This week’s summary:

#3 Notre Dame had double good news: they beat up on Navy while Syracuse whipped a ranked team (#22 NC State). Notre Dame doesn’t have a powerhouse schedule this year, so they need their earlier victory over Syracuse to seem as impressive as possible. That may be academic if they continue to be undefeated. They are currently ranked #3, and would not drop if they continue winning, so they’ll be in the playoff for sure if they run the table. If the season were over now, three of the playoff teams would be obvious (Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame). The fourth spot would be up for grabs.

The #6 Texas Longhorns took themselves out of that grab-fest with a narrow loss to unranked-but-powerful Oklahoma State.

#9 Florida’s hopes were dashed with a loss to #7 Georgia, which in turn improved its chances.

Farther down the list:

#12 Kentucky did win – on the final play of the game! They were down 14-3 at the end of the third quarter.

#21 South Florida apparently played basketball against Houston, and lost. The final score was 57-36. I guess the American Conference wants to be the Big 12 when it grows up. I think that will vault Houston into the top 25 next week.

There will be a lot of reshuffling at the bottom of the list. In addition to #21 and #22, mentioned above, the following all lost: 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 24 and 25. That presented an opportunity for #23 Utah. They won, and by so doing, they could move up as many as seven places!)

MUCH farther down the list:

Rutgers had the week off. They are 1-7 after finishing the easy part of their schedule. I’m not kidding. Their final four games are against Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Penn State.

Update from Pittsburgh: 11 dead, at least six others injured. Several law enforcement officers injured. The Anti-Defamation League calls the shooting “likely the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States.”

Here’s what we know about the shooter

TRUMP: “If they had protection inside, the results would have been far better.” Lesson learned: we have the right to worship in peace – as long as we’re packin’ heat.

It went 18 innings and lasted 7 hours and 20 minutes. 18 different pitchers appeared in the game.

It looked like the Dodgers were going to lose it in the 13th, when the Sox scored a run on a throwing error, but the Dodgers matched that exactly, scoring their own run on a throwing error. That kept the marathon running for five more innings, until Max Muncy homered to lead off the bottom of the 18th.

The Dodgers’ starter, Walker Buehler, was brilliant, allowing only two hits and no walks over seven innings. He’s a 24-year-old rookie who posted a sparkling 2.62 ERA in his first full season, and the Dodgers see him as their star of the future. One year in the minors he struck out 125 guys in only 88 innings. Kid has it all: two different triple digit fastballs, a 95 MPH cutter, even a crazy knuckle curve. At the time it seemed to be a poor decision to take Buehler out after seven innings of complete dominance, especially when Kenley immediately surrendered a home run to Jackie Bradley Jr., but I guess all’s well that ends well.

The Dodger bullpen was also outstanding after Kenley’s flub. The Red Sox managed only 7 hits in 18 innings. The first four slots in their line-up went 0-for-28.

In addition to Muncy, Buehler and the Dodger pen, the other hero of the day was Cody Bellinger. Cody was unimpressive at the plate and on the base paths (the one time he got on base, he was picked off), but he did the one thing he absolutely had to do. In the top of the tenth he made an amazing throw to catch Kinsler trying to score. Since the Dodgers did not score that inning, Bellinger’s throw saved the game.

Two liberal darlings who performed in blackface: Silverman & Kimmel

(plus Jimmy Fallon, whatever his politics are)

Not mentioned: Ted Danson.

And let us not forget that Eddie Murphy and the Wayans Brothers have performed in whiteface.

You won’t hear me lecture about political correctness, because I am intentionally incorrect, thus establishing my foothold on the moral low ground, but we all should recognize that a society’s ethics and mores change. There are a lot of jokes that people made in affectionate fun in the 60s and 70s that are not considered appropriate now. There are jokes I wrote in my blogs in the 90s that make me cringe now.