budget franchises in the sport, they shouldn’t.
American, 22, edges Britain’s Jake Jarman by 0.033
Blakely takes vault and bars bronze after all-around gold
Simone Biles watches as Americans shine in Rotterdam
American Frederick Richard won the floor exercise title at the world gymnastics championships in Rotterdam on Saturday, finishing ahead of Britain’s Jake Jarman and Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat.
With US gymnastics great Simone Biles looking on as a spectator in the Netherlands, the 22-year-old Richard secured his first world title, edging out Jarman by just 0.033 points after scoring 14.633. Jarman, the defending world champion, was among a field that included the last two Olympic gold medallists.
Mikaela Shiffrin drops from first to seventh place
American Paula Moltzan became the oldest woman to claim her first Alpine skiing World Cup victory on Saturday, pipping Albania’s Lara Colturi by just one-hundredth of a second in a thrilling season-opening giant slalom at Sölden, Austria.
Moltzan, who was fifth after the opening run, produced a superb second descent to finish with a combined time of 2min 14.82sec, narrowly denying her Italian-born Albanian rival, who finished in 2min 14.83sec. Germany’s Emma Aicher completed the podium, 0.52sec behind the Minnesota native.
The basketball star seems proud to leave the job to his partner. That’s so last century
Nobody can accuse the basketball star LaMelo Ball of being bad at his job. That said, the Minnesota Timberwolves point guard doesn’t seem to be a huge fan of dribbling.
Ball has a nine-month-old son, LaOne, with his partner Ana Montana (real name: Analicia Chaves) and is apparently uninterested in dealing with all the body fluids that come with a baby.
Ultra-endurance swimmer Catherine Breed navigated waves, wildlife and pollution to become the first person to swim from state’s northern-most tip to Mexico border
Nearly four months ago, Catherine Breed, a 33-year-old from the San Francisco Bay Area, set out to become the first person to swim the entire coastline of California – from its northern-most tip to the border with Mexico. She and her support team prepared for encounters with sharks and storms. They hadn’t anticipated completing the marathon swim during a year of historic super El Niño weather.
But after dodging hurricanes, wildlife and 8ft waves in an unusually volatile Pacific Ocean, Breed finally celebrated the end of her journey on a beach in San Diego on Monday.
Former USA team doctor Larry Nassar’s 2018 conviction sparked a global reckoning in gymnastics, yet gymnasts say they are still being let down
It has been 10 years since the Indianapolis Star published allegations of sexual abuse by Larry Nassar, the former team doctor for USA Gymnastics, setting off a chain of events that would lead to a reckoning for the sport. Hundreds of women came forward with their own allegations against Nassar, who also worked at Michigan State University, leading to his conviction and jailing.
The exposure of his crimes sparked a wider investigation into how gymnastics had allowed predators to abuse young athletes around the world. While Nassar was the worst recorded case, it emerged many other countries had questions to answer about the failure to protect victims from not only sexual but physical and emotional abuse. But a decade later, on a large houseboat moored in Rotterdam three tram stops away from the Ahoy Arena, where the World Gymnastics Championships are taking place this week, survivors and advocates raised fears about the slow pace of change.
Brewers claim 3-2 victory in Game 1 of World Series
Yelich triples home a run and scores in first inning
Misiorowski and Megill hold off late Rays fightback
Trevor Megill struck out Jonny DeLuca with runners on second and third to escape a ninth-inning jam as the Milwaukee Brewers held on for a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.
DeLuca’s strikeout came after Tampa Bay’s Liam Hicks had grounded into an apparent game-ending double play that was overturned after a video review. Replays showed that Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt’s right foot was slightly off the bag when he reached to catch a high throw from second baseman Brice Turang.
The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders have unionized, in a watershed labor victory that comes after years of fighting for fair pay.
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Association (DCCA) was voluntarily recognized by the Cowboys as the collective bargaining representative for the cheerleading squad, according to a Friday news release. The recognition came after “meaningful discussion” between the Cowboys organization and the DCCA, and the parties are set to begin collective bargaining.
