Misty spoke with me on behalf of Stouffer’s, and she’s encouraging couples to “Put the Two Back in Tuesdays” by enjoying a Stouffer’s Saute for two. You can go to the Stouffer’s Facebook page to receive weekly coupons for six weeks. Below is our interview.

“You talking about London?,” Bryant asked Gasol and Rubio outside the locker rooms of the Target Center.

“Oh yeah,” Gasol said.

“You’re gonna be there?” Rubio asked Bryant.

Kobe said that he was, to which Rubio responded: “You know you’re getting the silver medal. You know that.”

“S*** . I’m taking bets! … If I win I get the keys to Barcelona.” Kobe fired back

Nice to see the new guy isn’t intimidated by the best player in the NBA.

H/T to Sporting News and Hoops Hype

Above all else, Mark Cuban is a businessman. That is the reason he is one of the most successful men in America. He may love guys like Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd on a personal level, but at the end of the day, they are assets to his company. Cuban pays them to play for the Mavericks, so if they are going to get hurt and jeopardize their careers, he wants to make sure it is done on company time. Dirk is currently nursing an knee injury that may have been caused while playing for Germany in international competition, and Cuban is not happy about it.

“It’s just the epitome of stupidity that we would allow ourselves to be used so other corporations (like the Olympics) can make tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars,” Cuban said according to ESPNDallas.com. “There’s some guys sitting at the Olympic headquarters going, ‘Those dumb-asses, we’re taking all their best guys for nothing.’

“I understand from Dirk’s perspective. We should never put our athletes in that position. For some sports the Olympics are very, very important. For basketball, it’s meaningless. It’s not that they’re not decent games. All things being equal, it’s fun to watch us play Argentina and Spain, but it would be just as fun if they were 21 and under.”

Cuban said he has tried to get the debate put up for vote but has had no success. Obviously his belief is shared by other owners, as evidenced by the fact that Amar’e Stoudemire may have been left off the Team USA roster this year over a similar dispute.

It’s easy to understand both sides of the argument. Cuban has a valid point; he and other NBA owners pay their players hundreds of million of dollars, and the Olympic teams get to borrow them without offering compensation. If someone should suffer a serious injury, it would be accompanied by nothing more than an “oops.” On the other hand, it is important to some players to be able to represent their country. It’s a matter of pride. Unfortunately for Cuban and others, pride is likely to continue to win out — at least for the immediate future.

“It’s definitely not my choice,’’ Stoudemire said according to the NY Post. “I would love to play. My loyalty is with USA Basketball. … If they need me, I’m there.’’

Differences of opinions exist regarding why Stoudemire was not chosen.  As the Post reminded us, the Knicks did not allow Amar’e to participate in the FIBA World Championship last summer because they didn’t want him to suffer any type of injury after they had just inked him to a monstrous contract.  That decision is believed to have annoyed USA Basketball CEO Jerry Colangelo, so it’s possible he didn’t want to give New York the opportunity to raise a stink again.

As Eye on Basketball pointed out, Amar’e may have also been left off the invite list for basketball reasons.  The 2012 team is loaded with talent and includes forwards Blake Griffin and Kevin Love.  Both are tremendous players who are playing at an incredibly high level this season, so it is possible that there just isn’t any room for Stoudemire on the 20-man invite list.  In any event, I’m sure he is not the only player who is upset he wasn’t asked to help defend the gold medal.

Olympic runner Nick Symmonds is offering people the chance to advertise their Twitter handles on his body through a temporary tattoo. Symmonds was a member of the 2008 U.S. Track and Field team and is currently ranked first in the country in the 800 meters. He’s looking for sponsors and using eBay to auction advertising space on his body.

As part of the agreement, Symmonds will wear a temporary tattoo on his left shoulder of the winning bidder’s Twitter name during every event in which he participates. He’s also offering to tweet a monthly message of support for the auction winner. The only catch is that the winning bidder’s Twitter name cannot conflict with existing Olympics team sponsors.

Symmonds’ schedule has eight events, including the Olympic Games in London. There have already been over 44 bids placed, and the price is over $1,500.

Let’s just hope the winning bid doesn’t end up being a dud like this one.

Note: This post also appeared at Medal Detector

“I think it will be a fair comparison with the Dream Team,” Colangelo said in a phone interview Thursday with FOX Sports Florida. “Look at the progress our players have made since (winning Olympic gold in) 2008. We have some of the greatest players of all time.

