Author: Michael

Welcome to the 119th World Series, the first played entirely in climate-controlled settings, the first with two teams that lost more than 100 games just two years earlier, the first with a combined regular-season winning percentage as low as .537 and the first absolutely nobody saw coming.
Well, I did try to warn you before the season started, at least as far as Texas and Arizona looking like surprise playoff teams. But the World Series? Please. But think of their appearance here as a feature, not a bug, of the playoff system.

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The sign-stealing allegations against Michigan have become the biggest story in college football over the past week. Coaches throughout the sport have been asked about the ethics of stealing opponents’ signals as new aspects of the narrative are reported seemingly every day. 
Current Michigan coaches and players can’t comment during an ongoing NCAA investigation. But former Wolverines are available to the media, and it makes sense for reporters to ask what they think.
Aidan Hutchinson is close to the situation, now working approximately 40 miles away for the Lions.

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The Buccaneers had a last-second shot to pull off an improbable upset Thursday night in Buffalo, but Baker Mayfield’s Hail Mary did not find its intended target and the Bills survived, 24–18.
There’s plenty of good to take from this game for Buffalo: Josh Allen made plays with his legs and, with Dawson Knox out, rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid stepped up seamlessly to score his first career touchdown. The Bills are now 5–3 and just a half game back from the Dolphins in the AFC East.
But, Matt Verderame writes, “The Bills did what they needed to, but they’re not fully back yet.

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The question of how Nathaniel Lowe has seen the Rangers change is almost too big for him to answer.
This is his third season in Texas since being traded from Tampa Bay. That’s enough to make the first baseman one of the longest-tenured members of this roster. The team has turned over almost entirely since his first season, in 2021. That first Rangers team Lowe played with lost 102 games. This one is in the World Series. They have a new executive (Chris Young) who convinced an old manager (Bruce Bochy) to come out of retirement for one last shot at steering a team to a championship.

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LeBron James won the first game of his 21st NBA season Thursday night, as the Lakers beat the visiting Suns in the home opener for Los Angeles. James contributed 21 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in 35 minutes to lead the way for the Lakers.
One image in particular shows how spry James remains at age 38, despite playing the third-most minutes in NBA history over his career. The superstar forward was photographed jumping to deflect a Suns pass to Kevin Durant, and the veteran got way up in the air to get a piece of the ball.

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