This
particular period in the year is low on championship events. Football
has not yet reached the bowl game or playoff stage (now for both college
and pro). Hockey and basketball are still in the early stages of the
season. Tennis is taking it easy before the Aussie Open in January.
Golf is also taking it easy (except there just was an Australian Open
golf tournament, won by Jordan Spieth). Baseball is in the
off-season.
So it is that other sports can be noted
for approaching championships. NCAA soccer, men and women, is in
playoff mode -- for the men, Big Ten champs Maryland got knocked off in
the first round by the brainiac school to the north, the University of
Maryland Baltimore County, which then beat Louisville too, to get into
the Elite 8. Georgetown also advanced, and will play Virginia next.
Since I'm sort of close to all of them, I feel good about that. On the
women's side, the Final Four for the College Cup is set, with Virginia,
Texas A&M, Florida State, and Stanford making up the number.
Virginia was a 2 seed, all the other teams were 1 seeds. Shockingly,
behemoth North Carolina was beaten 1-0 by its geographic rival, South
Carolina (who was tromped by FSU 5-0 in the next round).
The MLS Cup is next weekend, too, with the LA Galaxy playing the New England Revolution.
And finally, swimming is having its short course meters World Championships. All of the short course events seem more explosive than the long course, which gets the publicity because of the Olympics. But short course can be fun with fast turns and lead changes and speed. The finals will start at 10 AM EST, so I'm going to keep track of the results.
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