Morning all,

Did anyone else's stepdad hit an unbeaten 90* in the backyard?...Nan had him plumb (twice) and he refused to walk.

In today's edition of SJ;

🏏 Smith back in the groove

⚽️ Special winner

🏈 Eli Manning has a beer guy

🏏 Cricket

Australia vs New Zealand, Boxing Day Test

Australia will resume day two of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG on 4-257, with Steve Smith on 77* and Travis Head on 25*.

David Warner 41, Marnus Labuschagne 63 and Matthew Wade 38 will be kicking themselves that they couldn’t go on and get a big score.

Smith has a 27th Test century at his mercy on day two after a patient innings on the opening day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

BBL: Scorchers run chase fizzles against ruthless Sixers after Curran heroics

Jackson Bird impressed in his first game back with the Sydney Sixers, taking 3-33 in the visitors big win at Optus Stadium. Player of the match (and in our SuperCoach team) was Tom Curren 1/27 & 43 with the bat!

⚽️ Football

Jordan Ayew scored a sensational 90th-minute winner to help Crystal Palace come from behind and beat West Ham at Selhurst Park.

• Southampton shock Chelsea with a 2-0 win

• Arteta's Arsenal draw 1-1 at Bournemouth

• Ancelotti's Everton beat Burnley 1-0 (Calvert-Lewin)

• Hourihane gives Aston Villa 1-0 win over Norwich

• Crystal Palace fight back to beat West Ham 2-1

• Watford off bottom with 1-1 draw at Sheff Utd

• Tottenham beat Brighton 2-1 (Kane & Alli)

• Martial (2), Greenwood & Rashford score as Man Utd come from behind to beat Newcastle 4-1 (bbcsport)

🏀 Basketball

Where NBA players go when they can't afford a billion-dollar team...Australia!

The league set an average attendance record last season of 6,348 and is up another 9% this season. Franchises that couldn't find buyers less than a decade ago now trade at a valuation of $9 million. More Aussies than ever play NCAA basketball, with many returning to compete in their home league.

"It's a must-see league with talent that isn't going away," said Tony Ronzone, a veteran international scout now with the Dallas Mavericks.

Fans all over the world have been watching LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton from afar as they ready themselves in the NBL for the 2020 NBA draft. Both top prospects are part of the NBL's Next Stars initiative to lure elite North American high school players away from a year in the NCAA in favor of a season in Oceania as first-year pros.

Word is, that NBA players retiring with $100m plus in the bank may look to purchase stakes in Australian franchises as a gateway to the NBA multi-billion dollar clubs. (ESPN)

⛵️ Sailing

Comanche setting the pace to Hobart but four supermaxis loom in fascinating first night...

Only around three miles separated InfoTrack and the other three supermaxis, Wild Oats XI, Black Jack and SHK Scallywag 100. With the boats pushed along by winds of around 25 knots, Comanche predictably prospered after she made a slow start in Sydney Harbour.

🏉 NRL

Jai Arrow has agreed to a four-year deal with Souths from 2021.

The Courier-Mail broke the story that Arrow had agreed to terms with the Rabbitohs, and they’re now reporting that plans are going on in the background to ensure he can turn out for the club in the 2020 NRL season.

🇦🇺 AFL

Dockers finally set to unleash triple treat of talls (afl.com)

All I want for Christmas is ... your club's wish list (afl.com)

Saints' Fantasy: Prices, locks, bargains, draft sleeper, more (afl.com)

🏈 American Football

The longtime Giants quarterback, who’s set to don the Big Blue uniform for the final time this Sunday, regularly had someone in road stadiums find him a six-pack or 12-pack of beer to take on the team bus after games, no matter the result, according to ESPN. Manning would share beers with veterans in the back of the bus as the Giants went to the airport.

“It was unbelievable,” Lawrence Tynes, a two-time Super Bowl-winning teammate of Manning’s, told ESPN. “He had a guy in every f—ing stadium in the league to get him that beer.”

If you don’t already have a team in College Football. You do now.

It’s Ohio State - Go Buckeyes

Ohio State hasn’t won a National Title since 2014, but they are 13-0 this season in the conference (Big10 East). It's a big step up facing Clemson (last years National Champs), the Fiesta bowl on Sunday.

They play home games in the 7th largest stadium in the world (larger than Melbourne Cricket Ground), capacity 102,780.

Star players include quarterback Justin Fields (Netflix show QB1 fame), Chase Young (future #1 NFL draft pick) and JK Dobbins (“J.K. all day” as the American commentators like to say).

📺 Today's sport

⚽️ Leicester v Liverpool (7pm ADET)

⚾️ ABL baseball

🏀 NBA & NBL and WNBL basketball

🏏 Australia v New Zealand (day 2) (10:30am)

🏏 BBL - Melbourne Stars v Adelaide Strikers (7:10pm)

⚽️ A-League - Adelaide United v Western Sydney Wanderers (7:30pm)

🎯 PDC world darts round 3 (11:30pm)

Back on Monday!

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