Mickey Togs

Aaron Judge won his second career American League MVP award.

The New York Yankees star was voted the unanimous winner by the 30-person BBWAA voting body, his first time receiving every first-place vote.

The voting was also unanimous for second place, with Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals sweeping the second-place votes. Judge’s teammate Juan Soto, Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles and José Ramírez of the Cleveland Guardians all received third-place votes.

Judge joins Mickey Mantle (1956) as the only Yankees players to win MVP unanimously.

It was an extraordinary season for Judge, who posted career highs in all three slash line numbers at .322/.458/.701 while clubbing 58 home runs, four short of his AL season record and what many consider to be the clean record.

Los Angeles Dodger Shohei Ohtani won the National League MVP award, garnering all 30 first-place votes for a unanimous decision. 

The New York Giants entered Sunday’s game at MetLife Stadium without former starting quarterback Daniel Jones, relying instead on Tommy DeVito to lead the offense. What followed was a nightmare for the Giants as they suffered a lopsided 30-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Once again in front of the MetLife Stadium crowd, the Giants did very little to keep butts in the seats. By halftime, Big Blue was down 30-0 and the stadium began to empty. When the final whistle blew in the fourth quarter, only Bucs fans remained.

Baker Mayfield efficiently led the Buccaneers with 24 completions on 30 attempts for 294 yards, finishing with a 107.5 passer rating.

Giants QB Tommy DeVito finished 21-for-31 for 189 yards with no TDs, no INTs and 3 sacks. He had 7 carries for 32 yards.

With the loss, the Giants drop to 2-9 on the season and will have a quick turnaround as they play in front of a national audience on Thanksgiving Day — a holiday meeting with the Dallas Cowboys.

This NBA season has great potential for the New York Knicks. But, remember: patience, patience, patience. Well, that is the secret. 

Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns is averaging 23 points and 13 boards per game. Offensively he has been really good.

Do you want to know the concerns? The Knicks have severely regressed defensively. Opponents are shooting nearly 72% at the rim. The Knicks are allowing opponents to shoot over 48% from the floor, which ranks the Knicks 26th in the league. They are averaging under 4 blocks per game.

Team defense, rebounding and rim protection are glaring needs to go along with the fact that their bench is woefully thin.

The other issue is head coach Tom Thibodeau. He has done a great job coaching this team since getting the job. He asks a lot of his players, no question. Towns, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Bridges and OG Anunoby will be given time. They are more balanced on offense. They will gel and improve as the season goes along.

The New York Jets found a way to lose to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 11. The final score read 28-27 in favor of the Colts (5-6). Indianapolis kept their playoff hopes alive with the win.

The Jets got into a 13-0 hole, but Gang Green showed some signs of life by clawing back with Breece Hall delivering for the Jets offense. The running back scored twice, and for the first time in his career, Hall had a rushing and receiving score in a single game.

Hall’s contributions went much deeper than just scoring, though. New York’s offense was completely stuck in neutral. Hall helped his team snap out of it and give them some energy.

Then New York decided to throw that away in the end.

Colts QB Anthony Richardson, returning from a two-game benching as the Colts’ starting quarterback, had his best game of the season and rallied Indianapolis with a 70-yard touchdown drive in the game’s final minute.

Rodgers finished the day completing 22 of 29 passes for 184 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers. Davante Adams led New York with six catches for 72 yards, while Garrett Wilson totaled 18 yards on four catches.

Starbucks announces a new line of frozen lemonade drinks with the introduction of new Frozen Lemonade Starbucks Refreshers beverages.

The new line of frozen icy beverages combines the Starbucks Refreshers flavors with a swirl of strawberry puree and pieces of real fruit.

Here’s a closer look at the three new Frozen Lemonade Starbucks Refreshers beverages:

• Frozen Strawberry Açai Lemonade Starbucks Refreshers beverage: Reminiscent of a classic strawberry lemonade, with an icy twist, combining the flavors of sweet strawberry and acai notes blended with lemonade, real strawberries and ice.
• Frozen Pineapple Passionfruit Lemonade Starbucks Refreshers beverage: A sunset in a cup with tropical flavors of pineapple and passionfruit blended with real diced pineapple and lemonade.
• Frozen Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Starbucks Refreshers beverage: Features flavors of sweet mango and dragonfruit blended with real pieces of dragonfruit, lemonade and ice for a refreshing summer vibe.

