HBDD: Chelsea wants MAC news and notes to celebrate their EPL win

I’m going to be completely honest here in today’s Hustle Belt Daily Dump. This is the trust tree, right? We’re in the safety nest with sharing allowed, correct? Good. I am not a soccer fan. There. I said it. And it’s not just a lack of fandom. It’s a complete ignorance about any and everything about the sport itself.

It’s almost embarrassing to admit that. I consider myself a tremendous sports fan. Easily in the top 1% of my friend group. Hell, SBNation pays me to write, watch, read and generally know about sports. You’d think that soccer being the undisputed global king of sport would mean I’m at least somewhat knowledgeable about it. You’d be wrong.

Today THE THING in the sports world was Chelsea winning the Premier League and securing a spot in the Champions League. Ask me what that means. Go ahead. WHY DO YOU ASK ME THINGS I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT, DAD?! THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS.

But I’ll give it to soccer fans. They embody the fanatical that fan was derived from. The sheer joy on their fans’ faces when the trophy was raised, the jubilant celebrations, and the look of accomplishment on the players’, coaches’, and fans faces were something that you rarely (if ever) see in American sport.

So while watching this match and finally thinking I have a handle on what makes a slide tackle legal, what constitutes offsides, and realizing that I still don’t know why it’s not a uniform instead of a kit or why it’s a pitch and not a field, I actually thought about learning soccer. Truly understanding it. Taking the time to really familiarize myself with this international thing. I mean, I’m not going to do that, but today really made me think about it.

So congrats to Chelsea and let’s celebrate their win with the news and notes you need in today’s Hustle Belt Daily Dump:

Kent State Done in Softball Tourney | Akron Beacon Journal
The Flashes were done in 4-0 by James Madison in the Waco regional of the NCAA tourney. It was their second game of the day after staving off Oregon State in an earlier elimination game. They finish 33-28 on the season.

MAC Baseball Tourney Pairings Announced | MAC Sports
It was a wild weekend in MACBats action, but your field is set for the 2017 MAC Championship Tournament in Avon, OH. Tourney action starts Wednesday at 9:30AM and we’ll have tourney info, picks, and selections as we lead up to the first pitch.

Ball State in Mourning After Gum Tree Chopped Down | Fox 59
In your news of the weird, the campus in Muncie is sad after a tree was cut down that was an icon for all the gum stuck to it. College students, man.

Lebron is Better than Ever | SBNation
Can we just go ahead and claim Lebron James and the Cavaliers as the MAC’s NBA squad? They’re in Cleveland, home to MAC HQ. It’s a centrally-located in the MAC footprint team. Lebron probably would have went to Akron. Close enough for me!

A somewhat slow Sunday sports day, other than the hot soccer action, of course. But there is NBA basketball this evening should you be looking for something sports-related to feast your eyeballs on. The aforementioned Cavaliers host the Celtics at 8:30 on TNT.