I don’t know if you’re a baseball person like I am, but with the impending lockout looming over the sport in 2027, this year’s World Series feels like a series finale. That said, I do hope baseball comes back and that the Mets finally get it together. Wishful thinking really.

Anywho, welcome to the round-up of the things that are piquing my interest most in the worlds of sports and culture. This is the seventh edition of Just The Side. (Miss the last edition? Click here)

The DeLorean Rides Again

Just a few weeks after I tried to make heads or tails of Sail GP, I came across the news that the star of the Back to the Future series is going to live on as the name of an Airspeeder team. And what’s Airspeeder, you ask? It is a racing series with high-speed, electric aircraft trying really hard to be the sport your rich friends talk about in passing while nibblin'g English muffins and half-cut grapefruits. The idea seems cool though, I can’t lie. And well, if you wanted to get casual fans involved while not looking like you’re selling out, why not lean into a brand that’s semi-retired.

The collab does raise some questions. Like, the DeLorean, for all intents and purposes, was a car that would’ve faded into obscurity in another timeline. In the aforementioned Back to the Future movies, the car was sluggish, finicky, and literally used to make going to 88 miles per hour dramatic. It’s not necessarily the symbol for speed. It would be like opening a restaurant with a curated menu provided by Soylent Green. As far as the races themselves, I think they’re pretty neat considering.

Cleat-Gate Turns Into Marketing Win

So here’s the deal. NFL only allows cleats to be Adidas, Nike, or Under Armour. So what happens when one of the rising quarterbacks in the league, Caleb Williams, decides to wear a cleat from the Caddix brand for comfort? If you guessed “Nothing because it’s not a big deal,” you would be WRONG. The NFL fined Williams over ELEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS because of an unforeseen “Shawty, what are thooose” tax.

Here’s the LinkedIn twist:

Caddix, the brand of shoes in question, basically elected to cover Williams fines for the infraction. Their position? This wasn’t a brand deal, but an athlete shouldn’t be penalized for choosing comfort.

When WWE impresario Vince McMahon founded the original XFL in 2001, he famously called the NFL the “No Fun League.” And man, they are NOT going to beat the allegations.

Firefox Leans Into Nostalgia

Firefox has been one of those browsers that has had its ups and down. Post Internet Explorer, it seemed like the lighting fast and innovative option. Then Chrome came around, and Firefox started to feel dated. Well, what goes around comes around because Mozilla launched a campaign that urges…I guess older Gen Y/Millennials to come back to the browser like the good ol’ days of the Internet. And what’s better, it featured all of the Internet Stars from the web’s golden era:

Now, allow me to wax nostalgic a bit, but I sure do miss rage comics. I know, it’s a random thought, but kids today don’t know how to Trololol or Y U NO?? and it shows.

Jay-Z Picks Himself To Host Super Bowl Halftime Show

Okay, so I didn’t even think this was possible, so when I heard “Jay-Z selected himself to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show,” I was like “How?” Here’s the TLDR: Roc Nation, a outift that Jay-Z has a controlling interest, has been curating the Super Bowl Halftime Show since 2019. Jigga saw people stop what they were doing to watch the Bad Bunny Bowl, and HOV was like, “What about me?”

The idea puts Jay-Z in a tough spot. Here’s a rapper that is influential to the story of Hip-Hop but is having his legacy diminished by Gen Alpha/Beta who don’t “get his hype.” On top of that, he’d be taking the stage the year after one of the most talked-about Half Time Shows of all time. He’s both the Streets Is Watching guy and the alleged NFL Sellout guy. Time will tell if he’ll gather the same level of controversy, but in the meantime we get pretty standard, on-brand monochrome Jay-Z hype video promoting the whole thing.

For the record, Shawn Carter himself says he feels “no pressure” about the whole deal.

Look, man. LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of all time.

And I know there are tons of people who disagree. I liked Jordan as much as the next kid who wanted to be like Mike, but King James be different yo. Yes, MJ’s era was way more physical, and there was no “load management,” but the athleticism of rank-and-file NBA players have evolved like threefold. Plus, LeBron got to be in the Space Jam sequel everyone forgot about

But even I can’t (continue) to defend this. Even though Topps (you know, the trading card people who did a card of the current Pope) has been doing this for quite some time, they are going to adorn LeBron James’ jerseys with a ‘24 Seasons’ patch, celebrating James’ first season playing for the Philadelphia 76ers.

From Yahoo Sports:

And that’s wild. Because if you think about it, Michael Jordan would never subject himself to wearing a patch that would become a trading card. No, Jordan would probably sign a deal with a trading card company so that he can sell ‘em for $10 Grand each, with him getting a 50% cut.

Times have changed.

How long will this go on? I’m sure there would be a Year 25 patch. But will there be patches when James retires? Will Bronny inherit his dad’s patches? Will the patches have patches on their own? It’s ridiculous. And who’s really collecting these things? I have nothing but questions. I don’t have questions on LeBron’s ability, however. On the 2026-2027 opener, he went to work against the current defending champion New York Knicks.

Maybe…just maybe commemorating cards aren’t a bad idea. I do I own the Pope Leo card after all, so what do I know?

October is an important time for sports fans. MLB and WNBA are close to announcing their champions. MLS is approaching playoffs. The NBA and NHL are already underway. And I bet by the time you’ve read this, you’ve mistakenly wandered into a bar that had the NFL on and wondered if it was going to be too loud to stay. The world of sport(s) never stops and so when I came across a Sail GP race at the gym the other day (honestly, I’ve only seen this sport when at the gym), I gave an approving nod at the screen.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about you little homie.”

If you’ve never heard of SailGP, it’s essentially a competitive sailing circuit. One of the youngest competitions in sailing ( it was founded in 2018 by Russell Coutts and Larry Ellison), it has quickly been considered one of the top tier competitions in sport. Whether it’s because it has big money sponsors like Emirates Airlines or Rolex, or the races look like a video game, Sail GP is looking to be the “Formula 1 on water.”

If you didn’t know any better, you’d think teenagers are controlling the boats with remote controls. They’re not, though. These F50 catamarans are piloted by about a half-dozen men and women who are representing (to differing degrees) a dozen countries worldwide. My local team, the US SailGP team, is one of the few teams without a corporate sponsor in its team name.

But she probably won’t be single for long.

So what’s the deal and appeal, you ask? Well, on one hand, I kind of see the comparisons to Formula 1—or at least this current pop-culture-infused version of Formula 1—in a few ways. There’s the luxury sponsors; there’s that “Street Fighter II” aspect of participants traveling all over the world to perform in a single season. There’s even an obnoxious reality show that probably has to invent rivalries and stories to make things interesting.

Drive to Survive? No, we’re Racing on THE EDGE!

But I would pump the brakes (no pun intended because I hate puns) on the Formula 1 comparisons. For one, a single race take about fifteen minutes to complete, and that alone deadens a bit of the appeal. Imagine flying all the way to Australia but getting the urge to use the restroom at race start? If you’re not careful, you can miss the whole thing. (There are multiple races a meet as a note of clarification) Hospitality, or that thing you do where you spend more money at the same sporting event to turn your nose up at people who didn’t, has had its own issues of providing an experience comparable to other sports. At a soccer game, for example, your view is confined to the field. With Sail GP, you can be in a grandstand that offers only about a sliver of action.

TLDR: Almost $900 for what looks like an afternoon cookout.

“Maybe Sail GP is for classic racing fans,” I can probably hear you say. Indeed, there are Formula 1 fans who lament how mainstream the sport has gotten. But it’s not like Sailing was short pure sport competitions. Between America’s Cup, Round Texel, or even something called the “Extreme Sailing Series,” nobody was asking why there weren’t enough places to see boats race other boats. Sail GP was designed to be that brand forward, celebrity-invested, huge television deal, 800 pound gorilla of a league. And with that comes the casual fans. They go hand-in-hand. “Big fans” watch the sport. Casual and new fans invest in the sport.

For what it’s worth, a lot is going for Sail GP, and it may be worth checking out. Rooting for a country is pretty simple, especially if it’s a country you care about. The short races can be an advantage to the younger generations and their shortening attention spans. Maybe even the cities that are hosting these things would see a spike in tourism.

I kind of struggle to think about how something like this grows? It’s not like I can call up the homies and make a boat hoopty (hooptyship?) and run with these guys. Nor can you have a Beyoncé concert at halftime because there is no halftime. You know what? I’m going to go back and watch the provided handy-dandy “SailGP101” vid they came up with.

Allow me to flex for a bit.

The other day I had the privilege (through my day job) to check out my New York Islanders as they took on the New York Rangers at the Garden. I say flex because while I’d been content with decent seats and a hot dog, I got to watch the game from a suite.

And you couldn’t come!

And while I scarfed down free food and took in the moment that this New York kid had the opportunity to watch a game from my ivory tower of sorts, I had the honor (I guess) of watching the 2026 New York Islanders up close. The Isles aren’t bad, but they aren’t great either. The Islanders aren’t struggling with offense, until they are. The Islanders are collecting draft picks like Infinity Stones but offer nothing to be excited about in the now. (Of course, 19-year-old defenseman outstanding). It’s not like the Mets, where people like to laugh at the team’s failures. When the Islanders fail, it’s of utter bewilderment. Like “Hello, you had a dynasty in the late 80s. Double you tee eff is going on?”

So yeah, you don’t want to laugh, and you don’t want to be pissed off like some of the more entitled hockey fans out there. We’re effectively in a “Happy to be here” space with this team, and I hate it. Because I can’t even get mad when they bring a guy back from shoulder surgery only to see him tear his ACL.

Youch.

You can’t even muster contempt or praise when there was a whole third jersey contest and the winning shirt was just throwing the alternate “lighthouse” logo on the front.

This contest went on for three weeks by the way.

And so I was in my seat, and I watched the Rangers beat the Islanders. (The Isles were down two, tied the game up, then the wheels fell off). I just started to wonder: “It’s the first week of the season. Is this team already done?” Vegas odds have “the Fisherman” at PLUS 15000 to win the Stanley Cup. I looked it up; you’re just as likely to have a kid born with an extra finger as the Cup coming home to the Island.

It’s like dang, Islanders supporters deserve better, but like, it could be worse…? It’s a squad that’s run in such a way that it just makes you apathetic to things.

It’s like, either just be WORSE so I can be mad, Or be BETTER so I can come up with ways to improve the team. I’m sitting watching these games going… “Well, I guess they’re trying. Sigh, when does baseball season start?”

So frustrating, lemme tell you.

And the worst of it is that I’m locked in. Not because I went to an Islanders game as a kid and fell in love, not because I dated someone who was a fan, got me in the fold. No, your boy is all about the (hockey) orange and blue because my favorite POG slammer was a NY Isles one made of brass. That’s it!

I won so many games with it though. I wonder if there was ever a world where POGs could make a comeback. Hmm

Rugby (League) has been one of those quirk obsessions I came across late in my life that hangs around in the most interesting way. As I’ve said in previous posts, if it weren’t for the pandemic shutting down practically every sport on the planet save for the National Rugby League out of Australia, I wouldn’t have been a fan. And what’s better, the team I (kind of) support, the Sydney Roosters, are going to be playing in both the Men’s AND Women’s Grand Final this weekend. The American offshoot, the Los Angeles Roosters, had their championship a few weeks back and well,

Either way you slice it, rugby (league) is a big deal in (parts) of Australia. And like how we NFL watchers wonder who is going to perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, the NRL Grand Final typically has a similar bit of that elevated fanfare. This is a code of rugby that’s uniquely Australian, and there are certain times (the other being a series of games known as “State of Origin” that is equal parts popular as well as B-Movie sounding) where there’s a bit of pomp and circumstance. So it was a shame last week when news broke that the original intended opening musical act, Tones & I, decided to withdraw from performing. The singer cited scheduling conflicts, but the rumor going around is that Tones & I would not commit to playing her smash hit, “Dance Monkey,” on the grand stage. You know the song, right?

You know, in finding the music video, I learned a lot of things. One, I had NO idea this woman was Australian. Second, I played this song at a couple of weddings as a DJ, and the comments are basically telling me that was a mistake. Third, can YOU think of another Tones & I song?? I mean, I’ve heard of bands being sick of their hit single, but let me tell you something as I have plans to balance my checkbook after writing this article: If I was a one-hit wonder and was getting paid, I would play my song FOR LIFE. I mean, we all still remember Gotye, right? RIGHT?!

So Tones & I peace’d out to tour with Macklemore, leaving the NRL in a lurch. And I’m sure the NRL struggled in finding a replacement—because who wants to take the gig that the Dance Monkey turned down—the resulting decision was to not have an opening act at all.

Now I’ve never met Peter V’landys personally, but he’s kind of a jerk. When I won a contest to cover the second ever NRL: Las Vegas round and got the all-access badge to match, his “office” revoked areas after the fact but didn’t tell me. Having a badge that got weaker as the day went on was both frustrating and hilarious. Like I was playing a round of “the stadium is lava,” which confined me to a row of seats in the stands by the event’s end.

So “no musical act, just a donation” went over as well as you thought it did. Any booking agent will tell you that you always have alternates at the ready, and the fact that NRL didn’t made them look like a bunch of amateurs. But then, this happened:

So we went to an act bailing, to no act, to… “we have a surprise.” Ooh boy.

Do people tune in for surprises? Usually when I buy something online that’s marked a “surprise” I just spend the afternoon rationalizing blowing my money on something that could be potentially lame. The thing is, if this sport and show is as big as you want it to be, it can’t be a “tune in for a surprise.” What could possibly make everyone happy? Ya can’t; that’s why you announce entertainment in advance. Those who like it can anticipate, and those who don’t like the artist can awkwardly and hastily make up their own alternatives.

A surprise. Jeez

I’ll be roo—supporting both the Sydney Roosters Men’s and Women’s squads this weekend. Might even play a lil “Dance Monkey” if they get the dub.

#EastsToWin

I’ve quickly realized I don’t have a name for people who take the time to read Just the Sandwich. Do I say, “Hello, my toppings?” Well, because of that, I don’t have an emphatic intro this go-around. I’ve just finished IO Interactive’s “007: First Light” and I’ve spent the majority of the past week watching making of videos of it and how it relates to the greater James Bond Universe. Yeah, I’m a nerd. That said, here’s some of the stories in sport that are tickling my fancy this week:

A Caddie Just Up and Quits Mid Game

People tell me that golf is a sport. These people also tell me that golf is a tough sport. But let me tell you that caddie Cliff Ellis must’ve felt a whole new level of frustration when he quit working alongside golfer Alejandro Tosti in the middle of a game. The absolute bonkers scene was caught on video, giving a whole new meaning to “F You, I Quit!”

And to say that this is what crosses over from golf into mainstream sports. Not the unsustainable prize money, not competitor LIV Golf claiming bankruptcy, but rather a guy not even waiting until the end of the day to pack (throw?) his bags says a lot. As for why, the explanation raises more questions:

Whoever the next caddie is, they should probably charge a premium!

Handsome Devil: Tampa Bay Rays Debut Throwback Road Jerseys

The Tampa Bay Rays are one of the more confounding teams in Major League Baseball. They win consistently; the team is well-constructed, but their fans are notorious for having excuses why they don’t go to games. For the record, the team being in St. Petersburg, FL, rather than Tampa usually gets the blame, but even though that’s about 20 miles apart, Atlanta Braves fans are happy to make the same commute to see their Braves at Truist Park. Though the team is relatively young, the Rays have started to lean into their heritage, releasing an alternate road jersey that harkens back to their original moniker as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. And while a Devil Ray is an actual animal, I could only imagine the number of complaints they got with the name back then from people who thought it sounded a bit too…less than heavenly.

That said, I do hope Tampa becomes a staple of southern baseball. MLB needs at least one of its Florida teams to find their footing if the league hope to expand.

“The First Lady” of the WNBA Gets Her Due

Before the days of Caitlin Clark and before Candace Parker, Lisa Leslie was one of the early symbols of the WNBA. As a New York Liberty fan, I was conditioned to roll with Rebecca Lobo, but Leslie was the class of the league. And like the team she played for, she was all about the glam off the court while dominating on the court.

And like many Los Angeles legends who played at Crypto.com Arena (the former Staples Center), Leslie was honored with her very own statue in Star Plaza, joining the likes of Wayne Gretzky and Kobe Bryant. She’s the first woman athlete to achieve that honor, and truthfully it couldn’t happen to a more influential player. But I’ma still be hatin’ in the shadows with my New York Liberty jersey on.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m happy for you…I guess.”

I’ll let you in on a little secret, I always wanted to try youth baseball coaching. This is wild for me because 1) I’ve never played baseball outside of gym glass and 2) I find kids annoying most of the time. That said, it still rattles a bit in my head. Recently on the “In The Booth with Flobo Boyce” podcast, I sat with Brandon Fowler. This guy not only played the game, he, (as Trick Daddy once proclaimed) loves the kids! A baseball clinic that guided by faith, Brandon is committed to getting more inner-city youth to play the game.

Check out the full episode below:

Man, man, man. The Los Angeles Angels. Though I enjoy the occasional trek down to Anaheim to watch the game, the team has been in shambles for the better part of a decade. As of this writing, the team will miss the postseason for the 12th consecutive season. A literal masterclass in futility, the roster at one point had both Shohei Ohtani AND Mike Trout and had nothing to show for it. My friends that were Angels fans stopped coming to the games. The reason I was told was that as long as billboard magnate Arte Moreno owned the team, it didn’t make sense showing up. The stadium was in shambles (I suppose), the team was awful (true), and a far cry from where they stood twenty years ago, when they won the World Series in 2022. Last week, at least one of those things changed, as Arte Moreno had agreed in principle to sell the team to the dude collecting sports franchises like Thanos, Stan Kroenke:

So here’s the deal. As a Mets fan, it surprised me that there was a troubled baseball franchise where most people put the blame on one guy. And I’m not even talking about the fans. Even players weren’t the biggest fans of now-former owner Moreno. He was cheap, he was absent, he literally said winning wasn’t a priority. Nah, I’m not even making that last statement up:

It sucks because even though I kiiiiiind of understood what he was going for, it’s like “read the room man!” Guy is in a competitive league going “As long as everybody safe, I’m gucci…” Just wild.

Arte Moreno was the first Latino Major League Baseball owner in history, and took the franchise over from Disney, who essentially (like the Mighty Ducks before them) made them real-life franchises that had accompanying movies about them. Oh wait, you don’t remember “Angels in the Outfield?” The movie starring the guy from Looper who wished really hard for the Angels to win the pennant because he thought that would bring back his deadbeat dad? No?? It had the guy from Back to the Future, the homie from Lethal Weapon and Tony Danza in it.

Maybe I’m too old for this sh*t.

Again, to bring it back to the Mets for a second. Our kind of struggles are of a different breed. Have we won championships recently? No, but we’re willing to make changes. Over the past ten years, we’ve shipped players elsewhere, had a revolving door at General Manager, and most notably, we got a brand new owner in Steve Cohen. The Angels just had Arte, pulling the strings from his knockoff ivory tower. The saddest (or funniest) part of this whole selling-the-team ordeal is that everyone is relieved. EVERYONE. Mike Trout? That guy I mentioned earlier who was at one time the biggest and best name in all of baseball? The guy who committed to be an Angels player for presumably his whole career? Even he piled on:

Can you imagine being so bad at your job that EVERYBODY is glad you’re out that bish? This is wild. And here’s the thing, Stan Kroenke isn’t exactly a saint either. But people are like “Man, I’d rather rock with this guy!”

As much as their ballpark needs updating, the team needs updating, and the staff needs updating as well, there’s a quirky charm about heading to Anaheim for a game. There’s no superstar names (anymore) like the Dodgers, the stadium doesn’t do anything world class like San Diego, and there isn’t a loyal following of the team like San Francisco. Anaheim is just kind of there. It’s almost as if you wanted to be in “LA,” but wanted to see how a small college town did baseball, the Los Angeles Angels (and it’s basic food and rotting seats) was all that you needed. Now, looks like the sports world has had enough of that. They know that the days of affordable sports is pretty much going to be over under Stan Kroenke, but dangit, they wanted the old guy out.

Whatever I do in life, I hope I’m never that bad at my job, that people are like “bye loser,” when I OWN THE PLACE.

Sheesh.

If you knew me the years between 2022 and 2005, you’d know I had a one-track mind for a particular baseball quest. You know the one: Seeing all 30 Major League Baseball parks in the United States. TLDR: It was long, expensive, I’m glad I did it, but I’d probably never do it again.

Recently on my baseball culture podcast, “In The Booth with Flobo Boyce” (btw… if you haven’t already, you should REALLY check it out wherever you get your podcasts), I had the chance to sit with viral sensation Juan Mena. Juan — also a Mets fan, lezz gooo baby — recently completed his quest of seeing all 30. And while I’d admit my trip was really more of “this would be a cool experience,” Juan had a sense of gratitude about his journey that made me go back and think about whether or not I took enough time to smell the roses. You’ll love hearing why he decided to make the trip and what he overcame to do so. Check out the full video version of the chat here:

I grew up with Grand Theft Auto.

The first iteration I played, GTA 2, was such a fun romp of cruising through streets, blowing stuff up, and getting paid handsomely for it. The graphics were simple even back then, but there was something so freeing about being plopped into a city where crime had free rein and you had the opportunity to join in. In some ways, it was the American Dream, even though it was a game created by the Scottish.

