Tag: Blogs

The Chiefs mascot had the most depressing reaction to the team’s awful start

Someone check on K.C. Wolf.

The Kansas City Chiefs opened their AFC Divisional round matchup against the Houston Texans with easily the worst quarter of football they played all season.

And all that disappointment was too much to handle for Chiefs mascot K.C. Wolf.

After a seemingly non-stop series of miscues — defensive lapses, dropped passes and poor special teams play — had the Chiefs trailing Houston by 24 points, the CBS broadcast panned to a tunnel camera that showed a depressed K.C. Wolf in absolute disbelief.

The mascot was caught on camera just slamming his head against the wall. If there was a video to sum up what Chiefs fans were feeling at that point, this was it.

Chiefs fans can relate, K.C. Wolf. They really can.

The best part of the video was that the mascot wasn’t even out around the sidelines. This was the mascot showing genuine disappointment in a tunnel — mostly out of view.

On the bright side, the Chiefs’ 21 straight points in the second quarter likely cheered ole’ K.C. up.

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Michael Thomas threatens to ‘pop’ reporter in the mouth during Twitter exchange

Yikes.

The New Orleans Saints’ season ended in the NFC Wild Card with a home overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings, but that didn’t stop Saints receiver Michael Thomas from remaining engaged in the playoffs … from his couch.

The Saints star spent much of his Saturday trolling Vikings fans as the 49ers easily handled Minnesota in the Divisional round. It didn’t matter that the Vikings were the team that ended the Saints’ season — Thomas took open joy in watching them lose. But Thomas’ Twitter experience turned especially hostile when New Orleans WWLTV sports reporter Andrew Doak subtweeted about Thomas’ antics on Twitter.

Doak first tweeted — without mentioning Thomas by name or handle — that it wasn’t a great look as a player to smack talk the team that eliminated you. To that, Thomas jumped in his mentions and called Doak “goofy.”

Doak seemed to try to avoid a back and forth, asking that Thomas be a better sport and deal with the loss in a better way. Thomas responded by saying that Twitter was his platform and that Doak wasn’t in a position to talk because he never played the game — an obviously flawed narrative.

When Doak tried to end the exchange and add that he was willing to discuss in person, Thomas threatened to “pop” Doak in the mouth.

Yikes.

While Saints fans will argue that Doak could have handled the situation better by not subtweeting a (very much online) player he covers, there’s never an excuse for Thomas to threaten violence against a reporter. It’s something that the Saints need to address.

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Michael Thomas trolled Vikings fans through their loss to the 49ers

This is the type of trolling I respect

Michael Thomas is one of the very best receivers in the NFL. Apparently, he’s also one of the best Twitter trolls in the league.

While Kirk Cousins and the Vikings were struggling to put numbers on the board against the 49ers’ excellent defense, the Saints’ receiver was on the internet getting busy.

This is the peak of pettiness for Thomas. Sure, the Saints lost to the Vikings last week. Still, he came right back to the Internet to let Vikings’ fans know that they’d be sitting on the couch right next to the Saints for the rest of the playoffs.

He let them know that their offense broken. It was mean.

He also let them know that whatever yards they were getting after the game was out of reach didn’t really matter.

And remember when Stefon Diggs did the “Choppa Style” dance before shaking Sean Payton’s hand last week? Thomas ain’t forget about that.

I’ve got to say, this is the type of petty I respect. When you can come back after a loss and still talk trash? You can’t do anything but respect it as an opponent. Shoutout to Thomas.

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Clemson snaps 0-59 streak in Chapel Hill, stuns North Carolina in OT

Clemson beat North Carolina on the road for the first time ever on Saturday.

The Clemson Tigers came to Chapel Hill on Saturday knowing they had arguably the best chance in program history to win inside the Dean Smith Center, with the injury-plagued North Carolina Tar Heels struggling mightily early in the season.

Clemson had never won a road game at North Carolina in 59 previous meetings, but thanks to the heroics of junior forward Aamir Simms, who forced overtime with a clutch last-second three in regulation, the Tigers pulled off a historic upset.

Clemson trailed by 10 points at halftime, and the Tar Heels remained in control of the game for the majority of the second half. North Carolina led by 10, 68-58, with two minutes remaining in the game – but Simms ended the game on a personal 9-2 run. With the clock running and the Tigers down three points, Roy Williams elected not to foul and deny a three-point opportunity, and Simms buried a game-tying shot with three seconds remaining. In overtime, Simms hit a driving shot with 18 seconds left to put the Tigers up by three, and the Tar Heels were unable to answer.

For the first time ever, Clemson players were able to celebrate a win on the road against one of college basketball’s greatest programs.

 

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Report: Kyrie Irving might return to the Nets on Sunday

Irving has been ruled “probable” to return to the court on Sunday

Last week, Kyrie Irving revealed that it was possible that he might need shoulder surgery to fix the shoulder issue that’s been plaguing him all season long.

Irving took a cortisone shot on December 24th to put off shoulder surgery and get back to the court as soon as possible. For the first time this week, Irving participated in a full practice and took part in 5-on-5 contact drills.

That work has apparently paid off for the Nets’ All-Star. He might play on Sunday when the Nets match up against the Hawks after being sidelined with his shoulder injury since mid-November.

It’ll be good to see Irving back on the court. Now, he’ll finally get a chance to justify his position as a leading All-Star vote getter.

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LeBron James: Lakers forward is out with a cold against the Thunder

Honestly? Just a cold?

All season long in the NBA, the term “load management” has been trashed left and right by players, coaches and pundits complaining that today’s NBA players aren’t playing quite enough.

One of the people at the forefront of the opposition against load management has been LeBron James. Earlier this season, James went on a semi-rant saying that he doesn’t believe in load management, and that if he’s healthy, he’s going to play regardless of scheduling concerns with back-to-back games.

“Why wouldn’t I play if I’m healthy? It doesn’t make any sense to me. My obligation is to play for my teammates.”

That strategy for James, right or wrong, has held up this season. He’s yet to be a healthy scratch. He’s missed a few games here and there because of a strained groin, so what he said checks out.

On Saturday, however, James will sit out the second half of a road back-to-back against the Oklahoma City Thunder with… a cold?

Seriously? A cold? How bad is this cold? Naaaah. Come on, LeBron. There’s got to be more to it with that. We have to get an Instagram story with the sniffles and some tissue. Something.

But, man, it’s just hard to believe a player who allegedly played through the NBA Finals with a broken hand and prides himself on being available for every game he possibly can to sit out with a simple cold.

Twitter was torn. Some people don’t believe a player as great as LeBron can be out with just a cold.

Others believe that he’s sick. And there’s ample evidence that proves he’s had a cold for a while.

Some people are just here for the jokes.

I fall squarely in that last column. These jokes are good. Imagine how upset the Dallas Mavericks are that James dropped them off for 35 points, 16 rebounds and 7 assists last night…and then didn’t play the very next day.

That’s sick — literally?

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North Dakota State stuns James Madison with 20-yard TD off a fake FG

Can’t expect anything less from North Dakota State.

We shouldn’t expect anything less than brilliance from North Dakota State, the team that’s playing for its eighth FCS championship in nine seasons while looking to extend its win streak to an incredible 37 games.

But James Madison was caught off guard Saturday in the championship game at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas when the Bison lined up to kick a field goal late in the first half and instead pulled off a fabulous trick play. On 4th-and-8 on the Dukes’ 20-yard line with just shy of four minutes remaining in the second quarter, North Dakota State looked poised to kick a relatively easy field goal and extend its lead to seven points.

Safety James Hendricks was in position as the holder, but when he got the snap, he took off to the left, and thanks to some perfect blocking by the Bison, he had a wide-open lane to the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown, giving North Dakota State a 21-10 lead.

Earlier in the drive, it looked like the Bison scored a touchdown on 2nd-and-6 with a little less than five minutes left in the half when quarterback Trey Lance connected with tight end Ben Ellefson for an 18-yard score. However, officials dealt North Dakota State an ineligible receiver penalty and moved the team back to the 23-yard line for 2nd-and-11.

A three-yard rush and an incomplete pass, both from Lance, brought the Bison to a fourth down and set up this perfectly executed trick play.

North Dakota State entered halftime with a 21-10 lead over James Madison.

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49ers welcome LB Kwon Alexander back with hype video ahead of Vikings game

Kwon Alexander is back.

Hype videos are normally hit and miss. They come and they go without a peep at times, but the really good ones can get you charged up.

And, let me tell you, the San Francisco 49ers dropped a good one here. They announced Kwon Alexander’s official return on Friday after he tore his pectoral and was placed on injured reserve back in November.

How’d they announce it? With a hype video featuring music from DaBaby along with a bunch of screaming, yelling and hitting.

Listen. I’m ready to run through a wall with this dude. I’m not even a 49ers fan and this video has me hype for his return.

He just has to play well after getting a video this good. There’s no other option. We’ll see when they finally play the Vikings later today.

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Mike Leach is disappointed Mississippi State ditched its ‘malicious’ visitor’s locker room

The new Mississippi State coach once said the Bulldogs’ visitor’s locker room was so awful it was brilliant.

Only a few months ago, Mike Leach described Mississippi State’s visitor’s locker room as the worst in college football. He told ESPN that the Bulldogs’ locker room for the visiting team was so awful that it was “the ultimate touch of brilliance.”

So when Leach — who was officially introduced as Mississippi State’s head coach Friday during a press conference — went to go check it out Thursday night, he said he was actually a bit disappointed. That terrible, brilliant locker room, which he called “literally a work of art” Friday, has since been turned into an office.

“I was slightly disappointed that the greatest visitors’ locker room of all time is no more,” Leach said Friday.

At the beginning of the 2019 football season when Leach was still the head coach of Washington State, he spoke to ESPN about Mississippi State’s visitor’s locker room and said:

“My heart swelled with pride because I knew that there may never be a better visitor’s locker room than this one. Every wall was concrete: The floor was concrete, the ceiling was concrete, everything was concrete. There’s no furniture, there was no benches, there was no lockers.”

Leach, of course, shared some in-depth views on the Bulldogs’ old visitor’s locker room:

“I wanted to go down memory lane to that old visitor’s locker room, the artistry of which I truly admire. I mean that sincerely. Maybe my taste and view on football and sports are a little different than others, but the old visitor’s locker room at Mississippi State was literally a work of art. And now it’s an office. …

“Obviously, if you’re the home team, you want to have most advantageous visitor’s locker room you possibly can. Nowadays, in these kinder and gentler days — it was utterly outstanding. Just the thought that went into it, the malicious intent, the ‘Hey, it’s tough to play on the road attitude.’ Yep.

“And I counted them and — if I recall right — 37 nails in a concrete block, two toilets with no seats or no lids in the middle. One roll of toilet paper in the middle. And I was convinced here I’d have the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of the locker room of that magnitude.”

Well, maybe not.

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Former NBA players come to Kevin Durant’s defense against Kendrick Perkins

Ah, yes. NBA beef. My favorite.

The NBA is certainly a fraternity of some sort, because what a fraternity without some type of beef.

On Thursday night, Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Durant went at it on Twitter. Now Kendrick Perkins is receiving blowback from all sides of the NBA world.

If you missed the Perkins-Durant feud, the current ESPN analyst sparked a dialogue by saying that Russell Westbrook is unquestionably the best player to have worn a Thunder jersey. When Durant chimed in, Perkins ripped him for going to the Warriors in “the weakest move in NBA history,” and questioned the legitimacy of Durant’s two rings.

Gilbert Arenas came to Durant’s defense with an entire dissertation about why Durant was correct in leaving, why RINGZ culture is toxic and a whole bunch of typos. Yes, I read the entire thing. Yes, my eyes do hurt.

(Warning: These interactions contain some profanity)

Basketball’s OG Charles Oakley also came to Durant’s defense, telling Perkins not to be like his dreaded nemesis Charles Barkley.

Matt Barnes also came to Durant’s defense as well, saying that everyone was entitled to their opinion but no one can deny Durant’s greatness.

Perkins actually responded to this one! He chose the “well, he started it” defense (which, technically, isn’t true).

Somehow, Perkins is cooking up a lot of beef this season. I, for one, am enjoying it. Don’t know if it’s him being on TV or if he was always just like this.

Either way, keep this party going big guy.

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