Weekly Update June 3, 2024

Baseball-MLB: This week. Yanks on a hot streak. White Sox are not. Negro baseball league stats included in record books!

Basketball – NBA: Finals are set!

Football: Wrestling gold medalist signed with the Bills. UVA to pay for shooting.

Golf: MacIntyre wins first title with dad as his caddie.

Hockey: Stanley Cup finals are set!

Olympic Sports: US GYM Nationals. The Track heats up in the 400h both M&W. Plot foiled.

Tennis: French open through the 4th round. Quarterfinals are set. Lots of ranked men and women left!

Quick Headlines: JJ highest paid athlete in NFL non-QB. Scheffler charges dropped. Carter’s foul on Clark gets upgraded. Real Madrid dominance and addition. Birmingham Southern baseball outlives its school.

Coming up this month:

June: NBA Finals June 6-23, Stanley Cup Finals June 8-24, MLB London Series (Phillies vs Mets) June 8-9, Belmont Stakes June 8, US Open (golf) June 13-16, UEFA Euro June 14-July 14, Copa America June 14-July 13, Men’s CWS June 14-June 23, Swimming US Olympic Trials June 15-23, NBA Draft June 27, US Olympic Trials for GYM June 27-30, NHL Draft June 28-29, Tour de France June 29-July 21,

Baseball – MLB:

• This week in the MLB: The Giants won their game on Monday to start the week but starting pitcher Blake Snell did not get the W and he is still winless with the team. He is also awaiting his first child.

• Tues had a double header for the Mets/Dodgers as they were making up a game from May 27. The first game went into the 10^th inning before Dodgers 1B Freeman gets a 2-run HR to take the W. The Dodgers would easily take game 2 that day with a 3-0 shutout. The Red Sox beat the Orioles 8-3 to end Baltimore’s 5-game win streak. Rangers star of last year’s WS, Seager hit his 7^th HR in 7 games in the WS rematch against the DBacks and TX gets the win 4-2. Seagar would get his 8^th in 8 the next day too. The Phillies/Giants game ended on a sac fly in the 10^th to give the Giants the 1-0 win.
• Wednesday saw the same thing for the Mariners over the Astros ending with a sac fly in the 10^th. The Pirates and Tigers had a double header with the Tigers taking game 1 8-0 but the Pirates win game 2 with the win going to the on fire Paul Skenes. Yankees SS Volpe was on a 21 game hitting streak in their win over the Angels by 1.
• What most of us would think would be longest game of the week was the A’s Rays game on Thursday that went into the 12^th Siri tied it in the 9^th to take the game into extra innings and that’s not your phone Siri but Jose Siri. Both teams would score a run in the 10^th so we keep playing. But the Rays got an RBI in the 12^th to win. Volpe’s hitting streak would end in Thursday’s game but Judge got his 275^th HR and the Yankees win 8-3.

• The actual longest game of the week (and in some weeks) would be the Pirates/BlueJays game on Friday that went into the 14^th. Talk about a boring game it was 1-1 going into extra innings. Both teams would get a run each in the 10^th and 11^th giving some hope that the game would end. But finally Davis Schneider hit the walk off 2-run HR in the 14^th. The opposite of that game would be the Padres/Royals. The Padres got the win in a high scoring game 11-8, 9 of those runs for the Padres came in the 8^th inning! The teams had a combines 31 hits.

• Saturday saw a lot of HRs and several over 400 feet but the longest and most impressive was Aaron Judge’s 464 foot 21^st HR of the season. The Yankees would beat the Giants 7-3. The Tigers/Red Sox game may have gone to 10 innings but the score didn’t look like it. The Tigers managed to put up 4 in that inning to end up with the W.

• The Cardinals upset the Phillies in 10 also on Sunday, winning 5-4. Yanks Juan Soto hit a clutch HR in the 9^th to give the Yankees the go-ahead run to win 7-5. They now sit at 6 straight wins.
• Remember last week when we went through the streaks. Oh well it gets worse for the White Sox. Add another week of losses for the CHI team. They now currently sit at 11 straight losses. The Guardians had their 9 game win streak broken on Monday with a loss to the Rockies of all teams. They would drop 2 games to the CO team in the series.

• As of this past week, the Negro league stats will be included in the MLB stats and record books. That means that the best batting average in history is no longer Ty Cobb but now Josh Gibson, who has long been considered one of the best baseball players of all time, black or white. Stats and records are now being updated!

