Archive for July, 2016

Mickelson Almost Makes History, Von Miller’s New Offer, Fitzpatrick Not Signed

GOLF

Phil MickelsonPhil Mickelson almost made history on Thursday at the British Open. No player has ever shot a 62 in a major tournament and Mickelson (and everyone else watching) believed he had it wrapped up, but the ball spun around in the cup and popped out (in golf lingo it’s called a lip-out). After the round, Mickelson said he wanted to cry.

NFL

It appears Super Bowl MVP Von Miller  is close to signing his much discussed contract with the Denver Broncos. The Broncos’ offer to Von Miller is the biggest contract ever for a non-quarterback player. Von Miller, however, is the core of the Broncos defense and arguably without him, the Broncos would not have won the Super Bowl this season.  The latest offer is 6 years $114.5 million with $70 million guaranteed.

The New York Jets still haven’t signed QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. The offer on the table is $24 million over 3 years but the issue is how much will be guaranteed. Jets coach, Todd Bowles implied the Team isn’t waiting on Fitzpatrick to accept the offer saying “If he comes back, we’ll be happy to have him back, but meanwhile we’ve got to get other guys ready to play”.  With that said, it certainly seems as if it would help his teammates to know who will be throwing the ball in September.

 

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LeBron And Cavs Sweep ESPY’s, Tom Brady’s Appeal Denied

ESPY’S

Wednesday night, WWE star, John Cena hosted the ESPY awards. The ESPY’s are awarded based on fan voting and have become a star studded event.  To no one’s surprise, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers swept the show. LeBron won 5 ESPY’s including best male athlete and best NBA player and his Cavs won best team. The Warriors’ Steph Curry won as well with an award for best record-breaking performance (breaking his own record for most 3-pointers). The biggest honor of the evening went to TNT analyst Craig Sager who was awarded the Jimmy V Perseverance Award  for his courageous fight against Leukemia.

LeBron, Wade, AnthonyThe evening began with a heartfelt call to action by Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul and LeBron James. The foursome encouraged athletes to use their platforms to end violence and speak out for social change. LeBron ended his speech with the following statement:

“Tonight we’re honoring Muhammad Ali, the GOAT (greatest of all time),” he said. “But to do his legacy any justice, let’s use this moment as a call to action to all professional athletes to educate ourselves, explore these issues, speak up, use our influence and renounce all violence and, most importantly, go back to our communities, invest our time, our resources, help rebuild them, help strengthen them, help change them. We all have to do better.”

Screen Shot 2016-07-14 at 8.31.51 AMHost John Cena followed up the emotional plea with an entertaining opening monologue roasting the athletes, the coaches and the owners.

NFL

Deflategate won’t go away and Tom Brady looks like he won’t be playing at the start of the season. As you may recall, the New England Patriots QB Tom Brady was suspended 4 games by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for his participation in a scheme to deflate footballs (which makes them easier to grip) during a 2015 playoff game. Brady and the NFL Players Association appealed the suspension but the Court of Appeals denied the appeal. Brady’s only hope now is to take his case all the way to the Supreme Court. As of now, it looks like Brady’s replacement, Jimmy Garoppolo will be quarterbacking the team for their opener on September 11th.

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AL Wins All Star Game, Tenors Alter O Canada, Barkley Weighs In On Race, Obama’s Town Hall On ESPN

MLB

The American League beat out the National League in the All Star Game for the 4th time in a row. Why is this important and why should we care? In baseball, the All Star game (which doesn’t have the same hype or star studded celebrity crowd as the NBA All Star weekend), actually means something. Home field advantage in the world series goes to the team from the winning league. So, this year, home field advantage will go to any American League team.

The TenorsIn a controversial moment before the game, the members of the Tenors (a popular vocal quartet) altered the words to “O Canada”, the Canadian National Anthem, by substituting the words “All Lives Matter” in a verse while holding up an “All Lives Matter” sign. The Tenors apologized via twitter and blamed one member of the quartet, Remigio Pereira, insisting he didn’t speak for the rest of the group.

NBA

Speaking of controversial topics, Charles Barkley weighed in on the recent police shootings and the retaliatory attacks on police officers on ESPN’s Dan Lebatard Show. He said:

“The cops have made some mistakes, but that doesn’t give us the right to riot and shoot cops. We need the cops, especially in the black community. We as black people, we’ve got to do better. We never get mad when black people kill each other, which that has always bothered me … I’ve always said if we as black people want more respect, we have to give each other respect. You can’t demand respect from white people and the cops if you don’t respect each other. We’ve got to do better as black people. The cops have made some mistakes, but there’s a lot of blame to go around. But I’m not going to get on TV and yell like all these other idiots.”

I’m sure Barkley will have more to say after President Obama’s Town Hall “The President & The People: Race in America” airing on ESPN and ABC Thursday evening at 8:00 pm EST. ESPN host, Jemele Hill, will join the President in this discussion moderated by ABC’s David Muir.

 

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Spurs’ Tim Duncan Retired, UFC Sold For $4Bill, Stanton Makes History In HR Derby

NBA

Tim DuncanAfter 5 NBA Championships and 19 years with the San Antonio Spurs, Tim Duncan is retiring. The soon to be Hall of Famer was awarded 3 NBA MVP Finals trophies in his time with the Spurs. The team grabbed him with their #1 pick in the 1997 draft and never looked back. Duncan is only one of 3 players to stay with a team for at least 19 years. Kobe Bryant and John Stockton were the other two players. At 40 years old, Duncan holds almost every Spurs’ record and is known as one of the best power forwards of all time.

UFC

The organization which promotes mixed martial arts, the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), just sold for a whopping $4 Billion dollars. Considering the owners of the company bought it in 2000 for $2.1 Million, that’s a pretty good profit! UFC has grown in popularity (particularly with millenials) with breakout stars like Ronda Rousey.

MLB

The Miami Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton became a legend in Monday’s Home Run Derby (part of Major League Baseball’s All Star events). He hit 61 home runs in only 13 1/2 minutes, an historical feat.

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Serena Wins 22nd Title, Murray Gives Britain A Smile, Without Ronaldo, Portugal Beats France

TENNIS

Serena Williams won her 22nd Grand Slam title Saturday by beating Angelique Kerber in the Wimbledon Finals. The only other player to have accomplished this goal was Steffi Graf.

In the men’s final, Andy Murray beat Milos Raonic. Murray is the only player from Great Britain to have won at Wimbledon (the first time he won was in 2013). With all of the issues Britain has had to deal with lately, the press asked Murray “How does it feel to be the nation’s last hope?” Andy Murray responded “It’s not that bad, is it?”

SOCCER

Cristiano RonaldoWith superstar Cristiano Ronaldo sidelined with a knee injury just 25 minutes into Portugal’s final match against France, his dream of a Portugal championship looked unlikely. But with unparalleled teamwork, Portugal rallied to beat France 1-0 and win its first major title. Ronaldo, who left the game crying because of his knee, returned to offer guidance then began to weep again when his team won. “Since 2004 I’ve asked God for another chance, another opportunity to win something for my people. Today I was unlucky personally, but it turned out as one of the happiest days of my career. I always believed we could do it as a team. I just wasn’t sure it would happen this way.”

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Ricky Williams Partners In Marijuana Gym, Murphy Trapped In Museum, Serena In Wimbledon Finals

NFL

In a true but odd story, ex NFL running back, Ricky Williams, is a partner and spokesperson in a marijuana encouraged gym, which also encouraged special sauce CBD pre rolls called Power Plant Fitness in San Francisco, CA. The gym, which plans to open in the Fall, claims to “focus on integrative full body and mind training,” They will sell marijuana edibles for pre and post workouts and Nirvana CBD + Turmeric Softgels for relaxing after the workouts. YOu can try here to get a doctor to confirm.

Flagler MuseumIn another strange story, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Louis Murphy fell asleep and was trapped in a museum. He was a groomsman at a friends’ wedding at the Flagler museum in Palm Beach, drank a bit too much, wandered into a remote part of the museum, fell asleep and woke up to find he was locked in. He had to break a door to get a landline to call the police to let him out. He said it was a series of unfortunate incidents.

TENNIS

Serena Williams does it again. She will compete on Saturday in her 9th Wimbledon final. She only needed 48 minutes to best Elena Vesnina in the semis with an easy 6-2, 6-0 win. Serena will face Angelique Kerber who beat her sis, Venus, in the semis and stole the Australian Open from Serena back in January. If Serena wins, she will tie the record set by Steffi Graff of 22 major singles titles.

