Baseball: Blue Jays return home. CLE Indians –> Guardians. Rangers lose 12 in a row. Padres and Pirates exchange. Red Sox>Yankees; win the series 3-1. Betts in IL.
Basketball: Bucks in 6! Team USA M shocked by FRA. Doncic scores 48 points in opener.
Football: OU and UT to SEC? Watson shows up for camp but going to be traded.
Golf: Champ wins 3M. Rahm and Bryson test positive.
Olympic Sports: Olympics have started! USA medal count: 14 (7 golds). USWNT lost to SWE rallied against NZL. Team USA Softball undefeated in Group play will play for Gold on Tuesday.
Baseball-MLB:
- The Blue Jays will finally return home after playing in Buffalo during the pandemic. The Blue Jays have not played in their home stadium, Rogers Centre since 2019 due to the pandemic protocols and CAN/USA travel restrictions. That will end on July 30! Welcome home Jays.
- Cleveland Indians will be no more. Despite having that name since 1915, due to the PC times, the team will change their name to the Guardians as of the 2022 season.
- Why the guardians? The Hope Memorial Bridge has statues of guardians on it and that seems to be what resonated with fans.
- Other names the franchise has had: Blues, Bronchos, Naps and Indians (obvi)
- Rangers have lost their 12th straight game after losing to the Astros 3-1 yesterday. This is the worst skid since 1982 and their record is 15 games set in 1972. The team went 0-10 on the road which is the worst in franchise history. But there is a glimmer of hope as the Rangers play the Diamondbacks on Tuesday; they have the worst record in the MLB.
- Padres have acquired Pirates 2B Adam Frazier, the leader in hits this year, but not until the 2022 season.
- Red Sox beat the Yankees despite RHP Domingo German pitching a no-hitter to the 8th The Red Sox won 5-4 after LF Alex Verdugo’s double. The rest of the team picked up the momentum to score 5 runs in the inning. Fans woke up and the Red Sox took the series 3-1. They lead the American East and have tied the Astros for the top of the American League overall.
- Dodgers are having more troubles as they have to put Betts on the IL with hip inflammation. The LA team is still in 2nd in the National League but have given up the top spot to the Giants.
Basketball:
- “Bucks in 6!” that was the chant of the MIL crowd when the Bucks started their comeback against the Suns. Turns out, that was prolific. The Milwaukee Bucks are NBA Champions for the first time in 50 years (1971). To no one’s surprise, the Greek Freak won MVP. First thing he did, went to CFA.
- Team USA lost to France 83-76 in a shocker at the Tokyo Games. This is the first loss the M Team USA bball team has suffered since the quarterfinals in 2004, that’s a 25 game winning streak. So should you stop watching? No! They need to win their other 2 games in group play to be in medal contention but we’re not out of it yet by any means.
- Luka Doncic, Mavericks star, is playing for SLO and he put up a monstrous 48 points in their opener against ARG.
Football:
- ICYMI (as in you live under a rock). Texas and Oklahoma have reached out to possibly join the SEC. We don’t know a lot and I expect more info to be solidified over the next coming weeks, but it seems these talks have been going on for a while (like 6 months) this is just the first were heading about it. The Big 12 has media contracts up to 2025 but TBD if that means the schools will be leaving before that or using that as their jumping point. Why this is so huge?? Bc this is going to cause a huge shake up in conferences. We could see a consolidation or teams jumping to other conferences. Texas A&M is not happy bc it right now enjoys the monopoly on recruiting from the state of Texas, staying in state for the athletes and yet still playing in the SEC. we do know that money is the key driver here but to me, this seems like a mistake for Oklahoma in the short term.
- DeShaun Watson will show up to Texans training camp to avoid the $50k/day fine but says he still wants to get traded. Well today he got his wish, the Texans have come out to say that they will trade him willingly. Willingly doesn’t come cheap though. They have said that they want ~5 high draft picks and starting players.
- The NFL has made its feeling very clear about teams who have not reached their vaccination goal. If your team has COVID issues before games and that causes a delay or not enough players, then you will forfeit the game.
Golf:
- Cameron Champ won the 3M Open by 2 strokes over 3 players (Oosthuizen, Vegas & Schwartzel). This means Champ has won at least one tournament in each of the last 3 seasons. Champ needed this too as he started his season with 9 MC in the first 16 tournaments.
