Society loves sports so much that if you aren’t up to speed because of time or interest, you can get sidelined in key conversations. Each Monday, SQ unpacks and gives you the talking points for the week. And – because sports is as much about the characters and the power to do good as it’s about the stats, we’ll also share the stories and fun reads that will make you fall in love more with sports.
Good Morning, Team SQ! Seeing how it’s the holiday season, we’re kicking things off with holiday hoops and Kyrie Irving’s game winner from yesterday:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NBA
As we said in our intro, Sunday was all about holiday hoops. The big game of the day was between last year’s defending champions, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors… ya know, the champs from the year before. Anyways, the game came down to the wire and as you also know, Kyrie Irving hit the game winner to help the Cavs prevail 109-108 in Cleveland. Surely this won’t be the last we hear from the best in the east vs. the best in the west.
Other Merry Hoopsmas games included the New York Knicks losing to the Boston Celtics 119-114 and the San Antonio Spurs getting the 119-100 win over the Chicago Bulls, while the later games saw the Oklahoma City Thunderdefeat theMinnesota Timberwolves 112-100 with the help of another great performance from Russell Westbrook, and the LA Lakers score a 111-102 win over the LA Clippers.
Because it’s a holiday week — and you may have more time — sharing a few articles to check out from NBA land:
So, about football this past weekend… let’s just say week 16 did not let us down. Despite losing on Thursday night to the Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Giantsclinched a playoff Wild Card in the NFC spot after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the New Orleans Saints 31-24 on Saturday, while the Cleveland Brownsgot their first win of the season with a win over the San Diego Chargers 20-17. Other notable games included the Green Bay Packers38-25 win over the Minnesota Vikings after a strong performance by the Green Bay offense, the Pittsburgh Steelers getting a season saving win over the Baltimore Ravens 31-27 and the Kansas City Chiefs’ 33-10 win over the Denver Broncos.
Monday Night Football features the Detroit Lions versus the Dallas Cowboys at 8:30pm on ESPN.
Good Morning, Team SQ. Let’s start today off with highlights from Odell Beckham Jr.’s game-winning TD for the New York Giants:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
Lots to discuss coming out of week 15 in the NFL — the Green Bay Packersconsidered their season revival with a much-needed 30-27 win over the Chicago Bears, the New York Giants got a big win over the Detroit Lions 17-6 with the help of an awesome catch from none other than OBJ,and the New England Patriots defeated the Denver Broncos 16-3 in Denver.
Oh, and the Oakland Raiders clinched a playoff spot with a 19-16 win over the San Diego Chargers, while the Dallas Cowboysdefeated theTampa Bay Buccaneers 26-20 on Sunday night — Zekegot a record, too!
Monday Night Football features the Carolina Panthers versus the Washington Redskins at 8:30pm on ESPN.
Speaking of legends… Russell Westbrook continues to turn in one legendary performance after another — this time with 22 assists as part of his 13th triple double of the season for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Don’t forget that the NBA Christmas Day games will be here before you know it. ‘Tis the holiday season for holiday hoops!
Craig Sager The fight The colorful 65-year-old sportscaster passed away on Thursday after a battle with leukemia
If you can’t watch all of the bowl games… Which should you tune in for? Five Thirty Eight grades all 41 games, so you know which will be the most entertaining
Keepin’ an eye out Concussion spotters in the NHL This year, the league hired athletic trainers with concussion training to sit in the New York based war room and watch for concussion symptoms during games
Hi Team SQ! Let’s start things off with a look at LA Clippers star PG Chris Paul’s 20/20 (that’s 20 assists and 20 points… and 0 turnover performance) from Saturday night. Oh yeah, and his team beat the New Orleans Pelicans 133-105!
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
Lots to discuss coming out of week 14 in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers (who had 3 TDs and 246 yards) and the Green Bay Packerslook to be back on track after a dominating 38-10 win over the Seattle Seahawks while the Washington Redskinsgot a narrow win over the Philadelphia Eagles 27-22 after Chris Thompson ran for a 25-yard TD in the 4th.
The big match-up of the weekend came down to Sunday night’s very own NFC East showdown between the New York Giants and the 11-1 Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium — where the Giants got a big 10-7 win.
Monday Night Football features the New England Patriots vs. the Baltimore Ravens on ESPN at 8:30pm.
College Football
Over the weekend, QB Lamar Jackson became the first Louisville player in school history to win the Heisman Trophy — awarded to the best player in college football.
In all things NBA milestones, LeBron James became the first ‘frontcourt’ player in NBA history to reach 7,000 assists. In a game against the Charlotte Hornets, LeBron finished with 44 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds (in addition to the record) and his Cleveland Cavaliers team won 116-105. Oh, and LeBron is also the only NBA player to record at least 27,000 points, 7,000 rebounds and 10 assists. Amazing.
The value of investing in player development Have you heard of RB Leipzig? How about Naby Keita? After 7 years of hard work revitalizing their club and bringing along exciting young talents, RB Leipzig is at the top of the Bundesliga table
Extra time – the best part of the game Most of the 2016 MLS Cup was unremarkable But, Stefan Frei’s goalkeeping in extra time helped Seattle win without a single shot on goal
One to watch UCLA basketball’s Lonzo Ball His height, ball-handling, shooting, and overall athleticism were key contributions to UCLA’s win over Kentucky last weekend
Team SQ — Seeing how it’s only the beginning of December (and a Monday), let’s get a little energy (or a lot of it!!!) from Russell Westbrook’s fantastic Sunday night slam dunk.
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
Let’s talk football — starting with professional football. In week 13, we saw the Seattle Seahawks dominate theCarolina Panthers 40-7 in a game where Earl Thomassuffered a leg injury and Thomas Rawls had 2 TDs in the first half, and without Rob Gronkowski (out for the rest of the season with an injury) the New England Patriots not only topped the LA Rams 26-10 but Tom Bradyalso broke the wins record to become the NFL career leader (at 201) in QB-led victories.
Other notable Sunday games included the Pittsburgh Steelers stopping the New York Giants6-game winning streak with a 24-14 win and the Washington Redskins losing to the San Francisco Cardinals 31-28. Outside of the NFC East, the Oakland Raiders continued their strong season with a 38-24 comeback win over the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs got a close win over the Atlanta Falcons thanks to Eric Berry’s2 clutch picks.
Also of note, the NFL officially flexed the 11-1 Dallas Cowboys game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the prime time slot on December 18 at 8:30pm as part of NBC’s Sunday night feature.
Monday Night Football features the New York Jets vs. the Indianapolis Colts on ESPN at 8:30pm.
College Football
Moving on to college football where the conference championship games are over and bowl season has officially begun! The highlight, of course, is that Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Washington were selected for the College Football playoffs. The match-ups are set and the semis will feature:
#1 Alabama vs. #4 Washington in the Chick-fil A Peach Bowl (December 31)
#2 Clemson vs. #3 Ohio State in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl (December 31)
As we alluded to in our intro, we’ve got to talk about the amazing Russell Westbrook. The Oklahoma City Thunder star had his 5th straight triple double in a 101-92 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night. This gives him the longest NBA streak since 1989 when Michael Jordan had 7 straight triple doubles. Talk about impressive!
In other NBA news, Sports Illustrated named LeBron James their SI Sportsperson of the Year for the second straight year. Make sure to check out Lee Jenkin’s excellent piece on LeBron here.
College Basketball
Finally, coming out of a great weekend of college hoops – two highlights include:
With the help of star guard Lonzo Ball, #11 UCLA stayed undefeated and upset #1 Kentucky 97-92
Top freshman Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden are back in the line-up for #5 Duke after recovering from injuries that sidelined them for a few weeks
Anti-cyberbullying Pro tennis player Madison Keys partnered with FearlesslyGirl to host a summit The last thing someone wants is to have a tough experience, and then receive hateful comments about it on social media — she knows this, and she wants to be a “big sister” to other young women experiencing cyberbullying
Happy Monday, Team SQ. Feeling a little tired from the holiday break? Let’s get energized by reliving Ohio State’s game-winning play from Saturday’s epic double OT win over Michigan.
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
Let’s talk about this weekend’s games in the NFL (assuming you followed Thursday’s games, but if not…Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys!), starting with the New York Football Giants. The G-Men got their 6th straight win of the season after defeating the win-less Cleveland Browns 27-13 and with the strong performance of Odell Beckham Jr.. Outside of the NFC East, Tom Brady (who got his 200th win slash tied the league record) and the New England Patriotstook down theNew York Jets 22-17, and the Oakland Raidersbeat theCarolina Panthers 35-32. Of note, the Oakland Raiders were also the first team since 2014 to get a roughing the passer penalty against QB Cam Newton.
One surprising loss from the weekend was the Seattle Seahawks, who lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14-5, who held Russell Wilson scoreless (aka no TDs). Oh, and in Sunday night’s game, the Kansas City Chiefs topped theDenver Broncos 30-27 after Tyreek Hill led the way with 3 TDs.
Monday Night Football features the Green Bay Packers at the Philadelphia Eagles at 8:30pm on ESPN.
College Football
College football had a few notable moments this past weekend — As we mentioned in our intro, #2 Ohio State defeated #3 Michigan in Columbus in a thrilling 30-27 2 OT game (the first OT/2OT game in the history of the rivalry) with the help of Curtis Samuel’s 15 yard TD. Outside of that, #1 Alabamaheld off #13Auburn in the Iron Bowl 30-12 after a shaky offensive start to the game, and #4 Clemson looked dominant in a 56-7 win over South Carolina.
Coming out of week 13, the top 5 shifted slightly with the new rankings as follows: Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Washington and Michigan.
Next Saturday, it’s all about the conference championships including:
SEC Championship — #1 Alabama vs. #15 Florida at 4pm on CBS
ACC Championship — #4 Clemson vs. VTech at 8pm on ABC
Big Ten Championship — #6 Wisconsin vs. #7 Penn State at 8pm on FOX
NBA
Can you believe we are already a month into the NBA season? Over at the Ringer, check out a fun recap into what top players have given us something to talk about so far.
Specifically, in NBA-land, a few fun things to discuss coming out of last weekend and this past weekend — the Cleveland Cavaliers continue to look strong, not only with wins (and dance moves) but with strong performances from both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Of note, Kevin Love had a 34 point quarter in last week’s win against the Portland Trail Blazers. As always, LeBron James has been pretty unstoppable too — In Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers he had a triple double to help the Cavs build up their 13-2 record.
Speaking of triple doubles, it’s been all about Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder this season. Westbrook had his 44th triple double of his career (tying LeBron) in Saturday’s 106-88 win over the Detroit Pistons with a 17 point, 15 assist, 13 rebound performance.
College Basketball
Moving on to college hoops – let’s take a look at the week ahead featuring the Big Ten ACC challenge. Notable match-ups include:
#24 Michigan State vs. #6 Duke – Tuesday at 9:30pm on ESPN
#4 North Carolina vs. #3 Indiana – Wednesday at 9:15pm on ESPN
The first weekend of December also brings some excitement as #1 Kentucky takes on #14 UCLA on Saturday at 12:30pm on CBS.
Keep an eye on the Lakers They started out the season strong, but are starting to falter First-year coach Luke Walton has built up a young team, and the fans are excited — but, if they don’t make the playoffs this year, are the improvements good enough?
Happy 99th! The NHL became official on November 26th, 1917 Since their goal was to perpetuate the game of hockey, what’s better than looking at the best moments of the sport through Wayne Gretzky’s eyes?
Happy Thanksgiving week, Team SQ. Because there will be lots of football to watch this week, we’re starting today off with one of the best plays from the weekend — see: Seattle Seahawks here:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
Let’s kick things off with this weekend’s NFL highlights — Coming out of week 11, we saw the Seattle Seahawks defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 26-15 with the help of a trick play (see above) from Doug Baldwin to Russell Wilson for a TD, the New York Giants took down the Chicago Bears 22-16 for their 5th straight win in a game where Eli Manning had 2 TDs, and the Dallas Cowboys got a 27-17 win over the Baltimore Ravens and Ezekiel Elliott set the rookie record for rushing yards a season for the Cowboys.
On Sunday Night Football, the Washington Redskins defeated theGreen Bay Packers 42-24 after Kirk Cousins’ big night (3 TD, 375 yards.)
Monday Night Football features the Houston Texans vs. the Oakland Raiders on ESPN at 8:30pm. Additionally, there will be plenty of football this Thursday on Thanksgiving including:
Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions on CBS at 12:30pm
Washington Redskins vs. Dallas Cowboys on Fox at 4:30pm
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts on NBC at 8:30pm
College Football
In week 12 of college football, #1 Alabama continued their dominance, this time over Chattanooga 31-3 while #2 Ohio Statenarrowly defeatedMichiganState 17-16. #3 Michigan rolled against Indiana 20-10 while #4 Clemson got an expected easy win over Wake Forest 35-13.
With this weekend’s result, the new AP rankings has 3 teams from the Big Ten — the first time in 56 years — with Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin all getting in with Alabama and Clemson.
All of this sets up next weekend for some top ranked action heading into week 13 — of note, #3 Michigan and #2 Ohio State face off next Saturday at noon on ABC.
College Basketball
Things are heating up in College Basketball land as the season starts to really get underway. This past weekend, #1 Duke overcame last week’s tough loss (and ongoing injuries) to #8 Kansas to get two straight wins and the Tip Off tournament championship after defeating Rhode Island 75-65 on Sunday.
This week, tune in for tons of college hoops as the Thanksgiving holiday tournaments kick off this week. We’ll be watching!
NBA
It may still be on the early side of the NBA season, but here are a few stories to check out this week:
On Tuesday, Leg 1 of the MLS Conference Finals begins. At 8pm EST, Montreal Impact will take on Toronto FC, and at 10pm EST, Seattle Sounders FC will play the Colorado Rapids. Then, on Sunday the 27th, Seattle and Colorado will play again for Game 2, and on Wednesday the 30th, Montreal and Toronto will play their Game 2, before the finals on Saturday, December 10th.
Come together When DraftKings and FanDuel merge… As the daily fantasy sports industry is plagued by financial difficulties, the two companies seek to provide services to a larger and stronger client base by working together
Good Morning. Kicking things off today with highlights from Russell Westbrook’s 8th triple double (including 41 points and 16 assists) of the season in last night’s game:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
Another week in the NFL and much to discuss. The Dallas Cowboys topped the Pittsburgh Steelers35-30 after a great performance from Ezekiel Elliot (114 yards, 2 TDs) and Dak Prescott (319 yards, 2 TDs). Of note, Dak Prescott will likely be the starter next week even with the return of Tony Romo to the line-up.
