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Lando Norris’ anguish tells the story of both the F1 Spanish Grand Prix and the season lando,norris,anguish,tells,the,story,of,both,the,f,spanish,grand,prix,and,the,season,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

Lando Norris anguish tells the story of both the F1
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The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya contains the longest run from the start-finish line to the first turn on the entire Formula 1 schedule. Measuring in at 579 meters from the pole position grid box to Turn 1, that is a lot of ground to cover at the start of a Grand Prix.

Saturday night those 579 meters must have been on Lando Norris’ mind.

Starting in P1, Norris knew he had to close the door on Max Verstappen at the start of Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix. To beat Verstappen you need to be perfect, you need to be “balls out” as Norris rather eloquently described on Saturday after snaring pole position from his rival. That meant slamming the door on Verstappen — one of the greatest drivers the sport has ever seen — over those first 579 meters and holding on from there.

Try as he might after the lights went out, Norris could not fend him off. Verstappen was able to get by his friend and rival shortly after the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix began after a hard bit of racing between the two.

Their initial fight opened the door for George Russell, albeit for just a moment. Russell was able to overtake both drivers with a stunning double overtake at the start to take an early lead in the race.

But Verstappen was not behind the Mercedes for long. Prodded on by race engineer Gianpiero “GP” Lambiase, Verstappen stuck his own overtake of Russell on Lap 3 to get into the lead.

Where he would finish, capturing his seventh Grand Prix victory of the season.

Again, however, he needed to push. In the closing stages of the race, Norris was again trying to close the gap, extracting every last bit of rubber out of his tires, much as he did at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix a few weeks ago. At Imola, Norris just needed one more lap and he might have caught his friend, ultimately losing by less than a second. In Barcelona, Norris could only close the gap to around two seconds, and at the end of the race when informed by his team he had indeed finished second, the McLaren driver was distraught.

“Should have won,” started Norris. “I ******* up the start.”

But that anguish from Norris perhaps tells the bigger story of this Formula 1 season. A year ago a P2 finish, two seconds behind Verstappen, would have been considered a massive win for any team. At this track a year ago Verstappen won by over 24 seconds.

That gap is down to just two seconds this year.

Verstappen may go on to secure his fourth-straight Drivers’ Championship. He may carry Red Bull to their third-straight Constructors’ title.

But this year, he and Red Bull are going to have to work for it.

Here are the full results from the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix, as well as some more winners and losers.

Winners: McLaren

“Not could, should have.”

That is how Lando Norris described his effort at the Spanish Grand Prix to David Coulthard trackside after the race. Norris was emphatic that not only could he have won this race, but that he should have.

Again, that anguish highlights just how much the game has changed this F1 season.

Norris may rue the start to the Spanish Grand Prix, where as outlined above he faced one of the biggest challenges on the calendar, which is holding the lead over the long run into Turn 1 at Barcelona. Norris gave it everything he had, even forcing Verstappen hard to the inside in an incident that race officials investigated, but took no further action on as it was an opening-lap racing incident. But in the end, Verstappen was just too much.

On this day. Upcoming races, however, may be different.

“Austria and Silverstone are two of my favorite tracks,” added Norris to Coulthard. “I need to just tidy up a few little bits and I’ll be on top.”

Still, this was another strong day for McLaren. Norris kept his streak alive of being the only driver this season to secure points in every Grand Prix, and his 18 points — along with the bonus point for the fastest lap of the race — along with the six points from Oscar Piastri’s P7 saw McLaren bank 25 points on the day. That is seven more points than that 18 Ferrari took home thanks to a P5 from Charles Leclerc and a P6 from Carlos Sainz Jr.

Inching McLaren a few points closer to the Scuderia in their fight for second in the Constructors’ Championship.

Loser: C1 hard compound

Photo by Alessio Morgese/NurPhoto via Getty Images

In the game of F1 tire strategy, there was a clear loser this Sunday: The C1 compound, designated by Pirelli as the “hard” compound for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.

A two-stop strategy was highlighted throughout the buildup to the Spanish Grand Prix as the ideal path for teams, but those potential strategies often utilized some variation of soft and medium tires. As illustrated by the brilliant Ruth Buscombe on F1TV — whose move from Head of Race Strategy at Sauber to an analyst on F1TV has been a massive addition to the coverage — given the surface in Barcelona drivers want to be on as soft a compound as possible at the end of the race, otherwise the grip is just not there.

