The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition

We’re as excited about this weekend’s sports as a dog finding a mammoth bone in the backyard or finishing a marathon. This Friday, we'll learn about human growth hormones and All-Star Games galore. We’re also wondering out loud; if plagiarism will get you kicked out of college, will it get Russell Wilson kicked out of bed? 

Pillow fight,

The LNG Team

NBA (National Basketball Association)

  • Water boy. Detroit Pistons owner, Tom Gores, pledges $10 million to help the water situation in Flint, Michigan.
  • Thanks for coming. The NBA All-Star Game reserve players have been announced. They will be riding the pine with the best of them. 

NFL (National Football League)

  • Bowl bound distractions. NFL is launching an investigation into Broncos quarterback, Peyton Manning and HGH (human growth hormone). Al-Jazeera America reported that Manning’s wife received shipments of HGH back in 2011. Manning vehemently denied the report. Keep in mind HGH was not banned in 2011 and there is no way to test for it. When asked about investigation Manning said “I do welcome it. It's no news to me," Manning said after practice. "I still stand by what I said then that it's garbage from the first day that it came out, garbage today.” 
  • Line up. The Pro Bowl teams have been selected via a draft by (non-playing) captains Michael Irvin and Jerry Rice. See who comes out on top out of Team Irvin vs Team Rice during the game on Sunday, January 31st at 7 pm (EST) on ESPN. 
  • Made for TV. Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce, has been given the green light for a dating show on E! entitled “Catching Kelce."   

NHL (National Hockey League)

  • At the mercy of the court. Calgary Flames defenseman, Dennis Wideman, was suspended indefinitely until meeting with league after he plowed over an official in a game. Wideman stating he was injured and did not see referee until the last second. We’re not taking sides but the video makes it look pretty intentional.
  • Mixing it up. The NHL All-Star Game takes place this Sunday in Nashville at 5pm (EST) on NBC Sports. For the first time the game will be in a three-on-three, division format. According to NHL, the All-Star Tournament will be comprised of three 20-minute games played by divisional all-star teams competing for a winner-take-all $1 million prize.

NCAA Basketball (College)

  • Super exciting Saturday. College basketball takes a break from grind of conference play this weekend to have two big conferences (SEC & BIG 12) play each other. These games should have the “March Madness” excitement. A few notable games include:   
    • No. 9 West Virginia at Florida, 12 pm (EST) on ESPN
    • No. 14 Iowa State at No. 5 Texas A&M, 2 pm (EST) on ESPN
    • No. 1 Oklahoma at LSU, 5 pm (EST) on ESPN
    • Georgia at No. 17 Baylor, 6 pm (EST) on ESPN2
    • No. 20 Kentucky at No. 4 Kansas, 7 pm (EST) on ESPN

Tennis

  • G’day mate. Serena Williams (#1) advanced to finals of the Australian Open where she will play Angelique Kerber (#7). Andy Murray also advanced to the final round where he will face Novak Djokovic.

UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)

  • Fight club, Soprano style. It’s fight night in New Jersey on Saturday 30th at 8 pm (EST) on FOX (i.e it’s free). The ticket features the top contender fight for the light heavyweight (205 lb.) as well as the newest up-and-comer, Sage Northcutt. The main fight will be five – five minute rounds. For a complete rundown click here.

Overtime

  • Seahawks quarterback, Russell Wilson and his girlfriend, Ciara, are notorious for their love confessions via social media. Wednesday he tweeted out a note that included the romantic line “honey sweet lips that were lilac soft.” Well, Billboard Associate Editor, Natalie Weiner, searched his words and discovered that Wilson didn’t make that up himself but found it online. Kudos to Wilson for giving an overly descriptive shout out to his lady but give credit where credit is due.

Sideline Stat

  • Who needs a lucky rabbit’s foot when you have a 10,000-year-old mammoth femur? Prehistoric bones, which appear to be part of a mammoth, were discovered during the dig for a new Oregon State University stadium in Corvallis, Oregon.

Coaches’ Corner

  • Despite only coaching two games, Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue will coach the NBA Eastern Conference All-Star Team. The two all-star teams are lead by the coaches from the previous year’s finals teams. (Cavs and Warriors). Lue did not actually coach the Cavs in the final but replaced the coach that did, David Blatt, last week.  

 

The Rundown: Five Things You Should Know About The Pro Bowl

Happy Hump Day! Just think if you were an NFL Pro Bowler you’d be in Hawaii right now drinking strawberry daiquiris, working on a tan while prepping for Sunday’s game. Although it’s probably more likely they’re running wind sprints and doing push ups sans daiquiris. On second thought, we’ll take our morning coffee with a cool winter breeze and no push ups.  

On Wednesdays we tackle something you’ve been asking about. Today's feature is five things to know about this weekend’s Pro Bowl in Hawaii. As always, reach out should you want to learn about sports. No egos here – just facts among friends.

Telling it how it is,

The LNG Team

Five things you should know about the Pro Bowl.  

  • The game is viewed as a kickoff to the Super Bowl as it’s played on the Sunday between the Conference Championship games (last week) and Super Bowl (Feb 7).
  • Any players who are members of the teams playing in the Super Bowl (Broncos/Panthers) cannot play in the Pro Bowl. Since they can’t play, they need to be replaced on the roster. The Panthers had 10 players nominated and the Broncos had four.
  • Hall of Fame wide receivers, Jerry Rice (former 49ers great) and Michael Irvin (former Cowboys legend), will serve as non-playing captains of each team. They will pick their teams through a draft today at 7:30 pm (EST) on ESPN2.
  • They may have lost but they won a spot in the Pro Bowl. The coaches whose teams lost in the divisional rounds of the playoffs are the Head Coaches for the game. Mike McCarthy of Green Bay Packers and Andy Reid of Kansas City Chiefs will try to lead their team to victory. 
  • Of the 86 players originally chosen, 36 of them have dropped out (14 due to the Super Bowl, others for injuries or personal reasons). Therefore 36 replacement players have been named. Here's the full roster (as of yesterday). 
  • Players on the winning team will receive a $55,000 bonus and the losing team a $28,000 bonus. Many players have big Pro Bowl bonuses in their contract. 

You can catch the Pro Bowl live from Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, HI on Sunday, January 31st at 7 pm (EST) on ESPN.  

NBA (National Basketball Association)

  • Hands off. Over the weekend reports surfaced that Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin, had been sent home from a road trip with a hand injury sustained during a team activity. Then details began to surface with exactly what happened. Multiple reports say Griffin got into an argument with team assistant equipment manager, Matias Testi (who he is reportedly good friends with) while at dinner in Toronto. Griffin allegedly punched Testi in the face - twice. Both parties were sent home from the team road trip and Griffin has been diagnosed with a broken hand, out 4-6 weeks. Smooth move.

 NFL (National Football League)

Tennis

  • In the land down under. Serena Williams (#1) dominated Maria Sharapova (#5) in the Australian Open to reach the semifinals. She will play Agnieszka Radwanska (#4) next in the semifinals on Wednesday at 9:30 pm (EST) on ESPN2.

Overtime

  • Florida State agreed to settle with Erica Kinsman for $950,000. Kinsman accused then Florida State quarterback and number one draft pick, Jameis Winston, of rape in 2012.  As part of the settlement, the University also agreed to make a five-year commitment to awareness, prevention and training programs for sexual assault victims. The settlement does not affect an ongoing Title IX investigation by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. Winston is currently playing in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Sideline Stat

  • Monday night the two best teams in the NBA played each other. With rappers Drake and Jay Z in attendance, Golden State Warriors thrashed San Antonio Spurs, 120-90. Warriors point guard and reigning NBA MVP, Stephen Curry, had 37 points in 28 minutes. No big deal.

Coaches’ Corner

  • How were players picked for the Pro Bowl roster? According to NFL.com, The Pro Bowl players were determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group's vote counted one-third toward determining the Pro Bowl selections. The NFL is the only sports league that combines voting by fans, coaches and players to determine its all-star teams. In 1995, the NFL became the first professional sports league to offer online all-star voting. 

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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