The 5 Things You Need To Know About The College Football National Championship Game
The biggest spectacle on a Monday night since “The Bachelor” premiere.
We've waited all season for this and now it's here.
Game on,
The Last Night’s Game Team
1. The big College Football National Championship Game will take place on Monday, January 13 between LSU (Louisiana State University - No. 1) vs. Clemson (No. 3). While it’s essentially going to be a home game for LSU (Baton Rouge is an hour and a half drive from the Superdome in New Orleans), don’t count out Clemson who enters the game on a 29-game winning streak. (And no you’re not dreaming, Clemson has won two of the last four national championships). WE’RE GOING STREAKING
2. The national championship game is a week later this year and if you are into conspiracy theories, some are speculating the season premiere of “The Bachelor” played a role in moving the game back. Skeptics think Disney didn’t want to have competing programming (“The Bachelor” is on ABC and the football game is on ESPN). MUST SEE TV
3. The coaches are a story on their own. LSU’s head coach Ed Orgeron is the epitome of Louisiana. From his indistinguishable accent (seriously, we encourage you to watch an interview with him) to his love for crawfish, he ends every interview with “Go Tigers.” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was a walk on for the Alabama football team in college. During that time Swinney lived with his mom and a roommate in a two-bedroom apartment to save money. Now he’s the highest paid college coach in the country. FROM RAGS TO RICHES
4. Both team’s mascots are tigers but the advantage goes to LSU. Their mascot, Mike the Tiger, is a real live tiger. Clemson has a tiger and tiger cub mascot. MOVE OVER TONY
5. If you want to really sound like you know your stuff, this could be the best quarterback matchup we’ve ever seen in the national championship game. Seriously. Joe Burrow from LSU won the Heisman Trophy this year and he’s the likely No. 1 pick for this year’s NFL (National Football League) Draft. Clemson’s QB Trevor Lawrence won the national championship last year as a true freshman (i.e. he didn’t sit out a year – he was an actual freshman) and is projected to be the No. 1 pick for next year’s NFL Draft. And if you haven’t seen this Tik Tok video of his female doppelganger, it’s spot on. MIRRORING GREATNESS
The Big Sports Moments To Look Forward To in 2020
The best year ever? One might say so.
If your resolution is to be more interesting, you’ve come to the right place
Intrigued…go on,
The Last Night’s Game Team
1. The year kicks off with a Super Bowl show that will have everyone dancing. Jennifer Lopez and Shakira will give the halftime show a little Latin flare when they take the stage in Miami on February 2. (We also look forward the royal wedding of JLo and her baseball beau Alex Rodriguez in 2020. The only hint we have from ARod is that the nuptial destination is “going to be a long flight." WHENEVER, WHEREVER
2. Expect to see baby Archie in the stands for the 2020 Invictus Games in The Hauge, The Netherlands in May. Inspired after visiting the Warrior Games in the U.S., Prince Harry founded the Invictus Games in 2014. The Games are an international sporting event for injured servicemen and women. Competitors hail from allied nations and are all active duty and veteran service members who have been become ill or injured during or as a direct consequence of their service. The games became a biennial event in 2018 and 2020 is the year we've been waiting for. ROYALLY EXCITED
3. Say Konnichiwa to friendly competition, the Summer Olympics will begin on July 24 in Tokyo, Japan. Unlike many host countries, everything seems to be on track. The stadium that will house the opening and closing ceremony, along with track and field and soccer was dedicated mid-December. Speaking of soccer, watch out for the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team which looks to take home gold. Their star Alex Morgan will return to the field, just three months after giving birth to her first child. Keep an eye on gymnast Simone Biles, snowboarder possibly turned skateboarder Shaun White and baseball and softball which are on the dance card for the first time in 12 years. GAME ON
4. One of the more obscure sporting events, the World Nomad Games, will take place in Turkey in August. Founded in 2014, the games are designed to celebrate the nomadic heritage of the Central Asian nations (although it has expanded as the U.S. and several African countries have a team). The goal is to show the world "the greatness of nomadic civilization" and to promote the revival and preservation of the historical heritage of nomadic people. Don’t look for soccer and basketball medals here, but more like sports that include hunting with eagles, bone throwing and archery and wrestling on a horse. One of the most popular sports is kok-buru, where two teams of horsemen attempt to push a headless goat into a goal. Think polo with a dead goat. MEMORABLE FOR SURE
5. Professional football is headed to sin city. In the spring, while you’re placing your bets, owners of NFL teams will be doing the same when the city hosts the NFL Draft in April. Then the Las Vegas Raiders (at the end of the season they will be formerly known as the Oakland Raiders) will start the season in the fall in their new home just off the strip in Las Vegas. They will be the first NFL team to call Vegas home. (The city is home to an NHL (National Hockey League) team – the Vegas Golden Knights). ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET
The Most Talked About Sports Moments of 2019
They’re memorable for all the right reasons.
Because you’re going to need something to talk about until midnight while sipping champagne.
Thanks for the decade,
The Last Night’s Game Team
1. Clearly one of the most talked about sports moments of the year, even the decade, is the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team’s back-to-back World Cup wins. This year’s team turned their win from a moment into a movement, using the victory as a platform to elevate the inequities in the workplace for women. After facing their own pay dispute battle that failed, they’ve seen how their world stage can have a larger sense of purpose. (Oh and did we mention the team’s jerseys became the highest-selling soccer shirts in Nike’s history). STANDING UP FOR CHANGE
2. One word – Tiger. His April win at the Masters had the country on the edge of their seats. His comeback victory ended an 11-year drought since his last championship and it was sweet. REDEMPTION
3. We didn’t think there were any records left for gymnast Simone Biles to break and she went and proved us wrong. She landed a gravity defying triple-double to win her record sixth U.S. Gymnastics Championship national all-around title. The move, now called the “Biles,” consists of two flips and three twists. TO THINK, WE GET CONFUSED ORDERING A LATTE WITH MORE THAN ONE SHOT
4. Canadians proved they don’t have a one-track hockey mind, rallying around their Toronto Raptors as they won their first NBA (National Basketball Association) title. With superfan Drake as the president of the fan club, the Raptors became the first team based in or originating in Canada to win an NBA title. They also made history with the biggest championship rings ever. WE THE NORTH
5. It was the sign that made everyone laugh and then paid off big time. Carson King held up a sign during “College GameDay” asking viewers to Venmo him money for Busch Light. After a huge response, King decided to do something for good with the money. The beer company and Venmo matched donations and the two ended up raising a ton of money for a children’s hospital in Iowa. Even though the story has a happy ending, it went off course in the middle. A reporter dug up tweets from when King was a teenager that caused Busch to cut ties with an apologetic King. In the end, the 24-year-old still raised over $3 million for the children’s hospital. YOU LIVE, YOU LEARN, YOU HELP OTHERS
Honorable mention - Former NFL player and Heisman trophy winner O.J. Simpson joins Twitter and then tweets that he has a lot of "got a little gettin' even to do."
Friday Wisdom
This weekend is a huge weekend in sports so we’re bringing you a special edition of Friday Wisdom. Here’s what everyone is talking about including the Patriots giving out free rides in their jet, Biles does it again, beer guys in different area codes and it’s college football playoff time. READ