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🚨 Headlines
🏀 One perfect team remains: The Cavaliers beat the Pelicans to improve to 9-0, while the Nuggets handed the Thunder their first loss of the season.
🏈 Dak’s season in jeopardy: Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is likely at least headed to injured reserve, and may in fact need season-ending surgery to repair his injured hamstring.
⚾️ Setback for Ohtani? Shohei Ohtani’s labrum surgery should not impact his return to the Dodgers’ lineup, but it’s now unlikely he will be ready to pitch by Opening Day.
⚽️ Champions League check-in: The new-look league phase is halfway complete, with four games down and four to go. Liverpool (12 points) leads the way at the midpoint.
🎵 Raygun calls it quits: Rachael “Raygun” Gunn is moving on from competitive breakdancing, a few months after becoming a viral star at the Paris Olympics.
🇺🇸 Who was the best team of the Biden era?
Back in 2021, we picked the best American sports teams of each U.S. presidency dating back to Teddy Roosevelt. On the heels of Election Day, it’s time to update our list.
So we ask: Who was the best team during the Biden years (2021-24)?
Our 5 finalists:
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🏈 Kansas City Chiefs: 3 AFC Championships, 2 Super Bowls, 45-14 record (including 8-0 this season)
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🏀 South Carolina Women’s Basketball: 4 Final Fours, 2 National Championships, 136-8 record, current No. 1 in AP Poll
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🏈 Georgia Football: 2 National Championships (plus Orange Bowl), 49-3 record, current No. 3 in CFP Rankings
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🏀 UConn Men’s Basketball: 2 National Championships, current No. 2 in AP Poll
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🥎 Oklahoma Softball: 4 National Championships, 235-15 record
Winner: It’s gotta be the Chiefs, who have merged zeitgeist and success to become “America’s Team.”
Who do you think was the best team of the Biden presidency? Send me an email with your thoughts, I’d love to get your take.
📸 Photo gallery
Boston — The Warriors made a statement against the defending champs, beating the Celtics, 118-112, to improve to 7-1. Up next for Golden State: The undefeated Cavaliers.
Washington, D.C. — Alex Ovechkin scored yet again in the Capitals’ 3-2 win over the Predators, becoming just the third player in NHL history age 39 or older to find the back of the net in five consecutive games.
Omaha, Nebraska — Ryan Kalkbrenner dropped 49 points (20-22 FG) to lift No. 15 Creighton past UT-Rio Grande Valley, 99-86, in their season opener. The last player to make 20 field goals while shooting 90% or better in a D1 game? UCLA’s Bill Walton in the 1973 national championship game.
🏈 NFL power rankings: Lions supplant Chiefs
The one-loss Lions, not the undefeated Chiefs, top the latest edition of our NFL power rankings as they ride a historically dominant six-game winning streak.
By the numbers: The Lions have more touchdowns (28) than incompletions (24) during the streak, and Jared Goff has recorded the best passer rating (140.1) for any six-game stretch in NFL history.
Meanwhile, in Kansas City: The reigning champs may be undefeated, but they have the smallest scoring differential of any 8-0 team in NFL history (+56).
📆 Nov. 7, 1991: Magic retires
33 years ago today, Magic Johnson shocked the sports world when he announced that he had tested positive for HIV and was retiring from the NBA.
A watershed moment: Johnson’s announcement gave a new face to the disease, and his positive outlook showed that HIV wasn’t the death sentence many believed it to be at the time. “Life is going to go on for me, and I’m going to be a happy man,” he said.
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Despite his retirement, fans still voted Magic into the 1992 All-Star Game, where he scored 25 points and won MVP. The following summer, he won Olympic gold as a member of the Dream Team.
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Two years later, Johnson re-joined the Lakers as interim coach. He then returned as a player for 32 games in 1996 before permanently retiring.
Second act: Johnson said that day that while his future plans were up in the air, “I will still be pursuing my dream of owning a team, that’s for sure.” Consider that dream realized: Magic was part-owner of the Lakers from 1994-2010, and currently owns stakes in the Dodgers (MLB), Commanders (NFL), Sparks (WNBA), LAFC (MLS) and Spirit (NWSL).
📺 Watchlist: QB showdown in Baltimore
The Ravens host the Bengals tonight (8:15pm ET, Prime) in a rematch of perhaps the best game all season.
Lamar Jackson vs. Joe Burrow: The two QBs combined for 9 TD in Baltimore’s 41-38 overtime victory in Week 5 and both currently rank top five in yards and top three in passer rating, and they’re tied for second with 20 touchdown passes each.
More to watch:
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🏀 NBA: Timberwolves at Bulls (8pm, NBA)
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🏈 NCAAF: App State at Coastal Carolina (8pm, ESPN); FAU at ECU (8pm, ESPN2)
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🎾 Tennis: WTA Finals* (7:30am, Tennis)
*Where it stands: Jessica Pegula (knee) withdrew from the tournament, which concludes its group stage today. Three of four semifinal spots have already been clinched (Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, Zheng Qinwen), with the fourth going to either Iga Świątek (playing Daria Kasatkina) or Barbora Krejčíková (playing Gauff).
🏀 NBA trivia
Nikola Jokić (23 pts, 20 reb, 16 ast on Wednesday) became the second NBA player since the 1970 merger to put up a 20-20-15 triple-double.
Question: Who was the other player?
Hint: Still active.
Answer at the bottom.
🏈 Heisman watch
Two-way star Travis Hunter is now the Heisman Trophy favorite at Colorado, which is suddenly in the thick of the Big 12 title race.
Heisman Top 5: Hunter (+175 at BetMGM) leads the way, followed by Miami QB Cam Ward (+200), Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel (+300), Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty (+500) and Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart (+2000).
Trivia answer: His current teammate Russell Westbrook (20 pts, 20 rebounds, 21 assists in April 2019 while playing for the Thunder)
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