It was a pretty amazing weekend for sports fans. We had the opening round games of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. I didn’t think it was possible to top that Spain-Portugal game on Friday until Mexico upset reigning World Cup champs Germany on Sunday. Out on Long Island, former FSU golfer Brooks Koepka bested the field at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton for back-to-back U.S. Open victories. And then there was Ted Cruz and Jimmy Kimmel playing in the inaugural #BlobfishBasketballClassic.
It all started with Jimmy Kimmel insulting Ted Cruz’s physical appearance when the Senator from Texas appeared at a Houston Rockets playoffs game. From there, the two jabbed back and forth until a 1-on-1 game was agreed upon where the loser would donate $5,000 to a non-political charity of the winner’s choice. They were initially going to play to 15 points but these two husky dads decided to play to 11 instead, and Jimmy lost to Ted in front of a packed house.
First, there’s a video recap from GMA but below I’ve got tweets from the event and a recap of how it all went down, from day 1 on through the game:
.@jimmykimmel All right, Big Guy…you talk a good game. You besmirched my support for the @HoustonRockets 🤨 So let’s settle this man-to-man: one-on-one, hoops (or “ring-ball,” if you prefer). The loser gives $5k to the (non-political) charity of the winner’s choice. https://t.co/BWvAP5VOtM
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 31, 2018
Stretching with my physical therapist. #KimmelvsCruz #BlobfishBasketballClassic pic.twitter.com/PKsYdTVKFN
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) June 16, 2018
Left a note for you in your locker room, @jimmykimmel. #KimmelvsCruz pic.twitter.com/N5f0rUgSFt
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 15, 2018
Welcoming @jimmykimmel from @JimmyKimmelLive to the 18th Congressional District at the @TexasSouthern H&PE Arena for the Charity Basketball against @tedcruz! #KimmelvsCruz #JimmyKimmel #TedCruz #JimmyKimmelLive pic.twitter.com/7matDJkqX6
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) June 16, 2018
The crowd was definitely jacked up:
The crowd is fired up! #KimmelvsCruz🏀 #CruzToVictory pic.twitter.com/jvMsdsU0Np
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 16, 2018
This might be the least athletic photograph ever taken:
.@SenTedCruz dribbles past @jimmykimmel during the Blobfish Basketball Classic. Cruz challenged Kimmel to the game after Kimmel blamed the Houston Rockets playoff loss on the senator. Cruz won 11-9. pic.twitter.com/Tr9pSGemWu
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 17, 2018
Ted Cruz took down Jimmy Kimmel 11-9 in the inaugural #BlobfishBasketballClassic at Texas Southern University. #KimmelvsCruz @tedcruz @jimmykimmel https://t.co/NK2nNqBVX9 pic.twitter.com/a16MQf6tyh
— Michael Ciaglo (@MichaelCiaglo) June 17, 2018
Thy agreed to go to 11 instead of 15 because they were taking so long. https://t.co/hooMxg4fNf
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) June 17, 2018
I desperately hope there’s video of Cruz blowing past Kimmel for easy layups. Remember, this charity game only happened because Cruz challenged Kimmel to a one-on-one matchup after Kimmel publicly mocked Cruz’s physical appearance.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) June 17, 2018
The best part, aside from worthy charities getting donations, is that Kimmel guaranteed victory over Cruz, whom he called a “greasy blobfish.” Cruz embraced the blobfish insult, made it his mascot, then beat Kimmel’s ass. 😂
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) June 17, 2018
The winner tonight? @generation1TX and @TexasChildrens
Support them below:
Generation One: https://t.co/w1DSdwizi1
Texas Children’s: https://t.co/qtF1BnAvLI pic.twitter.com/gVCKirPHxz
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 17, 2018
I’ll send a shout out to Ted Cruz for not letting the ‘blobfish’ comment get to him, for embracing it, and then beating Jimmy Kimmel when it mattered. One can’t help but see an event like and this and think how much better our hyper-polarized state of politics in America might be if we could get more people from opposite ends of the spectrum to come together for events like this where our common interests overlap. You look at a guy like Anthony Bourdain who was very far to the Left on the political spectrum and how he’d talk about being able to sit down with every type of person on the planet and enjoy food, drink, and not talk politics. That was one of the great things about Tony’s show, being able to bring together different walks of life. We need more of that now than ever.