BASEBALL

It’s All-Star time in Major League Baseball, and last night they had their version of the Slam-Dunk Contest… the Home Run Derby.  The hometown, St. Louis, was pulling hard for their all-star and the current favorite for National League MVP, Albert Pujols.  However, while Pujols did fare well in the Derby, it just wasn’t his night.  The Championship came down to two sluggers, the Milwaukee Brewers’ Prince Fielder and the Texas Rangers Nelson Cruz.  Cruz put up a good fight, but the contest belonged to Prince Fielder (son of former Detroit Tiger great Cecil Fielder).  Congrats to Brewers fans.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, some interesting trade rumors floating around.  The Los Angeles Clippers had the #1 pick in the draft that they used to select Blake Griffin.  Griffin is supposed to be the first step in rebuilding the broken Clippers franchise, but… he will need help.  Well, assistance may be on the way.  Supposedly, the Clippers are in “serious” talks with none other than The Answer:  Allen Iverson.  If Iverson came to the Clips, he would provide a scoring threat, and could even transition into a great 6th man.  Plus, it would give the Clippers an identity for once.  He may be on his last legs, but Iverson is always fun to watch.  He will sell tickets.

Speaking of Blake Griffin, he had his Summer League debut Monday against the hometown rival Los Angeles Lakers.  And boy did Griffin impress.  He was out there to prove that he was the clear cut #1 pick, and that’s exactly what he did.  Griffin finished the game with 27 points and 12 rebounds, and looked to play the game with relative ease.  It will be interesting to see what happens when he goes up against the more mature Laker version, with the likes of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.  But until then, the Clippers have reason to celebrate.

And remember, Tuesday night is the actual BASEBALL ALL-STAR GAME.  Catch it at 8:00ET on FOX.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, there is a big free agency rumor on the wire.   It appears that Carlos Boozer, the Utah Jazz’ star power forward may be headed to Chicago.  The deal would send Boozer to Chicago, Bulls emerging forward Tyrus Thomas to Utah, and Bulls 6th man point-guard Kirk Heinrich to Portland.  The Heinrich part is to clear up cap space.  Boozer would provide the Bulls with a very reliable low-post presence; someone point-guard Derrick Rose could have an amazing tandem with.  Plus, Heinrich going to Portland would finally give the Blazers the floor general that they need at point.  He would make a big difference to the Blazer organization, especially given all those weapons they have already.

SWIMMING

Elsewhere in the sports world, it looks like Michael Phelps, Mr. 8-Gold Medals, is making headlines again.  Four months ago, he pondered quitting swimming, but… decided to keep going.  And yesterday, he broke a World Record that had been eluding him his whole career.  That’s right, Michael Phelps is now the World Record holder in the Butterfly.  He clocked in a 50.22 seconds, just edging out former champ Ian Crocker.  This is some good press for a guy who was admonished by the media for smoking a marijuana pipe at a party.  These are type of headlines he should be getting — record-breaking headlines.

SOCCER

Finally, some drama out of the soccer world.  U.S. soccer star and captain of the up-and-coming national soccer team, Landon Donovan, has made his opinions about living soccer legend David Beckham... very public.  He said that during Beckham’s stint on the Los Angeles Galaxy, in which the MLS brought in Beckham to bring some credible publicity to the league.  Well, Donovan said in a book about Beckham that Beckham didn’t seem dedicated while he was there.  Donovan thought he didn’t try and used to take it easy.  This rubbed him the wrong way because it was obvious that Beckham was getting paid at least double of what everyone else was making, and Donovan said the LEAST Beckham could have done was show up at every game.  When Beckham was hurt or suspended, he wouldn’t even join the team at the game.

Now that his remarks have been made public, Donovan said he doesn’t regret what he said, but rather that he did share his feelings with Beckham privately.  Donovan said, ‘I should have been a man about it, and spoke with Beckham directly, not publicly in a book.  Well, Beckham is getting ready to return to the Galaxy, and we will see how this soap opera between the two soccer stars develops.

A lot of action in NBA free-agent market Wednesday.  Let’s take a look.

First up, it looks like the Dallas Mavericks have re-signed one guy and grabbed a much needed piece.  They agreed to a 3-year deal with point-guard Jason Kidd yesterday, which will pretty much make him a Maverick for the rest of his career.  Kidd can be injury prone, especially since he’s in his late 30s, but he’s still… Jason Kidd.  In last year’s playoffs, he was an instrumental piece, and if they are going to make a realistic title run this coming season, they need him.

And in addition to Kidd, the Mavericks grabbed former all-star swing man Shawn Marion.  Marion went from the Suns to the Heat (in the Phoenix/Miami Shaq trade), and then he was sent packing to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Jermaine O’Neal.  Now Marion is finally in a good fit.  The Mavericks like to play a face-paced game, and Marion is the perfect piece to the puzzle.  This gives them another huge scoring option if Nowitzki is having an off-night, and also gives them a pretty deep bench if need be, as they added center Marcin Gortat as well.  Gortat backed-up Dwight Howard for the Magic this past season, and played a clutch reserve roll in both the playoffs and championship game.  Watch out for the Mavs next season!

Elsewhere, even though the Toronto Raptors lost Marion, they did have their own big free agent signing.  They won the Hedo Turkoglu sweepstakes.  Turkoglu was fantastic in the playoffs, and the Magic’s championship run would have been impossible without him.  He’s a proven winner, and can win games in crunch time.  Combine him with a Raptors roster that includes former #1 pick Andrea Bargnani, and you have an exciting team up in Canada.  The Raptors could be a sleeper team next year, and be what Chicago was in this year’s playoffs (i.e. a team that could shock a higher seed).

Finally, the Spurs added another weapon to their experienced roster.  Duncan has, perhaps, two more good years to win another championship, and they need to surround him with players who can help out.  Of course he has Parker and Ginobili, but he needs more.  Before the draft, they added swing-man Richard Jefferson, who will truly help out with the scoring load, and today they drafted Duncan’s back-up.  His name:  Antonio McDyess.  McDyess has been looking to play for a contender before his career ends, and the Spurs might be his last chance.  Plus, having McDyess will give the Spurs the option to sit Duncan for somewhat extended periods and not have to worry about falling behind in the game.

Bottom line, there have been so many teams trying to build their rosters to compete, that next season is going to be a true thrill ride.  And… you can expect more before the summer is done.

BASEBALL

There was quite a blowout in Philadelphia.  The Phillies have been struggling as of late, but they sure made up for those woes last night against the Cincinnati Reds.  To start things off, in the first inning alone they put up 10 runs.  That, in itself, would be considered a blowout.  But the Phillies weren’t done.  They put up 6 more runs in the next 3 innings to make it a 16-1 lead.  You would think they would calm down, but nope… because in the bottom of the 8th inning, Jayson Werth hit a GRAND SLAM!!  That, plus 2 additional runs, handed the Reds their worst loss in franchise history.  Philadelphia 22, Cincinnati 1.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, some fun free agent news.  The Lakers Trevor Ariza, who was absolutely instrumental for the Lakers championship run, had decided he would explore the free-agent waters.  Well, he chose the Houston Rockets, but in a last ditch effort to sign him, the Cleveland Cavaliers sent out their big guns to recruit him.  And even though they lost, they got some great news.

Here’s what happened.  LeBron James called Trevor Ariza, and pleaded for him to come and join the Cavs.  But more notably was LeBron’s logic, which was “I’m staying in Cleveland past 2010.”  This would send the signal to Ariza that they could become a dynasty, but more notably was the first verbal signal that the Cavs would keep James, and also that big markets like New York and New Jersey (soon to be Brooklyn) wouldn’t be getting him.  Sure, they are just words, and words to persuade at that, but at least some Cavs fans will be able to sleep well tonight.  Even if that is the only night of good sleep they get.

Finally, a little more NBA news.  As stated before, the summer of 2010 is going to be a very interesting off-season for the NBA, because many of their big names are free agents.  One of them… Dwayne Wade.  And yesterday he publicly stated that he will stay in Miami for his career, but wants to see that the Heat are taking steps to make them a contender.  Clearly the pieces aren’t in place for the Heat to compete with the likes of the Cavs, Celtics, or Magic, but at the same time Dwayne Wade is among the top 5 players in the league.  He’s a valuable asset and the Heat organization should take advantage of that.  We’ll have to see what moves the Miami front office makes this summer to keep Wade happy.

What an Independence Day Weekend in the sports world:

TENNIS

We had the Wimbledon championship, where the renowned Roger Federer was looking for his 15th Grand Slam Championship.  However, in order to get it, he would have to get past the American Andy Roddick.  Well, they played a hard fought battle, and in the longest Fifth Set of all time, Federer finally prevailed 16-14. It was an epic match that will be remembered for the ages.  And with the win, Federer moves into the lead with 15 championships, one more than Pete Sampras’ 14.   Among experts, many now consider Federer to be the greatest tennis player ever.

BASKETBALL

Elsewhere in the sports world, some more free agent news out of the NBA.  While the Detroit Pistons brought in two big free agents (Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva).  They also just lost one of their best players.  It looks like Rasheed Wallace will sign with none other than… The Boston Celtics.  Of course Rasheed is in his twilight years right now, but he will play an important role for the Celtics next season coming off the bench.  Plus if Kevin Garnett or Kendrick Perkins suffers an injury, this gives the Celtics a solid back-up to take their place in the line-up until they get healthy.

BASEBALL

Also, the starting line-ups for the Major League Baseball All-Star game were announced.  The St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols was the top vote-getter for the National League, as he is having an amazing year.  He is on pace for around 62 home runs, and his name has never been linked to steroids.  If he does hit more than 61 home runs this season (Roger Maris’ original record), many baseball purists will consider him to be the true record breaker (as Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds are infamous for being connected to steroids, and now many think that their accomplishments don’t count).  As for the American League, it was the Yankees Derek Jeter that led all vote-getters.  It should be a fantastic game.

