Good morning! Today is October 21st and for the first time in 32 years, the Blue Jays are going to the World Series. In the NBA, Dyson Daniels and Christian Braun just signed a combined $225 million in extensions, impressive numbers for two players some fans couldn’t pick out of a lineup. The Titans were so rough that Tyler Lockett decided he’d seen enough, Dre Greenlaw earned himself a suspension for chasing down a ref, and Brandon Graham’s back in Philly to try to fix a defense that’s running on fumes. The Rockets unveiled a starting five that’s so tall they may need FAA clearance, and the U.S. is teaming up with Mexico, Jamaica, and Costa Rica in a bid to host the 2031 Women’s World Cup.
We have Lighting the Lamp giving you a quick rundown of the past weekend in Hockey and Week 8 of the Hook & Ladder breaking down Miami’s Loss, Ole Miss/Georgia and the Holy War.
The Game Plan:
The Must Knows
NFL
Oakland Police confirmed former All-Pro running back Doug Martin died in police custody following his involvement in a break-in and became unresponsive after a brief struggle with officers.
Broncos LB Dre Greenlaw was suspended one game without pay for unsportsmanlike conduct after he chased down and verbally threatened referee Brad Allen following Sunday’s win over the Giants.
Veteran wide receiver Tyler Lockett has been released by the Titans after requesting it. The 33-year-old joined Tennessee in April after spending his entire career in Seattle and had just 10 catches for 70 yards this season.
Two-time Super Bowl champion Brandon Graham came out of retirement as the Eagles finalized a deal to bring back their franchise leader in games played, aiming to boost a defense with just 11 sacks this season.
MLB
The Blue Jays beat the Mariners 4-3 to punch their ticket to the World Series for the first time since 1993.
Albert Pujols is out of the running to be the Angels’ next manager after contract talks fell through. The future Hall of Famer remains a candidate for the Orioles and Padres jobs.
NBA
All-Defensive guard Dyson Daniels agreed to a four-year, $100 million extension with the Hawks after a breakout season where he won Most Improved Player, finished second for Defensive Player of the Year, and tallied 229 steals, the most since 1995.
Nuggets guard Christian Braun agreed to a five-year, $125 million extension after averaging 15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, and shooting 58% from the field as a full-time starter last season.
Rockets coach Ime Udoka unveiled a massive opening night lineup with Durant, Thompson, Smith, Sengun, and Adams, making it the tallest starting five in NBA history.
Women’s World Cup
The U.S. will lead a joint bid with Mexico, Jamaica, and Costa Rica to host the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The U.S. is expected to host most of the matches, and FIFA is set to officially award the tournament at its Congress on April 30 in Vancouver.
NBA Basketball
It’s Back! 0 Days Until Tipoff
Today's NBA Games:
MLB Baseball
Yesterday's MLB Recap:
SEATTLE MARINERS 3 @ 4 TORONTO BLUE JAYS
In a dramatic turnaround, George Springer's three-run homer in the seventh inning propelled the Blue Jays to a 4-3 victory over the Mariners, clinching their first American League pennant since 1993 and sending them to the World Series.
George Kirby (SEA): 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 K, 1 BB
Shane Bieber (TOR): 3.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 5 K, 1 BB
George Springer (TOR): 1 H, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Game 1 of the World Series is Friday, October 24th
LA Dodgers @ Toronto Blue Jays
NHL Hockey
Lighting the Lamp: When Will They Lose? and October Blues
By: Jacob Rothenberg
When Will They Lose?
The Carolina Hurricanes are still undefeated, and the Colorado Avalanche and Las Vegas Golden Knights have yet to lose in regulation.
October Blues
Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings, and Calgary Flames still only have a single win on the season, and the San Jose Sharks are still looking for their first win.
Exciting Youngsters
Alexander Nikishin of the Hurricanes scored his first career goal against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.
Game of the Week
Canucks @ Stars - The Vancouver Canucks traveled to Dallas on Thursday to take on the Stars. The Stars took an early 2 goal lead until the Canucks scored 4 in the second period to take control. Quinn Hughes capped off the night with the last goal as the Canucks got the 5-3 win over the Stars despite goals from Mikko Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston and Mavrik Bourque for Dallas.
Player of the Week
Bo Horvat - Bo Horvat of the New York Islanders scored a shorthanded goal, a powerplay goal, and an empty net goal in the game against the Oilers on Thursday to get the Islanders the 4-2 win (their first win of the season). He also scored in Saturday’s 5-4 win in Ottawa.
Team of the Week
Carolina Hurricanes - Hockey in October has never been the issue for the team in Raleigh as they have not missed the playoffs since the 2017-2018 season. They are the last team that remains undefeated as they moved to 5-0 with an overtime win against the Kings in Los Angeles on Saturday night.
Contract Watch
Los Angeles Kings forward Adrian Kempe has a contract set to expire after the current season, and reports indicate that the negotiations between the team and player are not close at the moment.
College Hockey Shoutout
#4 ranked Michigan State University went to #1 ranked Boston University and took down the top ranked team 4-2 on Friday, and 4-3 in overtime on Saturday.
Mr. Clutch
Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis has 4 game-winning goals this year, including two in OT. He leads the Hurricanes with six total goals this year, with the next highest being Jordan Staal with three goals on the year. With his hot start, it’s hard to imagine Team Canada would go to Italy without the Manitoba native.
