BASKETBALL

New York Knicks center Enes Kanter has been accused by Turkish prosecutors for membership in a terror organization. A “Red Notice” went out for Kanter for having ties to cleric Fethullah Gulen whom the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, blamed for a failed coup against him in 2016. Kanter denies any wrongdoing and even refused to travel with the Knicks to London for Thursday night’s game because he fears he’ll be assassinated for his criticism of Erdogan.

After reprimanding his teammates for their poor play in a loss to the Orlando Magic over the weekend, and then another loss on Monday to the Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics’ Kyrie Irving, aka “Uncle Drew”, called and apologized to former teammate LeBron James for being a “young player that wanted everything at his fingertips”. He then apologized to his teammates. He explained,  “I did a poor job of setting an example for these young guys of what it’s like to get something out of your teammates. I want to get the best out of them, but I can’t do it publicly like that. I got to empower them.” The apology seemed to work as the Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night 117-108.

Yet again Houston Rockets’ James Harden and the Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry make history. Harden landed another 50 plus point game (58 actually). He now has 115 points (with zero assists) in his last 2 games!

With nine 3-pointers on Wednesday night against the New Orleans Pelicans, Curry became the first player in NBA history to make 8 or more 3’s in three consecutive games. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said it best when he stated, “It’s insane what he does.”

FOOTBALL

Isaiah Marshall, a 7th grader from Southfield Michigan, made history this week when Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh watched film of the quarterback and offered him a scholarship when he graduates. At 13 years old, Isaiah is the youngest player to receive a scharship from Michigan.

BASKETBALL

The Golden State Warriors made history (again) when they recorded a 51-point first quarter against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson finished the game with 31 points each. The Warriors are now a half-game ahead of the Nuggets in the Western standing. Warriors 142, Nuggets 111.

BASKETBALL

Even with a freshman scoring record of 35 points from Duke’s superstar Zion Williamson, the #1 ranked Blue Devils lost to unranked Syracuse 95-91 on Monday night. Before the loss, Duke had gone 104-0 in wins at their home stadium against every team other than their rivals at North Carolina. Injuries to two of Duke’s starters contributed to the loss and the end of their streak.

In the NBA, Houston Rockets’ James Harden keeps setting records. With his 57 points in a win over the Memphis Grizzlies, Harden recorded his 17th consecutive 30- point game. Rockets 112, Grizzlies 94.

FOOTBALL

Heisman trophy winner, Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray, announced he will enter the 2019 NFL draft. The reason this is big news is Murray is already a first-round pick from the Oakland Athletics for baseball. After Murray’s impressive season as the quarterback for Oklahoma, there’s been speculation on whether he’d continue with baseball or football. The decision to enter the draft doesn’t necessarily mean Murray will forego baseball, it just means he hasn’t ruled out the NFL and will decide after the draft.

The government shutdown did not stop President Trump from hosting the winners of the College Football National Championship, the Clemson Tigers.  According to press secretary, Sarah Sanders, Trump bought fast food from McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s for the players on their visit because, “the Democrats refuse to negotiate on border security” and “much of the residence staff at the White House is furloughed.”

FOOTBALL

The NFL playoffs are down to 4 teams and the results are not surprising. The teams that seemed to get hot toward the end of the season flamed out, and the expected top seeds will be competing next weeekend to win their conference and then go on to battle it out in the Super Bowl. In fact, it’s the first time since 2015 that all four regular season top seeds will compete in the Conference Championship. Here’s a quick recap of the weekend games:

1) The Kansas City Chiefs blew out the Indianapolis Colts 31-13

2) Thanks to Todd Gurley and C.J. Anderson, the Los Angeles Rams marched to a win over the Dallas Cowboys, marking their first playoff victory in 14 years. Rams 30, Cowboys 22

3) The New England Patriots are the energizer bunnies of the NFL by earning their eighth consecutive trip to an AFC title game in a win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Patriots 41, Chargers 28

4) Former Super Bowl champs, the Philadelphia Eagles had a chance to pull out a win late in the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Saints, but a devastating missed catch by Alshon Jeffrey sealed the win for the Saints. Saints 20, Eagles 14

Next up is the Conference Championships where the Los Angeles Rams will take on the New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots will compete against the Kansas City Chiefs.

TENNIS

Spanish police have arrested 15 people so far, including some professional tennis players,  over a price fixing scheme linked to an Armenian ring. According to the authorities, players took bribes from the Armenian group in exchange for fixing the results of their matches.

In advance of the upcoming Australian Open, former US Open and Wimbledon Champ, Andy Murray announced he might be retiring after the tournament. At 31 years old, Murray has suffered from hip issues and had hip surgery last January. Murray’s retirement will be a big blow to the sport as he, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the main draws in men’s tennis.

FOOTBALL

Here’s the schedule for the NFL divisional round playoffs this weekend (all times EST):

Saturday: 4:35 pm-Indianapolis Colts vs Kansas City Chiefs

Saturday: 8:15 pm-Dallas vs Los Angeles Rams

Sunday: 1:05 pm-Los Angeles Chargers vs New England Patriots

Sunday: 4:40 pm-Philadelphia Eagles vs New Orleans Saints

FOOTBALL/BASEBALL

Tim Tebow, former Heisman trophy winner, NFL player with the Broncos and Jets and currently in the NY Mets farm system, is recently engaged to Miss Universe 2017, Demi–Leigh Nel–Peters from South Africa.

