{"id":665893,"date":"2026-05-26T11:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T11:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/665893\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T11:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T11:15:09","slug":"your-sports-rules-questions-answered-plus-knicks-advance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/665893\/","title":{"rendered":"Your sports rules questions, answered. Plus: Knicks advance"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning! Be inquisitive today. Coming up:<\/p>\n

Questions: We\u2019re calling that stat \u2018OOPS\u2019 now<\/p>\n

Welcome to Pulse Mailbag week! I (Chris) am out on vacation, so we decided to take your questions and bring them to the experts \u2026 or me, if I could answer well. Today\u2019s topic: rules, in a general sense.<\/p>\n

Your questions (lightly edited for clarity!), answered:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do umpires have a \u201chome\u201d city? A team they might work a bit more frequently so that they get to be home once in a while? Or are they on the road constantly? \u2014 Bob R., Minneapolis, Minn.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac\u00a0Jayson Stark:\u00a0Bob, those answers are \u201cno\u201d (kind of) and \u201cyes\u201d (definitely). Here\u2019s the way ump scheduling works: The league draws up schedules for all 19 crews. Then the crew chiefs pick their schedule in order of seniority. So longtime crew chiefs can make sure they get 3-6 series near home. But they also try to give the other umps on their crew a chance to get home. No matter how it works out, unlike all 30 teams, they won\u2019t get close to 81 home games. So their suitcases are always packed!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen (as a Guards fan) Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez send a bat flying out of his hands, maybe a dozen times or more, this season. Is there any tracking on this? If so, is there another record that he could break this season? \u2014 Mark S., Columbus, Ohio<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac\u00a0Levi Weaver:\u00a0The short answer: I haven\u2019t seen it tracked.<\/p>\n

But have you seen those Google AI commercials that are like \u201cbatters who jumped over the foul line hit the ball four percent harder than those who didn\u2019t\u201d?<\/p>\n

They\u2019re the worst. A whole ad campaign based on the premise \u201cBut what if correlation WAS causation \u2026 and we made none of the data publicly available?\u201d<\/p>\n

How useless. But it means the data\u00a0does\u00a0exist! So, unfortunately, your best bet at getting an answer is probably my worst nightmare: more of those commercials. Sorry, Mark.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been on this one-man quixotic crusade for a while now, but can we *please* start referring to the pitching statistic Opponent\u2019s OPS as OOPS? It\u2019s just sitting right there, and it *works*! (Currently known as OPS against.) \u2014 Ben L., Lancaster, Calif.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac\u00a0Branch:\u00a0Yes. I\u2019m making the call here.<\/p>\n

Why isn\u2019t Dallas in the NFC South and Carolina in the NFC East? Seems perfectly logical, though I know that the NFL, at times, doesn\u2019t resort to logic. I\u2019m not a Cowboys fan. Just a fan of geography. \u2014 Marty L., Austin, Texas<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac\u00a0Branch:\u00a0I\u2019m taking this one, too, because we published\u00a0a great retelling<\/a>\u00a0of this exact story back in 2022. The answer seems to be pretty simple: Dallas wanted to stay in the NFC East for media exposure, and the NFL granted its wish.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be back with more tomorrow.\u00a0Keep the questions coming<\/a>, please.<\/p>\n

News to KnowKnicks complete sweep\u00a0<\/p>\n

The last time the Knicks were in the NBA Finals was the same year Serena Williams won her first of 23 major singles titles, and Stephen Curry was still a decade away from even being drafted, two of my favorite nuggets from\u00a0this fun piece<\/a>. But they\u2019re back now, after a 130-93 blowout win in Cleveland last night, and won\u2019t play again until Game 1 on June 3. Celebrity New York fans invaded Rocket Arena to see a team built on<\/a> patience, restraint and conference finals MVP Jalen Brunson (one of six Knicks to score in double figures).<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in playoff land:\u00a0The Hurricanes snagged another 3-2 overtime win against the Canadiens to take a 2-1 series lead.\u00a0Full takeaways here<\/a>.
\nAstros throw quirky no-hitter<\/p>\n

