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. Welcome to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for reading today.
Yo, man. What is Dan Hurley’s problem? I’ve been trying to figure out what this dude is so mad about.
He’s coaching a back-to-back championship team. He got a raise this summer, thanks to the Lakers. He’s currently in Maui, for goodness sake. Life sounds pretty good for that dude right now.
Yet, for whatever reason, he’s completely lost it in back-to-back games at the Maui Invitational.
On Monday, Hurley completely cost his team with a late technical foul thanks to an outburst that gave Memphis a two-point lead that the Tigers never surrendered on their way to a win.
On Tuesday against Colorado, he did the same thing but was luckily held back by his coaches before he could get a technical. UConn lost anyway. It might not have been because of their coach, who couldn’t keep his composure. But I’m not not going to say it was because of their coach, who couldn’t keep his composure.
He’s always been an ornery and combative head coach, but come on. As the head coach of a college basketball team, you’re supposed to be the adult in the room. The players are supposed to look to Hurley for guidance, support and direction in tight games.
But there’s a solid chance that if you look over at UConn’s bench during some of these crucial times, you might see a 51-year-old man throwing a tantrum like a six-year-old who didn’t get exactly what he wanted on Christmas Day. It’s a tough look. And certainly one unbecoming of one of the best head coaches in college basketball.
There’s always room for passion and emotion in sports. But there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed. At least not frequently, anyway. Every once in a while is cool. But Dan Hurley seems to be a habitual line-stepper here.
We’ve already seen it cost his team when the stakes are fairly low. So you can only imagine what things will be like when the games matter most.
So the Dodgers actually can keep getting away with this
The rich keep getting richer.
The Dodgers have added two-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell to an already stacked pitching rotation that will include Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw if he returns.
Folks. When 2024 Clayton Kershaw might be the afterthought of your rotation, you know the deck is stacked.
The Dodgers are building All-Star teams via deferred money. Snell reportedly has around $62 million of his $182 million, five-year deal coming after the contract expires.
That means they’ve got deferred cash going out to:
- Shohei Ohtani ($680 million)
- Freddie Freeman ($57 million)
- Mookie Betts ($115 million)
- Blake Snell ($62 million
- Will Smith ($50 million)
- Teoscar Hernandez ($8.5 million)
Folks, that’s $972.5 million in deferred cash coming decades after these players finish playing for LA. Nearly a billion dollars! And the offseason is just beginning, so surely, the Dodgers will cross that threshold at some point.
I’m not saying this is something MLB needs to change, but it’s probably worth looking at when the next CBA rolls around.
Mike McCarthy’s life raft
It seems it might not be curtains for Mike McCarthy after all? Jerry Jones told reporters on Tuesday that an extension for the Cowboys’ coach is not out of the question.
Our Meg Hall is calling that unserious.
“If you’re a Cowboys fan, I suggest you look away now because reading this might infuriate you. All Eagles, Commanders and Giants fans, prepare to have a good laugh because what is about to be shared is profoundly unserious behavior. On Tuesday, while speaking on a local radio station, Jerry Jones revealed that giving Mike McCarthy an extension is not something out of the realm of possibility.
“I don’t think that’s crazy at all,” Jones said. “That’s not crazy. Mike McCarthy’s one outstanding coach…This is a Super Bowl-winning coach. Mike McCarthy has been there and done that. He has great ideas…We got a lot of football left.” Sure, Jerry. Let us know how that works out. It’s fine. It’s not like McCarthy isn’t 1-3 in the playoffs with the Cowboys, and his last Super Bowl wasn’t 14 years ago. HOW ‘BOUT DEM COWBOYS.”
Meg has a point. McCarthy is sort of skating by on past glory right now. It also seems pretty clear this team doesn’t believe in him anymore.
This seems like Jones is just trying to give McCarthy a vote of confidence amid a lost season. But you know what a real vote of confidence would be? An actual contract extension.
Until that happens, nobody should believe this.
Quick hits: Oregon stays on top … QB Rankings … and more
— Here’s Michelle Martinelli with the latest look at the College Football Playoff bracket after Tuesday’s rankings. Oregon is still on top.
— Here are Christian D’Andrea’s latest QB rankings with Jared Goff at the top and Tua Tagoviloa making an MVP case.
— Ohio State is still the betting favorite for the natty. Blake Schuster has more on that.
— Ryan Day compared losing to Michigan to the death of a family member. Sheesh. Here’s Meg Hall with more.
— Danny Amendola really has the moves. Here’s Cory Woodroof with more.
— But Joey Graziadei is your DWTS champion.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks for reading. Have a happy Thanksgiving! No TMW tomorrow, but we’ll be back on Friday. Peace.
-Sykes ✌️