❤️ Goodbye, My Valentine

Happy Valentine’s Day! Ah, yes, the day of love, romance, and affection. But not even my second wife can fill the void of football. The NFL season is over, and she’s not coming back (for a while). She still deserves her flowers, though. So, while the Chiefs parade around Kansas City, we’ll say goodbye to another incredible year of ball by recapping the 2023 NFL season By The Numbers. In other news, the sun came up this morning, which means we had another top-10 upset last night in college hoops. Finally, the C’s keep stacking W’s, and Connor McDavid is really good at hockey. Also, I lied: We actually do still have football — on the pitch. Let’s show some heart today!

WTF Stat: Last night, Syracuse men’s basketball got their first win over an AP top-10 team since beating No. 1 Duke on Jan. 14, 2019 - top-10 teams are now a combined 34-34 on the road against unranked opponents this season!

⛳️ Tiger Woods announced that he is partnering with Taylormade to launch a new apparel brand named Sun Day Red - Woods and Nike parted ways in January after a 27-year partnership

🏈 ESPN and the College Football Playoff have agreed to a 6-year, $7.8 billion extension that will make the network the home of the 12-team tournament through the 2031-32 season

🏒 Maple Leafs D Morgan Rielly was suspended five games for his cross-check on Senators F Ridly Greig during Saturday's game

🏈 Until Next Year…

It was an unforgettable run. But, as my first wife once told me, all (good?) things must come to an end. Just ask Bill Belichick. So, in honor of the NFL season officially concluding, let’s take a look back at 2023 By The Numbers. It’s not a goodbye, it’s a see you later. But, it’s okay to cry…

2023 NFL Season - By The Numbers

• 1: The number of home games the Cowboys lost this season… It was a big one - Dallas lost to the Packers 48-32 at Jerry World in the wild-card round

• 2: Representing the Chiefs back-to-back Super Bowl titles - it was Kansas City’s third championship in five years

• 3: The final score of the Super Bowl was a three-point margin for the third consecutive year - Chiefs 25, 49ers 22 (2024). Chiefs 38, Eagles 35 (2023). Rams 23, Bengals 20 (2022)

• 4 snaps played by Jets QB Aaron Rodgers before suffering a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 1 against the Bills - he might still come back this season, you never know!

• 6 interceptions returned for touchdowns by Cowboys CB DaRon Bland, an NFL record

• 8 head coaches were fired, including the Patriots’ Bill Belichick

• 9 players on the 49ers were selected to the Pro Bowl, the most of any team

• 11 rushing touchdowns were scored by Eagles QB Jalen Hurts from the one-yard line, largely thanks to the “tush push” - Hurts gained 39 total yards across all of his 15 rushing touchdowns this season

• 13 Chiefs games attended by Taylor Swift - Swift got 54 seconds of air time during the Super Bowl

• 14: The Panthers lost a league-worst 14 games this season but have zero first-round picks in the 2024 draft - Chicago holds the No. 1 overall pick via trade from Carolina for last year’s No. 1 overall pick

• 16 teams wore alternate or throwback uniforms in the wake of the NFL’s new rule to allow teams to wear multiple helmets - the Titans and Seahawks had the best throwbacks, in my humble opinion

• 19.0 sacks recorded by Seahawks DE TJ Watt, a league-high

• 22.23 miles per hour: the fastest top speed by a ball carrier this season, set by Seahawks WR DK Metcalf

• 27: The age of Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, who became the youngest player in NFL history to win two MVP awards

• 32: The number of years since the Lions had won a playoff game before this season - Detroit made the NFC Championship last month for the first time since 1992

• 49: The number of times Tony Romo said, “Ooouu, I don’t know, Jimmm” during a broadcast - I made that stat up

• 54 different quarterbacks started a game this season before Week 18 - nine first-string starting quarterbacks suffered a season-ending injury

• 70: The Dolphins beat the Broncos 70-20 in Week 3, scoring the most points by an NFL team in a game since 1966

• 177: Texans rookie QB CJ Stroud began his career with 177 pass attempts without an interception, setting an NFL record - Stroud would go on to win Offensive Rookie of the Year

• 285 total games were played

• 391.3 fantasy points scored by 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey, the most of any player - McCaffrey led the league in rushing with 1,459 yards

• 1,343 total touchdowns were scored

• 1,486 receiving yards accrued by Rams rookie WR Puka Nacua, an NFL record for rookies

• 123.7 million: The number of viewers for Super Bowl 58, making it the most-watched program ever

• $6.05 billion: The sale price of the Commanders agreed upon by former owner Dan Snyder and Washington’s new ownership group led by Josh Harris - the highest price paid for a North American professional sports team

• 203 days until the 2024 NFL Kickoff!

