Baseball: MLB scouting started. MLB draft is over. Yankees letter to be released. Jets QB eyes baseball. Turner Sports deal.
Basketball: Players split on return.
Football: Cowboys/Texans test positive.
Golf: Berger takes Charles Schwab. No positives = a huge positive for the return of sports. Phil trademarking coffee.
Olympic Sports: Asian Champ in 800m banned. St. John’s fencing coach (rightfully) fired! Fuchs gets well f’ed and tests positive for steroid from bf. USA swimming in trouble.
Soccer: Premier League is back! KD invests in Phili Union team.
Baseball:
- The MLB has allowed scouting again as of today for the first time since March 19. The limit is 3 scouts per MLB club per event. Why does this matter with no MLB games on? Because amateur games have started up.
- The Draft concluded last week and it was a subdued event with no return for the MLB in close sight. 160 players were taken over 5 rounds in 2 days. The Tigers got first pick and chose Arizona State Spencer Torkelson. The clubs who seemed to come out best are the Cubs, Tigers, Royals, Marlins, Brewers, Giants and the Blue Jays.
- The MLBPA has rejected the latest proposal from the MLB and it says that both parties should concentrate on setting the 2020 schedule and figure out the details after.
- The American Association, which is an independent baseball league, its 6 teams will start playing in 3 hubs with training starting on June 25. The season will last through Sept 10 and will let ballparks sell 25%-33% of their capacity in tickets. The teams who are not currently allowed to host games can do so once restrictions in their state lift. 6 teams will not operate this season.
- The MLB commissioner, Rob Manfred, has announced that the 2017 letter to the Yankees should be unsealed on June 19th (Juneteenth). It certainly has something to do with the sign stealing scandal and has been released in redacted form previously.
- Former Jets and Penn St QB Christian Hackenberg is attempting to break into another pro sport, baseball. He reportedly threw a 90 mph fastball. Lets hope this sport turns out better for him as he is considered one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL recently. He went 2nd in the 2016 draft to the Jets but never played a regular season game for anyone ever.
- The MLB reached a $1Bn deal with Turner Sports to air playoff games. Last year, Turner aired all of the National League playoff games. Right now, the details of the deal are unknown.
Basketball:
- The NBA players are at odds about if they should return to play with all the protests going on. Kyrie Irving thinks they have leverage and power to start change if they hold out without playing, while LeBron thinks they would have a more powerful voice if they return to play.
Football:
- Players for the Cowboys and the Texans have tested positive for COVID including Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott. Only one player is experiencing flu like symptoms while the others are asymptomatic.
- Lamar Jackson had a fall on a jet ski over the weekend but is fine. That’s him in the pink shirt jumping over the jet ski while playing a pick up game.
Golf:
- The first golf tournament back was the Charles Schwab Challenge contested at Colonial (DFW) this weekend and it was considered a success. Daniel Berger beat Collin Morikawa in a playoff hole with par on Sunday. This is Berger’s 3rd win on the PGA Tour but it was met with silence as this is the first of 4 tournaments to have no fans. Morikawa has won or at least made every cut in every tournament he has played in since he turned pro out of Cal a year ago.
- Of the 487 COVID tests administered, all were negative.
- Phil Mickelson has applied for a trademark for “Coffee For Wellness.” This is for coffee, the beans, pods and other applications with the coffee with Phil’s signature logo on it. The coffee allegedly has Ethiopian coffee, MCT/XCT oil, flavorless collagen protein powder, Himalayan pink seas salt, almond milk, L-Theanine, cinnamon and Manuka honey in it.
Olympic Sports:
- 800m Asian Champion, Gomathi Marimuthu, was received a 4-year doping ban on Friday and will be banned through May 2023. She tested positive for the steroid nandrolone at the Asian track championships.
- John’s University has fired their fencing coach, Boris Vaksman, after he posted a racial insensitive video on social media. I will not repeat what he said on this blog as it is absolutely ridiculous and trust me he deserved to be fired.
- This one I promise is not a joke folks… Boxer Virginia Fuchs (don’t ask me to pronounce that) failed a doping test but has been cleared after it was determined that she failed because the 2 banned substances she tested positive for were transmitted to her by sex with with her bf….. you cant make this stuff up. But its good news for Virginia as she was US Olympic team captain and plans to qualify for Tokyo on the flyweight division.
- 6 women are suing USA Swimming after they alleged that former exec director Chuck Wielgus knew that national team coaches Mitch Ivey, Andrew King and national team director Everett Uchiyama were sexually abusing underage swimmers. 3 women have been named in the lawsuit including Debra Grodensky, Suzette Moran and Tracy Palmero while 3 have chosen to remain anonymous.
Soccer:
- The Premier League is back!
- KDurant (stick with me this is not in the wrong sport) bought a stake in the MLS Phili Union team. Its only 5% now with an option for an additional 5% in the future. He is the latest of a string of athletes to buy soccer stakes including James Harden (Dynamo) and Russell Wilson (Sounders).
What to Watch this Week
- Mon 6/15 – Return to Sports will air @ 8pm on ESPN with all the major sports commissioners (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, WNBA, MLS)
Golf:
- Thurs 6/18 – RBC Heritage – Round 1 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
- Fri 6/19 – RBC Heritage – Round 2 @ 2pm on Golf Channel
- Sat 6/20 – RBC Heritage – Round 3
- 12pm on Golf Channel
- 2pm on CBS
- Sun 6/21 – RBC Heritage – Round 4
- 12pm on Golf Channel
- 2pm on CBS
Horseracing:
- Wed 6/17 – Royal Ascot Day 2 @ 8:30am on NBCSN
- Thurs 6/18 – Royal Ascot Day 3 @ 8:30am on NBCSN
- Fri 6/19 – Royal Ascot Day 4 @ 8:30am on NBCSN
Motorsports:
- Wed 6/17
- Monster Energy Supercross @ 7pm on NBCSN
- Sun 6/21
- NSACAR: Geico 500 @ 2pm on Fox
- Monster Energy Supercross @ 3pm on NBCSN
Olympic Sports:
- Thurs 6/18 – Journey to Tokyo 2020 @ 7pm
Soccer:
- Wed 6/17
- Premier League: Ashton Villa vs Sheffield United @ 12:55pm on NBCSN
- Premier League: Manchester City vs Arsenal @ 3L:10pm on NBCSN
- Fri 6/19
- Premier League: Norwich City vs Southampton @ 12:55pm on NBCSN
- Premier League: Tottenham vs ManU @ 3 :10pm on NBCSN
- Sat 6/20
- Premier League: Watford vs Leicester City @ 7:25am on NBCSN
- Premier League: Brighton & Hove Albion vs Arsenal @ 9:55am on NBCSN
- Sun 6/21
- Premier League: Newcastle vs Sheffield @ 8:55am on NBCSN
- Premier League: Aston Villa vs Chelsea @ 11:10am on NBCSN
