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USA Today
20-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Hey, Smash Mouth. Why can't we be friends?
Hey, Smash Mouth. Why can't we be friends? Well, folks. I don't really know where to start this, so I guess I'll begin by ripping the Band-Aid off: Today is my last day here at For The Win. With that, this will be the final Morning Win I write for you all. It still doesn't quite feel real yet. I can't believe it. I've been here for five and a half years now. I've been writing this newsletter for just two of those years, and it's unbelievable how attached I've grown to it. It's so special to me. I believe it's a conduit, really. Not just for me to spout takes into the ether of the internet, but it's a place for me to share my colleagues' work and sharply shape the voice of this website alongside them. I hope you all believe I've done a good job of that in the time that I've been here with you. I think I have. I certainly have no regrets. Er, well. Um. I have one. Okay. Maybe this isn't exactly a regret. I'm not sorry that this happened, but I do wish it didn't. What I'm referring to is Smash Mouth deciding that I'm public enemy No. 1. Yes, I'm referring to the band, early aughts band Smash Mouth. No, I'm not joking. Last NBA season, when Draymond Green inexcusably choked out Rudy Gobert in a chokehold, I wrote about it in the Morning Win. I said that allowing Draymond Green to be Draymond Green had become the Warriors' biggest problem. I stand by that. Green was on a nasty streak of just completely losing his mind on the court and it all seemed to stem from that Jordan Poole punch. Not only did it break up what had been a championship-winning core with the Warriors, but it also resulted in multiple ejections and suspensions for Green. I wasn't wrong! But Smash Mouth — a big Bay Area sports entity, apparently! — decided that what I wrote was nothing more than a hit piece. That I'd just targeted Green for the sake of a click. Here's what the band's account said on X (formerly Twitter): He protected his player, that's what's up with Draymond! Take it case by case and in this case Dray was in the right. And nice hit piece on him dude, you obviously don't know how the Ws work and why they work. They say good journalism will sometimes make people mad. The truth sucks sometimes, gang. Criticism can be harsh. It is what it is. Again, I don't regret it. I need to be super clear about this. This is not an apology whatsoever. With that said, if I could use my last gasp here in the Morning Win to do something personal, I'd like to extend an olive branch to Smash Mouth. I don't want you guys to hate me. Like every other '90s kid out there, I grew up yelling "HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR. GET YOUR GAME ON. GO. PLAAAAAY," from the top of my lungs. I love Digimon: The Movie. I love Shrek! Those movies shaped me in ways I can't describe. I think I watched Shrek at least once a day from 2005 to 2007. It was my baby brother's favorite movie for a long time. I can sing I'm a Believer word for word. I also think about Wendigomon swaying in the wind to All-Star fairly often. Why? I don't know. Truthfully, this movie isn't great. But I don't care. I love it. I can't watch these things the same way knowing that Smash Mouth has beef with me. Especially not over Draymond Green, of all people! It's just not worth it. So, Smash Mouth, can we please consider this squashed? As a wise man once said, the years start comin' and they don't stop comin'. Life is too short for beef. As you once sang: Why can't we be friends? The Pacers are unbelievable The Team of Destiny vibes from the Indiana Pacers are just undeniable at this point. You couldn't go into Game 6 feeling great about Indiana's chances to extend the series. The Thunder had just dominated Indiana at home and Tyrese Haliburton's calf seemed to be a major problem. So, naturally, with all odds against them, the Pacers play their best game of the series in Game 6. TJ McConnell becomes the great white hope, in Tyrese Haliburton's words. The Thunder throw the ball everywhere on the court except in the basket. And, now, here we are with a Game 7 in Oklahoma City on Sunday. Honestly, it's unreal that we're here. Now, we should probably expect a classic heading into Sunday. Whew, man. Game 7. Let's get it. Shutting down Caitlin Clark If Natalie Nakase isn't the best coach in the WNBA right now, she's certainly up there with the best. The Golden State Valkyries legitimately look like one of the best teams in the league, and they're doing it without a star player on the roster. Golden State got yet another win against the Fever on Thursday, holding the team overall to 77 points and locking up Caitlin Clark. The Fever star only scored 11 points on 3-14 shooting from the field. That's one of her worst games in a long time. How'd they do it? Charles Curtis says Nakase let us in on the secret. It's physicality. Take note, WNBA. This is the playbook. Photo Friday: Can't stop the Tush Push, baby Since this is my last Morning Win, I figured I'd pick by favorite photo ever. This is so hilarious, yo. Big shoutouts to whoever made this sign. Fly Eagles, Fly. Quick hits: WNBA to Philly? ... Shedeur, please chill ... and more — Dawn Staley and Kylie Kelce have hatched a plan to bring the WNBA to Philadelphia. I love it. Caroline Darney has more. — Sheduer Sanders doesn't seem all too worried about his speeding tickets. Charles Curtis has details. — T.J. McConnell's dad was so proud of his son for his performance in Game 6. This was awesome. Robert Zeglinski has more. — Pascal Siakam's vibe pre-game should've let us all know the Pacers were winning this thing. Bryan Kalbrosky has more. — Drake absolutely cursed the Thunder. Smh. — Please read Prince Grimes on the Kendrick Lamar and SZA show. He captured it perfectly. What a story. Well, folks. This is it. It has been an absolute pleasure working on this newsletter and writing to this audience for years. I can't thank you all enough for indulging me. Thanks to everyone who opened this thing. Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply or sent kind words. Thanks to everyone who sent in thoughtful critiques, too. You all made me better and you made For The Win better. And I know you'll continue to do that when I'm gone. I'll be right there with you as a fan. Prince Grimes will be here with you on Monday. That's a wrap. Love you guys. Peace. -Sykes ✌️ This was For The Win's daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here.
USA Today
28-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
The Knicks' massive issue vs. the Pacers in 1 terrible stat
The Knicks' massive issue vs. the Pacers in 1 terrible stat Good morning, Winners! This is For The Win's daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Here's Mike Sykes. When Rick Carlisle was asked why the Pacers struggled so much to score late in Game 3 during the Knicks' furious rally back into the game, his answer was simple. "They had a lot of their better defenders in the game," Carlisle said, alluding to the fact that Jalen Brunson sat out most of the fourth quarter with foul trouble. Karl-Anthony Towns played the entire quarter and ran the Knicks' offense to perfection, leading New York to a win. But when Carlisle said that, I thought this was a bit of gamesmanship. I thought he was trying to coax Tom Thibodeau into benching Brunson again in the fourth quarter. But, as it turns out, he was dead serious. And, more importantly, he was right! That was demonstrated in Game 4 when the Pacers kept spamming the pick-and-roll with Tyrese Haliburton to get Brunson and Towns in the action with just three minutes left in a six-point game. Those six points felt like 20 because, well, the Knicks couldn't get a stop. Their two best players were turnstiles. It was bad. Really bad. But it also doesn't feel that correctable, either. The Knicks' two best players can't play together in this series. The numbers bear it out. According to data pulled from PBP Stats: The Knicks are a +10.76 in 127 minutes this postseason when Towns is on the floor without Brunson. The Knicks are +5.73 in 174 minutes this postseason when Brunson is on the floor without Towns. The Knicks are -4.63 in 438 minutes when Towns and Brunson play together. That's a problem, guys! And I'm not sure how the Knicks are supposed to solve it. Their two best players are also their best scorers. When they're both off the court, the Knicks' offense crashes and burns. They're a -12.86 in 39 minutes with a 92.9 offensive rating. You don't have to know precisely what those numbers mean to see that they're bad. That's untenable. Staggering their minutes is reasonable, but the Knicks have done that already. They play a ton without each other and the results seem promising. But can you bench one or the other for an entire quarter at a time without the offense sputtering or wearing them down? The Knicks don't have many great options here. That's why this series feels kind of over. Most people (including myself!)thought this series would be pretty close. New York had a solid shot of winning and advancing to the Finals. The series isn't over until it's over. But, uh, I think we were wrong. Smashing records — again You can say what you want about Angel Reese, man. But nobody cleans up the glass like she does. In year two, she's still crushing WNBA rebounding records. Reese became the fastest player to reach 500 points and 500 rebounds in just 38 games. That's pretty impressive considering some of the names that have come before her. The Sky are still winless this season, so I'm sure she'd much rather have a 1 in the win column instead of this record right here. But that'll come eventually. This is still something that should be appreciated. What she's doing is impressive. CFB 26 is right around the corner It's that time of year again. It's almost like Christmas in July. College Football 26 will be released in just about a month, on July 10. That means we'll be getting more content about the game as the release date approaches. With that, folks, we have a glimpse of this year's cover. And, boy oh boy, is it an awesome one. A look: SOPHOMORE SEASON, LOADING!!! Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith were two of the most electric players in college football last season. Having one on the cover would be great. Having two? I'm in love. Hurry up, July 10. Can't wait. Quick hits: Cam Brink is right ... The Fever are still worth it ... and more — Cameron Brink made a fantastic point about roster expansion in the WNBA. Meg Hall has details here. — Cory Woodroof says the Fever will still be fun, even without Caitlin Clark. — Terry Bradshaw says the Steelers are a joke for pursuing Aaron Rodgers. Hard to disagree here. — ESPN is off the rails. Kendrick Perkins' take here is proof. — Jalen Ramsey is counting down the days until the Dolphins can trade him. Christian D'Andrea has more. — Joe Burrow made a valid point here about the Bengals-Ravens game. Andrew Joseph has details. That's a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. Peace. -Sykes ✌️
USA Today
16-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
New rule: Let Nuggets-Thunder Game 7 determine NBA MVP
