July 2010: Sports Calendar Preview

NBA Free Agency (Beginning July 1st) '" Perhaps the most anticipated free agent signing period in NBA history will commence on July 1st. July 1st marks the first day that teams can officially contact free agents such as Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce and many others. July 8th signifies the first day that free agents may sign contracts, which will give fans at least seven days of rampant speculation.

Wimbledon (through July 4th) '" England's finest two weeks of tennis wrap up on America's 4th of July holiday. On Saturday, July 3rd, the Ladies' Singles Championship match will be held at 9:00am eastern time and broadcasted on NBC. Sunday's Men's Singles Championship match will also get underway at 9:00am eastern time on NBC.

2010 FIFA World Cup (through July 11th) '" Live from South Africa, ESPN will begin broadcasting the quarterfinals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on Friday, July 2nd at 10:00am eastern time. ABC will broadcast the remaining quarterfinal matches on Saturday, July 3rd at 10:00am eastern time. The semifinal matches will be broadcasted on ESPN at 2:00pm eastern time on Tuesday, July 6th and Wednesday, July 7th. ABC will air the third-place consolation match on Saturday, July 10th at 2:00pm, while the championship match will be aired on ABC at 1:30pm on Sunday, July 11th.

Major League Baseball All-Star Weekend (July 11th-13th) '" Baseball's midsummer's classic is being held in Anaheim, California this season. The festivities kickoff at 6:00pm eastern time, July 11th on ESPN2 with the Futures and Legends games, followed by the Home Run Derby on July 12th broadcasted at 8:00pm eastern time on ESPN. The main event, the All-Star game, can be seen at 8:00pm eastern time on Fox, on July 13th.

The British Open (July 15th-18th) '" The third major championship of the PGA season will be held at the famous links of the Old Course at St. Andrew's. Scotland's famous golf course has hosted the Open Championship as recently as 2005 and 2000, both won by Tiger Woods. St. Andrew's hopes to make the course a bit more difficult this time around, as it has lengthened the famous 17th hole by approximately 40 yards. All four days of competition will be televised on the ESPN/ABC network of stations, beginning Thursday and concluding with the final round on Sunday.