…From being traded to the Phoenix Mercury from the LA Sparks, which I have many, many, many thoughts about, to soft-launching her new partnership with Adidas, which has put her in the Adidas Crazy Energy sneaker style (one of the coolest hooper sneakers out there, in my humble opinion), she’s the talk of the town.  

If you thought you were going to be allowed to come up for oxygen after the busiest sports June and July ever, you were sadly mistaken. Or happily mistaken, I guess. There’s still lots to watch, from “Hard Knocks” to the Little League World Series to Season 4 of “Ted Lasso.” Thank you to The Athletic’s Steven Louis Goldstein for compiling it all here. 

Because women can’t let men have anything (kidding!), male athletes are becoming the face of the beauty industry. We’re speaking specifically, and especially, about all those men’s soccer players who made the world swoon during the World Cup. What with the hydration breaks and Jude Bellingham’s flawless face, it was kind of the perfect time to be the beautiful game .

I love reading other people’s diaries. With their consent, OBVIOUSLY! Melissa Kenny’s tennis diary “Hard Hitting” on Substack, features all the best tennis-based happenings in NYC, and a cameo by my friend, Daniel-Yaw Miller, author of course of the pesky kid newsletter.  

The first WPBL Game was a hit! Literally! Denae Benites made herstory with the league’s first home run — watch that here. And I kind of have to mention the National Anthem, which was… well, I’ll let you be the judge. 

Donovan Mitchell and Tyrese Haliburton had dueling weddings this weekend. 

I understand that as a professional athlete, you only have a certain number of weekends free each year. But this still gives me pause. Certainly there were many people who couldn’t be at both, I thought to myself. As someone who agonizes over hosting events and whether or not people will come, I started to get stressed. 

And it’s a tough call. Donovan and Hali are both real ones. Total sweethearts. But, ultimately, if invited, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d choose Hali’s wedding. He’s had a rough year, and he deserves to forget that for at least one night.  

Anyway, I asked my IG followers which wedding they would have chosen out of curiosity, and I was surprised it wasn’t close at all. I thought the fact that Coco Jones would be at (involved, in fact) Donovan’s suggested he’d win in a landslide. 

Jaylen Brown, who insisted on getting an invite earlier this year, went to Donovan’s wedding. 

So did Bam Adebayo (no A’ja, who is mid season right now).

Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson were both there, too. No hard feeling about the Eastern Conference finals, it would appear.

Ciara and Russell Wilson were there. And Taylor Rooks too. 

When I was scraping the bottom of the internet trying to find any footage from Hali’s wedding (it must have been a no-phones, Taylor-Travis-like situation), I could only find a 50 Cent performance (he played “I Run New York”, obviously) …

…And a photo of Harrison Barnes and Marvin Bagley III.

But wait! Taylor Rooks was at BOTH weddings. Is that what everyone was doing? I need answers! 

I asked Sports Gossip’s Madeline Hill (the hosts of that amazing show being the foremost experts on athlete weddings, of course) which she’d opt in for, but she was diplomatic. Though I’m sensing a Donovan Mitchell buried in that answer. 

So, who else went to Tyrese Haliburton’s wedding? Why am I stressing about this?

My colleague, Bella, is the genius editor and producer behind much of our best social media content, but she also has a really fun voice and writing style, so when she was invited to WWE Summer Slam on a brand trip, it was a no-brainer to have her write about her experience. Take it away, girl! 

There are few things I love more than watching people beat each other up, but food is one of those things.

So when Ashtyn asked me if I was free for a Wingstop x WWE trip, I just about moonsaulted at the opportunity. 

I landed in Minneapolis on Friday night and kicked off my weekend the way most #young, #cool, and #hip folks would: at the Mall of America. No tea, no shade. Everything was… fine.

A face mask, some take-out, and a good night’s sleep later, I woke up Saturday morning absolutely freaking out over the day ahead.

WWE has a special place in my heart. I used to watch it religiously with my family growing up, thought The Rock was my dad at one point (truly a story for another day), dyed my hair red for years because of Lita, and so on. 

And now here I was, getting ready to attend my first SummerSlam :’) 

Before heading to U.S. Bank Stadium, some of my new media pals and I were taken to a VIP dinner experience at a local Wingstop. (I, too, cannot believe I just typed those words.) And then we were off!

Night 1 of SummerSlam was insane (positive).

Liv Morgan and Iyo Sky kicked things off with a bang, with Morgan ultimately retaining her Women’s World Title. Solo Sikoa ran back Jey Uso’s entrance mid-men’s six-person tag match. SmackDown GM Nick Aldis made his official WWE in-ring debut—and I can confirm, despite the loss, he’s still got it. Though, I will say, seeing Aldis with his wife (the legend Mickie James) and their son after the match grew my cold, Grinch heart many sizes. The Bellas turned on Paige (another sentence I never thought I’d write). CM Punk defeated Cody Rhodes, with a little help of clears throat AN RKO OUT OF NOWHERE. And Brock Lesnar returned to the Brocktagon for a Hell In A Cell match against Oba Femi.

The only thing that was missing from an otherwise perfect night was a rogue “IF YOU SMELLLLLLLL” at some point in the show. 

Maybe next time.