Wildcats Quickies: The NFL Final Four Edition

The Final Four of the NFL has been officially set.  The Denver Broncos are playing the New England Patriots, and the Carolina Panthers are playing the Arizona Cardinals.

The path to get to those four was quite a wild ride this weekend.  The Cardinals had to hang on by the hair of their chins to win.  The Packers and Aaron Rodgers were facing a 4th and 20 and Aaron Rodgers was scrambling in his own end zone.

Then the Packers faced a hail mary to survive and this happened:

The pass was caught by Jeff Janis, it may not make mathematical sense, but Janis actually had 101 yards receiving on that drive alone to tie it.

The Carolina Panthers roared into the NFC title game by burying the Seahawks early by going up 31-0.  They did have to hold on but won 31-24 and Cam Newton continues his roll of his career.  You also may know that after every touchdown Cam scores he gives the ball away.  The reaction by this kid was priceless and will make your heart feel good.

Finally we have the Broncos and the Patriots for a trip to the Super Bowl.  Manning vs. Brady for what is likely a final time.  It is going to be fun to watch two of the greatest to ever lace them up go at it in the twilight of their career.

TWEETS OF THE WEEKEND

We gone bounce back #BBN #BeSpecial

— Tyler Ulis (@tulis3) January 17, 2016

Did these just to show I'm #ALLIN with #BBN can't wait to wear these for signing day!!! pic.twitter.com/vRXpBlBCrw

— Jaquize Cross (@_JQuizz_) January 17, 2016

Ron Jaworski looks like the guy who splits 10's when you need the dealer to bust. pic.twitter.com/VYHetYElUu

— What He Looks Like (@WhatHeLooksLike) January 17, 2016

YOUR WILDCAT QUICKIES

• The ladies of the UK Hoops squad avenged an earlier loss to Auburn by winning 54-47 at Memorial Coliseum yesterday.  Freshman Taylor Murray's mother was on hand to watch her daughter play and she responded with a career high 14 points and 6 BIG steals.

• The Kentucky men's tennis team remained perfect on the year when they upset #13 Duke this weekend.

• Kentucky Football has received a commitment from 3-star 2017 RB Bryant Koback.  Koback is just under 200 pounds and runs a 4.3 40 yard dash.  Most 4.3 guys are speed only, at nearly 200 lbs and 4.3, that is speed and power.

• The Kentucky Cheerleaders continued their assault on the college record books by winning their 21st National Championship in the last 36 years.  Unbelievable.

• Kendra Harrison dominated the track and field game at Kentucky, this weekend she was honored by the NCAA as a top-10 collegiate athlete for her performance on and off the field.

• Tyler Ulis had 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists in the loss Saturday.  Would you have EVER thought that the third category Tyler would need for a triple double would have been assists?  Of course you didn't, nobody did, the mighty mite with more rebounds than Skal, Poythress, and Lee COMBINED is amazing.

• Three of Kentucky's incoming basketball recruits will be playing in the Jordan Brand Classic this spring.  Malik Monk, De'Aaron Fox, and Bam Adebayo.

• The McDonalds All-American rosters were released and UK was well-represented per usual. De'Aron Fox, Bam Adebayo, and Sacha Killey-Jones will represent the East squad.  Malik Monk will represent the West squad.

• This guy will be doing this kind of stuff in Lexington next year:

NON-WILDCATS QUICKIES

• In what has to be one of the best troll jobs I have seen, the Carolina Panthers took a tweet from Rainn Wilson (The Office's 'Dwight') and made it amazingly hilarious.  Assuming you watched the TV show 'The Office' that is.

• If you watched the Packers and Cardinals game, you saw the overtime fiasco where the coin flip did not actually flip in the air, so the referee decided to re-flip it.  The NFL backed up the decision yesterday.

• Since Tuesday, in less than one week, 14 of the top 25 college basketball teams took a loss.  That has to be some kind of record, right?  I guess misery really does love company.

• The NBA has fined Matt Barnes of the Memphis Grizzlies $35,000 for 'condoning violence'.  Barnes allegedly hit Knicks coach Derek Fisher in the face during an altercation and essentially said it was warranted vs. apologizing so the league took action.

• Former Wildcat hero Randall Cobb has been released from the hospital with a bruised lung. You can also see the absolutely insane catch he made on the injury as well.

• Titans interim coach Mike Mularkey is no longer the interim, he has been named the head coach going forward.  Apparently the Titans brass saw something good in the 2-7 record he lead them to down the stretch.

• Reggie Wayne has officially decided to call it quits, after 14 seasons in the NFL.

• In what has become the norm in Major League Baseball, the Baltimore Orioles grossly overpaid for First Baseman Chris Davis.  The contract is for 7 years, 161 MILLION dollars.

• Kobe Bryant has not only decided on the end of his NBA playing days, he has also said he will not be playing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

• Heisman Winner and National Champion Derrick Henry has made it public that he wants to wear a star on his helmet.  He is hoping the Dallas Cowboys draft him.

• This was an actual in-game shot taken by Joakim Noah, not a parody video.

YOUR RANDOM QUICKIES

• Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and I have linked the archive PDF of the speech here and you can also watch his iconic speech here as well.

• Saturday Night Live performed a pretty funny spoof of NFL broadcasts and how they love to show horrific injuries over and over.

• Once again on Saturday Night Live, they did a great job spoofing 'Undercover Boss' with Star Wars villain Kylo Ren as the boss.  Kudos on that one.

• in 2012 the FDA approved a pill that supposedly prevents HIV at a 92% success rate.  They have now determined the side effects are as mild as taking a daily aspirin.

• There is a saying 'the rich get richer' and it is playing out on a global scale.  In 2010, 388 people were as rich as the bottom 50% of the world's population.  As of 2015, that number has now dipped to 62 people being as wealth as the bottom 50% combined.  That means 62 people have as much money to their names as 3.6 BILLION people combined do.

• Is this guy the dumbest criminal of the year?He broke into a house, wanted money, they did not have it on them.  So he demanded the meet him the next day at a mall parking lot with the money, and that he would be wearing the exact same thing.  Of course, the next day he was there and greeted by police.

• If you are like me and you watched 2008's 'Cloverfield' and have been pining for a sequel, it is coming.  J.J. Abrams secretly made the sequel and it will debut in theaters on March 11th.  It is not a direct sequel to the first, but is supposed to be tied to the 'Cloverfield Universe"