Ball Girl #064: Well this is a first

This weekend we have a UFC fight featuring Paddy Pimblett. Girls RELIGIOUSLY call him Paddy the “Daddy”, but as you can imagine, that makes a bunch of so-called-straight men uncomfortable. So they are trying to re-brand it to Paddy the Baddy. Yup. The word “daddy” bothers them, but a bunch of men wrestling each other in speedos is perfectly okay and normal. I don’t make the rules people.

Can I have your number?

50lbs: Average weight of a full bag of NHL goalie equipment. It’s no wonder NHL goalies lose around 10+ pounds of sweat in one game. You could not pay me ANYTHING to take a whiff of that gear. 

TLDRs:

🏈 Kyler Murray (QB) is having his Jerry Maguire moment as he just signed a mega contract to stay with the Arizona Cardinals. He got a five-year, $230.5 million contract extension, with $160 million guaranteed. SHOW ME THE MONEY!

🏀 76ers are glowing up — or, at least their arena is. Yesterday, the GM announced plans to start building a brand new state of the art ‘entertainment center’ (that’s what we call arenas now) in the city’s Fashion District. Hey, any excuse to go shopping.

🎓🏉 You know what they say — if you like it, put a ring on it! And that’s exactly what Georgia did to head football coach Kirby Smart. They popped a 10-year contract extension, not with a ring but an 11.25 million pay check. Oh, the diamonds that deal could buy!

🥊 UFC has a new up-and-coming star with an even hotter nickname — Paddy “the Daddy” Pimblett. He’ll be taking on Jordan Leavitt this coming Saturday at London Fight Night. Don’t miss your chance to watch two men attack each other and pretend that it’s a brawl for your hand in marriage. Just cute girly things :)

MLB

Astros hand the Yanks two L’s

• The New York Yankees and Houston Astros played a doubleheader today (two games back to back). Because one baseball game isn’t enough! Anyways, these are two of the TOP teams in the entire MLB — the Yanks lead the American League East and the Astros lead the American League West. The Yanks saw their season end in Houston twice in recent years, so this stings even more. But if we know one thing, its that the baseball season is LONG, and anything can happen come playoffs in October…

Dodgers win one in the battle for Cali

• The Los Angeles Dodgers took down the San Francisco Giants last night in a good ole fashioned west coast rivalry. The series continues this weekend, so the Giants have a chance to redeem themselves…

• Highlights from last night: Darin Ruf hit a grand slam in the seventh to tie things up for the Giants. Then Mookie Betts (yes, that’s his real name) sealed the deal for the Dodgers with 3-run homer in the 8th. And he didn’t stop there! Betts went on to make a diving catch in the 9th to end the game.

Golf

A Tale of Twin Cities

• The 3M Open kicked off yesterday at TPC Twin Cities. Many players are looking to use the tournament to secure their spot at the FedEx Cup Playoffs (which is only 3 tournaments away).

• Pre-play, Tony Finau (who shot 66 last Sunday at the British Open), Hideki Matsuyama, and Sungjaie Im (3) sat at the top of betting picks, while Jason Day and Rickie Fowler were barely scratching the top 125 — Day sat inside that, while Fowler was #129.

• After Round 1, Scott Piercy and Sungjaie Im are at the top of the leaderboard (both -6 for the day, 65) thanks to their golden putters. Five players are tied for 3rd (including Tony Finau) all 4-under, 66. S.J. Im is the favorite for betting odds now, followed by Tony Finau. Oh & if you’re wondering what happened to Matsuyama, he fell off the radar due to a series of unfortunate events…

F1

It’s the French Grand Prix: Let’s Get That Baguette!

• The Course: May I introduce you to Circuit Paul Ricard, and she THICK. I’m talking wide — 12 meters wide. CPR (what an abbreviation) also boasts a healthy mix of slow and fast turns, making the track super popular for test races.

• First Impression Rose: Any Bachelor fans out there? Well, I'd be handing out my rose to Lewis Hamilton. Hear me out… Mercedes has been on the uptick the last few weeks. And I think today is the day we see Hamilton steal the win from Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.

• The Dark Horse: The WEATHER. If you haven’t been outside recently, let me tell you something. It’s hotter than the devil’s balls. This means that tires will get softer faster, which will hurt some, help others (cough cough, MERCEDES).

• The Significance: Have you noticed how we call all F1 races ‘Grand Prixes’? Well, madames, that French nomenclature really demonstrates the country’s influence on F1 culture. However, this might be the last race in France for the forseeable future, given the addition of more ‘hot-topic’ courses next year in Las Vegas and Miami.

Like can we just admit Paul Ricard is an absolute SNACK.

Must Watch This Week

Friday

• 8:00pm ET, San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB

Saturday

• 6:00pm ET, Paddy Pimblett vs. Jordan Leavit, UFC

Sunday

• 9:00am ET, French Grand Prix, F1

Time Out for the Tea

Berrettini apologizes after post for LeBron James

• Matteo Berrettini, Italian tennis star, posted a photo of LeBron James with two emojis — 🦍 and 👑. Fans exploded over the post, perceiving the emojis as racist towards James. Berrettini later deleted the post and issued an apology.

Comeback szn for Gronk?

• Rob Gronkowski, longtime NFL star, announced his retirement a few weeks back. His girlfriend, Camille Kostek, doesn’t believe that’s a forever kind of deal, though. In a recent Sports Illustrated Swimsuit interview, when asked if Rob will stay retired, she responded that she never thought it was forever. We shall see, sports fans.