Weekly Update – Week of October 19, 2020 (COVID Week 32)

Baseball: World Series between the Rays & Dodgers. Marlins let go of Michael Hill.

Football-NCAAF: Big 10 is back! 5 losses in Top 25 2 in the Top 10. Purdue HC COVID. Baylor back to practice. Iowa discrimination. Oldest UT letterman dies.

Football-NFL: Brady>Rodgers. Steelers & Titans undefeated. Tua debut.

Golf: Kokrak wins 1st PGA Tour title. Mickelson 2 for 2 on Champions Tour. Bermuda and Houston allow fans.

Olympic Sports: IWF iffy. Jepchirchir breaks it again. Braathen wins first WC. ISU cancelled some events. Wanjiru banned. Alaphilippe’s surgery.

Baseball:

• The World Series is set: LA Dodgers vs Tampa Bay Rays to begin on Tuesday. The Dodgers are opened as the favorites at -210. William Hill reported that the Dodgers were responsible for 26% of all money bet on the World Series winner while the Rays were only 3%. This is the first time the Rays have made it back to the world Series since 2008.
  • The Astros, after a rough start of 0-3, pushed the Rays to Game 7 on Saturday night. However the Rays bullpin was more than the Stros could handle. LF Randy Arozarena was named MVP of the ALCS.
  • The Dodgers and Braves also went to game 7 after the WS favorites started 1-3. But Cody Bellinger hit a HR in the 7^th inning of game 7 to gain the 4-3 lead which ended up being enough. Although the Dodgers have won the last 8 AL West Division titles they have not won the World Series since 1988. SS Corey Seager was named the NLCS MVP.
• The Marlins’ CEO Derek Jeter has said that the President Michael Hill will not be the president anymore after his contract ran out this year. It will not be renewed. Hill has been in the Marlins’ office since 2002. He was GM for 6 seasons before president and helped the team through a lot of turnover.

Football – NCAAF:

• The Big 10 is back! Big 10 football starts this weekend so lets get ready!
• There were 5 losses in the Top 25 this past weekend including 2 in the top 10: #3 fell to #2 Alabama in an epic SEC battle (and coach Saban was cleared in time for the game). #8 UNC falls to a 1-3 FSU team. #17 SMU survives Tulane in OT. BYU scored 22 points in the 4^th quarter to stay undefeated. The #21 Ragin Cajuns finally went down to Coastal Carolina who remains undefeated. #4 Notre Dame barely wins over Louisville in a low scoring snore of a game. #15 Auburn and their QB Bo Nix fall to the Gamecocks. #18 Tennessee was completely shut down by Kentucky – 4 turnovers help. And lots of games were postponed.
• Despite a great game against #3 Georgia, #2 Alabama remains at #2 with only 8 place #1 votes while 54 went to Clemson. The #1 Clemson Tigers have been at the top of the AP poll for 7 weeks, the school’s longest run at #1.
• Purdue’s HC has a presumed positive COVID test after he tested positive during an antigen test – it will be confirmed by a PCR test. He joins the other HCs to have a positive test this season: Florida Dan Mullen, Alabama Nick Saban, FSU Mike Norvell, Arizona Kevin Sumlin and Kansas Les Miles.
  • Nick Saban was cleared to coach the Tide during their big win over #3 Georgia after 3 negative tests ruled that his first positive test was a false positive.
• Baylor has resumed practice this week after a COVID outbreak just in time for their game against Texas this weekend. The Bears had 28 active cases among players and 14 among staffers. It is thought to have been a problem that escalated after a player received a false negative and then traveled with the team. Baylor has had 3 games postponed due to COVID issues. But they’re back now!
• The Iowa Hawkeyes have said that it will not pay 8 black players the $20MM demanded after they claimed racial discrimination on the team. The demands also included firing the HC, OC and AD of the school. The university did hire a law firm to review the football program as dozens of players spoke of racial mistreatment. I’m sure this isn’t the last we will hear of this issue.

• John Henderson, the oldest football letterman still living, has passed away at the age of 107. His wife, Charlotte is 105 and they celebrated their 80^th wedding anniversary in December after they met at UT in 1934. Henderson attended at least 1 game for 84 years until 2019. Henderson and his wife were named the oldest married couple by the Guinness World Records in November.

