The Sport Superlatives - Issue No. 34

August 23, 2024

🏆 The Superlatives 🏆

The Most Demure:  Malika Andrews

Malika Andrews, a host on NBA Today and NBA Countdown on ESPN, was recently featured in ‘Only Natural Diamonds’ magazine and the shoot was very demure. The 2022 Sports Emmy winner for Outstanding Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent also recently went viral for an on-air earthquake she endured. See how she handled herself in an earthquake? Very Classy. See how she keeps breaking down barriers in her sports journalism career like being the first woman to host the NBA draft in 2022? Very girls run the world. 

The Most Mindful: A’ja Wilson

WNBA player, A’ja Wilson was recently named the 2024 recipient of the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award because she’s very mindful. The Las Vegas center was awarded this honor because of her continuous efforts in the community. See how she launched a foundation in 2019 for children with dyslexia and anti-bullying? Very charitable. See how she continues to create spaces for young girls to be mentored? Very kind. See how she slayed her Marie Claire shoot? Very ‘get-you-a-girl-that does-both.

⚾ You’re Outta Here: Well the White Sox have done it! They won something… no, not a game -don’t be silly! They are however the first team eliminated from the postseason. Their 30-94 record also solidified their place in history with the earliest elimination since the MLB division era began. This came after their 6-1 loss to the Houston Astros… and unfortunately but not quite unexpectedly, they have only won a game since.. Well, at least ending the season earlier means the players will have more time to reflect on how they can be better next year… or strategize with their agents for a trade.

🏈 Studying Abroad: College football takes a trip across the pond to kick off the NCAA College football season in Dublin, Ireland. Florida State Seminoles will face off against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (seriously, who picks these names & can we fire them??) in the season opener. 

A little background: last season, Florida went undefeated in the regular season and won the ACC but was snubbed from the college football playoffs. The Seminoles did however compete in the annual NCAA Orange Bowl. What’s the Orange Bowl? Some would say it’s a match-up of the losers that didn’t make the playoffs… the NCAA says it’s an annual football bowl for the teams “missing out” on the four-team College Playoff. Either way, Florida lost in a spectacular fashion against the other Georgia school, Georgia State, 63-3. Ouch. Florida’s coach said that the team is brushing last year’s loss & snub off their shoulders and has put the work in to go undefeated again this season. 

Georgia Tech, on the other hand, had a pretty decent season. The team finished with a winning record of 7-6, which gave them 4th place in the ACC. Unlike Florida, the Yellow Jackets did go on to win another bowl for losers. By that, we mean the post-season Gasparilla Bowl, where they played the other Florida team, the University of Central Florida. Way to win that participation trophy, boys!

Both teams seem to have something to prove which hopefully makes for a good game! Check out the game on ESPN on Saturday, August 24th, at noon EST. 

Back in the States, a few other teams will kick off the college football season this weekend. Here is the Saturday lineup:

• Montana State at New Mexico

• Southern Methodist University (SMU) at Nevada

• Delaware at Hawaii

Week 1 of college football will officially kick off for most teams on Thursday, August 29th. Find the schedule here. 

🎾 Cincinnati Closed: The Cincinnati Open has ended, and congrats to the winners: Jannik Sinner (more on him later) and Aryna Sabalenka. Jannik beat home country fave Frances Tiafoe, who hadn’t played too well up until now. OOH and would ya look at that, Sabalenka also beat an American, (is this some kinda Olympic payback?) Jessica Pegula. Pegula had just come off of a high from winning the Canadian Open (back to back), so I’m sure a second place finish has got her feeling quite good. 

Cincy was the final hard court tourney before the big finale, the US Open. The last of the four major tourneys starts next week, August 26. They already dropped the draws… whoops, the draws have been dropped? You know what we mean, they have released the draws! (this isn’t getting any better, is it). Feel free to look for yourself to see where and when your faves will be playing this year in the Big Apple. Will Coco defend her title? It’s not looking so good, but she does have home-court advantage. Did the Olympics give Djokovic the push he needed to finally secure a major win this year? Or will a new champ be crowned? All this and more will play out over the next two weeks.

🎾 Blessed and Highly Favored: Australian Open Champ, Jannik Sinner, was kinda in the spotlight this week (and no, we’re not talking about his Cincinnati Open win). Apparently, he’s been cleared of all charges regarding two positive drug tests from March 2024. Yay for him, but the gag is that nobody knew about the whole failing a drug test [or two] thing until the official word of his being cleared. The man played in 2 grand slams and a handful of other tournaments since his positive tests... and nobody said a word. Of course, the handling of the whole situation has had the tennis world in a tizzy. 

Broken… we mean injured…Aussie tennis star, Nick Kyrgios, took to X (or whatever the kids are calling Twitter these days) to say that the whole thing was “ridiculous” and Sinner should be “gone for two years”. He definitely seemed a bit fired up, but is he wrong? I mean, Simona Halep certainly would like a word…and the ITIA had no problem handing out 18-month suspensions to people who missed tests. But hey, tennis def has its faves at the moment, and if he was cleared of all wrongdoing, who are we to question that? 

🏈 Sticks and Stones, but Words? They Hurt Too: Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa did a rare interview with Dan Le Batard where he talked about how awful it was playing under coach Brian Flores. Flores, who is still in “arbitration” with the NFL, was allegedly the bane of Tua’s first-year existence. Tua told the tale of how Flores, “a terrible person,” would talk negatively about him and how that translated to his on-field performance. He also compared that experience to his current coach, Mike McDaniel, who believes in him and thereby helps him believe in himself.

Now, remember that arbitration we spoke of earlier? Well, that was because Flores brought a bias suit against the NFL, and it’s been at quite the stalemate. Will these allegations hold any weight regarding that? Who knows… but some have questioned the timing. Others have questioned Tua’s toughness (as if enduring back-to-back concussions is the stuff pillows are made from)… But most importantly, what has Brian said? Well, he didn’t deny anything, that’s for sure. He basically said that he’s growing and learning, and he's happy for Tua and his success… so anticlimactic. Somebody let Flores know that accountability makes lukewarm tea… we want it piping hot!

Your sports term of the week is: training camp

IRL Example: It's like those team-building retreats your job forces you to endure. Another round of two truths and a lie, anyone? Also, feel free to tune into Hard Knocks on MAX to learn about the Chicago Bears and their preseason training camp.

As we gear up for football season, we wanted to share a few pieces to help you rep your teams with the perfect game day fit!

The girls have spoken, and screen tees are IN this fall. We found some at Hollister that will help the girlies achieve the perfect balance of game day ready and keeping it cute! You can wear this during the game day and dress it up a little as you hit the celebration parties after your team secures the W!

Pro-tip for the true fashion girlies amongst us: head over to The Gold List to cop some reworked vintage t-shirts to tap into the trend in a more unique way!  

As we get further into football season and the weather continues to cool off, we love a crewneck sweatshirt for a gameday fit! 

Abercrombie has some great men’s crewneck sweatshirts if you like a baggier fit (which is our favorite way to wear a sweatshirt):

As football season starts, don’t forget to tag us when you’re rocking your game day looks!

Do you love sports? Want to find a way to fit more sports into your week? We’ve got you. From keeping up with your work colleagues to impressing hot dates, our newsletter aims to keep you in the know regardless of your fandom level or the reason. That’s your business, sis!

Share The Sport Superlatives with hardcore sports fans or anyone who just likes to keep a little sports knowledge on hand. Don’t forget to follow us on IG and help us build our audience as we continue to keep you in the know.