We’re coming up on the one-year anniversary of Sports! The Newsletter, and I just wanted to say …
THANK YOU!
If you remember, I was running a Substack simply titled rodgersherman.substack.com. Last year, on Nov. 7, we switched from Substack to Beehiiv and got a fancy new logo and name and URL and a regular posting schedule.
Here’s how things have gone since:
122 percent increase in subscribers (5,955 → 13,233)
184 percent increase in paid subscriptions (289 → 819)
4 percent increase in email open rate (55.43% → 59.49%)
It simply does not make sense that we have doubled our subscribers (in fact, a little bit more than doubled) and the open rate has gone up. That’s not supposed to happen! When I show the email open rate numbers to other newsletter people they are like “no that’s not normal.” You guys are opening the hell out of these emails!
Sometimes people email or DM me like “I love the newsletter but I can’t pay for it right now,” and I’m like — that’s fine! Just keep on opening and reading these emails. It shows that what we’re doing is working! The numbers give me hope: We’re gonna make it.
Your readership and your paid subscriptions have enabled this thing to grow. Last year we were posting once a week, and I didn’t have an editor or any other writers. Now we’re publishing three times a week, we have multiple editors, we have Bradley writing the On Deck section, and we’re bringing in guest writers a couple times a month. I’ve fully stopped looking for freelance work so I can focus on producing the hell out of this newsletter. We’re getting close to being an actual, legitimate business here.
So I just want to say thank you to everybody that’s been here. And if you’re just showing up or you want to help this thing grow even bigger here’s where to subscribe for free and here’s where to become a paid subscriber.
– Rodger Sherman
Today’s Lineup
The Valkyries made building a championship roster out of spare parts look easy
Kimi Antonelli made winning F1 races as a 20-year-old look easy
A Swedish man made winning a major marathon on your first try look easy
💍 The Rise of the Valkyries 💍
It’s been a year of long-awaited title droughts ending. The Brewers won their first-ever World Series. The Knicks won their first title in 53 years. Indiana won its first college football championship ever.
And then the Golden State Valkyries came along and won the WNBA championship in Year 2, less than 18 months after playing their first-ever game, in front of a Ballhalla crowd screaming like they’d been waiting their whole lives for this.
And while the wait may not have been particularly long for the franchise, so many of its players took long, long roads to relevance. Golden State had the greatest Dawg Detection System of all time. No superstars, no former #1 picks, just a roster of castaways committed to making sure you have a bad time.
The Valkyries became the first team in WNBA history to win a championship without an all-WNBA player, although Gabby Williams probably won’t be left off that list next year. Williams powered the Valks to a championship. She scored 28 points in the second half of Game 7. It was the most points ever scored by a player in any half of any playoff game, and she did it in Game 7 of the Finals:
Nobody thought the Valks would win in just their second year as a franchise. Kiah Stokes wore a shirt to remind everybody about it.
(Another person who didn’t think they’d win a title … me, literally after three games had already been played in these very WNBA Finals. Whoops!)
For me, it was always about Veronica Burton. Burton was the best player Northwestern had in years, the star of the first team to win an NCAA Tournament game in almost 30 years for the Wildcats. She led the team in scoring, but more importantly, she was a ferocious point-of-attack defender, leading the nation in steals per game in back-to-back years and holding Caitlin Clark to the only single-digit scoring performance of her entire college career. But Burton couldn’t catch on in the WNBA, getting cut by the Dallas Wings just two years into her pro career.
The Valks saw something in her. They wanted her tenacious defense and her fearlessness. Perhaps most importantly, she passed the team’s “no assholes” policy.
The Valks allowed just 75.1 points per game this year, a full 12 points below the league scoring average of 87.1 points per game. Opponents shot just 41.4 percent from the field against them.
Check the transaction pages: Of the eight veterans who played for the Valks this postseason, six were waived by another team at some point in their careers. A seventh, Cecilia Zandalasini, was technically never cut by anybody but spent five years out of the league. Basically, Gabby Williams is the only player on the roster who has been continuously wanted by WNBA teams for her entire career.
(We’re for sure doing a disservice to Gabby by not talking about her as one of the game’s best players. She came a couple inches from sending the 2024 Olympic gold medal game to overtime for France against a stacked Team USA squad. But look, we’re trying to sell the no-names storyline, so hold on a sec.)
