🏈 Y! Sports AM: Brady the broadcaster

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🏈 Y! Sports AM: Brady the broadcaster

Fri, Oct 30, 2026 ·

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🚨 Headlines

🏀 Dream force Game 7:The Dream beat the Valkyries, 80-69 , on Thursday afternoon to set up a decisive WNBA Finals Game 7 tomorrow night. A few hours later, the Hawks beat the Cavaliers in the same arena, making it a 2-0 day for Atlanta hoops.

🏈 TNF recap:The Packers beat the Panthers, 27-19 , to improve to 5-3 and keep the sports momentum going in Wisconsin. Brewers players showed up at the game with the World Series Trophy in tow, and celebrated with a Lambeau Leap .

🏈 Chicago adds Simmons:The Bears acquired four-time Pro Bowl DT Jeffery Simmons from the Titans for three draft picks (two firsts, one fourth) in a clear win-now move by Chicago. Y! Sports AM reader Kevin Kaduk has more in his excellent "Bears By 7" newsletter .

🏀 Grizz stay perfect:No NBA team had longer preseason title odds than the Grizzlies And yet: They're currently 5-0 (a record only the Rockets can match) after handing Ja Morant and the Trail Blazers their first loss on Thursday night.

🏒 Detroit suspends Larkin:The Red Wings have suspended franchise staple Dylan Larkin without pay after the center informed the team he wouldn't play until he was traded. The 12-year veteran was already stripped of his captaincy after requesting a trade over the summer.

🎪 Brady finds his stride

Welcome to Media Circus, our weekly-ish column from longtime sports media reporter Richard Deitsch. Today's topic: Tom Brady's evolution as a broadcaster.

From Richard Deitsch:

There was once a media clown who boldly predicted that Tom Brady would walk away from his 10-year, $375 million deal with Fox Sports before the start of the 2025 NFL season to focus on his minority ownership of the Raiders and his production company.

That media clown was me.

As far as predictions go, this was thinking Super Bowl LI was over when the Falcons led the Patriots 28-3 at the half. Brady has of course gone on to solidify himself as Fox's No. 1 NFL analyst. He has since said he hopes to complete his broadcasting contract if Fox will continue to have him.

I was thinking about Brady this week because we saw him take another step in his evolution as a broadcaster. What was notable during his call of the Lions and Packers last Sunday was that he was sharply critical of multiple officiating decisions. This is always an important step in a former athlete or coach's broadcasting journey. Can they criticize the league (still rare) or the league's officiating?

In Brady's case, it's particularly notable because the NFL set a threshold, via a 2024 Sports Business Journal story by Ben Fischer, where the NFL said, "the concern would be if Tom was egregiously critical of officiating or called into question the integrity of an official or the crew." Most viewers agreed Brady's frustration was justified. It was a strong moment.

A different kind of theater:There's an excellent new biography out on Brady (" Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness ") written by my former Sports Illustrated colleague Lars Anderson that examines Brady's ethos and what drives him. I asked Anderson for this piece why he thought Brady entered sports broadcasting.

"To understand why a man obsessed with control would bind himself to a 10-year television contract, look past the money and into the stillness of his retirement," Anderson said. "He signed with Fox because a life away from the field was a terrifying prospect for a mind that requires intense competitive stress to function."

"The broadcast booth is simply a proxy for the stadium, a way to stay intimately tethered to the game that defined his existence from San Mateo to Foxboro. He is still trying to dictate the terms of the sport, using the broadcast booth as a different kind of theater, a place where his standard of perfection remains absolute."

That's interesting and explains his growth. He's also been fortunate to work under the tutelage of producer Richie Zyontz and director Rich Russo, a pair of Hall of Fame-level production people, and the ego-free play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Burkhardt.

There was once a time where viewers rightly wondered whether Brady could hack it in the booth. That question has now been answered. Expect even more improvement from here.

Want more?If sports media interests you, check out the Sports Media podcast with Richard Deitsch , featuring bi-weekly interviews and roundtable conversations.

⚾️ Big Numbers: World Series edition

114-61

Milwaukee just completed one of the most dominant runs we've ever seen from a World Series champion, going 114-61 across the regular season (103-59) and playoffs (11-2). That's the fourth-best combined record by any champion in the Wild Card Era (since 1995).

The top five:No one can touch the 1998 Yankees (125-50), but the 2018 Red Sox (119-57) are the closest, followed the 2022 Astros (117-58), 2026 Brewers (114-61) and 2009 Yankees (114-63).

4 of 10

The Brewers are the fourth MLB franchise in the last 10 seasons to win their inaugural World Series, joining the Astros (2017), Nationals (2019) and Rangers (2023).

Rare feat:Only twice before have we seen a 10-World Series span with that many first-time champions. The 1920s: 1920 Indians, 1923 Yankees, 1924 Senators, 1926 Cardinals; and the 1990-2000s: 1992 Blue Jays, 1997 Marlins, 2001 Diamondbacks, 2002 Angels (no World Series in 1994) .

1.38 ERA

Milwaukee's shutdown bullpen powered its run to the championship, posting an absurd 1.38 ERA across 65 innings of work in the NLDS, NLCS and World Series. That's the second-lowest bullpen ERA in MLB postseason history (min. 50 IP), trailing only the 2022 Astros (0.83).

The man, the myth, the legend:The best of that vaunted unit was Aaron Ashby, who threw 18 scoreless innings across nine appearances with three saves, two holds and a win. Add it all up and his Win Probability Added (1.8) was the fourth-most ever in a single postseason. Only 2001 Curt Schilling (2.1), 2011 David Freese (1.9) and 2004 David Ortiz (1.9) had more.

No. 11

How's this for a fun fact? Every "Big Four" champion in 2026 had a star player who wore No. 11… and whose first name starts with "J" and ends with "N." Jackson Chourio — who didn't win World Series MVP, but did hit a scorching .458 (11-for-24) in the series — was the latest to join the club.

The others:Jaxon Smith-Njigba (No. 11) was named the NFL's OPOY en route to Seattle's Super Bowl title; Jalen Brunson (No. 11) was named MVP of the NBA Finals as the leader of the Knicks; Jordan Staal (No. 11) was the postseason MVP and captain of the Stanley Cup-winning Hurricanes.

📺 Weekend Watchlist

🏀 WNBA Finals, Game 7

Atlanta's Game 6 victory spared the WNBA from having to celebrate a champion on a Thursday afternoon. Now, the series shifts back to Ballhalla one more time for Saturday's winner-take-all Game 7 (8pm ET, USA) . Dream at Valkyries: Who ya got?

The grand finale:This is the first Game 7 in the history of the WNBA Finals, which only became a best-of-seven series last season. But there have been 13 previous winner-take-all Finals games, and the home team won 11 of them.

🏈 College Football Saturday

Week 9's slate features just two ranked games: No. 3 Georgia vs. No 17 Florida at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium (3:30pm, ABC) , and No. 22 Arizona at No. 13 Texas Tech in a critical Big 12 battle (12pm, ESPN) .

Best of the rest:No. 5 Notre Dame vs. Navy at Gillette Stadium (12pm, ABC) ; No. 25 Wisconsin at Iowa (12pm, Fox) ; Auburn at No. 12 Ole Miss (12:45pm, SEC) ; No. 6 Utah at Cincinnati (3:45pm, ESPN) ; No. 1 Miami at North Carolina (7:30pm, ABC) ; No. 2 Ohio State at USC (7:30pm, NBC) .

Reminder: Don't forget to lock in your Week 8 picks in our College Football Challenge .

🏈 NFL Sunday

There's no shortage of excellent games to choose from, but if we had to pick only two? The undefeated Vikings visiting the Lions in an NFC North clash (1pm, Fox) , and the Chiefs hosting the Broncos with first place in the AFC North on the line (4:25pm, CBS) .

Best of the rest:The Ravens visit the Bills in Lamar Jackson's expected return (1pm, CBS) ; the Steelers host the Browns for AFC North supremacy (1pm, CBS) ; the winless Chargers play the Rams in a battle of co-tenants (4:05pm, Fox) .

⚽️ NWSL Decision Day

The NWSL's 14th regular season winds down on Sunday, with all 16 teams playing simultaneously at 5pm. First-place Gotham will host sixth-place Utah on ESPN, while the other seven matches air on ESPN+.

Where it stands:Seven of eight playoff spots have already been clinched , leaving Seattle (44 points), North Carolina (42) and Denver (41) to fight for the last spot. Player to watch: North Carolina's Ashley Sanchez (20 goals) needs one more goal to break the single-season record.

🏁 Motorsports

Two champions could be crowned on Sunday, with Kyle Larson racing in Virginia (2pm, NBC) as he nears his second straight NASCAR Cup Series title , and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli needing just two points in Mexico City (3pm, Apple) to become F1's youngest-ever champion.

Yahoo Sports x Apple TV:The Mexican GP continues our season-long partnership with Apple TV for F1 coverage. All three practice sessions (Fri. 2:30/6pm; Sat. 1:30pm) and tomorrow's qualifying (5pm) will air for free on Yahoo Sports , while Sunday's race will stream on Apple TV.

More to watch:

🏀 NCAA Basketball:Notre Dame vs. Villanova, Men (Sun. 9:30am, Fox) and Women (Sun. 12pm, FS1) … The college hoops season tips off in Rome with a pair of Catholic universities playing a doubleheader.
👟 Marathon:New York City (Sun. 8am, ESPN2) … Over 2 million fans will cheer on roughly 60,000 runners during the 55th edition of the race .
⚽️ European Soccer:Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund (Sat. 1:30pm, USA) ; AC Milan vs. Inter Milan (Sat. 3:45pm, Paramount+) ; Liverpool vs. Arsenal (11:30am, Peacock) … A trio of heavyweight matchups across Germany, Italy and England.
🏀 NBA:Knicks at 76ers (Fri. 7:30pm, Prime) ; Lakers at Warriors (Fri. 10pm, Prime) … Golden State's Yaxel Lendeborg joins Victor Wembanyama as the only rookies since 1995 with 100+ points and 40+ rebounds in their first five career games.
🏒 NHL:Devils at Golden Knights (Fri. 6pm, NHL) ; Jets at Hurricanes (Sun. 1pm, NHL) ; Oilers at Rangers (Sun. 6pm, NHL) … Carolina (+700), Edmonton (+850), Vegas (+950) and New Jersey (+1400) are all among the top-seven Stanley Cup favorites.
🏒 Women's Hockey:USA vs. Canada (Fri. 7pm, NHL) … The rivals face off in another exhibition, this time in Michigan, after Canada won Wednesday's game in Ontario.
🐎 Horse Racing:Breeders' Cup World Championships (Fri-Sat, USA/NBC) … More than $34M will be awarded across 14 races, including $7M for Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic (6:16pm) .

Plus:🥊 Canelo Álvarez vs. Christian Mbilli in Riyadh (Sat. 2pm, DAZN PPV) ; ⚽️ MLS Week 33 (Sat-Sun, Apple) ; ⛳️ Mexico Open (Fri-Sun, Golf) ; 🎾 ATP in Basel and Vienna; WTA's Pan Pacific Open (Fri-Sun, Tennis) ; 🏍️ MotoGP Malaysia (Sun. 2am, FS2)

Got plans this weekend? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city. Get tickets now!

🏈 Roaring Bruins, quiet crowds

They're undefeated, ranked No. 7 in the country, and students get free tickets under a new policy this fall. So why does the Rose Bowl still look so sparse for UCLA football?

Winning isn't a cure-all:Through UCLA's first four home games, the school's announced attendance has averaged 33,174. That's down 6% from the same point last year, when the Bruins started 3-4 and they weren't anything close to what they are right now: a title contender.

Attendance outlier:The other nine schools in the AP Top 10 average 74,836 fans per game this season, more than double UCLA's attendance. Beyond that group, plenty of other programs (even struggling ones) are also far outpacing the Bruins.

What gives?Sparse crowds are not a new challenge for UCLA ( or neighboring USC ), and the Rose Bowl being 26 miles from campus is undeniably a factor. But the gap between the Bruins' attendance and on-field success has never been more striking than it is right now.

Further reading: Yahoo Sports Biz author Dylan Dittrich dug deeper into UCLA's attendance woes ahead of tomorrow's home game against Nevada.

🏈 Rivalry trivia

Florida and Georgia's annual matchup (in Atlanta on Saturday) is one of only three standing college football rivalry games played at a neutral site every year.

Question:Can you name the other two?

Hint:One has already taken place this season, the other has not.

Answer at the bottom.

📸 Behind the Lens

Yahoo Sports AM goes "Behind the Lens" with Getty Images to tell the stories behind the best photographs in sports.

This week's photo:Brewers catcher William Contreras celebrates winning the 2026 World Series. Easily one of the best sports images of the year… and it only exists because of a coordinated team effort.

Behind the Lens:Here's photographer Carmen Mandato…

A big part of covering a game is thinking beyond the pictures right in front of you. We're always trying to anticipate what the moment might look like, while making sure we're giving our clients a variety of options to tell the story.

With this year's World Series taking place in a dome, we had the opportunity to utilize catwalk positions above the field. Those overhead cameras offer a perspective we simply can't get from field level.

Chief Photographer Jamie Squire wanted to maintain our position over home plate, knowing it was a critical vantage point for any clinching scenario. I handled the camera installation on the catwalk, positioning it directly above home plate, and Joel Abraham handled firing the camera remotely through our networked system.

From previous coverage, we knew just how expressive catcher William Contreras can be in moments of celebration. He'd go on to earn MVP honors, but heading into that moment, we were simply hoping he'd give us one of those reactions we'd seen before.

That's so much of what goes into covering sports: you do your best to anticipate where the story might unfold, put the pieces in place, and hope the moment comes together.

Trivia answer:Texas vs. Oklahoma (Cotton Bowl) and Army vs. Navy (rotating site)

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