There’s a first time for everything

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.

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.

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.

✨ 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 pudding report.