Don't Forget...

Hawks Eagles AFL Grand Final 2015 on Saturday (Friday night/early Saturday here in the States)! Will the Eagles end their nine year drought? Or will the Hawks repeat? In the US, Fox Soccer PLUS (yet again) has live coverage at 12:20am.

GO THE EAGLES!

US Open 2015: A New Beginning

The projects for the USTA Billie Jean King complex are just about to be (nearly I think) completed, with Ashe getting a roof, while Armstrong separated like conjoined twins from Ashe and is also getting a roof. Also Super Saturday is back.

Defending men's singles champion Marin Cilic gets the number nine seed, while Novak Djokovic gets the top seed. Defending women's singles champion Serena Williams gets top seed.

Here are some of the singles matches to watch in the first round:

MEN
Singles
First round matches of interest
(1) Novak Djokovic v Joao Sousa (BRA)
(2) Roger Federer v Leonardo Mayer
(3) Andy Murray v Nick Kyrgios
(4) Kei Nishikori v Benoit Paire
(5) Stan Wawrinka v Albert Ramos Vinolas
(6) Tomas Berdych v Bjorn Fratangelo
(7) David Ferrer v Radu Albot
(8) Rafa Nadal v Borna Coric
(9) Marin Cilic v Guido Pella
(10) Milos Raonic v Tim Smyczek
(11) Gilles Simon v Donald Young
(12) Richard Gasquet v Thanasi Kokkinakis
(13) John Isner v Malek Jaziri
(14) David Goffin v Simone Bolelli
(15) Kevin Anderson v Andrey Rublev
(16) Gael Monfils v Illya Marchenko
(17) Grigor Dimitrov v Matthew Ebden
(18) Feliciano Lopez v Nikoloz Basilashvili
(19) Jo Wilfried Tsonga v Jarkko Nieminen
(20) Dominic Thiem v Daniel Gimeno Traver
(21) Ivo Karlovic v Federico Delbonis
(22) Viktor Troicki v Frances Tiafoe  
(23) Roberto Bautista Agut v Pierre Hugues Herbert
(24) Bernard Tomic v Damir Dzumhur
(25) Andreas Seppi v Tommy Paul
(26) Tommy Robredo v Michael Berrer
(27) Jeremy Chardy v Ryan Shane
(28) Jack Sock v Victor Estrella Burgos
(29) Philipp Kohlschriber v Alex Zverev
(30) Thomaz Belucci v James Ward
(31) Guillermo Garcia Lopez v Janko Tipsarevic
(32) Fabio Fognini v Steve Johnson
Lleyton Hewitt v Aleksandr Nedovyesov
Fernando Verdasco v Tommy Haas
Mardy Fish v Marco Cecchinato
Sam Querrey v Nicolas Mahut
Marcos Baghdatis v Steve Darcis
Ryan Harrison v Rajeev Ram
Jerzy Janowicz v Pablo Carrena Busta
Radek Stepanek v Marsel Ilhan
Alex Dolgopolov v Sam Groth
Jurgen Melzer v Denis Kudla
Mikhail Youzhny v John Patrick Smith
Gilles Muller v Ruben Bemelmans
Paul Henri Mathiew v Yoshihito Nishioka
Lukas Rosol v Jared Donaldson
Vasek Pospisil v Andreas Haider Maurer
Lukas Lacko v Marcel Granollers
Sergey Stakhovsky v John Millman
Dustin Brown v Robin Haase
Adrian Mannarino v Konstantin Kravchuk
Ernests Gulbis v Aljaz Bedene
Martin Klizan v Florian Mayer
Austin Krajicek v Santiago Giraldo
Teymuraz Gabashvili v Pablo Andujar
Joao Sousa (POR) v Ricardas Berankis
Dudi Sela v Pablo Cuevas
Jiri Vesely v Paolo Lorenzi
Ben Becker v Denis Istomin
Diego Schwartzman v Elias Ymer
Mikhail Kukushkin v Yen Hsun Lu
James Duckworth v Hyeon Chung

