The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition - And So It Begins

Tonight’s the night we’ve all been waiting for - the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Rio (7:30 p.m. ET/PT on NBC). Not to be outdone, the NFL will induct the newest members of its Hall of Fame this weekend. 

As always, a big weekend in sports and we have it covered so you can be the sports savvy guest at the party.

You little know it all,

The Last Night’s Game Team

PS – Make sure to brush up on your Olympics facts by reading Wednesday’s “Five Things You Might Not Know About the Olympics.”

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NFL (National Football League) 

Enshrined. Former NFL superstars Brett Favre, Kevin Green, Marvin Harrison, Orlando Pace, Dick Stanfel, Ken Stabler, Eddie DeBartolo Jr. (owner) and Tony Dungy (coach) will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend.  In celebration, the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts will play the Hall of Fame game on Sunday.

Summer Olympics

Women’s win. U.S.A. Women’s soccer opened the Olympics with a win. They beat New Zealand, 2-0. Fans chanted “Zika” and booed U.S.A. goal tender Hope Solo whenever she had the ball. Solo was vocal on social media about her Zika concerns coming into the Olympics.

NCAA football (NCAA)

The Tide is high. The first preseason Amway Coaches Top 25 college football poll was released and it has Alabama (#1) and Clemson (2) at the top. The two teams played each other for the National Championship last season. (Alabama won). College football season starts August 27th. 

NBA (National Basketball Association)

Oklahoma is OK. Unlike his former teammate Kevin Durant, star Russell Westbrook chose to stay with Oklahoma City Thunder. (Durant went to the Golden State Warriors). Westbrook showed his commitment to the team by signing a three-year deal and they showed him the money - $85 million over three years.

Overtime

Quarterback Brett Favre (who you may also recognize from the Wrangler Jeans commercials) made a decision that is really going to make some cheese-heads angry. He has chosen to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame as both a Packer (where he played 16 seasons) and a Viking (he played there one season after being forced out of Green Bay and after the NY Jets). The Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers are the biggest rivals and it looks like they’ll go down in history together.

Sideline stat

NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon will be substituting for Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the next two weeks.  (Earnhardt is still suffering from concussion-like symptoms). Sunday's race at Watkins Glen (a road course in upstate New York) marks Gordon's 800th career start.  That's the most starts for any active driver and only eight other drivers in history have more starts.

Coaches’ Corner

A controversial IndyStar.com report was released detailing the improper reporting of sexual abuse and harassment in U.S.A. women’s sports. According to the story, many complaints of abuse against the former coaches of women’s gymnastics, volleyball and basketball have been swept under the rug and not reported to authorities.

The Rundown: 5 Things You Might Not Know About The Olympics

We’re pretty sure you’ve heard that the Olympics begin this week. With all of the media coverage and talk about Zika, Team Russia and less than ideal living conditions for athletes we decided to take the road less traveled and bring you five things you might not know about the Olympics in Rio. 

Going for gold,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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Five things you might not know about the Olympics

1. Rio is the first city in South America to host the Olympics, which began in 776 B.C.
2. The five Olympic rings on the flag symbolize each of the five continents (they represent America, Asia, Africa, Europe and Oceania. Yes, now there are seven continents). The ring colors also represent every country in the world as every country’s flag has at least one of those colors: yellow, green, red, black, and blue.
3. You may know that the Opening Ceremony’s parade of nations is in alphabetical order but did you know that this year’s will take place in the home country’s language? That means you don’t have to wait until the end to see Team U.S.A as they will be introduced in Portuguese as Estados Unidos. As in tradition, Team Greece will be announced first and the delegation from the home country, Brazil, will go last.
4. For the first time since 1998, you can also bet on the Olympics in the Vegas sports books. The U.S. is projected to bring home the most medals, followed by China.
5. Some sports start before the Olympics officially kickoff on Friday. Women’s soccer begins today with Team U.S.A taking on New Zealand at 6 pm EST. Other notable sport start dates are: gymnastics and swimming (August 6th), track and field (August 12th), synchronized swimming (August 14th) and basketball (August 20th).

