Despite the fact that the NBA season has now concluded, this past week was still a fun one for sports fans. The MLB Playoffs saw two excellent championship series' in the National League and American League respectively, a young boxing phenom making history becoming a star in the process, a historic dominating win by the number one team in college football, and more. This upcoming week will be fun kicking off with a Monday Night Football matchup between the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and probably the most surprising team in the NFL right now the Buffalo Bills. In addition, the World Series is set to begin and UFC's top star Khabib Nurmagomedov will return to the ring defending his Lightweight championship against Justin Gaethje. Until then, here is This Week in Sports!
2020 World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers vs Tampa Bay Rays
After two grueling seven-game series' in the American League and National League Champion Series, the field for the 2020 World Series is now set. Representing the American League will be the Tampa Bay Rays who will make their first World Series appearance since 2008 and will look for their first win in franchise history. The Rays road to the World Series saw them sweep the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 in the Wild Card Round, then they beat the New York Yankees 3-2 in the Divisional Round, and finally, they beat the MLB villain Houston Astros 4-3 nearly blowing a 3-0 lead in the AL Championship Series. Representing the National League will be the Los Angeles Dodgers who will appear in their third World Series in the past four seasons, and looking for their first win since 1988. The Dodgers road to the World Series included beating the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 in the Wild Card Round, beating the San Diego Padres 3-0 in the Divisional Round, and coming back from down 3-1 in the NL Championship Series against the Atlanta Braves taking a 4-3 win in the series. The first game of the World Series will be on Tuesday at 8:09 p.m. ET on Fox.
Teofimo Lopez makes Boxing History
Saturday night on ESPN, WBO, WBA, and the Ring Lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko faced off against IBF Lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez in a unification bout to see who would be crowned king of the lightweight division. While Lopez came out the blocks aggressive on offense, Lomachenko was very timid putting up very little offense in the first half of the 12-round fight. Finding himself down on the scorecards through the first six rounds, Lomachenko began to put his foot on the gas in an effort to get himself back into the fight. The "championship rounds" saw both men go toe-to-toe with each other trading big shot after big shot as the fight came down to the wire. At the end of the fight, Teofimo Lopez was awarded the win via unanimous decision with the scorecards reading 119-109, 117-111, and 116-112. The win makes Lopez the only lightweight in boxing history to ever hold all four Lightweight championships at once as well as the youngest undisputed champion in boxing history.
Tom Brady vs Aaron Rodgers ruined by Bucs defense
Going into Week 6 of the 2020 NFL season, there were only four teams who were still undefeated: the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans, Seattle Seahawks, and Green Bay Packers. The Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers both remained undefeated with wins over the Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns respectively, while the Seattle Seahawks were in their bye week. The Green Bay Packers were not as lucky as they suffered their first loss of the season to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In what was billed as just the third matchup between legendary quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady evolved into a defensive clinic for Tampa Bay. Despite leading 10-0 at the end of the first quarter, The Bucs defense put constant pressure on Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense for the remainder game keeping the Packers scoreless on their way to a 38-10 win. Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times and threw two interceptions without throwing a single touchdown pass. Before this game, Aaron Rodgers had not thrown a single interception while also throwing at least two touchdowns in each game. This is the first game Aaron Rodgers finished with no passing touchdowns and multiple interceptions since 2014.
Clemson Tigers Destroys Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
The Clemson Tigers football team continued on their path of destruction in the 2020 season with a 73-7 (you read that right) win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Despite having flashes of greatness including forcing Tigers QB Trevor Lawrence's first interception of the season, Georgia Tech never stood a chance. After the Yellow Jackets scored on a 59-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 7-7, the Tigers immediately snatched back the momentum scoring on an 83-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the next possession. From there, Clemson scored 59 unanswered points including 35 second-quarter points winning in dominant fashion. Trevor Lawrence finished the game with 404 passing yards and five passing touchdowns making him the first Clemson quarterback to record at least 400 passing yards and five passing touchdowns since Deshaun Watson in 2014. This is also the second 70-point game Clemson has had with Trevor Lawrence as their starting quarterback.
Los Angeles Clippers hire Tyronn Lue as Head Coach
Two weeks after former Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers signed a five-year deal to become head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, the Clippers hired Tyronn Lue as their next head coach signing him to a five-year deal. Lue served as an assistant coach for the Clippers this past season in his second stint with the team as an assistant previously serving on the team's coaching staff in the 2013-2014 season. The Clippers finished with a 49-23 record in the regular season and a 5-3 record in their eight seeding games in the Bubble. The season ended with the Clippers famously collapsing in the playoffs blowing a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals denying them a chance at their first Conference Finals appearance in franchise history. Tyronn Lue returns to the head coaching ranks after he was fired six games into the 2018-2019 season by the Cleveland Cavaliers after starting 0-6. In 211 games as a head coach, he held an overall record of 128-83 winning 50+ games and making it to the NBA Finals in each of his two full seasons with the Cavaliers.
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