History in the Making
Mark Scheiffle passed Blake Wheeler for most points in Winnipeg Jets franchise history on Saturday Night against the Nashville Predators with a power play goal to give him his 813th career point with Winnipeg. Scheiffle has been with only Winnipeg since he was drafted seventh overall by the Jets in 2011.
Ovi Tracker
Alex Ovechkin scored career goal number 898 on Saturday. He is the all time leader and no player has reached 900 career goals.
Marchand of the Week
Brad Marchand - The Marchand of the week goes to Brad Marchand for dismantling Sabres’ Captain Rasmus Dahlin’s helmet from the penalty box in a frustrating 3-0 loss for the Florida Panthers in Buffalo on Saturday night.
Today's NHL Games:
College Football
The Hook and Ladder: Week 8
By: David Keller
The Hook: Miami’s Friday Falter, Georgia Topple’s Ole Miss, and The Holy War Recap
Miami’s Friday Falter
#2 Miami (FL) was 5-0 heading into their Friday matchup against Louisville with QB Carson Beck in the driver’s seat to take home the Heisman trophy. What took place was a disaster for the ‘Canes. With 30 seconds remaining and Miami down 3 points, Beck threw his fourth (!) interception of the game, sealing a 24-21 home defeat before the Saturday games even kicked off. Carson Beck’s Heisman Trophy odds plummeted from +360 to +6000 and Miami fell to 9th in the AP Poll and 8th in the ACC.
Georgia Topples Ole Miss
Saturday’s marquee Top 10 matchup between #5 Ole Miss and #9 Georgia did not disappoint. Ole Miss led 35-26 at the end of three quarters and it felt like Lane Kiffin had called the perfect game and the Rebels were going to leave Athens with their first road win @ Georgia since 1996. Thanks to Gunner Stockton and the rest of the Georgia Bulldogs that stepped in the fourth quarter, they’ll have to keep waiting. Kirby Smart’s squad put up 17 unanswered points in the final period. The game finished 43-35.
Holy War: H&L GOTW Recap
I wrote about the Holy War as my game to watch last week, and to no surprise, it rocked. Both teams donned their primary colors (something more rivalry games should do) and played in an instant classic in the shadow of the Wasatch mountains. BYU won their 3rd straight Holy War, highlighted by stymieing Utah on three 4th downs in field goal range, and a massive run by true-freshman QB Bear Bachmeier (Watch HERE) in what was an incredible scene for college football.
The Ladder: How to win in the new Big Ten
Notre Dame ran all over USC on Saturday; the fighting Irish had 306 yards on the ground compared to USC’s 68. How could the Trojans look so soft in the trenches? More importantly, why did they look so good against Michigan and not against USC? It can’t possibly be better coaching, better recruits, or better gameplans.
It had to be one thing: timezones.
The point of this week’s ladder is not to explain how time zones work, as that is an impossible task. I dove into the data and found all the insights into how traveling 2+ time zones affects visiting teams so that I can make excuses when my team gets bullied against non-traditional Big Ten opponents.
The findings? To be honest it’s not that crazy: In games involving Big Ten teams where the away team is travelling 2+ time zones, home teams are 13-10 against the spread. So if you bet $1 million on the home teams in each of these games, you’d be a multi-millionaire at this point in the season, not too shabby.
Sample sizes are small but there were two trends within the dataset that may be helpful. Teams traveling to the west coast are just 4-7 against the spread (ATS) and teams heading east as underdogs are just 4-2 ATS. What does this say about the programs? You could easily make a case that the midwest crowds are especially deafening against top-tier programs, or that the PAC-12-after-dark magic still lives on.
Ultimately, it’s that a UCLA +24.5/Washington -4.5/Oregon -34.5 parlay, will win me almost $17 million dollars according to DraftKings sportsbook (if I rolled over my hypothetical $3 million from earlier in the article, it’s just +561). See y’all in Saint-Tropez.
Disclaimer: I’m a terrible gambler and take no responsibility if these bets don’t hit. However, If they do hit, my venmo is davidkeller_4. Thanks!
NFL Football
Yesterday's NFL Recap:
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 9 @ 24 DETROIT LIONS
Jahmyr Gibbs delivered with a career-high 218 yards from scrimmage, including a 78-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, as the Lions beat the Buccaneers 24-9 on Monday night.
Jared Goff (DET): 241 YDS (20/29), 1 TD, 1 INT
Baker Mayfield (TB): 228 YDS (28/50), 1 TD, 1 INT
Jahmyr Gibbs (DET): 17 ATT, 136 YDS, 2 TD, 3 REC, 82 YDS
HOUSTON TEXANS 19 @ 27 SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
Jaxon Smith-Njigba balled on Monday night with eight catches for 123 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown grab from Sam Darnold, as the Seahawks beat the Texans, 27-19.
C.J. Stroud (HOU): 229 YDS (23/49), 1 TD, 1 INT
Sam Darnold (SEA): 213 YDS (17/31), 1 TD, 1 INT
Jaxon Smith-Njigba (SEA): 8 REC, 123 YDS, 1 TD
Zach Charbonnet (SEA): 12 ATT, 49 YDS, 2 TD
