The World of Sports

New on Sports Illustrated: Report: Spectator Who Caused Tour de France Crash Arrested

<a href="https://www.si.com/more-sports/2021/06/30/tour-de-france-fan-crash-arrest">
<p class="subtitle">The spectator who held a banner along the side of the road at the Tour de France on Saturday and caused a major collision has reportedly been arrested.</p>
<p>The spectator who held a banner along the side of the road at the Tour de France on Saturday that made contact with cyclist Tony Martin and caused a major collision has been arrested,</p>
</a><a href="https://www.rtl.fr/actu/justice-faits-divers/chute-dans-le-tour-de-france-la-spectatrice-responsable-placee-en-garde-a-vue-7900050886">according to the French newspaper <em>RTL</em>.</a>
<p>The accident happened during the first of the race’s 21 stages, in the municipality of Saint-Cadou. Martin's fall and the subsequent fall of dozens of other riders held up the race for several minutes. </p>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/PolicyRelevant/status/1408792736313090048"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<p>Over the weekend, Tour de France deputy director Pierre-Yves Thouault told the <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210626-spectator-to-be-sued-after-tour-de-france-crash">AFP news agency</a> they plan to sue the woman "so that the tiny minority of people who do this don't spoil the show for everyone. "</p>
<p>The <a href="https://twitter.com/LeTour/status/1408796177777278979?s=20">Tour also took to Twitter to say:</a> "We're glad to have the public on the side of the road on the #TDF2021. But for the Tour to be a success, respect the safety of the riders! Don't risk everything for a photo or to get on television!"</p>
<p>Wednesday marks the fifth stage in the 21-stage, 23-day event.</p>

New on Sports Illustrated: Report: Spectator Who Caused Tour de France Crash Arrested

The spectator who held a banner along the side of the road at the Tour de France on Saturday and caused a major collision has reportedly be...

New on Sports Illustrated: Tom Brady Lands Endorsement Deal With Subway, Which He Wouldn’t Eat in a Million Years

<a href="https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2021/06/30/tom-brady-subway-sandwiches-endorsement-deal">
<p class="subtitle">Subway sandwiches aren’t part of the TB12 method.</p>
<h2>Footlong BMT, hold the nightshades</h2>
<p>Although Tom Brady’s dietary philosophy could generally be described as “eat fresh,” anyone familiar with his incredibly restrictive TB12 diet knows he wouldn’t be caught dead in a Subway. And yet,</p>
</a><a href="https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/SB-Blogs/Newsletter-Marketing/2021/06/29.aspx">according to Terry Lefton of <em>Sports Business Journal</em></a>, Brady has signed on to be the newest pitchman for the sandwich chain.
<p>Brady has already shot a Subway ad, which is expected to debut in about a month, Lefton reports, but it won’t feature him holding a sandwich.</p>
<p>Bringing the notoriously health-conscious Brady on board makes sense for Subway as it tries to rebuild its image as a healthier alternative to other fast food. The chain is dealing with a couple of unsavory controversies over the content of its food. A <em>New York Times</em> analysis earlier this month found that Subway’s tuna <a href="https://www.cnet.com/how-to/subway-tuna-sandwich-dna-results-the-controversy-explained/">contains “no amplifiable tuna DNA”</a> and Ireland’s Supreme Court ruled last year that its loaves <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/10/03/919831116/irish-court-rules-subway-bread-is-not-real-bread">contain too much sugar to be legally considered bread</a>.</p>
<p>Brady obviously isn’t going into Subway and ordering a footlong maybe-not-tuna on toasted not-legally-bread. Lefton even cited a source as claiming that Brady “has never been inside a Subway.”</p>
<p>It would be one thing for Brady to appear in an ad for a fast food joint he’s never even been to, but Brady’s actual history with Subway makes this situation even funnier. Brady used to love Subway, but now he can’t even stomach the thought of it.</p>
<p>Brady appeared <a href="https://www.happyscribe.com/public/armchair-expert-with-dax-shepard/tom-brady">on actor Dax Shepard’s podcast <em>Armchair Expert</em></a> in September to promote his TB12 Method and talked about how, in college, he would go to Subway and “eat like 18 inches of sandwich, of meatball.”</p>
<p>“And at the time, if I went healthy, I was going only one slice of cheese all the way across instead of two slices,” he said.</p>
<p>Later in the episode, Brady walked through his dietary evolution and how he came to embrace his current diet.</p>
<p>“Over time, what I’ve noticed is that my taste buds change,” Brady said. “I went from, I loved Subway and Burger King and all those types of things, to now, it’s like, the thought of that is like no way! No way!”</p>
<p>Somehow I doubt that the tagline of Brady’s commercial will be “Subway: No way!”</p>
<h2>The best of SI</h2>
<p>How Omaha <a href="https://www.si.com/college/2021/06/29/how-omaha-became-college-world-series-host">became the home of the College World Series</a>. ... The Hawks <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2021/06/30/hawks-blowout-bucks-in-game-4">showed off their depth in beating the Bucks without Trae Young</a>. ... Who helped and hurt <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2021/06/29/nba-draft-combine-prospects-stock-watch">their stock at the NBA combine</a>? ... Here is Jon Wertheim on the <a href="https://www.si.com/tennis/2021/06/29/serena-williams-retires-wimbledon-injury">unfortunate injury that forced Serena Williams to pull out of Wimbledon</a>. </p>
<h2>Around the sports world</h2>
<p>ESPN has announced its <a href="https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/nhl-on-espn-coverage-team-announced.html">full roster of broadcasters for its new NHL package</a>. ... British cyclist Mark Cavendish, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jun/29/mark-cavendish-cements-comeback-with-emotional-win-at-tour-de-france-cycling">whose career was in doubt after being diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus, won a stage at the Tour de France</a>. ... The fan who caused the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/spectator-who-caused-tour-de-france-crash-arrested-bfm-tv-2021-06-30/">big Tour de France crash has been located and arrested</a>. ... Meet the <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/the-marlins-fan-in-finland">biggest (probably the only, if we’re being honest) Marlins fan in Finland</a>. </p>
<h3>How many more stars are going to go down before the playoffs end?</h3>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/bleacherreport/status/1410055472556625923"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h3>It was that kind of night for the Hawks</h3>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/nbaontnt/status/1410064847350362112"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h3>Whoops</h3>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1410023873609834499"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h3>Every no-hit bid has that clutch defensive play</h3>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/mlb/status/1410067511488520196"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h3>That’s three homers in two games at Yankee Stadium for Ohtani, and he’s going to hit for himself when he pitches on Wednesday</h3>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RMUp1ahmrqk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<h3>Give me the Ohtani Cam</h3>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/joonlee/status/1410072968223498244"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h3>The only hitter hotter than Ohtani right now is Kyle Schwarber</h3>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ekNgeJGaOPc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<h3>Injuries left the Mystics with just six players available (they got blown out)</h3>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/kareemcopeland/status/1410005264137326592"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h3>He’s the first, but how many more will there be?</h3>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1409950444818997250"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h3>Larry Brown!</h3>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/garyparrishcbs/status/1410048965433868290"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h3>Refusing to allow him to answer this (totally fair) question is not the way to stop reporters from asking these questions</h3>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/DylanMickanen/status/1409959541568016390"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h3>What a grab!</h3>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/JackLuttrell/status/1409274330928889856"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h2>Not sports</h2>
<p>Ground temperatures soared <a href="https://gizmodo.com/ground-temperatures-reached-an-astounding-145-degrees-i-1847193318">as high as 145 degrees during the Northwest heat wave</a>. ... A Picasso painting and another valuable work <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/06/29/1011250907/a-greek-construction-worker-has-been-arrested-for-the-theft-of-a-picasso-masterp">were found hidden in a dry river bed, nine years after they were stolen from a museum</a>. ... A TikTok user and her friend didn’t realize <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvzdkw/tiktok-smelled-devils-breath-flower-hallucinogen-scopolamine">that the flower they couldn’t stop smelling actually contained a very powerful hallucinogen</a>. ... Rapper Pooh Sheisty was arrested after <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article252442193.html">the serial number on a $100 bill found at the scene of a robbery matched one he had posted on Instagram</a>. </p>
<h3>It somehow looks less life-like than the animated version</h3>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/DiscussingFilm/status/1409867918255525900"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<h3>I can’t decide what to think of the <em>Sopranos</em> prequel movie</h3>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rAFfeGRbWLQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<h2>A good song</h2>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EPFPDaksc_o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<p><em>Email dan.gartland@si.com with any feedback or</em> <a href="https://twitter.com/Dan_Gartland"><em>follow me on Twitter</em></a> <em>for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week.</em> <a href="https://www.si.com/tag/hot-clicks"><em>Bookmark this page</em></a> <em>to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request</em> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0KhJJa6nSLoPreU3oJpmMZ?si=jLW6kicrT0e9w5slye4SiA"><em>I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here</em></a><em>. Visit our</em> <a href="http://si.com/extra-mustard"><em>Extra Mustard page</em></a> <em>throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.</em></p>

New on Sports Illustrated: Tom Brady Lands Endorsement Deal With Subway, Which He Wouldn’t Eat in a Million Years

Subway sandwiches aren’t part of the TB12 method. Footlong BMT, hold the nightshades Although Tom Brady’s dietary philosophy could genera...

