Baseball: Wisdom breaks Cubs Rookie HR record. Ohtani back on the mound and threw 10 KOs. Kershaw’s 1st win since June. Nats C Avila to retire. Standings update.
Football-NCAAF: 6 losses in Top 25. Top teams looking vulnerable. Ref issues. Week 4 sees ranked vs ranked neutral site matchups.
Football-NFL: Rookie QB struggles. Lamar Jackson > Mahomes. Tons of injuries.
Golf: Homa wins Fortinet. PGA Tour awards. Ryder Cup this week.
Olympic Sports: Cycling Worlds. Tokyo marathon postponed. Beijing 2022 COVID restrictions. USA Gym speak out against FBI in Nassar case.
Baseball-MLB:
- Cubs 3B Patrick Wisdom scored a 3 run HR in the 8th innings against the Brewers. It went 430 feet and made history. He hit 27 HRs this season to break the old record for most HRs in a rookie season by a Cubs player. Before this at-bat, he had 7 consecutive strike outs. What makes this even more impressive is the fact that Wisdom didn’t get called up to the majors until May 25th.
- Angels fans were getting nervous when Shohei Ohtani had a sore arm and did not pitch as planned on Friday. However on Sunday against the A’s, Ohtani had 10 KOs. Although the Angels ended up losing that game 3-2, Ohtani obviously looked good and is fully on the mend/already recovered. The team will not make playoffs so they have only 13 games left (Astros, Mariners and Rangers). Currently Ohtani is not scheduled to pitch again but that is subject to change.
- Dodgers P Clayton Kershaw won his first game since June against the Reds on Sunday. He struck out 8 players and only allowed 1 run in his 5 innings pitched.
- Nationals C Alex Avila has announced that he will retire at the end of this season. He has been in the majors on and off for 13 seasons and is son of the Tigers’ GM. He is 34. It was a fitting way to announce as the team ended the Rockies’ 5 game road winning streak with a 3-0 W over them.
- MLB Regular season ends on Oct 3 so I will now include the standings on the weekly basis.
- American League: Rays, Astros & White Sox
- Although Red Sox are right there. The AL is close in general with 7 teams over 80 wins and only 1 team over 90.
- National League: Giants, Dodgers & Brewers
- All 3 over 90 Ws. And all have secured their spot in playoffs.
- Who’s at the bottom? Both the Orioles (AL) and the Diamondbacks (NL) are under 50 Ws for the season. That’s a 32% win percentage.
- American League: Rays, Astros & White Sox
Football-NCAAF:
- Week 3 saw 6 losses in the Top 25 but more importantly the top teams are looking vulnerable.
- #1 Alabama was up big early before Florida came charging back to lose by a failed 2-point conversion 31-29. Also, it was a terrible call. #6 Clemson nearly got upset by Georgia Tech only winning 13-8. #3 Oklahoma only won by 7 against Nebraska, who was going down to score the final game-tying TD in the final drive of the game before the defense put up a stop. #10 Ohio St, although the end score looks ok, was in serious jeopardy of losing to a winless Tulsa team. All 3 (not Bama) teams fell in the rankings and Ohio St has not been ranked this low (#10) since 2014.
- Loses: 11. Florida, 13. UCLA, 15. VTech, 19. Arizona St, 22. Auburn, 24. Miami,
- UCLA looked to be safe from upset taking the lead 37-33 with 55 seconds left. However Fresno St, with their clearly in pain QB, managed the clock with TOs and getting out of bounds to score a TD with only 14 seconds left. This is the Bulldogs 4th straight win against UCLA.
- Referees are normally blamed for loses but this weekend there were 2 major slip ups by officials, more specifically SEC officials.
- In the Penn St vs Auburn Gameday game, officials cost Penn St a down during the first half of the game when the Nittany Lions were trailing 10-7. This forced the Penn St team to punt on what was actually 3rd How did the confusion happen? On 1st down, the Penn St team had been fouled with an intentional grounding call which results in the loss of a down (that down). 2nd down, they gained 5 yards so it should’ve been 3rd and 11 but instead head ref called 4th down forcing Penn St to punt. The replay booth even had the call as fourth down. It was discovered after the punt in a TV time out, however nothing could be done to fix it. No harm no foul in this case!
- Not in the case of Mississippi St vs Memphis however. With only 5:58 left in the game, Mississippi St punted the ball. A Mississippi St player stopped the ball around the goal line and a ref whistles, calling the play dead. However the Memphis returner, picked up the ball and ran it in for a TD. Afterwards, the officials announced that that play should not have happened. Also on the play, the kicker and another player were both wearing #4, a 5 yard penalty.
