Saturday, June 8, 2013

Manu Ginobli's amazing pass that was totally unnoticed by everyone. Game 1 2013 NBA Finals


VIDEO: Watch Miami Heat's LeBron James drain halfcourt shots on command


During practice on Saturday, LeBron James was practicing free throws. Then James stepped out to the top of the key before moving behind the 3-point line. But he didn't stop with the shot from 23 feet and nine inches.
James kept backing up as he showed off his range from way beyond the 3-point line, eventually hovering around the halfcourt line. He let 45-foot shot after 45-foot shot fly, maybe knocking down one-third of his attempts from that range. This was one of the successful attempts he had.
I'm sure Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is ready to spring the team's secret play of a spot-up 3 from just inside half-court against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

Friday, June 7, 2013

D's Highlights T-G-I-F Edition

If you're bored at work this Friday afternoon. D's Highlights will put a smile on your face to get your weekend off to a good start.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

C.J. Sanders, a child star who played young Ray Charles in ‘Ray,’ is a sought-after football recruit






For most college football players, their first time on campus is their first time in the spotlight.
For C.J. Sanders, playing receiver for Stanford or Tennessee or any other major football program might be a step down from what he has already experienced. You might not remember Sanders' name but there is a good chance you've seen him. He has nine movie or TV show acting credits to his name, according to IMDB, and had one pretty notable role as a young Ray Charles in the critically acclaimed movie "Ray." Now Sanders is a popular recruit from Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy in the class of 2015, with offers already from Mississippi State, Stanford and Tennessee, according to Rivals. He also has a pretty strong connection with Ohio State, since his father Chris Sanders was a star receiver for the Buckeyes in the 1990s and spent seven seasons with the Tennessee Titans franchise from 1995-2001. Lining up as a FBS player would be a big deal for anyone, but that moment probably won't be too big for Sanders.

In an interview with BuckeyeGrove.com Sanders said he took some lessons from Jamie Foxx, who was the star of "Ray" and also played quarterback Willie Beamon in "Any Given Sunday," and transferred them to football.
"Just being around him, he showed me how to work hard and how to be in character for a scene, but I also took that into football, how you have to prepare and how you have to focus," Sanders, who said he was 6 years old when he was in "Ray," told BuckeyeGrove.com.
C.J. Sanders with "Ray" co-star Jamie Foxx (Getty)If his child fame and his father's football career isn't enough, Sanders' mother played basketball at Michigan and his stepfather is Corey Harris, who played 12 NFL season and won a Super Bowl with the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. C.J. Sanders has led a pretty interesting life already, and now he has colleges lining up to give him a football scholarship.
He said he will try to find the school where he fits best, and told BuckeyeGrove.com that an offer from Ohio State would be a "dream come true," considering his father starred there and he has always been a Buckeyes fan. And if the whole football thing doesn't work out, he could always revive his acting career.
"Just a call away," Sanders told BuckeyeGrove.com. "Anything is possible."

Why the San Antonio Spurs will "WIN" the 2013 NBA Finals!


Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Seattle fan makes an impressive leaping catch to snag a bat flying into the stands

Now this, my friends, is how to impress a stadium full of people and an audience watching at home when a bat comes flying your way at a baseball game.
The above GIF — courtesy of CSN Chicago — comes from Tuesday's Chicago White Sox-Seattle Mariners game. Kelly Shoppach of the Mariners lost grip of his bat during a strikeout and it flew into the crowd. What could often be a dangerous (or embarrassing) situation, instead becomes a great fan play.
The fan, who is wearing a snazzy "May the Morse Be With You: T-shirt — a reference to Mariners slugger Michael Morse — might have used the Jedi Mind Trick to make the grab, because it's perfect. He leaps, turns slightly, grabs it with both hands and sticks the landing. And nobody was hurt in the process.
Bravo, sir.

