Weekly Update – Week of June 7, 2021

Baseball-MLB: A baseball hole in one? White Sox La Russa #2 in wins. Blue Jays in Buffalo through 7/21. Nats/Phillies game got crazy. Team USA qualifies for Tokyo.

Baseball/Softball: Softball craziness! Oklahoma vs James Madison and Alabama vs Florida St tonight. Winner goes to the natty. Regional and Super Regionals this week for baseball.

Basketball-NBA: Harden out for a game. Embiid back. Clippers eliminate Mavs.

Football: Julio Jones to the Titans. Saban at Bama through 2028.

Golf: Cantlay takes Memorial. Rahm WD with 6 shot lead.

Hockey: Playoffs continue.

Horse Racing: Essential Quality wins Belmont.

Olympic Sports: Biles wins 7th natty. Fraser-Price #2 fastest 100m ever. New 10km WR. Swimming Olympic Trials begins. Gibb and Dalhausser make Tokyo >40 yrs old. Not in Tokyo: Kerri Walsh Jennings, Brianna Rollins, Monica Puig and Alistair Brownlee.

Tennis: French Open continues. Gauff only USA woman left. Federer withdraws. Djkovoic loses 2 sets to 19 ITA but rallies.

Baseball-MLB:

• Check out this hole in one! Yes in baseball.
• White Sox manager, Tony La Russa, is now #2 on the all time win list for a manager with 2,764 wins after his team beat the Tigers on Sunday. The most currently lies with Connie Mack with 3,731 so La Russa has a ways to go for the top spot.
• Despite calls from the public to loosen COVID travel restrictions between the US and Canada, the Blue Jays have extended their stay in Buffalo through July 21. This doesn’t sounds like politicians are taking the call seriously but we are happy that the Blue Jays have an adopted home state side so they can continue play.
• Giants 3B Evan Longoria is out for 4-6 weeks after a collision during Saturday’s game with SS Brandon Crawford left him with the shoulder sprain.
• The Phillies/Nationals game had some netting issues when the safety net behind home plate broke. This was AFTER RHP Austin Voth was hit by the ball as he was trying to bunt and the umpire had to leave the game after being hit in the mask by a foul tip. The netting actually fell on the player’s heads as it collapsed. No one was hurt but it had to be repaired. I guess people felt like there were already too many hits (and not the actual baseball kind) during the game. The Phillies won 12-6 in the 4.5 hour game.
• Team USA baseball has qualified for the Tokyo Games after winning the Americas qualifying tournament. Former Reds All-Star (although currently with the Pirates in the minors) Todd Frazier went 4 for 4 in his at-bats including a HR, RBI double and 2 singles.

Baseball/Softball-NCAA:

• Well the Softball Championship Series was supposed to start today however with a ton of weather delays and the Oklahoma St vs Florida St game ending at 2:18am on Saturday night, the game schedule has been adjusted. But the first CWS in softball in 700 days did not disappoint!
  • Unranked James Madison conquered the #1 Sooners in extra innings during game 1 of the World Series on Thursday in one of the biggest upsets in history. The Dukes then went undefeated meaning they beat #1 and #5 to win their side of the bracket. They now get to play #1 Oklahoma again.
    • Oklahoma had to go undefeated through the loser’s bracket to rematch the Dukes, which the Sooners did and won. They will now play their final winner-take-all game today! That team will go onto the Championships Series tomorrow.
  • #3 Alabama upset #2 UCLA in the 2nd game on their side of the bracket before losing to Florida St, who had to go undefeated through the loser’s bracket. The Crimson Tide will play the Seminoles also in a winner-take-all game today.

• NCAA Baseball playoffs started Thursday with the regional rounds. Super Regionals will be June 11 – June 14. The College World Series is set to take place on the 19^th – 30^th.
  • Nebraska stunned the #1 ranked Razorbacks taking them to game 3 to make it out of their regional. They play that game tonight at 7pm.
  • Advancing teams to Super regionals: NC St, Texas Tech, Arizona, East Carolina, Vanderbilt, Texas, Notre Dame and Tennessee (so far)
  • The South Alabama vs South Florida game got suspended last night in the 5^th That game will resume today with the current score of SA 4- SF 0. If South Alabama wins, they will need to play again.

