The best moments of the sports year (in GIFs), plus a landmark NIL lawsuit

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Good morning! We are in full holiday mode today. Inside: 

• 🎁 GIF gifts, Part 1
• ⚖️ Huge NIL lawsuit
• 🫘 Beans
• ⛳ Hickory clubs are delightful

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GIF Gifts, Pt. 1: Merry early Gifmas

We’ve done a form of Gifmas the last two years in Pulse territory, so I decided to ask all of our newsletter writers to join the fun this year. The prompt was simple: What is the best gif gift your sport has given you in 2025?

We’re starting today because some people open the majority of gifts on Christmas Eve and, frankly, we have too many gifs to use on one day. 

We’re starting with hockey, via Red Light’s Sean McIndoe:

“Alexander Ovechkin has always had a sense of the moment. And when it came time to break the biggest record in hockey for the biggest moment of the NHL calendar year, he had the good sense to come through with an appropriately GIFable celebration.”

Well said. We’re heading to the diamond:

Here’s The Windup’s Levi Weaver: “Narrowing this down has been a nightmare, but here is my winner: Daulton Varsho making the most amazingly chaotic catch I’ve ever seen.” 

Unlike the rattlesnake choice at Thanksgiving, everyone’s on board with that pick. 

Full Time’s Emily Olsen went more niche:

That’s Brazilian legend Marta, playing for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride, getting into what looks like a … defensive chopping mode while arguing a call with the ref? Seeing it from this Ref Cam POV makes it even funnier. Delightful. 

Lastly for today … my pick:

I still cackle at this NHL mascot in very real danger on a promotional fishing trip, because the visual was hilarious and no one was actually hurt.

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News to Know

Missouri DE sues Georgia
An NIL mess has exploded in the SEC after Missouri defensive end Damon Wilson II sued the athletic department and NIL collective at Georgia, his former school, which originally took legal action to get $390,000 in “owed” NIL wages from the player.

The collective alleges Wilson signed a deal to stay with the Bulldogs before entering the transfer portal a month later, and is thus seeking the unpaid amount on his deal. Wilson’s attorneys said the deal was not legally binding and that Georgia has been engaging in a civil conspiracy to punish Wilson for transferring. Whatever happens could set a legal precedent.

More news

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

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What to Watch

📺 NCAAF: Cal vs. Hawaii
8 p.m. ET on ESPN
This is a home bowl game for Hawaii, and the 8-4 Rainbow Warriors are slight favorites over the 7-5 Golden Bears, who fired coach Justin Wilcox earlier in the season. Tune in for Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, a rising star in the sport who’s sticking around for next season. He’s also from Hawaii.

Get tickets to games like these here.

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Pulse Picks

A perfect holiday read: Brendan Quinn traveled to Hot Springs, Ark., to play in one of the most unique golf tournaments you’ll find: The 2025 U.S. Hickory Open, where players only use hickory golf clubs. Make time for this. 

Well, we tried to link Zach Harper’s guide to the NBA’s new TV landscape yesterday and missed by a day. It’s up now. Apologies.

Giants star Brian Burns may be cursed. He is an extremely talented player who’s landed on two teams that have hit rock bottom outside of his control. It’s taken a toll, as he told The Athletic. 

I really loved this holiday version of an NFL picks column from Toby Mergler, in which he fit 13 bets into a rendition of “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” 

Greg O’Keeffe has a gutting but important read from Australia on Dan Elkayam, a soccer player killed in the Bondi Beach shooting. Dan was “friendly to everyone.” 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The story on that new T206 Honus Wagner card. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: NFL Week 17 power rankings.

📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, and check out our other newsletters.