Basketball – NBA: G League unionizing. Luka out for weeks. Kings win even with turnovers.
Football – College: Bowl season. Heisman man. Army Navy controversy.
Football – NFL: SpyGate 2.0. Kickoff mix up. Carr booed while Manning standing O.
Golf: USA takes President’s Cup.
Olympic Sports: Paris announces surfing local. Russia sweeps luge World Champs. Shiffrin 3rd.
Basketball – NBA:
- The NBPA is in talks with the G League players to unionize the NBA minor leagues. This could lead to collective bargaining agreements on salaries, benefits and travel, etc.
- Maverick fans are at the edge of their seats as Luka Doncic rolled his ankle during the game against the Heat in the first couple of minutes. Good news is it is not broken but the bad news is he could miss a couple of weeks while it heals.
- The Kings have set a NBA season high of 29 turnovers in their game against the Warriors on Sunday but it didn’t matter. The Kings still won 100-79 after shooting 60.3% from the field.
- The Pelicans have had a rough go lately after losing 12 games in a row. This is a franchise record. Yikes!
Football – College:
- The Heisman Trophy was given out on Saturday night and it went to none other than LSU QB Joe Burrow, who won by the largest margin in Heisman history. Burrow is only the 2nd LSU player to win the award to RB Billy Cannon in 1959. He had a very moving speech – bring your tissues. Congrats Joe! OU QB, Jalen Hurts got 2nd.
- Also, something interesting about this year’s nominees is that all but Chase Young were transfers. This proves that sometimes it takes being at the right place at the right time.
- Burrow was originally at Ohio St
- Hurts was originally at Alabama
- Fields was originally at Georgia
- Also, something interesting about this year’s nominees is that all but Chase Young were transfers. This proves that sometimes it takes being at the right place at the right time.
- In the last regular season game of the year, Navy routed Army 31-7. However, that wasn’t the only thing newsworthy from the game. Cadets were seen making a hand gesture that has recently been claimed to symbolize white power (in case you’re as confused as I was the symbol makes a ‘WP’ for white power). A full investigation is being launched by both schools. I originally thought it was the guy ‘made you look circle game’ symbol from Malcom in the Middle (#throwback) other people have said it looks like the ok sign. But the Anti-Defamation League says differently and the man from Australia who killed 51 people in New Zealand mosques in March did the symbol during his court appearance.
- PSA: I will not report the man’s name as I feel that that gives acts like this more prominence and gives these people their 15 minutes of fame. I will not add to that. *gets off soap box*
- The first round of bowl games start on Friday with the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl between Buffalo and Charlotte.
Football – NFL:
- The Patriots have again sparked a controversy, lets call this one “Spy-gate 2.0.” A Patriots freelance photographer shot video of the Bengal’s sidelines which is against league rules. A video aired of a Bengals security guard catching and questioning the photographer which makes it even more incriminating than originally expected. Expect the NFL to doll out a punishment for the team later this week.
- If you watched the Cowboys/Rams game yesterday and were confused, then I got you. The Cowboys won the coin toss during the pregame and QB Prescott originally said “we want to kick it” then quickly followed up with “We defer to second half.” The Cowboys kicked off to start the game. However, at halftime the NFL office got involved and according to Rule 15 section 3 article 9 they can conduct replay review on penalty enforcement, proper down, spot of the foul and game clock. Moral of the story Dallas kicked to LA to start the game and LA kicked to Dallas after the half.
- David Carr, QB for the Raiders, was booed by his own fans after he went to thank them after the last game in Oakland (remember they move to Vegas starting with the 2020 season). Carr shrugged it off as the Raiders lost 20-16 to the Jaguars. Guess he wont be sad to leave there!
- On the contrary, Eli Manning received a standing ovation after his likely last home game of his Giants career. The Giants won 36-20 over the Dolphins with Manning throwing 2 TDs.