Inspiring one-armed volleyball player passes away, but not until after one final fight and promise

One-armed New York volleyball player Eddie Nogay — YouTube
A wildly inspiring New York boys volleyball player passed away after a long fight with lung cancer on Tuesday, bringing an end to the touching saga of one teen’s determination to continue playing the sport he loved even as his body was ravaged by disease.
As reported by the New York Post, 18-year-old one-armed Brooklyn (N.Y.) Fort Hamilton High senior Eddie Nogay was pronounced dead at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He had celebrated his 18th and final birthday just a day before, touchingly following through on a promise he made to his brother, Victor, that he would not die before his 18th birthday and then that he wouldn’t die on his birthday itself.
Nogay’s official time of death made that final promise to live through his birthday his last success: He passed away at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday. - Prep Rally
The entire season was a fitting testament to Nogay as an athlete and a fighter. That fight continued all the way to his final day, when his family had planned to have a birthday party in the hospital.

Instead, the 50-odd classmates and friends who showed up to celebrate with Nogay found themselves giving final goodbyes to a teen who seemed to have inspired everyone he came across after his initial diagnosis.
“Eddie left an impact on people,” Victor Nogay told the Post. “There isn’t anything I can say he hasn’t already done himself.”

Player tossed after game ends

It's one thing for an umpire to blow a call, allegedly, and then toss a player for arguing that call. But umpire Tony Randazzo took that one step further Tuesday night in New York. After Cleveland's Mike Aviles made what he thought was a check swing with one out left in the 9th inning, Randazzo called it a foul tip even though it only hit off the catcher's glove. After flying out to end the game, Aviles approached Randazzo and argued the call further, but the umpire wasn't having it and responded by tossing Aviles from the game, even though it had ended! He continued to give Randazzo a piece of his mind, with some help from Indians manager Terry Francona, but the damage was done and Aviles was heading to the locker room... along with everybody else. The Yankees won the game 4-3.

Play of the Week: Ward Melville outfielder makes amazing catch!


Ward Melville (NY) outfielder Greg Coman may just have made the play of the year in high school sports.
Connetquot’s Brandon Morse was robbed of a home run after Coman leapt up, caught the ball, and landed over the fence. Or was he? According to rule, even though Coman made one of the most amazing plays in sports, the fact that he landed on the ground over the fence, by rule, gave Morse the home run.
Either way, this play was outstanding:

    Strong gust of wind turns goalkeeper’s clearance into own goal

    The wind is the worst. It powered the ships that made pirates and vikings do terrible things. It makes old houses sound like they're haunted. And it causes goalkeepers to inadvertently score own goals when they're attempting routine clearances.
    In Italy, a strong gust conspired against Delta Porto Tolle's keeper in their Serie D match with Ischia, gifting a 2-0 lead the away side after 31 minutes. The match finished 2-1 to the visitors, meaning the wind was technically responsible for the win. If it is possible to sign bulk movements of air to a football squad, Ischia should definitely look into it for next season.
    Incidentally, this isn't the first time the wind has decided it wants to join in the fun: here's a wind goal from Israel and here's one from Germany.

    Pacers Roy Hibbert's Fast Chug Prompts Internet Contest



    Roy Hibbert struggled against the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but he did dominate one thing.
    During a break in the action late in the third quarter, the cameras caught Hibbert downing a 20 ounce bottle of Gatorade. And when we say "downing," we mean absolutely dominating. He took that thing down in about six seconds:

    Naturally, some impressed writers over at For The Win wanted to see if they could match Hibbert's feat. While they each put in valiant efforts, none of them came even close.
    In expressing his disappointment, USA Today's Michael Katz caught the eye of the big man himself.
    Hibbert loved the idea of a competition, and he said he would buy a Gatorade so he could repeat the feat. He even issued challenges to Pistons center Andre Drummond, Celtics forward Jeff Green and stand-up comic Chelsea Peretti.