FOOTBALL

Finally, some very sad news.  Former Tennessee Titan and Baltimore Raven quarterback, Steve McNair, was found shot-dead in his Nashville home on Saturday.  McNair led the Titans to the Super Bowl in 1999 (the same year they changed their name from the Oilers to the Titans and established a new hometown identity).  Therefore, McNair was a hero to the Nashville community, and his loss has hit the city pretty hard.  It appears that Steve McNair’s death was a homicide, and the police believe that his current girlfriend shot him and then killed herself.  It’s a very sad story, and both the state of Tennessee and the entire sports community will miss a fantastic athlete.

In the NBA, the free agent market is on FIRE.

The big winner yesterday:  The Detroit Pistons.  They acquired 2 incredible free agents.  The first was (former) Chicago Bulls shooting-guard Ben Gordon.  Gordon was positively terrific in the first round playoff series against the Celtics.  He showed that he is a prolific scorer in this league, and simply could not miss when he put the ball up.  Now, the Pistons will have his sharp-shooting abilities throughout the season.

Secondly, the Pistons acquired another key free agent in (former) Milwaukee Bucks power forward Charlie Villanueva.  Villanueva is a consistent scorer and quality defender in this league, and he will be a solid role-player for the Pistons.  This gives the Pistons a line-up of Rodney Stuckey, Rip Hamilton, Ben Gordon, Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess, Tayshaun Prince, and Charlie Villanueva.  This is a quality team, for sure, but there’s also a chance that they will trade Rip Hamilton.  For who, nobody knows as of now, but look for the Pistons to make at least one more move this off-season.

Elsewhere in the NBA, the Los Angeles Clippers have solved their conundrum at power forward.  The Clippers took phenom Blake Griffin with the first pick in the NBA draft.  However, they already acquired a Power Forward the prior season in Zach Randolph. They didn’t want to have a controversey at that position, so yesterday they shipped Randolph out of town.  He will be joining the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for swingman Quentin Richardson.  Richardson started his career with Clippers, and now that he’s a seasoned veteran, the Clips look to have, at least, a competitive team next season.

Finally, it looks like Trevor Arizona might not be in a Laker uniform next season.  He was a key piece in the Lakers championship run, and apparently, the Lakers are unwilling to pay him more than the 5.6 million mid-level salary.  This would be a bigger loss than the Lakers think.  Arizona was a reliable piece in crunch-time (remember the pivotal steal at the end of Game 1 of the Nuggets series.  That set the tone).  Now… Ariza could easily be wearing a Cavs, Celtics, or even Clippers jersey in the coming days.

BASKETBALL

The NBA off-season is in full-swing, and there is already some notable news. It looks like the New York Knicks are trying to sign Jason Kidd.  Kidd would give them a marketable name, and show the Knick fans that management hasn’t given up on their team.  However, Kidd is also in his late 30s, and there is a big question mark on what he can still do (even though he did have a nice playoff run with Dallas).  This will be a tough sign though, because the Knicks also want to re-sign their slam dunk champion point-guard, Nate Robinson, and hold on to hard-working fan favorite David Lee.  It could be almost impossible to get/keep them all.

At the same time, Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks owner, announced on his blog that he was flying to New York to talk to Jason Kidd.  Apparently, Cuban still wants to keep Kidd, and thinks the Mavs could be a threat next season with him on the team.  After all, they did upset the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.  Kidd stated that he would be happy to stay in Dallas, but is exploring his options.  We will see how this pans out.

Elsewhere in the NBA, some good news for Jazz fans.  There was a lot of talk around Utah that the Jazz would lose their star Power Forward Carlos Boozer.  With the emergence of Paul Millsap at forward, a second round draft pick who’s turned into a solid player, the Jazz expected Boozer to indulge in free agency.  But, Boozer has rejected the market, and instead will play for at least one more season in Utah for 12.7 Million Dollars.  He plans to enter the star-studded free agency market of 2010 instead (which includes LeBron, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh among them).

BASEBALL

This is an amazing story.  The Red Sox were in Baltimore, where they took a 10 run lead against the Orioles heading into the bottom of the 7th inning.  But, get this, the Orioles put up five runs in the 7th, making the score 10-6.  Sure, still nothing to worry about if you’re a Red Sox fan.  But… hold on.  In the bottom of the 8th inning, the Orioles had another offensive surge and put up another 3 runs, making the score 10-9 .  The Red Sox brought in their star closer Jonathan Papelbon to save the day, but up came Baltimore’s rising star Nick Markakis.  He hit a 2-run RBI to give Baltimore the lead.  And in the bottom of the 9th, the Red Sox just couldn’t do anything, and the Orioles successfully completed a 10-run comeback in just 2 innings.  Unbelievable!  Baltimore 11, Boston 10.