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I was terrible last week, but so was everyone else except Abe, who tightened his stranglehold on the ChabDog picks contest by being sharp when everyone else was being square. Abe had New England when the rest of us had Tampa and New Orleans when the rest of us had Carolina. The only good pick I made was Houston, and that was still a loser after the Texans’ miracle comeback! It took a fluke touchdown at the end to get Houston to cover the spread. At least I finished strong with big wins by the Chargers and Eagles.
Abe might be too far gone at this point, but I can still catch the Tank with a solid Week 11.
Jets +11.5 at Patriots
Jets have won two in a row and the Patriots are wearing ugly uniforms.
Commanders +2.5 at Dolphins
This is such a recency bias spread. Marcus Mariota has played well for Washington with Jayden Daniels out.
Panthers at Falcons -3.5
I should pick Carolina since it was such a letdown last week, but I’m back on the Falcons after they blew the cover and the game in European overtime.
Buccaneers at Bills -5.5
Last week was a fluke for Buffalo. The Bills will bounce back at home against a team from Florida.
Texans -7.5 at Titans
Another favorite that I’m nervous about. Houston crushed Tennessee in their first meeting 26-0.
Bears at Vikings -3.5
Chicago only covered last week because Jaxson Dart got hurt. The squares will say the wrong team is favored.
Packers at Giants +7.5
This has Jameis Winston backdoor cover written all over it.
Bengals +4.5 at Steelers
There’s just something about Joe Flacco! Cincinnati can’t stop a nose bleed, but it’s still hard to bet against.
Chargers -2.5 at Jaguars
I’m going chalk here because of all the fantasy interest I have with the Bolts this week.
Seahawks at Rams -2.5
Chalk again. Rams being favored by less than three at home is disrespectful.
49ers at Cardinals +2.5
Despite getting their doors blown off in Seattle, Arizona has been more consistent than San Francisco lately.
Ravens at Browns +7.5
This game will either go like Bills vs. Dolphins and Saints vs. Panthers last week or like Lions vs. Commanders and Cardinals vs. Seahawks. That’s why picking is hard.
Chiefs -3.5 at Broncos
Major fraud test for the Broncos. I say they fail.
Lions +1.5 at Eagles
Detroit bounced back well last week. Now it is time to assert dominance over the NFC.
Cowboys at Raiders +3.5
Dallas desperately needs this game to justify the Quinnen Williams trade. Raiders have been plucky, though.
Oba Femi is back! The Ruler of NXT had been absent from the wrestling universe since dropping the NXT Championship to Ricky Saints at No Mercy in late September, but he returned to the scene on Tuesday night right after Saints barley survived his bloody Last Man Standing title match against Trick Williams. Williams did everything he could to keep Saints down for a 10 count, including hitting a Trick Shot knee strike, blasting him with the steel ring stairs, burying him under those stairs, and throwing him through a wall, but Saints got up and kept fighting. Williams then brought Saints into the crowd and hit another Trick Shot, but Saints answered by spearing Williams out of the stands and through the announce table below. The epic blow was barely enough to keep Williams down and keep the NXT Championship around Saints’ waist… for now.
Cinema. pic.twitter.com/q2Qxil8WuI
— Aaron Yorke (@AaronPYorke) November 12, 2025
As soon as the match ended, Femi emerged on the entrance ramp to stake his claim to a rematch. With no NXT Championship match on the upcoming Gold Rush card (November 18 and 25 at Madison Square Garden), I’m thinking that Femi will get his shot at becoming a two-time NXT Champion at Deadline on December 6 in San Antonio.
One rematch that is happening at Gold Rush is Tatum Paxley vs. Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Championship. Paxley opened the Tuesday show by granting a rematch to Jayne despite Paxley’s friend Izzi Dame wanting her to be more selective when handing out title shots. If Paxley wins at Gold Rush, it could make the champion more confident in doing things her way instead of listening to Dame. If she loses, Dame can say “I told you so” and continue having Paxley do the bidding of The Culling. That’s why I’m predicting that Dame costs Paxley the title next week. Remember, at Halloween Havoc, it looked like Dame was trying to sabotage Paxley when Dame ran into the ring with the title.
We also set up an NXT Tag Team Championship match on Tuesday with Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater announcing that they’ll challenge DarkState at Gold Rush. Slater appeared to be in a remote location during the announcement, but when DarkState attacked Evans, he ran out from backstage and helped the Bouncy Boy fight off the fearsome foursome. Evans and Slater are a hot team right now, so I could see this going either way. I will give the edge to DarkState since I think Evans is close to breaking out on the main roster. Look for DarkState to interfere with Evans’ match against Gunther on Monday Night Raw the night before Gold Rush.
This is CHAOS!!!@theahail_wwe and @wwe_alba are giving us a good one! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/57mSGcyaAo
— WWE (@WWE) November 12, 2025
The Triple-A Mixed Tag Team Championship is also set to be defended during Week 1 of Gold Rush, and we got a little preview on Tuesday when Thea Hail defeated Secret Hervice member Alba Fyre in a singles match while fighting off interference from Ethan Page and Chelsea Green. Everyone loves Hail and Joe Hendry, but they don’t have the chemistry together than Green and Page do. That’s why I expect the defending champs to win next week. I would rather Hail lose and go on to pursue the NXT Women’s Championship or the Women’s North American Championship than continue teaming with Hendry and living in his shadow.
One more match on the Gold Rush card is Blake Monroe vs. Sol Ruca for the NXT Women’s North American Championship. I feel very good about Monroe winning so that the wedge between Ruca and Zaria is driven deeper. I could see Ruca losing next week and then Zaria winning the Speed Championship during Week 2. That would make Ruca bitter about Zaria only winning when its her title opportunity and not Ruca’s. Remember, Zaria lost the Women’s North American Championship at Halloween Havoc when she stepped in for an injured Ruca.
It wasn’t surprising to see John Cena open up Monday Night Raw last night and hear him hype up his last match ever on December 13. It was a lot more surprising when Dominik Mysterio came out and accidentally got himself booked in a fight for his Intercontinental Championship. Dom busted out all of his tricks in an effort to retain the prestigious title, but Cena ended up defeating him twice. First when Dom tapped out to the STF while the referee was incapacitated and again when Cena rolled through Dom’s Frog Splash and hit the Attitude Adjustment, this time with the referee ready to count to three.
Just one month before his retirement from WWE, Cena has shockingly won his first Intercontinental Championship, which raises the question, will Cena’s final match be a loss for the legendary wrestler? It seems likely now that the anticipated match on December 13 will be for the Intercontinental Championship unless Cena drops the title as suddenly as he won it. Heel Cena had previously talked about going home with the Undisputed WWE Championship and ruining wrestling, but this current version seems content to let the legacy of his current title continue past 2025. Unless Cena is taking the Intercontinental Championship with him into retirement, he is probably losing in his final match, and that only builds the intrigue over who the opponent will be.
