Good Morning! What do we love more than college football? Human interest stories about college football. Check out this great one about UGA star Malcolm Mitchell!

Also, remember that time that we told you we were going to talk Fantasy Football? Be sure to check out our guest post on how to get into the fantasy football conversation, written by Bruce Shalett!

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

Baseball

After 20 years in the Major Leagues, Derek Jeter is officially retired. The New York Yankee finished his iconic career against none other than the Boston Red Sox. In his last game, Jeter made his 3,465th hit on a infield single. It’s hard to believe that ride is over… baseball will surely remember him as one of the best.

The Washington Nationals had quite the Sunday Funday as Jordan Zimmermann pitched a no-hitter against the Miami Marlins. It was the first career no-hitter for Zimmermann and another nice game for the surging Nats. Seriously, it’s time to turn up the Natitude, this Washington squad has one of the best records in baseball. Watch out October.

Wait, what about October? Well, it’s an important month for baseball, as it marks the start of the playoffs! And what’s more fun than playoffs? Nothing. So what do you need to know? Okay, so the Baltimore Orioles (AL East), Detroit Tigers (AL Central), LA Angels (AL West), Washington Nationals (NL East), St. Louis Cardinals (NL Central), and the LA Dodgers (NL West) have all clinched their divisions. On Tuesday, September 30th, the Oakland A’s will face off against the Kansas City Royals for the AL Wild Card spot while the San Francisco Giants will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday, October 1st for the NL Wild Card Spot. Bring it on!

 

NFL

There were quite a few excellent games on football Sunday. The San Francisco 49ers rebounded from two consecutive bad weeks and handed the Philadelphia Eagles their first loss while the Tampa Bay Bucs shocked the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road. Aaron Rodgers threw 4 touchdowns (and a lot of fantasy points) as the Green Bay Packers defeated the Chicago Bears on their home turf. The Baltimore Ravens destroyed the Carolina Panthers badly with the help of Steve Smith, who vowed to bring it to his old team. Oh and the Minnesota Vikings got a big win over the Atlanta Falcons but lost rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to an ankle injury.

In all things NFC East, last Thursday the New York Giants crushed the Washington Redskins in a game where Eli Manning had a much needed big performance with 4 touchdowns. On Sunday night, the Dallas Cowboys beat the New Orleans Saints pretty convincingly. Basically, the NFC East remains interesting.

In off the field news, Commissioner Roger Goodell and Troy Vincent (NFL exec) met with the Texas Longhorns’ coach Charlie Strong to talk about his new “core values” program. Strong has gotten a lot of attention for his policy that has resulted in players being kicked off his team for not living up to his program standards. It’s unclear if the meeting touched on any other subjects.

Monday Night Football features an intriguing match-up between the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs. Check it out tomorrow night!

 

College Football

Moving on to college football, let’s talk about some of the exciting games from this past weekend. Kenny Hill led his Texas A&M squad over Arkansas in a great overtime match-up that was tight down the stretch. Oh and Johnny Manziel was at the game. That’s right Kenny Trill and Johnny Football in the same house, gotta love it. Also, Jameis Winston and Florida State rallied back to defeat N.C. State to keep their undefeated record and number one ranking alive.

As for this weekend’s big upset, that belongs to South Carolina who lost to Missouri in a surprising 21-20 defeat. Oh and it wasn’t an upset, but Michigan lost again… this time to Minnesota. However, Coach Brady Hoke assures that his team can win a championship title.

To update you on your rankings, there wasn’t too much movement this week. The top 5 still belongs to Florida State, Oregon, Alabama, Oklahoma and Auburn in that order.

NBA

Uh-oh spaghetti-os, Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo has a broken hand. Unfortunately, after suffering a fall, Rondo will likely be out 6-8 weeks and the first part of the season.

Phil Jackson says the New York Knicks are ready to win! Okay, what he actually said is that he believe the Knicks will make the playoffs. They did resign Carmelo Anthony and they do have a new coach in Derek Fisher, but time will tell if the Knicks can rise to the top this season.

What else happened last week? Oh yeah, the Phoenix Suns went all in and have resigned Eric Bledsoe to a 5 year, $70 million dollar contract. Whoa!

The USA women continue to dominate the FIBA World Championship. With the help of Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore, Team USA remained undefeated, won group D and defeated the Serbian National Team on Sunday. Onward!

Other

The United States lost to Europe as this year’s Ryder Cup came to a close. The American team members weren’t very happy, namely Phil Mickelson. He called to question team leadership and strategy…will this lead to some changes?

Tony Stewart will not face any charges in the death of Kevin Ward Jr. The Grand Jury announced their decision last week and Stewart returned to the track this week, where he finished 14th at the Dover race. Jeff Gordon on the other hand, was the big winner at Dover.

JUST FOR FUN

Stay out of the kitchen
Athletes who should have just stuck to sports 

 

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

End of the Road
Thank you Derek Jeter
The Yankees star says goodbye with the grandest of plays

It’s getting bigger
College football margins of victory are growing
As teams are allowed to pick their own opponents, some of them are picking pushovers

The Raptor
Kyle Lowry finds his team
Sometimes taking the road less traveled leads to great things

Success >>> Sleep
Fireside chatting with Kobe and Arianna
Just a casual conversation between Kobe Bryant and Arianna Huffington

Deferential treatment
It’s Kyrie Irving’s time to shine, and LeBron isn’t going to get in his way
LBJ wants Kyrie to take over the court

Check your priorities, FIFA
The ladies are about to get real with you… on the grounds that they want their grass back
The Women’s World Cup is set to be played on turf (even though the Men’s World Cup was played on grass), and so the women are planning on suing FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association in a Canada court next week

Transcending Borders
Nike’s new advertisement reminds us that basketball is a global sport
It shows us how much basketball truly matters in the Philippines