FOOTBALL

Last season NY Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick had a tough time against Coach Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills, but on Thursday night, the Harvard grad stated “Going into the game, I just wanted to think less”. It worked as he threw for 374 yards and one touchdown. It wasn’t just about the passing as Fitzpatrick had a lot of help in the running game with Matt Forte’s three rushing touchdowns (tying a career high).  Jets 37, Bills 31.

BASEBALL

The Chicago Cubs left Wrigley Field Thursday night after a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, but waited hopefully for the results of a West Coast game where the SF Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals. With the Giants win, the Cubs clinched their first National League Title since 2008. Fans poured into the streets celebrating their National League Central Division Title. The Cubbies haven’t won a National League Pennant in 71 years and haven’t won the World Series in 108 years so even inching towards those milestones is a big deal for Cubs fans.

SOCCER

Megan Rapinoe created another level of controversy Thursday night when she refused to stand during the National Anthem while representing Team USA in a friendly match against Thailand. As the midfielder for the US Women’s National Team, Rapinoe deliberated about the issue and ultimately decided not to stand. US Soccer did not agree with her decision and released a statement saying, “As part of the privilege to represent your country, we have an expectation that our players and coaches will stand and honor our flag while the national anthem is played.”

FOOTBALL

The Thursday Night Football matchup between the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets has always been a great rivalry. Tonight’s game also marks the first time Twitter will stream an entire game. In twitter fashion, there will be comments from the sponsors running throughout the game. Twitter will air 10 games this season as part of a strategy to revive the company.

The NFL launched a $100 million initiative to help address player’s safety. One of the issues discussed is the hard hits players endure during kickoff returns. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is considering eliminating the kickoff if some of the other measures they are considering don’t work out. One downside of eliminating the kickoff is what to do with the onside kick.

The Colin Kaepernick kneeling protest during the National Anthem has created a nationwide dialogue and now South Park has gotten in on the action. Their new season highlights a Kaepernick National Anthem as well as a way to solve the issue of whether to sit or stand.

Speaking of National Anthems, according to Billboard Magazine, Lady Gaga has been in discussions to perform at this year’s Super Bowl.

OLYMPICS

Ryan Lochte felt bad about inadvertently causing an incident on his new gig, “Dancing with the Stars”. Two men wearing anti-Lochte shirts rushed the stage after Lochte and his partner, Cheryl Burke, finished their fox trot routine. The show had to take a commercial break in order to deal with the altercation but no one was hurt.

FOOTBALL

The New Orleans Saints cut running back C.J. Spiller after just one week into the season. Spiller was acquired by the Saints last year during free agency but was placed on injured reserve two weeks before the end of the season. Travaris Cadet has taken Spiller’s role but C.J. stated, “It’s a first-class organization that gives the players everything they need to be successful. So, I definitely don’t have any hard feelings.”

As reported earlier, the Denver Broncos’ linebacker Brandon Marshall has lost two sponsorships for kneeling during the National Anthem. The Broncos’ organization encouraged Denver’s police chief to spend some time with Marshall discussing how the organization works and the life and death situations they face while on the job. The two met for an hour, but there’s no indication on what Marshall will continue to do during the singing of the National Anthem.

If you’re a SF 49er fan and heading to a game, there’s no need to panic about running out of food or beverages at a tailgate party anymore. The San Francisco 49ers have teamed up with Amazon to deliver items directly to fans’ parking spots before a game. The service is called Amazon Prime Now and is free if delivered within two hours but costs $7.99 if delivered within the hour.

FOOTBALL

In the first Monday Night Football matchup of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Washington Redskins 38-16. The Steelers’ wide receiver Antonio Brown had an amazing game, and after his second TD, he got called for an “excessive celebration”penalty. His “twerk” was a  dead ringer for Key and Peele’s Hingle McCringleberry’s celebration.

In the second matchup of the night, the the Los Angeles Rams’ debut in CA (for the last 20 years they’ve been the St. Louis Rams), did not go as planned. They were shut down by the cross bay rivals, the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers defense, ranked as one of the worst in the League last season, looked much improved but it was hard to tell as the Rams’ offense was slow to start. 49ers 28, Rams 0.

You hate to see injuries in sports and it’s especially disappointing when a player goes down in the first game of the season. The Cleveland Browns’ QB Robert Griffin III (known as RGIII) will be out for at least 8 games due to a shoulder injury sustained at the end of Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The San Diego Chargers also lost a key player in wide receiver Keenan Allen. Allen suffered a torn ACL so will be out for the entire season.

