All the Sports Stories You Need to Know This AM
Baseball #narratives, Ronda Rousey’s back, +more
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Don’t Stop… Well. Actually…
Sorry, SF, but it’s time to stop #BeliEVEN. The half-decade (ish) lucky streak ended in the Giants’ last at-bat loss to the Cubs on Tuesday night, which means the Cubbies still have a shot at breaking their 108-year World Series strikeout.
Contrary to popular belief, though, the Cubs aren’t the only ones dealing with a curse hanging over their heads. Both ALCS teams have monkeys they’d like off their backs, too:
Cleveland is, well, Cleveland (yeah, the Cavs took the NBA title earlier this year, but we’ve also all seen the can’t-look-away-car-accident that is the Browns), and they’ve barely made it into the postseason, let alone a World Series, since they traded Rocky Colavito in 1960 (though they have been better in the past couple of decades).
Toronto has also had its fair share of struggles as a sports city: The last major league team to win the city a championship was the Blue Jays, back in 1993 — the Raptors have never won an NBA championship (the best team in franchise history was actually last year’s, which made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to CLEVELAND!) and the much-maligned Maple Leafs last won a Stanley Cup in 1967.
So basically, the series starting Friday night has huge implications for the winning city, no matter which way it goes.
The Cubs have to wait just a little longer to see who they’ll play in the NLCS, and that winner’s story will be almost as compelling as their own: The Nationals have never played in a World Series, while the Dodgers have a longstanding culture of winning. Tonight’s NLDS finale will decide whether the Championship Series will be hard luck (Cubs) vs. underdog (Nats) or perennial downer (also Cubs) vs. historical contender (Dodgers); we’ll definitely be watching.
Ronda Returns
After losing her title last November to Holly Holm, UFC fighter Ronda Rousey basically ghosted on us. After almost a year-long absence and some speculation about a return, it’s been officially announced that she’s back and will fight Amanda Nunes to reclaim her bantamweight title on December 30 at UFC 207. Will a year-long R&R leave RR ready to kick some butt? Evvvvveryone will be watching to find out.
Why Trump Is Probably Losing Ohio
If you missed the election news of the weekend, Google “Donald Trump Billy Bush.” All caught up? Great. So—Tom Brady, a “good friend” of the Republican presidential nominee (he has the Make America Great Again hat to prove it), peaced out on reporters after being asked what he, as a father, thought about Trump’s recent headline-making comments about women.
At a news conference far, far away, LeBron James squashed the idea that they could be summed up as “locker room talk,” saying: “We don’t disrespect women in no shape or fashion in the locker room. …That’s trash talk.” The full video is worth the watch:
At least Ohio isn’t a swing state — oh, wait…
An Instagram We Did NOT Like :(
Yesterday, the sports world and beyond was abuzz after former four-division title-holder Adrien Broner posted a series of seemingly suicidal Instagrams, first a message to his family and friends saying “I don’t want to be here no more” and then a photo of a handgun inside a car with the caption: “I’m going home I love y’all.”
Friends alerted police and, thankfully, Broner’s longtime adviser Sam Watson spoke with the Guardian and confirmed that the boxer is “OK.”
Kap Is Starting! But Also Likely Leaving
After a season spent more in the headlines than on the field, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is starting this weekend, coach Chip Kelly announced. In Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, the QB-turned-Time cover guy/the league’s most controversial figure of 2016 will have a chance to prove if he’s really better than starter Blaine Gabbert (he probably is).
Although Kap was under contract with the 49ers through 2020, he has signed a “restructured deal,” which dissolves the last three years of the six-year deal and eliminated injury guarantees for 2017. The team will not pay for his full salary next year if he suffers an injury during this one. According to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport, that means his contract is essentially a two-year deal. Kaepernick will likely be shopping around for a new team after this season is over.
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