Wizards will have a new look in 2010-11

In case you've been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, it is seeming less and less likely that the Washington Wizards will make a gigantic splash in the free agent pool and sign LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh.

Instead, the Wizards have been wheeling and dealing players all over the place, thanks to a boatload of unrestricted free agents on their roster and an active NBA Draft day.

To recap, here's what has already taken place:

INCOMING --

PG John Wall (pictured above, right) - the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft will be the starting point guard and the franchise's centerpiece for the foreseeable future.

PF/C Yi Jianlian - the Chinese 7-footer averaged 12 points and 7.1 rebounds per game for the measly New Jersey Nets this season. The former No. 6 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft joins JaVale McGee as a project big man with a potentially nice upside. In exchange, the Wizards dumped Quinton Ross, a seldom-used small forward inserted mostly to balance the trade and free up some cap space for the Nets.

PG Kirk Hinrich - in an effort to dump $9 million in salary and make a run at one of the big free agents, Chicago dealt Hinrich, a capable point guard who backed up Derrick Rose in the Windy City and will likely serve the same role in the nation's capital. Hinrich, who I'm still convinced played Elliott in E.T., was dealt alongside draft pick Kevin Seraphin for virtually nothing -- a future second-rounder -- to free up some more cap space.

PF/C Kevin Seraphin - the Wizards acquired Seraphin in the Hinrich trade, giving up a future second-rounder. But the French big man may not join Washington for a year or two, which is a headscratcher given that the Wizards need bodies badly right now.

PF Trevor Booker - the Clemson power forward was ninth in the ACC in points per game (15.3) and fifth in rebounds per game (8.3) last year, and was brought over in a trade from Minnesota during the draft in exchange for the No. 30 and No. 35 picks.

PF/C Hamady Ndiaye - the Rutgers big man was acquired in the trade from Minnesota on draft day, and led the Big East last year in blocks per game (4.5). He averaged a respectable 9.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game for the Scarlet Knights.

STILL THERE --

SG Nick Young - the 25-year old Young started a career-high 23 games last season, but regressed across the board in scoring, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage and free throw percentage. He will likely come off the bench and may challenge for a starting spot. Young is a restricted free agent in 2011.

PF/C JaVale McGee - the No. 17 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, McGee has shown flashes that have impressed fans, but has not been consistent. He appeared in 60 of 82 contests this season, averaging 6.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 16 minutes per game. McGee will likely back up Jianlian and will have to fight with the two incoming rookies for significant playing time this year. Like Young, he's a slightly unproven commodity with upside, and like Jianlian, he's a big man known for playing soft at times. A mean streak would do McGee a world of good.

PG Gilbert Arenas - nobody really knows what's going on with Agent Zero. After felony gun charges sidelined Arenas for the rest of the season, Washington acquired two point guards in Wall and Hinrich. The writing seems to be on the wall, but Arenas' massive contract is a headache that most NBA teams would want to avoid. Still, the Orlando Magic have been in talks to trade for Arenas, and frankly, just getting him off Washington's hands would be a big relief.

SF Al Thornton - another young piece to the Wizards' future, Thornton averaged 10.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 24 games after being acquired mid-season from the Los Angeles Clippers. A talented young player, Thornton should be a key reserve for the Wizards and may start in spots.

PF Andray Blatche - the big man was shelved for three months starting now because of a broken foot. He showed glimpses of being a future All-Star last year, but if he's not careful, Blatche might get passed on the depth chart by some of the new bigs on the roster. When Blatche gets back to 100 percent health, he'll have to make up for some lost time and pick up where he left off last season, with 14.1 points and 6.3 rebounds in a team-high 81 games last year.

OUTGOING --

C Brendan Haywood - traded mid-season to Dallas.
SF Caron Butler - traded mid-season to Dallas.
SG DeShawn Stevenson - traded mid-season to Dallas.
SF Antawn Jamison - traded mid-season to Cleveland.
PF Dominic McGuire - traded mid-season to Sacramento.
SG Quinton Ross - traded to the New Jersey Nets in return for Yi Jianlian in late June.

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS (A.K.A. QUESTION MARKS) --

The following players are unrestricted free agents. Most are unlikely to rejoin the team, but we'll know more when the NBA free agency period officially kicks off later this week. None except Foye, Howard and Miller would be big losses, but none really fit into the team's long-term plans, either.

PG Earl Boykins
PG Javaris Crittenton
SG Randy Foye
SF Josh Howard
SG Cedric Jackson
PG Shaun Livingston
SF Cartier Martin
SF Mike Miller
PF Fabricio Oberto
PF James Singleton

Orioles are best team in baseball

The Baltimore Orioles come into Tuesday morning carrying a load of weight on their shoulders. That's what happens when you have the longest winning streak of any team in pro baseball.

That's right. At 23-52, riding a piping hot four-game winning streak after beating the Florida Marlins and sweeping the Washington Natinals, the O's are officially the best team in baseball!

At the same time, they are now just one game away from having more wins than they are behind the AL East-leading New York Yankees.

For the mathematically (and sarcastically) challenged, that means the Orioles are 24 games behind first place with just 23 wins. It's just funny, OK?

Pay no attention to the fact that the winningest pitcher on the staff is David Hernandez, who has been pitching out of the bullpen since mid-May. And who cares if only one player on the roster -- outfielder Nick Markakis -- is batting better than .300?

Look for the Orioles to ride this hot streak on the bats of newly acquired first baseman Jake Fox and shortstop Cesar Izturis. I'll take those two combined with Julio Lugo and Corey Patterson over the 1932 Yankees and those bums Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig.

Fox was batting .214 with two home runs and 12 RBIs for Oakland before Baltimore saw something in the 27-year old and snatched him up in a trade, and if Izturis wasn't playing professional baseball in Baltimore, he'd probably be selling hot dogs at Camden Yards.

The O's continue their home stand with a three-game series against the Oakland A's before playing 10 road games against Boston, Detroit and Texas. At this pace, the Orioles will probably win them all.

NBA Draft podcast

Just prior to the NBA Draft, Benched Press opened a new chapter when I was invited to participate in a 2010 NBA Draft preview podcast, sponsored by TwoPlusTwo.com's DraftZilla. Wade Neely emceed the event, which covered a number of topics leading up to Friday night.

Even though the draft has now come and gone, it's still worth listening to. We break down the top five players in the draft, and the panel provides sleeper and bust picks.

Drop me a comment below with suggestions of talking points or ways to improve. And as always, thanks for reading... and listening!

Click here to download the podcast.

Meet the incoming Terps: Ashton Pankey

When the news broke that St. Anthony's High forward Ashton Pankey would miss his senior season with a stress fracture in his leg, Maryland fans immediately had flashbacks to Jerome Burney.

Burney, a class of 2006 recruit had recurring foot injuries that caused him to retire from basketball and rejoin the team as an assistant strength and conditioning coach.

It's been around nine months since Pankey has played competitive ball, but the reviews were positive when he did play. His performance as a junior earned him the rank of No. 38 power forward on ESPN.com.

One of the most promising factors to the 6-foot-9, 220-pound big man's future at Maryland is his high school pedigree. At St. Anthony's, Pankey played for legendary coach Bob Hurley, who, after 35 seasons and more than 900 wins, is the third high school coach to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

As a junior, Pankey averaged 10 points and two or three blocks per game, which earned him offers from Maryland, Houston, George Mason, Miami (FL), Penn State, Providence, Rice and St. John's, among other, lesser offers.

If Pankey's leg holds up, he'll have the chance for early playing time. Senior Dino Gregory and sophomores Jordan Williams and James Padgett are atop the depth chart, but Pankey adds valuable depth to a relatively shallow frontcourt.

Maryland coach Gary Williams is optimistic about the impact that Pankey can have as a Terp. "Ashton is an aggressive high school player who plays for one of the legendary coaches in Bob Hurley. He's worked very hard academically and on his basketball to become an outstanding player."

Pankey's ceiling may be something like 10 points and seven rebounds per game, similar to Bambale "Boom" Osby's senior year -- though Pankey's game does not mirror Osby's. Think of a poor man's Lonny Baxter, or maybe a poor man's Jordan Williams. Pankey's defensive abilities are similar to Baxter and Williams, though his offensive skills still need to develop.

All aboard the USA bandwagon!

If you somehow managed to miss USA's unbelievable finish in yesterday's 1-0 win over Algeria, you missed one of the most exciting finishes in recent sports history.

Star midfielder Landon Donovan scored on a putback goal after goalkeeper Tim Howard made a heads up play to throw the ball to Donovan and spark a fast break opportunity.

Donovan passed to forward Clint Dempsey, who missed the shot, but Donovan was there for the rebound and ultimately, the game winner in the 91st minute.

"I got the ball to Jozy, who made a good run. Clint made a good run in the middle, and the ball came to me -- you can't miss from there," Donovan said.

With England and Slovenia playing at the same time, and the Brits leading 1-0 for most of the game, things looked grim for a while. ESPN was friendly enough to remind viewers that if USA tied and England won, England and Slovenia would advance, with USA finishing in third place.

Knowing that made watching Dempsey's almost-goal in the 40th minute hurt even more after the official called him offsides. Forward Jozy Altidore missed on a great scoring opportunity just before the half, and Dempsey hit the far right post early in the second half.

With the win, USA took No. 1 in Group C, while England finished in second place. Because of that, England faces off against Germany in the Round of 16 before a tough matchup against the winner of Argentina and Mexico. That's a foursome that nobody wants to play in.

The U.S. plays Ghana on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., and would then face the winner of Uruguay and South Korea in the quarterfinals.

Check out the replay of the goal. It's OK to watch it five or 10 times.

Ron Artest is a fascinating creature

Almost six years ago, then-Pacers forward Ron Artest made arguably the worst decision of his life. He and a few of his teammates charged into the stands and traded fisticuffs with fans in the stands in Detroit at the Palace in Auburn Hills.

It's a shame that Artest will always be remembered for wildly swinging his fists and missing 73 games in the 2004-05 season due to the resulting suspension, particularly because he's one of the funniest guy in all of sports.

While I don't condone his on- or off-the-court decisions, it's hard not to laugh when reading about his bizarre past since entering the NBA more than 10 years ago:

Before his first NBA game, he applied for a part-time job at Circuit City so he could get an employee discount. "I thought it would be fun. And I had a friend who worked there," Artest later said.

In a pickup game of basketball before his third year in the league, Artest broke two of Michael Jordan's ribs, and later said that he had no idea it happened. "I read it in the paper and was like, 'Many, Mike's ribs got broke. How'd his ribs get broke?'"

Two years later, as a Pacer, he smashed a framed picture of himself in Conseco Fieldhouse, earning a one-game suspension. The year after that, he was elected to his first All-Star game, and wore two different sneakers during the game. Afterward, his agent admitted he was looking for a new shoe contract.

In 2004, just 10 days prior to the Pacers-Pistons brawl, Artest asked off to promote his new rap album, and was subsequently benched for two games. "I have two goals this year: I want to go platinum, ... and win the NBA championship," Artest said.

He did neither, getting suspended for the rest of the season for the aforementioned fistfight. The next season, he was interviewed by Penthouse, appearing on the cover in December. In his interview, he mentioned that he wanted to box Pistons center Ben Wallace, who was one of the originators of the scuffle the year before.

And finally, in 2006, again promoting an upcoming rap album, Artest told the New York Post that he had two New Year's resolutions: "[to] teach math classes in elementary schools throughout the country, and of course, I want to sell 10 million records."

You don't have to forgive the guy for his poor judgment on November 19, 2004. But you do have to admit that he'd probably make an appearance on the sports personality Mount Rushmore, alongside Chad Ochocinco.

Catch and release

We've all seen those ESPN fishing tournaments, and, we've inevitably all quickly changed the channel to find something else to watch.

Believe it or not, there's a ridiculous story from this weekend coming out of Morehead City, North Carolina, just 100 miles north of Wilmington.

A fisherman caught an 883-pound marlin. The picture to the right isn't actually it, but just a graphic representation of how much larger than life that really is.

The fish was the biggest catch in the tournament, and therefore Andy Thomossan had to simply wait for other fishermen to report their catches before hauling in the top prize. Nobody in the tournament caught a bigger fish -- in fact, he was all set to join the tournament's record books -- and the tournament director was writing him a $912,825 check for first place.

There was only one catch -- pun WAY intended. One of the crew members on his boat didn't remember to renew his fishing license, which costs $15. Or $912,825 plus the $35 fine and $125 for court costs, depending on how you look at it.

Thomossan was understandably upset.

"No record. No money. No fish. No nothing. Yep, it’s a nice ending to the story, isn’t it?" he said.

The tournament found a new winner, Ed Petrilli, whose biggest catch was a measly 528 pounds.

What USA needs to advance

By now, you may have heard of the possible scenarios for the U.S. soccer team to advance to the Round of 16. If you haven't, here's your guide to what the U.S. needs to do to move on -- possibly leaving England on the outside looking in.

Since there are two more games -- England vs. Slovenia and the U.S. vs. Algeria -- with three possible outcomes in each game -- win, loss or draw -- there are nine total combinations. Bear with me.

If you're looking for the Cliff's Notes: win and the U.S. is in; lose and the U.S. is out. A draw makes things sticky.

1. England win, USA win -- Both teams advance, with USA likely holding the tiebreaker.

2. England win, USA/Algeria draw -- England and Slovenia advance, with England holding the top spot. USA finishes in third place.

3. England win, Algeria win -- England and either Algeria or Slovenia advance, depending on who holds the tiebreaker. This is one of two scenarios in which USA would finish in last place.

4. England/Slovenia draw, USA win -- Slovenia and USA advance with five points each. Right now, it would come down to goal differential to determine the tiebreaker for first place.

5. England/Slovenia draw, USA/Algeria draw -- The most interesting scenario would end in Slovenia advancing, and potentially multiple tiebreakers determining whether England or USA move on.

The first tiebreaker, goal differential, would not matter as both teams would have tied all three games; hence, neither team has a goal differential.

Next is goals scored. Currently, USA leads England in this category, 3-to-1. But if England ties 2-2 and USA ties 0-0, or 3-3 and 1-1, we would move on to the third tiebreaker.

No. 3 is points earned in the head-to-head matchup, which was a tie. Next. Four is goal differential in head-to-head. Since there was one game, and it ended in a tie, that's a tie, too. The fifth tiebreaker is goals scored head-to-head. Again, the 1-1 tie means that tiebreakers No. 3 through 5 are null.

The next tiebreaker? A coinflip. GULP.

6. England/Slovenia draw, Algeria win -- Slovenia finishes in first place with five points and Algeria advances with four, while England (three) and USA (two) miss the cut.

7. Slovenia win, USA win -- Slovenia and USA advance to the Round of 16. In any instance, if Slovenia wins, it holds the No. 1 spot with either USA or Algeria fighting for second place.

8. Slovenia win, USA/Algeria draw -- Slovenia and USA advance, as England sits tied for last place with Algeria as both teams would have two points. USA would advance with three ties, which is far from glamorous, especially for impatient American fans.

9. Slovenia win, Algeria win -- Slovenia and Algeria advance, with USA and England missing the cut. This is by far the least likely scenario, but would cause a serious stir in the soccer community.

There you have it. Go USA!

Lakers beat Celtics in Game 7

The most insufferable team in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers, won their 16th NBA Championship last night, topping the second most insufferable team in the NBA, the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

The 83-79 win seemed about right given that both teams' primary stars shot terribly: LA's Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol combined for 42 points, but 18 of those came off free throws. Bryant and Gasol were just 12-for-40 from the floor, and 0-for-6 from the 3-point line.

For Boston, it was much of the same. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce contributed 31 points on 8-for-29 shooting, in large part because the two were a combined 11-for-12 from the free throw line.

In short, it was extremely, extremely difficult to decide who to root for in this Finals. Almost everybody on both teams appeared in NBA Live '96 on Super Nintendo.

Allen, Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace, all starters for Boston, average 13 years of NBA experience. Only point guard Rajon Rondo and big man Glen Davis are youthful and athletic enough to reasonably stick around for another five or so years.

Los Angeles' starters are the same. Discounting the hobbled Andrew Bynum and adding sixth man Lamar Odom to the starting five bumps the Lakers' starting five to an average of 11 years of NBA experience.

The most entertaining part of the series seemed to be the theatrics afterward, when Wallace went to the referees' locker room. As ESPN Radio's Beto Duran tweeted, "Rasheed Wallace outside of the refs locker room. Security telling him they're not coming out. [Wallace] says "just wanna talk".

Meanwhile, during all of the commotion on the court, forward Ron Artest thanked "everybody in my hood," "my doctor," and then reminded everybody that his new rap single is coming out shortly. Thanks, Ron!

Switzerland beats Spain

OK, even if you still aren't on the World Cup bandwagon, as a sports fan, you have to appreciate yesterday's enormous upset.

Switzerland beat Spain, 1-0. That ranks among the all-time upsets, in the same company as David and Goliath and "The Miracle on Ice".

Star forward David Villa, expected to be the World Cup's top scorer, was held to three shots, two of which were on target.

The most amazing part of the whole ordeal was that Spain dominated Switzerland, controlling the ball 74 percent of the game and outshooting the Swiss 25 to nine.

For those who need an analogy to wrap their brain around this, imagine that in the 2010 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, No. 16 seed Lehigh knocked off No. 1 seed Kansas. Your jaw would hit the floor, right?

Now, imagine that Lehigh suited up five 5-foot-6 guys while Kansas' starting five all stood 6-foot-8. And on top of that, Lehigh hypothetically wins despite allowing Kansas to shoot the ball 50 more times.

Spain was expected to win outright 76 percent of the time, and tie 16 percent of the time. That leaves a measly eight percent for Switzerland to beat Spain. In Vegas, $100 on the Swiss would net you a handsome $1,150. Play the game over six times and Switzerland loses the game four or five times and ties once.

Spain had won 12 straight games, and had only lost twice in the last 50 games, one of which came last year to the U.S. in the Confederations Cup.

"These were three unexpected points," Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said. Gee, ya think?

Dead horse beaten. You get the point.

Now, Spain sits in last place in Group H alongside Honduras, while Chile and Switzerland are atop the group with three points each.

There's no real concern as to whether or not Spain will advance: they will. Unfortunately for Chile and (especially) Honduras, Spain is going to wax both teams, and hard. The Hondurans get to be Spain's punching bag on Monday at 2:30 p.m.

Why MLB all-star voting is stupid

In most instances, the MLB all-star fan vote is a good way to get fans interested in an otherwise meaningless game. It gets fans rooting for their sluggers to gain national recognition, and typically the fans get it right.

But every year, there are some head scratchers. Sometimes it's because a fan favorite gets nominated.

Take New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira for example. He's 14th out of 15 AL first basemen in batting average (.229) but is popular enough to beat out guys like Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, despite the fact that Cabrera is beating Tex convincingly across every single category.

Same goes for Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez, who is hitting .285 with just five homers and 28 RBIs, but remains reasonably in the hunt to become an all-star.

