Because there’s just so much bloody sportsing going on right now we’ll have a few more Trash Talk posts over the next week or two to prevent other threads from being trashed.
Please confine your sports chatter to these sports-dedicated posts, thanks.
~ ~ ~
NBA FINALS
The 2022 finals are already underway with the Boston Celtics leading the series over Golden State after winning last night’s Game 1, 120 to 108.
The next games in the series:
Sunday evening, June 5 8:00 pm ET at Chase Center in San Francisco, CA.
Wednesday, June 8, 9:00 pm ET at TD Garden, Boston, MA
Friday, June 10, 9:00 pm ET at TD Garden, Boston, MA
The entire series will be carried by ABC.
Thankfully no game is scheduled for June 9 when the House J6 Committee hearings begin, but noted above there’s a game on June 10. A fresh Trash Talk thread will be posted next Friday to prevent finals chatter bleeding into the J6 thread.
If the series isn’t wrapped up on Friday, the next game will be Monday evening and yet another Trash Talk post will be published for sports chatter.
~ ~ ~
FRENCH OPEN
On his 36th birthday today, Rafael Nadal (Spain) met 25-year-old Alexander Zverev (Germany) in the semifinals today in Paris, but Zverev was forced to retire after a hideous ankle injury late in the second set.
Nadal will meet the winner of the semi-final between Casper Ruud (Norway) or Marin Cilic (Croatia); the meetup to be held this Sunday will Nadal’s 14th as a French Open finalist.
Iga Swiatek (Poland) and Coco Gauff (U.S.) will meet in the women’s finals tomorrow.
Also in Paris this week is Billie Jean King; she was awarded France’s Legion of Honor:
King, who is in France as the French Open concludes, received the award in recognition of her contributions to women’s sports, gender equality and the rights of LGBTQ people in athletics. She took part in a short ceremony at the presidential Elysee Palace at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.
A perfect way to celebrate this year’s LGBT Pride Month.
~ ~ ~
MLB and Other Baseball and Softball
These teams are currently leading their divisions:
AL East: NY Yankees
AL Central: Minnesota Twins
AL West: Houston Astros
NL East: NY Mets
NL Central: Milwaukee Brewers
NL West: LA Dodgers
NY Yankees lead the American League and LA Dodgers lead the National League.
Meh. I can’t get excited about this at all especially since Detroit is third from the bottom of the AL.
However the NCAA DI Baseball Men’s College World Series has started; here’s the schedule:
Regionals: Friday, June 3 through Monday, June 6
Super Regionals: Friday, June 10 through Sunday, June 12 OR Saturday, June 11 through Monday, June 13
First day of CWS games — Friday, June 17
CWS Finals — Start Saturday, June 25 (best out of 3)
Final championship game — Monday, June 27
The NCAA Softball Women’s College World Series began last night with eigth-finals or fourth round in Oklahoma City. I’m going to back Oregon State tonight against Arizona State because I really want to know as others have asked if the Beavers can be stopped or not.
Schedule for the WCWS finals:
Game 1: 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 8
Game 2: 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 9
Game 3: 8:30 p.m. (if necessary), on Friday, June 10
It’s a damned shame there’ll be a conflict on Thursday with the House J6 Committee’s first hearing.
~ ~ ~
NFL
What the actual fuck, people? There’s an Oversight Committee hearing this month into the NFL?
Why are elected officials who represent the entire country caught up with the Washington Commanders’ football team’s workforce problems instead of the Department of Labor?
From NBC Sports:
The House Committee on Oversight & Reform has announced that it will hold a hearing on June 22. The Committee has requested the attendance and testimony of two key individuals: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Commanders owner Daniel Snyder.
“The hearing is the next step in the Committee’s months-long investigation into the Commanders’ hostile workplace culture and will also examine the NFL’s handling of allegations of workplace misconduct, the NFL’s role in setting and enforcing standards across the League, and legislative reforms needed to address these issues across the NFL and other workplaces,” the Committee said in a press release.
What really annoys me is the breathless manner in which this hearing and the underlying problems are discussed in sports media while far more important hearings about the near-overthrow of U.S. government have been scheduled and precede the Oversight Committee hearing. NFL fans are far more worked up about Roger Goodell’s invitation to appear before Oversight than whether anyone subpoenaed by the House J6 Committee has made any effort to comply.
It’s no wonder this country is in such a fucking mess — just look at its priorities. Entertainment and its corporate masters über alles.
~ ~ ~
Got some other sports issue you need to air out? Do it in this thread, thanks.