Yahoo Sports AM Our daily newsletter brings you the latest on everything sport. Register here You can pick it up on weekday mornings.
๐จ Headlines
๐ Rest in peace, Jerry. Jerry West, the Hall of Fame player, accomplished businessman and inspiration for the NBA logo, died peacefully at home on Wednesday. He was 86 years old.
๐ The eternal number 12: Tom Brady was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in front of a sellout crowd in Foxborough, where his No. 12 jersey was retired. The date (June 12) is no mistake, as it represents both his jersey and the number of rings he has won for the team.
๐ India beats the US: The USA team attempted an upset against world number one ranked India but lost narrowly and now need to beat Ireland tomorrow to advance.
๐พ Spanish duo: Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will represent Spain in doubles at the Olympics in Paris next month, playing on the red clay courts of Roland Garros.
โณ๏ธ Scheffler’s fame is catching up with his game
The 124th U.S. Open At Pinehurst No. 2 Golf Course, the chances of world number one Scottie Scheffler winning another golf tournament remain incredibly slim.
From Jay Busby of Yahoo Sports:
The kids were lined up in groups of three or four behind the 17th tee, and for a moment, miraculously, they were completely quiet.
Then a big Texan in a blue golf shirt tee-shot the ball into the blue Carolina sky, and the kids erupted in delight. “Scotty! Scotty! Scotty!”
The crowd of kids that gathered around Scottie Scheffler had no organization whatsoever. They just wanted to get to him by any means necessary.
The kids aren’t alone: โโScheffler arrived at Pinehurst for this week’s U.S. Open as golf’s undisputed heavyweight champion, the overwhelming betting favorite and a potent storyline.
Here’s a hint: Nearly every other player is being asked questions about Scottie. Not since Tiger Woods’ highs (and lows) has one player been asked so many questions by another.
“You can have a few good runs, but then you usually go back to having a mediocre week,” Viktor Hovland said, “but his mediocre weeks are really, really good.”
“Every week he plays, he builds a bigger lead and somehow it seems like he makes the mountain even higher for all of us to climb,” PGA champion Xander Schauffele said.
“He’s the gold standard now,” Bryson DeChambeau said. “We all look up to him and say, ‘Okay, how do we get to that level?'”
“It’s nice to hear some good things from your peers because we all try to poke fun at each other sometimes,” Scheffler said. “I think part of the bond of friendship is wanting to poke fun at your peers, so it’s definitely nice to hear a compliment every now and then.”
The thing is, Scottie has earned this accolade well: In an age when athletes from Caitlin Clark to Travis Kelce ride waves of internet craze into the national consciousness, Scheffler is racking up fame the old-fashioned way: by getting arrested. Oh, and by winning.
Scheffler is in incredible form right now. It’s only June this year and he’s already won five tournaments. He hasn’t missed the cut in 13 tournaments this year. His worst finish was a tie for 17th, and that was in January. It would be shocking to see him not on the weekend leaderboard at this point.
“The tournaments he’s winning — Bay Hill, The Players, Masters, RBC and the Memorial — he’s basically recreating Tiger Woods’ season,” Jon Rahm said.
There’s a connection to Tiger Woods here, even if the comparison isn’t quite there yet. Scheffler is nowhere near Woods’ territory, mainly because Woods’ territory is a continent.
Woods won nine times in 2000, eight times in 1999 and 2006, seven times in 2007, six times in 2005 and 2009, and five times each year from 2001 to 2003 and 2013. (Have you forgotten how good Woods used to be?).
But you don’t build a legendary career without a string of legendary seasons, and Scheffler is poised to do just that.
In his last eight tournaments, he has five wins, two runner-up finishes and a tie for eighth place, with his worst showing coming at the PGA Championship, where there were extenuating circumstances, so to speak.
“The only reason he didn’t win a golf tournament is because he got put in jail for an hour,” Rory McIlroy joked.
Keep reading…
More from Jay Busby:
Quick Links: Tea Time | Leaderboard
๐ The Mavs are in trouble
The Celtics beat the Mavericks. They were 48 minutes away from a team-record 18th victory after a 106-99 victory on Wednesday.
Dallas needs a miracle. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a seven-game series (0-156 career, 0-14 in the NBA Finals). If the Mavs want to make history, they’ll have to win four straight games against a team that has never lost more than two games in a row this season.
The elephant in the room… Luka Doncic’s defense isn’t good enough to win a title, and his constant complaints about the referees are becoming a real problem.
๐ธ See the photo: A taser in the outfield
William Hendon, a 19-year-old Reds fan On Tuesday, I gave in to the urges of youth, Run out into the field It was the bottom of the ninth inning of Cincinnati’s 5-3 loss to the Guardians.
Sophomore at Ohio State University He tried to bump fists with Guardians centerfielder Tyler Freeman, then sprinted and performed a backflip, but his joy was short-lived.
He was shot with a taser by a police officer. The photos above and below were taken immediately after completing the flip, and are worthy of being exhibited in the Louvre.
Hendon pleaded not guilty He was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of trespassing, released on bail and banned from the stadium indefinitely — just another day at the ballpark.
โฝ๏ธ America 1, Brazil 1
The U.S. team played against Brazil The match ended in a 1-1 draw on Tuesday in the final friendly before the Copa America 2024 kicks off in two weeks.
highlight: Christian Pulisic free kick goal
From Henry Bushnell of Yahoo Sportsโฆ
The U.S. national team arrived in Orlando on the brink of disaster, heading into the Copa America with their heads held high, their pride intact and on firm footing.
The statement came amid protests and pressure following a heavy 5-1 defeat by Colombia, to which the team responded with a statement calling it “a remarkable comeback”, as goalkeeper Matt Turner put it after the match.
Of course, it wasn’t the win they craved. It was far from perfect, and without Turner’s 11 saves the interpretation and the narrative might have been different. Brazil had twice as many shots (25) and almost twice as many clear-cut chances. Brazil were better. Brazil are better. That hasn’t changed.
But the U.S. fought on. It proved to itself and to the world that the post-Columbia panic was probably a bit excessive. “What we did today,” Turner told TNT, “was to prove that we had done something wrong.” [Colombia game] To bed.”
The team has once again proven it can go toe-to-toe with the best teams in international soccer, even though in coach Gregg Berhalter’s five years there, they have yet to beat a single one of them.
But just like against England in the World Cup, they came close enough to win that they remain confident they can win someday. “It feels like we’ve taken baby steps,” Berhalter said. “Not big steps, but baby steps.”
Future Outlook: The U.S. national team is in Group C of the Copa America and will play Bolivia (Dallas) on June 23, Panama (Atlanta) on June 27 and Uruguay (Kansas City) on July 1.
๐ June 13, 2016: LeBron vs Kyrie
Eight years ago today, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving became the first duo to score 40 or more points in the same NBA Finals game, scoring 41 points apiece against the Warriors, who went on to beat them in seven games.
Unusual feats: Not only is this the only time teammates have scored 40+ points in a Finals game, it’s also one of only six times* that has happened in all of playoff games.
Details for this day:
-
โพ๏ธ 1948: The Yankees held a retirement and farewell ceremony for Babe Ruth, which would be his final time stepping foot inside Yankee Stadium, as he would die of cancer two months later at age 53.
-
โฝ๏ธ 1956: Real Madrid beat Reims 4-3 to win the inaugural European Cup (now called the Champions League) and have since won 14 more titles, including this year.
*The other five: Lakers’ Elgin Baylor and Jerry West (1962), Rockets’ Sleepy Floyd and Hakeem Olajuwon (1988), Rockets’ Clyde Drexler and Olajuwon (1995), Pacers’ Jalen Rose and Reggie Miller (2000), Pelicans’ Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday (2018).
๐บ Watchlist: Game 3 in Edmonton
Oilers host Panthers Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight (8 p.m. ET, ABC)Edmonton needs some offensive energy to avoid falling behind 3-0.
Scoring Drought: The Oilers averaged 3.5 goals per game and scored on 37.3% of their power plays through the first three rounds, but have only managed to score one goal* in the finals and are 0-7 on the power play.
See also:
-
โณ๏ธ PGA: US Open (6:30 AM, USA)
-
๐ WNBA: Fever dream (7 p.m., ESPN app); Storm of Wings (7 p.m., ESPN); Ace of Mercury (10 p.m., Prime)
-
โพ๏ธ MLB: Angels vs Diamondbacks (9:40 p.m., FS1)
*Vanishing duo: Oilers stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have taken 15 shots but are yet to score. Panthers journeyman Evan RodriguezMeanwhile, they scored three goals on three shots. Hockey!
๐ NBA Trivia
Jerry West He is one of seven players in NBA history to lead the league in both scoring (1970, 31.2 ppg) and assists (1972, 9.7 apg).
The answer is at the bottom.
โพ๏ธ City Connect jersey, rankings
MLB teams However, the Yankees and Athletics are currently sporting alternate home uniforms inspired by their cities. Where does your team stand?
Trivia answer: Russell Westbrook, James Harden, LeBron James, Oscar Robertson, Nate Archibald, Wilt Chamberlain
We hope you enjoyed this issue. Yahoo Sports AMOur daily newsletter brings you the latest on everything sport. Register here Delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.