Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings are 8-4-3 this season so far, most recently beating the Vancouver Canucks last Saturday night, 5-1 at home. The Kings got off to a strong start, scoring 3 of their goals in the 1st period. Another goal was scored during the 2nd period and a final goal was scored by the Kings during the 3rd. Vancouver scored its only goal of the game during the 3rd period. Scoring 3 goals in 1 period is impressive enough, but even more impressive, the Kings were able pull off this victory with only 5 defensemen playing in the game, which helped to give them an edge early on. Tyler Toffoli scored a goal and had 2 assists, Alex Martinez had a career high 3 assists, and goalie Jonathan Quick had 18 saves.

Because of their shortage of defensemen, the Kings will sign Jamie McBain who has been playing for the team’s AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs. Robyn Regher has been suffering from an injury and Slava Voynov is currently suspended from play due to off-ice issues, although he skated with assistant coach John Stevens on Monday and is allowed to work out with the coaches. He has missed 9 games so far and a decision on whether he will be charged for domestic violence is expected by December 1.

The Kings are familiar with the taste of success, having won 2 Stanley Cups in the past 3 years. In 2012, the Kings defeated the New Jersey Devils in 6 games to claim hockey’s most coveted title. They did it again last year, defeating the New York Rangers in 5 games.

The Kings will next face the Anaheim Ducks, their closest opponent, in Orange County on Wednesday night before hosting 4 home games over the next week. While it’s early on in the season, every game counts and the Kings will need to stay healthy and focused in order to repeat their appearance in the finals.

Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards have started the 2014-2015 NBA season with a strong 5-2 record. In their most recent game, the Wizards defeated the Indiana Pacers 97-90. The Wizards have only lost to the Miami Heat and the Toronto Raptors so far, however they have claimed victory against the Orlando Magic, the Milwaukee Bucks, the New York Knicks and the Pacers, twice. In their first game against the Pacers, the Wizards pulled off a 96-94 OT victory. They will face Indiana again two more times late in the regular season.

The Capital City’s NBA franchise announced in late October that they have hired Wale, a D.C. native rapper and loyal Wizards fan as their creative liaison for this season. Some of Wale’s songs will be used for team introductions and videos throughout the season and he will collaborate with the organization in regard to team merchandise and social media efforts.

The Wizards have also adopted a new alternate jersey for this season, which they will wear for Wednesday road games in addition to some specifically selected matchups. This alternate style features navy as the primary color with “Washington” on the front, as well as red colorblocking at the top. 

In late October, the Wizards waived guards John Lucas and Xavier Silias as well as forward Damion James to remain with a 15-man roster. With veteran forward Paul Pierce and guard John Wall leading the way, the Wizards have gotten off to a solid start and will look to maintain this momentum throughout the season. Head coach Randy Wittman said after the Wizards’ practice on Monday, the team must focus on what needs to be done and take it one game at a time.

The Wizards head into a 4 home game stint: first facing the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, November 12. They will wrap up this week with a second home game against the Magic Saturday night, followed by two games next week against the Dallas Mavericks and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Detroit Lions

Almost halfway through the season, the Detroit Lions are boasting a 6-2 record for 2014, only having been defeated by the Carolina Panthers in week 2 and the Buffalo Bills in week 5.

Most recently, the Lions beat the Atlanta Falcons in a 22-21 win in London’s Wembley Stadium last Sunday. The Falcons were bringing it, big time throughout the first half of the game, leading 21-0 at halftime. The second half of the game took a complete 180° turn as the Falcons seemed to disappear and the Lions began to roar. The Lions scored 10 points in the 3rd quarter and 12 in the 4th. A 48-yard field goal by kicker Matt Prater on the last play of the game allowed the Lions to edge out the Falcons with a final score of 22-21. Quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 325 yards and 2 touchdowns. Stafford also broke a franchise record in this game, having thrown 120 TDs. Previously Bobby Layne held this record for the Lions with 118 TDs. This victory for Detroit came without WR Calvin Johnson, RB Reggie Bush and TEs Eric Ebron and Brandon Pettigrew who were all out with injuries.

Calvin Johnson aka: Megatron has been out for the Lions last 3 games although they’ve managed to win despite their star player’s absence. Megatron shared on Tuesday that he expects to return to playing when his team faces off against the Miami Dolphins on November 9th.

The Lions are on bye week this week but will resume play against Miami at home at Ford Field next Sunday. After facing Miami, Detroit will face the Arizona Cardinals who are currently 6-1, as well as the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before closing out the regular season with division games against the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. The Lions have beaten the Vikings and Packers once already this season. Thanks to their 6-2 record, the Lions are currently 1st in the NFC North division.

Boston Bruins

It’s back! The air is cold, the ice is fresh and the fans are pumped. Yes, it’s hockey season!

The Boston Bruins are 5-6 so far this season, most recently losing to the Minnesota Wild, 4-3. The Bruins had a 2 goal lead but lost their edge in the 3rd period as the Wild made their comeback, scoring 3 goals. Bruins forward Seth Griffin scored twice in the game but it wasn’t enough.

Boston’s team captain, defense-man Zdeno Chara is currently out for at least a month due to a knee injury he recently suffered. The Bruins were able to win their 1st game without him against Toronto, defeating the Maple Leafs 4-1. In addition to losing Chara in their lineup, the B’s must adjust to fill his void as their great leader. It has been reported that Chara is still showing his quality character to teammates off the ice despite this recent injury. Chara has been with the B’s since 2006 but has played in the league since 1997. He is the tallest player in the NHL, standing at 6’9”.

In 2011 the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, defeating the Vancouver Canucks in 7 games to win the coveted championship. This was the Bruins’ 1st Stanley Cup victory since 1972. In 2012, the team made it to the 1st round of playoffs, but was defeated by the Washington Capitals in a 7-game series, 4-3. Each of the 7 games was decided by just 1 goal and 4 of the games went into overtime!

Last season, the Bruins advanced to the playoffs defeating the Maple Leafs 4-3 in the 1st series followed by their victory over the New York Rangers, 4-1. The B’s then moved on to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins, sweeping the series 4-0 and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals where they faced the Chicago Blackhawks, who had most recently won a Stanley Cup in 2010. Last year was the 1st Stanley Cup meeting between these 2 teams and the Blackhawks came away victorious, winning the series 4-2.

Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys, the NFL’s most valuable team, are 6-1 this season. Their only loss has been their season opener against the San Francisco Giants, losing 17-28. Since then, the team appears to have found it’s stride, winning the next 6 games which included defeating last year’s Super Bowl Champs, the Seattle Seahawks as well as their division rivals, the NY Giants.

The Cowboys play in the largest domed stadium in the world, which opened in 2009 and seats 80,000. Team owner Jerry Jones funded the new stadium along with the City of Arlington for $1.3 billion dollars.

The subject of heavy scrutiny for several years, quarterback Tony Romo has been with the Cowboys since 2003 and secured his starting position in 2006. Critics have often questioned if he is cut out for high pressure, late game situations but Romo continues to prove he is. Romo currently holds NFL records for most passing yards through 100 starts and most consecutive road games with at least 1 touchdown pass. Romo has also been selected for the Pro Bowl 3 times in his career.

In addition to Romo, the Cowboys roster boasts WR Dez Bryant, RB DeMarco Murray and TE Jason Witten who have meshed well together for more than 3 seasons. While Murray has publicly stated it is not his top goal to break records and achieve milestones, his recent performance suggests this is a likely possibility this season for both franchise and league records.

In 4 of their last 6 games of this season, America’s team will face off against their NFC East division rivals: the Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins. This division’s rivalries are some of the most well known across the league. 4 of these games are also on the road and 3 of the games will be played in prime time. This is a lot of additional pressure for a team, especially late in the season as squads look to secure positions for playoffs, however, Dallas has thus far shown they can be a top competitor and opposing teams should prepare accordingly.

The Dallas Cowboys’ next game is Monday night, at home against the Washington Redskins. The Cowboys have won 2 of the 3 most recent matchups against Washington.

World Series

The hunt for October has come and gone. The World Series is in full swing and currently tied, with the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants tied at 2-2.

In the initial series faceoff, the Giants defeated the Royals 7-1 in Kansas City. The Giants had 11 hits, 7 of which were runs and the Royals’ only run occurred in the 6th inning. The Giants held a 3-run lead before the 1st inning was over. This was the Giants’ 16th win in their past 18 post season games.

Game 2 was a different story, as the Royals defeated the Giants 7-2. Each team scored a run in the 1st inning but Kansas City went on to dominate, scoring 1 in the 2nd and 5 more in the 6th inning. The Giants’ only other run came in the 4th inning. Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland struggled and after the game acknowledged he let his emotions get the best of him.

Kansas City managed to win Game 3 although it was closer than the previous 2 games with a final score of 3-2. The Royals scored 1 run in the 1st inning and 2 in the 6th.  The Giants scored both of their runs in the 6th inning as well. Royals shortstop Eric Hosmer’s 6th inning RBI proved to be the deal sealer for the team’s Game 3 victory, giving the Royals a 2-1 lead in the series.

In Game 4, the Giants came back to crush Kansas City, 11-4. Six different Giants had RBIs in this game. Giants outfielder Hunter Pence had 3 RBIs, while second baseman Joe Panik and third baseman Pablo Sandoval each had 2. San Francisco was able to come back, obtaining a 7-4 lead, which they were then able to extend to 11-4, to win the game. Giants relief pitcher Yusmeiro Petit threw 3 shutout innings following starter Ryan Vogelsong.

Game 5 will take place Sunday night at 8:00pm EST in Kansas City. The teams’ pitchers will be the same as in Game 1, James Shields starting for the Royals and Madison Bumgarner for the Giants. Whichever team is victorious will have an advantage for Game 6, heading in with a 3-2 lead.

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans are 3-3 after Thursday night’s 33-28 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Houston’s defense allowed 24 points in the 1st quarter. The Texans scored 2 touchdowns within 2 minutes in the 2nd quarter but it wasn’t enough to recover from the Colts’ earlier lead. Despite the loss, defensive end J.J. Watt played well, sacking Colts quarterback Andrew Luck twice and scoring a touchdown, his 3rd of the season so far.

Now in his 4th year of professional play, J.J. Watt is quickly establishing himself as the face of the Texas franchise and garnering great popularity among football fans nationwide. Fantasy football outlets were quick to recognize a popular team name among players this year included “Turn Down For Watt” a play on Lil Jon’s song this past summer “Turn Down for What.” In September, Watt signed a 6-year contract extension with the Texans, with a guarantee of just under $52 million. This is the highest amount for a defensive player in NFL history. Although the expectations are high, Watt continues to deliver.

In Thursday night’s game, wide receiver Andre Johnson also reached a milestone of 13,000 receiving yards after catching a 9-yard pass from quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Johnson is just the 15th player in NFL history to achieve this.

Rookie linebacker Jadeveon Clowney is expected to return to play some time in October or November, after rehabbing his knee injury suffered in the Texans’ season opener on September 8. Clowney, a junior from the University of South Carolina, was the number 1 draft pick this year by Houston.

With Watt, Johnson, running back Arian Foster and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, Houston definitely has the right pieces for success. The Texans’ next game is October 20th where they will face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Monday Night Football. Texans’ head coach Bill O’Brien said last week that as of right now Clowney’s return for this game in 50/50.