The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up Edition

The sports world was full of bad fashion (Cam Newton in Versace) and bad choices (we're talking to you Gilbert Arenas) this weekend. You may not want to bring these bad boys home to mama, but feel free to share this little nugget of sports knowledge that we call The Daily Report with her. 

Parents love us,

NBA (National Basketball Association)

  • Immortalized. Lakers announced that they will unveil a statue of Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal next season outside the Staples Center. Shaq played for the Lakers from 1996-2004 during which he won three consecutive NBA championships with the team. Other notable statues out front of the Staples Center include Magic Johnson (Lakers player), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lakers player), Jerry West (Lakers owner), Chick Hearn (Lakers announcer), Wayne Gretzky (L.A. Kings player) and Oscar De La Hoya (boxer).

NFL (National Football League)

  • Playing the game? San Diego Chargers announced they have reached an agreement with the Los Angeles Rams to share their new stadium in Los Angeles. They also announced that will stay in San Diego for the 2016 season. It appears they might be using the agreement with the Rams in hopes San Diego steps up and builds a new stadium so they can stay.  
  • Show me the money. Raiders officials went to Las Vegas to discuss possible stadium sites with casino mogul and billionaire, Sheldon Adelson.

Nhl (National Hockey League)

  • The people's choice. The Pacific Division team won the first All-Star game tournament. (If you recall, NHL switched to a new tournament format instead of an All-Star game this year). John Scott, who was was voted into the game’s lineup by the fans, won the MVP. He was voted in by fans, then traded from Phoenix Coyotes to Montreal Canadiens, then demoted to minor leagues. The NHL eventually sided with the fans and let him play.

Soccer

  • Thanks but no thanks. Chelsea of the Premier League announced that they will not renew John Terry’s contract. Terry has arguably been the face of the team since he joined it in 1998. He has been part of four Premier League championships and one UEFA championship (Union of European Football Associations). He also served as England’s national team captain for five years.

Tennis

  • This girl is on fire. German Angelique Kerber (#7) upset Serena Williams (#1) in Australian Open final. Not a bad win for Angelique’s first grand slam title.
  • Man down! Serbian Novak Djokovic (#1) took down Andy Murray (#2) in a quick defeat to win the men’s final in the Australian Open. This is Novak’s sixth career championship at the Australian Open.

Overtime

  • In the WTF moment of the weekend, Former NBA Gilbert Arenas took to social media to brag about credit card fraud he committed at strip clubs while using words we can’t repeat. Arenas claims he took $80,000 out at the club with his American Express. He used $40,000 at the club, pocketed the other $40,000 and then had a teammate sign the bill. The next morning he reported the card stolen so he wouldn't be hit with the charges. We have feeling he will be hearing from American Express and the police soon.

Sideline Stat

  • In a Pro Bowl that featured the defense of a puppy bowl game, Team Irvin beat Team Rice, 49-27. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was named the game MVP; he threw three touchdowns in the first half.

Team Rice was led by Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce who caught two touchdowns. This should help with his new reality dating show.

Coaches’ Corner

  • Notre Dame announced a contract extension for head coach Brian Kelly through 2021. 

The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up Edition

This weekend proved that #thestruggleisreal thanks to the Panthers’ defense, Winter Storm Jonas and Peyton Manning’s arm. Luckily Tom Brady has his gorgeous supermodel wife to console him. The rest of us will have to resort to wine, Sinead O’Connor and this weekend's wrap up.

University of Duquesne learned to never take weather advice from Steve Harvey.

And the winner is,

The LNG Team

NFL (National Football League)

New England Patriots 18 vs Denver Broncos 20

  • Peyton Manning prevails in what could be the final battle with Tom Brady. The quarterbacks were tied with a 2-2 playoff record going into this weekend’s game.  
  • Defense wins championships. Denver defense never let Tom Brady get comfortable, sacking him four times and causing him to throw two interceptions.
  • Broncos linebacker Von Miller, had an interception, deflected pass and 2.5 sacks (most sacks in Broncos playoff history). Miller is known for his dance moves after taking down a quarterback (aka a sack).
  • New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed the extra point (one point) in the first quarter making the score 6-7. Gostkowski holds the NFL record for most consecutive extra points. This was his first miss since 2006. 
  • Gostkowski’s miss came into play at the end of the game when the Patriots scored a touchdown with 12 seconds left, making it 18-20. Patriots were forced to go for two-point conversion to tie the game. Had the kicker hit the earlier extra point it would have been 19-20 and they could have kicked the extra point to tie. Instead Patriots had to go for the two-point conversion which was unsuccessful.

Arizona Cardinals 15 vs Carolina Panthers 49

  • Panthers dominated the game; they were up 17-0 after the first quarter and never looked back.
  • Panthers quarterback Cam Newton threw for four touchdowns and ran for two touchdowns. He is all but guaranteed to be the MVP of the NFL this year.
  • Panthers defense mauled the Cardinals offense causing four interceptions and two fumbles.
  • Many kids went home happy. Panthers have a tradition of giving the football to a kid in the crowd after scoring a touchdown. Best face ever right here. 

The teams will meet in Super Bowl 50 on Sunday, February 7th at 6:35 pm (EST) on CBS. Halftime show includes Coldplay featuring Beyoncé.   

NBA (National Basketball Association)

  • Thanks for coming. Cleveland Cavaliers fired their head coach, David Blatt. The Cavs were in first place in the Eastern Conference with 30-11 record. Blatt was in his second season with the team where he compiled an 83-40 record and took the Cavs to the NBA Finals in his first year. Seems like he’s a winner but Cavs general manager stated "a lack of fit with our personnel and our vision" contributed to the decision to move on. According to some, Cavs star, LeBron James, played a big part in the coaching change. 

NCAA Basketball (College)

  • Undefeated no more. The last undefeated Division One Men’s Basketball Team, Southern Methodist University (SMU, who was 18-0), lost at Temple, 89-80. Snow shenanigans could have played a part in the loss as the game was delayed due to Winter Storm Jonas. The SMU team bus was stuck in Pennsylvania. The team had to push their bus but also made snow angels to pass the time. 

MLB

  • A bite of the big apple. Free Agent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, resigns with the New York Mets. His contract is a three-year, $75 million contract that includes ability to opt out after one year. According to the New York Times, his contract is the highest average annual salary of any free-agent position player this off-season.

Overtime

  • University of Duquesne beat George Mason University Friday night, 86-75. Little did they know what was in store for them on ride home. The ride from Fairfax, Virginia to Philadelphia took 30 hours after their bus became stranded due to Winter Storm Jonas. What is one to do while stranded? Check out their entertaining twitter activity. 

Sideline Stat

Coaches’ Corner

  • What exactly is a two-point conversion? A team can opt to go for a two-point conversion after a touchdown (six points) instead of kicking an extra point (one point). The offensive team can either throw or run the ball into the end zone for two points. It doesn’t happen very often as it’s much harder to convert the two-point conversion than the extra kick, hence why it’s two points for the extra effort. 

The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up

See who was able to pass go and who did not collect their $200 in this weekend's divisional NFL playoffs. (Spoiler alert! All of the home teams won). The games weren't without a “coin-troversy” and there were enough onside kicks to make a statistics nerd squeal.

Heads or tails,

The LNG Team  

NFL (National Football League) 

Kansas City Chiefs 20 vs New England Patriots 27

  • Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (aka Mr. Gisele Bündchen) was lights out in this game. 
  • In a play that ended up being the turning point in the game, Patriots Chandler Jones stopped the Chiefs momentum by causing a fumble. (Remember Jones was the player who showed up disoriented at the police station after a bad reaction to synthetic marijuana).  
  • The Chiefs had poor time management toward the end of the game and while they rallied in the fourth quarter, they ran out of time to seal the deal.
  • At the end of the game, the Chiefs attempted an onside kick. The play didn’t go as planned as the Patriots recovered the ball.
  • Patriots will play Broncos in Denver on Sunday at 3:05 pm (EST) on CBS.

