Women’s NCAA Basketball

Last week we discussed A’ja Wilson making history with the South Carolina Women’s Basketball team, and more history continues to come from the 2017 National Championship team. The Gamecocks played against Georgia Thursday night and came out on top 62-50. Aliyah Boston, a Sophomore, became the first South Carolina women’s basketball player to score a triple-double in an SEC game. Boston had 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 blocks.

While the performance itself was unprecedented, Boston has proven herself to be an incredible player. She was the National Freshman of the Year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and SEC Freshman of the Year all in one season. She also has an Olympic medal from the 3x3 Summer Youth basketball tournament of 2018.

The No. 4 ranked Gamecocks played a close road game against LSU Sunday night that ended in a 69-65 win. They now look ahead to No. 21 Mississippi State on the road Thursday night.

NBA

Today marks one year since the tragic helicopter crash that caused the death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi, as well as the Altobelli family. While there were many reasons for the crash beyond Bryant and other passenger’s control: poor flight conditions, failure to update equipment to warn about terrain, and miscommunication between federal air traffic control, the most horrifying detail about the incident comes after.

When news broke that Kobe Bryant was dead, the world froze as they thought this was some cruel joke. In some form, it was a cruel joke but not in the way you’d think. The Bryant family was forced to find out about the death of husband and father Kobe, as well as daughter and sister Gianna in a TMZ video report of the helicopter crash. Police who responded on the scene took pictures of the crash and the deceased bodies with their cell phones for “their own personal gratification” according to the Bryant lawsuit. It also states that ”One deputy even used his photos of the victims to try to impress a woman at a bar, bragging about how he had been at the crash site.”

Luckily, the complaints filed by the Bryant’s paved the way for California Governor, Gavin Newsom, to sign into action a law prohibiting this type of behavior. The passed legislation prohibits first responders from taking pictures of deceased bodies at a scene, and they can be fined up to $1,000. Accordioning to Calabasas PD, their rule did not apply to victims of accidents, which is why the officers won’t be in trouble.

Unfortunately, this is only one of the lawsuits that have resulted from the accident, and many are still being battled out in court. This included the suit that was filed by Vanessa Bryant’s Mother against Vanessa, claiming that she needed to be paid for babysitting the Bryant’s children. The Bryant’s still have a long way to go until they can finally start the healing process, but kind words about the legend and his daughter are bound to get them through today.

NFL

Earlier in the season I personally established that the glory of the Patriots reign was due to Tom Brady’s quarterback skills, and not necessarily anything special that Bill Belichick possesses. The Patriots failure to make the playoffs, and Tampa Bay cashing in their ticket to the Superbowl was the enforcer any doubters needed. However, we’re now watching two teams who are quarterback led. This is always going to force the question; which quarterback will come out on top?

Without a doubt Tom Brady has years of experience in post season play, and Superbowl play that will give him the extra edge. Brady himself should be comfortable enough to come into a Superbowl setting and dominate with his high football IQ. The crazy thing is, Tom Brady had a much worse performance than Aaron Rodgers, yet his team still came out on top.

Patrick Mahomes comes into the game with a team who is reigning Superbowl champs, and they’ve played like the overall dominator this year with a 14-2 record. The Chiefs have a slew of offensive and defensive assets that can step up when they’re needed. It’s safe to say the Kansas City offense gets most of the accolades with Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, and Travis Kelce, but the defense shouldn’t be counted out. In their game against the Bills, the defense allowed only 2 touchdowns scored. The chiefs biggest challenge is going to be connecting with each other early in the game. We saw a glimpse of how quickly a game can be turned around with or without passing and running connections last week. So this means Kansas City needs to make sure that their passing game is on point starting in the first quarter, and until the final whistle.

With that being said, which quarterback will be the dominating force on the field? Both of these quarterbacks are the type that you can’t bet against. Brady having a successful career for this long has defied odds, and Mahomes leading the team back to a potential Superbowl season is rarely done. While the quarterbacks are going to be putting on a show, the key to victory is going to be which quarterbacks can put his offense and defense in sync first.