Happy Monday, Team SQ! Remember that time the New York Giants’ Odell Beckham Jr. made maybe one of the best catches ever on Sunday Night Football? Oh wait – that was last night. Seriously… wow, wow, we repeat, WOW.

 

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

NFL

So, about that NFC East showdown of a Sunday night game. The Dallas Cowboys defeated the New York Giants in a wild game 31-28 after a late Tony Romo touchdown to Dez Bryant. And while the Giants lost, as you saw in our video of the day, they’ll always have Odell Beckham’s unreal catch. So there’s that.

Talk about a wild weekend in the NFL. The New England Patriots dominated the Detroit Lions 34-9 to win their 7th straight. It was also the first game for the newest Patriot, LeGarrette Blount who was picked up by New England after being cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. The Cleveland Browns overcame offensive woes and defeated the Atlanta Falcons 26-24, the Philadelphia Eagles picked up the win against the Tennessee Titans 43-24, the San Francisco 49ers narrowly beat the Washington Redskins (in a game where RG3 started) 17-13, the Seattle Seahawks gave the Arizona Cardinals their second loss of the season with a 19-3 win, and the Denver Broncos rallied to beat the Miami Dolphins 39-36 at home. Also on Sunday, the Green Bay Packers defeated their rival the Minnesota Vikings 24-21 while the Indianapolis Colts took down the Jacksonville Jaguars 23-3 in a game that included T.Y. Hilton honoring the birth of his new baby girl with a touchdown. Oh and last Thursday, the Oakland Raiders got their first win of the season after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 24-20.

Early last week, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was suspended by Commissioner Roger Goodell for the remainder of the season without pay. USA Today’s Tom Pelissero released this interview with Peterson later in the week and on Sunday night, ESPN reported that Coach Mike Zimmer believes that Peterson will remain a part of the Vikings once he is reinstated back into the league.

Monday Night Football features two games this week. First, the Buffalo Bills will play the New York Jets at 7pm in Detroit after severe weather forced the game to be moved from Buffalo. The second game is a match-up between the Baltimore Ravens and the New Orleans Saints Monday night at 8:30pm in NOLA.

Finally, Thanksgiving Thursday offers three great games including: the Chicago Bears at the Detroit Lions at 12:30pm, the Philadelphia Eagles at the Dallas Cowboys at 4:30pm, and the Seattle Seahawks at the San Francisco 49ers at 8:30pm.

College Football

Moving on to college football land where there was much to discuss after an exciting weekend. #3 Florida State picked up another close victory and beat Boston College on a late field goal to remain undefeated. There was a little bit of controversy after FSU QB Jameis Winston made contact with an official but the ACC ruled that it was “incidental and insignificant.” In other top 10 news, #1 Alabama looked strong in a big win over Western Carolina 48-14, #2 Oregon cruised past Colorado 44-10 and #4 Mississippi State brushed last week’s loss off their shoulders and crushed Vanderbilt 51-0. #6 Ohio State got the win against Indiana 42-27, #7 Baylor moved past Oklahoma State 49-28 and Arkansas upset #8 Ole Miss 30-0.

Let’s talk rivalries. On Saturday, #9 UCLA held nothing back against #19 USC winning 38-20 while UNC took down Duke 45-20 on the road. Oh, and Harvard topped Yale in a 31-24 thriller to win the Ivy League title and remain undefeated for the season.

In all things great performances, Oklahoma true freshman Samaje Perine set a college football record for the most yards run in a game where he had five touchdowns and 427 yards.

So what does this all mean? The new weekly AP rankings are out but the college football playoff committee rankings are what counts. Currently, the Top 4 (remember the top 4 make the playoff) consists of Alabama then Oregon then Florida State then Mississippi State. New rankings will be out this week, but it is expected that the Top 4 should hold steady… for now.

Stay tuned for more great match-ups coming up in Week 14 as many rival teams  (Alabama-Auburn, Mississippi State-Ole Miss, Florida State-Florida, etc…) get ready to face off next weekend!

NBA

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost their 4th straight game on Saturday night against the Toronto Raptors 110-93 and they’re now sitting with a 5-7 record in the East. LeBron James said that “We’re a very fragile team right now” after the game led many to question what’s going on with the Cavs. Our view? It’s way too early to worry — they’re young and still developing as a team. It will take time for LBJ, Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving and Co. to learn how to play together… plus it’s only November. We think they’ll be just fine.

Speaking of the Toronto Raptors, the team from the 416 is standing out with the best record in the Eastern conference at 11-2. Out west, the the Memphis Grizzlies are in charge of the Western conference and have the league best record at 12-2. Yes, we know it’s early, but it’s still fun to see who’s on top of their game at the beginning of the season.

