With all due respect to DJ Khaled, it was the month of June’s final Sunday that produced another hit. As referenced in a blog post from Saturday (read it here, if you happened to overlook it), the month of June’s Sundays had been sports fan banger after banger.
And, sure, what I’m sharing from June 29th probably doesn’t carry the same gravitas as, say, that epic Sinner-Alcaraz French Open Men’s Singles Final or Spaun’s remarkably resilient U.S. Open Championship or even the Men’s College World Series or a nip-and-tuck Game 7 in the NBA Finals. But it was still a heck’uva lot more exciting than some of those humdrum NFL Sundays in mid-October.
Here’s what we witnessed:
F1 Austrian Grand Prix – McLaren Dominance
Team McLaren continued its season-long dominance, taking positions one and two on the podium (Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri) at the Austrian Grand Prix. The two battled head-to-head much of the race, following a first-lap incident behind the duo that took out perennial contender Max Verstappen (Red Bull). With his win, Norris shaved seven points off his teammate’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship.
Rocket Mortgage Classic – 5 Playoff Holes!
What seemed, at times, like video game scores emanating from the Detroit Golf Club at its annual Rocket Mortgage Classic, wound up turning into a scintillating finish.
Three players finished 72 holes tied at 22-under-par and headed to a playoff: Aldrich Potgieter, Max Greyserman, and Chris Kirk.
Kirk missed a potential winning putt on the first playoff hole and then a 4-footer to remain alive on the second.
That left Potgieter (a 20-year-old tour rookie) and Greyserman (a grizzled veteran, by comparison, at age 30) remaining; each seeking their first PGA Tour win.
And play on they did. For not one additional hole, not two additional holes, but three additional holes, when Potgieter ended the festivities with an 18-foot birdie putt on the fifth playoff hold.
Did I mention this fella is only 20 and has lived on three continents already? Yeah, when I was 20 … well, I’d rather not mention what I was doing then;-)
U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team – PK Thriller
Not only did it win a match it should have and needed to, but it also made a star out of keeper Matt Freese whom I’d never heard of before, but then again my soccer bona fides are, shall I say, lacking. Having said that, it sounds like he’s a relative newbie making just his fifth appearance for the USMNT.
Yet, there he was in his banana yellow kit stopping three Costa Rican penalty kicks to send the U.S. to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Sunday Night Baseball – Skubal Shines Brighter than the Setting Sun
ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball crew doesn’t visit Detroit’s Comerica Park very frequently (2017 was the most recent), so when it does, I always pull for a good showing from my hometown team and fans.
No, I didn’t pony up whatever the asking price was to sit in the stands Sunday nor did I opt for the standing room only option. I chose instead the comfort of a living room sofa where I also saw a 20-year-old South African golfer win over a million dollars after playing 77 holes, a relative unknown U.S. goalkeeper make a name for himself (and likely a few bucks), before I watched the reigning American League Cy Young winner, Tarik Skubal, absolutely dominate the visiting Minnesota Twins.
After watching the first inning, my wife and I checked out an episode of The Bear before returning to baseball. His no-hitter recently broken up, Skubal looked even more dominant thane he had in the first inning. Fourteen whiffs over seven innings ain’t too shabby and the Tigers won, 3-0, before over 40,000 at the CoPa.
Remember that million-plus that Potgieter pocketed earlier on Sunday across town at DGC?
Yeah, Skubal likely earned several times that with his primetime performance. He’s a pending free agent and his representative, the loved/loathed (you decide) Scott Boras, no doubt added a few zeros to the total value of whatever package Skubal signs for.
I played the Detroit Golf Club a couple times in the late !970’s.
How low did you go?