The Carolina Hurricanes are Stanley Cup champions.  Carolina defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in Game Six to win the series 4-2.  It is the franchise's first Stanley Cup title since 2006.  Rod Brind'Amour becomes the first person in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup as a team's captain and head coach.

     New York City is gearing up for its first ever ticker tape parade in celebration of the Knicks. It may be the second time the Knicks have won the NBA Finals but they never got a proper parade, with Mayor Mamdani saying it could very well be the largest turnout along the Cannon of Heroes. The parade will be followed by a ceremony at City Hall, with Mayor Mamdani saying the team will get keys to the city. Mamdani says Thursday's parade was set in coordination with the Knicks and the NYPD. 

     The first weekend of the 2026 FIFA World Cup is in the books.  There were four matches across North America on Sunday that included eight nations seeing their first action of the tournament.  Germany crushed Curaçao 7-1 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Japan and Netherlands played to a 2-2 draw at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Ivory Coast defeated Ecuador 1-0 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and Sweden took down Tunisia 5-1 in Guadalupe, Mexico.  The action continues with four more matches on Monday.  Spain takes on Cape Verde, Belgium challenges Egypt, Saudi Arabia battles Uruguay and Iran faces off against New Zealand.

      The Rockies hit six home runs en route to a 23-9 win over the A's in Sin City.  Hunter Goodman and Willi Castro each hit two home runs and combined for 11 RBIs, leading Colorado to a franchise record run total.  Tomoyuki Sugano got the win despite allowing eight runs over five innings and Eiberson Castellano tossed three scoreless innings to secure the save.  The Rockies are now 27-and-45 this season.  Max Muncy and Tyler Soderstrom each homered for the A's in the setback.  Jeffrey Springs allowed eight runs, six earned, in four innings to get the loss.  The A's fell to 35-and-36 on the year.

     The Giants avoided a three-game sweep at home.  San Francisco beat the Chicago Cubs 5-1 in the series finale at Oracle Park.  Matt Chapman went 1-for-3 with a homer, two runs scored and two RBIs.  Starting pitcher Logan Webb earned his fourth win after striking out seven and allowing one unearned run through eight innings.  The Giants are now 29-and-43.  They will visit the Atlanta Braves tomorrow afternoon.  In other news, the team has placed right-hander Keaton Winn on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow strain.  Right-hander Tristan Beck was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to take his roster spot.

     The Valkyries are searching for a third straight victory.  Golden State hosts the Los Angeles Sparks tonight in WNBA Commissioner's Cup action at the Chase Center.  The team comes off a 76-72 win over the Seattle Storm on Friday.  Janelle Salaun scored a team-high 22 points in the victory.  The Valkyries enter at 8-and-5.

       The 49ers and Raiders are mourning the death of one of their former players.  Former San Francisco and Oakland defensive lineman Aldon Smith died Saturday in the Bay Area.  He was 36.  No cause of death was given.  Smith played six seasons in the NFL split between the Niners, Raiders and Dallas Cowboys.  His 19.5 sacks in 2012 still stand as a San Fran single-season record.  Off-field issues caused Smith to be suspended from 2016 to 2019 before playing his final season with Dallas in 2020.

     Folarin Balogun fired his second goal into the top far corner of Paraguay’s net and then led his American teammates to the corner of their home stadium, reveling in the frenzy created by their historic first half at their World Cup opener.

     The world’s biggest soccer tournament finally returned to the U.S. on Friday night after a generation of anticipation.

     With this phenomenal match, the Americans also look like they’ve arrived.

     Balogun scored twice in the Americans’ three-goal barrage before halftime, and the U.S. opened its first home World Cup in 32 years with its biggest win in the tournament, a dynamic 4-1 victory over Paraguay.

     Christian Pulisic had an assist in a stellar first-half playmaking performance for the Americans, who enthralled their Southern California fans with an aggressive attack while streaking to a 3-0 lead — the team’s largest in any World Cup game.

     “It meant everything for us,” Pulisic said. “A half like that, for it to go as it did, and have the fans excited about our performance, it felt amazing.”

     Gio Reyna ripped another goal in the dying moments of second-half injury time, giving the Americans four goals in a World Cup match for the first time in their tournament history dating to 1930.

     In this pressure-packed home opener, the Americans were a team transformed while playing in coach Mauricio Pochettino’s more creative system in front of a passionate, star-studded Los Angeles crowd of 70,492. Led by the elite talent and coach-inspired fearlessness of Balogun, Pulisic and Weston McKennie up front, the U.S. finally had its breakthrough performance at SoFi Stadium.