This Week in Sports Talk: September 8, 2019

This Week in Sports Talk (TWIST) is our weekly roundup of top sports highlights, plus a preview of what’s up next. Heading into the week of September 8, 2019, here’s are the top sports news, with a twist. Skim it, and you’ll be good to go all week.

This Week in Sports Talk: September 8, 2019

We begin with some short takes in sports news heading into the week of September 8, 2019.

college football week 2 highlights

The University of Michigan narrowly averted a loss at home to the Army Black Knights. It took double overtime for the Wolverines to clinch a 24-21 victory. Un-ranked Maryland upset number 21 Syracuse, 63-20; the lopsided score was largest between an un-ranked team and a ranked one since 1999. And Trevor Lawrence threw for a touchdown and ran for a second one as Clemson won its 17th straight game with a 24-10 victory over Texas A&M.

who run the world?

Due to a heated tongue-lashing that Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban gave an official during last week’s game against Duke, his wife (who he calls Miss Terry) made Saban run on the treadmill for 20 minutes following the game as punishment. Hmmm . . .  is cardio now the 51st Shade of Grey?

who owns taco tuesdays?

The New York Times reported this week that a company called LBJ Trademarks LLC filed a request with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on behalf of NBA star LeBron James to trademark “Taco Tuesday.” The company seeks protection for use of the phrase in a host of forums.

One small wrinkle? The phrase is already a federal trademark for a company in Wyoming. The Times reports that “in Los Angeles, which may be the taco capital of the U.S., the news of the filing was met with frowns, guffaws or shrugs.” Ouch.

Team USA squeaks past Turkey and defeats Greece

In this week’s FIBA Basketball World Cup competition, Team USA needed a miracle finish and overtime to defeat Turkey in their opening game. Turkey!  But they pulled it together and defeated Japan on Thursday, 98-45. Yesterday, they faced Milwaukee Bucks’ superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece. The USA team won convincingly, 69-53, and are now 4-0. They’re at the top of their Group and have clinched a spot in the quarter-finals.

style school is in session

If you were wondering what to wear to the US Open (or to Wimbledon, the French Open or your local tennis club match), you could do far worse than to take your cues from Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. Her J. Crew blue denim dress blew up on the Internet after she was spotted in the stands yesterday at the Women’s Final, cheering on her friend Serena Williams. She wore a light grey coat, origin unknown, draped over her shoulders.

Roc Nation and the NFL fumble the ball

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation partnership with the NFL, positioned as a significant move toward getting the league to be more supportive of social justice efforts in the black community, has already hit its first speed bump. A $200,000 donation from the partnership to The Crushers Club in Chicago has been panned after the club’s founder’s past Tweet about dreadlocks resurfaced. She is shown cutting a young black man’s hair, and implies that losing his dreads is part of his passage to becoming a responsible member of society. Many in the black community beg to differ.

Gee, who would have thought that this Jay-Z Roc Nation  x NFL collab would be so fraught with controversy?

Top Sports Headlines heading into the week of September 8, 2019

Now that we’re warmed up, here’s everything else you need to know about sports heading into the week of September 8, 2019:

1. MLB

Must Know:

Heading into the final weeks of the regular season, the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, LA Dodgers and Atlanta Braves are all well ahead in their divisions. The Minnesota Twins have pulled away from the Cleveland Indians. The St. Louis Cardinals are still battling it out with the Milwaukee Brewers.  

In the wild card race, the Tampa Bay Rays, Oakland A’s and Cleveland Indians are in a battle in the AL.  In the NL, the Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks are all still in the hunt.  

Nice to Know:

Old MLB home run records continue to fall this season. In August, the Yankees shattered the one-month record for home runs by a MLB club. The Twins have set a new record for home runs in a season, and they still have a month to go.  The Yanks have 13 players with over 10 home runs.  

And New York Mets rookie Pete “why wear a shirt when you don’t need to” Alonso is on his 45th homer of the season. He’s already holding the National League and Mets franchise record for a rookie season. Now he’s chasing Aaron Judge’s record of 52.

Sorry, Shoeless Joe. We’re kind of grooving on Shirtless Pete.

Extra Credit:

The New York Yankees are playing for home field advantage through the playoffs versus the Houston Astros and LA Dodgers. Yanks fans were hoping for a sweep this weekend against the defending champion Boston Red Sox in their final 4-game series at Fenway Park. But the Sox won on Friday night 6-1. The Yanks made up for that yesterday with a 5-1 victory over their arch-rivals.

2. NFL

Must Know:

It’s Week 1 in the 100th season of the NFL, and excitement is running high. Everybody’s team could be Super Bowl-bound in this magical first weekend, before reality bites. Our friendly football pool is up and running, and we’re putting our shoe money back on the line with our pals on the Sports Desk (we’re already down for the season, as we backed the Bears on Thursday night).

But before the Sunday games even started, there was head-spinning news from the Oakland Raiders and wide receiver Antonio Brown (AB). Earlier in the week, the Raiders fined AB more than $215,000 after he threw a tantrum and threatened to punch General Manager Mike Maylock. The punishment for “conduct detrimental to the team” voided his $29.125 million guarantee. AB’s response? He posted the message “release me” on Instagram. All this after he forced a trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers during the recent off-season.

But wait, there’s more . . . yesterday, the press announced that AB has signed with the New England Patriots. It’s a one-year deal estimated to be worth $15 million. We can’t even . . . So now it’s Belichick, Brady and Brown. Watch this space, ’cause this is gonna be crazy. Brown is expected to be on the field in Week 2.

And we’re not sure whether or not they’ll be worth much dough in the sports memorabilia market, but surely those AB Oakland Raiders jerseys will have some symbolic value. Who can forget the frostbite, the helmet, the hot air balloon . . . it all went so quickly and now it’s over. If you have one, we’d hang onto it if we were you.

Nice to Know: 

The impasse has been broken, and the player has won. The Dallas Cowboys and Ezekiel “Zeke” Elliott have agreed to a 6-year, $90 million contract extension. Elliott’s maximum deal will increase to eight years worth $103 million when this is included with his previous contract. Making him the highest-paid running back in NFL history.

Extra credit:

The chatter is that the Miami Dolphins are “Tanking for Tua.” They hadn’t even taken to the field for the regular season before they made some questionable trades this week, releasing veteran John Denney and trading left tackle Laremy Tunsil.

Journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick is the Dolphins’ Week 1 starting quarterback. First round draft pick Josh Rosen is waiting in the wings. But who knows? Tuanigamanuolepola “Tua” Tagovailoa is a star quarterback for Alabama, and he’s a good shot to be the number 1 draft pick this spring.

The Houston Texans have also made some inexplicable trades recently, sending Clowney to the Seattle Seahawks for virtually no benefit in return. Then they traded for Tunsil. Our Sports Desk finds all of this very odd.

Bonus round:

The match-up Thursday night between the Green Bay Packers and arch-rivals the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago was the 199th meeting of these 2 historic teams. Defense dominated in the 10-3 victory for the Packers.

In an odd bookend, the last game of last season (the Super Bowl) saw the New England Patriots beat the LA Rams in a low-scoring (dull) game with a 13 – 3 final score. It was a defensive slugfest. And the first game this year (commemorating the 100th year of the NFL) was dull a 10 – 3 defensive slugfest.

In the Packers-Bears game, both offenses looked very rusty. Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers looked weak and only mounted one drive, with a couple of Hail Mary passes. Bears quarterback Trubinsky looked poor all night (and was booed by the local Chicago Bears enthusiasts in the stands).  

3. Tennis 

Must Know:

Last night at the US Open women’s final, Serena Williams attempted to win her 24th major title in a match against Bianca Andreescu, a 19-year old player from Canada. It was Williams’ 10th US Open final, the most for any player in the Open era. Sadly, number 24 was not meant to be this time. Andreescu defeated Williams in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, to win her first Grand Slam title. The young player wasn’t even born when Williams won her first Grand Slam.

Williams is 0-4 in Grand Slam finals since returning from her pregnancy leave, highlighting the difficulty of juggling work and family. She showed grace and humor after the match, and the crowd showed their undiminished love for the Greatest of All Time.

Meanwhile, the victor’s rise is nothing short of amazing: just a year ago, Andreescu was ranked outside the top 200. She is the first Canadian ever to win a Grand Slam singles title. Who the North? We the North!

Andreescu attributes her victory to “active visualization.” At the post-match press conference, she described her practice of several years of closing her eyes and envisioning herself winning the US Open. “I guess these visualizations really, really work,” she exclaimed.

Nice to know:

The US Open concluded with the Men’s Singles Final this evening, when Rafael Nadal met Daniil Medvedev. Previously, the 23-year old Medvedev had never advanced past the fourth round of a Grand Slam. Rafa won his first US Open title in 2010, and this was his 27th appearance in a Grand Slam final. 

In what turned out to be an exciting finish, Nadal defeated Medvedev in an epic five-set match. This is Nadal’s 19th Grand Slam singles title, and fifth US Open title. That puts him just one behind Roger Federer and three ahead of Novak Djokovic.

Extra Credit:

This year’s US Open was a tournament of upsets, with both defending champions falling early in the competition. Novak Djokovic was forced to retire from the tournament due to a back injury. And after her graceful sportsmanship upon defeating Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka fell to Belinda Bencic. Another great was out in the quarterfinals: Grigor Dimitrov was 0-7 against Roger Federer coming into their quarterfinal match. The Bulgarian beat Federer in five sets.

This Week in Sports News September 8, 2019

That’s it. You’re good to go with the top sports highlights and coming attractions heading into the week of September 8, 2019. Have a good one, and see you next week. Go, Pats!

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