Kia ora, Talofa, Ma’lelei, Bula, Aloha and Welcome to Season 10 Episode 81 of Breakfast Bites, by TEIVOVOdigital.com – a wrap of Pasifika people’s sports news, on Sunday morning 22 September 2024.
 
Happy birthday Aunty Lara!
 
Coming to you with tons of hanisi from the 180th meridian, in the middle of the Blue continent, where it is partly cloudy and a comfortable 20 degrees Celsius again at 5am this morning.
 
In Rugby Union: Results for all the big southern hemisphere rugby this weekend: The All Blacks 31-28 Wallabies, Manu Samoa 18-13 USA, Fiji 41-17 Japan with Vuate Karawalevu unstoppable, scoring four tries and Albert Tuisue the other, to take the Pacific Nations Cup title for a record sixth time.
 
Later this morning, we tip South Africa to hugoporta Los Pumas in Argentina. 
 
In Rugby League: Cometh the big game, cometh the man – James Tedesco was at his brilliant best in a “Man-of-the-Match” performance for the Sydney Roosters, to pluck the Manly Sea Eagles 16-40 last night, and advance to a preliminary final against the Melbourne Storm.
 
In Football: Graham Arnold has stepped down as Head Coach of the Socceroos, effectively immediately.
 
The 61-year-old former Australia and Sydney United representative has held the position since August 2018, was expected to take the Socceroos to the FIFA World Cup 2026, after signing a four-year deal following the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

During his six-year reign, Arnold steered Australia towards its best-ever finish at a FIFA World Cup, along with two quarter-final exits at the Asian Cup.

In Combat Sports: Anthony Joshua versus Daniel Dubois for his IBF World Heavyweight title at Wembley, London has sold out with 96,000 fans.
 
AJ is expected to pocket ten million pounds, and if he wins, set up a big money grab against “The Gypsy King” in Saudi Arabia.  
 
And finally Sports Biz: LA Dodgers phenom Shohei Ohtani, already MLB’s biggest star, had a game for the ages on Thursday, burnishing his legend and becoming the league’s first player with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season.
 
Ohtani reached the mark with a historic offensive onslaught that included three homers, six hits, two steals and 10 runs batted in during a 20–4 rout over the Marlins. 

Now, the Dodgers, the networks and the MLB are all counting on Ohtani’s milestone to have significant business ramifications, to reverse baseball’s downward playoff ratings trend.
 
Within minutes of Ohtani hitting his 50th homer, MLB’s online shop offered a wide range of 50/50-themed merchandise, including T-shirts, water bottles, flags, signs, pennants, and several commemorative coins.

The wide-ranging product push builds on Ohtani’s standing as MLB’s most popular player jersey among fans, as well as an exclusive deal struck recently with Topps.

MLB’s YouTube channel, meanwhile, logged a league record nine million views Thursday, driven heavily by Ohtani highlights.

Ohtani now has 51 homers and 51 steals, making a 55/55 season or even a 60/60 one theoretically possible with nine games left in the Dodgers’ regular-season schedule.

Meanwhile, the home run ball for Ohtani’s 50th homer, was caught by a fan, and not returned to the team. 

Estimates of its value in the collectibles market have already surpassed US$1Million. 
Go Ohtani Go!

And that’s a wrap!

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Mahalo and Ka kite; for TEIVOVOdigital.com, I’m Culden Kamea tanking you all too mas for all your love and support.
 
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