Okay, this has been a confusing year to try and keep up with sports, for obvious reasons. Earlier this year, when the NBA seemed to cancel the remainder of it’s season, quickly followed by the NHL, and then the delay of the MLB season, it was clear that this was not going to be a typical year in any sense.
In Europe, the same thing happened, particularly with the various football/soccer leagues, as well as in other sports. The French Open in tennis, slated to begin in late May, was postponed to October, while Wimbledon was outright cancelled.
Yet, there was an attempt to try and make things as normal as possible. The soccer/football leagues in Europe have returned, and so have the sports in North America, albeit under a different form. The NBA and NHL games would all be played in one place, and not all teams would be going, but rather, only those that were in playoff contention when the season had ended, which makes sense.
Meanwhile, the MLB began regular play, although it too had to adjust, and came up with a shortened 50-game season.
And the US Open in tennis refused to be delayed, much less cancelled, despite some obvious setbacks. What were some of those setbacks? Well, for one, the defending champion on the men’s side, Rafael Nadal, announced that he would not be playing in it. Neither would Roger Federer, which means that two of the big three would not be playing in it. That is not insignificant, or some minor losses. Indeed, it will likely come to define this particular tournament, which likely will have an asterisk on it no matter who eventually emerges as the winner, particularly on the men’s side.
Now, I am not a huge baseball fan, and so will not even begin to discuss what is going on in the MLB season, and all of the ramifications. All that I have seen thus far is that the Boston Red Sox are a non-factor, and the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees were in a tight battle for first in the AL East, both with a record of 20-16. That already will be outdated by the time that I actually publish this, surely. Oh, and the Mets pretty much stink, as well, which is more or less par for the course.
Okay, now, the NBA. We are already down to the Conference semifinals. The Toronto Raptors, the defending NBA champions, won yesterday, allowing them to tie up a series that they were trailing two games to none not long ago. In the other Eastern Conference series, the Milwaukee Bucks are so far getting swept by the surprising Miami Heat, three games to none, so far. In the west, the Denver Nuggets just won Game 2 against the Los Angeles Clippers to tie that series at a game apiece, while the Houston Rockets took game one of their series against the Los Angeles Lakers.
In the NHL, there were three Conference Finals series that went to a deciding Game 7. In the east, the New York Islanders knocked out the Flyers in Philadelphia, 4-0. They will now take on the Tampa Bay Lightning to see who represents the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals. Out west, the Dallas Stars outlasted the Colorado Avalanche, 5-4, to win that series and advance to the Western Conference Finals. They will be facing the Golden Knights of Las Vegas, who knocked out the Vancouver Canucks, assuring that, once again, Canadian teams will not be in the Stanley Cup Finals, much less hoisting the Stanley Cup.
Yawn. I guess that I am pulling for the New York Islanders for the duration, and I would not really mind Dallas winning the West. But I suspect that it will be a series between Tampa Bay and Las Vegas, which I personally have absolutely no interest in, and would not bother covering here. The NHL used to feel like a fun league to keep up with, but it simply has not been much fun now for a long, long time.
In the US Open, Austrian Dominic Thiem, a two-time French Open finalist and the man whom many expect to becme Nadal’s heir apparent on clay courts, outlasted former US Open champion Marin ΔiliΔ in four sets to advance to the fourth round. Meanwhile, world number one Novak Djokovic will face Spaniard Pablo CarreΓ±o Busta. No major upsets that I am aware of either on the men’s or women’s side as of yet, although again, sports has seemed much more distant this year, and it is not entirely impossible that I indeed missed some kind of huge, expected elimination of a major favorite.
No matter who wins on the men’s or women’s side of the US Open, there will be little time to rest, because the next Grand Slam tournament will take place shortly thereafter. The French Open will begin play on September 21st, and will end on October 11th. Again, this is a very strange year in sports, and tennis will only have seen three of the four Grand Slam tournaments actually played, and in an unconventional manner and schedule, at that. A couple of pieces of news regarding the French Open that could be of interest: there is a new roof in place for the ready for the later autumn play in Paris, and Andy Murray has confirmed that he will be playing at the tournament, despite earlier having announced his retirement from the sport.
Obviously, also, the NFL will begin play later this week, when the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs host the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Those two teams met there earlier this year, before this whole coronavirus pandemic hit globally. The Chiefs quickly fell behind, 24-0, in what appeared to be a stunning upset in the making. Instead, the Chiefs famously explosive offense suddenly came to life – as did their defense – to not only come back, but to do it incredibly quickly. By halftime, the Chiefs were leading, 28-24, and went on to effectively dominate the rest of the game, ultimately winning, 51-31. It was the first, and biggest, of three consecutive games in which the Chiefs would be trailing their opponents at some point by double digits, but came back in each to eventually capture their first Super Bowl title in half a century.
The rest of the NFL games will be played this coming weekend, with the Cowboys visiting the Rams in Los Angeles on Sunday night, and the doubleheader for Monday Night featuring the Steelers visiting the New York Giants in the early East Coast meeting, and the Titans visiting the Broncos in Denver for the later game.
That is it for the sports update for now. I will try to keep on top of it a bit better from here on out.
Updates - Novac Djokovic was disqualified from the US Open tournament yesterday, after apparently accidentally hitting one of the line judges with a ball. So, the number one ranked player and the favorite to win it all is out. Also, the Lakers tied up their series against the Rockets, while the Bucks finally won at least one game in their series against Miami. In the Western Conference Finals in the NHL, the Dallas Stars beat Las Vegas, 1-0, to take Game 1 in that series.
No comments:
Post a Comment