“You’re hearing Kobe (Bryant) right up there with the greatest of all time. Dwyane Wade and LeBron (James) are right up there. You’ve got to add up the names, and you look at the young guys like (Kevin) Durant as an example and (Derrick) Rose as an example. There’s so many. There’s only been one Dream Team, and that’s the way I think it should be. But there’s no question our team will be much stronger than we had in 2008. They’re more mature, more experienced and we’ve got more talent.”

Nobody wants to hear it, but Colangelo could be right.  The current USA Basketball players are not legends because they are still playing — but most of them will be.  It is made up of the same type of Hall of Fame-caliber talent that the 1992 team consisted of.  The key, as always, will be chemistry.  The 2008 team had it, but many argue that no team has ever gelled the way that the Dream Team did.  If Durant, Rose, Bryant, Wade, and LeBron play well as a team, there’s no reason to believe they won’t be as good as the Dream Team.  They just won’t be the Dream Team.

Chest bump to Pro Basketball Talk for the story.

According to the Denver Post, Vonn is currently going through a divorce after being married for four years.  She insists she is not dating anyone and said she met Robby at the ESPY awards and they became “good friends.”  She asked Robby for permission before busting out the Tebow at the podium.

“I asked him if Tim would be upset if I did it,” Vonn said. “I said that if I won in Colorado, I would do it, ‘Go Broncos.’ And I did it. Gotta represent.”

When in Colorado…

Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn made one young boy’s dream come true when she said yes after being asked to go to his homecoming dance Thursday.

Parker McDonald is a sophomore at the Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy in Colorado. He did not have a date for his school’s homecoming dance Friday, so he decided to ask Vonn, who was visiting the school, to be his date.

“I thought, ‘I need a date and there’s Lindsey Vonn. I’ll ask her!’” McDonald said. “She walked by my lunch table and I whipped out the question.”

Vonn recounted the tale on her Facebook page Friday.

“Yesterday I visited the Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy and while I was eating lunch with all the students a 15 year old boy named Parker asked me if I would be his date for their homecoming dance which is tonight. When Parker asked me he was cute, nervous and very polite so of course I said YES!

“All through school growing up I never got the chance to go to a school dance so I’m excited for tonight!”

Vonn was in town to train with the U.S. Ski Team. Why not mix in a little fun while she’s doing some work? Hopefully her husband didn’t mind sharing her for a night.

Vonn has been a swimsuit model and made Maxim’s Hot 100 list. She also made Parker the coolest kid in school, and a national hero.

On behalf of every guy who was too afraid to ask the hot girl to the dance, we salute you Parker.

H/T Diehard Sport, Fourth-Place Medal

Photo via Doug Haney

Note: This post also appeared at Yardbarker’s Medal Detector

Brady Quinn may have been surpassed by Tim Tebow on the quarterback depth chart for the Broncos, but he’s still excelling in another realm. Following his team’s home loss to the Chargers Sunday, Quinn took a red eye flight to be with girlfriend Alicia Sacramone, who had surgery Monday on her ruptured Achilles’ tendon.

The extra effort earned him bonus points with his gymnast girlfriend.

“Best boyfriend award goes to Brady Quinn for taking the red eye from Denver to be here for my surgery today…just another reason why I love him,” she tweeted Monday.

The two have been dating since 2009. Maybe Quinn was just returning the favor to Sacramone who used to fly to Cleveland to support Brady when he was the quarterback for the Browns.

Either way, it’s pretty clear they’re extremely supportive of one another.

Say what you want about Quinn’s ability as a quarterback, but you can’t say he’s not a good boyfriend. He went out of his way to ensure he was by his girlfriend’s side at a difficult time.

The London Olympics begin in 10 months, so Sacramone’s status for the Summer Games is in question. But the good news is that Brady appears to have found a girl who appreciates him, unlike his last girlfriend.

Fist pound to Shutdown Corner for the story.

Note: This post also appeared on the Yardbarker Olympics blog

Krause says she has given up partying, clubbing, and junk food while she trains. Oh yeah, her coach has also instructed her to avoid wearing high heels.

Krause’s coach, Wolfgang Heing, told the German website Bild that he’s banned her from wearing pumps. The idea is avoiding the stilettos will help protect her biggest competitive asset — her feet.

The restriction may seem Draconian on the surface, but it actually makes sense to some degree. I’ve mocked male athletes who got pedicures, but for running backs, keeping their feet in shape is wise. You just hope someone who’s so dedicated to their training gets to realize their dream. Best of luck to Krause.

Fist pound to Busted Coverage for the story

Note: This post also appeared on the Yardbarker Olympics blog