NBA joins the NFL as basketball locks out its players too

Well, now two major professional sports are on lockout mode.

The NBA joined the NFL in locking out its players from all team facilities for the foreseeable future after the NBA's collective bargaining agreement expired at midnight, July 1.

The NBA, which had its most successful season in years, maybe even in a decade since the last NBA lockout in 1999, is now in as much limbo as the NFL is right now.

"We had a great year in terms of the appreciation of our fans for our game. It just wasn't a profitable one for the owners, and it wasn't one that many of the smaller market teams particularly enjoyed or felt included in," NBA commissioner David Stern said. "The goal here has been to make the league profitable and to have a league where all 30 teams can compete."

While the owners and players, again, battle over the share of billions of dollars, fans, sponsors, businesses and the journalist professions, in general, all lose out.

Fans who have been paying big bucks to go to NBA and NFL games for years upon years have to sit and watch billionaires and millionaires duke it out to see who will make even more money. What hurts even more is the fact that the NFL is still in limbo.

Even though the NFL keeps sending out missives that an agreement is coming soon, their self-imposed "deadline" to have an agreement in place by July 5 is coming nearer and nearer by the day, and it is looking less and less likely that any agreement will come in the next week or two for football to resume.

Without the NFL and NBA, imagine what it will do this already fragile economy. Many NFL teams laid off hundreds of workers, and asked many more to take unpaid furloughs. NBA teams will likely do the same thing.

Sponsors like Budweiser, any car company you can think of, like GM, Ford, and Toyota bank on football and basketball to draw in big bucks for their commercial products. They are already on pins and needles with the NFL lockout, now they are on a bed of nails with this latest development for the NBA.

NBA free agency which was scheduled to begin July 1 has been put on hold. The NBA summer league has been canceled and preseason games haven't been scheduled.

Unlike the NFL which has a full seven month off-season, the NBA only has two and a half months to their off-season program. Basketball season usually begins in September when players return to gyms for training camp, with the opener usually starting in mid to late October. Now that's all in jeopardy too.

Roger Goodell and David Stern can tell you all they want that they care about their sports, and the fans, but let's face it they are pawns to the owners. The owners don't give two fiddle sticks about the fans and their feelings.

The NFL and NBA are businesses, and like any other business in a capitalist society, if the owners feel the need to lock out it's employees they have every right to do it. That is why the NFL players, who decertified are having a difficult time winning court battles with the Circuit Court of Appeals, because the owners haven't done anything illegal -- especially if the players (employees) can't agree on a new deal, and decertify themselves as a union.

It is not known at this point whether the NBA players union will decertify as well; negotiations will likely continue and be heated for about a month or so, before any rumors of decertifications come up, if it does at all. Hopefully it won't get that far.

Break up the Mets: Pesky baseball team over .500

METS 14
TIGERS 3

Who would have thunk it?

Facing two of the American Leagues top two teams in a row, and the New York Mets have not wilted under the pressure. Instead the Mets have delievered the TKO to both the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers over the past few days.

First it was a 14-5 victory in Texas on Saturday, followed up by a solid 8-3 victory on Sunday. Then last night the Mets exploded for 14 runs on 18 hits against the Tigers to get over .500 for the first time since game five of the regular season.

The game also marked the first time the Mets hit a grand slam in a game since 2009!

With New York up 2-0 in the fourth inning, Josh Thole went yard with a solo shot, his first of the year, to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, Jason Bay, that's right JASON BAY, hit a grand slam homer to left to make it 9-0 Metropolitans.

Wow are these guys?

Fast forward to the fifth, bases loaded for Carlos Beltran, and kiss it good-bye another grand slam to left -- and Comerica Park is supposed to be an even harder place to hit homeruns than Citi Field. Mets grab a 13-0 lead.

R.A. Dickey, who has struggled this year, got is fourth win of the year, pitching seven strong innings, scattering 10 hits and allowing three runs.

The Mets are now 40-39, and phase the abysmal Phil Coke tonight, while, Chris Capuano, arguably the second best pitcher for the Mets this year, tries to get to .500 on the season.

The Mets are kicking AL tail-who would have guessed it. Jose Reyes has been amazing. Another four hit day for the shortstop brings his average up to .349. With the Mets now over .500, and just four games out of the Wild Card, it will be hard for the Wilpons to trade Reyes at the deadline, let alone anyone with a big name and contract.

