Just wanted to share my joy and gratitude about how well things are going around here. A month and a day ago, with the Winter Olympics and March Madness in the rearview, I announced the new format of this newsletter focusing on all sports rather than whatever big sporting event was going on at any given time. I wasn’t sure how people would respond.
I’m thrilled to say that we’ve picked up about 1,200 new subscribers since then, our second-best month ever outside of the Winter Olympics. That’s so wild to me! I wasn’t sure people would sign up just to read about whatever sports are going on in April and May! But a lot of you did!
Anyway, I just wanted to say: Thanks for being a part of this! I’m very excited to bring you fun sports stories! Here’s how to subscribe if you’re not subscribed already, and here’s how to upgrade to a paid membership to make sure I can keep writing this newsletter you subscribed to!
– Rodger Sherman
Today’s Lineup
A British soccer spying scandal. No not that one, a different one.
The best and worst of the MLB season so far.
Just an outrageous amount of soccer drama.
⚽️🕵️ Sweeper Keeper Striker Spy 🕵️⚽️
Picture published in The Athletic.
The most valuable match in world soccer is mired in controversy through a decidedly low-value spying scandal: An intern for second-tier English side Southampton was spotted spying on a practice for their playoff opponent, Middlesbrough. They’re calling it SpyGate 2.0, because there’s already been a similar scandal in English soccer, although with smaller stakes.
Sadly, the art of British spycraft has fallen off since the era of James Bond and George Smiley. This dude tried hiding behind a tree, ran away when spotted, and left an obvious paper trail. The fallout could be massive. With the two teams on the verge of a mega-millions promotion to the Premier League, the fates and futures of multiple clubs are on the line.
When I say “the most valuable match in world soccer,” I’m talking about the huge financial boost that comes with making the Premier League. Premiership teams make at least $150 million just from being in the league, and that’s without factoring in boosted ticket sales and sponsorship deals that come with increased exposure. Teams in the second tier only get around $30 million.
The top two teams in the second-tier Championship get automatic promotion to the Premier League. Teams 3-6 are entered into a playoff for the third and final spot. And that’s where our story begins …
Southampton and Middlesbrough finished in fourth and fifth place in the league, and were pitted against each other in the promotion playoff. As Middlesbrough practiced for their match, they noticed somebody standing behind a tree, filming them. Photos of the man have since been published in The Athletic.
Middlesbrough matched his image to a Southampton intern. Middlesbrough’s owner then found that the guy used his credit card to buy a coffee at the owner’s golf club a few hundred feet from the training ground.
Sky Sports reconstructed the entire incident in a report, identifying the tree the intern hid behind, and mapping out his escape route through the golf club’s bathroom.
Southampton ended up beating Middlesbrough in the second leg of the semifinals, advancing to the winner-take-all final against Hull City.
The brunt of criticism has fallen on Southampton’s manager, Tonda Eckert, a 33-year old German appointed to his first managerial job in November. In a recent press conference, a reporter asked Eckert straight-up, “are you a cheat?”, at which point Eckert left as Southampton press staff chided the reporter for being disrespectful.
… and a similar story came out about this exact same competition a few years ago, with a significantly different outcome. In 2019, Leeds United was caught sending spies to opposing teams’ practices as they were trying to earn promotion out of the Championship.
However, Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa pulled an all-time Uno reverse card: He openly admitted to the scheme, holding a 70-minute press conference to demonstrate the breadth of his game prep operation. Bielsa said he’d been sending scouts to opposing practices for his entire career, that it wasn’t illegal, that he didn’t know people would get mad about it, and that he didn’t really need to send scouts to opposing practices because of the sheer volume of information he assembled about opposing teams.
Amazingly, the incident burnished Bielsa’s reputation as one of the sport’s smartest and most meticulous coaches. An ESPN article at the time noted that Bielsa had “won the battle for hearts and minds” and “added to his sizeable coaching legend.”
(Bill Belichick should have just done this.)
