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What Had Happened Was

What Had Happened Was: 8/9/16

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    Swimming – Olympics: Day 3
    RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – AUGUST 08: Lilly King of USA celebrates her gold medal after the final women’s 100m breststroke at Olympic Aquatics Stadium on August 8, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Xavier Laine/Getty Images
    By Ryan Cortes Rhiannon Walker

    GAME. BLOUSES.

    It wasn’t all that long ago that Yasiel Puig looked and felt like the most electrifying player in baseball. Puig got on base his rookie year — as a 22-year old, mind you — at a .391 clip and in his sophomore season in 2014, he smacked 37 doubles and sprinted all over the field at all times. He was mesmerizing.

    Then he fell off a cliff.

    The last two years, Puig has plummeted. He played in only 79 games last year, he was on the disabled list earlier this season, and more importantly, he hasn’t been able to hit or get on base at a consistent clip since 2014, so the Los Angeles Dodgers shipped him down to the minor leagues to Triple-A affiliate Oklahoma City last week.

    Following Monday night’s 3-2 loss to the Iowa Cubs, Puig took to Snapchat, firing off a number of videos showing he and his new teammates enjoying the hell out of losing, shirtless while smiling and dancing.

    “It’s so funny,” Puig says in one video. “Lose today, and everybody happy!”

     

    On the one hand, hey, it’s Oklahoma City and it’s kind of boring late at night, and Kevin Durant is gone now, and you’re Yasiel Puig. Why not have some fun with your boys? On the other hand … you’re Yasiel Puig and you need to be hitting the ball, not hitting send on Snapchat. Why document to the world you having fun with your boys now?

    The videos can be a number of things all at once — funny, sophomoric, ridiculous — and they are. Puig is only 25 years old. But it’s still a bad look for a man who can’t afford too many more.

    BLESSINGS!

    Cleveland Cavaliers guard and 2016 NBA champion J.R. Smith got married! Even better, he blessed the crowd with his clothed torso. He likes to dress up (dressed up in this case means anything where he’s not shirtless) for special occasions such as these.

    SOCIAL STATUS

    American Olympic swimmer Lilly King took home the gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke Monday night. King held off Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova, the reigning world champion and someone King said just a day ago shouldn’t be allowed to compete. Efimova already served a 16-month suspension and tested positive again this year for the banned substance meldonium.

    Monday night, King served her.

    https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/762835057337782273

    PAPI

    FOR THE CULTURE

    Be on the lookout for Marvel’s #LukeCage trailer coming out on Tuesday.

    NBC hired Leslie Jones as an Olympic commentator after the actress/comedian was tweeting her thoughts on the Rio Games like a boss, and the network saw them.

    Martha Stewart + Snoop Dogg = VH1 dinner-party show.

    Actress Taraji P. Henson will make a guest appearance on The Simpsons on Sept. 25 for the first hourlong episode in the show’s 28-year history.

    Rapper Bow Wow announced his retirement Monday … in case anyone was wondering.

    TOP THREE TWEETS

    Every morning we’ll hit you here with the best of what we saw on social media the previous night. Why? Why not?

    1. JOIN THE DARK SIDE, WE HAVE MICHAEL PHELPS

    2. WE’RE NOT IN THE NBA ANYMORE

    https://twitter.com/Efawcett7/status/762807482381111296

    3. SAY SOMETHING SLICK

    #ICYMI

    Our brother Martenzie Johnson told the story of a historically black sorority — Sigma Gamma Rho — teaching thousands of folks how to swim:

    On July 16, 2012, Sigma Gamma Rho and USA Swimming launched a nationwide partnership to help encourage black participation in swimming and decrease drowning rates among African-Americans through local programming. African-American children in the United States are nearly three times more likely to drown than white children…..Since the announcement, the partnership, named for the year the sorority was founded, has led to hundreds of free lessons, clinics, programming and community events that have helped thousands learn how to swim. The “Swim 1922 Regional Contest” was also created, a program intended to increase participation within regional chapters of the sorority. In 2015, Sigma Gamma Rho and USA Swimming extended their partnership after a successful three-year run, adding university campus events and K-12 workshops to the platform. “Sigma Gamma Rho has embraced the objectives to make this one of the most impactful partnerships we’ve done at USA Swimming,” USA Swimming executive director Chuck Wielgus said at the time. Last year alone, Sigma Gamma Rho hosted 72 events throughout the country, including free swim clinics, celebrity guests and access to national swim meets. A USA Swimming rep added that Sigma Gamma Rho “logged in 729 hours of community service hours related to swimming, with 1,959 swim lessons completed and 480,551 laps swam” last year as well.

    PICTURE PERFECT

    Ryan Cortes is a staff writer for The Undefeated. Lemon pepper his wings.

    Rhiannon Walker is an associate editor at The Undefeated. She is a drinker of Sassy Cow Creamery chocolate milk, an owner of an extensive Disney VHS collection, and she might have a heart attack if Frank Ocean doesn't drop his second album.

    This Story Tagged: J.R. Smith Lilly King Michael Phelps What Had Happened Was Yasiel Puig