Baseball/Softball – NCAA:

• WCWS began Thursday. Game 1 was delayed due to weather but still ended relatively on time. #6 UCLA beat #14 Alabama 4-1 despite having less hits on the board. That means that Bama left a lot of ladies stranded on base. Game 2 was #10 Duke vs #2 Oklahoma. The reigning 2x Champs run ruled the Blue Devils 9-1 in the 6^th. #1 Texas shutout #8 Stanford and #4 Florida barely beat #5 Oklahoma State by getting 1 run on the board and it was enough.
• That put Stanford, Oklahoma St, Bama and Duke in elimination games on Friday. The Cardinal came out and got business done. They run ruled OSU 8-0 in 6. Bama beat Duke by 1 to send the Blue Devils home one day before June.

• Saturday was the winners to advance to the Semis. UCLA put up a good fight and it was a close game but the Sooners pitcher (actually a former longhorn) got 11 Ks which was enough to win 1-0. Maya Brady, Tom Brady’s niece, struck out 3xs and popped up the final at-bat to end the game. OU advances to their 8^th straight WCWS semi. Texas showed why they are #1, manhandling Florida winning 10-0 (5). They put up 5 in the 1^st and then finished them off in the 4^th. Never a doubt there.
• Sunday was another day of elimination games. Whoever wins will play the split up Red River Rivalry and have to win twice against whomever they play. It was an SEC and Pac 12 battle in those games. Starting in the SEC, Florida and Bama duked it out with barely an inning going by without a run scored. Florida’s offense won out though, putting up 3 in the 6^th to beat the Tide 6-4. In the Pac 12, UCLA struck first with a HR in the 2^nd but that was the only run they scored all game. The Cardinal tallied up 3 to beat the Bruins by 2.

• Monday, the Semis: In a huge upset, Florida put the beat down on Oklahoma, ending the Sooners’ 20 game win streak in the WCWS. Florida won 9-3. That means that there will be a winner-take-all game tomorrow (was supposed to be today but due to weather, its tomorrow). Texas and Stanford was a much closer game. It was 0-0 until the final inning when Texas finally put on one on the board and that was enough to clinch the Longhorn’s return to the final.

• Regionals for baseball has begun.
• Tucson’s regional was considered the toughest and you can see why. #13 Arizona was the first Top 25 team to be knocked out after losing 2 straight games. The first was to Grand Canyon 9-4 and the next day to Dallas Baptist 7-0
• #5 Arkansas lost to K State in a close one 7-6 on Saturday. The Razorbacks had 13 hits but only put 6 runs in compared to the Wildcats that had 5 hits and 7 runs. Super unusual. #9 Oklahoma lots to unranked UConn and now need to win out to avoid elimination in their regional. #14 UCSB lost to Oregon who went on a tear winning their first two games.

• #1 Tennessee, #2 Kentucky, #3 Texas A&M, #6 Clemson, #8 Florida State, #10 NC St, #12 UVA, #15 Oregon State all advanced with no problem. #1 Tennessee hit 4 HRs in the first 4 innings in their 12-6 win over Indiana.

• Some upsets were that Oregon advanced from the UCSB regional and West Virginia take the Tucson regional to advance to their first Supers ever. MVC champ, Evansville advanced and they are the 3^rd #4 regional seed in just 4 years to advance to the Super Regional The upset #16 ECU on Friday and again today to advance to Supers. Florida upset #11 Oklahoma State in a winner-take-all game on Monday.
  • UNC and Oklahoma are the other two still playing at the time of this podcast.

Basketball – NBA:

• Conference finals: The Celtics completed the sweep on Monday which I covered in last week’s episode so that leaves the West!
  • Game 4 was Tuesday and it was close. Dallas was looking to also complete the sweep but the Timberwolves were motivated. We were tied at half. Really the only Q that showed any momentum by a team was the 3^rd for the MN team. It was enough to hold on to the win. Antony Edwards and KAT combined for 54 points. Dallas fans were crushed not to have the series sweep at home. But we head back to MN.
  • Game 5 might’ve been in Minnesota territory but it was all Dallas. The Mavs dominated from the start outscoring the Wolves by 16 and then 13 in the 1^st 2Qs respectively. Luka averaged 34 PPG after a loss and he kept that honest putting up 36. He outscored the Timberwolves in the 1Q by himself (19 vs 20). Mavs win 124-103 and advance!
• So the finals are set! Celtics vs Mavericks.

