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TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Dec. 11th

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While We’re Young Ideas with the 2022 End of Year “Diggies”

 

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The global pandemic killed 6,649,490 million people and counting. It stopped every sport in nearly every nation. Temporarily it put “Digital Sports Desk” and 147 million either unemployed or out of business, and it ruined great traditions that we celebrate together. Sadly, there will be those 6.649m empty chairs at the Christmas dinner table this year, but thankfully, many of us are settling back to our lives as we knew them in 2018-19.

With that in mind, our popular Digital Sports Desk “DIGGIES” are back and this column will introduce the first of the 2022-23 editions, celebrating what we’ll call the Gems of the sporting calendar. After the first two, the DIGGIES are listed in no particular order. Please note, two of the great 2022-23 DIGGIES occurred this weekend and there’s a bit of a Boston-focus on this year’s winners.

  • No. 1: The Boston College vs Boston University hockey rivalry: As retired BC ice hockey coach said in his “Jerry York Night” speech on Friday, “the BC vs BU rivalry is the best in college hockey. They call it the “Battle of Comm Ave” in Boston and this past Friday night’s 9-6 Boston College Eagles victory took the match-up to new heights. BC’s Freshman forward Cutter Gauthier scored two goals and added two assists in the 288th edition of the rivalry. … The Eagles made their legendary coach proud as he was honored between periods and gifted with two First Class airline tickets and an all-expenses paid vacation trip to the Hawaiian Island of his choice. The potty-mouth BC fans made York cringe as the packed house, and the Conte-Crazy student sections were acting like they’d never been there before. The rivalry deserves some R.E.S.P.E.C.T. The players displayed it with a center-ice handshake line after the brutal battle of BU’s size and strength vs BC’s scoring, speed and agility. It’s a good thing the BC student sections couldn’t skate. 
  • No. 1-A: The annual ARMY vs NAVY game – usually played in Philadelphia – is a bucket list event for every sports fan in America. The patriotic pageantry is on display all day long, starting with a Noon (ET) “March On” ceremony that stops every fan in their tracks, but the stark reality while watching the cadets and midshipmen assemble is that some of the talented football players for both ARMY and NAVY might be laying their lives on the line for their fellow Americans someday all too soon. It is the best college football and it ranks on top of the list of DIGGIES Sports Gems. Please note: Boston fans are on call as the ARMY vs NAVY game will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on December 9, 2023, the first time the event will be staged in New England. If it weren’t for the need of the extra 20-25,000 seats, the game could’ve been scheduled for Fenway Park.
  • The 2022 ARMY vs NAVY was a classic, a 20-17 double-overtime win for ARMY. Every play mattered. It was and always is stunning!
  • The Army alma mater: “And when our work is done // Our course on earth is run // May it be said, “Well done” // Be thou at peace.// E’er may that line of gray // Increase from day to day // Live, serve, and die, we pray // West Point, for thee.” (It was sung second this year as it has been in five of the last seven years).
  • Continuing in NCAA College Football, the gems are polished every year when the following institutions play each other, usually alternating home field advantage:
    • Harvard vs. Yale – also known as “The Game.”
    • Ohio State vs Michigan
    • Alabama vs Auburn – The “Iron Bowl.”
    • There are plenty of other great college football rivalries, like Notre Dame vs USC or Oklahoma vs Texas, which dates back to 1900. They all receive honorable mentions for a 2022 DIGGIES award.
  • The Travelers at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, near Hartford, Connecticut. Surely, The Masters and The Players, Pebble Beach and all of the Majors deserve mention, but The Travelers is the hidden gem hiding in plain sight each June. The event falls a week after The U.S. Open, so you might expect a light field, but The Travelers draws all the top-ranked players, largely because of a great golf course, vibrant crowds of spectators and the volunteers who represent The Travelers insurance company and the local Greater Hartford community.
  • The Breeders’ Cup thoroughbred horse races best the Kentucky Derby, The Preakness and The Belmont Stakes. “Seven World Series games in one day,” says sports pundit and enthusiast Chris Brienza who loves to attend the event, no matter where it’s staged. In 2022, it was at Keeneland (Kentucky). As of December 11, 2022, we’ll need to wait 326 days until the Breeders’ Cup runs at Santa Anita in Arcadia, California.
  • The Boston Marathon – Best day of the year in Boston and surrounding suburbs where the Carnegie Hall of road races is held each April. The race also coincides with the traditional 11am Patriots’ Day start for the Boston Red Sox.
  • BIG EAST Friday and Final Four Saturday ranks as the best two dates in NCAA College Basketball. The 30-minutes before the tip of the semifinals of March Madness just might be the best half-hour in sports.
  • Of course, The Super Bowl, NBA Finals, World Series and Stanley Cup Final all rank high in must see events, but the rivalries in the major North American sports have waned. For the DIGGIES, it must be a hidden Gem, so all the majpr sports events are assigned Honorable Mention for this year’s list.
  • In Europe, the super rivalries of Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona, known to all as “El Clasico” futbol is the best of the best. That said, you might want to pack your riot helmet for the Panathinaikos vs Olympiakos games in both soccer and basketball in the Greek League deserve honorable mention. “El Clasico” wins the DIGGIE.
  • Lastly, the college basketball rivalry of Duke vs North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference gets a DIGGIE as the best school vs school rivalry in North American sports. Circle Saturday, February 4th at Duke (Durham, NC) and Saturday, March 4 at Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC) for the 2023 renditions, with only a slight chance they’ll meet again in the ACC Tournament or during March Madness.

WELCOME HOME BRITTANY: How is it possible that a decorated U.S. Olympian, NCAA and WNBA champion’s return to the United States after an unfair, wrongful and excessive detainment in Russia can become a political volleyball? Yet, that’s what’s happened since Brittany Griner was released from a Russian prison. On December 8, in a now highly controversial prisoner swap authorized by the US State Department and the President of the United States, political chess players upped the ante of debate, doing exactly what the Kremlin planned, further dividing the USA voting public.

Here’s some background to consider as you contemplate your own opinion of the story that is quite terrible all-around. For some, you might’ve seen this post on Facebook. If not, please read on:

We must applaud the sentiment of the family of Paul Whelan as they commented this week on the useless and somewhat preposterous – call it – “either/or” commentary on the release of Griner, as though USA diplomats had a choice of whether to trade a known Russian arms dealer for Door No.1 or Door No. 2.

It was NOT a choice of one or the other but is being depicted as such, by those as important in US government as presumed 2023 Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy.

Here are the players:

1). Brittany Griner: A two time Olympic gold medalist (4 time gold medalist, if you count World Cup), 3-time Big 12 Player of the Year, 2012 NCAA Champion for Baylor, and 2014 WNBA Champion.

