Hurricane Matthew pounded the Caribbean and the East Coast leaving plenty of damage in its wake. The verbal storms continued in St. Louis as Hillary and Donald kept throwing blows.
The sports world had its own share of storms this week, too.
National Football League (NFL)
Pro football ended its Week 5 Monday with a single king of the hill and several teams nipping at their heels.
The Minnesota Vikings (5-0) are taking the league by storm as the NFL’s last undefeated team after they dismantled the Houston Texans 31-13. The formerly unbeaten Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles both lost on Sunday, ceding bragging rights to the Vikings.
No rust here…After serving a four-game suspension for Deflategate, Tom Brady returned to the New England Patriots and took out his frustration on the Cleveland Browns, 33-13, throwing for 406 yards and three touchdowns.
The Washington Redskins were winners on and off the field. The squad beat the Baltimore Ravens Sunday, and owner Daniel Snyder made news by sending his players Pierre Garcon and Ricky Jean Francois, both of Haitian descent, to Haiti with medical supplies to help storm relief efforts.
In their final appearance wearing the hideous 1930’s-era bumblebee throwback uniforms, the Pittsburgh Steelers easily handled the downward-spiraling New York Jets 31-13.
In case you were preoccupied…Sunday night’s national NFL contest looked like a game of checkers compared to the Presidential Debate. The Green Bay Packers did just enough to beat the New York Giants, 23-16.
College Football
Happy faces on college campuses as the top-five teams looked strong this past weekend.
- #1 Alabama, #2 Ohio State and #3 Clemson all rolled to easy victories on Saturday
- Storming the steakhouse…In a show of team spirit, the Ann Arbor Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse offered a discount equal to the point difference in the game between #4 Michigan and Rutgers. Michigan won 78-0. Woops. Good thing they capped the discount at 50%. Needless to say, the restaurant was booked. #GoBlue
- 70 is the new 50. #5 Washington joined Michigan in the impressive 70-point-scored club dropping Oregon 70-21 in Eugene
Hooyah…Navy beat #6 Houston 46-40 for its biggest win since 1984, when Prince’s “When Doves Cry” topped the charts. Acting like college kids, the nation’s future military leaders enjoyed the victory by storming the field.
In a thrilling ending, and after almost giving the game away, #8 Texas A&M needed double-overtime to beat previously undefeated #9 Tennessee. College Station was rocking Saturday night but the Aggies shouldn’t get complacent as they travel to #1 Alabama after a week off.
In a painful ending for Miami fans, #23 Florida State edged the #10 Miami Hurricanes (yes, that’s their team name) 20-19 on a missed extra point by a kicker that hadn’t botched one in 72 attempts.
As a result of Matthew, LSU versus #18 Florida was postponed. Disappointed coeds in Gainesville, what some call the best college town in America, have to wait a few weeks for the game to be made up.
South Carolina fans wish their home game versus Georgia could have been postponed a few weeks too as they lost 28-14 in a game delayed just one day due to the storm.
Major League Baseball (MLB)
A tale of two leagues…break out the brooms as American League teams swept their best-of-five series, while the National League teams are in a battle.
American League Division Series
- The Toronto Blue Jays swept the Texas Rangers in dramatic fashion Sunday. Last year’s MVP, Toronto’s Josh Donaldson, scored from second base on an errant throw in the 10th inning to give the Jays the 7-6 win and series victory. Seen this movie before? The Blue Jays eliminated the Rangers last year as well
- If your Boston friends seem sad today it may be because three-time World Series champion and Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz, aka Big Papi, played his last game Monday when the Sox were swept by the Cleveland Indians. Your friends weren’t alone; Papi was choked up himself
Familiar foes. Toronto and Cleveland face off for a World Series berth starting Friday. These same two cities’ NBA teams went at it in the Eastern Conference Finals in June.
National League Division Series
- In the game of the playoffs thus far, the San Francisco Giants, winners of the of the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014 showed their championship moxie and stayed alive beating the Chicago Cubs 6-5 in 13 innings. Facing elimination, the Giants scored three runs in the eighth inning to take the lead only to give it up in the ninth but eventually won the game in the 13th The series continues Tuesday night in San Francisco.
- The Washington Nationals traveled west and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-3 Monday to take a 2-1 series lead. They can close out the series Tuesday in LA.
The National League Division series winners square off Saturday
National Hockey League (NHL)
For all the hockey fans out there, including all of Canada, the NHL regular season starts Wednesday and goes until April 9.
Remember at TINK Sports we watch the games so you don’t have to.
See you next time…
Recent Comments