Sarni's Scrolls: NFL gives fans must see TV

By Jim Sarni

Happy Anniversary, Kevin Harlan.

The CBS announcer celebrated his 500th NFL telecast on Sunday with the Houston Texans' thrilling 30-27 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Sensational rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud led the upstart Texans to another upset in the final minutes, capped by backup kicker Matt Ammendola's winning field goal on the final play.

It was the game of the day... a gem for a great play-by-play man who always matches the moment.

Harlan, a two-time National Sportscaster of the Year, broadcasts the NFL and college basketball for CBS, as well as the NBA for TNT. He's also the radio voice of Monday Night Football on Westwood One.

The Wisconsin native doesn't plan to give up calling games for awhile.

"I'm in my early 60s, and I'd like to go another 15 years, perhaps," said Harlan, 63, on the Announcing Schedules Podcast last week.

Harlan is third all-time in total sports broadcasts behind Dick Stockton and Marv Albert.

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What a Sunday for the NFL.

■ Five game-winning field goals as time expired in the fourth quarter... most in a single day in NFL history.

■ Two more tilts ended with game-ending interceptions.

Scott Hanson and NFL RedZone could barely keep up.

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A Florida bettor won $5.5M on a $500,000 four-leg NFL parlay with the newly re-opened Hard Rock Sportsbook.

The picks:

■ Texans to beat the Bengals.

■ Over 44.5 points

■ Devin Singletary touchdown

■ Singletary over 51.5 yards

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Travis Kelce sure enjoyed his bye week.

The Kansas City Chiefs star flew to Buenos Aires for Taylor Swift's Saturday concert.

The pop star gave her new beau a shoutout during the concert, changing out one of the lyrics in her song “Karma” to share that “Karma is a guy on the Chiefs, coming straight home to me.”

After the show, Swift ran up to Kelce, who was waiting for her off-stage, and kissed him for everyone to see.

Love game definitely on.

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Headline on the front page of Sunday's "South Florida Sun-Sentinel": COULD FLORIDA BECOME THE NEW VEGAS?

"Some people have a vision of Florida’s future: a gambling destination second only to Las Vegas, perhaps even rivaling it, where tourists play craps and roulette at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, sip cocktails on the beach, and place bets on a Dolphins or Heat game with the swipe of a finger," writes Shira Mooten.

In less than a month, in-person sports betting, craps and roulette will, presumably, begin at all South Florida casinos and elsewhere in the state.

The anticipated launch may hinge on a favorable ruling from the Florida Supreme Court.

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Baseball cards have been inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame.
"Baseball cards encourage lifelong playing and collection," said museum curator Christopher Beesch.
Nerf, Cabbage Patch Kids and the Fisher-Price Corn Popper were also inducted.o

ETC.

■ ATP Finals are underway in Turin, Italy (Tennis Channel).

■ Gavitt Tipoff Games (Big East vs. Big Ten) begin Monday night with Michigan- St. John's and Purdue-Xavier at Madison Square Garden (6:30 and 8:30, FS1).

■ The Boston Celtics took the court in "Raise the Age" shirts during warm-ups before Friday's game with the Nets. The team supports the Massachusetts "Raise the Age" bill, which would gradually raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction to include 18 and 20-year-olds.

■ "Toucher and Rich," the highly-rated Boston sports talk show, ended Friday with Fred Toucher announcing that Rich Shertenheb was no longer part of the program. Personality differences.

■ Shotani Ohtani is donating baseball gloves to every elementary school in Japan.

■ Bengals QB Joe Burrow and pop singer Jason Derulo are co-owners of the Omaha Supernovas in the startup women's Pro Volleyball Federation.

■ ESPN has banned Insiders/Reporters from betting on the leagues/teams they cover.

■ Laura Enever, former ISA junior champion, paddled into the largest wave ever ridden by a female... 43.6 feet in Oahu.

■ The Detroit Red Wings are giving away Gravy Zambino Boats at their Thanksgiving Eve game.

■ For the first time, Nike is selling college basketball jerseys of active players with their names on the back.

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■ Mitch Albom's new book "The Little Liar" comes out on Nov. 14. "A timeless story about the harm we inflict with our deceits, and the power of love to ultimately redeem us."

■ Grammy nominations: SZA leads with nine, followed by Victoria Monet, Phoebe Bridgers and mixing engineer Serban Ghenea with seven. Taylor Swift has six. "Barbie" received 12 for the film's music.

■ A used first-class menu from the first night on the Titanic sold for $100,000 at auction.

■ Central Perk, the iconic coffeehouse from "Friends", is opening on Newbury Street in Boston.

■ Axios reports that a number of small and mid-sized cities are loosening their open-container laws as a way to breathe life back into their downtowns.

■ November 13 is World Kindness Day.

THEY SAIÐ IT

■ "I just knew I had to show up today for my teammates. Whether it was scoring, on the defensive end, giving assists to my teammates, it didn't matter." -- N.C. State's Sanita Rivers, who scored 33 points in the Wolfpack's 92-81 victory over No. 2 UConn.

■ "It'll probably take years to be truly confident that we've got a fully clean sport." -- Lisa Lazarus, the chief executive officer of HISA -- the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority on "60 Minutes" report on horse doping.

■ "That's life; it's part of the game. I was feeling really good before the game, wasn't feeling tight or wasn't having calf issues or anything. You don’t always get to have the perfect ending." -- Megan Rapinoe, who was injured in the opening minutes of Saturday's NWSL Championship, her final pro match

■ "Football players want to be basketball players and basketball players want to become to be football players. And we all want to be baseball players." -- C J. Stroud, Houston Texans quarterback.

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Jim Sarni, BC Class of '69, is a former sportswriter for The Boston Globe and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He resides in Fort Lauderdale and watches a lot of television.If you have a comment or an opinion, we'd love to hear from youJksarni@aol.com