Lamar, Kyle Shanahan & Bills Exorcising Chief Demons Headline Divisional Round. Mike McCarthy Returns. Why? Pacers Trade To Compete In East? Swiatek Survives, But Other Top Seeds Don't At Aussie
If it's unrelenting, passionate sports talk that you're looking for, then look no further as I'll delve in on all that's transpired and what's ahead in the world of sports. On deck:
(2:49) We get to, what I feel, is the best weekend of football. The NFL Divisional Round. First up, a recap of Monday's two games to wrap up the Wild Card Weekend. My beloved Pittsburgh Steelers lose up in Buffalo as I'll have a postmortem (although Coach Mike Tomlin is returning in 2024) What does this mean for the team moving forward? The inexplicable happened in Tampa as the Philadelphia Eagles mailed in the final month plus with an uninspiring 32-9 loss to the Buccaneers. Should the head coach, Nick Sirianni, be fired because of this terrible stretch. I'll get into the three big storylines of the four games this weekend. Will Lamar Jackson rise to the occasion after an MVP regular season? Is it time for Kyle Shanahan to get back to a Super Bowl, considering the road to Las Vegas is a borderline cakewalk? How about the Buffalo Bills exorcising playoff demons against the Kansas City Chiefs, this time in their home stadium? And can the Detroit Lions get to their first conference championship game since 1991 with a win against Tampa Bay? I'll uncover all of that, including the puzzling return of Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy after Sunday's debacle vs. Green Bay.
(36:57) The Indiana Pacers made a significant upgrade to their team, acquiring Raptors guard Pascal Siakam, to go along with Tyrese Halliburton and Myles Turner. Can they compete in the East with Boston, Milwaukee & Philadelphia? I'll also discuss the sad and tragic passing of Warriors assistant coach, Dejan Milojevic who suffered a heart attack in Utah on Tuesday night. Oklahoma City has dodged a public relations nightmare as Josh Giddey was found no wrongdoing in an alleged relationship with a minor. The NBA will have another in season tournament with some tweaks next year. Will they have it during the same time (early November-early December) the second go-round? I like that the NBA Draft is going to two nights in order to slow the progress of a rapid second round as the league does their best to spread out the event instead of packing it all in one evening.
(50:21) On the ice, it's been status quo. My Islanders continue to sink in the Metropolitan Division and the Red Wings will be without Patrick Kane for some time with a lower body injury, unrelated to the hip injury dating back to last year.
(53:00) As for what's happening in the Australian Open, the women's side has had plenty of top seeds go by the board. Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula & Elena Rybakina all were ousted, which almost was the case for #1 women's player, Iga Swiatek, who came back in the third set down 4-1 to advance. On the men's side, it's been chalk as no major upsets have taken place, although Novak Djokovic has been given a run for his money as he's had to work to win the first two rounds in four sets against two unknowns.
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Intro/outro music by Cyklonus.