Weekly Update – Week of August 31, 2020 (COVID Week 25)

Baseball:

• The MLB trade deadline ends today at 3pm.
  • The Padres have been the most aggressive team before the deadline. The Padres acquired RHP Mike Clevinger from the Indians and traded 6 of their players to do so.
  • The Padres have traded OF Taylor Trammell to the Mariners for C Austin Nola. The Mariners also gave up relief P Austin Adams and Dan Altavilla while losing IF Ty France, C Luis Torrens and relief RHP Andres Munoz. Right now the Padres sit at #2 in the NL behind the Dodgers. They have not made the playoffs since 2006.
  • For full trade deadline details 
• The Dodgers have finished August with a NL record 57 HRs. Their eyes are now on the most series victories to start a season in the majors, which was set back in 1969.
• Adam Wainwright threw a complete game on his 39^th bday to win over the Indians 7-2. This is Wainwright’s 23^rd complete game but his first in 4 yrs.
  • #GFHint: A complete game is when the pitcher never gets taken out of the game and pitches the entire time.
• Deivi Garcia made his major league debut on Sunday night in the Yankees/Mets game. He is the youngest pitcher to start in the majors during this shortened season at 21 yrs old and 103 days. He is the youngest Yankee to start since Phil Hughes in 2007. Garcia pitched 6 innings, allowing 4 singles but 6 Ks.

Basketball:

• The Nuggets tied up their series against the Jazz last night with a 119-107 win. The Lakers and Bucks already won their respective series 4-1 while the Celtics and Raptors have already started their Semifinal series (Celtics took the W last night). Tonight, the Rockets could advance with one more win against the Thunder.
• The Clippers/Mavericks rivalry was stoked on Sunday night after a flagrant foul by Marcus Morris Sr on Luka Doncic where Morris smacked Doncic on the head causing Doncic to go down hard. Morris was immediately ejected as that was his 2^nd flagrant foul of the night. A confrontation ensued and coaches had to separate the 2 players. This was also after game 5 when Morris stepped on Doncic’s ankle so tensions were already running high. The Clippers got the last laugh however as they won 111-97 and won the series advancing on.
• Georgetown bball coach, John Thompson Jr “Big John” died at age 78 yesterday. He coached at Georgetown for 27 years and won the 1984 National Championship and took the Hoyas to 3 Final Fours in the 80s. He was the first Black HC to win the national championship.

Football:

• College Football has officially started as of 8:07pm on Saturday! Granted it was small teams (Central Arkansas and Austin Peay) but still! Technically week 1 is this weekend but still with no Top 25 ranked teams.
  • The game started with a touchback then a break out play to the endzone, followed quickly by the ref saying “God damn mask” right into the mic. Its going to be an interesting season!
• The Jags have waived RB Leonard Fournette after 3 years with the team. He rushed for 17 TDs and 2,631 yrds. He was 5^th in 2017’s draft from LSU.
• The Raiders have also let go one of their players, CB Prince Amukamara. Prince signed a 1-yr contract in may for $1.18MM – that didn’t last long. He was beat out by rookie Damon Arnette who excelled in training camp.
• DT Haskell Garrett who plays for Ohio St was shot Sunday morning but is in stable condition. There is no further information released at this time but he is doing well.
• LSU WR Ja’Marr Chase will enter into the draft and opt out of this year’s college football season. Chase is the 3^rd Tiger to opt out this season including DE Neil Farrell and CB Kary Vincent. LSU starts their college football season on 9/26 against Mississippi St.
• Notre Dame will be limiting their capacity in the stadium to 20% with the priority going to their students. No fans from outside the university will be allowed (minus family of players). There will be no tailgating and all must wear masks. Notre Dame’s season starts on 9/12 against Duke as the Fighting Irish will be considered an ACC team this fall.

Golf:

• In the 2^nd round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, John Rahm came away with a victory won over Dustin Johnson with a killer 66 ft putt. This was after DJ made a killer 45 ft putt to force a playoff so turn about is fair play. Don’t feel too sorry for DJ though as he still is ranked #1 in the world and in the FedEx Cup. That means he will start with a 2-stroke lead over the field going into the final round.
• The final round is this weekend at the TOUR Championship in East Lake. You might remember this from the crazy mob scene after Tiger Woods won last year. Whoever wins the FedEx Cup has a serious chance of being named Player of the Year and gets $15MM in prize money.

Horseracing:

• The Kentucky Derby is racing this weekend after being rescheduled from its original date (usually the first weekend in May). Be sure to tune in at 11am on NBC to catch the race! Right now the odds on favorite is Tiz the Law. Tiz also won the Belmont Stakes back in June so if he wins again look for him to be the favorite for another Triple Crown!

Olympic Sports:

• Julian Alaphilippe currently has the yellow jersey after his win in Stage 2. He accelerated away from 2 pursuing cyclists and with the main pack bearing down on him in the final straight, managed to hold them off for the win. This was the Frenchman’s 5^th stage win and he dedicated it to his father who passed away in June. The race continues for the next 3 weeks ending on Sunday Sept 20^th in Paris.

• The Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame is now on display at the Japan Olympic Museum, near the stadium where it will burn during the Olympics. The Tokyo organizers had kept it hidden away since it arrived in japan from Greece in March after they decided to postpone the games. They changed their minds to put in on display to bring hope to those Olympic athletes that have had to restart their training that the games will go on and to keep fighting!
• The head of Russia’s anti-doping agency RUSADA, Yuri Ganus, has been fired from his position. This comes just 2 months before Russia goes back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport which will decide if they are banned for another 4 years. Ganus was suspected of some ‘financial irregularities.’
• Rikako Ikee, a Japanese swimmer who was a favorite for the Tokyo Olympics, is returning to competition after being diagnosed and treated for leukemia last year. Her specialty is the 100m fly, where she was closing in on the WR last year before she started treatment. She will not compete in Tokyo but looks forward to Paris 2024.

Soccer:

• Lionel Messi has announced that he wants to leave Barcelona and it is becoming just that, messy! Messi says his contract has a claise that states he can leave at the end of each season but the team says he can only leave for free if he forgoes his salary for a year and does not play with another club for a year. His contract is due to expire next summer. Im sure this is not the last we have heard of this as Messi is arguably one of the best players in the world and Barcelona is one of the world’s most profitable sports franchises.
• The World Series of Poker international series ends this weekend and American Bryan Piccioli is leading with 18.5MM chips. Why is this on a sports blog? Because Neymar, the BRA soccer star, and Riddick Bowe, a former heavyweight boxing champ where among the competitors. The tournament is all online this year.

Tennis:

• The US Open starts today and runs through Sept 13.
  • Defending champions: Rafael Nadal and Bianca Andreescu
  • Women’s bracket
  • Men’s bracket 
  • FRA Beniot Paire has tested positive and will no longer be playing. He is the first to test covid positive at the event. Lets hope he is the only.
• Over the weekend, Djokovic won in straight sets the Western & Southern Open, his 80^th career title. This ties Rafael Nadal’s record of 35 titles in the Masters titles.
  • Djovokic starts his US Open play today at 8pm against Bosnia & Herzegovinian Dzumhur.