Football:

• This is a combo of Olympic and Football news. Gable Stevenson has signed with the Bills. If you don’t know that name that’s probably because he is one of the best NCAA wrestlers in history and an Olympic gold medalist in the sport. He signed a 3-year rookie deal and had never even put on cleats until he worked out with the Buffalo team. He’s expected to play DL. Only one athlete has ever gotten an Olympic medal and Super Bowl ring, Bob Hayes.
• UVA will pay $9MM to the victim’s families after the shooting on campus last year. $2MM each to the victims who died and $1.5MM to the injured 2 students. The agreement was that the school should’ve removed the shooter before the shooting happened as he has multiple red flags and ‘unstable behavior.’

Golf:

• SCO Robert MacIntyre was homesick last week and his dad flew out to be with him and bring hi a piece of home. I guess that was all that was needed! MacIntyre went on to win his first PGA Tour title at the RBC Canadian Open this weekend with his dad on the bag! MacIntyre was ahead by 4 strokes going into the final round and needed all but 1 to beat Ben Griffin for the title. Both father and son were emotional about the win on the green and MacIntyre said he is headed home this week before playing in some of the highest tournaments in the world (like the US Open which he has now qualified for).

• • He wasn’t the only one with caddie stories from the week, CT Pan had a fan step in to caddie for him after his normal caddie fell and was being medically treated.

Hockey:

• Conference finals were much closer than the NBA ones.

• • Another game between the Rangers and Panthers went into OT. Game 4 was back and forth but the Panthers who only put up 2 in the 2P managed to get the win in OT to even up the series. We’re tied 2-2. The Panthers hadn’t led the series until Game 5 on Thursday. They put up 2 goals in the final P compared to NY’s 1 to take the win and their first series lead. That was enough momentum to do it. Game 6 was back in FL on Saturday and they scored early. They added another goal in 3P to put the exclamation point on it, winning by 1 but advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.

• • The Stars won in dominant fashion in Game 3 on MDMonday 5-2 but he Oilers flipped the script on Wednesday. They won 5-2 and now that series is tied 2-2 going into Game 5. The Oilers took that momentum into Dallas and won handily 3-1 with the only goal by Dallas being scored in the final P. The Oilers would not let Dallas get in their way again. The Edmonton team put up 2 in the 1P and never gave the lead back in Game 6. Dallas would put up 1 but that was it.
• The Final is set: Panthers vs Oilers! The Panthers are going for their first Stanley Cup ever while the Oilers haven’t had one in my lifetime (last one was 1990).

Olympic Sports:

• US Gymnastic Nationals:
  • Brody Malone won the men’s all-around title over Fred Richard by 2 points Saturday and that was with a rebuilt knee. Three surgeries and more than a year later, he is now the man to beat to make the Olympic team. Richard is currently a gymnast at Michigan and Young, who finished 3^rd is 21 years old at Stanford.

• • On the women’s side, Shilese Jones pulled out of the meet this weekend with a shoulder injury. She will now need to petition USA Gymnastics for a spot at Olympic trials next month after she was one of the favorites to make the team as a 6-time World Championship medalist and finished #2 to Simone Biles 2 weeks ago. Speaking of Simone, she won her 9^th USA title; she did so with the highest two-day score on all apparatuses, something she has only done once (back in 2018). She did fall on her back in the vault but that still received a score of 15 since no other woman and only a few men have ever landed it in competition. Skye Blakely got 2^nd and Kayla DiCello got the bronze. DiCello, Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey all had falls on one apparatus through the all-around competition. Suni Lee had a bad fall in the vault and has been battling kidney disease during her training. Trails will be June 27-30.

• Going to the track, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone competed in her first 400h race of 2024 and she looked as dominant as ever. She won it with a time of 52.70, a world leading time by over a full second until Sunday. Her main competitor, NED Femke Bol opened up her season on Sunday in the Diamond League. She would run a 53 flat so both women looking good a full 2 months before they compete. Speaking of the 400h, half of the Tokyo finalists were present in the diamond league meet for the M 400h. BRA Santos looked great but so have his competitors this season (NOR Warholm and USA Benjamin). Definitely two races to watch!
• A man from Chechnya was arrested this week for being involved in planning a violent action aimed at spectators of the soccer matches at the Paris Olympics specifically the stadium in Saint-Etienne. Some big matches are set to take place in that stadium including the reigning gold medalists women’s team CAN vs FRA. He is believed to share the Islamic jihadist ideology.

