As you\u2019re reading this, I am on vacation in the mountains living my best life. Because of this annual getaway with my best friend and his family, what you are reading right now was written the week prior.<\/p>\n
For a week that is traditionally considered one of the slowest in sports, there seems to have been an awful lot going on. I wanted to touch on some of it here.<\/p>\n
By the time you read this, Spain and Argentina will have played for the World Cup and you already know who won. The fact that they play a game for third place is crazy to me because I think that \u201ctitle\u201d should be given to Cape Verde who played both of these teams and ended regular time tied with each.<\/p>\n
If the World Cup has you feeling open-minded about watching a little more soccer, let me remind you of some alternate options. The National Women\u2019s Soccer League (NWSL) is playing until November and Major League Soccer (MLS) is playing until December.<\/p>\n
Both leagues have clubs here in North Carolina. MLS club Charlotte FC play home matches in \u2026 you guessed it, Charlotte. NWSL club Carolina Courage play in Cary, which I know for most of you is a shorter drive to watch live.<\/p>\n
You will need an Apple TV subscription to watch MLS from home and for MWSL matches, you\u2019ll require Amazon Prime Video, CBS, ESPN and ION, all of which require a subscription. You can also get NWSL+ or the Victory+ app to watch these games on the couch or on your phone at work.<\/p>\n
Major League Baseball just had their All-Star game and I\u2019m sincerely asking, how many of you watched? My email address is at the end of this column, let me know if you did and what you thought as I\u2019m genuinely curious.<\/p>\n
They were grainy photos, taken from what appeared to be 60 or 70 yards away, of Aaron Donald at the LA Rams practice facility. You can tell it\u2019s him because of his shoulders, which appear to be wearing pads at all times.<\/p>\n
I know he\u2019s not as good as he once was, but I bet you he\u2019s as good once as he ever was and if he\u2019s lined up on the same side of the line as Myles Garrett, I want to watch what happens. I can\u2019t help but feel bad for offensive lineman in the NFC West.<\/p>\n
The USA men\u2019s basketball coaching staff is complete and while I have few guesses as to who will be on the roster the next time they compete, I\u2019m already feeling optimistic about their chances.<\/p>\n
Grant Hill is the U.S. men\u2019s national team\u2019s managing director and now Gonzaga\u2019s Mark Few, Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Detroit Pistons\u2019 J.B. Bickerstaff are joining USA Basketball coach Erik Spoelstra\u2019s staff for the next two years. Remember the next Summer Olympics is 2028 in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
The NBA Players Association (NBAPA) has a new executive director by the name of David Kelly. Based on what little I\u2019ve seen and read of Mr. Kelly, I don\u2019t believe NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is going to be in his job years from now.<\/p>\n
There is already a lot of heat on Silver regarding teams tanking, FBI investigations on players and coaches and a salary cap circumvention saga swirling around Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers. Now Kelly and the NBAPA are already speaking out against the currently negotiated collective bargaining agreement that runs until the end of the 2029-2030 season.<\/p>\n
They appear to be preparing for a long battle and Silver, representing the team owners, doesn\u2019t look to me like a person ready to take on another fight. I\u2019m far from NBA sources but I\u2019m pretty good at reading the writing on the wall and this is what I\u2019m seeing. I\u2019ll circle back around in a few years to see if I was right.<\/p>\n