Guess what?? The US Open starts today! Tune in as many of the best players in the game compete for the championship trophy in of tennis’ biggest events of the season. And to get even more in the spirit, see Serena Williams have a little fun smashing windows with tennis balls on Letterman last week. Boom!

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

Basketball

Kevin Love is officially a Cleveland Cavalier. After a wild summer in the NBA, the stars are really aligning in Cleveland. Love was traded as part of a three team trade between the Cavs, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Philadelphia 76ers that sent him to the Cavs, Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett to the TWolves. The 76ers sent Thaddeus Young to the TWolves in exchange for Alexey Shved, Luc Mbah a Moute and the 2015 first round draft pick that belonged to the Cleveland Cavaliers on behalf of the Miami Heat. Yes, that’s slightly complicated…but long story short, the Cavs are going to be very very good next season.

Coach K and Team USA has selected its 12-man roster that will compete for a championship at the FIBA World Cup in Spain. After two exhibition games in New York’s Madison Square Garden this past week against the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, the United States cut Damian Lillard, Kyle Korver, Chandler Parsons and Gordon Hayward from the team. The final roster includes: Kyrie Irving, Stephen Curry, Derrick Rose, Klay Thompson, DeMar DeRozan, James Harden, Rudy Gay, Kenneth Faried, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Andrew Drummond and Mason Plumlee. Games begin August 30th and will go until September 14th.

2014 MVP Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder has a big decision to make regarding sponsorship. Under Armour has reportedly offered KD a deal roughly worth between $265-$285 million dollars over a 10 year period. Durant is currently represented by Nike but has the opportunity to sign his next contract with UA. What will he do? It likely depends on whether or not Nike will match the deal.

Baseball

The Little League World Series concluded Sunday afternoon as Illinois took on South Korea in the championship game. After building an early lead, South Korea defeated Illinois 8-4 to claim the championship title. Congrats to South Korea and to all the amazing kids who played in this year’s tournament!

Justin Verlander got his 11th win of the season as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night. It’s a big win for both Verlander, who has struggled at times this season, and the Tigers, who are aiming to make some noise this October.

22 year old Manny Machado is officially done for the season. The Baltimore Orioles star third baseman will have knee surgery after re-injuring his right knee on August 11th against the New York Yankees. It’s a tough loss for the O’s who are competing for a division title. Did we mention it’s been 17 years since they last won one? They currently lead the AL East.

Some of MLB’s top all-stars have committed to play in November as part of the “All-Star Series” against Japan ‘s national team. Yasiel Puig, Robinson Cano, Albert Pujols, Adam Jones, and more of baseball’s best will travel to Japan after the season for the 5-game series. It’s the 11th “All-Star Series” that first began in 2006.

Football

Sadly, it’s more bad luck for Sam Bradford of the St. Louis Rams. The quarterback is out for the season after suffering a torn ACL on his left knee. The injury occurred Saturday night in a preseason game against the Cleveland Browns and it’s the same injury that kept Bradford out all last season. In other injury news, Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers suffered a hairline fracture in his rib during this past Friday’s game against the New England Patriots. He will sit out of the final preseason game on Thursday, but Coach Ron Rivera is hopeful he will be ready to go by the season opener in early September.

Saturday’s game between the Browns and Rams also featured two of the most talked about rookies in Michael Sam and Johnny Manziel. There’s really nothing too interesting to report… well, except for that moment when Sam sacked Johnny Football with roughly 11 minutes left in the game and then broke out Mr. Football’s famous celebration money sign. Until next time.

The Denver Broncos’ Wes Welker left Saturday night’s game against the Houston Texans with a concussion after a hit by Texans safety D.J. Swearinger. It’s reportedly the third concussion in less than 10 months for Welker, once again raising concerns over head injuries in the NFL.

The Miami Dolphins are bringing a familiar face back to their organization. That’s right, former star quarterback Dan Marino will return to the team in a new role as a team advisor.

Other

In  Tennis, the US Open kicks off today in New York and will run through September 8th. Be sure to check out when all of your favorites play here. Of note, Rafael Nadal will not be playing in this year’s Open after he withdrew due to a wrist injury.

And the winner of the PGA Tour at the Barclays is Hunter Mahan. He sealed the victory with a birdie and it’s his first win in 48 golf tournaments.

It’s been a tough start to the Premier League season for Manchester United. After finishing Sunday’s match against Sunderland in a draw, Man-U has yet to win their first game. What will they do? Rumor has it, they’re making moves to add Angel Di Maria to the roster. Will this help? Time will tell.

Not surprisingly, the NCAA is planning on filing an appeal to the O’Bannon case ruling. The official appeal will go to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Finally, let’s talk swimming. On Saturday, 17 year old American Katie Ledecky set a world a new world record in the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle event. It’s her second world record set this week at the Pan Pacific Championships in Australia. Oh, and remember Michael Phelps? He had quite the comeback weekend at the Pan Pacific Championships himself, winning 3 gold medals in the 100 butterfly, the medley relays and the 4×200 events.

 

JUST FOR FUN

Exercise your mind
Ever wonder what it takes to be the best? Check out Nigel Richards, the best Scrabble player on earth

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Brad Kaaya
This freshman will be the Miami Hurricanes’ starting QB
It’s rare to start a true freshman, but Brad Kaaya might just have what it takes to ramp up UMiami’s football team

Little Leaguer in the Big Leagues
Mo’ne Davis is on the cover of Sports Illustrated
Rarely does an African American female athlete get the spotlight like this — and she’s only 13

Best Men
A history of the best positional groupings in the NFL
Batman has Robin, Spongebob has Patrick… these guys all have each other to lean on and share the glory with

Leading Lady
Andy Murray’s bringing a new coach to the US Open – Amélie Mauresmo
It’s very rare for a top male pro to be coached by a woman, but we’re so excited to see what she’s got!

And then, there’s Kobe
We were wondering when Kobe Bryant was going to rise back up…
China may love him, but we’ll see how much America really loves him once he returns to the Staples Center