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The Home Run Derby is shaping up to be must-watch television this summer, and the storylines are writing themselves. Bryce Harper steps into the box at Citizens Bank Park in his own city, with Dodgers bench coach Dino Ebel delivering the pitches — a pairing born from Harper's deep trust in Ebel dating back to their time together in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Yankees slugger Ben Rice is keeping it strictly family, with his father Dan Rice on the mound. There is something genuinely compelling about a son swinging for the fences while dad deals the heat.
Shifting to the global stage, Gianni Infantino is already floating the idea of expanding the World Cup beyond its current forty-eight team format — all the way to sixty-four nations. After a tournament that has largely silenced critics of the expanded field, the FIFA president is reading the room and apparently likes what he hears. Whether the football world has the appetite for even more matches remains a very open question.
And Conor McGregor is pushing back hard on reports that he entered UFC three twenty-nine compromised by injury. After a stunning and anticlimactic loss to Max Holloway ended his five-year comeback, McGregor insists he was healthy going in — though the result itself will fuel skepticism for some time.
That's your play-by-play. Sports Desk, back to the booth.
