5 Summer Olympic Storylines To Follow

This week marks one year until the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. They’re already off to a better start than Rio (although that’s probably no surprise to anyone) and there are new athletes and events in the spotlight.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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1. Baseball and softball are on the dance card for the first time in 12 years. A women’s softball game will be the first event of the 2020 Olympics. It’s being held two days before the Opening Ceremony and will be played in Fukushima, the site of the 2011 nuclear plant meltdowns. YOU GLOW GIRL HAS A WHOLE NEW MEANING

2. Karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing will make their Olympic debuts. Hopes are that by adding these sports, more millennials fall in love with the Olympics. That being said, don't count out the “old” guys. There’s talk that 47-year-old surfing icon Kelly Slater might make a run at the inaugural event in Tokyo. NOT YOUR GRANDMA’S GAMES

3. Some of your favorite Americans are expected to return to Tokyo. The U.S. women soccer team is eyeing their first World Cup-Olympic back-to-back championships, Simone Biles will be the veteran on the gymnastics team, the “Flying Tomato” Shaun White could swap a snowboard for a skateboard and the queen of U.S. track, Allyson Felix, is on her journey back after an emergency C-section in November sidelined her.  HI OLD FRIEND

4. Sponsors are clearly excited about the games with $3 billion already spent on domestic sponsorships, a record three times more than any other Summer Olympics. Mother Earth is excited too because the medals will all be made out of recycled gadgets, i.e. that old cell phone. SPIRIT FINGERS

5. Two storylines that are sure to be part of the conversation leading up to the games include the rules put into place by the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) that limits the ability of certain athletes with high levels of testosterone to compete as women. Enter South African runner Caster Semenya, who claims the IAAF used her as a guinea pig to see how regulating her testosterone levels via medication affected her performance on the track. Then there’s New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard, who could become the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics. Hubbard, who formerly competed as Gavin Hubbard, began transitioning six years ago and has been taking the weightlifting world by storm. THE CENTER OF DISCUSSION

Wednesday Wisdom

Let’s talk shop with the top three biggest stories in sports today including who is getting a little cosmetic work done, why we'll never be able to afford a sports team and proof men drive women to drink? READ

Problem Solver

Nothing is more uncomfortable than an awkward silence. Solve that this today’s weekend preview.

Party on,

The Last Night’s Game Team

PS - Today's Tailgate Treat will make you feel like fall even if it's 100 degrees in your neck of the woods. Halloween turtleneck not included. 

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MLB (Major League Baseball)

Next episode. The road to a World Series championship runs through L.A. The Los Angeles Dodgers knocked last year’s World Series champion Chicago Cubs out of the playoffs. The Dodgers, who haven’t been to a World Series since 1988, will play the winner of the Astros/Yankees in the World Series.

College Football

We go way back. One of the most storied rivalries in college football is USC (University of Southern California) vs. Notre Dame. Their 89th meeting on Saturday carries some weight this time as both schools are actually ranked in the top 25 for the first time in eight years.

NFL (National Football League)

Look kids…big ben. This week brings us games from across the pond. The Arizona Cardinals and the “home team” Los Angeles Rams will play in London. The NFL is continuing their effort to broaden the international fan base for American football, playing games in London and Mexico City.

Overtime

From the file of “well, that’s awkward.” An Italian soccer player was penalized for urinating toward the away fans’ section. Apparently, that’s frowned upon. He’s now out for five games.  

Sideline stat

Tonight, it’s all in for the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros. If the Yankees win, they move on to take on the Dodgers in the World Series.  To reach that goal they’ll have to do the unthinkable and beat Justin Verlander (model Kate Upton’s fiancé), who has won all eight games he’s started since being traded to Astros.

Coaches’ corner

Since 1979, the University of Iowa's visiting locker room has been donning a pink paint job. Intended to intimidate the most manly opposing team, they gave it an extra feminine touch adding pink toilets, sinks and lockers a little over 10 years ago. Barbie would be so jealous. 

The Rundown: 5 Things About The Guy You Need To Know - Aaron Judge

We’re knee deep in the baseball season and since it’s the only major professional sport happening right now, we thought we’d provide you an insight into one of this season’s superstars.

The guy everyone is talking about,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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Five Things About The Guy You Need To Know - Aaron Judge

1. Adopted by school teachers at birth, the New York Yankees’ rookie outfielder is a big deal, quite literally. He’s only 25 but is 6’7”and 282 lbs. He’s big enough to play on any professional football team.
2. Sports experts and fans alike are going gaga for Judge. His jersey has been the top selling MLB (Major League Baseball) jersey since May.
3. Baseball is synonymous with superstitions and Judge is no exception. He puts two pieces of Sugar Free Dubble Bubble gum in his mouth before his first at bat. If he gets a hit, he’ll keep the gum in. Another hit? The gum remains. He’ll keep that gum in until he makes an out. That’s some long-lasting flavor.
4. He is known for absolutely crushing the ball. He won this year’s Home Run Derby and recently hit a home run so far that it almost went out of the stadium. It was so far that it couldn’t be tracked by Stat Cast, the system used to track the distance of home run balls.  
5. He doesn’t take himself too seriously. Heading into the season Judge was relatively unknown, which is evidenced in this Tonight Show skit where he hilariously surprised fans. Now Judge has a special section in right field (where he plays) called “The Judge’s Chambers.” Fans in that section dress up in robes and cheer with foam gavels.

Overtime

• NFL (National Football League) training camps are starting and just because you’re a macho football player, it doesn’t mean you can’t be a mama’s boy. Carolina Panthers rookie Curtis Samuel was dropped off at camp by his proud mother. Hopefully he wiped the lipstick off his cheek before talking to reporters.  

Sideline stat

• According to a study released yesterday, 110 of 111 deceased NFL players’ brains had signs of CTE. The players' brains were donated by families of athletes who were suffering from some kind of issue or committed suicide. CTE is a degenerative brain disease caused by repetitive brain trauma and it can only be diagnosed from an autopsy.

Coaches’ corner

• Dallas Cowboys’ (NFL) Lucky Whitehead was arrested in Virginia. When the team caught wind of the arrest, they promptly released him from the team. The only problem is, Whitehead was not in Virginia on the date in question. Even after the case of mistaken identity the Cowboys still elected to cut him. Dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t.