But the Leeds precedent is not going to help Southampton. Bielsa was right that, at the time, there was no rule against what he did. Leeds received a light fine (200,000 pounds) for violating a vague ethics regulation (which Bielsa paid himself) but there wasn’t much more the people in charge of English soccer could do.
But! They almost immediately added a rule that banned scouting opponents’ training sessions within 72 hours of a match … and that’s a big problem for Southampton. Leeds got away with it because there was no rule on the books; now there’s a rule on the books.
What’s the punishment? Unclear! It seems like everything’s on the table. Right now, the championship playoff final is scheduled for next weekend between Southampton and Hull City, although the EFL board has noted that it could be moved.
Remember when Michigan won the 2023 college football national championship amidst a similarly clumsy spying scandal? Even then, with Michigan going on to win the national championship, the stakes were so much lower. Whether the NCAA ultimately decided to strip Michigan of their title, whether they imposed significant punishments on Michigan … nothing really would have changed about the program’s long-term standing.
But this incident doesn’t just effect the 2025-26 season, and how we’ll view it retrospectively. The punishment will impact who will be in the biggest soccer league on Earth next year! If Southampton gets promoted, it could change everything about their club — and if they’re held back, they could spend decades regretting their shoddy psyop.
⚾️🏟️ Your May MLB Update 🏟️⚾️
You don’t have time to watch 162 baseball games every year, but my guy Aidan Weiss does! A lot of surprising and cool and weird stuff is going on!
⚾️💨 How does somebody throw this fast? ⚾️💨
102.4, 103, 102.8, 102.7, 103.2, 103.3, 103.3, 103.5, 103.1, and 103.6. Those numbers were the velocity in MPH of the 10 pitches that Jacob Misiorowski threw in the first inning against the Yankees last Friday. He got two strikeouts and a lineout en route to six shutout innings. Nobody has ever seen anything like this guy.
Misiorowski was throwing hard last season, but the velocity for all four of his pitches has actually ticked UP this year, making his stuff even more filthy.
Last year, he was selected as an All-Star replacement after pitching in just five games, which sparked some negative feedback. He might start this year’s game at this rate.
“The Mis” also threw seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts Wednesday against San Diego, but ended up with a no-decision because his bullpen blew a 1-0 lead in the 9th. Close enough": Welcome back Mets Jacob deGrom!
🇯🇵🧦 South Side Samurai 🧦🇯🇵
Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami looks like the best free agency pickup of the offseason. Murakami has 15 home runs so far for the White Sox, good for third in MLB right now
What makes this really incredible? Nobody wanted him! His detractors noted high strikeout rates, struggles with velocity, and poor defensive metrics. Despite Murakami hitting 56 home runs in the notably pitcher-friendly Japanese league in 2022, the White Sox were able to get him on a two-year, $34 million contract — the 20th-biggest this offseason.
While he does strike out a lot (which nobody cares about anymore), seven of his 15 homers have been off fastballs, and he filled an obvious hole for Chicago at first base where defense isn’t as big of a concern.
It’s also just nice that the White Sox found somebody who agreed to play baseball for the White Sox. Pope Bobby is really doing his thing over there.
The other big free agency prize from Japan this offseason, Kazuma Okamoto, has 10 home runs for Toronto. It feels like MLB underestimated the talent coming from NPB.
🐻🍻🐦🔥 National > American 🏴☠️🔴
The NL is way better than the AL this year — see what happens when everybody gets to hit? — and the NL Central is particularly terrifying, with everybody over .500.
The Cubs were the popular pick to win the division this year, and they’ve lived up to the hype, ripping off MULTIPLE 10-game win streaks. Their starting pitching depth may be an issue down the line, but it hasn’t mattered so far.
The Brewers were also expected to be in contention, and contend they have. Even after trading Freddie Peralta, Milwaukee continues to be among the league leaders in most pitching stats, and it’s scoring enough runs to get by.
The Pirates had great pitching last year, but an atrocious offense. After shockingly spending some money in free agency, the Pirates can finally score runs, and Paul Skenes and Co. are still there.
The Reds and Cardinals are also above .500, although their metrics indicate that they’ve had some good luck to this point.
On the other hand, almost everyone in the AL is ranging from mid to bad right now, and I’m baffled as to what’s going on. While some teams were always expected to suck (see Angels, Los Angeles), the league’s preseason playoff contenders who are the real surprise.
The reigning AL champion Blue Jays are languishing in 12th place with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. being one of the worst hitters in the game right now. The perennial contender Astros are injured and bad. The Red Sox have already fired their manager and can’t score any runs.
All in all, there are more teams with winning records in the NL Central (five) than the entire American League (four out of 15 teams).
On the other hand, the Rays essentially blew up their roster in the offseason and have the best record in the AL. Some things never change.
✌️🧳 The Fired Coach Effect ✌️🧳
Two teams have fired their skippers so far: the aforementioned Red Sox released Alex Cora, and the Philadelphia Phillies removed Rob Thomson but offered him a special assistant role in the front office in a classic “you were good but please leave” move. Both teams have played well since making changes:
The Red Sox are 8-7 since firing Cora. Their starting rotation is in tatters due to injuries and poor play, and they seem to be attempting to re-emulate their 1918 championship season by hitting no home runs. However, bullpen play and progression in the rotation have helped them win a few.
Meanwhile, the Phillies are 11-4 since moving on from Thomson. After looking dead in the water in all aspects, they’re averaging 4.7 runs per game while only allowing 3.3.
A sad day in the NBA
Tuesday was a devastating day for NBA fans, as the league lost two players just a few hours apart.
Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke died at just 29 years old, the first active NBA player to die since 2016. He spent his seven-year career playing in Memphis. His obituary noted his charity work in the Memphis community. His death is being investigated as a possible drug overdose.
Thirteen-year NBA center Jason Collins died at 47 years old after a months-long fight with Stage 4 brain cancer. In 2013, Collins became the first openly gay active men’s pro athlete in a major American sport. He remains the only NBA player to ever come out during his playing career.
Collins wrote articles about his decision to come out and about his cancer diagnosis; both are vulnerable, brilliant pieces of writing. Collins said his years as an openly gay man were the happiest of his life. Sadly, he didn’t get as many as he deserved. But as he struggled with cancer, he wrote about how he hoped that his decision to come out might help others find the confidence to come out and live their best lives; and that even if his cancer treatments didn’t extend his own life, they might help scientists learn more about his rare, deadly disease. An incredible mindset from an incredible man.
🌈🌈 LET’S GO BOWS! 🌈🌈
Hawai’i won the NCAA men’s volleyball championship, packing Pauley Pavilion with rainbows despite their opponents, UC-Irvine, being about 2,500 miles closer to the venue. (I think there are a large number of Hawaiians in LA … but still!) The ‘Bows have a bit of a dynasty on the islands, now up to three national championships in six years. Every NCAA championship in Hawai’i history is in volleyball — four for the Rainbow Warriors, three for the Rainbow Wahine, although the women haven’t won since the 1980s.
🔥🔥 A Fire Rises 🔥🔥
The reborn Portland Fire won their first WNBA game in a shocker: a buzzer-beating putback by Sarah Ashlee Barker over the New York Liberty, one of the supposed best teams in the league. The sold-out Moda Center went nuts. (The WNBA’s other expansion team, the Toronto Tempo, also won their first game, but instead of winning on a buzzer-beater, they simply won by 13 points, which is less exciting I guess but still cool.)
💔💔 Hearts Breaker? 💔💔
Brutal update to our story about the Scottish Premiership last week: Hearts were essentially moments away from winning the title when officials gave Celtic a 99th-minute penalty. Hearts will win the league with a win or draw on Saturday, but now Celtic has a chance to win its fifth consecutive championship with a win.
BTW, I have been informed that I should have mentioned the #1 association Americans have with Heart: the plotline on Succession when Roman Roy buys the team for his father Logan without realizing he’s actually a lifelong fan of their Edinburgh rival, Hibs. (Sorry … I’ve never seen Succession. I know, I know, it’s good, everybody loves it, but how do you expect me to follow every sport on earth and watch prestige TV!)
⚽️📈 Another soccer update 📈⚽️
OK following up on another entry from a previous edition of Sports! the Newsletter: Remember that wild match to decide who got to win the fifth division in English soccer, when Rochdale FC appeared to score a goal to win promotion, and the ensuing pitch-storming by their fans bought their opponent enough time to regroup and score? The story has a happy-and-yet-equally-crazy ending: Rochdale fought their way to the final of the promotion playoff, scored a game-tying goal in the 97th minute, and won in penalties.
🍑🔚 BUTT-ENDING 🍑🔚
I learned a new hockey penalty during the Wild-Avalanche playoff series; Colorado’s Josh Manson received a four-minute double minor for ATTEMPTED BUTT-ENDING. Apparently, this is the official term for when a player jabs an opponent with the handle of their stick, which I guess the league has officially decided is the stick’s butt. It was only the fourth time butt-ending has been called in the 21st century.
⚾️🔍 It is high, it is far, it is … lost? ⚾️🔍
Vanderbilt was robbed in a critical game against Missouri after a probable home run got lost in the fog. Trailing 7-6 with two men on base, a Vandy hitter crushed the ball into the right-field gap … but nobody saw where it went. I think it probably went over the fence, and advanced ball-tracking data agrees, but even if it didn’t, nobody could find the ball. I feel like the players should be allowed to keep running until the defense finds the ball! That’s your problem, figure it out! Instead, the umps declared it a ground-rule double and called the game due to the fog. When the teams came back the next day, Missouri won in extra innings. Vandy is currently right on the NCAA Tournament bubble and really could’ve used the W.
⛳️🏌️♀️ PGA Championship 🏌️♀️⛳️
Thursday through Sunday at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania (ESPN and CBS, final round on CBS)
We all know the four golf majors: the pretty one, the British one, the American one, and … uhhh … the other one! The likes of Rory McIlroy and defending champ Scottie Scheffler will be in contention yet again. But I’ve got my eye on Xander Schauffele, one of the PGA tour’s best scramblers, which might be key at Aronimink, where McIlroy said “strategy off the tee is nonexistent.”
We’re posting this after the actual start of the PGA Championship, but we’re not alone in lateness. Garrick Higgo was given a two-stroke penalty for missing his 7:18 a.m. tee time Thursday morning. Not something you see a lot in major tournaments!
⛹️♂️⛹️♂️ NBA Playoffs Update ⛹️♂️⛹️♂️
No upcoming Knicks games, BECAUSE THEY SWEPT THE SIXERS AND GOT AN ENTIRE WEEK OFF!
🚙 Pistons – ⚔️ Cavaliers (CLE leads 3-2) – Cleveland has won three in a row with Donovan Mitchell and James Harden alternating big games. The plan is coming together the way Kobi Altman envisioned when he flipped Darius Garland for Harden at the deadline. I said before the series that the Jarrett Allen-Jalen Duren matchup could decide the series, and while Allen hasn’t been a world-beater, Duren has been atrocious to the point of being benched for the entire fourth quarter and overtime of Game 5 in favor of “BBall” Paul Reed, who was lowkey Detroit’s best player down the stretch. (Game 6: Friday, 7 p.m. ET; Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, TBD)
🤠 Spurs – 🌲 Timberwolves (SAS leads 3-2) – San Antonio looks dominant in games when Victor Wembanyama does not get ejected for elbowing a dude in the neck. San Antonio put up 68(!!) points in the paint in its Game 5 win with Wemby and Co., simply outsizing and outrunning the Timberwolves’ paint protectors. On the other end, the Wolves can’t score enough to keep up. Would they match up better with San Antonio if they still had Karl-Anthony Towns? (Game 6: Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET; Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, TBD)
🏒🥅 NHL Playoffs Update 🥅🏒
Two series left here as well. After Carolina swept Philadelphia, the Avalanche took down the Wild in five to move on to the conference finals.
🤺 Sabres – 🇨🇦 Canadiens (Series tied 2-2) – If you watch any playoff hockey, make it this series. Zach Benson’s third-period wrister gave Buffalo the win in Game 4. Can either team beat Carolina in the next round? Who cares? I’m having a great time right now! (Game 5: Thursday, 7 p.m. ET; Game 6: Saturday, 8 p.m. ET)
🎰 Golden Knights – 🦆 Ducks (VGK leads 3-2) – The Ducks both scored a power play goal and got a good Lukáš Dostál performance in net — the two keys I wrote about on Monday — aaaaand they still lost a pivotal Game 5 in a 2-2 series. (Game 6: Thursday, 9:30 p.m. ET; Game 7 (if necessary): Saturday, 5 p.m. ET)
🏒🥅 PWHL Finals 🥅🏒
Game 1 Thursday at 7 p.m. ET, Game 2 Saturday at 2 p.m. ET (Youtube)
We’ve got an all-Canada finals between the Ottawa Charge and Montreal Victoire! The Victoire should be the heavy favorite here; they dominated the regular season with the most wins and best goal differential, and have Team Canada’s captain and goalie in Marie-Philip Poulin and Ann-Renée Desbiens. (I do love that they emphasized Québécois-ness in their roster construction.) But when given the choice, they did specifically choose not to play the 4th-seeded Charge in their first round series, and Ottawa easily dispatched its first-round opponent in four games.
🏒🥅 IIHF Men’s World Championship 🥅🏒
Starts Friday, runs through the rest of the month (NHL Network)
A lot of hockey in here! What a time for puckheads!
Team USA is the reigning champion after winning this tournament last year for the first time since since 1933 (and they won gold at the Olympics, in case you forgot!) But the roster is quite a bit different, since the NHL playoffs are ongoing and only eliminated players are available. The only 2026 Olympian on the roster is Matthew Tkachuk, but they should still be among the tournament favorites. Sidney Crosby surprisingly announced he’s playing this one. Remember, he’s 38 years old, he suffered an injury in Milan, and the Penguins were playing playoff hockey just a few days ago. You’ve gotta figure he’s motivated by that overtime loss in the gold medal game to Team USA.
🐴🌻👒 Preakness Stakes 👒🌻🐴
Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, in Baltimore (NBC)
Kentucky Derby champ Golden Tempo won’t be running this one, so throw out the Triple Crown chances for this year. In fact, only three horses from the Derby are running, and third-place finisher Ocelli has the best odds among them. Golden Tempo’s jockey, Jose Ortiz, will be riding the wonderfully named Chip Honcho. Iron Honor has the best odds, but I do not like the vibes of that name at all.
🎾🏆 NCAA tennis championships 🏆🎾
Thursday through Sunday, Athens, Georgia (NCAA.com)
Eight teams left for both the men and the women, and we’ve got clear favorites on both sides. For the men, Wake Forest is the top seed and defending champion; for the women, Georgia is the top seed and defending champion (and playing at home!)
🥎🥎 NCAA Softball regionals 🥎🥎
Friday-Sunday (ESPN family of networks)
64 teams enter, 16 teams leave. I’m rooting for basically any mid-major to get out of the first weekend. Last year, the only one to make it through was Liberty, which, you know, not exactly a Cinderella story. I’m wondering if maybe Belmont, whose ace pitcher Maya Johnson has a 0.66 ERA and dominant wins over Georgia and Mississippi State, can take down #1 Alabama. Keep an eye on ESPN’s 7Innings Live whiparound coverage to see if anything fun shakes loose.
🏉🏴🇫🇷 Women’s Six Nations: England vs. France 🏉🏴🇫🇷
Sunday, 11:45 a.m. ET, in Bordeaux, France (Peacock)
For the fourth-straight year, the championship of this round robin rugby competition comes down to undefeated England vs. undefeated France in the final week. England has won the last three meetings, as part of a seven-year Six Nations winning streak for the Red Roses. However, France is getting closer: the score was 43-42 England last year, and this time they’re playing in France.
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