- Bryson DeChambeau for Team USA and John Rahm for Team ESP have both tested positive for COVID (again for Rahm). So they are now out of the games. Patrick Reed will take Bryson’s spot and no one has taken Rahm’s spot yet.
Olympic Sports:
Medal count:
- Total: CHN 18, USA 14, JPN 13
- Golds: JPN 8, USA 7, CHN 6
- The Olympics started this week! The Opening Ceremonies and lighting of the torch officially open the games.
- Naomi Osaka lit the Olympic torch
- USA Flag bearers: Sue Bird (W Bball) & Eddy Alvarez (Baseball)
- Upsets:
- Team USA Soccer lost its first game to SWE. And got their butts kicked. That ends their streak of 44 games won in a row. This is now do or die for Team USA. They did come back to win 6-1 against NZL the next game but NZL is considered the easiest team in the group.
- No team has won the World Cup and then won the Olympic gold.
- See Team USA bball story…
- Katie Ledecky finally met her match in the 400m Free in AUS Ariarne Titmus. It was a great race if you missed it last night!
- In one of the biggest upsets of the games so far, JPN Kohei Uchimura did not make the final for men’s high bar. He is a 7x Olympian and fell off on a routine skill. He was known as one of the greatest gymnasts in Olympic history, winning gold in London in the All-Around, repeating in Rio and contributing to the JPN gold for the Team competition in Rio as well. He also got silver in Beijing in the All-Around and the Team event.
- Team USA Soccer lost its first game to SWE. And got their butts kicked. That ends their streak of 44 games won in a row. This is now do or die for Team USA. They did come back to win 6-1 against NZL the next game but NZL is considered the easiest team in the group.
- Team USA softball was exactly the opposite. They went through group stage undefeated including beating the #1 seed and host nation, JPN. Clearly the top 2 teams, JPN and USA met for the first time in the final game of group play. The teams were tied 1-1 in the final inning before Kelsey Stewart hit a walk-off HR. Both teams will play each other again in the gold medal match on Tuesday.
- What makes losing an Olympic bout in fencing better? Getting engaged to your coach and long time partner! Congrats to ARG Maria Maurice and her fiancé Perez.
- The host nation JPN has swept the skateboarding park gold medals. 13 yr old Momiji Nishiya won the W park medal and Yuto Horigome won the men’s.
- The NOR beach handball team (not an Olympic sports yet but its on the list for consideration for the 2024 games) was fined $1700 for improper clothing after the women’s team refused to wear bikini bottoms. They wanted to wear shorts but were told they would be fined bc the shorts were ‘too long.’ You cant make this up people.
What to watch this week
Baseball-MLB:
- Mon 7/26
- Blue Jays at Red Sox @ 6pm on ESPN
- Hatch vs Pivetta
- Blue Jays at Red Sox @ 6pm on ESPN
- Wed 7/28
- Yankees at Rays @ 6pm on ESPN
- Cortes vs Wacha
- Yankees at Rays @ 6pm on ESPN
- Sat 7/31
- A’s at Angels @ 3:05pm on FS1
- Irvin vs Barria
- Twins at Cardinals @ 6:15pm on FS1
- Ober vs Woodford
- A’s at Angels @ 3:05pm on FS1
- Sun 8/1
- Red Sox at Rays @ 6pm on ESPN
- Pivetta vs McClanahan
- Red Sox at Rays @ 6pm on ESPN
Basketball:
- Mon 7/26
- W Olympic Group: USA vs NGR @ 11:40pm on USA
- Tues 7/27
- M Olympic Group: USA vs IRI @ 11:40pm on Peacock
- Fri 7/30
- W Olympic Group: USA vs JPN @ 11:40pm on USA
- Sat 7/31
- M Olympic Group: USA vs CZE @ 7am on Peacock
- Sun 8/1
- W Olympic Group: USA vs FRA @ 11:40pm on USA
Golf:
- Wed 7/28
- M Olympic Round 1 @ 6:30pm on Golf Channel
- Thurs 7/29
- M Olympic Round 2 @ 6:30pm on Golf Channel
- Fri 7/30
- M Olympic Round 3 @ 6:30pm on Golf Channel
- Sat 7/31
- M Olympic Round 4 @ 6:30pm on Golf Channel
Olympic Sports:
- Mon 7/26
- Triathlon: W Race @ 4:30pm
- Swimming: M 200m Free @ 8:43pm
- Swimming: W 100m Back @ 8:51pm
- Swimming: M 100m Back @ 8:59pm
- Swimming: W 100m Breast @ 9:17pm
- Shooting: Mixed 10m Air Pistol Team @ 9pm
- Tues 7/27
- Diving: W 10m Platform @ 1am
- Cycling: W Mountain Bike @ 1am
- Surfing: M Shortboard @ 1:46am
- Weightlifting: W 59kg @ 1:50am
- Shooting: Mixed 10m Air Rifle Team @ 1:52am
- Canoe-Slalom: W K1 @ 2:15am
- Surfing: W Shortboard @ 2 :31am
- Equestrian: Open Team GP @ 3am
- Judo: W 63kg @ 4:25am
- Judo: M 81kg @ 4:50am
- Gymnastics: W Team Final @ 5:45am
- Weightlifting: W 64kg @
- Softball: Gold Medal match – USA vs JPN @ 6am
- Taekwondo: W Heavyweight @ 7:30am
- Taekwondo: M Heavyweight @ 7:45am
- Rowing: W Double Sculls @ 7:18pm
- Rowing: M Double Sculls @ 7:30pm
- Rowing: W Four @ 7:50pm
- Rowing: M Four @ 8:10pm
- Rowing: Quad Sculls @ 8:30pm
- Swimming: W 200m Free @ 8:41pm
- Swimming: M 200m Fly @ 8:49pm
- Rowing: W Quad Sculls @ 8:50pm
- Cycling-Road: W Time Trial @ 9:30pm
- Swimming: W 200m IM @ 9:45pm
- Swimming: W 1500m Free @ 9:54pm
- Swimming: M 4x200m Free Relay @ 10:26pm
- Wed 7/28
- Cycling-Road : M Time Trial @ 12am
- Fencing: M Team Sabre @ 12:30am 4:30am, 5:30am
- Diving: M 3m Springboard Synchro @ 1am
- Equestrian: Open Individual GP @ 3:30am
- Judo: W 70kg @ 4:25am
- Judo: M 90kg @ 4:50am
- Gymnastics: M Individual All-Around @ 5:15am
- Weightlifting: M 73kg @ 5:50am
- Rowing: M Pair @ 7:18pm
- Rowing: W Pair @ 7:30pm
- Rowing: M Lightweight Double Sculls @ 7:50pm
- Rowing: W Lightweight Double Sculls @ 8:10pm
- Swimming: M 800m Free @ 8:30pm
- Swimming: M 200m Breast @ 8:44pm
- Swimming: W 200m Fly @ 9:28pm
- Swimming: M 100m Free @ 9:37pm
- Swimming: W 4x200m Free @ 10:31pm
- Thurs 7/29
- Shooting: W Trap @ 12:30am
- Shooting: M Trap @ 1:30am
- Canoe-Slalom: W C1 @ 1:55am
- Judo: W 78kg @ 4:25am
- Judo: M 100kg @ 4:50am
- Gymnastics: W Individual All-Around @ 5:50am
- Table Tennis: W Singles @ 6am & 7am
- Rowing: W Single Sculls @ 7:33pm
- Rowing: M Single Sculls @ 7:45pm
- Rowing: W Eights @ 8:05pm
- Rowing: M Eights @ 8:25pm
- Swimming: W 200m Breast @ 8:41pm
- Swimming: M 200m Back @ 8:50pm
