Plenty of Sports to Watch on TV Today

There is plenty of interesting sports action to follow on TV today...although I'm not really interested in golf, tennis (women's final today in the French Open), NASCAR, or college baseball.  And the NBA finals between Cleveland and Golden State won't continue until tomorrow evening...still, I'm surprised, even for a Saturday, how much is going on...

First and foremost, horse racing's Triple Crown culminates today in New York's very long Belmont Stakes, which will be shown on NBC with the pre-race hoopla starting at 4:30.  American Pharoah, winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, has a very good shot at horse racing immortality if it manages to beat out the other seven horses in this endurance race.  Last year it was California Chrome, also victorious in the first two races, trying for a sweep.  But Tonality, which was entered only for the Belmont, prevailed...prompting the California Chrome owner to go off on a ridiculously bitter rant about the circumstances of his horse's loss.  Funny thing is that I had a feeling about Tonality before the race...this year there is another similarly named entrant, Materiality, going up against American Pharoah.  H-m-m...

The UEFA Champions League in soccer, a season-long European tournament of the previous year's top professional league soccer teams, will hold its finale starting at 2:45 PM (EDT) with the game, featuring Spain's Barcelona against Italy's Juventus, to be played in Berlin, Germany.  Barcelona, the heavy favorite, features three of the all-time best soccer players in Argentina's Lionel Messi, Brazil's Neymar, and Uruguay's Luis Suarez.  If you watched the World Cup last year, you'd know what I'm talking about regarding these highly talented players...and they're all on the same team!  Good luck with that, Juventus!

In hockey, Tampa Bay tries to even the Stanley Cup finals tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks in their second game, starting around seven.  This game will be shown on NBC. At the same time, FoxSports1 will show a FIFA Women's World Cup soccer match between China and Canada...

And, of course, there's plenty of Major League Baseball to watch today, with my Florida teams going unexpectedly in different directions this year.  The Tampa Bay Rays, expected to do poorly with a rebuilding year, are at or near the top of their division, while the Miami Marlins, expected to be contenders, are underachieving and are well below .500...and have already undergone a managerial change.  Still, I can see that this team has a lot of spirit and drive.  I expect them to make a big comeback later on this summer...

So, there's a lot going on today! Not that I intend to spend the whole day watching sports on TV...I plan to do a little running of my own...