The Valks had one player in the 2026 All-Star Game (Williams), which was fewer than the Sparks (who missed the playoffs), the Wings (who lost to the Valks in the first round), and the Fever (no comment.) They received just one of the WNBA’s 15 Western Conference Player of the Week awards for Burton, just before the FIBA break. Burton got a fourth-place MVP vote, while Williams got three fifth-place votes.
The Valks didn’t have any former Top 3 WNBA Draft picks on their roster. Williams was the highest-drafted player at #4. Twelve of the last 13 WNBA champions have had a #1 pick on the roster … and most had multiple #1 picks. (Last year’s Aces had three: A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Jewell Loyd.) The lone outlier, the 2019 Washington Mystics, were led by former #2 pick Elena Delle Donne.
I remember when the Golden Knights made the Stanley Cup Finals in their first year as a franchise, and everybody pointed to a poorly-formatted expansion draft that left far too many quality players exposed. That wasn’t the case here! Burton is the only one of the Valks’ first seven picks in last year’s expansion draft to even play in the playoffs. And this year’s two new expansion teams (the Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo) weren’t even close to making the playoffs in Year 1 like the Valks did last year.
The real MVP: Valks GM Ohemaa Nyanin, who spearheaded one of the most impressive roster builds you’ll ever see in any sports league. I was … skeptical that Nyanin knew what she was doing when she gave an awkward non-answer attempting to explain why she traded away LSU star Flau’jae Johnson on the night of the WNBA Draft. I will never be skeptical of Ohemaa Nyanin again! This roster is a miracle. She never needs to do another press conference.
For more on the Valkyries, I wanted to shoutout Marisa Ingemi’s Valkyries Beat, also on beehiiv. Marisa saw how popular the Valks were and decided to crowdfund full-time beat coverage of the team — traveling to road games, covering practices, the works. Sure enough: Pretty good idea!
Sponsored by Homefield Apparel
Come hang in Boston & Connecticut!
Any of you in New England? I’d love to see you as I criss-cross states to watch UConn sports for an ULTIMATE UCONN SPORTS WEEKEND as part of Homefield Apparel’s Can’t Miss Kickoff Tour presented by Modelo!
We’re celebrating the beautiful overlap of college football and college basketball in a three-day sprint across New England. Here’s my itinerary for the weekend:
Friday 11/6: UConn men’s basketball vs. Michigan in Boston. The 2023 and 2024 champs against the 2026 champs! We’ve got a pregame happy hour at The Greatest Bar starting at 5 p.m., and then we’re heading over to the game at 8.
Saturday 11/7: UConn football takes on UNC in Bill Belichick’s hopefully not-so-triumphant return to the Greater New England area! I don’t know how this game got on the schedule but I’m in. There’s a watch party at Huskies in downtown Storrs, and at some point I’ll make my way over to East Hartford for the game. (Unclear on timing!) The first drink of the day at Huskies is on Homefield — thanks to Modelo!
Sunday 11/8: UConn women’s basketball hosts Iowa! I’m picking the Huskies to win it all, and Sarah Strong is my player of the year. I’m excited to see how many points they can beat a Top 10 opponent by. There’s another watch party at Huskies from 12-2 before we head over to the game, which is in Storrs this time.
I’m looking forward to eating Connecticut pizza and — fingers crossed — petting Jonathan, the UConn Husky. He was at the grand opening of the brick-and-mortar Homefield store in Storrs, checking out a bunch of shirts with his face on them:
Follow the @HomefieldIRL account on Instagram for more details on this weekend. Can’t wait see you somewhere in New England!
🎶 I got my driver license last week 🎶
It’s harder to identify a racing prodigy than an equivalent budding superstar in any other sport. Anybody could look at Victor Wembanyama and realize he was going to be a basketball god, but the measurables that make a great driver aren’t as clean as a 4.3 40 or a massive vertical leap.
So how did people know Kimi Antonelli was going to be a great one?
The 20-year-old Italian clinched the F1 World Drivers’ Championship, becoming the youngest driver ever to win the season-long series. And he didn’t just win; he blew away the competition. Antonelli has won nine of the 19 grands prix so far this year, clinching his title with four races to go. Only three drivers have ever sealed a championship earlier in the season. It seems like Antonelli has just won the first of many.
