The United States track and field team is often described as the world’s toughest to make, and for good reason. No country has amassed more Olympic track and field medals (827), and the US outpaces the next six countries on the all-time list combined (819).
There are so many talented athletes, but only a select few are allowed to compete at major global championships. For the fifth consecutive time, Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon will host the unforgiving USA Olympic Track and Field Trials. Let’s take a closer look at the qualification and selection process for Paris 2024.
How many athletes can qualify in each discipline?
A maximum of only three athletes are allowed per country. Unlike the World Athletics Championships, which offers “wild card” berths to incumbent world champions (creating a fourth slot for countries), there are no byes into the Olympics.
World and Olympic champions and prohibitive gold medal favorites are not spared if they have an off-day at the worst possible time. In 2021, 800-meter world champion Donavan Brazier finished last in the USA finals and did not make the trip to Tokyo. Women’s 100 meters hurdles star Keni Harrison, widely expected to win the 2016 Rio Olympic trials, only finished sixth and missed the team. Two weeks later, she would set a new world record, but it was a mere consolation.
This is also as good a time as any to remind casual track followers that for sprints (100-400 meters), it only takes one false start for a runner to be disqualified from the race.
How many qualifying rounds are there?
All sprint and middle distance (800-1,500 meters) races have three rounds of qualification (Round 1, semifinals, final), whereas long distance (3,000-10,000 meters and race walks) have either two rounds or a direct final.
Olympic qualifying rounds by discipline
Round 1, Semifinals, Final
Round 1, Final
Final Only
Round 1, Semifinals, Final
Round 1, Final
Final Only
100 meters*
3,000 meters steeplechase
10,000 meters
100 meter hurdles (women)*
5,000 meters
20 km race walk
110 meter hurdles (men)*
50 km race walk
200 meters
400 meters
400 meter hurdles
800 meters
1,500 meters
* – Semifinals and final are contested on the same day.
All field events have one qualifying round and a final, the decathlon and heptathlon don’t have qualifying rounds, and marathon runners already had separate qualifiers in February.
Is it possible to still finish in the top-3 and not qualify?
Yes. This is where it gets a little complicated for a small percentage of American athletes. Similar to swimming, there are minimum times (or distances for field athletes) that must be met within an Olympic qualifying window. The window for athletes competing in any individual event (except the 10,000 meters, marathon, and race walks) is July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.
For example, the women’s 5,000 meters Olympic standard is 14:52.00. NCAA champion Parker Valby narrowly missed the standard by 0.2 seconds at this month’s NCAA Outdoor Championships. Not only must Valby finish in the top-3 at trials, she also must run at least 14:52.00 to guarantee her spot on the team. And unlike regular track meets, championship competitions do not have pacemakers and wave-light technology to help guide runners to a specific time.
Without the qualifying standard, the last-ditch effort is placing high enough in the World Athletics rankings system, which is too complicated to explain even in an explainer post. The final rankings list will be published on July 7.
Here’s the simplified way to clinch a Team USA Olympic berth:
AND
Have the Olympic qualifying standard
OR
Achieve a high enough world rankings placement
This will most likely only affect competitors in disciplines where the Americans have traditionally weaker depth, such as the long-distance races and a handful of field events. Otherwise this won’t be a storyline for, say, any of the sprints.
What happens if someone finishes in a qualifying position but isn’t selected for the Olympics?
The next highest-placed athlete goes in their place, provided they also have the qualifying standard or a high enough world ranking.
When Sha’Carri Richardson was controversially suspended following a positive marijuana test ahead of the 2020 Olympics, fourth-placed Jenna Prandini replaced her. In the women’s high jump, neither Inika McPherson nor Nicole Green achieved the qualifying standard and didn’t have a high enough world ranking. They were replaced by fourth-placed Rachel McCoy and Tynita Butts-Townsend, who had the requisite ranking despite not making the final.
The 2016 men’s 20 km race walk team, however, sent no entrants to Rio after none of the top three finishers met the standard or ranking.
How do the relay teams qualify?
New to the Olympics is the use of the World Athletics Relays as a qualifying competition for major championships. At this year’s championship in The Bahamas, the American men’s and women’s 4×100 and 4×400 teams all qualified, as did the mixed (two men, two women) 4×400 meters squad. A total of 14 countries in each discipline needed to finish in the top-2 in either the qualifying heats or the repechage rounds to qualify for Paris.
How are the relay participants decided?
Per USA Track and Field guidelines, three of the five competitors for each relay team must be athletes who are entered in their corresponding individual event (e.g. Noah Lyles is entered in the individual 100 meters and therefore will be part of the 4×100 relay team). One reserve/alternate athlete can also be named. The other two selections are made at the discretion of the USATF committee, which includes “medical or exceptional circumstances” for a waiver request to be granted.
This is why it’s common (at least for Team USA) to have relay runners who did not compete in the individual event. Athing Mu, who won the 800 meters in Tokyo, joined the women’s 4x400m relay team and picked up another gold.
It’s worth keeping an eye on the relay selection pool this year for the men’s 4×400 meters, as there’s a possibility that Noah Lyles could be picked despite not being entered in the 400 at Olympic trials and scarcely running the 400 throughout his career. His indoor relay inclusion was already meant with some divided opinion.
Team USA trials run from Friday, June 21 through Sunday, June 30 on NBC, USA, and Peacock. The track and field portion of the Olympics commences on August 1 and ends on August 11.
The NFL is inching closer and closer to an expanded schedule, which will likely mean an 18th game is coming in the not-so-distant future.
In an April interview with ESPN’s Pat McAfee, commissioner Roger Goodell said the conversation surrounding an extra game has already begun.
“If we got to 18 (regular season) and 2 (preseason games), that’s not an unreasonable thing,” Goodell said. “The other thing it does, [Super Bowl Sunday] ends on up Presidents’ Day weekend, which is a three-day weekend, which makes it Sunday night and then you have Monday off.”
When the league moved from 16 games to 17 in 2021, it gave the owners some leeway in trying to push for 18. However, the players pushed back and a compromise of 17 was agreed upon. But it’s only a matter of time before 18 is the new norm.
Once again, if the league adds another game, the players will need some type of compromise. There’s already pushback from players saying that a 17-game schedule is grueling enough, so some changes will have to be made if and when the league adds another game.
The NFL can also get creative when expanding to 18 games, so here are three ways the league’s schedule can change by adding an additional contest:
Labor Day Weekend Kickoff
Obviously, a week or two will have to be added in order to expand the schedule, and the easiest way is by starting the season a week earlier.
Let’s take this year’s calendar as an example: Labor Day is Sept. 2 on a Monday. But with a big kickoff weekend, let’s stretch this out as much as possible and get teams on national TV.
We can start with the annual Thursday night kickoff on Aug. 29 between the defending Super Bowl champions hosting an opponent of intrigue. Then, as seen with this year’s Friday night kickoff game, this turns into more of a weekend.
Saturday is for college football, as always. So the NFL takes a rest.
There are 14 remaining games up for grabs for Sunday and Monday, but these games can and should be spread out as much as possible. Let’s have a mere four games on in the early window, two games late, one for CBS and another for FOX, and a Sunday Night Football matchup on NBC in primetime.
And then, let’s repeat that on Monday. After all, it is a holiday, so football should be part of it.
This gives each fan base a chance to not only see their team on in a (mostly) uninterrupted setting, but it gives the national base a chance to see a bunch of games to kick off the season when there already is the added anticipation from preseason and training camp.
Add a second bye for all teams
Before 2002 when the NFL had 31 teams, it was customary for teams to have multiple bye weeks. So that should also be the case if the league adds one more game.
Teams should have a bye in October during Weeks 7-10, and another in December between Weeks 13-17.
In each bye week, two divisions, one from the AFC and one from the NFC, will all be totally off. Then they will each play a division rival the following week. This will eliminate any advantage with each team coming off a bye, and it also allows these teams to be as healthy as possible going into a divisional matchup.
With two bye weeks and 18 games, this means there will be 20 weeks of play during the regular season. The final week of games would take place on the third Sunday of January.
President’s Day Weekend Becomes Super Bowl Weekend
Every year, workers say that Super Bowl Monday should be a holiday, and this schedule change would (sort of) make that a thing — at least for people who don’t have to work on President’s Day.
If the playoffs didn’t start until the end of January, we’re looking at Conference Championships going into February and the Super Bowl would take place two weeks later on the Sunday of President’s Day Weekend.
Perhaps a schedule change like this would move the country one step closer to officially making Super Bowl Monday a national holiday.
The Kansas City Chiefs should already be considered a dynasty, as the only other teams in NFL history to win at least three Super Bowls in a five-year span or less are the 1974-1979 Steelers, the 1992-1995 Cowboys, the 2001-2004 Patriots, and the 2014-2018 Patriots.
Not only is that exclusive company; the Chiefs also reached the Super Bowl in 2020, losing to Tom Brady’s only “non-dynasty” team, and Patrick Mahomes has played in six straight AFC Championships for Andy Reid.
Now comes the crazy part: Is this only the beginning?
In part one of a two-part series ranking all 32 teams based on their chances of winning the Super Bowl in either of the next two seasons—2024 or 2025—the Chiefs come in first place by an absolute landslide. Who is the closest challenger to stop Kansas City from winning their fourth championship in a six or seven-year span?
First, you have to understand the 7 categories that all teams are being judged by:
The 7 categories
HC/Stability – Ranking not only the quality of the head coach, but also how STABLE is he in the job? Mike McCarthy could be a really good head coach, however he’s also on the hot seat.
Recent History – What have you done for me lately?
Non-QB Roster, 2024-2025: Accounting for all the non-QBs on the roster, how much talent is there and how likely is it that the good players will be good and on the team for each of the next two years?
QB/Passing Success – Ranking not only the quarterbacks, but also the passing game; so it’s not just “Geno Smith” in a bubble, it’s Geno plus DK Metcalf, plus the offensive line, plus the offensive coordinator, all culminating in answering “How good is the entire passing offense?”
DEF/Passing Un-Success – So the opposite of the QB/Passing Success question, looking at the defenses and defensive coordinators
Division Hierarchy Situation, also known as DHS – Teams were ranked on a combination of Overall Division Quality + Their place in the Hierarchy. So the Browns are a good team, but they’re fourth in the hierarchy of the toughest division in the NFL.
Dealer’s Choice – For all variables that didn’t get a category, like salary cap situation, and ownership, and probability of injury regression, etc., this is my own personal stamp on the rankings.
Every team was ranked 1-32 in each category and then we split it up into AFC and NFC. You get 1 point for being ranked 1st, 32 points for being ranked 32nd, and just like golf the lower your score, the better.
1. Kansas City Chiefs (Points: 17)
Overall ranking: 1 Best ranking: HC (1), Recent (1), QB (1), Dealer’s Choice (1) Worst ranking: Non-QB Roster (8)
It was practically a clean sweep for the Chiefs, as they had the top ranking in recent history (obviously), coaching/stability, quarterback/passing success, and dealer’s choice. That gave the Chiefs less than half the point total of the second place team, so if you’re betting on a team to win either of the next two Super Bowls, it has to be Kansas City. Andy Reid recently signed an extension, but even if he retired after 2024, there are several experienced veteran coaches already in place to carry the torch with a solid infrastructure built for Patrick Mahomes.
As for Mahomes’ increasing salary, with a cap hit of $66 million in 2025, the Chiefs can restructure or re-negotiate the deal to bring that down and they probably will in order to keep free agents like Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith. Keeping players or surviving without them hasn’t proven to be an issue for Reid yet, and the Chiefs remain the last team anybody wants to see in a playoff situation.
The biggest loss, defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, had a rising star waiting in the wings behind him named Zach Orr, so perhaps we will find out that the Ravens aren’t much worse off on that side of the ball. The one thing holding back the Ravens on this list was their DHS (Division Hierarchy Situation). Though Baltimore sits atop the AFC North, it still appears to be the toughest division in the NFL, and look what happened to the Bengals last year, as they went from AFC Championship game losers in 2022 to out of the playoffs.
Say what you want about the receivers room: I don’t think it matters as much when you have Josh Allen, the second-to-last QB I’d want to see in the playoffs. The Bills have won four straight division titles, and parting ways with Stefon Diggs and Tre’Davious White might end up making the Bills a stronger team overall because it increases the odds that the team will spend the offseason, the season, and the 2025 season with the same players.
This seems early for the Texans, but look at this way: Which teams have the best odds of winning their division in EACH of the next two seasons? The Texans seem to have the all-important triumvirate of a successful NFL team: DeMeco Ryans, C.J. Stroud, and a really good defense. But they also have a top-10 offensive line, a deep group of supporting skill players, and they just put Danielle Hunter opposite of Will Anderson. The AFC South could be the best division in a couple of years depending on the development of the four quarterbacks, but right now it belongs to Houston. Look at this way: Would you rather be the second-best team in the AFC North or the best team in the AFC South? I’d rather have that guaranteed playoff home game.
5. Cincinnati Bengals (Points: 74)
Overall ranking: 8 Best ranking: HC (6), Recent (6), Dealer’s Choice (6) Worst ranking: Def/Pass (24)
If we were only ranking quarterback/passing offense and recent success, the Bengals would be in the top 3. There are numerous obstacles to overcome in the next two years, however, including how competitive it is in the AFC North, Joe Burrow’s health, the contract situation for Tee Higgins, and a defense that couldn’t get the job done last season, ranking 32nd in yards per pass attempt and 30th in yards per carry allowed. But they do score high in those other things.
Have you tried ranking the quarterbacks lately? It gets very hard to do outside of the top 10, if not the top 5. Try it. I put Deshaun Watson and company 19th, which seems high given how bad he’s been the past two seasons in Cleveland, but there aren’t a lot of attractive options behind him either and there is a strong supporting cast of coaches, offensive linemen, and skill players around him. By the way, the strongest correlation of any two categories is between “recent success” and “QB/passing play” so take that as you will. I don’t think saying that better quarterbacks win more games than average or bad quarterbacks will make your head explode.
In his previous stint as an NFL head coach, Jim Harbaugh took over a 6-10 team from Mike Singletary and went 13-3 in his first season. These Chargers are more talented than those 49ers, but Harbaugh didn’t have to worry about Patrick Mahomes back then. Still, look at the talent around Justin Herbert after adding Joe Alt, Ladd McConkey, Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins, Will Dissly, D.J. Chark, and Hayden Hurst to an offense that wasn’t lacking in talent and you can see how L.A. might be a legitimate Super Bowl contender in 2025.
t7. Jacksonville Jaguars (Points: 97)
Overall ranking: t13 Best ranking: QB/Pass (8), DHS (8) Worst ranking: HC (19), Non-QB Roster (19)
The Jaguars are in a division they can win, with a head coach who has won a Super Bowl, and a defense that has two under-27 pass rushers who posted double-digit sacks in 2023. Can you believe the Jaguars have been to an AFC Championship game more recently than the Steelers?
The Dolphins are definitely more talented than some teams ranked ahead of them here, and Mike McDaniel is one of, if not the best, offensive play callers in the NFL. But Miami has to figure out how they can pay Tua Tagovailoa while keeping everyone else happy, as well as whether they even should pay Tua, plus many of their stars are either over 30 or will be soon. Are Tyreek Hill and Jalen Ramsey going to be playing at the same high level next year, and can players like Terron Armstead, Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, and Tua stay healthy? They have as much talent as they do uncertainty.
Yes, they have made the playoffs in three of the last four years and went 10-7 last season. They also haven’t won a playoff game since 2016 and they haven’t had a “really good” playoff win since beating the Ravens in the Divisional Round in 2010. Unless Russell Wilson is to the Steelers what Kurt Warner was to the Cardinals, Pittsburgh could have their first losing season since 2003 and they’re a fourth place team if Deshaun Watson is halfway decent for the Browns. But they got top-10 grades in coaching, non-QB roster, and defense.
If Aaron Rodgers is healthy and not on vacation during the regular season, the Jets roster is as good as it’s ever going to get. The offense gets four new offensive linemen (Tyron Smith, Olu Fashanu, Morgan Moses, John Simpson), two recent early draft picks to round the line out (Alijah Vera-Tucker, Joe Tippmann at center), plus the addition of Mike Williams as the No. 2 receiver.
That’s for 2024. So are they all-in? No, because even if Rodgers is slowing down next year, the Jets are projected to be sixth in cap space in 2025 and owner Woody Johnson has proven that he’s willing to overspend whatever it takes. Keep in mind, the Jets are only tied for 17th so this isn’t like predicting they’ll make it to the Super Bowl, they’re just higher on the list than Baker Mayfield and Kirk Cousins.
Between the Colts and the Saints, two teams I’ve got ranked third in their respective weak South divisions, I prefer head coach Shane Steichen to Dennis Allen. And though I’m far from sold on Anthony Richardson, he’s got plenty of upside while Derek Carr has none. I also wouldn’t be shocked if first-round edge rusher Laiatu Latu wastes no time in having an impact.
If firing Mike Vrabel was a bad decision, then why do I feel more optimistic about the Titans because of Brian Callahan? Probably because head coaches who call offensive plays are more in style than those who don’t. Is that fair or unfair? I’m not here to judge. The Titans might have the most room between their QB’s head and the ceiling though: Will Levis was too inconsistent as a rookie to be a starter, so Tennessee brought in Callahan to call the offense and signed Calvin Ridley, Tyler Boyd to catch passes, and also drafted a new tackle in J.C. Latham in the top 10.
The Broncos had the second-highest ranked head coach situation of any team in the bottom half of the list (I have Kevin O’Connell one spot ahead of Sean Payton), which tells you just how bad Denver looks on paper. I’m not going to criticize drafting Bo Nix, because it’s not that uncommon for a quarterback picked outside of the top 5 at the position to have success, but it would seem that a lot does hinge on that decision. However, the Broncos’ ranking isn’t really low because of Nix. They have a lot of projected starters “with something to prove” because they failed to gain or retain starting jobs on their previous teams, and it’s hard to imagine Denver finishing higher than third in either of the next two seasons.
After the Broncos fired Josh McDaniels in 2010, they reached five straight Divisional Round playoff games and two Super Bowls. Could Antonio Pierce provide a similar rebound in Las Vegas? Maybe only if Peyton Manning comes out of retirement and brings a time machine. (Those Broncos did win a playoff game with Tim Tebow, but this isn’t the 2011 AFC West.) It seems like the Raiders want to do as well as they can this season, then wait to see if Dak Prescott or Tua Tagovailoa becomes available next year. Teams won’t be going the draft route this time, tanking has no endgame, and I think the Raiders anticipate being the most aggressive team on the market in 2025 and that it’s highly probable that a big-name quarterback will change teams.
Left tackle Chukwuma Okorafor will be protecting quarterback Jacoby Brissett (pre-Drake Maye), throwing to Kendrick Bourne and Ja’Lynn Polk, with plays called by Alex Van Pelt, who was fired by the Browns in January. Even giving Maye a chance to prove he’s good in 2025, New England could be the worst offense in the NFL right now. Even if the Jets and Dolphins both collapse, will the Patriots beat the Bills or win an AFC Wild Card? Not likely before 2026.
Over the seven seasons Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have played together for the Boston Celtics, they have faced a wide variety of skepticism about their fit together as two ballhandling wings. Both were varying degrees of great at different times, but did their skill sets overlap too much to build a championship team around them as a pair?
The Celtics’ 2024 NBA championship win answers that question with a definitive “no,” but there were real questions about the pairing’s fit together over their near-decade as a duo, as well as calls from media and fans alike to trade Brown. Instead, the Celtics (somewhat controversially) continually doubled down on the twosome, most recently by giving Brown the most lucrative contract in NBA history last summer.
Doing so may seem like the easy call with the benefit of hindsight, but in the aftermath of the confetti falling, as the Celtics celebrated their 18th championship in franchise history and Brown lofted his NBA Finals MVP, there was a stat on the broadcast for anyone watching at home that demonstrated just how unprecedented Boston’s patience with the Brown and Tatum duo was (as captured by Tim Bontemps of ESPN):
For Tatum and Brown, the 107 games they played together before winning the title are the most by a duo prior to winning their first championship in NBA history.
That’s quite the astounding factoid, and it shows how rare it is for any two NBA players to
be good enough to justify keeping together that long, period, and…
be good enough to maintain faith in despite not having won a title together yet.
It remains to be seen if this record will ever be broken, but given the constant roster churn of today’s NBA, it seems unlikely. Maybe Brown and Tatum’s long-awaited success will convince more GMs to remain patient with various star pairings, but this otherwise seems primed to be a record Brown and Tatum can hold together for a long time.
In the 186th playoff game of his NBA career, Al Horford won his first NBA championship. The Celtics capturing the 2024 title took Horford off an ignominious list, as Boston coming up short this year would have almost certainly (eventually) vaulted him past Karl Malone (193) for most career playoff games without a championship.
After the game, Horford was understandably excited to finally get his first ring, 17 years into his NBA career:
Al Horford: “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. I’m going through the emotions right now, but I don’t feel like it’s over. This is an unbelievable feeling. Like the confetti, everything’s going on, but I just hasn’t hit me.” pic.twitter.com/kGOAtUdV8k
But with Horford winning a championship, James Harden ended up taking a crown no player wants: His 166 career playoff games without a ring is now not just fourth all-time in NBA history, but the most of any active NBA player.
Per StatMuse, the next closest is… his former Rockets teammate Chris Paul, with 149.
With the NBA Finals over, Harden is now eligible — under a new NBA rule going into place this year — to begin talking with the Clippers about a new contract to keep him in Los Angeles in free agency. Given that franchise’s historic playoff woes, it seems unlikely Harden will end his reign atop a leaderboard that no current NBA player wants to sit on, but there is a small silver lining: At least, at age 34, he’s unlikely to go on enough long playoff runs in Los Angeles to pass Malone or John Stockton (182) for a top-two slot on the all-time ranking.
That’s something, right?
While maybe Harden can do some title chasing to end his career to put this record to bed, at least as of right now, the self-described “winner” appears poised to hang onto that bit of infamy for a while.
But hey, at least maybe he appears poised to get a different type of ring soon!
We have passed the midway point in June and have just over a month to go until NFL training camps kick off in earnest. Thankfully House of the Dragon is back to help us bide a bit more time.
The offseason drought makes talking about the NFL a bit more challenging than usual but that only makes it more fun. Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa are once again up for the latest edition of The Skinny Post to discuss all things Football League of National.
Some required reading so that all of the jokes and points hit you properly:
The Kansas City Chiefs are probably mad at their ring designer
Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Open on Sunday
There is a new fantasy football punishment everyone has thoughts on
Let’s begin.
The Kansas City Chiefs messed up their Super Bowl rings and that is hilarious
Michael:
If I didn’t make it abundantly clear in the first edition of The Skinny Post, I am a Chargers fan so this bit of news was a real juicy morsel when it dropped last week. Now let’s be frank, I’d trade my life savings and the deed to my house if it meant the Chargers could win a Super Bowl in my lifetime but that won’t stop me from dunking on the Chiefs when I can.
This is one of those moments.
Kansas City unveiled their latest Super Bowl rings and while they’re as gorgeous as you’d expect, there was a minor mistake that was missed. Inside the ring, the Chiefs listed all of their opponents they defeated en route to winning the championship along with their seed for the postseason. However, the Chiefs engraved a “7” next to the Dolphins, denoting them as the seventh seed. Here’s the thing: The Steelers were the seventh seed while the Dolphins were the sixth seed.
I cannot express just how embarrassing this must be for the back-to-back Super Bowl champs. It’s so embarrassing they may end up finishing last in the AFC West this season. The expected ridicule will simply be too much for Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid.
It was a great dynasty while it lasted though!
RJ:
Objectively speaking, the ring thing is a disaster. Nobody can change my mind on this.
In our day and age where teams focus on the symbolism and meaning behind things like how many diamonds are in the ring and whatnot, messing up a crucial detail is a bad look and hilarious from the outside. What’s more is that it seems like the reason Kansas City put the seeds in the first place was to emphasize how tough their path to their latest title was given that they beat the Buffalo Bills (No. 2), Baltimore Ravens (No. 1) and San Francisco 49ers (No. 1). They literally beat both No 1 seeds and that is in fact ridiculously impressive.
So with this being the case… the mistake in question actually makes their playoff path look less impressive. The flub makes the Dolphins look worse than they were, which is once again hilarious given everything involved. Ultimately a detail on your third Super Bowl ring in five years is the pinnacle definition of rich people problems, but imagine being the person who signed off on this getting the phone call about it all once the internet saw the rings.
Under the radar players who could completely change perception with a title
RJ:
As noted up top, Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Open on Sunday, his second major championship. Incidentally both of them are U.S. Open victories.
I am a massive golf fan (shout out to our colleagues here at SB Nation over at Playing Through for being a daily read of mine) and in case you aren’t then what you need to know is that Bryson was a bit, um, unpopular over the last few years.
It is difficult to explain exactly why Bryson was so not liked, given that it is a lot of things. His personality rubbed people the wrong way (he had a lot to do with that), but in the last year or so he has really turned things around.
DeChambeau lost golf’s most recent major championship (the PGA Championship at Valhalla) to Xander Schauffele by one stroke, and even as someone who appreciates Xander a ton I was so bummed for Bryson. It was confusing.
Watching Bryson get it done on Sunday at Pinehurst and taking down a fan favorite like Rory McIlroy in the process and being overwhelmingly happy for Bryson was such a weird sequence of emotions given everything up to this point. In the spirit of this… I wanted Michael and I to take a shot at figuring out which NFL players could elicit similar emotions.
Ultimately I think that the answer is Kirk Cousins. Netflix’s Quarterback really elevated Kirk’s reputation for a lot of people and his season-ending Achilles injury last year while he was playing great football seemed to pull even more people into his corner. Then there is also the fact that his new team in the Atlanta Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr. right after paying Kirk to join them in the first place.
Imagine if Kirk led the Falcons to the Super Bowl this season? If Kirk was the person to slay the 28-3 demons? If Kirk were the one to do it all? Given everything that has happened up to this point?
Dare I say it would be Bryson DeChambeau winning the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
Michael:
I’m going to hop into your neck of the woods and use Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott as my choice here.
Prescott is widely viewed as one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. Depending on who you ask, he probably varies anywhere between the top 15, top 10, and even the top 5 of NFL quarterbacks during some stretches of the season. The unfortunate part is that, despite being on a team that had both a top-5 offense and top-10 defense over the past three seasons, Prescott has not been able to guide the Cowboys out of the Divisional Round in three consecutive playoff appearances. He’s 2-5 in the playoffs and 1-3 since 2021. Those numbers are not becoming of a team that has been one of the best regular-season clubs of the past 10 years and has 12 wins in each of the past three seasons.
So similar to what you had to say about Kirk Cousins, the recent narrative around Prescott and the Cowboys could be flipped on its head were they to win their first Super Bowl since 1995. The thing is, maybe they need to stop being so successful during the regular season so the pressure isn’t nearly as high come the postseason? Maybe they should barely squeak into the playoffs and then they can play with nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Thoughts? Prayers? Sounds like a steel-clad plan to me.
How we would approach the McDonald’s fantasy football eating punishment
Michael:
Alright so I loved this story when you sent it to me.
A guy got last place in his fantasy football league and his punishment was that he has to spend 24 hours inside a McDonald’s. However, he has the opportunity to “eat his way out” by consuming menu items, each of which are paired with a time amount that gets taken off the clock. So for example, if he eats a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit, he gets 45 minutes taken off the clock. If he consumes an entire hotcakes and sausage combo meal, he gets an hour taken off.
Here is the full structure:
I finished in last place in fantasy football, and tomorrow I have to do my punishment. I have to sit on a McDonalds for 24 hours unless I can eat my way out of it. Here’s the key I was given by a league mate for what I can eat to shorten my time pic.twitter.com/uhgidj67yb
So now let’s talk how I would personally attack this thing.
If I began at the crack of dawn, I would start with a plethora of Sausage McMuffins with Egg. Normally I’m just an Egg McMuffin guy, but the additional sausage would provide 15 more minutes off the clock and that little slab of meat added won’t affect my overall stomach capacity. I would gorge myself on those until I simply couldn’t anymore. Maybe that’s six or seven of them which amounts to about 5 hours already gone. From there, I’d intermittently nap to pass the time and digest. When I wake, I’d consume another McMuffin or switch to the double cheeseburgers as the morning turns to afternoon.
While a McDouble is only 30 minutes off, a double cheeseburger is 45 minutes. I’m not entirely sure what the difference is between the two, but it can’t be much of anything so we’re going with the item that takes more time off the clock.
If I can get out of there before the sun sets entirely, I’d be happy (and grossly full).
RJ:
Full disclosure: I sent this to a lot of people on Saturday morning, coincidentally while I was in the drive-thru at McDonald’s of all places. Life can be funny like that.
But my perspective on this is that the goal should not be to get out of there as quickly as possible. My goal would be to spend something like 7-8 hours physically in the building and spend the time writing, reading or watching something. Determining that getting out in an hour is the first step of acceptance here. You’ve got to lean into the ordeal.
Understanding that I’m trying to shave about 16 hours off I feel the need to say that as a kid I really enjoyed the hash browns from McDonald’s. I would eat around four in a single sitting… as a kid.
With the belly of an adult I really think that this would be the cheat code for me as my child-like order of four would knock out an hour at a time. Hash browns are also really small relative to everything else so I think I could do about 16 over the course of my first hour. After some time to settle I think I could repeat this and boom, half the time I want to take off is now gone. Presto, baby.
For the record I do not think I have had an actual hamburger from McDonald’s since around the time that I was crushing hash browns with regularity (as a Texan I am a Whataburger loyalist). That being said I think a cheeseburger is an easy mountain to climb four times to take another two hours off. Six to go.
I think at this point you kind of have to accept that this is where things start to suck so I would just do the “Big Breakfast with Hotcakes” three times to drag myself across the finish line.
INDIANAPOLIS — It may still be very early in their respective journeys, but Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark will be tied to one another no matter what happens over the rest of their careers.
Even before simultaneously entering the WNBA as part of one of the most heralded rookie classes ever, Clark and Reese — and especially the competitive college clashes between their Iowa Hawkeyes and LSU Tigers, respectively — played a huge role in bringing the women’s game to a national audience.
Sunday offered the latest chapter in their rapidly growing rivalry. For the second time in as many meetings against the Chicago Sky, Clark was hit with a hard foul. This time, it was Reese who caught Clark in the head on a block attempt, a play that was eventually deemed a Flagrant-1 foul.
While it likely won’t create the national firestorm the last flagrant foul against Clark in a game against the Sky did, it was a watershed moment between the two in another game that came down to the wire, a recurring theme in matchups between the pair.
Clark had arguably her best game in the WNBA, flirting with a triple-double while finishing with 23 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds, as well as a couple of late clutch plays — including an assist to NaLyssa Smith and a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds — that helped seal a fifth win of the season for the Fever (5-10) and fourth in the last six games.
Reese left her mark as well, scoring 11 points to go with 13 rebounds (5 of them were offensive), and 5 assists.
After the game, though, there was only one topic to discuss. After cursory first questions to open their pressers, the second question for both Clark and Reese postgame was about the flagrant foul.
“What’s going through my mind is I need to make these two free throws,” Clark said when asked about Reese’s flagrant foul. “That’s all I’m thinking about. It’s just part of basketball. It is what it is. She’s trying to make a play on the ball and get the block but, yeah, it happens.”
Reese, meanwhile, was far shorter with her response, calling the foul a “basketball play” and stating that she was going for the ball. Neither wanted to make a big deal about it, but that won’t stop the take train from going down the tracks — and potentially derailing women’s basketball discourse for a few days once again.
Clark and Reese are no strangers to being in this spotlight, nor is it new for them to do it together. Sunday was the eighth time the pair have faced off, including in college. Reese won the first four meetings, culminating in the national title game in 2023 in which the first viral moment between the two came when Reese taunted Clark in the waning seconds of the game.
Clark, though, has won the three most recent meetings. That includes the Elite Eight contest earlier this year and the two WNBA meetings between the pair so far.
While their duels in the Big Ten when Reese was at Maryland in her freshman and sophomore seasons before transferring to LSU didn’t capture the national audience, their tournament showdowns certainly did. The pair helped set the record for the most-watched women’s college basketball game of all time in 2023 at 9.9 million viewers.
This spring in a rematch with a Final Four berth on the line, they obliterated that record, with 12 million fans tuning into the game. In their first WNBA meeting this season, 1.5 million fans tuned in, the fourth-largest audience to watch a WNBA game in the last two decades at the time.
After years of commanding enormous audiences on the collegiate level, Clark and Reese are now bringing a whole new set of eyes to the professional ranks.
“They love to watch us,” Reese said of her and Clark before Sunday’s meeting. “I think we’ve done a great job bringing a lot of fans to the league from college. I think we both have done that from our respective schools and [having] our championship runs and going to the Final Four. I think we did a great job bringing fans from college to the league and…we’ll continue to help [the league] grow.”
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Given the events and controversy that took place in the first meeting between the Fever and Sky in their first meeting, the TV audience for Sunday’s game will almost certainly be another large one. Gainbridge Fieldhouse was sold out for the fourth time this season, and the fans were as loud as they’ve been all year.
It’s inarguable that Reese and Clark are compelling television: two of the best young players in the world squaring off with one another time and time again as they help grow the game along the way.
But what Clark thinks draws audiences most, though, is the “emotion and passion” the two play those showdowns with.
“I think people love to see that,” Clark said. “I think that’s maybe not something that was always appreciated in women’s sports and it should be. That’s what makes it fun. We’re competitors. That’s the way the game should be. It’s going to get a little feisty, it’s going to get a little physical but at the end of the day, both teams are just trying to win.
“I think what she’s done with her platform is incredible. She has an entire fanbase that has supported her [with] what she did at Maryland and then LSU. Obviously, I’ve played her for a very long time and she’s been a tremendous player. It’s been fun to get to compete against. I think it’s been really good for the game. People just love seeing great matchups. But also, at the same time, people tune in for these matchups but then they get to see how amazing these teams are and then they find new players to support and continue to come back for them, too. So, I think that’s another benefit of it, honestly.”
Sunday was another noteworthy moment in the rivalry. Even if both downplayed it, the headlines from the game won’t be about Clark’s near-triple-double or Reese’s double-double. It will bring attention to the league, but not in the way either desire.
The pair, though, is bringing lots of the wanted attention to the league as well. And Reese and Clark will have plenty of opportunities to provide more memorable moments against one another.
The WNBA is not chock full of rivalries that resonate on a national scale the way Clark’s and Reese’s do. The Liberty and Aces are a clear one as the league’s two superteams, but outside of that, there aren’t many other nationally-known rivalries.
Pregame, Fever head coach Christie Sides was asked if their matchups against the Sky feel like rivalry games. Sides, who served as an assistant in Chicago from 2011 through 2016, said it was a “huge” rivalry and has been for many years. But even if that’s how it felt to those on the inside already, the addition of Reese and Clark was always going to bring it up a couple of notches now.
They’re two of the bright young stars in this game and have already defined an era of the college game. They look to be on the path to doing the same in the WNBA as well.
And if they do, it could help elevate the league to its highest levels yet.
After the Dallas Mavericks’ deflating loss in Game 3 to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, the normal cliches and platitudes were shared by players and coaches alike. The theme was universal: the series isn’t over, take it one game at a time.
It was nothing earth-shattering, a semi-cliche sentiment and mentality shared by most professional athletes facing such a scenario. History said that Wednesday’s loss meant the likely end of the series for Dallas, but they still had a job they’re paid to do, and they’re still going to do it.
But even with all of the chatter, and knowing Boston might feel a little comfortable up 3-0, it’s hard to think anyone expected the Mavericks to completely dominate Game 4 of the NBA Finals in Dallas.
Their 122-84 demolition of Boston was such an extensive and brilliant performance that Dallas is actually leading in the aggregate for the series; they are now +6 through the four games, outscoring Boston 408-402. A team winning Game 4 after falling behind 3-0 in any playoff series isn’t unusual, but the Mavericks’ dominance in doing so certainly was, especially when you consider how historically great this Celtics team is.
So normally a win in this scenario doesn’t raise too many eyebrows or change thoughts about the series as a whole. Normally. But while the Celtics are still the overwhelming favorite to win the NBA title, a win of this magnitude does invite the possibility of “what if?” If the Mavericks could decimate the Celtics this badly in an elimination game, are the two teams as far apart from each other as most thought?
We’ll find out soon enough, but these questions have a sudden validity now that they didn’t feature before. So if we’re going to take Game 3 as a blueprint, here’s how the Mavericks can shock the world, beat the Celtics, win the NBA Finals, and make history by becoming the first NBA team ever to overcome a 3-0 series deficit.
Continue to trust their bigs defensively
The Mavericks’ biggest strength heading into the Finals was their rim defense, behind the stalwart duo of trade deadline acquisition Daniel Gafford and rookie standout Dereck Lively II. Through the first three games of the Finals, that advantage was hardly felt as the Celtics spread out and sliced up the Mavs’ defense and neutralized their size advantage.
In the first three games, this all looked like a system shock to both Gafford and Lively. Dallas had solid options for those two to roam off of in the first three rounds, while the Celtics give a defense no easy outs. It’s not just that Boston plays five-out, but the other four perimeter players in their starting lineup are all comfortable driving and passing. Lively in particular looked like he finally hit his rookie wall in the first two games, understandable for a 20-year-old rookie who had already impressed so much. That changed a little in Game 3, and then the script flipped completely in Game 4.
The duos’ performance in the win was easily their best of the series. After the two failed to contain drives well on switches early in the series, it was clear Dallas wanted its two bigs to stay as close to the rim as possible. In Game 3, that meant Lively and Gafford were sometimes stuck in the paint as the Celtics swung the ball to shooters in the corner. What made matters worse was Boston still shot well at the rim, despite the extra attention to guard the paint. Entering Game 4 the Celtics were shooting a staggering 81.7% in the restricted area, while also averaging 14.7 corner three attempts per game. The two best shots in basketball are layups and corner threes, and Boston was getting both of them, with Dallas’ centers often in no man’s land trying to cover ground they’d never had to cover before.
In Game 4 the two clearly felt more comfortable — Boston attempted a series low seven corner threes and only shot 58.8% in the restricted area. Credit the two bigs for being let off the leash a bit, as both Gafford and Lively ventured outside the paint again, this time with better results. The two put together a highlight reel of closeouts, quick feet, and strong contests on Friday night.
If Lively and Gafford can play in space defensively, it changes the game for the Mavericks defense. You could really feel the continued absence of Kristaps Porzingis, as Al Horford only had one 3-point attempt in 23 minutes, and Xavier Tillman off the bench only had two attempts total. The floor geometry is just significantly different with the slower trigger of Horford and the lack of threat Tillman presents. Lively and Gafford could be aggressive, knowing there’s not a seven-foot unicorn waiting behind them to make them pay from the perimeter. The closeouts are just a little bit easier with Porzingis on the bench.
It also helps when those bigs get support, like Luka Doncic showed repeatedly throughout Game 4.
Doncic played his best defensive game on Friday, rebounding from fouling out in Game 3. Dallas’ bigs are better suited when they can play aggressive and not have to clean up so many mistakes. If the mistakes keep coming, that means those two are reacting and compensating instead of dictating the terms. Dallas isn’t going to completely solve the math problem the Celtics present (Boston still shot 41 total threes Friday), but they can do a better job directing where those 3-pointers come from. The corner three is so valuable because it’s a shorter shot, but that swings both ways — it also means it’s less ground to cover on closeouts. Lively and Gafford are big, long dudes: they have the length and athleticism to close out to the corner and then recover to the rim. As long as their teammates continue to back them up and coach Jason Kidd trusts them, the Mavericks can give themselves a chance defensively.
