Podbit · Pardon My Take
Shane Bacon breaks down the five key storylines heading into the 2026 Open at Royal Birkdale: a strangely random major season, a 12-game streak of first-time Open winners, Bryson DeChambeau's missed-cut slam attempt, the year of the comeback (Anthony Kim, Gary Woodland), and which big name finally saves a lost season.
Spain defeated France 2-0 to advance to the men's World Cup final on Sunday in New Jersey. They'll face the winner of the Argentina vs. England semifinal in Atlanta, with defending champion Lionel Messi standing in the way.
According to a Dan Patrick Show source, FIFA chairman Mohammed al-Kamali of the UAE unilaterally lifted Folarin Balogun's automatic red-card ban without informing the committee. The UAE is deeply tied to Trump family business interests. Ben Rhodes says it was entirely predictable: if Trump wants something fixed, he goes through the Gulf.
Jordan Walker won the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby in front of a hostile Philadelphia crowd that was booing his every pitch taken. Making roughly $800,000 a year, he pocketed $1 million in prize money with an incredible late surge that left Schwarber and the Philly faithful stunned.
Buster Olney's stats show the new clock-free HR Derby produced 131 homers versus a 5-year average of 275 under the old format. But PFT argues the real improvement is simply being able to watch the ball land — treating it like an actual sport instead of a camera-cut highlight reel.
Spain dismantled France in the World Cup semifinal, with Lamine Yamal serving as the ultimate Mbappe stopper — owning him 11 of 13 head-to-head matchups. The hosts debate whether Spain's favorable draw (6 of 7 games in air-conditioned venues) gave them a hidden edge.
Cubs/White Sox reporter Bruce Levine accidentally tweeted a message meant to be a private DM, sucking up to a coach while calling GMs Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins 'Twinkle Dee and Twinkle Dumb.' He also misspelled Tweedledee and Tweedledum from Alice in Wonderland. A classic text-to-tweet disaster that went up for 20 minutes before deletion.
Clemens called 95% of his pitches himself — and his tell for the splitter was simply hitching his pants. Nobody ever cracked it. He also caught opponents tipping their pitches through sleeve lengths, glove fans, and facial expressions, with pitch-tipping turning a .250 hitter into a .350 hitter.
Clemens says the bat broke in four pieces, bounced directly into his hands on the mound, and he instinctively threw it — not at Piazza, but toward the on-deck circle where Mike happened to be jogging. He was 15 feet away. If he wanted to hit him, he wouldn't have thrown it. He frames it as the best fielding form of his career — a two-bounce perfect catch and release.
In 2007, Cashman called Clemens and said 'How long will it take you to get ready?' Clemens agreed to train for two weeks secretly in Houston, then was marched out to George Steinbrenner's box at Yankee Stadium for a theatrical announcement he never wanted. He drove himself to Tampa that same day — car still running in the parking lot.
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