Weekly Update – Week of August 3, 2020 (COVID Week 21)

Baseball: Cespedes missing before opting out. Phillies COVID free. Cardinals not. Judge 5 straight HRs.

Basketball: Mav clinch playoffs. Spurs postseason? Isaac ACL tear.

Football: the Rock buys XFL. Eagles HC positive COVID test. Pac 12 #WeAreUnited demands. Notre Dame adds ACC. PAC 12 & SEC conference only season. Riley at OU til 2025.

Golf: JT wins 13th. PGA Champ this weekend.

Olympic Sports: Boston Marathon bomber death sentenced overturned. USOPC financials released. NZ Gym problems.

Baseball:

• Mets Yoenis Cespedes has opted out of the 2020 season when he didn’t show up to Sunday’s game against the Braves. Cespedes just left and took his bags without telling the team he was opting out for a while. This will most likely be the end of him playing for the Mets as his 4-year contract is up at the end of this season.
• The Phillies have been cleared to play after having no players test positive for COVID. They will play the Yankees tonight. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Cardinals have had several positive tests for COVID now and are playing the Tigers all in Detroit instead of home-and-home situation. Right now, its 1 player and 3 staffers with 4 more (1 player) inconclusive tests.
• Yankee Aaron Judge hit a HR in his 5^th consecutive games in the game against the Red Sox. He is the first Yankee in 13 years to accomplish this feat (previously ARod in 2007).
• Follow Up: After his dismal start, Shohei Ohtani has had a MRI on his throwing arm after he expressed that he was feeling discomfort. No results yet.
• Brewers coach Pat Murphy had a heart attack on Saturday during a team workout but he is resting comfortably now. This is Murphy’s 5^th season with the Brewers after he was HC of several college baseball teams for 25 years, including Notre Dame and ASU.

Basketball:

• The Dallas Mavericks end their 3 year playoff drought thanks to the Grizzlies’ loss to the Spurs. However right after they found out they had clinched a spot in the playoffs, they dropped another game to 0-2 in the restart. This means that if they stay ranked where they are (likely) then they will play the Clippers 1^st round, who are the #3 team in the league at the moment.
• The Spurs have rallied during the restart and are now hoping to extend their record setting postseason streak (22 seasons tied with the 76ers 1950-1971). Of the teams chasing the final spot in the Western conference, they are the only ones to go 2-0. However their schedule gets harder from here and they are down their best player, LaMarcus Aldridge.
• Jonathan Isaac, forward for the Magic, tore his ACL in the game against the Kings. He will be out for the remainder of the restart and potentially longer.

Football:

• XFL fans, don’t sell your jerseys just yet. Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson just bought the XFL for $15MM. remember this is the 2^nd time the XFL has launched and declared bankruptcy after just 1 season (this one may not be its fault though – again thanks COVID). The Rock bought the league with his ex-wife, Dany Garcia, and RedBird Captial Partners and has said that they do plan to revive the league. Real life Ballers??
• The US Navy is looking into a K-9 training demonstration at a 2019 fundraiser when a Kaepernick stand in was reportedly used. The man, who was heavily padded, was wearing a Kaepernick jersey when he was attacked by the 4 trained K-9s. It was all recorded on video which resurfaced this weekend.
• Eagles HC Doug Pederson has COVID19. He says he will continue to coach virtually. Pederson is asymptomatic and feels fine but will require multiple negative tests before being allowed on facility premises.

• A group of Pac 12 football players have a list of demands for the conference or the football players will opt out of the season. #WeAreUnited act has over 100 athletes as a part and demands 2% of conference revenue go to financial aid for low-income Black students, have an annual Pac12 Black College Athlete Summit as well as guaranteeing their safety and transparency during pandemic play.
• Notre Dame has been added to the ACC this year for its football season. Although the school is usually included in the conference for other sports, football is the one sport that Notre Dame is independent. Not exactly a good thing during the year where almost every conference has said it will play a conference-only schedule.
• The Pac 12 and SEC announced they will play a 10 game season only in conference starting Sept 26^th.
• Oklahoma HC Lincoln Riley has agreed to a 6 year contract (a 2 year extension) to his current deal. This puts him in Norman until 2025 and costing the school $45.2MM.

Golf:

• Justin Thomas won his 13^th PGA Tour win on Sunday at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Classic. He is the third youngest player to reach 13 wins behind only Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, some well-known names in the golf world. Thomas also moves back to #1 in the world with this victory. He beat defending champion, Brooks Koepka who was tied/in the lead on the front nine but double bogey’d and couldn’t rally back. Thomas even won without his regular caddie but he still had great help on the bag with veteran and long time caddie to Phil Mickelson, Bones. How good is Bones? He is retired as a caddie but came out to help during covid times. The last 2 tournaments where he filled in were both top 3 finishes.
• Another tournament was played this weekend on the PGA Tour. The Barracuda Championship was played in Reno and won by Richy Werenski. Branden Grace was T-2 when he testes positive for COVID and had to drop out.
• This week is the first major of the year! The PGA Championship will be played in SF starting Thursday with Brooks Koepka as 2x defending champion. Usually the Masters is the first major but with the postponed schedule this year, the PGA is up!
• The next major of the season, the US Open will be held without fans.

Olympic Sports:

• Dzhokhar Tsarnev, the Boston Marathon bomber, has had his death sentence overturned due to potential bias of the jurors. Tsarnev’s bomb killed 3 and injured 260. The court can now either issue a life sentence without possible release or demand a new trial completely.
• The USOPC released its tax information and showed $54MM more in expenses than revenues. While this is typical in a non-Olympic year, especially one that follows a Winter Olympics, 2020 is also a non-Olympic year. Spending was at least spent on what the USOPC has said that their new focus is, the athletes. CEO Sarah Hirschland has taken a 20% pay cut during these COVID times but her salary was already lower than the previous decade (usually ~$1MM) at $785k.
• Gymnastics is in the news again for abuse allegations, this time in New Zealand. Athletes at the club and elite levels have come forward to say they have been verbally abused, body-shamed and made to train while injured since the 1990s. Authorities are asking victims to come forward.

What to Watch this Week

Baseball:

• Mon 8/3
  • Mets at Braves @ 6:10pm on FS1
    • deGrom vs Soroka
• Tues 8/4
  • KBO: LG Twins at KIA Tigers @ 4:45am on ESPN
  • Pirates at Twins @ 1pm on ESPN
    • Musgrove vs Hill
  • Mets at Nationals @ 6pm on ESPN
  • Angels at Mariners @ 9pm on ESPN
    • Heaney vs Dunn
• Thurs 8/6
  • Astros at Diamondbacks @ 6:07pm on FOX
    • McCullers Jr vs Gallen
  • Cubs at Royals @ 6:07pm on FOX
• Fri 8/7
  • Angels at Rangers @ 8:05pm on FS1
• Sat 8/8
  • Tigers at Pirates @ 3:05pm on FS1
• Sun 8/9
  • Braves at Phillies @ 12:05pm on TBS
  • Cubs at Cardinals @ 6pm on ESPN
    • Hendericks vs Wainwright

Basketball:

• Mon 8/3
  • Grizzlies at Pelicans @ 5:30pm on ESPN
  • Lakers at Jazz @ 8pm on ESPN
• Tues 8/4
  • Celtics at Heat @ 5:30pm on TNT
  • WNBA: PHX Mercury at ATL Dream @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • WNBA: UConn Sun at Seattle Storm @ 8pm on ESPN2
  • Rockets at Trail Blazers @ 8pm on TNT
• Wed 8/5
  • Thunder at Lakers @ 5:30pm on ESPN
  • WNBA: MN Lynx at NY Liberty @ 6pm on CBSSN
  • Nets at Celtics @ 8pm on ESPN
• Thurs 8/6
  • Heat at Bucks @ 3pm on TNT
  • WNBA: Seattle Strom at ATL Dream @ 5pm on ESPN2
  • Clippers at Mavericks @ 5:30pm on TNT
  • Lakers at Rockets @ 8pm on TNT
  • WNBA: CHI Sky at PHX Mercury @ 9pm on ESPN2
• Fri 8/7
  • Magic at 76ers @ 5:30pm on TNT
  • WNBA: NY Liberty at Washington Mystics @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • WNBA: LA Sparks at LV Aces @ 8pm on ESPN2
  • Celtics at Raptors @ 8pm on TNT
• Sat 8/8
  • WNBA: ATL Dream at DAL Wings @ 11am on ESPN2
  • Clippers at Trail Blazers @ 12pm on TNT
  • WNBA: PHX Mercury at Seattle Storm @ 2pm on ABC
  • Jazz at Nuggets @ 2:30pm on TNT
  • Lakers at Pacers @ 5pm on TNT
  • Bucks at Mavericks @ 7:30pm on ESPN
• Sun 8/9
  • WNBA: LV Aces at NY Liberty @ 2pm on ESPN
  • WNBA: MN Lynx at LA Sparks @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • Spurs at Pelicans @ 7:30pm on ESPN

Golf:

• Thurs 8/5 – PGA Championship – Round 1 @ 3pm on ESPN
• Fri 8/6 – PGA Championship – Round 2 @ 3pm on ESPN
• Sat 8/1 – PGA Championship – Round 3
  • 12pm on ESPN
  • 3pm on CBS
• Sun 8/2 – PGA Championship – Round 4
  • 11am on ESPN
  • 2pm on CBS

Hockey:

• Monday 8/3
  • Capitals at Lightening @ 3pm on NBCSN
  • Canadiens at Penguins @ 7pm on NBCSN
    • MTL leads 1-0
  • Blackhawks at Oilers @ 9:30pm on NBCSN
    • CHI leads 1-0
• Tues 8/4
  • Panthers at Islanders @ 11am on NBCSN
    • NYI leads 1-0
  • Coyotes at Predators @ 1:30pm on NBCSN
    • ARI leads 1-0
  • Blue Jackets at Maple Leafs @ 3pm on NBCSN
    • CBJ leads 1-0
  • Flames at Jets @ 5:45pm on NBCSN
    • CGY leads 1-0
  • Hurricanes at Rangers @ 7pm on NBCSN
    • CAR leads 1-0
  • Wild at Canucks @ 9:45pm on USA
    • MIN leads 1-0
• Wed 8/5
  • Islanders at Panthers @ 11am on NBCSN
  • Predators at Coyotes @ 1:30pm on NBCSN
  • Lightening at Bruins @ 3pmon NBCSN
  • Avalanche at Stars @ 5:30pm on NBCSN
  • Penguins at Canadiens @ 7pm on NBCSN
  • Oilers at Blackhawks @ 9:30pm on NBCSN
  • Other games TBD
• Thurs 8/6 Game 4s if needed TBD
• Fri 8/7 Game 5s if needed TBD
• Sat 8/8 games are all TBD

Motorsports:

• Sat 8/8
  • NASCAR: Henry 180 @ 11am on NBCSN
  • MotoAmerica @ 3pm on FS1
  • NASCAR: FireKeepers Casino 400 @ 3pm on NBCSN
• Sun 8/9
  • F1: 70^th Anniversary GP @ 8:10am on ESPN
  • IndyCar: Honda 200 at mid-Ohio race @ 11:45am on NBCSN
  • MotoAmerica @ 3pm on FS1
  • NASCAR: Consumers Energy 400 @ 3:30pm on NBCSN

Soccer:

• Wed 8/5 – MLS: Phili Union vs Portland Timbers @ 8pm on FS1
• Thurs 8/6
  • MLS: Orlando City vs MN United @ 7pm on ESPN2
  • Mexico Primera: Tijuana vs Tigres UANL @ 9pm on FS1