Get Ready For The Weekend With Sports

Let’s just skip ahead to Sunday and then work our way around. Because baseball’s Hall of Fame inductions are Sunday, and it is always a treat to see some of the greats get their due with so many of the game’s other historic performers on hand.

MLB will show the inductions at 1:30 p.m. ET. Voted in by the electors of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America: Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman. The veterans committee selected Jack Morris and Alan Trammell.

If you thought there were battles of the Beltway going on in politics, try the ArenaBowl on Saturday at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The Baltimore Brigade and Washington Valor square off for the league title. It’s not quite as glamorous as it might sound – the 31-year-old league only has four teams. And it’s a no-lose situation for magnate Ted Leonsis, whose Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup. His company, Monumental Sports, owns both the Brigade and Valor.

Indoor football not quite your thing? Well, we’ve got a special treat for you. Saturday, at 3:30 p.m. on ABC, you can enjoy the WNBA’s All-Star Game. Rather than East vs. West, it is a captain’s choose-‘em-up game, with the Washington Mystics’ Elena Delle Donne having picked one side and the Minnesota Lynx’ Candace Parker selecting the other.

Or maybe you’d rather have people punch each other in the face. In that case, try Showtime at 10 p.m. on Saturday for the lightweight (135 pound) unification bout between two undefeated fighters – Mikey Garcia (38-0, 30 knockouts) and Robert Easter Jr. (21-0, 14 KOs). Our nickel is on Garcia, though Easter is taller, younger and has an 8-inch reach advantage. Garcia will win on the inside and on his experience against tougher boxers.

Our NASCAR pals go bumpity-bump on Sunday at Pocono on NBC Sports Network. The race is set for 2:30 p.m.

Got ponies for you as well. NBC shows the Haskell Invitational on Sunday at 5 p.m. (with post time 5:47) from Monmouth Park in N.J. Good Magic opened as the 6-5 favorite in the seven-horse field.
Well, isn’t that an eclectic selection? Miss football much?

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman