Baseball – MLB: Game 1 of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals is tomorrow night!
Basketball – NBA: Season starts tomorrow! Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson to miss 6-8 weeks.
Football – College: #6 goes down. Clemson CB throws punches. Texas’ close call in Kansas. Tua down for 10 days at least.
Football – NFL: Chargers rough game – technically they lost 3xs in one game. Aaron Rodgers fastest 350 TD passes ever. Jalen RAMS-y. Brett Maher kicking his way into the NFL history books.
Golf: Day wins skins. Thomas wins CJ.
Olympic Sports: Shalane Flanagan retires. Tokyo 2020 Marathon moved. Nike’s new unfair shoes. Chen wins 3rd Skate America straight.
Baseball – MLB:
- The World Series stage is set with the favorites Houston Astros and the newbies Washington Nationals and the series starts Tuesday!
- The Nationals swept the Cardinals to go to their first appearance in the World Series in franchise history. They will be nice and rested when playing on Tuesday as they only needed 4 games to put away the Cardinals before heading onto the final.
- The Astros took the American League over the Yankees 4-2 after Jose Altuve hit a walk off HR for the AL Championship. Needless to say he won the MVP award. The Astros are the odds on favorites to win the World Series by the biggest odds since 2007 with -235.
- A MLB umpire, Eric Cooper, died at age 52 after a blood clot just 2 weeks after working the American League Division Series. The blood clot occurred after a knee surgery while recovering.
- The current agreement between the MLB and the minor league teams expires at the end of 2020. Potentially this new deal could make the number of minor league teams go from 160 to 120 and making the leagues be more geographically friendly.
Basketball – NBA:
- Season is back starting tomorrow Tuesday 10/22 with the Pelicans vs Raptors and then the LA showdown between the Lakers vs Clippers!!
- Breaking (literally 90 min ago): Zion Williamson, highly anticipated rookie from Duke, will miss 6-8 weeks for a torn meniscus in his right knee. He had surgery and is recovering. Pelicans announced this ~27 hours before tipoff.
Football – College:
- 6 teams lost in the Top 25 including undefeated #6 Wisconsin against a 2-4 Illinois team. Now they go on to play #3 Ohio St this week in what will probably be better than the Big 10 Championship game.
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Losses in the Top 25 Visitor Home Day Time (CT) TV Score 6. Wisconsin Illinois Sat 10/19 11:00 AM BTN 23-24 14. Boise St BYU Sat 10/19 9:15 PM ESPN2 25-28 16. Michigan 7. Penn St Sat 10/19 6:30 PM ABC 21-28 17. Arizona St 13. Utah Sat 10/19 5:00 PM PAC12 3-21 22. Mizzou Vanderbilt Sat 10/19 3:00 PM SEC 14-21 12. Oregon 25. Washington Sat 10/19 2:30 PM ABC 35-31 - Clemson CB Andrew Booth Jr threw a punch during a kickoff against Louisville. Booth then ‘rode the bus home’ 450 miles according to HC Dabo Swinney who also apologized to the Louisville coach. The rest of the team flew back together. Clemson won 45-10.
- Texas had a close call with Kansas. After an OU/TX eventful weekend last weekend, the Longhorns had their hands full with the Jayhawks who scored a TD and a successful 2 point conversion to go up by 1 with 1:26 left in the game. Texas kicker Cameron Dicker made a 33 yrd FG to win the game as time expired.
- #6 Wisconsin gets upset by the 2-4 Illinois Illini who overcame a 9 point deficit in the 4th 3 turnovers by the badgers helped. The Illini had less than a 50% chance of winning the game until the final 3 plays. The kicker made a 39 yrd FG to win by 1.
- Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa went out of the Tennessee game during the 1st half due to a high ankle sprain. Sound familiar? Because it is; last year he had the same injury but to the other ankle. Tua went into surgery Sunday morning and Nick Saban says there is ‘no timeline for his return.’ Alabama plays Arkansas, bye week and then hosts #2 LSU.
- This weekend we have some big games with 3 ranked match ups. Without the Wisconsin upset we would have had 2 Top 10 ranked show downs.
| Top 25 | ||||
| Week 9 | ||||
| Top Games of the Week | ||||
| Visitor | Home | Day | Time (CT) | TV |
| 13. Wisconsin | 3. Ohio St | Sat 10/26 | 11:00 AM | FOX |
| 9. Auburn | 2. LSU | Sat 10/26 | 2:30 PM | CBS |
| 15. Texas | TCU | Sat 10/26 | 2:30 PM | FOX |
| 24. Arizona St | UCLA | Sat 10/26 | 6:30 PM | PAC12 |
| 8. Notre Dame | 19. Michigan | Sat 10/26 | 6:30 PM | ABC |
| *GameDay indicated in bold* GameDay is at South Dakota St (FCS) * | ||||
- Gameday is in South Dakota for the SD St vs ND St game (FCS).
