Day 622 -- January 1, 2022

• And already COVID running wild.  WWE is holding a New Year's night "pay per view" special -- Day 1.  And it is without pretty much the only relevant star the company has -- the worst fear has come true:  Roman Reigns tested positive today for COVID.  One can only imagine, with his risk factors...  
  
• Which means his opponent for the night, Brock Lesnar, is now Raw-side WWE Champion.  Again.
• Anyone else noticing the high number of goals in the NHL since the resumption of play??   
• Last year, an outdoor NHL game at Tahoe was delayed because the ice was too warm.  The weather is so cold in Minnesota right now:  The NHL has actually had to warm the ice to make this year's Winter Classic rink playable!
• To show how important the sports-factory nature of Mater Dei High School is -- the hazing scandal at the football program has cost the president of the school his job.
• Only two completely irrelevant Week 17 NFL games this week.
• The Red (women's) Team made it two Kouhaku Uta Gassen victories in a row in Tokyo Friday night.  
• Interesting moment at an October NHL game in Seattle.  A Seattle Kraken fan noticed a mole on the neck of the Vancouver Canucks' equipment manager.  It was cancerous -- and the manager has flagged down the fan to thank her, a medical student.  The team is giving 22 year-old Nadia Popovici $10,000 to further her medical education.
• Airline police threw the Russian junior hockey team off their flight home from the aborted World Juniors tournament in Canada for boisterous behavior and failure to abide by mask policy.
• The Czech team was also tossed off -- but they were found not to be in violation, and Air Canada apologized and got them another flight.
• The Archbishop of the Washington DC Diocese is COVID positive.