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Good morning! We have hot dog answers.
While You Were Sleeping: A scintillating shootout
The reigning World Cup champions live another day, but not without an extreme amount of stress. Some things that happened in Argentina’s 1-1 shootout win over Ecuador in the Copa America quarterfinals last night:
- After Argentina scored in the 35th minute to go up 1-0, Ecuador’s Enner Valencia missed a penalty kick 30 minutes later in brutal fashion. At the time, it felt like the game’s deciding moment.
- Not so fast. Kevin Rodríguez rectified Valencia’s goof with a wild stoppage time goal to send the match to penalty kicks (Copa America is not doing an extra period, unlike Euros).
- Lionel Messi, back from missing a game due to injury, opened PKs with this:
Lionel Messi misses the first penalty kick 🤯
🎥 @FOXSoccerpic.twitter.com/QxGM1b3owb
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 5, 2024
- A shocking miss. Yet it was no matter. Argentina easily forged past the miss and won PKs 4-2, thanks to two impressive stops by goalie Emi Martínez.
See our full story from the match here. Tuesday, the Argentinians will face the winner of tonight’s match between Venezuela and Canada in the semifinals.
Goodbyes: Everyone’s favorite player bids adieu
Every sport has seen an Andy Murray, an elite talent born at the wrong time, cursed to toil against legends who happen to be around the same age. In another era, Murray, the charming fan favorite, might have 10 grand slam titles. Facing Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic over and over again can drive a person mad.
Except for Murray, it didn’t. The Scottish (and British … it’s a whole thing) 37-year-old said goodbye to his home court of Wimbledon yesterday, shortly after he lost a doubles match with his brother Jamie. The scene was emotional:
- In a speech in front of an adoring crowd, Murray showcased the wit and self-deprecation that earned him so many supporters over the last 20 years. “I can cry like Roger, it’s just a shame I can’t play like him,” he said, alternating between tears and laughter.
- Murray’s bona fides, despite his bad luck, are still legit: three grand slam titles, including two at Wimbledon. He was ranked No. 1 in the world in 2016. He has five runner-up finishes at the Australian Open, four of those losses to Djokovic and the other to Federer. He also has two Olympic singles gold medals.
- Injuries were not kind. Back problems and multiple hip surgeries derailed much of his later career. He joked yesterday that his kids were asking for piggyback rides the day after a back surgery, which maybe hastened his exit from the game.
We also cannot forget about his interview moment when he corrected a reporter for excluding women from a tally of Wimbledon semifinalists.
Charlie Eccleshare penned a beautiful tribute to Murray’s career, which is absolutely worth your time today. Long live Andy Murray. Also, we saw plenty of other action at Wimbledon yesterday, which you can catch up on here.
News to Know
Warriors acquire Hield
Want your Klay Thompson replacement? Here’s Sixers sharpshooter Buddy Hield, whom the Warriors landed via a sign-and-trade yesterday, a bold move for a team that needed one. Since 2017, Hield has made the second-most 3-pointers in the NBA, only short of his new teammate Steph Curry. His fit appears seamless, and caps a flurry of Golden State moves in the last week.
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WBC expels Garcia
The World Boxing Council booted controversial fighter Ryan Garcia last night for “discrimination,” shortly after Garcia reportedly used racial slurs against Black people during a Twitter livestream. It’s another data point in what has been a bizarre year for Garcia, including a PED suspension and instances of disturbing behavior online. Read our full report here.
More news
- Victor Wembanyama, basketball alien, has this season’s most popular PSA-graded trading card for a … pitcher?
- Five-star wide receiver Dakorien Moore picked Oregon over LSU, Ohio State and Texas. Sigh.
- Real Salt Lake ejected a fan Wednesday for a tattoo that violated its hate speech policy.
Photo of the Day: Our focus narrows on Dak Prescott
Dak Prescott estuvo este fin de semana en Los Cabos. En la alberca caminó normal peeeeeeero esta foto de @QuarterbackEl muestra que tiene una lesión en el tobillo derecho! #NFL pic.twitter.com/Ynok6Gh2gG
— 🏆 Juan Carlos Vázquez (@elnarrador) July 3, 2024
The pic above was taken by a bystander reportedly in Cabo San Lucas this weekend, featuring Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in a walking boot. Sound the alarms, everyone.
- Actually, don’t, as reports state Prescott should be OK. But the entire mini news cycle shows how fraught this year will be in Dallas, where star quarterback and team are barreling toward a future in which he could leave as a free agent after the season — or cost the Cowboys a fortune.
Jon Machota, our Cowboys writer, told me the ankle injury should have no bearing on Prescott’s contract status and that it’s likely he plays out the season with no new deal. Tense.
Feedback Loop: The Pulse is at the grill, relax
It’s just a hot dog week, OK? First, the results of our poll yesterday: Grilling hot dogs is the best way to do it. I agree with this generally, but I want to dig into the numbers a little more and make a separate case:
- If you don’t have a grill, or don’t feel like using a grill, don’t be scared to just pan-sear your hot dogs. It takes under five minutes, and you still end up with a juicy, flavorful hot dog out of the pan. Looking at you, microwavers.
Other juicy hot dog news yesterday: Miki Sudo (51 hot dogs) and Patrick Bertoletti (58) won the women’s and men’s Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest titles. Sudo’s mark is a women’s record. Bertoletti’s is not, and comes with a little controversy as well:
- As we’ve mentioned, Joey Chestnut, the undisputed GOAT of competitive eating, was not present due to a contractual spat. He hosted his own contest and downed 57 hot dogs in five minutes — half the time of the Nathan’s contest. So if we’re going by dogs per minute, Chestnut nearly doubled Bertoletti’s total. Lord. Chestnut only dipped below 58 once during his 16 titles (and he even ate 60 when he finished runner-up to Matt Stonie in 2015.
Hope your hot dogs were great. Thanks for voting.
P.S. Multiple people wrote in that they use an air fryer. We will try this next time.
Watch This Game
Euros: Spain vs. Germany
Noon ET on Fox
A massive day of soccer, and this is one of the biggest quarterfinal matchups in the sport’s history. I hope you took off work today. Spain, which has BetMGM’s second-best odds to win the tourney (+400, eight behind England), is a slim favorite.
Euros: Portugal vs. France
3 p.m. ET on Fox
Another heavy hitter. France sits right behind Spain as the third favorite (+450), and Portugal is trying to salvage Cristiano Ronaldo’s final Euros appearance. Expect some tears between Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe afterward.
Get tickets to games like these here.
Pulse Picks
I cackled at the reveal here: Sean McIndoe runs a NHL playoff prediction contest every year on our site. This year’s postseason was as chalky as can be. Easy to win, right? Wrong … and things got pretty weird, too.
Paul Pogba was back with the French soccer team yesterday. It was a strange, yet heartwarming sight to see — and made us wonder about what could’ve been if not for Pogba’s tumultuous last two years.
This was interesting to me, if also personally unnerving: A reader asked Stewart Mandel about whose seat is hotter if he loses in Week 1: LSU’s Brian Kelly or USC’s Lincoln Riley? Less than two months until college football kicks off.
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Which active MLB players are headed for the Hall of Fame? Jayson Stark analyzed 46 cases.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story on Nikki Hiltz, the transgender and nonbinary runner who qualified for the Olympics last weekend.
Most-read on the website yesterday: MLB’s new All-Star uniforms, which drew the ire of fans.
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