The NFL Playoffs are Here
By: Alexander Dippel
01/10/2025
Football is in its prime, with the college football and NFL playoffs starting. In the American Football Conference, the Kansas City Chiefs clinched the number one seed with a record of 15-1, followed by the Buffalo Bills from New York State and the Baltimore Ravens from Maryland with records of 13-3 and 12-5 respectively. The Houston Texans are 4th with a record of 9-7. The wild card has the Los Angeles Chargers and the Pittsburgh Steelers with scores of 10-6 and 10-7. For the National Football Conference, the Number one seed belongs to the Detroit Lions after their win over the Minnesota Vikings. The Chicago Bears did not make the playoffs this year. The second and third seeds are the Philadelphia Eagles and the Los Angeles Rams with records of 13-3 and 10-6 respectively. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are fourth with 10-7. The Lions earned the NFC North, followed by the Green Bay Packers, who played the Chicago Bears, and the Washington Commanders.
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The division game in Lambeau field with the Chicago Bears, led by Caleb Williams, against Jordan Love’s Green Bay Packers, came down to a nailbiter. The previous matchup between these two teams came down to a field goal, 19-20. The game started with Chicago in the lead after a punt return to the endzone. This was followed by a fumble. Halftime had the score at 14-13; Bears on top. No points were scored in the third quarter despite the fumble recovery by the Packers. The fourth quarter came down to a field goal scored by the Packers kicker, Mcmanus, from 55 yards. The Bears got into field goal range and spiked the ball with 2 seconds left. In the previous matchup, the Bears had a similar scenario of 6 seconds left, and the Bears kicker, Cairo Santos, hit the bottom bar from about 58 yards. This time, the ball looked like it was going far left, but curved back in and grazed the post, signalling the win to the Bears.
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In the NCAA playoffs, the Penn State Nittany Lions played the Notre Dame Fighting Irish after defeating SMU and Boise State University. Riley Leanord led the Fighting Irish through Indiana and its tough offence and through the defensive line of the Georgia Bulldogs. Ohio State University plays the Texas Longhorns after the upset against Oregon in the New Year. The winner of each of these two games will move on to the championship game and be awarded the first ever 12 team playoff championship trophy.
Big News for the Detroit Lions
By: Alexander Dippel
12/20/2024
On Thursday, the Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers 31-34, clinching at least a wild card spot. Unfortunately, the Minnesota Vikings are close behind, and Chicago is the only team out of reach. If the Lions win the number one seed in the NFC, they get a one-week bye in the playoffs. Luckily, the Vikings are tied to be the second team at 11-2, competing with the Philadelphia Eagles from the NFC east, allowing them to play them twice. Injuries, namely Aidan Hutchinson’s, Alex Anzalone’s, Malcom Rodriguez’s, and Josh Paschal’s injuries, are taking a toll on the Lions. Aidan Hutchinson is expected to comeback by Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, assuming that the Lions make it. Anzalone is expected to be back by playoff week one. In college, the Heisman Trophy Player of the Year award went to Travis Hunter from Colorado. He is the first defensive player to win the Heisman since Charles Woodson from Michigan won in 1997, and only the second defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy.*
In hockey, the Red Wings beat the Buffalo Sabres 6-5, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils by a score of 4-0. The Utah Hockey Club beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2. The Calgary Flames lost to the Dallas Stars in a score of 6-2. Macklin Celebrini scored twice in the 4-3 Sharks win over the Blues. The Columbus Blue Jackets lost in overtime to the Washington Capitals.
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Basketball started in October and the NBA cup has started, with the Oklahoma City Thunder beating the Rockets bye a score of 111 to 96, securing a spot in the finals against the Bucks, who defeated the Haws 110 to 102. The Boston Celtics are favored to win the NBA league after quite a performance last year. The returning players for the Celtics include Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Jaylen Brown and other players.
*Note: Both Charles Woodson and Travis Hunter played offense and defense.
Upset in College Football
By: Alexander Dippel
11/15/2024
This weekend, there were many upsets in college football, including the Georgia Bull Dogs losing to Ole Miss 28-10 in Mississippi on Sunday, as well as Miami losing. The Alabama Crimson Tide won against Louisiana State University in a top 15 ranked match. Notre Dame also had a large win of 52-3 against Florida State University. Michigan University lost to Indiana with a close 20-15 loss. Michigan State University had a bye week from their loss against Indiana.
In the NFL, there were a couple close calls. The Kansas City Chiefs sneaked a win against the Denver Broncos 16-14, and the Baltimore Ravens scored a win against the Cincinnati Bengals 35-34. The San Francisco 49ers had a win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a last minute field goal to make the game 23-20. The Detroit Lions struggled against the Houston Texans, throwing two interceptions in the first half. The rivalry between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys was high this weekend, but the Philadelphia Eagles had control during the entire game, with the score being 34-6. The Arizona Cardinals also had a blowout, destroying the New York Jets by a score of 31-6.
Meanwhile, in the MLB, Shoei Ohtani led the Los Angels Dodgers to win the world series on October 30th, with the total score being 25-24 against the New York Yankees.
In Hockey, the Colorado Avalanche beat the Hurricanes 6-4, and the Predators destroyed the Utah Hockey Club 4-0. The Maple Leaves had a win against the Detroit Red Wings 3-1. The Las Vegas Golden Knights lost to the Kraken 3-4, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Capitals 4-2. The Wild lost in overtime to the Black Hawks in a close game, with 2-1 being the final score. The Sharks managed to sneak a win against the Devils 1-0.
Tigers Gave It Their All
By: Alexander Dippel
10/18/2024
In the ALDS (American League Division Series), the Tigers and Guardians were in the fifth game (in a best of five series) in Cleveland. In the fifth inning, the Tigers had a solo home run. It was looking good for Detroit fans until Lane Thomas went up with the bases loaded (every base had a man). The pitcher threw, and Lane sent it flying for a grand slam (a home run with the bases loaded)! The score was 7-3 in the bottom of the ninth, and the Tigers were desperate for a miracle, but it never came. So, the Guardians will play the NY Yankees, who have already moved on to the ALCS (American League Championship Series) and the NY Mets to play the LA Dodgers in the NLCS (National League Championship Series).
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Hockey season has started now. The Redwings lost at home against the Penguins, 6-3. The Blues and Sharks had to go into overtime, with the Blues scoring the first goal to win the game. Also in overtime, Utah won over the Islanders, 5-4.
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The Chicago Bears played The Jacksonville Jaguars around 9:30 ET (Eastern Standard) in London, England with a score of 16-35, Bears winning. Early in the Baltimore Washington game, Lamar Jackson threw his first pick of the season to the rookie from Michigan, Mike Sainristill with the game ending with Baltimore on top. Also in football news, the Detroit Lions signed a contract with David Montgomery for two more years, keeping the dynamic duo of Montgomery and Gibbs. The Lions played against the Cowboys in Dallas, hungry for revenge after last years loss due to Dan Skipper not reporting as eligible for a catch during the 2-point conversion to decide the game. The Lions had an early lead in the first half, 6-27. Laporta received a touchdown pass from a trick play where Goff pitched behind to Montgomery, who threw to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who threw back to Goff for the pass to Laporta. It looked good for the Lions until their defensive star, Aiden Hutchinson, went down with a broken leg, most likely ending his season and even part of next season. The score did end well for the Lions, 47-9.
Kicking it Off Strong: Michigan and Detroit Sports
By: Alexander Dippel
10/04/2024
With football starting and basketball and baseball going on right now, you can watch sports at any time. This weekend, we had some surprises, like how the Los Angeles Rams beat the San Francisco Forty-Niners 27-24, as well as the Detroit Lions wining over the Arizona Cardinals. In the Lions game, Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator, drew up a beautiful play, having Amon-Ra St. Brown run a slant to receive the ball, then pitch it back to Jamir Gibbs (who had 0 receptions, yet had 20 receiving yards) who ran for the touchdown. The other half of the dynamic duo, David Mtgomery, had a 15 yard run, but not the way you think. He got 9 yards before he was stopped, but then some of the Lions players also pushed, causing him to be held in the air as he was carried for another 5 yards! Talk about staying on your toes! The scores are now 49’s, 1-2, Dallas, 1-2, Lions, 2-1, the Chiefs, 3-0, and the Bengals, 0-3!
In the NCAA, Michigan had had big win over University of Southern California (USC), 27-24. It was 14-10, and Johnson picked it off and ran the 30 yards back to the endzone for a touchdown. But, the extra point was blocked. After, USC scored two more touchdowns, putting the game ate 20-24, with 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Then, with 1:30 left on the clock, Mullings got a 60 yard run to the 15 yard line. Michigan then got another first down. First and goal was stopped. Second and goal was also stopped. On third and goal, he got to the one yard line. It was it. Do or die for Michigan. They gave it to Mullings to punch it though. He was caught in the hands of a USC player, but it was too late. Touchdown Michigan! 27-24!
In baseball, the New York Yankees destroyed the Athletics 10-0, and the Rockies had a win over Dodgers 6-3. Shohie Ohtani, the Japanese baseball player, has 53 home runs, only 20 away from the record set by Barry Bonds, who also has the most career hits. The Tigers finally made it to the playoffs.
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In France, the Ballon d’Or, and award that is giving to the best player in the French league, is being giving to Vini Jr. The Ballon d’Or is a French award, one of the most famous in English Football, other than the World Cup, obviously.