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Good morning to everyone but especially to...
THE CINCINNATI REDS
It's a new era in Cincinnati, and the future is becoming the present with young guns leading the way.
With their 8-6 win over the Rockies, the Reds have won 10 straight games, their longest winning streak since 2012. They haven't had a winning streak longer than 10 games since 1957.
Rookie sensation Elly De La Cruz had three hits, including his second career MLB home run, Will Benson also had his second career homer, and TJ Friedl had four hits and a home run. All three of those players are 27 or younger (with De La Cruz only 21).This is tied for the third-longest winning streak ever by a team that lost at least 100 games the previous season.At 39-35 this season, Cincinnati leads the NL Central.Making matters even better, Reds GM Nick Krall said the team might actually be buyers as the Aug. 1 trade deadline nears. After a number of years of low spending and poor play, Cincinnati is thriving with a young, exhilarating team. It's awesome.
Honorable mentions
And not such a good morning for...
EA SPORTS
Don't give up hope just yet, but EA Sports is running into another issue as it attempts to bring its College Football video game franchise back.
The sports video game giant is being sued by The Brandr Group, which negotiates licensing deals with more than 50 Division I schools. EA Sports reportedly reached out to The Brandr Group in 2021 and 2022 to discuss offering NIL deals to athletes.
In May 2023, though, EA Sports partnered with OneTeam Partners to negotiate. Per several reports, every player that opts into having their name, image and likeness used in the game receives roughly $500.In the lawsuit, The Brandr Group states, EA "places TBG's Partner Schools in the unenviable position of either breaching their contracts with TBG or potentially losing the opportunity for themselves and their athletes to participate in the game. EA's tactics will also cause irreparable harm to TBG's Client Athletes, and to every student-athlete who opts-in to their scheme for unfair compensation, because they are being deprived of the opportunity to have their own representative negotiate on their behalves for fair compensation for the use of their NIL."Here's our full explainer on the matter.
