The Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup Champions, winning a hard-fought Game 7 against the Oilers to win their first title in team history. It comes just after the Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship — and at the center of both teams is a remarkable bond between friends.
Jason Tatum of the Celtics and Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers are long-time friends, going back to their days at Chaminade Prep School in the suburbs of St. Louis. Tatum, a promising basketball player befriended Tkachuk, who wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps into the NHL (Matthew is the son of the legendary Keith Tkachuk).
The two spent time together, pushing each other, even making goofy videos together — as this assignment Tatum made for school stars Tkachuk briefly.
Tkachuk was drafted by the Flames with the 6th pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Tatum was picked by the Celtics with the 3rd pick in 2017. Now less than a decade later they’ve both won titles in the same year.
Sunday in Omaha a two-run home run from Dylan Dreiling kept Tennessee’s title dreams alive.
Monday night in Omaha a two-run blast from Dreiling helped solidify them.
The Tennessee Volunteers captured the NCAA Men’s College World Series for the first time in school history, taking the best-of-three series against Texas A&M in Game 3 by a final score of 6-5.
And as was the case Sunday, Dreiling played a starring role.
A sacrifice fly from Dreiling in the third inning staked the Volunteers to a 2-1 lead, but the score was 3-1 in Tennessee’s favor when Dreiling came to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Billy Amick, having singled to left center ahead of Dreiling, took his lead off first.
But he would jog from there:
Dreiling got his hand around on a 78-mph breaking ball from Texas A&M pitcher Evan Aschenbeck, lofting a high fly ball to right field. Aggies right fielder Caden Sorrell gave it everything he had on the leap, but he came up just inches short.
That made it three home runs in three Men’s College World Series Finals games for Dreiling, and the outfielder’s two-run shot gave the Volunteers a 5-1 lead.
Tennessee was not done in the seventh and tacked on another run on one of the greatest slides you may ever see. After Dreiling’s home run Hunter Ensley got on with a seeing-eye single, which brought Kavares Tears to the plate. Tears promptly launched a deep fly off the wall in center field, and Ensley tried to come all the way around from first on the play, but a great relay from the Aggies saw the ball beat Ensley to home plate.
But somehow, some way, Ensley avoided the tag from catcher Jackson Appel:
Ensley reads this play perfectly. He sees the throw come to the glove side of Appel and then cuts to the inside, sweeping across the plate with his left hand to touch home. Texas A&M challenged the play, but video replays confirmed the safe call on the field.
That slide would end up being huge.
The Aggies put two runs on the board in the eighth to make it 6-3, but left-hander Kirby Connell came into the game and stopped the bleeding with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning. Aidan Combs, who also played a huge role in Sunday’s win for Tennessee coming out of the bullpen, came on to face the top of the Texas A&M lineup in the ninth.
The Aggies did not make it easy.
Gavin Grahovac led off the inning with a double, bringing the dangerous Jace LaViolette to the plate. Combs was able to strike out LaViolette, but an Appel single into left field plated Grahovac, making the Tennessee lead 6-4 and bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Hayden Schott, who was 3-for-4 on the night with a trio of singles.
Combs got the swinging strikeout of Schott with a high fastball, and the Aggies were down to their final out as Ted Burton strode to the plate. But a wild pitch brought Appel home, making it 6-5 with Burton representing the tying run, and the go-ahead run in the on-deck circle.
Combs punched Burton out on a 79-mph breaking ball, getting Burton to go down swinging and touching off the celebration. For the first time in school history, the baseball National Championship trophy is headed to Rocky Top.
For his effort throughout the series, Dreiling was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
With the title the Volunteers became the first No. 1 overall seed to win the Men’s College World Series since Miami did it back in 1999. That was the first year the tournament expanded to the current 64-team format.
The Olympic Women’s Golf Competition officially has a field of 60 participants with the latest update of the Rolex Rankings.
They will play at Le Golf National in Paris, the site of the 2018 Ryder Cup, from Aug. 7 to 10.
Two players from each country can qualify unless they rank inside the top 15 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). A maximum of four players from each country are eligible.
Each tournament has a strength of field rating for the Olympic Golf Rankings based on the quality of players within the field, like the OWGR.
That determines the points awarded at an event, which are then allocated to the players based on where they finish. Better performances in stronger events lead to more points.
