Alex Morgan will not represent the United States in a major international competition for the first time in nearly 20 years.
When the U.S. women’s national team heads to France later this month, Morgan, one of the best to wear the uniform, will not be on the plane as the team looks to chase gold at the upcoming Summer Games, after being left off women’s coach Emma Hayes’ 18-person roster.
Morgan who earned her first entry for the senior women’s roster in 2010, has been in 224 appearances for her country with 123 goals — and most notably would’ve been the only player on Hayes’ current roster with an Olympic gold medal.
On Wednesday, Morgan took to X, formerly known as Twitter to express her dismay but noted that she’s more than prepared to cheer on the squad from abroad.
“Today, I’m disappointed about not having the opportunity to represent our country on the Olympic stage,” Morgan wrote. “This will always be a tournament that is close to my heart and I take immense pride anytime I put on the crest. In less than a month, I look forward to supporting this team alongside the rest of our country.”
Today, I’m disappointed about not having the opportunity to represent our country on the Olympic stage. This will always be a tournament that is close to my heart and I take immense pride any time I put on the crest.
Morgan is one of the most prolific goalscorers in U.S. Soccer history — men or women — and was a part of the squad that captured a fourth gold medal at the 2012 Summer Games in London.
As for Hayes, she was matter-of-fact in her decision to leave Morgan off the Olympic roster, citing the number of players allowed on an Olympic roster (teams can carry just 16 field players and two goalkeepers) and her desire to “go in another direction.
“Her record speaks for itself,” Hayes said of Morgan during a virtual press conference on Wednesday. “But I wanted to go in another direction and select other players.”
The U.S. attacking corps features an all-NWSL collective who have found success this year for club and country. Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Crystal Dunn (Gotham FC), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars), Jaedyn Shaw, Morgan’s teammate on the San Diego Wave and most notably Sophia Smith, the latter who many consider next up in a long line of star USWNT forwards over the years.
There’s excitement around what Sophia Smith will bring in to the Olympics, the latest in a line of standout U.S. women’s forwards. Photo by Erin Chang/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF
“I think the biggest factor is there are 16 outfield players to play a lot of games … over a 17-day period,” said Hayes. “But I also think, you know, there are players on the roster in the forward areas that are performing well, and, you know, the decision to take those players was one that we certainly deliberated over.”
Hayes who made her coaching debut on June 1, has had just two games — both against the same competition in South Korea to prepare for the Games and evaluate a roster she feels “is balanced.”
Fans will get a first look at the Olympic roster later this month in a pair of tune-up games against Mexico on July 13 (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT), and Costa Rica on June 16 (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT) before opening group play in the Olympics on July 25 against Zambia in Nice, France (3 p.m. ET, USA Network).
“Having a roster that could adapt is essential [as] you have a tight turnaround between games,” said Hayes. “Having players on the roster that could play more than one position mattered with squad depth. I’ve considered all the factors that we’re going to need throughout the Olympics and I think it’s a balanced roster; one that I’m really happy with.”
The WNBA announced the early leaders of WNBA All-Star fan voting last Friday, with A’ja Wilson leading all players with 217,773 votes. But while the Aces star is one of the top players in the league, and a fan favorite, she doesn’t need the votes to appear in the All-Star game.
In a unique WNBA rules quirk related to their season taking place in the summer, during Olympic years, players like Wilson who have already been selected to represent the United States automatically earn spots in the All-Star game. All 12 Team USA Players will be All-Stars.
For the remaining spots, fans account for 50% of the voting, while players and media each account for 25% of voting. Voting for fans closes on June 29. The top 5 Team USA players and the top five non-USA vote-getters earn starting spots. Then, WNBA coaches select seven more players from a pool of the next 36 highest vote-getters, and “Team USA” squares off against “Team WNBA.” Those seven players will come off the bench, while the seven players remaining from the Olympic roster will come off the bench for Team USA.
For context, Caitlin Clark is the highest vote-getter among non-Team USA players in first returns, with 216,427 votes.
Here are seven players who aren’t playing for the United States that deserve one of those 12 All-Star spots.
Dearica Hamby
Photo by Catalina Fragoso/NBAE via Getty Images
Hamby has two All-Star appearances to her name, in 2021 and 2022, but neither of those seasons compare to what she’s doing for the Sparks this year. Hamby spent her career as a sixth player for Las Vegas, but has become a star for Los Angeles.
In Hamby’s best season with the Aces in 2020, she averaged 13 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 steals. This summer, Hamby is averaging a double-double with 17.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Hamby is one of four WNBA players to average a double-double, is third in the league in rebounds, and 10th in points per game.
Jonquel Jones
Photo by Evan Yu/NBAE via Getty Images
New York’s Jones is often overshadowed by her Liberty co-stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu — both USA team members — but her impact can’t be overlooked.
This is Jones’ best season since she was named MVP for Connecticut in 2021. The 6-6 forward is averaging 16.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. She impacts every aspect of the game for the Liberty, and has helped them to a 15-3 record, which is the best mark in the WNBA. Jones is an elite defender, and on offense she is able to stretch the floor by shooting 43.6% from beyond the arc. Her overall shooting percentage is additionally the best in the WNBA at 59%.
Arike Ogunbowale
Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images
The Wings are struggling this season, largely due to injuries to players like Satou Sabally and Maddy Siegrist, but Ogunbowale has been the bright spot for the 3-13 Dallas squad. She’s having the kind of season that would put her in contention for MVP, if she was playing for a winning team.
Ogunbowale is second in the league in points per game – behind Wilson, who is playing for Team USA – and is having the best statistical season of her six-year career. The guard is averaging 23.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.7 careers – all career-highs.
Kayla McBride
Photo by Catalina Fragoso/NBAE via Getty Images
McBride has been an All-Star three times, with her last appearance coming in 2019. It’s time for the Minnesota guard to make her return, thanks to a historic shooting performance so far this season.
McBride is leading the WNBA in 3-pointers made, with 3.3 per game, and is shooting 46.4% from beyond the arc – the best mark of her career. In a win over the Storm on June 10, McBride made seven 3-pointers for a season-high 32 points. McBride is also 17th in the league in scoring, and is the second-highest point-getter on the Lynx, after Napheesa Collier. She’s certainly earned the nickname “Kayla McBuckets,” and an All-Star bid.
Dijonai Carrington
Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images
Connecticut’s Carrington has proved herself as an elite on-ball defender, starting with an impressive display against Caitlin Clark in the season-opener, where she forced 10 turnovers. Carrington is always called on to guard the best player on the opposing team, and she almost always delivers. She’s also having a solid offensive season, averaging 12.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
Carrington’s offensive numbers aren’t as strong as other potential All-Stars, but she’s one of the most complete players in the league. Her intense defense should give the fourth-year player an edge.
Ezi Magbegor
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Magbegor won’t play for Team USA, but she will be in the Olympics, playing for Australia. She should play against the United States in the All-Star game as well, after starting the season as the WNBA’s leader in blocks. She’s averaging 2.5 per game, which is more than Wilson, who was named Defensive Player of the Year last season.
Magbegor has always been a solid defender — her play earned the Storm star her first All-Star bid last season — but she’s made offensive strides as well. The center is averaging 13.3 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, to go with her 2.5 blocks.
Angel Reese
Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images
Four players in the WNBA are averaging a double-double: Wilson, Collier (both Team USA members), Hamby, and Reese. The rookie is also leading the WNBA in offensive rebounds, by a wide margin. She’s averaging 4.7 offensive boards per contest, which is 1.5 more than Magbegor, who ranks second.
On top of it all, Reese is still getting better every game, and her last performance of 25 points and 16 rebounds in a win against Indiana put the LSU grad in elite company. Reese is only the second rookie after Wilson to record 25 points and 15 rebounds in a game. On the season Reese is averaging 13.2 points, 2.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
Even with 12 players earning automatic All-Star bids, the talent pool in the WNBA is deep. And Team USA will have its hands full with whoever earns a spot on Team WNBA. Last time the two squared off – in 2021 – it was Team WNBA that secured the win, 93-85 thanks to 26 points from Ogunbowale. Make sure to cast your vote before June 29, and your favorite player could play spoilsport this time around.
Haas last added to their account in the F1 Sprint Race at the Miami Grand Prix, when Nico Hülkenberg parlayed a tenth-place finish in qualifying for the F1 Sprint Race into a seventh-place result in the F1 Sprint Race itself, earning two critical points for the team.
With Formula 1 returning to the F1 Sprint format this weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix, can Haas return to the points?
It has been a difficult stretch for the team since Miami, with their best chance for points coming in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola. That weekend saw Hülkenberg qualify tenth, but he finished in P11, one spot out of the points. Since then they have been left on the outside looking in, including a double DNF in Monaco due to an opening-lap collision involving Sergio Pérez.
Their recent struggles opened the door for Alpine, whose own success the past few weeks — with six points over two race weekends — has seen the French outfit climb above them in the Constructors’ Championship standings. Alpine now sits seventh in the table with eight points, one point — and place — ahead of Haas with seven points.
As Haas heads to Red Bull Ring along with the rest of the grid for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, they are hopeful that recent success at that circuit will aid their quest for points.
“It’s a short track that packs in a lot of fun,” said Hülkenberg in the team’s media preview. “The length of the circuit means it bunches us all up over qualifying, which is a challenge, but we have two opportunities as it’s a Sprint. Last year I scored points around the Red Bull Ring, so I know it can be done, and we want to be back scoring points, so that’s the mission in Spielberg.”
On the other side of the garage Kevin Magnussen — who is hoping to have his F1 future resolved “soon” — is wary that the many high-speed corners in Austria could pose a problem for the team’s VF-24.
“It’s a fun track; I’ve got some good memories from the Red Bull Ring, that’s where we’ve had our best team result so I’m looking forward to going there again,” described Magnussen. “We have quite an efficient car so hopefully with our good straight-line speed we can be good there. There’s still a fair number of high-speed corners, which is perhaps not our strength, but we seem to be pretty consistently good at most tracks. I’m just looking forward to a fun Sprint weekend.”
Haas Race Engineer Mark Slade walked through the variety of corners Red Bull Ring offers, and how each may, or may not, suit the team’s challenger.
“One of the main things about the Red Bull Ring is that it’s a very short lap so it gets busy, particularly in practice and qualifying. It’s a nice mixture of low-, medium-, and high-speed corners, and obviously in a spectacular setting so it looks amazing, and it does provide quite a significant challenge for us when setting the car up,” described Slade. “We’ve had some issues with medium-speed corners, so we’re expecting to have to manage that, it’s going to be a challenge for us, but on the other hand in low-speed corners, we’ve generally been very good at them and we think we’ve taken a step forward in high-speed corners recently. We’ll see how we get on, but we’ve got a plan of course.”
While many teams have addressed the challenges a compressed F1 Sprint week puts in front of them, Slade outlined how for a team like Haas, there are added benefits to the condensed schedule.
“There is a lot of extra work for a Sprint, especially in amongst a triple-header, but it also makes it very interesting, it’s all a part of Formula 1,” said Slade. “You have to be realistic that you’re not going to be able to do everything you’d like to do with one practice session, so you have to pick the most important points that you think are relevant to getting the best out of the car in both the Sprint and the race and work to achieve those objectives – it’s a very compressed, highly edited run plan.
“The format of a Sprint is different from previous years, so you can afford to be a little bit more experimental in the Sprint race because points only go to eighth place, and realistically we’re chasing that last points-paying position so it means we can try things that we wouldn’t necessarily have tried, knowing we can change things for the race.”
Slade and the rest of the team get their first crack at Red Bull Ring this Friday.
As has been argued here and elsewhere, Lando Norris’ frustration following his second-place finish in last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix told us not just the story of one singular race, but rather the entire 2024 Formula 1 season.
A year ago in Barcelona, Max Verstappen cruised to a 24-second victory ahead of Lewis Hamilton, and the strength of the RB19 was evident in the closing stages of that race. After being given repeated warnings for exceeding track limits, Verstappen had such an advantage on the track that he felt confident enough to post the fastest lap of the race in the closing stages, prompting another legendary request from his race engineer, Gianpietro Lambiase. “Ok,” quipped the engineer known as GP, “now can you bring it home within the white lines?”
Last Sunday in Barcelona was a much different story. Verstappen needed to overtake George Russell — after the Mercedes driver’s stunning double overtake on the opening lap — to get into the lead. And while the Red Bull champion enjoyed an eight-second advantage over Norris in the final act of the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix, the McLaren driver not only got that down to two seconds in the closing laps, but he felt that he had the fastest car, and should have won.
F1 this season is a whole new ballgame.
Teams like McLaren, Ferrari, and perhaps even Mercedes have closed the gap to Red Bull, putting the defending Constructors’ Champions — and Verstappen himself — under pressure. Of course, putting Red Bull and Verstappen under pressure is one thing, but getting that well-oiled machine to crack under stress is another. On a Sunday in Barcelona, Red Bull answered that call, fending off the field for another victory.
But will that be the case this weekend in Austria?
Speaking on Sunday night following the Miami Grand Prix Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur told the assembled media, including SB Nation, that teams were now able to put some pressure on Red Bull at the front, which could be a “game changer” for the season.
“What is true is that compared to one year ago when we are able to do a good job and to put everything together, we are there, it means that we are putting [Red Bull] a little bit under pressure. They have to take to be a bit more aggressive with the strategy,” started Vasseur in Miami.
“They are not anymore in the comfort zone of last year when last year that doesn’t matter what’s happened after lap two, they were in front and it’s, I think it’s a game changer in the management of the race,” added Vasseur.
“And this, it’s an opportunity for us because that if we are doing another small step, I think that we will be really in a position to fight with them every single weekend.”
That fight continues this weekend, and is one of many storylines to watch.
Have race organizers truly solved the track limits issue?
F1 fans will recall the three most common words used during the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix.
“Track limits exceed.”
Consider these numbers from last year:
During qualifying alone, 47 laps were deleted due to “exceeding track limits,” resulting in a shaken-up field and lots of angry drivers, teams, and fans. Then in the Grand Prix itself a number of drivers were hit with penalties for exceeding track limits, and it even led to a post-race protest from Aston Martin, inquiring whether all the appropriate penalties were levied.
That protest was upheld, and even more drivers were hit with penalties hours after the race concluded. An additional 12 penalties were handed out to 8 drivers, and race officials noted that they still were unable to review all 1,200 potential incidents of exceeding track limits.
Those numbers prompted not just drivers, but prominent figures within the sport to wonder if changes needed to be made at the Red Bull Ring. “The problem is it’s very difficult for the drivers because they can’t see the white line from the car so you’re just purely doing it on feel and the circuit invites you to go there,” said Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner, speaking before the post-race penalties were announced last season. “So I think that it’s something that needs to be looked at for next year to perhaps add more of a deterrent for the drivers to be drawn onto that part of the circuit.”
Now, it seems that that deterrent has been added.
As was reported by Race Fans last year the FIA requested race organizers to install gravel traps at the circuit, focusing on Turns 9 and 10. “In order to address the issue for future events we will renew our recommendation to the circuit to add a gravel trap at the exit of turns nine and 10,” said a spokesperson from FIA to RaceFans last season. “We note that while this is not a straightforward solution in relation to other series that race here, it has proved to be very effective at other corners and circuits with similar issues.”
On Tuesday images surfaced of new gravel traps at the circuit, indeed in the vicinity of Turn 10:
Will these gravel traps solve the issue? That might be difficult to accomplish, given the size of Red Bull Ring. Measuring in at just over 4.3 kilometers and with only ten corners, the circuit is one of the smallest on the calendar. While every millisecond counts in F1, that is especially true in Austria, particularly in qualifying. Consider what Logan Sargeant told me about track limits earlier this season:
“Yeah, the ones that drive me crazy are the, ‘[j]ust keep it on [the track]’ like when we’re talking about track limits,” said Sargeant. “And then you look at Bahrain and first through 20th in Q1 is covered by eight tenths.
“Especially when you’re on the back end of that [lap], trying to make it through Q1 and you’re always on the cusp. Imagine, you know, leaving a bit of time on the table can shuffle you down two or three positions if you’re too safe and then when you add the tires overheating through the lap, the wind gusting and changing throughout the lap. Even just having a slight slipstream from the car had completely changes the corner,” added Sargeant. “You know, I think so much more goes into completing a lot than people realize and also being able to keep it within the white lines and still getting the most out of it. It’s a lot more complex than just, you know, ‘keep it within the white lines.’
“There’s, there’s so many variables and, I think people forget that a lot.”
The presence of the traps might help, but expect to hear those three words often this weekend.
Are we witnessing a Mercedes bounceback?
Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images
A year ago McLaren delivered a stunning turnaround, rocketing up the standings following a dismal start to the season. In many ways, that turnaround began in Austria a year ago, when a fourth-place finish from Norris banked 12 points for the team.
They entered the Austrian Grand Prix last year with 17 points to their name, tallied throughout eight race weekends.
Are we seeing something similar from Mercedes?
The Silver Arrows got out to a slow start of their own this season, but have certainly shown progress in recent weeks. A series of upgrades the team began to roll out back in Miami have delivered improved performance on the track, and the team is coming off their two best race weekends of the year. In Montreal, they captured their first pole position of the season, thanks to a strong performance from George Russell, and Russell’s P3 gave the team their first Grand Prix podium of the year, to go with a P4 from Lewis Hamilton. (Hamilton notched a podium with his P2 in the F1 Sprint Race at the Chinese Grand Prix back in April).
Last week in Barcelona, the team enjoyed another strong weekend, locking out the second row in both qualifying and the Grand Prix, with Hamilton finishing third and Russell fourth.
Progress has certainly come to Brackley, as well as perhaps the next great F1 meme above. But can they keep this momentum rolling in the Austrian hills?
Frustration at Ferrari
On the other end of the spectrum, we find the Scuderia.
Back at the end of May Ferrari was on a roll. Charles Leclerc finally broke through with a win in his home race, capturing the Monaco Grand Prix. Add in a P3 from teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. — and only eight points for Red Bull on the weekend thanks to a DNF from Sergio Pérez and a P6 from Verstappen — and Ferrari moved 32 points closer to Red Bull atop the Constructors’ Championship standings.
As the grid shifted to Montreal the Scuderia trailed Red Bull by just 24 points, and the talk of a true title fight was on.
Thoughts of a title fight remain, but Ferrari has not helped themselves in recent weeks. A disastrous Canadian Grand Prix for the team saw the team leave Montreal without any points to show for their efforts, and with Leclerc finishing fifth in Barcelona, and Sainz sixth, they have seen Red Bull pull away from them a bit in the standings. Currently, Ferrari sits 60 points behind Red Bull, the gap having more than doubled in recent weeks.
And while Ferrari would love to look ahead, McLaren is now just 33 points behind them, having cut their 68-point deficit to Ferrari following the Monaco Grand Prix by over half.
Here’s what that movement looks like in graphic form, thanks to our friends at Formula1Points:
If you are listing teams in the field that need a bounce-back performance in Austria, Ferrari might just top the list.
What about the back of the pack?
Returning to our friends at Formula1Points, if you look at the standings at the back of the F1 field you might see something interesting:
Alpine? We owe you an apology, we were not really familiar with your game.
Okay, so perhaps apologies are not in order, but it is certainly noteworthy that the team backmarker team having the most success over the past two race weekends is the French-based outfit. While Visa Cash App RB F1 Team managed to leave Montreal with four points thanks to an eighth-place finish from Daniel Ricciardo, back-to-back double-points results from Alpine has seen them add six points to their account, as opposed to the four from VCARB.
Which has seen Alpine climb to seventh in the Constructors’ Championship standings.
Can Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly keep Alpine’s momentum going in Austria? Can VCARB deliver a bounce-back performance of their own? Will Sauber finally break through with points? What about Haas and Williams, can they shock the field in the Austrian hills?
Driver news?
Here is one last storyline as the grid heads to Red Bull Ring.
Is this the week we finally — mercifully? — hear news about Carlos Sainz’s future?
Rumors flew through the paddock as well as the entire F1 world that an announcement on where Sainz would land for 2025 was imminent. Even drivers such as Kevin Magnussen, who is facing his own uncertain F1 future, pointed to Sainz as the “cork in the bottle” regarding the 2025 driver market. But a wrench was thrown into those plans in the form of Flavio Briatore, who recently joined Alpine as an advisor and reportedly made a last-ditch effort to woo Sainz to the French team for next season.
Those talks likely bore little fruit, given yesterday’s news that both Mick Schumacher and Jack Doohan were set to test for Alpine in the coming days, meaning that we may finally hear from Sainz on where his F1 story will be written next.
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?”
You could feel the pain and disappointment with every answer, every gesture, and every word.
Lando Norris believes his second Formula 1 victory was there for the taking Sunday in Barcelona, but he let it slip through his grasp.
Norris began Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix in P1, thanks to a masterful final lap during Saturday’s qualifying session that was just fast enough to snatch pole position from his friend and rival Max Verstappen. It was a lap that Norris himself described as both “perfect,” and “balls out.”
But in a flash Sunday, that slim lead over Verstappen evaporated. The Red Bull driver got off to a quicker start off the line and Norris was shuffled back to P2 almost immediately. He lost another spot soon thereafter, as George Russell pulled off a masterful double overtake to pass both Norris and Verstappen, sliding Norris back to third.
The McLaren driver was forced into comeback mode and nearly pulled it off, closing an eight-second gap to Verstappen in P1 down to just under two seconds as the checkered flag flew. But as he told the story Sunday afternoon in Barcelona, it was a tale of a driver who believes he let his team down.
“The race, not good enough, simply because we should have won today,” began Norris in the post-race FIA Press Conference.
“I think we had the quickest car. But I just lost it at the start, you know, and then I couldn’t get past George for the first stint. I think we were quite easily best car out there today,” continued Norris. “I just didn’t do a good enough job off the line. And then that one thing cost me everything. So from Turn 2 onwards, 10 out of 10, I don’t think I could have done much more. And I think as a team, we did the perfect strategy. And I was very happy with what we did. But yeah, the one part at the start, the 1% elsewhere wasn’t good enough.”
Norris faced one of the toughest challenges the F1 calendar offers, as the run from the start/finish line to Turn 1 in Barcelona is the longest the drivers face all year. That meant Verstappen was positioned to get a big run off the line into Turn 1, and Norris was tasked with fending the champion off.
As Norris described the start, his initial launch was good, but the “second phase” of the race was where it went wrong.
“No, I mean, my initial launch, I think, was better than Max. The second phase, the drive out, was not as good. I don’t know. I don’t know anything more than that, apart from Max got alongside me,” described Norris. “And let’s say, if George wasn’t there, I think I still could have kept on to first around Turn 1.
“But George had a run on both of us, so even if my start was one or two [meters] better, which I think was all I probably could have done, just the long run down to Turn 1, the slipstream from the Mercedes, on both Max and myself, was more than anything that I could have done. I almost think George would have led no matter what, even if my start was two [meters] better.
“In some ways, that’s what happens in Barcelona. George got a good start and I couldn’t do anything about that. I settled in. I had to take third in Turn 2 because if I break two metres later, I think I would have taken everyone out with me. I made the correct decision of backing out and letting George have it. I don’t know. I need to sit down with my engineers and talk.”
Norris’ anguish mirrored comments he made in Montreal when he also finished second behind Verstappen. Only this time, according to the driver, he truly had the fastest car.
But not the corresponding win to show for it.
“We were definitely not the quickest car in Montreal. Mercedes was easily the quickest car. But today, we were the quickest. We had the best car. I had the best car out there,” said Norris. “And I didn’t [maximize] it. The start’s down to me. doing what I get told and executing that. And without that, or with a good start, we easily should have won.”
Despite Norris’ anguish at the result and his self-perceived failure at winning Sunday, he began to look ahead to Austria, a track that has been good to him in the past.
“I mean, I’m confident. every weekend we go into now, the car’s performing extremely well. We’re always there or thereabouts within a couple of tenths of pole, and that’s all we can ask for,” concluded Norris. “I think we need to bring something a little bit more just to make our life a bit easier. It’s close, and now we have, what, four teams who I think can easily fight for pole positions and fight for wins, potentially. So it’s a very different layout again. High speed, I think we have a bit to work on, comparing to Red Bull. Red Bull seem definitely a bit higher, better in high speed corners than we are. Potentially we’re lacking a touch in that area but the rest of it is strong.
“It’s been one of my best tracks in terms of my own competitiveness and my most successful tracks so excited to see all the papaya and the grandstands and have a good weekend.”
Norris may be feeling despair at the moment, lamenting a win that got away from him. But his second-place finish saw him move to second in the Drivers’ Championship, passing Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc in the standings.
It might not be enough to ease the pain he felt Sunday, but it is certainly another step forward for Norris.
And the driver’s anguish perhaps illustrates the bigger story of the 2024 Formula 1 season. A year ago finishing within two seconds of Verstappen was cause for celebration. Consider some of what Norris said following the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix when he finished second to Verstappen, almost 20 seconds off the Red Bull driver’s pace.
“No, I was I was expecting him to probably lap us two or three times! And he didn’t, so… I mean, I was expecting probably a bigger gap. I think we all were, as a team. And I think it would have been a lot closer, I lost eight or 10 seconds behind Pérez under the [Virtual Safety Car],” said Norris at the FIA Press Conference in Suzuka a season ago.
“I don’t know how hard Max was really pushing. I’m sure he could have gone a bit quicker if he wanted to,” added Norris last year in Japan. “But to be only 19 seconds behind, he didn’t get a free pit-stop, which was lovely. And, yeah, I think it’s just signs of our progress.”
That big gap from a year ago is now down to seconds. Instead of wanting another car to challenge Verstappen, as Will Buxton eloquently stated a few weeks ago, now drivers just want another lap or two. The field has tightened behind Verstappen.
And Norris, his personal anguish aside, is now at the front of that chasing pack.
Trailing Texas A&M 1-0 in the top of the seventh, just seven outs away from losing the Men’s College World Series, they needed something to go their way offensively. One of the most potent offensive teams in college baseball had been stymied by a trio of Aggies pitchers and was staring elimination in the face.
Enter Dylan Dreiling, who provided that spark with one swing of the bat.
The man who was a hero for the Volunteers in their first game in Omaha came through again, delivering a no-doubter to deep right field. The home run brought Christian Moore home as well, giving Tennessee a 2-1 lead in the seventh:
Dreiling managed to turn on a 94-mph fastball from left-hander Kaiden Wilson, depositing it in the bullpen in right field:
That swing changed the momentum of the game, but it was not the only big blast from the Volunteers. In the top of the eighth catcher Cal Stark — who entered the at-bat on an 0-for-16 streak along with nine strikeouts — hammered a hanging slider to left field for a two-run shot:
The home run came one swing after Stark saw his bat fly out of his hands on a swing against a mid-90s fastball. Volunteers fans are likely pretty happy Stark managed to keep the bat in his hands on his very next swing.
Tennessee shut the Aggies down over their final two at-bats, thanks to relievers Aaron Combs and their bullpen.
Combs was first out of the pen for the Volunteers, doing a masterful job at slowing down the Texas A&M offense after taking the ball from starter Drew Beam. The Tennessee starting pitcher allowed just one run — a solo shot from Jace LaViolette in the first inning — before giving way to Combs in the fifth. Combs came on with a pair of Aggies on base and no outs but wriggled out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts and a pickoff play at first base for the final out of the inning.
The Aggies threatened in the eighth when a two-out single from LaViolette through the shift on the right side brought the tying run to the on-deck circle. Combs then walked Jackson Appel, bringing out Tennessee pitching coach Frank Anderson to settle Combs.
Whatever Anderson said to Combs worked, as the right-hander got dangerous cleanup hitter Hayden Schott to fly out to end the inning.
In the ninth Combs came out first, but gave up a leadoff single to Ted Burton. Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello then summoned the lefty Connell, but he could not record an out, giving up a single to Caden Sorrell. Vitello then turned to Nate Snead, who was able to close out the game by recording the final three outs of the contest. That third out was a tough battle against dangerous pinch hitter Ryan Targac, who worked the count even after going down 2-2 and even pulled a long fly ball down the right field line that looked like it might tie the game off the bat. But Targac flew out to right field on the next pitch, ending the threat.
Meaning it will all be decided tomorrow night in Omaha.
As far as weekends go, this was one to forget for Daniel Ricciardo and the entire Visa Cash App RB F1 Team.
