Sports

NEW YORK — It took until the final day of the 2024 WNBA season for the playoff bracket to be settled, but the Atlanta Dream claimed the eighth and final postseason spot on Thursday night with a 78-67 over the New York Liberty.

Atlanta entered the evening needing a win to clinch its second consecutive playoff berth. While New York had clinched the No. 1 overall seed on Tuesday night, the Liberty still played a regular rotation throughout the first half and began the third quarter with four of their usual starters still in action.

Dream center Tina Charles finished the victory with 10 points and 10 rebounds, setting new WNBA career records for rebounds and double-doubles in the game. She passed Sylvia Fowles’ 4,006 rebound mark just over three minutes in the first quarter and Fowles’ 193 double-double mark midway through the third quarter. Charles, the No. 1 pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft by the Connecticut Sun, is the lone player in WNBA history ever to record more than 4,000 rebounds and 7,000 career points.

Dream wing Rhyne Howard and forward Naz Hillmon led Atlanta with 13 points apiece.

Having won and made consecutive postseason appearances for the first time since 2013-14, the Dream won’t have to go far. They packed for a week-long trip to New York and will face the Liberty again Sunday to open the postseason.

“This year is special. This has definitely been the toughest year for us with everything that has gone on,” coach Tanisha Wright said. “I’m really proud of our athletes for continuing to fight and never giving in because I think it’s easy to give in after the season that we’ve had… They fought all year no matter our circumstances, no matter who was available to us and so that, that’s a special group over there.”

Thursday night had the potential for some madness. The Washington Mystics could have clinched a playoff spot with a win, a loss by the Dream and a win by the Chicago Sky. The Sky, meanwhile, would have claimed the final playoff spot had they won and both Atlanta and Washington lost. Atlanta would have clinched a berth even with a loss, because of Chicago’s defeat.

The Mystics, playing front of a new all-time WNBA record 20,711 fans, defeated the Indiana Fever on Thursday, 92-91. Indiana had already clinched the No. 6 seed and played each of its five starters 20 minutes or fewer. The Connecticut Sun defeated the Chicago Sky, 87-54, to both eliminate Chicago from postseason contention and clinch the No. 3 seed. As a result of Connecticut’s victory, the Las Vegas Aces became locked into the No. 4 seed.

Playoff matchups

Here are the postseason matchups and the start times for Sunday.

Liberty (1) vs. Dream (8) — 1 p.m. ET
Lynx (2) vs. Mercury (7) — 5 p.m. ET
Sun (3) vs. Fever (6) – 3 p.m. ET
Aces (4) vs. Storm (5) 10 p.m. ET

What is the WNBA’s playoff format?

Following the 2021 season, the WNBA altered its playoff format to get rid of single-elimination games and byes to the semifinals for the top two seeds. In the new format, the top eight teams from the regular season, regardless of conference, qualify for the postseason with all eight taking part in a best-of-three series for the first round. The first two games of the series will be held on the homecourt of the higher seed, with the lower seed then hosting a Game 3, if necessary. No lower seed has ever upset the higher seed in the new series format.

The winners of the respective first-round series will advance in the bracket to the semifinals, where the remaining four teams will participate in a best-of-five series. The semifinals will begin on Sept. 29.

The respective winners of those series will then advance to the WNBA Finals, which will also be a best-of-five series. The WNBA Finals will begin on Oct. 10, with a potential Game 5 set for Oct. 20.

What history could be made in the postseason?

Here is some of what is at stake in the playoffs:

• The Aces are looking to become the first franchise to win three consecutive championships since the Houston Comets, who won four consecutive titles from 1997-2000.
• The Liberty are eyeing their first championship in franchise history, having lost in the WNBA Finals five times, including last season.
• The Sun enter the playoffs with the longest active streak, dating back to 2017. Forward DeWanna Bonner has played 80 postseason games, and needs just three appearances to set a new record for career postseason appearances. She is set to pass both Rebekkah Brunson (81) and Lindsay Whalen (82).
• Mercury guard Diana Taurasi is already the WNBA’s leading scorer in the postseason (1,455 points), but she can add to her resume in what could be her final postseason.
• Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot will set a new record for career assists in the postseason with three more assists. Sue Bird currently holds the record (362).
• Fever guard Caitlin Clark will be making her postseason debut after leading Indiana back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
• The Lynx and Storm head into the playoffs tied for the most championships among active WNBA franchises with four each.

Required reading

(Photo: Erica Denhoff / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

College football conference play is (mostly) underway and the stakes will be raised accordingly. The sport dips its toes this weekend with ranked matchups in the Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC featuring College Football Playoff favorites and some remaining question marks.

Let’s rank the top 10 games of Week 4, starting with a few honorable mentions and counting down.

Honorable Mention: JMU at North Carolina, Rutgers at Virginia Tech, Memphis at Navy, TCU at SMU, Iowa at Minnesota

(All point spreads come from BetMGM; click here for live odds. All kickoff times are Eastern and on Saturday unless otherwise noted.)

10. San Jose State (3-0) at Washington State (3-0), Friday, 10 p.m., The CW

What a win for Wazzu last week. It upset Washington in a new, strange rendition of the Apple Cup rivalry, secured by a dramatic goal-line stand by the Cougars. Quarterback John Mateer is a dual-threat firecracker, head coach Jake Dickert brought a celebratory cigar to the postgame news conference, and Washington State is one of the early feel-good teams. Now the Cougars have a different type of grudge match against San Jose State, which might feel scorned by WSU for helping lead the Pac-12’s poaching of the Mountain West. The Spartans haven’t faced anyone as good as Wazzu yet, but former Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo abandoned the triple option and has SJSU airing it out to an undefeated start, including a road win over Air Force.

Line: Washington State -11.5

Rough start for NC State. Following the 51-10 blowout loss to Tennessee, the Wolfpack lost starting quarterback Grayson McCall to injury in a 30-20 win over Louisiana Tech. True freshman backup CJ Bailey will start against Clemson and led the comeback over Lousiana Tech, but NC State hasn’t looked at all like a team deserving of its preseason Top 25 ranking. This will be an interesting test for Clemson, as well, coming off a bye following the blowout loss to Georgia and blowout win over App State. Are the Tigers still a legit threat in the ACC and Playoff race? The spread in this one suggests as much. Either way, Saturday’s result should get us a little closer to those answers.

Line: Clemson -20.5

Clemson QB Cade Klubnik threw for a career-high 378 yards on a 92.3 percent completion rate against App State. (Alex Hicks Jr. / USA Today Sports via Imagn Images)

8. Arkansas (2-1) at Auburn (2-1), 3:30 pm, ESPN

It’s tough to properly articulate in text, but this game just feels like leaf-changing college football in the fall. The game is on ESPN now instead of CBS, neither team is expected to be in the mix for the SEC title or CFP, Arkansas’ Sam Pittman is on the hot seat — but there’s an ineffable nostalgia hit with this matchup. It should be an interesting quarterback matchup between Arkansas’ dual-threat Taylen Green and Auburn redshirt freshman Hank Brown, who threw four touchdowns in his first start against New Mexico last week. Both teams have gantlet schedules ahead and could really use a win to keep fans from getting restless.

Line: Auburn -3

GO DEEPER

College football Week 4 oddly specific predictions: Rolling with road favorites

How about Kenny Dillingham and the Sun Devils? The second-year head coach has ASU — picked dead last in the Big 12 preseason poll — off to an undefeated start with three solid wins, including a barnburner over Texas State last Thursday. Quarterback Sam Leavitt has been workmanlike, running back Cam Skattebo is a wrecking ball, and Dillingham’s commitment to recruiting Texas is already paying dividends. Whether ASU can make any noise in the Big 12 race remains to be seen, but it could start against a puzzling Texas Tech team that escaped in overtime against Abilene Christian, got smoked by Wazzu and then hung 66 on North Texas.

Line: Texas Tech -3

6. Georgia Tech (3-1) at No. 19 Louisville (2-0), 3:30 pm, ESPN2

Georgia Tech got right with a blowout over VMI following the close loss to Syracuse, and with a brief stay in the Top 25, it’s clear the Yellow Jackets are better than most anticipated this season. But Louisville is the team I’m more curious about. The Cardinals have climbed into the top 20 almost by default on the strength of easy wins over Austin Peay and Jacksonville State. Transfer quarterback Tyler Shough has impressed against inferior competition, but with a road trip to Notre Dame next week, this game should provide a much better sense of how viable an ACC and Playoff contender Louisville can be this season.

Line: Louisville -10.5

5. No. 8 Miami (3-0) at South Florida (2-1), 7 p.m., ESPN

Mario Cristobal’s year-three warpath makes an intriguing stop in Tampa. Quarterback Cam Ward has been spectacular for the Hurricanes, ranking second in FBS in passing yards, first in passing touchdowns, third in yards per attempt and fourth in QB rating, lifting Miami into the top 10. But now it has to face a USF squad that gave Alabama fits for 3 1/2 quarters. Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown has run the ball effectively but struggled through the air, and USF’s defense fissured late against the Tide, allowing 21 points over the final six minutes. A decisive road win, in prime time on ESPN, would shift the Miami hype train into high gear.

Line: Miami -16.5

Cam Ward transferred to Miami from Washington State in the offseason and is leading the Hurricanes toward their CFP hopes. (Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)

4. No. 24 Illinois (3-0) at No. 22 Nebraska (3-0), 8 p.m. Friday, Fox

The ranked Big Ten matchup you didn’t know you needed in your life. Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola and his Patrick Mahomes cosplay will get another turn in the spotlight Friday night against the undefeated Illini. Raiola has been impressive for a true freshman with heavy expectations and a fan base that is desperate to return to winning football. The Cornhuskers haven’t been to a bowl game in seven seasons, haven’t beaten a ranked team since 2016 and haven’t done so at home since 2011. Enter an Illinois team that is second in FBS with a plus-8 turnover margin. The Illini haven’t been elite in other areas thus far but are stout enough to keep the optimism in Lincoln on high alert.

