Big NFL Injuries and MLB Trade Deadline approaching

Injuries Mar NFL Preseason
- Almost all NFL teams have began their preseason training camps, and with that comes the first round of injuries. A few of which have ended the season for some NFL players before it even started. The Philadelphia Eagles have lost wide receiver Jeremy Maclin for the season (most likely) with a torn ACL.
- The reigning champion Baltimore Ravens have lost starting tight end Dennis Pitta for the season with dislocated hip. This is another blow to the Ravens attempts to repeat as they have lost major contributes Anquan Boldin, Ed Reed and Ray Lewis in addition to Pitta since their triumph in Miami.
- The Denver Bronco's have lost their starting center Dan Koppen for the season, which will make things more difficult for Peyton Manning as he continues to improve from multiple surgeries last off season. Other players, such as Percy Harvin and Mario Williams have been banged up, which has to be concerning to their teams and their fans.

MLB Trade Deadline approaches 
- As the end of the trading season nears, moves are being made fast and rumors are swirling even faster. Earlier this week, Astros closer Jose Veras was traded to the Detroit Tigers, who desperately needed an established player to shut opposing teams down in the 9th inning. Then yesterday, former All-Star and Cy Young winner Jake Peavy was dealt to Boston in a three way deal that moved up and coming SS Jose Iglesias to Detroit. 
- Other players rumored to be traded are the Phillies' Cliff Lee as well as the trio of Michael Young, Chase Utley and Jonathan Papelbon, the Twins' Justin Morneau, the Giants' Tim Lincecum and Hunter Pence and the Brewers' John Axford. 
- The deadline is today at 4:00 PM and even though trades can still be made after that, it is a more complicated process that involves the waiver wire, so teams prefer to finish up deals now while no one else can interfere with them.

Yankees are Back and Johnny Football Makes More News

Jeter Back with a Vengence

- The New York Yankees got a much needed offensive injection this weekend. First, they traded a minor leaguer for Alfonso Soriano from the Chicago Cubs. Soriano, who started his career with the Yankees in the early 2000s, hit a home run and a walk-off single in only his second game. The Yankees who needed the offensive help are excited to welcome Soriano back.

- In addition to Soriano, the Yankees got Derek Jeter back from his second stint on the disabled list. Jeter, who was injured coming back last time in his first game, hit a home run on his first pitch declaring he was back.

- The Yankees, who are in fourth place in the AL East, need offensive help. Their pitching has been surprisingly good, allowing the least runs in the division. Their offense has been putrid, scoring 73 fewer runs than the next worse team in the division.

Manziel making more news
- It seems that Johnny "Football" Manziel just can't take being out of the news, even while football is in its offseason. The Heisman trophy winning quarterback of Texas A&M, the only freshman ever to win the award, was seen in Austin over the weekend at a party. The only problem is that the football crazed Longhorns didn't enjoy having public enemy #1 socializing with them and he was quickly and unpolitely asked to leave.
- He was seen the next day at another party with a slightly more polite (and less inebriated) crowd, while wearing the jersey of fellow Heisman winner Tim Tebow.
- Just last month, Manziel posted on Twitter, "B------- like tonight is a reason why I can't wait to leave college station...whenever it may be." College Station is where Texas A&M is located. Perhaps instead of booting him out, the Texas students should have been trying to recruit Manziel and show him that he should be partying, and playing, in a different Texas city.

More Steroid Scandal, and a $2M Blunder

More names on the horizon for PED Scandal

- The whistleblower whose information lead to Ryan Braun’s suspension on Tuesday says he has information on more players in sports other than baseball. Porter Fischer claims that he has names of players in the NBA, NCAA, Boxing, Tennis and MMA. This is in addition to other baseball players whose involvement with Biogenesis has not completely come to light.

- Fischer says that MLB is the only league who has approached him for the information. It is reported by ESPN that MLB paid Fischer something in the range of $125,000 for the information he has.

- Fischer apparently brought this information to light when the head of Biogenesis refused to make good on payments of $3,600 he owed Fischer. Fischer was able to exact his revenge and turn this information into something quite a bit more substantial.

