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Reading the NYT 11/7/2026 morning newsletter , I was taken aback by a phrase in the "Game of the Week" passage [emphasis added] :

College football rivalry: Can Michigan State football find its way out of its deepest hole ever? The Spartans are rocking an embarrassing 2-6 record. In their home conference, where the team has played its worst stretch of football in almost 75 years, it’s 0-5.

I associate that figurative sense of transitive verb rock with the positive valence suggested by the Wiktionary gloss :

To wear (a piece of clothing, outfit etc.) successfully or with style; to carry off (a particular look, style).

The Merriam-Webster entry suggests a similarly positive evaluation of whatever is being rocked:

to wear, display, or feature (something striking, distinctive, or attractive)

Looking through recent media usage, I was able to find a few other examples of what's rocked being a sports won/lost record, like this one:

Maybe it was a question that didn’t have a wrong answer,…