There are five big events happening this week in sports. The Wimbledon finals are this weekend, the European Soccer Championship final is Sunday, the NBA Finals will continue, the Major League Baseball All-Star game will be Tuesday, and the Tampa Bay Lightning won their second Stanley Cup in a row, this time over the Montréal Canadiens.
Novak Djokovic is a huge favorite to win another grand slam tennis tournament. The semifinals are Friday, then the final is Sunday. He is the only man left in the field who has won a major championship. Roger Federer lost in the quarterfinals in straight sets. That was a bit of a surprise. After the match, there was some talk of Federer retiring. I hope this is not true. My hope is that he comes back for one more year to all the majors so everyone can say farewell to him. On the women’s side, they are down to the final between No. 1 seed Ashleigh Barty from Australia and Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic. I hope both the men’s and women's matches are competitive. Tennis is a lot of fun to watch when the competition is tight.
In the NBA Finals, the Phoenix Suns won game 1. I expect this series to go six or seven games. I bet they’re happy that basketball is an indoor sport so they don’t have to play in the 110-degree heat in Phoenix right now!
The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Montréal Canadiens 4-1 in the Stanley Cup finals to continue the City of Tampa's championship streak. I just hope the Flyers can make the playoffs next year. I had higher hopes for them, but this was a season that had a lot of things to make for a lot of unpredictability.
The MLB All-Star game will be played Tuesday in Colorado. The Phillies have two players representing them in the game, Zack Wheeler and JT Realmuto. I hope they make a good showing and enjoy the experience. With how unpredictable the Phillies are from day to day, they are probably looking forward to the break from all that nonsense.
I will actually be watching the home run derby Monday to see how Angels pitcher/designated hitter fShohei Ohtani does in the competition. This is a first! I hope he does really well.
Last, but certainly not least, on Sunday afternoon, England and Italy will battle it out for the European Football Championship. Italy has been the most consistent team throughout the tournament, but England gets to play at home at Wembley Stadium. England has not won any of the main international tournaments since the 1966 World Cup. I hope they break this losing streak.
Have a good weekend everyone. Thankfully Elsa will just be a rain event for one night and move on out to let us enjoy summer.
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
