Baseball: Puig to KOR. Verlander’s new deal with the Astros.
Basketball-NBA: Steph Curry about to break the 3-pointer record. KD drops 51 and some profanity. COVID outbreak.
Basketball-NCAAM: Updates on the week. Baylor #1. CBS Classic this weekend.
Football-NCAAF: Coaching carousel and transfer portals. Navy>Army. Bryce Young wins Heisman. Fake slides are banned. Bowls begin!
Football-NFL: Week 14 recap. Thomas died. COVID outbreak.
Golf: Tiger is back!
Motorsports: F1 finale was epic!!
Olympic Sports: More boycotts. Cavendish attacked. Paris 2024 Opening ceremonies breaking tradition. US Speed skating success.
Baseball:
- Former MLB OF Yasiel Puig signed a $1MM one-year deal with a South Korean team for next season. Although you may recognize his name, Puig has not played in the majors since 2019.
- The Astros have done a monster deal with P Justin Verlander for $50MM for 2 years. He had Tommy John surgery in 2020 but looks to be on track to hit the mound in 2022.
Basketball – NBA:
- Steph Curry is only 7 3-pointers away from breaking Ray Allen’s record ahead of tonight’s game. He shot 16 3s in last nights game. He does regret that he couldn’t have broken the record on his home court. Ray Allen had 2,973 3-pointers in his career when he retired in 2014. Steph is obviously still going so who knows where this record will stop.
- Nets KD dropped the league best of the season so far with 51 points against the Pistons on Sunday. This is the 8th time he has scored 50+ in his career but his first with the Nets. He joins only Steph Curry as the only other player over 50 points this season.
- However KD was also fined $25k for using profanity towards a fan in ATL on Friday night. The fan yelled ‘Durant, stop crying!’ before you see KD turn around and using several expletives.
- God this is sounding scarily familiar – COVID has postponed 1 of the Bulls games as the outbreak continues to effect a number of sports now in season (NFL, NBA & NHL are all having outbreaks at the moment). The Pacers and Raptors both cancelled practices earlier this past week due to abundance of caution for COVID protocols.
- Mavericks star Luka Doncic is out for 2 more games. That’s important for Dallas fans as the team is 0-4 without him. Now 1-4 after their win against the thunder on Sunday.
Basketball-NCAAM:
- NCAAM season. #1 Purdue was upset in a stunning buzzer beater by unranked Rutgers on Thursday. Rutgers F Ron Harper Jr hit the shot from just inside half court to win 70-68. Florida is no longer ranked after losing to another unranked team in Texas Southern 69-54 on Monday and again to Maryland on Sunday. Texas Tech snuck their way into the rankings at #25 after beating #13 Tennessee 57-52 in OT. #7 Texas went down to #23 Seton Hall in a close one 64-60 in the Big East-Big 12 battle. On Saturday: Unranked Oklahoma put the beat down in the #12 razorbacks 88-55 with a 49-point second half. #9 Alabama beat #14 Houston by 1. #10 Kentucky lost to Notre Dame 66-62. The fighting Irish took the lead with 11.7 seconds to go. #21 Ohio St pushed #22 Wisconsin out of the rankings after beating them badly 73-55. All on Sat. Sun: #2 Baylor made the claim for the top spot after beating #6 Villanova 57-36 in a super low scoring match up in the Big East-Big 12 battle.
- Baylor is now the #1 team in the country and is the 4th team to claim that spot in 4 weeks… lets see if that trend of upsetting the #1 team continues. Baylor beat Villanova last night and only has to play Oregon this week.
- CBS classic is this weekend featuring some great games…
Football-NCAAF:
- The college football coaching carousel seems to be slowing down FINALLY. Rumors were swirling that Oregon was pushing for former HC for the Ducks Chip Kelly (2009-2012) then he went to the Eagles and is now with UCLA. However in a crazy turn of events Oregon hired Georgia DC Dan Lanning.
- With all these coaching changes come a lot of transfer portal news and recruits committing. I don’t want to bore with too much of this but here is the big ones:
- Ohio St QB Quinn Ewers has re-committed to Texas. Yes recommitted. Ewers, a Texas native, declared for the Longhorns originally (when Tom Herman was still coach) before switching to Ohio St, cashing in BIG on NIL up there (like $1.4MM big and he hadn’t even touched a field yet) and then entering the transfer portal last week. Now he has said that he will return to Austin. Ewers is an interesting guy to say the least with his dyed bleach blond mullet; the Longhorns are hoping that some of that gusto transfers to leadership on the field.
- Former OU QB and preseason Heisman favorite Spencer Rattler has transferred to South Carolina in a shocking turn of events. Most of us expected him to go to the West coast (where he went to high school). TE Austin Stogner has also committed to transferring to the Gamecocks.
- Texas A&M QB Calzada has entered the transfer portal. Calzada was the starting back-up QB until King got hurt then he started the remaining 10 games of the season.
- Auburn QB Bo Nix is also in the portal which was a huge shock!
- Navy beat Army in an upset of the armed forces game this weekend 17-13. Navy was 3-8 while Army was 8-3.
- Bryce Young is the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner as just a Sophomore. This gives Alabama back-to-back winners with DeVontae Smith taking the award last year. In attendance in NYC was Michigan DL Aidan Hutchinson and Ohio St QB CJ Stroud, although Pitt’s QB Kenny Pickett finished 3rd in the votes.
- Remember when I told you last week that Pitt QB Kenny Pickett’s fake slide was going to be an issue? Well here it is! The NCAA has officially ruled that if a player fake slides, the refs should declare the ball dead and end the play as the player in question is surrendering himself. These plays are not reviewable.
- Now its bowl season!
Football-NFL:
- Week 14 recap: The Vikings beat the Steelers despite the Las Vegas team scoring 21 points in the 4th quarter and attempting a game-winning play in the endzone. The Browns beat the Ravens by 2 after a nice scoop and score by Myles Garrett. The Chiefs route the Raiders 48-9 – that game was over by half 35-3. The Cowboys hang on to beat Washington despite being up 24-0 at half. The Saints blew past the Jets who couldn’t score a TD in their 30-9 loss. The Lions win streak of 1 ends after they lost to the Broncos 38-10. The 49ers pulled out an OT win scoring a TD after the Bengals could only manage a FG. The Bucs vs Bills game also went into OT where Brady pulled off an incredible long pass for a TD, his 700th in his career and the all-time NFL’s completions leader. Now the Packers, Cardinals and Bucs are all sitting at 10 wins.
- Former Broncos WR Demaryius Thomas died in his home at age 33 on Thursday. His death is believed to be a medical issue, potentially seizures, but TBD.
- Ahead of tonight’s game, the Rams have been adding people to their COVID list. They’re not the only ones. Of the top headlines on espn on Monday night, all but 3 of the 8 were about COVID. The league had 37 total positive tests on Monday. The Rams are 8-4 while the Cardinals are 10-2.
Golf:
- Tiger is back! After his harrowing car crash almost a year ago, it was thought that Tiger would never play golf again. However, now he is playing competitively with his son Charlie in the PNC Championship next week. Before you get too excited, Tiger has said that he will never play a full PGA schedule again but that was already kinda happening due to his previous injuries and surgeries before the accident. The big question is when will we see him back at Augusta??
Hockey:
- EA is now going to add women’s teams to their NHL video game!
- Flames have postponed 3 games due to COVID.
Motorsports – Formula 1:
- It was the epic showdown we all wanted in the finale of the Formula 1 season. Lewis Hamilton got a great start off the line despite losing pole to Max Verstappen. The drama started in the first lap when Verstappen tried to pass Hamilton causing Hamilton to go off track. Race direction determined that an investigation was not necessary meaning they deemed that Hamilton gave the advantage he gained in that run off back. Red Bull was pissed. Hamilton led for almost the entire race. On the 52nd lap (of 58) Latifi crashed causing the safety car to come out. Now when the safety car comes out this close to the end of a race, it NORMALLY would end behind the safety car (which you are not allowed to pass behind). But race direction did not want to let the race and championship be decided that way so they announced the safety car would leave with 1 lap to go. And that was the kiss of death for Hamilton. Verstappen was able to stop an extra time to get new tires while the safety car was out. Then race direction let all the lapping cars pass the safety car to go around to the back (that’s normal) but that put Verstappen right behind Hamilton. Then with his better tires, it was no surprise when he out braked Hamilton to take the lead with only a couple of corners to go. Mercedes did protest the result but they were denied.
- Despite the results on Sunday, Hamilton is set to be knighted at Windsor Castle.
- Verstappen has already said he will run the #1 car next year. Remember I told you that was accepted? But it hasn’t been done since 2014.
Olympic Sports:
- Canada and the UK have joined the US in their diplomatic boycott of the Beijing 2022 games.
- Cyclist Mark Cavendish and his family were attacked by 4 burglars who entered their house at knifepoint. Cavendish was home recuperating from a crash that caused him to break his ribs and punctured a lung just a week earlier. The burglars stole 2 watches and some other items from the home. Essex authorities believe this was indeed a targeted event.
- Paris 2024 organizing committee has revealed that the Paris games will feature a boat cruise parade of the athletes on the River Seine. The parade of athletes would open the opening ceremonies and would help the issue of athletes having to stand for hours (which cause a lot of athletes not to do it esp those who are competing the next day) and would be free for ~600k spectators.
- Joey Mantia is making a name for himself in the speedskating, winning the M 1500m for the second week straight in World Cup events. This time (in Calgary) he was half a second off the track record with a time of 1:41.86. It was actually a successful weekend all around for the Americans in CAN. Brittany Bowe won the W 1500m and the men’s team won the the team pursuit on Sunday.
- USA Gym and USOPC agree to pay $380MM to the survivors of Larry Nassar. Michigan St paid $500MM in 2018.
- RUS gets more doping sanctions but this time from World Triathlon.
What to watch this week
Basketball-NBA:
- Tues 12/14
- Warriors at Knicks @ 6:30pm on TNT
- Suns at Trail Blazers @ 9pm on TNT
- Wed 12/15
- Lakers at Mavericks @ 6:30pm on ESPN
- Clippers at Jazz @ 9pm on ESPN
- Fri 12/17
- Warriors at Celtics @ 6:30pm on ESPN
- Lakers at Timberwolves @ 9pm on ESPN
Basketball – NCAAM: Only Top 25 on TV are listed
- Tues 12/14
- Northwestern St at 19. LSU @ 6pm on SEC
- South Carolina at 2. Duke @ 7pm on ACC
- Alabama at Memphis @ 8pm on ESPN
- N Alabama at 13. Auburn @ 8pm on SEC
- Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 17. Texas @ 8pm on ESPNU
- Wed 12/15
- Morehead St at 22. Xavier @ 7:30pm on FS1
- Thurs 12/16
- App St at 2. Duke @ 6pm on ESPN2
- Fri 12/17
- Villanova at Creighton @ 7pm on FS1
- Sat 12/18
- Butler at 3. Purdue @ 11am on FOX
- Tennessee at Memphis @ 11am on ESPN2
- Gonzaga at 25. Texas Tech @ 12pm on CBS
- UCLA at UNC @ 2pm on CBS
- Cleveland St at 2. Duke @ 3pm on ACC
- Marquette at 22. Xavier @ 3pm on FS1
- Providence at UConn at 4pm on FOX
- Ohio St at 21. Kentucky @ 4:15pm on CBS
- Oklahoma St at 14. Houston @ 6pm on ESPNU
- LSU ay La Tech @ 6pm on CBSSN
- Jacksonville St at 6. Alabama @ 7:30pm on SEC
- Auburn at Saint Louis @ 8pm on CBSSN
- Baylor at Oregon @ 9pm on ESPN2
- Sun 12/19
- Texas at Stanford @ 2pm on ABC
Football- NCAAF:
Football-NFL:
- Mon 12/13
- Rams at Cardinals @ 7:15pm on ESPN
- Thurs 12/16
- Chiefs at Chargers @ 7:20pm on FOX
- Sat 12/18
- Raiders at Browns @ 3 :30pm on NFL
- Patriots at Colts @ 7 :15pm on NFL
- Sun 12/19
- 7 games on @ 12pm depending on location on CBS/FOX
- FOX:
- Panthers at Bills
- Cardinals at Lions
- Cowboys at Giants
- Washington at Eagles
- CBS:
- Jets at Dolphins
- Titans at Steelers
- Texans at Jaguars
- Bengals at Broncos – or – Falcons at 49ers @ 3:05pm on CBS
- Seahawks at Rams – or – Packers at Ravens @ 3:25pm on FOX
- Saints at Buccaneers @ 7:20pm on NBC
- FOX:
- 7 games on @ 12pm depending on location on CBS/FOX
- Mon 12/20
- Vikings at Bears @ 7:15pm on ESPN
Hockey:
- Wed 12/15
- Kraken at Ducks @ 9pm on TNT
Olympic Sports:
- Thurs 12/16
- Triathlon: Clash at Daytona @ 5pm on NBCSN
- Fri 12/17
- Speed Skating: US Olympic Trials Short Track @ 7:30pm on NBCSN
- Biathlon: World Cup W 7.5km Spring & M 10km Sprint @ 9pm on NBCSN
- Sat 12/18
- Speed Skating: US Olympic Trials Short Track @ 4:30pm on NBCSN
- Biathlon: World Cup W 10km Pursuit & M 12.5km Pursuit @ 10pm on NBCSN
- Sun 12/19
- Biathlon: W 12.5km Mass Start & M 15km Mass Start @ 5pm on NBCSN
Soccer:
- Tues 12/14
- Premier League: LeedsU vs Machester City @ 1:55pm on NBCSN
- Wed 12/15
- Premier League: Arsenal at West Ham @ 1:55pm on NBCSN
- Thurs 12/16
- Premier League: Chelsea vs Everton @ 1:40pm on NBCSN
- Sat 12/18
- Premier League: ManU vs Brighton & Hove Albion @ 6:25am on NBCSN
- Premier League: Aston Villa vs Burnley @ 8:55am on NBCSN
- Sun 12/5
- Premier League: Everton vs Leicester City @ 6am on NBCSN
- Premier League: Chelsea at West Ham @ 8:10am on NBCSN
- FA Women’s FA Super League: Chelsea at West Ham @ 10:30am on NBCSN
