Happy Monday, Team SQ!  Seeing how it’s almost time to welcome you all back to the wonderful world of college hoops (that’s right, the season is fast approaching – exhibition games begin this week), let’s warm up with this video of some awesome dunks from Duke’s Countdown 2 Craziness event from over the weekend. Yes it’s true, we are Duke fans, but the real point is that college basketball is almost back. BOOM.

 

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

Baseball

It’s been quite the World Series so far as the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants battled every game. Heading into Game 5 things were all tied up, but on Sunday night the Giants got the win 5-0 in San Francisco with the help of their pitcher, Madison Bumgarner. So heading back to Kansas City, the Giants lead the series 3-2…what will happen next? Will the Giants close? Will the Royals bounce back? You better watch and find out!

Looking ahead, Game 6 will take place on Tuesday night in Kansas City at 8:07pm on FOX. Game 7, if it’s necessary, will take place on Wednesday, same place, same time, same channel. Remember, the winner will be the first team to win 4 games in the best-of-7 series. Make sure you tune in to find out who will claim the elusive World Series Champions title!

In off the field news, it saddens us to report that right fielder Oscar Taveras of the St. Louis Cardinals was killed in a car crash this weekend in the Dominican Republic. Our thoughts are with his family.

NFL

Oh hello there, week 8. Let’s start with the Denver Broncos who looked great in a big Thursday night 35-21 win against the San Diego Chargers. Of note, Emmanuel Sanders had 3 touchdowns in his debut for Denver. On Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Carolina Panthers after Russell Wilson threw a late touchdown (there were 47 seconds left) to Luke Willson to get the win, the Detroit Lions came back from 21 down to defeat the Atlanta Falcons on the road 22-21, and the Buffalo Bills crushed the New York Jets, who benched quarterback Geno Smith in the first quarter and put in Michael Vick, 43-23. Oh yeah, and can you say oh Brady!?!? That’s right, led by Tom Brady’s 5 touchdowns, the New England Patriots defeated the Chicago Bears 51-23 at home. In other touchdown news, Ben Roethlisberger threw for 6 TDs (and an NFL record) as his Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Indianapolis Colts 51-34. On Sunday Night Football, the New Orleans Saints got a must win against the Green Bay Packers 44-23 at home in a game where Aaron Rodgers had 2 interceptions.

In other NFL news, there is a report that next season, the NFL is going to increase the number of annual games held in London to 5, and after a ruling from an arbitrator, Commissioner Roger Goodell must testify in a hearing regarding the Ray Rice case.

Monday Night Football is all about the NFC East as the Dallas Cowboys look to continue their strong start as they take on the Washington Redskins in a home game. Kickoff tonight is at 8:30pm on ESPN.

College Football

So, week 9 of college football season surely didn’t disappoint. We saw #1 Mississippi State defeat Kentucky 45-31, #4 Alabama (now #3) defeat Tennessee 34-20 and #5 Auburn (now #4) get the win over South Carolina 42-35 in all things SEC. However, the big surprise of the weekend belongs to former undefeated #3 Ole Miss (now #7) who fell to #24 LSU (now #16) 42-35 in a big upset. Outside of the SEC and top 5 ranking land, #8 Michigan State crushed in-state rival Michigan 35-11 where this happened, and #13 Ohio State beat Penn State 31-24 in double overtime.

What does this mean in terms of rankings? Well, there was a bit of a shake-up. The new AP Top 10 order goes as follows: Mississippi State (undefeated), Florida State (also undefeated), Alabama, Auburn, Oregon, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Michigan State and Georgia. It’s still a little early to talk post-season but keep paying attention — sooner or later it will matter.

Oh, and keep week 10 on your radar. There’s a big match-up between #7 Ole Miss and #4 Alabama next Saturday.

NBA

Injuries really are the worst. This past week, the LA Lakers announced that Steve Nash will miss the entire 2014-2015 season due to a back issue. He’s one of the all-time greats and here’s to hoping he comes back healthy next season. In other injury news, Oklahoma City Thunder will be without Anthony Morrow for 4-6 weeks as he recovers from a left MCL sprain and the Orlando Magic will have to wait roughly 4 weeks to get Victor Oladipo back on the court after he suffered a facial fracture. Reminder: it’s still preseason.

Out in LA, it’s been an interesting preseason for the Lakeshow (AKA the Lakers). Besides the disappointing Nash news, there’s been a lot of talk about Kobe Bryant, father time and what he means to the team… not exactly in the most complimentary way. What did Lakers’ President Jeanie Buss have to say about the matter? In a interview with Sportscenter: “Any free agent that would be afraid to play with Kobe Bryant is probably a loser, and I’m glad they wouldn’t come to the team.” Okay then.

In off the court news, it’s worth noting that Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Seahawks’ billionaire owner Paul Allen donated around $100 million to help combat the Ebola outbreak. Allen is one of the co-founders of Microsoft.

Other

After the tragic shooting and death of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at Parliament Hill in Canada, the Ottawa Senators honored Cp. Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, who tragically died in a hit-and-run attack in Montreal, in a pre-game ceremony and vigil during their game against the New Jersey Devils. May they both rest in peace. This was Ottawa’s first home hockey game since last Wednesday.

We do love futbol so let’s talk about El Clasico! Although there were arguably many winners and losers from the match-up, the real winner was Real Madrid, who rallied back to defeat Barcelona 3-1. But really, look at the big names who were part of this game: Ronaldo, Messi, Suarez, Benzema, Neymar, JRodriguez, Alves, Marcelo, Isco, Iniesta and more. Wowza.

This Sunday’s match between Manchester United and Chelsea ended in a draw. Something to take note of — Chelsea’s Didier Drogba scored a goal off of Robin van Persie’s head in the 53rd minute. Man U tied up the score in the 94th minute.

Don’t call it a comeback, but in a way Serena Williams did just that. The SQ favorite and tennis star defeated Simona Halep (to whom she had a rough loss in the group-stage earlier in the week) in 2 sets to win her 3rd straight WTA Finals title. Oh yeah, and it was her fifth overall WTA Finals title. Talk about a living legend.

Finally, moving on to this complicated UNC stuff. Former federal prosecutor Kenneth Wainstein concluded his report and published his findings on the accusations that there has been a scandal involving fake classes and grade inflation at the University of North Carolina for the past 20 years. The report is extensive and pretty serious, so it will be interesting to see how the NCAA responds.

 

JUST FOR FUN

Bringing back the chalk toss?
Social media votes will decide whether or not LBJ’s pre-game chalk toss will return

 

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

No More
The “NFL Anthem” campaign that aired during Thursday Night Football
Developed by actress Mariska Hargitay and the Joyful Heart Foundation, the commercial features NFL players saying no more to violence against women and children

Who do you love?
Part One and Part Two
Grantland’s Annual NBA League Pass Rankings shed some light on who to watch

More than just your average pre-med
Tyler Varga, the star of the Yale football team
He attributes his success to the discipline his parents (both bodybuilders) taught him, but he’s also got a ton of talent

Happy Feet
Talk about a trick shot
Tottenham forward Erik Lamela kicked what’s called a “rabona shot” straight into the goal, and it looks awesome

Steve Nash
The man, the myth, the legend
A disappointing end to the 2014/15 season, and perhaps the end of his career

What’s your point?
Questioning the NCAA has become quite the trend
Where are the NCAA rules and regulations headed in the future? Will the organization modernize with the times?