American, 21, wins world all-around title in Rotterdam
Blakely ruptured achilles before 2024 Olympic trials
First US champion since Simone Biles three years ago
Skye Blakely completed a sensational comeback from a ruptured achilles tendon to win the women’s all-around title at the world gymnastics championships in Rotterdam on Friday, claiming the biggest individual prize in the sport outside the Olympics.
The 21-year-old American scored 55.733 points across four apparatus to finish ahead of Russia’s Liudmila Roshchina (55.199), with China’s Ke Qinqin taking bronze (55.032).
Steelers, Saints still on for NFL’s Paris debut on Sunday
Violent protests prompt US security warning for fans
PSG cancel Sunday match amid escalating Paris unrest
The NFL would have cancelled its first regular-season game in Paris, scheduled for Sunday, if the situation were unsafe, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said on Friday, referring to the recent protests in the French capital.
France experienced some of its worst urban unrest in years last weekend, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to tighten restrictions on protests on Thursday amid fears that demonstrations planned for Saturday could turn violent.
Any player will be eligible for High Impact Player status
Requirements had included top 100, marketability lists
Sides also resolve grievance on Rodman contract refusal
The NWSL and the NWSL Players Association have reached a settlement to drop the restrictive criteria around the controversial High Impact Player (HIP) rule, allowing any player to earn the league’s highest salaries.
The NWSL introduced the rule late last year, allowing teams to spend an additional $1m above the salary cap to sign star players. Players with the designation had to meet one of eight criteria, ranging from US national team minutes and Ballon d’Or recognition to NWSL Best XI honors to media lists, including the Guardian’s Top 100 and a ranking that ordered athletes by marketability.
Three-time Vezina winner leaves Winnipeg after 11 years
Devils send four players and two draft picks to Jets
Olympic gold medalist joins US teammate Jack Hughes
Connor Hellebuyck finally has a new home after the Winnipeg Jets granted the three-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender’s trade request in a deal that sent him to the New Jersey Devils on Friday.
The Devils sent center Dawson Mercer, goalie Nico Daws, prospect Alexander Command, forward Nick Bjugstad, a 2029 second-round pick and a 2027 seventh-rounder to Winnipeg for Hellebuyck.
The New York mayor’s passion for the Gunners and human rights presents an opportunity to push back on the club’s lucrative UAE sponsorship
Like him or not, there is no doubt that New York mayor Zohran Mamdani’s passion for certain issues is electric, and that passion played a large part in him getting elected. But today, two of his biggest passions are on a collision course.
On one hand, Mamdani is now arguably the US’s most high-profile supporter of English Premier League champions Arsenal. A superfan since he was a child, he has put the Gunners into the American spotlight more than anyone since becoming mayor. The Empire State Building gleamed in Arsenal’s red and white when they won the Premier League title. He wrote an essay about what Arsenal’s championship means to him, talks about Arsenal at press conferences and interviews and inaugurated Thierry Henry Way near Times Square in honor of the Arsenal legend.
People under 35 are hunting for no-frills rides they can pay for in cash and fix themselves – defying expectations to take on steep loans
Jack Price joined the marines in fall 2021 knowing he would need a car to get around base and that he couldn’t afford a new one. A joyless, month-long search through dealer classifieds and Facebook Marketplace listings ended when his mother spotted a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta posted on her office listserv by a co-worker moving abroad. With just 60,000 miles (96,560km) on the meter, the car (a manual!) was mechanically sound, and the air conditioning, sunroof and Bluetooth radio worked too. At $6,000, it was a steal. Price paid in cash.
Five years on, the Jetta, which he called the Pewter Pebble, is still carting him from A to B in unassuming style. “I’ve completely driven it into the ground,” says the 30-year-old, who lives in Los Angeles. “All over bases, cross-country a couple times, not really lovingly. I get so much crap from people, but not people my age.”