OR

2). Paul Whelan, a Canadian-born citizen who also has citizenship in the UK, Ireland and the USA where he served the USA as a Marine Corps Reserve (1994-2002) and Marine Reserve SGT, (2003-08) until he was discharged after court martial in January 2008 on larceny charges, making false statements, illegal use of another’s social security number and given a bad conduct demerit upon his discharge. … BTW: Regardless of the charges, his service remains admirable.

Let’s underline the point, the USA was not given a choose one or “the other” scenario. Our Diplomats and National Security Council have been negotiating on Whelen’s behalf since he was detained in Russia back in December of 2018. Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: “We’ve made clear to the Russians our expectation that we will learn more about the charges, come to understand what it is he’s been accused of and if the detention is not appropriate, we will demand his immediate return.” On January 4, 2019, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “We don’t agree with individuals being used in diplomatic chess games… We are all extremely worried about him and his family.”

In 2019, Konstantin Yaroshenko – who was accused by the USA as a drug-smuggling pilot and jailed – was released to Russia in return for American Trevor Reed, also a Marine who was arrested for getting in a fight with Russian police/military authorities.

The complexity of the situation made me curious about all of the details, so it time to delve into the story after Whelan’s brother, David, said in his family statement: “There is no greater success than for a wrongful detainee to be freed and for them to go home. The Biden administration made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home, and to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen.”

Paul Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth, during her appearance on a live interview broadcast Dec. 9 on CBS News from Martha’s Vineyard, explained a lot in her interview transcribed here after the first question probed at the general public commentary, social media postings and mounting controversy surrounding Griner release but Whelan still detained. … “They infuriate me, said Elizabeth. To begin, where have all those people been for the last four years since my brother has been held? Where were their good ideas. I hope they’re sharing them with the National Security Council.

“The way I look at it, once a hostile foreign nation has taken an American citizen as prisoner, we need to do what ever it takes to get them back. Then, we need to use punishments and deterrents to stop it from ever happening again. I welcome anyone to share their ideas. They can send them to me. I’ll pass them on,” she added.

“I can’t tell my brother (Paul) everything that is going on. I can’t tell anyone everything that is going on. This is difficult. It’s not an easy thing to solve. We have a country – Russia – who is trying – purposefully – to cause trouble over here. They weren’t going to send both Paul and Brittany home at the same time and give our President “the win.” We need to figure out a way around that. I don’t know what the solution is.

“The charges against him (her brother) are as ridiculous as it comes. This is a story they (Russian govt) have concocted. They planted the USB drive on Paul and then arrested him five minutes later to gain leverage over the US. They treat Paul’s case differently from that of (former Marine and released detainee) Trevor Reed or Brittany.

“The foreign governments that are taking Americans like this, is that they are not taking them for being the specific persons. They’re taking them because they want to get back in some way at the United States. I do have hope (in US government). The folks that were first working to get Trevor and Paul back, and trying to get Brittany and Paul back, they are going to all lengths to make that happen.

“Any wrongfully detained American that comes back is a win for America.

(On Griner family stating Dec 8th that they would become very involved in Whelan family efforts)

“When I saw Cherrelle (Brittany’s wife) say that their family was going to fight for Paul, and keep the attention on his case, that was the first “emotional crack’ (in Elizabeth’s public posture) to see their support.”

The moral of this post: Read up before tossing shade.

TID-BITS: Rest-in-Peace Grant Wahl, 48, former Sports Illustrated reporter who died suddenly while covering the World Cup. … Busy night for the NHL Deans of Discipline as Seattle Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak was suspended for three games, without pay, for an illegal check to the head of Washington Capitals defenseman Alexander Alexeyev during a game at Washington, D.C., on Friday, Dec. 9. … And, Buffalo Sabres forward Jeff Skinner was suspended for three games, without pay, for cross-checking Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel during their game at Buffalo on Friday, too, … The WSJ is reporting that Venture Capitalists are seeking ownership in the Phoenix Suns, with a $3 billion price tag being floated via financing from Pay Pal founder and tech giant Peter Theil who was the first outside investor in FaceBook. … In FIBA – not FIFA – news: No.1 ranked Strahinja Stojacic was crowned MVP of the FIBA 3×3 World Tour 2022 regular season by a panel of fans and players. The Ub Huishan NE star has had a golden season and led the No.1 ranked team to four straight Masters titles, when he won three of the four tournament MVPs. Stojacic aka ‘Doctor Strange’ dominated the players’ vote with a whopping 32.7% to finish clear of his brother Stefan, who finished second with 15.4%. Next best were Riga superstars Karlis Lasmanis and Nauris Miezis at 11.5% and Antwerp’s Thibaut Vervoort with 9.6%. … The Baseball Winter Meetings ended with a flurry of free agent signings, including former Red Sox SS Xander Bogaerts signing with the San Diego Padres. … We’ll take a look at the old Hot Stove happenings next week.

TD Boston Garden (Photo by T. Peter Lyons)

NHL POWER RANKINGS: As promised from last week’s column, here’s the WWYI Power Rankings for the National Hockey League, as of December 10:

  1. Boston Bruins – 14-0-1 at the TD Garden
  2. New Jersey Devils – Tied with Boston with 43 points.
  3. Las VegasGolden Knights – 20 of 29 in the win column = 41 points
  4. Toronto Maple Leafs – 8-0-2 in their last 10 games
  5. Tampa Bay Lightning – 35 points, and always dangerous as reigning champs
  6. Winnipeg Jets – 8-2-0 over last 10 games, 10-3 at home
  7. Dallas Stars – NHL-Leading 105 goals for, but in second place in West-Central
  8. Log-Jam in the East-Metropolitan – Carolina, Pittsburgh, NYI and NYR

There’s a long, long way to go.

PARTING WORDS & MUSIC: Everyone’s favorite part of this column takes a somber turn as this song is posted in memory of Grant Wahl. It is performed by my NYC music bud Rich Pagano with ultra-music-hoops bud Jeff Kazee on the keys and the talented John Conte on bass. They make up “Early Elton” in between gigs, with Kazee usually backing Southside Johnny and the Jukes.

Kazee will be performing a Christmas-themed SOLD OUT solo act this Wednesday, in New York at the Rockwood Music Hall. It will resemble the Living Room Lounge shows which guided so many of us through the global pandemic when it seemed it would never, ever end.

Last year, his set list included:

THE HOLIDAY SHOW

Christmas Time is Here

The Christmas Song

Go Tell It On The Mountain

Blue Christmas

White Christmas

Feeling Great (Kazee)

Everyday Is Like A Holiday (Jeff & Sophia)

Merry Christmas, Baby/Bells Will Be Ringing

Chinese Food For Christmas

A Cradle in Bethlehem

We Three Kings of Orient Are

Nut Rocker

Grownup Christmas List (Sophia Kazee)

This Christmas

O Holy Night

Run, Run, Rudolph

NFL Desk: Patriots, Cards in “Must Win”

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GLENDALE – Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals are in desperation mode as they entertain the New England Patriots on Monday night at Arizona. The Cardinals (4-8) are among the NFL’s biggest underachievers this season and sit three games behind the NFC’s final playoff spot with five contests remaining.

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Since only two NFC teams have fewer victories, another setback will all but eliminate Arizona and place fourth-year coach Kliff Kingsbury firmly on the hot seat.

However, standout safety Budda Baker doesn’t want to have to wave the white flag before it becomes necessary.

“At the end of the day when it’s time to work we work,” Baker, who has a team-best 90 tackles, told reporters. “We’ve got five more opportunities. We have to take the best of those opportunities because (the NFL) stands for not for long. We’ve got five more opportunities to play some good football and that’s the plan that we’re going to do.”

The Cardinals are coming off a bye. However, they have lost two straight games and six of their last eight, and they will need Murray to heat up if they are to make a dash for a playoff spot.

The fourth-year pro passed for fewer than 200 yards in each of his last two appearances — he missed two November games due to a hamstring injury — and has a career-worst 6.1 average yards per attempt.

He also has received career-most criticism due to his performance after receiving a five-year, $230.5 million extension in the offseason.

“You understand the position that you are in, what comes with it, what you have to face,” Murray said. “I’m not really new to it. Something I’ve been dealing with, not my whole life but for the most part of my life having to deal with stuff like that. It doesn’t affect me.”

The Patriots (6-6) also have lost two straight games and are experiencing issues of their own.

New England also is on the outside of the playoff chase, sitting one game behind the New York Jets for the final AFC wild-card spot.

The atmosphere is certainly tense. During a Dec. 1 home loss to the Buffalo Bills, quarterback Mac Jones got heated on the sideline over the lack of deep pass plays being called.

Jones’ play hasn’t been as solid as his 2021 rookie campaign. He passed for 3,801 yards and 22 touchdowns last season; he has 1,963 yards and seven scoring throws in nine games this season.

He said the Patriots are close to getting their offensive act together.

“We’ve just got to eliminate those (bad plays) at this point,” Jones said. “There are a few plays in every game — a handful of plays that just aren’t very good. Once we can fix those, then everything goes.”

Earlier this week, New England coach Bill Belichick told WEEI that it’s too difficult to make major changes to the offense at this point in the season.

That doesn’t sound too promising, considering the Patriots sit 24th in total offense at 318.9 yards per game and are tied for 19th in scoring offense (20.8 points per game).

“If we can just do, consistently, what we’re doing, I think we’ll be all right,” Belichick said. “We just haven’t been able to have enough consistency. And that’s hurt us. It’s not one thing. One time it’s one thing. Next time it’s something else. We just have to play and coach more consistently.”

Left tackle Trent Brown (illness) and right tackle Isaiah Wynn (foot) were among the New England players who missed practice on Thursday. Also sitting out were receiver Jakobi Meyers (concussion), running back Damien Harris (thigh) and cornerback Jalen Mills (groin).

Arizona receiver DeAndre Hopkins (illness) sat out Thursday. Other Cardinals to miss practice were cornerback Byron Murphy (back), left guard Rashaad Coward (chest) and receiver Rondale Moore (groin).

–Field Level Media

Congressional Report on Snyder

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WASH DC – Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder suppressed evidence that he and team executives sexually harassed women who worked at the team for over two decades, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform said Thursday in its final report after a nearly 14-month investigation.

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In a 79-page report released Thursday, the Committee detailed the decades-long toxic workplace culture of the Washington franchise, the NFL’s response to the conduct and the league’s burial of a 2020-21 probe of the Commanders’ workplace led by attorney Beth Wilkinson.

The Committee’s report also notes the NFL was complicit in Snyder’s efforts against cooperating with the inquiry and was aware of the interference with the Wilkinson Investigation but failed to take action. It said the league’s mishandling of the investigation reflected “a broader pattern of failing to take workplace misconduct seriously.”

The report also detailed that Snyder “permitted and participated” in the franchise’s toxic work culture and went to great lengths to obstruct the Committee’s inquiry.

“Mr. Snyder was invited to testify at a public hearing but refused to appear and then sought to avoid service of a subpoena while abroad with his yacht,” per the report. “Mr. Snyder ultimately sat for a private deposition but failed to provide full and complete testimony. Over the course of the deposition, he claimed more than 100 times that he could not recall the answers to the Committee’s questions, including basic inquiries about his role as Team owner and multiple allegations of misconduct. Mr. Snyder also gave misleading testimony about his efforts to interfere with the Wilkinson Investigation.”

The report also chastised the NFL for failing to prevent Snyder from interfering with its investigation and for failing to address his conduct.

“The NFL chose to bury Ms. Wilkinson’s findings and whitewash the misconduct it uncovered,” the committee’s report said. “Rather than seek real accountability, the NFL aligned its legal interests with Mr. Snyder’s, failed to curtail his abusive tactics, and buried the investigation’s findings.”

An NFL spokesman told ESPN that the league had not seen the report and would not comment.

–Field Level Media

Grant Wahl, 48

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Former Sports Illustrated Reporter Passed Out at Lusail

QATAR – (Staff and Wire Services Report) – Grant Wahl, an American journalist who helped grow the popularity of soccer in the U.S. and reported on some of the biggest stories in the sport, died Saturday while in the press box covering a World Cup match between Argentina and the Netherlands. He was 48.

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Wahl fell back in his seat in a section of Lusail Stadium reserved for journalists during extra time of the game, and reporters adjacent to him called for assistance.

Emergency services workers responded very quickly, treated him for 20 or 30 minutes on site and then took him out on a stretcher, said Keir Radnedge, a British journalist who was working nearby at the time.

Wahl, who wrote for Sports Illustrated for more than two decades and then started his own website, was a major voice informing an American public of soccer during time of increased interest after the U.S. hosted the 1994 World Cup. He also brought a critical eye to the organizational bodies of the international sport.

Wahl attempted to run for FIFA president against Sepp Blatter and Mohamed bin Hammam in 2011. He promised to open FIFA to greater transparency and said he contacted 150 countries without winning support for a nomination.

He “really helped put soccer on the mainstream sports map in the States,” Radnedge said.

“Grant had a strong moral compass, on where sports should be and how sport … should help set standards for people,” he said. “There was never any doubt that Grant was on the side of the good guys in wanting soccer to make the best of itself.”

Wahl was covering his eighth World Cup. He wrote Monday on his website that he had visited a medical clinic while in Qatar.

“My body finally broke down on me. Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you,” Wahl wrote. “What had been a cold over the last 10 days turned into something more severe on the night of the USA-Netherlands game, and I could feel my upper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort.”

Sources: Sox to Sign Kenley Jansen

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SAN DIEGO – (Staff and Media Reports via ESPN) – The Boston Red Sox are reportedly signing free-agent reliever Kenley Jansen to a two-year, $32 million deal, ESPN reported Wednesday.

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The closer of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Jansen spent the 2022 season in the bullpen role with the Atlanta Braves, posted a 5-2 record with a 3.38 ERA and a National League-leading 41 saves in 64 innings pitched. He signed a one-year, $16 million contract with the Braves as a free agent for 2022..

Jansen, 35, spent his first 12 seasons with the Dodgers, where he was a three-time All-Star and won the Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year Award twice (2016 and ’17). In his career, Jansen has a 42-28 record and a 2.46 ERA with 391 saves. His 573 games finished are most among active players.

NFL Desk: Unlucky Week 13

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CINCINNATI – (Staff and Field Level Media Report) – Bengals QB Joe Burrow passed for 286 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for a score to lead the Cincinnati Bengals to a 27-24 victory over the visiting Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Chris Evans caught the go-ahead 8-yard touchdown pass with 8:54 remaining as Burrow outdueled Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes for the third time in 11-plus months. Cincinnati beat Kansas City 34-31 in the regular season last January and notched a 27-24 overtime victory in the AFC Championship Game four weeks later.

Samaje Perine rushed for 106 yards while Tee Higgins also caught a touchdown pass for the Bengals (8-4), who won their fourth straight game and eighth in their past 10. Ja’Marr Chase had seven receptions for 97 yards after missing the previous four games due to a hip injury. Running back Joe Mixon (concussion) missed his second straight game.

Mahomes was 16-of-27 passing for 223 yards and one touchdown for the Chiefs (9-3), who had a five-game winning streak halted. Travis Kelce had just four receptions for 56 yards and lost a fumble prior to the Bengals’ decisive score.

49ers 33, Dolphins 17

Rookie quarterback Brock Purdy came to the rescue in his first extended NFL action, passing for 210 yards and two touchdowns to push San Francisco’s winning streak to five games with a victory over Miami at Santa Clara, Calif.

Purdy, who was 25 of 37 with an interception, took over in the first quarter for an injured Jimmy Garoppolo and delivered a touchdown on his first drive. The 49ers’ defense added three interceptions and a fumble return for a score by Dre Greenlaw, all in the second half. Christian McCaffrey caught eight passes for 80 yards and a touchdown for the 49ers (8-4), while also rushing for 66 yards on 17 carries. Garoppolo will miss the remainder of the season with a broken foot.

Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa was 18-of-33 passing for 295 yards and two touchdowns, but his two third-quarter interceptions were his first in a span of six games. Tyreek Hill had nine receptions for 146 yards and a touchdown for the Dolphins (8-4), who saw their five-game winning streak come to an end.

Ravens 10, Broncos 9

Tyler Huntley relieved an injured Lamar Jackson and scored on a 2-yard touchdown run with 28 seconds remaining as host Baltimore rallied for a victory over Denver.

The Ravens (8-4) escaped with a dramatic win after Jackson was injured while being sacked for a 6-yard loss by Denver’s Jonathon Cooper on the final play of the first quarter. The Ravens initially said Jackson was questionable to return and then ruled him out before the second half started.

Denver (3-9) lost its fourth straight and was held to 16 points or fewer for the 10th time this season. Russell Wilson completed 17 of 22 passes for 189 yards.

Cowboys 54, Colts 19

Dak Prescott threw for three touchdowns and Dallas scored five fourth-quarter touchdowns to rout Indianapolis in Arlington, Texas.

Ahead 21-19 as the fourth started, Dallas (9-3) exploded. Prescott (20-for-30, 170 yards) found Michael Gallup for a 3-yard score, followed by Malik Hooker’s 38-yard fumble return. Tony Pollard peeled off a 30-yard TD run, Ezekiel Elliott tacked on a 4-yard scoring jaunt and Malik Davis finished the outburst with a 23-yard TD run.

Matt Ryan hit on 21 of 37 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns, but tossed three interceptions and lost a fumble, giving him 13 picks and five lost fumbles for the year. The Colts (4-8-1) fell to 1-3 under interim coach Jeff Saturday.

Steelers 19, Falcons 16

Matthew Wright kicked four field goals, rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett threw a touchdown pass and Pittsburgh held off host Atlanta.

Pickett was 16 of 28 for 197 yards and didn’t commit a turnover for the fourth straight game after tossing eight interceptions in his first five games. Pittsburgh (5-7) sealed the game with Minkah Fitzpatrick’s interception of Marcus Mariota with 35 seconds left.

Mariota completed 13 of 24 passes for 167 yards with a touchdown, finding MyCole Pruitt with a 7-yard strike with 43 seconds remaining in the third quarter to cut Pittsburgh’s advantage to 19-13. Atlanta (5-8) never got closer.

Packers 28, Bears 19

Mason Crosby kicked a go-ahead 32-yard field goal with 4:49 remaining and Christian Watson had rushing and receiving touchdowns to boost visiting Green Bay past Chicago.

The Packers (5-8) defeated the Bears for the eighth straight time, while Chicago (3-10) lost its sixth straight overall. Green Bay’s Jaire Alexander intercepted Justin Fields at the Packers 28-yard line with 2:52 remaining to thwart a comeback attempt after Crosby’s field goal put the team ahead 20-19.

Chicago’s Justin Fields was 20-of-25 passing for 254 yards and two interceptions while rushing six times for 71 yards and a score. A.J. Dillon had 119 yards of total offense for Green Bay, including 93 rushing yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

Lions 40, Jaguars 14

Jared Goff passed for 340 yards, including two touchdown strikes to Amon-Ra St. Brown, as host Detroit won for the fourth time in five games by romping Jacksonville.

Goff completed 31 of 41 pass attempts. St. Brown caught 11 passes for 114 yards, while D’Andre Swift had 62 rushing yards on 14 carries and a touchdown. Jamaal Williams scored his league-leading 14th touchdown and DJ Chark made five receptions for 98 yards for the Lions (5-7).

Trevor Lawrence completed 17 of 31 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown for the Jaguars (4-8). Travis Etienne Jr. rushed for 54 yards on 13 carries. Christian Kirk led the receiving corps with six catches for 104 yards.

Browns 27, Texans 14

Propelled by three non-offensive touchdowns, Cleveland overcame a rusty effort from Deshaun Watson in his anticipated return to defeat Houston.

Following his offseason trade from Houston to Cleveland (5-7), Watson delivered an erratic showing, completing 12 of 22 attempts for 131 yards plus a red-zone interception.

Houston (1-10-1) suffered its seventh consecutive loss as a byproduct of critical errors and offensive ineptitude. The Texans accrued 162 yards in the first half, with 73 coming on one drive.

Vikings 27, Jets 22

Kirk Cousins went 21-of-35 passing for 173 yards and a touchdown to lead Minnesota to a win over the New York Jets in Minneapolis.

Minnesota (10-2) took a 27-15 lead with 8:33 remaining on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Cousins to Justin Jefferson. New York (7-5) cut its deficit to 27-22 with 6:48 remaining on a 1-yard touchdown run by Mike White that finished off a five-play, 75-yard drive.

White went 31-of-57 passing for 369 yards and two interceptions in defeat for the Jets. The Jets outgained the Vikings in yards, 486-287, but settled for five Greg Zuerlein field goals and scored one touchdown on six trips to the red zone.

Commanders 20, Giants 20 (OT)

Taylor Heinicke threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson with 1:45 left in regulation and neither squad scored in overtime as Washington played to a tie with New York in East Rutherford, N.J.

In the 10-minute overtime session, both teams punted twice. The Giants had a chance to win on the final play but Graham Gano’s 58-yard field goal attempt came up short. Washington (7-5-1) kept pace with New York (7-4-1) in their battle to reach the playoffs.

The Giants were up 20-13 in the closing minutes of regulation before Heinicke directed a 90-yard scoring drive. Heinicke completed 27 of 41 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns, and Terry McLaurin caught eight passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. For the Giants, Daniel Jones completed 25 of 31 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown. He also ran 12 times for 71 yards.

Eagles 35, Titans 10

Jalen Hurts threw three touchdown passes and rushed for another, and host Philadelphia defeated Tennessee.

Hurts was 29 of 39 for 380 yards and tossed two touchdowns to A.J. Brown, a former member of the Titans (7-5). Brown had eight receptions for 119 yards and DeVonta Smith added five catches for 102 yards and a score for the Eagles (11-1).

Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill was 14 of 22 for 141 yards and one touchdown and looked to be limping with soreness in both ankles. Stellar running back Derrick Henry was held in check with 11 carries for 30 yards.

Seahawks 27, Rams 23

Geno Smith threw three touchdown passes, including an 8-yarder to DK Metcalf with 36 seconds remaining, as Seattle defeated Los Angeles in Inglewood, Calif.

Smith completed 28 of 39 passes for 367 yards as the Seahawks (7-5) snapped a two-game losing streak. Tyler Lockett made nine receptions for 128 yards and a TD and Metcalf had eight catches for 127 yards.

Cam Akers rushed for two touchdowns for the injury-plagued Rams (3-9), who suffered their sixth consecutive defeat. Akers’ second TD, from 6 yards, gave the Rams a 23-20 lead with 2:56 left.

Raiders 27, Chargers 20

Derek Carr and Davante Adams connected on two long scoring passes in the third quarter to help Las Vegas rally for a win against visiting Los Angeles.

Adams caught eight passes for 177 yards and the two third-quarter touchdowns. Carr completed 16 of 30 passes for 250 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for the Raiders (5-7).

Justin Herbert completed 28 of 47 passes for 335 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers (6-6). Herbert found Keenan Allen on fourth-and-12 for a 35-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 27-20 with 8:34 left in the game.

–Field Level Media

 

49ers’ Garoppolo Out for Season

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SANTA CLARA – (Staff and Wire Service Report by Field Level Media) – San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was carted to the locker room after the team’s opening drive Sunday with a foot injury.

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Garoppolo was initially listed as questionable to return, but the Niners downgraded him to out during the second quarter.

The injury adds to the quarterback concerns for the 49ers, who lost Trey Lance for the season during San Francisco’s second game. Lance subsequently underwent surgery for an ankle injury.

Garoppolo was 2-of-4 passing for 56 yards on San Francisco’s opening drive when he was sacked by a pair of Miami defensive players. The knee of Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips appeared to land on the side of Garoppolo’s left foot.

On the following play, the 49ers’ Robbie Gould kicked a 47-yard field goal as San Francisco answered an opening-drive touchdown by the Dolphins.

 

The 49ers turned to rookie Brock Purdy at quarterback and the seventh-round pick out of Iowa State in April’s NFL draft led San Francisco to a TD on his first drive. Purdy hit Kyle Juszczyk on a 3-yard TD pass to cap the 54-yard drive, for his first career scoring pass.

 

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook | Dec 4

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – USC lost and TCU lost!

USC is OUT while TCU is in.

The Georgia Bulldogs smoked LSU, 50- 30, to take the SEC championship and lock the No. 1 seed in the upcoming College Football Playoffs while the Purdue Boilermakers vs. Michigan Wolverines Big Ten Championship game was underway as this missive posted its “Bulldog” edition, the Wolverines with a 14-13 lead at the half.

There will be tons of speculation and reasoning for the CFP committee to toss-around the virtues of Ohio State, Alabama, and TCU to decide the final two teams to qualify. Ohio State and Alabama are probably the best two teams of the five, but TCU’s season-long resume might qualify the Horned Frogs to No. 3 as ‘Bama, Tennessee, Clemson and Penn State seem to blend into one, as in one short. USC finished 11-2 in the Pac-12, but lost to Utah twice in the season, once on October 16th, and again in the conference championship game Friday night, thumped 47-24. That places USC as a solid No. 8 or No. 9 at best.

Taking it all in, it might be easier to assign TCU and USC to the January 2nd Rose Bowl and let Georgia and Michigan play the final on January 9 and call it a season. That would make either the Fiesta Bowl or the Peach Bowl pretty annoyed.

By Sunday morning, the decisions were made:

College Football Playoffs 2022-23:

  1. Georgia
  2. Michigan
  3. TCU
  4. Ohio St.

Outside looking in?

  1. Alabama
  2. Tennessee

On the flip-side, let’s all celebrate the fact Miami (Ohio) and the University ofAlabama-Birmingham – their friends call ‘em UAB – will kick-off Bowl season with berths in the Bahamas Bowl on December 16th – just 12 days away. On Christmas Eve, Middle Tennessee and San Diego State will travel to Honolulu for the annual Hawaii Bowl on December 24th and enjoy a “Mele Kalikimaka” on a bright, Hawaiian Christmas Day, December 25th.

HERE NOW THE NOTES: The Boston Celtics are 18-5 to date, 11-2 at the TD Boston Garden. That amazing start was good enough for the NBA to recognize head coach Joe Mazzulla as the NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for games played in October and November. It marked the Celtics 16th overall NBA Coach of the Month honor since the award’s inception during the 1982-83 season. Boston leads the league in points per game (121.9), field goal percentage (49.8), three-point field goal percentage (40.8), free throw percentage (85.3), while also ranking sixth in assists (27.5). … For the first time in franchise history, the Celtics averaged at least 123.0 points and shot over 50.0 percent from the field during one calendar month (min. 10 games) for games played in November when they posted a 14-2 record.

Not to be forgotten, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was named the Kia NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month for October/November. Tatum earned his second career NBA Player of the Month award and now holds the third-most monthly honors in Celtics history behind Larry Bird (7) and Paul Pierce (3). This season, Tatum has appeared in 21 games (all starts) and is averaging career-highs of 31.6 points on 48.8 percent shooting from the field and 87.3 percent from the line, along with 7.8 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 36.7 minutes per game.

BOSTON BREWIN’ – The Boston Bruins, the Celtics’ neighbors at TD Garden and their respective practice sites, are 20-3 for the season and 14-0 at home after Saturday night’s victory over the highly competitive Colorado Avalanche by the score of 5-1. … The Bruins and the red hot New Jersey Devils are 1 and 1A in the NHL power rankings. This column will delve into that full list in depth next weekend.

KNAPP MEMORIAL FUND: Eight NFL teams and up to 50 NFL coaches will participate in different ways to support the first-ever Coach Knapp fundraiser this December, which will benefit The Coach Knapp Memorial Fund. The fund was created this year to educate drivers on the dangers of distracted driving, reduce the number of distracted driving-related deaths, and promote distracted driving awareness reform in the United States. … Knapp’s wife, Charlotte, and his close friend and agent, Jeff Sperbeck, created the fund to honor the legacy of Greg Knapp who was killed after being hit by a distracted driver while he was bicycling in July 2021. Coach Knapp was known for climbing the stadium stairs before every single NFL game he coached over his 25 season career…. Stadium stair climbs and other fundraising activities will play a part of the tribute. … At the time of his passing, Knapp was previously named Passing Game Coordinator for the New York Jets under head coach Robert Saleh.

PGA TOUR BRUNCH: The six-days a week missive, known to you all as PGA TOURBRUNCH is right around the corner with the first issue of 2023 planned for Wednesday, January 4 with the Sentry Tournament of Champions scheduled to take place January 5-8 in Kapalua, on The Valley Isle of Maui in Hawai‘i. … After a wrap-up column on January 9th, PGA Tour Brunch returns January 11th with a preview of the first full-field event of 2023 when the PGA Tour pros tee-off for the SONY Open in Honolulu. You might’ve read it before, but PGA TOUR BRUNCH is the perfect gift for your favorite golf fan (maybe fans). It’s a gift that keeps on giving all season long, and up to the Tour Championship in late August 2023. … Why Brunch? Well, it is sent in advance of each round of golf and – with the tournaments played in different time zones throughout the season, the time can change a bit. Ideally, it pops-up in your inbox at 12 Noon (ET), at a time when you have a minute – over LUNCH or BRUNCH to relax, grab your mobile device and take-in a screen or two or three of the most important information on the tournament being played each week. Some basic stuff, yes! Tee Times, Leaderboard, what time the TV and Radio broadcasts will be for the day/week and just a few links to surf to get deeper information. … It saves time, as we’ve done the groundwork to put forth what you NEED to read to follow the Tour. For a limited time (Today through Dec 31, 2022), we’re offering a 20% discount as a Special Holiday Greetings and Gift idea. Click HERE

PGA TOUR BRUNCH is the “sister publication” to the missive you’re reading now – While We’re Young (Ideas) aka TL’s Sunday Sports Notes. Both are available for subscription via Substack and both are sent to your device by email and they’re archived on the Substack App and our home sites. Similar to PGA TOUR BRUNCH, you can gift a subscription to WHILE WE’RE YOUNG (Ideas) – before Dec. 31, 2022 by visiting HERE.

WORLD CUP: The hopes of the United States advancing in the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament came to an abrupt end Saturday, much to the 3-1 ear-slapping at the hands of The Netherlands. Although the FOX, USA-loving broadcast teams and studio commentators made excuses of “what an experience” and “too much youth,” stating, “we should be proud” cliches, and emphasizing on the incredibly un-professional use of the word “we,” the truth be told, the USA got their asses kicked.

Maybe some Kipling – from his Poem, “If” might fit the sitch:

“If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster.

And treat those two impostors just the same.”

See you in: (USA sites) – New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, Seattle, San Francisco/Bay Area, Los Angeles; Vancouver and Toronto for Canada and Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey for Mexico in the truly North American World Cup of 2026.

  • The Triumph* clip is NOT for office consumption and it dates back to a Conan show during the Rio World Cup.

WORLD CUP TID-BITS: Jennie Taft made the FOX and FOX Sports 1 studio shows work. Why, oh, why did they mover her to pitch-side reporter? … Has anyone ever seen NBA/ABA great Rick Barry at the same phone booth as former USA soccer player turned broadcaster Alexi Lalas? … Buried in the personal memory bank was a 1990 trip to London to see the likes of Tears for Fears, Elton John, Eric Clapton, a Genesisreunion with Tony Banks (piano), Mike Rutherford (guitar) and Phil Collins (drums, vocals) at Knebworth. The trip coincided with a World Cup quarterfinal win for England over Cameroon (3-2, on the 1st of July) and a (1-1) tie vs Germany which resulted in England losing 4-3 in the shoot-out on the 4th of July. England had several chances to win and a goal recalled for being off-sides to further the disappointment. The image embedded was a gentleman, sitting on the curb just outside an upscale pub near the JW Marriott Grosvenor House. He had his head in his hands for 10+ minutes, not moving a muscle otherwise. It was then, and only then, I could understand the meaning of World Cup soccer to the English, the Europeans and the world as a whole. Of course, I was thinking about MLB scores back home and the fact Pink Floyd headlined Knebworth, a notch above Paul McCartney and Wings. … Sadly, I think the excitement of the USA qualifying and advancing to the Round of 16 in this, the 2022 World Cup, will mean little to NOTHING for the MLS or television coverage for the sport of soccer in the USA. … FOX Sports commentators admitted to the lack of size, strength and depth for the USA team. Excuse the basketball reference, here, but the USA needs to develop a more “Jordan Rules” mentality and to utilize the Chuck Daly/Isiah Thomas invented strategy to bang, crack and hit anything that moved as it made its way in front of the rim (USA goal and especially the goal-keeper). I’m not talking about drawing yellow cards or penalties (allowing shots at point blank range), but I am very much aware of what the Detroit Pistons – via Bill Laimbeer, RickMahorn, Dennis Rodman and the rest of the “Bad Boys” – did to the mighty Chicago Bulls and its stars who took it to the rim. Additionally, the Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley did the same in the 1991-95 era of New York Knicks/NBA basketball. Riley convinced the Knicks that they were capable of winning and advancing in the playoffs if they played rough and tough. He convinced the likes of Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason and John Starks that they could win if they played very physical basketball. Team USA needs to hit the weight room or do some recruiting.

In closing, there’s one other important detail, call it another fact. The Netherlands was a better Futbol team. They out-played the USA, fair and square. In addition to The Netherlands, there are at least xx other teams better than the USA team and they include: Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Spain and Portugal, for sure. Add to the probably better teams of Switzerland, Poland, S. Korea, Japan, and Croatia. In other words, if you ranked the Round of 16, the USA was arguably 16th, maybe 15th or 14th.

While We’re Young (Ideas) – Nov 27

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TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook on Acronyms in Sports/TV

NEW YORK – Whether we like it or not, we’ve chosen to live in a world full of acronyms. As per usual, the sports industry leads the way. After all, the National Basketball Association is known worldwide as the NBA – except in The New York Times where it is the N.B.A.. The other major North American sports follow suit, as in the National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Baseball (MLB), all known globally.

At one point in time – ‘circa 1975-1980 – the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball attempted to market the sport as Baseball, but it never caught on with the masses because of the fact every player and fan knew of the major accomplishment of making it to the “Majors,” to the “Show.” Simultaneously, the popularity and value of minor league clubs was reason for MLB to create MiLB, the governing body and marketing arm for many of the minor leagues.

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The next level of sports organizations might challenge every fan with their numerous acronyms, especially in the world of golf and tennis. We’ll spot you a few:

  • PGA – (Professional Golfers’ Association)
  • PGA of America – Represents golf club professionals and hosts tournaments and hosts/organizes the annual PGA Championship.
  • USGA – (United States Golf Association) – The federation for golf in the United States; Reps golf courses, the rules of game, tracks golf handicaps to rate players and hosts the U.S. Open on annual basis.
  • PGA Tour – The league for men’s professional golfers
  • LIV Golf – Rival league to PGA Tour (54 vs 72 hole tournaments)
  • LPGA – The league for women’s professional golfers
  • USTA – (United States Tennis Association)
  • ATP – (Association of Tennis Professionals, also know as the men’s tennis tour)
  • WTA – (Women’s tennis tour)
  • MLS – (Major League Soccer)
  • NASL – (North American Soccer League)
  • PBR – (Pro Bull Riders)
  • NLL – (National Lacrosse League)
  • PLL – (Premier Lacrosse League)
  • WNBA – (Women’s National Basketball Association)
  • NWSL – (National Women’s Soccer League)
  • PHF – (Premier Hockey Federation) – Was launched as NWHL, as in National Women’s Hockey League
  • NCAA – (National Collegiate Athletic Association)
  • IOC – (International Olympic Committee)
  • USOC – now known as USOPC (United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee)

Within the Olympic and Paralympic Committee, we could go to the oomph degree with USATF (United States Track & Field) all the way to USAB (United States of America Basketball), formerly known as ABA/USA and other offshoots like the AAU (Amateur Athletic Association) or NWBA (National Wheelchair Basketball Association), and the NHSF (National Federation of State High School Associations).

Editor’s Note: If you dare, click on the previous NHSF link for a look at acronym hell.

On a Personal Note: Within the world of sports acronyms, this columnist would go out of his way to always write USA Basketball instead of taking the shortcut to USAB, which was born of shortening the title for subject lines within internal e-mails, quite the same as the World Championship of Basketball quickly became WCOB when the NBA league office was responsible for the staging of the 1994 Worlds in Toronto.

We’ll draw the line before mentioning Rugby, Cricket, eSports or a dozen others.

Outside of Sporting, the other industry guilty of the acronym wars is the broadcasting world. Again, let’s delve into just a few of the major network types:

First, there were three: ABC (American Broadcasting Company), CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System) and NBC (National Broadcasting Company). Soon to be added were PBS (Public Broadcasting System), FOX (named after 20th Century Fox) which followed the demise of the DuMont Network. In those days, if your television went beyond 13 channels of VHF (Very High Frequency), you were lucky to receive a few UHF (Ultra High Frequency) stations.

Boston Celtics TV ad, complete with (L to R) Dennis “DJ” Johnson, Danny Ainge, then Larry Bird, Robert “The Chief” Parish and Kevin McHale

Boston’s sports fans are familiar with the UHF channels as Boston Bruins games were broadcast on Channel 38 (WHMB/WXEL/WHIS/WSBK) and the Boston Celtics games were featured programming on Channel 56, Boston’s oldest UHF station which began as WTAO-TV and continues until today as a CW affiliate which eventually secured rights to both the Bruins and the Celtics. The history of that broadcasting network was a combination of CBS and Warner Brothers, along with UPN (United Paramount Network), not to be mistaken with UPI (United Press International) which competed with AP (Associated Press) which syndicated news to the whole mess listed above.

In Europe, you can watch CANAL+ or FR-1 in France, TVE or Cadena Cope in Spain, or maybe you’d prefer “tele basura” which translates to Trash TV.

To conclude, this week I watched GMA (Good Morning America) on ABC (American Broadcasting Corporation) while I checked to see if Sunday’s NFL (National Football League) schedule has games on CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System) or FOX (20th Century Fox, now owned by Rupert Murdock and his media empire, while I logged-in to the NYT (The New York Times) to double-check which game is on SNFonNBC (Sunday Night Football) and MNF (Monday Night Football) before I watched the SEC (Southeast Conference) Championship game to see who will compete in the CFP (College Football Playoffs) on NYE (New Year’s eve) as long as I pay my FIOS (Verizon’s Fiber Optic Service) bill and that will depend on whether a scored a NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deal for a client or if my investments did well on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) or NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) which surely will be chronicled by the WSJ (Wall Street Journal).

Whew!

NOW WHAT? With Michigan’s drubbing of No. 2-ranked Ohio State, there are two clear-cut leaders for the CFP Playoffs and two toss-ups. Let the arguing begin.

  1. Georgia
  2. Michigan
  3. TCU
  4. USC

The outside looking in are:

  1. Alabama
  2. Ohio St.
  3. Penn St.
  4. LSU

After that, it really doesn’t matter as Clemson lost at home to South Carolina (31-30).

