Jason Day

The Rundown: My Kind Of Party

All of this talk about Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four has us rethinking our nickname. Couch potatoes doesn’t quite carry the same bravado.

 

 #squadgoals,

The Last Night’s Game Team

World Baseball Classic

NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament

  • Michigander. The Michigan Wolverines were on a winning streak since their airplane crash a few weeks ago. All good things come to an end. They lost last night to the Oregon Ducks.
  • Narrowing it down. The field goes from the Sweet 16 tonight to the Elite Eight starting Saturday. If you want to cheer for the underdogs, Xavier and Gonzaga are playing each other in the Elite Eight on Saturday, and neither team has ever made it to the next round, the Final Four. Somebody has to win, might as well be you.

PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association)

  • Family matters. Golfer Jason Day (#3) withdrew from this weekend’s tournament to spend time with his mom who is battling lung cancer. During a tear-filled interview, he talked about how “family comes first.” American doctors have upgraded her prognosis from the grave one she received in their native Australia but it’s still a long road ahead.  

Overtime

  • According to Fortune Magazine, when the Chicago Cubs won the World Series last season - breaking their 108-year championship drought, it was nothing short of a modern marvel. The magazine named Cubs’ president of baseball operations, Theo Epstein, this year’s “World’s Greatest Leader.” Epstein, who also ended the Boston Red Sox 86-year losing streak in 2004, beat out the Pope, Melinda Gates, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and a few other underachievers.

Sideline stat

  • "Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." That’s the athletes motto in the Special Olympics which has been repeated thousands of times at their World Winter Games in Austria. The games come to a close on Saturday but over 2.700 athletes from 107 nations have been brave in their quest for gold. Click here for more about the games.

Coaches’ Corner

  • There’s a tradition of doing a “shoey” after a victory in F1 (Formula One) racing. The shoey was introduced by Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo when he drank his victory champagne out of his gross, sweaty shoe after winning a race. Maybe a new pair of Jimmy Choos’ is a better idea? (Missed it? Here’s our five things to know about F1 racing in advance of this weekend’s season opener). 

The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up - Blame It On The Rain

Rain is the name of the blame game this weekend. Unless you’re Draymond Green and you were “hacked.”

A little rain won’t get in the way of our excitement for the Summer Olympics’ opening ceremony on Friday night. Tune in on Wednesday for an Olympic edition of our “Five Things to Know” that you won’t want to miss.

Carrying the torch,

The Last Night’s Game Team

PS - In honor of National Girlfriend Day, share us with yours!

Summer Olympics

  • Oops. Team U.S.A. men’s basketball and Golden State Warriors' player, Draymond Green, accidentally posted a very personal photo on Snapchat yesterday for all of his followers to see. The pic was up there for 10 minutes before he realized it and took it down. He first said he was hacked and then confessed he hit the wrong button. Green has also been in the news recently for an altercation in a Michigan bar.

NFL (National Football League)

  • It’s almost here. This weekend was the last weekend of the year with no football games. Pre-season games start Sunday and the regular season begins on September 8th.

LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association)

  • Girl power! 20-year-old Ariya Jutanugarn won the LPGA British Open. A big victory for the four-year LPGA veteran who was born in 1995. We have t-shirts that old.

MLB (Major League Baseball)

  • Not moving on up. Jonathon Lucroy had been traded from the struggling Milwaukee Brewers to the first place Cleveland Indians, but he decided to evoke his “no-trade clause” to stay with the team citing lack of financial incentives as the factor. Lucroy said “short term gains are great but long term is more important for me and my family.”

PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association)

  • Putting in the extra hours. Jimmy Walker won the PGA Championship. Due to a rainout on Saturday, Walker was forced to play two days’ worth of golf on Sunday (36 holes) making it the longest final day of the tournament in 64 years. Walker held off the world’s #1 ranked men’s golfer, Jason Day, to win. All major tournaments this season were won by first-time winners.

F1 (Formula One Racing)

  • Everyone wins. Lewis Hamilton took home his fourth win in a row this weekend in Germany and there’s great news to report out of Brazil. Last week we reported that Bernie Ecclestone’s mother-in-law (he's the head of F1) was kidnapped from her San Paulo home. The kidnappers we're demanding a reported ransom of $36 million. After a massive police effort, she was freed with apparently no ransom paid. Big wins all around.

Overtime

  • NBA legend Michael Jordan continues to dominate. At his Flight School camp (a children’s basketball camp) he made a bet that if he missed more than three of six shots, the entire camp would receive free shoes. He then led by example and showed them how it’s done. Let’s just say the entire camp did not get free shoes. 

Sideline stat

  • Due to rain the Pocono 400 NASCAR race will be held this morning, weather permitting. Always finding a silver lining, history was made with Sunday’s rainout. For the first time in NASCAR history, a race track had both races rained out. (There is always a Sprint Cup race the day before each NASCAR race. Intrigued? Click here for more on Sprint Cup). 

Coaches’ Corner

  • What is a no-trade clause? In American sports a no-trade clause allows a player to veto a trade by his current team to any other team. Not all players have this in their contract. Every sport is a little different but often this clause is negotiated into the player’s contract when they sign with the team.

The Rundown: Five Things to Know About the U.S. Open

We bet your office is buzzing with excitement about this weekend’s U.S. Open. While there is an U.S. Open in tennis, this weekend features the ultimate executive pastime, golf. Impress your boss and your dinner date with today’s five things to know about the U.S. Open.

Fore!

The Last Night’s Game Team

Five things to know about the U.S. Open

  1. The U.S. Open is the second of the four majors on the schedule (Masters, U.S. Open, The Open Championship, PGA championship). Last year’s U.S. Open champ Jordan Spieth is currently ranked #2 in the world, behind Jason Day (#1).
  2. The tournament location rotates every year. This year the course is Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania which has hosted the most U.S. Opens (18). The course is considered to be extremely difficult; it’s predicted the winner won’t break par. We don’t know about you but that’s a great golf day in our world. (Click here for more about keeping score in golf).  
  3. The worst single hole score in a U.S. Open belongs to Ray Ainsley in 1938. The tragedy began when he hit his ball into the creek on a par four (means he had four swings to get the ball into the hole to make par). He kept swinging while his ball floated down the stream. When it was all said and done, the ball made it into the hole after 19 swings. 
  4. A challenging course is the MO for the U.S. Open. In fact, former USGA competition committee chairman Sandy Tatum defended the challenging courses by saying the now famous line of "We're not trying to humiliate the best players in the world, we're simply trying to identify them."
  5. Technically, the tournament is open to all golfers rather than restricted to a certain group of golfers. Both amateurs and professionals can compete. Theoretically any golfer in the world is eligible. Hence why it’s an “open” tournament. Amateurs with handicaps of 1.4 or less can play in the Open if they make it through the lengthy qualifying process. So you’re saying there’s a chance?  
  • Grab the remote and prepare to take a nap because TV coverage begins Thursday on Fox Sports. See the full schedule here. 

NBA (National Basketball Association)

  • Cavs for the win. The Cleveland Cavaliers went into Oracle Arena, home of the Golden State Warriors, and made a statement by beating them by 15. Cavs teammates Kyrie Irving and LeBron James lead the charge by scoring 41 points each. Warriors Draymond Green, who was suspended for exceeding the NBA’s playoffs flagrant fouls limit and therefore wasn’t allowed in the arena, watched his team lose from the Oakland A’s game next door with NFL pal Marshawn Lynch. The two teams will face off in game six on Thursday (9 pm EST on ABC). The Warriors lead the series 3-2.   

Soccer

  • In Euro 2016 news. UEFA (governing body of European soccer) has fined Russia 150,000 Euros and has told the team they will be disqualified if their fans do not stop their vicious antics. France has already deported groups of violent Russian fans. Russia plays rivals Slovakia today.  
  • Pep talk. The Copa America Centenario quarterfinals are set and the United States plays Ecuador on Thursday (9:30 pm EST on Fox Sports 1). U.S. head coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, has told the team to stop playing the underdog role and “go for it!” 

Overtime

  • In Iceland’s first appearance in a major soccer tournament (Euro 2016) they managed to tie Portugal. This is a big deal since Team Portugal is pretty good and has arguably one of the best players in the world on its team – Cristiano Ronaldo. Being a good sport, Ronaldo took to Twitter after the match to slam Iceland’s play and the Twittersphere wasn’t happy about it. For what it's worth, Iceland has a population of 330,000 and Ronaldo has 41 million Twitter followers.

Sideline stat

  • The Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) signed a player to the highest non-quarterback contract ever. Defensive lineman Fletcher Cox signed a six-year, $103 million deal. Pay day.

Coaches’ Corner

  • There is already a lot of controversy heading into the Olympics in Brazil this summer. Adding fuel to the fire, Brazil has fired their head soccer coach after the team’s early exit from the Copa America Centenario tournament. The search for a new coach is already underway. 

 

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