BASEBALL

The Los Angeles Dodgers remarkable season keeps getting better. With a win over the Chicago White Sox, the Dodgers (84-34) are now an impressive 50 games over .500.

FOOTBALL

In a completely tone deaf segment, ESPN held a fantasy football draft where they auctioned off mostly black  players to white owners, causing outrage on social media. Players such as Odell Beckham Jr wrote on his twitter feed, “speechless” as the segment appeared eerily similar to a slave auction. Other athletes, such as NBA star Kevin Durant, weighed in as well tweeting, “bum ass espn running out of ideas.”

FOOTBALL

The NFL suspended Dallas Cowboys’ star running back Ezekiel Elliott for six games without pay for domestic violence abuses. The NFL came under intense scrutiny a few years ago for not imposing stricter punishments for violating personal conduct policies, especially in the case of Ray Rice.  The NFL now has new, stricter guidelines and a six game suspension is the minimum requirement. Elliott is the highest profile player to receive this punishment. According to the NFL, his case uncovered “multiple instances of physical violence” against his former girlfriend. The NFL Players Association plans to review the decision and Elliott said he’ll appeal.

Katie Sowers is expected to be hired by the SF 49ers, making her the second female assistant coach in NFL history. Sowers completed an internship this summer in the Bill Walsh NFL Diversity Coaching Fellowship then posted on Facebook she accepted a full time position under Niners coach Kyle Shanahan.

BASKETBALL

The controversial LaVar Ball was all bluster and no substance when he lost a shooting contest against rapper/actor Ice Cube during Ice Cube’s BIG3 event.  This probably wouldn’t be much of a story if it wasn’t for the fact LaVar claimed he could beat the great Michael Jordan in his heyday (with one hand tied behind his back).  It sounded as if the entire arena was happy Ball lost.

FOOTBALL

Marshawn Lynch, Raiders running back, appeared to stage a silent protest when he sat during the National Anthem during a pre-season game against the Arizona Cardinals. Coach Jack Del Rio spoke to Lynch after the game and told him, ” “So you understand how I feel. I very strongly believe in standing for the national anthem, but I’m going to respect you as a man. You do your thing, and we’ll do ours.’ So that’s a non-issue for me.” Raiders quarterback E.J. Manuel said the team supports Lynch in whatever he chooses to do.

GOLF

A 20-something pro won the PGA Championship, but it wasn’t Jordan Spieth, it was his buddy 24 year old Justin Thomas. Spieth has taken the golf world by storm this year and was looking for a win to secure a grand slam. It wasn’t meant to be though, as his friend and rival Thomas shot a 68 on his final round to win his first major championship and move to #6 in the world.  After the tournament he said, “I truly felt like I was going to win. I remember my girlfriend was supposed to fly out at about 7 and I was like, ‘You need to change your flight to later, because I don’t know, I just feel like I don’t want you to miss this. I feel like I’m going to get it done.’ I just was very confident.”

CHESS

Watching a 3 plus hour chess match isn’t exactly the most exciting spectator sport so the World Chess organization is planning to have players wear biometric monitors on the Grandmasters so we can see how stressed they get after a specific move. The CEO of World Chess Ilya Merenzon told the Telegraph, “Chess matches can be very dramatic, and biometric data gives fans and spectators alike another opportunity to follow the games and relate to them on much deeper level. It’s not enough to know what the next best move is anymore: you have to know what the grandmaster is thinking.”

BASKETBALL

Many NBA teams received criticism last season for resting their players during regular season games. Fans felt they paid good money to come to games and didn’t like seeing health players resting up for a more important game or for the playoffs. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he understands teams need to prevent players getting injured, but felt there should be a better balance. “There is an expectation among partners that teams are going to act in appropriate ways, (and) find, as I said, that right balance between resting on one hand and obligations to fans and partners on the other.” With that said, he’s instituted a number of other rules to benefit players in an  82 game schedule.

This summer, Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant signed a two year $51 million dollar contract. Many basketball enthusiasts are giving him a hard time, not because it’s a lot of money, but because it’s so much less than he should be making. He’s accused of giving the Warriors a “discount” so the team could afford some of its other star players. Durant told the Atltantic in a recent press conference, “Well, I’m a smart guy and I want to keep this thing going and looking at Andre and Shaun (Livingston) and Steph (Curry) — they all should make the most money that they can make and get what they deserve. Because they were all underpaid and I knew at some point they’d want to get what they deserve. So I just took a step back and let the chips fall where they may. Then I took it in my hands. I wanted to keep the team together and I thought it was going to help the ownership bring all the guys back. And on top of that, it’s my money. It’s my decision. I can do what the hell I want with it.” Durant can opt out of his contract after this season, and if all goes well, he’ll be one of the highest paid players (which, of course, will also bring criticism).

BASEBALL

Baseball fans are in awe of the Los Angeles Dodgers historic season. With a current 80 wins and only 33 losses and a 15 game lead in their division, the Dodgers hold the best record in baseball and are primed to not only advance to a World Series berth, but also make history with number of wins for the season. The current record set by the Chicago Cubs in 1906 and then later by the 2001 Seattle Mariners is 116 wins in a 162 game season. Interesting to note, neither of those teams went on to win the World Series, but this year’s Dodgers don’t seem phased by the hype or the pressure. They just keep entertaining the crowds and winning games.

FOOTBALL

After years of criticism about poor officiating, the NFL has agreed to hire full time officials to ref games this season. NFL officiating was previously a part time job and many felt the refs were not fully qualified to make crucial judgments about controversial calls during games. With a full time crew, the NFL believes the referees will be better prepared and have more consistency during games.

