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😄 Good morning to all but especially to …
NFL FANS
While much of the country is dealing with terms like “heat dome” and “corn sweat,” we’re able to turn our minds to the fall as 26 NFL teams reported to training camp on Tuesday. Unsurprisingly, news was pouring out of camps all day, and it’s enough to set one to daydreaming about firing up the grill for a football Sunday.
Move the jerseys and hoodies to the front of your closet. We’re just over 40 days away from football season.
👍 Honorable mentions
- Venus Williams, 45, won her first match since 2023.
- Oilers stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl suited up to play a little beer league hockey.
- Royals pitcher Rich Hill, 45, became the oldest player in Major League Baseball.
- Hurricanes QB Carson Beck says he’s “been 100% for a while now” and is ready for the NCAA season after offseason elbow surgery.
- Angel Reese has set another double double record.
- Five-time Pro Bowl tight end Jimmy Graham will officially retire from the NFL as a member of the Saints.
- In more impactful Saints retirement news, Tyrann Mathieu announced his retirement on Tuesday, ending a 12-year career for “Honey Badger.”
- After his dominant win over Daniel Dubois on Saturday, Oleksandr Usyk put his spot at the top of the CBS Sports’ boxing pound-for-pound rankings on lockdown.
- Marcus Smart says Luka Dončić reaching out to him impacted his decision to join the Lakers.
- After averaging 29.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists, Jazz forward Kyle Filipowski earned NBA 2K26 Summer League MVP honors.
- UFC 320 landed a pair of title fights as light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev will rematch Alex Pereira, and Merab Dvalishvili will defend his bantamweight championship against Cory Sandhagen.
- The UFC 321 main event was also announced, with Tom Aspinall set to make the first defense of his heavyweight championship against two-time former title challenger Ciryl Gane.
- Raiders coach Pete Carrol set high expectations for his team, saying, “We’re gonna win a ton.”
😟 And not such a good morning for …
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TREY HENDRICKSON AND THE CINCINNATI BENGALS
The contract drama surrounding Trey Hendrickson and the Bengals continued as Hendrickson left Cincinnati and headed to Jacksonville, Florida. Last season’s NFL sack leader made the decision not to report to training camp and plans to remain on the sidelines for the offseason unless he can reach a new contract with Cincinnati.
According to Hendrickson, the Bengals submitted two offers in a 24-hour stretch, with neither containing guarantees beyond the first season. “I was more than willing to take less in some ways in order to make this work,” Hendrickson said.
John Breech broke down the situation and predicted when it might reach an end.
- Breech: “Hendrickson was in Cincinnati over the weekend, which may have been a goodwill sign from him that he was hoping to have his contract done before the start of training camp. That won’t be happening now, but that doesn’t mean this has to drag out. The Bengals and Hendrickson both want to get the deal done, so the prediction here is that the two sides get something done by Aug. 1. That timing would allow Hendrickson to make his training camp debut during an Aug. 2 practice that will be held in front of thousands of fans at Paycor Stadium.”
👎 Not so honorable mentions
🏈 Big Ten Media Days bring interesting perspectives from coaches
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Coaches hit the podium on Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days and some interesting insights were given into their programs. One of the top stories of the day saw Indiana coach Curt Cignetti take a few digs at the SEC. Cignetti has seen his team face criticism for their selection into the College Football Playoff last season, with many seeing their schedule as “soft” compared to SEC teams such as Alabama who missed the cut. New criticism bubbled up when Indiana cancelled a home-and-home series with Virginia that was scheduled to begin in 2027.
Cignetti returned fire at those critics, as well as the SEC as a whole, by pointing out SEC out-of-conference schedules and saying that his team “figured we would just adopt SEC scheduling philosophy.”
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule addressed Scott Frost‘s comments from earlier in the month that the Cornhuskers position was “the wrong job” for him. While those comments stirred up the Nebraska faithful, Rhule said he was empathetic to Frost’s situation and faced his own struggles after taking the job.
“This wasn’t a good job,” Rhule said. “It was not a good job, but we’ve made it a good job, and we’re about to make it a great job. This will be one of the best jobs in the country.”
Make sure to check out our 2025 Big Ten coach rankings to see where Cignetti and Rhule rank in the conference.
🏀 NBA reunions we would like to see
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NBA’s free agency season produced a few throwback reunions with Damian Lillard returning to the Trail Blazers and Chris Paul making his way back to the Clippers. There’s nothing quite like a player being welcomed back to his former city as a returning hero. With that in mind, Jasmyn Wimbish took a look around the league to identify four NBA reunions we would like to see.
While LeBron James picked up his option to remain with the Lakers, the door is open for him to end his career in one of the cities in which he previously won championships. Wimbish visualized a storybook ending for James with a return to the Cavaliers to end his career.
- Wimbish: “A third stint would bring James’ journey full circle. As he approaches retirement, can you imagine a more perfect ending that LeBron ending his career in the place where it all began? There would quite literally be a movie made about it if that were to happen. And to top it all off, James would be returning to a Cavaliers team poised to make a deep playoff run. While he’ll be turning 41 in December, James could be the missing piece to put Cleveland over the edge to deliver another championship, and if this were to be his last season, there wouldn’t be a more fairytale ending than James winning a title with Cleveland to close the book on his NBA career.”
📺 What we’re watching Wednesday
⚾ Reds at Nationals, 12:05 p.m. on MLB Network
⚽ UEFA Women’s European Championship: Semifinal — Germany vs. Spain, 3 p.m. on FOX
⚾ Yankees at Blue Jays, 7:07 p.m. on Prime Video
🏀 Dream at Mercury, 10 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
