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The Rundown: The Weekend Wrap Up - Super Bowl Edition

In case you missed it, the Super Bowl was yesterday. If you prefer ruffhousing, you probably turned on the Puppy Bowl. 

We learned yesterday that defense wins championships. That, and the fact that the City of Denver is going to have an influx of babies born in nine months.  

Lady Gaga slayed it as did Denver's defense.

World Champs,

The LNG Team

Super Bowl 50

  • Denver won with a final score of 24-10 in a lackluster Super Bowl
  • #1 defense (Broncos) stifled the #1 offense (Panthers)
  • Panthers were heavily favored going into the game but Broncos closed out the season beating two huge favorites (Patriots & Panthers).
  • The turf was less than ideal. Players we’re slipping and sliding all over like a foam party. 
  • Denver's defense sacked Panthers quarterback Cam Newton six times and forced four turnovers. 
  • Broncos' defense held the Panthers to their lowest point total of the year.
  • Broncos' offense was not impressive either, only gaining 194 total yards (fewest ever by Super Bowl winning team).
  • Peyton Manning won his second Super Bowl. He did not answer retirement questions but he did share said he’s going to drink a lot of Budweiser after the game. 
  • The MVP of the game was Broncos linebacker Von Miller who had 2.5 sacks and forced two fumbles, one of which resulted in a touchdown. He also said he wants to be a chicken farmer when he retires. Seems reasonable. 

Musical Performances

  • To say that Lady Gaga rocked the National Anthem is an understatement. (Although we thought the Super Bowl would have been a perfect occasion for her to once again break out the meat dress). Her performance drew rave reviews throughout the world. Two snaps.
  • The reviews on halftime were mixed. The Queen B (Beyoncé) didn’t really add much to the show. Coldplay came out strong and were entertaining but the show lacked the normal fireworks and flare that a Super Bowl halftime show has. Bruno Mars stole the show with his dance moves and a little Uptown Funk.

Commercials

  • The votes are in and according to our team of experts here are some the best and worst commercials are:

Top

Worst

  • Heinz: Meet the Ketchups – How do you screw up an ad that starts with a herd of wiener dogs dressed like hot dogs? It can be done.
  • Pokemon: Train On – Pokemon is 20. Yay says no one. All we got out of that ad is feeling like we’re old. What’s next? Pogs?
  • Mountain Dew: PuppyMonkeyBaby - Personally we thought this was one of the weirdest ads. It was showcasing three great things combined into one – just like Mountain Dew’s new drink. Critics seem to love this commercial but we’ll be having nightmares about a PuppyMonkeyBaby for years to come.  

You can catch all of the ads here. 

In other NFL News

  • Honorable. During the NFL Honors Saturday, the top awards for the season were announced.
    • Defensive Player of the Year- J.J. Watt, Houston Texans
    • Comeback Player of the Year- Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs (he came back from battling lymphoma)
    • Offensive Rookie of the Year- Todd Gurley, St. Louis Rams
    • Defensive Rookie of the Year- Marcus Peters, Kansas City Chiefs
    • Coach of the Year- Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers
    • League MVP- Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers
    • Walter Payton Man of the Year Award – Anquan Boldin, San Francisco 49ers (an award for community outreach. He made a great speech).
  • Report to class. The new class of the NFL Hall of Fame Inductees were also announced on Saturday night. The new class is led by quarterback Brett Farve. They will be formally inducted on August 6th.  
  • Peace out. Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (age 29) subtly announces his retirement with an emoji and a photo via twitter. Lynch has reportedly not spent any of his contract money he earned during his nine year career. He has lived strictly on money earned from endorsements.
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weekend wrap up LAST NIGHT'S GAME weekend wrap up LAST NIGHT'S GAME

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. 
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weekend wrap up LAST NIGHT'S GAME weekend wrap up LAST NIGHT'S GAME

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. 
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