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How to plan for the week of Aug 16 – 23, 2015?

If you are a sports fan or if you live with a sports fan then your weekly schedule becomes inextricably linked with what sporting events are on at what times during each week. The conflict between missing a sporting event for a poorly committed to social event and missing an appealing social event to watch a game is an important balancing act in any kind of romantic, familial, or business relationship between a sports fan and a non-sports fan. To help facilitate this complicated advanced mathematics, Dear Sports Fan has put together a table showing the most important sporting events of the upcoming week. Print it out, put it on your fridge, and go through it with your scheduling partner.

This does not include MLB baseball games. There are so many of those every day that another approach is needed. That approach is our special Daily MLB Forecast.

Download a full-size copy here.

Monday: The Supercopa is not Spain’s most coveted soccer prize, but this game between Barcelona and Bilbao is fascinating. It’s the second leg in a two game cup tie. Bilbao upset Barcelona 4-0 in the first half, so Barcelona will need to win by even more than that today to stay in the tournament. That means the greatest offensive team in the world (Barcelona) will be throwing everything they have at the opponents in this game. Should be fun to watch!

Tuesday: During periods of Champions League play, there are a set of games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The best of the bunch and the most easily watched in the United States is Liverpool vs. the Belgian team, Club Brugge. Pair this game with the over-the-top good movie, In Bruges, and you’ve really got something!

Wednesday: The U.S. Women’s National Soccer team won the first stop on their victory tour last week, 8-0 against Costa Rica in Pittsburgh. Today, poor Costa Rica gets another shot at the World Champions, this time in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The results will probably be similar, but don’t cry for Costa Rica, they’ll be making some very nice money for their country’s soccer federation.

Thursday: The Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns are more famous for losing football games than winning them. Lucky for everyone, preseason football isn’t really football. Someone’s got to win and someone’s bound to watch, but it won’t be me.

Friday: Date night! Head off for a date night of watching some of your favorite women’s soccer players face off in a nationally televised NWSL game!

Saturday: A great blend of soccer, track and field, volleyball and car racing enables you to pretend that it’s the Olympics, if that’s your sort of thing. It’s definitely mine!

Sunday: The last stage of the Cycling USA Pro Challenge takes its riders from Golden to Denver and up the famous Lookout Mountain — a formidable pass even if the riders weren’t a mile high to start with. Which they are… so it should be exciting to watch. British Premier League soccer, golf, and preseason football round out the day’s offerings.

Caveat — This forecast is optimized for the general sports fan, not a particular sports fan. As such, your mileage may vary. For instance, you or the sports fan in your life is a fan of a particular team, then a regular season MLB baseball game or MLS soccer game may be more important on a particular day than anything on the forecast above. Use the calendar as a way to facilitate conversation about scheduling, not as the last word on when there are sports to watch.

How to plan for the week of Aug 10 – 16, 2015?

This does not include MLB baseball games. There are so many of those every day that another approach is needed. That approach is our special Daily MLB Forecast.

Download a full-size copy here.

Monday: If you didn’t get enough British soccer on Saturday or Sunday of last week — maybe you were away at a Scrabble convention — there’s one final game from the opening weekend of the British Premier League.

Tuesday: Two Spanish soccer teams play in the UEFA Super Cup which is a matchup of the winner of the UEFA Champions League (the most prestigious club soccer tournament in the world) and the UEFA Europa League (a glorified consolation tournament.) In the evening, watch some little guys (and maybe a gal or two) play baseball.

Wednesday: Errr, there’s some more Little League baseball, but otherwise… take the day off.

Thursday: The Rogers Cup is the Davis Cup of Tennis — which means it’s a team tournament where players who are used to playing only for themselves play on national teams. That makes it sometimes fun to watch, especially if you’re free during the day. In the evening, you can choose between Canadian American Football and American International Football.

Friday: Date night! Head off to your date after watching a good British Premier League soccer game or head off for a date night of watching some of your favorite women’s soccer players face off in a nationally televised NWSL game!

Saturday: Soccer, tennis, golf, and football! Who could ask for anything more? Really though, ignore the football. Even the most dire of sports fans who pay attention to preseason football risk their finely balanced sanity.

Sunday: The highlight of the day is the first friendly game on the U.S. women’s national soccer team’s victory tour. They take on Costa Rica at 1:30 p.m. in what should be a massive celebration. Manchester City vs. Chelsea should also be a humdinger of a way to start your Sunday morning.

How to plan for the week of Aug 3 – 9, 2015

This does not include MLB baseball games. There are so many of those every day that another approach is needed. That approach is our special Daily MLB Forecast.

Download a full-size copy here.

Monday: Our week starts out very slowly… with only a single Canadian Football League game on the calendar. The Montreal Alouettes are a little more famous than most Canadian teams, thanks to their habit of having higher profile players. This year, they have Michael Sam, the only openly gay professional football player, on their roster but have yet to play him. Tonight won’t be the night for Sam to see his first professional action.

Tuesday: The UEFA Champions League is the most prestigious men’s club soccer competition but in its earliest stages, it rarely produces memorable games because the match-ups are so uneven. That’s probably true for tonight’s game between Monaco and Young Boys. Worried about that name? Don’t be. The Young Boys were named in opposition to a nearby rival called the Old Boys over 100 years ago.

Wednesday: The International Champions Cup, which is far less prestigious than the Champions League, finishes today with a game between the British champions, Chelsea, and Italian team Fiorentina. With domestic leagues starting soon, these two teams are likely to treat this game like a fairly serious last walk-through before they begin to play in earnest. The day of sports ends with two CONCACAF (North America, Central America, and the Caribbean) Champions League games between two MLS teams from the Pacific coast, Seattle and Vancouver, and two Mexican league teams, America and Motagua.

Thursday: The Tour of Utah is a miniature version of the Tour de France. Instead of 20 days of racing, the cyclists only have to endure seven days. The mountains are no less huge though. Stage Four features more than a mile and a half of elevation gain during a 127 mile ride. The Special Olympics continues in L.A. and continues to be rewarding to watch. And tonight’s CONCACAF Champions League game features the star-studded Los Angeles Galaxy.

Friday: Date night! Either blow off sports completely or go to a Canadian bar and watch some football while drinking Molson and eating poutine.

Saturday: There’s basically no off-season in soccer anymore, but for fans of the British Premier League, today’s opening day of matches is long awaited and highly anticipated. You can easily spend all day watching soccer, starting at 7:45 a.m. with breakfast and ending at Soldier Field Stadium in Boston, enjoying a sausage while watching the Breakers in their last home game of the year! On a non-soccer track, you can happily follow golf at 2 p.m. ET, motocross at 3, and the NFL Hall of Fame speeches at 7 p.m.

Sunday: The opening weekend of the British Premier League is joined by the first game of the NFL preseason today. Those are probably the two most hotly followed leagues in the Western World. In between there is fun golf, NASCAR, and beach volleyball action to keep an eye on.

How to plan for the week of Jul 27 – Aug 2, 2015

This does not include MLB baseball games. There are so many of those every day that another approach is needed. That approach is our special Daily MLB Forecast.

Download a full-size copy here.

Monday: The International Champions Cup is just about the most laughable men’s soccer competition out there. It’s a series of glorified friendly games between high-profile international clubs. That said, in this basically empty week of sports, the early morning game between Inter Milan and Real Madrid should at least provide some hints of high quality competitive soccer. All week, ESPN will be showing 30 minute capsules of what’s happening at the 2015 Special Olympics in Los Angeles at 7 p.m.

Tuesday: More Special Olympics and two more International Champions Cup soccer games. Today it’s the champions of the British Premiere League, Chelsea, against the Champions League winning Barcelona. Following that game will be Mexico’s version of the New York Yankees, America vs. Benfica, the dominant team from Portugal.

Wednesday: To friendly men’s soccer and Special Olympics, we add the NWSL’s second game in the ten game package to be carried by Fox. This one, between the Houston Dash and Kansas City FC features Heather O’Reilly, Becky Sauerbrunn, Lauren Holiday, Meghan Klingenberg, and Carli Lloyd.

Thursday: This evening’s sports agenda is perfect for the American Football fan who can’t wait for fall to come and football to begin. It’s the Canadian Football League! The BC Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers are both 2-3 for the season so far, but that’s not far off the lead in the Western Conference. Check it out for it’s sometimes subtle and sometimes wacky differences from the NFL.

Friday: Date night! No sports worth noting! Except, of course, the nightly Special Olympics wrap-up.

Saturday: An interesting and varied day of sports lends itself to wild channel surfing. Start with men’s golf, then shift over to women’s soccer. When that’s done, you can catch what should be an enjoyable an NBA exhibition game from South Africa. In the evening, choose between a good MLS matchup and boxing on ESPN.

Sunday: Unless you’re a die-hard golf or NASCAR fan, this is a perfect Sunday to go to your local orchard or public swimming pool or air-conditioned bowling alley.

How to plan for the week of July 20-26, 2015

This does not include MLB baseball games. There are so many of those every day that another approach is needed. That approach is our special Daily MLB Forecast.

Download a full-size copy here.

Monday: Thanks to the Scottish wind and rain (we should have known we could count on it) we get the final round of the British Open. After three rounds, Paul Dunne, an amateur golfer, is in the lead! It would be absolutely amazing if he won against a field of mostly pros. Rooting for him is a great reason to watch the golf. The Tour de France heads back into the mountains. Will anyone be able to take time away from race leader, Chris Froome? In the evening, tune into the Pan-Am games for highlights of the day’s many sporting events there.

Tuesday: Uh… time out for sports, I guess? There’s barely a sporting event on the horizon. Head to the beach!

Wednesday: This is perhaps the biggest day of the week. The Tour de France comes back after a rest day and hits the Alps, hard. The United States will look to advance against Jamaica in the Gold Cup, men’s soccer semifinals. The other semi will be contested between Panama and TKTKTKTKT. After the first half of the second Gold Cup game, if you’re beginning to tire of men’s soccer but are still into soccer, tune in to the NWSL game between the Portland Thorns and Seattle Reign. This is the first game of Fox’s 10 game contract with the league, which is exciting!

Thursday: Wake up in the morning and turn on the Tour de France if you want to witness some sublime suffering. Today’s stage features the Col du Glandon, which averages a 5.1% incline… for 13.5 miles! After that, if you’ve still got the heart to watch more exertion, watch the Pan-Am games in the evening.

Friday: Sorry for the false alarm yesterday, today’s cycling will be even more grueling. Stage 19 will see riders climbing the Col de la Croix de Fer, which I believe translates to “the mountain of the burn in your thighs.” This one is even longer and even steeper than yesterday’s big climb. In the evening, the CrossFit games join the Pan-Am games as non-team-sport options.

Saturday: In most editions of the Tour de France, the winner is a virtual lock by the second to last day of racing. That likely won’t be the case in this year’s tour, thanks to the gigantic mountains in this stage, which ends with the Alpe D’Huez, a mountain so feared and revered in cycling that even a casual fan like myself knows its name. In the afternoon, when it’s too hot to be outside anyway, watch the WNBA All-Star game or the men’s soccer Gold Cup third place game. Hopefully that won’t involve the U.S. team. In the evening, check out some rare boxing on network TV.

Sunday: The last day of the week is the last day of the Tour de France. This stage truly is ceremonial, with the winning team drinking champagne as they ride. Not ceremonial are two finals – the World Grand Prix final in women’s volleyball, and the Gold Cup finals in men’s soccer. Hopefully this game does involve the U.S. team. Between those finals, you can catch a NASCAR race from Indianapolis speedway, home of the famous Indy 500.

How to plan for the week of July 6-12, 2015

Download a full-size copy here.

Monday: Still partying from the U.S. victory in the 2015 World Cup as the sun rises? Never fear, you can fall into a slumber on your couch watching more great sports. The round of 16 finishes up at Wimbledon, including a Williams on Williams match and the Tour de France is just getting started. Once you wake up in the afternoon, you’re free to do non-sports related stuff, unless there’s a baseball game you have your eye on.

Tuesday: Wimbledon starts to get real with the women’s quarterfinals. In the evening, the U.S. men’s soccer team tries to piggyback on some of the success and popularity the women’s team just stirred up for the sport. It’s the first game of the Gold Cup, the Caribbean, North and Central American regional biennial men’s soccer tournament. The USA plays against Honduras in a game they should win.

Wednesday: Ho, hum, another morning of great tennis and cycling with not much else after that. We’ve truly entered the summer sports doldrums.

Thursday: More tennis, more cycling in the morning. Although, notably, and pending rain as all tennis schedules do, it’s the women’s semifinals at Wimbledon. In the evening, we get our first chance to show our continuing support for women’s soccer by checking out the NWSL. FC Kansas City travels to Boston to play the Breakers in a game that will feature five U.S. women’s national team players: Alyssa Naeher, Becky Sauerbrunn, Amy Rodriguez, Heather O’Reilly, and Lauren Holiday plus a smattering of World Cup participants from other countries. Go to the game in person if you can. If you can’t, it’s live and free on YouTube!

Friday: The men get their chance to move on from the semifinals to the finals at Wimbledon in the morning. In the evening, the U.S. men’s national soccer team plays against Haiti in their second Gold Cup group stage game.

Saturday: Honestly, this isn’t a bad weekend to go camping or surfing or kayaking or something outside that involves moving your body more than watching other people move theirs. It’s a pretty shallow weekend of sports with a few highlights. The highlight of this day is the women’s finals at Wimbledon which may feature Serena Williams playing for her third straight major tournament victory. In the evening, catch a NWSL double-header between New Jersey’s Sky Blue FC and the Portland Thorns and the Western New York Flash and Seattle Reign. If you watch these games, you’ll see Hope Solo, Megan Rapinoe, Kelley O’Hara, Christie Rampone, Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath, Whitney Engen, and Sydney Leroux! If cars are more your thing, catch a Saturday night NASCAR race on NBCSN.

Sunday: For a summer weekend, this isn’t a bad Sunday. The men’s final at Wimbledon is one of the highlights of the year in tennis. The Tour de France continues its ride toward the mountains. The men’s golf John Deere classic in Silvis, Illinois should offer some thrills. The Pan-Am games, an Olympic style competition held in Toronto gets some much deserved television time in the evening on ESPN2. And the final NWSL game of the week, between the Houston Dash and Chicago Red Stars, features a slew of USWNT stars: Meghan Klingenberg, Morgan Brian, and Carli Lloyd on the Dash and Julie Johnston, Christen Press, Lori Chalupny, and Shannon Boxx on the Red Stars.