1st Down: Cristiano Ronaldo has had a roller coaster of a summer, and it appears that Wednesday is the latest chapter in the saga, with news emerging that the club will be allowing the Portuguese superstar to leave the club after plenty of posturing that he would be staying put. The 37 year-old has not looked happy with life at Old Trafford under new manager Erik ten Hag, and there is now an opportunity for him to leave as long as he can find a club to take him. A lot of clubs are linked with him, but he is expensive, and that narrows the field greatly. Keep your eyes posted on this one…
2nd Down: The Donovan Mitchell trade talks are, apparently, back on again between the Utah Jazz and the New York Knicks. Sources indicate the two teams have resumed discussions after taking several weeks off from the proceedings. Despite the return to the negotiating table, however, there doesn’t appear to be any momentum behind a deal happening anytime soon, with the ‘package’ not being up to Utah’s liking thus far. Charlotte and Washington are other reported suitors, while Miami is also said to have interest. New York, though, seem the most likely.
3rd Down: Rodolfo Castro found himself at the center of scrutiny and mockery last week when his cell phone fell out of his pocket as he slid into third base during the Pittsburgh Pirates’ game with the Boston Red Sox. He will now serve a penalty, pending appeal, with Major League Baseball suspending him one game for having the phone. The league did examine his phone to make sure he was not using it for sign stealing, and they gathered no such information that it was occurring, but he still was handed a one-game suspension anyway. Castro maintains it was an innocent mistake, but you can understand why it’s important to MLB.
4th Down: Serena Williams’ supposed retirement is rapidly approaching as most assume it will happen after the US Open next month, and her play heading into it doesn’t appear to be the greatest, with her dropping to a defeat in straight sets on Tuesday in Cincinnati. To be fair, it was against world’s #13 ranked player in Emma Raducanu, but it was still a tough exit in the first round by a 6-4, 6-0 drubbing. Williams will look to go out on a high in New York next month, but doing so will require her to fight off age and poor form.
