🔥 Kilts and Kegs

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish footy fans are drinking all of Boston’s beer. The Tartan Army has taken over Boston for the World Cup and are putting locals to shame. Sam Adams (the city’s drink of choice) says its Boston Taproom actually ran out of lager this weekend. In a few nights, the Scottish lads threw back four times more Boston Lager than the taproom would normally sell over the whole Fourth of July long weekend. Another bar said the Scotts alone drank more than three times as many pints as they sold on St. Patrick's Day.

• The Scotts also took over Fenway Park with their bottomless beer bellies and thunderous chants (they also refused to leave after the game was over). They made such an impression the Red Sox owner offered discounted tickets to any Scottish fan who wanted to make another appearance.
  

• My personal favourite story, one patron who was trying to buy two bottles of water at a local liquor store and proceeded to get booed relentlessly by 20 Scottish fans who were in line. A culture like no other.

🏆 The New York Knicks are NBA Champions. The Knicks staged the No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5 biggest comeback wins in Finals history to take down the Spurs. All the credit to the Knicks (they were the team of destiny), but San Antonio needs to take its beating for the way they choked this series. Not only did they blow the biggest lead in NBA playoff history in Game 4, but they spent 72% of the entire Finals in the lead. The fact that they only won a single game is criminal. 

• One of the coolest parts of the win: Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart became the first teammate trio to win an NCAA title (Villanova in 2016) and an NBA championship. Next up, the 2066 senior league title at the YMCA.
  

• One of the most annoying parts of the win: The celebrities pretending like they won the championship themselves. Timothee Chalamet was in the locker room spraying champagne like a make-a-wish kid, and Ben Stiller is taking photos with the trophy like a dad who thinks team photographer counts as part of the roster. 
  

• One of the most hilarious parts of the win: OG Annanoby going on Good Morning America high out of his mind. This is a perfect example of why you should always wear sunglasses for at least 48 hours after winning a championship. 

⚾️ It wasn’t a perfect game, but the Brewers’ Jacob Misorowski might’ve pitched the most impressive shutout in MLB history. Facing a red-hot Phillies lineup, the Miz threw a complete-game shutout with 15 strikeouts, only one hit, and did it all with only 95 pitches. He was sitting 100mph with his fastball, and topped out at 105mph (a record for a starting pitcher). 

• As long as that arm doesn’t snap like an elastic band (and he doesn’t get too distracted playing with his Pokémon cards), this guy is going to be a problem in the league for a long time. 

🚔 James Harden was arrested this week. Not sure how you can get arrested in the state of Texas for gun possession, but Harden managed to do it. The mug shot is, unfortunately, hilarious. Shades of vintage Tiger Woods.

• What are the odds Harden gets arrested the same day the Chiefs’ Rashee Rice is released from prison?! The baton has been passed.

🏒 The Carolina Hurricanes capped off one of the most dominant Stanley Cup runs ever. After their championship-clinching win in Game 6 over the Golden Knights, the Canes won enough games to hoist the Stanley Cup (16) before losing enough games to lose a series (3). That’s the fewest losses en route to a Stanley Cup win in nearly 40 years. 

• Coach Rod “the bod” Brind'Amour celebrated the win like a maniac, showing everyone exactly how he earned his nickname. What a stud. 

• The Playoffs as a whole were a huge success for the NHL, averaging a record-high 2.2 million viewers (up 127% from last year). Maybe it’s all of the romantic “hockey” TV shows coming out right now, but the sport’s got some serious momentum. 

⛳️ The U.S. Open course is going to make a lot of players snap a club by the end of the weekend. The third PGA major of the year at Shinnecock Golf Club is now underway, and the course has a reputation for causing scorecard carnage. A total of 654 players have played in a U.S. Open at Shinnecock in the history of the tournament. Three of them have finished the weekend under par.

• Watch how this four-foot putt works its way down the green, and you’ll understand why nobody likes playing here.

🏟️ Pete Crow-Armstrong hit for the cycle and immediately got picked off first base. It's kind of hard to celebrate making history when you get picked off in a one-run game. Luckily, the Cubs went on to walk it off with a 5-4 win over the Rockies, so PCA was let off the hook. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s now hit more home runs in June than any player in the league (makes it easier to forgive a baserunning blunder). 

• Something that I realized for the first time this week — after watching about 3,000 baseball games in my life — is that hitting for the cycle is actually just as rare as a pitcher throwing a no-hitter (there have only been 350 in MLB history). You learn something new every day. 

Alright, that’s enough for one Friday.

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