MLS announced on Tuesday that it has awarded an expansion team to the city of St. Louis, swelling the leagues ranks to 28 clubs.

St. Louis' ownership group includes Enterprise Holdings Foundation president Carolyn Kindle Betz and other female members of the Taylor family, making it the first female majority-owned team in MLS history. The investor group is rounded out by World Wide Technology CEO Jim Kavanaugh, and Enterprise Holdings Executive Chairman Andy Taylor. The team will begin play in 2022 and the process for selecting the team name, badge and colors will begin immediately.

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"It is with great pride that we welcome St. Louis to Major League Soccer," MLS commissioner Don Garber said. "St. Louis is a city with a rich soccer tradition, and it is a market we have considered since the league's inception.

"Our league becomes stronger today with the addition of the city's deeply dedicated soccer fans, and the committed and innovative local ownership group led by Carolyn Kindle Betz, the Taylor family, and Jim Kavanaugh."

The announcement caps a process that amounted to a rollercoaster ride. The St. Louis bid looked dead back in 2017 when a city referendum that would have directed $60 million in new tax proceeds towards the construction of a stadium was defeated by voters. That setback led Paul Edgerley, who headed the investment group at the time, to cease his efforts to bring a team to St. Louis.

But last October, Kindle-Betz and other members of the Taylor Family got on board alongside Kavanaugh, who was part of the previous investor group. Thanks to a willingness to fund stadium construction almost entirely with private funds, and with a site located in the Downtown West district, St. Louis was back in the game. MLS announced in April that it had entered exclusive negotiations with St. Louis, and following a series of presentations, the last of which came three weeks ago at the MLS All-Star Game in Orlando, the decision was made to bring the Gateway City into the MLS fold.

"Our ownership group has come a long way since we first announced our bid last October at Mathews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club, and it's an incredible feeling to now be able to say, St. Louis is home to the first official majority female-led ownership group in MLS," Kindle Betz said. "Our MLS team and stadium will only add to St. Louis' renaissance currently underway and will provide us with a great opportunity to bring together many different segments of the community, uniting people in their love for the game."

The stadium is part of a major development project, which will include mixed-use retail and restaurants. According to the ownership group, no Tax Increment Financing (TIF) or any direct citywide tax investment will be needed to finance the stadium project. The stadium proposal specifies that only those purchasing tickets and items at the stadium will be paying any tax. The team will pay for all stadium maintenance, repair and upkeep.

MLS has long desired to have a team in St. Louis, given the sport's long history in the Gateway City. Five of the 11 players that defeated England at the 1950 World Cup were from St. Louis, and the city has produced 29 players and coaches who have been inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

The area's youth programs have helped develop several players into professionals, including MLS players Will Bruin (Seattle Sounders) and Joe Willis (Houston Dynamo), Tim Ream (Fulham) of the English Championship, rising star Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen) of the Bundesliga, and Becky Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals) of the NWSL and the FIFA World Cup champion with the U.S. Women's National Team.

In addition, many former MLS players are from St. Louis, including Taylor Twellman, Brad Davis, Chris Klein and Steve Ralston.

Include Baker Mayfield as another person surprised by the New York Giants' decision to draft quarterback Daniel Jones earlier this year.

"Blows my mind," the Cleveland Browns quarterback told GQ in a wide-ranging interview released Tuesday. "Some people overthink it. That's where people go wrong. They forget you've gotta win."

Jones finished with a 17-19 record at Duke before the Giants made him the No. 6 overall pick.

Mayfield wasn't the consensus No. 1 overall quarterback prospect before the 2018 draft despite going 34-6 at Oklahoma. But he was at the top of the Browns' draft chart as they selected him No. 1 overall and watched him lead the franchise to a 7-8-1 record after going 0-16 the previous season.

"Either you have a history of winning and being that guy for your team or you don't," he told GQ.

Mayfield covered several other topics in the interview, including when he planted the Oklahoma flag at midfield in Ohio Stadium after the Sooners defeated Ohio State in 2017. Mayfield said that the "higher-ups" at OU asking him to apologize for it was "just jaw-dropping" to him.

"Actually we won. That's what we're about. I had done so much and worked so hard to play for that school, I was just kinda ... almost embarrassed for them to tell me to apologize," said Mayfield, who, when asked how heartfelt that apology actually was on a scale of 1 to 10, replied, "zero."

"Which might hurt some Ohio fans' feelings," he added. "But I think we're all good now."

Mayfield wasn't the only Browns player to criticize the Giants in a story published Tuesday.

Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who has been outspoken about the Giants since they traded him to the Browns in March, told Sports Illustrated that he believes the trade was "personal." Beckham told the magazine that he believes the Giants had better offers from other teams but traded him to the Browns hoping to stifle his career.

"This wasn't no business move. This was personal. They thought they'd send me here to die," he said.

The Giants declined to comment when contacted by SI about Beckham's remarks.

In the aftermath of DeMarcus Cousins' knee injury, the Los Angeles Lakers are bringing in two former All-Star centers -- Joakim Noah and Dwight Howard -- to evaluate in individual workouts in Los Angeles, league sources told ESPN on Tuesday.

The workouts will also include veteran Mo Speights, league sources said.

Another center under consideration, per sources: Marcin Gortat, who is currently overseas in Europe.

Howard is under contract with the Memphis Grizzlies, but the team has given him permission to explore opportunities elsewhere in the NBA. He has a $5.6 million expiring contract that could be useful as a trade asset, or he could work out a contract buyout with the Grizzlies. It is unlikely that he will play a game for the franchise, league sources said.

Cousins suffered a torn left ACL in a workout last week, likely leaving the Lakers without him for the duration of his one-year, $3.5 million deal with the franchise.

The Lakers have JaVale McGee and will try to cobble together a center rotation that will include Anthony Davis, with the organization still preferring that he play a majority of his minutes at power forward and not center.

ATLANTA -- Braves reliever Jacob Webb is likely done for the season after being placed on the 60-day injured list with an ailing right elbow.

Webb, 26, had been one of the most effective pitchers in Atlanta's bullpen, with a 4-0 record, 2 saves and a 1.39 ERA in 36 appearances. But he had not pitched in the big leagues since going on the 10-day IL with an elbow impingement July 13.

Webb began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Gwinnett on July 31, but he struggled in 10 appearances, posting a 6.97 ERA.

He was recalled from Gwinnett and shifted to the 60-day IL to make room on the 40-man roster for outfielder Billy Hamilton, who was claimed off waivers Monday from Kansas City.

The New York Yankees have become the latest team to attempt to revive the career of reliever Trevor Rosenthal, reaching a minor league deal with the former All-Star, sources told ESPN's Buster Olney, confirming multiple reports.

After missing all of last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Rosenthal signed a deal with the Nationals that could have been worth up to $30 million over two years.

But Rosenthal struggled with Washington, going 0-1 with a 22.74 ERA in 12 games before being released on June 23. The right-hander joined the Tigers six days later on a minor league deal and returned to the majors with Detroit on July 15.

Rosenthal also struggled with the Tigers, however, posting a 7.00 ERA in 10 appearances before being released Aug. 11. He has allowed 23 earned runs, 11 hits and 26 walks in 15 1/3 innings combined this season with Washington and Detroit.

The 29-year-old had 121 saves in six seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals from 2012 to 2017 and was an All-Star in 2015. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017.

Rosenthal is the latest veteran reliever added after the July 31 trade deadline by the Yankees, who also have signed right-hander David Hernandez and claimed right-hander Ryan Dull off waivers from the Giants in the past week.

The incredible story of the 2019 Yankees has been told and retold, because it just keeps happening: A star-laden roster that was projected, before Opening Day, to win as many as 100 games has seen star after star get injured, yet has somehow gotten better.

Injuries hit early and often and to many of the best players. At various points this season, they've set records for most players unavailable at one time, as well as best players unavailable at one time (as measured by previous season's WAR on the injured list). They've spent more money on injured players this year than the Rays have spent on players, by some accounting. When star players have returned from rehab, others have promptly replaced them. That was true in April, in May, in June and in July, and it's true today: This month, they've activated Gary Sanchez and Brett Gardner, while losing Edwin Encarnacion and Aaron Hicks. There are 16 players currently injured, including the first-, second- and third-string first basemen. And the Yankees are on pace to win 107 games.

Undeniably, this has been a triumphant season for the Yankees organization as a whole. That's the plot. What's the theme, though? Is this incredible story one of depth -- a roster Brian Cashman & Co. built before the season that was astoundingly deep and able to win a war of attrition? Or is it one of surprise, of overachievement, of player development -- a roster of nobodies who became heroes when the moment called upon them?

To answer that, let's spin the dial back four months and consider what the Yankees' preseason previews would have looked like if we'd gotten the playing time estimates exactly right.

Here is a list that we'll be referring back to as we go. The first number for each position is Projected WAR followed by Projected WAR, If We'd Known and Actual WAR (prorated):

• Catcher: 2.8 | 3.7 | 2.5

• First base: 1.9 | 2.3 | 1.9

• Second base: 3.1 | 1.2 | 3.7

• Shortstop: 2.0 | 3.3 | 4.1

• Third base: 2.2 | 1.1 | 5.8

• Left field: 2.6 | 1.8 | 6.2

• Center field: 4.0 | 3.1 | 4.3

• Right field: 5.3 | 3.9 | 3.0

• DH: 2.7 | 0.5 | 1.1

Projected WAR is what the ZiPS projection system forecast for the Yankees at each position, given the best estimates at the time of Yankees playing time. For example, at left field the Yankees projected to produce 2.6 wins. That was assuming Gardner would play around three-quarters of the time and Giancarlo Stanton would play one-quarter (while spending most of his time at DH).

Projected WAR, If We'd Known is what the projection would have been had ZiPS known with perfect accuracy who would actually play, and how much. (But not knowing how well they'd play; you can't predict baseball.) The If We'd Known projection for left field would include some Gardner -- he has played about a third of the Yankees' games there -- and almost no Stanton. It would also include weighted shares of the projections for Mike Tauchman, Clint Frazier and Cameron Maybin, who have collectively started most of the Yankees' games in left, but who projected to be not great.

Actual WAR is what the Yankees have actually gotten at each position. Which, for left field, has been both expectedly (because we figured it would be Gardner and Stanton) and unexpectedly (because we didn't figure it'd be Maybin/Tauchman/Frazier) great:

• Frazier, as LF: .390/.409/.732

• Tauchman, as LF: .298/.378/.626

• Maybin, as LF: .337/.413/.500

So in the case of left field, we get:

Step 1: The Yankees project to be pretty good (2.6 WAR). Step 2: The Yankees get hurt, and project to be worse -- but not too bad (1.8 WAR). They had pretty good depth there. Step 3: The replacements end up being way better than expected, and in fact considerably better than even the original plan (6.2 WAR). The replacements got better as ballplayers, and they overachieved.

There are nine positions on the offensive side. In three of these, the Yankees' projections would have either stayed about the same or gotten better had we known how playing time would really be distributed.

At first base, this is a testament to their depth: They went into the season with two seemingly qualified first basemen fighting for playing time (and, indeed, each homered on Opening Day). When Greg Bird was injured in mid-April, it didn't hurt the collective projection. And with Luke Voit having mostly escaped the carnage this year -- although he's on the IL now with a sports hernia -- the Yankees have been about as good as expected.

At catcher, this is a testament to their depth and the lack of any real surprises. Sanchez has twice gone on the IL, but for short stints, and he'll actually play a little bit more this year than ZiPS had projected. His backup (Austin Romine), meanwhile, is one of the best backups in baseball. Together (and individually), they've done about what would have been expected of them.

At shortstop, this is a testament to overall infield depth. ZiPS didn't think Troy Tulowitzki would be very good but did think he'd play until Didi Gregorius returned midseason from Tommy John surgery. When Tulowitzki was injured a week into the season, Gleyber Torres -- who projected to be much better than Tulowitzki, but as the second baseman -- moved over, actually boosting the shortstop projection (but weakening the second base projection). This was possible because the Yankees had a very qualified major league starter in DJ LeMahieu as a backup infielder; and because they had a second baseman (Torres) who could capably move up the defensive spectrum.

So those are three positions where things went either as expected or where injuries weren't too frequent or too harmful. Everywhere else has been gutted ... and, yet, everywhere else (other than DH) has ended up actually better than the pre-gutting expectations:

At second base, LeMahieu mostly took over in the first half, with Torres having gone to shortstop. LeMahieu, who began the year as a superutility backup, projected to be about three-quarters as good as Torres.

At third base, Gio Urshela mostly took over when Miguel Andujar was hurt on March 31, and then when he was hurt for good on May 12. Urshela, who began the year in Triple-A, projected to be about 40% as good as Andujar.

In center field, Gardner frequently slid over from left field to replace Hicks, who has missed 63 days. Gardner projected to be about half as good as Hicks. More important, when he was playing center field, the Yankees had to backfill left field.

In left field, the aforementioned combo of Frazier, Maybin and Tauchman took over for Gardner. Tauchman and Frazier both had fairly strong projections, at least relative to Gardner, and the trio collectively projected to be about 90% as good as Gardner.

The drop-off was larger in right field, where Frazier, Maybin and Tauchman also filled in for Aaron Judge, who missed 62 days. The trio collectively projected to be about one-third as valuable as Judge.

And at DH, they neither had a great replacement for Stanton nor had anybody (including trade acquisition Encarnacion, who was injured early this month) overperform.

One could applaud the Yankees for their depth: LeMahieu and Frazier would have slotted in as starters on many teams' rosters this spring, and Tauchman's projections suggested he could have, too. The Yankees could have been caught completely flat-footed at four positions -- center field, right field, third base and second base -- but they had credible (if seemingly inferior) replacements at three of them. That's pretty good depth.

At the same time, Urshela and Maybin were more desperation plays -- Maybin having been "purchased" in April from Cleveland, Urshela a seeming afterthought who had been "purchased" last summer. You wouldn't have called either one of them depth, knowing what you knew at the time. Every team has random names ready to replicate replacement level, or whom they pick up for almost nothing when everybody gets hurt.

But the names we just put in bold -- the primary replacements -- share something in common: They've all performed far, far better than expected. Pretty much every player who had to take on a bigger role because of injuries has outperformed expectations:

LeMahieu

• Projected .274/.332/.393, 2.6 WAR

• Actual .338/.386/.538, 4.7 WAR

Urshela

• Projected .243/.280/.349, 0.5 WAR

• Actual .338/.379/.580, 3.1 WAR

Tauchman

• Projected .281/.344/.438, 1.9 WAR

• Actual .290/.372/.551, 2.4 WAR

Maybin

• Projected .255/.329/.368, 0.8 WAR

• Actual .309/.391/.522, 1.4 WAR

Gardner

• Projected .246/.333/.380, 1.8 WAR

• Actual .251/.333/.478, 2.8 WAR

Torres, who was pushed into a bigger role by Tulowitzki's injury, also outperformed his projections. Frazier outhit his, although he also got injured, his defense wasn't very good and he has since spent about half the season in Triple-A.

The pitching staff hasn't been so blessed. Their pitchers have collectively underperformed preseason projections, even accounting for injuries:

• Pitchers: 24.5 (Projected WAR) | 20.7 (If We'd Known) | 17.5 (Actual WAR)

But their dominant bullpen has been both mostly healthy -- with the exception of Dellin Betances -- and fantastic, with the most relief WAR in baseball. As a pitching staff they have the highest "clutch" score in the AL, which for team pitching mostly reflects the ability to successfully leverage the best pitchers in the biggest situations (and to pitch well in those situations).

