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The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up

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This weekend tight end Rob Gronkowski showed us just that on a party cruise and the Daytona 500 was one for the record books.  

Something for everyone,

The Last Night’s Game Team  

NASCAR

  • Too close for comfort. Denny Hamlin won the 58th Daytona 500 by the closest margin in the race history (.01 seconds). Hamlin showed them who’s the boss with an impressive maneuver to overtake Martin Truex, Jr. on the last lap to bring home the checkered flag. 

Notable finishes include:

  • Pole-sitter, 20-year-old Chase Elliott, crashed in the 20th lap and did not finish.
  • Dale Earnhardt, Jr. crashed in 169th lap and finished 36th place. (There are 200 laps in the race). 
  • Danica Patrick finished in 35th place.

MLB (Major League Baseball)

  • Reporting for duty. All MLB players will report to their respective team’s spring training facilities today. Spring training allows teams to evaluate young prospects and give veterans a chance to get ready for the start of the season which begins in April. 
  • Sunshine here we come. Team's spring training facilities are located in two states, with teams either report to Florida (Grapefruit League) or to Arizona (Cactus League). 
  • Swinging for the fences. Texas Rangers fan Byron Anderson hit a home run and won his family free season tickets (value estimated at $8,500). The ”Swing for Your Seats” promotion gave fans three chances to hit a home run to win season tickets.

NFL (National Football League) 

  • Looking for the next big thing. The NFL Scouting Combine starts tomorrow. If you recall, the NFL Combine is a platform for prospective NFL prospects to participate in various drills and interviews with NFL scouts to improve their visibility and draftability. Prospects can only participate if they’re invited.  The NFL Network will be covering the combine workouts live February 26-29th.   

Overtime

  • New England Patriots’ tight end, Rob Gronkowski, hosted a three-day “Gronkowski Party Cruise" through the Caribbean this weekend. Fans bought tickets to join the zany and unpredictable "Gronk" to sail the seas and party on what some are describing as an NC-17 weekend. On board entertainment included Flo Rida and Rob Gronkowski, who channeled his inner Magic Mike. Oh dear. 

Sideline Stat

  • Sunday’s Daytona 500 win was team owner Joe Gibbs’ first win at Daytona since 1993. Gibbs is a former coach of the Washington Redskins (NFL) and owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, which owns four different NASCAR cars including winner Hamlin.

Coaches’ Corner

The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up Edition

Valentine’s Day weekend brought us Kobe Bryant, Ronda Rousey and painted on swimsuits. Yes, three things we never thought we’d mention in the same sentence.

The No. 24 car raced again and Vaughn Taylor shared that his bags fly free.

We’ve reached our cruising altitude,

The Last Night’s Game Team

Golf

  • Defying the odds. Vaughn Taylor beat the Phil Mickelson at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am yesterday. This win surprised everyone including Taylor, who hadn’t brought home a PGA win in a decade and carried on his luggage on his flight to the tournament to save money on baggage fees.  

NBA All-Star Game (National Basketball Association) 

  • In a battle of East vs West, the West reigned supreme in this year’s NBA All-Star Game, winning 196-173 in Toronto.
  • This was the first ever All-Star Game outside of the U.S. The game also set a record for the highest scoring All-Star Game in NBA history. 
  • This was Kobe Bryant’s last All-Star Game since he’s retiring at the end of the season.
  • What no Biebs? Canada’s elite came out to catch the game with appearances by rapper Drake and Nelly Furtado, who sung her country’s national anthem.
  • Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook took home his second game MVP title.
  • In a battle of levitation, Orlando Magic’s Aaron Gordon was defeated by two-time slam dunk champ, Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Gordon had a killer dunk through his legs and over the head of the Magic’s mascot, Stuff, which was one of the best dunks we’ve seen. Apparently the judges did not agree. (Full disclosure, our LNG team has no game and cannot dunk). 

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue

  • Yellow polka dot bikini. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue made history this weekend by revealing not only one but three cover models. The cover models include plus-size model Ashley Graham, rookie Hailey Clauson and UFC fighter Ronda Rousey (in a painted on swimsuit, literally). 

Also included in the edition is 56-year-old Nicole Griffin, the oldest model to be featured in the annual publication. Griffin stars in a swimwear ad inside the magazine. 

Overtime

  • There was big air at the Green Monster. Iconic Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, hosted Big Air at Fenway, a U.S. Grand Prix and part of the International Ski Federation's (FIS) World Cup tour. The athletes saw competitors fly down a 140-foot-tall ramp built on the field.

Sideline Stat

  • In NASCAR news, 20-year-old Chase Elliot became the youngest driver to win the pole position for the Daytona 500. Taking over for recently retired driver Jeff Gordon, Chase drives Gordon’s No. 24 car. Chase is also the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer, Bill Elliott. The Daytona 500 is next Sunday. This race is one of the most iconic races in NASCAR.  

Coaches’ Corner

  • What is pole position in racing? The pole position is the number one position to start the race. Drivers have to qualify beforehand by driving the track. Typically, the driver with the fastest time from qualifying is slotted into the pole position. 
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The Rundown: The Weekend Wrap Up - Super Bowl Edition

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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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