Congratulations to Andy Reid, who managed to bone away yet another playoff game. And to Aaron Rodgers, who went to Jared.

Let’s hit it!

 

But first, a word from our sponsors:

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Amazon. I bought my one-year-old a Dot because he already knows who Alexa is.

 

The roundup:

That, folks, is tough to do. But leave it to Andy Reid to figure out a way to lose a game in which he was favored – barely, I know – thanks in part to a seven – SEVEN! – minute drive, down 8, at the end of the fourth quarter. This a year after he and Doug Pederson (gah) orchestrated a five-minute drive, down 14, at the end of the fourth quarter because they thought an onside kick had a higher chance of success than stopping Tom Brady. Even had the Chiefs converted on their two-point conversion last night – they didn’t due to Reid-ian holding penalty – and even if they hadn’t blown one of their timeouts just before scoring, leaving them with just one to stop the Steelers from running the clock out, Reid was, at best, playing for overtime. And somewhat infuriatingly (for Chiefs fans), Reid, who last year favored an onside kick to stopping the Patriots, decided not to attempt one despite trailing with 2:43 to go with only one timeout against the best running back in the league.

There’s not one thing you can put your finger on, and I’m sure Andy will explain away his misguided philosophy about wanting to tie the game and not giving the Steelers a chance to score yada yada yada, but the fact is Mike Tomlin and the Steelers baited Andy into dinking and dunking his way down the field even though the best he could do was tie and give Ben Rothlisberger a chance to Aaron Rodgers (v.) it late.

Travis Kelce, who nearly got himself kicked out of another game, blamed the refs.

 

https://youtu.be/19UeejrJcvs

Antonio Bryant is catching heat for live-streaming from the Steelers locker room after the game. Mike Tomlin warned his players to stay off social media and not give the Patriots any fodder, this during the Facebook Live stream which captured Tomlin calling the Patriots assholes as Brown preened for the camera. ?

That might not even be the worst of it for Brown. Notice at around 9:20 when he tells a female reporter (Josina Anderson?) that he wants to shower before talking to her and then says “she ain’t looking for stories.” That should go over well.

As far as Facebook Lives go, though, this was pretty awesome. Love the concept of players live-streaming from the locker room after the game. I’ll include it along with WWE-style NBA entrances as two ways to instantly improve sports.

 

Spike Eskin and the Rights To Ricky Sanchez Podcast organized a massive bus trip to D.C. for the Sixers game Saturday night, and the Sixers couldn’t have treated them any better. Brett Brown paid for $2,000 worth of drinks, while Joel Embiid, who didn’t play, hung after the game to take a picture with the group:

The Sixes are firing on all cylinders right now.

 

The Flyers-Penguins Stadium Series and Alumni Game is a distant second to the Winter Classic festivities from a few years ago, not the least of which because the Alumni Game was up against the NFL playoffs. But it’s still special seeing the Legion of Doom and all the others together on the ice. Eric Desjardins, meanwhile, looks like he could still play.

 

Just an excellent reaction (mostly) to the Cowboys’ loss from these Eagles fans. I give it an 8 out of 10. I appreciate the enthusiasm and steady, quality video. Bonus point for good lighting! But they lose points for the somewhat staged nature of the video. I’m not accusing them of DVR here, but I am accusing them of intentionally playing to the camera. Also, those pockets are obscenely high and there’s Marcus Hayes on the floor. Send in your reaction videos to get rated.

 

Dallas:

https://twitter.com/PHLAnon/status/820806910186258436

Busted Coverage has some more.

 

To add insult to injury, after the game sirens and a shelter in place warning went out to everyone left at AT&T Stadium, presumably stranding players there to wallow in their own self pity. Only downside here is that Aaron Rodgers and Olivia Munn’s post-game festivities may have been delayed by a few hours. Unless he took her in the hallway outside the auxiliary press area, which is a totally plausible scenario that… yep, I’m turned on.

 

Dick Jerardi, writing about Villanova:

The standard of play has been so high for so long that everybody at Villanova is now disappointed with 13-point road wins as 13-point favorites. ‘Nova beat St. John’s, 70-57, on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. It was never pretty with 20 turnovers in 70 possessions, but here is the more important number to consider: Over the last 3 1/2 seasons, the Wildcats (17-1, 5-1 Big East) are exactly 100 games over .500. Think about that for a moment, 100 games, a cool 114-14.

 

Joel Embiid talks about his Twitter:

“I think I kind of represent Twitter in the NBA,” Embiid said after shootaround Friday. “I like to think all the Twitter people, I represent them. But I never thought I would have this type of influence. I’m just trying to be me. If people enjoy it, that’s great.”

Embiid said he finds all of his tweets entertaining. Once he commits to an idea, he doesn’t turn back.

“Everything I do on social media is really funny to me. I actually think I [get] the best laugh out of anybody,” he said. “One thing I want is to be myself and I never want to change for anybody. I never hit the delete button. If I have something in my mind and I want to say it, I’m just going to say it.”

 

Walt Mossberg writes that streaming bundles are beginning to look a lot like cable bundles:

In other words, streaming video wasn’t simply different because it was delivered via the internet, versus a cable TV box or satellite dish. It was different because you didn’t pay for large, non-configurable bundle of channels that played shows in linear fashion and required you to use a digital video recorder built into the box (often for an extra fee) if you wanted to create your own collection of programming to watch on your own schedule.

But that’s changing, and it bothers me. Two big new streaming services, both owned by satellite TV services, have made a splash in the last couple of years, and, when you cut through all the hype about them, they are pretty much just old-style, linear TV services delivered via the net.

…

On Sling, for instance, you start at about 30 channels for $20 a month. On DirecTV Now, it’s 60 channels for $35 a month. Both offer other, costlier plans, with more channels, or add-on plans for HBO, or for specialized programming such as sports, or kids’ shows. Both are working on DVR offerings.

In other words, while the bundles may be cheaper and skinnier, they’re still bundles, not unlike the tiers of programming offered by traditional cable and satellite services. And you can’t assemble your own custom bundle. For instance, on DirecTV Now, if you’re on a budget and opt for the $35 a month “Live a Little” bundle, you’ll get Bravo, even if you hate it, but not the Cooking Channel, even if you love it.

I’ve been saying this for a long time. Two years ago, I wrote that streaming bundles were going to look a lot like cable bundles. I rolled my eyes at Sling TV in that post, but the concept of packaging content together has always made sense on so many levels– the shift to streaming won’t change that.

 

How Twitter killed SportsCenter.

 

Jim Gardner is a treasure.

 

After the Sixers beat the Knicks in come from behind fashion last week, Carmelo Anthony lost it.

 

“Chris Christie, sports talk radio host” may be the worst sentence I’ve ever heard.

 

Good news if you don’t have work today: You can buy booze for the first time.

 

Keith Pompey thinks the Sixers are showcasing Jahlil Okafor for trade partners:

Saturday night’s game against the Washington Wizards was more about showcasing Jahlil Okafor to possible trading partners than anything else for the 76ers.

They wouldn’t come out and say it before or after the 109-93 loss to the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center.

How else can you explain Okafor getting the start when he hadn’t played a single second in the previous four games?…

This will happen again. Okafor is being showcased. The Sixers will have five more back-to-back situations before the deadline. So that’s at least five more opportunities to display Okafor’s skills to possible trading partners.

That’s at least five more times that Brown, probably at the urging of his employers, will hype up Okafor regardless of the game’s outcome.

 

The Jaguars reportedly interviewed Chip Kelly in secret.

 

Podcast:

Airing of Grievances with Josh Innes:

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The Stepover Episode 17 talks winnable games, Brett Brown criticisms (before the Cavs loss), and some fun Joel Embiid stats:

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Number 1 Hockey Podcast Episode 2:

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