We got two more possibilities announced by Adam Pearce on Monday night. The Raw general manager said that Je’Von Evans will face Gunther in The Last Time is Now Tournament next week. Solo Sikoa will also be in tournament action against a mystery opponent. That leaves us with a second mystery entrant with the first set to be revealed on SmackDown as LA Knight’s tournament opponent. Joe Hendry has been speculated as a mystery spot, but I would be surprised if it was him because he doesn’t have a connection to Cena. Oba Femi makes more sense to me because he is larger than life and is someone that fans including myself would love to see fight Cena before he rides off into the sunset. I will currently project Hendry to face Sikoa and Femi to face Knight, but the possibilities are endless. Chris Jericho making a return to WWE would be electric and Trick Williams seems overdue to break out on the main roster.
Next week, the tournament continues.@WWE pic.twitter.com/lwYpsGM495
— Adam Pearce (@ScrapDaddyAP) November 11, 2025
Right now my two favorites to defeat Cena in his final match at The Miz and Gunther. It would probably take some shenanigans to get The Miz past Jey Uso in the first round of The Last Time is Now Tournament, but he just cut a killer promo on Friday and he has history with both Cena and the Intercontinental Championship. Gunther has never faced Cena, but he’s someone who would certainly have had an epic feud with Cena if he had come around a decade earlier. With Seth Rollins out of action, Gunther is returning to the spotlight as WWE’s most dominant heel. He has almost always had a title around his waist since being promoted to the main roster, so it would make sense for him to take the IC Championship back after his glorious run with it two years ago.
Both Rusev and Sheamus won their matches in The Last Time is Now Tournament to advance to the quarterfinals. Both wins were easy to predict since both guys have history with Cena. Sheamus’ case for winning the tournament is interesting because he has never won the IC Championship and December 13 is the anniversary of Sheamus defeating Cena for the WWE Championship many years ago. Rusev has beef with Cena because when Cena beat him for the United States Championship at WrestleMania 31, the Bulgarian Brute’s career was never the same. I like the promo that Rusev cut this week, but I give Sheamus the edge to advance farther in the tournament.
Getting back to that Dom vs. Cena match on Raw, it is interesting that none of Dom’s Judgement Day family was at ringside to help him out, especially since so many of his title defenses have been team efforts. Is this signaling a split between Dom and The Judgement Day? The legacy superstar is already being treated like a babyface by the crowd, and he’s been one of the hottest heels in the company since he betrayed his father three years ago. Pulling the trigger on a babyface turn for Dom would likely ignite a massive run for him with limitless possibilities including a reunion with Rey Mysterio and an underdog run at a major championship. It’s all potential energy right now and the only question for WWE creative is when to push that button.
"Lonely" Dominik Mysterio 👀 pic.twitter.com/uHm0JVWqS4
— WWE (@WWE) November 11, 2025
The other big thing to happen on Raw was the formation of teams for WarGames. On the men’s side, CM Punk called out Logan Paul after Paul sucker punched him with brass knuckles last week. That led to Paul coming to the ring with Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed, which in turn led to Punk fighting them off with the help of Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes. Later in the evening, William Regal showed up out of nowhere to officially announce “WarGames!”
We are still at only three men aside, though. It would be surprising if Roman Reigns didn’t join the babyface side. He’s got a strong bond with Jey and both he and Punk share a disdain for Paul Heyman, the man managing Breakker and Reed. With Reigns in the mix, you might as well throw in Jimmy Uso as well to get the babyfaces to five men. I suppose Sami Zayn is also a possibility if he is medically cleared with the history he shares with Reigns and Uso.
PREPARE FOR WAR. 👀
IT'S TIME FOR WARGAMES!!! pic.twitter.com/GN32iss2JS
— WWE (@WWE) November 11, 2025
As for the heels, Drew McIntyre is suspended, so he probably won’t get announced until close to Survivor Series, but he makes too much sense since he doubled down on his feud with Rhodes by Claymore Kicking a referee last Friday. Gunther is also a possibility based on him disappearing since losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Punk at SummerSlam. Kevin Owens has been on the shelf even longer than Gunther and has a score to settle with Rhodes, but I’m not sure how close he is to returning to action. Owens would also make sense as one of the mystery combatants in The Last Time is Now Tournament since he had a major feud with Cena as soon as he came up on the main roster.
The ladies also got into the WarGames spirit when the new team of Nia Jax and Lash Legend showed up to screw over Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss during their Women’s Tag Team Championship match against the Kabuki Warriors. Bliss had done a great job intercepting Kairi Sane with Sister Abigail to stop the Pirate Princess from breaking up Flair’s Figure Four leglock, but Jax and Legend interfered with the submission while the referee wasn’t looking. That led to Sane throwing Bliss over the announce table and then hitting the Insane Elbow on Flair for the pin to crown new champs.
NEW WOMEN'S TAG TEAM CHAMPS!
RHEA RIPLEY IS BACK!
WOMEN'S WARGAMES MATCH IS ON!
WHAT A CHAOTIC ENDING TO RAW! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/S27ZMgbw6D
— WWE (@WWE) November 11, 2025
Bliss tried to pick a fight with Jax and Legend after the match and it predictably wasn’t going well until Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley showed up to clear the ring of the heels. Ripley shouted “WarGames!” at the baddies and all of a sudden we had four women on each team. I’m thinking that the final two spots will go to Jade Cargill and either Tiffany Stratton or Bianca Belair depending on who is available. Cargill doesn’t have a challenger for her new WWE Women’s Championship yet because all she did on Friday was say “I’m that bitch” and walk out of the ring. However, she didn’t make it far before bumping into Flair, which foreshadowed beef between the two powerhouses. Both Stratton and Belair have history with Cargill with Stratton just dropping the title to her and Belair teaming up with her before missing time due to injury.
If Stratton and Belair both aren’t cleared, I can see Bayley jumping on on the babyface side due to her history with Damage Ctrl. Nikki Bella and Stephanie Vaquer would make great candidates for WarGames as well, but they appear locked in their own feud after Bella smashed Vaquer with the title following the latter defeating Raquel Rodriguez to defend the Women’s World Championship last night.
Straight from Ava’s office…
Think of @WWE Last Man Standing matches from the past and understand that ya don’t wanna miss tonight!!!@TheCW_Sports pic.twitter.com/UZzA4ZKseM
— Robert Stone (@MrStoneWWE) November 11, 2025
Tonight on NXT, my hero El Grande Americano defends the Speed Championship against Jasper Troy and Ricky Saints faces Trick Williams in what is sure to be an epic Last Man Standing Match for the NXT Championship. Should be a great show.
The Giants announced today that they have parted ways with head coach Brian Daboll. General manager Joe Schoen, who joined the franchise in 2022 right before he hired Daboll, still has a job for now despite two of his six first-round NFL Draft selections being massive busts (Evan Neal and Deonte Banks). To be fair to Daboll and Schoen, the two players they chose in the first round of the 2025 Draft have the potential to be future franchise cornerstones with Jaxson Dart and Abdul Carter both in consideration for Rookie of the Year awards. To also be fair, the rosters produced by Daboll and Schoen have started 2-8 for three straight seasons following the 2022 playoff season.
Brian Daboll has been relieved of his duties; Mike Kafka will serve as interim head coach.
📰: https://t.co/IH63AEqwwl pic.twitter.com/quKIBitNc7
— New York Giants (@Giants) November 10, 2025
Daboll and Schoen both came from Buffalo together in 2022, so in my opinion, they just both leave together. So why was Daboll shown the door before Schoen? Probably because of the Giants losing four games this season in which they held a lead of 10 points or more. In the games at Dallas and Denver, New York scored to take the lead with mere seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. In the game at New Orleans, the Giants turned the ball over on five straight possessions after jumping out to an early 14-3 lead. In the most recent collapse at Chicago, the Giants led by 10 in the fourth quarter before falling apart on both sides of the ball.
If you reverse those results, the Giants are in position to make the playoffs and Daboll might be in line to win Coach of the Year like he did in 2022. Instead, the season has been torturous. Big Blue has shown the potential to be a solid team when it defeated the Chargers and Eagles. In the seven quarters spanning the win over Philadelphia and the start of the Denver game, the Giants looked like a legitimate playoff contender, but instead of closing out the Broncos, New York wilted like it has too often this season. Daboll couldn’t get the Giants across the finish line.
Daboll has also been reckless with Dart. The rookie quarterback has been evaluated for a concussion four times this season, and he was confirmed to have suffered a concussion on Sunday. The injury may have cost the Giants the game based on how ineffective Russell Wilson was in relief. Dart isn’t doing enough to protect himself when he runs, even after he has gained enough yards for a first down. Hopefully interim head coach Mike Kafka will move Jameis Winston ahead on the depth chart so that we don’t have to watch Wilson again this season. It’s a big decision because Dart will probably miss at least one game due to the concussion.
Whoever is the next head coach of the Giants will have big expectations out of the gate. The offense in 2026 will be talented with Dart, Cam Skattebo, and Malik Nabers on the roster. Plus, the Giants will probably have an opportunity to grab a great talent with their first round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The next three opponents this season are Green Bay, Detroit, and New England, so it might be a while until New York improves on its 2-8 record.
Guess who is the Week 9 picks champion at ChabDog? That’s right. It is me, and I did it without hitting on any island picks. The keys to victory were the Falcons, Panthers, Steelers, Raiders, and Bills. On those five picks, I was in the minority with only one other person making the correct selection. On four of those five, it was me and Frank the Tank riding together. We didn’t plan it like that! I was just in a Tank state of mind.
The victorious week put me one game above .500 for the season and just two games behind Frank for second place. Can I stay hot in Week 10?
Raiders +9.5 at Broncos
The Las Vegas offense came alive last week with the return of Brock Bowers. Going up against Denver’s defense will be a tougher test, but I’m thinking Bowers will create enough opportunities to keep the Raiders in the game. The Broncos have won six straight, but four of the six wins are by less than a touchdown.
Falcons +5.5 at Colts
Finally we saw some of the real Daniel Jones last week, as he threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles in a loss at Pittsburgh. Indianapolis probably won’t turn the ball over six times for a second straight week, but I think Atlanta has the weapons to keep this close.
Giants +3.5 at Bears
I expect Caleb Williams to tear up the Giants’ depleted secondary like Mac Jones did last week. Hopefully Jaxson Dart can be heroic and provide an answer to every Chicago touchdown.
Bills -8.5 at Dolphins
Buffalo is back in juggernaut mode since the bye week. The defense did a great job last week hanging on when I thought the Bills would blow it against Kansas City.
Ravens at Vikings +4.5
Baltimore seems to have righted the ship with two blowout wins in a row, but the Vikings just scored a huge upset win at Detroit in J.J. McCarthy’s return to action. I am a sucker for this kid and his grit.
Browns at Jets -2.5
The Jets trading away Sauce Gardner after signing him to a massive contract is a gut punch that even the most pessimistic Jets fans did not see coming. I think the team rallies together and beats the Browns, though.
Patriots at Buccaneers -2.5
This should be a terrific game. I think Tampa Bay superior playmakers (even with Mike Evans out and possibly Chris Godwin as well) make the difference.
Saints at Panthers -5.5
New Orleans is not a spunky underdog anymore with Tyler Shough under center, and Alvin Kamara looks washed.
Jaguars at Texans -1.5
C.J. Stroud is out and Houston just lost a tough one against Denver, but I believe in this Texans defense.
Cardinals +6.5 at Seahawks
Arizona has covered the spread in all three of Jacoby Brissett’s starts, and the defense came alive last week in Dallas.
Rams -3.5 at 49ers
Mac Jones has played well for San Francisco, including a month ago in a big upset over these Rams. Sean McVay and company will not let that happen again. Ram it!
Lions at Commanders +8.5
Marcus Mariota is not a big drop off from Jayden Daniels and my faith in Detroit is shaken after last week’s shocking upset loss.
Steelers at Chargers -3.5
The Bolts were punched in the mouth by Tennessee last week, but they still came back and won comfortably on the road. Yes, the Titans are awful, but that is still a good sign.
Eagles +2.5 at Packers
Philadelphia is a chalky underdog, but you can’t trust Green Bay when it just lost a second game this year as a big favorite.
I got busy over the weekend and didn’t have a chance to talk about the insane ending to the World Series. I really thought the Blue Jays were going to finish the job, but despite all of their money bags, the Dodgers maintain the grit of a desperate underdog looking to defy the odds. That’s how Los Angeles was able to escape the ninth inning of Game 7 after Toronto loaded the bases with one out. Dalton Varsho hit a sharp ground ball to second base that Miguel Rojas, who had just tied the game with an unlikely home run in the top of the inning, had to back up on. It should have been enough to score the run from third, but Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who had just been inserted as a pinch-runner for Bo Bichette, didn’t get a great jump off of third base and was forced out when Rojas threw home to catcher Will Smith.
MIGUEL ROJAS GETS HIM AT THE PLATE pic.twitter.com/lAW2GEcdDh
— MLB (@MLB) November 2, 2025
That is a run that the gritty underdog is supposed to score to get an edge over the powerhouse filled with superstars. Instead, it was Rojas with the nerves of steel and Kiner-Falefa not being desperate enough to score. The mistake of inserting Kiner-Falefa compounded itself for Toronto skipper John Schneider when the infielder came to the plate in the bottom of the 11th. Will Smith had homered for the Dodgers in the top of the frame to put Los Angeles on top, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got the Blue Jays going with a double. With Kiner-Falefa at the plate instead of Bichette, Schneider opted for a bunt to get Guerrero Jr. to third. The play was executed correctly, but it proved to be the wrong strategy as after Addison Barger walked, Yoshinobu Yamamoto got Alejandro Kirk to ground into a season-ending double play.