- Week 4 features 2 ranked vs ranked games both in neutral sites. College GameDay will be in Chicago for the Notre Dame vs Wisconsin show down. And the other ranked game is Texas A&M vs Arkansas in Dallas. Also being contested (although neither team is ranked) is the battle for DFW between SMU and TCU. TCU is first out of the Top 25 and SMU has been taking care of business after scoring a last play of the game TD for the W last week.
- Upset watch: 7. Texas A&M,
Football-NFL:
- Week 2 had some interesting storylines. The rookie QBs are not doing well with the exception of Mac Jones for the Patriots (but he was against the Jets so how much does that really mean?). Former Buckeye QB Justin Fields saw the field for the Bears after Andy Dalton went down in the 3Q. Fields did get the victory 20-17 but was not overly impressive. Former BYU QB Zach Wilson threw 4 interceptions in his first 10 passes. He also scored no TDs. Trevor Lawrence threw 2 inceptions in their game against the Broncos to lose 23-13.
- Lamar Jackson and the Ravens beat QB Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs 36-35. Lamar Jackson has never beaten Mahomes and after a tough loss the first week, Jackson said he is happy to have that monkey off his back in 2 ways.
- Bengals QB Joe Burrow threw 3 interceptions on 3 consecutive passing plays. Needless to say the Bengal’s lost but only 20-17.
- There were so many injuries or at least more than usual this week. It seemed to be a running story across all the games so here are the notables.
- Colts QB Carson Wentz injured right ankle in 4th TBD on how bad it is. Wentz has only played a full season twice in his NFL career.
- 49ers had 3 RBs get injured: Elijah Mitchell, JaMycal Hasty and Trey Sermon. This was already after they lost their starter to a season ending injury last week.
- The Steelers lost 4 starters by halftime including TJ Watt with a groin injury.
- Texans QB Tyrod Taylor went down with a hamstring injury in the second half against the Browns. The Texans were tied at half but ultimately lost 31-21.
- The Cowboys beat the Chargers in a longshot by scoring a 56 yrd FG in the final seconds of the game. Greg the Leg Zuerlein made the 56 yard FG which is the longest game wining FG in cowboys history. He needed that redemption too after missing a FG and a PAT to lose to the Bucs last week.
Golf:
- Max Homa won in his home state of California and took home the first 2021/2022 PGA Tour win at the Fortinet Championship in Napa this weekend. He had a hole-out eagle from 95 yards on the 12th which began his back 9 comeback. His final round score of 7 under put him in the lead by 1 stroke over Maverick McNealy. Homa was 3 strokes behind McNealy with 7 holes to go. California tournaments seems to be the best fit for Homa as this is his 3rd PGA Tour victory and his last win was at Rivera (in LA) in February. Seems worth giving up the podcast now, Homa huh?
- As we begin the new PGA Tour season, awards were given out for last year’s best players
- Will Zalatoris won Rookie of the Year, despite not being a full member on the PGA Tour. The last time this happened was in 2001 with Charles Howell III. He was able to compete on the PGA Tour so many times without being a member by earnings a spot at the US Open, where he then finished T6. He also had 2 other Top 10s which earned him a temporary membership in November. Remember he also finished runner up at the Masters and ended the season #25 on the FedEx Cup points list. He does have his card for next year.
- Patrick Cantlay won PGA Tour Player of the Year. This doesn’t surprise me as he won the FedEx Cup and won the most PGA Tour titles (4) of anyone this season. However he did beat out World #1 Jon Rahm who was presumably a close 2nd. These awards are voted on by the players in the league.
- Ryder Cup is this week! This is Team Europe vs Team USA in a team battle that the EU has taken 9 of the last 12 times. One of the main questions is can the USA put aside the Brooks/Bryson feud enough to be successful? TBD but its going to be must see tv either way! Need more information on how it works? There’s a post for that!
Olympic Sports:
- The World Championships of Road Cycling have begun in Belgium and the ITA defending champion, Filippo Ganna won the men’s time trial again. 2 Belgian riders took 2nd and 3rd. Ganna won by 5 seconds. The World Championships will be competed over the next week.
- The Tokyo marathon has been postponed from Oct 17th to March 2022 and the 2022 marathon has been cancelled. This is, of course, due to the continued COVID pandemic.
- Speaking of COVID being a thorn in everyone’s side, the Beijing 2022 Olympics have announced that they will keep tight COVID countermeasures in place for their games as well. Vaccination will not be required but recommended. More vaccines are being ordered by the country as 100 nations are expected to compete in the games in Feb. 72% of China’s population have been vaccinated.
- Team USA gymnasts gave testimony in a case against the FBI in their handling of the Larry Nassar case. Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney each said their piece to a judge about how badly the case was handled and how disappointed they were with the length of time that passed between when he was first reported and when something was actually done, causing many many more girls to be molested.
What to watch this week
Baseball-MLB:
- Tues 9/21
- Blue Jays at Rays @ 6:10pm on ESPN
- Manoah vs Rasmussen
- Giants at Padres @ 9:10pm on FS1
- Gausman vs Musgrove
- Blue Jays at Rays @ 6:10pm on ESPN
- Wed 9/22
- Mets at Red Sox @ 6:10pm on ESPN
- Megill vs Sale
- Giants at Padres @ 9pm on ESPN
- Mets at Red Sox @ 6:10pm on ESPN
- Fri 9/24
- Cardinals at Cubs @ 1:20pm on ESPN
- Happ vs Davies
- Cardinals at Cubs @ 1:20pm on ESPN
- Sun 9/27
- Yankees at Red Sox @ 6pm on ESPN
- Cortes vs Rodriguez
- Yankees at Red Sox @ 6pm on ESPN
Football- NCAAF:
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Top 25 |
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Week 4 |
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Top 25 Games |
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| Visitor | Home | Day | Time (CT) | TV |
Line |
| 12. Notre Dame | 18. Wisconsin | Sat 9/25 | 11:00 AM | FOX | +5.5 |
| 7. Texas A&M | 16. Arkansas | Sat 9/25 | 2:30 PM | CBS | -5.5 |
| 24. UCLA | Stanford | Sat 9/25 | 5:00 PM | PAC12 | -5.5 |
| Nebraska | 20. Michigan St | Sat 9/25 | 6:00 PM | FS1 | +5 |
| 25. Kansas St | Oklahoma St | Sat 9/25 | 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | +6 |
| *GameDay indicated in bold* | |||||
Football-NFL:
- Thurs 9/23
- Panthers at Texans @ 7:20pm on NFL
- Sun 9/26
- 9 games on @ 12pm depending on location on CBS/FOX
- Washington at Bills on Fox
- Bears at Browns on Fox
- Ravens at Lions on CBS
- Colts at Titans on CBS
- Chargers at Chiefs on CBS
- Saints at Patriots on FOX
- Bengals at Steelers on CBS
- Cardinals at Jaguars on FOX
- Jets at Broncos – or – Dolphins at Raiders @ 3:05pm on CBS
- Buccaneers at Rams – or – Seahawks at Vikings @ 3:25pm on FOX
- 49ers at Packers @ 7:20pm on NBC
- 9 games on @ 12pm depending on location on CBS/FOX
- Mon 9/27
- Eagles at Cowboys @ 7:15pm on ESPN
Golf:
- Fri 9/24
- Ryder Cup – Day 1 @ 7am on Golf Channel
- Sat 9/25
- Ryder Cup – Day 2
- @ 7am on Golf Channel
- @ 8am on NBC
- Ryder Cup – Day 2
- Sun 9/26
- Ryder Cup – Day 3
- @ 11am on NBC
- Ryder Cup – Day 3
Hockey – NHL: games begin this week (9/25) but none are televised on normal cable channels.
Motorsports:
- Thurs 9/23
- NASCAR: Whelen Series @ 4pm on NBCSN
- Sat 9/25
- IndyCar: Acura GP of Long Beach – Qualifying @ 2pm on NBCSN
- NASCAR Xfinity: Alsco Uniforms 302 @ 6:30pm on NBCSN
- Sun 9/26
- IndyCar: Acura GP of Long Beach Race @ 2:30pm on NBCSN
- NASCAR: South Point 400 @ 6pm on NBCSN
Olympic Sports:
- Fri 9/24
- Curling: USA vs DEN @ 10pm on NBCSN
- Sun 9/26
- Cycling: Mountain Bike World Cup Cross Country @ 11am on FS1
Soccer:
- Tues 9/21
- NCAAM: William & Mary vs 17. VTech @ 6pm on ACC
- Wed 9/22
- Spanish La Liga: Sevilla vs Valencia @ 12:30pm on ESPNEWS
- Leagues Cup: Leon vs Seattle Sounders @ 9pm on ESPN2
- Thurs 9/23
- NCAAW: 1. Florida St vs 19. Pitt @ 7pm on ACC
- Sat 9/25
- Premier League: Chelsea vs Manchester City @ 6:30am on NBCSN
- Premier League: Teams TBA @ 9am on NBCSN
- Premier League: Brentford vs Liverpool @ 11:30am on NBCSN
- Sun 9/26
- Premier League: Southampton vs Wolverhampton Wanderers @ 8am on NBCSN
- Premier League: Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur @ 10:30am on NBCSN
- NCAAW: 6. LSU vs Georgia @ 11am on ESPNU
- NCAAW: Miami at 19. Pitt @ 2pm on ACC
- NCAAW: 13. Tennessee vs Mizzou @ 3pm on SEC
- NCAAW: VTech at 4. Duke @ 4pm on ACC
- MLS: Sporting KC vs Seattle Sounders @ 7pm on FS1
- MLS: Austin FC vs LA Galaxy @ 8:30pm on ESPN2
