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Diggs caught with suspicious bag
The Heat Check by Hot Takes #2

Happy Friday. Before even playing a snap for his new team, New England Patriots wideout Stefon Diggs is already in hot water after a video surfaced online of him holding a bag of something that looked like it would probably get him popped during piss-in-a-cup time.
Head coach Mike Vrabel said he’s seen the video and stressed the importance of making good decisions on and off the field. In other words, try not to get filmed with drugs at a yacht party while you’re supposed to be rehabbing a torn ACL.
Hot start Stefon, hot start.
In today’s letter:
F1’s Monaco problem
The Stanley Cup runs through Florida (again)
World Series grudge match
HotTakes Parlays of The Week


Source: @McLarenF1 / X.
Formula One is more popular than ever, but unfortunately, its most iconic race is putting everyone (including the drivers) to sleep.
McLaren’s Lando Norris won the Monaco Grand Prix this week — he even set a new track record — but the headlines were dominated by drivers and teams complaining about just how bad the Monte Carlo race has become.
Drivers half-jokingly suggested after the race that banana peels and sprinklers get added to the track to make it even slightly exciting to watch. At this point, not terrible ideas.
Why is it so bad?
Simply put, the track is too narrow and the cars are too big. That leaves few chances for drivers to pass each other and basically makes the race one long, expensive traffic jam.
They tried to change that this year with some new rules around pit stops, but it ended up making the whole race even harder to watch.
So why is Monaco still on the calendar? Well it might not be great for racing, but it’s a hell of a photo-op.
The mega-yachts, the mountains, the celebrities. It’s like if the Super Bowl and the Oscars had a baby that happened to be born in the world’s richest country.
Why it matters: Imagine an NFL game where the stadium’s roof is too low for the quarterbacks to throw touchdowns, or a MLB field that didn’t have a home run fence. You can’t let a venue take the most exciting part of your sport away — it’s bad for fans, it's brutal for the athletes, and even worse, it makes for a really bad episode of Drive to Survive.


Source: @FlaPanthers / X.
🌴 Lord Stanley runs through Florida. The Sunshine state has suddenly become the mecca of hockey. With the Florida Panthers punching their ticket to their third straight Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday night, this will be the sixth consecutive year that a Florida team will be playing for the cup. There must be something in the water down there (or maybe star players just like non-existent taxes). It’s gotta be the water, right?
🏀 Knicks courtside seats are the hottest ticket in town. Timothée Chalamet, Ben Stiller, Bad Bunny, Russell Wilson, and Cardi B are just a few of the A-listers that have been sitting courtside at the Garden. Chalamet — who showed up to game 4 looking like a mildly alcoholic little league dad — has been at every game in the Pacers series. Imagine being Hollywood’s leading man and clearing your entire schedule to spend three nights in Indiana. Unfortunately, it hasn’t done much to help the Knicks on the court.
📉 Rockies are record-breaking losers. Colorado set an MLB record this week after losing their 21st consecutive series. The Rockies record is now sitting at 9-47 with a win percentage of .161 — which, shockingly, is even lower than some of its players batting averages. It takes a lot to make last year's White Sox look like a respectable baseball team, but this Rockies team has managed to do just that.
🏈 Contract bickering is ready to dominate NFL training camp. It’s that beautiful time of year when NFL players who had decent seasons decide to sit out until they get more money. Guys like Buffalo RB James Cook, Falcons TE (and annual Fantasy Football bust) Kyle Pitts, and Jaguars RB Travis Etienne are all names to watch over the next couple weeks.
⚾️ World Series grudge match on deck. The Yankees and Dodgers will meet this weekend for the first time since LA spanked the Bronx bombers in last year's World Series. After all the sh*t talking the Dodgers did during their post-WS media tour, we’re holding out hope this series will have some fireworks.


Tarik Skubal is the best pitcher in the league and he just proved it
The Tigers ace threw a complete game shutout against the Cleveland Guardians on just 94 pitches, striking out 13 batters and giving up just two hits.
For good measure, Skubal fired the last pitch of the game at 103 mph to strike out Gabriel Arias — the fastest pitch ever clocked by a starting pitcher.
The Thunder are looking scarier than any team right now.
And GM Sam Presti is largely to thank. On the road to this Finals-bound roster he:
Traded for SGA
Traded for Alex Caruso
Drafted Chet Holmgren
Drafted Cason Wallace
Drafted Aaron Wiggins
Signed Lu Dort
Signed Isaiah Hartenstein
Signed Isaiah Joe
Pretty good track record I’d say.
O’Neill Cruz just hit a baseball harder than anyone has….ever.
The Pirates outfielder broke his own record for hardest hit ball with an 123 mph homer this week that literally left the stadium.
Seriously, send this video to everyone you know. It’s ridiculous that a human being can do this — even at 6’7, 240 Ibs.

Lock in your picks on HotTakes to be featured in next week’s letter.
![]() @gsethian just knows ball. Can’t say we recommend betting all overs on the same game, but hey, you can’t argue with the results. | ![]() Shoutout @teeo for his big baseball hit. Not much of a player prop guy clearly but had the M/O on moneylines that night. |
Thoughts on @gsethian's Parlay? |


Source: Wikipedia
On this day in 1982, Cal Ripken Jr. began his record-breaking streak of 2,632 consecutive games played.
The streak, which earned him the very bad-ass nickname "Iron Man", is one of sports' truly unbreakable records — especially in an era of star players taking rest days after a bad night's sleep.

Travis Hunter will be a better version of Deion Sanders
Hunter has been taking snaps at receiver and cornerback at Jaguars training camp, a sign that he’ll get the chance to prove he can play both at the NFL level. If he does get his shot to line up on both sides of the ball, Hunter will end up as a better version of his old coach and former two-way star Deion Sanders.
Thoughts on this take? |

Its immaculate grid o’clock: Choose your own adventure.

Alright, that’s enough yelling for one Friday.
Got a hotter take? Think we missed something? Want to argue that the Leafs are actually cursed by a 1932 ghost?
Reply to this email, ideally with the subject line “listen here you clown.”
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Forward it to a friend who lives for the group chat debate.

