There’s a first time for everything
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
Rise and shine!
There’s no case of the Mondays here, because today marks the year’s only men’s Sports Equinox, a rare day in which the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA are all in action. Celebrating the occasion, and of course bringing women’s sports to the party, in three, two…


— The Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo trolling his girlfriend, A’ja Wilson, after the reigning four-time WNBA MVP called him her boyfriend (instead of her usual nickname) during Wilson’s induction into the University of South Carolina Hall of Fame. Couples that joke together stay together.
World Series
⚾ Who turned the temperature hotter?

The GIST: Heroic hitting performances, poetic pitching moments, a Jonas Brothers concert in the middle of the action — you truly never know what you’re going to see in the World Series.
- Here are the history-making highlights from this weekend’s Games 1 and 2 between the Toronto Blue Jays and LA Dodgers, plus a look ahead at tonight’s pivotal 8 p.m. ET Game 3 as the series moves to LA with teams even at one game apiece.
🐦 Jays’ Addison Barger hits first-ever World Series pinch-hit Grand Slam in 11–4 Game 1 win: No bed, no problem — Barger provided four of the Jays’ nine (!!!) sixth-inning runs on Friday, helping his squad cruise to an early series lead. Not in the starting lineup due to his weak batting average against lefty pitchers, the left-handed swinging Barger had no trouble against Dodgers southpaw Anthony Banda. Built for the moment, indeed.
💙 Dodgers hurler Yoshinobu Yamamoto tosses second straight postseason complete game: Pitching all nine innings is a rarity in modern baseball — nevermind doing it twice in a row…in the playoffs. Yamamoto struck out eight Blue Jays and surrendered just four hits in Saturday’s 5–1 win, posting MLB’s first back-to-back postseason complete games since 2001. Simply masterful.
⏩ Toronto’s Max Scherzer, LA’s Tyler Glasnow to start Game 3: Either of these sharp pitchers could author a storybook outing tonight. A 41-year-old former Dodger, Scherzer turned back the clock in his most recent playoff outing. Meanwhile, Glasnow’s been fantastic this fall, boasting an astounding 0.68 ERA.
NFL
🏈 The life of a tight end

The GIST: The Week 8 NFL slate saw plenty of players put their best foot forward, including the league’s top tight ends (TEs) — it was their day, after all. To celebrate the holiday, here’s a primer on the unique position, plus the performances that defined the album occasion.
✨ The ultimate positional glow-up: TEs play a hybrid position, combining the blocking ability of linemen and the pass-catching prowess of wide receivers. Traditionally, blocking was the priority — but as offensive schemes evolved, so did the position, from the first TE to hit 1K receiving yards in 1961 to the increased specialization of LA Charger Kellen Winslow in the ’80s.
- The position’s true revolution came in the 2000s though, when NFL legends like Tony Gonzalez proved a TE could be a team’s primary offensive target.
- Gonzalez paved the way for modern-day TEs who are versatile, athletic, and skilled. Yes, they still catch passes and block, but in today’s NFL, they’re doing it everywhere on the field, sometimes lining up where wide receivers normally would. Multi-faceted kings.
🏆 With that in mind, here are our top three TE performances of Week 8:
- 🥇 NY Jet Mason Taylor, who hauled in the game-winning touchdown (TD) for the previously winless Gang Green.
- 🥈 Philadelphia Eagle Dallas Goedert, who found the end zone twice in the Birds’ lopsided 38–20 redemption dub over their divisional rival, the NY Giants.
- 🥉 San Francisco 49er George Kittle, and not just because he’s the founder of the holiday: Kittle made this tough grab for his second TD of the season.
☝️ One more thing: Well, technically two more things. Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett had a record-setting five sacks in yesterday’s loss to the New England Patriots, while Buffalo Bills quarterback (QB) Josh Allen logged his NFL-record 46th game with a passing and rushing TD.
Together With Canadian Women & Sport
💅 The main character? It’s women’s sports

Women’s sports are thriving. You know it, we know it, and Canadian Women & Sport knows it, too — and now we have even more numbers to support investing in the space. Slay.
In collaboration with Canadian Tire Corporation and Wasserman’s The Collective, Canadian Women & Sport is releasing their third annual It’s Time report. Here’s what’s inside:
💰 A valuation of the Canadian pro women’s sports market and a future forecast
📈 Insights on how fans just like you are driving the growth
📋 A playbook for brands to maximize investment in the space
The perfect opportunity to invest in women’s sports was yesterday — but the next best time is now. To quote our pals at Canadian Women & Sport, it’s time.
🏎️ McLaren’s Lando Norris wins Mexican Grand Prix, leads World Drivers’ Championship (WDC)
The Briton capitalized on Saturday’s speedy qualifying lap, using pole position to earn the chaotic lights-to-flag win by more than 30 seconds. It was a dominant performance that catapulted him to the top of the WDC standings — albeit by a single point — with just four races to go. Spicy.
- Norris’ championship rival (and McLaren teammate), Oscar Piastri, finished fifth, bumping him down to second in the WDC. Meanwhile, fellow title contender Max Verstappen of Red Bull settled for a third-place finish, crossing the line just behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
🇨🇦⚽ Two injured players leave No. 9 CanWNT early before tomorrow’s match against No. 11 Netherlands
The red and white’s European tour is not off to a strong start, with star forward Olivia Smith and teen phenom Kaylee Hunter injured ahead of tomorrow’s 2:45 p.m. ET friendly vs. the powerhouse Dutch. Smith picked up a knock in CanWNT’s 1–0 Friday loss to No. 24 Switzerland, while Hunter was injured during training. Uh oh.
🏈 Six-team CFL playoff field set ahead of next weekend’s semi-finals
And no one’s hotter than the surging BC Lions, who enter the postseason on a six-game win streak after dismantling the Saskatchewan Roughriders 27–21 on Saturday. The timely dub clinched the West’s No. 2 seed and at least one home playoff game for BC, starting with this weekend’s Western semis showdown against the No. 3 seed Calgary Stampeders.
- Joining the Lions and Stamps in the semis? Two perennial contenders, the Montreal Alouettes and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, while the top-seeded Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats earned first-round byes.
🇪🇸⚽ Real Madrid defeats FC Barcelona 2–1 in first El Clásico of the season
In a clash of giants, Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé stood the tallest yesterday, setting the tone with the opening goal in his club’s win. Teammate Jude Bellingham clinched the dub just before halftime, snapping Madrid’s four-game losing skid against their archrival and strengthening their hold atop the La Liga standings.
- 👀 On Friday, we asked you to predict the winner and 49% of GISTers correctly chose Madrid. Wonder if they read our special The GIST Plus El Clásico breakdown beforehand…
Together With Canadian Women & Sport

✨ Women’s sports aren’t just winning hearts: They’re winning the market. Canadian Women & Sport’s It’s Time report found that the women’s sports market in Canada has doubled in just two years and could be worth $570M by 2030.
- And that math checks out considering two in three Canadians — a whopping 17M of us — are women’s sports fans.
- And we’re as powerful as we are passionate: Canadian women’s sports fans are diverse, educated, and ready to spend. The proof is in the
puddingreport.
Peep our squad’s MVPs (Most Valuable Picks):
🥊 What to watch
"Girl Fight." The new three-part BBC One Northern Ireland series follows the journeys of three young women who step into the cage in the tough sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), seeking transformation and a sense of control over their lives.
📚 What to read
The third annual It’s Time report, which provides insight and data about the women’s sports market in Canada. Because when women’s sports win, everyone wins.*
🍿 What to look forward to (maybe)
A “Training Day” remake starring Anthony Edwards and Timothée Chalamet. During NBA star Edwards’ new YouTube award show, Chalamet suggested the unlikely duo could star in a reboot of the Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke classic. Yes, please.
*P.S. This is a sponsored post. Women!Question of the Day
As the World Series shifts to LA for Games 3, 4, and 5, will a champion be crowned in La La Land, or will the series head back to the Six for a Game 6 and possible 7?
Today’s email was brought to you by Alessandra Puccio, Lisa Minutillo, Lauren Tuiskula, Grace DePaull, Charlotte Mackenzie, and Briana Ekanem. Editing by Katie Kehoe Foster. Fact-checking by Marga Sison and Mikaela Perez. Ops by Briana Ekanem and Marga Sison. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster, Alessandra Puccio, and Lisa Minutillo. Managing edits by Lauren Tuiskula and Alessandra Puccio. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.