Frozen Lemonade Starbucks Refreshers beverages can be found at participating locations nationwide.

Hostess looks to take its snack cakes game to a new level with the introduction of new candy-bar-inspired Kazbars.

Available in two varieties – Chocolate Caramel and Triple Chocolate – Kazbars feature layers of soft chocolate cake, creme, candy crunch and a caramel or smooth chocolate fudge filling. Each bar is covered in a rich chocolate-flavored coating and topped with a sweet drizzle.

Kazbars will hit shelves at retailers nationwide in 10-ounce boxes containing eight individually wrapped 1.25-ounce mini bars, and 2.75-ounce single bars.

Hostess as a brand is practically synonymous with snacking, having introduced iconic snack favorites such as Cupcakes, DingDongs, and Twinkies to generations of consumers. Hostess Cupcakes, in fact, have now been sold for over 100 years.

The Arizona Cardinals defeated the New York Jets, 31-6 in Week 10 of NFL action. 

The momentum the Jets captured in the second half of their 21-13 victory over the Texans in Week 9 never carried over for interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich’s group in Arizona. 

The NFC West-leading Cardinals stayed red hot with their fourth consecutive win and moved to 6-4.The Jets defense was nonexistent all day long, missing tackles all game long. The Jets fell to 3-7.

Cardinals’ QB Kyler Murray played a near perfect game and set a franchise record with 17 straight completions against a defense that looked like it didn’t even make the trip out to the desert.

Aaron Rodgers and the Jets moved the ball, but they couldn’t finish and were held to two field goals despite having four possessions inside the Arizona 28. Rodgers, finished 22 of 35 for 151 yards, and the offense were kept out of the end zone.

Gerrit Cole will remain with the New York Yankees rather than become a free agent. The Yankees and the pitching star have agreed to stay together.

Cole had opted out of his original nine-year, $324 million contract signed before the 2020 season, but the Yankees could have voided that opt-out by adding an additional year at $36 million.

Instead of that happening, though, Cole is returning to the Yankees on the four years and $144 million that was left on his original deal, per multiple reports.

The GM indicated they were glad to have the ace back, and there were no active extension discussions as of right now. It is expected that there could be extension talks as the offseason moves forward. In essence, this move erases the fact that Cole ever opted out in the first place.

Had the Yankees added the extra year, Cole’s new deal would have been for five years and $180 million, taking him through the 2029 season.

Keeping Cole gives the Yankees certainty atop their rotation, with Cole, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt, and Luis Gil expected to headline it in 2025.

The Carolina Panthers recovered a fumble on the first play of overtime, then kicked a field to beat the New York Giants 20-17 Sunday in Munich, Germany.

The game was a sluggish matchup between two 2-7 teams who struggled to move the ball downfield.

The Panthers quarterback Bryce Young threw to tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders for a touchdown. Carolina added a field goal. The Giants got into the red zone late in the second half, but Daniel Jones threw a costly pick.

The Giants opened the final frame with Jones running 2 yards into the end zone. New York recovered a Carolina fumble to get the ball back with eight minutes remaining in the game, however, Jones threw another interception.

With 10 seconds left, Gano made a field goal to tie things up at 17 and send the game to overtime.

Carolina forced a fumble and recovered the ball on the Giants’ first play of the extra session. All Carolina needed was a field goal, and the Panthers got it, with Eddy Pineiro nailing a 36-yard kick and ending the game. The Panthers won, 20-17 and move to 3-7 on the season.

IHOP’s Pepsi Maple Syrup Cola is available exclusively at participating IHOP restaurants across the country. 

Alongside this iconic beverage, IHOP is expanding its menu with an array of flavors designed to tantalize taste buds throughout the day, including the debut of first-ever pancake-inspired milkshakes.

Originally launched in March 2022 in partnership with Pepsi, the limited-edition Pepsi Maple Syrup Cola quickly became a sensation among pancake aficionados. 

Pepsi Maple Syrup Cola and Float offer a fusion of maple syrup-infused delight with the crisp, refreshing caramel notes of Pepsi, available both as a beverage and as a float with creamy vanilla ice cream.

IHOP is also enhancing its menu with a Pancake of the Month featuring innovative flavors like Cinnamon Apple Pecan.