Screen Shots: November 7th-13th, 2024

Welcome to Screen Shots! This is where I tell you what sporting events you should watch on TV every week! Make sure you subscribe so it comes straight to your inbox! Have your own suggestions? Shoot me an email at [email protected]!

To help you prepare for all of the college hoops in this one, I did multiple previews of the potential Final Four contenders on the women’s side! They are split up by conference, including an extra special SEC preview with Lo Dreher! While you’re looking for things to watch, here’s a link to my own guest appearance on “At The Plate with Danny Foxworth,” where I talked about the Dodgers winning the World Series.

Now, to the sports!

Thursday, November 7th, 2024

• Sports History: On this day in 1991, Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson retired from the NBA after learning he was HIV+.

I was too young to know what was going on as it was happening, and even at my current big age I cannot imagine how insane it must have been. You have a guy who was the face of the league, months removed from competing for yet another NBA championship, being forced out of the sport due to an illness that was a death sentence at the time. Amazingly, Magic is not only still here 33 years later, but thriving. He’s spent the past 3 decades raising awareness about the illness, particularly in heterosexuals, while also fighting to reduce the stigma and discrimination related to it. There have been studies conducted that show that Magic has quite literally saved lives through his announcement and advocacy work in the years since. Here’s a neat interview with then-trainer of the Lakers, Gary Vitti, on what it was like experiencing all of this in real time.

Friday, November 8th, 2024

• Men’s College Basketball: #9 North Carolina Tar Heels @ #1 Kansas Jayhawks at 7:00 pm (ET) on ESPN2

Remember when Roy Williams made the move from Kansas to UNC back in the day? I believe it was the same year Hunter Dickinson and RJ Davis finished their sophomore seasons.

Saturday, November 9th, 2024

• College Football: Michigan Wolverines @ #8 Indiana Hoosiers at 3:30 pm (ET) on CBS

Nothing about this makes sense. Michigan? Unranked. Indiana? Top 10. CBS Saturday Game of the Week? Big Ten game. Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti is quickly becoming known for being a character in his 1st season at the helm. When asked how he sells recruits on his vision for the program, he replied, “It’s pretty simple. I win. Google me.” Any coach who pays homage to Teyana Taylor is alright by me.

Sunday, November 10th, 2024

• Women’s College Basketball: #9 NC State Wolfpack @ #1 South Carolina Gamecocks at 3:00 pm (ET) on ESPN

A rematch from last year’s Final Four. The Gamecocks blew out NC State in large part due to being, well, large. Bigs Kamilla Cardoso and Ashlyn Watkins outrebounded the entire Wolfpack team 31 to 28. However, Killa Milla is gone, but Watkins’ suspension just ended so we’ll see if she plays. South Carolina is looking to bounce back from an out-of-sync season opener where they barely held on against Michigan. A performance like that against a team as talented as this Wolfpack one will almost certainly result in an L, but is there a coach you trust more to figure things out quickly than Dawn Staley? Also, look out for 2 freshmen who you will be hearing about a lot in the years to come: Joyce Edwards (South Carolina) and Zam Jones (NC State).

• NFL: Detroit Lions @ Houston Texans at 8:20 pm on NBC

I’m not entirely sure what’s going on, but the Lions are good AND fun to watch. Admittedly, I’ve never been overly impressed by QB Jared Goff, but I’ve had to reevaluate that this season as he’s led the offense to an NFL-leading 32.3 points per game. In the past 5 games, he’s thrown just 17 incompletions. In that same timeframe, he’s also tossed 11 TDs and 0 INTs. Pretty good!

Monday, November 11th, 2024

• Men’s College Basketball: Boston University Terriers @ UCLA Bruins at 10:00 pm (ET) on Big Ten Network

Part of the draw of March Madness is learning about smaller schools and some of the characters that play for them. Well, we get to experience that same dynamic at the beginning of the season too so consider this your chance to get a head start on the NCAA Tournament fun. Boston’s Otto Landrum has gone viral in the past for his, um, unique look and skill combination. Tune in and see if his game matches up with his highlight tapes. By the way, do we still call them highlight tapes? Someone let me know.

Tuesday, November 12th, 2024

• Men’s College Basketball: #7 Duke Blue Devils @ #23 Kentucky Wildcats at 9:00 pm (ET) on ESPN

Duke has a well-documented history of unleashing obnoxious white guys into the college basketball atmosphere. Could Cooper Flagg be next in line? He’ll have his work cut out for him. Sure, he seems to have the obnoxious and white parts down, but he’s talented enough that he should only play here for this season. Better start tripping people, Coop!

• NBA:  Dallas Mavericks @ Golden State Warriors at 10:00 pm (ET) on TNT

The 2nd annual NBA Cup kicks off with Klay Thompson’s 1st-game back in the Bay. Cutting ties with such a crucial piece of a franchise always leaves people feeling some type of way, but it looks like it’s paying off for the Warriors. It’s still early, but Klay’s replacement, Buddy Hield, currently leads the team in scoring and is knocking down about half of his 3s. Most importantly, he fits within the flow of the offense much better than Klay has the past couple of seasons when he was trying to prove that the injuries hadn’t affected him. Spoiler alert: they had. To his credit, he has seemed more accepting of his role in Dallas so far.

Wednesday, November 13th, 2024

• Women’s College Basketball: #18 Maryland Terrapins @ Syracuse Orange at 7:00 pm (ET) on ACC Network

If you’re looking for a sleeper pick to make a deep run in March, pay attention to the Terps. Coach Brenda Frese always has something up her sleeve. They bring back a lot of the production from last year’s tourney team plus some quality transfers like last season’s Big East co-Defensive Player of the Year Christina Dalce. Defense was their Achilles heel last year, so if she helps clean that up then look out!

As always, thank you for reading! It’d be super cool if you shared this with all of your friends too. Catch you next week!

P.S. Fuck Donald Trump