Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Sports this 'n' that

Major League Baseball has begun handing out its post-season awards, starting on Monday with the Rookies of The Year, one for each league.

To the surprise of, well, no one, Shohei Otani of the Angels was named AL Rookie of The Year, despite missing some time due to injury. Otani apparently won't be able to pitch in 2019, though he might still be able to be a DH, due to needing Tommy John surgery on his elbow. Like, with all the attention Otani was getting during the season, did any other AL rookie have an equal chance?

Over in the National League, Atlanta's Ronald Acuna, Jr. outpointed Juan Soto of Washington to cop the Rookie of The Year. The Mets' Jeff McNeil finished 8th.
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Suddenly, it's getting busier in Los Angeles as we get closer to Thanksgiving.

The NFL has moved the International Series game between the Rams and Kansas City to LA next Monday night due to poor field conditions in Mexico City. A Shakira concert last month, and a number of events since, have left the field in such poor shape that the NFL was left with no choice, after ESPN hyped the game to the moon last night, but to bring the Chiefs & Rams back to the US. Some think it might be a Super Bowl preview, provided, of course, that the Chiefs can avenge themselves on New England for losing in Foxborough last month. If the season were to end now, Kansas City would be the #1 seed in the AFC, and you know Tom Brady doesn't like that.
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Los Angeles will also host the WWE's Survivor Series on Sunday, and, as of earlier today, one of the marquee matches on the card has been cancelled.

Last night, on Monday Night Raw, Becky Lynch led Smackdown's women into the arena in Kansas City, where Lynch targeted her opposite number, Ronda Rousey. WWE pulled a similar angle last year leading up to the event. and reprisals are expected tonight on Smackdown in St. Louis. Let's take a look at what happened:



It seems that Lynch suffered a concussion and/or a broken nose courtesy of former Raw women's champ Nia Jax. Lynch, as you can see in the video above, was a bloody mess at the end of the evening. Now, the Lynch-Rousey match has been postponed, robbing fans of what many feel might've been the best match on the card. We'll know by the end of the night if Rousey gets a substitute opponent.
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You might've noticed that Raw ended promptly at 11 pm (ET) last night, well before the Giants-49ers game ended. USA Network, seeing the abysmal ratings for Raw, decided to take away the 5-15 minute overrun the show usually gets, effective with last night's show. Beats me why it took them so long to make that move. If or when ratings move up to a level satisfactory enough for USA's liking, I'd say the overruns will return.
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Concussions have been a frequent problem for WWE wrestlers, both male & female. Lynch becomes the 3rd woman to suffer a concussion in the last month, after Alexa Bliss and Zelina Vega, the latter of whom was cleared for a return to the ring in time for tonight's Smackdown card. Bliss will still be at Survivor Series, albeit in a manager's role, because she's sustained several concussions in recent months, and Vince McMahon will protect one of his golden girls at all costs. Bliss (real name: Lexi Kaufman) should be getting some time off at home to recouperate,  but because she's one of Raw's top heels (villains), she's not getting the luxury of home recovery.

But what happens if Bliss is forced to retire prematurely due to another concussion or another major injury? That's on McMahon for stubbornly refusing to do right by his troupe. There's no getting around that.

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