Our forever Valentine. Thank you, football.

Men’s College Basketball - Top Games

• Syracuse 86, #7 North Carolina 86: Things were all tied up at 42 entering intermission, but Judah Mintz (25 PTS, 4 AST) dropped 16 in the second half, and JJ Starling (23 PTS, 3 REB) added 13 after the break to lead the Orange to an upset win over RJ Davis (19 PTS, 3 AST) and North Carolina at the JMA Wireless Dome, marking the Heels’ third loss in five games - UNC beat Cuse 103-67 on Jan. 13… court storm ruling: narrowly granted!

• #4 Marquette 78, Butler 72: Pierre Brooks (15 PTS, 6 REB) led a late charge to cut Butler’s deficit to two with less than three minutes remaining, but Tyler Kolek (27 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST) and Marquette withstood the rally for their eighth consecutive victory, all of which have come in Big East play - the Golden Eagles will travel to No. 1 UConn this Saturday for a monster top-five matchup

• #12 Baylor 79, #25 Oklahoma 62: Jayden Nunn (27 PTS, 6-9 3PT) shot the lights out from downtown, and the Bears finished the first half on a 20-7 run to take control and cruise past Rivaldo Soares (17 PTS, 5 REB) and the Sooners for an impressive ranked win in Waco

• Pittsburgh 74, #21 Virginia 63: Pitt knocked down 14 triples, and Blake Hinson (27 PTS, 4 REB) was a force inside to snap Reece Beekman (19 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST) and the Hoos’ 23-game home-winning streak in Charlottesville - Pitt (16-8) has now won four straight and six of their past seven games

• Illinois State 80, #23 Indiana State 67: In Indiana State’s first outing as a ranked team since Larry Bird led them to a national title game in 1979, Julian Larry (20 PTS, 4 AST) and the Sycamores were knocked off at home by Johnny Kinziger (31 PTS, 4 REB) and a 12-14 Illinois State squad for a disappointing loss - Indiana State (22-4) had won nine games in a row, and fan favorite Robbie Avila (6 PTS, 2-10 FG) had a quiet night

See the full men’s scoreboard here and the current rankings here. See the full women’s scoreboard here and the current rankings here.

NBA - Top Games

• Boston Celtics 118, Brooklyn Nets 110: Jayson Tatum (41 PTS, 14-26 FG, 14 REB, 5 AST) had 31 points at the half, and the Celtics rolled to their fifth straight dub by easing past Mikal Bridges (27 PTS, 3 AST) and the Nets in Brooklyn - Tatum only took nine shots in the second half, and all five of Boston’s starters scored 14 or more points

• Miami Heat 123, Milwaukee Bucks 97: Bucks HC Doc Rivers fell to 3-6 since taking over for the fired Adrian Griffin, as Bam Adebayo (16 PTS, 12 REB, 11 AST) notched his second triple-double of the season, and Nikola Jovic (24 PTS, 7 REB) scored a career-high to lead the shorthanded Heat to a wire-to-wire win over Giannis Antetokounmpo (23 PTS, 11 REB, 8 AST) and Milwaukee - Miami (29-25) was without Jimmy Butler (personal) and Terry Rozier (sprained knee)

• Pheonix Suns 130, Sacramento Kings 125: Domantas Sabonis (35 PTS, 18 REB, 12 AST) had a grown man triple-double, but it still wasn’t enough as Kevin Durant (28 PTS, 11 REB) and Devin Booker (25 PTS, 9 AST) helped the Suns outlast the slumping Kings in the Valley - Sacramento (30-23) is 1-4 in their last five outings, and Suns G Bradley Beal left the game with a hamstring injury

See the full NBA scoreboard here and the current standings here.

NHL - Top Games

• Tampa Bay Lightning 3, Boston Bruins 2 (SO): Nikita Kucherov (1 G) added his league-leading 89th point with a powerplay goal, Andrei Vasilevskiy (36 SV) was a wall in net, and Brayden Point (2 A) netted the lone goal in a shootout to deny Bruins star Brad Marchand (2 A) of his 1,000th career win - Boston (32-11-10) is 1-3 since the All-Star break

• Edmonton Oilers 8, Detroit Red Wings 4: After a 4-0 loss to the Kings on Sunday, the Oilers bounced back by pumping Patrick Kane (1 G, 1 A) the Red Wings above the border, as Connor McDavid (6 A) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2 G, 1 A) helped Edmonton light the lamp five times in the 3rd period for a blowout win - McDavid had four apples in the final period, including a filthy spinning feed to Evander Kane (1 G)

• Buffalo Sabres 7, Los Angeles Kings 0: That’s a touchdown and an extra point, folks! Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (33 SV) had a night, while Jordan Greenway (2 G, 1 A), Rasmus Dahlin (1 G, 1 A) and the Sabres’ offense hung seven on the Knights in an absolute clown pumping - Los Angeles (24-16-10) is now 3-5-2 in their last 10 games

See the full box scores here and the current NHL standings here.

UEFA Champions League - Round of 16 (First Leg)

• Manchester City 3, FC Copenhagen 1: Kevin De Bruyne (10’) struck early for the holders, and although Copenhagen’s Magnus Mattson (34’) netted an equalizer to make things interesting, Bernardo Silva (45’) reclaimed the lead for City before the half and Phil Foden (90’+2’) stamped a controlling victory, giving the Sky Blues a two-goal cushion ahead of the second leg on March 6 at the Etihad

• Real Madrid 1, RB Leipzig 0: Leipzig had nine shots on goal compared to Real Madrid’s three, but the LaLiga side came away with the win as 24-year-old Alejandro Moreno (48’) scored an extraordinary golazo and goalkeeper Andriy Lunin made a string of saves to protect the lead

See the full international scoreboard here and the current UCL bracket here.

How much money will each player on the Chiefs get paid for winning the Super Bowl? (Not including individual contracts, incentives, etc.)

A. $55,000

B. $103,000

C. $164,000

D. $201,000

On February 14, 2019, Thunder G Russell Westbrook notched an NBA record 11th consecutive triple-double. Three days prior, Russ broke Wilt Chamberlain’s 51-year-old mark of nine straight triple-doubles set in 1968. Westbrook extended his record to 11 games with 44 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists against the Pelicans, but Oklahoma City lost 131-122. His streak would eventually end the next game, as Russ only managed to drop a mediocre 43 points, 15 boards and eight dimes. Throughout his 11-game streak, he averaged 21.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 13.5 assists. “Brodie” would finish the year averaging a triple-double (22.9 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 10.7 APG) for the third year in a row. However, after a first-round exit in the playoffs, the Thunder traded him to the Rockets that offseason. With a 22/11/11 season with the Wizards a year later, Russ has averaged a triple-double in four separate seasons. Oscar Robertson is the only other player in NBA history to ever average a triple-double in one season, doing so in 1961-62 - Nuggets C Nikola Jokic came close last year, finishing the season with an average of 26.3 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 9.0 assists per game.

NBA

• Chicago Bulls @ Cleveland Cavaliers 7:30pm ET, ESPN

• Los Angeles Lakers @ Utah Jazz 9:00pm ET, Local

• Los Angeles Clippers @ Golden State Warriors 10:00pm ET, ESPN

• Full Schedule

NHL

• Florida Panthers @ Pittsburgh Penguins 7:30pm ET, TNT

• San Jose Sharks @ Winnipeg Jets 7:30pm ET, NHLPP / ESPN+

• Minnesota Wild @ Arizona Coyotes 9:30pm ET, NHLPP / ESPN+

College Basketball

• NCAAM: Miami @ Clemson 7:00pm ET, ESPN2

• NCAAM: #11 South Carolina @ #13 Auburn 8:30pm ET, SECN

• NCAAM: #8 Tennessee @ Arkansas 9:00pm ET, ESPN2

• NCAAM: Full Schedule

• NCAAW: Nebraska @ #2 Ohio State 7:00pm ET, Peacock

• NCAAw: #21 Baylor @ #23 Oklahoma 7:00pm ET, ESPN+

• NCAAW: Full Schedule

UEFA Champions League - Round of 16 (First Legs)

• Bayern Munich @ Lazio 3:00pm ET, Paramount+

• Real Sociedad @ Paris Saint-Germain 3:00pm, CBS

Trivia Time Answer

C. $164,000. The latest collective bargaining agreement between the NFL Players Association and the NFL determined that each member of the winning team in Super Bowl 58 will receive $164,000, a $7,000 bump over last year's total. Players on the losing team, the 49ers, will get $89,000.

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Have a lovely Valentine’s Day!