By Pete Thompson
Happy June everyone!
As we turn the calendar to June, we are starting to see more LIVE sporting events taking place, albeit without fans. The restrictions that we have all been under since early March are starting to loosen, and some of the major sports leagues are starting to put together a framework for a return to play.
Since I last wrote, there has been another LIVE golf event that drew record numbers of people watching. NASCAR has continued to race. The NHL is close to a framework for a return to action, while the NBA isn’t too far behind. Lagging in last place, is Major League Baseball as the players and owners continue to disagree on how they might get paid and the money will be split.
From the entertainment world, I’ve now watched another Netflix favorite. I let my Amazon Prime subscription expire for now, and broadcast TV threw me a bit of a curveball. However, just as I yearned for something new to watch, one of my girlfriend’s favorite shows has been a source of bonding for the two of us. As always though, we begin with sports, and my thoughts:
There was LIVE golf again on Memorial Day weekend as Tiger Woods & Peyton Manning squared off against Phil Mickelson & Tom Brady at Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida. Unlike the week before, this was MUST WATCH television as an average of 6 million people tuned in to see the match play format between two of the greatest golfers and two of the greatest NFL QB’s ever. Here’s how I know this was a success, my sister Pam was up for a visit and she said more than once, “I was going to leave when this started, but this is too good!”
Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning won the match 1-up, by the way, but new Bucs QB, Tom Brady had the shot of the day for sure. He was really struggling and Turner Sports commentator Charles Barkley got in his ear and gave him the business. On an early par-3, Barkley offered up $50,000 if Brady could hit the green. He missed badly, and Charles said “I should have said if you could hit it anywhere on the PLANET!” Ha ha ha…Charles made the broadcast hilarious, as did Peyton Manning. It was Barkley though, that fired up Brady on the par-5 seventh hole. After Brady had to take a penalty stroke, he was left with just over 100 yards to the green and ended up spinning wedge back into the cup for a par, net birdie. The shot was as good as any pro could hit and was replayed dozens of times on TV & social media in the next 24-48 hours.
“The Match – Champions for Charity” raised $20 million for COVID-19 charities, and was a whopping success. Not only did we get to see Tiger Woods in action for the first time in 98 days, but we got the fun side of Phil Mickelson too. Especially early on when he described to on-course “reporter” Justin Thomas how he was going to play a pitch shot and then did exactly what he described, leaving the ball inside a foot to the cup.
The golf was so much fun, it got us thinking on “The SportsBash” the next day about who we wanted to see next in “The Match 3”…which golfer & celebrity would YOU like to see? I offered up names like Jordan Spieth & Tony Romo…or Lee Trevino & John Elway from the senior tees. My favorite pairing I’d like to see is Andrew “Beef” Johnson with Larry the Cable Guy. Think that would be a fun group?
The PGA Tour is expected to return to official play June 11-14th with the Charles Schwab Challenge from Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. As for the first time we might see Tiger Woods play? There’s strong talk that he might return at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town. The event is usually right after The Masters, and he’s only played it once, but on the plus side, they’re known for treating the professionals well. Tiger could even take his yacht up too as it’s a short commute from Jupiter, Florida. The name of Tiger’s yacht? PRIVACY
One last item on golf, just as we were going to print last issue, came word that the ShopRite LPGA had moved its dates again…this time to October as it will be played from October 2-4 on the Bay Course at Seaview Hotel and Golf Club in Galloway. The 54-hole Classic also gets another boost in prize money as it will be played for a tournament –record $2 million in prize money. They were able to increase the purse because sponsors of other LPGA events that were canceled by the pandemic have offered some of their prize funds to increase purses for the remaining events.
The move to October also puts the ShopRite LPGA Classic in a great spot for the revamped scheduled as the tournament will now be played the week before the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at nearby Aronimick Golf Course in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, Oct. 8-11. Most big-name players like to play the week prior to a major, so expect a talented & star-studded field in Galloway in October!
From the world of auto racing, NASCAR is continuing to run without fans, but plenty of drama on the track. For the second time in a week, Brad Keselowski took the checkered flag as he won the Supermarket Heroes 500 in Bristol, Tennessee last weekend. Seven days prior, he won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway when a caution flag came out with two laps remaining and helped him get to victory lane. Chase Elliott and Joey Logano were racing for the win at Bristol when they collided and it paved the way for Keselowski to win. Locally, Pocono is going to hold its NASCAR weekend on June 27-28 without fans. Nearby Dover isn’t up until late August and the Monster Mile is still hoping to have fans and some sort of social distancing when that race is run on Sunday August 23rd.
