The ESPN Daily: The biggest party in college football, the sports decade in pictures and NFL coaches on the hot seat
James Wiseman’s Memphis career is over after three games. Jacoby Ellsbury and the Yankees are fighting over $26 million. Oklahoma suspended three players for the Peach Bowl. The year is ending, but the news keeps coming. Here’s today’s ESPN Daily:
The hottest seats in the game … I was going to open this up by saying “it’s that time of year when NFL coaches are really feeling the hot seat,” but honestly, that’s pretty much every time of year. It’s true, though, that the question of whether a coach (or a GM) will be with the team next year comes into sharp focus as the season comes to a close and games become do-or-die — and, as a consequence, we ask the question of which names will make up the next wave of head coaches. In today’s episode of the ESPN Daily podcast, Dan Graziano joins Mina Kimes to talk about which coaches could be getting the boot shortly after the final whistle blows on the regular season.
The biggest party in college football … The Charlotte 49ers have been a football program for only seven seasons, but they’re already playing in their first bowl game. Credit Charlotte’s head coach, Will Healy, who at 34 years old is way younger than most of his peers. Maybe that’s why he has embraced a unique approach to getting his team excited for Saturdays.
Now, after every Charlotte victory — and there have been plenty this season — the 49ers party down in what has become known as “Club Lit,” a raucous popup nightclub that often sees a shirtless Healy rocking out to thumping bass while wearing a mascot head.
“When you win, you just want to do it again. I feel like every time, not only did our wins get better, but Club Lit got more fun.”
— Sophomore QB Chris Reynolds
Here’s the story of how Healy brought the party to Charlotte, and how the practice might spread across the college football landscape.
Never saw ’em coming … I don’t think it’s particularly controversial to say that Lamar Jackson’s final game of the 2018 season was pretty bad: a 14-for-29 performance in the playoffs in which the Ravens didn’t get into the end zone until the fourth quarter. You could be forgiven for thinking then that Jackson might have needed a little more time to improve as a quarterback before he would become a star. You’d have been hilariously wrong, of course, to the point that Jackson is blowing Tom Brady away in the passing game.
That’s one of the great things about sports, of course. Why would we watch them if everything proceeded completely according to plan? Bill Barnwell has the 15 biggest surprises of the 2019 season right here, along with predictions for whether they’re liable to continue. For my part, I’m pretty confident Jackson is for real.
The decade in pictures … What’s your favorite sports photo from the past decade? Given the nature of sports — dynamic, colorful, full of people in the middle of extreme exhaustion and emotional catharsis — we have no shortage of excellent ones. Maybe it’s LeBron and Wade on the Heat:
Or maybe it’s Usain Bolt demonstrating just how dominant he was in his prime.
Or maybe, as in my case, it’s this photo of snow punching through the roof of the Metrodome.
There’s no wrong choice! They’re all pretty compelling. Here are some of our favorites.
Bowled over … You might start to see things on your screen in the upcoming weeks with names such as “Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl” or “Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl” or “Rose Bowl.” Do not panic! It’s merely bowl season, in which college football teams get one last chance to bring home a win. We have several on our air named in What’s On This Weekend below, but we wouldn’t send you into the most important stretch of time in all of college football without some guides:
12 of the biggest questions and most fascinating storylines for this bowl season
Your one-stop shop for the things to know for the bowls on each day
Draft prospects to watch in every game
Dates, times and locations for every single bowl
“It’s insane what he’s able to do, but he’s LeBron James. He’s different. He’s an alien.”
— Giannis Antetokounmpo on LeBron James at age 34 Read more
On this date in 2005, Kobe Bryant dropped 62 points on the Mavericks … and, incredibly, he did it in only three quarters. Watch
Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl: Buffalo vs. Charlotte (2 p.m. ET Friday, ESPN)
EA SPORTS Madden NFL 20 Club Championship (6:55 p.m. ET Friday, @ESPN)
Capitals at Devils (7 p.m. ET Friday, ESPN+)
Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl: Utah State vs. Kent State (7:30 p.m. ET Friday, ESPN2)
Penguins at Oilers (9 p.m. ET Friday, ESPN+)
Mavericks at 76ers (8:15 p.m. ET Friday, ESPN)
UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. The Korean Zombie (5 a.m. ET Saturday, ESPN+)
Jackson State at No. 11 Memphis (men’s basketball, 1 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN App)
New Mexico Bowl: Central Michigan vs. San Diego State (2 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN)
Dubois vs. Fujimoto (2:30 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN+)
Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl: SMU vs. Florida Atlantic (3:30 p.m. ET Saturday, ABC)
Camellia Bowl: Florida International vs. Arkansas State (5:30 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN)
Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl: No. 19 Boise State vs. Washington (7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, ABC)
R+L Carriers Bowl: No 20 Appalachian State vs. UAB (9 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN)
St. John’s at No. 16 Arizona (men’s basketball, 10 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN2)
Atalanta vs. AC Milan (6:30 a.m. ET Sunday, ESPN2)
Juventus vs. Lazio (1:30 a.m. ET Sunday, ESPNEWS)
No. 1 Stanford at Texas (women’s basketball, 1 p.m. ET Sunday, ESPN2)
No. 24 Michigan at No. 8 Florida State (women’s basketball, 1:30 p.m. ET, Sunday ACCN)
South Carolina at No. 9 Virginia (men’s basketball, 3 p.m. ET Sunday, ABC)
Ball State at No. 22 Washington (men’s basketball, 9:30 p.m. ET Sunday, ESPN2)
Seriously, whoever had the idea to get that Metrodome photo during the snowstorm is a legitimate genius. What a shot. This has been your ESPN Daily for Friday, Dec. 20, 2019.