I didn’t devote a lot of time to sports viewing this holiday weekend, but when the television was on, it was not tuned to America’s so-called big four sports (baseball, basketball, football, or hockey).
Nope, I didn’t see the Boston Celtics’ Derrick White putback with a tenth of a second left Saturday night to force an improbable Game 7 tonight. The same with that Dallas Stars-Vegas Golden Knights game.
Nope, when the TV was on Saturday I was checking out – rather inexplicably – the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Semifinals (Duke vs. Penn State and Virginia vs. Notre Dame), Game 2 of the Oklahoma-Clemson Softball Super Regional, the Detroit FC-Birmingham Legion USL Championship match, and the conclusion of the Indianapolis 500.
Lacrosse
Though I only watched the final minutes of regulation and overtime of each match … whoa! Fun stuff! I understand why it’s growing in popularity across the U.S. Gotta say, though, if you’re going to use Instant Replay, then it probably needs to include more than just time-related issues as was noted on the telecast. The Duke player clearly had a foot inside the goal crease on that overtime game-winner. Nonetheless, a wildly entertaining match as was Notre Dame storming back against the Cavaliers, scoring four of the final five goals.
Softball
I’d stopped by earlier in the game and Oklahoma was up a couple runs and I figured its 48th straight win was in the bag. By the time I came back, the score was tied and headed to extra innings. No surprise, the Sooners Tiare Jennings blasted a massive home run in the top of the eighth and, as fast as you can say “Boomer Sooner” Oklahoma was on its way to the Women’s College World Series.
Soccer
A goal of mine (get it;-) this summer is to make it out to Hamtramck’s Keyworth Stadium to see Detroit FC in person. The vibe seems fun and the club is coming on, as evidenced by its 1-0 victory over Legion. As seemed to be my fortune this weekend, I only saw the conclusion of the match so no goal scoring and, aside from a couple of pushes on the part of Legion, it seemed to be a rather workmanlike effort earning the victory.
Auto Racing
A kid from Indiana has to tune in to the Indy 500 at some point, right? It was on in the background for a bit early in the race before I turned it off for a good bit. By the time I flipped the TV back on it was in the first of what became three red flags in the final 15 or so laps. What a crazy finish. It felt like I was watching the end of a NASCAR race at times. I’m unsure how I feel about going with the Green/White – Checkered finish, but that’s what was decided and props to Josef Newgarden for making the move and pass that led to his first victory at the Brickyard. His celebration was an all-timer, as well: Heading into the stands to be with the fans, which is where you used to watch the race not terribly long ago.