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Aside from a ton of speculation on Rafa Devers and Xander Bogaerts, there’s been no official news from the Boston Red Sox aside from a Wednesday (Nov. 23) trade for infielder/outfielder Hoy Park from the Pittsburgh Pirates, in exchange for minor league left-handed pitcher Inmer Lobo. … Park, 26, played in 68 Major League games for the New York Yankees (2021) and Pirates (‘21-22).

Miguel Gurwitz, left, with TV partner Carlos Hermosillo

MUNDO CLASS: Telemundo’s Miguel Gurwitz might be the busiest man on earth this weekend and he’s halfway done. Gurwitz, who is anchoring all Telemundo’s World Cup coverage while calling some matches behind the legendary Andres Cantor, will take on a marathon of broadcasting only rivaled by the late, great Jerry Lewis on his Labor Day Telethon. Beginning Thursday, the native of Mexico and current Miami resident, the regular play-by-play voice for NBC Telemundo’s Sunday Night Football Games, was on-air for the better part of 18 hours on Thanksgiving Day.

Beginning at 11am, Gurwitz anchored all of Telemundo’s World Cup soccer coverage, and then as day turned into night, he switched from futbol to football, calling the SNF on NBC/Telemundo primetime game between the New England Patriots at Minnesota Vikings game. Gurwitz called the NFL game off broadcast monitors LIVE from Qatar to complete 18 hours of work.

Gurwitz was back at it for Friday and Saturday WC 2022 coverage, splitting studio and game commentary before he shoots for another futbol to football marathon today when he works four games from Qatar and repeats his NBC/Telemundo marathon with his play-by-play call of Green Bay at Philadelphia at 8:20pm ET.

Will Monday be a day of rest?

Nope … Gurwitz will be working four more World Cup games.

WORLD CUP of BS – Right before the matches began, tone deaf FIFA president Gianni Infantino served-up a media session that was hard to believe. Not only did he overlook Qatar’s human rights record of staggering hypocrisy and racism, he went on for 57-minutes reversing the tides of accusation towards western media claiming they were hypocrites due to their own past and current behavior. In a bizarre rant he said: “Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel [like] a migrant worker. Of course, I am not Qatari, I am not an Arab, I am not African, I am not gay, I am not disabled. But I feel like it, because I know what it means to be discriminated [against], to be bullied, as a foreigner in a foreign country.

“As a child I was bullied – because I had red hair and freckles, plus I was Italian, so imagine.”

C’Mon Man. Need a drink? Or a cold Nastro Azzurro?

Since World Cup’s opening eve, just imagine the many hooligans who’ve been experiencing the “DTs” by the 45:00 mark of each match as the ban against public drinking of beer and alcohol was determined the week leading up to competition. From what TV cameras are showing, the packed venues feature capacity crowds, emotional fans and strong competition out-weigh the B.S.. Upsets have included Japan over Germany and Saudi Arabia over Argentina. The headline Thursday was that Cristiano Ronaldo is the first men’s WC player to score in five World Cups. … The major dust-up seems to be the rising tensions and protests between Iranian women and authorities and supporters and chants of “The Islamic Republic of Iran.” … Iranian authorities have responded in the homeland with deadly force to suppress protests which erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini in September following her arrest for wearing a headscarf incorrectly.

RULES CHANGES: Understanding the long history of the sport and the fact you only need a field, two goals and a ball to play – meaning you do NOT even need lights or electricity – this will make the futbol hardline traditionalists cringe with pain, but here’s a basketball expert’s thoughts to improve World Cup soccer. Admittedly, because of the “beauty of the game” and the control factor, these will NEVER happen:

  1. Institute a 4:00 minute shot clock
  2. “Back court” violation … Once ball crosses into offensive half of the field, the team on offense can not cross ball backwards to the backfield, but instead force traps at midline.
  3. Put Official as the game clock operator and that’s official for all the world to see
  4. While not a fan of Penalty Kicks to decide outcomes, personally, I can live with Round of 16 rules-on, so no change.

FINAL HARD FOUR: It’s a “hard four,” as in 7-to-1 odds paid off. Yes, the Final Four basketball tournament – the final weekend of March Madness – will be played in Las Vegas for the first time in 2028. Like a Spring Break with velvet tables, Vegas is the ultimate destination for wagering on the NCAA tournament has long been a staple of March Madness. Massive changes in sports gambling laws opened the door for the NCAA to award the men’s national semifinals and championship game to Allegiant Stadium to conclude the 2027-28 season. In other words, the NCAA is ‘all-in.’

The NCAA also announced Ford Field in Detroit would host the Final Four in 2027, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis would get the 2029 event and AT&T Stadium in Dallas will stage the 2030 event.

NFL Desk: 49ers Defeat Cards, 38-10

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MEXICO CITY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Former New England reserve QB Jimmy Garoppolo tied a career high with four touchdown passes as the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Arizona Cardinals 38-10 Monday night in the NFL’s fourth regular season game in Mexico.

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The 49ers (6-4) won their third consecutive game to move into a tie with idle Seattle for first place in the NFC West.

Garoppolo completed 20 of 29 passes for 228 yards and threw two TD passes apiece to Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle. San Francisco’s other touchdown came on a 39-yard run by wide receiver Deebo Samuel.

The Cardinals (4-7) played without starting quarterback Kyler Murray for the second straight game because of a hamstring injury.

Veteran Colt McCoy, who guided Arizona to a victory against the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams last week, had no such luck at Estadio Azteca. McCoy was 24-of-34 passing for 218 yards with one interception. The Cardinals held a 3-0 lead after one quarter on a 40-yard field goal by Matt Prater before the 49ers got acclimated to the elevation change and the slippery turf from a downpour that began just before the opening kickoff. San Francisco outscored the Cardinals 31-7 over the next two quarters to pull away.

Garoppolo threw TD passes of 7 yards to Aiyuk and 39 yards to Kittle before Arizona scored its lone touchdown on a 2-yard run by James Conner. The 49ers’ Robbie Gould converted a 39-yard field goal with 43 seconds left in the half to make it 17-10. Samuel scored on an end-around on San Francisco’s opening drive of the second half, then Garoppolo threw two more scoring strikes, hitting Aiyuk from 13 yards and Kittle from 32, the latter early in the fourth quarter.

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Elijah Mitchell led the 49ers with 59 yards rushing on nine attempts. Christian McCaffrey added 39 yards on seven carries and made seven receptions for 67 yards, matching Samuel for the team lead in receptions.

Conner carried 14 times for 42 yards for the Cardinals. DeAndre Hopkins and Greg Dortch each had nine catches, racking up 91 and 103 yards, respectively.

It was a rematch of a 2005 contest at the same stadium that was the NFL’s first regular-season game played outside the United States.

–Field Level Media