Welcome to The Weekly Wire.
A running collection of the stories, stats, nostalgia, news and general nonsense worth talking about this week. Updated throughout the week as we find more things worth talking about.
Labor Day Is the Holiday Nobody Knows How to Celebrate
Labor Day was created to honor American workers.
Now it means cookouts, the unofficial end of summer and 40% off a sectional sofa.
How did a workers’ holiday become a clearance event?
Cincinnati Cleared In Brendan Sorsby Case
Cincinnati was cleared of institutional wrongdoing in the Brendan Sorsby gambling case, but the underlying numbers are remarkable: records show the former quarterback placed more than 9,000 sports bets worth at least $90,000. As legalized gambling becomes increasingly embedded in sports, college athletics is discovering just how difficult it can be to draw a clean line between the athletes playing the games and the betting market surrounding them.
Penn State Will Be Honoring Joe Paterno
Penn State has announced that it will honor Joe Paterno 15 years after his coaching career ended in disgrace with a new exhibit inside Beaver Stadium.
On September 3, the university will open a new football exhibit called the Paterno Family Football Experience Room. The school calls it “a permanent museum experience celebrating more than a century of Penn State Football history.”
Tiger Woods Has His Driver’s License Suspended
Tiger Woods pled guilty to reckless driving and refusal to submit to a lawful test. The golfer will have his driver’s license suspended for 5 years, and he will have to pay a $1000 fine.
Taco Bell is bringing the Choco Taco concept back from the dead.
The new Salt & Straw Churro Ice Cream Taco features churro ice cream inside a crispy waffle-cone shell, covered in puffed rice and dark chocolate-flavored coating. It’s available at Taco Bell locations nationwide for a limited time.
The Angels Have Been Sold
Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke has agreed to buy the Angels from Arte Moreno for a reported MLB-record price of more than $3.9 billion. Kroenke adds the Angels to a sports empire that already includes the Rams, Nuggets, Avalanche, Rapids and Arsenal, while Moreno’s 23-year tenure ends with the Angels mired in an 11-year playoff drought.
Tupac Murder Finally Solved
Three decades after Tupac Shakur was killed in Las Vegas, Duane “Keffe D” Davis has been found guilty of orchestrating the 1996 murder. The case has lingered over hip-hop history for a generation, making Tuesday’s verdict one of the most significant legal developments connected to the era in years.
Lionel Messi has retired from international soccer
Lionel Messi announced Monday that he is retiring from Argentina’s national team after a career that included the 2022 World Cup championship and another World Cup final in 2026.
The NFL wants Australia to become a regular stop
The NFL says it wants its new Australian game to become an annual fixture. The Rams and 49ers will play the first NFL regular-season game in Australia on September 11 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and the league increasingly views Australia as a strategic growth market rather than an experimental one.
The Cubs Apparently Spent August Playing Home Run Derby
Chicago hit a franchise-record nine home runs Monday night, including three from Alex Bregman. That gave the Cubs 62 homers in August—the most any National League team has ever hit in one month. Baseball has spent years arguing about whether there are too many home runs. The Cubs apparently decided to provide evidence for the prosecution.
Wendy’s New CEO Has a Five-Point Plan To Turn Things Around
Bob Wright says Wendy’s chased cost savings over quality, and lost its No. 2 spot to Burger King. Now he’s rolling out a five-point fix.
Yeah cost savings over quality is never a good plan.
Odell Beckham Jr. Is Back With the Giants
The last time Odell Beckham Jr. was a Giants rookie, people were still arguing about the iPhone 6 and Guardians of the Galaxy had just hit theaters.
Now he’s back with New York at age 33.
NFL nostalgia has officially reached players we still think of as modern.
The AI Boom Is Creating Shortages in Things Most People Have Never Heard Of
Artificial intelligence needs more than chips. Data centers require enormous amounts of networking equipment, optical connections, electricity, cooling and specialized materials. One major supplier of silicon-photonics wafers is now locking customers into multi-year contracts as demand surges. The AI gold rush is increasingly creating winners far outside the companies whose names appear on the chatbots.
Severe Flash Floods in the Grand Canyon
Deadly Grand Canyon flooding knocks out critical water line amid race to find missing hikers.
Oil prices jump 3% to over $90 after US-Iran exchange strikes for first time in a month
Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted amid the Middle East conflict, which recently hit the six-month mark.
The Stuff Our Parents Called a Waste of Money Is Now Collectible
Our parents called baseball cards, comic books, old toys, and video games a waste of money. Now some of the stuff we begged them not to throw away has become legitimately collectible — and sometimes surprisingly valuable.
Turns out the junk drawer might have been an investment portfolio.
Angel Reese Set A Record
Angel Reese sets the WNBA record for most double-doubles in a single season.
Aaron Donald Is Back
Aaron Donald is coming out of retirement and returning to the Rams on a one-year, $20M deal that with incentives could be worth up to $30M
Aaron Donald and Myles Garrett together should be interesting. We’ll see if they can both stay healthy.