Is Austin Reaves Quirked Up?

…Says Daniel-Yaw Miller, writer of our favorite newsletter, SportsVerse. At some point, if everyone gets a shoe, getting a shoe doesn’t mean a whole lot. Now, having said that, all of my favorite players deserve a shoe. 

The NFL tunnel isn’t just for fits anymore. Sundays may be for playing games, but from Travis to JJ to Joe Burrow, the rest of the week is a 24/7 catwalk. Even the mascots are proving their influence via designer accessories. 

It’s very possible that the only worthy adversary for LeBron James, ever, will be time. Whether or not he concedes to it this year, or the next, or the next, is to be determined. But the day he says goodbye is going to be a real biotch for us all. 

Speaking of goodbyes, some people are worried John Cena won’t get the goodbye he deserves, but he definitely deserves a drawn-out one, with lots of tears and hugs…and body slams.

Jannik Sinner is the king of cool on the court in Nike. But on the slopes, he’s the king of chic in Gucci, the Italian luxury brand he first partnered with back in 2022.  Also, yeah, if you didn’t know, Sinner loves skiing and says it even made him a better tennis player. He’s one of those really annoying guys who’s good at everything.

“I thought we’d see more athletes in costumes leading up to the big day.” -me, someone who is totally lazy about Halloween and undoubtedly underperforms every single year on Halloween. 

In college, it’s a requirement to have four different costumes per year, minimum. Have we lost all sense of wonder? Where are all the NBA players in their Joker costumes? Wemby, who is lowkey goated when the vibe is dressing up for Halloween, warned us ahead of time that we weren’t getting a costume. The Raptors gave us a little something. Most specifically, Scottie Barnes. And so did the Bucks.

And since the NBA didn’t quite bring it the way they have before, other leagues picked up the slack. The Bucs’ rookies did understand their assignments, even if they didn’t want to admit it. And the Gotham FC rookies…well…you just have to watch.

@100purcent

Can’t take them nowhere 😂 @khyah @Sofia Cook

The Indiana Fever took us through a haunted house. Speaking of that, here’s how your faves would do in a haunted house. And things got a little strange for the Lions. Also, LeBron is giving us a whole children’s book. 

Anyway, since I write this newsletter the night before it lands in your inbox (that’s how time works, unfortunately), there’s still time for even more Halloween fun tonight! 

The biggest topic around the proverbial office (some of us in office, others on Zoom) today was whether or not Austin Reaves qualifies as a Quirked Up White Boy. He didn’t make my original list, because I tend to believe he does not meet the requirements. For instance, an arbitrary bar I have recently set is that if you use country music on an IG post, you are not QUWB material. 

The QUWB must break societal norms in some way. He must, as the name suggests, have quirks. Does Austin have that? Some of my colleagues argue yes, of course. Thanks to these Lemon Daddy ads, I see what they mean to some extent. But looking to those that came before him, like Justin Bieber, who has been the QUWB of the week thanks to the World Series, but was also maybe the original, and you’ll see Austin isn’t quite there. 

He definitely has the chops on the court. His performance has been the talk of the timeline this week. And he’s certainly worthy of a newsletter write-up in general, because he is cool (that was the official ruling in our meeting, by the way…he’s cool, but not a QUWB). He’s also arguably too sweet to he a QUWB. Regardless, he’s special. And also kinda funny. And above all, he’s understandably one of LA’s most beloved players at the moment. He might even be the white boy of the century, according to some. 

By the way, if you have any fun criteria you’d love to add to the QUWB aside from which music plays over their IG posts, please let me know. 

Watch the runners in the NYC marathon.

Get a parrot and teach it to watch sports.

Take a crash course in business, courtesy of a very bright 22-year-old.