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    The World Series is (probably) over, plus a landslide on the Dwyane Wade statue
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    The World Series is (probably) over, plus a landslide on the Dwyane Wade statue

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    5 minutes, 36 seconds Read

    The Pulse newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse straight to your inbox.

    Good morning! I hope your Sports Equinox was lovely.

    While you were sleeping: The Yankees screwed up

    This was the Yankees' night. The home stands were full. Derek Jeter threw out the first pitch. After the Dodgers won their first two home games in LA, a win in New York was a must in this matchup between superstar-heavy teams.

    Instead, the Yankees did…mostly nothing. The Dodgers' 4-2 win gives them a 3-0 lead in the World Series. No team has overcome such a deficit at this point. The way this happened — a systematic bulldozing of Dodger bats — was as surprising as anything.

    A few insights:

    • Freddie Freeman is by far the frontrunner for World Series MVP. He hit another home run last night, and now he's hit the home run five in a row World Series games dating back to his time with the Braves. That's a record, in the same series in which he hit the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history. We'll talk about him in more detail after we finish this series.
    • The conversation in New York, for opposite reasons, is all about the Yankees' two stars, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. The judge completely choked in this series with a score of 1-12 Seven Strikeouts. Once the series ends, Soto will be a free agent and could play for the last time as a Yankee. Double ouch.
    • Can the Yankees come back? They absolutely have the talent, but history says no. As our Tyler Kepner noted: Since 1970, no 3-0 World Series has even made it to Game 5. The Dodgers can complete the sweep tonight.

    Let's get to more New York pain:

    While watching baseball: The Giants screwed up too

    About 400 miles from Yankee Stadium, the New York Giants entered a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night with their season theoretically also on the line, just with much lower stakes – and they achieved essentially the same result.

    The game was more competitive, with Pittsburgh winning 26-18, but the loss drops the G-Men to 2-6, good for last place in the NFC East. This is when you start thinking about draft picks. Shot.

    • We should probably apologize to Russell Wilsonwho was fantastic last night: 20 of 28, 278 yards and a touchdown, which is perfect for this team. If he can maintain anything close to this level of play, the Steelers will be a real contender. Wild.

    Additionally, this play answered a question I had never really thought about: A receiver must land with both feet – rather than the same foot twice – downfield to complete a catch. Poor George Pickens:

    That's what matters to me, George.

    Interesting facts

    The upheaval at Man Utd
    Erik ten Hag is quitting as Manchester United manager, the team announced yesterday, ending a strange and disappointing tenure at one of England's biggest clubs. It was honestly a shock when the club signed him in the off-season and he is leaving Man Utd this year, with Man Utd sitting 14th in the Premier League table. Replacing him soon: former striker Ruud van Nistlerooy. In the long term, the club is aiming to recruit Ruben Amorim from Sporting Lisbon as their new permanent head coach, a move that has long been rumored. As for Ten Hag? He was constantly overwhelmed with a job that, according to Carl Anka, “seems increasingly impossible.”

    McCaffrey is aiming to return
    Rejoice, 49ers fans and fantasy owners everywhere: Superstar running back Christian McCaffrey is “on track” to make his season debut in two weeks, coach Kyle Shanahan said, adding that McCaffrey will “hit hard” and during the The team's farewell training will be simulated this week. McCaffrey has been suffering from Achilles tendonitis since training camp. See our full report here.

    More news

    Feedback loop: We (mostly) agree

    I had a feeling there was going to be a bust, but this is a landslide: 98 percent of you believe the Dwyane Wade statue is gone. We can agree on that.

    Two final thoughts:

    • Yes, it's over, but I guess it's just an extremely difficult thing. Remember the backlash to the Cristiano Ronaldo statue? I will allow some grace for art's sake and reiterate that art is hard.
    • And yet…Wade himself dealt with this statue several times during the sculpting process! He is I'm still very proud of ittoo, and says the jokes are funny. I think it's still a win overall.

    This got Pulse Brain Trust thinking: Have statues gotten worse, or are all the ancient statues we value as artifacts bad too? Someone calls Julius Caesar on the phone.

    Watch and listen

    📺 NHL: Rangers at Capitals
    7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
    A duel between division rivals who both had a good start to the season. Put it on.

    📺 NBA: Mavericks at Timberwolves
    7:30 p.m. ET on TNT
    These are potentially two of the most interesting teams in the league this year, both full of old and new talent trying to get fit. Seeing Klay Thompson at a university in Dallas is still strange, but so far he seems like a perfect fit.

    📺 MLB: Dodgers at Yankees
    8 p.m. ET on Fox
    Could be a series ending. Do you see a downfall…or the beginning of a wild comeback? Probably doom.

    Get tickets for games like these Here.

    🎧 “The Athletic FC” weighed the Erik Ten Hag sack and asked himself: Why did it take so long? Listen here.

    Pulse picks

    Above all, Chris Paul will be remembered for his basketball IQ, and at 39, he is as much a coach as he is a player. Exactly for this reason Spursfull of young talent – ​​including, er, Victor Wembanyama – signed him. You're already amazed at the CP3 experience.

    The thread that connects all boys NHL Player: Cookas Fluto Shinzawa reveals. Dishes range from spicy vodka sauce to lunchables. Extremely entertaining read.

    Wait, that Jets are favored over that Texans? Hannah Vanbiber explains why.

    I missed this yesterday, but our MLB staff got an insight into the gaming world World Series playlistsand then created a Spotify playlist based on their findings.

    Most clicked on in the newsletter yesterday: The latest college football AP top 25 rankings. More playoff teams means more intrigue.

    Most read on the site yesterday: Our live blog from the Ballon d'Or announcement ceremonywhere Rodri and Aitana Bonmati were named the best football players in the world.

    📫 Do you love the pulse? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.

    (Top photo: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)

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