- Teams that have clinched their playoff berth so far: Packers, Saints, Seahawks, 49ers, Chiefs, Ravens, Patriots and Bills
- Here is how the division stands so far. We’re getting down to the wire so teams are starting to clinch their playoff spots.
- AFC-East: Patriots
- AFC-North: Ravens (clinched playoff berth)
- AFC-South: Texans
- AFC-West: Chiefs (clinched division)
- NFC- East: Cowboys and Eagles are tied
- NFC-North: Packers
- NFC-South: Saints (clinched division)
- NFC-West: 49ers and Seahawks are tied
Golf:
- The President’s Cup did not disappoint. After getting demolished in the first day of play, Team USA came roaring back to overcome the biggest deficit in Cup history to win! Matt Kuchar clinched the win with a 5 foot putt to half a point with Louis Oosthuizen giving the Americans 15.5 points. Playing captain, Tiger Woods went 3-0 during the Cup. Team USA is now 11-1-1 in the President’s Cup. The next President’s Cup will be in 2021 at Quail Hollow in NC, USA.
- Patrick Reed still makes the news for disruptive behavior but to be fair this time its his caddie. His caddie was ‘benched’ after pushing a fan who cursed at Reed on Saturday. Reed did still manage to beat his opponent in single play, CT Pan.
- Dorkiest moment goes to Justin Thomas for this….
Olympic Sports:
- The Paris 2024 executive board has approved Tahiti as the official Olympic surfing site for the games. Yes Tahiti is very far away from Paris, France, in fact it will be the record for longest distance between events in the same games with 9,769 miles. The previous record was with the equestrian events (held in Stockholm) during the 1956 Melbourne Olympic games as the horses would’ve had to spend 6 months in quarantine before coming into Australia.
- Russia took home all the golds at the skeleton World Cup race at Mount Van Hoevenberg this past weekend. Elena Nikitina won the women’s race by the largest margin in 3 years. Alexander Tretiakov won the men’s by .04 over Germany’s Felix Keisinger.
- Mikaela Shiffrin took 3rd in the Super-G race on Saturday to 2 Italians Sofia Goggia and Federico Brignone.
What to watch this week
Basketball – NBA:
- Wed 12/18
- Heat at 76ers @ 6pm on ESPN
- Celtics at Mavericks @ 8:30pm on ESPN
- Thurs 12/19
- Lakers at Bucks @ 7pm on TNT
- Rockets at Clippers @ 9:30pm on TNT
- Fri 12/20
- Mavericks at 76ers @ 7pm on ESPN
- Pelicans at Warriors @ 9:30pm on ESPN
Basketball – NCAA:
- Tues 12/17
- SE Missouri St at 3. Ohio St @ 6pm on BTN
- North Florida at 21. Florida St @ 7:30pm on ACC
- Wed 12/18
- Stony Brook at 9. UVA @ 5:30pm on ACC
- Western Carolina at 23. Xavier @ 5:30pm on FS1
- Miami (OH) at 1. Louisville @ 7:30pm on ACC
- UNC at 6. Gonzaga @ 8pm on ESPN2
- Baylor at UT Martin @ 9pm on ESPNU
- Utah at 8. Kentucky @ 10pm on ESPN2
- Montana at 10. Oregon @ 10pm on Pac12
- Thurs 12/19
- Maryland at 22. Seton Hall @ 6pm on FS1
- Wofford at 7. Duke @ 6pm on ESPN2
