The Morning Win – Syndication Server

The Bills might have a Sean McDermott problem that needs solving ASAP

The Bills’ head coach made some crucial mistakes down the stretch against the Eagles

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! I hope you’re well. Did you have a good Thanksgiving weekend? That Black Friday shopping will take it out of you, man. Both your pockets and your energy.

Anyway, let’s talk about the Bills. After yet another excruciatingly close loss on Sunday to the Eagles, this solid Buffalo Bills team finds itself on the outside of the AFC’s playoff picture.

This has to be one of the most frustrating losses of the season for Buffalo. I mean, the Bills had this one, y’all. The Eagles were cooked. Philly needed a 60-yard field goal to tie the game and get into OT. That doesn’t usually happen. It’s hard to blame the Bills for that.

But this is more of the same for Buffalo. The Bills are 2-6 this season in one-score games. That’s why the Bills are where they are. Usually, that points to a coaching problem.

On Sunday night that’s exactly what it was. There were two decisions McDermott made that just didn’t make a ton of sense.

Choosing not to try and get in field goal range with 20 seconds left on the game clock after Philly’s field goal makes no sense. He feared the Eagles’ pass rush, but it’d barely bothered Josh Allen all game. With that big arm, you’ve got to at least try.

Then, his call of a zero blitz in the red zone against a team that loves QB draws was an awful one. The Ringer’s Benjamin Solak broke down why that was an obvious mistake. Robert Griffin III called it “malpractice.”

The Bills got burned running Cover 0 against an Eagles Team that specializes in QB draw in crucial situations in the redzone. That’s coaching malpractice.

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) November 27, 2023

Close games come down to luck and decision-making. Those late choices win and lose games. McDermott lost the game for his team on Sunday night.

It’s too soon to talk about him getting fired when there’s still hope for the playoffs. But he’s got to be better moving forward — or else that will be more of a conversation come January.

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Texas A&M found their guy … we think

Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

To be quite honest, folks, I’m not sure what’s going on at Texas A&M. I don’t know if A&M knows what’s going on, either.

The school is reportedly hiring Duke’s Mike Elko as its new head football coach, according to reporting from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

This makes sense. Elko is a fine hire. He’s turned a basketball school’s football team into something at least worth mentioning. Plus, he was A&M’s former defensive coordinator under Jimbo Fisher from 2018 to 2021. There’s at least some history there.

This is great. Shoutout to Elko. But…I don’t think this is the guy A&M wanted. Initial reports connected Kentucky’s Mark Stoops to the school but fans threw a fit online which caused Stoops to remain at Kentucky.

Fans wanted a big swing. Instead, they’re getting a dude who might be fine but also has less experience as a head coach than Stoops and will probably top out at nine wins at A&M because A&M is just a nine-win school. It is what it is.

Meanwhile, it’ll still be paying its former head coach $76 million to go be a family man. I would say this is tragic, but it’s not. This is just Texas A&M.

Frank Reich is out?!?!?

Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

The Frank Reich experiment in Carolina didn’t even last a whole season. The Panthers fired the head coach on Monday following the loss to the Titans.

Reich is supposed to be a quarterback whisperer. He was supposedly the perfect guy to work with Bryce Young. Obviously, things haven’t worked out. But to move on this quickly? Sheesh.

Charles Curtis has the fan reaction here. Folks are shocked.

We knew the Carolina Panthers wouldn’t be a playoff team in 2023, despite having the No. 1 overall draft pick in QB Bryce Young under center.

But this bad? Maybe we didn’t know that. And now, the franchise has let go of head coach Frank Reich as part of the blame.

That said, it’s absolutely shocking. You have to give Reich some time to build what he’s hoping to get out of this rebuilding team, and he won 40 games helming the Indianapolis Colts before he took this job. So maybe this was jumping the gun a little, even with some bad decisions this year?

More coverage is on the way.

Quick hits: The best cellys in the NFL … Petty Booker … and more

— Prince Grimes ranked the best celebrations from the NFL weekend and C.J. Stroud’s Baby Boy reenactment is deservedly at the top. IYKYK.

— Devin Booker is hilariously petty. He called back to an old beef with Joakim Noah after hitting a game-winning 3-pointer over a double team. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.

— Tony Romo called Jim Nantz sexy on air and it wasn’t the weirdest thing he’d said all night. Charles Curtis has more.

— Find you someone who will show you love on IG like Taylor Swift shows Travis Kelce.

— Here’s the NFL draft order after Week 12 from Charles. The Patriots are climbing the ladder of suckitude.