Niners CB loses $2 million over missed workout
- How much money would it take for you to work out with your co-workers instead of at home or in a different setting? For San Francisco 49ers CB Tarell Brown, the unfortunate answer is probably a very high number.
- Brown, a starting CB signed a 3 year deal worth a little bit more than $2.9 million per year. As part of the deal, he just had to show up for the offseason workout program to lift some weights, run some sprints, and go through some drills. However, Brown prefers to workout at home, something he has always done and was completely unaware of the clause in his contract. He didn't find out about his lost money until he read about it on Twitter after the fact.
- His agent, Brian Overstreet, had apparently not made this a point of emphasis to Brown, who seemed about as happy as most people would be after losing more than 2/3 of their annual salary for missing a couple days of work would be. Overstreet was fired immediately via (what we would guess was) a very unpleasant phone call.

MLB Suspensions, British Open, and a man blaming a dog

First Major Suspensions in MLB Drug Case
- Major League Baseball suspended Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun 65 games, or the rest of the season. This is the second time the 2011 NL MVP has fallen under suspicion for steroid use. After his 2011 campaign Braun tested positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs, but was able to avoid a suspension after an arbitration court decided his test had been mishandled.
- At that time, Braun railed against the tester, MLB and the testing service. In turns out that he doth protest too much. With the new revelations Matt Kemp, who finished second to Braun in the 2011 MVP vote, says he wants the award.
- Braun decided to not fight this evidence and accept the suspension. His acceptance of the suspension leads many to believe that there may be more suspensions on the way. Braun was one of almost two dozen players named on a list MLB got from a South Florida "supplement" provider.
- The biggest name other than Braun on that list was New York Yankees' third baseman Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod has not played in the majors this season recovering from an off-season surgery. ESPN reported that MLB has even more evidence against A-Rod. Rodriguez's potential suspension could have bigger implications because the Yankees could potentially try and void the rest of his contract, which is expensive and long.

Mickelson comes back to win British Open
- What a difference a day makes. Going into Sunday's final round, Phil Mickelson was not even among the leaders, at +2, sitting five strokes back of Lee Westwood and also behind other big names like Tiger Woods, Hunter Mahan and Adam Scott. Additionally, the venue was the British Open, where Mickelson has had little to no success historically. So naturally, he shot a scintillating 66 in the final round (he was the only player in the final 11 groups to even break 70 on Sunday).
- Mickelson (-3) ended up winning by a shocking 3 strokes after Lee Westwood self-destructed with a 75 and essentially all of the other leaders had poor rounds. He birdied 4 of his last 6 holes and by the time the crowd erupted following his birdie on 18, it was essentially over, even though there was still more than an hour until the final pairing officially finished.
- Teary-eyed afterwards, his caddy of 21 years Jim McKay said, "He played the best round of golf I've ever seen him play." - Henrik Stenson shot a 70 (his third of the tournament) to finish second.

Florida LB arrested for barking at police dog
- Apparently only dogs are allowed to bark at humans and not vice-versa after a Florida Gator football player, LB Antonio Morrison was arrested for barking at a police dog, which then caused the dog to "lose focus" and begin barking back at Morrison instead of searching the car that Morrison and some friends were in
- Morrison used the best 5th grade defense possible, claiming that he barked because the "dog barked first."
- Morrison was barking up the wrong tree apparently because the canine's partner was offended, and arrested Morrison. If these charges had held, the entire University of Georgia would be in a heap of legal trouble, but luckily for everyone involved, the DA decided that no charges would be pursued since Morrison's action did not involve malice.

NL First Half Recap, and the Charlotte Hornets are Back!

NL First Half Recap

- The biggest surprise in the first half of the NL is from the mound. St Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright  and Washington Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmerman lead the league with 12 wins, and Pittsburgh Pirates closer Jason Grilli has 29 saves to lead the league.

- Grilli’s Pirates are on the verge of having their first winning season in almost two decades, are currently 56-37, and only 27 wins from a winning season. The Pirates are a game behind Wainwright’s Cardinals for the lead in the NL Central division.

- The Atlanta Braves are back, with a 6 game lead in the NL East division. The Arizona Diamondbacks are holding onto a small lead in the NL West with the LA Dodgers nipping at their heels.

The Hornets are back

- After the New Orleans basketball franchise vacated the “Hornets” name by calling themselves the Pelicans, the Charlotte basketball franchise was rumored to be taking that moniker. Yesterday, the franchise got approval from the NBA Board of Governors to get the name back.

