Good morning, all and happy Thursday!
The third of golf’s four majors will tee ‘em today at historic Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southhampton, N.Y. Wind will be a major factor for the first round. I offer a preview in the above commentary.
Here are some other thoughts on the third Thursday in June:
The NBA Champion New York Knicks will be honored with a parade through New York City’s Canyon of Heroes today. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected and in preparation a record 10,000 police officers will be on duty.
When labor peace came to the WNBA, it was expected the league would expand its regular season and it has. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced yesterday the league will lengthen its season from 44 to 50 games, beginning next year. The idea is to keep these arenas humming year round, one of the big reasons Connecticut lost the Sun. Most of the WNBA franchises are owned by the same entities that own an NBA team in the same city, playing in the same building. It’s the main reason the WNBA plays most of its games in the summer, when the sport is considered out of season. An empty arena does not produce revenue.
Fox Sports is scoring big by covering the World Cup. Sports Business Journal is reporting the first five days of the event have already exceeded more than one billion social and digital views for Fox.
The Athletic reports former Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, who guided the team to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals last year, is happy for his former players winning the title, but that he is “still hurt” over his firing last year.
Forty-eight years ago today those who awoke on a Sunday morning to read the sports pages - this was back in the day when you got the latest news from the night before in your morning paper - learned that New York Yankees pitcher Ron Guidry set a new team record by striking out 18 California Angels. The Yankees won the game, 4-0, and I remember it like yesterday.
During the telecast, Yankees broadcaster Phil Rizzuto dubbed Guidry, a native of Lafayette, Louisiana, “Louisiana Lightening.” The description stuck, as Guidry went on to win the 1978 Cy Young Award for the World Champion Yankees. The southpaw’s record was 25-3 with a 1.74 ERA. Guidry pitched a career-high 273.2 innings that year, unthinkable for a pitcher in this era. In fact, Guidry pitched 210 innings or more in seven of the 14 years he pitched.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for subscribing and have a terrific Thursday!
DAN
