Baseball – MLB: Yankees sweep the Red Sox. Astros get Greinke. Pena out with ACL tear. Another foul ball fan hit.
Basketball: USA gets the Bronze in Pan Am Games.
Football: NFL Preseason begins this week. Brady to be a Patriot until 2021 at least. Coach’s poll for CFP. TCU kicker injured on a scooter. Auburn gets a 4 star Safety.
Golf: J.T. Poston wins his first PGA title. FedEx Cup Playoffs begin this weekend.
Olympic Sports: Lochte is back in gold fashion style. Messi not coming to ‘Merica. USA vball team to Tokyo.
Baseball – MLB:
- Yankees sweep the Red Sox despite fighting injury problems with their roster in one of the sports’ biggest rivalries.
- Yankees infielders Gleyber Torres and Gia Urshela left Sunday’s game due to injuries and Torres was later taken to the hospital with that we’re told is a core issue. Torres has since been released and was on the player bus to Baltimore for the next game. Urshela was hit by 2 foul pitches both at 89.9 mph one hitting him above the knee and the other in the shin.
- The Astros acquired Zack Greinke from the Diamondbacks in exchange for 4 minor league players. This was one of the most crucial trade deadlines of the season so far. AZ will pay $24MM of the remaining $77MM on Greinke’s contract that goes through 2021.
- Angles pitcher Felix Pena will be out for the season after he tore his ACL in Saturday night’s game against the Indians. SS Andrelton Simmons and P Griffin Canning were also placed on the 10 day IL after that series against the Indians.
- Another fan was struck by a foul ball this time at a Ranger game. She went to the hospital but left on her feet. Just another example for extended netting.
- Because there are no other sports on, here are the winners of each region in the league:
- American League
- East: Yankees
- Central: Twins (Indians just 3 games behind)
- West: Astros
- National League
- East: Braves
- Central: Cubs (Cardinals 2 behind and Brewers 3 behind)
- West: Dodgers
- There will be a lot of replays of the Little League World Series on this week because the 2019 Little League World Series starts on 8/15!
- American League
Basketball:
- Team USA basketball won bronze at the Pan Am Games after beating the DR 92-83. Keep in mind this is not the Olympics, Team USA have not won gold in the Pan Am games since 1983.
Football:
- If you see NFL on TV and are confused, don’t worry it’s just preseason. Should you care? Some people say yes as it gives you a good look at how your team has practiced and what team chemistry will be like. Other people (myself included) say no because it’s a time for teams to test out other players who won’t necessarily be starters. It starts this Thursday!
- We are guaranteed that Tom Brady will play for the Patriots through 2021 after he signed a deal with them. He will get $23MM in 2019 alone, which was an $8MM raise. This tied him with Drew Brees as the 6th highest paid QB in the league…6th!
- The preseason rankings are out! Keep in mind that this is just the coach’s poll. But it still got the convos and criticism going.
- First out: Nebraska
- If your bf is pissed (aka Who ended the year in the rankings but are left out of the preseason ranking): 12. Kentucky, 18. Fresno St, 19. Army, 20. West Virginia, 22. Utah St, 23. Boise St and 24. Cincinnati
- If your bf is happy (aka who is in that wasn’t ranked at the end of last year but is now): Auburn (16), Wisconsin (17), Michigan St (20), Stanford (23), Iowa St (24)
- Big movers: Georgia (7à 3), Michigan (14à 7), Texas A&M (from 16 à 11), Iowa (25à 19)
- TCU kicker Cole Bunce will prob miss the entire 2019 season after a car hit him off his scooter on Thursday. He was going to be the kickoff specialist and long field FG kicker in 2019 and was 100% on ETA last year while being 4 for 9 in FG attempts.
- Auburn signed a 4 star S Christopher Thompson Jr over his home state, Texas on Monday. Thompson was ranked #71 in the ESPN 300.
- Minnesota QB Zack Annexstad will be out indefinitely with his foot injury. He suffered the injury on Friday during practice. Sophomore Tanner Morgan will most likely be the starter for the Gophers this season.
- Raiders’ new home in Vegas will be called Allegiant Stadium and will hold 65k people. The new stadium cost $1.9Bn and will be ready for the 2020 season.
Golf:
- T. Poston won the Wyndham Championship for his first win on the PGA Tour and he did it with no bogeys! The first player since Lee Trevino in 1974 to win 72 holes without a bogey or worse.
- This tournament is important as it is the final regular season tournament of the year. This means that many golfers will lose their eligibility to play on the PGA Tour if they are outside the Top 125 in FedEx points. There are plenty of exceptions to that rule (winning a PGA Tour event gets you your card for 3 full years, etc).
- This week is the first tournament in the FedEx Cup playoffs. Yes I said playoffs in golf. The next 3 weekends/tournaments will be worth more points and the person who has the most at the end of the season, wins the FedEx Cup, essentially winning-est golfer of the year. Right now, Brooks Koepka leads Rory McIlroy by 572 points. Rounding out the top 5 are: Matt Kuchar, Xander Schauffle and Gary Woodland. The next 2 tournaments are worth 2,000 points each as well as a nice purse of $9.25MM. This will all culminate in the Tour Championship on Aug 22-25, which as everyone remembers Tiger Woods won last year.