Mercedes youngster could become youngest title winner
Max Verstappen says bumpy track makes drivers ‘suffer’
The Formula One world championship is within reach for Kimi Antonelli at the US Grand Prix in Austin this weekend. But while the young Italian approaches the race intending simply to have fun, there is disquiet among other drivers about the potential long-term health dangers posed by the state of the Texas circuit.
The 20-year-old Antonelli will become Formula One’s youngest world champion if he claims the title at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, eclipsing Sebastian Vettel’s record from 2010, when the German driver was 23 and Antonelli was four. It is an outside chance, as the Italian has acknowledged. He must win while needing his rivals to endure a poor day. His Mercedes teammate George Russell would have to finish outside the top eight and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton outside the top four.
It’s Milwaukee and Tampa Bay in the 122nd Fall Classic. Our writers predict how it will be decided, who will shine brightest and who will break their World Series maiden
Yes - and in fact, evidence that money actively undermines baseball happiness. For the big-market teams, anything less than a World Series is disappointing. Whereas for the Rays (who in April were given a 1.1% chance of winning the World Series by FanGraphs) or Brewers (2.1%), the season is already a success, and winning it all would give their fans more pleasure than a Yankees or Dodgers fan could ever experience. Alan Evans
James helps Sixers erase 29-point deficit against Cavs
Donald Trump lashed out at NBA superstar LeBron James on Thursday for what he called disrespectful behavior during the playing of the national anthem.
Trump posted a video of the basketball legend making apparent warm-up movements while lined up with his Philadelphia 76ers teammates before their season opener against the New York Knicks on Tuesday.
Caleb Williams threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns, and the Chicago Bears cooled off Drake Maye and the New England Patriots with a 30-24 win on Thursday night.
Williams was 22 of 33 passing in his second game back after being sidelined by a hamstring injury. He became the first Bears quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards in consecutive games since Mitch Trubisky had a three-game run in 2018.
Retro design features red, white and black stripes
Social media users draw Nazi Germany comparisons
Falcons’ X post attracts roughly 26m views
Social media erupted in jokes and memes on Thursday after the Atlanta Falcons unveiled a logo that instantly drew comparisons with the imagery of Nazi Germany.
The logo – posted by the Falcons on the NFL team’s social media channels – shows the team’s old falcon symbol from the 1960s and 1970s, emblazoned on a background of red, white and black stripes.
Players given better flights and individual hotel rooms
Teams in the 2027’s Women’s World Cup in Brazil will receive the same preparation money from Fifa as those that played at the 2026 men’s tournament, the world’s governing body has announced.
The preparation money for the 32 teams has been more than doubled to $2.5m (£1.86m) each. In 2023, the total preparation money for the tournament was $31m; it will now be $80m.
Concacaf on Thursday announced it has approved Haiti’s request to relocate their Nations League quarter-final first leg against the United States on 14 November from Kingston, Jamaica, to Miami in an “exceptional hosting arrangement”. Haiti have been unable to play nominal “home” games within their borders since July 2021, with the United Nations estimating that 90% of the capital of Port-au-Prince – including the national stadium – is controlled by violent gangs.
Haiti’s match, the first leg of a home-and-away series against the US, had been booked for Kingston. The Grenadiers played their 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Curaçao, Aruba and Barbados. However, the Nations League format slated Curaçao and Jamaica to host their matches on the same night as Haiti’s, shunting Haiti to Sabina Park, the home of the Jamaica national team until their current venue opened in 1962. Now a cricket ground, Sabina Park hosted two of Haiti’s Nations League qualifiers.
Golden State Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg had an extraordinary NBA debut as he jawed with Luka Dončić and admitted he had largely been exposed to the league through highlights before turning professional.
Lendeborg was given the task of guarding the Los Angeles Lakers star for large parts of Wednesday’s game, which Dončić’s team won 127-105.