Last week, Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall knelt during the National Anthem during Thursday night’s NFL game against the Carolina Panthers. It’s been reported Marshall has now lost two endorsement deals, the Air Force Academy Federal Credit Union and Cable Communications company, Century Link. Marshall is not the only player expressing his views during the National Anthem. The Seattle Seahawks and the Kansas City Chiefs chose to link arms before their respective games while some players chose to hold up their fists.

In other sports/social media news, the NCAA announced it will move all of its championship events previously slotted to take place in North Carolina (including March Madness) out of the state due to it’s” bathroom bill“ legislation. Seven championship events are scheduled to be relocated.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

The most talked about college football game over the weekend was Central Michigan’s unbelievable Hail Mary throw then lateral with no time left on the clock to beat Oklahoma State. That play in itself would have caused fans to talk, but what was even more remarkable was the game should have ended before that play even began. The officiating crew called an intentional grounding penalty on Oklahoma State as time expired, but they misinterpreted the rules and let CMU have one last play (in which they scored a TD). The officiating crew was suspended for two games for making this egregious mistake which could cost #22 ranked Oklahoma State a potential playoff appearance.

NFL

Some highlights from around the NFL this weekend!

Indianapolis Colts’ QB Andrew Luck was a bit hesitant in his debut (after injuries in 2015) but came back to form with 385 yards and 4 touchdowns. Unfortunately for the Colts it wasn’t enough to top the Detroit Lions. The Lions pulled out a 39-35 win.

The hype is already starting after rookie QB Carson Wentz’s debut on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. Wentz threw for 2 touchdowns and completed 22 of 37 throws for 278 yards. With his confidence and poise, many believe he could bring new life into the Eagles franchise. Eagles 29, Browns 10.

The Oakland Raiders made the bold move of the day with a decision to go for  a two point conversion instead of just an extra point attempt (which would have tied the game) against the New Orleans Saints. Raiders’ Coach Jack Del Rio said, “I was thinking that we’re here to win; let’s win it right now.” And they did with a 35-34 victory in the Super Dome. The game winning two point catch by former San Francisco 49er, Michael Crabtree, was extra meaningful. Three years ago during SB when the SF 49ers were playing the Baltimore Ravins in the Super Dome, Crabtree failed to catch a few attempts at a game winning TD in the endzone. If he had caught any of these passes, the 49ers would have won the big game. Crabtree admitted he had a difficult time thinking about playing in the superdome again, but as he stated, “this time, the last play ended good.

Finally, there is a possibility former running back, Ray Rice, could be back in the League sometime soon. In case you don’t remember, Rice was suspended from football after a video was released where he pushed his former fiancee out of an elevator. Rice became the poster boy of domestic violence and has since tried to reform his image. If he does get another chance to play, he has stated he would donate his entire 2016 salary to charity.

For more NFL highlights, click here.

TENNIS

The US Open came to an exciting close when defending champion, Novak Djokovic lost to Stan Wawrinka. At 31 years old, Wawrinka is the oldest male to win the US Open since the 1970’s. It was Wawrinka’s 3rd Grand Slam title.

FOOTBALL

The Denver Broncos kicked off the NFL season by beating the Carolina Panthers in a close Thursday night game. Broncos’ rookie QB Trevor Siemian threw two interceptions but rallied in the second half to put together two touchdown drives giving the Broncos a slight edge over the Panthers. The Broncos’ linebacker Brandon Marshall (former teammate of Colin Kaepernick at Nevada and not to be confused with the NY Jets receiver Brandon Marshall) generated some angry tweets before the game when he was the only player on the field not standing during the National Anthem. Marshall explained he was kneeling “for social injustice”. The Broncos’ organization put out a statement saying: “While we encourage members of our organization to stand during the national anthem, we understand and respect it being a personal decision.” Marshall ended the game with 6 tackles. Denver 21, Carolina 20.

Stay tuned for Sunday’s matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the Miami Dolphins. The Seahawks’ receiver, Doug Baldwin, has been talking about some kind of pre-game demonstration. It’s unclear exactly what they’ll be doing but sounds as if whatever they do it will be a team effort. The team recognizes Sunday’s game falls on September 11th, so hopefully they will be respectful of this date. Baldwin stated, “To express a desire to bring people together, our team will honor the country and flag in a pregame demonstration of unity,”

TENNIS

The mighty Serena Williams has fallen. Although she wasn’t making excuses, Serena appeared to be fighting a knee injury in her US Open semifinal loss to #10 seed Karolina Pliskova. With the loss, Serena loses the #1 ranking she’s held for 186 weeks.

BASEBALL

The New York Mets signed former QB Tim Tebow to a minor league contract. 29 year old Tebow played baseball in high school, and has claimed his dream was to be a quarterback and hit a baseball. Now that his football career is over, he is attempting to fulfill the second part of his dream. Best of luck to Tebow. Hope your dreams come true!

