The Ottawa Senators begin preseason play today, and it’s, as always, lit. We’ve got a manchild of a captain. We’ve got a straight-up knight anchoring the blue line. We’ve got a hometown grizzled veteran out of a movie on the wing. There are a bunch of young dudes around, including one mysterious Russian and a German kid some are calling the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart of ice hockey.
The vibes in Ottawa are great, and if the Sens beat the Leafs today, it’s only further evidence of that greatness. If they lose? The preseason doesn’t matter, dude. Congrats?
Oh shit I’m seeing there are two games. That’s rad.
Longhorns in Lubbock
I accidentally wrote “Longhorns in El Paso” first, so if any of you are hiding in this room, watching me, please know that I do know where Texas Tech is and I don’t know what possessed me to type that. Speaking of possession…is it gonna get spooky in West Texas today? Also speaking of possession, who’s gonna be taking snaps when Texas has the ball?
Quinn Ewers is traveling with the team, but it hasn’t been said whether he’ll play. There’s no reason Hudson Card wouldn’t be able to play himself, at least of which I’m aware. Maalik Murphy got a couple headlines this week, but he’s still coming back from the bad ankle injury which ended his high school career, and it seems unlikely that Texas would go through the upheaval of a backup quarterback switch when Ewers is expected to be back by Oklahoma, the alternative to Card is a four-star freshman, and the offense looked fine last week against UTSA.
I’m assuming Texas will try to bully Texas Tech up front. I’m assuming the crowd in Lubbock will be rapturous. I’m assuming the Horns get out of this ok? But it does have trap game vibes. Football against Texas Tech almost always has trap game vibes.
More Tomorrow
We’re going to have notes tomorrow, because there is just too much fun stuff going on (and my parents are in town so I need to go now).
**
Viewing schedule:
6:35 PM EDT: Cubs @ Pirates (MLB TV)
7:10 PM EDT: Tigers @ White Sox (MLB TV)
The Cubs could win their 70th game of the year tonight, if something wacky happens and they get credit for four wins like somebody doubled in backgammon and then somebody else doubled back. Meanwhile, still no Joe Kelly. He may be on the Restricted List soon. We’ll keep an eye out, we’ll respect his family’s privacy, we’ll continue to send our best thoughts and prayers and vibes.
12:00 PM EDT: Duke @ Kansas (FS1)
3:30 PM EDT: James Madison @ Appalachian State (ESPN+)
7:00 PM EDT: Arkansas @ Texas A&M (ESPN)
10:30 PM EDT: Stanford @ Washington (FS1)
The four most salivation-inducing college football games of the day. Oh shit. I forgot Texas.
3:30 PM EDT: Texas @ Texas Tech (ESPN, leave it on in the corner you’re going to want to watch James Madison/App State)
As I was saying.
These are the four most likely to get weird while also mattering but only mattering a little. Indiana/Cincinnati seems weirdness-capable, but it doesn’t matter. Minnesota/Michigan State seems weirdness-likely, but it matters too much. We have dogs in each of these fights (or we’re just happy that Duke and Kansas are finally relevant in a sport, or we’re just happy that Washington isn’t terrible, or we’re just excited because we think JMU/App State’s going to be a great game), and we can’t wait to watch those dogs (that dog) hunt. You think we’ll watch Iowa/Rutgers? Absolutely not. Meaningless.
1:00 PM EDT: Senators @ Leafs (NHL Network)
7:00 PM EDT: Senators @ Leafs (ESPN+)
They’re saying this is a split-squad deal, but they aren’t saying whether that means the same half of the squad will play both games or if they’ll split the games between the squads.
12:00 PM EDT: Kosovo @ Northern Ireland
2:45 PM EDT: Ireland @ Scotland
Arijanet Muric vs. Bailey Peacock-Farrell, head-to-head at last. Also, Josh Cullen plays for Ireland. Burnleys are everywhere.
Two questions: First, how quickly did Kosovo get the soccer up and running after they declared independence and had that independence recognized? Second, do Ireland and Scotland dislike each other? I feel like there’s a clear answer here but I wouldn’t be surprised either way.
