Top agent Boras calling for 9-game World Series (AP/Y! Sports)

Über agent Scott Boras wants to expand the World Series to a best-of-nine affair, with a twist: the first two games are to be played on a neutral site.

From the Associated Press:

Arguing that the shift would create a marketing bonanza that would rival the Super Bowl, Boras outlined his ideas in a two-page letter he sent to baseball commissioner Bud Selig on April 15.

“I know from an owner’s perspective, this is a gold mine,” Boras said. “To have a World Series Weekend, WSW, I think it will create a stage that the game has not seen.”

News and notes while literally stumbling out of bed (yes, I know it’s lunch, so bear with us…)

Big names content to wait for big money (CP/TSN.ca) Big names like Briere, Smyth, Drury and Gomez lead this year’s NHL free agent class with bidding set to start at noon EDT on Sunday. 

Report: Thomas asked cheerleader to flirt with refs (AP/ESPN) The former Knicks executive who is suing coach Isiah Thomas for sexual harassment alleged in court papers that Thomas urged a cheerleader to flirt with referees.

Sharapova, Mauresmo advance at All-England (AP/ESPN) Maria Sharapova hurried to close out a victory Saturday over Ai Sugiyama, 6-3, 6-3; Amelie Mauresmo took only 57 minutes to beat Mara Santangelo 6-1, 6-2.

Alinghi takes 4-2 lead over Kiwis at America’s Cup (AP/USA Today) Oh man: the Alinghi is one win away…one win!

Vin-sanity opt out of Jersey, chance are he will stay (AP/Y! Sports) Vince Carter opted out of the final year of a contract with the New Jersey Nets that would have paid the All-Star guard $16.3 million this coming season.

Wie withdraws from U.S. Women’s Open during second round (AP/USA Today)

Michele Wie withdrew after waking up with what was described as a painfully sore wrist.

Wie, who shot a first-round 82, was at 6-over through the back nine when she sent her tee shot on No. 1 into the left rough. Immediately after striking her second shot, she approached USGA personnel and walked off the course.

News and notes while Barry makes friends in odd places…

Hot dog champion Kobayashi jaw jacks about injury not being a ploy (AP/SI.com)  Takeru Kobayashi dismissed speculation Friday that his recent jaw ailment could be a ploy against his main rival at the Nathan’s hot dog eating championship next week in New York.

‘This Week in Baseball’ restored Allen’s reputation (USA Today) As TWIB celebrates its 30th anniversary, writer Stephen Borelli reminisces about the show’s original host, Mel Allen. Few people realize that the ‘Voice of Yankees’ was fired after the 1964 season after having served in that position since 1939. Current Yankees owner brought him back to the club as the lead announcer on the team’s cable broadcasts.

Cuban has hip replacement surgery, claims former coach Nelson ‘used condfidential’ info (AP/FOX Sports) That accusation is part of Cuban’s response to an arbitration claim Nelson has filed against Cuban to get $6.5 million of deferred compensation, which Nelson said he is owed for his time with the Mavericks from 1997-2005.

Picking my all-star squads (FOX Sports) FOX Sports baseball insider Ken Rosenthal selects his all-star teams for this year’s contest in the city by the Bay.

Cardinals 4, Redlegs 2 (AP/ESPN recap) Troy Percival made his first major-league appearance in two years and got his first win since April 22, 2005, in the Cardinals’ 4-2 victory over the Reds on “Mr. Redlegs Night.”

Twins 11, Tigers 1 (AP/ESPN recap) Minnesota’s Joe Mauer knocked a grand slam in the fifth inning, giving the Twins a 6-0 lead from which they wouldn’t look back. Justin Morneau chipped in with a 3-for-5, two-RBI night. Minnesota starter Johan Santana allowed a run on five hits and struck out six over six innings.

D’Rays 1, Indians 2 (AP/USA Today) Indians rookie Ben Francisco, who was called up from Triple-A Buffalo earlier in the week, hits his first MLB homer (a walk-off shot) to give Cleveland the win over the Tampa Bay Devils Rays, 2-1.

Brewers 5, Cubs 6 (AP/USA Today)  Aramis Ramirez lifted the Cubs over the Brewers 6-5 with a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth.

(From time to time, we’ll post a short blog entry regarding a current topic or something else that catches our fancy. It might be something trivial or something that really makes us wonder what the hell is going on.)

So Craig Leipold, current owner of the Nashville Predators of the NHL, has reversed course and decided that Jim Balsillie isn’t the right person to take his financially hemorrhaging hockey club off his hands.

Instead, William “Boots” Del Biaggio is the new chosen one.  Del Biaggio comes into the picture after practically begging anyone who would listen at the NHL Draft last week that he wanted to buy a team (and probably move them) and somehow snares a club after having offered $50 million less than Balsillie’s proposal to take on the organization.  The funny thing is, “Boots’” intentions are just the same as Balsillie’s: moving the club to another city.

More after the jump »

Restaurant that served Hancock faces no state penalties (AP/USA Today)

From the Associated Press –

The Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control will take no action against a restaurant that served St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock before the drunken-driving accident that led to his death.

Hancock, 29, spent more than three hours at Mike Shannon’s restaurant in St. Louis the night of April 28. In the early hours of April 29, he was driving alone when his sport-utility vehicle struck the back of a flatbed tow truck that was stopped in a driving lane of Interstate 64 assisting a stalled car. Hancock was killed instantly. No one else was hurt.

NHL cap breaks $50 million (TSN.ca)

Sources tell TSN.ca that the NHL’s salary cap next season will break the $50 million mark, climbing $6 million from the 2006-2007 season.  The raise in the cap-level marks the third successive year that it has ticked upward.  The salary floor will be set at $34.3 million.

Good thing we had that lockout, eh?

News and notes while watching Alinghi win on a ripped sail to take a 3-2 lead…

Henin advances in Wimbledon (AP/ESPN) ustine Henin became the first player to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon, beating Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-1, 6-3 on a drama-filled day at the All-England.

Padres deal for mercurial Bradley (FOX Sports) Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the San Diego Padres are taking a chance on outfielder Milton Bradley, who was designated for assignment by the Oakland Athletics.

Quickie: Who are the NBA Draft’s big winners, losers? (danshanoff.com) Rating the NBA’s best (and worst) selections on draft night.

The Sports Guy: Draft Day Diary XI (Page 2) TSG breaks down the NBA draft with a running draft diary.

Great Moments in Celebration: That’s how you note an achievement (Deadspin)  The folks at Deadspin notes how baseball greats Frank Thomas (500th home run) and Craig Biggio (3,000th hit) celebrated their career achievements on Thursday.

NBA Draft awards on the day after (Sports Biz with Darren Rovell)  Like many others Friday, Darren Rovell breaks down the NBA Draft from the sports business perspective.

Lawsuit makes Woody Paige, Jay Crawford sound like Ron Burgundy (The FanHouse) The sexual harassment suit by make-up artist Rita Ragone against ESPN has some bizarre details, including former “Cold Pizza” panelist Woody Paige bragging about having a vasectomy and patting his crotch while inviting her to sit on his lap.

NFL Europa folds after 16 years (AP/ESPN)

After 16 years providing spring and summer homes to such NFL greats as Kurt Warner, Jake Delhomme, Adam Vinatieri and the legendary Lawrence Phillips, the NFL announced that the World League of American Football NFL Europa has ceased operations, effective immediately.

The announcement comes less than a week after the World Bowl, where the feisty Hamburg Sea Devils downed the Frankfurt Galaxy 37-28 before a crowd of 48,000.  Five of the league’s six teams resided in Germany while the other was located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Roger Goodell said it was time for the league to develop a better international strategy and NFL Europa provides a good base for which to build.

With team names similar to those that adorn the jerseys of NBA Developmental League squads and 83% of your league in Germany, we aren’t really surprised that the experiment would eventually cease.  The question now is, does this leave a door open for Mark Cuban’s fledgling league to take the reigns as a developmental league for the NFL?

Could Dan Patrick take the reigns of ‘The Price is Right’? (LA Daily News)

According to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News (it’s buried in this media column), the producers of the popular game show “The Price is Right” have contacted ESPN’s Dan Patrick about the possibility of being the show’s next host.  Sources tell the paper that the broadcaster is on the short list to succeed long-time host Bob Barker, who retired after a 35-year run (presumably to further his “have your pets spayed or neutered” campaign or perhaps he ran away with a “Barker’s Beauty”).

Patrick would have to beat out a field of Hollywood B-listers heavyweights like Entertainment Tonight’s Mark Steines and actors George Hamilton and John O’Hurley.

We can’t wait till we see Patrick on the stage yell out signature lines like “You’re….en fuego” while contestants play legendary games like Plinko and try to figure out the price of Summer’s Eve without going over the suggested retail price.

Even better: we can’t wait for the typically sarcastic and quick-witted Patrick to deal with a contestant like this video shows.

[youtube sqk1-q8gXcY]

Re-writing history: What if the Braves signed Willie Mays? (Hardball Times)

Two baseball historians from The Hardball Times (Matthew Namee and Steve Trader) set out to have a little fun with history: what if Boston Braves had stepped it up in negotiations with the Birmingham Barons and forked out the necessary cash to buy a player that was on their radar long before anyone else.

The player’s name? Willie Mays.

The historians have an interesting give-and-take on how much history might have changed had the Braves signed Mays instead of New York Giants scout Ed Montague inked the future star to a $15,000 deal.  Just imagine this for a second: Willie Mays patrolling the outfield with Henry Aaron.

Check out the interesting excerpt after the jump on what kind of impact it might’ve had on today’s game.

More after the jump »

Philadelphia welcomes Barry Bonds (YouTube)

On June 2, Philadelphia Fightin’ Phillies fans showed their appreciation for all that San Francisco’s Barry Bonds has done for the game of baseball by raining boos upon the left-fielder and displaying devilish glee at his misfortune when he misplayed a ball in the outfield.

Thanks to a thoughtful fan who was technologically savyy, we get a glimpse from the left field seats at Citizen’s Bank as the bloated one takes his position and makes his miscue.

What follows is pure comedy and something that arguably would only happen in the “City of Brotherly Love”.

[youtube 69RxPeXDfX4]

We are all left to wonder: what if Major League Baseball scheduled a late August game in Philadelphia with Bonds knocking on Hank Aaron’s door for 756?
Oh the missed opportunities.

Danica: ‘It’s time’ for a breakthrough victory (AP/FOX Sports)

After three seasons amid raucous hoopla amongst fans and sports marketers, racing’s Danica Patrick thinks it’s a matter of when - not if - she rolls into victory lane on the IndyCar Series.

Since her first Indianapolis 500 start in 2005 where she finished fourth, Patrick has failed to capture a race win despite solid outings at numerous tracks.  This weekend, Patrick takes to Richmond International Raceway for her third appearance, where she’s finished no higher than 10th (10th and 15th) and hopes that since the track is short, she’ll get a shot to contend better than she has in her previous trips there.

We’ll put it this way: she needs to win soon or at least challenge more frequently in races to avoid whispers that she’s a flash in the pan or a marketing gimmick.

Crespo leads Argentines over short-handed U.S. team (Soccernet.com)

Despite an early penalty kick tally by the United State’s Eddie Johnson in the ninth minute, the Argentina squad didn’t sit back and let their Copa America game slip away.

They did the opposite: they attacked, attacked, attacked.

The Argentines were led by Hernán Crespo, whose cherry picking goal off a 35-yard free kick volley from Juan Riquelme tied the game in the 11th minute and added his second in the 64th minute, helping the Argentines cruise to a 4-1 victory over the under-manned United States in each squad’s Copa America opener in Marcaibo, Venezuela.

Crespo’s second tally came from a Leo Messi pass as he dashed through the penalty area and put it beyond the reach of goalie Kasey Keller.  The Argentines last goal came off the foot of Carlos Tevez, whose touched pass to himself resulted in the forward placing his shot just inside the post for the game’s last goal.

The Argentines are slated to take on Colombia while the United States faces off against Paraguay next Monday.

Sheridan: Two stars shine brightest at draft (ESPN)

ESPN’s Chris Sheridan looks back at the 2007 NBA Draft and writes that Portland’s Greg Oden and Seattle’s Kevin Durant will forever be linked throughout their careers due to them going one and two in this year’s player pool.

“I know we’re going to be connected for a long time, Kevin Durant and Greg Oden,” said Oden. “He’s a really, really good player. I’m a pretty decent player. So I hope things work out.”

And as Sheridan points out, it should live up to be the right choices for both organizations despite the multi-weeks debate that led up to Thursday night.

Park takes the lead as Wie continues free fall (AP/ESPN)

Eighteen-year-old Angela Park woke up on Thursday morning likely just wanting to post a respectable score to leave herself in place for a solid finish.  Instead, she found herself in first place, carding a 3-under 68.  Of course, only half the 156-player field completed their first rounds due to a weather delay that didn’t net any falling precipitation.

The talk of the early Ladies Open, though, was the continued free falling Michelle Wie, who still hasn’t broken par in 20 consecutive rounds.

Shooting an 11-over par 82, Wie marked the second time in three rounds that she hasn’t broken 80.  The score matched her highest in her brief U.S. Open history.  She told the gathering of reporters that she “was better player than this.”

One who was better through nine was first-timer Alexis Thompson, the 12-year old qualifier who set the bar as the youngest ever in Women’s Open history, carded 3-over 39 before weather forced her to cut the day short.  Said Thompson: “The first tee, I was a little nervous. After that one, it was smooth sailing.”

We just see how smooth is it when she tries to wrap up her first career round in a major on Friday.