This Week in Sports Talk: September 1, 2019

This Week in Sports Talk (TWIST) is our weekly roundup of top headlines and sports news, plus a preview of what’s up next. Heading into the week of September 1, 2019, here’s the top sports news, with a twist. Skim it, and you’ll be good to go all week.

This Week in Sports Talk: September 1, 2019

We begin with some short takes in sports news heading into the week of September 1, 2019.

NCAA college football

In college football,  it’s on. Thursday night Clemson beat Georgia Tech, 52-14, in a sloppy first game of the season. Despite the big win, Clemson quarterback and heartthrob Trevor Lawrence threw two interceptions. Not a great start to his Heisman campaign (and no, dear reader, it’s not too early to start handicapping that race). 

The Alabama Crimson Tide lost one of their senior and best linebackers to injury this week.  A couple of freshmen will have to step up; no one is overly concerned for ‘Bama’s prospects this year.

The most significant match-up this weekend was #11 Oregon versus #16 Auburn. Auburn won, 27- 21, disappointing fans of Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert.

None of the other top 20 teams played each other this weekend (they all met teams out of the top 20). That may have given fans a little time to ease into the season. And their families one last weekend before their football-obsessed loved one is glued to the television every Saturday.

nfl Labor Day weekend cuts

With a deadline of 4:00P Eastern yesterday, every NFL team made its final cuts for the regular season roster. During the preseason, they can have as many as 90, but by the deadline they have be down to 53 players. A total of 1,184 players were cut from the 32 teams. The biggest cut of the weekend was from the Buffalo Bills, who released two-time All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy. Several other teams parted ways with their presumptive No. 2 quarterbacks prior to the deadline.

long-simmering NBA beef

The relationship between NBA greats Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal has always been fraught. As teammates with the Los Angeles Lakers, their rivalry seemed to make each of them better players. Together, they won three NBA Finals in a row, from 2000-02.

Those glory days are past, but sadly their feud continues. This week in an interview at a conference, Bryant said: “I could have had 12 ***ing rings if Shaq was in shape.”  To which O’Neal responded via Twitter: “U woulda had twelve if u passed the ball more .”

The next day, in a podcast interview, former guard Raja Bell – who played alongside O’Neal for the Phoenix Suns – revealed that Shaq had a secret signal he would flash to teammates, telling them to stop passing the ball to Bryant.

No word yet on what Bryant has to say in reaction to this latest bit of news.  But seriously. It’s almost 2020, dudes. It’s possible that it’s time to just let all of this stuff go.

nba personal brand power index

If you want to understand both the fan passion for and the business savvy of an NBA player, you could do worse than to look at the size of their sneaker endorsement deals. Our Sports Desk notes that as of this posting, Michael Jordan still the king of sneaker endorsement deals, and it’s not even close. Jordan has cumulative earnings of $130 million. In order, the rest of the top 5 are LeBron James (Nike), $32 million. Kevin Durant (Nike), $26 million. Stephen Curry (Under Armour), $20 million. And Kobe Bryant (Nike), $16 million.

Top Sports Headlines heading into the week of September 1, 2019

Now that we’re warmed up, here’s everything else you need to know about sports heading into the week of September 1, 2019:

1. MLB

With the start of the NFL season a week away, interest in Major League Baseball is already waning. Our Sports Desk opines that the MLB season is just too long. If the playoffs started in September, rather than October, it would probably result in much higher fan engagement. Nevertheless, here we are. One month to go in the regular MLB season.

Must Know:

The New York Yankees powered through the end of their road trip on the West Coast this week by taking two out of three from the Dodgers and sweeping the Mariners in Seattle.  They currently have the best record in baseball, at 89-48 – as of this posting, the LA Dodgers are 88-50. Last night, the Yanks topped off a strong August with a 21-9 record — their most victories in a calendar month since August 2009, the year they last won the World Series.

Fans are wondering what will happen as the Yanks get a number of their injured starters back.  The players that have had outstanding seasons in their absence are likely to be replaced by the big name starters. How will that work out?

Nice to Know:

Home run records fall

Meanwhile, home run records are being set everywhere. Earlier this season, the Yankees broke the record for most consecutive games with a home run, with 31. This week, Aaron Judge became the third-fastest player in baseball history to reach 100 home runs, all as a Yankee. In a scene straight out of a Seinfeld episode, Judge promised a fan during batting practice at Dodgers Stadium that he would “hit one for you tonight.” And then he did it, in the game’s third inning, hitting a homer over the right-center wall.  That is So. Cool.

The surging Minnesota Twins set a major league record for home runs on the road in a 10-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. The Twins will almost certainly break the Yankees record last year of 267 home runs in a single season. They only need 7 more, with another month to go in the regular season. 

Meanwhile, the Yankees have demolished the record for home runs in a month in August.  They ended with 74 homers for the month. There are currently 11 Yankees who have reached double-digit home runs this season. That is one behind the 12 who reached that total for the 2018 Yankees.

Across town, Mets rookie Pete Alonso has hit the most home runs of any Met ever in a single season. The 24-year-old hit his 42nd home run in Tuesday’s 5-2 loss to the Cubs. One of the previous record holders, Carlos Beltran, called to congratulate him (Beltran and Todd Hundley were tied up until now).

injury record also falls

In darker news, the Yankees just set the all time record for number of injuries in a season. Third baseman Gio Urshela was placed on the 10-day injured list with a groin issue, and that put them over the top. Among the big-name Yankees who have missed time this season are Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino, and Giancarlo Stanton. 

Extra Credit:

As of this posting, the New York Yankees, Houston Astros and LA Dodgers continue to motor comfortably toward the postseason. In the AL Central, the Minnesota Twins are starting to pull away from the Cleveland Indians, who are 4.5 back but likely to get a wild card slot.

In the NL Central, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs remain in a tight race for first. As do the Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East (although the Phillies are currently 11 games out of first place).  The once-surging New York Mets have slowed, and are now 4.5 games back for the wild card.

2. NFL

Must Know:

The last games of the preseason are in the books, and there was not a lot of news made this week. The New York Giants (“the G-men”) beat the New England Patriots, and ended up being one of 3 undefeated teams in the preseason.  Our Sports Desk is of the strong opinion that it is not always a good thing to win the preseason. It doesn’t seem to correlate with what happens once the regular season gets underway.

Nice to Know: 

The surprise news of Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck’s retirement continues to reverberate. This week, free-agent quarterback Brock Osweiler traveled to Indianapolis to try out for the back-up position there to Jacoby Brissett, who is the presumed starter. The Colts also worked out with quarterbacks Matt Cassel and Brandon Weeden this week.

In other ripple effects of the Luck news, in an interview this week, retired New England Patriots player Rob Gronkowski (“Gronk”) discussed how hard it was for him to cope with all his injuries. Gross-out alert – if you’re eating something, maybe skip to the end of this paragraph:  Among other things, Gronk reported that he got a bruise on his quad in the Super Bowl that hurt so much that he couldn’t sleep that night, and he slept very little for the next month. They had to drain a quart of blood out of the injury over the next month (thanks for the gory details, dude). That was when he knew that his NFL career was over. 

Interestingly, Gronk also voiced strong support of CBD oil (the hemp derivative) as a pain reliever.  Not surprisingly, the reaction in Patriots Nation was mixed. Some Pats fans think less of him now. Many felt that he only opened up about the subject because Andrew Luck’s retirement opened the door to the discussion.

Extra credit:

Zeke Elliott remains a hold-out with the Dallas Cowboys. The two sides are in discussion, but it is almost certain that he will miss some regular season games.  Most think that they will ultimately come to an agreement. Unlike last year’s season-long dispute between LeVeon Bell and the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he could hold out for 1 year and be a free agent, Elliott doesn’t have a short time horizon. The Cowboys have his contract for at least two years – and potentially another one if they want to franchise tag him. They also really need him.

Bonus round:

Fitz-Magic is back in the NFL as the flagging Miami Dolphins choose veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick as their starter for Game 1. He beat out Josh Rosen, who was the #10 overall 2018 draft pick by Arizona Cardinals. They traded him to Miami in the off-season.

Finally, it appears that Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown is going to turn his “Helmetgate” dispute with the NFL over his unwillingness to wear a new regulation helmet into a commercial opportunity. Reports are that he’ll soon be announcing an endorsement deal from one of the helmet manufacturers. Hmmm . . . do you suppose that was the plan all along?

3. Tennis

Must Know:

It was a great week of tennis at the US Open. 15-year old phenom Coco Gauff continued to shine, becoming the youngest player to make it through to the 3rd round since 1996. Her spirit has buoyed the mood of the tournament like a breath of fresh air.  She reached her limit for this year’s Open when she lost to Naomi Osaka, the defending champion, last night in Round 3.  

The two had a poignant moment when the match ended.

The New York Times reports that Osaka persuaded Gauff to remain on court for the post-match television interview instead of heading to the locker room immediately. “I’m going to, like, cry,” Gauff, who was eager to leave, said to Osaka. Osaka responded: “I think it’s better than going into the shower and crying.”

Gauff said she was touched by the concern and empathy Osaka showed her. “For me, the definition of an athlete is someone who on the court treats you like they’re your worst enemy, but off the court can be your best friend. I think that’s what she did tonight.”

Osaka even gave a shout-out to Gauff’s family, who she knew from the practice courts where both women train in Florida. Classy and sincere. It doesn’t get better than that. Well done, ladies. The future of women’s tennis looks really bright right now.

Nice to Know:

In what was probably the most noteworthy first round match ever, six-time US Open champion Serena Williams played Maria Sherapova. In front of a star-studded audience, Serena crushed her – in the end, it was not even close.  If Serena played that way all tournament, she would certainly claim her 24th Grand Slam singles title. 

But maintaining the intensity is always a challenge for any player. She struggled in round two, but ultimately defeated 17-year old American Caty McNally (who is a close friend and doubles partner of Coco Gauff). McNally earned a lot of respect for her performance, and it has been exciting to see the next generation of women on the court at this tournament.

Fans dubbed it “Purple Reign” when Serena made it safely through to the Round of 16 for the 18th time in her career after a no-fuss victory over Czech Karolina Muchova. She’ll meet Croatian 22nd seed Petra Martic in Round Four.

Ashleigh Barty, Madison Keys and Karolina Pliskova have also made it through to the fourth round.

Extra Credit:

Roger Federer dropped his first set in both his first and second round matches, but then went on to win with little drama. Novak Djokovic has won his first two rounds, but has a shoulder injury. The two are in the same quarter of the draw – so could this be fortunate for Federer? It’s still too soon to know.

This Week in Sports News Date

That’s it. You’re good to go with the top headlines and coming attractions heading into the week of September 1, 2019. Have a good one, and see you next week.

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