Basketball:

• Playoffs continue…
  • Harden is out for Game 2 of the Net/Bucks series due to tightness in his hamstring. The Nets took game 1.
  • Joel Embiid is back from his knee injury in time to score 39 points against the Hawks in Game 1 of the series. However that wasn’t enough to pull the 76ers past the Atlanta team who won 128-124. The 76ers were down 26 points at one point. Trae Young scored 35 points for the Hawks.
  • The Clippers eliminated the Mavericks in Game 7 yesterday, despite Luka Doncic scoring 46 points. The LA team won 126-111 with the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters being the real game changers.

Football:

• Julio Jones has been acquired by the Titans in a blockbuster trade over the weekend. The Titans will give the 2022 2^nd round draft pick and a 2023 4^th round draft pick to the Falcons while the Falcons gave Julio Jones and a 2023 6^th round draft pick. The Titans may now be a force to be reckoned with offensive weapons like Derrick henry and Julio Jones. The deal is still pending but should be finalized in the coming days.
• Nick Saban will be at Alabama through the 2028 season according to a deal signed today. The new deal will take his current salary of $8.425MM/year to $10MM/yr. This next season will be Saban’s 15^th with the Crimson Tide with an overall record of 170-23. Saban is 69 and at the end of that contract will be 76.

Golf:

• You get a handshake from one of golf’s greats, Jack Nicklaus for winning the Memorial tournament. This year, Patrick Cantlay got that handshake for the second time. Cantlay and Collin Morikawa went to one playoff hole after being tied at 13 under, where Cantlay won with a par.

• The playoff hole wasn’t the only drama of the tournament. John Rahm had the 54-hole lead by 6 after his 3^rd round on Saturday when disaster struck. He was told on course immediately after his round that he had tested positive for COVID and had to withdraw from the tournament. He tested for COVID due to contact tracing as he had come into contact with someone who had been diagnosed with the virus. Rahm had gotten his first vaccine on Wednesday.

Hockey:

• Stanley Cup playoffs are still underway with the Frozen Four coming up!

Horse Racing:

• The last of the triple crown races, the Belmont Stakes, ran this weekend. Betting favorite 6-5, Essential Quality won this race which is Brad Cox’s first Triple Crown win but it might be his second? If Medina Spirit is DQ’d, the Kentucky Derby win would go to Mandaloun, which was also trained by Cox. Medina Spirit failed another test to confirm the first one done at the Kentucky Derby but no word if he is DQ’d yet. Essential Quality passed horses on the final corner on the outside and only led for 30 seconds of the race which was a close one with Hot Rod Charlie. EQ finished 4^th at the Derby (where he was also the odds favorite) but did not run in the Preakness. Preakness winner, Rombauer, finished 3^rd at the Belmont.

Olympic Sports:

• Simone Biles won her 7^th All-Around title last night at the US Championships. She has not lost an All-Around competition in 8 years and if she wins the Olympic gold, she will be the first repeat all around winner in 50 years (CZE Vera Caslavska in 1968). Biles won by more than 4 points over Suni Lee.
  • On the other side, Laurie Hernandez had to withdraw from the competition this weekend due to a funky landing in practice off the beam. She could not compete the rest of the weekend. She will have to put in a petition to the committee to be accepted into trials. Hoping she recovers quickly!
  • US Olympic Trials is set for June 24-27.
• JAM Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ran the 2^nd fastest 100m time in history (behind FloJo with the WR of 10.49) with a 10.63. She looks in good form to defend her 2 Olympic golds from 2008 Beijing and 2012 London. She won bronze in 2016 Rio, losing out to her teammate Elaine Thompson.
• Floyd Mayweather vs Logan Paul… An actual fighter vs a YouTube sensation. Think you know who won? Well technically no one, because there was no judges or anything but it is argued that Mayweather landed more hits… I’m sorry but he better have! You cant make this stuff up…
• There is a new WR in the women’s 10,000m as of this weekend. Sifan Hassan set the record of 29m 6:82 seconds on Sunday. She already holds the WRs in the mile, one-hour event and 5km road race. Add the 10k to her list!
• Swimming US Olympic Trials have begun with Wave I. Wave I had its own set of Olympic qualifying times but if you get the faster Wave II time, a swimmer will go automatically to that meet. Also the top 2 finishers in each event in Wave I can compete in Wave II. They do not have to but most likely the team will be from Wave II as those are the faster athletes. Basically think of Wave I like a wildcard meet. The top 2 fastest swimmers will make the Tokyo Olympic team. Wave II is set for June 13-20.

