It’s that time of the year w...

It’s the 4th Of July Holiday week and we all know that in America that means BBQ, backyard parties and fire works. I like to think of it as our American celebration of the original Brexit in which we formally expelled The English Empire from North America. As I’ve discussed in past weeks this period in the depths of summer is a bit of a low point in the year for sports fans who live and breath sports every day. Except for baseball here in America there’s not a lot going on but there is some hope for the weeks ahead as the European sporting scene is as active as ever.

The Webldon Tennis Championships start this week and as usual it’s a major event in London. I like to think that the English always schedule this event during the 4 Of July period so as to get thru the trauma of loosing the colonies a couple of centuries ago. Not many of my English friends agree on this point but no one likes to admit they’ve made a mistake right? Can you imagine if they had managed to win over us back then? We’d all be watching cricket and eating chips and jellied eels instead of pounding beers and watching the NFL. Thank God for George Washington!

Across the English Channel over in France they’re holding the Tour De France, an annual bike race that covers 21 consecutive days, riding all over France, leading up to a finish in Paris. As someone who has witnessed this race in person two or three times I can tell you it’s no small event. The entire country comes out on the road side to watch it. The wine flows and the bread and cheese shows up by the kilo. If you find yourself up early with not much to watch on television I would highly recommend tuning in to view it live. The views of the French countryside are absolutely spectacular and the race itself is pretty dramatic. If only for a bit it’s must see TV.

The Woman’s version of The World Cup Soccer Tournament starts in roughly two weeks. This time around it’s being played down under in Australia and New Zealand. Woman’s soccer is actually a very, very big deal everywhere in Europe except for maybe Greece, where (again from personal experience) they absolutely refuse to watch or root for women’s sports teams. The American woman are as usual favored to win it however I’d watch out for The English Lionesses who are a strong squad as well. France of course should be tough to beat but right now I see a wide open field of teams where anyone can win it. Again, must see TV if you’re in to getting up at 1 a.m. to watch it live. I’m putting my money on the English girls.

Here in America it’s seems the love bug has run rampant during the NFL offseason. If things weren’t confusing and disheartening enough, San Francisco Wonder Boy Brock Purdy announced his engagement to his college sweetheart who happens to be a championship volley ball player. It was trending on social media for an entire day! I wish them all the best, seriously, but as a sports fan I can only look at pre and post marriage statistics for some of the great football players. For example, Tom Brady’s numbers dropped considerably after marrying his Super Model girlfriend. JJ Watt, arguably one of the top defensive players of all time, got married, started a family and the following year retired. Eli Manning, a lock for The Hall of Fame, fell way off on his numbers and finally retired after just ten seasons playing for The New York Giants following his marriage. See a trend here? Do I need to go on? Personally I feel that NFL players should not be allowed to date or get married until they’re off their rookie contracts and have proven themselves worthy opponents, but that’s just me. If I was Brock I’d be worrying more about my arm injury then making a live nest but then again I’m not Brock.

We’ve all seen the news stories on the landmark Supreme Court decisions that have been published in the last week. Student Loan forgiveness, Affirmative Action and the right to free speech under The First Amendment we’re all addressed by the court. Yes, the decisions were controversial to say the least however what CNN, FOX News and MSNBC failed to cover was the most important court case of them all and that’s the Seminole Indian Tribe’s Appeal win in their Florida case to operate sports book bettering. The win for the tribe basically allows them to restart on line and in person sports book in the state of Florida. For those of us who live and die by the sword of sports book betting this will be a life changing event. At the very least it will make our Saturdays and Sunday’s a bit more interesting. I encourage everyone to play responsibly and stay tuned for my college and pro picks! I’m planning that condo in Lake Tahoe as we speak! Play On!!!

Kev