Super 54

By January 20, 2020MLB, NBA, NFL, Soccer, Tennis

Super 54

Missed us? We missed you too but have no fear TINK Sports is back to provide you what you need to know.  TINK’s return is just in time for the biggest sporting event of the year, Super Bowl LIV (or 54 for all who have given up on roman numerals). 

In a throwback to the famous Studio 54 nightclub, let’s take a look at what’s happening in the world of sports with an #OldSchool twist.

TINK Sports Big-3

Here are three things you need to know:

1) The Super Bowl is finally here and features a matchup of heavyweights: the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers

2) Baseball had a bad week with the worst MLB cheating scandal in decades

3) The NBA is at its halfway point with LA at the center of the basketball universe

National Football League (NFL)

After over four months of Thursday, Sunday and Monday NFL football, the Big Game matchup is finally set: the Kansas City Chiefs are taking on the San Francisco 49ers. 

The Chiefs took down the Tennessee Titans Sunday to advance to their third Super Bowl in franchise history.  Not bad except that their last Super Bowl appearance was in…1970, when Midnight Cowboy won the Oscar and Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water topped the Billboard charts. #Old or #Classic?

Source: Bleacher Report

KC and the Sunshine Band…Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, last season’s MVP and up and coming pitch man,leads the high-powered Chiefs offense with his rocket arm and #BoogieShoes.  He will try to bring an NFL championship back to KC after a half-century hiatus.

Their opponent, the San Francisco 49ers (who dominated the Green Bay Packers Sunday night),are headed to their seventh Big Game.  The 49ers are 5-1 in Super Bowls and looking to join the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots as franchises with the most Super Bowl wins (6). 

To avoid any scheduling conflicts, here are the game details:

Date: Sunday, Feb 2, 6:30pm ET

Location: Miami Gardens, Florida

TV Network: Fox

If the game isn’t interesting enough or you need a boost midway through, the halftime show should pack a punch with Shakira and Jennifer Lopez performing at halftime.

Major League Baseball (MLB)

Houston we have a problem!  Indeed.  Last week the Houston Astros, winners of the 2017 World Series and runners up in 2019, were caught in a sophisticated sign stealing scandal, a controversy some compared in gravity to the “Black Sox” World Series fixing scandal of 1919.

And heads rolled, quickly…Major League Baseball immediately suspended the Astros’ manager and general manager for a year but before the ink dried on the notice the two men were fired by their team.  The fallout also reached the Boston Red Sox who axed their manager, Alex Cora (Houston’s bench coach in 2017).  A few days later the New York Mets fired Carlos Beltran, the only Astros player implicated in the controversy, who was just hired as Mets manager.     

Source: Slate

National Basketball Association (NBA)

Ballin! The NBA season is at the halfway point with some outstanding teams and players strutting their stuff.

Source: NBC Sports

LA LA Land…Despite a nationally televised blowout loss on MLK Day to the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers sit atop the Western Conference paced by their two mega stars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.  Right on their heels, and playing in the same building, are the Los Angeles Clippers, led by their dynamic duo of Kawhi Leonard (last year’s Finals MVP) and Paul George, a pair of LA natives who returned home this season in search of a title.

NBA fans (and league executives) are salivating at the prospect of an all-LA Western Conference Finals in late May.

Freaks Come Out at Night…The Milwaukee Bucks have the best record in the NBA and are led by the reigning MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, affectionately known as the “Greek Freak,” who is having another outstanding season. #Whodini #80sHipHop

The top individual performers of the season thus far, in addition to the Greek Freak, are the Houston Rockets James “The Beard” Harden and Dallas MavericksLuka Doncic.  Harden is averaging an astounding 37 points per game, the most in the NBA in since Michael Jordan in 1987 (when defense was played in the NBA). 

New School…Doncic, the second-year Slovenian phenom, is averaging a remarkable 29 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists per game leading the Mavs into playoff contention…and he’s only 20 years old.

Soccer

Perfection on the Pitch (almost)…Across the pond in the English Premier League, Liverpool is dominating play with an incredible 21-0-1 record (64 points).  The Reds are led by forwards Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah as well as a fantastic goalkeeper, Alisson Becker.

Source: Mirror.co.uk

Tennis

Still battling devasting fires, Australians are looking to the Australian Open, which began Monday, for a needed distraction.

Living Legends…On the Men’s side of the bracket, the Big-Three, #1 ranked Rafael Nadal, #2 Novak Djokovic, and #3 Roger Federer, arguably the three best male tennis players of all-time with a collective 55 Grand Slam titles and 14 Australian Open crowns, look to continue their dominance.

The women’s draw is highlighted by #1 seed, Aussie Ashleigh Barty, #2 Karolína Pliskova, and #3 Naomi Osaka.  In case you were wondering, the female GOAT (greatest of all time with 23 Grand Slams and seven Australian Open titles), Serena Williams is the #8 seed.

Good luck down under on and off the court.

Share the TINK Sports love.

Remember at TINK Sports we watch the games so you don’t have to.

See you next time…

Want to keep up with the sports fans around you?

We've got you covered.

Sign up for the TINK Sports newsletter today.

You have Successfully Subscribed!