This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, Winners! Welcome to the Morning Win. Happy (almost) New Year! Hope you’ve got some amazing plans for New Years Eve and New Years Day. Well, you know, aside from watching the College Football Playoff.
Anyway, the New York Giants are catching a lot of flack today from all sides because of this:
#Giants WR Darius Slayton screamed “f**k your tank” while celebrating TD.
— Wesley Steinberg (@WesSteinberg) December 29, 2024
After putting up a whopping 41 points on the Colts on Sunday, the Giants are now firmly out of position for the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft this spring.
You know Darius Slayton’s feelings about that from the tweet above. His teammates agree with him on that — as they should. They’re not here to lose games, folks!
I feel a bit like Captain Obvious saying that, but that doesn’t seem like the conventional wisdom today. You’d be shocked by how many people are clowning the Giants for winning a game.
Some fans would argue that the smart play here would’ve been for the Giants to tank. And you know what? Maybe they’re right. Losing to the Colts (lol) would’ve kept them at the top (or, I guess, the bottom?) of the race for the No. 1 pick in the draft where they’d likely draft either Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward at quarterback.
THE NFL DRAFT ORDER: The Giants seem to be in pretty solid position to take a quarterback anyway
But here’s the thing, man. Tanking sucks! Losing doesn’t feel great.
I won’t act like I’m above cheering for my team to lose. I’m a Washington Wizards fan. That team stinks, but it’s for the best. The organization needed to reset years ago. The last time the Wizards were good, Russell Westbrook was still averaging a triple-double. That’s eons ago at this point. I am fully in Capture the Flagg territory.
SPEAKING OF WHICH: Prince Grimes was right about the Pelicans not-so-stealthy tank job this year
But a basketball tank is different than a football tank.
None of these players are going to go out there to throw the game intentionally. That’s against the rules, first of all.
Second, and most importantly, football is way too grueling of a sport for you to go out there and not put your best foot forward. That’s what differentiates an NFL tank job from another sport.
As ESPN’s Dominique Foxworth pointed out years ago, each time players step on the field, they’re putting themselves at risk for significant injury. Half-stepping it one way or another could get you seriously injured. That injury risk alone makes tanking a risky proposition for any NFL team. You’re putting your talent in jeopardy.
As a fan, if you want to root for your team to lose games, that’s your prerogative. I’m OK with that. As long as there are drafts in professional sports, you’ll have people who will wish for the worst in order to eventually hope for the best.
But it’s silly to think players will ever fall in line with that — especially in this sport.
Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
He’s a man! He’s 40!
Folks, LeBron James has officially crossed over into the fourth decade of his life, and somehow, we’ve been watching him play professional NBA basketball for the majority of that time.
Think about that. Most of us met this dude for the first time at 16 years old on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He was billed as the next Michael Jordan, which was always a setup for failure back then.
Not for this guy, though. He’s lived up to every bit of the hype. Now we know he was never the next MJ. He was always just going to be LeBron. He’s one of the greatest we’ve ever seen.
Here are some key stats to put that in perspective:
Say what you want about James. Nobody has been this good as basketball for this long. Even if he isn’t your GOAT, you’ve got to appreciate that.
Happy birthday, LeBron. May your [expletive] go on for as long as you want it to.
Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
I’m not sure what would be considered more ridiculous: Rex Ryan longing to coach the dumpster fire that is the New York Jets or the Jets being open to his return.
It doesn’t matter which is more ridiculous because both things are true.
Here’s our Charles Curtis on the potential reunion, so obviously doomed to fail again if it happens:
“Now, Ryan told ESPN New York “that he expects to speak with the Jets for their head coaching opening after the regular season ends,” per Jake Asman. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport added “Actually a possibility, believe it or not, as a candidate who could be interviewed.”
That’s something! That means he might truly be a candidate.”
Well, folks. It seems they actually may be doing this. I’d say it’s surprising, but Woody Johnson takes his organizational cues from teenagers. Nothing is surprising with this team anymore.
Honestly, the fact that Johnson is basically letting Brick and Jack run the organization gives me hope that New York won’t hire Ryan, mostly because I’m not sure they actually know who he is.
Anyway. We’ve talked about New York football way too much today. My apologies.
— Here’s Christian D’Andrea with takeaways from Week 17, including why you shouldn’t trust the Packers.
— Jayden Daniels is the real deal, even if the Commanders aren’t exactly up to par just yet. Here’s Prince Grimes with more.
— Speaking of the real deal, Michael Penix Jr. is that guy. He resisted a Falconing in his first start on the road. Christian D’Andrea has more.
— Mary Clarke has photos of the Amen Thompson-Tyler Herro scuffle. Amen really just tossed Herro across the floor. Wow.
— Tony Romo seemed to suggest Josh Allen might win MVP over Lamar Jackson because of voter fatigue. Honestly? I think he’s right. Robert Zeglinski has more here.
— A’ja Wilson popping out and surprising UNC’s women’s hoops team is the best thing on the internet today. Meg Hall has more.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading all year. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic New Year. We’ll see you again on Thursday, in 2025. Peace.
-Sykes