New on Sports Illustrated: Germán Márquez Loses No-Hit Bid in 9th But Achieves Something Better

<a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/06/30/marquez-loses-no-hitter-throws-maddux-the-opener">
<p class="subtitle">A Maddux—a shutout on fewer than 100 pitches—is rarer than a no-hitter, and perhaps a more intriguing feat to pull off.</p>
<div><em>View the</em></div>
original article</a> to see embedded media.
<p><em>Welcome</em> <em>to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of</em> <em>SI.com</em><em>’s MLB writers.</em></p>
<p>When Germán Márquez allowed a ninth-inning lead-off hit Tuesday—a solidly hit single to right field—he lost his bid for a no-hitter. It came with all the typical notes of such a moment: A crowd that had risen to its feet in anticipation shifted to one giving a standing ovation. They applauded to show their appreciation for a job well done, and they applauded to show that it was clearly, unambiguously <em>over</em>. It did not particularly matter that the game was ongoing. It mattered only that its central story line had wrapped up.</p>
<p>Which is something of a shame. Because Márquez went on to do something that is arguably more intriguing than a no-hitter: He made quick work of the next few batters to throw a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maddux_(statistic)">Maddux</a>, a shutout on fewer than 100 pitches.</p>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/Rockies/status/1410087790239358978"></a></blockquote>
<script async="async" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<p>There is no culture of achievement around a Maddux; unlike a no-hitter, it has no mythology around the concept of a jinx, and it carries no historic tradition. It does not prompt a crowd to stand for the ninth inning in anticipation. It does not prompt a crowd to do <em>anything</em>, because most people in a crowd won’t know that it’s happening, or that it has a name at all. (The term was coined by writer <a href="https://groundballwitheyes.blogspot.com/2012/04/maddux.html">Jason Lukehart in 2012</a>, and the career leader for the stat is still, you guessed it, Greg Maddux.) It is a bit of baseball trivia that was born a creature of the internet and largely remains so today.</p>
<p>But right now, it’s rarer than a no-hitter, and perhaps a more intriguing feat to pull off.</p>
<p>Márquez was trying for the seventh individual no-hitter of 2021. But his Maddux was the first of the season—the first since Yusei Kikuchi’s on Aug. 18, 2019, since which there have been <em>nine</em> no-hitters. (<a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/04/25/madison-bumgarner-throws-unofficial-no-hitter-vs-braves#:~:text=Diamondbacks%20pitcher%20Madison%20Bumgarner%20allowed,count%20in%20MLB's%20record%20book.&text=He%20finished%20the%20game%20with,two%20walks%20and%20six%20strikeouts.">Plus one kind-of-but-technically-not contribution from Madison Bumgarner</a>.) If you’ll recall the discourse of this May, <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/05/21/no-hitter-surge-like-1917-season-the-opener">when there were four no-hitters in two weeks</a>, this season has already been home to <a href="https://sportsnaut.com/mlb-no-hitter-trend-changing-baseball/">plenty</a> <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-no-hitters-how-historic-no-no-spree-is-putting-baseballs-biggest-problem-on-full-display/">of</a> <a href="https://sportsnaut.com/mlb-no-hitter-trend-changing-baseball/">consternation</a> over whether the achievement still means what it once did and how many of them might be too many. A Maddux, meanwhile, had not been done in almost two years before Márquez pulled it off on Tuesday.</p>
<p>That’s the statistical case for the current importance of the Maddux: If the accomplishment was once roughly as common as the no-hitter, <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonLukehart/status/1410083372018327552">it’s now far less so</a>, with the natural increase in interest that can accompany a decrease in frequency. But the aesthetic case for the feat might be even more compelling. Because a Maddux comes with something that a no-hitter does not—a delightfully strong sense of self.</p>
<figure><img height="345" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTgyMDk5ODMxNTk3MDQ4OTYz/german-marquez-maddux.jpg" width="620" />
<figcaption>Rockies righthander Germán Márquez smiles after completing a Maddux against the Pirates on Tuesday night at Coors Field.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A no-hitter is defined in one dimension. Its condition is stated in its name; the requirements here are plainly straightforward with no loopholes or tricks. This is both a no-hitter’s best trait and its worst—it makes the feat easy to define but almost impossible to describe. A no-hitter is a game where a pitcher does not allow a hit, but it might be a game that was a fraction of an inch from perfection, or a game that was a bit of a splotchy mess, or anything in between. It can be wonderful. But it doesn’t <em>need</em> to be. Which is why it was possible for baseball to have the conversation that it did earlier this year: “Do no-hitters still matter?” is not a question you could so easily ask if the accomplishment came with some inherent flair. It is special because it has traditionally been special—because it is generally rare and because it is historically resonant. So if it’s not as rare, in an offensive environment where it’s easier to achieve, when the ball is put in play less often across the board? It’s only natural that it might begin to feel less special.</p>
<p>A Maddux has a different guiding force. It’s a game with clear aesthetic principles—every instance of the achievement must fit in the same neat, efficient box, with its shutout lines and its double-digit pitch count. It requires a decent pace and a certain economy of movement; 100-pitch limits don’t allow for anything else. Therein lies the brilliance of an achievement defined not just by its outcome but by what it takes to get there. Of course, it lacks the straightforwardness of a no-hitter, to say nothing of the history. But it has something else: a sense of style.</p>
<p>To lose a no-hitter is to lose a shot at history. But Márquez walked off the mound with something that just might have been more interesting in the present.</p>
<p><strong>More MLB Coverage:<br />
• <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/06/29/nationals-kyle-schwarber-history-on-monday-the-opener">Kyle Schwarber Isn't Paying Attention to the Numbers</a><br />
• <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/06/28/sticky-stuff-crackdown-is-working-opener">Sticky Stuff Enforcement Is Already Making Baseball a Better, Fairer Game</a><br />
• <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/06/21/baseball-interpreters-daily-cover">'A Game of Speech'—But Also, For Baseball Interpreters, So Much More</a></strong><br />
<strong>• <a href="https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/06/18/alfredo-edmead-jr-pablo-cruz-life-after-death-daily-cover">Tragedy and Hope: A Prospect, a Scout and a Pop Fly</a></strong></p>

