Weekend winners
U.S. women's soccer. The 2-0 victory in the World Cup final was not even that close. (A lot of folks who know kickball better than me believe the Cup was won in the quarters against France.) Sometimes, as one of the favorites, handling that role can be every bit as hard as the actual games and competition. Anything less than the title would have been viewed as a failure, so winning the title has to be viewed as an extreme success.
Matthew Wolff. Yes, any first-time PGA Tour winner with the seven-figure check, the two-year exemption and the invite to Augusta qualified for a weekend winner. But how's this for joining a hoi polloi group. Wolff is the fifth golfer in the last 40 years to win before turning 21. The others are Jordan Spieth, forty McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Did we mention this was Wolff's third career start?
Chicks that did the long ball. As we head into the All-Star break, did you now that the home run pace is staggering? Four teams are on pace to set the all-time single season record for homers, 14 teams are on pace to set their franchise record for homers and the almost 3.700 total homers is far and away on pace for the most in a season.
Coco Gauff. She can't drive. But the 15-year-old American will play for a spot in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon this morning. Wow.
Braves fans. OK, driving back into town I listened to almost all of Sunday's Braves 4-3 win over the Marlins. And man, this team before the bullpen, is exceptionally well constructed. The order is legit. The bench - Camargo, Flowers and Culbertson especially - may be the best in baseball. Dallas Keuchel was dealing. Good times. That said, uh Alex, let's spend this All-Star break finding a closer. Luke Jackson has closer stuff, but let's just say allowing four base-runners but no runs is not exactly the picture of peaceful pitching.
Weekend losers
U.S. men's soccer. Again, someone else can discuss the kickball moves and machinations. But if the casual fans/patriots among us are going to ever get into U.S. men's soccer then they are going to have to get better and win more. Period.
Anyone rooting against the women for political beliefs. That's the same thing as rooting against President Trump because you don't align with his politics. If you are that set in political views that you want America - the nation or its national teams - to fail then you are part of the problem. (And that street flows two ways friends. Here's a clip of U.S. fans in France chanting "Bleep Trump" on a live TV shot. You stay classy 'Merica.)
Social media jackwagons. Sure that's pretty general and a very large group photo, but we must be better than the goof who took the time to craft a fake deleted Tweet that alleged was supposed to be from Shea Patterson's burner account. (Seriously. People have way too much time.) Here's the story but man, these college dudes already have enough land mines to negotiate with crap like this. Be better.
Fans of pennant races. At the unofficial halfway point of the baseball season, we head to the All-Star break with only one division - the NL Central - closer than 5.5 games between first and second. Now the NL Central is 4.5 games between first and fifth, so there's that.
OKC Thunder fans. Man, we are going to look back at a team that had three future MVP winners on the roster at the same and won nothing grand scale. And if reports are true that the Thunder are now looking to move Mr. Triple Double Russell Westbrook, well enjoy that rebuild.
NBA's new look
Well, in the crazy week that was in NBA free agency, the biggest moves were made by the quietest superstar in all of sports.
Kawhi Leonard is headed to L.A. - to play for the Clippers - and he worked behind the scenes to get Paul George there too. Amazing really.
All told there were five all-NBA players who moved to new teams for next year.
It reshapes a league that had been saddled with the "What's the point, it's going to be the Warriors from the West and LeBron from the East" laments for half a decade.
Well, that no longer applies.
There are a solid dozen teams who have legit NBA Finals dreams this year and certainly one more depending on Kevin Durant's timetable to return from that Achilles' injury.
The Lakers and the Clippers have staggering 1-2 punches. (Side note: Jerry West is a dude gang. A straight-up all-timer and may be the best former player/ace GM of all time no?)
And while the Lakers missed on Kawhi, the additions of DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo, Quin Cook and especially Danny Green give the Lakers a strong collection of talent to go with LeBron, AD and Kyle Kozma.
In the end, the race to the postseason now has more contenders, which is a good thing.
Unless you are one of the 20 or so teams that is trying to find a super duo, because unless you have two dudes, you have little chance in the modern NBA.
This and that
- Have you heard of Zanzibar? IT's Toronto strip club offered players free lap dances for life if they won the NBA title. Over the weekend, they put on their sign, "No more lap dances for Kawhi." So there's that.
- The painful truth for $200 Alex. When asked why he twice punched his opponent - who he already had knocked out with a flying knee - before the ref pulled him away, Jorge Masvidal simply said: ""The referee hadn't pulled me off and my job is to hit someone until the referee pulls me off. For those people [who didn't like those punches], I'd say don't watch MMA. Go watch soccer."
- Somewhere over the weekend former NFL safety Bernard Pollard made Stewwie smile. Here's Pollard's take that Tom Brady is the clear-cut No. 2 quarterback of all time behind Peyton Manning.
- Here's the bracket for tonight's home run derby.
Today's questions
Weekend winners and losers. Please discuss.
On this day in 1996, the Spice Girls debut single "Wannabe" was dropped. Boy, what were we thinking?
Toby Keith is 58.
Kevin Bacon is 61 today. Wow.
Rushmore of Kevin Bacon movies. Go.