Weekly Update December 11, 2023

Baseball: Ohtani’s blockbuster deal. Biggest ever but it’s deferred. Talk about delayed gratification.

Basketball – NBA: First in-season tournament belongs to Lakers. Silver to check in on Morant. Thunder rebuilding – maybe? Standings.

Basketball – NCAAM: Losses this week were actually not that crazy. Big 12 wins Big East-Big 12 Battle. Bronny James makes debut. Clark hits 3000.

Football – NCAAF: Heisman trophy awarded. Army vs Navy. Coaching changes. Bowl season begins!

Football – NFL: MNF went to OT. Only 5 close games this week. Eagles vs Cowboys had NFC standing implications. Standings update.

Golf: Rahm goes to the LIV. Wells Fargo not renewing.

Olympic Sports: Ice Skating GP Final results. Shiffrin wins 91 but in downhill. USA doubles luge gold.

Baseball – MLB:

• Big moves being made! Angels star Shohei Ohtani isn’t moving very far but he is changing teams. LA Angels fans have to be pissed as he is going to the in-city enemy, the Dodgers. In a blockbuster deal, Ohtani has signed a 10-year $700MM contract with the team. This is the largest deal in MLB history by $250MM but also in North American pro sports history. How big is that? To put that in perspective, that is more money than 8 MLB teams, is more than 6 NHL teams’ valuations by Forbes and Derek Jeter’s career earnings were only $266MM. How do the Dodgers afford that? Well it came out today that Ohtani is deferring $68MM/yr so he will only get $2MM/year and the rest will be paid out at the end of the contract. That’s a big pay day in 2034 and beyond. He doesn’t need it now as it is rumored that he makes $45MM per year on endorsements.
• Earlier in the week, the Yankees acquired OF Juan Soto from the Padres in a huge trade of 7 players between the teams. This is also Soto’s 2^nd trade in less than 18 months.

Basketball – NBA:

• The first in-season NBA tournament has been completed! The Lakers may be 14-9 on the season but they played well in the games that mattered for this tournament. The Lakers were the #1 seed in the West but barely escaped the Quarterfinals against the Suns, only winning by 3. The Pelicans upset the Kings to make it to the Semis but that was where their luck came to an end. The Lakers destroyed the Pelicans by 44 points. The East Semi was closer. The Pacers upset the Geek Freak and the Bucks 128-119. The MVP of the Final was technically LeBron James but probably should’ve been Anthony Davis who put up 41 points, 20 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks. The Lakers had to emphasize what they were doing well during the regular season, which was NOT 3-pointers. As a matter of fact, they didn’t get their first one til the 3Q. But they played well inside the paint to beat the Pacers 123-109. Each player on the Lakers get $500,000 each for winning.

• Some headlines in the NBA: Keep in mind that there was only 3 days of regular season games this week. Joel Embiid put up half a hundred on Wednesday during their regular season game vs the Wizards and they needed all of those points to beat the Washington team too. The 76ers win by 5. Speaking of close games, Mikal bridges took the lead for the Nets with just 4 seconds remaining in their game against the Hawks.
• You know its bad when the commissioner of the league says he is going to have a personal check in with Grizzlies Ja Morant. He is scheduled to come back after a 25 game suspension later in December. Remember his multiple suspensions for flashing guns on social media so he had to complete a very focused training to combat the reason why he repeated the ‘destructive behavior’.
• The Thunder are looking at $900MM for constructing a new arena as it is one of the most modest arenas in the league. TBD who will foot the bill but it looks like it will his taxpayers or they risk losing the team to another market. This is what moved the Seattle team to Oklahoma in the first place.

• Lets do a check in on standings for the season
  • East: Celtics are leading but only by 1 game, 16-5 record and undefeated at home. But the Magic and Bucks are only 1 win behind. In last, the Pistons with a 2-20 record. The Wizards are next at 3-18.
  • West: Timberwolves are leading 17-4. Then there are a number of teams vying for 2^nd. The Spurs are last in the West even with Wemby with a record of 3-18.

Basketball – NCAAM:

• NCAAM:
  • The Jimmy V Classic brought us a great ranked matchup on Tuesday between #9 UNC and #5 UConn. The Huskies beat the Tar Heels by 11 and beat them in both halves. We then had an upset between ranked opponents in the Classic. #11 FAU suffered their 2^nd loss of the season to #20 Illinois. The Fighting Illini put up 59 points in the 2H to mount an epic comeback.

• • The Big East-Big 12 Battle ended this week. The Big 12 ultimately won 7-4. And the only ranked team to lose this week (there was one last week) was #12 Texas. #8 Marquette played #12 Texas on Wednesday and it was an easy win for Marquette. They won by 21. This is the first time that the Big 12 has taken the title.

• • Newly ranked #25 San Diego St had a slow start to their game against Grand Canyon, only scoring 28 points in the 1H. The Lopes had never beaten a ranked team before to they stormed the court after putting away the Aztecs 79-73. There were no ranked teams in action on Thursday or Friday. But Saturday we started with #1 Arizona vs #23 Wisconsin and the Wildcats showed why they are ranked #1 as they put away the badgers 98-73, dominating from the beginning. #7 Gonzaga is now 0-1 away after losing to Washington by 5 points on Saturday. Then we had a bunch of upsets all right in a row. #13 Colorado State was upset by Saint Mary’s but only by 3. Utah got the better of their religious rivals #14 BYU, coming out strong leading the Cougars 45-31 at half. BYU would play better in the 2H but it wasn’t enough as they still lost by 4. #20 Illinois may have beat FAU earlier in the week but then they had another ranked game this week against #17 Tennessee. The Vols scored 52 in the 2H to win by 7. And that was all on Saturday.
  • Sunday had 2 ranked games and 2 upsets. #15 Miami fell to Colorado who opened a can of whoop ass on the team, winning 90-63. #21 Texas A&M also fell to Memphis in a much closer game only losing by 6.

• Bronny James made his collegiate basketball debut this weekend in USC’s game against Long Beach State on Sunday. He played just 5 months after suffering cardiac arrest and scored 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. His triumphant return to the court was dampened by the fact that USC lost in OT but Bronny was just thankful. The James family were of course there in attendance.

• Caitlin Clark has joined an elite club, scoring 3,000 points. She became just the 15^th player to ever do so in D1 NCAAW. She is the first (men or women) to have 3000 points, 750 rebounds and 750 assists. She got her 3000^th off a three pointer in Iowa’s game against Iowa State on Wednesday. When asked about it, she said she just wanted to win and that she wouldn’t be happy scoring 3000 in a loss. You gotta love it!

Football – NCAAF:

• This weekend was the Heisman Trophy ceremony. The finalists all went to New York and only 1 is still practicing for the CFP, although everyone will play in a bowl game (unless they opt out). I certainly wasn’t surprised by the outcome but it was closer than I expected. LSU’s Jayden Daniels won the Heisman this year by only 328 votes (211 first place votes) over Washington’s Michael Penix. That is the closest voting since 2018 when Kyler Murray edged out Tua Tagovailoa. Bo Nix got third and Marvin Harrison Jr was 4^th. FSU’s hurt QB Jordan Travis was 5^th. Did he deserve it? Absolutely. Daniels is the 3rd LSU Tiger to win the coveted award. He was #1 in QBR, yards per attempt (record), passing TDs, completions >20 yards. Not only was he a great passer and QB, he ranked 4^th among RBs for rushing yards per attempt (8.4) and 25^th in rushing yards per game. He started his career at Arizona State, making him the 5^th in the last 7 Heisman winners to do so.

• It was the final game before bowl season this week. The Army vs Navy game is always one to watch but this year with both teams being 5-7, it was going to be a great game as well. Army went up 10-0 at half and through the 3Q. Then we had a flurry of scores in the 4Q. Army got a scoop and score to put another TD on the board, going up 17-3. Navy then scored and was driving with the ball in the final 1:20. Army put up an impressive goal line stand in the final 3 seconds to end the game. Army beats Navy and wins the Commander-in-Chief Trophy, which is between the service academies. And with that, bowl season begins!

• Coaching carousel:
  • Duke has found their replacement in Manny Diaz. You might remember him from his very short time as HC at Miami for 2 years or under Mac Brown (now fellow ACC rival) at Texas. He also had stints at Florida St, NC St so he will have plenty of ACC rivals to root against now.
  • Indiana hired JMU HC Curt Cignetti. JMU went 11-1 this season, the most in the Sunbelt and a huge win during their transition year to the FBS.
  • Oregon State promoted their DC Trent Bray who will now be their new HC.
  • Boise St promoted their interim to HC Spencer Danielson after they win the Mountain West this weekend. Danielson is only 35 years old!
  • Syracuse hires Georgia’s DB’s coach Fran Brown hoping that brings some good recruits to Syracuse, NY.
  • Houston has hired Tulane’s Willy Fritz which is a great move as he has done a great job with that team, despite the loss to SMU over the weekend. You know what’s not a great move, leaking the story during conference championship warm ups… hopefully the players knew already.

Football – NFL:

• Finishing up last week. MNF was a great game last week between the Jags and the Bengals. It was tied at half and then tied still after the 2H 31-31. That was an accomplishment for the Bengals in itself as they were on their backup QB Browning. But Jake threw for 354 yards getting them into OT. The Jags got the ball first but only managed to go 16 yards before having to punt. The Cincinnati team set up a 48 yard FG to win. They are now 6-6.

• The Patriots were 2-10 going into the TNF game but Billy Zappe played well scoring 3 passing TDs before halftime. This is crazy as usually the New England team hasn’t scored 21 points in 5 weeks and only 1 time all season! The Steelers got the only TD in the second half but it didn’t matter.

• There were only 5 close games this week but we had OTs, helmets thrown and of course one super low scoring game.
  • The OT game was between the Rams and Ravens. It was a high scoring affair between two of the NFL great QBs, Stafford vs Jackson. It was 20-17 at half – that would take weeks for the Patriots to score that much. We hit the O/U of 42 points before the start of the 4Q then a further 20 points were put up on the board. It was a back and forth game that eventually ended in OT. But the craziest part of this game was the ending. The Rams got the ball first and did nothing with it. They punt the ball back to the Ravens who proceed to run it all the way back for a 76 yard punt return TD and they win the game.

• • The Bucs/Falcons game was super close. The win probability chart changed teams 24xs. No team scored back-to-back (except 1 time when it was a safety and then a Bucs TD). The Falcons scored their final TD, going 75 yards in just 5 plays to go up 25-22 with just 3:23 in the game. But that was plenty of time for Baker Mayfield. The Bucs scored on a pass to someone other than their top 2 WRs (that’s why it worked), scoring a TD with just 31 seconds left. The Falcons completed a deep pass as time expired on the 3 yard line but got stopped short of the goal line. The Bills frustrated Mahomes and the Chiefs, beating them 20-17. But it was really the fact that KC lined up offsides on an incredible 4^th down play that the Chiefs ended up scoring on with a brilliant backwards pass from Kelce that resulted in what would’ve been a game winning TD. That was then called back and Mahomes was a little upset.. The Browns put up points in every Q to beat the Jags 31-27.

• • The Bears/Lions game was very lopsided meaning never in a Q did we have both teams score. 1Q was all Bears going up 10-0 then the Lions took the 2Q with 2 TDs to take it to halftime 13-10 (failed PAT). But after that it was all the Chicago team as they put up 18 straight points. Big upset of the mid-west rivals. The Texans have been on a hot streak but that came to a screeching halt this weekend. The Jets were 4-8 but they shut down the Houston team’s offense, winning 30-6. Hou scored only 1 TD as time expired at half. Along those lines, the Vikings/Raiders game, was super boring with the Vikings only scoring a FG in the 4Q. I didn’t even recognize the QBs in this matchup. For the record it was Mullens vs O’Connell. Who knew!

• • The Bengals win again this week as they handle the Colts 34-14. The 49ers are on a roll with now 5 wins back to back. They are now tied at the top of the NFC with the Eagles and Cowboys.

• Speaking of the Eagles and Cowboys, the two teams faced off in SNF last night and it could not have been a more different story than the first time they played. The first time was a close one with the Eagles winning 28-23. This time the Eagles’ offense struggled in the 1H not scoring a TD, only FGs. The Phili team trailed 24-6 at half. They made some solid adjustments on defense and stopped the Cowboys from scoring another TD but they also managed to only score 1 at the beginning. The Dallas team wins this time 33-13.

• The Broncos beat the Charges easily 24-7 but that wasn’t the only win for QB Russell Wilson, he also had a baby girl yesterday with wife Ciara.
• NFL Standings: we are getting closer and closer to the post season, we have 2 teams eliminated from the playoff picture already. The Panthers and the Patriots have both been eliminated. I don’t think that’s a huge shock to anyone as Carolina has 1 win. But more teams are in danger with the Cardinals sitting at only 3 wins – the same as the eliminated Patriots. At the top, there is a 3-way tie in the NFC between the 49ers, Cowboys and Eagles who all have 10 wins. The AFC only has won over the double digit win mark, the Ravens are sitting pretty.

Golf:

• John Rahm has moved to the LIV Tour. He got a contract worth more than $300MM. He has officially been suspended by the PGA Tour today as well.
• Wells Fargo has said they will not renew their PGA Tour title sponsorship of the tournament in North Carolina.

Olympic Sports:

• It was the Grand Prix finals this weekend in China for the Figuring Skating season. USA Ilia Malinin fell on his opening quad axel but it didn’t matter. He still won the GP Final 17.32 points in front of the next guy. His score of 314.66 is the 6^th highest ever in this scoring system. No one else even attempted a quad axel. USA couple Madison Chock and Evan Bates won the ice dance competition for the first time the day before. JPN Kaori Sakamoto won the women’s event. She completed 7 straight triple jumps in her program.
• Shiffrin won her 91^st WC title this weekend at St. Moritz but it was not in her signature event, in fact it was a little bit of an upset. She won the downhill over the likes of Sofia Goggia and Federica Brignone.
• Speaking of rare feats, the USA got its first luge doubles WC in 18 years. That is the equivalent of 184 WC races, dating back to Dec 9^th The doubles to get this medal was Zach DiGregorio and Sean Hollander, beating the AUS team by 0.052 seconds, who were leading after run 1.

Soccer:

• Clemson is a different kind of football school now. They won the NCAA title tonight for the men’s side.

What to watch this week

Basketball – NBA:

• Tues 12/12
  • Lakers at Mavericks @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Warriors at Suns @ 9pm on TNT
• Fri 12/15
  • Lakers at Spurs @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Knicks at Suns @ 9pm on ESPN

Basketball – NCAAM:

• Mon 12/11
  • Mississippi Valley St at 10. Gonzaga @ 8pm on ESPN+
• Tues 12/12
  • Georgia Southern at 12. Tennessee @ 6pm on SEC
  • Hofstra at 21. Duke @ 6pm on ESPN2
• Wed 12/13
  • FIU at 15. FAU @ 6pm on ESPN+
  • Chicago St at 25. Northwestern @ 7pm on BTN
  • 8. Creighton at UNLV @ 8pm on CBSSN
  • Denver at 18. BYU @ 8pm on ESPN+
• Thurs 12/14
  • Thomas-Minnesota at 7. Marquette @ 7pm on FS1
  • Jacksonville St at 23. Wisconsin @ 7pm on BTN
• Fri 12/15
  • Continental Tire Tip-Off: 5. UConn at 10. Gonzaga @ 9pm on ESPN2
• Sat 12/16
  • LSU at 19. Texas @ 11am on ESPN2
  • La Salle at 24. Miami @ 11am on CW
  • 2. Kansas at Indiana @ 11:30am on CBS
  • 6. Baylor at Michigan St @ 1pm on FOX
  • Texas A&M at 4. Houston @ 1:30pm on ESPN2
  • 13. Clemson at Memphis @ 2pm on ESPN+
  • 15. FAU at St. Bonaventure @ 3pm on ESPNU
  • JMU at Hampton @ 3pm
  • Indy Classic: 1. Arizona at 3. Purdue @ 3:30pm on Peacock
  • CBS Sports Classic: 9. UNC vs 14. Kentucky @ 4:30pm on CBS
  • 25. Northwestern at DePaul @ 4:30pm on FS1
  • Northeastern at 22. UVA @ 5pm on ACC
  • Alabama at 8. Creighton @ 7pm on FOX
  • Green Bay at 11. Oklahoma @ 8pm on ESPN+
  • Georgia St at 18. BYU @ 8pm on ESPN+
  • HoF Series: NC State at 12. Tennessee @ 9pm on ESPN2
• Sun 12/17
  • Colgate at 16. Illinois @ 12pm on BTN
  • CSU Pueblo at 17. Colorado St @ 5pm

Basketball – NCAAW: (only reporting ranked vs ranked)

• Wed 12/13
  • 22. Creighton at 19. Marquette @ 7pm
• Sat 12/16
  • 18. Louisville at 17. UConn @ 11am on FOX

Football-NCAAF:

Football-NFL:

• Mon 12/11
  • Titans at Dolphins @ 7:15pm on ESPN
  • Packers at Giants @ 7:15pm on ABC
• Thurs 12/14
  • Chargers at Raiders @ 7:15pm on Prime
• Sat 12/16
  • Vikings at Bengals @ 12pm on NFL
  • Steelers at Colts @ 3:30pm on NFL
  • Broncos at Lions @ 7:15pm on NFL
• Sun 12/17
  • 7 games @ 12pm on CBS/FOX
    • CBS: Bucs at Packers, Texans at Titans, Jet at Dolphins
    • FOX: Bears at Browns, Chiefs at Patriots, Giants at Saints, Falcons at Panthers
  • Commanders at Rams – or – 49ers at Cardinals @ 3:05pm on CBS
  • Cowboys at Bills @ 3:25pm on FOX
  • Ravens at Jaguars @ 7:20pm on NBC
• Mon 12/18
  • Eagles at Seahawks @ 7:15pm on ABC and ESPN

Golf:

• Fri 12/15
  • PNC Championship – pro-am @ 11am on Golf Channel
• Sat 12/16
  • PNC Championship – Round 1 @ 1:30pm on NBC
• Sun 12/17
  • PNC Championship – Final Round
    • @ 11:30am on Golf Channel
    • @ 12:30pm on NBC

Hockey:

• Tues 12/12
  • Red Wings at Blues @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Blackhawks at Oilers @ 9pm on ESPN
• Wed 12/13
  • Bruins at Devils @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Sabres at Avalanche @ 9pm on TNT
• Thurs 12/14
  • Hurricanes at Red Wings @ 6:30pm on hulu
• Fri 12/15
  • Predators at Hurricanes @ 6:30pm on hulu

Olympic Sports:

• Sun 12/17
  • Skiing: FIS Snowboarding WC @ 2:30pm on NBC

Soccer:

• Fri 12/15
  • Premier League: Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham @ 2pm on USA
• Sat 12/16
  • Premier League: Manchester City vs Crystal Palace @ 9am on USA
  • Premier League: Teams TBA @ 10:30am on NBC
• Sun 12/17
  • Premier League: Arsenal vs Brighton @ 8am on USA
  • Premier League: Teams TBA @ 9:30am on NBC