SUMMER OLYMPICS

• Do us the honor. Swimmer Michael Phelps has been selected as the flag bearer for the U.S. team in the parade of nations during Friday night’s Opening Ceremony. Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals, was selected by a vote of U.S. athletes. Rio is Phelps’ fifth and final Olympics.
• Carpool karaoke. Team U.S.A. men’s basketball players showed off their singing skills (or lack there of) on their flight to Rio, appropriately singing Vanessa Carlton’s song, A Thousand Miles. According to the video, veteran Carmelo Anthony was not impressed. He later said, it’s not you - it’s me, and apologized for not looking amused during video, blaming the early morning and not Vanessa Carlton’s music.

NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)

• Put me in coach. Jeff Gordon will continue to fill in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. (concussion-like symptoms) for two additional races. Gordon has filled in for Earnhardt during the last two races and maintained in the middle of the pack.

Overtime

• Monday’s Bachelorette finale came down to two men, Jordan Rodgers (former NFL quarterback and estranged brother of Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers) and some guy who wasn’t a professional athlete. Surprisingly the Bachelorette JoJo chose the former professional athlete. Who would have guessed? Rodgers then proposed and she said yes. Wonder what the Vegas odds are on this marriage?

Sideline stat

• NBCUniversal will present 6,755 hours of Olympic programming in 19 days. That’s over 356 hours of footage per day.

Coaches’ Corner

• The Associated Press has been ranking the best college sports teams for 80 years. In honor of its 80th birthday, they released a list of the all-time Top 100 College Football programs. Where does your school rank?

The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition - Awkward Moments No More

Anyone else doing the Friday happy dance? No? Just us? Well this is awkward…

While we can't help you with your embarrassing dance moves, we are here to help you out of those awkward moments in conversation with today’s Rundown. Hooray!

Here we come to save the day,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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Summer Olympics

• We left without you. As the Russian team arrives in Brazil, 100 of the 387-person team did not make the trip because they have been disqualified from the Summer Olympics by their individual sport federations for doping.

NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)

• Who invited the old guy? NASCAR heads to Pocono Raceway (Pennsylvania) on Sunday. This is the second race in a row that Jeff Gordon, who came out of an eight-month retirement, is filling in for driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. who has been out for concussion-like symptoms. Gordon is the winningest driver in history at Pocono. He hopes to add another win to his list and capture the checkered flag over driver Tony Stewart, who is in his final season of racing.

NFL (National Football League)

• Drive like a celestial bumble bee. NFL training camps opened this week. Training camp is four weeks of pre-season team practices that typically take place in a location not in the team's home city. As if getting the football season started wasn’t exciting enough, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown rolled into camp in his new Rolls Royce with a custom Steelers paint job (warning: it’s pretty heinous).

F1 (Formula One Racing)

• Das race. Lewis Hamilton is on a three-race winning streak and has taken the overall points lead in the F1 driver standings. Can Hamilton keep his streak alive and hold off Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg this weekend on his home turf in Germany? Grab some spätzle for breakfast on Sunday and find out. The suspense is killing us.

Overtime

• The PGA Championship moved from August to this weekend to accommodate players participating in the Summer Olympics. The site of this weekend’s tournament is a former crime scene of a horrific murder of a man named Baltus Roll. The home of the golf course is Roll’s former farm where he was killed by robbers. The course is named in his honor-  Baltusrol Golf Club.   

Sideline Stat

• Simone Biles is not only headed to Rio as a member of the women’s gymnastic team but she’s also on the cover of Time Magazine. That’s a big deal for someone so small. Biles is the shortest member of the 555-person U.S. delegation, measuring in at 4 ft. 8 in.

Coaches’ Corner

• NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick’s crew chief has been suspended for this weekend’s race due to violation of rules. Harvick’s crew chief was part of the lug nut controversy (read more here in a previous Coaches’ Corner). What is a lug nut you ask and why the heck does it matter? A lug nut is used to hold the tire to the race car (you have them on your car tires). The advantage to NASCAR teams who don’t tighten them all the way means the race car can get out of its pit stop (i.e. – tire change and gas fill up) faster. Of course if they’re not tightened all the way, the tire could come off. No big deal – the race car has three more wheels.