Whether it’s first grade or senior year in college, September brings excitement and anticipation as students return to school. With Labor Day BBQs and sales now over, it’s time to focus on America’s pastime – football – both college and professional.

College Football

The spotlight was on college football this weekend and boy did it deliver with:

The greatest opener of all time saw #1 Alabama and #3 Florida State meet in the brand new Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Alabama pulled away in the second half and cruised to 24-7 victory. FSU lost more than the game when starting QB Deondre Francois suffered a season-ending knee injury in the fourth quarter.

Source: ABC News

Tyler Perry and Lil Jon aren’t the only ones feeling at home in the ATL, ‘Bama fans plan to play in Atlanta two more times this season: the SEC Championship in December and the National Championship in January.

The biggest upset of all-time. Howard beat UNLV 43-40 on Saturday. OK, so? Howard was a 45-point underdog and pulled off the biggest upset in college football history. Adding to the insult, UNLV paid Howard $600K for the experience.

If you thought of making it rich betting on the game, offshore books had Howard as a 600-1 underdog.

The second largest comeback of all time. Down 44-10 to Texas A&M in the third quarter, UCLA scored 35 unanswered points and the party was on in LA. Josh Rosen led the comeback with four touchdowns and nearly 500 yards passing. No word if Rosen was spotted in class since Sunday’s game. Recall that he said that college football and school don’t go together.

And a cool story…#4 USC didn’t look great but defeated an unranked Western Michigan team. ore importantly, USC played a long snapper who’s been blind since he was 12.

National Football League (NFL)

The NFL season begins Thursday, September 7th with the defending champion New England Patriots hosting a good Kansas City Chiefs team. Tom Brady and the Patriots are a favorite to win the Super Bowl, which would be his record sixth title.

Source: NY Daily News

Sunday brings a full slate of NFL games including the New York Giants at the Dallas Cowboys, who’s star running back, Ezekiel Elliot, was suspended six games for alleged domestic violence incidents.

Source: Houston Chronicle

Turning defense into offense…The NFL’s top defensive player, Houston Texans J.J. Watt, is on the offensive for Hurricane Harvey relief. In just one week Watt has raised over $17 million to aid fellow Houston residents.

Major League Baseball

The Harvey-displaced Houston Astros gave fans some cheer when they acquired stud pitcher and former MVP Justin Verlander for the playoffs. Maybe he and fiancée Kate Upton can bring smiles to Houstonians on and off the field.

Forget North Korea, Washington Nationals fans’ hearts dropped as ace pitcher Max Sherzer was taken out of the game last week with an injury. Their other mega-star, Bryce Harper, is hoping to return from injury in time for the playoffs.

Hard ball…Miami Marlins slugger and MVP candidate Giancarlo Stanton continues to flex his muscles, hitting his league-leaguing 53rd home run Monday. He hit the ball so hard he dented a camera.

Tennis

The US Open entered its second week of action with the Men’s and Women’s draws approaching the quarterfinals.

The two best Men’s players of this generation, and possibly all time, Roger

Federer and Rafael Nadal, are one win away from a semifinal matchup, which amazingly would be their first ever meeting at the US Open.

Source: Herald Sun

The Men’s Finals are scheduled for Sunday afternoon and the Women’s Saturday.

We end with a peek into the future – a possible 2037 US Open Finals preview. Last week tennis greats Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic added baby girls to their families and speculation has already begun as to who will pick up a racket first.

 

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