Category: Olympics

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND – Football Owns the Weekend, Everything Else Fights for Space

This is one of those weekends where the sports calendar stops pretending it has manners. NFL playoff football stacks Saturday and Sunday. The NBA slips in a few national windows. Soccer gives you a proper derby. And Olympic sports quietly sneak in some must-see events if you’re willing to leave the mainstream lane.

You won’t watch everything — but you should know where to look.

NFL — DIVISIONAL ROUND

Buffalo Bills vs Denver Broncos

Saturday, Jan 17 — 4:30 PM ET — CBS

This is the early Saturday game, which historically means one of two things: either a blowout nobody remembers or a weird classic that ruins the rest of your weekend expectations. Buffalo brings the firepower. Denver brings the defense and altitude energy. Someone’s season ends before dinner.

San Francisco 49ers vs Seattle Seahawks

Saturday, Jan 17 — 8:00 PM ET — FOX

This rivalry never needs help. Familiar opponents. Familiar tension. Familiar “how did that just happen?” moments. The late Saturday slot is where grudges go to thrive.

Houston Texans vs New England Patriots

Sunday, Jan 18 — 3:00 PM ET — ESPN / ABC

The Patriots aren’t supposed to be here. The Texans are supposed to be happy just being invited. That combination usually produces chaos. The early Sunday national window is deceptive — this one could turn sideways fast.

Los Angeles Rams vs Chicago Bears

Sunday, Jan 18 — 6:30 PM ET — NBC / Peacock

Prime-time playoff football in Chicago. Cold weather. Tight game. Everyone suddenly becomes a running-game expert. This is the “wrap the weekend in stress” game.

NBA — NATIONAL WINDOWS & SPOTLIGHT GAMES

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Philadelphia 76ers

Friday, Jan 16 — 7:00 PM ET — ESPN

This is the kind of Friday night NBA game that reminds you the regular season still matters when the teams actually care. Physical, emotional, and loud — especially if it’s close late.

Minnesota Timberwolves vs Houston Rockets

Friday, Jan 16 — Late Evening ET — ESPN / Regional

Young legs, fast pace, and a game that can flip from sloppy to electric in about three possessions. Perfect background basketball once your brain starts switching gears.

Oklahoma City Thunder vs Miami Heat

Sunday, Jan 18 — Evening ET — Regional / League Pass

Not a national window, but a quietly important matchup. OKC’s speed against Miami’s structure always makes for uncomfortable basketball — which is usually the good kind.

Toronto Raptors vs Los Angeles Lakers

Sunday, Jan 18 — Night ET — Regional / League Pass

Late-night NBA with stars on one side and chaos on the other. If you’re still awake after the NFL, this is where you land.

SOCCER — DERBIES AND REAL STAKES

Manchester United vs Manchester City

Sunday, Jan 18 — Late Morning ET — Peacock / USA Network

Derbies don’t care about form. They care about moments. This one sets the tone for your entire Sunday before football even kicks off.

RB Leipzig vs Bayern Munich

Saturday, Jan 17 — 12:30 PM ET — ESPN+

Fast, aggressive, and played like someone turned the difficulty setting up too high. Bundesliga at its best never apologizes.

AFCON — Senegal vs Morocco

Friday, Jan 16 — Afternoon ET — beIN SPORTS / beIN CONNECT

Tournament football hits differently. This one carries real weight, real pressure, and zero patience. If you want intensity before the weekend fully explodes, this is it.

OLYMPIC SPORTS — IF YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW

Figure Skating — European Championships

Friday–Sunday — Peacock

This isn’t background viewing. This is elite skating with Olympic implications, pressure situations, and performances that actually matter. Peacock has full session coverage — it’s the only reliable place to watch without guessing.

Speed Skating — ISU World Cup

Friday–Sunday — Peacock

Session-based coverage with Olympic qualification points on the line. Not flashy, but incredibly tense if you care about margins and moments.

THE REMOTE PLAN

(Because discipline matters.)

Friday Night
NBA on ESPN → AFCON earlier if you want the warm-up → skating on Peacock as the late-night reset.

Saturday
Early afternoon: Leipzig–Bayern
Late afternoon: Bills–Broncos
Night: 49ers–Seahawks
Second screen all day: Figure skating sessions

Sunday
Morning: Manchester derby
Afternoon: Texans–Patriots
Evening: Rams–Bears
Late: NBA or skating depending on energy level

FINAL WORD

This weekend doesn’t need hype — it needs organization. The NFL owns the calendar, but the edges are where things get interesting. If you pace it right, you’ll hit football, basketball, soccer, and Olympic sports without burning out by Sunday night.

And if you don’t?
There’s always next weekend.

What to Watch This Weekend: NFC Perfection Tests, Derby Day Static, and Baku at Warp Speed

Two 2–0 NFC stare-downs, sneaky-spicy college tilts, playoff-grade baseball, three heavyweight EPL fixtures, F1 threading city walls under the shadows of the castle in Baku, NASCAR playoff elbows, first looks from NHL preseason, WNBA semifinals, plus world championships lifting the volume. All the windows, zero panic.

NFL — Undefeated Energy + Divisional Drama (Sun)

Rams at Eagles — 1:00 PM ET, FOX
One of two NFC 2–0 vs 2–0. Philly’s bully ball vs. L.A.’s spacing and timing.
Cardinals at 49ers — 4:25 PM ET, FOX
The other NFC 2–0 vs 2–0. Speed meets sledgehammer at Levi’s.
Broncos at Chargers — 4:05 PM ET, CBS
Divisional voltage; late-game weirdness is practically on the schedule.

College Football — Ranked/Rivalry Filter (Sat)

Texas Tech at Utah — 12:00 PM ET, FOX
Altitude, attitude, and a defense that punishes mistakes.
Auburn at Oklahoma — 3:30 PM ET, ABC
SEC horsepower visits a playoff-minded Sooners outfit.
Illinois at Indiana — 7:00 PM ET, NBC/Peacock
Big Ten primetime with tangible stakes.
Michigan at Nebraska — 3:30 PM ET, CBS/Paramount+
Memorial turns up the pressure; upset sensors on.

MLB — September With Teeth

Giants at Dodgers — rivalry heat under the lights.
Mariners at Astros — AL West division title stress test; bullpens decide somebody’s week.
Watch: Check local listings (regional sports nets / national windows vary by market).

Prospect Spotlight — Prep Baseball All-Star Game (Sat)

First pitch 1:15 PM ET, streamed on the Prep Baseball YouTube channel
Top prep talent on one field—premium velo, loud barrels, and plenty of draft chatter. 2027 vs. 2026

Soccer — Derby Day & Big-Six Theater

Liverpool vs Everton — Sat 7:30 AM ET, USA Network/Universo
Merseyside noise to start the day.
Manchester United vs Chelsea — Sat 12:30 PM ET, USA Network/Universo
Two giants under the microscope.
Arsenal vs Manchester City — Sun 11:30 AM ET, USA Network/Peacock
Pass-and-press chess with title scent.
Real Madrid vs Espanyol — Sat 10:15 AM ET, ESPN+
Bernabéu business trip; upset alarms always possible.

Formula 1 — Azerbaijan Grand Prix (Baku) + Support Races

Qualifying — Sat 8:00 AM ET, ESPN platforms
Race — Sun 7:00 AM ET, ESPN
Support — F2 Sprint: Sat morning ET; F2 Feature: Sun pre-dawn ET (U.S. coverage on ESPN+ / F1 TV).

NASCAR — Playoffs Grind (Sun)

Cup Series: Mobil 1 301 (New Hampshire) — 2:00 PM ET, USA Network
Track position matters, pit crews matter more, and one mistake is a week of explanations.

NHL — Preseason: First Looks

Sat 7:00 PM ET — Blues @ Stars, NHL Network
Sun 1:00 PM ET — Rangers @ Devils, NHL Network
Sun 5:00 PM ET — Wild @ Jets, NHL Network
Rookies forcing decisions, vets testing new combos—the trailers before the feature.

IFSC — World Championships (Seoul)

Lead Finals — Fri night local → Fri morning ET, IFSC YouTube
Weekend slate — Lead qualifications roll into Sunday (ET). Speed/Boulder highlights run throughout the championship window.

World Athletics Championships — Tokyo (through Sun)

Live sessions run overnight into U.S. mornings across Peacock with broadcast windows on NBC/USA/CNBC; key finals sprinkled Saturday–Sunday. Relays and field events will swing medals.

WNBA — Semifinals Begin (Sun)

Game 1 Doubleheader — 3:00 PM ET, ABC and 5:00 PM ET, ESPN
Four left standing, two tips on Sunday. Matchups locked after the first round, but the stakes are clear: five games to the Finals.

The Stain Remote Plan

Saturday: Liverpool–Everton → Tech–Utes → Prep Baseball ASG at 1:15 → Auburn–OU in the afternoon → prime-time Illinois–Indiana → late Giants–Dodgers.
Sunday: Baku lights out → Rams–Eagles early → Cards–Niners late while spot-checking Mariners–Astros → NHLN preseason hit.
Floaters: Michigan–Nebraska on CBS, IFSC finals overnight, World Athletics finale windows.

Homer Corner: Make Michael Sam a Ram

I think it says something positive about society that one day after SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Michael Sam comes out as gay, the media has already moved on to way more important things…such as still debating and theorizing on why Shaun White opted not to compete in slopestyle. Now they can talk about not winning the Gold he was expected to, though regardless of what anyone says, a fourth place finish in the Olympics is hardly terrible.

That’s right, a nearly week old story about an Olympic athlete making a thought-out decision to not compete in a particular event is still commanding more headlines over the NFL soon having its first active openly gay player.

Barring a terrible combine or suddenly going all Aaron Hernandez on an acquaintance, Sam will be drafted. He’s an excellent player as evidenced by his accomplishments this year. Some draft analysts have him going as high as the second round. Most have him in the third. All of them have him going somewhere.

So where is that somewhere going to be? Let me be the first to say, let’s bring him to the Rams. Why? It’s the perfect environment for him. Look, one peek at Sam’s childhood/upbringing will lead you to the quick conclusion that coming out was hardly the toughest thing he’s dealt with. The kid has had three siblings die, and two more are incarcerated. He has a thick skin and will be able to deal with adversity.

Still, you know there are going to be times when some player or fan in a spectacular moment of ignorance and bigotry will drop a slur or worse yet, wax poetic on some obtuse philosophy about football being no place for a man like Sam. Thick skin or not, when adversity rears its head, it’s nice to be where you are comfortable, feel supported and can bank on the right people having your back.

So why the Rams? After all, if this were an episode of Family Feud, and Steve Harvey said, “Top five answers on the board, name a state associated with social tolerance,” think Missouri would crack the list? However, that’s where Sam went to college. And he came out to his team before the season started, and they all had his back. Nobody sold him out on Twitter. Nobody leaked a story anonymously to the press. They knew for months. We found out yesterday. Pretty freaking cool, huh?

Second, there’s coach Jeff Fisher. I’ve long thought that his reputation as a coach is inflated. I still think he lacks the ability to make the in game adjustments to steal the extra win or three over the course of a season that the top coaches always seem to somehow manage. And I’m still convinced his eye for talent has cataracts. After all, this is the guy who thought Jim Walton, who presided over a breath-takingly bad secondary in Detroit, had the chops to handle a defensive coordinator position. But as a human being, Fisher seems the type to have his priorities firmly in line, and any intolerance will, for lack of a better way to put it, simply not be tolerated.

Third, that defense is already populated with classy leaders; Chris Long, William Hayes, James Laurinaitas. Michael Brockers and Robert Quinn are growing into those roles too. (It’s worth mentioning Cortland Finnegan too. His atrocious play might spell release, rendering him a non-point, but nobody has ever questioned him as a leader to young teammates.) If these guys can provide an environment where young players deemed prone to getting in trouble, such as Alec Ogletree and Janoris Jenkins, can stay for the most part in line, providing a positive work environment for a teammate whose “difference” from everyone else is something as insignificant as sexual orientation should be a breeze.

Ultimately, Sam’s success or failure as a professional football player will probably have nothing to do with his orientation, and everything to do with whether he can physically and mentally compete at the next level, just like it does for everyone else trying to make the jump from college to the pros. Personally, I’d like to see him succeed and I think St. Louis is great place for him to start that journey.