Recently in Sports Conversation Category
Manny Ramirez is scheduled to return to major league action tomorrow. It's a holiday weekend and the Dodgers are home hosting state rival San Diego.
Should be a blast for So Cal baseball fans. Read the 
story here
Shaquille O'Neal was introduced as a Cleveland Cavalier today and among his best quotes was, "Win a ring for The King," in reference to his new pairing with reigning MVP LeBron James. O'Neal said he plans to play three more years and has a lot left. Read the story here, and watch 
related video
NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield had his NASCAR-imposed suspension lifted by U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen. Mayfield had tested positive for methamphetamine during a random drug testing. "The truth came out and now I can go back and say now we're cleared of all this," said Mayfield. "I cleared my name and now we can go back racing again. It feels good to get this off our back and now we can move forward." It is not known if NASCAR will appeal the ruling. Read the story here Several drivers have shared their thoughts on the situation - Read the story here and see related video
A Miami-Dade judge refused to release surveillance video depicting the moment a car driven by Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte' Stallworth struck and killed a pedestrian in a drunk-driving crash stating the privacy interests of the family of victim Mario Reyes outweighed the public's right to view the video. Several news organizations, including The Associated Press, made public records requests seeking release of the video. Read the story here
Yao Ming has a hairline fracture in his left foot. Reports are that he could miss next season and the injury could be career ending. The injury was expected to be healed by now, instead it grew worse despite treatment, and no timeline was set for his return to basketball activities. Read the story here
With the 2009 Tour de France set to begin Saturday, the ugliness of "doping" is bound to surface, again. Pierre Bordry, the president of anti-doping agency AFLD, has vowed to treat riders including Lance Armstrong with fairness. Wouldn't it be nice to get through an entire 3-week event and no aftermath of doping for a change? What do you think the odds are of a completely clean race with no perpetrators? Who's your favorite to win? Follow tour coverage here
The Detroit Pistons will need a new head coach - Michael Curry was fired today by Joe Dumars, the team's president for basketball operations. Curry coached the team for one season. Though the team's record was sub .500, it reached the playoffs but was swept in the first round by Cleveland. Read the story here
Though not very exciting this year, an NBA Draft took place. As I noted in yesterday's post, the biggest news so far are the player trades and selection swappings going on. But in case you missed the results, here are the picks...
The Orlando Magic picked up veteran Vince Carter to help bolster the defending Eastern Conference champions, and likely to keep pace with Cleveland after it acquired Shaquille O'Neal. Carter, now 32, brings leadership and talent to a young Magic team. "This a dream come true for me. Now I have a chance to win a championship," Carter said. Read the story here.
Not being a big golf fan, I had no idea that none of our U.S. presidents are in the World Golf Hall of Fame. I learned this today when former president Dwight D. Eisenhower was selected to be inducted. He will be the first U.S. president in the Hall of Fame when he is inducted posthumously Nov. 2. Eisenhower is credited with promoting the popularity of golf as well. Read the story here.
Floyd Mayweather will return to the ring this year after a brief retirement. Mayweather has been cleared by doctors after an injury during training. Juan Manuel Marquez is the opponent and the fight is set for Sept. 19 at the MGM Grand. Read the story here.
The Cleveland Cavaliers appear to be playing hard ball NBA style. The team has acquired Shaquille O'Neal from the Phoenix Suns, according to reports that started Wednesday. The Cavs are sending Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic to the Suns, along with a second-round pick in the 2010 draft and $500,000 in cash, one of the people close to the deal said. The trade has been confirmed. Read the story here.
The NBA Draft begins today, but there's not a whole lot of buzz about this year's talent pool. The best action so far is the swapping of positions and trades around the league. Here's a preview of the draft and some projections - Read the story here.
The LSU Tigers' baseball team has won its sixth national title with an 11-4 victory over Texas on June 24. Jared Mitchell earned the series Most Outstanding Player Award. He previously won a national championship in football and was a first-round draft pick in baseball. Pretty hard to top that for a college athlete. Read the story here.
