Good Morning! It may have been a chilly weekend, but there were plenty of heated sports match ups to warm your weekend right up! First thing’s first, highlights from the NFL Conference Championship games, including this super leap from Super Cam:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
Well, championship football weekend came and went and the Super Bowl is now set. So, how did we get here?
In the AFC, the Denver Broncos defeated the New England Patriots 20-18 in Denver as the Pats failed to get a 2-point conversion that would’ve tied the game in the 4th and led to overtime. This means that Peyton Manning will get a shot at a second Super Bowl in Santa Clara in two weeks.
On the other hand, the NFC championship was slightly less close… and by that, we mean that the Carolina Panthers dominated the Arizona Cardinals 49-15. Cam Newton will lead the Panthers to their second attempt at a Super Bowl ring and if nothing else, we’re pretty sure they’ll be ready.
Team SQ, you’ve got two weeks to prepare. Super Bowl 50 is set and Beyonce is ready. February 7th — let’s go!
NBA
Playoff football wasn’t the only dramatic storyline over the weekend as the Cleveland Cavaliers made headlines by firing second year head coach David Blatt on Friday night. It’s slightly unclear why the Cavs chose to part ways, but chemistry seems to be the common theme among interweb rumblings. Assistant coach Tyronn Lue replaced Blatt as head coach of the leading team in the eastern conference – and then that team ended up losing on Saturday night to the Chicago Bulls at home 83-96. Will the Cavs get it together? Time will tell.
In other news, the two best of the west, the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs, face off tonight! Sadly, Tim Duncan will be out due to soreness in his knee, but we’re still excited. Game on!
College Basketball
#1 Oklahoma started their first week at the top of the AP poll since 1990, and stayed there after scoring an 86-72 win over #13 Baylor. #3 Kansas beat Texas 76-67, #11 Michigan State put a stop to their 3-game losing streak when they topped #7 Maryland 74-65, and #20 Duke beat NC State 88-78 to end their own 3-game losing streak. On Sunday, Virginia Tech fell to #2 UNC Chapel Hill 70-75.
This week, look for #20 Duke to take on #15 Miami tonight at 7pm on ESPN, and #9 Iowa to take on #7 Maryland on Thursday at 7pm on ESPN. Next Saturday, #13 Virginia will play #17 Louisville at 1pm on CBS and #23 Kentucky will take on #3 Kansas at 7pm on ESPN.
Soccer
On Saturday, Adam Lallana scored a last-minute goal for his Liverpool squad to beat Norwich City, 5-4. Tottenham Hotspur scored a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace. Top of the table team Leicester City won 3-0 over Stoke City, Southampton beat Manchester United 1-0, and Manchester City drew 2-2 against West Ham United. On Sunday, Arsenal lost 0-1 to Chelsea.
Other
After this weekend’s Australian Open matches, the four highest-seeded women advanced to the upcoming women’s singles quarter finals – #1 seed Serena Williams will now face #5 Maria Sharapova, and #4 Agnieszka Radwanska will play #10 Carla Suarez-Navarro. In men’s singles, after an unexpected 100 unforced errors, #1 seed Novak Djokovic advanced past #14 Gilles Simon and will play #7 Kei Nishikori, while #3 Roger Federer will take on #6 Tomas Berdych.
Gracie Gold won her second U.S. Figure Skating title yesterday.
And, in MLB news, Yoenis Cespedes agreed to a three-year, $75 million deal with the New York Mets on Friday.
JUST FOR FUN
Stephen Curry – the song
We didn’t know Soulja Boy was a basketball fan, but here’s the new beat he just laid down to commemorate the Warriors’ guard
STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE
Kathryn Smith
The NFL’s first full-time female coach
She’s been working with Rex Ryan for seven years, and will now be the Buffalo Bills’ special teams quality control coach
When you get some good advice from an unlikely source…
You take it!
Novak Djokovic was losing at the Australian Open until a fan shouted from the stands, “No more dropshots!”
The SportsQuip 