One year ago, a Little League qualifying game that should have been remembered as one team’s ticket to Williamsport, became known for so much more. One batter, Isaiah Jarvis, was hit in the head by a wayward pitch. He was able to take first base and stay in the game, however the opposing pitcher, Kaiden Shelton, was still visibly shaken up by what had transpired. Then, the world stopped when Jarvis walked to the mound with a gift that everyone could use a lot more of – compassion. He embraced Shelton, offered him some words of encouragement, and the game went on.

So today, Liz Merrill tells us the story of that moment and how a couple of 12-year-olds reminded us all about the power of sportsmanship.

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Life can change in an instant. For San Francisco Giants pitcher Logan Webb, that instant came on a December evening in 2021, when a national epidemic – opiate addiction – stopped being a statistic and became personal. In that moment of profound loss, he discovered a new purpose that would take him well beyond the baseball field, and mean more than throwing strikes or winning games ever could. 

So today, ESPN’s Sam Borden tells the story of Webb’s new mission: raising awareness on the perils of addiction, while honoring the memory of a cousin…and a friend…gone too soon.

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The Green Bay Packers kick off their preseason schedule tonight, and for the first time in three decades, someone not named Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers will be under center. Jordan Love will finally get the nod as QB1 after three years as Rodgers’ understudy. And we may finally be getting closer to knowing if Love can fill some Hall of Fame-sized shoes and be Green Bay’s third consecutive franchise quarterback…or if we still have more unanswered questions. 

ESPN’s Rob Demovsky has covered the Packers for 27 years, and he joins the show to tell us about this new era in Green Bay…and how familiar this transition feels.

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San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has an unparalleled resume: head coach and GM of the Spurs for over 25 years, the all-time winningest coach in NBA history, and five championship rings to show for it. And after this weekend, Pop will finally be able to add “Hall of Famer” to that list of accomplishments. What will he do after his induction ceremony? Probably celebrate with his favorite wine: Château d’Yquem, which has its own extensive and sustained history of excellence.

So today, ESPN’s Baxter Holmes tells you about the symbiotic relationship between one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time, and the drink that can possibly be his equal.

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The Seattle Kraken are the NHL’s newest expansion team, and from their inception, they’ve done things a little differently. Case in point: their social media approach. Back in the spring during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Kraken’s TikTok account was discovered by BookTok. If you’re now asking yourself, “what is BookTok?” – you’re not alone. BookTok is a community on TikTok which is comprised of creators and readers discussing all things books. BookTok embraced the Kraken, and the Kraken started posting videos that specifically targeted BookTok. The moment represented two niche fandoms coming together…and it seemed like the end of the story…until last week, when things took a bit of a turn. 

If this story sounds a bit absurd so far, stay with us: it actually touches on some of the biggest issues in sports, social media, literature…and objectification. So today, Greg Wyshynski explains the Seattle Kraken BookTok hockey romance controversy, with the help of hockey romance author Emily Rath: and they tell us what happens when the worlds of fiction, online fandom…and real-life athletes…collide.

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The good news, if you're a Pac-12 Football fan, is that the 2023 season’s looking pretty good. Last year's Heisman Trophy winner, Caleb Williams, is returning to USC. And Five Pac-12 Teams are represented in the First Top 25 Coaches Poll

The bad news… well…after 2023, the Pac-12 as we’ve traditionally known it is basically headed to the dustbin of history.  

So today, college football insider Heather Dinich explains the sudden and stunning disintegration of a Power 5 conference…whether any of its peers should be worried about their own futures… and how different college football may look when the carousel finally stops turning.

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When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went down on the field in the middle of a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football back on January 3rd, the last thing on anybody’s mind was his return to football…the number one question was if he would even survive. Now, seven months later, Hamlin has miraculously responded to both those questions with a resounding “yes.” He’s been a full participant at Bills training camp, and he’s slowly transitioning back to his identity as a young player trying to keep a roster spot.

So today, ESPN Bills reporter Alaina Getzenberg gives us the latest on Hamlin’s comeback…and gauges how secure his roster spot really is.

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The US Women’s National Soccer Team have found themselves in an unfamiliar position going into the knockout stage of the World Cup: with their backs against the wall. The USWNT, who have historically dominated the tournament since its inception and have never finished worse than third place, struggled through the group stage…and it won’t get any easier, as a physical Sweden team awaits them in the round of 16. 

ESPN’s Ali Krieger is a former member of the USWNT herself, and she tells us what she’s seen on the pitch from her old team, how expansion of women’s soccer around the world has elevated this edition of the World Cup…and why there’s still hope for a USA three-peat.

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The New York Jets might not have wanted to see themselves on HBO’s “Hard Knocks”, but they’re about the only people who felt that way. In ESPN Jets reporter Rich Cimini’s words, “everyone wants to see the Jets.” And for good reason: they have an exciting core of young talent and personalities on both sides of the ball such as Sauce Gardner and Garret Wilson, and they just traded for one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time in Aaron Rodgers, who had openly stated that his only desire was to play this year in a Jets uniform. On top of that, Rodgers recently agreed to restructure his contract, essentially giving back $35 million to give the front office some cap flexibility. It’s an unprecedented pay cut, and today Cimini tells us if it’s all enough to turn the Jets into legit Super Bowl contenders.

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The life of an NFL Offensive Lineman isn’t an easy one. If you do your job well, you are pretty much invisible, taking all the punishment so that your teammates can get all the glory. It’s all about sacrifice for the greater good of the team. And then, there’s the curious case of Joe Thomas, who had one of the most prolific careers in NFL history, despite playing on some horrible Cleveland Browns teams. Thomas played over 10,000 consecutive snaps throughout his 11-year career, none of which came in the playoffs. In fact, the only time Thomas was on a winning team was in his rookie season. But he remained loyal to Cleveland, and will finally get his glory this weekend as he’s enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

So today, ESPN Browns reporter Jake Trotter brings you Thomas’ story, and explains how he found joy in the least expected place.

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