Sports media is facing an inflection point, spurred both by threatened access and the rise of automated coverage.

Why it matters: The delivery of information — and the content therein — will continue its rapid evolutionary process and fundamentally change the way readers consume sports.

The big picture: The rise of automated game stories has all but rendered reporters' original jobs obsolete, allowing technology to play to its strengths and humans to theirs.

"If your job is to report on the larger implications of the game ... that's ideally suited for people and is extremely hard for automation to do. I think the main focus should be that we keep [writers] doing the things they're good at."

Rewind: American sportswriting has been practiced since at least the mid-19th century, but as culture and technology have evolved, so has the medium. Here are some of the big changes over time.

Just the facts: The Great Depression turned sports into a needed escape for Americans, but they couldn't exactly fire up Twitter or ESPN to check in on the action.

• In other words, you didn't open the newspaper for analysis, but rather to simply learn what happened.

The sea change: In the late-40's, with WWII in the rearview, sports began occupying more of the leisure economy. The hunger for coverage grew as watercooler talk turned to last night's game.

• Dick Young of the Daily News removed the barrier between athlete and reporter, gathering postgame quotes straight from the locker room to add more color and substance to his stories.
• Throughout the 50's, Young's method became the norm as fact-finding yielded to genuine insight, and athletes were suddenly expected to answer real questions.

A new era: The paradigm shift spurred by Young's cohort grew in the 70's and 80's with industry titans like Bob Ryan. Quotes alone were no longer good enough.

• "If you don't have a point of view, why don’t you just run the [Associated Press] story?" Ryan said.

Analytics movement: The rise of analytics further blurred the line between reporter, fan and athlete.

• A smarter, more engaged fan emerged who both expected and required far more "how" and "why" than "what."
• Meanwhile, prepared reporters could bring their own findings to athletes, who might elucidate on the technique powering their results.

The bottom line: We've already begun the next phase thanks to the explosion of social media and resulting athletes-as-storytellers model.

• That, combined with the way COVID-19 has restricted access to outsiders, should make for a very interesting next stage in the evolution of sports media.

Go deeper: Shifting sports media landscape (The Cauldron)

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The NFL's chaotic weekend has spilled into the week, headlined by the third postponement of the Ravens game against the Steelers, now scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Pittsburgh (3:40pm, NBC).

The state of play: Monday marked the ninth straight day with at least one Raven testing positive, and the outbreak also means they haven't had a full practice since Nov. 20.

• Domino effect: With this game pushed to Wednesday, the Steelers Week 13 game against Washington will move from Sunday to Monday, while the Ravens-Cowboys game — previously moved to Monday — will now be played Tuesday.
• Fun fact: The last time the NFL played on a Wednesday was 2012's Cowboys-Giants season-opener, scheduled to avoid a conflict with President Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention. Before that? Sept. 22, 1948 (Rams-Lions).

Elsewhere:

• Arizona 49ers: For their next two home games, the Niners will play at the Cardinals' stadium, as Santa Clara County, California, safety protocols currently prohibit contact sports.
• Sanchez strong: Colts punter Rigoberto Sanchez will undergo surgery today to remove a cancerous tumor. You got this. 💪🏼
• Texans suspended: Houston's star WR Will Fuller and CB Bradley Roby have been suspended for six games for violating the league's PED policy. The suspension includes Week 1 of the 2021 season.
• Hoosier bummer: It's not the NFL, but Michael Penix Jr., Indiana's sophomore QB whose breakout season has led to a 5-1 record, is out for the season with a torn ACL.

Champions League Matchday 5 has arrived, and with two group stage games left apiece, six teams have already punched their ticket to the Round of 16.

• Already through: Bayern, Manchester City, Chelsea, Sevilla, Barcelona and Juventus.

Today

• Group A: Atlético Madrid (Spain) vs. Bayern (Germany); Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia) vs. RB Salzburg (Austria)
• Group B: Mönchengladbach (Germany) vs. Inter Milan (Italy); Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) vs. Real Madrid (Spain)
• Group C: Porto (Portugal) vs. Manchester City (England); Marseille (France) vs. Olympiacos (Greece)
• Group D: Atalanta (Italy) vs. Midtjylland (Denmark); Liverpool (England) vs. Ajax (Netherlands)

Tomorrow

• Group E: Krasnodar (Russia) vs. Stade Rennais (France); Sevilla (Spain) vs. Chelsea (England)
• Group F: Dortmund (Germany) vs. Lazio (Italy); Brugge (Belgium) vs. Zenit (Russia)
• Group G: Ferencvárosi (Hungary) vs. Barcelona (Spain); Juventus (Italy) vs. Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine)
• Group H: İstanbul Başakşehir (Turkey) vs. RB Leipzig (Germany); Manchester United (England) vs. PSG (France)

Go deeper: How teams can qualify for round of 16 (ESPN)

Gonzaga remains the team to beat despite an early-season COVID-19 scare, and the Bulldogs have two big tests on the horizon with No. 11 West Virginia tomorrow and No. 2 Baylor in Saturday's marquee matchup.

Conference call: Big Ten (6), Big 12 (5), ACC (5), SEC (2), Pac-12 (2), Big East (2), AAC (1), A10 (1), WCC (1).

• Dominant Big Ten: Not only does it lead with six ranked teams, but it has three in the top five (Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois). Only one other conference (Big 12) has even two in the top 10.

Risers and fallers: Virginia Tech and Richmond leapt into the top 25 after big upset wins over Villanova and Kentucky, respectively.

• But those upsets resulted in both Wildcats tumbling out of the top 10 — the same fate that befell UVA after its upset loss to San Francisco.

Yesterday's scores: Texas 78, Davidson 76; UNC 78, UNLV 51.

Coming up: Incredible doubleheader on ESPN tonight.

• 7:30pm: No. 8 Michigan St. at No. 6 Duke
• 9:30pm: No. 20 Kentucky vs. No. 7 Kansas

Go deeper: Power rankings (ESPN)

South Carolina earned all but one first-place vote to remain firmly atop the rankings, and you have to go all the way down to No. 12 before seeing any change compared to the preseason poll.

Conference call: Big Ten (5), SEC (5), Pac-12 (5), Big 12 (3), ACC (3), Big East (2), MVC (1), WCC (1)

• Relative parity: Three conferences are tied with five teams each, and the entire top five is comprised of schools from different conferences.
• Yes, but: Four of the Pac-12's five representatives reside in the top 10.

Milestones approaching: The late, great (that's an understatement) Pat Summitt holds the record with 1,098 wins, but two coaches are poised to pass her soon.

• Tara VanDerveer: Stanford's coach since 1996 has 1,095 wins, including the Cardinal's season-opening win over Cal Poly.
• Geno Auriemma: UConn's coach since 1985 — who already holds the record for most NCAA D-I basketball championships (11) — is at 1,091 wins.

Yesterday's scores: DePaul 128, Chicago St. 66; Gonzaga 54, South Dakota 50; Oregon 85, Portland 52.

Coming up: No. 4 Baylor at USF (7pm, ESPN+)

Go deeper: 10 freshmen to watch (The Athletic)

• 🇯🇵 $30 billion: The Tokyo Olympics, originally slated to cost $7.3 billion, will reportedly cost nearly $30 billion, including an additional $3 billion caused by the one-year delay.
• 🏀 49 games: With the NBA season just three weeks away (Dec. 22), the league announced a 49-game preseason slate in which each team will play between two and four games Dec. 11–19.
• ⚾️ 5 teams: MLB is launching a five-team, wood-bat minor league next summer for top eligible draft prospects. The five founding teams are the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (Ohio), the State College Spikes (Pa.), the Trenton Thunder (New Jersey), the West Virginia Black Bears and the Williamsport Crosscutters (Pa.).
• 🏒 2 weeks: The National Women's Hockey League will hold its entire 2021 season, including the playoffs, in a two-week bubble (Jan. 23–Feb. 5) in Lake Placid, New York. Despite the shortened schedule (five regular season games instead of 20), all players will earn their full salary.

Thanks for choosing Axios Airlines. We'll be traveling to a new destination each morning this month. Sit back and enjoy the flight.

• Location: Lincoln Financial Field
• Coordinates: 39.9008°N, 75.1674°W

Welcome to Philadelphia, where last night the Eagles hosted the Seahawks in a rematch of last season's wild card game.

• Seahawks 23, Eagles 17: Neither team was on its A game offensively, but the electric Russell Wilson to D.K. Metcalf connection (10 rec., 177 yds) ended up being more than enough to get the job done against a foundering Eagles squad.
• 🎥 Highlight: Chris Carson with a GROWN MAN touchdown in his first game since Week 7.
• 💸 Bad beat: The Seahawks line ended at -6.5, which they comfortably covered until the Eagles completed a Hail Mary and two-point conversion with just 12 seconds left.

The City of Brotherly Love: William Penn named it Philadelphia in 1681 after the ancient Greek terms phílos and adelphós, which translates to "brotherly love."

• The great debate: It's too easy just to argue which Philly cheesesteak is the best (hint: it's neither Pat's nor Geno's); the real debate is whether the city's signature food is the cheesesteak or the noble roast pork sandwich.
• Pro tip: Just go to John's Roast Pork, where you can get among the best versions of both sandwiches in the same place.

23 years ago today, Warriors guard Latrell Sprewell choked his coach, P.J. Carlesimo, after a heated exchange at practice.

The backdrop: We think of Sprewell more for his antics, so it's easy to forget how good he was.

• It was his sixth season in Golden State and he'd already made three All-Star teams, averaging over 20 points a night.

What happened: Carlesimo, in his first season with the Warriors, didn't coddle his star guard. He rode him hard, and one day at practice Sprewell bristled at some comments dinging his effort.

• Tensions rose, the two approached each other and Sprewell choked Carlesimo, only releasing after teammates pulled him off.
• After practice, reporters noticed the marks on his neck and the story broke.

"I wasn't choking P.J. that hard. I mean, he could breathe."

The aftermath: Sprewell was immediately suspended for 10 days, but soon thereafter the league levied a far harsher (and frankly, more appropriate) one year ban.

• His contract (three years, $23.7 million) was also voided, though legal challenges ultimately reversed that. He never played for the Warriors again.

Go deeper: Sprewell's image remains in a chokehold (ESPN)

Carlesimo's last coaching gig was as the Nets' interim coach in 2012-13.

• Question: Who was Brooklyn's leading scorer that season?
• Hint: Still active, playing for his third team.

Answer at the bottom.

Taylor Rooks is one of the best NBA reporters working right now, with an uncanny ability to not only be a player's best friend, but also pull solid gold out of them in every interview she conducts.

• She was one of the lucky few granted access to the NBA bubble over the summer, and part of an even more exclusive group in "Tier 1," meaning she could comingle with the players.

"When people ask me what the bubble was like, I tell them it felt like summer camp, except most of the campers were multimillionaires and a considerable percentage of them were seven feet tall."

In a piece for GQ, Rooks recounted her experience in tantalizing detail. Now — just three weeks from tipoff — is as good a time as any to relive the bubble through the eyes of one of its residents.

Read the piece.