Good Morning! Much to discuss from Wild Card weekend. Let’s start with this catch from the Pittsburgh Steelers/Cincinnati Bengals game:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
So, about those Wild Card games… what a wild weekend indeed! On Saturday in AFC-land, the Kansas City Chiefs pretty much crushed the Houston Texans in the earlier match-up of the day. The second game ended in dramatics as the Pittsburgh Steelers overcame intense rain and a injury to QB Big Ben Roethlisberger (who returned at the end of the 4th), to fight through a Cincinnati Bengals comeback to win the game after a series of personal fouls and a fumble that resulted in a 18-16 win.
On Sunday, it was all about the NFC. In a frigid early afternoon game, the Seattle Seahawks narrowly defeated the Minnesota Vikings after their kicker missed a game-winning field goal. And in the second game of the day, the Green Bay Packers finished strong to defeat the Washington Redskins 35-18.
SO what does this mean? Well, it’s too early to predict who will be able to play through injuries but we do know what teams will play each other in next weekend’s Divisional round.
In the AFC:
- Kansas City Chiefs at the New England Patriots — Saturday at 4:35pm EST on CBS
- Pittsburgh Steelers at the Denver Broncos — Sunday at 4:40pm EST on CBS
In the NFC:
- Green Bay Packers at the Arizona Cardinals — Saturday at 8:15pm EST on NBC
- Seattle Seahawks at the Carolina Panthers — Sunday at 1:05pm EST on FOX
In other NFL news:
- Longtime New York Giants football coach Tom Coughlin retired — his current and former players had nothing but nice things to say about their 2-time Super Bowl winning coach.
- The Tampa Bay Bucs fired coach Lovie Smith after the end of the season. Time will tell what direction the Bucs go in for a new coach and whether Lovie Smith coaches somewhere else next season.
College Football
Today is the National Championship! Tune in to ESPN at 8:30pm EST to watch Alabama take on Clemson.
NBA
So the Golden State Warriors keep winning — this time against the Sacramento Kings — where Steph Curry dropped 38 points to bring the Dubs’ streak to 35-2 with a 128-116 win.
Oh yeah, and the very good San Antonio Spurs may be slightly under the radar this season, but you may want to pay attention as they are 22-0 at home after a win over the New York Knicks 100-99.
On a different note, the Brooklyn Nets fired coach Lionel Hollins over the weekend.
This week look out for these games:
- Golden State Warriors v. Miami Heat – Monday at 10:30pm EST
- Cleveland Cavaliers v. San Antonio Spurs – Thursday at 8:00pm EST
College Basketball
Let’s talk college hoops. Aren’t you excited??? C’mon, it’s conference play time! Anyways, this week we saw an awesome 3OT thriller that saw #1 Kansas defeat #2 Oklahoma in Lawrence 109-106, an LSU upset over #9 Kentucky 85-67 with the help of freshman sensation Ben Simmons, and a #3 Maryland victory over Wisconsin 63-60.
Other
Last week, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
JUST FOR FUN
P.S.: While we’re talking about musical all-stars, make sure to check out The SportsQuip’s musical talent – we put together a college football championship playlist for you. Let us know what you think!
STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE
500
…and on to the next one, too!
After the Washington Capitals’ Sunday win against the Ottawa Senators, Alex Ovechkin became the 43rd player in NHL history to score 500 goals. He continued on to score his 501st during the third period
In business, you need to bring your own guts ®
Clemson’s coach, Dabo Swinney, has trademarked his own name and slogans
He’s not the only sports figure to do this, but should collegiate sports players be able to make money off of marketing themselves, too?
The SportsQuip 