odell beckham jr.
GeneralBy Alex Putterman on

In today’s Cheat Sheet, Monday Night Football lives up to its billing for once, Odell Beckham Jr. dances his way into the record books and the NBA gives us some fun despite nights off for Cleveland and Golden State.

Plus, it turns out not every touchdown celebration gets you flagged.

Odell Beckham Jr. deserves to dance

In a season full of disappointing nationally televised NFL games, Monday Giants-Bengals contest at least provided reason to watch. New York won 21-20 in a game whose outcome was in question until the final minute. Though Eli Manning threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns (also two interceptions) and the Giants’ defense held Cincinnati scoreless for the last quarter and a half of play, the story of the night was Odell Beckham Jr.

Let’s count the reasons Beckham Jr. was Monday’s star.

1. He swapped signed jerseys with Randy Moss. They even wrote sweet notes to each other on the numbers.

2. In the second quarter he surpassed 3,500 career receiving yards, making him the fastest player in NFL history to reach that milestone.

3. Soon after that, he shook a defensive back with a sweet juke to free himself in the end zone, where he easily pulled down his sixth touchdown catch of the season. Then—and this is the good part—he did the Michael Jackson “Thriller” dance in the end zone. And he wasn’t even penalized!

4. He ended the night with 10 catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. That’s a pretty good day at the office.

Beckham is still on pace for career lows in yards and touchdowns, but it’s nice to see him have a big day and especially nice to see him do it in style. The NFL is way more fun when Odell Beckham Jr. is good.

Quick hits

– If the Warriors and Cavs are off on the same night, did the NBA really happen? Juuuust kidding. There were eight games last night and several were close. The Spurs had some trouble with the Heat but prevailed 94-90, and the Clippers improved to 9-1 by clobbering the Nets.

– Will Golden State trade Klay Thompson? Probably not, but it’s fun to speculate about.

– The Knicks played the Mavericks, and Kristaps Porzingis nailed a Dirk Nowitzki-like one-legged fadeaway, then apparently stared down an impressed Nowitzki.

– Solomon Hill viciously dunked on (over) Marcus Smart but got called for an offensive foul when Smart shamelessly flopped, proving (in case there was still any doubt) that the universe is deeply unjust.

– The Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski’s status is uncertain due to a potentially punctured lung. You know whose status isn’t uncertain? The Bears’ Alshon Jeffery, who is suspended four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.

– Some college football news Monday shook up the Big Ten and national title races. Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight is reportedly out for at least the rest of the regular season due to a broken collarbone. That’s bad news for the Wolverines and good news for Ohio State, Penn State and every non-Michigan team vying for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

– In college basketball news, No. 3 Villanova eked by No. 15 Purdue 79-76 behind 24 points from star guard Josh Hart. The defending champions appear to be dangerous once again.

– Meanwhile UConn, which started the season ranked No. 18, lost to Northeastern 64-61, days after falling to Wagner. The state of Connecticut hasn’t been this upset since Donald Trump was elected president.

– Bill Walton lost his bike. You’ll never believe what happened next.

https://twitter.com/BillWalton/status/798248439335174144

– In baseball news, Corey Seager won the NL Rookie of the Year award unanimously. In the AL, Michael Fulmer easily beat out Yankees sensation Gary Sanchez. It turns out Fulmer works as a plumber in the offseason, which is pretty cool.

– Neil Walker and Jeremy Hellickson accepted qualifying offers and will return to the Mets and Phillies, respectively.

– Columbia has suspended its wrestling team after finding racist and misogynistic texts on team members’ phones. It’s too bad we’re seeing so many scandals like this but great that schools are cracking down.

– Rutgers football is now using photos of puppies for its game recaps because the games themselves are too sad to write about.

One last moment of procrastination

Keep on dancing, everybody.

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.

View all posts by Alex Putterman