Olympic Sports:
- Ryan Lochte won his first race back after suspension, the 200m IM, at the US national meet in California. He was banned for 14 months after using an infusion of vitamin B12 above the legal limit. He won the event by 1.07.
- Lionel Messi will not play in 2 games for Barcelona after injuring his calf in a training session. This is seen as a huge disappointment as Barcelona will play Napoli in the US for those 2 games.
- Team USA women’s volleyball team secured their ticket to Tokyo after beating Argentina in a qualification tournament on Sunday. During the last Olympics in Rio the women’s team won bronze. Team USA has yet to win gold in this event.
- American Olympic bronze medalist, Ashley Wagner, claims she was sexually assaulted by John Coughlin – the latest woman to come forward and say that. John committed suicide in January after he was suspended by the US Center of SafeSport.
- Bjorg Lambrecht, a Belgian cyclist, died at the age of 22 after he crashed in the Tour of Poland.
What to Watch This Week:
Baseball – MLB:
- Mon 8/5
- A’s at Cubs @ 7pm on ESPN
- Bassitt vs Hendricks
- A’s at Cubs @ 7pm on ESPN
- Wed 8/7
- Brewers at Pirates @ 6pm on ESPN
- Davies vs Williams
- Brewers at Pirates @ 6pm on ESPN
- Sat 8/10
- Phillies at Giants @ 3:05pm on FS1
- Velasquez vs Samardzija
- Rockies vs Padres @ 7:40pm on FS1
- Phillies at Giants @ 3:05pm on FS1
- Sun 8/11
- Angles vs Red Sox @ 12:05pm on TBS
- Phillies at Giants @ 6pm on ESPN
Football – NFL Preseason:
- Thurs 8/8
- Jets at Giants @ 6pm on NFL
- Chargers at Cardinals @ 9pm on NFL
- Fri 8/9 – Buccaneers at Steelers @ 6:30pm on NFL
- Sat 8/10 – Cowboys at 49ers @ 8pm on NFL
Golf:
- Thurs 8/8 – Northern Trust – Round 1
- 1-5pm on Golf Channel
- Fri 8/9 – Northern Trust – Round 2
- 1-5pm on Golf Channel
- Sat 8/10 – Northern Trust – Round 3
- 12 – 1:45pm on Golf Channel
- 2-5pm on CBS
- Sun 8/11 – Northern Trust – Round 4
- 12 – 1:45pm on Golf Channel
- 1-5pm on CBS
Olympic Sports:
- Tues 8/6
- Pan Am Games @ 9am on ESPNU
- Pan Am Games @ 6pm on ESPNU
- Wed 8/7
- Pan Am Games @ 9am on ESPNU
- Pan Am Games @ 6pm on ESPNU
- Gymnastics: US Championships @ 8pm on NBCSN
- Thurs 8/8
- Pan Am Games @ 9am on ESPNU
- Pan Am Games @ 6pm on ESPNU
- Gymnastics: US Championships @ 8pm on NBCSN
- FIVB Volleyball qualification: BEL vs USA @ 10pm on NBCSN
- Fri 8/9
- FIVB Snow Volleyball: Gold Medal match @ 12am on NBCSN
- Sailing: Tour de Frane a la voile @ 2am on NBCSN
- Pan Am Games @ 9am on ESPNU
- Pan Am Games @ 6pm on ESPNU
- Gymnastics: US Championships @ 8pm on NBCSN
- FIVB Volleyball qualification: USA vs KOR @ 10pm on NBCSN
- Sat 8/10
- Pan Am Games @ 9am on ESPNU
- FIVB Volleyball qualification: NED contra USA @ 10:30pm on NBCSN
- Tennis: US Open Series Rogers Cup: Men’s Semi 1 @ 2pm on ESPN2
- Pan Am Games @ 6pm on ESPNU
- Tennis: US Open Series Rogers Cup: Men’s Semi 2 @ 7pm on ESPN2
- Sun 8/11
- Pan Am Games @ 9am on ESPNU
- Rugby: USA vs JPN @ 12pm on NBCSN
- Tennis: US Open Series Rogers Cup: Men’s Final @ 3pm on ESPN2
- Pan Am Games @ 6pm on ESPNU
Soccer:
- Wed 8/7 – USL Championship: Sacramento Republic vs Las Vegas Lights @ 10pm on ESPNNEWS
- Fri 8/9
- Premiere League: West Ham United vs Manchester City @ 7:25am on NBCSN
- Premiere League: AFC Bournemouth vs Sheffield United @ 9:55am on NBCSN
- Sat 8/3
- Premiere League: Newcastle United vs Arsenal @ 8:55am on NBCSN
- Premiere League: ManU vs Chelsea @ 11:25am on NBCSN
- Friendly: Barcelona vs Napoli @ 4pm on ESPN2
- Sun 8/11
- US NWSL: Portland Thorns vs NC Courage @ 2pm on ESPNNEWS
- MLS: Atlanta United vs NYC FC @ 3pm on ESPN
