Best of Yardbarker: Let's get ready to Royal Rumble
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While football fans — and non-football fans — await the arrival of Super Bowl LI on February's first Sunday, there's quite a big sports entertainment event right in front of us. So if you need a break from all the Carmelo Anthony trade speculation and aren't all that enthralled with the Pro Bowl, may we interest you in one of the WWE's marquee events?
Perhaps we can sway you to tune in Sunday, as the Royal Rumble is pure, uncut sports entertainment ... and we love it: "For my money, it’s the most fun WWE event of the year. It’s an event accessible to wrestling die-hards and novices alike. Sometimes you’ll get a stinker, but a bad Royal Rumble is like bad pizza or bad sex. It’s the playoffs, an all-star game, homecoming weekend and draft day rolled into one."
Maybe pro wrestling isn't your thing. That's OK. Also on Sunday, the hockey's finest hit the ice for the 2017 NHL All-Star Game, which usually provides some fun and fireworks. Let's just hope, however, the game isn't delayed by by any confusing rules. Speaking of which, we'd like a clarification on the NHL's offsides review process, please: "Video review is great when it works but sticks out like an angry pimple when it’s clumsy.”
When it comes to sticking out, few players in the NBA stick out quite like Dion Waiters. Now, whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on your perspective, I suppose, but what's undeniable is how entertaining his game-winner against the Golden State Warriors was earlier this week.
He studied the tape of his shot so much that he couldn't help but be relentless with the redial when calling the NBA Hotline Bling: "Thank you for clarifying that you made your calls only to make 'super duper 100% sure' we saw your game-winner. Yes we did. Many times. However, in the future, this line is for referee complaints, not bragging about 'sticking it right in Steph Curry’s dumb face.'”
The Pro Bowl is also on Sunday, for those who are interested, but the most interesting part of Pro Bowl week may have already taken place with the skills competition. And while it wasn't a flop, necessarily, expanding the NFL skills challenges to include the fun parts of football would make it a lot more popular: “Aqib Talib looked like he got so much enjoyment out of breaking Michael Crabtree’s chain this season, it seems wrong to deprive others of the chance. For this event, a receiver stands on the field wearing a chain and, if the contestants breaks it, another is added. They keep doing until the defender can’t break them all in one pull.”
We also have you covered if you're already looking ahead to Super Bowl LI. TailGreater lays out your official, custom, team-specific Super Bowl playlists:
Patriots:
Falcons:
More must-reads: