Let’s pick an Olympic flag football team

Sports

add

The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.

Good morning! Draw a foul today.

While You Were Sleeping: Two conference final blowouts statements

We got our first taste of playoff semifinal action last night in both the NHL and NBA, and we might already be looking at two finalists. Quickly: 

• In Oklahoma City, the Timberwolves succumbed to a masterclass in Thunderology, in which the young juggernauts fell behind early, rebounded, played incessant defense and saw Shai Gilgeous-Alexander work his foul-merchant magic. The presumptive MVP had 31 points and OKC outscored Minnesota by 30 in the second half in the 114-88 win. The Thunder are three wins away from the finals.
  
  
• In Carolina, the Panthers blitzed the Hurricanes on their home ice in a 5-2 win. It was the Canes’ first home loss of the postseason, and it’s even more impressive considering Florida entered this game on two days’ rest. Playoff Bob did it again, too. 

Two more conference-final matchups premiere tonight, which you can read about in a couple of scrolls. 

P.S. The PWHL is also holding its finals right now, with Ottawa taking a 1-0 lead last night with a 2-1 overtime win. Hailey Salvian was there.

Pulse … Draft?: The Pulse Olympic Committee is in session

What everyone hoped for has become a reality: NFL players will be allowed to try out for flag football at the 2028 Olympics, thanks to a 32-0 owners vote yesterday. There are plenty of lovely messages going around today about how this will help the game of football grow, etc. 

We’re not here for that. I want to pick a U.S. team, a Pulse team, to perfectly envision this future. Before we vote, two ground rules to know: 

• Flag football is a five-on-five sport. For this exercise, we’re going with a typical offensive roster of one quarterback, one running back and three wide receivers.
  
  
• Only one player from each NFL roster can try out for any country’s team. So, Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase can’t both play for Team USA. But if one decides to get dual citizenship elsewhere, both can participate, just on separate teams. Keep that in mind while choosing. 

We’re doing offense first today. I selected top choices for you, largely based on yardage leaders last season, while also leaving a space to write in a candidate. Your options: 

• QB: Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Burrow, Baker Mayfield
• RB: Saquon Barkley, Jahmyr Gibbs, Derrick Henry, Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Taylor
• WR: Chase, Justin Jefferson, Brian Thomas, Drake London, Amon-Ra St. Brown

Pick your team here. We’ll run the results tomorrow, and I’ll weigh in. Remember: This team will play in three years, so choose your players — and their ages — wisely.

News to Know

After interview, bettors fade Belichick
With every update, I still have trouble believing the Bill Belichick-Jordon Hudson story is a real thing. Yet readers, and most importantly bettors, are rapt by the mismatched-age romance that has been a bumbling PR nightmare for the 73-year-old North Carolina coach and his 24-year-old girlfriend. In fact, BetMGM told The Athletic they’ve seen scores of bettors smash the under on the Tar Heels 7.5 win total in light of the couple’s strange appearance on “CBS Sunday Morning.” Truly, truly bizarre stuff, and more came yesterday via an intriguing piece from The New York Times.

Carlsen plays everybody
Chess champion Magnus Carlsen recently played to a draw against — wait for it — 143,000 players, a mild upset despite the player disparity. Carlsen is the world’s best chess player, and despite facing an opponent the size of a large-ish metropolis, was heavily favored to win the match. The game took 46 days and saw 32 moves, with Carlsen’s many opponents voting on each move. More in our fun report here.

More news

• The Indiana Fever’s game against the Chicago Sky on Saturday drew 2.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched regular-season WNBA game in 25 years. More details here.
  
• Red Sox pitcher Walker Buehler and manager Alex Cora both earned ejections for arguing balls and strikes yesterday. I think they had a point.
  
• The NBA fined Thunder forward Jalen Williams $25,000 for profane language on his shirt. See more details.
  
• Prosecutors in the Hockey Canada trial turned the focus toward one of the witnesses’ inconsistent testimony yesterday. We’ll have more on the case tomorrow.
  
• A Pittsburgh-area man, 21, was charged with providing alcohol to the underaged Pirates fan who fell from the stands last month. Read our full report.

📫 Love The Pulse? Check out our other newsletters.

What to Watch

📺 NBA: Pacers at Knicks
8 p.m. ET on TNT/Max
This is appointment viewing. Tickets are over $700 to get in the building as of this morning. Find a couch or barstool. Before then, read Zak Keefer’s opus on the Pacers’ best chance to win a title in 30 years. 

📺 NHL: Oilers at Stars
8 p.m. ET on ESPN
If you lean toward hockey, also appointment viewing here. The star power is in this series — McDavid, Draisaitl, Rantanen. Dallas is deep, Edmonton is dazzling. Very, very fun. 

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

I adored this: Patrick Iversen scored an interview with an F1 fan who baked a pizza from scratch in the shape of Oscar Piastri. I cackled multiple times. 

Pato O’Ward’s F1 dream faded. Now, he’s the Indy 500’s rockstar, with shrieking fans everywhere. 

Lamine Yamal has yet to sign his contract extension at FC Barcelona. Pol Ballús and Colin Millar helpfully explained why the wunderkind’s situation is a “special case.” 

The White Sox are going full pope in light of his fandom, which I fully support. They’ve even adorned the stadium walls. 

Back on the baseball menu: The Battle of the Boones. These guys can’t stay away. 

On the heels of the QB’s big extension, it’s worth reading this excerpt from Mike Silver’s book: How the 49ers struck gold with Brock Purdy after a big swing and miss. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our update on the USMNT Gold Cup roster. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: This week’s MLB Power Rankings. I always learn something from those.

Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

(Top photo: Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

Rough fight between Jordon Hudson and Bill Belichick’s ex, Linda Holliday, at party comes to light

Agency_SAM

Next

trending_flat

Friend charged with giving alcohol to 20-year-old Pirates fan who fell from PNC Park stands

MLB - English