After a typically slow sports summer — that’s just how it goes — everything is happening at once! Specifically, the start of the NBA and NHL seasons, plus baseball's playoffs. (And, if we're being honest, pro and college football's a big deal now too, but we’re not going to cover EVERYthing in one email.) Ready for the super quick highlights, lightning round style? Let’s go!
Baseball’s Final Four
- In the ALCS (that's the American League Championship Series), the defending champ Houston Astros are facing the Boston Red Sox, who defeated their arch-nemeses, the New York Yankees, in the divisional round. That best-of-seven-game series is tied at one game apiece.
- In the NLCS, the big-money Los Angeles Dodgers are also tied at one game apiece with the quirky Milwaukee Brewers, who have been using some fun pitching strategies, like going full games without using a true starting pitcher at all.
An Intriguing NBA Season Starts Tuesday
The biggest stories here:
- LeBron is a Los Angeles Laker now. He’s accompanied by some exciting young talent, and, oddly, a group of veterans that includes many of his former worst enemies. (For more on the Lakers, subscribe at the Really Good Starter level here.)
- The already dominant Golden State Warriors will be defending their title with an additional All-Star in tow, thanks to their shocking off-season signing of center DeMarcus Cousins. The reason this season is still worth playing: Cousins is currently injured, and he's kind of overrated anyway.
- Back east, the Boston Celtics have added TWO All-Stars to the team that nearly made the Finals last year, just by those stars -- Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward -- recovering from injuries. (And Kyrie has now apologized to science teachers for saying last season that the earth is flat so... that's good?)
Ice Hockey And Its Hangovers
- After finally winning the Stanley Cup (the NHL's awesome championship trophy) in his 13th season, three-time MVP Alex Ovechkin seemed to spend most of his off-season -- a time period spanning several months -- on a well-earned drunken celebratory bender. His Washington Capitals are off to a meh start, which the fan base is hopefully fine with since they just won their first ever title.
- Meanwhile, last year’s Cinderella story may be turning into a pumpkin (how seasonally appropriate!): the Las Vegas Knights shocked the sports world by making it to the Finals in their first ever season, but their slow start this year -- mixed with the fact that they were never really supposed to be good -- might be a cause for concern.
