Do you hear that…that is the sound of a real football game being played at an NFL stadium. Preseason football officially returns this as all 32 teams square off. If you forgot, gone are the days of 4 preseason games, outside of the 2 who participated in the Hall of Fame Game. The NFL will play games over the next 3 weeks and the final week of camp will be reserved for practice and final cut downs. In addition to games, we also get the return of HARD KNOCKS: Training Camp with the Detroit Lions. The initial episode will air on Tuesday night at 10pm EST on HBO. I absolutely love Hard Knocks and it really gets you fired up for the season. The best year was the 2010 series with Rex Ryan and the Jets. I hope Dan Campbell brings the heat and gives us tv gold over the next 5 Tuesday nights.

In addition to the NFL, Major League Baseball is hosting the 2nd Field of Dreams Game from the cornfields of Iowa. The game is scheduled for Thursday, August 11th between the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15pm EST and it will be broadcast nationally on FOX. If you remember last year, it was an exciting spectacle between the Yankees and White Sox. This is a ode to the classic movie Field of Dreams and I hope it continues for years to come.

NFL:

• HARD KNOCKS – Detroit Lions on Tuesday, August 9th at 10pm EST on HBO
• Giants at Patriots 7pm EST on NFL Network (Thursday, August 11th)
• Packers at 49ers 8:30pm EST on NFL Network (Friday, August 12th)
• Falcons at Lions 6pm EST on NFL Network (Friday, August 12th)
• Browns at Jaguars 7pm EST (Friday, August, 12th)
• Chiefs at Bears 1pm EST on NFL Network (Saturday, August 13th)
• Colts at Bills 4pm EST on NFL Network (Saturday, August 13th)
• Seahawks at Steelers 7pm EST on NFL Network (Saturday, August 13th)
• Cowboys at Broncos 9pm EST on NFL Network (Saturday, August 13th)
• Vikings at Raiders 4:25pm EST on NFL Network (Sunday, August 14th)

COLLEGE FOOTBALL:

• All programs enter another week of Fall Camp as we draw closer to the season openers.
• Conference Spotlights of the MAC, Mountain West, Conference USA, Sun Belt and AAC are available on SpinnableSports.com in addition to the 2022 Preseason All Irrational Confidence Teams
• Speaking of The Irrational Confidence Podcast (@IRConfidencePod on Twitter), they have just released their 4th installment of their Preseason Top 25 Countdown episodes. The most recent details teams 6 thru 10. You can find the episodes covering teams 11 thru 15,16 thru 20 and 21 thru 25 on any podcast platform as well as the Spinnable Sports YouTube page. Subscribe today and be ready for the season. They drop 2 episodes a week; a weekly preview and weekly recap.

MLB:

• New York Yankees at Seattle Mariners (Monday thru Wednesday)
• San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres (Monday thru Wednesday)
• Toronto Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles (Monday thru Wednesday)
• Minnesota Twins at Los Angeles Dodgers (Tuesday & Wednesday)
• Chicago Cubs vs Cincinnati Reds – Field of Dreams Game 7pm EST on FOX (Thursday)
• Milwaukee Brewers at St.Louis Cardinals (Friday thru Sunday)
• Cleveland Guardians at Toronto Blue Jays (Friday thru Sunday)
• Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets (Friday thru Sunday)

EUROPEAN SOCCER:

• Our season predictions for the English Premier League, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1, LaLiga and the UEFA Champions League is available on SpinnableSports.com
• All European domestic leagues will be underway once LaLiga and Serie A kickoff this week.
• Unlike all previous years, every league will pause in November for the World Cup and resume around Christmas/ New Years. This will create 2 mini seasons, a lot of lineup rotations and possibly addition fatigue
• Arsenal vs Leicester City (Saturday, August 13th)
• Man City vs Bournemouth (Saturday, August 13th)
• Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur (Sunday, August 14th)
• Freiburg vs Borussia Dortmund (Friday, August 12th)
• RB Leipzig vs Cologne (Saturday, August 13th)
• Bayern Munich vs Wolfsburg (Sunday, August 14th)
• AC Milan vs Udinese (Saturday, August 13th)
• Fiorentina vs Cremonese (Sunday, August 14th)
• Lazio vs Bologna (Sunday, August 14th)
• PSG vs Montpellier (Saturday, August 13th)
• Valladolid vs Villarreal (Saturday, August 13th)
• Barcelona vs Rayo (Saturday, August 13th)
• Almeria vs Real Madrid (Sunday, August 14th)

MLS:

• This week will showcase the MLS All Stars against the Liga MX All Stars on Wednesday, August 10th. This match will take place in Allianz Field, home to the Minnesota United.
• MLS All Stars vs Liga MX All Stars 8:30pm EST ESPN
• NY Red Bulls vs Orlando City (Saturday, August 13th)
• Philadelphia Union vs Chicago Fire (Saturday, August 13th)
• Inter Miami vs NYCFC (Saturday, August 13th)
• LAFC vs Charlotte FC (Saturday, August 13th)
• Nashville SC vs Minnesota United (Sunday, August 14th)
• Seattle Sounders vs Real Salt Lake (Sunday, August 14th)

HAVE A GREAT SPORTS WEEK AND DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE IRRATIONAL CONFIDENCE PODCAST!