ESPN La Crosse 105.5

Japan Declares COVID State Of Emergency Two Weeks Before Olympics

By Adam Roberts – 7/8/2021

Japan is declaring a state of emergency in Tokyo to combat rising COVID cases just two weeks before the Olympics are to begin.

The state of emergency declared today will run from July 12th, through August 22nd. This means bars and restaurants won’t be allowed to serve alcohol and must close by 8 p.m. The Olympics opening ceremony is scheduled for July 23rd and the Games wind up August 8th.

There’s been widespread and steady opposition to the Games in Japan, with calls to postpone or cancel them.

Giannis Officially Off Injury Report Before Game Two

By Adam Roberts – 7/8/2021

Miraculously, Giannis Antetokounmpo seemed largely unhindered by the knee hyperextension that kept him sidelined for the final two games of the Eastern Conference Finals when he took to the court Tuesday against Phoenix. According to the team, it shouldn’t be a concern going forward.

Giannis is officially off the injury report for game two of the NBA finals. He made a sudden return from a hyperextended left knee injury to play for in game one after being listed as doubtful. He scored 20 points and 17 rebounds in the loss.

On another topic, the ratings for Game One were quite high, which isn’t surprising given how long each fan base has been waiting for a championship. Eight-and-a-half million people tuned in for game one of the NBA Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns. That’s a 13-percent increase in viewership from game one of last year’s Finals. As for the hometown ratings, the NBA says viewership in Milwaukee was the highest since 2001 and Phoenix saw its biggest ratings since 2000. The numbers were even higher toward the end of the game as almost ten-million were tuned in during the 11 p.m. Eastern hour.

The Bucks will try to even the NBA Finals against the Suns tonight in Phoenix. Our coverage begins at 7 on ESPN La Crosse 105.5 and espnlacrosse.com!

Three Area Baseball Athletes Named All-State

By Adam Roberts – 7/8/2021

The WBCA All-State lists dropped today, and they feature three of our area’s best athletes on the diamond.

Viroqua senior infielder Clayton Slack was named to the second team, while Aquinas senior Jared Everson and Onalaska senior outfielder Mason Manglitz each received third-team honors. La Crosse Central pitcher Dylan Lapic was the D1 Southwest District Player of the Year. No Coulee Region athletes were named to First Team.

Honorable Mentions went to Lapic, Ashton Michek (P, Jr, Bangor), Calvin Hargrove (C, So, Aquinas), Evan Long (INF, Sr, Tomah), and Brett Stuessel (OF, Sr, Sparta *editors note: it’s interesting that Stuessel received the award for outfield play when he rarely played in the outfield all season).

Congrats to our area all-state athletes! A full All-State list can be found here.

Nevada State Athletic Commission Votes To End Marijuana Discipline

By Adam Roberts – 7/7/2021

There’s some big news today for athletes competing in, and fans of, the mixed martial arts world and boxing worlds.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission is voting to end disciplining boxers and mixed martial arts fighters for marijuana use. Nevada follows the Florida State Boxing Commission, which stopped testing for marijuana in May. Nevada’s commission will continue to test for marijuana for data purposes during the next six months.

The new policy begins today and is not retroactive to cases that have not been examined. It’s the latest move by a sports league to lighten it’s punishment for marijuana usage, even as American track star Sha’Carri RIchardson is currently suspended for a month from US Olympic competition for her own marijuana use.

Aaron Rodgers And Bryson DeChambeau Win “The Match”

By Adam Roberts – 7/7/2021

While the highlight of the event was probably all those juicy sound bites I told you would come out of the event, there was still a charity golf match played in Montana yesterday between the teams of Aaron Rodgers-Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson-Tom Brady.

Rodgers and DeChambeau closed out Mickelson and Brady to win The Match on Tuesday. Win the victory, they accrued 200 thousand dollars for the North Valley Community Foundation. The duo used a strong back nine to turn back Mickelson and Brady in the fourth installment of the event.

Rodgers was of course peppered with questions on his future in Green Bay, and as you’d expect we got no answers about anything related to that future out of the multi-MVP quarterback. The next event coming up will be training camp later this month, and if Rodgers holds out of that the fine money, and speculation, will REALLY start to climb.

Bucks Drop Game One; Giannis Returns

By Adam Roberts – 7/7/2021

The line between a hyperextended knee and a torn ACL is very fine. Anytime a basketball player injures their knee, the first though anyone likely has is: that player is probably out for an extended period of time.

For Giannis Antetokounmpo, “extended period of time” meant two games.

The Greek Freak was back on the floor for Game One of the NBA Finals last night in Phoenix, accumulating 20 points in 35 minutes of action. Unfortunately, a big game for Chris Paul, difficulty getting to the free throw line, and off nights from other role players who stepped up big against the Hawks doomed Milwaukee to a 118-105 loss.

Khris Middleton had 29 points despite not taking a singled free throw all night. And Jrue Holiday was held to just 4-14 shooting for 10 points and had an abysmal plus/minus of -16; Brook Lopez did him one worse with a -17.

Game Two is tomorrow night in Phoenix. Coverage begins at 7pm on ESPN La Crosse 105.5 and espnlacrosse.com!

Brewers Acquire 1B Rowdy Tellez

By Adam Roberts – 7/6/2021

One of the Brewers’ pieces from the Willy Adames trade is already off to a new location in exchange for a new first baseman.

According to Ken Rosenthal, the team is acquiring Rowdy Tellez from the Toronto Blue Jays and sending away picther Trevor Richards. Rosenthal said any other pieces in the deal are uncertain.

Tellez has spent the last few weeks in the majors following a .209 batting average this season with 29 hits and four home runs. He will bring a left-handed power bat to the lineup and could be used rather quickly if the newest bout of Keston Hiura struggles continues.

Milwaukee is on the road tonight for game two of the Mets’ series.

Giannis Upgraded From Doubtful to Questionable Tonight

By Adam Roberts – 7/6/2021

The Bucks may once again be without Giannis this evening when they take the court for Game One of the NBA Finals against Phoenix.

Orrrrrrrr maybe not.

The team has officially upgraded Giannis from doubtful to questionable tonight as they gauge how game-ready the Greek Freak’s hyperextended knee is. Giannis hasn’t played since the injury in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Finals against Atlanta, and many have suspected he would likely be done for the postseason. However, it would appear that the injury is either not as serious as some believe, or the Bucks are possibly trying to keep Phoenix on their toes about whether or not they will have to plan for Giannis in the series.

Also, per Woj and Malika Andrews: Giannis has continued around-the-clock treatment on his left knee with hopes of becoming cleared to play against Phoenix tonight. There’s expected to be a game-time decision on his availability.

Game One coverage begins tonight at 7 on ESPN La Crosse 105.5 and espnlacrosse.com!

Aaron Rodgers Competes In “The Match” Today

By Adam Roberts – 7/6/2021

Yes this is a Rodgers story. No, it does not revolve around his standing with the team.

Today, Aaron will team up with Bryson DeChambeau in a competition against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady at Moonlight Basin in Big Sky, Montana as part of this year’s edition of “The Match”. The golf exhibition has been a highly popular event for TNT each year, with last year’s events featuring Mickselon, Brady, Tiger Woods, and Peyton Manning in May and Mickelson, Manning, Charles Barkley, and Steph Curry in November.

Rodgers is of course no stranger to the links; he’s said his best handicap was a 3.5, roughly four and a half strokes better than Brady. Tom does have the above experience in this event, however, including a hole out. Both players have also played in celebrity pro-ams before, with Rodgers placing eighth in the American Century Championship back in 2017.

In any case, the play-by-play will be chock full of all that sweet, sweet Rodgers-Packers drama speculation, in case you haven’t had your fix in a while…

Aaron Rodgers Passes On NFL COVID Opt-Out Option

By Adam Roberts – 7/5/2021

On the ESPN La Crosse 105.5 Twitter page, we put the chance of Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers using the COVID-19 opt-out as his reason for missing this season at somewhere around 0.00000000000000000000001%. Looks like the likely path played out.

Rodgers passed on the NFL’s COVID opt-out option. The deadline to opt-out was Friday and Rodgers was not on the Packers’ list.

His destiny with the team this season will therefore remain a mystery, but he is subject to two million dollars in fines and could miss out on an 418.3 million if he continues to be a holdout.