Lance Armstrong wants apology from '60 Minutes'. Lance Armstrong wants on-air apology. Attorneys for Lance Armstrong have demanded an on-air apology from "60 Minutes" after the head of Switzerland's anti-doping laboratory denied allegations the seven-time Tour de France winner tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs at the 2001 Tour de Suisse.

“In the cold light of morning your story was either extraordinarily shoddy, to the point of being reckless and unprofessional, or a vicious hit-and-run job. In either case, a categorical on-air apology is required. ” -- Attorney Elliot Peters, in letter to CBS
PDF: Read the letter

In a letter sent Wednesday to CBS News chairman and "60 Minutes" executive producer Jeff Fager, lawyer Elliot Peters said the May 22 segment about Armstrong was built on a series of falsehoods, and he accused the reputable CBS show of sloppy journalism.
"In the cold light of morning your story was either extraordinarily shoddy, to the point of being reckless and unprofessional, or a vicious hit-and-run job," Peters wrote. "In either case, a categorical on-air apology is required."
CBS News spokesman Kevin Tedesco said Wednesday he couldn't immediately comment on the letter, but added: "We consider this the most thorough investigation into doping in the sport of cycling ever done."
Former teammate Tyler Hamilton alleged in the piece that Armstrong talked about using the banned blood-booster EPO to prepare for his third Tour de France in 2001 and cycling's governing body, the International Cycling Union, helped him hide a positive test at the Swiss event.
Last week, the head of Switzerland's anti-doping laboratory, Martial Saugy, denied allegations Armstrong tested positive for performing-enhancing drugs during the 2001 Tour de Suisse.
Saugy said his lab did find suspicious levels of EPO in four urine samples from the race Armstrong won, but he didn't know if any belonged to the seven-time Tour de France winner.
Armstrong repeatedly has denied doping and has never tested positive. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are investigating an alleged doping program on Armstrong's teams.

Read More:Espn

Mmargo Dydek dies. Margo Dydek, 7-foot-2 ex-WNBA player, dies at 37.
BRISBANE, Australia (AP)—Margo Dydek, a 7-foot-2 former WNBA player who led the league in blocks nine times, died Friday after being placed in a medically induced coma following a heart attack a week ago. She was 37.

Her death was confirmed to The Associated Press by Cathy Roberts, operations manager of the Northside Wizards in the Queensland Basketball League, where Dydek was the coach.
The Poland-born Dydek, pregnant with her third child, was stricken with a heart attack May 19 and collapsed at her home in Brisbane. Dydek was early in her pregnancy and the fetus died, Roberts said.

Dydek was once said to be the tallest active professional female basketball player. She was the No. 1 pick in the 1998 WNBA draft by the Utah Starzz. She also played for San Antonio, Connecticut and Los Angeles.

“She was a tremendous person, role model and athlete who touched the lives of her many fans and made an indelible mark on women’s basketball around the world,” WNBA President Laurel Richie said.

Dydek held the record for most blocks in a WNBA career (877 in 323 games) and led the league from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2005-07. In 2008, Dydek signed with the Los Angeles Sparks following time away from basketball to give birth to her first son.

“Not only was Margo a great basketball player, she was one of the kindest people I had the opportunity to play against and later work with,” said Sparks general manager Penny Toler, who also played with Dydek.

“I was saddened to hear about her passing at such a young age. Her memory will live on, not only with the Sparks but with the entire WNBA. Our deepest sympathies go out to her family.”

Tina Thompson, a former teammate on the Sparks, said on the WNBA’s Twitter feed: “My condolences to the family of Margo Dydek, may she rest in peace!”

According to Dydek’s Facebook page, she was born to a 6-7 father and 6-3 mother. Her oldest of two sisters, Kashka, used to play for the Colorado Explosion of the now defunct ABL, and in Poland.

The Brisbane-based Wizards said on their website that Dydek died “peacefully and surrounded by her family.”

“Always in our hearts—Margo. … You were a much-loved member of our community and we will miss you greatly,” the team said.

She is survived by her husband, David, and two sons, David, 3, and Alex, 7 months.

Source:sports.yahoo

Kevin McHale offered head coaching job. The Houston Rockets have offered their head coaching job to Kevin McHale, according to Yahoo.com's Adrian Wojnarowski. The two sides are reportedly in advanced talks but a deal may not come until after the weekend.

Wojnarowski broke the news via Twitter on Friday, saying, "There's no guarantee terms will be agreed upon with McHale, but sources believe both sides are determined to make it happen."

The report has since been confirmed by Rockets' beat writer Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

Sources close to the Rockets indicated that McHale separated himself from contenders Dwane Casey and Lawrence Frank late last week after McHale made a "strong final impression in conversations" with Houston officials in Chicago.

The Rockets job became available when the team decided to let Rick Adelman's contract expire, despite a 193-135 (.588) record over four seasons at the helm. The team was surrounded by constant adversity under Adelman, including the never-ending injury problems of center Yao Ming(notes).

McHale is currently an analyst for TNT but sources say he'd jump at an opportunity to coach again in the NBA. He's had two runs as a coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he went 39-55.

As a player, McHale was a Hall of Fame forward for the Boston Celtics. He won three titles in his 13-year career and was selected to seven All-Star games.
Source:sports.yahoo

The 2011 NBA Finals are set. Miami Heat’s road to the 2011 NBA Finals: A fan’s take.
The Miami Heat and their All-Star Trio have advanced to the 2011 NBA Finals where they will face Dirk Nowitzki(notes) and the Dallas Mavericks. Chris Bosh(notes), LeBron James(notes) and Dwyane Wade(notes) planned to establish a Miami Heat dynasty when they decided to join forces in South Beach. If they win four more games, they will become NBA Champions in just their first season together.

Five seasons ago, both teams made their first appearance in the NBA Finals. Wade and the Heat defeated Nowitzki and the Mavericks to earn the 2006 NBA Championship. The second Heat-Mavericks Finals will begin Tuesday, May 31.


Before the 2011 NBA Finals begin, let's review how the Heat won the East.
With Miami ahead in the series 3-0 and holding an 82-76 lead with just 95 seconds remaining in Game 4, a Heat sweep seemed to be a foregone conclusion. But during those closing seconds, Miami allowed the 76ers to score 10 points and failed to score a single point of their own. The result was an 86-82 Heat loss. Miami recovered from their first playoff loss with a 97-91 Game 5 victory to close the series.
After winning the first two games of the series at home, the Heat fell to the Celtics 97-81 in Game 3. In Game 4, the Celtics inbounded the ball with the 19 seconds left in regulation and the game tied at 86. Miami's defense answered the call and forced overtime by preventing Boston from executing their offensive set. In overtime, the Heat outscored the Celtics 12-4 and won the game 98-90. Miami closed the series with a 97-87 Game 5 win.
In Game 1, the Heat allowed an opponent 100 points for the first time in these playoffs, and the Bulls bludgeoned them 103-82. For the remainder of the series, Miami held Chicago to an average of 83.25 points per game. Miami snatched home-court advantage from the Bulls with an 85-75 Game 2 victory at the United Center. In Game 4, with 8 seconds remaining on the clock, the game tied 85-85 and the ball in Derrick Rose's(notes) hands, Chicago had an opportunity to tie the series 2-2. But Rose could not get by LeBron James and missed a contested 18-foot jumper as time expired. In the ensuing overtime Miami outscored Chicago 16-8 and took a 3-1 series lead. Late in Game 5, the Bulls had a 12-point lead, 77-65, with 3:12 remaining on the clock, and it seemed like the Bulls would extend the series to a sixth game. Once again, the Heat's defense showed its mettle. Miami held Chicago to just three points in the final three minutes while scoring 18 points of their own. The result was an 83-80 series-clinching victory.

The Heat are now four wins away from claiming the 2011 NBA Championship. Only Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks stand between the Miami Heat All-Star Trio and the completion of their first step of establishing a Miami Heat dynasty.

Mark is a lifelong fan of the NBA who has loved the game of basketball ever since his first trip to an NBA arena. Mark has watched more basketball games than anyone can count and has more than 100 articles about the NBA published on the internet.
Source:yahoo

Scottie Pippen picks greatest player of all time. At the ripe age of 26, LeBron James(notes) has won two MVP awards, he has two NBA Finals appearances, several All-Star berths, and his Miami Heat team will be the odds-on favorite to win the NBA title next week as they prepare to take on the Dallas Mavericks. He also has zero NBA titles.

At the same age, NBA legend Michael Jordan had just as many titles, just as many MVP awards, and his Bulls weren't even the favorites (despite home court advantage) as they prepared to take on the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals.

All this was enough for Jordan teammate and guy-who-should-know Scottie Pippen to toss this out, while appearing on ESPN Radio Friday morning:

"Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to ever play the game. I may go so far as saying LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game."

Whoa, guy. Seriously?

(And is he actually wrong?)

No, James hasn't surpassed Jordan in any meaningful way yet. He hasn't won jack, in comparison to MJ's six titles. He hasn't simultaneously won a Defensive Player of the Year in the same season he led the NBA in scoring, though that might be Dwight Howard's(notes) fault more than anything else. And because James joined the Miami Heat midway through his career, he'll never be looked at as the singular drive behind any championships he earns. After all, when Jordan won his first ring in 1991, Pippen hadn't even made an All-Star team by then.

But parsed correctly, tossing in a "might be" before "the greatest player to ever play the game," and following that with a "when all is said and done," Pip has to be taken seriously, here. James is 26, and he might be the greatest player to ever play the game when all is said and done. A lot of us have felt that for years.

Read More:yahoo

UNC's Barnes responds to Jordan's taunt

North Carolina freshman star Harrison Barnes said Thursday he knows Tar Heels legend Michael Jordan was only kidding when he told him to wear "Jordans" instead of Lakers star Kobe Bryant's Nike shoe.
The video made the rounds earlier this week, showing Jordan talking to the Tar Heel players in Charlotte, N.C., where the team was playing in the NCAA Tournament.

"If I see you in them Kobe Bryants, man, I'm gonna cut you right off," Jordan somewhat joked to Barnes on the video shot by Rivals.com. "I don't care if your feet kill you, you're gonna wear them Jordans."

The Charlotte Bobcats owner then told Barnes he could wear whatever shoes he wanted as long as the team won, but pointed out "you got killed" against Duke in the ACC Tournament final.


"I didn't think it was a big deal," Barnes said Thursday afternoon at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., site of UNC's game with Marquette in the Sweet 16 on Friday. "My teammates all asked if I was going to get cute and wear the (other) Nikes. I know he was only joking, and I'm really comfortable around him."

Barnes came to Carolina with as much fanfare as any previous player in the program's fabled history, including Jordan, whose clutch shot as a freshman gave the Tar Heels the 1982 national championship. The irony is that Barnes has been compared to Jordan since before he signed with North Carolina in 2009, which is something he has embraced with open arms. His affinity for all things Jordan has been documented, and is real.

The Iowa native might be only 19 years old, but he grew up watching videos of Jordan that his mother spent years taping. He studied Jordan, from his mannerisms to his professionalism, and has aspired to discover the same level of intensity and focus that carried Jordan to six NBA world championships, five MVP awards, and a wildly successful business career off the court.

"I grew up watching his games on tape," Barnes said. "I really didn't watch cartoons or a lot of kids shows, I watched basketball, mostly tapes of his games. I think I eventually started connecting with them."
For a while in high school, Barnes, who is nearly 6-foot-9, listed himself as 6-foot-6 because that was Jordan's height during his days with the Chicago Bulls.

After all was said and done, Jordan promised the team he would get them his rare brand of shoe, Air Jordan 11 Retro "Cool Greys" if they advance to the Final Four. As the school's contracted shoe provider, everything would fall within NCAA rules.

Barnes said Jordan changed his mind after the camera stopped running.

"He said Final Four, but then he said if we beat Washington, and we beat Washington, and I haven't seen them," Barnes said. "So, if I ever see him again, I'll ask him about them (the shoes)."

Source:Foxsports

Missouri basketball head coach Mike Anderson may not renew his contract with the school. According to sources, Anderson has decided to take on the head coaching job at this school.

Source:Specials

Danica not happy after wreck at Bristol
With 53 laps to go in Saturday’s Nationwide race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Patrick made contact with Ryan Truex. Patrick’s car spun hard into the wall – first the nose, then the rear, leaving her with a destroyed race car.
After getting out of her car, Patrick waited for the cars to come back around. When they did, Patrick walked onto the track, located Truex and spread her arms apart as if to say, “What gives?”

“It felt like to me – I came out of the corner I was just running down the straight and it felt like he came off the wall,” said Patrick, who was running 17th at the time, two laps down. “I don’t I know if he had a tank-slap off the wall, like he was pushing up and then it snapped on him and he came off. I don’t know. I don’t know if I may be giving him the benefit of the doubt right there.”

Upon first look it didn’t appear as though Truex did anything wrong. It looked liked Patrick got loose, slipped up the track and into Truex’s rear bumper. But the head-on replay does show Truex turning slightly into Patrick’s lane.

“It was my fault. I guess that’s just racing at Bristol,” Truex said. “We were racing there and I just came off the corner, got loose, and as I was saving it just came down the hill and got into her. My fault. I mean, I’m sorry. I didn’t want for that to happen. I don’t know if she thinks I did it on purpose. I guess she’s just mad because she was running good. It was an accident. I apologize.”


Regardless of fault, it was a tough way for Patrick to end this portion of her Nationwide schedule. She’d finished in the top 20 in her first three races, including a career-best fourth-place run two weeks ago at Las Vegas.

She ended up 33rd at Bristol.

Now, she heads back to her day job in IndyCar. Patrick’s next Nationwide race is June 4 at Chicagoland Speedway.

“I’m just disappointed,” she said. “I felt like this was a pretty decent run at Bristol for the first time. … It’s disappointing to leave for a couple of months with this kind of a thing.”

Kyle Busch won the race, his fourth straight win at Bristol across both the Nationwide and Cup series.






Read More: Yahoo

For the sixth consecutive year, Real Madrid tops the Deloitte Football Money League, and in doing so, became the highest earning sports team ever, reports Business Insider. Despite not winning any trophies, the club's earnings jumped from $541 million for the 2008/09 season to $592 million for the 2009/10 season, enabling them to continue funding Cristiano Ronaldo's most extravagant purchases. Like exclusive yet unenforcable baby rights.

Barcelona came in right behind Real for the second straight year (even though the standings were the other way around in La Liga) and the first time ever, the combined earnings of Deloitte's 20-club Money League topped $5.4 billion.

By comparison, the top earning NFL team, the Dallas Cowboys, made $420 million according to Forbes and the top earning MLB team, the New York Yankees, made $441 million. That would only put them fifth and fourth, respectively, in Deloitte's list of football clubs.

The biggest chunk of Real Madrid's revenue came from their ongoing $1.4 billion TV rights deal, but they also make nearly as much from numerous sponsorships and matchday earnings. And if there's one thing Real like more than making money, it's spending it. Over the last decade, they've spent more than $1 billion on player transfers as they keep breaking their own transfer records for individual players to fill out club president Florentino Perez's live-action fantasy team.

Here's the full Football Money League top 20...

1. Real Madrid -- $592 million
2. Barcelona -- $537 million
3. Manchester United -- $472 million
4. Bayern Munich -- $436 million
5. Arsenal -- $370 million
6. Chelsea -- $345 million
7. AC Milan -- $318 million
8. Liverpool -- $308 million
9. Inter Milan -- $303 million
10. Juventus -- $277 million
11. Manchester City -- $206 million
12. Tottenham Hotspur -- $198 million
13. Hamburger SV -- $197 million
14. Lyon -- $197 million
15. Marseille -- $190 million
16. Schalke 04 -- $189 million
17. Atletico Madrid -- $168 million
18. Roma -- $166 million
19. Stuttgart -- $155 million
20. Aston Villa -- $148 million

Fun, right? Well, it's not so much when you look at how quickly those earnings disappear. As the Andersred Blog points out, just one of the seven English clubs on Deloitte's list turned a profit (Arsenal). Barcelona had to take out a loan to pay player wages last summer and Real's debt is in the hundreds of millions. So keep that in mind when imagining club executives diving into warehouse-sized safes full of gold coins like Scrooge McDuck.
Read More: Yahoo