Can Zeke break the rookie record?

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It has recently been brought to my attention that some people actually read these things. How exciting right?

What person doesn’t want to be told that the thing that they do garners attention? Well, for that I say thank you and I hope that it continues.

It’s that time of year again. The defending NBA champs play on Christmas. This year it will be the Cleveland Cavaliers — this still seems unreal to proclaim — playing the Golden State Warriors. Golden State is finding its groov,e which could spell disaster for the champs and everyone else in the league.

The NFL has teams clinching playoff births and division titles already. It seems like the season just started and the Browns forgot to play this year. Oh yeah, so did the 49ers. I apologize for never doing a bit on hockey. I know that people like the sport, I simply just do not know much about it. But, here it goes, the second-to-last Clinger’s Corner of 2016…

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

First, a note. The Cowboys’ rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott now has 1,551 yards rushing for the season. Eric Dickerson owns the rookie rushing record of 1808 yards. Does ‘Zeke’ have it in him to pick up 258 yards against the Lions and the Eagles to break the record? How much exactly has he spiked the Salvation Army’s donations this season?

Also, the Jacksonville Jaguars fired their head coach, Gus Bradley, after a 2-12 start to the season. Bradley and the Jaguars have been just awful in recent years as Bradley went 14-48 in a little over three seasons at the helm.

Here’s the usual dose of NFL goodies…

AFC

East: New England Patriots 12-2; My girlfriend Brittany’s favorite team has clinched a first round bye and won the AFC East for an NFL record eight straight seasons

North: Pittsburgh Steelers 9-5 (Browns’ “perfect season” still in tact at 0-14)

South: Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans 8-6

West: Oakland Raiders 11-3; clinched a playoff birth for the first time since 2002, currently #2 seed behind Patriots

Most Points Allowed: Cleveland Browns 408; Least Points Allowed: New England Patriots 233; Most Points Scored: Oakland Raiders 377; Least Points Scored: Cleveland Browns 220.

NFC

East: Dallas Cowboys 12-2; clinched at least a playoff birth

North: Detroit Lions 9-5

South: Atlanta Falcons 9-5

West: Seattle Seahawks 9-4-1; clinched a very weak NFC West…again

Most Points Allowed: San Francisco 49ers 434; Least Points Allowed: Seattle Seahawks 235;Most Points Scored: Atlanta Falcons 469; Least Points Scored: Los Angeles Rams 197.

League Leaders

Leading Passer: Drew Brees (still) 4559 yards, Leading Rusher: Ezekiel Elliott (still) 1551 yards, Leading Receiver: Julio Jones (still, despite being out with an injury) 1253 yards, Leading Tackler: Bobby Wagner 145 tackles, Most QB Sacks: Vic Beasley 14.5 sacks, Most Interceptions: Casey Hayward 7.

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

As always, fan boy alert! Russell Westbrook is still that man! Russ is still averaging a triple-double for the season with 30.4 points, 10.5 rebounds and 11.0 assists. He leads the league in scoring and is second only to James Harden in assists. Westbrook recently recorded his 50th career ‘trip-dub’ and becomes only the sixth man in NBA history to hit such a mark. Okay, enough already…here’s the numbers…

EAST

Atlantic Division: Toronto Raptors 19-8

Central Division: Cleveland Cavaliers 19-6 (Ian Stinehour, your boys are still holding it down)

Southeast Division: Charlotte Hornets 15-13

WEST

Northwest Division: Utah Jazz 18-10 (you read that correctly, the Jazz are leading the division over the OKC Thunder)

Pacific Division: Golden State Warriors 24-4.

Southwest Division: San Antonio Spurs 22-5 (even without the ‘Big Fundamental’ Tim Duncan)

League Leaders

Points Per Game: Russell Westbrook 30.4 PPG, Rebounds Per Game: Hassan Whiteside 14.8 RPG, Assists Per Game: James Harden 11.8 APG, Blocks Per Game: Anthony Davis 2.8 BPG, Steals Per Game: John Wall and Chris Paul 2.3 SPG, Field Goal Percentage: Rudy Gobert 69.4%, Three-Point Field Goal Percentage: Joe Ingles 50%, Three-Point Field Goals Made: Steph Curry 106 (Eric Gordon is right behind the reigning three-point king with 104)

NCAA BASKETBALL

Here is the Associated Press Top 25 for the week…

1. Villanova 2. UCLA 3. Kansas 4. Baylor 5. Duke 6. Kentucky 7. Gonzaga 8. North Carolina 9. Creighton 10. Louisville 11. West Virginia 12. Virginia 13. Butler 14. Wisconsin 15. Purdue 16. Indiana 17. Xavier 18. Arizona 19. Saint Mary’s 20. Oregon 21. Florida State 22. South Carolina 23. USC 24. Cincinnati 25. Notre Dame

On an additional, special note: the UCONN Huskies Women’s Basketball team has still not lost a game this year, or for the last, what seems like forever! I believe that this streak is up to like 89 or 90 straight games…WOW!

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Chad Clinger

Clinger’s Corner

Find Chad on Twitter @GalionSportsGuy

Reach Chad at 419-468-1117 x2048

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