Is Cinderella’s Time Up

…From ditching them on Halloween because they were slowing her candy collection process down, to still ruining Christmases with obsessive board game playing, she told David Letterman all about it. 

Jessica Pegula multi-sport athlete. The tennis star is also a gamer, and she’s the first tennis player to ink a partnership with Call of Duty. Next up? Mountain Code Red. 

If you didn’t see much of the Tokyo Series, worry not. Kiké Hernández took a camcorder and delivered BTS footage for Player’s Tribune. 

At 6’7”, Lauren Betts is the biggest Adam Sandler fan. And despite towering over him, she was still starstruck. Also, it happened right after she said “What if we see Adam Sandler,” so we should probably also fear her manifestation abilities. 

We’re more alike than we are different. Except for tall people and short people, who are so different, it’s a physically impossibility for the two parties to even engage in a productive hug. Thanks to Moritz Wagner and NPR for teaching us this.

@swishcultures

Moses Moody was in his bag with this one. #nba #mosesmoody

Both the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments have seemed to lack that je ne Cinderella quoi this year. On the men’s side, for the first time since 2007, the Sweet 16 features no teams seeded 11 or higher. Stephen A. Smith thinks that’s because bigger schools can pull players away from mid-majors with the promise of NIL money, and this could spell disaster for college hoops. And he’s not wrong. This year, it’s only teams from the major conferences in the Sweet 16—something that hasn’t happened since 1975. 

It’s been more of the same on the women’s side. It’s blowout city over there, with eight bigger wins than the biggest win on the men’s side (thank you, Rodger Sherman, for that stat). By the way, Rodger’s “Daily Cinderella” section of his newsletter has been rather bleak. 

To be clear, our official stance is that the games themselves have still been fun. So has the show of it all, the competing brackets, the memes and fodder. But to say the romance factor has been less than prevalent this year around does seem fair. 

Jay Williams has a, well, let’s say, more extreme take. He says players at schools like Colorado State, McNeese State, Drake will just be poached by power conferences. “NIL is the death of mid-major Cinderella runs,” Williams says. A poll under the original tweet shows users mostly agree with him. They all have a point. It’s not like Plies is delivering speeches to the South Dakota State Jack Rabbits. 

So, what the heck do we do? Yeah, we, you are a part of this now too. How can we act, and fast, to maintain the magic of a tournament with such long-standing cultural hallow? It depends! We can’t regulate NIL, we are just a newsletter (and a website and social accounts). 

What we can do is find the magic in everyday. Skip outside. Smile at a cynic. Send $10 to St. Peter’s University athletic department. Rep the little guy. And do whatever you can to keep the je ne Cinderella quoi in your own life.

Puma’s latest collab with Afroman, where they rewrote “Because I Got High” to be about how running gives you the ultimate high has been a smash success because nostalgia is a hell of a drug, but also because brands have collectively decided running is fun.

It’s a timely reminder that sometimes sports can just be fun for the sake of being fun. Running can sometimes be intimidating, seeing your friends, co-workers, and people on the internet posting their PB (personal best, not peanut butter) times, ultramarathon training updates, and Strava screenshots on IG. Brands want you to know that it’s okay just to get out there and enjoy running (and also to please buy their shiny shoes).

On’s campaign with Sesame Street last month, where Elmo decries, “Elmo likes soft…could that win? Don’t be so hard on yourself,” whistles a similar melody. Running should be fun. Running is fun. A message they hammer so far home you even see Elmo’s legs and feet in the ad. 

Other running brands, like Brooks, are relying on a cast of diverse influencers with good vibes to tell the same story. Running is fun. If you’re wondering why we keep repeating that, it’s because we’re hoping we believe it soon, too.