BASEBALL

The Cleveland Indians continue to make history. By beating the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night, the Indians set an American League record of 21 consecutive wins. They are now tied with the 1935 Chicago Cubs.

A “Racism is as American as Baseball” banner was removed Wednesday night during Boston’s 7-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park. The fans responsible for the banner claimed it was meant to be anti-racist. In their statement to CSN New England, they said, “We want to remind everyone that just as baseball is fundamental to American culture and history, so too is racism. White people need to wake up to this reality before white supremacy can truly be dismantled. We urge anyone who is interested in learning more or taking action to contact their local racial justice organization.”

FOOTBALL

NY Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr is in a bit of hot water as he was reported to have been in a “dance off” last week against Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook in a NYC Club. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but Odell didn’t play in the Giants opener because he’s suffering from an ankle injury, so dancing in a Club, then sitting on the sidelines while your team gets destroyed is not good optics.

OLYMPICS

The International Olympic Committee officially awarded the 2024 Olympics to Paris and the 2028 Games to Los Angeles. Paris and LA will join London as the only cities to host the Olympics 3-times.

BASEBALL

The Cleveland Indians are on fire recording their 20th consecutive win, an American League record tied with the 2002 Oakland A’s. Meanwhile the Los Angeles Dodgers broke their 11 game losing streak in a win against the SF Giants. Prior to this losing stretch, the Dodgers held a 21-game lead in the National League West. Even with their lead cut by less than half, they still secured a playoff spot after their win on Tuesday.

BASKETBALL

Former NY Knick, Charles Oakley, filed a lawsuit against Knicks’ owner James Dolan and Madison Square Garden over his treatment during a game on February 8th. Oakley claims he was mishandled by MSG security and defamed by Dolan, who told ESPN after the game that Oakley  “may have a problem with alcohol.” Madison Square Garden Company responded by saying, “This is a frivolous lawsuit and nothing more than another attempt by Mr. Oakley to garner attention. We will deal with this accordingly.”

FOOTBALL

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced their 108 nominees for next year’s class. Randy Moss, Ray Lewis, Donovan McNabb, Chad Johnson, Tiki Barber, and Eddie George are among the nominees. Also included is last year’s nominee (with not enough votes for induction in 2017) Terrell Owens. Over the next few months, the list will be paired down to 15 finalists with the inductees announced on February 3rd. The Committee will select between 4 and 8 members.

FOOTBALL

On Monday night football’s debut, we had two games back to back.  First up was the Minnesota Vikings taking on the New Orleans Saints. The Vikings pulled out the win, but not without some drama. Running back Adrian Peterson, who used to be a staple of the Vikings’ offense now plays for the Saints and didn’t look too happy with his lack of playing time. At one point on the sidelines, he seemed to stalk his coach and sent devastating stares. After the game he commented, “People jump to conclusions and make their own assumptions when they have no idea what was said. I could’ve said, ‘I love you.’ You know?” Peterson’s rookie replacement on the Vikings Dalvin Cook had a solid game rushing for 127 yards. Minnesota 29, Saints 19.

In the late game, the Denver Broncos barely pulled out a win thanks to their defense blocking a last minute 44 yard field goal attempt against the Los Angles Chargers. Denver QB Trevor Siemian delivered what was needed with 219 yards and two touchdowns.  If you’re having trouble remember the Chargers are now LA not San Diego, you’re not alone. Even an NLF official Monday night, announced a timeout going to San Diego. Broncos 24, Chargers 21.

TENNIS

Sloane Stephens stunned the sports world when she took home the US Open trophy after beating fellow American Madison Keyes. After an absence of 11 months due to injury and a ranking below 800, she skyrocketed to win her first Grand Slam. After the match, she was asked if she’s motivated to win more and she light-heartedly said, “Of course, girl, did you see that check that that lady handed me? Man, if that doesn’t make you want to play tennis, I don’t know what will!”

On the men’s side, Rafael Nadal beat South African Kevin Anderson for his 16th Grand Slam Title.

FOOTBALL

The Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott received a huge welcome on Sunday after weeks of speculation about whether he’d be able to play this game or for that matter, the next 6 games. As of Friday, it looks like Elliott will continue to play for awhile as he was granted a preliminary injunction which, according to Elliott, will give him a fair trial and a chance to prove he’s innocent.  For now, the Cowboys are fortunate as Elliott helped the Cowboys overpower the NY Giants 19-3 with his 104 yards rushing

After a loss on Sunday to the Pittsburgh Steelers,  the Cleveland Browns record the infamous stat of not having won a season opener since 2004 when Jeff Garcia was the quarterback. Why is this important? According to USA Today, “teams which go 1-0 are twice as likely to reach the postseason than teams who start 0-1.”

For more highlights/lowlights of week one, click here.

TENNIS

Sloane Stephens defeated Venus Williams in the US Open Semi-final on Thursday night, setting up the first all American US Open final without a Williams sister since 1984. Stephens started the tournament ranked #83 and unseeded. Before the summer’s US Open Series (5 weeks of tournaments leading up to the Grand Slam US Open), she was ranked 957th!!! Remarking on her journey this year, she said, “When I started my comeback, if someone told me I was going to make two semis and a grand slam final, I just would have probably just passed out because that’s what I’m ready to do now. It’s incredible. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how I got here. Just hard work. That’s it.”  She will face fellow American Madison Keys who defeated CoCo Vandeweghe.

FOOTBALL

The Kansas City Chiefs stunned the reigning Super Bowl Champs, the New England Patriots, in the NFL opener. The Pats’ offense couldn’t find a rhythm, thanks in part to the Chiefs sacking Pats QB Tom Brady three times.  The Chief’s rookie Kereem Hunter was the standout of the game with 246 yards, the most ever in a player’s 1st game, and 3 touchdowns. Chiefs QB Alex Smith also impressed with 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Chiefs 42, Patriots 27.

Former New York Giants kicker Josh Brown was suspended for another six games for domestic violence accusations (he served a one-game suspension at the beginning of last season).  The Giants released Brown in October of 2016 after personal letters, journals and emails came out where Brown admitted he abused his wife. Brown told Good Morning America, “These were the things that you say to yourself and then you’d burn them. … And I didn’t. The fact that my private things are being used against me, that’s hard to swallow. I’m talking about my journals. I had to learn all that and write that down in order to heal, and now you’re telling me that I’m going to be punished for trying to correct the things in my life that needed to be changed.” Brown is currently a free agent.

TENNIS

The US Open women’s semi-final will be an all-American affair for the first time since 1981 when Tracy Austin, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Barbara Potter competed.  Tracy Austin was the champion that year. This year’s semi-final matchup features Venus Williams vs Sloan Stephens and Madison Keys vs CoCo Vandeweghe.

FOOTBALL

Colin Kaepernick is not going to start the NFL season, and apparently it’s partly because of his girlfriend. According to former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, the Ravens were interested in signing Kaepernick until his girlfriend posted a racist tweet making fun of Lewis and Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti. The tweet showed Lewis and Bisciotti in an embrace similar to a scene from the movie Django Unchained.

The NFL season begins tonight, which means if you play fantasy football, your draft is over and your rosters should be set. My draft was Tuesday night and we’re heading into a challenging season of our team (the Screaming Weasels) trying to beat the reigning two-time champs, Black and Gold with an eye on always taking down the hated three-time champs, the Ziti Shooters. May the games begin!!!!

BASKETBALL

Tilman Fertitta bought the Houston Rockets for a record $2.2 billion marking the highest price for an American sports franchise. The previous records were $2 billion for both the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012 and the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014.

FOOTBALL

In an Ezekiel Elliott update, his suspension was upheld, but he will get to play in the first game this weekend while the NFL Players Association continues to lobby for the suspension to remain on hold until the League hears Elliott’s appeal.

The Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will not play their opener at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday due to the threat of Hurricane Irma. The game will either be played November 9th instead (during their bye week) or at a neutral site this weekend. Playing during a bye week in November could be tough as that’s when teams need time off to rest their players.

TENNIS

The US Open women’s semi-finals will feature 2 Americans having great comebacks. 83rd ranked Sloane Stephens won a grueling three set tiebreaker and enters the semis after having taken the last 11 months off due to surgery on her foot for a stress fracture. She will face Venus Williams who continues her impressive 2017 run after beating Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova in a close three set tiebreaker 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2). The other women’s semi-final matches on Wednesday feature Madison Keys who plays Kaia Kanepi and Karolina Pliskova taking on CoCo Vandeweghe. For the full schedule of men’s and women’s matches, click here.

BASEBALL

The Boston Red Sox have been accused of using an apple watch to steal signs from their opponents. According to Major League Commissioner Rob Manfred, stealing signs is legal, but it’s not legal to use electronics. He told the media, “We actually do not have a rule against sign-stealing. It has been a part of the game for a very, very long time. To the extent that there was a violation of the rule here, it was a violation by one or the other that involved the use of electronic equipment. It’s the electronic equipment that creates the violation.”

FOOTBALL

In Dallas Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott’s domestic abuse hearing, he admitted to using drugs while at Ohio State. Elliott is appealing his 6 game suspension for domestic abuse of his former girlfriend. No word yet on whether he’ll start the season.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck has been activated from the physically unable to perform list (PUP) but will still miss at least the first game of the season if not a few weeks more. At $140 million dollars, the Colts are anxious for their franchise quarterback to get back on the field.

On Sunday night in College football, UCLA mounted one of the greatest comebacks in college football history with a 45-44 victory after being down 34 points in the third quarter to Texas A&M. Quarterback Josh Rosen led the Bruins to an epic comeback with 292 yards and four touchdowns all in the fourth quarter.

In a heartwarming moment in college football history, USC’s Jake Olson, a blind long snapper entered the game against Western Michigan in the 4th quarter to snap the ball for an extra point.  Olson lost his left eye when he was 10 months old due to a form of eye cancer. When he was 12 years old, he learned he would need surgery to remove his right eye. Olson grew up a big USC football fan and playing in a game was a dream come true. USC’s coach spoke with Western Michigan’s coach prior to the game and agreed if Olson came in (which would happen if the game was out of reach for either team), the team wouldn’t rush him. He said to the players, “I told them the entire situation and said, ‘You can’t touch him, you can’t yell at him, everybody get down so it looks like a football play but nobody move. I told them, ‘What we’re about to do is bigger than the game. This is about what kind of people we want to be, what we represent; this is bigger than us.’”

BASKETBALL

LaMelo Ball, son of the outspoken and controversial LaVar and younger brother of Laker rookie Lonzo, now has his own signature sneaker. As only a high school junior, there are no rules preventing him from having his own sneaker, but when he goes to UCLA (where he’s already been recruited) in a couple of years, the NCAA rules clearly prevent him from benefitting financially from anything branded.  LaMelo’s new shoe is a whopping $395 which still pales in comparison to his brother’s $495 version.

FOOTBALL

The NFLPA (NFL Players Association) requested a restraining order to block Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott six game suspension for alleged domestic violence abuse. The claim was made last year by Elliott’s former girlfriend.  The NFLPA contested that “there was a League-orchestrated conspiracy by senior NFL executives … to hide critical information — which would completely exonerate Elliott.” One issue is that the arbitrator Harold Henderson denied Elliotts attorney’s attempt to have the girlfriend testify. Stay tuned for whether Elliott starts the season or sits for six games (or possibly fewer).