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Comparing PGA Tour Players To Their Ultimate John Deere Equivalent comparing,pga,tour,players,to,their,ultimate,john,deere,equivalent,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-opinions

Comparing PGA Tour Players To Their Ultimate John Deere Equivalent
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The John Deere Classic is one of the staples on the PGA Tour, as it has helped catapult many player’s careers.

Has anyone thought about what the PGA Tour players’ equipment equivalent would be? With some of the coolest tee markers, why not keep the fun going by comparing players and farm equipment?

Twitter user “Tweeth Mitchell,” asked the same question, which led to a collaboration to create six players and what John Deere equipment they would be.

While it is a niche topic, it is still fun to think about and come up with comparisons.

Let’s discuss which equipment matches the players at the John Deere Classic, as we introduced “The Farm Team.”

A graphic with Denny McCarthy and his John Deere equivalent.
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Frontier RC-20 Rotary Cutter: Denny McCarthy

The Frontier RC20 is known for mowing down the competition with precision, just like sharpshooter Denny McCarthy. Because of his accuracy, McCarthy is among the favorites this week. Look for him to go for flag sticks at every opportunity.

John Deere Classic, Sepp Straka

A graphic with Sepp Straka and his John Deere equivalent
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T6 800 Combine: Sepp Straka

The T6 Combine is a heavy-duty piece of machinery with a wide body and a lot of power, just like Sepp Straka, the 2023 John Deere Classic champion.

Straka usually plays well at TPC Deere Run, and there will be plenty of opportunities to harvest birdies this week. Like a heavy-duty machine, sometimes it takes Straka time to warm up, but once he does, he will go lower.

John Deere Classic, Neal Shipley

A graphic comparing Neal Shipley to his John Deere equivalent
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9500 Self-Propelled Forage Harvester: Neal Shipley

When you need to make hay while the sun shines, you need the 9500 Self-Propelled Forage Harvester and Neal Shipley. No one has done that better with limited opportunities than Shipley.

He became the first player since Viktor Hovland in 2019 to win low-amateur at both the Masters and US Open. The former Ohio State Buckeye recorded a T20 finish last week at Rocket Mortgage in his PGA Tour debut as a professional.

Jordan Spieth, John Deere Classic

A graphic comparing Jordan Spieth to his John Deere equivalent.
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R4023 Sprayer: Jordan Spieth

Two-time John Deere Classic winner Jordan Spieth is a player known for spraying the ball. He fits the bill to match perfectly with the R4023 Sprayer.

Spieth won his first Tour event here in 2013, but he will need to control his spray tendency if he wants to win the John Deere Classic for the third time in five starts. He fired a 2-under 69 in Round 1, but he will need to go low if he expects to make the cut.

John Deere Classic, J.T. Poston

A graphic comparing J.T. Poston and his John Deere equivalent.
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2230 Lift-Level Field Cultivator: J.T Poston

A player who can lift his own level in the right field and cultivate a win is the 2021 John Deere Classic champion, J.T. Poston. That ability makes his perfect equipment match the 2230 Lift-Level Field Cultivator.

He is poised for another huge week in the quad cities. Driving accuracy, approach play and clutch putting are all crucial skills at TPC Deere Run, so Poston should be able to leverage those areas for a high finish this week.

John Deere Classic, Joel Dahmen

A graphic comparing Joel Dahmen and his John Deere equivalent.
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X739 Riding Mower: Joel Dahmen

Joel Dahmen looks like he owns an X739 Riding Mower or something close to it. He gives off the dad vibe who drinks cold beer and takes care of his pristine lawn. With his bucket hat and laid-back style, no other piece of equipment would fit him better.

The Netflix star looks to get his way into the FedEx Cup playoffs, and a strong finish at the John Deere Classic will help him get closer to that goal.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

5 NBA teams falling behind their rivals after not doing enough this summer nba,teams,falling,behind,their,rivals,after,not,doing,enough,this,summer,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-trade-rumors,nba-free-agency,draftkings

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The first big wave of player movement in the 2024 NBA offseason has come and gone, and a few things are starting to crystalize. The Oklahoma City Thunder look like the class of the West after adding Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso to last year’s No. 1 seed. The Boston Celtics remain a strong favorite in the East, but the New York Knicks with Mikal Bridges and Philadelphia 76ers with Paul George are ready to push them.

Some teams have set themselves up for improvement this offseason even if they aren’t at the top of the championship picture. The Dallas Mavericks did well to add more shooting and defense around Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, and it will be fascinating to see how Klay Thompson performs away from the Bay. The Orlando Magic won’t sneak up on anyone this year, and have a chance to be an emerging Eastern Conference powerhouse.

