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By Sonny Jones

A few news and notes from under the cushions of the couch:

• An amazing performance by Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Saturday’s 27-20 win against Jacksonville in the NFL playoffs. Playing on an injured right ankle, he was able to play well enough to help the Chiefs reach their fifth consecutive AFC championship game.

• Jacksonville is an example of what can happen when you draft the right quarterback (Trevor Lawrence) and hire the right head coach (Doug Pederson). Hope the Carolina Panthers were taking notes.

• Who can stop the Philadelphia Eagles and Jalen Hurts? They laid a hurtin’ on the New York Giants with a 38-7 triumph. Hurts passed for two touchdowns and ran for one. Philadelphia rushed for 268 yards and its defense allowed only 227 total yards.

• Mr. Double-Double was his usual self Saturday. Armando Baco had 23 points and 18 rebounds to lead North Carolina past N.C. State 80-69. Bacot’s 61st career double-double and his career 1,221 rebounds are the best in school history.

• Hope N.C. State’s Terquavion Smith is OK after being injured in a fall about midway through the second half of Saturday’s contest. College basketball is better with exciting players such as Smith.

• Sebastian Aho’s team beat Sebastian Aho’s team Saturday night. The Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho had a hat trick in a 5-2 win against the New York Islanders’ Sebastian Aho. What are the odds of each team having a Sebastian Aho on its roster? Guess 100% when the Hurricanes and Islanders meet.

• Elizabethtown Dixie Youth Baseball player registration is available online. At the top of the TeamPass website, choose “select league”, then click Elizabethtown DYB from the drop-down box. Register your player by clicking here.

• A pair of area golf courses have planned Super Bowl Scramble tournaments the day before the NFL’s championship game.

Vineyard Golf at White Lake has announced a Super Bowl Two-Man Texas Scramble will be held Saturday, Feb. 11 with a shotgun start at noon. The cost to participate will be $50 for members and $70 for non-members. Entry deadline is Feb. 8. For information, call 910-247-6132.

Land ‘O Lakes in Whiteville will have a two-player Super Bowl Texas Scramble on Saturday, Feb. 11 with a noon shotgun start. Entry fee is $35 for members and $45 for guests. Deadline to enter is Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 5 p.m. Call 910-642-5757 for more information.

TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

• 1920 — The New York Yankees announce they will be the first team to wear uniform numbers, according to the player’s position in batting order.

POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY

• SOCCER: Wolverhampton at Manchester City, 9 a.m., USA

• TENNIS: Australian Open (taped), 10 a.m., ESPN2

• SOCCER: Manchester United at Arsenal, 11:30 a.m., NBC

• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Syracuse at Duke, noon, ACCN

• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: N.C. State at Louisville, 1 p.m., ABC

• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Wake Forest at Virginia Tech, 1 p.m., BALLY SOUTH

• LPGA: Tournament of Champions, 2 p.m., NBC

• NHL: Pittsburgh at New Jersey, 2 p.m., NHLN

• SOCCER: Atalanta at Juventus, 2:45 p.m., CBSSN