The Mets players are making it very hard on the front office, it's like something out of the movie Major League. There is a scene in that film when the players in the Indians clubhouse get word that they will all be traded no matter how the season ends, because the owner wants to move the team to Florida. The team decides to unite in a cause against ownership and win the whole thing, inspite of her.

Here we go again -- I wonder if there is a cardboard cut out of Fred and Jeff Wilpon in the Mets clubhouse -- then again I don't want to know.

Yankees get it right again with Old Timer's Day Festivities

Once again the New York Yankees proved why they are one of the few franchises that knows how to honor its past.

The Yankees held their traditional Old Timer's Day at the Stadium, but this year was extra special. First it marked the first time that both Lou Pinella and Joe Torre returned to the Bronx in Yankee uniforms.

For Torre the reunion ends three bitter years, where Torre was not a part of the Yankee tradition. He left the Yankees in a bitter contract dispute after the '07 season. He moved onto LA to manage the Dodgers the past three seasons, but was never acknowledged by Yankee brass during that time as a part of the franchises tradition.

Last season, Torre had a chance to reunite with his old team, when the Yankees came to LA to play the Dodgers, yet everyone waited for this moment. He got a nice ovation, and was even seen speaking with GM Brian Cashman, whom he had a bitter dispute with years ago.

The day also belonged to recent retirees, Tino Martinez and Bernie Williams. Martinez (NYY from 1996-2003) and Williams (NYY 1995 - 2008) received the loudest ovations, and even delivered at the plate. Williams doubled off the wall in left-center. Then Martinez cracked a two run homer to right field off David Cone.

The Yankees also honored retiring trainer Gene Monahane with various gifts that included a truck, a lawn mower, and a dog.

Other names who came to the old timer's day included: Joe Pepitone, Rick Cerone, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, David Wells, Lee Mazzilli, Mel Stottlemyer, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson, and Goose Gossage.

Tiki Barber could become a Steeler

Former Giants running back Tiki Barber who is attempting a comeback after missing the past four seasons due to retirement could be joining another legendary football franchise: the Pittsburgh Steelers.

According to SI's Peter King, he thinks the Steelers would be a good fit, since coach Mike Tomlin is a family friend of Barber, having coached his brother Ronde in Tampa Bay.

Pittsburgh would make some sense. Rashard Mendenhall is a solid starting back, but they have nobody behind him. With teams implementing more two back sets, Barber, if he has anything left, would be an interesting change of pace from Mendenhall's bruising style of play.

Plus it's the Steelers. They run a tight ship, and Barber would have to toe the line if he is to make in the Steel City. If Barber doesn't have anything to offer, the Steelers could release him with no injury to their roster or finances.

It's a possible deal that could work for both sides for sure. Barber wants to redeem himself after his broadcast career and marriage crumbled when he was caught with a 23-year-old intern. Redemption can be a funny thing, especially in the NFL. If someone has a purpose -- it tends to make them that much better on the field.

How Rory Mcllroy has changed the face of professional golf

Three years ago this month, Tiger Woods was on the prowl for his 14th major title.

After taking a one shot lead into the fourth round at Tory Pines, in his hometown of San Diego, CA. Woods started to struggle on that incredible Sunday. He was rumored to have injured his knee that day, and couldn't close out a charge by Rocco Mediate, who went into the clubhouse -1 under par, and a slim lead over Woods.

Woods was able to make up for the dip, by scoring on par on 18-to tie Mediate, and force a playoff Monday morning.

That Monday was the last time we have seen Woods as the hero. Limping around the course, Woods, again came back to tie Mediate after 18 holes, forcing a Sudden Death playoff that same day. In Sudden Death, Woods scored a par 4 to win the tournament by a very small margin. The lasting image from the tournament being Woods clutching his young daughter in his hands afterwards.

Since that time it has been a wild ride for Woods. Even though he didn't win a major in 2009, he was still winning smaller tournaments, and hanging around in all four majors. Then the unbelievable happened; over Thanksgiving stories started to come out about Tiger's infidelity.

The 15 prostitutes that Woods had slept with brought irreparable damage to his once squeaky clean image. Woods was forced to divorce, and since that time Woods has battled mental anguish and leg injuries. He missed parts of the 2010 season, even skipping a major. When he played, he was the shell of his former self.

Now in 2011, Woods is likely out for the year with knee and Achilles tendon injuries. At 35, Woods might be done.

Enter in Rory Mcllroy. The young Irish kid, raised eyebrows with his first three rounds at the Masters in April, only to blow the four shot lead on Sunday. Then this weekend, Mcllroy put together a Woods-like performance, shooting -16 under par for the tournament and winning by eight shots.

He made a difficult course look easy.

Now golf has a new superstar. With Woods spending much of 2010 out of competition, golf really suffered -- nobody cared as much, and people wondered when the next "great thing" would come. Fans could look to golf's other aging superstar Phil Mickelson. He is the antithesis of Tiger; an very down to earth man, who dedicated last year's Masters victory to his wife, who was recovering from breast cancer.

But at 40, and only four major titles, how much does Phil have left? Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Davis Love III, Sergio Garcia are all Woods contemporaries who have grown older, and are not as good as they used to be. No, golf needed someone younger to take the sport by storm the way Woods did in 1997.

Turns out they didn't have to wait long. Mcllroy looks like the real deal. His performance in the last two majors was so impressive that even his contemporaries are talking Mcllroy up as the best golfer ever, who has a better shot at Jack Nicklaus record 18 major wins. This was the kid's first.

Time will only tell, whether this was just a fairy tale, or the coronation of the new king of golf. David Duval was supposed to be that next great golfer back in the mid 1990s, then Tiger came around and took away all the attention. Duval slipped away into obscurity, as Woods became the dominate player of the past decade.

So, who knows how good Mcllroy will be a year from now, two years from now or five years from now. But if the Masters and U.S. Open are any indication, then we will hear from the 22-year old more often in the years to come.

Maybe when Woods does return physically and mentally fit enough to play, maybe then we can get a showdown between the two -- that would be great television.

Former Jet Chad Pennington joins Fox Sports

Chad Pennington is finally hanging up the cleats, at least for this year.

The former injury riddled Jets quarterback, who spent much of eight years for Gang Green injured, before sticking it to the Jets in 2008 as he led the Miami Dolphins to the AFC East crown is now done with football.

Pennington, who injured his knee in a pick-up basketball game in April, has signed on with Fox Sports to become a tv-analyst for the network. He will team up with N.Y. Rangers play-by-play man Sam Rosen during the season, meaning that Pennington will be covering a lot of game involving the dregs of the NFC, i.e. the Lions, 49ers, Cardinals, et al.

Pennington lost his job in Miami in 2009, when he injured his shoulder in week three at San Diego. Chad Henne stepped in and lit it up in '09, before he stumbled in 2010. Pennington got a chance to start in the middle of last season, but was injured on the first play of the game -- ending his season. How ironic!

I venture to guess that Pennington won't be able to get injured in the TV booth. Maybe he should stay there permanently, and not consider a comeback in 2012. Hey, he might become the next John Madden. BOOM!

"Money Ball" theatrical trailer released

It has been well documented how the Oakland Athletics changed the financial game in the late 1990's, when Billy Beane helped invent the money ball theory. The Theory, for those who don't know, is to look at every statistical equation possible for major league baseball players to determine their value on the open market in free agency.

The A's used this theory to their advantage, as they were able to afford players at a low costs, who could produce consistent results, i.e. Barry Zito, Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson all in their prime. The theroies of Money Ball have shaken the game for general managers throughout the game; New York Mets GM Sandy Alderson was one of those moneyball pioneers, and he is trying to do the same stat crunching in New York, even to the chagrin of Mets fans who can't stand watching Ruben Tejada every single night.

But I regress.

A film based on the Money Ball phenomenon is set for release this fall, starring Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Pitt plays Billy Beane in this flick, while Seymour Hoffman plays Art Howe. The film is based off the book by Michael Lewis, the same guy who wrote the Blind Side.

The feature film, "The Blind Side" became a big hit nearly two years ago, and earned Sandra Bullock an Academy Award, in spite of her pompous, over-the-top performance.

The Blind Side detailed the story of Michael Oher, who was raised as a foster child, and "discovered" the unique talent to be an offensive lineman. The real Michael Oher is of course a left tackle for the Baltimore Ravens.

As popular as the Blind Side movie was it was incredibly flawed. It's opening monologue stating that no NFL coach had figured out the importance of a left tackle until Joe Theisman broke his leg on a hit from Lawrence Taylor was beyond ridiculous. The film took a lot of liberties, painting Oher as an idiot, who could push people around. Oher didn't appreciate the interpretation, and last time I checked, no player can be a dummy and play a three-technique position like left tackle.

But again, it's Hollywood, they don't understand much of anything, other than looking good and sounding good in front of a camera.

Let's hope that Money Ball delivers the goods; we could use it, especially with audiences in the midst of one of the WORST summer movie season's ever! Here is the trailer.