Forbes: 11 NBA teams now worth over $1B Updated: January 21, 2015, 8:37 PM ET By Darren Rovell | ESPN.com Boosted by Steve Ballmer's league-record $2 billion purchase of the Los Angeles Clippers, the franchise values of NBA teams rose an average of 72 percent in one year, according to new estimates released by Forbes on Wednesday. That's the biggest one-year value gain since Forbes … [Read more...]
Top Blue Jays prospect willingly lives in a van by the ocean
Top Blue Jays prospect willingly lives in a van by the ocean The beautiful thing about professional baseball players is that no two of them are wired the same way. Though they all obviously share the same goal, which is to reach the major leagues and stay there for as long as possible, each has a distinct personality and a different approach to physically and mentally prepare for baseball's … [Read more...]
Rising Stars Challenge will now pit USA vs. the World
Rising Stars Challenge will now pit USA vs. the World NBA All-Star Weekend is often an exercise in disappointment, with high-profile events like the dunk contest and All-Star Game itself failing to provide the thrills and drama we have seen in the past. One event, though, is pretty much always what it claims to be — the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge, sometimes known as the Rookie Game … [Read more...]
Michael Jordan tearfully accepts a local Charlotte ‘Business Person of the Year’ (Video)
Michael Jordan tearfully accepts a local Charlotte 'Business Person of the Year' (Video) Michael Jordan, famously, turned a celebration centered on his legendary basketball career into a petty, spite-heavy, and ultimately cruel affair designed on taking down those who Jordan says wronged him. Michael Jordan, famously, does not talk to one-time good friend Charles Barkley because Barkley … [Read more...]
Saves and Steals: All Team Bullpen Audit
Saves and Steals: All Team Bullpen Audit Max Scherzer has signed, leaving James Shields as the most notable free agent on the market. If you were to form a top 10 list of the remaining free agents, it would read Shields, perhaps Everth Cabrera, and a handful of former closers. That's right, we're still waiting to learn where Francisco Rodriguez, Rafael Soriano, and Casey Janssen will call home. … [Read more...]
Topps is releasing baseball cards of celebrity first pitches
Topps is releasing baseball cards of celebrity first pitches Topps, in its continuing effort to pop culture-ize the baseball-card game, is making cards of 15 "celebrities" who threw out first pitches at MLB parks in 2014. Considering Topps created cards with the cast of "Major League" last year, this isn't entirely surprising. The news comes via baseball-card bible Beckett, which tells us … [Read more...]
Rose: Bonds, Clemens belong in Hall of Fame
Rose: Bonds, Clemens belong in Hall of Fame Pete Rose says Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens would have his Hall of Fame vote. (USATSI) Earlier this month, the 2015 Hall of Fame class was announced, and once again no players with some sort of connection -- real or speculative -- to performance-enhancing drugs were voted into Cooperstown. That includes Roger Clemens and all-time home run king Barry … [Read more...]
Yankees minor league team brags baseball are ‘never deflated’
Yankees minor league team brags baseball are 'never deflated' With the sports world oozing hot air about the NFL's so-called Deflate-gate scandal, the person behind the Twitter account of the Single-A Staten Island Yankees used the controversy to publish one of those "neiner, neiner, baseball is better than football" proclamations. Warning, stunning observation ahead about balls that aren't … [Read more...]
A-Rod working out with HR king Barry Bonds
A-Rod working out with HR king Barry Bonds Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who sat out in 2014 due to a season-long suspension, has been training with Barry Bonds in the Bay Area, according to SFGate.com. Bonds is the all-time leader in home runs with 762. Rodriguez recently posted two photos on Instagram of him swinging a bat with the caption: "Starting the year in the cage.” The photos … [Read more...]
Alex Rodriguez has an interesting new trainer: Barry Bonds
Alex Rodriguez has an interesting new trainer: Barry Bonds As he gears up to return to the Yankees for the 2015 season after his yearlong suspension for PED use, Alex Rodriguez has turned to another controversial steroid-tainted superstar to help him get ready. According to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle Rodriguez has spent time working out with Barry Bonds in the Bay Area at the … [Read more...]