If we offer nothing else from this site, we offer diverse attitudes on how varied the amount of subjects we would like to immerse ourselves in for your enjoyment and, we’d like to believe, your education. There are those who will steadfastly stick to storytelling only about the sports, teams and games they’ve actually seen that they are passionate enough about to warrant their attention.
Then there’s moi. And Sundays like this were designed especially with folks like moi in their crosshairs. No less than six major sports had significant contests going from well before dawn to well after dusk. Thankfully, multiple browsers and a good internet connection were up and running. And so were my sinuses. So I was wide awake when the first of these events, and so was BLEACHER REPORT’s Joseph Zucker:
Lando Norris continued to trim the gap on Formula One points leader and reigning champion Max Verstappen with a win in Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Fifty-two points now separate Norris from Verstappen. The Dutch star’s second-place finish helped to limit the damage in terms of losing ground on his top challenger.
Then, Just in time for sunrise, the long NFL day began with the pre-game shows. My fantasy teams are both 1-1, so I paid a tad more attention than usual. ESPN2’s FANTASY FOOTBALL NOW is as detailed and spontaneous as anything out there. I made a couple of late moves, including restoring New York Giants’ rookie Malik Nabors as a starter after a week where his status was up in the air for a while. He rewarded me with two touchdowns and his team scored their first win of the season.
That was only one of the surprises of Week Three. The Rams and Broncos and–gasp!–the Panthers broke their proverbial cherries. The Dallas Cowboys lost their second consecutive home game and fell to 1-2. And Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings are now 3-0. Darnold just happens to be my recent fantasy quarterback pickup, a Hail Mary after the Packers’ Jordan Love went down with what appeared to be a serious injury after their Week One loss. Today his backup, Malik Willis, returned to haunt his former Tennessee Titans teammates and led the Pack to their second consecutive win, and all indications are Love is ready to return as soon as next week. For a change, I’ve got a wealth of riches.
But while that was going on, I was distracted enough by the start of the WNBA playoffs. After a record-breaking regular season, the 12-team league has been reduced to a field of eight that all began three-game opening-round series today. Yes, Caitlin Clark and the Fever were in action, but for as fabulous as their second half was, they have been matched against a team that played the whole season at that level, and as the ASSOCIATED PRESS’ Doug Feinberg reported, it was a sobering experience:
Alyssa Thomas always raises her play in the postseason. Thomas had her fourth career triple-double in the playoffs and 15th overall to spoil Caitlin Clark’s postseason debut as the Connecticut Sun beat the Indiana Fever 93-69 on Sunday in Game 1 of their best-of-three series. The Sun’s star finished with 12 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds.
Clark, who earlier in the day was announced as the AP Rookie of the Year, finished with 11 points, recovering from a rough start. She also had eight assists.
Yes, soccer was also on the menu. Fresh off a White House appearance for their 2023 title, Gotham FC got a crucial NWSL win, a surprisingly nail-biting 1-0 squeaker over the cellar-dwelling Utah Royals. Later, the Philadelphia Union kept their slim post-season hopes alive with a 4-0 schvantz of DC United.
Oh, the NHL pre-season has launched, with 10 such games on today’s slate, including a day/night doubleheader featuring last year’s Stanley Cup champion. NHL.com quickly dropped what appears to be an AI-generated recap of the opener:
The Florida Panthers played their first game since winning the Stanley Cup, a 3-2 victory against the Nashville Predators in a split-squad game at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday. It was the preseason debut for each team.
Sam Bennett, Hunter St. Martin and Rasmus Asplund scored, and Spencer Knight stopped all 19 shots he faced for Florida. Cole Smith and Joakim Kemell scored, and Matt Murray and Ethan Haider combined to make 20 saves for Nashville.
Well, I was watching.
And yes, I was also watching when some ignominious baseball history was being made. MLB.com’s Scott Merkin, a real human being, seems to have had the same idea:
White Sox interim manager Grady Sizemore understands the interest in his 2024 squad reaching 120 losses, which it did with a 4-2 setback against the Padres on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park.
That defeat tied the South Siders with the 1962 Mets for the most losses in baseball’s modern era (since 1901). They equaled the American League record of 119 established by the 2003 Tigers with a setback on Saturday.
The White Sox loss on Sunday was almost textbook for a team with a 36-120 record and a Major League-worst 36 blown saves. The Sox also lead MLB with 56 losses after holding a lead and 23 when leading after six innings. The White Sox had a 2-1 lead entering the eighth, behind the homers from Lee and Miguel Vargas and dominant mound work from rookie Sean Burke.
Fortunes changed in the eighth when Donovan Solano doubled off Berroa and pinch-hitter Luis Arraez doubled off reliever Fraser Ellard to tie the game.
A wild pitch moved pinch-runner Brandon Lockridge to third, and Jurickson Profar launched a sacrifice fly to right for the 3-2 advantage. Fernando Tatis Jr., who began his career as a White Sox international signee, homered to close out the rally with an emphatic celebration, putting an exclamation mark behind another rough day for the White Sox.
Throw in Kyle Larson’s dominant win in the critical NASCAR elimination race that was contested at Bristol Motor Speedway, and it was a busy day, to be sure. And as this is being written, there’s still Sunday Night Football, Sunday Night Football and another WNBA playoff opener awaiting. That iced coffee I washed down dinner with may yet come in handy.
I know I was invigorated and learned a few things today. And if you were so intrigued to have a similar experience, guess what? Next Sunday, all six sports are expected to be on the docket again.
And if you’re not quite as obsessive and ADHD as moi, fear not. I have a hunch there may be yet another NBA training camp preview story in our future.
Courage…