Weekly Update September 30, 2024

Baseball: Final week of regular season recap. 1 day of regular season games left (today). Longest game of the week. Final standings.

Football – NCAAF: 6 losses in Top 25. Some Scaries. Unranked news. UNLV drama.

Football – NFL: Double Header last MNF. 8 close games. Favre has Parkinson’s.

Golf: USA claims 10th Presidents Cup.

Olympic Sports: Cycling worlds. ’88 Medal stolen.

Quick Headlines: NBA and NHL seasons approaching. Billie Jean King gets Congressional Gold Medal.

Baseball – MLB:

• MLB this week:
  • There were only 4 games on Monday to start the final week of regular season. The Red Sox P Houck got 5 shutout innings to win their game 4-1 over the Blue Jays. Mariners P Miller threw 7 shutout innings before the Astros finally got a run. They would still win 6-1 and with that win clinch the AL West. The Phillies also clinched the NL East on Monday with win over the Cubs 6-2. That is their first title since 2011.

• • The Astros won the next night in a close one over the Mariners 4-3 to clinch the AL West title. That is the Houston team’s 4^th straight title. Cubs upset the Phillies 10-4 with a lot of work by Cody Bellinger who drove in 4 runs in that game by himself. Yankees star Aaron Judge hit his 56^th HR but NY would lose to the Orioles 5-3 on Tuesday. Baltimore clinched their playoff spot with that win. The Giants not only upset the Dbacks but shut them out with a score of 11-0. The Padres upset the Dodgers 4-2 to clinch their spot in playoffs. The Royals won 1-0 over the Nationals in the 10^th inning on a throwing error. What a way to lose for Washington. The Red Sox/Blue Jays also went into the 10^th Boston would have a 3-run 10^th inning to win by 1.
  • Royals relied on 5 relief pitchers but it worked to shutout the Nationals 3-0. Aaron Judge hit another HR on Wednesday. That is his 4^th straight game with a HR but again it wasn’t enough to beat the Orioles. NY loses 7-9. The Twins broke their 3 game losing streak with a win over the Marlins. That was the Miami team’s 100^th loss of the season. Also breaking a 3—game losing streak was the DBacks whose P Gallen stuck out 11 to win 8-2 over the Giants.

• • The Cardinals had a 4-game win streak going before they lost to the Rockies in the final game of their series on Thurs 8-10. The A’s won their final game in Oakland Coliseum over the WS champs to boot. They beat the Rangers 3-2. Aaron Judge hit a HR (his 58^th) in his 5^th straight game and this time NY beats the Orioles 10-1.
  • Pirates LF Bryan Reynolds hit a HR from both sides in their 4-2 win over the Yankees. Dodgers Ohtani got his 54^th HR in their 11-4 win over the Rockies. Speaking of a lot of runs, Rhys Hoskins hit his 3^rd grand slam of the season, which ties the Brewers record. They would beat the Mets 8-4.

• • The White Sox had a nice win streak going of 3 games all against the Angels. They would lose to the Tigers on Friday 4-1. The Tigers clinched the Wild Card spot with this win. That is their 121^st That makes them the worst MLB team in modern history (aka post 1900). 134 is the overall record from 1899 by the Chicago Spiders.

• Over the weekend: Two games were decided on errors on Saturday. The Astros scored 2 runs to win 4-3 after the Guardians’ error. The Giants did the same winning 6-5 after the Cardinals made an error in the 8^th inning to give up the lead. The Angels took the lead early over the Rangers (it was 7-1 at the end of the 3^rd). But the Rangers clawed their way back putting up 2 in the 8^th and then 4-runs in the 9^th to win by 1. They would win 8-0 the next day too. The Mariners needed an extra inning to beat the A’s by 1 in the 10^th. Ohtani stole his 59^th base on Saturday and his 59^th on Sunday. The Dodgers won both games over the Rockies. The Reds shutout the Cubs but they needed the 10^th inning to do it. It was scoreless up to that point.
• Longest game of the week was the Marlins/Twins game on Thursday. The Marlins put up 4 to gain a big lead before handing it back over the next 3 innings and we went to extra innings. Both teams got 1 in the 10^th – both on sacrifice flies of all things. Miami then put up 3 in the 13^th. The Twins tried to mount a comeback and scored 1 run but couldn’t get it done.

