MLB Trade Deadline Central

Rangers Acquire Soto
Texas upgrades at catcher, getting Geovany Soto from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for minor league pitcher Jake Brigham.
Rangers Acquire Dempster
Texas also upgrades its rotation, after finding out Neftali Feliz will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery, getting pitcher Ryan Dempster from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for minor league 3B Christian Villanueva and pitcher Kyle Hendricks.
Giants Get Pence
San Francisco bolsters its outfield, acquiring OF Hunter Pence from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for OF Nate Schierholtz and minor league C Tommy Joseph. Pence lasted just one year in Philadelphia after the Phillies got him from the Astros last season at the deadline.
Dodgers Acquire Victorino
LA gets OF Shane Victorino from the Phillies in exchange for pitcher Josh Lindblom and minor league picther Ethan Martin.
Reds Acquire Broxton
Cincinnati gets reliever Jonathan Broxton from the Kansas City Royals in exchane for minor league pitcher Donnie Joseph and J.C. Sulbaran.
Braves Get Maholm, Johnson
Atlanta bolsters its rotation and bench, acquiring southpaw Paul Maholm and outfielder Reed Johnson for two minor league pitchers.
Dodgers Acquire League
LA bolsters its bullpen, getting reliever Brandon League from the Mariners in exchange for two minor leaguers.
Pirates Get Sanchez
Pittsburgh acquires 1B Gaby Sanchez and minor league pitcher Kyle Kaminska from the Florida Marlins in exchange for OF Gorkys Hernandez.
Yankees Acquire McGehee
The Bronx bombers get corner infielder Casey McGehee from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for reliever Chad Qualls.
Red Sox Get Breslow
The Boston Red Sox obtain southpaw Craig Breslow from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for OF Scott Podsednik and righty Matt Albers.

USA Rolls over France

In their first Olympic game in London, Team USA basketball was on cruise control from the 2nd quarter onward, as they beat France by 27 points, 98-71. 

Kevin Durant led the USA with 22 points and 9 rebounds, while Kevin Love added 14 off the bench for the Americans, who beat up a French national team with six NBA players, including all-star PG Tony Parker.

But the French just couldn't hit a three-pointer to save their lives, shooting 2 for 22 from behind the arc, while turning the ball over 18 times.

Team USA next plays Tunisia Tuesday night in London, while France prepares for a showdown with Argentina.

Lochte Wins Gold in 400 IM, Phelps 4th

It wasn't a surprise that reigning world champion Ryan Lochte won the gold medal at the 400 meter individual medley final in London today. He has been the best swimmer in the world for the last two years, and blew away the field in the final today, winning the final meet with a time of 4:05.18.

"This is my year," said Lochte, who popped in his grillz -- diamond-studded mouth jewelry -- for the victory ceremony. "I know it and I feel it, because I've put in hard work. I've trained my butt off for four years ... and there's no better way to start this Olympics off than getting gold."

Brazil's Thiago Pereira (4:08.86) and Japan's Kosuke Hagino (4:08.94) took the silver and bronze, respectively, and Michael Phelps, who won a record eight-gold medals four years ago at Beijing, finished fourth with a time of 4:09.28. 

"It's frustrating, that's all I can say. It's pretty upsetting," Phelps said. "The biggest thing now is to try to look forward. I have a bunch of other races, and hopefully we can finish a lot better than how we started."

Six Years

Today my blog, The Sports Scene, turns six years old. It's scary how fast time has flown by since I started this blog back in the dark ages of 2006.  The fact that what had been a way of relieving boredom during the summertime has lasted this long and been so successful is truly amazing to me. From the great success this blog had on AOL (350 posts, 51000 visitors, #4 ranked blog), to the amount of viewers (nearly 12000) it has had since I moved to Blogger in March of 2009, I would like to thank my readers for coming back.

Just in the past year, I've had almost 5000 page views, including 62 views for my 2012 NL Central Preview and 44 views for my Super Bowl XLVI Preview. In addition, I have had consistent page views from Russia and Germany! In addition, I once again joined Peter Berger on the final year of his online radio show and broadcast both the Black Friday showdown between #1 LSU and #3 Arkansas and as well as the BCS National Championship Game.

Anyway, once again, thank you to everyone and continue to visit, comment, and email, and look for another great year in superb sports coverage, including substantial coverage of the Olympics coming up!

Ernie Els Wins British Open

In a stunning finish at the Open Championship at Lyntham St. Annes, England, Ernie Els wins his fourth major, and second British Open after third round leader Adam Scott blows a four shot lead with four holes to play by finishing with four straight bogies.

Els, who last won the Open Championship ten years ago at Muirfield, started Sunday's final round six shots behind Scott. But, he played a flawless back nine, birdieing the 18th hole to move to -7 under before watching Scott collapse.

"I'm a little numb at the moment," said Els, who was on the practice green behind the clubhouse when he won. "First of all, I feel for Adam Scott. He's a great friend of mine. Obviously, we both wanted to win very badly. But you know, that's the nature of the beast."

Tiger Woods finished a distance third, shooting a 3-over 73 and could never recover after he triple bogeyed the sixth hole.

Federer Wins His 7th Wimbledon

For a while, it looked as if Britain's 76 year old drought would be over. But, after the first set went to the hometown hero, it was all vintage Federer.

30-year old Roger Federer won his seventh Wimbledon title, tied with Pete Sampras for the most all-time, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 over Andy Murray at the All-England Club today.

