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It wouldn’t be a Super Bowl without Tom Brady
For all the upheaval we’ve experienced lately in sports and in life, there remains a near constant: Tom Brady in the Super Bowl. The age-defying quarterback made it back for the fifth time in seven years by helping Tampa Bay upset Green Bay 31-26 in yesterday’s NFC championship game. Brady will now try to knock off Kansas City and reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes after they stamped out Buffalo’s magical run with a dominating 38-24 win in the AFC title game.
We’ll have plenty to say about the Super Bowl matchup as the Feb. 7 game gets closer. But, for today, let’s just appreciate Brady.
This is the 20th Super Bowl matchup since Brady became an NFL starter in 2001 and, come two weeks, he’ll have played in 10 of them. He went 6-3 and won four Super Bowl MVPs with New England. And now, after just one year in his new conference, Brady owns as many NFC titles as fellow future-hall-of-famer Aaron Rodgers has managed in 13 years as Green Bay’s starter.
Did we mention Brady is 43 years old? Sure, he looked it at times yesterday, throwing three interceptions. But he also tossed three touchdown passes — the eighth time since the season started that he’s had at least that many in a game.
How wild is that for someone his age? Well, before this, there was exactly one instance in NFL history of a player past his 43rd birthday throwing at least three TD passes in a game. And that happened a half-century ago. George Blanda, who had transitioned from QB to kicker in his old age, came on in relief of Oakland’s injured starter and threw three TDs to beat Pittsburgh in Week 6 of the 1970 season.
The Edmonton Football Team’s head coach quit before he even coached a game. Scott Milanovich resigned today to, as the CFL team put it, “pursue NFL opportunities.” He’s reportedly joining the Indianapolis Colts as their quarterbacks coach after the guy who had that job was promoted to offensive co-ordinator. Edmonton hired Milanovich as its head coach after the 2019 season, and the 2020 campaign was wiped out by the pandemic. Read more here.
And in case you missed it…
A few more things from the weekend that you should know about:
Canada’s speed skaters can’t be trusted. Oh, they’re fine people and all. But they told us not to expect any medals from them at the long-track World Cup season opener in the Netherlands. Save for a two-week training camp back in the fall, the Canadian team had no opportunities to train on a proper oval since the pandemic hit, forcing them to resort to short tracks and outdoor ice to prepare for the shortened season. So of course they showed up to the Netherlands and promptly won five medals — including a gold by Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann and Valérie Maltais in Friday’s women’s team pursuit. Read more about the haul and watch highlights here.
Reece Howden had himself a weekend. The 22-year-old Canadian won back-to-back men’s World Cup ski cross events in Sweden on Saturday and Sunday. He now has three victories and four podium finishes in seven races this season and sits atop the World Cup standings by a wide margin. Canada’s Marielle Thompson is second in the women’s chase after reaching the podium for the fifth time this season on Sunday. Read more about the women’s and men’s races and watch highlights here.
Conor McGregor got knocked out. The UFC’s biggest star hadn’t fought in a year and was making just his third appearance in the octagon since 2017. But he was expected to beat Dustin Poirier for the second time in his career and bolster his case for luring undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov out of retirement for a megafight. Instead, Poirier spoiled McGregor’s (and the UFC’s) plans by dropping him with a flurry of punches to score a shocking second-round KO on Saturday night. Read more about the upset here.
Patrik Laine got traded. Winnipeg swapped him for another talented young player who wanted a change of scenery, sending Laine and Jack Roslovic to Columbus for Pierre-Luc Dubois and a third-round pick. Laine averaged about 35 goals over his first four NHL seasons and is still only 22. But he’s wanted out of Winnipeg for a while and, with his contract set to expire after this season, the Jets didn’t seem all that interested in convincing him to stay. Dubois was the third-overall pick in 2016 and looked like a promising player the last two seasons. He scored 27 goals in 2018-19 and had 18 in pandemic-shortened 2019-20. But he asked for a trade after his relationship with fiery Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella soured. Read more about the deal and why Laine wanted a fresh start here.
Coming up on CBC Sports
Alpine skiing: The World Cup season continues Tuesday with a women’s giant slalom in Italy starting at 4:30 a.m. ET and a men’s slalom in Austria starting at 11:45 a.m. ET. Watch both two-run races live on CBCSports.ca and the CBC Sports app.
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The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.
The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.
Trends of the Week
The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.
In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.
When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.
Upsets of the Week
The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.
Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.
NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.
Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.
The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.
Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.
Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.
Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.
Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).
Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.
Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.
Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.
Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.
The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).
The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.
The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.
