The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition - Friday Festivities
Happy dance! It’s Friday and there’s football, baseball, NASCAR and more to watch this weekend. We hear a weekend of sports filled brunches calling our names.
We’ll take a mimosa please,
The Last Night’s Game Team
PS - Get excited for this week’s tailgate treat. It comes to us from a guy you might have heard of, Al Roker. His recipe for homemade brisket beef jerky is out of this world if you go light on the liquid smoke. That’s what’s going on in our neck of the woods.
NCAA Football (College)
- Force majeure. Hurricane Matthew has forced the cancellation of LSU (Louisiana State University) – University of Florida game this weekend. The teams do not have an open date in common for the rest of the season so it will not be rescheduled.
- Surprise guest. ESPN College GameDay heads to College Station, TX ahead of the Tennessee Volunteers (#9) and Texas A&M Aggies (#8) matchup. Will free agent and hometown hero Johnny Football, aka Johnny Manziel whose four-game NFL suspension is over, be the guest picker to try to improve his image?
NFL (National Football League)
- Welcome back. Tom Brady’s suspension for “deflategate” is officially over and just in time for his New England Patriots to face the winless Cleveland Browns. Brady seemed to enjoy his four week break by attending a football game at his alma matter, University of Michigan, and nude sunbathing in Italy with is wife, but it’s back to work for him this Sunday.
- Bottom of the barrel. In Thursday Night Football news, Arizona Cardinals improved from their 1-3 record (wins-losses), beating the equally dreadful San Francisco 49ers.
MLB (Major League Baseball)
- That was easy. Toronto Blue Jays used the momentum from their wild card win to thoroughly defeat Texas Rangers (final score 10-1) in Game One of the ALDS (American League Division Series).
- Hometown pride. Building off Cleveland Cavaliers’ NBA Championship momentum, Cleveland Indians a took step in the right direction with a Game One win over Boston Red Sox in the other ALDS game.
- If you’re looking for an excuse not to work, all four playoff games will be played today. Catch the full schedule here.
NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)
- Shake and bake. The second round of the “The Chase for the Cup” begins on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 12 remaining drivers look to win this race to guarantee their spot in the next round. Kevin Harvick will start from the pole position.
WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association)
- Showdown. The WNBA finals begin on Sunday with Los Angeles Sparks (#2) taking on Minnesota Lynx (#1).
Overtime
- The Toronto Blue Jays win over the Baltimore Orioles in the wild card game was overshadowed by a fan incident. A Blue Jays fan threw a full beer at an Orioles outfielder catching a fly ball. The fan has since been identified and charged with criminal mischief and wasting a perfectly good beer.
Sideline stat
- Pittsburgh Steelers’ Antonio Brown received a fine of $24,000 for his “pump” (aka twerking) touchdown celebration. This is his second fine of the year for his suggestive celebrations.
Coaches’ corner
- Barry Bonds, the leading home run hitter of all-time, was fired as the Miami Marlins hitting coach after one season. Bonds rubbed everyone wrong as a player and apparently nothing changed in his career as a coach.
The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition
There is never a dull moment in sports. Whether it's getting fired for inappropriate tweets or being named one of Time Magazine's Most Influential People; we cover it all here in five mins or less.
In an unusual Earth Day scenario, the Weekend Preview Edition wasn't written to the normal background noise of a game but to the jams of Prince. That means today's inspired write up is totally bad*ss.
Driving the little red (clean fuel powered) corvette into the sunset,
The Last Night's Game Team
MLB (Major League Baseball)
Shutout. ESPN fired analyst and former MLB pitcher, Curt Schilling for a controversial post on social media. Schilling clearly didn’t agree with North Carolina's "bathroom law." This wasn't Schilling's first social media outburst that landed him in hot water. ESPN said "enough already. We're an inclusive company." We're pulling the pitcher.
- No no. Cy Young award winner Jake Arrieta threw his second no-hitter of his career last night. The Cubs' pitcher led his team to a 16-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. The Cubs also celebrated their veteran catcher David Ross, affectionately known as "Grandpa Rossy," who caught his first no-hitter. (The catcher is the key player to call all of the pitches and command the game from behind home plate).
NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)
Keep it to yourself. Driver Tony Stewart is expected to return to the track this weekend after missing eight weeks for a broken back sustained in an ATV accident. The buzz of his return has been marred by the fact that NASCAR fined him for comments he made surrounding race safety. NASCAR officials have stopped enforcing a rule that requires a tire on the race car to have all five lug nuts (bolts that anchor the tire to the body of the car) secured, just three or four are sufficient. While that creates faster pit times for drivers, it also makes for a potential hazard as Stewart stated. Apparently NASCAR didn't like him pointing that out. Fine.
NBA (National Basketball Association)
Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry did not play in game three (still that ankle injury) and Houston Rockets took advantage. James Harden led his team to a victory over the Warriors in game three. The series is now 2-1 in favor of the Warriors with game four on Sunday.
Lucky you. There are playoff games all weekend. Here's the full scheudle.
NHL (National Hockey League)
It's about time. Chicago Blackhawks beat St. Louis Blues in double overtime on Thursday night. The Blackhawks avoided elimination with a goal by star player Patrick Kane. This was Kane's first goal of the playoffs. Better late than never.
The couch is calling. There are more playoff this weekend. For the entire playoff scheudle, click here.
WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment)
Ninth wonder of the world. 90s wrestling star and arguably one of the most famous female wrestlers, Chyna, was found dead yesterday in her California apartment. She was found by a friend who came to check on her after not hearing from her for days. Chyna (real name Joan Marie Laurer) was 46.
Overtime
Yesterday the music and sports world lost a legend in Prince. How is Prince tied to sports you ask? You mean besides his love for his hometown Minnesota Vikings or the fact that all Minnesota Twins' rookies have to sing "Little Red Corvette" for the entire clubhouse? In 2015, Billboard Magazine ranked his 2007 Super Bowl halftime performance as the greatest in the history of the Super Bowl. In a torrential downpour he played iconic songs such as "Proud Mary" and "Along the Watchtower" in tandem with his hits including "Let's go Crazy" and "Purple Rain." This is a great clip from a Super Bowl producer's perspective of an epic and legendary artist as he conquered the world's biggest stage. Rock on and rest in peace.
Sideline stat
19. That's the age of the youngest athlete (Olympic swimmer Katie Ledeck) chosen as part of Time Magazine's list of “Most Influential People,” released on Thursday. The list includes golfer Jordan Spieth, Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry and UFC's Ronda Rousey.
Coaches’ corner
King of the long ball, steroid user, whatever you call him he's now known as coach. Former San Francisco Giants' slugger Barry Bonds returns to San Francisco this weekend, although this time he's wearing his number 25 on a Miami Marlins jersey. Bonds will be making his first appearance at AT&T Park as the hitting coach for the Marlins. This is Bonds' first season back in the major leagues since retiring as a player in 2007.