Carolina's Quest For Undefeated Season Thwarted By Loss

The Carolina Panthers’ road to a perfect season was dealt a blow by division rivals the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons defeated the Panthers in Atlanta by the score of 20-13.

There was a lot of “dabbin’” by the Falcons players and owner Arthur Blank was not left out of the celebration.

The win was vindication for the Falcons who dominated by the Panthers in their previous meeting 38-0. The Falcons also felt that the Panthers were disrespectful when they were posing for pictures on the sidelines during the game which was why the Falcons had no problem “dabbin’” as much as possible.

*Dabbin’ is a touchdown celebration used by Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.

In a move that will certainly cause many citizens of Philadelphia to celebrate like it’s 1999, the Philadelphia Eagles have relieved Chip Kelly of his head coaching duties.

After nearly three seasons with the Eagles, Chip is now on the unemployment line. During his tenure with the Eagles, he posted a 26-21 record. His first two seasons with the team were his most successful posting 10 wins in each. This season has been far worse as the Eagles will post a losing record and miss the playoffs for the second year in a row. It had been reported that the final straw came when Kelly refused to relinquish his player personnel duties as demanded by owner Jeffrey Lurie, a claim that Lurie denied during his press conference to formally address the firing of Kelly.

Offensive Coordinator Pat Shurmur was named the interim coach for week 17 as ownership begins the search for a new head coach.

Where will Chip Kelly land? NFL? College?

VIDEO: Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers gives the media his postgame assessment of the Clippers performance against the Brooklyn Nets on December 12, 2015. The Clippers won 105-100.

Nets couldn’t find a way to capitalize on momentum and finish off the Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers (13-10) entered the Barclays Center on Saturday, to take on the Brooklyn Nets (7-15), who were looking to extend their two-game winning streak while the Clippers were looking to rebound after a tough loss to the Chicago Bulls two days prior.

The Clippers shooting woes appeared to be a thing of the past as they made 11 of their first 15 shots to start the game with guard JJ Redick rediscovering his shooter’s touch. The Nets kept pace with the Clippers for a good portion of the first quarter, but their misses from the beyond the arc proved to be the difference, as they fell behind in the first half.

Trailing the Clippers 57-44 at the half, the Nets opened the third quarter with a 7-2 run. With Jarrett Jack leading the offense, the Nets were able to penetrate the defense allowing open shots on the perimeter. After being held scoreless for three quarters, Andrea Bargnani found his stroke in the fourth playing an instrumental role in a 24-8 Nets run showing their competitive nature and desire to end the night with a win.

Trailing by 10 points, Nets head coach Lionel Hollins employed the “Hack-a-Jordan” strategy at the 5:20 mark in the fourth quarter. With DeAndre Jordan, the Clippers center, shooting just 39% from the free throw line, it became a game of odds. Fouling Jordan slowed down the game and gave the Nets offense more opportunities to score. Hollins’ strategy was successful, as the Nets further cut the Clippers lead. This forced Clippers head coach Doc Rivers to bench Jordan, removing his shot blocking ability that alters many of his opponents’ shots in the paint.

With the Clippers leading by two points and momentum in the Nets favor, Doc Rivers re-inserted Jordan into the lineup with 1:35 left in the game. Breakdowns in Nets defense allowed Chris Paul and Blake Griffin to make key baskets down the stretch.

When it was all said and done, the Nets succumbed to the Clippers 105-100.

Even though it was a loss, Nets head coach Lionel Hollins stood behind his team.

"Maybe we take the lead and control the game, but I'm proud of our guys -- how they battled, how they competed," Nets head coach Lionel Hollins said after the game. "You know, it's just disappointing that we couldn't come all the way back and get this win."

Thaddeus Young led all Nets scorers with 18 points. Other Nets starters scoring in double digits were Jarrett Jack with 16 points, both Joe Johnson and Bojan Bogdanovic tallied up 15 points, and Brook Lopez chipped in 14.

For the Clippers, JJ Redick and Blake Griffin scored team highs of 21 points each.

Former John Jay High School Assistant Football Coach allegedly ordered students to go after referee

The country took notice when a video showing two high school football players blindsiding a referee went viral.

The video, shot during a game on September 4th, shows what appears to be a targeted attack on an unsuspecting official. People were outraged and wondered what would prompt such an action by two teenagers. This act brought national attention to John Jay High School in San Antonio, TX and scrutiny of the two individuals involved, 15-year-old Victor Rojas and 17-year-old Michael Moreno.

It has been alleged that the referee, Robert Watts, used the N- word towards players on the team in addition to hurling offensive language to the Latino players on the field. Coach Breed admitted to the head coach and school principal that he ordered the players to attack the referee.
Mack Breed has resigned from his position.

Jonathan Papelbon erratic pitch at Manny Machado is troubling

Washington Nationals pitcher, Jonathan Papelbon, was suspended for three games and fined by Major League Baseball for throwing a pitch at Baltimore Oriole Manny Machado. The pitch aimed at Machado is believed to be in retaliation after Machado hit a two-run home run off Papelbon two innings prior. Papelbon has filed an appeal of the punishment and is permitted to play until the ruling of the appeal is determined.

A former Milwaukee Bucks dancer is suing the team for “prolific wage abuse”

Laura Herington claims that she was grossly underpaid while employed as a dancer by the Milwaukee Bucks.

The dancers are paid flat fees for games, practices and personal appearances with the total aggregate of hours spent sometimes averaging $3-4 per week. As of now, the Bucks organization has not commented about this case. At this point in time, Herington is the first NBA dancer to file such a suit. However, the NFL has faced complaints by some of its cheerleaders, with the Raiders reaching a settlement with their cheerleaders.

In 2014, the Raiderettes filed suit against the Oakland Raiders claiming that their wages were held until the end of the season, they were forced to pay for many of their business expenses and one cheerleader claimed that her wages were less than $5.o0 an hour.

Are Chip Kelly's personnel changes at Philadelphia Eagles Boom or Bust?

At the end of the 2012-2013 season, the Philadelphia Eagles fired longtime coach Andy Reid after his team won a paltry four games. When the Philadelphia Eagles hired Chip Kelly as their new head coach, he was a breath of fresh air. He was going to bring about new changes and a high powered offense. He achieved success on the collegiate level with his style of offense and some questioned whether or not his system would translate to the professional level.

Kelly believes in moving the ball as quickly as possible down the field, rarely letting the play clock run down. His philosophy is meant to keep the opposing defense on the field as long as possible leaving them too tired to properly defend. In his first two seasons, he led the team to a 10-6 record both times, making it to the playoffs in his first season but lost to the New Orleans Saints. Chip seemed to have silenced the doubters because his offense ranked second and fifth in the league respectively in his first two seasons.

During this offseason, Chip Kelly made what some would call highly questionable personnel changes in the offseason. He traded running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills. During his tenure under Chip, McCoy ranked in the top five in terms of rushing yards. At the age of 27, McCoy is considered to be entering the downside of his career as most running backs’ careers last an average of 3 years. Trading McCoy cleared room in the salary cap leaving the opportunity to either keep current talent or acquire new players. Then, he traded quarterback Nick Foles for Sam Bradford. This move was peculiar because Bradford has a history of serious knee injuries and didn’t play at all last season. Along with Foles and McCoy, efficient wide receiver Jeremy Maclin was sent packing to a new home. In one of the splashiest moves, the Eagles acquired leading rusher DeMarco Murray after the Dallas Cowboys did not meet his salary demands.

So far this year, the once high-powered offense has been replaced with one that struggles to score. The Eagles are last in the league in total rushing yards. Last season, DeMarco was the league’s leading rusher and thus far has been a shell of himself and his fellow running back Ryan Matthews hasn’t fared much better. Sam Bradford shows the signs of a person who has not played for a full season. The passing game has suffered because of Bradford’s lack of comfort in a new system and no firepower at the wide receiver position. These woes have left the Eagles winless at 0-2 and wondering if Chip Kelly is the offensive savant that he wants everyone to believe he is.