The Pulse: A billion-dollar makeover (2024)

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Good morning! End your Friday in regulation, please.

While You Were Sleeping: A new Stanley Cup favorite?

First, a quick check-in with last night’s playoff action:

Edmonton stole Game 1 in Dallas with this Connor McDavid goal just 32 seconds into double overtime:

WHO ELSE BUT CONNOR MCDAVID 🔥
The Oilers take Game 1 over the Stars in 2OT!
🎥 @BR_OpenIce pic.twitter.com/VbA9rGCwM9
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) May 24, 2024

This game was long, lasting nearly four hours from opening puck drop to double-OT goal. With the win, the Oilers become our (slight) Stanley Cup favorite. As Mark Lazerus wrote, Edmonton’s superstars beat Dallas’ “super depth.”

Also: The Boston Celtics went up 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals with a dominant 126-110 win over the Pacers last night. Jaylen Brown went for 40 points, Tyrese Haliburton left the game early with an injury and I’m already wondering how many days off Boston might have before the NBA Finals start.

Maybe unfair, but reality.

New Eras: $2.75 billion and a new NCAA model

May 23, 2024, will officially become a before-and-after date in college sports history after yesterday’s news: The NCAA and its power conferences officially agreed to a settlement in the House vs. NCAA case. This didn’t feel like major news, but the ramifications are astounding:

The settlement includes payment of $2.75 billion from the NCAA to former student-athletes from 2016 onward who lost out on NIL opportunities. That money will be paid out over a 10-year period.
More importantly, it allows each conference to begin revenue sharing with its student athletes as it sees fit. That means money from these big, massive, TV deals will make its way directly to players, something unheard of even a few years ago. This change could come as soon as next year, and could include more than $20 million per school distributed to power-conference athletes.

On its face, this is a great move. An equitable move. The hokey sheen of college athletics long shrouded the reality that the NCAA’s business was simply unfair and, in many cases, illegal.

But how does this change college sports? It’s natural to wonder if fully shedding the amateur label might make everything a little more corporate and stale. As Stewart Mandel explained yesterday, don’t worry:

The product, while different, will still be awesome. We can rue the end of conferences all we want, but making more big-name games will only draw more eyes to college football and other sports.
This shouldn’t really change the academic experience for these athletes. The truth is that most student athletes don’t go pro in their respective sports. So these athletes will earn an education and get paid appropriately while doing it. Novel!

And, as Stewart also notes, people will always complain. I’m just happy everything seems to be moving forward.

News to Know

Video disputes cop’s version of Scheffler’s arrest
Louisville police released video of Scottie Scheffler’s arrest yesterday, which casts doubt on officer Bryan Gillis’ version of the incident. In his report, Gillis wrote he was “dragged/knocked down by the driver,” then “proceeded to arrest” Scheffler. The video clearly shows Gillis slapping the windshield of Scheffler’s (presumed) car as he tried to enter the Valhalla grounds, which stops immediately after Gillis’ intervention. Gillis was disciplined for not having his body camera on. See our full report for details.

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Monty out?
The Pistons hired Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon to be their president of baseball operations yesterday, but that wasn’t the most important news of the transaction: The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III and Shams Charania report that Langdon will have the option to move on from head coach Monty Williams, who the organization signed to a staggering six-year, $76 million contract last offseason. The marriage was awful this year; Detroit went 14-68, but moving on so early — with so much money at stake — would still be a shock.

Cavs fire Bickerstaff
As expected, the Cleveland Cavaliers fired J.B. Bickerstaff yesterday after four and a half years as head coach. This feels like a move aimed at raising a ceiling as the roster could be shuffled. Bickerstaff improved the results in Cleveland, yet they never felt like serious contenders in the East. Jason Lloyd writes Bickerstaff had his players’ backs, even when they didn’t have his. Two leading candidates to replace him: Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson and Pelicans assistant James Borrego.

More news

The WNBA is officially expanding to Canada.
Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky pulled a big upset of the Liberty, in New York, on an emotional day for Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says robot umpires could have “unintended consequences.”
MLB also announced 2026 World Baseball Classic sites, which include Houston and Miami.
West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta has been charged with betting crimes. Full details here.

Hi, Our Name Is: A closed school’s baseball team fights on

For the last 14 years, Birmingham-Southern College has been a Division III baseball powerhouse. The Panthers have nine 30-win seasons, nine conference titles and a national runner-up to their name in that span.

This year, that run ends — through no fault of their own. This is a team quite literally on borrowed time:

The Panthers, as Levi Weaver wrote about in The Windup earlier this week and Kennington Smith III detailed yesterday, will cease to exist after this season because their school is closing for good May 31.
Financial issues plagued the school. A shrinking endowment and a denied $30 million loan from the state forced administrators to shutter the institution, which was founded in 1856.
The baseball team, meanwhile, can’t stop winning. They won their regional as a 3-seed and face Denison (OH) in a super regional starting today. The Panthers are 17-4 since the school announced its closure and put up 30 runs in three regional games.

If the team makes the Division III College World Series, it will play for a school that no longer exists. Sounds like a team to root for to me.

Watch This Game

NHL: Panthers at Rangers
8 p.m. ET on ESPN
Tickets to this game are once again going for above $400. Playoff hockey is already the most tense sporting event we get. I might spontaneously combust watching this.

NBA: Mavericks at Timberwolves
8:30 p.m. ET on TNT
Now imagine the melt if Minnesota, the team that felled the defending champions, goes down 2-0 at home in this series. The air will be tense.

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Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

It is not hyperbole to say Angel Hernandez is the most-hated umpire in Major League Baseball. Sam Blum and Cody Stavenhagen dug a little deeper past the stereotype and found a man who invites hatred on the field, but yet can be a caring, lovable person off it. Read this today.

Jim Bowden answers 20 MLB trade deadline questions. Some of the A’s pitching staff, which has been a revelation this year, could be elsewhere by summer’s end. No surprise.

I loved yesterday’s edition of The Windup, in which Levi Weaver broke down the little wave Elly De La Cruz does when he steals bases. So fun.

Nick Baumgardner highlights 20 NFL Draft sleepers who could make an instant impact as rookies. Yes, Jerry Rice’s kid is a sleeper. We are old.

If NASCAR legend Kyle Larson wins the Indianapolis 500 this weekend, he would probably “stand alone” in racing history, per Mario Andretti. Jeff Gluck has a great story on the possible history at hand.

This year’s French Open is a nightmare draw for clay legend Rafael Nadal — and the entire tournament. Matthew Futterman explains.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Mike Sando’s roundup of NFL offseason moves yesterday. Catch up if you didn’t see it.

Most-read on the website yesterday: Patrick Mahomes’ comments about Harrison Butker’s commencement speech.

(Photo: C. Morgan Engel / Getty Images)

Chris Branch is a staff writer for The Athletic's daily newsletter. Before joining The Athletic, he covered the Phillies for The News-Journal and worked as a content strategist for various industries. He graduated from LSU, where he worked for The Daily Reveille. Follow Chris on Twitter @cbranch89