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๐จ Headline
๐ Tragedy in Guinea: On Sunday, 56 people were killed in a stampede at a soccer stadium in Nzerekole, Guinea, when clashes between fans broke out during a dispute over a red card in the final of a local tournament.
๐ Associated Press poll: UW men’s team drops 23 spots to 25th after losing three straight to unranked opponents, while Auburn moves into second place. The TCU women’s team rose to No. 9, its first ever top-10 ranking, while Notre Dame dropped seven spots to No. 10.
๐ McCaffrey on IR: Just four weeks after returning to the field, Christian McCaffrey has been placed on injured reserve (PCL) and could miss the remainder of the season. To make matters worse for the 49ers, his backup Jordan Mason is also scheduled to go on IR (ankle).
๐ Schedule Announced: The WNBA has announced its schedule for the 2025 season. The season begins on May 16, and each team will play 44 games (up from 40 the past two seasons).
๐ Red Bull looks for new driver: Red Bull Racing plans to part ways with Sergio Perez after Sunday’s final race of the season. Perez was Max Verstappen’s teammate for all four of his F1 titles but has struggled this year with just four podiums and no wins.
๐ No Wins in November
There have been 16 winless months in NBA history. The Wizards have acquired two of them since February.
Dรฉjร vu: Washington went 0-14 in November, dropping to 2-16 overall, on pace to match the worst record in NBA history, the 1972-73 Sixers (9-73). Last February, as part of a 16-game losing streak, they went 0-12, falling to 15-67 on the season, both worst for the franchise.
By the numbers, the Wizards aren’t just losing. They are being blown away. Fifteen of the 16 losses were by double digits, and seven of those losses were by at least 20 points. And their net rating (point difference per 100 possessions) of -14.1 is on track to be their third-worst record ever.
Washington’s historical powerlessness is no great mystery. They have the poorest roster in the NBA, led by two highly paid veterans in Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole.
The duo is making $53 million this year, shooting 43 percent from the field, committing almost as many turnovers (5.8 per game) as they have assists (6.8).
Waving the White Flag: Of course, there is a reward for all this losing. Next year’s draft class is packed, with the Wizards acquiring generational talent like Cooper Flagg (Duke) and Ace Bailey (Rutgers), along with Alex Sarr, Babs Carrington, Bilal Koulibaly, and Kishawn.ใปHe is striving for the possibility of joining George and other young core players. All first-round picks are under the age of 21.
Yes, but: Tanking comes at a price. There are also concerns that a loss this bad could have a lasting impact on such a young team (average age: 25.46 years). “When you encounter adversity like this early, it’s tough,” four-year veteran Corey Kispert told The Athletic ($). “It’s testing the culture.”
Looking ahead: Things won’t get any easier for the Wizards anytime soon, starting with tonight’s road game against the No. 1 Cavaliers in the NBA Cup. The next two games will be against the Mavericks (13-8) and the Nuggets (10-8), so a franchise-worst 17-game losing streak may be inevitable.
๐ Well, it was fun!
The NFL played 16 games this week. Twelve of those games were decided by one point, tied for the most in a single week. It looked like he was heading for his Monday Night Football record of 13… before Jameis Winston threw a pick into the end zone.
Flashback…the last time the game was this close was Week 15 of 2022, which was probably the wildest week in NFL history. Not only were 12 games decided by one point, but all 16 games were decided by 12 points or less. There were three comebacks of 17 points or more (the most ever in a week), and the Vikings’ 33-point comeback was the largest in history.
๐บ๐ธ Breakthrough season: Pulisic grows in new role
For almost five years, Christian Pulisic could be confidently described as a winger. Now, the 26-year-old has moved into a more central position with AC Milan and the USMNT, where he is playing the best football of his career.
From Henry Bushnell of Yahoo Sports:
Pulisic is used to central areas. He often played there when he was a teenager. He was number 10 on the U.S. youth national team. He was former USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter’s early core creator.
However, at Borussia Dortmund and later Chelsea, he was unprepared and untrusted for the responsibility that comes with a central role in Europe’s elite leagues. And for the national team, he played (mainly) on the left side of a 4-3-3.
Then Mauricio Pochettino arrived and started tinkering with it. At the same time, in Italy, AC Milan manager Paulo Fonseca moved Pulisic to the center. He doesn’t go deep and get on the ball like a traditional No. 10 player. Rather, he drifts for space and senses opportunities to dive in behind the opposition defence.
The result: In just over three months, the young American has already contributed to 17 goals for club and country, with many of his best moments quietly coming his way in the classic number 10 position. was born from.
โฝ๏ธ WATCH: What does Pulisic’s future hold at AC Milan? (Soccer Cooligans)
๐บ๐ธ Photos from around America
DENVER โ Two pick-sixes and a 93-yard TD pass help the Broncos beat the Browns 41-32 on “Monday Night Football,” spoiling career games for Jameis Winston (franchise-record 497 passing yards) and Jerry Jeudy. I made it. (235 receiving yards compared to his previous team).
MINNEAPOLIS โ The Lakers suffered a blowout 109-80 loss to the Timberwolves on Monday, their lowest-scoring game of the LeBron James era. James scored a season-low 10 points and has missed 19 consecutive 3-pointers over the past four games.
NEW YORK โ The Devils beat the Rangers 5-1, ending a four-game losing streak against their cross-rival rival and reclaiming first place in the East over the Capitals. The Rangers have lost six of their last seven games and look completely out of sorts.
๐ December 3, 1944: โCarpitโ
Eighty years ago today, the historically unsuccessful year-long merger between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Cardinals ended after a horrifying winless season.
Why did they merge? Some teams were short-staffed as NFL players enlisted during World War II. Once a year from 1943 to 1945, the solution was to merge the two teams.
1943: The Steelers and Eagles went 5-4-1 and became the Steagles. (They played home games at Shibe Park in Philadelphia and Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.)
1944: The Steelers and Cardinals became Card Pit and went 0-10. (Forbes Field in Pittsburgh and Comiskey Park in Chicago)
(1945: The Boston Yankees and Brooklyn Tigers became the Yankees with a record of 3 wins, 6 losses, and 1 draw. (Yankee Stadium in New York and Fenway Park in Boston)
By the numbers, Card-Pitt had one of the eight winless seasons (minimum 10 games) in NFL history, but that wasn’t just a little unlucky. Although they almost won the season opener, they lost the last nine games by an average margin of 24 points.
Their QBs completed only 34% of their passes and combined for 41 INTs and 8 TDs, which is the third most in history.
Even their punters were terrible. His 32.7 yards per punt remains the lowest in NFL history.
The last word: In an angry letter to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, an outraged fan gave this team the perfect nickname: “Why don’t they call themselves the Carpits? All over the league. I think that’s very appropriate because the team is walking on them. โ
*Seven other winless seasons…1942 Lions (0-11), 1943 Cardinals (0-10), 1944 Brooklyn Tigers (0-10), 1960 Cowboys (0-11) 1976 Buccaneers (0 wins, 14 losses), 2008 Lions (0-16), 2017 Browns (0-16)
๐บ Watchlist: Who will emerge victorious?
The NBA Cup group stage concludes today with 11 games, including a doubleheader on TNT: Magic against the Knicks (7:30 p.m. ET) and Warriors against the Nuggets (10 p.m. ET).
Current status: Rockets, Warriors, and Hawks advance to the eight-team finals, 14 teams are eliminated, and 13 teams remain vying for the final five spots. *
West: Eight teams are competing for two spots, six of which will play: Grizzlies vs. Mavericks (8:30 p.m.), Spurs vs. Suns (9 p.m.), Trail Blazers vs. Clippers (10 p.m.) 30 minutes). The others are the Nuggets (vs. Warriors) and Thunder (vs. Jazz).
East: Five teams are competing for three spots, and four of them will play: Bucks and Pistons (7 p.m.), Magic and Knicks. The fifth team is the Celtics (not playing).
Also noteworthy:
๐ NCAAM: Syracuse, No. 3 Tennessee (7:30 p.m., ESPN). Michigan vs. No. 11 Wisconsin (9 p.m., Peacock). No. 4 Kentucky vs. Clemson (9:30 p.m., ESPN)
โฝ๏ธ Friendly Match: Netherlands vs. USWNT (2:45 p.m., TNT) โฆ in The Hague, Netherlands.
*Tie-break rules: Tie-break rules are broken first by group play head-to-head record, then by group play point differential, then by group play total points, and finally by regular season record.
๐ NFL Trivia
โHard Knocksโ returns tonight (9 p.m. ET, HBO/Max) with another season of the long-running documentary series. Rather than following a single team, this year’s show will follow the entire AFC North (Bengals, Browns, Ravens, Steelers).
Question: Without looking it up, what are the current standings in the AFC North? Bonus points for including each team’s record.
The answer is at the bottom.
โพ๏ธ Japanese slugger attracts attention to MLB transfer
Shohei Ohtani is MLB’s biggest star, Aki Sasaki is MLB’s most popular free agent (not Juan Soto), and now another Japanese phenom is setting his sights on America.
Coming soon: Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami announced Monday that 2025 will be his last season in Nippon Professional Baseball, after which he will consider signing with an MLB team.
Who is this guy? The 24-year-old left-hander already has quite the resume, recording 224 HR, 600 RBI, and a .945 OPS over seven seasons (836 games) with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. He is the youngest player in NPB or MLB history to reach 200 home runs, and his 56 home runs in 2022 broke Sadaharu Oh’s long-held record for a Japanese-born player.
๐ฃ Look: Men have serious powerโฆ
Trivia answers: 1. Steelers (9-3), 2. Ravens (8-5), 3. Bengals (4-8), 4. Browns (3-9)
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