Weekly Update September 3, 2024

Baseball: This week in the MLB. Weirdest stat ever but someone played on both teams in a single game. White Sox worst record.

Football – NCAAF: Week 1 was awesome but only 4 losses in the Top 25. Other storylines though and some closer than they should’ve been games. NFL begins this week. Set your Fantasy line ups by Thursday at 7:20pm CT!

Golf: Scottie Scheffler wins the FedEx Cup after an amazing season.

Motorsports: F1 championship getting close. Ferrari wins their home GP!

Olympic Sports: Paralympics. USA in 3rd for golds and totals. All the golds.

Tennis: US Open. Men’s crazy side of the bracket. American women doing well but not the familiar faces.

Coming up this month:

Sept: Sept 5 – Jan 5 NFL Season, Sept 6-14 World Surfing League Finals, Sept 10-15 Solheim Cup (LPGA Ryder Cup), Sept 24-29 Golf Presidents Cup,

Baseball – MLB:

• MLB this week:
  • Phillies star Bryce Harper hit a single in the 10^th to win over the Astros by 1. The Royals won both games against the Guardians in their Monday double header. They won 4-3 then 9-4. The Cubs put up 18 runs against the Pirates on Monday, winning by 10.
  • The Braves scored 4 runs in the 10^th inning to beat the Twins 8-6 in a tight game. Both teams after that game had a 72-60 record. The Padres won their 3^rd straight game on Tuesday before ending that streak the very next night. The Marlins had a massive comeback in the 9^th inning to beat the Rockies. They would put up 5 runs to win by 1 and just stun the CO team. The Mets upset the DBacks and killed their 6-game win streak after their P Manaea K’d 11 batters.

• • Wed the Astros would get some revenge on the Phillies. Alvarez put up 3 HRs and their P Spencer Arrighetti almost completed a no-hitter, taking it into the 8^th before letting the Phillies get 3. Astros won 10-0. The Cubs scored 14 in a crazy scoring game over the Pirates who put up 10 of their own. That’s a lot of runs for 1 game. The Dbacks got a grand slam in the 8^th to come back on the Mets and win by 3.
  • The Tigers were on a roll, racking up 6 wins before losing to the Angels on the 29^th. Rangers star Corey Seager hit his 200^th HR during their game against the White Sox on Thursday. The Orioles and Dodgers faced off in a battle for the top of the AL this week. The Orioles won game 1 of 3 3-2. But then the Dodgers would get the last laugh, winning the next two 6-4 and 6-3. The final win would be the Dodgers’ 80^th of the season.

• • The Brewers won both games in their doubleheader against the Reds on Friday. The first went into extra innings before the Brewers managed to score on a double play to put the game away by 1. That game was originally scheduled for April 11^th! The next game, the Milwaukee team dominated winning 14-0. The A’s are bouncing back nicely. After beating the Rangers on Friday, that is the Oakland teams’ 1^st consecutive winning months since 2021.
  • Tigers P Tarik Skubal hit 200 Ks in their game over the Red Sox on Saturday. It was a close one, only winning 2-1. The Blue Jays started hot, putting up 7 runs in the 1^st inning and would ultimately win 15-0 over the Twins. Ohtani, Betts and Freeman hit back-to-back-to-back HRs in the Dodgers vs Diamondbacks game Saturday. They would get the win but it wasn’t as big of a blowout as you would think. They won 8-6.
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  • Dusty Baker’s Son made his debut for the Nationals on Sunday with his dad watching. They would lose to the Cubs 14-1. The Cardinals also scored 14 in their win over the Yankees 14-7. The Dbacks would also put up 14 on the Dodgers to win 14-3. Two games on Sunday went into the 11^th. The Reds got a walkoff single in the 11^th to win by 1 over the Brewers. The Phillies did the same thing over the Braves. The Phillies are now over the 80 win mark.
• Labor day Monday updates: Brewers batter Adames has now hit a HR in the last 5 games. Monday’s was against the Cardinals to bring in 3 runs. They would win 9-3. The Orioles put up 13 in their 10-run win over the White Sox. That gives them their 80^th win of the season.

• Ok here’s a weird one for you. Danny Jansen became the first player in major league history to play for both teams during 1 game. How you ask? Because when the Blue Jays met the Red Sox the first time back on June 26, Jansen was a starting C for the Blue Jays. That game was delayed in the 2^nd inning with Jansen up to bat for the Blue Jays due to rain. On July 27, Jansen was traded to Boston. 65 days later, the game resumed and Jansen started behind the plate for BOS. The Blue Jays would win both games that day in a doubleheader 4-1 and then 7-3.

