Happy Tuesday! We hope you enjoyed an excellent long sports weekend and are ready for tonight’s matchup between Venus and Serena. Get hyped with the latest Beats By Dre commercial for Serena this morning!
QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK
College Football
College football kicked off this weekend with a number of great games, including the reigning champion Ohio State Buckeyes’ win over the Virginia Tech Hokies, 42-24. College football is officially back in action. Get ready!
MLB
The New York Mets announced that they might limit star pitcher Matt Harvey as September baseball begins to heat up in order to protect his health. Harvey will be pitching on Tuesday against the Nats in Washington as part of their series.
Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins may have to sit out the rest of the season as he struggles to recover from a broken hand.
The Atlanta Braves ended their losing streak at 12 after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday night.
NFL
In case you missed it, Judge Richard Berman ruled in Tom Brady’s favor over the NFL last week. This means that his 4-game suspension will be overturned although it is expected that NFL will file an official appeal. Here is a helpful legal breakdown of the decision.
The New York Giants will meet with Jason Pierre-Paul for the first time since the July 4th fireworks accident that left him with an injured hand. JPP is expected to go in for a physical on Monday with the team.
Tennis
Serena Williams and Venus Williams will face off tonight night in the U.S. Open quarterfinals. This is not just a big match because they are sisters, but also because with a win, Serena is one step closer to a grand slam.
On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marin Cilic advanced to the quarterfinals after winning their matches over the weekend.
However, Andy Murray is out of the Open after losing to Kevin Anderson on Sunday night in the 4th round. It’s a disappointing early exit for the British star.
Soccer
The European Championship Qualifying matches started up again on Thursday. The matches have been played throughout the past year (September ’14 – October ’15), with 53 nations split into groups of 5 or 6 teams. The group winners, runners-up, and the best third placed side will qualify for the final tournament. In addition, the 8 remaining third place teams among the groups will participate in playoffs to determine the last 4 final tournament qualifiers.
Of note during these qualifying matches, Germany defeated Scotland 3-2, which left Scotland in a precarious position for the Euro 2016 playoffs. The Republic of Ireland was able to keep their qualification dreams alive after they earned a second-half goal over Georgia, and finished the match 1-0. In addition, the Netherlands are on the brink of elimination after a 3-0 loss to Turkey.
In the upcoming month of October, France (the host country) will join 23 final tournament qualifiers, where the teams will be put into 6 groups of 4 teams to continue the competition. Stay tuned!
Also upcoming, USA will play Brazil in an international friendly tomorrow at 8:40 pm EST.
Other
Congrats to Tony Parker of France (and of the San Antonio Spurs) who claimed the all-time leading scoring title in European championship history on Monday.
JUST FOR FUN
Grumpy Cat
The famous cat ‘throws’ out the first pitch at the Arizona Diamondbacks’ game
STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE
Beyond Sport Awards 2015
The shortlist features projects that use sport for positive social change
We’re so impressed by all of the initiatives on the short list – looking forward to seeing the winners at the Beyond Sport Summit!
50th Anniversary
The 2015 All-Africa Games: Brazzaville
The games were first held 50 years ago in Brazzaville, Congo, and feature over 50 nations
New Ideas
A philosophy of positive reinforcement
Pete Carroll is unique in the way he supports and nurtures his players
The SportsQuip 