Posted on November 20, 2023

Weekly Update November 20, 2023

Weekly Update

Baseball: Year end awards

Basketball – NBA: Headlines from this week’s games. Green’s suspension. Morant’s dumb actions and Ball’s dumb policy issue.

Basketball – NCAAM: 7 losses in the Top 25. Not too crazy of a week. Bronny James warming up.

Football – NCAAF: 5 Losses in Top 25. FSU QB Travis out and done. Other close games that shouldn’t have been. Auburn’s costly loss. Title Games.

Football – NFL: Add another FG to the tally last week for MNF. 8 close games. Some comebacks and some not so close games. Super Bowl rematch tonight!

Golf: Netflix Cup was entertaining but that’s about it. Ludvig wins RSM. TGL delayed.

Hockey: Arrest was made in slicing throat incident.

Motorsports: Vegas F1 race was drama filled but Verstappen still won.

Olympic Sports: Cyclist’s murder sentenced. UNC Field Hockey natty setting a record for youngest HC.

Baseball – MLB:

  • Year end awards:
    • Cy Young awards went out and Padres Blake Snell won for the NL while Yankees Garrit Cole won for the AL. Snell is the 7th player to win the Cy Young in each league. He previously won the award at the Rays 2018. Cole won his break through Cy Young award after coming in 2nd 2xs and top 5 3xs. Cole is the first Yankee to win since Roger Clemens in 2001.
    • To no one’s surprise, Shohei Ohtani (Angels) won the AL MVP and Braves RF Ronald Acuna Jr won for the NL. Shohei won the MVP award unanimously for the 2nd time. Acuna Jr beat out Betts who was unanimously 2nd on all ballots.
  • MLB owners have voted and greenlighted that the Oakland A’s can move to Las Vegas. It was a unanimous vote but that doesn’t mean the move is final but it’s a big step forward.

Basketball – NBA:

  • Some headlines in the NBA:
    • Damian Lillard went off in the Bucks game vs the Raptors scoring 37 points by himself. The Milwaukee team won 128-112. Ball then put up that many on the Bucks team on Friday but they still beat the Hornets. Sticking with the Bucks, Giannis put up the most points he had all season so far with 40 against the Mavs. Good thing too because Luka Doncic put up 35 and it was a close game (125-132).
    • LeBron may’ve had a triple double but the Kings still won in their game against the Lakers on Wed 125-110. This was LeBron’s 108th career triple-double. On Friday, LeBron put up 35 points to help the Lakers beat the Trail Blazers and get back above .500.
    • Hornets F Miles Bridge came back after 583 days on Friday for their game vs the Bucks. Bridge was out last year and 10 games this year for being in a domestic violence case. He did return in that game scoring 17 points in 33 minutes of game time.
    • Spurs star Wemby became just the 3rd teenager in NBA history to put up 8 blocks in a single game. The San Antonio team still lost to the Grizzlies 120-108 Saturday.
    • The Pistons lost their game on Sunday, that makes it 11 straight losses – ugh!
    • The Celtics, Timberwolves, Nuggets are all still undefeated at home. The Rockets and Clippers are winless on the road. But that cant be as bad as the Grizzlies who are winless at home!

  • This story needed it’s own headline. Draymond Green has been suspended for 5 games after a fight broke out in the Warriors/Timberwolves game on Tuesday. We literally had not had points on the board yet before the fight started just 2m into the game. The scuffle actually started between Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels. Green put Ruby Gobert in a headlock. 3 players were ejected from the game. Green was suspended for 5 games due to this being his 5th suspension (or at least that’s the thought) which means he will lose out on ~$800k of pay. The last time he was suspended was after he stomped on the chest of a Kings’ player in playoffs in April. The Warriors lost that game and were 6-6.
  • Clippers Paul George was only fined $35k for criticizing the officiating during their game against the Nuggets on Thursday. He said that the Clippers were playing against the other 3 (meaning the refs). Tame by comparison.
  • Dang its basketball season which means we have to talk about something stupid that Grizzlies Ja Morant did. Here’s the latest. He allegedly punched a kid during a pick up game of bball after he got hit in the chin with the ball. His lawyers will use self defense but still.

  • Talking about stupid, LaMelo Ball had to cover his LF tattoo that is below his left ear. That is because it violates the NBA policy of no commercial logos on player’s bodies. LaFrance which is also Ball’s middle name and now the name of his clothing brand.

Basketball – NCAAM:

  • CFB updates: Monday only had one upset with #21 Villanova getting beat by UPenn 76-72. Penn fans stormed the court after the W. Tuesday had a number of ranked matchups, starting with the bball blue bloods. #1 Kansas took on #17 Kentucky. The Wildcats started off hot scoring 48 points in the 1H, taking the lead into halftime. But then it flipped and the Jayhawks put up 48 to win by 4. Following that #4 Marquette beat #23 Illinois in the Gavitt Tipoff Games by 7. Other blueblood, #9 Duke beat #18 Michigan State who had a bad 1H only putting up 20 points as a team. The only other headline from Tuesday was the upset of #16 USC by UC Irvine by 10! Their leading G put up 25 points alone. Then we made it all the way til Friday without an upset. The #14 Razorbacks lost despite a 48 point 2H. that should tell you how badly the beginning of the game went. UNCG gets the big upset. Saturday only had 2 ranked teams in action and we had a top 10 upset of #10 FAU by Bryant. Bet you cant tell me their mascots (bc I couldn’t – Bulldogs).
  • USC Bronny James did pre-game warm ups for the first time all season after his heart episode so we might see him soon!

Football – NCAAF:

  • Top 25 Losses:
    • The #5 Washington vs #11 Oregon St game was a wet and wild one. Washington was done scoring in the first half putting up 22 points. That was all that was needed with the Huskies beating the Beavs 22-20. With that W, they solidified their spot in Pac 12 championship game.
    • #1 Georgia handled #18 Tennessee with ease winning 38-10 and that was after taking their foot of the gas in 4Q.
    • Unranked Clemson took on newly reranked #20 UNC. This game is usually crazy and goes into multiple OTs but this year we got an offensively tame game. Even though the Tar Heels drew first blood, Clemson pulled away in the 3Q. Dabo gets another W 31-20.

    • Undefeated but unranked JMU was gameday this weekend. It was a weird game to say the least. The score was 5-3 at one point. JMU trailed 17-5 in the 3Q before clawing their way back to score and tie the game with 57 seconds left. So we head to OT. JMU gets a FG and prays. But then App St ran the ball in and fumbled the ball but he already crossed the goal line. Thus ending JMU’s perfect season.

  • Other major storylines:
    • #2 Michigan gets their 1000 win in program history. Although it was a close one. We knew this had to happen at some point, I just assumed we would get it next week. Michigan went up early 23-10 at half. But Maryland rallied in the 3Q to bring the game to within 3 to start the 4Q. But then the Wolverine defense showed up and the only points scored that Q was a M safety. Michigan escaped 31-24.
    • #4 Florida State did not lose their game to North Alabama although they were trailing 13-0 in 1Q. They did lose their Heisman candidate QB Jordan Travis though on this play. The curse of the CW continues. He is officially done with his college career which is sad! TBD if this will hurt the Noles playoff chances.
    • The Florida/#9 Mizzou game was back and forth. It was just an overall great entertaining game. Florida scored the go-ahead TD with 1:36 on the clock to go up by 1. Mizzou then traveled the length of the field in that time down to the FL 13 before the thicker kicker (who if you remember had a 61 yard FG to beat K St earlier this year) chipped in a 30 yard FG to win. Frankly the Gator defense just as non existent in the last drive.

    • #10 Louisville had their hands full with Miami and the Cards needed this W to get their spot in the ACC championship game. It was so back and forth that the win probability chart changes teams 22xs. Miami tied it back up with 5:34 to go in the game. Louisville only needed 3 plays to go 75 yards to score a go-ahead TD. But Miami then got the ball back and was driving down the field. As time expired, the Canes went for the hail mary and got it! But it was short. Cards escape.
    • #7 Texas gets out of Ames in a close game against the Cyclones. The Horns scored 18 points in the 2H to win by 10. #14 Oklahoma needed the 100 yard pick-6 to escape from BYU on their backup QB for their debut trip to Provo. #16 Iowa only put up 15 points but surprise that was enough to beat Illinois by 2. That puts them in the Big 10 championship game – sorry boutcha loser of Ohio St/Michigan.
    • #19 Notre Dame played Wake Forest. You’re like cool thanks Claire – don’t care. But ND QB Sam Hartman does as that is his old team. They win big 45-7 and it’s the 500th game played at ND.
    • On Friday in the Pac12, Washington St put up 42 unanswered points to beat the Buffs 56-14.

    • Duke fell to UVA this weekend who is now 3-8 this season but has won their last 6 straight home games against Duke. Quite a bad way to end the season for a Duke team who started out so promising and ranked. They play Pitt to round it out so hopefully they can end on a W. The Blue Devils will make a bowl as they have 6 wins!

    • But by far, the worst loss of the weekend was Auburn who paid New Mexico St $1.8MM to come to Alabama to play them. The Aggies were 25.5 point underdogs and they BEAT Auburn! We’re not talking about barely either. NM St won 31-10 with no turnovers!
    • Oldest rivalry: Lafeyette vs Lehigh with Lafeyette wins. Harvard vs Yale was also in action this weekend. Yale won which means there was a 3-way tie in the Ivy (Dartmouth was the other school).

Football – NFL:

  • This week in the NFL: First of all, we have to add another walk off FG win to last week’s record. That now sits at 6 after MNF was also the same situation! But moving onto this week. 8 games were determined by a TD or less.
    • Not close: The Ravens/Bengals game was a good one until about half when Bengals QB Joe Burrow went out with a wrist injury and is now out of the season. The Bengals had been on a hot streak with him lately after a slow start to the season. Ravens put them away 34-20. The Giants came back scoring 17 points in the 4Q including a Pick 6 to beat the Commanders 31-19. The Cowboys were never really in danger in their game vs Panthers winning 33-10. The Titans only put up 14 points in the 2H to make their game look better than it was originally, losing to the Jags 34-14. 49ers QB Brock Purdy threw 3 TDs and 333 yards to beat the Bucs by 13. The Jets only put up 6 points in the entire game vs the Bills, losing 32-6.

    • Close and comebacks: The Cardinals came out hot with Kyler Murray back putting up 10 in 1Q. But the Texans rallied in 2Q to win 21-16. And that is scoring no points in the 2H and their QB had 3 INT and they still won! The Rams came back to win against the Seahawks, scoring 10 points to end the game winning by 1. Doesn’t hurt that the Seattle team missed a game-winning FG from 55 yards. The Broncos are now at .500 for the season after they beat the Vikings. They had to score 12 points in the final Q to manage but they got there.

    • Super close: DTR made his rookie appearance for the Browns and not only that but he gets a W beating the Steelers on a game-winning FG with 2 seconds left. The Lions put away the Bears but not in a dominant fashion as it should’ve been for an 8-2 team. That because their QB Goff had 3 INT. The DET team was trailing 26-14 with just 4 minutes to go in the game. The Lions went 75 yards in 6 plays and just 1:16 for a TD. Bears went 3 & out. Lions get the ball back with 2 and change, score another TD AND a 2-point conversion with 29 seconds left to go up by 2. And then to add insult to injury, the Bears get a safety.

  • Tonight’s MNF game is a Super Bow rematch for just the 9th time in NFL history. Tonight the Kelces face off as well and the Kelce parents meet the Swifts!

Golf:

  • This one is a little F1 and a little golf. The Netflix Cup streamed on Nov 14th. This was a combo between the F1 drivers and PGA golfers. Since the F1 drivers were already in Vegas, the event took place there. After 8 holes of match play, the competition was cut in half so that left Justin Thomas and Carlos Sainz vs Tony Finau and Pierre Gasly to play a closest-to-the-pin competition. This was more of a funny/silly entertaining combo with golf and F1. Prime example being that all 4 golfers teed off at the same time and raced to their golf carts – literally racing to finish the hole. JT drank from the cup then passed it to Sainz who proceeded to drop the trophy, which then broke. Oops! Also important to note was that this was Netflix’s first live sporting event.

  • Texas Tech Red Raider has had a great end to the year, with the pinnacle being his first PGA Tour title at the RSM Classic. Ludvig Aberg finished the weekend 61-61, tying the PGA Tour 72 hole record of 253 (also held by Justin Thomas at 2017 Sony Open). Aberg won over Mackenzie Hughes by 4 strokes.

  • Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TGL golf simulator league has been delayed until 2025 due to damages caused to the Florida venue. The league was supposed to start Jan 9 and end before the Masters.

Hockey:

  • A man has been arrested for manslaughter in the death of pro hockey player (in an England league) Adam Johnson. His neck was slashed by a player’s skate during a game in October. The former Penguin passed away at the age of 29. Although the man arrested name was not released, we do know the player’s name who slit his throat, CAN Matt Petgrave. He got a standing ovation.

Motorsports:

  • F1 in Las Vegas debuted this week (technically F1 was here 40 years ago but a lot has changed since then). It started with some drama on day 1, practice 1! Ferrari Sainz ran over a lose drain cover so that brought out the red flag and stopped the practice just 9 minutes after the start. Plenty of the drivers have already complained about how the Vegas round is more for show than quality of racing. Sainz was later given a grid penalty for repairing the F1 car after the drain cover debacle. The problem was that drivers are only allowed 2 fuel cells per year and now with the repairs that needed to be done, Sainz would be on his 3rd. He was given a 10 spot grid penalty. Ultimately despite all the early drama, Red Bull’s Verstappen won the race. Verstappen led at the beginning of the race but got a penalty and then passed LeClerc with just 13 laps left.

Olympic Sports:

  • Killer Kaitlin Armstrong found guilty after just 3 hours of jury deliberation in killing of rising professional cyclist Ana Mo Wilson. Armstrong shot Wilson in 2022 because she believed that Wilson was involved with her bf. They had previously dated but it was found that she had swam and eaten with the man earlier the day she was killed. Armstrong then fled to Costa Rica and changed her appearance (like plastic surgery changed) but was still captured after 43 days. Armstrong is sentenced to 90 years in prison.

  • #1 UNC Tar Heel women won their 2nd straight field hockey national championship over #2 Northwestern in a shootout. This one is significant as they have the youngest HC of any sports in NCAA history with Erin Matson at age 23. She was on the team last year and was hired just weeks after she was done with her own playing career, taking over for retired coaching great Karen Shelton.

What to watch this week

Basketball – NBA:

  • Tues 11/21
    • Cavaliers at 76ers @ 6:30pm on TNT
    • Jazz at Lakers @ 9pm on TNT
  • Wed 11/22
    • Bucks at Celtics @ 6:30pm on ESPN
    • Warriors at Suns @ 9pm on ESPN
  • Fri 11/24
    • Heat at Knicks @ 6:30pm on ESPN
    • Spurs at Warriors @ 9pm on ESPN

Basketball – NCAAM:

  • Mon 11/20
    • Maui Invite: 7. Tennessee at Syracuse @ 1:30pm on ESPN2
    • Maui Invite: 2. Purdue at 11. Gonzaga @ 4pm on ESPN2
    • 5. UConn at 19. Texas @ 6pm on ESPNU
    • Saint Josephs at 17. Kentucky @ 6pm on SEC
    • 25. Colorado at Richmond @ 7pm on CBSSN
    • Maui Invite: 1. Kansas at Chaminade @ 8pm on ESPNU
    • Maui Invite: UCLA at 4. Marquette @ 10:30pm on ESPN2
  • Tues 11/21
    • 24. JMU at Southern Illinois @ 5pm on CBSSN
    • La Salle at 9. Duke @ 6pm on ACC
  • Wed 11/22
    • UNI at 20. UNC @ 11am on ESPN
    • Texas Tech at 21. Villanova @ 1:30pm
    • 8. Creighton at Loyola Chicago @ 3pm on CBSSN
    • 15. Baylor at Oregon St @ 6pm on ESPN2
    • Stanford at 14. Arkansas @ 6:30pm on ESPNU
  • Thurs 11/23
    • Penn St at 13. Texas A&M @ 11am on ESPN
    • 10. FAU at Butler @ 1:30pm on ESPN2
    • Acrisure Classic: 3. Arizona at 18. Michigan St @ 3pm on FOX
    • BMH: Seton Hall at 16. USC @ 4:30pm on FS1
  • Fri 11/24
    • Manhattan at 5. UConn @ 1pm on FS1
    • Montana at 6. Houston @ 3pm on ESPN+
    • Southern Indiana at 9. Duke @ 5pm on ACC
    • Marshall at 17. Kentucky @ 6pm on SEC
    • ECC: 22. Alabama at Ohio St @ 6pm on CBSSN
    • Western Illinois at 23. Illinois @ 8pm on BTN
  • Sat 11/25
    • Acrisure Invitational @ TBD on TBD
    • Emerald Coast Classic @ 10am, 12:30pm, 3pm, 6pm
    • Baha Mar Hoops @ 10am. 12:30pm 3:30pm 6pm
  • Sun 11/26
    • Iona at 25. Colorado @ 1pm
    • Wyoming at 19. Texas @ 2pm on LHN

Basketball – NCAAW: (only reporting ranked vs ranked)

  • Thurs 11/23
    • Maryland at 24. Washington St @ 10am
    • Tennessee at 18. Indiana @ 5pm on FS1
  • Fri 11/24
    • UConn at 3. UCLA @ 6:30pm
  • Sat 11/25
    • Colorado at 14. NC St @ 12pm on ESPN+
    • Tennessee at 25. Oklahoma @ 12:30pm

Football-NCAAF:

Top 25 
Week 13
Top 25 Games
Visitor  Home Day Time (CT) TV Line
20. Iowa Nebraska Fri 11/24 11:00 AM CBS +1.5
15. Oregon St 6. Oregon Fri 11/24 7:30 PM FOX +13.5
UTSA 18. Tulane Fri 11/24 2:30 PM ABC +3
2. Ohio St 3. Michigan  Sat 11/25 11:00 AM FOX  +3.5
Washington St 4. Washington Sat 11/25 3:00 PM FOX +16.5
5. Florida St Florida Sat 11/25 6:00 PM ESPN -6.5
*GameDay indicated in bold*
  • Tues 11/21
    • CFP Ranking @ 6pm on ESPN

Football-NFL:

  • Mon 11/20
    • Eagles at Chiefs @ 7:15pm on ABC/ESPN
  • Thurs 11/23
    • Packers at Lions @ 11:30am on FOX
    • Commanders at Cowboys @ 3:30pm on CBS
    • 49ers at Seahawks @ 7:20pm on NBC
  • Fri 11/24
    • Dolphins at Jets @ 2pm on Prime
  • Sun 11/26
    • 6 games @ 12pm on CBS/FOX
      • CBS: Steelers at Bengals, Bucs at Colts, Jags at Texans
      • FOX: Saints at Falcons, Panthers at Titans, Patriots at Giants
    • Browns at Broncos – or – Rams at Cardinals @ 3:05pm on FOX
    • Chiefs at Raiders – or – Bills at Eagles @ 3:25pm on CBS
    • Ravens at Chargers @ 7:20pm on NBC
  • Mon 11/27
    • Bears at Vikings @ 7:15pm on ABC/ESPN

Hockey:

  • Wed 11/22
    • Celtics at Panthers @ 6pm on TNT
    • Golden Knights at Stars @ 8:30pm on TNT
  • Fri 11/24
    • Penguins at Sabres @ 5pm on TNT
    • Avalanche at Wild @ 7:30pm on TNT

Motorsports:

  • Sun 11/26
    • F1: Abu Dhabi GP @ 7am on ESPN

Olympic Sports:

  • Sun 11/26
    • Sport Climbing: Asian Qualifier – Combined Speed @ 8am on FS1

Soccer:

  • Mon 11/20
    • FIFA U17 World Cup: ECU vs BRA @ 2:20am on FS1
    • CONCACAF Nations League: TTO vs USA @ 6pm on TNT
    • UEFA Euro Qualifying: UKR vs ITA @ 9:30pm on FS1
  • Tues 11/21
    • FIFA U17 World Cup: GER vs USA @ 2:20am on FS1
    • UEFA Euro Qualifying: Wales vs TUR @ 6pm on FS1
  • Wed 11/22
    • FIFA U17 World Cup: ENG vs UZB @ 2:20am on FS1
  • Sat 11/25
    • FIFA U17 World Cup: Quarterfinal @ 5:50am on FS1
    • Premier League: Nottingham vs Brighton @ 10am on USA
    • Premier League: Brentford vs Arsenal @ 11:30am on USA
  • Sun 11/26
    • Premier League: Tottenham vs Aston Villa @ 8am on USA
    • Premier League: Everton vs ManU @ 10:30am on USA
    • MLS: Houston Dynamo vs Sporting KC @ 5:30pm on FS1

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