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First NBA impressions, plus a shocking upset in college football

Vaseline October 24, 2024

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Good morning! Get on the field today.

While You Were Sleeping: Biggest upset of the year?

Kennesaw State came into last night’s game against Liberty leaning toward hopeless. In the Owls’ only year playing at the FBS level, they had lost all six of their games and were ranked No. 133 in Chris Vannini’s 134. They welcomed a CFP candidate to the Atlanta suburbs — and made history.

Eking out a 27-24 victory last night as a 27-point underdog extinguished previously undefeated Liberty’s Playoff hopes, as the Flames had a legitimate chance to finish the season as the top-ranked Group of 5 team. Not anymore.

It was a big moment for the Owlswho started their football program less than 10 years ago. Fans – including our own senior newsletter editor Jason Kirk, an alum – stormed the field after the game. Here’s Jason’s review:

“The students were a little cautious because KSU has literally never done this before. After the officials added another second, we had to rush over like veterans again. To answer one common question, we cheer for “hooty hoo,” like the OutKast song.

Hoo ho ho. To proceed:

First impressions: The Intuit Dome debuts a barn burner

Tuesday’s NBA action was just a taste of a more extensive menu last night. Let’s overreact to a few openers:

The suns! Also the Clippers! I fully expected to write a “Solar Stacked, Clips Cooked” piece here. But a feisty Clipper group — sans Kawhi Leonard, mind you — nearly upended a team many think is a top contender by opening LA’s brand new Intuit Dome with an overtime loss. It may not be sustainable without Leonard, but James Harden looked good overall (29 points and 12 rebounds). Honestly, a solid performance for both teams.
Charlotte? The Hornets defeated the Rockets 110-105 last night, a bit of a surprise as we thought Charlotte might tank for Cooper Flagg, while Houston projects as a fringe playoff team. LaMelo Ball scored 34 points, and Houston clearly has some things to figure out already.
Speaking of tanking, maybe we can put Portland in that group now after a 139-104 debacle against the Warriors, who looked like a real contender again. Steph Curry scored 17 (in three quarters), but more importantly, Buddy Hield – a new addition – had 22 points off the bench.

View all results here. There’s a lot more action tonight too.

P.S. Even sadder news: Pelicans point guard Dejounte Murray, acquired just this offseason, broke his hand in New Orleans’ 123-111 win over Chicago. He will miss an extended period.

News to know

Packers hire Saleh
Fired Jets coach Robert Saleh is serving in a “fluid” role on Green Bay’s coaching staff, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said yesterday, noting that Saleh has not been officially hired in any capacity. Saleh and LaFleur revisit their days as roommates in Central Michigan. I just think it’s funny that Aaron Rodgers’ last two coaches are hanging around Rodgers’ old team. (Just in case you’re wondering: the Packers aren’t playing the Jets.) Get the full details here.

Bond set for former PSU players accused of rape
Former Penn State football players Jameial Lyons and Kaveion Keys appeared in court Wednesday, where a judge set bail for Lyons at $500,000 and Keys at $400,000 in their ongoing case. Both are accused of rape and other sex crimes and were removed from the squad in August. Read our full report here.

More news

Transactions! Hello, NFL hot stove

Remember yesterday when we talked about NFL trades in the abstract, wondering if and when they would happen?

About an hour after publication time, the Chiefs agreed to acquire Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins – not the Rams’ Cooper Kupp – which could be a busy trade deadline. Hopkins, most recently a Pro Bowler in 2020, adds an extremely necessary (and talented) set of hands to a WR corps desperate for bodies. Getting compensation for the 32-year-old (a conditional draft pick) is a big win for 1-5 Tennessee.

So transactions take place. Bill. Two others we’d like to see from this list compiled by Jeff Howe and Mike Jones:

Maxx Crosby for the Lions. Detroit is an aggressive franchise and nothing screams ‘we need to win the Super Bowl this year’ more than grabbing an All-Pro to fill in for the injured Aidan Hutchinson. Crosby is also under contract for two years.
Justin Fields (!) to the dolphins. This probably won’t happen once Tua Tagovailoa is back, but it’s hard to imagine a better spot for the still-young Fields than in a Mike McDaniel offense. Fields is a fantastic talent who has never been in a great situation; Tagovailoa is obviously an injury problem. I like this idea.

View that full list here. I hope the deadline is dramatic.

Watch and listen

📺 NFL: Vikings at Rams
8:15 PM on Prime Video
There aren’t any good losses in the NFL, but Minnesota’s near miss against Detroit last weekend comes close. They came into the year unheralded, went head-to-head with one of the league’s best and are now 5-1. They should roll here.

📺NBA: Oklahoma City at Denver
10pm ET on TNT
Two expected contenders in the West can make their first impressions tonight. I’ll sit down.

Buy tickets for these types of games here.

🎧 “The athletic football show” revisits the QB levels, where Lamar Jackson wasn’t a Tier 1 guy to begin with. Absurd. Listen here.

Pulse choices

I loved this story so much: Sam Blum and C. Trent Rosecrans tracked down “cameo” players who made brief appearances for World series champions and asked them what they thought about getting rings. The answers are… nuanced.

I thought From a dusty bakery tribute to Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela was profound.

Andrew Marchand did a good conversation with ESPN’s Joe Buck about his prescient call of by Chris Godwin injury Monday.

It’s one game, yes, but listen to the Lakers and you see signs of very real hope, all thanks to new coach JJ Redick.

Novak Djokovic will miss the Paris Masters, that’s a bigger problem than you think.

Most clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our obituary of Valenzuela.

Most read on the website yesterday: Our story about the crazy ticket prices for the World Series.

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(Top photo: Harry How/Getty Images)

first Drop

first Drop

First NBA impressions, plus a shocking upset in college football

While You Were Sleeping: Biggest upset of the year?