And funny that I find this NASCAR story after talking about "taking into your own hands"...

But oof...  This is...  This is a big one.

Corey Heim (who will race at the top level for 23XI, Bubba Wallace's team), at Martinsville, was jumped by several members of a rival team after a late-model race.

FIGHT AT THE HOTDOG STAND!

FIGHT AT THE @MARTINSVILLESWY HOTDOG STAND!!!#VSCU300 | September 25-26 | Live on FloRacing 📺 pic.twitter.com/ZOqO2bnVAH

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) September 27, 2026

At least one crew member held Heim up to the stand, where another suckered him.

It was Chad Bryant Racing.

Well, Chad's no longer in the series.  He's been banned, so has the other person who was directly involved in the swinging.

When is NASCAR going to stop with the "Have at it..." motif?  This is what happens on the short tracks.  Not USUALLY this flagrant, but there have been several close...

Manchester City: A Tragic Day

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has thrown in behind the Arab owner of Manchester City, and, hence, has thrown in for the end of the Premier League, if not the EFL with it:

“I would be really concerned to lose them.”

Those were the words of Prime Minister Andy Burnham, concerning Shiekh Mansour and the other owners of Manchester City.

We know why.  Mansour being the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, rumors have been flying for 24 hours.

Jurgen Klopp, two years ago, said it correctly...

"There are 3 clubs in world football who can do what they want financially. Nobody can compete with that. Liverpool cannot act like them."

(Which makes me wonder who the other two are.)

That said, to PM Burnham:

1) Even in the best case scenario vis-a-vis that the Premier League would have a future (see below for that), why would 3/4 of the teams in it now even field a side, at minimum against Manchester City and at maximum at all?

2) How would the Premier League, as presently constructed, even handle so much as an injurious foul on the pitch, given this controvertion of any real authority on or off the pitch?

3) What stops players from taking the law into their own hands, and laying it right on the feet of the League and His Majesty's Government when taken before disciplinary tribunals?

4) Why would anyone want to watch other than Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and at least one team I've forgotten that's above the glass ceiling?

5) What stops Mansour from suing (or being given!) the Premier League and all of its assets as compensation?

6) Remember that Mansour has gone public in saying he's sick of propping up the lesser teams.

This is no less than a call to end the English Premier League because of the political position of one of the team owners.

You may get your Super League.

2026 Week Three Score Report

Almost forgot this.

• 756 points this week, 47.25 per game.
• 2,194 points for the first 48 games.  45.71 per game.
• Home teams an impressive 11-4 for the week, 28-18 now for the season.
• Only four games of the sixteen finished outside one score.
• Three of them were non-competitive, one was within 8 points at some point in the fourth quarter but finished outside.  16 of the 48 games have been non-competitive, while four have had it within eight points at some point in the fourth quarter but not finished there.
• Meaning 28 of the 48 games so far this season have finished within one score.
• 7 Cliffhangers in 4 games.  So we've had only nine games with Cliffhangers, but SIXTEEN different tying, lead-changing, or winning scores in the last two minutes of regulation or overtime.
• And 9 of the 12 games within one score had a Last Chance Miss.  Meaning, of the 32 games that have finished within eight points, TWENTY have had a Last Chance Miss.  And at least one this week was close to that criteria.
• Multiples:
• Cleveland-Carolina had the first one.  Cleveland go ahead TD at 1:27, after out on downs, Carolina spends all three timeouts to get the ball back in sixteen seconds, but throws it away from about midfield with :16 left.
• Indianapolis-Houston:  Houston with a go-ahead touchdown for 17-16 at 1:48, Indianapolis wins it with a field goal at :16, but Houston does get ball in the air at the gun.
• Full Triple Cliffhanger in Rio:  Baltimore go-ahead TD 31-28 at 1:30.  Dallas ties it with 7 seconds left, only to give away the pass to field goal range, Lamar gets the timeout (we're still not sure he did!), field goal to win it for Baltimore at the gun.
• And the Sunday nighter got the last multiplier of the week:  That controversial DPI call I gave you earlier got Denver the winning touchdown at 47 seconds, but the Rams got it to where they got a shot at the end zone at the gun...  Picked off.
• According to what I could find, there's no word on the Miami futility of being the latest NFL team to lose all three of their first games of the season by 14 points or more.  They are NOT the only team to do so, however.

Some extensions from other previous stories...

• Coach Shane Beamer has NOT decided yet whether Dylan Stewart will ever return to the team, and has additionally stated that it will be solely Beamer's choice as to when he returns.  He won't.  I think it's clear that Stewart made a decision last Saturday -- an incredibly stupid one, but a decision nonetheless.   
• And a late report:  The South Carolina NIL collective wants to recollect at least $167,000 a game from Stewart for every game he is suspended.  Yeah, that'll be a lawsuit.  And it may be the only thing that gets him to get his shit together enough to at least be on the sideline.
• Yeah, I'll say it, say it with me:  Operation Shutdown.
• In the "Yeah, That Tracks" Department:  When PAC finally signed with AEW, he was sidelined due to visa issues for quite a while.  Those visa issues, according to David Bixenspan, were due to Vince McMahon calling in chips from the first Trump Administration and stating falsely PAC had bolted on his visa, rather than being duly released.
• Confrontation in an Indiana WNBA game -- male fan confronted Las Vegas' A'Ja Wilson on the sideline.  She was T'd up, he was ejected for a time but returned...  Anyone wanna bet money it was insinuated Wilson is a man?   
• Jake the Awake needs some extra time -- probably to get his Slop List down to ten.  He has proclaimed it one of the most rigged weeks in NFL history.  Not sure I'd quite go THAT FAR...  We'll see what he's got.   
• And the first casualty of the Packers sucking:  The Packers-Bears game has been moved off the America's Game of the Week segment at 4:25 Eastern, back to a 1:00 Eastern start at Lambeau.

Manchester City: The UAE basically calls for the abolition of the English Premier League...

Oh shit...  At least two major diplomatic ramifications of the today's Premier League ruling regarding Manchester City.

🚨 BREAKING: UAE officials are reportedly considering measures against the United Kingdom following the Premier League’s decision to find Manchester City guilty of 115 of 115 alleged breaches.

Prominent UAE figure (@reynaMCFC) has reportedly threatened to push for increased…

— Danis (@DanisMCFC) September 29, 2026

I don't think people get the ramifications of such an event.

First, I think people need to understand why the UAE is so adamant.

The majority owner of the team is Sheikh Mansour bid Zayed Al Nahyan.  He is the deputy prime minister of the country and a UAE royal.

If that doesn't raise every red flag in the book, comments were made, which are probably deep in X's archives, that Mansour said he was going to financially break the Premier League, because he felt the remaining clubs were negligent in proper spending -- an action now seen as that he believed Financial Fair Play was a constriction of competition.

So that explains the political nature of the problem.

Second, now you need to see why the penalty must be fatal to the club and Mansour and his group get NOTHING...

I'm going to give you a short and not all-inclusive list of entities which now would all but require compensation:

• Every other Premier League team since 2009 on a baseline level.
• Goes double for any Premier League team which lost a Premiership, a Cup Final, a Champions League place (remember, City have been to every Champions League except one in this run)...  At least three teams are considering actions of 100 million pounds, and Stoke City has already raised a fair degree of Cain over their 2011 FA Cup loss to Man City, as just two examples.
• And then consider what is now called the Two Hundred Million Pound Game.  Though applied to the concept of the Championship Playoff Final for the final spot in the next year's Premier League, the difference in relegation from the Premier League to the Championship is now estimated at TWO HUNDRED MILLION POUNDS.  And a sum commensurate to that for every relegated season since 2009 is now applicable to any team who finished within whatever number of points they did not get from Manchester City's matches to be safe from relegation.
• Then you get to the broadcasters and sponsors.  From the day Aguero slotted in the goal in the fixed match with Queen's Park Rangers for their first championship, the Premier League has been able to sell itself on the concept that the glass ceiling of Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea has finally been broken.  It is now clear that the entirety of that truth is FRAUD.  Meaning that the broadcast rights holders and the sponsors have been paying increased fees probably well beyond the Premier League's station.  They would have a claim.  And oh crap.  As crooked as I believe that QPR match was for Joey Barton's antics to get sent off, would I rule out that Sheikh Mansour paid Barton handsomely to get sent off and throw the match?
• In fact, at least one expert now believes that every Sky Sports subscriber in England may well have a claim against Manchester City for inflated subscription fees as a result of the above, as just one further example of it!
• And then we get to Europe on a larger scale:  Prize monies and sponsorships, etc., through Champions League advancements and Manchester City's two Champions League titles???

Are we getting warm yet?

Here's one more someone in the Arsenal Reddit brought up:  The complete explosion of player salaries due to illegal payments, etc. alleged in these charges.  Again, remember Mansour's statement that the rest of the teams are not paying the players properly -- so he blows up the entire corporate salary structure of the entire league to become its face and most dominant team.

Just THAT would be enough for dissolution, liquidation, owners get nothing, probable criminal charges, up to and including the Prime Minister of the UAE.

But here's one more thing to keep in mind.  This is the attitude many City fans have, because of Sheikh Mansour's positions with the team and in the UAE royals:

Man City won’t be relegated or punished in any meaningful way.

If the PL relegated City, it would instigate the start of the European Super League. They wouldn’t join the EFL. The PL need City more than City need the PL.

— Jake 🦁 🏁 (@Villa_F1) September 29, 2026

Consider three things if that happens:

1) It would immediately expose the English Premier League as completely unable to police the game, off the field and eventually on it.  It would effectively make Manchester City the sole existence of the English Premier League.

2) It would basically demand an immediate full-scale player boycott -- at minimum, of the Manchester City matches.  At maximum, of the Premier League itself.

3) Frankly, it would jailbreak the league, IF IT SURVIVES.  You would literally have Middle Eastern oil barons worth billions taking every team in the league they can, and the rest go well below even Championship-level.  You would get a Super League.

In short (as I told Jake in a response), you get your Euro Super League anyway.  Because, at that point, there is no Premier League.

The punishment has not been determined -- but for there to even be a CHANCE, and it's only a chance, for the survival of the English Premier League...

• Criminal charges of all relevant parties, up to and including the Prime Minister of the UAE, come what may in international relations.
• Dissolution of the Manchester City Football Club
• Seizure and liquidation of ALL Manchester City assets
• The owners get NOTHING
• The money is completely put into a fund for a small fraction of the damages done

ANYTHING short of this nullifies FFP and declares at least one club above the law and all ability to be enforced against.

Manchester City: It's now official, and it's worse than first said.

In a scheme the head of the Premier League said "systemically broke Premier League rules for a decade", the Premier League has officially found Manchester City GUILTY of all 115 charges against them.

They have 72 hours to appeal, they will obviously do so, don't fool yourself.

What's the penalty?  That wasn't announced today.  The independent commission will have to meet again, and there's zero chance, even if the appeal of the main charges goes through, that it consummates during the season.

But, as I said, there is only one apt penalty...

A points deduction would technically result in their demotion to about the regional leagues (the seventh tier).

This is going to set off all kinds of lawsuits where literally billions of pounds are going to be in play.

There is only one proper solution:  Expulsion, dissolution, liquidation.

And HOPE that the result doesn't kill the Premier League outright.

Because there's something a lot of people don't get:  The Premier League itself has all but hitched its future, and the resultant explosion in television rights fees both domestically and internationally, on Manchester City blasting the glass ceiling back when this run started.

And it's now all been declared against the rules by the Premier League.

Expulsion, dissolution, liquidation.

Week Three Political Stock Up, Stock Down, and three more DUD OF THE WEEK NFL nominations...

The awards have already been given out, and they're all in college.  (Though one of these two got close tonight to that hit in Oregon-USC.)

So two more NFL nominees for Dud of the Week...

DeMarco Jackson of the Bears -- for THIS...

Notice how no one on the bears defense celebrated the hit.

Everyone and their mother knew that hit was egregious. pic.twitter.com/wCncS1SL6Z

— That Hurts (@That_Hurts) September 29, 2026

As I said above, that one was CLOSE to the level of problem of that hit in Oregon-USC, but you see from the second replay that the late hit was simply a hard late hit.

That will get fined on Saturday.  And he's very fortunate there was no helmet contact, or he'd be gone and probably suspended.

Jake Hurts:  For this Jake the Awake Slop Play Special, the last real chance Philly had 4th and 5, midfield, at 20-7 down...

This might be in the lead for worst interception thrown of the year.. Yikes.. pic.twitter.com/asK7uxbvAV

— CheddyBurgh✖️ (@CheddyBurgh) September 29, 2026

The Philadelphia Eagles themselves.

What.  The fuck.  Was THAT???

That one's gonna cost you in January if the Bears and Eagles both make the playoffs.

That was only the fourth game this week not to be decided within one score.  And that looked about as bad as New England's and Green Bay's performances this week

And so it gets a place right next to them.

Now, the Stock Ups and Downs:

NFC:

Stock Up:

Chicago:  Someone said it best on X tonight.  BTA (Boots To Asses) against a supposedly elite NFC foe.  If not for whatever that was Week 2, you're 3-0.

Speaking of 3-0:  The 49ers and Vikings, the only two 3-0 teams in the conference.  Can't say either was that expected.

The NFC Norris:  The four teams in the division have eight wins between them.

The NFC Wonderful:  The four teams there?  Seven wins.

New York Giants:  Even trying to figure out who's going to quarterback that team, they are 2-1!

Stock Down:

Green Bay would be listed as a Down, but I don't know how much further down you can go.  I do think there is a very real non-zero chance that the New York Jets might get the #1 Draft Pick, through Green Bay and Dallas.

Philadelphia:  See above

Tampa Bay:  Bad news:  You're the only NFC 0-3 team.  Good news:  The three losses have only been by a total of 17 points.  And you might be favored next week anyway.  Green Bay comes to town.  (Current check, according to ESPN:  Probably not, now that I see Draft Kings has the Packers a 3.5 point favorite, up from 1.5.)

Carolina:  Will the real Carolina Panthers please...  stand up?  Are you the team that fell in a track meet to Chicago?  The one that crushed Atlanta??  Or the one who just lost to DeRapist Rapist in Cleveland???

The NFC Suck, err, South?:  3 weeks, and the four teams in your division have three wins between them, and one of them was intradivision.

Dallas:  How many more weeks or lost seasons is it gonna take before Jerreh cleans house, gets a team together that the NFL wants to have represent them as champion, and then look the Hell out???  Asking for a "friend".

AFC:

Stock Up:

Las Vegas especially:  Anyone have 3-0 for them on your scorecard?  Anyone??  Bueller?  Bueller???

Buffalo and Kansas City:  Two teams you DID have 3-0 for them on your scorecard.

Add the Broncos (not quite on this list) to Vegas and KC, that's 8 wins for the AFC Wonderful.

Baltimore:  A lot of people think they got rigged to it in Rio.  So do I.  That might mean something down the road...

Pittsburgh:  If the bullshit weren't real for the 9-8 Super Bowl first!

The AFC Norris:  All four teams 2-1, eight wins in the division.

Stock Down:

New England:  Eugh.  What was that shit?

The Dolphins, Titans, Texans, and Chargers:  All 0-3.  The Dolphins may be throwing the season, something is badly wrong in LA (both teams, so you can informally add the 1-2 Rams to the NFC Down list!), and the AFC Suck is the AFC Suck.

How bad is it?  A Minnesota team which still is figuring out THEIR QB situation is a double-digit favorite over Miami this week.  Miami has lost all three of their games by at least two touchdowns.

The AFC Suck:  Also three wins between the four teams.