Sports & Entertainment Beat

Welcome to the Spotlight! As hard as it is to believe, summer is winding down, Joro spiders seemingly avoided (wish I could say the same about spotted lantern flies), hot dogs (OG or vegan) consumed, marshmallows roasted, medals awarded and for many, lifelong memories made. That last one came into striking relief last weekend at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. As if it wasn’t enough that the kids on these teams get to play in nationally televised baseball games, they also get to spend the day with, and cheer on, their favorite Major League Baseball players as part of annual MLB Little League Classic.

This year featured a game between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees, but I am not writing to talk about the game—particularly after the Yankees closing pitcher Clay Holmes blew yet another save to hand the Tigers the victory. Instead, the real standout from this year’s event was from a player who did not even play in the game due to a stint on the injured list. The Yankees’ recently acquired dynamic All-Star player Jazz Chisholm, Jr. not only played video journalist to document the Yankees’ day behind the scenes leading up to the game, capturing compelling, joyful, authentic moments shared amongst Major League and Little League teammates alike, but he also took up the mantle of becoming a “big brother” to an adoring Little Leaguer named Russell McGee, proclaiming in a television interview that he’s “gonna make sure he gets to the big leagues one day.” What could have been empty words were followed up with a heartwarming gesture as Chisholm exchanged phone numbers with McGee and joined him in the stands to cheer on Chisholm’s teammates. A really cool moment of kindness, humility and paying it forward to witness—and one that it sounds like McGee and Chisholm will carry with them for a long time to come. I’ll catch you all back on the other side of the Labor Day holiday, but for now here’s my payment forward to you.

• • At long last, the collaboration between Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese and Reese’s candy has become official, as they roll out some cleverly co-branded apparel. What Reese is getting paid for the collaboration is not yet known, but it’s probably more than peanuts.
  • Oklahoma State University’s football team is leaning into the name, image and likeness (NIL) era in college sports as they will all have QR codes on their helmets, linking people to the program’s NIL fund. With this on-field innovation possible, sportsbooks across the country are now wondering whether they can buy a referee if you use a barcode scanner on his or her uniform.
  • NASCAR’s Hendrick Motorsports sues its former sponsor, restaurant chain Hooters over its failure to pay $1.7 million in sponsorship fees. What a hoot—I thought owls were supposed to be wise!