Sports Conversation Starters for Your Week

I'm back from my adventure (safari in Africa) and back to regular sports viewing. I kept tabs on scores and outcomes during vacation, but the time difference (and staying in tents) made it difficult to watch and follow in real time. 

Staying in the mix involved reading a lot of headlines, the kind that have just enough details to keep me in the loop. And the kind I give you in these weekly emails. You don't need to spend all your summer afternoon, weekend and evening time in front of a screen watching sports to talk sports. 

These sports conversation starters can do the heavy lifting for you. 

Wimbledon

The third of four tennis Grand Slam tournaments gets underway this week. Serena and Venus Williams have dominated Wimbledon storylines for weeks. It's been nearly four years since Serena played in a grand slam event. She's won 23 major titles, the most by any woman in the Open era, and 73 career singles titles. 

Serena and Venus will team up to play doubles. They've captured 14 Grand Slam doubles titles already.  

Talk Sporty Convo Starter: What do you expect to see from Serena and Venus Williams in their return?

World Cup

We've reached the knockout round of the World Cup. For the remaining teams it's win-or-go-home. The US plays Bosnia and Herzegovina Wednesday in Los Angeles for their chance to advance. According to oddsmakers, France and Argentina have the best chance to win it all.

Talk Sporty Convo Starter: Are you at all nervous about upcoming matches for the U.S.? What have you enjoyed about watching the games, fans or coverage up to this point?

MLB 

Milwaukee flame thrower Jacob Misiorowski broke his own velocity record by hitting 105.5 mph on the radar gun. It's the fastest pitch thrown by any starting pitcher. He's thrown 569 pitches at 100 mph or better this season.

Talk Sporty Convo Starter: The velocity from "The Miz" is impressive, but which job is more difficult - trying to hit a pitch at 105 mph or catch multiple 100 mph pitches during a game? 

Hot Dog Eating Contest

The upcoming holiday weekend includes the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest. Contestants get 10 minutes to eat as many hot dogs and buns as they can. The all-time record is 76 hot dogs and buns, set by Joey Chestnut. The women's record is 51 hot dogs and buns, set by Miki Sudo.

Talk Sporty Convo Starter: Forget about the number of hot dogs you could eat at one time, how many hot dogs do you eat during the course of the year?