OLYMPICS

Olympic swimmer and 12 time Gold medal winner, Ryan Lochte, finally got his punishment for exaggerating getting held up at gunpoint in Rio. The Olympic Committee suspended Lochte for 10 months and won’t allow him to compete in the 2017 World Championships. Lochte won’t be completely bored, however, as he’ll be competing in this season’s “Dancing with the Stars”.

GOLF

Tiger Woods says he’ll get back on the golf course to compete in the Safeway Open in October.  Woods, golf’s iconic superstar, has suffered back and hip injuries over the years and has had to pull out of many tournaments.  Woods stated:“It was difficult missing tournaments that are important to me, but this time I was smart about my recovery and didn’t rush it. It was great spending time with my children Sam and Charlie, and also working on a lot of projects including golf-course design, the upcoming 20th anniversary of my foundation and my book about the 1997 Masters. But I missed competing. I want to thank all the fans for their kindness and concern. I’ve been a pro about 20 years, and their support has never waned.”

FOOTBALL

The NFL season officially begins tonight with the Carolina Panthers at the Denver Broncos!!!

TENNIS

Novak Djokovic’s opponent retired…again! For the third time in four matches, Djokovic did not play out a full match before his opponent, Tsonga, retired from a knee injury. #1 seed Djokovic has only played 9 total sets in the US Open.

FOOTBALL

It’s reported New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees is really close to a contract extension. 37 year old Brees has one year left on his current contract and, even though he signed a whopping $100 million contract back in 2012, his average of $20 million a year is less than other QB’s of his caliber. The issue for the Saints seems to be Brees’ age and whether they can afford a long term contact on a QB who is almost 40 years old. The deadline for the Team is approaching as their season begins on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders.

Troubled former QB Johnny Manziel will not be playing in the NFL this year (or perhaps ever again considering his history on and off the field) so has decided to go back to College. He will be taking online courses at Texas A&M and is hoping to get a degree in recreation, parks and tourism sciences.

FOOTBALL

The College Football season is underway and we saw some exciting (and some not so surprising but history making) wins. In the history making category,  Ohio State powered over Bowling Green with a school record  776 yards. Quarterback J.T. Barrett threw for 6 touchdowns in the 77-10 win. And, USC suffered its worst loss in 120 years falling 52-6 to #1 ranked Alabama.

In NFL news, the 32 teams had to cut their rosters to 53 players over the weekend. Many players had their NFL hopes dashed while some veterans, like QB Sam Bradford, had to pick up and move to another state. Bradford was traded by the Philadelphia Eagles and sent to Minnesota to replace the injured Teddy Bridegwater.  QB Mark Sanchez (formerly of the New York Jets) also had to pack his bags. Shortly after he was cut from the Denver Broncos, he joined rookie QB Dak Prescott in Dallas.

49ers QB Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand during the National Anthem and then sporting socks with pigs wearing police helmets is continuing to create controversy. The Bay Area police union has threatened to boycott the 49er’s games if Kaep continues to refuses to stand during the National Anthem. The President of the Santa Clara Police Officers Association, Frank Saunders, said “I’m already hearing it this week that next week on ‘Monday Night Football,’ some officers are not going to work”. Saunders continued to say, “The 49ers are allowing this to come out from an employee and it’s making for a hostile work environment for us at the stadium,”. The 49ers organization has been relatively quiet regarding the controversy and has stated they recognize an individuals choice whether to stand or not to stand. The bright side of the controversy for the NFL is Kaepernick’s jersey sales have spiked!

TENNIS

With 308 wins, Serena Williams passed Rodger Federer for all-time career wins in Grand Slam match victories. Serena is currently in the quarterfinals round of the US Open.

FOOTBALL

Penn State announced the school will commemorate former Head Coach Joe Paterno’s 50th anniversary of his first game. Paterno (one of the winningest coaches in college football history) died in 2012 from lung cancer but will forever be tarnished with the Joe Sandusky child abuse charges. Paterno has been reported to have known about the horrific child abuse charges as far back as 1976, so it’s no surprise many people are upset about any celebration having to do with Paterno’s legacy.

San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick took a knee again in a pre-season game against the San Diego Chargers Thursday night. Many in the crowd booed him especially as the National Anthem coincided with the Chargers “Salute to the Military” which made his protest seem even more disrespectful. After the game, Kaepernick pledged to donate $1 million dollars to charities active in communities he feels need help.

The 32 NFL Teams need to cut 22 players each by Saturday afternoon to get 53 man rosters so expect many changes over the weekend.