Weekly Update – Week of January 20, 2020

Baseball – MLB: Altuve cheating rumor? HoF banned players.

Basketball – NBA:Zion back on Wednesday. Parsons hit by drunk driver. Rockets lost 3 straight. Porzingis back. O’Neal extension. Trail Blazers and Kings trades

Football – College: Odell LSU problems. Etienne returns. Baylor new HC.

Football – NFL: Super Bowl LIV set! Chiefs vs 49ers

Golf: Landry wins Amex.

Olympic Sports: UCF 40 second fight. Shiffrin bronzed by .01. Hunter bobsled medal for the USA

Tennis: Australian Open has started! Coco>Venus again. Wozniak’s last tourney. Smoky delays.

Baseball – MLB:

• Over the week last week and weekend, the rumor broke that Jose Altuve, 2B for the Astros and MVP of the 2017 World Series, wore an electronic device under his shirt that would alert him to certain pitches as part of the pitching scandal the team is facing at the moment. Altuve vehemently denies it and says that the team will make it back to the World Series this year. The league, team and Altuve himself have not found that this rumor is true yet. If it is, it will be hard to argue that the Astros should keep their 2018 ring.
  • You might also hear the Red Sox being dragged into this after the Astros coach Alex Cora became a coach there. The MLB opened an investigation into this team last Monday. So far they haven’t found anything.
• The MLB has come out and said that just because a player (who was ineligible) dies does not relieve them of their ban and therefore cannot be inducted into the HoF. Why is this important? Well “Shoeless” Joe Jackson was banned from playing pro baseball ever again by the 1921 commissioner after he was found guilty of playing a part in fixing the 1919 World Series. This rule was put into effect in 1991 after Pete Rose was banned for gambling on games while he was playing and managing the Reds, thus why it is informally called the ‘Pete Rose rule.’

Basketball – NBA:

• Zion Williams is slated for a Wednesday return against the Spurs (televised on ESPN). This will be Williams’s NBA debut after having knee surgery right before the season started and being the #1 draft pick.
• Hawks’ forward Chandler Parsons was injured by a drunk driver last week suffering from traumatic brain injury, disc herniation and a torn labrum. The driver was arrested for a DUI after the 2pm crash.
• The Rockets have lost 3 straight games and 4 of the last 5 after their Saturday night defeat by the Lakers 124-115. LeBron was showered with MVP chants despite the game being played in Houston.
• After attending the UFC fight, Kristaps Porzingis should return to the court for the Mavs on Tuesday against the Clippers. He was out for 10 games with right knee soreness.
• The Jazz and their forward Royce O’Neal have signed an extension for 4 years for $36MM.
• The Trail Blazers have traded Kent Bazemore, Anthony Tolliver and 2 future 2^nd round picks to the Kings for Trevor Ariza, Wenyen Gabriel and Caleb Swanigan. The Kings save $12.5MM in salary with this deal.

Football – College:

• After LSU won the national championship, former LSU player (and current Browns WR) Odell Beckham Jr handed out money after their win. At first everyone thought it was fake until Joe Burrow went on a podcast confirming that the money was real. This is not only what he did was a NCAA violation, but he also had an arrested warrant issued for him for simple battery for hitting the security guard on the butt. The officer did not pursue the charge for the butt slap; I can’t believe I had to type those words. The security guard was telling the LSU players to put out their celebratory cigars after winning the game.
• Clemson RB Etienne is staying for his senior season and NOT declaring for the draft. This is prob the #1 surprise in choosing to skip the draft so far this year.
• Baylor hired LSU DC Dave Aranda has their new HC after losing their coach to the Panthers.

Football – NFL:

• Super Bowl LIV is set! The Kansas City Chiefs vs the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 2^nd, 2020 in the Hard Rock Stadium (FL) on Fox. The Chiefs have made their first Super Bowl in 50 years. The Chiefs last won the Super Bowl in 1970 while the 49ers last won the Super Bowl in 1994.
  • The Chiefs beat the Titans 35-24. The Titans at one point led 17-7 before the Chiefs took back control with this Mahomes’ scrambling TD and scored 28 unanswered points. This was back to back weeks that the Chiefs started behind and had a major comeback to win.
  • The 49ers were a different story, they dominated the Packers from the start going up 21-0 at the half. The Packers rallied slightly in the 4^th quarter to make the score not look so bad but still losing 37-20.
    • The 49ers have gone to the Super Bowl 7xs and won 5, only the Steelers and the Patriots have won more Super Bowls (at 6).
  • How others are reacting: if you have Saint fan friends, they will be quick to point out that Bill Vinovich was just chosen as head ref for the game. Doesn’t mean anything to you? It meant something to them…

 

Golf:

• At the American Express, Andrew Landry blew a 6-stroke lead on the final 9 holes to be tied with Abraham Ancer until the 2^nd to last hole. However, Landry birdied the 17^th to win. Ancer matched the course record at 63 to be tied going into the 17^th hole two groups in front of Landry. Ancer is trying to be the 3^rd Mexican winner on the PGA Tour (previously Cesar Sanudo and Victor Regalado) and the first since 1978 will have to wait another day. This is Landry’s second won on the PGA Tour.

Horse Racing:

• Santa Anita racetrack is again in the news for bad things… the racetrack had a third horse, Tikkum Olam, die in just 3 days after it collided with another horse during a training session on Sunday. The other horse was not injured thankfully. 2 horses, Uncontainable and Harliss, died after breaking their ankles during turf races the 2 days prior to Tikkum Olam’s death. This is the 5^th horse to die since 12/26. Last year 37 horses died at the track.

Olympic Sports:

• #ICYMI: (not technically an Olympic sport) All the sports bars were more packed than usual on a Saturday night due to the UFC fight between Connor McGregor and ‘the Cowboy’ Donald Cerrone. After plenty of build up and other fights, the main event lasted only 40 seconds with McGregor beating up on the Cowboy from the start. Believe it or not this was Connor McGregor’s 2^nd fastest fight with the first being his 2015 win over Jose Aldo in 13 seconds.
• American Hunter Church took home the USA’s first bobsledding medal since 2017 in the 4-man bobsled (with Kristopher Korn, Joshua Williamson and James Reed. The previous American medal was in 2017 on foreign soil was on the same track led by Steven Holcomb, who died 3 months later. James Reed was also on the 2017 bronze medalist team as well. Codie Bascue did win silver in 2017 but in Park City, Utah.
• 3 women were separated by .01 seconds in the women’s giant slalom World Cup event this weekend leaving Mikaela Shiffrin with the Bronze while Federica Brignone and Petra Vlhova shared the gold.

Tennis:

• Australian Open Jan 20^th – Feb 2^nd
  • Coco Gauff beat Venus Williams in the opening round of the Australian Open…again. If you think you read this incorrectly or that I accidentally included last year’s Wimbledon results…you’re incorrect. Just like at the 2019 Wimbledon opening round when she burst onto the tennis scene. Coco Gauff beat Venus.
  • Serena Williams beat her opening round opponent in under an hour! Off to a good start.
  • The 2018 Australian Open champion in women’s singles, Caroline Wozniak (pronounced Wahz-knee-ack) is retiring after this tournament.
  • Smoke from wildfires have already been a problem during the qualifying rounds for the tournament and the refs have the ability to call or delay a game if the smoke becomes too bad. Nice that this tournament is taking place to shine the light on how bad this natural disaster is.
  • Defending Champs: Naomi Osaka (women’s singles) and Novak Djokovic (men’s singles).

What to watch this week

Basketball – NBA:

• Mon 1/20
  • Pelicans at Grizzlies @ 4pm on TNT
  • Lakers at Celtics @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Warriors at Trail Blazers @ 9pm on TNT
• Wed 1/22
  • 76ers at Raptors @ 6pm on ESPN
  • Spurs at Pelicans @ 8:30pm on ESPN
• Thurs 1/23
  • Lakers at Nets @ 7pm on TNT
  • Mavericks at Trail Blazers @ 9:30pm on TNT
• Fri 1/24 – Clippers at Heat @ 7pm on ESPN
• Sat 1/25 – Lakers at 76ers @ 7:30pm on ABC
• Sun 1/26 – Celtics at Pelicans @ 5pm on ABC

Basketball – NCAA:

• Mon 1/20
  • Texas at West Virginia @ 6pm on ESPNU
  • Oklahoma at 2. Baylor @ 8pm on ESPN
• Tues 1/21
  • Butler at 14. Villanova @ 6pm on CBSSN
  • Kansas St at 6. Kansas @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • Georgia at 10. Kentucky @ 6pm on ESPN
  • Wichita St at South Florida @ 6pm on ESPNNEWS
  • Maryland at Northwestern @ 6pm on FS1
  • Illinois at Purdue @ 6pm on ESPNU
  • Miami at 3. Duke @ 8pm on ESPN
  • Wyoming at 7. SD St @ 10pm on CBSSN
• Wed 1/22
  • South Carolina at 4. Auburn @ 6pm om ESPNU
  • Bonaventure at 13. Dayton @ 6pm on CBSSN
  • Penn St at 19. Michigan @ 6pm on BTN
  • Providence at 18. Seton Hall @ 7:30pm on FS1
  • Memphis at Tulsa @ 8pm on ESPNU
  • Creighton at DePaul @ 8pm on CBSSN
• Thurs 1/23
  • Minnesota at 21. Ohio St @ 5:30pm on FS1
  • Michigan St at Indiana @ 7:30pm on FS1
  • Washington St at 20. Colorado @ 9pm on PAC12
  • USC at 8. Oregon at 9:30pm on ESPNU
• Fri 1/24 – Marquette at 5. Butler @ 8pm on FS1
• Sat 1/25
  • Illinois at 19. Michigan @ 11am on FS1
  • Villanova at Providence @ 12pm on CBS
  • Tennessee at 6. Kansas @ 3pm on ESPN
  • SMU at 22. Memphis @ 3pm on CBSSN
  • Kentucky at 23. Texas Tech @ 5pm on ESPN
  • Baylor at Florida @ 7pm on ESPN
  • Notre Dame at 9. Florida St @ 7pm on ACCN
  • UCF at 16. Wichita St @ 7pm on ESPNU
• Sun 1/26
  • Maryland at Indiana @ 12pm on CBS
  • Michigan St at Minnesota @ 2pm on Fox
  • SD St at UNLV @ 3pm on CBSSN
  • Xavier at 25. Creighton @ 3pm on FS1
  • Ohio St at Northwestern @ 5:30pm on BTN

Golf:

• Thurs 1/23
  • Farmers’ Insurance Open – Round 1
    • 2pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 1/24
  • Farmers’ Insurance Open – Round 2
    • 2pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 1/25
  • Farmers’ Insurance Open – Round 3
    • 12pm on Golf Channel
    • 2pm on CBS
• Sun 1/26
  • Farmers’ Insurance Open – Round 4
    • 12pm on Golf Channel
    • 2pm on CBS

Hockey:

• Mon 1/20 – Panthers at Wild @ 7pm on RSN
• Tues 1/21 – Penguins at Flyers @ 6:30pm on NBCSN
• Wed 1/22
  • Jets at Blues @ 6:30pm on RSN
  • Rd Wings at Wild @ 7pm on NBCSN
• Fri 1/24 – NHL Skills Competition @ 8pm on NBCSN
• Sat 1/25
  • TBA @ 7pm on NBC
  • TBA @ 8pm on NBC
  • TBA @ 9pm on NBC

Olympic Sports:

• Wed 1/22 – Figure Skating European Championships: Men’s Short Program @ 11:30pm on NBCSN
• Thurs 1/23
  • Figure Skating US Championships @ 5pm on NBCSN
  • Figure Skating European Championships: Men’s Free Skate @ 7pm on NBCSN
  • Figure Skating US Championships @ 9pm on NBCSN
• Fri 1/24
  • Biathlon World Cup: Men’s 20km @ 1am on NBCSN
  • Biathlon World Cup: Women’s 15km @ 2am on NBCSN
  • Figure Skating US Championships @ 5pm on NBCSN
  • Figure Skating European Championships: Ladies’ Short Program @ 11pm on NBCSN
• Sat 1/25
  • FIS World Cup: Women’s Downhill @ 9am on NBCSN
  • Track & Field Indoor Grand Prix: Boston @ 6pm on NBCSN
  • Figure Skating US Championships @ 8pm on NBCSN
• Sun 1/26
  • FIS World Cup: Women’s Super G @ 12:20pm on NBCSN
  • Figure Skating European Championships: Ladies’ Free Skate @ 9pm on NBCSN
  • FIS World Cup: Men’s Ski Jumping @ 11pm on NBCSN

Soccer:

• Tues 1/21 – Premier League: Chelsea at Arsenal @ 2:30pm on NBCSN
• Wed 1/22 – Premier League: ManU vs Burnley @ 2:30pm on NBCSN
• Thurs 1/23 – Premier League: Wolverhampton Wanderers at Liverpool @ 3pm on NBCSN
• Sat 1/18
  • Premier League: Watford vs Tottenham Hotspur @ 7:25am on NBCSN
  • Premier League: Arsenal vs Sheffield United @ 9:55am on NBCSN
• Sun 1/26
  • Italian Serie A: AS Roma at Lazio @ 11am on ESPN2
  • Premier League: Burnley vs Leicester City @ 8:55am on NBCSN
  • Premier League: Liverpool vs ManU @ 11:25am on NBCSN