Sports + New Year’s Day a perfect combo

Happy new year! While millions of people across the globe celebrated New Year’s Eve on the town, January 1 presented the perfect opportunity to sit on the couch, watch a variety of sporting events and discuss them on Twitter.

For all of the action, Twitter brought you into the locker room, onto the field and ice, amplified thrilling overtime action, and opened the doors of the broadcast booth.

First up on the New Year’s sports menu were 10 @premierleague soccer matches, including big wins for @SpursOfficial over @ManUtd, @chelseafc over @SouthamptonFC and @Arsenal over @CardiffCityFC.
Twitter offered fans behind the scenes access:

And players turned to Twitter after big wins:

Two late goals helped @Arsenal take home a major victory, including this great goal by @bendtnerb52:

A full slate of games lead to a change in the standings and a new record:

Next up: the @NHL#WinterClassic at Michigan Stadium (a.k.a. “The Big House”) on the campus of the University of Michigan between the @DetroitRedWings and @MapleLeafs. Both teams fought hard through extreme conditions to give fans an exciting game that went into overtime — and ultimately saw Toronto earn a 3-2 victory via a shootout.

The @DetroitRedWings showed how packed The Big House was just before the puck was dropped:

And Michigan let its fans know that this would be the only day their stadium would be taken over by red:

Fans all over the world turned to Twitter to discuss the #WinterClassic, including a few who are serving overseas.

A lot of the Twitter conversation focused on the weather:

Diehard fans at the game braved the cold conditions:

Toronto goalie Jonathan Bernier, who was the player of the game, made sure to keep his head warm:

In the end, the Leafs prevailed after a game-winning shootout goal by @Bozie42:

Just as the #WinterClassic ended, sports fans turned to College Football’s BCS and the 100th @rosebowlgame between @StanfordFball and @MSU_Football:

Both teams opened up the locker room for fans on Twitter:

And there’s nothing like seeing highlights on Twitter just after they happen on the field:

Ultimately, the Spartans defeated the Cardinal 24-20 and did so with a huge fourth and one stop with the game on the line:

The perfect sports day ended with a big upset at the highest-scoring @FiestaBowl ever, as @UCF_Football took down heavily-favored @BUFootball 52-42:

@BUFootball rallied fans together on Twitter using the hashtag #SicUCF. They even had some of their most famous fans, including @RGIII, on the sidelines of the game:

Fans saw highlights on Twitter right after they happened, including this touchdown run by Knights quarterback Blake Bortles:

In the end, the electric @UCF_Football offense proved to be too much:

While New Year’s Day was pretty incredible, there’s an amazing array of upcoming games to satisfy the most rabid of sports fans:

• @OU_Football takes on the defending champion @AlabamaFTBL tonight in the @SugarBowlNOLA; 
• the @NFL playoffs begin this weekend; 
• the regular seasons for the @NHL, @NBA and @premierleague continue; and
• the BCS National Championship between @FSU_Football and @FootballAU kicks off in Pasadena on Monday night.

To make sure you don’t miss a single sports moment, turn to Twitter to connect with your teams, join in the conversation using hashtags, see exclusive behind-the-scenes content — and lots more. Join the fun!