Sarni's Scrolls: Aces show their hand

By Jim Sarni

Dynasty.

The Las Vegas Aces won their second consecutive WNBA championship on Wednesday night, and a three-peat is a good bet.

Check the roster: The stellar quartet of Finals MVP A'ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray are all returning.
The Aces defeated the New York Liberty 70-69 on Wednesday night to complete a 3-1 series win. Las Vegas became the third team to repeat as champions, the first since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2002.
The clincher was the first close game between the two super teams this season; the four regular-season games were all blowouts, and the first three games were also routs.
The WNBA had a banner season. It delivered record-breaking viewership, attendance and digital engagement.
The Finals were the most-watched in 20 years, up 13% from last season. Game 4 attracted 889K.
I realize there are men who won't watch women's basketball like my extremely amusing friend The Professor from The Defo Show (South Florida Live). "I'd rather watch Pickleball."
Gender Bias is real, but know this... women's sports are only going to get bigger and better.

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There's plenty to watch this weekend besides football and baseball:
Volleyball: No. 1 Wisconsin at No. 2 Nebraska, Saturday, 7 p.m., Big Ten
College Hockey: No. 2 Denver at No. 3 Boston College, Saturday, 7 p.m., ESPN+
MLS Decision Day: Sunday, 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., Apple
NWSL Quarterfinals: Angel City at OL Reign, Friday, 10 p.m., Paramount; Gotham FC at North Carolina, Sunday, 7 p.m., CBSSN
Rugby World Cup semifinals: Argentina vs. New Zealand, Friday, 3 p.m., Peacock; England vs. South Africa, Saturday, 3 p.m., Peacock.
U.S. Grand Prix: Sunday, 3 p.m., ABC
LIV Team Championship: Saturday, 1:30, Sunday, 1 p.m., The CW

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No. 22 Air Force (6-0) is off to the best start by a service academy in 21 years as it heads to Annapolis to play Navy (3-3) in the first leg of the Commander-In-Chief series in Saturday (Noon, CBS).
The Falcons have won 21 C-In-C trophies to 16 for Navy and nine for Army.
Caution: The home team has won 9 of the past 10.
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NFL scoring fell to a 5-year low last season as defenses adjusted to the modern passing revolution.
This season has been worse.
Teams are averaging 21.7 points per game, down from 21.9 last year, tied for the fewest since the 2009 season.
Teams are averaging 329.7 yards on offense, the fewest since 2008.
Last week, four teams scored in single digits. Fourteen teams failed to crack 20 points.
The six worst scoring offenses: Giants (11.8), Patriots (12), Steelers (15.8), Falcons (16.5), Raiders (16.7), Bengals (16.7).
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NFL Icons docuseries returns Saturday on Amazon.
This season follows the journeys of Hall of Famers Jim Brown, Bill Cowher, Mike Singletary and Charles Woodson.
Up first is Brown, the Browns running back, who led the NFL in rushing in eight of the nine years in the league, and was the first to gain 10,000 yards.
Brown refused to run out of bounds:
"Let me be emphatic about that. For me to run out of bounds because of a collision is to admit weakness."
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Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel discusses fatherhood on the latest "NFL Films Presents." Excellent interview.
Clarissa Thompson asked McDaniel if being a father made him a better coach:
"Being a dad is very much like being a head coach in that you're constantly concerned about the well-being of other people. I know for a fact that I couldn't be any of the other things that are the most important things to me -- father, husband, man and then head coach. All of those are a consequence of wanting to be something for someone. To not exist for yourself is a beautiful thing."
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*Al Michaels matched Pat Summerall's record with his 737th NFL telecast on Thursday night.
*Dolphins-Eagles is the first Sunday Night Football match-up of 5-1 teams since 2015.
*The NFL plans to playing an international games in either Madrid or Brazil next season.
*Patrick Mahomes says he wants to own an NFL team when he retires. The Chiefs quarterback already has stakes in MLB, MLS, NWSL and Formula One.
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*Former Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is joining ESPN's college basketball coverage and Westwood One radio.
*The NBA may go back to an East-West All-Star Game.
*Former Lakers player criticized LeBron James for eating fruit salad on the bench during Wednesday's exhibition game.
*Former Marlins radio broadcaster Glenn Geffner is writing an excellent View From The Bleachers Substack newsletter. Definitely worth subscribing.
*TGL, the tech-infused 2024 golf league being fronted by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, completed its 24-player roster with the addition of five more players, including U.S. winner Wyndham Clark and Patrick Cantlay.
*Peloton is bringing live sports to its fitness devices.
*Rhode Island is building an impressive $124M soccer stadium for a USL team.
*A women's-only Ironman triathlon with more than 20,000 contestants was held Saturday in Hawaii. England's Lucy Charles-Barclay was the winner.
*Bruce Springsteen will have a building named after him at Monmouth University.
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They Said It
"We cried together, prayed together. And now we're popping Champagne together." -- WNBA Finals MVP A'ja Wilson.
"Bruce Sherman cares more about his yacht than his people." The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli's, quoting a source in her story on Marlins owner Sherman and departing GM Kim Ng.
"The Republicans on the other side looked like the locker room of our beloved New England Patriots." -- Rep. Jake Auchincloss, MA. (D) on the Speaker of the House mess.

***Jim Sarni, BC Class of '69, is a former sportswriter for The Boston Globe and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He resides in Fort Lauderdale and watches a lot of television.

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