This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, Winners! Thanks so much for reading the Morning Win today. We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time.
The World Series continues! After Freddie Freeman hit another home run to start the game off (his sixth straight World Series homer!), I feared the series was over. It was so easy to fall into the “here we go again” trap. And, with how quiet it was in the ballpark afterward, you could just feel that the fans were beginning to fall into it, too.
But the Yankees’ offense came to life after an Anthony Volpe grand slam gave them a 5-2 lead. New York never looked back from there. They put up 11 runs, three homers, three doubles and five stolen bases on a Dodgers defense that seemed unflappable until Game 4.
That said, as a neutral observer, it’s hard to feel good about that win for the Yankees yesterday. Not because of anything the players did — they played their hearts out and earned a Game 5.
But the fans sucked! They completely ruined what was otherwise a really fun game.
Everybody saw when two fans tried to rip a ball from Mookie Betts’ glove. Obviously, fan interference was called. The fans were also rightfully removed from the game. But the fact that they actually tried this is mind-numbingly stupid.
One of the fans is a season-ticket holder, with seats in the front row at the foul line. That’s not cheap. Yet, still, they were willing to try this and get banned anyway? Yeah, sorry. But that’s not smart.
BAN THEM FOR LIFE: Charles Curtis makes the case that they shouldn’t be allowed to return to Yankees Stadium.
But that’s not even the most dastardly that happened last night.
When the World Series stopped to hold its annual Stand Up to Cancer moment of silence during Game 4, a fan thought it was the perfect time to heckle Freddie Freeman.
As my colleague Charles Curtis writes, Freeman lost his mom to cancer when he was 10 years old. This is something that likely means a lot to him. Yet, that fan decided it was the perfect time to scream “You suck, Freeman!” for everyone to hear.
It was uncalled for. It was classless. And Yankees fans should be better than that. Have some sense, y’all. What are we doing here?
Look, I get the stakes and the circumstances here. It’s the World Series. Emotions run high. The home team is down 3-0 and the fans are hanging all of their hopes on this one game. But that’s no excuse to act like this. That’s gross behavior.
I won’t pin the bad behavior of a handful of fans on an entire fanbase. I’m sure plenty of Yankees fans out there were just as uncomfortable seeing all this as the rest of us.
To those fans, please convince your homies to cut it out. Because, right now, this looks terrible.
Why Anthony Richardson is heading to the bench
The Colts naming Joe Flacco as their starting quarterback over Anthony Richardson is puzzling to me.
Richardson was drafted to be the future of the franchise. If you believe in him, start him. If he’s not worthy of starting just yet, devise a plan that gets him there. This doesn’t feel like a plan — it just feels like a benching. He hasn’t been great, sure. But don’t you want to get him the reps he needs to get better?
The answer to that is likely yes. But, as our Robert Zeglinski writes, the Colts can’t really afford to do that and risk things blowing up in their faces.
“There are 52 other players on the Colts roster who expect their leadership to make pragmatic decisions that are best for everyone. Yes, quarterbacks take the lion’s share of precedence over other positions for good reason, but that setup only happens for established stars. All changes are on the table for rusty anchors like Richardson that mostly drag everyone down. So, at this specific moment in time, Flacco is unquestionably a better option for Indianapolis than Richardson. While a journeyman, Flacco is someone other Colts veterans don’t have to worry about pulling his weight.
Because, for the most part, he probably will.
It’s shortsighted and cruel to Richardson’s overall development because it probably never happens without injury. But the Colts can’t afford to center his needs at the expense of everyone else’s or risk a not-so-subtle mutiny.”
There’s no question that Joe Flacco gives the Colts the best chance of winning here. But you just have to wonder if it’ll come at the cost of the team’s future.
We’ll find out down the road, I guess.
Starting 5 Season 2 is underway
After seeing the hype following the first season of Netflix’s NBA docuseries, Starting 5, the streamer announced that season two is already underway.
They’ve even given us the names they’re following!
The Starting 5 season two roster is OFFICIAL:
Jaylen Brown
Kevin Durant
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Tyrese Haliburton
James Harden pic.twitter.com/7Gaq7RlVzB— Netflix (@netflix) October 29, 2024
The stars included this time:
- Jaylen Brown
- Kevin Durant
- Tyrese Haliburton
- James Harden
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
If we don’t get a James Harden party scene, it’s not real. All jokes aside, this seems like a pretty solid group. I will say I kind of wish it wasn’t so star-driven. I’d love some contrast here. Can we get a rookie here? What about a role player, maybe?
I won’t complain too much, though. These players are all super interesting in their own ways. This should be a fun watch.
STARTING 5 SEASON 2 IS HERE: And NBA fans should love it, writes our Bryan Kalbrosky.
Quick hits: The World Series prediction from 2016 … Replacing Stefon Diggs … and more
— Somebody called yesterday’s Yankees blowout over the Dodgers … all the way back in 2016. Incredible. There’s really a tweet for everything.
— Cory Woodroof has five wide receiver options for the Texans now that Stefon Diggs has torn his ACL.
— Christian D’Andrea has his Week 9 QB rankings ready to go with Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and … JAYDEN DANIELS at the top.
— Here’s Robert Zeglinski with his latest studs, duds, and sleepers column, where he says he still doesn’t quite believe in Jalen Hurts’ recent play.
— Here’s your NFL trade deadline tracker from Christian with evaluations of all the big trades we’ve seen so far.
— Here’s Charles Curtis on why the fans who tried to remove Betts’ glove deserve a lifetime ban.
-Sykes ✌️