New rule: Let Nuggets-Thunder Game 7 determine NBA MVP Good morning, Winners! This is For The Win's daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Here's Mike Sykes. Those janky basketball gods, man. They're at it again. On Tuesday, I cursed them. Rightfully so. They did me dirty. There's no way the Dallas Mavericks should've won the NBA Draft Lottery. I stand by that. By Friday, they blessed us with the gift of a Game 7. Not just any Game 7 — the Game 7 of Game 7s in the NBA so far this year. The Denver Nuggets pulled off a win against the Thunder at home to set us up for one final game between these two sides for all the marbles in this series. THE THUNDER DONE MESSED UP: Kenny Smith said a Game 7 is the one thing Oklahoma City needed to avoid. But it's not just any final game — it's a final game between the two players who are front-runners for the NBA's MVP award this season. Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have been the two leaders in the conversation for MVP all season long. It's the classic set-up of the best player on the best team in SGA vs. the best player in the overall NBA in Jokic. These two have been awesome all season long. Voters have already decided which one should win with NBA awards ballots having been submitted at the season. The NBA almost certainly knows who the MVP is right now, despite not announcing the award yet. So since we're waiting, I have a proposal: Let's throw those ballots out and let them play for it. Just hear me out! Not only does the Game 7 winner advance to the Western Conference Final, but they also take home the MVP. Have the MVP trophy sitting courtside on a table for everyone to see. Remind Jokic and Shai what they're playing for here. This is basically the Hunger Games, NBA style. Is this ridiculous? Yes. Absolutely. It makes no sense. A small sample of a seven-game series in the playoffs should not determine who wins the MVP trophy. But let's be real — if the loser of this series were to win the MVP, we'd all have something to say about it. It won't take folks on X very long to start the #NotMyMVP posts. The postseason has no bearing on this award, technically, but it matters to the public. We do this every single year the MVP doesn't win a championship. This is a solution. A silly one, yes, but a solution nonetheless. And who wouldn't want to watch this game with stakes like that? Come on, people. Get creative. The basketball gods are terrible, but they've given us an opportunity. Adam Silver, step in. This is your chance to finally win the people over again. Make this happen. The WNBA is back The WNBA season finally returns today with three games: The Washington Mystics take on the Atlanta Dream at home in D.C. (7:30 p.m. ET) The Minnesota Lynx start their season on the road against Paige Bueckers and the Wings in Dallas (7:30 p.m. ET) The Golden State Valkyries make their franchise debut at home against the LA Sparks (10:00 p.m. ET) This will be such a fascinating season. We're heading into year 2 of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese's careers — the two stars who have more eyeballs on the league than ever before. But there's also a pretty interesting rookie class coming into the fold led by Paige Bueckers in Dallas. Personally, I think Paige has a chance to be one of the best players in the league fairly quickly. DON'T SLEEP: Three WNBA future stars you shouldn't sleep on. The decks shuffled a ton in the W this offseason. The Phoenix Mercury retooled, adding Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas to the mix while losing Britney Griner (Dream) and Diana Taurasi (retirement). DeWanna Bonner is on the Fever with Clark and Aliyah Boston now. Jewell Loyd is on the Aces. Kelsey Plum is on the Sparks. Dominique Malonga is going to dunk on someone at some point. This season is setting up to be loads of fun. Tap in. Let's watch some great basketball. Trouble in Chicago? Caleb Williams never wanted to be a Chicago Bear. At least, according to the latest from ESPN's Seth Wickersham. Here's Blake Schuster with details from Wickersham's new book, "American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback": "According to ESPN's Seth Wickersham in his new book "American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback", Williams father Carl described Chicago as "the place quarterbacks go to die" while Caleb Williams told his inner-circle before the draft "I don't think I can do it with [former Bears offensive coordinator Shane] Waldron." ... Wickersham reports Williams was sold on NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings and hoped to work out a plan to land him in Minneapolis. The Bears refused to budge with general manager Ryan Poles reportedly telling Williams "We're drafting you no matter what". A pre-draft meeting with Chicago appears to have given Williams the confidence he could turn the franchise around, but Wickersham's excerpts show a lot of the family's fears coming true early on" Yikes, man. None of that sounds great. It's been more than a year since Williams was drafted to Chicago and, obviously, he's a Bear now and will be for the foreseeable future. So it doesn't really matter where he wanted to be drafted. But to hear he had reservations about the organization that have ultimately come to roost is not great. Chicago has to fix this. ASAP. Photo Friday: OFF Rory McIlroy smashing a ball out of the bunker at Quail Hollow. The sand makes the shot look like a rocket. How fun. Quick hits: WNBA bold predictions ... Bill Belichick's happiness ... and more — Here's Cory Woodroof with 10 bold predictions for the upcoming WNBA season. — Bill Belichick had a short, 1-word answer on if he's "happy" with where he is right now. Charles Curtis has details. — Here's Robert Zeglinski on the Bears not giving Caleb Williams help with film study. That's wild. — Michelle Martinelli says it's possible for every team in the Women's College World Series to be from the SEC. — Speaking of which, here are some predictions on the Women's College World Series for you. — Texas is trying to end the Ted Cruz curse. Hilarious. -Sykes ✌️
USA Today
09-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
The NBA is living in its most chaotic timeline
The NBA is living in its most chaotic timeline 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! It thrills me to no end that we all have the privilege of living on the wildest NBA timeline possible. It feels like every single week there's chaos in #ThisLeague. Before the season even starts, we get the surprise Karl-Anthony Towns trade. February? We get the Luka Doncic trade. Whew, boy. Still not over that one. In March? We get Taylor Jenkins' strange firing. On Tuesday, the Nuggets said "hold my beer" and fired Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth with just three games left in their season before heading into the playoffs. Speaking of the playoffs, that's where this latest story gets juicy. The Nuggets are in the middle of a playoff race like we've never seen before. With each team only having a handful of games to play, only one game separates the No. 3 seed from the No. 7 seed in the West. The Timberwolves are No. 8 and only two games out. Nothing is locked in yet. Denver is smack dab in the middle of all that mess. And, yet, here they are, completely remaking their leadership at the end of the season. THE NUGGETS ARE FINE? Denver's championship odds have remained flat despite the firings. There's so much chaos in this league, man. And, while I have my extreme criticisms about the way the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement works, all of this chaos is a direct result of it. The NBA's CBA condenses the championship contender window for every team in the league. The longer you wait to compete, the more expensive your team gets. The more expensive your team gets, the closer you get to the NBA's vaunted second tax apron. Once you get to that point, it's almost impossible to revamp your team. Just ask the Phoenix Suns how that's going. Because every team feels this intense pressure to win right now, they make rash moves. The Mavs trade for Anthony Davis because they don't believe in Luka Doncic's defense and off-court behavior. Memphis fired Jenkins because he's lost the locker room and believes in his assistant's offense. The Nuggets fire Malone because they're tired of petty beefs holding them down. Teams are doing their best not to waste time and, at the same time, are making extremely rash decisions that we, the fans, get to laugh about because there's no way any of this actually makes any sense. This might be the first time I've ever been thankful that my team isn't ready to compete yet. Keep tanking, Wizards. Take your time. Cardiac Canucks We've all seen some epic comebacks in our lives but I can guarantee you you've never seen anything like this. The Canucks pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in history — not just in the NHL, but in all of sports. Here's what happened. There's a minute left in the game. Vancouver is down 5-2 to the Stars. And then: Aatu Raty scored a goal in the final minute of the 3rd period. Pius Suter scores another goal 30 seconds later with 30 seconds left. Seven seconds left on the clock and Suter scores again. That's three goals in the span of one minute to tie the game and go into overtime. I still can't believe it after seeing it with my own eyes. Of course, Vancouver wins it in OT. There's no other way this game could've gone. This was the latest three-goal comeback in NHL history by a few minutes. The Canucks have a habit of being involved in these extremely weird games — Vancouver once gave up seven goals in the third period to lose a game 7-4. Good thing they were on the winning side this time. South Carolina is back with a vengeance It hasn't even been a week since Dawn Staley's Gamecocks lost the national championship game to Paige Bueckers and UConn. So, how do they come back from it? By grabbing the NCAA's leading scorer. Former FSU guard Ta'Niya Latson is headed to South Carolina. Now this is how you come back from one of the most brutal losses your program has ever seen. Latson averaged 25.2 points per game efficiently last season. She's one of the most dynamic guards in the country and, arguably, exactly what South Carolina was missing. She'll be paired up with MiLaysia Fulwiley and Joyce Edwards next year. That team is going to be a problem, folks. Quick hits: 9 potential Masters winners ... Caitlin Clark's legendary Iowa scrimmage ... and more — Blake Schuster put together a list of nine players who could definitely win the Masters this week. — Caitlin Clark told Dave Letterman about her legendary scrimmage where she scored 22 points in two minutes. Cory Woodroof has more. — Nothing funnier than Nikola Jokic TikTok parodies. Charles Curtis has more. — Luka Doncic's ejection seems to be for the wrong reasons. Hilarious. — Here's Christian D'Andrea with 11 NFL veterans who will play in the UFL this spring. — Here's Prince Grimes with the best bets for The Masters this year. That's a wrap, folks. Thanks for reading. Peace. -Sykes ✌️
