This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, Winners! Happy Friday! I hope you’re well today. Saturday is just a day away, so let’s talk a little college football. Yes, this is another Colorado post.
It just seems like everyone wants beef with Colorado, for one reason or another. The latest is Colorado State’s head coach, Jay Norvell.
For seemingly no good reason, he called out Sanders for… what he wears on the sidelines? This is a weird one, y’all. Our Meghan Hall detailed it a bit here. Norvell doesn’t like the fact that Sanders wears a hat and sunglasses all the time, which is a pretty silly complaint about someone to be quite honest.
MORE SHOTS AT COACH PRIME: Colorado State Head Coach Jay Norvell Takes SHOTS at Deion Sanders and Colorado “When I talk to grownups, I take my hat and glasses off, that’s what my mother taught me” #CUBuffs pic.twitter.com/IWFWkVKqsS
— Ice Cold Sports w/ Tommy Gahan (@IceColdSprts) September 14, 2023
“I sat down with ESPN today — and I don’t care if they hear it in Boulder. When I talk to grownups, I take my hat and glasses off. That’s what my mother taught me.”
This is so silly. But here’s the thing. As silly as it is, I kind of love it.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not siding with Norvell here. This dog is barking up the wrong tree with this one. He’s talking trash about Sanders, but that’s where Sanders thrives. He’s a cornerback, man. This is what he spent his entire NFL career doing. Talking smack. If anything, Norvell just pushed the Colorado head coach even deeper into his element.
The thing is, he’s complaining about a thing that doesn’t really matter at all. A hat and sunglasses, my dude? Really? That’s what has your gears grinding? It’s not just that, man. It’s really about Sanders and the way Colorado has started its season.
The Buffaloes have been loud, brash, arrogant and good. Really, really good. Will Colorado eventually be knocked back by one of the powerhouses in the (dying) Pac-12? Probably. But that doesn’t matter right now. The school’s win total has already doubled from last year. You can’t tell ’em nothing right now.
The not-so-quietly-kept secret is that the rest of college football hates that. That creates tension and that tension creates moments like this one. And I think these moments are good for college football.
This is theater, folks! It’s like a WWE set-up here. Norvell talks trash about Sanders. Sanders comes back and says things are personal now. Now, all of a sudden, this game has stakes where there were no stakes before. Colorado State wasn’t expected to win — it still isn’t. This doesn’t change much. It’ll probably be a blowout.
But now people are watching. That’s a good thing.
Trouble in paradise?
Thursday night’s game was almost perfect for the Eagles. Philadelphia came away with a 34-28 win in their home opener against the Vikings to go 2-0.
Jalen Hurts looked solid with two scores on the ground and one big one to DeVonta Smith through the air. That deep ball looked like it was there again. D’Andre Swift had a career night with 175 yards on 28 carries. So what’s the problem?
Somebody needs to ask A.J. Brown, who was so upset with Hurts that the two needed to be separated by Nick Sirianni.
After the game, Hurts dismissed the quarrel as a non-issue, per ESPN. He said, “Everybody wants to make plays and everybody wants to contribute.” He also reiterated that Brown is a “great player, great teammate, great friend” and that he’s not worried about him.
That was a strange one, though. Maybe it’s truly nothing. Maybe it won’t matter later this season. Maybe it’s just us looking for some drama in a game that was lacking in that.
But this definitely feels like something to keep an eye on.
Team USA is back on top…kind of
We all watched the end of Team USA’s disappointing run in the FIBA World Cup last week. They fell flat on their faces with two straight losses to Germany in the semifinals and then Canada in the bronze medal game.
Despite its failure, the United States just leapfrogged Spain as the No. 1 basketball team in the world, according to FIBA’s newest rankings.
🚨 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 🚨
🇺🇸 USA reclaim #1 spot in FIBA Men’s World Ranking!
📊 See the full rankings here, presented by @Nike: https://t.co/GeTyrrEHDF pic.twitter.com/oDljE0NUAR
— FIBA (@FIBA) September 15, 2023
The top 5: United States (No. 1), Spain (No. 2), Germany (No. 3), Australia (No. 4), Serbia (No. 5).
It’s weird to see the ranking this way, but it makes sense. FIBA considers results from the last eight years in its rankings. The United States is still the latest Olympic champion. Its poor finish wasn’t enough to bump it down.
So somebody let Noah Lyles know Team USA is still the best in the world. At least, according to FIBA, anyway.
Quick hits: The Bears have broken their fans … Mike McDaniel is the best … and more
— Here’s Robert Zeglinski on the Bears just tossing out an offseason of good will in just five days.
— Mike McDaniels has to be one of the most entertaining coaches we’ve ever seen. He so slyly tried to trick the Chargers in the most hilarious way. Charles Curtis has more.
— You absolutely need to see this story about the Miami fan who comes to each and every game in full pads.
— Saturday is almost here, folks. Here’s where ESPN’s College Gameday is going this week.
That’s all, folks! Thanks so much for reading this morning. We appreciate you. Remember, if you have any feedback, you can leave it here!
Be well and have a fantastic weekend. Let’s chat again next week.