WOMEN
Singles
First round matches of interest
(1) Serena Williams v Vitalia Diatchenko
(2) Simona Halep v Marina Erakovic
(3) Maria Sharapova: withdrew
(4) Caroline Wozniacki v Jamie Loeb
(5) Petra Kvitova v Laura Siegemund
(6) Lucie Safarova v Lesia Tsurenko
(7) Ana Ivanovic v Dominika Cibulkova
(8) Karolina Pliskova v Anna Tatishvili
(9) Garbine Muguruza v Carina Witthoeft
(10) Carla Suarez Navarro v Denisa Allertova
(11) Angelique Kerber v Alex Dulgheru
(12) Belinda Bencic v Sesil Karatantcheva
(13) Ekaterina Makarova v Teliana Pereira
(14) Timea Bacsinsky v Barbora Z. Strycova
(15) Aga Radwanska v Katerina Siniakova
(16) Sara Errani v Mayo Hibi
(17) Elina Svitolina v Elizaveta Kulichkova
(18) Andrea Petkovic v Caroline Garcia
(19) Madison Keys v Klara Koukalova
(20) Victoria Azarenka v Lucie Hradecka
(21) Jelena Jankovic v Oceane Dodin
(22) Sam Stosur v Timea Babos  
(23) Venus Williams v Monica Puig
(24) Sabine Lisicki v Aliaksandra Sasnovich
(25) Genie Bouchard v Alison Riske
(26) Flavia Pennetta v Jarmila Gajdosova
(27) Alize Cornet v Kurumi Nara
(28) Irina Camelia Begu v Olga Govortsova  
(29) Sloane Stephens v Coco Vandeweghe
(30) Svetlana Kuznetsova v Kristina Mladenovic
(31) Anastasiya Pavlyuchenkova v Magda Rybarikova
(32) Ana Schmiedlova v Julia Georges
Francesca Schiavone v Yanina Wickmayer
Daniela Hantuchova v Misaki Doi
Bethanie Mattek Sands v Kateryna Kozlova
Ula Radwanska v Magda Linette
Casey Dellacqua v Anett Kontaveit
Roberta Vinci v Vania King
Tsvetana Pironkova v Mona Barthel
Bojana Jovanovski v Lara Arruabarrena  
Heather Watson v Lauren Davis
Kirsten Flipkens v Varvara Lepchenko
Laura Robson v Elena Vesnina
Camila Giorgi v Johanna Larsson
Irina Falconi v Sam Crawford
Kiki Bertens v Mirjana Lucic Baroni
Kaia Kanepi v Anna Lena Friedsam
Christina McHale v Petra Cetkovska
Madison Brengle v Zheng Saisai
Daria Gavrilova v Daria Kasatina
Polona Hercog v Zarina Diyas
Alison van Uytvanck v Jessica Pegula
Karin Knapp v Ajla Tomljanovic
Nicole Gibbs v Lourdes Dominguez Lino
Aleksandra Krunic v Danka Kovinic
Annika Beck v Jelena Ostapenko
Monica Niculescu v Alexandra Panova
Shelby Rogers v Sachia Vickery

Starting this year, as the host broadcaster, the Open start and end on the ESPN family, which doesn't mean you can get live streaming and radio at USOpen.org. USOpen.org, because USOpen.com is golf!

IAAF World Championships 2015 Starts Saturday!

Everyone will know the 'Bird's Nest' by now. For Beijing 2008, it was the opening and closing ceremony venue, as well as the athletics venue.

Once again, the giant toilet bowl will revive for the 2015 edition of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. For the next ten days will see various athletics events decided with the possibility of world and championship records. Starting Saturday through Sunday the 30th, possible Olympic tickets might be punched in as well. First the IAAF's requirements must be met in order for Rio 2016 dreams to happen.

In the US, Universal Sports will have live coverage of the day session all ten days, with evening coverage on the Saturdays and Sundays of the worlds will be taped for airing in the afternoon on NBC. Also the IAAF app is very helpful.

Friday Jukebox 7.31.15

The 16th Gathering of the Juggalos in Ohio was this past weekend, and Dope D.O.D. was among its performers. Never heard of them until I saw the informercial for the Gathering over a week ago. This is a Dutch-based act. "Ugly" is a good song. 

Friday Jukebox 7.24.15

As this year's CONCACAF Gold Cup comes to an end Sunday, I found out this was the unofficial theme song! Very good, even though I've never been a fan of Tom Neuwirth's stuff ("Rise Like a Phoenix" is one of the worst ESC winners ever in my opinion), why not? Remember, "You Are Unstoppable" is the unofficial Gold Cup anthem. Not joking. 

Kazan 2015 is Here: Starts Friday!

Kazan 2015, the FINA World Championships starts Friday with diving exhibitions. The stuff will start to kick on Saturday with the start of open water swimming, as well as synchronised swimming.

The real stuff begins with the water polo on Sunday, with women starting that day, and the men on Monday. Swimming later that week.

This is a three week, seventeen day odyssey. Some of this will be qualifiers for Rio 2016. In the US, NBC and Universal Sports will have action throughout the weeks. It's that time.

Please download the app or Kazan2015.com. On a weekend where both Toronto 2015 and this year's CONCACAF Gold Cup will wind down as well. Crossroads baby!

Friday Jukebox 7.17.15

Matt Darey's Urban Astronauts' "See the Sun" was originally released in 2009. The Dan Stone remix (recently) is keeping this tune alive! Check it out!

The Open 2015: Back to St. Andrews

'British Sportweeks' is not over yet. After Wimbledon and Silverstone, we have one more consecutive weekend of British sport mode.

The 2015 Open shifs from Liverpool to the rough St. Andrews course. Of course Rory McIlroy is here. But for first timers, this course will give you the shits. Like Chambers Bay, Washington. Oh, and the #JordanSlam could be three-quarters full.

NOTABLE tee times of interest
(First/second rounds, times local to course)
Thomas Bjorn 6:32am/11:33am
Graham DeLaet 6:54am/11:55am
Alexander Levy 7:05am/12:06pm
Joost Luiten 7:16am/12:17pm
Sandy Lyle 7:38am/12:39pm
Charley Hoffman 7:38am/12:39pm
Kevin Na 7:38am/12:39pm
Kevin Streelman 7:49am/12:50pm
Retief Goossen 7:49am/12:50pm
Luke Donald 8am/1:01pm
Hunter Mahan 8am/1:01pm
Victor Dubuisson 8:11am/1:12pm
Billy Horschel 8:11am/1:12pm
Graeme McDowell 8:22am/1:23pm
Webb Simpson 8:22am/1:23pm
Tom Watson 8:33am/1:34pm
Ernie Els 8:33am/1:34pm
Brandt Snedeker 8:33am/1:34pm
JB Holmes 8:44am/1:45pm
Bubba Watson 9am/2:01pm
Ian Poulter 9am/2:01pm
Charl Schwartzel 9am/2:01pm
Lee Westwood 9:11am/2:12pm
Sergio Garcia 9:11am/2:12pm
Darren Clarke 9:22am/2:23pm
Matteo Manassero 9:22am/2:23pm
Jordan Spieth 9:33am/2:34pm
Dustin Johnson 9:33am/2:34pm
Hideki Matsuyama 9:33am/2:34pm
Paul Lawrie 9:44am/2:45pm
Jason Day 9:55am/2:56pm
Louis Oosthuizen 9:55am/2:56pm
Tiger Woods 9:55am/2:56pm
John Senden 10:06am/3:07pm
Brooks Koepka 10:06am/3:07pm
Stewart Cink 10:17am/3:18pm
Ben Curtis 10:17am/3:18pm
David Duval 10:17am/3:18pm
Mikko Ilonen 10:28am/3:29pm
Mark Calcavecchia 11:33am/6:32am
Jonas Blixt 11:44am/6:43am
George Coetzee 12:28pm/7:27am
Rafael Cabrera Bello 12:28pm/7:27am
Padraig Harrington 12:39pm/7:38am
Jason Dufner 12:50pm/7:49am
Miguel Angel Jimenez 12:50pm/7:49am
John Daly 12:50pm/7:49am
Zach Johnson 1:01pm/8am
Bernd Wiesberger 1:01pm/8am
Gary Woodland 1:12pm/8:11am
Thongchai Jaidee 1:12pm/8:11am
Bill Haas 1:23pm/8:22am
Francesco Molinari 1:23pm/8:22am
Geoff Ogilvy 1:23pm/8:22am
Mark O'Meara 1:34pm/8:33am
Bernhard Langer 1:45pm/8:44am
Tom Lehman 1:45pm/8:44am
Justin Leonard 1:45pm/8:44am
Ryan Moore 2:01pm/9am
Adam Scott 2:12pm/9:11am
Martin Kaymer 2:12pm/9:11am
Jimmy Walker 2:12pm/9:11am
Jamie Donaldson 2:23pm/9:22am
Keegan Bradley 2:23pm/9:22am
Phil Mickelson 2:34pm/9:33am
Henrik Stenson 2:34pm/9:33am
Matt Kuchar 2:34pm/9:33am
Justin Rose 2:45pm/9:44am
Nick Faldo 2:45pm/9:44am
Rickie Fowler 2:45pm/9:44am
Jim Furyk 2:56pm/9:55am
Paul Casey 2:56pm/9:55am
Branden Grace 2:56pm/9:55am
Edouardo Molinari 3:29pm/10:28am

