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 back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you giving us the time.
Dodgers fans crossed the line by a mile on Sunday.
Fan behavior completely disrupted Dodgers-Padres Game 2 on Sunday. Fans decided it was OK to throw things at outfielder Jurickson Profar after he robbed Mookie Betts (and Dodgers fans!) of a homer.
Profar trolled fans a bit after making this incredible catch over their outstretched hands. They even tried to knock the ball out of his glove. Through all of that, he still caught it.
Yeah, I’d troll them, too. I think most people would! That’s sports!
You get to strut your stuff a bit when you pull off something incredible like that. Those are the rules. And, when you’re on the other side, you’ve got to take it on the chin. It is what it is.
Dodgers fans don’t seem to understand that last part. Someone decided Profar’s taunt was a license to be a jerk. They threw a baseball at him from the stands into the outfield, completely stopping the game to settle the situation. Other fans then threw water bottles at Fernando Tatis, who’d also been jawing with fans throughout the game.
But trash talk doesn’t give anyone a license to be a doofus.
Look, I get it. Everyone understands that being taunted isn’t fun, especially when your team is getting blasted like the Dodgers on Sunday.
Fandom is a harrowing experience. For most of us, it’s a path fraught with disappointment and dismay. Only one team wins a championship in any given year in any given sport. So, yeah, your season is probably going to end in anguish. Even moment to moment, things can get tricky. Randomness happens in sports. Eventually, your team will mess up or do something dumb. You’ll have to deal with it. You will because that’s what fandom is.
Despite everything, we pour our hearts and souls into the teams we love. They don’t know us. They don’t really care about us. But, still, we love them and keep loving them no matter how much they disappoint us. We show up. And, beyond that, we pay top dollar for tickets when we go to games.
So, when fans are at games and in their seats, a bit of trash talk is fine, within boundaries. Tell the opponent they stink! Talk trash to the star player on the other team if you’re close enough to do it. As long as you’re not being problematic, it’s all good.
Dodgers fans chose to be problematic. This behavior is inexcusable and shameful, and it has no place in the sports we love.
If your emotions are so uncontrollable that you can’t help but be physically abusive when things aren’t going your way, you probably shouldn’t attend games.
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Bronny x Bron
In some brighter news, we got our first glimpse at LeBron James and Bronny James on the court together during the Lakers’ preseason outing against the Suns.
There were so many firsts packaged into this little moment. It’s both the first time Bronny and LeBron have officially played together and the first time a father-son duo has played together in an NBA game.
LeBron James. Bronny James.
The father-son duo share the court for the first time together! 👏 pic.twitter.com/93hC7k64gK
— NBA (@NBA) October 7, 2024
That’s a special moment — one that we’ve been waiting for for years. Now that it’s finally happened, it’s awe-inspiring.
On the backend, the conversations about LeBron James pulling strings to get Bronny to the Lakers and whether Bronny should’ve even entered the draft this season remain. Those won’t go away. I don’t think they should.
But at this moment, it’s hard not to appreciate LeBron James Sr.’s longevity and dynamism and revel in the fact that this is actually happening.
Know when to fold ’em
The Las Vegas Aces’ title defense is officially over. The Liberty completely took over in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game to send Vegas home and punch their tickets back to the WNBA Finals.
READ MORE: The Liberty trolled the Aces with an expertly-planted pair of Timbs
On one hand, this result shouldn’t be shocking. New York has been the best team in the WNBA all season long. The Liberty have been laser-focused on making it back to the pinnacle of the sport and redeeming themselves from last season and it shows.
Meanwhile, the Aces have meandered all season long. A’ja Wilson has been the best player in the league, but she’s needed to be. Her supporting cast wasn’t as supportive on the court this season. Players took steps back and Wilson had to pick up the slack.
With that said, it’s still shocking to see the Aces go down like this. For most of the last three seasons, every moment when Las Vegas needed to rise to the occasion, the team has done it without blinking. This season, Vegas just seemed to run out of juice.
This just goes to show you how difficult winning a single championship is — let alone three-peating. The fact that the Aces even had a real shot at doing it this season is unreal.
We’ve witnessed an incredible run, folks. Don’t be sad it’s over — be glad you saw it.
Quick hits: Aaron Rodgers looks old … The Browns deserve Deshaun Watson’s worst …. and more
— Here’s Christian D’Andrea on Aaron Rodgers struggling with the fact that he’s old and more things we learned from Week 5 in the NFL.
— Here’s Robert Zeglinski’s weekly awards column, including a note on how the Browns deserve what they’re getting from Deshaun Watson right now.
— Charles Curtis has more on football’s strange crackdown on finger gun celebrations.
— Mary Clarke put together some watchability rankings for the NHL season for you. Enjoy.
— Here’s Christian with the grossest QB performances from Week 5.
— Bryce Young got some playing time in the Panthers’ blowout loss to the Bears. Here’s Robert Zeglinski on Dave Canales’ explanation why.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic Monday. Peace.
-Sykes ✌️