Week 5 was a wild one. No lead was safe, and more than a couple of games came down to last second heroics. We even saw things that we don’t normally see, like a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown sealing the deal in Seattle.

Today Ben Solak helps us digest everything we saw on the gridiron on Sunday.

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A’ja Wilson just finished what is arguably one of the best WNBA seasons of all time. From being the second ever unanimous MVP, to being the first player to have a 1000-point season; to winning an Olympic gold medal and the MVP of that tournament, this doesn't begin to cover all she's accomplished in 2024.

Throughout all of this, Wilson’s family and faith has been a guiding light for her and she is constantly driven to ensure she sits atop of the Mount Rushmore of greats the WNBA has ever seen.

While her legacy is being cemented, on and off the court, Wilson faces a new challenge as her two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces find themselves down 0-2 to the New York Liberty in the semifinals. With the third game Friday night in Vegas, the quest to three-peat faces its biggest test yet.

So today, we chat with Andscape’s women's basketball reporter Sean Hurd who shares conversations he’s had with A’ja this year, her remarkable season and breaks down this huge matchup between the Aces and Liberty.

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Ever since Dikembe Mutombo first stepped on to the court for the Georgetown Hoyas in 1988, his presence was impossible to ignore.

The 7’2” center who hails from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, was a shot-blocking machine with a smile, a voice and signature gesture that would make him a star across the world.

And beyond his tall stature was a man with one of the biggest hearts on earth, who’s generosity and kind spirit will never be forgotten.

So today, Marc Spears joins us to discuss the life and legacy of the man they called Deke, basketball Hall of Famer, and the NBA’s first ever global ambassador.

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The soul of the Champions League isn’t the players or the teams, but the fans.

And every one of them has a story on how their squad earned their undying loyalty.

ESPN’s very own Luis Miguel Echegaray is no different. His tale is of a stirring, intercontinental journey into the ranks of Birmingham’s Aston Villa that continues to be written.

So today, as he makes his way to their big Champions League showdown against Bayern Munich, LME explains why he bleeds the Villains claret and blue and explains how a revamped format has this entire league more than ready to deliver.

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Last Thursday, the Athletics played their final game ever in Oakland, the city they’ve called home for 57 years. As friend of the show Jeff Passan wrote, baseball in the East Bay was “killed by greed… John Fisher did not have to move this team… This was a choice. A wrong one. History will sneer.” 

For the conclusion of our Death of a Sports Town series, we trekked to the Oakland Coliseum and bore witness to the sights, sounds, and emotions of a city’s last gasp as a big time pro sports town. 

It was a poignant and passionate display from a vibrant and rich fanbase, defiant to the very end. Today, we share that experience with you. 

Death of a Sports Town Episodes:

Apple Podcasts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, & Part 4

Spotify: All episodes

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Four weeks of the NFL season are just about in the bag, and some things are just starting to come into focus. For example, how even at 3-1, the new look Buffalo Bills are facing an uphill climb against the true contenders in the AFC and how the Minnesota Vikings — who NOBODY saw coming — could shake up the NFC all season.

So today, Ben Solak takes us through everything you need to know about the league one month in.

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The college football landscape, once the bedrock of tradition in sports, now seems to shock us every few months with more changes and teams on the move.

And with the transfer portal, NIL and this year’s expanded college football playoff, just about anything and anyone is up for grabs.

Which brings to our latest storm on the college football radar: The Pac-12. 

Left for dead only a year ago, this once-mighty brand is looking to make a comeback by reclaiming their Power 5 status one school at a time.

Today Kyle Bonagura joins us to try and tame this Wild West story and bring some order to all this conference chaos.

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Three weeks in the question surrounding the 2024 NFL season? Where’s the offense at? With teams practicing less in training camps, starters playing less in the preseason, and more youth than ever lining up under center, things have been kind of ugly for a lot of teams.

So our friend Mina Kimes explores how all of that is manifesting at the most important spot on each team. Quarterback.

From Caleb Williams’ rocky start in Chicago, to Jayden Daniels’ star turn on Monday Night Football, Mina looks at several situations around the league to tell us what’s working, and what’s not for these franchise QBs as we move toward the quarter mark of the season.

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Major League Baseball is a sport that celebrates its history through, among other things, its records.

So when you break a 60-year old mark, people take notice. But when it’s for the most losses in a season, that’s not the kind of attention you ever want for your franchise.

That is where the 2024 Chicago White Sox find themselves at 120 losses and counting while dethroning the 1962 Mets’ losing record as being the furthest away from the right side of history.

Veteran Chicagoan Jesse Rogers joins the show to take the pulse – if there even is one – of the South Side of Chicago and tells us why this mark of futility was years in the making.

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In covering Oakland’s unraveling as a big time sports town, we’ve documented the greed, the loss, the dubious decisions, and the rich sports community soon to be left behind. But we’ve yet to fully examine the most pertinent question of all––does the Athletics planned move to Las Vegas make any sense at all? 

Today, in part four of our series Death of a Sports Town, we take stock of why the A’s (and MLB) are so enamored with Las Vegas––a city soon to be the smallest market in the league––why this move will be extraordinarily messy, and why Oakland is America’s most-underappreciated sports town. 

Don’t miss our series finale, publishing next Tuesday in the ESPN Daily show feed.

Death of a Sports Town Episodes:

Apple Podcasts: Part 1, Part 2, & Part 3

Spotify: All episodes

Alert Text:  

In part four of our series “Death of a Sports Town,” we take stock of why the A’s move to Las Vegas will be extraordinarily messy and why Oakland is America’s most-underappreciated sports town.

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