NL reclaims "Senior Circuit" title

Well how about that! The National League has won an All-Star Game! It hadn't happened since 1996 but it happened tonight, with the Nationals finally pulling one out, 3-1.

As such, with the ridiculous concept of the the All-Star Game league winning having home-field advantage in the World Series still in place, Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 (the final two if necessary) of the Fall Classic will be held at one of Citizens Bank Park, Petco Park, Dodger Stadium, Coors Field, Turner Field, Busch Stadium, Great American Ballpark or Citi Field (failing some other NL team making a miraculous run). No NL team has had home-field advantage in the World Series since 2001, when the Diamondbacks used it to win all four home games in beating the Yankees and ending the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez-Scott Brosius dynasty.

The game was poorly managed by both sides with neither side really managing to win so much as to try and get everyone in. Both Charlie Manuel and Joe Girardi seemed unsure as to what the real priority should have been. That being said, there were three heroes for the NL, two of which may even get to benefit in October from the home-field advantage:

1. Brian McCann. The game's MVP, Atlanta's catcher delivered a three-run double off Matt Thornton in the top of the seventh inning. It was the only run-scoring play of the game for the NL as the pitching-dominated theme of the first half of the season continued on in the mid-summer classic.

2. Adam Wainwright. The best pitcher in the NL since the start of last season, the Cardinals righthander was called upon to take over after his team took the lead in the last of the seventh. With one out in the inning, John Buck was credited with a double on what should have been a two-base error on Matt Holliday, who dropped the fly into left. Wainwright then walked Ian Kinsler, setting up a double play situation which is something Cardinals pitchers excel at inducing. As seems to be the case so often, Wainwright succeeded in getting the ground ball from Vernon Wells but shortstop Rafael Furcal and second baseman Brandon Phillips failed to turn it, recording only the out at second. There were runners on the corners with Torii Hunter, the hometown hero, at the plate and ready to create a legendary All-Star moment with his Angels fans going crazy. Instead, Wainwright baffled him with an array of breaking balls to record the strikeout and get out of the inning. The NL gave the AL two extra outs to work with in the frame but Wainwright didn't surrender.

3. Marlon Byrd. The Cubs had to have a representative and Byrd represented them well. He had arguably the best at-bat of the night, battling his way to a walk from Thornton to load the bases in the seventh in front of McCann, who delivered the three-run double. And in the last of the ninth, after Jonathan Broxton allowed a leadoff single to David Ortiz and struckout Adrian Beltre, Byrd threw out Ortiz at second base from right field on a would-be Buck single. Ortiz couldn't commit to running hard because he wasn't sure if Byrd would be able to catch the ball off Buck's bat or not and when it fell, Byrd easily threw out the slow-footed Ortiz.

It should be noted that the incessant need to get every player into the game prevented Girardi from pinch running for Ortiz. The only player he had left on his bench was Alex Rodriguez and Girardi didn't want to use him because of an injured thumb (and why on earth would Girardi want to use his own player if he has some sort of injury). Plus, given his recent history of hip injuries, there is no way A-Rod was going to be used as a pinch runner for Ortiz. Girardi's best play would have been to use an extra pitcher to run for Ortiz (Fausto Carmona?) and then using A-Rod if he had no other choice. Of course, he didn't do it.

The Boss dies after heart attack

George M. Steinbrenner III, one of the most important owners in sports history, has died after suffering a massive heart attack. He had just turned 80 on July 4.

Steinbrenner's 1973 purchase of the Yankees from CBS for $10 million is perhaps the greatest investment in sports history. The Yankees won World Series in 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009 under his ownership, and additional American League pennants in 1976, 1981, 2001 and 2003. Known for his candor and willingness to hire and fire managers on a whim, "The Boss" had been rather quiet in recent seasons as his health started to catch up with him. His last public appearance was on Sept. 27, 2008 at the final game at old Yankee Stadium; he was not on hand for the Yankees 2009 World Series celebration.