Football – NFL:

• This week was not as close as other weeks. Several teams got it handed to them like the Browns who lost by 31 to the Steelers, the Jets scored 0 points against the Dolphins, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers were shut down by Brady and his Bucs and the Falcons and Giants finally get their first W. The Texans, who have only won 1 game, took the undefeated Titans to OT before falling short 36-42. The Titans and the Steelers are the only undefeated teams left and the Jets are the only team without a W.
  • Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, although 2 of the biggest names in the game, have only met 3xs in NFL history and Brady got the last laugh this time. Rodgers had thrown 156 passes without an interception, until Sunday when he threw 2 including a pick-6. Rodgers has a dismal record in the Bucs stadium 1-3 and leaving the stadium injured 2xs and losing handily this time. This was the Packers’ first loss of the season.
  • The Steelers move to 5-0 for just the 2^nd time in their history after a massive defeat of the Browns. The Browns actually benched their QB, Baker Mayfield after he was sacked 4xs and intercepted 2xs. Case Keenum went into replace Baker.
  • Another QB that didn’t have a good day was Vikings QB Kirk Cousins who threw 3 interceptions in the first half against the win-less Falcons. The Falcons went on to grab their first win 40-23.
  • Former Alabama QB, Tua Tagovalioa, made his NFL debut in the impressive Dolphins win 24-0 against the Jets. Granted it was in the last 2 minutes of the game but it was exciting to see and the crowd agreed after Tua had that scary hip injury at the end of his college career in 2019.

Golf:

• Jason Kokrak won his first PGA Tour title at the CJ Cup by 2 strokes with a final score of 20-under. After 10 years on the PGA Tour and 233 starts, Kokrak finally finishes one and wins! He went into the final round 3 shots back from the lead but shot the low score of the week with 64 (8-under) to take the W from Xander Schauffle.

• Phil Mickelson is 2 for 2 on the PGA Tour Champions, joining Arnold Palmer, Bruce Fleisher and Jim Furyk as the only players to do so. He won the Dominion Energy Charity Classic with a powerful back-9 to win by 3 strokes. This stop on the Champions Tour was mainly to help him get ready for the Masters, in November this year, and gain some momentum and confidence. I’d say its working.
• The Houston Open and the Bermuda Championship will both allow fans. These are the first tournaments to do so since March.

Olympic Sports:

• The International Weightlifting Federation ousted their own interim president, former US coach Urusla Garza Papandrea. She says that the board has several times thwarted he plans to change the IWF after doping cover-ups and corruption. They ousted her in a meeting the day before she had one called already with her VP Intarat Yodbangthoey of THI. This has already put the IOC on alert and could jeopardize the sports continuation in the Olympics.
• KEN Peres Jepchirchir has done it again. She broke her own WR in the half marathon, bettering her time to 1:05.16, 18 seconds faster than her previous time. 3 seconds separated Jepchirchir from 2^nd and 3^rd place, who also beat her previous record. Needless to say the POL course was quick!
• NOR Lucas Braathen won his first WC title in the season opener in the giant slalom. The 20-year-old was in 5^th before he posted the 2^nd fastest time in the decisive leg. This is only his 23^rd WC event, where his previously best finish was 4^th.
• The International Skating Union has canceled the Four Continents Championships which were set to take place in Feb in Australia. The 2023 Four Continents will be in Sydney as a replacement. This joins the Grand Prix Final (Beijing) and Skate Canada as another event that’s been called off. The ISU has awarded the following competitions to the following cities: 2022 Four Continents to Tianjin, China; 2023 Euro Championships to Helsinki; 2023 World Jr Championships to Calgary and worlds to Saitama, JPN.
• The 2017 London Marathon champion, KEN Daniel Wanjiru, has been given a 4 year ban from competition due to doping. His blood test from 3/9/19 showed a high level of hemoglobin. His punishment will end on 12/8/2023.
• Julian Alaphilippe has undergone a successful surgery after his crash into a motorbike 20 miles from the finish line. He broke 2 bones in his hand in the Tour de Flanders one-day race. He will resume training in 3 weeks when his cast gets removed.
• The IOC has assured sports bodied that the Tokyo 2020+1 games are on track to take place as newly scheduled.

What to watch this week

Baseball:

• Tues 10/20
  • World Series Game 1: Rays at Dodgers @ 7:09pm on FOX
• Wed 10/21
  • World Series Game 2: Rays at Dodgers @ 7:08pm on FOX
• Fri 10/23
  • World Series Game 3: Dodgers at Rays @ 7:08pm on FOX
• Sat 10/24
  • World Series Game 4: Dodgers at Rays @ 7:08pm on FOX
• Sun 10/25
  • World Series Game 5: Dodgers at Rays @ 7:08pm on FOX
    • If necessary
• Tues 10/27
  • World Series Game 6: Rays at Dodgers @ 7:08pm on FOX
    • If necessary
• Wed 10/28
  • World Series Game 7: Rays at Dodgers @ 7:09pm on FOX
    • If necessary

Football-NCAAF:

Top 25
Week 8
Top 25 Games
Visitor	Home	Day	Time (CT)	TV
23. NC St	14. UNC	Sat 10/23	11:00 AM	ESPN
17. Iowa St	6. Oklahoma St	Sat 10/23	2:30 PM	ABC
3. Notre Dame	Pitt	Sat 10/23	2:30 PM	ABC
18. Michigan	21. Minnesota	Sat 10/23	6:30 PM	ABC
9. Cincinnati	16. SMU	Sat 10/23	8:00 PM	ESPN2
*GameDay indicated in bold*

Football – NFL:

• Mon 10/19
  • Chiefs at Bills @ 4pm on FOX
  • Cardinals at Cowboys @ 7:15pm on ESPN
• Thurs 10/22
  • Giants at Eagles @ 7:20pm on FOX/NFL
• Sun 10/25
  • 7 games @ 12pm on CBS/FOX depending on your geographical location
    • Lions at Falcons
    • Browns at Bengals
    • Steelers at Titans
    • Panthers at Saints
    • Bills at Jets
    • Cowboys at Washington
    • Packers at Texans
  • Seahawks at Cardinals @ 3:05pm on FOX
  • Chiefs at Broncos – or – 49ers at Patriots – or – Jaguars at Chargers @ 3:25 on CBS
  • Bucs at Raiders @ 7:20pm on NBC
• Mon 10/26
  • Bears at Rams @ 7:15pm on ESPN

Golf:

• Thurs 10/22
  • ZOZO Championship @ Sherwood – Round 1 @ 4pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 10/23
  • ZOZO Championship @ Sherwood – Round 2 @ 4pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 10/24
  • ZOZO Championship @ Sherwood – Round 3 @ 4pm on Golf Channel
• Sun 10/25
  • ZOZO Championship @ Sherwood – Round 4 @ 4pm on Golf Channel

Motorsports:

• Sun 10/25
  • F1: Portuguese GP @ 8:10am on ESPN2
  • IndyCar: Firestone GP at St. Petersburg @ 1:30pm on NBC
  • NASCAR: Autotrader 500 @ 2:30pm on NBCSN
  • MotoGP: Teruel Race @ 3:30pm on NBC
    • Replay @ 8pm on NBCSN

Olympic Sports:

• Wed 10/21
  • Cycling: Vuelta a Espana Stage 1 @ 12am on NBCSN
• Fri 10/23
  • Cycling: Vuelta a Espana Stage 3 @ 12am on NBCSN
  • Ice Skating: ISU Grand Prix Skate America @ 7pm on NBCSN
• Sat 10/24
  • Ice Skating: ISU Grand Prix Skate America @ 2pm on NBC
  • Ice Skating: ISU Grand Prix Skate America @ 8pm on NBCSN

Soccer:

• Fri 10/23
  • NCAAW: Oklahoma St vs Texas @ 6pm on ESPNU
  • NCAAW: Tennessee vs Texas A&M @ 6pm on SEC
  • NCAAW: LSU vs Alabama @ 7pm on SEC
• Sat 10/24
  • Premier League: Fulham vs Crystal Palace @ 8:55am on NBCSN
  • Premier League: Teams TBA @ 11:30am on NBC
  • NCAAW: Auburn vs Kentucky @ 6pm on SEC
  • NCAAW: Mississippi St vs Mizzou @ 6:30pm on SEC
• Sun 10/25
  • Italian Serie A: Cagliari vs Crotone @ 6:30am on ESPNEWS
  • Premier League: Southampton vs Everton @ 8:55am on NBCSN
  • Premier League: Teams TBA @ 11:30am on NBC
  • NCAAW: South Carolina vs Florida @ 1pm on SEC
  • MLS: LAFC vs LA Galaxy @ 2:30pm on ABC
  • NCAAW: Ole Miss vs Arkansas @ 3pm on SEC
  • NCAAW: Vanderbilt vs Georgia @ 4pm on ESPNU
  • Mexico Primera Division: Guadalajara vs Cruz Azul @ 10:30pm on NBCSN