The turn of the calendar to September also marks the turn towards the beginning of the season for America’s most popular sport. Football has returned.
Inside this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, a look at how the beginning of the football season is shaping up, and a peak at what Zander’s been reading this past week. Plus, a compilation of the top sports and news headlines from the past week.
Also, go listen to the latest episode of the Zander’s Facts podcast! Episode 74 features the first part of Zander’s 2022-23 football season preview. Zander previews the upcoming college football season, gives you updates on the top teams, and provides his predictions for the season. Go listen to and download the Zander’s Facts podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
Zander’s Weekend Facts is here to give you the facts about what has been going on in the world around us this past week. You’ll just have to read these facts, instead of listening to them on the Zander’s Facts podcast.
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, September 4, 2022:
Football season is upon us
Since early February, this football-obsessed nation has been deprived of its favorite attraction. The various spring football leagues and their low quality of play have done nothing to appease the football-crazed fanatic. But now, as we reach September, it’s time to eat up all the football we can. Ladies and gentlemen, football is back!
This weekend marked the official return of the football season, one that has been sorely missed by many. Beginning this past Thursday and ramping up on Saturday, Week 1 of College Football provided us our first glimpse into what this football season will bring.
By the way, if you want a full preview of the upcoming football season, go listen to Episode 74 of the Zander’s Facts podcast (which is conveniently linked below:)
Coming into the weekend, the most hyped games were two top matchups between ranked teams that would take place on Saturday. However, both failed to live up to the immense long-drawn offseason hype.
#11 Oregon traveled to Atlanta, GA to take on defending National Champions #3 Georgia, who barely let the Ducks get out a quack with their 49-3 drumming of Oregon.
The big matchup was a top-five primetime matchup between #5 Notre Dame and #2 Ohio State in Columbus, OH. While this game was much closer than the one preceding it, the Buckeyes still looked in control most of the way as they won 21-10.
The matchup that may have delivered the most was Thursday night’s West Virginia-#17 Pittsburgh reunion. The Backyard Brawl rivals hadn’t played in 11 years, a drought that ended with a thrilling contest in Pittsburgh. With the game tied at 31-31 and three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Pitt intercepted West Virginia quarterback J.T. Daniels and ran it back to the house to put the Panthers on top 38-31.
Elsewhere in Week 1 of college football, #24 Houston survived a road test against UTSA in three overtimes, 37-35. #13 NC State survived East Carolina on the road, 21-20, due to a missed ECU field goal in the final seconds. Florida had a late-game interception to seal a 29-26 upset of #7 Utah at The Swamp, and #1 Alabama, #6 Texas A&M, and #18 Wisconsin shut out their inferior opponents.
Later on during this Labor Day weekend, Florida State will face LSU in New Orleans, LA on Sunday night at 7:30 pm et on ABC, and #4 Clemson will face Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA on Monday night at 8:00 pm et on ESPN.
This year, Zander is making weekly predictions on Instagram for each of the college football games featuring a team ranked in the Top 25. So far, Zander has gone 20-1. Be sure to check your Instagram feeds each week during the season to check out Zander’s fact-filled predictions. Zander’s Facts!
While college football is now underway, the pros begin their season this coming week.
Week 1 of the NFL season will kick off this week as the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams will begin their title defense against the Buffalo Bills, who came up 13 seconds short of an AFC Championship berth last season, on Thursday night.
Some other notable games this coming week include the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Arizona Cardinals at 4:25 pm et on Sunday on CBS, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at 8:20 pm et on NBC, and the Denver Broncos vs. Seattle Seahawks on Monday at 8:15 pm et on ABC and ESPN.
Zander will also be posting weekly predictions for every NFL game on Instagram throughout the season, with this week’s picks coming later this week.
Also, Zander will be previewing the upcoming NFL season this week in the second part of Zander’s 2022-23 football season preview on the Zander’s Facts podcast! Make sure to listen to Episode 75 when it drops this Wednesday!
What Zander’s been reading this week
This week’s featured article focuses on the topic of the week, football. As you may have read above, college football is back this week, and that means you’ll probably find yourself watching some games on television in the next few months. Even though many will still watch, the negatives about watching college football on tv can definitely app up. Long advertisements, announcers not talking about the game in front of them, kickoff times that turn out to be much later, etc. According to Ben Mathis-Lilley of The New York Times, while we may love watching football from the comfort of our own couches, it could be a much better experience.
Read this week’s featured piece in The New York Times - Does Watching College Football on TV Have to Be So Miserable?
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the top sports stories of the week in the sporting club:
Serena Williams’ farewell tournament at the US Open concluded on Friday. Williams fell in the third round to Ajla Tomljanović in three sets. In August, Williams wrote in Vogue that she intended to wind down her tennis career in the near future, with many believing the US Open would be Williams’ final tournament. Williams was met with several tributes in her honor surrounding each of the three matches she played last week. Williams won her first major tournament title at the US Open in 1999 and she went on to win 23 major titles in total, the most for any tennis player in the Open era.
An expansion to the College Football Playoff has been approved by the group’s Board of Managers. Beginning no later than 2026, the College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams, with the six highest-ranked conference champions and six at-large teams competing. The board approved the concept, which must now be implemented by the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director. The expanded playoff could take place as early as 2024, but 2025 is seen as a more likely beginning. The CFP’s current television contract with ESPN, which includes all games of the College Football Playoff, expires after the 2025 CFP.
The summer soccer transfer window closed on Thursday. During the window, which takes place during the offseasons of the major European club soccer leagues, major transfers between clubs took place. Among the most notable transactions were Erling Haaland coming to Manchester City, Darwin Nunez joining Liverpool, Robert Lewandowski joining Barcelona, and Casemiro coming to Manchester United. Additionally, USMNT defender Sergino Dest left Barcelona to join AC Milan in Italy on the final day of the transfer window. Future transactions between European soccer clubs will not be allowed to take place until the winter transfer window opens in January.
Rory McIlroy came from behind to win the Tour Championship last Sunday. McIlroy was six shots behind when the final round of the tournament started but made up the deficit to world #1 Scottie Scheffler and won the tournament. The victory gave McIlroy his third FedEx Cup, the only PGA Tour golfer to have won the cup three times. Elsewhere in golf, six golfers announced their intentions to leave the PGA Tour for LIV this week, including Cameron Smith, who won the Open Championship this year and is currently the #2 ranked golfer in the world.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired Donovan Mitchell in a massive offseason trade in the NBA. The Cavs acquired Mitchell in a trade with the Utah Jazz, where the Cavaliers sent Collin Sexton and two other players, along with three first-round picks and two pick swaps. Mitchell was a star for the Jazz since being drafted in 2017, but recently became disgruntled and was traded as the Jazz look to rebuild their squad.
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Rapid-fire Facts
Here are the top news headlines from the past week in rapid-fire fashion:
Former President Donald Trump is currently seeking a special master as a part of the FBI’s investigation relating to the recent search of Mar-a-Lago. A federal judge has not decided whether to appoint a special master in the case, which would review the documents that were seized by the FBI during the search. Additionally, a detailed inventory of the documents that were seized was made public on Friday. The list included over 10,000 government documents with no classification, and 43 empty folders that were marked as “Classified.”
The CDC is recommending new coronavirus booster shots for all Americans 12 years of age and older. The new COVID booster shots from Pfizer and Moderna have been developed to have stronger immunity against more recent variants of the virus, such as Omicron. The shots will be available for those who previously received the Moderna vaccine and are 18 years old or older, and for those who took the Pfizer vaccine and are 12 years old or older.
New York has instituted a law that will ban the carrying of guns in Times Square and other areas in New York state. After previous New York laws restricting access to concealed carry permits were deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, the New York state legislature passed new laws implementing the gun-free zones and stricter restrictions for gaining a concealed carry permit. While the new laws have been taken to court, a federal judge did let the new laws go into effect, despite warning that they may be unconstitutional.
Mary Peltola won the special election for Alaska’s at-large district in the House of Representatives. Peltola becomes the first Democrat to hold the seat in over 50 years, as former Rep. Don Young (R-AK) had held the seat since 1973, but passed away earlier this year. Peltola beat former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) in the first ranked-choice election in Alaska. Peltola also becomes the first native Alaskan to represent the state in Congress.
The Artemis 1 moon mission launch was postponed twice this past week. On Tuesday, the mission was postponed due to weather and due to a liquid hydrogen fuel leak. NASA now estimates that a launch will not be attempted until at least September 19. The Artemis mission is NASA’s new moon mission that will put the first woman and person of color on the moon.
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Wrapping up the Facts
Before this edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts podcast. Download and listen to Episode 74, along with every episode of Zander’s Facts, wherever you get your podcasts. Check out Zander’s Facts’ Linktree page for more on anything Zander’s Facts related: Zander's Facts on Linktree
You can also listen to every episode of the podcast on this very website. All Zander’s Facts podcast episodes are now available on zandersfacts.substack.com under the “Zander’s Facts” tab for your enjoyment. That includes Episode 75 of the podcast, the second and final part of Zander’s annual football season preview, which comes out this Wednesday!
Remember to check out the next edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts next Sunday! If you haven’t already, make sure to sign up with the link below to get Zander’s Weekend Facts in your email inbox every Sunday so you don’t miss anything!
That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The Facts in print return next Sunday, September 11, 2022.