Tennis:

• The French Open is almost over and it has been a great one so far!
  • On the men’s side, only 2 unranked players made it to the 4^th round and neither of them advanced to the Quarterfinals. There is also no American in the Quarters as Taylor Fritz fell in the 4^th. You know who is still in? Reigning champ, Djokovic although barely. His third round match against Lorenzo Musetti went until 3am after 4.5 hours of play where Novak had to come back being down 2 sets. That GS win was his 369^th which ties him with Rodger Federer for the most in tennis history. His 370^th would come in the next round but again he had to come back after losing the first set. More problematic is he that his knee is acting up. TBD if that will effect his play in the later rounds. Also still in: #2 ITA Sinner, #3 ESP Alcaraz and #4 Zevrev.

• • On the women’s side there were a lot more unranked to make it to the 4^th round 7 in fact, almost half of the competitors but that is where their luck ended. Only one made it to the Quarterfinals and it is 17 year old RUS Andreeva. Hope she had fun while it lasted as she has to play Sabalekna in the Quarters. Sabalekna has eased her way through the rounds. When she made the 4^th, she was 10-0 in her last GS matches, the first woman to be so since 2007. #1 Iga Swaitek is still in but on the other side of the bracket. #3 and final American left CoCo Gauff has looked great but she will now face Ons Jabeur in the Quarters.

Some quick highlights:

• Football: Justin Jefferson just signed a contract extension with the Vikings for 4-years for $140MM which makes him the highest paid non-QB in league history.
• All charges against Scottie Scheffler from Kentucky have been dropped. Both parties are just ready to get this behind them and move forward.

• Caitlin Clark was fouled hard in the Fever’s game against the CHI Sky by Chennedy Carter. It was originally ruled a foul but was later upgraded to a flagrant foul.

• Real Madrid is in the news for 2 different reasons this week. 1 they won their 15^th Champions League and they signed Mbappe – better watch out as the already winning team arms themselves with another weapon.

 

• D3 school, Birmingham Southern baseball made it longer than their university. The University closed its doors after 160 years on Friday due to financial failure. But the baseball team was still playing in the D3 CWS. That ended also in heartbreak on Sunday when they lost 11-10 against Wisconsin-Whitewater. At least this crying in baseball we can all understand.

What to watch this week

Baseball – MLB:

• Mon 6/3
  • Giants at Diamondbacks @ 8:40pm on FS1
• Tues 6/4
  • Twins at Yankees @ 6:05pm on TBS
• Wed 6/5
  • Padres at Angels @ 8:38pm on FS1
    • Cease vs Soriano
• Fri 6/7
  • Twins at Pirates @ 5:40pm on Apple TV+
  • Dodgers at Yankees @ 6:05pm on Apple TV+
• Sat 6/8
  • Phillies at Mets @ 12:10pm on FOX
    • Suarez vs Manaea
  • Guardians at Marlins – or – Dodgers at Yankees @ 6:35pm on FOX
• Sun 6/9
  • Mets at Phillies @ 9am on ESPN – London series
    • Quintana vs Walker
  • Dodgers at Yankees @ 6pm on ESPN
    • Glasnow vs Gil

Baseball-NCAA:

• Mon 6/3 – UPDATE after SUNDAY
  • 11. Oklahoma St vs Florida @ 2pm on ESPNU
  • 4. UNC vs LSU @ 5pm on ESPNU
  • UConn vs 9. Oklahoma @ 8pm on ESPNU
• Fri 6/7
  • Super Regionals @ 11am on ESPN
  • Super Regionals @ 4pm on ESPNU
  • Super Regionals @ 5pm on ESPN2
  • Super Regionals @ 7pm on ESPNU
• Sat 6/8
  • Super Regionals @ 10am on ESPN
  • Super Regionals @ 10am on ESPN2
  • Super Regionals @ 11am on ESPNU
  • Super Regionals @ 1pm on ESPN2
  • Super Regionals @ 1pm on ESPN
  • Super Regionals @ 2pm on ESPNU
  • Super Regionals @ 5pm on ESPNU
  • Super Regionals @ 7pm on ESPN2
• Sun 6/9
  • Super Regionals @ 11am on ESPN2
  • Super Regionals @ 12pm on ESPNU
  • Super Regionals @ 12pm on ESPN
  • Super Regionals @ 2pm on ESPN2
  • Super Regionals @ 3pm on ESPNU
  • Super Regionals @ 6pm on ESPNU
  • Super Regionals @ 6:30pm on ESPN2
  • Super Regionals @ 9pm on ESPNU
• Mon 6/10
  • Super Regionals @ 2pm on ESPN2
  • Super Regionals @ 2pm on ESPN
  • Super Regionals @ 7pm on ESPN2

Softball-NCAA:

• Mon 6/3
  • 4. Florida vs 2. Oklahoma @ 11am on ESPN
  • 8. Stanford vs 1. Texas @ 6pm on ESPN2
• Tues 6/4
  • OU vs FL @ TBD on ESPN
• Wed 6/5
  • WCWS Final Game 1 @ 7:30pm on ESPN
• Thurs 6/6
  • WCWS Final Game 2 @ 6:30pm on ESPN
• Fri 6/7
  • WCWS Final Game 3 if necessary @ 7:30pm on ESPN

Basketball – NBA:

• Thurs 6/6
  • Finals Game 1: Mavericks at Celtics @ 7:30pm on ABC
• Sun 6/9
  • Finals Game 2: Mavericks at Celtics @ 7pm on ABC
• Wed 6/12
  • Finals Game 3: Celtics at Mavericks @ 7:30pm on ABC
• Fri 6/14
  • Finals Game 4: Celtics at Mavericks @ 7:30pm on ABC
• Mon 6/17
  • Finals Game 5: Mavericks at Celtics @ 7:30pm on ABC
    • If necessary
• Thurs 6/20
  • Finals Game 6: Mavericks at Celtics @ 7:30pm on ABC
    • If necessary
• Sun 6/23
  • Finals Game 7: Mavericks at Celtics @ 7pm on ABC
    • If necessary

Football – UFL:

• Sat 6/8
  • UFL Conference Championships: Michigan Panthers vs Birmingham Stallions @ 2pm on ABC
• Sun 6/9
  • UFL Conference Championships: San Antonio Brahmas vs St. Louis Battlehawks @ 6pm on FOX

Golf:

• Thurs 6/6
  • The Memorial – Round 1 @ 1pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 6/7
  • The Memorial – Round 2 @ 1pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 6/8
  • The Memorial – Round 3
    • @ 11:30am on Golf Channel
    • @ 1:30pm on CBS
• Sun 6/9
  • The Memorial – Final Round
    • @ 11:30am on Golf Channel
    • @ 1:30pm on CBS

Hockey:

• Sat 6/8
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 1: TBD vs TBD @ 7pm on ABC
• Mon 6/10
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 2: TBD vs TBD @ 7pm on ABC
• Thurs 6/13
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 3: TBD vs TBD @ 7pm on ABC
• Sat 6/15
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 4: TBD vs TBD @ 7pm on ABC
• Tues 6/18
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 5: TBD vs TBD @ 7pm on ABC
    • If necessary
• Fri 6/21
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 6: TBD vs TBD @ 7pm on ABC
    • If necessary
• Mon 6/24
  • Stanley Cup Final Game 7: TBD vs TBD @ 7pm on ABC
    • If necessary

Horseracing:

• Sat 6/8
  • Belmont Stakes @ 5:41pm on FOX

Motorsports:

• Sat 6/8
  • F1: AWS CAN GP Qualifying @ 3pm on ESPN
• Sun 6/9
  • F1: AWS CAN GP Race @ 1pm on ESPN

Olympic Sports:

• Wed 6/5
  • Track & Field: NCAA Championships Day 1 (Men’s) @ 6:30pm on ESPN2
• Thurs 6/6
  • Track & Field: NCAA Championships Day 1 (Women’s) @ 7:30pm on ESPN2
• Fri 6/7
  • Track & Field: NCAA Championships Day 2 (Men’s) @ 8pm on ESPN2
• Sat 6/8
  • US Olympic Trails Team USA Preview @ 1pm on NBC
  • Track & Field: NCAA Championships Day 2 (Women’s) @ 4:30pm on ESPN
• Sun 6/9
  • USATF NY GP @ 1pm on NBC

Soccer:

• Mon 6/3
  • International Friendly: ENG vs BOS @ 6pm on FS1
• Tues 6/4
  • International Friendly: POR vs FIN @ 6pm on FS1
• Wed 6/5
  • International Friendly: DEN vs SWE @ 11:30pm on FS1
  • International Friendly: NED vs CAN @ 6pm on FS1
• Thurs 6/6
  • International Friendly: GIB vs Wales @ 2pm on FS1
  • International Friendly: GER vs GRE @ 8:30pm on FS1
• Sat 6/8
  • NWSL: Gotham FC vs Angel City @ 11:30am on CBS
• Sun 6/9
  • International Friendly: POR vs CRO @ 4:30am on FS1

Tennis:

• Thurs 6/6
  • French Open: Women’s Semis @ 10am on NBC
• Fri 6/7
  • French Open: Men’s Semis @ 10am on NBC
• Sat 6/8
  • French Open: Women’s Final @ 8am on NBC
• Sun 6/9
  • French Open: Men’s Final @ 8am on NBC