- Swimming: W 100m Free @ 8:59pm
- Swimming: M 200m IM@ 9:16pm
- Cycling-BMX: M Individual @ 9:40pm
- Cycling-BMX: W Individual @ 9:50pm
- Fri 7/30
- Shooting: W 25m Pistol @ 12am
- Gymnastics-Trampoline: W Individual @ 12:50am
- Canoe-Slalom: M K1 @ 2am
- Archery: W Individual @ 2:30am
- Judo: W 78kg+ @ 4:25am
- Judo: M 100kg+ @ 4:50am
- Table Tennis: M Singles @ 6am & 7am
- Athletics: M 1000m @ 6:30am
- Triathlon: Mixed Team Relay @ 5:30pm
- Swimming: M 100m Fly @ 8:30pm
- Swimming: W 200m Back @ 8:37pm
- Swimming: W 800m Free @ 8:46pm
- Swimming: Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay @ 9:43pm
- Sat 7/31
- Shooting: Mixed Trap Team Finals @ 12:05am
- Sailing: W RS:X @ 12:33am
- Gymnastics-Trampoline: M Individual @ 12:50am
- Sailing: M RS:X @ 1:33am
- Weightlifting: M 81kg @ 1:50am
- Shooting: W 50m Rifle 3 Positions @ 2am
- Archery: M Individual @ 2:30am
- Judo: Mixed Team Finals @ 3am, 3:40am & 4:20am
- Weightlifting: M 90kg @ 5:50am
- Athletics: M Discuss @ 6:15am
- Athletics: Mixed 4x400m Relay @ 7:35am
- Athletics: W 100m @ 7:50am
- Cycling-BMX: W Park @ 8:10pm
- Swimming: M 50m Free @ 8:30pm
- Athletics: W Shot Put @ 8:35pm
- Swimming: W 50m Free @ 8:37pm
- Swimming: M 1500m Free @ 8:44pm
- Swimming: W 4x100m Medley Relay @ 9:15pm
- Cycling-BMX: M Park @ 9:20pm
- Swimming: M 4x100m Medley Relay @ 9:36pm
- Sun 8/1
- Sailing: M Laser @ 12:33am
- Diving: W 3m Springboard @ 1am
- Sailing: W Laser Radial @ 1:33am
- Gymnastics: M Floor @ 3am
- Gymnastics: W Vault @ 3:55am
- Gymnastics: M Pommel Horse @ 4:44am
- Athletics: M HJ @ 5:10am
- Gymnastics: W Uneven Bars @ 5:27am
- Weightlifting: W 76kg @ 5:50am
- Fencing: M Team Foil @ 5:50am
- Athletics: W TJ @ 6:20am
- Athletics: M 100m @ 7:50am
- Athletics: M LJ @ 8:20pm
- Athletics: W 100m Hurdles @ 9:15pm
- Mon 8/2
- Shooting: M 25m Rapid Fire Pistol @ 12:30am
- Sailing: W 49er FX @ 12:33am
- Sailing: M 49er @ 1:33am
- Weightlifting: W 87kg @ 1:50am
- Shooting: M 50m Rifle 3 Position @ 2:50am
- Gymnastics: M Rings @ 3am
- Equestrian: Open Team Jumping @ 3am
- Gymnastics: W Floor @ 3:45am
- Cycling-Track: W Team Sprint @ 4am & 4:09am
- Gymnastics: M Vault @ 4:54am
- Wrestling: M 60kg @ 5:30am, 5:40am & 5:55am
- Weightlifting: W 87kg+ @ 5:50am
- Athletics: W Discuss @ 6am
- Wrestling: M 130kg @ 6:05am, 6:15am & 6:30am
- Equestrian: Open Individual Jumping @ 6:45am
- Wrestling: W 76kg @ 6:55am, 7:050am & 7:20am
- Athletics: M 3000m Steeplechase @ 7:15am
- Athletics: W 5000m @ 7:40am
Soccer:
- Tues 7/27
- W Olympics: Team USA vs AUS @ 3am on USA
- Fri 7/30
- W Olympics: Quarterfinals – Teams TBA (1st place Group E vs 3rd place Team from F or G) @ 4am on TBD
- W Olympics: Quarterfinals – Teams TBA (1st place Group F vs 2nd place Group G) @ 6am on TBD
- MLS: Orlando City vs Atlanta United @ 7pm on ESPN
- MLS: LA Galaxy vs Portland Timbers @ 9pm on ESPN
- Sat 7/31
- M Olympics : Quarterfinals @ 3am, 4am, 5am & 6am
- Mon 8/2
- W Olympics: Semifinal 1 @ 3am
- W Olympics: Semifinal 1 @ 6am