— And here’s Christian D’Andrea with the worst quarterback performances of Week 12.

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading TMW today. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic week. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

The Dallas Cowboys are frauds and we should thank them for showing us this early

The Cowboys are exactly who we thought they were.

Goooood morning, folks! Welcome back to The Morning Win. Thanks so much for reading.

We’ll have a quick word on the Cowboys in a second, but before that I wanted to update you all on our poll results. On Friday, I asked you all which organization you’d rather be part of: The Washington Commanders or the Chicago Bears.

There were 40 responses in total and 34 of you said Chicago.

I’m not going to lie — I thought it’d be closer! But it turns out that Washington’s organizational stink doesn’t just wash away overnight. That’s totally fair.

Anyway, let’s roast the Cowboys.

Don’t trust Dallas

I was so sure that today’s column would be about Sean Payton absolutely embarrassing himself against the Jets after talking all that trash about Nathaniel Hackett and the alleged worst coaching job ever. Those were his own words, man.

But the Cowboys bailed him about. Dallas absolutely spilled all types of milk all over the field against San Francisco.

This happens every year, man. The Cowboys just trick people into believing that they’re somehow the team to beat without actually beating much of anybody.

There’s always a stretch in the season where the Cowboys just look like world-beaters. Dak Prescott makes all the right throws. Micah Parsons seems unblockable. CeeDee Lamb looks like the most talented receiver in the NFL. The defense seems immovable as a whole.

Then, all of a sudden, the Cowboys can’t stop anybody. Dak just starts throwing some of the worst interceptions. Tony Pollard goes missing. Dallas just doesn’t look like the same team anymore. Reality sets in.

The 49ers were reality this year.

San Francisco’s 42-10 route of the Cowboys shows us that, yes, there really are levels to this thing. And Dallas is very clearly not on the 49ers’ level — not even close.

But it’s also hilarious that the Cowboys thought they were. The team was confident enough in Sunday night’s game that Dan Quinn wore all black to it like he was going to a funeral.

I mean, even after the game, Micah Parsons is still talking like his team can hold a candle to San Francisco. He said he still doesn’t feel like the 49ers are on a “higher level” than the Cowboys. It’s almost like he didn’t play in the game at all.

Look, man. The Cowboys are an extremely talented team. They’re also easily the most talked-about team in the NFL — here I am, talking about them on this platform right now.

But I’m doing so to tell you this: DO NOT TRUST THIS TEAM. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200 dollars in Cowboys bucks. It’s just not going to work out for you because it’s not going to work out for them.

Sorry, Cowboys fans. But you and I both know what the deal is. So let’s just act accordingly moving forward.

Sean Payton is still catching this L

Feb 6, 2023; Englewood, CO, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton speaks at the UCHealth Training Center. — Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Sean Payton, don’t you worry. You’re not getting off easily this Sunday morning. His 2023 Broncos might be worse than Nathaniel Hackett’s 2022 Broncos. The irony is so delicious.

Robert Zeglinski perfectly breaks it down here in his NFL Week 5 awards column.

“Sean Payton talked all that smack about Nathaniel Hackett in the offseason, in turn making it clear his version of the Denver Broncos would be better. After all, he was the “brilliant” coach with a Super Bowl ring. Payton’s team couldn’t possibly be worse than the guy who presided over the worst season of Russell Wilson’s NFL career. Right?

About that.

Through five games in 2023, Payton’s iteration is 1-4. Through five games in 2022, Hackett’s Broncos were 2-3. Even if Denver might, theoretically, be in better places (like on offense), there’s nothing meaningful to suggest that Payton is doing any better of a coaching job than Hackett, the now offensive coordinator for the New York Jets. What a coincidence that the two teams had the pleasure of meeting in Denver on Sunday. And what a dream for those of us fond of drama after the Jets’ 31-21 win.”

Humble pie has been served. I absolutely love to see it.

REQUIRED READING: Here’s a full look at Robert’s Week 5 Awards, including another ridiculous Aidan Hutchinson interception and a terrible week from Mac Jones.

Something is in the water

The MLB playoffs have just been filled with so many upsets and underdog stories so far.

Over the weekend, nearly every higher seed in the wild-card round of the playoffs was eliminated with the exception of the Phillies (No. 4) who beat the Marlines (No. 5)
The Orioles (No. 1) are currently down 2-0 in the ALDS to the Texas Rangers (No. 5) and are on the brink of elimination.
As of Monday morning, no higher seed has a series lead in either the ALDS or the NLDS. The only higher seed with a win so far is the Astros (No. 2) who won Game 1 against the Twins (No. 3).

We’re only one game into so many of these series, but still. This is just not what anyone would expect so far in these playoffs.

It’s not even just the fact that lower seeds are winning — it’s the way they’re doing it. For example, the O’s gave up 11 runs in Game 2 against the Rangers. Baltimore’s ERA on the season was 3.78.

Or how about Clayton Kershaw getting rocked for six runs in Game 1 against the Diamondbacks while only recording one out? That’s never happened before — not just to Kershaw, but to anyone.

This postseason has been so weird. It’s also made for some pretty entertaining baseball. More, please.

Quick hits: The best of Week 5 in the NFL … a GIF for every NHL team … and more

— Christian D’Andrea has the best things from Week 5 of NFL action, including the Jared Goff renaissance. In Dan Campbell we trust.

— Mary Clarke has a GIF for each and every NHL team entering the season. This is too fun.

— Mary also did watchability rankings for each team, too! Can’t say we don’t have NHL preview content for you.

— Here’s Ben Fawkes on the big win the Dolphins gave public bettors over the weekend.

— Here’s the Cowboys fan meme content you’ve been searching for. Charles Curtis has you covered.

— What a brilliant fake punt. Robert Zeglinski has more for you here.

That’s all, folks! Thanks so much for reading TMW this morning. And thanks so much to everyone who responded in our poll. We appreciate you!

Let’s do this again tomorrow. See you then!

Please don’t blame the Angels for the tragic ending to Shohei Ohtani’s season

Shohei Ohtani’s injury is the worst thing that’s happened to baseball in a while.

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Mike Sykes.

Just when you think things can’t get worse for the Los Angeles Angels, they absolutely do. Just like always.

The organization took a big bet on itself when it opted not to trade Shohei Ohtani at this month’s trade deadline despite his impending free agency. Ohtani made it clear he wants to play for a contender. The Angels clearly aren’t that. The team’s best option was to trade him and launch a rebuild. Los Angeles did the opposite.

Now, we’re here. Shohei Ohtani won’t pitch again this season after reportedly tearing his UCL in his right elbow, per Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register.

Shohei Ohtani has a torn UCL and won’t pitch again this season.

— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) August 24, 2023

It’s unclear if Ohtani will need surgery again. This is the same arm he had Tommy John surgery on back in 2018. If he does opt for surgery, he won’t pitch for the entirety of the 2024 MLB season. As for the immediate future, it’s also unclear if he’ll hit again at all this season.

There’s no way around it. This Ohtani saga has ended in complete disaster. The Angels keeping him around didn’t work out for anybody. Not only did the team not capitalize on having a generational talent on its roster by missing out on the postseason, but now Ohtani may also miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars because of this. It’s also unclear how much he’ll pitch for the rest of his career considering the wear and tear on his arm. This is not what anyone wanted to see here.

It’s so easy to blame the Angels for this, but y’all — I’m sorry. I just can’t fault the Angels for going for it here with the best player in baseball.

Come on, man. Who wants to be known as the franchise that traded away the best player in the sport? He’s the MVP, y’all. That’s like if the Cavaliers traded LeBron James back in 2009. You just don’t do that, man.

It’s one thing to be snake-bitten as the Angels are, but it’s another thing to never aspire for more. The Angels tried. The team wanted to compete. It wanted to give its fans something — someone — to be proud of. That’s not a bad thing. That’s good for baseball.

Look, I don’t have any answers here as to what should’ve happened or what should be done now. I’m just heartbroken all around for everyone.

I’m sick for Shohei because of the impact this may have on his career. I’m sick for the Angels because they went for it and they failed. I’m sick for the entire sport that might lose out on one of the best and most entertaining talents we’ve ever seen.

This just sucks all around. Please, get well soon, Shohei. Baseball will miss you dearly.

Quick hits: The 49ers never gave Lance a chance … James Harden’s beef with Daryl Morey is a complicated onion … and more

Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

— Here’s Robert Zeglinski’s brilliant column on the 49ers never truly giving Trey Lance a chance. After just four starts and 102 career passing attempts, the team is done with him. What a shame.

— Prince Grimes has a Layup Lines theory about what the true intentions of James Harden’s comments about Daryl Morey were. He wanted him fired. I think I agree. Hit that subscribe button for me when you’re done reading.

— Nike has gamified Kobe Bryant’s legacy and nothing about that feels good or right.

— Here’s Mitchell Northam on everything we’ve learned through two episodes of the Ahsoka series so far.

Shoutout to y’all. Thank you for reading. Have a fantastic day! Let’s chat again tomorrow.

The Colts don’t value Jonathan Taylor, but they’d love it if another team did

By asking an unreasonable return for Jonathan Taylor, the Colts are really just trying to tank his negotiating value in 2024.

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Christian D’Andrea.

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has decided to make a move when it comes to star tailback Jonathan Taylor’s contract impasse. A vague and ultimately frustrating move whose most obvious outcome is no outcome at all.

On Monday, reports swirled that the Colts were willing to allow Taylor, 2021’s NFL rushing leader and the franchise’s only offensive skill player to make a Pro Bowl since Andrew Luck’s retirement, to seek a trade. Rather than pay something approaching the four year, $64 million contract extension Christian McCaffrey got more than three years ago, Irsay would rather start from scratch. But while he doesn’t see the value in big time compensation for a running back, he sure hopes other teams out there do.

Source: The Colts are seeking a first-round pick — or package of picks that equates to as much — in a potential Jonathan Taylor trade.

— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) August 21, 2023

This is, almost certainly, a pipe dream. In Irsay’s mind there might be a team desperate enough to meet those parameters. The Washington Commanders dealt a second-round pick swap and a pair of third-rounders just to let a washed Carson Wentz steer their offense into a bridge truss before last season. If we’re willing to go back a decade, Irsay himself okayed a trade that sent a first-round pick for Trent Richardson who was, at the time, very bad at football. It could happen.

But it almost certainly won’t. Not because Taylor isn’t worth it, but because he’s in the final year of his rookie contract and banking on a massive payday (the issue that opened this rift in the first place). The market for running backs was cool to begin with, but trading away a Day 1 pick for the right to give Taylor $15 million annually is the kind of thing that gets written five paragraphs in to the news report about a general manager’s firing.

There’s also the fact that Taylor could be available as a free agent next spring, though the Colts could always franchise tag and further infuriate Taylor. Either way, there’s no real rush to go out and make a deal, especially with depth charts taking shape and few teams — aside from Indianapolis, naturally — with a dire need for Taylor in the backfield.

This has all the trappings of a half-baked effort. Irsay has been challenged to unclutter his basement, and at his yard sale he’s changing thousands of dollars for a bunch of cool looking stuff he doesn’t really use but still doesn’t want anyone else to have. No one’s going to meet the asking price and he’ll shrug and say “well, we tried.” Later, when Taylor brings up a contract extension again, Irsay can try to use the lack of suitors as leverage when it comes to selling his star tailback — the genesis of 37.5 percent of his total yards and 41 percent of his touchdowns in 2021 — a contract worth a fraction of his actual value.

No one is going to give the Colts a first-round pick to alleviate the mess Irsay has created. Taylor’s value, with free agency looming, is closer in line to a mid-draft pick. Indianapolis wants a Christian McCaffrey-sized return while ignoring the fact that the 49ers were willing to pay up for the All-Pro back last fall because he was under contract through 2025 and, importantly, cost roughly $4 million total in salary cap hits for San Francisco in 2022 and 2023 combined.

Thus, the illusion of progress is created even though no progress will be made. Irsay and the Colts are saying one thing with their stance on running back value when it comes to contracts, then another when it comes to trade packages for the guy who could be instrumental in aiding rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson’s career. It’s an empty statement that only benefits Irsay (outside the court of public opinion). Either he gets his big asking price, or he doesn’t and he spins that as proof Taylor isn’t as valuable as he thinks.

But it’s a transparent move, and it’ll likely only further alienate arguably the best player on his roster. There was a smart way to handle this negotiation in a landscape where running backs are underpaid and under-respected. That is not the way the Colts decided to play it.

Quick Hits: College Football previews are here! … The Little Leaguer that stole everyone’s hearts … and more

— Tyler Nettuno has one burning question for each of the Power 5 conferences in college football.

— This Little Leaguer told everyone that Shohei Ohtani was his superhero and it was the cutest thing in the world. Here’s more from Andrew Joseph.

— Charles Curtis has updated MLB power rankings as we inch closer and closer to September.

— Mary Clarke has this thrilling angle of Sha’Carri Richardson’s incredible win at the Track and Field World Championships that you need to see.

That’s all, folks. Happy Tuesday. Be good to one another.

Hip-hop’s 50th anniversary is the perfect time to celebrate how intertwined it is with sports

Cheers to Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary and its incredible relationship with the sports world.

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Mike Sykes.

It all started on Aug. 11, 1973. A group of kids were having a back-to-school bash in the basement of their apartment complex in the Bronx. The tunes were set in motion by the legend we know today as DJ Kool Herc.

He had the brilliant idea of playing the percussive breaks from people’s favorite songs back-to-back-to-back to keep the vibes flowing. He’d scratch the records on the turntables of his enormous sound system and use the mixer to switch between his songs.

That, folks, is widely regarded as the night hip-hop was born. It started in that Bronx basement 50 years ago, but now it’s spread out across the globe and taken multiple cultures and industries by storm.

Yes, the sports world is included in that.

From the music you hear at your local park on someone’s speaker during a pick-up game to the music blasted from the jumbotron speakers in your favorite team’s home arena, hip-hop is everywhere in the sports world.

That’s been the case for decades. Essentially, for as long as the genre has existed, the music has had a presence in sports. It blew up in the 90s as hip-hop entered the mainstream zeitgeist and has only grown more since. The marriage between the two has been a beautiful one.

It’s given us absolute classic songs from back in the day like Kurtis Blow’s 1984 hit “Basketball” to more recent bangers like Drake and Future’s Big Rings. There are so many teams in so many arenas who play DJ Khaled’s All I Do is Win and, as corny as it is, it still hits hard every time you hear it. Especially when it’s your team that did the winning.

But it’s not just the songs that this beautiful marriage between these two worlds has produced for us. They also share their talent. As the legend Lil Wayne once said, “Athletes wanna be rappers, rappers wanna be athletes.” Sometimes, that mix actually works out.

Our best example is probably Shaquille O’Neal, who easily had the best career of any athlete giving rap a go. He had multiple albums and his Shaq Diesel joint actually went platinum. Shaq even got a Biggie feature on “Can’t Stop the Reign.”

He’s certainly the most prominent example, but there are plenty of other athletes who gave music a shot. Damian Lillard is the example now. But, before him, you had the likes of Deion Sanders, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and so many more who laid a verse down on wax.

Was it always good? Absolutely not. But it was always fun to at least hear your favorite athletes trying.

Sometimes, the reverse happens, too. Master P made it to the NBA for a few preseason games. J Cole actually had an NBA tryout and played professionally in the Basketball Africa League. Today, LSU’s Flau’Jae Johnson essentially plays college basketball on the side while she blossoms in her rap career. The catch is she’s very good at both things.

All of these super-talented folks having all of these amazing opportunities is a direct result of the beautiful union we have between hip-hop and sports. The effortless fusion of these two cultures is something we rarely see, but it makes complete sense.

Athletes are people, too. And hip-hop is all about the people. It imprinted on so many of us. The music raised us up. It taught us how to be cool, how to make friends and how to talk to people. It taught us rejection and failure, but it also taught us how to love and be loved. Most importantly, it never left us. It always connected with us.

It doesn’t matter who you are. Hip-hop will always accept you. You’re always welcome to the party, no matter where you come from. That’s the beauty of it all.

Happy birthday, hip-hop. Thank you for everything.

Quick hits: Get YouTube TV out of here … Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are really doing this? … and more

(AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

— Robert Zeglinski breaks down what you’ll get from an NFL+ subscription vs. what you’ll get from YouTube TV’s Sunday Ticket. NFL+ seems like the clear winner here.

— Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are really going to have an MMA fight. This so stupid. Charles Curtis has the details.

— Rest in peace to Dale Gribble aka Johnny Hardwick from King of the Hill. Cory Woodruff has more.

— Mitchell Northam ranked the NFL’s rookies in Fantasy Football tiers for you. Make sure you thank him later.

Have a fantastic weekend. Be kind to one another. See you on Monday!

The problem with Alexi Lalas’s ridiculous take on USWNT becoming ‘irrelevant’ if they stop winning

His tweet was so wrong.

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Charles Curtis.

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The moment the ball (barely) crossed the goal line in the USWNT’s World Cup Round of 16 loss to Sweden, narratives poured out from all corners of the internet.

We saw countless takes on how this team was “too woke” and “too outspoken” — all supporting the obnoxious conclusion that they deserved to be rooted against (you can deflate that one by looking at Sweden’s players speaking out on inequality).

But there was one that stuck in my craw: A tweet from FOX Sports’ Alexi Lalas, the former USMNT player turned analyst who once sent a tone-deaf tweet about how it took “courage to actually stand for the national anthem” in reference to a NWSL game before he deleted and walked it back.

Here’s what he said in response to how it was strange to see Americans celebrating an American team losing:

Don’t kill the messenger. This #USWNT is polarizing. Politics, causes, stances, & behavior have made this team unlikeable to a portion of America. This team has built its brand and has derived its power from being the best/winning. If that goes away they risk becoming irrelevant. https://t.co/J5yFxOuBet

— Alexi Lalas (@AlexiLalas) August 6, 2023

It’s that last bit that I can’t get away from.

Winning is NOT how the USWNT has “derived its power.” Collectively, the players on that team used their voices to speak out against injustice, to peacefully protest, to call for equal pay, and succeeded. Can’t get more American than that.

And they certainly won’t be irrelevant now that the team that won two World Cups in a row bowed out earlier than expected. In fact, it’s just the beginning.

The torch has been passed, the spark kindled. The next generation of players and younger fans understand that even stepping on to the national stage gives them the platform to speak out (and for those who don’t make it that far, they can join with countless others in support).

This rhetoric is tiring and gross, but I can’t imagine the team will do anything but laugh if it sees that tweet or the countless others sent by so many who wished ill upon the women’s team.

Because what Megan Rapinoe and her teammates have done will stand the test of time. Just like those on the current roster who was inspired when Brandi Chastain kicked the Cup-winner in 1999, there are so many who will know what it takes to make change in the world.

And it won’t take winning another World Cup to make that happen.

Quick hits: Sean Payton is banning what? … The Thompson Twins are hilarious … and more

— Sean Payton says he’s banning…Gilligan hats from the Broncos’ preseason sideline. Didn’t have any clue what that meant until Robert Zeglinski figured it out here.

— The Thompson twins arguing over who will dunk on the other first is the best. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.

— The Orioles are rightfully being blasted across the internet for suspending this broadcast because he simply did his job. Mary Clarke has more.

— Pablo Reyes’ game-winning grand slam had to hurt the Royals even more considering the controversial swing-or-no-swing call that came before it. Yikes. What do you think?

That’s all, folks. Have a great one!

The Pac-12’s possible demise put college sports’ worst kept secret out in the open

Must be the money, baby.

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Mike Sykes.

“Must be the money, that’s turnin’ them on.”

Those simple, yet wise, words come from one Deion Sanders. The song “Must be the Money” is the lone single released on his 1994 album “Prime Time.” The album wasn’t good, of course. Sanders had to be terrible at something as one of the world’s best multi-sport athletes. But… he had a point.

It must be the money. It’s all about the money.

Look no further than the imminent demise of the Pac-12 to prove it. The conference that once called dubbed itself the “Conference of Champions” is on the brink of no longer existing.

The conference is facing an existential crisis after Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Oregon and Washington all applied for membership in other conferences. USC and UCLA were already headed to the Big Ten in 2024. Colorado is going back to the Big-12. The conference is left with just four member schools now: Stanford, California, Oregon State and Washington State. Hardly anything to write home about.

That ostensibly means that we have three super conferences in college football. The SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 are stacked. The ACC is just somewhere floating around on the periphery and the rest of the conferences just don’t matter.

With this new conference realignment, college sports as we know it will never be the same. We’ll have schools traveling clear across the country to play interconference games that no one will really care that much about. Is anyone lining up to watch Maryland play Oregon? No? Didn’t think so.

But that’s where we are now. There’s no familiarity between teams anymore. Just a bunch of teams hopping from state to state to play games and fulfill television agreements. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It should. Because that’s what professional sports looks like.

That’s college athletics now. What was once about regions and rivalries is now all about cash and the spirit that schools are willing to sacrifice to make that cash grow.

Almost 30 years ago, Deion Sanders called it. He reminded us once again on Friday.

“All of this is about money,” he told reporters on Friday when asked about conference realignment. And you won’t find a single coach that’s going to complain about it. Sure, you’ll get a bit of hemming and hawing, but there’s a lot more understanding that comes with it regardless of the impact negative it’ll have on a coach’s players across sports.

Everyone wants that bag, man. And the more money that comes your school’s way in lieu of a new TV deal, the more money cash a coach might have on the back end of an extension.

Yes, it’s about the money. But it always has been. That’s the college sports world’s worst-kept secret.

We knew that when we were introduced to the bag men of college sports. We knew it when boosters were allowed to get involved in the NIL game. We also knew that every single time a shoddy TV deal changed the look of the conferences we loved.

It’s about time the NCAA stopped pretending like we don’t. It can start by finally cutting its players some checks.

Quick Hits: The GOAT for every NFL team … Carson Wentz is actually hilarious … and more

— Our Robert Zeglinski names the best player ever for every NFL team and some of these will definitely surprise you

— Can we get Carson Wentz on a new NFL team ASAP? I just need him to get another piece of gear to wear. Charles Curtis has more.

— Our Mary Clarke has the breakdown of the Erik Karlsson trade for you.

— This sinker from Abner Uribe makes absolutely no sense.

Why trading Damian Lillard right now might not actually be the best move for the Trail Blazers

It’s not the right time to trade Damian Lillard. Not yet.

This is the on-site version of FTW’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Mike Sykes.

NBA free agency starts on Friday, but that’s not what everyone will be paying attention to once the clock strikes 6 p.m. ET.

We will all be watching the Damian Lillard situation out in Portland.

Obviously, this is a thing that’s been culminating for years at this point. And, let’s be honest, folks, the “will they, won’t they” vibes that we’re getting from both Dame and the Trail Blazers has definitely worn on most of us.

The dance between the two sides continues with the news about the meeting between Lillard and the Blazers’ brass. Lillard isn’t requesting a trade … yet. He’s waiting around to see what the Blazers do. And most people are just asking why at this point. Either do it or don’t, Dame.

But, honestly? If I’m the Trail Blazers? I think I might just hold firm on Dame Lillard, y’all. It might not be the right time to trade him.

Lillard is easily one of the best 15 players in the NBA right now and one of the best at his position. Typically, you’d get a whale of a return for a player like Lillard. I’m talking draft picks out the wazoo. All the pick swaps. A young prospect to kickstart a rebuild. That’s typically all on the table.

But The NBA trade market is zapped.

Obviously, circumstances were different, but the best draft pick compensation the Wizards could get out of moving Chris Paul, Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis was a 2030 top-20 protected first-round pick. The Hawks had to salary dump John Collins.

Lillard is better than all of them with a different contract. But still, it’s very clear, NBA teams are not here right now for offering up the farm for a single player.

It’s the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement. Player trade values have shrunk because teams aren’t willing to circumvent the salary cap for a massive talent like Lillard anymore. They’ll lose key roster-building tools if they do like the taxpayer mid-level exception, for example. Some teams aren’t even willing to part with draft picks anymore because they know they’ll lose guaranteed cheap salaries.

So if you’re the Trail Blazers looking at that market, why would you trade Damian Lillard? This is one of your best players in franchise history and you might get pennies on the dollar for him. Absolutely not.

That’s not what a lot of us want to hear and I get that. People are tired of hearing legacy-building propaganda about how Damian Lillard isn’t running from the grind or how he doesn’t actually want to play on a stacked team or whatever. It’s almost cartoonish at this point.

But, hey, man. We might be getting another year of this. So buckle in, folks. More Lillard memes are coming.

Quick Hits: The top 32 NHL prospects … 10 NBA players who could be traded … and more.

— Our Mary Clarke ranked her top 32 NHL prospects ahead of the draft. Get ready for a good time.

— Along with Damian Lillard, names like Zion Williamson and others could be on the move this summer. Our Charles Curtis has more.

— Robert Zeglinski ranked every Black Mirror episode and, honestly, I think this might break me.

— Baseball fans are roasting this umpire for a terrible strike call to end the Nationals game and I can’t blame them. This was bad.

The Bradley Beal era in Washington hasn’t been pretty but it’s still worthy of appreciation

Bradley Beal deserves a little love from Wizards fans

This is the on-site version of FTW’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Mike Sykes.

So, after spending 11 years with the Wizards, the Bradley Beal era in Washington may finally come to a close.

To be frank about it, this is coming a few years too late. I’m not even talking about a trade — I’m talking about the mere thought of seriously considering trading Bradley Beal. The organization has tap danced around considering a full tear down and a rebuild for years now, but this is long overdue.

The fact is, the Wizards haven’t won anything significant with the 3-time All-Star as the face of their franchise. Since trading John Wall — which should be considered the start of the Bradley Beal era — the Wizards have a paltry record of 104-132. That’s not good. There’s no way to spin that. That’s why this is happening.

But that’s not what I’m here to talk about today. Today, I actually want to give Beal a bit of appreciation. What he’s done in D.C. should not be frowned upon.

Let’s just look at the resume. If Bradley Beal is traded away from the Washington Wizards today, his 15,391 total points would fall just 160 points shy of Elvin Hayes as the Wizards’ all-time leading scorer. Only he and Hayes have eclipsed 15,000 total points for the team. He’s third all-time in minutes played (24,091), games played (695) and assists (2,972).

The Wizards haven’t won 50 games since the 1978-79 NBA season and have only won that many games 5 times in franchise history. But they came really close during the 2016-17 NBA season and Bradley Beal was a huge part of that team.