    Lots of people have tried to pull off the chug, but few have succeeded. Here's a clip of one of the more impressive performances:





    "Why the Miami Heat are in a better position to win this years NBA Finals?" Rob Parker explains!


    Tuesday, June 4, 2013

    JetBlue pilot asks if crying baby on flight is actually Sidney Crosby

    After the Bruins' 6-1 victory over over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final, members of the Boston media boarded a flight back to Beantown on Tuesday morning. Perhaps the pilot of this JetBlue knew they were there. Perhaps the pilot simply isn’t a Sidney Crosby fan. Whatever the case, a crying baby led to a predictable joke about the Penguins captain, as relayed by Joe Haggerty of CSN Boston and Dan Roche of WBZ:

    At this point, it’s tough to keep track of the infantilism vs. the emasculation of Sidney Crosby: Crying baby on a JetBlue flight; Cosmo Photoshop on Twitter. It’s subtle, but we don’t think Boston appreciates the nuances of Sidney’s game. Sigh ... with this kind of attitude in the skies, no wonder Penguins are flightless.

    Evan Gattis is the Chuck Norris of baseball — and his legend keeps growing

    Not only is Atlanta Braves rookie catcher Evan Gattis one of the biggest surprises of the baseball season, he's also inspiring lore online as if he were Chuck Norris or The Most Interesting Man in the World.
    For example: Gattis Facts on Twitter, which aren't actual facts, but funny "facts" — "Evan Gattis doesn't mow his lawn. He just looks at it and dares it to grow." You know, that kind of stuff.
    Or this new video from the MLB Fan Cave, which imagines that Gattis' back story of quitting baseball and working odd jobs was actually a cover for a secret agent life.

    Gattis was named National League rookie of the month for May on Monday, an honor also bestowed upon him in April. So far this season, Gattis has hit 12 homers and driven in 32 runs, elevating himself from an injury fill-in for Brian McCann to a fan favorite.
    There are spectacular parts of Gattis' story — he really was a janitor and a pizza guy. He really did fight depression and ponder suicide. Then he really did come back to baseball and do so well playing winter ball in Venezuela that he was nicknamed "El Oso Blanco," or The White Bear.
    The beginning of the Evan Gattis fictional lore came when Atlanta sports talk station 680 The Fan created "The Legend of El Oso Blanco."

    Joey Votto Harnesses Inner Tiger Woods for Ball-Juggling Bat Trick

    Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto is one of the best pure hitters in baseball. So the display the 2010 National League Most Valuable Player put on during batting practice before Monday night's game against the Colorado Rockies should come as no surprise.

    Remember that old Nike commercial where Tiger Woods bounces a golf ball on his wedge?

    That's pretty much what Votto did with his bat and a baseball. He even used his cap in the unique juggling act. The only thing that threw Votto off was when Aroldis Chapman approached him. As for the game, Votto went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts but Cincy blanked Colorado 3-0.

    Hawks could face tampering charges after ticket ad reportedly mentions Dwight Howard, Chris Paul

    As fans and media, we’re allowed to bash around the idea of Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard and Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul heading to other teams when they become free agents in July. We’re not employed by the NBA, and we’re not even really required to call them “Lakers center” or “Clippers point guard” when we discuss their futures.

    [Related: Kobe Bryant wants 'final word' in effort to keep Dwight Howard in L.A.]

    NBA teams aren’t allowed such freedoms. In the past, several prominent league executives have been fined hefty amounts merely for honestly answering no-brainer questions about future free agents. Howard and Paul are still technically members of the since-dismissed Lakers and Clippers until their contracts run out and they become free agents on July 1. Until then, teams can’t even bring up their names, much less talk about coveting them.
    Which is why the Atlanta Hawks could be in a whole lot of trouble. As a fan and member of the media, I can point out that the Hawks began clearing cap space for a run at Dwight Howard and Chris Paul last summer. New general manager Danny Ferry made quick work of the above-average ceiling so happily clung to by his predecessor, but because of that smart decision the team and its fans are facing an uneasy future that could result in a Howard and/or Paul-less training camp. That’s a hard sell to season ticket holders, which is why the Hawks reportedly sent out a letter to potential ticket buyers talking up a future that specifically mentions Mssrs. Howard and Paul.
    From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
    The letter, obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, was on team letterhead and headlined “Hot New Player news: Chris Paul and Dwight Howard.”

    It began with the statement: “The buzz around our offseason is more than heating up. With massive cap space, 4 draft picks, and free agency rapidly approaching, we sit in the best position in the NBA. Player interest is skyrocketing as the possibilities of landing Chris Paul & Dwight Howard become more and more of a reality.”
    That’s a massive no-no. As the AJC reminds, a Hawks co-owner, former Suns GM Steve Kerr and Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban have been fined thousands for rather innocuous statements about free agents ranging from Zydrunas Ilgauskas (who signed for a minimum deal soon after) to LeBron James (who did not).
    If this report is correct, and we have no reason to doubt the AJC, it means the Hawks are literally selling tickets to fans with current members of other teams doing the heavy advertising lifting. This may not be as severe as having contact with Howard or Paul during their tenure with the Lakers or Clippers, but because fans are being involved and potentially misled, this leaves the Hawks (who declined comment to the Journal-Constitution) up for a whole batch of well-earned scrutiny.
    Scrutiny that Ferry, sadly, probably doesn’t deserve. He’s been more than careful in his planning, and did fantastic work in both ridding the Hawks of onerous contracts last summer while still managing to field a competitive playoff participant in 2012-13. His deliberate and inspired work was a long time coming: Ferry had a frustrating turn with free agent cash back in 2005, choosing to surround then-Cavalier LeBron James with free agents like Larry Hughes and Donyell Marshall. Those moves were applauded by all at the time, yet they still turned out to be stinkers.
    Now, weeks before he can even legally reach out to Howard and Paul’s representatives, Ferry is going to have to answer to the league, reportedly because his team’s promotional department wildly overstepped its bounds.
    The NBA doesn’t mind traveling, but it abhors boundary overstepping. This probably will not end well for the Atlanta Hawks.

