Sports donāt always go according to plan.
Sometimes you have to shake it off. Sometimes you have to laugh it off. And sometimes, you just have to keep playing until you can walk it off.
Ready for todayās three things?
1ļøā£ Cup Full of Chaos āā½
Happily, the Premier League is rolling along.
Amazingly, not every game in England is part of that league schedule.
Players from Manchester United had a different assignment last night: the Carabao Cup.
Perhaps you donāt know it. Thatās where all 92 pro clubs in English leagues get tossed into one big tournament.
Yes, those 92 includes famous clubs like Manchester United and ones weāve never heard of that play in tiny stadiums.
But itās kind of like mixing NFL teams with college squads, throwing them in the same tournament, and saying, āOkay, letās see what happens!ā
In this round, Unitedās matchup was Grimsby. One of those tiny teams. They play in a league thatās three levels below the Premier League.
Ready. Thatās how Grimsby showed up. And the game didnāt exactly go the way most people expected.
Take a look at what happened after United fell behind 2ā0. š„
Heartbreak followed: a 12ā11 penalty shootout loss for Manchester United.
Does it count in the Premier League standings? No. But it still stings. And United needs to fix things quickly!
2ļøā£ Buzzcut Bounce-Back āļøš¾
After all that chaos in the Carabao Cup, letās switch sports.
Yes, now weāre courtside at the US Open, where things have been a lot moreā¦ steady.
Calm, you might say. Nine of the top 10 players are still in. (Thatās the top five men and top five women).
Lone exit? Thatās Jack Draper, the menās #5, who had to leave the tournament because of an arm injury.
Amazingly, while Draperās figuring out his arm, menās #2 Carlos Alcaraz is figuring outā¦ his hair.
In fact, he arrived in New York looking different.
Really different. At first, it seemed like a statement. A fresh start after his painful loss to #1 Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon.
Eventually, the real story came out. And itās even better. His brother messed up while giving him a haircut. So he shaved it off, laughed it off, and got back on the court. Thatās the mindset of a champion!
3ļøā£ 9th-Inning Magic āØā¾
Haircuts are one thing. But you know what really requires a championship mindset? Winning in the 9th inning.
We watched some good ones yesterday. And last night, the Red Sox were losing to the Orioles 2ā1 in the 9th.
š„ Want to see how fast a game can flip? Boom.
Okay, this wasnāt actually a walk-off since the Orioles got to bat in the bottom of the 9th.
But the Red Sox won. And ākeep playing until you can walk it offā just worked better at the beginning.
We gave you soccer chaos, tennis haircuts, and baseball drama.
But did we also sneak in a hidden message? š
If you thought Smallball sounded a little different in sections 1ļøā£ and 2ļøā£ today, youāre onto something. And you should look closely at how each new line begins.
Happy Birthday, Claire!
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Loved the soccer video (talk about ānever give upā!!) and the hidden message!