A Sports Filled Weekend Ahead

Inductions into the Baseball Hall of Fame wring emotions from us. We remember the great players for their feats on the field and we see them now as they truly are – older gentlemen with a wonderful past.

Former players Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, along with longtime club executive John Schuerholz and former commissioner Bud Selig get the full treatment on Sunday in Cooperstown, N.Y. MLB will show the ceremonies at 1:30 p.m. ET.

As your heiner will already be in the recliner for these festivities, you can always go picture-in-picture and watch the Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers at 2 p.m. on TBS. The Cubs caught and passed the slumping Brewers in the National League Central race and lead the Brew Crew by 1 ½ games.

What else is in the Weekend TV Six-Pack? Ah, the beautiful game (that’s soccer, or so they say).

Real Madrid and Barcelona, who enjoy one of the world’s finest soccer rivalries, play a friendly at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on Saturday night in El Clasico. The match is set for 8 p.m. and ESPN (and ESPN Deportes) will carry this.

It’s been a while since we pitched a horse race (or a horseshoe), so let us recommend the Haskell Invitational on Sunday from New Jersey’s Monmouth Park. Irish War Cry, who ran second in the Belmont Stakes and won the Wood Memorial, was installed as the 5-2 favorite. Unbeaten Timeline also bears consideration (3-1 odds). Post time is 5:48 on NBC.

The guys who go round and round are in Long Pond, Pa., at Pocono for NASCAR’s Monster Energy Cup Series (and Dinner Dance) Overton’s 400. NBC Sports Network will show the crashes, the cautions and eventually a checkered beginning at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Start your weekend with some football. Yes, football. We’ve grown weary of waiting for the colleges and the NFL, so here’s the deal on Friday night: The CFL’s British Columbia Lions (4-1) play the Edmonton Eskimos (4-0) in a West Division clash of some import. On ESPN at 9:30 p.m.

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