Green Bay Packers 20 vs Arizona Cardinals 26

  • The Packers played better than expected but the game came down to the last seconds.
  • Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, threw a 41-yard pass with no time left to Jeff Janis in the end zone which sent the game into overtime.
  • The Cardinals won the coin toss and scored a touchdown on the first drive in overtime to win the game. (See the coin toss controversy below). 
  • Cardinals’ franchise player and all-around good guy, Larry Fitzgerald, scored the winning touchdown. In the postgame interview he gave a sweet shout out to longtime NFL insider Chris Mortensen of ESPN, who is battling throat cancer. 
  • Cardinals will play Panthers in Charlotte on Sunday at 6:40 pm (EST) on FOX.  

Seattle Seahawks 24 vs Carolina Panthers 31

  • The Seahawks must have been Sleepless in Seattle as the Panthers scored 31 unanswered points in the first half of the game. 
  • It must have been one heck of a halftime pep talk because Seahawks came out and scored 24 unanswered point in the second half.
  • Those 24 points were still not enough and the Panthers took home the win.
  • This game also came down to an onside kick. Seattle kicked a field goal and was down by seven points with 1:12 left in the game. They tried an onside kick in hopes they could recover it and then have the opportunity to score a touchdown. It didn’t go the way they planned and the Panthers recovered the kick. Game over.
  • Panthers will play Cardinals in Charlotte on Sunday at 6:40 pm (EST) on FOX.

Pittsburgh Steelers 16 vs Denver Broncos 23

  • Defense was the name of the game. There were only two touchdowns in the game - one in the first quarter for the Steelers and the Broncos’ game winner in the fourth quarter.
  • Steelers had the momentum throughout the game until the fourth quarter when Fitzgerald Toussaint fumbled and Broncos recovered. The Broncos offense then scored the aforementioned touchdown for the lead and the eventual win.
  • The Steelers joined the club and also tried an onside kick to salvage the game with little time left. After scoring a field goal, Steelers attempted an onside kick which failed - the Broncos recovered. (If you haven’t learned anything yet, onside kicks aren’t often successful).
  • In a clutch move, Broncos gave Demaryius Thomas the game ball to give to his mom who was attending her first ever game. Thomas’ mom had been incarcerated since he was 11 and had never seen him play a game in person. She is now out of prison and was able to attend on Sunday. She picked a great game as Thomas' team pulled out the win and he set a Broncos record for most postseason catches with 50.
  • Broncos will play Patriots in Denver on Sunday at 3:05 pm (EST) on CBS.

Tennis

  • Land down under. The Australian Open began on Sunday in Melbourne. This tournament is one of the four Grand Slam Tournaments, the most important individual competitions in tennis. The three other Grand Slam Tournaments are the Roland Garros (French Open), Wimbledon and US Open. Last year’s winners, Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic, are favored to win this year as well. You can find the match schedule here. 

Overtime

  • Before we go into the coin toss controversy, here’s a little background.  In overtime, the first possession is determined by a coin flip. If your team wins the coin flip you can either opt to receive the ball or kick the ball to the opposing team.  

In this instance, Packers called tails. The ref flipped the coin but it didn’t rotate in the air and landed on heads. He then made the executive decision to retoss the coin but didn’t give the Packers a chance to change their call. The coin landed again on heads (it flipped this time), therefore the Cardinals won the toss and opted to receive the ball. They went on to score a touchdown for the overtime win. (FYI- there’s no NFL rule that says the coin actually has to flip in a coin toss). 

Sideline stat

Coaches’ Corner

  • What is an onside kick? The team who kicks an onside kick is typically losing the game and does so in hopes that they can recover the kick, regain possession and quickly score again. It’s a long and complicated story, but the two things that you need to know are that the kicking team cannot touch or recover the ball until it goes 10 yards. If they do or if it goes out of bounds, the opposing team gets the ball at that spot. The risk with this play is that if it doesn’t work out, the opposing team will be much closer to their end zone (i.e. scoring) than they would be with a kickoff. Therefore, an onside kick typically happens late in the game when it’s your only option and you need to score again.

Yes, it’s complicated to explain. Watch this video as it should help.

 

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