• USA Jake Gibb and Phil Dalhsausser are going back to the Olympics! Gibb, 45, and Dalhausser, 41, have both qualified for Tokyo although in different pairings. Both men have made every Olympics since 2008, although Dalhausser won gold that year with then partner Todd Rodgers. Gibb is the oldest volleyball player ever to qualify, is a 2x cancer survivor and will be partnered with Taylor Cobb. Dalhausser will be partnered with Nick Lucena. Both men played in the same pairs in 2016 Rio.

• Who we wont see in the Olympics? For the first time in 5 Olympics, Kerri Walsh Jennings (Beach Volleyball) has missed qualifying for the games. She won gold in 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing, 2012 London and Bronze in 2016 Rio. Many people don’t know that Kerri was also on the USA indoor team in 2000 Sydney. The team that beat out Kerri and her partner Brooke Sweat, was the youngest ever to be Team USA in the sport, Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil. It is truly the end of an era.
  • DQs:
  • 
  • • USA Brianna Rollins-McNeal, the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the 100m hurdles, has been banned for 5 years for doping. This will put her out of the Tokyo Games and the 2024 Paris Games. The ban will expire mere days after the Paris Games but Rollins has started an appeal. You will see her at US Olympic trials though just in case her ban gets overturned.
    • PR Monica Puig, reigning Olympic gold medalist in women’s tennis, will miss the Tokyo Games due to a shoulder injury. She was the first athlete to win Olympic gold from Puerto Rico.
    • GBR Alistair Brownlee, reigning 2x Olympic gold medalist from 2012 and 2016, will miss the Tokyo Games after he got DQ’d furing a World Triathlon Series race during the swimming portion of the race. He ‘ducked’ his fellow competitor Chase McQueen, which is considered unsportsmanlike conduct. He said this was completely unintentional and worse or the same has happened to him. He will now focus on the long distance triathlons after having ankle surgery.

Tennis:

• French Open continues with the final this weekend!
  • On the men’s side: Djovovic had a close call earlier today with teenager Lorenzo Musetti won the first 2 sets. However after those 2 sets, which took 2 hours, the ITA youngster had to stop playing due to lower back pain but it was over anyway. Djokovic showed by he is #1, winning 13 games to win 6-1, 6-0 before Musetti quit in the final set down 0-4. Djokovic will face another ITA, Berrettini, before potentially playing Nadal in the Semifinals. Federer has withdrawn from the French Open after beating 3 men, proving he can do it after the multiple surgeries and now he will concentrate on Wimbledon.
  • On the women’s side: Coco Gauff is the lone American still in it. In a shocking upset, Serena lost in straight sets to KAZ Elena Rybakina, ranked #22. Sloane Stephens is also out, losing handily 2-6, 0-6 to CZE Krejcikova. All 8 women in the quarterfinals are from different countries: USA, CZE, GRE, KAZ, RUS, ESP, SLO, and the final spot is between POL & UKR.
    • Men’s Bracket
    • Women’s Bracket
• Naomi Osaka has now backed out of the Berlin WTA 5000 grass court tournament. This isn’t too surprising, but this does put into question whether she will play Wimbledon. TBD if she will play.