Football – NFL:
- The Chargers had a rough day with their 23-20 loss to the Titans. Why? Because they had a TD called back 2xs in the final minute of the game. Don’t believe me? Here is the clip. A TD was called with 39 seconds left. Called back after review. Next play: TD run by the RB Melvin Gordan but there was a false start on the play (repeat 1st down from the 6) . Next play: Titans CB called for PI so ball moves back to the 1 yrd line. Next play: Gordan runs the ball and its signaled TD. That gets reviewed and called back. Next play (2nd and goal): Gordan runs the ball in again but loses the ball centimeters before the goal line and the Titans recover. Game over.
- Aaron Rodgers had 5 TDs this week against the Raiders bringing his total of all time to 351. He is just the 9th QB to do so but the fastest accomplishing the feat in just 172 games. He also posted his 1st perfect passing rating of 158.3, this only QB to do so in history.
- The Rams picked up a new team member and it didn’t take CB Jalen Ramsy long to step on the field in a Rams jersey. The Jaguars traded Jalen to the Rams 5 days before their game on Sunday vs the Falcons which they won 37-10. This snapped the Ram’s 3 game losing streak after making the Super Bowl last year.
- Brett Maher makes the news again by becoming the 1st NFL kicker in history to make 3 FGs of over 60 yards in the Cowboys smack down of the Eagles (37-10) on Sunday. 63 yards is also a Cowboy record and 2nd longest ever in NFL history with only Matt Prater’s 64 yard FG in Denver beating it. Only 6 kickers have ever made a 63 yard kick.
- Drew Brees returns to practice this week and has a goal to return to play for Week 8.
Golf:
- Tiger, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama competed in Japan in a made for TV The Challenge: Japan Skins event. Jason Day beat the GOAT 8-5 skins. But Tiger looked good playing golf for the 1st time in 2 months. Each hole was at least $10,000/skin with the final hole being worth $100,000.
- GFHint: What’s a skin? A skin (like a point in match play) is awarded when a golfer wins the hole outright. If no one wins, the prize money gets added to the next hole until someone does win outright. Its called a skin because this game is usually played for money per hole and the money previously came in a bag (aka ‘skin’).
- Justin Thomas won the CJ Cup in South Korea over the weekend by 2 strokes over Danny Lee (who was born in South Korea). This is JT’s 11th victory on the PGA Tour. Both golfers were tied going into the final 9 holes on Sunday. Reigning CJ Cup champion and World #1 Brooks Koepka pulled out of the tournament after re-injuring his knee slipping on the wet sidewalk on Friday.
Olympic Sports:
- Shalane Flanagan has announced that she is retiring from professional running at age 38. She is a 4x Olympian and won the silver medal in the 10k at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. She also won the NYC Marathon in 2017, the 1st American to do so in 40 yrs. This win was also the first American woman to win a World Marathon Major (London, Tokyo, Boston, Berlin, Chicago and NYC). Flanagan will now be a coach in Portland, OR.
- The IOC has moved the marathon for the Tokyo Olympics next summer. The marathon and the race walking events will be held in Sapporo (hosted the 1972 Olympics) due to heat concerns, which lays 500miles from Tokyo. The temperature in Sapporo is about 5-6 degrees (Celsius) cooler than Tokyo. This comes after many of the runners pulled out of a race weeks ago.
- The IAAF has been contacted about the possible restrictions that may need to be put on footwear when it comes to world records and competition. The new Nike Vaporfly shoe that Kipchoge used during his amazing sub-2 hour marathon have a carbon fiber plate and foam combo that claims to add a 4% improvement to a runners’ economy and oxygen usage. Kipchoge’s agent said the shoes are used mostly to aid in recovery after the race and during training. But its not Kipchoge that’s getting the push back; its Brigid Kosgei who also wore the shoes when she demolished the WR curing the Chicago marathon. Kipchoge’s feat while impressive is not a WR; Kosgei’s is. The IAAF will take this into consideration and might ban the shoes from future races.
- Nathan Chen won Skate America for the 3x in a row scoring a total of 299.09. Silver also went to an American, Jason Brown but with a score of 253.55. Brown, who is jewish, skated a moving performance to Schindler’s List.
