FOOTBALL

Running back Ezekiel Elliott is back at the top of the news this morning after Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones dropped a bombshell Thursday night when he stated, “I’m operating as though right now he’s going to miss regular-season games.”

New York Giants first-round pick Daniel Jones played very well this pre-season, which begs the question of if he’ll take over soon as the starting quarterback from veteran Eli Manning. Manning will start the season, but with Jones looking solid in the pre-season, many are wondering when Jones will take over the starting job.

The Miami Dolphins named 36-year old Ryan Fitzpatrick over Josh Rosen (nicknamed “Chosen” Rosen) as their starting quarterback. Twenty-two-year-old Rosen is playing in his second year with the team and didn’t “feel great” about the decision but said, “The battle and competition never stops. I’ll push him every single day for him to get better, and if he doesn’t get better, hopefully I’ll surpass him at some point. It’s only [a matter of] time that this team is mine, but until then I’m going to be as supportive of a backup as I can and push him every single day.”

BASEBALL

After the Chicago Cubs completed a 3-game sweep of the New York Mets, the Mets have lost the last 6 games (falling 5 back to Chicago) in the race for the second National League wild-card spot.

TENNIS

15-year-old Coco Gauff becomes the youngest woman to reach the 3rd round of the US Open since 1996. She’ll play #1 Naomi Osaka on Saturday.

FOOTBALL

The Dallas Cowboys season opener begins September 8th against the New York Giants, and there’s still a strong possibility they’ll be without star running back Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott is still in intense contract negotiations with the team, and Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones told the press, “The same way we look at any player [who’s out], we’ll get ready for the Giants [without Elliott]. If he’s not there for the Giants, and comes in the next or the next or the next or we’ll use him in the playoffs.” If Elliott doesn’t open the season, the team feels confident in their rookie Tony Pollard and veteran Alfred Morris.

Saquon Barkley, the New York Giants’ featured running back, was asked recently which team had the craziest fans. Without hesitation he named the Philadelphia Eagles. He said, “I would have to go with Philly. I think Eli (Manning) came out and said something about it earlier in the year — when you go out there, you don’t just see grown men yelling at you, you see little kids yelling at you. When he said that quote, I remember just, like, flashing back to my first time running out there. And I remember just looking up, and I’m seeing this one little kid — one day, I hope I find out his name — but he was saying some things that, probably, an 11- or 12-year-old shouldn’t be really saying … Philly fans are crazy.”

Former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski spoke about his retirement recently mentioning he was going to focus on advocating for NFL players to use CBD products (CBDMEDIC which aids in pain relief). CBD is currently on the list of NFL’s banned substances, but Gronk said “I’m advocating for CBD to be acceptable for all players for recovery. You can just call me Mr. Recovery. You know you like that name. Mr. Recovery, baby.”

BASEBALL

New York Mets rookie first baseman, Pete Alonso, set the single-season franchise homer recorded for his team with his 42nd home run. He becomes only the seventh rookie to achieve this feat, and the first since 1938. The 24 year old Alonso will likely win the National League Rookie of the Year.

The New York Yankees also made news when Aaron Judge hit his 100th homer of his career. Judge also holds the record (52)  for the most home runs in a rookie season. With Tuesday’s milestone hit, Judge becomes the third quickest player to achieve that feat.

TENNIS

Fifteen-year old teen sensation (who captivated the tennis world at Wimbledon by beating her idol Venus Williams and advancing to the round of 16)  Cori (Coco) Gauff won her first round of the US Open. It wasn’t a pretty win, but she managed to eek out a three-set victory over Anastasia Potapova.

TENNIS

Serena Williams looked unstoppable crushing Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-1 in her first round at the US Open. The win marked her 19th consecutive victory over Sharapova. 37-year old Serena (dressed in a skintight bodysuit which fans said “won the night”) has been suffering from back spasms, but is hoping to win her 24th major title, which would tie her with Margaret Court for the record.

BASKETBALL

Jeremy Lin, the former New York Knick who caused a global craze called “Linsanity” in 2012 when he helped the team turn their season around, has signed with the Beijing Shougang Ducks to play in the Chinese Basketball Association. Lin won a title with the Toronto Raptors last season, but failed to sign as a free-agent this summer.

FOOTBALL

As reported last week, U.S. women’s soccer star, Carli Lloyd, created some excitement in the sports world when she kicked a series of 55-yard field goals at a Philadelphia Eagles practice. Now, according to Fox Sports, Lloyd has been receiving calls from NFL teams (with one in particular) offering her a slot to play in a preseason game this week. Lloyd is playing with her national team this week against Portugal so is unable to take up the offer from the unidentified  team.

FOOTBALL

Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck shocked the sports world over the weekend with the announcement he’s retiring. At almost 30 years old, Luck stated he was tired of dealing with injuries, which in his 7 years in the league included: torn cartilage in two ribs, torn abdomen, lacerated kidney, torn labrum, and an ankle sprain. In his news conference Saturday night, Luck stated, “It’s very difficult. I love this team. I love my teammates. … It’s sad, but I also have a lot of clarity in this.”

BASKETBALL

Dwight Howard signed a one-year $2.6 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Memphis Grizzlies agreed to a contract buyout with Howard allowing him to return to the team he left six years ago after a disappointing 2012 season.

