🥇 The U.S. Dominates Over the Weekend, Win Total Medal Count

Good Morning! Hello? Is this thing on? The Morning Blitz is back from its summer siesta, and we're ready to jump back into the action. Sadly the Paris Olympic Games have come to an end but we have the MLB playoff race, NFL pre-season, and college football to fill the void. The Morning Blitz will be picking up the sports-coverage torch and once again providing everything you need to know in the world of sports in 5 minutes or less. So let’s jump right into it…

WTF Stat: From 1912-1948, artists participated in the Olympics: Painters, sculptors, architects, writers, and musicians competed for medals in their respective fields. For example, American landscape architect, Charles Downing Lay won a silver medal in “Town Planning” in the 1936 Olympics for his work on the Marine Park in Brooklyn.

(Olympic recap coverage below)

🏈 Chiefs new WR Marquise Brown suffered a dislocation of the sternoclavicular shoulder joint in the Kansas City Chiefs' preseason opener. Brown who signed a 1-year, $11 million dollar contract with the Chiefs in the offseason is expected to miss some time. Former Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill suffered the same injury in 2019 and missed four games.

🏈 Rookie QBs shine in their first pre-season action: Bears Caleb Williams (4/7, 95 yards), Commander’s Jayden Daniels (2/3, 45 yards), Patriots Drake Maye (2/3, 19 yards), Falcons Michael Penix Jr. (9/16, 104 yards), Vikings J.J. McCarthy (11/17, 188 yards, 2 TDs-1 INT), Broncos Bo Nix (15/21, 125 yards, 1 TD), all took the field for their first pre-season action and saw varying degrees of snaps but all looked relatively comfortable.

🏈 Texas A&M RB Rueben Owens is expected to miss the season after suffering a significant lower body injury during a scrimmage Saturday. Owens was an SEC All-Freshman last year, and former 5-star recruit. Texas A&M has junior running backs Le’Veon Moss, and Amari Daniels returning, but Owens explosiveness will be missed.

OLYMPICS WEEKEND RECAP

• U.S. Men & Women Basketball Teams Win Gold - The men’s basketball squad won it’s 5th straight gold medal beating France 98-87. Steph Curry (24 points) put on an absolute show, hitting three 3-pointers in the final two-minutes, including this ridiculous shot. Kevin Durant (15 points), Lebron James (14 points, 10 assists), and Devin Booker (15 points) all put up strong showings in the gold medal game.

• The Women’s won their eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal, beating France 67-66. They have now won 61-games in a row. Crazy finish to this one as well, as Kahleah Copper hit two clutch free-throws with 5 seconds remaining to put the U.S. up 3. France's Gabby Williams banked in a deep jumper at the buzzer, which was ruled a two-pointer instead of a three, preserving the U.S. win.

• USWNT Takes home the gold - The U.S. women's soccer team won their fifth Olympic gold medal, defeating Brazil 1-0. In her 100th appearance for the U.S. team, Mallory Swanson scored the winning goal in the 57th minute. Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher made a few crucial saves including one during stoppage time to preserve the win.

• Track & Field - Team USA took home gold in both the men's and women's 4x400m relay. The women won in blowout fashion beating Netherlands and Great Britain’s teams by over 4 seconds. Gabby Thomas earned her 3rd gold medal. The Men’s team saw a much closer finish, as they set an Olympic record and beat Botswana in a tight race winning by .10 second. 16-year old Quincy Wilson, who didn’t race in the final but was on the squad, became the youngest track & field gold medalist, unfortunately there is some bad news for the Maryland high schooler:

• Jordan Chiles Controversy - American gymnast Jordan Chiles is set to be stripped of her bronze medal in the floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Olympics due to a technicality. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that the appeal to increase Chiles' score was filed four seconds after the one-minute time limit. The appeal, filed by Chiles' coach Cecile Landi, was initially successful in raising Chiles' difficulty score from 5.800 to 5.900, moving her from fifth to third place. The International Olympic Committee will reallocate the bronze medal to Romania's Ana Barbosu.

In Case You Missed It - Olympic Best Moments:

→ Alex Sedrick going full beast mode to earn the first-ever Olympic Rugby Sevens medal
→ Cole Hocker come from behind victory in the 1500m track and field race

→ Quincy Hall with an incredible comeback, where he may or mayn’t have been flying

→ Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone blows away the competition and sets a new world record in the 400m hurdles

→ Turkish Shooter, Yusuf Dicek, shooting his way into our heart:

→ Noah Lyles is the fastest man in the world (by .005 seconds)

→ Katie Ledecky cannot be stopped, keep zooming those cameras out, because she has 9 Olympic gold medals now

→ Simone Biles gets her 7th gold medal, and the U.S. gymnastics team is back on top

→ Scottie Scheffler stays blazing hot and shoots a 62 in his final round and wins gold

→ Stephen Nedoroscik aka Clark Kent on the pommel horse

→ Winning golds in swimming relays: Men’s 4×100, Women’s medley, Mixed medley

MLB - Top Games

• Houston Astros 10, Boston Red Sox 2: Astros dominate with homers. Alex Bregman (2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI) launched a three-run bomb in the 5th, followed by Yordan Alvarez (2-2, 1 HR, 1 RBI) going deep for the third time in two games. Jeremy Peña (3-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI) added a two-run shot as Houston completed the sweep at Fenway Park. Hunter Brown (10-7) struck out nine over 5 1/3 innings for the win.

• New York Yankees 8, Texas Rangers 7: Bronx Bombers survive late scare. Giancarlo Stanton (1-4, 1 HR, 4 RBI) crushed a three-run homer, Juan Soto (2-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI) went deep twice, and Aaron Judge (3-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI) added his MLB-leading 42nd homer. Marcus Stroman (8-6) earned the win, while Clay Holmes secured his 25th save despite a shaky 9th inning.

• Cleveland Guardians 5, Minnesota Twins 3: The Guardians hold on to extend division lead. David Fry (1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI) and José Ramírez (2-5, 1 HR, 1 RBI) homered for Cleveland. Tanner Bibee (10-4) returned from injury to pitch 5 2/3 solid innings. Byron Buxton (2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI) homered twice for Minnesota, but Emmanuel Clase escaped a bases-loaded jam in the 9th for his 35th save.

• Arizona Diamondbacks 12, Philadelphia Phillies 5: The D-backs' bats exploded in series win. Jake McCarthy (3-5, 4 RBI) delivered a bases-clearing triple, while Adrian Del Castillo (3-5, 2 RBI) continued his hot start. Corbin Carroll (1-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI) added a two-run homer. Merrill Kelly (3-0) returned from injury to pitch five innings for the win as Arizona won its eighth straight series.

• Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Pittsburgh Pirates 5 (10 innings): Dodgers walk off in extras. Teoscar Hernández (2-5, 3 RBI) delivered the game-winning RBI single in the 10th after Kiké Hernández (3-5, 1 RBI) tied it with an RBI double. Andrew McCutchen (2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI) homered twice for Pittsburgh, including a game-tying two-run shot in the 8th. Tyler Glasnow allowed just two runs over seven innings against his former team, while Evan Phillips (3-0) earned the win despite allowing an unearned run in the 10th.

  
  

• Seattle Mariners 12, New York Mets 1: Mariners complete dominant sweep. Cal Raleigh (3-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI) crushed two homers, including a three-run shot in a six-run 6th inning. Luis Castillo (10-11) struck out nine over six strong innings, allowing just one run. Jorge Polanco (3-5, 1 HR, 1 RBI) added a solo homer and scored twice. Jeff McNeil (1-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI) provided the Mets' only run with a solo shot, ending their 27-inning scoreless streak.

See the full MLB scoreboard here and the current standings here.

On this day in 1984, the Braves beat Padres 5-3, in a wild game that featured 2 brawls & 19 ejections. Padres manager Dick Williams received a 10-day suspension and a $10,000 fine. Braves manager, Joe Torre, and five players received three-game suspensions. Even the fans decided to get in on the action (see 1:10 mark):

Trivia Time Answer

C. Carmelo Anthony - who was in attendance for the games in Paris. Kevin Durant is the only basketball player with four golds (2012, 2016, 2020, 2024). Durant also leads all scorers with 518 points (18.5 ppg) in his games, Lebron is second with 358 points.