FOOTBALL

The eight teams in the divisional playoffs this weekend are working hard to advance to the conference championship on January 20th, then on to the Super Bowl. Every NFL coach has his own methods for conditioning and motivating players. Sean Payton, coach of the New Orleans Saints,  put the Vince Lombardy Trophy, a ring and $225,000 in cash on display to remind players what they would get if they win their next three games. The Saints will have to get past the defending Super Bowl champs, the Philadelphia Eagles, on Sunday to get one step closer to this stash.

In more NFL coaching news, the New York Jets hired Adam Gase away from their division rival, the Miami Dolphins. Gase is considered a quarterback guru, and the Jets are hoping he’ll work his wonders on rookie quarterback Sam Darnold.

FOOTBALL

After his team won the College Football National Championship on Monday, Clemson’s head coach Dabo Swinney excitedly pronounced “There ain’t never been a 15-0 team in college football history.” Swinney was misinformed. Two teams have achieved this feat: Yale went 16-0 in 189,  and the University of Pennsylvania Quakers went 15-0 in 1897. According to Tom Perrin’s Football: A College History, the 1897 Quakers were “maybe their greatest team ever.”

The NFL coaching carousel continues. Kliff Kingsbury, the former Texas Tech coach and University of Southern California offensive coordinator and a quarterback himself at Texas Tech, was named head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Kingsbury’s claim to fame is he coached Kansas City Chiefs quarterback phenom Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech.

Bruce Arians, the retired former Arizona Cardinals coach, will take the helm for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Arians retired last year due to some health-related issues, but with a new four-year contract, Buccaneers owner Bryan Glazer said, “Bruce Arians is one of the NFL’s most well-respected coaches over the past two decades and we are excited to have him leading our team.”

FOOTBALL

The Clemson Tigers completely dominated the Alabama Crimson Tide in the National Championship game to win their third national championship in the school’s history. The story of the game, including talk of how Alabama’s defense didn’t show up, was the remarkable play of Clemson’s true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence is 19 years old and is only the second true freshman to win a national championship. Lawrence won offensive player of the game with 347 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.

The other big story of the game was the other true freshman, Justyn Ross, who made two unbelievable grabs. Need to watch these highlights. Clemson 44, Alabama 16

In the NFL, as reported on Monday, the Chicago Bears lost a heartbreaking playoff game to the Philadelphia Eagles after Bears’ kicker Cody Parkey missed a 43-yard field goal. A day later, the NFL ruled the missed kick was actually a blocked field goal. The ruling doesn’t change anything about the game other than hopefully making Parkey feel a bit better about the loss.

FOOTBALL

The NFL’s wild card weekend did not disappoint.

The Dallas Cowboys battled it out with the Seattle Seahawks, but hung on for the win and will play the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional playoff January 12th. Cowboys 24, Seahawks 22

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is having quite a season and isn’t slowing down. His two touchdowns and 222 yards against the Houston Texans on Saturday pulled his team to the divisional round in an easy 21-7 win. Up next for the Colts is the Kansas City Chiefs.

Thanks to 5 field goals and a tough defense, the Los Angeles Chargers held off the Baltimore Ravens and their rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson to advance to the next round of the playoffs where they’ll face the New England Patriots. Chargers 23, Ravens 17

On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles, led again by backup quarterback Nick Foles, beat the Chicago Bears in a close game that came down to a heartbreaking missed 43-yard field goal by Bears’ kicker Cody Parkey. Foles led the Eagles to a surprising Super Bowl win last year after starter Carson Wentz blew out his knee. Wentz played most of this season, but suffered another injury late in the season, and Foles stepped in again leading his team to victories. The Eagles will try and keep their unlikely winning season alive when they play top ranked New Orleans next weekend in the divisional round. Eagles 16, Bears 15

BASKETBALL

The Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings made history over the weekend when they combined for a record 41 3-pointers (21 for the Warriors and 20 for the Kings).The Warriors pulled out the win in this shootfest. Warriors 127, Kings 123.

FOOTBALL

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has selected their 15 finalists including tight end Tony Gonzalez, cornerback Champ Bailey, and safety Ed Reed who are all in their first year of eligibility. The 2019 Class will be announced on February 2nd.

The NFL Playoffs begin this weekend with 4 wild card games. The New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots all earned first-round byes. The other 4 teams need to battle it out for the opportunity to continue to play. Here’s the game schedule:

Saturday, January 5th at 4:35 pm: Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans than at 8:15 pm the Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys

Sunday, January 6th at 1:05 pm: Los Angeles Chargers at Baltimore Ravens than at 4:40 pm the Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears

BASKETBALL

The Houston Rockets’ James Harden put on a show in a nail-biter of a game against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night. Harden scored a three-pointer to force overtime. In a close overtime (with a controversial missed call by the referees when Kevin Durant clearly stepped out of bounds), Harden nailed an impossible looking 3 to win the game. Harden extended the longest streak in NBA history by scoring  35 points and 5 assists in his 9th straight game. Rockets 135, Warriors 134