⚾️ The Dodgers are the 2024 World Series Champions, TNF Preview + More!

Morning Blitzers,

Congrats to the 2024 LA Dodgers! Quite the season. Sad to see the baseball season come to a close but the Dodgers deserved it all season long. But let’s turn the page. Who is possibly going to beat the Dodgers next season? They’re going to get only better with Shohei Ohtani pitching next season, they’re already the clear favorites, and I’m sure they’ll add a couple more superstars in free agency. We could be looking at a pretty dominant run for the Dodgers in the future. In the meantime we have the NFL, NBA, and NHL to worry about. Let’s get into it!

WTF Stat: More of a WTF picture, but as a Star Wars fan and a Wemby fan this is pretty cool to see:

Are we sure Wemby isn’t a Kaminoan that’s just great at basketball?

⚾️ The Los Angeles Dodgers are your 2024 World Series champions, after winning an incredible 7-6 comeback victory. Down five runs heading into the 5th, the Dodgers bats came alive (and the Yankees fielding fell apart), Freddie Freeman hit a two-run single and Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-run double. The Dodgers took control in the eighth with crucial sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts. The Dodgers utilized seven relievers, including Walker Buehler, who earned the save. This win marked the Dodgers' eighth championship and their first full-season title since 1988. Freeman would take the MVP honors after an absolutely insane playoff run:

🏈 Saints QB Derek Carr is set to return to action this Sunday against the Carolina Panthers after missing three games due to an oblique injury. While he feels confident in his ability to contribute, Carr downplayed any notion of being a "savior" for a struggling offense that has scored only three touchdowns in the past three games. "I am no savior. There's only been one of those and, that is not me. I am here to be a great leader and to be a great teammate and to do my job the best of my ability… But to save us or anything like that, that's not me, I'm going to come in and do what my guys expect me to do. Bring energy, bring effort, be a great teammate. Encourage our guys, get everybody on the same page, lock in the details, hold each other accountable."

• 🔥Take: Probably not what you want to hear as a Saints teammate. ‘When asked if there was any added pressure to return to a team that has been struggling to put up points.’ Seems like you could have just answered something to the effect of, ‘This is the NFL, there’s pressure every Sunday to win. I’m just glad to be back and help my team.’ Instead making is sound like this team is a lost cause that even he can’t save isn’t a great sign of confidence. Maybe I’m reading into it too much, just a weird thing to bring up the word ‘savior’ when asked about added pressure.

Thursday Night Football Preview

Game: Texans (6-2) @ Jets (2-6) at 8:15 EST

Why we’re watching: This is the fourth nationally televised game for the Jets (2x on MNF, and on SNF), and I would rather not watch them again. On the bright side we do get to see one of the best young QBs in the game in C.J. Stroud and one of the best young defenses in the NFL in the Texans. Plus, the Texans love to keep every game close it seems, so hopefully we’ll see a game that goes down to the wire. The Texans should steam roll the Jets and the 4th quarter should dedicated to the camera zooming in on grumpy QB Aaron Rodgers on the sidelines as he snorts cayenne pepper and drinks from his Indiana Jones chalice or something to that effect. But my guess is it’ll be a close game.

Key Matchup: Aaron Rodgers Confidence in his O-Line vs. Texans Pass Rush - Texans have held QBs to a league best 53.1% completion percentage thanks to a great pass rush (3rd in the NFL in sacks), and aggressive defensive backs (8 interceptions). All year Rodgers hasn’t looked like his normal self in the pocket, I’m curious to see if a few early hits from stud DEs Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter will affect his timing and ruin the Jets offensive game plan.

TNF Prop Bets: Jean (3-4) - Texans Moneyline — Keith (4-3) - C.J. Stroud over 9.5 yards rushing.

D-Man’s Pick (4-3 TNF): This line (Jets -1.5) smells fishier than a chum bucket on a Nova-Scotian fishing vessel. Why are the books begging us to take the Texans? We WANT to take the Texans. Like a beautiful inventors daughter falling in love with a giant beast; the Jets sucking is a tale as old as time. What are we missing here? I don’t know, but I’m going to take the bait even if it blows up in my face like that scuba tank did to Jaws. Texans moneyline. p.s. I have a baby and haven’t slept in 3 days

Top NBA Scores

• Pacers 135, Celtics 132: The Celtics suffered their first loss of the season in overtime thanks to Pascal Siakam 29 points and a clutch 3 with 6.1 seconds remaining. The Pacers overcame a late push from the Celtics, who erased a 19-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

• Cavaliers 134, Lakers 110: The Cavs improved to 5-0 with a decisive 134-110 victory. Evan Mobley led the Cavaliers with 25 points, while Donovan Mitchell contributed 24 points and Jarrett Allen added 20 points and 17 rebounds. It wasn’t all bad news for the Lakers, LeBron James, got to watch his son Bronny score his first points…

• Knicks 116, Heat 107: Karl-Anthony Towns scored 44 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead New York to the comeback victory. Jalen Brunson added 22 points, with 18 coming in the second half, as the Knicks rallied from a 13-point deficit in the third quarter.

• Thunder 105, Spurs 93: The Thunder remain undefeated despite an off night from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (7-20, 18 points). Lu Dort (20 points) and Chet Holmgren (19 points) picked up the slack for Oklahoma City. Victor Wembanyama struggled against Holmgren, scoring only six points on 1-for-5 shooting.

See full NBA scoreboard here, and standings here.

Top NHL Scores

• Kings 6, Golden Knights 3: Anze Kopitar recorded a goal and two assists, including his 800th career assist, leading the Los Angeles to a 6-3 victory. The milestone makes him the fifth player born outside North America (he is Slovenian) to reach 800 assists.

• Jets 6, Red Wings 2: Kyle Connor scored a goal and two assists to reach 500 career points, leading the Winnipeg to a 6-2 victory. Neal Pionk netted two goals, while Gabriel Vilardi contributed a goal and an assist. The Jets are now a league best 9-1 on the season.

• Lightning 5, Avalanche 2: Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel and Conor Geekie got the scoring going early, putting in 3 goals in the first 6 minutes. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves, earning his 299th career victory. Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon extended their point streaks to 11 games.

See full NHL scoreboard here, and standings here.

On this day in 1994, Venus Williams made her professional debut as a 14-year-old. She won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4 over former NCAA champion and world No. 58 Shaun Stafford. She would go on become the #1 ranked tennis player in the world by 2002, and finish with a 818–278 professional record.

Yesterday’s Trivia Time Answer

According to Forbes in 2023, there are four billionaire athletes, Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Tiger Woods, and who?

D) Magic Johnson - Johnson is worth $1.2 billion dollars. Johnson earned only around $40 million total as a Los Angeles Lakers player, mainly in the 1980s, but he built his wealth through joint venture partnerships in everything from movie theaters, Starbucks franchises, real estate and healthcare.

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