Antonelli is not just the youngest champion, but considerably younger than the previous record-holder, Sebastian Vettel, who was about 23-and-a-half when he won in 2010. Antonelli turned 20 in August.
He’s actually the youngest driver ever to lead the World Championship standings at any point in any season, let alone win the whole thing. He’s also the youngest driver to win pole position … and, well, here’s a full list of all the records he set this year. (Surprisingly, he’s not the youngest F1 race-winner ever: Max Verstappen won his first race at 18.)
Antonelli won in China in March … and then in Japan two weeks after that … and then in Miami the next race … and then in Canada and Monaco after that. It was the seventh-longest winning streak in F1 history, from the second-youngest driver ever to win a race.
Antonelli also brought glory back to Italy, a country traditionally associated with F1 due to the success of Ferrari. He’s the first Italian to win the Drivers’ Championship since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
Normally when an athlete under the age of 21 wins, there’s a big thing about how they can’t even have champagne in the celebration!!!! But, uh, we’re pretty much the only country where 21 is the legal drinking age. Antonelli has been dumping champagne over himself all season long, although he was given something non-alcoholic (sparkling water?) after winning in Miami.
As with a lot of F1 racers, Antonelli’s dad was a racer and owns a racing team. By my count, seven of the 24 F1 racers this season are the progeny of either a former driver or a team owner.
Mercedes began scouting Antonelli when he was 11, while he was dominating local go-kart races. He signed with the team’s junior program when he was 12. Mercedes had him skip Formula 3 and go straight to Formula 2. (There are more Formulas than you thought.)
But the boldest decision came last year, when Mercedes gave Antonelli one of its two seats after Lewis Hamilton left for Ferrari, replacing one of the greatest drivers ever with a literal child.
The Antonelli era got off to a bad start. He spun out in his first F1 practice.
To a certain extent, F1 success is decided by the team you race for. It was clear Mercedes would have the fastest car even in the preseason, after a series of changes to F1’s technical specifications (don’t ask me to explain them), and Antonelli drives for Mercedes.
But Mercedes’ best driver was expected to be Antonelli’s teammate, George Russell, a 28-year-old in his eighth full season on the F1 circuit who was the favorite to win the championship by oddsmakers. The depth chart was seemingly clear: Russell had spent years serving as Mercedes’ #2 behind Hamilton, and now it was his turn to go for glory while Antonelli got the seasoning he needed to compete for world championships in his mid-20s.
But Antonelli usurped Russell, finishing ahead of him 14 times in 19 races even though they’re driving the same car. Antonelli’s success actually seems to be pretty devastating for his teammate; after Antonelli sealed the championship, Russell publish an Instagram post that started with “now feels like a pretty suitable moment to speak from the heart,” and explained how “confusing” and “tough” the season has been before congratulating Antonelli.
(Sorry, I’m not really an F1 expert: Do all teammates harbor a seething resentment towards each other all the time, or just most of the time?)
And here’s the thing about F1 … you typically don’t win a championship just once. When Vettel became the youngest winner ever, he won three in a row. The third-youngest winner was Hamilton, who went on to become one of the greatest drivers of all time. Fourth and fifth were Fernando Alonso, who went back-to-back, and Max Verstappen, who won four in a row. So get used to hearing the Italian national anthem.
🏃 Not bad for a first-timer 🏃
Sweden’s Andreas Almgren can finally put one of those little 26.2 bumper stickers on the back of his car … plus, now he has a trophy and $100,000 and worldwide fame. The Swede won the New York City Marathon in his marathon debut, becoming just the third European man to win a World Marathon Major.
I write about a lot of sports, and first-timers usually don’t win! Even in this article, we wrote about how phenomenally rare it is that the Valkyries and Kimi Antonelli won in their second seasons.
I’ve been picturing Almgren like a Swedish Elle Woods — Wåt?!?! Lykke it’s hørd? — but this isn’t quite like getting into Harvard Law as a fashion merchandising major.
But more than just about any other sport on Earth, marathon running is conducive to first-time competitors winning the whole damn thing — not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard.
This might have been Almgren’s first marathon, but he’s not a nobody: Almgren won the world championship in the half-marathon in September in Copenhagen, running the 10th-fastest half ever (58:06) and becoming the first Swede to medal at the World Road Running Championships at any distance. He also won bronze in the 10k at last year’s World Championships.
Almgren said he wants to focus on winning medals in the 5k and 10k at the LA Olympics. Running a marathon in 2026 was “a test” for a later transition from track running to road running.
Many picked Almgren as one of the favorites to win in New York; here’s a video from before the race about his performances in recent races and workouts. It tabbed him as one of the likely winners.
The NYC Marathon has been won multiple times by debutants: In 2019, Joyciline Jepkosgei won the women’s race in her marathon debut, and in 2022, Sharon Lokedi won in hers.
Before Sabastian Sawe set the all-time marathon record in London this year, he won his marathon debut in Valencia in 2024. The late Kelvin Kiptum also won his marathon debut in Valencia. (Kiptum actually won every marathon he ever raced before his tragic death.)
Sifan Hassan won her marathon debut in 2023 in London. Hassan was already an accomplished runner in shorter distances, with gold medals in the 5k and 10k at the Tokyo Olympics. Hassan went on to win the marathon at the Paris Olympics in a dramatic sprint to the finish line, becoming the first woman ever with gold medals in those three races.
Earlier this year, Yomif Kejelcha didn’t win his marathon debut … but he ran the second-fastest marathon of all time in London. Unfortunately for him, Sawe was just ahead, setting the record.
So why do people keep winning their debuts? There are a few factors, but it comes down to the most obvious: Marathons are really long.
Competing in a single marathon takes months of preparation. Runners don’t take the race lightly. The pros making their debuts in elite marathons are established distance runners choosing to divert a large chunk of their seasons towards marathon training.
Runners are typically only able to train for two marathons in a year (although some runners have been squeezing in three in recent years.) That means the best runners in the world can’t compete in all of the marathons, especially because the events tend to be bunched up in the spring and fall when the weather’s not too hot and not too cold. (Boston and London are literally in the same week; nobody is running both.) And not every marathon field is the same. Almgren seemed to target NYC specifically because he thought he had a shot at winning.
So, 26.2-mile-long story short … don’t show up to the start line of the next marathon expecting to win just because these guys keep doing it.
🤼 Best of the Wrest(ling) 🤼
Team USA dominated the World Wrestling Championships, winning the team competitions in both men’s and women’s freestyle. Seven American wrestlers won gold medals, with American men winning four of the six Olympic weight classes.
The most dominant performance was by Spencer Lee, who won the gold medal in the 57kg weight class in just 26 seconds — despite wrestling on a torn ACL. Here’s the whole match, which could’ve been a YouTube short.
(I bet the guy who lost was pretty dizzy after getting spun around like that.)
3️⃣3️⃣3️⃣ Somebody get a hand up! 3️⃣3️⃣3️⃣
Northwestern State’s Chloe Donnell tied the all-time NCAA record by drilling 14 threes in a game against non-NCAA opponent Ecclesia. She finished the game with 46 points; Ecclesia only had 40 as a team.
This performance came out of absolutely nowhere for Donnell, who was a reserve for South Alabama last year … and didn’t hit a three all season. She shot 0-for-11 behind the arc and finished the season with eight total points.
On the one hand, the level of competition clearly helped facilitate the record. The men’s record of 15 was also set against non-NCAA opponents (Robert Morris’ Josh Williams hit 15 against “Mt. Aloysius” in 2018, and the very next day his record was tied by Furman’s Jordan Lyons against “North Greenville.”) Teams are more likely to keep feeding a player to help them set a record when they’re up 80 on some nobodies. But it’s hard to shoot 14-for-23 even in an open gym, and honestly, Ecclesia was getting a hand in her face on a lot of these shots.
Here’s Bradley Locker on an awesome weekend of football — maybe the best college football weekend of the year!
🌀 #1 Miami 🌀 vs. 🍀 #11 Notre Dame 🍀
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET in South Bend (NBC)
It doesn’t get much better than primetime in South Bend, especially when the #1 team in the country rolls in. The Hurricanes aim to keep their perfect season alive against one of the country’s stingiest defenses. Unfortunately for them, Heisman hopeful quarterback Darian Mensah will be missing superstar receiver Malachi Toney. On the other side, Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr has a major bounce-back opportunity after a mediocre showing against BYU earlier this year. An Irish loss may knock Marcus Freeman’s program out of the College Football Playoff, even if it finishes 10-2. From a draft perspective, there’s a glut of talent on both sides, including cornerback Leonard Moore, linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, defensive lineman Ahmad Moten Sr., and, of course, the two marquee passers.
🟦 #9 BYU 🟦vs. 🔴 #3 Utah 🔴
Saturday, 12 p.m. ET in Salt Lake City (ABC)
The Holy War seldom disappoints, and this installment may be the biggest yet in the rivalry's history. The Utes have rolled to an 8-0 mark this season, taking down quality teams like Houston and Cincinnati, but this Cougars squad will be their biggest test. BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier may receive some reinforcement from reportedly returning star running back LJ Martin. Devon Dampier and Utah look to snap BYU’s three-game win streak. A Cougars loss would deflate their College Football Playoff hopes, dropping them to 7-2 with no margin for error.
🦬 Bills 🦬 vs. 😈 Vikings 😈
Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET in Minneapolis (ABC/ESPN)
Two straight weeks with a barnburner on Monday night. Josh Allen and Buffalo’s juggernaut offense take on Brian Flores’ league-best Minnesota defense, which by itself is worthy of the spotlight. On the other side, Kyler Murray and the Vikings’ languid offense hopes to find life against one of the least efficient defenses in the league. This game serves as yet another litmus test for Kevin O’Connell’s side, which started 6-0 but is in the throes of a tough multi-week gauntlet.
☘️ Celtics ☘️ vs. 🔔 76ers 🔔
Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET in Philadelphia (NBC)
In a vaunted Eastern Conference, Boston and Philadelphia have begun to separate themselves through the early going. Jayson Tatum and Paul George have formed their own strong tandem, helping Joe Mazzulla’s squad to 6-2, with role players like Payton Pritchard and Derrick White also giving strong contributions. Meanwhile, the new-look Sixers have not only meshed well but, crucially, stayed healthy. The juiciest storyline here will be Jaylen Brown facing his old team after some not-so-subtle jabs directed toward both Boston and Tatum.
🐺 #4 UConn 🐺 vs. 🟡 #16 Michigan 🟡
Friday, 8 p.m. ET in Boston (TNT)
A national title rematch already? You bet. A lot has changed for these two powerhouses since their April meeting — especially for the Wolverines, who are without head coach Dusty May, as well as first-round picks Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson, and Aday Mara. In their stead, Final Four Most Outstanding Player Eliot Cadeau, Trey McKenney, and transfer J.P. Estrella hope to keep Michigan atop the perch. On the other side, Dan Hurley and the Huskies look as potent as ever with talent like March Madness star Braylon Mullins and Silas Demary Jr. In a season lacking many proven contenders at the outset, this game should tell us a lot before the winter months.
🪖 #6 Michigan State 🪖 vs. 😈 #2 Duke 😈
Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET in Chicago (ESPN)
A game fit for all the pageantry it will get. Two of the sport’s top coaches and brands square off from the United Center as Tom Izzo’s Spartans meet Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils. The talent on the floor will be astronomical, featuring preseason All-American guard Jeremy Fears Jr., Duke transfer John Blackwell, and high-flyer Coen Carr. Duke has prevailed in the last three meetings between these goliaths, both of whom seek to snap long title droughts.
Elsewhere in sports, by Rodger Sherman.
🏁 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race 🏁
Sunday, 3 p.m. ET in Homestead, Fla. (NBC / Peacock)
NASCAR changes its championship format every few years it feels like, and they’re back to a points-based system this year. That’s probably good, since the elimination-based format of the last few years was arbitrary and weird … but it does mean things have to go really wrong for Kyle Larson to lose on Sunday. He just needs to finish 28th or better to win the title.
🏒 IIHF Women’s World Ice Hockey Championship 🏒
Nov. 6–16 in Herning, Denmark (NHL Network / ESPN+)
This used to be held in April, but they moved it so it doesn’t conflict with the PWHL playoffs. You probably don’t need to pay attention to the first week or so. But eventually, it’s gonna be a USA-Canada gold medal match, and we always watch those.
