The title says it all. After 10 days of not writing, I will resume posting daily blogs. I took a nice vacation out to Lake George with my biggest fan of this blog. Shout out to you Elijah. Anyway, what did I miss?
Starting with golf, Dustin Johnson won the Travelers Championship on June 28th and my guy Bryson DeChambeau won the Rocket Mortgage Classic just this past Sunday. Bryson is at the very top of his game and has been dominant out of the hiatus thus far.
In soccer, Liverpool clinched the English Premier League title for the first time in 30 years. As a newly established Chelsea fan, I am congratulating Liverpool on the well deserved title but they better watch out next year. Additionally the MLS is resuming tomorrow. However, instead of resuming the two game long season it had started, they are playing in a big tournament with group stages and then an elimination bracket similarly to the World Cup.
In UFC, we missed a tremendous fight night on June 27th that was capped off by the greatest fight I have ever seen in my short UFC watching career. Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker, the third and fifth ranked fighters in the lightweight division respectively, just went at it. Neither fighter seemed to give a shit about their health and solely focused on destroying the other guy. Poirier was well deserving of the win by decision but it was just a spectacular 25 minute show by both fighters. This coming Saturday we are blessed with UFC 251. If you couldn't tell, I have become a big UFC guy. Gilbert Burns and welterwight champion Kamaru Usman were set to fight after Burns got the opportunity via his outstanding win over Tyron Woodley in late May. However, this past Saturday it was announced that Burns was forced to withdraw from the fight do to the coronavirus. On seven days notice, filling his spot will be Jorge Masvidal. I'm going to say it right now. I think Jorge Masvidal will win this fight. I have watched numerous amounts of both fighters previous fights on youtube these past couple days and I am simply not impressed with Usman. I think Masvidal has a chip on his shoulder because he arguably could've been the original next guy to fight Usman. I cannot wait for this fight; it should be a good one.
In the NBA, we have seen several teams shut down their practice facilities due to players testing positive for the coronavirus. Some players have also just decided to sit out because playing is not in their best interest. Some of the notable players are former all stars Victor Oladipo, Deandre Jordan and Bradley Beal. Although my Nets are practically without a team, I'm just really hoping the NBA can get through this season. I like Lebron and the Lakers to win it all. Other basketball news includes TBT (The Basketball Tournament) starting this past weekend. This year it is a 24 team field (normally 64 but limited because of corona) comprised of many former college standouts and former NBA players. The winning team takes home one million dollars. As a Syracuse basketball fan, I am a fan of Boeheim's Army (the Syracuse Alumni Team) in TBT. After receiving a bye to the round of 16, they won their game today against Men of Mackey (Purdue Alumni team) and advacned to the quarterfinals.
In the MLB, most players have reported to their training camp. After the first round of coronavirus testing, only 31 players and 7 staff members across the MLB (their are over 3000 total) tested positive for the virus. Some of the notable players are Freddie Freeman of the Braves, Salvador Perez of the Royals, Miguel Sano of the Twins, and Aaron Nola of the Phillies. Hopefully these four as well as all of the other players recver and are able to get back on the field soon. A few players have also opted out of the season for personal reasons and will therefore not get paid. So far those players are Mike Leake of the Dbacks, Felix Hernandez and Nick Markakis of the Braves, David Price of the Dodgers, Ian Desmond of the Rockies, and Joe Ross, Ryan Zimmerman, and Wellington Castillo of the defending champion, Washington Nattionals. With a 60 game season locked in, each game is going to be worth a whole lot more than it was in a 162 game season. Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer are set to open the season off on July 23rd when the Yankees visit the Nationals.
In the NFL, Patrick Mahomes signed the largest contract in the history of the league. The deal was a 10 year extension of his current rookie contract which ties him to the team through 2031. He will be paid up to about 50 million per year in that 10 year span after these next two seasons in which he plays out the original final two seasons of his rookie contract. Additionally, Eagles wide receiver, Desean Jackson posted some anti-Semitic quotes on social media. I don't want to get into this but it was just disgusting. That's all I have for you guys. I look forward to writing more daily blogs in the coming weeks.
Thanks for the shoutout