Well, folks, after a the NFL brought a whirlwind of chaos last week, things simmered down a bit this week leaving it a bit less wacky than we like here at Wayniac Nation. Simply because criminal activity has simmered down doesn’t mean there is any less to report on the week of sports that was. While some teams have locked up their divisions down the MLB’s final stretch the Wild Card race, especially in the AL, is still wide open. The US of A locked down a World Cup title, however it wasn’t done with their feet. And, as usual, Roger Goodell stayed prevalent for doing and saying all of the wrong things.

This past week more news unraveled about the Ray Rice domestic violence incident. AP stood pat that despite the corporal punishment he believes acceptable on his child, he will play again this season. Who cares? Let me wrap it up for you in a nutshell: the NFL is full of scumbags. They are limelight stealing hacks. By continuing to talk about how awful they are and how despicable their actions are puts them on the same pedestal that makes them think they were above the law in the first place. The only solid this past week was that we learned Steve Bisciotti dislikes ESPN as much as I do, so he’s A-OK in my book!

The NFL kicked things off Thursday night with a bang as the Atlanta Falcons thrashed, dismantled and rampaged the Tampa Bucs 56-14 as they were up 21-0 before most grabbed their second beer. Devin Hester set the NFL record for most return touchdowns and in homage to the Hall of Famer he surpassed, he Deion Sanders-ed his way into the end zone. The new No Fun Leagle promptly threw a flag on the high-step move made famous by Sanders that he got away with for over a decade. It was yet another horrendous call officials are forced to make as the NFL tries to limit taunting and be nicer to the 350 pound machines that play the sport. Now the debate has to begin: is Hester a Hall of Famer? Yes, he is a role player, but he is the best one to ever play the game. I think you put him in.

Andrew Luck continued his 2014 onslaught and seems to be the best player in the NFL. He has quickly made Colts fans forget that Peyton Manning guy as his 370 yard, four touchdown performance finally got the Colts in the win column. Don’t be fooled by their record. This team is two plays away from being 3-0.

Speaking of undefeated, only three teams remain. The Eagles, Bengals and Arizona Cardinals now sit at 3-0. That’s a funny sentence, isn’t it? More remarkable is the fact that the Cardinals are 2-0 with Drew Stanton at the helms. The Carson Palmer-less Cards defeated the 49ers proving that Colin Kaepernick was a flash in the pan and one of the most over rated players in the game. Is he exciting to watch? Absolutely, but his window is closing fast. Andy Dalton continues to earn that big paycheck. Even through his passing numbers are a bit down, he caught a touchdown this week as the Bengals annihilated the Titans 33-7.

And what’s up with Aaron Rodgers? Is he ok? The Packers are now 1-2 and in their two losses, they have looked completely lost. Rodgers has failed to reach 200 yards passing in both losses and Eddie Lacy looks like he may be the next Trent Richardson, who incidentally has more rushing yards that Lacy this season. If that’s not cause to worry, I don’t know what is!

The MLB playoff race looks like it is set up to be an exciting finish heading into this final week of the season. The Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers seem poised to duke it out right down to the final pitch. It has been fun to watch the Royals return to relevance this season, much like it was to watch the Pirates finally have a winning record last season. Andrew McCutchen is doing everything he can to prove last year wasn’t a fluke. They are just 2.5 games out of winning the NL Central and have already guaranteed themselves back-to-back winning seasons. Pittsburgh fans are thrilled that they didn’t have to wait another 22 years to see that again! The San Francisco Giants won’t go away either. The Dodgers locked up a playoff birth, but a critical three game series with the Giants this week could in fact decide the NL West. While the Dodgers have dominated behind Clayton Kershaw‘s super-human season all year, these Giants are looking a lot like those 2010 and 2012 teams that came out of no where to win the World Series. This is right around the time that rolly polly Panda starts hitting for cycles and blasting three home runs a game to surge the Giants to immortality. Could you imagine if the Giants, the SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS, are World Series winners for the third time in five years? Yet another weird sentence!

Team USA brought home the gold medal last week in the conclusion of the 2014 FIBA World Cup. They rampaged through the competition, winning every game by at least 20 points. Kyrie Irving and captain James Harden led the charge in the final game as Team USA took down Serbia 129-92. Rookie Derrick Rose led the squad with six dimes but was held scoreless. What’s that you say? Derrick Rose is a veteran NBA player? He was once an NBA MVP? My bad. Must have slipped my mind since he has been riding the pine with a swollen ego that past three seasons.

Lastly, the NHL preseason has begun. This is an exciting time for Wayniac Nation, as the butt of many of our jokes has returned to the ice. This season, the NHL hopes to go over 1000 viewers as they take the sport to the next level. Sidney Crosby, the Next One, has failed in being the Wayne Gretzky of the new millennium. His talent is second to none, however, when The Great One played, people knew where Edmonton was. Now we all sit around and try to remember which American team used to be a Canadian team and to which province the Atlanta Thrashers moved. I don’t hate hockey, I actually enjoy it live at the arena. It was after the second strike in less than a decade that I felt they had to earn my loyalty back and they simply haven’t done it yet. Maybe if they bring a team back to Atlanta I could get back into it again. Who am I kidding? That experiment failed twice!

There it is, loyal readers. Your wacky week in a few short paragraphs. This week we have the Ryder Cup, Derek Jeter’s last visit to Fenway, and college football games that finally matter. Stay tuned!