Keep Your Eye on the Ball
The MLB All-Star game is behind us and the trade deadline is a couple weeks away. That means it’s time to take baseball seriously. Other than in the NL Central, where the Chicago Cubs have a two game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers, the first place teams have comfortable leads.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have won almost 68% of their games and their incredibly hot bats have been complimented with some pretty epic pitching. Over in the American League, the New York Yankees have a team rating of 91 as they continue to get healthier for their playoff run.
Anyone else rooting for a Dodgers vs. Yankees World Series? It can’t just be us. (It means we get Cody Bellinger until late October if that’s incentive to root for it. Just saying.)
NFL Vacay is Over
Start brushing up on your fantasy football! Football is back in 48 days. We. Can’t. Wait.
This week, the Denver Broncos reported to training camp, as their first preseason game is the Hall of Fame Game in Canton on Aug. 1. They will play the Atlanta Falcons, whose rookies reported yesterday and vets report on Sunday.
The rookies for the Arizona Cardinals, the Seattle Seahawks and the Baltimore Ravens also reported this week and the rest of their squads join them July 24. By July 26, all 32 teams will be at camp.
Are you ready for some football? Obvi.
Madden NFL 20
With a new NFL season comes a new edition of Madden NFL. Madden 20 will be released on August 20 and my-homes and your-homes Patrick Mahomes graces the cover. He also threw a football out of Arrowhead Stadium the other day, but that’s an aside (add appropriate emoji here). The QB phenom is the first member of the Chiefs to be on a Madden cover.
Madden 20’s Top 10 rookies are below. Is it September yet?
|
Quinnen Williams |
DT |
New York Jets |
80 |
|
Ed Oliver |
DT |
Buffalo Bills |
79 |
|
Nick Bosa |
DE |
San Francisco 49ers |
78 |
|
Marquise Brown |
WR |
Baltimore Ravens |
77 |
|
Josh Allen |
DE |
Jacksonville Jaguars |
77 |
|
T.J. Hockenson |
TE |
Detroit Lions |
77 |
|
D.K. Metcalf |
WR |
Seattle Seahawks |
76 |
|
Dexter Lawrence |
DT |
New York Giants |
76 |
|
Irv Smith Jr. |
TE |
Minnesota Vikings |
75 |
|
Christian Wilkins |
DT |
Miami Dolphins |
75 |
|
Brian Burns |
DE |
Carolina Panthers |
75 |
|
Byron Murphy |
CB |
Arizona Cardinals |
75 |
Show Me the Money
The NBA’s summer of fun and big money continued, as Ben Simmons agreed to a 5-year $170 million maximum contract extension with the Philadelphia 76ers. Looks like trusting the process paid off for Simmons (puns intended all around).
The Memphis Grizzlies are the champions of the Summer League, with their rookie Brandon Clarke taking both Summer League MVP and Championship Game MVP honors. The #21 overall pick in this year’s draft had 15 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in the Championship game.
Love-Love
Tennis fans saw an epic Wimbledon performance on Sunday, when Novak Djokovic won a blockbuster match over Roger Federer in 4 hours and 57 minutes. That’s right folks. They played tennis for just about FIVE hours. We needed a nap just watching it. It was Djokovic’s fifth Wimbledon title.
Serena Williams was stopped short of her eighth Wimbledon singles title when she was defeated by Simona Halep, 6-2. It was Halep’s first Wimbledon title. Congrats!