Lights, Camera, Action

No need to be quiet on set, this is exactly what you need to join in on the sports conversation. 

Fearless,

The Last Night’s Game Team

---

SOCCER

Tackling the issue of racism in their sport, professional footballers (i.e. soccer players) in England and Wales are boycotting social media today for 24 hours as part of the #Enough campaign. After multiple high profile incidents, players are saying enough is enough. They hope this is the first step in “stronger action to be taken by social networks and footballing authorities in response to racist abuse both on and off the pitch (field)." STAND UP FOR WHAT’S RIGHT

Overtime

The NHL playoffs are nearing the end of the first round and it only seems fitting in the year of the pig that Hamilton the pig is the good luck charm for the Carolina Hurricanes. Although he’s not allowed in the arena, the swine that was adopted from a farm has been a mainstay at the pregame tailgates that led to a Hurricane win. SWEET SWINE

Sideline stat

3.5 seconds…the number of seconds it takes NASCAR’s (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) Clint Bowyer, 39, to shotgun a beer. With NASCAR on “spring break,” driver Clint Bowyer shows his need for speed by shotgunning a beer with fellow driver Kyle Larson’s wife. The two were on a mission to shame retired driver (and retired partier) Dale Earnhardt Jr. FAST AND FURIOUS

Coaches’ corner

Time Magazine released its Top 100 Most Influential People list and it of course includes familiar athletes like LeBron James, soccer’s Mohammed Salah, Tiger Woods and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. But this year for the first time ever, nearly half of the list is made up of women. Of the 48 women who made the list, Alex Morgan (Team U.S.A. Soccer) and Naomi Osaka (tennis) are representing women in sports. TIMELESS

The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition - Awkward Moments No More

Anyone else doing the Friday happy dance? No? Just us? Well this is awkward…

While we can't help you with your embarrassing dance moves, we are here to help you out of those awkward moments in conversation with today’s Rundown. Hooray!

Here we come to save the day,

The Last Night’s Game Team

---

Summer Olympics

• We left without you. As the Russian team arrives in Brazil, 100 of the 387-person team did not make the trip because they have been disqualified from the Summer Olympics by their individual sport federations for doping.

NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)

• Who invited the old guy? NASCAR heads to Pocono Raceway (Pennsylvania) on Sunday. This is the second race in a row that Jeff Gordon, who came out of an eight-month retirement, is filling in for driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. who has been out for concussion-like symptoms. Gordon is the winningest driver in history at Pocono. He hopes to add another win to his list and capture the checkered flag over driver Tony Stewart, who is in his final season of racing.

NFL (National Football League)

• Drive like a celestial bumble bee. NFL training camps opened this week. Training camp is four weeks of pre-season team practices that typically take place in a location not in the team's home city. As if getting the football season started wasn’t exciting enough, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown rolled into camp in his new Rolls Royce with a custom Steelers paint job (warning: it’s pretty heinous).

F1 (Formula One Racing)

• Das race. Lewis Hamilton is on a three-race winning streak and has taken the overall points lead in the F1 driver standings. Can Hamilton keep his streak alive and hold off Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg this weekend on his home turf in Germany? Grab some spätzle for breakfast on Sunday and find out. The suspense is killing us.

Overtime

• The PGA Championship moved from August to this weekend to accommodate players participating in the Summer Olympics. The site of this weekend’s tournament is a former crime scene of a horrific murder of a man named Baltus Roll. The home of the golf course is Roll’s former farm where he was killed by robbers. The course is named in his honor-  Baltusrol Golf Club.   

Sideline Stat

• Simone Biles is not only headed to Rio as a member of the women’s gymnastic team but she’s also on the cover of Time Magazine. That’s a big deal for someone so small. Biles is the shortest member of the 555-person U.S. delegation, measuring in at 4 ft. 8 in.

Coaches’ Corner

• NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick’s crew chief has been suspended for this weekend’s race due to violation of rules. Harvick’s crew chief was part of the lug nut controversy (read more here in a previous Coaches’ Corner). What is a lug nut you ask and why the heck does it matter? A lug nut is used to hold the tire to the race car (you have them on your car tires). The advantage to NASCAR teams who don’t tighten them all the way means the race car can get out of its pit stop (i.e. – tire change and gas fill up) faster. Of course if they’re not tightened all the way, the tire could come off. No big deal – the race car has three more wheels.