This Week in Sports: July 27th

Last week provided some exciting action both on and off the field in the sports world. We saw teams get new names (some greeted with more excitement than others), the return of American major sports leagues, and an action-packed opening weekend for the MLB. Here’s what you might’ve missed over the past seven days

Baseball is Back⚾🤪

Baseball fans were treated to their first non-exhibition games in nearly nine months and the opening series’ did not disappoint. The Yankees took two out of three from the defending champs, familiar faces like Mookie Betts and Dallas Keuchel donned new uniforms, and pumped in crowd noise replaced rowdy fans getting drunk on $12 beers (my favorite sound of summer). While we’re only three games in, no team swept their opening series, hopefully setting up an exciting race to the finish. Look forward to the Yankees-Phillies and Astros-Dodgers series early this week.

Robert Whittaker Defeats Darren Till on Fight Island

The Fight Island experience is now over, but not before former middleweight title holder Robert Whittaker returned to his winning ways against up-and-comer Darren Till. The first two rounds provided some excitement and big hits, with Till and Whittaker dropping each other in the first and second round, respectively. While I was hoping for a knockout, the action slowed a bit, with Whittaker taking a narrow unanimous decision 49-48 across the board. The UFC will return to Las Vegas this weekend with another great middleweight headliner as Derek Brunson faces off against young gun Edmen Shahbazyan.

Team Names Announced

Two franchises, one old and one new, received new names this week, met with opposite reactions from fans. The new Seattle NHL franchise will be called the Seattle Krakens, with a sleek serpent-like “S” logo that fans were very hype about. On the other end of the spectrum, one of the laughing stocks of the NFL, the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins, announced that they will adopt the temporary name “The Washington Football Team” for the upcoming season. If you thought NFL announcers had a tough time remembering the Chargers don’t play in San Diego, think about Jim Nantz saying, “And he’s in! Touchdown for the Washington Football Team!”

English Premier League Season Concludes

The EPL season ended on Sunday with all 20 teams in action. There was a lot to watch, with two Champions league spots, a Europa league spot, and two relegation places up for grabs. Manchester United beat Leicester City to grab the 3rd place, Chelsea returned to the Champions league with a win over Wolves, and a draw against Crystal Palace was enough to get Tottenham into the Europa league. On the other end of the table, Bournemouth’s win over Everton wasn’t enough to escape relegation as Aston Villa, with 8 points in the final four games, finished 1 point ahead with a draw against West Ham, and Watford got relegated after losing to Arsenal. European soccer was not kind on my wallet these past couple months😪, and I’m looking forward to some more competitive matches in the Champions League coming up in a couple weeks.

Iron Mike Announces his Return to the Ring

After much speculation and videos of him being in ungodly shape for a 54-year old, Mike Tyson announced that he will fight Roy Jones Jr. on September 12 in California. While the nasty right hook of Tyson is legendary, whether from the ring or The Hangover, Roy Jones is no slouch himself. One of the best pound-for-pound fighters ever with former belts at 4 weight classes, Jones will bring a professional record of 66-9 with 47 KO’s into the matchup. Even with both of these guys on the wrong side of 50, I’m hoping for an entertaining matchup.

Lou Williams in Quarantine after Hitting Magic City

The struggles of NBA players trying to maintain the guidelines have been well documented, with late night food stops and Instagram model DM’s among the early stories reported, but this one tops them all. My favorite “sports” story of the week was Lou Will getting photographed in Atlanta’s Magic City with rapper Jack Harlow while allegedly attending to a “personal matter”. He will be forced to quarantine for 10 days, missing the Clippers first two games of the restart. Lou’s explanation was that Magic City is his favorite restaurant, with Shannon “SKIP!” Sharpe coming to his defense on Twitter. Personally, as a fan of Lou Will, I’m not buying it. The guy who famously had two girlfriends at the same time in a polyamorous relationship doesn’t strike me as the guy to make a detour for chicken wings and catfish nuggets. No shame Lou, just own it next time.

The coming week will see continued MLB action, the return of the NBA, and no doubt more ridiculous sports stories. Look out for some PRTY Favors later in the week, and if you’re in the Atlanta area, I hear Magic City Monday’s are a sight to see.

Your partner in degeneracy,

BTB