Team USA has three of the top 10 players: No. 1 Nelly Korda, No. 2 Lilia Vu, and No. 9 Rose Zhang. Korda has six wins on the season, including five straight. However, Korda missed the cut in her last three starts.
She won the gold medal by one stroke in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo over silver medalist Mone Inami and bronze medalist Lydia Ko. Can she win her second gold in Paris or get on the podium?
South Korea will also have three Olympians after Amy Yang won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Sunday. She will join Jin Young Ko and Hyo Joo Kim in Paris.
Yang’s addition to South Korea’s Olympic team dropped Morocco’s Ines Laklalech, at No. 321, out of the competition.
Charley Hull and Georgia Hall will represent Great Britain, while Ko looks to get back on the podium for New Zealand. Australian golfer Hannah Green is also back in the Olympics after tying for fifth in Tokyo.
Nelly Korda’s most recent missed cut came at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America via Getty Images
The individual teams and the participants on each follow below, with their current world ranking in parentheses.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
The U.S. Senior Open takes center stage this week as Bernhard Langer will look to defend his title at the historic Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island.
But in two years’ time, another man will meet the eligibility criteria to play, which should intimidate everyone on the PGA Tour Champions. That would be Tiger Woods, the 15-time major winner who has also won nine United States Golf Association (USGA) titles.
Woods won three U.S. Junior Amateurs and three U.S. Amateurs during a six-year stretch from 1991 to 1996. He then went on to win three U.S. Open titles, with his first coming at Pebble Beach in 2000 and his last coming at Torrey Pines in 2008. He won his other one at Bethpage Black in 2002.
But as Adam Schupak of Golfweek penned on Monday, a U.S. Senior Open title would put Woods in rare territory. No player has ever won the U.S. Junior Amateur, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open, and U.S. Senior Open during their career. If Woods were to go on and win a U.S. Senior Open, he would become the most decorated USGA Champion of all time with 10 USGA championships. Woods and Bobby Jones currently possess the all-time record with nine apiece.
“He’d love to win that Grand Slam and get some of the other senior majors on his CV,” Padraig Harrington told Shupak.
Tiger Woods lines up a putt during the 2024 U.S. Open.Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
“I saw him at the [PNC Championship] and we were just crossing paths and he laughed at me. I won’t say exactly what he said but the gist of it was he can’t wait to get out and beat me.”
Surely, Woods will want to possess those records all on his own. He loves the competition and wants to be recognized as the greatest golfer ever.
But the PGA Tour Champions also allows its competitors to take a cart, which would help Woods immensely. He has struggled to navigate 72 holes in major championships, but having assistance via a cart would eradicate many of those hardships. Yet, the senior majors require players to apply for and receive a cart via the Americans with Disability Act (ADA).
“Taking a cart changes everything for him,” Geoff Ogilvy added to Schupak.
“Interest both from fans and sponsors is going to be through the roof. I think there’s a good chance that Champions Tour ratings can top the PGA Tour when he decides to play. And what else is he going to?”
Woods will definitely play a role in his son Charlie’s budding golf career, as the younger Woods recently qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur later this summer. Outside of that, the 82-time PGA Tour winner can reinvigorate his competitive spirits and boost the Champions Tour by playing. He should go through with it.
And when he does, the golfing world will love it.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
Tyrrell Hatton’s six-shot victory at LIV Golf Nashville symbolized a breakthrough in more ways than one.
Not only did he win his maiden title on the Saudi-backed circuit, but he also won a professional golf tournament for the first time in more than three years. Hatton’s last victory came on the DP World Tour in January 2021, when he won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship by four strokes.
But it’s not as if the Englishman has sailed into the abyss since then. He has made the cut in 11 straight majors and posted seven top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour in 2023. He even tied for ninth at Augusta National a couple of months after joining LIV Golf.
Hatton has played solid golf over the past few years, which explains why he still ranks among the top 25 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). But now he eyes another breakthrough: a major championship victory.
Tyrrell Hatton at the 2016 Open Championship at Royal Troon. Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
And with the Open Championship set to be held at Royal Troon next month, Hatton’s game suits that course on the Scottish coast perfectly. In fact, at the 2016 Open, when Royal Troon saw Henrik Stenson fend off Phil Mickelson in one of the greatest final rounds ever, a 24-year-old Hatton tied for fifth. Golf fans did not know much about Hatton then, but he did shoot four rounds of even par or better that week.
“I’ve done well on links courses in the past,” Hatton said after his final round 3-under 68 at Royal Troon in July 2016.
“I think my best performances are on links courses. So I’ve played a lot of links as an amateur, and I’ve just taken that sort of into the province.”
Interestingly, Hatton has not posted a better finish at The Open since then, although he did tie for sixth in 2019 at Royal Portrush. He tied for 20th a year ago at Royal Liverpool and finished in a tie for 11th at St. Andrews the year before.
But now the Englishman will return to Royal Troon as a player to keep an eye on, a much different circumstance than where he stood in 2016, when he arrived as the 68th ranked player in the OWGR. Golf fans know all about Hatton in 2024, not only for his fiery and passionate demeanor but also for his terrific ball-striking and nifty short game—attributes required for Open Championship success.
It seems as if Hatton is due for a major championship breakthrough. Even though we are still three weeks away from having serious discussions about who could win at Royal Troon, Hatton will have to be in that conversation, especially now that he has learned how to win again.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
We have reached the quiet time of the NFL calendar. Free agency is largely complete, the schedules have been released, minicamps and OTAs are behind us, and a few weeks remain in the offseason before training camps get underway.
Which means everyone is looking for something to do, whether you are people whose job it is to cover the league — send in any story ideas if you have them dear reader — or even those whose job it is to get ready for those training camps so you can be prepared to play on Sunday.
This is a story about the latter group.
Joe Burrow and Justin Jefferson turned in their helmets and pads for high end clothes recently, making a trip to Paris to tour the city, and then walk down the runway in Vogue World 2024:
You can see more of the former LSU teammates here:
“I’ve always loved clothes but never really understood the industry, so I wanted to learn more,” Burrow told Vogue.
“I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and grow as a person, [and] I think walking in the show is a great way to do that,” said Burrow, who according to Vogue was dressed in a backless black suit with satin lapels by Peter Do. “I think the crossover between fashion and sport is going to continue to grow.”
“This is my first show,” Jefferson said to Vogue, “and who wouldn’t want Vogue World to be their first?”
After three straight weeks of non-stop action at the Memorial, the U.S. Open, and the Travelers Championship, the PGA Tour heads to the Midwest for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Rickie Fowler prevailed in a playoff over Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa a year ago, as all three players finished at 24-under-par at the end of the final round. Expect a birdie barrage again this year at Detroit Golf Club, a Donald Ross design that PGA Tour pros seem to attack year in and year out.
Since the tournament’s inception in 2019, the average winner has been 23.2 strokes under par, with only one player finishing higher than 20 under: Cameron Davis, who, in 2021, won in a playoff at 18 under.
Like TPC River Highlands in Connecticut, this golf course plays into ball-strikers’ hands. That said, unlike what we saw at the Travelers Championship, this course does not have many lateral hazards and penalty areas. Bombers can bomb and gouge it around the property without hesitation, using their length to set up better opportunities. That helps explain why Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, and Davis have all won here.
But at the end of the day, this event will come down to putting. You need to putt well to post a low score, and whoever can consistently do that over four days will win in Detroit.
Rickie Fowler and his caddie celebrate their win at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic.Photo by Brian Spurlock/Getty Images
Rocket Mortgage Classic Odds
Here are the current odds for players to win in Michigan this week, provided by DraftKings.
Tom Kim +1200
Cameron Young +1400
Min Woo Lee +2000
Akshay Bhatia +2000
Will Zalatoris +3000
Stephan Jaeger +3000
Maverick McNealy +3000
Keith Mitchell +3000
Alex Noren +3000
Taylor Pendrith +4000
Robert MacIntyre +4000
Davis Thompson +4000
Aaron Rai +4000
Rickie Fowler +4500
Michael Thorbjornsen +4500
Erik van Rooyen +4500
Taylor Moore +5000
Ryan Fox +5000
Chris Kirk +5000
Nicolai Højgaard +5000
The clubhouse at Detroit Golf Club during the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic.Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images
Rocket Mortgage Classic Insight, Predictions
Tom Kim continues to shine
Fresh off a solid performance at the Travelers Championship, where he fell just short to World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in a playoff, Tom Kim arrives in Michigan for his ninth straight start on the PGA Tour.
He also arrives as the favorite, an exciting development for the young man who recently turned 22. But he deserves to have odds this low at +1200 to win. This golf course is not long by tour standards, and Kim does not have the length many of his peers possess. Instead, he relies heavily on his short-to-mid irons, an attribute that was on full display in Connecticut. He ranked third in strokes gained on approach in Cromwell.
Of course, ball-striking is meaningless if you cannot convert those birdie opportunities. He will have to hole some putts to give himself a chance again, but Kim’s putter worked well for him last week, ranking 20th in strokes gained with the putter. Sure, he could have made a few more, but overall, his game is in solid form. He has not missed a cut since the Valero Texas Open and has two top-five finishes in the past month.
We like him to post his third top-five this week in Detroit at +320.
Cameron Young continues to rise from slump, and contend
Before Friday’s second round at the Travelers Championship, where he shot a 4-under 66, Cameron Young had 10 straight rounds in the 70s dating back to his missed cut at the RBC Canadian Open. Of those 10, Young posted only one score of even par or better, a second-round 72 at the Memorial.
But something clicked for him in Connecticut. After his Friday 66, Young fired a historic 59, vaulting himself into contention going into the final day. He then began Sunday’s round with four straight birdies, leading many to ask if he could shoot another sub-60 score on back-to-back days. Alas, that mantra was short-lived, as he wound up with another 66 on Sunday.
Cameron Young at the 2024 Travelers Championship.Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Still, Young recorded a tie for ninth, his best finish since the Masters.
Now, he heads to Michigan with some confidence, as he will compete in the Rocket Mortgage Classic for the first time since 2022, when he tied for second. He has the length to bomb it all over Detroit Golf Club, and we like his short-iron play and wedge game to show up again. Give us Young to finish in the top five at +360.
Young Gun Lurks
Michael Thorbjornsen got a taste of the big stage last week in New England in his professional debut. The former Stanford Cardinal, who earned his PGA Tour card via the PGA Tour University rankings, played well, all things considered. The Wellesley, Massachusetts native tied for 39th as he fired a 6-under 64 during round two and a 4-under 66 on day three to post a respectable finish.
But we like him to play even better this week. Thorbjornsen oozes confidence, much like Ludvig Åberg this time a year ago. If you recall, Åberg played alongside Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald at last year’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. The young Swede impressed the European captain, as Donald compared him to a young Rory McIlroy. Of course, only a few months later, Donald selected Åberg to join the team, a testament to his meteoric rise into the top 10 of the world.
Granted, this is not to say that Thorbjornsen will have a similar experience, but he does boast a ton of talent. He can hit the ball a mile and has a nifty short game. So we believe that he will post his first top-10 finish as a pro, doing so at a +500 price.
2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic Champion is…
In my U.S. Open Dark Horses piece, I selected Alex Noren as one of my picks. At the time, his game was trending in the right direction, fresh off a tie for 12th at the PGA Championship. He had missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open, his first of the year, but rebounded with a tie for 22nd at the Memorial. Hence, I figured Noren’s ball-striking acumen would serve him well at Pinehurst No. 2.
I was wrong. Noren missed the cut, as he could not garner any momentum at the U.S. Open. But he has not played anywhere since then.
Now, Noren, who ranks ninth on the PGA Tour in overall strokes gained, will show up in Michigan well-rested and ready to go. He also plays well at Detroit Golf Club, recording a T-4 in 2021 and a T-9 in 2023, with six of those eight rounds being in the 60s.
Noren may not make many birdies, which could hinder his chances this week, but the 41-year-old Swede rarely makes mistakes—a much more critical factor. He ranks third on the PGA Tour in bogey avoidance and third in overall scrambling, two facets that help at any golf tournament.
So, give me Noren to win this week at +3000, as Sweden will have its first winner on the PGA Tour in 2024.
For all other sports betting content, check out SB Nation’s DraftKings site.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
Social media hype videos are all the rages these days.
Over the years teams have made them the stuff of legend. During their run to a National Championship the social media department for the LSU Tigers crafted incredible videos, culminating in this appearance by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for their finale against Clemson.
Just this summer alone we have seen Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes in dueling hype videos for the NBA Finals, with Brady narrating a video put together by the Boston Celtics while Mahomes supplied the voiceover for the corresponding video released by the Dallas Mavericks.
That leads us to the Edmonton Oilers.
The Oilers are on the verge of making NHL history, as they look to become the first team since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup Final after dropping the first three games of the series. The Oilers already made some history earlier in the series, as they became the first team in league history to force a Game 6 after going down 3-0 to start a series, while winning Game 5 on the road.
As you might expect, the Oilers dropped a hype video of their own Monday ahead of Game 7, but they kept it simple. No celebrity voiceover, just some tremendous instrumental music along with the calls from various moments of the series.
The Mets were a hapless mess of an organization until Grimace came into their lives. The husky blob of unknown density arrived at Citi Field to throw out the first pitch on June 12, and since the team has gone 9-and-2 — now in legitimate striking distance of grabbing a wild card.
Everyone has wondered how the hell Grimace has been able to turn the Mets around. More importantly: Why Grimace? What if I told you that this was a plan 53-years in the making, all set into motion by Don Draper of Mad Men fame in an effort to help his beloved team win before his 100th birthday?
Don Draper is a die-hard Mets fan
This is established throughout Mad Men. The Mets are a fundamental piece of Don’s identity, which establishes him as a modern man who has no particular reverence for the past, which is why he supports the upstart Metropolitans over the historic and vaunted Yankees.
A Mets pennant is a proudly displayed part of Don’s office, and remains a feature of the show until late in the series. The last we see Don’s allegiance to the Mets he finds the pennant under an old desk, electing to throw it out — but as we’ll come to realize it’s a love that never dies.
There are some Mad Men spoilers coming up, but at this point the finale was in 2015. You’ve had more than enough time to watch Mad Men.
Don Draper, Coca-Cola, and Grimace
The series finale of Mad Men left with Don finally finding the inner-peace that alluded him throughout the series. More importantly to the tale of Grimace and the Mets, it establishes that Don came up with the groundbreaking “Buy the world a Coke” campaign, which reshaped advertising in 1971, and is one of the most influential commercials of all time.
This tells us that Don was back on top in 1971. He didn’t leave the ad game, but instead rose like a phoenix to deliver the best work of his life after getting his own like in order. Now, it’s not difficult to imagine that after reshaping Coca-Cola he wouldn’t have landed another massive account to guide them into the future: McDonald’s.
When was Grimace created? You guessed it… 1971. The same year as the Coca-Cola campaign. But this goes so much deeper.
Debuting as “The Evil Grimace,” the initial portrayal of Grimace was as an evil entity who stole all the cups from McDonald’s to prevent children from getting … you guessed it: Coke.
See, Grimace was the part of Don’s psyche he left behind. The negative energy that he jettisoned. If the new, enlightened Don Draper wants to buy the world a Coke, the old Draper wanted to horde all the cups to himself and prevent the world from having Coca-Cola.
Don created “The Evil Grimace” to be the precise counterpoint to the last image we have of him from Mad Men — smiling. Then, in 1972 Grimace is re-introduced as Ronald’s best friend, and not a bad guy anymore. This was Don telling the world that he had changed. That he was different. That he was a happy, contributing member of society.
There are more hints of Draper’s involvement in McDonald’s too
Draper creates Grimace in 1971 and continues to work on the McDonald’s account, pulling more and more examples from his own life into the ad campaigns.
Hamburglar is a manifestation of Peggy Olson, created in 1971. With red hair and prominent teeth, Draper posits that Hamburglar is both mischievous and lovable, while also stealing the literal heart of out McDonald’s by taking their hamburgers. This is a metaphor for how Peggy ripped Don’s heart out, and he never recovered.
The Fry Kids from 1972 represent Don’s children.
Birdie is introduced in 1980, named after Don’s nickname for his ex-wife Betty. The full name “Birdie, the early bird” is a scathing critique of Betty’s self-absorption and his resentment at how self-reliant his children needed to be to support their mother’s life of sloth.
Mayor McCheese represents Bert Cooper, while Officer Big Mac is Roger Sterling — for obvious reasons.
How do the Mets fit into all this?
The number 100 is key to all of this. Don, despite being such a die-hard Mets fan, endured four consecutive 100-loss seasons from 1962-to-1965. When Draper was in his prime, the Mets were disgustingly awful — and yet he remained a fan.
Draper’s beloved team finally managed to win in 1969, but at that point Don was too far in the depths of despair and alcoholism to truly enjoy it. By the time he got his life back on track (and created Grimace) in 1971, the Mets had firmly become a middling team, which was present for most of his life.
There was only one World Series that Don truly got to enjoy in 1986. This coincided with Grimace’s rise to popularity, in which Grimace’s universe was expanded to highlight his family. It’s here that Draper, now aged 61 is coming to terms with his own mortality and wanting to wind down his advertising career by showing that family is important.
The “Grimace Shake” unveiled by McDonald’s on June 12, 2023 to commemorate the character’s birthday means inherently that the shake is there to celebrate Don’s birthday. HE. IS. GRIMACE. The two are one in the same.
Fast-forward to 2024
It is established in Mad Men that Draper was born in 1925, and we now know his full birthday is June 12, 1925. This is significant because 2024 is the last season the Mets can win the World Series before Don turns 100, a chance to exorcise the memories of those horrible 100-loss season where it all began, a chance to experience some sporting joy before he shifts off this mortal coil.
Don calls in a favor. He tells McDonald’s to dispatch Grimace to the Mets. Don is too old and frail to make it to Queens in person, but Grimace will be his spiritual medium to help the team in their time of need.
Grimace throws out the pitch on June 12, 2024 — Don’s 99th birthday. He witnesses as the team begins to turn it around and become relevant once more. The man who bought the world a Coke has now thrown the Mets a bone.
As an inside joke both McDonald’s at the Mets poke fun at Don’s womanizing past by having Grimace hit on Mrs. Met, and post it on social media.
Don Draper created Grimace as an extension of himself, and now Grimace is helping the Mets achieve what was previously thought impossible. It’s all because of one advertising executive and his checkered past.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour hit London over the weekend, and it’s no surprise that her boyfriend of nearly one year, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, was there. But what was unexpected was Kelce joining Swift on stage.
The European tour kicked off in May and saw the Eras setlist rearranged a bit. Taylor’s three-hour set opens with songs from her album Lover, then goes to Fearless, Red, Speak Now, Reputation, and she’s condensed and combined the set from Evermore and Folklore, which is a switch from the previous leg of the tour. The iconic 1989 is up next, and then comes Taylor’s new section from her latest, The Tortured Poets Department. That’s where Kelce comes in.
The song Kelce joined Taylor on stage for is one of my favorites from TTPD. It’s called ‘I Can Do It with a Broken Heart’ and it’s about how Taylor’s had to keep performing no matter what personal and professional heartbreak she’s experiencing. It’s a bop with incredibly honest lyrics:
I’m so depressed, I act like it’s my birthday Every day I’m so obsessed with him, but he avoids me Like the plague I cry a lot, but I am so productive It’s an art You know you’re good when you can even do it With a broken heart
The intro to this one about broke the internet — even without Kelce involved — when Swift performed it during the Paris show that kicked off the European tour.
The coolest thing about this is just how much fun Kelce appears to be having being a part of it.
And Kelce seems to be having the time of his life cheering on Taylor whether he’s on stage or not.
Especially when she changed the lyrics to her song ‘Karma’ to, “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me.”
The Tortured Poets Department is the first Taylor Swift album that features songs written about Travis Kelce. My personal favorite is called ‘So High School,’ a sweet song about how fun and easy their relationship feels. There’s also speculation that the last verse of ‘But Daddy I Love Him,’ a song that’s otherwise assumed to be about Taylor’s ex, The 1975 front man Matty Healy (aka ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,’ another song off of TTPD) is about Travis. Those lyrics:
And I’m dancin’ in my dress in the sun and Even my daddy just loves him I’m his lady, and oh my God you should see your faces Doesn’t it give some perspective And no, you can’t come to the wedding I know he’s crazy, but he’s the one I want
As a matter of fact, Taylor goes straight from the end of that song into a snippet of ‘So High School’ in the current version of her Eras show, which is helping fuel that speculation. And she and her backup dancers even swag surf during it — which has got to be a nod to Chiefs fans.
Taylor Swift has performed with former flame John Mayer, but it was way back in 2009. She brought Taylor Lautner of Twilight fame — who she dated in 2009 — onstage at Arrowhead Stadium last July and introduced him, but he didn’t perform with her and it was more than a decade after they’d dated. As far as I can tell (from Google and polling every Swiftie I know), this marks the first time Taylor Swift has had a love interest come onto stage and perform with her in any way.
Swift has been criticized endlessly for her relationships in ways men aren’t — something she addresses on her song ‘The Man’ off of Lover:
They’d say I played the field before I found someone to commit to And that would be OK For me to do Every conquest I had made would make me more of a boss to you
But this relationship with Kelce seems very healthy, happy and mutually supportive. Here’s hoping they keep having this much fun together.
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