New on Sports Illustrated: Germán Márquez Loses No-Hit Bid in 9th But Achieves Something Better

A Maddux—a shutout on fewer than 100 pitches—is rarer than a no-hitter, and perhaps a more intriguing feat to pull off. View the original...

New on Sports Illustrated: 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic - PGA DFS Plays, Bets, and Fades

<a href="https://www.si.com/gambling/2021/06/30/rocket-mortgage-classic-dfs-bets-fades">
<p class="subtitle">SI Fantasy and Gambling editor Ben Heisler breaks down his top plays for this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic from the Detroit Golf Club.</p>
<h3>Previous 2021 PGA Tour Event Winners & DraftKings Salary</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Travelers Championship:</strong> <em>Harris English ($8,200)</em></li>
<li><strong>U.S. Open:</strong> <em>Jon Rahm ($11,200)</em></li>
<li><strong>Palmetto Championship at Congaree:</strong> <em>Garrick Higgo ($9,000)</em></li>
<li><strong>The Memorial Tournament Presented by Nationwide:</strong> <em>Patrick Cantlay ($9,500)</em></li>
<li><strong>Charles Schwab Challenge:</strong> <em>Jason Kokrak ($9,000)</em></li>
<li><strong>PGA Championship:</strong> <em>Phil Mickelson ($6,700)</em></li>
<li><strong>AT&T Byron Nelson</strong>: <em>Kyoung-Hoon Lee ($6,900)</em><br /></li>
<li><strong>Wells Fargo Championship</strong>: <em>Rory McIlroy ($10,000)</em></li>
<li><strong>Valspar Classic</strong>: <em>Sam Burns ($7,900)</em></li>
<li><strong>RBC Heritage</strong>: <em>Stewart Cink ($6,700)</em></li>
<li><strong>The Masters Tournament</strong><em>:</em> <em>Hideki Matsuyama ($8,300)</em></li>
<li><strong>Valero Texas Open</strong>: <em>Jordan Spieth ($10,700)</em></li>
<li><strong>World Golf Championship</strong> - <strong>Dell Technologies Match Play</strong>: <em>Billy Horschel ($7,200)</em></li>
<li><strong>The Honda Classic</strong>: <em>Matt Jones ($7,400)</em></li>
<li><strong>The Players Championship</strong>: <em>Justin Thomas ($9,900)</em></li>
<li><strong>Arnold Palmer Invitational</strong>: <em>Bryson DeChambeau ($11,000)</em></li>
<li><strong>Workday Charity Open</strong>: <em>Collin Morikawa ($9,500)</em></li>
<li><strong>The Genesis Invitational</strong>: <em>Max Homa ($8,200)</em></li>
<li><strong>AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am</strong>: <em>Daniel Berger ($10,100)</em></li>
<li><strong>Waste Management Phoenix Open</strong>: <em>Brooks Koepka ($8,800)</em></li>
<li><strong>Farmers Insurance Open</strong>: <em>Patrick Reed ($10,100)</em></li>
<li><strong>The American Express</strong>: <em>Si Woo Kim ($8,200)</em></li>
<li><strong>Sony Open</strong>: <em>Kevin Na ($7,500)</em></li>
<li><strong>Sentry Tournament of Champions</strong>: <em>Harris English ($8,700)</em></li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p><em>Love playing fantasy golf? Love betting on it even more?</em></p>
<p><em>SI Fantasy PRO memberships offer weekly breakdowns exclusively for subscribers, as well as access to our Discord chat for advice, strategy, and sharp plays in real-time.</em></p>
<p><em>Become a member today!</em></p>
<img height="99" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTc2MTY0NzMxNzE3OTUyOTM3/si-button-join-the-club.png" width="620" /></a>
<hr />
<h3>$9,000+ Range</h3>
<p><strong>Bryson DeChambeau</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://dkdfs.sng.link/Avkw3/8hv7?_dl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.draftkings.com%2Fgateway%3Fs%3D492366865&pcid=100986&pscn=BrandMessaging&pcrn=ROSMedia&psn=SportsIllustrated"><em>DraftKings Price</em></a><em>: $11,400</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://dksb.sng.link/As9kz/yqk4?_dl=https%3A%2F%2Fsportsbook.draftkings.com%2Fgateway%3Fs%3D280890255&pcid=100987&psn=SportsIllustrated&pcn=ROSMedia"><em>DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Odds to Win</em></a><em>: +750</em></strong></p>
<figure><img height="345" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTgwODc0NDA5MjQ0ODk0NTY4/bryson-dechambeau.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
<p>Many may ho-hum this pick for choosing the favorite and highest-priced player in the field, but sometimes the top play is just the right play.</p>
<p>DeChambeau specifically at the Detroit Golf Club is that guy! His first time here in 2020, he never shot above a 67 en route to his victory over Matthew Wolff. </p>
<p>He hasn't missed a cut since the Genesis Open in mid-February, and is top-four in SG: total and number one in SG: off-the-tee over the last 24 rounds.</p>
<p>I admit, it's never fun to back the favorite in a golf tournament, but I'll put temptation aside and grab the player whose game is designed to dominate here especially while trending upward. </p>
<p><strong>Additional Plays to Consider</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Webb Simpson ($10,600 | +1800) - <em>Look for his approach and putter to shine through, despite some injuries and inconsistencies.</em></li>
<li>Jason Kokrak - ($9,500 | +2800) - <em>Kokrak has so many similarities to DeChambeau's game that it would be foolish to not include him in the mix. He too has the ability to potentially drive some Par 5's in two, and ranks 5th in SG: putting over his last 24 rounds.</em></li>
</ul>
<iframe height="481.984375" width="100%" src="https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=BLU8937985331" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
<h3>$7,500 - $8,900 Range</h3>
<p><strong>Cameron Tringale</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://dkdfs.sng.link/Avkw3/8hv7?_dl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.draftkings.com%2Fgateway%3Fs%3D492366865&pcid=100986&pscn=BrandMessaging&pcrn=ROSMedia&psn=SportsIllustrated"><em>DraftKings Price</em></a><em>: $8,100</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://dksb.sng.link/As9kz/yqk4?_dl=https%3A%2F%2Fsportsbook.draftkings.com%2Fgateway%3Fs%3D280890255&pcid=100987&psn=SportsIllustrated&pcn=ROSMedia"><em>DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Odds to Win</em></a><em>: +4500</em></strong></p>
<figure><img height="414" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTgyMDk5MTk0NTk5NzExODc1/usatsi_15841547.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
<p>If we're spending up for DeChambeau, we'll have to find savings elsewhere in our lineups and on our betting card. Enter Tringale, who enters the Rocket Mortgage Classic with the top spot in SG: short game in the field, as well as top-five in SG: around-the-green and top-six in putting.</p>
<p>While his last five events include three missed cuts, this course is forgiving for his lack of distance off-the-tee, and he can hang with the best of them with his terrific short game. </p>
<p><strong>Additional Plays to Consider</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Emiliano Grillo ($8,200 | +4000) - <em>Grillo had a rough start to the week last Thursday, but was brilliant on Friday which could indicate a change in direction heading into Detroit Golf Club. Ranks second in SG: total and No. 1 in SG: approach over last 24 rounds.</em></li>
<li><em>Harold Varner III ($7,800 | +6600) - Via Rick Gehman, <a href="https://www.golfdigest.com/story/rocket-mortgage-classic-2021-dfs-picks">Varner led the field last week in SG: approach with just under 7. </a></em></li>
</ul>
<h3>$7,400 and Under Range</h3>
<p><strong>Hank Lebioda</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://dkdfs.sng.link/Avkw3/8hv7?_dl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.draftkings.com%2Fgateway%3Fs%3D492366865&pcid=100986&pscn=BrandMessaging&pcrn=ROSMedia&psn=SportsIllustrated"><em>DraftKings Price</em></a><em>: $7,200</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://dksb.sng.link/As9kz/yqk4?_dl=https%3A%2F%2Fsportsbook.draftkings.com%2Fgateway%3Fs%3D280890255&pcid=100987&psn=SportsIllustrated&pcn=ROSMedia"><em>DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Odds to Win</em></a><em>: +10000</em></strong></p>
<figure><img height="414" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTgyMDk5MjExNTExMTQ1NjAz/usatsi_15997085.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
<p>For a play right around the $7K range, Lebioda has been remarkably consistent since the beginning of May including a T5 finish at last week's Travelers Championship. In this price range, you're looking for someone to make the cut and Lebioda has been a reliable option over the last few months.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Lebioda is 13th in SG: total over his last 24 rounds, and T27 in SG: tee-to-green. He also ranks top 30 in putting, putting a well-rounded game to the test this week.</p>
<p><strong>Additional Plays to Consider</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Cameron Davis ($7,200 | +10000) - <em>Davis is an absolute bomber who ranks T30 in SG: putting. He can afford to have some misses off the tee at Detroit Golf Club, and can scramble out without hesitation.</em></li>
</ul>
<h3>Top Fade</h3>
<p><strong>Ben Heisler: Patrick Reed</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://dkdfs.sng.link/Avkw3/8hv7?_dl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.draftkings.com%2Fgateway%3Fs%3D492366865&pcid=100986&pscn=BrandMessaging&pcrn=ROSMedia&psn=SportsIllustrated"><em>DraftKings Price</em></a><em>: $10,900</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://dksb.sng.link/As9kz/yqk4?_dl=https%3A%2F%2Fsportsbook.draftkings.com%2Fgateway%3Fs%3D280890255&pcid=100987&psn=SportsIllustrated&pcn=ROSMedia"><em>DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Odds to Win</em></a><em>: +1100</em></strong></p>
<figure><img height="349" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTc1NTE5MDYyODQxODk0MDA3/patrick-reed-us-open.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
<p>Reed was one of my favorite plays for both The Memorial and the U.S. Open as he tends to show up for big events on Tour. This isn't to say the Rocket Mortgage Classic isn't a worthwhile event, but he's starting to trend in the wrong direction; losing total strokes gained (SG) over three consecutive weeks.</p>
<p>As much as I'd love to fade DeChambeau for a third consecutive week in this article series, he's the defending champion here and I can't avoid him even at price point that feels insanely expensive. Instead, I'll fade Reed who comes in 60th in SG: off-the-tee in the field over his last 24 rounds, as well as 43rd in SG: putting.</p>
<p><strong>Additional Fades to Consider</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Matthew Wolff ($9,100 | +2800)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>More PGA Coverage from The Morning Read:<br /></strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.si.com/golf/news/pga-tour-embraced-gambling-fantasy-could-fans-spoil-the-action">The PGA Tour has Embraced Gambling and Fantasy, but Could Fans Spoil the Action?</a></li>
</ul>

