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🚨 HEADLINES⚾️ Dodgers, Yankees clinch: The Dodgers are playoff-bound for an MLB record-tying 14th consecutive season (Braves, 1991-2005), and the Yankees are heading back to October for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons. Could a World Series rematch be in store?
🏀 Kawhi trade completed: The Raptors' deal to reacquire Kawhi Leonard is now official following the conclusion of the Clippers saga (well, kind of). In exchange for the seven-time All-Star, Los Angeles receives forward Brandon Ingram, guard Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, two second-round picks and a first-round pick swap.
🎶 Kraft drops Macklemore: Rapper Macklemore says Patriots owner Robert Kraft barred him from performing in upcoming shows at Gillette Stadium due to his support for Palestine. Macklemore also alleges that Kraft "rallied" other stadium owners to do the same, leading to his removal as an opener on Ed Sheeran's current tour.
⚽️ Macario shut down: The San Diego Wave placed Catarina Macario on the season-ending injury list as she recovers from an "ongoing knee issue." The USWNT forward and Chelsea transfer will have to wait until next season to debut for her hometown club after signing for an NWSL-record $8 million in March.
🏀 From player to coach: After 17 NBA seasons, Taj Gibson is retiring and joining the Bulls as an assistant coach under Tiago Splitter. The former 2009 first-round pick spent almost half his career in Chicago and is one of just 35 players to make an NBA appearance while in his 40s.
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⚽️ CAVAN SULLIVAN HAS ARRIVED (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)Cavan Sullivan became the youngest debutant in MLS history when he was just 14 years old.* Now 16, he's playing at an MVP level for the Philadelphia Union, who have surged from last place into playoff position behind a breakout month from their tantalizing prodigy.
How he got here: Sullivan was born in Philadelphia (in 2009!) and joined the Union's heralded youth academy in 2020, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Quinn, who also plays for the club. Four years later, he signed a historic contract with the team that included a notable clause: a transfer to English giant Manchester City the day he turns 18.
- Sullivan spent his first two MLS seasons growing up on Philadelphia's bench, making 14 appearances and just one start. But signs of future stardom were present from the jump.
- "When a practice starts and guys give you the ball, that's the ultimate sign of respect," Sullivan's first Union head coach, Jim Curtin, said in 2024. "10 seconds into the first training session, they gave him the ball."
Making the leap: Just a few months ago, Sullivan had not yet earned back-to-back MLS starts. Now he's "the primary catalyst for the hottest team in the league," notes The Athletic's Henry Bushnell, with 11 goal contributions (six goals, five assists) in his past eight games dating back to Aug. 9.
- Some of those goals have been highlight-worthy, including this gorgeous strike (Aug. 29), this hustle goal (Sept. 5) and this backheel finish on Sunday (Sept. 13), when he bagged his first career brace (two goals).
- After winning just one MLS match before the World Cup break, the Union are unbeaten since the season resumed (eight wins, two draws), and the flashy right winger — who is routinely taking on defenders twice his age — is a big reason why.
Buying stock: Sullivan's one-of-one MLS Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card sold for $324,000 at auction this month, shattering the previous MLS record of $111,057, held by some guy named Lionel Messi. No wonder this kid from Philly has so much confidence — though his critics might call it cockiness.
(Howard Smith/ISI Photos via Getty Images)A demon with the ball: Sullivan is already one of MLS' most effective ball carriers, ranking fourth among all players in both dribbles attempted and completed per 90 minutes, per Gradient Sports. Despite his age, he's already taking roughly 10% of his team's touches, per The Guardian's John Muller, who attempted to put his electric playing style into words:
When trying to describe a precocious, small, left-footed right winger who loves to perform tricks, it's too easy to reach for the most unfair comparison of all time, yet it's a documented fact that Sullivan modeled his game after Lionel Messi. … But Sullivan's style on the ball is less a young Messi and more like his other childhood hero, Alexis Sánchez: hips low, elbows out, juking defenders with feints, stutters, stepovers and changes of direction.
What to watch: USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino will name his first post-World Cup squad on Thursday ahead of the team's upcoming four-game slate, and Sullivan (plus other MLS youngsters) are firmly in the mix. "It's not my team yet," Sullivan said during a recent interview. "But I'm obviously always dreaming and hoping for call-ups."
*Sullivan debuted at 14 years, 293 days old, making him 13 days younger than Freddy Adu was when he first took the field for D.C. United in 2004. Adu never lived up to the enormous hype, becoming a cautionary tale for American wunderkinds. Sullivan already appears to be on a more promising trajectory, especially with his impending move to Man City, but projecting greatness onto teenagers remains a perilous exercise.
🏈 WHAT ARE THE ODDS?! Kenneth Walker celebrates with teammate Trey Smith after scoring a touchdown. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)The Chiefs routed the Broncos, 31-10, on Monday night behind a huge game from offseason addition Kenneth Walker (23 car, 173 yds, TD; 3 rec, 18 yds, TD) to put a bow on the opening week of the NFL season — and complete a truly unbelievable stat.
Crazy, but true: Every Week 1 game had a different margin of victory, making this the first 16-game week in NFL history with 16 unique point differentials.
- 1 point: Lions 31, Saints 30
- 2 points: Eagles 24, Commanders 22
- 3 points: Seahawks 13, Patriots 10
- 5 points: Bills 36, Texans 31
- 6 points: Bengals 33, Buccaneers 27
- 7 points: Steelers 20, Falcons 13
- 8 points: Giants 28, Cowboys 20
- 12 points: Cardinals 26, Chargers 14
- 13 points: Jets 23, Titans 10
- 14 points: Raiders 27, Dolphins 13
- 17 points: Vikings 39, Packers 22
- 18 points: Ravens 41, Colts 23
- 20 points: 49ers 27, Rams 7
- 21 points: Chiefs 31, Broncos 10
- 22 points: Bears 59, Panthers 37
- 24 points: Jaguars 34, Browns 10
Shoutout to stat guru Lee Sharpe for being the first person to notice that this quirky feat was in play heading into "Monday Night Football." And shoutout to data scientist Timo Riske for crunching the numbers to determine the odds of this happening: 430-to-1.
📊 CHART PARTYWe love a good chart. Dylan Dittrich has been producing some terrific ones for Yahoo Sports Biz, our new newsletter exploring the business of sports (sign up, it's free!). Here's a sampling of his latest work.
🏈 College football country
Nielsen recently released its Local College Football Fandom Index, determining America's top 20 most avid college football markets. Outside of New Orleans (No. 9) and Atlanta (No. 10), the markets that top the rankings have effectively no competition from professional sports, as locals channel all of their rooting energies toward their beloved universities.
The coast is lava: The easternmost market in the rankings is Jacksonville. The westernmost market is Austin. The longitudinal distance between those two covers only 28% of the width of the continental United States. When it comes to college football, the middle of America is the "Double Stuf" that makes the Oreo.
🏟️ Stadium name game
A stadium's naming rights are among the most valuable assets a team can sell, but who teams sell to — and whether they sell them at all — has changed significantly over the last 20 years.
A collapse in clean venues: Nearly half of the NFL's 32 teams had no naming rights sponsor on their stadium in 2006. Fast forward to today, and only three of the league's stadiums (Arrowhead Stadium, Soldier Field, Lambeau Field) have no commercial sponsor. While sponsors geared toward fans' consumption were more prevalent a decade ago, their presence is now limited, as sponsors instead target their investment, savings, and insurance needs.
⛳️ LIV Golf's livelihood
LIV Golf officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, seeking a path out from under $500+ million in liabilities for a company with only $15 million remaining in the bank after receiving $5+ billion in funding. Beyond those numbers, the bankruptcy filings revealed several striking data points from the LIV business.
No broadcast bankroll: Sponsorship sales generated the lion's share of revenues, followed by hosting fees and ticketing for the circuit's events. Most jarring is the dearth of broadcasting rights revenues, which were on par with merchandise sales. That balance is almost unthinkable in established professional sports leagues with comparable player compensation.
💯 BIG NUMBERS (Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)🎾 12,000+ bounces
Alexander Zverev displayed a rather annoying habit during his run to the US Open title, bouncing the ball well over 12,000 times before serves across his seven matches. That's roughly two and a half hours of bouncing during the span of the tournament.
Is that even allowed? Technically, yes. There's currently a 25-second serve clock between points, but no such limit on second serves, which is when Zverev gets bounce-happy. "You shouldn't have unlimited time," Ben Shelton said after the final. "For our sport, for the fans. I think it's tough to be sitting there for that long for the next action to happen."
(Jon Blacker/AP Photo)🏈 18 straight losses
The Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League extended their historic losing streak to 18 games (longest in CFL's modern era) on Saturday with a 26-23 loss to the Toronto Argonauts. They've now gone more than a full calendar year since their last win, a one-point victory over the BC Lions on Sept. 5, 2025.
Historically futile: It's not just the record losing streak. The Redblacks (0-12) are also just the fourth team in CFL history to start a season with 12 straight losses, joining the 1979 Saskatchewan Roughriders, 1994 Shreveport Pirates and 2003 Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Ottawa has six games left to avoid becoming the first CFL team ever to go winless in a season.
(Michael Steele/Getty Images)👟 10.62 seconds
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden was among the biggest winners from the inaugural World Ultimate Championship, sweeping the 100m (10.62 seconds) and 200m (21.47) with world-leading times in both races over the weekend. After sweeping the same races at last year's worlds, the 25-year-old American has established herself as the new queen of sprinting.
More highlights: Two-time Olympic gold medalist Jakob Ingebrigtsen proved he's still the man to beat in the 5000m (12:59.24) after undergoing Achilles surgery in February; American Kenny Bednarek swept the men's 100m (9.85) and 200m (19.52) while rival Noah Lyles sat out with an injury; reigning Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino surged from last to first in the 400m final (49.07) to win her 12th straight race at that distance.
⚽️ SPURS STILL STINK (Shaun Brooks/CameraSport via Getty Images)Tottenham have finished one spot out of the relegation zone in back-to-back Premier League seasons. If early returns are any indication, they could be headed for a similar fate next spring.
Scoreless Spurs: For the first time in their 132-year history, Spurs have failed to score in their first four league matches. They're 0-2-2 and join last-place Coventry City as the only clubs that have yet to find the back of the net. Not quite what you're hoping for after spending the third-most of any team in the world ($423 million) during the summer transfer window.
📺 WATCHLIST: TUESDAY, SEPT. 15 (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)There isn't a whole lot going on today besides baseball, but the baseball is good, headlined by three critical series between playoff contenders in Cleveland (6:40pm ET, ESPN+), Chicago (7:40pm, TBS) and Arlington (8pm, MLB.TV).
- White Sox at Guardians: Chicago (77-73) gave themselves a modicum of breathing room over Cleveland (76-75, 1.5 GB) atop the AL Central thanks to Monday's series-opening win.
- Braves at Cubs: Atlanta (88-63) remains in the driver's seat for the NL East despite losing Monday's opener, while Chicago (84-67) is narrowly hanging onto its lead in the wild card race.
- Red Sox at Rangers: Boston (82-68) looks firmly ticketed for the second wild card, while Texas (74-76) needs every win it can get if it hopes to pass Cleveland (76-75) and Toronto (75-76) for the final wild card.
More to watch: Three NL Cy Young contenders take the mound today, as Jacob Misiorowski (14-5, 1.95 ERA) and the Brewers visit the Pirates (6:40pm), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (13-8, 2.62 ERA) and the Dodgers visit the Reds (6:40pm) and Cristopher Sánchez (17-5, 2.79 ERA) and the Phillies visit the Nationals (6:45pm).
Plus: There are nine more games on the docket, including Tigers at Blue Jays (7:07pm), Orioles at Mets (7:10pm), Yankees at Twins (7:40pm) and Marlins at Diamondbacks (9:40pm).
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