LAST NIGHT'S GAME 7/29/16 LAST NIGHT'S GAME 7/29/16

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.

LAST NIGHT'S GAME 7/27/16 LAST NIGHT'S GAME 7/27/16

The Rundown: 5 Things to Know About the Lovable Losers - Chicago Cubs

The Cubs and their laughable lack of championships is something every sports fan knows about. In fact, it’s so widely known that even former President Bill Clinton made a joke during his convention speech last night about Cubs fans having to teach him what it means to “wait for next year” - referring to the fact that the Cubs haven’t won a World Series in 108 years.

We have more about the eternal underdogs, their curse of the billy goat and a smattering of other sports highlights for your reading pleasure.

We'll have a Chicago dog,

The Last Night’s Game Team

Five things to know about the Chicago Cubs

The Cubs are known as the lovable losers because they haven’t been in a World Series since 1945 (71-year drought) and haven’t won a World Series since 1908 (108-year drought). In the beginning of the season the Cubs were picked by experts to be the team to beat.
We’ll give you the abbreviated version but let’s talk about the scandalous Curse of the Billy Goat that has allegedly plagued the Cubs for decades. In 1945 Billy Goat Tavern owner, Billy Sianis, tried to get into game four of the World Series with his beloved billy goat, Murphy. The goat was not allowed in (maybe he didn’t have a ticket)? An outraged Sianis declared the Cubs would never win again and they haven’t been in a World Series since.
Currently the Cubs have the best record in baseball and must be feeling the pressure to win it all. This week, they traded for the New York Yankees stand out closer Aroldis Chapman, who threw the fastest pitch ever recoded in a game at 105 mph.
The Cubs’ ballpark - Wrigley Field, wasn’t their first home; the team has had six different ballparks since they were founded in 1876. Wrigley is the second oldest ballpark in the league behind Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park. While it was built in 1914, Wrigley didn’t have lights until 1988. The first Cubs night game was played 74 years after it was built.
Two of their current players have beaten cancer. Starting pitcher Jon Lester (non-Hodgkin lymphoma) and first baseman Anthony Rizzo (Hodgkin’s lymphoma) overcame the disease and still play.

F1 (Formula One Racing)

Taken - call Liam Neeson. The mother-in-law of F1 head man Bernie Ecclestone was abducted from her home in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The kidnappers are asking for $36 million from Ecclestone for her release. (Ecclestone is worth an estimated $3 billion). This is tragic news for the F1 family but also isn’t sitting well with athletes in Brazil for the upcoming Olympics.

PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association)

This one’s major. The PGA Championship begins this weekend; the last major on the golf schedule. The field is a who’s who of big name golfers, except for one. Tiger Woods announced he would not be playing in this major while recovering from injuries, marking the first time in his career he failed to participate in at least one major in a season.
The meat sweats. if you are tired of the typical clean cut golfer, check out Andrew "Beef" Johnson who rose to prominence during British Open not only with his play but his jovial attitude. With the nickname of Beef it only seemed natural that he signed a sponsorship deal with Arby’s. Beef will be covering the course this weekend with a newly added Arby’s logo on his shirt. Find out how he received that nickname.

Overtime

14-year NBA league veteran Amare Stoudemire announced his retirement yesterday. Stoudemire was drafted straight out of high school and most notably played for Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks. Stoudemire grabbed headlines during his career for soaking in red wine to help his body recover. Wine not?

Sideline stat

You may recall the infamous ice bucket challenge. The one where the participant stated why finding a cure for ALS was important to them and then had a bunch of ice dumped on their head? Over 17 million people participated in the challenge with over 2.5 million people donating over $115 million for research. Using those funds, a scientist discovered a common gene in people who have ALS; a step toward finding a cure. Pete Frates, a baseball player at Boston College, was the original inspiration behind the challenge after being diagnosed with ALS.

Coaches’ corner

Don’t put me in coach. The pride of Swiss tennis, Roger Federer, announced he will sit out not only the Olympics, but the rest of the tennis season to nurse a knee injury.

LAST NIGHT'S GAME 7/25/16 LAST NIGHT'S GAME 7/25/16

The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up Edition - Olympic Tensions Rise

The Summer Olympics are only 10 days away and things are heating up for Rio. By heating up we mean temperatures are rising as tensions build due to athlete kidnappings, doping scandals and threats of kangaroos.

We love marsupials,

The Last Night’s Game Team

Summer Olympics

D’oh-ping. The Olympic Committee has decided against a ban on all Russian athletes in the upcoming Summer Olympics, instead leaving it up to each individual global sports federation to decide who can compete. The action by the committee stemmed from allegations of a highly complicated state run doping scandal of all Russian Olympic athletes. The committee did determine that any Russian athlete who previously tested positive for a banned substance will not be able to compete in Rio. This is on top of the fact that the Russian track and field team was already banned earlier this year from competing in the Summer Olympics.
Home hospitality. Australia has announced their athletes will not stay in the Olympic Village but in a hotel for a few days while construction is finished. The Village is currently facing plumbing and electrical problems. A five-time Aussie Olympic athlete went as far to say, “I have never experienced a village in this state -- or lack of state -- of readiness at this point in time.”

Rio de Janeiro Mayor, Eduardo Paes, didn’t care for the relocation and said, "This is an incredible village, more beautiful and better than Sydney” (who hosted in 2000). He said he was tempted to put ‘a kangaroo jumping outside’ to make them happy. Burn.

I’ll take that. New Zealand Olympian Jason Lee joined the club of athletes robbed in Rio. The Kiwi was kidnapped by uniformed men and forced to withdrawal money from an ATM.
Gold medal preview? The American men’s basketball team began their five game pre-Olympic exhibition series throughout the U.S. and total domination seemed to be theme. On Friday, they beat Argentina (111-74) and won big on Sunday over China (106-57).

MLB (Major League Baseball)

Making some alterations. The saying in sports is “Look good, feel good. Feel good, play good.” (We can’t help their grammar). Chicago White Sox star pitcher Chris Sale took that to heart. The White Sox were scheduled to wear 1976 throwback jerseys on Saturday. Sale, who was scheduled to start that day, thought the jerseys were uncomfortable and team was putting PR and profits above winning. In a mature move, during batting practice Sale went to the clubhouse and cut up everyone’s jerseys so they could not be worn. Management did not take kindly to his fashion redesign and Sale was sent home before the game started and the team suspended him for five games for violating team rules.
Enshrined. Major League Baseball inducted their newest members of the Hall of Fame over the weekend. Seattle Mariners outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. and New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza were inducted to Cooperstown (where the Hall of Fame is located). Click here for more on their touching but funny speeches and photos of the festivities.

F1 (Formula One Racing)

Hungry in Hungary. Driver Lewis Hamilton won big at the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend. His win propelled him into the lead in overall driver standings for the first time this year; taking the lead from Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.

Overtime

Dancing with the stars. Former MLB pitcher Mark Mulder took home the win at the American Century Championship celebrity tournament this weekend. The ultimate trio of Justin Timberlake, Steph Curry (NBA) and Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel Air) gave fans a show when they broke out the ‘Carlton.’

Sideline stat

Britain’s Chris Froome has won the 2016 Tour de France for his third overall Le Tour win. Froome is the first back-to-back winner in almost 20 years.

Coaches’ Corner

Why would a MLB pitcher throw such a fit about the uniform choice for a game? As a general rule of thumb, the starting pitcher picks the uniform that the team wears in the game. Since they’re such a key player in the game, they should be comfortable. Each team has a designated home jersey, away jersey and one or two alternate jerseys that are usually worn on Saturday or Sunday. As always there are exceptions, such as throwback nights.