This Week in Sports Talk: November 3, 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 November 3, 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: November 3, 2019

It’s “fall back” time, and we hope you enjoyed that extra hour of sleep! We begin with some short takes in sports news heading into the week of November 3, 2019.

Woods Wins

Tiger Woods won the delightfully-names Zozo Championship at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Japan. With the tournament win, Woods tied Sam Snead’s record for the most PGA Tour wins ever with 82.

Federer bows out

Roger Federer has pulled out of the inaugural ATP Cup. Organizers wrote on Twitter that Federer withdrew “due to family reasons.”

The ATP Cup will open the 2020 season in Australia from Jan. 3-12, with two four-team groups in each of Brisbane, Perth and Sydney. 

Mattress Man takes an L

Jim ‘Mattress Mack’ McIngvale could have won millions. The New Jersey mattress salesman ran a promotion for his store in which he put large sums of money on the Houston Astros to win the World Series. Dude!  So close . . . 

NCAA Football

In this week’s headlines, No. 8 Georgia beat No. 6 Florida, 24-17. No. 9 Utah rallied to defeat Washington, 33-28. And No. 16 Notre Dame squeaked past Virginia Tech, 21-20. In the Big Ten, No. 14 Michigan easily defeated Maryland, 38-7.

Also this week, the NCAA appeared to soften its long-held stance that college athletes should not be able to profit from their fame. But the governing body gave no details, and said any rule changes required much more discussion. The state of California passed a bill allowing the student athletes to accept payments for sponsorships, raising the ante with the NCAA.

Next week, on November 9, the game of the season will see the No. 1 LSU Tigers at No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide. This is LSU’s best team since winning the National Championship in 2007. One pressing question is whether ‘Bama’s star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will be ready to play.

Horse Racing

A serious injury to a horse at the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita has once again raised the issue of animal safety. Mongolian Groom, a 4-year old gelding, was taken off the track after a left hind leg injury. Santa Anita has been the site of 36 horse deaths since December.

NHL

The week, the infamous “lacrosse-style goal” arrived in the NHL. Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov successfully executed the flashy trick move during Tuesday’s game against the Calgary Flames.

Marathon Sunday

The TCS New York City Marathon is today. Last year, 52,813 runners finished the race, with an average time of 4:40:22. Runners from 129 countries will compete in this year’s race.

Top Sports Headlines heading into the week of November 3, 2019

Now that we’re warmed up, here’s everything else you need to know about sports heading into the week of November 3, 2019:

1. NFL

Must Know:

As of this posting, the New England Patriots (8-0) and the San Francisco 49’ers (8-0) are both still undefeated. The 49ers beat the 3-5-1 Cardinals on Thursday night, 28-25. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 317 yards and four touchdowns in the win.

The Miami Dolphins (0-7) and the Cincinnati Bengals (0-8) are still without a single win this season. Teams with one win include the Washington Redskins (1-7), Atlanta Falcons (1-7) and the New York Jets (1-6).  One-loss teams include the Green Bay Packers (7-1) and the New Orleans Saints (7-1). 

Nice to Know:

As the New York Jets continue to perform poorly this season, head coach Adam Gase is on the hot seat.  The next 2 games could decide his fate. If the Jets lose to the winless Miami Dolphins this week, or to crosstown rival the New York Giants the following week, his job could be in danger. 

After the infamous Sam Darnold “I’m seeing ghosts” comment while the player was miked’up last week and broadcast to a nationwide audience, ESPN is now struggling to get players to agree to wear a mic. The New York Giants’ Daniel Jones has refused to wear one this Monday when his team meets the Dallas Cowboys.

The Houston Texans’ (5-3) biggest star is going to miss the rest of the year. J. J. Watt tore his pectoral muscle against the Raiders with just under six minutes left to play in the second quarter last weekend. The Texans clearly knew the injury was serious, because they sent him to the hospital immediately after the game. This marks the third time in four years that the Texans star has suffered a season-ending injury.

Extra Credit:

The NFL trade deadline fireworks began this week – after the deadline had passed. First, longtime Cincinnati Bengals (0-8) starting quarterback Andy Dalton was benched this week in favor of rookie Ryan Finley. He made his displeasure with the team clear, arguing that they should have tried to trade him before benching him.

The silver lining? Dalton has since seen a near $4,000 increase in donations for his non-profit the Andy and JJ Dalton Foundation, which serves the families of pediatric patients in various medical facilities in the local area. The contributions are coming in increments of $14 to honor the number on his jersey.

