Weekly Update September 9, 2024

Baseball: This week in the MLB. Lots of streaks broken, extra innings. More teams eliminated.

Football – NCAAF: 6 losses in Top 25. A doozy of a weekend that was supposed to be lackluster.

Football – NFL: Week 1 in the books and we had 9 close games. 1 in OT. 15 black QBs. New contracts.

Olympic Sports: Paralympics are over and we say au revior to Paris!

Soccer: Morgan retires and is pregnant.

Tennis: US Open results. Spoilers: Men and Women’s champ both won the AUS open.

*CORRECTION FROM THE PODCAST: FRA beat ARG  to claim gold in blind football in a penalty shootout.*

Baseball – MLB:

• MLB this week:
  • Phillies star Kyle Schwarber hit 3 HRs for the 2^nd time this season against the Blue Jays and they needed all of those! They only won by 1. Braves P Chris Sale won his 16^th game of the season and earned 200 Ks. That is the first time since 2019 that he hit the 2k K mark. Braves beat the Rockies 3-0. The A’s had their 2^nd straight walkoff win in their game over the Mariners with a last second HR. The Cardinals won in the 10^th inning over the Brewers both Tuesday and Wednesday.

• • The Royals lost their 7^th game in a row on Tuesday big time to the Guardians 7-1. They would stop that skid the next day and would go onto win the next 4 in a row and that’s still going! The Reds started off got hot with a 9-run 1^st inning against the Astros! IDK how you come back from that and they did not. Reds win 12-5. Again Kyle Schwarber back in the headlines for the 2^nd This time he hit a leadoff HR, which ties the MLB record of 13^th leadoff HR with Soriano. The Phillies would win again 4-2. The White Sox finally broke their 12 game losing streak with a big win over the Orioles 8-1! Cubs Pitchers combine for a team no-hitter against the Pirates. Cubs would win 12-0! The Mariners destroyed the A’s on Wed 16-3.

• • The Tigers hit a grand slam with 2 outs in the 9^th inning to win by 1 and that was their only score of the night! Poor Padres.
  • The Cubs only got one hit in their 0-3 loss to the Yankees. The Red Sox broke their 5 game losing streak to who else, the White Sox! That’s their 110^th The Phillies scored 16 in their game over the Marlins who only had 2 runs. The Mariners P Miller had a scoreless 6 innings to win over the Cardinals. Royals P Ragans also threw 6 scoreless innings as well to beat the Twins.
  • The Yankees got their 32^nd winning season with their win over the Cubs with 2-0. The Braves lost to the Blue Jays which knocks them out of the wild-card spot. The Dodgers started with a 6-run 1^st inning to beat the Guardians 7-2. Dodgers star Ohtani got his 46^th HR which ties his career high and the season isn’t over! The Astros were down 8-0 in 3rd and ultimately lost 12-6. The Mets had won 9 in a row until Sunday night! They would lose to the reds 3-1.

• Longest game of the week was on Tuesday in the Cardinals/Brewers game. It was 3-3 at the end of regulation. The Cardinals were done scoring in the 4^th Both teams would get 1 a piece in the 11^th. Then the Cardinals went off in the 3^rd  extra inning bringing in 3 to win in the 12^th. That game would then be topped on Friday by the Tigers/A’s game that would go into the 13^th inning. It was only 2-2 at regulation. They both scored 1 in the 10^th and 2 in the 11^th and 1 in the 12^th. The A’s would win out with a single the final run in the bottom of the 13^th.
• We have an update in the standings. The Marlins and the Rockies have both been officially eliminated from playoffs. Both sit in the NL and join the White Sox. The White Sox have now lost their 111^th game of the season and we still have weeks to go!

Football-NCAAF:

• Week 3 Top 25 Upsets:
  • #10 Michigan fell to #3 Texas handily. The wolverines just couldn’t score. The only TD was in the final 2 min of the game. Texas wins 31-12

• • In the most shocking game of the day. NIU upset #5 Notre Dame with a FG in the final 32 seconds of the game. They also blocked a ND FG to win. The Huskies were a 28 point underdog. This is the MAC’s first win EVER over top 10 team. It’s also ND’s first loss to unranked team as top 5 since 2002.
  • In a match up of the Big 12 and the Big 10, Illinois beat #19 Kansas 23-17. Kansas QB Daniels threw 3 interceptions. Illini scored 10 points in the 4Q to win.
  • Iowa state finally finally managed to win the cy-hawk game. #21 Iowa was up all first Q leading 13-0. But then the Hawkeyes would only score one more TD in the 2H. Iowa State went on a tear to come all the way back to win with a game winning 54 yard FG in the final 6 seconds of the game.
  • #23 Georgia  Tech was finally ranked. And then lost their first game with a number next to their name to Syracuse. It was decently close and GT tried to mount a comeback but would fall 3 points short.
  • #14 Tennessee manhandled #24 NC state. NC state didn’t manage to score a TD on offense with their only one coming off a pick six at the end of the 3Q. Vols win 51-10.

