Screen Shots: September 12th-18th, 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]!

No new episode of Beyond The Arc with Brandon Silvers this week. I’ve got some stuff going on that’s made it difficult to put out an episode that meets my standards, so my apologies if you miss me. I should be back sooner rather than later though, and I’ve found plenty of stuff for you to watch in the meantime! To the sports!

Thursday, September 12th, 2024

• NFL: Buffalo Bills @ Miami Dolphins at 8:15 pm (ET) on Prime Video

The last time these 2 teams played in Miami this early in the season, the heat almost took everyone out. Miami is still Miami, but at least it will be at night this time. The Bills’ offense showed no ill effects from losing their top 2 WRs this offseason as QB Josh Allen did his best 2015 Cam Newton impression in their win against the Cardinals. He ran for 2 TDs and threw for 2 more, including one to Mack Hollins. Mack doesn’t believe in shoes or eating utensils and runs a TikTok account where he teaches dance moves and home improvement tips.

The Dolphins needed a game-winning FG to sneak past the Jags, but nobody cares because of everything that took place prior to the game. It’s Year 3 of the Mike McDaniel era, and Years 1 and 2 ended with them looking up at the Bills in the AFC East. Looking at both teams’ offseasons, it feels like another year like that will be a major disappointment. Has there ever been a must-win game in week 2? Is that even possible? If not, this is as close as it gets.

Friday, September 13th, 2024

• Track and Field: Diamond League finals at 2 pm (ET) on Peacock

Day 1 of this 2-day event, so mark your calendars for the same time on Saturday as well. Now, I will warn you that they have struggled to lock in a significant number of Olympic champions. There’s a whole thing involving appearance fees that I won’t bore you with. But they did manage to clumsily put together showcase events for Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who is not eligible to compete for a title due to not participating in any Diamond League events this year. And it is still high-level track and field, so if you loved this year’s Olympic track and field events like I know you did, you’ll tap in for this one. As always, if you don’t have Peacock, you can catch the action the following day at 1 pm (ET) on CNBC or Fubo.

• WNBA: Chicago Sky @ Minnesota Lynx at 7:30 pm (ET) on ION

As the Sky scrap to hold onto the 8th and final playoff spot, there will be no truer test of postseason worthiness than this matchup with the Lynx. Minnesota might have the deepest team in the WNBA. They are led by Napheesa Collier, whose versatility on both ends of the court set the tone for the rest of the squad. Their only question mark was defending physical post players, but they traded for bruising PF Myisha Hines-Allen to answer that. As a team, they make 3s at a blistering clip, and on the rare occasions when they aren’t red-hot from deep, they still get easy looks off turnovers thanks to one of the most active defenses in the league. Of active WNBA franchises, Minnesota is tied with the Storm for most titles. The way they look right now, we might not be able to say that too much longer.

Saturday, September 14th, 2024

• College Football: LSU Tigers @ South Carolina Gamecocks at noon (ET) on ABC

As a Gamecocks fan, I wasn’t going to draw your attention to this one. Yes, last week’s surprising blowout win against Kentucky was nice, but I don’t have the highest of hopes for this season. Why would I ask you to tune in to watch my team when they’re not exactly at their best? Then, Paul Finebaum called College Gameday’s decision to head to Columbia this week one of the most bizarre ones in the show’s history and I now feel obligated to defend the choice.

For the past decade, Gamecock football has been somewhere between exceedingly average and abysmal. We are a long way away from being an elite program. Yet our fans show up each and every week in spite of this. It’s easy to come out and be enthusiastic when you’re pulling for the Georgias and Alabamas of the college football world. Try doing it when you’re pulling for a team that hasn’t been relevant in the national landscape since our current players were in elementary school. This is the exact type of fanbase that College Gameday should be showcasing. To hear more of my thoughts on what to expect in the game itself as well as me shitting on Paul Finebaum, who looks like an anthropomorphic emu with bad vision and male-pattern baldness, check out the Gamecocks Football Captain’s Log!

• College Football: Morehouse College Maroon Tigers @ Howard Bison at 3:00 pm (ET) on CNBC

The 3rd annual HBCU NY Classic! As someone who has watched the Bayou Classic for as long as I can remember, more HBCU football showcases, please. It’s similar in structure to the Bayou Classic with plenty of events leading up to the game plus a battle of the bands at halftime. No word yet on whether or not spectators will be allowed to reheat ribs though.

Sunday, September 15th, 2024

• College Volleyball: #6 Texas Longhorns @ #2 Stanford Cardinal at 3:00 pm (ET) on ESPN

Huge early season showdown here. Texas is looking to get on track after a sluggish start to the year as they look to win their 3rd consecutive national championship. Sounds a lot like the Las Vegas Aces, which means their A’ja Wilson is outside hitter Madi Skinner. Much like A’ja, outside hitters are typically the best 2-way players on the court. In addition to her 2 titles at Texas, she also won another during her previous stop at Kentucky. Also, for my Lowcountry people, the Longhorn’s Marianna Singletary graduated from Porter-Gaud in Charleston, SC. For my non-Lowcountry people, that’s the high school that has given you Khris Middleton and Aaron Nesmith.

Stanford has already taken down 3 top-25 teams this season, including then-#6 Wisconsin. They are led by 2-time Pac-12 Setter of the Year Kami Miner. She has been quoted as saying, “I get it all from my daddy.” In a sport where you jump this much, I imagine it is helpful if your daddy is 2-time NBA Slam Dunk contest champion Harold Miner. Here’s an article on their relationship that also dives into how the “Baby Jordan” nickname given to Harold affected him.

• MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers @ Atlanta Braves at 7:00 pm (ET) on ESPN

Safe to say, Shohei Ohtani has lived up to the hype. Not only did he train his dog, Decoy, to pitch, but he’s on the verge of the 1st 50 home run/50 stolen base season in the history of Major League Baseball. I will be at the game on Monday night using everything I learned from the 1994 film Angels in the Outfield to help him reach the milestone in front of me.

Monday, September 16th, 2024

I cannot in good conscience ask you to watch the Atlanta Falcons play football. Instead, take today to celebrate the birthday of the late, great NBA star Elgin Baylor. How good was Baylor? During the 1961-62 season, he was called to active duty in the Army and could only play for the Lakers when he was on a weekend pass. As a result, he only played in 48 games that year. In those 48 games, he averaged 38.3 points and 18.6 rebounds per game.

More Bay-lore (sorry): on October 15th, 1970, a child was born in Washington D.C. whose parents named him Elgin Baylor Lumpkin. No word on whether or not he can hoop, but he can sing. You know him today as Ginuwine.

Top 10 Ginuwine songs that I won’t elaborate on right now but maybe later:

10) When We Make Love

9) Hell Yeah

8) Last Chance

7) Same Ol’ G

6) Pony

5) In Those Jeans

4) Stingy

3) Differences

2) So Anxious

1) Love You More

Tuesday, September 17th, 2024

• WNBA: Las Vegas Aces @ Seattle Storm at 10:00 pm (ET) on NBA TV

These 2 are on track for a 1st round playoff matchup as the 4 and 5 seed. The Aces’ record at home versus on the road is relatively even, but the Storm are significantly better at home. Each team has a couple of games before we get here, but this could end up being a showdown to see who gets that homecourt advantage in round 1. Las Vegas leads the season series so far 2-1.

Wednesday, September 18th, 2024

• MLS: Austin FC @ LAFC at 10:00 pm (ET) on FS1

I’ve been trying to work in an MLS match, but the games being on Apple TV have kicked my ass since I prefer to pick broadcasts that are available to all of us. We’re coming down to the wire in the MLS season. We’ll dive into how their playoffs work later, but LAFC should be there. Their star forward Dénis Bouanga is one of the top scorers in MLS this season. They face off against an Austin FC team that has some work to do if they want to be included in our MLS playoffs explainer. Check it out and get acquainted as we continue down our path of becoming the most knowledgeable sports fans in the world.

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