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09/16/2024

MLB's Playoff Chase

Add-on posted early Tuesday a.m.

MLB

Wild Card races after Monday’s play....

NL WC

San Diego 86-65...+3.5
Arizona 83-67...+1
Mets 82-68...--
Atlanta 81-69...1

AL WC

Baltimore 84-66...+5
Kansas City 82-69...+2.5
Minnesota 79-71...--
Detroit 78-73...1.5
Seattle 77-73...2

Sunday night, following the Mets’ brutal 2-1 loss to Philadelphia, the Dodgers blasted the Braves 9-2, so the two teams were tied for the last wild card slot.

But last night, the Mets turned the tables, playing the Nationals at home.  Francisco Lindor was out of the lineup again with his back issue, and will miss another few games it seems, so others had to step up.  Finally, 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth at Citi Field, Starling Marte played the role of hero with a two-out walk-off single, the Mets winning 2-1.

And the Dodgers, still in Atlanta, feasted again on the Braves, 9-0...Mets back up by a game, the season ending a week from Sunday.  Every game is a tension convention.

For New York, pitcher Sean Manaea threw another seven innings of one-run ball, his seventh straight start where he went at least 6 2/3, the only one in the majors to do so this season. These days, that’s quite an accomplishment.

Back to the Dodgers, they got a boost with the return of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, his first start since June 15, and he threw four solid innings, escaping from trouble a few times.

--The White Sox won again!  Three in a row...36-115, 8-4 over the Angels in Anaheim, Andrew Benintendi with two home runs.

--The Cardinals shutout the Pirates 4-0, handing Paul Skenes just his third loss, 10-3, 2.07, even as he yielded just one run in six innings, striking out seven.

NFL

--Giants coach Brian Daboll is being ripped bigly for his decision not to activate a backup kicker for starter Graham Gano, knowing Gano was compromised before the opening kickoff against the Commanders, where he then hurt his hamstring.

As the beat writers noted Monday, these are the kinds of decisions that get a coach fired.  Especially when that coach is now 6-13 since the start of last season.  And 8-18-1 since a 7-2 start in 2022.

I also have to admit that while I noted rookie receiver Malik Nabers’ big game, I failed to note his critical drop on fourth down with 2:04 remaining.  Had Nabers caught the pass, the Giants would have remained in control of the clock, but, instead, Washington drove down the field for a walk-off field goal.

--Because of the Jets and Giants were both playing at 1:00 p.m. Sunday, I only watched the Jets, solely, while closely following the Mets game, played at the same time.  So that’s why I missed the Nabers muff.

But this week the Jets play Thursday at home against the Patriots, and next Sunday, the Giants are the 1:00 game against the Browns, while Mets-Phillies is the ESPN Sunday night game (and I sure hope it’s important for us Mets fans by then).  Ergo, Sunday, I’m watching the Giants, mostly.

--So, in games after I went to post...I was fascinated how much confidence the Chiefs had in kicker Harrison Butker, to just get enough yardage on their final drive to set him up for a 51-yarder?!  Wow.  The guy came through, but I sure would have wanted even another 5 or 6.

In the 26-25 thriller, Chiefs over the Bengals, for the record, Patrick Mahomes was rather mediocre, 18/25, 151, 2-2, 80.6, while Joe Burrow was very solid, 23/36, 258, 2-0, 103.7.

Travis Kelce had one catch for five yards. Taylor is really into thigh-high boots these days, as am I....but I expect auto-erase to take care of this last comment in about 5, 4, 3....

--Arizona’s Kyler Murray pitched a perfect game, 17/21, 266, 3-0, 158.3, in the Cards (1-1) win over the Rams (0-2), Marvin Harrison Jr. 4-130-2.

--Broncos rookie Bo Nix, my man, had a pretty poor game, stat-wise, in a 13-6 loss to the Steelers.

And then fellow first-round rookie, No. 1 overall pick, Caleb Williams, had a poor effort in a 19-13 loss to the Texans on Sunday Night Football.

So let’s look at the start for the three main rookie starters in 2024, Nix, Williams, and Jayden Daniels....two games.

Nix...0 touchdown passes, 4 interceptions...51.0 passer rating
Williams...0 – 2...53.0
Daniels...0 – 0 ...but a very solid PR of 97.2, and 26-132-2 rushing.

Advantage, Daniels, thus far.

--Talk about a miserable No. 1 overall draft pick, 2023’s Bryce Young, Carolina is benching him for veteran Andy Dalton, coach Dave Canales said Monday.

Now with the 36-year-old Dalton, you all know the drill...you can get ‘Bad Andy,’ or ‘Good Andy.’

But Dalton’s record as a starter, 83-78-2, 246 TD passes, 144 interceptions, 87.6 PR, is just a wee bit better than Young’s 2-16-0, 11-13, 70.9.

--And then on Monday Night Football, the Eagles led the Falcons in Philadelphia, 18-15, with less than two minutes to play, Atlanta with no timeouts.

Specifically, the Eagles had the ball on the Atlanta 10-yard, 1:46 to play, 3rd-and-three.  Jalen Hurts threw it out to Saquon Barkley for what looked like an easy conversion for the first down and Barkley dropped it.  Jake Elliott kicked a field goal with 1:39 left, 21-15, and then Philadelphia allowed Kirk Cousins to drive the ball 70 yards in six plays, again, no timeouts, for the win, 22-21.  Beyond crushing for Eagles fans, who booed the team, and coach Nick Siriani, off the field.  [A desperation heave by Jalen Hurts was picked off by former Demon Deacon Jessie Bates III.]

The Eagles could have easily run out the clock with the first-down conversion.  But the defense also has to prevent a 70-yard drive!

This is the same Eagles team (with some roster changes) that started last season 10-1 and then flamed out, losing six of its last seven.

--Lastly, according to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Tua Tagovailoa has no plans to retire.  We’ll see.

College Football

--This coming Saturday, 11 USC at 18 Michigan could see the Trojans put the Wolverines’  season to bed, after just four games.

I’m underwhelmed by 12 Utah at 14 Oklahoma State.

But 6 Tennessee at 15 Oklahoma Saturday night could be fun.

--Wake Forest has a bye week and that’s a good thing.  I’m sure there are many folks talking to Coach Dave Clawson about some of his statements, that clearly then influenced the athletic director, who authorized the canceling of a return engagement with Ole Miss in Oxford next year (after Saturday’s 40-6 thumping), thus costing the Deacs $1 million!  WTF! I swear, I thought about that all Sunday when I learned the details.  Just atrocious. It’s not who we are...I’m pissed.

Clawson told reporters after the game:

“We played a really talented football team.  Ole Miss is what everyone thinks they are.  I thought our guys played really hard, but Ole Miss is well coached, they have a lot of resources, and they use those resources very well to put together a top-five team.”

Correct me if I’m wrong, fellow Demon Deacon fans...but this is the same Clawson who just a few years ago was talking about taking another step up.  As in we were 11-3 in 2021, with a Gator Bowl victory and a final CFP ranking of 17.

Then NIL really took hold and Clawson started bitching.  Many of us thought he would walk away after last year’s s---show, Sam Hartman having transferred to Notre Dame, and the team just underperforming without a real quarterback, and now I wish the guy had!

Wake fans are incredibly realistic when it comes to football.  We’re OK with 5-7, 6-6, as long as we’re competitive and play some entertaining ball and eke out an occasional 8-4 that gets us into a decent bowl game.  At least that has always been my deal when it comes to my alma mater.  Again, we are the smallest Power Four school.

But if Clawson continues with this crap...run him out of town!  As classmate Phil W. wrote me, he’s doing an immense disservice, not just to the current team, but to the great Deacs of the past.

One of whom, CNBC watchers, you are now seeing in commercials, classmate Syd Kitson, who played three years in the NFL and then became an immensely influential Florida real estate developer.  I know him well.  New Providence (next door to Summit) high school grad, just a super person, and a true success story.  That’s what Wake Forest is.  Not defeatism.  [Let alone Arnie and Tim Duncan.]

And that’s a memo.

Bazooka Joe says: “Timmy D. stayed all four years at Wake Forest!” [He would have been the No. 1 overall pick after his sophomore year.]

Golf Balls

--Patton Kizzire did close out the Procure Championship in Napa, Ca., on Sunday, a 5-stroke winner over David Lipsky.  Kizzire is a good guy who was lost in the wilderness, by his own admission. He was very emotional on securing his third win after losing his playing privileges last year.  Now he’s got a 2-year exemption and a world of confidence. 

--Jon Rahm won the LIV Golf final individual event Sunday in Bolingbrook, Ill., thus taking the season points title and its $18 million bonus.

Stuff

--Sunday, Caitlin Clark set the WNBA record for points in a rookie season, eclipsing Seimone Augustus, though Clark needed 19 points to move past Augustus, who scored 744 points in 34 games in 2006 with Minnesota, while Clark was in her 39th game.  Clark ended up with a career-high 35 points (6 of 14 from three), the Fever beating the Dallas Wild Wings 110-109.  [Actually, it’s the Dallas Wings, but I kind of like Wild Wings.]

Reminder, the WNBA lengthened its season to 36 games in 2022 and to 40 games in 2023.  So lots of record-setting that needs to be discussed in its proper context, a la football having gone from 14 to 16 to 17 and soon, 18 games.  One thousand yards rushing ain’t the same as 1,000 yards, say, in John Brockington’s day.  [He had a great Strat-O-Matic card in 1971.]

Meanwhile, Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson set the WNBA single-season scoring record – reaching 1,000 points with a 29-point outing Sunday.

--Tito Jackson died.  He was 70.  His three sons announced their father’s death in a statement posted on Instagram.  No cause given, but a late story has it being a heart attack.

Tito, born Toriano Adaryll Jackson on Oct. 15, 1953, was the third of nine Jackson children who grew up in Gary, Indiana.

Tito and brothers Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael were the founding members of the Jackson 5.

Tito began playing guitar around age 10, after his father caught him messing around on the instrument and bought him a six-string of his own. “It was the blues that got me interested in the guitar,” Tito recalled in a 2021 interview.

Recognizing his sons’ musical talent, Joe Jackson went to work (as only Joe could do, cough cough), and molded them into a family act.

Tito first performed alongside his brothers Jackie and Jermaine as The Jackson Brothers, and they released their first studio recording, “Big Boy,” according to his personal website.  Marlon and Michael then joined and...voila...The Jackson 5, who signed in 1968 with Berry Gordy’s Motown Records.  Tito ended up being a background singer and guitarist.

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m.

-----

[Posted Sunday p.m., prior to conclusion of late NFL, and baseball, games.]

Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tuesday.

MLB Quiz: The Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber cranked his 14th leadoff home run of the season the other day, breaking the single-season record of 13 he had shared with Alfonso Soriano (2003). The homer also gave Schwarber four, 35 home run seasons.  Name the only four active players with five, 35-homer seasons. Answer below.

MLB

Standings after Saturday’s play....

AL East

Yankees 86-63
Baltimore 84-65...2

AL Central

Cleveland 85-64
Kansas City 82-67...3

AL Wild Card

Baltimore 84-65...+5.5
Kansas City 82-67...+3.5
Minnesota 78-70...--
Detroit 76-73...2.5
Seattle 76-73...2.5

NL Wild Card

San Diego 84-65...+2.5
Arizona 82-66...+1
Mets 81-67...--
Atlanta 81-67...--

It’s been an exciting baseball season for New York fans.

Friday night, the Yankees, hot off two exciting extra-inning wins over Kansas City and Boston, beat the Red Sox 5-4, as Aaron Judge finally broke his career-long, 16-game homerless drought (75 plate appearances) with a 7th-inning grand slam, No. 52, 130 RBIs.  Luke Weaver, the new closer in place of struggling Clay Holmes, picked up his second save, five strikeouts in two innings.

But Saturday, in one of the stranger, more disgraceful performances, Gerrit Cole, holding Boston without a hit the first 3 1/3, opted to intentionally walk Rafael Devers and then the roof caved in.  Cole gave up 7 earned in 4 1/3, falling to 6-5, 3.97, as the Yankees fell to the Red Sox 7-1.

Manager Alex Cora, while happy with the win, was livid with Cole for, in his words, intentionally hitting Devers in the first inning.

Devers entered the game 14-for-41 (.316) with eight homers and 15 strikeouts against Cole, but he was 10-for-57 with no homers in his previous 15 games.

Cole, in his 15 Yankee starts against the Red Sox, including the playoffs, has a 6.06 ERA against them.

To compound matters, the Orioles and Corbin Burnes (14-8, 3.06) defeated the Tigers Saturday, 4-2, to pull a game closer in the AL East.

Sunday, the Yanks beat Boston 5-2, Aaron Judge with a 2-run homer, No. 53, while the Tigers beat the Orioles 4-2, lead back to three for New York.

--As for the crosstown Mets, Wednesday in Toronto, the Blue Jays’ Bowden Francis* took a no-hitter into the ninth, only to have Francisco Lindor, New York’s MVP candidate, lead off with a dramatic home run to tie the game at 1-1, and the Mets went on to score six runs in all, a 6-2 win, that was absolutely ginormous. 

*Francis, on Aug. 24, took a no-hitter into the ninth against the Angels, only to see another lead-off homer, but he won that game, 3-1.

The Mets then went to Philadelphia, Friday, for the first of seven games with the first-place Phillies in 10 days, and after being no-hit by Aaron Nola the first four innings, New York exploded with three, 3-run homers, and won going away, 11-3, the Mets finishing Friday night a game ahead of the Braves for the third wild card spot in the NL.

But Francisco Lindor left the game with a lower back strain, and he was not available Saturday, after appearing in 193 straight, going back to last season.  The Mets called up prospect Luisangel Acuna, Ronald Acuna Jr.’s brother, and he had two hits in his MLB debut, but New York could have used Lindor.

The Mets blew an early 4-0 lead, Bryce Harper hit home runs in consecutive at-bats, after going 113 ABs without homering, and unheralded outfielder Cal Stevenson drove in what would be the winning run and robbed J.D. Martinez of a homer, Phils winning 6-4.

Coupled with the Braves demolition of the Dodgers in Atlanta, 10-1, Chris Sale moving to 17-3, 2.56 with six strong, the Mets and Braves were again tied for the third, and final, wild card slot, both a game behind the Diamondbacks, 15-8 losers to the Brewers yesterday.

[Shohei Ohtani ended Saturday’s play with 47 home runs and 48 stolen bases, in his quest to be baseball’s first 50-50 man.]

Sunday, the Mets’ David Peterson and Philly’s Cristopher Sanchez hooked up in a great pitcher’s duel, 0-0 after seven.  New York’s Tyrone Taylor then homered off Sanchez, but Philadelphia tied it in the bottom of the eighth, and won it against Edwin Diaz in the ninth, J.T. Realmuto with the 2-out walk-off hit after a clutch stolen base from Nick Castellanos.

Drat!  Brutal loss.  And now Mets fans wait to see what happens tonight in Atlanta.

Francisco Lindor started the game but exited early.  No word on his status. 

--The Padres shut out the Giants Saturday, 8-0 in San Francisco, Joe Musgrove with six, after the night before, Dylan Cease outdueled Logan Webb, San Diego winning 5-0.

--Friday, Jacob deGrom made his first start for Texas after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2023, striking out four in 3 2/3 scoreless innings for the Rangers in their 5-4 loss to the Mariners.

The former Mets star threw 61 pitches and his fastball topped out at 98.7 mph, reaching at least 97 20 times, a terrific sign.

Texas lost to the Mariners again by the same score on Saturday, 5-4, as Max Scherzer returned to the mound after a 6-week absence for the Rangers, 2 runs in 4 innings.  [Seattle is back in the wild card hunt, as you see from the above.]

Thursday night, the Rangers unveiled highly-touted rookie Kumar Rocker (technically, another former Met), and he threw four innings of one-run ball, striking out 7, in a 5-4 Texas win over Seattle.

--The White Sox won their 34th game Saturday, 7-6 over the A’s, as former Demon Deacon Gavin Sheets homered and had two RBIs.

And....stop the presses!  Chicago won again today, 4-3, Gavin Sheets homering a second straight game!  Go Deacs!  Win No. 35!  Go White Sox, Go White Sox, Go White Sox Go!

--In catching up since I didn’t have a Tuesday Add-on, Monday, Paul Skenes improved to 10-2, 2.10, with 6 innings, one earned, 9 strikeouts, in a 3-2 win over Miami.

Tuesday, his 2023 College World Series mound opponent in their classic, Wake Forest’s  Rhett Lowder, picked up his first major league win in Cincinnati’s 3-0 shutout of the Cardinals; Lowder with 5 innings, 5 hits, no walks, 84 pitches, and he’s allowed just one run in his first 15 1/3, 0.59 ERA.

Lowder pitched today and had a 2-1 lead, bottom of the sixth in Minnesota, but after putting runners on first and second, one out, he was replaced for reliever Tony Santillan, who allowed the two baserunners to score, and Lowder takes the loss (1-2, 1.74), the Twins eventually winning 9-2.

College Football

--Comments written prior to release of new AP Poll (down below)....

Looking at the top ten...no big upsets, but some close ones.

No. 1 Georgia (3-0) was sternly tested in Lexington, eking out a 13-12 win over Kentucky (1-2), the Wildcats outgaining the Bulldogs 284-262.  But an SEC win is a win, as we’ll see all season with this loaded conference.

No. 2 Texas (3-0) blasted UTSA (1-2) 56-7, but in this one, Heisman candidate Quinn Ewers exited with a non-contact injury (abdominal strain), Ewers 14-of-16 at the time.

Enter Arch Manning, and all he did was go 9/12, 223, 4-0, with a 67-yard touchdown run!  Pretty, pretty good.

*I just saw Ewers is “week-to-week” with an oblique strain.

No. 3 Ohio State was idle.

4 Alabama (3-0) whipped Wisconsin (2-1) on the road, 42-10, as Jalen Milroe firmly established himself as a Heisman candidate, passing for three touchdowns and running for two more.

The Badgers lost quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, the Miami transfer, to an apparent serious knee injury on their first possession.

I’ve been dreading 5 Ole Miss at Wake Forest since I saw the schedule released, and I was right, the Rebels rolling, 40-6, to get to 3-0.  This is definitely a national title contender.  They are loaded on both sides of the ball.

Ole Miss had 282 yards in offense in the first quarter!  They outgained the Deacs (1-2) 649-311 for the game.

But with Wake’s up-tempo offense, coach Lane Kiffin had his boys constantly faking injuries to slow the Deacs down, and once the Wake players, and the crowd, caught on, they were pissed.  Dave Clawson’s classy program doesn’t pull (garbage) like this (though we finally started doing it ourselves late in the second half just to give them a bit of their own medicine).

However, prior to the game and going back to last season, Coach Clawson has been complaining way too much about the lack of resources (specifically NIL money) and not being able to compete, but that has always been the case with Wake, even pre-NIL, and we still went to seven straight bowl games, until 2023.  Wake fans, like fellow alum Phil W., are getting irritated with such talk.

[No excuses for Wake hoops in this regard.  NIL $s enabled us to bring back first-team All-ACC guard Hunter Sallis this coming season when he was headed to the NBA.]

Clawson has a point, though, when it comes to a Sam Hartman, and our offensive stars from 2023 who transferred this offseason to Indiana and Nebraska.  But that’s the system.  We recruit them, develop them, and they eventually get the $s elsewhere.  C’est la vie.  Wake is, after all, the smallest Power Four school. 

But then we learned that Wake canceled the 2025 return game with Ole Miss in Oxford, and had to cut the Rebels a $1 million check for doing so.  As Brett McMurphy observed, why not keep this news under wraps for at least a few weeks, let alone until after the season?  And if you’re a donor, you have to wonder where your dollars are going!  C’mon, Deacs.  You’re better than this, and Clawson, as well as the athletic director, have a lot of explaining to do. 

6 Missouri (3-0) had a toughie against upstart 24 Boston College (2-1) but came away with a 27-21 win in Columbia.  B.C. is for real...and can win the ACC.

7 Tennessee rolled over lowly Kent State (0-3) 71-0, outgaining the Golden Flashes 740-112!  Eegads.

8 Penn State was idle.

9 Oregon (3-0) has been looking for its ‘identity’ on offense and may have found it, an impressive 49-14 win at rival Oregon State (2-1), the Ducks racking up 546 yards, quarterback Dillon Gabriel a cool 20/24, 291, 2-0.

10 Miami (3-0) demolished Ball State (1-1) 62-0, as another Heisman contender, Cam Ward, threw for 346 yards and five touchdowns for the Hurricanes.

In other games....

In an entertaining, if somewhat sloppy, game, 16 LSU moved to 2-1 with a nice 36-33 win over South Carolina (2-1) on the road.  Boy, the Gamecock fans were fired up for this one, but LSU got most of the breaks and came back from an early 17-0 deficit, South Carolina coughing it up three times (and having two pick-sixes wiped out by penalty).