So to add it all up: Had we known before the season exactly how much playing time the Yankees would distribute to the Urshelas and Tauchmans and Mike Fords and Thairo Estradas and the rest, ZiPS would have projected the Yankees to win somewhere around 84 games -- around where the A's, the Rays and the Twins were before the season. The Yankees' front office built a team that, even with $60 million to $80 million of talent on the IL, projected to be a competitive team in the American League. If you told almost any other team in baseball that a dozen high-impact players would miss a couple thousand games, they would probably conclude they had no chance; they might conclude they were better off using the season to rebuild. The Yankees, though, were still, even on paper, contenders. What an incredible roster.

But ultimately, the bigger story is less the depth than the projection-busting performances. The Yankees will outperform their "true" projection by 15 to 20 games this year. That's incredible. Only the Twins will compare for unexpectedness.

There have been a lot of great Yankees teams in our lifetimes. There's sometimes a tendency to think about great Yankees teams as "because they're so rich" or "because they're so smart." The homegrown 1990s Yankees get more credit for smart, and the purchased early-2000s Yankees are dismissed a bit as just rich. If these Yankees were able to withstand injuries without wavering merely because of depth -- if they'd signed every player in baseball, as that old Onion article proposed -- then maybe we'd talk about the advantage of playing in a big market.

What actually happened is more like what we typically file under "because they're smart." They identified players who were about to dramatically outperform expectations, perhaps, or they developed new skills, swings and approaches to help those players dramatically outperform expectations, or they set up a culture and environment where players would flourish. Of course, that's because they're rich, too: Few teams have bigger staffs, a larger analytics department and more tools to help their players (along with $24 million to spend on a seemingly redundant infielder like LeMahieu).

But none of this happens by accident. As Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik write in "The MVP Machine":

Between the springs of 2011 and 2018, the average size of the staffs assigned to player development by MLB teams increased by 51%, from an average of 51 in 2011 to an average of 77 in 2018. (The deep-pocketed Yankees led all teams in 2018 with 102 PD personnel.)

And, they continue,

Some of the early practitioners of progressive development were also the teams with the greatest resources, including MLB's bicoastal behemoths, the Yankees and Dodgers.

In other words: It's a lot easier to be smart when you're rich. If you resent the Yankees for their constant financial advantage over your favorite team, by all means, indulge that. But ultimately, this Yankees story really is what you thought it was: A bunch of second-stringers, some pretty good, some just OK, some barely hanging on in the sport, got their chance to save the most first-string franchise in baseball -- and they did it! They made themselves better, and they became heroes. Really, what could be a cooler story than that?

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Kyle Busch, the 2015 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, has been named the honorary grand marshal for the USAC.25 Series event at Darlington Raceway, Aug. 29-Sept. 1.

He is scheduled to visit the USAC.25 track across from Darlington Raceway at the Manheim Auction lot on Saturday, Aug. 31.

The driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing has accomplished incredible feats in his 16-year NASCAR career. Busch currently has 55 NASCAR Cup Series wins, including the prestigious Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway twice (2015-16). He has also collected 95 NASCAR Xfinity Series victories and 56 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series wins. He has more than 200 wins across NASCAR’s top three national series.

“I know there are a lot of talented young racers in quarter midget racing, so I appreciate being asked to be a part of the Darlington event as Grand Marshal,” said Busch. “Quar-ter midget racing is a great way to get started out in racing and I’m sure it’s going to be fun for them to be a part of the Throwback weekend at Darlington. I’m looking forward to seeing what the USAC.25 Series is all about.”

Busch adds his name to the list of USAC.25 Honorary Grand Marshals. Within the past year, iconic and legendary drivers like Jeff Gordon, Mario Andretti, Josef Newgarden, Arie Luyendyk, James Hinchcliffe, Chase Elliott, Graham Rahal, Joey Logano and Alexander Rossi have all spent time with the young drivers.

With at least 45 USAC.25 clubs located all across the country, thousands of kids ages five and up, along with their families, participate in USAC-sanctioned quarter midget series events. Some notable graduates of quarter midget include Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, Ed Carpenter, Sarah Fisher, Ryan Newman and Alex Bowman.

After the 2009-10 season, Ryan Miller won the Vezina Trophy in Buffalo, the Canucks' Henrik Sedin won the Hart Trophy as league MVP while Pavel Datsyuk took home his third straight Selke Trophy.

A lot has changed in the past decade. Then again, a lot hasn't.

As the 2010s come to a close, we identified the players who would take home trophies for their bodies of work over the course of the past 10 seasons. Since the decade was dominated by the Blackhawks, Penguins and Kings each winning multiple Stanley Cups, a lot of the individual nominees reflect that success. Interestingly, that didn't apply to the goalies -- our decade-long Vezina nominees are a bunch of guys who carried the load for their team in regular seasons but couldn't win that elusive championship ... yet.

Here's how our ballot for all of the decade-long major awards would shake out, as well as some fun, made-up awards like best and worst trade of the decade, best goal, and best ambassador for NHL hockey:

Hart Trophy

Winner: Sidney Crosby
Runners-up: Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Kane

No player has accumulated more points since 2009-10 than Sidney Crosby's 922 (Alex Ovechkin is second, with 901). Perhaps more impressive is Crosby's 1.26 points per game, which is topped by only Connor McDavid's 1.30. McDavid's smaller sample (just 287 games) keeps him off the list. Ovechkin has 100 more goals than any other player in this time, and it could be argued that he is perhaps the single player who helped buoy his team through this decade -- through President Trophies, playoff disappointments and, finally, a Stanley Cup.

Vezina Trophy

Winner: Henrik Lundqvist
Runners-up: Sergei Bobrovsky, Carey Price, Pekka Rinne

Henrik Lundqvist has started more games (654) and faced more shots (19,492) than any other goalie in this span. Among all goalies who have played at least 300 games, Lundqvist has the second-best save percentage (.919). The trio of Bobrovsky, Price and Rinne is so close in stats -- with .918, .918 and .919 save percentages, respectively, though Rinne leads with 55 shutouts -- that it was hard to differentiate our pick for No. 2 on the list.

Norris Trophy

Winner: Erik Karlsson
Runners-up: Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty

We have a pair of two-time Norris winners here: Chicago's Keith and (then) Ottawa's Karlsson. Keith -- with a 53.61 Corsi for percentage -- has played significantly more minutes (roughly 21,000 to 17,500) while leading Chicago to three first-place Central Division finishes and, of course, two Stanley Cups. Doughty, the 2016 Norris winner, was consistently excellent while putting up monster minutes for Los Angeles. But Karlsson embodies the shift in this decade toward smaller, puck-moving defensemen, so we'll give him the nod.

Selke Trophy

Winner: Patrice Bergeron
Runners-up: Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Toews

This one is a no-brainer. Boston's Bergeron has won four out of 10 awards this decade and has set the standard for the elite two-way forward in the game. Heck, he's even mentioned for the award when he misses significant time in a season. Bergeron owned this decade. Kopitar (two Selkes in three years) is a natural runner-up, and Toews gets the nod for third.

Best rookie season

Winner: Mathew Barzal
Runners-up: Artemi Panarin, Auston Matthews

It's going to be hard to match Barzal's production (87 points in 85 games) for the Islanders in 2017-18. Both McDavid and Elias Petterson were on similar paces, though injuries derailed their freshman campaigns. Matthews is the only rookie 40-goal scorer, and his four-goal debut for a thirsty Toronto franchise was perhaps the best single game by a rookie this decade. Panarin's 30-goal, 77-point debut with the Blackhawks -- his first season in North America -- was spectacular.

Jack Adams

Winner: Barry Trotz
Runners-up: Joel Quenneville, John Tortorella

Trotz began the decade in Nashville but did his best work guiding the Capitals to unprecedented regular-season success and a long-awaited Stanley Cup. His one-year turnaround for the New York Islanders in 2018-19 (specifically installing sound defensive structure with limited personnel) gives him the edge for our Jack Adams award of the decade.

And now, for some fun ...

Biggest trade: P.K. Subban for Shea Weber

This one sent shockwaves through the NHL: Two All-Star, top-pairing defensemen swapped in a one-for-one trade for a change of scenery. Nashville won the trade early, making the Stanley Cup Final in 2017. Subban has since been traded again (to New Jersey), while Weber remains with the Canadiens.

Worst trade: Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson

Somehow, this trade happened on ... the same day: June 29, 2016, will live on in NHL infamy.

Trade is one for one: Adam Larsson for Taylor Hall.

— Bobby Margarita (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 29, 2016

This deal was also one-for-one and was absolutely one-sided. A disgruntled Hall of course blossomed into an MVP for the Devils. Larsson, meanwhile, is toiling for an Oilers team that has spiraled. A shout-out to 2013's Filip Forsberg-for-Martin Erat and Michael Latta as a very close runner-up in this category.

Best goal: Crosby's golden goal

The most memorable goal scored by an NHL player this decade was Sidney Crosby's gold-medal overtime winner in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. It capped an epic game between Canada and the U.S. with a spectacular finish. We're not trying to troll the NHL here -- it no longer sends players to the Olympics -- but it was a really big goal.

Highest Q rating: Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin

This has to be a tie between Crosby and Ovechkin -- no coincidence since the NHL and NBC marketing machine liked to play up their rivalry. Ask any random stranger over the past 10 years to name an NHL player, and these two guys had the best chances of being identified. Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews should surpass the duo over the next decade, but it doesn't help that they play in Canadian markets.

Best third jersey: Ottawa Senators

The Bruins' jerseys are by far the most improved (from the weird Winnie the Pooh thing from the turn of the millennium to the current retro-style crest and more distinguished bear on the prowl). Colorado's are consistently nice, but the winner here is Ottawa. Yes, this is one of the things the Senators have done right lately: a stately, throwback, striped look inspired by their original jerseys. The sharp look debuted in 2011 and got a tweak for 2018.

Worst third jersey: New York Islanders (2011-14) and Buffalo Sabres (2013-15)

While the trend of a blue jersey with a circle in the center featuring the logo became a bit tired -- looking at you, Blues, Blue Jackets and Panthers -- those are actually fine jerseys and definitely not the worst. That distinction should go to the Islanders from 2011-14 or Buffalo's yellow disaster.

Best ambassador for NHL hockey: Gritty

How could a mascot who debuted in late 2018 make such an impact that he lands on a "best of the decade" list? Witness the power of Gritty.

The orange fuzzy creature has done the late night circuit, amassed a strong social media presence, been reappropriated as a meme and generally done so much media that he has become ubiquitous. Some of the other 30 teams aren't crazy about Gritty's preferred treatment, but there's no question that he has helped everyone up their game.

India Blue 112 for 6 (Gaikwad 30, Porel 3-26) drew with India Green

The first match of the Duleep Trophy 2019-20 between India Blue and India Green was abandoned without Blue completing their first innings after being put in to bat. Persistent rain and a wet outfield at the Just Cricket Academy Ground on the outskirts of Bengaluru ensured that there was no play on the last three days. Both Blue and Green got one point each.

On a truncated first day, Blue had moved to a shaky 112 for 6 in 49 overs, but that was the only cricketing action in the match.

Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has been among the runs recently, top-scored with 30 off 63 balls. Ankit Bawne was unbeaten on 21, having faced 103 balls. For Green, Rajasthan left-arm seamer Tanveer Ul-Haq continued the form he had shown in the last season - which netted him 51 wickets in the Ranji Trophy - prising out the opening duo of Gaikwad and Snell Patel, while Ishan Porel, the 20-year old Bengal seamer, tore through the middle order.

Porel's first wicket was that of Blue captain Shubman Gill, who was coming into this match on the back of a rich vein of form with India A on their tour of West Indies, caught behind for just 6. He later got Anmolpreet Singh and Jalaj Saxena to end with 3 for 26.

Ankit Rajpoot, who shared the new ball with Tanveer, took one wicket. The seamers bowled the majority of overs on the first day, and Rahul Chahar, fresh off a T20I debut for India, bowled just five overs with the conditions helping the quicker men.

Blue will now take on India Red in the next match at Alur from August 23.

Sreesanth, the one-time India fast bowler, can finally breathe a little easy after the BCCI ombudsman Justice (retd) DK Jain reduced his IPL 2013 spot-fixing ban to seven years, the sanction period coming to an end on September 13, 2020. This comes five months after the Supreme Court of India "set aside" the BCCI ban - originally for life - and asked the board to "reconsider" and "revisit" the length of any fresh ban, preferably within three months.

The sanction has been imposed retrospectively from September 13, 2013, when Sreesanth was slapped with the life ban by the BCCI's then disciplinary committee. Sreesanth was then found guilty of breaching the code of conduct for his alleged role in the IPL corruption and spot-fixing scandal that year.

The BCCI's decision had followed the arrest of Sreesanth and two other Rajasthan Royals players by Delhi Police for alleged promises made to bookmakers during the 2013 IPL. The charges against Sreesanth pertained to the match against Kings XI Punjab, played on May 9 in Mohali, that Royals won by eight wickets. The disciplinary committee charged Sreesanth guilty of: corruption, betting, bringing the game into disrepute and not informing the board's anti-corruption unit of being approached by bookies.

However, the Supreme Court pointed out the three-member disciplinary committee - comprising then BCCI president N Srinivasan and two vice-presidents Arun Jaitley and Niranjan Shah - had not considered the relevant provisions of the code before arriving at the length of the ban which ranges from a minimum of five years to a maximum of a life ban. The court said the BCCI disciplinary committee did not "advert to the aggravating and mitigating factors" listed under its code.

Consequently, the court asked the BCCI to set aside the life ban and review the "quantum of punishment/sanction" to be imposed on Sreesanth. That decision was left to the BCCI's ombudsman in the absence of a disciplinary committee which can only be formed post the board's elections.

Before arriving at his decision, Justice Jain heard both Sreesanth and BCCI, both of whom were represented by their lawyers. Sreesanth's legal counsel, Krishna Mohan K Menon, said that his client's conduct was fair throughout the inquiry conducted by then BCCI ACU head Ravi Sawani with the bowler not contesting any offence alleged against him and cooperating fully.

Menon said Sreesanth, who was 30 in 2013, had no knowledge of the "bookie nexus operating behind the scenes" during the IPL. Menon also said the alleged incident did not have any impact on the result of the IPL match which Royals, Sreesanth's team, won "comfortably". Menon added the spot-fixing scandal itself had no material or commercial impact on the tournament in 2013. According to him, Sreesanth had "maintained good conduct" throughout his playing career and was a committed family man and a philanthropist.

Menon also told the BCCI ombudsman that while determining the sanctions, he ought not to consider Sreesanth's "biological life" but his "sport life". Menon explained that Sreesanth, who is currently 36, has "only 3 years of active sporting life" and hence the ombudsman should consider all these factors.

"It was thus, pleaded by the Ld. Counsel that having regard to all these factors, Mr. Sreesanth has already suffered sufficient punishment for the alleged offences and therefore, he does not deserve further sanctions," Justice Jain noted in his order.

In response, the BCCI argued that a life ban was just for Sreesanth for the various aggravating factors. Among those listed were: the player showed no "remorse" at any point during the investigation process, that he had been "infamous for his uncontrolled presentation of negative temperament in the form of anger, frustration and scuffles on field" with other players, that he was mature enough to understand the consequences of his offence, that there was material evidence he had received a sum of INR 10 lacs "in lieu of the offence committed".

"The award of sentence, less than a life ban in a clear case of match fixing, can clearly impact public confidence in the game of Cricket," the BCCI is credited as saying in the order.

The board argued that the disciplinary committee was "merely" required to determine, after considering all the relevant factors, whether they aggravated or mitigated the offence. The quantum of punishment, the BCCI said, was a matter of discretion of the panel.

Justice Jain agreed with the BCCI's zero-tolerance approach towards corruption and any offence committed under its code could not be "ignored" and "dealt with leniently." However, he pointed out that the zero-tolerance approach "cannot dilute consideration of the relevant factors" while imposing sanctions.

More to follow…