Green, Exum pressuring the defense
The Celtics rarely double on defense, or blitz the pick and roll. They like to play drop with their bigs, and switch the other four spots. With as many talented individual and team defenders as they employ in their rotation, it makes a lot of sense. It makes even more sense against this Mavericks team, who play a lot of players that need Doncic and Kyrie Irving to spoon feed them buckets.
Boston made the correct bet that if Lively, Gafford, PJ Washington, and Derrick Jones Jr. don’t have wide-open space, their effectiveness on offense is limited. Those aren’t players that can bust one-on-one defense, or truly make a closeout pay: Lively and Gafford live on lobs, while Washington and Jones do their damage on corner threes and spot-up attempts. The Celtics have taken those away, as the Mavericks corner threes have plummeted. Doncic and Irving’s usage rates have skyrocketed in the Finals, and the Celtics are daring that duo to beat them with tough twos against shaded coverage. It’s not that Boston isn’t helping at all, it’s just that they’re not doubling aggressively to get the ball out of Doncic or Irving’s hands — they’re inviting the long twos, and shading help toward the paint without outright doubling.
That defense has left most of Dallas role players ineffective. It’s not just that they’re not making shots, but the volume of attempts for the Mavericks role players has decreased mightily in the Finals. Game 4 saw the right adjustment to this, with more minutes for backups Josh Green and Dante Exum. Exum and Green haven’t had great playoffs, but this matchup and style might suit them better — for better and worse, those two have the most live-dribble juice of any Mavericks players outside of Doncic and Irving. Exum and Green’s shared ability to both aggressively drive and pass gives the Mavericks a counter to the Celtics defense — if they’re daring the role players to beat one-on-one coverage, you need role players that can attack and pass. Not playmakers, necessarily, but just players that can make the simple straight-line drive and the right read.
Green and Exum’s stat lines don’t pop off the box score (they combined for 13 points and one assist) but it was undeniable that their presence loosened the Celtics’ defense a little, just because they had the ability to dribble past their man and make the right play, unlike Washington and Jones.
On this Exum layup in the second quarter, look how tight Exum’s defender is playing up on him.
With Doncic face-guarded, Exum has a defender right on him despite holding a live dribble on the logo. Boston doesn’t respect the Mavericks role players to drive past that type of defense, so Exum’s ability to get by and score is the counter. The same goes for the nice Green assist in the third quarter for a Lively jam — Brown picks up Green tight, and Green burns the overplay and gets into the paint.
These are plays that the rest of the Mavericks non-stars can’t do. While it might have taken longer than Mavericks fans wanted, kudos to Kidd and the coaching staff for making the right adjustment.
Luka Doncic’s paint efficiency
After Game 3, Irving noted that with how the Celtics are giving himself and Doncic one-on-one chances in the paint and near the rim, it’s on them to be efficient enough to force the Celtics into another coverage. On Friday, that duo certainly was, especially Doncic.
Doncic missed every 3-pointer he took in Game 4, but was an impressive 11-16 in the paint, including 5-6 in the restricted area. Irving was 9-12 on twos, most in the paint. Dallas as a team scored 60 points in the paint, and you could see that paint control tilt the Celtics defense a little bit, as the Mavericks finally got some corner threes (4-7 from the corners, compared to 2-5 in Game 3). There was even a trap in the third quarter as the Celtics were underwater as the game spiraled out of control, but that’s what the Mavericks have to do to force Boston try something else. Dallas still didn’t have a high assist game on Friday, with only 21 total, and Doncic finished with six assists. There is still room for experimentation and working with Irving’s off-ball gravity, but none of this matters if Doncic isn’t converting in the paint, which he did in Game 4.
It also helps to score in the paint when you get stops, and it’s no coincidence that the Mavericks’ best defensive game of the series also resulted in Dallas scoring well in transition. The Mavericks only had 11 fastbreak points, after 12 in Game 3, but that follows up single-digit fastbreak performances in Games 1 and 2. It’s also no surprise that Lively and Gafford combined for 18 points, their highest of the series, as those two got out and ran the floor and got the space they needed before Boston’s halfcourt defense settled in.
None of this means a Game 7 or even a Game 6 is a guarantee — Boston is that good. But the Mavericks showed a formula in Game 4, a formula that really started to develop during Game 3 on Wednesday. The Mavericks put that blueprint together for a full game on Friday and executed, and while their chance to make history is still a ways off… it is just enough to allow oneself to start thinking about this series in a new light.
The past 10 seasons for the Detroit Tigers has been a bit of a journey in the wilderness. The 2014 season ended up being the end of an era for the Tigers, as their four-year run of playoff appearances from 2011 through 2014 ended with two ALCS appearances and an American League Pennant victory in 2012. Once that window closed for Detroit, it slammed shut and outside of one winning season in 2016 that saw the Tigers come up three games short of earning a Wild Card spot, there hasn’t been much to get excited about for fans of the hometown team in the Motor City.
As of right now, the Tigers have a tough road ahead of them if they’re planning on returning to October baseball. They’re a distant fourth in the AL Central with their divisional rivals Kansas City and Minnesota currently occupying two of the three Wild Card spots in the AL. They are 33-35 and 3.5 games behind in the race for the final and are currently lumped in with the Astros, Rangers and Blue Jays when it comes to owning similar winning percentages. This is a long season with plenty of peaks and valleys but Detroit still a bit of an outside contender at this point – FanGraphs’ playoff odds is giving the Tigers a 12 percent shot at making the Postseason as a Wild Card with their overall odds of making the playoffs in general at 15 percent.
Needless to say, the Tigers aren’t exactly the favorites to upset the apple cart in baseball this season. With that being said, there’s one very good reason to pay attention to what Detroit has going on this season and that’s the mound exploits of Tarik Skubal. Skubal is coming off of a 2022 season that saw him establish himself as a bonafide major league starter with an ERA- of 90 and a FIP- of 75 over 117.2 innings. He followed that up by emerging as one of the best pitchers in all of baseball despite missing the first three months of the 2023 season due to a flexor tendon injury that ended his 2022 campaign. Once Skubal did finally return to the mound on July 4, 2023, he hit the ground running and wasted no time in establishing himself as a true ace. When I say that he was one of the best pitchers in baseball last season, I mean it – Skubal led all pitchers in fWAR with 3.3 after he returned to the mound, with Spencer Strider in second place after he produced 2.8 fWAR over that same span.
With all this in mind, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that Tarik Skubal has emerged as a Cy Young candidate now that he’s been fully healthy here in 2024. As good as Skubal was to finish the 2023 season, he’s been even better this season. Skubal finished 2023 with an ERA- of 65 and a FIP- of 47 and both of those numbers are well above average when it comes to starting pitchers. He’s on track to leave those numbers in the dust here in 2024, as he’ll be heading into his start tonight against the Astros with an ERA- of 49 and a FIP- of 54. He’ll also be heading into Houston coming off of his most recent start where he made it through 6.2 innings with five hits and two walks for a grand total of just one run allowed and 10 strikeouts to boot. It was also the 11th time in 13 starts this season where the 27-year-old lefty gave up two runs or less. Needless to say, this man has been absolutely dealing all season.
What makes Tarik Skubal so incredibly tough to deal with is the fact that he’s got five pitches in his bag of tricks and batters have zero idea as to how to actually consistently hit his stuff. His best pitch has been his four-seam fastball and it’s a pitch that has slowly-but-surely been ramping up in velocity over the course of his career. He may have finally peaked in velocity in his most recent start, where he hit 101.7 mph on the radar gun. As this article from Jason Beck of MLB.com mentioned, it was one of the fastest pitches thrown by a starter this season and it was part of a deliberate effort on his part to ramp up his velocity on his heater. With that being said, it’s not just his fastball that hitters have to worry about. His sinker has been sitting at 96 mph – the same speed as his average fastball. Hitters have been bewitched by both pitches, as evidenced by the opposition batting average of .205 against his sinker and .169 against his fastball.
Opposing hitters haven’t fared well against his other three pitches, either. His changeup is his second-most used pitch behind his fastball and hitters are only hitting .223 against it. He also has a slider that he’s commonly used and it only has a .194 batting average against it. Finally, he’s thrown 57 knuckle curveballs this season and you are not going to find a video of anybody getting a hit against it so far in 2024. That’s right: The opposing batting average against his knuckle curve is .000. Granted, it does have an Expecting Batting Average of .243 but the good news for Skubal is that that xBA is by far the highest of any of his four pitches – his fastball has an xBA of .205, his changeup’s xBA is at .219, the sinker is at .191 and the slider’s xBA is microscopic at .161. Simply put, it hasn’t really mattered what Tarik Skubal has been throwing out there – opposing hitters have had an absolute devil of a time trying to deal with any one of them.
If Skubal needs to miss a bat, his changeup (45 percent whiff rate) and slider (35 percent whiff rate) have been his go-to in that regard. If he needs an out, any one of his four main pitches will do as his highest Put Away percentage lies at 31 percent with his changeup while the lowest of those four pitches is 21 percent with his four-seamer. He’s got nasty stuff in his arsenal and he’s throwing all of his pitches with a ton of confidence at the moment. Taking all of this into account, it’s easy to understand why he’s starting to get attention and even early talks of Cy Young Award contention here in June.
There are also surely some rumors floating around that Tarik Skubal could be traded at the deadline but those rumors appear to simply be rumors. Either way, Skubal isn’t the type of pitcher that should be traded if you’re a team that still harbors any type of playoff hopes. Jim Bowden of The Athletic stated that while the Tigers may listen to offers on the likes of Jack Flaherty, Skubal’s going nowhere.
Again, while the Tigers aren’t exactly near the top of the standings, they still figure to be right in the middle of the pack when it comes to the Wild Card chase and as long as that’s the case, Skubal should remain in a Tigers uniform. If the Tigers are going to return to Postseason relevancy in the near future, then that likely requires having Skubal still in a Tigers uniform while they make their return to October. Detroit has a gem at the top of their rotation and this could very well be the season where the entire baseball world becomes extremely aware of Tarik Skubal and what he can do on the mound.
A busy combat sports weekend looms as on Saturday, Gervonta Davis puts his WBA lightweight title on the line against undefeated challenger Frank Martin and UFC Vegas 93 takes place with a high-profile flyweight matchup between top-15 competitors Alex Perez and Tatsuro Taira.
With so much happening this weekend, we broke down our three favorite bets for the weekend. All odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images
Gervonta Davis by Decision or Technical Decision (+260)
Davis is an elite counter-puncher in the mold of Floyd Mayweather Jr. He’s got good vision and defense, and a preternatural sense of range, allowing him to draw out punches at the end of range and land his power shots, particularly his left hook. That left hook, plus a commitment to body work early and often, makes Tank an excellent finisher with 27 of his 29 wins coming by way of stoppage.
As such, this is a big step up for Martin. Martin is fast, technical, and defensively tight, with good footwork. He’s not a huge volume boxer, but he’s good at blocking incoming artillery and then ripping the body in response. The problem is he’s not a huge puncher, and he’s facing someone who is. That makes the margin for error much smaller.
I like Martin as a fighter, but he’s facing an uphill battle in this one. That being said, I do think he has a good chance to make this a fight. Davis is not a fast starter and Martin is so quick and defensively that at the very least he’s going to make Tank work for it. Add in that Tank’s been out of action for over a year, and I think this one goes long in a bout that might not be the most thrilling to watch.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Tatsuro Taira To Win By KO/TKO/DQ or Submission (+100)
The UFC main event this Saturday is set up to be the arrival of Japan’s best MMA prospect. Taira is only 24 years old and has all the trappings of a future champion. The Okinawa native is an elite athlete, lethal grappler, and developing striker with natural power. Taira has dominated in his five UFC fights which is why he’s getting this shot at a top-five opponent.
Alex Perez has been a staple of the UFC’s flyweight division since 2017, even challenging for the title in 2020. Things didn’t go well for Perez that night, which has sort of been the story of his career: losing whenever he faces the best opposition. This is Perez’s second shot to rebuff an emerging wunderkind (he lost to Muhammad Mokaev in March) and to prove he’s still in the mix for title contention.
This should be a straightforward win for Taira. He’s the superior grappler and the far better athlete, and can compete on the feet, if not win outright there. The main questions is how will he win? Historically, when Perez loses it’s by submission, and while that seems to be the most likely outcome, I’m not ruling out Taira showing off his improving hands.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Joshua Van (+170)
Originally this was going to be a bet on Ikram Aliskerov, but late on Thursday, Aliskerov was pulled from the event this weekend to step in on short notice and fight Robert Whittaker at UFC Saudi Arabia next Saturday. In light of that, we’re pivoting to a prelim underdog.
Van takes on top-15 flyweight Tagir Ulanbekov in the featured prelim fight of on Saturday. Only 22 years old, this is a huge step up for the super prospect but one he’s got a realistic shot at winning. Ulanbekov is a big, experienced flyweight who has only lost to top-shelf competition, but he’s not the most dynamic fighter. Van has that in spades. Moreover, Van has shown good takedown defense and good scrambling ability when he does get taken down, meaning Ulanbekov shouldn’t totally have his way.
If Van can continue to show the sort of rapid improvement he’s shown the last few times out, a new contender will emerge on Saturday.
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