The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition - Money Talks

If money is the root of all evil, then this edition of the Rundown is downright wicked. Between free agency, retirement and Wimbledon players threatening to sue the crowd it seems money is on everyone’s mind today.  

This weekend as you celebrate the birthday of our country with all things American – apple pie, BBQ and Michael Phelps - we hope The Rundown provides you with the conversation starters you need.  

It’s a win-win,

The Last Night’s Game Team

PS: Share us – so all your friends can sound as smart as you this weekend.

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Formula One Racing (F1)

• Vroom. The F1 race takes place in Austria on Sunday (8 am EST on CNBC). Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg has taken a significant point lead in the race for the championship. His Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, who is in second place, will need to win this race to close the gap. 

NBA (National Basketball Association)

• Big price tags. Free agency started this morning at 12:01 am. This is the period when teams can sign free agents (basketball players whose contracts have expired). Chaos (while carrying very large checkbooks) ensues. The biggest player on the market, Kevin Durant, is holding meetings with potential teams in the Hamptons, where he’s spending the weekend. NBD. Follow us on twitter for up-to-date information on the deals and steals. 

NCAA Baseball (College) 

• College World Series champions. In a best-of-three series Coastal Carolina Chanticleers fought back after losing game one and won the final two games beating The University of Arizona Wildcats to win the NCAA Baseball National Championship.

Soccer

• Portugal progresses. Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal advanced to the Euro 2016 semifinals with a win over Poland in penalty kicks last night. 
• Things we never thought we’d hear. Grab some freedom fries and a spot on the couch because everyone’s favorite underdog Iceland takes on host country France on Sunday in the quarterfinals (3 pm EST on ESPN).

Summer Olympics

• Phelps fever. Michael Phelps, the United States’ most decorated Olympian, has qualified for his fifth Olympics. The 22-time medalist qualified for the 200-meter butterfly event and will most likely qualify for more. 

Tennis

• I’m calling my attorney. Rain has been the name of the game in Wimbledon with no major upsets to report other then mother nature delaying matches. One player, Gilles Simon, was not happy with the drizzle he had to play through. He was afraid of injuring himself and threatened to sue the judge if he was to get injured. He also said (we can’t make this up) "I feel the day I'm going to get injured on slippery grass, I'm going to sue everyone in the stadium.” Let’s hope your attorney likes to attend tennis matches.

Overtime

• The "NikeCourt Premier Slam" white Wimbledon dress made for Nike’s sponsored athletes has been causing quite a stir for being a little too see through and a bit short. Nike’s players have gone as far as pairing it with white leggings because we all know that tennis skirts are known for their modesty. Others athletes don’t mind. 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard calls them “cool and modern,” while Serena Williams doesn’t care because she wears a Nike dress specifically designed for her. 

Sideline Stat

• Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck has signed the biggest contract in NFL history - six years for $140 million. With his new fortune, the founder of the Andrew Luck Book Club (Andrew Luck), revealed that he has his eyes not on leather bound books but on a robotic ping pong machine. Chick magnet.

Coaches’ Corner

• The changing of the guards doesn’t only happen in London but in Oregon too. Nike announced that co-founder Phil Knight has official retired as Chairman. The company has made Knight a wealthy man with a net worth of $24.4 billion. Current Nike President, Mike Parker, will step in. In a move where no one seems to understand the job description, Nike has appointed current board member Apple CEO Tim Cook as "lead independent director."
  

The Rundown: 5 Things To Know About Team Iceland

If you looked up the definition of an underdog in the dictionary there would be a photo of Iceland’s Euro 2016 soccer team next to it. In their first appearance ever in a major tournament, the team has impressed even the toughest critics with their win in an elimination game this week over soccer royalty England.

Making their own Northern Lights,

The Last Night’s Game Team

PS – We are very excited to announce that Last Night’s Game will be a weekly contributor to Stilettos on the Glass Ceiling, a website that unites, empowers, supports and promotes women in business. Every Wednesday we’ll share with their readers how to use the highlights of this week in sports to join the conversation. Check them out on Twitter, Facebook or read today's post. 

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Five things to know about Team Iceland

1. Iceland is the smallest country ever to have qualified for a major international soccer tournament. (Total population 330,000)
2. The team’s manager is also a part-time dentist. For comparison sake, England’s manager (who resigned immediately following the loss to Iceland) makes £3.5 million (approximately $3.9 million USD).  
3. Iceland’s supporters are called “Tólfan” (The Twelve), as they are the “twelfth man on the field.” They’re a well traveled fan club - 8% of Iceland’s population traveled to France to cheer on their team in this tournament. 
4. 10 of the 11 players who started in Iceland’s first Euro 2016 game had last names that ended in "son." The one who didn’t - Eidur Gudjonsen. So close.
5. There are more volcanoes than professional soccer players in Iceland. There are 120 professional players, while there are 126 volcanoes.

Iceland will now look to upset host country France in their quarterfinal game this Sunday.

NCAA Baseball (College)

• Don’t let the mascot fool you. Last night the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina tied up the best-of-three series in the finals of the College World Series. The University of Arizona Wildcats were ahead in the series 1-0 but it all comes down to tonight’s game (8 pm EST on ESPN) to see who takes home the title of college baseball champs.

NCAA Basketball (College)

• Lasting legacy. Legendary Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt passed away yesterday at the age of 64. Summitt suffered from Alzheimer’s disease which caused her to step down as head coach in 2012. A Hall of Fame coach, Summitt wrote the book on women’s college basketball. She still holds the record for the winningest coach in Division I college basketball history (men or women). While the statistics and titles may try to show it, her impact on sports is immeasurable.

Overtime

• U.S.A Basketball announced their roster for the Summer Olympics. Although many of the top NBA stars have passed on the opportunity to play in Rio the United States is well represented with this roster that includes:
  • Kyrie Irving, 2016 NBA Champions Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
  • Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks

See the complete roster here. You can catch the team in action when they play five exhibition games in Las Vegas starting July 22nd.  

 

Sideline stat

• Chicago Cubs third baseman Chris Bryant had a historic night on Monday. In five at bats, Bryant hit three home runs and two doubles. No player has ever managed three home runs and two doubles in a single game.

 

Coaches’ Corner

• He clearly listened to his coach about being a good person. Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow was on a flight this weekend when a fellow passenger suffered an apparent heart attack during the flight. Tebow came to aide of the family, leading them in prayer. Once the flight landed, the man was transported to the hospital. Tebow helped the family with their luggage, accompanied them to the hospital and was with them when they received word that their loved one had passed away.

The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up Edition - No Adults Allowed

Not in the mood to adult today? We’re right there with you on this Monday. We’ll help you get ahead of those fast typing, sports talking colleagues with today’s Rundown. So go ahead and have that donut with your coffee – you can be an adult tomorrow.  

We like the ones with sprinkles,

The Last Night’s Game Team   

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NCAA BASEBALL (COLLEGE) 

• Underdogs prevail. The College World Series championship series is set and features two unlikely opponents. University of Arizona and Coastal Carolina, who both rose up from the loser’s bracket to make it to the finals, will play a best-of-three series starting tonight (7 pm EST, ESPN) to determine the champion.

NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)

• Full steam ahead. In his last season as a driver, Tony Stewart snapped his 84 race winless streak on Sunday with a win in Sonoma. Until this weekend Stewart had not won a race since June 2013. In August 2014 Stewart killed another driver who was walking on the race track in a non-NASCAR, dirt track race and hasn’t been the same since. Now he has something to look forward to as he’s in the mix for the championship. 

PGA (PROFESSIONAL GOLFERS' ASSOCIATION)

• Time to regroup. The PGA tour has cancelled its upcoming tournament the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia (scheduled July 7-10) due to massive flooding. This is the first time since 2009 that the PGA has cancelled an entire tournament. Professional golfer Bubba Watson lives on the course at Greenbrier and he shared photos of the devastation.

Soccer

• Things got Messi. Defending champions Team Chile and Team Argentina played in the championship for the Copa America Centenario title yesterday. After 90 minutes of regular play and 30 minutes of extra time the two teams were still tied at a big fat zero. Next up penalty kicks. The first kicker for Argentina was Lionel Messi, arguably the best player in the world. Scary right? Well he missed his shot.  Argentina missed another penalty kick while Chile did not. Team Chile emerged as the winners of 2016 Copa America Centenario.

A frustrated Messi indicated in postgame interviews that he will retire from the Argentinian national team. 

• Not quite on the medal stand. Team U.S.A. lost to Columbia 1-0 in Saturday’s third place game, finishing in fourth place in the Copa America Centenario.  

Overtime

• When TCU (Texas Christian University) played Coastal Carolina in the College World Series over the weekend, proud alum Jake Arrieta (TCU) and his Chicago Cubs teammate Tommy La Stella (Coastal Carolina) made a bet. The bet was that the loser would have to get a tattoo of the opposing school's mascot. What could go wrong there? Coastal Carolina beat TCU two game in a row to make it to the championship series. Arrieta better be ready to become lifelong friends with the mascot, a chanticleer.

What is a chanticleer you ask? We didn’t know either. It’s a fierce rooster out of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Wow look out for the fierce roosters. What school’s mascot makes you go hmmm? Tell us in the comments or on Twitter.

Sideline stat

• Rising above the Brexit chaos, Wimbledon starts today. The tournament is one of the four major tournaments in professional tennis. The grueling tournament finishes July 10th. Pete Sampras was the last American man to win Wimbledon in 2000 and Serena Williams won last year for the ladies. 

Coaches’ Corner

• What does it mean end the match in penalty kicks? Many soccer matches can end in a tie (aka a draw) but matches such as a championship game must determine a winner, therefore a tie is not acceptable. If both teams are still tied in an elimination game after regulation time and extra time (120 minutes of play total - that’s a whole lot of running around) they then resort to penalty kicks. In the first round, each team selects five players to kick. The teams alternate kickers who go one-on-one with the opposing goalie in an attempt to score a goal. The team that scores the most goals wins. Getting technical here, if after the first round the teams are still tied, five new players are chosen and the process repeats until a winner is determined. Learn more here.