Week 8 was yet another crazy week in the NFL with close games coming down to the wire, standout players, blowouts and upsets. There were 7 games decided by one possession, one game decided by only one point, and another game that ended in a TIE! This was the first time since 1997 there were ties in back to back weeks.

Let’s start off with the tie. Playing in London, the Cincinnati Bengals took on the Washington Redskins. Although this game was not as crazy as last week’s, there were still some unbelievable moments leading to the tie. After going into OT, both teams ended their first possession with a punt so the next team to score would win. Redskins kicker Dustin Hopkins was setting up for a game-winning 22 yard field goal. Should have been an easy win, but he missed. Then with two minutes left, the Bengals were driving their way into field goal position when their quarterback Andy Dalton fumbled the ball, giving the Redskins another chance at a field goal. But the Redskins could not capitalize on the good field position and the game ended in a tie.

Another game that came down to the wire was the Oakland Raiders overtime defeat of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 30-24. Raiders QB Derek Carr threw for 513 yards and four touchdowns, including a 41-yard game winning pass in overtime. Another close game included the offensive battle between the Atlanta Falcons and the Green Bay Packers. The Falcons won 33-32 with help from their QB Matt Ryan, who threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns. Finally, there was a third OT game  this week where the Dallas Cowboys came back to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 29-23.

Upsets in Week 8 included the New Orleans Saints stunning the Seattle Seahawks in a close game of 25-20, keeping the Saints’ playoff hopes alive. The Chicago Bears also defeated the terrific defense of the Minnesota Vikings 20-10 in a Monday Night Football upset. Bears RB Jordan Howard rushed for 154 yards and a touchdown. There were a lot of teams with a bye this week: the Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers.

A few standout players from week 8 that would help your fantasy team include Raiders QB Carr, who threw for 513 yards and 4 TDs;Raiders WR Amari Cooper, who caught for 173 yards and a TD; and Bears running back Jordan Howard, who rushed for 153 yards, received for 50 yards and a TD.

The greatest situation a fan can ask for is a championship decided at the wire, the final pivotal game coming down to winner takes all. The World Series came down to game 7 and turned out to be a game for the ages.

The Cubs sent Kyle Hendricks to the mound with hopes of a dominant start. For the Indians, ace Corey Kluber was on the hill. Going into the game, Cleveland looked to have the advantage with the pitching weapons of Kluber, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen all available. Chicago had announced starter Jon Lester would be available out of the bullpen as well as closer Aroldis Chapman. The stage was set for a pitchers duel in the final game of the 2016 season.

The game started off incredibly fast with Dexter Flower hitting a lead off home run to put Chicago up 1-0. Cleveland responded with a run in the third but Chicago’s offense then exploded, taking a 6-3 lead into the bottom on the 8th inning. Cleveland rallied in the 8th  to tie the game on an RBI double by Brandan Guyer and a monster two-run homer by outfielder Rajai Davis. The hits came off of closer Aroldis Chapman, who was used in game 6 when the Cubs were ahead and seemed to have the game in hand. Early into Chapman’s outing in game 7, though, you could tell the fatigue from game 6 was a factor. Putting him in was a head-scratching decision by Cubs manager Joe Maddon. After nine innings, the game was tied and headed to extras.

Right after the bottom of the ninth ended, the grounds crew ran onto the field indicating they were going to delay the game because of rain. One of the greatest games in baseball history, about to go into extra innings, was being stopped because of rain. Twitter exploded with outrage as many wanted the game to continue. The delay only lasted a short time and play resumed. In the top of the 10th inning, Chicago scored 2 runs to give the Cubs a good but not comfortable lead. In the bottom of the 10th, Cleveland scored to make it a one-run game. With two outs and a ground ball to third, the Cubs’ Chris Bryant threw to Anthony Rizzo to end the game 8-7. The Chicago Cubs have ended their 108 year championship drought. The Chicago Cubs are 2016 World Series Champions.

Week 7 was a chaotic week. There were eight games decided by one possession but none decided by just one point. In fact, one game was closer than one point. It was a tie!

The tie occurred Sunday night between the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks. The ending to this game was like no other game ever seen. The game was sent into overtime tied 3-3. In OT, both teams kicked and made field goals on their first drives to tie the game at 6-6. Then the chaos began.  Whoever scored the next point would win the game. The Cardinals were setting up for an easy 24 yard field goal for kicker Chandler Catanzaro. This is about as easy as they come, even closer than an extra point. And he shanked it! The kick was no good, keeping hopes alive for Seattle with 3:19 left in overtime. The Seahawks drove down the field and set up an easy game-winning field goal of only 27 yards for their kicker Steven Hauschka. With 7 seconds left and the game on the line, Hauschka missed, ending the game in a rare, and unsatisfying, tie.

Some of the other close games included the Miami Dolphins 28-25 defeat of the Buffalo Bills in an AFC East battle. Dolphins RB Jay Ajayi rushed for 200+ yards in the second straight game and scored a touchdown. The San Diego Chargers topped the Atlanta Falcons 33-30 in an offensive showdown, with Chargers RB Melvin Gordon rushing for 2 TDs. The game in London this week between the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams resulted in a Giants victory of 17-10 due to Rams QB Case Keenum throwing four interceptions.

There were a couple minor upsets this week: the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings 21-10 and the New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Ravens 24-16. The Jets got help from their RB Matt Forte, who rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown.

Some other standout players this week were AJ Green, the Bengals receiver who caught for 169 yards and a TD, and Saints QB Drew Brees, who threw for 367 yards and 3 TDs.

The Dallas Cowboys and the Carolina Panthers were the two  teams with a bye.

The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday, November 2nd, and the Patriots didn’t wait until Tuesday to make a big move. The Patriots traded linebacker Jamie Collins to the 0-8 Cleveland Browns for a third round draft pick. Collins is set to be a free agent this summer and reports say the Patriots and Jamie Collins were nowhere close to agreeing on a contract.

In my mind, this trade is absurd. There’s no true logical argument for it and many are left wondering why it happened. Typically if a team is out of playoff contention by the trade deadline, they will trade talent for draft picks in order to acquire young talent for the future. The Patriots sit atop of the AFC East and have the best record in the NFL. With the team nearly guaranteed to make the playoffs, trading an established talented player for a future draft pick is mind-boggling. Recall from two years ago when cornerback Darrelle Revis was a free agent and the Patriots passed on spending big money on him in order to re-sign other future free agents on defense. Chandler Jones, Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower were a core group of young stud defensive players on the Patriots roster last season. All of their contracts are up at the end of this season and the Patriots knew it would be difficult under the salary cap to re-sign all three. A realistic goal would have been to re-sign two of those three players, although which two could be up for debate. Jones was traded this past off-season for a fourth round draft pick and an offensive lineman that the Patriots cut early this year. The Patriots definitely lost on that trade, since the player they traded for is no longer with their team. Now with the Collins trade, it seems the Patriots won’t win this  trade either, as they lose one of the league’s best linebackers.

To recap the Patriots re-signing moves: They let go cornerback Darrelle Revis in order to save money for Chandler Jones, Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower. They then realized they weren’t going to be able to re-sign all three so they traded Jones. Then today they traded Collins, leaving only one player left out of the three they intended to re-sign just a season ago. The whole situation was awfully handled by Bill Belichick and the Patriots. These moves could truly come back to hurt the team, not just this season but in the future.

Although Collins’ play this season hasn’t been as productive as it had been throughout his career, trading him for a bad return isn’t the right move. Collins could have helped the Patriots win this season and if they ended up losing him after the Super Bowl,so be it. Belichick is great at having players use their strengths to help the team and hiding their weakness on the field. Collins is too much of a freak athlete and good football player to be traded based on performance. Belichick may have diminished Collins’ role on the defense because of his poor play so far this season and Collins may not have reacted well. If that’s the case and Collins was being a huge problem to the team, then that would make things different. Belichick isn’t one to give away talent. I’m not sure if it’s time to trust Belichick or truly question the moves he’s making with the team. If the Patriots defense continues to struggle this season, the blame may not fall on the players but on the coach.

No matter which team wins the World Series, one of the most unbelievable streaks in all of sports will come to an end this year. The Cleveland Indians have not won the World Series in 68 years, and the Chicago Cubs have been waiting 108. It is a matchup between perpetual underdogs, and while one will celebrate the end of a championship drought, the other will go home empty-handed one more year.

The Indians defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in 5 games to win the American League Pennant. The Indians were 7-1 going into the World Series and dominated basically every game during that run. They silenced the loud of bats of the Boston Red Sox and beat a hot Toronto team in easy fashion.  The Cubs were the favorite to win the World Series before the season started and are the champions of the National League. They had the best record in Major League Baseball this season, and if you weren’t predicting all season that the Cubs would win the World Series, you were backing another team just to be different. All year they’ve performed the best of any team and have the best roster in all of baseball.

My prediction before the series started was Chicago over Cleveland in 5 games. Cleveland has played great this postseason, overachieving and playing quite possibly the best baseball they are capable of playing. But they have not played a complete team like Chicago. In Game 1  of the World Series, Cleveland beat Chicago 6-0. Cleveland threw their ace Corey Kluber and star Andrew Miller out of the bullpen in their win. Basically everything Cleveland has, they used in their Game 1 win. Game 2 had no Kluber or Miller involved, and the Cubs won 5-1. I don’t believe there is any coincidence in that. How Cleveland is having the success they are having this postseason is beyond me. I think the Cubs are too talented of a team to lose four out of seven games to Cleveland. Chicago’s pitching staff is the best in baseball, its lineup is filled with young and veteran talent, and their bullpen has gotten progressively stronger this postseason lead by Aroldis Chapman. With the World Series being a 2-3-2 format, the next three games are at Wrigley Field. I believe that, with the way the Cubs looked in game 2 and their sheer talent, the series won’t be going back to Cleveland for a game 6.

Week 6 of the NFL season was yet another week of close games and upsets. After Week 6, some teams are in a must-win situation in order to keep hopes alive for a chance at the playoffs. There were a total of eight games that were decided by one possession, and one game decided by only one point.

Some upsets that occurred in Week 6 included the Thursday night game where the San Diego Chargers defeated the Denver Broncos 21-13. Chargers kicker Josh Lambo  made 4 out of 4 field goals. In another upset, the Miami Dolphins topped the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-15 after Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger was injured early in the second half. Dolphins RB Jay Ajayi rushed for 204 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The Carolina Panthers were defeated 41-38 by the New Orleans Saints in an offensive showdown that seemed to be a must-win for the Panthers. The Panthers were 15-1 last year and made the Super Bowl, but this year have dropped to 1-4 and likely will have to win every game from here on out for a chance to make the playoffs.

A key story in the NFL is how well the Dallas Cowboys have been doing without their veteran QB Tony Romo. Both rookies on this team, Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott, are in very important offensive positions and have not disappointed the Dallas franchise with their young talent. The Cowboys defeated the Green Bay Packers 30-16. Elliott rushed for 157 yards and Prescott threw for 247 yards and 3 touchdowns.

A couple of close games included the Jacksonville Jaguars defeating the Chicago Bears 17-16 with Jaquars QB Blake Bortles throwing for 271 yards and a touchdown. The Cleveland Browns, in one of the few games the 0-6 team had a shot at winning this year, lost to the Tennessee Titans 28-26. Titans QB Marcus Mariota threw for 284 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a bye week.

The Hanover High golf team has had tremendous success over the past two seasons. The team had a strong roster of upperclassmen in 2014 and 2015 and finished each season with a 15-1 record. But this season, the team only has three veteran players. Despite its youth, the team finished with a record of 7-6 and, with a win over North Quincy last Thursday, qualified for sectionals.

The captions are senior Charlie Banks and juniors Drew Cratty and Drew Zielinski. Zielinski said he felt very good about how the season has gone up to this point.  “Our top four golfers have the ability to compete with almost anyone at sectionals so we have chance of advancing if we play very well.”

The sectional playoff, which will be held next Tuesday, consists of 10 teams; the two schools with the lowest scores move on to the state final. Zielinski and the rest of the team are feeling good going into the playoffs and hopefully that confidence translates to a trip to the state final.

“Our team improved tremendously over the course of the year,” Zielinski said. “So we will be going into the sectionals probably playing the best golf we have played all year.”