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FOOTBALL

Carolina Panthers star quarterback Cam Newton suffered a foot injury in his preseason debut against the New England Patriots on Thursday night. Newton’s return to the field this week was highly anticipated, as he had shoulder surgery in the offseason and was working on a new throwing motion.  Coach Ron Rivera hasn’t commented about the seriousness of the injury.

It looks as if the Ezekiel Elliott contract standoff with the Dallas Cowboys is making some progress. According to reports, the Cowboys latest offer to Elliott would make him the second-highest-paid running back in the league. The offer is apparently somewhere in between NY Jets’ Le’Veon Bell’s $52.5 million with $35 million guaranteed and LA Rams’ Todd Gurley’s $60 million ($45 million guaranteed).

The College Football season begins Saturday the 24th. The first FBS game is Florida vs Miami (Fla) Saturday night at 7:00 pm ET. The AP preseason poll lists Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Ohio State in the top five teams.

Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is one the most hyped NFL prospects, but a horse named after him is also making a big splash. The 3-year old Tua, named after the national champion quarterback, won his division at the World Championship Horse Show.

FOOTBALL

Check out soccer star Carli Lloyd’s kicking prowess during her practice with the Philadelphia Eagles. The two-time World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Player of the Year was invited to practice with her favorite team. After kicking a 40-yard field goal followed by a 55-yarder, she certainly impressed the players with her skills.

The Dallas Cowboys signed linebacker Jaylon Smith to a five-year $64 million deal. According to reports, the long-term extension was a not-so-subtle message to their other star players looking to sign new deals: QB Dak Prescott, running back Ezekiel Elliott and wide receiver Amari Cooper.  The Cowboys executive VP Stephen Jones stated, “I have a lot of respect for, you know, most agents. I really do. I think they’re trying to do their job for these players. But I do think sometimes they don’t have the end game that maybe the players should and we do.”

FOOTBALL

Running back Ezekiel Elliott is training in Cabo while continuing his holdout with the Dallas Cowboys. With pre-season in full swing, the Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones made what he thought was a light, humorous remark about the impressive debut of running back Tony Pollard. When asked after about Elliott, Jones said, “Zeke Who?”. After Jones heard that Elliott found the remark disrespectful, he said, “Pollard would complement ‘not replace’ what Elliott brings to the Cowboys”. Zeke’s contract negotiations are still ongoing and his fines for not reporting to training camp are soaring above $900,000.

Antonio Brown’s helmet saga continues. The Oakland Raiders wide receiver is continuing his fight with the NFL over having a certified helmet. Brown lost his first grievance with the league and has now filed a new grievance asking for a year grace period to find a suitable replacement. The Raiders are clearly annoyed with the distraction as evidenced by GM Mike Mayock’s statement: “You all know that A.B. is not here today. So here’s the bottom line. He’s upset about the helmet issue. We have supported that. We appreciate that. But at this point we’ve pretty much exhausted all avenues of relief. So from our perspective, it’s time for him to be all in, or all out. So we’re hoping he’s back soon. We’ve got 89 guys busting their tails. We’re really excited about where this franchise is going. And we hope A.B. will be a big part of it, starting Week 1 against Denver. End of story. No questions. Just wanted you guys to know where we were.”

BASKETBALL

Zion Williamson, the #1 pick in the NBA draft, was not named by his fellow rookies as the player who would have the best career from their 2019 class. Williamson’s teammate at Duke, Cam Reddish (the 10th pick in the draft going to the Atlanta Hawks) received the most votes. The Memphis Grizzlies Ja Morant and the Hawks’ De’Andre Hunter also received more votes than Williamson.

BASEBALL

Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale will miss the rest of the season due to a left elbow injury. He will likely avoid having to get Tommy John surgery which would have sidelined him all next season, but the loss of Sale this year is a major disappointment for the Red Sox’s playoff hopes. Sale is having the worst season of his career, but the Red Sox still could have used his flashes of brilliance (this season became the fastest pitcher in Major League Baseball history to reach 2,000 career strikeouts).

BASKETBALL

Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai bought the remaining portion of the Brooklyn Nets he didn’t already own from Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. According to the AP, Tsai paid $2.4 billion for the team, making it the biggest deal ever for a U.S. sports franchise. In a separate deal, Tsai also bought the Nets’ arena, the Barclays Center for close to $1 billion. Tsai attended the Lawrenceville School and then went on to Yale where he played lacrosse.

Will Dwight Howard become an LA Laker now that their star center DeMarcus Cousins is out from a torn ACL? The Lakers have been granted permission from the Memphis Grizzlies to speak to Howard, but according to a team source, “The Lakers’ interest in Howard is more due diligence at this point.” Howard played for the Lakers in 2012, and if he goes back, it would be his sixth team over five seasons.

BASEBALL

Recently, the Oakland A’s signed baseball fan Nathan Patterson to a contract after throwing a 96 mph ball in a speed-pitch booth while attending a game with his brother. This fairy tale story gets even better after Nathan struck out all three batters he faced in his debut with the A’s rookie-level Arizona League.

BASKETBALL

Former Golden State Warrior and current LA Laker, DeMarcus Cousins suffered a torn ACL injury that could cause him to miss most if not all of next season. The four-time NBA All-Star missed most of last season with the Warriors due to an Achilles tear and quad injury.

BASEBALL

The biggest story in Major League Baseball yesterday was the Chicago Cubs meltdown, and the Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper hitting a walkoff grand slam to give the Phillies a comeback win from a deficit of 5-1. According to the stats, the Cubs had a 99.4 percent chance of winning the game before the Phillies clawed their way back.