While VCARB arrived at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hopeful that a series of upgrades to the RB01 would unlock additional performance, from the opening laps of FP1 it was clear that they would be on the back foot. That continued into qualifying — which saw Ricciardo and teammate Yuki Tsunoda eliminated in Q1 — and extended into the race itself. Both Ricciardo and Tsunoda finished outside the points, leaving VCARB to lick their wounds after their first points-less weekend since the Chinese Grand Prix back in April.
Team Principal Laurent Mekies was blunt in his assessment.
“We came here with high hopes for the upgrades that everyone back in the factory has worked so hard to design and produce as part of our aggressive development strategy, began Mekies in the team’s post-race report. “Unfortunately, right from the start of Free Practice we were lacking pace in every session.
“There is no point denying this was a poor weekend for us and although the gaps were very small, we’re not going to make excuses for the fact we just weren’t competitive,” continued the VCARB boss. “Given our starting positions, it would have required some unusual circumstances – rain, a safety car – but the race was pretty linear and while both drivers did their best, we leave Spain with nothing to show for our efforts.”
Tsunoda kept his assessment short and to the point.
“It was a tough race, in which I struggled. The handling of the car was definitely not easy, and I did not feel as comfortable as I normally do,” described Tsunoda. “Something wasn’t quite right, and we’ll analyse everything that happened to understand what did not work well and come back stronger in Austria.”
Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images
Ricciardo, often the optimistic one in the team’s garage, did his best to put a positive spin on things. The Australian driver managed to highlight some bright spots on a dismal day in Barcelona.
“It’s obviously disappointing finishing in P15, but I’m happy with my race and how we managed it as a team with the two stops. I think yesterday I just missed a touch in qualifying, but honestly, today I feel like I [maximized] it with a good race,” described Ricciardo. “We managed the [tires] and pushed when we needed to, so unfortunately, I think we just didn’t have more to show this weekend. There’s certainly lots to learn from weekends like this.
“We take a few little positives and a few more things to work on because we seem to be missing something with the new package. It’s a quick turnaround, so we’ll work on it tonight, trying to understand more in preparation for Austria next week.”
The VCARB boss concluded with a bit of a challenge to the team.
“Now, our whole group faces a stern test to try and make some progress in the very few days available until we are back on track at the Red Bull Ring,” said Mekies. “It’s a very long season, so there are bound to be some tough weekends. We just have to put this one behind us, we must not get downhearted but instead, look ahead and focus on fighting back immediately in a few days’ time in Austria.”
Thankfully for the team, they will not have too much time to lick those wounds, as Red Bull Ring awaits.
Welcome to Playing Through’s new morning ritual: Golf Talk Today.
Each morning will feature a Golf Talk Today, in which the crew will discuss various elements of the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and other professional golf tournaments.
The final round of the Travelers Championship is here, and to no one’s surprise, Scottie Scheffler is in contention. His best friend, Tom Kim, continues to hold the lead by one stroke, but will he be able to hold off the two-time Masters winner?
Sunday will look different. The PGA Tour moved up tee times for the final round and put the guys into threesomes. With bad weather lurking in the afternoon, the leaders will tee off at 11:15 a.m. ET.
Kim, Scheffler and Akshay Bhatia are in the last group of the day. Let’s discuss Championship Sunday.
Travelers Championship’s final round will be wild:
Saturday saw Cameron Young shoot a historical 59, but his play quickly got overshadowed by Scheffler, Kim, and Bhatia’s play.
He finished tied with Kim at 13-under, but by the end of Saturday’s round, he trailed by five shots.
The afternoon wave fought another weather delay, but that did not matter as the conditions were so soft.
While Kim played well the first three days, Scheffler and Bhatia also did well. They all shot 65 or better in the first three rounds.
Determining a winner on Sunday will likely come down to who can limit mistakes and sign for the most birdies.
Scheffler already has five victories in 2024. He won three Signature Events, the most recent being The Memorial, the 2024 Masters, and The Players.
Can he earn his fourth Signature Event win? Scheffler is so hard to beat right now, so it will be interesting to see if two young bucks like Kim and Bhatia can keep up.
Not to mention, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Sungjae Im and Tony Finau lurk in the groups ahead.
Scheffler did not play well at the U.S. Open, but his game returned to normal on Thursday. Regardless, Championship Sunday will be wild for the Travelers as records could get broken.
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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.
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