Poison cheese, "This or That" and bad officiating in the sports moments of the week
Posted October 24, 2023 7:10 p.m. EDT
Updated October 26, 2023 7:34 p.m. EDT
The internet is a big place. Unless you're 100% plugged in all the time (and let's be clear, that is NOT recommended), you're going to miss some stuff.
Let us do that work. You can be a well-adjusted human being and still catch all the best sports moments of the week, with a quick review ...
1. Tar Heels take the "poison cheese"
North Carolina's stay as a top ten team sure didn't last long.
The Tar Heels truly laid an egg on Saturday night, losing at home to a 1-5 Virginia team, 31-27.
Star quarterback and Heisman trophy candidate Drake Maye had a chance to be the hero late, but was hit and intercepted to seal the game – a play that was perfectly captured on the rarely-used Umpire Cam.
UNC was a 23.5-point favorite over UVA at kickoff, making this the largest upset loss in school history. And yet, this is not at all unfamiliar territory.
In fact, three of North Carolina's four biggest upset losses have come in the last three seasons. And they've lost a whopping six games as a double-digit favorite since 2020.
Yowza.
There's no arguing that Mack Brown has, overall, elevated the Tar Heels above where they were under previous coaches like Larry Fedora or Butch Davis.
But sooner or later, the huge letdown games – or "eating the poison cheese" as Coach Brown likes to say – have to stop.
2. Duke plays capture the Flagg
Did you know that the nation's number one basketball recruit is a 6'8" white dude from Maine?
It's true.
His name is Cooper Flagg and he might be coming to Duke.
The Blue Devils hosted Flagg for his official recruiting visit on Friday, just in time for Countdown to Craziness.
The 16-year old looked comfortable sitting with the Cameron Crazies. He participated in the choreography, and even held up somebody's baby doll during a timeout.
Duke also made sure to one-up UConn (their main competition for Flagg according to most experts) during a photo shoot session. Flagg posed with both schools' trophy collection, and one was noticeably larger than the other.
Cooper Flagg hasn't announced a commitment date, but some believe it could be as early as this week.
3. Panthers, Canes answer the tough questions
The Carolina Panthers are (mercifully) on a bye this week, while the Carolina Hurricanes have been away from home on their annual State Fair road trip.
What do they have in common?
Both showed their commitment to hard-hitting journalism by playing This or That this week.
While we're here, let's go ahead and establish the correct answers to the questions posed in these videos:
- Candy apple over candy corn is by far the easiest call. It is a fact (as first reported by comedian Lewis Black) that all of the candy corn that was ever made was made in 1911. They've been trying to get rid of it ever since.
- Werewolf over vampire and it has nothing to do with the Twilight books. It's because werewolves can eat garlic and are apparently awesome at basketball.
- Horror movie over haunted house. You might wait in line for an hour to go into a haunted house for what, like 15 minutes? Not worth it.
- Black cat over bat. The only acceptable answer if you are a Panthers fan.
- Jordan Martinook is correct -- hot coffee in the winter and iced coffee in the summer is the ideal.
4. Wake Forest gets its QB slide revenge
Wake Forest was headed for its fourth straight loss on Saturday until it got an unexpected, and ironic, reprieve in the final minute.
Pittsburgh quarterback Christian Veilleux looked to have an easy first down run that would have salted the game away ... only the official ruled that he started his slide too early and didn't reach the line to gain.
Now facing a fourth down instead of a first, Pitt was forced to punt the ball back to the Deacs with 40 seconds on the clock.
That proved to be just enough time for third-string quarterback Santino Marucci to drive Wake Forest 48 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
Of course, Pitt has nobody but themselves to blame for the controversial call that cost them the victory.
You see, as you may recall, Kenny Pickett faked a slide against these very same Demon Deacons in the 2021 ACC Championship Game and ran it in for a crucial touchdown.
That play prompted the NCAA to tighten up the rules and more strictly enforce the spotting of the ball at the start of each quarterback slide.
Obviously that's open to interpretation, but it certainly looks like, in this case, Veilleux at least starts to slow down before the line to gain.
Karma is a funny thing sometimes.
5. Sketchy weekend for officiating
Several other controversial calls played a big hand in deciding games this weekend... and none of them were as defensible as the Wake Forest call.
Houston had No. 8 Texas on the ropes late in the 4th quarter, driving for a game-tying -- or possibly game-winning -- touchdown.
On 3rd & 1, Cougars running back Stacy Sneed got the call and looked to easily have the first down... only he was marked short.
Houston didn't convert on the ensuing 4th & inches play and lost the game, 31-24.
One day later, the exact opposite scenario happened in the NFL between the Steelers and Rams.
Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett (didn't think he'd come up twice today) tried to QB sneak for a game-clinching first down, and looked like he definitely came up short.
But the officials had other ideas.
They gave Pickett an extra half-yard and the first down, clinching a 24-17 win for Pittsburgh.
The Rams, who had no timeouts left, could not challenge the play.
The worst call of all, however, came at Iowa.
Star cornerback Cooper DeJean looked like he had rescued the Hawkeyes with a dramatic punt return to beat Minnesota -- a wonderful individual effort for a 55-yard touchdown.
Then, way after the play was over, the officials intervened.
After replay review, they ruled that because DeJean waved his left arm to get his teammates out of the way, it constituted a fair catch. (His arm never got close to going over his head.)
The play was called back, Iowa's offense stayed on brand and did nothing, and Minnesota escaped with a 12-10 victory.
Not a great weekend all around for the zebras.
6. Failure to launch
Because of their sign-stealing scandal in 2020, for which they were never really punished, the Houston Astros have a lot of haters.
And so, when the Texas Rangers obliterated them 11-4 in Monday's ALCS Game 7, a lot of people enjoyed dancing on their grave.
Especially once the broadcast showed two dudes in astronaut suits sulking in the stands.
Wearing a gaudy costume to a Game 7 is obviously a play to get on TV, but perhaps these guys didn't fully think through the downside.
If you win, great. You'll probably get shown on TV celebrating.
But if you lose in embarrassing fashion – as the Astros did Monday – you'll probably last a lot longer as a sad meme on the internet.
TAYLOR SWIFT WATCH
The Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce content train is still rolling and this was a particularly busy week, so we're going bullet points here:
- Taylor may have proved herself as a true Chiefs fan because she finished the national anthem "and the home of the CHIEEEEEEEEFS!"
- Taylor has a new secret handshake with Patrick Mahomes' wife, Brittany.
- A true Swiftie made a graphic for CBS, highlighting how Travis is playing better with Taylor in the stands this year.
- Travis finished with 12 catches for 179 yards and a touchdown in a 31-17 win over the Chargers, so head coach Andy Reid extended an invite for Taylor to keep coming back.
- THE BIG ONE -- Travis and Taylor's first public kiss!
Are these two crazy kids actually in it for the long haul? You are now armed to discuss it with the Swiftie in your life, you're welcome.
See you next week.
