FRIDAY · OCTOBER 9, 2026 · SPORTS, IN SMALL SIPS

Big Tex, the 55-foot cowboy who stands tall at the State Fair of Texas, is sporting a new look this year. He’s wearing a 95-gallon Resistol hat and size-96 Lucchese boots, which were designed by Dallas native Aaliyah McNeal, winner of the fair’s boot-design contest. On Saturday, he’ll be watching over Fair Park as Texas and Oklahoma face off in the Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl, where the crowd is split at the 50-yard line—burnt orange fans on one side, crimson on the other.

Undrafted and unfazed. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked up their first win of the season on Thursday night, beating the Cowboys 24-16. Rookie Jalon Daniels, who was not drafted, made his second start while Baker Mayfield recovers from injury. Tampa Bay is now 1-4, while Dallas drops to 2-3.

Garrett Mitchell of Milwaukee made a leaping catch at the wall in the eighth inning on Wednesday, robbing San Diego’s Manny Machado of a game-tying two-run homer. The Brewers won 3-1 to finish the series and ended a 12-game road playoff losing streak. "Nice play. Should have hit it harder," Machado said.

Two down. The Atlanta Dream defeated the New York Liberty 101-98 in overtime, and the Golden State Valkyries edged out the Las Vegas Aces 83-81. Both teams now lead their WNBA semifinals 2-0. No WNBA team has ever come back from a 0-2 deficit to win a best-of-five series.

Reach for it. With the Yankees trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth on Wednesday, Anthony Volpe hit a ball to the left-field wall that seemed like it would tie the game with a two-run homer. However, replay showed a fan reached over the wall while Rays outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. was under the ball, so the hit was changed to a run-scoring double. Tampa Bay won 4-3 and swept the series.

According to the rule book, spectator interference happens when a fan touches a ball that is still in play. When this occurs, the ball is declared dead, and the umpires decide where the runners would have ended up. In this case, it meant the Yankees got one run instead of two.

Swept away. It's only the second time the Yankees have been swept in a best-of-five series, the first being the 1980 American League Championship Series against Kansas City. The Rays are now headed to their third ALCS in team history.

Wardrobe change. "This is my second shirt, second hat," Rays manager Kevin Cash said after the clubhouse celebration. Tampa Bay will open the ALCS at home on Monday. Their opponent will be decided in Saturday's Game 5, after Cleveland beat the White Sox 9-5 on Thursday to tie that series at 2-2.

— Landen Hull

Last call. On Wednesday, the Penguins faced the Capitals. Washington won 5-3 in what was Alex Ovechkin's final home opener. Ovechkin didn't score, so he remains 10 goals behind Wayne Gretzky's total of 1,016, counting both regular season and playoff goals.

Unbeaten path. The 49ers are one of three teams that are still undefeated. They are also the only unbeaten team facing an opponent with a winning record this weekend. The Chiefs have a bye, and the Vikings will play the 1-3 Saints. The Seahawks are 3-1.

All times ET.

Bottoms up. See you Monday.