Some housekeeping: The plan for the weekend, as we transition out of 24/7 college basketball into our summer cadence, is for no notes from me tomorrow, but notes on Sunday in preparation for the motorsports going on that day and in response to any NIT developments from tonight or tomorrow. So, not going to dig too much into the motorsports side in these, but if you’re in Austin and you want a little guide to NASCAR today, as we really kick off the sport’s weekend in town, here you go, and if you’re looking for info on F1’s race in Jeddah, well, an oil depot pretty close to the track got attacked today (Yemen’s Houthi rebels took credit for the attack, which started a blaze, which sent smoke very visibly into the air above F1 practice), but they’re going ahead with the show. You play games with oppressive dictators, you sign up for such things. Speaking of which:
Coach K Dodged the 2021 NIT
To refresh everyone’s memory, Duke was poised to finally make the NIT again (they made it once or twice early in Coach K’s tenure, did not go well) last year and they opted out. So if you like to praise Coach K for things, uh…why? The guy’s a coward. Moving on.
Tom Ricketts: Worse Than an Oligarch?
The Ricketts family is still trying to buy Chelsea F.C., despite not having enough money to offer Kyle Schwarber a fair salary in the 2020-21 offseason. Today, Chelsea ST (the Supporters’ Trust, evidently an “official” group of fans) voiced their concerns about the Rickettses buying the team, citing concerns about the Ricketts family’s values. This is more about political and social views than how the Ricketts have run the Cubs (and the Ricketts did win a long-awaited World Series with the Cubs, we don’t want to leave that out), but it’d be funny if Chelsea fans had done their due diligence with Cubs fans and we’d told ‘em, “Tom Ricketts is a lying sack of shit,” and they’d gone back to their buddies in England and said, “Ay, mate, sounds like Ricketts is a real wanker,” and the Supporters’ Trust had then put out a statement saying, “We don’t trust this bloody wanker.” That would’ve been funny. Alas.
Obviously, Ricketts isn’t as bad as an oligarch. But that may be a product of his environment more than his character.
Czeched Out
In other soccer news, Burnley’s Matěj Vydra will not be playing in this year’s World Cup after Sweden eliminated the Czech Republic yesterday. Vydra didn’t play—he recently dislocated his elbow, setting back his return from hernia surgery—which is obviously why they lost. Sorry to his country for that.
Jets Got Sens’d
The Senators won last night, taking the Jets down 5-2 in Winnipeg. Really broke through in the third period, with deadline acquisition Mathieu Joseph picking up his first Ottawa assist on the lead-taking goal. Next game tomorrow night, at home against the Panthers. 7:00 PM EDT, ESPN+.
Mason Ramsey: Spotify Development
Mason Ramsey had an Instagram story up today about Spotify adding a song called “Before I Knew It,” but it looks like the song was released in 2019, so I think I’m missing something. Maybe it’s that they added it to the Traditional Country playlist? It does sound pretty traditional, at least to my ear. On the pop-country side of things for sure, but doesn’t seem like it would’ve been out of place in the 90’s? I don’t know. Just my best guess. Running on fumes here, folks. Kind of like that fire in Jeddah (no casualties reported).
***
Not a lot happening on TV in our world this weekend. Tonight’s especially empty, so if you like books or things like that, maybe give ‘em a touch (or whatever it is you do with books). Tomorrow, we’d recommend the following cadence:
- 10:00 AM EDT: F1 Practice, ESPN2
- 11:00 AM EDT: NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying, FS1
- 12:00 PM EDT: F1 Qualifying, ESPN2
- 1:00 PM EDT: NASCAR Truck Series XPEL 225, FS1
- 4:30 PM EDT: NASCAR Xfinity Series Pit Boss 250, FS1
Or you could watch Spring Training games. Still waiting on our first Joe Kelly game appearance. Either way, see you Sunday morning. If someone asks you to watch the NCA* *********t, take a lesson from Coach K and avoid it.
