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.
Goooood morning, family! Happy New Year! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today.
I don’t know if you were able to stay up into the wee hours of the morning (on the East Coast!) to catch the finish of Washington-Texas, but man, what a game.
Washington dominated most of the night, but a bizarre sequence of errors and injuries caused things to get extremely tight. Things came down to the final second of the game. Literally.
In the end, the Huskies pulled the game out. And I’m glad they did. Because, boy, does Michael Penix Jr. deserve the spotlight he’s getting right now. He’s the star of the College Football Playoff.
He gave us a masterful performance with 438 yards through the air and a couple of passing touchdowns on the day. He was just so precise and deliberate with every throw he made. On Monday night, Penix was an artist delivering a masterpiece to us on his canvas. He deserved to win.
All of this feels so unlikely. Not because Penix is a bad player or because he lacks some ability. No, he can absolutely make every throw. It’s just that if you or I were Michael Penix Jr., we probably wouldn’t be playing college football anymore.
Penix’s history is one filled with trials and tribulations. You won’t find a quarterback with a worse injury history. He had four consecutive season-ending injuries from 2018 to 2021, including tearing his right ACL twice.
It’s honestly hard to believe that his moment has arrived at all — not just the fact that it is such a grand one. Penix struggled to get here. These were his words on his recovery back in 2021, per the Indy Star.
“There were times when I’d wake up the day of the game and I’d wait until my roommate leaves and I’d just lay on the floor and I’d just cry to God, just praying that he’d protect me that day, because I knew where my head was at that time, and it wasn’t truly fresh,” Penix said. “It was a lot of tears man.”
He’s come back every time not just ready to play again, but ready to play better. What we watched on Monday night was a culmination of all of that. All those impossible trials got Penix Jr. to where he is today. And the story isn’t over quite yet.
I have no idea where things go for Penix from here. Washington can certainly beat Michigan, though it’s no guarantee. There’s also a path to the NFL Draft for the quarterback that lots of people have questions about. Those will be answered in time.
But in this moment, Michael Penix Jr. is the star of this here show. And, trust me — you can’t afford to pass this one by.
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The Winter Classic >
There’s something about seeing hockey going on outside under the bright lights that just gets the juices flowing, man. The NHL’s Winter Classic is fantastic.
This year was no different, once again, where the Kraken completely shut out the Golden Knights in a 3-0 victory behind a masterful performance by Joey Daccord in the net. The Kraken’s winning streak is now five games.
Bigger than that, though, the NHL’s newest member shined on what was arguably its brightest stage at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. It was a moment that showed exactly how thirsty that city was for hockey and how dope it is to see a team actually playing there now. We absolutely love to see it.
READ MORE: 11 photos of a picturesque NHL Winter Classic from our Mary Clarke
The weirdest drought is over
Here’s a fun fact that I promise you did not know: The Utah Jazz have not had a single-player notch a triple-double in an NBA game since 2008.
Today, that streak is over thanks to one Jordan Clarkson. After grabbing his 10th rebound in the fourth quarter, Clarkson finished his night against the Mavericks with 20 points, 11 assists and 10 boards to give the Jazz their first triple-double since Carlos Boozer did it nearly 16 years ago.
Think about that. The last time the Jazz had a triple-double:
- George W. Bush was still the president of the United States.
- The Marvel Cinematic Universe hadn’t dropped its first Iron Man movie yet
- “Low” by Flo Rida and T-Pain was the No. 1 song in the country
That’s pretty remarkable, folks. The Jazz were so down bad for a triple-double that Will Hardy actually demanded that Clarkson grab that final rebound so he can finally sit for the last moments of the Jazz’s blowout win.
This is tremendous. Jazz on the verge of history, Will Hardy demanding Jordan Clarkson “go get a rebound so i can sit your ass down. god damnit.”
(Context: The Jazz are on the verge of recording their first regular season triple-double in 16 years) pic.twitter.com/obWV8ICM7O
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) January 2, 2024
Good vibes must be coming in Utah.
Quick hits: Let’s rank the mascots! … The NFL’s playoff scenarios … and more
— Here’s Charles Curtis with a quick ranking of the bowl season mascots. Of course, big Pop Tart is No. 1 in our hearts.
— Charles also has you covered on the playoff scenarios coming up for the NFL as we enter into Week 18.
— Jim Harbaugh called J.J. McCarthy the best Michigan QB ever. And, uhhhhh, pretty sure that’s wrong. Mitchell Northam corrects him here.
— Here’s Blake Schuster on why Nick Saban’s final call in the Rose Bowl went so wrong.
— Here’s Prince Grimes on the Bills jumping into the top 4 in Super Bowl odds
— And here are some adorable photos of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift enjoying the new year.
That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading. Hope you enjoy. Happy New Year. Let’s chat again tomorrow. Until then, we out. Peace.
-Sykes ✌️