Audio revelation in Ohtani case, plus Djokovic's surprising AO exit

The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Be like Nikola Jokić today .

While You Were Sleeping: Headline We start this morning on the other side of the world, where the Australian Open has been fantastic — and dramatic. There have been media controversies, fun animated livestreams and good tennis. As of early this morning, both the men’s and women’s singles finals are set: Let’s get to the other big news: Exclusives: Audio lays Mizuhara case bare Ippei Mizuhara’s malfeasance was well-known before today.



The former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani had admitted months ago to pilfering millions from Ohtani . But until now, we hadn’t heard recordings of any of these swindlings. Last night, The Athletic revealed audio of Mizuhara impersonating Ohtani while attempting to obtain a $200,000 wire transfer.

To hear the call is jarring for how spare and normal it sounds. A couple of things piqued my interest specifically: I asked Sam Blum, one of the reporters on this story, what this means: 💬 “I don’t think there’s a seismic shift in what happens next. I do think it’s significant from a PR perspective.

For many baseball fans, Shohei Ohtani’s closeness to this case has created some unease. Allowing people to hear the call can quiet any skepticism that Ohtani was the victim of a crime.” Hear the full audio of the call here .

We expect plenty more developments on this story, too. Ichiro just wants to have a drink Two days later, it still feels surreal that Ichiro Suzuki fell one vote shy of unanimous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Suzuki himself agrees, and said yesterday in a news conference he would like to “invite (the writer) over to my house, and we’ll have a drink together and have a good chat.

” At least he has a sense of humor about it. We still don’t know the identity of the lone dissenter, and Steve Buckley argues we should know — but not for the reason you think . Advertisement Reunions? A day after withdrawing his name from the search, Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen is expected to become the next Jaguars coach , which curiously comes shortly after the franchise parted ways with general manager Trent Baalke.

Also, in baseball, third baseman Alex Bregman is talking with the Astros again , months after both sides appeared to move on from each other. Hm. More news: 📫 Love The Pulse? Check out our other free newsletters .

Two Things: A quick Sunday peek We will have plenty on NFL conference championship weekend come Sunday, but there’s nothing wrong with a brief taste today. Two particular parts of each matchup I’m watching: 1. Screen me, Andy.

The Bills-Chiefs matchup feels destined to be close, and a difference could be Kansas City’s screen game. It’s Chiefs coach Andy Reid’s staple, as Nate Taylor described this week , and the Chiefs have more than 100 screens installed in the offense. They have 19 touchdowns on screens since 2018, by far the most in the NFL.

Stop the screen, stop the Chiefs? Maybe. 2. Are the Eagles ready for empty? Ted Nguyen broke down film from both Washington-Philadelphia matchups this season and noticed a tweak between the first and second games: The Commanders used empty sets — to great success — in the second matchup, a thrilling 36-33 Washington win in Week 16.

I suspect Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will be prepared, but it’s hard to stop Jayden Daniels. “The Athletic Football Show” went deeper on the title games, which you can listen to here . That show has been a must for me this year.

📺 NCAAW : No. 5 LSU at No. 2 South Carolina 5 p.

m. ET on ESPN These are the best two teams in the SEC and could both be Final Four participants come March. My Tigers are undefeated, while the Gamecocks’ only loss came against No.

1 UCLA. South Carolina has historically gotten the win here in the Kim Mulkey era. Expect feistiness.

📺 NHL : Golden Knights at Stars 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN Two teams near the top of the Western Conference heap get a prime-time slot on a Friday night.

Vegas is still leading the Pacific division despite losing four in a row. Let’s see if they break the skid here. Get tickets to games like these here .

🎧 “The Athletic FC” : What political tensions between the U.S., Mexico and Canada mean for the World Cup being hosted by .

.. those three countries.

Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify . At one point, boozy nightlife dominated NHL player culture. Now? It’s gaming and weed gummies.

Joshua Kloke and Dan Robson explored the trend switch and came away with a fascinating story . There is more to Terry McLaurin than just being WR1 on the NFL’s hottest team right now. He is a deeply respected man throughout Washington, as Ben Standig writes in a wonderful feature today .

Hard not to root for Scary Terry. Zack Rosenblatt has a handy checklist made for new Jets coach Aaron Glenn . Maybe most important in there: finding an offensive coordinator and deciding on what to do with Aaron Rodgers .

Uh, does Manchester United have a cash problem? Tottenham entered this year with high hopes. Six months later, our writers take you inside the team’s staggering injury crisis . Sorry, Spurs.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday : Our story on UConn coach Dan Hurley losing it on a referee . Most-read on the website yesterday : The Mizuhara story , actually, despite publishing last evening. (Top photo: Kim Klement Neitzel / Imagn Images).