It had been three long years since Federer last won at the grass courts in England, in 2009, when he beat American Andy Roddick in a classic. But through hard work and determination, the man with the most majors in history (now with 17), is once again, the world #1, after beating Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, and watching Rafael Nadal lose in the first round of the tournament.

"It's amazing. It equals me with Pete Sampras, who's my hero," said Federer, who lost in the quarterfinals at the All England Club in 2010 and '11. "It just feels amazing."

For Murray, his string of no-luck at Grand Slam finals continues, as he falls to 0-4 in championship matches. But the scoreline doesn't do his play justice, as he played his heart out in spite of all the pressure.

"I played better this time in the final, and that's the main thing," Murray said. "It's not an easy tournament for British players in many ways, but I think I dealt with all of the extra things away from the tournament pretty well, better than maybe I had done in the past."

NBA Free Agency Central

UPDATE: 12:29 PM 7/6/12
Nash to Lakers
In a sign and trade, Nash joins Kobe Bryant in the Lakers backcourt on a three year, $25 million deal. In exchange, the Suns gets two first round picks and two second round picks in return.
Nets Resign Deron
The Brooklyn Nets resign all-star PG Deron Williams to a reported five year, $100 million deal. This comes after the Nets had acquired SG Joe Johnson from the Hawks in exchange for Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, Anthony Morrow, Deshawn Stevenson, and a future first round pick.
Suns Sign Gordon
Hornets restricted Free agent SG Eric Gordon has agreed to sign with the Suns on a four year, $58 million contract. New Orleans has until July 11 to match.
Raptors Acquire Lowry
My hometown Rockets start the rebuilding process, trading away all-star caliber PG Kyle Lowry to the Toronto Raptors for forward Gary Forbes and a future first round pick.
Clippers Sign Crawford
LA signs veteran guard Jamal Crawford to a three year deal to replace Mo Williams, who was traded to Utah in the deal to acquire forward Lamar Odom.
Knicks Sign Kidd
In a shocker, PG Jason Kidd has agreed to sign with the New York Knicks, choosing to leave Dallas.
Roy Signs with Timberwolves
One year after retiring because of chronic knee problems, former All-Star guard Brandon Roy has decided to make a comeback, signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves on a two year, $10.4 million deal.

Happy Independence Day

HAPPY JULY FOURTH everyone. Today, our country is 236 years old. I hope everyone will enjoy the fireworks tonight and stay cool.

Earlier today, Joey Chestnut successful defended his title to win his sixth Nathan's Hotdog Eating Contest, downing 68 hotdogs in 10 minutes.


Also, at Wimbledon, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic won their respective quarterfinal matches in straight sets and will face each other in what should be a great semifinal on Friday.

If you're in front of a TV tonight, check out an American League matchup between the West leading Texas Rangers and the Central leading Chicago White Sox at 7:10 PM ET on ESPN.

MLB All-Star Snubs

I finally understand why this All-Star Game is such a joke. Yes, the injustice that home-field advantage in the World Series is decided over an exhibition baseball game is bad. But, put that aside, the selection process is a joke.

The average baseball fan, no offense, is CLUELESS about selecting All-Star players. This isn't their fault, of course: there are just simply too many games, too many teams, too many players to keep track of every single statistic in every game over a season.

But seriously? Mike Napoli, who is hitting .238, is the STARTING all-star catcher for the American League? Give me a break. But instead of going all negative and saying, who is an All-Star and should not have been (other than the obvious, Napoli), let me list out those who are deserving and got snubbed.

1. Edwin Encarnacion, Toronto Blue Jays, DH, .289 AVG, 22 HR, 55 RBI, .936 OPS
He had a tough matchup at starting DH against fan-favorite Big Pappi, who is having a great year himself, but to leave him off the team completely is beyond me in favor of Adam Dunn is beyond me. I don't care how many homeruns you've hit, if your batting average is .210, you should not be an All-Star. He's been the best Blue Jay hitter this year by far (better than starting OF Jose Bautista) and those numbers speak for themselves.
2. Jason Kipnis, Cleveland Indians, 2B, .275 AVG, 11 HR, 46 RBI, 19 SB
Kipnis is one of the main reasons the Indians are in contention this year, albeit in a weak AL Central. But his team's record aside, Kipnis leads all AL-second basemen in RBI with 46 and steals.
3. A.J. Pierzynski, Chicago White Sox, C, .285 AVG, 14 HR, 45 RBI
Sure, Pierzynski is not well-liked, but can you deny the production this guy has put up? Put his numbers next to Napoli's (.238, 12 HR, 30 RBI) and it's not even close.

As far as the Final Vote candidates, I'll take Michael Bourn of the Atlanta Braves in the NL (.307, 7 HR, 29 RBI, 22 steals) and Jake Peavy of the Chicago White Sox (6-5, 2.96 ERA, 4 CG, 101 K).

Spain Wins Euro 2012

What a performance by the Spanish in the Euro 2012 Final today in Kiev, Ukraine, as they overwhelm Italy 4-0 to win their third straight major title (after 08 Euro and 2010 World Cup).

La Roja cement themselves as maybe the best team ever, as they used clinical finishing to take a 2-0 halftime lead, despite the Italians getting more possession of the ball. Other than a splendid header by David Silva in the 14th and Xavi slipping perfect ball through to Jordi Alba, the Azzuri actually dictated the tempo more often in the first half.

But in the second half, after Thiago Motta, who was Italy's final substitution, came up lame, forcing the Azzuri to 10-men, it was over, as substitutes Fernando Torres and Juan Mata put the game out of reach with waning moment goals.