Welcome to your cheat sheet for sports week! In case you’re struggling to keep up with your sports news, need a quick recap of the highlights, or are trying to impress your fellow Wellesley siblings with your extensive knowledge, you’ve come to the right section. Here is what you need to know across major national sports these last few weeks. 

1. We are right in the thick of football season, and the NFL trading period for the next season just ended,spookily, of course, on Oct. 31.. Starting with Week eight of the 2023-24 season, which spanned from Thursday Oct. 26 to Monday Oct. 30, we saw some big names fall in unexpected ways. Thursday saw the Buffalo Bills beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-18, with Quarterback Josh Allen fighting through a shoulder injury, while the Bucs stumbled out of the gate with costly mistakes and couldn’t crawl their way back fast enough. Sunday’s biggest shock came when the Kansas City Chiefs fell disastrously to the previously-struggling Denver Broncos, with Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes missing the mark consistently (Travis, Is It Over Now?). Major moments of Sunday also include the Patriots losing to the Dolphins despite a strong defensive showing this year, and Joe Burrow coming out strong with the Bengals to take over the 49ers, pulling them back into the top AFC competitors this year. Coming into Week nine, we watched as the Steelers pulled off a win over the Titans, despite inconsistent offensive efforts. 
2. We witnessed the 2023 MLB season end with a comeback story 63 years in the making. The Texas Rangers pulled out a 5-0 World Series knockout against the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday night, Nov. 1. The score was not a tight one, but the pitching matchups sure were: Rangers’ Nathan Eovaldi kept pace with Diamondbacks’ Zac Galle for a shutout until the seventh inning, when the streak was finally broken against Galle. The Rangers were the oldest team in the league without a series win, so this victory was a long time coming. Corey Seager won World Series MVP due to his three home runs in the series, becoming only the second player ever to win MVP with multiple teams The Rangers return to Texas with a pennant, an underdog story, and a hope for this momentum to carry them into the 2024 season. 
3. We started off our NHL recap with Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks. Bedard has been getting his bearings after coming to the Blackhawks as the No. 1 2023 draft pick, and they came out on top over the strong Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 27. NHL Central Scouting says that he’s going to be making impacts in the League in the next few years, and is one of the most promising rookies we’ve seen. The Edmonton Oilers were able to end their losing streak by beating the Calgary Flames on Sunday, during the 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic. Following that, the Bruins were out for revenge this Monday, Oct. 30, rematching with and beating the Panthers since their Game seven  home turf loss in the Eastern Conference First Round last year. 
4. The NBA started back up again last week, and already, people are taking bets on who’s going to perform the best this season, especially following such an explosive trade year. Despite being only 10 days in as of Nov. 3rd, there are already some emerging statistical stars. Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks is leading in points per game so far, with an average of 33.8, while when it comes down to the wire, Doncic closely follows Lebron James of the Los Angeles Lakers in clutch points. The Boston Celtics are leading in offensive ratings, and their defense is also performing strong, ranked fifth in defensive rating, while the Timberwolves lead in defense.
5. The biggest news in Formula 1 racing this past week was the Sao Paulo Sprint Shootout, a short and high-energy race that follows the new Sprint Shootout format introduced this year. Friday, Nov. 3rd, was the qualifying race for the Shootout, and we saw Max Verstappan, the famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) Dutch racer, establish his pole position early in Q3, despite the race ending early due to rain complications. Charles LeClerc from Monaco pulled second position, with the Mercedes representatives Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso placing in the next two spots. However, the poor performance of Lando Norris — placing seventh in qualifying — didn’t stop him from clenching P1 in the Sprint Shootout on Saturday, Nov. 4. But the biggest news of the Shootout wasn’t Norris’s epic comeback, but the crash between former Alpine teammates Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon. The F1A stewards summoned the two racers after their Q1 crash created a delay and took both racers out of qualifying, but appear to not be pursuing any further action. Ocon blames Alonso for the crash, while Alonso remains impartial, but the F1A determined that there was no one person to blame. The Grand Prix takes place on Sunday, Nov. 5, and the next race happens two weeks later in Las Vegas, on Nov. 19.