Upsets, Upsets Everywhere 🤷‍♂️

PLUS NFL Sunday Recap, He Tried To Roast A Legend, The Dodgers Got Another Ace

January 21, 2025

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Welcome to Office Chair Sports! Your home for everything Sports & Biz! Today, we’re covering top news about:

  • NFL Sunday Recap

  • Upsets, Upsets Everywhere

  • He Tried To Roast A Legend

  • WNBA Free Agency Anticipation

  • The Dodgers Got Another Ace

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NFL Sunday Recap 🏈

Two absolute nail-biters went down to the wire, and we've got our conference championship matchups set!

In Philly, Saquon Barkley went BEAST MODE in the snow - dude rushed for 205 yards and two monster TDs (62 and 78 yards!) to carry the Eagles past the Rams 28-22. He's the first player EVER to put up 200+ yards against the same team in both regular season and playoffs!

Meanwhile in Buffalo, we got an instant classic between Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. The Bills survived 27-25 after Mark Andrews dropped a game-tying two-point conversion with just over a minute left.

So your championship Sunday is SET:

  • Commanders at Eagles (3pm ET)

  • Bills at Chiefs (6:30pm ET)

Can the Bills finally get one over their playoff rivals? We shall see.

Upsets, Upsets Everywhere 🤷‍♂️

We had court storms ($250K fine for Vandy) and upsets everywhere. 19 ranked teams took L's, including SEVEN in the top 10. But Auburn is still the unanimous #1, even without their big man Johni Broome!

Some wild storylines this week:

  • Duke climbed to #2 while Iowa State dropped to #3 after losing to West Virginia

  • Louisville's making a comeback! They've won 8 straight under new coach Pat Kelsey after winning just 12 games total the last TWO seasons

  • St. John's is crushing it under Rick Pitino - their best start (16-3) since 1985-86

  • Gonzaga fell OUT of the rankings for the first time since early last year

The SEC is DOMINATING with eight ranked teams (five in the top 10!). But check out Louisville's turnaround - they just beat Syracuse on the road for the first time in 8 years and swept Virginia for the first time since joining the ACC.

And shoutout to Missouri - back in the rankings for the first time since last season after taking down Florida's 16-game home winning streak!

He Tried To Roast A Legend 🎾

Channel 9's Tony Jones got himself in hot water after trying to joke around with some Serbian fans during a broadcast. He mocked their chants and made some comments about Djokovic being "overrated" and referenced his 2022 vaccine controversy.

Novak was NOT having it and straight-up skipped his on-court interview Sunday after winning his match. He called Jones' comments "insulting and offensive" in a video he posted on X. The situation got so big that even Australia's Prime Minister had to weigh in, calling for more respect in sports! Yikes.

Jones has been backpedaling hard, saying it was just meant to be "banter," and he's apologized both privately and publicly. Djokovic eventually accepted the apology through tournament organizers, but the damage was done.

Now Djokovic's focused on what matters - he's got a huge quarterfinal match against Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday as he hunts for his 11th Australian Open title. Let’s see how motivated this got him.

WNBA Free Agency Anticipation 🏀

WNBA free agency is about to get interesting. The negotiating window opens Tuesday, and we've got some serious stars potentially on the move. But here's the twist, most players are only signing one-year deals because everyone's expecting a MASSIVE salary bump in 2026 with the new CBA.

Some major storylines to watch:

  • Golden State's new expansion team has over $1.2M in cap space to play with

  • Connecticut Sun has zero players signed but $1.1M to spend

  • MVP-caliber players like Breanna Stewart, Nneka Ogwumike, and Diana Taurasi are free agents

  • Satou Sabally already said she's done with Dallas

  • The new 3v3 Unrivaled league might actually impact free agency since players are getting to know each other better

The money situation is interesting:

  • Salary cap is $1.5M per team

  • Supermax is $249K

  • Regular max is $214K

  • But players aren't just chasing money - they want good facilities and amenities too

Big names to watch: Kelsey Plum, Alyssa Thomas (who's been vocal about Connecticut's lack of amenities), and Courtney Vandersloot (might leave NY to have a bigger role). This free agency period is gonna be spicy! 🌶️

The Dodgers Got Another Ace

The Dodgers just can't stop winning.

They just landed Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki, beating out the Blue Jays and Padres for the 23-year-old ace. This guy's got a NASTY splitter and a 100 mph heater!

The wild part? The Dodgers are basically building Team Japan 2.0 - they've now got Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, AND Sasaki! Talk about a dream rotation. Plus, they just won the World Series and added Blake Snell too.

Here's what makes this even crazier:

  • Sasaki's only 23, so he's basically signing a minor league deal (but got a $6.5M bonus)

  • Dude threw a perfect game in Japan with a record 13 straight K's

  • The Padres really wanted him because of Yu Darvish (Sasaki's idol) but couldn't seal the deal

The only question mark is his durability, but with that loaded rotation, the Dodgers can take it easy with him. If he stays healthy? Scouts think we're looking at a future Cy Young winner.

Internships 🙋

1. 2025 Summer / Fall Internship - ASA Entertainment offers internship opportunities for individuals interested in seeking valuable hands-on work experience in the sports and event industries. Typically, interns are with ASA Entertainment for six months (strong candidates can stay shorter or longer depending on circumstance).

2. Internship: Business Operations (Seasonal 2024-25) - The Business Operations Intern will provide support to the Vice President, Project and Revenue Management across business operations to enhance MSE’s sales and marketing capabilities.

3. Marketing and Events Coordinator - Winter/Spring 2025 - Alliance Highway Safety is looking for FUN, ENERGETIC, OUTGOING individuals to help coordinate a variety of sponsorship events across the country. As part of Alliance’s internship program, you will have the opportunity to learn from our experienced staff about the ins and outs of event marketing and corporate sponsorships, assist with the management of sponsorship campaigns, and more.

4. Summer Undergraduate Intern, Insights - Elevate Sports Ventures is looking for individuals to join our fast-growing consulting team in the sports and entertainment industry. Individuals will focus on supporting projects for Elevate’s clients focused on enhancing fan experience and operational performance.

5. Intern Creators Club (Photographers, Videographers, Designers) - Orange County SC is proud to launch the OCSC Creators Club, an initiative designed to help local young creatives get their start in sports and media. Through this program, we aim to provide pathways for aspiring photographers, videographers, illustrators, copywriters, and digital creators to gain valuable experience, learn industry skills, and build connections in a competitive field—all while celebrating their creativity.

Job Board 💰

1. Associate Athletic Director Athletics Development - This role is responsible for creating external and engaging relationships with alumni, parents, donors and prospects in support of Yale Athletics.

2. Content Producer (FT) - Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E) is seeking a versatile and innovative Content Producer to capture, edit, and produce elevated content that represents SS&E’s umbrella of franchises.

3. Coordinator, Ad Operations - The Coordinator of Ads Operations handles all tasks for ad campaign fulfillment on NASCAR Digital Media’s owned and operated properties, including ad inventory management, campaign monitoring, campaign trafficking, and campaign reporting.

4. Premium Business Strategy & Analytics Analyst (Crypto.com Arena) - The Premium Business Strategy & Analytics Analyst will be responsible for reporting and analyzing sales data for the Crypto.com Arena Premium Department and more specifically the Premium Events team.

5. Sales and Marketing Coordinator - As the Sales and Marketing Coordinator, you will work directly with the Chief Commercial Officer to support the commercial aspects of IMG Academy, including working closely with sales, marketing, sales ops, data science, retail and more.

Thanks for reading - see you soon!