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Final Olympic Update – 8/9/2021

By Adam Roberts – 8/9/2021

Yesterday the Olympic Torch was officially doused in Tokyo and the French flag was raised, signalling the end of a tumultuous at times Tokyo Games and beginning the preparations for Paris 2024. Let’s take one final look at how things shook out on the last day of the Games yesterday:

It may have come down to the final day of competition, but the United States of America came away with the most gold medals at this year’s Olympics in Tokyo after edging out China by one medal with 39 total gold. The U.S. also dominated to the top of the leaderboard with 113 total medals which was 25 more than the next closest country.
Baseball made its return to the Olympics for Tokyo 2020 and the United States made it all the way to the final game before falling to the host country of Japan two-to-nothing. It was the second time Team USA lost to Japan in the tournament after falling to them seven-to-six. The U.S. settled for the silver medal as Boston Red Sox prospect Triston Casas impressed at the plate with three home runs and eight RBI.
It was the second straight Olympics the U.S. and Japan faced each other in the softball gold medal game and once again Team USA watched their opponents celebrate winning the gold. The U.S. settled for the silver medal after falling to the host country two-to-zero. Softball made its return to the Olympics for the first time since 2008, but is not on the program for Paris in 2024.
Despite entering Tokyo 2020 on a 44-match undefeated streak the U.S. women’s soccer team fell in their opening game to Sweden three-to-zero. Team USA would battle their way back to the semifinals before a shocking loss to Canada, the eventual gold medalists. The U.S. found a way to leave the Olympics with some hardware after topping Australia to win the bronze medal.
In boxing, the United States advanced to three gold medal bouts, but settled for the silver medal in each of them as the nation left Tokyo with four total medals in the event. Duke Ragan became the first U.S. pro boxer to win an Olympic medal after losing three-to-two to Albert Batyrgaziev of the Russian Olympic Committee in the featherweight gold medal match. Meanwhile, Oshae Jones was the lone U.S. women’s boxer to win a medal after earning the bronze in the female welterweight division.

Congrats to every athlete who competed in the 2020-21 Games!

Packer WR Devin Funchess Apologizes For Making Anti-Asian Slur

By Adam Roberts – 8/9/2021

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Devin Funchess is apologizing for using an anti-Asian slur when talking to the media Saturday night.

He said in a tweet he has deep personal and business relationships in the Asian community and he meant no harm. He said it was not OK, and he will learn from this and continue to grow as a person. Funchess was talking about the difficulty of knowing when someone was smiling while wearing masks and made a reference to Asians while pointing to his eyes to demonstrate how he knows when someone is smiling.

General manager Brian Gutekunst said on Sunday he had spoken to Funchess about the incident, and that the team has no plans to cut Funchess “at the moment”.

The Packers will kick off the preseason at home this Saturday as the Pack play host to the Houston Texans. It’s not clear yet which stars will suit up for the Packers, but it will be the first chance for fans to see rookies in action. Lambeau Field is expected to be open at full capacity with COVID protocols in place at the stadium.

Adrian Houser Added To COVID IL

By Adam Roberts – 8/6/2021

The COVID situation with the Brewers continues today, even as Christian Yelich returns to action.

Starter Adrian Houser has been added to the list today according to Adam McKalvy. Houser reported COVID symptoms earlier today and then tested positive for the virus.

Joining Houser on the list is Jandel Gustave, who himself also tested positive for the virus. That’s now 9 COVID-positive Brewers in the past 11 days.

Milwaukee opens their series against the Giants tonight. Coverage tomorrow evening from American Family Field begins at 5:30pm on ESPN La Crosse 105.5 and espnlacrosse.com!

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson Sprains AC Joint

By Adam Roberts – 8/6/2021

Justin Jefferson could be seen at Vikings’ practice today in visible pain at times, falling down on a number of targets. The final rep of practice for Jefferson saw him walk off the field holding his left wrist after Bashaud Breeland landed on him.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Jefferson is dealing with a sprained AC joint. In good news for Minnesota the injury doesn’t appear to be overly serious, although there will be further testing done on the wrist area this weekend. The testing will determine how long one of the more prolific Minnesota offensive weapons will be out of commission.

The Vikings can ill afford many injuries at practice, even if their starting quarterback Kirk Cousins is back off the COVID reserve list.

Minnesota opens the preseason August 14th against Denver at US Bank Stadium.

Bucks Trade Sam Merrill To Memphis For Grayson Allen

By Adam Roberts – 8/6/2021

The last time the name Grayson Allen was uttered en masse by Wisconsin sports fans, it was during his time at Duke when he was scoring eight straight for the Blue Devils and helping defeat the Badger men’s basketball team in the 2014-15 National Championship.

Today, his name is being uttered again as he joins the defending NBA champs.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports the Bucks are trading Sam Merrill to Memphis for Allen along with two future second-round picks. Last season for the Grizzlies Allen averaged over 10 points per game and was also a starter for a number of the games he played in.

Some will obviously point to the incidents of bad on-court behavior that Allen was known for in college which somewhat carried over his first season in the league with Utah. It remains to be seen how he will fit in with the culture of the Bucks, but he does bring another wing guard shooting presence that will compliment Donte DiVincenzo next season.

Olympic Update – 8/6/2021

By Adam Roberts – 8/6/2021

It’s the final countdown for Tokyo 2020 this weekend, as the US makes one final push for medals to pad their solid lead at the top of the medal leaderboard. Here’s your daily Olympic update:

In the semifinal of the 97kg division of men’s freestyle wrestling, Pennsylvania’s Kyle Frederick Snyder got the best of Turkey’s Suleyman Karadeniz 5-0. Snyder improved his record at this year’s Summer Games to a perfect 3-0 as the 25-year-old goes for a second consecutive gold medal after winning during the 2016 Olympics in Rio. The men’s freestyle 97kg final is set for tomorrow.
Jacarra Gwenisha Winchester of Colorado missed out on winning a bronze medal for the U.S. after she was bested by Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus in the 53kg division of women’s freestyle wrestling. Mayu Mukaida of Japan won the gold medal and Qianyu Pang of China won the silver. Mongolia’s Bolortuya Bat Ochir of Mongolia also took home a bronze medal.
California native Allyson Felix collected her 10th Olympic medal after she finished in third place in the women’s 400m to win bronze. Felix set a season best with a time of 49.46 seconds. Fellow American Quanera Hayes finished in seventh place with a time of 50.88 seconds. Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas won the gold and Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic took home the silver.
Gable Steveson of Minnesota defeated Georgia’s Geno Petriashvili in the final of the men’s freestyle wrestling 125kg division to win the gold medal for the U.S. It was the first time in four matches that Steveson surrendered any points as he picked up the 10-8 win. The gold is the first Olympic medal won by the 21-year-old Steveson.

Coming up this evening, the USA men’s basketball team will play for the gold medal against France. We’re sending good vibes to Jrue, Khris, and the rest of Team USA!

Packers Waivs LS Joe Fortunato; Claim OLB Chauncey Rivers

By Adam Roberts – 8/5/2021

Practice wrapped up hours ago for the Packers, but their front office has made a couple of moves this evening.

The team has waived long snapper Joe Fortunato. The Delaware product was participating in his first NFL training camp this year.

In addition, Green Bay has also claimed outside linebacker Chauncey Rivers from the Baltimore Ravens. Rivers is a Mississippi State alum who some might remember from his appearance on the Last Chance U documentary series. Rivers has bounced back and forth between the active roster and practice squad in Baltimore since being drafted last year.

Holiday & Middleton Score 11 Each; Team USA Beats Australia To Advance To Olympic Final

By Adam Roberts – 8/5/2021

After a quiet quarterfinal against Spain, Khris Middleton re-emerged last night as an important bench piece for the USA men’s basketball team. Couple that with a fine contribution from Jrue Holiday plus a big third quarter for the team in general, and the Americans are one win away from silencing all the doubt they faced ahead of the Olympics.

Holiday and Middleton each scored 11 points, with Jrue adding eight rebounds and eight assists, while Kevin Durant scored 23 points and Devin Booker chipped in with 20 as Team USA knocked off Australia, 97-to-78 in the semifinals. The Americans overcame a 15-point deficit to advance to Friday night’s gold medal game against France.

The French outlasted Slovenia, 90-to-89, in the other semifinal. Evan Fournier had 23 points and four threes for the French while Luka Doncic had a triple double with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 18 assists for the Slovenian unit.

Vikings QB Kirk Cousins Activated Off COVID List

By Adam Roberts – 8/5/2021

Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins was back with the team today after being activated off the league reserve/COVID-19 list. Cousins had been deemed a close contact along with rookie QB Kellen Mond to backup Nate Stanley last week, but Cousins said at a presser today he has had six negative tests since his last encounter with Mond on Friday.

According to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin, a league source confirmed that the size of Minnesota’s quarterback room did factor into Cousins being deemed a close contact. The quarterback said his position group is moving to a larger meeting room so they can avoid this issue in the future. Cousins remains unvaccinated against COVID-19, and said today he will follow all COVID protocols the league has put in place for unvaccinated individuals this season.

Minnesota was noted earlier this week as being the team with the smallest number of fully vaccinated players. They play their first preseason game August 14th at US Bank Stadium against Denver.

Alando Tucker Responds To Allegations In Journal Sentinel Report

By Adam Roberts – 8/4/2021

Former Badger coach and player Alando Tucker has responded to a report written in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that details events that reportedly went on during a difficult stretch of the 2019-20 season for the Badger men’s basketball team.

Tucker was hired by the program as an interim assistant after Howard Moore suffered a heart attack following the loss of his wife and daughter in a car crash. The Journal article reached out to a number of unnamed sources, who said Tucker had a plot to turn players against head coach Greg Gard, going so far as to tell then-AD Barry Alvarez he would be ready to take over the program and hoping that if Northern Illinois AD John Frazier was hired to replace Alvarez instead of Chris McIntosh that he would fire Gard and hire himself.

“For months…I have been the target of slanderous articles, conversations, tweets and messages concerning my exit from UW-Madison, most of which have been based upon falsehoods, mistaken assumptions and misguided opinions.” Tucker said in his statement. “At this moment, I can no longer remain silent. I wish to state categorically that I have not done any of the things that I have been accused of. Those who know me and have worked with me know that is not my character.”

You can view the whole Tucker statement here.