OLYMPICS

Paris Olympic officials and the International Olympic Committee announced Break dancing, known as “breaking“, will be part of the Olympic competition.

In other International sports news, famed swimmer Katie Ledecky became the first swimmer to win six golds in the same event at the worlds, breaking a tie with Michael Phelps in this legendary accomplishment.

FORMULA ONE

Max Verstappen won his EIGHTH consecutive race at the Belgian Grand Prix. It’s his 10th win of the season, cementing his legendary status.

BASEBALL

Tuesday is Major League Baseball’s trade deadline, but the biggest headline over the weekend was the NY Mets trading three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers for Luisangel Acuna.

SOCCER

In World Cup news, the U.S. women drew the Netherlands and will wrap up the group-stage play on August 1st with a match against Portugal.

Saudi Arabia made a world-record offer of $332 million transfer fee for French star Kylian Mbappé to leave Paris Saint-Germain and play for their club AL Hilal. They’d also pay him a one-year salary worth $776 million (which would have him making $24 per second).

BASKETBALL

LeBron James’s son Bronny is in stable condition after suffering cardiac arrest during basketball practice at USC.

FOOTBALL

Saquon Barkley’s holdout is over after signing  a one-year $11 million deal to stay with the Giants.

The Green Bay Packers announced they will retire Aaron Rodgers’ #12 jersey. Brett Favre (#4)and Bart Starr (#15) are the only other Green Bay QB’s to have their jerseys retired.

SOCCER

The U.S. women’s national team handily beat Vietnam in the World Cup Opener. They will continue the group stage on Wednesday against the Netherlands (the country they beat in the 2019 World Cup Final).

In Hoboken, New Jersey, fans can start drinking alcohol at 5:00 am after the town changed the liquor laws to accommodate fans of the Women’s World Cup.

One of the best soccer players in the world, Lionel Messi, did not disappoint in debut game with Inter Miami. Coming in to the game in the 54th minute, Messi made a free kick which sealed the team’s 2-1 victory over Cruz Azul. After the win, Messi further captured the hearts and minds of his fans by dedicating the game to his new teammate Ian Fray who suffered his third torn ACL.

FOOTBALL

It’s official! The NFL owners unanimously voted to approve the sale of the Washington Commanders to a group led by private equity investor Josh Harris. The Harris group paid $6.05 billion (a record for a North American sport) for the franchise. After the vote, Harris said, “I feel an awesome responsibility to the city of Washington.”

Steve Young, the legendary San Francisco Hall of Fame quarterback, has agreed to be an assistant coach for the Menlo School’s girls flag football team. Young was an analyst at ESPN for over 20 years but was recently laid off in a mass firing. Young’s daughters attend the Menlo School and will be playing on the team.

Speaking of ESPN shakeups, Scott Van Pelt will be the new host of the “Monday Night Countdown”.

Saquon Barkley (NY Giants) is one of the high-profile running backs who had a franchise tag but were unable to agree to a long-term contract before the deadline passed on Monday. If Barkley signs the tag, he will play on a one-year $10.1 million contract, but that number is far below what other players in his elite peer group are making. Barkley is considering sitting out the season. He said, “My leverage is I could say, ‘F–k you’ to the Giants. And be like, ‘You want me to show you how valuable I am to the team? I won’t show up. I won’t play a down.’ That’s a play I could use.”

TENNIS

Marketa Vondrousova beat Ons Jabeur to win her first career major championship. The 24-year-old from the Czech Republic is the first unseeded player to win Wimbledon.

In the men’s singles final, twenty-year-old Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic (who hadn’t lost at Wimbledon since 2017) in an intense back-and-forth battle to win Wimbledon for the first time. Djokovic said after the match, “I haven’t played a player like him ever, to be honest.”

BASKETBALL

LeBron James announced he’ll change his uniform back to #23 from #6 out of respect for Bill Russell. Lebron wore #23 when he began his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but then changed to #6 when he signed with the Miami Heat. When he returned to the Cavs he switched to #23 again, then he changed back to #6 again in 2021. Russell, the Hall of Fame Player and Coach, passed away in 2022, and the NBA retired his #6 jersey league-wide (the only player to ever receive this honor).

ESPY’S

Damar Hamlin broke down in tears while presenting the training staff of the Buffalo Bills with the Pat Tillman Award for Service. The training staff saved his life when he went into cardiac arrest in January while playing a game in Cincinnati. Hamlin has fully recovered and plans to get back on the field this season.

Other top awards went to:

Best Team: Kansas City Chiefs

Best Male Athlete: Patrick Mahomes

Best Female Athlete: Mikaela Shiffrin

The other newsworthy moment at the ESPY’s was when LeBron James accepted his award for “Best Record-Breaking Performance” and announced he was not retiring. He said, “The day I can’t give the game everything on the floor is the day I’ll be done. Lucky for you guys, that day is not today.”

FOOTBALL

Northwestern issued a statement a few days ago announcing the suspension of football coach Pat Fitzgerald, but after receiving more evidence of hazing (some of it reportedly very disturbing), Fitzgerald was fired.

BASEBALL

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won the 2023 Home Run Derby. It’s the first time in derby history that a father/son won the title (Guerrero Sr. won in 2007).

OTHER

The New York Times announced it is retiring its sports desk and will be using the paper’s subscription sports site, The Athletic.

SOCCER

Megan Rapinoe announced she will retire after this season, ending a successful 17-year career.

BASKETBALL

Victor Wembanyama made his much anticipated debut in the NBA Summer League. Unfortunately his first game was a disappointment scoring only nine points on 2-of-13 shooting attempts. The nineteen year old 7’4” phenom did fare much better in his second game scoring a team high 27 points with 12 rebounds for the Spurs.

FOOTBALL

Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald was suspended for two weeks without pay for allegations of hazing in the football program.

TENNIS

Wimbledon has made a slow start, but after a two-day rain delay, the first round is finally completed, and there’s some second-round big news. Novak Djokovic made history when he won his second-round match and captured his 350th singles victory in a Grand Slam tournament. Serena Williams and Roger Federer are the only other players to reach this milestone.

BASKETBALL

Number one pick in the NBA draft Victor Wembanyama will make his Summer League debut tonight for the San Antonio Spurs when he faces off against the #2 pick Brandon Miller and the Charlotte Hornets.

Speaking of Wembanyama, Britney Spears was allegedly slapped by the Spurs’ director of security when she tried to get a photo with the player in a restaurant in Las Vegas.

MISC

Jeff Van Gundy, Suzy Kolber, Keyshawn Johnson, Max Kellerman, and Jalen Rose were among the top talent laid off at ESPN. The cost-cutting measure by parent company Disney coincides with a report that ESPN is considering launching a stand-alone streaming service. In this latest round of cuts, 20 commentators were fired and more layoffs are expected.

TENNIS

Wimbledon is underway, and this year the tournament is allowing players from Russia and Belarus to compete as long as they sign agreements assuring the Club that they would not make statements supporting the war in Ukraine. Last year, Wimbledon caused a giant controversy when it banned the players.

HOT DOG EATING

After a two-hour rain delay, Joey Chestnut, the GOAT of competitive eating, won the Annual Fourth of July Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating contest again by downing 62 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes (shy of his personal best of 76). Miki Sudo consumed 39 1/2 in the women’s bracket. Both earned $10,000 and the Mustard Belt.