• Not the way Boston wanted to start the second half, losing to Texas 7-2. After overachieving for most of the first half, the Red Sox look to really be in trouble. One good reason: someone said to me last night that he had never heard of some of the guys on the roster. My response: welcome to being a Pirates fan.
• The Celtics finally announced Paul Pierce’s new four-year contract, and Boston’s captain had something interesting to say about the direction of the team. Although it was nice they kept himself and Ray Allen, Pierce commented on how the Celtics seemed out of the loop with all the big free agent signings and now there were “slim pickins” among free agents. So after the team had locked up the Big Three, who did Pierce expect them to go after? And what money were they going to use to sign someone?
• John Daly is among the leaders after the first round of the British Open and all anyone can talk about is his pants. Given his history, we should be happy he’s wearing some.
• Remember, if you’re going to be a cyclist, you can’t headbutt the competition, even if you’re doing it to help your team captain. Mark Renshaw learned that the hard way at the Tour de France, when he was tossed out of the race for headbutting Julian Dean. One other possible reason for Renshaw’s actions: he is from Australia and Dean is from New Zealand.
• The MLS has said it won’t allow US World Cup hero Landon Donovan to be loaned to anyone outside the league. Meanwhile, Donovan has denied the reports that he has a British “love child.”

Technorati Tags: Celtics, golf, John Daly, Landon Donovan, Paul Pierce, Red Sox, soccer, Tour de France

• The Red Sox moved closer to getting Manny Delcarman, Clay Buchholz and Josh Beckett back from injury. All three will make rehab appearances in the next three days. Barring set backs, it’s not impossible to think all three will be back before the trade dealine.
• While there’s been talk of potential trades for the Red Sox, another AL East made a deal on Wednesday. The Blue Jays sent shortstop Alex Gonzalez to the Braves as part of a five-player deal.
• The Celtics introduced Jermaine O’Neal and announced the re-signing of Ray Allen. The team is said to still be looking to add big men, along with former Gonzaga star Adam Morrison.
• Speaking of the NBA, Billy Hunter, the executive director of the players’ association, says the union doesn’t believe commissioner David Stern when he claims the league lost $370 million. I find it hard to believe when LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh just signed for a combined $327.7 million.
• If James, Wade and Bosh are going to win a NBA title, next year might be the time to do it. With the league’s current labor deal set to expire in 2011, there could be a lengthy lockout.

Technorati Tags: David Stern, Dwayne Wade, Jermaine O'Neal, Josh Beckett, LeBron James, NBA, Red Sox, trade deadline

All of them were big-name free agents who had made their mark playing for one franchise before bolting to another.

According to espn.com’s Scoop Jackson, they’re all just like LeBron James. That being said, we should stop vilifying Bron-Bron.

But first, let’s consider the following.

• Bonds took less money to leave Pittsburgh and play for a Giants team that his father, Bobby, and godfather, Willie Mays, had played for.
• Clemens was considered washed up by the Red Sox when he signed with Toronto.
• White was one of the most respected players in the NFL when he left the Eagles for the Packers.

Granted A-Rod was rumored to want his own personal plane or helicopter or some flying instrument when he was getting ready to leave Seattle (and Jackson’s 2004 example doesn’t work because A-Rod wasn’t a free agent then). And I doubt there was much hype surrounding Malone’s free agency in 1982.

But there is one big thing that separates those players, and every other free agent in the history of sports free agency, and LeBron James.

None of them promote themselves the way James – with the help of ESPN, Jackson’s employer by the way – does. None of them went live on television with an hour long infomercial to promote his “brand” and rip the heart out of his hometown team.

None of them placed a championship in their respective sport above the Championship of Me.

Would Michael Jordan have really left the Bulls to win championships in Detroit with Isiah Thomas? Doubtful, since neither would likely play the role of second banana.

Jackson comes close to getting it right with his comparison of the 2010-11 Miami Heat and the 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers, the team Malone joined with Julius Erving and Andrew Toney. But that comparison would fit better with the 2007-08 Boston Celtics than the Heat.

Trying to compare James and the Heat to A-Rod joining Derek Jeter and the Yankees doesn’t work either. A-Rod never tried to turn himself into a “brand” the way James has. And let’s not forget that baseball is more of a team sport than basketball. You need more than one great player to win in baseball. Not so much the case in basketball (see 2009 and 2010 NBA Finals).

Saying LeBron-to-South Beach is like any other big free agent signing is like saying that Elvis was just another musician.

It’s believable if, and only if, you throw out all the facts.

Technorati Tags: free agent, LeBron James, Moses Malone, NBA, Scoop Jackson

There were two conversations I had on Thursday that can sum up why I was having those feelings.

First, in what can only be described as a Facebook-status-comment chat, a friend from college who loves the NBA, was trying to convince people that the one-hour show LeBron James and ESPN cooked up for Thursday night was a good thing. It was good for the NBA to draw attention to the league; I can understand that. And it was good because it might lead to more sports reality shows.

And that’s where I nearly lost my lunch.

Personally, I can’t stand reality shows of any kind. It’s very cliche, but my life is real enough. If I’m watching anything on television, it isn’t going to be a show about real life.

But a sports reality show? That’s just too much. And it leads me to a very good question.

Aren’t the games reality enough? Do we need anything “realer” than Super Bowls and Game 7s and buzzer-beaters? Aren’t the cheers of victory and the tears of defeat enough?

Sadly, I’m afraid they’re not. Why else would Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh bring camera crews around with them while they talked to different teams before signing with the Miami Heat? People care more about the name ‘Bosh’ or ‘Wade,’ or the brand of King James, than the fact that those three have only won one NBA title in 21 combined seasons.

As an athlete, no longer are you what you do on the playing surface. No, you are you’re television commercial or you’re sneaker deal or you’re nine-figure endorsement, and in no league is that truer than the NBA.

Which brings me to the reason I wanted to throw my computer, and the second conversation. I was asked last night by a non-sports person, “Why does everyone care so much about LeBron James?”

I opened my mouth to answer and … there was nothing coming out.

Why do people care about the self-proclaimed King?

Let’s take a look at his resume. James has won back-to-back league MVPs. He was the No. 1 overall pick in 2003. He made it to the NBA Finals, once. For his career, he’s averaged 27.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game. Those are good numbers, but he’s not the only player to ever do that.

If I were starting an NBA franchise today from scratch, and I could pick any player in the league, would I take LeBron first? Probably not. I’d take Kobe Bryant, definitely. Maybe Carmelo Anthony. Maybe even Wade.

The hype about James likely started around the time he was getting to high school. If you’ll remember back to his senior year (2002-03), he was every where. Heck, his high school games were broadcast on ESPN. He drove a Hummer, and he drove it into an old woman.

So for a long time, James has had plenty of reason to believe he’s great. There’s all this attention poured on him at a time when most kids are popping pimples and having their voices drop an octave or two. Who wouldn’t buy into that after a while?

So the Me-First athlete had a Me-First show on the four-letter sports network, and for the better part of six hours, it’s all about LeBron James.

But I think something happened that night that the King never considered. I think by doing what he did, James became one of sports biggest villains. As big as Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens and Ron Artest.

He couldn’t just tell Cleveland – his hometown team, by the way – he was leaving. He had to go on national television to shaft the Cavaliers. Hopefully he sold any property in Ohio before last night’s show.

Even if you’re not a Cavs fan, even if you’re not a fan of the NBA, you have plenty of reason to not like the King. As we speak, Webster’s is printing a new batch of dictionaries, with LeBron’s face right under the word “narcissist.”

Adrian Wojnarowski, who has been spot-on about James for quite some time, of Yahoo! Sports said it best:

James will take his talent to South Beach and leave his soul in Cleveland. His hometown won’t hate him as much for leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers as for the way he left them. Leaving never would’ve been easy, but he went out of his way to humiliate them. LeBron James can never go home now. He’s the Browns leaving town, The Fumble, The Shot, all rolled into one colossal disappointment.

Now, Clevelanders truly see it for themselves: He was a fan of the Cowboys, the Yankees – never the Browns and Indians. He was a frontrunner, and he just made the most frontrunner move in the history of the NBA.

I’d bet James never gave any of it a second thought.

Technorati Tags: LeBron James, narcissist, NBA

As the Internet buzzed with the news, other news outlets reported that Wooden, 99, was in the hospital and gravely ill.

A statement made by NBA commisonner David Stern made things a little more confusing.

“We decided that we would not declare his obituary now, other than to say that he’s the winningest coach in our history, four 30-0 seasons, and the ultimate aficionado of our game,” Stern said. “We hope he’s in peace right now, and we’ll wait on events.”

The Post has since removed the incorrect headline and apologized for putting it up. But even thought it wasn’t acurate, it doesn’t sound good for the man who won 10 NCAA chamionships with the Bruins.

A family member told NBC Los Angeles that Wooden is near death and it’s a “matter of days.”

Wooden was hospitalized a month ago and his health has been of some concern in recent weeks.

Here’s hoping that the Wizard of Westwood pulls through.

Technorati Tags: Basketball, John Wooden, NCAA

It’s hard for me to believe that’s actually the case and it looks like this might be some proof that LA isn’t any tougher.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson has gone so far as to call his players “thin-chested” and offered them $50 to take a charge.

“To motivate us in a way to take charges and getting away with it,” explained Sasha Vujacic to ESPN Los Angeles. “Their whole team is kind of a charging possibility taking team. We just got to be smart. They are a very smart team that can go from block to a charge, so we’ve been working a lot on charges and how to take them and stuff, so we’ll see.”

That’s the sign of a tough team? That the coaches will pay the players to stand their ground and take a charge against the likes of Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins?

Can they even do it right? Lakers assistant Frank Hamblen is also quoted in that ESPN story as saying very few guys are getting charge money.

“Luke (Walton) got one the other night; it was kind of shaky but we gave it to him anyway,” Hamblen said. “Fish (Derek Fisher) is our best charge-taker so far.”

Of course, in all fairness, it would take a lot more than $50 to motivate me to take a charge from one of those guys.

And how can you talk about charges in basketball and not think of this classic one-liner (found 2:14 in).

I can’t imagine an NBA game ever ending on a call like that. Unless of course, one of the refs had money on the Knicks.

Technorati Tags: Eddie, Lakers, NBA, Phil Jackson

• This is going to be the biggest free agent summer in NBA history. So why shouldn’t the big names get together and discuss where they all might want to play? Well, they’re not, so says the agent of Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. So when Wade, Bosh, LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire and Joe Johnson all end up playing for the Heat or the Cavaliers or the Nets, it will just be coincidence.
• In other NBA news, the finals actually start this week, just 50 days after the end of the regular season. And to get you ready for another Lakers-Celtics series, Ted Green tried to get Lakers fans to renew their hatred for everything green. And of course he failed.
• The Flyers trail the Blackhawks 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals, but it’s been Philly’s Chris Pronger who may be making the most noise. Pronger isn’t doing anything different on the ice, at least not until the end of the game, where he has scooped up the game puck and taken it with him. How dare he steal the Blackhawks memories.
• Phillies’ starter Jamie Moyer is on the verge of becoming the all-time home run king among pitchers. Home runs allowed, that is. Considering that Moyer started pitching the same year that both the Challenger and Chernobyl went boom, I’m not surprised. In fact, Moyer made his Major League debut the day before the Celtics drafted Len Bias.
• And how’s this for fast news? NBA Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans was pulled over after driving over 100 miles per hour on Interstate-80.

Technorati Tags: Blackhawks, Chris Bosh, Chris Pronger, Dwayne Wade, Flyers, Jamie Moyer, LeBron James, NBA, Stanley Cup

• The Bruins hold a 2-1 series lead over the Sabres after Monday night’s 2-1 win in Boston. The playoffs have brought out the best in seemingly every player, and the Bruins might even be getting one back sooner than they thought.
• Speaking of star players getting hurt, the Bruins were on the other side of it after Johnny Boychuk took out Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek in Game 2. Vanek missed Monday’s game, but the good news for the Sabres is he might not miss much time.
• Fred Hill finally agreed to a settlement that will reportedly pay him $850,000 and he is out as the men’s basketball coach at Rutgers. This comes at the same time his father – and Rutgers baseball coach Fred Hill, Sr. – won his 1,000 game.
• Rutgers will now have to move quickly to find a replacement for Hill.
• One person who isn’t leaving college basketball: Duke’s Kyle Singler. The Most Outstanding Player from this year’s Final Four will return for his senior season instead of entering the NBA draft.

Technorati Tags: Bruins, Duke, Fred Hill, Kyle Singler, NHL, Rutgers, Sabres

• The Celtics will be without the services of Kevin Garnett for Tuesday’s Game 2 against the Heat. Quentin Richardson, whom Garnett was accused of throwing an elbow at, offered up no apology for his role in the scuffle. And for some reason, Chicago’s Joakim Noah decided to throw out his opinion.
• Perhaps the scariest thing for the Celtics is that Garnett’s spot will be filled by Glen Davis. The question is, which Big Baby will show up? The one who averaged 15.8 points and 5.6 rebounds in last year’s playoffs, or the one from this season, who averaged 6.3 points and wanted to be known as “Uno Uno?”
• Despite their mistakes, the Bruins return to Boston for Monday’s Game 3 tied 1-1 with Buffalo. Don’t expect the Bruins to maintain home-ice though, even though the crowd should be electric. Their 42 points at home was 25th in the NHL, and all five teams below the Bruins missed the playoffs.
• Is it too early to panic regarding the Red Sox and their offense? OK, we’ll give it a little more time.

Technorati Tags: Big Baby, Bruins, Celtics, Kevin Garnett, Red Sox

• The Miami Dolphins swung a deal Wednesday to get wide receiver Brandon Marshall from the Denver Broncos, and then signed him to a contract extension. Add that to the signing and swapping the Jets have done this offseason, and winning the division may not be the slam dunk it’s been for the Patriots for most of the last decade. As of right now, New England appears to be third, at best.
• The Stanley Cup playoffs opened with three of the four games being won by the road team. While Ottawa’s win over Pittsburgh and Philadelphia’s win over New Jersey raised eyebrows, the one surprise was out West, in a game the home team won. Phoenix beat Detroit at home, while eighth-seeded Colorado knocked off top-seeded San Jose, which really is no surprise at all.
• Only in Texas would almost $60 million be spent on a high school football stadium that will seat 18,000 people. Unbelievable.
• The NCAA still hasn’t made it official that it will expand the men’s basketball tournament to 96 teams (but it will). Doesn’t matter to Joe Lunardi, who already has a 96-team bracket done for next year.
• Did anyone notice Fred Hill is still the men’s basketball coach at Rutgers? Does anyone care?

Technorati Tags: Brandon Marshall, Dolphins, Jets, NCAA, Patriots, Stanley Cup