How did the Thunder get this good?; Women's College World Series shocker; Lions' big loss
Oklahoma City enters the Finals historically young and historically dominant

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🥎 Good morning to all, but especially to ...
THE TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS
The four-time reigning national champions are no more: Texas Tech is headed to the Women's College World Series championship after eliminating Oklahoma with a thrilling 3-2 victory.
The Sooners were down to their last strike when Abigale Dayton hit a game-tying two-run home run in the seventh inning. The Red Raiders were undeterred, though: With one out, Mihyia Davis singled, Hailey Toney doubled and Davis scored on Lauren Allred's sacrifice fly.
- Texas Tech had lost 37 straight games to Oklahoma.
- Texas Tech is the first team to make the WCWS Championship in its WCWS debut since Oklahoma in 2000.
Texas Tech will face Texas in the championship. Game 1 of the best-of-three series is tomorrow.
😃 Honorable mentions
- There are plenty of Cooper Flagg skeptics. Paul George isn't one of them. Here's Kyle Boone's latest NBA mock draft.
- Stephen Curry wants to own an NBA team one day.
- Is there a surprise contender in the potential Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes?
- With the U.S. Open under two weeks away, Scottie Scheffler is as good as he's ever been.
- We're starting our "burning questions" series with the NFC East.
- Stefon Diggs showed up to Patriots OTAs. The team has no plans to release him after a controversial video emerged.
- Travis Hunter is impressing on defense.
- Liam Coen praised Travis Etienne as trade rumors swirl.
- Ryan Wilson's first 2026 NFL mock draft has arrived.
- The Mets' cobbled-together starting rotation has worked wonders.
- The Mariners are retiring Randy Johnson's No. 51.
- The injury-plagued Fever used their hardship exception to sign Aari McDonald.
- These teams could make their CFP debut this season.
- Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State all filed their intent to leave the Mountain West Conference for the Pac-12 on Sunday, as expected. Which one will be the best at football?
- Several USWNT attackers have stepped up in the absences of Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Wilson.
- Tyler Herro's little brother, Myles Herro, committed to Ohio State.
- Ronald Darby called it a career.
🏈 And not such a good morning for ...

THE DETROIT LIONS
In 1970, Joni Mitchell sang the iconic chorus to "Big Yellow Taxi": "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone?"
Now, 55 years later, I imagine the Lions empathize with that sentiment all too well ... again. Frank Ragnow, the four-time Pro Bowl and three-time second-team All-Pro center who contributed massively -- and often anonymously -- to Detroit's rise, retired Monday at 29 years old. Ragnow cited his future health as the reason he retired.
Ragnow joins a long list of stars who retired earlier than expected, with Hall-of-Fame former Lions Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson also on there. Ragnow's name won't be as glorified as those two -- that's life as a center -- but his impact won't be forgotten and will be nearly impossible to replace.
Ragnow graded out as Pro Football Focus' top center in 2023 and the No. 2 center in 2024. Over those two years, the Lions had a 51.8% success rate with him on the field and a 45.9% success rate without him on the field, not including garbage time. That's the difference between the NFL's best offense and an average offense.
Remember, the Lions also lost coordinators Ben Johnson (Bears) and Aaron Glenn (Jets) to head-coaching positions and guard Kevin Zeitler to the Titans in free agency. There are significant changes ahead for Detroit's offense, and this is a big blow, Jared Dubin notes.
- Dubin: "Jared Goff has long been one of the league's most susceptible quarterbacks to pressure. ... He's also always been more vulnerable to pressure up the middle and into his lap than from the edges, because he's much more comfortable stepping up and through the pocket than he is navigating side to side or scrambling outside the pocket. ... Ragnow was also a significant factor in the team's rushing attack, and over the last two years no team was more effective at running the ball up the middle."
😐 Not so honorable mentions
- What on Earth are the Steelers doing regarding Aaron Rodgers? At least there *might* be a contingency plan in place. What a mess.
- LeBron James says the current state of youth sports burns kids out. He's not wrong!
- Deion Sanders said he was hurt by the criticism aimed at him, Shedeur Sanders and Shilo Sanders before and during the NFL Draft.
- Yankees closer Luke Weaver (hamstring) could miss 4-6 weeks.
- If the Red Sox sell at the trade deadline, there are several players who will draw interest.
- Pacers forward Jarace Walker (ankle) will miss multiple games of the NBA Finals.
- Will Howard reportedly received death threats after Ohio State's loss to Oregon last year.
- Max Homa and Rickie Fowler failed to qualify for the U.S. Open in dramatic fashion.
- The death threats Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. received came from an intoxicated gambler, police say.
- At the French Open, No. 3-seeded Jessica Pegula got upset by unseeded Lois Boisson. Here are the results from Roland Garros.
🏈 Saquon Barkley on cover of 'Madden 26': Does curse still exist?

Saquon Barkley just received the honor of a lifetime. You'll forgive the Eagles and their fans if they're not thrilled in kind. Barkley is the cover athlete for "Madden 26," with his iconic backwards hurdle against the Jaguars as the featured image.
But "Madden cover" is always associated with "Madden Curse," with Christian McCaffrey's injury-riddled 2024 the latest example. Cody Benjamin looked at the history of the Madden Curse, and it turns out it hasn't been quite as prevalent recently.
Still, John Breech notes running backs have been particularly "cursed," -- Peyton Hillis, anyone? -- so every time Barkley takes an extra second to get up, we'll be holding our breath
🏀 How did the Thunder get this good?

Let me give you four quick notes on the Thunder:
- Youngest NBA Finals team since the 1976-77 Trail Blazers
- Best regular-season points per game differential in NBA history (+12.9)
- Most wins by 30+ in a single postseason (four)
- 13 first-round picks between now and 2031
Young, dominant and no end in sight? Sounds like a dynasty in the making. But how did we get here? Jasmyn Wimbish broke down the three key summers that helped Oklahoma City get here, going all the way back to 2019.
- Wimbish: "The return for Paul George was a gold mine. It wasn't just that they got a haul of future first-round picks from the Clippers, which they still haven't finished paying off (2026 will mark the final first-round pick L.A. owes OKC from this trade), but they got a then-20-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ... The Russell Westbrook trade to the Rockets wasn't as fruitful, but it got them Chris Paul, two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps. ... Also around this time, the Thunder signed an undrafted forward from Arizona State named Luguentz Dort to a two-way contract."
🏀 Ultimate NBA summer trade guide, featuring 100(!) players

Giannis Antetokounmpo. Kevin Durant. Trae Young. Literally anyone on the Pelicans. It's shaping up to be quite the offseason trade market, and Sam Quinn has the ultimate NBA trade guide with 100(!!!) players and 11(!!!) tiers.
Eight players fall in "the stars" tier, including ...
- Quinn: "Jaylen Brown, Celtics ($53,124,264) -- The Celtics are currently looking at a $493 million payroll for next season, when they may not have Jayson Tatum at all. They are going to shed money, so everyone but Tatum is probably available here. Keeping Brown and Tatum means paying two stars supermax contracts. That might not be feasible in the new CBA world. Boston won't trade Brown without getting a haul back, but it would be naive to think he's not on the table."
You should bookmark this guide, because it's truly a second-to-none preview of what may happen in the coming months.
🏆 WNBA Power Rankings with Commissioner's Cup underway

The WNBA's Commissioner's Cup got underway Sunday and continues tonight and throughout the next few weeks (full results, schedule and standings here).
In this year's event, each team plays every other team in its conference once, and the two top teams at the end of that will meet in the July 1 championship.
So, who's favored to bring home the trophy (and the money)? We can turn to Jack Maloney's WNBA Power Rankings to get a good idea.
- Liberty
- Lynx
- Mercury
- Dream
- Aces
📺 What we're watching Tuesday
🏀 Mystics at Fever, 7 p.m. on NBA TV
⚽ USWNT vs. Jamaica, 8 p.m. on TNT
⚾ Mets at Dodgers, 10:10 p.m. on TBS
🏀 Wings at Storm, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN