It's early, but if you are so inclined to believe the House Always Wins, numbers to keep in mind...

From John Ewing at BetMGM...

Popular (+60% of money) NFL Week 4 bets at @BetMGM

78% of money on Bills -6.5
78% on Saints -3
76% on Lions -3.5
71% on Rams -3.5
70% on Bengals -2.5
69% on Bears -3.5
65% on Texans -3
64% of on Colts -4
61% on Dolphins +10.5
60% on Cardinals -2.5

Gambling problem? Call…

— John Ewing (@johnewing) October 2, 2026

After Further Review (WNBA): Did the league send MAGA a message last night?

The Las Vegas Aces eliminated the Indiana Fever last night in the WNBA playoffs.

And I don't like to give MAGA credit for a goddamn thing.

That, however, said, several highlights from the game make me wonder if the WNBA sent a message to an increasingly White Conservative at least fanbase (if not the team itself) with calls like these:

Bri Turner hooks Lexie Hull’s arm and took her to the ground…foul on Lexie Hull & they didn’t let the Fever challenge the call 😂 pic.twitter.com/qzRu1d7Cek

— Kyle Ingram (@SnapshotKyle) October 2, 2026

A’ja Wilson going to the line for free throws number 12 & 13 — after this foul by Aliyah Boston.

We all know what we’re watching, right?? pic.twitter.com/2Hom7M59DP

— HeroOfTheDay (@Hero_OfThe_Day) October 2, 2026

Caitlin Clark caught an elbow to the face and was bleeding from the mouth, but no foul was called 😳 pic.twitter.com/fhTCaNSCRI

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 2, 2026

Various odds and sods, October 2...

May be added to throughout the day, please check back...

• Manchester City has officially appealed the findings, as fully expected.  The appeals have a 120-day window to occur, at which point the decision is due in another 30.  So, March appears to be the next bellweather.  Apparently, their first match back from the international break next week is at Arsenal -- which could have the potential of going VERY south.   
• And, on the pitch, Man City are the only unbeaten, undrawn team through five rounds, entering said break.  Scored 13 goals, gave up five.
• For his DUI over the summer, Tony Romo has now been officially fired from CBS Sports.
• The Portland Trail Blazers, yesterday, hired Braiden Bell as their new announcer.
• The Portland Trail Blazers, yesterday, FIRED Braiden Bell as their new announcer.
• For 2012-2013 racist social media posts.  Well, for various topics, that renders me COMPLETELY unemployable...  In ANY field...   
• The ABS challenge system resulted in the reversal of about 54% of ball-strike calls challenged under the system this season.  As a result, the largest cause of ejections went to check swings this season.
• An interesting NFL schedule quirk:  Jacksonville will not be playing a home game this entire month.  After playing Cincinnati, they go to London for two games.  Then their bye.
• Not only that, but they lose two home games this year because of the schedule.  And they requested it.
• Why?  They have to perform renovations on their stadium in-season (probably due to Florida weather), and need that entire month to try to get it done.

I guess I get to do this now: Cornell.

Semi-related to sports for obvious reasons -- and the irony has not been lost on several social-media posters tonight.

In the backdrop of the whole DeShaun Watson-fest tonight, consider this developing story:

Cornell University is being forced to submit to an independent investigation of an anonymous former student alleging to be gang-raped by a fraternity in October of 2024.

And one of the first things which has come out is that the research university is one of the worst in the nation in defending women against sexual assault and rape.

With this knowledge almost certainly in mind, the woman definitely waited too long to have a rape kit prepared, and has been conflicted in reporting this -- which is why this situation took nearly two years to surface.

So how many valuable men were in that fraternity?  How many potential top-end researchers that this University believes they can't do without??

How many threats has she gotten, probably up to and including the University itself...

Consider this as Cleveland celebrates DeShaun Watson and even the Amazon broadcast seemed to laud him -- an action almost certainly on orders from New York, and, given Pigfucker the Rapist in the White House, perhaps beyond...

After Further Review (College): And it's good to see this week is off to a rousing start...

First quarter, punt return for North Texas (in white and green) vs. Tulsa (in the blue):

In what universe is this not AT MINIMUM an ejection, if not investigatable???

Good lord pic.twitter.com/aY5VxyVbp5

— PokeNation (@Big12Pokes) October 2, 2026

It was flagged.

After Further Review: The DeRapist Rapist Redemption Tour, at least for tonight, is in full effect...

And, more than anything, it's due to this no-call in the second quarter...

Denzel v Assante....let em play pic.twitter.com/MV4RLDvBXw

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) October 2, 2026

Even though the Browns got 21 in the quarter for 21-10 at halftime, the only question was when...

And, sure enough, aided by a (correct -- barely!!) tipped-ball replay call that negated a pass interference that would've negated an interception AND a (correct) pass interference call on fourth down, Rodgers gets the TD+2 Cliffhanger for 24-24.

But then DeRapist gets the drive for an Andre Szmyt 56-yard winner with 10 seconds left -- sealed when Rodgers threw into how many coverage...

After it looked like TJ Watt got mugged twice on key plays in the fourth quarter, including one that got the Browns into field-goal range for the winner.

Oh...  fuck.

EDIT TO ADD:  And MORE from the DeRapist Rapist Redemption Tour:

Prime executives as Al Michaels tried to land the plane on that “everyone knows the whole Deshaun Watson story” bit. pic.twitter.com/Dr3GyO8X7Y

— Conor Orr (@ConorOrr) October 2, 2026

And in a more mundane sense, The House Always Wins:

At this point there is nothing to be said.#Rigged @NFLTNF@NFL @Browns @steelers #Steelers #Dawgpound #ThursNightNFLonPrime pic.twitter.com/qxqjBfoflM

— GolfHack13.1 (@golf_hack15) October 2, 2026

Various odds and sods, October 1...

• John Calipari, head basketball coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, has reported that nine of the twelve players on his roster earn more money in NIL contracts than his assistant coaches, with the other three even eclipsing his entire staff!  And if you think that's not going to translate to behavior in practices and games, I got some swampland to sell you in Little Rock!  
• Still no word from South Carolina about Dylan Stewart after this week.  Coach Shane Beamer (who may not be the coach much longer!) has gone silent on Stewart's future with the team, and will almost certainly remain silent until, at minimum, after the game with Kentucky this week.  This, after Beamer said upon the indefinite suspension that he would probably have announced it Monday or Tuesday at the latest what happens after the Kentucky game.  More evidence Dylan Stewart has played his last game at South Carolina, and it's not going to matter whose choice it is.  No word yet on the claim of the South Carolina NIL collective, seeking $167,000 a game back from Stewart for the suspension.   
• This probably should get its own post, but one of the major indications in the appeal by Manchester City may surround that many of the payments may have come directly from the United Arab Emirates government, making the team state-owned and state-financed.  And am I the only person in the world who believes that might not make the situation WORSE???   
• The Northwestern Marching Band, the Athletic Marketing citing lack of attendance at the games, will no longer perform pregame at Northwestern home football games.  At least this week, they will perform at a Chicago food festival instead, "where the fans are"...  Well, if Northwestern had a relevant college football team, maybe this would be different, right UCLA and USC?   
• According to at least one member of the band, this is NOT a decision of the band itself, but of Athletic Marketing.  Which causes my statement above to go double. 
• The Big Sky Commissioner finally admits it:  That there's a chance that if the power conferences break off completely from the rest of FBS, the Group of 6 (the remaining FBS conferences) will probably blend in at the top of FCS.
• Since a lot of this is about college football, I'll leave this here in closing:  Ratings for college football are down double digits from last year -- -11%.