NBA: I Wanna See the Dunk!

Some of you may have been following this story which came out yesterday:

What happens at LeBron’s camp stays at LeBron’s camp.

A minor controversy erupted at the LeBron James Skills Academy on Monday night when two videographers recorded a pickup game in which Xavier’s Jordan Crawford dunked on James…

“There’s nothing I can think of besides LeBron just not wanting it online,” Miller told CBSSports.com. “It’s a good story to tell people, I guess. But then again, I’m kind of pissed. I lost my tape.”

For their part, LeBron’s people claim filming the academy is against the rules. But still, wouldn’t it be a good, in a sea of bad news, to have some fun and see the best player in the NBA get dunked on? I think so.

PGA TOUR FANTASY: John Deere Classic

Here we go for Week 27:

A: Kenny Perry (Backup: Marc Turnesa)
B: Steve Marino (Backup: Steve Stricker)
B: Lucas Glover (Backup: Zach Johnson)
C: Charles Howell III (Backup: Brandt Jobe)

PGA TOUR DIGEST: Vol. 2 No. 27

This week, the week before next week’s British Open, the PGA Tour heads to Illinois for the John Deere Classic. This event, won by Kenny Perry last year, is the last event to qualify for the Open Championship next week.

TV Coverage is Thursday-Friday on Golf Channel from 3-6pm ET and Saturday-Sunday from 3-6pm ET on CBS.

Here is an article from ESPN.com’s Bob Harig about what the John Deere Classic is doing to get players to the Open Championship ASAP.

GOLF: Tiger Woods Interviews Himself at AT&T National

I noticed a couple people landed on the blog because they wanted to see Tiger interview himself after winning the AT&T National.

The link is here.

GOLF: LPGA Mutiny?

This article talks about how Golf Week magazine is reporting that top LPGA players — including Natalie Gulbis, Lorena Ochoa and Paula Creamer — want commissioner Carolyn Bivens to resign.

Golfweek Magazine reported Monday that key players stated in the letter the LPGA Tour’s woes cannot be blamed on a poor economy, and they said the tour should find a new leader to rebuild relationships with longtime sponsors….

The tour has left two stops — Rochester, N.Y., and Toledo — uncertain if the contracts will be renewed for next year, and it has already lost the popular Corning Classic. Also up in the air is the Michelob Ultra Championship in Virginia.

The LPGA has lost seven tournaments since 2007, including all three events staged in Hawaii.

Seoul Broadcasting Systems was offended when Bivens announced during the SBS Open in Hawaii that it had a new television contract with another Korean network. That ended SBS’ sponsorship, and it then signed a 10-year deal with the PGA Tour to sponsor the season-opening tournament at Kapalua, won this year by Geoff Ogilvy.

The only thing I’ll add to that is that the mandate put out by the tour last year forcing players to learn English really rubbed people the wrong way and started a downward trend in their thoughts towards the commissioner. That didn’t help the players digest any of the other recent happenings due to the economy.

Maybe a change would be really good here.

GOLF: Tiger and Anthony

Tomorrow, for the first time, after waiting almost 3 years for it to happen, the number 1 golfer in the world — Tiger Woods — and arguably the best “next big thing” golfer in the world — Anthony Kim — will go into a final round tied for the lead, in the same group. They go off at 2:20pm ET.

Live final round coverage of the AT&T National can be seen starting at 1pm ET on Golf Channel for bonus coverage, and 3pm ET on CBS for the conclusion.

SPRINGSTEEN: Steam Rises in Video

Glastonbury was a big deal for Bruce — 135,000 people watched him and the Band do a fantastic show. They also enjoyed one of the greatest confluences of mother nature and cinematography many people have ever seen.

Enjoy this rendition of “The River,” with steaming rising from Bruce.

MLB: The Golf and Baseball Marriage

(You may remember that my QU colleague Lenny wrote a piece for this blog the other week. Now, I write a piece for his.)

Golf and Baseball have a lot in common. The golf course is where pitchers go after they pitch in spring training games, where teams go after they fail to make the playoffs, and where players go after they retire.

There is some practical carryover; the golf motion and the baseball swing do have some similarities. But I think there’s another reason why baseball players become golfers: the peace and sanctuary. High level athletes like to get into the zone — tunnel vision — where they hear nothing and see just the action which they have to do ahead of them.

In baseball for example, they see only the pitcher and the ball. In golf, it’s their ball and the hole ahead of them.

That peace and tranquility is a common thread, and may be the very one that syncs golf and baseball together.

NEW YORK JETS: Pace Suspended 4 Games

And just when New York Jets fans were feeling very happy and excited about the upcoming season, this happens:

New York Jets linebacker Calvin Pace has been suspended for the first four games of the 2009 NFL regular season for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy….In a statement released by the Jets, Pace said the suspension stemmed from his use of an over-the-counter dietary supplement — which he did not identify — that contained a substance he did not know violated the policy.

“I am responsible for what I put into my body and I should have paid closer attention to the League’s guidelines. I regret that this has happened and apologize to my teammates, the entire Jets organization as well as the fans,” Pace said. “Hopefully, this does not distract from our ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl.”

Wonderful. Just wonderful. NFL players: even if it takes you 2 extra days to start your diet, CHECK WHAT IS IN IT FIRST!!! COMMON SENSE!!!

MLB: Has the List of 103 Leaked? Part 2

For the fairness of equal reporting I will post this link to an article on Deadspin about the purported list of 103. In the article they talk about inconsistencies and possible inaccuracies in the list from common known knowledge about who may be on the list of 103.