In today's edition: Parsons to the Packers, 4 Schwarbombs, the rise of Arch Manning, flamethrowers everywhere, tailgate playlist, and more.
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🚨 Headlines
⚾️ Schwarber blasts 4 HR: Kyle Schwarber became the 21st player in MLB history — and record third this season! — to hit 4 home runs in a game, adding 9 RBIs in Philly's 19-4 rout of Atlanta. The MVP contender has a career-high 49 long balls, just one shy of Cal Raleigh for the MLB lead.
🏈 Thursday night football: No. 25 Boise State suffered a 34-7 loss to South Florida; Nebraska held on late for a 20-17 win over Cincinnati in front of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift; Michael Vick (Norfolk State) and DeSean Jackson (Delaware State) lost their college coaching debuts.
🏀 Lifetime contract: Tennessee men's basketball coach Rick Barnes has signed a lifetime contract with the school, committing to the Volunteers for the rest of his career.
⚽️ Champions League draw: The fixtures for the 36-team league phase, which begins in two weeks, have been announced. Defending champion PSG face quite the gauntlet with Bayern, Barcelona and Tottenham among their eight-game slate.
🎾 U.S. Open, Day 5:No. 2 Iga Świątek and No. 3 Coco Gauff both survived some uneven play to reach the third round, while Venus Williams won her first U.S. Open doubles match since 2014.
🏈 NFL blockbuster: Parsons to the Packers
Micah Parsons and the Cowboys' stalemate ended Thursday with Dallas trading him to the Packers, who will make the two-time All-Pro edge rusher the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history.
Packers get: Parsons, who they're signing to a four-year, $188 million deal
Cowboys get: 2026 first-round pick, 2027 first-round pick, DT Kenny Clark
From Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson:
For more than a decade, Jerry Jones has kept upping the ante on his favorite self-proclaimed desperation. There was no amount of money the Cowboys owner wouldn't pay to win a Super Bowl.
The size of that check would be embarrassing. It would be obscene. If cash guaranteed it, he'd give up "two-thirds, or a third, whatever percentage" of the franchise's valuation.
He'd say it with tears in his eyes or a sly grin on his face, all to convince an audience of one or assure a Netflix viewership of millions — or maybe just sell the dream to himself.
"I'd do anything known to man to win a Super Bowl," Jones once said. "That's a fact." On Thursday, it became a myth.
🏈 The rise of Arch Manning
Arch Manning's moment has finally arrived, and the setting couldn't be more fitting. Tomorrow afternoon, he'll lead No. 1 Texas against No. 3 Ohio State in one of the most-hyped Week 1 games in recent memory.
From Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger:
Within the halls here at the University of Texas football facility, one particular player moves about like all of the others.
He jokes, horse-plays, fist bumps, listens attentively, celebrates on the practice field, even dances — all the things you'd imagine a 21-year-old college kid might do.
He eats Tex-Mex often, wakesurfs on Lake Travis, dines at Chipotle upwards of three times a week and occasionally hits the golf links.
Arch Manning is just one of the guys, whether you want to believe it or not.
"I don't think he walks around with a hoodie with his name on the back so everyone knows who he is," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. "He'd much rather be unassuming."
For much of his career, even during his junior high days as a young superstar in New Orleans, Arch has, whether on his own or through a family directive, dodged the spotlight at every turn.
He's evaded the cameras, avoided social media and escaped any other real attention — politely, of course. After all, he's the grandson of the patriarch of not only one of football's First Families but the truest Southern Gentleman you'll come upon: Archie Manning.
No, sir. Yes, sir. Please and thank you. It is the Manning Way. And so, too, at least for Arch, is side-stepping any and all attention.
Arch and his family rejected college scholarship offers made to him until he was deep into his high school career. Coaches extending an offer would often receive a patented line: "There is no offer to give because there's no offer to receive."
Arch's college quarterback career truly begins this weekend in one of football's greatest settings, on the road, against the defending national champion Buckeyes, in a top-five tilt televised nationally. Good luck avoiding the spotlight.
"I tell him all the time, 'You're not really a quarterback until they boo you,'" Sarkisian said. "When 105,000 boo you, then you know you've arrived."
Ohio Stadium, the third-largest football venue in the country, holds 102,780. Close enough.
⚾️ Chart du jour: Flamethrowers everywhere
Touching 95 mph was once the mark of a flamethrower. Sure, it wasn't unheard of, but for every Bob Feller and Walter Johnson there were scores of pitchers who sat in the low-90s at best. Now? 95 is the average.
Coming in hot: For the first time in MLB history, right-handed pitchers are averaging 95 mph on their four-seam fastballs. Lefties are a few ticks behind at 93 mph.*
In 2008 (the year pitch-tracking debuted), just 16 MLB pitchers averaged 95+ mph on their fastball.
This year? 141 pitchers average that number, a 781% increase over the span of 17 years.
*Why does the average righty throw harder than the average lefty? The most likely explanation is that being a left-handed pitcher is inherently a competitive advantage, and thus they don't need speed to stand out. Instead, they often lean in to the stereotype of being "crafty," using tools other than velocity to retire hitters.
📺 Weekend Watchlist
🏈 Week 1 | Fri-Sun
Week 1 of the college football season is upon us, and Saturday's slate is stacked with three matchups between top-10 opponents and 10 games between power conference teams:
Auburn at Baylor (Fri. 8pm ET, Fox)
Georgia Tech at Colorado (Fri. 8pm, ESPN)
No. 1 Texas at No. 3 Ohio State (Sat. 12pm, Fox)
Syracuse at No. 24 Tennessee (Sat. 12pm, ABC)
No. 8 Alabama at Florida State (Sat. 3:30pm, ABC)
No. 9 LSU at No. 4 Clemson (Sat. 7:30pm, ABC)
California at Oregon State (Sat. 10:30pm, ESPN)
Utah at UCLA (Sat. 11pm, Fox)
Virginia Tech at No. 13 South Carolina (Sun. 3pm, ESPN)
No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 10 Miami (Sun. 7:30pm, ABC)
Plus: There's an 11th power conference matchup on Monday when UNC hosts TCU (8pm, ESPN) in Bill Belichick's college football coaching debut.
🎾 U.S. Open | Fri-Sun, ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN+
As the first week of competition comes to an end, just 32 men and 32 women remain in the draw. Today's best third-round matches include No. 7 Novak Djokovic vs. Cameron Norrie (7pm) and No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 31 Leylah Fernandez (7pm). Tomorrow's include No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 27 Denis Shapovalov and No. 15 Daria Kasatkina vs. No. 23 Naomi Osaka.
⚽️ Liverpool vs. Arsenal | Sun. 11:30am, USA
The Reds and Gunners finished 1-2 last year in the Premier League, are co-favorites to win this year's title and are both unbeaten so far this season. This is gonna be good.
⚽️ Seattle Sounders vs. Inter Miami | Sun. 8pm, Apple
Two years ago, Lionel Messi led Miami to the Leagues Cup title just one month after joining the club. Now, he's led them back to the final where they'll try to become the tournament's first two-time champs.
🥍 PLL Semifinals | Mon. 12pm, ESPN+/ESPN2
The final four take the field on Labor Day in Philly, where the Philadelphia Waterdogs and New York Atlas (12pm, ESPN+) battle for one spot in the title game while the California Redwoods and Denver Outlaws (3pm, ESPN2) fight for the other.
🏎️ Dutch Grand Prix | Sun. 9am, ESPN
F1 returns from its mid-season break after a month away. McLaren's Oscar Piastri (284 points) and Lando Norris (275) are nearly 100 points clear of four-time defending champion Max Verstappen (187), and they've finished 1-2 in four straight races.
🏁 Darlington Raceway | Sun. 6pm, USA
The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, a 10-race competition featuring the top 16 drivers, begins this weekend in South Carolina. Kyle Larson (+425 at BetMGM), Ryan Blaney (+425), Denny Hamlin (+450) and Christopher Bell (+475) are favored to win the title, but it's anyone's trophy following one of the most wide-open seasons in recent memory.
More to watch:
⚾️ MLB: Braves at Phillies (Fri. 6:45pm, Apple; Sun. 7pm, ESPN); Brewers at Blue Jays (Sun. 1:30pm, MLB) … First place in the AL and NL meet in Toronto.
🏀 WNBA: Liberty at Mercury (Sat. 10pm, NBA); Fever at Valkyries (Sun. 8:30pm, NBA) … New York and Phoenix are battling for the 4-seed and home-court advantage.
⚽️ MLS: Cincinnati vs. Philadelphia (Sat. 7:30pm, Apple); LAFC vs. San Diego (Sun. 10:45pm, Apple) … First vs. second in the East and a SoCal rivalry in the West.
⛳️ LPGA: FM Championship (Fri-Sun, ESPN+/Golf) … There's a three-way tie atop the leaderboard at TPC Boston after the first round.
🏀 EuroBasket: Group Stage (Fri-Sun, DAZN) … Scores, schedule and standings.
🍌 Banana Ball: Savannah Bananas vs. Texas Tailgaters (Fri-Sat. 7pm, truTV) … At Pittsburgh's PNC Park.
🏁 IndyCar: Music City Grand Prix (Sun. 2pm, Fox) … Season finale.
⚾️ MLB trivia
Kyle Schwarber is up to 333 home runs for his career, which he's spent with four teams.
Question: Can you name all four?
Answer at the bottom.
🎶 Tailgate playlist
Football has returned, which means tailgating parties are back on the menu. Here are some songs to add to your playlist, courtesy of Yahoo Sports AM readers.
Top 25:
"Thunderstruck" — AC/DC
"Mr. Brightside" — The Killers
"Return of the Mack" — Mark Morrison
"Seven Nation Army" — The White Stripes
"Baba O'Riley" — The Who
"Parking Lot Party" — Lee Brice
"Ants Marching" — Dave Matthews Band
"Grindin'" — Clipse
"We Will Rock You" — Queen
"Shut Up and Dance" — Walk The Moon
"Sandstorm" — Darude
"White Horse" — Chris Stapleton
"Welcome to the Jungle" — Guns N' Roses
"Sweet Home Alabama" — Lynyrd Skynyrd
"Enter Sandman" — Metallica
"Chicken Fried" — Zac Brown Band
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" — John Denver
"Let's Go" — Trick Daddy
"I'm Shipping up to Boston" — Dropkick Murphys
"The Boys Are Back In Town" — Thin Lizzy
"The Nights" — Avicii
"Red Solo Cup" — Toby Keith
"Kickstart My Heart" — Mötley Crüe
"Right Now" — Van Halen
"The Pretender" — Foo Fighters
Have fun this weekend! See ya Tuesday.
Trivia answer: Cubs, Nationals, Red Sox, Phillies
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Category: General Sports
