FOOTBALL

Dolphin fans celebrated last night watching the Washington Football Team beat the previously undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers. The 1972 Dolphins continue to remain the only team in the NFL to have a perfect season. For Washington, quarterback Alex Smith continues to inspire with a 23-17 win.

In the second game on Monday night, the Buffalo Bills beat the San Francisco 49ers 34-24 thanks to Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen who completed 32 of 40 passes for 375 yards and four touchdowns.

BASKETBALL

Former President Barack Obama’s basketball jersey from his 1978 season at Hawaii’s Punahou School sold for $192,00 breaking the record for the most expensive high school basketball jersey sold at auction. The previous record was $187,500 for LeBron James’ jersey worn on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2002.

BASKETBALL

Not long after LeBron signed his massive deal with the LA Lakers, teammate Anthony Davis agreed to a five-year $190 million contract.

FOOTBALL

The Knight Commission, a group of college athletic leaders, spent the year studying how to best repair the NCAA’s “broken governance model”. Their suggestion is to remove the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) from the rest of the NCAA and allow it to govern itself. The FBS produces more money than the rest of college sports and has the College Football Playoff which on its own generates more than $600 million yearly.

OTHER

There is a new shakeup at ESPN with the announcement that longtime radio host Dan Le Batard will leave the network on January 4th. Mike Greenberg’s show “Greeny” will replace The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz at 10:00 am-noon ET.

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LeBron James signed a two-year extension with the Lakers for $85 million. LeBron will be starting his 18th season, but he’ll have to continue playing past 20 seasons if he still plans on fulfilling his dream to play in the NBA with his son Bronny (who will graduate from high school in two years).

The Washington Wizards traded John Wall (who has been with the franchise for 10 years) to the Houston Rockets for Russell Westbrook and a first-round pick.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers continued their undefeated season with a win over the Baltimore Ravens in a highly unusual Wednesday afternoon game. After more than 20 positive COVID-19 tests leading to three postponements of the matchup, the Steelers won 19-14.

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Pope Francis met with a small delegation of NBA players and officials from the National Basketball Players Association to discuss social justice issues. The meeting took place at the request of the Pope, so he could learn more about the issues and what the NBA planned for the future. The last-minute meeting at the Vatican included the following players: Kyle Korver, Sterling Brown, Marco Belinelli, Jonathan Isaac, and Anthony Tolliver.

In college basketball, the ACC and Big Ten coaches decided to wear casual clothes instead of their traditional suits during games. Iona’s Rick Pitino said “I’m definitely not wearing a suit. Why would you want to wear a suit when there are no fans at the games?”

FOOTBALL

On Monday Night Football, the LA Rams’ quarterback Jared Goff overshadowed Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in a 27-24 win. Goff threw for three touchdowns and 376 passing yards in this important NFC West matchup.

BASEBALL

New York Mets’ Robinson Canó received his second suspension for use of a banned substance and will be suspended for the entire 2021 season.

BASKETBALL

The NBA draft takes place tonight at 8:00 pm ET. The Minnesota Timberwolves hold the first pick, and Georgia guard Anthony Edwards is projected to go #1. There’s also a chance a team will trade up to get an opportunity to grab LaMelo Ball. The Golden State Warriors have the second pick with Memphis’s James Wiseman as the obvious choice. Forty-five league employees will head to ESPN’s Bristol headquarters for the virtual draft.

BASEBALL

After nine seasons as president of baseball operations with the Chicago Cubs, Theo Epstein is stepping down. In an open letter to “Cubs Friends”, Epstein said he “needs his first summer away from a ballpark in 30 years to spend time with family and nonprofits. He needs a reset. After that, he intends to return to what he called his “third chapter” in baseball, preferably as part of an ownership group.”

BASKETBALL

The NCAA announced its 68-team tournament, March Madness, will take place in one city (essentially creating a bubble) in 2021. The city will likely be Indianapolis, where the Final Four was scheduled to take place. The NCAA had to cancel March Madness earlier this year and lost a reported $375 million.

In NBA news, the Houston Rockets’ James Harden turned down a $103 million extension on top of his current three years $133 million. With the new salary, he would have become the first $50 million per year player in league history. Harden has clearly stated he wants to be traded to the Brooklyn Nets to join Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

In other trade news, the Oklahoma City Thunder traded Chris Paul to the Phoenix Suns.

SOCCER

Actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the fifth-division English soccer team, Wrexham AFC. Reynolds and McElhenney plan to invest heavily in the club and promote the team with a documentary series. Their celebrity status and social media following will also likely help the team garner attention and fans.

FOOTBALL

The Minnesota Vikings edged out the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football in a pretty uneventful game. The Vikings have now won three games in a row, while the Bears have lost four straight. Minnesota 19, Chicago 13

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The New England Patriots barely eked out a win over the New York Jets on Monday Night Football. Nick Folks 51-yard field goal sealed the win for the Pats handing the Jets their 9th loss of the season. The Jets are now 0-9 for the first time in team history. The good news is their dismal record makes them primed to have the first pick in the NFL draft, and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence could be their new quarterback. Patriots 30, Jets 27

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With the new season of the NBA set for a December 22nd start, the League announced the NBA draft will take place on November 18th. As of now, it looks like LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, and James Wiseman could be the top three picks with the Minnesota Timberwolves (unless they trade down) having the first choice.

FOOTBALL

Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers went on a tear throwing for four touchdowns in a 34-17 blowout win over the San Francisco 49ers. Unfortunately, the Niners have been racked by injuries and COVID-19 issues and are likely to continue to struggle this season.

The Las Vegas Raiders have been fined a total of $1,185 million in fines so far this season for violations related to COVID-19. Coach Jon Gruden has been fined an additional $150,000 for what ESPN reported as “brazen and repeated violations of [COVID-19] protocols.” Multiple teammates including quarterback Derek Carr were also fined for appearing at a Darren Waller Foundation charity event without masks. The NFL is taking these violations seriously and have even taken away one of their draft picks.

BASKETBALL

The NBA Players Association approved a 72-game season to begin on December 22nd and finish before the start of the Tokyo Olympics this summer.

HORSE RACING

The end of the season $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic takes place on Saturday night at 5:18 pm ET. Tiz the Law, the winner of the Belmont Stakes and The Travers will be running at 3-1 odds, while the Kentucky Derby winner, Authentic, goes off at 6-1 odds.