In other news, the Philadelphia Eagles topped the Atlanta Falcons 24-15 with the help of Ryan Matthews’ 2 TDs and 108 yards, and the Minnesota Vikings had their fourth straight loss of the season, this time against Washington in a 26-20 game.
Monday Night Football features the New York Giants versus the Cincinnati Bengals on ESPN at 8:30pm EST.
College Football
As we head closer to the playoffs, college football was all about upsets this past weekend. On Saturday, 3 of the top 5 teams lost to their opponents, creating a bit of a shake-up in the rankings. While #1 Alabama had a convincing win over Mississippi State 51-3, #2 Clemsonlost a very close game to Pittsburgh 43-42, #3 Michigan was defeated by Iowa 14-13, and #4 Washington fell to #20 USC 26-13.
On the other hand, #5 Ohio State had a dominating win over Maryland 62-3 in College Park.
What a night for Andrew Wiggins. The Minnesota Timberwolves star had a career high 47 points on Sunday in a game against the LA Lakers.
This week, college basketball begins to really heat up with two great games — Kentucky versus Michigan State and Duke versus Kansas — both at MSG on Tuesday night.
Good morning, Team SQ. We begin today with a fun tribute video to one of the greatest 3-point shooters in NBA history, Ray Allen who announced his retirement this week. One thing is for sure, retirement or not — he’s still got game.
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NBA
On Sunday, LeBron James (who was joined by teammate JR Smith) introduced Hillary Clinton at a campaign rally in Cleveland, Ohio. LeBron, who previously endorsed Hillary in an op-ed in Business Insider, encouraged people to vote and spoke on behalf of the candidate two days before the election.
In other LeBron news, the NBA’s top player just joined the list of top 10 highest scorers in league history, after his undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers got a 102-101 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. Can he get to number 1?
Finally, while the Golden State Warriors got the win over the Oklahoma City Thunder last week after Kevin Durant’s big night, the story between him and Russell Westbrook continues. Here’s to hoping to more great match-ups between two of the leagues best players and former teammates this season.
NFL
Lots to discuss coming out of Week 9 in the NFL — starting with the NFC East. After a week off, the New York Giantsgot a much needed win against the Philadelphia Eagles 28-23 in large part because of birthday boy Odell Beckham Jr.’s (he turned 24!) 2 TDs and Eli Manning’s 4 TDs in total. Also in the NFC East, the Dallas Cowboysgot another win, this time against the Cleveland Browns 35-10. Keep in mind they’ve got a rookie QB in Dak Prescott, who’s now won 7 of 8 games as the starting QB — yesterday, he had 3 TDs and threw for 247 yards.
Outside of the NFC East, the Detroit Lions got a surprising victory over the Minnesota Vikings 22-16, handing the Vikings their third loss of the season — thanks to Matthew Stafford’s game winning TD pass to Golden Tate in OT, and the Indianapolis Coltsgot a strong 31-26 win over the Green Bay Packers in a game where Andrew Luck started with 2 interceptions and finished with a TD and 281 yards by the end of the game.
Oh, and also on Sunday, the Oakland Raiders continued to prove that they’re legit with a big win over the Denver Broncos 30-20 bringing their record to 7-2 and putting them atop the AFC West.
This week’s Monday Night Football features the Buffalo Bills vs. the Seattle Seahawks at 8:30pm EST on ESPN.
College Football
Moving on from the pros, let’s dive into to college football where the playoffs are right around the corner. This past weekend, #1 Alabamagot another win but in a very low scoring 10-0 game over #13 LSU, while #2 Clemson got a 54-0 victory over Syracuse and #3 Michigan defeated Maryland 59-3.
No major changes in the Top Ten as the first 6 teams stayed the same with Alabama, Michigan, Clemson, Washington, Louisville and Ohio State holding strong with their rankings.
Happy Halloween y’all! Today we begin with highlights from Game 5 of the World Series, ’cause you know, it’s still October…
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
MLB
Speaking of the the World Series, the Chicago Cubsdefeated theCleveland Indians at Wrigley Field to force a Game 6. The Indians are now up 3-2 with a powerful Game 6 on the line.
Don’t miss Game 6 on Tuesday, November 1st in Cleveland. See all the action at 8:08pm EST on FOX.
NFL
As always, there was a lot of action in the league over the course of the weekend. In week 8 we saw the New England Patriotsget a strong 41-25 win over the Buffalo Bills, the Carolina Panthers get a must needed win over the Arizona Cardinals, the Atlanta Falcons top the Green Bay Packers 33-32, and the Washington Redskins v. Cincinnati Bengals game end in a 27-27 OT tie.
In Sunday night’s game, the Dallas Cowboysdefeated thePhiladelphia Eagles in OT with a 29-23 win with the help of QB Dak Prescott’s 5 yard pass to Jason Witten for the TD.
Monday Night Football features the Minnesota Vikings versus the Chicago Bears on ESPN at 8:30pm.
College Football
There were a few notable games in college football land this past weekend — #2 Michiganbeat in-state rival Michigan State 32-23, #3 Clemson had a narrow 37-34 win over #12 Florida State, #4 Washington got a close 31-24 win over #17 Utah and #5 Louisville defeated UVA 32-25.
This means that in the last AP poll that comes out before the first of the CFP rankings, Alabama remains number 1 followed by Michigan, Clemson, Washington and Louisville.
NBA
In the NBA, Russell Westbrookcontinues to show his magic for the Oklahoma City Thunder this season — starting with a 51 point triple double last week — the most since Kareem. And then on Sunday… he had another triple double. Okay, Russ!
Snoop Dogg the coach The Snoop Youth Football League Since its inception in 2005, the SYFL has grown to over 50 teams of young inner-city children, and is now looking to grow past the California state borders into other states
Good Morning! Today we begin with an ode to the upcoming World Series featuring the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians — starting with a look at how the Cubs got here, seeing as it’s the first time since 1945!
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
MLB
As we mentioned in our intro, playoff baseball has been quite a treat thus far, and just like that it’s the World Series! So, how did we get here? What’s on deck?
The World Series kicks off Tuesday night in Cleveland at 8:08pm EST on Fox. Then, you basically have a game every night to look forward to until a champion is crowned. Enjoy!
NFL
Let’s talk professional football — this weekend, the New York Football Giants(with the help of 4 interceptions) got a big 17-10 win across the pond against the LA Rams, the Philadelphia Eaglestook out the no longer undefeatedMinnesota Vikings 21-10, and the New England Patriots got a big win over the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-16.
Oh, and in a game that came down to overtime, the San Diego Chargers topped the Atlanta Falcons 33-30.
Monday Night Football features the Denver Broncos against the Houston Texans at 8:30pm EST on ESPN.
College Football
After 8 weeks, the playoff picture is beginning to emerge in college football and every week becomes more important than the last. This past week, we saw #1 Alabama get a big 33-14 victory over #6 Texas A&M, #2 Ohio State suffer a rough 24-21 loss to unranked Penn State, and #3 Michiganlook extra good in a 41-8 win over Illinois.
Needless to say, there was some movement in the rankings, leading to a new Top 5:Alabama, Michigan, Clemson, Washington, Louisville… and at #6, Ohio State.
NBA
After much anticipation, NBA regular season hoops finally kicks off on Tuesday night! Get excited (can you tell we are?!?!) To prepare for the season, check out a few great reads we’ve seen in the recent weeks:
After yesterday’s Decision Day games, the final MLS Cup playoff spots are all set. In the Western Conference, last year’s winners — the Portland Timbers — were knocked out by the Vancouver Whitecaps. Here are your 12 competitors (6 from each conference):
Eastern Conference: New York Red Bulls, New York City FC, Toronto FC, Philadelphia Union, D.C. United, Montreal Impact
Western Conference: FC Dallas, Colorado Rapids, LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders, Sporting KC
In the Eastern Conference, #1 New York Red Bulls and #2 New York City FC earn a bye to the Conference Semifinals, and in the Western Conference, #1 FC Dallas and #2 Colorado Rapids will proceed directly to the Conference Semifinals as well. Knockout round matches for the other teams start Wednesday — check out the full schedule here.
JUST FOR FUN
Chef Curry! Good food is a crucial part of the game Check out all the step(hs) to a successful chicken curry from Ayesha Curry’s recipe book “The Seasoned Life”
Tackling boundaries Embracing the art of the fluid position in football As college football programs successfully utilize nontraditional offenses, these ideas – and versatile athletes – infiltrate the NFL
He’s staying Until 2021, at least Neymar signed a 5-year contract with Barcelona, but sources say he’ll be paid less than teammate Lionel Messi. Should he stay, or should he get out of Messi’s shadow?
Good Morning! As we continue to wait for basketball season to officially begin, let’s start today with some hoops — specifically, a no-look 3 pointer from Kevin Durant:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
Kicking off today with a breakdown of week 6 in the NFL. The New York Football Giants and Odell Beckhamstopped their losing streak and got a big win over the Baltimore Ravens 27-23, the New England Patriots continued their dominance in their second week of having Tom Brady back with a 35-17 win over the Denver Broncos, the Washington Redskins defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 27-20, the Dallas Cowboys got their 5th straight win with a 30-16 victory over the Green Bay Packers, and the Seattle Seahawkspulled out a close game to top the Atlanta Falcons 26-24.
Following their game against the Buffalo Bills, Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ersspoke to media about the anthem.
Monday Night Football features the New York Jets versus the Arizona Cardinals — tune in at 8:30pm EST on ESPN.
College Football
A few notable games to discuss coming out of week 7 — #1 Alabamaput on a strong show with a 49-10 win against #9 Tennessee, #2 Ohio State defeated #8 Wisconsin 30-23 in OT, and #3 Clemsonescaped with a 24-17 win over NC State.
And with that, we’ve got a new order in the Top 5 AP rankings — Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Clemson and Washington.
MLB
Let’s talk playoff baseball with a breakdown of where we are today. In the American League Championship Series, the Cleveland Indians lead the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0. Game 3 picks up tonight in Toronto.
Happy Monday! To start off our week, let’s take at the Toronto Blue Jays’ impressive series-winning victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday night:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
Week 5 in the National Football League was full of all sorts of things to discuss — after 4 games away, Tom Brady finally returned to the New England Patriots and led them to a 33-13 victory over the Cleveland Browns with 3 TDs and 406 passing yards, the Minnesota Vikings got another win, this time over the Houston Texans 31-13 to stay undefeated at 5-0, the Detroit Lions got a last minute win over the Philadelphia Eagles with the help of a field goal 24-23, and the Green Bay Packers beat the New York Giants 23-16 in Sunday night’s game.
Oh, and rookie Dak Prescott set the NFL rookie record for most passes without an interception with 135 straight passes as part of the Dallas Cowboys’ 28-14 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Monday Night Football features the Tampa Bay Bucs versus the Carolina Panthers — tune in at 8:30pm EST on ESPN. Of note Cam Newton will be out this week, recovering from a concussion from last week’s game.
College Football
Let’s talk college football and the shake-ups from week 6. The biggest surprise of the weekend was #6 Houston’s 46-40 loss to Navy on Saturday, diminishing the team’s playoff chances. Other team’s suffering from the blues include: #9 Tennessee who lost to #8 Texas A&M 54-38 in double overtime, #10 Miami who lost to #23 Florida State 20-19 and #15 Stanford who lost to Washington State 42-16.
Okay, so you must be wondering, who did win in week 6? Well, #1 Alabamalooked strong in a 49-30 victory over #16 Arkansas, #2 Ohio State was solid in a 38-17 win over Indiana and #4 Michigan … yeah they won 78-0 over Rutgers. To top off the 70 and up club, #5 Washington defeated Oregon 70-21.
All of this is to say that it’s going to be a wild ride to the playoffs and every game counts. Until next week!
MLB
Playoff baseball is one of the best times of the year and thus far this post-season has lived up to the hype.
To recap and get you up to speed – let’s review what’s happened so far:
American League:
The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Baltimore Orioles to win the AL Wild Card. The Blue Jays then moved on to face the Texas Rangers in the AL Division Series.
As you know from our intro — the Blue Jays then won the ALDS 3-0 after Sunday’s win over the Rangers — they’re now on to the AL Championship series.
On the other side of the AL Division Series, the Cleveland Indians lead the Boston Red Sox 2-0 and will meet for game 3 at Fenway on Monday night.
National League:
The San Francisco Giants defeated the New York Mets to win the NL Wild Card. They’re currently playing the Chicago Cubs in the NL Division Series.
So far the Chicago Cubslead the series 2-0 and teams will face off for game 3 in San Francisco on Monday night.
AND finally, on the other side of the NL Division Series — the Washington Nationals tied their series with LA Dodgers at 1-1 with Sunday’s win.
What’s next? The AL Championship Series begins on October 14th and the NL Championship Series begins on October 15th — moving from a best of 5 to a best of 7. Stayed tuned!
Basketball
It’s the WNBA finals! To cap off the posteason – the LA Sparks meet the Minnesota Lynx (aiming for their 4th title) for a best of 7 series. In game 1, the LA Sparks got the win 78-76 with the help of Alana Beard’s game winner.
With the NBA season set to begin in less than 20 days (!!!) – Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement on Sunday that he thinks thata CBA deal to avoid work stoppage will be agreed upon soon between the league and the NBA Players Association.
Taking the lead WADA’s power is growing The International Olympics Committee has tasked the World Anti-Doping Agency with renewing and revamping their efforts to fight against cheating. WADA is expected to put forth a proposal requesting additional resources necessary to expand their responsibilities by the end of the year
For the first time… A North American League franchise acquires eSports teams The 76ers now have controlling stake in Team Dignitas and Team Apex — acknowledging that the business of sports is moving beyond traditional sports as entertainment
Welcome to October – it’s about to be a fun month! To give a proper welcome, in all it’s sports glory, let’s kick things off with views of the Golden State Warriors very own new star player, Kevin Durant, getting his very first bucket with the new team.
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
The National Football League was back in action over the weekend — the Dallas Cowboysovercame another week of injuries (they’re still without QB Tony Romo) and beat the San Francisco 49ers 24-17 with the help of rookies Ezekiel Elliot (138 yards and a TD) and Dan Prescott, Washington got their second victory in a row — this time with a 31-20 victory at home over the Cleveland Browns, and the New England Patriots are no longer undefeated after losing to the Buffalo Bills 16-0. Good news for the Pats — they’ll have QB Tom Bradyback in the lineup next week. Oh, and it was quite the day for Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan, who had 503 yards and 4 TDs in a 48-33 victory over the Carolina Panthers (Julio Jones also added 12 receptions with a record 300 yards). We’re also sending get well wishes to QB Cam Newton who suffered a concussion during the game.
Sunday nights game saw the Pittsburgh Steelers overcome last week’s tough loss with a strong victory over the Kansas City Chiefs 43-14.
Monday Night Football features the New York Giants against the Minnesota Vikings. Tune into the action at 8:30pm on ESPN.
College Football
There was all kinds of fun in college football this past weekend and plenty to discuss. Let’s start with the best game of the weekend – #3 Louisville versus #5 Clemson which saw QB Deshaun Watson help Clemson get the 42-36 win after throwing 5 touchdowns. Other notable games include: #4Michigan getting the victory over #8 Wisconsin 14-7 to stay undefeated after an impressive interception from Jourdan Lewis helped the Wolverines close out the game, and North Carolina upset #12 Florida State 37-22, getting a win and breaking FSU’s 22 home game winning streak.
In terms of the new top 5, it breaks down like this: #1 Alabama, #2 OSU, #3 Clemson, #4 Michigan, and #5 Washington.
Speaking of rankings, it’s not every year that the ACC is known for their football skills across the league but this season, things seem to be different as there are six ACC teams ranked in the AP poll — #3 Clemson, #7 Louisville, #10 Miami, #17 North Carolina, #23 Florida State and #25 Virginia Tech.
NBA
LeBron James is officially with her – In an op-ed in Business Insider, published on Sunday evening, LeBron explains why he endorsing Hillary Clinton for President of the United States in the 2016 election.
In other on the court news, rookie Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers (aka the first pick in the NBA draft) is set to have foot surgery after suffering a broken bone and is expected to be out for at least 3 months.
MLB
It’s officially October — which means playoff baseball is here! BUT before we get there, let’s talk about the last few days of the regular season. Over the weekend, we saw the Toronto Blue Jays get the 2-1 win over the Boston Red Sox – giving them the home field advantage in the wild-card match-up for the American League. On the other side, the National League is good to go as well — as the San Francisco Giants took out the LA Dodgers 7-1 to do what they do best and clinch the wild-card match-up. It is an even year after all.
So what does all of this actually mean for the playoffs? Well, it looks like this:
American League
East: Boston Red Sox
Central: Cleveland Indians
West: Texas Rangers
Wild Cards: Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays
Tune in Tuesday night at 8pm on TBS
National League
East: Washington Nationals
Central: Chicago Cubs
West: Los Angeles Dodgers
Wild Cards: New York Mets and San Francisco Giants
Tune in Wednesday at 8pm on ESPN
It’s also hard to believe, but it’s the end of the road for Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz. The Sox sent Big Papi off with an emotional day of gifts, teammates and memories to mark the end of an era.
Other
Remember that time the United Stateswon golf’s very own Ryder Cup? Oh wait that was Sunday. After 8 years, they defeated Europe. Congrats team USA!
In World Cup Hockey, team Canada came from behind to win 2-1 over team Europe. Canada is the reigning champion in Olympic hockey, World Championships, and the World Cup of Hockey. Sidney Crosby (captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins) won MVP with 10 points in six games. The only two other players to ever win the Hart Trophy (MVP of the NHL), Conn Smythe Trophy (the “MVP for his team” trophy for the NHL playoffs), and MVP at the Canada Cup/World Cup of Hockey are Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky.
Piece of the puzzle Will they get J.R.? Negotiations are a two way street, and right now J.R. Smith and the Cleveland Cavaliers are still in contract negotiations even though training camp has started. Will LeBron lose one of his “big guns,” or will his comments help move the deal forward?
Vin Scully Recalling 67 years Take a look at the oral history of one of Baseball’s legendary voices
Come, Mr. DJ How do colleges get students in the stands? You can thank the DJ for drawing in younger fans and keeping the crowd’s spirit up, even if the games aren’t always nail-biters
Out of home A new way to guarantee an audience ESPN has found a new way to sell their television audience to ad agencies — monetizing “out of home” game viewership
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Good Morning, team. We’ve got a lot to discuss — but to begin, we’re starting our Monday marking the date – we are less than 30 days away from the start of NBA season. Prepare for the excitement by reviewing the top 50 circus shots of last season here:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
MLB
We begin today with the tragic news that star pitcher Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins died after a boating accident over the weekend – he was 24 years old. The Marlins canceled Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Braves and the rest of MLB announced that they would do a league-wide moment of silence in Fernandez’s honor.
NFL
Week 3 in the league was full of a few surprises, starting with that team from Washington getting a 29-27 victory over the New York Football Giants that began with hype over Josh Norman vs. Odell Beckham Jr. and came down to the wire (and an unfortunate interception for Eli Manning). With the win, the fight for the NFC East remains in play for both teams. Another game with a surprising result featured the Minnesota Vikings defeating the Carolina Panthers on the road – ending the Panthers’ 14-game home winning streak. Before the game, Cam Newtonvoiced his opinion on Charlotte by wearing a t-shirt with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. during pregame warmups.
Other notable games from Sunday included Aaron Rodgers (who had 4 TDs) and the Green Bay Packersgetting the win 34-27 over the Detroit Lions, the Seattle Seahawks taking down the San Francisco 49ers 37-18 despite a knee injury to QB Russell Wilson, and the Philadelphia Eagles putting on a strong show to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-3.
Oh and on Thursday night, rookie QB Jacoby Brissett led the New England Patriots in a dominating 27-0 victory over the Houston Texans. Despite a thumb injury to Brissett, the Pats are hopeful that both he and Jimmy Garoppolo will be healthy enough when they take on the Buffalo Bills in week 4.
Monday Night Football is all about the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints – tune in for kickoff at 8:30pm EST on ESPN.
College Football
Let’s talk week 4 in college football land. Oddly enough, the biggest surprise of the weekend was Duke’sbig win overNotre Dame 38-35 in South Bend on Saturday. Outside of that game, most of the top ten teams took care of business and had dominating performance for their schools — including Alabama, Louisville and Michigan,who each picked up wins.
In coaching news, LSU fired Les Miles after 12 seasons and a 2-2 start this year.
NBA
Although he wasn’t cleared to play by the Miami Heat, Chris Bosh vowed that he will continue his comeback to the NBA this season. Follow his journey on UNINTERRUPTED,starting here with his second episode “Renewal.”
After 21 great seasons, Kevin Garnettannounced his retirement from the NBA a few days before the Minnesota Timberwolves training camp. Garnett leaves the NBA after a long legacy of success in the league — beginning his career as the first player to be selected out of high school in 1995, adding an MVP season in 2004, a championship in 2008 with the Boston Celtics, and leaving as 40 year old with over 25,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 5,o00 assists over the course of his career. Congrats, KG!
Not a cord-cutter yet Fans tuned in on Twitter for last Thursday’s NFL game It wasn’t just a new way for the NFL to reach fans, it was also a way for Twitter to reach prospective users – a potential win/win for both
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What better way to bring in the first week of Fall than with a little (or a lot of) sports! This week, we’ve got lots to cover but let’s kick things off with highlights of every single touchdown pass from Sunday’s NFL games:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
Let’s talk all things week 2 in the NFL. On Sunday, we saw the Dallas Cowboystake down that team from Washington 27-23 in a game that came down the wire and featured an unfortunate interception by QB Kirk Cousins in the 4th quarter, Eli Manning and Victor Cruz (plus a field goal) helped the New York Giantsget the win over the New Orleans Saints 16-13 and the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated their rival the Cincinnati Bengals 24-16 to begin the AFC North with a strong 2-0 start. In other news, Cam Newton (who set the franchise record for TDs) and the Carolina Panthersdominated theSan Francisco 49ers 46-27, the Denver Broncos got the victory over the Indianapolis Colts 34-20 but suffered a tough injury to DeMarcus Ware while the New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins 31-24 despite an injury to Jimmy Garoppolo (ya know, the QB filling in for Tom Brady).
We also can’t forget the LA Rams who took out the Seattle Seahawks 9-3 on the first football Sunday in LA since 1994. Oh and Sunday night’s late game where the Green Bay Packers lost to the Minnesota Vikings17-14 at the brand new U.S. Bank Stadium in Minny.
Monday Night Football features the Chicago Bears versus the Philadelphia Eagles in Chicago at Soldier Field. Tune in to ESPN at 8:30pm EST to catch all the action.
College Football
We can’t talk professional football without talking college football too! This past Saturday, #1 Alabama defeated #19 Ole Miss 48-43 in a roller coaster of an SEC game while #2 Florida State suffered an embarrassing 63-20 loss to #10 Louisville, who saw a stellar performance from Heisman candidate/QB Lamar Jackson (who collected 4 running touchdowns and 1 on a pass) in a so-called “ACC showdown”. There was also a controversial finish in Cal’s surprise win over #11 Texas because of the replay ruling in the “immediate recovery” standard that allowed Cal to run out the clock.
So where does week 3 leave us? With new AP rankings of course. This week’s top five features: #1 Alabama, #2 Ohio State, #3 Louisville (jumping up quite a few spots!), #4 Michigan and #5 Clemson.
MLB
We may have a couple more week’s until October baseball begins but that doesn’t mean September’s very own baseball isn’t living up to the hype.
On Sunday night the Boston Red Sox closed out a sweep of the New York Yankees in 5-4 win and with the help of Hanley Ramirez and his 2 home runs.
Earlier on Sunday, Miguel Cabrera got his 2,500 hit of his career on a single in the 3rd inning of the Detroit Tigers win over the Cleveland Indians. And despite a tough bout of recent injuries, the New York Mets got an important win for their post season dreams over the Minnesota Twins.
If you’re curious and want too take a deeper look at the current standings — take a look at this helpful SI guide that essentially highlights the AL and NL leaders along with the Wild Card odds.
Other
The San Antonio Spurs hired Monty Williams as the new Vice President of Basketball Operations.
Movin’ Out The NCAA is relocating 7 championship events In response to the state’s controversial “bathroom bill,” the NCAA is moving these events out of North Carolina for the 2016-2017 season
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This weekend, we paused to pay special tribute to September 11th. The NFL put together this video to share how football helped us to stand together as a nation during our darkest hours. We at SQ would like to share this sentiment, and express how we love that sports have the ability to bring us together — that’s why we’re here, writing each Monday.
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
Tennis
Last night’s men’s singles final wrapped up the 2016 US Open! Stan Wawrinka won his first US Open title over world #1 Novak Djokovicafter 4 sets. Djokovic had built up a 5-2 lead in the first set, but by the second had lost ground to Wawrinka. In the fourth, Djokovic took a medical timeout to have his toe looked at by a trainer, but Wawrinka remained steadfast and dominant throughout the majority of the match.
On Saturday, second seed Angelique Kerber became world #1 in women’s singles after a hard-earned victory over Karolina Pliskova. This is her second Grand Slam title in one year — the first was her win at the Australian Open.
MLB
We’re getting closer to October, which means we’re taking a close look at who might make it to MLB post-season play. Yesterday, Chris Tillman returned from the disabled list to pitch 6 innings and the Baltimore Orioles scored a 3-1 win over the Detroit Tigers. Baltimore and the Toronto Blue Jays are now tied in the standings with 78 wins apiece, two games behind American League East first place team, the Boston Red Sox. Boston just scored an 11-8 win against the Blue Jays, during David Ortiz’s last regular season game. The Orioles will begin their three-game series against Boston tonight at 7:10pm EST, so definitely keep your eyes peeled!
The Cleveland Indians are cementing their position in the American League Central, and scored a dominating 7-1 win over the Minnesota Twins last night. The Texas Rangers are still atop the American League West after a 2-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.
And, on the National League front, Seth Lugo won his fourth straight start as a rookie pitcher and Yoenis Cespedes scored a grand slam — the New York Mets won 10-3 over the Atlanta Braves. The San Francisco Giants won 5-3 over the Arizona Diamondbacks after Matt Moore struck out 11 in 7 innings, and the top team in the West, the LA Dodgers, lost 0-3 to the Miami Marlins. The leaders of the National League East, the Washington Nationals won 3-2 over the Philadelphia Phillies, and the Chicago Cubs won 9-5 againstthe Houston Astros. With the win, Chicago now has a 16-win lead in the National League Central.
NFL
On Thursday, the Denver Broncos scored a close 21-20 win over the Carolina Panthers at home. The Broncos’ defense was on point, and in the last 4 seconds, Panthers’ Graham Gano missed a 50-yard field goal.
On Sunday, the New York Giants welcomed back Victor Cruz and won 2o-19 over the Dallas Cowboys after Eli Manning threw for 3 touchdowns. It’s important to note that Dallas star Tony Romo was out due to a back injury, and so Dak Prescott (QB) and Ezekiel Elliott (running back) covered. They were the team’s first rookie QB/RB combo to start at a season opener since the 1960’s. Also of note, the Detroit Lions beat the Indianapolis Colts 39-35, the Miami Dolphins fell to the Seattle Seahawks 10-12 after Russell Wilson threw a career high 43 passes, and the Green Bay Packers won 27-23 against the Jacksonville Jaguars and their young QB Blake Bortles(with the help of two-time MVP Aaron Rodgers).
Last week, Drew Brees received a lucrative $44.25 million contract extension from the New Orleans Saints – his contract was set to expire after this season, but he’ll now be with the team for at least two more. Although the team lost last night’s game against the Oakland Raiders, it’s looking like New Orleans made a good move. Brees scored 4 touchdowns, and after a pass from the QB, Brandin Cooks scored a 98-yard touchdown (the longest in franchise history).
Other
Baylor University former head coach Art Briles (who was fired in May after a sexual assault scandal involving the football team and Baylor Athletics rocked the university) issued an apology to the sexual assault victims during an interview that aired this past Saturday.
In post-Olympic news, American swimmer Ryan Lochte will be suspended from the sport for 10 months following his involvement in a scandal in Rio de Janeiro.
Shaq, Allen Iverson, and Yao Ming were elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Landon Donovan came out of retirement after two years away from the game, and rejoined the LA Galaxy at their home match yesterday.
Top Seller After protest, Colin Kaepernick’s jersey has become the #1 seller The San Francisco 49ers QB stayed seated during the national anthem at two preseason games. At the last preseason game, he kneeled instead. He doesn’t wish to show pride towards a flag or a country “that oppresses black people and people of color.” He will be donating all jersey proceeds, plus $1 million to “various causes.”
The latest on Tim Tebow He has a minor league contract with the New York Mets The Mets have insisted this is not a marketing decision, but a baseball decision. Tebow will start in the instructional league next week. Stay tuned!
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We hope you enjoyed your extended Labor Day weekend, and that Hurricane Hermine didn’t ruin your outdoor plans! The hurricane certainly didn’t ruin Serena’s plans – she scored her 308th win at the US Open this weekend:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
Tennis
After yesterday’s matches, we’re on to the quarter finals of the US Open. On the men’s singles side, #4 Rafael Nadal lost to #24 Louis Pouille, #1 Novak Djokovic won against Kyle Edmund, #3 Stan Wawrinka beat Illya Marchenko and #6 Kei Nishikori won against #21 Ivo Karlovic. #8 Dominic Thiem retired with a knee injury and so Juan Martín del Potro will proceed to the quarter finals. And, #2 Andy Murray won against #22 Grigor Dimitrov. On the women’s singles side, Carolyn Wozniacki won against #8 Madison Keys, #6 Venus Williams lost to #10 Karolina Pliskova, #5 Simona Halep won over #11 Carla Suarez-Navarro, #4 Agnieszka Radwanska lost againstAna Konjuh, and #1 Serena Williams became the winningest player in Grand Slam history after her 308th win over Yaroslava Shvedova.
NFL
And, the NFL regular season is here! Game 1 is Thursday the 8th and features the Carolina Panthers v. the Denver Broncos – remember, this is last February’s Super Bowl match-up, so it could get good! Last season, the Panthers (who were considered the underdogs) went 15-1 with the help of Cam Newton. Even though they lost 10-24 to the Broncos last year, they’re clearly no longer the underdogs.
Francois did it Making history He’s the 4th freshman to start as QB in FSU history, but he’s already scoring 22 point comebacks
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Believe it or not, it’s almost September so let’s celebrate the end of summer with a throwback to Jarrod Dyson’s amazing catch last week for the Kansas City Royals.
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
Summer may be slow now that the Olympics are over, but don’t worry because football is weeks away and baseball and tennis are sure to keep things interesting. See the latest…
Baseball
Congrats to team New York for defeating team South Korea in the Little League World Series! This is the first time a team from the United States has won since 2011.
Tennis
The U.S. Openkicks off today! Stay cool for the summer with a little tennis this week.
Other
HopeSolo was suspended for 6 months from the U.S. national team for calling Sweden “cowards” after the United States lost to the team during the quarterfinals of the Olympics. She will also be taking an indefinite personal leave from the Seattle Reign, the National Women’s Soccer League team that she plays for.
Ryan Lochte was formally charged by the Rio police with filing a false robbery report. According to the AP, the indictment will now be sent to the International Olympic Committee’s Ethics Division.
Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys could be out 6-10 weeks with a fractured back, after taking a hard hit from Seattle Seahawks’ Cliff Avril during a preseason game.
How do you feel? 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick has made a decision He won’t be standing up when the national anthem is played, since he says that, “this country stands for freedom, liberty, justice for all — and it’s not happening for all right now.”
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The Summer Olympics are over, and the final medal count is in. The United States brought home a whopping 121 medals — almost twice as many medals as the second place country, Great Britain.
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Rio Olympics
Yesterday night was the Olympic Closing Ceremony in Rio. What are we going to remember from the last few days of competition?
Usain Bolt of Jamaica became the greatest track and field athlete ever after securing his third triple triple with his third set of Olympic wins in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m.
Great Britain’s Mo Farah won the 5,000m and 10,000m and became the second man to retain both titles.
19-year-0ld Simone Biles won team gold and individual titles in the women’s all-around, vault and floor exercise, and also scored a bronze medal on the balance beam. She’s the first American (and one of only four women total), to win four gold medals in a single Olympic Games.
Neymar gave Brazil their first Olympic football gold, after his winning penalty in the shootout against Germany.
Ryan Lochte and his US teammates Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, and Jimmy Feigen will be investigated by an IOC disciplinary commission after their incident at a Rio gas station. Lochte had said he and the others were robbed at gunpoint, but the Brazilian police say that the men were intoxicated, and were confronted by armed security guards after vandalizing a bathroom.
USA Basketball: The women’s team won their sixth straight gold medal and 49th straight game after scoring a win over Spain 101-72. And, the men’s team may not have been as dominant during these games as they were in Olympics past, but in their gold medal showdown against Serbia, the team sent Coach Krzyzewski into Team USA retirement with a 96-66 win.
Pitch it, pitch it real good LA 2024 The upsides, downsides, and details of LA’s bid for the 2024 Olympics, and the men trying to get the job done
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“There is no one in the world who can do it as well as her…” — that’s a phrase we’ve heard several times during the Olympic Games, about several different female competitors. We’ve been fortunate to watch Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel, Simone Biles, and other outstanding athletes, and we’re looking forward to another week of competition.
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
Rio Olympics
On Thursday, Simone Manuel became the first African American woman to win an individual gold medal after winning the 100m freestyle. She then went on to claim two silver medals in the 50m freestyle and the 4x100m freestyle relay, and one more gold medal in the women’s 4x100m medley relay.
The United States’ women’s soccer team is out of the Olympics after losing to Sweden in the quarterfinals on Friday. Hope Solo, who was unhappy with the loss, was quoted as saying that, “…we played a bunch of cowards.”
He set out to “change the sport of swimming,” and we think he succeeded! Michael Phelps finished off his Olympic career with a 23rd gold medal after the 4×100 meter medley relay on Saturday.
After her team and all-around finals medals, Simone Biles won her signature event, the vault, last night. She has a few more opportunities for medals on Monday with the beam and Tuesday with the floor exercise competitions.
The U.S. men’s basketball team scored the top seed in Group A after a close 100-97 win over France on Sunday.
For the first time in 112 years, Justin Rose of Great Britain won the gold medal in golf.
Usain Bolt of Jamaica won his third straight Olympic gold in the 100m on Sunday, which makes him the greatest sprinter of all time.
And, Wayde Van Niekerk of South Africa won the 400m and set a new world record after running fifteen hundredths of a second faster than the 1999 record-setter, Michael Johnson.
Tennis at the Olympics is over! Andy Murray won the gold medal for men’s singles, and the United States took home their only gold medal in mixed doubles.
The rest of the schedule is here, and the TV schedule here.
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Good morning! The past few days of Olympic competition have been fierce, and the Americans have been stepping up their game. However, special shout out to Katie Ledecky, who broke her own world record and won gold yesterday:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
Rio Olympics
The United States’ first gold medal went to Virginia Thrasher on Saturday morning. The 19-year-old won the women’s 10-meter air rifle event.
In women’s soccer, Hope Solo dominated in the goal during her 200th international appearance, and Carli Lloyd scored to help the United States win their Group G match 1-0 over France. Keep in mind the US women won last year’s World Cup and are fighting for their fourth gold medal in Rio. They’ll play their final group match against Colombia on Tuesday.
The Williams sisters aren’t having the best Olympics. On Saturday night, Venus Williams lost in women’s singles, and the duo (who started their doubles match with a 15-0 career record at the Olympics after wins in 2000, 2008 and 2012), lost on Sunday to the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova. Serena Williams had already won her first round women’s singles match earlier in the day.
In the first round of men’s tennis, Andy Murray won his men’s singles match against Viktor Troicki, and Novak Djokovic was defeated byJuan Martin del Potro.
The U.S. men’s basketball team scored a dominant 119-62 victory over China to start out the Games this past weekend, but the real story is with the women’s team. The U.S. women’s basketball team set three Olympic records with their opening game against Senegal on Sunday. The women won 121-56, and will take on Spain today. The men’s team will play against Venezuela today. Important to note – the men have always kept an eye on the Spanish team. But, Spain fell to Croatia in a shocking upset on Sunday!
Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross beat Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Nicole Laird to win their first match of the Olympic beach volleyball tournament a little after midnight local time on Sunday.
After qualifying on Sunday, Simone Biles and Aly Raisman will advance to the gymnastics all-around final, which will be held on Thursday.
Sunday night, Katie Ledecky bested her own world record in the 400-meter freestyle and won her second medal (her first gold).
And, the U.S. relay team of Michael Phelps, Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held and Nathan Adrian won the the 4x100m freestyle relay. This is Michael Phelp’s 23rd career Olympic medal.
As the games heat up, wondering where you can find the schedule? It’s here. And, if you’re looking for the television schedule, it’s here.
Game time decision Russia will not participate in the Paralympic Games Despite the IOC ruling against a total ban for the 2016 Rio Games, the International Paralympic Committee instated a total ban for next month’s Paralympic Games. Russia has until August 28th to appeal the decision. Stay tuned!
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Welcome to August, and welcome back, Team SQ! The Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is this Friday, August 5th. Are you ready?
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
Olympics Need-to-know
So, this Friday is the Opening Ceremony in Rio. You’ve been hearing a lot about the problems Brazil is encountering with setup, but by this week it all has to be ironed out because the 555 Olympians are coming in (or, most of them)!
Keep an eye out for these competitors:
It’s Michael Phelps’ last hurrah – He’s 31, and this is his final Olympics. He’s the only male swimmer to make it to five Olympic teams
Serena Williams – The dominant player is playing singles, and doubles with her sister Venus
Katie LeDecky – The 19-year-old swimmer won a gold medal in London, and holds the world record in the 800m
Simone Biles – The gymnast has won four consecutive national championships and three consecutive world championships
Ashton Eaton – He won the decathlon in London, and the last two world championships
Usain Bolt – The Jamaican track and field medalist says this is his last Olympics
Neymar – The Brazilian soccer star will try to lead his country’s team to their first gold medal
Novak Djokovic – He completed a career Grand Slam this year, and if he wins his first gold medal he will complete a Golden Slam. Only Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal have accomplished Golden Slams in men’s singles
Beezie Madden – now, here’s a name you may not know! She’s 52 years old (the oldest female athlete on Team USA), a three-time Olympic medalist, and this is her fourth Olympic appearance
Who won’t be there: Jason Day (golf), Jordan Spieth (golf), Rory McIlroy (golf), Steph Curry (basketball), Kawhi Leonard (basketball), LeBron James (basketball), Russell Westbrook (basketball), Chris Paul (basketball), Roger Federer (tennis)
Of note, it’s interesting that this year is the first in many years that we’ll be able to see golf in the Olympics. But, since so many golfers have decided not to play, maybe this is golf’s last year, too.
Here’s the schedule – check it out. And, if you’re looking for the television schedule, it’s here.
American Woman The favorites WSJ is predicting that Team USA will win the gold and overall medal races, and they’re attributing it to our female athletes
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Good morning, team SQ! We hope you enjoyed all of the fireworks this July 4th, including the ones in NBA free agency land… that’s right, we’re talking about Kevin Durant. ICYMI, he’s going to the Golden State Warriors. Let’s start our Tuesday re-watching his top plays from this season:
By the way… Team SQ will be taking a short break while we prepare to provide you with in-depth Olympics analysis. We’ll be back on the 1st of August with all the news you need to know.
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
Basketball
Like we said in the intro, this weekend was all about NBA free agency. The Golden State Warriors may have lost this season’s title to the Cleveland Cavaliers but they definitely won the off-season. How you ask? Well, yesterday, Kevin Durantannounced that he’s leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder to go to Golden State. Let’s break this down further… that means that the Warriors now have the last three MVPs (KD, and Steph Curry (twice)) to go along with Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. The NBA is just the best.
Keep in mind that while most of the sports world will be debating 3 things: 1) How well will the super Warriors mesh together? 2) What will they be like against LeBron James, and what will the Cavs be like next season? and 3) Will the Oklahoma City Thunder try to trade Russell Westbrook before he likely leaves after next season too?, there is other free agency/trade news as well:
The New York Knicks have a new look team — seeing how Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose, Brandon Jennings,and Courtney Lee are now on the team.
Dwyane Wade (is likely to) and Hassan Whiteside re-signed with the Miami Heat.
Pau Gasol is about to sign with the San Antonio Spurs.
Soccer
We made it through the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 with Portugal beating Poland in penalty kicks on Thursday, Wales scoring a 3-1 victory over Belgium on Friday, Germany beating Italy in penalty kicks on Saturday, and France winning 5-2 over Iceland on Sunday.
Tomorrow, we’ll watch Portugal take on Wales,and Thursday, Germany will play France (both at 3pm EST) in the semi-finals. The winners of these two matches will play each other in the finals on Saturday the 10th.
Tennis
The biggest news of Wimbledon so far is that Novak Djokovic is out! He lost to America’s Sam Querrey after rain delays. Querrey was seeded 28th, so this was a huge win for him. And, Djokovic, the world’s no. 1, has now ended his hopes for a calendar-year Grand Slam.
We’re now headed into the men’s and women’s quarter-finals at Wimbledon. On the women’s side, Serena Williams will play Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Dominika Cibulkova will take on Elena Vesnina, Simona Halep will play against Angelique Kerber, and Venus Williams will play Yaroslava Shvedova on Tuesday. On the men’s side, we’ll watch Sam Querrey taking on Milos Raonic, Roger Federer playing Marin Cilic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga playing against Andy Murray, and Lucas Pouille playing either Tomas Berdych or Jiri Vesely on Wednesday (Berdych v. Vesely finishes up on Tuesday).
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Good morning! Last night we watched the Copa America final, where Chile scored their second title in two years over Argentina. Lionel Messi, who helped his Argentinian squad score a huge win over the United States earlier, was understandably disappointed by the loss as Chile celebrated.
By the way… Team SQ will be taking a short break while we prepare to provide you with in-depth Olympics analysis. Look for an issue on Tuesday, July 5th, and then we’ll be back on the 1st of August with all the news you need to know.
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
Soccer
On Tuesday, Argentina crushed the United States 4-0 to move out of the semifinals, and on Wednesday, Chile scored a 2-0 win over Colombia to meet Argentina in the Copa America final. But then, on Sunday, in a repeat of last year’s Copa, Chile beat Argentina. After 120 minutes of regular and extra time, Chile won 4-2 on penalties.
The round of 16 for Euro 2016 started yesterday with France scoring a 2-1 win over the Republic of Ireland, Hungary losing 0-4 to Belgium, and Germany beating Slovakia3-0.How did we get here? Well, the top two teams in each group, plus the four best third-place teams qualify for the round of 16. The top teams were Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, and Wales, and the best third-place teams were Northern Ireland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, and Slovakia.
Other
Congratulations to Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks, who won the Hart Trophy. The Hart Trophy is awarded to the NHL’s most valuable player.
Rory McIlroy, world #4, has withdrawn himself from participating in this summer’s Olympic games in Rio. He’s joining several other golfers who have already announced that they would not be traveling to Brazil due to concerns over the Zika virus.
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Game recognize game, and seriously…what a game. Let’s give it up to the Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA World Champions.
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NBA
For the first time in 52 years, Believeland has come true — the Cleveland Cavaliers have brought a championship back to Cleveland. Down 3-1 and with the end in sight, LeBron James willed his team back to life and ultimately to a championship by defeating the Golden State Warriors 93-89. LeBron James had a triple double and said it best: “Cleveland, this is for you.”
And just like that, the season is over…but don’t worry it’s not all June gloom, the NBA Draft is on Thursday!
Soccer
On Thursday, the United States beat Ecuador 2-1in the Copa America quarterfinals, after goals from Clint Dempsey and Gyasi Zardes. The USMNT will play Argentina in the semifinals tomorrow at 9pm EST in Houston. The other semifinal, Colombia v. Chile, will take place on Wednesday at 8pm EST in Chicago. Then, on Sunday the 26th, we’ll see the winners of both match-ups play in the Copa America final.
You can find the Copa America schedule here and the Euro 2016 schedule here.
Other
In golf, Dustin Johnson shot a final round score of 69 to win the U.S. Open.
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We waited until Tuesday to share SQ with you, thinking we’d have some big news. Well, we have some big news… but not the big news we thought we might have! Check out LeBron and Kyrie carrying Cleveland to a win (and another game) last night:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NBA
Game 6 it is! Last night, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving each scored 41 points to nab a big win and keep the Cleveland Cavaliers’ dream alive. The Golden State Warriors were playing without Draymond Green, who was suspended for Game 5. Final score was 112-97 on Golden State’s home turf in Oakland, so we’ll be headed to Cleveland on Thursday to see if the Golden State Warriors will win it all, or if the Cleveland Cavaliers will force a Game 7. Don’t miss this game – 9pm EST on ABC.
NHL
After Sunday night’s big Game 6, the Pittsburgh Penguins are your 2016 Stanley Cup winners. Even though the San Jose Sharks scored a 4-2 win against the Penguins on their own home turf in Game 5 to force a Game 6, the Penguins brought home the Cup after a 3-1 win at SAP Center. This is the fourth Stanley Cup title in the team’s history. The Penguins’ own Sidney Crosby also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP – in Game 6, he set up two assists including one that would facilitate teammate Kris Letang’s game-winner.
Soccer
The United States scored a 4-0 win over Costa Rica in Group A of the Copa America last Tuesday, and a 1-0 win over Paraguay on Saturday night. They will move forward to the Copa America quarterfinals, and will play Ecuador on Thursday at 9:30pm EST.
Check out the Copa America schedule here and the Euro 2016 schedule here.
Suspension Maria Sharapova was suspended by the ITF for two years She’ll appeal the ITF’s decision to suspend her for testing positive for a banned substance, but at this time will be unable to compete in the upcoming Olympics
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We are mourning the loss of three-time world heavyweight boxing champion and civil rights activist Muhammad Ali. He passed away Friday night of natural causes, after suffering from Parkinson’s for many years. May he rest in peace.
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NBA
The Golden State Warriors are now leading the series 2-0 after last night’s 110-77 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Steph Curry had a quiet night with only 18 points, and the Warriors’ star of the evening was Draymond Green with 28 points. The Cavs lost Kevin Love in the first half of the game after he took an elbow to the head from Harrison Barnes. He stayed on the court, but after halftime was dizzy and disoriented, and it is suspected that he may be suffering from a concussion. TBD whether or not Love will be cleared to play in Game 3, which is at 9pm EST on Wednesday (watch it on ABC).
NHL
The Pittsburgh Penguins lead the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in the Stanley Cup finals, after a Game 2 OT win at home at the hands of Conor Sheary, and a Game 3 OT loss in San Jose. Sharks’ player Joonas Donskoi scored an OT goal in front of a wild crowd to bring home a 3-2 win on Saturday. Game 4 is tonight at 8pm EST – catch it on NBC!
Other
Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray this weekend to win his first French Open title and complete a career grand slam. And, in the women’s singles final, Garbine Muguruza scored a win over world #1 Serena Williams.
First games in the group stage of the COPA America Centenario took place this past week/weekend. The United States lost their opening match to Colombia 2-0, and will play Costa Rica in their second match of the group stage on Tuesday. You can check out the full schedule here.
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And we’re back! While you were enjoying your MDW we were watching the Indy 500, Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference Finals. And what a Game 7 that was… see highlights from the madness here:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NBA
Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors are still the champs… for now. After overcoming a 3-1 deficit (and an epic performance by Klay Thompson in Game 6) in the series to win Game 7 (and the West) over Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Dubs are headed back to the NBA Finals to try to go back-to-back. Once again, they’ll meet LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who seem more than ready to get their shot at revenge — and the NBA championship title.
Game 1 kicks off Thursday night at 9pm EST at Golden State. Get ready, y’all.
NHL
Well, that was an exciting week in hockey! Yesterday was the first game of the Stanley Cup Final, and it did not disappoint. The Pittsburgh Penguins took on the San Jose Sharks in Pittsburgh, and won 3-2 after Nick Bonino scored a last-minute goal.
How did we get there, though? Last Wednesday, the San Jose Sharks scored a 5-2 Game 6 win over the St. LouisBlues, won the series 4-2, and propelledthemselves out of the Western Conference Final and into their first Stanley Cup Final ever. Last Thursday, the Penguins won Game 7 of their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning2-1 to clinch a 4-3 series win.
Remember, the Penguins won it all in 2009 – will they do it again, or will the newcomers succeed? Stay on top of the series by checking out Game 2 on Wednesday at 8pm EST, and Game 3 on Saturday at 8pm EST.
Other
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the game winner and Real Madrid won 5-3 on penalty kicks (after a 1-1 score) against Atletico Madrid to take home the club’s 11th Champions League title.
Sunday marked the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500,and rookie Alexander Rossi took home the win.
We’re headed into the quarterfinals of the French Open. You can see who’s moving forward here.
Doping What does it mean for Rio 2016? According to the Russian Olympic Committee, Russian Olympic athletes from the 2012 London games tested positive for illegal substances. Will they miss this summer’s competition as a result?
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Good morning team SQ! We love teammate stories, and this one’s a good one. Last playoff season, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving were plagued with injuries, but this year they’re back and the Cavs are ready for whatever — and whoever — comes their way.
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NBA
The Conference Finals have been nothing short of dramatic thus far. Last night, the Oklahoma City Thunderdominated the Golden State Warriors 133-105 after a questionable kick by Draymond Green. This puts them up 2-1 in the series. With this win, the Thunder matched their franchise record for points scored in a playoff game, and will play Golden State in Game 4 on Tuesday night at 9pm EST.
Out in the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers will meet the Toronto Raptors tonight for Game 4 in Toronto. Cavs lead the series 2-1, but the Raptors got a big win on Saturday.
Oh and last week, the Philadelphia 76ers won the draft lottery.
Hockey
The St. Louis Blues have tied up the Western Conference Final, 2-2 against the San Jose Sharks. You can watch Game 5 tonight at 8pm EST on NBCSN. In the East, the Tampa Bay Lightning came from behind to score a 4-3 Game 5 OT win against the Pittsburgh Penguins. With that win, they secured a 3-2 series lead. They’ll play Game 6 tomorrow at 8pm EST on NBCSN – tune in, because if the Lightning win, they’ll earn themselves a spot in the Stanley Cup finals.
Soccer
Sevilla won their third consecutive Europa League trophy by beating Liverpool 3-1 on Wednesday night. Manchester United won their first FA Cup since 2004, but the game against Crystal Palace was nothing to write home about. Instead, news of Louis Van Gaal’s (unconfirmed) impending departure from the team overshadowed the win. Rumor has it that Jose Mourinho, who led Chelsea to a league championship in the 2014-15 season only to get sacked the following December, may replace him — stay tuned for more details.
Other
Exaggerator took home the top prize at the Preakness Stakes this weekend, ending Nyquist’s bid for the Triple Crown. Exaggerator had finished in second place, behind Nyquist, at the Kentucky Derby.
The French Open started yesterday! Check out the schedule here.
A Sense of Security Prioritizing safety over all else at the French Open This year’s French Open is the first major international athletic event to take place in Paris after the recent attacks. They’re learning how to implement new technologies and increase security personnel, and hoping attendees will understand the necessity of the additional measures.
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Good Morning! Start Monday off with this video of Steph Curry’s MVP speech. Back to back style!
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NBA
After weeks of great basketball, we’ve finally reached the Conference Finals. How did we get here, you might ask? Well…
In the East, the Toronto Raptors beat the Miami Heatin Game 7 on Sunday and will move on to play the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have been waiting for a little while to see who they would meet. These guys will kick off their series on Tuesday night. Yes, we know what you may be thinking…who will Drake cheer for?!?
Out West, league MVP Steph Curry led the Golden State Warriors over the Portland Trail Blazers and will next play the Oklahoma City Thunder, who beat theSan Antonio Spurs earlier this week. The wild wild western conference finals get started Monday night.
Needless to say, the Conference Finals will be AWESOME. Get ready y’all.
PS- Karl Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves was named the NBA’s rookie of the year.
Hockey
And with this past week, we’ve made it to the Conference Finals. The Tampa Bay Lightning scored a 4-1 series win over the New York Islanders, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won their series 4-2 against the Washington Capitals. The two winners proceeded to the Conference Finals and Tampa Bay won Game 1 against Pittsburgh on Friday, 3-1. They’ll play again tonight at 8pm EST on NBCSN. And, the St. Louis Blues won their series against the Dallas Stars 4-3, and the San Jose Sharks won their series against the Nashville Predators 4-3. The Blues played the Sharks in Game 1 yesterday, and won 2-1. They’ll play again on Tuesday at 8pm EST on NBCSN.
Baseball
Baseball is back on the quips and we’ve got things to share!
Max Scherzerhad 20 strike outs for the Washington Nationals last week against the Detroit Tigers — he matched a league record!
In other news, Rougned Odor and Jose Bautistagot into a brawl during the Texas Rangers/Toronto Blue Jays game on Sunday.
Soccer
Luis Suarez scored a hat trick and Barcelona scored a 3-0 win over Granada to capture their 24th La Liga title this weekend. Although Real Madrid beat Deportivo La Coruña on Saturday, Barcelona’s performance means that Real Madrid finished the season in second place.
And, in EPL news, Arsenal scored a 4-0 win over Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur lost 1-5 to Newcastle United. After those matches, Arsenal finished the season in 2nd and Tottenham finished in 3rd. Manchester City drew against Swansea City 1-1 to secure 4th place for this season. The Manchester United/Bournemouth match was rescheduled to Tuesday night after a scare at the stadium. That will be the last match of the season.
Liverpool will take on Sevilla in the Europa League final on Wednesday, and Crystal Palace will take on Manchester United in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
Nothing but Nets The value of accuracy Thanks to Steph Curry’s partnership with the Nothing But Nets charity, three mosquito proof nets are donated for each basket he makes
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Even a case of the Mondays couldn’t stop us from getting excited about this morning’s video. On Saturday, Cinderella squad Leicester City (Premier League champions) scored a win over Everton and with it, brought home the trophy. The team started this season ripe for potential relegation, and finished the season with the first title in their over-100 year history. If that’s not a Cinderella story, we don’t know what is! Congratulations, Leicester!
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NBA
Talk about the wild, wild West — oh wait, let’s actually do that. On Sunday, Kevin Durantdropped 41 to help his Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the San Antonio Spurs 111-97 and tie the series 2-2. The other side of the West remains on Steph Curry watch as the Golden State Warriors await their MVP’s return to the line-up. It’s unclear, but he is not expected to play in Monday night’s game in Portland as the Trail Blazers look to tie the series and the Dubs look to go up 3-1.
On the East side, the Cleveland Cavaliers took care of business and closed out the Atlanta Hawks 4-0 after a 100-99 win on Sunday afternoon. They’ll play the winner of the Toronto Raptors/Miami Heat series that the Raptors currently lead 2-1.
Hockey
The playoffs are getting fierce! The St. Louis Blues won Game 5 on Saturday against the Dallas Stars, 4-1, to lead that series 3-2. They’ll play again today at 8pm EST, and St. Louis will have the opportunity to clinch the series and move forward. The San Jose Sharks scored a 5-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday, and lead their series 3-2. They’ll also play again tonight at 9pm EST, and if they win, they’ll move ahead to the conference finals. The Pittsburgh Penguins lost their Game 5 on Saturday against the Washington Capitals, 1-3, but are still leading the series 3-2. They’ll play again on Tuesday at 8pm EST. And, last night the New York Islanders lost 0-4 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. With that win, Tampa Bay became the first team to make it to the next round.
Soccer
Although Leicester’s big news was the biggest EPL news of the week, we have some more scores for you to round out the top 5 in the table with only one more week of matches left to go. On Saturday, Manchester United (currently sitting in 5th) scored a 1-0 win over Norwich City (sitting in 19th place and in danger of relegation). And, on Sunday, #2 Tottenham Hotspur lost 1-2 to Southampton and #3 Arsenal drew 2-2 against#4 Manchester City.
Last Tuesday and Wednesday, we watched leg 2 of the Champions League semifinal. Bayern Munich scored a 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid, but Atletico will proceed after winning on Away goals. Real Madrid beat Manchester City 1-0, so Real Madrid will play Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday, May 28th.
Other
Saturday was the Kentucky Derby, and it did not disappoint! This year’s winner was the favorite — Nyquist — ridden by Mario Gutierez (winner of the 2012 Kentucky Derby). The Preakness is the next gem in the Triple Crown, coming up on May 21st — we’ll see what happens!
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Good morning! Game 1 of the Washington Capitals‘ series against the Pittsburgh Penguins ended on an exciting note with T.J. Oshie’s overtime game-winning hat trick. Even though it happened on Thursday, it’s too exciting for you to miss –
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NBA
A lot can change in a week, especially in the NBA.
This weekend, we saw the Miami Heat top the Charlotte Hornets106-73 to win the series 4-3 and the right to play the Toronto Raptors, Sunday’s other big winner 89-84 over the Indiana Pacers. The other side of the East will see the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Atlanta Hawks, starting on Monday night.
Out West, the Golden State Warriorswon Game 1 against the Portland Trail Blazers without Steph Curry (as he recovers from a knee injury) 118-106. Of note, the Blazers beat the LA Clippers to get to this series after the Clippers suffered season-ending injuries to both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Oh, and the San Antonio Spurs look to go up 2-o against the Oklahoma City Thunder when they meet tonight in Game 2.
Oh and Luke Walton is the new head coach of the LA Lakers.
Hockey
And, we’re squarely in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. After tonight’s games, the Dallas Stars lost at home 3-4 in OT to the St. Louis Blues to tie up that series 1-1, and the Nashville Predators lost 2-3 to the San Jose Sharks (series is at 0-2). The New York Islanders are tied 1-1 in their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and will play again on Tuesday night at 7pm EST. The Washington Capitals are tied 1-1 in their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and will play again tonight at 8pm EST.
Soccer
Last Monday, Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 against West Bromwich Albion. Why is this such an important score? Well, Tottenham is in the #2 spot in the table, and with this draw, they ensured that they were stuck there. Even though on Sunday, Leicester City drew 1-1 against #5 Manchester United, they’re still in the top spot, just waiting to hear how Tottenham performs against Chelsea today. If Tottenham loses or draws against Chelsea, they’ll clinch the Premier League title. If Tottenham wins, Leicester will have another chance to seal the deal next weekend. In other news, on Saturday #3 Arsenal scored a 1-0 win over Norwich City, and then on Sunday, #4 Manchester City lost 2-4 to Southampton.
In the first leg of the Champions League semifinal, Manchester City drew 0-0 against aReal Madrid team lacking Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, Atletico Madrid beat Bayern Munich 1-0. Atletico and Bayern Munich will play leg 2 this Tuesday the 3rd at 2:45pm EST, and City v. Real Madrid will take place on Wednesday the 4th at 2:45pm EST.
Other
We’re done with the 2016 NFL Draft! Wondering who your team picked up? Check it out here.
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Good Morning Team SQ! Even though the Golden State Warriors lost Steph Curry, they still scored 41 points in the third quarter of Game 4 of Round 1 against the Houston Rockets yesterday. Check it out:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NBA
The first games of Round 1 of the NBA playoffs continued with tons of basketball this past week/end. Out West, the big news of the weekend is Steph Curry.
The Golden State Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets 121-94 to go up 3-1 but lost Steph Curry to a knee injury in his first game back from an ankle injury. Here’s to hoping he’s okay.
In other NBA West news, the San Antonio Spurs eliminated the Memphis Grizzlies to win the series 4-0 while the Oklahoma City Thunder will continue their series against the Dallas Mavericks (they are up 3-1) and the LA Clippers (up 2-1) will try to win Game 4 on Monday against the Portland Trail Blazers.
In the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons 100-98 on Sunday to make their series 4-0, while the Atlanta Hawks lost to the Boston Celtics 95-104 in OT in a series-tying game. On Monday, the Miami Heat will try to take Game four in a series they’re leading 2-1 against the Charlotte Hornets, while the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors will face off Tuesday in another 2-2 tied series.
Hockey
We’re almost at Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs! The teams that have already progressed to the second round are as follows: the Dallas Stars, San Jose Sharks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning, and New York Islanders.
Pay attention to Monday’s Anaheim Ducks v. Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks v. St. Louis Blues games – the Ducks are currently leading the Predators 3-2 and this game might just seal the deal. The Blackhawks and Blues are tied 3-3, so this game will show us which team has the might to move on to the second round.
Soccer
On Saturday, #3 Manchester City scored a 4-0 win over Stoke City, Chelsea won 4-1 over AFC Bournemouth, and Liverpool and Newcastle United drew 2-2 after a second-half Newcastle comeback. Liverpool is now sitting at #7 in the table, and Newcastle is sitting at #19, still in the danger zone of being relegated. On Sunday, Arsenal drew 0-0 against Sunderland and dropped to #4 in the table, and #1 Leicester City beat Swansea City 4-0 to even further cement their top position.
Congrats to Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez for winning the PFA Player of the Year award. He scored 17 goals and made 11 assists to help Leicester ascend to the very top this season.
On Tuesday the 26th, Manchester City will play Real Madrid and on Wednesday the 27th, Atletico Madrid will play Bayern Munich. Both of these UEFA Champions League games are at 2:45pm EST.
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Today is Monday, April 18 – the 120th Boston Marathon! Gatorade put together this inspiring video to get everyone excited, and it’s definitely working for us… so check it out:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NBA
The first games of Round 1 of the NBA playoffs began this week. On Saturday, the Indiana Pacers scored a 100-90 win over the Toronto Raptors, the Houston Rockets lost 78-104 to the Golden State Warriors, the Boston Celtics lost 101-102 to the Atlanta Hawks, and the OKC Thunder won 108-70 over the Dallas Mavericks. On Sunday, the San Antonio Spurs won 106-74 over the Memphis Grizzlies, the Charlotte Hornets lost 91-123 to the Miami Heat, the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons 106-101, and the Portland Trail Blazers lost 95-115 to the LA Clippers.
Hockey
The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs has not disappointed! On Saturday, the New York Rangers tied up their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-1 with a 4-2 win, the Washington Capitals pulled ahead to 2-0 with a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, the Dallas Stars scored a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild to lead 2-0 and the San Jose Sharks won 2-1 over the Los Angeles Kings to lead 2-0. Last night, we watched the St. Louis Blues score a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks to lead the series 2-1. The Tampa Bay Lightning lost 0-2 to the Detroit Red Wings, but they’re still leading that series 2-1. The Florida Panthers lost in overtime to the New York Islanders 3-4 (the Islanders lead that series 2-1) and the Nashville Predators beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 to lead that series 2-0.
Soccer
In Champions League football, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick to seal the deal on Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over VfL Wolfsburg, Manchester City won 1-0 over Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid beat Barcelona 1-0 and Benfica drew 2-2 against Bayern Munich and lost 2-3 on aggregate. This means that, moving forward into the semifinals, Manchester City will take their first trip to the final four to play ten-time European Cup winning Real Madrid,and Atletico Madrid will take on Bayern Munich.
The Europa League semifinals are also all set after games on Thursday came to an end. Liverpool scored 3 times in the last 25 minutes of play to knock out Borussia Dortmund, and now we’ll see them play Villareal and Sevilla play Shakhtar Donetsk in the semifinals.
On Saturday, #5 team Manchester United beat Aston Villa 1-0 and #3 team Manchester City won 3-0 over Chelsea after a hat trick from striker Sergio Aguero. Aguero is now tied for 2nd place with Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy with 21 goals this Premier League season. On Sunday, #1 Leicester City drew 2-2 against West Ham United and Crystal Palacedrew 1-1 against #4 Arsenal to prevent them from moving back into the 3rd place position in the league. Today, top scorer Harry Kane and his #2 Tottenham Hotspur team travels to Stoke City for the chance to move 5 points behind Leicester.
Leading Lady When Roberta Gibb broke the gender barrier at the Boston Marathon In 1966, she was told she wasn’t allowed to run because she was a woman. She snuck in and ran anyways, and finished ahead of 2/3 of the male runners with a time of 3 hours, 21 minutes and 40 seconds. Today, she is the grand marshal of this year’s race.
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In the essence of Hamilton… Every day they ball like they’re running out of time. The Dubs are non-stop. BUT in the spirit of history, let’s throw it back and check out the Bulls and their historical run in 1996:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NBA
As we alluded to in the introduction, the Golden State Warriors are chasing and making history. With a win over the San Antonio Spurs (the only visitor win on the Spurs home court this season), the Warriors have tied the Chicago Bulls‘ record at 70-9. With one more win on Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies, the record will belong to them.
What to watch this week: Kobe Bryant’s last game with the LA Lakers. Tune in on ESPN2 when they take on the Utah Jazz at 10:30pm… and as you know, anything can happen at the Lakeshow.
What else, what else… oh we know, it’s the last week of the regular season and the playoffs start soon! Get ready.
Golf
Congratulations to Danny Willett, who won the 2016 Masters after Jordan Spieth stumbled down the stretch. Don’t worry too much about Spieth, though, he’s a star and only 22 and will bounce back.
Soccer
Leicester City had a huge weekend – the club qualified for next season’s Champions League football (a major accomplishment for the Cinderella team), and also further cemented their #1 position in the EPL with a 2-0 win over Sunderland. #3 Arsenal drew 3-3 against #6 West Ham United, #4 Manchester City took home a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion, and #2 Tottenham Hotspur scored a 3-0 win over #5 Manchester United.
Keep an eye out for Tuesday and Wednesday’s Champions League matches to see which teams advance to the semi-finals:
Real Madrid v. VfL Wolfsburg and Manchester City v. Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday at 2:45pm EST
After this weekend, the first round match-ups are set for NHL playoffs! You’ll see the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Detroit Red Wings, and the Philadelphia Flyersplay for the Eastern Conference, and the Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators, and the Minnesota Wild play for the Western Conference. Check out the full bracket here.
Games start on Wednesday – make sure to take a look at the full schedule here.
Other
Congrats to the ladies of the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team for their fourth straight NCAA tournament championship title!
Have you heard of Trevor Story? He’s the Colorado Rockies’ rookie that’s taking Major League Baseball by storm. In his first six games, he hit seven home runs – that’s a new record. Keep an eye out for this one!
Game Changer Twitter and the NFL People already use Twitter during games – but this creates a new way to view, as well as unique opportunities for advertisers
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Did that just happen? Talk about that one shining moment… Congrats to this year’s men’s college basketball national champions — the Villanova Wildcats!
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
College Basketball
Congrats to Villanova and to Kris Jenkins on his game-winning 3 pointer, but props to UNC and especially Marcus Paigefor this incredible shot. What a game!
Don’t miss UConn taking on Syracuse tonight at 8:30pm. The Huskies are looking for their fourth consecutive women’s championship title, so this is sure to get interesting!
Oh, and in all things Dubwatch: Will the Golden State Warriors break the record? Game tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves gets us one step closer to finding out.
Soccer
EPL kicked back up again this past weekend! Leicester City is sitting atop the table in a seven point lead at this point, after Sunday’s win over Southampton (Leicester’s fifth 1-0 win in six games). #2 Tottenham Hotspur, drew 0-0 against Liverpool this Saturday, #3 Arsenal scored a 4-0 win over Watford, #4 Manchester City also scored a 4-0 win over AFC Bournemouth, and on Sunday, #5 Manchester United beat Everton1-0.
El Clasico was also this past weekend — Real Madrid took on Barcelona and won 2-1 to end Barca’s 39-game winning streak. Cristiano Ronaldo scored that final goal, which was his 16th El Clasico goal.
By the way… don’t miss out on the upcoming UEFA Champions League matches: Barca v. Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich v. Benfica at 2:45 pm EST today, and VfL Wolfsburg v. Real Madrid and Paris St. Germain v. Manchester City at 2:45 pm EST tomorrow (Wednesday, April 6).
Other
April 9th is the end of the regular NHL season, and playoffs are set to begin soon after. Wondering who’s making it to the playoffs? Well, there are no Canadian teams making it this year… but you can check out the teams that are making it here.
Wage Discrimination Members of the USWNT have filed an action with the EEOC The women (players from the World Cup-winning team) claim that their team is paid almost 4 times less than the U.S. Men’s National Team regardless of their revenue generation for U.S. Soccer
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So, this weekend happened… and all roads lead to Houston now! How did we get here? Let’s check out a mini-recap:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
College Basketball
College hoops was nothing short of dramatic this past week/end…but we’ve finally reached the Final Four.
Like we said in the intro, how did we get here? On Saturday, No. 2 seed Oklahomadominated No. 1 seed Oregon with the help of 37 points from Buddy Hield to win the West 80-68, while No. 2 seed Villanova beat No. 1 seed Kansas 64-59 in a tough match-up to win the South. On Sunday, Syracuse came back from a 16-point deficit in the second half to become the 4th 10 seed to reach the Final Four in a 68-62 win over No. 1 seed UVA in the Midwest, while No. 1 seed UNC scored an 88-74 win over No. 6 seed Notre Dame.
Next week we’re headed to NRG Stadium in Houston, where #2 Villanova will play #2 Oklahoma and #1 Syracuse will play #1 UNC (scheduling TBD).
In women’s hoops news, Coach Geno Auriemmadefended the dominance of his UConn program. Even though the team is three wins away from their fourth straight national championship, critics are saying UConn’s success may not be beneficial to the sport.
NBA
LA Clippers star Blake Griffin has finally healed from his broken hand incident and will now begin his 4-game suspension before returning to his team (who just clinched a spot in the Western Conference playoffs).
It appears that LeBron James might be interested in teaming up with Carmelo Anthony and Co. sometime before their playing days are over… as indicated in this Bleacher Report longread.
Other
With less than 30 seconds left in OT, Sidney Crosby scored his Pittsburgh Penguins a big win over the New York Rangers, 3-2. We’re getting geared up for NHL playoffs, which are drawing nearer and nearer. Your current top 5 teams headed into the end of regular season play are the Washington Capitals, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings, and New York Rangers. Check out the current playoff pairings here.
In soccer, international games took place this weekend and domestic league action will return next weekend. In international soccer community news, Johan Cruyff, Dutch football hero, passed away at the age of 68. Rest in peace.
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Opening weekend… SO, that happened. While there were a lot of standout moments from this weekend, let’s take a moment to highlight Buddy Hield’s amazing second half performance that sent his Oklahoma Sooners into the Sweet 16.
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
College Basketball
If your bracket is busted, you’re not the only one – double digit seeds have been playing extraordinarily well this tournament! No. 2 seed Michigan State lost to No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee81-90 on Friday. No. 5 seed Indiana upset No. 4 seed Kentucky, and No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin State University shocked West Virginia in the round of 64 before narrowly losing to No. 6 Notre Dame in the round of 32. No. 7 seed Wisconsin edged No. 2 seed Xavier with a buzzer-beater, No. 3 seed Texas A&M beat No. 11 Northern Iowa after a 12-point comeback and 2OT, and No. 1 seed Oregon rallied to beat Saint Joseph’s.
So where does that lead us? The Sweet 16. Games kick off this Thursday/Friday in Philadelphia, Anaheim, Louisville and Chicago and we couldn’t be more excited. Of note, the ACC sent a record 6 teams to the Sweet 16 round and while there a few Cinderellas, all number 1 seeds survived the opening rounds.
NBA
The best of the west, the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs, faced off on Saturday evening down in Texas. The Dubs didn’t have their best game and the Spurs looked strong in an 87-79 win. Stay tuned, the story between these two isn’t over!
The New Orleans Pelicans announced that Anthony Davisis done for the season and will be shut down as he recovers from injury.
Finally, the Cleveland Cavs lost on the road in Miami 122-101. Why is this significant? It’s the 11th consecutive home victory for the Heat over the Cavs.
Soccer
The Champions League final 8 is now set. Last week, we noted that Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Wolfsburg, and Benfica moved on to the quarterfinals. This week, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich joined them.
Remember that time that it was almost March Madness? Oh wait, that time is NOW. Let’s get into the moment with a little magic from last season…
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
College Basketball
Last week, we watched a bunch of really great NCAA basketball conference tournament games. You can check out all of the final scores here, but some notable winners are North Carolina (ACC), Michigan State (Big Ten), Kansas (Big 12), Fresno State (Mountain West) Oregon (Pac-12), and Kentucky (SEC). Remember, there are 32 automatic bids for the NCAA tournament, and 31 of those come from the winners of the conference tournaments.
NOW it’s time to embrace March Madness and the bracketology that comes with it! See here for the full bracket, and get ready for the magic to begin this week.
Soccer
Soccer on this side of the pond is back in action! The MLS season kicked off with all 20 teams having matches. Will the Portland Timbers repeat their championship-winning season, or does 2016 glory belong to another club? Stay tuned for all of the latest updates as this MLS campaign unfolds.
In Europe, Champions League action resumed with four teams advancing to the final 8. Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Wolfsburg, and Benfica moved on. They await potential quarterfinalists depending on this week’s matches: Barcelona/Arsenal, Bayern Munich/Juventus, Manchester City/Dynamo Kiev, and Atletico Madrid/PSV Eindhoven.
In English football’s oldest tournament, the FA Cup, last year’s champions Arsenal were knocked out in a surprise upset, losing 2-1 to fellow Premier Leaguers Watford. Everton defeated Chelsea 2-0, while Crystal Palace dispatched Reading by the same score line. The final spot in the semi-finals will belong to either Manchester United or West Ham United, who drew 1-1 on Sunday. Their quarter final replay date is TBD, dependent on the outcome of Manchester United’s upcoming Europa League match.
Other
Maria Sharapovatested positive for a banned substance at the Australian Open. She had been taking mildronate – a drug that was recently placed on the banned substance list – for ten years. Following the drug test, sponsors including Nike, Tag Heuer and Porsche have suspended or severed ties with the 28-year-old tennis player.
#rideforOlivia A global phenomenon The tribute to 17-year-old Olivia Inglis, who fell off her horse and died on a cross-country course, has touched individuals around the world
It’s conference championship week in college hoops land! We’re reminiscing over last year, but also wondering who your favorites for the 2016 NCAA Conference Tournament are…
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NBA
In all things unlikely, the LA Lakers upset the Golden State Warriors on Sunday with a big
(actually historic) regular season 112-95 win. This was the Dubs’ sixth loss of the season… no more parties in LA!
And, on Saturday, LeBron James achieved two milestones – with the Cleveland Cavaliers’ win over the Boston Celtics 120-103, he joined Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the third player in league history to have 700 consecutive games with ten or more points, and passed Tim Duncan for fourteenth on the career scoring list.
Ex-Brooklyn Nets player Joe Johnson has been on fire for his first three games with the Miami Heat.
The Houston Rockets and Ty Lawson have finally reached an agreement regarding a contract buyout. Lawson has struggled to play with guard James Harden in Houston since he arrived in July.
College Basketball
The last weekend of the regular season in college hoops was full of big match-ups as UNC took down Duke 76-72 on the road, Indiana crushed Maryland 80-62, Kansas got the victory over Iowa State 85-78, Virginia won 68-46 over Louisville, and Virginia Tech scored a surprising win over Miami 77-62.
This week it’s all about the conference championships (schedule here) which will lead us right into bracketology aka MARCH MADNESS. Because, ready or not…
Soccer
Leicester City is still sitting at the top of the table , five points ahead of their closest challengers, after Saturday’s 1-0 win over Watford. #5 West Ham United scored a 3-2 win over Everton, and #2 and #3 Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal (respectively) drew 2-2 in the North London derby despite Arsenal losing Francis Coquelin early on in the second half. #4 Manchester City had a great Saturday with a 4-0 win over Aston Villa, which closed their gap on the top 3 rivals.
Two top-10 teams, Chelsea and Stoke City, drew 1-1 and on Sunday, Liverpool beat Crystal Palace2-1 and West Bromwich Albion took home a win over Manchester United, 1-0, after midfielder Juan Mata was sent off the field after 27 minutes.
And, in the German Bundesliga, we watched a fantastic, fast-paced game of football between top 2 teams Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. The match ended in a 0-0 draw, and Bayern Munich still remains 5 points ahead at the top of the league table.
Other
Aroldis Chapman, the New York Yankees closer, was suspended for 30 games after violating MLB’s domestic violence policy. The Cuban-born player is in the process of applying for United States citizenship at this time.
Conor McGregor was defeated by Nate Diaz in two rounds at UFC 196 on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Good Morning, Team SQ! Let’s talk about Steph and his 32-foot OT game-winner on Saturday night. No, really… Watch:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NBA
Like we said in the intro, Saturday night arguably featured the game of the season as the Golden State Warriors topped the Oklahoma City Thunder in OT 121-118 on the road. Oh, and Steph Curry tied the NBA record with 12 threes in a game. He now holds the top three spots on the single season 3-pointer list. Yep, just another day.
In Eastern conference news, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Washington Wizards on Sunday 113-99… and JR Smith is concerned. Seeing how LeBron James didn’t play… we think they’ll be just fine.
Oh, and in terms of what to watch this week?? It’s gotta be the Thunder/Warriors rematch on Thursday at 10:30 pm EST in Oakland. Steph, Westbrook, KD, Draymond, Klay…oh my! We can’t wait.
College Basketball
We’re coming upon the last week of the regular season and teams are starting to feel the pressure. Ohio State upset Iowa State 68-64 on Saturday, North Carolina fell to Virginia 74-79 on Saturday night, and Duke lost to Pittsburgh 62-76 on Sunday afternoon.
UNC at Duke – Saturday, March 5th at 6:30pm on ESPN
Soccer
During the past week, Arsenal lost 0-2 against Barcelona in the Champions League, Juventus drew 2-2 against Bayern Munich, Manchester City beat Dynamo Kiev 3-1, and PSV Eindhoven drew 0-0 against Atletico Madrid. On Saturday, Leicester City took home a late 1-0 win against Norwich City to stay at the top of the table and Chelsea scored a 2-1 win over Southampton. On Sunday in EPL, Manchester United won 3-2 over Arsenal (which brought them within striking distance of Man City’s 4th place spot in the table) and Tottenham Hotspur scored 2-1 over Swansea City. And, in Sunday’s Capital One Cup, Manchester City beat Liverpool to win on penalties. Their goalkeeper, Willy Caballero, was the star of the show as they won the shootout 3-1 after the match finished 1-1.
And in global football news, FIFA has a new president. Gianni Infantino was elected to replace Sepp Blatter.
Other
One day before the NHL trade deadline, the New York Rangers acquired a new player – Carolina Hurricanes’ center Eric Staal. In exchange for Staal, the Rangers gave the Hurricanes a second-round pick in 2016 and 2017, as well as Aleksi Saarela. The deadline is 3pm EST on Monday, so pay attention ’til then!
Memorable Moments Did you see LeBron in Trainwreck? We thought he was pretty great! Even though a bunch of athletes were featured in films this year, they didn’t get any Oscar credits
Good Morning! What’s the story of the morning you ask? It’s all about Anthony Davis. The New Orleans Pelicans’ star had a 59-point 29 rebound kinda game… um yeah, highlights here:
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NBA
All Star break has come and gone, and now it’s time to get back to hoops. This weekend, the Golden State Warriorsovercame a surprising 30+ point loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday to top the LA Clipperson Saturday night 115-112, while the Cleveland Cavs won on the road 115-92 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, even though they lost Kyrie Irving early in the game.
Notable trades/acquisitions coming out of the break include the Cleveland Cavs picking up Channing Frye and the Detroit Pistons getting Tobias Harris.
This week tune in for the following games:
Golden State Warriors v. Miami Heat – Wednesday, February 24th at 7:30pm EST
San Antonio Spurs v. Houston Rockets – Saturday, Feburary 27th at 8:00pm EST
Golden State Warriors v. Oklahoma City Thunder – Saturday, February 27th at 8:30pm EST
College Basketball
College hoops remain quite all over the place this season. To recap:
Duke beat UNC last Wednesday in a Tobacco road showdown and then lost to Louisville on the road on Saturday.
Kentucky was upset by Texas A&M in overtime on Saturday.
This week, continue to enjoy all the crazy and get ready for the last two weeks of regular season play before the conference tournaments begin!
Soccer
On Saturday’s fifth round of the FA Cup, in a repeat of last year’s final, Arsenal drew 0-0 against Hull City. They will play again on Tuesday, March 8th to determine which team will move forward to the quarter-finals. On Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur lost 0-1 to Crystal Palace and Manchester City fell 1-5 to Chelsea. Quarter-finals will take place on Saturday, March 12th.
We’re down to the final 16 for the UEFA Champions League – in the first half of leg 1, Benfica won 1-0 over Zenit St Petersburg, Paris Saint-Germain scored a 2-1 win over Chelsea, KAA Gent lost 2-3 to VfL Wolfsburg and Real Madrid beat AS Roma 2-0. The rest of leg 1 begins this Tuesday the 23rd with Arsenal taking on Barcelona, Juventus taking on Bayern Munich, and the other two games take place on Wednesday the 24th with Dynamo Kiev playing Manchester City and PSV Eindhoven playing Atletico Madrid.
Other
In Sunday’s Daytona 500, Denny Hamlin beat Martin Truex Jr. by hustling into first place at the last second. This was the closest finish in history.
The Kingsbridge Project A monumental new ice hockey venture in New York Mark Messier (the former New York Rangers team captain) is heading up the construction of the proposed nine-rink Kingsbridge National Ice Center in the Bronx. The structure will provide space for college and high school hockey, as well as adult leagues like the N.W.H.L.
Happy Tuesday, Team SQ! What did you miss this weekend? The Kobe Bryant farewell tour, aka the NBA All-Star game. See highlights here:
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NBA
Like we said in the intro, the NBA All-Star weekend in Toronto was the story of this past weekend. Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors won the 3-point contest, Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic and Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves put on a show in the slam dunk contest, and Kobe Bryant (who is an 18-time Western Conference All-Star) celebrated his last All-Star game in the league.
There was a lot of EPL action this weekend! Sunday started early with a 7am EST Arsenal v. Leicester City game. After hanging on to a 1-1 game with 10 men for most of the 90 minutes, Leicester tried hard to maintain their 5-point lead at the top of the table. But, #3 Arsenal pulled ahead with a last-minute 2-1 win when Danny Welbeck (who had been out for 10 months recovering from an injury) scored after being on the field for only 12 minutes. Leicester City is still at the top of the table, but they are now only 2 points ahead of second place team, Tottenham Hotspur. 24-year old Christian Eriksen pushed Tottenham to a late 2-1 win as well over #4 Manchester City. And, host squad Aston Villa suffered their worst ever home loss with a 0-6 fall to Liverpool.
Lionel Messi made soccer news with his trick penalty kick with teammate Luis Suarez – instead of shooting, the Barcelona forward passed to Suarez who scored over Celta Vigo. Barca finished with a 6-1 win, although until the last 15 minutes of the game, the score was only 2-1. Top three teams Barca, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid all won this weekend.
In women’s soccer, even though the USWNT had already secured a spot in Friday’s semifinals, they scored a 10-0 win over Puerto Rico in the final round of group play in the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying soccer match on Monday. Congrats to Crystal Dunn who scored 5 goals!
Ibtihaj Muhammad A New Jersey fencer headed for the spotlight She just qualified for the Rio Olympics, and will be the first American to compete in the Olympics while wearing a hijab
Super Bowl 50: Denver Broncos v. Carolina Panthers
The game we waited so long for, Super Bowl 50, came to a close on Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers 24-10 in front of approximately 70,000 people, but how did it happen?
Peyton Manning (Broncos QB): He’s the oldest starting quarterback in Super Bowl history at age 39. This was Peyton’s second Super Bowl win (his first was with the Indianapolis Colts in 2006), and it is not confirmed yet whether or not he will end his 18-year career with this win.
Von Miller (Broncos linebacker): Your Super Bowl 50 MVP! Tonight, Von Miller had 2 1/2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 6 total tackles. He helped the Broncos score their first touchdown in the first quarter of the game with his strip-sack of Panthers’ Cam Newton, and he set up the second TD. He’s the 10th defensive Super Bowl MVP – only two other linebackers in history have received this honor.
Cam Newton (Panthers QB): Cam Newton was expected to make waves tonight, as the Panthers had the best offense going into the game. The Panthers had only lost one previous game this season (until last night), and were riding high. Prior to last night, he was responsible for approximately 80% of the Panthers’ offensive scores.
Even if Peyton Manning wasn’t playing at the tip-top of his game, he was playing on a good football team. And, even though Carolina had the league’s top offense this year, the Broncos’ top defense won out.
If you’re already looking forward to the upcoming weekend, rest assured you’re not alone… because it’s Super Bowl 50 time! What do you need to know? The Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers will be kicking off at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California at 6:30 EST. If you won’t be there, you can catch it on CBS. GET READY FOR SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!
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NBA
LeBron James scored 29 points on Saturday night to secure the Cleveland Cavaliers’ win 117-103 over the San Antonio Spurs, who played without their star center Tim Duncan. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love also scored 21 points apiece during the game, to hand San Antonio their second loss in 16 games.
The Golden State Warriors will be visiting the White House to celebrate their championship win after their game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.
In other news, the NBA investigation into LA Clippers player Blake Griffin is ongoing. Griffin was involved in an altercation with assistant equipment manager Matias Testi, during which Griffin broke his hand punching Testi.
College Basketball
On Saturday, #1 Oklahoma took home a close 77-75 comeback win over LSU on Saturday to remain in the top position in the AP Top 25. #2 UNC remained in that position as well after their 12th straight win, 89-62 over Boston College. #4 Kansas scored a 90-84 overtime win over #20 Kentucky, and the Jayhawks’ Wayne Selden Jr. finished the game with a career-high 33 points (seven of which were score in OT). On Sunday, #8 Maryland beat Ohio State66-61.
Let’s hope that a weekend off did #24 Duke some good, as they lost 69-80 against #15 Miami last Monday. This week, we’ll watch the Blue Devils take on Georgia Tech on Tuesday at 9pm on ESPNU. We’re also looking forward to watching #2 UNC take on #16 Louisville tonight at 7pm on ESPN, #25 Notre Dame play #15 Miami on Wednesday at 7pm on ESPN2, and #12 Michigan State v. Michigan on Saturday at 2pm on CBS.
Tennis
What an outstanding Australian Open! On Saturday in the Women’s Singles final, six-time Australian Open winner Serena Williams lost to German Angelique Kerber. This was Kerber’s first major title win, and with it she joined Steffi Graf as the only German women to win the Australian Open. This win propels Kerber to no. 2 in the rankings, behind Williams. And, on Sunday, we watched a great game of tennis as #1 Novak Djokovic claimed his sixth Australian Open title with his Men’s Singles final win over #2 Andy Murray. With the win, Djokovic tied Roy Emerson for the most men’s titles. He is now looking towards completing his career Slam in May at the French Open.
Soccer
The fourth round of the FA Cup was this weekend, and defending champions Arsenal scored a 2-1 win against Burnley FC to propel themselves into the fifth round. Other teams that moved on to the fifth round this weekend are: Everton, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds United AFC, Reading FC, Manchester City, Shrewsbury Town FC, Watford, Crystal Palace, Blackburn Rovers FC, AFC Bournemouth, Hull City, and Manchester United. There are two more games left in the fourth round — replays between Peterborough United v. West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United v. Liverpool on Tuesday February 9th — before we progress to the fifth round on Saturday, February 20.
In MLS, LA Galaxy fans will be happy to hear that the team signed English defender Ashley Cole, who won four Premier League titles, seven FA Cups, and a UEFA Champions League title during his time with both Arsenal and Chelsea.
Other
The 2016 Pro Bowl ended with Team Irvin scoring a 49-27 win over Team Rice, and Russell Wilson won the Pro Bowl Offensive MVP award.
The Pacific beat the Atlantic 1-0 in the NHL All-Star championship to take home the $1 million prize, and John Scott, captain of the Pacific Division, was crowned MVP.
Ch-ch-ch-changes The I.O.C. recently adopted some new guidelines The policy now reflects that “…transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in the Olympics and other international events without undergoing sex reassignment surgery”
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:
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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 Panthersdominated 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 Bullsat 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 Duncanwill 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 Texas76-67, #11 Michigan State put a stop to their 3-game losing streak when they topped #7 Maryland 74-65, and #20 Duke beat NC State88-78 to end their own 3-game losing streak. On Sunday, Virginia Tech fell to #2 UNC Chapel Hill70-75.
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 United1-0, 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.
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!”
Happy Tuesday! Let’s start a short week off with some highlights from the end of the NFL Divisional match-ups over the weekend.
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NFL
First, things first, are the St. Louis Rams moving to LA? Yes, they are.
Now, back to the wild weekend that was the divisional playoffs.
On Saturday, the New England Patriots looked strong in a 27-20 win over the Kansas City Chiefs to advance to the AFC Conference Championship. The second game of the night between the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals featured a series of game-ending heroics starting with an incredible touch down throw from Aaron Rodgers to send the game into OT and then an amazing run by Larry Fitzgerald that led to a victory for the Cardinals 26-20.
On Sunday, the Carolina Panthersdominated the first half and overcame a comeback by the Seattle Seahawks to win the game 31-24 while the Denver Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-16 to move on to the next round.
What’s next? The Conference Championships, of course! Next Sunday, the Denver Broncos will meet the New England Patriots in Denver at 3:05pm EST on CBS followed by the Arizona Cardinals at the Carolina Panthers at 6:40pm EST on FOX.
College Football
Did you watch the National Championship last week? Alabama beat Clemson 45-40 last Monday night. This was Alabama’s 4th national title since the 2009 season, and head coach Nick Saban’s 5th career title.
NBA
Talk about a statement game. On Sunday night, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliersin a dominating fashion, 132-98.
In other professional hoops news, Team USA released the 30 finalists for the Rio Olympics roster.
Tough week for the higher ranked teams in college hoops. On Sunday night, #1 Oklahoma lost to #19 Iowa State 77-82, #20 Duke had their third straight loss after falling to Syracuse 62-64, and #15 Kentucky lost to Auburn 70-75.
This week, tune in for #7 Maryland v. #11 Michigan State next Saturday on ESPN at 6:30pm EST.
Soccer
League-leader Arsenal drew 0-0 against Stoke City on Sunday with the help of goalkeeper Petr Cech, as Manchester United won 1-0 over Liverpool after Wayne Rooney’s goal in the 78th minute. Other top contender, Leicester City drew 1-1 against Aston Villa on Saturday (just days after Aston Villa scored their first win since opening day of this season), Manchester City won 4-0 against Crystal Palace, Chelsea drew 3-3 against Everton, and Tottenham won 4-1 over Sunderland. It’s important to note that after City’s win on Saturday, they’re now only one point behind Arsenal and Leicester City at the top of the table.
This week’s stories highlight several important sports figures that passed away since the start of 2016. We’re so sorry to see them go, and our hearts go out to their friends and families. Rest in peace.
Andrew Smith The former Butler center was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2014, and died on Tuesday. During his time at Butler, the team went to the national championships in 2010 and 2011. His former coach – Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens – missed a game against the Chicago Bulls to visit Smith in the hospital.
Monte Irvin The Hall of Fame outfielder who played for the New York Giants in the 1950s passed away at his Houston home at the age of 96.
Good Morning! Much to discuss from Wild Card weekend. Let’s start with this catch from the Pittsburgh Steelers/Cincinnati Bengals game:
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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.
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 sensationBen Simmons, and a #3 Marylandvictory overWisconsin 63-60.
Other
Last week, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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
Happy Monday! Did y’all see Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls drop 40 points … IN ONE HALF last night? See highlights here:
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
On Sunday Night Football the Green Bay Packers lost to the Minnesota Vikings 13-20, who proceeded to lock up the NFC North. See below for the Wild Card implications.
#5 Kansas City Chiefs at #4 Houston Texans at 4:35pm EST on ESPN/ABC
#6 Pittsburgh Steelers at #3 Cincinnati Bengals at 8:15pm EST on CBS
NFC: Sunday games
#6 Seattle Seahawks at #3 Minnesota Vikings at 1:05pm EST on NBC
#5 Green Bay Packers at #4 Washington Redskins at 4:40pm EST on FOX
AFC top seeds are #1 Denver Broncos followed by #2 New England Patriots while the NFC has #1 Carolina Panthers followed by #2 Arizona Cardinals.
College Football
It’s all about the bowl games these days in college football and thus far they have not disappointed. Of note, Clemson beat Oklahoma37-17 in the College Football Playoff Semifinal to reach the National Championship game against Alabama, who dominated Michigan State 38-0 in the other semifinal match-up on New Year’s Eve.
In the New Year’s Six, we saw Stanford crush Iowa 45-16 in the Rose Bowl, Ohio State top Notre Dame 44-28 in the Fiesta Bowl, Houston beat Florida State 38-24, and Ole Miss get the win against Oklahoma State 48-20 in the Sugar Bowl. Oh and on January 2nd, TCU put on a shocking comeback to defeat Oregon in 3OT, 47-41.
So what’s left? The National Championship game! Mark your calendars for Monday, January 11th when Alabama will face Clemson at 8:30pm on ESPN for the right to call themselves the national champs.
NBA
2016 is all about the NBA. We are about a month out from All-Star and the halfway point of the season, which means games start to matter more and playoff preparation heats up.
Of note from this past weekend: The Golden State Warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets 111-108 in OT to raise their record to 31-2. There were two injury scares in the game but bothKenneth Faried and Stephen Curry appear to be okay.
This week, tune in for the Cleveland Cavaliers v. the Toronto Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks v. the San Antonio Spurs — both on Monday.
College Basketball
Conference play has begun in college hoops. This means more games and more excitement.
This week, make sure to watch #2 Kansas vs. #3 Oklahoma today at 9pm EST on ESPN.
Soccer
Last week was a big week in Premier League soccer. Going into the new year, it’s always an advantage to be assured of your position in the table, and several teams were able to start 2016 strong. Arsenal maintained their top position after defeating Newcastle United1-0 on Saturday. Earlier in the week, they rebounded from their Boxing Day loss to defeat AFC Bournemouth 2-0. Bournemouth drew their second match of the week to second place team, Leicester City. Also on Saturday, Manchester City overcame a 1-0 deficit to top Watford with a final score of 2-1, and Manchester United topped Swansea City2-1. On Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 against Everton,and Chelsea started 2016 with a strong 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
NHL
This weekend’s Winter Classic ended with the visiting Montreal Canadiens scoring a 5-1 victory over the Boston Bruins. Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots (yes, the football team!) was transformed into an outdoor hockey rink for the occasion. Check it out here.
Don’t play ball in the house But, you can play here Street Soccer USA focuses on social impact by providing a community for the homeless through sports programming
Did you get everything you wanted this holiday season? We got everything we wanted and more from Christmas Day’s NBA games.
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
NFL
Big news coming out of the weekend is that the Carolina Panthersare undefeated no more. After losing to the Atlanta Falcons 20-13, they now pound on at 14-1.
Monday Night Football features the Denver Broncos vs. the Cincinnati Bengals at 8:30pm on ESPN.
College Football
Bowl season is here y’all. While the big games may not get going until later this week, there were two fun games to note from this weekend.Virginia Tech beat Tulsa 55-52 to send Frank Beamer out on a winning note and Duke beat Indianain the Pinstripe bowl to win their first bowl game 44-41 since 1961.
This week, enjoy all of the bowl games heading your way, including the College Football Playoff Semifinals on Thursday (the Capital One Orange Bowl at 4pm EST and the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at 8pm EST) and the New Year’s Six.
The College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl features #4 Oklahoma v. #1 Clemson
The College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic features #2 Alabama v. #3 Michigan State
The Peach Bowl features #18 Houston v. #9 Florida State at 12pm EST on December 31st on ESPN
The Fiesta Bowl features #8 Notre Dame v. #7 Ohio State at 1pm EST on January 1st on ESPN
The Rose Bowl features #6 Stanford v. #4 Iowa at 5pm EST on January 1st on ESPN
The Sugar Bowl features #16 Oklahoma State v. #12 Ole Miss at 8:30pm EST on January 1st on ESPN
NBA
Let’s talk NBA. Starting with the Christmas line-up, the holiday games did not disappoint. The marquee match-up: Cleveland Cavaliers at the Golden State Warriorswas quite the spectacle ending with the Dubs getting a hard fought 89-83 victory over the Cavs at the Oracle. Could this be a a Finals preview rematch? We wouldn’t mind!
In injury news: Eric Bledsoe of the Phoenix Sunswill need surgery for a torn meniscus while Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers is expected to play through a sore knee on Monday.
If you’re not already, keep an eye on the NBA season in the New Year, as things heat up before All-Star and leading up to the playoffs.
College Basketball
Christmas break is almost over and soon conference play will be heating up. So enjoy the last quiet week of 2015 — 2016 hoops will be one to watch!
Soccer
Saturday’s Boxing Day matches in the Premier League did not disappoint. Stoke City scored an impressive 2-0 win against Manchester United as Louis van Gaal started the match with Man U’s captain Wayne Rooney on the bench. Diego Costa scored two goals for Chelsea, who tied Watford2-2, and Liverpool scored a 1-0 win (and their first win in four matches) over Leicester City. Sunderland lost 1-4 to Manchester City after City scored three goals in the first 11 minutes of the first half, Norwich City lost 0-3 to Tottenham Hotspur, and although Arsenal had won against title rivals Man City on Monday, they lost out on their chance to take over the top of the table on Saturday after losing 0-4 to Southampton. Your top 5 right now are: Leicester City, Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and Crystal Palace.
Check out these important games today/tomorrow, too:
Manchester United v. Chelsea – Monday, December 28th at 12:30pm EST
Leicester City v. Manchester City – Tuesday, December 29th at 2:45pm EST
NHL
The Dallas Stars are sitting at the top of the standings after their 2-3 loss on Saturday to the St. Louis Blues and their 3-0 win against the Blues on Sunday.The Washington Capitals won 3-1 against the Montreal Canadiens, the LA Kings beat the Arizona Coyotes4-3 to slide into 4th in the standings, and the New York Rangers finish up your top 5 this week after their Tuesday 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks. The Caps, Canadiens, Kings and Rangers all play again tonight!
Don’t forget to check out the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic 2016 on NBC on Saturday, January 1 at 1pm EST where the Montreal Canadiens will take on the Boston Bruins.
What did you think of 2015? Women in sports were more impressive than ever Serena Williams, the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team, Katie Ledecky, and others showed great talent. But, did you know that (in an alarming comparison) women list power in the boardroom this year?
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