- Prairie View A&M at 24. Colorado @ 7:30pm on Pac12
- NC St at 12. Auburn @ 8pm on ESPN2
- Sat 12/21
- Kansas at 20. Villanova @ 11am on Fox
- Presbyterian at 5. Michigan @ 11am on BTN
- Jacksonville St at 19. Tennessee @ 12pm on SEC
- Purdue at 18. Butler @ 1:30pm on BTN
- UCLA at 17. UNC @ 2pm on CBS
- Ohio St at 8. Kentucky @ 4:15pm on CBS
- Lehigh at 12. Auburn @ 5pm on SEC
- Dayton at 24. Colorado @ 5:30pm on CBSSN
- SD St at Utah @ 5:30pm on PAC12
- Eastern Michigan at 16. Michigan St @ 6pm on BTN
- John’s at 15. Arizona @ 9pm on ESPN2
- Texas Southern at 10. Oregon @ 9:30pm on Pac12
- Sun 12/22 – Prairie View A&M at 22. Seton Hall @ 3:30pm on FS1
Football – NCAA:
Football – NFL:
- Mon 12/16 – Colts at Saints @ 7:15pm on ESPN
- Sat 12/21
- Texans at Buccaneers @ 12pm on NFL
- Bills at Patriots @ 3:30pm on NFL
- Rams at 49ers @ 7:15pm on NFL
- Sun 12/22
- 7 games at 12pm on CBS and Fox
- Jaguars at Falcons
- Ravens at Browns
- Saints at Titans
- Panthers at Colts
- Bengals at Dolphins
- Steelers at Jets
- Giants at Redskins
- Lions at Broncos – or – Raiders at Chargers @ 3:05pm on CBS
- Cardinals at Seahawks – or – Cowboys at Eagles @ 3:25pm on Fox
- Chiefs at Bears @ 7:20pm on NBC
- 7 games at 12pm on CBS and Fox
- Mon 12/23 – Packers at Vikings @ 7:15pm on ESPN
Hockey:
- Mon 12/16 – Avalanche at Blues @ 7pm on RSNE
- Tues 12/17 – Sabres at Maple Leafs @ 6pm on NBCSN
- Wed 12/18
- Avalanche at Blackhawks @ 7pm on NBCSN
- Oilers at Blues @ 7:30pm on RSN
- Thurs 12/19 – Rangers at Bruins @ 6pm on NBCSN
- Sat 12/21
- Jets at Wild @ 1pm on RSN
- Penguins at Canucks @ 9pm on RSN
- Sun 12/22
- Flames at Stars @ 6pm on RSN
- Golden Knights at Sharks @ 9pm on RSN
Olympic Sports:
- Mon 12/16 – Biathlon: World Cup Men’s 4×7.5km Relay @ 12am on NBCSN
- Tues 12/17 – Handball: World Championships Gold Medal Match – Teams TBA @ 10:30 pm on NBCSN
- Wed 12/18
- Triathlon: Ironman World Championships @ 4:30pm on NBCSN
- FIS World Cup: Women’s Giant Slalom @ 6pm on NBCSN
- Fri 12/20
- Biathlon: World Cup Women’s 7.5km Sprint @ 6pm on NBCSN
- FIS Snowboarding: Visa Big Air World Cup @ 7pm on NBCSN
- Sat 12/21
- FIS Snowboarding: Visa Big Air World Cup @ 7pm on NBCSN
- FIS World Cup: Men’s Downhill @ 8:30pm on NBCSN
- FIS Snowboarding World Cup: Halfpipe @ 10pm on NBCSN
- Sun 12/22
- FIS Cross-Country Skiing: World Cup: Men & Women’s Team Sprint @ 6:30pm on NBCSN
- FIS World Cup: Women’s Combined @ 7:30pm on NBCSN
Soccer:
- Mon 12/16 – Premier League: Crystal Palace vs Brighton & Hove Albion @ 2:40pm on NBCSN
- Sat 12/21
- Premier League: Everton vs Arsenal @ 7:25am on NBCSN
- Premier League: Norwich City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers @ 9:55am on NBCSN
- Sun 12/15
- Italian Serie A: Atalanta vs AC Milan @ 5:30am on ESPN2
- Premier League: Watford at ManU @ 8:55am on NBCSN
- Italian Supercoppa: Juventus vs Lazio @ 10:45am on ESPNNEWS
- Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea @ 11:25am on NBCSN
