Welcome all! Due to the holiday, this is a shortened Grab Bag. If you are familiar with my writing, it's a bit obvious! :) Lets dive in before we stuff ourselves on our holiday feasts!
College Football: Regular season almost done, and the playoff picture is coming into shape. Florida Gators get the upset for second week in a row by knocking off #9 Ole Miss, 24-17. In the battle of the undefeated teams, #2 Ohio State stuffed #5 Cinderella team, Indiana, 38-15. #6 Notre Dame vs #18 undefeated Army at Yankee Stadium in New York and the Fighting Irish took care of business, defeating Army 49-17. Upset of the day goes to the Oklahoma Sooners, who upset #7 Alabama, 24-3. With those losses, both Alabama and Ole Miss dropped out of the top 12, and will most likely miss the college playoff bracket. Majority of final games on Turkey weekend, lots of rivalry fames, including #2 Ohio State vs Michigan. California Golden Bears: It's the 127th Big Game as Stanford travels to Berkeley; Cal has won the Axe last four seasons and is needing a sixth win to become bowl eligible. Stanford took a 14-7 lead at halftime, but Cal QB Fernando Mendoza then led a 98 yard drive in the 4th quarter and Cal ends up retaining the Axe, and gaining bowl eligibility with a 24-21 win!
49ers: With major pieces of the team out due to injury (Puedy, Bosa, Williams, etc), the Niners came into Green Bay very short-handed, and the play on both sides of the ball showed! By the end of the first quarter, the 49ers had an NFL single game all season record of TEN missed tackles, and the offense only had one yard rushing, and zero first downs that got the Packers to a 17-0 lead. George Kittle did return, and had a nice TD catch, but that was all there was to write about on the positive side, with the Niners turning the ball over three times, and time of possession barely at 23 minutes, as the Niners lost to the Packers, 38-10, and are now dead last in the NFC West at 5-6, and a trip to Buffalo for Sunday Night football coming up. Update: Just learned that imho, our best defensive player, LB Fred Warner has been playing with an ankle fracture.
I have to throw in SOME joy in here, so here is Juice eye candy!
Other NFL games: Well, the New York Giants after paying QB Daniel Jones a large chunk of money to be their QB1, then starting the season 3-7, have RELEASED Jones, and is now a free agent that after Jones clears waivers, a team can add him to the their roster, and not pay him a single cent! A big black eye on the NY Giants front office team! UPDATE: the Minnesota Vikings have added Jones to their roaster as a back-up quarterback for Sam Darnold, and the vikings don't have to pay him one cent!
If you had the Steelers defeating the woeful Browns in Cleveland on your betting card, tear that card up, as the Browns upset Pittsburgh, 24-19. The Dallas Cowboys have found their defense, and with a special teams TD and decent offensive play, Dallas upset the the Washington Commanders, 27-26. Washington made it interesting, with an 86 yard TD with 31 seconds left, the the Commanders kicker MISSED THE EXTRA POINT, AGAIN! Then Washington muffed the onside kick, and Dallas recovered to make it 34-26!
Golden State Warriors: Dubs lost to the Spurs in San Antonio, 104-94. Then at Chase, the Dubs lost to the Brooklyn Nets, 120-114, for their first losing streak of the season. Steph Curry will NOT play against the Oklahoma City Thunder, as he is out with a knee sprain.
Locker Room Buzz: It's official, former SF Giants pitcher Blake Snell has signed with the LA Dodgers for a 5-year 182 million dollar deal. Snell becomes the first big name free agent to sign, so he got an early start! Snell has now played for three of the four national League West teams, San Diego being the other west coast team. Long-time SF Giants shortstop and fan favorite Brandon Crawford has announced his retirement from playing in the MLB. Giants fans wish him well, and also wonder will new GM and former teammate Buster Posey recruit Brandon to the Giants either as a coach or a front office position.
America's favorite nerdy pummel horse gymnast, Stephen Nedoroscik, came in 4th on the ABC hit reality show, "Dancing with the Stars". Stephen had never professionally danced before, so I big risk for him, and his final freestyle dance incorporated a lot of gymnastics moves. Hopefully iStephe's time on "Dancing" will inspire more kids to get involved in the sport, as many colleges are cutting their gymnastics programs.
That's it for this holiday week Grab Bag! May your turkey be well-seasoned, your stuffing moist, your mashed potatoes creamy and your holiday pleasant no matter how you spend it!
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