1. The Browns 2017 season will mercifully come to an end on Sunday when they take on the Steelers in Pittsburgh. The Steelers are 14 point favorites and they need a win or a Patriots loss to clinch home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. Do the Browns win their first game? If not, do they cover?
2. “Cleveland Magazine” is out with their “Most Interesting People” of the year list and it includes Women of Our Future Founder Savannah James, author David Giffels who wrote a memoir of grief and recovery, plus size model Alysse Dalessandro, brew master Shaun Yasaki, weightlifter Holly Miller, figure skater Sharita Taylor, Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco, Cavs guard Kyle Korver, Bishop Nelson Perez and TV 3 meteorologist Michael Estime. Besides yourself, is there a Clevelander who is famous or not so famous who is a “Most Interesting Person”?
3. A man donated a piece of his liver to a woman that was fighting a rear genetic disease. After taking failing to find a donor that she was compatible with, Melinda Ray took to Facebook in the hopes of finding a donor and found a match in a complete stranger named Jeff Bramstedt. The California skydiving instructor and Hollywood stuntman flew to Colorado and was a part of a 10-hour procedure to get a piece of his liver to Ray. The surgery was a success three weeks ago and both Bramstedt and Ray came through perfectly. Would you give up part of your body to help a stranger live?
4. Apple's Chief Executive Tim Cook was paid $102 million after collecting a huge share bonus linked to the iPhone maker’s stock market performance. Cook was paid a basic salary of just over $3 million, a cash bonus of $9.3 million (up from $5.4 million last year), and collected share awards worth $89 million taking his total 2017 payout to $102 million. Can any CEO be worth that much?
5. A tradition done on New Year's Eve is singing the tune Auld Lang Syne as we bring in the new year. Well, apparently most of you are doing nothing but humming along or lip-synching because a survey has found that only 3% of people actually know the words. Research has shown that we actually know the chorus and the first few lines of the song, but after that we fall flat. What's more interesting is that people give Mariah Carey credit for writing the song when it actually was written by Scotland's Robert Burns. In the poll, people also believed that lyrics from The Beatles, Taylor Swift, and ABBA were part of the 18th century poem. Also, another 45% thought lyrics to Snoop Dogg's song "New Year's Eve" were also part of the song. Do you know the words to Auld Lang Syne?
6. The NFL has bowed out of Sunday Night Football in Week 17. This is the first time that the NFL has canceled the final Sunday Night Football game since 2006. The traditional night-game finale usually ends with two playoff contenders. The NFL hadn’t yet decided which two teams would play in the Sunday night game, but none met the criteria for a must-watch game. Is the cancelation an indictment on the popularity of the league in a season where the league has seen another ratings dip?
7. Swimming great Katie Ledecky edged out tennis star Serena Williams for the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. In balloting by U.S. editors and news directors announced Tuesday, Ledecky received 351 points, edging out Williams with 343.Williams won the Australian Open for her Open era-record 23rd Grand Slam tennis title. Shortly after, Williams announced a break from tennis while preparing to deliver her first child. Ledecky earned five golds and a silver at this year’s world championships in Budapest, maintaining the upward trajectory she first established as a surprise gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympics. Who is the male athlete of the year? Candidates include Houston Astros mighty mite Jose Altuve, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant and LeBron James.
8. Top civil servants in England have one wish for the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle: Don't invite the Obamas. Officials fear an invite to the Obamas and a snub to President Donald Trump could jeopardize relations. Harry and former president Barack Obama are good friends and have a close relationship. Obama has been a supporter of Harry's Invictus Games for wounded warriors. A source told The Sun, "Harry has made it clear he wants the Obamas at the wedding, so it's causing a lot of nervousness." What do you think?
9. Dateline: The United Kingdom. A mother took to the UK social forum “Mumset” to complain about a woman who was sunbathing topless at a pool in front of her kids at a family vacation resort. One mother posted “if looking at her boobs makes you uncomfortable, stop looking” while others “Mums” agreed with her. What do you think? Is it OK for women to go topless in front of children who are not her own?
10. The French government will ban students from using mobile phones in the country’s primary, junior and middle schools at the start of the next school year. Reports say that children will be allowed to bring their phones to school, however they will not allowed to use them until they leave, even during breaks. The French education minister said the ban was also a “public health message to families”, adding: “It’s good that children are not too often, or even at all, in front of a screen before the age of seven.” Do you agree with the French government's efforts?