General
China’s Sneakerheads Chase 6,600% Returns Flipping Air Jordans
Jinshan Hong et al., Bloomberg
One of the hottest commodities in China right now is a pair of sneakers. The SoleFly x Air Jordan 1 in black patent leather rocketed in value by 6,600% to a high of 75,999 yuan ($10,730) on the online marketplace Nice after its release in December.
Whistle Sports reveals ad-supported OTT service
Steven Impey, SportsPro Media
Whistle Sports, the US-based media and entertainment company, has announced the launch of WhistleTV, its first over-the-top (OTT) service dedicated to original programming and episodic content featuring popular social media influencers. The ad-supported streaming platform, which will also carry niche rights holder programming, as well as various feature length pieces and documentaries, is slated to launch sometime during the fourth quarter of 2019, and will be available to subscribers free of charge.
Parents Should Limit Sports Participation for Children, Trainers Say
Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times
Too many children are risking injuries, even lifelong health problems, because they practice too intensively in a single sport, and parents should set limits on their participation, according to a leading organization of athletic trainers. New recommendations issued by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association urge parents to ensure that children and adolescents postpone specializing in one sport for as long as possible, that they take at least two days off each week for rest and that they not play a single sport for more than eight months a year.
Japan’s Success at World Cup Buoys Hopes for Rugby at Home
Ken Belson, The New York Times
When the overlords of rugby a decade ago chose Japan to host this year’s Rugby World Cup, they hoped to spread the gospel of the sport beyond its traditional strongholds in Europe, Australia, South Africa and Argentina. A boost in participation in Asia, and maybe a few new sponsors and heightened interest from television broadcasters, seemed like realistic goals.
NFL
What’s Behind the NFL’s TV Ratings Comeback?
Rick Porter, The Hollywood Reporter
Through six weeks of the season, games across all its television partners are averaging about 16.3 million viewers, up 3 percent from last season. Like a quarterback shrugging off a sack, the NFL is brushing off doubts about its ratings supremacy among U.S. TV viewers.
NFLPA brings Goldman Sachs into fold to aid players as part of work stoppage planning
Daniel Kaplan, The Athletic
The NFLPA has been urging players to save for a potential work stoppage after next season, and now it has another arrow for that quiver: the union for the first time registered two major financial firms — Goldman Sachs and Bessemer Trust — to manage players’ money. And here’s a highlight; if players hypothetically are fleeced by advisers at those firms, they will make good on the loss.
Patrick Mahomes hurts knee in Chiefs’ win over Broncos
Arnie Stapleton, The Associated Press
The Kansas City Chiefs rediscovered their mojo but lost their maestro. The Chiefs rallied around their fallen superstar and snapped a two-game skid with a 30-6 thrashing of the Denver Broncos on Thursday night after reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes dislocated his right knee in a pileup near the goal line in the first half.
The NFL Created Its Own Officiating Nightmare
Andrew Beaton, The Wall Street Journal
Few agenda items at an NFL owners’ meeting would seem more pressing than the league’s negotiations with players over a new collective-bargaining agreement in which billions of dollars are at stake. But at this week’s assemblage of owners and executives here at the Ritz-Carlton, one other topic felt even more pressing: the beleaguered state of officiating in the league at the moment.
Ex-NFL player charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting woman
Des Bieler, The Washington Post
Former NFL defensive lineman Justin Bannan was charged with first-degree attempted murder after allegedly shooting a woman in Boulder, Colo., on Wednesday. According to police, per reports, the woman said Bannan apologized for shooting her and told her he was being pursued by the Russian Mafia.
NBA
WNBA’s Liberty are moving to Barclays Center
Jonathan Lehman, New York Post
The New York Liberty are moving to Barclays Center, the team announced Thursday morning, a triumphant return to the five boroughs for the iconic WNBA franchise. The move coincides with the Liberty’s first full season of ownership by Joe Tsai, who also owns the arena and the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets.
Bradley Beal commits to the rebuilding Wizards: “This is where I’ve always wanted to be”
Candace Buckner, The Washington Post
The Washington Wizards reimagined their organizational structure this offseason with unique hires and greater spending. They brought in an executive with a football and legal background in Sashi Brown, and poured more money into their support and assistant coaching staffs.
Married NBA refs working to make the right calls at home
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
Lauren Holtkamp and Jonathan Sterling first met a few years ago at a meeting of college basketball referees in Virginia, and when the group when out for some socializing that night she asked him to dance. He declined.
MLB
Astros power past Yanks for 3-1 ALCS lead, Verlander up next
Jake Seiner, The Associated Press
They have the pitching, and they don’t need the pitches. Certainly, the Houston Astros have confidence for good reason on the brink of another World Series.
Astros manager AJ Hinch says talk of whistling to signal pitches a ‘joke’
Bradford Doolittle, ESPN
The quiet spaces between actual games in the ALCS have increasingly become filled with topics related to pitch tipping, sign stealing and other aspects of gamesmanship, much of it pointed at the Houston Astros. Finally, after one accusation too many, Astros manager AJ Hinch’s patience with the subject seems to have worn thin.
Mets remove Edgardo Alfonzo from managing job as Brodie Van Wagenen asserts power
Mike Puma, New York Post
Winning a championship wasn’t enough to save Edgardo Alfonzo. The former Mets infielder has been told his contract won’t be renewed by the club, according to an industry source, after managing Class A Brooklyn to the New York-Penn League championship.
For the Nationals, Howie Kendrick’s Resilience Says It All
David Waldstein, The New York Times
Dave Martinez, the manager of the Washington Nationals, has an odd photograph of Howie Kendrick on his phone. It is not a picture of Kendrick hitting his 10th-inning grand slam against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of their division series last week.
NHL
A look ahead to the trade deadline to see who may be in play and which teams may be interested
Pierre LeBrun, The Athletic
One of the interesting things you find out after trades are made is how far in advance some seeds were planted. Despite the fact the first half the NHL season is rarely a time for trades in the salary cap era, GMs routinely check in with each other to find out what’s what and often will keep asking about the same player.
Soccer
Spanish soccer league tries again to stage game in Miami
Rob Harris, The Associated Press
Undeterred by the resistance it faced last season, the Spanish soccer league is trying again to take a regular season game to the United States. The Spanish soccer federation has been asked to allow Villarreal’s home game against Atlético Madrid on Dec. 6 to be moved to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Debt £511m but dividends galore: the Glazers’ legacy at Manchester United
David Conn, The Guardian
Through the long years when Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United were amassing trophies and cash, and Liverpool were stagnating in a derelict neighbourhood, Anfield could only dream of today’s reversal of fortunes. Liverpool, rebuilt and rebooted since 2010 under their US investor owners, arrive on Sunday as European champions and Premier League leaders at an Old Trafford groaning under United’s US owners, who have plundered the club and bungled the Ferguson succession.
Revealed: Details of Erick Thohir’s fruitful D.C. United sale, and why the city wasn’t owed a cut of it
Pablo Maurer, The Athletic
In the summer of 2018, when news broke that D.C. United majority owner Erick Thohir had sold his share of the club to minority owner Jason Levien and a collection of other investors, details of the transaction were scant. Surely Thohir made money on the sale — United had just moved into a brand-new stadium and other clubs around MLS were being valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars — but how much did he make?
Manchester City’s Title Defense Might Already Be Slipping Away
Joshua Robinson, The Wall Street Journal
The last time Manchester City slipped this far back in a Premier League title race, Pep Guardiola was still wearing ties. To appreciate how long ago that was, you only need to look as far as his sartorial experiments since then.
Racing
Vaping backlash threatens to slam brakes on F1 sponsorship
Alice Hancock and Murad Ahmed, Financial Times
The world’s biggest tobacco companies, once among the largest backers of Formula One, are again conducting huge sponsorship deals with leading racing teams in an effort to promote new “vaping” products around the world.
To share or not to share? Teams differ on access once a driver change is announced
Jordan Bianchi, The Athletic
You’re a NASCAR driver, and you find out toward the end of one season that you won’t be back with your team for the next. But (usually) you’re still part of the team until year’s end.
Golf and Tennis
Coco Gauff acknowledges growing platform after 2019 success: I never wanted to be ‘just’ a tennis player
Ryan Gaydos, Fox Business
Coco Gauff burst onto the professional tennis scene earlier this year at Wimbledon, making a huge run that included defeating Venus Williams. As her fame grew over the summer, Gauff was forced to navigate the waters of keeping a level head while also trying to use her voice and platform for the betterment of society.
College Sports
Beer Delivered to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium Thursday
Anna Guizerix, The Oxford Eagle
For the first time, beer prepared for legal distribution was delivered to Vaught-Hemingway stadium on Thursday, ushering in a new era for Ole Miss football fans. Ole Miss will be the second Mississippi university to offer beer during football games come Saturday.
Don’t look now, but SMU football is undefeated and having fun again
Chuck Culpepper, The Washington Post
Here comes question No. 3, this one from “Anonymous,” in the “Ask the Coach” segment of the coach’s radio show on a Monday night in an airy meeting room at a sprawling bar. SMU radio voice Rich Phillips reads it, and it’s precisely the kind of question the human subspecies known as football coach will not and should not answer, suggesting the inquirer even might have dabbled in puckishness.
Atlanta businessman spared prison in college hoops scandal
Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press
An Atlanta businessman and former NBA referee was spared prison time Thursday after pleading guilty in a college basketball scandal that paid bribes to steer top athletes to certain schools and money managers. Rashan Michel wiped his eyes when U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska in New York announced prison would be excessive punishment, even for what she described as a serious crime.
Esports
CBS greenlights Rick Fox LoL esports comedy series
Scott Robertson, Dexerto
When Rick Fox retired from the National Basketball Association, he refocused his commitment to acting and business. After obtaining success in both, he’s moving into a new venture and combining both of those pursuits into a show. As first reported by Deadline, CBS has committed a pilot to Fox, and the team responsible for the comedy show Me, Myself & I, creator Dan Kopelman and producers Kapital Entertainment and Warner Bros. TV.
Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research
Those Superfast Nike Shoes Are Creating a Problem
Amby Burfoot, The New York Times
Last weekend’s extraordinary marathon performances — 1 hour 59 minutes 40 seconds by Eliud Kipchoge in Vienna and 2:14:04 by Brigid Kosgei in Chicago — have focused attention on an already simmering question: Does the International Association of Athletics Federations need a more stringent rule to define legal running shoes? It appears that running, the original and most elemental of sports, now faces the same tradition vs. scientific innovation challenge that other sports have encountered.
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