The Phillies have been playing better over the past week and they have won five straight to increase their lead in the National League East standings to eight games over the Atlanta Braves. They are now playing the struggling Miami Marlins on the road. I expect them to win three of the four games this weekend.
There is still one big concern though about the health of Bryce Harper for the last two months of the season. Right now, he is struggling with two elbow injuries! I am nervous about whether he’s going to be able to finish out the season, especially in October. I expect this to be another very exciting Red October in Philadelphia!
Americans are doing very well in both singles competitions of the U.S. Open Tennis. On the men’s side Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz are going to face off in one semifinal. This means for the first time since 2009, there’s going to be an American male in the finals. They have all taken advantage of the fact that Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz both lost early in the tournament! I hope this is a great sign for the future of American men’s tennis.
On the women’s side, Emma Navarro and Jessica Pegula both have a chance to make it to the finals on Saturday. This proves that Emma Navarro is not a one-hit wonder. She also had a very successful Wimbledon tournament where she made it to the semifinals as well. She was able to beat defending champion Coco Gauff on her way to this round. I am also happy for Jessica Pegula because she finally reached her potential. She has been on the women's tour for a long time.
In golf, Scottie Scheffler was able to complete a great season by winning the Tour Championship and the Fed Ex Cup for his seventh victory of the season. He is the first player to win seven times in a season since Tiger Woods in 2007. He is the golf version of Roger Federer because all he’s interested in is winning and he never says anything negative about anybody else on tour. I still don’t understand the format for the Tour Championship/Fed Ex Cup very well. I wish they would make it a lot less complicated for us fans to understand.
There are still two tournaments to look forward to for the rest of the golf season. First, the Solheim Cup, which is the female version of the Ryder Cup. It will be held this year in Washington, D.C., at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. This club has hosted a number of President's Cup men’s competitions in the past, so it will be interesting to see the women playing the same course. The European team retained the Solheim Cup for the last two competitions and have won three of the last four. So there will be a lot of pressure for the U.S. to win on home soil. The tournament starts on Friday, Sept. 13, on the Golf Channel.
The President's Cup will be contested at Royal Montreal Golf Club Sept. 26-29. This is the competition between the U.S. and an international team which comprises players from everywhere except Europe. This competition has been happening every two years since 1996. The international team has only won one out of 14 competitions and tied one other. I think it is very important for the future of this competition for the international team to either win on home soil or make the score very close. I think this is possible because they’re playing in Canada and their captain is Mike Weir, who is the best male Canadian golfer in modern history. His best win was the 2003 Masters at Augusta. I’ll be cheering for the U.S. to win, but I hope it will be close.
I wanted to also mention that I am watching the Paralympics. It's been remarkable! I have been watching a lot of wheelchair basketball. It has been very impressive to watch. The wheelchairs are really sturdy and stable with a low center of gravity. They must cost a fortune! I also watched some sitting volleyball. I had never seen that before. The coverage on USA Network has been inconsistent and tough to follow. It's really a shame that this is done more as an afterthought. It deserves better.
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
