All this was written in the past 24:
NBA:The Debriefing: The NBA Draft is Too Awesome for Just One Day. Here's my alternative to that proposal: the draft starts at the same time, but only one pick happens each day. We make this bad boy last for a month. One entire glorious month of NBA roster change.
Crystal Ballin': Philadelphia 76ers: Sixers fans, prepare the bomb shelter. A cocksure Billy King with three first-rounders and the freedom to get in the trading game? DANGER.
(Get your full Crystal Ballin' coverage here)
Mockology: The NBA FanHouse Mock Draft, Picks 1-10:
3. Hawks (TheHype) pick: Brandan Wright, North Carolina -- If this doesn't help, Dominique will definitely try to suit up next season.
Stephen Jackson Is Not Going to Jail: Of course, Jackson had the quote of the day when addressing the situation: "Community service has always been a part of my life," Jackson said. Gangsta!
MLB:
Is it OK for Teams to Raise Ticket Prices for Premium Games?: The Colorado brass decided to jack up ticket prices for the series, leaving certain columnists critical of the move, as Purple Row pointed out. Initially I jumped on the bandwagon to beat the war drums against the Rockies, until I did some research.Sammy Sosa Joins the 600 Club: Sosa belted the shot in the fifth inning of the Rangers' match up with the Cubs, his former team. "Former team" probably doesn't describe the relationship Sosa had with the Cubs and their fans; for years, Sosa was the Cubs, oftentimes the only attraction within the Wrigley Ivy.
Torii Hunter Thinks the Fans Are Smarter in New York Than Minnesota: Just why might he be cozying up to the Yankees' faithful? Perhaps because he considers his days numbered as a member of the Twins. He's in the final year of his contract but hasn't heard a peep from the organization about the future since spring training.
NFL:Bryant Gumbel Calls Gene Upshaw 'The League's Biggest Embarrassment': For the second time, Gumbel has used the HBO show Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel to attack Gene Upshaw, the head of the NFL players' union.
Other Shoe Drops: Pacman Charged in Vegas Strip Club Shooting:
Pacman Jones' day just got a whole lot worse. KLAS-TV in Las Vegas is reporting that Pacman has been charged with two counts of felony coercion in the strip club shooting that left one man paralyzed during NBA All-Star weekend.
Rod Marinelli Wrestled a Bear: "It was cold, the mat was all wet, and this bear was smelly, let me tell you," Schram said. "So we put the money up there, and in goes Rod. Rod did then what he does now: He went in to win."
Larry Johnson: 'I'm Prepared' for Holdout: "They (my agent and father) got me saving money. I'm hustling to get more money to put in the bank. They already started setting aside different accounts, if that would have to happen. They're already telling me to be cautious about how I spend, where I go and stuff like that. To make sure that if it goes down like that, then I've got to be able to pace myself so I won't be in trouble."
NCAA Football:Yahoo! Officially Acquires Rivals.com: These are strange days where recruiting sites - once the basement business and realm of the 900 number for updates - sell for millions of dollars to former Silicon Valley search engines gone big business.
Not Surprisingly, Video Games and Film Study Finally Cross Paths: Players are going to be sitting around playing a lot of video games anyway, why not have them learn the playbook at the same time?
Nick Saban and George Bush On the Outs? I'm sure he's not mad, Nick. That was a pretty important practice. Dinner with the president? That clearly comes second.
Other Sports:
Soccer Announcer Ray Hudson Forecasts Sex in Madrid: It never hurts to have an announcer who's so over the top that you wonder if there's any oxygen up there. There's something else in there about a matador in high heels, which really tells me more about this man than I need to know...
Venus, Serena to Play Doubles at Wimbledon: For the first time since 2003, Venus and Serena Williams are about to team up on the tennis court. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that the Williams sisters will be doubles partners at Wimbledon.
Steroid Testing Coming in Golf: Tiger Woods meets the two criteria that we, the sports fans and the sports media, have always applied to athletes in other sports whom we accuse of using steroids: He's much better than the competition and he's much more muscular than the competition.
Cheers,
JCN
