A timely Thursday afternoon reminder to get your footy tips in. 

And, yes, Orla (TDA’s video editor) is still leading the office tipping comp by five points. 

Her tactic of tipping the favourites has proved incredibly effective. 

Here’s to a weekend of upsets!

71 
The number of votes (of 100) that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received to become the NBA MVP for the 2024/25 season. It’s the first time Gilgeous-Alexander has won the award, called the Michael Jordan Trophy. Three-time MVP Nikola Jokić finished second after receiving the other 29 votes. Gilgeous-Alexander, who plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder, had a stellar season with a league-high average of 32.7 points and is still in contention for a championship with the Thunder facing the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals.

“I don’t shoot from out there – I don’t know what I was thinking.”
17-year-old Melbourne City midfielder Shelby McMahon after scoring a 94th-minute matchwinner to propel her side into the AFC Women’s Champions League final. Melbourne City beat South Korea’s Hyundai Steel Red Angels 1-0 in their semi-final tie to advance to the final for the first time in the club’s history, where they will play China’s Wuhan Jiangda. The winning club will earn prize money of $2 million.

Monaco’s Louis Chiron is the oldest driver to have ever started a Grand Prix. Chiron raced in his home race, the Monaco GP, in 1955 at the age of 55 years and 292 days. He finished sixth.

🏟️ The coach of Australian Olympic champion Nina Kennedy has defected to the U.S, where he will coach Kennedy’s greatest rival, Katie Moon. Paul Burgess resigned from the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) in April 2024 and told ABC Sport that he was forced to look for jobs overseas after being banned from the facility following his resignation. He was also a whistleblower in the case of Alex Parnov, a WAIS coach who is the subject of multiple sexual harassment allegations. Burgess’s new role adds another element of intrigue to the storied rivalry between Moon and Kennedy, who famously shared a world championship gold in 2023. Kennedy then pipped Moon for Olympic gold in Paris. 

🏀 The Indiana Pacers upset the New York Knicks in the opening match of the Eastern Conference Finals, winning 138-135 in overtime. After the Pacers were 16 points down, Tyrese Haliburton scored an astonishing buzzer-beater to draw the scores level and force the match into overtime. Game two of the best-of-seven series will be played on Saturday, also at Madison Square Garden in New York.  

🎾 Former women’s tennis world number four Jelena Dokic confirmed on social media that her estranged father, Damir, died last Friday. In Dokic’s autobiography, released in 2017, she revealed that her father had physically and emotionally abused her throughout her upbringing. She said: “The loss of an estranged parent comes with a difficult and complicated grief. It’s an end of a chapter and life as I know it. There are lots of conflicting and complex emotions and feelings for me.”

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Ange Postecoglou has become the first Australian football manager to win a UEFA Europa League Trophy, after Tottenham beat Manchester United 1-0 in the tournament final this morning. 

Tottenham and Man United met in the Europa League final this morning with a chance to redeem what have been historically poor seasons for both clubs. With one matchday remaining in the English Premier League, Tottenham are in 17th and Man United are in 16th. 

In Bilbao, Tottenham’s Brennan Johnson was the only goalscorer, scrappily finding the back of the net in the 42nd minute. After that, Tottenham made several crucial saves to maintain their lead and ultimately win the match. 

For Tottenham, it is the club’s first trophy since the 2008 League Cup and first Europa League title since 1984. 

The win is significant for Postecoglou, who has faced intense scrutiny in his second season as Tottenham manager with the Spurs flailing in the Premier League. That scrutiny intensified when the Aussie declared in a press conference that “usually in my second season I win things”. Postecoglou’s statement is now absolutely true, having won titles in his second season at Brisbane Roar, Socceroos, Yokohama F. Marinos, and Celtic.

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The Enhanced Games, a professional athletics, swimming, and weightlifting competition where athletes will be permitted to use performance-enhancing drugs, is scheduled to go ahead in Las Vegas this time next year. 

At the announcement on Wednesday, organisers revealed that Enhanced Games athlete Kristian Gkolomeev has already swum the 50m freestyle in ‘world record’ time as part of the performance-enhancing program. 

The Enhanced Games is a competition where athletes are given access to performance-enhancing drugs under medical supervision to test the upper limits of human performance. 

Athletes will only have access to drugs that are legally prescribed. 

Dr Aron D’Souza, President and Founder of the Enhanced Games, said at the announcement: “The Enhanced Games are not just a competition - they’re a movement. We’re embracing the full spectrum of human potential, and that begins with transparency, science, and choice. The time is now.”

Part of the announcement was also the revelation that Gkolomeev, a four-time Olympian representing Greece, swam the 50m freestyle in 20.89 seconds this February under the Enhanced Games regime. The legal world record is 20.91. 

Gkolomeev, who was using performance-enhancing drugs and wearing a swimsuit not approved by swimming’s governing body FINA, was awarded $US1 million ($AU1.55 million) for breaking the record. 

The Games are backed by several wealthy investors, including Donald Trump Jr. and the co-founder of PayPal, Peter Thiel. 

The most high-profile Australian set to compete is swimmer James Magnussen, a two-time Olympian who won a silver medal in the 100m freestyle at the 2012 Games. 

Magnussen has been the face of the Enhanced Games since signing up in early 2024. He was incentivised by the promise of prize money for the 50m record. 

After Gkolomeev’s record, Magnussen has missed that opportunity but will still compete at the games and be paid handsomely. 

Another Australian involved is two-time Olympic swimmer Brett Hawke, who has been named as the head swimming coach for the Enhanced Games. His best result as an Olympian was 6th in the 50m freestyle at the 2004 Games. He will reportedly be paid $US250,000 ($AU380,000) a year in his role with the Enhanced Games. 

Sarah Benson, CEO of Sport Integrity Australia, said in a statement: “We work to ensure that sport is safe and fair for all. The Enhanced Games is promoting the complete opposite and poses a significant risk to athlete health and safety while undermining the fundamental values of sport in Australia.”

Travis Tygart, CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency, said: “It’s a dangerous clown show, not real sport”.