Quick Hits

• Football season is officially here. The NFL kicked off Wednesday night with Patriots-Seahawks, the Rams and 49ers played Thursday in Melbourne, Australia, and the Vikings open their season against division rival Green Bay this week wearing their classic throwback uniforms.
• The Clippers are in real legal trouble. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have opened a criminal investigation into whether the team paid star Kawhi Leonard under the table to dodge the NBA's salary cap (the league's limit on team spending) — just one week after the NBA sanctioned the club.
• Barry Melrose, the mulleted, mustachioed face of hockey on TV for decades, died at 70. The former NHL player and coach was a beloved longtime ESPN analyst.
• Week 2 of college football brings the Gophers a home date with Mississippi State, plus the non-fan's game to know: Ohio State vs. Texas on Saturday.
• The U.S. Open women's semifinals are set: Coco Gauff vs. Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka vs. Jessica Pegula.

Minnesota Teams

• Gophers football hosts Mississippi State this week in a rare nonconference visit by an SEC team to Minneapolis. The storyline, per CBS Sports: P.J. Fleck's physical defense against a Bulldogs offense led by budding star quarterback Kamario Taylor.
• The Vikings begin their season against the Packers — always the biggest game on any local calendar — and they'll do it in style: ESPN spotlighted Minnesota's throwback uniforms as one of the top looks of Week 1 (along with Cincinnati's orange). If you hear coworkers buzzing about the old-school jerseys, that's why.
• Otherwise it was a quiet day on the local wire — nothing headline-worthy on the Twins, Timberwolves, Wild, Lynx or Minnesota United.

NFL

• The season opened Wednesday night with the Patriots and Seahawks, then took a hard left turn geography-wise: the Rams faced the 49ers in Melbourne, Australia on Thursday. Per CBS Sports, the Rams roll in with quarterback Matthew Stafford and star pass rusher Myles Garrett, and coach Sean McVay has never lost a game played outside the U.S.
• The rest of Week 1 unfolds this weekend, headlined locally by Vikings-Packers. Betting coverage dominated the day's news cycle — a sure sign real games are finally back.
• In a grimmer story: former NFL running back LeShon Johnson was sentenced to five years in prison for operating a dogfighting ring. He surrendered 190 dogs — per the Department of Justice, the largest number ever taken from one person in a federal dogfighting case.

NBA

• The Clippers story keeps getting worse. After the NBA punished the team a week ago, The New York Times reported (via ESPN) that federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have opened a criminal investigation into whether the Clippers secretly compensated Kawhi Leonard in ways that circumvented the salary cap — essentially, allegedly paying a star off the books.
• ESPN's Brian Windhorst reports next week's NBA board of governors meeting could be pivotal: owners are set to weigh next steps on the Clippers case, plus possible league expansion (Las Vegas and Seattle come up) and the NBA Europe project.
• In friendlier news: rivals-turned-teammates Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark are playing together for the U.S. at the FIBA Women's World Cup, and both say they're having fun — Clark tells ESPN many stories about their relationship are "false."

MLB

• With a few weeks left in the regular season, the playoff picture is taking shape. ESPN's latest Power Rankings flag the Brewers, Dodgers, Braves, Yankees, Rays and Blue Jays among the teams shaping the postseason race, with one club surging late.
• ESPN's Jeff Passan already has early free-agency intel: the big question is how much Tigers ace pitcher Tarik Skubal could command this winter, and who ranks as the top hitter available — with names like Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Luis Arraez in the mix.

NHL

• Barry Melrose died at 70, his wife Cindy confirmed to ESPN. He played and coached in the NHL but became far more famous as ESPN's hockey analyst — the guy with the mullet who made the sport feel fun for casual viewers.
• Training camps are opening league-wide (yes, for the Wild too). ESPN's camp-preview pegs the league's big questions: Quinn Hughes' future, whether the Sharks can end their playoff drought, and how the Panthers' new faces fit.

College Sports

• The NCAA granted a transfer waiver to Kate Koval, a Ukrainian basketball player who left LSU this summer after the Tigers signed a Russian teenager — an unusually geopolitical roster story that lets her play elsewhere right away.
• Saturday's marquee game is No. 1-calibur stuff: Ohio State vs. Texas, featuring quarterback Arch Manning (yes, of that Manning family) against Buckeyes star receiver Jeremiah Smith. Miami also hosts Florida A&M on Thursday night.

Other Sports

• U.S. Open: the women's semifinals feature Coco Gauff vs. Elena Rybakina and defending-champ-level favorite Aryna Sabalenka vs. Jessica Pegula — American fans have two locals to root for in Gauff and Pegula.
• Champions League (European soccer's top club competition) is back: Manchester United cruised past Sabah in their return to the tournament and now face Manchester City this weekend in a massive rivalry clash. And tiny Italian club Como — newly promoted upstarts — won their first Champions League game ever, beating Germany's RB Leipzig, and per CBS Sports they may just be getting started.