ODI Cricket Cup Controversy || NBA CUP TIME || MLB Coaching Frenzy || NFL Crazy Facts This Week

Edition #15

Intro

You might see something new today. What is it, you ask if you couldn’t find it? NFL Crazy Facts is the one. Why did I add it? Well, let’s just say it popped up in a dream. We have a massive controversy in Cricket, we’ll talk about the NBA Cup for the first time in this newsletter, and coaching changes everywhere in the MLB.

ODI Cricket Cup Controversy in Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh || Standings Review

South Africa vs India isn’t the hottest thing to discuss right now. It’s Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh. Now, normally this game would go unnoticed because Sri Lanka is out of the playoff stage and Bangladesh probably is too, but when it’s this big, I won’t miss it.

Entering the records books for all the wrong reasons, veteran batter Angelo Mathews was given out without facing a single ball. Mathews was livid with himself after match umpire Marais Erasmus adjudged him out following an appeal made by Bangladesh for a timed-out. The Sri Lankan all-rounder scripted an unwanted record by becoming the first batter to get timed out at the One-Day International (ODI) World Cup.

Mathews, who arrived to bat after the fall of Sadeera Samarawickrama’s wicket in the 25th over, came in the middle with the wrong helmet – one that had its strap broken – and signaled to the dressing room for a swap. But by the time he’d got the new one, the umpires had deemed him timed out since he wasn’t ready to face the first ball in the stipulated time.

As per the laws, the batter needs to be ready to face the ball within two minutes of a previous dismissal or retirement. Mathews tried to explain his case to Shakib (the Bangladesh Captain) as the Sri Lankan batter argued about being late to face the first ball because the strap of his helmet was broken. However, Shakib refused to withdraw the appeal and Mathews received his marching orders in Delhi. Mathews was given out as he was not ready to face the first ball of his innings within the given time.

There have been questions all over the internet that ask if this is a disgrace to the game or not. Now it’s your turn. Is this call a disgrace to the game? Or not?

As you might have suspected, yes Sri Lanka lost and so after the game, they didn’t even care to give handshakes to Bangladesh instead packing their stuff up and leaving.

Standings

India beat South Africa pretty badly. They started by running the score up to 326 in 50 overs and then gave it to the bowling, who once again didn’t fail to impress by HOLDING SOUTH AFRICA TO ONLY 83 RUNS IN 27 OVERS! India all-outed South Africa and clung on to the top spot. They have the first seed in the semis.

The next big game started early today and is in its last 10 or 15 overs. We have Australia vs Afghanistan.

The last big game of the “regular season” is South Africa vs Afghanistan because if Afghanistan wins against Australia and if they win against South Africa, they might punch themselves a playoff spot.

NBA Cup. What is it? News!

What is it?

All 30 NBA teams will participate in the 67-game tournament over the next few weeks: Each team will play four games in a group stage, and the top eight contenders will advance to a knockout round that leads up to the semifinals and an early December championship in Las Vegas, the winner of which are awarded the new “NBA Cup.”

The tournament takes place in parallel with the standard NBA season: All tournament match-ups will also count as regular-season games except the championship, factoring into the standings used to determine which teams make the NBA Playoffs in the spring.

Teams’ schedules will still include non-tournament games over the next few weeks, with matches that count toward the tournament taking place on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Players and coaches on the team that wins the NBA Cup will get $500,000—a figure that will descend based on team placement as runners-up ($200,000), semifinalists ($100,000), and quarterfinalists ($50,000), according to ESPN.

Assistant coaches will share a separate pool of money that will be worth 75% of the winning coach’s total, ESPN reported.

Colorful courts and new uniforms will be used in the tournament, with uniforms featuring alternative designs and unique fonts not seen in previous seasons.

A $500,000 championship prize wouldn’t be a massive deal for highly compensated players like Lebron James and Stephen Curry, who are both set to bring in at least $100 million each this season on-court and off-court, according to estimates. However, the prize money could be a boon for bench players bringing in around $1 million a year—the minimum NBA salary.

News

Just some bullets from YESTERDAY before we talk a little bit more

• The Pacers put up 152 POINTS against WEMBANYAMA and the Spurs

• Timberwolves UPSET THE CELTICS

• Lakers fall to the Heat by 1

• The 76ers put up 146 POINTS against the Wizards

• The Knicks UPSET the Clippers

Now, the 76ers are on a roll without James Harden. They have 5 straight wins in a row and James Harden put up 17, but the Clippers STILL LOSE. I mean, you have Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and now James Harden! What else do you need?

The Warriors took the L against the Cavaliers but bounced right back with a win against the Pistons and a 37 point 4th quarter effort. They improve to 6-2 and 3rd in the NBA Western Conference Standings.

NFL Crazy Facts This Week!

1. Stroud sets rookie record. The Houston QB set the record for most passing yards in a single game by a rookie with 470. His total topped the old record of 433, which had been held by Andrew Luck. Stroud also became just the third QB in NFL history to throw for at least 470 yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions, joining Y.A. Tittle and Ben Roethlisberger.

2. Greatest Show on Turf. The Texans had three different receivers catch at least five passes for at least 100 yards, making them just the fourth team in the Super Bowl era to pull off that feat. They joined the 1982 Rams, 1995 Lions and 2018 Rams. 

3. Texans kicking chaos. With a field goal agains the Buccaneers, Dare Ogunbowale became the first non-kicker or punter to hit a field goal since 2004, when Wes Welker did it. Ogunbowale is also the first running back with a field goal since Tony Galbreath in 1979. 

4. Out of Tune. Cardinals QB Clayton Tune became the first QB to get shut out in his first career NFL start since 2014 when it happened to Johnny Manziel. Coincidentally, Tune lost to Manziel's old team -- the Browns -- 27-0. With Tune running the show, the Cardinals totaled just 58 yards of offense, which was their lowest total since 1955.

5. Brown out. By holding the Cardinals to just 58 yards, the Browns have now held two different opponents under 100 yards this season, which is impressive, when you consider that no other team has even done it once this season. Also, the Browns are the first team since 1992 to hold multiple teams under 100 yards in one season. 

6. Raiders win big with an interim coach. The 30-6 win by Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce was the fifth-largest margin of victory ever by an interim coach and the biggest since 2015 when Dan Campbell led the Dolphins to a 28-point win.

7. Punters are people, too. Raiders punter A.J. Cole had a record-setting game against the Giants. Cole averaged 63.6 yards on five punts, breaking the previous NFL record of 63.0 yards, which was set by Carolina's Andy Lee in 2016. 

8. CeeDee Lamb goes off.  With 191 yards against the Eagles, Lamb has now gone over 150 yards in back-to-back weeks, making him just the second player in Cowboys history pull off that feat. The only other time it happened came in 2009 when Miles Austin did it. 

   (Did a bad job….)

9. Minnesota magic. During the Vikings' win over Atlanta, Josh Dobbs totaled three touchdowns, making him the first player in NFL history to total three touchdowns in consecutive weeks with two different teams. Dobbs had two passing touchdowns and one rushing TD while playing for the Cardinals in Week 8. He then followed that up with two passing touchdowns and a rushing TD for the Vikings in Week 9. Dobb is also the just the second QB to throw at least 20 passes for two different teams in consecutive weeks (He threw 37 with the Cardinals in Week 8). The only other QB to accomplish this was Bernie Kosar, who did it with the Browns and Cowboys in 1993. 

10. All Saints day. The Saints forced five turnovers against the Bears with three of those coming from Paulson Adebo, who recorded two interceptions, while also forcing and recovering a fumble. With that stat line, Paulson became the first defensive player since Charles Woodson in 2009 to pull all that off in a single game. 

11. Taysom Hill joins rare club. With a TD catch against the Bears, Hill now has 10 for his career, which makes him just the fifth player in NFL history to tally 10 TD catches, 10 TD runs while also throwing 10 TD passes. The last player to pull that off was Frank Gifford in 1964.

12. Cowboys kicker sets NFL record.  With his first field goal against the Eagles, Brandon Aubrey set an NFL record for most consecutive field goals made to start a career. Aubrey has now made 19 straight, which puts him ahead of former record-holder Travis Coons, who hit 18 to start his career.

13. NFL's oldest player takes the field. Aaron Rodgers no longer holds the honor of being the oldest NFL player to play in a game this year, thanks to Jason Peters. The 41-year-old offensive lineman signed with the Seahawks this week and he saw some action on Sunday against the Ravens. 

14. Patriots dynasty is officially over. With their loss to the Commanders, the Patriots are now five games under .500 for the first time since 2000. They went 362 straight games without falling five games under .500, which was the third longest in NFL history, trailing only the Steelers (1989-active) and Dolphins (1970-2004).

15. Folk Hero. With two field goals against the Steelers on Thursday, Folk has now hit 72 straight from under 40 yards, which is an NFL record. Going into Week 9, Folk had been tied with Justin Tucker, who had previously held the record with 70 consecutive makes from that distance. 

16. International men of mystery . With their win in Germany, the Chiefs became the first NFL team to win a regular-season game in four different countries (They had already previously won England, Mexico and the U.S.) 

MLB Coaching Frenzy || No Big Free Agency News Yet

Hours before free agency was set to officially begin Monday, the Hot Stove exploded with managerial news, highlighted by the Cubs’ decision to replace David Ross with Craig Counsell. Counsell was seen by many within the industry as the domino that needed to fall for the managerial hires to commence, but few predicted that the Cubs would relieve Ross of his duties, let alone replace him with Counsell -- who managed the division-rival Brewers since 2015.

The two teams that had interviewed Counsell moved quickly to fill their respective vacancies, with the Guardians hiring Mariners bullpen/quality control coach Stephen Vogt and the Mets choosing former Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza to be their manager.

No Big Free Agency News Yet

The only actual signing today was Charlie Morton, who immediately accepted the Braves Qualifying Offer.

Conclusion

Once again, we’re coming to a close here in the Sports Square Newsletter. Hopee you enjoyed this one, see you tomorrow. Make sure to chat with me in the chat box, so that you can ask me any questions. See y’all tomorrow with more interesting topics!

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