• Other major storylines:
  • #2 Ohio State, #9 Mizzou and #13 USC managed shut outs against their respective opponents.
  • #16 Oklahoma State was getting dominated by Arkansas early. The score was 21-7 at half but it looked worse by watching. The 4Q would be crazy with 28 points scored. And we would end tied. Both teams failed to get their FGs in OT and we went to 2OT. OSU scored a TD and Arkansas couldn’t answer. OSU pokes escape.
• We had a two good an close games on Friday. SMU did not manage to score a TD at home in their game against BYU. That’s noteworthy for a team that averaged 50 points at home last year. The ponies would lose to BYU 18-15. Hope you took the Under in that game. Then later in the night, Duke/Northwestern would go into 2OT. Duke got a game-tying FG in teh fianl 13 seconds to get to OT and then proceeded to score 2 TDs in OT to beat the wildcats. OT both teams scored and we went to do it all again. Duke scored another but NW fell short.

• Last year, Deion’s Colorado team started hot beating 2 Power 5 teams in a row. This year not so much. Yes they won last week but over a FCS team (and not the nattys). Then this week they went to Lincoln and got beat badly. Nebraska has a new QB. Get to know his name if you dont already. Dylan Raiola. He is upping the Cornhusker game and they walked out with an easy win 28-10. Colorado scored the final 10 points in the 2H.

• Some scaries that shouldn’t have been:
  • #7 Oregon is in here again! Boise State led early and was leading 20-14 at half time. But Oregon rolled in the 3Q putting up 13 unanswered points. The Ducks would getting a game tying TD with 10 min left in the game and a FG to win as time expires.
  • #8 Penn State was trailing Bowling Green at the end of 1Q and 2Q but it was close. 24-20 at half. The Nittany lions would win out 34-27 but definitely didn’t cover the spread here after a super hype worthy week 1.
  • #15 Oklahoma only put up 2 TDs the entire game against UH and it was a 2 point game the entire final Q. Jackson Arnold was only 19-32 for just 174 yards. The OU defense managed a safety in the final minute of the game.
  • #17 Kansas State was trailing Tulane at halftime 20-10! But the Wildcats comeback all the way to tie it up in the 3Q. They would win by a TD. But Tulane did have the ball with 5 seconds left and threw a pass into the endzone but it was INT. Game over!
  • I also added #18 LSU in here because with just 4min in the 1H, LSU was only leading Nicholls by 2. They did manage 21 points n the 3Q and won 44-21 though.
  • #20 Arizona should’ve beaten NAU by more than 12 points but they did still win.

• USC has retired Caleb Williams and Reggie Bush’s numbers.

Football – NFL:

• It was a great week 1 with 9 games were within a TD. 15 black QBs started in the NFL this week which is the most ever.
  • Starting with TNF between the Ravens and Chiefs. I’m sure you all say the TSwift photo of her walking into the stadium. The Ravens mounted a comeback by scoring 10 points in the final Q to bring the game within 1 score. They would get that game tying TD in the final 5 seconds of the game with what looked like a completed pass to Likely. However the officials would overturn the ruling on the field and call it incomplete.
  • You know we have to have 1 game go into OT. This week it was the Lions and Rams game. The Rams came back in the 4Q, doubling their points in the game putting up 10 to tie it up. The Lions got the ball first in OT and took it down the field in 8 plays to score a TD.

• • The Eagles loved having RB Saquon Barkley on their team. He was responsible for 3 TDs in their game over the Packers in Brazil. The Packers would lose a close one 34-29 and to add insult to injury, QB Jordan Love went of the game in the final minute with a MCL sprain.

• • The Texans beat the Colts in what was a high scoring 4Q. Both teams put up 14 points but the HOU team wins by 3. In a big upset, the Patriots beat the Bengals by 6 in a low scoring affair. That’s a big shock after the season the Pats had last year and the Bengals were supposed to be a SB dark horse. CIN was favored by 7.5 points.

• The not-so-close games:
  • The Saints annihilated the Panthers 47-10. Fun fact every TD was scored by a different player (RB or WR) with the longest being the first one at a 59 yard pass to Rashid Shaheed. They also had 4 FGs to add to the total.
  • The Vikings steamrolled over the Giants who only managed to get 2 FGs. Viks win 28-6, including a pick six.
  • DAL was in control the entire time over the Browns. They were up 20-3 at half and continued to pile on. Final score was 33-17.
  • The Bucs and QB Baker Mayfield had themselves a day. Mayfield threw for 4TDs and beat the Commanders 37-20. It was a battle of Heismans as on the other side, Commanders QB Jayden Daniels was Washington’s leading rusher with 88 yards and 2 TDs – yikes.

• Other headlines:
  • Damar Hamlin is back for the Bills after his heart episode. We were happy to see him. And the Bills would beat the Cardinals 34-28.
  • Simone Biles’ husband, Jonathan Owens got a scoop n score in the Bears win over the Titans. The Titans did all their scoring in the 1H putting up 17 and then nothing after that.

• New contracts:
  • Dak Prescott got a new contract with the Cowboys for 4 more years at $240MM, making him the highest paid player in the league.
  • Trent Williams signed with the 49ers for $82MM for 3 years.

Olympic Sports:

• The Paralympics came to a close last night. The final medal count was similar to last week. CHN raked in the medals with 220 total, 94 gold. Team GBR was 2^nd with 124 total and 49 gold. Team USA was 3^rd with 105 and 36 gold. There are 549 events in the Paralympics so the CHN medaled in almost half!
  • Classification guide: usually the lower the number, the greater the impairment.

• We added:
  • Swim: Jessica Long took home her 16^th and 17^th Paralympic gold medals by winning the W400m Free S8 and W100m Fly S8 (almost full capacity but lack all around muscle power for one reason or another). Long had both legs amputated at 18 months. She is among the most decorated Paralympian of all time (9^th by golds and 6^th by total). LeAnne Smith won the W50Free S4 (high degree of movement affected in trunk and legs and hands or loss of limbs – power from shoulders). Christie Raleigh Crossley earned her 2^nd gold of these games this time in the W100Fly S9 (high degree of weakness in one leg or missing limb) – she prev won 100back. She would tie Elizabeth Marks for the most medals brought home these Paralympics with 5. Marks got 5 swimming silvers.

• • The women cleaned up in Cycling road time trails on Sept 4^th. Katerina Brim, Oksana Masters and Samantha Bosco all won their classification of the TT (H1-3, H4-5 and C4 respectively). Oksana would go on to win the road race as well H5 (kneeling position on bike. Hand cyclists)
  • Athletics: On the field, Noelle Malkamaki won the W Shot Put F46 (movement affected in one of both arms). Jeremy Campbell won the M Discus F64 (combo of classes but below knee amputation falls in here). Let the Woodhall mania continue! Hunter won his gold medal in the 400m T62 (absence of both legs) and now both of them have a gold medal to their name. Talk about a power couple!
• 
  • Equestrian: Rebecca Hart would add another gold in the Individual Freestyle grade III and Fiona Howard would do the same in grade II. Then no surprise but they would add another with the team gold by adding rider Roxanne Trunnell as well.
  • Team: The US women’s sitting volleyball team claimed gold on the last full day of the games. We beat CHN in the final 3-1. We also won men’s wheelchair basketball gold after beating Team GBR 73-69. USA is the only country to win gold 3xs in the event. Steve Serio scored 24 points in the final game – worthy of his torch bearing title. Jake Williams led with 26 points. We lost the women’s wheelchair bball gold medal match to NED 63-49 for the final gold up for grabs at these games.

• Other noteworthy stories:
  • There were 5 events that CHN swept the entire podium. M50 back S5, W 50 Back S5, M50 Free S5, M50 Fly S5 and W 200IM SM5. NED would sweep the W100 T64.
  • CORRECTION FROM THE PODCAST: FRA beat ARG  to claim gold in blind football in a penalty shootout.
  • Eritrea, Kiribati and Kosovo made their Paralympic debut.

Soccer:

• Alex Morgan has officially retired. She played her last game last night. She announced her retirement on Insta with another announcement, that’s he is pregnant with her 2^nd child!

Tennis:

• The US Open has finished and in remarkable similar fashion. Despite all the upsets and big names falling out of the rounds earlier than they should the result was remarkably normal.
  • On the men’s side: The only ‘boring’ matchup was #25 GBR Drapers straight set win over #10 AUS De Minaur. The others were very entertaining. #1 ITA Sinner put away #5 RUS Medvedev 6-2, 1-6 (don’t know what happened there), 6-1 and 6-4. Pretty dominant as he looked so far. Then the Americans had two big upsets. #20 Tiafoe was beating #9 BUL Dimitrov 3-1 before Dimitrov retired. He did the same thing in Wimbledon 4^th round this year. #12 Fritz played hard against #4 GER Zverev who took the book end sets to tiebreakers playing all 5 sets. That left Sinner to easily beat Draper in straight set to advance to the finals and then we had a USA vs USA semifinal between Tiafoe and Fritz and it was awesome. Tiafoe took the early lead, leading 2-1 but Fritz came back to win both of the final 2 sets he needed to win the match. Fritz is now 7-1 to Tiafoe and is the first American to make a GS final since Andy Roddick in 2009. He would then fall to #1 Sinner in straight sets in the final 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. Sinner won his 2^nd GS this year and 2^nd in his career. He did make the other 2 GS semis as well. Quite the year!

• • Women’s side: Actually a very similar story! All the Quarterfinals were won in 2 sets. #2 BLR Sabalenka won over #7 CHN Zheng easily and #13 USA Navarro beat #26 ESP Badosa. But then we had some upsets! #1 POL Swiatek fell to #6 USA Jessica Pegula! And then unranked CZE Muchova beat #22 BRA Haddad Maia. Pegula then rained on Muchova’s aparade beating her in 3 sets after losing the first one 1-6 and rallying. Then it could’ve been a all USA final but #2 Sabalenka had something to say about that. She beat Navarro in 2 before advancing to the final. Jessica Pegula played her heart out in the final taking both set sto 7-5 before losing the title to Sabalenka. This the BLR-ian 3^rd GS title including the AUS open this year. Both AUS GS winners won the US Open.

What to watch this week

Baseball – MLB:

• Mon 9/9
  • Angels at Twins @ 7pm on FS1
• Tues 9/10
  • Orioles at Red Sox @ 6:10pm on TBS
    • Suarez vs Crawford
  • Cubs at Dodgers @ 9:10pm on TBS
    • Imanaga vs Yamamoto
• Wed 9/11
  • Royals at Yankees @ 6:05pm on Prime
  • Padres at Mariners @ 8:40pm on FS1
    • King vs Woo
• Thurs 9/12
  • Red Sox at Yankees – or – Rays at Guardians @ 6:15pm on FOX
• Fri 9/13
  • Red Sox at Yankees @ 6:05pm on Apple TV+
  • Dodgers at Braves @ 6:20pm on Apple TV+
• Sun 9/15
  • Dodgers at Braves @ 6pm on ESPN
    • Buehler vs Morton

Football – NCAAF:

Top 25
Week 3
Top 25 Games
Visitor	Home	Day	Time (CT)	TV	Line
20. Arizona	14. Kansas St	Fri 9/13	7:00 PM	FOX	K St -7
4. Alabama	Wisconsin	Sat 9/14	11:00 AM	FOX	AL -16
16. LSU	South Carolina	Sat 9/14	11:00 AM	ABC	LSU-7
24. Boston College	6. Mizzou	Sat 9/14	11:45 AM	SEC	MIZ -16.5
9. Oregon	Oregon St	Sat 9/14	2:30 PM	FOX	ORE -16.5
*GameDay indicated in bold*

Football – NFL:

• Mon 9/9
  • Jets at 49ers @ 7:20pm on ESPN and ABC
• Thurs 9/12
  • Bills at Dolphins @ 7:15pm on Prime
• Sun 9/15
  • 10 games @ 12pm on FOX & CBS
    • CBS: Jets at Titans, 49ers at Vikings, Chargers at Panthers, Browns at Jaguars, Raiders at Ravens
    • FOX: Saints at Cowboys, Bucs at Lions, Colts at Packers, Seahawks at Patriots, Giants at Commanders
  • Chargers at Cardinals @ 3:05pm on FOX
  • Steelers at Broncos – or – Bengals at Chiefs @ 3:25pm on CBS
  • Bears at Texans @ 7:20pm on NBC
• Mon 9/16
  • Falcons at Eagles @ 7:15pm on ESPN

Golf:

• Fri 9/13
  • Solheim Cup @ 6am on Golf Channel
• Sat 9/14
  • Solheim Cup
    • @ 6am on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on NBC
• Sun 9/15
  • Solheim Cup
    • @ 7:45am on Golf Channel
    • @ 11am on NBC

Motor Sports:

• Sat 9/14
  • F1: Qualifying @ 7am on ESPN2
• Sun 9/15
  • F1: Qatar Airways Azerbaijan GP @ 6am on ESPN

Olympics Sports:

• Fri 9/13
  • NCAA Volleyball: Duke vs Penn St @ 7:30pm on FS1

Soccer:

• Mon 9/9
  • UEFA Nations: FRA vs BEL @ 9:30pm on FS1
• Tues 9/10
  • UEFA Nations: ENG vs FIN @ 9pm on FS1
• Sat 9/14
  • Premier League: Southampton vs ManU @ 6:30am on USA
  • Premier League: Crystal Palace cs Leicester City @ 9am on USA
• Sun 9/15
  • Premier League: Tottenham vs Arsenal @ 8am on USA
  • Premier League: Wolves vs Newcastle U @ 10:30am on USA
  • MLS: Seattle Sounders vs Sporting KC @ 6pm on FS1