September 10, 2022 News and Notes

• That's ONE WAY to cover for your personnel decisions...  Ten days before the NFL season, the Buffalo Bills didn't have a punter.  Turns out they didn't need one for Week 1 -- though they have one.  The destruction Thursday night of the LA Rams was so complete that the Bills became the first known team in NFL history to have seven or more sacks and three or more interceptions in a game in which they did not punt!
• America's latest hope to break the Grand Slam jinx in men's tennis is out.  Frances Tiafoe lost in five sets to #3 seed Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals.  The Spaniard will face Casper Ruud of Norway in the final -- the winner probably gets the #1 world ranking as well!
• The LOLMets are now tied with the Barfs in the NL East, with the Barfs one inning from taking the lead in the division, as of the pre-midnight time of typing.
• And the Barfs took the lead with the win Friday night.
• There are now a series of right-wing claims believing the BYU racial slur story false.
• Though aided by Coors Field, CJ Cron hit the longest home run in the majors in over 3 years at 504 feet Friday night, just days after another player slugged one 499.  It is the second-longest in the Statcast Era, since 2015, falling one foot short of a Nomar Mazara 2019 blast.
• This, on a day MLB finally threw the switch on the pitch clock, banning the shift, enlarging bases, and a number of other rules changes for next year to varying amounts of derision.
• And there's #696 for Albert Pujols.  That makes him 3rd legit and tied for 4th overall on the career home run list -- and, with just under four weeks to go in the season, four from 700.
• Iga Swiatek has won the US Open women's singles in straight sets.