It was only three weeks ago that I was praising LeBron James after he won the MVP award, saying that he handled his business in such a professional and positive way. He treats his teammates and fans well, he respects the media, and seemingly doesn’t have any missteps off the court. Well after losing Game 6 to the Magic 103-90 on Saturday night in Orlando, LeBron skipped out of Amway Arena and dodged the media. That disappearing act came after he had already walked off the court without congratulating his opponents. I’ve already acknowledged that facing the media following season-ending losses is torturous, but when you’re a professional athlete, it’s part of your job.

I understand where LeBron maybe wanted to avoid saying something he’d regret, the way Dwight Howard did when he called out Stan Van Gundy following a loss to the Celtics. I could see where he’d be frustrated after seeing everything they worked for all season long go down the drain. It’s a terrible spot the players are put into but it’s part of the job. For LeBron, all the hype and glory he’s received is in large part thanks to the media. To skip out on them because he’s disappointed, sad, uncertain, or whatever, is poor form. People want to know how he’s reacting to the loss, how he handles defeat and disappointment — I certainly did. And if you want all the glory after hitting the game-winning three-pointer to beat the Magic in Game 2, you have to be there to answer the questions about the disappointment when your team gets eliminated from the playoffs. That’s really weak on LeBron’s part and it makes me look at him differently now.

As for all the LeBron vs. Kobe marketing campaigns? Arash Markazi points out that Vitamin Water has already pulled their ads:

Now that they’ve reached the NBA Finals, a potential once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the Magic are trying to break out all the stops. With that in mind, they’re entertaining the idea of having point guard Jameer Nelson suit up for the series. Team president Bob Vander Weide is looking for any edge possible against the Lakers:

“The chance to get an all-star point guard on the floor for 15 minutes a game … you’d have to look at that.”

The Magic had ruled [Nelson] out for the season and the playoffs, and as late as a week and a half ago General Manager Otis Smith said there was no chance of Nelson making a return. “That was a week and a half ago,” said Vander Weide, who said he wanted Nelson to take another MRI and consult with doctors.

I don’t care how clean the MRI comes back, there’s no way you could bring him back all cold and rusty and then thrust him back into competition — at the highest level no less. What kind of shape would he be in? Would he be able to run up and down the floor? Would he be able to guard someone? How would his shot look after four months off and no training program? This seems to be a pretty dumb idea. Now the reason they’re so desperate to bring him back is because he dominated the Lakers during the regular season. Nelson went for 27 and 28 points in both of Orlando’s wins against LA, shooting 59% against them from the field and 58% on three-pointers. I don’t care if he was MJ against them, bringing him back all ice-cold would be a terrible idea. They have to roll with what they have right now and hope it’s good enough. I think it will be.

Far be it from me to be the buzz kill during an exciting Game 6 in Orlando, but my buddy Botros tipped me off to something quite interesting. Apparently Tim Tebow was in attendance for the game and caught on camera several times near the court.

Naturally once must assume that the man had pretty sweet tickets to the game considering he was pictured on the floor-level. Let’s figure he was sitting somewhere in the first five rows for the game — that has to be at least several hundred, possibly a few thousand dollars. Now I’m not sure about his family’s financial status, but I’m guessing they don’t have that much extra money laying around for their son to attend one game. When you’re talking about similar seats to the ones that Tiger Woods occupies — and he’s a professional athlete — something doesn’t sit right. Wasn’t it O.J. Mayo who was busted for going to a Lakers game thanks to tickets provided by Carmelo Anthony? How is it that Tim Tebow — an amateur college athlete unable to work at a job — was able to afford such prime seats to such a big sporting event? Yeah, I realize it’s kind of menial, but the whole thing seems pretty fishy to me.

Photo Courtesy AP

Texas beat Boston College 3-2 in the longest game in NCAA history, 25 innings. The game began on Saturday evening at 7:02pm EDT and didn’t finish until around 2am EDT on Sunday morning. There were three seventh inning stretches for the more than 7,000 fans on hand at the Austin Regional. When it was all said and done, Travis Tucker singled in his 12th at-bat of the game to drive in Connor Rowe for the game-winning run. The most impressive story of the night (and morning) came from Texas reliever Austin Woods:

Wood, who threw 169 pitches, came on in relief with a runner on second in the seventh inning. He pitched the next 121/3 innings before he gave up his first hit, a single in the bottom of the 19th.

He struck out 14, walked four batters and gave up two hits in 13 innings. Making Wood’s performance even more impressive was that the game was on the line in every inning. And all of this came after he pitched two innings Friday in a 3-1 victory over Army.

Talk about a freaking rubber arm, my goodness. Apparently this type of duty isn’t too new for Wood who has pitched in 34 of Texas’ 57 games, and thrown twice on the same day three different times. Still, 13 total innings in one appearance, not to mention going 12 1/3 without allowing a hit? That’s pretty darn impressive, I don’t care what level it is. I recommend you check out the boxscore for the game — it’s not too often you see how a 25-inning game looks on paper.

It’s amazing how one game can do so much to change the tune and tone of critics everywhere. Prior to Game 5 where LeBron James recorded a triple double to extend the Eastern Conference Finals to a sixth game, many critics were already calling the Cavs a bust and LeBron a choke. Look, I’ll admit that I’ve been critical of James in the past, including mid-season when I said LeBron only had his big games against weak teams and that he didn’t show up against the top tier teams, but my eyes are open enough to see when things have changed. This postseason has completely changed my opinion of James.

The guy was an absolutely star against both the Pistons and Hawks, routinely posting triple double or near triple doubles and high point totals. He dominated games to the point where his team cruised going 8-0 prior to the series with the Magic. Just because the Magic were leading the series 3-1 and because the Cavs won the most regular season games doesn’t mean losing in the Eastern Conference Finals is underachieving. Hear me out.

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Hmm, so Memphis offers John Calipari more money than Kentucky in the immediate future but Cal jumps to Lexington, saying that coaching at Kentucky was his dream job? I guess it’s entirely possible, but now something tells me he was ready to jump ship so quickly because he knew the NCAA was getting ready to crack down on Memphis for major violations. Yeah, I’d say knowing a guy cheated on the SAT is a pretty big deal. The Memphis Commercial Appeal says the Memphis program is being accused by the NCAA of major violations:

The allegations include “knowing fraudulence or misconduct” on an SAT exam by a player on the 2007-08 team.

The NCAA alleged the prospective player became eligible after an “unknown individual” completed his SAT. The player, said the NCAA, “subsequently competed for the men’s basketball team through the 2007-08 season, which included his participation in the 2008 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.”

The only player who fits the description in the report (a guy who only played on the team during the ‘07-’08 season) is Derrick Rose who’s currently with the Bulls. The punishment as of now is that the team could forfeit its 38-win season and Final Four appearance of two seasons ago. I’m pretty sure the punishment will be much harsher — almost program killing — if the allegations are proven to be true. And they better darn well follow Calipari to Kentucky — he can’t just escape the problems and violations he committed by running away from them. They should follow him the way Kelvin Sampson’s problems followed him to Indiana.

Maybe this will temper all that excitement created when John Wall said he’d go to Kentucky. And maybe now this also explains why the school fired Billy Gillispie — they knew Calipari wanted to get out of Memphis and that they’d be able to sign him. Ahah! Everything’s starting to come together!