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Bulls Grab Dwayne Wade From Heat, Russell Wilson And Ciara Wed

NBA

The Chicago Bulls upgraded their roster Wednesday night by recruiting Dwayne Wade from the Miami Heat. With the recent addition of Rajon Rondo and with current star Jimmy Butler, the Bulls go from a rebuilding team to a contender.  Wade will surely be missed in Miami. In 13 seasons with the Team he won 3 NBA titles and one finals MVP. Wade signed a 2 year contract with the Bulls for $47 million. Wade is from the Chicago area and told the AP, “I have never forgotten where I came from, and I am thankful to have an opportunity to play for the team that first fueled my love of the game.”

NFL

Screen Shot 2016-07-07 at 8.49.10 AMSeattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson posted a photo on Instagram with his new wife, the singer Ciara. Congrats!

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Retired Ray Allen Talking To Warriors, Cubs Infield Named All-Stars, Messi & Dad Tax Fraud

NBA

Future Hall of Famer Ray Allen is considering coming out of retirement to play again. It’s been reported he’s talking to the Golden State Warriors as well as the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers and the San Antonio Spurs

Turning 41 years old this month, Allen was known as a great shooter (40% from the 3-point line) and in today’s NBA where 3-pointers are so coveted, perhaps he’ll make a valuable contribution next season to one of these teams.

BASEBALL

Kris BryantThe Chicago Cubs’ entire infield (Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist, Addison Russell and Kris Bryant) were named as National League starters in the upcoming MLB All Star Game.  They are only the second club in MLB history to have their infield (1st base, 2nd base, shortstop and third base) named as starters. The Cubs also have 2 pitchers and an outfielder going to the game.

SOCCER

Barcelona star, Lionel Messi, and his father were sentenced to 21 months in prison on 3 counts of tax fraud for using tax havens in Uruguay and Belize to avoid paying taxes. They aren’t expected to spend time in prison though as they’ll pay a fine and serve probation instead.

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KD Story Crashes Players’ Tribune, Ben Simmons’ Debut Halted By Cramps, Joey Chestnut Regains Title

NBA

When the Players’ Tribune, an athlete owned media site and the brainchild of Derek Jeter, broke the story on July 4th of Kevin Durant heading to the Warriors, the site crashed from too much traffic. This isn’t the first time the Players’ Tribune crashed. The site also went down last fall when Kobe Bryant posted a poem stating he was retiring from the NBA.

The Philadelphia 76ers Ben Simmons, the #1 draft pick, appeared in his first NBA game on July 4th in a summer league matchup against the Boston Celtics. He had a solid debut but then had to leave in the 4th quarter with cramps in both legs. The coach said, “We might have been able to put him back in, but on July Fourth, we didn’t need to create those fireworks.” After the game, Simmons said he’ll be sure to drink more water!

HOT DOGS

Nathans Hot DogsJoey Chestnut regained his title at the annual 4th of July hot dog eating contest at Coney Island. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut out ate last year’s champ, Matt “The megatoad” Stonie. Joey won the contest 8 years in a row but lost the title last year to Stonie.  By downing 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes (17 more than Stonie), Joey regained the Nathan’s Famous Title, and a check for ten thousand dollars.

 

 

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Breaking News: Kevin Durant Will Sign With Warriors, Rajon Rondo Now A Bull

NBA

American flag and fireworks

American flag and fireworks

Big news in free agency and the KD sweepstakes! It’s been reported Kevin Durant will sign with the Golden State Warriors. In a post on the Player’s Tribune, Durant said:

“The primary mandate I had for myself in making this decision was to have it based on the potential for my growth as a player — as that has always steered me in the right direction. But I am also at a point in my life where it is of equal importance to find an opportunity that encourages my evolution as a man: moving out of my comfort zone to a new city and community which offers the greatest potential for my contribution and personal growth. With this in mind, I have decided that I am going to join the Golden State Warriors.”

Durant is expected to make $54.3 million for 2 years.

In other free agent moves, Rajon Rondo will replace Derrick Rose (who was recently traded to the NY Knicks) on the Chicago Bulls roster. Rondo played for the Sacramento Kings last season.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

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