Lots of roster moves around the NBA

With the dust settled on the big names in free agency, teams are now making smaller moves to fill out their teams and things are really getting interesting in seeing how teams are going to shape up. Today was a big day of moves and here's a recap, starting with the most amazing move of the day so far: the Spurs finally bringing over Tiago Splitter.

The 6'11" Splitter was selected in the first round of the 2007 draft by the Spurs after being led to believe he would be a top 10 pick. Instead, San Antonio wisely drafted him as he fell to 28th overall. Playing in Spain, he has been considered the best big man in Europe and--Spurs fans will love this--he idolized Tim Duncan growing up, so much so that he modeled his game around him. It had been speculated that the Spurs would have to use their entire mid-level exception to entice the 25-year-old to leave behind his Spanish team but instead San Antonio got him to come over for $10 million over three years, with a first year salary of about $3.4 million. That means San Antonio still has about $2.4 million to use to sign another piece, probably a veteran player late in his career. One option that makes sense: Raja Bell, a tough perimeter defender, something the Spurs didn't really have last season after Bruce Bowen retired. And if Splitter can come in and make a big difference quickly, maybe the Spurs do have one more run in them, especially since he will be counted on to ease Duncan's workload.

Elsewhere, to the surprise of absolutely no one, Derek Fisher rejected overtures from the Heat and stayed with the Lakers. But Miami was busy anyway and so much for LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh eating up all of their cap space. Somehow, Miami convinced Udonis Haslem to re-sign for less than both Denver and Dallas offerend him and also officially added Mike Miller. Seems LeBron is heavily recruiting players to join Miami and the great Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer quotes a league executive as saying "LeBron has done more recruiting in the last five days than he did in the last three years." I'm sure that's music to Dan Gilbert's ears. Ira Winderman, who covers the Heat for the Sun-Sentinel, breaks down the team's roster and shows just where the team is headed in terms of its full roster. We'll see if all of these guys will take peanuts to sign on but it seems likely that Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Juwan Howard would. Of course, both of those players are pretty much terrible at this point.

Moving on, Orlando is about to sign Quentin Richardson, a three-point specialist who could be just the sort of spot-up shooter needed for those Dwight Howard double-teams. Does that mean the Magic, despite initial claims to the contrary, won't match the offer sheet J.J. Redick signed with Chicago?

The Jazz, meanwhile, appear on the verge of acquiring Al Jefferson from Minnesota for draft picks, absorbing Jefferson's salary into the trade exception they received when Carlos Boozer left for Chicago. Jefferson hasn't been a difference-maker yet in his career but has put up points with bad teams in Boston (leading him to be the central figure in the Kevin Garnett trade) and Minnesota. He's younger and cheaper than Boozer. I like this pickup for Utah, should it go down, and it's good for Jefferson because it's stupid for a team to have both he and Kevin Love.

So plenty's happening in the most interesting offseason in NBA history.

A new Big Three in New York?

Spike Lee nearly passed out at the suggestion (and probably wet himself too).

Toasting newlyweds Carmelo Anthony and LaLa Vazquez at their wedding over the weekend in New York, Chris Paul reportedly said during his speech that "We'll form our own Big Three."

Paul, Carmelo and Amar'e Stoudemire. Knicks fans would have their most relevant team since 1999. This group would probably do just as good a job of losing in the conference finals as did the Patrick Ewing era teams (because we know they won't be beating the Heat and that they won't play a lick of defense if Mike D'Antoni is still the coach).

Of course, what remains to be seen is how this could come together because of the impending labor war after the coming season. It's fun to dream about for Knicks fans but they may want to be careful in getting their hopes up too high; after all, they spent the last two years dreaming of the summer of 2010 which ended up landing them just Amar'e, Raymond Felton, Kelenna Azubuike, Anthony Randolph and Ronny Turiaf while losing David Lee. Not exactly the LeBron bill of goods they were sold.

Could the Suns actually be trying to win?

I've been pretty critical of Suns owner Robert Sarver's attempts to destroy their franchise through penny-pinching decisions over the years but maybe I was too quick to assume he was going to throw in the towel on a competitive 2010-2011 towel too soon.

Having lost Amar'e Stoudemire as a free agent to the Knicks, the Arizona Republic reports the Suns are closing in on two separate deals that would land them Hedo Turkoglu from Toronto and Josh Childress from Greece via Atlanta.

For Turkoglu, the Raptors would receive Leandro Barbosa and Dwayne Jones (who would then be flipped to Charlotte for Boris Diaw). For Childress, a restricted free agent who played the last two seasons with Olympiakos in Greece, the Hawks would receive a 2012 second-round pick in a sign-and-trade deal with the Suns. The acquisition of Childress would come via a portion of the trade exception the Suns received in their sign-and-trade with the Knicks for Amar'e and he will receive a five-year, $33 million contract.

The 31-year-old Turkoglu was outstanding for the Magic in 2008 and 2009, as they rose to elite status in the East. He signed with Toronto last offseason and was horrible and asked for a trade. Now he'll go to Phoenix where he'll be able to bury wide open threes off Steve Nash penetration plays and be a huge mismatch as, at 6'10", the Suns could use him as a power forward. Childress played really for the Hawks three seasons ago as a swingman and defender before opting to sign a three-year deal in Greece. However, he was allowed out of his contract after two seasons and most figured the Hawks would let him go after insanely giving Joe Johnson a max contract.

So here's the Suns team right now: Nash, Grant Hill, Turkoglu, Childress, Robin Lopez, the re-signed Channing Frye, the newly signed Hakim Warrick, Jared Dudley and Goran Dragic, possibly Louis Amundson (currently a free agent) and draft picks Gani Lawal and Dwayne Collins. I have to say, that's a darn good team that has me re-thinking my prediction that Nash would ask out by February and could absolutely challenge for a repeat trip to the conference finals.

Rev. Jesse Jackson: Please, stop being an idiot

Responding to Dan Gilbert's hilarious, over-the-top diatribe in a letter to fans after LeBron James left the Cavaliers for the Heat, the Rev. Jesse Jackson had this to say in a statement released by his Rainbow PUSH Coalition:

"He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship--between business partners--and LeBron honored his contract."

And he adds later:

"LeBron is not a child, nor is he bound to play on Gilbert’s plantation and be demeaned. He has been a model citizen and has inspired the children of Akron, Cleveland, the State of Ohio and the United States."

I mean, seriously. Or maybe Gilbert just reacted the way a scorned lover would. Nonsense like this is exactly why Jesse Jackson's message on real issues gets lost so often. Making such over-the-top statements on meaningless situations like this only serves to demean the work the Rainbow PUSH Coalition does on meaningful issues. It is a shame that Jackson finds the need to interject on situations like this so often, generally to the detriment of the real causes he should be supporting.

The Reign in Spain!

It's over! Spain has won the World Cup! Andres Iniesta's goal in the 116th minute (well into extra time) was the only marker of the match.

The poor fans the Netherlands would have celebrated in Amsterdam with a complete orgy of marijuana and sex shops. Instead, they will have to get over the loss with a complete orgy of marijuana and sex shops. I really need to go to Amsterdam.

By the way, it's been a good summer to be fan of Spain sports (and I know, that list of people is limited to Spaniards). Their best basketball player, Pau Gasol, won his second consecutive NBA title (and should have been the Finals MVP). Rafael Nadal won both the French Open and Wimbledon, earned the No. 1 ranking in the world and became universally accepted, for the first time, as the world's best player. And now Spain has won the World Cup. Good year for the nation's sports.

I'm excited for World Cup 2014.

NBA Free Agency 2010: The Media Winners

The LeBron James circus is finally over. Weeks of rumors, innuendo and theatrics have finally ended with James following Dwyane Wade to Miami, where they will team with Chris Bosh.

There were four media winners in this story:

1. Stephen A. Smith. You have to hand it to Stephen A. He reported on his Twitter page and on his radio show on June 28 that the three were going to Miami. And while many, myself included, seriously doubted Stephen A., it seems now that the three agreed to join forces long ago and certainly before the free agency period started. No one seriously believes that the three decided a day before. No one seriously believes LeBron decided the morning of his embarrassing television special. So it seems that Stephen A. had it first and I'll give him props for it, even if he did backtrack on July 2 when Wade was reportedly about to "commit" to Chicago (which now seems like it was a staged stunt for the documentary these guys are putting together on the process). Stephen A. knew it first.

2. Alan Hahn. The Newsday reporter was the first to report after the announcement of the asinine television show to announce the decision that LeBron was going to Miami. While everyone kept refreshing ESPN.com, NBA.com or even the Cleveland Plain-Dealer's website, the place to get the news was actually Newsday (and they're behind a pay wall!). Hahn broke the news on Twitter the night before the show.

3. Skip Bayless. The ESPN gasbag has been saying for years on his unwatchable show that LeBron was more Scottie Pippen than Michael Jordan, that he was a follower and not a leader. I didn't believe it, or maybe didn't want to believe it, but I think this decision pretty much proved him right.

There is no way the competitor in Jordan would have followed any of his contemporaries on to their teams. There is no way Jordan would have joined Isiah Thomas' team or Charles Barkley's team or Patrick Ewing's team or even Hakeem Olajuwon's team (the only other alpha dog superstar to win a title during the Bulls run, and even that was because Jordan essentially sat out two years). Kobe Bryant wanted Shaquille O'Neal traded away because he wanted to lead his own team to a championship and while Bryant was criticized by many (myself included) for being selfish and for breaking up a dynasty and for being over-the-top in his demands (he not only wanted Shaq traded but also wanted a new coach instead of Phil Jackson), it does have to be said that it was fueled by his competitive drive (okay, and also his personal disdain for Shaq). Kobe had already won three titles as a second banana to Young Shaq and wanted to prove he could do it as an alpha dog.

LeBron? Well, he's essentially saying that he can't do it as an alpha dog. He's giving that up at the age of 25 (the same age Kobe decided he simply had to have his own team), with probably 8-10 great years left in his career. Jordan didn't win his first title until he was 28 and Kobe didn't win his first as an alpha dog until he was 30 but LeBron gave that up at 25 to join Wade's team, a guy who already won a title as the alpha dog with Old Shaq playing the role of second banana.

On his television show, LeBron openly talked about being happy to not have the pressure of having to dominate every night. Wanting that pressure and tackling it head on is what makes the very greatest the very greatest. LeBron said he didn't want it and in the process eliminated himself from the Jordan/Kobe/Russell/Magic/Bird/Duncan/Olajuwon/Isiah/Kareem level of all-time greats. He eliminated himself from the Shaq/Moses level of all-time greats. He eliminated himself from the Dwyane Wade level of all-time greats. And he did it at the age of 25. And while LeBron admitted it on national television on Thursday night, Bayless has been saying it for at least a couple of years. So well done, Skip. You have no idea how much it pains me to admit Stephen A. and Skip were so right in this story; they may be my two most disliked television personalities.

4. Brian Windhorst. In a story that had reporters passing along rumors as news, Windhorst, the Cleveland Plain-Dealer Cavaliers correspondent who has been covering LeBron since he was at St. Mary's-St. Vincent High School in Akron, stayed above the fray and reported nothing but news. His report in today's Plain-Dealer on the backstory of these three joining forces is easily the best-reported story I have read about this whole saga. I strongly encourage everyone to read it. Over the last few years, Windhorst became the No. 1 local media reporter in America due to his relationship with LeBron. No one's reputation has grown more than his.

Unfortunately for Windhorst, no one is going to care about his anymore. With LeBron no longer a member of the Cavaliers, he's not going to have ESPN constantly wanting him to guest write on their website or to provide updates on the team for SportsCenter or on ESPN Radio. The only time we'll hear from Windhorst on national programming or national websites will be when the Heat make their first visit to Cleveland next season. On the bright side for Windhorst, it's probably only a matter of time before one of the Miami papers makes him a huge offer to cover the Heat.

The Voice of God has died

RIP, Bob Sheppard.

In 2000, the Yankees held a "Bob Sheppard Day" at the previous Yankee Stadium. This is the tribute that played in the ballpark:

Someone different wins a NASCAR race

The same handful of drivers seems to win pretty much every NASCAR race. Jimmie Johnson. Denny Hamlin. Kyle Busch. Kurt Busch. Kevin Harvick.

Then there are the handful of drivers who haven't won in a while but you figure will soon. Jeff Gordon. Tony Stewart. Carl Edwards. Mark Martin. Jeff Burton.

And then there are the former stars who still occassionally win, or who at the very least draw attention to themselves or the sport. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Newman are two such examples.

So it's good to see when someone that gets no attention from both the casual sports media and the hardcore NASCAR media win a race and that's exactly what happened yesterday, when David Reutimann took the checkered flag in the Sprint Cup race at Chicago. It was just the second win of Reutimann's career and the first time he actually drove to victory lane. His first win, last year's Coca-Cola 600, was won when he opted to stay out during a caution right as the rain began to come. During the caution, the race was halted and never started up again, giving him a rain-shortened win in a race that took two days to complete 227 of the 400 laps.

So this was the first time Reutimann got to win in a spontaneous way, in a real way. He didn't get lucky because of rain. He outraced everyone else for the first time in his career and it was really cool to see the emotion he had in doing so. Sure, he was happy to win at Charlotte last year but you could tell this one meant more to him because it was a full race.

With seven races left until the Chase, Reutimann is now in position to leap into the top 12 to qualify. The win moved him up to 15th in the standings, 96 points behind 12th place Clint Bowyer. The current top 12, in order, are Harvick, Gordon, Johnson, Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Burton, Matt Kenseth, Stewart, Edwards, Greg Biffle and Bowyer, with Junior in 13th and Martin 14th.

I maintain that wins are undervalued in the Chase format. Gordon is second without a win this season, ahead of Johnson and Hamlin who each have won five times this season. Gordon, Burton, Kenseth, Stewart, Edwards, Biffle and Bowyer each are in the top 12 without a win this season while Reutimann, Newman and McMurray aren't despite winning a race. It's idiotic.

Reds-Phillies: the best game of 2010 so far?

I hope you were lucky enough to watch the Reds-Phillies game tonight. It may have been the best one of the season.

Reds starter Travis Wood, making just his third career start, carried a perfect game through eight innings. Unfortunately for him, his teammates never got him a run as Roy Halladay matched his zeroes, if not his perfection, going nine shutout innings of his own and striking out nine while allowing one walk and scattering five hits. Carlos Ruiz broke up the perfect game with a leadoff double in the ninth and I fully expected Dusty Baker to pull the plug on Wood but Wood pitched around it, retiring the next three hitters in succession thanks it part to Joey Votto reaching over the dugout railing to catch a Jimmy Rollins pop out with Ruiz on third and two out.

There was a critical moment in the game in the top of the eighth. The Reds got Miguel Cairo to third base with one out and had Ryan Hanigan and Wood due up. Hanigan is having a strong season with the bat but Halladay struck him out. Then came Wood, with the go-ahead run on third and two outs. The situation presented Dusty an interesting decision: pinch hit for Wood to try and get that run home in a tie game or let Wood hit for himself to preserve his chance at a perfect game. Remember, the Reds are in a pennant race, entering play two games up on the Cardinals in the NL Central. That run was vitally important. I don't think any manager would have pinch hit for Wood in that spot so I'm not faulting Dusty for letting Wood hit for himself but it is an interesting dilemma to have given the circumstances. Alas, Halladay struck him out as well.

The Reds loaded the bases in the 10th off enigmatic Phillies closer Brad Lidge but Lidge got out of it.

After failing to drive in Ruiz in the last of the ninth, Rollins got another chance to do the same in the last of the 11th, again with two outs. This time, facing Logan Ondrusek, Rollins delivered to give the Phillies a 1-0 win.

In this Year of the Pitcher, this was the best pitched game yet.

Bad news for Knicks fans

Today, the New York Daily News reported that should Donnie Walsh, now 70 years old and with some health issues, opt to retire, Isiah Thomas would be a candidate to replace him as Knicks president.

ESPN's Chris Broussard reports on Twitter that Walsh told him Isiah would be a candidate to be the Knicks general manager, should they opt to hire one.

I, of course, hope this happens for comedy's sake but every Knicks fan will get in line to jump off the Empire State Building should this happen.

And should it happen: Gilbert Arenas, come on down! The Knicks would like to present you with a new jersey! Allen Iverson, come on down! The Knicks would like to offer you a $40 million contract! Tracy McGrady, come on down! The Knicks would like to offer you a $50 million contract!

Honestly, this would be like Barack Obama resigning as President and George W. Bush replacing him.

Miami's welcome party for Wade-LeBron-Bosh

Somehow, I don't think Russell, Magic, Larry, Michael or Kobe ever would have done something like this. Honestly, I'm surprised Dwyane Wade would participate in something like this but after the last few years, I suppose he was willing to do it in order to bring LeBron in as the Pippen to his Jordan.

By the way, Chris Bosh has really hit the lottery. The guy has missed the playoffs five times in seven years, yet is somehow being considered a superstar here. Think about this:

Wade: NBA champion
LeBron: 2-time MVP
Bosh: Missed the playoffs five out of seven years

What am I missing here about Bosh? Has any fan ever said to themselves, "You know, the Raptors are in town, we have to go because I really want to see Chris Bosh!"

"The Decision" NHL style?

NHL free agency opened on July 1 and virtually everyone signed on with a team that day, except for the biggest fish in the pond, 27-year-old sniper Ilya Kovalchuk. Reportedly seeking a 10-year, $100 million contract, Kovalchuk has found no one willing to meet his price even as rumors of talks with the Kings, Islanders, Rangers, re-signing with the Devils and the Russian KHL have come up.

In the wake of LeBron James' trainwreck television special to announce his free agent destination, the New York Post is reporting that one of the Canadian networks is suggesting the same idea to Kovalchuk.

Seriously.

The good news is that Kovalchuk announcing on national Canadian television that he's leaving the Devils probably won't be a stake through the heart of New Jersey since he's Russian and since he isn't exactly Sidney Crosby (Kovalchuk has a 1-8 career record in playoff games, losing both his career series). The bad news is that sports are becoming more and more less fun to follow if reality television is becoming this big a component. I really hope LeBron's show doesn't set a precedent like this but it seems like we're already headed that way.

Lee to Yankees falls apart, headed to Texas instead

This morning, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that Cliff Lee was close to being traded from Seattle to the Yankees. Well, that didn't happen. The deal fell apart and now the Mariners are shipping Lee to Texas instead. Lee can wear his Rangers cap in the All-Star Game on Tuesday, then sign with the Yankees in the winter since everyone knows Scott Boras will take him to the market and the Yankees will offer him far more than the bankrupt Rangers or anyone else can.

The Mariners are kicking in money in this deal to secure better prospects. They also are receiving Texas first baseman Justin Smoak, a highly touted young hitter who came up earlier this season to play first base everyday for the Rangers. He's shown signs of promise but has struggled for most of his time in the majors.