The Sportsletter - Sports Heat Wave 🔥

BY JEFF YODER & MARISSA KASCH

JUNE 20, 2024 |  SUBSCRIBE  |  WEB VIEW

Good Morning 👋

The sports shift is almost here. This week has seen some scorching temps across much of the U.S., and outdoor sports are feeling the heat. 🔥 Good luck to you baseball fans. Six outdoor MLB games saw temps between 86-94 degrees today — from Chicago to Atlanta and Philadelphia. 

🐶 The Underdog: Joe Mazzulla became the youngest NBA coach to win a title in 56 years. We give him his flowers at the bottom of today’s edition.

Letter Rip!

  SOCCER  

Euro 2024: Kicking Off Matchday 2

Photo: Image Photo Agency / Getty Images

Germany Punches Ticket to Knockouts With Blistering Euro Start as Matchday 2 Kicks Off

Matchday 2 (of 3) is underway, and one juggernaut is already through to the knockout stage. Germany blanked Hungary yesterday (2-0) to advance out of Group A with two quick wins. The hosts of Euro 2024 have outscored their first two opponents 7-1, and they look like the best team so far. More kicking is on the way today with a pair of huge matchups — Denmark vs. England and Spain vs. Italy (sign us up!). You can check the early Group Stage Standings below, but we’ll update you in the days ahead.

Updated Group Stage Standings

Yesterday’s Highlights (Matchday 2)

🇩🇪 Germany def. 🇭🇺 Hungary (2-0)

🇸🇮 Croatia draw 🇦🇱 Albania (2-2)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland draw 🇨🇭 Switzerland (1-1)

Xherdan Shaqiri Strikes Stunning Curler for Swiss

Today’s Schedule

🇸🇮 Slovenia vs. 🇷🇸 Serbia (9:00 am ET, FS1)

🇩🇰 Denmark vs. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England (Noon ET, FS1)

🇪🇸 Spain vs. 🇮🇹 Italy (3:00 pm ET, FOX)

Read More

ESPN: Germany’s Toni Kroos Delivering in Career Swan Song

Athletic: Xherdan Shaqiri Made History at Euro 2024 With a Goal Only He Could Have Scored

  SWIMMING   🏊

Stadium Swimming: The U.S. Olympic Trials 

Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images

This Week's U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials — Held at Lucas Oil Stadium — Have Produced Some Awesome Moments (And Images)

Indianapolis is home to a number of sports governing bodies, but one of them put 2 million gallons of water in an NFL stadium this week. USA Swimming is hosting the U.S. Olympic Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium — the home of the Colts — and the photos of the pool construction are incredible. It’s the largest swimming trials ever, and attendance records have been shattered after more than 22,000 attended yesterday's events. Athletes are welcomed to the pool with walkouts, music, and the full pageantry of (what I can only describe as) a professional all-star game. It’s pretty cool. We’ve let the early stages fall to the background while we wrapped up the NBA Finals this week, but records are falling, and Team USA is starting to take shape. Here’s the latest:

U.S. Olympic Trials (Records & Moments)

Gretchen Walsh Sets World Record in 100M Fly

Regan Smith Sets World Record in 100M Backstroke
Kate Douglass Wins 100M Freestyle

Katie Ledecky Wins 1500M & 200M Freestyle

Caeleb Dressel & Simone Manuel Claim Relay Spots

Upcoming Schedule

Thursday — Sunday (June 20-23)

Read More

NBC Sports: U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials Set Attendance Record at Lucas Oil Stadium

SI: How an NFL Stadium Transformed Into a Swimming Pool for U.S. Olympic Trials

  MCWS  

A Rarity in the MCWS Finals

Photo: Icon Sportswire / Getty Images

Texas A&M & Tennessee to Meet in College World Series Finals Clash of Never-Before Champions

It's an all-SEC finale! A trio of games on Wednesday has eliminated the contenders and left us with the final pairing for the Men’s College World Series. After Florida trounced Kentucky early in the day (15-4), the Gators got blanked by Texas A&M (6-0) in the nightcap. The other game saw Tennessee turn it up against Florida State (7-2), and both teams from the Sunshine State were sent packing on the doorstep of the finals. That means it’s Texas A&M vs. Tennessee — two programs that have never won the MCWS title. Excitement coming!

Highlights

Tennessee def. Florida State (7-2)

Texas A&M def. Florida (6-0)

The MCWS Finals: A&M vs. Tennessee

As we said, neither squad has raised the MCWS trophy before. Tennessee did finish runner-up once, but that was back in 1951. The Vols won the only meeting between the two teams this season back in May (7-4). Let’s see how they stack up.

#1 Tennessee (55-12-0)

8-1 Tourney Record | 9.2 Runs PG | 3.87 Team ERA

#3 Texas A&M (50-13-0)

8-0 Tourney Record | 8.6 Runs PG | 3.80 Team ERA

The 3-game MCWS Series will be played Saturday-Monday (June 22-24). We’ll crown some more champs shortly.

Read More

ESPN: Texas A&M Rolls Into First MCWS Finals in School History

ABC News: Tennessee Beats FSU to Make First MCWS Finals in Modern Era

  HIGHLIGHTS   🎥

⚾️ MLB

Rangers End Mets Win Streak (5-3)

Guardians Smash Mariners (8-0)

Orioles Spoil Cole’s Season Debut (7-6, 10Innings)

Gerrit Cole (4 IP, 3 Hits, 2 ER, 5 Ks) Missed 75 Games

🏀 WNBA

Aces def. Storm (94-83)

A’ja Wilson (27 pts, 9 rebs, 4 stls)

Fever def. Mystics (88-81)

Caitlin Clark (18 pts, 12 rebs, 6 asts)

IND Wins 3rd Straight Since Clark Snubbed From Olympics

⚽️ Soccer

MLS: LA Galaxy def. NYC FC (2-0)

MLS: Inter Miami def. Columbus Crew (2-1)

MLS: FC Cincinnati def. Philadelphia Union (4-3)

NWSL: Gotham FC def. San Diego Wave (2-1)

NWSL: Angel City FC def. Racing Louisville FC (3-2)

  STORYLINES   

⚾️ The Negro League Tribute Game

MLB will stage one of its most important regular-season games ever on Thursday when the Giants and Cardinals play at America’s oldest ballpark — Rickwood Field. (Sports Illustrated)

🏀 NBA Draft Final Big Board

With the NBA Draft just over one week away, the predraft process is all but wrapped. Here are the top 10 (and top 75) prospects ready to make the jump. What can we expect? (CBS Sports)

🏈 Pressuring the Prescott Contract

In the real world, patience is a virtue. In Jerry World, patience is expensive. The Cowboys find themselves in an explicable game of contract chicken with QB Dak Prescott. (ESPN+)

  NEWS   📰 

🏀 Detroit Pistons Fire Head Coach Monty Williams With 5 Years, $65M+ Left on Contract (B/R)

🏅 Simone Biles Docuseries ‘Rising’ Streaming July 17 on Netflix Ahead of Olympics (USA Today)

🏀 Pacers & Pascal Siakam Agree to 4-Year, $189 Million Max Contract (ESPN)

🏏 USA Cricket Team Falls to South Africa in First Super 8 Matchup (Yahoo! Sports)

🏒 Kings Offload Pierre-Luc Dubois in Trade With Capitals (SI)

🏀 Sparks’ Cameron Brink Reportedly Suffered Torn ACL, Will Miss Rest of Rookie Season (NBC News)

⛳️ PGA Tour Creates Special Exemption for Tiger Woods Alone (CBS Sports)

  SCHEDULE   🗓️

Today's Must-Watch List

⚽️ Soccer (International)

EURO: 🇸🇮 Slovenia vs. 🇷🇸 Serbia (9:00 am ET, FS1)

EURO: 🇩🇰 Denmark vs. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England (Noon ET, FS1)

EURO: 🇪🇸 Spain vs. 🇮🇹 Italy (3:00 pm ET, FOX)

COPA: 🇦🇷 Argentina vs. 🇨🇦 Canada (8:00 pm ET, FS1)

⚾️ MLB

Mariners at Guardians (1:10 pm ET, MLBTV)

Rays at Twins (1:10 pm ET, ESPN+)

Orioles at Yankees (4:05 pm ET, MLBTV)

Giants at Cardinals (7:15 pm ET, FOX)

⛳️ Golf (Round 1s)

LPGA: Women’s PGA Championship (Peacock)

PGA: Travelers Championship (Golf Channel & CBS)

🏀 WNBA

Wings at Sky (Noon ET, WNBALP)

Sparks at Liberty (7:00 pm ET, PRIME)

  THE UNDERDOG  

Stay Ready: Mazzulla's Moment

Photo: Elsa / Getty Images

Celtics Head Coach Joe Mazzulla Was Thrust Into the Moment, Now He’s the Youngest Head Coach to Win a Championship in 56 Years (By Marissa Kasch)

It’s difficult to think of anybody involved with this year’s Celtics squad as an underdog. They walked through the playoffs effortlessly and finished the job on Monday night. But Boston doesn’t have the traditional playoff story that goes with a perennial coach who has years of experience under his belt. No, the Celtics had Joe Mazzulla, and he’s rewriting the “traditional” narrative by showing the value of youth in NBA coaching. 

Record-Setting Rookie

After the Celtics swept the Pacers to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals, Joe Mazzulla wrote his name in the history books right next to one of the greats. He became the youngest head coach in NBA Finals history since Celtics legend Bill Russell in 1969. Like Mazzulla, Russell was also 35 when he led his team to the Finals. However, there is one glaring difference: Bill Russell — a player-coach — was averaging about 46 minutes per game on the court in addition to coaching. Luckily, times have changed and Mazzulla didn’t need to suit up and help Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown put it away. But there’s no denying that Mazzulla’s presence on the court was instrumental to Boston’s title run. Now, he joins Russell as the youngest head coach to ever win an NBA Championship. 

Stay Ready: The Path to Boston

If you would’ve told Joe Mazzulla he’d be the youngest coach in the Finals a few years ago, he’d likely be just as surprised as everyone else. He was a Division II college coach for eight years (2011-2019) at four different programs, most of which you likely haven’t heard of. He joined the Celtics as an assistant in 2019 as mastermind Brad Stevens (Boston’s head coach) was filling out his bench. Stevens moved to the front office, and Mazzulla continued to serve as an assistant under Ime Udoka. The Celtics were successful with Udoka. They made an NBA Finals appearance in 2021. Last season, Udoka was suspended just days before the start of training camp for multiple team violations. But with the luck of the Irish, Boston didn’t have to scramble to find their ideal replacement. 

Mazzulla was thrust into the interim head coach role immediately following Udoka’s suspension. The team was in turmoil with the sudden loss of its successful head coach. The organization was bombarded with criticism regarding Udoka’s behavior while the culture and chemistry, which the Celtics had been building for years, had just been shaken. But Mazzulla was ready for the moment.

Going into the All-Star break in 2023, the Celtics were 42-17, boasting the best record in the NBA. By that point, Brad Stevens felt Mazzulla had proved himself and earned the job. As president of basketball operations, Stevens removed Mazzulla’s interim tag and offered him a contract extension. The Celtics finished with 57 wins — the most in 13 seasons. And this year?

Boston’s Road to Glory

The Celtics cruised through the regular season, topping the NBA with a 64-18 record and a .780 winning percentage. They held the best record uncontested since November. The postseason didn’t seem to challenge Boston either. I’m not sure which is more impressive: only three postseason losses or only 19 total games to win the Finals. 

Evolution of ‘Mazzulla Ball’

Boston’s unique and effective playing style has been coined “Mazzulla Ball.” The philosophy is simple: live and die by the three-point shot while defending the arc like crazy. Take more 3s. Make more 3s. Stop your opponent from getting good 3s. During the regular season, Boston led the league in 3-point attempts, averaging 42.5 attempts per game. Coincidentally, the Mavericks trailed closely behind. The game plan is aggressive, but it worked for Boston. During the regular season, they ranked 2nd in the NBA in 3-point percentage at 38.8 percent. They also defended the 3-point line at the 4th-best rate.

When you have Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White — plus two big men who can shoot it in Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis — it’s just a matter of time before the 3s start dropping.

Congrats to the Boston Celtics and their “rookie” head coach — younger than some of his veteran players — and now the youngest coach to win a championship in 56 years. Mazzulla Ball might be the staple of success for the next decade’s potential dynasty.

Stay ready. Life can change fast. You never know when you might go from Fairmont State (2019) to the Boston Celtics (2024) and a spot on top of the world.

Read More

NBC Sports: Joe Mazzulla Joins Bill Russell in NBA History Books

AP: Joe Mazzulla Was a Division 2 Coach Not Long Ago. He’s Now an NBA Champion, And Just Getting Started

  THE TEAM  

Writer & Editor: Jeff Yoder

Assistant Writer: Marissa Kasch

Social Media: Aaron Yorke

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