What to watch this week

Baseball-MLB:

• Mon 6/7
  • Cubs vs Padres @ 9pm on ESPN
    • Alzolay vs Weathers
• Tues 6/8
  • Nationals at Rays @ 6:10pm on FS1
    • Lester vs Glasnow
• Wed 6/9
  • Royals at Angels @ 8:30pm on ESPN
    • Keller vs Canning
• Sat 6/12
  • 3 games depending on location @ 6:15pm on FOX
    • Astros at Twins
    • Giants at Nationals
    • Cardinals at Cubs
      • Gant vs Hendericks
• Sun 6/13
  • Cardinals at Cubs @ 6pm on ESPN
    • Martinez vs Alzolay

Baseball/Softball–NCAA:

• Mon 6/7
  • Baseball Elimination Game: Campbell vs Mississippi St @ 11am on ESPNU
    • Rematch @ 3pm – needed if Campbell wins
  • Baseball: South Alabama 4 vs South Florida 0 @ 11:06am
    • Play was suspended in the 5^th inning last night
    • Rematch needed if South Alabama wins
  • Baseball Elimination Game: Southern Miss vs Ole Miss @ 1pm on ESPN2
  • Softball Elimination Game: James Madison vs Oklahoma @ 3pm on ESPN
  • Baseball Elimination Game: Oregon St vs Dallas Baptist @ 3pm on ESPNU
  • Baseball Elimination Game: Old Dominion vs UVA @ 6pm on ESPNU
  • Baseball Elimination Game: Nebraska vs 1. Arkansas @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • Softball Elimination Game: Florida St vs Alabama @ 6pm on ESPN
  • Baseball Elimination Game: Stanford vs UC Irvine @ 9pm on ESPNU
  • Baseball Elimination Game: LSU vs Oregon @ 9pm on ESPN2
• Tues 6/8
  • Softball Championship Series: Alabama/Florida St vs JMU/Oklahoma @ 6:30pm on ESPN
• Wed 6/9
  • Softball Championship Series: Alabama/Florida St vs JMU/Oklahoma @ 6:30pm on ESPN
• Thurs 6/10
  • Softball Championship Series: Alabama/Florida St vs JMU/Oklahoma @ TBD on TBD
    • If necessary (best of 3 series)
• Fri 6/11
  • Baseball: Super Regionals: Teams TBA @ 11am on ESPN2
  • Baseball: Super Regionals: Teams TBA @ 2pm on ESPNU
  • Baseball: Super Regionals: Teams TBA @ 5pm on ESPNU
  • Baseball: Super Regionals: Teams TBA @ 9pm on ESPNU
• Sat 6/12
  • Baseball: Super Regionals: Teams TBA @ 11am on ESPNU & ESPN2
  • Baseball: Super Regionals: Teams TBA @ 1pm on ESPN
  • Baseball: Super Regionals: Teams TBA @ 2pm on ESPNU & ESPNU
  • Baseball: Super Regionals: Teams TBA @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • Baseball: Super Regionals: Teams TBA @ 8pm on ESPNU
  • Baseball: Super Regionals: Teams TBA @ 9pm on ESPN2
• Sun 6/13
  • Baseball: Super Regionals: Teams TBA @ 11am on ESPNU & ESPN2
  • Baseball: Super Regionals: Teams TBA @ 2pm on ESPNU & ESPN2
  • Baseball: Super Regionals: Teams TBA @ 5pm on ESPNU & ESPN2
  • Baseball: Super Regionals: Teams TBA @ 8pm on ESPNU & ESPN2

Basketball-NBA:

• Mon 6/7
  • East Semi – Game 2: Bucks at Nets @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • West Semi – Game 1: Nuggets at Suns @ 9pm on TNTT
• Tues 6/8
  • East Semi – Game 2: Hawks at 76ers @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • West Semi – Game 1: Clippers at Jazz @ 9pm on TNT
• Wed 6/9
  • West Semi – Game 2: Nuggets at Suns @ 8:30pm on TNT
• Thurs 6/10
  • East Semi – Game 3: Nets at Bucks @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • West Semi – Game 2: Clippers at Jazz @ 9pm on ESPN
• Fri 6/11
  • East Semi – Game 3: 76ers at Hawks @ 6:30pm on ESPN
  • West Semi – Game 3: Suns at Nuggets @ 9pm on ESPN
• Sat 6/12
  • West Semi – Game 3: Jazz at Bucks @ 7:30pm on ABC
• Sun 6/13
  • East Semi – Game 4: Nets at Bucks @ 2pm on ABC
  • West Semi – Game 4: Suns at Nuggets @ 7pm on TNT

