Weekly Update – Week of December 21, 2020 (COVID Week 41)

Baseball: MLB payroll to $1.75Bn. White Sox vs Angels open Sunday Night Baseball. Rays sign Wacha 1 year deal.

Basketball-NBA: NBA Season begins Tues! Lakers extend Kuzma. Jazz extend Gobert. BLM pressure NBA to kick Pistons GM out.

Basketball-NCAAM: Kentucky 1-5. FL Johnson is ok! Memphis extends contract with HC. Syracuse and Buffalo paused.

Case of the Monday’s: Army has no bowl game after going 9-2! Lets fix this!

Football-NCAAF: CFP Final Four is set. Bowls are set. Championship week did not disappoint.

Football-NFL: Jets win first game – fans pissed. Loins shuffle coaching staff. Panthers GM fired. Edwards-Helaire out for reg season.

Golf: Team Thomas won PNC but Team Woods won our hearts.

Hockey: NHL season to start 1/13!

Olympic Sports: BRA Judo champ Silva banned and will miss Tokyo. CC Skier Northug arrested and banned from driving ever again. Team NZ defends home water in America’s Cup race.

Soccer: Messi ties Pele. Alex Morgan returns to Orlando.

Baseball

• The MLB has released a report saying that payrolls fell to $1.75Bn from $4.2Bn in 2019. The top team spender was the Dodgers who only spent $98.6MM, which is the smallest payroll in 20 years. The Orioles brought up the rear only spending $23.5MM.
• Mark your calendars! The CHI White Sox vs LA Angels will open ESPN Sunday Night Baseball on 4/4/2021. For a full line up, check this article.
• White Sox manager tony La Russa was fined $1,400, sentenced to home detention of 1 day and 20 hours of community service for reckless driving in PHX 10 months ago. He is lucky this was all it turned out to be as it should’ve been a DUI. The incident charges came out 1 day before he was hired by Chicago.
• The Rays have signed a 1 year deal worth $3MM with RHP Michael Wacha. Wacha has been in the league for 7 years, most of those with the Cardinals but was with the Mets last season.

    

Basketball-NBA:

• Regular season starts Tuesday!
• The Lakers have signed F Kyle Kuzma to a 3 year extension deal for $40MM. This was a rare rookie extension that included a player option to be a free agent at 28. Kuzma has been in the league 3 years with the Lakers.
• Staying with the extensions, Utah Jazz extended their deal with C Rudy Gobert for $205MM for 5 years. This is the largest deal ever for the a Center in the entire league. He was eligible for the max $228MM but he didn’t ask for it, wanting the team to have flexibility to build a team around Donovan Mitchell and himself. Good for you Gobert!
• The BLM movement is putting pressure on the NBA to make the Pistons owner sell his team. Why? Because of his ownership in Securus Technologies (which his PE firm technically owns) sets pricing for inmate calls in many counties around the country. Sometimes calls are set at $14-$15/minute.

Basketball – NCAAM:

• Kentucky has lost its 5^th straight game, which is the worst start for the school since 1926. They have lost games to Richmond, #7 Kansas, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and #22 UNC. The only win on their record is against Morehead St on 11/25… Coach Calipari better hope they can turn it around. Calipari has been with the Wildcats since 2009 where his worse record was 21-12 in 2012. In 2019, Kentucky signed Calipari up for a ‘lifetime’ contract.
  • An update: Coach Calipari has urged freshman Cam’Ron Fletcher to ‘step away’ from the team after he got upset towards the end of their loss to UNC. He went on to say that the culture is not going to change at Kentucky so Fletcher needs to change.

• Florida player Keyontae Johnson is ok! After collapsing on the court last week and being in a medically induced coma, Johnson is now home and released this video. Doctors are still not sure what caused the sudden collapse although it is thought to be something related to his heart.
• In other coaching news, Memphis has extended their contract with HC Penny Hardaway for 5 years for $12.25MM.
• Both Syracuse and Buffalo are on pause right now after a player from the Bulls tested positive following their game on Saturday.

Case of the Monday’s:

• This case of the Monday’s goes to the Pac 12, who has had so many team opt out and now a 9-2 Army team doesn’t have a bowl game to play in! They were slated to play a Pac 12 team but with a lot of the Pac 12 opting out and others saying if they play Army, they will, the Black Knights have no bowl game to go to. So this is a call to action on this Christmas Monday. The Seniors of Army have elected to stay on campus to practice just in case they find an opponent, let’s give them one! #LetArmyGoBowling

Football – NCAAF:

