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Red, White, Blue, and Gold
Ben Remis
July 29, 2024
Good Morning! Today is Monday, July 29. Here’s what happened over the weekend in the world of sports.
OLYMPICS
I already feel bad about all the events and great moments that aren’t making it into The Remix. That being said, it’s time to jump into our Olympics opening weekend recap:
The first medal won by the USA came in synchronized diving, as the duo known as “Cook n Bacon” took home silver. You can see how much it means to Kassidy Cook, Sarah Bacon, and their families.
Simone Biles battled a leg injury but led a dominant US team in qualifying for the women’s gymnastics finals. The top finishers were all Americans, as Biles, Suni Lee, and Jordan Chiles went 1-2-3. Biles and Lee will each have a chance to win their second all-around gold medal.
Kevin Durant hadn’t played a game all summer for Team USA basketball. Naturally, he went 8-8 shooting in the first half of a comfortable American victory over Serbia. Good for Team USA, but the matchup we all really want to see is the most confident man on the planet, Anthony Edwards, against the USA Olympic table tennis team.
Kentucky med student Lee Kiefer won her second straight gold medal in fencing– Kiefer defeated fellow American Lauren Scruggs in the final. It’s the first time the USA has gone 1-2 in the women’s individual foil.
In the pool:
Katie Ledecky settled for bronze in the 400-meter freestyle, where Australian and world-record holder Ariarne Titmus won gold. Don’t worry, Ledecky has plenty of swims still scheduled for Paris.
The US 4×100 freestyle relay team won America’s first gold medal of the games. It was a thrilling race, and afterwards Olympic veteran Caeleb Dressel got to celebrate the moment his family.
Going into the women’s 100-meter butterfly, Americans Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh were the two favorites for the gold medal. The two swimmers finished first and second, with Huske taking the win and earning her first gold medal.
Everyone’s favorite new Olympian is Bob the Cap Catcher, who displayed a lot of style when he went into the pool to retrieve a fallen swimming cap.
Around the world:
A superstar team of different generations, Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz won their first doubles match. The duo also produced some incredible photos.
Fiji men’s rugby had never lost a game at the Olympics… until they were upset in the gold medal round against France.
French swimmer Leo Marchand became the darling of the host country, winning the gold medal and setting an Olympic record in the 400-meter individual medley.
MLB
So many games, so many highlights! Let’s check in on a busy weekend in the world of baseball:
The two series of the weekend were Yankees-Red Sox and Dodgers-Astros. In Boston, you had players flipping over outfield walls and slugger Aaron Judge doing his usual thing. New York won two of three crazy games. In Houston, an Astros legend frowned when his son hit a homer, Shohei Ohtani hit a ball to the moon, and the Astros took a pivotal game two on a walk-off. A lot of very entertaining baseball!
St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt hit a home run for this 2,000th career hit. TRIVIA QUESTION: Goldy is one of five active players who have reached the 2,000 hit milestone– can you name the other four? The answers are at the end of today’s issue…
Two San Francisco Giants had great weekends– pitcher Blake Snell had an incredible 15 strikeouts in one game, and rookie Tyler Fitzgerald continued his insane power surge at the plate.
Marlins rookie Xavier Edwards not only hit his first major league home run, he hit for the cycle! A great day for the young ballplayer.
The MLB trade deadline is at 6 PM EST today, but the wheeling and dealing began over the weekend. Here are the biggest deals so far (click the links for full details of each trade):
The Phillies made a few deals– first, they traded reliever Seranthony Dominguez and Christian Pache to the Orioles for outfielder Austin Hays. Then, the Phils picked up Angels closer Carlos Estevez to bolster the bullpen. Philadelphia is all-in.
Tampa Bay is holding a bit of a firesale. After sending Randy Arozarena to the Mariners last Thursday, the Rays dealt starter Zach Eflin to the Orioles and a slew of relievers to various other clubs. The most curious trade of the weekend came between the Rays and the Chicago Cubs, as Tampa sent Chicago Isaac Paredes for Christopher Morel and some top-end prospects. Time will tell how that one pans out for both teams.
Of course, the New York Yankees landed a big fish, too. The Yanks traded for Miami Marlins star Jazz Chisholm who immediately contributed in a rivalry game against the Red Sox.
Finally, the New York Mets acquired outfielder Jesse Winker from the Nationals. A sneaky good pickup for a team playing very inspired baseball.
NOTEWORTHY NEWS
A couple NFL quarterbacks made a lot of money over the weekend. The Dolphins signed Tua Tagovailoa to a four-year, $212.4 million extension, and the Packers signed Jordan Love to a four-year, $220 million deal of his own. In total, quarterbacks drafted in 2020 have now made over a billion dollars.
On Saturday, McKenna Whitham became the youngest professional soccer player in American history, debuting just one day after her 14th birthday. She beats the record set just 11 days ago by another 14-year old, Caden Sullivan.
NFL fans are aware of RedZone, the commercial-free channel that never misses a highlight on Sundays during football season. Well, Peacock has brought us GoldZone, a whip-around channel for the Olympics that never misses a moment. And who else but RedZone’s own Andrew Siciliano and Scott Hanson would host this incredible channel? I can’t recommend this channel enough– it’s a great way to watch a lot of events at once.
Not sure if this counts as news, but in case anyone ever asks you to explain golf, you should just show them Hayden Buckley’s incredible two-hole stretch from last weekend’s PGA tour event. All the ups and all the downs, for everyone to see.
TOP PLAYS OF THE WEEKEND
10: Have you ever seen a buzzer-beater in handball? Croatia beat Japan on this last-second shot.
8: Alexia Putellas with a loooong free kick goal for the Spanish women’s soccer team. Spain won this game 1-0.
7: Two plays in one! Brice Turang dives both ways to rob back-to-back batters of hits.
6: We’ve got badminton highlights in top plays! Our top play comes from Team USA, who win a great doubles rally. And if you really want to get in the Olympic spirit, you can watch another point from this match with commentary from Snoop Dogg.
5: An outside the box stoppage time winner to beat Brazil? The Japanese women’s soccer team earned their spot in top plays with the goal of the games so far.
3: Elly De La Cruz continues to do crazy things during baseball games. I don’t really understand how he caught this one.
In a weekend full of athletic accomplishment, the NUMBER ONE moment from the weekend is this moving performance from Celine Dion at the Opening Ceremony…
The beauty of song. The power of sports. The magic of of the Olympic Games.
TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)
MLB: Pirates @ Astros, 8:10 PM
A lot of great matchups between potential playoff teams, but on a busy day where might only catch one game, the choice has to be Paul Skenes. How will the Pirates rookie rebound after his first career loss?
OLYMPICS: Today’s action started with badminton at 2:30 AM– you could turn on the TV and start watching right now!
If you’re looking for a mixture of history, Team USA, and chances to win medals, you’ve come to the right place: here are The Remix top five events of the day:
TENNIS: Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal, not before 7:00 AM
USA VOLLEYBALL: Men’s Beach at 10 AM, Women’s Beach at 4 PM, Women’s Indoor at 5 PM
SKATEBOARDING: Men’s Final, 10 AM
GYMNASTICS: Men’s Team Final, 11:30 AM
SWIMMING: A lot of exciting medal events, beginning at 2:30 PM
Reminder- check out the Olympics app for a complete schedule of events! And if you aren’t sure what to watch, check out GoldZone on Peacock.
TRIVIA ANSWER: In addition to Goldschmidt, Freddie Freeman, Jose Altuve, Joey Votto, and Andrew McCutchen are the five active MLB players with 2,000 hits.
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