This is the online version of our morning newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.
Cassius Winston played basketball Sunday night, scoring 17 points and dishing out 11 assists, a day after finding out that his younger brother Zachary had stepped in front of an Amtrak train and died.
It was a typical early season basketball game — Michigan State easily beat an outmatched Binghamton — suddenly imbued with emotion. Winston and his head coach, Tom Izzo, fought back tears during a moment of silence. Big Ten Network’s cameras captured Cassius and his youngest brother, Khy (a teammate of Zachary’s at Division III Albion), embracing courtside before the game.
I’m not here to tell you that basketball helped heal a hurting soul last night. Or even that Cassius Winston and his family were buoyed by the love and support of the Michigan State team and fans. I can’t fathom what they’re going through or how they’re feeling. A 19-year old apparently choosing to end his own life leaves behind questions that will forever be unanswered. It stirs pain that none of us could come close to comprehending. Thinking about that level of grief absolutely crushes me.
Yet I certainly saw the way that the game helped Cassius, probably the best point guard in college basketball, find his way. If only for a few moments. Going through the routines, hearing the thud of basketballs and the screech of fresh Nikes cutting on hardwood … I’m guessing that brought him about as close to his brother as he could get.
Steve Kerr played basketball after his father, Malcolm, was assassinated by a terrorist in Lebanon. I spoke to some of his teammates about the night they were awakened by the news, and they all recalled how chaotic it felt. Kerr was a freshman at Arizona then, sitting in his dorm room, with players and coaches coming and going. It was, in fact, eerily calm in so many ways — except that nobody felt normal about anything. Until they got on the court again.
When I got word earlier this year that my father had died, after a life wracked by alcoholism and mental illness, I was throwing ground balls to a line of rambunctious 5- and 6-year olds on a small field tucked behind an elementary school. They mostly played in the dirt, or chased each other, as I exhorted them to get their gloves down. To step and throw. To get to the back of the line and cheer on your teammate.
A call came to my phone and I stepped away to hear the news. I couldn’t think of what to do next, so I returned to what I’d been doing. My father and I weren’t particularly close but he would, when I inevitably begged on most afternoons, have a catch. He would tell me to get my glove all the way down, to point my toe where I wanted the ball to go, to calm down and not rush. Those words filled my head, and I did my best to share them.
That was peace. Fleeting, but meaningful. I hope Winston can find it, too, in the days, weeks and months ahead.
Sunday’s big winner: Lamar Jackson
Y’all saw that run, right? And his final stat line: 15-of-17 for 223 yards, three touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 rating. Turns out the the guy who should’ve switched to wide receiver can really throw. Turns out a QB can be athletic and fun and also good at passing — if a coaching staff will just let him be. Turns out the people who were so quick to doubt Jackson were doing so because they were in fact the people upholding the old stereotypes of what makes a good QB in the first place.
The Ravens have the Texans and Rams to get through before hosting San Francisco on Dec. 1, but it’s hard not to look ahead to that game. The Niners defense, according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA, is in a stratosphere along with the Patriots far above the rest of the league (New England is at -33.9, San Fran is at -31.4 and the Broncos, Rams and Steelers are next at …. -8.8.) Should be fun.
Quick hits: Do the Dak! … Enough Don Cherry … Denny Hamlin gets another shot … A Michael Jordan gambling and drinking story
— Mark Ingram thinks President Donald Trump is to blame for Alabama losing to LSU. Sure, why not.
—Andrew Joseph took a look at a field goal block that irked Chiefs fans. Man, it must be so hard to be an official and make these calls in real time.
—Dak Prescott can dance. To anything. Seriously. Play any song and he will be in rhythm to it. Go ahead. Try.
—LSU recruits are savage … and I love them for it.
—Don Cherry’s racist blabbering has gone on long enough. The hockey commentators’ bigoted comments toward immigrants were abhorrent.
—On Friday, Michelle Martinelli brought you an insightful look at Denny Hamlin’s quest to shed the title of Best Current NASCAR Driver Without A Series Championship. On Sunday he won a race to become one of four drivers with a shot at winning it all next weekend.
—Penny Hardaway doesn’t need college basketball … which is why he might be the biggest threat to college basketball. Memphis’ decision to defy the NCAA and go to court could change everything.
—Yes, Antonio Brown is still around. Yes, he’s still saying things. No, it’s not going well for him.
—Michael Jordan. Gambling story. As told by Jeremy Roenick. Click.
(The incomparable Andy Nesbitt will be back tomorrow. Follow me on Twitter at @chriskorman.)