 | PRESENTED BY  |
| From The GIST Team |
It's Friday! | ||
| As many folks prepare for wintry weather, the sports slate is heating up, highlighted by Sunday's NFL Conference Championships. Hunker down with our special edition preview hitting your inbox that morning, and until then, we have today's news to keep us toasty. | ||
| Quote of The Day |
 | I'm very happy…I think it's a monumental and game-changing moment…I've always had a vision and an idea of what I wanted my legacy to be…We're doing that. |
 | — Washington Spirit superstar Trinity Rodman, who officially re-signed with her longtime NWSL squad on a record-setting three-year contract yesterday. There were rumblings that Rodman might head abroad, but the historic deal keeps her stateside and brings her high-profile free agency negotiations to a close.
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| The Latest |
🎾 Work it, girl (give a twirl) Source: Martin Keep/AFP via Getty Images The GIST: Grab a ShackBurger and settle in — the Australian Open enters the third round, and a few players are giving main character energy Down Under. 💪 Soon-to-be retiree Stan Wawrinka just keeps winning: During the Big Three era, the 21 years in which Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic won almost every single Grand Slam, few players were able to slay these giants — but Wawrinka did it three times (2014 Australian Open, 2015 French Open, 2016 US Open), making him a cult legend among tennis fans.
🙌 Fashionista Naomi Osaka through to third round: No. 16 Osaka is turning heads for many reasons in Melbourne. Not only did she walk onto the court in head-to-toe couture for her first-round match, but she's returning to her winning ways, moving onto the third round after yesterday's icy three-set win.
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🏈 Ten percent luck, twenty percent skill Source: Getty Images The GIST: Comedian Amy Poehler once said of award shows, "When they get it right, it makes sense" — but that's much easier said than done. Look no further than the NFL MVP award after this year's five finalists were announced yesterday.
🐏 The case for Stafford: It's all about the touchdowns (TDs), baby. Stafford led the league with an impressive 46 TDs this season, eight more than the next-closest signal caller. The 37-year-old also threw for the most yards this season (a whopping 4,707) while competing in the juggernaut NFC West. Quite the résumé. ❤️ The case for Maye: The second-year QB was the most accurate passer in the NFL this season by a long shot. But the real jaw-dropper? His ability to throw the deep ball: He completed a league-leading 22 passes of 20 air yards or more and averaged an NFL–best 8.9 yards per attempt. Even more intriguing is that Maye did it all without a superstar wide receiver. 🏆 MVP will be named on February 5th: Both candidates are in action this weekend, but postseason play doesn't count toward their MVP campaigns. So while they contend for a Super Bowl berth, circle next month's NFL Honors on your cal as we await the final MVP verdict. |
| PRESENTED BY Amazon Prime ☀️ Level up your morning routine Source: Amazon Prime ☕ The perfect morning starts with the perfect cup of coffee — frothy, freshly ground, however you like it. But nailing your ideal morning bevvy takes trial and error. Have no fear because Prime can help.
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🎓🏀 Giving the folks a little sizzle Source: Nicole Hester/The Tennessean The GIST: Only two undefeated teams remain in women's college basketball. As expected, one of them is the defending champs, No. 1 UConn, but the other — No. 5 Vanderbilt — is an unexpected powerhouse. Ahead of the Commodores' 3 p.m. ET Sunday showdown vs. No. 2 South Carolina, let's break down the Black and Gold's serendipitous success. 🏅 Head coach (HC) Shea Ralph's championship pedigree: A quick glance at Ralph's résumé shows that Vandy's rise isn't as shocking as it may seem. Ralph was an All-American for HC Geno Auriemma and the Huskies, playing from 1996 to 2001 before joining UConn's coaching staff in 2008 and winning six titles as an assistant. The apple doesn't fall far from the coaching tree. ✨ The history: The Commodores have made multiple deep tournament runs over the years, but they haven't competed in a Sweet Sixteen since 2009. This season feels different with Ralph in her fifth year at the helm: Vandy's off to its best start in team history, and they've beaten multiple top-10 opponents in the same season for the first time since that 2008-09 campaign. 🏀 The Commodores' not-so-secret weapon: A killer combination of pace and efficiency. Not only does Vandy play fast, they also shoot an impressive 47.5% from the field as a team (far better than the national average of just over 40%), while knocking down an average of 10 three-pointers per game, fifth-most in the NCAA. Buckets on buckets.
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| Presented By Unrivaled  Source: Unrivaled and The GIST 🔥 It's time for The Heat Check, our weekly spotlight on the weekend's must-watch Unrivaled showdowns. With eight enthralling matchups gracing our screens over the next few days, it wasn't easy picking just one game to highlight. Here goes nothing: 🌬️ Mist BC at 🌹 Rose BC — Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET — TNT
P.S. If you enjoyed this preview, subscribe to Unrivaled Weekly, our special Friday newsletter recapping the hottest stories around the league. Swish, swish. |
| Fun & Games |
Question of the DayNow that you have The GIST on both frontrunners, who is your pick for NFL MVP? |
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Today's email was brought to you by Alessandra Puccio, Lisa Minutillo, Lauren Tuiskula, Grace DePaull, and Charlotte Mackenzie. Editing by Katie Kehoe Foster. Fact-checking by Elisha Gunaratnam and Mikaela Perez. Ops by Briana Ekanem and Elisha Gunaratnam. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster, Alessandra Puccio, and Lisa Minutillo. Managing edits by Lauren Tuiskula and Alessandra Puccio. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.
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