RIP To The Most Insane Play In Football

ARE YOU READY?

We are 1 day away from the Sweet 16 and we couldn’t more excited. For now, we have to settle with some football talk, we’ll take a look at the NHL, and see what’s been cooking up in the NBA.

Let’s get this party started.

P.S.. we might even have a sweet story about America’s middle-aged sweetheart.

The NFL Did What?

✅ Ban high hits on players to reduce concussions and liability of future payouts from lawsuits

✅ Ban low tackles because players are breaking their legs and getting high ankle sprains because you can’t hit a guy high anymore

❌ Let the adults play the contact sport that signed up for and get paid for and let the big hits happen. Let football be football

✅ Change the kickoff rules so we can see more “action.”

Wait…. what’s going on?

The NFL is changing the kickoff rules so we get more returns, which is awesome, and we are truly all for it.

Before we get to the rule change, let’s discuss why this is changing.

Over the last two decades, the NFL has been trying to make the game safer

THE KICKOFF IS ONE OF THE MOST VIOLENT PLAYS in the game. You literally have dudes run full speed 40 yards and crash into each other. You had wedges and blindside blocks, dude. It just getting messed up left and right. IT WAS AWESOME. Until someone fractured their neck and had to leave on a stretcher.

So the NFL and NCAA moved up the kickoff, and now we have way more touchbacks. Even if you do want to take the ball out for a return, it’s still a violent play.

Let’s take a look at the rule change. This graphic pretty much sums it up, but here are a few extra pointers. Only the kicker and returner can before the ball is caught. Once the returner catches the ball, the kickoff team and return team can start to block, and they start 5 yards apart(look at the red and blue). This is a 5-yard football play, and the returner gets a little bit of a head start. This kind of feels like you’re playing football with your buddies in the park when you're 10 years old again.

I think the rule change will prevent major collisions but still bring back a great side of the game. I LOVE BIG HITS, but if I’m being 100% when it comes to kick returns, I’m not watching becuase I want to see the kick off team sprint 50 yards, I’m watching because I want to see Deion or Devin Hester take one to the house.

If you’re still confused, the XFL inspired the rule change. This is what the kickoff looks like. (maybe we should’ve led with that? hmm, oh well)

Clinching A Playoff Berth

👉️ The New York Rangers became the first team in the NHL to clinch a Stanley Cup Playoff berth this year. The Rangers got an overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers. IT was a wild game and included 7 total goals in the 3rd period. Adam Fox scored the OT winner for New York

💯 The Rangers are the first team to reach 100 points this season and this was head coach Peter Laviolette’s 800th career victory in the NHL.

👀 We’ve got our eyes peeled as a few other teams are ready to clinch a playoff spot. The Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Vancouver Canucks are all ready to clinch with their next few wins.

What’s Going On In The NBA

Better Yet, What’s Going On In Basketball?

🎲 There’s a story in the NBA that Toronto Raptors 2-way forward Jontay Porter is rolling the dice with his career. ESPN reported that the NBA is investigating Porter for multiple instances of betting irregularities. Basically some sportsbooks reported that on January 26 and March 20 this year, Porter’s play prop unders, had some of the biggest payouts and what’s sketchy is Porter only played a few minutes in those games and then pulled himself out with “injuries”. What’s under investigation is who made the bets and why Porter was pulled out of the games. Is this just a wild coincidence or is there something sketchy going on!?

👉️ The Lakers got a big double OT win against the Milwaukee Bucks last night and they did it without LeBron. The Lakers came back from a 19-point deficit, and Austin Reaves had his 2nd career triple-double with 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. Anthony Davis also scored 34 points and had 23 rebounds. Giannis also had a triple-double for the Bucks as he scored 29 points, had 21 rebounds, and 11 assists.

👉️ The Dallas Mavericks bulldozed the San Antonio Spurs 132-96 last night. Luka Doncic scored 28 and 11 rebounds, and Kyrie scored 24.

👉️ The GS Warriors pulled out a big road win against the Miami Heat thanks to KIay Thompson scoring 28 points and the Warriors being resilient in the 2nd half. Golden State was down 2 at halftime and outscored the Heat by 23 in the 2nd half to get the W.

👉️ The OKC Thunder had a 20 point lead in the 2nd half, gave it up, and then got some of it back to get a win agaisnt the New Orleans Pelicans. We’re not kidding. The Thunder gave up a 20-point lead that they had in the 3rd quarter and lost the lead with 6 minutes left to play in the 4th. Luckily for the Thunder, they were able to get control back and outscore the Pelicans 15-7 in the final few minutes to get the W.

👀I can’t believe what I’m seeing. The University of Kentucky is keeping John Calipari after he got bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Oakland! I think the school just doesn’t want to pay him out the $34 million!

📈The nation’s college basketball sweetheart, Indiana State, wasn’t allowed into the NCAA Tournament. The selection committee didn’t want to create any massive favorites; we are sorry for that. But we’re still happy to see the Sycamores play in the NIT, and they are being led by none other than Robbie Avila, the 6’10” center nicknamed Cream Abdul-Jabar. The Sycamores beat Cincinatti last night and advanced to the semifinals. Avila scored 22 points, had five rebounds, and six assists. Check out all these buckets!

That’s going to be all for today! We’ll be back tomorrow with more basketball and golf!

Have a day.

-The Daily Breakroom