Then there’s the teams who haven’t done enough. While there’s plenty of time left in the offseason to make moves, these six teams should be feeling the heat to do something or they are going to get left behind by their rivals.

Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets could have retained Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency if they wanted to. Instead, Denver was too afraid of looming penalties for entering the ‘second apron’ of the luxury tax, and decided it could replace the veteran two-guard’s production with younger players. Either that, or ownership just cheaped out.

This is the time that Denver should be going all-in around Nikola Jokic. The three-time MVP is in the prime of his career at 29 years old, yet the team around him continues to lose talent over nothing but money. The Nuggets lost Bruce Brown and Jeff Green last year after winning the 2023 championship, and now it’s lost an even bigger contributor in KCP. This decision puts a ton of pressure on Denver’s untested young bench — Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther — to perform at a high level immediately. The Nuggets’ depth was already an issue last year, and it’s an even more glaring need now.

The Nuggets will still be very good. They may even still win the title. But the team got significantly worse by losing Caldwell-Pope for no good reason. The young guys are going to have to take a major leap, or the Nuggets have failed Jokic this summer.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers were a pretty good team last year that only won one playoff game and never had a realistic chance of winning the Western Conference. It would seem to behoove a team like that to make some major moves in the offseason, especially when it has three first round picks to trade at its disposal. Instead, the Lakers have been content to draft Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, and do nothing else.

Knecht can help the Lakers next season as a rookie with his off-ball shooting, but that won’t be enough to make a major push up the standings. LA is betting on internal development of their young players, but if they make a real veteran addition, chances are they will be worse by proxy. LA got very good health out of LeBron James and Anthony Davis last season, and who knows if that will be the case this year. The West keeps improving, and the Lakers are doing nothing as LeBron James sets to enter his age-40 season.

The Lakers are preparing for life after James instead of going all-in while he’s still an elite player. LA doesn’t want to trade its future draft picks and take on penalties from entering the second-apron. The Lakers are kind of just chilling, and that shouldn’t be good enough when they employ the superstar with the longest prime in league history.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks were supposed to be a championship contender after acquiring Damian Lillard last season. Instead, the team looked underwhelming out of the gates, fired first-year head coach Adrian Griffin to replace him with Doc Rivers at midseason, and then saw Giannis Antetokounmpo suffer a season-ending injury just before the playoffs.

It feels like it’s now or never for the Lillard-Antetokounmpo pairing entering the 2024-25 season, but the Bucks have done absolutely nothing to improve the team this summer.

It’s true that the Bucks are capped out and light on future assets, but other teams have found a way to get creative in similar situations. Milwaukee’s big plan appears to be praying for good health from their four veteran stars. That doesn’t seem like a wise move when the 76ers and Knicks went all-out to add top-end talent, while the Celtics remain the class of the conference. If Milwaukee disappoints again this season, it’s only a matter of time before Antetokounmpo trade rumors pop up again.

Miami Heat

The Heat missed out on Damian Lillard last summer, and they never had a chance at Donovan Mitchell this summer before he re-signed with Cleveland. Miami is a franchise known for taking big swings, yet they’ve done a whole lot of nothing heading into the 2024-25 season.

Jimmy Butler is entering the final year of his contract without an extension in place. Bam Adebayo is locked up on a long-term deal, and there are some nice young pieces on the roster in Jaime Jaquez, Nikola Jovic, Kel’el Ware, and Tyler Herro. For now, the Heat feel like a team stuck in two-timelines: one not good enough to win with Butler as a centerpiece this season, yet without a foundational player if he leaves in the summer of 2025.

Miami would be wise to look at Butler trades and prioritize their future, but this organization typically doesn’t operate that way. Unless the Heat can find a way to make a move for an impact talent, it feels like they’re stuck at the bottom of the East playoff picture.

Los Angeles Clippers

This one is self-explanatory. The Clippers lost Paul George in free agency without getting assets back for him. LA responded by making some bargain signings in Derrick Jones Jr., Kris Dunn, Nic Batum, and Mo Bamba, but those guys aren’t going to make up the loss of an All-NBA caliber player like George.

The Clippers still have Kawhi Leonard and James Harden on the roster, but that isn’t a reliable duo at this point in their careers. The scary thing for LA is it doesn’t control its own first round pick until 2030. Right now, this looks like a low-end Western Conference playoff team at best with the arrow pointing downhill and very few assets to course correct.

Phoenix Suns

At least the Phoenix Suns didn’t cheap out. Despite a massive luxury tax bill looming, the Suns re-signed Royce O’Neale to a $44 million contract. Phoenix also added Mason Plumlee to bolster its front court depth. We’ll applaud those moves on the margins, but it isn’t enough to really make a difference for a team that just got swept out of the first round of the playoffs.

Phoenix was supposed to be competing for championships when it acquired Kevin Durant. The all-in move for Bradley Beal last summer has backfired, and now Phoenix has an enormous payroll, three ill-fitting stars, and zero tradable future draft picks until 2031.

If the Suns don’t look great to start the season, it’s probably only a matter of time before they need to start thinking about trading Kevin Durant. At that point, Devin Booker’s future would become a major point of speculation, too. The Suns don’t have many moves left to make, and their team still isn’t good enough.

British Grand Prix: Williams to honor their entire organization with ‘Union Jack’ design british,grand,prix,williams,to,honor,their,entire,organization,with,union,jack,design,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one

British Grand Prix Williams to honor their entire organization with
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This weekend’s Formula 1 British Grand Prix is a home race for many teams, given that several factories are located near the historic Silverstone circuit. Williams is among those teams, as their Grove factory is just 41 miles down the A43 from Silverstone.

As such, Williams is going all out for this week’s race.

Among several activations the team has planned for the week is a London Fan Zone, right in the heart of Piccadilly Circus. But the most stunning plan the team has for the week is their theme livery for the British Grand Prix itself, a one-off “Union Jack” design that features not only the iconic flag of the United Kingdom but also the names of “all 1,005 team members” on the car itself:

According to the team’s official announcement, the FW46 will be “ … transformed to fly the flag in thanks and appreciation to everyone at the team’s Grove HQ, New York and London bases and at races who are working tirelessly on our mission to return the team to the front of the grid.”

“Silverstone is always one of the highlights of the year and I’m delighted we are thanking our staff as the centrepiece of our home race celebrations. Williams is transforming from top to bottom so we can fight our way back to the front, and our people and culture will be key to that success,” said Team Principal James Vowles. “It takes extraordinary effort from every individual at the factory and at track to race in Formula 1, and I’m especially proud of the resilience whilst under pressure we have demonstrated so far this year.”

Driver Logan Sargeant praised the design as the “perfect” tribute.

“I’ve always loved racing at Silverstone. The track has everything a driver wants with its quick and flowing nature,” said Sargeant. “I have fond memories of this place throughout my career, and it’s always been one that I’ve performed well at. Racing with the names of every single team member on the car is the perfect way to mark everyone’s hard work and a home race for Williams.”

Meet the young girls putting their own spin on Tony Hawk’s 900 at the X Games meet,the,young,girls,putting,their,own,spin,on,tony,hawk,s,at,the,x,games,sbnation,com,front-page

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Tony Hawk’s 900 isn’t a trick for the faint of heart. It features a full two-and-a-half rotation, and if you don’t have enough speed going into it and your spin is too slow, landing it is nearly impossible, especially given the fact that you’re blind to your landing zone not once, but twice during the trick. Spinning that much requires equal parts courage and skill.

Women’s skateboarding is flush with exciting young superstars who are chock-full of raw talent and fearlessness.

Tony Hawk landed the first 900 in a major competition back at the 1999 X Games. Now, a bastion of young female riders is landing his tricks and revolutionizing the sport at what feels like lightspeed. Now, 11-year-old Canadian skater Reese Nelson and 14-year-old Australian Arisa Trew are just two of these riders.

Arisa Trew is an inspiration to all

Trew became the first female rider to land the elusive 900 on May 30, 2024, while training at Woodward. Earlier in May, Trew had become the first female rider to land a switch McTwist (a 540 variation).

It’s not Trew’s first time making history; she became the first female rider to land the 720 in competition at Tony Hawk’s Vert Alert in 2023. Shortly thereafter, Trew won women’s skateboard vert gold and park gold at the X Games California, becoming the youngest X Games double gold medalist of all time, at just 13. A 720 is two full rotations and was championed by Tony Hawk first in 1985.

Trew’s well-used to putting her mark on history, and it’s her confidence and composure that’s helped her do that time and time again. When it comes to approaching a new trick, Arisa’s response was simple; “I just think to myself that if I want to do it, then I can do it,” she said.

And clearly, Arisa can do it. Her skating style is full of spinning and switch tricks, so it’s clear she felt right at home learning the 900. To finally land it, Arisa first practiced the motion and technique on a ramp with a soft surface (in case of falls). After four days of this, Arisa was ready to try it on the vert ramp, and after just 17 attempts, she nailed it.

“I think it’s pretty hard for people to learn, because people, can be scared of trying it on a ramp, because you don’t know how you’re going to fall on like your first attempts, and it’s a lot of spinning. So you’ve got to make sure you commit to the whole thing, so you don’t hurt yourself,” Arisa explained.

Trew’s efforts were recognized at the 2024 Laureus World Sports Awards, where she was named Action Sportsperson of the Year.

Now that she’s stomped out a few 900s, Arisa wants to be able to land it more consistently. At the Ventura X Games, she’ll have plenty of opportunities to showcase her skill on the vert ramp.

“Skating in the X Games is really fun. It’s one of my favorite competitions. Because e there’s a lot of people there and it’s really fun and it’s in a good location. And the park there was really fun last year and the vert is also really good. So I liked to skate there,” Arisa said.

Reese Nelson paves the way for other young girls

Think about where you were at nine years old. Reese Nelson was named to Canada Skateboard’s 2022 National Team in the park division. A veritable prodigy in the sport, Nelson began skateboarding at just four years old. At age 10, Nelson became the first female rider to do a nose grab 720.

Now eleven, Nelson is inventing tricks (ie, the ‘breakfast burger’) and skating with Tony Hawk on the semi-regular. At Hawk’s 2023 Vert Alert Nelson took first place for ‘best trick’ with a kickflip noseslide to fakie.

Few things will inspire children to take up a new skill or hobby than watching one of their peers do it; if it looks fun, they want in, and in that strain, Nelson has made quite the impact on introducing skateboarding to other young girls.

These riders’ impact is felt far beyond the park. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Go Out and Play: Youth Sports in America report, girls are two times more likely than boys to drop out of sports by age 14. Sports are an incredible avenue towards higher self-confidence, creativity, community, and more. Participation in a sport like skateboarding, which has always been a hallmark of innovation and inclusion, allows girls freedom of self-expression.

Skateboarding might still have a perception of being male-dominated, but Nelson and Trew are changing that assumption one history-making trick at a time.

Tony Hawk’s Perspective

Tony Hawk has had an insider’s point of view on both Trew and Nelson’s careers thus far. While the nature of skateboarding is fluid and ever-innovative, each rider has their unique style; a calling card, if you will.

Hawk described Trew’s style as “confident and progressive” and Nelson’s as “intense, creative, and powerful beyond her years.”.

Hawk sees a bit of himself in both Trew and Nelson.

“I was always driven to learn new tricks, no matter how far I was pushing myself or what ranking I had. They both have the same passion I had to keep progressing, and the same tenacity to not give up. It’s a unique determination that comes from within and can’t be taught,” Hawk said.

Skateboarding, as Hawk pointed out, is “no longer a novelty or niche activity. Skateboarding is part of the fabric of our society”. And while the sport continues to grow in its visibility and international acclaim, so too does the presence and opportunities available to female riders.

These young female riders are already having an indelible impact on the growth of the sport for other women and girls. Their continued excellence only increases the support and infrastructure given to young girls to be able to pursue skateboarding as a career option.

X Games had previously not held a women’s category for vert for 13 years and has now reintroduced it for 2023 and onwards. Fans can tune into the 2024 X Games Ventura and watch Reese Nelson and Arisa Trew June 28 – 30.

GoSkate has estimated that 40% of new skateboarders are women and girls, and as women’s skate initiatives (like GrlSwrl) continue to pop up all over the world and young children can watch female riders on TV and in the Olympics, skateboarding will only continue to grow.

Tour de France 2024 favorites, ranked by their chances of winning tour,de,france,favorites,ranked,by,their,chances,of,winning,sbnation,com,front-page,tour-de-france,draftkings

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The biggest event on the cycling calendar, and one of the most noteworthy sporting events in the world, is upon us: the 2024 Tour de France will start this weekend.

The 111th edition of the race will be kicked off in the Italian city of Florence on Saturday, June 29. A total of 21 stages and 2,170 miles will take riders to Nice on the French Riviera.

This year’s Tour projects to be as memorable a Grande Boucle as any in recent history. Look no further than a star-studded start list that includes some of the biggest names in the sport — including the so-called “big four” of Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel going at each other for the first time ever.

So, who will come out on top? That is anybody’s guess at this point in time, but here is our overview of who to keep an eye on over the next three weeks.

The phenomenon

Given what has transpired so far this season, there is one out-and-out favorite for this race. It’s none other than the best rider of his generation.

1. Tadej Pogačar (SLO), UAE Team Emirates: A two-time Tour de France winner already, the 25-year-old wunderkind is in the middle of what could end up being a historic season. His 2024 palmarès so far includes some dominant victories, including at the Giro d’Italia in May. Will he show any signs of fatigue after beating his competition by almost 10 minutes in the first grand tour of the season? Or was it just a three-week appetizer for what lies ahead? For what it’s worth, Pogačar himself — who changed his training regimen and personal coach since the last Tour de France — seems to think his best is yet to come. A scary thought.

The defending champion

One big reason why Pogačar is the favorite is that his main rival of the last three editions of the Tour de France was involved in a devastating crash in early April. Nonetheless, you can never count another two-time champion out either.

2. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN), Visma | Lease a Bike: Vingegaard was able to beat Pogačar in back-to-back years, and at a full 100 percent should be able to challenge the Slovenian megastar yet again. The question is: will he be at a 100 percent? The Dane suffered a punctured lung as well as rib and collarbone fractures at the Tour of Basque Country less than three months ago, and hasn’t raced since. His form is a mystery, and something his rivals might want to try to exploit early on in the Tour. If the 27-year-old is able to keep things close heading into the final week, however, his superb climbing abilities might put him right back into the conversation after all.

The uncertain stars

The last three years in particular were the Pogačar and Vingegaard show, and when at their best they are a clear step above the rest of the peloton as far as stage racing is concerned. However, two other riders are actually within striking distance themselves — even though they crashed alongside Vingegaard in April.

3. Primož Roglič (SLO), Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe: Vingegaard’s former teammate still has some unfinished business in France after narrowly losing the 2020 Tour to his compatriot Pogačar and failing to finish the race in both 2021 and 2022. At age 34, however, time is running out for the ex-ski jumper. Despite being on the older side compared to his closest rivals, Roglič is still a world-class rider — something he showed in the lead-up to the Tour de France when he won the Critérium du Dauphiné, despite a serious wobble on the final stage.

4. Remco Evenepoel (BEL), Soudal Quick-Step: Evenepoel was among the riders beaten by Roglič at the Dauphiné, but he appeared to focus more on his own build-up toward the Tour de France rather than the result in that particular race. Considering that he too crashed at Basque Country, this makes sense, but it creates an aura of uncertainty around the Belgian — especially when comparing himself to the Pogačars and Vingegaards of the world in a grand tour setting for the first time. Still, the talented youngster is a realistic podium contender in this race and might even be able to push for the top spot himself due to his time-trialling capabilities.

The outsiders

It would be quite a surprise if the winner wasn’t one of the big four of Pogačar, Vingegaard, Roglič or Evenepoel. That said, anything can happen in a three-week race and teams might be forced to adapt due to crash, crack, or illness. If so, a member of this group might end up on the top step of the podium when all is said and done.

5. Carlos Rodriguez (ESP), Ineos Grenadiers: Rodriguez may lack the star power of the top-ranked riders on this list, but he is no slouch either. He finished second, first, and fourth in his last three stage races this season, and was fifth in the Tour last year. With a strong Ineos Grenadiers team supporting him, he could jump onto the podium in 2024 in case the big four show some weakness.

6. Adam Yates (UK), UAE Team Emirates: Fresh off a win at the Tour de Suisse, Yates will serve as Pogačar’s right-hand man and top lieutenant the next three weeks. He is a quality general classification racer in his own right, however, and finished third behind his captain and Jonas Vingegaard in 2023. Another podium result is not out of the realm of possibility even with a support role as his primary job.

7. Matteo Jorgenson (USA), Visma | Lease a Bike: With Vingegaard’s form best classified as “TBD” and with fellow American Sepp Kuss scratched from the Visma | Lease a Bike start list due to medical reasons, the 24-year-old Jorgenson might be part backup leader, part super domestique starting off the race. Regardless of his role, he is more than capable of a top-three finish considering how his season has been going so far: he won Paris-Nice in March, and finished only 8 seconds down to Roglič at the Dauphiné earlier this month.

8. Juan Ayuso (ESP), UAE Team Emirates: Ayuso would be a leader on most teams, but being on the one headlined by Tadej Pogačar means he too will have to work for the big boss. That doesn’t mean he will not compete for a general classification spot as well, and be kept close to the race lead as a possible break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option.

9. Egan Bernal (COL), Ineos Grenadiers: One of four former Tour de France champions to start this year’s race alongside Pogačar, Vingegaard, and Ineos Grenadiers teammate Geraint Thomas, Bernal is in the middle of a good season. He has yet to win, yes, but for the first time since a career-altering crash in 2022 is competing at a top level again. A podium finish might still be out of reach, especially with Carlos Rodriguez ahead of him in the pecking order, but stranger things have happened.

10. João Almeida (POR), UAE Team Emirates: Almeida has finished in the top-10 in 13 of his 15 career stage races, including as No. 2 at the Tour de Suisse earlier this month. He is still only the fourth favorite among a stacked UAE squad, but similar to his teammate Ayuso might be kept in the running for as long as possible especially after showing some promising form in Switzerland.

