Yahoo Sports AM: Can anyone catch Josh?

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🚨 Headlines

🏀 BYU lands No. 1 recruit: A.J. Dybantsa, the top college basketball recruit in the Class of 2025, has committed to BYU. His rumored NIL package: $7 million.

⚾️ MLB moves: The Yankees signed LHP Max Fried for eight years and $218 million; RHP Nathan Eovaldi is returning to the Rangers on a three-year, $75 million deal; the Blue Jays landed three-time Gold Glove winning 2B Andrés Giménez in a trade with the Guardians.

🏈 Another break-in: Joe Burrow’s house was broken into while he was playing on “Monday Night Football,” the latest in a string of high-profile burglaries targeting pro athletes.

⛳️ Scottie matches Tiger: Scottie Scheffler won his third straight PGA Tour Player of the Year award, joining Tiger Woods as the only golfers to do so.

⚾️ Nats win draft lottery: The No. 1 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft went to the Nationals, who had a 10.2% chance of securing the top spot. The Angels, Mariners, Rockies and Cardinals round out the top five.

🏈 Can anyone catch Allen for MVP?

Josh Allen’s Bills may have lost on Sunday, but his grip on the MVP award only strengthened in the process.

Heavy favorite: Allen’s odds to win his first MVP increased from -225 to -400 at BetMGM after a historic performance that saw him become the first player in NFL history to throw and rush for 3 scores in the same game.

Top four candidates:

1. Allen (-400): Though Buffalo (10-3) is unlikely to catch the Chiefs (12-1) for the No. 1 seed — and 13 of the past 15 MVPs have been QBs from a No. 1 seed — Allen’s statistical case should be strong enough to overcome that trend (3,033 yards, 23 TD, 5 INT; 416 rush yards, 9 TD).

2. Saquon Barkley (+400): He’s on pace for 2,122 rushing yards, which would break Eric Dickerson’s 40-year old record of 2,105 in a season. If he gets there and the Eagles get the No. 1 seed, he could become just the fifth RB to win MVP this century (and first since 2012).

3. Lamar Jackson (+1200): The reigning MVP is one of two QBs (along with Joe Burrow) on par with Allen statistically (3,290 yards, 29 TD, 3 INT; 678 rush yards, 3 TD). But his Ravens are just 8-5 and don’t even lead their own division.

4. Jared Goff (+1400): If Detroit finishes with a record like 16-1, there could be some default votes for Goff, whose numbers are solid (3,265 yards, 25 TD, 10 INT). He also has a chance to outplay Allen on Sunday when the Lions host the Bills.

Bottom line: There’s still nearly a quarter of the season left, plenty of time for the MVP race to get shaken up. But at the moment, it’s Allen’s award to lose.

🏀 Caitlin Clark is Time’s Athlete of the Year

Caitlin Clark has been named Time’s Athlete of the Year for 2024, adding yet another honor to her ever-expanding résumé.

From Time’s Sean Gregory:

Few jobs require less physical exertion than rebounding for Caitlin Clark. On an early-November morning in downtown Indianapolis, Clark sprints to different spots along the three-point line at the Fever practice gym, trying to bang as many shots as possible over a six-minute span.

A Fever coach has tasked me with standing under the basket to retrieve her misses. But as Clark runs all over the court to launch long-range bombs, I barely have to move. Swish, swish, swish. She hits 14 shots in a row. A dozen in a row. 11 in a row. Swish, swish, swish. Nine in a row. Another nine.

Sure, she’s putting on this display in practice. But her ability is still mesmerizing. Clark, 22, takes shots with a degree of difficulty never before witnessed in the women’s game; her signature 30-ft. launches from near half-court are akin to home-run balls, hanging high in the air.

After her workout I fill Clark in on the statistics from her shooting session: 93 three-pointers in six minutes, good for an 85% success rate. “Wow,” she responds from the driver’s seat of her gray Lexus GX. “That’s pretty good.”

Nice to know that after wowing so many around the world throughout her record-breaking year, Clark can still impress herself.

Keep reading.

📸 Photo gallery

Milwaukee — The Bucks beat the Magic, 114-109, to advance to the NBA Cup semifinals behind another big game from NBA scoring leader Giannis Antetokounmpo (37 points).

Oklahoma City — The Thunder took advantage of a rare off night from Luka Dončić (16 points) and another masterclass from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (39-8-5) to beat the Mavericks, 118-104, and reach the NBA Cup semifinals.

Bergamo, Italy — Kylian Mbappé became the ninth player ever with 50 Champions League goals in Real Madrid’s 3-2 win over Atalanta.

Budapest, Hungary — Gretchen Walsh smashed the 50m fly short course world record at the World Championships, one of seven world records to fall on the first day of competition.

⚽️ Another World Cup of scandals is coming

The 2022 Qatar World Cup was stained by human rights abuses and “sham” processes. The 2034 Saudi Arabia World Cup, set to be approved today, is plagued by similar ills.

From Yahoo Sports’ Henry Bushnell:

At an extraordinary virtual congress today, FIFA will approve a Saudi bid decried by human rights organizations, via processes that rights advocates call “an elaborate fix” and “a sham from start to finish.”

Behind closed doors last fall, FIFA officials hashed out a logic-defying deal to spread the 2030 World Cup across six countries and three continents; they then fast-tracked the race for 2034, for which Saudi Arabia was, suddenly, the only eligible and realistic bidder.

Then, for 14 months, FIFA staged its once-democratic host selection process — even though FIFA president Gianni Infantino had already celebrated Saudi Arabia’s selection.

Saudi officials submitted extensive plans, including for the construction of 11 new stadiums. Among the documents they submitted were a “Human Rights Strategy” and an “independent context assessment” — which Amnesty International described as a “whitewash.”

📆 Dec. 11, 1951: DiMaggio walks away

73 years ago today, Joe DiMaggio announced his retirement after 13 seasons with the Yankees — nine of which resulted in championships.

Famous quote: “When baseball is no longer fun, it’s no longer a game,” said DiMaggio (listen here). “And so, I’ve played my last game of ball.”

📺 Watchlist: NBA Cup knockouts

The NBA Cup quarterfinals conclude tonight with games in New York and Houston, where the winners will advance to Saturday’s semifinals in Las Vegas.

• Hawks at Knicks (7pm ET, ESPN): The winner faces the Bucks in the East semis.

• Warriors at Rockets (9:30pm, TNT): The winner faces the Thunder the West semis.

More to watch:

• 🏒 NHL: Rangers at Sabres (7pm, TNT)

• 🏀 NCAAW: No. 18 Iowa State at No. 21 Iowa (9pm, FS1)

• ⚽️ Champions League: Matchday 6* (12:45-3pm, Paramount+)

*Headliner: Juventus vs. Man City (3pm) headlines today’s nine-game slate.

🏈 NFL trivia

If the season ended today, the Raiders would have the first overall pick for just the second time in franchise history.

Question: Who was their lone No. 1 overall pick in 2007?

Answer at the bottom.

🏈 The Chase is on

With four weeks left in the season, Ja’Marr Chase leads all receivers in catches (93), yards (1,319) and TD (15), putting him on pace to become just the fifth Triple Crown winner* since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

The Chase is on: The Bengals wideout has six more catches (Brock Bowers), 149 more yards (Justin Jefferson) and six more TD (Terry McLaurin, Amon-Ra St. Brown) than anyone else.

Wild stat: Chase has three games in the past nine weeks with at least 10 catches, 175 yards and 2 TD. No other player in NFL history has had more than one such game in a season.

*Triple Crown winners since 1970: Jerry Rice (1990), Sterling Sharpe (1992), Steve Smith (2005), Cooper Kupp (2021)

Trivia answer: JaMarcus Russell

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