Baseball: New wood-bat league! MLB new deal tea. Arozarena custody problems. Phillies lost $145MM in COVID season.
Basketball: NCAAM is back! NBA trade tea. New season protocols. HoF delayed. 2021 preseason released.
Case of the Monday’s: F1 Grosjean’s escape – Bon Retablissement!
Football-NCAAF: 5 losses in Top 25 lead to CFP implications. GameDay still TBD. ICYMI Kick like a girl Sarah Fuller style. 3rd FSU game canceled. Opt outs.
Football-NFL: COVID problems in the NFL. 49ers homeless.
Olympic Sports: Tokyo delay cost $1.9Bn. Test events begin in March. Gisin retires. Vlhova wins 3rd WC straight. RUS T7F gets new pres.
Baseball:
- The MLB is creating a minor league for top prospects going in to the summer draft. The league is 5 teams so far and is called the wood-bat MLB Draft League. Teams will play a 68 game season running from late May through mid-August including an All-Star break (draft time in July). The 5-6 teams are being awarded mostly where communities lost their minor leagues when the MLB cut teams from 160 to 120. The teams so far are the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, the State College Spikes, the Trenton Thunder, the West Virginia Black Bears and the Williamsport Crosscutters. After the draft break, teams will be restocked with players who were not picked up that still want to sign.
- With all the NBA trade tea, the MLB felt it should join in:
- The Royals and LHP Mike Minor have signed a 2-year deal pending his physical. Minor turns 33 on 12/26 and revitalized his career as a relief pitcher in 2017.
- 3 pitchers were involved in a 4 player trade between the Reds and Rockies. The Rockies get RHP Robert Stephenson, OF Jameson Hannah in exchange for RHP Jeff Hoffman and Case Williams.
- Rays OF Randy Arozarena is in the news for a very different reason than his MVP just weeks ago. He was detained in Mexico on Tuesday with a custody issue with his daughter and has since been released after his partner said she wont press charges. Arozarena married a Colombian woman earlier this month in the capital of the country. That is all the details we are given… super helpful but it looks like no harm no foul.
- The Phillies released a report saying they lost $145MM due to the 2020 shortened season since it was played with no fans. The team is also still looking for a GM. This past season, the Phillies were 1 game short of ending their 9-year post season draught.
Basketball:
- NCAA basketball is back! Selection Sunday is 3/14 and March madness starts on 3/16. It looks like Indianapolis will host the whole tournament rather than it being around the country. Top 25 looks like this:
- The NBA is again taking COVID protocols seriously with a 134 page ahead of the 2020-2021 NBA season. The protocols are similar to the bubble in Orlando. Players would miss for 10 days from their first positive test or the onset of symptoms; players could come back if they are fever free for at least 24 hours without meds.
- The NBA released their preseason schedule for 12/11-19. Some of the games are:
- Mavs against Bucks on 12/12
- 76ers vs Celtics on 12/15
- Raptors playing in Florida (their temp home) vs Heat on 12/18
- The NBA has delayed the HoF until May 13-15, 2021. Some of the inductees would be Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.
- Still going with NBA trade tea:
- The Celtics traded Gordon Hayward and 2 2nd round draft picks in 2023 and 2024 to the Hornets for a 2022 2nd round pick. The Celtics will get a $28.5MM trade exception, which is the largest in NBA history.
- JJ Barea has signed with the Mavs for 1-year $2.6MM deal.
- Marco Belinelli signed a 3 year deal to play for Virtus Bologna after 13 seasons in the NBA.
- On this day: 5 years ago today, Kobe Bryant announced his retirement. RIPower
Case of the Monday’s:
- This weeks’ case of the Mondays goes to F1 driver Romain Grosjean. And no I’m not about to bad mouth him! He survived this harrowing crash during the race on Sunday in Bahrain. He survived because of a now mandatory device implemented on the car called a Halo. A Halo sits above the driveer’s head to delfect debris from hitting the driver’s head. In this specific accident, the halo not only protected his head but also allowed a space for Grosjean to crawl out of the vehicle which was on fire. It’s a case of the Monday’s bc Grosjean was originally against the device becoming mandatory. Bet he has changed his mind now! Grosjean miraculously has no broken bones but does have burn damage. Bon Rétablissement!
