The Sport Superlatives - Issue No. 30

July 26, 2024

🏆 The Superlatives 🏆

The Flag Bearers: Coco Gauff & LeBron James

Our fav tennis girlie, Coco, stays making history! In her Olympic debut, Coco has been chosen as one of the U.S. flag bearers for tonight’s opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. This makes her the first tennis player to serve as the U.S. flag bearer in the Olympics. She will be joined by fellow U.S. flag bearer, NBA’s LeBron James, in what is likely his final run in the Olympics. Bronny is also the first basketball player to have the honor of bearing the flag during the opening ceremony. Cheers to firsts, lasts, and everything in between!   

The Bearer of Bad News: the NBA

On Wednesday, the NBA announced its decision to enter a long-term media partnership with Amazon. This deal marks the end of an era as it means that TNT is no longer a media partner of the NBA after their last failed attempt to match Amazon’s offer. It also means that at the end of the 2024-2025 NBA season, the beloved show ‘Inside the NBA’ with fan favorites Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson Jr. will have come to the end of the road. This feels like a gut punch to fans after they attempted to save the show with the hashtag #KeepNBAonTV… but, alas, it didn’t work. It's a sad day for sports TV and fans for sure. 

🏀 Half-steppin’ to Paris:  So we’ve got good news, and we’ve got bad news…which do you want first? The good news is the USA Men’s Basketball Team went 5-0 in their exhibition games (which is a better start than the last Olympic team). The bad news? Well, those last two games against South Sudan and Germany were a bit too close for comfort. The USA beat South Sudan by 1 point and relied on their oldest player, his Highness King James, to get them out of trouble. Same ish, different day was the story of their narrow win over Germany.

King James came to the rescue in the last minutes. Now, we know these are exhibitions, so we’re not gonna overreact…but… GET IT TOGETHER! LeBron is supposed to be guiding y’all…not carrying y'all on his 39-year-old back to the promised land. But also, I guess this solves that debate about who would take the last shot on a team full of stars…huh? That’s all.

We look forward to watching them play in their first group-round matchup against Serbia on July 28th at 11:15 am. 

🏀 ALL-Stars Beating ALL the Records: The WNBA All-Star weekend has come and gone. Unlike the major failure that was MLB All-Star weekend, the WNBA All-Star game, which was team WNBA vs. Team USA, was watched by a record-breaking 3.44 million people. Team WNBA won the showcase 117-109, giving Team USA a good warm-up before the Olympics. 

Also, the weekend saw more history made when Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray won both the Skills contest and the three-point contest…talk about coming for it ALL…in a good way. In winning both contests, Gray took home 115,150 extra buckeroos, which is more than half (around 62%, to be exact…but why are you counting her pockets?) of her WNBA salary. Congrats to her, and good luck to the USA Women’s team, who will play their first match on July 29 vs. Japan at 3 pm.

⚽ Kickin’ into High Gear: While you were going on about your regularly scheduled program, the Olympic soccer (or..uh, football?) matches have already begun. Let’s play another game of good news and bad news, shall we? Good news: the US Ladies won in their matchup against Zambia, 3-0. With an opening goal scored by Trinity Rodman and two quick goals scored by Mallory Swanson, the ladies were in beast mode.

You go, girls! Bad news? The US men lost their opening match against France 0-3…BOOO BOYS! This is all just further evidence to support the age-old hypothesis: “Girls rule, and boys drool.”  But really, a loss to the host team after a 16-year hiatus from the Olympics is definitely a rough start. Hopefully, the old adage “It’s not how you start, but how you finish” is a mantra posted in their lockers, sewn into their jerseys, and embedded in their brains.

🏈 Imma Sit This One Out: Green Bay’s QB Jordan Love has decided to sit out of training camp until his contract extension has been finalized. We love a king who knows his worth! At the moment, Spotrac has the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league, currently averaging between $52-$55M. Jordan is expected to top those figures with his new contract. While the Packers front office has said, the deal is almost complete… Love is standing ten toes down until the negotiations are wrapped up. Meanwhile… Packers fans are waiting with bated breath, hoping the Packers don’t fumble their star QB. 

🏈 They Say Blondes Have More Fun: Did Eminem suddenly become a Bengals fan?? Oh wait, no, that’s just Cincinnati Bengals’ QB Joe Burrow. The QB shocked fans and reporters when he popped up at training camp this week with his new blonde buzzcut. It’s giving: I need some attention. When asked what motivated him to make the change, he told reporters he was bored. Guess the offseason got to him… somebody help this man find a hobby! 

⚽ The Canadian James Bond: Between this and the Drake drama, Canada just keeps taking Ls. Canada’s women’s soccer coach, Bev Priestman, has been excused from her duties at the Olympics. Two assistant coaches were immediately told to pack it up, and coach Bev decided to fly the coup after Canada was caught, allegedly using drones to spy on the competition (maybe the drones had maple leaves on them?).

Here, we thought Canadians were supposed to be the nice ones, eh? But all is fair in love and basketball… We mean soccer… We mean football. Per the Canadian Olympic Committee, assistant coach Andy Spence will now lead the team as they defend their title as gold medalists. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, indeed.

Your sports term of the week is: Opening Ceremony

IRL Example: Watch the 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony today on NBC/ Peacock. Coverage starts at 12 p.m. ET, and the ceremony begins at 1:30 p.m. ET.

As we get ready to cheer on Team USA, we can’t help but reflect… on our closet and what we will be wearing to the Opening Ceremony watch party we will be attending later.

Well, we know what Team USA will be wearing! For the ninth time, American brand Ralph Lauren will be dressing the nation’s best athletes at the open and close of the Olympics. The brand has chosen to deck the crew in blue blazers, striped oxford button-down shirts, and classic blue jeans.

This look and the one chosen for the closing ceremony use a palette of… you guessed it, red, white and blue! We’re getting old-school Americana vibes with a dash of prep while the closing ceremony look is giving… American race car driver?

Anywho… you can purchase both the opening and closing ceremony looks from Ralph Lauren along with their entire Team USA collection here. They also have options that allow you to customize a few pieces! 

Now, if you’re like us and love the slight country look to rep Team USA; Simone Biles has given you a blueprint: 

Pair the Skims top she’s rocking with a pair of blue jean shorts. You can find the shirt here:

We, personally, can’t think of anything that screams Americana more than a good pair of Levi’s (cue Beyonce Levii’s)

Finish the look with these white cowboy boots made by Betsey Johnson.

Regardless of what you wear, we hope you tune in tonight to celebrate the start of this amazing global event. In a world that has many terrible things happening that cannot and should not be ignored, it is important to celebrate the beautiful diversity of this world and to remind ourselves that we can come together in peace for a greater cause. Now, it’s sports, but who knows what we can accomplish together next! 

Do you love sports? Want to find a way to fit more sports into your week? We’ve got you. From keeping up with your work colleagues to impressing hot dates, our newsletter aims to keep you in the know regardless of your fandom level or the reason. That’s your business, sis!

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