A Boring Summer Week?

I have no idea what I'm going to do to get through next week.  It is the one week every year where my craving for sports goes unfulfilled and I am forced to look for alternative methods of entertainment in the sporting world. The NBA and the NFL are both in their off season (and coincidentally are both in contentious lockouts between their respective players and owners), the NHL officially is in their off season - even though by my count they are always in their off season - and Major League Baseball takes a three-day break for its all-star game festivities before it resumes its season on Thursday, July 14.  Sports Illustrated even releases its annual summer "double" issue this week so it doesn't have to release an issue next week.

ESPN Reporter and reality TV personality,
Erin Andrews, may be one of the few reasons to
tune into the annual ESPN sports awards show.

To help satisfy the public's need for sport, ESPN films its annual sports award show, the ESPY's, on the day after the MLB all-star game, but you shouldn't feel like you have to tune in live on Wednesday to watch it since ESPN will show the awards show about a dozen times between the day it's taped and the end of July.  I don't know about you, but I just can't get enough of a self-publicizing and self-promoting event put on by the self-proclaimed worldwide leader in sports (read w/ a sarcastic tone).  The only reason I'm even remotely interested in the ESPY's this year is to see if The Jimmer can continue his domination in the sports awards scene and bring home an ESPY in the category of Best Male College Athlete after winning every major national player of the year award in college basketball.  Tune in to any one of the dozens of showings to find out.

But for those of you (like me) who just won't be satisfied with a MLB all-star game that has lost a bit of its luster and an uneventful sports awards show (unless it's hosted by Justin Timberlake), here are three things to keep an eye out for next week (Note: I had to go all the way to Europe and the Internet to find these so enjoy!):

BYU Football Media Day 
With BYU going independent in football, it will be the first summer in a long time when BYU and its coaches and key players do not attend a media day for its conference.  So when you're an independent you do your media day independently, of course.  On Tuesday, July 12, there will be several sessions from the BYU Football Media Day broadcast live on BYUtv or online at byutv.org.  More details about the Media Day can be found here which includes a Q&A webcast in Spanish (BYU is clear about what kind of "Football" they'll be talking about, right?).

Bronco Mendenhall will help kick
off BYU's journey into football
independence with a virtual-based
Football Media Day.

BYU fans can post questions for coaches, players, former players, and can answer trivia questions via Twitter for the possibility to win prizes.  Of course, anything on Twitter eliminates about 70% of the traditional fans that sit on the West side of Lavell Edwards Stadium, but it should be a fun event to follow as BYU embarks on its first year of (American) Football independence with what Bronco has called his "most talented" team he has ever had at BYU.

Women's World Cup
Now, the Women's World Cup has been going on in Germany for a couple of weeks, but it will begin to take center stage as it enters the quarterfinals on Saturday and Sunday this weekend.  The US Women's team has not won the World Cup since the rip-roaring, shirt-stripping, and bra-revealing shootout win over China in 1999, and the road to a World Cup championship will be even more difficult in 2011 as the US slid into a quarterfinals matchup against perennial powerhouse Brazil by losing to Sweden today in the last round of pool play.

The US Women's World Cup Soccer Team will
hope to party like it's 1999 when Brandi
Chastain (above) scored the game-winning
shootout goal against China.

The loss to Sweden was the US Women's first loss ever in pool play in the World Cup which is not exactly a positive sign for a team that has struggled in international competition during the last year.  Either way, Germany will hope to advance and defend its home turf as the final match will take place on Sunday, July 17.


The Open Championship (aka The British Open)
This year's version of Golf's third round of the Grand Slam will kick off on Thursday, July 14 at Royal St. George's in England.  The Open Championship will be without injury-ridden Tiger Woods who is still sidelined with undisclosed knee and achilles injuries. "Unfortunately, I've been advised that I should not play in the British Open," Woods said. "I am only going to come back when I'm 100 percent ready." Who knows how long that will be given Woods' physical, social, and familial issues during the past 18 months?  However, with many golf stars such as Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy still scheduled to participate, it should be interesting to track whether another unknown will rise up to win the tournament a la 2010 champion Louis Oosthuizen.