• Curt Schilling bounced the Game 5 first pitch and then J.D. Drew helped Boston bounce the series back to Tampa

Sox and Dawgs provides this video of an $8 million bounced first pitch by Curt Schilling. I’ll give Schill a little slack since he had surgery, but his toss seemed like an omen after B.J. Upton took Dice-K deep for a two-run shot in the first inning.

I know the Boston Red Sox have given us incredible comebacks in playoffs past, but at 7-0, I had written the Nation off. I was only watching the game to see how many runs Tampa Bay would score en route to clinching their first trip to the World Series. Then it happened.

The Boston Red Sox came up with the clutch hits and big home runs we’ve become accustomed to from them and pulled off the greatest postseason comeback since 1929. Strangely, the same year as the great stock market crash.

Dustin Pedroia got things started with a single in the seventh to score Jed Lowrie, a run that at time seemed like it would serve no purpose other than preventing the Sox from being shutout in their final game of the season. It ended up being the snowball that started the avalanche.

From there on it was just like old times. David Ortiz found his stroke and jacked a three-run shot to pull Boston within three at 7-4. Johnathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless eighth after giving up two runs in the seventh, and J.D. Drew clutched up with a two-run homer in the eighth and the game winning single in the ninth. The J.D. Drew clutching up is new, but the Sox pulling off miracles isn’t. It’s hard to believe that this team was considered the Chicago Cubs of the American League earlier this decade.

Does this win get the Red Sox rolling to the World Series? Probably. The Tampa Bay Rays are a young team, and a loss like this could ruin them for the rest of the series. Luckily for T.B., James Shields is locked for Game 6 which gives them their best chance of winning. If Boston forces a Game 7, get ready for a Red Sox-Phillies World Series.

I don’t remember this story getting much play at the time, but the fellas from The Heater talked to Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays about “EvanLongoria.com” being available on EBay for $25,000. Longoria didn’t think much of his name being auctioned off in August.

Longoria laughed when he heard about it Friday. “That’s weird,” he said. “And kind of funny. What are they going to come up with next? I guess it’s a good idea if you’re the guy selling it. He beat me to the punch.”

It turns the seller, Dave Pierce, is also the owner of online ticket brokerage eSellout.com, and he didn’t sell the website. He still owns EvanLongoria.com but it points to eSellout.com.

Pierce commented on the original EvanLongoria.com for sale post in an attempt to justify jacking somebody’s name and trying to flip it for 25 grand.

If someone is willing to update and create content on an Evan Longoria fan page I would be willing to listen. To this date I never found anyone so I thought about selling. -Dave

I’d like to congratulate Pierce for being a moron and a genius. He’s a moron for slanging tickets off of Evan Longoria’s name but he’s a genius for introducing this new marketing strategy.

All the corporations have to do is align themselves with athletes that fit their image. It shouldn’t be hard. Here’s three I came up with in two seconds. EddyCurry.com, MattJones.com, or TravisHenry.com. OK, the last one doesn’t work, but you see where I’m going with this.

The Los Angeles Angels became the first team to clinch a playoff berth with a 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Wednesday. Angels outfielder Torii Hunter put on some goggles and got his Michael Phelps on to celebrate the American League West title.

That’s classic. I can’t wait to see what Hunter does if the Angels win it all.

It was an all-around good day for Torii Hunter. The Angels earned a playoff spot, and a winner was chosen in the “Make a Torii Hunter Theme Song” contest. Ludacris was on hand to announce that “The Love of The Game” by Ripchord was the winner.

Here’s Torii on a conference call with Luda about the theme song:

This video was shot by a Lakers’ fan at halftime of game one of the Western Conference finals.. The game in which the Lakers pulled off a 20 point second half comeback, and crushed San Antonio’s spirit. The Spurs never recovered from the collapse, but was it because of the heckling? Probably not. I don’t think Parker was shook-up over being told to go back to France, and Bowen and Horry already know a lot of people think they’re dirty. San Antonio was simply out hustled by Los Angeles, and outplayed by Kobe Bryant.

Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry, Tony Parker, video, San Antonio Spurs, youtube

David Stern is on a mission to make the NBA a global league, and he gave us a glimpse of his European expansion plans earlier this year. In 2007 the league appointed Timothy Chen, the former head of Microsoft’s China division, to oversee NBA China. Although the Chinese market represents the fastest growing group of NBA fans, the broadcast of playoff games have been suspended.

The official word is that the games are being put on hold while the country is mourning the earthquake victims. Of course, this is the NBA, so conspiracy theories can’t be far behind. From Danwei:

Neither the newspaper nor SARFT’s media administrator has offered an explanation for the suspension. The only official explanation came from Jiang Heping, director of CCTV’s Olympic Channel, who said that the NBA was “too entertaining” for this special time when the country is mourning for the victims of the earthquake.

It seems that many have found Mr Jiang’s explanation unconvincing; people tend to believe that there has been a ban issued on broadcasting NBA games. There are a number of alternate theories on the internet, all highly speculative: Some people are arguing the ban is politically-motivated ?some NBA players have been protesting the role the Chinese government plays in Darfur?while the others think politics is unlikely the issue. After all, the last time NBA was banned in China was in 1999, after an American missile hit China’s embassy in Yugoslavia, and relations with the US are not nearly as tense as they were then.

The Beijing News also ran an article today about the NBA ban. In the article, an insider from CCTV is quoted as saying that NBA broadcasts will resume on June 6, though no official orders have been announced to the public. The article also refers to NBA’s announcement on May 28 of a 14 million-yuan donation to China’s earthquake relief.

I don’t know why the NBA game broadcasts have been suspended. To me, a little entertainment might be a good to help ease the pain of such a tragic event. And I’m willing to bet everything I’ve got that if Yao Ming and the Rockets were playing not only would the games be shown, they’d probably be on a continuous loop.

NBA broadcasting suspended in China. Courtesy of Danwei

NBA, China, playoffs, broadcast

When I first read that Artest was gonna interview Kobe I pictured some uncomfortable, fake conversation between to jocks playing nice for the cameras. There is a little of that, but there’s also a real mutual respect between Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest… And a little infatuation on Ron-Ron’s part.

The highlights:

*Ron Artest only respects Tim Duncan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant.
*Kobe is a family man.
*Artest played against Kobe as a teenager. Kobe was called “The Next Grant Hill”.
*Dwyane Wade complains about Ron’s defense.
*Kobe’s still lighting up the Toronto Raptors.
*Kobe is a family man.
*Kobe is a family man.

Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, video, interview, youtube

They say if you don’t believe in yourself, nobody will believe in you. Pitcher Scott Kazmir of the Tampa Bay Rays apparently believes that adage. Kazmir told Tampa radio hosts Fisher and Boy that he expected 20 wins for himself and that the team is thinking postseason or bust. The hosts quickly called Kazmir on his claims and Scott laughed, but I hope he wasn’t kidding. For one, it’s time for somebody other than the Red Sox or Yankees to win the division. For two, I can’t wait for the conversation between Joe Buck and Tim McCarver when they try to explain what the Rays bullpen coach is doing in this video.

Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays, pitcher, video, youtube, interview

The Charlotte Bobcats have filled their coaching vacancy by hiring the nomad Larry Brown and former coach Sam Vincent should be pissed off. I know the organization took a chance on Vincent.. Hiring him without experience.. Giving him a break.. I get that but Michael Jordan wanted Larry Brown all along and should’ve gotten the deal done last year instead of ruining Sam Vincent’s future coaching opportunities. Nobody’s gonna hire a guy that went 32-50 in his only season and supposedly didn’t get along with the players.. Even if he had a young and inexperienced team.

As for Larry Brown.. His mom lives in Charlotte and he’s partnering up with a Tarheel.. That’s the good news. Unfortunately for anyone on the Bobcat’s roster Brown is notorious for shaking things up and not being high on young players. Charlotte would’ve made the playoffs if they had won six more games so I’m expecting Larry Brown to get them to the playoffs next season.

Jordan reportedly bringing in Brown as next Cats coach. Courtesy of ESPN

Larry Brown, Charlotte Bobcats, new coach, NBA

The funniest subplot in the NBA playoffs keeps getting better and better. LeBron James beefing with DeShawn Stevenson and Soulja Boy was good stuff. Now, even though he has no business stooping to something so low, Jay-Z has jumped into the fight.. What the hell is Jay-Z doing recording a diss track about a basketball player? Is he an owner, or LeBron’s bodyguard? I predicted that Soulja Boy would make a LeBron James diss track, but I never thought Jay-Z would get involved.

The best part of the Jay-Z DeShawn Stevenson diss track is when it debuted. Jigga recorded this on Friday, and got it to LeBron and crew in D.C. by Friday night. The Cavs were hanging out at Love, a D.C. area nightclub that also happened to host Gilbert Arenas’ 25th birthday party last year. The DJ played the track, and afterwards Damon Jones got on the mic and said a few things about DeShawn Stevenson, all with the Wizard’s Caron Butler in the building… The NBA, Where LeBron says he has no need to respond to DeShawn Stevenson but gets his big buddy Jay-Z to diss him anyways happens.

Download Jay-Z ‘Blow The Whistle’ DeShawn Stevenson Diss

Jay-Z – Blow The Whistle (DeShawn Stevenson Diss). Courtesy of RealTalkNY

Stevenson. James. Now Jay-Z? This spat is getting serious. Courtesy of the Washington Post

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Jay-Z, LeBron James, DeShawn Stevenson, Blow The Whistle, diss track

In a game that featured a near fight and Gilbert Arenas draining deep 3s, LeBron James stole the show. Not only was the throw down crazy, the team and arena needed it. Washington had grabbed control of the game to that point, and LeBron took it from them with one dunk. Even DeShawn Stevenson would have to give the King his due for this jam.

A little longer with different angles and worse quality.

Tags: LeBron James>, Alley Oop, video, youtube, Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards