‘Nightcaps’ is a daily column that catches you up on the biggest sports, news and culture stories you may have missed while pretending to do work at your desk. It runs Monday-Friday on OutKick.com.
Over the hump and safely onto the other side of the week. Is this the biggest weekend of the year to date?
I think it might be.
We’ve got football all weekend long, obviously. Duh. More importantly, we also have Halloween, which lands on a Saturday. I did some big J digging, and it’s the last time that’ll happen until 2037. True story. Eleven years! Lord knows what this place will look like in 11 years, but I assume if this column is somehow still alive, it’ll be run by a robot. That’s almost a guarantee.
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Beyond all of that, we also get an extra hour of Halloween this weekend! That’s right. The dreaded “fall back” weekend is upon us. I loved this time of year in college, but that was, admittedly, a long time ago. Nothing hit better than being at a party and seeing the iPhone 4 clock switch back to 1 a.m.
It was the best.
But I have kids now, and they do not care what the clock says. So, come Sunday morning when it says 5:30, they’ll be up and ready to roll.
“Just put them to bed later!”
Doesn’t work for a 2-year-old, folks. They don’t care. Hard hats on, parents. We’re all in this together.
On that note, welcome to a Thursday Nightcaps — the one where Lane Kiffin, somehow, finds something else to complain about. College football fans ain’t having it.
Nor should they.
What else? I’ve got Paige Spiranac teasing her Halloween costume ahead of the big day, another subdued baseball celebration last night, and where did this MLB postseason rank for you?
I gotta be honest … it wasn’t great. And now we’re going into a lockout.
The vibes aren’t the best right now! But we’ll get into it.
Grab you a tiny violin for Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers, and settle in for a Thursday ‘Cap!
LSU-‘Bama takes an afternoon seat
Let’s get this ball rolling, because the rain has finally stopped here in Florida for the first time since Sunday and I’ve got a pumpkin patch to get to before it starts back up.
Big weekend of college football, as I said earlier. Now, I hate to jump ahead a week, but Lane Kiffin has left me no choice.
For about six months now, fans have had Nov. 7 circled on their calendars. It’s shaping up to be, arguably, the greatest weekend of college football ever.
- BYU-Utah
- Kentucky-Tennessee
- Ole Miss-Georgia
- Miami-Notre Dame
And, of course, Alabama-LSU. That’s the big one, right?
… Right?
…… RIGHT?!
Fans aren’t buying it this time
“If someone thinks the SEC wants us to win this year after what’s been going on, they must have just been on Mars the last four months. So I guess when I look at it that way, I’m not surprised.”
So, Lane Kiffin sent shots at the SEC for next weekend’s big game not being in primetime, which is hilarious for a couple different reasons.
- The SEC doesn’t make those decisions, ESPN does. Sure, I’d imagine the SEC has plenty of input, but it’s still an ESPN call to make.
- LSU has already played more home games under the lights than any other SEC teams this season. The Tigers have had four night games. Texas has had three. Everyone else has no more than two.
- Miami-Notre Dame on NBC will be a juggernaut. ESPN putting its best game in a standalone(ish) time makes sense. Some will say they’re scared to go up against that game. Perhaps. But there was no reason to fight that battle when 3:30 on ABC is a perfectly fine time.
- Totally unrelated, of course, but here’s Lane Kiffin on LSU … just two short years ago:
So, when Lane was at Ole Miss, everyone was out to get him. Now, he’s at LSU and … everyone’s out to get him?
See a pattern? It’s silly. I used to love Lane Kiffin, by the way. He was a content machine. He was fun, and likable, and somewhat relatable.
Now? I think he just whines a lot.
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I’m not alone:
Wrapping up the World Series & Paige’s Halloween tease!
For what it’s worth, LSU is 1-7 since 2012 against Alabama in night games in Baton Rouge. Perhaps Lane should be thanking ESPN/SEC for this one?
OK, let’s rapid-fire this Thursday class into a big night of FOOTBALL!
PS: I know there’s an NFL game on tonight, but don’t forget about college. Did you know there’s a game on ESPN tonight with an OVER/UNDER set at 76.5?!
That’s right. North Texas and FAU. A biggie. Does anyone here have the stones to take the over when it’s at that number? I think I’ll dabble.
Speaking of stones … how about the Milwaukee Brewers just quietly completing one of the most dominant postseason runs of all time? Think about it.
They manhandles the Padres, swept the Dodgers, and then pretty much had their way with Tampa …
And then treated winning it all like they’d just polished off a three-game sweep of the Marlins in June:
Thoughts? I’ve honestly thought all the celebrations this postseason have been pretty t(l)ame. There’s certainly something to be said about “acting like you’ve been there before.”
I get that …
Except this was Milwaukee’s first ever World Series title! And that’s what we got? I don’t know. Just seemed a bit off.
Frankly, this whole postseason did:
I love baseball. I watch every Red Sox game all year long. I’m a 162-er. I’m not trying to knock it here … but yeah, it was a bad postseason. Sometimes it just happens, right?
The best part was watching the Dodgers lose. I think we can all agree on that, right? But otherwise, there really weren’t any moments. I guess you could point to Milwaukee’s walk-off against Mason Miller a month ago as a pivotal moment. That was fun.
But you just never really felt it, right? Again, sometimes that’s just the way it goes. You’re not gonna bat a thousand every year.
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Regardless, we’re gonna be BEGGING for one of these games in about six months when all we’re talking about is salary caps and floors.
Sadly, winter is here — and I fear it’s gonna be a long one.
OK, that’s it for today. I’ll be damned if I end it on a sour note, so here’s Paige Spiranac’s Halloween tease on the way out.
Zoinks!
