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Good morning! Happy birthday to us! The Athletic turns 10 today. Now, inside today’s edition, we urge you to think about your words…
Awareness: A weird day starts in Buffalo
Situational awareness, to me, is paramount in life. Knowing, or at least having a good guess, how any event can unfold is the way I try to move through our mortal existence. In sports, it’s even more important.
It’s why I found three stories from yesterday, all with staggering degrees of situational awareness, so intriguing. We’re going from least aware to too aware here:
Zero awareness: The Buffalo Bills 😵💫
There are disastrous news conferences, and then there’s whatever happened in Buffalo yesterday. Nearly 24 hours later, I cannot get over Bills owner Terry Pegula tripping all over himself and taking the fan base with him. A quick historical synopsis:
In 2024, the Bills took wide receiver Keon Coleman in the second round of the NFL Draft. After a decent rookie season, Coleman had issues in the locker room this year and found himself benched at times, though he did return to play and even caught a touchdown in the loss to Denver last weekend.
It’s not great, but Coleman is just 22 and has two years left on his deal. Key fact: Coleman still works for the Bills and won’t be leaving in the near term, most likely.
The Bills fired coach Sean McDermott this week, and in the news conference discussing that move, Pegula interrupted his own team president, Brandon Beane, to tell reporters that Coleman was not the preferred choice of Beane, but of McDermott and the coaching staff. Pegula essentially labeled Coleman a mistake and a bust.
It was galling, even if Pegula turns out to be right. Beane tried to backtrack and support Coleman, but the damage was done, particularly after firing a popular coach.
It wasn’t the only bizarre thing Pegula said yesterday, so I urge you to read our writers’ incredulous roundtable for the full experience.
Perfect awareness: Fernando Mendoza’s LinkedIn profile 🤓
The Indiana quarterback claimed the Heisman, went 16-0 and won a national title in his home city, Miami, against the team he wanted to play for, Miami. And yet his best move may have been his update on LinkedIn just hours after the game. Just look at this:
If you’ve spent any time on LinkedIn, you know Mendoza hit the Business Tone here in perfect satire, while also coming off as earnest. Elite pocket presence. He has a future in B2B sales if football doesn’t work out.
Too much awareness: The San Francisco 49ers 🧐
Social media conspiracists have homed in on the 49ers’ practice facility, located next to the Silicon Valley Power Mission Substation, as a possible reason for the team’s injury misfortune this year. Most people, including myself, dismissed it as engagement bait.
Who’s not dismissing it? San Francisco general manager John Lynch, who said the team has been “reaching out to anyone and everyone” to see if there could be any possible connection. So far, there is none.
Multiple experts have said the theory is bunk. Due diligence sometimes includes a tinfoil hat, though.
Let’s move on to more tangible news:
News to Know
Patrick McDermott / Getty Images
Mets get Peralta
After some early losses this offseason, the Mets continued an aggressive two weeks last night by acquiring Brewers ace Freddy Peralta and starter Tobias Myers in exchange for two top prospects. It’s another year where Milwaukee trades a promising ace pitcher, but somehow it’s worked out for the club thus far. Meanwhile, the Mets get an elite starter to add to their rotation who’s also in the final year of a team-friendly deal. Read more on New York’s recent run here.
In other hot stove news: Cody Bellinger (finally) agreed to a five-year, $162.5 million deal with the Yankees. The other New York team can rest now.
Another day, another Olympics controversy
To the layman, what the Canadian skeleton team did sounds innocuous: pulling four sliders from an Olympic qualifier race due to exhaustion/overscheduling. Except, according to other athletes in the race, it was a bit of clerical subterfuge, as a complicated points system meant that fewer racers participating led to fewer points to go around, which altered the final Olympic qualifying standings. In the end, American Katie Uhlaender did not make her sixth Olympics because of the late change, while one Canadian — at risk of losing status — maintained her spot.
More news:
Another twist in the Duke saga: A judge ruled that Blue Devils quarterback Darian Mensah can enter the transfer portal, but cannot enroll or play football at another school. More mess.
The commissioners of four major sports leagues — the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB — will meet with President Trump next week to discuss America 250 plans. Details here.
Former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya is running for Senate in Minnesota. See our full story.
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores will return to Minnesota for next season … unless he gets a head-coaching job this cycle. More on his deal inside.
USMNT star Weston McKennie scored for the third consecutive Champions League match in Juventus’ 2-0 win over Benfica. Juve clings to a knockout spot in the UCL table.
Watch Guide
📺 NCAAW: No. 2 South Carolina at No. 16 Oklahoma
7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
It’s always good to get a glimpse of the forever-elite Gamecocks against good competition. Keep an eye out for South Carolina guard Raven Johnson, who is reasserting herself this year in a major way.
📺 NBA: Lakers at Clippers
10 p.m. ET on Prime Video
It’s funny to realize this is an actual away game now after the Clips absconded to the fancy Intuit Dome last year, and these teams no longer share a home floor. The 26-16 Lakers are treading water (while talking more about off-the-floor drama), and the 19-24 Clippers are hot. Good game.
Get tickets to games like this here.
Pulse Picks
Mitchell Leff / Getty Images
Everyone agreed Tom Brady’s first year in the broadcast booth was lacking. Brady did, too. As he told The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand in an exclusive interview, he channeled his quarterback days and delivered a fantastic sophomore season. It’s almost unfair how good he is now.
The secret to having a great NFL defense? Having a premium nickel cornerback, as Ted Nguyen wrote yesterday.
You may not think of NYU as a sports school, but its women’s basketball program would fight you on that. The Violets are DIII’s No. 1 team, with no NIL or anything. They just win — every single game.
Are the “content” Phillies better than last year’s team? Matt Gelb has a great analysis after the team’s quiet offseason.
We have a lot of niche story ideas on our site, but hockey is easily the most fertile ground. Consider Sean McIndoe’s latest, where he wondered which NHL goalie could build the best six-man team of players who scored their first goal against them. See the teams here.
Have a spare minute? Take our audience survey here. Three entries will win $100 Amazon vouchers, too.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The ski-jumping scandal. Catch up here.
Most-read on the website yesterday: ☝️
📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, and check out our other newsletters.