Sports this 'n' that

Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott will play in Sunday night's opener vs. the Giants, but after that, he'll serve a 6-game suspension for domestic abuse. The suspension was upheld at a hearing in New York on Tuesday, but because they waited until 5 days before the game to make the ruling, Elliott will be eligible to play, then return in November after serving the suspension. The Cowboys have enough offensive weapons to compensate for Elliott's absence otherwise.
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Gamesmanship is one thing, but this is a whole new level of stupid.

The AL East leading Boston Red Sox have admitted to Major League Baseball that someone on their staff, without the knowledge of manager John Farrell & GM Dave Dombrowski, stole the Yankees' signs during a series last month at Fenway Park. They say everyone does it, but with an Apple watch?!?

Yankees-Red Sox is the biggest baseball rivalry, especially in terms of television ratings, but why resort to high-tech thievery, just because the New England Patriots got a slap on the wrist 10 years ago for Spygate? When you do something like that, it stops becoming about the game, and about looking for any advantage you can find, legal or not. Who's to say the Yankees haven't done it to the Sawx themselves? Who's to say the Phillies weren't doing it during their run of NL East titles (2007-11)? Who knows anymore?
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With hurricane Irma approaching Florida, the NFL has already decided that in-state rivals Miami & Tampa Bay won't play their opener at Miami on Sunday. Instead, they will wait until the teams' mutual bye week on November 19.

It might not be the best idea in the world, especially on short notice, but what can you do?
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Saturday's Alabama-Florida State game saw both teams lose key players due to injuries. The Seminoles' sophomore QB, Deondre Francois, is gone for the season after tearing the patella tendon on his left knee. The defending national champion Crimson Tide lost linebackers Christian Miller & Terrell Lewis, also for the season. Miller has a torn bicep, Lewis tore a ligament in his elbow.

This is the worst case scenario when you have teams starting their seasons before Labor Day for the sake of television ratings. Alabama has enough depth at the linebacker position to make up for the losses. Meanwhile, Florida State's chances of qualifying for the four-team playoff at the end of the season took a major hit with Francois going down in the 4th quarter.
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Troy High's boys soccer team took it on the chin Tuesday, dropping a 4-1 decision to CBA. The Flying Horses close out a 3 game road trip tomorrow at Ballston Spa. As of this writing, last week's game vs. Guilderland still hasn't been reported to the press, but the team's record of 1-2 isn't too shabby compared to last year. The question now becomes one of, can they win any more games before sectionals begin next month? We'll see.
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Traditionally, WWE tapes episodes of Monday Night Raw & Smackdown in advance when the Christmas holiday falls on a Monday, as is the case this year, or Tuesday. Not this time.

Word got out Monday that Raw will be live on Christmas night for the first time ever, and the New Year's night show will be the first live January 1 show since 2007. Why is this? Blame it on USA Network, it seems, as network suits think they can use WWE to counter-program against an NBA marathon on ABC & ESPN.

Who are they kidding? We've reached the point of the year where WWE routinely gets killed on Mondays thanks to football, and putting Raw opposite a marquee NBA matchup will be no different on Christmas night. In the past, Vince McMahon has conceded Christmas week with pre-taped shows, knowing there might not be enough folks tuning in. This time, though, he's been overruled. One must assume Smackdown will be live on 12/26 and 1/2, just the same.

Meanwhile, speaking of Smackdown, the chairman will make his first appearance on TV since April on the September 12 episode. In the current storyline, son Shane, Smackdown's commissioner, has been suspended from that post, the better to prepare for a PPV showdown with former US & World champion Kevin Owens (nee Steen), likely next month. With the 20th anniversary of the most infamous PPV angle ever approaching, a Canadian wrestler vs. a McMahon will make Owens, a heel, into a de facto babyface in his home country. Seems to me that the old man still can't let go of 1997, but this should be the last time they even think of invoking the '97 Survivor Series for any reason.

Of course, the kicker is that Owens hails from the Montreal suburbs. Enough said.