Baseball: Last League of Their Own’ member dies. Bauer’s phone number. Japanese baseball to start in June.
Basketball: Zion Williamson and agent in legal battle. Fam got gifts to sign with Duke. FIBA 2023 World Cup dates.
Football: Evans finally signs.
Olympic Sports: 3 college softball players to play for Team USA. Dathan retires. US Olympic sports in money troubles. US bobsledder Pavle dies.
Soccer: Premier League to start on June 1.
Baseball:
- The last living member of the Rockford Peaches, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League team that was immortalized in the movie ‘A League of Their Own’ died on Saturday. Mary Pratt died at the age of 101 and was active in not only playing sports but officiating as well. RIP Mary!
- ESPN gave out Reds Trevor Bauer’s phone number on accident during a FaceTime interview on Sunday. He now is turning it into something positive! Bauer has created a giveaway with details on his voicemail which include a pair of signed cleats and a signed baseball.
- The Japanese baseball league is hoping for a June start although no date has been set yet.
Basketball:
- Zion Williamson and his former agent’s feud is getting nasty. His former agent, Gina Ford, is asking Zion’s mother and step-father to admit that they received improper gifts and money from adidas and Nike to sign with Duke. Zion’s lawyer says that the contract isn’t valid due to Prime Sports (Ford’s agency) was not certified by the NBAPA and not a registered athlete in NC or FL. This could get uglier folks.
- FIBA has announced its World Cup dates for 2023: Aug 25-Sept 10 in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.
Football:
- #16 ranked RB, Zach Evans commits to TCU. Several schools were in the mix including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Texas. Evans even committed to Georgia in December before de-committing. At North Shore HS in Houston, Evans was suspended for violating teams rules and did not play in the state championship game for a different violation.
Olympic Sports:
- 3 NCAA Softball stars will get to compete for their universities and the national team in 2021. Rachel Garcia and Bubba Nickles from UCLA along with Arizona’s Dejah Mulipola will get to play in both leagues after sitting out most of this NCAA season to train with the national team. These 3 women are the only ones on the national team still in college.
- Dathan Ritzenhein, US distance runner for the 04, 08 and 12 Olympics, has retired. He was also the first oen to come forward with allegations against hi coach Alberto Salazar for doping. Ritzenhein has the 4th fastest American marathoner in history with a time of 2:07.47.
- 70% of US Olympic sports have applied for government funds during the pandemic, showing how slim margins are in some of the best sporting agencies in the World. All but 4 National Governing Bodies applied for the PPP.
- US Olympic bobsledder Pavle Jovanovic took his own life on May 3 at the age of 43.
Soccer:
- The Premier League has mentioned a restart date of June 12. Its currently being discussed on what will be allowed but its safe to say that fans will not be allowed until a later date. Progress is progress people! The League has been stopped since March 13th.
What to watch this week
Baseball:
- Tues 5/12 – KBO: kt wiz vs NC Dinos @ 1pm on ESPN2
- Wed 5/13 – KBO: SK Wyverns vs LG Twins @ 1pm (replay – live is on at 4:30am)
Basketball:
- Sun 5/17 – The Last Dance: Episodes 9 & 10 @ 8pm on ESPN
- Replays on Sunday of all previous episodes uncensored then censored