- The former New Orleans Hornets used to be in Charlotte, and moved in 2002. In 2004 the NBA awarded Charlotte a new franchise which they called the Bobcats.

- Bobcats/Hornets owner Michael Jordan said "We're thrilled to bring back the Hornets to Charlotte and the Carolinas." Former Hornets fan favorites Muggsy Bogues and Dell Curry were on hand to help reveal the name change. Now Charlotte fans will have to hope that Jordan can get a GM who can make a good personnel decision.

MLB midseason update

AL wins All-Star game 3-0

- The A.L. sported one of the most dominant batting lineups ever assembled but it ended up being their pitching that stole the show.  The A.L. pitchers only allowed 3 hits and 1 walk combined, and game MVP Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect 8th inning in what will probably be the final All-Star game in his illustrious career.  Rivera likely would have pitched the 9th inning for his 5th All-Star game save, however there was a small chance that the N.L. could have taken the lead in the 8th inning, which would have meant that they would not hit in the 9th.  Rivera didn't want to take the chance and wanted to ensure that he could make an appearance.
- On the hitting side, the A.L. had nine hits including four doubles and a rare triple from Prince Fielder that would have been an inside the park home run if not for the hustle of infielder Matt Carpenter, who backed up a short fly ball and ended up fielding the ball deep in right field. 
- Chris Sale of the White Sox, the only A.L. pitcher to pitch two innings, got the win and Joe Nathan of the Rangers got the save.
- Robinson Cano had to leave the game in the first inning after being hit in the leg by a pitch but he said he should be back in time for the Yankees first game following the All-Star break.
- Oakland Athletics masher Yoenis Cespedes had a massive first round and then outlasted Bryce Harper in the Finals to win the Home Run Derby which occurred on Monday.


AL First Half Review

- Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis ended the first half of the year tying Reggie Jackson’s AL record with 37 home runs before the All-Star Break. Davis, who also is second in the MLB with 93 RBIs, has had a break out season and was the highest receiving vote getter in the All Star voting.
- Davis is singlehandedly preventing Detroit 3rd baseman Miguel Cabrera (who is hitting .365 with 30 HR's and 95 RBI's) from being in the lead for a potentially historic back-to-back triple crown title. Cabrera is the only player in MLB history to hit 30 home runs and have at least 90 RBI’s before the All-Star break. He is in the middle of one of the greatest hitting seasons in MLB history.
- The second most surprising thing in the first half of the season is the team with the best record in the American League. The Boston Red Sox have used surprising amount of hitting from a roster of fill ins, as well as the resurgence from David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia. Only last season, they dealt superstars Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett, a move that (incorrectly) seemed to signify a decline in on-field production for the next few seasons.  It will be interesting to see if they can continue this for the rest of the season.

MLB Players Coming and Going

MLB to (finally?) issue suspensions

- ESPN is reporting that Major League Baseball is expecting to issue suspensions to up to 20 players including superstars Ryan Braun and Alex Rodriguez based on their connection to the Biogenesis clinic in Miami.

- Braun, who was interviewed by MLB on Jun 29^th, apparently refused to answer any questions about his connection to Tony Bosch. Rodriguez is expected to be interviewed shortly on the same topic. It was revealed a few weeks ago that Bosch provided Performance Enhancing Drugs to many MLB players.

- Amongst the other players likely facing suspensions are Toronto Blue Jay’s outfielder Melky Cabrera, Oakland Athletics pitcher Bartolo Colon, Detroit Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta, and Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez.

Jeter re-injures leg in debut

- After waiting for months to play his first meaningful game since breaking his ankle in last season's playoff matchup against the Detroit Tigers, Derek Jeter admitted he had butterflies in his stomach. He got a hit in his first at-bat and seemed to be back to his old self... and then it happened.
- He pulled up lame while while running the field and had to be removed for a pinch hitter in the 8th inning. He will have an MRI today and even if it isn't a terrible injury, it's a frustrating setback for the Yankee captain.
- The Yankees have struggled mightily on offense this season and while their pitching has kept them afloat, they need the return of Jeter to give them a boost as they strive to make the playoffs.
- In addition to Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Texeira, and Curtis Granderson have missed nearly all of the 2013 season so far.

NBA Free Agency, luxury tax

NBA Free Agency in full force

- The biggest NBA free agent, former Lakers Center Dwight Howard, made his decision on where to play next season this past weekend. Howard decided to spurn the Lakers and head to the Lone Star state to play for the Houston Rockets. In choosing the Rockets, Howard left almost $30M on the table because the Lakers could offer a longer deal for a little more money. Howard (who is already making friends) believes he made the best choice for him both in terms of fit, and the best chance to win a championship and he will team up with James Harden, who was traded to Houston last off season, giving the Rockets (arguably) two of the 15 or 20 best players in the league.
- Former Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith decided to move to Detroit. This move will make Detroit's frontline of Smith along with young players Andre Drummond (whose stat line of 13 pts, 8 reb are already good for a guy who did not start all year but his 1.6 steals are amazing for someone of his size) and Greg Monroe (17 pts, 10 reb) at the forward and center positions potentially dominant. Smith is a very good player who should be able to help Drummond and Monroe continue to grow.
- Andre Iguodala signed with the Golden State Warriors giving the young offensively potent team much needed defensive help. Al Jefferson, the former Utah Jazz center, signed with the Charlotte Bobcats, immediately becoming the best player in the lowly Bobcats’ history (team owner Michael Jordan not included). Paul Millsap, Jefferson’s teammate in Utah, went to Atlanta and should take over Josh Smith’s spot.


NBA announces luxury tax payers

- The NBA announced on Wednesday the six teams who will have to pay a luxury tax for their payrolls during the past season.  The NBA has a "soft" salary cap meaning that teams can exceed it but will have to pay extra money as a penalty for doing so.  In the past, teams have had to match the amount over the cap that they pay but starting next season, the penalties will be much harsher.
- When a team is over the salary cap, they don't automatically get taxed but if they move significantly over then they have to pay a penalty to the rest of the league.  Half of the total luxury tax payments go to the league and the other half go to the non-tax paying teams.  The 24 non-paying teams profited almost $1.5 million each off their less thrifty competitors.
- This past season the Lakers led the NBA by far, paying a whopping $29.2 million luxury tax bill despite barely being good enough to make the playoffs.  The following teams also paid a tax: Miami Heat ($13.35 million), Brooklyn Nets ($12.88 million), New York Knicks ($9.96 million), Chicago Bulls ($3.93 million) and Boston Celtics ($1.18 million) join the Lakers ($29.26 million) in facing tax bills for their 2012-13 payrolls.  All five of those teams were playoff teams in the East, including four of the top five seeds.

Wimbledon Finals and KD to Wed

Historic Wimbledon Championships

- France’s Marion Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon women’s championship in straight sets over Germany’s Sabine Lisicki. Bartoli, who was ranked 15 in the world, pulled off an impressive run, helped greatly by the biggest names in Women’s Tennis (Williams, Sharapova, Azarenka) all lost early in the tournament greatly lightening the load to carry in order to win the tournament. It is Bartoli’s first Grand Slam, and only the second win for France in the Open Era (since 1968).

- The bigger news was that on the Men’s side. For the first time in 77 years, a British player won this uniquely British tournament. Andy Murray, who got very close last year, losing in the finals to Roger Federer captured his second Grand Slam title (along with the 2012 US Open). Murray was also aided by a weaker field, with Federer and Raphael Nadal losing early. He did still have to defeat Novak Djokovic, which he did easily in straight sets during the finals.

- Wimbledon caps of a big year for Murray, in addition to winning that US Open, he also won the gold medal at last year’s Olympics in London. Everybody saw the pressure on Murray to win Wimbledon, Djokovic acknowledged that during his post-match interview, and he was finally able to live up to it.

Durant to wed WNBA player
- Leave it up to possibly the most competitive player in the NBA to stay within the professional basketball player for his marriage. Kevin Durant's fiance, Minnesota Lynx guard Monica Wright, confirmed on Sunday night that the two are in fact engaged.
- Durant, who was selected with the second overall pick in the 2007 draft, just completed his sixth season in the NBA. The 24-year-old forward has already led the NBA in scoring multiple times and led his Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA Finals in 2012 where they lost to the Miami Heat.
- Wright is in her fourth season in the WNBA. She played her college ball at Virginia and will turn 25 next week.
- There's no word yet on how soon they plan on having incredibly athletic children.