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🚨 Headlines

⚾️ MLB awards finalists: Shohei Ohtani (NL MVP), Aaron Judge (AL MVP), Tarik Skubal (AL Cy Young), Chris Sale (NL Young), Paul Skenes (NL ROY) and Colton Cowser (AL ROY) are among the finalists for MLB’s end-of-season awards.

🏒 Welcome to the Hall: Jeremy Roenick, Shea Weber, Pavel Datsyuk, Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell headlined the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2024, which was formally inducted on Monday night in Toronto.

🇯🇵 Coming to America: Japanese pitching phenom Rōki Sasaki will be posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines in the coming weeks, instantly making him the biggest MLB free agent not named Juan Soto. Once he’s posted, teams will have 45 days to woo him.

🏀 AP Top 25: Kansas stayed at No. 1 in the men’s college basketball poll, while Gonzaga and Auburn rose into the top five; South Carolina is the unanimous No. 1 in the women’s poll, while Stanford and Oregon joined the rankings.

⚽️ Starlet chooses USWNT: Soccer phenom Lily Yohannes, who was born in Virginia but lives and plays in the Netherlands, made it official on Monday: She’s joining the red, white and blue.

🏀 Cavs continue historic start

The Cavaliers cannot be stopped. With their 119-113 victory over the Bulls on Monday, they are now just the seventh team* in NBA history to start the season with at least 12 straight wins.

• 2015-16 Warriors: 24-0 (lost in NBA Finals)

• 1993-94 Rockets: 15-0 (NBA champions)

• 2002-03 Mavericks: 14-0 (lost in West Finals)

• 1957-58 Celtics: 14-0 (lost in NBA Finals)

• 1996-97 Bulls: 12-0 (NBA champions)

• 1982-83 Sonics: 12-0 (lost in First Round)

• 2024-25 Cavaliers: 12-0 (TBD)

The backdrop: The Cavs entered the season with the 10th-best title odds (+3500 at BetMGM) and four All-Star caliber players in Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. But they also had a first-year head coach in Kenny Atkinson. They were expected to be good, but not this good.

• They rank No. 1 in offensive efficiency with a scorching 121.3 points per 100 possessions, and their defense is No. 8 in the league thanks in part to their penchant for forcing turnovers (16.9 per game).

• Mitchell continues to be Cleveland’s leading man, Garland has been a sniper (45.9% from three on 7.1 attempts per game), and Mobley and Allen form a rare twin-towers look in today’s NBA.

• Their role players have been fantastic, particularly Caris LeVert and Ty Jerome, who are both averaging double-digit points and shooting the lights out from deep.

Bottom line: The East still runs through Boston, and I’d probably put Oklahoma City above Cleveland in my NBA power rankings. But the Cavaliers are the story of the season so far, and the fun of watching them play lies in the sense of possibility they project.

*Of note: The 1948-49 Washington Capitols started 15-0, but they played in the Basketball Association of America so we’re not counting them. They lost to George Mikan’s Minneapolis Lakers in that year’s BAA Finals. A few months later, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League to form the NBA.

🇺🇸 Photos across America

Oxford, Mississippi — Ole Miss scored its biggest win of the Lane Kiffin Era and boosted its playoff hopes with a 28-10 victory over Georgia on Saturday. Fans stormed the field early, resulting in a $350,000 fine that the school is surely happy to pay.

Avondale, Arizona — Joey Logano held off Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney on Sunday to win his third NASCAR Cup Series championship. Only Richard Petty (7 titles), Dale Earnhardt (7), Jimmie Johnson (7) and Jeff Gordon (4) have more.

Cincinnati — Thousands of fans showed up to Great American Ball Park on a rainy Sunday to pay their respects to Reds legend Pete Rose. Fans began lining up at 4am for the visitation, which lasted 14 hours (7am-9pm) in honor of Rose’s No. 14.

Phoenix — Bernhard Langer drained a 30-footer on the 18th hole on Sunday to win the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The 67-year-old has now won at least one event in 18 consecutive years on the senior circuit and has a tour-record 47 career wins. Legend.

🌎 Photos around the world

Munich, Germany — The Panthers beat the Giants, 20-17 (OT), on Sunday in the NFL’s fifth and final international game of the season. Roger Goodell says the league is aiming for eight next year, with returns to England, Germany, Brazil and Mexico, plus stops in Spain and maybe Ireland.

Brighton, England — Manchester City lost its fourth straight game on Saturday, this time to Brighton, and fed growing speculation that this, finally, could be the end. As a reminder: City lost four matches all of last season.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — American tennis sensation Coco Gauff ended her season in style on Saturday when she defeated China’s Zheng Qinwen, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2), to win the WTA Finals and the $4.8 million check that came with it.

Sydney, Australia — The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series held its final event of the season on Friday in Sydney Harbour, where Great Britain’s Aidan Heslop (first title) and Australia’s Rhiannon Iffland (record-extending eighth title) were crowned 2024 champions.

⚽️ Early exits: Inter Miami, three other favorites go down

The MLS conference semifinals are set, and — shockingly — Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will be watching from home after suffering the biggest upset in league history.

