Baseball: Dodgers 1 game away from World Series
Basketball: NBA season to start pre-Christmas similar to MLB not bubble.
Football-NCAAF: 6 losses in Top 25. #8 Penn St upset in OT. Tua’s bro makes college start. Alabama and Oklahoma snag recruits.
Football-NFL: OBJ ACL torn. Raiders only undefeated team left. Seahawks and Titans lost. Cowboys on 3rd QB. Antonio Brown to the Bucs. Cam Newton benched. Falcons end up like Penn St.
Golf: Cantlay wins after being down by 3 shots into the last round.
Olympic Sports: Chen wins another title. Bell takes women’s side. Leeper loses appeal. Bach virtually accepts Peace Prize. Tokyo open swimming arena. GBR takes Giro d’Italia.
Baseball:
- The Dodgers are 1 game away from becoming World Series Champions. The Dodgers took last night’s game in 4-2 mostly thanks to pitching by Clayton Kershaw. The series has been extremely even with wins going back and forth between the teams. Right now the Dodgers have the upper hand but they will have to beat the Rays 2xs in the a row to finish them off. Game 6 is played on Tuesday and should the Dodgers finish it, it would be their first title since 1988. Tony Gonsolin will face Blake Snell in the pitching showdown.
- Last night’s game certainly had some drama. Ray’s Margot went for a home steal but was just short. Dallas fans made it feel like a home game for the Dodgers, as they booed the removal of their hometown pitcher, Clayton Kershaw in the 5th.
- Game 4 went to the Rays in a close one 8-7 with an RBI in the 9th by Brett Phillips. This was especially heartbreaking for the Dodgers as they were leading going into the 9th but then had 2 errors to give the Rays the lead.
- During his performance in Game 5, Clayton Kershaw surpassed Justin Verlander for the postseason strikeout record. In Game 5, Kershaw struck out 6 batters to bring his all-time post season total to 207 in 189 innings pitched. Verlander has 205 in 187.
- Kershaw wasn’t the only one setting records. Rays rookie Randy Arozarena has the most hits in a single postseason with 27. This broke Pablo Sandoval’s record of 26 in the 2014 postseason.
Basketball:
- The NBA is looking at a season starting before Christmas for a 72 game season without an All-Star game. This would also allow some time for the Olympics. The league is likely going toward a travel schedule with longer times in a city by playing multiple games, similar to the MLB rather than the bubble format.
Football – NCAAF:
- There were 6 losses in the Top 25 this past weekend including a huge upset of #8 Penn St in their 2020 season opener. Gameday was at #21 Minnesota vs #18 Michigan where Michigan got rolling early, scoring 21 points in the 1st quarter and they never looked back. #9 Cincinnati hands #16 SMU their first loss to lead the Group of 5 teams. #14 UNC showed their dominance over #23 NC St. #11 Miami squeaks by a bad UVA team. Wake Forest’s walk-on freshman gets 3 interceptions to upset #19 VTech in a win no one saw coming.
- Let’s go through the #8 upset bc it’s a doozie: Penn St took the lead against the unranked Indiana with 2:30 left in the game. They score again with 1:42 left when they should’ve just run out the clock. If the player had taken a knee here, the game would’ve been over. Indiana gets the ball back and scores with 21 seconds left and gets the 2 point conversion. They go to OT. Penn St scores and kicks extra point. Indiana scores a TD and goes for an all-or-nothing 2 point conversion. The call on the field was a TD, but the real question, was he in?
- Wisconsin had a killer start with a big win going 45-7 against Illinois. Redshirt Freshman QB Graham Mertz was no small part of that after throwing 248 yrds with a completion percentage of 95.2% and 5 TDs. However, it also looks like he has COVID. If the PCR test comes back positive, he will miss 21 days that would include the game against Michigan. This would be a huge blow to the Badgers as they already had to replace their Senior starting QB Jack Coan after he suffered a foot injury at the beginning of camp and is out indefinitely.
- Tua’s brother, Taulia, started the game for Maryland against Northwestern. But he did not live up to his brother’s hype with 3 interceptions in his first game. He’s just a Sophomore but he’s showing some nice footwork to avoid getting tackled, now we just need to work on not throwing into coverage.
- Alabama snags #38 overall recruit, DB Ga’Quincy McKinstry. He is the 6th top 50 recruit to choose the Tide. Oklahoma also added a star recruit this week after the #1 WR in the 2022 class, Talyn Shettron, committed today.
- The CFP will release its first rankings the week of Thanksgiving. There will only be 4 rankings before Selection Day (12/20)
- Having a hard Monday? At least you’re not this guy…
Football – NFL:
- OBJ is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. He hurt his left knee during the 2nd offensive play while chasing down a defender after an interception. Mayfield and the Browns did bounce back after the OBJ injury, winning 37-34. Mayfield threw 5 TDs and a team record setting 21 straight completions.
- The Raiders are the only undefeated team left in the league after they beat the Titans (who went into Sunday’s game undefeated) and the Seahawks lost in OT to the Cardinals. It helps when QB Russell Wilson throws 3 interceptions; he has only thrown more than 2 three times in his 9 year career. The 3rd and final interception was by rookie LB Isaiah Simmons who got his interception in OT on his fifth snap of the game. This ended the Seahawks turn and let the Cardianls kicker win the game with a FG.
- The Cowboys have some serious problems. Their starting QB Dak went out a couple of weeks ago with a broken ankle and now their backup QB, one of the best in the league as a backup, Andy Dalton is out with a concussion. Jon Bostic, Washington LB, was ejected for targeting for the hit on Dalton and analysts are calling for his suspension (although that seems unlikely). Dalton was believed to be knocked unconscious on the field but left on his own accord. Dalton will be out for the next week for concussion protocol. So far, their QB is likely to be Ben DiNucci. Don’t recognize that name even from NCAA? Prob bc he went to James Madison…. Washington won 25-3.
- Get ready to see Antonio Brown in another jersey, a Bucs jersey. Sounds familiar? That’s prob bc Brown was brough to the Patriots with Brady as QB last year for like 1 game. It didn’t work out and Brown is still serving an 8 game suspension for person conduct issues. HC Bruce Arians is known for giving second chances but is also known to be an advocate of women, hiring 3 women coaches and winning awards for it. TBD if Brown will see the field.
- Cam Newton got benched after the Patriots trailed the 49ers 33-6 in the 4th Jarrett Stidham took his spot to ‘gain experience’ according to HC Belichick however it could become permanent if Cam Newton does not start preforming (Cam’s words not Bill’s).
- So if you read what happened to Penn St, get ready to hear it again because the same thing happened to the Falcons. All the Falcons needed to win was 1 point in the 4th quarter when Todd Gurley fell into the endzone even though he knew he shouldn’t have. The score was then 22-16 with 1:04 left on the clock. But that opened the door for the Lions who went 75 yards in 64 seconds and kicked the extra point for the win. Indiana went 75 yards and the Lions went 75 yards… its creepy how similar those are!
Golf:
- Patrick Cantlay went into the final day at the Zozo Championship at Sherwood 4 shots back until he birdied 4 of the 5 holes on the back-nine. He beat some big names like Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas by 1. Rahm and Thomas definitely didn’t help themselves with bogies and hazard shots to keep them both out of a playoff. This was Cantlay’s 3rd PGA Tour victory; his last being at Memorial. All 3 of his wins, Cantlay has come back from a 3-4 shot deficit to win!
Olympic Sports:
- Nathan Chen dominated in Skate America this weekend with a PB in his short program and landing 5 quad jumps over his 2 programs. This in his first competition in 9 months… he is undefeated since the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. Oh and did I mention he normally goes to Yale but is taking time off to prepare for the 2022 Olympics? This title at Skate America ties him with Michelle Kwan, Todd Eldredge and ice dancing duo Davis and White for the most titles. One the Women’s side, Mariah Bell fell on her triple lutz in her free skate but was stunning in her short program. It was enough to overtake the national champ from 2018, Bradie Tennell by 1.66 points. This was Mariah Bell’s best title to date. Another name (or names) to watch was Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier who paired up for the first time to win the pairs competition. Alexa used to skate with her husband who is now retired and Brandon is a veteran of the sports as well winning a US title with his former partner. They won the pairs by over 7 points.
- Blake Leeper, a Track & Field Paralympian with no legs, lost his appeal to let him compete in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 as the court ruled that his artificial legs add height, which is ruled a competitive advantage. World Athletics cites that natural legs (given his body type would’ve made him ~5’9” but with his prosthetics he is 6’8”. He can still take this to the Swiss Supreme court before the Olympics. His lawyer was also the lawyer for Oscar Pistorius, who did compete in the Olympics with his prosthetics.
- The IOC President Thomas Bach was awarded the Seoul Peace Price for his role in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics which saw North and South Korea coming together for the first time. However Bach will miss the award ceremony over COVID concerns.
- The Tokyo organizers opened up the last of the new Olympic venues with a 15k capacity swimming venue. TBD on if that many fans will be there if they will be all from JPN and how the athletes will safely enter the country. But we have until 7/23/2021 to decide that.
- The Giro d’Italia was a new champion, GBR Tao Geoghegan Hart. He won the race by 39 seconds after trailing by 0.86 seconds at the start of the final stage.
