Jul 16, 2023
Every week, it seems, new names show up in the world of sports, and here are just a few of them:
— Elly De La Cruz is Major League Baseball’s newest sensation, knocking even Shohei Ohtani from the headlines for a day or two. De La Cruz is a rookie sensation with the Cincinnati Reds who hit a home run in his second MLB game on June 7, hit for the cycle two weeks later, is one of the fastest players in baseball, plays defence like a demon and just before the all-star break, he stole second, third and home within a two-pitch sequence. He’s this year’s Ronald Acuna, Jr.
— Victor Wembanyama is the 7-foot-5 basketball star from France who was the No. 1 pick in the recent NBA draft, going to the San Antonio Spurs. Introduced to North America competition by playing in the NBA’s Summer League in Las Vegas, Wembanyama made headlines off the court when he and his security people and would-be autograph seeker Britney Spears got into a minor dustup in a crowded entrance to a Vegas casino. Wembenyama scored only nine points in his debut but then hit for 27 in his second game to confirm that, yes, he’s pretty good.
— Oliver Moore is not a household name like Connor Bedard, but Moore was also a first-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks this year. He went 19th overall and was generally regarded as the best skater available in the draft. Moore and Bedard are buddies already, and while Moore will likely play another season or two at the University of Minnesota, the Moore-Bedard combo in Chicago could play out for years like the Toews-Kane duo did for a decade in the Windy City.
— Canadian golf fans love to root for Brooke Henderson, and with good reason, but there’s a new ‘it’ player in the women’s game — American Rose Zhang. The 20-year-old played at Stanford, winning two straight NCAA individual titles, captured the 2020 U.S. women’s amateur, won her first event as a professional in June, and subsequently posted top-10s in her first two majors, the KPMG Women’s PGA and the U.S. Open. The Zhang hype is well deserved.
— Is Summer Macintosh like a fish in human form? We’ll find out for certain at this month’s world aquatic championships in Japan, as the Canadian swimmer is entered in four events — all of which she could win. The 16-year-old Toronto swimmer made a big splash on the world stage last year, winning two golds and two other medals at the world championships, and this year’s event in Japan will be the final major gathering of the planet’s best swimmers prior to next summer’s Paris Olympics. It could also be Summer’s Paris Olympics.
- Nick Canepa of The San Diego Union-Tribune, on Las Vegas being awarded the 2028 Final Four: “It wasn’t long ago the NCAA would have gone to Ukraine, played outdoors and put images of Putin on players’ singlets before placing their big deal in Southern Nevada.”
- Golf journalist Geoff Shackelford, on the eve of the Senate hearing into the PGA Tour-PIF partnership: “As the final men’s major begins its descent toward greater Liverpool, the PGA Tour’s de facto leadership will make a Senate committee case for turning the professional schedule over to some dude who likes to be called His Excellency. It’s grim.”
- Shackelford again, describing Yasir Al-Ramayyan, head of the Saudi Arabian PIF fund: “As soon as he starts talking, (he) makes most upright adults wanna dive headfirst into a snake-filled pool full of Clorox.”
- Thomas Carrieri on Twitter: “Barry Bonds was so dominant he once got internationally walked during a Home Run Derby.”
- Eamon Lynch of Golfweek.com., on the difficulty PGA Tour players are having in understanding the Tour-Saudi Arabian PIF partnership: “Trust is a precious commodity in commerce, but in the present-day PGA Tour it’s more scarce than snow in the Sahara.”
- Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, after temperatures hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit in Las Vegas, the proposed new home for the Oakland A’s: “If I played for the A's, I'd demand to play a position that would be in the shaded portion of the field.”
- RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com: “Right-handed Elks quarterback, Taylor Cornelius, completed a rarity July 13. While being sacked, he threw a TD pass with his left hand. Unfortunately, the catch and score was by a Hamilton Ti-Cat.”
- Currie again: “Victor Wembanyama is actually seven feet, three inches, in height. Tall, but well short of all the surrounding hype.”
- Headline at the onion.com: “Bears GM Focused On Drafting Players Who Can Help Justin Fields Up After Sack”
- fark.com headline after Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., won the Home Run Derby: “Like Vladdy, like Daddy.”
Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca
