This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, Winners! Happy Thursday! It comes with a tiny bit of regret that I must inform you that our neighbors to the north got another one up on us Wednesday.
Shaedon Sharpe, the Portland Trail Blazers‘ Canadian swingman, delivered the dunk of the year against the Wizards, who are a pretty great representation of what Washington looks like these days. A bunch of losers operating off of a bunch of vibes and not a lot of substance.
Anyway, enough with the political commentary. Look at this dunk, dog.
I don’t even know where to begin.
The first thought that creeped into my mind after this was, “Oh no. This is the only Wizards highlight anyone will see this year.” And that’s absolutely true. You wouldn’t have even known the Wizards played yesterday if Sharpe didn’t eviscerate Justin Champagnie. A noble sacrifice, if I’d ever seen one.
The second thought was, as I said before, Canada wins. Again.
As if the 4 Nations Face-Off trophy wasn’t enough, Canada just keeps coming at the United States’ neck. One week, you’ve got Justin Trudeau (justifiably!) trashing America. The next week, you’ve got Shaedon Sharpe dunking hard enough to take that American chunk of Niagara Falls back home with him when the season is over. In between time, Drake even dropped an album that people don’t seem to think is complete garbage. What is happening, man? Little by little, Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance is somehow losing its luster.
In all seriousness, what a dunk by Sharpe. That’s definitely the dunk of the year. His legs were nearly at the same level as the rim was. Sorry that the Wizards had to be sacrificed for this to happen, but I won’t lie to y’all. I’m thankful it did.
Shoutout to Canada for producing this incredible leaper.
The NFL’s overtime rules have always felt a bit harsh. I get it — after such a lengthy game, the “sudden-death” component of it all is probably a bit necessary.
But it’s always felt anticlimactic. The rules in the regular season make it so that the first team to score a touchdown in overtime wins. Usually, that’s the first team that touches the ball. Receiving the kick isn’t a complete assurance for victory, but it definitely feels like it.
That may be changing soon. The NFL is reportedly considering a shift in the rule, according to the Associated Press. Executives at the draft combine are discussing potentially shifting things so that both teams get to touch the ball, even if the receiving team scores a touchdown. Basically, it’d be just like the playoffs.
Will it happen? We’ll see. But let the record reflect that I’m here for the change.
I can handle losing. I can handle when my team loses. What I can’t handle is when my team loses like Maryland lost to Michigan State on Wednesday.
Tre Holloman. From halfcourt. At the buzzer. Buckets. Noted Maryland fan Scott Van Pelt has to live through this nightmare on live television over and over again because that’s how SportsCenter works.
Our Prince Grimes was in the building for this last night. You can read his take on it here.
— Here’s Charles Curtis on why everyone is ironically mourning the purge of the NBA Centel troll account.
— The Commanders’ glowing NFLPA review is one last kick to the gut to Dan Snyder, who absolutely deserves it. Robert Zeglinski has more takeaways for you in the article.
— Here’s Charles again on everything we know about Abdul Carter’s foot injury so far. Looks like he’s good to go.
— Here’s Christian D’Andrea with a breakdown of the five best NFL free agents at every position.
— The Mavericks traded Luka Doncic because of hookah and beer. Wow. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.
— Don’t cross Diana Taurasi, folks.
That’s a wrap! Thanks so much for reading TMW today. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic Thursday. Peace. We out.
-Sykes ✌️