Football – NCAAF:
- This week had some major consequences for the bowls and CFP. #15 Oregon, the leading and only contender for the Pac 12, lost to their in-state rival the Oregon St Beavers in a foggy Friday night game. Oregon has won 10 of the last 12 meetings. This pretty much solidifies that the Pac 12 will be out of the CFP this year. #20 USC is still undefeated but has only played 3 games and their ranking is not encouraging for the conference. #17 Texas lost again to Big 12 leader #13 Iowa St, which clears the way for the Cyclones to the Big 12 Championship game. In the Iron Bowl, another instate rivalry, #1 Alabama thrashed #22 Auburn. #8 Northwestern, leader of the Big 10 West lost to Michigan St, just a week after their big upset of Wisconsin.
- #ICYMI (and were in a turkey coma): Vanderbilt had the first ever female player in a Power 5 game with Sarah Fuller as their kicker. She’s breaking glass ceilings but unfortunately Vandy didn’t score ANY points in their game against Mizzou (final score 0-41) so she didn’t even get to kick an extra point. The only kick she got to do was the kick after half.
- Why her? Sarah Fuller is the goalie for the Vandy soccer team who just won the SEC tournament. So she’s used to pressure. Pressure of being the first female in a power 5 football game might be a little different.
- A follow up to this story. Vandy fired its coach Derek Mason after going 0-8. They won 3 games over the last 2 seasons but only 1 in the SEC. 7 Vandy players opted out of the 2020 season and another 8 transferred.
- The 3rd FSU game was canceled so now Miami will play Duke. The Seminoles at least gave Duke time to reschedule after canceling their last 2 games just hours before kickoff. UTEP has suspended all football activities for now. Wisconsin and Ohio St have both had to cancel so many games now that they cannot miss another and still qualify for a bowl game. TBD if that will still stand. Lets be honest if Ohio St misses out on the CFP, will they really let that happen?
- LSU WR Terrace Marshall Jr has now opted out of the rest of the season. Texas OT Samuel Cosmi is doing the same thing after both of their teams are not doing so well. Texas just lost to Iowa St for the chance at a Big 12 championship. LSU just lost to Texas A&M to start their season 3-4 after winning the national championship last year.
Football – NFL:
- COVID is the common headline for the NFL this weekend. The Broncos literally had NO QB due to contact tracing. They took a rookie WR and turned him into a QB 24 hours before they took the field. Kendall Hinton rolled with the punches although his stats reflected the loss to the Saints 31-3. The biggest game of the weekend, the Ravens/Steelers game has been rescheduled a couple of times and will now be played on Tuesday. We prob wont get the game were hoping for with QB Lamar Jackson out with COVID along with 17 other Ravens players. The NFL canceled the Ravens practice today. TBD if we will have to postpone the game for a 3rd The Saints have been fined for violating COVID protocols.
- The 49ers will have to find somewhere else to play and practice after Santa Clara county banned sports in the midst of the COVID outbreak. For the next 3 weeks, the team will be NFL nomads. And to make it worse, the team found out with the rest of the world at the press conference. Their next game on Monday against the Bills will have to be played somewhere else and right now AZ or TX look like a good home for the game as those teams will be away this week. Gotta love California.
- Update: the next 2 home games will be held at the Cardinals stadium.
- Giants QB Daniel Jones has a ‘pretty bad’ hamstring injury from their game against the Bengals on Sunday. Former Texas QB Colt McCoy took the field after Jones went out. TBD on how long Jones will be out.
Olympic Sports:
- The delay of the Tokyo Olympics was rumored to cost $1.9Bn but Tokyo will not confirm. The organizers will host 18 test events beginning in March – May. The Olympics start on 7/23/2021. COVID has only been responsible for 2,000 deaths in the country of 125MM population.
- That being said, bobsled and skeleton Olympic test in Beijing has been canceled due to travel concerns amid the COVID resurgence.
- The suspended Russian Track & Field Federation has elected a new president in Pyotr Ivanov as they hope to get their doping suspension lifted before Tokyo 2020. The World Athletics council will discuss the situation in Russia on Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Swiss skier Marc Gisin is now retired after not fully recovering from his crash 2 years ago at the Saslong course. His family is impressive in the ski world with both of his sisters winning gold medals in the 2014 and 2018 Olympics. Gisin goes out with a 5th place finish in the Kitzbuhel world cup races in 2016 & 2018.
- Staying with skiing, Petra Vlhova won her 3rd world cup race in just 6 days. She beat the American Paula Moltzan, who got her first podium.