Another unhappy NFL player is New York Jets safety Jamal Adams. The Dallas Cowboys reportedly tried to work out a deal for Adams that eventually fell through. Adams criticized Jets general manager Joe Douglas, saying he went behind his back by engaging in trade talks. Most believe that as a result, he will be gone at the end of the season. A miffed Adams said “The Rams don’t take calls on Aaron Donald.  The Pats don’t take calls on Tom Brady.  I hold myself in the same high regard.”

While some argue that Adams is not in the same league as Tom Brady, others note that he’s probably disappointed because he grew up around Dallas and wanted to play for them (and for a winning team). 

And for the first time in NFL history, the New York Giants and New York Jets made a trade with each other: Jets defensive lineman Leonard Williams.

2. MLB

Must Know:

The Washington Nationals have won their first World Series. It took seven games to defeat the defending champion Houston Astros. This is the first championship for the Nationals franchise, which was “imported” from Montreal (they were formerly the Expos) to DC. The last time a Washington team won the World Series was 1924.  

Stephen  Strasbourg was named the World Series MVP, taking the win in 5 of the 7 games. 

For the first time in MLB history the road team went 7-0 in the World Series. Just two other World Series — the 1906 and 1996 editions — saw the road team win the first five games, but never has the first six or even all seven been won by the road squad. The road team outscored the home team by a margin of 49-14 in the 2019 Fall Classic.

The road team has never won every game in the final championship series in the NBA or NHL, either, by the way.

Nice to Know: 

The Nationals were clear underdogs entering the World Series. Houston was the best team in the league in the regular season, winning 107 games. Game 7 featured a late-inning rally, which was a running trend for the Nats throughout October.

The Nats won 5 elimination games in the post season, and all in come-from-behind fashion.  That’s a pattern for this team: Washington is also the first team to be 12 games below 500 (they were 19 – 31 at one point in the season) and then come back to win the World Series.

In a final grace note, Twitter hilariously replayed the infamous Bryce Harper moment when he misspoke after leaving the Nats to join the Philadelphia Phillies and stated that “We want to bring a title back to DC.” Turns out he got his wish!

Extra credit:

Now that the season has ended, the MLB talk turns to possible player moves in the off-season. Some notable pitchers from both the Astros and Nats will hit free agency, including Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg. New York Yankee fans want both (of course). Word on the street is that they might get one of these two. But rumor also has it that they both want to play closer to home in California. So the Angels, Dodgers and Padres may be writing big checks this off-season. Stay tuned.

Bonus round:

Carlos Beltran, former All-Star outfielder will replace Mickey Callaway, who was fired in October after two seasons at Citi Field, as the new manager of the New York Mets. The Mets’ first Latino manager, Beltran spent the last year as a special assistant to Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman.

3. NBA

Must Know:

The Golden State Warriors have been absolutely snake-bitten so far this season. This week, Steph Curry broke his hand during an ugly 121-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns. The two-time NBA MVP will be out for at least three months. Thankfully, it wasn’t his shooting hand. 

The Warriors have suffered a string of unfortunate events. First Kevin Durant was injured during the playoffs, and then left to join the Brooklyn Nets. Clay Thompson is injured and out for the season. And Draymond Green is playing day-to-day with a leg injury. Their season could not be off to a worse start, in a head-spinning reversal of fortune. Chatter has already started about whether the Warriors should just “tank” this season and prioritize getting top draft picks and rebuilding for the future.

As of this posting, the Philadelphia 76ers are the N.B.A.’s last remaining unbeaten team at 4-0.

Nice to know:

Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns got into a fight in the middle of a game this week, in an escalation of a long-simmering feud between the two. With just under seven minutes to go in the third quarter of the Timberwolves-76ers matchup, Embiid and Towns went at each other. Both were both suspended for two games without pay, in part due to the fight and in part for the dispute they carried on afterward on social media. 

Extra Credit:

There were four standout performances in the NBA this week that people are talking about.

First, the same night that the Washington Nationals beat the Houston Astros to win the World Series, the Houston Rockets’ James Harden scored 59 points to beat the Washington Wizards 159-158,  with no overtime.

Second, LA Lakers star Anthony Davis had a 40-point, 20-rebound performance, which is rare in the NBA. Davis did it in just three quarters.

LeBron James (LBJ) became the first LA Laker to get a triple double with at least 35 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.

And finally, Kawhi Leonard played his former team, the San Antonio Spurs, on Thursday night. He scored 38 points and led the LA Clippers to a win.

This Week in Sports News November 3, 2019

That’s it. You’re good to go with the top headlines and coming attractions heading into the week of November 3, 2019. Have a good one, and see you next week.

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