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Pumkin patches, hayfields, frosty golden treetops and football. It’s fall. Leaves are scattered about and falling exponentially each time the wind clears its throat. Sprinklers off, homes winterized while the mountains collect the first few inches of powder for the season. It’s Harvest Season where gratitude is at an all-time high.

Be thankful for the toils; they’ll make you strong. Be thankful for the lovely; they’ll bring you joy. Be thankful for abilities; they’ll be used to serve humanity. Be thankful for all things because laced inside all of that gratitude is the love the world needs to see. Gratitude leads to love.

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We could also find room to be thankful for the football weekend. Holy smokes–what a weekend it was. Not that it surprised anyone.

With 18 ranked college football teams playing on the road and 5 ranked on ranked matchups taking place, it felt like this weekend would be the one that we would talk about as being the one that mattered the most come season’s end. Those results will feature shortly, but for now, it was a spectacular day for the Saturday Game.

It was followed and preceded by the Round Game, Friday Night Lights, and the Grown Man’s Sunday Game with a little American Pastime Game folded into the mix. Yessir, there’s a lot to cover.

So, with hearts full of love and gratitude, and Al Michaels just about to begin his narration of the Sunday Night NFL matchup on Peacock, settle into your comfy chair and enjoy the recap of this weekend’s football action.

With that–It’s time for this Week’s “General Update.” General Update.

What to Expect:

• Friday Night Lights
• The Round Game
• The Saturday Game
• Top 12 Rankings in CFB
• The American Pastime Game
• The Grown Man’s Sunday Game

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GENERAL UPDATE

“Facts are seditious things/ when they touch courts and kings/ Armies are raised/ Barracks and bastilles built/ innocence charged with guilt/ blood most unjustly spilt/ God stands amazed.”-Thomas Mather 1791 written to the tune of “My Country tis of Thee.”

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FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

At this point, it feels as though it was two weeks ago when I sat in the frigid rain amongst Pioneer lovers and football faithful as Corner Canyon notched the final win of the regular season this past Wednesday Night. What a fun night that was.

It’s worth mentioning now that out of all of the crowds I’ve sat amongst this season, Lehi’s was my favorite by a slim margin over Skyridge. Two schools separated by a whopping 3.1 miles and both have energetic fan bases full of love, passion, and knowledge of football. Both sport impressively coordinated student sections that stay involved throughout the game, but Lehi’s is my favorite–For now.

Even on such a cold and rainy Wednesday night there was barely space to be found on the frigid bleachers. Whether you were built like Jason Kelce or Zendaya, it was going to be a tight squeeze between the local faithful and football fans on that rainy night. Somehow, someway I showed up late, but just in time to snag a spot on the 46-yard line near the top row. A perfect seat for a fella like me.

As you already know, Corner were a bit stingy as the away team and came away with the easy win, but in my opinion, the Lehi fans won the night by their show of undaunted support for their team despite the odds stacked against them and the adverse weather conditions. Well done, Pioneers.

NOTABLE SCORES:

• Corner Canyon 56 @ Lehi 3
• West 69 @ Cyprus 6
• Skyridge 26 @ American Fork 14
• Weber 23 @ Davis 38
• Herriman 56 @ Cedar Valley 6
• Brighton 28 @ Alta 25
• Westlake 28 @ Mountain Ridge 35

UHSAA 6A Region 3 Champion: Corner Canyon

TOP TEAMS RANKED in State:

1. Corner Canyon 8-1
2. Davis 9-1
3. Skyridge 8-2
4. 5A West 8-1
5. 4A Ridgeline 9-0
6. 5A Orem 7-2

The regular season has concluded, and the playoff bracket is set for UHSAA. The top teams will all recieve a first round bye and this includes: Corner Canyon, Skyridge, Davis, Lehi, Lone Peak, Orem, West, and Fremont among others. This means that the top teams will not play until All Hallows Eve afternoon.

Due to the popularity of Halloween, especially in this region of the country, most of the games on that day will be played at 4PM to allow for the spookiness of the night to take place off High School campuses.

Matchups on the 31st include the winner of Layton/ Cedar Valley vs Corner Canyon, Skyridge vs Copper Hills, Davis vs Bingham, Farmington vs Lone Peak, and a Region 3 rematch that involves feisty Lehi and the Cavemen of American Fork. Pick a game and enjoy. Lehi/ AF will be the game of the week. Can’t wait.

The regular season is over but the Friday Night Lights story here in Utah is far from complete.

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NATIONAL FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Nugget

NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TOP 10!

1. St. Johns Bosco (CA)
2. St. Frances (MD)
3. Grayson (GA)
4. IMG (FL)
5. Centennial (CA)
6. Bishop Gorman (NV)
7. Sierra Canyon (CA)
8. Buford (GA)
9. Santa Margarita (CA)
10. Edna Karr (LA)

“Do not go gentle into that dark night. Rage! Rage against the dying of the light.”- Dylan Thomas Oct 27, 1914-Nov 9, 1953

—

THE ROUND GAME

The Hometown Tigers: Lady Tigers Soccer

• Memphis 5 @ East Carolina 0 at Noon

Goal Scorers:

• Freshman Forward Mihiro Furuya
• Junior Forward Ashley Henderson (2)
  • Harding Academy (Memphis) graduate
  • Team Captain
• Senior Forward Flavie Doube
• Sophmore Defender Ally Casey

NEXT GAMES:

• Memphis @ UTSA at 6PM THUR 10/23
• Temple @ Memphis at Noon SUN 10/26
  • “Be there, be proud, wear blue.”

8th in the Nation and still climbing! The Tigers clinched their 3rd straight regular season AAC Title!

These ladies are playing some excellent ball right now according to these results I’m seeing. Two more games to go before the conference tournament. GO Tigers, GO!

ARSENAL

• Arsenal 1 @ Fulham 0

Coming off the International Break, Arsenal returned to action Saturday morning against Fulham. The Gunners looked fresh as springtime daisies as the final whistle blew. It was about the least stressful 1-nil road win that I’ve watched. Fulham never threatened to score. Win by 1 and move on….Arsenal are TOP of the League!

“One nil to the Arsenal, one nil. To the Arsenal one nil”–Away fans chanted as the Gunners closed out Fulham at Craven Cottage on a hazy night in West London.

Trossard scored on a set piece volley for the winner, but the game was won by the stalwart defense. Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, and Calafiori have been outstanding as a back line conceding only three goals through 11 games.

Arsenal Starting XI

• GK Raya
• RB Timber
• CB Saliba
• CB Gabriel
• LB Calafiori
• CM Rice
• CM Zubimendi
• CM EZE
• RW Saka
• ST Gyokeres
• LW Trossard (GOAL)
• BENCH:
  • Kepa
  • Mosquera
  • White
  • Martinelli
  • Norgaard
  • Nwaneri
  • Merino
  • Lewis-Skelly
  • Dowman

Arsenal are TOP of the League and will play again October 26th against Crystal Palace to try to retain that status.

Between now and then, they will play Tuesday October 21 at 1:00 against Athletico Madrid in a Champions League Group match. COYG!

Sunderland

• Wolverhampton 0 @ Sunderland 2

Sunderland opened the scoring by way of Mukiele in 16th minute. After a heavy onslaught of squandered chances by ‘Wolves,’ the Black Cats sealed it in the 92nd from a Wolverhampton own goal.

The Stadium of Light did not disappoint as the home fans were as passionate as ever for their beloved Northern side.

Sunderland travel to Chelsea next Saturday at 8:00 for a battle between two top 7 clubs.

• Sunderland 7th in Premier League

OTHER SOCCER:

COMO 1907

• Juventus 0 @ Como 2

PAZ! PAZ! PAZ! Rhythmically like a Haka chant, the Como home crowd praised their star boy and sang for their team as the final seconds waned. What a great win for the underdog home side in front of a jam-packed crowd on a cloudy day with the silhouette of the Southern Alps barely in view. By far and away the best crowd of the season and still one of the most scenic stadiums in the world.

With the win, Como now move past Juventus into 5th in the Serie A standings. Well done to the boys in blue on the shores of Lake Como against the perineal Italian powerhouse.

Nico Paz continues to be special as he delivered an incredible cross that led to a one-touch volley score by Kempf in the fourth minute and the game sealing goal in the 80th on a brilliant curling strike from the right side of the 18 yard box. A goal and assist for the young future Superstar right winger from Spain. Only up Nico.

Como play at Parma Calcio Oct 25th at 7:00

WREXHAM

• Wrexham 0 @ Stoke 1

Quite the boring 1-nil if you ask me. Wrexham continue to struggle in the championship league–they remain 18th in the Championship Standings. Just three points above the relegation zone.

Hopefully the Welsh side can bounce back this Wednesday as they host 19th place Oxford United at 12:45.

If not against Oxford, then perhaps away at 2nd place Middlesborough next Saturday at 8:00.

“So much of what I knew at the end of my career I learned in those early days, sometimes without realizing the lessons were sinking in.”- Sir Alex Ferguson

—

THE SATURDAY GAME

“Uniforms are nice. Uniforms are good. I’d rather play good.”-Billy Napier

• Hometown Tigers

Memphis 24 @ UAB 31

Not the best day for the Hometown Tigers, but we’ll get South Florida in a week. It’ll be nice to bounce back with a win at home against a top 20 opponent.

Noon at the Liberty Bowl. “Be there. Be proud. Wear Blue.”

GO Tigers, Go!

TOP GAMES:

• Tennessee 20 @ Alabama 37
• Ohio St 34 @ Wisconsin 0
  • WR Carnell Tate 6 Catches 111, 2 TD’s
    • Stud!
• Oregon 56 @ Rutgers 10
  • QB Dante Moore 339 Yards and four total TD’s
• Mississippi 35 @ Georgia 43
  • QB Gunner Stockton 348 Total yards and 5 Total TD’s
  • QB Trinidad Chambliss 305 yards and three total TD’s
• USC 24 @ Notre Dame 34
  • RB Jeremyiah Love 265 Total Yards, 1 TD
  • RB Jadarian Price 209 All-purpose yards, Two total TD’s
    • Kickoff return for 100 yards

OTHER CFB Scores:

• Michigan St 13 @ Indiana 38
• LSU 24 @ Vanderbilt 31
• Georgia Tech 27 @ Duke 18
• Oklahoma 26 @ South Carolina 7
• Texas A&M 45 @ Arkansas 42
• Texas Tech 22 @ Arizona St 26
• Washington St 20 @ Virginia 22
• Missouri 23 @ Auburn 17
  • Missouri’s first road game.
• Louisville 24 @ Miami 21 (FRI)
• Miss St 21 @ Florida 23
• Washington 7 @ Michigan 24
  • RB Jonah Coleman 91 Total Yards and one TD in the loss.
  • QB Bryce Underwood 255 yards and two touchdowns

There is one glaring massive game that I have intentionally saved for the end. The Game of the Year in the State of Utah. The game between red and blue, the war, the “Holy War,” Utah at BYU. What a gritty game that was. Pads popping with sheer vitriol. Big boys churning legs and pushing piles playing all the way to and sometimes through the whistle just as any rivalry requires.

Freshman QB Bear Bachmeier took more than a few punishing hits but displayed the graft needed to endure to the end. By the end, he looked about as woozy as the loser in a middleweight title fight. From my perspective, it was truly a dauntless performance against such a formidable hard-hitting defense.

His effort along with the rest of the Cougars earned BYU the 24-21 win over their northern rivals and improve to an outstanding 7-0. “Hopefully we’ll start getting into some of the conversations” is what Head Coach Kalani Sitake said in the post-game interview. It would certainly be justified with their flawless start. How high will they climb by the end?

Utah drops to 5-2 but can certainly still make noise. Bruce will have a word later this week on his current expectations.

Single High Sports TOP 12 WEEK 9:

1. Ohio St
2. Georgia
3. Indiana
4. Texas A&M
5. Alabama
6. Oregon
7. Mississippi
8. Miami
9. Georgia Tech
10. Oklahoma
11. BYU
12. Notre Dame

What a weekend in college football.

Week 8 will be hard to top as we progress through the season. Pageantry, drama, athleticism, playoff implications, torrential rains, lightning delays, rivalries, blowouts, coaches fired, and a four-loss team playing inspired. Yes, I’m talking about you Billy Napier and UCLA. This weekend had it all. College football is at its peak.

If you played football in the state of Indiana yesterday, your team probably won, but the fans may have lost due to the constant cloud bursts. The wind in Bloomington was stiff in the first half but eased by the second half and gave way to the onslaught of rain. The Hoosiers couldn’t have cared less. Tough, grit, disciplined. Indiana.

There was more bad weather to be found. From Fayetteville to South Bend, “Hells Half Acre” to Muncy, one could find heavy wind, rain, and lightning in some cases.

The rain did not slow down the scoring like one may have thought. Notre Dame for example could play every game in the rain and win with their size in the trenches and powerful speedster duo at running back. That team is built for the rain.

More than the weather, the weekend brought with it the pageantry and tradition that I crave from this sport. USC/ Notre Dame, Bama/ UT, BYU/ Utah–the rivalries were all over the place. It was good, clean football with very little if any poor displays of sportsmanship. Gladly, I can’t think of anything noteworthy to mention.

I did however see a noteworthy amount of unflagged, clean hard hits yesterday. Noticeably more than I can remember seeing in a Saturday since the rules changed. I fist pumped each one, even jumped out of my seat when Safety Pierre Royster pummeled one of the Hometown boys. I mean, it was against my team, but I respected the play from the Safety and reacted accordingly. At that point, I still had no doubt that the Tigers would come back to win. This was well before QB Brenden Lewis left the game injured.

With the extra level of physicality being allowed, it exemplified the sheer toughness that is engrained in these players. Bigger, tougher, stronger, faster–these athletes continue to amaze me and push the envelope.

The playoff implications will not be certain until the final week or two of the season, but there is a chance that a teams win or loss yesterday could be the final data point that puts them into the CFB 12 Team Playoff or sends them to the Pop Tarts Bowl.

We will just have to keep our eyes on the Saturday game.

Napier will be just fine. He just needs to be selective and take the job that he knows is best for him. Oklahoma St is a fun spot with a good to great recruiting class coming in and they just so happen to be looking for a coach. Billy Napier would be perfect for Stillwater. Like an alpine lake at sunrise on a calm, clear morning kind of perfect.

And to conclude the Saturday Game, a massive shoutout to the UCLA Bruins. From 0-4 to 3-4, UCLA is now one of the hottest teams in the country. Coach Tim Skipper deserves all the credit for not only stabilizing that sinking ship out West but also getting the holes plugged and setting sail on a proper course. Well done!

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“There is wishful thinking in Hell as well as on Earth”- C.S. Lewis

—

THE AMERICAN PASTIME GAME

Dodger Blue awaits patiently for the winner between Seattle and Toronto. Los Angeles swept the cheese chuggers with ease.

In the series clinching game, their leadoff man, also the starting pitcher, got three hits. All were solo homers. He also pitched 6 innings and struck out ten. What the deuce? Is this the MLB or are we back in Dixie Youth again? You know? The place where the best player pitches, hits homers, and bats leadoff.

Back in my day, the pitcher batted 9th and the leadoff man was lucky to hit three total homers the entire year. “O me O my I can’t explain” how much has changed in this once beloved game.

That said–it’s quite impressive to watch one player do it all for his team at the highest level.

The World Series will begin this week once these two American League stepchildren finish their series.

“I was happiest when I was outdoors with my whippet”- Marco Pierre White

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THE SUNDAY GROWN MANS GAME

UPDATE from Nashville:

New England 31 @ Tennessee 13

We are still right on track for the number one pick. Jeremiah Smith would suit us just fine.

Vrabel is now 5-2 and confident as ever. I love to see it.

OTHER NFL Scores:

• Pittsburgh 31 @ Cincinatti 33 (THUR)
  • Ja’marr Chase 16 Catches 161 yards and 1 TD on twenty-three targets.
  • Joe to Ja’marr over and over and over again. Flacco not Burrow.
• Indianapolis 38 @ LAC 24
  • Future MVP Daniel Jones 295 Yards and Two TD’s
  • Jon Taylor carried the load: 132 Yards and three scores
• NYG 32 @ DEN 33
  • Jaxson Dart rushed in the go-ahead score in the final 40 seconds bringing his totals of the day to 294 Total Yards and 4 Total TD’s.
    • Elite
  • Denver won somehow, someway
    • Control what you can.

Atlanta is in San Francisco about right now. Two hot teams with top shelf running backs. Hopefully Bijan has put up 130 yards or so and a touchdown.

Hopefully, all is well and the water is level in your world.

—

“One can accomplish anything when properly motivated”- a common phrase

An example comes by way of Marco Pierre White. “I excelled at Cross Country, but not because I was desperate to win–I was determined to be the first back to the changing rooms–I set Cross Country records purely so that I would be showered, dried, and back in uniform…before the rest of the group finished the run.”

THE END

Another “General Update” will be out this same time next Sunday.

Until then,

Continue looking for and being a part of the good in the world. External circumstances and inner turmoil are not factors. Do not quit being kind because of another’s snake biting nature. Live the truth. Be a light. Be discerning.

Find the Humor and Keep on Movin’

Whit W.

Thank you for reading.