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The teams are set, and now the hype and build-up to Super Bowl 50 has officially begun. In one corner you have the Denver Broncos and in all likelihood Peyton Manning's final chance to get another ring. In the other corner you have a potential culmination of a dream season for the Carolina Panthers and Cam Newton.
The Broncos took care of the New England Patriots 20-18 in a game that was very entertaining and filled with questions. Bill Belicheck passed up two field goals earlier in the game and saw his team come down to needing a touchdown and two point conversion to force overtime when the could have been facing a game winning field goal instead.
The Broncos ended up having to dodge more bullets than Neo from the Matrix to hold on. The Patriots converted a 4th down and 10 from midfield with a deep pass over the top to Rob Gronkowski. This was after the Broncos had held the Patriots on 4th and goal the possession prior.
Facing ANOTHER 4th and goal after the Gronk deep pass Brady found guess who, Rob Gronkowski in the end zone for the TD. They had to hold once agin on the two point conversion and again on the onsides kick. The Broncos will be battling for Manning's likely swan song and former Cat Danny Trevethan will get another shot at a ring.
The Broncos will be facing the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers are 17-1 under head coach Ron Rivera and are riding the back of possible MVP Cam Newton. The Panthers dispatched of the Arizona Cardinals in impressive fashion. After dusting the Seahawks by scoring on their first four possessions, they scored 17 in the first quarter against Arizona to assert their dominance.
The Panthers ended up winning the game by a final of 49-15. The Cardinals turned the ball over SEVEN times and Newton finished with nearly 400 yards of offense and 4 Touchdowns. I like the idea of Peyton Manning winning one more ring and riding off into the sunset but I have to admit I will be rooting for Cam Newton and the Panthers in two weeks.
Newton is one win away from being the only Quarterback in football to win a Heisman, a National Championship, a Super Bowl and win an NFL MVP.
TWEETS OF THE WEEKEND
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) January 24, 2016
You're pretty thin skinned for a guy with the motto "Sack Up" @dandakich
— The Real Big Game (@Round_Daddy) January 24, 2016
Derek Willis and EJ Floreal keeping it all business. pic.twitter.com/h6di1ASlJD
— T.J. Beisner (@Beisner_cn2) January 23, 2016
Sometimes I envision Dick Vitale is just staring down the center court line for the entire game without budging while commentating.
— W.L. Mayer (@1st_Time_Caller) January 23, 2016
Is this what you want, Internet?! #BeRedSeeRed pic.twitter.com/SXVbQhOsAF
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) January 25, 2016
YOUR WILDCAT QUICKIES
- THE #9 UK Hoops ladies take on the #18 Tennessee Lady Vols tonight at 7:00. The game is in Memorial Coliseum and will be televised on ESPN 2.
- Many of the planet's best track and field athletes assembled in Lexington over the weekend for the annual Rod McCravy Memorial Meet.
- ESPN College Gameday will be live from Lawrence this weekend for the Kentucky-Kansas matchup.
- 'Cats in the NBA had a helluva weekend, specifically Saturday. KSR has a solid rundown of the top performers of the weekend. DeMarcus Cousins had 48 points, another triple double for Rajon Rondo, Booker with a big night, Towns with a monster slam, and Archie Goodwin with the impromptu game winner from three, as see below
- Former 'Cat Corey (CJ) Johnson likely made himself some money at the East-West Shrine game.
- Former mediocre coach Dan Dakich took to Twitter to attack Kyle Tucker for linking Tyler Ulis' high school coach voicing his displeasure with Dakich. In case you missed it, Dakich claims that Tyler Ulis is not a top-5 point guard this year, and that maybe he is a top 25.
- Personally, there is no other PG I would take over Ulis, but for the sake of argument I looked at some numbers. You can argue that Kris Dunn, Cat Barber, and Denzel Valentine are worthy of being ranked above Ulis. However, Ulis' numbers speak for themselves when compared to the other PGs that Dakich dismissively claimed were easily better. Not to mention that since Conference Play began, Ulis is averaging 19 PPG and 7 Assists. And Mr. Dakich did NOT respond to me the two times I sent this to him, ha.
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YOUR NON-WILDCAT QUICKIES
- The do not often get significant snow in the Carolinas, so Clemson coach Dabo Swinney decided to take advantage of it and get some sledding done. This is so Dabo...
- For years the argument among fans was that the American League needed to abolish the Designated Hitter and go with the more natural aspect of the game, making the pitcher hit. As the game has evolved everywhere, the DH is becoming more and more normal at all levels of the game, and now there is some momentum to the National League actually adopting it.
- Randy Moss has a 6'4" son that plays Wide Receiver, and he is going to play that position for the Wolfpack of N.C. State next season.
- With the Rams moving to L.A. and the Chargers likely to join them, there is a possibility that the Raiders could move to San Diego in two years. The NFL has a case of musical cities apparently.
- Good article on Ted Ginn Jr.'s journey from high draft pick, to bust, to now helping lead the Carolina Panthers into the Super Bowl.
- Floyd Mayweather is contemplating coming out of retirement... personally I wish he would retire to jail as he is a piece of human garbage that likes hitting women.
- With National Signing Day nearing us, here are some way too early predictions for possible HeismanTrophy winners. In the rich get richer, Ohio State has 2 of the 10, and the SEC has the majority of them.
- The #8 SMU Mustangs were the only undefeated team left going into the weekend, but the Temple Owls put an end to that.
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FB arrests by team, '15: Florida 8 Bama 6 Miss. St. 6 LSU 5 UGA 4 Ole Miss 4 UT 4 Arkansas 3 Auburn 1 Texas A&M 1 UK 0 Mezzo 0 SC 0 Vandy 0
— Saturday Down South (@SDS) January 25, 2016
- SADLY, The Above ^ is also similar to the SEC standings.
- If you have ever watched Peyton Manning in a football game, you have heard him yell 'Omaha!' on multiple occasions. Reggie Wayne has spilled the beans on what it means; it simply means he is going to the opposite side of the play call.
- More and more you are seeing student sections and fanbases trying to be creative with their attempts to distract the free throw shooter. There is a high school that has taken the cake by delivering a baby in the student section, as seen below.
Student sections take note. The @SheridanStuSect knows how to put on a show. pic.twitter.com/2BW2YH6bv8
— Storied Rivals® (@StoriedRivals) January 20, 2016
YOUR RANDOM QUICKIES
- Here are some pretty cool pictures of the giant Winter blizzard from space. And here are more great pictures of the blizzard from the point of view of those in it.
- Scientists are saying that one of the possible reasons we have not found other life and likely will not in our lifetime is due to timing. They hypothesize that extreme climates have eradicated past life.
- The same scientists who kicked Pluto out of our solar system believe they have discovered another planet in our solar system, this one about 10 times the size of Earth.
- Why are the windows inside airplanes rounded, I am sure this keeps you up at night, here is why.
- I know we all like to fuss about some of the things that go on in our great nation, and while we have a litany of problems to fix, it could be worse... you could arrested because of who you follow on Twitter. A South Korean man followed 'North Korea' on twitter and was arrested.
- Lays has announced they are 'upgrading' four classic potato chip flavors. I would try the olive oil and herbs one.
- is Apple planning to stay in the 4-inch phone game? This supposedly a leak of a photo of a phone called the iPhone 5se.
- Here is a list of the richest person in each state. The richest person in Kentucky is Brad Kelley, of Commonwealth Brands Tobacco with a net worth of $2 BILLION.
- Here is a list of shows that have been renewed and or cancelled for 2016.