Poor running of the bases also doomed Toronto in Game 6 when Barger was doubled off second base following Andres Gimenez’s line drive to left field. Barger had just hit a double that somehow got stuck against the center field wall. I thought that Los Angeles outfielder Justin Dean took a huge risk by putting his hands in the air and claiming that the ball was lodged, but fortunately for him, the umpires agreed and forced Barger to stop at second base. If they said that the ball wasn’t lodged, Barger could have run all the way home thanks to Dean not playing the ball.
#Postseason hero Kiké Hernández had one final trick up his sleeve to finish out the month of October 🤯#WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/Vg9xQyZBtP
— MLB (@MLB) November 1, 2025
Anyway, without that lodged ball call, Barger might not have been at second base and he might not have run into a double play on Gimenez’s drive that was caught by Enrique Hernandez. The Blue Jays might have caught a bad break, but they also ran themselves out of the game. There’s also the possibility that Barger would have stopped at second base if the ball had just bounced off the wall, so maybe it’s not too bad of a break.
Despite Shohei Ohtani’s unbelievable Game 3 performance, the World Series MVP went to Yamamoto, and it’s hard to say that he didn’t deserve it. The man pitched a complete game to lead the Dodgers to victory in Game 2 and then pitched six innings with one run allowed in Game 6 to earn a second World Series win. We already knew Yamamoto was built different when he started warming up during the 18th inning of Game 3, but then he proved it by entering Game 7 in the ninth inning and keeping Toronto off the scoreboard until the game was over two and two thirds innings later. Yamamoto was hyped up a lot when he signed a massive deal with the Dodgers before the 2024 campaign, but he has lived up to it and then some with his heroic postseason performances.
We got some bad news on Wednesday night, as the Blue Jays are now one win away from bringing the Commissioner’s Trophy to Canada. They cruised to a 6-1 victory in Game 5 of the World Series after Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit back-to-back home runs to lead off the game. Trey Yesavage took it from there with just four batters reaching base against him (three hits and a hit by pitch) in seven innings. He struck out 12 Dodgers during the incredible performance.
Trey Yesavage is LOCKED in 🔒
He strikes out the side in the 2nd! pic.twitter.com/XcbWPvNq4N
— MLB (@MLB) October 30, 2025
Toronto now has two chances to clinch the championship in its home ballpark. The good news for the Dodgers is that Yoshinobu Yamamoto is slated to start Game 6, and he is coming off of two straight complete games. Kevin Gausman will take the mound for the Blue Jays after being outdueled by Yamamoto in Game 2.
We got a little football action during the World Series’ off day, and I’m happy to say that I started the week 1-0 with my picks, but these standings remained the same because everyone picked Baltimore to crush Miami.
Here are the rest of my Week 9 picks as I try to escape the Isle of Mid.
Ravens -7.5 at Dolphins
Miami surprisingly blew out Atlanta on the road last week, but Baltimore was also impressive. I think Lamar Jackson’s return gets the Ravens the points they need to cover the spread.
Bears -2.5 at Bengals
The Bengals have scored more than 30 points in each of the past two weeks with Joe Flacco under center, but the defense still stinks. I think Caleb Williams has a day.
Vikings at Lions -8.5
Detroit is great at covering big spreads like this one because they can keep scoring even when trying to kill the clock.
Panthers +12.5 at Packers
Last week was a big return to form for Green Bay, but Carolina isn’t a pushover.
Chargers -9.5 at Titans
I’m done picking the Titans to cover anything.
Falcons +5.5 at Patriots
The Falcons are Jekyll and Hyde. I think they play well on the road after everyone wrote them off.
49ers at Giants +2.5
Maybe this isn’t Kyle Shanahan’s masterpiece after all? The win over the Rams is looking like a fluke.
Colts at Steelers +3.5
I am going back to the Pittsburgh home underdog well. Indianapolis has been a juggernaut, but its schedule has been very soft.
Broncos at Texans -1.5
Texans have now won three of four, but they played terribly in the one game of those I watched. That was at Seattle, and Houston has been better at home.
Jaguars at Raiders +3.5
Just when I was starting to believe that the Jaguars weren’t frauds, they go out and lose two in a row.
Chiefs at Bills +1.5
Chiefs have been unstoppable since the Jacksonville loss, but Buffalo appears rejuvenated after the bye week.
Seahawks -3.5 at Commanders
Washington might just be bad.
Cardinals at Cowboys -2.5
Cowboys at home is the easiest pick every time they play at home.
Since the World Series shifted to Los Angeles on Monday night, the Dodgers won a game that will be considered one of the greatest in the history of the Fall Classic. The next day, the Blue Jays won a very boring game by comparison, but they both count the same and we are tied 2-2 heading into a pivotal Game 5 on Wednesday night.
FREDDIE FREEMAN WALK-OFF HOME RUN IN THE 18TH INNING! #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/wD1xbRxDbC
— MLB (@MLB) October 28, 2025
So how did we get here? It has a lot to do with Shohei Ohtani cementing his legacy as an all-time baseball legend and setting a Postseason record by reaching base nine times during the Game 3 marathon that ended on Freddie Freeman’s walk-off home run off of Brendon Little to lead off the bottom of the 18th. If nine times on base with no outs made wasn’t amazing enough, Ohtani’s first four plate appearances resulted in extra-base hits, and the last two led to the Dodgers coming back and tying the game. His double in the fifth inning drove in Enrique Hernandez to make the score 4-3 before Freeman singled to get Ohtani home with the equalizing run.
SHOHEI OHTANI'S SECOND HOMER OF THE NIGHT
TIE GAME! #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/eA6h6saLnV
— MLB (@MLB) October 28, 2025
Then, after Bo Bichette’s single down the right field line got Vladimir Guerrero all the way from first to home with the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh, Ohtani answered with his second home run of the game to tie the score at 5-5, where it would stay for the next 11 innings. Part of the reason the game stayed tied for so long was that Toronto intentionally walked Ohtani during his next four plate appearances and then walked him conventionally in his final plate appearance to mix things up. That last walk by Little in the 17th inning was so noncompetitive that it looked like an old intentional walk from back when you had to throw the ball to the catcher. The craziest part of the five Ohtani walks was that only one of them came in a typical intentional walk scenario with first base open and a runner on second or third. On the other four occasions, Blue Jays manager John Schneider either put Ohtani on as the winning run or to push the winning run into scoring position. The strategy worked.
We also wouldn’t have made it to the 18th inning without a couple of relief pitcher heroes in Eric Lauer for Toronto and Will Klein for Los Angeles. Lauer is a former Padres and Brewers southpaw who split his time between starting and relief pitching this season with the Blue Jays. He threw four and two thirds scoreless innings after entering the game with one out in the 12th. Klein’s four shutout frames were even more surprising because he had never started a game before in his two-year big league career. In his 22 regular season appearances, he never went longer than two innings before, and yet here was Stein taking the Dodgers deep into the night when they didn’t know if they even had another pitcher available.
PAINT
The Dodgers' TENTH pitcher of the night keeps it tied in the 15th! #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/ApMh6prBlG
— MLB (@MLB) October 28, 2025
If Little had retired Freeman in the 18th, we might have seen something as incredible as Stein’s great outing. That’s because Yoshinobu Yamamoto was warming up in the bullpen after throwing his second straight complete game of the Postseason just two days before! Just when I thought I would never see a pitcher save his team on short rest again, Yamamoto was willing to come back on one day of rest! It’s kind of a shame that Freeman ended the game when he did, because that would have been something to see. It REALLY would have been a shame if Toronto won, but at least that didn’t happen.
Monday night’s cathartic Game 3 victory made it seem like Los Angeles had all the momentum, especially with Ohtani on the mound to start Game 4. Could he possibly grow his legend even more? It turns out that no, he could not. The Dodgers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning when a Max Muncy walk and a Tommy Edman single led to a sac fly by Hernandez, but Shane Bieber would keep Los Angeles off the scoreboard for the rest of his five and a third innings. Toronto struck back and took the lead in the third when Guerrero Jr. launched a two-run home run off of Ohtani.
VLADDY GETS AHOLD OF ONE! #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/UIgEgJBUPu
— MLB (@MLB) October 29, 2025
The Dodgers’ best chance to retake the lead came in the sixth when Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez singled to set the table with one out, but Mason Fluharty came on for Bieber and got Max Muncy to fly out before striking out Edman to end the threat. The Blue Jays started the seventh with two straight hits to chase Ohtani and went on to rally for four runs with RBI hits coming from Andres Gimenez, Bichette, and Addison Barger. That was more than enough for Toronto, and it went on to win 6-2.
It feels like we’ve already had enough dramatic events to fill a whole series (probably because the Dodgers and Blue Jays have played five games’ worth of innings in four games), but there are still at least two more games left to play in the 2025 season. I can’t wait to see what happens in Game 5 tonight with Blake Snell on the bump for Los Angeles against Trey Yesavage for Toronto.
Boy, did I have a bad sports day on Sunday. It was bad enough when the Giants got whomped by the Eagles so badly that it made New York’s home win over Philly two weeks ago seem like a total fluke. Then I had to watch the Knicks fall behind the Heat by 18 points in the fourth quarter and tease with a comeback before falling 115-107. The cap off the evening, the Rangers lost a second straight game to one of the worst teams in hockey.
At least the 38-20 defeat suffered by the Giants might have been closer in an alternate universe where the referees called the game fairly. I’m not a big blame-the-refs guy, and the Giants might have lost this game anyway due to some horrendous run defense that allowed Saquon Barkley to take off on a 65-yard touchdown run on Philly’s first possession, but a few calls in this game were very frustrating.
After the Giants tied the score 7-7 on a touchdown pass from Jaxson Dart to Cameron Skattebo, the Eagles answered with a drive of their own that hit a snag when Jalen Hurts scrambled for eight yards on 3rd and 9. Usually this wouldn’t be a problem for Philly because of its famous Tush Push that it uses whenever there is one yard to go. However, this time Giants defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux ripped the ball away from Hurts as he reached for the first down. This looked like a huge momentum shift as the Tush Push was not supposed to be beatable. It was a huge play early in the game, until the refs explained that Hurts’ forward momentum had stopped after he achieved the first down but before he lost the football. How convenient!
Some more looks at the non-fumble on the Eagles tush push due to forward progress being called.@KevinBurkhardt, @TomBrady, and @DeanBlandino discuss: pic.twitter.com/g1leAsahVS
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 26, 2025
I don’t understand how forward progress is stopped when the ball carrier is still moving forward. Since the call of forward progress being stopped isn’t able to be overturned by replay, the Giants couldn’t challenge the ruling (although they did anyway). Barkley caught a touchdown pass from Hurts two plays later to make the score 14-7 Eagles, and they would lead for the rest of the game.
To make matters worse for the Giants, Skattebo suffered a gruesome ankle injury on the ensuring possession, and he is presumed lost for the season. New York continued to battle, but it blew a huge chance to get off the field early in the fourth quarter when a Brian Burns sack for a massive 21-yard loss was immediately undone by a handoff to Tank Bigsby.
2nd & 31: 1st down Eagles pic.twitter.com/3jZC6OGHoM
— Bobby Skinner (@BobbySkinner_) October 26, 2025
That play led to a Hurt touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert, but the Giants appeared to bounce right back with Dart throwing a 68-yard touchdown pass to Darius Slayton on 4th and 11. Alas, the incredible play was overturned by a dubious offensive pass interference call, and that was pretty much it for the competitive part of the game. The Giants are now 2-6 and without Skattebo as well as Malik Nabers. They will take on the 49ers in New Jersey next Sunday.
As if the Giants game wasn’t sad enough, I got to watch the Knicks shoot 39 percent from the field at Miami and the Rangers lose 5-1 to the 1-7-1 Flames. We’ve got to do better this week.
The Dodgers needed a hero after the Blue Jays crushed them in Game 1 with a nine-run rally in the sixth inning that led to an 11-4 Toronto win. Los Angeles took an early 2-0 lead with an RBI single by Enrique Hernandez in the second inning and one by Will Smith in the third, but it both frames, the Dodgers could have had so much more. In the second, Andy Pages was struck out by Trey Yesavage with the bases loaded before Shohei Ohtani grounded out feebly to end the threat with just one run scored. In the third, Freddie Freeman was thrown out trying to reach third base on Smith’s RBI hit, and that helped Yesavage escape another jam without giving up a crooked number.
Blake Snell was shaky during his five innings. He gave up a two-run home run by Dalton Varsho in the fourth that tied the game and then loaded the bases in the sixth with a walk, a single by Alejandro Kirk, and a hit by pitch. That set the stage for Toronto’s massive rally with October gas can Emmet Sheehan allowing RBI singles to Ernie Clement and Andres Gimenez before Anthony Banda got taken deep by Addison Barger for the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history.
ADDISON BARGER
PINCH-HIT
GRAND SLAM#WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/REg58MNosp— MLB (@MLB) October 25, 2025
If we didn’t want to see a Canadian team take a 2-0 lead in the World Series and get halfway towards breaking the nation’s Commissioner’s Trophy and Stanley Cup drought, we needed someone to step up and take a stand. That man was Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who in his last start pitched a complete game against the Brewers in Game 2 of the NLCS. No way he could repeat the feat in the year 2025, could he?
Yoshinobu Yamamoto closes out an incredible #WorldSeries performance 🤩 pic.twitter.com/fxWxO49kQN
— MLB (@MLB) October 26, 2025
Unbelievably, in the era of pitch counts and babying of pitchers, Yamamoto made it through all nine innings again with just one run allowed and zero walks. He struck out eight Blue Jays, including three in a row during the eighth inning, and retired the last 20 batters that he faced. After Kirk hit a sac fly to tie the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the third inning, not one Toronto batter reached base. After Los Angeles rallied for two runs each in the seventh and eighth innings, it came away with a 5-1 victory to tie the World Series at one game apiece. What a heroic performance by Yamamoto, not just for the Dodgers, but for America. If not for Yamamoto’s gem, we could be two games away from Canadian sports fans saying “Who cares about the Stanley Cup drought? We won the World Series!”
And nobody wants that.
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What we learned today in the NFL (Sunday, Week 16) —
What we learned today in the NFL —
— Dallas does have some pride after all
— Tampa Bay is jinxed
— New England is both pesky and pitiful at the same time
— Cincy is on a mission… possibly to nowhere
— Cleveland is DOA with DTR
— Miami still looks like one of the best of those who get a rest after Week 18.
— The Rams have a great coach, a great QB, some great receivers, a money RB and a scrappy defense …. which might be all they need to win the NFC
— The Eagles can’t get a Super Bowl ticket with Pickett
— Detroit should not consider Chicago a tune up for anything,… including the Vikings
— Atlanta seems to be rising like a Phoenix, with Penix
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NASCAR Preview: XFINITY 500 @ Martinsville Speedway
Hello, Chabdog racing fans, and welcome to XFINITY 500, the last race of the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs! Today, we find ourselves in a sold-out race at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Below is the current layout of this short track and adjacent facilities. The most unique aspect of this track is that it’s shaped like a paper clip with straightaways made of asphalts and turns made from concrete.
Source: MVS-22-338694 Facility Map Update_v2 (martinsvillespeedway.com)
Qualifying is done for this race, and I’ve posted the Top 10 drivers as shown below:
Source: Martinsville Speedway 2 Race Results, Lineup | Official Site Of NASCAR
Below are our current playoff standings (Round of 8). Please note that the Round of 8 is made up of 3 races: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (10/15), Homestead-Miami Speedway (10/22), and Martinsville Speedway (10/29). Today, we expect all the playoff drivers to push hard to either win this race or gain as many points as possible by staying at the very front of the pack with the exception of Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell who’ve already clinched a spot for the Championship 4 race on November 5th. Finally, a win here by any of the six remaining drivers will automatically clinch them a spot in the Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway next week as well.
Source: 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs | Official Site Of NASCAR
Every week the Chabdog Sports Team makes on-air picks on the show for the upcoming NASCAR race and earns points based on the following criteria:
: Anyone who picks the winning driver gets 3 points.
: Anyone who picks the 2nd place driver gets 2 points.
: Anyone who picks the 3rd place driver gets 1 point.
Lastly, if no one picks a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place driver then 1 point is awarded to the picked driver that is closest to the podium. Therefore, in our fantasy game, someone from the team always walks away with a point.
For those who are unavailable to make a pick, or do not make a pick prior to the start of the race, then that host is given the “chalk pick”. The “chalk pick” is the poll position driver for that week’s race. This week’s “chalk pick” is Martin Truex Jr.
Last week’s race results:
Source: Homestead-Miami Speedway Race Results, Lineup | Official Site Of NASCAR
My pick: William Byron
Lastly, sound off who you think our podium winner is for today’s race in the comments below!
With that, let’s get ready to NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASCAR!
| | @darthvaber99
Week 8: Abe’s Shitty NFL Picks (AST)
Hey everyone and welcome to another episode of me making shitty picks based on flawed science, numbies based solely on Taylor Swift’s game attendance, and mistaken logic since my current record is:
Week 1: 6 Week 2: 8 Week 3: 6 Week 4: 8 Week 5: 6 Week 6: 11 Week 7: 4
Also, need to honorably mention that fading me statistically (53.33%) gives you a way better chance of making any money from my NFL picks, hence, Abe’s Shitty NFL Picks. So let’s try this again with the goal of trying to pick more right games than wrong ones in Week 8!
BILLS -8.5: Baker Mayfield (QB) is currently listed as questionable for this matchup against the Bills so there’s a good chance the Bucs hurt offense will not be able to catch up to the Bills allowing them to cover the 8.5 point spread.
PATRIOTS +9.5: The Dolphins have both WR Tyreek Hill (hip injury) and RB Raheem Mostert (ankle injury) listed as questionable which would be a huge blow to their offense if they do not play against a Patriots team who just beat the Buffalo Bills in Week 7. Both Mostert and Hill have put in huge offensive numbies so far this season, and without them, it will be difficult to beat the Patriots by more than 9.5 points.
JETS -3: The Giants may have recently beaten the Commanders in Week 7, however, they’ve been gawd awful before then. Additionally, the Giants RB Saquon Barkley is currently listed as questionable (elbow), which only further helps the Jets cover the spread in this one. Ultimately, the Jets have beaten the Eagles (Week 7) and the Broncos (Week 6) by more than 3 points so I do not see how any of this would suggest the Jets would not be able to cover the spread in this one.
JAGUARS -2.5: Last week I did not pick the Jaguars simply because I did not think Trevor Lawerence (QB) would be plowing through the Saints wearing a knee brace as he was checked off as questionable. Again, Lawerence is listed as questionable for this game, but won’t be surprised to see him out on the field again wearing his knee brace and plowing through the Steelers to cover the spread in Pittsburgh.
FALCONS -3: I didn’t get a lot of games right last week, but I did get the Falcons right considering they had better offensive and defensive numbers to beat the Bucs. The same applies here, as the Falcons find themselves in a similar situation over the Titans (except that the Bucs are a slightly better team) and will use the same winning formula I used last week to make this pick.
TEXANS -3: The 0-6 Panthers are horrendous and simply can’t compute a scenario where they’re going to be anywhere near the 3-point spread against the Texans in this one. Especially against a team that has already beaten the Saints, the Steelers & the Jaguars.
RAMS +6.5: The Rams have all the offensive numbies in their favor to not only cover the spread but to outright beat the Cowboys at AT&T. However, both teams have been hit or miss this season, and with that kind of record, it’s hard to trust any of these teams with that kind of spread. Going to side with Rams here to keep this game truer to their actual numbies.
VIKINGS -1: WTF happened to the Packers this season? Yes, we all knew Jordan Love wasn’t going to have a perfect season, but to lose to both the Raiders (Week 6) and the Broncos (Week 7) back to back is simply screaming your team is a raging…flaming…dumpster fire. Yes, the Vikings have not been stellar this season either, but they did beat the 49ers last week, and if they can do that, what makes anyone think they cannot beat the Packers by 1 point in this Pick’em game?
SAINTS +1: The Saints and the Colts are simply two garbage teams battling it out to be crowned king of the dump on Sunday. These two teams have an identical track record and are both coming off a losing streak. The Saints are coming into this game with 3 additional rest days and a better defense. The only issue I have with the Saints is that Derek Carr has had some issues connecting with his offensive players, although not entirely his fault. Again, not too much separating these teams here, but handing the slight advantage to the Saints in this Pick’em game.
EAGLES -6.5: The Eagles have clearly demonstrated that they can get the ball down the field by killing the Dolphins in Week 7 using their immaculate tush push strategy to get the extra yards they need for a first down and killing them by way more than the spread we have in this match up. Easy breezy money.
SEAHAWKS -3.5: PJ Walker will start for the Browns against the Seahawks, which could favor the Hawks in this game at home. The only thing going for the Browns in this one is their defense, however, the Colts proved in Week 7 that they could get 38 points out of them and I assume the Hawks will be watching some film on that this week.
RAVENS -8.5: The Cardinals have lost their four last games by 10+ points while beating the Lions by 30+ points in Week 7. Signs that the Ravens shouldn’t have a problem covering the spread.
CHIEFS -7: The Broncos once again find themselves playing the Chiefs who lost to them 19-8. I’m sure they’ll work on fixing those mistakes this week, however, execution is where the money is at and I don’t think they have what it takes to cover the spread.
BENGALS -5.5: Brock Purdy is questionable, is in concussion protocol, and will probably not play in this one. That being said, we can expect the 49ers to not play as well as they would normally do against this Bengals team. Also, keep in mind that the 49ers are on a losing streak while the Bengals are on a winning one.
BEARS +8.5: The West Coast Bears (Chargers) are in no position to beat anyone by 8.5 points, especially after giving up more than 432 yards this season and being an utter disappointment to Chargers Superfan Merianne Do who has gone 0-2 since going viral.
LIONS -8.5: Both the Raiders and the Lions lost by great margins in Week 7, however, the Raiders have been consistently not so good whereas the Lions have been consistently pretty dominant prior to last week’s game. Jimmy Garoppolo (QB) is currently listed as questionable for this game for his back, but will most likely return in this matchup per the latest reports. However, Jimmy G has already thrown 8 interceptions this season which is concerning since he hasn’t played 8 games which could help the Lions cover the spread if he throws another interception in this one. Leaning on the Raiders dropping the ball in Detroit in true Raiders fashion.
*All odds courtesy of Bet MGM on 10/25/2023
Let me know in the comments your thoughts on Week 8 below, or wherever you find this posted on social media
| | @darthvaber99
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Murray State Makes History and Panthers Dominate the Ice
The College World Series field of eight is set, and the best story was saved for last with Murray State defeating Duke 5-4 to advance to its first ever CWS. It was miraculous enough that the Racers beat Ole Miss in two of three games to advance from the Oxford Regional, but they followed it up with wins in Game 2 and Game 3 of the Durham Super Regional to reach Omaha. The NCAA Baseball Tournament doesn’t get nearly as much attention as the basketball version, but that doesn’t make Murray State’s Cinderella run any less fun. It appeared to be over for the Racers when they lost to Duke in Game 1 on Saturday, but they bounced back with 19 runs in Sunday’s win before defeating the Blue Devils for a second straight time tonight. Duke took a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning on a solo shot by Jake Berger, but Murray State equalized in the seventh on Jonathan Hogart’s second home run of the night before going ahead in the eighth on a Luke Mistone’s solo job.
MURRAY STATE TAKES THE LEAD!! 😤#RoadToOmaha x 🎥 ESPN / @RacersBaseball pic.twitter.com/LI9TzBIHyr
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 10, 2025
With Murray State ahead 5-4 in the ninth, the umpires tried to end the game early by calling Duke for double play interference on the cleanest takeout slide I have ever seen. Fortunately the call was overturned, and the Racers were able to regroup and get the final out despite celebrating prematurely before the replay review. The College World Series will start on Friday with Coastal Carolina taking on Arizona. Murray State plays its first game on Saturday against UCLA. After last year’s CWS field was split between four SEC teams and four ACC teams, this year there is more diversity with only two SEC teams and one from the ACC. The Pac-12 would have led with three programs in Omaha if it had never broken up, but UCLA, Oregon State, and Arizona now all represent different conferences.
Down in South Florida, the Panthers took control of the Stanley Cup Final with 6-1 pounding of Edmonton. The last two times we had a repeat Stanley Cup Final, the titles were split between each team. Sydney Crosby and the Penguins lost to Detroit in 2008 before winning the Cup in 2009. Likewise, Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers fell to the Islanders in 1983 before defeating them in 1984. So history is on Edmonton’s side, but momentum is certainly not. The Oilers appeared to be setting us up for another classic game when Corey Perry slammed in a rebound on the power play to start the second period and make the score 2-1 Florida, but the Panthers struck back with a Sam Reinhart goal that took advantage of an Edmonton turnover deep in its own end. Sam Bennett followed up by undressing Stuart Skinner on a breakaway to put the Panthers up 4-1 and they ran away from there.
In baseball, we saw the best home run robbery in a long time when Denzel Clarke went way over the wall to take a big fly away from Nolan Schanuel. Poor guy only has 17 career home runs.
DENZEL CLARKE OMG! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/2QJBAkmZqN
— MLB (@MLB) June 10, 2025
The Mets and USA Soccer return on Tuesday, but the NBA Finals aren’t back until Wednesday. Remember, it’s Thunder in five.
Thunder Snap Back to Reality and Crush Pacers in Game 2 of NBA Finals
That’s more like it, Thunder! It would be nice if Oklahoma City had defeated Indiana in Game 1 so we wouldn’t have to endure three days of talk about how the Pacers just have the “it” factor and how Tyrese Haliburton is underrated and how those plucky underdog Pacers just never give up. Still, I’ll take a standard issue thrashing in which the Thunder pulled away in the second quarter, led by 18 at halftime, and never let Indiana get close in the second half. The Pacers still have home court advantage thanks to their Game 1 comeback, but it’s nice to see them not go ahead 2-0 like they did in their first three series of these NBA Playoffs.
AARON WIGGINS OVER HALIBURTON 🔥
Richard Jefferson with some poetry on the call 😂 pic.twitter.com/QDGFFvNZ9j
— ESPN (@espn) June 9, 2025
Finally, someone had a response in Game 2 of a seven-game series. The Pacers were balanced as usual with seven players scoring in double figures and five players handing out four or more assists, but they were no match for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 34 points and eight dimes. Oklahoma City also got great bench performances from Alex Caruso and Aaron Wiggins during its 123-107 win. We have to wait until Wednesday for Game 3 because Adam Silver is too busy worrying about the center court logo to deal with the NBA’s real problems, but I’m confident that the Thunder will keep rolling and wrap up the title in five games.
Elsewhere in sports, the Red Sox won their rubber game against the Yankees 11-7 with both teams combining for eight home runs. Aaron Judge got a pair of dingers, but Boston made up for those and more with Trevor Story and Kristian Campbell going deep despite both slugging under .400 this year. The Red Sox are still a disappointment this season, but it’s nice to see Tampa Bay and Toronto come alive lately to make the Yankees sweat a little.
Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final Featured Beautiful Goals and a Stunning Finish
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final was pretty darn exciting with the Edmonton Oilers coming back from two goals down and winning on a Leon Draisaitl power play goal with 31 seconds left to go in overtime. However, Game 2 blew it out of the water with five first-period goals, a last-minute equalizer, and a breakaway winner in double overtime. My favorite part of the game was the Panthers and Oilers exchanging gorgeous goals midway through the first period. It started with Edmonton holding a 2-1 lead and Euto Luostarinen threading the needle to Seth Jones, who shot the puck into a net so wide open that I could have scored it.
Some pretty passing from the @FlaPanthers! 😱 #StanleyCup
🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctFTeam Players presented by @Budweiser pic.twitter.com/BVqp3DnzY5
— NHL (@NHL) June 7, 2025
That was nothing compared to Edmonton’s response, though. Connor McDavid put all of his world-class moves on display in one play and found Draisaitl to put his team back on top.
MCDAVID IS NOT FROM THIS PLANET 🔥🤯 pic.twitter.com/uvYbxLJPgH
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) June 7, 2025
The greatest player in the world right now completely undressed one defender, then hit the toe drag on the next before finding Draisaitl for the easy finish. Not all assists are created equal. We need a separate category for that work of art. Maybe that goal should have been worth two, because it would be a while until Edmonton scored again. Florida lit the lamp twice in the second period to take the lead, including Brad Marchand’s first breakaway goal of the evening. The score remained 4-3 until the final minute of regulation, when Corey Perry made history by scoring the latest game-tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history.
COREY PERRY TIES IT WITH 17 SECONDS LEFT 🪱 pic.twitter.com/sKhNQORt2l
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 7, 2025
That is how you send a Canadian city into a frenzy. I don’t know how Perry pulled that off while he was wrapped about a Florida player, but it made for some spectacular drama. That excitement would continue for another period and a half until Marchand scored on a breakaway again, this time finishing with a backhand finish through Stuart Skinner’s legs.
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1931207142490386878
It’s still unclear if Marchand touched the puck with the backhand, but I don’t know how it gets by Skinner without coming off of Marchand’s stick. Just like that, the Final was even at one game a piece. Since the NBA pushed its Game 2 to Sunday night, we have to wait until Monday for more puck action. Well, they could have done a matinee on Sunday, but that would be way too much fun.
While the first four periods of hockey were going on, the Mets somehow pulled out a 4-2 win in Colorado despite the Rockies loading the bases against Ryne Stanek with the scored tied in the eighth inning and no outs. Ryan McMahon hit a line drive that could have won the game for Colorado, but instead Brett Baty snagged it and fell on third base for a double play that the Mets desperately needed. Francisco Lindor followed up with his best Willis Reed impression, pinch-hitting with a broken toe and hitting a two-RBI double in the ninth to give New York the decisive runs.
Finally, we got some crazy news on Saturday with Penn State being expected to sign the top prospect in the 2026 NHL Draft. I might have to buy a B1G+ subscription package if that happens.
How do the Indiana Pacers Keep Doing This?
I really can’t stand Tyrese Haliburton. On Thursday night in Oklahoma City he came up with ANOTHER super clutch, last-second bucket to steal ANOTHER playoff game in which Indiana trailed in the final minute. This time, it happened to be Game 1 of the NBA Finals. I thought the Thunder were better than this, but they fell victim to Haliburton’s heroics, just like all the Eastern Conference teams before them. At least Oklahoma City only led by three points in the last minute of the fourth quarter before falling to the Pacers 111-110. In the three rounds prior, the Bucks, Cavaliers, and Knicks all blew games against Indiana in which they were lead by seven or more with less than 60 seconds to play.
Still, Oklahoma City led by 15 with less than 10 minutes to go, so this is still a big time collapse by a squad that had dominated the NBA all season and appeared ready to be coronated as champions. Some hot three-point shooting by Obi Toppin and Myles Turner helped Indiana get the deficit down to single digits, but NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander kept the Pacers at bay and pushed the lead back to nine points with three minutes left. However, consecutive three-point makes by Aaron Nesmith and Andrew “Nimrod” Nembhard made it a one-possession game at the two-minute mark. After Pascal Siakam scored by luckily rebounding an air ball chucked up by Nimrod, SGA had a chance to make it a three-point game with an open 15-footer, but he missed the jumper to set up Haliburton’s 20-foot winner over Cason Wallace.
New stage… same result.
ANOTHER game-winner for Tyrese Haliburton in his Finals debut 🤯🤯🤯pic.twitter.com/22QbhQNqyf
— NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2025
What really bothers me about Haliburton is that he thinks he’s proving the doubters wrong by hitting these clutch shots, but he’s really proving them right by not consistently performing like the hero he thinks he is. The man had 12 points before his last-second jumper in Game 1. “But he’s so unstoppable, he can pull up from anywhere!” Then maybe he should do so before his team falls into a big hole. Some more impulsive shots would have helped the Pacers avoid a few of their 24 turnovers.
Mets Create Good Vibes and Then Destroy Them in Los Angeles
You have to give me a lot of credit for continuing to pay attention to the Mets on the day that the Nintendo Switch 2 launches. We got the first new Nintendo console in eight years and the first new Mario Kart game in 11 years, and they were both released on the same day! It is a pretty exciting time to be a Nintendo fan, but the Mets are pretty exciting as well, especially when Pete Alonso is smashing the ball out of the park like he was on Wednesday night. His two-run home run in the first inning put the Mets ahead 3-0, and after Griffin Canning finished up one of his best starts of the season, Polar Bear put the game away with a three-run blast in the eighth. The Mets ended up with a dominant 6-1 win over the defending World Series champs thanks to Alonso’s powerful offense and Canning’s masterful six innings.
The victory clinched the season series for the Mets over the Dodgers, and that could come into play down the line since these teams are two of the National League’s top World Series contenders. The Mets could have done one better by winning on Thursday to take three of four in Los Angeles, but they decided to kill the good vibes instead. New York jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to solo shots off of Landon Knack by Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Starling Marte, but the Dodgers answered back with three runs in the bottom of the third. Right there it felt like the Mets would lose this game, but as usual they hooked us back in to believing in a possible victory. David Peterson settled down and ended up lasting seven innings without giving up another run. The former first-round draft pick is finally pitching a lot of innings this season and appears to be on his way to a career year. The amount of pleasant surprises on this New York pitching staff is really something.