ESPN (in the states) has live coverage from first to last tee on Thursday. Live radio at TheOpen.com and the app is helpful. DIRECTV mix channel as well. It's St. Andrews, what do you expect?

Friday Jukebox 7.10.15

Toronto 2015 officially has the opening ceremonies tonight (though competition began Wednesday with water polo), and here is the official theme song "Together We are One," by Serena Ryder.

Isn't it free Slurpee day tomorrow?

USWNT Wins Canada 2015!

Tourney over. In summary:

• First WC win for US Soccer WNT since on home turf in PK's against China 1999. 
• Golden ball: Carli Lloyd
• Golden glove: Hope Solo
• Golden boot: Celia Sasic
• Golden knuckles: Hope Solo

That is all. See you in 2019. 

The Championships, Wimbledon 2015: Grass Court Grand Slam

My second favorite grand slam (after the US Open, of course) is back!

The Championships 2015 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in the bustly London suburb of Wimbledon is home to the only grass court grand slam in tennis. Where the players get dirty from the grass! Like at all grand slam events, anything can happen, especially in the ladies' singles draw as depicted on the draw itself. Anything can happen. Defending singles champions Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova once again get top seeding, sort of.

With that in mind, the first round draws in singles.

GENTLEMEN SINGLES
First round matches of interest
(1) Novak Djokovic v Philip Kohlschreiber
(2) Roger Federer v Damir Dzumhur
(3) Andy Murray v Miguel Kukushkin
(4) Stan Wawrinka v Joao Sousa
(5) Kei Nishikori v Simone Bolelli
(6) Tomas Berdych v Jeremy Chardy
(7) Milos Raonic v Daniel Gimeno Traver
(9) Marin Cilic v Hiroki Moriya
(10) Rafa Nadal v Tomaz Bellucci
(11) Grigor Dimitrov v Federico Delbonis
(12) Gilles Simon v Nicolas Almagro
(13) Jo Wilfried Tsonga v Gilles Muller
(14) Kevin Anderson v Lucas Pouille
(15) Feliciano Lopez v Steve Darcis
(16) David Goffin v Horacio Zeballos
(17) John Isner v Go Soeda
(18) Gael Monfils v Pablo Carreno Busta
(19) Tommy Robredo v John Millman
(20) Roberto Bautista Agut v Robin Bemelmans
(21) Richard Gasquet v Lucas Saville
(22) Viktor Troicki v Aleksandr Nedovyseov
(23) Ivo Karlovic v Elias Ymer
(24) Leonardo Mayer v Thanasi Kokkinakis
(25) Andreas Seppi v Brydan Klein
(26) Nick Kyrgios v Diego Schwartzman
(27) Bernard Tomic v Jan Lennard Struff
(29) Guillermo Garcia Lopez v Pablo Andujar
(30) Fabio Fognini v Tim Smyczek
(31) Jack Sock v Sam Groth
(32) Dominic Thiem v Dudi Sela
Lleyton Hewitt v Jarko Nieminen
Radek Stepanek v Aljaz Bedene
Fernando Verdasco v Martin Klizan
Sam Querrey v Igor Sijsling
Marcos Baghdatis v Donald Young
Jerzy Janowicz v Marcel Ilhan
Juan Monaco v Fernando Mayer
Tommy Haas v Dusan Lajovic
Nicolas Mahut v Filip Krajinovic
Jarko Tipsarevic v Marcel Granollers
Tomaz Gabashvili v Alexander Zverev
Joao Souza v Santiago Giraldo
Adrian Mannarino v Michael Berrer
Matos Matosevic v Liam Broady
Ben Becker v Victor Estrella Burgos
Steve Johnson v Lucas Lacko
Alex Dolgopolov v Kenneth Edmund
Vasek Pospisil v Vincent Millot
Ernests Gulbis v Lukas Rosol
Denis Istomin v Albert Ramos Vinolas
Sergey Stakhovsky v Borna Coric
Kenny de Schepper v John Patrick Smith
Jiri Vesely v Paolo Lorenzi
Dustin Brown v Yun Hsieh Lu
Robin Haase v Alejandro Falla
Mikhail Youzhny v Benoit Paire
James Duckworth v Malek Jaziri

LADIES SINGLES
First round matches of interest
(1) Serena Williams v Margarita Gasparyan
(2) Petra Kvitova v Kiki Bertens
(3) Simona Halep v Jana Cepelova
(4) Maria Sharapova v Johanna Konta
(5) Caroline Wozniacki v Shuai Zheng
(6) Lucie Safarova v Allison Riske
(7) Ana Ivanovic v Yi Fan Xu
(8) Ekaterina Makarova v Sachia Vickery
(9) Venus Williams v Madison Brengle
(10) Angelique Kerber v Christine Witthoeft
(11) Karolina Pliskova v Irina Falconi
(12) Eugenie Bouchard v Ying Ying Duan
(13) Aga Radwanska v Lucie Hradecka
(14) Andrea Petkovic v Shelby Rogers
(15) Timea Bacsinsky v Julia Goerges
(16) Carla Suarez Navarro v Jelena Ostapenko
(17) Elina Svitolina v Misaki Doi
(18) Sabine Lisicki v Jarmila Gadjosova
(19) Sara Errani v Francesca Schiavone
(20) Garbine Muguruza v Varvara Lepchenko
(21) Madison Keys v Stefanie Voegele
(22) Sam Stosur v Davina Kovinic
(23) Victoria Azarenka v Anett Kontaveit
(24) Flavia Pennetta v Zarina Diyas
(25) Alize Cornet v Ana Konjuh
(26) Svetlana Kuznetsova v Laura Siegemund
(27) Barbora Zahlavova Strycova v Sloane Stephens
(28) Jelena Jankovic v Elena Vesnina  
(29) Irina Camelia Begu v Daniela Gavrilova
(30) Belinda Bencic v Tsvetana Pironkova
(31) Camilia Giorgi v Teliana Pereira
(32) Caroline Garcia v Heather Watson
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Mona Barthel
Tamira Paszek v Casey Dellacqua
Dominika Cibulkova v Daniela Hantuchova
Roberta Vinci v Aleksandra Krunic
Kirsten Flipkens v Annika Beck
Bojana Jovanovski v Tatjana Maria
Bethanie Mattek Sands v Alison van Uytvanck
Urszula Radwanska v Edina Gallovits Hall
Karin Knapp v  Magdalena Rybarikova
Kristina Mladenovic v Aleksandra Dulgheru
Christina McHale v Johanna Larsson
Kaia Kanepi v Su Wei Hsieh
Yanina Wickmayer v Elizaveta Kulichkova
Mirjana Lucic Baroni v Yaroslava Shvedova
Timea Babos v Petra Cetkovska
Marina Erakovic v Yulia Putintseva
Laura Robson v Elena Rodina
Silvia Soler Espinosa v Sesil Karatantcheva
Kristyna Pliskova v Tereza Smitkova
Monica Puig v Monica Niculescu
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova v Coco Vandeweghe
Nicole Gibbs v Lucia Tsurenko
Laura Davis v Polona Hercog
Lara Arruabarrena v Pauline Parmentier
Olga Govortsova v Anna Mitu
Ajla Tomljanovic v Klara Koukalova

In the US, every match from Monday to next Sunday's gentlemen's singles finals will be exclusive to ESPN. Also try Radio Wimbledon with good commentary as well.

ONE Dynasty of Champions 2015 Saturday!

ONE Championship is back with excellence in Asian Mixed Martial Arts, as Dynasty of Champions takes place Saturday. The best and future stars in MMA collide on one card.

For more, visit ONEfc.com! The #1 promotion (currently) in Asia!

US Open Golf 2015: Heading West

At Pinehurst last year, in the heat of the weekend, Martin Kaymer put on a performance no one could never forget. This year, he is back as the Open shifts out west to Chambers Bay in Washington State. Yet another great field of players in the best major in men's golf.

NOTABLE TEE TIMES
Times local (PT) to course.
(First round/second round)
Phil Mickelson 7:33am/1:33pm
Bubba Watson 7:33am/1:33pm
Angel Cabrera 7:33am/1:33pm
Gary Woodland 7:33am/1:33pm
Victor Dubuisson 7:33am/1:33pm
John Senden 7:33am/1:33pm
Bernd Wiesberger 7:44am/1:44pm
Hideki Matsuyama 8:06am/2:06pm
Graeme McDowell 8:06am/2:06pm
Matt Kuchar 8:06am/2:06pm
Henrik Stenson 8:17am/2:17pm
Francesco Molinari 8:17am/2:17pm
Brandt Snedeker 8:17am/2:17pm
Dustin Johnson 8:17am/2:17pm
Adam Scott 8:17am/2:17pm
Sergio Garcia 8:17am/2:17pm
Jim Furyk 8:28am/2:28pm
Colin Montgomerie 8:28am/2:28pm
Miguel Angel Jimenez 8:28am/2:28pm
Martin Kaymer 8:28am/2:28pm
Rory McIlroy 8:28am/2:28pm
Brooks Koepka 8:39am/2:39pm
Jason Dufner 8:50am/2:50pm
Webb Simpson 8:50am/2:50pm
Keegan Bradley 8:50am/2:50pm
Kevin Na 8:50am/2:50pm
DA Points 1:11pm/7:11am
Shiv Kapur 1:11pm/7:11am
Luke Donald 1:22pm/7:22am
Ernie Els 1:33pm/7:33am
Retief Goossen 1:33pm/7:33am
Geoff Ogilvy 1:33pm/7:33am
Lucas Glover 1:33pm/7:33am
Bo van Pelt 1:44pm/7:44am
Ryan Palmer 1:44pm/7:44am
Joost Luiten 1:44pm/7:44am
Lee Janzen 1:55pm/7:55am
Darren Clarke 1:55pm/7:55am
George Coetzee 1:55pm/7:55am
Daniel Summerhays 2:06pm/8:06am
Jordan Spieth 2:17pm/8:17am
Jason Day 2:17pm/8:17am
Justin Rose 2:17pm/8:17am
Billy Horschel 2:17pm/8:17am
Paul Casey 2:17pm/8:17am
Lee Westwood 2:17pm/8:17am
Rickie Fowler 2:28pm/8:28am
Louis Oosthuizen 2:28pm/8:28am
Tiger Woods 2:28pm/8:28am
Charl Schwartzel 2:28pm/8:28am
Hunter Mahan 2:28pm/8:28am
Bill Haas 2:28pm/8:28am
Jimmy Walker 2:39pm/8:39am
Zach Johnson 2:39pm/8:39am
Ian Poulter 2:39pm/8:39am
Ryan Moore 2:50pm/8:50am
Erik Compton 2:50pm/8:50am
Camilo Villegas 2:50pm/8:50am

It's a new era as all USGA championships are on Fox Sports family, with every round on Fox and Fox Sports 1 throughout the weekend, for US viewers. Plus the DIRECTV mix channels.

Ultimate Warriors

That 40 year drought...

Also it was on the birthday of the now-deceased Dingo (Ultimate) Warrior. How ironic.

24 Heures du Mans 2015: Saturday is the 83rd Race

The annual race which brings 56 cars across four classes is here!

LeMans 2015, like in the past years, have been full of diversity, the drivers, the manufacturers, you name it. After all, it is the world's greatest race.

Here in the states, you better wake up, because the green flag is at 8am Eastern (3pm local/CET). Fox Sports 1 and 2 with live coverage throughout the 24 hour race.

It's Here: FIFA Women's World Cup 2015 Canada (Featuring Rio 2016 Qualifying)!