New on Sports Illustrated: 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic - PGA DFS Plays, Bets, and Fades

SI Fantasy and Gambling editor Ben Heisler breaks down his top plays for this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic from the Detroit Golf Club. P...

New on Sports Illustrated: How Boxing Launched Radio

<a href="https://www.si.com/boxing/2021/06/30/how-boxing-launched-radio-daily-cover">
<p class="subtitle">A century ago the sports world got a new medium for conveying events with the first radio broadcast.</p>
<p>One hundred years ago Friday, on July 2, 1921, Georges Carpentier left a makeshift boxing arena in Jersey City with a broken nose, a fractured thumb and a swollen eye thanks to Jack Dempsey, who knocked him out in the fourth round of their heavyweight championship bout. Carpentier recalled shortly after the conclusion of the carnage, “I went down and out when the hardest blow I ever felt caught me over the heart.”</p>
<p>If anybody emerged from the bout in worse shape, it was likely J.O. Smith, who would be partially blind for several days and had burns on his hands serious enough that he had to go to the hospital.</p>
<p>Carpentier knew what he was getting into when he agreed to fight Dempsey, the Manassa Mauler and reigning heavyweight champ. Smith had less reason to expect to wind up under a doctor’s care, as he had a far more peaceable role: He was the first radio play-by-play man in sports history.</p>
<figure><img height="814" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTgyMDg1Njk4NzM4NzI2MDE5/dcovwatnboxing_v.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
<p>Like most firsts in sports, there are asterisks involved. Strictly speaking, the Dempsey-Carpentier fight wasn’t the first sporting event broadcast. A few months earlier, KDKA, a Pittsburgh radio station—the nation’s only commercial station—had aired an account of a local fight. But the technological limitations meant that the audience for the fight was miniscule group of local radio enthusiasts. The Dempsey-Carpentier bout was heard over an area of 125,000 square miles—from Maine to Maryland and as far west as Ohio—showing the viability of radio as a medium for conveying live events. As <em>The Wireless Age</em>, a leading industry journal of the day, put it: “Transmission of the voice by wireless on a large scale is new to the world, and the event has no little historical significance.”</p>
<p>The second asterisk: Smith wasn’t calling the action as he saw it ringside. He was calling it from a shack at the Lackawanna Train Station in Hoboken, two-and-a-half miles from the action.</p>
<p>Credit for the idea for broadcasting the fight is claimed by several men, but no matter who actually had the idea first, they all had the same motivation: to sell radios.</p>
<p>In 1920, radio was used for point-to-point communication. KDKA was originally established by the Westinghouse Electronic Corporation as a way for its various branch factories to communicate; anyone with a receiver (of which there weren’t many) could pick it up and before long Westinghouse realized their broadcast channel could have other uses. The technological drive at Westinghouse was led by a Pittsburgh-area engineer named Frank Conrad. In 1912—to settle a $5 bet with a friend over the accuracy of his $12 watch—he had built a receiver that allowed him to pick up time signals from the Naval Observatory in Arlington, Va. (He won the bet.)</p>
<p>The government rescinded civilian radio licenses during World War I, but occasionally Westinghouse’s broadcasting facilities—which were located on the second floor of Conrad’s garage—were used to test military radio equipment. (The sessions piqued the curiosity of Conrad’s neighbors, who were convinced he was a spy and reported him to the police.)</p>
<p>After the war, an increasing number of amateurs began to get interested in radio, after seeing firsthand or hearing about its use by the military. As more and more enthusiasts began communicating with each other, they came to a sad realization: They didn’t have a whole lot to talk about. Most of the discussions were about the broadcast—what type of equipment was being used and how clear the sound was. Conrad came up with the novel concept of content and began playing music at specified times twice a week. A year later, KDKA was granted the country’s first commercial broadcasting license so it could air the results of the 1920 presidential election between Warren Harding and James Cox. The following April, it aired that local Pittsburgh bout between Johnny Dundee and Johnny Ray.</p>
<p>None of this was lost on David Sarnoff, who at that time was the general manager of RCA, Westinghouse’s chief competitor in the production of radio equipment. Sometime around 1920 (the exact date, like many facts in this tale, is disputed), he crafted a memo to his bosses that began: “I have in mind a plan of development which would make radio a ‘household utility’ in the same sense as the piano or phonograph. The idea is to bring music into the house by wireless.” He went on to describe a “Radio Music Box” that would sell for around $75. He figured if 7% of America’s 15 million households bought one, that would mean $75 million for RCA—plus, he noted, “the possibilities for advertising for the Company are tremendous.”</p>
<p>In the spring of 1921, someone came up with the idea to branch out past music and air the Dempsey-Carpentier fight. If it wasn’t Sarnoff, it was likely Julius Hopp, a Madison Square Garden executive in charge of concerts, or J. Andrew White, the editor of <em>The Wireless Age</em>. No matter who had the idea, there was only one man who could make it happen: Tex Rickard.</p>
<figure><img height="962" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTgyMDg0NTAyODU4ODM1MDc1/gettyimages-51105719.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
<p>George Lewis Rickard was equal parts Zelig and Don King. He explored the Amazon with Teddy Roosevelt. He ran a casino in the Klondike where he consorted with Jack London. When Rickard was born, according to one biography, the sounds of his first cry were drowned out by bullets flying through the cabin where his mother gave birth as a 26-man posse exchanged fire with Frank and Jesse James, whose mother lived one farm over. (Another biography, credited to Mrs. Tex Rickard, was titled <em>Everything Happened to Him</em>.) When Rickard died, his body lay in state at Madison Square Garden in a 2,200-pound, $15,000 bronze casket and lines of visitors stretched for 16 blocks.</p>
<p>But mostly Rickard, who picked up the name Tex as a lawman early in life, was a promoter. In 1920 he had signed an agreement to run the second incarnation of the Garden, which was then actually located at Madison Square. (To give himself an occupant, he formed a hockey team that paid homage to his home state: the Rangers, as in Tex’s Rangers.) But there was no way the arena could hold all the fans who were willing to pay to see Carpentier and Dempsey. So Rickard decided to construct a wood octagon across the Hudson River that would hold 90,000 people.</p>
<p>Rickard had a knack for ginning up interest in fights by portraying one boxer as the good guy and one as the bad. His biggest bout had been in 1910, when he notoriously cast James Jeffries as the Great White Hope against Jack Johnson, the Black heavyweight champ. Dempsey’s bout with Carpentier, a Frenchman who held the light heavyweight belt, offered a terrific storyline: war hero vs. layabout. Though in a twist, Carpentier was the former and Dempsey, who had tried to enlist but was classified 4-F, wore the black hat.</p>
<p>When he was presented with the idea of broadcasting the fight, Rickard was intrigued. He didn’t stand to gain financially—what little money raised by theaters charging admission to listen to the broadcast would go to the American Committee for Devastated France. But he knew the future when he saw it, so he told Hopp to make it happen.</p>
<figure><img height="464" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTgyMDg0NTAyODU4NzY5NTM5/gettyimages-515138684.jpg" width="620" /></figure>
<figure><img height="466" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTgyMDg0NTAyODU4NzY5NzM2/gettyimages-137822767.jpg" width="620" />
<figcaption>Dempsey had Carpentier on the ropes before celebrating his fourth round knockout. </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The first order of business was to find a transmitter strong enough to pump out the signal. Hopp and White located one that had been built by RCA for the Navy. They presented a former assistant Secretary of the Navy named Franklin D. Roosevelt with a proposal: They would test his transmitter out for him. Roosevelt consented (not coincidentally, the proceeds would now be split between the committee aiding France and the Navy Club) and had the transmitter floated from Schenectady, N.Y., to Jersey.</p>
<p>The next challenge was figuring out where to put it. There was no structure high enough at the stadium to hold an antenna, so a plan was hatched to use the train station in Hoboken. A 400-foot tower had been erected a few years earlier. In deciding where to put the other end, White and his technicians did what Doc Brown and Marty McFly did: They ran the wire to a clock tower.</p>
<p>The equipment needed was sizable, and it was housed in a galvanized iron shack that the porters used to change into their uniforms. As the porters were all Black, they were not pleased about losing what little space had been designated for them. The porters assured White that they would demolish his precious tubes and switches, so White took it upon himself to sleep in the structure to guard his gear.</p>
<p>On fight day, White sat ringside with Harry Welker, the secretary of the National Amateur Wireless Association (NAWA). Around 1:30 the fighters entered the ring. (Both were radio fans. Carpentier was a member of NAWA, while White wrote that Dempsey was “a real amateur ham; radio is his regular evening diversion in his training periods.” Indeed, the cover of the July 1921 issue of The Wireless Age was a photo of Dempsey sitting at a transmitter.)</p>
