A title for a town on its darkest anniversary

As we do before we dive in, here's a quick look at some of the best (and worst) from the week in sports:  

• LSU QB Joe Burrow won the Heisman Trophy by the largest margin in history. 
• Lamar Jackson broke Michael Vick's single-season QB rushing record.
• Vince Carter accomplished something done by just four others in NBA history. 
• Marcus Peters paid a stiff fine for his beer celebration in the stands in Buffalo. 
• The Eagles' 40-year-old backup QB offered to play WR for the injury-ravaged team. 
• Results of MLB's study on potentially juiced baseballs: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
• The brother of an NBA player scored 100 points in a college basketball game.
• Scott Boras has already negotiated nearly $1 billion worth of contracts this offseason. 
• A Lions player says he's blocked 1,000 Twitter trolls. 
• Anthony Rendon says President Trump "bailed" on a golf outing. 
• The Cowboys brought us Coin-flip-gate. 
• A 23-year-old NHL player was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. 
• The Texas Rangers' new stadium caught on fire. 
• How an NFL player talked himself off the team. 
• Inspiration for the movie 'Radio', James Kennedy, dies at 73. Our reporter was there when the Radio's story came to light. 

Now let's jump into not only one of the sports stories of the week, but perhaps of the decade: 

A TITLE ON ANNIVERSARY OF TOWN'S DARKEST DAY

Dec. 14, 2012 was the darkest day in the history of Newtown, Connecticut. That was the day of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which claimed 26 lives, 20 of them children.

Seven years to the day, the Newtown High School Nighthawks won the school's first state championship in football since 1992 with a walk-off touchdown. 

CONFRONTATIONAL CADDIE GETS TAKEN OFF BAG

Tiger Woods-captained Team USA won the Presidents Cup, but that wasn't the top story out of Royal Melbourne. That belonged to Patrick Reed's caddie, Kessler Karain, who did not carry the bag like usual for his brother-in-law in the singles matches after getting into an altercation with a fan. The caddie change actually didn't seem to impact Reed too much, as "Captain America" was brilliant in singles play, but the incident brought a stain to the entire event. 

NAVY SINGS SECOND

With the president looking on, Midshipmen QB Malcolm Perry set an Army-Navy Game record with 304 rushing yards. Seems good, especially considering this was the 120th meeting of the rivals. Navy's 31-7 victory ended a three-game winning streak in the series by Army.  

Less good: Potentially offensive hand symbols were flashed pregame during an ESPN segment, prompting an "internal investigation." 

BEST OF THE BEST OF THE DECADE

The 2010s is just days away from coming to a close, so we're looking back at the decade that was. This week, we determined and examined...

• The best team of the decade. 
• The best coach. 
• The best NASCAR feuds. 
• The most pivotal moments in MMA. 
• The best college basketball players. 
• The best MLB players at every position. 
• The best moments in the NBA Finals. 
• The defining storylines in the NHL. 
• The unforgettable Donald Sterling saga.
• The best soccer teams. 
• The best Starting 11 in soccer.  
• The darkest moment: the Larry Nassar scandal. 

SPYGATE: PART 2?

The New England Patriots are in the news again for a familiar reason: videotaping the opposition. The team acknowledged a breech of NFL rules, saying this instance occurred when an independent video production crew they use for a documentary series unknowingly broke NFL rules by filming the Cincinnati Bengals' sideline from the press box while working on a video on an advance scout. 

Bill Belichick said that this is "not a football issue," but given the Patriots' history with 2007's Spygate, the NFL must act, our Jarrett Bell says. 

On Sunday, video of the incident emerged and the the videographer who broke the rules has reportedly been suspended. So, no, we haven't heard the last of this yet. 

MORE MUST-SEE STORIES FROM OUR NETWORK

• Jerry Jones and Urban Meyer deserve each other, Nancy Armour writes.  
• But wait, why are NFL teams actually interested in the former Ohio State coach? 
• From relocation to Oakland finale, Raiders fans deserved better than what team gave them, Jarrett Bell writes. 
• It wasn't ALWAYS bad, though. As the Raiders leave Oakland, we look back at their best moments in The Town. 
• Winners and losers from MLB's winter meetings. 
• The Fiesta Bowl will feature the two best players in college football ... and it's not who you think.
• How Nick Saban's internship program at Alabama helps fired coaches get paid.
• Gerrit Cole signed with the Yankees on a record nine-year, $324 million deal. Yep, the Evil Empire is back. 
• Battling flu that caused him to miss a game, Le'Veon Bell still found time to bowl and rolled a career-high 251.
• Minor-league franchises on the chopping block are ready to fight MLB's proposal. 
• Why Bill Russell finally, quietly accepted his Hall of Fame ring 44 years later.
• The Chiefs had a wild back-up plan to avoid a potential forfeit against the Patriots.
• The NBA trade deadline isn’t until Feb. 6 but executives around the league are already scoping out potential deals.
• What really happened during ugly, chaotic scene at high school football game in Michigan?
• Michigan State's star guard is playing with an unimaginable grief. 

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