What to watch this week
Basketball – NCAA:
- Mon 11/30
- UNC at UNLV @ 6pm on ESPN2
- Tues 12/1
- Francis at 15. UVA @ 3pm on ACC
- Green bay at 4. Wisconsin @ 4pm on BTN
- Omaha at 9. Creighton @ 4pm
- Villanova at Hartford @ 4pm on ESPN2
- Michigan St at 6. Duke @ 6:30pm on ESPN
- Kentucky at 7. Kansas @ 8:30pm on ESPN
- Wed 12/2
- Joseph’s at 12. Villanova @ 1pm on FS1
- Morehead St at 23. Ohio St @ 4pm on BTN
- West Virginia at 1. Gonzaga @ 6pm on ESPN
- Youngstown St at 11. West Virginia @ 6pm on ESPN+
- Richmond at Charleston @ 6pm
- North Florida at 22. Florida St @ 7pm on ACC
- Oregon at Mizzou @ 8pm
- Illinois at 2. Baylor @ 9pm on ESPN
- Thurs 12/3
- Western Illinois at 3. Iowa @ 7pm on BTN
- Washburn at 7. Kansas @ 7pm
- VMI at 16. VTech @ 7pm on ACC
- John’s at 17. Texas Tech @ 8pm on ESPN
- Arizona St at Cal @ 9pm
- Fri 12/4
- Detroit Mercy at 8. Michigan St @ 4pm on BTN
- Kennesaw St at 9. Creighton @ 4pm
- Kent St at 15. UVA @ 5pm on ACC
- Wisconsin at Marquette @ 6pm
- Bellarmine at 6. Duke @ 6pm on ACC
- Oregon at Seton Hall @ 8pm on FS1
- Sat 12/5
- ND St at 7. Kansas 2 TBD
- Gonzaga at 2. Baylor @ 12pm on CBS
- South Carolina at 10. Houston @ 5pm
- Furman at 19. Richmond @ 5pm on ACC
- Alabama A&M at 23. Ohio St @ 6pm on BTN
- Sun 12/6
- Elon at 6. Duke @ 11am on ACC
- Villanova at 17. Texas @ 12pm on ESPN
- Grambling at 17. Texas Tech @ 1pm on ESPNU
- West Virginia at Georgetown @ 3:30pm
- Kentucky at Georgia Tech @ 4pm on ESPN
- Western Michigan at 8. Michigan St @ 5pm on BTN
Football-NCAAF:
|
Top 25 |
||||
|
Week 14 |
||||
|
Top 25 Games |
||||
| Visitor | Home | Day | Time (CT) |
TV |
| 25. Liberty | 14. Coastal Carolina | Sat 12/5 | TBD | |
| 5. Texas A&M | Auburn | Sat 12/5 | 11:00 AM | ESPN |
| 10. Indiana | 18. Wisconsin | Sat 12/5 | 2:30 PM | ABC |
| *GameDay is in bold* GameDay is TBD | ||||
Football – NFL:
- Mon 11/30
- Seahawks at Eagles @ 7:15pm on ESPN
- Tues 12/1
- Ravens at Steelers @ 7pm on NBC
- Sun 11/29
- 8 games @ 12pm on FOX/CBS depending on your geographical location
- Saints at Falcons
- Lions at Bears
- Browns at Titans
- Bengals at Dolphins
- Jaguars at Vikings
- Raiders at Jets
- Washington at Steelers
- Colts at Texans
- Rams at Cardinals – or – Giants at Seahawks @ 3:05pm on FOX
- Eagles at Packers – or – Patriots at Chargers @ 3:25pm on CBS
- Broncos at Chiefs @ 7:20pm on NBC
- 8 games @ 12pm on FOX/CBS depending on your geographical location
- Mon 12/7
- Cowboys at Ravens @ 4pm on FOX
- Seahawks at Eagles @ 7:15pm on ESPN
Olympic Sports:
- Thurs 12/3
- Skiing: Biathlon World Cup 7.5km Spring @ 12pm on NBCSN
- Fri 12/4
- Skiing: Men’s Giant Slalom @ 12pm on NBCSN
- Sat 12/5
- Skiing: Men’s Downhill @ 11:30am on NBCSN
- Sun 12/6
- Skiing: Women’s 10km Pursuit @ 3pm on NBCSN
Soccer:
- Thurs 12/3
- Premier League: Teams TBA @1:55pm on NBCSN
- Sat 12/5
- Premier League: Burnley vs Everton @ 6:25am on NBCSN
- Premier League: Manchester City vs Fulham @ 8:55am on NBCSN
- Premier League: Chelsea vs Leeds United @ 1:55pm on NBCSN
- Sun 12/6
- Italian Serie A: Hellas Verona vs Cagliari @ 5:30am on ESPN2
- Super League: Chelsea vs West Ham @ 6:30am on NBCSN
- Super League: Everton vs Manchester City @ 8:30am on NBCSN
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