Lot's at steak when countries are beefing

🇨🇦🇺🇸 / 🇮🇳🇵🇰 - Yankees finally lift their beard ban, a 29-year-old wins 100 World Cup games, a renaissance-inspired kit and people kayaking to collect baseball balls + 12 sporting events this week.

February 25, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

Pre-match briefing

Welcome back to the 15th edition of The Gameplan! Just like LeBron in year 21, we’re still delivering at the highest level. Let’s dive right in.

Scout’s Overview
📡 🚨 Weekly Sports Radar: Bobleigh

Bobsleigh is a high-speed winter sport where teams of 2 to 4 athletes race down narrow, twisting ice tracks in a sleigh. Governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, the sport challenges teams to achieve the fastest times over multiple runs.

Winners are determined by their combined times across these runs. The four-man bobsleigh event has been a staple of the Winter Olympics since the inaugural Games in 1924 in Chamonix, France.

🏋 Athlete of the week: Mikaela Shiffrin

Marco Bertorello / AFP / Getty Images

Mikaela Shiffrin is an American alpine ski racer and one of the most decorated skiers in history. She won her first Olympic gold medal in slalom at just 18 years old.

Fun fact: Just this week, she won her 100th World Cup game in the sport. She’s just 29.

🏟️ Venue of the week: Oracle Park

Oracle Park, formerly AT&T Park is one of the countless baseball stadiums in America. However, what separates this one is that it’s built right beside the bay. It's so close, in fact, that fans famously kayak right beside the field to collect home run balls.

🧤 Fit Check: Visma’s ‘Renaissance’ Tour de France 2024

This is Visma-Lease a Bike's jersey, a Dutch professional bicycle racing team. They revealed their special blue ‘Renaissance’ jersey for the 2024 Tour de France with the pattern on the jersey inspired by the iconic architecture Renaissance era.

From the bench
🗞️ In case you were injured:

  • Connor McDavid scored in overtime to give Canada a 3-2 win over the United States last week. The game saw record audience viewership due to some beef between the two countries 👀 🤐

  • Speaking of rivalries, Pakistan just got knocked out of the Champions Trophy in Cricket by its arch-rivals, India. It’s gotta suck, considering they’re the tournament hosts 😬

🎯 In over-time:

  • The New York Yankees dropped their 49-year-long ban on beards. Yes, you heard me right. Beards.

  • Watch KSI score an own goal in a charity match featuring Thiery Henry, Andrea Pirlo, and the legend IshowSpeed

📊 Analyst’s corner:

  • The number of recreational fishing participants in the US is around 57.7 million (as of 2023). That’s 10 million more than those who participate in Golf in the US (47.2 million). Would you say fishing is a sport?

🏆 Weekly Sports Calendar

Here’s a look at the ongoing and upcoming sports events this week:

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Signing out,
Wasay (brother #2)

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