Mahalo, Mariota! Let’s start today off right — by congratulating Marcus Mariota and welcoming him to the Heisman family. Originally from Hawaii, this year’s Heisman trophy winner is the University of Oregon Ducks’ star quarterback and an all-around great guy. Check out his heartwarming speech below:

 

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

NFL

So, about that Sunday Night Football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles. After building up a big lead and then falling behind, the Cowboys rallied and beat the Eagles on the road to take control of the NFC East.

No need to waste time here, the NFL had a wild weekend of games besides just Sunday Night Football. Despite playing without Cam Newton (who is recovering from a scary car accident), the Carolina Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Bucs 19-17 while the Atlanta Falcons lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-20. Both of these games are important especially because we are getting closer to the playoffs — the Steelers look strong in the AFC North and the Falcons hurt themselves in the NFC South. The New England Patriots crushed the Miami Dolphins 41-13 to claim the AFC East, and the Indianapolis Colts beat the Houston Texans 17-10 to capture the AFC South.

In all things upsets, the Buffalo Bills won their game against the Green Bay Packers 21-13. Some other games of note from Sunday include a tough first start for Johnny Manziel as the Cleveland Browns fell to the Cincinnati Bengals 30-0 (yikes), and a solid win for the Denver Broncos who beat the San Diego Chargers 22-10 to clinch the NFC West. Oh, and the Seattle Seahawks knocked the San Francisco 49ers out of the playoffs with their 17-7 Sunday win.

Adrian Peterson, running back for the Minnesota Vikings, lost his appeal to a NFL suspension that will keep him off the field until at least April 2015. It’s hard to say what’s next for Peterson, but he told ESPN that there will be a lawsuit against the NFL and it’s expected to be filed Monday.

This week’s Monday Night Football game features the New Orleans Saints at the Chicago Bears. Make sure to tune in, this one has playoff seeding implications for the NFC South. 

College Football

As we mentioned in today’s intro, Marcus Mariota is your 2014 Heisman Trophy winner. The quarterback from the University of Oregon is the first football player from Hawaii to win college football’s most prestigious award. Congrats! Next up his Ducks will face Florida State in the college football playoff semifinal game.

Navy beat Army 17-10 over the weekend in their annual game, giving them their 13th straight victory of the series.

In case you missed it, here is the college football bowl schedule. We’ll definitely have more to talk about as we get closer to the games!

NBA

Kobe Bryant is officially in third place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Kobe scored 26 points in his LA Lakers’ win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to pass the legendary Michael Jordan on the list. It’s a big milestone, but at 32,292 points, Kobe will need quite a few more to catch Karl Malone at 36,928 points or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at 38,387 points. Will he do it? Like KG said, anything is possible.

What’s more impressive: 21-2 or 16 straight wins? It’s hard to say but those numbers are from the same squad — the Golden State Warriors. The Dubs defeated the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night to get that 16 straight win and are looking stronger than ever. Next up, they play the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday (a game which could be tough on the road). Golden State coach Steve Kerr says the Warriors won’t reach 72 wins, but they sure look like the team to beat right now.

A couple of updates to the NBA injury report: The Miami Heat‘s Chris Bosh will be out for an indefinite amount of time with a calf injury, Iman Shumpert will be out roughly 3 weeks for the New York Knicks, and Doug McDermott will be out for about 4-6 weeks for the Chicago Bulls as he recovers from a knee injury.

College Basketball

Both #1 Kentucky and Kansas showed their potential this weekend in their respective wins over top 25 teams. Kentucky cruised past #21 UNC without Alex Poythress (who’s out with an injury) while #10 Kansas outfought #13 Utah at home.

#3 Arizona also looked strong this weekend after picking up their 10th win of the season and 28th straight home victory over Michigan on Friday night.

The Georgetown men’s basketball team and the Notre Dame women’s basketball team both wore “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirts during their pregame warm-ups. They joined other professional athletes who have been wearing the shirts in protest and support.

Hockey

Sidney Crosby is the latest NHL player to be diagnosed with the mumps. The Pittsburgh Penguins star is the latest victim of the outbreak that is sweeping the league.

Mark Howe spoke with the Associated Press and said that his father, hockey legend Gordie Howe, is doing better after a health scare in the last few weeks.

Who’s doing well in hockey? Out West, the the Chicago Blackhawks lead the Central division while the Anaheim Ducks are holding strong in the Pacific. In the East, the Tampa Bay Lightning are leading the Atlantic while the Chicago Blackhawks are in charge of the Metropolitan division. It’s obviously still early, but these teams are looking good!

 

Other

It may be the off-season but there is plenty to talk about in the baseball world. The LA Dodgers traded Matt Kemp to the San Diego Padres, Jon Lester signed a mega (and we mean mega) deal with the Chicago Cubs, and Melky Cabrera is prepared to sign a nice contract with the Chicago White Sox.

Speaking of baseball, Sports Illustrated named Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants their 2014 Sportsman of the Year. Congrats!

Finally, in Premier League news, Manchester United picked up a shutout victory over Liverpool 3-0 on Sunday at Old Trafford.

JUST FOR FUN

Santa Spoof
Laugh along to Santa’s re-enactment of LeBron’s decision to leave Miami

Little girl cries about losing Brett Lawrie to the Oakland A’s
Check out this video of Lawrie consoling her with a pizza date

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Family Inheritance
What it’s like to inherit the LA Lakers
Jim and Jeanie Buss talk about the community they’ve built around the Lakers, and the future of the team

Staying close to Sandy Hook
Why elite hockey recruit Melissa Samoskevich chose Quinnipiac
After playing in Minnesota for several years, she’s coming home to the East Coast to play for her Sandy Hook community

Tommy Gaines
The sad story of an almost NBA player
A young star with lots of skill swallowed up by a terrible addiction

In the market for a QB?
Potential candidates up for trade 
The who, what, where, when and why of the five guys that are most likely to get swapped

For Hire
Tennis champions are choosing ex-champs as their coaches
It seems to be working, too!