Good morning. Today’s newsletter is a wee bit heavy on the sports stuff. On that note: “Everyone loves sports, but why are dudes specifically so… weird and intense about it all?” a female writer at DONUT HQ asked yesterday.

It’s a great question, and one that’s puzzled humankind since we started playing sports 15,000 years ago. But after performing much science and reflecting in the mirror, the male DONUT HQ contingent has come to the conclusion that men actually love sports because they can:

• Hug, scream, and cry with reckless abandon.
• Gossip under the guise of trades and rivalries and “fantasy” football.
• Reminisce about the glory days. You know we were destined for greatness, right? If only that dang injury hadn't happened… we'd be playing pro ball on TV.

And with that – *tears up again thinking about Messi winning his first World Cup* – let’s get into it!

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 3.67 minutes to read.

“In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.”

–Anne Frank (1929-1945)

From NIL rules to the transfer portal, college sports have been going through some ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-changes. And like that shy kid from high school in the midst of an adulthood glow-up, there could be more coming down the pike.

On Thursday, the National Labor Relations Board announced it’s supporting a lawsuit against the University of Southern California, the Pac-12 conference, and the NCAA over unfair labor practices.

To put it simply, the NLRB is alleging that USC athletes are joint employees of these three groups. Meaning they should be entitled to labor rights, including minimum wage, overtime, and unionization.

🤔 Why it’s a big deal: While the NLRB only has jurisdiction over private institutions – which make up more than 40% of all universities in America – a decision to classify athletes at those schools as employees would impact a wide range of issues, including:

• Private colleges and universities could lose their Section 501(c)(3) designation, which allows charitable gifts to be deemed tax write-offs and grants schools other tax benefits.
• Scholarships could be considered taxable income for athletes, and families would have to navigate the tax implications of their child no longer being a dependent.
• Student-athletes could also become eligible for worker's compensation for injuries.

⚖️ The arguments: The NLRB's argument is basically: if it walks and talks like an employee, it’s probably an employee. In a September 2021 legal opinion, the board’s top lawyer asserted that college athletes solidly fit the definition, since they participate in athletic activities strictly under their schools’ control that generate profits for the institutions.

• On the flip side, the NCAA, athletic conferences, and schools are arguing that athletes becoming employees would lead to unwanted changes in college athletics, including coaches firing players for poor performance and schools forgoing support for sports that don’t generate a profit.

👀 Looking ahead… The NLRB’s announcement kicks off a legal process that’s expected to take months or years to fully resolve.

📊 Flash poll: Do you think college athletes should be classified as employees?

Yes

Only if their sports program generates a net profit

No

Unsure/other

🇮🇷 Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti was arrested on Saturday after criticizing the execution of an anti-government protester. Alidoosti, who starred in the 2016 Oscar-winning film The Salesman, was detained by authorities for making an Instagram post last week condemning the execution. It marks the latest in a series of celebrity arrests – including athletes, actors, and influencers – in response to their public support for ongoing anti-government protests, which are now in their third month.

🇰🇵 North Korea fired two ballistic missiles capable of reaching Japan yesterday, the latest in a record year for such launches. It marked the 35th day this year that North Korea has conducted a missile test, the most on record. The missile launch came two days after the Japanese government approved a new $320 billion national security strategy that represents the country’s biggest military build-up since World War II, per Reuters.

🇲🇽 Mexico’s president asked Bad Bunny to perform a free concert due to a fake ticket fiasco. On Friday, hundreds of fans who bought legitimate tickets to see the hip-hop artist’s concert in Mexico City were turned away after security officials wrongly deemed the tickets to be counterfeit. Ticketmaster officially apologized after the concert, saying that an unprecedented number of people with fake tickets tried to gain entry, and the ensuing confusion caused some people with legitimate tickets to be rejected, too.

🙄 Yes, it’s the first page of a blank book and everything – and hey, nothing against making positive change! But at the same time, we totally get it if it's not your cup of preferred hot beverage.✌️ 

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After 29 days, 64 matches, and 172 total goals (a new tournament record), the World Cup field that started with 32 teams finally has a champion. On Sunday, Argentina defeated France to be crowned World Cup victor for the first time since 1986.

🏆 How it happened: Argentina jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first half, behind goals from Lionel Messi and Ángel Di María. France’s Kylian Mbappé answered with less than 10 minutes left in regulation, scoring two quick goals to even the score at 2-2. This sent the game into extra time (aka overtime).

Messi put Argentina back in front, scoring early in the second extra-time period. But Mbappé once again tied things up, scoring eight minutes later to become the second player ever to earn a hat trick in the World Cup final.

Extra time ended in a 3-3 draw, sending the game to penalty kicks. Argentina proceeded to make its first four attempts, while France only made two.

🏅 Accolades: Lionel Messi became the first player ever to win two Golden Ball awards as the World Cup’s most outstanding player, though he lost out on the Golden Boot (aka finals MVP), which went to Mbappé.

⚽ Fun fact: While overall numbers have yet to be published, this year’s World Cup is set to become the most-viewed event in TV history, per FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who said last week the tournament was on track to reach 5 billion unique viewers, aka ~62.5% of the entire world😳.

💬 Quoted…​​ “Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.”

Yesterday, Elon Musk launched a Twitter poll asking users whether he should step down as the social media platform's CEO.

• As of 11 pm ET last night, 56% of respondents had voted “yes” while 44% voted “no.”

🏈 Stat of the Day: Don’t call it a comeback… unless it actually was one. On Saturday, the Minnesota Vikings overcame a 33-0 halftime deficit to beat the Colts 36-33, marking the biggest comeback in NFL history.

🤯 Did You Know?... The country that wins the World Cup typically experiences an extra 0.25% bump in economic growth in the two quarters after the tournament, per new research from Marco Mello at the University of Surrey.

📖 Worth a Read: Bob Iger vs. Bob Chapek: Inside the Disney Coup → (WSJ)

Aside from the obvious (👆), they both wake up and read the #1 sports newsletter in America, Morning Blitz. And no, it isn’t just for people who own a major sports organization.

🍩🏈 Look, it’s a safe assumption that if you’re reading this, you probably enjoy The DONUT’s format/delivery style… and Morning Blitz would be us if we weren’t fixated on news and played sports instead. It’s a quick, 5 minute read every morning stuffed with the biggest headlines, insights, juicy tidbits, and some good old sports humor.

Sign up today for free.

• ☝️ The AquaDom, a 50-foot-tall cylindrical fish tank billed as the largest of its kind in the world, collapsed on Friday, spilling 264,000 gallons of water and nearly 1,500 tropical fish into a hotel atrium in Berlin; officials said no one was seriously injured due to the fortunate time at which the collapse occurred.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 💼 Goldman Sachs is planning to lay off as many as 4,000 employees, or roughly 8% of its workforce, Semafor reported Friday.
• 🐦 Twitter will ban “free promotion” of competing social platforms – meaning users will longer be allowed to share links from Instagram, Facebook, Mastodon, Truth Social, and more – the company’s official account tweeted Sunday, before deleting those messages and replacing the support page mentioning the rule’s enforcement with a poll. | Journalists from the NYT, CNN, and WaPo were suspended from Twitter on Thursday after violating the site’s rules against posting private information, per CEO Elon Musk; most of the accounts were reinstated by Friday evening.
• 🪙 FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will no longer contest extradition to the United States, Reuters reported on Saturday.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🍿 Avatar: The Way of Water opened to $134 million domestically and $435 million globally this weekend; it’s the third largest worldwide opening since 2020; though analysts were expecting between $150 million and $175 million domestically.
• 🌌 Henry Cavill is set to executive produce and star in a new Amazon Prime TV series based around the popular sci-fi fantasy game Warhammer 40,000.
• 🏈 College Football bowl season kicked off on Friday. (Full results and schedule) | The NCAA tapped outgoing Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Barker as its next president.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• ⚡ Tesla last week launched a new power utility service in Texas that allows some locals with home Powerwall backup batteries to sell excess energy back to the grid.
• 🧠 Brain-computer interface company Synchron raised a $75 million funding round featuring investments from Jeff Bezos- and Bill Gates-backed foundations.
• 🚀 SpaceX completed three separate space launches in less than 48 hours over the weekend.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• ❗ A 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Texas Friday evening, representing the fourth-largest quake in state history.
• ❄️ The National Weather Service is predicting “heavy rain and heavy snow” to impact much of the US starting on Thursday and lasting through Christmas Eve (Saturday).
• 🏫 Some 48,000 student employees in the University of California system agreed to end a month-long strike after reaching a new deal that includes a pay hike of 55% and added health and child care benefits. (Background)

CLICKBAIT

• 🤔 Want to tell if someone is lying to you? Try this trick. (Video)

On Friday, we covered how 90% of US school administrators believe the country is in the midst of a growing youth mental health crisis.

❓ Our question to you (long-form): What would you recommend doing to improve the mental health of the US as a whole?

• “It's easy to see why there would be such hopelessness in the country. I think the media plays a huge role with the non-stop barrage about the pandemic, economy, housing, climate, and racism, I don't see how anyone could feel hopeful. If you're not old enough to temper that with the knowledge that much of this is hyperbole meant to sell clicks, you might believe that the ‘end-of-the-world’ is imminent.”
• “I believe we should take some of the pressure off of children and teens. Get rid of standardized testing in schools and teach kids things they will enjoy to encourage them to become life-long learners.I also believe we should be placing more of an emphasis on teacher training in relation to mental health. This should happen in the college setting. So many teachers are burnt out and dysregulated - it’s hard to help a student when the adult isn’t able to handle the same emotional issues.

Click here for more of the best responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 572 long-form responses.

Monday: The first full day of Hanukkah

Tuesday: National Go Caroling Day

Wednesday: Winter Solstice; The House Jan. 6 Committee holds its last public hearing; Title 42, a pandemic-era immigration policy, is set to end

Thursday: The first day in our ever-brightening journey towards the Summer Solstice☀️

Friday: Deadline for Congress to avoid a government shutdown; Happy Festivus; Babylon hits theaters

+It’s bowl season: Each day this week will feature at least one college football bowl game, save for Sunday. (The full schedule)

Ninety-five residents of Tampa, Kansas, took a trip to Tampa, Florida, thanks to the tourism organization Visit Tampa Bay. 

✈️ Small town, big dreams... The group made up almost the entire population of Tampa, KS, which has about 105 residents and covers a total of 0.18 square miles. 

• The Tampa residents enjoyed a trip to Busch Gardens, the Tampa Zoo, and eight other downtown attractions before heading back home to Kansas.

Can you guess the definitions of these Greek/Latin root words?

1. Dys
2. Emul
3. Flict
4. Hor
5. Past (unrelated to time)

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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Start referring.👇

1. Dys = Badly (e.g., dysplasia, dystopian)
2. Emul = Striving to equal (emulate)
3. Flict = Strike (conflict, inflict)
4. Hor = Boundary (horizon)
5. Past = Feed (pasture, repast)