One and done: Miami lost Saturday’s decisive Game 3 to Atlanta, 3-2, to end their historic campaign earlier than anyone expected. The 34-point difference between Miami (74) and Atlanta (40) was the largest ever for playoff opponents.

• Messi was the focus of the league’s entire postseason marketing strategy, as it appeared the GOAT and his superteam would romp through the playoffs to the MLS Cup Finals.

• Instead, he’s out after three games, and now both the league and Apple — its exclusive streamer — are left hoping enough casual fans will still tune in for the eight remaining teams.

Is the new format to blame? Even before Miami’s exit, critics were sounding off about MLS’ new playoff format, which debuted last year when the field expanded to 18 teams. That’s despite the fact that it was implemented to avoid the very outcome Miami just experienced.

• The best-of-three opening round should, in theory, benefit the better team and minimize the chances of a fluky result. And it appeared to do just that last year, when seven of eight favorites advanced.

• But this year played out much differently, with four favorites going down. If Miami hadn’t been one of them, perhaps we’d be celebrating the underdogs who won (Atlanta, Minnesota, NYC FC, New York Red Bulls); instead, the format has come under fire.

Where it stands: With Miami out, LAFC is the new title favorite entering the single-elimination conference semifinals, which kick off in two weeks.

Meanwhile, in the NWSL… All four favorites (Orlando, Kansas City, Washington, Gotham) won their single-elimination quarterfinal matchups, a stark contrast to MLS’ upset-filled first round.

Good read: Where do Messi and Miami go from here? (Henry Bushnell, Yahoo Sports)

📆 Nov. 12, 1892: The birth of pro football

132 years ago today, the Allegheny Athletic Association defeated the Pittsburgh Athletic Club with the help of William “Pudge” Heffelfinger, the first person ever paid to play football.

The backdrop: Heffelfinger, the son of a Civil War veteran, played football and baseball at Minneapolis Central High School* before taking his talents to Yale, where he became the university’s first and only four-letter athlete (football, baseball, rowing, track).

• Pudge played guard under head coach Walter Camp (aka. the “Father of American Football”), and the Paul Bunyan-like character was the best player on some of the most dominant teams in college sports history.

• And when I say dominant, I mean dominant. During Heffelfinger’s four years with the Bulldogs (1888-91), they went 54-2 while outscoring their opponents, 2,327-49 (!!!). During his freshman and senior seasons, they didn’t surrender a single point.

The famous $500 paycheck: After graduating, Heffelinger became a railroad clerk and occasionally served as a barnstorming mercenary for semi-pro football teams. He joined Allegheny for one game and scored the only touchdown (worth four points back then) in a 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. Nearly 80 years later, the Pro Football Hall of Fame recovered a ledger that clearly shows a “game performance bonus to W. Heffelfinger for playing (cash) $500.”

“Indestructible and forever young”: Heffelfinger proved to be one of the great ironmen in sports history, playing competitive football well into his 60s (take that, Tom Brady). Legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice paid homage to the man with some beautiful prose…

“To borrow a line from old Bill Shakespeare: ‘Cowards die many times before their death. The valiant never taste of death but once. … Pudge gave forth an aura of shining light, a special, ageless glory. He was the living symbol of the game, indestructible and forever young.”

The big picture: In the decades that followed, sports-as-entertainment exploded in post-Civil War America and small professional football leagues began popping up across the country. Then came the big one: In 1920, the NFL was born.

*Fun fact: Heffelfinger went to the same high school as legendary musician Prince.

📺 Watchlist: “Blue Bloods” showdown

College basketball’s “Blue Bloods” take the court tonight on ESPN, with No. 1 Kansas at Michigan State (6:30pm ET) followed by No. 19 Kentucky at No. 6 Duke (9pm).

More to watch:

*Embiid’s debut: Joel Embiid will make his season debut after missing Philly’s first seven games due to injury management (left knee) and suspension (shoving a reporter).

**Klay’s return: Klay Thompson returns to the Chase Center for his first game against the Warriors after spending 13 years in Golden State, where he won four championships.

🏈 College football trivia

Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith already has nine touchdown catches, the most ever by a Buckeyes true freshman.

Question: Whose record did he break?

Hint: Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

Answer at the bottom.

🏈 The Sunshine State’s gloomy weekend

The state of Florida went an astonishing 0-11 in football on Saturday and Sunday. The only team that didn’t lose was Florida International, which was on a bye.

• FBS: Florida lost to Texas, Florida State lost to Notre Dame, Miami lost to Georgia Tech, UCF lost to Arizona State, USF lost to Navy, FAU lost to East Carolina

• FCS: Bethune Cookman lost to Southern, FAMU lost to Prairie View A&M, Stetson lost to Marist

• NFL: Jaguars lost to Vikings, Buccaneers lost to 49ers

Miami saves the day: The Dolphins finally gave the Sunshine State something to cheer about when they beat the Rams, 23-15, on “Monday Night Football.”

Trivia answer: Cris Carter (8 receiving TDs in 1984)

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