We Choose You

Thanks for waking up with us three times a week. We hope we make your day a little brighter and the small talk a little easier.


Thank you for being a friend,
The Last Night’s Game Team


PS – Remember, if you have any feedback, questions or something you want to learn about, reply to this email and let us know.

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Tour de France

If you’re looking for motivation to jump on the Peloton this weekend, turn on the Tour De France, which starts on Saturday. Here's a fun fact about the tour. Until the 1960s, it was common for participants to drink alcohol to numb the pain. Despite its 'healing power,' alcohol was later banned because it's a stimulant. This 21-day race with only two days of rest will make your 30-minute HIIT class looks like a breeze. SADDLE UP

Overtime

This week, retired Chicago Cubs (MLB - Major League Baseball) player and former World Series MVP Ben Zobrist filed a lawsuit against Byron Yawn, his former pastor who was allegedly having an affair with Zobrist’s wife, Julianna. Yawn provided the couple with marital counseling and worked with Zobrist on his depression and anxiety while carrying on the alleged affair. Unbeknownst to Zobrist, he hired Yawn to be the executive director of his foundation, which is where the lawsuit comes into play. There won’t be a happy ending for anyone, but this story is far from over. SO MANY SECRETS

Sideline stat

Manchester United (European soccer) star Marcus Rashford spent the pandemic concerned with how the children in his country would eat. He rallied Parliament to provide support for children who received free lunch. After failing the first time, he raised millions of dollars for the cause and then on his second try, he successfully secured a $556 million grant to provide meals into 2021, impacting the lives of 1.7 million children in the UK. Rashford will receive the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the 2021 ESPYS on July 10. Rashford was also recently named to Time's Top 100 List for his advocacy work on homelessness and child hunger. GOOD GUY ALERT

Coaches’ corner

It’s been a day or two since Ted Lasso (aka Jason Sudekis) and Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) announced the Olympic roster for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. But if you need a smile this Friday morning, it’s worth checking out. EXPERT OPINION

Can't Stop, Won't Stop

Ever struggle talking to that one coworker? Well, sports are a great conversation starter and serves as a brilliant bridge to a fabulous conversation. 

You heard it here first, 

The Last Night’s Game Team 

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College Basketball

This weekend in the men’s March Madness tournament, the underdogs went home and the teams you expected to be in the Elite Eight are there. Oral Roberts, Loyola Chicago (hi Sister Jean) and Syracuse were all sent packing but three of the No. 1 ranked teams are still in it. The Elite Eight play takes place today and tomorrow. PREDICTABLE

On the women’s side, the first No. 1 seed lost with Indiana upsetting North Carolina State. NFL (National Football League) quarterback Russell Wilson was spotted cheering on his sister Anna and her No. 1 ranked Stanford team. Keep your eye on the University of Arizona, whose team is on fire heading into the Elite Eight, which runs today and tomorrow. YAS GIRLS

Overtime

A mere days after U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team star Megan Rapinoe spoke in D.C. on Equal Pay Day, the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team failed to qualify (again) for the Olympics. The U.S. men’s team has not qualified for the Olympic games since 2008, yet the women’s team is still having to fight for similar paychecks and working conditions as the men’s team. For the record, the women’s soccer team has more Olympic golds than any other participating country. (Note, the men’s team is working with primarily amateur players as some MLS – Major League Soccer – teams refused to release players to play on the U.S. team). THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMM

Sideline Stat

The NFL (National Football League) is expected to announce this week that the next NFL season will be a 17-game season, one more than previous years. Owners are ecstatic over the option of more time to make money, and fans are excited about more regular-season games, but players aren’t happy about it. The collective bargaining agreement gave the league the option to expand the season. The league has paired down the preseason from four games to three but players are still concerned about injuries. Why? Let us explain. JUST THE BEGINNING

Coaches’ corner

The MLB (Major League Baseball) season kicks off on Thursday. And while you might think everyone sat around during the off-season eating bonbons, think again. Over 1 million vaccinations were distributed at MLB ballparks during the off-season. There are 11 ballparks across the league that have been converted into mass vaccination centers, and some will continue to be vaccination centers, even with the start of the season. Some teams will be allowing fans when the season opens up this Thursday. For more on the MLB season, stay tuned for Wednesday's podcast. THAT’S A HOME RUN

Sports Love Stories Destined For The Hallmark Channel

Photo credit: Instagram.com/instyle and instagram.com/julieertz, BigStock

Holiday love stories are bringing home the bacon for the Hallmark Channel and Netflix this holiday season, so it’s only a matter of time before ESPN jumps on board.

You heard it here first,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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1. Timing is everything. A few divorces and a handful of years couldn’t keep these two star-crossed lovers apart. Jennifer Lopez and former MLB (Major League Baseball) player and broadcaster Alex Rodriguez had been friends for years. They dated, married and divorced other people and then they were both single. Then there was the text that changed everything. ARod was nervous during a dinner together so he excused himself and went to the bathroom to readjust his thoughts. Then and there he sent his dinner date JLo a text that said “You look sexy AF” and the rest is history. WHY HAS HALLMARK NOT MADE THIS MOVIE?

2. We’ve all heard it before, a girl falls in love with a bad boy and then the bad boy breaks the girl’s heart. That and one bad pickup line bring us to our next couple. After a very public relationship with golfer Tiger Woods, skier Lindsey Vonn was introduced to NHL (National Hockey League) player P.K. Subban at the ESPYs. It was at that event that he told a reporter "It's hotter outside than Lindsey Vonn looks today, which is pretty hot." Well, the line worked. The two, who started dating in 2018 and were engaged in the summer of 2019. The wedding is on hold thanks to COVID. The couple’s passion for each other and their charitable efforts are something to admire. HEART EMOJI

3. Do you know that plotline where two members of royalty happen to run into each other at a coffee shop? This is the same but different. Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe are the unofficial first couple of women’s sports. The two have been dating since meeting at the 2016 Summer Olympics and are a fixture in the Seattle sports scene. They’ve been featured on the cover of InStyle Magazine and were the first same-sex couple to grace the cover of ESPN’s Body Issue. The outspoken and seriously fashionable duo seem to have it all including a plethora of championships and safety deposit boxes for all their gold medals. The two, who were engaged in 2020, also have each other’s backs. During the Women’s World Cup, Bird, who plays for the Seattle Storm (WNBA - Women’s National Basketball Association), came to Rapinoe’s defense in her battle with President Trump, penning an essay titled “So the President F—ing Hates My Girlfriend.” ROM-COM WRITTEN ALL OVER IT

4. The love story that started with an awkward first dance. Tennis greats Steffi Graff and Andre Agassi started dating after the French Open in 1999 but their story goes back years before that. In 1992 both Graff and Agassi (who tried to pick up Graff the year before at the French Open) were winners at Wimbledon. It used to be a tradition for the two winners of Wimbledon to dance with each other at the Wimbledon Champions’ Ball. But as luck would have it, that was the year they decided to cancel the dance due to “lukewarm receptions from modern players.” It all worked out in the end as the two married in 2001 and are still together. FATE WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS

5. Our final story is a modern storyline of a virtual, long-distance relationship. Together Julie and Zach Ertz have a Super Bowl championship, two World Cup victories and what do they have to prove it? A Visa commercial. The Philadelphia Eagles tight end (NFL - National Football League) and the soccer star met at a Stanford baseball game in 2012 when he offered her sunflower seeds. They had their first date at Chipotle and the rest is history. Married since 2017, together they too have bared it all for ESPN’s Body Issue. With both of them being at the pinnacles of their careers, they live the saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” They say they’re lucky to have three months a year in the same city. WHEN FACETIME IS YOUR FRIEND