USA Today
24-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Derik Queen's game-winner just cemented his NBA Draft status
Derik Queen's game-winner just cemented his NBA Draft status 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! Welcome back to the Morning Win. So, uh, Derik Queen, guys? What a shot, man. For those of you who may have missed it, Maryland's Queen probably hit the shot of the tournament so far against Colorado State. Maryland was down 71-70 after CSU just hit what looked like it'd be a dagger 3-point shot to move on to the Sweet 16. Then Queen pulled a "not so fast" and made this. Guys. That's a center taking the ball from the top of the key, going left and making a bank shot across his body to win the game and send Maryland to its first Sweet 16 for the first time in almost a decade. Did he get away with a travel? Maybe. But whatever. That's still a tough shot with the defense draped all over you. The most impressive part — outside of the actual shot, of course — is that he demanded to take it. He wanted the ball. That's that Baltimore in him, I guess. That's an impressive moment for an extremely impressive player. It's one that will have him climbing up plenty of NBA draft boards in about a month or two. Queen went from being off big boards completely to being projected as a top 20 pick to, now, seemingly being a lottery-level talent for the NBA draft. After this shot, though? There's a legitimate case to make for Queen as one of the best three prospects in the upcoming draft class behind Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper. MEET DYLAN HARPER: The best non-Cooper Flagg prospect in the NCAA this year In For The Win's latest mock draft, our Bryan Kalbrosky had Queen going as high as No. 6. That was back in January. Since then, Maryland has earned a No. 4 seed with Queen as its best player, he's finished off a solid regular season and is now going to the Sweet 16. He's had a better tournament run than VJ Edgecombe and Kasparas Jakucionis. I'm not saying Queen is a lock for top 3 at this point. But I'm not not saying it, either. This kid is so good. We'll reconvene on this when Maryland's tournament run is over. Warren Buffett finally did it Warren Buffett finally found a way to give away $1 million for March Madness. It looks like lowering the standard helped. Buffett has been trying to give away $1 million for a perfect bracket for decades now. The problem is perfect brackets don't exist, unfortunately. He knows that. We all do. That's why the whole thing has always felt like a sham in the first place. But Buffett lowered the standard to give Berkshire Hathaway employees a better shot at getting the money. I guess it worked out this time. For multiple people, too. Here's more from Front Office Sports: According to the daily updates sent to all Berkshire pool participants from 'Chester Q. Brackington,' obtained by Front Office Sports, after Michigan State beat Bryant late Friday night, this year's contest had 'multiple brackets that have one wrong—meaning 30 correct, so we will have The Prize awarded.' After Oregon beat Liberty in the final game of the first round, Brackington wrote, 'We have our first ever confirmed award of The Prize.' Color me surprised, folks. I didn't think this would work out, but I guess here we are. It's kind of wack that they're splitting the $1 million prize, but still. At least someone won it. I won't complain too much. This shot is somehow real Steph Curry is a marvel. He never ceases to amaze us. Even when he's not playing in games, he finds ways to do the impossible. Because, guys, how on Earth is this shot real? Maybe Steph should travel with the Globetrotters when he retires. I'd pay money to see it. Quick hits: Second chance bracket predictions ... Jayden and Juju .... and more — Prince Grimes set up some new bracket predictions now that we're in the Sweet 16. He's also got a new Final Four locked in. — They're just homies, folks! Jayden Daniels and Juju Watkins kicking it together at March Madness sparked a firestorm on the internet. Charles Curtis explains it here. — Andrew Joseph ranked all 30 MLB stadiums ahead of the start of the MLB season. Tap in. — Georgia Amoore's attitude about her missed game-winner is so perfect. Meghan Hall has more. — Dan Hurley can be annoying, but this moment he had talking about his players is so touching. Robert Zeglinksi has more. — Kim Mulkey's fit here is pretty good! I'm not gonna lie. Meg Hall has more again on this. That's a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. Peace. -Sykes ✌️
