☀️ Good morning and welcome back to The Nosebleeds.

😉 Freak Time in Milwaukee with the Bucks’ new duo of Giannis and Dame.

🏀 Tip off.

🦌 Dame Time in Wisco

Damian Lillard has been traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.

For awhile, it looked like Dame was going to be teaming up with Jimmy Buckets in Miami. Then there were murmurs early this week that he was going to be a Raptor. But in the end, Lillard finds himself lining up beside the Greek Freak—creating the best duo in the NBA.

There were many moving pieces in this trade, so I’m not going to waste any time breaking that down for you. Instead, here is Shams with the full details of the three-team blockbuster trade:

Milwaukee is sacrificing some defense for offense with this trade, as Jrue Holiday is on his way to Portland (and looks like he’ll be on the move again soon), but Vegas thinks this trade makes the Bucks the new favorites to win the NBA Finals.

🏃 Race to the MLB Postseason

There is less than one week of MLB regular season remaining, and there is still plenty to play for a handful of teams.

American League

In the AL, there are four teams fighting for the three remaining playoff spots. Here are each team’s playoff odds before the conclusion of Thursday’s games:

• Texas Rangers: 99.2%

• Toronto Blue Jays: 90.3%

• Houston Astros: 83.9%

• Seattle Mariners: 26.6%

But what makes this playoff race so interesting is that the Rangers and Mariners conclude the season with a four game series against one another. If the Mariners find a way to sweep that series, things get really tight for the AL West division crown and final Wildcard playoff spots.

National League

There are still four teams duking it out for the last two Wildcard spots in the NL with four games remaining:

• Arizona Diamondbacks: 94.6%

• Miami Marlins: 70.9%

• Chicago Cubs: 30.2%

• Cincinnati Reds: 4.2%

The Cubs had a stranglehold on the NL Wildcard spot only a couple of weeks ago, as they had about a 90% chance to get into the dance. But a brutal losing streak late in the year has put the Marlins in the driver’s seat for the final Wildcard spot, as their last series of the year is against the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates.

🏆️ Ryder Cup Weekend

While you were sleeping last night, the 2023 Ryder Cup got underway in Rome, Italy.

I, unfortunately, did not stay up all night watching the foursomes on Day 1 as the Europeans look to continue their unbeaten streak on home soil that dates back to 1993.

The Day 1 Matchups:

Here is the pre-tournament win probability from Data Golf:

The Americans are favored and definitely have a deeper team, but I think Europe’s big three of Rory, Rahm, and Hovland, combined with the fact the Europeans are on their home turf in Italy, will ultimately lead to a European Ryder Cup victory.

🤔 Golf Trivia

You know it had to be golf trivia with the 2023 Ryder Cup getting underway.

• Question: who won the 2021 Ryder Cup (bonus points if you get the score correct)?

Answer at the bottom.

🩸 Bloody Good Play of the Week

Logan Cooley 🤮 

🍿 Weekly Watchlist

1. ⛳️ 2023 Ryder Cup: you can tune in when you get home from the bar—tournament is on in the middle of the night all weekend long.

2. 👨‍🎓 USC @ Colorado: Colorado was outmatched against the Ducks last weekend but any time two top QB prospects are facing-off you need to tune in.

3. ⚾️ TEX Rangers @ SEA Mariners: one final series that will essentially determine who makes the postseason in the AL.

👀 See y’all again on Tuesday!

• Trivia Answer: Team USA dominated the 2021 Ryder Cup by a score of 19-9.

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