18 Notre Dame (2-1) bounced back after its Northern Illinois debacle, blasting Purdue (1-1) 66-7, quarterback Riley Leonard doing what he does best, run, 11 carries for 100 yards and three touchdowns, the Fighting Irish with 362 yards on the ground.  Mark R. slept better Saturday night then he did the prior week.

Indiana is 3-0 and could be ranked later today, a big 42-13 win over UCLA (1-1) in Pasadena.  Former Wake Forest players Justice Ellison (10 carries, 47 yards, and a touchdown) and receiver Ke’Shawn Williams (3-31-2) helped lead the way for the Hoosiers.

Nebraska (3-0) whipped Northwestern (2-1) 34-3.

Maryland (2-1) beat Virginia (2-1) in Charlottesville, 27-13.

Pitt is 3-0, after a 38-34 win against West Virginia (1-2) in Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl, the Mountaineers losing a 10-point, 334-24 lead with just under five minutes left.  Pitt’s new QB is a redshirt freshman, Eli Holstein, an offseason addition from Alabama.  Huh.

Duke is also 3-0, 26-21 winners over UConn (1-2), the over/under 46.5.  Hmmm....

Florida State is shockingly 0-3, falling 20-12 to Memphis (3-0), the Tigers a Group of Five playoff spot contender for sure.

J. Mac’s Coastal Carolina (3-0) beat Temple (0-3) 28-20 in Philadelphia.

Colorado is 2-1 after a 28-9 win over in-state rival Colorado State (1-2) in Fort Collins.  Potential No. 1 overall draft pick, Travis Hunter, the two-way star, had 13 receptions for 100 yards, plus five tackles and an interception.

Friday night, 14 Kansas State (3-0) beat 20 Arizona (2-1), as Wildcats QB Avery Johnson passed for two TDs, and rushed for 110 yards.  An exciting player.

--The two-member Pac-12 poached Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Fresno State from the Mountain West Conference.  The addition of the four would mean the Pac-12 would need to get two more teams to get to eight, the minimum to be considered a conference for Division I play.

Dan Wolken / USA TODAY Sports

“In the annals of absurdity, financial mismanagement and ego-driven decision making that have long been the hallmarks of conference realignment, Thursday’s announcement of a rebuilt Pac-12 sets a new standard for pointlessness in college sports.

“Left for dead a year ago when the rest of the league scattered in the wind, Oregon State and Washington State have convinced Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State to leave the Mountain West and join them under the Pac-12 banner in 2026.  There will be more additions for sure – you’d think UNLV, Air Force, and perhaps New Mexico would be a starting point depending on how big they want to go – but the bottom line is so inconsequential you have to ask whether it’s even worth the trouble.

“In breaking away from the Mountain West, all the Disloyal Four have truly done is joined a new league with an old name that is going to...look almost exactly like the Mountain West.

“And the cost of making that move?

“In excess of $100 million in exit fees and penalties associated with the scheduling agreement Oregon State and Washington State signed with the Mountain West last year, written explicitly to discourage this exact scenario where remaining Pac-12 schools would wreck the conference that gave them a temporary football home.

“A significant chunk of that money will, almost certainly, come from the Pac-12 war chest assembled from a mass of conference revenue the other 10 schools had to forfeit when they left for the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC.  And in turn, the Mountain West will take that money to bolster its remaining members and adding members to ensure its own survival. Given how shallow the pool gets at that end of conference expansion, the Mountain West will probably have to elevate some Football Championship Subdivision schools or dip into Conference USA, which had to do the exact same thing last year.”

You know my attitude on all this crap these days.  Just tell me who my school is playing every week, or in hoops, every Tuesday and Saturday, and I’ll watch the games.  It’s part of the aging process.  I’m too old to give a damn otherwise.

--South Alabama crushed Northwestern State 87-10 on Thursday night, with the Jaguars setting a school scoring record.  The onslaught was so bad that the coaches of both teams agreed to shorten the fourth quarter by six minutes, resulting in only 54 minutes of play.

This ended up being a key for sports betting results.  College football sportsbook house rules usually require 55 minutes of play for most action to be considered valid, though there is room for interpretation.

For the “over/under” category, however, DraftKings had set it at 59.5, so DK could grade winners and losers as it was already handily exceeded.

For the point spread (set at South Alabama -36.5), DK graded all bets as void in accordance with its rules, the game not going 55 minutes, but it awarded cash payouts Friday for any wagers on USA’s full-game and second-half spreads as if they were winners.

Other sportsbooks handled the situation differently.

--And the new AP Poll!

1. Texas 3-0 (35)
2. Georgia 3-0 (23)
3. Ohio State 2-0 (5)
4. Alabama 3-0
5. Ole Miss 3-0
6. Tennessee 3-0
7. Missouri 3-0
8. Miami (FL) 3-0
9. Oregon 3-0
10. Penn State 2-0
11. USC 2-0
12. Utah 3-0
13. Kansas State 3-0
14. Oklahoma State 3-0
15. Oklahoma 3-0
16. LSU 2-1
17. Notre Dame 2-1
18. Michigan 2-1
19. Louisville 2-0
20. Iowa State 2-0
21. Clemson 1-1
22. Nebraska 3-0
23. Northern Illinois 2-0
24. Illinois 3-0
25. Texas A&M 2-1

No one moved up or down more than 2 slots, though 20 Arizona and 24 Boston College exited stage left.

For the second straight week, the SEC has six of the top seven, which heretofore had never happened before in AP poll history.

NFL

--Today, the Jets eked out a win in Nashville against the Titans, 24-17, Aaron Rodgers’ first win though he was rather pedestrian, 18/30, 179, 2-0, 98.7. 

The key was the running back tandem of Breece Hall and rookie Braelon Allen...a combined 21-95-1 rushing, 9-75-2 receiving...and that’s a great formula for success from these bruisers.

On defense for the Jets, the much-maligned Will McDonald IV had three sacks, including a huge one as Tennessee was driving for the tie.  Irvin Charles, out of D-II Indiana University of Pennsylvania, had a big blocked punt for New York as well.

But defensive end Jermaine Johnson suffered a possible torn Achilles tendon.  Ugh.  With the Haason Reddick holdout, the Jets were already super thin on the D-Line.

--The Giants suffered a brutal loss on the opening kickoff, their star placekicker Graham Gano hurt his hamstring and that changed everything for New York, as they ended up losing 21-18 to the Commanders in Washington on a last-second field goal by Austin Siebert...Siebert 7-for-7...the entire offense.

Giants’ punter Jaime Gillan missed an extra point, and the Giants missed two, 2-point conversation attempts...three touchdowns, 18 points.

Daniel Jones was OK at QB for New York and potential superstar wide receiver Malik Nabers was 10-127-1, but it came down to not having Gano.

The thing is, Gano came into the game with a groin injury and the Giants didn’t activate their other kicker just in case!

--The Saints beat the Cowboys in Dallas, 44-19, as Alvin Kamara had four total touchdowns.  For the Cowboys, Dak Prescott threw two interceptions.

--Baker Mayfield ran and threw for a touchdown, did what he had to do to win, and the Tampa Bay defense shut down Detroit and Jared Goff, who threw it 55 times but for only 307 yards and was picked off twice...20-10 Bucs in Motown.

--The Packers, with Malik Willis at QB in place of Jordan Love, beat the Colts 16-10, Josh Jacobs with 151 yards on 32 carries.

--Seattle needed a field goal in overtime to beat the Patriots in Foxborough, 23-20.

--The Chargers dominated the Panthers in Charlotte, 26-3, holding Bryce Young and Co. to a pathetic 159 yards of offense.  Phil W., I hope you weren’t working the sidelines of this one.

--Cleveland’s defense bottled up Trevor Lawrence and the Jags in Jacksonville, 18-13.  Predator Deshaun Watson was so-so for the Brownies.

--Baltimore is 0-2, losing at home 26-23 to Las Vegas, despite holding the Raiders to just 260 yards of offense.

--And Sam Darnold outplayed Brock Purdy, the Vikings with a 23-17 win at home against San Francisco...Darnold 17/26, 268, 2-1, 109.1, Justin Jefferson (4-133-1) with a 97-yard TD reception.

--Amid calls for Tua Tagovailoa to step away after suffering his third ‘recorded’ concussion Thursday night in Miami’s loss to Buffalo, Tagovailoa having missed much of 2022 after two awful concussions (though he played all of 2023), Dolphins Coach Mike McDaniel urged patience.

First off, there is no one who knows when, or if, Tua will return.

“The most important person in this whole equation is Tua,” McDaniel said during a news conference Friday. “His opinion and what he wants to do with his life and his career, coupled with the experts in neuroscience, those are the driving forces behind those actions. I’m not hiding anything. I’m being as transparent as I absolutely could. I have zero idea what any sort of timeline is.”

Ironically, Tua’s concussion occurred after he lowered his head while running the ball, colliding with Bills safety Damar Hamlin, the same player who famously went into cardiac arrest during a “Monday Night Football” game in January 2023, and then made a heroic comeback.  Hamlin wished Tua a “speedy recovery” on social media.

Immediately after the game, Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez said on the postgame show on Amazon Prime that Tagovailoa should “move on” from football.  Las Vegas Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce, a former NFL player, said during a news conference Friday: “I’d tell him to retire.  It’s not worth it. ...He’s going to live longer than he’s going to play football.  Take care of your family.”

McDaniel said earlier Friday that “it would be so, so wrong of me to even sniff that subject,” adding that “his career is his.”

“I totally understand it, and it’s not misplaced,” McDaniel said of the concerns. “And I don’t think those types of conversations when you’re talking about somebody’s career, I think it probably is only fair that their career should be decided by them.”

Thomas Bottiglier, a sports medicine physician at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, who is not treating Tua, said that, in general, a patient’s “total number of diagnosed concussions must be taken into consideration with exposure history, recovery” and other considerations, he told the Washington Post’s Mark Maske.

Bottiglieri, who co-authored a sports-related concussion retirement algorithm, said the long-term risks “of repeated head injury are well established and have been since the description of dementia pugilistica or ‘punch drunk syndrome’ in boxers,” adding that repeated head traumas, whether diagnosed as concussions or not, “can lead to permanent injury and chronic traumatic encephalopathy,” or CTE.

“We currently have no diagnostic markets that allow us to predict [CTE],” he said.  “That being said, we have established a framework for understanding increased risk over time and there is good data on exposure history and the risk of future chronic traumatic encephalopathy.”

So, we await Tua’s decision.  He’s under zero pressure from the Dolphins to make a decision, but Miami obviously has to move on and assume he is not coming back.

[Miami signed Tua to a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension in July.]

