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🚨 Headlines
⚽️ Record Rating: Sunday’s Euros (6.43 million viewers) and Copa America final (6.02 million viewers) were Fox’s most-watched and second-most-watched non-World Cup soccer broadcasts ever.
🏈 Aiyuk requested a trade: 49ers star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has requested a trade amid stalled contract negotiations, and here are five possible destinations for him if the 49ers agree to a trade.
⚾️ Little Papi: With the 567th pick in the draft, the Red Sox selected infielder DeAngelo Ortiz, the 20-year-old son of franchise legend and Hall of Famer David Ortiz.
🎾 Nadal comes from behind to win: Rafael Nadal won his first singles match since his early exit from the French Open on Tuesday, and speaking of famous sons, his opponent was Leo Borg, the son of 11-time Grand Slam winner Bjorn Borg.
⛳️ Woods hits back: Tiger Woods fired back on Tuesday, just days after former Ryder Cup champion Colin Montgomerie urged Woods to retire. “As a former champion, I’m exempt,” he said. [from The Open] I’m up to 60. Colin’s not. He’s not a past champion, so he’s not exempt.”
💔 May he rest in peace, Mr. Bryant. Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, Kobe Bryant’s father and eight-year NBA star, died on Tuesday after suffering a stroke. He was 69 years old.
⚽️ Why a chaotic Copa doesn’t (necessarily) mean the end of the 2026 World Cup
The confusion that enveloped much of the Copa America The incident, which culminated in ugly scenes before the final on Sunday, left many wondering whether it spelled doom for the 2026 World Cup, which is also hosted by the U.S. The answer? Not necessarily.
From Henry Bushnell of Yahoo Sports:
It was enthusiastically billed as a prelude to the World Cup. The 2024 Copa America in the United States was seen by some as a dress rehearsal. Boldly, it was staged as a football festival in Atlanta, Dallas and 12 other U.S. cities. It also felt like an appetizer for the most spectacular sporting event on earth: the Men’s World Cup, which will return to North America in 2026 and be bigger and more extravagant than ever before.
But after four weeks of chaos, the Copa America fell apart and descended into chaos on Sunday, which, far from piqued the interest of American soccer fans, has sparked a host of questions and concerns about the country’s preparations for 2026.
The concerns are manifold and understandable. The 2024 tournament, a national championship, has been plagued by heat, empty seats, criticism of the stadium, unprofessional behavior and ultimately chaos. The semifinal ended in a brawl between players and fans. The final, postponed because of security concerns, left thousands of fans distressed at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, the site of the 2026 World Cup.
But the events of the past four weeks don’t necessarily mean 2026 is doomed.
This was a shoddy tournament poorly run by the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL). FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, has already devoted far more time, money and manpower to planning the 2026 World Cup, which will be the first World Cup that FIFA will run entirely on its own, rather than delegating responsibility to a local organizing committee.
Keep reading.
🌎 The world in pictures
ARLINGTON, Texas — The American League continued their winning streak with a 5-3 victory over the National League, thanks to a game-tying, two-run homer by Jarren Duran that earned him the MVP award, but also included a shutout inning by Paul Skenes and a not-so-distinguished three-run homer from Shohei Ohtani on an exciting night.
Madrid — Real Madrid officially introduced Kylian Mbappe to more than 80,000 fans at the Bernabeu on Tuesday. “I’ve spent countless nights dreaming of playing for Real Madrid and today I’m very happy,” said the French superstar, who signed a five-year contract with the Spanish giants.
Washington DC – The U.S. women’s national team played to a scoreless draw against Costa Rica in their final Olympic warm-up match, and coach Emma Hayes said battling the scorching heat of the Costa Rican capital was “perfect preparation for Marseille.”
Troon, Scotland — The pot bankers at Royal Troon are no joke.
🏀 Summer League breakout star Reed Shepard
Reed Shepherd He wasn’t the third overall pick in last month’s draft, but he’s been a Rockets prospect so far in summer league and has the potential to be one of the NBA’s top rookie players.
