Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times Sports Brief for Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we’ve got some really exciting stories to share with you today, and here’s what’s going on in the world of sports.
The college football season explodes with a Week One Prime Time nailbiter, negotiations head right down to the wire for some very nervous Super Bowl contenders, and the world’s top racketeers swing away in the Big Apple.
Also, the golf world’s top dogs duke it out for a huge stake on the links, and two boastful braggarts prepare to finally settle an old beef using their very big mouths.
Colorado Hangs On to Beat North Dakota State
We’re talking about bombastic coach “Neon” Deion Sanders and his stumbling herd, the Colorado Buffaloes, who kicked off a highly anticipated week of college competition with a nationally televised squeaker over Division II powerhouse North Dakota State.Coach Prime’s newfangled squad barely held off their pesky challengers from the north, ultimately escaping with a 31 to 26 win. But they’ll have to play better if they hope to contend in their new conference, the Big 12.
As you may recall, local fans buzzed with excitement when the overconfident coach swooped into Boulder just one short year ago. But after a fast start, the beleaguered Buffs dropped faster than a Rocky Mountain blizzard, and it sure looks like they’re poised to circle the drain once again.
This team is stuffed with more transfers than a bus station garbage can, and is led by Coach Prime’s son, Shedeur Sanders, who has some mighty big shoes to fill if he hopes to high-step it all the way to the big dance.
Versatile two-way phenom Travis Hunter showed up big in this one, hauling in three touchdown grabs from his dual-threat quarterback. Both are expected to be high draft picks next spring, but before then, they’ll have to survive a very grueling schedule and their hot-winded head honcho.
For its part, North Dakota State is an absolute powerhouse in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), where the Bison have won 9 of the last 13 crowns. They might have come up short this time, but they certainly proved they belong under the lights.
After this donnybrook, we’ll all be keeping a very close watch on Coach Prime and his hapless herd to see how they weather the pending storm. As we all know, those Rocky Mountain downfalls can get pretty hairy, especially during a cold dark autumn.
NFL Rosters Take Shape
We’re talking about the NFL, where teams coast-to-coast find themselves neck-deep making crucial decisions that could drastically impact the upcoming season, which is only days away.After dithering longer than a confused investor, the Pittsburgh Steelers ultimately parted the steel curtain and handed the conductor’s wand to quarterback Russell Wilson. The former Seahawk washed out in his last stop, Denver, and now he’s been given his very last chance at redemption by coach Mike Tomlin. With backup Justin Fields hot on his heels, we’ll keep a close watch on what lasts longer, Wilson’s career or his fading endorsements.
Over in New England, the vaunted dynasty is fading into the rearview mirror faster than jokes at the Tom Brady celebrity roast, and rookie coach Jerod Mayo has just tabbed journeyman Jacoby Brissett to start the season behind center. In Mayo’s case, however, nobody’s laughing, especially the fans.
At least there’s finally something to celebrate in San Francisco, where last season’s Super Bowl losers have just agreed to terms with budding superstar Brandon Aiyuk after a long and contentious holdout. The fourth-year receiver refused to step onto the field until he scored a lofty share of the 49er gold rush. So you know, it looks like his prospecting has really paid off, to the tune of a four-year, $120 million extension. The ink is still wet on this one, but as we all know, title hopes always run high in the City by the Bay, and they’ve just secured a golden piece of the puzzle.
The last truly significant holdout remains in Cincinnati, where pass catcher Ja’Marr Chase is also chasing the big bucks. Chase swears he won’t suit up until the team shows him the money, and as you know, the Bengals are well known for being notoriously stingy. Where’s Jerry Maguire when you need him?
Tennis Action Heats Up in Flushing Meadows
The third round of the U.S. Open is in full swing in New York, and the last major tournament of a grueling tennis season is underway amid serious controversy.Most of the top-ranked racketeers on the men’s side are still alive, including No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner and all-time great Novak Djokovic, fresh off his gold medal win at the Paris Olympics. But No. 3 seed, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, suffered a shocking upset hours ago and has already been eliminated.
