The Lead

Plus: Joel Embiid puts up an all-time stat line in a much needed win for the Sixers. And the PAC-12 sees two College Football Playoff contenders go down hard.

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All throughout the offseason, and even into the start of this season, we thought we knew what the Utah Jazz were supposed to be. This team was supposed to be tanking, one of the many hoping to land generational prospect Victor Wembanyama. But so far this year, the Jazz are doing basically the exact opposite of tanking. Today, The Athletic's Tony Jones tells us how the Jazz have put together the best record in the Western Conference, the first-year head coach who’s younger than his starting point guard, and whether all this winning could actually be bad for the Jazz.

Follow Tony Jones’s coverage of the Jazz: https://theathletic.com/author/tony-jones/

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For the past 12 years, the tiny, extremely wealthy nation of Qatar has been preparing for the 2022 World Cup, building beautiful new stadiums, roads, and hotels. And, for years, one journalist in particular has been telling the stories of the people who have been doing the actual building, as well as the terrible, sometimes deadly conditions they’ve been working in. Today, that journalist, Pete Pattison, joins us to discuss the truths he has uncovered during a decade of investigative reporting, what, if anything, has changed for migrant workers in Qatar, and what he'll be thinking about when the World Cup kicks off on November 20th.

Pete Pattison's reporting for The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/pete-pattisson

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The Houston Astros get manager Dusty Baker the only thing missing from his resume. The Jets' defense shines in a surprising win over the Bills. And Major League Soccer wraps up its season with a championship game for the ages.

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Friday marks seven months to the day since Kansas pulled off its stunning comeback over UNC in the men’s college basketball national title game. And, at the start of this upcoming week, college hoops — and some of its most celebrated stars — are back. Today, The Athletic’s Eamonn Brennan gives us a crash course on the upcoming season, including the landscape for Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, and UNC’s Armando Bacot, as all three chose to return to school for another year. Plus, the credentials of some of the top contenders, the biggest potential surprise of the upcoming year, and a looming threat to the game’s most prized possession — the NCAA Tournament.

Follow Eamonn Brennan’s coverage of college basketball: https://theathletic.com/author/eamonn-brennan/

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This past weekend, the Portland Thorns won their third NWSL championship -- a league record. But what made the achievement even more remarkable is the fact that it came less than a month after a bombshell report, conducted by former Acting US Attorney General Sally Yates, revealed systemic abuse and misconduct within the NWSL and within the Thorns organization. Today, The Athletic’s Meg Linehan, whose reporting helped trigger that investigation, joins us to discuss the report’s deeply disturbing findings, what it means for the future of the league, and how the Thorns players were able to rise above and reclaim the narrative on championship weekend.

More from Meg Linehan: https://theathletic.com/author/meg-linehan/

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Plus: A chaotic finish in Atlanta puts a new team atop the NFC South. And why there’s real reason to worry about a hyped NBA team in Los Angeles… and we’re not talking about the Lakers.

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For many full moons, a famous hotel in Oklahoma City has been keeping NBA players up at night -- and perhaps even influencing the outcome of their games. And the sheer number of players that say they've had paranormal experiences there is enough to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Today, on a special Halloween episode of our show, Steve Lackmeyer, co-author of a book about the Skirvin Hotel, walks us through the historic building's eerie history and explains the legend of the ghost that supposedly haunts it. Then, he tells us about some strange experiences he had at the hotel that even he, a staunch ghost skeptic, cannot explain.

Check out Steve Skirvin and Jack Money's book about the Skirvin Hotel:

https://www.amazon.com/Skirvin-Steve-Lackmeyer/dp/B00316Q3EC

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For more than a decade now, and basically since their last playoff game all the way back in 2011, being a New York Jets fan has been a special kind of football agony. But so far in 2022, it’s been a much different story, as the team sits at 5-2 — right behind Josh Allen and the mighty Buffalo Bills — in the AFC East. Today, The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt tells us about the young defensive stars (Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams) who have helped power this surprising turnaround. Plus, the long, winding football journey of the coach they call “Smash”, who is in Robert Saleh’s ear during some of the game’s most critical moments.

Follow Zack Rosenblatt’s coverage of the Jets: https://theathletic.com/author/zack-rosenblatt/

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