With David Wright due to lead off in the bottom of the seventh, retaliation was expected to come immediately. Mets manager Terry Collins anticipated that the Brewers would try to get even by hitting New York’s star player, so he pulled Wright from the game. That led to a very heated discussion between Collins and Wright in the dugout.

“He said, ‘If somebody gets hit, it should be me,’ ” Collins said according to the NY Post. “And I said, ‘It’s not going to be you. We have enough problems now. So you’re not hitting.’

“He’s a pro. He said, ‘Look, I’ll take this for the club.’ Not tonight you’re not.”

Collins also removed Daniel Murphy from the game two batters later for the same reason. Although Wright was clearly upset with his manager during the game, he insisted after the game that the tirade was not directed at Collins.

“My thinking at the time was, Ryan gets hit and then I go up there and get hit and everything’s settled,” Wright explained. “That’s something we’ll take care of in here. Whatever decision Terry makes, I’m on board 100 percent.”

While the media may try to blow the Collins-Wright argument up onto a clubhouse issue, I’m sure that is hardly the case. Disagreements happen all the time, and no manager could be angry with a player for wanting to get hit by a pitch to protect his teammates. There are plenty of more worthwhile things for a manager and player to have a legitimate feud over.

Photo credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Tuesday night on the “Jimmy Fallon Show,” Jimmy decided to play a trivia game called “Wax On, Wax Off” during which you get $100 right for every correct answer you give and a portion of your chest hair waxed off for every incorrect answer. The lucky contestant was Jets offensive lineman Nick Mangold. The categories included such simple topics as “Lithuian Prime Ministers” and “Advanced Particle Physics.” If Nick is some sort of closet genius, he may have had a shot at keeping some of his chest hair. Unfortunately, a random audience member was chosen to answer the questions for him. The results looked painful. If you’ve always wanted to see a 300-pound man get their nipple waxed, be sure to watch Part 2 as well.

Nick may not have the hairiest chest you’ve ever seen, but having your nipple waxed has to kill whether there’s hair there or not. Props to him for being a good sport in a game where he was doomed from the start.

After several weeks of hype, TNT’s “Inside the NBA” finally held their “shirtoff” competition between Shaq and Charles Barkley to show Chuck’s progress on Weight Watchers. It’s weird that so many people were drawn to see what these two knuckleheads would look like topless, but that’s what happened.

Barkley appeared to be in decent shape, but he was blown away by Shaq who was in really good shape. Honestly, Shaq looked better for the shirtoff competition than he did at any point in his playing career. It’s actually kind of sad.

The best part about the shirtoff — you know, if there is a good thing about these doofuses going shirtless — was Shaq having six-pack abs painted on his stomach. That, I have to say, was pretty damn funny.

Below is a side-by-side look at each man:

Just remember that Shaq’s abs were painted on.

Dwyane Wade is making it more and more evident that he’s a dirty player, and his actions on Tuesday only confirmed that opinion. Early in the fourth quarter of Game 2 between the Pacers and Heat, Wade forcefully shoved Darren Collison who was free on a fast break. Wade really ran into Collison as if he were a safety chasing down a receiver and trying to make a tackle. It was unnecessary and excessive physical contact on Collison, and he received a flagrant 1 foul for the play.

The NBA could choose to review the play and make it a flagrant 2 foul — which is what it should be. Wade should have been ejected for the dirty hit on Collison, but he wasn’t, probably because Darren recovered from it. You’ll see very quickly how much the NBA prioritizes fairness and objectivity with its rulings by what they do with this play. It should be upgraded to a flagrant 2 and there aren’t any questions about it.

What’s disturbing is that dirty plays have become a trend for Dwyane Wade.

That awful foul on Rip Hamilton is about as blatant and unnecessary as it gets. These dirty plays have made me reconsider how innocent Wade was with his flagrant foul in the All-Star Game that broke Kobe’s nose.

Don’t let the bright smile, fancy clothes, and phony “Father of the Year” award fool you; Dwyane Wade is a dirty player. It’s only now becoming evident.

“I heard they wanted to be like the Dallas Mavericks, in a sense,” Wade told reporters after the game. “I saw their little celebration at the end of that game. I don’t know if they didn’t expect to win, but every night we go out on the court, we expect to win.

“They say their identity, they say they want to be like Dallas. So they celebrated like Dallas, I guess.”

Yeah, D-Wade. The Heat have never been guilty of prematurely over-celebrating, right? I guess then this glitzy shindig was just a small get-together:

Photo credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Kelly, who goes by the name Cap D for his MC’ing, has been making music since the late 80′s. He’s released four records with his group All Natural. The group even got signed to a subsidiary of EMI in 1995, but the label folded before the band could release a record. Taking the solo route, Cap D has released four albums. His latest, entitled “PolyMath,” was named by the Chicago Tribune as the top independent album by a Chicago artist in 2010.

“With this record, I was trying to get at a lot of things,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “Trying to deal with a lot of issues that young, black men deal with like racism and addiction, in all its various forms. But a lot of the album is just playful and personal, too.”

According to Kelly’s bio, he’s also performed around the world. He told WSJ that he plans to release another album, but, ultimately, he considers his music a “glorified hobby.”

It’s a shame Stephen Jackson isn’t still with the Warriors. A Stak5 vs. Cap D rap battle has potential for being an absolutely amazing display.

Here’s one of Cap D’s songs from “PolyMath”:

Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie went overboard on an umpire during Tuesday’s game and can expect a suspension because of it. Lawrie was upset about being called out on strikes by homeplate umpire Bill Miller on a pitch he thought was up in the zone. Lawrie began heading to first for what he thought was ball four, but he snapped after hearing Miller say it was the third strike. Lawrie went crazy and chucked his helmet into the ground, right at the umpire’s feet. He was immediately ejected and can expect a suspension from MLB for the incident.

Lawrie defended himself after the game, and apologized for his actions.

“That was not my intention at all,” Lawrie said. “I’ve never, ever done anything to go at an umpire before in my life, and I didn’t mean to tonight. I apologize for that.

“It’s just my passion for the game,” he said. “I wanted to help my teammates out as best I could. That’s the pride I have in this game. I leave my emotions out on the field.”

Miller filed a report with MLB after the game, and said Lawrie went too far.

“Upon seeing that he was ejected, he took several steps toward me and fired his helmet. It hit me in the right hip,” Miller said.

“That’s a bit extreme,” Miller said.

As if being hit by a helmet wasn’t bad enough, a Jays fan threw a drink at Miller after the game:

As we’ve seen in the past, baseball leagues take great measures to protect their umpires. Yorvit Torrealba was suspended 66 games by the Venezuelan League for pushing an umpire during a game. Delmon Young got a 50-game suspension for throwing his bat at an umpire during a minor league game. Lawrie can expect a suspension as well.

H/T Jimmy Traina, Drunk Jays Fans

Shawn Johnson seems like she has everything going for her, but even someone considered “America’s most-liked sports figure” battles self-esteem and weight issues.

The Olympic gold medalist and winner of the popular “Dancing With the Stars” TV show admitted recently that she was hurt by criticism about her weight.

“At my heaviest all the tabloids said some pretty hurtful things,” Johnson said at an Olympics media summit on Monday.

“That whole process kind of broke me down and taught me something. People put too much emphasis on looks.”

The 4’9″ gymnast has lost 25 pounds since beginning her Olympics comeback (she’s hoping to participate in the London Games). She expressed concern over the message the media and other critics send.

“We’re taught at such a young age that you can always be better and that you’re never perfect and that you’re never good enough,” she said. “You find your worth in someone else and what they say just from having looked at you. It’s hard. I was at the Olympic Games winning medals and I still doubted my image. I doubted what I looked like. That’s sad. Girls should be taught different than that. I think everyone should be taught different than that.”

It really is unfair when Johnson faces such criticism. At 4’9″, she has a smaller frame and very little margin for error when it comes to her weight. People also need to remember that she was only 16 when she became famous at the Beijing Olympics. Bodies evolve as people get older; it’s no different for Johnson.

What’s also interesting is that she’s not the first Olympian who has voiced concerns of this nature recently.

Note: This post also appeared on Medal Detector
Photo Credit: Brad Penner-US PRESSWIRE

Apparently I’m not the only one failing to muster any interest in this case. Here’s the AP:

The trial is in its fifth week, and the tedium cost the proceedings another member of the jury Tuesday. Juror No. 1, a supermarket cashier, became the second member of the panel to be dismissed for sleeping. Her departure leaves 14 jurors, including two alternates.

So there you go. The most interesting piece of information from the Clemens trial thus far is that two people have been kicked off the jury because of how boring it is.

That might be as good as this trial gets. But if you’re desperate for anything else fascinating about this case, you might want to check out the profiles of the remaining jury members. Juror No. 3 likes reading and baking. Juror No. 8 enjoys photography and fabric art.

Photo credit: Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE

Above are two pictures of Jets head coach Rex Ryan. On the left is Ryan photographed at the team’s training center on May 4th. On the right is Ryan photographed during the team’s January 17 playoff game against the Chargers in 2010. While Ryan looks large and overweight in both photos, you may notice that he looks less obese in the one on the left. That’s because Ryan has reportedly lost 90 pounds since the one on the right was taken.

Adam Schefter tweeted on Tuesday that Ryan has lost 90 pounds since undergoing lap-band surgery on March 13 2010. Ryan weighed 338 pounds at the time of his surgery, and he stated his goal was to get down to 250 pounds — about a 90-pound loss. Looks like he achieved his goal. He said in 2010 that he hadn’t weighed 250 since 1995.

It sounds to reason that Rex’s success with the procedure led to his brother, Rob, getting the same surgery this offseason. Rob Ryan has enjoyed similar successful results; he dropped 35 pounds in his first few months after having the procedure.

No, this isn’t free advertising for lap-band surgery — it’s a warning to Brandon Jacobs that he may no longer be able to call Rex “fat boy.”

Photo Credits: Jim O’Connor-US PRESSWIRE, Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE