This is the All-Star Break, aka The Deadest Period In The American Sports Calendar. Congratulations to Carlos Correa, named to The American League team but won't play due to injury, and Willi Castro, named as a replacement and will probably play in Tuesday's ASG. And this is interesting: The Twins come back from break playing a two-Game series versus The Bastard Seattle Pilots at home Saturday and Sunday. Thought that everyone could get back on-schedule on Friday. Besides, these two-fers have traditionally been played on Tuesday and Wednesday. Eh.
#-2: United FC (Last Week: -3). Well, shit, at least they got a Point down in Houston Saturday night. Unfortunately, the Loons couldn't hold a lead given by Robin Lod in the 70th Minute as they allowed the Dynamo's Sebastian Ferreira to tie it up a dozen Minutes later. See, that's why I don't think the returns of Dayne St. Clair and Tani Oluwaseyi from The Canadian Men's National Soccer Team at The Copa America can arrest this freefall: The Defense is a goddamn mess. The Transfer Window only can fix that.
The only glimmer of hope is that MNUFC actually improved a spot. Right now, they're in ninth place in the West, so they would be lined up to play the 8/9 Play-In Game at ... Houston. Meanwhile, the First Half of league play wraps up with two at home: District Of Columbia Wednesday, San Jose Saturday.
#-3: Lynx (Last Week: -2). I could've worked yesterday/Sunday afternoon's tilt at Target Center vs. Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, but instead I wanted to relax and go to the Black Hart to see both the Euro and Copa America Finals, and I don't regret it, even if the latter Match was delayed about 83 Minutes because people without tickets were gate-crashing.
It was sold out, obviously. I'm sure that the tarps covering the ends of the upper bowl, which were in place throughout the regular season for the Timberwolves, were taken out. Heard that the Lynx made a million dollars yesterday; good for them. And, I heard it was pretty much a pro-Clark, if not pro-Fever, crowd. Why not; the last two Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournaments were held at Target Center, and I swear it was 90% Iowa Hawkeye fans for both Finals.
Oh, and Clark is very, very successful at Target Center. She and the Hawkeyes won both tournaments (I was there as a paying customer last Year and I worked the tourney this Year). I don't know if she's ever lost there. And she didn't yesterday as she and the Fever overcame a Fourth Quarter-deficit to defeat the Lynx, 81-74. With less than 11 Seconds to go and with the Fever shooting Free Throws, Clark slapped her hands a little too hard for my taste. Some say she was clapping at the direction of Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve, who is also the Head Coach for The United States Women's Olympic Basketball Team, of which Clark was not invited to join even though her fanbase thinks she's entitled to it. And by the way, I finally see how toxic her fanbase might be, if Twitter/X after the Lynx Loss is any indication.
Meanwhile, the Lynx have their second two-Game losing streak this Month and have lost four-of-six. Worse yet, now that The Bastard Utah Starzz/San Antonio Silver Stars is now fully healthy, they are a half-Game ahead of Minnesota for Fourth Place in the Dub. Napheesa Collier can't come back soon enough, but who knows when she's coming back?
Host Atlanta Wednesday, then there's the WNBA All-Star Game Saturday where Phee, Reeve and the USWNT face off against Kayla McBride and the WNBA All-Stars. Then, the entire league is shut down for the Olympics until mid-August.
No comments:
Post a Comment