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- The Sport Superlatives - Issue No. 36
The Sport Superlatives - Issue No. 36
Excitement over the beginning of football season and very demure U.S. Open fashion
September 6, 2024
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The Flopper: Alonza Barnett III
James Madison University (JMU) QB, Alonza Barnett III, gave dramaaaaa during their game against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Barnett took a page out of the NBA players' handbook and fell to the ground when one of the Charlotte players lightly shoved him. Itâs ok. We love the drama; keep it coming!
The Rallier: Sabrina Ionescu
Meanwhile, in the WNBA, NY Liberty player Sabrina Ionescu said a fall doesnât stop the show. In a recent game against the Seattle Storm, Ionescu fell mid-shot, but then rallied to catch the rebound & made the shot from the floor. That is hustle and skill folks.
đ Toeing the Line: The NFL season has finally arrived, and we feel a bit giddy! Last nightâs game was a banger! We started this season with Super Bowl champs, Kansas City Chiefs, facing off against the Baltimore Ravens. This game was a repeat of last seasonâs AFC Championship, where the Chiefs emerged as the winners, shutting down the Ravens' chances to make it to last yearâs Super Bowl. Needless to say, the Ravens came into this game with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove. Unfortunately, that chip wasnât a good luck charm because Baltimore took an L.
After Ravenâs QB, Lamar Jackson, carried his team on his back for the first half of the game, the rest of his offensive line decided to show up after the 2nd quarter. They showed up and showed out (looking at you, Isaiah Likely) and had the opportunity to win the game in the final 10 seconds⊠and almost pulled it off. But what did Brandy tell yâall back in the day? Almost doesnât count. Isaiah caught the final pass by Lamar Jackson in the game, and it seemed like a touchdown⊠until they ran the replay and unfortunately, Isaiahâs toe was on that line. Thus, the Chiefs kept the lead and won the season opener.
While the Ravens need to work on their footwork (watch those toes!), this W gives the Chiefs confidence and momentum as they look to break a record this season by winning a third Super Bowl this season. No team in NFL history has won the Super Bowl in three consecutive years. Come on, save some for someone else. Sheesh! Nobody likes a greedy girl.
But, honestly, if any team could pull it off right now, itâs Mahomes and them. We hope they drink their milk and stock up on some Bengay because every team will be coming for their heads all season long to stop them from achieving that goal.
đŸ The Open is Wide Open: The semifinals of the US Open are underway and will be closely followed by the finals this weekend. A new US Open champion will be crowned on both the Womenâs side and the Menâs side (YAY!) because all hell broke loose (BOO!), and many of the top contenders were given pink slips and shown to the exits.
Novak Djokovic? He lost to Alexei Popyrin in the 3rd roundâŠCarlos Alcaraz? Heâs BEEN out... Iga Swiatek? Annihilated by American Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals. Coco Gauff? Escorted off the premises by Emma NavarroâŠand the list goes on. So, we bet youâre asking who is left. Shockingly, there were four Americans who advanced to the semifinals, which is unheard of now that we are no longer living in the era of the Williams sisters (sigh, the good ole days).
Big Bank Take Little Bank: On the Womenâs side, the American Billionaire Heiresses Club, Emma Navarro and Jessica Pegula, quickly defeated their quarterfinal opponents and progressed to the semis. There, Navarro played last yearâs runner-up, Aryna Sabalenka, and lost in straight sets. While the second set was a closer battle than the a** whoopinâ that occurred in the first set, Sabalenkaâs power was just too much for Navarro to overcome.
In the other semi-final, Jessica Pegula took on Karolina Muchova and won. It was a little shaky in the beginning, as Pegula fell really flat in the first set and went down early. However, the rich will only get richer because she pulled through and won the next two sets quite convincingly. All that to say, Jessica Pegula, who has never reached a semifinal in a major before now, will take on the two-time Grand Slam Champ, Aryna Sablenka, in the finals.
The crowd will definitely be cheering for the American (itâs like they canât get over the Olympics), but Sabalenka has endured that before and might be better prepared. Weâll see what happens on Saturday, 9/7, at 4 pm on ESPN.
Chasing the American Dream: On the Menâs side, the semifinals will go down tonight. While the #1 seed, Dopeboy Sinner (jk, heâs been cleared of all charges), is still in the running, there is really no clear favorite. Sinner is the only one with a Grand Slam title, and none of the semi-finalists have won the US Open, soâŠhistory will definitely be made.
If youâre new to tennis, thereâs kinda this running jokeâŠbut itâs not funny⊠about how no American man has won a Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick in 2003. Roddick won the US Open and apparently cursed the field and their offspring for what seems like an eternity.
Now, fast forward 21 years: Frances Tiafoe or Taylor Fritz have a chance to make history and break a curse. Tiafoe will play Fritz in one semifinal matchup and the winner will move on for the chance at the title. Now, Fritz is the higher seed and has head-to-head history on his side seeing as how his record is 6-1 in matches against Tiafoe. However, Big Foe is a big crowd favorite in the Big Apple, so Fritz will have to contend with that.
Once the unhinged NY crowd gets involved, all bets are off. This game will hopefully be one for the ages. Watch it tonight, 6/7, at 7 pm on ESPN.
On the other half of the menâs draw, Jannik Dopeboy Sinner (again, heâs been cleared of ALL charges) will take on an unlikely opponent: the Brit, Jack Draper. This is definitely the less anticipated semifinal match because Sinner is ranked #1 and the likely favorite. However, Draper has been playing like he owes someone A LOT of money (3.6 million, to be exact) and hasnât dropped a single set on his way to the semifinals.
If you find yourself bored as the work day winds down, need something to play as background noise, AND would like to watch some boring yet talented tennis players in actionâŠthen this is the match for you. Tune into the semi-finals matchup tonight, 9/6, at 3 pm on ESPN.
Oh, and the Menâs final will happen on Sunday, 9/8, at 2 pm on ABC.
đ Paralympics in Paris: The 2024 Paralympics began August 28th and continue through this weekend, so if youâre having an Olympic hangover, and need some hair of the dog, tune in for the closing events.
The Chinese are up big in the medal count, but the best part of the Paralympics are the great stories of resilience and determination that all these athletes share. Stories like:
Yale grad Ali Truwit who won a silver medal in swimming after having her leg amputated sixteen months prior due to a shark attack.
Or Jessica Long, the highly decorated swim champ who won her 30th Paralympic medal (17th gold) in swimming. This win comes exactly 20 years removed from her first gold medal, which she won at 12 years old. At twelve, I was nagging my mom about nonsense, but go off, sis.
Or the Brazilian torpedo, Gabriel Araujo, who has demolished the competition and won three gold medals in swimming (...and counting)!
All these athletes are a testament to the power of the human body and mind and serve as a good reminder for some of us who have too many reasons why we canât and not enough reasons to try.
đŸ Mind Your Manners: Tennis âstarâ Yulia Putintseva lost her third-round matchup in the US Open against Jasmine PaoliniâŠNo, thatâs not the tea..that happens to her a lot. The tea is that she took her frustrations out on the ball girl, and the New York crowd (who are obviously known for their politeness) was having none of it.
The crowd booed Putintseva as she glared at the ball girl, signaled for more balls, and watched them hit the floor. The ball girl seemed rather confused, and the crowdâŠwell, they were displeased. Later, Putintseva took to the internet to offer up an apology. It wasnât about the ball girl, she was frustrated, yada yada yada. But if you thought that was the end, youâre wrong.
Apparently, olâ girl has no PR team because she spun the block to make ANOTHER social media post about the incident, defending herself and kicking up more sand. Someone needs to teach her the art of silence. Let the dust settle, girl. The only valuable thing we got from the second rant was the ball girlâs nameâŠKate.
Hey, Kate, girl, way to stay professional in the face of adversityâŠeven as a ball girl, you were the adult in that situation. đ
đș The Wolf of Arrowhead: The Chiefâs players had A TIME this offseason, so itâs only fitting that the fans join in on the shenanigans. Apparently, Chiefâs fan, Xavier Babudar, was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison for committing a string of bank robberies. Are we living in the Wild Wild West? Weâre hearing that he was caught because none of the robberies aligned with Chiefâs gamesâŠjk. Banks arenât even open on Sundays.
No, but really, Babudar was a superfan with a social media following who was known for dressing in a wolf costume to attend Chiefâs games. Allegedly, the $800,000 he stole was used to fund his sporting fanatics.
We like sports as much as the next person, but yikes! Maybe he should have been dressed up as a werewolf because the switch-up is CRAAZZYY.
đ§đ· Brazilian Lift: The NFL continues to test the waters with fans in international markets. The Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers will be vacationingâŠwe mean playing⊠in Sao Paulo, Brazil, tonight (Friday) instead of its usual Thursday night spot (is nothing sacred anymore??). They were given very strict rules and were basically told to stay in their hotel rooms until otherwise stated while they are in-country.
The city has also increased security after the players expressed concern about the countryâs crime rate, coming from the pleasant streets of Philly and Green Bay, Wisconsin (ok Green Bay may actually be pretty pleasant). Will Jalen Hurts silence haters and take the W with his Eagles? Or will Jordan Love prove that heâs got the juice to take Green Bay back to glory? Tune into Peacock tonight at 8:15 PM ET to find out!
Catch the rest of Week 1 on Sunday, September 8th. Find the schedule here.
Your sports term of the week is: Down.
Since football has started, letâs get the girlies up to speed.
A down is a period of time over which a play transpiresâŠin layman's terms, itâs a âtryâ or âattemptâ. In American football, the team in possession of the ball gets four downs or attempts to move the ball 10 yards toward the opposing team's goal line.
IRL Example: Itâs kinda like when you were getting your driverâs license, and you could only take the test a certain amount of times before they gave up on you and made you endure a waiting period before taking the test again.
This week, we couldnât help but notice a few stars popped out to support the US Open. From athletes, musicians, actors/actresses to our fav reality TV shows - the US Open served us the crossovers we didnât even know we needed!
Like, come on, how relatable was it when Tiafoe fanned out about his obsession with Scandal and shouted out Tony Goldwyn in the crowd post-win? While we always love star gazing in the stands⊠we love getting into their fashion even more! Letâs get into some of the trends we saw from them:
A little black dress is always a good idea. Just ask our Love Island queen, JaNa Craig:
We found this romper on LuLuâs that looks super similar with the button details and length:
One look at Summer House It Girly Ciara Millerâs US Open fit, and you can check off all the trends. The brown, the bow, the babydoll dress, the flats⊠name a trend sis didnât body with this one!
Try this babydoll dress from Amazon if youâre feeling her look:
Sighhhhhh. Sports, pop culture, and a sprinkle of fashionâŠ. Itâs what we live for. No, seriously, this is why we exist & you girlies love us for it & we love you back!
Do you love sports? Want to find a way to fit more sports into your week? Weâve got you. From keeping up with your work colleagues to impressing hot dates, our newsletter aims to keep you in the know regardless of your fandom level or the reason. Thatâs your business, sis!
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