Ahead of Super Bowl Sunday, the Miami Dolphins and concession services for the Hard Rock Stadium invested $500,000 in replacing single-use plastic cups with aluminum alternatives, Bloomberg reports.
Why it matters: By one estimate, nearly 80% of plastic waste has accumulated in landfills or in the natural environment, and it’s uncertain how long it takes to degrade. Plastics are slowly permeating our bodies, oceans and even the air.
The Lakershonored Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Bryant, in a pregame ceremony before playing the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, after both died in a helicopter crash over Calabasas, California last Sunday.
On the court: LeBron James "read the names of the nine who departed tragically in Calabasas, bringing a city to its knees," the Los Angeles Times reports, and fans burst into emotional chants of “Gi-Gi! Gi-Gi!” and "Ko-be! Ko-be!"
During the week leading up to the Super Bowl, athletes and celebrities can be seen cruising "radio row," where they sit down with local and national sports radio shows to talk football and, more importantly, promote some stuff!!!
How it works: An athlete or celebrity offers to appear on a show. In exchange, the show agrees to plug whatever product the athlete or celebrity is promoting.
Andy Reid, 61, hasn't been to the Super Bowl in 15 years and is the NFL's best coach to never win one, making him the sentimental favorite among neutral fans.
What he's saying: Did I mention he's quirky and hilarious? Yesterday, he compared having nine grandchildren to eating Chinese food: "They keep you young and at the same time make you feel old. It's kind of like sweet and sour pork."
Andy Reid has built an offensive juggernaut in Kansas City thanks to an otherworldly QB and the NFL's fastest group of receivers. He also happens to be the sport's most valuable play-caller.
By the numbers: The Chiefs scored on nearly half of their possessions this season, trailing only the Ravens. They also faced the third-fewest third downs of any team — and led the NFL in third-down conversion rate anyway.
Kyle Shanahan uses the same zone-running scheme that his father, Mike, used to lead the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowls in the late 1990s.
Zone blocking, explained: Offensive linemen block a space instead of a person. This requires mobility (hence why San Francisco has the NFL's lightest O-line) and running backs who can get through holes quickly, rather than dance in the backfield à la Le'Veon Bell.
Patrick Mahomes plays the QB position unlike anyone else. Between the sidearm slings, the no-look passes and the weaving scrambles, he's made so many ridiculous throws that there is an entire glossary of them.
The intrigue: Mahomes is the poster child for the multi-sport athlete, and his rapid rise supports several studies that have shown athletes who play multiple sports in their youth require less time to become elite in the game they ultimately choose.
The Super Bowl isn't just a football game. It's the halftime show; it's the ads; it's the seven-layer dip; it's the fact that, for four hours on Sunday night, nobody is expected to be doing anything else.
Why it matters: The Super Bowl is one of the last remnants of an era when we all watched the same things at the same time. It is the "live sport" of all live sports, which is currently the only form of content tethering many consumers to traditional TV.