As for the Bills’ 31-10 win, it was hardly scintillating stuff, as Tua threw three interceptions, including a pick-six, before exiting for Skylar Thompson, and Josh Allen and the Buffalo offense generated only 247 total yards.

--Tyreek Hill pleaded not guilty for the incident that unfolded outside Hard Rock Stadium last Sunday, when he was detained ahead of the Dolphins’ season opener.

Addressing the media on Wednesday, ahead of the Bills-Dolphins game (Hill with just three catches for 24 yards in the contest), he reflected on what occurred in his confrontation with Miami-Dade police officers, one of whom he demanded be fired.

“My whole life is all about accountability, like how can I get better? Right now, I have family members who are cops, we’ve had conversations. Yes, I will say I could have been better,” Hill said. “I could have let down my window in that instant, but the thing about me is, man, I don’t want attention, I don’t want the cameras out, phones on you in that moment, but at the end of the day, I’m human, I’ve got to follow rules, do what everyone else would do.

“Now, does that give them the right to literally beat the dog out of me?  Absolutely not, but, at the end of the day, I wish I could go back and do things a bit differently.”

In bodycam footage released Monday, officers approached Hill’s vehicle and tapped on his window, to which the eight-time Pro Bowler appeared to respond, “Hey, don’t knock on my window like that.”

Hill was then instructed to exit his vehicle and as one officer opened the car door, Hill was pulled from his seat and brought to the ground, lying on his stomach as he was placed in handcuffs.

Miami Dade police stated Sunday the incident has been placed under “immediate review,” and 27-year veteran Danny Torres has been put on administrative duties stemming from the ordeal.

Hill called for Torres’ termination.

--The NFL averaged 21.0 million viewers per game during the league’s opening week, making it the most-watched Week 1 on record.

NBC had the most-watched game, with defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City’s 27-20 victory over Baltimore in last Thursday’s opener averaging 29.2 million on TV and digital.  The Sunday night game between Detroit and the Los Angeles Rams, which the Lions won 26-20 in overtime, averaged 22.7 million, a 3% jump from last year.

Tom Brady’s first game as Fox’s analyst – Dallas’ 33-17 win over Cleveland – averaged 23.93 million. 

I was down at the Jersey Shore with friends, and we only watched a little of this and didn’t pay attention to Brady’s performance, but he was roundly dissed after.  In defense, it was his first broadcast, people.  Let’s see how he is in another game or two.

That said, No. 2 Fox analyst, Greg Olsen, former No. 1, is always waiting in the wings and if Brady is a disaster, they could move Brady down to No. 2 and elevate Olsen, say mid-season.

But Olsen, with his demotion for Brady apparently had to take a pay cut from the $10 million range to around $3 million.  [Brady has a 10-year, $375 million contract to talk football, which is beyond insane.]

Golf Balls

The FedEx Cup Fall Season (or as others put it, FedExCup Fall...I never know whether to make it one or two words...FedEx Cup, or FedExCup....seriously, the PGA Tour has one word, but CBS has two...but I digress...) is underway...this week’s Procore Championship at Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif.

It’s the first of eight events that determine top 125 eligibility for next year, which provides exempt status into Full-Field Events and a spot in The Players.

After the conclusion of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, players ranked 51st and beyond will continue to compete for points in the fall.  Additionally, the top 10 players in the FedEx Cup Points List at the conclusion of the FedEx Cup Fall who are not yet eligible for the Signature Events will get into the two Signature Events following the season-opening The Sentry (the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational).  This allows for trending players to emerge from the Fall and go up against the best next year.

Nos. 51-70 in the FedEx Cup at the start of the fall have already clinched their top-125 eligibility for the following year but are competing for spots in the first two Signature Events following the Sentry.

Nos. 126-150 at in the final FedEx Cup Points List have conditional status for the PGA Tour season, but can improve or regain Tour status via PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.

Players in the top 50 after the Tour Championship are guaranteed top 125 eligibility and their spots in all Signature Events for the following season, but as we see this week, some are competing to pursue trophies, to play in some of their favorite events and earn Official World Golf Ranking points, or to get in some play before the Presidents Cup.

Winners of Fall Tour events receive a two-year winner’s exemption, plus they are eligible for The Sentry, The Players, as well as eligibility into Major Championships that invite PGA Tour winners.

So, with all that, after three rounds in Napa....

Patton Kizzire -18*
David Lipsky -14
Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners are among a group at -13.

*Should Kizzire, a two-time Tour winner, finish first, he’d move from 132 to 70 in the points standings.

The final round isn’t starting until late, so I’ll pick up the story in my Add-on.

Bill Haas and Ryan McCormick, along with Max Homa and Wyndham Clark, missed the cut.  These eight events are particularly critical for McCormick, 169 or so on the points list as I go to post.

--They held the Irish Open this week at fabled Royal County Down in Newcastle, Northern Ireland.  I’ve played this Top Ten in the World course twice, back in the early 1990s, and it is truly spectacular, and if the wind is up, incredibly hard.

Rory McIlroy was of course the hometown favorite, and he had the lead entering the fourth-round, but could only manage a 2-under 69 today and Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard, with a 65, edged Rory by a stroke.  Has to be immensely disappointing for Rory to come up short once again. 

The win was the 23-year-old Hojgaard’s fifth on the DP World Tour, the quickest to five wins since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1989.  He’s Nicolai’s brother.

American Jimmy Walker had a great tournament, T7, and Wake Forest’s Alex Fitzpatrick, Matthew’s kid brother, was T9.

--Tiger Woods had yet another surgery on his lower back Friday morning. This one, the sixth in the past 10 years, he hopes will relieve some of the spasms like those he experienced this year.

The procedure was described as a microdecompression surgery of the lumbar spine for nerve impingement in the lower back.  That also is referred to as a microdiscectomy, and the recovery time can be anywhere from eight to 12 weeks.

Woods wasn’t scheduled to play again until the Hero World challenge in the Bahamas on Dec. 5-8 and the PNC Championship with his son, Charlie, on Dec. 21-22 in Orlando, Florida.

“The surgery went smoothly, and I’m hopeful this will help alleviate the back spasms and pain I was experiencing throughout most of the 2024 season,” Woods said.

Tiger played all four majors for the first time since 2019, but only made the cut at the Masters, which was significant as it was a record-setting 24th consecutive cut made at Augusta.

--The PGA Tour and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund met in Manhattan on Tuesday in hopes of – finally – making some headway on getting a deal. The meeting was then expected to continue Wednesday, but few details emerged.

Just wake me when a deal is cut.

Stuff

--In Premier League play this weekend, Saturday, Nottingham Forest had a stunning 1-0 win over Liverpool in Anfield.  It was Forest’s first win at Liverpool, all competitions, since 1969!  Good lord.

Manchester City defeated Brentford 2-1.

Today, Arsenal edged Tottenham 1-0 on the road.  My Spurs are going to have a rough season.  Hope I’m wrong.

--I just have to note the passing of actor James Earl Jones, 93, who died Monday.

Jones made his screen debut as a bombardier in “Dr. Strangelove” (1964), and then provided the voice of the sinister Darth Vader in the Star Wars films.  He was the doomed patriarch Mufasa in Disney’s “The Lion King.”

Jones was the leader of a snake cult in “Conan the barbarian,” an aging coal miner in “Matewan,” the father of African princeling Eddie Murphy in the comedy “Coming to America,” the literary recluse in “Field of Dreams,” a South African priest in “Cry, the Beloved Country.”

Jones was an intelligence agency boss in a trio of action films based on Tom Clancy’s books, including “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger.”

His resonant voice brought gravitas to CNN (“This is CNN”).  He appeared on “Sesame Street,” reading the alphabet.

The man was on Broadway, earning Tony Awards for “The Great White Hope” and August Wilson’s “Fences.”

I mean this guy from Arkabutla, Miss., born Jan. 17, 1931, was with us forever.  And you could always count on a great performance.

RIP, James Earl Jones.  You left your mark.

--Taylor Swift’s dominance continued at the MTV Video Music Awards, where she took home seven awards – including the night’s biggest, the trophy for video of the year.

Swift’s awards haul brought her career total to 30, tying her and Beyonce for the title of most-awarded musician in VMA history.  Eminem is now the male artist with the most VMAs, at 14.

In her speech Wednesday night, Swift thanked her “boyfriend, Travis” for being on the set of the “Fortnight” music video and cheering her on. Fans rewarded the mention of Travis Kelce with loud screams.

“Everything this man touches turns to happiness and fun and magic,” she said.

--Jon Bon Jovi goes into the December file for all the right reasons.

Tuesday, while filming a music video on the Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge in downtown Nashville, a woman appeared as if she was attempting to jump off the bridge before Bon Jovi, 62, and someone from the film crew accompanying him intervened.

In a video, they can be seen talking to the woman before pulling her back over the bridge railing.  Bon Jovi then embraced the woman.

Nashville police effusively praised his actions.  You rock, Bon Jovi.  [For those of you outside the New Jersey area, he is well known for his tremendous philanthropy in my state, helping the needy.]

--Lastly, we note the passing of Frankie Beverly, the founder and driving force behind Maze, an R&B group from the late 1970s and 80s that Ebony magazine once dubbed “Black America’s favorite band.”

Maze had a reputation as an energetic live act, rising to the top of the R&B chart with songs like “Love is the Key,” “Southern Girl,” “Feel That You’re Feelin’,” and “Joy and Pain.” 

Maze never had the crossover success of Beverly’s musical lodestars Al Green and Marvin Gaye, but the group was a staple of R&B radio stations and decades of house parties.  The band’s most enduring hit, 1981’s “Before I Let Go,” was later covered by Beyonce.

Top 3 songs for the week 9/13/75:  #1 “Fame” (David Bowie) #2 “Rhinestone Cowboy” (Glen Campbell)  #3 “At Seventeen” (Janis Ian...as fascinating an artist as there has been...had only two top 40s, both brilliant...this one...and 1967’s #14 “Society’s Child” which she did when she was 16!...)...and...#4 “I’m Sorry” (John Denver)  #5 “Fight The Power Part!” (The Isley Brothers)  #6 “Could It Be Magic” (Barry Manilow)  #7 “Run Joey Run” (David Geddes)  #8 “Fallin’ In Love” (Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds)  #9 “Wasted Days And Wasted Nights” (Freddy Fender)  #10 “Feel Like Makin’ Love” (Bad Company...B week...)

MLB Quiz Answer: Only four active players with five, 35-homer seasons.

Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, Giancarlo Stanton and Nolan Arenado (all with five).

Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tues.

 



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Bar Chat

09/16/2024

MLB's Playoff Chase

Add-on posted early Tuesday a.m.

MLB

Wild Card races after Monday’s play....

NL WC

San Diego 86-65...+3.5
Arizona 83-67...+1
Mets 82-68...--
Atlanta 81-69...1

AL WC

Baltimore 84-66...+5
Kansas City 82-69...+2.5
Minnesota 79-71...--
Detroit 78-73...1.5
Seattle 77-73...2

Sunday night, following the Mets’ brutal 2-1 loss to Philadelphia, the Dodgers blasted the Braves 9-2, so the two teams were tied for the last wild card slot.

But last night, the Mets turned the tables, playing the Nationals at home.  Francisco Lindor was out of the lineup again with his back issue, and will miss another few games it seems, so others had to step up.  Finally, 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth at Citi Field, Starling Marte played the role of hero with a two-out walk-off single, the Mets winning 2-1.

And the Dodgers, still in Atlanta, feasted again on the Braves, 9-0...Mets back up by a game, the season ending a week from Sunday.  Every game is a tension convention.

For New York, pitcher Sean Manaea threw another seven innings of one-run ball, his seventh straight start where he went at least 6 2/3, the only one in the majors to do so this season. These days, that’s quite an accomplishment.

Back to the Dodgers, they got a boost with the return of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, his first start since June 15, and he threw four solid innings, escaping from trouble a few times.

--The White Sox won again!  Three in a row...36-115, 8-4 over the Angels in Anaheim, Andrew Benintendi with two home runs.

--The Cardinals shutout the Pirates 4-0, handing Paul Skenes just his third loss, 10-3, 2.07, even as he yielded just one run in six innings, striking out seven.

NFL

--Giants coach Brian Daboll is being ripped bigly for his decision not to activate a backup kicker for starter Graham Gano, knowing Gano was compromised before the opening kickoff against the Commanders, where he then hurt his hamstring.

As the beat writers noted Monday, these are the kinds of decisions that get a coach fired.  Especially when that coach is now 6-13 since the start of last season.  And 8-18-1 since a 7-2 start in 2022.

I also have to admit that while I noted rookie receiver Malik Nabers’ big game, I failed to note his critical drop on fourth down with 2:04 remaining.  Had Nabers caught the pass, the Giants would have remained in control of the clock, but, instead, Washington drove down the field for a walk-off field goal.

--Because of the Jets and Giants were both playing at 1:00 p.m. Sunday, I only watched the Jets, solely, while closely following the Mets game, played at the same time.  So that’s why I missed the Nabers muff.

But this week the Jets play Thursday at home against the Patriots, and next Sunday, the Giants are the 1:00 game against the Browns, while Mets-Phillies is the ESPN Sunday night game (and I sure hope it’s important for us Mets fans by then).  Ergo, Sunday, I’m watching the Giants, mostly.

--So, in games after I went to post...I was fascinated how much confidence the Chiefs had in kicker Harrison Butker, to just get enough yardage on their final drive to set him up for a 51-yarder?!  Wow.  The guy came through, but I sure would have wanted even another 5 or 6.

In the 26-25 thriller, Chiefs over the Bengals, for the record, Patrick Mahomes was rather mediocre, 18/25, 151, 2-2, 80.6, while Joe Burrow was very solid, 23/36, 258, 2-0, 103.7.

Travis Kelce had one catch for five yards. Taylor is really into thigh-high boots these days, as am I....but I expect auto-erase to take care of this last comment in about 5, 4, 3....

--Arizona’s Kyler Murray pitched a perfect game, 17/21, 266, 3-0, 158.3, in the Cards (1-1) win over the Rams (0-2), Marvin Harrison Jr. 4-130-2.

--Broncos rookie Bo Nix, my man, had a pretty poor game, stat-wise, in a 13-6 loss to the Steelers.

And then fellow first-round rookie, No. 1 overall pick, Caleb Williams, had a poor effort in a 19-13 loss to the Texans on Sunday Night Football.

So let’s look at the start for the three main rookie starters in 2024, Nix, Williams, and Jayden Daniels....two games.

Nix...0 touchdown passes, 4 interceptions...51.0 passer rating
Williams...0 – 2...53.0
Daniels...0 – 0 ...but a very solid PR of 97.2, and 26-132-2 rushing.

Advantage, Daniels, thus far.

--Talk about a miserable No. 1 overall draft pick, 2023’s Bryce Young, Carolina is benching him for veteran Andy Dalton, coach Dave Canales said Monday.

Now with the 36-year-old Dalton, you all know the drill...you can get ‘Bad Andy,’ or ‘Good Andy.’

But Dalton’s record as a starter, 83-78-2, 246 TD passes, 144 interceptions, 87.6 PR, is just a wee bit better than Young’s 2-16-0, 11-13, 70.9.

--And then on Monday Night Football, the Eagles led the Falcons in Philadelphia, 18-15, with less than two minutes to play, Atlanta with no timeouts.

Specifically, the Eagles had the ball on the Atlanta 10-yard, 1:46 to play, 3rd-and-three.  Jalen Hurts threw it out to Saquon Barkley for what looked like an easy conversion for the first down and Barkley dropped it.  Jake Elliott kicked a field goal with 1:39 left, 21-15, and then Philadelphia allowed Kirk Cousins to drive the ball 70 yards in six plays, again, no timeouts, for the win, 22-21.  Beyond crushing for Eagles fans, who booed the team, and coach Nick Siriani, off the field.  [A desperation heave by Jalen Hurts was picked off by former Demon Deacon Jessie Bates III.]

The Eagles could have easily run out the clock with the first-down conversion.  But the defense also has to prevent a 70-yard drive!

This is the same Eagles team (with some roster changes) that started last season 10-1 and then flamed out, losing six of its last seven.

--Lastly, according to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Tua Tagovailoa has no plans to retire.  We’ll see.

College Football

--This coming Saturday, 11 USC at 18 Michigan could see the Trojans put the Wolverines’  season to bed, after just four games.

I’m underwhelmed by 12 Utah at 14 Oklahoma State.

But 6 Tennessee at 15 Oklahoma Saturday night could be fun.

--Wake Forest has a bye week and that’s a good thing.  I’m sure there are many folks talking to Coach Dave Clawson about some of his statements, that clearly then influenced the athletic director, who authorized the canceling of a return engagement with Ole Miss in Oxford next year (after Saturday’s 40-6 thumping), thus costing the Deacs $1 million!  WTF! I swear, I thought about that all Sunday when I learned the details.  Just atrocious. It’s not who we are...I’m pissed.

Clawson told reporters after the game:

“We played a really talented football team.  Ole Miss is what everyone thinks they are.  I thought our guys played really hard, but Ole Miss is well coached, they have a lot of resources, and they use those resources very well to put together a top-five team.”

Correct me if I’m wrong, fellow Demon Deacon fans...but this is the same Clawson who just a few years ago was talking about taking another step up.  As in we were 11-3 in 2021, with a Gator Bowl victory and a final CFP ranking of 17.

Then NIL really took hold and Clawson started bitching.  Many of us thought he would walk away after last year’s s---show, Sam Hartman having transferred to Notre Dame, and the team just underperforming without a real quarterback, and now I wish the guy had!

Wake fans are incredibly realistic when it comes to football.  We’re OK with 5-7, 6-6, as long as we’re competitive and play some entertaining ball and eke out an occasional 8-4 that gets us into a decent bowl game.  At least that has always been my deal when it comes to my alma mater.  Again, we are the smallest Power Four school.

But if Clawson continues with this crap...run him out of town!  As classmate Phil W. wrote me, he’s doing an immense disservice, not just to the current team, but to the great Deacs of the past.

One of whom, CNBC watchers, you are now seeing in commercials, classmate Syd Kitson, who played three years in the NFL and then became an immensely influential Florida real estate developer.  I know him well.  New Providence (next door to Summit) high school grad, just a super person, and a true success story.  That’s what Wake Forest is.  Not defeatism.  [Let alone Arnie and Tim Duncan.]

And that’s a memo.

Bazooka Joe says: “Timmy D. stayed all four years at Wake Forest!” [He would have been the No. 1 overall pick after his sophomore year.]

Golf Balls

--Patton Kizzire did close out the Procure Championship in Napa, Ca., on Sunday, a 5-stroke winner over David Lipsky.  Kizzire is a good guy who was lost in the wilderness, by his own admission. He was very emotional on securing his third win after losing his playing privileges last year.  Now he’s got a 2-year exemption and a world of confidence. 

--Jon Rahm won the LIV Golf final individual event Sunday in Bolingbrook, Ill., thus taking the season points title and its $18 million bonus.

Stuff

--Sunday, Caitlin Clark set the WNBA record for points in a rookie season, eclipsing Seimone Augustus, though Clark needed 19 points to move past Augustus, who scored 744 points in 34 games in 2006 with Minnesota, while Clark was in her 39th game.  Clark ended up with a career-high 35 points (6 of 14 from three), the Fever beating the Dallas Wild Wings 110-109.  [Actually, it’s the Dallas Wings, but I kind of like Wild Wings.]

Reminder, the WNBA lengthened its season to 36 games in 2022 and to 40 games in 2023.  So lots of record-setting that needs to be discussed in its proper context, a la football having gone from 14 to 16 to 17 and soon, 18 games.  One thousand yards rushing ain’t the same as 1,000 yards, say, in John Brockington’s day.  [He had a great Strat-O-Matic card in 1971.]

Meanwhile, Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson set the WNBA single-season scoring record – reaching 1,000 points with a 29-point outing Sunday.

--Tito Jackson died.  He was 70.  His three sons announced their father’s death in a statement posted on Instagram.  No cause given, but a late story has it being a heart attack.

Tito, born Toriano Adaryll Jackson on Oct. 15, 1953, was the third of nine Jackson children who grew up in Gary, Indiana.

Tito and brothers Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael were the founding members of the Jackson 5.

Tito began playing guitar around age 10, after his father caught him messing around on the instrument and bought him a six-string of his own. “It was the blues that got me interested in the guitar,” Tito recalled in a 2021 interview.

Recognizing his sons’ musical talent, Joe Jackson went to work (as only Joe could do, cough cough), and molded them into a family act.

Tito first performed alongside his brothers Jackie and Jermaine as The Jackson Brothers, and they released their first studio recording, “Big Boy,” according to his personal website.  Marlon and Michael then joined and...voila...The Jackson 5, who signed in 1968 with Berry Gordy’s Motown Records.  Tito ended up being a background singer and guitarist.

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m.

-----

[Posted Sunday p.m., prior to conclusion of late NFL, and baseball, games.]

Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tuesday.

MLB Quiz: The Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber cranked his 14th leadoff home run of the season the other day, breaking the single-season record of 13 he had shared with Alfonso Soriano (2003). The homer also gave Schwarber four, 35 home run seasons.  Name the only four active players with five, 35-homer seasons. Answer below.

MLB

Standings after Saturday’s play....

AL East

Yankees 86-63
Baltimore 84-65...2

AL Central

Cleveland 85-64
Kansas City 82-67...3

AL Wild Card

Baltimore 84-65...+5.5
Kansas City 82-67...+3.5
Minnesota 78-70...--
Detroit 76-73...2.5
Seattle 76-73...2.5

NL Wild Card

San Diego 84-65...+2.5
Arizona 82-66...+1
Mets 81-67...--
Atlanta 81-67...--

It’s been an exciting baseball season for New York fans.

Friday night, the Yankees, hot off two exciting extra-inning wins over Kansas City and Boston, beat the Red Sox 5-4, as Aaron Judge finally broke his career-long, 16-game homerless drought (75 plate appearances) with a 7th-inning grand slam, No. 52, 130 RBIs.  Luke Weaver, the new closer in place of struggling Clay Holmes, picked up his second save, five strikeouts in two innings.

But Saturday, in one of the stranger, more disgraceful performances, Gerrit Cole, holding Boston without a hit the first 3 1/3, opted to intentionally walk Rafael Devers and then the roof caved in.  Cole gave up 7 earned in 4 1/3, falling to 6-5, 3.97, as the Yankees fell to the Red Sox 7-1.

Manager Alex Cora, while happy with the win, was livid with Cole for, in his words, intentionally hitting Devers in the first inning.

Devers entered the game 14-for-41 (.316) with eight homers and 15 strikeouts against Cole, but he was 10-for-57 with no homers in his previous 15 games.

Cole, in his 15 Yankee starts against the Red Sox, including the playoffs, has a 6.06 ERA against them.

To compound matters, the Orioles and Corbin Burnes (14-8, 3.06) defeated the Tigers Saturday, 4-2, to pull a game closer in the AL East.

Sunday, the Yanks beat Boston 5-2, Aaron Judge with a 2-run homer, No. 53, while the Tigers beat the Orioles 4-2, lead back to three for New York.

--As for the crosstown Mets, Wednesday in Toronto, the Blue Jays’ Bowden Francis* took a no-hitter into the ninth, only to have Francisco Lindor, New York’s MVP candidate, lead off with a dramatic home run to tie the game at 1-1, and the Mets went on to score six runs in all, a 6-2 win, that was absolutely ginormous. 

*Francis, on Aug. 24, took a no-hitter into the ninth against the Angels, only to see another lead-off homer, but he won that game, 3-1.

The Mets then went to Philadelphia, Friday, for the first of seven games with the first-place Phillies in 10 days, and after being no-hit by Aaron Nola the first four innings, New York exploded with three, 3-run homers, and won going away, 11-3, the Mets finishing Friday night a game ahead of the Braves for the third wild card spot in the NL.

But Francisco Lindor left the game with a lower back strain, and he was not available Saturday, after appearing in 193 straight, going back to last season.  The Mets called up prospect Luisangel Acuna, Ronald Acuna Jr.’s brother, and he had two hits in his MLB debut, but New York could have used Lindor.

The Mets blew an early 4-0 lead, Bryce Harper hit home runs in consecutive at-bats, after going 113 ABs without homering, and unheralded outfielder Cal Stevenson drove in what would be the winning run and robbed J.D. Martinez of a homer, Phils winning 6-4.

Coupled with the Braves demolition of the Dodgers in Atlanta, 10-1, Chris Sale moving to 17-3, 2.56 with six strong, the Mets and Braves were again tied for the third, and final, wild card slot, both a game behind the Diamondbacks, 15-8 losers to the Brewers yesterday.

[Shohei Ohtani ended Saturday’s play with 47 home runs and 48 stolen bases, in his quest to be baseball’s first 50-50 man.]

Sunday, the Mets’ David Peterson and Philly’s Cristopher Sanchez hooked up in a great pitcher’s duel, 0-0 after seven.  New York’s Tyrone Taylor then homered off Sanchez, but Philadelphia tied it in the bottom of the eighth, and won it against Edwin Diaz in the ninth, J.T. Realmuto with the 2-out walk-off hit after a clutch stolen base from Nick Castellanos.

Drat!  Brutal loss.  And now Mets fans wait to see what happens tonight in Atlanta.

Francisco Lindor started the game but exited early.  No word on his status. 

--The Padres shut out the Giants Saturday, 8-0 in San Francisco, Joe Musgrove with six, after the night before, Dylan Cease outdueled Logan Webb, San Diego winning 5-0.

--Friday, Jacob deGrom made his first start for Texas after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2023, striking out four in 3 2/3 scoreless innings for the Rangers in their 5-4 loss to the Mariners.

The former Mets star threw 61 pitches and his fastball topped out at 98.7 mph, reaching at least 97 20 times, a terrific sign.

Texas lost to the Mariners again by the same score on Saturday, 5-4, as Max Scherzer returned to the mound after a 6-week absence for the Rangers, 2 runs in 4 innings.  [Seattle is back in the wild card hunt, as you see from the above.]

Thursday night, the Rangers unveiled highly-touted rookie Kumar Rocker (technically, another former Met), and he threw four innings of one-run ball, striking out 7, in a 5-4 Texas win over Seattle.

--The White Sox won their 34th game Saturday, 7-6 over the A’s, as former Demon Deacon Gavin Sheets homered and had two RBIs.

And....stop the presses!  Chicago won again today, 4-3, Gavin Sheets homering a second straight game!  Go Deacs!  Win No. 35!  Go White Sox, Go White Sox, Go White Sox Go!

--In catching up since I didn’t have a Tuesday Add-on, Monday, Paul Skenes improved to 10-2, 2.10, with 6 innings, one earned, 9 strikeouts, in a 3-2 win over Miami.

Tuesday, his 2023 College World Series mound opponent in their classic, Wake Forest’s  Rhett Lowder, picked up his first major league win in Cincinnati’s 3-0 shutout of the Cardinals; Lowder with 5 innings, 5 hits, no walks, 84 pitches, and he’s allowed just one run in his first 15 1/3, 0.59 ERA.

Lowder pitched today and had a 2-1 lead, bottom of the sixth in Minnesota, but after putting runners on first and second, one out, he was replaced for reliever Tony Santillan, who allowed the two baserunners to score, and Lowder takes the loss (1-2, 1.74), the Twins eventually winning 9-2.

College Football

--Comments written prior to release of new AP Poll (down below)....

Looking at the top ten...no big upsets, but some close ones.

No. 1 Georgia (3-0) was sternly tested in Lexington, eking out a 13-12 win over Kentucky (1-2), the Wildcats outgaining the Bulldogs 284-262.  But an SEC win is a win, as we’ll see all season with this loaded conference.

No. 2 Texas (3-0) blasted UTSA (1-2) 56-7, but in this one, Heisman candidate Quinn Ewers exited with a non-contact injury (abdominal strain), Ewers 14-of-16 at the time.

Enter Arch Manning, and all he did was go 9/12, 223, 4-0, with a 67-yard touchdown run!  Pretty, pretty good.

*I just saw Ewers is “week-to-week” with an oblique strain.

No. 3 Ohio State was idle.

4 Alabama (3-0) whipped Wisconsin (2-1) on the road, 42-10, as Jalen Milroe firmly established himself as a Heisman candidate, passing for three touchdowns and running for two more.

The Badgers lost quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, the Miami transfer, to an apparent serious knee injury on their first possession.

I’ve been dreading 5 Ole Miss at Wake Forest since I saw the schedule released, and I was right, the Rebels rolling, 40-6, to get to 3-0.  This is definitely a national title contender.  They are loaded on both sides of the ball.

Ole Miss had 282 yards in offense in the first quarter!  They outgained the Deacs (1-2) 649-311 for the game.

But with Wake’s up-tempo offense, coach Lane Kiffin had his boys constantly faking injuries to slow the Deacs down, and once the Wake players, and the crowd, caught on, they were pissed.  Dave Clawson’s classy program doesn’t pull (garbage) like this (though we finally started doing it ourselves late in the second half just to give them a bit of their own medicine).

However, prior to the game and going back to last season, Coach Clawson has been complaining way too much about the lack of resources (specifically NIL money) and not being able to compete, but that has always been the case with Wake, even pre-NIL, and we still went to seven straight bowl games, until 2023.  Wake fans, like fellow alum Phil W., are getting irritated with such talk.

[No excuses for Wake hoops in this regard.  NIL $s enabled us to bring back first-team All-ACC guard Hunter Sallis this coming season when he was headed to the NBA.]

Clawson has a point, though, when it comes to a Sam Hartman, and our offensive stars from 2023 who transferred this offseason to Indiana and Nebraska.  But that’s the system.  We recruit them, develop them, and they eventually get the $s elsewhere.  C’est la vie.  Wake is, after all, the smallest Power Four school. 

But then we learned that Wake canceled the 2025 return game with Ole Miss in Oxford, and had to cut the Rebels a $1 million check for doing so.  As Brett McMurphy observed, why not keep this news under wraps for at least a few weeks, let alone until after the season?  And if you’re a donor, you have to wonder where your dollars are going!  C’mon, Deacs.  You’re better than this, and Clawson, as well as the athletic director, have a lot of explaining to do. 

6 Missouri (3-0) had a toughie against upstart 24 Boston College (2-1) but came away with a 27-21 win in Columbia.  B.C. is for real...and can win the ACC.

7 Tennessee rolled over lowly Kent State (0-3) 71-0, outgaining the Golden Flashes 740-112!  Eegads.

8 Penn State was idle.

9 Oregon (3-0) has been looking for its ‘identity’ on offense and may have found it, an impressive 49-14 win at rival Oregon State (2-1), the Ducks racking up 546 yards, quarterback Dillon Gabriel a cool 20/24, 291, 2-0.

10 Miami (3-0) demolished Ball State (1-1) 62-0, as another Heisman contender, Cam Ward, threw for 346 yards and five touchdowns for the Hurricanes.

In other games....

In an entertaining, if somewhat sloppy, game, 16 LSU moved to 2-1 with a nice 36-33 win over South Carolina (2-1) on the road.  Boy, the Gamecock fans were fired up for this one, but LSU got most of the breaks and came back from an early 17-0 deficit, South Carolina coughing it up three times (and having two pick-sixes wiped out by penalty).

18 Notre Dame (2-1) bounced back after its Northern Illinois debacle, blasting Purdue (1-1) 66-7, quarterback Riley Leonard doing what he does best, run, 11 carries for 100 yards and three touchdowns, the Fighting Irish with 362 yards on the ground.  Mark R. slept better Saturday night then he did the prior week.

Indiana is 3-0 and could be ranked later today, a big 42-13 win over UCLA (1-1) in Pasadena.  Former Wake Forest players Justice Ellison (10 carries, 47 yards, and a touchdown) and receiver Ke’Shawn Williams (3-31-2) helped lead the way for the Hoosiers.

Nebraska (3-0) whipped Northwestern (2-1) 34-3.

Maryland (2-1) beat Virginia (2-1) in Charlottesville, 27-13.

Pitt is 3-0, after a 38-34 win against West Virginia (1-2) in Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl, the Mountaineers losing a 10-point, 334-24 lead with just under five minutes left.  Pitt’s new QB is a redshirt freshman, Eli Holstein, an offseason addition from Alabama.  Huh.

Duke is also 3-0, 26-21 winners over UConn (1-2), the over/under 46.5.  Hmmm....

Florida State is shockingly 0-3, falling 20-12 to Memphis (3-0), the Tigers a Group of Five playoff spot contender for sure.

J. Mac’s Coastal Carolina (3-0) beat Temple (0-3) 28-20 in Philadelphia.

Colorado is 2-1 after a 28-9 win over in-state rival Colorado State (1-2) in Fort Collins.  Potential No. 1 overall draft pick, Travis Hunter, the two-way star, had 13 receptions for 100 yards, plus five tackles and an interception.

Friday night, 14 Kansas State (3-0) beat 20 Arizona (2-1), as Wildcats QB Avery Johnson passed for two TDs, and rushed for 110 yards.  An exciting player.

--The two-member Pac-12 poached Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Fresno State from the Mountain West Conference.  The addition of the four would mean the Pac-12 would need to get two more teams to get to eight, the minimum to be considered a conference for Division I play.

Dan Wolken / USA TODAY Sports

“In the annals of absurdity, financial mismanagement and ego-driven decision making that have long been the hallmarks of conference realignment, Thursday’s announcement of a rebuilt Pac-12 sets a new standard for pointlessness in college sports.

“Left for dead a year ago when the rest of the league scattered in the wind, Oregon State and Washington State have convinced Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State to leave the Mountain West and join them under the Pac-12 banner in 2026.  There will be more additions for sure – you’d think UNLV, Air Force, and perhaps New Mexico would be a starting point depending on how big they want to go – but the bottom line is so inconsequential you have to ask whether it’s even worth the trouble.

“In breaking away from the Mountain West, all the Disloyal Four have truly done is joined a new league with an old name that is going to...look almost exactly like the Mountain West.

“And the cost of making that move?

“In excess of $100 million in exit fees and penalties associated with the scheduling agreement Oregon State and Washington State signed with the Mountain West last year, written explicitly to discourage this exact scenario where remaining Pac-12 schools would wreck the conference that gave them a temporary football home.

“A significant chunk of that money will, almost certainly, come from the Pac-12 war chest assembled from a mass of conference revenue the other 10 schools had to forfeit when they left for the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC.  And in turn, the Mountain West will take that money to bolster its remaining members and adding members to ensure its own survival. Given how shallow the pool gets at that end of conference expansion, the Mountain West will probably have to elevate some Football Championship Subdivision schools or dip into Conference USA, which had to do the exact same thing last year.”

You know my attitude on all this crap these days.  Just tell me who my school is playing every week, or in hoops, every Tuesday and Saturday, and I’ll watch the games.  It’s part of the aging process.  I’m too old to give a damn otherwise.

--South Alabama crushed Northwestern State 87-10 on Thursday night, with the Jaguars setting a school scoring record.  The onslaught was so bad that the coaches of both teams agreed to shorten the fourth quarter by six minutes, resulting in only 54 minutes of play.

This ended up being a key for sports betting results.  College football sportsbook house rules usually require 55 minutes of play for most action to be considered valid, though there is room for interpretation.

For the “over/under” category, however, DraftKings had set it at 59.5, so DK could grade winners and losers as it was already handily exceeded.

For the point spread (set at South Alabama -36.5), DK graded all bets as void in accordance with its rules, the game not going 55 minutes, but it awarded cash payouts Friday for any wagers on USA’s full-game and second-half spreads as if they were winners.

Other sportsbooks handled the situation differently.

--And the new AP Poll!

1. Texas 3-0 (35)
2. Georgia 3-0 (23)
3. Ohio State 2-0 (5)
4. Alabama 3-0
5. Ole Miss 3-0
6. Tennessee 3-0
7. Missouri 3-0
8. Miami (FL) 3-0
9. Oregon 3-0
10. Penn State 2-0
11. USC 2-0
12. Utah 3-0
13. Kansas State 3-0
14. Oklahoma State 3-0
15. Oklahoma 3-0
16. LSU 2-1
17. Notre Dame 2-1
18. Michigan 2-1
19. Louisville 2-0
20. Iowa State 2-0
21. Clemson 1-1
22. Nebraska 3-0
23. Northern Illinois 2-0
24. Illinois 3-0
25. Texas A&M 2-1

No one moved up or down more than 2 slots, though 20 Arizona and 24 Boston College exited stage left.

For the second straight week, the SEC has six of the top seven, which heretofore had never happened before in AP poll history.

NFL

--Today, the Jets eked out a win in Nashville against the Titans, 24-17, Aaron Rodgers’ first win though he was rather pedestrian, 18/30, 179, 2-0, 98.7. 

The key was the running back tandem of Breece Hall and rookie Braelon Allen...a combined 21-95-1 rushing, 9-75-2 receiving...and that’s a great formula for success from these bruisers.

On defense for the Jets, the much-maligned Will McDonald IV had three sacks, including a huge one as Tennessee was driving for the tie.  Irvin Charles, out of D-II Indiana University of Pennsylvania, had a big blocked punt for New York as well.

But defensive end Jermaine Johnson suffered a possible torn Achilles tendon.  Ugh.  With the Haason Reddick holdout, the Jets were already super thin on the D-Line.

--The Giants suffered a brutal loss on the opening kickoff, their star placekicker Graham Gano hurt his hamstring and that changed everything for New York, as they ended up losing 21-18 to the Commanders in Washington on a last-second field goal by Austin Siebert...Siebert 7-for-7...the entire offense.

Giants’ punter Jaime Gillan missed an extra point, and the Giants missed two, 2-point conversation attempts...three touchdowns, 18 points.

Daniel Jones was OK at QB for New York and potential superstar wide receiver Malik Nabers was 10-127-1, but it came down to not having Gano.

The thing is, Gano came into the game with a groin injury and the Giants didn’t activate their other kicker just in case!

--The Saints beat the Cowboys in Dallas, 44-19, as Alvin Kamara had four total touchdowns.  For the Cowboys, Dak Prescott threw two interceptions.

--Baker Mayfield ran and threw for a touchdown, did what he had to do to win, and the Tampa Bay defense shut down Detroit and Jared Goff, who threw it 55 times but for only 307 yards and was picked off twice...20-10 Bucs in Motown.

--The Packers, with Malik Willis at QB in place of Jordan Love, beat the Colts 16-10, Josh Jacobs with 151 yards on 32 carries.

--Seattle needed a field goal in overtime to beat the Patriots in Foxborough, 23-20.

--The Chargers dominated the Panthers in Charlotte, 26-3, holding Bryce Young and Co. to a pathetic 159 yards of offense.  Phil W., I hope you weren’t working the sidelines of this one.

--Cleveland’s defense bottled up Trevor Lawrence and the Jags in Jacksonville, 18-13.  Predator Deshaun Watson was so-so for the Brownies.

--Baltimore is 0-2, losing at home 26-23 to Las Vegas, despite holding the Raiders to just 260 yards of offense.

--And Sam Darnold outplayed Brock Purdy, the Vikings with a 23-17 win at home against San Francisco...Darnold 17/26, 268, 2-1, 109.1, Justin Jefferson (4-133-1) with a 97-yard TD reception.

--Amid calls for Tua Tagovailoa to step away after suffering his third ‘recorded’ concussion Thursday night in Miami’s loss to Buffalo, Tagovailoa having missed much of 2022 after two awful concussions (though he played all of 2023), Dolphins Coach Mike McDaniel urged patience.

First off, there is no one who knows when, or if, Tua will return.

“The most important person in this whole equation is Tua,” McDaniel said during a news conference Friday. “His opinion and what he wants to do with his life and his career, coupled with the experts in neuroscience, those are the driving forces behind those actions. I’m not hiding anything. I’m being as transparent as I absolutely could. I have zero idea what any sort of timeline is.”

Ironically, Tua’s concussion occurred after he lowered his head while running the ball, colliding with Bills safety Damar Hamlin, the same player who famously went into cardiac arrest during a “Monday Night Football” game in January 2023, and then made a heroic comeback.  Hamlin wished Tua a “speedy recovery” on social media.

Immediately after the game, Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez said on the postgame show on Amazon Prime that Tagovailoa should “move on” from football.  Las Vegas Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce, a former NFL player, said during a news conference Friday: “I’d tell him to retire.  It’s not worth it. ...He’s going to live longer than he’s going to play football.  Take care of your family.”

McDaniel said earlier Friday that “it would be so, so wrong of me to even sniff that subject,” adding that “his career is his.”

“I totally understand it, and it’s not misplaced,” McDaniel said of the concerns. “And I don’t think those types of conversations when you’re talking about somebody’s career, I think it probably is only fair that their career should be decided by them.”

Thomas Bottiglier, a sports medicine physician at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, who is not treating Tua, said that, in general, a patient’s “total number of diagnosed concussions must be taken into consideration with exposure history, recovery” and other considerations, he told the Washington Post’s Mark Maske.

Bottiglieri, who co-authored a sports-related concussion retirement algorithm, said the long-term risks “of repeated head injury are well established and have been since the description of dementia pugilistica or ‘punch drunk syndrome’ in boxers,” adding that repeated head traumas, whether diagnosed as concussions or not, “can lead to permanent injury and chronic traumatic encephalopathy,” or CTE.

“We currently have no diagnostic markets that allow us to predict [CTE],” he said.  “That being said, we have established a framework for understanding increased risk over time and there is good data on exposure history and the risk of future chronic traumatic encephalopathy.”

So, we await Tua’s decision.  He’s under zero pressure from the Dolphins to make a decision, but Miami obviously has to move on and assume he is not coming back.