What to watch this week
Baseball – MLB:
- Tues 10/22 – Game 1 of the World Series
- Nationals at Astros @ 7:08pm on Fox
- Scherzer vs Cole
- Nationals at Astros @ 7:08pm on Fox
- Wed 10/23 – Game 2 of the World Series
- Nationals at Astros @ 7:07pm on Fox
- Strasburg vs Verlander
- Nationals at Astros @ 7:07pm on Fox
- Fri 10/25 – Game 3 of the World Series
- Astros at Nationals @ 7:07pm on Fox
- Greinke vs Corbin
- Astros at Nationals @ 7:07pm on Fox
- Sat 10/26 – Game 4 of the World Series
- Astros at Nationals @ 7:07pm on Fox
- Sun 10/27 – Game 5 of the World Series
- Astros at Nationals @ 7:07pm on Fox
- If necessary
- Astros at Nationals @ 7:07pm on Fox
Basketball – NBA:
- Tues 10/22
- Pelicans at Raptors @ 7pm on TNT
- Lakers at Clippers @ 9:30pm on TNT
- Wed 10/23
- Celtics at 76ers @ 6:30pm on ESPN
- Nuggets at Trail Blazers @ 9pm on ESPN
- Thurs 10/24
- Bucks at Rockets @ 7pm on TNT
- Clippers at Warriors @ 9:30pm on TNT
- Fri 10/25
- Mavericks at Pelicans @ 7pm on ESPN
- Jazz at Lakers @ 9:30pm on ESPN
Football – NCAA:
| Top 25 | ||||
| Week 9 | ||||
| Top Games of the Week | ||||
| Visitor | Home | Day | Time (CT) | TV |
| 13. Wisconsin | 3. Ohio St | Sat 10/26 | 11:00 AM | FOX |
| 9. Auburn | 2. LSU | Sat 10/26 | 2:30 PM | CBS |
| 15. Texas | TCU | Sat 10/26 | 2:30 PM | FOX |
| 24. Arizona St | UCLA | Sat 10/26 | 6:30 PM | PAC12 |
| 8. Notre Dame | 19. Michigan | Sat 10/26 | 6:30 PM | ABC |
| *GameDay indicated in bold* GameDay is at South Dakota St (FCS) * | ||||
- Gameday is in South Dakota for the SD St vs ND St game (FCS).
Football – NFL:
- Mon 10/21 – Patriots at Jets @ 7:15pm on ESPN
- Thurs 10/24 – Redskins at Vikings @ 7:20pm on FOX
- Sun 10/27
- 9 games at 12pm on CBS and Fox
- Seahawks at Falcons
- Eagles at Bills
- Chargers at Bears
- Giants at Lions
- Buccaneers at Titans
- Bengals at Rams
- Broncos at Colts
- Cardinals at Saints
- Jets at Jaguars
- Panthers at 49ers @ 3:05pm on FOX
- Browns at Patriots – or – Raiders at Texans @ 3:25pm on CBS
- Packers at Chiefs @ 7:20pm on NBC
- 9 games at 12pm on CBS and Fox
- Mon 10/28 – Dolphins at Steelers @ 7:15pm on ESPN
Golf:
- Wed 10/24 – ZOZO Championship – Round 1
- 6am on Golf Channel
- Thurs 10/25 – ZOZO Championship – Round 2
- 6am on Golf Channel
- Fri 10/26 – ZOZO Championship – Round 3
- 6am on Golf Channel
- Sat 10/27 – ZOZO Championship – Round 4
- 6am on Golf Channel
Hockey:
- Wed 10/23 – Penguins at Lightening @ 7pm on NBCSN
- Fri 10/25 – NCAA: Lake Superior St vs Notre Dame @ 7pm on NBCSN
- Sat 10/26
- Blues vs Bruins @ 6pm on NBCSN
- Flames vs Jets @ 10pm on NBCSN
Olympic Sports:
- Sat 10/26
- Rugby World Cup: 1st Semifinal: Teams TBA @ 4am on NBCSN
- Replay on Sunday @ 1am
- Rugby World Cup: 1st Semifinal: Teams TBA @ 4am on NBCSN
- Sun 10/27
- Rugby World Cup: 1st Semifinal: Teams TBA – replay @ 1am on NBCSN
- Rugby World Cup: 2nd Semifinal: Teams TBA @ 5am on NBCSN
- Replay @ 11pm
Soccer:
- Mon 10/21 – Premier League: Sheffield vs Arsenal @ 2:55pm on NBCSN
- Thurs 10/24
- NCAAW: 7. South Carolina vs Ole Miss @ 6pm on SEC
- NCAAW: Tennessee vs 24. Florida @ 6pm on SEC
- NCAAW: Auburn vs 8. Arkansas @ 6:30pm on SEC
- NCAAW: Vanderbilt vs 18. Texas A&M @ 7pm on SEC
- MLS: Atlanta United vs Philadelphia Union @ 7pm on ESPN2
- MLS: LAFC vs LA Galaxy @ 9:30pm on ESPN
- Fri 10/25 – Premier League: Southampton vs Leicester City @ 2:55pm on NBCSN
- Sat 10/26
- Premier League: Manchester City vs Aston Villa @ 7:25am on NBCSN
- Premier League: Brighton & Hove Albion vs Everton @ 9:55am on NBCSN
- Sun 10/27
- Italian Serie A: SPAL vs Napoli @ 9am on ESPNNEWS
- Premier League: Newcastle United vs Wolverhamption Wanderers @ 9:55am on NBCSN
- NCAAW: 8. Arkansas vs Georgia @ 1pm on SEC
- NCAAW: Texas vs 13. Texas Tech @ 1pm on LGHN
- NCAAW: 24. Florida vs 7. South Carolina @ 2pm on SEC
- NCAAW: 3. UNC vs VTech @ 2pm on ESPNU
- USNWSL: NC Courage vs Chicago Red Stars @ 2:30pm on ESPN
- NCAAW: 18. Texas A&M vs Mizzou @ 4pm on ESPNU
