Your Moment In The Sun
All the BBQ fodder including too many hot dogs, a new meaning to "long drive” and athletes’ sad meals inside the bubble.
Happy 244th Birthday America. Here’s everything you need for your holiday weekend small talk.
Sunscreen required,
The Last Night’s Game Team
Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest
Saturday brings us fireworks, cocktails and binge eating. Well maybe not you but the participants in the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest will be attempting to break the record of 74 hot dogs (and buns) in 10 minutes set by 12-time champion Joey “Jaws” Chestnut. In a move no one saw coming, yesterday it was announced that New Jersey, Colorado and New Hampshire have legalized betting on this competitive eating contest. The new indoor, air-conditioned environment is conducive to Chestnut beating his record but will he “chipmunk” or have a reverse of fortune? You can bet on it.
Want to be the hit of your BBQ, check out the five things you need to know about this Fourth of July tradition that might make you vomit. (Also, we explain chipmunking, etc. – don’t try this at home).
Overtime
The call for the Washington Redskins (NFL - National Football League) to change their team name, which has long been considered derogatory toward Native Americans, has been happening for as long as we can remember. Now the movement has more traction than ever with stadium naming rights sponsor FedEx and PepsiCo joining the long list of companies rallying for the team to change its name. Yesterday, Nike pulled all of its Redskins gear off its site. The team has also been in talks to relocate its stadium to a piece of federal land, which doesn’t look likely unless they change their name. IT’S A MATTER OF TIME
Sideline stat
Many Americans are hitting the road this holiday weekend because they felt flying commercial was a bit too risky. Due to COVID, the PGA Tour (Professional Golfers Association) has made private jets available for players to get from tournament to tournament, but then there’s golfer Viktor Hovland who is giving a new meaning to long drive. Fueled by as many as six Red Bulls and heavy metal music, Hovland has opted to drive between tournaments vs. fly – logging 3,000 miles over four different PGA Tour stops. PUT THE PEDDLE TO THE (HEAVY) METAL
Coaches’ corner
If they say a man’s stomach is the way to his heart, there’s about to be mutiny in Disney World. Ahead of the MLS is Back Tournament (Major League Soccer), the players’ have taken to social media to share their less than desirable and expensive meals from their Disney World bubble, comparing them to something from the Frye Festival. The NBA (National Basketball Association) will join MLS and finish their season on Disney World properties starting at the end of the month. YOUR KID’S CAFETERIA WANTS ITS FOOD BACK
What to watch
Drivers start your engines because F1 (Formula One) season begins on Sunday in picturesque Austria after the global sport was put on hold due to COVID. Team Mercedes, led by six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton - the only Black driver on the circuit - made a surprise announcement this week, announcing that it will debut an inclusive paint scheme. Also arriving this week ahead of the race, F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, 89, welcomed his fourth child, Ace. WATCH FOR THE EUROPEAN SCENERY, STAY FOR THE RACING
Look For The Good
LeBron’s $100M side hustle, Amazon is getting into the sports world and the 1st team sport comes back this weekend.
Happy “Take Your Dog To Work Day” or as most of us call that, every day of quarantine.
Oh and happy Friday,
The Last Night’s Game Team
Nhl (national hockey league)/wnba (women’s national basketball association)
Amazon is getting into the sports world by buying the naming rights to the main hockey/basketball arena in Seattle. But the new arena name won’t feature the Amazon name. It will be called Climate Pledge Arena, which is also the name of the company’s 2019 pledge to be net zero carbon across its businesses by 2040. The arena will feature some never seen before sustainable features like using rainwater for hockey arena ice. The arena will be home to the city’s incoming NHL (National Hockey League) team and the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) team, the Seattle Storm. IN IT TO WIN IT
Overtime
What if you could party with a purpose this weekend? Enter in Shaquille O'Neal and Rob Gronkowski. The NBA (National Basketball Association) Hall of Famer and the Tampa Bay Bucs (NFL – National Football League) player will host "Shaq's Fun House vs. Gronk Beach,” a virtual, live-streamed party. During the event, the two will participate in different competitions, like a lip-syncing battle, with the winner securing a donation for their favorite social justice charity. (Shaq – Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Gronk – NAACP) Like every good party, there will be big-named musical acts to bring everyone together. GOOD, OLD-FASHIONED FUN
Sideline stat
In the cover story of this week’s Bloomberg Businessweek, LeBron James and his business partner Maverick Carter, revealed that they’ve raised $100 million for their media company SpringHill. The goal of SpringHill is to empower people of color to tell their stories and they’ve done so by securing deals with Disney and Netflix. The company gets its name from the apartment complex LeBron and his mother moved to when he was in sixth grade. DRIVEN
Another one of LeBron’s side hustles had a great day yesterday. He is an investor in Liverpool Football Club (soccer) and yesterday they broke their 30-year Premier League Championship drought. The Premier League is the most watched league in the world and with TV viewing numbers up, the world saw them celebrate this milestone accomplishment. GOLDEN TOUCH
Coaches’ corner
Tomorrow is a big step toward team sports returning to the field. The NWSL (National Women's Soccer League) will be the first team sport to return to competition with a month-long championship tournament in Utah, the Challenge Cup. Teams will live in a bubble, practicing in two stadiums and living in two hotels. One team, the Orlando Pride, has already withdrawn from the tournament after six players tested positive for COVID. Fan favorites like Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd and Christen Press will not be playing citing health concerns but the league. LADIES FIRST
On a side note, yesterday Australia and New Zealand were awarded the 2023 Women’s World Cup (soccer).
Jump Start Your Day
Inspiring stories from the ESPYs, the start of the Triple Crown and why Mississippi is on the clock.
Dear coffee, keep it coming.
Full speed ahead,
The Last Night’s Game Team
ESPYs
The annual ESPY award show that recognizes the best in sports is this Sunday and surprise, it’s going to be virtual. The hosts will be Seattle-based athletes Russell Wilson (NFL – National Football League), Megan Rapinoe (U.S. Women’s Soccer Team) and Sue Bird (WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association). This show is always full of inspiring, goosebump-evoking moments and this year will not disappoint. The show will celebrate heroism and humanitarian aid versus the previous year’s triumphs like it normally does. Here are some of the deserving awardees.
Maryam Shojaeli who helped end Iran’s ban on women at sporting events.
Mark and Kym Hilinski for their work to create mental wellness programs for student athletes after their son, who was a quarterback at Washington State, committed suicide.
Kim Clavel who left her dream of boxing to pick back up her nursing career and help patients in the wake of the coronavirus.
Overtime
Today is Juneteenth, which marks the official end of enslavement in the U.S. in 1865, two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. In continuing to strive for inclusive environments where all students feel welcome, the SEC (Southeastern Conference) commissioner has threatened to withhold SEC championship events from the state of Mississippi until the flag is changed. The state flag features a Confederate flag within the design. LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL
Sideline stat
The Las Vegas Raiders’ (NFL – National Football League) new stadium took another step in the right direction as we eek toward its first home game. The stadium passed the “Super Flush” test to see if the plumbing could handle 65,000 fans. All 1,430 toilets and urinals were flushed while the sinks in 297 restrooms were running. WHAT EXACTLY DOES FAILING THE TEST LOOK LIKE?
Coaches’ corner
The University of Florida has put an end to its Gator Bait chant because of its “horrific racist imagery.” According to the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University, in the late 1800s to the early 1900s Black babies were used as alligator bait. It’s also a derogatory term toward African Americans. The university is instituting a multitude of changes as they strive to make positive changes to end racism. THERE ARE NO WORDS
What to watch
Normally the Triple Crown in horse racing starts with the Kentucky Derby in the first weekend of May, but now the Belmont Stakes will be the first race of the trio. The race is this Saturday and will be held without fans. It was important that they run the race before the horses age out as only three-year-old male horses are able to compete in the Triple Crown. FYI THAT’S 18 YEARS OLD IN HUMAN YEARS