I’m not saying all of this to say that Bradley Beal should be absolved of the Wizards’ recent failures. No. Absolutely not. The team goes as he does and, well, the team has not gone anywhere. Even with poorly built rosters, part of that is on him.

He’s been injured in crucial stretches for Washington. He hasn’t shown up at points where the team has really needed him to. He’s very easily signed to the worst contract in the NBA (which isn’t his fault, by the way!). As a fan, watching Wizards basketball has never been more frustrating.

But Bradley Beal is still a really good player. He’s an All-Star who has done some incredible things in this league. And he’s absolutely one of the best Washington Wizards to ever touch the court in D.C.

He legitimately cares about this community. He wants to be here in Washington. He actually likes the city. He likes having his own team and he genuinely wants to win a title here. Though, ultimately, it doesn’t seem like he’ll get that shot to do that now, that’s a really cool thing.

No, he’s not John Wall. It’s always hard to follow up the first guy. But I think we can legitimately say Brad Beal has done his best here in Washington. And I think we should appreciate that.

Quick Hits: Handicapping Jell-O shots?!? … Playing in the Stanley Cup with a broken sternum?!?!? … And more.

https://twitter.com/CWSShotBoard/status/1668486115345551360/photo/1

— The genius that we all know as Christian D’Andrea handicapped the College World Series Jell-O Shot Challenge. Yes, you read that correctly.

— Matthew Tkachuk played with a broken sternum in the Stanley Cup Finals and fans were appalled. Mary Clark has more.

— Cory Woodruff is ranking the NBA’s coaching hires so far.

— You can check out the PGA Championship leaderboard all weekend here.

Til next time, folks!

Victor Wembanyama doesn’t need media hype to be great, so let’s all just relax a bit

We don’t need to do the LeBron James thing with Victor Wembanyama

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Mike Sykes.

The Victor Wembanyama media coverage has already jumped the shark and the kid hasn’t even played an NBA minute yet.

Obviously, Wembanyama is beyond talented. He’s very clearly one of the most intriguing prospects in NBA history. He’s a 7-foot-4 (maybe taller?) center who has legitimate guard skills. You might be able to play him on the wing if his handle is tight enough. And don’t be shocked if we see him out there initiating offense at certain points.

The dude can palm a basketball with two fingers. He had a putback dunk off of his own stepback 3-point attempt, y’all. The kid is impossible. That’s more than enough to excite people about what he could possibly be.

But, of course, basketball media is doing the thing again.

What is the thing, you might ask. Well, folks, it’s exactly what we did to LeBron James when it was his time coming up. He was built up into this caricature that, eventually, became an assumed reality for so many people.

Folks like Skip Bayless ran with it and made careers off of it. The conversation was never about the great things that LeBron did at such a young age or the fact that he lived up to every expectation and then some. Instead, it was, “Well, he’s great, right? So he should be doing that. He’s not special.” And that completely warped everyone’s thinking when it came to James and it’s honestly what led to The Decision and the feast-or-famine way we talk about some of the best players ever today.

Now we’re doing the same with Victor Wembanyama. It’s like we hadn’t learned anything from the last 20 years.

Adrian Wojnarowski is calling Wemby the “greatest prospect in the history of team sports.” Fox Sports’ Chris Broussard says that if Wembanyama has a career on par with the likes of Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant or Hakeem Olajuwon then his career would be “a disappointment” as if being one of the 20 best players to ever pick up a basketball is some devastating failure.

What are we doing here, y’all? Who does this all serve? I ask that genuinely. Because nobody wins from this sort of talk.

Unless Wembanyama literally becomes the singular best player ever, he can’t win. The fans certainly won’t win because we’ll only watch what could be an excellent career for Wembanyama through an unrealistic lens. The media won’t win either because the backlash from this ridiculous coverage only creates distrust.

It’s just bad. All bad. And, truthfully, it’s not worth it. Wembanyama doesn’t need that sort of hype. He’s created enough all by himself.

So can we please stop with this ridiculousness? Thanks in advance.

Quick Hits: JIMMY. FRICKIN. BUTLER! … A flaw from all 32 NFL teams … and more.

— I cannot imagine being on the wrong side of this Kevin Harlan call of Jimmy Butler’s dagger against the Celtics. Charles Curtis has more.

— Christian D’Andrea broke down weaknesses from all 32 teams in the NFL that might cost them a shot at the Super Bowl.

— Joe Mazzulla was caught throwing his clipboard during a timeout, which is like finding Big Foot because he never calls timeouts. Mary Clarke has more.

— 5 of the biggest names cut from WNBA rosters this week, from Mitch Northam.

Talk to you tomorrow!