There’s nothing better than a Stanley Cup Final Game 7…
and nothing worse than a sporting event marred by crappy conditions.
Florida’s Last Chance
What Happened: Was is all for nothing?
That is the question we’ll get an answer to tonight. After racing out to a 3-0 lead, the Panthers have ceded three straight to the Oilers. Now we have ourselves a Game 7 to decide the Stanley Cup winner, the first since the Blues defeated the Bruins in Boston back in 2019.
Why It Matters: Before this series started, most observers would’ve told you the Panthers were the more well-rounded team. They could play fast, they could play rough-and-tumble. Scoring, physicality, speed, they boasted it all.
However, Edmonton’s high-octane offense woke up just in the nick of time and has delivered 18 goals in three games to force this deciding game.
With the home advantage, the Panthers are -113 to win tonight; the Oilers are -106. Do you believe the Panthers are the team that dominated Games 1-3 and can put their foot back on the gas when it’s most needed? Or does the Oilers’ momentum have enough steam to finish off what would be a historic comeback? (We’ll of course have our answer for subscribers later today.)
How We’re Feeling Today
Stupefied by an ongoing issue that has now affected the Copa America tournament.
Why can we not get grass fields correct in our stadiums? We are six matches into the tournament, and already, the reviews are shredding the playing surfaces.
Argentina didn’t think the playing surface at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium was up to snuff, while Dallas’ AT&T Stadium was thumbs-downed by Chile and Peru.
In a tournament featuring the reigning World Cup champs, how are we struggling to get acceptable playing conditions right? And it’s not just for this tournament in particular; NFL players have voiced concerns over stadiums for years at this point as players constantly tear their knees up on crappy fields.
This shouldn’t be that difficult an issue to fix. Euro 2024 hasn’t had any such concerns, for instance. Players want grass fields and fans want to see the game played at its highest levels. Figure it out.
The Look Ahead
Michael Lorenzen STRIKEOUTS – Only two teams have struck out more over the last week of action than the Milwaukee Brewers have, which is the main reason we have our eye on Lorenzen today. His numbers are far from overwhelming for the season, and in fact, have been pretty weak his last three starts (six combined Ks.) But the well-traveled righty has a light line (3.5) and has gotten 4+ strikeouts in seven of his 12 starts, so it wouldn’t shock us if Milwaukee’s bats made the over happen tonight.
