Sports on the Day of No Sports

The Tour de France knows not of your "off day," silly Americans.

Yesterday was the “Off Day” in the All-Star Break, or as it is sometimes called, The Day So Devoid of Major Sporting Events* that ESPN Invented an Awards Show Just to Have Something To Air.   Because this year’s Off Day also fell just after the close of the World Cup, things feel particularly quiet this year.  But that didn’t mean there was no athletic competition to enjoy …you just might have to leave the contiguous United States for some of it.

*Except the Tour de France , which ESPN doesn’t count since Versus has the rights and Lance isn’t going to win. That’s current leader Andy Schleck above. He’s from Luxembourg.

The NFL is still a few weeks out of training camp, but the Canadian Football League is in full swing.  Reuters informs me that the guy with the ball is the Toronto Argonauts’ kicker — so either this is a botched play, or the CFL has additional weird kicking rules aside from getting a point for a touchback.

Seattle does still have a pro basketball team, you know. The WNBA’s Storm defeated the Phoenix Mercury in triple overtime yesterday 111-107.  Seen here: Seattle’s Swin Cash and Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi, both former Huskies.

Elsewhere in women’s basketball, the FIBA Americas Centrobasket Championship finished up in Puerto Rico with the home team defeating Jamaica.  Both teams (as well third place Mexico) qualified for next year’s FIBA Americas tournament, which is an Olympic qualifier.

And finally, if you’re in soccer withdrawal, the SuperLiga is here to tide you over until Premier League starts in August.  Luis Gabriel Rey and Wilman Conde want you to know they know you’ll lose interest once Man U takes the pitch again, but they are trying very, very hard.