11. Aleksandr Vlasov (RUS), Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe: Vlasov was Primož Roglič’s top helper at the Dauphine, and himself riding a good race to finish sixth overall. It was his fourth top-10 result in a stage race this year, and he could end up making some noise at the Tour de France as well if allowed to go for his own result on top of helping protect Roglič.

The best of the rest

Despite a clear hierarchy to the list of favorites, general classification ambitions will not end with the names above. In fact, plenty of riders will consider a top-10 result as a success and could even have their eyes on the podium under the right — or wrong, depending on how you look at it — circumstances.

That being said, the chances of somebody like Felix Gall, Tom Pidcock, Geraint Thomas, Enric Mas, Jai Hindley, Mikel Landa, Simon Yates, or Derek Gee winning or even podiuming this year’s Tour de France are fairly low. That does not mean they won’t play their part in making the race exciting, but they have not shown they can consistently challenge the top dogs.

Men’s College World Series: Tennessee captures their first title in school history men,s,college,world,series,tennessee,captures,their,first,title,in,school,history,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

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Sunday in Omaha a two-run home run from Dylan Dreiling kept Tennessee’s title dreams alive.

Monday night in Omaha a two-run blast from Dreiling helped solidify them.

The Tennessee Volunteers captured the NCAA Men’s College World Series for the first time in school history, taking the best-of-three series against Texas A&M in Game 3 by a final score of 6-5.

And as was the case Sunday, Dreiling played a starring role.

A sacrifice fly from Dreiling in the third inning staked the Volunteers to a 2-1 lead, but the score was 3-1 in Tennessee’s favor when Dreiling came to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Billy Amick, having singled to left center ahead of Dreiling, took his lead off first.

But he would jog from there:

Dreiling got his hand around on a 78-mph breaking ball from Texas A&M pitcher Evan Aschenbeck, lofting a high fly ball to right field. Aggies right fielder Caden Sorrell gave it everything he had on the leap, but he came up just inches short.

That made it three home runs in three Men’s College World Series Finals games for Dreiling, and the outfielder’s two-run shot gave the Volunteers a 5-1 lead.

Tennessee was not done in the seventh and tacked on another run on one of the greatest slides you may ever see. After Dreiling’s home run Hunter Ensley got on with a seeing-eye single, which brought Kavares Tears to the plate. Tears promptly launched a deep fly off the wall in center field, and Ensley tried to come all the way around from first on the play, but a great relay from the Aggies saw the ball beat Ensley to home plate.

But somehow, some way, Ensley avoided the tag from catcher Jackson Appel:

Ensley reads this play perfectly. He sees the throw come to the glove side of Appel and then cuts to the inside, sweeping across the plate with his left hand to touch home. Texas A&M challenged the play, but video replays confirmed the safe call on the field.

That slide would end up being huge.

The Aggies put two runs on the board in the eighth to make it 6-3, but left-hander Kirby Connell came into the game and stopped the bleeding with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning. Aidan Combs, who also played a huge role in Sunday’s win for Tennessee coming out of the bullpen, came on to face the top of the Texas A&M lineup in the ninth.

The Aggies did not make it easy.

Gavin Grahovac led off the inning with a double, bringing the dangerous Jace LaViolette to the plate. Combs was able to strike out LaViolette, but an Appel single into left field plated Grahovac, making the Tennessee lead 6-4 and bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Hayden Schott, who was 3-for-4 on the night with a trio of singles.

Combs got the swinging strikeout of Schott with a high fastball, and the Aggies were down to their final out as Ted Burton strode to the plate. But a wild pitch brought Appel home, making it 6-5 with Burton representing the tying run, and the go-ahead run in the on-deck circle.

Combs punched Burton out on a 79-mph breaking ball, getting Burton to go down swinging and touching off the celebration. For the first time in school history, the baseball National Championship trophy is headed to Rocky Top.

For his effort throughout the series, Dreiling was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

With the title the Volunteers became the first No. 1 overall seed to win the Men’s College World Series since Miami did it back in 1999. That was the first year the tournament expanded to the current 64-team format.

F1 Spanish Grand Prix: Daniel Ricciardo and VCARB licking their wounds after ‘poor weekend’ f,spanish,grand,prix,daniel,ricciardo,and,vcarb,licking,their,wounds,after,poor,weekend,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

F1 Spanish Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo and VCARB licking their
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As far as weekends go, this was one to forget for Daniel Ricciardo and the entire Visa Cash App RB F1 Team.

While VCARB arrived at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hopeful that a series of upgrades to the RB01 would unlock additional performance, from the opening laps of FP1 it was clear that they would be on the back foot. That continued into qualifying — which saw Ricciardo and teammate Yuki Tsunoda eliminated in Q1 — and extended into the race itself. Both Ricciardo and Tsunoda finished outside the points, leaving VCARB to lick their wounds after their first points-less weekend since the Chinese Grand Prix back in April.

Team Principal Laurent Mekies was blunt in his assessment.

“We came here with high hopes for the upgrades that everyone back in the factory has worked so hard to design and produce as part of our aggressive development strategy, began Mekies in the team’s post-race report. “Unfortunately, right from the start of Free Practice we were lacking pace in every session.

“There is no point denying this was a poor weekend for us and although the gaps were very small, we’re not going to make excuses for the fact we just weren’t competitive,” continued the VCARB boss. “Given our starting positions, it would have required some unusual circumstances – rain, a safety car – but the race was pretty linear and while both drivers did their best, we leave Spain with nothing to show for our efforts.”

Tsunoda kept his assessment short and to the point.

“It was a tough race, in which I struggled. The handling of the car was definitely not easy, and I did not feel as comfortable as I normally do,” described Tsunoda. “Something wasn’t quite right, and we’ll analyse everything that happened to understand what did not work well and come back stronger in Austria.”

Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images

Ricciardo, often the optimistic one in the team’s garage, did his best to put a positive spin on things. The Australian driver managed to highlight some bright spots on a dismal day in Barcelona.

“It’s obviously disappointing finishing in P15, but I’m happy with my race and how we managed it as a team with the two stops. I think yesterday I just missed a touch in qualifying, but honestly, today I feel like I [maximized] it with a good race,” described Ricciardo. “We managed the [tires] and pushed when we needed to, so unfortunately, I think we just didn’t have more to show this weekend. There’s certainly lots to learn from weekends like this.

“We take a few little positives and a few more things to work on because we seem to be missing something with the new package. It’s a quick turnaround, so we’ll work on it tonight, trying to understand more in preparation for Austria next week.”

The VCARB boss concluded with a bit of a challenge to the team.

“Now, our whole group faces a stern test to try and make some progress in the very few days available until we are back on track at the Red Bull Ring,” said Mekies. “It’s a very long season, so there are bound to be some tough weekends. We just have to put this one behind us, we must not get downhearted but instead, look ahead and focus on fighting back immediately in a few days’ time in Austria.”

Thankfully for the team, they will not have too much time to lick those wounds, as Red Bull Ring awaits.

How the Boston Celtics switched their way toward an NBA championship how,the,boston,celtics,switched,their,way,toward,an,nba,championship,sbnation,com,front-page,draftkings

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On the surface, it was a seemingly mundane baseline out-of-bounds (BLOB) play at the four minute and ten second mark of the second quarter that the Dallas Mavericks were priming to run. But as is true of high-stakes NBA basketball, there are multiple layers hidden beneath the supposed simplicity of an NBA possession.

When you think of how the Boston Celtics defended the Mavs throughout the course of the 2024 NBA Finals, the aforementioned possession makes a ton of sense. Against the most prolific corner shooting team in the league during the NBA season, the Celtics held the Mavericks to a total of 22 corner-three attempts (non-garbage time) in five games — an average of 4.4 attempts per game, well below the Mavs’ regular-season average of 11.3. While “pushing the right buttons” would still be an apt way to describe the Celtics’ defense when it came to limiting a typically potent offense, “flipping the correct switches” would be more apropos — both in the figurative sense and in the literal manner through which the Celtics threw a ton of switching the Mavs’ way.

The maneuver of switching assignments around a screen can be deceivingly effortless to the casual eye. It may look easy, but there are multiple factors to consider: the timing of the switch, the compatibility of the defenders involved, the possibility of counters (e.g., slipping the screen to gain separation from the switch before it can be established), and several other underlying factors at play. Ball-screen possessions are the most common switchable actions, but the difficulty is exponentially increased when switching off the ball — particularly, in a situation such as a baseline out-of-bounds set.

So when the Celtics were faced with a “pick-the-picker” (also known as a “screen-the-screener”) action during the aforementioned BLOB situation, a seemingly distant connection was made between a discussion LeBron James and JJ Redick had in an episode of the Mind the Game Podcast.

Before we delve into that discussion — and to set the stage for the connection — here’s the play in question:

Defense is often a mental-checklist exercise, which is easy in theory but difficult to pull off while mired in the fast-paced nature of an NBA possession. The best defenses in the league are neither detail insufficient nor speed vulnerable — that is, they make sure to cross every “t” and dot every “i” without the need for slowing things down. Quite obviously, their opponents won’t accommodate them in the latter regard.

If the possession above was to be made into a checklist, it would look something like this:

  • Stay true to the principle of taking away the corners (Al Horford was able to stay home against Derrick Jones Jr. on the weak-side corner, while Jaylen Brown successfully kept tabs on Kyrie Irving on the strong-side corner).
  • Make sure that neither Irving nor Luka Dončić spends considerable time handling the live ball and finishing the possession.

In those two regards, it was an astounding success. The Mavs had no choice but to feed the ball to PJ Washington, who attempted to create his own scoring opportunity but shuffled his feet due to a timely rotation by Sam Houser.

When shining a magnifying glass on the possession to deduce why (and how) every item on the list was checked off, peep at both Brown and Jrue Holiday — and attempt to understand their maneuvers while a James proposal about defending “pick-the-picker” BLOBs to Redick is overlaid:

Who would’ve thought that simply switching the inbounder’s defender would throw a wrench into the Mavs’ BLOB? But that’s exactly what Holiday and Brown do; instead of chasing Irving toward the corner, Holiday switches off of him and switches onto Dončić, whose initial defender (Brown) drifts toward the corner to switch onto Irving. Holiday’s maneuver, therefore, is to plug a gap created by an attempt to plug another gap.

With both Dončić and Irving in no position to get the ball back to create something out of nothing, Washington is forced into a role he’s not comfortable playing, resulting in a bumbling attempt to score at the rim.

If such a phrase exists that can capture the essence of what the Celtics’ defense was all about in these Finals, it’s most probably this: “Take away their best offensive options and live with the outcome produced by everything else.” Their corner three philosophy was born out of this approach: no one was allowed a corner look, especially Dončić and Irving; everyone else was allowed above-the-break looks, save for Dončić and Irving.

Much has been praised — and maligned — about the Celtics’ mathematical approach to the game. People aren’t keen on understanding the apparent difficulty of applying numbers to a game that has treated such figures as a supplementary and secondary aspect. But it’s not as hard to understand as many people think: three is greater than two, which doesn’t require an engineering degree to absorb.

But that’s a concept that applies to only one side of the ball. While the Celtics have embraced the 3 > 2 philosophy by spreading the floor and fully embracing a 5-out offense, they’ve also applied its reverse on defense — that is, two is less than three. In that regard, their philosophy is also quite simple: make opponents take tough twos in lieu of attempting efficient threes.

Again, that is where their anti-corner philosophy comes in. But it also applies to the nature of the twos they’re willing to give up, and which ones they’re not allowing.

Peep at the commonality between these shot profiles from the Mavs, per Cleaning The Glass:

  • Game 1: 33% rim frequency (55th percentile), 38% mid-range frequency (79th percentile), 29% three-point frequency (10th percentile)
  • Game 2: 30% rim frequency (42nd percentile), 39% mid-range frequency (83rd percentile), 30% three-point frequency (14th percentile)
  • Game 3: 32% rim frequency (48th percentile), 40% mid-range frequency (86th percentile), 28% three-point frequency (9th percentile)
  • Game 4: 37% rim frequency (80th percentile), 31% mid-range frequency (43rd percentile), 32% three-point frequency (21st percentile)
  • Game 5: 30% rim frequency (38th percentile), 24% mid-range frequency (21st percentile), 45% three-point frequency (90th percentile)

On the aggregate, the Celtics were able to put a lid on the rim while also taking away the three-point line — while also funneling the Mavs’ shot attempts toward the mid-range area. The corner three vs. above-the-break three battle was also a subplot of this overarching theme, but another notable stat that captured the Celtics’ approach: the Mavs only had a total of six alley-oop attempts in five Finals games, an average of 1.2 attempts per game. That is a far cry from the three attempts per game they averaged in their 17 playoff games prior to the Finals.

It was on the grandest stage, with the lights switched on at their brightest, that the Mavs hit the proverbial wall, courtesy of the Celtics walling off the rim and switching almost at will. If the Mavs wanted to score, they’d have to bleed for it — and no possession captures that situation with more accuracy than on a possession involving a Mavs staple half-court set.

We must once again look back to see what worked in the past:

In order to appreciate what the Celtics did to take away what victimized lesser teams:

Plenty of odes and tributes will be paid to the Celtics’ offense — how every member of their five-man lineup was every bit of a shot creator as a shot finisher, how it made defenses overexert and overstretch themselves to their utmost limits, and how it was the most efficient in NBA regular season history.

But more often than not, a top-10 defense is the deciding factor behind what constitutes a championship team. The Celtics — third in overall defensive rating during the regular season, first in half-court defensive rating — became the latest in a long line of elite championship defenses.

There was no “on” switch to be flipped, no gear to shift into. The switch was always there — in the form of, quite literally, switching their opponents into half-court oblivion.