I watched Grand Theft Auto grow from its humble beginnings to literally the biggest videogame in the world. A franchise so lucrative the previous iteration, Grand Theft Auto V, has made over TEN BILLION dollars. For comparison, the GDP of Montenegro or the Maldives. There should really be a case study about how such a niche idea for a game became a lynchpin of the global cultural fabric, but really we’ve seen this formula before with things like Hip-Hop and Nerd Culture:

Today, the game that’s been almost fifteen years in the making, Grand Theft Auto VI had a highly anticipated “Extended Look” debut on Netflix. Due out in November of this year, the game—whoa whoa. Did I just say that right? A video game had an extended trailer…on Netflix…? I’m not even lying, here. Here’s a trailer to that trailer released on YouTube.

And that’s the first thing that blew my mind away. Your boy is old enough to remember when games didn’t even HAVE trailers. Video game box arts did the heavy lifting to get you to buy a game. This is why those things used to have legit artists, obviously sketching like rent was due, trying super hard to get units sold. When Mega Man came out, I thought the dude came from He-Man’s planet ready to slice planets in half with his laser cannon:

The game?

Close enough.

As far as the extended trailer goes, it was great. While I worry that, in the pursuit of realistic graphics, we’re losing a bit of the over the top charm and irreverent humor that I love about the original games (and truthfully influenced my humor to this day), the game is beautiful. You don’t have to sell me on the idea, because it’s the same every time. It’s a story about a “regular criminal” who just wants a bigger piece of the tiny slice of pie society gives them. You play because you know crime doesn’t pay, but rather for some, it really DOES pay, and you’re dying to see what that feels like for you. I mean that was the whole vibe of the first trailer (which was released for free on YouTube, so you’re welcome).

And despite the leaks on the Netflix trailer that was released a couple of days earlier, the game is bound to make bank. But why do I feel so hollow about this? Don’t I want the game to do well? Perhaps I’m not necessarily jaded over the release of the game (i.e. content) but rather the cottage industry of those who react to content. Yes, I’m doing that right now as I type this, but I have seen think pieces, and reaction videos, and the memes already pop up. For the record, I’m not “anti” think pieces; I just feel there’s a rush to get them out, thereby making the thinking an afterthought.

Perhaps I’m just unc, and this is how it starts. Being excited, then being excited but having reservations, followed by lamenting for the good ol’ days, and then finally getting bitter. And while that may be the case, I’ll always have those GTA moments I’ll never forget: Cruising the streets of Vice City with the music blasting, heading to my friend’s house to play the original 3D game in GTA 3, beating my first GTA game in my overall favorite: The Ballad of Gay Tony:

Fun fact: This trailer made me a fan of Roxette. “She’s got the looooooook.”

It’s time for another edition of “Just The Sides,” the quick-hit stories that have been rattling around my desk the past couple of days. Unlike last time, I promise there’s no soccer on this go-round.

Connecticut Sun Enters Its Final Month

With it’s last regular season game on the docket for the end of September, the Connecticut Sun is gearing up to relocate to Texas to be the revived Houston Comets. And while it may seem that WNBA discourse has basically been reduced to a proxy war of American partisan politics, this is one story that really resonated with me. Why? I’m not so sure. I’ve must’ve seen one Connecticut Sun game in my life (save for the times they played my Liberty). “Connecticut Sun” sounds like a fake team you’d see in a movie. Like if I told you that the Sun were the new edition Flint Tropics, you’d probably believe me.

But maybe I’m just nostalgic for old teams, maybe the fact it’s branded as the “Sunset Season,” or maybe they are close to the bottom of the rankings, but it’s tearing me up a bit. And synchronized dance numbers. They always tear me up.

Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition Cancelled

Speaking of things that I didn’t really pay attention to that is making me sad, the sports show “Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition” is done after 18 seasons. In a sports world where teams are trying to appeal to as many people as possible (if for nothing but to open new revenue streams) the show’s cancellation was a shocking move for both Punjabi hockey fans and people like myself who just learned of its existence. It’s not just broadcasting a sport in another language/culture, but it’s showing young folks they have a path in broadcasting if they suck at actual physical activity like yours truly.

Also, click here if you’re into blooper reels.

The Mets Are… Electric?

Before settling on covering all of sports with a certain lens, this blog was tested as both a “baseball + wrestling” blog and a New York Mets blog, so it’s kind of funny I don’t talk as much as my boys as I normally do. The long and short of it is this: After a pretty much lost season, the New York Mets sold a bunch of pieces at the deadline. And in doing so, opened up a lot of slots to our new youth corps of players. In short, the team is hot (perhaps too late), but the actual flavor of baseball is fun! Possible Rookie of the Year candidate Carson Benge put in WORK the other night, throwing two assisted outs at home plate BACK to BACK against the Padres.

What a way to spoil the new Padres owners’ first game under their (conditional) control.

If the Mets win the World Series, they are going to have a Benge statue.

If you’re a friend of mine in real life (or IRL as the kids say), I’m going to apologize for this week’s sandwich in advance. Why? Because I’ve shoehorned what I’m about into talk about in about every conversation I’ve had about ‘global citizenry.’ The rest of you are in for a treat, I suppose. But not like a freshly baked good treat, more like that sticky strawberry bonbon that was in every grandma’s purse back in the day:

The world we live in is both big and small. It can take days to get from one side of the globe to the other, but at the same time you realize that most people on the planet want the same thing. Whether it’s the feeling of being safe, a healthy sense of community, gainful employment, or a place to blow your money on if you’re about that life, nobody is truly living different lives. And I feel retail stores and experiences kind of follow suit. I’ve been traveling “in earnest” since 2022, and I’ve seen a lot of things that a conspiracy theorist would believe prove we’re living in a simulation. American fast food chain Five Guys is in England, Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo is available in the United States, and Gucci is available in the United Arab Emirates. The days of going to a far-off land and bringing back something unique are getting more difficult when most things are indeed made in China. While that could put a damper on taking a slice of the world home with you, I’ve learned a workaround that I just love talking about: Sports Tourism.

The long and short of it is this: One year I was in the UK in a town called Bath, and all of the souvenirs in the city didn’t really speak to me. Nothing really looked like “I’ve been there.” I stumbled into the Bath Rugby club shop, and it hit me. Yes, team merchandise is also made abroad, but if you’re with a team small/unique/quirky enough, it more or less becomes a local purchase. Alternatively, if you visit the grounds of a team, it’s like you’ve stumbled across a living anthropological museum of a particular community. Since then I’ve traveled abroad and seen all 30 Major League Ballparks:

I actually had a similar experience on a recent trip to Madrid, Spain. Real Madrid is the global brand that was the long-term home of Cristiano Ronaldo, but I was immediately drawn to the crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid. Now, “Atleti” isn’t a small team by any means, but it is the one you don’t hear about as often, and as a Mets fan, I was instantly drawn to that second-team-in-town energy. What I got to see was a club that quietly (and sometimes loudly) really was a part of a city community for 100 years and really was an eye-opening experience about the layers of soccer in a given soccer town.

What I like about sports tourism is that you can either take it “really small,”. That is, maybe catching a game with a discount ticket. Or, you can go really “big” with it: hospitality suites, stadium tours, clearing out the merchandise stand, signing up to be in the fan club. Either way, you typically walk away with a localized experience around where you are.

I mean more or less. More and more we got these private equity firms ruining sport, but that’s another tale for another time. Indeed, majority owner of Atletico Madrid, Apollo Sports Capital, just signed on to be a minority owner of the New York Yankees so you can forget the image of a sole mom and/or pop running these things:

They don’t even look like my dad.

In either event, if you’re traveling into a new town and you have only a couple of days to spend. I recommend a four-prong approach: 1) a walking or guided tour to get the lay of the land 2) a touristy landmark/activity 3) a local landmark/activity and 4) a view of the local sports scene. I suppose you can swap the fourth one for music or “mAkInG nEw fRiEnDs,” but ugh, I’d never.

Who needs friends when you got signed Bon Jovi jerseys…?

I’ve realized perhaps too late in life that we gotta toot our horns more often. Why not tell the world of your greatness? Well, even though I’ve been a presenter and “content creator” for years, I can tell you its hard work. My experience in sports is growing, but going to events and hunting down interviews is something I still struggle with.

On a recent episode of the “In The Booth with Flobo Boyce” podcast, I had Samori Benjamin. Samori is a one-man outlet out of New York, and was on the front lines for the Knicks championship Run, the Mets…er…the opposite of whatever a championship run is, and more. Check out a past episode and be sure to subscribe to both the pod and this here bloggity blog.

I promise you, dear readers (all 100+ of you as of this week - THANKS), I didn’t mean for Just the Sandwich to be a soccer-only blog. I had all the plans in the world of making this week’s sandwich about my recent obsession with the Commonwealth Games. Stemming from my blurb about it last week, I’ve been obsessed with everything from the mascot, the fact that the original hosts in Victoria, Australia pulled out and Glasgow had to swoop in at the last minute, all the way to this cleaner guy getting some shine by shaking his ass:

Not bad for the former British Empire Games:

But no, this OTHER story had me stopping in my tracks. FIFA, that upstanding organization dedicated to the organic and fair growth of soccer (association football), is putting the World Cup on the market for investment.

The gist of it is this: FIFA has plans to spinoff its “commercial operations” of the World Cup, (that is, it’s development funds, revenue, television rights, etc.) into a separate entity called FIFA Forward Enterprises (FFE). This corporation would be open to investment like any other regular company. I don’t have to be a tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist to see what the problem here could be. The investment scheme won’t be open for you and me to invest $7 for funsies. No, only the guys with the biggest pockets are going to be qualified to join. And well, that could easily sway the largest international football competition into the hands of sovereign wealth funds, hyper-rich individuals, and everyone’s favorite Peace Prize winner, the Current President of the United States. From The Athletic (paywall):

Well, it’s too late to go back to the dancing cleaning guy now.

Anyway, the response was swiftly condemned. UEFA, the premier organization that oversees soccer in Europe, specifically had an emergency meeting where they said they are keen to pull European teams from participating from future World Cups if this FFE thing goes through.

You know it’s bad when corrupt organizations are calling out corrupt organizations because they are too gosh darn corrupt. This got layers like a Chris Nolan movie. CONCACAF, the similar group that is in charge of North American and Caribbean soccer, sided with UEFA, but like most things involving soccer in North America, nobody cared.

But what does that mean moving forward? Like if the idea of taking a World Cup (a tournament that has long left its humble beginnings and is getting larger and larger with each iteration) and making it investable doesn’t work out in its current form, is it cynical to believe a similar but more clandestine method to get the same result would come from this? In other words, what’s to stop FIFA to spin off ticketing, real estate, or in-game technologies into second-party companies and have people invest in those? Admittedly I’m speculating, but I also know that businesses get really clever when they want something and things get in their way.

Things like equity and fair play.

Can you have a World Cup without Europe (arguably the home to the world’s strongest teams) and North America (the region that is totally fine with paying through the nose for sporting events?) Hard to say, but I guess what I learned today is something I should know, but I always forget: Whether the former British one or not, “empires” always rule sport if you look hard enough.

That said, who wants to send me to the 2030 World Cup? Wheeeee!

Man, man, man. Whether or not you’re a football fan, a fan of spectacle, or just needed a quick and easy conversation topic over the past six weeks, the 2026 World Cup delivered. And the best part is, it wasn’t the only thing happening in the world of sports over the past week or so. It’s time for another roundup, or what I like to call, “Just The Sides.”

Aw dang, the President of the United States Thinks He’s on The Team.

You know that meme of the guy who pretends to stop a train? (Don’t worry, click here if you forgot). Well, it felt like Donald J. Trump was doing that this entire World Cup. Whether it was getting a red card reversed or “demanding” that the World Cup return to the USA soon (It will; there’s a reason why FIFA is burning through so many other locations; and USA fans are already used to paying high prices for tickets), Trump is doing whatever he can to earn his “Peace Prize.” Nothing can top what he did at the World Cup Final, however. Spain, after winning a battle against a really underhanded Argentina side, was all set to lift the Cup. But the WWE Hall of Famer himself couldn’t get out of the shot.

Whoops, wrong video:

Ah yeah, that’s the stuff. I bet the Mexican President and Canadian Prime Minister (you know, the other host heads of state) were laughing their asses off.

Oh Yeah, Resize It!

There were a bunch of stories from the World Cup I actually liked. Whether it was the rise of Vozinha, or the fact the world fell in love with Erling (Braut) Haaland (Come on, City!), there was one campaign I really loved. It involved the Colombian national team and Cerveza Aguila. A marketing campaign for the ages, Aguila helped subsidize the cost of expensive soccer jerseys if fans were willing to have the front chest sponsor logo as large as they could stand it.

Oddly, the big logo actually slaps.

Kick Back With A Cold One, and a WNBA Game

Despite the fact that conservatives have latched on to Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham as the prototypical Great White Hope against the ‘thugs’ of normal competition, the WNBA is as hot as ever. And when you’re hot, what better way to cool down than with a brewski? Former player Tina Charles launched her own beer from her 78 Brewing Company this week. From Brewhound:

I’ll have to try this.

The Sports World Plays On

And lastly, if you’re all about seeing the world continue to jockey for athletic dominance, it’s both the Central American and Caribbean Games as well as the Commonwealth Games times. And if you’re like me, and have ties to a Caribbean nation that was at one point a part of the Commonwealth, you’re ready to pull double duty. Can we talk about the mascot for the Commonwealth Games though? She’s adorable!

Take that, GEORGE!

For every baseball fan, seeing the MLB All-Star Game has to be on your bucket list. For me, I’ve gone back and forth between “nah, can’t afford it” and “that would be pretty cool,” but the idea is always top of mind. Whether you’re a fan of the “Just Had To Have Been There, Chump!” flow or love how one city becomes a global baseball festival, there’s always a bit of a buzz around All-Star Game time. Plus, baseball has one of the remaining true all-star formats, so they have that going for them too.

This writer got to be credentialed press (through my affiliation with the Black Baseball Mixtape), and I got to see what All-Star week was for the first time ever. Well, sort of. For a bunch of logistical reasons I won’t get into here (lemme just say Unlimited PTO isn’t truly unlimited, y’all), I got to experience two nights of ancillary events and festivities. By the time people were trying their hand at the ASG foodie lineup, I was on a plane back to reality. Indeed, the game is going to feature one food item from every other team in baseball, including this mama jama from Kansas City that can be only described as a “Hot Dog Wellington.”

So the first thing you need to know is that the town has people ready for baseball stuff like the week before anything starts. And Major League Baseball did the admittedly savvy thing by having it in Philadelphia during America’s 250th birthday. If you don’t like the color off-white/parchment or think Ben Franklin is overrated, TOO BAD, because you’re gonna see those dudes everywhere! It was actually my second time in Philadephia, with my first being an awful cautionary travel tale about being in a city for a full day without a place to rest or take a nap. This time was better and I got the opportunity to experience city history to boot.

I got to learn about Octavious V. Catto for the first time. Catto, a staunch civil rights activist who fought for the voting rights of black people, was also an avid cricket and baseball player. I mean, I should’ve known this, I was there:

True story.

Also, I got to visit the All-Star Village. Which, while it’s less a village and more of a giant convention and expo space complete with activations from cool brands and other brands you couldn’t care less about, it was the first time I saw one that was exclusively about baseball.

Then there was the MLB Draft. Not sure if MLB needs a draft in the vein of other sports like football and basketball, but I’ve got to say that I was there. And the HBCU Swingman Classic was the first time I got to see the culture come out en masse. Yes, there was my experience at the Rickwood game in 2025, but this was another level.

I’ve learned I’m terrible at getting selfies and asking famous people for said selfies. Interviewing celebs in a podcast environment? Fine. People chasing me down because I’m the celebrity in a given situation? Great. Me running down former players, and begging them to answer Mount Rushmore questions and ask for a picture? The worst. Which sounds noble as I type this, but I also realize in both baseball content (and wrestling content before that) that I’m pretty much invisible. I felt like Bizarre in that D12 video: (3:54 mark)

Next week my LinkedIn post is going to be: What Philadelphia Taught Me on How to Brag More.

Either way, it was an experience and it felt great to see everything. And even though I’m going to be home when the main events are happening (the Home Run Derby just concluded as I type this), I am already looking forward to next year. Or at least the next event.

Be sure to check out the Black Baseball Mixtape for more MLB All-Star, baseball, and softball coverage.

MLB All-Star Game is here and my thoughts on the USMNT Red Card suspension fallout. It’s the podcast you never asked for, “The Sandwich.”

See that flag up there? That’s Old Glory. 50 stars, 13 stripes, and a whole lot of at-tit-tude. The American Flag means a lot of things to a lot of people, and yes, it can mean a lot of things to a single person given the context, but there’s one thing you can’t deny: It’s everywhere. It’s a flag almost nobody would have trouble identifying. A global symbol that is right up there with Coca-Cola and Beyoncé.

In 2026, the United States (this humble writer’s country of origin) is having its semiquincentennial birthday this weekend, and it seems everyone is all about celebrating the fact that America is 250 years old. Well, not average citizens. We stopped keeping track after 200 and probably will not tap back in until 300, but everybody else.

And look, there was a draft of this post where I was going to talk about how hard it is to appreciate the American flag as a minority sometimes. Like, I’m 100% American-born, but the guys and gals who really fly the flag (like reaaaaally fly the flag) are typically in another walk of life. And I could lament that a symbol for freedom for all is sometimes used for literally the opposite, but then I realized that’s another post for another time. Why?

Because it’s RED WHITE AND BLUE in YO FACE this year, BABY!

For example, Major League Baseball releases caps for Independence Day. Have you seen this year’s edition?

Ugh.

It looks like somebody is going to be making hot dogs in that thing. And that USA patch? Yikes. You know, speaking of America 250. I didn’t realize this, but Congress had a whole plan for the year with festivals, firework shows, and all that. Will I go? Probably not. To be fair, I didn’t even go to the “White House” sponsored Freedom 250 American State Fair Festival either.

But I digress.

Major League Baseball decided to have its All-Star Game in Philadelphia this year. And best believe everything is going to be adorned in red, white, and blue. General Mills has gone so all out, they have a whole line of star-spangled snacks.

Cadillac Formula 1 Team, the newest team in the circuit and a car that’s usually in black and silver, brought out a special edition colorway. And while it looks like something Steve Rogers would commute to work with if he didn’t want to walk, it has presence.

I’m sorry, did you want something cheesier? Well, America 250 has its own line of MERCH. I mean, I also have my own LINE of MERCH, but I’m a nation of one. Anyone remember back in the day we used to pile into an Old Navy every July 3rd because they had American Flag t-shirts for $4? Well, bump that, George the Star is gonna be the centerpiece of your new fit:

This Independence Day weekend, make you celebrate responsibly. Despite a lot of things, the USA is (at least in theory) all about freedom and liberty (and justice?) for all. So raise a glass, and pop a Toaster Strudel with a friend. If not, George is gonna come for you!

Whether you like baseball or not, I recommend you giving my podcast, “In The Booth with Flobo Boyce” a try. The “human interest” side of baseball, the show sits down with the people that support the sport in their own way. In The Booth is part of the Black Baseball Mixtape platform.

Recently I sat down with “Big Man, Tiny Mic” himself, Don Dishes to chat about what it means to be a part of Seattle’s baseball culture story. He’s provided music cues for the Mariners and is a current podcaster and content creator as well.

Among other things, we’re going to find out why that mic of his is so tiny.

Last week, I had made this whole thing about this edition of the World Cup not “feelin’” regal like World Cups past. And sure, that could still be the case, but I also said a lot of stuff went by the wayside when the matches actually started. We’re approaching the first full week of matches, and already, it has been one of the more dissected sports tournaments of all time. Whether you’re upset like most of the world over “mandatory hydration breaks,” upset that Alexi Lalas gets to represent American soccer punditry, or proud of 40-year-old Cabo Verde goaltender Vozinha giving the performance of his life, this WC has something for everyone.

But to me, there’s so much whimsy going on in 2026, I have to share with you some of my favorites.

First off, there is the FIFA Merchandise. To me, it felt like these things just showed up overnight at places you expect (sporting goods stores), places that make sense (7-Eleven), and places I didn’t see coming at all. Southern California Goodwill has all but leaned in and made it into a capsule collection. But I have to give a special shout-out to the official FIFA merch website itself. Even though it sells the jerseys of (a little more than half?) of the teams, they also have host city-specific merchandise that looks absolutely bonkers. I mean, look at this “jersey” for Miami:

Yeah, let me get this one size too small and hit the club with this on. The ladies would love that.

Also, you can’t talk about the World Cup without talking about the newest member of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s official delegation, Lumumba Vea. Lumumba Vea is a “living statue” portrayed by Michel Kuka Mboladinga as the late DRC statesman Patrice Lumumba. Heavy on the living statue.

Now, as of this writing, DRC draw Portugal 1 -1 but Lumumba Vea was NOT there. Why? Because it wouldn’t be a North American World Cup without visa issues. Mboladinga has been denied entry into the United States due to concerns over Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Which is a shame, because best believe I would root for the guy that would force an entire continent to look up who Patrice Lumumba was.

And lastly one of my favorite things to actually get the chance to happen is Scotland’s Tartan Army runs roughshod over Boston.

The Scotland national team had its first games in Boston this tournament. This has meant that Scotland has annexed the city for over two weeks and they are having the time of their life.

You see what happens when you like people wear their tartans, FIFA?

I actually had the chance to go to a Scottish (sigh, Scottish-American) watch party this past weekend. My room wasn’t hype at all, but the Scottish people on the TV screen were having the time of their lives. My favorite anecdote of the Bos-Scots? These people had completely tapped the city’s beer supply. From ESPN:

These are my people. I said it before on social, and I’ll say it here: I nominate the Scots to be Earth’s ambassadors when the aliens land. They’ll be in for a time!