Will the NBA expand to Seattle (and one)? (Rumors and Rants)

The 2013 All-NBA Playoff Injury Team (The Roosevelts)

Donald Sterling admits Del Negro was fired to help keep Chris Paul (Black Sports Online)

Are the Cavs looking to trade the number one pick? (The Kevin Burke Project)

Jim Boeheim rips Carmelo Anthony’s teammates (Victory Formation)

The 15 best fights of the NHL regular season (Bloguin)

Does Kenny Powers have a long lost twin? (GameDayR)

Ten unlikely stadiums that deserve to host the Super Bowl (Athlon Sports)

How should MLB replay be used (Bloguin)

Rare pictures of LeBron James in high school (The Roosevelts)

Our very own Art Eddy interviews funny man Jim Gaffigan (Life of Dad)

Not familiar with Gaffigan’s work. Well, we need to fix that right now.

And now for some hotties to help you get through the day.

Arianne Celeste shares Hangover trivia (Guyism)

UFC 360 Bikie Bash Clips (Busted Coverage)

20 hottest pictures of Paulina Rubio (Heavy)

A woman’s abs are like magic (Chive)

Ginta Lapina looks stunning again (Bro Bible)

Lauren Tannehill goes fishing (Busted Coverage)

Captain Morgan Black Wild Ginger
(For a crew of 30)

Ingredients:
1 750 mL bottle Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum
2 750 mL bottles dry white wine
24 oz. pineapple juice
6 oz. sour mix
1 2 L bottle ginger ale
3 oranges, sliced
4 lemons, sliced
1 bunch fresh mint

Preparation: Chill all ingredients. In a large punch bowl, crush the fresh fruit to extract the juices. Add Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum, wine, pineapple juice, sour mix and ginger ale. Add a large block of ice and serve the punch in wine glasses with pieces of fruit and a sprig of mint.

Why it’s perfect for your Memorial Day Weekend: Embrace your wild side, with this refreshing drink. This ginger-inspired punch is perfect for parties and can be made ahead of time.

Maple Collins

Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Crown Royal Maple
.5 oz. Lemon Juice
1.5 oz. Pineapple Juice
2 dash Angostura Bitters
.5 Simple Syrup

Preparation: Mix ingredients in a shaker, top with club soda and strain into a Collins glass. Garnish with half an orange slice and a cheery.

Why it’s perfect for your Memorial Day Weekend: One of the most popular drinks since the launch of Crown Royal Maple Finished – make sure you kick Memorial Day off right with the Maple Collins.

Royal Peach

Ingredients:
1 oz. Crown Royal Black
.75 oz. Ciroc Peach
.5 oz. Cranberry, orange, pineapple and Sprite
2 dash Angostura Bitters
.25 Grenadine

Preparation: Mix ingredients, pour into a rocks glass and top off with lemon-lime soda.

Why it’s perfect for your Memorial Day Weekend: All the best summertime ingredients come together in Royal Peach, giving you another reason to wish summer lasted all year long.

BLT

Ingredients:
1 ½ oz Bulleit® Bourbon
2 lemon wedges
3 oz. tonic

Preparation: Build in a highball glass, serve over ice

Why it’s perfect for your Memorial Day Weekend: Have a busy weekend planned? Don’t fret, with only 3 simple ingredients the BLT takes no time to mix.

Tennessee Valentine

Ingredients:
1.25 oz. Dickel #8
.75 oz. Cochi Rose
.25 oz. Creme de Cacao
1 dash Lemon Bitters

Preparation: Stir all ingredients. Strain in to a coupe. Garnish with a cheery.

Why it’s perfect for your Memorial Day Weekend: Light on the stomach, the Tennessee Valentine is the perfect drink for Memorial Day pool parties.

