Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below decks of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. As you can tell, Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken cracking are primed and ready for the beginning of the regular NHL season starting later this week.

Meanwhile, the weekend in college football was, putting it mildly, weird. In a game that featured everything but the kitchen sink, which might have been on the field sometime yet escaped attention with everything else that was transpiring, Oklahoma defeated Texas 34-30 courtesy of a last-second — to be precise, last 15 seconds — touchdown pass from Dillon Gabriel to Nic Anderson. The game most likely didn't take Texas out of the national championship conversation, but it elevates Oklahoma into the discussion. Elsewhere, Georgia forcibly reminded Kentucky they're not there yet by the tune of 51-13. Ouch. In one of the more incomprehensible moments of the season, Miami had the lead and the ball in the last minute of play against Georgia Tech, yet ran a play. And fumbled. And lost the ball. And then the game with two seconds left on a 44-yard touchdown throw. Oops. There were other upsets among the Top 25 teams, with Missouri losing at home to LSU, Washington State losing on the road at UCLA, Notre Dame doing the same at Louisville, and Fresno State replicating the feat at Wyoming.

In NFL news, after much offseason and preseason ranting, raving, shouting, pointing, and other moments of spoken excitement by all involved parties, superstud running back Jonathan Taylor not only returned to the Indianapolis Colts this week but signed a three-year extension. It makes you wonder what all the fuss was about. While the move doesn't immediately move the Colts into playoff contention, it doesn't hurt.

In NFL games of interest today, the Dallas Cowboys travel 38 miles south of San Francisco to take on the 49ers in what is being billed by the hyperventilating local media out my way as the Game of the Century and a Surefire NFC Championship Preview, doubtless to the Philadelphia Eagles' amusement as they visit SoCal to take on the Los Angeles Rams. There aren't any other must-see games on the docket unless you count the Kansas City Chiefs visiting the Minnesota Vikings in case Taylor Swift shows up to see Travis Kelce play.

The baseball playoffs are in full swing, with the Arizona Diamondbacks doing most of the swinging yesterday as they demolished Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers 11 to 2. Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Phillies managed to quiet both the Atlanta Braves fans and the team's bats 3 to 0. The Texas Rangers took a 3-2 win over the Orioles in Baltimore, and in Houston, the Astros defeated the Minnesota Twins 6-4.

Say, did you know the WNBA finals start today with the New York Liberty going up against the Las Vegas Aces? Yeah, probably not. Elsewhere in basketball news, the NBA preseason is now underway, thus giving one and all a renewed opportunity to hate LeBron James. I'm sure he cares.

Finally, a serious note. Considering what's going on in Israel right now, things such as sports seem utterly trivial, which is always the case if you think about it. Still, there is a reason why the games went on when, for example, World War Two affected almost everyone on the planet. There is a need for diversion from life's horrors, a reminder of the way of life for which so many have fought, bled, and died. I pray that the people of this Israel will soon be able to return to whatever games they enjoy watching, doing so in peace.