A GIST newsletter a day keeps the mansplainers away

The GIST: No. 3 seed Vancouver Rise FC are your inaugural Northern Super League (NSL) champs, hoisting the Diana B. Matheson Cup on Saturday after launching a weather-delayed 2–1 comeback over top-seeded AFC Toronto. Here’s how the West Coast secured the win, plus how the debut league is shaping the future of Canadian women’s soccer.

💪 Vancouver overcome early deficit to claim the crown: The match began as expected for heavy favorite Toronto, with teen phenom Kaylee Hunter scoring the opening goal in the 20th minute.

• But following a clutch defensive save, an attack-minded Vancouver side emerged in the second half, capitalizing on a Toronto own goal before forward Holly Ward sealed the deal in the 68th minute. History, made.

👀 Canadian government awards NSL $5.45M to support the growth of the league: The celly-worthy news came just ahead of Saturday’s kickoff, and the funding will be used to “deliver transformative upgrades” for NSL facilities across the country — perfect timing, with the six-team league expanding to seven squads in 2027. Just the beginning.

The GIST: The Saskatchewan Roughriders earned the franchise’s fifth CFL title with yesterday’s 25–17 win over the Montreal Alouettes — and just as the Canadian football gods intended, the 112th Grey Cup came down to the game’s final drive.

• Whether you were in it for the rouge, the snacks, or the MGK halftime show, this was a championship tilt for the books.

🟢 Roughriders win first Grey Cup in 12 years: Turns out football’s an elder millennial’s game — just ask the game’s MVP, 39-year-old Riders quarterback (QB) Trevor Harris, who threw for 302 yards, set up two rushing touchdowns for backup QB Tommy Stevens, and opened up the field for running back A.J. Ouellette’s 83-yard outing. Teamwork does indeed make the dream work.

• Limited by a hamstring injury, Alouettes QB Davis Alexander wasn’t his usual explosive self, but he almost authored two game-tying drives in the fourth quarter. A goal-line fumble foiled one and the Riders stamped out the other, sealing Alexander’s first CFL loss as a starter.

☝️ One more thing: Craving more Canadian football? There’s plenty of three-down action on the way. Next weekend’s Vanier Cup features Uteck Bowl–winning Université de Montréal, who crushed St. Mary’s 49–19 on Saturday, and Mitchell Bowl champ Saskatchewan, whose defense stifled Queen’s in a 22–11 win on the same day. Eh-xcellent.

The GIST: In a twist more than a few GISTers saw coming, No. 8 seed Gotham FC will face the No. 2 Washington Spirit in Saturday’s NWSL Championship. Both clubs have won it all recently — Gotham in 2023 and the Spirit in 2021 — but only one can add to their trophy case. Let’s take a look back at the semifinals, and then a quick look ahead to the ’ship.

⬆️ Forwards Jaedyn Shaw (Gotham) and Gift Monday (Spirit) lift their squads: For the second time in club history, gritty Gotham will compete for a title as the last playoff seed. This time, it was Shaw, a late-season acquisition, who made all the difference.

• The USWNT up-and-comer scored the game-winner as time expired in their 1–0 dub over the reigning champ No. 4 Orlando Pride yesterday. What’s more, Shaw has been involved in all three of Gotham’s playoff goals thus far. Yes, way.

• As for the other semi, Saturday belonged to the Spirit’s Monday, who scored her second playoff goal in Washington’s 2–0 victory over the No. 3 Portland Thorns.

👀 The countdown is on to the championship in San Jose: These squads met twice in the regular season, with Gotham recording a 3–0 win in April and their August match ending in a 0–0 draw. But with both teams now operating at maximum starpower, either one could raise that Tiffany trophy. Saturday can’t come soon enough.

The GIST: Week 11 was jam-packed with stunning scorelines, but today, we’re focused on a handful of other intriguing battles. Hut, hut, here we go.

💥 Buffalo Bills quarterback (QB) Josh Allen vs. the record books: The endzone hates to see Allen coming. The reigning MVP matched his career-high with six touchdowns (TDs) in yesterday’s 44–32 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Allen’s now the first player in league history to tally three rushing TDs and three passing TDs in a single game twice.

💪 Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett vs. QBs everywhere: The four-time All-Pro racked up four sacks in yesterday’s 23–16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. That’s 15 sacks on the year for Garrett already, making him the only player to ever tally 12 or more in six straight seasons.

🦶 Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow vs. his big toe: The perennial Pro Bowler hasn’t played since mid-September after undergoing surgery for his turf toe injury, but rumor has it he’s eyeing a Thanksgiving return, a timely dose of optimism for a Bengals team that was thoroughly dominated 34–12 by the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday.

• And Burrow has the return-to-play blueprint in San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy. A fellow turf toe victim, Purdy made his first start since September 28th yesterday, throwing for three TDs in the Niners’ 41–22 win.