FOOTBALL

The New England Patriots purchased 767 planes exclusively for use by the team. They are the first NFL team to buy a plane (actually 2 planes). Acording to reports, the rationale for the big expense is that charter travel is getting expensive, and with the new comfortable planes, the team might have an advantage on the competition if they’re well rested.

In college football, UCLA quaraterback Josh Rosen has been making waves when he told Bleacher Report that football and academics “don’t go together” and that “human beings don’t belong in school with our schedules”. He went on to say, “There are guys who have no business being in school, but they’re here because this is the path to the NFL.  There’s no other way. Then there’s the other side that says raise the SAT eligibility requirements. OK, raise the SAT requirement at Alabama and see what kind of team they have. You lose athletes, and then the product on the field suffers.” Rosen is looking for more balanced academic and athletic experience.

BASEBALL

Johan Camargo, shortstop for the Atlanta Braves, was jogging out to the field ready to start the game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday when he tripped over himself and fell to the ground. He appeared to injure his knee. According to the reports submitted by the Angell Law Firm traffic accident lawyers, there’s no word yet on how serious this freak accident was and how long he’ll be out.

FOOTBALL

While discussing the recent study of brain damage in football players, former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason spoke about the dangers on his radio show and said he believes he likely has CTE and would be most players have it. He said, “The more we learn about our brains, the better it is for the guys who are playing today. The good news for the guys who are playing today, especially those who are playing for a long period of time, is they get paid a hell of a lot more money than we did. They have much better benefits and retirement benefits than we do.”

The New York Jets top receiver Quincy Enunwa will miss the entire season with a neck injury. He was expected to take on a big role for the team this year (with Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker gone), but now the team’s prospects look even bleaker than they did before.

BASEBALL

If you watch closely, you can see New York Mets’ pitcher Noah Syndergaard’s arm in a cameo Sunday night on “Game of Thrones“.  Syndergaard plays a Lannister soldier who throws a deadly spear.

BASKETBALL

The Golden State Warriors’ Zaza Pachulia is back in his hometown, the Republic of Georgia, celebrating his team’s NBA title win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. On the trip, he received the “Order of Honor, which is given for outstanding personal contribution to the building of the independent government.”

FOOTBALL

The Miami Dolphins made a $10 million one year deal with former Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler as insurance for an injured Ryan Tannehill. No word on how long Tannehill will be out, but by the Dolphins signing Cutler, it appears the injury could be worse than they had anticipated. Cutler is 34 years old and had shoulder surgery last December, but he knows the Dolphins head coach (Adam Gase) and their offense, so it seems like a good move.

In a classy move, the England Patriots gave Tom Brady’s mom her very own Super Bowl ring. Last season, Brady’s mom underwent treatment for cancer, but was able to attend the remarkable comeback Super Bowl LI victory in 2016.  Brady  described how owner Robert Kraft was supportive all season. “He’s been so supportive of my family and certainly everything my mom went through and knowing first-hand how families deal with it. He was always asking, ‘How’s mom doing? How is she feeling?’ We didn’t know up until the very end whether she was going to make it to the Super Bowl. She was a big inspiration for me, and RKK knew it. It was a great surprise to all of us when the ring showed up. She deserves it.”

FOOTBALL

The Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill may miss the beginning of the season after suffering a non-contact knee injury this week. Tannehill missed the final four games of last season with MCL and ACL injuries to his knee, but the team isn’t sure of the extent of this recent issue.  Matt Moore is the current backup, but if the injury is season threatening, there will no doubt be the inevitable talk of Colin Kaepernick.  Former Chicago Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler has also been mentioned as a replacement since he knows the offense. He even mentioned he’d consider delaying his career in broadcasting if he’s made the starter (with a starter’s salary).

College football season is around the corner and as always at this time of the year, the Amway Coaches poll is out with the rankings for the top teams. To no ones surprise, Alabama came in at #1 with Ohio State #2, Florida State at #3, and South Carolina and Clemson rounding out the top 5. For all rankings, click here.

BASKETBALL

Steph Curry played in his first professional golf tournament and performed better than expectations. He shot a 4 over par 74 in his first round at the Elle Mae Classic in San Francisco. Curry received a sponsor’s invite to the tournament. It’s comforting to know even a great competitor like Curry can get nervous. He said, “As soon as he said my name on the first tee, I could barely take my hands out of my pocket. I tried to take a deep breath, but still there wasn’t anything I could do to get myself prepared for that moment. But after the third or fourth hole, it was golf as normal.”

FOOTBALL

Anyone associated with Notre Dame football (0r who saw the classic movie Rudy) knows about former coach Ara Parseghian. Parseghian passed away on Wednesday at the age of 94. The real Rudy Ruettiger (whose story was the basis for movie) reminisced to USA Today about the legendary coach and said, “He recognized something in people, especially their character and heart.”

New England quarterback Tom Brady turned 40 today. He’s the 20th quarterback to play in the NFL after his 40th bday. Brady has three children under 10 with wife Gisele Bundchen. For his birthday, Rob Gronkowsky (Patriots tight end) said his present to Brady is touchdowns next season.

Seattle Seahawk’s cornerback, Richard Sherman went off when asked about the reasons Colin Kaepernick hasn’t been recruited by any NFL team. Sherman said, “What is it about? It’s not about football or color. It’s about, ‘Boy, stay in your place.’ “He played in Chip (Kelly)’s system last year and went 16-4 (TD-to-INT ratio) on a bad team. He played well because he’s a good football player. He may not be the best, but he’s better than a lot of these dudes starting.”