Willson Contreras returned to Wrigley Field last night and reactions were mixed all around. On the Cubs side, fans both cheered and booed him. On the Contreras side, Willson both thanked and taunted the fans. On the Cardinals side, St. Louis both benched Contreras and kept playing him.
Personally, obviously (because I like the Cubs and like Contreras), I think Cubs fans handled it well and so did Contreras. I have no idea what the Cardinals are doing, but Oli Marmol’s strategy of shitting all over his players all the time is hilarious and I appreciate that about him. I also appreciate Adam Wainwright telling the media that Contreras has never been loved, which made the whole thing even more belittling for the catcher. Credit to Willson Contreras: the Cardinals hate him, half the Cubs fans hate him, and he appears completely unfazed.
The thing about Willson Contreras is not that he’s never been loved. The thing about Willson Contreras is that the man knows how to love himself. He brings the confidence, he brings it day in and day out, he brings it whether it’s warranted or not. The man is fearless. The man is a combination of Yasiel Puig’s cannonball physicality and Yadier Molina’s complete absence of a grasp on reality. I love Willson Contreras, and I hope he hits one onto Waveland tonight, and I hope Oli Marmol benches him for missing second base on his home run trot because he’s flexing at the bleachers.
Joe Kelly Has Dad Strength
The American League Central is always fucked, mostly stemming from demographics, but it’s especially fucked right now. Joe Kelly came back from the paternity list on Friday and immediately struck out three of the four Reds he faced, going full Joseph McCarthy on their asses except these Reds were real and also Joe Kelly won the confrontation. The father of four might be miles away from his family this summer, but he’s on the verge of an historic Joe Kelly season. Tune in. He’s going to keep striking dudes out, and he’s going to keep not walking dudes (10:1 K:BB ratio so far, haters), and he’s going to get traded to a contender at the deadline and that team is going to win the World Series, which will likely make Joe Kelly one of the only two active ballplayers with three rings, and possibly the only one, depending which team gets him and whether Madison Bumgarner retires.
NASCAR Won
The Kentucky Derby was great, the F1 race was silly (the drivers don’t like it when it’s hot outside) but surprisingly good (the further back they make Max Verstappen start, the higher the chance there’s anything remotely interesting about it), but the NASCAR weekend was awesome. The race at Kansas—a place we were wanting off the schedule under the old car—was already spectacular, and then Denny Hamlin wrecked Kyle Larson on the last lap for the win, and then two other dudes got in a physical fight, with Ross Chastain punching an already punchable but especially punchable right now (he got a weird haircut) Noah Gragson face after warning Gragson to stop grabbing him and shaking him around.
Then!
The ratings came out today, and despite being on cable instead of network television, the NASCAR race was watched by more people than the F1 race.
F1 is growing, and this is great, but NASCAR is so much bigger than F1. Even with three times as many races on American soil to dilute the attention, NASCAR gets more viewers than F1’s current premier American event (because unlike Austin and Vegas, Miami doesn’t compete with football).
Demographics are not in NASCAR’s favor. But the base is big, and unlike F1, it has a healthy and hearty history in America. This isn’t to pit the two fully against one another—growth in motorsports in America should lift all ships—but it’s kind of nice, given how big of douchebags certain types of F1 fans are towards good ol’ stock car racing.
JJ Watt Finally Got a Ring
Four months after hanging up his spikes, JJ Watt finally won a championship, winning *the* Championship yesterday with Burnley. He’s been pouring pints in town, he’s been joyously celebrating, he took a picture with Ashley Barnes which was a hilarious juxtaposition because Ashley Barnes has spent his career shithousing and JJ Watt spent his career posting unironic workout hype videos. The whole thing is very fun. JJ Watt *should* be a good fit for Burnley—Burnley has a lot of Wisconsin vibes, and I’m talking about the state not the university but the two are of course similar—but he isn’t, and it makes the whole thing even better. I don’t think JJ Watt is capable of really understanding Burnley, and I also think he authentically loves Burnley, and this delights me. What a fun thing.
The Weeknd Also Wants to Buy the Senators
I hate The Weeknd. Nothing against him personally, but Can’t Feel My Face was annoying as fuck and the spelling of his stage name is exhausting to type out even twice. Still, he recognizes the value of the Ottawa Senators, and who am I to let hate stand in the way of pointing out that everyone in the world wants a piece of the Ottawa Senators right now? Snoop Dogg. Ryan Reynolds. The Weeknd. Maple Leafs fans, who desperately wish they’d been allowed by fate to be Sens fans instead. The Ottawa Senators are the hottest team in the civilized parts of Canada (that’s a compliment to Edmonton, for the record, we’re Plains People here at The Barking Crow). Every pop culture industry is taking notice.
NIT History Lesson: BYU vs. Fresno State, 1994
So there’s a Twitter account named College Basketball Classics, and it tweets out highlights of old college basketball games, and last night it tweeted out highlights of the BYU/Fresno State second round game from 1994, and I was confused as to why. Neither team won that NIT. Fresno State gave up 115 points the next round and lost to the team that lost to the team that lost the Championship (K-State lost to Vanderbilt lost to Villanova). It was a great game, a fourth matchup of the season between WAC rivals decided in the final moments, but a College Basketball Classic?
The lesson, of course, is that every NIT game is a College Basketball Classic. The other lesson? More people are realizing this by the day. Keep up the good work, anonymous tweeter. Give me more NIT second round games of yesteryear.
