Illustration by Justine Guzman.
From the top highlights to culture and politics, “Out of Bounds” covers all the highs and lows from the past two weeks, plus a look at what’s ahead to make sure you’re all caught up on news from the sports world.
Gymnastics
You don’t have to wait for the Tokyo Olympics to experience the best of the best in gymnastics. Glamour Magazine has released a multi-episode series on YouTube, “Defying Gravity: The Untold Story of Women’s Gymnastics.” The series details the history of women’s gymnastics, the complicated reality of being an elite gymnast, and what the future holds for the sport. This has been my newest binge-watch, and I’ve been telling everyone in my life to watch it. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!
Boxing
Teofimo Lopez is now the undisputed lightweight champion of the world.
Baseball
The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Houston Astros to progress to the World Series for the second time ever in their history. The Rays had the best regular-season record in the American League and will face off against.
Hockey
In conjunction with the NHL and NHLPA, the Nashville Predators have committed to investing $504,000 into the development of girls hockey and learn-to-skate programs in Tennessee for the next two years. Hopefully, more NHL teams will follow in the footsteps of the Predators, and take a bigger role in the development of women’s hockey.
The Metropolitan Riveters have traded a 2021 First Round Pick and a 2022 Second Round Pick to the Toronto Six in exchange for Kelly Babstock. Every time a trade happens, the conversation always shifts to who “won” the trade — while a first and second-round pick in 2021 and 2022 are nothing to scoff at, Kelly Babstock is a beast of a hockey player and will round out the Six’s top line.
Founder Dani Rylan Kearny has stepped down as NWHL Commissioner as the NWHL shifts towards a different business model and works to ensure private ownership for all teams. Tyler Tumminia, former chairman of the Toronto Six, will be the interim commissioner.
Meghan Duggan has retired from professional hockey. Duggan is a three-time Olympic medalist, USA women’s hockey captain, 7x gold medalist at the IIHF world championships, 2x silver Olympic medalist, and 1x gold Olympic medalist. Basically, Meghan Duggan is one of the best of the best, and one of my favorite hockey players ever. It’s been such a privilege to witness an absolute legend.
Emilie Castonguay has become the first woman to represent the NHL’s No. 1 first round draft pick as an NHLPA-certified agent. Castonguay has opened a door for other women to follow in her footsteps!
Rugby
World Rugby has decided to ban trans women from women’s rugby leagues. Obviously, this is transphobic and sexist, but it also has the potential to create a dangerous precedent going forward for sports leagues. We’ll be monitoring the reactions from other sports organizations, media, and World Rugby’s response to the criticism they’ve been facing.
Snow Sports
World Cup alpine skiing is back! Marta Bassino from Italy has won the first race of the new season.
Basketball
The Los Angeles Lakers have won their 17th NBA Championship. (Which every Lakers fan I follow on Instagram won’t let me forget, because they keep posting about it every five seconds). LA Lakers owner Jeanie Buss is the first NBA female controlling owner to win an NBA Championship. Congratulations to Buss, who’s previously been named one of the Top 20 Most Influential Women in Sports by “Sporting News,” who has made history!
Sue Bird is the third player in both NBA and WNBA history to win titles in three different decades. Bird has officially won four WNBA Championship titles in her career, all with the Seattle Storm: 2004, 2010, 2018, and 2020. *cough* GOAT *cough*
Doc Rivers, former head coach for the LA Clippers, has become the new head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Tennis
Rafael Nadal has won his 13th French Open and 20th Career Grand Slam. No.2 seed Nadal defeated No. 1 Novak Djokovic in straight sets 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 to add to his list of French Open wins.
Iga Światek, in her first career professional title at 19 years old, has become the youngest French Open champion in the past 28 years, and the lowest-ranked French Open champion ever (ranked 54th). She is also Poland’s first Grand Slam singles champion ever.
F1
Lewis Hamilton has won the Eifel Grand Prix. By winning, Hamilton is now tied with Michael Schumacher for most wins at 91. Hamilton was and still is the only Black F1 racer, and has used this past year to discuss racial injustice and Black Lives Matter on his platform. Hamilton is a legend on and off the track!
Football
The Miami Dolphins have been allowed to have the full capacity of 65,000 people — a bad idea — at the Hard Rock Stadium. The team plans to keep their 13,000 fan limit for their next home game, which is October 25, but it’s not clear yet whether after that game they will start to increase fan allowance.
The Kansas City Chiefs are the first team in NFL history to start 4-0 in four consecutive seasons — the reigning Super Bowl Champions are starting off strong.
Cincinnati Bengals No. 1 draft pick QB Joe Burrow has become the first rookie in NFL history to complete at least 300 passing yards in three consecutive games.
Soccer
In the three days following USWNT players Christen Press and Tobin Heath signing with Manchester United, their jerseys outsold those of any Manchester United male player.
The San Diego Loyal team walked off the field in protest in their game against the Phoenix Rising, in protest against a Rising player using an anti-gay slur at openly gay Loyal midfielder Collin Martin. In true Loyals form, the team stood in solidarity with their teammate.
Running
Distance runner Sara Hall came in second place at the London Marathon, making her the first American to make it on the podium since 2006. Hall ran a personal best of 2:22:01, which is simply incredible. When I’m dying on the treadmill I’m going to think of Sara Hall for inspiration.
OT
I heard you’ve been looking for something new to watch on Netflix … If you haven’t yet checked out “Rising Phoenix,” then consider this your recommendation for the week. “Rising Phoenix” is about the history of the Paralympic Games and the Paralympic heroes taking part.
