F1's big gamble on Vegas can only be described as a dumpster fire so far

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It already feels appropriate to call Formula 1’s big return to Las Vegas a complete dumpster fire.

Vegas spent months bringing chaos — er, uh, I should say unwanted chaos — to the strip to prepare for Formula One.

They literally turned the city into a race track. The traffic was terrible. Roads were bumpy. It was so bad that Greg Maffei, the CEO of Liberty Media who owns F1, had to apologize and rich people don’t apologize for anything. Especially not inconveniences they don’t have to deal with.

All that for what? F1’s penultimate Grand Prix race that doesn’t even matter this season.

The championship has already been clinched. Max Verstappen has won 15 of the last 16 races. Red Bull clinched the Constructors title. There’s no competition here. This is now just an extremely expensive dog and pony show.

Not only is it pointless, but it couldn’t be going worse. Ticket prices have cratered, you can book hotel rooms for as little as $18, it’s cold as ever and nobody is even showing up to be there because F1 couldn’t bother to look up the temperature in Las Vegas in November. Newsflash: The desert gets cold here, y’all.

Speaking of practice, it the first session was canceled because of a loose drain cover. Yes, that’s right. A drain cover.

F1 has cancelled the first practice session of the first ever Las Vegas Grand Prix due to a loose drain cover pic.twitter.com/hLcP1VHfED

— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) November 17, 2023

F1 spent $500 million on all this and the first night was completely ruined by a drain cover. You cannot make that up, folks. The practice didn’t even finish until 4 a.m. local time.

It’s only been a few hours. Maybe it gets better. But, uh, this start? This ain’t it.

Look on the bright side, though, Vegas. If F1 doesn’t get it right this time, at least they’ve got nine more tries to figure it out. Good luck, y’all. Clearly, we’re going to need it.

Uh oh, Bengals, you’re in trouble

The L the Bengals took from the Ravens on Thursday looks like it’s about to get a lot worse.

The NFL is reportedly investigating why Joe Burrow wasn’t on the team’s injury report before the game when he appeared to have a device on his wrist ahead of the game, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Burrow left the game with a sprained right wrist — the same wrist that was caught by cameras when Burrow got off the team bus.

Lots of talk about a deleted #Bengals post, which showed Joe Burrow wearing some type of brace or sleeve on his right wrist.

Here’s video of Burrow getting off the team bus in Baltimore.

Not a perfectly clear shot, but you can definitely see it on his hand.@WCPO pic.twitter.com/XcqX6oMODA

— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) November 16, 2023

This is a pretty big deal. If the Bengals are found to have tried to hide an injury here they could potentially be fined or even lose a draft pick, per Schefter.

Plus, Burrow injured that wrist during the game. If he’s out for weeks the team’s season is probably over. The team will have to turn to Jake Browning, which, good luck on that, Bengals.

On the other side: The Bengals weren’t the only ones with a devastating injury. Mark Andrews appears to be out for the season with an ankle injury, according to John Harbaugh.

That’s a devastating loss for the Ravens. Andrews is one of Lamar Jackson’s main targets in that offense. Baltimore will have to adapt without him.

Jim Harbaugh takes the L

Welp, folks. Looks like the sign-stealing saga is finally over.

Jim Harbaugh has agreed to accept the punishment of a 3-game suspension as part of a deal between Michigan and the Big Ten that would officially close the conference’s investigation on the school.

So, now, we’re not getting the Friday morning hearing we thought we were which also means Jim Harbaugh won’t be getting his day in court to defend himself.

But you still sent me your Jim Harbaugh defenses per our request on Tuesday, so I’ll share a few of them here:

“He can drop a bunch of “F” words like his idiot assistant coach did on Saturday,” one of you said. That’s a reference to Sherrone Moore crying over Harbaugh’s suspension after beating Penn State. Yes, I also just cackled about it again. THIS IS FOR YOU.

Someone else said Harbaugh should invoke the 2017 Houston Astros to defend himself: “It’s not like we were banging trash cans!” You know what? Not a terrible idea. Put that one in the pocket, Jim.

Another person said Harbaugh and Michigan should just plead no contest. That’s kind of what happened. Jim? Is…is that you?

Photo Friday: What a moment for Luis Diaz

On October 29, Luis Diaz’s father, Luis Manuel Diaz, was kidnapped while helping his brother, Gaby, campaign for an upcoming election in Colombia.

A couple of weeks later on November 9, Diaz’s father was returned.  Just three days ago the father and son were reunited for the first time since his kidnapping.

Yesterday, Diaz scored two goals for Colombia against Brazil in a World Cup qualifying match.

Now you know the story behind this photo.

Look at how Luis’ dad was for him in this big moment. He was so proud.

Luis Díaz’s father reaction after he scored vs Brazil is just wonderful to see. pic.twitter.com/Xl83NUN2kl

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 17, 2023

This is the best, man.

READ MORE: The Kidnapping of Luis Diaz’s father, as told by his family via The Athletic

Quick hits: Winners and losers from Bengals-Ravens … At least the Sphere in Vegas is fun … and more

— Robert Zeglinski has you covered with winners and losers from the Bengals-Ravens game. Poor Joe Burrow, man.

— Speaking of Burrow, Christian D’Andrea has you set up with options for Cincinnati if the team is without Burrow for a long time.

— Charles Curtis found these 11 awesome photos from the Sphere in Las Vegas for the F1 Grand Prix. At least this is fun, right?

— A drone flying over the stadium completely stopped the Bengals-Ravens game on Thursday. It was so weird. Cory Woodruff has more.

— See every angle of the drain cover that ruined F1 practice. I still can’t believe this is a thing.

— Charles has you covered on the College GameDay schedule for this week.

Thanks so much for reading, folks! We appreciate you. Have a fantastic weekend. Let’s chat again on Monday. Til then! Peace.

-Sykes