NFL:
A parade -- the Patriots' fifth in the Tom Brady era -- is planned for Tuesday through downtown Boston to celebrate the Patriots' Super Bowl victory. The Patriots returned to New England on Monday night, bringing the Vince Lombardi Trophy home to show off for fans who filled the parking lots outside the team's stadium and lined up for hours.
What happened to Tom Brady's iconic Super Bowl-winning uniform number-12 for the New England Patriots? Nobody knows. But Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick says he's calling in the Texas Rangers to investigate the caper in the wake of the Patriots stunning 34-28 overtime victory over Atlanta Sunday night at NRG Stadium in Houston.
Fox drew an audience of 111.3 million viewers for New England's historic overtime win over Atlanta in Super Bowl 51. That was a smaller audience than the game has had in the last two years but still ranking among the biggest for a television program in the United States. Viewership for the Patriots' come-from-behind had a relatively modest start when the Atlanta built a 25-point lead. People returned as the Patriots came alive. During overtime, the game had its biggest audience of 117.7 million.
Las Vegas betting oddsmakers did OK Sunday but say they would have done better if the Patriots had missed the conversion that tied the game. Gamblers wagered a record $138.5 million at Nevada casinos on the big game with an unaudited tally showing the casinos made over $10.9 million on the big game.
The San Francisco 49ers have officially hired Atlanta offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan as their new head coach more than a month after firing Chip Kelly after just one season. The 49ers settled on Shanahan a couple weeks ago but had to wait until Monday to sign him to a contract because the Falcons made it to the Super Bowl.
NBA:
In the NBA, the Lakers beat the Knicks 121-107, Indiana topped Oklahoma City 93-90, Cleveland won against Washington in overtime 140-135, Utah bested Atlanta 120-95, Toronto defeated the Clippers 118-109, Detroit won against Philadelphia 113-96, New Orleans beat Phoenix 111-106, Miami defeated Minnesota 115-113, Denver won against Dallas 110-87, Memphis topped San Antonio 89-74, and it was Chicago over Sacramento 112-107.
Warriors coach has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for his profanity-laced outburst at game official Bill Spooner in the loss at Sacramento on Saturday night. Kerr says he deserves the fine and has apologized to Spooner through league executive vice president of basketball operations KiKi VanDeWeghe.
NHL:
In the NHL, the Islanders beat Toronto in overtime 6-5, New Jersey won against Buffalo 2-1, and it was St. Louis over Philadelphia 2-0.
F1:
The Texas attorney general's office will keep secret how much money Formula One receives from organizers of the U.S. Grand Prix to run the annual race. The Associated Press had requested financial information related to the 2015 and 2016 races from the governor's office under state public records law, but it was rebuffed.
MLB:
Boston is moving seamlessly from football season to baseball season. The Red Sox equipment truck left yesterday for spring training in Florida, a day after the Patriots closed out the NFL season with their fifth Super Bowl victory. Dozens of fans gathered outside Fenway Park to send the truck on its way on the 1,480-mile trip to the team's spring training home in Fort Myers. Red Sox pitchers and catchers report to spring training on February 13th.
Masahiro Tanaka arrived at the New York Yankees' minor league complex for pre-spring training workouts in Florida. Tanaka arrived Monday and is scheduled to throw off a mound Wednesday. Tanaka can opt out of his $155 million, seven-year contract after this season, give up a $23 million annual salary from 2018-20 and become a free agent. He is 39-16 with a 3.12 ERA over 75 starts in three seasons with the Yankees. New York pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report on Feb. 14.
Veteran Wily Mo Pena is getting a chance to revive his major league career with Cleveland. The 35-year old outfielder has been out of the big leagues since 2011. He was last in the majors with Arizona and Seattle six years ago then went to Japan. A close friend of new Indians slugger Edwin Encarnacion, Pena has a .250 career batting average with 84 homers and 240 RBIs in eight seasons with Cincinnati, Boston, Washington, Arizona and Seattle.
The Associated Press reports that the Royals and right-hander Jason Hammel have agreed to a two-year, $16 million contract. The person with direct knowledge negotiations told the AP about the deal on condition of anonymity because the results of a physical are needed. Hammel pitched for the World Series champion Cubs last season and went 15-10 with a 3.83 ERA. The Royals haves been searching for another starter since the recent death of Yordano Ventura, who was killed in a car accident in the Dominican Republic.
NCAA:
In college men’s basketball, UAlbany pulled away from New Hampshire to avenge an early season loss to the Wildcats 68-55 last night. Daniel Dion scored 18 points to lead New Hampshire, which shot only 42 percent and committed nearly three times as many turnovers as Albany.
Vermont beat Binghamton 71-51 last night for its 13th straight victory. Ernie Duncan hit 6 of 8 3-pointers and scored 18 points. Vermont trailed 12-11 before scoring its next nine points on 3-pointers by Cam Ward, Duncan and Kurt Steidl to take a 20-14 lead. The Catamounts outscored Binghamton 22-11 over the final 12 minutes of the first half for a 33-23 lead.
Quinnipiac beat Fairfield 73-71 last night. Peter Kiss scored six of his 18 points in the final 1:08 and nailed the go-ahead basket with 1.9 seconds left to lift Quinnipiac to a victory. Kiss drove to the left side of the lane where he pulled up from about six feet for the game-winner.
Stony Brook broke away in the second half for an 83-72 win over Massachusetts-Lowell last night. Roland Nyama scored 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting, and Lucas Woodhouse added 16 points while dishing out nine assists for Stoney Brook. Jahad Thomas led UMass-Lowell with 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds.
In college women’s basketball, UAlbany beat New Hampshire 64-55.
UConn remains Number 1 in The Associated Press women's basketball poll while Tennessee re-enters the Top 25. The Huskies continue to run through opponents as their record winning streak is at 97 and counting. UConn is followed by Baylor, Maryland, Mississippi State and Florida State.
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