Is that a misspelling in Kevin Durant’s giant back tattoo??

This week Kevin Durant used some of his free, unexpected free time to get it his tattoo finished. In the caption included when posting the photo to Instagram, Durant informed us that the script along the right side of his lower back next to Jesus' face is Scripture, specifically James 1:2-4, and suggested we "look it up." So we did

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

Cool tat, KD.
Just one thing, though ... from our eagle-eyed pal Sarah Kogod of the Washington Post's D.C. Sports Bog:
Wait, what?
Hmmm. (Photo via sniperjones35 on Instagram)
That does kind of look like "mautre" rather than "mature," doesn't it?
Um, maybe the tattoo isn't quite finished after all.
It seems Mr. Durant has caught wind of the "mautre" controversy, as he's offered a follow-up Instagram post: "I got mature spelled the right way lol."
KD responds. (Photo via sniperjones35 on Instagram)
It's still kind of hard to see, what with all that shine, but we'll take the man's word for it. We can be mautre about stuff like this. - Dan Devine

Why are pitchers cheating so much!?

C'mon, guys! This is getting embarrassing. Major League Baseball used to be a place where cheating was an art form, an heirloom, something passed from old to young like a family recipe. From spitballers to bat corkers to sign stealers, cheaters' nefariousness is part of baseball lore.

Embedded in the sport's culture is an underlying lawlessness borne of its early days, when rogues, rapscallions and syphilitic vagabonds did whatever the hell they wanted to a baseball. Think about these pioneers' tool kits: nail files, emery boards, globs of Vaseline, hair tonic and, of course, the gift that made an in-season chest cold welcome – the magic loogie.

When television cameras caught Miami Marlins pitcher Alex Sanabia hocking a goober on a new baseball in the immediate aftermath of a Domonic Brown home run Monday night, it marked the second time in three weeks a pitcher had done the baseball equivalent of robbing a convenience store while smiling at the security camera. Sanabia should be ashamed that he so grievously disrespected the legacies of fine cheaters before him with such a plain-sight spit. Any pitcher knows if you're going to spit on the ball, do it inside the glove. Even though they're terrible at it, the old chestnut hasn't changed: In baseball, cheaters always prosper. source: yahoo

Did Sergio Garcia cross the line with 'fried chicken' comment about Tiger Woods? Let me know!

 COMMENTARY | Sergio Garcia crossed a line Monday he never should have toed.

At the European Tour's annual gala dinner ahead of its flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship in England, Garcia responded to a question asking if he would have dinner with Tiger Woods at next month's U.S. Open at Merion.

His reply, according to The Guardian: "We will have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken."

The comment can only be construed as racially charged, particularly if one harkens back to remarks made by Fuzzy Zoeller in 1997 after Tiger Woods won the Masters. Zoeller, the 1979 Masters winner, was asked about Woods' record-setting performance and injected several racial undertones – not to mention some overtones – into his response.

 "That little boy is driving well and he's putting well," Zoeller said. "He's doing everything it takes to win. So, you know what you guys do when he gets in here? You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not serve fried chicken next year. Got it? ... or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve."
                     
That comment haunts Zoeller to this day. It's one he regrets. He should.
Garcia will likely regret these comments. They are inappropriate and uncalled for under any circumstance. They're not justified. It's not merely an escalation in the exchange or verbal barbs        traded by Garcia and Woods after an incident of  etiquette that unfolded during their third-round pairing in The Players Championship. -source: Yahoo

Trading card of 7-year-old Nebraska spring game star, Jack Hoffman, fetches $6,100 on ebay for charity, but the bidder won’t pay!!!

The Jack Hoffman promotional rookie card that was auctioned off to help benefit pediatric cancer research is still waiting to be claimed.
Upper Deck made a handful of promotional cards for the 7-year-old cancer patient, who scored a touchdown during Nebraska’s spring game, in an effort to raise money for Hoffman’s charity, The Team Jack Foundation. Hoffman signed four of them (three in silver and one in gold) and auctioned one of the silver signed cards on ebay.
The auction received a lot of attention and the final bid was $6,100.
Only the man who supposedly made the bid has no plans to pay up, according to Beckett.com.
Prep 2 Pro Sports owner Mike Schnoor, who is selling the cards on behalf of the Hoffman family, said efforts to contact several other bidders also have failed.

