Pro Football Hall of Fame
NFL preseason football kicked off (pun intended) last night when the Denver Broncos beat the Atlanta Falcons, 14-10, in the Hall of Fame game. It was an exciting finish with Denver scoring late in the fourth to bring new head coach Vic Fangio his first win as a head coach, even if it is preseason.
Fangio coached the game with a kidney stone. Fangio is THE BEST.
And this weekend, the following will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It is so close to football season!!
1. Gil Brandt – VP of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys
2. Safety Johnny Robinson- Kansas City Chiefs
3. Center Kevin Mawae- NY Jets
4. Pat Bowlen- majority owner of the Denver Broncos. He passed away June 13th
5. Cornerback Ty Law – New England Patriots
6. Safety Ed Reed – Baltimore Ravens
7. Cornerback Champ Bailey – Denver Broncos
8. Tight end Tony Gonzalez – Kansas City Chiefs
Trading Up
Major League’s baseball trade deadline has come and gone and there were a couple of biggies.
First off, the Houston Astros acquired pitcher Zach Greinke from the Diamondbacks, making the Astros the AL frontrunner for the World Series. The ace is bringing his 10-4 record and 2.90 ERA to an already tough-to-beat pitching staff.
The Cleveland Indians traded right-handed starter Trevor Bauer to the Reds, as part of a three-team deal with them and the San Diego Padres. Cleveland gets Yasiel Puig from the Reds and outfielder Franmil Reyes and pitching prospect Logan Allen from the Padres. San Diego gets OF Taylor Trammell from Cincy, and Cleveland gets two prospects. Batter up!
Fight Club
Maybe there’s no crying in baseball, but sometimes, unfortunately, there is fighting. A brawl broke out earlier this week between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds. The consummate team player, Yasiel Puig, jumped in, even though he knew about the aforementioned trade.
Reds’ manager David Bell had been ejected earlier in the game but ran out onto the field and went after Pittsburgh’s manager Clint Hurdle during the scuffle. That’s frowned upon. It’s all frowned up, as players from both sides were ejected and will most likely face suspensions. Fighting is dumb. Fighting in baseball is really dumb.
McCollum Gets Paid
C.J. McCollum and his three-year, $100 million contract are staying in Rip City.
McCollum has been integral to the Portland Trail Blazers’ success the last few seasons, including this year’s appearance in the Western Conference Finals. He’s averaged 21 points per game in each of the last two regular seasons, 25.3 in last year’s playoffs, and 24.7 points in the 2019 playoffs.
Somewhere, we know Jennifer is pleased.
End of an Era
USWNT Coach Jill Ellis, who coached this year’s World Cup team, will step down after this year’s victory tour. Ellis’ contract was set to expire this week and she declined her end of a mutual option to extend the contract through the 2020 Olympics.
Ellis became one of two coaches in history to win back-to-back World Cup crowns and the first on the women’s side.