Great first impression: The 6-foot-3 guard out of Kentucky is averaging 20 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, three steals and one block through Houston’s first three games while shooting 49 percent from the field and 38 percent from deep. And beyond the numbers, he looks like just the right fit for this team.
What they’re saying: “He’s a guy that makes all the right plays,” Rockets forward Ament Thompson told Yahoo Sports after watching Shepard beat No. 2 draft pick Alex Sarr in Sunday’s win over the Wizards. “He’s a really good passer, he can shoot, he can play defense. It’s exciting.”
Was this expected? Well, yes and no. There was a reason he was the No. 3 pick and he shot an incredible 52 percent from 3-point range last season for the Wildcats, but he rarely started and often played without the ball alongside Rob Dillingham, who was taken No. 5 and then traded to the Timberwolves.
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But he’s not the first Kentucky draft pick to make the leap to the NBA after a less-than-stellar collegiate career, as the Wildcats’ stable depth of players sometimes forced former coach John Calipari to tweak his lineup.
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For example, Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker each played just 21 minutes per game in their only seasons in Lexington (the same season, actually), but quickly became NBA superstars.
The last word: “Shepard has the potential to be a franchise starting guard given his game and incredible versatility on both ends of the court,” wrote Kristen Peek of Yahoo Sports.
Summer league is always a chance to evaluate rookies and see how they perform in their first experience in the NBA. League executives and scouts look at other teams to see which teams landed or missed out on certain prospects. It’s safe to say the Rockets got a good player in Shepard, and he’s proven he can come in and contribute right away in his first year.
Summer League Details: 5 standout players who could make an impact in fantasy | No. 2 pick Alex Sarr had an 0-15 shooting night
📆 July 17, 1941: DiMaggio’s winning streak ends
83 years ago today, Joe DiMaggio’s record 56-game hitting streak was finally snapped as the Yankees Clippers went 0-3 with one walk in a win over the Indians.
By the numbers: DiMaggio had 91 hits in 223 at-bats (.408 batting average) with 21 walks and just 5 strikeouts (yes, he struck out 5 in 56 games and just 13 for the season!) during the streak. However, one of my favorite pieces of baseball trivia is that Ted Williams, who famously batted .406 that year, had a better batting average than DiMaggio (.412 batting average) during the streak.
Details for this day:
*Most walks ever: Barry Bonds (2,558), Rickey Henderson (2,190), Ruth (2,062), Williams (2,021).
📺 Watchlist: First Half Final Episode
The first half of the WNBA season ends tonight Dallas (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)In the final game before the All-Star break, the last-place Wings take on Caitlin Clark and the streak-winning *Fever.
current situation: If this season ended today, these are the eight teams that would make the playoffs: 1. Liberty (21-4), 2. Sun (18-6), 3. Storm (17-8), 4. Aces (16-8), 5. Lynx (16-8), 6. Mercury (13-12), 7. Fever (11-14), 8. Sky (10-14).
See also:
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🏀 Exhibition: USA vs Serbia (12 p.m., FS1) … The U.S. will face Nikola Jokic’s team in Abu Dhabi.
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⚽️ MLS: Nashville vs Orlando (8:30 p.m., FS1); LAFC vs. Salt Lake City (10:45 p.m., FS1) … Plus, Apple has 12 games.
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🏀 NBA Summer League: 8 games (3 p.m.-10 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2/NBA)
*ON A ROLL: The Fever (11-14) have won eight of their last 12 games with Clark averaging 17 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists per game.
🏀 NBA Trivia
Patrick Beverley He signed with Israel’s Hapoel Tel Aviv, potentially bringing to an end a 12-year NBA career that saw him play for seven different teams.
question: Can you name all seven?
Tips: Four in the west and three in the east (one of which is in the photo).
The answer is at the bottom.
🏈 Training camp has begun
NFL training camps are underway. The Texans became the first team to officially open camp today and begin their offseason on-field activities, with all 31 other teams expected to follow suit by this time next week.
Training Camp Introduction: What is important and what is not?
Trivia answer: Rockets, Clippers, Timberwolves, Lakers, Bulls, 76ers, Bucks
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