FIFA
To absolutely no one's surprise, the American Pinocchio President once again got his way as FIFA has awarded the United States the World Cup (Soccer) in 2026, along with co-hosts Canada and Mexico. (Liar Don had threatened the poorer countries of the world that the USA would not invest in their countries if they didn't back the American bid). The result wasn't even close as they received 70 per cent of the vote, beating out hard luck Morocco who lost out for the sixth time. The Yankees will host 60 games while Canada and Mexico will each have ten games played in their respective countries.
Hosting the World Cup is no small feat. There are 32 teams (there will be 48 by 2026) competing in probably the biggest and most important sporting event on earth with an estimated world audience of over 3.2 billion people. Russia is currently hosting the 2018 event and as part of the contract they signed, which heavily favours FIFA, they had to guarantee the federation $11 Billion as their cut, which is absolutely absurd when you think about it. Between the Olympics and FIFA, talk about a monopoly, how does one get in on this kind of action?
The World Cup has just started and already there have been a few upsets, namely Iceland's draw with Messi (Don't Cry For Argentina), the defending champions from Germany losing to Mexico and perennial favourite Brazil drawing against Switzerland.
Golf
The 118th U.S. Open will be remembered for a couple of reasons, an unexpected repeat champion from last year in Brooks Koepka and a course so difficult and possibly unfair that even the best players in the world were brought to their knees.
Long ball-hitting Koepka has only won three PGA tournaments in his career but amazingly two of them are Majors. One of the highlights was supposed to be fabulous Phil's (Mickelson) strong run at the title, the only Major not in his bag, but unfortunately Shinnecock Hills made it, some say, a career lowlight.
He got so frustrated on one super-fast green, not to mention the illogical pin placement, that after his ball went past the hole and was going to run off the green, he ran after it and hit it again before it stopped moving. He was penalized two strokes, recorded a 10 on his scorecard but many felt, according to the rule book, he should have been disqualified, and he should have been but the USGA didn't have the "kahunas" to do it, probably afraid of the repercussions.
NHL Draft
The much anticipated 2018 NHL draft is being held in Dallas, Texas Friday night and one of the more interesting stories coming out of the Lone Star State involves the Tkachuk family. Dad Keith (drafted 19th overall) starred in the league for 19 seasons while oldest son power forward Matthew (drafted 6th overall) played for the Flames last season. The question is, will son #2 (Brady) be drafted higher than his family members? All the so called experts say yes, he'll be a top five pick, bank on it.
SWBL
With only four games left in their season, the Virden Oilers (5-5) will try and build up some momentum for the playoffs as they host the Elkhorn Expos and the Hamiota Red Sox next Wednesday and Friday. Considering that these are the top two teams in the North Division, it'll be a good measuring stick for the boys.
MLB
I ask you, is Bryce Harper, or any other ball player, really worth the reported $300 million over ten years? I think not, especially when you consider he's batting just over the Mendoza line (.200) for this season. Ditto goes for the Jays' Josh Donaldson, his dream of a similar contract will evaporate as his injuries (arm and calf muscles) continue to mount. Until next time....