<p>The crowd of 90,000 fans—including titans of business, politicians and an unprecedented number of women—roared. (The Asbury Park Press proclaimed “society and sportdom, merchant prince and shop girl, diplomat and ditch digger rub elbows in greatest fight throng.”) As the action started, White—who had practiced the nascent art of play-by-play by shadowboxing in the mirror and describing the action—relayed his descriptions over the phone to a clerk at the train station, who typed up his reports and handed them to Smith, an RCA employee and amateur radio enthusiast, who read the descriptions into the transmitter. To broadcast the action, a temporary longwave radio station, which was given the call letters WJY, was set up.</p>
<p>The audience consisted primarily of amateurs having small get-togethers in their homes as well as crowds who gathered at halls and theaters in the northeast to listen to the WJY signal. Some 1,200 people listened at Loew’s New York Roof in Hell’s Kitchen, while a Mr. B.D. Heller of Fordham, N.Y., who listened at his home, wrote: “Some ‘Town Crier’ I’ll say! Almost thought I was in the front row at the ringside when you counted Carpentier out. It was realistic and impressive to the highest degree.” Mr. Heller was one of many listeners to report hearing the bell. Whether that was actually possible is another mystery: One later account did assert that Smith had a small bell in the porters’ shack to recreate the ding.</p>
<p>In Asbury Park, a real estate salesman in a roller chair equipped with a receiver entertained boardwalk denizens by playing the fight. They had a much better time than one Casper Risley. He was listening to the fight on the third floor of his home in Atlantic City when he was struck by lightning. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported: “The instrument was shattered. Frederick Rowlman, his companion, was stunned.”</p>
<img height="345" src="https://www.si.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTc5NjcyNDIyMTEzMzU1NzM2/daily-cover-promo-new.jpg" width="620" /></a>
<p>In Pittsburgh, KDKA picked up the fight. The Pirates had a home game that afternoon, and six men with megaphones relayed the action to 25,000 fans in the park. The <em>Pittsburgh Daily Post</em> noted that “a great yell of joy went up when it was announced that the Frenchman had the best of round three but when it was flashed that he had been knocked out in the fourth the stands almost rocked with the vibration from the throats of thousands.”</p>
<p>The signal was even picked up at sea. The Nieuw Amsterdam, a Holland-America liner carrying several fans to see the fight, showed up in Hoboken on July 3, the day after the fight, because of, in the words of the A.P., “poor coal.” The fans who missed the bout were at least treated to the broadcast on the ship.</p>
<p>One man who wasn’t upset to see the fight end was Smith. Being positioned so close to the glowing radio tubes, he was temporarily blinded for days. In the final round, one overheating tube exploded. Smith grabbed the base and pulled it out of its socket—searing his hands— before inserting a new one. As the fight ended, the transmitter was smoking and, according to an account in the 1930 book <em>This Thing Called Broadcasting</em>, had “resolved itself into a molten mass.”</p>
<p>But perhaps it had been worth it, because the book continued: “Two hundred thousand persons heard the fight.” The next month, KDKA made history with the first broadcast of a baseball game. It aired the World Series that October, as did WJZ, a Newark station that began broadcasting just four days before the Fall Classic began.</p>
<p>Radio had arrived as a viable medium for conveying news, and a century later, it still is—louder, clearer and, luckily for the people calling the action, safer.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.si.com/tag/daily-cover">More SI Daily Covers:</a><br /></strong></p>
<p><strong>• <a href="https://www.si.com/wrestling/2021/06/29/black-wrestling-deep-south-fresh-faces-rural-georgia-daily-cover">Black Belts and Fresh Faces in the Rings of Rural Georgia</a><br /></strong><strong>• <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/06/28/how-fixes-to-cheerleading-are-hurting-women-daily-cover">NFL Cheerleaders' Fight To Be Heard</a><br /></strong><strong>•</strong> <strong><a href="https://www.si.com/college/2021/06/25/jarrod-bunch-michigan-toughness-and-devotion-daily-cover">How Michigan Football Failed to Protect One of Its Own From Sexual Assault</a><br /></strong><strong>• <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/06/17/phillip-adams-a-killers-garden-daily-cover">Phillip Adams Took Six Lives, and Then His Own. How Many More Were Ruined?</a></strong></p>

New on Sports Illustrated: How Boxing Launched Radio

A century ago the sports world got a new medium for conveying events with the first radio broadcast. One hundred years ago Friday, on July...

The World of Sports

New on Sports Illustrated: Report: Spectator Who Caused Tour de France Crash Arrested

New on Sports Illustrated: Tom Brady Lands Endorsement Deal With Subway, Which He Wouldn’t Eat in a Million Years

New on Sports Illustrated: Germán Márquez Loses No-Hit Bid in 9th But Achieves Something Better

New on Sports Illustrated: 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic - PGA DFS Plays, Bets, and Fades

New on Sports Illustrated: How Boxing Launched Radio

Popular Posts

Blog Archive

Labels