    As MLB reportedly seeks Biogenesis suspensions, scandal looms larger than BALCO

    This is worse than BALCO. That is not easy to do, seeing as the single-season and all-time home run records fell on account of Victor Conte's doping program that fed performance-enhancing drugs to baseball players of all manner and variety. But it is. It is much worse.
    The Biogenesis scandal that has ensnared baseball is more painful and embarrassing and harmful because it happened in the supposed post-Steroid Era, when Major League Baseball's drug policy was supposed to eradicate PEDs from the game. That was a fanciful notion to begin with, of course, but now that ESPN is reporting Biogenesis mastermind Tony Bosch is ready to flip and tell the league about Ryan Braun and Alex Rodriguez and upward of 20 others to whom he supplied his wares, it is the greatest evidence yet that this policy has failed – and, moreover, that any policy is bound to fail.
    Back when Barry Bonds was juiced to the gills, when steroids and amphetamines were every bit as prevalent as aspirin and coffee, there was at least a defense: It was, by baseball's definitions, legal. The ethics certainly were debatable, as were the moral implications, but don't let revisionist history fool you: Baseball not only didn't care about its players juicing, its post-strike ascent was built on their acne-covered backs.
    Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun has denied receiving PEDs from the Biogenesis clinic. (USA Today Sports)Think about the players involved with Biogenesis. There is Braun, who has been tested every year he has been in the major leagues. There is A-Rod, who was caught testing positive in 2003 and still had the hubris to seek out more. There is Jesus Montero, who was 16 when MLB instituted its PED policy. On and on you can go, deeper and deeper into the list, asking each time: Is the money really that good or is MLB's message really not good enough?
    The answer: Yes.
    When hundreds of millions of dollars are there for the taking, of course somebody is going to fall prey to those extra zeroes and do whatever necessary to get those checks, especially when the disincentives are so poor. A 50-game suspension? Or 100, which the league may seek for Braun and A-Rod? Come on.
    If more than 20 guys are willing to do it – almost an entire major league roster's worth of players – that says everything.
    Still, baseball's attempted prosecution – and persecution – of those connected to PEDs is an unabashed failure, the league's version of the War on Drugs. The pursuit has been noble, certainly, a reaction to the public anger that stemmed from BALCO as well as the knowledge that nearly two decades of baseball were suffused with drugs. At the same time, the single-mindedness of it has so demonized PEDs that a scandal such as this, where it's obvious that they're still as prevalent as they are, blows up that much larger.
    Alex Rodriguez reportedly could face a 100-game suspension from MLB. (USA Today Sports)This is baseball's Pyrrhic victory. For every step forward it takes – catching players who used via testing and ferreting out Melky Cabrera's fake website and being the first professional sports league in America to institute random HGH testing – MLB is simply walking toward a river of its own making. Sports, by their nature, encourage doing anything necessary to win. That is why this fight never will be won.
    It can be mitigated and controlled. The target of 100 games for Braun and A-Rod – 50 for using, 50 for lying – is a lofty one, and it's certain to incur the wrath of the MLB Players Association. Think about the union's perspective: For all this time, MLB has painted Tony Bosch as a low-life, a pissant faux doctor who was nothing more than a sleazeball. And now it wants to trust him, of all people, and mete out perhaps 1,000 games of punishment?
    By camping out investigators in Miami and pursuing Bosch so fervently, MLB has shown a willingness to wage all-out war against the union. For nearly 20 years now, the sport has seen labor peace. Finding a middle ground here on an issue so black and white to the league may cause the sort of fissure that doesn't portend well for the sport writ large going forward.
    Yes, this is worse than BALCO because MLB wanted everyone to believe we wouldn't be having these types of conversations anymore, that huge pockets of players wouldn't be so stupid as to still do this when the stench and stigma of PEDs linger. The league underestimated those who play its games.
    • Unlike those, when it comes to baseball and drugs, there are only losers.
    Source: Yahoo Sports

    Boxer urges opponent to fight and quickly gets knocked cold for his trouble

    It's hard not to admire Miguel Zuniga's desire, or his gumption. It's his technique, though, that could stand a bit of work.
    Zuniga was fighting Daquan Arnett in the co-main event of a card at the BB&T Center on Saturday. In the fifth round, Zuniga had Arnett pinned against the ropes and was scoring well. He landed a couple of body shots as well as three good right hands to the head.
    Zuniga, who entered the bout with a 10-1 record, got an adrenaline rush from his success. He took a step back from Arnett -- never a great idea when you're landing quality punches -- and urged Arnett to come toward him to fight.
    Arnett, a 20-year old from Winter Park, Fla., who entered the super welterweight bout with a 10-0 record, did as Zuniga asked. He stepped forward and fought.
    That was the part of the scheduled eight-round bout that Zuniga would like to have over.
    Arnett obliged and after blocking a couple of punches from Zuniga, connected with a solid left hook that put Zuniga down. Referee Frank Santore Jr. stopped the bout and gave the win to Arnett.
    As for Zuniga, he'll return home to Tijuana, Mexico, with his second loss on his record and a heck of a lot more wisdom.

    Steve Nash’s voice indistinguishable from Napoleon Dynamite’s

    One is a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player who plays point guard for the Lakers. One is a fictional movie character who possesses outstanding "bowstaff and nunchucking skills." But to listen to these two talk, you would think the words were emanating from the same vocal chords.

    DPS: Steve Nash's voice indistinguishable from Napoleon Dynamite's

    The crew of The Dan Patrick Show dives into the mystery that is the similarity between the voices of Steve Nash and Napoleon Dynamite.

    (Great Video) How Paraplegic Mom Goes Surfing

    When Pascale Honore was paralyzed in a car accident 18 years ago, she was told she would never walk again. But the doctors didn't say anything about surfing.
    Honore, who is 50 and the mother to two, gets herself duct taped to 23-year-old Tyron Swan, a surfer friend of her sons.
    A video of the pair, which has gone viral on YouTube, shows Honore in a backpack, duct taped to Swanson's back, her legs taped to Swanson's legs.
    Honore slips into the backpack before she is taped to Swanson, and the two then hit the waves.
    According to the Australian paper The Sunday Mail, Honore and Swan practiced the technique in flat water last December before advancing to waves.
    Honore could not be immediately reached by ABC News, but she told the Australian paper The Herald Sun that she had not anticipated such a widespread positive reaction to the video, although she was pleased with it.
    "I think people have related to the fact that people can accomplish great things if they work together."

    Deion Sanders Is So Happy His Ridiculously Expensive German Shepherd Is Back Home

    Deion Sanders has never been one to cut costs. Ever since the day he was drafted, when he wore more than a few gold chains, "Prime Time" has put his considerable fortune on display.

    Even Sanders' son, Deion Jr., has Versace sheets in is dorm room.

    So perhaps it's not surprising that Sanders has a $15,000 German Shepherd, which is quite an exorbitant price for a pooch.

    And with a dog that expensive, you can imagine how nervous Sanders was when the dog, Yasko, got lost. According to the Examiner, Sanders' dog disappeared from his yard last year and had been gone for nine months. It was only several days ago that Yasko made his way back home.

    After seeing that tweet, many people became curious: Why would anyone need a $15,000 dog? Worry not, doubters, the dog wasn't simply for show.
     


    Monday, June 3, 2013

    Coach tells nation’s top football recruit he’ll get to meet Michael Jackson

    College football coaches have illustrated some strange recruiting tactics in recent months -- sending 105 letters to a recruit in a single day and shipping a personalized Mother's Day note to a prospect's mom among them -- but this one might take the cake.
    A college football coach told the nation's No. senior recruit he'd get to meet Michael Jackson -- Associated PressA college football coach told the nation's No. 1 senior recruit he'd get to meet Michael Jackson -- Associated …
    An unnamed elite collegiate coach told Woodbridge (Va.) Senior High senior defensive end Da'Shawn Hand he would get to meet Michael Jackson, the nation's top football recruit told CBSSports.com columnist Bruce Feldman over the weekend (h/t Big Lead).
    You know, the same Michael Jackson that died in 2009. The one with the pet monkey.
    Q: What is the craziest thing that has happened to you since you've been named the nation's No. 1 recruit?
    Hand: Well, I ain't gonna say any names, but one coach told me that since I'm the No. 1 player, I'm gonna get to meet Michael Jackson. I said, "Isn't he already dead?" The coach goes, "Well, all right, you can meet Tito." I was like, all right. OK, I'm done.
    It was crazy, but it is what it is.

    Now, Rivals.com lists 33 scholarship offers for Hand from the who's who of college football, so it's tough to decipher exactly which coach made the blunder, but we're not ruling out West Virginia's Dana Holgorsen, who's probably more of a John Denver fan. Alabama, Florida, Michigan, South Carolina and Virginia Tech are in hottest pursuit.
    Da'Shawn Hand is the country's top Class of 2013 football recruit -- Rivals.comDa'Shawn Hand is the country's top Class of 2013 football recruit -- Rivals.com
    But, hey, everybody makes mistakes. Even Da'Shawn Hand, who told CBS Sports that his dad's advice throughout the recruiting process has been, "Never deal your full hand," which makes zero sense, since the saying is, "Never show your hand."
    Anyhow, Hand makes few mistakes on the football field, where he recorded 110 tackles (40 for losses), 16 sacks and three fumble recoveries as a junior last season. He has 259 tackles and 40 sacks in his first three varsity seasons.
    Clad in a Michigan jersey somewhere in Motown, Tito Jackson nods in approval.

    Hoax? Bernando LaPallo, the 111-year-old Yankees fan, cannot prove that he is really 111 years old

     
    Jeter and LaPallo (AP) 

    When Bernando LaPallo dropped by Yankee Stadium to visit Derek Jeter and his teammates this weekend, many people said he didn't look like his claimed age of 111.
    Turns out that there's good reason for that. The Arizona resident has no way to prove his age and a consultant with Guinness World Records tells the Associated Press that verified age claims records show LaPallo was born in 1910, not 1901. That would make him 102 or 103. Still rather impressive for a guy who looks in his 80s, but not quite 110.
    But, hey, what's 10 years when you're getting unfettered access to one of the biggest teams in the universe? LaPallo won over the New York Yankees, Major League Baseball and many national outlets, including this one, with his appearance. He claims to have met Babe Ruth before the legend's major league debut and that he attended Yankees games when they were known as the Highlanders and played at Hilltop Park.
    For his part, LaPallo is sticking with his claim that he's the second oldest man in the world.
    From the Associated Press:
    LaPallo told the AP on Sunday that many people doubt him because he's in such good condition.
    "It is hard to believe," he said by telephone. "And because I can pass for 65 or 70, people say it's impossible."
    LaPallo's granddaughter said his birthdate was incorrectly written down as 1910 instead of 1901 at a Social Security office in Florida during the mid-1930s. Ekayani Chamberlin, who runs a fitness Web site with her grandfather and promotes his lectures on aging, says the family doesn't have an official record of his birth in Brazil.
    Well, that's convenient. Something will really start to smell fishy if LaPallo starts talking about the death of a 111-year-old girlfriend he met on the Internet but never in person.
    This wouldn't be the first time that LaPallo has popped up in the news for his age. He attracted attention of a fraudulent age web site when an Arizona TV station celebrated his 111th birthday last fall. - Big League Stew

    Ramon Ortiz looks like he knows he just threw his final pitch

    Pitchers leave games due to injury all the time, so much so that it barely registers as a blip on our radar. We've gotten numb to it. Pitchers get hurt; it's what they do.
    On Sunday night, Blue Jays right-hander Ramon Ortiz didn't just leave the game due to the injury. He left with tears in his eyes and looking very much like a 40-year-old pitcher who knows he just threw the final pitch of his major league career.
    You can see Ortiz point to the inside of his elbow while talking to the trainer. The initial word was an elbow strain, but he's obviously headed for more tests.
    "It doesn't look good, but he'll go to Florida to get examined, get an MRI and we'll have a better idea in the next few days," said manager John Gibbons to MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm. "I saw him after it happened, in the training room. He has been at this game a long, long time. He has been a pretty healthy guy, and this game takes its toll on you. He's a winner. He's a champ. I feel for him."
    As far as I can tell, Ortiz has not had any major arm problems in the last 15 years or so. In fact, the veteran right-hander has thrown upwards of 150+ innings nearly every year for the last 18 years or so between the majors, minors and winter ball. Durability has been one of his best assets.
    It's easy to forget that these players are human, and it's very rare to see one break down like that and show just how much he loves the game. Just brutal. - CBS Sports

    Rangers video: Robbie Ross vs. George Kottaras in cow milking contest

    The Texas Rangers held a couple "farm" events prior to today's game, including an egg toss contest. But the big draw was a cow milking contest that pitted Rangers reliever Robbie Ross against Royals catcher George Kottaras.
    Ross was the clear favorite, as he grew up in Kentucky and participated in a similar event last season. But Kottaras, who grew up in Canada, pulled off the upset. - star telegram