Poor Fifa peace prize. Unloved, unliked, mocked, tainted by association with its first winner. And now demoted, too, after Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, dumped the thing on the global governing body’s “social responsibility committee” to look after. To redeem it, rather than to ditch it, to spare Infantino the embarrassment of acknowledging that his fake prize was really just a fake prize all along.
Here is where we should probably acknowledge that, as fake prizes go, and in the context of what it was intended to accomplish, the first awarding of the Fifa peace prize was an unqualified success. It achieved exactly what it was meant to, made by Infantino to flatter Donald Trump, the man he needed to keep on his side to safeguard the riches to be extracted from the North American market in order to consolidate his power base within Fifa. Trump, the gullible buffoon, was pleased as punch – handed a big, golden bauble and a medal he placed around his own neck – and briefly forgot about the Nobel peace prize he desperately covets.
Leander Schaerlaeckens is the author of The Long Game: US Men’s Soccer and Its Savage, Four-Decade Journey to the Top, or Thereabouts, which is out now. He teaches at Marist University.
The reigning champions must deal with the absence of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia for some time, while fans at Anfield were thrilled by Rio Ngumoha
Paris Saint-Germain beat Barcelona 4-2 on Tuesday, but the reigning champions lost the best player in last season’s tournament, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. This autumn has seen much lobbying for the Ballon d’Or, with the Georgian a popular choice, despite his absence from the World Cup. He is expected to be out for six months, although Rodri’s comeback from serious injury – he was rested by Barcelona on Tuesday until coming off the bench in the 60th minute – shows it can take far longer than that for players to rediscover their highest level.
The early standouts have emerged. But even the best teams have flaws that can be exposed by their opponents
Who would have thought the 49ers would be here after a rough old offseason? Head coach Kyle Shanahan’s participation in training camp was limited due to a serious car crash, team owner Jed York’s visit to an Ohio trailer park did not end well, and one player after another endured serious injuries. Despite all this, San Francisco are full of positive vibes. They are top of a tough division and their immense defense, led by the intensity of players such as safety Malik Mustapha and Fred Warner, is complemented by an equally impressive offense.
Daniel Edelman nets winner in 5-4 win on penalties
For much of the 20th century, winning the US Open Cup required a team to beat someone from St Louis. The Gateway City was home to many of the nation’s best teams during some ramshackle eras of soccer in the United States, with six different clubs combining for 10 trophy lifts. The most recent came in 1988, when St Louis Busch Seniors beat San Francisco-based Greek-American AC in the last throes of a tournament history dominated by amateur and semi-pro teams. MLS has won every Open Cup but one since starting play in 1996, and St Louis didn’t have an MLS club until 2023.
From the beginning, club figures spoke of their aim to restore the city to soccer prominence. Well, mission accomplished. St Louis City are US Open Cup champions, outlasting the Columbus Crew 5-4 on penalties to end the city’s 38-year wait for a major US soccer title and earn a place in the field for the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup.
Anthony Edwards scored 45 points as he and the Minnesota Timberwolves spoiled Giannis Antetokounmpo’s debut with the Miami Heat in an emphatic 131-106 season-opening win on Wednesday night.
Edwards became just the third player in NBA history to record multiple 40-point games in season openers, joining Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.
World Rugby has appointed Megan Rose, an American tennis pro turned United States Tennis Association (USTA) executive, as managing director of the 2031 men’s Rugby World Cup, a key appointment as the governing body prepares to host what is by some measures the third-biggest global sporting event on American soil for the first time.
Rose said: “Rugby World Cup is one of the iconic events in global sport, defined by unforgettable moments on the pitch and the passion of fans around the world. To be entrusted with bringing Men’s Rugby World Cup to the United States for the first time is an extraordinary honour, and I’m thrilled to join this team.”
With You Can See Everything, Holmes joins other such high-profile subjects as Lance Armstrong, Imelda Marcos and Anthony Weiner to allow film-makers to document their lives. But do they ever come out well?
In You Can See Everything, convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes invites film-makers Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim into her home in a supposed act of “radical transparency”. Holmes is filmed, along with her partner, Billy Evans, and their two young children, in the weeks before starting a prison sentence for defrauding Theranos investors. “The best way for people to see who she is,” Evans says, “is to give as much access as possible into our daily lives”. It may also be the best way to market “Theranos 2.0”, which the couple are working on during filming. But the documentary questions whether Holmes is presenting her authentic self or a manufactured persona. Fielder speaks for the audience when he asks Holmes in a tense exchange whether she’s “being real” with him. “I’m always being real,” she says.
That question of authenticity is at the heart of documentary film-making. You Can See Everything is as much about the ambiguous relationship between film-maker and subject as it is about Holmes herself. There is often a power struggle over narrative control in documentaries, with both sides of the dynamic wanting different outcomes from the final film. Watching You Can See Everything inevitably prompts the question: why would Holmes, days before she heads to jail, invite the scrutiny of a film crew?
Player fetched firearm after altercation with JC Latham
Tennessee released defensive tackle on Tuesday
Robert Saleh calls situation ‘lapse in judgement’
Tennessee Titans coach Robert Saleh confirmed on Wednesday that defensive tackle Jordan Elliott was released after pulling a gun in the parking lot of the team facility but said it was a “terrible lapse in judgment that I recognize as a call for help more than a criminal act”.
The Titans had announced Tuesday that Elliott was released, but said only that it came after his involvement in an unspecified incident at the team’s facility five days earlier.
A Washington referendum has drawn broad opposition from adults who work with queer and trans teens
For Kelsey Gellner, a Seattle-based pediatric nurse, a statewide proposal to bar trans girls from sports participation feels like a violation of her duty as a medical professional. The ballot initiative includes a requirement she calls “invasive and extreme”: all students who wish to compete on girls’ teams would have to undergo genital exams.
“I tell my kids and patients that my No 1 job is to keep them safe,” said Gellner, who is also a board member of the Washington State Nurses Association. “I can say with confidence that girls do not want to have an unnecessary exam that creates an unsafe barrier.”
As women’s sprinting enters a golden era in the run-up to LA 2028, controversy surrounding a top coach threatens to overshadow the sport’s biggest stars
When Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas came second at the recent track and field World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, she tried her best to be diplomatic: “I am an equal-opportunity doping hater,” she said. “If you are actively doping in sport, I do take issue with that. I’m not saying any names, no names are mentioned. But if you look at yourself and you think that’s what you’re doing, then so be it.”
Thomas then went out of her way to congratulate her compatriot Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who finished ahead of her that day, aware of the territory into which she was straying.
The duo have carved out lucrative and successful careers as TV audiences elsewhere are falling. It seems they won’t be together for much longer
Troy Aikman knew when it was time to go. His aching body made the decision for him when he ended his NFL career in 2001. A quarter of a century later, with one of the top quarterbacks of the 1990s established as half of the pre-eminent broadcasting duo in American sports, his potential exit from the booth is not so clearcut.
Aikman clearly feels his voice remains in fine working order, but his bosses at ESPN may not agree. The color commentator’s Monday Night Football play-by-play partner, Joe Buck, is reported to have agreed a new deal with the network worth $108m over six seasons (his previous deal was for five years at $15m a season), yet Aikman has claimed ESPN does not want to renew his contract.
Gilgeous-Alexander scores 32 as Thunder beat Spurs
Pistons erase 22-point deficit to stun Celtics
The Philadelphia 76ers sent an opening-night message that they intend to challenge the New York Knicks for the NBA title after adding LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, rallying for a 106-100 victory.
Tyrese Maxey scored 28 points and Brown had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists in his first game since being acquired from Boston. James began his NBA-record 24th season with 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
League consulted with Eagles doctors over treatment
Hurts played in London after initial clot diagnosis
Quarterback expected to miss rest of NFL season
The Philadelphia Eagles will not face disciplinary action over their handling of quarterback Jalen Hurts’ blood clots, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because conversations between the league and the team were to remain private.
Scott Kirby says wealth inequality is a ‘danger to society’ and calls for inheritance tax in recent interview
Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines, is under scrutiny from conservative politicians and commentators for saying wealth inequality is a “danger to society” and calling for a national wealth and inheritance tax in a recent interview.
Talking to the New York Times, Kirby was asked about the growing public distrust of CEOs and whether he felt any responsibility to quell that distrust.
Result is largest margin at any age level of a World Cup
DiMaria is first to score six at Fifa finals since Haaland
Tournament is in year two of expanded 24-team field
The United States began their U-17 Women’s World Cup campaign on Monday with a record-setting 17-0 win over Samoa the biggest win at any age level in World Cup history.
The result surpassed the previous record for margin at an 11-a-side World Cup, a 16-0 win by Morocco against New Caledonia in the 2025 U-17 men’s World Cup. Ten players scored for the US, and forward Maddie DiMaria led with six goals in Salé, Morocco.
The Eagles quarterback’s recent health issues highlight how football’s toughness culture puts its players at risk
Jalen Hurts is likely to miss the rest of the NFL season after an ultrasound revealed blood clots in his lungs. Thankfully, he’s now restricted from playing for the immediate future, meaning he won’t be risking serious complications – or even his life – as he did when he played in the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 5 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
The quarterback complained to the Eagles’ medical staff of calf pain on 8 October, according to ESPN. The Eagles say Hurts flew to London with the rest of the team and, out of an “abundance of caution”, was given an ultrasound. The test found a superficial clot in his calf. Doing an ultrasound before the flight would’ve been the most prudent thing. The same for making him inactive after the clot was found. But instead, he played in the game on 11 October, as the medical staff and doctors in London agreed “that activity and mobility were important”. Hurts also practiced all last week before a follow-up ultrasound also found clots in his lungs.
The veteran is adjusting to living in Melbourne and playing in the NBL after 12 years spent on the North American basketball rollercoaster
Basketballer Joe Ingles appears as the archetype of the Australian larrikin. There is one box, however, he no longer ticks. The 39-year-old gave up alcohol in 2022 after suffering a serious knee injury, and he has now gone more than 1,500 days without drinking.
“Stopping – that part of it – during rehab was very easy,” he says from Melbourne, after moving back to the NBL following 12 seasons in the NBA. At that point, it was just one aspect of aiding his recovery. Like staying healthy and avoiding junk food.
Our writers give their verdicts on the new season, which tips off Tuesday. Who will claim the title? And which youngster will make the superstar leap?
Seeing all the fruits borne of an incredible summer of player movement. It feels like three years ago that Giannis Antetokounmpo was traded to the Heat, because since then, Jaylen Brown and LeBron James went to the 76ers, and a ton of other deck chairs were reshuffled. This is the most intriguing NBA opening week in eons. Claire de Lune
Niners move to 6-0 but are pushed hard by Washington
Brock Purdy threw a touchdown pass, Christian McCaffrey ran for two scores and the San Francisco 49ers held on to beat the Washington Commanders 23-17 on Monday night for their sixth straight win to open the season.
The Niners followed up an emotional win last week at division rival Seattle by building a 20-point lead and holding off the Commanders (1-4-1) with two late defensive stops.
Tampa Bay beat Guardians to seal ALCS in six games
7-3 Game 6 win set up by strong Freddy Peralta start
Freddy Peralta threw 5.1 gritty innings, Junior Caminero and Yandy Díaz each hit a two-run homer and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night to advance to the World Series for the third time in the franchise’s 29 seasons.
The Rays will face the Milwaukee Brewers who, like Tampa Bay, are seeking to win their first-ever World Series. A sellout crowd of 40,230 fans waved yellow-and-blue rally towels, rang cowbells and chanted “Let’s go Rays!” throughout the night at Tropicana Field, which needed major renovations after Hurricane Milton shredded the roof two years ago and caused extensive damage throughout the stadium.
How will the Commanders and 49ers fare today? Here is what to know, including kick-off time, TV channels and live stream options
The Commanders’ first task on Monday night against the 49ers will be to keep track of the clock. A week after frittering away a simple game-winning field goal opportunity in overtime against the Giants, Washington’s reward is a trip out west on Monday Night Footballto face one of the best teams in the NFL. The 1-3-1 Commanders entered the week with the second-worst point differential in the NFC at minus-34, and it’ll take a herculean road effort for them to avoid falling out of the mix in the mediocre East.
The Niners, meanwhile, are on Easy Street. Their 5-0 start has afforded them a shocking degree of cushion in an NFC West that was expected to be the best division in football but so far looks like San Francisco and everyone else. The defending champion Seahawks and MVP Matthew Stafford’s Rams each dropped three games in the season’s first six weeks. Those included a pair of losses to Kyle Shanahan’s team, meaning the Niners have not just a huge advantage in the loss column but (for now) a head-to-head tiebreaker as well. San Fran could hardly have enjoyed a dreamier start.
Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse crimes came to light 10 years ago
Survivors gather at world championships to call for reform
The judge who sentenced the former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar to up to 175 years in jail in 2018 for the sexual abuse of more than 250 women and girls has condemned the lack of meaningful change in the decade since Nassar’s crimes were exposed.
With the World Gymnastics Championships taking place here this week, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said human rights must be prioritised over the desire for sporting success.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is set to miss the rest of the season after further testing revealed blood clots had traveled from his leg to his lungs, the team announced on Monday.
Hurts’s condition is considered stable and he “has no significant functional limitations,” the team said. His treatment for a new diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli will involve blood thinners, during which time he is unable to participate in contact activities.
Los Angeles were tipped as a Super Bowl contender after assembling a star studded lineup. Now they’ve lost three of their last four games
The Rams were supposed to be the closest thing the NFL had seen to a superteam in some time. Instead, they’re 2-4, have lost three of their last four games and are last in the NFC West. So much has gone awry, so quickly.
Sunday was rock bottom (for now). The Rams lost to the division’s ugly stepchild, the Cardinals – a team they had beaten in 16 of their last 19 meetings – on a day when Arizona didn’t manage to score a touchdown. They didn’t need to, because Arizona kicker Chad Ryland connected on six field goal attempts, the last one a 43-yarder as time expired. The game was a tale of two kickers, in that the Cardinals had a superb one and the Rams didn’t have one at all. Days after releasing Harrison Mevis following a league-worst four misses in the season’s first five weeks, the Rams came into this game with Blake Grupe, whom they’d plucked off the Jets practice squad. Grupe got hurt covering a kickoff return in the first quarter, leaving the Rams literally kickerless for the duration. (Mevis, a big fella whose nickname is the Thick Kicker, or “Thiccer,” has about 80lbs on the 5ft 7in Grupe.)
A goal against PSG is proof on the scoresheet of what can be seen on the teamsheet: at long last, Reyna is getting consistent minutes
For an entire four-year cycle, to write about Gio Reyna was to write about his potential – especially the nagging feeling that it was going unfulfilled. Once hyped as possibly the greatest prospect in US men’s history, a series of injuries kept him from simply taking the field, much less making his mark on it.
Since his emergent 2020-21 season, when he logged nearly 2,000 Bundesliga minutes running alongside Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham, and Jadon Sancho, Reyna finished each of the ensuing five seasons without even cresting 630 league minutes. “Rotational” became a generous descriptor for his role at Nottingham Forest on loan, and then last season with Borussia Mönchengladbach. Still, Gregg Berhalter and Mauricio Pochettino kept involving Reyna with the US squad based on that pesky potential – betting that, on his day, he still had the raw talent to do what few compatriots could.
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