Dancing through life

The GIST: The NWSL Championship pitting the Washington Spirit against Gotham FC is set for tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET, but the party’s already begun in San Jose. The league honored its best and brightest during Wednesday’s NWSL Awards, and a little history was made along the way. So gilded.

🏆 Temwa Chawinga wins second consecutive MVP award: The Kansas City Current star and friend of The GIST is the NWSL’s first-ever back-to-back MVP, a fitting end to a campaign which also saw her win her second straight Golden Boot award. Scoring 15 goals? All in a season’s work.

⏱️ Bev Yanez named Coach of the Year: Racing Louisville made the playoffs for the first time in club history this year, a feat that wouldn’t have been possible without Yanez’s leadership. Not to mention, she’s the first former NWSL player to secure a postseason berth as a head coach.

👀 Plus, two award winners will take the pitch in tomorrow’s title game: Defender of the Year Tara McKeown (Washington Spirit) and Rookie of the Year Lilly Reale (Gotham FC) won big on Wednesday, but only one will add a shiny Tiffany NWSL Championship trophy alongside their individual hardware. Can’t wait.

The GIST: The spectacle of Formula 1 meets Las Vegas, a city synonymous with high-stakes thrills, this weekend. It’s the first stop on the season-ending tripleheader — and drivers need to go all in because what happens in Vegas could decide the World Drivers’ Championship (WDC).

💸 F1’s bet on Vegas pays out: In 2023, the sport returned to Sin City for the first time in four decades — and it was a logistical nightmare. Now in its third iteration, the largest (and most lucrative) event in Vegas has made some fan-approved tweaks: The cost to attend is down 66% from 2023, and Saturday’s main event will now start at 11 p.m. ET instead of 1 a.m. ET.

• But not everything can be planned for: It’s been cold and rainy in Vegas this week, making the already-tricky street circuit even more challenging for drivers to navigate at speeds of up to 215 mph (346 km/h).

🌶️ McLaren’s Lando Norris boasts 24-point lead in WDC fight: Mathematically, it’s a three-car WDC race between Norris, his teammate Oscar Piastri, and four-time defending champ, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen — but Verstappen’s nearly two race wins (aka 50 points) behind. That means the individual title is almost certainly turning papaya orange …barring an incredible plot twist.

• Enter: The Vegas track, where McLaren has infamously struggled the last two years. Norris and Piastri finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in 2024, more than 40 seconds off the pace. All to say, it’s not over ’til the checkered flag waves.

• And that’s not the only hotly-contested championship battle hitting the Vegas street circuit. F1 Academy returns for its final weekend with Mercedes’ Doriane Pin and Ferrari’s Maya Weug separated by a mere nine points. Spicy.

🏑 Field hockey: NCAA Tournament Semifinals — Today at 12 p.m. ET and 2:30 p.m. ET — ESPNU

• We’re in for an epic showdown between two of fockey’s modern-day dynasties. Either No. 1 seed UNC or Northwestern has won each of the last seven championships…and guess which teams play one another in the second of two tantalizing matchups? We are sat.

🏀 Women’s basketball: No. 6 Michigan Wolverines vs. No. 1 UConn Huskies — Tonight at 8 p.m. ET — Fox

• The Wolverines scored a massive win over a rival, then–No. 18 Notre Dame, last weekend, but the also-undefeated, defending champion Huskies are a different challenge entirely. Have to beat the best to be the best, right?

🏈 Football: No. 15 USC Trojans vs. No. 7 Oregon Ducks — Tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. ET — CBS

• With just three weeks until conference championship weekend, the Ducks are well within position to secure a bid to the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket. But the Trojans are not to be underestimated — pick up a road win here, and they might just make a case for a bid of their own.

⚽ Women’s soccer: No. 5 seed Baylor Bears vs. Ohio State Buckeyes — Sunday, time TBA — Viewing info here

• While the men’s NCAA tournament kicked off just last night, the women’s is already rolling into the third round with a trip to the College Cup (aka soccer’s Final Four) on the line. The Buckeyes are the team to watch, having pulled off two daring upsets.