Beleaguered Astros starter Tatsuya Imai combined with two relievers, Steven Okert and Alimber Santa, to\u00a0no-hit the Rangers last night<\/a>. The feat isn\u2019t that rare on its own, but the circumstances here add some intrigue: Houston entered play yesterday with the sport\u2019s highest ERA, Imai \u2014 who threw six innings \u2014 has infamously struggled to adapt his game since coming over from Japan and \u2026 Santa was\u00a0making his major-league debut<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More news
\nFormer Rays shortstop\u00a0Wander Franco\u00a0will be\u00a0spared prison time\u00a0after a judge in the Dominican Republic ruled yesterday that, though he sexually abused a minor, he also was a victim.\u00a0Read our full report<\/a>.
\nManchester City star\u00a0Khadija \u201cBunny\u201d Shaw\u00a0committed to a\u00a0new four-year deal\u00a0with the club in\u00a0a shock announcement<\/a> at a joint parade for City\u2019s women\u2019s and men\u2019s sides yesterday.
\nPrinceton men\u2019s lacrosse\u00a0bested Notre Dame 16-9 yesterday for its first\u00a0NCAA title\u00a0since 2001.\u00a0Full recap here<\/a>.
\nMaple Leafs forward\u00a0Max Domi\u2019s\u00a0status for the start of next season is uncertain<\/a>\u00a0after he suffered\u00a0\u201ccomplications\u201d from a previously undisclosed surgery. Yikes.
\nUCLA\u00a0earned the No. 1 overall seed in the\u00a0NCAA baseball tournament,\u00a0while SEC teams claimed five of the top eight seeds.\u00a0See the full field<\/a>.
\nThe Timbers\u00a0parted with\u00a0coach Phil Neville<\/a>\u00a0after a disappointing start to his third season.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf0\u00a0Find more news here 24\/7<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Watch Guide<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa French Open: Coco Gauff vs. Taylor Townsend
11 a.m. ET on TNT, TruTV and Max
Gauff\u2019s title defense opens against the fellow American Townsend, who equaled her best Grand Slam singles run at last year\u2019s U.S. Open. Townsend\u2019s playing style might have more of an impact than usual given the high temperatures in Paris<\/a>, as our tennis staff noted.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa\u00a0Braves vs. Red Sox
6:45 p.m. ET on TBS
Start your evening viewing with a solid pitching matchup: Spencer Strider (3.00 ERA) for baseball\u2019s leading bunch versus Ranger Suarez (2.40 ERA), Boston\u2019s marquee offseason signing who\u2019s\u00a0starting to show he\u2019s worth the price<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa\u00a0NBA: Spurs vs. Thunder
8:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock
One of the best NBA series in recent memory heads to Game 5 with the\u00a0still-favored<\/a>\u00a0Thunder potentially weakened by a couple key injuries. Can a\u00a0fired-up Victor Wembanyama<\/a>, coming off a 33-point performance, and San Antonio steal this one?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa NHL: Avalanche vs. Golden Knights
9 p.m. ET on ESPN
The NHL\u2019s best regular-season team is on the ropes here, with Vegas now\u00a0projected to win the Stanley Cup title<\/a>, too. Unlike in the NBA, a reverse sweep has technically been done before \u2014 once.\u00a0But things are looking \u2026 bleak for Colorado<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pulse Picks<\/p>\n

Trying to accelerate his recovery from a devastating\u00a0ankle injury\u00a0in October, 49ers linebacker\u00a0Fred Warner\u00a0became an expert swimmer in a matter of a few months.\u00a0Matt Barrows explains how<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Count \u201clibrary people\u201d among the groups who love Wemby.\u00a0Here\u2019s Mirin Fader on how a San Antonio library is\u00a0helping people\u00a0read like the NBA superstar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Teenage phenom\u00a0Kimi Antonelli\u00a0seems to be tightening his grip on the Formula 1 drivers\u2019 championship, though there\u2019s plenty of season left. For teammate\u00a0George Russell,\u00a0the whole situation is getting frustrating<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a believer in the power of a cold shower, tennis great\u00a0Rafael Nadal\u00a0may have been ahead of his time<\/a>. Our Rustin Dodd spoke with an expert about the effects and tested some now-trendy\u00a0cold-water practices\u00a0out himself.<\/p>\n

A\u2019s slugger Nick Kurtz\u00a0hit four home runs in a game last July.\u00a0But he\u2019s much prouder of his current league-leading\u00a0on-base streak<\/a>, as Dennis Lin explains.<\/p>\n

With Chris out, it\u2019s my duty to recommend this piece on why\u00a0Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow\u00a0has willingly become a big\u00a0ambassador for the NFL<\/a>\u00a0and growing the league\u2019s international presence.<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday:\u00a0The\u00a0wild Indy 500 finish<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most-read on the website yesterday:\u00a0Knicks-Cavs\u00a0Game 4 live blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb That\u2019s all for now! Say hello at\u00a0thepulse@theathletic.com<\/a>, and\u00a0check out our other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[363,355,99],"class_list":["post-665893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-mlb","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}