FOOTBALL

After losing 27-17 to the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday Night Football, the New Orleans Saints have lost five consecutive games. The Cowboys defense had a strong night intercepting Saints quarterback Taysom Hill four times.

The NFL suspended (without pay) Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown, safety Mike Edwards, and receiver John Franklin III for falsifying their vaccination status.

BASKETBALL

The Memphis Grizzlies destroyed the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night by a whopping 73 points, the largest in NBA history. Grizzle’s 152, Thunder 79.

TENNIS

The Women’s Tennis Association will suspend all of its tournaments in China after tennis player Peng Shuai hasn’t been seen since her allegations of sexual assault. The WTA, as opposed to other Leagues, has taken a strong stand. In a recent statement, the WTA chairman Steve Simon said, “I don’t see how I can ask our athletes to compete there when Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has seemingly been pressured to contradict her allegation of sexual assault.”

Boston Celtics star Enes Kanter, who was the 3rd overall pick in the NBA draft in 2011, has used his platform in the NBA to protest human-rights issues in China. Kanter recently became a U.S. citizen and changed his name to Enes Kanter Freedom.

BASKETBALL

Azzi Fudd, a UConn freshman basketball player, signed a name, image, and likeness (NIL) endorsement deal with Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry. Part of the deal involves Curry mentoring Fudd as the “next face of women’s basketball”. This partnership is the first NIL deal between an NBA player and a college player.

BASEBALL

Major League Baseball is in a labor dispute with the players union and has now entered a lockout that halts all of its operations.  The season doesn’t officially begin for three more months, but it’s the first lockout in 27 years and only the ninth in league history.

FOOTBALL

This week’s College Football Playoff rankings look very different than in years past. With Michigan’s stunning defeat of  Ohio State on Saturday, the Wolverines jumped to number two in the rankings. If the team beats Iowa on Saturday, Michigan will likely make the Playoffs. Number 1 ranked Georgia plays #3 ranked Alabama this weekend with everything on the line for both teams. The current rankings are:

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Alabama
4. Cincinnati

BASKETBALL

The marquee matchup in the NBA Tuesday night featured Phoenix vs Golden State. The Suns dominated the Warriors and extended their winning streak to a franchise-record-tying 17 games. Unfortunately for the Warriors, the loss ended their streak of 43 straight games with at least 100 points scored. Suns 104, Warriors 96.

BASKETBALL

LeBron James elbowed Isaiah Stewart in the face on Sunday night leading to an on-court tussle. Both players were ejected, and LeBron will miss Tuesday’s game against the NY Knicks. It’s LeBron’s first suspension in his 19 years in the League. Stewart was suspended for two games for continuing to engage LeBron in the altercation even after the play was finished.

Former NBA player Iman Shumpert and his dancing partner Daniella Karagach won Dancing with the Stars becoming the only former NBA player to win the competition and the only NBA player to make even make it to the Finals. Watch their amazing freestyle routine.

TENNIS

The tennis star, Peng Shuai, finally emerged over the weekend in a 30-minute video call with IOC President Thomas Bach. The call and subsequent videos and photos of Peng out and about didn’t satisfy WTA CEO Steve Simon who is demanding a full investigation into her disappearance over the last few weeks and her allegations of sexual assault. Simon is threatening to pull out of tournaments in China over the incident.

FOOTBALL

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had no trouble cruising to an easy 30-10 victory over the NY Giants on Monday Night Football.

FOOTBALL

The New England Patriots crushed the Atlanta Falcons 25-0 on Thursday Night Football thanks to their defense which made four interceptions and had four sacks.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown is in hot water again. His former chef accused Brown of not paying him $10,000 for services rendered and showed a text exchange implicating Brown and his  girlfriend of buying fake vaccination cards.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton certainly entertained the crowd in his first press conference since returning to his old team. He arrived in a fedora hat with a Clark Kent press pass (Cam is known as Superman for his touchdown celebrations). He also promised to give away 50 free tickets to the Panthers home game this weekend to fans who have never been to the Bank of America stadium. And, then to cap it all off, he moon danced off the podium.

TENNIS

Tennis start Peng Shuai is still missing. Two weeks ago she posted on social media of sexual assault by a powerful government official. The posts were quickly deleted but then she went missing, and no one has seen from her since. A couple of days ago the Chinese government released a statement attributed to her stating that she was fine and no assault ever took place, but most are skeptical the statement was actually from her. The Women’s Tennis Association has been heavily weighing in on this issue, and there are now questions about what to do with the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing if this situation is as dire as it seems.

BASEBALL

Bryce Harper was awarded the National League MVP and Shohei Ohtani took home the American League MVP awards Thursday night. Ohtani got a unanimous vote, while Harper received 17 of 30 first-place votes.

BASKETBALL

Steph Curry continues to shine in the Warriors decisive 104-89 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. With 40 points, four rebounds and six assists, he made history again by making at least nine 3-pointers for the 38th time in his career. According to ESPN Stats and Info, “he now has more nine 3-pointer games since April (10) than any other player in NBA their entire NBA career.”

BASKETBALL/HOCKEY

On December 25th, the Staples Center will be renamed Crypto.com arena. The Singapore Cryptocurrency exchange and AEG will have the naming rights to the arena, where the Lakers, Clippers, Kings and Sparks play, for 20 years and $700 million. The new logo will be revealed on Christmas Day when the LA Lakers host the Brooklyn Nets.

BASKETBALL

The NBA will host two preseason games in Abu Dhabi in October 2022. According to NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum, “Abu Dhabi is a vibrant multicultural hub with a demonstrated track record of hosting world-class sporting events.”

In other NBA news, Golden State Warriors Steph Curry recorded yet another milestone (in a win over the Brooklyn Nets) by hitting at least nine 3-pointers in 37 games. Check out this article in the Wall Street Journal on how Curry has perfected his shot.

BASKETBALL

The NBA is continuing to investigate Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver for allegations of racism, misogyny and a bad work environment. Meanwhile his wife Penny has reportedly been sending “intimidating messages” to try and “set the record straight” to a few former Suns employees.

D-III Yeshiva University defeated Eastern Connecticut on Wednesday night bringing its win streak to 39 games, the longest winning streak across all levels of men’s college basketball. The Maccabees coach, Elliot Steinmetz, became coach in 2014 and has led the team to winning seasons ever since. And, in 2020, Steinmetz was named coach of the year for leading the Maccabees to the Sweet 16 of the National Tournament.

FOOTBALL

According to the Sports Business Journal, interest in the NFL is on the upswing. This year, NFL games are slated to have the highest number of games in TV’s top 100 telecasts.

With that said, here is a highlight of some of the weekend/Monday night games:

The Denver Broncos lost their defensive star Von Miller, and the Cleveland Browns broke up with Odell Beckham Jr, but both teams managed big wins over the weekend. The Broncos dominated the Dallas Cowboys (who had QB Dak Prescott back on the field) 30-16, while the Browns, thanks to running back Nick Chubb, ran over the Cincinnati Bengals 41-16.

The Tennessee Titans, without their star Derrick Henry, shocked everyone with a 28-16 win over the Los Angeles Rams. And at 36 years old, Adrian Peterson came off the practice squad to score a touchdown.

On Monday night football, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Chicago Bears 29-27, giving coach Mike Tomlin the second-most wins in franchise history (150).

In other NFL news, the Las Vegas Raiders are having some major personnel problems. After releasing first-round pick Henry Ruggs III for driving under the influence resulting in the death of a driver, they’ve now released Damon Arnette for threatening to kill someone. Arnette was also a first-round pick (19th overall in 2020 from Ohio State).

FOOTBALL

According to reports, the Cleveland Browns plan to release wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Beckham’s father has been on social media bashing the Browns’ quarterback, and Beckham hasn’t been at practice all week, so there appears to be no love lost on the team for him.

In Thursday night football, the Indianapolis Colts beat the NY Jets 45-30. In case you’re wondering if that’s an unusual score, it is. It’s a Scorigami (a unique score that’s never happened before in that sport).

BASKETBALL

In a developing story from ESPN, Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver has been accused of “fostering a  toxic work environment, repeated racially insensitive remarks, and misogynistic comments toward women in the organization.”

BASEBALL

The Dodgers kept their World Series hopes alive by beating the Braves Thursday night to hold off elimination. The Braves are up 3-2 with Game 6 on Saturday.

OTHER

Fanatics, the Sports e-commerce company, has secured another round of funding for their nonfungible token company Candy Digital. The company is now valued at $1.5 billion with investors including SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, Insight Partners, and Hall of Famer Peyton Manning.

FOOTBALL

Representative Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) sent a letter requesting the NFL turn over documents and answer questions from the investigation of the Washington Football Team’s alleged abuse in the workplace and from the NFL’s handling of the situation.

BASKETBALL

In their home opener, Golden State Warriors Steph Curry exploded with a 45-point night in a close win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Warriors 115, Clippers 114.