The Lead

The clock is ticking for Major League Baseball, with a potential lockout on the horizon this week, as the collective bargaining agreement is set to expire at 11:59pm ET on Wednesday. Today, we’re joined by The Athletic’s Evan Drellich to look at why the players and owners are once again at a bitter impasse, and the no-nonsense negotiator for the players, Bruce Meyer, who should have a major say in how things play out.

Read Evan Drellich’s full story about Bruce Meyer and the MLB negotiations: https://theathletic.com/2981810/2021/11/28/mlb-players-want-change-and-bruce-meyer-is-fighting-to-deliver-it-the-other-side-is-not-going-to-be-happy-with-me/?source=theleadpodcast

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For much of their existence, the Florida Panthers have been, frankly, one of the worst teams in the NHL. But over the last few years, the Panthers have become legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. The Athletic's Michael Russo covered the Panthers for more than a decade, and he joins us today to explain what's behind their record-setting start to the 2021-22 season and why, after legendary head coach Joel Quenneville was forced to resign earlier this year (in the wake of the Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault investigation), the Panthers have turned to a beloved assistant coach to lead them.

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https://theathletic.com/author/michael-russo/

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After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government did something that it later apologized for and called a grave error: it rounded up and forcibly relocated tens of thousands of Japanese Americans, moving them to internment camps where they lived in extremely harsh conditions for years. Inside one of those camps, near Topaz, Utah, a high school football team was formed and surprised many of the local teams it played against. The Athletic's Christopher Kamrani brings us the story of Topaz High, where a group of high school kids used America's most beloved sport to show that they, too, were Americans. (This episode originally aired on November 6, 2020.)

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On this Thanksgiving holiday, we're replaying an episode that first aired this summer, just before the start of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. It's the inspiring story of 24 year-old American swimming phenom Morgan Stickney, who has faced a mind-boggling series of medical challenges during her career, but has somehow come out on the other side -- baffling doctors and inspiring many people along the way.

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We're just a few weeks into the women's college basketball season and there's already plenty to talk about. The top two teams in the country have already faced off, star players are taking their games to a new level, and rising contenders are already upsetting some of the traditional powers. Today, The Athletic's Chantel Jennings fills us in on some of the season's biggest and most intriguing storylines to date.

Read all of Chantel Jennings' college basketball coverage: https://theathletic.com/author/chantel-jennings/

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Two Sundays ago, Cam Newton made his dramatic return for the Carolina Panthers, and helped lead them to a win over the Arizona Cardinals. Then, this past Sunday, in his much-anticipated first game back in Carolina, Newton and the Panthers came up short against the Washington Football Team. Today, we’re joined by The Athletic’s Joe Person to look at why the Panthers made the decision to bring him back now, and the impact that his larger-than-life personality could have on the rest of the team.

Follow Joe Person’s coverage of the Panthers: https://theathletic.com/author/joseph-person/?source=theleadpodcast

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During a chaotic 2020 college football season, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud spent most of his time on the bench as an understudy to Justin Fields. Now the redshirt freshman has not only stepped into the starting position, but has guided the Buckeyes to one of their best offensive seasons in school history -- and made a strong case for himself as a Heisman Trophy candidate. In the wake of the Buckeyes' destruction of Michigan State on Saturday, The Athletic's Bill Landis joins us to discuss what exactly makes Stroud so special as a passer, the unique bond he has formed with his star wide receiver trio, and what stands between Ohio State and a 2021 national championship.

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Johnny Juzang exploded onto the college basketball scene during the 2021 NCAA Tournament after he led the eleventh seeded UCLA Bruins on a surprising run all the way to the Final Four. Now he's looking to get to the next level and take his team all the way to the championship. Today, The Athletic's Seth Davis, who recently spent time with Juzang and his family, tells us how the sharpshooting junior from Tarzana made his way back to Los Angeles after a short stint in Kentucky and how his childhood vision boards helped guide him toward college basketball stardom.

Read Seth Davis' story about UCLA guard Johnny Juzang: https://theathletic.com/2915025/2021/10/28/hes-always-had-a-different-brain-inside-johnny-juzangs-vision-quest-for-ucla/

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In just his second NFL season, Jonathan Taylor is already one of the NFL's best running backs. But before he turned his attention to the gridiron, the Colts star was far more fascinated with Outer Space than he was with scoring touchdowns. Today, The Athletic's Zak Keefer tells us how the NFL's leading rusher went from aspiring astronaut to one of the most unstoppable players in football.

Read Zak Keefer's story about Jonathan Taylor: https://theathletic.com/2936512/2021/11/09/gaze-at-the-stars-reject-harvard-embrace-the-suck-colts-jonathan-taylor-is-blasting-off/

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Four years ago, Bruce Arena's reputation as a miracle-working soccer coach took a bit of a hit when the U.S. Men's National Team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. A year and a half later, he took the reins of the New England Revolution -- a team with a long history of success that had fallen on hard times. And now, Arena has just finished guiding the Revolution to the most successful regular season in MLS history. The Athletic's Jeff Rueter joins us to explain how Arena rebuilt the Revolution in just two years, what exactly has made the Revs so good, and why this latest coaching achievement might be Arena's most impressive yet.

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