What to watch this week
Baseball:
- Tues 10/27
- World Series Game 6: Rays at Dodgers @ 7:08pm on FOX
- LA Leads 3-2
- World Series Game 6: Rays at Dodgers @ 7:08pm on FOX
- Wed 10/28
- World Series Game 7: Rays at Dodgers @ 7:09pm on FOX
- If necessary
- World Series Game 7: Rays at Dodgers @ 7:09pm on FOX
Football-NCAAF:
|
Top 25 |
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|
Week 9 |
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|
Top 25 Games |
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| Visitor | Home | Day | Time (CT) |
TV |
| Memphis | 7. Cincinnati | Sat 10/31 | 11:00 AM | ESPN |
| Texas | 6. Oklahoma St | Sat 10/31 | 3:00 PM | FOX |
| 3. Ohio St | 18. Penn St | Sat 10/31 | 6:30 PM | ABC |
| Arkansas | 8. Texas A&M | Sat 10/31 | 6:30 PM | SEC |
| *GameDay indicated in bold* | ||||
Football – NFL:
- Mon 10/26
- Bears at Rams @ 7:15pm on ESPN
- Thurs 10/29
- Falcons at Panthers @ 7:20pm on FOX/NFL
- Sun 11/1
- 8 games @ 12pm on CBS/FOX depending on your geographical location
- Patriots at Bills
- Titans at Bengals
- Raiders at Browns
- Colts at Lions
- Vikings at Packers
- Jets at Chiefs
- Rams at Dolphins
- Steelers at Ravens
- Chargers at Broncos @ 3:05pm on CBS
- Saints at Bears – or – 49ers at Seahawks @ 3:25 on FOX
- Cowboys at Eagles @ 7:20pm on NBC
- 8 games @ 12pm on CBS/FOX depending on your geographical location
- Mon 11/2
- Bucs at Giants @ 7:15pm on ESPN
Golf:
- Thurs 10/29
- Bermuda Championship – Round 1 @ 11am on Golf Channel
- Fri 10/30
- Bermuda Championship – Round 2 @ 11am on Golf Channel
- Sat 10/31
- Bermuda Championship – Round 3 @ 11am on Golf Channel
- Sun 11/1
- Bermuda Championship – Round 4 @ 11am on Golf Channel
Motorsports:
- Mon 10/26
- NASCAR: Autotrader 500 @ 10am on NBCSN
- Rain delayed!
- Sun 11/1
- Figure Skating: ISU Grand Prix @ 11am on NBC
- NASCAR: Xfinity 500 @ 1pm on NBC
- NASCAR: Autotrader 500 @ 10am on NBCSN
Olympic Sports:
- Thurs 10/29
- Cycling: Huesca – Sabinanigo Stage 8 @ 12am on NBCSN
- Sun 11/1
- Cycling: Vuelta a Espana Stage 11 @ 12am on NCBSN
Soccer:
- Mon 10/26
- Premier League: Brighton & Hove Albion vs West Brom @ 12:25pm on NBCSN
- Wed 10/28
- MLS: Portland Timbers vs LA Galaxy @ 9pm on ESPN
- Thurs 10/29
- NCAAW: Boston College vs UVA @ 5pm on ACC
- NCAAW: Louisville vs UNC @ 7pm on ACC
- Fri 10/30
- Premier League: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Crystal Palace @ 2 :55pm on NBCSN
- NCAAM: Pitt vs Notre Dame @ 5pm on ACC
- NCAAW: Florida vs Tennessee @ 5pm on SEC
- NCAAM: Louisville vs VTech @ 6pm on ACC
- NCAAW: South Carolina vs Mississippi St @ 6pm on SEC
- NCAAW: Arkansas vs Auburn @ 6:30pm on SEC
- NCAAW: Alabama vs Texas A&M @ 7pm on SEC
- NCAAW: LSU vs Vanderbilt @ 7pm on SEC
- NCAAW: Texas vs Baylor @ 7pm on LGHN
- Sat 10/31
- Premier League: Burnley vs Chelsea @ 9:55am on NBCSN
- Premier League: Teams TBA @ 12:30pm on NBC
- NCAAW: Ole Miss vs Georgia @ 6pm on SEC
- Sun 11/1
- Premier League: Newcastle vs Everton @ 8am on NBCSN
- NCAAW: Mizzou vs Kentucky @ 12pm on SEC
- NCAAW: Boston College vs VTech @ 12:30pm on ACC
- NCAAW: Miami vs Duke @ 2 :30pm on ACC
- NCAAW: UNC vs Notre Dame @ 4 :30pm on ACC
- USL Championship: Tampa Bay Rowdies vs PHX Rising FC @ 7:30pm on ESPN