But two teams in contention rolled the dice on those C1 tires: Mercedes with George Russell and Ferrari with Carlos Sainz Jr.

Both drivers eventually saw their teammates overtake them on softer tires, with Charles Leclerc getting by Sainz for P5 and Lewis Hamilton overtaking Russell on a set of softs for the final podium position.

And further back in the field some teams that tried to extend longer runs on the hards in hopes of something breaking their way, only saw those tires fade down the stretch of those runs.

For those wondering, the C1 hard compound will not come into play at next weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, as Pirelli has already identified the three compounds for that race weekend. The C3, which was the softest compound in Barcelona, will be the hard compound at Red Bull Ring, with the C4 serving as the medium and the C5 as the soft.

Silverstone, however, will see the C1, the C2, and the C3 back in service.

That gives the C1 two weeks to think about what it’s done …

Winners: Mercedes

“It’s been a good day,” described Lewis Hamilton after the race to David Coulthard.

Sunday was indeed a good day for Mercedes. The Spanish Grand Prix began with the Silver Arrows having the second row all to themselves, with Lewis Hamilton in P3 and George Russell in P4.

And that is how they ended, bringing home 27 points on the weekend, another solid haul for the team.

Dating back to the Miami Grand Prix when Mercedes started rolling out a series of upgrades to their 2024 challenger, the W15, the talk from the team has been that of “progress.” But over the past two race weekends, that progress has been fully realized. Russell notched the team’s first Grand Prix podium of the season with his third-place finish in the Canadian Grand Prix, and Hamilton made it two in a row for the Brackley-based team with his first Grand Prix podium of the season in Barcelona. (Hamilton finished second in the F1 Sprint Race at the Chinese Grand Prix back in April).

Speaking with Coulthard the seven-time Drivers’ Champion hailed the effort from the team. “I have to say a big thank you to the team because they just, they’ve been training so hard,” described Hamilton. “The strategy and the pit stops were really on point.”

Sunday’s result pulled Mercedes two points closer to McLaren, and also nine points closer to Ferrari, in the Constructors’ Championship standings. With a long way to go in this season, there is reason to believe that Mercedes can truly turn this progress into performance and eventually, positions in the standings.

Losers: Aston Martin

Aston Martin has been downplaying expectations all week. Following Saturday’s qualifying session that saw both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll end their days in Q2, Team Principal Mike Krack outlined how that was “ … the best we had in the car today.” That meant a podium finish was likely out of the cards, and points were their only achievable goal.

A goal that they could not accomplish on Sunday.

By the time the checkered flag flew both drivers were on the outside of the points looking in, with Stroll in 14th and hometown hero Alonso a few spots ahead, in P12.

Aston Martin is slowly finding themselves where Alpine was a season ago. Just quick enough that the teams at the back end of the midfield cannot pose a true threat, but stuck too far outside range of the teams ahead of them. As the field heads to Red Bull Ring Aston Martin find themselves now 93 points behind fourth-place Mercedes, and with the recent run of form from the Silver Arrows, that gap will likely only grow over the next two races.

Thankfully for Aston Martin their closest pursuers, VCARB, had some struggles of their own and could not chip away at the 30 points that separate those two teams.

Still, after a stunning start to the 2023 season that had Aston Martin the talk of the paddock, things have certainly changed for them this season.

Winners: Alpine

Speaking of Alpine …

The French team began the year with six straight races without a single point to show for their hard work.

But after breaking through with their first point of the year, a tenth-place finish from Esteban Ocon at the Miami Grand Prix the driver described as a sign they were “ … headed in the right direction,” the team has now scored in four of the last five race weekends. Not only did Alpine add to their tally again this weekend, but with both Ocon and Pierre Gasly finishing in the points (Ocon in tenth, Gasly in ninth) it marks the second-straight double-points finish for the team.

They still have a long way to go to catch VCARB ahead of them in the standings, as they trail Red Bull’s sister team by 20 points as the grid leaves Barcelona, but this graph from Formula1Points illustrates the upward trajectory we have seen from Alpine in recent weeks:

Screenshot 2024 06 23 at 11.27.31 AM

Can they keep that momentum into Austria, and throughout the rest of the season?

It would make for quite the comeback story.

Joe Mazzulla jumping off a duck boat roof on a torn meniscus is most unhinged moment of Celtics’ parade joe,mazzulla,jumping,off,a,duck,boat,roof,on,a,torn,meniscus,is,most,unhinged,moment,of,celtics,parade,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-playoffs,nba-playoffs-powerhouse-2024,dot-com-grid-coverage

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Anyone unfamiliar with Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has certainly become more aware of one of the NBA’s strangest characters in the wake of Boston’s championship celebrations.

Mazzulla, likely the only head coach in the league who had to be told by his bosses to stop trying to block opposing player’s shots this year, has taken over the internet in the wake of the Celtics’ title celebrations. In addition to carrying the championship trophy around the city to various restaurants, Mazzulla went on an absolutely bonkers celebratory podcast tour that included him breaking down how he would plan to rob a bank, among other wild anecdotes.

Mazzulla has done it all, including coaching the Celtics to banner No. 18, on a meniscus he has apparently needed surgery on since tearing it in March during a loss to the Hawks, because of course he did. After all, this is a man who once tried to turn down health insurance while working in the G League because he “didn’t have time to get hurt.”

Well, he certainly put that mindset to the test during the Celtics’ championship parade, jumping both off the roof and out the window of the duck boat carrying him multiple times — again, on A TORN MENISCUS THAT WILL REQUIRE SURGERY — to celebrate with fans:

Mazzulla’s son even got in on the fun, showing he’s well on track to matching his father’s delightfully chaotic energy:

Perhaps fittingly, all this comes on a day the governor of Mazzulla’s native Rhode Island has officially dubbed “Joe Mazzulla Day.” That was obviously in the works before Friday, but after watching Joe Mazz at the parade, it would be hard to call the day anything else.

The Brewers have refused to leave the top of the NL Central the,brewers,have,refused,to,leave,the,top,of,the,nl,central,sbnation,com,front-page,mlb,dot-com-grid-coverage

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Back in spring training when we were previewing each division, my view of the National League Central Division was that it was anybody’s game where anybody could win. That was also to say that this probably would be the end of the two-season run as NL Central champions for the Milwaukee Brewers. Here’s my reasoning below:

If they’re going to do it again in 2024 then it’ll be a bit of an upset because it appears that they’ve fallen right back into the pack after the offseason that they had. Corbin Burnes is in Baltimore now and Brandon Woodruff is likely to miss the entire season as he recovers from shoulder surgery. They also lost their manager to their rivals on the North Side of Chicago, as the Cubs snatched away Craig Counsell almost immediately after his contract with the Brewers expired. That’s a lot to lose in a division that’s as wide open as the NL Central is.

Well, here we are in mid-June and it’s looking like this division may not be as wide open as I had expected it to be. While there are still plenty of questions as to whether or not any of the other four teams in the NL Central will have what it takes to go on the type of run that could propel them into the Postseason, it’s obvious who currently has the massive upper hand when it comes to winning the division. As it turns out, the more things change, the more they stay the same — manager Pat Murphy’s Milwaukee Brewers once again look like they’re the class of the NL Central.

Heading into this season, the Brewers were only given the third-best odds from FanGraphs to win the division at 18 percent. They were given a 30 percent shot to make the Postseason, which is a perfectly fine chance to have going into any season but it was definitely a bit low for a club that had made it to the Postseason in five of the past six seasons.

Now, Brewers fans can’t complain about the odds being against them since their team has surged their way into the position of being massive favorites. Heading into action on June 20, the Brewers are now being given a whopping 73 percent chance to make it three divisional titles in a row and are also being given an 86 percent shot to make the playoffs either way. Most importantly, the Brewers 44-30 and are 7.5 games ahead of the Cardinals for first place in the Central and also hold the second-largest divisional lead in the National League.

While a lot of this may have to do with the fact that the Cubs and Cardinals both have yet to really put it together like most observers expected them to, it also has to do with the fact that maybe the Brewers themselves didn’t get the memo that they were supposed to fade away into the pack. At the very least, Willy Adames and William Contreras both definitely missed the memo as both of them have been fantastic in Milwaukee’s lineup so far this season.

Willy Adames in particular has been killing it both at the plate but out in the field as well. Adames currently has a wRC+ of 118 to go with a wOBA of .336 and 12 home runs as well. If he can keep on producing at the plate at this rate, then he’ll be celebrating a career year once the season ends. Combine that with the fact that he’s currently in the 98th percentile of all fielders when it comes to Outs Above Average and you’ve got a player who has been the total package for the Brewers here in 2024. Adames has rarely had a season where he’s put it together with both his bat and his glove so it’s definitely encouraging for Milwaukee that this appears to be the year where it’s all connecting in his favor.

Meanwhile, William Contreras has simply just been mashing the ball like crazy this season. If he’s made contact with a ball, there’s a very good chance that it’s going to fly long and far and get to where it’s going in a hurry. Contreras is in the 95th percentile of all hitters when it comes to both Average Exit Velocity (93.1 mph) and Hard-Hit percentage (53 percent). Combined with his 89th percentile average bat speed and suddenly it’s easy to envision how Contreras got to a point where he’s sporting a 134 wRC+, which is second-best among all qualified catchers and only one point behind Salvador Perez for first place. While Wild Bill’s defense has taken a step back compared to where he was at last season, you aren’t going to hear anybody in Milwaukee complain about what he’s been doing with the bat this season.

Adames and Contreras haven’t been the only ones killing it for Milwaukee this season. Joey Ortiz has gone from struggling mightily in his first 34 big league plate appearances back in 2023 as a member of the Orioles to succeeding wildly as a breakout candidate for the Brewers. He might be doing it in a weird way (and for more on that, check out this article from Ben Clemens of FanGraphs) but you aren’t going to hear about anybody trying to “fix” what he’s doing when it’s working to the tune of a .369 wOBA and a 140 wRC+ so far. Brice Turang has also turned things around in a major way, though he didn’t have a change of scenery like Ortiz did. Instead, he appears to have found his footing in the bigs and is now sitting on a .328 wOBA and 112 wRC+ after struggling through 137 games with a 60 wRC+ in 2023. It also helps that Turang has been a terror to deal with on the basepaths as well, as he’s already stolen 26 bases this season.

The Brewers have also been getting positive contributions in the outfield from guys like Blake Perkins (and his 97th percentile-rated OAA) and even Christian Yelich. As it turns out, his resurgent 2023 campaign wasn’t just a flash in the pan and Yelich looks primed to improve upon a season that saw him start to look like the old dynamo that was playing MVP-caliber baseball just a few years ago. Yelich’s wOBA is currently at a lofty .394 and his wRC+ is at 157, which is easily as high as it’s been since the halcyon days of 2018 and 2019 when he was truly among the game’s elite players. While Yelich probably won’t fully return to that level again, the Brewers don’t need him to be a world-beater — they just need him to continue being what he is, which is a reliable hitter to slot into what’s been an impressive lineup for Milwaukee so far this season.

Between the high level of production that Milwaukee is getting from impact guys and the fact that they’ve already built up such a large lead in the division, it’s hard to see the Brewers messing this up as we get into the actual second half of this season. Additionally, the Brewers currently have the joint-fifth-easiest strength-of-schedule going forward at .492 while their divisional rivals in Chicago (.508 remaining strength-of-schedule) and St. Louis (.514) each have tougher roads ahead. The Pirates have a similarly-tough SOS remaining (.507) and while the Reds have a slightly-easier road ahead (.491), they also need to get their act together outside of Elly de la Cruz doing cool stuff on a nightly basis.

All this means is that the Brewers have bucked all the odds and have managed to play themselves into a very good position for another season. It’s all coming up sunshine and roses for the Brewers and the only thing that’s really gone wrong for them here in 2024 has been one of their employees getting caught failing miserably in an attempt to do assassination work as a side job. I didn’t make up a single word of that last sentence, either. I’m not going to hold that insane bit of news against the Brewers though since I believe that this squad is smart enough to not find themselves in such an incredibly hot mess. Either way, y’all should keep an eye on Milwaukee this season as they are once again right in the thick of the Postseason conversation.

NBA players joining Kendrick Lamar to dance to Drake diss track is probably the worst moment of Aubrey’s life nba,players,joining,kendrick,lamar,to,dance,to,drake,diss,track,is,probably,the,worst,moment,of,aubrey,s,life,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,draftkings

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Drake may never recover from this.

Kendrick Lamar through one of the greatest televised concerts of all-time on Wednesday night during Juneteenth in a show that featured so many West Coast icons. Los Angeles natives Russell Westbrook and DeMar Derozan came out on stage singing and dancing to all FIVE renditions of Lamar’s lyrical Kamehameha diss track ‘Not Like Us,’ directed at Drake.

‘The Pop Out’, hosted by Kendrick Lamar and every West Coast rapper seemingly on Earth, was less a concert and more a victory lap, putting people on to West Coast rappers while giving Lamar the time to go through his entire setlist of songs that include direct or shaded shots at Drake. It was a moment, an event that put the West Coast right in front of everyone in the world.

It was also a chance for West Coast icons such as Westbrook and Derozan to show up and show out in their home. Getting DeRozan there felt like a given, because of Lamar’s line in ‘Not Like Us’: “I’m glad DeRoz came home, y’all didn’t deserve him neither, from Alondra down to Central n**** better not speak on Serena.” DeRoz is obviously DeRozan, who was traded out of Toronto in the Kawhi Leonard deal, but is known as an icon with the Raptors. However, he’s even more known for being from Compton, a West Coast dude at heart. Getting him up on the stage when Lamar called all of the West Coast icons and rappers up to the stage was an awesome moment, as well as getting Westbrook up there.

Russ looked like he was having the time of his life. He looked like he was having more fun up on stage than he was at any time with the Clippers this season.

While Westbrook and DeRozan are obviously big hits to Drake’s rep in the NBA (which he very deeply cares about), neither of them will equal the final NBA player spotted at The Pop Out on Wednesday.

Take the L out of Certified Lover Boy, it’s Certified OVER Boy.

This is the greatest victory lap of all time, and getting all the NBA players out there was just another chance to dance on the grave.

The story of baseball can’t be told without Willie Mays the,story,of,baseball,can,t,be,told,without,willie,mays,sbnation,com,front-page,mlb

The story of baseball cant be told without Willie Mays
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When someone who was larger than life passes on from this life, you often hear people say that it’s “impossible to put into words” just how important that particular person was. While that might be 100 percent true when it comes to the legendary Willie Mays, it’s also true that maybe words are the best way to talk about The Say Hey Kid and his impact on the game of baseball. Simply put, you can’t tell the story of baseball without talking about Willie Mays — it is impossible to overstate just how much of an impact he had on the game.

I could go on and on about his on-field exploits. If you’ve watched baseball on TV for, let’s say, the past 70 years then there’s a near 100 percent chance that y’all have seen the astonishing over-the-shoulder catch that he made in the abyss that was deep center field at the Polo Grounds during the 1954 World Series a million times now. Even now, watching him make that catch is just like how commentator Jack Brickhouse describes it: It’s like looking at an optical illusion.

It’s also one of those plays that only gets more impressive the more you watch baseball since it becomes clear that this isn’t the type of thing that happens often — or at all, really. Jim Edmonds made an absolutely incredible catch back in 1997 — a catch that was immediately compared to what Willie Mays had done 43 years earlier and both catches are still firmly implanted in every baseball fan’s imagination here in 2024. What sets Willie Mays apart from the rest of the pack is that if you ask him, that wasn’t even his best catch.

Instead, he told Bob Costas on MLB Network back in 2010 that his actual best catch happened on April 11, 1970. That was when he took flight and robbed not only Bobby Tolan of what would’ve at least been extra bases but he also robbed Bobby Bonds of making the catch on his own merits. That’s because Mays sped towards where the ball was going to land, took flight and made like the Jumpman logo about 18 years before the Jumpman logo came into existence in order to rob the home run and keep the Giants up 1-0 at that point in the game. If the man himself says that this was the best catch that he ever made, then who are we to argue with him? I’m not about to argue with Willie Mays!

The fact that Mays himself was 100 percent certain that he was going to make that catch says everything about the unique type of ballplayer that Mays was — right along with the fact that both he and Bonds stayed in the game after Mays essentially knocked himself out while making the catch. Everything about that sequence of events shows just how much Willie Mays loved baseball and the fact that we’re still talking about it to this day is an example of how the game loved him back. It’s also amazing to consider that he did this when he was 39 years old!

The circus catch took place during the season before his age-40 season in 1971, which is when he proceeded hit .271/.425/.482 with a .406 wOBA, 18 home runs and a 157 wRC+ for the season. His 5.9 fWAR as a 40-year-old in 1971 is still the best single season by a player 40-or-older in MLB history. Most baseball players could only dream of producing a six-win season at any point in their career but Willie Mays was not like “most baseball players.” There was only one Say Hey Kid and Willie Mays absolutely left a unique mark on the game of baseball like few other players could.

Photo by Charles Hoff/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

When I say that the story of baseball can’t be told without Willie Mays, I really and truly mean it. If you want to talk about Barry Bonds and what he did to the record books, you can’t go long without mentioning that Willie Mays was his godfather and served as a constant source of wisdom and inspiration for the future career leader in home runs. If you want to talk about Ken Griffey Jr., it’s impossible to do so without eventually bringing up how The Say Hey Kid influenced The Kid on both a professional and a personal level. Griffey and Bonds are two absolute titans of the sport and as great as they were, they’ll also be the first two people to say that Willie Mays was the best to ever do it in the game of baseball.

The story of baseball also includes Negro League baseball and Willie Mays will forever be a part of that legacy as well. Even though he’s only credited with 13 games played in 1948 with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League, those 13 games are now formally considered to be the beginning of Mays’ big league career. It would’ve been incredibly fitting to see Willie Mays in attendance for the big game at Rickwood Field on Thursday. It’s where the legend started his illustrious career and it would’ve been an incredible moment to see him get recognized at the newly-revitalized gem of a ballpark with the eyes of the baseball world set squarely upon Birmingham, Alabama.

Instead, the Rickwood game will now surely be a tribute to not just all of the Negro League baseball players from the past but it will especially serve as tribute to Willie Mays and the impact that he left on the sport of baseball. While he wouldn’t have been able to make the trip had he hung on for a bit longer, that doesn’t change the fact that he will be remembered like the baseball royalty that he was. The recognition that he will receive won’t be enough, just like the recognition that the baseball world gave him wasn’t enough even while he was still with us.

That’s not for lack of trying — I’m sure that whatever is in store for the game at Rickwood Field on Thursday will be spectacular and one good thing I can say about the culture of baseball is that Willie Mays definitely got his roses from the baseball community while he could still smell them. This sport truly idolizes its legends and Willie Mays was treated as such even long after he had retired. We’re talking about a legend who was banned from baseball for life for simply taking on a job as a part-time greeter at a casino, only to get reinstated (alongside Mickey Mantle) almost immediately as soon as Bowie Kuhn’s successor took the job. The new commissioner didn’t even make any changes to the rules or anything like that — this was just a case of restoring the feeling. Baseball just ain’t baseball without guys like Mickey Mantle and especially Willie Mays and that’s why they were both reinstated.

Willie Mays lived to be 93 and it’s obvious that he made the most of every single one of the years that was blessed to live for. There are very few baseball players who captured the imagination like The Say Hey Kid did when he played. He continued to live on as a legend long after he finished playing and to say that his impact on the game is still being felt to this day would be a complete and utter understatement. The game lost a legend with his passing but as the fictional version of Babe Ruth put it, “Legends never die.” As long as baseball exists then Willie Mays will be remembered. If you don’t believe me, then come back to this article in 2054 when they’re celebrating 100 years since that catch at the Polo Grounds and then we can chat again.

Charles Leclerc joins Olympic torch relay ahead of Paris Summer Games charles,leclerc,joins,olympic,torch,relay,ahead,of,paris,summer,games,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

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The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics are just over a month away, the the Olympic flame has begun its journey to the Opening Ceremonies.

And on Tuesday, the Olympic torch relay had a Formula 1 feel.

As the relay made its way through Monaco, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was one of the individuals tapped to carry the torch through the Principality. Other Monaco figures involved in the relay with Leclerc — who finally broke through with a victory in his home race, the Monaco Grand Prix — included Princess Charlene, Prince Albert II, and bobsledder Rudy Rinaldi.

Leclerc shared some footage of his time with the Olympic torch on social media:

While the Olympic flame will continue its journey to Paris, Leclerc will soon head to Barcelona for the F1 Spanish Grand Prix. The driver is hoping to be part of a big bounce-back for Ferrari, as both Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. finished outside of the points the last time out, at the Canadian Grand Prix.

That result saw Red Bull pull 25 points further ahead of Ferrari in the F1 Constructors’ Championship. And with McLaren scoring 28 points — thanks to a P2 from Lando Norris and a P5 from Oscar Piastri — Ferrari absolutely needs a bounce-back performance in Barcelona.

Perhaps carrying the Olympic flame will provide Leclerc with some inspiration this weekend.

U.S. women’s coach Emma Hayes is saying all the right things. Here’s a few of the best so far u,s,women,s,coach,emma,hayes,is,saying,all,the,right,things,here,s,a,few,of,the,best,so,far,sbnation,com,front-page,soccer,united-states-womens-national-team,soccer-sg,all-womens-sports,womens-soccer,usmnt-coverage

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Many believe Emma Hayes has what it takes to return the U.S. women’s national team to the No. 1 status in the world it coveted for decades.

Over the last few years, the prominence of the U.S. women’s team has dropped considerably as key players have retired from the world stage and young newcomers are asked to hold the line.

Despite wins in a pair of recent matches, the U.S. dropped to No. 5 in the latest FIFA women’s world rankings. And while it may not appear as though being the fifth best team in the world is that big of a scare, anyone who knows the dominance of the States for the last 40 years as the preeminent team to beat knows that the latest designation certainly came as a surprise.

For the first time, fans got an insider’s look at the philosophy of Hayes through the latest version of Inside the Crest, U.S. Soccer’s mini-documentary series which chronicles the exploits of both the men’s and women’s programs.

Usually, these are not much more than fluff for the program, but the latest offered a direct look at Hayes and a player pool eager to make her roster in advance of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

Hayes had several poignant comments to the group but these were the Top 5 quotables from Hayes to the team ahead of their back-to-back tune-up games against Korea Republic.

After the Olympic squad is selected, the group will have two tune up games in July. The first against rival Mexico on July 13 (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT, NBC Universo) and Costa Rica on July 16 (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT, NBC Universo).

— Emma Hayes to the group ahead of their first game, a 4-0 win against Korea Republic. This is now a group that is 7-1-2 overall in 2024, scoring 26 goals and allowing just seven.

Hayes was adamant in a team meeting that she’s not looking to change much but elevate with the group she’s got. And, right now even with the loss of players like Megan Rapinoe, Julie Ertz and others due to retiring from international duty, Hayes feels she can work what she’s got into one of the world’s best.

This was great as it added a bit of her philosophy on coaching and style and what she expects out of every player. There’s also an acknowledgment off the bat that she and her staff know that it comes down to their preparation as much as the execution. No scapegoating here.

Took this to mean she doesn’t really care about the pressures from the federation. They hired her to do a job and gave her some pretty moldable tools to do it, so what is there to complain about? Results are all that matter and so far, she’s off to a good start.

This quote says it all. Pressure’s off when it comes to worrying about playing for your country. You’re already here. Do your job and enjoy the ride.

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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:

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.

Boom. Done. Easy.

The Carolina Panthers are hurtling towards threats of relocation the,carolina,panthers,are,hurtling,towards,threats,of,relocation,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,draftkings

The Carolina Panthers are hurtling towards threats of relocation thecarolinapanthersarehurtlingtowardsthreatsofrelocationsbnationcomfront pagenfldraftkings
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All is not well with the Carolina Panthers, and it has nothing to do with recent years of putrid performance. Charlotte City Council will hear statements from the public on Monday about whether or not taxpayers believe $650M in revenue should be given to Tepper Sport Entertainment (TSE) to renovate Bank of America Stadium as part of a $1.3B proposal to upgrade the home of the Panthers.

Over 60 percent of residents polled disagree with the proposal, which would exchange the $650M for a 20-year guarantee that the team would not relocate from Charlotte. This “guarantee” gives TSE a 15-year out to leave in 2039 and pay “any outstanding debt” in exchange for the move.

It’s the latest in a back-and-forth between North Carolina residents and David Tepper, who has seemingly done everything in his power to become the most-disliked man in professional sports since purchasing the Panthers in 2018. While there’s little doubt some good has come from Tepper’s time, like the establishment of Charlotte FC in MLS and turning the stadium into a large-scale concert venue, he’s also alienated the public time and time again by making seemingly unnecessary changes that forsake tradition in name of the bottom line.

These changes include:

  • Moving training camp from Spartanburg, South Carolina — which allowed lower-income fans to see the team in person, to the center of Charlotte on Panthers property to transform camp into more of a money-making venue, alienating fans.
  • Removing natural grass from Bank of America Stadium and replacing it with field turf, much to the chagrin of players and fans.
  • A plan to move Panthers headquarters to Rock Hill, South Carolina — which was seen as a positive move, only to have Tepper back out mid-construction and become embroiled in a legal battle with the county.
  • Rumors of exploratory conversations with neighboring Kannapolis to build the stadium, if Charlotte didn’t play ball.

In short: There’s been myriad examples of why people should be wary of any deal involving Tepper that promises it will be better for them — because ultimately everything that has transpired since 2018 has only been better for David Tepper.

Where the current proposal falls short

There has been a lot of mistrust around Bank of America Stadium itself. Completed in 1996, the stadium is not yet 30 years old — but there has been a back-and-forth on whether what level of renovation the stadium actually needs.

Fans anticipated that any redesign for the stadium would include either a full or partial dome, which would allow for the city to host a Super Bowl, as well as other clear-cut amenities for fans. Instead the first stage of the revamp (and the only guaranteed changes) are largely superfluous, outside of restrooms.

There are legitimate questions why this first stage is set to cost over $650M, without really offering much to fans. It’s the Panthers’ argument that funds they’re looking for are already earmarked for tourism and development anyway, but new bathrooms and a video board doesn’t make the team more of a destination.

Essentially we’re seeing some basic infrastructure being pitched as a tourism improvement, with the veiled threat being that if these aren’t delivered then there’s no guarantee the Panthers will stay in Charlotte.

The majority of the changes people actually want come in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 development plans, both of which are at the whim of Tepper and the Panthers. There’s a very real possibility none of the most exciting elements of the redesign are realized — with taxpayers being on the hook for upfits they don’t really want.

Meanwhile, the $677M of public funds could be spent on a variety of tourism-centric public works that drastically improve the city, such as museums, public transportation, and a long-proposed rain line from Charlotte Douglas Airport — all of which would likely garner much more tourism than these changes for the Panthers.

Could the team really move over this?

Yes, absolutely. However, as we’ve seen in more recent NFL arguments over public funding it’s less about mammoth moves to different regions — and more about threats to move from outside city limits and into neighboring suburbs.

Ultimately it’s simple about finding a sucker to fit the bill, and there’s been no shortage of suckers in local government (especially outside of major cities) willing to fund pet projects for billionaires at taxpayer expense. In the case of the Panthers it would likely mean a move to wealthy neighboring areas in either North or South Carolina, both of which are part of the Charlotte suburban area.

In the grand scheme of things this would mean little to the NFL as a whole, but have a mammoth impact on the perception of the Panthers locally, who have called Uptown Charlotte home since the team’s inception.

Relocation for the Panthers has always been a risk. Tepper is the wealthiest individual owner in the NFL with a net worth of $20.6B. It would be peanuts for him to pay a relocation fee and exit the entire region if that’s what he wants, and there would be no shortage of other states willing to become the suckers to gain an NFL team.

The first salvo will be fired on Monday as the public voices their concerns. Ultimately this will help shape whether Charlotte City Council agrees to give the Panthers money, or rejects their overtures. If this funding falls through then the escalation will continue, and there’s no doubt talks of moving will be on the cards.

U.S. Open: Rory McIlroy squeals out of Pinehurst after heartbreak u,s,open,rory,mcilroy,squeals,out,of,pinehurst,after,heartbreak,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,us-open-golf,golf-majors,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

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Rory McIlroy left Pinehurst No. 2 as soon as Bryson DeChambeau putted out for a one stroke victory.

Multiple reporters on the ground saw McIlroy bolt right for his courtesy car and leave the golf course as fast as he could. Alan Bastable of Golf.com caught it on video.

McIlroy did not conduct any media interviews, nor did he speak to anyone from NBC Sports.

McIlroy could not stomach his latest major championship heartbreak, with this one hurting more than all the other ones combined.

He looked completely dejected in the scoring room afterward, and understandably so.

The Northern Irishman stood on the tee at the par-3 15th hole at 8-under par, with DeChambeau trailing him by one. But he airmailed the green with a 7-iron, which led to a bogey four. His demise would get worse from there.

On the next hole, McIlroy had a 2-foot-6-inch putt for par and inexplicably missed. His second straight bogey dropped him back to 6-under for the championship and into a tie with DeChambeau with two holes to play.

After making an up-and-down to save par on 17, McIlroy pulled his drive left into the native area on 18, drawing a poor lie with wiregrass right in front of his ball. He then hit his second shot just short of the green, barely escpaing the sand trap that guards the front of the putting surface. McIlroy played his third shot to 3-feet-9-inches behind the hole, and like he did on 16, he missed that putt too.

Just like that, McIlroy dropped three shots over his final four holes as his collapse at the 124th U.S. Open will live on forever.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.