The Rundown: Wet Suits, Winter and Waiting on Santa

We hope your weekend didn’t involve hitting the mall or battling it out for a Hatchimal. We did our shopping the good old fashioned way, with a laptop in the comfort of our own home. Hence why we have what everyone is buzzing about today, besides the passing famed socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Dahling, 

The Last Night’s Game Team

PS – Tomorrow is our first birthday. Follow us on Instagram for a chance to win special birthday prizes.

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NFL (National Football League) 

• Persistence. The Oakland Raiders clinched a playoff spot. The last time they made the playoffs was 14 years ago. It was so long ago you couldn’t even post about it on Facebook, which was invented in 2004.
• The silver lining. The Salvation Army earned some serious air time in last night’s game. After Dallas Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott scored a touchdown he jumped into an oversized Salvation Army donation kettle on the sideline. Elliott was penalized for his antics and awaits a possible fine for his excessive celebration. He said he’ll “match whatever they (the NFL) fine me with a donation to the Salvation Army.” 

NBA (National Basketball Association)

• Into the rafters. Retired Tim Duncan played 19 seasons with the San Antonio Spurs winning five championships. Sunday night the team retired his jersey number (#21). In his honor, the Spurs wore game socks with his number on them. Duncan’s former coach described their relationship as “soulmates” off the court. Awkward. 

NCAA Football (College) 

• Bye Bye Bison. The North Dakota State Bison have won five consecutive FCS championships. Friday night they saw the streak come to an end when James Madison University beat them in the semifinals. (What is the FCS? See today’s coaches’ corner below).

How are your picks doing in our College Bowl Mania? Check here. 

Overtime

• Chicago Bears quarterback and California native Matt Barkley channeled his inner Scuba Steve and wore a wet suit on Sunday but not for the reasons you think. Barkley wore the wet suit to combat the subzero temperatures in Chicago, a trick passed down from Tom Brady. It didn’t help that much as the Bears lost to the Green Bay Packers.

Sideline stat

• In the Las Vegas Bowl San Diego State’s Donnel Pumphrey broke the FBS record for all-time rushing yards with 6,397 yards. Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne has held this record since 1999. What's FBS? See below. 

Coaches’ corner

• North Dakota State and James Madison play in the FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) which is a division below the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision). The FBS is formerly known as Division 1-A football and FCS used to be called 1-AA. The FBS teams play bowl games after their conference championships and is the division where most of the notable schools play such as Ohio State, Stanford and University of Texas. Need more? Here you go.

The Rundown: 5 Things to Know About the 2016-17 NBA Season

Right when you think you have a handle on the football season and the World Series, the NBA season tipped off yesterday. We’re bringing you exactly what you need to know to slam dunk the sports conversation.

For the three,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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Five things to know about the 2016-17 NBA Season

A quick overview of the NBA:

• There are 30 teams in the NBA. The League is broken down into two conferences, Western and Eastern.
• A regular season consists of 82 games. The games have four 12-minute quarters with a halftime break.
• The Cleveland Cavaliers broke the city’s 52-year championship drought (for all major sports) by winning the NBA title last season.

1. This season will have a different feel as a few star players are no longer on the court. Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett all retired after last season.
2. The Golden State Warriors are heavily favored to win it all, with the Cavaliers in a distant second. Interestingly, the majority of bets made have been placed on the New York Knicks whose odds are roughly 80-1 to win the championship.
3. The NBA is the first of the four major professional sports to begin selling ad space on player jerseys. StubHub is paying $5 million a year for a 2.5-inch patch on the Philadelphia 76ers jerseys. Only $800,000 a square inch. We’ll take two.  
4. The NBA is going global. This season there are a record 113 players from 41 countries or territories on opening game rosters. Mexico City will host regular season games for the first time ever in January with the Phoenix Suns playing the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs.
5. There are quite a few players in the NBA with their own signature shoe - Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade to name a few. The rest of the league slums it in name brand shoes - 68% of the league wears Nike, 15% Adidas, 6% Jordan (Michael Jordan’s signature brand) and 3.8% Under Armour. 

MLB (Major League Baseball)

• World Series win. The Cleveland Indians continued their postseason dominance and shut out the Chicago Cubs in Game One of the World Series last night. Game Two will be played tonight. (It has been moved up to a 6 pm EST start time due to weather).
• I bet you. The Governors of Ohio and Illinois kept the tradition of betting on the World Series. Although they’re not wagering moving state lines or changing city names, they’re betting beer and pizza. Boring.

Overtime

• Singer Ciara and her husband, Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback Russell Wilson, announced they’re pregnant. The two famously spoke of their abstinence before marriage, but were wed three months ago. That’s going to be one good looking baby. 

Sideline stat

• While the Denver Broncos were playing in Houston, Broncos' DeMarcus Ware’s house was robbed. Among the items stolen were his recently received Super Bowl ring. We’re pretty sure someone will notice the newest addition to the thieves’ jewelry collection – a giant five karat Super Bowl ring featuring 212 diamonds.

Coaches' corner

• Why did Cubs’ catcher David Ross have green fingernails in last night’s game? No, it wasn’t a manicure gone bad. Catchers are responsible for relaying the in-game strategy – which pitch the pitcher should throw, if the infield should go for a double play, etc. They use bright stickers on their nails so it’s easier for the pitcher to see the signs the catcher flashes.

The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up Edition

Happy New Year!

If you're like us and lacking motivation on this first day back to work in 2016, keep delaying the inevitable and brush up on all of the sports highlights from the holiday weekend. That's right we have the college bowl game updates and everything you're dying to know about the NFL playoffs. (We can read your mind.) 

We also know that one of your resolutions is to learn more about sports and that's where we can help. Here's to checking one of those New Year's resolutions off your list. After coffee of course. 

Where's the coffee creamer? 

The LNG Team

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NFL (National football league)

• Next victim. Today is Black Monday. If you remember Black Monday is the first day after the last regular season game of football when coaches typically get fired. So far we’ve had two casualties in the Browns’ Mike Pettine and 49ers’ Jim Tomsula. (Eagles' coach Chip Kelly was fired last week.) 
• On their way. Carolina Panthers (NFC – National Football Conference) and Denver Broncos (AFC – Atlantic Football Conference) clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs as well as a first round bye. (Click here if you don’t remember what a bye is.)
• I’ll take the #1 with cheese. Tennessee Titans clinch the first draft pick for 2016 draft.
• Let’s go streaking. Kansas City Chiefs finish their season on 10 game winning streak to make playoffs.
• He’s back. Peyton Manning returns in the second half of Broncos - Chargers for the first time since injuring his foot on November 15th. He then led Broncos on four scoring drives (two touchdowns and two field goals) on the way to clinching #1 seed in playoffs.
• In case you're wondering. NFL playoffs begin on January 9th.
• Score alert. For all the weekend’s NFL scores, click here. 

NCAA Football (College)

• Don’t call it a comeback. Despite being without starting quarterback Trevone Boyin (who was suspended Thursday for his involvement in bar fight), TCU came back from 31-0 deficit against Oregon. TCU beat Oregon in the third overtime 47-41. This was the biggest comeback in bowl game history.
• They’re grrreat! Clemson Tigers beat Oklahoma Sooners 37-17 in the first college football semifinal playoff game from the Orange Bowl in Miami.
• Roll Tide. Alabama Crimson Tide beat Michigan State Spartans 38-0 in the second college football semifinal playoff game from the Cotton Bowl.
• And now there are two. Clemson Tigers will face the Alabama Crimson Tide in the College Football Championship Game on Monday, January 11th at 8:30 pm (EST) from University of Phoenix in Glendale, AZ. You can catch the game on ESPN.
• Score alert. Notable bowl game scores:
  • New Year’s Eve
    • Houston (#18) 38 vs Florida State (#9) 24
    • Clemson (#1) 37 vs Oklahoma (#4) 17
    • Alabama (#2) 38 vs Michigan State (#3) 0
  •  New Year’s Day
    • Stanford (#6) 45 vs Iowa (#5) 16
    • Notre Dame (#8) 28 vs Ohio State (#7) 44
    • Mississippi, aka OLE MISS (#12) 48 vs Oklahoma State (#16) 20
    • Northwestern (#13) 6 vs Tennessee (#23) 45
    • Michigan (#14) 41 vs Florida (#19) 7
  • January 2nd
    • Oregon (#15) 41 vs TCU (#11) 47
    • West Virginia 43 vs Arizona State 42

nba (National basketball association) 

• Blank Space. San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan was held scoreless for first time in a regular season game in his 19-year career (1,360 games).
• Cash money. A Lakers fan sinks a half court shot during halftime of Suns vs Lakers game on Sunday, winning $95,000.

UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)

• Give him a left. Saturday night from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Robbie Lawler (champion) beats Carlos Condit by a split decision in an action packed five round fight in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. With the victory, Lawler retained his title as Welterweight Champ. (Welterweight class in UFC is where a fighter is a minimum 156 lbs with a maximum weight of 170 lbs).

Overtime

• The New York Attorney General has made an amendment to the lawsuit against daily fantasy sports companies FanDuel and DraftKings. This amendment calls for the companies to return all revenue earned from residents of the state of New York, which is estimated to be 600,000 people who spent approximately $200 million on entry fees. These daily fantasy companies were deemed illegal and forced to stop operating in the state of New York because they are considered gambling websites. They have already been deemed illegal in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada and Washington. 

Sideline Stat

• Chicago Bulls’ guard Jimmy Butler scores 40 points in second half of the game vs Toronto Raptors to lead the Bulls to a 115-113 victory. The previous record for points in a half was set by Michael Jordan at 39 points.

Coach’s Corner

• What is a split decision? This is when the judges have not have reached a unanimous decision on who won the fight. In the case of the UFC fight, the judges (there are three judges) were split on who they thought won. The majority ruled in favorite of Lawler. For more on UFC judging, click here.