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— Kendall Baker (email), Jeff Tracy (email)
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🚨 HEADLINES
🥇 The GOAT: Simone Biles won five medals at the world championships. That gives her 37 at worlds and the Olympics, four more than any other gymnast.
🏎️ King of the world: Max Verstappen clinched his third straight world title at Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix, continuing the most dominant F1 season ever.
🏉 Rugby World Cup: Wales, Argentina, Ireland, New Zealand, England, Fiji, France and South Africa have advanced to the quarterfinals in France.
🏈 Blue Bloods: For the first time ever, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, UNC and UCLA are all ranked in the same AP poll for football, which dates back to 1936.
⛳️ 30 dreams come true: The Korn Ferry Tour season concluded on Sunday, with 30 players earning their PGA Tour cards.
⏱️ MARATHON WORLD RECORD: THE RACE TO BREAK TWO HOURS
A century ago, no human had run a marathon in under 2 hours, 30 minutes. Now, our species is on the cusp of the 2-hour mark.
New world record: Kelvin Kiptum, 23, shattered the men's marathon record on Sunday, winning the Chicago Marathon in 2:00:35 to eclipse fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge's mark by 34 seconds.
Average pace per mile: 4:36
Average pace per 5K: 14:17
Kelvin's rapid rise: Kiptum has run just three career marathons — all in the last 10 months — and posted three of the six fastest times ever. Last December, he ran 2:01:53 in Valencia, Spain. In April, he won the London Marathon in 2:01:25.
Shoe technology has ignited debate in recent years, as innovation fuels faster and faster times.
Kiptum was wearing a prototype of the Nike AlphaFly 3, set to be released to consumers in early 2024.
Context: Kipchoge is the only athlete known to have broken the 2-hour barrier. However, his 1:59:40 mark in 2019 came in a special event in Vienna, not in a record-eligible race.
Records keep falling… Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa broke the women's marathon world record (2:11:53) two weeks ago in Berlin. Like Kiptum, she was running just her third-ever marathon.
⚾️ MLB SNAPSHOT: DIVISION SERIES
Three teams won 100 games this season — the Braves (104), Orioles (101) and Dodgers (100). So far this postseason, they've won zero.
Where it stands:
Rangers 2, Orioles 0: Texas won Game 1, 3-2, despite striking out 16 times. They won Game 2, 11-8, thanks in part to drawing 11 walks. Baltimore will have to win both games in Arlington to send the series back home for a decisive Game 5.
Astros 1, Twins 1: Houston won Game 1, 6-4, behind a Justin Verlander gem and two homers from slugger Yordan Álvarez. Minnesota evened the series on Sunday with a 6-2 victory behind seven scoreless innings from righty Pablo López.
Phillies 1, Braves 0: Atlanta hadn't been shutout at home since August 2021. Naturally, the Phils blanked them, 3-0, in their playoff opener.
Diamondbacks 1, Dodgers 0: Arizona crushed their NL West big brother, 11-2, as Clayton Kershaw became the first pitcher in postseason history to allow five hits and five runs before recording a single out.
Full analysis:ALDS recaps … NLDS recaps
🏈 SUNDAY SCOREBOARD: WEEK 5
The 49ers were Super Bowl favorites entering Sunday night. They're even bigger favorites this morning after crushing their rival Cowboys, Jeff writes.
49ers 42, Cowboys 10: The league's best team dismantled the league's best defense as San Francisco won its 15th straight regular-season game.
Jaguars 25, Bills 20: Buffalo was technically the home team, but Jacksonville — which has made London its home away from home — won across the pond for the second straight week.
Chiefs 27, Vikings 20: Patrick Mahomes is the 10th QB in NFL history to defeat 31 different franchises, and the first to do so before turning 30.
Steelers 17, Ravens 10: Pittsburgh scored 17 unanswered points to beat Baltimore for the sixth time in seven tries this decade.
Eagles 23, Rams 14: It was yet another narrow victory, but Jalen Hurts and the Birds remain undefeated.
Dolphins 31, Giants 16: De'Von Achane had another monster game (151 yards, TD) and Miami broke the 2000 Rams record for the most yards through five games (2,568).
Falcons 21, Texans 19: C.J. Stroud set the record for most pass attempts to start a career without an interception (177), but Atlanta got the win on Younghoe Koo's walk-off field goal.
Colts 23, Titans 16: Indianapolis won in Jonathan Taylor's return but lost QB Anthony Richardson to a shoulder injury.
Lions 42, Panthers 24: Jared Goff beat Bryce Young in a battle of No. 1 picks as Carolina fell to 0-5 and remained the only team without a win this season.
Jets 31, Broncos 21: Jets OC Nathaniel Hackett got a revenge win over the team that fired him, but it was New York's defense that put this one away.
Saints 34, Patriots 0: New England has been outscored 72-3 over the last two games and QB Mac Jones has been benched twice. Not great.
Bengals 34, Cardinals 20: Ja'Marr Chase exploded for 192 yards and 3 TDs as Cincy's offense topped 30 points for the first time this season.
Further reading:Winners and losers
🌎 THE WORLD IN PHOTOS
Las Vegas — The Aces dominated the Liberty in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, cruising to a 99-82 victory behind 26 points from Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum.
Seattle — 2,318 fans watched Megan Rapinoe make her home OL Reign debut in 2013. 10 years later, her farewell home match drew an NWSL record 34,130 fans.
London — Arsenal snapped a 15-match winless streak against Manchester City with a 1-0 victory on Sunday, moving the Gunners into second place.
🏈 DAILY RANKING: THE 14 UNBEATEN TEAMS
It was quite the Saturday in college football, with Oklahoma toppling Texas to move up to No. 5 in the AP poll, USC surviving Arizona in triple OT, Louisville knocking off Notre Dame, and Miami suffering one of the most inexcusable losses in sports history.
Where it stands: After six weeks, 14 undefeated teams remain. Here's how Yahoo Sports' Nick Bromberg and Sam Cooper stack them up against each other.
Georgia (6-0)
Michigan (6-0)
FSU (5-0)
Oklahoma (6-0)
Washington (5-0)
Penn State (5-0)
Oregon (5-0)
Ohio State (5-0)
USC (6-0)
UNC (5-0)
Louisville (6-0)
Air Force (5-0)
James Madison (5-0)
Liberty (5-0)
Alone at the top: Undefeated Georgia has now been ranked No. 1 for 17 straight weeks, tying FSU (1999) for the fourth-longest streak ever. Next up is an 18-week streak by USC (1972-73).
📆 OCT. 9, 1915: WOODROW AT THE WORLD SERIES
108 years ago today, Woodrow Wilson became the first sitting president to attend a World Series game, watching the Red Sox beat the Phillies in Game 2 at Philadelphia's Baker Bowl en route to a 4-1 series win*.
Wilson brought his just-announced fiancée, Edith Bolling Galt, to the game in their first public appearance since their engagement, notes historian Michael Beschloss.
Fun fact: President Harry Truman holds the record for most MLB games attended while in office, going to 16 games, all in Washington.
⚾️ 1989: Art Shell made his debut as the first Black head coach in modern NFL history, leading the Raiders to a 14-7 win over the Jets.
🏈 2012: Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison for sexually abusing children.
*Babe on the bench: Boston's pitching was so strong in the 1915 World Series that a young Babe Ruth wasn't used on the mound and only made a single pinch-hitting appearance.
📺 WATCHLIST: GAME 2
The NLDS continues tonight with both home teams trying to avoid falling into 2-0 holes.
Phillies at Braves (6:07pm ET, TBS*): Zack Wheeler (13-6, 3.21 ERA) vs. Max Fried (8-1, 2.55 ERA)
Diamondbacks at Dodgers (9:07pm, TBS*): Zac Gallen (17-9, 3.47 ERA) vs. Bobby Miller (11-4, 3.76 ERA)
More to watch:
🏈 NFL:Packers (+1.5) at Raiders (8:15pm, ABC/ESPN) … Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo will play after clearing concussion protocol.
🏀 NBA preseason:Spurs at Thunder (8pm, NBA) … Seven-foot phenoms Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren make their NBA debuts.
⛳️ NCAA Golf:Jackson T. Stephens Cup (5pm, Golf) … Trinity Forest (Dallas) hosts the annual women’s tournament.
*Now streaming: Warner Bros. Discovery added live sports to Max last week, so tonight's MLB games can be streamed there. Max's live sports tier will cost $10/month but it's free until March.
⚾️ MLB TRIVIA
Jose Altuve smashed his 24th postseason home run on Saturday, the second-most ever.
Question: Who ranks first with 29?
Hint: Won two World Series in the 2000s.
Answer at the bottom.
🍿 BAKER'S DOZEN: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEKEND
Lions pass-rusher Aidan Hutchinson, Phillies shortstop Trea Turner and Bulls guard Quenton Jackson headline our top 13 plays from the weekend.
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Trivia answer: Manny Ramírez
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