… The Connecticut Sun took a curtain call to mark the end of the WNBA regular season Thursday night. After 24 years, the Sun in the Nutmeg State, the franchise will relocate to Houston in 2027. Annie Costabile of The Athletic captured the fans’ emotional farewells to their beloved team. As WNBAArt so perfectly concluded, “Diva down.”

I guest-wrote something for my favorite Substack “Basketball Feelings” by one of my favorite people, Katie Heindl, about how grief and sports are surprisingly intertwined. I keep getting feedback that it made people cry, so this is your warning: Don’t read unless you’re in a place you can cry—or if you’re ok crying in public, which I fully support. 

Carlos Sainz took F1 by storm as a driver, but apparently, he’s an even better curator. Alba Carballal Muiños of Esses shadowed Sainz during the development of his Fifty Five and Team Fifty 5, an homage to Madrid and a salute to excellent cultural taste.

Speaking of second jobs, Harry Kane (yes, England captain and all-world striker Harry Kane) is very serious about becoming an NFL placekicker after his soccer glory days have ended. Kane has never been shy about his bottomless love for Tom Brady and New England Patriots fandom. Watch your back, Andy Borregales. 

Fernando Mendoza, never change. The Raiders QB announced via LinkedIn that he was starting a series — “Finance with Fernando” — to teach Gen Z about fiscal responsibility. I’m personally also hoping he can teach millennials about fiscal responsibility, because I could use the help.

There’s really no other way to say it: The city of LA is, what we on the internet like to call, down bad. And by that I don’t mean they have a crush on someone. I mean that they are having a historically bad time. I keep predicting they’re on the precipice of a beautiful renaissance, but I’m still waiting for that to be true. Luckily, I’m never wrong, just early. 

The pride of the LA college football sphere, USC (in these very sick cleats), is set to play Oregon in a very big, sold-out home game on Saturday. And I guess I just feel like the city needs a pep talk. For starters, I know USC is scared because they barely beat Rutgers, but there are still reasons to root for them. Like how linebacker Braylan Shelby is such a Wife Guy (Or Girlfriend Guy, in this case). He’s dating Coastal Carolina volleyball player Anzley Rinard, and they are adorable. 

I know, half of the Rams two-headed defensive monster was sidelined recently, and while we’re wishing a speedy recovery for Myles Garrett, let’s look at the positives. Like, for instance, Davante Adams’ in-home Taco Bell location (which was used in this commercial) is actually real. Plus, they’re good! Which is more than that other LA football team can say...

The Chargers stink. I don’t know how to soften that. The good news for them is that they probably won’t get worse. And most people are Chargers fans for their social content anyway, which is still the best in the biz.

Oh yeah, the Clippers, let’s see the positive we can find there…thinking…thinking…we’ll come back to that. 

The Lakers lost LeBron, and they’re lowkey unrecognizable now, but we might have some new nominees for No. 1 Quirked Up White Boy. JJ Redick said not all of them will be white, though. Also, the Lakers x Taschen book is here. We’ll take the W! 

The Sparks lost (traded) Kelsey Plum earlier this season and will now say goodbye to Sparks icon Nneka Ogwumike, who has officially retired. That’s a tough one, but I have no doubt in my mind that she’ll still be on our TVs in some way, shape, or form, at least weekly. Cameron Brink’s goodbye to Nneka is very sweet. It’s nice to have Cameron Brink in LA. Let’s keep her there. 

And I know I just listed a lot of bad happenings, but let’s consider the most exciting news of all: Shohei Ohtani is back from injury. Sad news for Decoy, probably, who will miss all that quality father-dog Sho-time. But very happy news for baseball, who treated his return more like a World Series montage than just another Wednesday night in September. 

So, not everything is all bad! And even if these small positives don’t feel like they outweigh the negatives (and the others) don’t forget that the pendulum always swings. LA will have its day in the sun once again (me when I lie). 

Ah, wait, sorry, it seems I promised I’d come back with a silver lining for the situation the Clippers are currently in, but I think I’m going to take a rain check.

I’m in the market for a new show — I just crushed “Furious” in like two and a half days. And since that was quite a dark experience, I went digging for some TV that might be a little lighter, or even (sue me) wrapped up in a nice little bow. Here are the sports shows (or sports-adjacent shows) on my radar.

As mentioned above in our MVP section, Jalen Brunson will be hosting “Saturday Night Live” this weekend and based on the trailer it seems like it’s actually going to be good. So, I guess he’s just a really good actor too? Smh. Anyway, here are the Knicks that Bill and Zach think will make cameos.

One Tree Hill returned to its roots for a “Hey 23” basketball game 23 years after the hit series debuted on The WB. Die-hards never forgot about Haley flirting with Nathan by yelling, “Hey, 23! Call me!” during basketball practice, but ESPN’s Tory Cabrera did a deep dive (and the Lord’s work) on the show’s lore and anniversary game. James Lafferty and Chad Michael Murray are still so committed to their characters that they’re selling limited-edition Ravens merch. Since I’ve never seen the show, it’s now at the top of my to-dos. 

Desean Jackson is roaming the sidelines as head coach at Delaware State now, but thanks to his brother’s 35 years’ worth of video footage, he will always be remembered as one of the NFL’s most dynamic receivers. Go Deep: The Desean Jackson Story is a football doc, sure, but it’s also a generational story. 

Remember “A Different World”? It’s getting the reboot treatment, and it will have some sporty storylines, thanks to Cornell Young IV. In the show, he plays Shaquille Johnson, but in real life he was living the Troy Bolton lifestyle.

Get ready to learn Lakers history, buddy. Buy this Lakers x Tarschen book. 

Consider ballet as your next hobby. Watch Carlos Alcaraz and Sherry Tay for a YouTube tutorial. 

If you live near Tempe, NHL player and artist, Jacob Trouba, has an exhibit at ASU Art Museum. You could use a little culture, let’s be real.