So what should have been a continuation of the heartwarming story that had touched the nation this spring has actually turned sour.
“It’s a pretty sore subject around here,” Schnoor told Beckett Media. “The guy who ended up winning said a guy logged into his account and bid on it as a joke. It goes from a great story to kind of sobering.”
Schnoor told Beckett.com he was thinking of other ways to auction the card, including relisting it as a “Buy It Now” or auctioning it off locally.
It’s just unfortunate that it’s come to this. Hopefully, Hoffman and his family won’t be too disheartened by the uncouth tactics of a few people. Hoffman’s 69-yard run in front of 60,000 people watching Nebraska's spring game remains one of the most inspirational stories of the year. By Graham Watson

Phil Jackson: Future baseball coach? Zen adviser to MLB managers?

Here's a fun fact: The number of NBA championships won by Phil Jackson as a basketball player and coach is more than every baseball team except the New York Yankees has won World Series rings. Jackson has won 13 NBA Finals. After the Yankees' 27 titles, the next highest is the St. Louis Cardinals, who have 11.
That's a weird set-up for two weird tidbits: (1) Phil Jackson might want to be a baseball coach. (2) He's already an adviser to a couple MLB managers.
The New York Times' magazine detailed at length how NBA teams are still chasing Jackson and how he can't really leave the game. One passage reads: "Jackson will almost certainly return to basketball. One of his other great talents is coming out of retirement."
But about three-fourths into the story comes this baseball-centric nugget:

Jackson has been serving as a kind of intersports guru, giving informal advice to an Israeli soccer coach — “All soccer involves triangles,” Jackson says — as well as to a couple of baseball managers. He grew up playing baseball and still thinks he would make a good coach. He has told the owner of the Chicago White Sox — his former boss with the Bulls, Jerry Reinsdorf — that he’s available. He seems to be only half joking.

Phil Jackson, baseball coach. How crazy would be if the guy all these NBA teams are chasing made the jump — like a certain star player of his did — to baseball? Maybe Jackson could take over the Dodgers. L.A. fans could get behind that, right? I mean, they've already accepted Magic Johnson as their savior.
OK, so Phil Jackson in baseball probably isn't not going to happen, but it is interesting to learn that Jackson is giving advice to MLB managers. Who do you think they are? I dunno, but it sure would be funny if it were Jim Leyland. Let's hope it's not Don Mattingly. That wouldn't bode well for Jackson's coaching prospects. - Big League Stew

Eric Spoto benches 722 pounds

Eric Spoto claims to have set a world record by raw-benching 722 pounds!!!! Good LAWD!

Kevin Durant to donate $1 million

         Oklahoma City isn't just a place where Thunder star Kevin Durant lives these days. It's home. So as he watched the horrifying images Monday as a tornado ripped through suburban Moore, the emotions came bubbling to the surface and so did the need to help. Durant pledged $1 million for tornado relief through his family foundation on Tuesday, eager to help a devastated area begin to rebuild.


 "As the day went on and I saw the footage and the casualties and the houses being blown away, it was tough to see. I call Oklahoma City my home. I go through Moore all the time. It's unfortunate. We're going to come together as a city like we always do and we're going to bounce back.” -- Kevin Durant's reaction to Oklahoma tornado





Durant has been in Oklahoma City for five years now, ever since the Seattle SuperSonics moved there in 2008. He's become a fixture in the community, in addition to establishing himself as one of the very best players in the NBA. He said he was hoping to return home Wednesday to try and lift the spirits of an area reeling from the deaths of some two dozen people, including children.
"Just to get to the hospital, see some kids," Durant said. "Something. Just something to give some hope. Playing for the Thunder, we mean so much to the state. So many people support us and I just want to go back and support those people."
The American Red Cross said the gift from The Durant Family Foundation is meant to match other donations and be an incentive for more people to give. The Thunder also announced a $1 million donation, as did the NBA and players' union. Source: AP