Golf:

• Thurs 6/10
  • Palmetto – Round 1 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
• Fri 6/11
  • Palmetto – Round 2 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
• Sat 6/12
  • Palmetto – Round 3
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on CBS
• Sun 6/13
  • Palmetto – Round 4
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on CBS

Hockey:

• Mon 6/7
  • East: Islanders vs Bruins @ 5:30pm on NBCSN
    • Tied 2-2
  • North: Jets vs Canadiens @ 7pm on NHL
    • MTL leads 3-0
  • Tues 6/8
    • Central: Lightning vs Hurricanes @ 5:30pm on NBCSN
    • West: Golden Knights vs Avalanche @ 8pm on NBCSN
  • Wed 6/9
    • East: Bruins at Islanders @ 6:30pm on NBCSN
    • North: Canadiens at Jets @ 7pm on CNBC
      • If necessary
    • Central: Hurricanes at Lightning @ TBD on TBD
      • If necessary
    • West: Avalanche at Golden Knights @ TBD on TBD
  • Fri 6/11 – if necessary
    • East: Islanders vs Bruins @ TBD on TBD
    • North: Jets vs Canadiens @ TBD on TBD
  • Sat 6/ – if necessary
    • Central: Lightning vs Hurricanes @ TBD on TBD
    • West: Golden Knights vs Avalanche @ TBD on TBD
  • Sun 6/13 – if necessary
    • North: Canadiens at Jets @ TBD on TBD

Motorsports:

• Sat 6/12
  • IndyCar: Detroit GP Qualifying @ 10am on NBCSN
  • IndyCar Qualifying @ 1pm on NBC
• Sun 6/13
  • IndyCar: Detroit GP Qualifying @ 8am on NBCSN
  • IndyCar Race @ 11:30pm on NBC

Olympic Sports:

• Wed 6/9
  • Track & Field: NCAA Finals – Day 1 Men’s @ 7pm on ESPNU
  • Track & Field: NCAA Finals – Day 1 Men’s @ 8pm on ESPN2
• Thurs 6/10
  • Track & Field: Diamond League – Florence @ 1pm on NBCSN
  • Track & Field: NCAA Finals – Day 2 Women’s @ 5:30pm on ESPN2
• Fri 6/11
  • Track & Field: NCAA Finals – Day 3 Men’s @ 7pm on ESPN2
• Sat 6/12
  • Swimming: US Olympic Trials @ 3pm on NBC
  • Track & Field: NCAA Finals – Day 4 Women’s @ 5pm on ESPNU
  • Swimming/Diving: US Olympic Trials @ 7pm on NBC
• Sun 6/13
  • Swimming: US Olympic Trials @ 4:30pm on NBCSN
  • Swimming: US Olympic Trials @ 6pm on NBC
  • Various: US Olympic Trials @ 7pm on NBC
  • Various: US Olympic Trials @ 8pm on NBC

Soccer:

• Tues 6/8
  • International Friendly: USA vs CRC @ 6pm on ESPN2
• Fri 6/11
  • UEFA European Championship: TUR vs ITA @ 2pm on ESPN
• Sat 6/12
  • UEFA European Championship: Wales vs SUI @ 8am on ESPN
  • UEFA European Championship: DEN vs FIN @ 11am on ESPN
  • UEFA European Championship: BEL vs RUS @ 2pm on ABC
• Sun 6/13
  • UEFA European Championship: ENG vs CRO @ 8am on ESPN
  • UEFA European Championship: AUT vs MKD @ 11am on ESPN
  • UEFA European Championship: NED vs UKR @ 2pm on ESPN

Tennis:

• Thurs 6/10 – French Open Women’s Semifinals
  • @ 10am on NBCSN
  • @ 11am on NBC
• Fri 6/11 – French Open Men’s Semifinals
  • @ 10am on NBCSN
  • @ 11am on NBC
• Sat 6/12 – French Open Women’s Final @ 8am on NBC
• Sun 6/13 – French Open Men’s Final @ 8am on NBC