[Miami signed Tua to a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension in July.]

As for the Bills’ 31-10 win, it was hardly scintillating stuff, as Tua threw three interceptions, including a pick-six, before exiting for Skylar Thompson, and Josh Allen and the Buffalo offense generated only 247 total yards.

--Tyreek Hill pleaded not guilty for the incident that unfolded outside Hard Rock Stadium last Sunday, when he was detained ahead of the Dolphins’ season opener.

Addressing the media on Wednesday, ahead of the Bills-Dolphins game (Hill with just three catches for 24 yards in the contest), he reflected on what occurred in his confrontation with Miami-Dade police officers, one of whom he demanded be fired.

“My whole life is all about accountability, like how can I get better? Right now, I have family members who are cops, we’ve had conversations. Yes, I will say I could have been better,” Hill said. “I could have let down my window in that instant, but the thing about me is, man, I don’t want attention, I don’t want the cameras out, phones on you in that moment, but at the end of the day, I’m human, I’ve got to follow rules, do what everyone else would do.

“Now, does that give them the right to literally beat the dog out of me?  Absolutely not, but, at the end of the day, I wish I could go back and do things a bit differently.”

In bodycam footage released Monday, officers approached Hill’s vehicle and tapped on his window, to which the eight-time Pro Bowler appeared to respond, “Hey, don’t knock on my window like that.”

Hill was then instructed to exit his vehicle and as one officer opened the car door, Hill was pulled from his seat and brought to the ground, lying on his stomach as he was placed in handcuffs.

Miami Dade police stated Sunday the incident has been placed under “immediate review,” and 27-year veteran Danny Torres has been put on administrative duties stemming from the ordeal.

Hill called for Torres’ termination.

--The NFL averaged 21.0 million viewers per game during the league’s opening week, making it the most-watched Week 1 on record.

NBC had the most-watched game, with defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City’s 27-20 victory over Baltimore in last Thursday’s opener averaging 29.2 million on TV and digital.  The Sunday night game between Detroit and the Los Angeles Rams, which the Lions won 26-20 in overtime, averaged 22.7 million, a 3% jump from last year.

Tom Brady’s first game as Fox’s analyst – Dallas’ 33-17 win over Cleveland – averaged 23.93 million. 

I was down at the Jersey Shore with friends, and we only watched a little of this and didn’t pay attention to Brady’s performance, but he was roundly dissed after.  In defense, it was his first broadcast, people.  Let’s see how he is in another game or two.

That said, No. 2 Fox analyst, Greg Olsen, former No. 1, is always waiting in the wings and if Brady is a disaster, they could move Brady down to No. 2 and elevate Olsen, say mid-season.

But Olsen, with his demotion for Brady apparently had to take a pay cut from the $10 million range to around $3 million.  [Brady has a 10-year, $375 million contract to talk football, which is beyond insane.]

Golf Balls

The FedEx Cup Fall Season (or as others put it, FedExCup Fall...I never know whether to make it one or two words...FedEx Cup, or FedExCup....seriously, the PGA Tour has one word, but CBS has two...but I digress...) is underway...this week’s Procore Championship at Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif.

It’s the first of eight events that determine top 125 eligibility for next year, which provides exempt status into Full-Field Events and a spot in The Players.

After the conclusion of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, players ranked 51st and beyond will continue to compete for points in the fall.  Additionally, the top 10 players in the FedEx Cup Points List at the conclusion of the FedEx Cup Fall who are not yet eligible for the Signature Events will get into the two Signature Events following the season-opening The Sentry (the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational).  This allows for trending players to emerge from the Fall and go up against the best next year.

Nos. 51-70 in the FedEx Cup at the start of the fall have already clinched their top-125 eligibility for the following year but are competing for spots in the first two Signature Events following the Sentry.

Nos. 126-150 at in the final FedEx Cup Points List have conditional status for the PGA Tour season, but can improve or regain Tour status via PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.

Players in the top 50 after the Tour Championship are guaranteed top 125 eligibility and their spots in all Signature Events for the following season, but as we see this week, some are competing to pursue trophies, to play in some of their favorite events and earn Official World Golf Ranking points, or to get in some play before the Presidents Cup.

Winners of Fall Tour events receive a two-year winner’s exemption, plus they are eligible for The Sentry, The Players, as well as eligibility into Major Championships that invite PGA Tour winners.

So, with all that, after three rounds in Napa....

Patton Kizzire -18*
David Lipsky -14
Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners are among a group at -13.

*Should Kizzire, a two-time Tour winner, finish first, he’d move from 132 to 70 in the points standings.

The final round isn’t starting until late, so I’ll pick up the story in my Add-on.

Bill Haas and Ryan McCormick, along with Max Homa and Wyndham Clark, missed the cut.  These eight events are particularly critical for McCormick, 169 or so on the points list as I go to post.

--They held the Irish Open this week at fabled Royal County Down in Newcastle, Northern Ireland.  I’ve played this Top Ten in the World course twice, back in the early 1990s, and it is truly spectacular, and if the wind is up, incredibly hard.

Rory McIlroy was of course the hometown favorite, and he had the lead entering the fourth-round, but could only manage a 2-under 69 today and Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard, with a 65, edged Rory by a stroke.  Has to be immensely disappointing for Rory to come up short once again. 

The win was the 23-year-old Hojgaard’s fifth on the DP World Tour, the quickest to five wins since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1989.  He’s Nicolai’s brother.

American Jimmy Walker had a great tournament, T7, and Wake Forest’s Alex Fitzpatrick, Matthew’s kid brother, was T9.

--Tiger Woods had yet another surgery on his lower back Friday morning. This one, the sixth in the past 10 years, he hopes will relieve some of the spasms like those he experienced this year.

The procedure was described as a microdecompression surgery of the lumbar spine for nerve impingement in the lower back.  That also is referred to as a microdiscectomy, and the recovery time can be anywhere from eight to 12 weeks.

Woods wasn’t scheduled to play again until the Hero World challenge in the Bahamas on Dec. 5-8 and the PNC Championship with his son, Charlie, on Dec. 21-22 in Orlando, Florida.

“The surgery went smoothly, and I’m hopeful this will help alleviate the back spasms and pain I was experiencing throughout most of the 2024 season,” Woods said.

Tiger played all four majors for the first time since 2019, but only made the cut at the Masters, which was significant as it was a record-setting 24th consecutive cut made at Augusta.

--The PGA Tour and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund met in Manhattan on Tuesday in hopes of – finally – making some headway on getting a deal. The meeting was then expected to continue Wednesday, but few details emerged.

Just wake me when a deal is cut.

Stuff

--In Premier League play this weekend, Saturday, Nottingham Forest had a stunning 1-0 win over Liverpool in Anfield.  It was Forest’s first win at Liverpool, all competitions, since 1969!  Good lord.

Manchester City defeated Brentford 2-1.

Today, Arsenal edged Tottenham 1-0 on the road.  My Spurs are going to have a rough season.  Hope I’m wrong.

--I just have to note the passing of actor James Earl Jones, 93, who died Monday.

Jones made his screen debut as a bombardier in “Dr. Strangelove” (1964), and then provided the voice of the sinister Darth Vader in the Star Wars films.  He was the doomed patriarch Mufasa in Disney’s “The Lion King.”

Jones was the leader of a snake cult in “Conan the barbarian,” an aging coal miner in “Matewan,” the father of African princeling Eddie Murphy in the comedy “Coming to America,” the literary recluse in “Field of Dreams,” a South African priest in “Cry, the Beloved Country.”

Jones was an intelligence agency boss in a trio of action films based on Tom Clancy’s books, including “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger.”

His resonant voice brought gravitas to CNN (“This is CNN”).  He appeared on “Sesame Street,” reading the alphabet.

The man was on Broadway, earning Tony Awards for “The Great White Hope” and August Wilson’s “Fences.”

I mean this guy from Arkabutla, Miss., born Jan. 17, 1931, was with us forever.  And you could always count on a great performance.

RIP, James Earl Jones.  You left your mark.

--Taylor Swift’s dominance continued at the MTV Video Music Awards, where she took home seven awards – including the night’s biggest, the trophy for video of the year.

Swift’s awards haul brought her career total to 30, tying her and Beyonce for the title of most-awarded musician in VMA history.  Eminem is now the male artist with the most VMAs, at 14.

In her speech Wednesday night, Swift thanked her “boyfriend, Travis” for being on the set of the “Fortnight” music video and cheering her on. Fans rewarded the mention of Travis Kelce with loud screams.

“Everything this man touches turns to happiness and fun and magic,” she said.

--Jon Bon Jovi goes into the December file for all the right reasons.

Tuesday, while filming a music video on the Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge in downtown Nashville, a woman appeared as if she was attempting to jump off the bridge before Bon Jovi, 62, and someone from the film crew accompanying him intervened.

In a video, they can be seen talking to the woman before pulling her back over the bridge railing.  Bon Jovi then embraced the woman.

Nashville police effusively praised his actions.  You rock, Bon Jovi.  [For those of you outside the New Jersey area, he is well known for his tremendous philanthropy in my state, helping the needy.]

--Lastly, we note the passing of Frankie Beverly, the founder and driving force behind Maze, an R&B group from the late 1970s and 80s that Ebony magazine once dubbed “Black America’s favorite band.”

Maze had a reputation as an energetic live act, rising to the top of the R&B chart with songs like “Love is the Key,” “Southern Girl,” “Feel That You’re Feelin’,” and “Joy and Pain.” 

Maze never had the crossover success of Beverly’s musical lodestars Al Green and Marvin Gaye, but the group was a staple of R&B radio stations and decades of house parties.  The band’s most enduring hit, 1981’s “Before I Let Go,” was later covered by Beyonce.

Top 3 songs for the week 9/13/75:  #1 “Fame” (David Bowie) #2 “Rhinestone Cowboy” (Glen Campbell)  #3 “At Seventeen” (Janis Ian...as fascinating an artist as there has been...had only two top 40s, both brilliant...this one...and 1967’s #14 “Society’s Child” which she did when she was 16!...)...and...#4 “I’m Sorry” (John Denver)  #5 “Fight The Power Part!” (The Isley Brothers)  #6 “Could It Be Magic” (Barry Manilow)  #7 “Run Joey Run” (David Geddes)  #8 “Fallin’ In Love” (Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds)  #9 “Wasted Days And Wasted Nights” (Freddy Fender)  #10 “Feel Like Makin’ Love” (Bad Company...B week...)

MLB Quiz Answer: Only four active players with five, 35-homer seasons.

Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, Giancarlo Stanton and Nolan Arenado (all with five).

Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tues.