The Sport Superlatives - Issue No. 40

October 4, 2024

🏆 The Superlatives 🏆

The Man of Faith: AJ Griffin

At the end of September, Atlanta Falcons Forward AJ Griffin announced his retirement from the NBA. He took to his youtube channel to explain that he was “…[giving] up basketball to follow Jesus.” The 21-year old has chosen to walk away from his basketball career in pursuit of a career in ministry. This decision comes after playing two seasons for the Atlanta Hawks, and being traded to the Houston Rockets in the offseason.  We admire him for making what some feel is a shocking decision to follow his calling. Good luck on your new path, AJ!

The Man With Faith: Aaron Shampklin

Running Back, Aaron Shampklin, was recently signed to the active roster for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Shampklin spent preseason with the team, and had become a member of the practice squad at the start of the regular season. But this time last year? Shamps was in the classroom as substitute teacher after being cut from the LA Chargers in August 2023. After being cut, he relied on his Harvard background and secured a job teaching sixth grade math. The 24 year old recently told reporters, "I always believed it would happen… I don't know what kept me going, but I woke up every day, went to training and kept the faith.” He got his second shot last Sunday. Way to keep the faith Shamps! He’s not a teacher (anymore), but he can teach you something. 

🏈 It’s Been About a Month: We’re 4 weeks into the season y’all! We’ve gotta be honest it’s looking real … interesting out there. The Vikings (literally cannot get over how bizarre this is!) and the Kansas City Chiefs are the last two teams holding onto the no-loss record, putting them at 4-0 going into week 5. Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals looked like they were getting their groove back with a win against the Carolina Panthers. The Washington Commanders continue to … wait for it… win! NFL player fragility is at an all time high with a number of the league’s starters being placed on the Injured Reserve list. It’s been a heck of a month, but we made it to week 5, Joe. But before we get too far into week 5, let’s chat about some games that piqued our interest during week 4:

Humble Pie: The Bills, Seahawks and Steelers all started week 4 undefeated, but I’m telling you all…. it all falls down (& when it falls down who you gon’ call, huh? - Old Kanye).

• Baltimore Ravens v Buffalo Bills: The Baltimore Ravens decimated Buffalo 35-10. Despite beautiful plays by both quarterbacks, the Ravens were just more successful playing both sides of the ball. This was the Bills first loss of the season and they, for sure, were humbled. Sidenote: All doomsday/ zombie apocalypse preppers need to adapt the Derrick Henry diet, because no 30-year old should be able to run like that. Respectfully. 

• Detroit Lions v Seattle Seahawks: There were two games played Monday night… but this is the only one that matters. What a game! While both teams played well, Detroit Lions QB, Jared Goff, and them did their ‘big one’ and won the game with a final score of 42-29. I mean, to be fair, the Seahawks were down four starters… and there was the whole thing with the bad call on the 2-point conversion (not that 2 points would have saved them at that point). Regardless, both teams now hold a record of 3-1. 

• Indianapolis Colts v Pittsburgh Steelers: Despite the Colts QB, Anthony Richardson, going down with an injury in the 1st quarter, they were still able to pull out a win with veteran QB Joe Flacco. Even though the Steelers lost, we were happy to see that sophomore QB, Justin Fields, seemed a bit more comfortable during the game.

Week 5 kicked off with some Thursday Night Football featuring the Atlanta Falcons v the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This game really came down to the last few plays of the game. After their defense caught an interception during the 4th quarter, the Bucs thought the game was a done deal, and themselves the victors. But you know how on a hot day you get an ice cream cone and, right as you go to take the first lick, it just falls off the cone to the ground? We imagine that’s how Tampa Bay felt when the Falcons kicked a successful field goal with literally 1 second left on the clock, tying the game, and pushing it into overtime (OT). Then, salt met wound because the Falcons won the coin toss at the start of OT making it possible for them to score the winning touchdown. Which they did. 

See the rest of the lineup for week 5 here.

⚾️ Covering All our Bases: The Wild Card Series have come to an end, and now it’s time for the REAL playoffs. The Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, and San Diego Padres all made quick work of their unnamed opponents to secure their spots in the playoffs by winning their respective series, 2-0. While those games could’ve been emails, the series between the NY Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers really went the distance. The Mets surprisingly upset the Brewers on the back of a 3-run homer from home run derby elitist, Pete Alonso. It was actually quite a sad picture; Milwaukee fans were in shambles. This sentiment is obviously understandable since their team won their division, and had the benefit of home field advantage for ALL three of the games in the series…but wait there’s more…shall we mention the Brewers were up 2-0 until the 9th inning? Yikes, talk about snatching defeat from the hands of victory. We quite literally saw fans crying in the stands. Hey Brewers fans, don’t feel too bad. Keep in mind the [cheating] Asstros (who also won their division) also got upset...maybe the two fanbases can console each other? Oh well, on to the playoff picture.

The remaining teams will now move on to the division semifinals. We hope the teams that got first round byes (Dodgers and Yankees, we’re especially looking at you) are ready to dust off their equipment, because the wild card teams are coming in hot…while they’re probably still a bit cold. Not to worry, we’re sure everyone will be in tip top shape come first pitch. Watch it all go down starting this Saturday, 10/5 on TBS and FOX.

🏀 The W is for Win: The WNBA semis are 2 games in, and someone might be in trouble… by someone, we mean the LV Aces. The defending champs are down 0-2 in their series against the NY Liberty, which is a replay of last year’s finals. The Liberty came out strong in the first game, and defeated the Aces by 10 points…talk about setting the tone.  While the second game saw the Aces level up, they still fell short, and went down to the Liberty (again), 88-84. The bad blood is definitely boiling up between these two teams resulting in fan-on-player fights, coach-on-player fights, and maybe even a bit of friendly fire (we have no proof of this). The series is definitely not over yet, but elimination is [un]certainly on the horizon. The Aces will head back to Vegas and play on their home court in the hopes of staving off their impending vacation. Watch what happens in Game 3 tonight, 10/4, at 9:30pm ET on ESPN2. 

In the other semifinal matchup, the Connecticut Sun and the Minnesota Lynx are tied 1-1. The Sun came out swinging in the first game, and took the Lynx by surprise on their home court winning, 73-70. The Lynx shook off the first game jitters and threw their own punches in the second game, winning it 77-70. The series is pretty evenly matched (except one team has the DPOY and the COY) and will head to Connecticut to see if one team can find a way to pull ahead. Watch what happens tonight, 10/4, at 7:30pm ET on ESPN2.

💔 Just Not That Into You: Remember how back in February, rapper GloRilla posted a picture she took with NBA Milwaukee Bucks player Damian Lillard? Let’s just say, in the caption, she made it known that she was interested in the NBA Guard. In the following months, there were some subliminals thrown out to the rapper by his now ex-wife following GloRilla’s DUI arrest. Well… you know how some people just can’t help being nosey? A reporter recently asked Damian whether or not GloRilla had been successful when she shot her shot with the basketball player. To which Damian said, “nah but you need to mind your business”. Just kidding. He did confirm that nothing exists between the two, and that he prefers to keep his private life private. It’s ok Glo, we have all had a crush that went left. 

🗽 Fired On Your Day Off: Ok, “Fired” might be a bit dramatic. Karl Anthony Towns, who just purchased a house in LA, was recently traded across the country to the NY Knicks. Now, that is quite the commute. Towns has been a staple on the Minnesota Timberwolves, since he was drafted by the team in 2015. Now, after many efforts to rebuild around  him and retool the team, we guess they just threw their hands up and sent him on his way. In return, they got Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle. Neither side seemed enthused about the trade. KAT tweeted a very loud “...” in immediate response, and Knicks star Jalen Brunson is quoted saying “Who’s Karl?”. Maybe Jalen is too busy re-thinking that pay-cut he took, to readily recall any “Karls”. Luckily, KAT and NY Knicks Coach, Tom Thibodeau are already well-acquainted (although, the first go round wasn’t necessarily a homerun). Oh well, you know what they say “a fair trade ain't never been robbery”.

🎮 Controlla…Controlla: During a recent interview, LeBron James told the world, and Bronny, about a cute mother-son moment. According to his highness, his wife, Savannah, was caught in 4K playing 2K (NBA 2K, that is). Savannah is an avid non-gamer who took to the video game for the first time to play as her son, baby LeBron James…we mean, Bronny. Big LeBron captured the precious moment, and posted it on Instagram (probably as proof for all those naysayers). How sweet! We wonder how Savannah feels about his 68 overall rating? That’s like an “F”, right? Well, we can’t talk, an “F” is better than a no show!

Your sports term of the week is: Triple Crown

IRL Example: It’s giving big overachiever vibes…like that kid who rakes in all the awards at the ceremonies…we get it, you’re smart…and you show up to class everyday.

Who wears short skirts?

Olivia wears short skirts! 

WNBA Connecticut Suns player, Olivia Nelson-Ododa, is reminding us that the preppy academia aesthetic is coming in hot this fall:

Nika wears short skirts!

WNBA Seattle Storm rookie, Nika Mühl, put us on notice that sexy business casual has re-entered the chat (millennials, you know what’s up). 

We all wear short skirts! 

Feeling preppy? Here is a skirt similar to Livvy pooh that you can grab on your next Target run:

Feeling like a boss like Nika? We found the Camila Coelho mini skirt and blazer she’s wearing on Revolve:

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