Binge Media Sports: The Cubs Future, PGA Championship, NFL Preseason
Welcome back to Binge Media Sports. I won’t keep you long tonight, but I just wanted to comment on a few things going on in the world of sports this week.
THE FUTURE OF THE CHICAGO CUBS
We’re now into August, so by this time, we all know that my beloved Chicago Cubs are usually out of the pennant race. Don’t try jokes as I’ve heard them all. But if you really know baseball, then you know how exciting of a time it actually is for Cubs fans all over the world. For years, Theo Epstein has been talking about his plan to bring a winner to the North Side, and today was a day where we caught a glimpse of it. One of the top five prospects in all of baseball, 21 year old Javier Baez, was called up to the big leagues this week. He debuted on Tuesday night, and after a rough start, he settled in to hit the game-winning homerun in extra innings. He followed up that performance with two more homeruns and four more runs batted in this afternoon in Colorado. Rookie Arismendy Alcantra has had a little trouble settling into the show, but he had a hit and and RBI today, and also scored on a Baez single. Starlin Castro hit a solo shot as well. Anthony Rizzo is having another good year. Yet another rookie, pitcher Kyle Hendricks, moved to 3-1 with the longest outing of his career. And the best is still to come. Two more of the top five prospects are still on their way. Addison Russel, who was part of the Jeff Samardzija deal with the A’s, and Kris Bryant, who is simply crushing the ball at every level, are a big part of this youth movement and are waiting patiently for their shot at the highest level. Obviously, at some point, the Cubs are going to need some pitching to go along with these position players, but I really like the direction things are going. A winner is on the way, folks. It’s been 106 years since the Cubs won it all. What’s a few more?
Look at the picture above and you’ll see two golfers heading in opposite directions. This week is the final major of the year, the PGA Championship. This year’s tournament is being held at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, and the two biggest stories involve Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. If you know golf, you know that Tiger pulled out of a tournament last week due to MORE back trouble. Rory McIlroy won that tournament chasing down Sergio Garcia on Sunday and also won The Open Championship about a month ago. He’s also moved to the top of the official world golf rankings, a spot Tiger held for years and years and years. I know, there are a ton of other golfers in the field this week. In actuality, this tournament usually has the strongest field of any tournament throughout the year. But all eyes will be on these two for four days, that is, if Tiger can actually make the cut. After day one, Tiger Woods is currently nine shots back of the three leaders after shooting a 3-over 74. Rory McIlroy, on the other hand, is only one off the pace after an interesting 66 that included a shot that left the course entirely. McIlroy will definitely be a factor this weekend. Unfortunately, Tiger won’t be. At some point, it would be nice to see these two really get to go at one another, but until Tiger can fix everything he’s going through, he’s become just another player chasing down the best player in the world right now. It should be a great weekend at Valhalla.
NFL PRESEASON
As Kupka mentioned in his column this week, the NFL preseason is upon us. Me, I don’t watch a ton of preseason football, just as I don’t watch much preseason anything. I dig games that matter, and coming in the next few weeks, I’ll be unloading the big Binge Media Sports NFL Preview, but until then, enjoy all the preseason talk, especially when it comes to that douchebag you see above. Yes, Johnny Football makes his long-awaited debut this weekend for the Cleveland Browns as they take on the Detroit Lions. So enjoy all of that coverage on ESPN Radio on Monday morning. For my Chicago fans, the Bears get going against the Eagles on Friday night. I just can’t get into the hype surrounding him or the NFL preseason as a whole. So many of the guys you’ll see in these games won’t even be on the roster in a few weeks. So forgive me if I don’t get excited to watch the starters play for a series and then sit down. Don’t get me wrong. I like the NFL just as much as the next guy, but until the outcome makes a mark on the standings, count me out.
That will do it this week for Binge Media Sports. Make sure to tune in tomorrow for FRIDAY NIGHT LAW and be sure to catch me this weekend for WORKING THE WEEKEND WITH LUKE as I start my trilogy countdown. Not sure what I’m talking about? Catch last week’s column HERE. And as always, you can leave your comments below or better yet, follow me and tweet @THElukenorris.