Sarni's Scrolls: Monday Night FOOTBALL

By Jim Sarni

This is exactly why ESPN went out and got Joe Buck and Troy Aikman for Monday Night Football.

Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs.

Super Bowl rematch.

Game of the Year.

"This is as big a regular-season game as he and I have done in 22 years," Buck told "The Athletic. "We have to act like we've been there before even if some people on our crew haven't been."

Buck and Aikman, who have done six Super Bowls together, have never been better. They keep improving. Their close friendship shows. They combine insight with fun.

ESPN is augmenting Monday's telecast with additional cameras, a drone, a second sideline reporter (Laura Rutledge joining Lisa Salters), custom rematch lyrics to the show's anthem by Snoop Dogg.

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It's Thanksgiving Week.

A feast of sports... in pro and college football, pro and college basketball, hockey and soccer.

Pass the gravy.

■ Monday: Eagles at Chiefs... Best-ever Maui Classic (thru Wednesday). Kansas, Purdue, Marquette, Tennessee, Gonzaga, UCLA, Syracuse.

■ Tuesday: NBA In-Season Tournament (and Friday)... U-17 World Cup: USMNT vs. Germany (Round of 16).

■ Wednesday: Battle 4 Atlantis (thru Friday). Arkansas, North Carolina, Villanova. ... TNT NHL doubleheader: Bruins at Panthers, Golden Knights at Stars. I

■ Thursday: Packers at Lions, Commanders at Cowboys, 49ers at Seahawks.

■ Friday: Dolphins at Jets... UConn vs. UCLA and JuJu Watkins (women).

■ Saturday: Ohio State at Michigan

■ Sunday: Bills at Eagles (4:25, CBS), Ravens at Chargers (SNF).

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Novak Djokovic completed one of the best seasons of his career in Turin, Italy, on Sunday when he defeated Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-3 to capture his record 7th ATP Finals title.

The 36-year-old Serbian finished the season No. 1 for the 8th time, the most in ATP/WTA rankings history. Steffi Graf finished No. 1 seven times.

Sinner, the fast-rising Italian star, knocked off Djokovic in round-robin play, forcing Djokovic to face No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals.

"Novak's ability after a loss to elevate his level of play and determination to win no matter what is the most underrated thing in my opinion, " tweeted women's player Victoria Azarenka.

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In the aftermath of the Charissa Thompson firestorm, I'm paying more attention to football sideline reporters, who have an important job and assume a bigger responsibility than most people think.

Props to CBS's Melanie Collins, who did an outstanding job at Sunday's Raiders-Dolphins game in Miami. The talented reporter, who also works for the Golf Channel, is a rising star.

Sideline reporters also have to be prepared for anything as ESPN's Molly McGrath found out on Saturday when she was caught in the path of a Gatorade deluge while interviewing Louisville football coach Jeff Brohm after the Cardinals defeated Miami 38-31 to qualify for the ACC Championship Game.

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Did you catch SNL's outrageous sketch: "Untold Battle of the Sexes"?

This revisionist history portrays a pre-Billie Jean King-Bobby Riggs match between Charna Lee Diamond (Sarah Sherman) and Ronnie Dunster (host Jason Moama).

"We should have seen it coming," a sports journalist said. "He was 300 pounds of pure muscle, and she was one of the lowest ranked female players at the time."

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ETC.

■ Ohio State opens as a 3.5 favorite over Michigan on Saturday in Ann Arbor... Fox plans a three-hour pregame before the noon kickoff.

■ Michigan is the first college football program to win 1,000 games.

■ Can Florida State remain the Top 4 without injured quarterback Jordan Travis? Doubtful.

■ The number of non-Power teams in the AP football Top 25 rose to a season-high four with Toledo (23) joining Tulane (18), Liberty (22) and James Madison (24).

■ The Apple Cup between Washington and Washington St. will continue after the Cougars leave the Pac-10. 2024 at Lumen Field, 2025/2027 in Pullman. 2026/2028 in Seattle.

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■ The four teams that have never reached the Super Bowl -- Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars -- would all make the playoffs if they started today.

■ The Detroit Lions are 8-2 for the first time since JFK was President.

■ The Denver Broncos started 0-3, including an embarrassing 70-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins. But after Sunday Night's dramatic 23-21 victory over the Minnesota Vikings, the Broncos are a remarkable 5-5.
■ Taylor Swift will not be at Monday night's Eagles-Chiefs game. She has a concert in Rio.

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■ Lexi Thompson received the LPGA Founders Award as the player who best exemplifies the LPGA spirit, ideals and values through her behavior and ideals.

■ A mixed-team version of The Match could include Rose Zhang and Lexi Thompson with Rory McIlroy and Max Homa.

■ Nelly Korda fired a hole-in-one at the CME Group Tour Championship. Amy Yang won the LPGA season finale.

■ Brooks Koepka trolled his LIV golf tour over the lack of a 2024 schedule on social media. Only one event has been announced so far.

■ Tiger Woods will compete in next month's Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. First event since ankle surgery.

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■ Erin Matson, who took over the North Carolina field hockey program this season after winning four national championships as a player, won another one as a coach on Sunday as UNC defeated Northwestern 2-1 following a penalty shootout in the title game. Matson, 23, became NCAA's Division 1 youngest head coach to win a national championship.

■ Stanford's Cameron Brink has made 72 consecutive free throws. NCAA women's record is 75.

■ The Maple Leafs edged the Wild 5-4 in overtime Sunday in the final game of this season's NHL Global Series in Sweden.

■ Kylian Mbappe (24 years, 10 months, 29 days) became the youngest player to score 300 goals between Europe's top five leagues and international games.

■ ESPN is televising 18 Volleyball Conference Championships.

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■ Dolly Parton led the singing of "Rocky Top" at the Georgia-Tennessee game. Didn't help the Vols, who lost 38-10.

■ November is Native American Heritage Month... but we can't seem to get rid of offensive sports nicknames... Braves, Chiefs, Blackhawks.

■ Morgan Wallen (11) and Taylor Swift (10) won the most Billboard Music Awards.

■ The Snickers candy bar was named after one of the Mars family's favorite horses.

■ Tai Chi can add extra years of healthy cognitive function to your life.

■ "Law & Order" star Jeffrey Donovan is not returning for Season 23. Creative reasons. Too bad, Donovan fit the detective role well.

■ The latest Time 100: Most Influential Climate Leaders in Business. Billy Eilish, Coldplay and James Cameron are Catalysts.

■ Miss Nicaragua Sheynnig Palacious was crowned Miss Universe on Saturday. The mental-health activist and audiovisual producer is the first woman from her country to win.

■ Monday is National Absurdity Day. Permission to be ridiculous.

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THEY SAID IT
■ "Please don't believe everything you read." -- LSU basketball star Angel Reese on her absence from the Tigers game on Friday.
■ "How about that... $1.7 million and we won the game " New Mexico State football coach Jerry Kill after the Aggies upset Auburn 31-10 in a buy game.
■ "Not in a million years did I think this would happen." -- Travis Head, who smashed a magnificent century to lead underdog Australia to record-extending sixth World Cricket Cup title over India.
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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 you Jksarni@aol.com