The United States basketball officials have revealed the 24-player roster of players that will attend their camp in the summer. These players will be competing against each other to represent the United States in the FIBA U-19 World Championships. With some of the best recruiting talent in the history of college basketball coming to Lexington, you would think at least 1 player would have some Kentucky ties. In fact, not a single player listed on the roster was a Kentucky commit. Suddenly and mysteriously, everyone started asking questions. Julius Randle was a big star on the U-18 team that qualified for the summer championships. Fellow teammate Dakari Johnson also played on the U-17 team that won the world title at that age group last summer. The Harrison twins were also eligible, but were cut from consideration during a training camp. Why did Cal’s newest ‘Cats decline the invitations? They want to start chasing #9.

When asked about his players not going to the USA camps, Kentucky head coach John Calipari said he was not going to force his kids to do anything they didn’t want to do. The 2013 class is very eager and excited to enroll in summer school and start getting ready for the season. Kentucky will probably become the #1 team in the nation, and expected to win the national title before their first game of the season. Willie Cauley-Stein was also eligible for the World Games, but declined. Here is a statement from head coach John Calipari:

“Willie said, ‘This is not the summer for me to do this stuff. I just can’t wait to get back. I want to get prepared,’ ” Calipari said. “I’m happy they’re thinking in those terms. They know the spotlight’s on them.”

The only person on a Kentucky roster that will be participating in these summer games will be junior Kyle Wiltjer. Wiltjer has duel citizenship in Canada, and will be attempting to make their roster. Here are Calipari’s thoughts on Wiltjer on the Canadian team:

“I encouraged it: This is your stuff, and if you want to play, I’ll support it,” Calipari said. “It’s not like I’m going to say, ‘You can try out for any other national team, you just can’t try out for the U.S.’ ”

I think this is a great sign for the Kentucky basketball team moving forward. They will get added time of being together and forming bonds that will carry over into the season. The fact they are already anxious to get started, and they know the spotlight will be on them will greatly benefit them. The cohesiveness of this team will only add to their overwhelming amount of talent they already possess. Put them with college coaches for 2 hours a day for 6-8 weeks, along with getting to know their teammates, could become an even more dangerous combination than college basketball realizes. I never felt like last year’s team had that time together. The team in 2012 had YouTube videos of them practicing together during the summer because of how frequent their practices were. The big key for this team will be who will step up and start the “breakfast club” for this group of ‘Cats. The 2012 team had Michael Kidd-Gilchrist start the early morning workouts before class. Who will start the trend and put in the extra work for this team? I have a feeling someone will do it, and others will follow.

Here are more comments from John Calipari:

“We’re more skilled, and we can shoot. It’s really hard to play dribble/drive if you can’t make shots,” Calipari said. “We’ll just start on the process of getting them ready, getting them together and getting them earning credits. There won’t be a whole lot of difference between what we’re doing and everybody else. Except maybe we’ll work more on the offense.”

Just one day after San Francisco got news that they would be hosting Super Bowl 50, they got the news that their star wide receiver, Michael Crabtree, had torn his ACL and is likely done for the upcoming season.

According to USA Today, Crabtree tore the ligament during team activities earlier this morning and will need to undergo surgery.  An ACL injury is something that is hard to really call.  You have people who react like Adrian Peterson and run for a near NFL record.  Then you have a Derrick Rose type situation…no explanation neccssary.

Crabtree is coming off of a breakout season where he racked up career highs in receptions, touchdowns and yards.  Not to mention he was a vital part of an offense that went to a Super Bowl.  Crabtree is looked at as one of the great young receivers in the NFL with a lot of potential.

So much for the favored Memphis Grizzlies to take at least one game in San Antonio. The Grizzlies find themselves in an 0-2 hole as the Spurs held on in overtime to win Game 2 93-89. Memphis was the favorite going into this series. Some said that the Spurs had old veterans that could not keep up with Memphis. Looks like that is not the case.

Tony Parker had 15 points and a career playoff-high 18 assists. His teammate Tim Duncan had high praise for Parker’s way to lead his teammates to scoring opportunities.

“He was unbelievable,” Duncan said. “I know he’s exhausted. We asked a lot of him. He was controlling the ball every time down the floor and he was making every right play there was. He was finding people, and people knocked down shots for him.”

Duncan scored the Spurs first six points of overtime. The Spurs were lucky enough to win the game after they let a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter diminish that forced overtime.

“I hate that we gave up that big of a lead in that situation,” Duncan said. “But we were resilient enough to go to overtime and not let it affect us.”

Memphis, who many thought would be in the NBA Finals, have their backs against the wall and need to win the next two games at home. Still Memphis has fallen behind in all three playoff series so far, including rallying from an 0-2 deficit in the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers.

On the two losses Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said, “We’re in the same boat we were when we left L.A. We’re down 0-2. We’ve got to go home and take care of business at home. It’s not going to be easy, but that’s where we are.”

The Grizzlies finished the fourth quarter on a 15-2 run that forced overtime and left the Spurs fans stunned. The loss was heartbreaking for Memphis since they did comeback and they had the momentum to steal one game in San Antonio.

To me this is where the playoff experience for the Spurs plays a huge factor. Some teams could have deflated even more in overtime, but they did not. The team was able to bounce back from letting Memphis retaliate in the fourth quarter and finish strong in overtime beating the Grizzlies.

The Spurs know that the window of opportunity is closing with Duncan and other player’s careers coming to an end. They will want to capitalize on that notion and look to add another NBA title for the Spurs organization.

Yes the Grizzlies have been down two games in a series before, but this time it is different. They are facing a great coach in Gregg Popovich. He will make sure that he gives Duncan, Parker, and Manu Ginobili every opportunity to win another championship. With Popovich’s track record I can’t see him letting his team fall flat and lose a series that they are controlling. To me the Spurs could possibly end the Western Conference series in Game 5. San Antonio will take one game in Memphis and win Game 5 at home. Game 3 is Saturday in Memphis.

NBA Basketball aside, Louisville can be doing so much more with this arena. The U of L agreement doesn’t just block the NBA as many believe, it blocks other potential revenue generators as well. A shiny new stadium in a large market would make the NBA/ NHL curious, but would bring interest from mid level leagues like arena football or the WNBA. If anything, Louisville should have got the WNBA in town as the summer tenant at Yum!, to be a much needed fit in the months between the end and beginning of University of Louisville revenue sports.

Like the men’s league, no WNBA owner would want to abide by the U of L schedule of usage since they control any date on the calendar. On top of that, a WNBA franchise would want to sell suites at the Yum! Center, and the university controls revenue for that as well. Using the logic used by so many in town, is an owner of an WNBA team somehow just as super rich, cold and heartless as NBA owners have been portrayed to be during all of this?

Better yet, picture this. On two of the biggest days on Kentucky’s sports calendar, the Uk-UL rivalry game in basketball, and the Derby, we have professional boxing or MMA at KFC Yum! Center that night. On these two days our city can be the center of sports, more people in town feeling the electricity of both events with the anticipation of the matches at night. UFC has had an event at Yum! Center while boxing has not. Boxing promoters likely haven’t looked at Louisville because they feel that they don’t have to answer to a college. To them, and even UFC since they haven’t returned, there are many other cities that want us, we don’t need you.

Boxing would be a great nightcap to derby day. Louisville gets visitors from all over the world for the Kentucky Derby. The horse race generates money and attracts many people with it. Louisville can for this one day can command and likely get a quality card with name boxers. Louisville can outbid Vegas for a good fight on Derby Day. However, like the WNBA example, the promoters are going to want their cut from the suites sold as well as the basketball team out as soon as the game ends if it was after UL vs Uk so they can prepare for the boxing event. If it was a Derby Night match, the promoters would want full control of the arena, no questions asked. 

Everyone in town believes that the U of L is against the NBA. The fact is that the U of L is against sharing this city with anything that may get in their way or force their hand. This is why Arena Football or the WNBA haven’t even sniffed Louisville. This is the reason why Louisville can’t even be a fight town, even on a day the U of L is out of season. I have read many residents comment angrily about Louisville’s love for U of L, and for those who don’t to just leave town. It is sad how so many residents defend the university’s current ability to hold this city back from having more events here while having their tax money pay for it.

I may have wrote and supported the NBA in Louisville, but I really support more events in Louisville, more diversity in the sports offerings, and just for the city to act it’s size and get amenities that other similar cities offer. Louisville is a good city, a very underrated place to live, but all that I wanted was for the city to do more with what it has in the Yum! Center. Unfortunately it seems that what it has now is what the people want, and in the end those same people and the city may pay more than what they ever bargained for to have it.

After a hard push by Miami to get either Super Bowl 50 or 51, the NFL granted the Super Bowl’s to the San Francisco (2016) and Houston (2017). San Francisco will be the host to arguably the most celebrated Super Bowl in history as they got the rights to the 50th.

Just one week ago, Miami was voted the favorite to host the 50th game.  Miami was even rumored to be pitching an idea to hold the game on a military ship.  Which for all intensive purposes would be a disaster for the NFL.  Not only would they lose a bunch of money due to seating, concessions and memorabilia but the conditions stand a chance to be unplayable. (i.e. Georgetown vs. Florida last year)

Also, if you have ever been to SunLife Stadium in Miami, you would understand why the NFL is hesitant to send another Super Bowl there.  The place is just horrible.  It is no wonder that no one goes to the games that are held there whether they be college or NFL games.  Not allowing the Super Bowl to go to Miami, is basically the NFL’s way of saying that there needs to be changes to the stadium.

There is a legal battle going on over whether renovations to the stadium are feasible or not.  When you think of all of the money that a Super Bowl brings into a city, I cant for the life of me see why they wouldn’t want to renovate.  Miami is a great city, in a great market that had previously been a hot spot for big sporting events.  Hopefully they can figure things out and bring the game down to the Sunshine State once again.

Houston and San Francisco were both voted as the host cities on the first ballot, which is extremely rare. The last time that it happened was when Arizona hosted in the 2003.  Also note that San Francisco will have a new stadium by the time that Super Bowl 50 rolls around.

But for what it is worth, I have a hard time believing that any of these cities can put on a Super Bowl week like New Orleans can.  These cities certainly have big shoes to fill!

People are crazy these days.  Some people cannot even go enjoy themselves at a basketball game without threatening to kill someone.  According to sources, someone called in a death threat to authorities about San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker during the Spurs Game 1 win in San Antonio on Sunday afternoon.

The call came in from a pay phone, to authorities, informing them about the threats.  Parker had to get escorted to his home after the game by authorities.  Imagine winning a big Game 1 in the Western Conference Finals and not being able to enjoy it because some idiot called the cops saying he was going to kill you.

In all reality, it was probably some dude who was really drunk and had lost a lot of money because Parker played really well. Unfortunately, that talk wouldn’t be taken to seriously because it is “common” for people to threaten athletes in a casual conversation after they cost you money.  But this man took it to a whole new level by actually calling the cops.

The cops did have to take this threat as if it were a real death threat though.  The San Antonio police has stepped up their security both inside and outside the AT&T Center.

Death is nothing that people should take lightly or even joke about.  Saying that you are going to kill someone just because they didn’t do what you wanted them to in a basketball game is insane.  It is stories like these that make you worry about the future of humanity.

The petty golf feud that has been budding for quite some time now, hit an all time low point when Sergio Garcia made a racist remark towards Tiger Woods.  Garcia said this when asked if he would have Tiger over for dinner during the upcoming US Open.

“We will have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken.”

Garcia was later asked about his comments where he issued a public apology.

“I apologize for any offence that may have been caused by my comment on stage during The European Tour Players’ Awards dinner. I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark, but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner.”

Sergio Garcia can say that his comment was taken out of context all he wants, but no one is buying it.  When you make a remark like that about someones race, it is crossing the line.  Having a feud over a sport is one thing, but personally attacking someone over the color of their skin is completely over the line.

I doubt that Garcia will face any penalties from the PGA but he really should.  Could you imagine if a white player made a comment like that to a black player in the NBA?  It would be the start of a full on media frenzy.  There is no room for these kinds of actions in sports, joking or not.