• Who’s In? We now know. The CFP Final Four are 1. Alabama, 2. Clemson, 3. Ohio St and 4. Notre Dame. #1 and #4 will play in the Rose Bowl and the #2 vs #3 will play in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
  • Texas A&M was ranked #5 followed by #6 Oklahoma after they won their 6^th Big 12 Championship in a row. The Aggies were very upset about being left out but they will play UNC in the Orange Bowl.
  • Also in CFP Semi news, the Rose Bowl will now be played in AT&T Stadium in Dallas, TX after California would not allow even the families of football players to attend the game.
• Here’s who won their Championships: USC was the first Power 5 team up and couldn’t pull this game out against Oregon, although they tried. Alabama won the SEC after a thriller game with Florida. Clemson opened a can of whoop ass on Notre Dame in revenge of their earlier loss this season. Obviously proving that having their Heisman candidate QB back makes a difference. Oklahoma got revenge on Iowa St in what looked like a runaway but in true Sooner fashion came down to the wire. Justin Fields had an off day for the Buckeyes but that didn’t matter when you have Trey Sermon, who ran for over 300 yards to secure the Big 10.
  • As far as the non-Power 5 goes: Coastal Carolina got screwed by not being able to play due to COVID reasons. UAB took the Conference USA. In what felt like an upset, Ball St beat Buffalo for the MAC. San Jose St remains undefeated, beating Boise St for the Mountain West and Cincinnati beat Tulsa again in a rainy cold mess of a game. Cincinnati secured their spot in a New Years 6 bowl game with that win and with Coastal not being able to play.
• Transfers: OU backup QB Tanner Mordecai will enter the transfer portal. Baylor QB Charlie Brewer to go to Utah. Texas QB Ja’Quinden Jackson to Utah as well.
• NFL Draft Declarers: Florida TE Kyle Pitts (miss OU game), Miami DE Quincy Roche and Jaelan Phillips (miss OSU game), OSU RB Chuba Hubbard, UNT WR Jaelon Darden (miss App St game), Indiana WR Elijah Moore & TE Kenny Yeboah (miss Ole Miss game)

Football – NFL:

• The Jets cant do anything right. They won their first game of the season last night against the Rams. Why is this bad? Because now they are no longer the #1 draft pick, which they would most likely intend to use on Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence. The only hope Jets fans have now is that the Jaguars will win another game. Right now they have the same record but the Jags have a weaker schedule (which is the tie-breaker). This win snaps a 13 game losing streak.
• The Lions have fired their Special teams coach Brayden Coombs after he attempted a fake punt in the 4^th quarter without going through the proper channels. This is just one of the many changes at the team where they fired their HC and GM earlier this season.
• Speaking of being fired, the Panthers fired their GM Marty Hurney, whose contract was up in June. The Panthers are 4-10.
• Chiefs RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire will miss the rest of the regular season but with hopes to return for post season with a ankle sprain and strained hip/ This hurts the Chiefs as E-H is their leading rusher.
• Teams that have clinched their division and a playoff berth: Packers (NFC N), Chiefs (AFC W) and Bills (AFC E)
• Teams that have already clinched playoff berths: Steelers, Saints and Seahawks
• Eliminated: Lions, Falcons, Panthers, 49ers, Patriots, Jets, Bengals, Texans, Jaguars, Chargers and Broncos

Golf:

• A bunch of PGA Toru players and their dads competed in the PNC Championship this weekend and although Justin Thomas and his dad Mike, won, Tiger and his kid stole the show. Tiger and his 11 year old son Charlie were tied with JT and Mike going into the final round on Sunday. Ultimately Team Thomas had 15 birdies during the final round to finish 1 shot over Vijay Singh and his son Qass. Social media went crazy with Team Woods though. Charlie is so good at only age 11 that they used all his shots for an eagle during the tournament. Like GOAT father like son…

Hockey:

• NHL has agreed on a 56 game season that is scheduled to start on Jan 13^th! Regular season would end on May 8^th and Stanley Cup Playoffs would last into July. Another change is there will be 4 divisions: North, South, East and West with only play occurring in each team’s respective divisions until the 3^rd round of playoffs to minimize traveling. The North division is the 7 Canadian teams.

Olympic Sports:

• BRA Olympic Judo Champion from 2016 Rafaela Silva lost her appealed with the Court of Arbitration for Sports and she will miss the Tokyo Olympics. In August 2019, she tested positive after her win at the Pan American games for fenoterol, which is used to treat asthma. She tested negative at the world championships in Tokyo, where she placed 3^rd. She has since been stripped of both medals.

• Cross Country skiing champion, NOR Petter Northug, was found guilty of the possession of narcotics and serious traffic offenses. He will serve 7 months of jail time and a lifetime driving ban. He was arrested after driving his Jaguar over 125mph. Northug won 2 golds at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and is a 13x world champion.
• Team New Zealand won its home America’s Cup World Series over Team USA American Magic and Team Italy Luna Rossa. This race was not a regular regatta (think of this as a preseason season game). This was the first time we saw the teams test out the new foiling AC75 class yachts.
  • The Sydney-Hobert yacht race has been canceled due to COVID. This race has been held since 1945 and was scheduled to begin on boxing day (12/26).