All the bullshit within FIFA are gone, and now we have football, at the moment.

FIFA Women's World Cup 2015 is in North America this year, and the action kicks off on Saturday as Canada (host nation) is in action in Group A play at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

Defending World Cup champions Japan and US Soccer are back this year, and will start play later in the week.

As far as the groups go, here are the 24 in this year's field:

GROUP A
Canada (host)
China
Netherlands
New Zealand

GROUP B
Germany
Norway
Ivory Coast
Thailand

GROUP C
Japan
Switzerland
Cameroon
Ecuador

GROUP D
United States
Sweden
Nigeria
Australia

GROUP E
Brazil
Republic of Korea
Costa Rica
Spain

GROUP F
England
France
Mexico
Colombia

And yes, the field is to 24 for the first time ever, up from Germany 2011. Amazing.

This is also a new era of FIFA TV in the US, as Fox Sports and NBCU's Telemundo Deportes (free to air) service will take over coverage of all things FIFA in the US. The Bell consortium (mainly CTV and TSN networks) will be host broadcasters in Canada.

There are also some spots available for the Rio 2016 women's football tournament, mainly for some of the top finishers amongst the UEFA representatives in this tournament.

Friday Jukebox 6.5.15

Amid the scandal, it's time for football! Saturday will mark the first day of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2015(TM) and here is the official anthem, "Beautiful Life" by Nick Fradiani.

Enjoy!

The Finals 2015: Somebody's Drought is On the Line

That's right folks. The Finals is back. Someone will end a drought in this series. The Warriors haven't won an NBA title in nearly 44 years. Cleveland haven't won a major sports title in 54 years. Oh yeah, Klay Thompson is cleared for game 1. Team Splash are the favorites in my opinion.

THE FINALS 2015
(best of seven)
(1W) Warriors v (2E) Cavaliers
Game 1: Thursday
Game 2: Sunday
Game 3: Tuesday
Game 4: 6/11
Game 5: 6/14*
Game 6: 6/16*
Game 7: 6/19*
*-if necessary.

Every game is on ABC throughout North America throughout the series.

We Are the Heroes: Mans Zelmerlow Wins 60th EUROVISION at Vienna 2015

Sixth win in ESC for Sweden, first since Loreen "Euphoria" at Baku 2012. 

Voting was not fixed. Sorry Polina apologetists. 

Roland Garros 2015 Starts Sunday!

After four months, we are back in Grand Slam season. Both Rafa Nadal and Maria Sharapova are back to defend their singles titles. Clay court season as well, the hardest surface in tennis.

Singles starts this fifteen day odyssey on Sunday morning. No lights, no problem.

SINGLES
First round matches of interest

MEN
(1) Novak Djokovic v Jarko Nieminen
(2) Roger Federer v Alejandro Falla
(3) Andy Murray v Facundo Arguello
(4) Tomas Berdych v Yoshito Nishioka
(5) Kei Nishikori v Paul Henri Matthieu
(6) Rafa Nadal v Quentin Halys
(7) David Ferrer v Lucas Lacko
(8) Stan Wawrinka v Marcel Ilhan
(9) Marin Cilic v Robin Haase
(10) Grigor Dimitrov v Jack Sock
(11) Fernando Lopez v Tomaz Gabashvili
(12) Gilles Simon v Lucas Pouille
(13) Gael Monfils v Edouard Roger Vasselin
(14) Jo Wilfried Tsonga v Christian Lindell
(15) Kevin Anderson v Tim Smyczek
(16) John Isner v Andreas Seppi
(17) David Goffin v Filip Krajinovic
(18) Tommy Robredo v Andrey Golubev
(19) Roberto Bautista Agut v Fernando Mayer
(20) Richard Gasquet v Germain Gigounon
(21) Pedro Cuevas v Sam Groth
(22) Philipp Kohlschreiber v Go Soeda
(23) Leonardo Mayer v Jiri Vesely
(24) Ernests Gulbis v Igor Sijsling
(25) Ivo Karlovic v Marcos Baghdatis
(26) Guillermo Garcia Lopez v Steve Johnson
(27) Bernie Tomic v Luca Vanni
(28) Fabio Fognini v Tatsuma Ito
(29) Nick Kyrgios v Denis Istomin
(30) Adrian Mannarino v Jurgen Melzer
(31) Viktor Troicki v Jan Lennard Struff
(32) Fernando Verdasco v Taro Daniel
Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Nikoloz Basilashvili
Alex Dolgopolov v Nick Almagro
Sam Querrey v Borna Coric
Gilles Muller v Paolo Lorenzi
Vasek Pospisil v Joao Sousa
Donald Young v Santiago Giraldo
Juan Monaco v Federico Delbonis
Ivan Dodig v Radek Stepanek
Sergiy Stakhovsky v Robin Berankis
Jerzy Janowicz v Maxime Hamou
Mikhail Youzhny v Damir Dzumhur
Carlos Berlocq v Ilya Marchenko
Andrey Kuznetsov v Malek Jaziri
Lukas Rosol v Elias Ymer
Nicolas Mahut v Kimmer Coppejans
Jeremy Chardy v Michael Berrer
Steve Darcis v Simone Bolelli
Thomas Bellucci v Matos Matosevic
Benoit Paire v Gastao Elias
Marcel Granollers v Mathias Bachinger
Martin Klizan v Frances Tiafoe
James Duckworth v Andrea Arnaboldi
Ben Becker v Ruben Bemelmans

