We’ve all tried to compare basketball greats of yesterday, with those of today. Who would win in a 1-on-1 matchup? Lucky for our generation, we were able to witness arguably the greatest basketball player Michael Jordan play. And in this recent clip, someone yelled out and asked the question, who would win, Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan? His Airness replied:

“Kobe would win because I’m older. In my prime? Not even a contest. Lets just say I have a better chance of stopping him, than him stopping me.”

Check out the clip of Jordan performing in front of this group of kids at UCSB.

Finally when someone asks Jordan to dunk, he gives the people what they came for. It’s a bit long, but you’ll live.

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I know I wasn’t the only one who was a bit freaked out last night from the Yankees and Red Sox pregame show on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

I couldn’t understand why I was not paying attention to the commentators, then it hit me. It was because I was trying to figure out what was going on with Orel Hershiser’s nose. Then last night I woke up in a cold sweat from a nightmare from Orel’s haunting, Satanic face. I swear the man looks he’s going to jump up and bite my ankles.

With the high angle ESPN was using to shoot these guys, it made me think of Orel as a little rottweiler and Jim Miller kind of looked like the little Keebler elf without his little, funny hat.

Great, now I want a cookie. Be right back.

After all, the talk leading up to the home run derby was primarily about the players who chose not to participate in the fan favorite event. New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez was too busy playing prima donna to hit a few home runs on his home field. All-time home run leader Barry Bonds can’t even find a major league team to take him at the veteran’s minimum.

Then, as magically as his dream foretold, Hamilton put on a show that baseball fans will be talking about for a very long time. In the house that Ruth built, in the last year Yankee Stadium will exist in its current form, Hamilton laid the foundation for the post-steroids era.

Let’s face it; this year’s all-star game was supposed to be a game that the casual baseball fan didn’t care about. Baseball was at a crossroads between the stars of the steroids-era-past and the young, talented players that had yet to breach mainstream stardom.

Or so we all thought. Hamilton blasted 28 home runs in the first round of the home run derby, surpassing the Bobby Abreu mark of 24 set back in 2005. The average length of each of his home runs was an astounding 445 feet, with three landing beyond 500 feet.

Hamilton would eventually lose in the finals to Justin Morneau, but as Hamilton would probably agree, sometimes the beauty is in the process. You see, a few years ago Hamilton was banned from Major League Baseball for substance abuse and was an admitted drug addict. The 1999 first overall pick was walking down a dangerous path and slowly wasting away, quite literally at points.

Eventually, however, he would get his life back together. After a vivid dream in which he says Jesus helped him fight off the devil, Hamilton started to get clean. The MLB would eventually reinstate him, and in 2007 the Cincinnati Reds drafted him.

Which brought us to Monday night, when a 27-year-old who two years earlier had a dream of being interviewed at a home run derby at Yankee Stadium, stepped to the plate and had all of us asking just who the heck Josh Hamilton is? He didn’t have the name recognition of previous home run derby notables like Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa or Mark McGwire, but he left with one of the most remarkable stories you’ll ever hear in sports: the story of a troubled man who struggled in his life and managed to defy the odds.

A man who overcame addiction and literally lived his dream, in the process helping rebuild the tarnished image of baseball in the aftermath of the Barry Bonds’ and Jose Canseco’s of the past. Maybe this year’s all-star festivities weren’t what we expected them to be, but they were better than any of us, with the exception of Hamilton, could have ever dreamt they would be.

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The Milwaukee Brewers aren’t the only ones pulling off big deals.

The Chicago Cubs responded to the C.C. Sabathia trade by trading for an ace themselves. The Cubs acquired Rich Harden from the Oakland Athletics, hoping to bolster their starting rotation. In exchange for Harden and righty Chad Gaudin, the A’s got pitcher Sean Gallagher, outfielders Matt Murton and Eric Patterson, and minor leaguer John Donaldson.

With such high powered offenses such as the Philadelphia Phillies and the Milwaukee Brewers all vying for a postseason run, the Cubs needed an extra arm to team up with Carlos Zambrano in the rotation.

Despite Harden’s battle with injuries the past six seasons, Harden is a proven winner and can help the Cubs reach their ultimate goal.

But there is no pressure on Harden. He was only brought in to help break a World Series curse that spans 100 years.

Harden is 5-1 this season with a 2.34 ERA.

Source: Fox Sports

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It looks like C.C. Sabathia is headed to the Brewers.

With the trade deadline inching closer, teams in contention have been looking for that extra piece to get to the World Series and it looks like Milwaukee Brewers were the ones willing to give up the most for this major player.

The Cleveland Indians gave up Sabathia in exchange for Class AA outfielder Matt LaPorta, Class AAA left-hander Zach Jackson, Class A right-hander Rob Bryson and a player to be named later.