A deal was announced today to change the venue of the 2011 men's and women's WAC basketball tournaments to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. WAC Commissioner Karl Benson says he thinks Las Vegas will be a neutral site for the conference championships. I'd BET this will be a good DEAL for fans, schools and players. Read the story here.
Jeff Jordan, yep, Michael's son, has said he will not play college basketball next season for Illinois. Jordan said he needs to focus on his studies and that he's ready for "life after basketball." Read the story here.
Swine Flu testing will be required on athletes who will be competing in next month's World University Games in Serbia. The World University Games is an international multi-sport event organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation. If students do not provide a certificate saying they do not have swine flu they will be quarantined, the government said Wednesday. Competitors from 142 countries are scheduled to take part in the games in Serbia on July 1-12. Read the story here.
The Sacramento man that plead no contest to stealing Lance Armstrong's time trial bike during the Tour of California is expected to get three years in prison for burglary and theft. An Elk Grove man will get a 90-day sentence for receiving stolen property. A police report says that man bought Armstrong's $10,000 bike for $200. Read the story here.
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Three members of the Dallas Cowboys, also musicians in the band Free Reign, have signed a heavy metal record contract with Australia's Riot Entertainment. Leonard Davis, Marc Colombo and Cory Procter already have successful careers in professional football, but word is their musical prowess is also noteworthy. The album is expected to be released this fall. Read the story here.
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A possible trade in the NBA is in the works, according to the Associated Press. The Milwaukee Bucks may be sending Richard Jefferson to the San Antonio Spurs for Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto. ESPN.com first reported details of the deal. Read the story here.
Here's a different way to fish. It seems these people got tired of the fish not biting their bait, so they took matters into their own hands ...
YouTube video: Noodling for catfish (language N.S.F.W.)
And girls do it too!
YouTube video: Noodling for catfish
Yesterday I had the pleasure of going to O'Neill Forebay with two of the best striper fishermen in the area - Roger George and Chong Yang. In fact, the idea was to go out and get some video and photos for our audience at fresnobee.com. Things didn't turn out as we had hoped.
Anglers know that each and every fishing trip is different. Sometimes things go great, and sometimes you get skunked. That's why it's called fishing - not catching.
A few days prior, Roger and Chong went to O'Neill Forebay and had great success. They predicted this would be a great time to invite me and the video camera to get some footage of how it's done. The fish and mother nature had other plans.
Now that the Lakers have finished off the Magic, a few questions have been answered for me. Yes, the Lakers were the best team this season. Yes, Kobe Bryant is an elite player and currently the best in the league. No, these games are not fixed by the networks for more money and air time. And yes, my previous post about game-time superstitions was silly.
I can see a potential argument for Cleveland as the best team this season, but not this postseason.
I believe that Kobe is as good as Michael Jordan, and in time, he may have the hardware to back that up. I may never say that Kobe is better than Michael, but he is as dominant as Jordan was in his time.
Have you ever felt that pro sports series', such as the NBA Finals, are fixed by the league and the networks to run as many games as possible? At times in the past I have had that suspicion. I think that has been disproven, or else the Magic would have won Game 5 and shifted the series back to L.A.
Agree or disagree with me on these topics? By the way, I watched virtually all of Game 5.
So last night I wanted to watch Game 4 of the Lakers/Magic series. I was really looking forward to how the Lakers would respond after losing Game 3.
First, I must confess I'm superstitious when it comes to my favorite sports teams and important games. That said, as soon as the Lakers appeared to be doing poorly, I began implementing my typical antics, which can vary depending on my mood and the situation.
This time, I decided that the Lakers were not playing as well as they should and needed to because I WAS WATCHING THE GAME! Ridiculous, I know, but I swear it seems to work! Each time I would step away from viewing, L.A. would do well.
