…One of our most decorated popstars and this writer’s favorite tight end might be tying the knot at Madison Square Garden. It’s been rumored for a few weeks, but Mayor Mamdani making a point to mention it in this presser has people thinking it might actually be real. ‘Here Comes the Bride’ performed by the Phantom of MSG would be kinda sick. 

Another hockey romance flick is on the way, and it’s getting the Jemima Kirke “what the hell, sure” meme from me. I’ll probably watch it, but I won’t be happy about it (until the episode when suddenly it’s all I care about). This production comes from Alex Cooper and Gossip Girl’s Amanda Lasher.  

Serena Williams is BACK, baby! After her comeback in London was cut short last week by an injury to her doubles partner Vicky Mboko, Serena will be re-paired with her older sis Venus at Wimbledon. Just like the good old days! More Serena summer news: she’ll also be producing this doc on the Toronto Tempo with Ryan Reynolds. 

I would die for Monica McNutt. So reading this Andscape profile from Sheila Matthews about the importance of female friendships to Monica was a real treat. And you don’t have to die to read it.  

Joon Lee wrote a beautiful piece about how the Knicks gave the self-proclaimed Center of the Universe (aka New York City) that small-town feeling. And he worked in an appreciation of how good Olivia Rodrigo’s album is. Two subjects I’m constantly thinking about, too. 

After the tournament is all said and done, 2,500 people will have experienced the magic of the World Cup in real life, and it’s all thanks to Verizon, who will have given out tickets to all 64 games for free.99.

I am one of those lucky fans, or perhaps I’m the 2,501st person because I don’t know if media members count, and I didn’t ask for clarification. I also didn’t even have to throw my hat in the ring via the Verizon app like most of the hashtag blessed fans. They just offered me a bangin’ seat at the most bangin’ game I could have imagined.

I sat in approximately the ninth row at the France-Senegal game yesterday, and it’s an experience I’ll never forget. No doi (we’re bringing back “no doi”, by the way — we can discuss that later), of course I won’t forget it, but it bears writing. 

The opportunity, the stakes, the possibilities of this particular game all bore so much weight, I had my colleague Dan rooting for the Spurs in the NBA Finals. The reason? If there was a Spurs-Knicks Game 6, I would have been credentialed for that and would have begged Verizon to send him in my place. Free.99 problems, I know. 

The gameday experience was so lovely, it honestly felt like I was too uncivilized for the beautiful game (why wasn’t anyone else yelling at the refs or answering my “let’s f*cking go’s” with high fives, I wonder) or at least the international version of it. 

I’ve been to meaningful games before, at White Hart Lane (RIP) and Emirates Stadium and Providence Park and Red Bull Stadium and so on and so forth. But this one stands on its own. 

It had young women from Senegal laughing and bonding with the old men in French gear whom they were seated next to. American fans learning the rules of soccer for the first time. Abuzz fans declaring: “Ok I think I’m officially in on soccer.” Fathers and daughters in matching face paint. Jerseys of teams you couldn’t guess (shout out to the Portland Hearts of Pine fans who were repping hard). Fans going totally berserk upon finding out Mikal Bridges and Deuce McBride and OG Anunoby were in attendance (that was one of my favorite parts). 

The most remarkable thing about it, though, was that the final result (3-1 France) didn’t even ruin Senegal fans’ time. They left the stadium just as cheery as the rest of us. 

It feels alien to an American fan like myself, who so many times has trudged and moped lifelessly back to the car after a loss because life was (figuratively) no longer worth living. Embarrassing to think about when you walk through Midtown Manhattan and find Norwegian fans kicking a ball around in the streets with Moroccan fans. 

And I don’t mean to say they don’t care about the result of the game. Yes, everyone wants to win! But I admittedly have never fully grasped that life (or the game and trip, in some cases) doesn’t start and end with their team’s game. 

Some flew thousands of miles to style their kilts with their kits (shout out to the Scottish fans I saw today). They braved NJ Transit so they could get on the Jumbotron and brag about that for years. The World Cup is about world class soccer, but it’s about experiencing each other, more than anything.  

I’m touched by most of what I saw, and I’m touched that so many who wouldn’t usually splurge on tickets so expensive get to experience that. It’s touching to imagine fans moving around their entire schedules and counting down the days until this monumental moment. It’s touching to think some of those fans won golden tickets and got to watch part of the game pitchside. It’s all very touching to me. Which is something that happens to me when I remember how lucky I am to be able to go do these things. And how lucky we all are to have sports. And each other. 

One thing about me is I love a good old-fashioned panel. I like listening to smart people tell me hard things are possible. I’m headed this weekend, and I figured I’d highlight the discussions at LIONS Sport I’m excited about. 

The first I want to shout out, even though it’s the last one, is obviously my colleague Dan’s talk that takes all the learnings from the weekend and answers the question “Where do sports go from here?” (although I do think he could just Slack me and not keep me on the edge of my seat until the closing keynote…). 

I’m also excited to hear from Mohammed Sehly about the importance of risk in sports marketing in a talk called Safe vs. Sorry. 

F1 star George Russell will be there to talk about how pressure reveals greatness, so basically how you can be built different. Tara Davis-Woodhall will talk about how ATHLOS is breaking the mold. Susie Wolff will be chatting about how to keep girls playing sports, something I never shut up about (if you have a daughter, force her to keep playing sports please). 

And Nick Keller will be talking about the value of humanness and inclusion versus AI and scarcity. Because if we can’t afford the tickets, TV packages, and merch what the heck are we doing, anyway? So true, Nick.

And I’ll be there walking around if you want to say hi. Because no one asked me to talk anywhere. Maybe I’ll try the Kendrick Perkins approach next time.