Weekend Sports Preview
By David Harrison
It’s another busy weekend for sports fans and bettors alike with a full slate of MLB, AFL, CFL, WNBA, NASCAR and Formula 1 on tap.
In the American League this weekend the game’s best rivalry heats up again when Boston and the Yankees continue a four-game set in New York. Also worth a look in the AL this weekend is Detroit at Seattle, Oakland at the White Sox and Toronto at Los Angeles. The rest of the AL schedule includes Texas at Baltimore, Kansas City at Tampa Bay and Cleveland at Minnesota.
In the National League this weekend there are two big divisional series on tap as the Mets take on the Phillies and the Cubs visit St. Louis. Other divisional matchups on the schedule include San Diego at Arizona, Los Angeles at San Francisco and Pittsburgh at Milwaukee. Rounding out the NL series are Washington at Cincinnati, Houston at Atlanta and Florida at Colorado.
The AFL playoffs reach the Divisional Round this weekend with a trip to the Conference Championships on the line. The Divisional Round gets started on Saturday with Colorado at San Jose (-11) and New York at Philadelphia (-9.5). Sunday’s lone playoff game pits Grand Rapids against Chicago (-9.5), while the Divisional Round concludes on Monday with Cleveland at Georgia (-7).
As the AFL season winds down, the CFL is just getting started with the conclusion of Week 2 on Friday night. Friday’s doubleheader starts with Winnipeg at Montreal (pick'em) and that game will be followed by Saskatchewan at B.C. (-6).
In the WNBA this weekend the ladies take Friday night off before returning with five games on Saturday. The slate includes Sacramento at Houston, Connecticut at Indiana, Chicago at Indiana, Minnesota at Seattle and New York at Phoenix.
On Sunday there are two more games with San Antonio at Washington and Phoenix at Los Angeles.
On the track this weekend NASCAR heads back to Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola. When the Sprint Cup Series began the season at Daytona, Ryan Newman was the surprise winner of the Daytona 500. Last week Kurt Busch won in the rain at New Hampshire, but points leader Kyle Busch is the favorite to take the checkered flag this weekend.
Formula 1 also returns to the track this weekend with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Kimi Räikkönen won last year’s running of the British Grand Prix, while his Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa topped the podium the last time F1 raced in France two weeks ago.