Hello from the sports department aboard the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken are diligently working to fulfill their New Year’s resolutions by bringing you a wide array of sports, just like Jim McKay did in the opening of ABC’s “Wide World of Sports.”
Or something like that.
First off, football takes center stage on the 2025 sports calendar. The college football playoffs started off a bit lackluster, revealing that the 12-team format had too many teams. However, the quarterfinals did provide some excitement. Ohio State’s remarkable dominance over Oregon was quite surprising considering their inconsistent season. Now, Ohio State is heavily favored in the upcoming game against Texas, who had to fight hard in double overtime to overcome Arizona State.
On the other hand, Penn State easily defeated Boise State, while Notre Dame relied on some impressive plays to defeat Georgia. It’s worth noting that Georgia’s head coach, Kirby Smart, is currently dealing with personal tragedy as his father passed away on January 4 due to complications from hip surgery following a fall in New Orleans while supporting his son’s team. Understandably, football is not the top priority for Coach Smart at this difficult time.
A side note of at least some interest is how the Notre Dame-Penn State semifinal guarantees that the CFP championship game will feature a black head coach for the first time. I doubt the Fighting Irish or Nittany Lions fanbases are all that obsessed with this fact; winning the game and playing for the national championship is the sole consideration, as it should be. But it gives ESPN something to preen about.
In pro football news, the playoffs are very nearly set. The NFC lineup is subject to shuffling position-wise, but the teams themselves know who’s in. Meanwhile, in the AFC, one spot remains available for three teams. The Denver Broncos will secure the final berth if they can beat the Kansas City Chiefs on January 5 (good luck with that).
The Miami Dolphins will take the spot if the Broncos lose and the Fins beat the New York Jets on January 5, which is not necessarily a challenge, except Miami will be without starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The Cincinnati Bengals can get in if they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on January 4, and Denver and Miami lose the following day.
In the roundball round-up, the Miami Heat have suspended disgruntled forward Jimmy Butler while working on a trade for the player they swore a few days ago would not be traded. The problem is that trading him would involve a deal very few teams are willing to enter because of the Gordian knot that is the NBA salary structure. When your arrangements regarding what can and cannot be done salary-wise make the U.S. tax code seem simplistic, the next time the NBA and its players get together to hammer out a labor agreement, someone should propose something more straightforward.
Last, but certainly not least (especially to Sammy and Karl), hockey. If, at the season’s commencement, you had said that on January 4, 2025, the Anaheim Ducks would have more points than the New York Rangers, you would been laughed out of the room. No one is laughing now. The Quack Attack has won three of their last four games, with triumphs over top-tier opponents Edmonton, New Jersey, and Winnipeg. The Rangers? They’ve dropped 10 of their previous 13 games. Yikes. For a team that was supposedly in the Stanley Cup mix this season, that’s bad. Really, really bad.