• This the final week of the regular season. The Dodgers finished with 98 wins and the best in the NL. They win the NL-West. The Phillies won the East and the Brewers on the Central. The Brewers were the only team from their division to make the playoffs. The Yankees had the bets record in the AL with 94 wins and win the AL-East. The Guardians won the Central and Astros win the West. The Astros were the only ones to advance from the West. No one really ran away with it this season. 7 teams had over 90 wins but no one had 100. Final count for the White Sox was 41-121 Yikes!
  • The Braves and Mets play today to figure out who gets into the wild card games. The Diamondbacks sit patiently to see their fate. The team who wins the first game of the doubleheader, advances automatically. If they win game 2 as well then the DBacks get in, if not the other gets in. Other WC teams are the Astros, Tigers, Royals, Orioles, Brewers and Padres.

Football-NCAAF:

• Week 5 Top 25 Upsets:
  • The Gameday game of the week lived up to all the hype! #4 Alabama dominated #2 Georgia early. Carson beck threw 2 int. It was 30-7 at half. But it was a tale of 2Hs according to Kirby and it was! Georgia started to come back in the 4Q. Georgia scored 19 to took the lead with 2:31 left in the game! Absolutely unbelievable. 34-33. First play of the next drive Bama scores with the 17 year old, Ryan Williams. Bama back on top 41-34. Georgia then drove down the field but got INT in the end zone. Bama wins 41-34. What a game!!! This ends Georgia’s 42 regular season win streak. Not only that was since 2021, UGA is 45-3. Those 3 losses are all to Alabama. Alabama also seized the #1 spot in the AP poll with that win.

• • #6 Ole Miss was on the ropes and trailing to Kentucky at half but came back in the 3Q. Kentucky takes the lead back with 2:30 to go. They actually fumble the ball into the hands of a diff Kentucky player who scores. Ole Miss then missed game tying 48 yard FG. For a team that was so close a couple weeks ago against Georgia they get ole miss instead. This was Kentucky’s first win in Oxford since 1978.
  • What an upset in the Pac 12 now Big 12 matchup. #10 Utah lost to Arizona 23-10! It took til the 4Q for Utah to score a single TD. QB Cam Rising didn’t play again. Maybe he wont play at all this season.
  • #15 Louisville might’ve put up the first TD but #16 Notre Dame scored 21 unanswered points in the 1Q. QB Riley Leonard showed out throwing 2 TDs and running in another. It was pretty back and forth after that but the Fighting Irish fought off the Cardinal comeback to win 31-24.
  • #19 Illinois scored 1st but #9 Penn state would score 21 unanswered points including one off an INT in the 4Q. It was a highly defensive game as expected in the Big ten.
  • #23 K State and QB Avery Johnson had himself a day! They bounced back well after that weird loss to BYU. K State had ~560 offensive years and OSU had just under 500 but could only get 20 points out of it. Their only TD was on a flea flicker. Wildcats win 48-20.
• Iowa State had the only shutout in the Top 25. They killed Houston 20-0.

• Some scaries that shouldn’t have been:
  • VTech had #8 Miami on the ropes. Hokies had a TD called back in 3Q on a bad holding call. Miami had this weird lateral play with just 2 min left to score a TD. VTech goes for Hail Mary – called a TD on the field and then under further review they called it incomplete. Announcers called it bad calls both times.

• • #21 Oklahoma was down 21-10 with 10 minutes to go in the game. But then the momentum started to turn. Auburn missed a FG (granted it was 51 yards). Then OU scores in 4 plays. OU still trails 21-16. Auburn was driving and got on the OU side of the field when it finally happened. Auburn has been known all season for their turnovers and all game against the Sooners, they hadn’t allowed a single one. Until the 4 minute mark when OU got the pick 6 and a successful 2-point conversion where their new QB flipped into the endzone. OU now up 24-21. And that was the nail in the coffin. The OU defense stopped the Auburn offense and allowed the Sooners to tack on a FG. Sooners escape with some Sooner Magic 27-21.
  • The #25 Texas A&M vs Arkansas game is always close and its played in Dallas although that is coming to an end. Win probability chart changed teams 11xs. Scores literally alternated teams all game with TDs until Arkansas only managed a FG to start the 4Q and that was the difference. Aggies win 21-17.

• • #12 Michigan led 21-3 at half over Minnesota and was throwing well but then Minnesota came back in the 4Q. The Golden Gophers would score 2 TDs in under 3 minutes. Lucky for Michigan that they got the FG in the final 5 minutes as they would end up winning by just that much. Minnesota would score another TD with just 1:37 on the clock and tried an onside kick and got it but it got called back because Minnesota was offsides. Michigan hangs on 27-24.
  • #22 BYU was up 21-0 before Baylor would get any points on the board. But Baylor fought back scoring a TD in every Q. BYU would end up 34-28.
  • #13 USC was down 11 points at one point but then outscored Wisconsin 28-0 in 2H. The game ended 38-21 for first win in the Big Ten.
  • #1 Texas was close with Mississippi St with a backup QB for almost 3Qs. Finally broke it open at the end of 3Q. Ult won 35-13.

• Some unranked storylines:
  • Western Kentucky had Boston college on the ropes but then had 4 turnovers to lose by 1.
  • Unc was up 20-0 before giving it allllll back to lose 21-20 to Duke. Starting to hear rumors that this might be Mack Brown’s final season as HC there.
  • Colorado went to UCF more than a 2 TD underdog and crushed them 48-21.

• Surprising undefeated teams:
  • Both Army and Navy are undefeated 4-0. That looks to be a collision course for the Commanders Cup.
  • Rutgers beat Washington and is 4-0 for first time since 2012.
  • Indiana undefeated 4-0 (check) since 1976. They are now in the top 25 – about time IMO.

• Speaking of being ranked this week, UNLV is 4-0 for the first time since 1978 when they moved to D1 and is tied with Texas A&M at #25. But they have been in the news a bunch lately. However that isn’t what made headlines prior to the weekend. Starting QB Matt Sluka announced that he will be redshirting and not playing any more games for the rebels – highly unusual for a starter to say without injury. He announced that he was promised NIL money ($100k) but never documented and that he has not received therefore he will be entering the transfer portal at the end of the season. I imagine this will not be the last we will see of this is the NIL space does not change. However Rebel fans need not fret yet as they beat Fresno St on Saturday handily 59-14. Seems like the backup QB isn’t too shabby!

Football – NFL:

• Going back to Week 3 to wrap it up because MNF with a double header. The Bills annihilated the Jags 47-10 sounding more like a college football score than a pro one. Josh Allen threw for 4 TDs – hope you didn’t have him on your bench. The Commanders/Bengals game was a faceoff of two LSU QBs. Rookie Daniels would get the win in this close one 38-33 over Burrow. Although joe had a good day throwing 324 yards for 3 TDs, Daniels was nearly perfect with a 91% completion percentage. The game was so back and forth that after the 1Q, scores literally alternated every single time. The Bengals did score last but it wasn’t enough, falling 5 points short.

• TNF was the hated rivalry of the Cowboys vs Giants. The Giants couldn’t manage to score a TD all game, but nailing 5 FGs. That was not enough and they lose to the Cowboys for the 7^th straight time 20-15.

• NFL Week 4 had 8 close games.
  • The Jags remain winless after losing the Texans by just 4 points. 3 of their losses have been by 5 points or less. They are the last team to win a game.
  • The Falcons got the game winning 58 yard FG to hand the Saints a 26-24 loss.
  • The Rams only managed FGs until the 4Q when finally scoring a TD (and unsuccessful 2-point conversion). It wasn’t enough to beat the Bears who win 24-18.
  • The Vikings started strong, scoring 28 points in the 1H but the Packers had a crazy prolific 4Q, scoring 22 points. They would still ultimately fall 2 points short of the win. Viks 31-29.
  • The Colts QB exited the game but it didn’t matter, they still won 27-24 over the Steelers.
  • Broncos rookie QB Bo Nix got his first passing TD for the only TD in the entire game. That was all they needed to beat the Jets 10-9.
  • The Chargers started off well putting up 10 in the 1Q, however those were their only points all game. That is not enough when you’re playing the Chiefs. KC wins 17-10.

• The not so close ones:
  • The Bengals got their first win of the season over the Panthers on Sunday. Ja’Marr Chase made the defense chase him 63 yards for a TD. Bengals top Panthers by 10.
  • Speaking of long runs, Derrick Henry had the longest run in Raven’s history with 87 yards to score a TD to start the game. The Ravens continued to roll after that, beating the undefeated Bills 35-10.
  • The Commanders took a Q to get it going but then they put up double digits every Q following. They would beat the Cardinals 42-14.
  • Baker Mayfield was one of 4 QBs with over 300 yards passing this weekend. That led to the Bucs controlling the Eagles 33-16.

• Brett Farve announced to the media that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s at a misusing Welfare funds hearing.

