1. I think I have this half-century-old theme music and intro for you to check out before I make my point Aaron Rodgers. ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” is the show that a sports-hungry middle and high school kid watched every weekend on Channel 40 out of Springfield, Massachusetts. Cliff diving in Acapulco, soccer in Argentina, hurling in Ireland, boxing everywhere, ski jumping from Norway. I ate everything. Ninety minutes, if I’m not mistaken. The host, Jim McKay, took us around the world to watch all sorts of sports. Winners in triumph, losers often bloody, trembling, covered in tears. Every week McKay with his famous voice-over:
The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
The human drama of sporting competition…
2. I find My point is, this is sport. To love it, you have to accept that a soul-crushing injury like Rodgers’ is going to be part of it.
3. I find Someone called sports the ultimate reality show, and that’s true. The great thing about football weekends is that we can turn on the TV and let our jaws drop Joe Burrow has the worst game of his pro career and is ripped apart with mercy by his head coach, and when the Cowboys beat the Giants by 40 points… and of course when Rodgers goes down with a sudden ruptured Achilles tendon in the fourth game of his Jets career. If we’re going to invest in the season, we have to be invested knowing that anything can happen – even a brutal, seismic injury like the one that happened to Rodgers. It’s part of the game’s appeal. Has always been. We don’t know what will happen in any piece, and it is compelling and catastrophic that it is part of what keeps us glued to the television every Sunday from Labor Day to Groundhog Day and beyond.
And so we now lose five games in a row with great excitement: Rodgers against his old coach, Mike McCarthyin Dallas…Rodgers at home against the big boys Bill Belichick …RodgersPatrick Mahomeson a Sunday night…Rodgers is playing to defend his close friend and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett at Sean Payton and Denver… and Jalen hurts-Rodgers in a match against the reigning NFC champions.
I feel terrible for the Jets fans and for the football fans who were all excited to see Rodgers with his first new team in 18 years. We have been robbed of much of the human drama of athletic competition, and that is a shame. But I’ll take you back to another great American athlete who tore his Achilles tendon 10 years ago. After spending some time howling at the moon (figuratively), 34-year-old Kobe Bryant said on Facebook, “Then there are far bigger problems/challenges in the world.” [sic] a torn Achilles. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, find the silver lining and get to work with the same faith, drive and conviction as always. One day the beginning of a new career journey will begin. Today is NOT that day.”
4. I find This is Rodgers this morning. He already spoke like a veteran player when I met him at training camp in New Jersey in late July. It was clear he had found a new love for the game that he had lost late in his life in Green Bay. It was clear that he was affected by longevity Tom Brady. What he told me that day:
“When the trade fell through, I came here and had a lot of fun. I met the boys. Everything was so new and different, I felt like I was being rejuvenated. It doesn’t feel like a year anymore. I think as you get older you have to be smart about diet and training and every year I tweak things. But when you’re older – and I bet you are, Tom [Brady] I would say the same thing: if you can go years without a lot of injuries, it’s a lot more fun. When that stops being fun, like we’ve seen with some younger quarterbacks… so be it Andrew Luck, yes, he was just tired of being beaten up. So if I could string together a few seasons of good health, I don’t want to limit that. But I have a good feeling that this isn’t just a one-year thing.”
Of course, that quote also included, “If I could string together a few seasons of good health.” I get it. But he invested too much mental and physical effort and bought into the New York (and New Jersey) state of mind. This will be a Willis Reed Story. I don’t know if he’ll be as great with a stitched Achilles at 40 as he was with a clean Achilles at 39. But Aaron Rodgers isn’t going to turn out like that.
Giants complete “historic” comeback over Cardinals
Mike Florio, Maria Taylor, Devin McCourty and Jason Garrett break down the New York Giants’ comeback win over the Arizona Cardinals, in which Daniel Jones led the team out of a 21-point hole.
5. I findNot to attack the Jets, but let’s look at what could happen to the 1-1 team’s schedule in the final 15 games under the NFL schedule and flexible rules:
- Sunday evening games:
- The Oct. 1 game against Kansas City couldn’t be postponed because the league wouldn’t pull out of one Patrick Mahomes game and because it does not fall within the timing of the flexible rules.
- The Week 10 game at the Raiders is eligible and will be a good candidate to be used.
- Thursday Night Games: The Jets have one in Week 17 at Cleveland, and it is eligible to be postponed under new NFL rules if it is played by Nov. 28. Interesting candidate for an early Sunday window to move to Thursday in Week 17: Miami at Baltimore.
- Sunday doubleheaders: The NFL could use any of them by 1 p.m. ET – at Denver in week five (unlikely), at home with the Eagles in week six (unlikely), at Buffalo in week 11 (unknown).
6. I find I think there is no feeling other than outrage towards those who have said on social media about the Vikings running back Alexander Mattison was set to commit suicide after his performance in the Vikings’ loss to the Eagles on Thursday night. The story should definitely see the light of day because we need to see what lurks in the shadows of this society. “Under my helmet I am a human being, a father, a son. This is sick,” Mattison wrote on Instagram. Keep posting, Alexander. Keep illustrating the hate out there in the hope we can see beneath the rocks.
7. I think Congratulations to Houston receiver John Metchie III, who returned from leukemia last year to play his first game in the pros on Sunday – and make his first catch, a 17-yarder in the fourth quarter against Indianapolis. “It was an incredible feeling that I thought about every day in the hospital,” Metchie said. Good for him. Great for him.
8. I think Sean PaytonWe’re not going to make things comfortable for the Broncos at practice this week. Going 0-2 against the Raiders and Commanders, both at home, both winnable games, will bring Payton to his knees. And it should.
9. I think the good sign of that Zach Wilson is that he plays less frantically than he did last season – perhaps due to the Zen QB approach he saw in Aaron Rodgers. The bad news is that his 54 percent accuracy and 2-to-4 TD-to-pick ratio are nowhere near winning. Playing against Dallas doesn’t help. But the Patriots come to New Jersey on Sunday and Wilson needs to do better or fans will hold it against him.
10. I find These are my other thoughts of the week:
A. I only made it to the Colorado-Colorado State halftime when the clock struck 12 on the East Coast. But what a football that was. And then to see what time I woke up Shedeur Sanders, trailing by eight with two minutes left in the fourth quarter, drove Colorado 98 yards for the touchdown and passed for the two-point conversion, then threw two touchdowns in OT for the 43-35 victory. At 2:28, Giannis Antetokounmpo said on social media: “I don’t watch football but that was a damn good game.”
B. The best theater in sports today: Colorado Football.
C. Imagine this nine months ago, when the Buffaloes ended a 1-11 season with consecutive losses of 39, 38, 47 and 42 points. It’s unbelievable what Deion Sanders created in Boulder.
D. Interview of the Week: Rich Eisen on “The Rich Eisen Show” with Sanders.
e. Good note from Sanders on making sure his players don’t make a splash with their stunning early win over the Buffaloes 3-0: “The morning message is, ‘If you’re a person who’s willing to change, because …’” Attention, that means you’ve never had attention and you’re not cut out for it. You were built to be on a seesaw.’”
Q. I can understand why players want to play for Sanders.
G. Great signal behind Sanders, for the interview with Eisen, in his office in Boulder: “You play well, they pay well!”
Sanders knows his strengths and weaknesses
“He knows his strengths and weaknesses.” Dan Patrick talks about Deion Sanders as a head coach and discusses recent comments from Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell.
H. Are you like me and wondering how an escaped convict in Pennsylvania was able to evade hundreds of police officers and a team of trained dogs for 13 days? I thought this story by Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times covers the core of the pursuit and capture of fugitive Danelo Cavalcante quite well.
I. Cavalcante, a Brazilian, was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend in 2021 and was wanted for murder in a 2017 killing in Brazil. According to Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark, on his fifth day on the run, Cavalcante stole a white 2020 van with the keys inside and made off with it.
J. Bogel-Burroughs wrote:
The tank was only about a quarter full, Mr. Clark said, but Mr. Cavalcante drove it north, where he tried to reach former colleagues at their homes. He was once caught on a doorbell camera and was now clean-shaven and wearing a hoodie.
At the same time, the manhunt grew, with hundreds of local, state and federal officials backed by dogs and aircraft. At one point he went three days without food, and as the search continued, he considered surrendering, Mr. Clark said. “It was difficult living out there.”
Instead, he moved on and kept breaking into houses, Mr Clark said.
As Mr. Cavalcante moved through the forest, he took steps to cover his tracks, sometimes covering his excrement with leaves to avoid being shadowed, Mr. Clark said. He kept himself hydrated by drinking from a stream. At one point he found a watermelon on a farm and split it open by smashing it with his head.
k. Netflix, you have your next movie.
l. Travel Story of the Week: The Wall Street Journal’s Matthew Kronsberg on the pros and cons of working on a plane.
M. Good story. Sometimes I eat on the plane. Even in cramped conditions, I usually consider the time on the plane to be worth its weight in gold to type something. You can’t go anywhere. Why not spend the time doing the busy work you know you need to do anyway?
N. Kronsberg writes:
For Casey Shultz, the best place to work in the world is…not the case. “I achieve my highest productivity on a plane,” said the impact investor from Saint Paul, Minnesota. A flight helps her tackle annoying tasks that she barely finds time for on the ground, like getting to the mythical inbox zero.
Everything that makes flying so stressful—little personal space, few worthwhile distractions, and a seemingly endless amount of time before landing—also makes it an ideal opportunity for many business travelers to settle down. To avoid wasting hours of doing nothing in mid-air, the most productive fliers take simple steps—or, failing that, a change in perspective.
You have time to yourself that you wouldn’t normally have at home or in the office,” said Russell Ganim, associate provost and dean of international programs at the University of Iowa. His productivity peaks when he commutes between universities and conferences around the world. He finds these “relatively quiet, relatively dark and relatively cool” long-haul flights helpful for completing “small” administrative tasks, he said, while also putting him in the mood to “think a little bit broader and deeper.” ” for larger projects.
O. What is the matter with us? Story of the week: BBC’s Brandon Drenon on the Seattle police officer who appears to be making a joke about the death of a woman who was hit and killed by a police car.
P. The officer was recorded laughing as he discussed the death of 26-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula, a student in Seattle. During the recording, officer Daniel Auderer can be heard saying: “Anyway, she was 26. She had limited value.”
Q. The laughter. It’s just too grotesque.
R. TV Story of the Week: Steve Hartman of the CBS Evening News about a professional benefactor, Calvin Godette of Chesterfield County, Virginia.
S. Calvin Godette donates half of his income to strangers – including Denise Walters. It changed her life.
T. “Maybe you lost your husband. But you gained a family.” Attaway, Steve Hartman. Keep up the good work with these stories.
u. When you turn on the news and see stories like “The Laughing Policeman” or “Lauren Boebert/Vaping/Beetlejuice” you have to wonder what is becoming of this country. That’s why it’s good to see Calvin Godette.
v. Well, we always had a saying in the King family, started and emphasized by daughter Laura: I’m just saying. And if Travis Kelce If Mary Beth King hangs out with Taylor Swift and maybe gets involved with Taylor Swift, then Mary Beth King will quickly become a fan of Kansas City. I mean, I’m just saying.
w. Beernerdness: Had a pair of Catawba White Zombie White Ales (Catawba Brewing Company, Asheville, NC) on the training camp trip after a busy day at Panthers camp. This beer defines “crisp.” Delicious, with a citrus note, straight from the purple can.
X. Coffeenerdness: There’s a new drink on the King Coffee playlist: Tall Flat White with an extra shot at Starbucks. But only before noon. It’s too much of an energy boost and potentially too sleep-disrupting to take after midday.
j. Nice game, Ohio Bobcats, holding Brock Purdy U scored zero points for 55 minutes (with Ohio not committing any penalties in the first 55 minutes) and defeated Power Five Iowa State 10-7.
e.g. Great stats, Buster Olney: Participation in Sunday’s games, Kyle Schwarber Had 45 singles and 44 home runs for the Phils this year.