Inside 'The Decision': Miami's coup was a 'surprise' built on long-coveted goal of James, Wade and Bosh
Published: Saturday, July 10, 2010, 7:02 PM Updated: Sunday, July 11, 2010, 9:27 AM
Brian Windhorst, The Plain Dealer
[url]http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2010/07/inside_the_decision_miamis_cou.html[/url]

With multiple sources now willing to fill in the blanks, it becomes more and more clear how much advance work and planning was put in by (from left) Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James -- as well as Miami Heat President Pat Riley -- to bring the NBA's three biggest free agents to South Florida. It was anything but a... More...

Shouldn't affect the actual basketball team, but lots of crazy details that could hit Athletic Dept. One example carrying around hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from stolen tickets at Final Four sites in 2002 and 2003.

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[url]http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news;_ylt=Arao6oZoiTaVad5qefST6u45nYcB?slug=ys-kutickets052610[/url]

LAWRENCE, Kan. ? A high-ranking member of the University of Kansas athletic department and the father of a prominent Jayhawks? athlete allegedly made more than $800,000 in a ticket scalping operation that was orchestrated by college basketball power brokers David and Dana Pump, Yahoo! Sports has learned.


David Freeman
The scope, breadth and duration of the scalping business ? which included Big 12 and NCAA... More...

[url]http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/worklife/04/24/weird.baseball.contracts/[/url]

With baseball season in full swing, here's a list of some of the more creative, generous or ludicrous perks players have received.

1. Bobby Bonilla finally gets paid

Hey, New York Mets fans, think things couldn't get any worse? Next year former outfielder Bobby Bonilla goes back on the payroll at the ripe old age of 48.

In 1999, Bonilla returned to the Mets for a second stint at Shea following his borderline disastrous free-agent signing in 1992. Bonilla wasn't any better the second time around, so the Mets waived him in 2000. The problem was that the team still owed Bonilla $5.9... More...

Everything is bigger in Texas. And that includes high school football.
Allen High School, located in a growing suburb of Dallas, has approved the construction of a new stadium to house their football team that will break ground next month. The price tag is a whopping $60,000,000 and comes at a time when most school districts are slashing budgets just to keep their doors open.

So how does a school of 5,000 students justify a new, state-of-the-art stadium that seats 18,000 and a video scoreboard?
It?s because football is big business in Texas. Heck, they have the largest high school band with 800+... More...

[IMG]http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2009/1226/ncf_u_thomas_200.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE]DETROIT -- Sarah Thomas made history at the Little Caesars Bowl on Saturday, becoming the first woman to officiate a bowl game when she worked the matchup between Ohio and Marshall.

"It was an honor," Thomas said while running off the field with her colleagues after Marshall's 21-17 victory at Ford Field.

Thomas' position as line judge meant that she spent most of the game in front of the Thundering Herd's bench, but the Marshall players didn't pay much attention.

"I noticed her before the game, but that was it," said Marshall running back Martin Ward, the game's MVP. "Once the game started,...[/QUOTE] More...

Calvin Ayre is a successful ? and controversial ? entrepreneur. He grew up on a pig farm in Saskatchewan, attended the University of Waterloo on a full scholarship in physics and pioneered online gambling through his Bodog website family. He dabbled in real estate, then in the stock market in Vancouver, where he lost a skirmish with securities officials. He built a huge gaming business and in 2006 made it to the cover of People magazine as one of the world?s most eligible bachelors, and also to Forbes? 100 richest list. That same year, the United States cracked down on... More...

On his fellow referees:

Dick Bavetta



Crawford wanted the game over quickly so he could kick back, relax, and have a beer; [Dick Bavetta] wanted it to keep going so he could hear his name on TV. He actually paid an American Airlines employee to watch all the games he worked and write down everything the TV commentators said about him. No matter how late the game was over, he'd wake her up for a full report. He loved the attention.

I remember one nightmarish game I worked with Joe Crawford and Phil Robinson. Minnesota and New Orleans were in a tight game...[/Dick Bavetta] More...

New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is trying to turn Hot Dog-Gate into an opportunity to help the less fortunate in New Jersey.


Sanchez
Sanchez donated more than 1,000 hot dogs and hamburgers to the Community Soup Kitchen of Morristown, a representative of the quarterback told ESPN's Shelley Smith.

Sanchez was the subject of criticism -- and issued an apology -- when he was caught on camera Sunday eating a hot dog on the sidelines during the Jets' 38-0 victory over the Raiders.

Sanchez was criticized two weeks ago for looking dejected on the sideline while throwing five interceptions in an overtime loss to... More...

(ChattahBox) ? Tennis legend Andre Agassi serves up a bombshell in his new memoir, The book, ?Open: An Autobiography,? which will be excerpted in People and Sports Illustrated this week. The book of his colorful life is interesting enough detailing his hair loss, his troubled marriage to Brooke Shields and the love he eventually found with his current wife, Steffi Graf. But Agassi?s upcoming autobiography apparently contains an admission that he used the recreational drug crystal meth, which is very disappointing to hear.

The New York Daily News says Agassi specifically used crystal meth a stimulant in 1997, failed... More...

ST. LOUIS (AP)?The lowly Rams have someone who loves them.

Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh said Tuesday he is teaming up with St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts in a bid to buy the Rams, owners of the NFL?s longest losing streak at 14 and just 5-31 since 2007.

In a statement, Limbaugh declined to discuss details, citing a confidentiality agreement with Goldman Sachs, the investment firm hired by the family of former Rams owner Georgia Frontiere to review assets of her estate, including the NFL team.

Limbaugh also declined to discuss other partners that might be involved in the bid, but... More...