A Sports Filled Weekend Ahead

We got a little taste of the NFL and its dramatic finishes on Thursday night and we’re certainly hoping for more as the season continues to roll out its Week 1 games on Sunday.

But there’s still a lot going on elsewhere, and we love some variety in the Six-Pack. So park your heiner in the recliner, fire up the big screen and exhale. Ah, TV time…

For a good old rivalry game, tune in to Fox on Sunday afternoon at 4:25 p.m. ET for the New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys game. Actually, it’s only some of the Cowboys. Three defensive starters are suspended and quarterback Tony Romo is out with a back injury. This will be the Giants’ debut under new head coach Ben McAdoo.

The evening attraction is NBC’s Sunday Night Football at 8:25 p.m., with the Arizona Cardinals at home against the New England Patriots. This could be a Super Bowl preview, though one would hope the suspended Tom Brady might be available for that one. He won’t be for this one as a result of Deflategate.

College football, after a big opening weekend, follows with a puny encore. We’ll recommend Penn State-Pitt at noon on Saturday on ESPN because it’s also a rivalry game and because PSU coach James Franklin’s seat could be extremely warm by season’s end.

Saturday also brings us the women’s tennis final at the U.S. Open. Angelique Kerber, the new No. 1 player in the world, meets Karolina Pliskova, who knocked off Serena Williams and knocked her out of the top ranking. This is at 4 p.m. on ESPN (the men’s final is Sunday, same bat time, same bat channel, competitors to be determined in Friday’s semifinals, also worth watching on ESPN).

You can start the weekend with a little bit of baseball. The Los Angeles Dodgers welcome back ace lefthander Clayton Kershaw, who hasn’t pitched since June 26 due to a herniated disk in his back. He’ll be on the mound Friday night against the Miami Marlins, who will send out their top pitcher, Jose Fernandez. Fox Sports Network, at 7 p.m.

As always, watch responsibly.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman