Yahoo Sports AM: Happy Sports Equinox!

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🚨 Headlines

🏀 Statue gone wrong: The Heat honored franchise legend Dwyane Wade with a statue outside their arena. Unfortunately, the statue looks nothing like him.

⚽️ United make a change: Erik ten Hag has been sacked as Manchester United manager, the club announced this morning. Ruud van Nistelrooy will take over as interim head coach.

🏀 Fever fire Sides: Caitlin Clark is getting a new head coach. The Fever parted ways with Christie Sides on Sunday, just weeks after she led Indiana to its first playoff appearance since 2016. She went 33-47 in two seasons.

🏒 San Jose stinks (again): The Sharks are the first team in NHL history to go winless through nine games in back-to-back seasons. They started 0-10-1 last year before notching their first win, and they’re currently 0-7-2.

🏁 Racing roundup: Tyler Reddick won a playoff race to put Michael Jordan (his team’s owner) in the NASCAR title race; Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz won the Mexico City GP for his second victory of the season and fourth of his F1 career.

🎉 The 31st Sports Equinox

Happy Sports Equinox! Today is the 31st time in history that the “Big Four” North American sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) are all in action on the same day.

• ⚾️ MLB: The Yankees host the Dodgers in Game 3 of the World Series (8:08pm ET, Fox) as New York looks to avoid falling into a 3-0 hole.

• 🏈 NFL: The Steelers host the Giants in Pittsburgh (8:15pm, ABC/ESPN/ESPN2), where they haven’t lost a Monday night game since 1991, a streak of 21 straight wins.

• 🏀 NBA: 11 games, with two star-studded matchups on NBA TV: Bucks at Celtics (7:30pm) and Lakers at Suns (10pm).

• 🏒 NHL: 8 games, headlined by Maple Leafs at Jets (7:30pm, Prime) on “Monday Night Hockey.” Winnipeg (8-0-0) is the only unbeaten team remaining.

But wait, there’s more… For the fourth straight year, MLS will also be in action during the Sports Equinox. Cincinnati hosts NYC FC (6:45pm, FS1) and Seattle hosts Houston (8:50pm, FS1) to open their best-of-three Round One series in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

A brief history: The first Sports Equinox took place on Sunday, Oct. 17, 1971. Roberto Clemente and the Pirates beat the Orioles in Game 7 of the World Series, and there were also 12 NFL games, three NBA games and six NHL games that day.

• Nine more Sports Equinoxes occurred between 1972 and 1985, all on Sundays. Then came a 15-year period without a single one (1986-2001), followed immediately by another seven-year drought (2002-09).

• Nowadays, it’s an annual holiday. Thanks to the World Series starting later, the NBA and NHL starting earlier and “Thursday Night Football” airing weekly, there has been at least one Sports Equinox (and often more) every year since 2015.

Who wins the ratings battle?* The NFL dominates TV viewership, but MLB has a rare opportunity to take the crown tonight thanks to the most-watched Fall Classic in years. Games 1 and 2 averaged 14.5 million viewers, which is close to what “Monday Night Football” drew last year (15.2 million) when Raiders-Lions went head-to-head with Rangers-Diamondbacks.

*My prediction: I imagine many Giants fans are also Yankees fans and will be prioritizing baseball tonight, so that could help MLB win the New York market. But even if that happens, I still think Daniel Jones vs. Russell Wilson outdraws Shohei Ohtani vs. Aaron Judge nationally. It sounds crazy, but I’ve learned to never underestimate America’s football obsession.

🏈 The Maryland Miracle!

Commanders fans who stuck with their team through a quarter-century of Daniel Snyder were handsomely rewarded on Sunday with the play of the year.

ICYMI: Down three to the Bears with zeroes on the clock, Jayden Daniels uncorked a Hail Mary that tipped off a group of defenders to a wide-open Noah Brown for the walk-off touchdown and 18-15 victory.

• The radio call and Spanish broadcast are worth a listen (“Hail Mary” is great, but “Ave Maria” is so much better).

• And the field-level celebration immediately after the score will play on repeat around the DMV today. Not a bad way for the game between this year’s No. 1 (Caleb Williams) and No. 2 pick (Daniels) to end.

Did the play have a name? “It was just called ‘Hail Mary’,” Daniels told SportsCenter’s Scott Van Pelt after the game. But “The Maryland Miracle” has a nice ring to it.

More from Sunday: The Chiefs improved to 7-0 and won their 13th straight game … the Jets fell to 0-3 since firing Robert Saleh … Jameis Winston led the Browns past the Ravens (then quoted Eminem) … the Lions turned 85 passing yards into 52 points … the 49ers held off a late Cowboys comeback on “SNF.”

Full scoreboard.

⚾️ World Series: Both teams have history on their side

The Dodgers will take the field tonight at Yankee Stadium with all the momentum having won the first two games of the World Series. Surely, history is on their side, right? Yes and no.

On one hand: MLB teams that take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven postseason series have gone on to win the series 77 of 92 times (84%).

On the other hand: The last two times the Yankees and Dodgers met in the World Series (1978 and 1981), the home team won the first two games… then lost the next four.

3 storylines:

1. 🚑 Ohtani injury watch: Shohei Ohtani left Game 2 with a partially dislocated left shoulder but is expected to be in the lineup tonight. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said initial tests on Saturday were positive and that Ohtani was “in a great spot” on Sunday.

2. 🔥 Freddie’s on fire: Freddie Freeman has one healthy ankle — and two home runs. The lefty slugger hit the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history on Friday and went yard again on Saturday.

3. 🧊 Judge is ice cold: Among players with at least 200 postseason at-bats, only two have a sub-.200 batting average: Reggie Sanders (.195) and Aaron Judge (.199). The pending AL MVP is 1-for-9 in the World Series and 6-for-40 in these playoffs, with an alarming whiff rate.*

Good read: Have the Dodgers broken Aaron Judge? (Jake Mintz, Yahoo Sports)

*Swing and a miss: Judge has whiffed on 47 of his 109 swings this October (43.1%). For reference: The highest whiff rate by any player during the regular season was 36.4%.

🏈 Unlikely unbeaten: Indiana is 8-0

Indiana — yes, Indiana — is off to a historically dominant start under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti, who was hired away from James Madison 11 months ago.

Barely breaking a sweat: The Hoosiers are the first FBS team in at least 20 years to start 8-0 without trailing at any point in a game, per ESPN. Not bad for a program with three winning seasons in the last 29 years.

• There are questions about their schedule — they haven’t really played anybody — but the 13th-ranked Hoosiers are one of just eight undefeated teams in the country and firmly in the playoff picture.

• “This is the beginning of something special,” said Pat McAfee during “College GameDay,” which made its first-ever Saturday visit to Bloomington with former Indiana head coach Lee Corso in tow.

Talk the talk, walk the walk: “It’s pretty simple. I win. Google me,” Cignetti boldly stated last winter when asked how he sells his vision to recruits. I Googled him (actually, I used Yahoo search because I’m a model employee) and can confirm he’s a certified winner: 127-35 (.784) in 14 seasons and 27-4 (.871) at the FBS level.

Speaking of first-year head coaches… How about Mike Elko? Jimbo Fisher’s successor has Texas A&M sitting alone atop the SEC following their 38-23 win over LSU, and the Aggies are 5-0 in the conference for the first time ever.

Elsewhere:

• Boise State 29, UNLV 24: Ashton Jeanty was held relatively in check, but the nation’s leading rusher still ran for 128 yards and the game-winning score to help the Broncos keep their playoff hopes alive.

• Oregon 38, Illinois 9: The top-ranked Ducks cruised behind Dillon Gabriel, who moved into second on the all-time passing TD list (143 in 58 games) behind Houston’s Case Keenum (155 in 57 games).

• Ole Miss 26, Oklahoma 14: The Sooners are 1-4 in their first season of SEC play and could easily finish 1-7 with games at No. 25 Missouri (Nov. 9), vs. No. 14 Alabama (Nov. 23) and at No. 16 LSU (Nov. 30).

• Ohio State 21, Nebraska 17: The Cornhuskers nearly pulled off the upset before losing their 27th straight game (!!) against a ranked opponent dating back to 2016.

More from Saturday: Kansas State beat Kansas for the 16th straight time, Michigan beat Michigan State to keep the Paul Bunyan Trophy, Notre Dame* handed Navy its first loss, Texas eked past Vanderbilt, Alabama blanked Missouri, BYU stayed perfect, FSU fell to 1-7 with a blowout loss to Miami.

Quick links: Scores | Stats | Headlines

*Bonkers stat: Notre Dame scored more TDs at MetLife Stadium in one game (7) than the Jets and Giants have scored there all season (6).

📸 Pics du jour

🇺🇸 Los Angeles — LeBron James, the oldest player in the NBA, recorded his 142nd career triple-double (32-14-10) in Saturday’s 131-127 win over the Kings. The ageless wonder scored 16 points in the fourth quarter* to help the Lakers improve to 3-0.

🇪🇸 Madrid, Spain — 17-year-old Lamine Yamal showed off his braces to the rival crowd after finding the back of the net during Barcelona’s 4-0 victory over Real Madrid in El Clásico.

🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. — Ilia Topuria swore he’d become the first person to ever knock out Max Holloway at UFC 308. As the MMA world continues to find out, the featherweight champion is a man of his word.

*We are all witnesses… Lakers coach J.J. Redick called the experience of watching James in the fourth quarter “surreal.” “What can you say?” he said. “We’ve all been very fortunate to watch his greatness for so long and the fact that he’s able to keep doing it, it’s just, it’s actually insane. It’s actually insane.”

📆 Oct. 28, 1973: Elmore’s block party

51 years ago today, Lakers center Elmore “The Rejector” Smith blocked an NBA-record 17 shots in a 111-98 win over the Trail Blazers. The 7-footer added 12 points and 16 rebounds to complete the triple-double.

An unbreakable record? Shaquille O’Neal (15 blocks in 1993) and Manute Bol (15 blocks in 1986 and 1987) came closest to matching Smith’s feat, which looks more out of reach with each passing season now that big men spend so much time outside the paint. Hassan Whiteside (12 blocks in 2015) is the only player to come within five of Smith’s mark in the last 10 years.

Important context: Blocked shots weren’t an official statistic until 1973, which was just in time for Smith but too late for Wilt Chamberlain (who once blocked 23 shots on national TV) and Bill Russell (who averaged around 8.1 blocks for his career). Those two legends would top every statistical category if their rejections were official.

🏀 NBA trivia

Kevin Durant joined an elite club on Saturday when he became the eighth player in NBA history to score 29,000 career points.

Question: Who are the other seven members of the 29,000 points club?

Hint: Durant has shared the court with three of them.

Answer at the bottom.

🍿 Baker’s Dozen: Top 13 plays of the weekend

1. ⚾️ Freddie plays the hero

2. 🏈 The Maryland Miracle

3. 🏈 Lateral for the score!

4. 🏀 Giannis poster dunk

5. ⛳️ Driver off the deck

6. 🏈 Punt of the year

7. ⚾️ Alex Verdugo!

8. 🏈 Look ma, one hand

9. 🏒 Epic game-winner

10. 🏈 Fake punt!

11. 🏒 Forsberg is filthy

12. 🏀 Met him at the rim

13. 🏈 Amazing grab

Watch all 13.

Trivia answer: LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain

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