The world’s top athletes are leaving Brazil after an incredible show at the XXXI Olympiad. With record-breaking runs and fraternity-like scandals there was never a dull moment.
Don’t expect a sports lull in the US. The fall season brings our beloved football, and baseball heads into the playoffs in a few short weeks.
Olympics
Adeus Brasil and a crazy two weeks in Rio. The Games delivered world records, outstanding achievement and even a robbery that never was.
Go team USA! The stars and stripes took home the most medals since the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles (boycotted by the Soviet Union).
United States: 121 medals
China: 70 medals
Great Britain: 67 medals
US Swimmer Ryan Lochte claimed that he and his teammates were robbed, then Lochte left Brazil in a hurry and eventually (on US soil) admitted to Matt Lauer that he ”exaggerated” his story. The US Olympic Committee is not happy and suspensions are coming. Bye Bye Speedo, Ralph Lauren and other endorsers who cut ties with Lochte Monday.
Three Olympic golds in three straight Olympics. Super-human sprinter, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt completed his stellar Olympic career with an unprecedented feat, winning gold in the three sprint events (100m, 4 x 100m relay and 200m) in three consecutive Olympic games. Bolt’s nine gold medals puts him in a tie for second place all-time behind swimmer Michael Phelps and his unbelievable 23 gold medals.
Pressure cooker…Picture the most soccer-crazed country in the world, that holds the record for most World Cups, but can’t win the Olympic gold medal. Oh and this year they were also the Olympic games host. Brazil played Germany with Brazil’s first soccer gold medal on the line. How much pressure was on the host-country squad? Like you wouldn’t believe. Just two years ago, Germany humiliated Brazil 7-1 in the World Cup semifinals that Brazil also hosted, and it’s all been downhill from there. The gold medal match went to penalty kicks and Brazil rode the right foot of Neymar, the countries biggest sports star, to victory in a shootout.
Basketball is still the US’s sport, with both the Women’s and Men’s teams taking home the gold. The Women easily handled Spain 101-72 to win their sixth straight Olympic gold medal and the Men defeated Serbia 96-66 to capture their sixth gold in the past seven Olympics.
Alison Felix became the most decorated female track and field Olympian of all time, capturing two gold and one bronze in Rio, upping her personal Olympic medal total to six gold and three silver.
Put a bow on these Summer games. See you in Tokyo in 2020.
National Football League (NFL)
Hearing some football chatter, already? The NFL season starts Thursday, September 8th with a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl between the Carolina Panthers and defending champion Denver Broncos.
Can’t find your friends? Beware that over the next couple weeks folks will disappear for hours at a time to complete their fantasy drafts.
College Football
BBQ season is ending and you’re looking to make plans for fall Saturdays? College football has you covered. Here are the preseason college football rankings:
#1 Alabama (defending champion)
#2 Clemson (2016 runner up)
#3 Oklahoma
#4 Florida State
#5 LSU
Soccer
Across the pond the English Premier League started last week. Flashback to last season: Leicester City (pronounced Lester), in one of the most unlikely outcomes in sports history (5,000-1 odds), won the championship after narrowly avoiding relegation (being sent down to a lower league).
The win was the first in their 132-year history. No respect? Despite winning last year’s title, odds makers have Leicester City as only 20-1 odds to repeat, behind Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool.
MMA
Fight of the year. In the first event since the UFC sold itself to WME-IMG for $4 billion, Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor avenged his earlier loss to Nate Diaz by winning a majority decision (by the judges) in UFC 202 Saturday night.
Major League Baseball (MLB)
Baseball, the ultimate summer sport, is recovering from feeling neglected but is now back in focus. The American League and National league have six divisions. In four of them it’s pretty clear who will be moving onto the playoffs, but two are competitive. The California rivals, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, are in a virtual tie in the National League West, while the American League East is shaping up to be battle between the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles. All are within two games of each other.
Remember at TINK Sports we watch the games so you don’t have to.
See you next time…
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