The Brewers were just one of six teams that were in the Sabathia sweepstakes, which included the Dodgers, who just couldn’t give the Indians what they wanted in return for the CY Young winner.

The Brewers currently are three and a half games behind the Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central and would win the Wild Card spot if it had to be determined today. A one-two punch of Sabathia and Ben Sheets could very well be a good combo for the Brewers matching up against other top teams. That is if Sheets can remain healthy.

The Brewers though are going to try to drain every ounce of talent out of Sabathia because next year he will become a free agent where he’ll easily ask for $20 to $25 million per year on a new contract expected to be around six years. That could be too steep for a ball club looking to retain players such as Prince Fielder.

For the Brewers sake and for how much they’re giving up, let’s hope this deal works out for them. If not, then this could be a hard bullet to swallow for many years.

Source: Fox Sports

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Although divorce papers have not been filed, Cynthia Rodriguez has been spotted in Paris hanging out with her own rocker: Lenny Kravitz.

Not bad Cynthia.

Rumors were already swirling about A-Rod’s downward spiraling marriage after he’s been seen paying late night visits to Madonna since Tuesday. And that’s not the first time he was seen with the Material Girl. He was even spotted in Miami with her as early as a day after his daughter was born on April 21.

You’d think that Rodriguez would have tried to clean up his act a bit after he was spotted last year with stripper Joslyn Morse. Many thought his wife would have left him then, but instead, she got pregnant.

What I want to know if why Rodriguez is going for a much older Madonna, who is closing in on 50, while A-Rod is only 32.

Technically since she is almost 20 years older than Alex, does this situation count her as a cougar?

Source: NY Post

After many and highly publicized attempts to bring Barry Bonds’ record breaking home run ball to the baseball Hall of Fame, it looks like Marc Ecko has finally gave in.

The fashion designer donated the ball, home run number 756, to Cooperstown yesterday after a long day of back and forth negotiations, where Ecko had originally just wanted to give the ball to the Hall as a loan. But since the Hall did not want to receive the moment in history as a loan, they declined until Ecko agreed to give the ball as an “unconditional donation.” And a very expensive one at that.

For those of you who don’t remember, Ecko originally bought the ball in an online auction in September for $752,467. Man, what it must be like to blow away that much cash on a baseball.

Anyways, after the purchase, Ecko had asked fans to vote in an Internet poll about what he should do with the ball and this was the verdict: Brand the ball with an asterisk and send it to the Hall.

And, as instructed by the people, Ecko branded the ball, despite Barry Bonds saying he would boycott the Hall if they displayed the ball with an asterisk.

Well, it looks like Ecko is going to hold true to the second part of the deal.

Lets see if Bonds is a man of his word.

Source: SI

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It looks like former Major Leaguer Lenny Dykstra can’t stand living in his huge mansion, so it’s time to unload.

The little, fireball formerly referred to as “Nails” is trying to sell his home for about $25 million, even though it is worth closer to $27 million. The reason? It’s just too big.

“It’s a compound; it’s not a house,” said Dykstra, the former All-Star outfielder. “I can go for a couple of days and not see any other family members. I found out I had a tennis court I didn’t know I had. And I had to buy it completely furnished. I couldn’t afford to buy furniture to fill this place. Are you kidding me?”

Really Lenny? You didn’t know there was a tennis court on the lot? Did you not bother to take a little trot around the compound to see what you were getting into? Did you just think the little, tennis fairies miraculously put a tennis court on your lawn? I didn’t know it until now, but apparently mass amounts of chewing tobacco causes brain damage and hallucinations.

So how big is the house formerly owned by Wayne Gretzy? It spreads out to a spacious 12,713 square feet, with eight bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a screening room.

So if you’re looking to buy a home around the Sherwood Country Club in LA, check out this Sotheby’s listing.

Source: Deadspin

If your vote isn’t part of the 100 million votes MLB.com tallied upon June 18th, then you only have one more weeks to vote for your favorite MLB player for the 2008 All Star Game. Voting ends midnight on Wednesday, July 8th.

Vote here!

Check out the history of the MLB online voting process here. It’s pretty cool how it has evolved.

Image Source: MLB Blogs Network

The Cubs swept the White Sox & the Angels swept the Phillies.  K-Rod made a new record for the most saves in 76 games. Vlad hit 3 homers in the series, two in one game.  I was getting a little worried about Vlad for a second to be honest.  Phew!      

Spain will go to the Euro 2008 semi-finals after defeating Italy in a penalty shootout.  They will face off against Russia June 26th.

The roster is set for the USA Olympic basketball team!  Check out if your favorite NBA star made the cut at NBA.com.

Candace Parker dunks this weekend and becomes the 2nd women to dunk in the WNBA. 

Watch the video here.

Source: AngelsBaseball.com, ESPN.com, NBA.com