Weekly Update – August 8, 2022

Baseball-MLB: Standings update. Vin Scully died. Padres acquire Soto but get swept. Twins/Blue Jays questionable call. Pete Rose honored and back on field for the first time since 1989 after sexual misconduct.

Basketball: Griner sentenced to 9 years.

Football: Dolphins impermissible contact with Brady and Payton. Preseason Game 1. NFL illegal contact clarification. Cale Gundy out of OU.

Golf: Joohyung Kim wins Wyndham. Nick Faldo’s final broadcast. FedEx Cup playoffs begin. Phil and Bryson file lawsuit.

Olympic Sports: Final Commonwealth Games medal count. World Triathlon stricter Trans rules. Luge World Cup delayed for FIFA World Cup. Hanyu begins YouTube channel. Tebogo breaks U20 WR (again).

Baseball:

• We are 2 months away from the start of MLB post season (Oct 7^th). So let’s have a check in on the standings. Who is on the verge of missing playoffs? Guardians, Orioles and Brewers are all 2 games or under away from where they need to be to secure the wild card spot.
  • American League: Yankees and Astros tied with 70 wins a piece; only other team with 60 wins is the Blue Jays in 3rd
    • Bottom 3: A’s, Tigers and Royals
  • National League: Dodgers with 75 wins; Mets are in 2^nd with 70; Braves have 64 in 3rd
    • Bottom 3: Nationals, Cubs, Pirates

• Vin Scully, voice of the Dodgers, died at the age of 94. He was the announcer for 67 years and retired in 2016. He called 25 world series, 20 no-hitters, 3 perfect games and Hank Aaron’s 715^{th HR .}  

• The Padres were clearly watching the HR Derby as they have acquired Juan Soto from the Nationals with a big price tag. They traded 6 players for Soto and 1B Josh Bell, including their own 1B and DH Luke Voit. The Padres also initiated a trade with the Reds on Tuesday as well. They’ve been busy. No wonder they got swept by the Dodgers.
• Drama during Sunday’s Twins vs Blue Jays game. The game was in extra innings after the Blue Jays were up 0-2 until the 8^th when the Twins clawed their way back. The Blue Jays scored in the 10^th to end the game but the run was on a questionable call that the Twins manager, Rocco Baldelli, got himself ejected after. The Blue Jays had Merrifield running home after a sacrifice fly. Merrifield was called out at home however the call was reversed after it was determined that Twins C Gary Sanchez interfered with Merrifield, not giving him a clear lane. That out would’ve ended the inning but instead was the winning run. Baldelli was pissed and ejected for the 3^rd time this season.

• Pete Rose had some harsh words for reporters when he was asked about the statutory rape charges that have been brought up against him. A woman claimed that back in 1973, Rose and her had several sexual encounters when she was only 14 or 15. Rose said they did have a relationship but when she was 16, the age of consent in Ohio (where it happened). Reports came out about this in 2017 and the team reneged on plans they had to honor him. They decided to include Rose this time as they were celebrating the 1980 championship team. His teammates of that team said they wanted him there bc without him there would’ve been no trophy. Pete Rose had not been on the Phillies field since 1989 when he was given a lifetime ban by the MLB for betting on his own team, the Reds.

• The 1909 Honus Wagner baseball card sold for $7.2MM. Wagner played in 1897-1917 but won the World Series with the Pirates in 1909.

Basketball:

• It is official, Brittney Griner has been sentenced to 9 years in RUS prison after bringing cannabis into the country. She was also fined 1MM rubles ($16k) It is illegal in RUS although Griner had a prescription for its’ use in the USA. The US has come out to say that she is being wrongfully detained. The good part for Griner? The USA and RUS were waiting to negotiate a prisoner swap until after the sentencing. She and the country is hopeful we can get her home via a swap.

Football:

• Dolphins have been punished for ‘impermissible contact’ with Tom Brady and coach Sean Payton away. They have to give up a 1^st round draft pick in 2023 and 3^rd in 2024. And the owner, Stephen Ross, is not allowed to attend any games until October.

• There was a preseason game last week, the Jaguars vs the Jets and the Raiders came out on top winning 27-11. I call this a game loosely, it was basically a scrimmage. The pre-season goes into full swing this week.
• The NFL is asking its on field officials to add emphasis to ‘Illegal contact’ fouls. Those are normally when a defender hits the QB when he is still in the pocket and has the ball, resulting in a 5 yard penalty and automatic first down. In the same report, the NFL clarified ‘roughing the passer’ calls to be contact to the helmet or below the knee should be a foul.

• OU Assistant coach, Cale Gundy (yes brother of OSU HC Mike Gundy) has resigned. Apparently he said a ‘shameful and hurtful’ word. NFL RB Joe Mixon wrote a letter supporting Gundy’s character and to express that he thinks OU should let him to stay. This all happens in the same month as the first game of the football season and the Sooners have already been through a lot of changes for the season. Gundy had been with the OU staff since 1999 with Bob Stoops and previously played for OU.

Golf:

• Joohyung ‘Tom’ Kim wins the final PGA Tour event of the regular season, the Wyndham Championship. He won by 5 to claim his first PGA Tour victory; mostly contributed by his on fire first 9 in the final round where he was -8; the T-2 lowest 9-hole score on Tour ever. He was really just hoping to do well enough in this tournament to earn a spot in the Korn Ferry Tour finals and now he is a PGA Tour winner and will compete on the Tour for a couple of years. Kim is the 2^nd youngest player to win on the PGA Tour since WWII at the age of 20. This win also puts Kim to #21 in the OWGR which means he can prob count on 2 of the 3 FedEx Cup events. The weather kept the tournament interesting with a 2x delayed 3^rd round but in an effort to get the tournament to finish on time, we had groups tee off at both 1^st and 9^th for the final round. It was important to finish the tournament on time as the FedEx St. Jude Championship is the first round of the FedEx Cup playoffs begins Thursday.

• This weekend at the Wyndham was also Nick Faldo’s final time calling the tournament. It was a tearful goodbye on Sunday after 16 years. Faldo was a stellar golfer, 6x major champion (including 3x Open Champion and 3x Masters Champion) before turning to the mic. He also won 9xs on the PGA Tour and 30xs on the European Tour. Nick is in the Hall of Fame and was knighted in 2009.

• Phil and Bryson and 9 other golfers are suing the PGA Tour for anti-trust after the PGA Tour suspended players for joining the LIV Tour. 3 golfers in particular, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones are seeking a temporary restraining order which would allow them to play in the FedEx Cup playoffs. That hearing is this week so more to come on that. So far the LIV players have been issued a 2 year ban but lifetime bans have been discussed. The PGA Tour is also under investigation by the DOJ for the same thing. They (mostly through their commish Jay Monahan) has said they were prepared for this.

Olympic Sports:

• Commonwealth game have ended.
  • Medal count: AUS 67/57/54=178; ENG 57/66/53=176; CAN 26/32/34=92
  • Major headlines:
    • 8 members of the Sri Lankan delegation have gone missing. 3 were reporting missing earlier in the games and 2 of those have been located. No comments have been given as to their whereabouts. Sri Lanka is in political and economic turmoil as the president’s mansion was occupied by protesters in July.
    • AUS women beat IND in the cricket final, thanks in part to their star, Tahlia McGrath being able to compete despite a positive COVID test. The COVID protocols in England allowed her to compete but she couldn’t celebrate with the team.
    • After getting upset last week, ENG Adam Peaty won the 50m Breast – finally. Despite being the Breaststroke king since he entered the scene 8 years ago, the 50m title was the one he didn’t have – until Tuesday.
    • RSA upset Fiji in Rugby 7s winning the final 31-7.

• World Triathlon announced their new stricter policy against Trans women. The policy requires must show a lower max testosterone level (2.5 nanomules/L) for at least 2 yrs. However if a trans woman has competed as a male in any sporting competition must wait 4 years before being allowed to switch to the women’s events. These new policies will take effect next month.
• The first event of the Luge World Cup has been canceled after it was found out that it conflicted with the FIFA World Cup. The World Cup was takin up too much of the available TV schedule in Europe. Luge will begin Dec 2^nd now, when FIFA group stages will be completed and less games being played.

• Ahh social media. Figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu launched a YouTube channel and got 30k subscribers in just 1 hour.

• BOT Letsile Tebogo broke the U20 WR in the 100m with a time of 9.91, drawing comparisons to Usain Bolt. He even did the showboating that Bolt was known for – he didn’t run through the line or that WR would be ~9.8. He broke that record initially at Worlds on the rounds but he reset the WR again in Colombia.

What to watch this week

Baseball-MLB:

• Tues 8/9
  • Braves at Red Sox @ 6:10pm on TBS
    • Morton vs Hill
• Thurs 8/11
  • Cubs at Reds @ 6:15pm on FOX
    • Smyly vs Lodolo
• Sat 8/13
  • Yankees at Red Sox – or – Mariners at Rangers @ 6:15pm on FOX
• Sun 8/14
  • Padres at Nationals @ 11:05am on Peacock
    • Snell vs Sanchez
  • Yankees at Red Sox @ 6pm on ESPN
    • Taillon vs Hill

Football-NFL: (only the games on NFL Network are listed)

• Thurs 8/11
  • Giants at Patriots @ 6pm on NFL
• Fri 8/12
  • Falcons at Lions @ 5pm on NFL
  • Packers at 49ers @ 7:30pm on NFL
• Sat 8/13
  • Chiefs at Bears @ 12pm on NFL
  • Colts at Bills @ 3pm on NFL
  • Seahawks at Steelers @ 6pm on NFL
  • Cowboys at Broncos @ 8pm on NFL
• Sun 8/14
  • Vikings at Raiders @ 3:25pm on NFL

Golf:

• Thurs 8/11
  • FedEx St. Jude Championship – Round 1 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 8/12
  • FedEx St. Jude Championship – Round 2 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 8/13
  • FedEx St. Jude Championship – Round 3
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on NBC
• Sun 8/14
  • FedEx St. Jude Championship – Final Round
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on NBC

Olympic Sports:

• Tues 8/9
  • Beach Volleyball: AVP Pro Fort Lauderdale Open @ 7pm on FS1
  • Beach Volleyball: AVP Pro Atlanta Open @ 9pm on FS1

Soccer:

• Thurs 8/11
  • FIFA U20 W World Cup: FRA vs NIG @ 5:55pm on FS1
  • FIFA U20 W World Cup: CAN vs KOR @ 8:50pm on FS1
  • FIFA U20 W World Cup: GHA vs USA @ 11pm on FS1
• Sat 8/13
  • Premier League: Aston Villa vs Everton @ 6:30am on USA
  • Premier League: Manchester City vs Bournemouth @ 9am on USA
  • Premier League: Teams TBA @ 11:30am on NBC
  • La Liga: FC Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano @ 1:30pm on ABC
• Sun 8/14
  • Premier League: Nottingham Forest vs West Ham @ 8am on USA
  • Premier League: Chelsea vs Tottenham @ 10:30am on USA
  • FIFA U20 W World Cup: USA vs NED @ 5:50pm on FS1
  • MLS: Nashville SC vs Minnesota United FC @ 8pm on FS1