Sarni's Scrolls: Octoberfeast for sports fans

By Jim Sarni

October is the greatest sports month. Every day, there is an MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, or NCAA football game.
October 30 is the highlight this year.It's a Sports Equinox... with the Big Four pro sports all in action.
■ MLB: Game 3 of the World Series between the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
■ NFL: the Las Vegas Raiders are at the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football.
■ NBA: 11 games, including Florida Panthers at Boston Bruins.
■ NHL: 9 games, including Golden State Warriors at New Orleans Pelicans.
A Sports Equinox is not limited to these four leagues. Other sports are welcome, and so we include the MLS playoffs (Orlando-Nashville; Seattle-Dallas) and two big tennis events -- the Paris Masters (ATP) and the WTA Finals in Cancun (Gauff vs. Jabeur).
This is the 30th Sports Equinox, and the only one in 2023. There were three in 2022.
The first Sports Equinox occurred in 1971.

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Did Fox Sports play-by-play announcer Eric Collins say what you thought he said?

Describing an incredible interception by West Virginia's Beanie Bishop, Jr. against UCF on Saturday, an excited Collins exclaimed: "What a f---- interception that was!"F-bomb? Sounded like it. But, upon further playbacks, Collins actually said: "What a FUNKY interception."
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The NIT is changing its selection process in 2024 and will no longer award automatic bids to the conference regular-season champions that don't win their conference tournament or aren't among the 68 teams to play in the men's NCAA Tournament.
The NIT will guarantee two teams (based on the NET rankings) from each of six conferences -- ACC, Big East, Big Ten. Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC. Regardless of won-lost records.
To round out the field of 32, the NIT will "select the 20 best teams available."
This is not a good thing for the mid-majors.
Keep in mind that Fox has floated the idea of a 16-team Power 6-only postseason tournament in Las Vegas.
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Matthew Perry, who died of an apparent drowning on Saturday at age 54, was a top-ranked junior tennis player in Canada before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting and improvising comedy. Over the years, he attended pro tournaments and was a friend to players.
Perry was also a die-hard hockey fan, notably his hometown Ottawa Senators. Organists for the Nashville Predators and the Los Angeles Kings played the "Friends" theme during their respective games on Saturday.
Born in Massachusetts, the actor was also a New England Patriots fan.
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ETC.
The first CFP rankings will be released on Tuesday (7 p.m., ESPN), and don't expect them to match the AP rankings. My guess: 1. Ohio State, 2. Florida State, 3. Georgia, 4. Michigan, 5. Washington, 6. Oregon.
AFC logjam: 15 of 16 teams are within three games of each other. New England (2-6) is the outlier. The four division leaders -- Miami, Baltimore, Jacksonville and Kansas City are all 6-2.
Cowboys 43, Rams 20. Scorigami. The 1,079th unique final score in NFL history.
World Series fact: Teams that win Game 3 in a best-of-seven series tied 1-1 have won the championship 69% of the time.
The Ballon d'Or trophies for best soccer players will be announced Monday (2 p.m., Paramount+). Lionel Messi, who has won seven times, is the men's favorite; Aitana Bonmati of Spain is the women's favorite.
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Non-football thriller of the weekend: Celine Boutier won the Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur... on the 9th playoff hole.,
South Africa beat New Zealand 12-11 to win its second straight Rugby World Cup and fourth overall.
The USWNT defeated Colombia 3-0 in San Diego on Sunday. A strong performance with Mia Fishel and Jaedyn Shaw scoring their first goals for the national team.
Michael Jordan's $80M yacht named "Joy" was spotted off the coast of France last week. It has a basketball net.
Doug Flutie plays hockey with his friends now. He says his 61-year-old body can't take the rigors of basketball.
Los Angeles Clippers guard Russell Westbrook eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before every game.
Ballpark food: The Texas Rangers are offering a $250 Workd Series meal that includes a two-foot long loaded lobster roll, a two-foot long hot dog and a two-foot long patty with topped. It comes with a mini-helmet and utensils.
Travis Kelce will join brother Jason and fellow Philadelphia Eagles on the team's second Christmas album.
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Comedian Nate Bargatze hosted one of the best "SNL" shows in some time. People now know who he is.
"Billions" concluded its seven-year run on Sunday with an exceptionally satisfying finale.
Barbra Streisand, whose long-awaited memoir "My Name Is Barbra" comes out Nov. 7, is the "Vanity Fair" cover. An excerpt from the 992-page book is included.
"Dancing With The Stars" judge Carrie Ann Inaba said Madonna charged her dancers $100 per minute for being late.
"Rolling Stone" has ranked all 243 Taylor Swift songs.
Top Cities For Halloween, according to WalletHub: 1. New York, 2. Las Vegas, 3. Los Angeles, 4. Miami, 5. Jersey City.
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THEY SAID IT
"He's a really talented guy but I think he needs to be a little bit fatter." -- Nikola Jokic describing Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren, who is 7-1, 208.
"Tell [former NFL star] Steve Smith in the studio this ain't a basketball school." -- N.C. State coach Dave Doeren after the Wolfpack beat Clemson 24-17 on Saturday.
"He combines a powerful intellect and deep pitching expertise with a real understanding of players and fearless approach to problem-solving." -- Theo Epstein on new Red Sox general manager Craig Breslow.

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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.

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