In hockey, the big news is that the NHL and the NHL Players Association came to an agreement on a 24-team, conference based “return to play” format. The games would be held inside empty arenas at two hub cities, where players, staff and others would be housed during the season restart. Originally, the NHL was seeking four different hubs, but logistics and a refocusing on the 24-team, conference format narrowed that to two. Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Vancouver are being considered. The hubs would have secure arenas, hotels and practice facilities, and there would be aggressive COVID-19 testing and protocols at each site.
To me, this is the best option of a bad situation. The regular season is effectively over. But, there will be playoffs and there will be a Stanley Cup champion. The top four teams in each conference ranked by points percentage — Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington and Philadelphia in the East and St. Louis, Colorado, Vegas and Dallas in the West — will play separate round-robin tournaments to determine seeding in the first round. They will be played with regular-season overtime and shootout rules. The remaining 16 teams, seeded by conference, will play best-of-five play-in series. These games will be played with playoff overtime rules, and these play-in series will determine which teams advance to a traditional 16-team Stanley Cup playoff bracket.
From the NBA, there’s been word of a 22-team restart of a truncated season in late July. But now comes word that some of the NBA’s smaller-market teams don’t want to be left out. Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett says when NBA teams resume play at the Disney complex in Orlando, Florida, they should include ALL the teams that want to return to play. A vote is scheduled on the 22-team Orlando format this week.
And finally, there’s baseball, where the two sides of Major League Baseball seem to finally be making some progress toward a plan to resume play. According to a report by Jeff Passan from ESPN, Major League Baseball has discussed playing a shorter schedule in which it would pay members of the MLB Players Association their full prorated salaries. That’s been the sticking point as a lot of players don’t want to return for anything LESS than then their normal rate. The players have held out for a full prorated portion of their salaries based on a March 26 agreement with the league, and in an offer last week, proposed a 114-game schedule that would cover 70.3% of their original salaries. A 50-game schedule with full pro rata would pay the players 30.8% of that number.
Suffice to say, this argument over who gets what between the baseball owners and the baseball players is falling on deaf ears by a lot of fans who are currently unemployed and struggling to pay bills right now. Let’s just say that I don’t think Major League Baseball is winning any new fans right now with their current bickering!
A few from entertainment to close things out now as you can count me amongst the many who have watched “Ozark” on Netflix and enjoyed it very much. The Byrde family is fun to watch as Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) and Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney) uproot their family & move to Lake of the Ozark in Missouri, but continue to “wash” money for a Mexican Drug Cartel, all while dealing with a “fish out of water” situation (literally). A great watch indeed.
When “Survivor – Winners at War” ended, I was sad, but also stoked because “Amazing Race” was going to start the following week on May 20th. Well, CBS pulled a fast one on me and other fans. They decided that with Fall TV looking like they might not have enough programming, they elected to hold back the season of “Amazing Race” they had in the can for the Fall. I understand the decision, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Lastly, who says you can’t fall in love with a new (old) show? My girlfriend’s son grew up watching “Deadliest Catch” religiously, and has got me watching season 3 and now season 4 of the series. Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m not a big guy for anything that’s on the ocean, but darn if I’m not addicted and can’t wait to hear Mike Rowe say the words, “The vast Bering Sea…” Granted, I’m watching shows that were filmed in 2006 and 2007, but to me they are new & riveting!
Let me close by saying it’s been a wild couple of weeks, with Memorial Day coming & going, and now the civil unrest in our country. I continue to hope & pray that we can all get along, come together, and stay healthy & safe as we return to a new “normal.’
Pete has been the local “sports guy” at the Jersey Shore since 2004. After a decade with TV 40, he joined 97.3 ESPN radio to talk Eagles, Phillies, Sixers & Flyers with Mike Gill on “The SportsBash” each day from 2-6 p.m.
Pete is proud to be a “voice” for the annual ShopRite LPGA Classic each June, and does emcee work for groups like the National Football Foundation, The Old Grad Awards, and The 200 Club of Atlantic County. You can hear Pete each Tuesday on 97.3 ESPN at 5:30p, and if you see him out & about in the community, he requests that you please say “Hi”. Send comments to PBrooksT@aol.com