Golf:

• President’s Cup. For the first time ever we had back to back sweeps but don’t worry it was still interesting because day 1 was swept by the USA and day 2 was an international sweep. The Americans swept the four-ball sessions on Thursday. Although the Americans were only winning their matches by 1-up but hung over for the sweep. That was the 3^rd time that the Americans have swept day 1. The International team won day 2 by so much that the US only had the lead for 1 hole in 1 of the five matches in the foursomes. 3 matches ended by the 14^th. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffle were 3-0 in foursomes as a team but that ended on Friday as well as they lost to Matsuyama and Im 7and6. That actually tied a Presidents Cup record from 2011.
• We were 5-5 going into the weekend. That’s when the Americans started rolling. They won 3 of the 4 Fourball matches and then 3 of the 4 Foursomes. That put the International at a big disadvantage needing to win 8 of the 12 individual matches on Sunday for a tie.

• On the final day of the competition, the USA looked like they were going to run away with it early but the later half of the matchups in singles turned gold (aka the international color). USA wins match 1 (Xander), theres a tie in match 2 and Scottie Scheffler gets beat by Hiedki Matsuyama in match 3. But then the damage was done with 3 straight matches for Team USA sealing it with Keegan Bradley’s win over Si Woo Kim. The matches after that were 2-2-2. Team USA takes home the Presidents Cup for the 10^th time in a row. The International team hasn’t won since 1998 – that’s actually 4 years before Tom Kim was born!

Olympic Sports:

• This is a sad one. HUN fencer Laslo Csongradi was the gold medalist in the men’s team sabre from the 1988 Seoul Olympics. His gold medal was stolen from his house while he was sleeping back on Sept 10^th. He has offered to leave the gold medal to the thief in his will if it is returned. He is 65 now.
• SUI 18 year old cyclist Murriel Furrer crashed during the junior world championship road race. She crashed in the Zurich race in a forested area and airlifted to the hospital with a head injury. She later died from her injuries. BEL Lotte Kopecky defended her world title, winning in a 6-way sprint fashion. The final 100m was insane but Kopecky crossed before USA Dygert and ITA Longo-Borghini. No surprise on the men’s side, Tadej Pogacar won the road race by 34 seconds and took the lead with 31 miles to go.

Some quick highlights:

• NBA Preseason begins this week. Regular season starts Oct 22.
• Preseason for the NHL started on the 21^st. Regular season starts next week on Oct 8^th.
• Billie Jean King was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. She is the first individual female athlete to receive the honor. Jack Nicklaus, Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson have all been recipients of this award.

What to watch this week

Baseball – MLB:

• Mon 9/30
  • Mets at Braves @ 12:10pm on ESPN2
    • Megill vs Schwellenberger
  • Mets at Braves @ 3:30pm on ESPN2
    • Severino vs Sale
• Tues 10/1
  • AL Wild Card Game: Tigers at Astros @ 1:30pm on ABC
    • Skubal vs Valdez
  • AL Wild Card Game: Royals at Orioles @ 3pm on ESPN2
    • Ragans vs Brunes
  • NL Wild Card Game: TBD at Brewers @ 4:30pm on ESPN
  • NL Wild Card Game: TBD vs Padres @ 7:30pm on ESPN
• Wed 10/2
  • AL Wild Card Game: Tigers at Astros @ 1:30pm on ABC
  • AL Wild Card Game: Royals at Orioles @ 3:30pm on ESPN
  • NL Wild Card Game: TBD at Brewers @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • NL Wild Card Game: TBD vs Padres @ 7:30pm on ESPN2
• Thurs 10/3 – Game 3s if necessary
  • AL Wild Card Game: Tigers at Astros @ 1:30pm on ABC
  • AL Wild Card Game: Royals at Orioles @ 3pm on ESPN
  • NL Wild Card Game: TBD at Brewers @ 6pm on ESPN
  • NL Wild Card Game: TBD vs Padres @ 7:30pm on ESPN2
• Sat 10/5 – Game 1s
  • NLDS: TBD at Phillies @ TBD on TBD
  • NLDS: TBD at Dodgers @ TBD on TBD
  • ALDS: TBD at Yankees @ TBD on TBD
  • ALDS: TBD at Guardians @ TBD on TBD
• Sun 10/6 – NLDS Game 2s
  • NLDS: TBD at Phillies @ TBD on TBD
  • NLDS: TBD at Dodgers @ TBD on TBD
• Mon 10/7 – ALDS Game 2s
  • ALDS: TBD at Yankees @ TBD on TBD
  • ALDS: TBD at Guardians @ TBD on TBD

Basketball – NBA:

• Fri 10/4 – Preseason starts
  • Celtics at Nuggets @ 11am
  • NZ at Jazz @ 8pm
  • Timberwolves at Lakers @ 9:30pm
• Sat 10/5
  • Warriors at Clippers @ 6pm
• Sun 10/6
  • Nuggets at Celtics @ 9am
  • Knicks at Hornets @ 4pm
  • Wizards at Raptors @ 6:30pm
  • Bucks at Pistons @ 7pm on ESPN
  • Suns at Lakers @ 8:30pm