Commissioner Adam Silver announced a 24 game suspension for the Charlotte Hornets’ Jeff Taylor last Wednesday in response to a domestic violence case. The suspension will be without pay, and sources are reporting that Taylor will not appeal.

College Basketball

#4 Duke defeated Stanford on Saturday night in Brooklyn to win the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic 70-59. With senior leadership and strong play by a trio of impressive freshman (example: see Justise Winslow), Duke has looked good to start the season. Also impressive? #1 Kentucky, who looked particularly impressive on both the offensive and defensive end in a big win against #5 Kansas (72-40) last week and a win against Montana State 86-28 this weekend. Would they beat an NBA team? That might be going a little too far… but we wouldn’t complain if that game magically happened.

It wasn’t the best week/weekend for the reigning champ University of Connecticut basketball teams. The #1 women’s team ended their 47 game winning streak after falling to #6 Stanford last week (although they picked up a win against Creighton 96-60 this weekend) while the #17 UConn men’s team was upset by West Virginia 78-68 in Puerto Rico. It’s worth noting that UConn had banned 4 players before the game.

The College Basketball Hall of Fame welcomed the newest members on Sunday. The 2014 class features: Grant Hill, Shaquille O’Neal, Dale Brown, Darrell Griffith, Gary Williams, Glenn Wilkes Sr., Howard Garfinkel and Zelmo Beaty. Congrats guys!

There’s also plenty of hoops to watch during Thanksgiving week. Stay tuned for plenty of good match-ups including the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament which kicks off on Wednesday!

Hockey

Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers defeated the league’s best Montreal Canadiens 5-0 on Sunday night. It was a big win for the Rangers who will look to build on that momentum.

Team USA hero and St. Louis Blues’ forward TJ Oshie spoke to ESPN about his father’s diagnosis with early-onset Alzheimer’s and how his family has been getting through it together. Oshie opened up about his family’s struggle with the diagnosis and how they are coping by trying to remain as positive as they can.

Pascal Dupuis of the Pittsburgh Penguins will miss at least 6 months after being diagnosed with a blood clot in one of his lungs. He will undergo treatment and is in stable condition.

The NHL filed a motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit led by former players revolving around concussions.

Baseball

It may be the off-season but baseball has still given us plenty to talk about. The Miami Marlins signed Giancarlo Stanton to a 13 year, $325 million dollar deal — the biggest contract in league history last week. Out in Chicago, the White Sox are prepared to sign a 2 year deal with Adam LaRoche for $25 million. Other big free agency news within the MLB includes a rumored deal between the Boston Red Sox and Hanley Ramirez for $90 million over 5 years, and then wherever Pablo Sandoval chooses to go.

Baseball owners unanimously approved a 5 year term for new incoming commissioner Rob Manfred. Manfred will succeed Commissioner Bud Selig who is set to retire  sometime early next year.

UCLA retired the number 42 for all teams in honor of Jackie Robinson on Saturday as part of a the 75th anniversary of his arrival at the University.

Oh yeah in the world of sports, politics and pop culture, President Obama and newly retired New York Yankee Derek Jeter played a round of golf on Saturday.

Other

Lionel Messi is officially La Liga’s all-time leading goal scorer. Messi earned the record after a hat trick performance for his Barcelona squad and now owns 368 goals in his senior club career.

Manny Pacquiao claimed the World Boxing Organization welterweight championship belt after getting the unanimous win against Chris Algieri on Sunday night at the Venetian Macao.

Let’s talk tennis and how Switzerland is the new Davis Cup champ. The victory came after Roger Federer picked up a win against Richard Gasquet to help lead the Swiss to the title on Sunday.

In the world of F1 racing, Lewis Hamilton won the drivers’ World Championship in Abu Dhabi to pick up his second title since 2008.

JUST FOR FUN

Not your average College Game Day
The funniest signs from the Harvard/Yale game

 

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Jason Collins
Wishing him the best as he retires from the NBA
As the first active out gay player in men’s professional sports, he inspired other players to be comfortable in their own skins

Unnatural Phenomenon
The evolution of an MIT football team
How the engineers (finally) created a winning football team – they went undefeated this season, and are headed to the NCAA Division III playoffs

Center Stage
Return of the Big Man
Get to know some of the best up and coming big men in the game of basketball

By hook or by crook… or by snowmobile
Even though the game was held in Detroit, the Buffalo Bills were playing for the Buffalo community
After digging themselves out of a monster snowstorm, the Bills fight back in order to hang onto their post-season hopes

Hello Melo
What’s hoops got to do with it?
Talking basketball and business with the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony

Weirdness
The English Premier League chaos
What the heck is going on with this season?

The NFL Concussion Settlement
Any objections?
The settlement might be just as misleading as the information the NFL originally provided to players regarding concussions