Soccer:

• Lionel Messi has now tied Pélé for the most goals ever scored for the same club with 643. Messi scored this goal of a ricocheted penalty kick for FC Barcelona. Pélé scored his 643 goals for Santos from 1956-1974. He retired after 3 years later after playing for the NY Cosmos.
• Alex Morgan will not play for Tottenham in 2021, instead she will return to the Orlando Pride. Morgan wants to be back state side to play more games, grow the NWSL and prep for the Olympics. Her last game in Tottenham would’ve been this weekend vs Chelsea but that game was canceled due to COVID.

What to watch this week

Basketball-NBA:

• Tues 12/22
  • Warriors at Nets @ 6pm on TNT
  • Clippers at Lakers @ 9pm on TNT
• Wed 12/23
  • Bucks at Celtics @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Mavericks at Suns @ 9:30pm on ESPN
• Fri 12/25
  • Pelicans at Heat @ 11am on ESPN
  • Warriors at Bucks @ 1:30pm on ABC
  • Nets at Celtics @ 4pm on ABC
  • Mavericks at Lakers @ 7pm on ABC & ESPN
  • Clippers at Nuggets @ 9:30pm on ESPN
• Sat 12/26 – 3 games on NBATV
• Sun 12/27 – 3 games on NBATV

Basketball – NCAA:

• Mon 12/21
  • Gardener-Webb at 21. Florida St @ 6pm on ACC
  • Arkansas Pine Bluff at 2. Baylor @ 7pm on ESPN+
  • Longwood at 24. VTech @ 7pm on ACC
  • NW St at 1. Gonzaga @ 8pm
• Tues 12/22
  • William & Mary at 16. UVA @ 1pm on ACC
  • Nebraska at 9. Wisconsin @ 6pm on FS1
  • Bradley at 14. Mizzou @ 6pm on SEC
  • Texas Tech at Oklahoma @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • UNC at NC St @ 6pm on ACC
  • Temple at 6. Houston @ 7pm on ESPN+
  • NW St at 1. Gonzaga @ 8pm
  • West Virginia at 3. Kansas @ 8pm on ESON2
  • Purdue at 4. Iowa @ 8pm on BTN
• Wed 12/23
  • Xavier at 13. Creighton @ 2pm
  • UCLA at 25. Oregon @ 2pm on ESPN2
  • Rutgers at 23. Ohio St @ 3:30pm on BTN
  • SC Upstate at 8. Tennessee @ 4pm on SEC
  • Illinois at Penn St @ 5:30pm on BTN
  • Villanova at Marquette @ 6pm
• Fri 12/25
  • Wisconsin at 12. Michigan St @ 11:30am
  • Michigan at Nebraska @ 5pm
  • Iowa at Minnesota @ 7pm
• Sat 12/26
  • Houston at UCF @ 1pm on ESPN2
  • Ohio St at Northwestern @ 1pm
  • Gonzaga at 16. UVA @ 3pm
  • Indiana at 18. Illinois @ 3pm

Football-NCAAF:

Football – NFL:

• Mon 12/21
  • Steelers at Bengals @ 7:15pm on ESPN
• Fri 12/25
  • Vikings at Saints @ 3:30pm on FOX
• Sat 12/26
  • Bucs at Lions at 12pm on NFL
  • 49ers at Cardinals @ 3:30pm on Prime Video
  • Dolphins at Raiders @ 7:15pm on NFL
• Sun 12/27
  • 7 games @ 12pm on FOX/CBS depending on your geographical location
    • Falcons at Chiefs
    • Browns at Jets
    • Colts at Steelers
    • Panthers at Washington
    • Bears at Jaguars
    • Giants at Ravens
    • Bengals at Texans
  • Broncos at Chargers @ 3:05pm on CBS
  • Eagles at Cowboys – or – Rams at Seahawks @ 3:25 on FOX
  • Titans at Packers @ 7:20pm on NBC
• Monday 12/28
  • Bills at Patriots @ 7:15pm on ESPN & ABC

Soccer:

• Tues 12/22
  • Italian Serie A: Hellas Verona vs Internazionale @ 11:30am on ESPN2
• Sat 12/26
  • Premier League: Leicester City vs ManU @ 6:25am on NBCSN
  • Premier League: Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace @ 8 :55am on NBCSN
  • Premier League: Manchester City vs Newcastle @ 3pm on NBCSN
• Sun 12/27
  • Premier League: West Ham United vs Brighton & Hove Albion @ 8am on NBCSN
  • Premier League: Liverpool vs West Brom @ 10:25am on NBCSN
  • Premier League: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur @ 1:15pm on NBCSN