Mentally at the cottage
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
Leveling The Playing Field
Happy New Year!
Hope you had a relaxing and restorative holiday break. The first Monday back to work can be hard, but luckily we have sports to help get us through: The Unrivaled season tips off today at 1 p.m. ET, and we’ll have a special edition preview hitting your inbox shortly.
- And if your New Year’s resolution was to consume more women’s hoops, click here to subscribe to Unrivaled Weekly, our Friday breakdown on everything the innovative 3v3 league has to offer. Go ahead, start 2026 with a slam dunk.
— Boston Fleet defender Riley Brengman, who got her nostalgia on during the PWHL’s Takeover Tour stop in Detroit on Saturday. Unfortunately for the rookie, her squad fell 4–3 to the Vancouver Goldeneyes — a night that was still a win for women’s hockey with stellar crowds taking in the action.
NFL
🏈 Reaching for something in the distance
The GIST: The Week 18 NFL slate can sometimes be a buffet of meaningless football, with the playoff field often set and teams resting their top talent — but not this year. There was plenty to play for in the regular-season finale, from division titles to all-important playoff seeding. Let’s dig in.
🤯 Pittsburgh Steelers secure AFC North crown, No. 4 seed in thrilling divisional showdown: Only one superstar quarterback (QB) could return to the postseason, but both Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers and Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson were electric in the fourth quarter of last night’s 26–24 Steelers win, swapping scoring drives until the bitter end. Hug a kicker today.
- As for the rest of the conference, the 14-3 Denver Broncos took care of business to secure the No. 1 seed (and a coveted first-round bye), edging out the No. 2 New England Patriots, who finished with an identical record, and the 13-4 No. 3 Jacksonville Jaguars.
💚 Seattle Seahawks lock in NFC’s No. 1 seed: Defense wins division titles, earns home-field advantage, and sets franchise win records, apparently. Just ask the stifling Seahawks’ D, who silenced a red-hot San Francisco 49ers offense — a unit that had put up at least 37 points in three straight games — in Saturday’s 13–3 win. Now that’s how you make the Legion of Boom proud.
🩵 Carolina Panthers win NFC South in unique fashion: Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield had a case of the Sunday Scaries — and for good reason. The NFC’s final playoff spot came down to yesterday’s divisional game between two long-eliminated teams: the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. And the 19–17 Falcons win sent the Panthers to their first postseason since 2017, eliminating Mayfield’s Bucs.
☝️ One more thing: Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett capped off one of the most impressive individual seasons in NFL history by breaking the league’s sack record, a mark that had stood for more than two decades. Garrett said hello to Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow for his record-clinching 23rd sack of the season. Picture perfect.
Milano Cortina Olympics
🏅 Flame on
The GIST: With the calendar turning to 2026, that means it’s officially an Olympic year — that’s right, the Milano Cortina Games begin in just 32 (!!!) days. As the Olympic torch travels across Italy, here are the latest Olympic headlines, by the numbers.
🤷 0: There have been essentially zero updates on the status of the Games’ main hockey arena, which is still under heavy construction with the first test event scheduled for Friday. Uh oh.
🇨🇦🏒 16: Sixteen years after his gold medal–winning Golden Goal in 2010, the legendary Sidney Crosby returns to lead Team Canada, alongside fellow NHL MVPs Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, who will compete in their first Games.
- ICYMI, NHL players are permitted to play in this year’s Olympics, the first time since 2014 that the world’s best will appear.
🇺🇸🏒 46: Speaking of, captain Auston Matthews and forwards Brady and Matthew Tkachuk (pronounced KUH-CHUCK) headline a Team USA roster hoping to claim its first gold medal since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice.” Who do you play for?
🙌 1: After a phenomenal Rivalry Series showing and a decorated college career, two-way player Laila Edwards is the first-ever Black woman to make the Team USA women’s hockey roster. Stay tuned — Team Canada will announce their women’s roster later this week.
- P.S. Sign up for The GIST Plus to hear our exclusive, subscriber-only interview with Edwards when it’s released on Wednesday.
⛷️ 6: Swiss skier Camille Rast ended her rival Mikaela Shiffrin’s six-race win streak in World Cup slaloms yesterday, setting up a sure-to-be fierce upcoming battle in the Italian Alps.
👏 41: Five years (and one titanium knee replacement) after retiring, 41-year-old skier Lindsey Vonn will compete in her fifth and final Olympics, qualifying for Team USA in the downhill race. Incredible.
🎓🏈 No. 1 Indiana soars, No. 10 Miami stuns in College Football Playoff (CFP) quarter-finals (QFs)
Outside of the top-seeded Hoosiers — who annihilated No. 9 Alabama 38–3 on New Year’s Day — upsets abound in the CFP QFs: No. 5 Oregon blanked No. 4 Texas Tech, No. 6 Ole Miss won a thriller over No. 3 Georgia, and most surprisingly, Miami defeated defending champs No. 2 Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
- The semis begin on Thursday, but until then, check to see if you’re one of the three GISTers tied for first atop our College Football Playoff Bracket Challenge leaderboard.
🇨🇦🏒 Gold evades Team Canada again after World Juniors semifinal loss
Last night’s 6–4 loss to Czechia means the Canucks will have to wait another year to earn their first gold medal since 2023 — but hey, at least they aren’t playing for fifth. Today’s 4:30 p.m. ET bronze medal match against Finland is an opportunity to earn some hardware, but it’s certainly not the way Canada had hoped to close out the tourney.
- It is worth noting that the red and white had a whopping six players who were eligible to play this year but were too valuable to their NHL teams to leave, like 19-year-old San Jose Sharks star Macklin Celebrini, who was named to Canada’s Olympic roster.
🏀 WNBA superstar Napheesa Collier sidelined for up to six months after surgery
We’re pretty certain the five-time All-Star didn’t have “double ankle surgery” on her 2026 vision board, but unfortunately that’s exactly how Collier will start the new year: She’s expected to miss all of Unrivaled’s second campaign and possibly the start of the WNBA season, too. Say it ain’t so.
- But don’t expect crutches to hinder the WNBPA vice president’s resolve: The next collective bargaining agreement (CBA) deadline is looming on January 9th, and the WNBA and its players’ union remain far apart as negotiations continue.
⚾ Toronto Blue Jays continue spending spree, sign Japanese third baseman Kazuma Okamoto to four-year deal
The reigning American League champions continue to reload, inking coveted free agent Okamoto on Saturday. The 29-year-old has wowed offensively in Japan’s pro league, a welcome addition to an already explosive Toronto offense. Add this to the squad’s early free agency frenzy — including signing top pitcher Dylan Cease — and the Jays are flying high this offseason.
🎓🏀 Canadian Avery Howell paces Washington women’s basketball to upset win over No. 6 Michigan
Howell did it all for the Huskies in their 64–52 New Year’s Day dub, dropping 22 points and a career-best 16 rebounds. But it wasn’t all good news for red-and-white hoops fans: Someone had to lose in this matchup — and this time it was Wolverines sophomore (and Sudbury’s own) Syla Swords, who led Michigan with 15 points. Turns out NCAA women’s hoops runs on maple syrup.
Together With Proline
🚨 Red alert: You could win the best seats of your life at a Toronto Maple Leafs game for free. Our pals at PROLINE want a GISTer and their pal to sit in The Most Interesting Seats in the House — the only way to get this close to the action is by entering our contest.
- This is a game-day experience you’ll never forget. These seats are practically on the ice, come with access to the Scotiabank Arena Premium Lounge, and if you’re really lucky, you may get a Jumbotron cameo. Enter now.
Question of the Day
Welcome to 2026! A new year means new sporting events to look forward to. Which one are you most excited for? Choose from the options below, or reply with the event circled on your cal.
Today’s email was brought to you by Alessandra Puccio, Lisa Minutillo, Lauren Tuiskula, Rachel Fuenzalida, Grace DePaull, and Briana Ekanem. Editing by Katie Kehoe Foster. Fact-checking by Elisha Gunaratnam and Mikaela Perez. Ops by Briana Ekanem and Elisha Gunaratnam. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster, Alessandra Puccio, and Lisa Minutillo. Managing edits by Lauren Tuiskula and Alessandra Puccio. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.