Line: Nebraska -8.5

3. No. 11 USC (2-0) at No. 18 Michigan (2-1), 3:30 p.m., CBS

It’s Alex Orji time for Michigan. The speedy junior takes over at quarterback for Davis Warren, who threw six interceptions in three games at the helm of a dismal offense. Can Orji provide enough of a spark to turn things around? The Wolverines are a home underdog for the second time in three weeks. They got clobbered by Texas in Week 2 and now get USC coming off an idle week. The Trojans are surging in The Athletic’s Playoff projector after the opening-week win over LSU and with what looks to be a much improved defense under new coordinator D’Anton Lynn. A road victory over Michigan would further boost those CFP hopes, especially with a favorable schedule the rest of the way: no Ohio State, no Oregon, and Penn State, Nebraska and Notre Dame all at home.

Line: USC -6

GO DEEPER

USC superfans adjusting to travel in the new Big Ten: ‘It feels like a grind this year’

2. No. 12 Utah (3-0) at No. 14 Oklahoma State (3-0), 4 p.m., Fox

Utah quarterback Cam Rising is expected to play after suffering an injury to his throwing hand in the Week 2 win over Baylor. The Utes have been predictably strong on defense and remain the highest-ranked team in the Big 12 but are traveling into the thunderdome of Stillwater. The Pokes have been somewhat of an enigma. Doak Walker-winning running back Ollie Gordon II has been mostly held in check, averaging just 3.5 yards per carry, but seventh-year quarterback Alan Bowman has picked up the slack. Bowman is sixth in FBS in passing yards along with eight touchdowns and two interceptions. This is a crucial stretch for Oklahoma State, which travels to Kansas State next week and is still without star linebacker Collin Oliver. With Utah headed to Arizona next week, we should have a better handle on the top of the Big 12 by the end of the month.

Line: Utah -2.5

GO DEEPER

After 7 years, one devastating knee injury, Cam Rising knows there’s beauty in struggle

1. No. 6 Tennessee (3-0) at No. 15 Oklahoma (3-0), 7:30 p.m., ABC

The big storyline is Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel returning to Oklahoma, where he quarterbacked the program to a national championship and was later fired as offensive coordinator. Joe Rexrode penned a great retrospective on how the reunion has unfolded for all involved (worked out for Tennessee!), as well as the stakes for a game Joe describes as an “early College Football Playoff clarifier.” The Vols look like a wagon, leading the FBS in points per game at 63.7. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s 10.4 yards per attempt ranks eighth among all quarterbacks and the offense is averaging 8.1 yards per play. The Sooners are on the other end of the spectrum, averaging just 4.9 yards per play under quarterback Jackson Arnold, who is averaging 5.6 yards per attempt and still trying to find his groove. (Potentially getting wide receivers Nic Anderson and Andrel Anthony back from injury could help on that front.) Brent Venables’ defense has been solid, but it’s Tennessee that is allowing 3.1 yards per play and 4.3 points per game, both in the top three in FBS. ESPN’s “College GameDay” heads to Norman to see if the Sooners can slow down Tennessee in the first SEC showdown for Oklahoma.

Line: Tennessee -7

(Top photo of Jackson Arnold: Aaron M. Sprecher / Getty Images)

Aaron Rodgers’ first performance back at MetLife Stadium since tearing his Achilles in Week 1 of the 2023 season was a vintage one.

Flashing the same mobility and accuracy that helped him win four MVP awards, Rodgers fueled the New York Jets to a 24-3 win over the New England Patriots on Thursday night as the Jets picked up their second win of the season. The 40-year-old posted a 118.9 passer rating Thursday night while his defense limited New England to just 2.9 yards per play.

Long after fans began chanting Rodgers’ name in the third quarter, the Patriots opted to play rookie quarterback Drake Maye in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter with the game far out of hand. The third overall pick made his debut with just over four minutes to play.

The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt and Chad Graff break down the key takeaways.

Rodgers celebrates with Allen Lazard after a first-quarter touchdown. (Photo: Al Bello / Getty Images)

Peak Rodgers on display

That was vintage Aaron Rodgers. The 40-year-old didn’t look like a 40-year-old — especially all three times he got out on the move — twice for first downs. Rodgers was thriving in the pocket getting rid of the ball quickly — but also somehow managed to dominate even when the Patriots brought pressure.

Robert Saleh on Aaron Rodgers mobility: “He may not be what he used to be but he has plenty in those legs.”

— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) September 20, 2024

The Jets came out firing on offense, throwing it nearly every play on their first possession. That drive was disrupted by a poorly timed holding penalty which thwarted any shot at scoring points. But unlike in past years, the Jets rebounded quickly and the Rodgers-led offense dominated the first half.

For the third straight game, the Jets scored at least three touchdowns — something they only accomplished in two games in all of 2023. The ceiling for this Jets team is much higher when Rodgers is dealing like this, especially with a much-improved offensive line and a group of weapons that is better than what the Jets have deployed in a long time. — Zack Rosenblatt, Jets beat writer

Much needed showing for New York’s defense

After a couple weeks of inconsistent defensive play — especially on the defensive line — Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich cooked up a clever gameplan that left the Patriots stumped.

New England’s offensive line might be one of the worst in the NFL, but the Jets still needed to show they could dominate up front against an inferior opponent, and that’s exactly what they did.

Ulbrich blitzed more on Thursday than he has for most of his tenure at defensive coordinator and defensive end Will McDonald helped the Jets feel a little better about losing Jermaine Johnson — and Haason Reddick’s absence — with a stellar first half performance. Through three quarters, the Patriots only had 118 yards of offense. A few minutes into the fourth quarter, that actually dropped down to 85 net yards. It didn’t get much better from there. The Jets might not face an offense as bad as the Patriots again this year — but the Jets haven’t always beaten up on opponents they should’ve in past years. They did Thursday. — Rosenblatt

How did Maye look?

The Patriots had been cautious with Maye, not wanting to put their prized rookie quarterback on the field with a poor supporting cast.

But in a blowout loss, the plan changed.

Maye, the No. 3 overall pick in April’s draft, made his NFL debut in garbage time Thursday night, entering with just over four minutes to play. He completed 4 of 8 passes for 22 yards, and, like Jacoby Brissett, was constantly under pressure. Maye was sacked twice on his lone drive.

His first pass was nearly intercepted and his second dropback ended with a big hit on a scramble. But Maye settled in after that and improved with some short completions. The 46-yard drive he led was the team’s second longest of the night. — Chad Graff, Patriots beat writer

Patriots have serious protection issues

It’s going to be hard for the Patriots to have even a semblance of a functional offense behind the O-line they’ve constructed.

Both coach Jerod Mayo and de facto GM Eliot Wolf spent weeks leading into the season insisting that there were no concerns over the offensive line and all proclaiming that all the talk of problems there were way overblown.

Now, three weeks in, there’s not a bigger concern for the Patriots. The front five was so bad Thursday night that Brissett was hit on nearly half of his dropbacks. The group entered the game ranked 31st in pressure rate allowed, and they may become the new last place team after this performance.

What’s maddening about it is how predictable it was. The Patriots had a terrible offensive line last year, then only tried to fix it by signing journeymen Vederian Lowe and Chukwuma Okorafor and drafting a right tackle in the third round (Caedan Wallace) to play left tackle.

It’s been a total and complete disaster. — Graff

Pats struggle to tackle

The Patriots’ defense was supposed to be their backbone. Perhaps that’s what makes Thursday such a catastrophe for the Patriots. It’s not surprising that the offense stunk or the O-line had issues, but the area the Pats were confident in was a total mess.

They lost sure-tackling linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley to a torn pectoral muscle earlier in the week, and without him on the field the Pats somehow couldn’t tackle anyone.

They missed more than a dozen tackles and got totally shredded in every aspect. This is going to be a big test for Mayo, an early bit of adversity for him in trying to fix his prized defense – especially since up next is a trip to the San Francisco 49ers. — Graff

Required reading

(Photo: Robert Deutsch / Imagn Images)

COLUMBUS, Ohio — In March 1993, the morning after two of his relief pitchers died in a boating crash, then-Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove arrived at the team’s spring-training facility at approximately 6 a.m. to find the parking lot full and most of the players already in the clubhouse.

The team leaders thought it was important that everybody be together as soon as possible after the deaths of Steve Olin and Tim Crews, and the task of convening a team meeting fell to Hargrove, a 43-year-old third-year manager.

“I had no clue what I was going to say or do. Where do you begin?” Hargrove said. “I said a prayer to myself that God would help and put words in my mouth to at least help us start the process of understanding and grieving.

“We went into the clubhouse and made a huge circle with chairs and I sat in the middle and started talking. When I ran out of things to say or couldn’t talk anymore, one of the players would stand up and they’d talk until they couldn’t talk. We did that for I don’t know how long, maybe two hours. It was not easy, but I think it was helpful.”

Thankfully, very few professional athletes have experienced what the Columbus Blue Jackets have been going through since the evening of Aug. 29, when Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, died after being struck by a car while cycling — or the challenges the team will confront as the 2024-25 season is played.

But the Blue Jackets, who opened training camp this week, less than three weeks after the brothers’ deaths, aren’t alone, either, when it comes to facing tragedy this close to the start of a season.

The 1993 crash that took the lives of the two Cleveland pitchers and severely injured a third, Bob Ojeda, happened just two weeks before the start of the season. In 2001, Minnesota Vikings Pro Bowl offensive tackle Korey Stringer died on the second day of training camp in Mankato, Minn., after extreme heatstroke led to major organ failure. The Vikings’ preseason opener was just 10 days later.

Like the Gaudreaus’ death, the sudden deaths of Stringer, Crews and Olin rocked the sporting world. The aftershocks are still felt within the organizations decades later.

The Athletic spoke with players and coaches who were on those teams in Cleveland and Minnesota. They were asked about the challenges of getting back to work, the difficulty in finding motivation amid the grief, and the best way to deal with grief on the days when it seems overwhelming.

“When I heard about the (Gaudreaus), I thought first about their families,” said former Vikings tight end Byron Chamberlain, a teammate of Stringer. “I was sad for all those guys in Columbus, his teammates, but I know what they’re going through.

“That’s the kind of pain that I wouldn’t wish on anybody.”

‘The darkest day’

March 22 was Cleveland’s only off day during the entire 1993 spring training. Olin, Crews and Ojeda traveled approximately 45 minutes north of their spring training facility in Winter Haven, Fla, to enjoy the day at Crews’ ranch on Little Lake Nellie.

That evening, Crews was driving the boat with Olin and Ojeda aboard when he gunned the engine in the dark and misjudged a pier that extended 185 feet into the lake. When the boat slammed into the pier, Olin was killed instantly. Crews, whose blood-alcohol level was above Florida’s legal limit, died several hours later at a nearby hospital. Ojeda was treated for massive head injuries and spent multiple days in the hospital.

Longtime Cleveland broadcaster Jim Donovan called it “the darkest day in Cleveland sports history.” Olin, who had 29 saves the previous season, was expected to be the team’s closer. Crews was signed as a free agent away from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The last time an active major leaguer was killed was in 1979, when Thurman Munson of the New York Yankees died in a plane crash.

“We had like 50 or 60 guys in camp,” Hargrove said. “Seeing the majority of them crying — these are grown men — was really sobering in itself. As the manager, I didn’t know what to do or what to say. It was just such a shock.”

Carlos Baerga, then an All-Star infielder, is now a Spanish-language broadcaster for the team — now known as the Guardians. When he heard about the Gaudreau tragedy, he said it immediately conjured memories of Olin and Crews’ deaths. He discussed it during his next broadcast.

“Our jobs as professional athletes, they aren’t like most jobs,” Baerga said. “We are a family. We spend more time with each other in pro sports than we do with most of the people in our lives. You get so close. I just pray for their families and for the players and the fans in Columbus.”

Hargrove said the team kept the lockers of Olin and Crews intact for several weeks after the tragedy, even traveling with their jerseys to set up lockers when they played on the road. Baerga said there were frequent reminders, too.

After a while, though, they decided it was best to not have the constant reminder, so they stopped a couple of months into the season.

Cleveland finished 10 games below .500 for a second consecutive season.

“We went through a tough time with it,” Baerga said.

Sandy Alomar, an All-Star catcher for Cleveland, still works for the club as the first-base coach and catching instructor. Even though the Guardians hold spring training in Goodyear, Ariz., now, there’s not a spring when Alomar doesn’t think about his former teammates.

“It’s a constant thought in your head that first season, at least it was in mine,” Alomar said. “You have to move forward, sure, but you just lost two brothers. It was a difficult season.”

After the tragedy, Hargrove made himself available to whoever wanted to speak. The team had a mental coach who was hired to help players with performance issues but was called into a different duty. Hargrove also leaned hard, he said, on veteran relievers Ted Power and Derek Lilliquist to help guide the rest of the players.

“It’s tough getting back to work, it really is,” Hargrove said. “But after a while, when we worked out or played a game, it was almost your time away from constantly thinking about what happened. So for some, it was a relief to get back to work or play.

“We made it our goal to play for Tim and Steve. You know that’s what they would have wanted, so that’s how we found some motivation and inspiration to play. That was genuine.”

Hargrove ended his conversation with The Athletic by asking that his cell number be shared with anybody on the Blue Jackets’ management or coaching staff who wanted to talk about the difficult process of moving forward. He was fighting emotions as he said it.

“You tell those coaches if they need anything … I don’t know if I can help, but I’ve been where they are,” Hargrove said.

‘This was different. This was forever’

The Vikings had made sweeping changes to their offensive line during the offseason, leaving Stringer — a first-round pick out of Ohio State — to anchor the line from his all-important left tackle spot. He was in the best shape of his career, and he was trying to stake his claim as a leader by toughing out early practices.

Stringer had issues on the first two days of camp, though, amid sweltering late-summer heat in Minnesota. On the second day, he tried to push through, but once again needed to leave practice early to head to the air-conditioned trainer’s tent. It was there where he soon lost consciousness.

Many Vikings players saw Stringer leave practice, but many of them were gone when he was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. They had no idea of the seriousness of the situation. Stringer died at approximately 2 a.m., with teammates Cris Carter, Daunte Culpepper, Randy Moss and others holding a vigil in the waiting area.

“They woke us up at 5 in the morning and brought us down to the (lobby) to tell us,” said wide receiver Chris Walsh, one of the locker-room leaders.

“It shook up our whole team,” Chamberlain said. “We were lost. We didn’t know where to go, where to look, what to do. … There’s no protocol for those moments.

“Dennis Green was our coach at the time, and he was a players’ coach, so he had a really great relationship with Korey, and he was grieving right along with us. When he spoke in front of the whole team and told us that we’d lost Big K — that’s what we called Korey, Big K — you could see in his eyes that he didn’t know what to do, either.

“And, man, when the leader is shook, when the leader is lost … it was pretty overwhelming.”

The Vikings held a memorial service for Stringer in Mankato before his body was flown to Warren, Ohio, his hometown, for a service for family and friends.

“In the NFL, you get used to saying goodbye to teammates,” Walsh said. “Every week, every season guys are coming and going, that’s just the business. But this was different. This was forever.”

The Vikings were given the next day off from practice and then returned to action. Both Walsh and Chamberlain said it was hard to concentrate and even more difficult to find motivation. It was also much quieter than usual, the whistles and the shouts a bit muted.

Chamberlain remembered that the weather, after several sweltering days in a row, finally broke in the days after Stringer’s death. The coolness felt almost eerie.

On Aug. 11, only 10 days after Stringer died, the Vikings flew to New Orleans to play their first preseason game.

“I can tell you this, there were a lot of guys who didn’t want to get on that plane,” Chamberlain said. “A lot of guys were close to Korey, close to his family, and they were still mourning. I remember watching Randy Moss come out for that game with tears in his eyes on the sidelines.”

The Vikings had played in the NFC Championship Game in two of the previous three seasons. They were two seasons removed from finishing 15-1 in the regular season.

In 2001, they plummeted to 5-11, the third-worst record in the NFC. Green was fired with one game left in the season, replaced by offensive line coach Mike Tice, who had been Stringer’s position coach.

“I don’t think we ever got over it,” Chamberlain said.

The Vikings played that season with Stringer’s No. 77 displayed on a patch on their jerseys. His jersey hung in his locker the entire season. In late November, the Vikings held a special night practice in front of fans in Minneapolis, retiring Stringer’s jersey into the club’s ring of honor.

“I’m sure the (Blue Jackets) are going through this, too, but you don’t even really think about the football for a very long time after you hear the news,” Walsh said. “You just think about his family, his young son. It’s when you get back to work that you notice the football impact, too.

“We were a vertical team. We had Randy Moss and Cris Carter, but we couldn’t protect long enough to go vertical. We had weapons that couldn’t be used, and everybody could see that. It was like this season-long reminder of what happened.”

Chamberlain was asked if he had any advice for Blue Jackets players as to how to handle the next few weeks, the following months and years. He didn’t need much time to think.

“I wish I didn’t have experience with this kind of thing,” Chamberlain said. “But I would tell them to not be afraid of going through the emotions of grieving, whatever that might be. Crying, thinking about (Gaudreau), praying, being angry … whatever it might be. Go through those emotions, don’t fight them.

“And what I would encourage everybody to do, if you need help or just want somebody to talk to, or if you’re feeling like it’s too big, that you can’t deal with it … go get help. Don’t be ashamed. Don’t be too big. Don’t let your ego or your pride stop that.

“We’re big tough professional athletes, but we’re also vulnerable human beings with emotions, just like everybody else in the world. Talk it out with each other, and talk it out with people who can help you. It’s only going to help you.”

The next steps

Soon after the Blue Jackets learned of Gaudreau’s death, general manager Don Waddell and captain Boone Jenner tried to set aside their grief long enough to discuss what first steps the organization should take.

It was decided, mostly at Jenner’s urging, that all of the Blue Jackets players who weren’t already in Columbus be asked to return to the city as soon as possible. Much like the Indians and Vikings decades earlier, Jenner wanted all of the players together, not just for the weekday morning “captain’s skates,” but to be present for each other as they grieved.

On Wednesday of this week, Waddell and new coach Dean Evason met with the media, as did veteran players Zach Werenski, Sean Monahan and Jenner. The Blue Jackets opened training camp on Thursday. They play their preseason opener on Monday in Buffalo. The regular season is just three weeks away.

“These last few weeks, I’m not going to lie, hockey’s not really on your mind,” Jenner said. “But being here all together, coming into day 1 of camp, we’re excited to get things rolling here.

“What happened with John and Matt is not something that’s going to magically go away. It’s going to be with us. It’s just kind of the new reality for us as a team. We’re not trying to park (our feelings), and say, ‘Well, now it’s the season.’ Those emotions are going to be there for a long, long time.

“Realizing that, and helping each other out when there are bad days or bad moments — there’s gonna be a lot of them — but we’re in it together.”

The Blue Jackets on Wednesday announced plans to honor the Gaudreau brothers throughout the season. They’ll wear a sticker on their helmets and a No. 13 patch — Johnny Gaudreau’s number — on their jerseys, both home and away. The first home game of the season, Oct. 15 vs. Minnesota, will be dedicated to the Gaudreaus’ honor.

“We have to play hockey,” Waddell said. “We’re not going to forget about Johnny and his family, the Gaudreau family. Everybody knows that Johnny wants them to play hockey. Meredith (Gaudreau’s widow) said it at the funeral, and everybody is rallying behind that.

“Do I think there are going to be some dark days? I won’t be surprised. But it’s our job as management, along with Dean (Evason) and the coaches, to stay on top of that and manage that.”

(Photo of banner honoring Korey Stringer in 2001: Elsa / Getty Images)

HARRISONBURG, Va. — It doesn’t take long.

Visit James Madison University, and you will quickly notice how eager folks are to hold doors open for one another. Students for students. Students for professors. Locals for students. In this college town, aptly nicknamed the “Friendly City,” if they can see you coming, they’re holding it open.

JMU’s campus sits in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, flanked by the Blue Ridge Mountains. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, it didn’t become fully co-ed until 1966 and didn’t field a football team until 1972. It now has 22,000 students.

For much of the past 25 years, the university’s evolution occurred in the anonymity of low-major NCAA athletics, including the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) — essentially the second division of college football. JMU won national titles, upset big-name opponents and invested in its teams, yet most of the achievements were far removed from the biggest and brightest stages of college sports.

Then in 2022, JMU climbed to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Group of 5 conference level — still looking up at the power-conference penthouse, but at least in the building — and thrived. The 2023-24 season became the Year of the Dukes. JMU football posted an 11-2 record, ranking as high as No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and finishing with the program’s first bowl game. Men’s basketball went 32-4, a record number of victories on its way to winning the recently joined Sun Belt Conference. The Dukes then advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1983, toppling fifth-seeded Wisconsin in the opening round. Olympic sports such as softball, volleyball and women’s lacrosse also have surged.

Here in the foothills of Virginia, a former women’s teaching college is emerging as the latest disruptor in college sports.

“I think we’re the best school in the Group of 5,” said athletic director Matt Roan. “When you talk about where we stack up, we’re already at the top of that group.”

But the new perch also affords a clear view of JMU’s ceiling. On Saturday, the 2-0 football team will travel to face the 3-0 North Carolina Tar Heels. It’s an opportunity for the Dukes to continue upending the paradigm, to slay a classic big brand from the ACC. The problem is, regardless of what happens on the field, it won’t change JMU’s balance sheet.

North Carolina’s athletics revenue was $139.4 million for the last fiscal year. The biggest chunk of that — about $45 million — came via ACC payouts, most courtesy of the conference’s television deal with ESPN. James Madison’s athletics budget was $68 million. That’s one of the highest among G5 schools, but less than half what the Tar Heels bring in each year, and even farther from the richest power-conference heavyweights that top $200 million annually: Ohio State, Texas, Alabama and the like.

“If you like winning and you like success, it doesn’t come cheap,” said Scooter Renkin, JMU’s associate athletic director for development.

James Madison has invested in athletics as much or more than just about every other G5 school in the country. That might be enough to pull off an upset Saturday in Chapel Hill, or even to solidify the Dukes as the best of that second tier in the years ahead. But for JMU to continue its rise, it must close that revenue gap at a time when the only sustainable path — membership in a power conference — is the equivalent of a steel-bolted vault that no one is holding open.

JMU has come a long way. But in the current landscape of college sports, is it stuck settling for where it is? Or can it find a way to break through that door?

Mickey Matthews was hired as the head football coach of the Dukes in 1999, taking over a program that won three games the previous season and had just one conference championship in school history. Bridgeforth Stadium, which opened in 1975, had expanded to a capacity of 12,500, but attendance lagged and the facilities were in disrepair.

“I used to tell people you could throw a hand grenade up in the stands during games and it wouldn’t injure anyone,” said Matthews.

Aside from a brief stretch of NCAA Tournament berths for men’s basketball in the early 1980s and a surprising field hockey national championship in 1994, JMU had little athletics success. But the same year Matthews took over in football, the university also hired Jeff Bourne, a first-time, fiscally minded athletic director empowered to grow the department.

“Athletics was very much a university commitment,” said Bourne. “I was told when I was hired it would be a long road and it won’t be easy, but they wanted that future for the program.”

Bourne and Matthews believed in that vision. And Matthews started winning games.

“We had all the ingredients: Beautiful campus, great school, the marching band was terrific. We just needed to put it all together,” said Matthews. “I was convinced when I took the job that James Madison did not know what it was sitting on.”

In 2004, Matthews led the Dukes to a 13-2 record and Division I-AA (now FCS) national championship. After flirting with an off-campus stadium, the school doubled down on Bridgeforth and the existing footprint, building the Plecker Athletic Performance Center behind the south end zone in 2005 and completing a $62 million expansion in 2011.

The Dukes won a second football national title in 2016 and were runners-up in 2017 and 2019, convincing FBS-quality talent to come to JMU and play for championships instead of riding the bench elsewhere. ESPN brought “College GameDay” to town for the first time in 2015, as 12,000 strong packed the Quad and introduced the Dukes to fans nationwide. Lee Corso dressed up as founding father James Madison, powdered wig and all.

The university helped finance those bootstraps along the way. JMU’s athletics budget of $68 million in fiscal year 2023 ranked highest among Sun Belt members by a margin of $14 million, and top five among all G5 schools. More than $53 million came via the mandatory fees that are part of tuition payments for every JMU student — making JMU the most heavily subsidized athletic department of any public university in the country.

It’s not a one-year blip, either. Over the past decade, JMU athletics has had an average annual budget of $52.6 million, with student fees (a standard part of tuition costs for nearly every college) contributing an average of $41.3 million per year.

That safety net allowed JMU to grow its athletics programs patiently and deliberately. Regional peers like Appalachian State, Marshall and Old Dominion made the leap from FCS to FBS years sooner, lured by the higher revenues available via ticket sales, licensing and, most significantly, media rights from the conferences, NCAA and bowl payouts. But despite interest from G5 leagues such as the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Conference USA, JMU stayed put, leaning on those student fees to translate football’s success to other sports and waiting for the right FBS fit.

“Our fees are on the higher end, and we do get some criticism for that,” said Charlie King, a longtime JMU academic administrator who previously oversaw athletics and currently serves as the university’s interim president. “But we make no apologies for it, either. I bet a whole lot of other schools wish they could be where we are athletically.”

Women’s lacrosse won a national championship in 2018. Softball went to the Women’s College World Series in 2021, upsetting top-seeded Oklahoma. Nearly every athletics facility got a facelift, headlined by the brand-new, $140 million Atlantic Union Bank Center, an 8,500-capacity basketball arena that opened in November 2020.

In summer 2021, in the wake of Texas, Oklahoma and the SEC setting off another wave of conference realignment, JMU decided the moment had finally arrived. It accepted an invitation to the Sun Belt, joining the likes of App State, Marshall and ODU.

As a result, the student fee subsidy is already shrinking — because it has to. In 2015, the Commonwealth of Virginia passed a bill that capped the percentage of university student fees that can go toward athletics spending. For in-state G5 programs, the cap is 55 percent. JMU had to present a pro forma to the state legislature as part of its move to the Sun Belt, showing how it would get under that threshold by 2029. The department is already below 60 percent once it factors in allowable deductions such as pre-existing debt and certain auxiliary services, according to Kevin Warner, JMU’s associate AD for communications.

JMU made its move to FBS without a budget-altering windfall. The school has yet to receive any revenue from Sun Belt media rights, and when it does, it will be about $2 million a year, max. Nor does JMU have the level of private funding that exists at Liberty, another Virginia university and potential G5 disruptor, or SMU, where big-money donors helped bankroll the Mustangs to the ACC. In lieu of that, student fee support will remain critical.

“The onus is on us to continue communicating why the support we get from the institution and our students is a good investment,” said Roan, who succeeded Bourne in May. “The whole front-porch metaphor: Athletics do shine a light on this institution.”

Even without a billionaire booster or millions in TV revenue, membership in the Sun Belt has made a difference. No one tailgates or storms the court for low student fees. At JMU, where fees cover student ticket costs, student attendance for home football games averages about 8,500. That’s nearly 40 percent of the school’s total enrollment — what Roan describes as students “voting with their feet.”

Meanwhile, JMU has steadily converted that growing student interest into grassroots alumni investment. Football’s average attendance was north of 25,000 in 2023, season tickets sold out for a second straight year, and mid-level fundraising has increased markedly, keeping JMU among the most well-funded and aspirational G5 schools.

“Everyone wants to be part of it when you’re winning, but it’s more than that,” said Bob Chesney, hired in December as JMU’s new head football coach. “When you get into the Valley here, there are no professional sports teams, so you start to become that for these people.”

JMU football coach Bob Chesney was hired away from Holy Cross in December after Curt Cignetti left for Indiana after five seasons. (Barry Chin / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Bridgeforth Stadium sits on the older west side of the Harrisonburg campus, flanked by Newman Lake and the cherry blossoms that line its shores. It’s a fitting time capsule for JMU athletics.

The 50-year-old facility has been renovated on three sides, but the fourth is still the original concrete slab from the mid-1970s, lined with metal bleachers. You can see the progress, but also the work left to be done. King estimates it could cost another $100 million to complete the stadium update and surrounding redevelopments.

That’s a massive commitment for a school in JMU’s position, once again contemplating what comes next. Where does it go from here? Are we nearing the end of JMU’s rise — or is this somewhere in the middle?

The Year of the Dukes begat an offseason of change. Football coach Curt Cignetti left for Indiana after five seasons, with 13 former JMU players following him via the transfer portal. Basketball coach Mark Byington was hired away by Vanderbilt after four seasons. It’s the familiar scourge of a thriving mid-major, stripped for parts by the power-conference cartel.

Bourne is gone, too. After 25 years at the helm for JMU, he retired in April to a house on Lake Norman, just outside Charlotte, N.C. When the university recognized his career at halftime of the spring football game, more than 10,000 fans joined the celebration.

Before he set sail, Bourne did his best to keep JMU on course, bringing in Holy Cross’ Chesney and former Morehead State men’s basketball coach Preston Spradlin, two coaches with a familiar resume of punching up and overachieving. Then he hand-picked Roan as his predecessor.

“’Don’t mess it up’ was my top priority,” said Roan. “And it was more colorful than that.”

The 40-year-old grew up a couple of hours from Harrisonburg before playing football at Virginia Tech and Southern Utah. He fits the JMU mold, shepherding big strides as AD at Nicholls State and Eastern Kentucky, two difficult places to flourish. But JMU presents a new challenge.

The Dukes waited for the right moment to elevate from FCS to the G5, but did so as the gap between the G5 and power conferences was widening. TV deals for the top leagues continue to increase, all while millions of dollars in athlete revenue sharing and other financial burdens linger on the horizon in the proposed House v. NCAA settlement. It leaves JMU in a purgatory of sorts, vying for second-tier supremacy but priced out of competing with the power conferences, trapped between its ambitions and financial limitations.

In the newly expanded 12-team format, JMU has a legitimate shot every year to make the College Football Playoff out of the Sun Belt, a path that wasn’t previously available to the Group of 5. The recent NCAA Tournament win for men’s basketball showed second-weekend runs are similarly attainable. Same for the WCWS upset of Oklahoma and a national championship in lacrosse. All of those echelons are now in play.

“We talk about being an ‘everything school’ — we want to be good in everything,” said Roan. “We have people that are buying into that.”

Maintaining it is the difficult part. The organic growth the program has achieved over the past two decades — consistently hitting on coaching hires, stretching every dollar, doing more with less — is a tough task made tougher by better competition, no matter how committed JMU is.

Still, the school and community have seen the benefits of those ambitions, and believe it will ultimately be enough to crack that vault.

Conference realignment never rests in college sports, evidenced by the recent rebirth of the Pac-12, or the ongoing uncertainty in the ACC, where Florida State and Clemson saber-rattling for a way out has the rest of the league on edge. If JMU can remain viable long enough for chaos to strike, could the Dukes slip through the next time that door pops open?

“Where JMU fits in this whole makeup of college sports in the next decade or so, I don’t know. But I do see us being a program that continues to prevail,” said Bourne. “Sometimes there is destiny in place, time and people.”

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos: Barry Chin / The Boston Globe; Ben Solomon / NCAA Photos; Scott Taetsch, Sarah Stier, Mitchell Layton / Getty Images)

When Aitana Bonmati won the Ballon d’Or last year, it brought a global spotlight to a player whose genius was crying out to be recognised.

Even now, it would be hard to argue that there is a better female footballer on the planet.

Over the past 16 months, Bonmati has won the Champions League twice and the Spanish top-flight, Liga F, twice with Barcelona. With Spain, she lifted the Women’s World Cup in August last year before adding the inaugural Women’s Nations League in February. Her goals and golden touch make her a leading contender to win another Ballon d’Or this year. Those skills have also attracted interest from the game’s biggest clubs.

While rumours of interest from Chelsea and Lyon were growing, the midfielder was working with Barcelona to renew her contract — one that makes her the highest-paid player in women’s football history.

This week in Barcelona, she spoke in depth with The Athletic, just a few days after signing a deal until the summer of 2028.

We met at Barca’s sports complex on the outskirts of the city, in a small room in the media centre. She arrived at lunchtime, hastily explaining she hadn’t yet had a chance to eat after a morning of training sessions and meetings.

Now 26, this has been Bonmati’s routine for a few years now: non-stop. But every day she drives back to her home in Sant Pere de Ribes, a small quiet town around 25 minutes down the coast. It is where she has lived all her life.

With a framed picture of the Camp Nou behind us — a ground she will grace again once reconstruction is complete — we talked about her renewal and much more.

We talked about her concerns that Spain’s domestic women’s league is slipping dangerously behind the WSL. We talked about the gruelling schedule for football’s elite players, and her belief that more should be done to protect them. We talked about the rival offers that came in as she weighed up her future — and her powerful connection with Barca and the place she grew up.

The Athletic: When and why did you decide to renew with Barca?

Bonmati: It was a process that started earlier than usual. In women’s football, you normally wait until the end of your contract and then you start negotiating. It was almost a year ago that my agent and I started discussions with the club. That says a lot about its importance.

In every conversation, there are difficult moments — or moments when you don’t agree — but both sides have been very respectful and everything has been handled internally, which I wanted. I didn’t want anybody else to know, and I’m thankful for that. Renewing now, at the beginning of the season, puts my mind at ease. I knew what I wanted and the club has made a big bet — for which I am very grateful.

Bonmati’s new Barca contract ties her down until the summer of 2028 (Nil Colomer)

The Athletic: There were rival offers. Were you tempted by other projects?

Bonmati: I wasn’t tempted to accept but I did listen. When certain offers are put in front of you, you have to listen and think about what is best for you. The priority has always been Barca, they have always come first. I always say that I like to listen and see what’s out there, but there won’t be anywhere like here.

I don’t know if there is another club in the world that moves as many people as we do. What we experienced at San Mames (when tens of thousands of Barca fans filled the stands for last season’s Champions League final victory over Lyon), I don’t know if any other club could experience that. We have achieved great sporting milestones and that gets people hooked. They are beautiful moments.

The Athletic: Which clubs were interested in you?

Bonmati: I prefer to keep that to myself. I don’t need to uncover offers from other clubs. I know I have received interest from several clubs and I am grateful. With Barca, we reached an agreement that makes us feel calm and proud. This is what has made me stay here, apart from the feeling I have for Barca.

Bonmati with her Ballon d’Or award in October last year (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

The Athletic: Your agent said Chelsea were willing to pay your €3million (£2.5m; $3.4m) buy-out clause. There was talk of interest from Lyon. Barca have made a significant financial effort to keep you. How do you keep your feet on the ground when you see that you can choose where to go?

Bonmati: I value everything that is happening to me. I am privileged. I have the power to decide where I want to be. This has been the result of a lot of hard work. I have worked very hard and I have suffered a lot too.

I always have my feet on the ground. I am a person who takes these conversations very internally with my people and my agent, Cristian (Martin). I always let myself be helped by people who know me well but the decision will always be mine. I have the personality to make it, but I try to listen to the people who love me.

GO DEEPER

How do you stop Bonmati? It doesn’t matter – it won’t stop Spain

The Athletic: Was your connection to Sant Pere de Ribes (where Bonmati grew up) and Catalonia important in your decision as well?

Bonmati: I’m a small-town person and I’ve been at Barca for 13 years. It might seem like my comfort zone. All this is important but the most important thing is the football level of the team I want to play for. I am an ambitious person and I want to keep winning.

Barca are a winning team that competes for everything every year. We have won three Champions League titles out of five finals played. This is amazing. I don’t know if right now another club could give me what Barca gives me on a sporting level.

Bonmati celebrates the opening goal in last season’s Champions League final at San Mames (Alex Caparros – UEFA via Getty Images)

I feel privileged to be at home, to have my people close to me and to be lucky enough to grow up in a great club that has made me the player I am today.

The Athletic: When you started playing organised football at the age of seven, could you have imagined achieving what you have already?

Bonmati: Honestly, no. I’ve been finding it along the way. I’ve been making my own way. I didn’t imagine myself being a professional player until I was 17. I was at Barca B and I saw that the club was starting to invest in building a professional first team. I’ve fought hard and my head has taken me to the extremes of hard work and never giving up. But I have not done this alone, I am grateful to the people who have made me better.

The Athletic: You talk about extreme hard work. Have you learned to enjoy the process?

Bonmati: I’ve made quite a big change. Before, I suffered a lot and I wanted to have everything under control. Now I’m not like that, although I’m never going to change completely. I am the way I am. Last year, I learned to enjoy every moment more. It gives me peace of mind, knowing that I am improving as a player, as a person. In the end, you grow up too (laughs) and learn to enjoy moments that are sometimes fleeting.

Bonmati made her Barca debut in 2016 (Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The Athletic: As an ambitious person at a club like Barca, how does it feel to be in a league that is below its level?

Bonmati: If I started to look at Liga F, without taking Barca into account, I wouldn’t have stayed here. That’s how clear I say it. It’s sad to see how other leagues are overtaking us at an incredible speed when we have the potential to be a top league — because of the successes of Barca successes and the national team.

If with these strengths we don’t have a sufficiently important league, it’s something to look at. We are stagnating, it’s not getting any better. We don’t even have a (main) sponsor in the league. What interest is being put into this league? Who is running this league? Maybe we should be more humble, take the example of the English league (WSL) and see how they do things. And in the national team the same. If the changes don’t come, it’s a sign that the people who run this league are not interested in moving forward.

The Athletic: What did you hope would have changed?

Bonmati: If I start I’ll never finish — and I’m sure I’ll leave a lot out. We have to fight to make it a more competitive league and that means fewer teams. We have to look at the exemplary leagues in Europe and see how many matches they play.

We are the league that plays the most games. When Spain-based players go to their national team, either with Spain or others, we are the most disadvantaged in the world.

Spain beat England 1-0 to win the World Cup in August 2023 (Elsa – FIFA via Getty Images)

Who cares about our performance so that we can shine in every game? In the Olympic Games, we arrived exhausted because we finished the league on June 15 (Spain then also played two fixtures before the Olympic tournament started on July 25). The United States went to the Olympics halfway through the NWSL competition. That makes us small as players.

The Athletic: There have been other hard times — like what happened after the World Cup in 2023 (Luis Rubiales kissed Spain forward Jenni Hermoso on the lips at the medal ceremony after they beat England in the final, igniting a dramatic reckoning with appalling attitudes towards the women’s game) and Spain players’ struggles for better conditions. When do you think was the hardest moment in the whole process?

GO DEEPER

Spain won the Women’s World Cup – but Luis Rubiales has made me ashamed to be Spanish

Bonmati: There is never a quiet moment here. You can’t just play football and that’s it. There are always things, you see that things are not done well. I can’t single out the hardest moment because there have been many. There is a lot of wear and tear and there is even more wear and tear when you see that there is still a lot to do.

The Athletic: Let’s talk about football. In the last two years, you’ve been seen playing closer to the box. Do you feel more comfortable there?

Bonmati: Absolutely. I’m more dangerous near the box than far away. The fact that I can be closer to end situations makes me a better player; I can help my team-mates, and they can help me to be better. Playing there makes me a better player.

The Athletic: You have been nominated again for the Ballon d’Or. What does it mean to you? How do you remember last year’s ceremony?

