🏈 First College Football Rankings, NFL Trade Deadline, MLB & NBA News, + More!

Good Morning Blitzers,

Happy Hump Day Blitzers! Hope everyone’s week is going well. Just remember that no matter what is happening in the world, we always have sports to fall back on. Let’s jump into the Morning Blitz!

WTF Stat:  

The Cowboys are not good at trading for WRs.

→ WR Amari Cooper was the #4 pick in the 2015 NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders.

→ The Cowboys acquired Cooper for a 2019 1st-round pick.

→ The Cowboys then traded Cooper in March of 2022 for a 5th-round pick to the Browns.

→ On October 15th, the Browns traded Cooper and a 6th round pick for 3rd and 7th round pick.

→ The Cowboys just traded a 4th-round pick for WR Jonathan Mingo (55 receptions, 539 yards, 0 TDs in his career).

So… To summarize, the Cowboys gave up a 1st to get Cooper, then only received a 5th to get rid of him (while in the prime of his career), then two years later the Browns were able to get 3rd round pick for him (after a bad start to the season). Then the Cowboys turn around and spend a 4th round pick (more than they received for Cooper) to acquire the Panther’s 5th leading receiver. Can someone explain this to me?

🏈 The first College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings of 2024 were released, with unbeaten Oregon ranked No. 1, followed by Ohio State, Georgia, Miami, and Texas in the top five. The expanded 12-team playoff would see the top four seeds—Oregon, Georgia, Miami, and BYU—earn first-round byes, while the remaining teams would compete in matchups like Boise State at Ohio State, Alabama at Texas, and Notre Dame at Penn State.

• 🔥Take: Isn’t it gorgeous? Finally the 12-team playoff is here and it’s everything I imagined and more. As for the rankings, I’m not going to get too worked up about them, these are bound to change drastically over the next few weeks…. BUT, why are we disrespecting Indiana? They’ve dominated every team they’ve played this year, and sit at 9-0, yet they put 5 teams that are 7-1 ahead of them? The whole ranking system is a self-fulfilling prophecy at times, which I think makes it hard for new teams to ever rise up and get respect.

🏈 Some big names were on the move as the NFL trade deadline came to a close yesterday afternoon. Here is a look at the trades that went down:

• 🔥Take: Biggest trades were the Lions acquiring EDGE Za’Darius Smith, Commanders getting their lock-down CB in Marshon Lattimore, and the Steelers taking a flyer on two high potential players in WR Mike Williams and DE Preston Smith. The worst trade by far was the Cowboys trading a 4th-rounder for WR Jonathan Mingo. This is the same thing the Bears gave up to acquire perennial Pro Bowler WR Keenan Allen at the beginning of the year, and the 3-5 Cowboys are going to be without their QB Dak Prescott for a number of games. See full list of transactions here.

🏀 Joel Embiid of the 76ers has been suspended for three games without pay for shoving Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes after a confrontation on Saturday. The altercation stemmed from a column by Hayes that referenced Embiid's late brother and son, questioning his professionalism and commitment to staying in shape. Embiid responded saying, “The next time you bring up my dead brother and my son again, you are going to see what I'm going to do to you and I'm going to have to ... live with the consequences."

• 🔥Take: I’m not the biggest Embiid fan, but I have to side with him on this one. Questioning a players work ethic and ability to stay healthy is fair game. That’s why they get paid the big bucks (he just signed a 3-year, $193 million extension). But bringing up his family is weird/creepy/an awful way to argue your point.

⚾️ Shohei Ohtani underwent shoulder surgery on Tuesday to repair a labrum tear in his left shoulder, which he sustained during the World Series while attempting to steal second base in Game 2. Despite the injury, Ohtani continued to play through pain in the following games, struggling offensively as the Dodgers won the championship.

• 🔥Take: See what Hayes could have said instead is look at a player like Ohtani who also signed a massive deal, and see how he played through injuries, and gambling accusations and became a champion.

Free Forum Wednesdays

Free Forum Wednesdays continue - we'll be writing a bit more outside-the-box-content, hope you enjoy it!

“Climbing” Mount Everest is a Lie

When I was young I was obsessed with learning what was ‘best of the best’. I was constantly asking my parents questions, ‘who is the richest person in the world’ — Bill Gates. ‘Who is the greatest basketball team ever’ — Boston Celtics. ‘What is the best morning newsletter?’ — Morning Blitz. These were all facts I consumed and would spout out. One fact I found most interesting is Mount Everest being the tallest mountain in the world and many had died trying to summit it. 

I imagined these crazy adventure seekers throwing on some winter gear, maybe strapping on a backpack with some power bars, and taking on the mountain elements. Pretty incredible, until you realize it’s all one big lie.

Mount Everest Sherpas

Climbing Mount Everest wouldn’t be possible without Sherpas (Tibetan ethnic groups native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal). Climbing Everest is like tandem skydiving. The Sherpas are the experts of the mountain, they’re strapped to you and hold your life in their hands. This isn’t really even a secret, “Sherpa guides are not just the muscle behind any expedition – carrying extra gear such as oxygen bottles, water and food – they are also expert navigators. Enduring freezing temperatures of -30C down to -50C, they help climbers to negotiate icefalls, avalanches and extreme altitude.”

Sherpas do the dangerous job of fixing the ropes, ladders, and keeping the mountain clean and safe for tourists trying to ‘climb’. I always assumed it was these incredible experts and adventurers like Bear Grylls climbing Everest but in reality it’s become much easier for a commoner to do it.

Mount Everest Cost

What really precludes most from attempting to climb Mount Everest, isn’t the overwhelming physical challenges but instead the overwhelming cost. The average journey costs ‘Anywhere from $30,000 to $160,000, with the average falling somewhere around $45,000.’ This doesn’t include the expensive travel costs or the fact that most normal people can’t leave their job or family for over a month.

“Climbing” Mount Everest = 2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back

Most climbers don’t simply show up and climb to the top. Instead, they make multiple trips up and down the mountain to acclimatize. “This process can help climbers reassess risk and avoid calling off their trip due to sickness, weight loss, or other factors.” I get it that they need to acclimate, but I still don’t count this as a ‘climb’. This sounds more like a redundant hike to me.

They should be trained and ready to make the climb when they get there. Sounds like this is a month long training session followed by one climb. Saying you’re “climbing” Everest would be like me saying “I’m jacked” because I’m going to spend $40k on a personal trainer and start working out every day for the next 2 months (I’m going to definitely start saying this).

Mount Everest Has Camps & Ropes

When I go hiking at my local mountain (991 feet in elevation, no big deal) I don’t need oxygen, or ropes or a Sherpa guiding me. There aren’t ‘basecamps’ for me to take a break and refuel. I just show up with my SPF 100 sunscreen, and make the trek/heroic voyage. Should I be praised for this? Probably. All I know is that if you’re being handed everything you need to do a ‘climb’ and have someone guiding you, you’re not some incredible expeditionist, you’re someone that has a lot of money, free time, and wants to brag to their friends. You’re a glorified tourist. Yeah, it may have a 4% death rate, but I once saw a rattle snake while hiking, so we’re all taking risks.

Top NBA Games

All of the NBA was off last night!

See full NBA scoreboard here, and standings here.

Top NHL Games

Flames 3, Canadiens 2: Matt Coronato led the Calgary Flames to an overtime victory scoring twice, including the game-tying goal with 2:46 left in regulation and the game-winner just seven seconds into overtime. Connor Zary also scored for Calgary, which won for just the second time in its last seven games. Dustin Wolf made 21 saves in the win.

Islanders 4, Penguins 3: The Penguins had a 3-1 lead midway through the third period, but the Islanders rallied with two goals in the final frame. Simon Holmstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored to tie the game. Bo Horvat eventually scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the New York to a 4-3 comeback win.

Kings 5, Wild 1: In a matchup between two of the top teams in the West, the Kings won in blowout fashion, with Trevor Lewis scoring twice. Kevin Fiala added a power-play goal, and Warren Foegele and Quinton Byfield also scored for the Kings, who were playing the second night of a back-to-back.

Jets 3, Utah Hockey Club 0: The Jets’ secured their 12th win of the season and stayed undefeated at home as they cruised by Utah with a 3-0 victory. Connor Hellebuyck had 21 saves in the shutout and Nino Niederreiter scored two goals in the win.

See full NHL scoreboard here, and standings here.

On this day in 1995, Art Modell officially announces Cleveland Browns are moving to Baltimore, Maryland. Subsequent legal actions by the City of Cleveland and Browns season ticket holders led the NFL to broker a compromise in which Modell agreed to return the Browns franchise to the league. The agreement stipulated that the Browns franchise, including its history, records and intellectual property, would remain in Cleveland. In exchange, the NFL agreed to grant Modell a new franchise in Baltimore (which was eventually named the Ravens) and the City of Cleveland agreed to build an NFL-caliber venue to replace the aging Cleveland Stadium.

Yesterday’s Trivia Time Answer

The most game winning drives in a season is 8, by two different QBs, who did it most recently?

C) Kirk Cousins - Matthew Stafford and Cousins share the honor with Cousins completing it most recently. Two things that stand out is that the all-time leader, Tom Brady, most in a season is 5, and that Cousins was driven out of Minnesota in part because of the belief he wasn’t a big game QB… which the data doesn’t necessarily corroborate.

Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's trivia question and more info!