It’s the 23-year-old Sinner who finds himself under heavy scrutiny, after still-steaming revelations that he tested positive for a banned steroid earlier this year. The young Italian may have been docked a few hundred thousand dollars in prize money and some measly ranking points, but he avoided a hefty two-year ban by blaming the issue on a questionable training massage.
Other players are absolutely fuming, especially everybody’s sentimental favorite, the 37-year-old Djokovic, who’s captured a whopping 24 Grand Slam titles in his illustrious career. The Joker says it’s about time for those very lax doping rules to change, and he remains furious about the decision. The two are on track to meet in the final match, and if they do, they’re not likely to share afternoon tea on center court.
On the women’s side, some extremely high-profile players have already fallen, including Czech national Barbora Krejcikova, who recently won Wimbledon, and 21-year-old Brit Emma Radacanu, who shocked the world when she won the tournament just a few short years ago.
Golfers Compete for Sport’s Biggest Prize
Now let’s shift gears and head 900 miles to the south, where large crowds are gathering to watch 30 of the very best golfers in the world, and the stakes are as high as they get.It’s professional golf’s biggest prize, the PGA Tour Championship, and this peach of a tournament is in full swing down in Hotlanta, where the cream of the crop are taking tremendous swings at the biggest purse of the year.
The first-place winner bags 25 million bucks, and with a total purse of $100 million, even the caddies might pick up a couple of greenbacks.
American Scottie Scheffler, the top-ranked player in the world and the recent Gold Medal winner at the Olympics in Paris, sits atop the leaderboard after Day One, and is still the man to beat, but fellow countrymen Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa are hot on his tail.
We have just enough time for one more sports story, and this one involves dogs.
Competitive Eaters Square Off
Nobody can eat more hot dogs than the two greatest eaters on the face of the planet, and they’re set to square off this weekend in Las Vegas to determine once and for all who’s got the biggest stomach in the world.The contest is called “Unfinished Beef,” and it pits legendary record holder Joey “Jaws” Chestnut against his longtime rival, Takeru Kobayashi. The two have been fierce rivals ever since Kobayashi stopped participating in the famous July 4 eating contest nearly 20 years ago.
Kobayashi was still the sport’s top dog when he was kicked out of the league over a contractual dispute, and since then, Chestnut has gobbled his way to the top of the trough. Jaws has out-eaten the competition an astounding 16 times on Independence Day, and even set the all-time record when he wolfed down 76 greasy dogs and soggy buns in just 10 gluttonous minutes.
They’re finally scheduled to break bread together in Vegas, where they’re already arguing about the rules. Like all great sporting events, the outcome will be very much up in the air, but we all know that greasy beef hot links and stale flaky buns will be prominently featured on the menu right next to a massive neon sign that reads, no hamburgers allowed.
That’s what’s happening right now in the world of sports, as we head into a great holiday weekend. Before we go, let’s take a fond look back at a great moment in sports history—an incident from years ago that shocked every fan of America’s favorite pastime. We’re talking about baseball, of course, and it’s off to the Minor Leagues we go. It’s the last day of August in 1987, and we’re sitting in the bullpen of a rinky-dink ballpark in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Bored backup catcher Dave Bresnahan says he decided to pull off one of the goofiest pranks in baseball history.
The practical joker peeled a potato and made it look like a baseball. After catching a pitch, he pulled the old switcheroo, tossed the potato into left field, and when the runner on third sprinted home, he tagged him out with the real ball.
Bresnahan says his whole team was in on the gag, but management didn’t find the stunt amusing at all. They canned the poor sap the very next day, and our jolly jokester never played another inning of baseball again.
That’s the way it was, this very month back in 1987.
Looks like we’re out of time, so we’re going to call it a wrap for this edition of the Epoch Times Sports Brief.
Thanks for checking in and we’ll see you next time for another insightful and up-to-date look at the exciting world of sports.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times Sports Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times Sports Brief is written by the legendary Dave Ross.
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Enjoy your Labor Day weekend, stay safe, and please join us again next time for another edition of The Epoch Times Sports Brief. Till then, let’s all continue to watch out for one another, have a superb day today, and remember to keep your eyes on the game. Bye for now.
