Happy Tuesday, and welcome back to The SportsQuip. Let’s start this week off right with… some hockey pre-game lights! Wait, what? Really, it’s super cool — so enjoy watching all of the flashing lights (lights lights lights) with the Chicago Blackhawks!!!

 

 

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

Baseball

The American League Championship has been quite the show so far and we couldn’t be more excited for Game 3 tonight. Rescheduled from Monday (rain, rain go away!), the Kansas City Royals will take on the Baltimore Orioles at 8:07 EST. Both of the first two games were great and the Royals currently lead the series 2-0. Do the Royals have what it takes to win the next two games and close out the series? Or, will the Orioles fight back and use momentum to get to the World Series? Don’t miss the action tonight!

In the National League Championship, we’ve got ourselves a series tied at 1-1 between familiar baseball powerhouses, the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants. Both have won World Series rings in the recent years and are ready to return. Game 3 is set for tonight at 4:07pm EST. Who will win this best-of-7 series? We shall see!

To recap, both of these series are best-of-7, and the winners of each series will advance to the World Series. Both Game 3s take place tonight (Tuesday) while both Game 4s are set for Wednesday at opposite times, respectively. Gotta love October baseball!

College Football

So, Week 7 was fun. We saw a great match-up between #1 Mississippi State (then #3) and #6 Auburn (then #2) that Mississippi State would go onto win 38-23 and a insanely close game between #4 Baylor (then #5) and #12 TCU (then #9) that Baylor rallied to win 61-58 (no really you read that right, 61-58). #7 Alabama (then #7) narrowly defeated Arkansas 14-13 in a controversial game while #3 Ole Miss (then #3) defeated #21 Texas A&M (then #14) 35-20 in a record sell-out for the Aggies.

Leap frog, you’re it! Okay maybe not, but Mississippi State did just leap past Florida State for the Number 1 ranking. The rest of the top 5 includes: Mississippi State, Florida State, Ole Miss, Baylor and Notre Dame.

Off the field, there are a couple stories to discuss. First, Heisman candidate Todd Gurley was indefinitely suspended from the Georgia Bulldogs team for an alleged NCAA violation involving autographs and money. Second, Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston will appear in a hearing reviewing whether he violated the school’s student conduct code and policy in 2012. Both of these are sensitive issues and the cases are both still developing.

NFL

Let’s talk Monday Night Football… on a Tuesday! That’s new for us! Okay, so what happened? The San Francisco 49ers defeated the St. Louis Rams 31-17.

Alright now let’s jump backwards and talk about Sunday. We saw the Denver Broncos look strong in a win over the New York Jets 31-17, the Dallas Cowboys improving to 5-1 with a big win over the Seattle Seahawks, and the Carolina Panthers and the Cincinnati Bengals end their game with a rare 37-37 tie. Oh yeah, and Joe Flacco had 5 touchdowns (the first 4 in record time), as his Baltimore Ravens beat the Tampa Bay Bucs 48-17.

The New York Giants suffered an ugly loss (and their first shut-out in 18 years) to the Philadelphia Eagles 27-0 on Sunday evening. But, to make matters even worse, they lost their best wide receiver Victor Cruz to a torn patellar tendon. Losses clearly stink, but most of all we feel for Cruz and wish him a smooth recovery. He will be missed this year.

Check out Thursday Night Football’s match-up between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

NBA

Get well, Kevin Durant. The 2014 MVP suffered a Jones Fracture and will be out recovering for the next 6-8 weeks. This will be new territory for the Oklahoma City Thunder who have never really not had Kevin Durant on the court. It will be interesting to see how they adapt as the season begins… and for at least the next 8 weeks, it will really be Russell Westbrook’s team.

In other injury news, Bradley Beal, a young rising star on the Washington Wizards squad, will be out for roughly 2 months as he recovers from a left wrist fracture.

So, what else is on our minds as basketball season approaches? The LeBron James Cavs/Heat reunion, Phil Jackson’s zen mind tricks for the New York Knicks, and this awesome assist from Damian Lillard — he helped a fan propose!

Other

In all things tennis, Roger Federer won the Shanghai Masters and propelled himself to #2 in the rankings. Will he reach #1? Mathematically, it’s quite possible… let’s see what happens on the court!

And the winner of the men’s and women’s Chicago Marathon is… Eliud Kipchoge and Rita Jeptoo of Kenya. Congrats!

JUST FOR FUN

Flower Power
Coach Bill Self wears a suit that’s scarily similar to Andrew Wiggins’ NBA Draft outfit… and nails it!

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Redefining the term “justice”
Is the relationship between Florida State athletics and Tallahassee law enforcement too close for comfort?
Florida State players are treated like celebrities, and the football team pumps a ton of money into the economy — but, does this love cloud the city’s judgment when it comes to investigate crimes?

How much do you love your sports reporters?
“What does sports journalism look like if athletes decide that reporters are dispensable?”
Will the push for athletes to publish their own content edge out sports reporting?

Evolving with the times
Golf is encountering a millennial problem
Gen Y just isn’t interested — how can advertisers, brands, and the PGA combat decreasing interest in the sport?

Make sure to keep your eyes peeled
Hockey has (finally) started…
A look at the developing stories, the headlines to pay attention to, and the rising and falling stars of the NHL

Bringing home the gold
Check out Simone Biles’ successes at the gymnastics world championships
She topped Shannon Miller’s career record of five gold medals at the event

Bob Ryan
Sports writing that grabbed you and pulled you in
A man whose relationship with both the NBA and his readers was based on enthusiastic interactions

Cheering on the Cavs
Take a look at them this season — are they destined for the championship?
Look at who they’ve got… and then look at who everyone else has