NFL
The New York Jets' first training camp with new quarterback Aaron Rodgers is getting the “Hard Knocks” treatment. The team announced its featured role on the long-running HBO and NFL Films show on Monday. The show offers a behind-the-scenes look at preseason work for an NFL team. The premiere is Aug. 8. Rodgers' arrival in New York after 18 seasons in Green Bay made the Jets an appealing subject. Coach Robert Saleh had said the team wasn't interested in doing it. But Rodgers said last week that the selection was “forced down our throats and we've got to deal with it.”
MLB
Connor Wong hit a two-run double and singled in a run for a career-high three RBIs, leading the Boston Red Sox past the Oakland Athletics 7-0 for their eighth win in nine games. Nick Pivetta (6-5) matched his career high with 13 strikeouts over six innings in relief of lefty opener Brennan Bernardino, who worked two innings. It marked Pivetta’s ninth career double-digit strikeout game and first of 2023 — and his most Ks with the Red Sox. The A’s lost their eighth straight game and dropped a season-high 46 games under .500 at 25-71.
Shohei Ohtani tied the score in the seventh inning with his major league-leading 35th home run and pinch-hitter Michael Stefanic hit a game-ending single in the 10th to give the Los Angeles Angels a 4-3 win over the New York Yankees. Los Angeles trailed 3-1 when Ohtani hit a two-run drive off Michael King, then made a demonstrative flip of his bat. Ohtani has homered in three straight games for the sixth time and surpassed his home run total last year. Ohtani had three hits and increased his average to .306. He struck out in the ninth against Nick Ramirez, winced and grabbed at his back.
Ronald Acuña Jr. is on pace to do more than just join an elite 40-40 club in baseball history. The Braves outfielder is threatening to obliterate the previous high mark for power-speed combination in a season. Of the four players who have delivered seasons with at least 40 homers and 40 stolen bases, none accomplished the feat with more than 46 steals. Acuña is on pace for 41 homers and 77 steals. He could become the charter member of baseball’s 40-50, 40-60 and 40-70 clubs. Acuña’s 23 homers and 43 steals are big reasons the Braves boast the majors’ best record.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies were off last night. The Mets start a three-game set at home against the White Sox at 7:10 tonight. The Phillies start a three-game set against Milwaukee at home at 6:40 tonight.
WOMENS WORLD CUP
An expanded field of 32 teams at the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand means more players and teams will see the international spotlight — and they no doubt want to prove they belong. The United States is still considered dominant, and those elite European teams have developed even more with the rise of competitive clubs. And Brazil always seems on the verge of a breakout. But there's plenty of teams aiming to make noise in the tournament, including first timers Ireland, Vietnam, Zambia, Haiti, Morocco, Panama, Portugal and Philippines.
BOXING
Boxer Anna Lysenko dedicates long hours preparing for next year’s Paris Olympics in a modest gym located in the heart of Kyiv despite the unsettling sounds of explosions booming outside. Lysenko nearly won an Olympic medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021 but her training routine this time has been disrupted by the war in Ukraine. Lysenko says “it’s stifling. It probably doesn’t allow me to feel at peace." The 31-year-old Lysenko has sacrificed almost 10 years of her life for the sport but her chances of competing in Paris remain uncertain because of the possible participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes.
CAR RACING
Martin Truex Jr. mastered another Monday matinee to win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first time in 30 career Cup races at the track. Joey Logano finished second. Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five. Truex won his second Monday race of the season and fourth of his career. He dominated in the No. 19 Toyota en route to his third win of the season.
SOCCER
Ryan Reynolds has already taken Hollywood to Wrexham. Now the Welsh soccer team is on its way to Tinseltown. The club was down on its luck and languishing in the fifth tier of English soccer before being given the A-list treatment by Reynolds and co-owner Rob McElhenney. Now it is embarking on a U.S. tour this month and fans of the globally-streamed docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham” will get to see its unlikely stars in the flesh. Wrexham will play games against Chelsea, Manchester United, LA Galaxy II and Philadelphia Union II at venues in North Carolina, Los Angeles, San Diego and Pennsylvania.
BRITISH OPEN
Matthew Jordan has been given the honor of hitting the first tee shot at the 151st British Open and he’ll know exactly where to put it. The 27-year-old Jordan lives in Hoylake and is a member at Royal Liverpool. He has been approached by a number of players about the optimal way to get around the course and he says he hasn’t been giving much away. Jordan recalls coming to watch the British Opens at Hoylake in 2006 and '14 as a wide-eyed spectator and freezing when Tiger Woods walked past him.
Cameron Smith never gets emotional about anything. That changed Monday when he had to return the claret jug as the defending British Open champion. Now it's about winning it back, and Smith knows that won't be easy. He says it's still hard to believe it's been a year since he won at St. Andrews. So much has changed, starting with his defection to LIV Golf. Golf is more chaotic than ever with the PGA Tour striking a deal lacking many details with Saudi Arabia's golf interests. Smith feels confident about LIV Golf's future. For now, he wants that jug back.
The history of golf courses serving as a boardroom with grass is a lengthy one. Corporate executives and politicians have used the game as a chance to make deals and generate influence for years. That is unlikely to change after the stunning merger of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. If anything, some in and around the corporate world are looking to find ways to make sure the sport is more inclusive. Some schools are offering workshops on golf as a networking opportunity because they understand the doors that can be opened by being around the game at a corporate level.
PARIS OLYMPICS
Men will compete in artistic swimming at next year's Paris Olympics. Men have competed at the lower levels in a sport formerly known as synchronized swimming. But next year for the first time they will have the Olympic stage. American artistic swimmer Bill May says “there has always been that misconception that it’s a female-only sport, or that it’s for wimps, or that it’s not a difficult sport.” This is not the synchronized swimming that your parents or grandparents watched. The acrobatic team event is physical with flips and throws and swimmers diving off the shoulders of teammates below.
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