Basketball-WNBA:

• Tues 10/1 – Game 2s
  • Aces vs Liberty @ 6:30pm on ESPN2
    • NY leads 1-0
  • Sun at Lynx @ 8:30pm on ESPN2
  • CT leads 1-0
• Fri 10/4 – Game 3s
  • Lynx at Sun @ 6:30pm on ESPN2
  • Liberty at Aces @ 8:30pm on ESPN2
• Sun 10/6 – Game 4s if necessary
  • Lynx at Sun @ TBD on TBD
  • Liberty at Aces @ TBD on TBD
    • One listed as @ 2pm on ABC
• Tues 10/8 – Game 5s if necessary
  • Aces vs Liberty @ TBD on TBD
  • Sun at Lynx @ TBD on TBD
• Finals start Oct 10

Football – NCAAF:

Top 25
Week 6
Top 25 Games
Visitor	Home	Day	Time (CT)	TV	Line
9. Mizzou	25. Texas A&M	Sat Oct 5	11:00 AM	ABC	TAMU -2
SMU	22. Louisville	Sat Oct 5	11:00 AM	ESPN	L -7
10. Michigan	Washington	Sat Oct 5	6:30 PM	NBC	W -3
8. Miami	Cal	Sat Oct 5	9:30 PM	ESPN	Mia -12.5
*GameDay indicated in bold*

Football – NFL:

• Mon 9/30
  • Titans at Dolphins @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • Seahawks at Lions @ 7:15pm on ABC
• Thurs 10/3
  • Bucs at Falcons @ 7:15pm on Prime
• Sun 10/6
  • Jets at Vikings @ 8:30am on NFL in London
  • 6 games @ 12pm on CBS/FOX
    • CBS: Ravens at Bengals, Colts at Jags and Bills at Texans
    • FOX: Panthers at Bears, Dolphins at Patriots and Browns at Commanders
  • Raiders at Broncos – or – Cardinals at 49ers @ 3:05pm on FOX
  • Packers at Rams – or – Giants at Seahawks @ 3:25pm on CBS
  • Cowboys at Steelers @ 7:20pm on NBC
• Mon 10/7
  • Saints at Chiefs @ 7:15pm on ESPN
• BYE: Lions, Titans, Eagles, Chargers

Golf:

• Mon 9/30
  • NCAA: Blessing Invitational @ 3:30pm on Golf Channel
• Tues 10/1
  • NCAA: Blessing Invitational @ 3:30pm on Golf Channel
• Wed 10/2
  • NCAA: Blessing Invitational @ 3:30pm on Golf Channel
• Thurs 10/3
  • KF Tour: Korn Ferry Championship – Round 1 @ 12pm on Golf Channel
  • PGA Tour: Sanderson Farms – Round 1 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 10/4
  • KF Tour: Korn Ferry Championship – Round 2 @ 11am on Golf Channel
  • PGA Tour: Sanderson Farms – Round 2 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 10/5
  • KF Tour: Korn Ferry Championship – Round 3 @ 11am on Golf Channel
  • PGA Tour: Sanderson Farms – Round 3 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
• Sun 10/6
  • KF Tour: Korn Ferry Championship – Final Round @ 11:30am on Golf Channel
  • PGA Tour: Sanderson Farms – Final Round @ 2:30pm on Golf Channel

Hockey:

• Tues 10/1
  • Devils at Rangers @ 6pm on TNT
  • Golden Knights at Avalanche @ 8:30pm on TNT

Olympics Sports:

• Tues 10/1
  • NCAA Volleyball: Marquette vs Creighton @ 6pm on FS1
• Thurs 10/3
  • NCAA Volleyball: Nebraska vs Illinois @ 6pm on FS1

Soccer:

• Mon 9/30
  • Premier League: Bournemouth vs Southampton @ 2pm on USA
• Wed 10/2
  • MLS: Columbus Crew vs Inter Miami @ 6:30pmon FS1
• Sat 10/5
  • Premier League: Crystal Palace vs Liverpool @ 6:30am on USA
  • Premier League: West Ham vs Ipswitch Town @ 9am on USA
  • Premier League: Teams TBA @ 11:30am on NBC
• Sun 10/6
  • Premier League: Aston Villa vs ManU @ 8am on USA
  • Premier League: Brighton vs Tottenham @ 10:30am on USA