Bonmati: it was a unique day that I could share with people close to me. When I was little I remember seeing Lionel Messi lifting the Ballon d’Or almost every year and suddenly you see yourself there, with the creme de la creme of football. I’m proud to be nominated again. It says a lot about the great work that has been done this year.

The Athletic: How would you describe the art of ‘llegada’ (arriving at the right time in the penalty area)?

Bonmati: You either have it or you don’t. It’s an aspect of the game that I’ve played since I was a kid. I’ve grown up with it.

I consider myself a very skilful player who moves well in small spaces. In the last few years, I’ve been improving my finishing and (effectiveness in) the last few metres by speeding up the play, whether it’s by driving the ball or breaking into space. I try to be a complete player. And the team-mates I have here make me a better player. We all understand the same style of play and that helps a lot. We help each other.

The Athletic: What facets of the game do you enjoy the most?

Bonmati: I really enjoy receiving between the lines. I can accelerate the play by driving with the ball, that’s something that sets me apart. There I can find the last pass or the pass before the assist, which makes it easier for another player to give the assist. I like to help find these crucial spaces.

The Athletic: And at home? How do you unwind when the door is closed and the curtains drawn?

Bonmati: (Laughs) I just don’t have a lot of time. In the last few years, something I’ve missed is having a bit of a holiday. It’s something important to totally disconnect and recharge your batteries, but it’s something that players from teams that play in everything don’t have.

I would like to criticise the calendar and all the organisations that I think should look after the players more. I try to make the most of the time I have. I have times when I read more, and other times when I read less. I try to do things that are good for me, like meeting up with my lifelong friends in my town square. These are things that I like, that make me happy, that distract me and remind me of the Aitana I’ve always been.

(Top photo: Getty Images. Visual design: Eamonn Dalton)

Diana Taurasi, playing in her 20th WNBA season, didn’t officially announce her retirement Thursday night after the Phoenix Mercury’s regular season finale against the Seattle Storm. But the Mercury icon hinted the end may be imminent as she addressed the home crowd.

“If it is the last time, it felt like the first time,” Taurasi said as the crowd chanted, “one more year.”

“I love you guys.”

Taurasi played 18 minutes Thursday as the Mercury lost 89-70 to the Storm, where she scored nine points and tallied one rebound and two assists. With 3:11 remaining in the fourth quarter, fans at the Footprint Center got on their feet, urging Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts to sub Taurasi back into the game. The first-year coach obliged. Taurasi checked back into the game where she blew a kiss and clapped to the crowd, who showered her with cheers.

It was a 10-second curtain call for the Mercury fans to show their appreciation for a historic player in potentially her final home game. As Taurasi left the court, fans chanted, “One more year.”

Diana Taurasi checks back in and the crowd is lovin’ every second of it 🥹

SEA-PHX | League Pass 📱 pic.twitter.com/MIaFPkvB0g

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 20, 2024

When the game ended, the lights dimmed in the seating areas as the spotlight beamed on Taurasi at center court. Before she addressed the crowd, a tribute video for Taurasi played on the screen above. It was the same video that the Mercury social media account posted to X on Thursday afternoon, teasing a potential retirement announcement.

Taurasi thanked the city of Phoenix, a place she called “home.” She praised her teammates and coaches, along with the fans who supported her career.

Dear Dee –

Love,
All of Us pic.twitter.com/SnO1q10Fdp

— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) September 19, 2024

“I want to thank every single coach, every single player, every single person that’s put on a WNBA jersey because it takes the village,” Taurasi said. “For everyone who played before this league is where it is now — we’re thankful for you guys and we’re thankful for the next generation.”

Several high-profile athletes and coaches attended Taurasi’s potential last game, including four-time WNBA champion Sue Bird, World Cup and Olympic champion Megan Rapinoe, UConn coach Geno Auriemma, UConn associate coach Chris Dailey, Phoenix Suns shooting guard Damion Lee, small forward Josh Okogie and Taurasi’s parents Mario and Lilliana.

If Thursday was the end of Taurasi’s WNBA career, she would leave the sport a jam-packed resume. Winning three championships, becoming the league’s all-time leading scorer, earning six gold medals with Team USA and making 11 WNBA All-Star Game appearances. Her records include being the first WNBA player to score 10,000 career points, becoming the oldest player in either the NBA or WNBA to score 40 points in a game and her overall point total (10,646 points).

For the Mercury, the team advanced to the playoffs after missing the postseason last year for the first time in a decade. But Thursday night was about Taurasi, her likely farewell and a chance for the Phoenix crowd to celebrate one of the franchise’s accomplished players.

Required reading

(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

Simone Biles is not worried about potentially missing out on an additional gold medal over another gymnastics scoring inquiry snafu in the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics.

Video from a camera crew following Biles at the Paris Games for the Netflix documentary series “Simone Biles: Rising” was given to Jordan Chiles, whose lawyers submitted it Monday to the Swiss Federal Tribunal as part of Chiles’ appeal to keep her bronze medal. The video also showed Biles asking Team USA coach Cecile Landi if an inquiry was submitted over her floor routine score.

Biles asked Landi, “Is he asking?” referring to Landi’s husband and co-coach, Laurent, submitting an inquiry. Landi replied, “He said he did.” Laurent then spoke to Landi in French before Landi turned to Biles and said, “They didn’t send it.”

Landi then asked her husband, “What about Jordan? You want to try?”

Biles finished 0.033 points behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade to win a silver medal in the women’s individual floor final. If the inquiry was successful, Biles would have earned enough points to be awarded the gold.

“(H)onestly not a big deal for me,” Biles tweeted in response to the video. “Rebecca had a better floor anyways. upsetting how it wasn’t processed but I’m not mad at the results (sic).”

Biles added: “But justice for Jordan. ya hear me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

honestly not a big deal for me, Rebeca had a better floor anyways 🫶🏾 upsetting how it wasn’t processed but I’m not mad at the results.

BUT JUSTICE FOR JORDAN 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
ya hear me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) September 17, 2024

Chiles, the last of the nine gymnasts to perform her floor routine, received an initial score of 13.666, placing her fifth behind Andrade, Biles and Romania’s Ana Bărbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who each scored a 13.700. (Bărbosu was ahead of Maneca-Voinea for having a higher execution score, meaning the judges thought she hit a cleaner routine.)

Following Chiles’ routine, Landi submitted an inquiry, which the judges accepted and thus raised Chiles’ score to 13.766, bumping her into the bronze position. The video submitted Monday showed Landi saying, “Inquiry for Jordan,” twice before the one-minute window to appeal scores closed.

The Romanian Gymnastics Federation filed an appeal to CAS challenging the timeliness of Chiles’ inquiry, saying it was submitted four seconds after the one-minute window.

CAS ruled that Chiles’ inquiry was raised late and her initial score should be reinstated, effectively kicking her off the podium. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) altered the results to reflect that before giving the International Olympic Committee (IOC) the final say on who would be awarded the bronze medal.

The IOC stripped Chiles of her bronze and reallocated it to Bărbosu, who received her medal at a ceremony in Bucharest on Aug. 16. Chiles’ attorneys filed a formal appeal Monday to overturn CAS’ ruling.

Required reading

(Photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)

Christian Benford prefers to maintain a low profile, but his presence within the walls of One Bills Drive is formidable.

He says little but is often last to leave the Buffalo Bills’ practice field. He’s not satisfied to start as a former sixth-round pick or to shine among the NFL’s best cornerbacks through two weeks of the 2024 season. He’ll declare with quiet assurance that he’s driven by Lombardi Trophies, the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He will refute any notion that he has “made it” as an accusation.

Which is extraordinary considering how far he’s made it. But then you hear his story and see the tattoo on his right cheek, a heart with half its color drained forever, and you realize this is how he fills the void.

Benford avoided having his dreams — and maybe more — snuffed out in America’s most notorious streets. He was a middle-schooler, merely a child, who had already witnessed more death and felt more pain and gone to bed hungry more nights than anyone should in a lifetime when the mission manifested, a responsibility to drag his family out of West Baltimore’s ruthless snare.

His family lived in Bruce Manor apartments, a three-minute bike ride from a complex that became known by its tenants as Murder Mall around the time Benford was 10. Carlton C. Douglass Funeral Services, about 800 feet away from Bruce Manor, was used as the business front for Avon Barksdale’s drug gang on HBO’s “The Wire.”

“I’ve handled surges of young people I’ve known since they were in their mother’s womb,” mortician Carlton C. Douglass said. “To have their mother or father call me and tell them they needed my services because their child had been killed, that’s rough.”

“The Wire,” based on real people and events, ran from 2002-08 and was acclaimed for its unapologetically detailed portrayal of a city that last year recorded fewer than 300 homicides for just the first time in nearly a decade. There were almost 6,000 overdose deaths in the past six years.

“That was real life,” Douglass said. “The names of the dealers they used were real people. Some of them I knew. I served families of drug dealers who were killed.

“There are some good people in that neighborhood. Unfortunately, some of the good people are scared, and the problems overtake them. It’s a sad situation.”

GO DEEPER

Bird, ‘The Wire,’ a life sentence paroled and a Colts game 40 years in the making

Benford saw dead bodies on the sidewalk, a few of them boys he ran around with or older kids he emulated. Some days, the basketball court across the street was unavailable because cops were marking spent shell casings or identifying another corpse. Asked recently about those days, he quickly counted up double-digit funerals — many closed-casket — before he stopped trying. People he knows in prison would require another long tally.

Six people, occasionally more, filled his family’s tiny, two-bedroom unit. Four kids would scrounge for loose change between the couch cushions, hoping for enough to buy one bag of chips from the vending machine for dinner.

Benford learned ways to make quick money, ways he’d rather wink about than explain. One day, in a shootout, a bullet almost dropped him. He’s convinced one eventually would have.

“People I grew up with died this year and the next year and the next and the next and the next,” Benford said. “Family, people I was close with.

“I like to take the burden of everybody’s pain because I feel like I can handle it. When my sisters and everybody are crying, I want them to come to me. ‘Let me be your shoulders.’”

Benford’s NFL journey could have — statistically, it should have — gotten derailed before it had a chance. Resentment and anguish consume even strong men. Yet he found ways to dig deeper. Still an early teenager, already with a dead brother Benford was too young to keep memories of, he reconciled to defeat that bleak future.

“So many close people were dying, and just seeing how we were living,” Benford said, “I was, like, ‘F— it. I’m all in.’”

He was too adventurous to stick with one activity, but his mother eventually channeled her little daredevil’s energy. Christel Perry wouldn’t let her son stop playing football because she knew what befell easily distracted West Baltimore boys. While his father, Jewell Benford, arranged and quietly supported Christian’s youth football pursuits in nearby Owings Mills, Md., Perry was the one who hectored him to stay focused.

“I had moments where, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t too fond of football because I learned there were other ways to make money. That’s all I’m going to say on that,” Benford said. “But football became my mission.”

His family scraped up enough money to enroll him at Calvert Hall College High, a prestigious Catholic school in Towson, Md. It was a culture shock for Benford, who lasted there for his freshman and part of his sophomore years.

“It wasn’t my cup of tea,” Benford said, unable to suppress a laugh. “Can’t say too much, man. Me being dumb — my relationship with God wasn’t close to what it is today — and not tolerating disrespect, I didn’t care how old you was or your title.”

Jewell, a social worker who specializes in treating drug addiction, eventually got a better job with the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the family moved from Bruce Manor to the working-class suburb of Randallstown.

Benford played quarterback, receiver and every defensive back position for the Randallstown Rams. He intercepted 17 passes in two seasons and was invited to play in the prestigious Big 33 Football Classic between Maryland and Pennsylvania prospects.

Benford also drew a watchful eye that would change his life. Ola Adams was Villanova’s defensive backs coach.

“He’s a nice kid,” Adams said. “But there’s something that tells you he comes from a hard place.”

Struck by the mother-son dynamic, Adams pursued Benford diligently in part because of Perry’s involvement.

“His mother was a fierce advocate for him, a protector,” said Adams, now the safeties and defensive backs coach at Indiana University. “It was almost like a mother bear over her baby bear.”

Benford back then also ran the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds (4.53 seconds as he left Villanova) and processed complex coaching instructions on the spot. Villanova, an FCS school with three players drafted in 35 years before Benford arrived, found itself a serious ballplayer.

The Villanova coaching staff knew early on it had a special player in Christian Benford. (William Bretzger / Imagn Images)

By the time he showed up for college, Benford was faced with an unplanned pregnancy. The immature kid who couldn’t cope with Calvert Hall a couple years earlier didn’t recede, though, and Calvin was a blessing.

“I think my son saved me, to be honest,” Benford said. “Even though I had a mission, I was young and dumb. My son gave me more to consider.”

Calvin’s mother accommodated Benford’s move to Philadelphia so he could play football at Villanova. Benford majored in communications, minored in psychology and sociology. He started eight games as a true freshman in 2018, led the team with five interceptions and was named the Colonial Athletic Association’s rookie of the year.

“Whoa, where did this guy come from?” said linebacker Forrest Rhyne, a Villanova teammate who in 2022 played for the Indianapolis Colts. “As a freshman, you show up in the summer, go to camp and head right into the season. There’s no spring ball or offseason. That dude was making so many splash plays right away.”

After Benford’s sophomore year, he made the CAA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll for the first of three times. COVID pushed his junior season into the spring of 2021, and while waiting for games and studying remotely, Benford emerged as an unquestioned leader.

The hungriest players got together for workouts at Benford’s urging. Rhyne lived 90 minutes away from Baltimore in Waynesboro, Pa., and would find a way to meet Benford on any patch of grass in between.

“That’s why football is so awesome,” Rhyne said. “The difference in our environments was unbelievable, but we were always connected by that pigskin.

“He’s such a disciplined and determined guy. I don’t know if that’s because of where he’s from or what he’s been through. I can’t tell you what drove him, but he was inspiring in how he saw the world.”

In the March 6 season opener at Stony Brook, Benford snagged an interception and returned a desperation onside kick 30 yards the other way to ice the victory.

Perry had been in the hospital, but shortly before kickoff, she had told Benford there was nothing to worry about. She assured him she was feeling better and would be home soon. After the game, Benford’s little brother called.

“I was in a good mood,” Benford said. “So I was messing around with him, whoopty-whoop. In the background I heard that certain cry where you know what it is.”

His mother died during the game. She was 57. Benford has never revealed why she was hospitalized or how she died.

“It broke me,” he said. “That was my spinal cord, my angel, my everything.”

Adams keeps Perry’s funeral card and a collage of photos in his car. For the past three years, when he senses Benford might be going through anything difficult, Adams will text a photo to remind him she’s still watching.

“I can see them laughing and joking as I think about them,” Adams said, his voice quaking. “She was real loving. She was always checking to make sure he was OK but she wanted me to coach him hard. She was at the games, so full of support.”

Broken as he was, Benford refused to let it affect his obligations to his Villanova teammates. He insisted on playing seven days later in the home opener against Rhode Island, returning to campus with the heart tattoo on his right cheek.

“Half of my heart is broken; it’s gone,” Benford said. “When I was younger, tattoos was my healing. I’m not a talker. I’m not big on expressing anything to anybody. So I would get a tat and you can read that.”

Benford has ink all over his 6-foot-1, 205-pound frame, but Perry had been adamant: no face tattoos. He believes now his mom would feel honored.

Villanova went 10-3 in Benford’s senior season, reaching the FCS quarterfinals. He intercepted seven passes, brought back one for a touchdown, broke up another 18 attempts and was voted FCS All-American.

Christian Benford had an interception and a pass defensed in Buffalo’s Week 2 win over the Miami Dolphins. (Perry Knotts / Associated Press)

The Bills drafted him in the sixth round, 185th overall. But they also drafted University of Florida cornerback Kaiir Elam, the son and nephew of former NFL defensive backs, 23rd overall. Benford appeared to face long odds to even make the 53-man roster out of training camp, but he had an edge.

“He always had higher responsibilities than everybody else did,” Rhyne said. “He always had to put other people first. There was no time for him to be an 18-year-old college football player. He had a son. When his mom died, I saw that sense of responsibility continue to heighten.

“He had to focus on being there for his family, his brothers, his sisters. He had to be a rock.”

Benford was the revelation of Buffalo’s 2022 offseason. Elam was the purer athlete but prone to costly lapses. Benford rarely made mistakes, was almost always in the right place and didn’t heap extra anxiety on the defensive staff, earning the trust of coach Sean McDermott as a rookie.

In the NFL’s curtain-raising Thursday night opener that year, Benford started against the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams. The next game, on “Monday Night Football,” he torpedoed hulking Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry for a 4-yard loss.

“When I saw that, I said, ‘Oh God! OK! You’re not scared of nothing!’ That dude was ready to go,” recalled Adams.

Benford broke his hand against the Miami Dolphins in Week 3 but missed only two games. An oblique injury in the Thanksgiving victory over the Detroit Lions put him on injured reserve. He started five of nine games he played as a rookie, intercepting a pass, breaking up four more and making 24 tackles.

Last year he re-established himself as the starter. In 16 games, including one in the postseason, he recorded two interceptions, eight breakups, three forced fumbles, a recovery and 55 tackles, three for losses. Benford was one of only 32 players last year with at least 40 solo tackles, 60 targets and double-digit passes defensed.

“C.B. is one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met,” Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard said. “He’s a dude with unwavering confidence in himself and his abilities, which you need at corner. The ability to flush it and move on to the next play, it’s unlike anybody I’ve ever seen.”

Elam and Benford met at Baltimore/Washington International Airport right after they were drafted and have competed for playing time ever since, but there’s no jealousy about contract numbers, no rivalry about playing time.

Benford pushes Elam. They routinely work together on the practice field long after nearly all other Bills players and coaches have headed inside.

“He’s always down to work,” Elam said. “He’s just always trying to sharpen his tools. He’s the ultimate at wanting to get better.”

Elam had the best offseason of his career. Benford and eighth-year pro Rasul Douglas remained the starters, but Elam was pushing for snaps, and with Douglas in the final year of his contract, Buffalo’s 2022 rookie classmates might prove the cornerback tandem of the future.

“All-Pro way or no way, that’s what we say to each other,” Elam said. “We hold each other to a standard like that.”

“That’s why we stay after, always striving to get better. If he gets beat, I’m all on his head: ‘Next play! I know it won’t happen again!’ Even before practice, I’m telling him, ‘Be great today.’ He tells me the same thing. We’re passionate about it.”

So far, Benford and Douglas have been a sensational tandem while injuries have befallen top players around them, most notably Bernard and nickelback Taron Johnson. Buffalo’s safeties, Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin, never started together until this year. Benford and Douglas are the main reasons star rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. had one reception for 4 yards in the opener, and Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle together managed seven catches for 65 yards last Thursday.

But the quickest way to get side-eye from Benford is to ask about him having made it from sixth-round draft choice to starting in his NFL debut. That’s trivial to him in so many respects. He wants to conquer football’s individual and team pinnacles.

To him, satisfaction equals complacency, and that’s not what busted him out of Bruce Manor or Randallstown or even Villanova.

“It was my purpose to get here however I got here,” Benford said. “It was meant for me to keep betting on myself and shock the world.”

He has allowed himself one gesture of completion, although it comes with a caveat. On the back of his neck — he said a second face tattoo would be “too crazy” — is another, larger heart.

As Benford bowed his head and pulled down his collar, it became clear this heart had a bandage on it. Perhaps not fully recovered, but mending.

“My heart is fixed up,” Benford said. “You never want to heal from anything in life, but you need to understand it, learn how to feel it and keep prospering. Otherwise, it’ll crush you.”

(Photo: Jorge Lemus / Getty Images)

We’re down to the final week and a half of the regular season, and although we’re still two months away from award season, we’ve seen enough to at least determine the front-runners for MLB’s major individual honors, which will be presented in November after the World Series. Therefore, let’s have some fun and look at the competition for the key awards.

If the season ended today, here’s who I think would take home the top prizes. In the comments section, let me know what I got right and what I got wrong, and why.

(WAR figures are according to Baseball Reference as of Sept. 19.) 

American League MVP

1. Aaron Judge, CF, Yankees (9.8 WAR)

2. Bobby Witt Jr., SS, Royals (9.2 WAR)
3. Juan Soto, RF, Yankees (7.7 WAR)

Judge leads the AL in home runs (53), RBIs (136), walks (124), on-base percentage (.455), slugging percentage (.689) and OPS+ (218). The six-time All-Star also has played solid defense in center field. He should win his second MVP Award come November. He’s having another historic season and is the leader of the team with the best record in the league. Witt deserves serious consideration as he ranks first in the AL in batting average (.331), first in runs scored (124), fifth in OBP (.387) and second in slugging percentage (.598). He has hit 32 homers and stolen 30 bases for his second straight 30-30 season, and he’s played Gold Glove-caliber shortstop, but it won’t be enough to top Judge in the voting. Meanwhile, Soto will finish behind Judge and Witt, but his strong season should set him up to land a contract of more than $600 million in free agency.

National League MVP

Shohei Ohtani is closing in on the first 50-50 season. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)

1. Shohei Ohtani, DH, Dodgers (7.3 WAR)

2. Francisco Lindor, SS, Mets (6.6 WAR)
3. Ketel Marte, 2B, Diamondbacks (5.7 WAR)
4. Bryce Harper, 1B, Phillies (4.4 WAR)

Ohtani will soon become the first player in major-league history with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season as well as the first designated hitter to win the MVP Award. Ohtani leads the NL in home runs (48), RBIs (110), runs (119), slugging percentage (.607), OPS (.978) and total bases (360). The four-time All-Star is also on the verge of winning his third MVP Award, after winning the AL honor in 2021 and 2023 with the Angels. However, the voting is expected to be close as Lindor has had an MVP-caliber season, batting .271 with 31 home runs and 27 stolen bases while playing stellar defense at shortstop. Marte and Harper should get some consideration as well.

AL Cy Young

1. Tarik Skubal, LHP, Tigers (6.0 WAR)

2. Emmanuel Clase, RHP, Guardians (4.3 WAR)
3. Seth Lugo, RHP, Royals (4.7 WAR)

After his first spring training as Tigers manager in 2021, A.J. Hinch told me he thought Skubal, then 24 with only seven starts in his major-league career, would someday win a Cy Young Award — and that day has almost arrived. Skubal is 17-4 with a league-leading 2.48 ERA and a majors-leading 221 strikeouts in 185 innings. He ranks in the 100th percentile in Statcast’s pitching run value. Opposing batters have hit .203 against his four-seamer, .223 against his changeup, .210 against his sinker, .173 against his slider and .167 against his knuckle curve. Clase will get some votes after 46 saves in 49 opportunities and eye-popping stats like a 0.64 ERA and 0.649 WHIP, but he’ll win the award for best AL reliever instead (see below).

NL Cy Young

1. Chris Sale, LHP, Braves (6.3 WAR)

2. Zack Wheeler, RHP, Phillies (5.5 WAR)
3. Michael King, RHP, Padres (3.9 WAR)

This has been a race between Sale and Wheeler all season long, but Sale pulled away in the second half when he went 4-0 with a 1.72 ERA and one home run allowed in 62 2/3 innings. Overall, he leads the NL in wins (17), ERA (2.35), strikeouts (219), FIP (2.02) and ERA+ (177). He has averaged a league-leading 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings and has 1.9 walks per nine. He ranks in the 100th percentile in both pitching run value and breaking run value. The eight-time All-Star deserves to win his first Cy Young Award. Wheeler has had another terrific season, going 16-6 with a 2.56 ERA and league-leading 0.954WHIP over 30 starts. He’s struck out 205 strikeouts in 186 2/3 innings and been dominant down the stretch, allowing two runs or fewer in his last nine starts.

AL Rookie of the Year

Austin Wells or Luis Gil could become the first Yankee to win Rookie of the Year since Aaron Judge in 2017. (Brad Penner / Imagn Images)

1. Austin Wells, C, Yankees (2.9 WAR)

2. Luis Gil, RHP, Yankees (3.6 WAR)
3. Colton Cowser, OF, Orioles (2.4 WAR)
4. Mason Miller, RHP, A’s (2.5 WAR)

Wells has been the best overall rookie position player in the class, batting .244 with 13 home runs and a 112 OPS+. He’s been the Yankees’ cleanup hitter most of the season, starring on both sides of the ball. Defensively, he ranks in the 96th percentile in fielding run value and is an elite pitch framer, ranking in the 97th percentile among all catchers. Wells’ biggest competition for the award is his teammate Gil, who has gone 14-6 with a 3.14 ERA and 161 strikeouts over 140 2/3 innings (27 starts). As I’ve often said over the years, there should be both a rookie pitcher and rookie position player award, and if that were the case, the Yankees would have a clean sweep this year. Cowser and Miller deserve consideration for this year’s ROY award as well.

NL Rookie of the Year

1. Paul Skenes, RHP, Pirates (5.5 WAR)

2. Jackson Merrill, CF, Padres (4.0 WAR)
3. Jackson Chourio, OF, Brewers (3.9 WAR)

Skenes should win this race over Merrill and Chourio in my mind, but again, we need two awards — one for rookie pitchers and one for rookie position players. However, Skenes deserves this year’s award, going 10-3 with a 2.07 ERA and 158 strikeouts in 126 innings (21 starts). He also started the All-Star Game for the National League. Merrill deserves strong consideration as he’s hit 24 home runs, stolen 16 bases, logged a 127 OPS+ and excelled in center field, a position he just started playing this year. Chourio also deserves real consideration as he’s hit 21 home runs, swiped 20 bags, posted a 121 OPS+ and played above-average defense. He has slashed .312/.370/.591 with 12 homers in the second half, which really helped him close the gap on both Skenes and Merrill.

Mariano Rivera Award (AL Reliever of the Year)

Emmanuel Clase leads the majors with 46 saves. (Ken Blaze / Imagn Images)

1. Emmanuel Clase, RHP, Guardians (4.3 WAR)

2. Kirby Yates, RHP, Rangers (3.1 WAR)

Clase has had a historic season, posting 46 saves with a 0.65 ERA and 0.640 WHIP. He’s filled up the strike zone and consistently pitched ahead in the count, logging 64 strikeouts to eight walks in 70 1/3 innings. He ranks in the 99th percentile in both pitching run value and fastball run value. Opposing batters have hit .153 against his cutter which he delivers at 99-100 mph, and batted .136 against his wipeout slider. Yates deserves mention for his 1.23 ERA, 0.852 WHIP and 83 strikeouts in 58 2/3 innings.

Trevor Hoffman Award (NL Reliever of the Year)

1. Raisel Iglesias, RHP, Braves (2.7 WAR)

2. Ryan Helsley, RHP, Cardinals (2.8 WAR)

This will be one of the closest awards races as Iglesias has notched 31 saves with a 1.87 ERA and ranks in the 95th percentile in pitching run value while Helsley has tallied 45 saves with a 2.15 ERA and ranks in the 92nd percentile in pitching run value. I’ll go with Iglesias by a gnat’s eyelash.

AL Comeback Player of the Year

Tyler O’Neill leads the Red Sox with 31 home runs. (David Butler II / Imagn Images)

Tyler O’Neill, OF, Red Sox (2.7 WAR)

O’Neill was coming off two subpar seasons in St. Louis — hitting .228 with 14 homers in 96 games in 2022 and .231 with nine home runs in 72 games in 2023 — but he made a strong comeback this year in Boston despite suffering some injuries. He’s slashed .249/.343/.532 with 18 doubles, 31 home runs and 61 RBIs over 107 games, his best season since 2021 when he finished eighth in the NL MVP voting.

NL Comeback Player of the Year

Chris Sale, LHP, Braves (6.3 WAR)

Sale had not been healthy enough to pitch more than 103 innings in a season since 2019, but he’s given the Braves more than 170 this year — at a Cy Young-winning level to boot. It’s hard to imagine him not winning NL Comeback Player of the Year as well. Jack Flaherty of the Dodgers deserves a mention after his impressive season, but being dealt at the trade deadline makes it difficult for him to win this award in either league.

AL Manager of the Year

1. Matt Quatraro, Royals

2. Stephen Vogt, Guardians
3. A.J. Hinch, Tigers

The Manager of the Year Award isn’t given to the best manager in each league; more often, it goes to the manager whose team overachieved the most or improved the most from the year before. Quatraro should win the AL award after taking a team that went 56-106 last year to the cusp of a playoff berth this year. His bullpen management, lineup juggling and emphasis on putting the ball in play and “moving the chains” have helped make this season a huge success in Kansas City. He has great leadership and communications skills and is well-respected by the players and front office. The Royals’ lineup ranks third in the AL in runs scored and last in strikeouts, and their pitching staff is sixth in ERA. Stephen Vogt deserves serious consideration as he’s done a marvelous job in replacing future Hall of Famer Terry Francona in Cleveland, showing a special leadership style with his players in guiding the Guardians to a (likely) division title.

NL Manager of the Year

1. Pat Murphy, Brewers

2. Carlos Mendoza, Mets
3. Mike Shildt, Padres

Former Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns bolted to the Mets, manager Craig Counsell departed for the rival Cubs, Corbin Burnes was traded to the Orioles and Brandon Woodruff was out for the year after shoulder surgery … and yet the Brewers still finished in first place in the NL Central under Murphy, whose leadership had a lot to do with it. The Brewers rank third in the NL in runs scored despite having a young lineup and second in team ERA.

(Top image: Chris Sale: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images; Aaron Judge: Luke Hales / Getty Images; Paul Skenes: Gene Wang / Getty Images)