📰 QUICK TAKES
Discover: Fernando Mendoza became the first Indiana quarterback ever drafted #1 overall — and just the second player from a Big Ten school to go first in the last 20 years.
Stat: The Knicks are 7-0 in these playoffs — a franchise record for consecutive postseason wins. The last Knicks team to reach the Conference Finals was in 2000.
Did you know? The Atlanta Braves are the first team to reach 30 wins in 2026. At this pace, they're tracking for 108 wins — which would be a franchise record.
NHL: The Sabres-Canadiens series just went to Game 7. Buffalo's last playoff series win came in 2011. For 15 years, this moment didn't exist. Now it might.
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IN TODAY'S EDITION
🏈 NFL: The full 2026 schedule is out — and the matchups are already wild
🏀 NBA: Knicks and Thunder head to the Conference Finals
⚾ MLB: Braves hit 30 wins first. Cubs and Rays right behind them
🏒 NHL: Sabres-Canadiens goes to Game 7. Avs punch their ticket west
⚡ Fast Stats: The numbers defining this week
🧠 This Week in History: The shot that silenced Chicago
The 2026 Schedule Is Here — and It Opens in Australia at 10 a.m. on a Friday
Photo: austadium
The NFL released its full 2026 schedule Thursday night, and the first thing to know is this: the season doesn't start on a Sunday. It starts on a Wednesday. The defending champion Seattle Seahawks host the New England Patriots on Sept. 9 in a Super Bowl LX rematch — and then the very next night, the 49ers and Rams kick off the league's first-ever game in Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground. That's 8:35 p.m. ET on a Thursday — which means 10:35 a.m. Friday morning in Melbourne.
The rest of the international slate matches the ambition. Ravens vs. Cowboys at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. Steelers vs. Saints at Stade de France in Paris — the NFL's first game ever in France. Bengals vs. Falcons in Madrid. Patriots vs. Lions in Munich. And the 49ers make a second trip abroad, heading to Mexico City for a Week 11 matchup with the Vikings. Nine games, seven countries, four continents.
The NFL scheduled a game on four continents. The regular season hasn't even started yet.
The Conference Finals Are Set — and Both Matchups Are Must-Watch
Photo: olympics
In the West, OKC awaits the winner of Spurs vs. Timberwolves. San Antonio took a 3-2 lead thanks to Victor Wembanyama's monster Game 5 — 27 points and 17 rebounds the night after his controversial ejection in Game 4. Minnesota, meanwhile, is short-handed: Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo are both out. If the Spurs close it out in Game 6, we get a Thunder vs. Spurs Western Final — a 23-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander against a 21-year-old Wembanyama. This is the future of the NBA.
In the East, the Knicks swept the 76ers in four games — winning their seventh straight postseason game, a franchise record — and now await the winner of Cavs vs. Pistons. Cleveland leads that series 3-2 after a dramatic overtime win in Game 5, aided by a controversial non-call in the final seconds of regulation. Game 6 is Friday in Cleveland. Jalen Brunson is playing the best basketball of his career. The Knicks haven't been to an NBA Finals since 1999.
Wembanyama vs. SGA in the West. Brunson and the Knicks in the East. This Conference Finals round is going to be special.
Braves Hit 30 Wins First. The Rest of the NL Is Playing Catch-Up
Atlanta became the first team to reach 30 wins in 2026, sitting at 30-14 through the first seven weeks. Matt Olson and Drake Baldwin are driving an offense that ranks among the best in the majors, and a pitching staff anchored by Chris Sale has been quietly dominant. The Braves have won the NL East for seven of the last eight seasons. Nothing about 2026 suggests that's about to change.
Behind them, the Cubs (28-16) and Rays (28-14) are the other standout stories. Chicago rolled off a second 10-game winning streak before mid-May — only the 11th team in the divisional era to do that. Tampa Bay is quietly building another one of those seasons that nobody pays attention to until October. The Dodgers (26-18) are still formidable, but Shohei Ohtani went 11 games without a home run in May. In Los Angeles, that counts as a slump.
The Braves are the class of the NL — for now. We've got 110 games left to find out if that holds.
Sabres Force Game 7. Colorado Advances. The East Is Down to Two
Buffalo stayed alive in Game 6 at Montréal, forcing a deciding Game 7 back home. The Sabres, who ended a 15-year playoff drought just by qualifying this year, have now pushed the Canadiens to the limit. Alex Tuch has been their best player with four goals in the series, and Tage Thompson has five assists. Carolina awaits whoever survives — and the Hurricanes swept the Flyers without breaking a sweat, winning all four games by one goal or in overtime.
Out west, the Colorado Avalanche closed out the Minnesota Wild in five games, capping a comeback with Brett Kulak's overtime winner in Game 5. Nathan MacKinnon looks like the best player in the playoffs. Colorado now faces the Vegas Golden Knights in the Conference Finals — a matchup featuring two of the last five Stanley Cup champions. Mitch Marner, in his first season with Vegas, has been the biggest surprise of the postseason.
Sabres at home in Game 7. Avs vs. Golden Knights out west. The intensity is rising. Fast.
⚡ FAST STATS
The Numbers Defining This Week
7 — Consecutive postseason wins for the Knicks. A franchise record. The last one came in 2000.
9 — International games on the 2026 NFL schedule. Across 7 countries. On 4 continents.
30-14 — Braves record, first team to 30 wins in 2026. At this pace: 108 wins on the season.
15 — Years since Buffalo's last playoff series win. Game 7 against Montréal could end the drought.
🏆 This Week in History
May 17, 1994 — Michael Jordan Returns. From Baseball
1994
Michael Jordan retired in October 1993 — at the peak of his powers, after three straight championships — to pursue a career in professional baseball. Most people thought it was a phase. Some thought it was a breakdown. Nobody thought it would last.
On May 17, 1994, Jordan was officially in the Birmingham Barons' lineup, batting .202 as a Double-A outfielder and taking the whole thing completely seriously. He was one of the most famous athletes on the planet, wearing a White Sox minor league uniform and striking out against 22-year-old pitchers.
He returned to the Bulls in March 1995. Then won three more rings. The baseball detour lasted 17 months. The second dynasty lasted until 1998. Not a bad pivot.