Mickey Togs

The New York Giants hosted the Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Stadium in Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season. The weather was picture-perfect for football as Big Blue celebrated the start of their 100th season in the NFL.

The Giants wore their ‘Century Red’ uniforms to commemorate their 100 years in the league. Ring of honor quarterbacks Phil Simms and Eli Manning rang the bell before the game, and Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor handled the honorary coin toss.

Viking QB Sam Darnold had one of those super performances at MetLife Stadium that New York Jets fans hoped to see weekly after he was drafted No. 3 overall in 2018. 

Six years later as a member of the Minnesota Vikings, he did it against, of all teams, the Giants on his old home turf.

Darnold threw two touchdown passes in a highly efficient performance and Andrew Van Ginkel scored on a spectacular one-handed 10-yard interception return to lead the Vikings to an easy 28-6 victory over the woeful New York Giants on Sunday.

Giants QB Daniel Jones did not play well and finished 22 of 42 for 186 yards and two interceptions.

The 2024 NFL season opener between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens may have got off to a late start due to a lightning delay, but that didn’t effect viewership.

An average 28.9 million viewers tuned into NBC and Peacock to watch the Chiefs narrowly defeat the Ravens 27-20 on Thursday, to become the most-watched regular-season opener in NFL history. In comparison, the 2023 season opener between the Chiefs and Detroit Lions attracted an average 27.5 million viewers.

The 2024 NFL regular-season kickoff broadcast peaked at 33 million viewers during the second quarter around 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET, but the drama came late in the matchup.

With Baltimore trailing by a touchdown with seconds left on the clock, Ravens QB Lamar Jackson connected with tight end Isaiah Likely in the back of the end zone for what appeared to be a touchdown. Ravens coach John Harbaugh was holding up two fingers, signaling a two-point conversion attempt for the win, but replay review showed Likely’s toe narrowly landed out of bounds.

“He’s got to wear white cleats next time,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes joked after the win.

The New York Mets appear unstoppable right now. Now in the home stretch, the Mets have kept their eyes on the prize and swept the Red Sox in another clear signal of intent. Talk about a perfect way to begin a crucial homestand.

As a result, the Mets have now won seven straight and are gathering all the momentum at exactly the perfect time. They remain hot on the heels of the Braves for the final Wild Card spot in the National League.  New York is also now a season-high 12 games over .500.

This team appears to be getting red-hot when it matters the most. We should be in for a very fun  Finnish.

Jesse Winker could go down as the best pickup of the entire trade deadline. He’s certainly in the conversation. The one-time Mets nemesis since arriving in Queens has come up with big hit after big hit. 

Everything seems to be going perfectly for the Mets right now. Case in point: Kodai Senga could return before the end of the regular season. 

Furthermore, Paul Blackburn is set to return to the rotation, so the Mets are getting key reinforcements back when they need them the most. Having a healthy rotation could prove to be the difference down the stretch.

Things are looking up for Charlotte Flair after her severe injuries have kept her away from action. 

The top star continues documenting her journey to returning to in-ring action on social media. She is focused on getting back to performing in front of fans as soon as possible.

Flair has been sidelined since she tore her ACL, MCL, and meniscus in December on WWE SmackDown in a match with Asuka. The nasty moment happened as Flair did a spot in the corner, seemingly twisted when falling, and immediately grabbed her knee.

After the surgery, she has been rehabbing and documenting her progress. Flair recently took to her Instagram Story to share in-ring training footage from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL, which gave fans hope about her return.

The former WWE Women’s Champion’s current timetable for return is November. 

It wasn’t easy, but the New York Mets hung on to beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3 on Saturday night. New York had opportunities to pull away in this game, but they got just enough out of their bullpen and offense for the win. 

The 9th inning was scary. Many 9th innings have been scary for this Mets team. However, once again, the Mets manager showed faith in his player, and the faith paid off in the win.

When you face a team like the White Sox, the goal is to get on the board early. The Mets big power-hitting first baseman got things started on Saturday. In the 1st inning, with Mark Vientos on base, Pete Alonso took a first-pitch slider from White Sox starter Davis Martin over the left field wall for a two-run home run. 

It was Alonso’s 30th home run of the season. It was also his first ever against the White Sox. Alonso now has hit 30 home runs for the fourth consecutive season.

With the Mets up 5-2 going into the 9th and Edwin Díaz unavailable, Manager Carlos Mendoza turned to José Buttó to get the final 3-outs.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge hit his 50th and 51st home runs of the season against the Colorado Rockies. In the first inning, pitcher Austin Gomber spun an 0–2 slider on the outside part of the plate, and Judge launched it to center field to give the Yankees a 2–1 lead.

Judge, 32, has reached the 50-home-run mark for the third time in his career. He last did so in 2022, when he set the single-season American League home run record with 62 and won AL MVP.

The nine-year veteran added his 51st home run in the seventh inning Sunday as part of three consecutive homers from Juan Soto, Judge and Giancarlo Stanton off Rockies reliever Jeff Criswell in an eventual 10–3 win over Colorado.

It was in his first full season with the Yankees in 2017 that Judge first hit 50 home runs — a season that included making the AL All-Star team, winning AL Rookie of the Year, leading the AL in home runs and winning a Silver Slugger Award.

Judge’s 2024 season has set him up to be the favorite for his second AL MVP award and potentially MLB’s first Triple Crown winner since Miguel Cabrera in 2012 and only the second since 1967.

Canelo Alvarez officially announced his next fight. Alvarez will defend his WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles versus Edgar Berlanga on Sept. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Alvarez (61–2–2, 39 KOs) choosing Berlanga as his opponent comes with some controversy. The Mexican superstar will reportedly be stripped of his IBF title for not facing mandatory challenger William Scull, which mean he will no longer be the undisputed champion at 168 pounds.

He will, however, be defending his WBC belt despite David Benavidez being the WBC’s mandatory challenger and pursuing a shot at Alvarez since 2022.

However, Alvarez bypassed Benavidez and WBA mandatory challenger David Morrell in favor of Jaime Munguia earlier this year and now Berlanga (22–0, 17 KOs).

Alvarez, 34, defeated Munguia by unanimous decision after knocking him down in the fourth round on May 4. He has 39 knockouts in his career, but hasn’t won via knockout since 2021.

The New York Jets need Aaron Rodgers. 

The Jets are still waiting for a payoff. Everyone knows that Rodgers played four snaps last season before tearing his Achilles. That sets up a 2024 season with extreme stakes. The Jets put all their chips in the middle of the table for a quarterback who will be 41 years old in December and is coming off a major injury, and they’re down to one last shot to get something special out of their Rodgers investment.

The good news is the Jets are set up well to have a huge season. No team should be happy with 7-10 records in back-to-back years, but given how bad New York’s quarterback play was the past two seasons it was a notable accomplishment. The Jets are loaded. All they need is decent quarterback play. That was the story when they traded for Rodgers a year ago. It’s still the story after Rodgers’ injury ruined last season.

New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge put his name in the record books Wednesday when he hit his 300th career home run in his 955th game, becoming the fastest player in MLB history to reach the milestone.

The 32-year-old slugged a three-run shot on a 3-0 pitch off White Sox right-hander Chad Kuhl in the top of the eighth inning. Kuhl intentionally walked Juan Soto ahead of Judge to try to set up a possible inning-ending double play. It was Judge’s 43rd home run of the season.

Judge also reached the 300-homer plateau in 3,431 at-bats, 400 fewer than Hall of Famer Babe Ruth’s previous record.

Judge is enjoying another transcendent offensive season and is a heavy favorite to win his second AL MVP in three seasons.

Costco Wholesale announced its plans to increase its annual membership fees for its U.S. and Canada customers for the first time since June 2017.

The current “gold star” and business membership price will increase from $60 to $65, while the executive membership fee will increase from $120 to $130. The big-box warehouse club retail chain’s membership offers discounts on food, gas, home insurance and grocery items, as well as an annual 2% reward on qualified purchases.

Costco said the raised fees could result in its maximum annual 2%  reward for executive members increasing from $1,000 to $1,250. The changes will affect an estimated 52 million members, half of whom are already paying the executive membership fee, the store confirmed.

Costco has benefited from its commitment to offering low prices amid inflation with shares nearly doubling and its market value increasing by about $180 billion during the past 18 months.