So the U.S. Olympic basketball teams are traveling to Rio today:
Wheels up to Rio! One goal pic.twitter.com/34jBpLJnem
— Harrison Barnes (@hbarnes) August 3, 2016
Lot of talent on that plane.
Meanwhile, though the opening ceremonies are not until Friday (with Michael Phelps carrying the flag for the U.S.), the soccer competition actually gets underway today, with a slate of games beginning at 11 am CDT. The U.S. play against New Zealand at 5 pm CDT, on NBCSN.
John wrote yesterday about the Wolves hiring Noah Croom as assistant GM. It's good to see them fill out the front office and the coaching staff. Croom has a legal background and has been with Goodwin Sports Management for much of his career. He is, reportedly, well versed in the salary cap and the CBA in general.
On yesterday's call for contributors: Please send us emails if you are interested and/or let people you know who might be fits. We've gotten a number of interesting applicants already, and will be going over them this week and weekend, but the process remains open.
In Voting Rights news: The Federal Courts are finally beginning to actually look at the evidence regarding the discriminatory impacts of various state voting restrictions. Among others, parts of both North Carolina's and North Dakota's recent laws have been struck down. The intent to keep minorities from the polls has just become too blatant to ignore. This all stems from a 2013 Supreme Court decision: Shelby County v. Holder, which struck down a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that required some states to get pre-approval before changing election laws. No longer beholden, in something that should have surprised absolutely nobody, many states passed restrictive laws intended to make access to the ballot box more difficult.
Today in History
8 AD: Romans led by Emperor Tiberius defeat Dalmatians
1492: Christopher Columbus begins his first voyage to the New World
1798: Horatio Nelson defeats French in Battle of the Nile
1829: Rossini's "William Tell" premieres in Paris
1882: First Federal Law restricting immigration passed by Congress
1908: Fossilized skeleton of 60,000 year old Neanderthal found in france; known as "Old Man of La Chappelle."
1914: Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France. Start of WWI.
1923: Coolidge becomes president following death of Warren Harding
1925: Last U.S. troops leave Nicaragua
1934: Hitler combines offices of Chancellor and President, naming himself "Fuhrer"
1944: 4,000 Gypsies gassed at Auschwitz
1960: Niger gains independence from France
1967: 45,000 U.S. soldiers deployed to Vietnam
1981: Air traffic controllers strike begins
Today's musical birthday is Tony Bennett, born in 1926