The New Paris Heist, Sports Edition

What’s poppin’, devoted readers? Leaving a note here to say that after today, I’m gettin’ out of Dodge. Don’t worry, just for a week. In my absence, the newsletter will be written by my colleague (whom you already know and love, Daniel-Yaw Miller, curator of the sublime SportsVerse newsletter). I’ll miss you all more than you know, but the croissants and galettes des rois will temper the sting of my withdrawal. Let me know if you have recs for watching NFL games in Paris. My DMs are always open. Bye! 

…Wrong. Well, we can’t speak on their behalf, but being head coach of an elite franchise and finding out 1) you’re getting the sack, but 2) you’re getting a $13.5 million payout, must leave you feeling pretty smug. Let us know where to apply. 

Oh, you thought we reached Peak Sports Media? Think again. Fanatics and OBB Media are linking up to bring us Fanatics Studios, an all-new sports and entertainment platform set to launch projects with the likes of Tom Brady, the ESPYs and the 2028 Olympics, focused on creating documentaries, originals, and live event specials.

Real ones know modern skating isn’t just about pulling off crazy tricks. It’s also about strength and conditioning, keeping your body in shape. That’s why pros like Ishod Wair, Louie Lopez and Dashawn Jordan are flocking to Contra Sports Club, a performance gym in LA run by trusted fitness guru Paul Rodriguez. Read the full story in Highsnob.

This is not an Oscar De La Rental. For the 2026 Olympic Games, designers like Oscar De La Renta are dipping their toes into the sports outfitting space, most notably with Canadian figure skater Deanna Stellato-Dudek. More like Oscar De La Handcrafted Just For These Athletes.

Speaking of sports merch, the women’s basketball program at Harvard is out to prove that nerds can most definitely hoop too. The defending Ivy League champs even made it their new motto. Get your hands on that good new merch for +10 IQ per game.

Paris FC eliminated Paris Saint-Germain in the French Cup with a 1-0 win earlier this week. On the face of it, just another local derby. But beneath the surface, it was one of those Golden Globe-worthy scripts that only professional sports could cook up. 

To call it a robbery, a heist to rival that of the Louvre last year, a giant killing, would not do the magnitude of this result justice in a sporting context. 

Allow me to set the scene. We all know about local rivalries. But what do you know about local rivalries? The respective stadia of Paris FC and Paris Saint-Germain are so close they are basically touching. Don’t believe me? Look at this. At an estimated distance of 100 meters, it’s without doubt, soccer’s most local derby. Talk about keeping your enemies close. 

Distance isn’t even the half of it. Paris FC, for a long time, were cash-strapped minnows in the shadow of their wealthy neighbors, PSG, whose Qatari-backed billions saw a host of football stardom pass through the doors at their stadium over the years, from Messi to Neymar to Mbappé. 

But as we know, fortunes can turn in the blink of an eye in sports. In late 2024, Paris FC was acquired by the Arnault family (billionaire owners of the luxury group, LVMH) in partnership with Red Bull, with the ambition of turning the humble Paris team into a superpower worthy of rivaling PSG. 

Then, last season, Paris FC were promoted to Ligue 1, the top division of French football, putting them on a collision course with PSG far sooner than anyone expected. It set up the perfect David and Goliath subplot: the old French money of Paris FC vs. the new money kids PSG, fresh off their Champions League glory last season. 

When it came down to the game, of course, a giant killing was the only thing that the world of sport was calling for (sorry PSG fans). And it was only right that the game winner, the only goal of the game, was scored for Paris FC by Jonathan Ikoné, a former graduate of the PSG Academy, no less. You couldn’t make it up. No doubt Netflix is already cooking up the docuseries. 

Did you know that until this year, Team USA’s women’s hockey hadn’t had Black women's representation? Laila Edwards is changing that, finally, and it’s a task that she finds equally overwhelming and privileged. The first issue with representation in hockey is the accessibility element, she says. No doubt this will change, as women’s sports continue to gain momentum, but in the meantime, Laila is leaving her mark on women’s hockey in every way she possibly can. 

So it’s no surprise she’s looking to her top five favorite athletes ever: Simone Biles, Hillary Knight, Lindsey Vonn, Katie Ledecky, and Chloe Kim. 

She’s used to juggling a lot of things at once (school, homework, and general college-induced anxieties, because she’s still a student at Wisconsin), but that doesn’t mean she’ll be taking up figure skating any time soon. Although she could, if you ask me.