‘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.
First Friday of October? Come on! Might be right up there with the best weekend of the year. Fall is in the air. The leaves are turning. The sun is setting just a tad earlier every night. The weather is crisping up nicely.
Unless, of course, you’re down here in Florida. It’s rained every single day this week. It’s raining right now. It’ll be raining later. It’s horrible.
We actually lost power, briefly, during the Braves game earlier this week. My wife is a huge Braves fan. It was chaos. I thought we were all done for.
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Luckily, it came back on a few minutes later. The Braves went on to win. And then they won again last night. That means it’s gonna be a much better first October weekend in this house.
Phew.
Let’s roll.
Welcome to a Friday Nightcaps — the one where the college football refs ruined yet another game last night. Amazing.
What else? I’ve got Paige Spiranac whipping up some breakfast to get our weekend started with a bang, Lexie Hull getting tossed around like a ragdoll while the equally insufferable WNBA refs turned a blind eye and the Tony Romo era at CBS is officially donezo.
But have we heard that last from Tony? I doubt it. You’ll see.
OK, grab you whatever you need to get you through the final few hours of this work day, and settle in for a first-Friday-of-October ‘Cap!
I think the refs were 0 for 2 here
This is gonna be a quick class, because it’s a Friday and we have college football to bet on tonight.
How about Virginia Tech, by the way? The Hokies are 4-0 and now we’re getting a meaningful night game in Blacksburg for the first time in what feels like a decade?
Goodness, how lucky are we? Pitt-Va. Tech. at 7 p.m., and we also get Northwestern christening their new stadium against Penn State at 8 p.m. over on Fox. Like I said yesterday — this is the best time of year.
Soak it all in, boys and girls. Don’t waste a single second.
OK, now we’re gonna start class with last night’s debacle in Oklahoma, where Tulsa was screwed out of a game-winning two-point conversion …
But they also shouldn’t have been there in the first place:
One last gasp from the WNBA this season
Thoughts? First impressions?
In no world is that first “touchdown” a touchdown. It’s just simply the incorrect call. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I was watching it live. You can’t step out and then touch the ball before reestablishing yourself. That’s Football 101. It was clear as day, they reviewed it for 20 seconds, and then upheld the call.
Ridiculous. What are we doing here? There has to be some accountability. It’s nonsense.
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As for the non-call in overtime … that one is a little tougher for me. It’s certainly not as clear as the first play.
This angle makes me think it was a conversion:
I don’t see a knee on the ground. I don’t see a shin on the ground. I don’t see a cheek on the ground. I see the ball break the plane.
Again, that one’s a tougher call because it’s close. The call on the field worked against Tulsa, so I can see them upholding it. Don’t agree with it, but I understand the logic behind it.
The first one, though? That’s nasty work by the refs. Both teams deserved better last night.
And you know who else deserved better? Lexie Hull, who’s spending her first day of the WNBA offseason in an ice bath:
Paige, Tony & Mahomes take us home!
Goodness gracious. Just a violent takedown. And, somehow, the foul is called on the player who is currently getting arm-barred into next week.
The entire sequence is just so perfect for the WNBA. It’s everything right — and wrong — with that league.
The officiating is just horrible. That’s No. 1. We forget about just how truly awful the officials are most of the year because there’s so much other nonsense going on, but at the end of the day, they are undoubtedly the worst officials in all of sports.
And that includes the nonsense we saw in Tulsa last night!
Remember earlier this summer when Sophie Cunningham got her teeth cracked by an elbow and no foul was called? Amazing. Same thing here with Lexie Hull.
Good riddance, WNBA. No, the season isn’t over. But nobody will watch or care anymore. Caitlin Clark is out. Sophie Cunningham is out. It’s over.
Can’t wait to see the girls lace ’em back up next May! All eyes on the draft.
OK, let’s rapid-fire this Friday class into a big Friday night. First up? We’ve ripped college football and WNBA officials so far today …
Might as well end it with the fellas in the NFL!
This isn’t a great look for the “there’s no Patrick Mahomes bias in the NFL!” crowd …
Lordy. I knew it was bad when I watched it live last Sunday. I said as much in Monday’s class. But I didn’t realize it was that bad.
Now, a couple things …
- Some say the ref was looking at the hold on No. 92 for Miami, which was also called. Perhaps. I buy that.
- It’s still a bad look.
- It was the right call, but the rule is just awful. Truly, truly awful. I know it’s five days later and I’ve already harped on this, so I won’t get into it again. But nothing about that play feels like football. Nothing.
Next? On the way out, let’s all say goodbye to Tony Romo … for now:
I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t think CBS would do it. When Romo got arrested last summer, I figured he’d be back in the booth in no time.
I believe I even said he’d be back before Game 1. I was wrong.
Things were very clearly bad behind the scenes. So bad, CBS basically bought him out and decided to eat the contract. I’m not a huge Romo fan. I think he’s been pretty awful the past few years.
That being said … I’d be shocked if he doesn’t land a pretty big gig next season. I have no clue where it’ll be, but I wouldn’t bet against him.
Maybe Netflix? They appear to be getting pretty serious about the NFL.
There’s also something … fishy … going on with Troy Aikman and ESPN at the moment. Joe Buck just signed a massive contract extension with ESPN, but it’s been all quiet on the Aikman front. Him and Buck have historically been a package deal.
Maybe it’s nothing. But, maybe it’s something worth watching.
OK, that’s it for today — and this week. Happy first weekend of October, everyone. Let’s go have a big one.
Take us home, Chef Paige!
Thoughts on the Tulsa game? Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.
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