The perfect excuse to hibernate
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
Leveling The Playing Field
Fall has arrived!
Cozy season calls for comfort food. Take a cue from this year’s Fat Bear Week contenders and settle in with your seasonal treat of choice (salmon, anyone?), then scroll on for today’s scrumptious sports news.
WNBA
🏀 Down to the wire
The GIST: There are just two days left in the WNBA regular season — and still so much to be decided before the postseason tips off on Sunday. Let’s hoop right to it.
1️⃣ Minnesota Lynx lock in No. 1 seed: Their maestro was sidelined, but nothing could stop the Lynx from securing the league’s top playoff spot last night — not even a lopsided 96–77 loss to the Indiana Fever. That’s right: Minny secured home-court advantage for the entire postseason because the second-place Golden State Valkyries lost a 90–82 overtime stunner to the Portland Fire.
- And the ripple effects are giant: The Valks’ loss opens the door for the Las Vegas Aces to steal the No. 2 spot. If Vegas beats the Phoenix Mercury at 10 p.m. ET tomorrow, and Golden State stumbles vs. the LA Sparks at the same time, the Aces leapfrog the Valks.
- The only straightforward clinching scenario? The Atlanta Dream, who can lay claim to the No. 4 seed (and the home-court advantage that comes with it) with a victory over the NY Liberty tonight at 8 p.m. ET.
🤷♀️ The rest of the field is utter chaos: The four remaining squads are separated by just two games ahead of each team’s season finale. The youthful Mystics have the best shot at landing the No. 5 spot, especially considering they play the injury-riddled Chicago Sky tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. ET and own the tiebreak over the current fifth seed, the Fever.
- Believe it or not, the perennial powerhouse Liberty are most likely to finish No. 8 (potentially setting up a spicy clash with the Lynx in the first round) since the Dallas Wings, who play the Seattle Storm tonight at 10 p.m. ET, won the season series. Consider us sat.
Toronto Tempo
👟 Slow and steady
The GIST: Throw on a pair of shades because the future’s looking bright for Toronto hoops, from Raptors returnee Kawhi Leonard inking a two-year, $115M extension to the Tempo’s outlook for next year. As the WNBA regular season winds down, let’s look at what’s to come for the 2026 debutants.
👏 The first impression: The Tempo’s inaugural season ran the gamut, with low lows like a 12-game losing streak and high highs including Marina Mabrey matching the WNBA’s single-game scoring record. But the story of Toronto’s debut can’t be told without the injury report as the team’s biggest stars — Mabrey, Brittney Sykes, and Kiki Rice among others — missing extended time.
- The Tempo notably had just three eligible players on their bench at multiple points this year. Suffice to say, the second-half hasn’t been pretty, but what’s left of their roster can cap off 2026 with a win against the Connecticut Sun tonight at 7 p.m. ET.
📈 Reasons for optimism in 2027: Everyone should be healthy next season. The team has multi-year commitments from its foundational backcourt (Mabrey and Sykes) and a solid young core (Rice and midseason acquisition Aneesah Morrow). Plus, this season’s struggles should land the Tempo a top pick in next year’s loaded draft. Paging a certain USC superstar.
- And last but certainly not least, the Tempo boast the fourth-highest cap space in the league. With more than $4.4M to spend before next season’s tipoff, expect the front office to work some magic. Buckets, loading.
🏆 LA Queens win first-ever WPBL championship
After an incredibly high-scoring first four games, last night’s decider was all about pitching, with LA edging the No. 1 seed San Francisco Firebells 2–0. Queens pitcher and WPBL Championship MVP Ayami Sato was magnificent, allowing just five hits in a complete game shutout.
- That’s a wrap on a historic WPBL campaign — join The GIST Plus to read tomorrow’s newsletter about what’s next for the league.
⚾ NY Yankees captain Aaron Judge expected to miss Wild Card series
One week from the start of the playoffs, the Yanks announced yesterday that their star slugger will likely miss the opening postseason series with a right calf strain. The Bronx Bombers have performed well without him (he’d been sidelined since June before being activated last week), but you never want to see your three-time MVP on the sidelines.
- As for the rest of the playoff picture, six berths are still up for grabs and plenty of seeding implications are on the table over the next five days — even if Mother Nature has other plans.
- Speaking of, the Toronto Blue Jays are still alive thanks in part to yesterday’s rain delay. See if they stave off elimination once more during today’s 1:35 p.m. and 6:35 p.m. ET doubleheader vs. fellow battling bird, the Baltimore Orioles.
⚽ CanWNT stars feature in opening Women’s Champions League matches
Europe’s biggest club tournament kicked off with plenty of Canadian representation, as defenders Vanessa Gilles of Bayern and Jade Rose of Manchester City both started in yesterday’s 2–2 draw.
- Next up, Paris FC striker Evelyne Viens faces reigning champs Barcelona, while Chelsea defender Kadeisha Buchanan — the only Canadian woman to win the Champions League — takes on tourney debutant Austria Wien. Both games kick off at 3 p.m. ET.
- And in national team news, head coach Casey Stoney called up a record six NSL players for CanWNT’s upcoming October friendlies against Denmark. Her roster featured a few surprises, but the mix of youth and experience is just what this squad needs to test before World Cup qualifying resumes in November.
🏈 NY Giants quarterback (QB) Jaxson Dart could be out for the season
There’s been no official word on Dart’s injury timeline following his first-quarter exit in Monday’s 28–6 loss to the LA Rams, but experts fear the worst. Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers was also injured early in the lopsided L, and the team is awaiting X-ray results.
- In other ouchie news, Bears QB Caleb Williams is considered week-to-week after Sunday’s hamstring injury while there’s no return target for Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels after his elbow dislocation.
🏈 You have opinions, why not put ’em to work? In partnership with the NFL, our free-to-play Weekly Pick’ems game is your chance to call the winners and vie for season-long prizes.
- Need some inspo? Last week, GISTer John won the challenge and scored a $100 NFL Shop gift card. All you have to do is choose who’ll win each matchup this week, and you could be next.
💌 Consider this your official invite. Nothing to lose, lots to learn, and a whole NFL community to gain. May the Hail Marys be ever in your favor — make your picks now.
🎓🏐 NCAA volleyball: Missouri vs. No. 1 Nebraska — Tonight at 7 p.m. ET — B1G Network
- The top-ranked Huskers aren’t simply good this season — they’ve dropped a mere three sets across their perfect 10-0 start. What’s more, Nebraska hasn’t lost a regular-season home game for over three years. Expect plenty of aces in this one.
⛳ PGA: Presidents Cup 2026 — U.S. Team vs. International Team — Tomorrow at 12:35 p.m. ET — TSN
- Day one of the four-day match play tournament tees off tomorrow, where Canadians Corey Connors and Nick Taylor will feature for an international squad looking to end the Americans’ quest for an 11th consecutive title.
🏈 NFL: Atlanta Falcons vs. Green Bay Packers — Tomorrow at 8:15 p.m. ET — TSN
- There’s no nice way to say this: Atlanta’s QB play has been genuinely awful to start the season. But relief could be on the way in the form of 2024 No. 8 draft pick Michael Penix Jr., who’ll make his season debut in primetime. Hey, at least it literally can’t get any worse.
No matter how the postseason seeding shakes out, the 2026 WNBA playoffs are about to be absolute fire. Every squad has the potential to go the distance, so we want to know: Who’s your title pick?
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