Happy Thursday, everyone. Hope you're doing well.
Let's get right to it.
Good morning to everyone but especially to...
NFL FANS
The NFL is back! Kind of (kind of is good enough for me!) The Jaguars and Raiders face off in the Hall of Fame Game tonight, marking the start of the preseason. Both teams look very different than they did at the end of last year.
The Jaguars hired Doug Pederson as their head coach after the Urban Meyer disaster that was last season. While last year's No. 1 overall pick, QB Trevor Lawrence, won't play tonight, we may see this year's No. 1 pick, OLB Travon Walker.The Raiders, meanwhile, hired Josh McDaniels and brought in several big-name veterans, including Davante Adams and Chandler Jones. They're looking to make the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 2000-02.These teams were selected to play in the Hall of Fame game because former Jaguars tackle Tony Boselli and former Raiders wide receiver Cliff Branch are being inducted into the Hall of Fame over the weekend. You can see the whole class here.Listen, this won't be the highest-quality football you'll ever see. Teams have only been in training camp for a couple of weeks, and most starters (in fact, likely all starters) and even some established back-ups won't play. But, hey, there's NFL football on TV for the first time since February. I'll take it.
Honorable mentions
And not such a good morning for...
Getty ImagesPAIGE BUECKERS, THE UCONN HUSKIES AND COLLEGE BASKETBALL AS A WHOLE
UConn women's basketball will be without its brightest star, and women's college basketball will be worse off because of it. Paige Bueckers tore her ACL in a pick-up game Monday and will miss the entire 2022-23 season.
The rising junior missed a significant chunk of last season after suffering a tibial plateau fracture in December.She returned late in the year and helped lead UConn to the national title game, where the Huskies lost to South Carolina.Back in 2020-21 as a freshman, Bueckers averaged 20.0 points, 5.7 assists and 4.9 rebounds and became the first freshman to win AP Women's Player of the Year. She also won the Naismith Award.Bueckers is an absolute joy to watch, and when she has it rolling offensively, she's nearly impossible to stop thanks to her silky-smooth mid-range shooting, terrific handle and passing and the ability to knock down the 3-pointer. In the Elite 8 -- one of the best games of the year -- Bueckers poured in 27 points on just 15 shots as UConn topped NC State in double overtime.
This is undoubtedly a huge loss for UConn and for women's basketball as a whole. Bueckers is truly irreplaceable in every sense of the word.