• White Sox have set a new franchise record and its not one you want to set. They lost their 107^th game on Sunday, breaking the old record set in 1970. They also became the first team since the 1965 Mets to lose 3 10-game losing streaks at home. Yikes!!

Football:

• Week 1 Top 25 Upsets:
  • #1 Georgia vs #14 Clemson was one of the best games of the weekend. Dabo was trying to show he still has it even in the transfer portal era. But Georgia just squeezed the life out of Clemson. It was only 6-0 at half (2 FGs by UGA) but then the Dawgs got rolling. UGA wins 34-3 holding Clemson and their QB Klubnick to no TDs. That is the tied for the lowest score ever by a Clemson Dabo team.

• • #7 Notre Dame and #20 Texas A&M was the Gameday game this week. It lived up to the hype. 1H had no TDs allowed and we were tied 6-6 going into the locker room. A busted play allowed the Fighting Irish to get in the endzone on a 47 yard run and take the lead in 3Q. Aggies answered early in the 4Q to tie it back up. But then in the final 2 minutes, ND just won out with a TD and a FG in the final 30 seconds to win by 10. The Aggies also had 2 turnovers which you cant do against a top 10 team.

• • #10 Florida State is off to the worst start you can imagine. After losing their opening game to Georgia Tech, they drop another one on Monday to Boston College! And it wasn’t even close. The Noles were losing at half 14-6 and the Eagles piled on from there. They would score another 2 TDs in the 3Q to win 28-13. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
  • #13 LSU and #23 USC played on Sunday in Las Vegas and it came down to the wire. Both QBs were playing well (although it wasn’t as offensive as I thought). We went back and forth. The win probability chart changes teams 18xs. We were tied 10-10 at halftime. USC came out and got a FG and LSU answered with a TD in the 3Q. Then USC got a TD in the final 6 mins to go up 20-17. LSU was driving down the field but only managed to get a game-tying FG. Back to 20-20. USC just needed to hold the ball until the final seconds of the game and get into FG range. But SC’s K had missed a chip shot (29 yarder) earlier in the game. So the Trojans went to run the ball to place it in the middle of the field for the K (prob) and ran it in for a TD. That was in the final 8 seconds of the game. LSU then threw an INT to add insult to injury. #23 USC upsets LSU 27-20.

• Other major storylines:
  • #8 Penn State went off in the 2Q of their game against West Virginia. They put up 20 points and then added 7 in each after that to win 34-12.
  • #19 Miami drained the swamp (credit to Cover 3 for that phrase). They beat their in state SEC rival 41-17. Their new QB, Cam Ward was awesome in his debut for the Canes throwing for 385 yards and 3 TDs.
  • #17 OSU beat SD State 44-20. They went off in the 3Q putting up 21. That’s what was needed to win.
  • #21 Arizona beat NM 61-39. That’s not what was noteworthy. WR McMillan broke the school record with 304 receiving yards and had 4 TDs to boot.
• Shutouts: #4 Texas, #5 Alabama, #6 Ole Miss, #11 Mizzou, #12 Utah and #25 Iowa kept their opponents to 0 points scored. Ole Miss even had their opponent (Furman) ask for shorter Qs in the 2H.

• Thursday had some fun games: Colorado won the battle of Buffalo vs Bison with the ND State FCS team in a close one. CU wins 31-26. UNC/MN was a close game that came down to the final seconds. MN led 14-7 at half but the TDs were done by half. UNC would score 3 unanswered FGs to go up 16-14. Minnesota got a 30 yarder to retake the lead by 1 in the final 3:40 of the game. UNC got another FG in the final 1:44 to go up 19-17. Minnesota had the ball and drove down the field for the game-winning FG but missed the 47 yarder. UNC wins. Although I don’t think the Tar Heels probably feel like they won as their starting new transfer QB, Max Johnson is out for the season after breaking his leg in the 1H.
• TCU outlasted Stanford in their season opener 34-27 in a sloppy game that was kinda hard to watch. It was a back and forth game with Stanford leading the entire 1H. But TCU had a breakout 3Q and tacked on some more points in the 4^th.

• Some scaries that shouldn’t have been:
  • #3 Oregon was up 14-0 on Idaho at half but it was a closer game than it should’ve been for one of the CFP favorites. Final score was 24-14… Ducks better start putting it together quick!
  • #9 Michigan only beat Fresno State by 20, winning 30-10. The defense looked good but man their QB play might give them some trouble heading into the defending national championship season.
• NFL week 1 is this week! Don’t forget to set your lineups by Thursday at 7pm CT.

Golf:

• Scottie Scheffler has had one of the most dominant seasons in golf that we have seen in quite some time. After his win at East Lake which was never in doubt after starting with a -2 cushion, he won 7 tournaments this year which hasn’t been done since 2007 Tiger Woods. I did get a little nervous before the turn on the final round. Scottie went bogey, birdie, bogey, bogey before making 3 birdies in a row. He would slammed the door on everyone else after an eagle on the 14^th. Scottie won by 4 over Collin Morikawa and 2 more over Sahith Theegala.

Motorsports:

• It was a homecoming like no other. Leclerc and Ferrari won the ITA Monza GP. Leclerc managed to survive a one-stop race while everyone else had to do two. This is Ferrari’s home race! Both McLarens were next just 2.6 seconds behind. Then Sainz took 4^th and Verstappen was all back in 6^th.

Olympic Sports:

• Paralympics – CHN is dominating both the gold and total medal count in Paris with 53 golds and 115 total. GBR sits in 2^nd with 30 golds and 61 total. USA is 3^rd with 20 golds and 53 total.
  • Classification guide: usually the lower the number, the greater the impairment.
  • Those USA Golds are:
    • Gia Pergolini defended her gold in the W 100Back S13 (less sever visual impairment). Her gold was the first for Team USA. Also in the pool, Olivia Chambers won the W 400 Free S13 (visual impairment) and Mallory Weggemann won the W 200IM SM7 (using trunk and arms only as legs are impaired). Morgan Stickney won the W 400m Free S7 today! On Monday, Leanne Smith won the gold in the W 100 free S3 and Christie Raleigh Crossley won the 100Back S9 category.

• • • USA won both the M 100m T38 with Jaydin Blackwell in WR time and T63 with Ezra Frech. T38 is cerebral palsy often only affecting one limb. T63 is a single prosthesis above or through the knee. Both men would come back to earn a 2^nd gold each. Jaydin in the 400m and Frech in the HJ. Roderick Townsend-Roberts won the M HJ T47 (below elbow amputation) – he now is the 3x gold medalist in that event.
    • USA would sweep the Triathlon M & W PTS5 with Grace Norman and Chris Hammer. These athletes are affected by a low degree on leg, medium on forearms or high in foot and/or ankle or have an absence of a limb. We also won the W triathlon PTS2 with Hailey Danz.

• • • The men archers are also doing well. Jason Tabansky won the Men’s individual W1 (usually athletes have impairment in the top and bottom halves of their body or are missing 3 limbs) and Matt Stutzman won the Men’s individual compound (he has no arms). Stutzman shot a perfect 10 final arrow to clinch it.
    • The women did well in the Equestrian events on Monday with 2 golds in the Individual grade II and III (walk and trot tests in Dressage).

• Other storylines
  • ITA rower Giacomo Perini got the bronze in the PR1 Men’s single sculls. That was until he was DQ’d for having his phone in his boat. You are not allowed to have communication devices in the boat. He claims he forgot it was in his backpack but rules are rules.
  • In a familiar story, the Paralympic Triathlon was postponed due to the quality of water in the Seine. After heavy rain Fri and Sat, the Seine gets wastewater and runoff into it causing the level of E Coli to increase. The race is set for tomorrow.

Tennis:

• The US Open has begun and its been crazy
  • On the men’s side: All of the Paris Olympic medalists are out. That means huge upsets! NED unranked player Botic Van De Zandschulp beat ESP Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets. I don’t even know how to describe what happened there! That was only in the 2^nd Then in the 3^rd, AUS #28 Popyrin upset the Olympic medalist Djokovic in 4 sets. Djokovic did win set 3 6-2 but lost all the others 4-6. We would have an American showdown in the 3^rd round as well between Taifoe and Shelton. It was a great matchup but Tiafoe got the win in 5 sets. USA Taylor Fritz upset NOR Ruud in just 4 sets even after dropping the first one. He is now through to the Quarterfinals and where he is set to play GER Zverev. Also through is USA Tiafoe, BUL Dimitrov, ITA Sinner and RUS Medvedev.

• • On the women’s side, it’s a little less chaotic. #1 Swaitek and #2 Sabalenka are in. #3 USA Coco Gauff lost to fellow American Navarro. Navarro will play ESP Badosa in the Quarterfinals. USA Jessica Pegula is also onto the Quarterfinals. She will play Swiatek. #5 ITA Paolini got upset badly in the 4^th round in straight sets 3-6, 3-6 – ugh! Also DEN Wozniack is also still in the 4^th Haven’t heard that name in a while. She would go on to lose to BRA Haddad Maia. She will play the last remaining unranked player, CZE Muchova. Sabalenka will play CHN Zheng is the final Quarterfinal!

What to watch this week

Baseball – MLB:

• Tues 9/3
  • Red Sox at Mets @ 6:10pm on TBS
• Wed 9/4
  • Guardians at Royals @ 6:40pm on FS1
  • Yankees at Rangers @ 7:05pm on Prime
• Sat 9/7
  • Angels at Rangers @ 6:05pm on FOX
  • White Sox at Red Sox – or – Twins at Royals @ 6:15pm on FOX
• Sun 9/8
  • Dbacks at Astros @ 6pm on ESPN

Football – NCAAF:

Top 25
Week 2
Top 25 Games
Visitor	Home	Day	Time (CT)	TV	Line
3. Texas	10. Michigan	Sat 9/7	11:00 AM	FOX	-7
Arkansas	16. Oklahoma St	Sat 9/7	11:00 AM	ABC	+7.5
Iowa St	21. Iowa	Sat 9/7	2:30 PM	CBS	+2.5
18. Kansas	Illinois	Sat 9/7	6:00 PM	FS1	-6
14. Tennessee	24. NC St	Sat 9/7	6:30 PM	ABC	-7
*GameDay indicated in bold*

Football – NFL:

• Thurs 9/5
  • Ravens at Chiefs @ 7:20pm on NBC
• Fri 9/6
  • Packers at Eagles @ 7:15pm on Peacock
• Sun 9/8
  • 8 games @ 12pm on CBS or FOX
    • CBS: Cardinals at Bills, Patriots at Bengals, Texas at Colts, Jaguars at Dolphins
    • FOX: Titans at Bears, Panthers and Saints, Vikings at Giants, Steelers at Falcons
  • Raiders at Chargers – or – Broncos at Seahawks @ 3:05pm on CBS
  • Cowboys at Browns – or – Commanders at Buccaneers @ 3:25pm on FOX
  • Rams at Lions @ 7:20pm on NBC
• Mon 9/9
  • Jets at 49ers @ 7:20pm on ESPN and ABC

Olympics Sports:

• Tues 9/3
  • Paralympics: Equestrian, Swim, T&F, Group play @ 4am-4pm on USA
    • USA vs FRA Quarterfinal @ 2:30pm
  • NCAA Volleyball: Stanford at Wisconsin @ 7pm on FS1
  • NCAA Volleyball: Texas vs Minnesota @ 9pm on FS1
• Wed 9/4
  • Paralympics: Cycling, Swim, T&F, Semifinal, Time trials, gold medal recap @ 4am – 4pm on USA
• Thurs 9/5
  • Paralympics: Swim Cycling, Semifinal, T&F, Gold Medal recap @ 4am – 4pm on USA
  • NCAA Volleyball: USC vs Creighton @ 6pm on FS1
• Fri 9/6
  • Paralympics: Swim, T&F, Gold Medal recap @ 9am – 4pm on USA
  • Paralympics Primetime @ 8pm on NBC
• Sat 9/7
  • Paralympics @ 12pm on NBC

Soccer:

• Thurs 9/5
  • UEFA Nations: SRB vs ESP @ 9pm on FS1
• Fri 9/6
  • UEFA Nations: SCO vs POL @ 12am on FS1
  • UEFA Nations: BEL vs ISR @ 6pm on FS1
• Sat 9/7
  • UEFA Nations: Faroe Islands vs North Macedonia @ 7:50am on FS1
  • UEFA Nations: IRE vs ENG @ 11am on FS1
  • NWSL: Washington Spirit vs Portland Thorns @ 11:30am on CBS
• Sun 9/8
  • UEFA Nations: DEN vs SRB @ 10:55am on FS1
  • UEFA Nations: POR vs SCO @ 1:30pm on FS1
  • UEFA Nations: NED vs BIH @ 8pm on FS1

Tennis:

• Wed 9/4
  • US Open: Quarterfinals
    • @ 11am on ESPN
    • @ 6pm on ESPN
• Thurs 9/5
  • US Open: Mixed Doubles Final @ 2pm on ESPN2
  • US Open: Women’s Semifinal @ 6pm on ESPN
• Fri 9/6
  • US Open: Men’s Semifinal
    • @ 2pm on ESPN
    • @ 6pm on ESPN
• Sat 9/7
  • US Open: Women’s Championship @ 3pm on ESPN
• Sun 9/8
  • US Open: Men’s Championship @ 1pm on ABC