The hidden blessing of a long college baseball postseason is the reduction of the long, soul-crushing offseason. Professional baseball wont get interesting for another 2 months and I can only watch the same Drone Racing event on repeat a few times before going insane.
Luckily, it is at this time, when Americans are in such a need for football, that the international community steps up and provides for us in our time of need. From all corners of the globe, football and football-like substances are beamed across the heavens to our living rooms and computer screens, giving us the slow drip of “something that looks like football” to survive this endless summer.
This weekend’s marquee event in football is the 2017 IFAF Women's World Championship, being played this year in Langley, Canada. The rosters are comprised of professional women’s football players, in the case of the US from teams of the Women’s Football Alliance. After a week of games in which the US and Canada demolished the competition, it all comes down to the Gold Medal Game on Friday night. No TV coverage for it, but the game will be live streamed on FootballCanada.com.
Elsewhere, we find the CFL already in week 2. The CFL has again extended it’s contract with ESPN for US TV coverage, so every game of their season will be on ESPN or the WatchESPN service. I’ll have more on our northern neighbors next week.
Across the oceans, we have a selection of Aussie Rules and NRL Rugby on Fox Sports, Super Rugby on ESPN3, and the world famous New Zealand All-Blacks continuing their summer tour vs the British & Irish Lions, live on ESPN2 at 2:30AM Saturday morning.
Know of a football-like substance available in the US that I've missed? Sound off in the comments and I’ll get it added to next week’s schedule.
August is a long way off, but with this we can make it through the summer, I promise.
WEEKEND OBLONG SPHEROID US TV LISTINGS 6/29 - 7/2
League | Start | Matchup | Channel | Streaming |
---|---|---|---|---|
League | Start | Matchup | Channel | Streaming |
All Times Central | THURSDAY | |||
CFL | 8:00 PM | Ottawa Redblacks vs. Calgary Stampeders | ESPN3 | |
FRIDAY | ||||
2017 IFAF WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | ||||
IFAF | 1:30 PM | 5th Place Game - Finland (3) vs Australia (5) | footballcanada.com | |
IFAF | 5:30 PM | 3rd Place Game - Great Britain (4) vs Mexico (6) | footballcanada.com | |
IFAF | 9:30 PM | Gold Medal Game - United States (1) vs Canada (2) | footballcanada.com | |
NRL Rugby | 4:30 AM | Brisbane Broncos vs. Melbourne Storm | FS2 | FSGo |
Super Rugby | Noon | Sharks vs. Bulls | ESPN3 | |
Super Rugby | 6:00 PM | Jaguares vs. Kings | ESPN3 | |
CFL | 6:00 PM | BC Lions vs. Toronto Argonauts | ESPN2 | WatchESPN |
CFL | 9:00 PM | Montreal Alouettes vs. Edmonton Eskimos | ESPN2 | ESPN3 |
AFL Premiership | 10:30 PM | Western Bulldogs vs. West Coast Eagles | FS2 | FSGo |
SATURDAY | ||||
International Rugby | 2:30 AM | New Zealand All-Blacks vs. British & Irish Lions | ESPN2 | WatchESPN |
Super Rugby | 8:00 AM | Cheetahs vs. Stormers | ESPN3 | |
Super Rugby | 10:15 AM | Lions vs. Sunwolves | ESPN3 | |
Arena | 7:00 PM | Washington at Tampa Bay | CBS-SN | |
CFL | 8:00 PM | Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | ESPNEWS | WatchESPN |
SUNDAY | ||||
NRL Rugby | 1:00 AM | South Sydney Rabbitohs vs. Penrith Panthers | FS2 | FSGo |