🏀 Y! Sports AM: Bye Millennials, Hello Gen Z

NFL Week 9 instant reactions

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🏀 Y! Sports AM: Bye Millennials, Hello Gen Z

Thu, November 5, 2026 at 12:12 PM UTC ·

9 min read

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🚨 HEADLINES

🏈 Hurricanes lose Heisman hopeful:Miami WR Malachi Toney is expected to miss 4-6 weeks to surgically repair the ankle he injured during Wednesday's practice. If that timeline is accurate, the sophomore superstar would likely be back for the College Football Playoff.

🙏 Campbell update:Lions LB Jack Campbell is "encouraged" by his recovery since suffering a serious injury on Sunday. He has full movement in his lower body, is making progress with movement in his upper body and remains "very optimistic" about the work ahead.

⛳️ The last days of LIV?Private equity firm BC Partners has dropped its plan to fund LIV Golf in 2027 and help the league transition into "LIV 2.0." The breakaway tour will now reportedly seek a liquidation of its remaining assets, likely signaling the end of the tumultuous venture.

🏈 New QB1s:Gardner Minshew was already named the starter in Arizona, and the Ravens just traded for the guy he replaced, bringing in Jacoby Brissett to upgrade their injury-filled QB room. Meanwhile, the Eagles plan to give Joe Milton his first career start on Sunday.

🎾 Upsets in Paris:A day after we questioned his new world No. 1 status , Alexander Zverev lost to Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets at the Paris Masters. But that was far from the only upset: No. 4 Daniil Medvedev, No. 7 Frances Tiafoe, No. 8 Alex de Minaur, No. 10 Novak Djokovic and No. 15 Learner Tien also fell to unranked opponents.

See what else is trending on Yahoo Sports .

🏀 THE NBA BELONGS TO GEN Z

Attention, basketball old-heads: Enjoy tonight's Warriors-Heat game while you can.

The elder statesmen:Miami is the NBA's oldest team by average age , while Golden State is the third-oldest. But players like Al Horford (40), Steph Curry (38), Draymond Green (36), Klay Thompson (36) and even Giannis Antetokounmpo (31) are part of a shrinking class of Millennials (~ages 30-45) still playing meaningful minutes.

Youth movement:As The Ringer's Kirk Goldsberry noted this week , the NBA has transformed from an older league in the 1990s and early 2000s to a much younger league today as the modern game increasingly demands fresher legs to cover more space at a faster pace.

As the game slowed down in the 1980s and '90s, younger players lost ground in their relative share of minutes, with both trends bottoming out around 2000.
But as pace of play has accelerated in recent decades, the balance has shifted back toward youth, particularly during the 2020s.

Where it stands:Last season, the relative playing-time advantage for players under 25 versus those 30 or older reached its highest level in four decades, as charted above.

OK, Zoomer:The NBA's youth movement has also transformed its generational makeup . Minutes-wise, Gen X first overtook the Baby Boomers in 1991-92 before ceding control to Millennials in 2006-07. Gen Z seized the majority of playing time in 2022-23, and Zoomers now account for over 80% of all NBA minutes (!!!) this season, leaving the Millennials who once dominated the league with less than one-fifth of the playing time.

Who's next?The first Gen Alpha babies were born in 2010, and the NBA's youngest active player (Cameron Boozer) was born in 2007. So it'll be a few more years, at minimum, before the next generation starts taking over. But brace yourselves: it will happen faster than you think.

⚾️ THREE JAPANESE STARS, ONE LOOMING DEADLINE

MLB teams signing Japanese baseball stars used to be something of a novelty. Now it's an annual undertaking, and more talent will be arriving soon… if teams can beat the clock.

Jordan Shusterman, Yahoo Sports:

For a while after Hideo Nomo's groundbreaking move from Japan's NPB to the Dodgers in 1995, it was far from a guarantee that any given MLB offseason would feature a significant signing of a premium NPB talent.

A smattering of role players and pitchers came over, but across the next two decades, the sport would often go years between top Japanese players making the jump from NPB to MLB, from Ichiro Suzuki in 2001 to Hideki Matsui in 2003 to Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007 to Yu Darvish in 2012 to Masahiro Tanaka in 2014 to Shohei Ohtani in 2018.

Times have changed:For the sixth consecutive offseason, one (or several) of the top free agents available to MLB teams is an NPB mega-star moving stateside. This year's class includes three players ranked in our Top 40 :

Teruaki Sato, 3B (No. 6)
Kaima Taira, LHP (No. 19)
Hiromi Itoh, RHP (No. 40)

The headliner:Sato, a lefty slugger for the Hanshin Tigers, turned heads in 2025 when he took Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell deep during an exhibition. In the two seasons since, he's smashed 79 home runs (in 282 games) and become just the ninth player in NPB history to win the Triple Crown. He doesn't turn 28 until March, making him especially young for a free agent.

The clock is ticking: Reports indicate that the usual 45-day posting window for NPB stars seeking MLB contracts will not be amended due to the coming lockout, which will freeze transactions league-wide . That means that deals for Sato, Taira and Itoh must be reached before the current CBA expires on Dec. 1.

🏈 NFL SNAPSHOT: WEEK 9 OUTLOOK

Power rankings:The 49ers and Bills remain atop our NFL hierarchy this week , but there was plenty of movement elsewhere as the gap between contenders and pretenders grows wider.

Risers and fallers: The No. 3 Jaguars climbed five spots into the league's upper echelon, while the No. 17 Raiders and No. 18 Buccaneers also jumped five spots into the middle tier. The Ravens plummeted 13 spots to No. 22 after a demoralizing loss in Buffalo, while the Cowboys fell five spots to No. 25 after a stunning collapse in Dallas.

Playoff picture:If the regular season ended today, the 14 teams pictured above would advance to the playoffs. Notably absent from the field? The preseason Super Bowl favorites (Rams) and the defending champions (Seahawks).

Same as it ever was: The Jets (15 seasons), Falcons (8), Saints (5), Colts (5), Titans (4), Raiders (4) and Cardinals (4) have the longest active postseason droughts… and none are currently in playoff position. The next-longest droughts belong to the Bengals (3) and Giants (3).

Looking ahead:The NFL trade deadline is this coming Tuesday. Which teams will be buyers? Which teams will be sellers? Our experts break it down . Plus: 15 players to watch and intel on the biggest names .

🇺🇸 HOW SPORTS FIGURES FARED AT THE BALLOT BOX

Tuesday's midterm elections featured several candidates with sports ties, from former All-Stars and gold medalists to retired coaches and broadcasters. Here are the most notable names and how they fared.

Won

Mark Teixeira (R-TX),a three-time All-Star and 2009 World Series champion, won election to the House in the state where his MLB career began (Rangers).
Tommy Tuberville (R-AL),a longtime college football coach who spent 10 seasons at Auburn, won the Alabama governor's race. He previously served in the Senate.
Colin Allred (D-TX),who played linebacker for the Titans before a neck injury ended his career in 2010, will return to the House after previously serving three terms.
Josh Turek (D-IA),a four-time Paralympian and two-time gold medalist in wheelchair basketball, became the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Iowa since 2008.

Lost

Jay Feely (R-AZ),an NFL kicker for 14 seasons, lost his House bid (unofficial) to Amish Shah, who was the Jets' team doctor when Feely played in New York.
Michele Tafoya (R-MN),an Emmy Award-winning sports broadcaster and former sideline reporter for "Sunday Night Football," lost her Senate race.

Sports on the ballot:The midterm results will have an impact on a variety of sports-related issues . Among them: What's next for the Protect College Sports Act? Could Congress crack down on sports betting ads? Will new legislation be passed to regulate prediction markets?

📺 WATCHLIST: THURSDAY, NOV. 5

🏈 Jaguars at Ravens

Trevor Lawrence and the juggernaut Jags visit the injury-ravaged Ravens this evening (8:15pm ET, Prime) in what could be a very lopsided edition of "Thursday Night Football."

Where it stands:Jacksonville (5-2) is running away with the AFC South and boasts the NFL's best scoring differential (+85). Baltimore (4-4) has lost three straight amid their QB injury crisis, leaving undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano as their starter for tonight's game.

More to watch:

🏀 NCAAW:No. 2 UConn at No. 5 Michigan (6:30pm, FS1) … The Wolverines open their season with the first matchup of top-five teams in program history.
🏀 NBA:Heat at Warriors (10pm, NBA) … Golden State (5-3) has won five straight games, and Miami (3-5) has won two straight.
🎾 ATP:Paris Masters (7:30am, Tennis) … Round of 16 action for Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz and more.
⛳️ PGA:World Wide Technology Championship (3pm, Golf) … Defending champion Ben Griffin headlines the field at the Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

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

🗽 OVER/UNDER

The 2026 New York City Marathon was the largest marathon in history, with a record number of runners crossing the finish line.

Question:Did Sunday's race have over or under 75,000 finishers?

Over:More than 75,000
Under:Less than 75,000

Answer at the bottom.

📸 PHOTO FINISH

52 points. 24 rebounds. 8 blocks.

What do you even say?Charles Barkley didn't have the words to describe Wembanyama's performance. "This damn idiot upstairs says, 'Chuck, you got Wemby.' I'm like, 'What the hell am I supposed to say?" said Barkley during halftime as Wemby's highlights began to roll. "Just look at this stuff. This is just ridiculous, man. I mean, it is flat-out amazing."

Trivia answer:Under. Sunday's NYC Marathon had 61,146 finishers, breaking the previous record of 59,830 set by the 2026 London Marathon this past April.

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