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Yahoo Sports AM: Game 7, baby
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🚨 Headlines
⛳️ Yang’s first major: South Korea’s Amy Yang, 34, captured her long-awaited first major title on Sunday, hanging on for a three-stroke victory at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
⚾️ Sticky substance ejection: Mets closer Edwin Díaz was ejected before throwing a pitch on Sunday after umpires ruled his hand and glove were too sticky. He faces an automatic 10-game suspension.
⚾️ PEDs suspension: On the same weekend he made his big league debut, Blue Jays infielder Orelvis Martínez was suspended 80 games for violating MLB’s performance-enhancing drug policy.
🏈 Venables extended: Oklahoma has agreed to a six-year, $46 million extension with head football coach Brent Venables, who’s gone 16-10 since taking over for Lincoln Riley.
🎾 America’s new No. 1: Tommy Paul is the top-ranked American man for the first time in his career after winning the Queen’s title in London. He moved up one spot to No. 12, leapfrogging compatriot Taylor Fritz.
⚾️ Brutal way to lose: The Rockies beat the Nationals on Saturday thanks to MLB’s first walk-off pitch clock violation.
🏆 It all comes down to this
The NHL couldn’t script a more epic season finale than tonight’s Game 7 in South Florida, where an incredible amount of history and consequence is on the line.
The stakes: The Oilers have a chance to complete a miraculous comeback from 3-0 down and end Canada’s 31-year Stanley Cup drought, while the Panthers will either win their first championship — or put the finishing touches on the worst collapse in NHL history.
How we got here:
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Game 1: Panthers 3, Oilers 0
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Game 2: Panthers 4, Oilers 1
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Game 3: Panthers 4, Oilers 3
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Game 4: Oilers 8, Panthers 1
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Game 5: Oilers 5, Panthers 3
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Game 6: Oilers 5, Panthers 1
The comeback kids: The Oilers are the first team in 79 years to erase a 3-0 deficit and force a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final, and a victory tonight would see them join the 1942 Maple Leafs as the only teams to hoist the Cup after dropping the first three games.
The Canada curse: It’s been 31 years since a team from Canada won the Stanley Cup (1993 Canadiens), which is by far the longest drought in the country’s history. But don’t make the mistake of assuming that all of Canada is rooting for the Oilers.
From The Athletic’s Ian Mendes ($):
To our American friends who think we’re obsessed with getting our trophy back, please know that we haven’t put the country on pause waiting to see if the Oilers bring home the title. Not everybody on this side of the border is on pins and needles. We’re not like England waiting for a FIFA World Cup.
An Oilers championship — while erasing a 31-year drought — does nothing for any other fan base in this country. Cities like Ottawa, Vancouver and Winnipeg, who have never hoisted a Stanley Cup, don’t receive partial credit. And if anything, an Edmonton championship will only further enrage Toronto fans, who are closing in on six decades without a title.
Can Florida bounce back? The Oilers may have the momentum, but the Panthers have home ice, where they’re 8-4 this postseason (and 2-1 this series). It would surprise absolutely no one if they dominate tonight and cruise to their first-ever championship.
“This is probably the biggest NHL game in however many years, and so our fans are jacked up for it. We can’t wait.” — Matthew Tkachuk, Panthers forward
The wrong kind of history: The Panthers hope to avoid becoming the sixth team in NHL/NBA/MLB history to lose a best-of-seven series after winning the first three games. NHL teams are 206-4 all-time after taking a 3-0 lead, NBA teams are 157-0 and MLB teams are 39-1.
⛳️ Scheffler wins again
Scottie Scheffler won’t stop winning. His latest victory came Sunday at the Travelers Championship, where he outlasted protesters and Tom Kim for his sixth title of the season.
Rarefied air: Scheffler is the first player with six PGA Tour wins before July since Arnold Palmer did so in 1962. He’s also one of just four players in the last 40 years to win six or more times in the same season, joining Tiger Woods (six times), Vijay Singh (2004) and Nick Price (1994).
Scottie’s last 10 starts:
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Arnold Palmer Invitational: Won
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The Players: Won
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Houston Open: T2
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Masters: Won
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RBC Heritage: Won
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PGA Championship: Jail (T8)
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Charles Schwab Challenge: T2
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The Memorial: Won
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U.S. Open: T41
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Travelers: Won
A very rich man: Scheffler has already earned $27.7 million in prize money in 2024 and could realistically get to $60 million by season’s end. And that doesn’t even include his lucrative off-course endorsement deals with Nike, TaylorMade and others.
ICYMI… Cameron Young shot a 59 on Saturday, which marked the 13th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history. He recorded seven birdies, two eagles and no bogeys to finish 11-under.
🇺🇸 Photos across America
Arlington, Texas — Christian Pulisic scored in the third minute and assisted on Folarin Balogun’s goal in the 44th as the USMNT cruised to a 2-0 win over Bolivia in their Copa América opener on Sunday night.
Omaha, Nebraska — Tennessee beat Texas A&M, 4-1, on Sunday in Game 2 of the College World Series Final to force a decisive Game 3 tonight. The Aggies won 9-5 on Saturday and had a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning on Sunday before surrendering two late-inning homers.
Eugene, Oregon — Noah Lyles roared back from a sluggish start to win the men’s 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field trials on Sunday, cementing himself as America’s best hope to win gold in Paris.
Indianapolis — Simone Manuel hit rock bottom in 2021 when she was diagnosed with overtraining syndrome. Three years later, the five-time Olympic medalist has qualified for two events in Paris — the 50-meter freestyle and the 4×100 freestyle relay.
🌎 Photos around the world
London — Travis Kelce made his Eras Tour debut on Sunday, joining girlfriend Taylor Swift on stage at Wembley Stadium dressed to the nines in a tuxedo and top hat.
Dortmund, Germany — Cristiano Ronaldo‘s selfie-hunting fans have become a concern at Euro 2024, where four have already breached security and invaded the pitch during Portugal’s first two games. Ronaldo was happy to pose with the youngest of them.
Bridgetown, Barbados — The USA crashed out of the T20 Cricket World Cup on Sunday with a 10-wicket loss to defending champion England, ending the Americans’ Cinderella run in their first-ever World Cup appearance.
Barcelona — Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won his third straight Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday to increase his championship lead to 69 points. Lando Norris (McLaren) took second and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) took third — the first podium of 2024 for the seven-time world champ.
📆 June 24, 2010: 11 hours of tennis
14 years ago today, John Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in the longest tennis match ever (11 hours, five minutes). The final score: 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68.
By the numbers: The first-round match took place over three days and featured 980 points, 183 games and 216 aces (113 for Isner*, 103 for Mahut). At the time, fifth sets at Wimbledon were decided when a player won by two games. Now, they’re decided by a 10-point tiebreaker.
*Marathon man: Eight years later at Wimbledon, Isner’s semifinal match against Kevin Anderson lasted six hours and 36 minutes, the third-longest match on record.
📺 Watchlist: Champions will be crowned
Two champions will be crowned tonight in winner-take-all games. It doesn’t get much better than this, folks!
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🏒 Stanley Cup Final, Game 7: Oilers at Panthers (8pm ET, ABC)
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⚾️ CWS Final, Game 3: Tennessee vs. Texas A&M (7pm, ESPN)
More to watch:
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⚽️ Euros*: Italy vs. Croatia (3pm, Fox); Spain vs. Albania (3pm, FS1)
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⚽️ Copa América: Paraguay vs. Colombia (6pm, FS1); Costa Rica vs. Brazil (9pm, FS1)
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⚾️ MLB: Guardians at Orioles (6:35pm, MLB.TV) … Free Game of the Day.
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🇺🇸 Track & Field: U.S. Olympic Trials (1pm, Peacock/NBC)
*Group B standings: Spain (6 points), Italy (3 points), Albania (1 point), Croatia (1 point)
🏆 Championship trivia
An estimated 1 million people attended Friday’s Celtics victory parade, which was Boston’s 13th major championship celebration this century, the most of any city/metro area.
Question: How many titles have each of Boston’s “Big Four” teams (Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox) won this century?
Answer at the bottom.
🍿 Baker’s Dozen: Top 13 plays of the weekend
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⚾️ Jose Siri!
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⚾️ Vols web gem
Trivia answer: Six Super Bowls for the Patriots (2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016, 2018); four World Series for the Red Sox (2004, 2007, 2013, 2018); two NBA titles for the Celtics (2008, 2024); one Stanley Cup title for the Bruins (2011)
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