It’s On

A new week is here and there’s a three-day weekend in your future.

Light at the end of the tunnel,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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NBA (National Basketball Association)

The NBA has announced that in its return to the court, players will be allowed to replace their names on the back of their jerseys with statements of social justice. They also released the game schedule for the rest of the season that will begin on July 30, with eight teams playing for a spot in the playoff tournament. MAKING A STATEMENT

Overtime

Last year Kelly Stafford, wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (NFL – National Football League), underwent lifesaving surgery to remove brain tumors. This weekend the couple announced the birth of their fourth child. OUR FAVORITE COMEBACK STORY OF THE WEEKEND 

Sideline stat

Over the past few weeks the state of Mississippi has been under intense pressure from athletes and the biggest college football conference in the country to change their flag. Yesterday the Mississippi state legislature voted to adopt a new flag. Voters will be able to vote on a new design in November’s election. The current state flag is the last in the nation to display the Confederate battle emblem. SO LONG, FAREWELL

Coaches’ corner

Patient zero in the NBA, Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz, is a household name because he was the first player in the league to test positive for coronavirus. Other players tested positive after contact with him. He told a French newspaper that he still hasn’t fully recovered from the virus. He is still without his sense of smell. THAT’LL COME IN HANDY IN LOCKER ROOMS 

Livin’ La Vida Loca

Just when you thought life couldn’t get any crazier, it’s Monday.

Here goes nothing,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)

NASCAR has done so much over the past few weeks as they strive for equality and to combat injustice, like banning the confederate flag from races. At the forefront of the efforts is Bubba Wallace, the only Black driver at the top level of NASCAR. Yesterday, a noose was discovered in his garage at Talladega. NASCAR is investigating and “angry and outraged, and cannot state strongly enough how seriously we take this heinous act.” The race was rained out and will run today while NASCAR investigates. ABSOLUTELY DEPLORABLE

Overtime

He played the music legend Ray Charles and now Jamie Foxx is training to play another icon, Mike Tyson. He’ll portray the boxing legend in a biopic Finding Mike. In order to get in shape for the role he’s starting with a series of push-ups, dips and pull-ups and it’s working. WE CURL COFFEE

Sideline stat

The next stop for Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law is the Kentucky Derby during Labor Day weekend. The three-year-old horse won the first race of the Triple Crown on Saturday. Ever wonder what goes into naming a horse? There are a whole slew of rules set forth by the Jockey Club to abide by when naming a horse. Of course, nothing racy is approved but names like Hoochiecoochiemama, Bodacious Tatas and Hardawn (say it aloud) have slipped past the reviewers. WE’D PAY TO HEAR ANNOUNCERS READ THOSE NAMES ON TV

Coaches’ corner

For so many athletes, spending Father’s Day at home is unusual but thanks to COVID, they were able to spend it with their families. Tributes to athlete dads everywhere popped up on social media from Gisele to Khloe Kardashian to Vanessa Bryant, whose girls spent their first Father’s Day without their dad Kobe. SO MUCH LOVE

COMING UP THIS WEEK

• Monday, June 22: Monday Night Raw (WWE) Charlotte Flair (from last week's Father's Day podcast) competes for the title against Asuka. NEVER TRUST A WRESTLER WITH ONE NAME

• June 27: NWSL (National Women's Soccer Tournament) returns with their month-long champions tournament. LADIES FIRST

Together We Go Far

While the world may be social distancing, today’s post is all about togetherness.

Pass the hand sanitizer,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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Just about every major sport in the U.S.

In an unprecedented event, commissioners from most of the major sports leagues will sit down for a two-hour special tonight on ESPN. Commissioners Roger Goodell (NFL – National Football League), Adam Silver (NBA – National Basketball Association), Rob Manfred (MLB – Major League Baseball), Gary Bettman (NHL – National Hockey League), Cathy Engelbert (WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association) and Don Garber (MLS – Major League Soccer) will discuss the return of sports but also the social justice reforms the leagues are enacting following the death of George Floyd. HISTORY IN THE MAKING

Overtime

Laughter is the best medicine and that was the case this weekend at the Bryant household. Natalia Bryant was making a Tik Tok video with former Kobe mentee and #1 WNBA draft pick Sabrina Ionesco, when her three-year-old sister made a surprise appearance. It’s not the first time little Bianca has bombed her older sister’s videos but the cuteness never gets old. A DANCE VIDEO WITH A SIDE OF ADORABLE

Sideline stat

Zero – the number of fans allowed at La Liga (Spanish soccer league) games. Yet somehow at a game this weekend, a fan snuck onto the field to get a picture with soccer superstar Lionel Messi. WHERE THERE’S A WILL, THERE’S A WAY

Coaches’ corner

New Zealand welcomed 20,000 fans at a rugby game this weekend - masks and social distancing not required. After a strict quarantine, the country has all but eliminated COVID with no new cases in the last three weeks. (The country’s borders are still closed). Fans drank, danced and celebrated their team with high fives and hugs. HOPE FOR THE REST OF US

What to watch

One of the last major league sports to determine their return to play is Major League Baseball. After weeks unsuccessful proposals between MLB and MLBPA (Players Association) negotiations have shut down with the Players Association throwing in the towel saying, “Players want to play….tell us when and where.” Now we wait for the commissioner to declare how many games will be played and when they will begin. The baseball season never began as the COVID outbreak hit during spring training. HURRY UP AND WAIT