WOMEN
First round singles of interest
(1) Serena Williams v Andrea Hlavachova
(2) Maria Sharapova v Kaia Kanepi
(3) Simona Halep v Evgenia Rodnina
(4) Petra Kvitova v Marina Erakovic
(5) Caroline Wozniacki v Karin Knapp
(6) Eugenie Bouchard v Kristina Mladenovic
(7) Ana Ivanovic v Yaroslava Shvedova
(8) Carla Suarez Navarro v Monica Niculescu
(9) Ekaterina Makarova v Louisa Chirico  
(10) Andrea Petkovic v Shelby Rogers
(11) Angelique Kerber v Timea Babos
(12) Karolina Pliskova v Shuai Zhang
(13) Lucie Safarova v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
(14) Aga Radwanska v Anna Beck
(15) Venus Williams v Sloane Stephens
(16) Madison Keys v Varvara Lepchenko
(17) Sara Errani v Alison Riske
(18) Svetlana Kuznetsova v Kiki Bertens
(19) Elina Svitolina v Yanina Wickmayer
(20) Sabine Lisicki v Monica Puig
(21) Garbine Muguruza v Petra Martic
(22) Barbora Zahlavova Strycova v Tsvetana Pironkova
(23) Timea Bacsinsky v Lara Arruabarrena
(24) Shuai Peng v Polona Hercog
(25) Jelena Jankovic v Sesil Karatantcheva
(26) Sam Stosur v Madison Brengle  
(27) Victoria Azarenka v Maria Torro Flor
(28) Flavia Pennetta v Magda Linette
(29) Alize Cornet v Roberta Vinci
(30) Irina Camelia Begu v Bethanie Mattek Sands
(31) Caroline Garcia v Donna Vekic
(32) Zarina Diyas v Dinah Pfizenmayer
Francesca Schiavone v Wang Qiang
Julia Goerges v Coco Vandeweghe
Daniela Hantuchova v Belinda Bencic
Bojana Jovanovski v Lesia Tsurenko
Irina Falconi v Manon Arcangioli
Heather Watson v Mathilde Johansson
Taylor Townsend v Tereza Smitkova
Christina McHale v Lourdes Dominguez Lino
Lucie Hradecka v Zheng Saisai
Kirsten Flipkens v Elena Vesnina
Casey Dellacqua v Ajla Tomljanovic
Klara Koukalova v Danka Kovinic
Silvia Soler Espinosa v Pauline Parmentier
Mona Barthel v Paula Kania
Nicole Gibbs v Alexandra Dulgheru
Mirjana Lucic Baroni v Lauren Davis
Camilia Giorgi v Tatiana Marina
Virginie Razzano v Veronica Cepede Royg
Johanna Larsson v Daria Gavrilova
Jarmilla Gajdosova v Amandine Hesse

Again, first round on Sunday. In the states, ESPN family, Tennis and NBC (in their 33rd consecutive year) handle coverage. Get up early. Also Radio Roland Garros. Try it! Great guys to listen to as well!