By Joe Torosian
Kick it!
I like the Rams on Sunday, 30-17.
And I’m using an emotional pick to take the Chargers over the Seattle Seahawks.
Could we be looking at a world where the Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders make the playoffs and the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans miss the postseason?
I took the Pittsburgh Steelers last night. A weakened, beat-up Browns offensive line had no chance of stopping Steel Town’s front seven…
What I didn’t realize was how bad Pittsburgh’s offensive line was.
Still, when the Steelers started their first drive last night, I began to read Leviticus and 17 plays and a touchdown later, I was in Numbers.
I imagine the NFL told its officials to be real careful in Week Four after admitting they spit the bit in the Rams-Broncos game on Sunday night.
The NFL’s oops is a nice validation for those of us who shouted that Josh Wallace made the pick on Sunday night, but without any action to fix it, I’m still frustrated.
The Philadelphia Eagles won’t have Devonta Smith on Sunday when they play the Los Angeles Rams. So Jalen Hurts won’t have Smith, TE Dallas Goedert, and A.J. Brown (now reading in New England)—the receiving trio that helped beat the Rams last year at The Linc.
Last Add Browns: I never wanted Jared Verse to leave the Rams…but last night, and through four games with Cleveland, he looks like just a guy — a good player, but a player you wouldn’t want to pay elite money to.
Not to be one of those “I Told You So” guys (I am)…I said the Las Vegas Aces would beat the Indiana Fever by ten—they won by 11, 94-83—and that Caitlin Clark would be knocked out of the game in the fourth quarter—and Clark did leave the game temporarily in the fourth after an elbow to her mouth left her bleeding.
Aces shot great. A’ja Wilson—while remaining 100% unlikeable—shot the lights out and played the best I’ve ever seen her play. And while the NFL officials in Cleveland threw flag after flag…WNBA referees swallowed whistle after whistle to confirm the league had no intention of losing the culture war to Clark and the Fever.
On this date in 1963 Sandy Koufax struck out 15 batters to lead the Dodgers to a 5-2 win over the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium.
In 2026, Koufax would be pulled before his third turn through the Yankee lineup.
…#121—May the San Francisco Giants rot and lie stinking in the earth…
Last Add Koufax: There was no official pitch count, but estimates are that it was likely around 135. Five days later he struck out eight, went nine, and secured the Dodgers’ four-game sweep with a 2-1 victory at Dodger Stadium.
The Portland Trail Blazers hired and then fired their new TV play-by-play announcer, Braiden Bell (29), on the same day (Thursday, October 1).
Hours after the announcement, a KGW reporter in Portland found racist/sexist posts on Bell’s X/Twitter account from 2012–2013, when he was 15.
KGW said it found no similar posts after he became an adult; from about 2015 onward, the account was mostly sports-related. The team said the posts violated team and league policies and that it has “zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments,” so it would not move forward with him.
The Trailblazers also apologized to fans, saying it “did not meet our own bar in this process” and would “do better” in hiring a broadcaster who reflects its values.
What interests me is who didn’t get the job? Who’s bidding was the reporter doing? And who’s going to get the job now?
Speaking of unemployment…
CBS and Tony Romo have announced their divorce.
Romo was arrested on suspicion of operating while intoxicated on July 23 after a golf event in Wisconsin and had been on leave from the network.
JJ Watt will continue with Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson as CBS’s lead NFL broadcast team for the rest of the season.
When he was right, I think Romo was better than both Cris Collinsworth and Troy Aikman.
Finally: Last I heard the USC Athletic Department has a go-team ready to safely remove Lincoln Riley from the Coliseum if the Trojans lose to the Washington Huskies on Saturday.
The Dude abides…
1,367
Philippians 4:13
jtbank1964@yahoo.com
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