Greetings sports fans, and welcome to The Epoch Times Sports Brief for Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we’ve got some thrilling stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s happening in the world of sports.
An instant classic saves the season for a World Series contender, a pair of college titans clash in a huge gridiron battle, and last year’s Super Bowl champs face their toughest test yet—and we don’t mean scoring tickets to a Taylor Swift concert.
Also, a couple of NFL juggernauts bang helmets for division supremacy, and tip-off is just around the corner for the best basketball league in the world—talkin’ ‘bout the legendary NBA.
Guardians Shock Yankees With Amazing Comeback
Tonight in Cleveland, the feisty Guardians look to even the score when they take on the fearsome New York Yankees, and the stadium’s gonna be absolutely rocking after last night’s incredible comeback.In case you missed it, the Guardians were down to their final out and they were all prepped for a three-game deficit when rookie pinch hitter Jhonkensy Noel launched a two-run rocket in the bottom of the ninth to even the score.
Noel is known to his teammates as “Big Christmas,” and last night, he delivered a very early holiday gift to his ecstatic hometown crowd. Just one inning later, first baseman David Fry knocked a two-run walk-off homer over the left field fence to salvage the series for the home squad. The fans went wild, Fry is now a legend, and tonight the Guardians will be looking to tie it up against the heavily favored Yanks.
Right Hander Gavin Williams takes the mound for the home team, but this season, he simply hasn’t thrown the ball well at Progressive Field. In the other dugout, sensational rookie lefty Luis Gil makes his first postseason start for the Yankees.
Baseball fans everywhere are gonna be watching to see if last night’s late-game heroics resulted in a seismic momentum shift in favor of the Guardians. They’ll also be keeping a close eye on whether or not Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase has lost his stuff, and whether Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Giancarlo Stanton, and the rest of the Bronx Bombers can regain their mighty mojo.
By the way, tomorrow night’s crucial Game 5 will be played in Cleveland at about the same time the city’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony gets underway. So, it looks like the Guardians will be competing not only with the Yankees, but also with this year’s inductees including Ozzy Osbourne, Kool and the Gang, and Cher.
It’s also worth mentioning that later this afternoon, the extraordinary L.A. Dodgers look to polish off the pesky New York Mets.
You should know that around 85 percent of teams with a 3–1 series lead go on to win a best-of-seven series, and when you’ve got a lineup that includes the world’s best player Shohei Ohtani, former MVP Mookie Betts, stellar pitching, and more stars than a Hollywood red carpet, the odds are stacked tremendously in your favor.
Texas and Georgia Clash for SEC Supremacy
The drama in Texas is sure to be at a fever pitch when the Georgia Bulldogs amble into Austin for a prime-time rodeo with the stampeding Texas Longhorns in their first meeting as SEC rivals.The stakes are enormous, especially for one-loss Georgia. A few weeks ago, the Dawgs dropped a huge battle to their arch-rival Alabama, and they cannot afford another loss if they hope to compete for the SEC crown and a spot in the college football playoffs.
Undefeated Texas sits atop the college rankings. Last week, the Longhorns made mincemeat out of their Red River rivals, the Oklahoma Sooners, in a 34–3 snoozer that was over by halftime.
You should know that tomorrow’s rumble features a pair of the very best quarterbacks in the country, a couple of stingy defenses with huge d-lines, some very quick outside players, and two of the most impressive programs in the nation.
This prime-time collision is shaping up as a heavyweight slugfest between a pair of hard-punching former champions, and whoever’s left standing in the center of the ring has the inside track to the SEC title game and a crucial bye in the upcoming playoffs.
By the way, there are still 10 teams with legit postseason hopes in the SEC, and this weekend, Alabama and Tennessee go helmet-to-helmet in Knoxville. Each of these squads has only lost once, and neither one can afford to drop another conference game and still make the playoffs—basically making this week’s contest a knockout round that even the Great One, Muhammad Ali himself, would be envious of.
Chiefs and 49ers Meet in Super Bowl Rematch
The Kansas City Chiefs head west to the Bay area for a tour of Alcatraz and a fierce slamfest against the resurgent San Francisco 49ers.The last time these two squads suited up against each other, the Chiefs won their second consecutive Lombardi Trophy with a stunning overtime win, and Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes says that this Sunday’s matchup is as big a regular season game as you could play in.
However, the same nagging question remains in Kansas City: Just who is Mahomes going to throw the ball to? Both of his top receivers, Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown, are out of action for the year, leaving rookie Xavier Worthy and journeyman Juju Smith-Schuster as his top targets.
Of course, Mahomes can always turn to his best buddy, future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce, but this year, the 35-year-old tight end has spent more time on your TV screen than in the end zone. Looks like it will be up to the hard-charging Kansas City defense to bail them out once again.
On the other sideline, the hometown Niners have been up and down more often than my body weight during the holiday season. Many of the team’s best defenders are hobbled by injuries, and San Francisco has given away huge leads like they’re handing out Christmas turkeys.
The team’s success is largely due to the outstanding play of quarterback Brock Purdy, who’s kept the 49ers at the top of the NFC West.
It’s worth pointing out that Kyle Shanahan is in his eighth season at the helm of the Niners, and during that entire run he hasn’t beaten the Chiefs a single time.
Lions and Vikings Battle for NFC Lead
This weekend, the Detroit Lions head north to Minneapolis to challenge the undefeated Vikings, and the winner will be perched firmly at the very top of the NFL’s best division.In case you didn’t know, the bruising teams of the NFC North have a combined 17–5 record heading into this week’s games, and after six weeks, each of them has already collected at least four wins. That’s the very first time that’s happened since the league merged back in 1970.
By now, you’re most likely aware that people are still waiting for quarterback Sam Darnold to collapse under pressure, that Justin Jefferson is the best receiver in the league, and that the surprising Vikings have already knocked off some pretty good opponents.
On the other side of the field, the ferocious Lions are coming off of last week’s thorough pasting of the overrated Dallas Cowboys. The Lions toyed with the Cowboys like a cat with a ball of string, and they definitely look like a force to be reckoned with in the NFC.
However, during last week’s game, defensive lineman Aiden Hutchinson was carted off the field with a broken leg, and replacing the team leader at the heart of the D will be a huge challenge for defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and the rest of the Detroit coaching staff.
It remains to be seen how this brokenhearted Lions team will respond, but it’s well known that weepy head coach Dan Campbell wears his emotions on his shirtsleeves, and this team could very easily bounce back with a very passionate victory.
Regardless, whoever wins this brutal backyard brawl takes firm hold of the reins in the league’s toughest division.
NBA Season Tips Off
Comin’ up on Tuesday, the NBA regular season begins, and the defending champion Boston Celtics will hoist their 18th title banner high into the rafters of TD Garden before they host the upstart New York Knickerbockers.Jayson Tatum and finals MVP Jaylen Brown return to lead the Celts, while the Knicks have made some gigantic changes—including picking up 7-footer Karl-Anthony Towns to hold down the center of the paint.
Each of these teams is among the early favorites to win both the Eastern Conference and this season’s NBA crown.
Also on opening night, the very hungry Minnesota Timberwolves and their budding superstar Anthony Edwards head to Hollywood to square up against superstar LeBron James, his son Bronny, and the revamped L.A. Lakers.
So you know, LeBron will turn 40 years old this season, and he’s still looking for his fifth NBA title. However, the Lakers are a long shot to return to glory and, as we all know, Father Time is still undefeated.
Additionally, basketball fans everywhere are gonna be keeping their eyes firmly focused on the very young San Antonio Spurs and their budding French sensation, Victor Wembanyama, who’s widely considered the next great player in the league.
By the way, the favorites to take home the NBA championship this season also include the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Dallas Mavericks, the Denver Nuggets, and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Before we go, we’d like to tip our caps to one of the most legendary performances in the entire history of the World Series.
On this day back in 1977, Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in consecutive at-bats to lead his powerhouse New York Yankees to the World Series title against the L.A. Dodgers.
His magnificent performance that day earned Jackson an MVP award for the Series, and cemented the legendary slugger’s reputation as “Mr. October.” His astounding feat remains one of the most talked-about events in major league postseason history.
Oh yeah, they even named a short-lived candy bar after him, and if you know the name of that candy bar, go ahead and leave us an email at [email protected]. The first correct answer scores an Epoch Times coffee mug—we’d also throw in the candy bar, but they stopped making them decades ago.
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.
If you have any thoughts about the Sports Brief program, we’d love to hear from you, and you can find us at [email protected].
For all of us here at The Epoch Times Sports Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times Sports Brief program is written by the incredible David Ross.
Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and engaging rundown of the sports stories you absolutely need to know about.
Enjoy another great weekend of sports, 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.