Then there's guys who deserve to be on the list but aren't, like San Diego Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who is bruising the NL with 15 home runs and 44 RBIs, good for second in the NL in homers and 10th in RBIs, respectively. Yet he's not even in the top five for first basemen.

That's not even the worst of it. Sometimes it is flat-out puzzling why a guy would make the list.

This year's examples? How about Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr., who retired 33 games into the season after hitting no home runs and only seven RBIs. The two times he made headlines were for falling asleep in the clubhouse in the middle of a game, and retiring.

Hands down, the strangest guy to make the list is Texas Rangers catcher Taylor Teagarden. It's like a huge joke that I just don't get. He's batting .264 with two home runs and 16 RBIs -- for double-A Frisco RoughRiders this season. That's right, he's been demoted, and not to triple-A, either.

In 10 games for Texas, he was batting a miserable .037. I can safely say that with no background in competitive baseball, I could make enough contact in 1,000 at-bats to reach base safely 37 times. He struck out 17 times, and had no home runs or RBIs.

And there you have it, folks. Fans who follow the sport should get a good laugh at Teagarden's family stuffing the ballot. At least, that's the most reasonable explanation for why the guy is even being mentioned ahead of most AL catchers -- including Matt Treanor, the guy who actually starts for the Rangers right now.

NCAA expansions: here's what we know

I briefly mentioned on Thursday that expansion talks were heating up, and since then, three teams have shifted conference allegiances. Meanwhile, thousands upon thousands of journalists have written articles on the topic, making it practically impossible to figure out what's actually happened, and what still could happen.

Pac-10 -- Colorado has joined from the Big 12, putting the Pac-10 at 11 members. It's expected that the Pac-10 will add five more members, and appears to be trying to pillage the Texas and Oklahoma schools from the Big 12. ESPN's Joe Schad tweeted that he heard that if Texas A&M "passes on on Pac-10, Utah has edge on Kansas as potential 16th member".

Big Ten -- Nebraska is in, leaving the Big 12 and starting this massive domino effect. The Big Ten now has 12 members and wants four more, and is apparently courting Texas, Notre Dame and Rutgers heavily. Other additions could include Pittsburgh with an outside shot at Missouri. Meanwhile, someone has already taken care of the new 16-team logo, keeping the idiotic Big Ten name intact. Looks pretty good!

Mountain West -- Boise State is in, and the Mountain West could poach the remainder of the Big 12, with or without Baylor (see below). The MWC could lose Utah to the Pac-10, but either way it seems the conference is in line for a nice upgrade despite spending the last few years as the Big 12's little brother. If, when the dust settles, the Mountain West has added Boise State, Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri, it'll be quietly pretty damn impressive.

Big 12 -- A collapse looked imminent until yesterday, when Texas announced it was staying. While Nebraska and Colorado aren't the biggest losses the conference could possibly deal with, reports were originally that Texas, Texas Tech, (possibly) Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were all outbound. That would have left five teams: Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Missouri and Baylor to find a new home. But all of that may be moot if Texas is really convinced it will stick around. In fact, that means that expansion as a whole could stop moving entirely unless the Longhorns change their mind.

SEC -- The SEC wants Texas and Oklahoma, which means that Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State might tag along to get that deal done. The Longhorns and Sooners are conference realignment's prized possession, and most of the focus is on their moves. But again, it looks like for now at least, Texas is going to clog the realignment process. According to ESPN, "Looking beyond the Big 12 for expansion, specifically to the ACC for schools such as Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State or Miami, was not in the SEC's plans, sources told ESPN. The sources saw no way the SEC would raid the ACC ... the idea the SEC would go after Kansas was also dismissed."

ACC and Big East -- Both conferences are rocking back and forth covering their ears while Mom and Dad are arguing in the background. The ACC and Big East both seem confident that they won't be losing any members, which is great news for Maryland, whose athletic director Debbie Yow insists she hasn't heard from the Big Ten yet. If the SEC and Big Ten's focuses turn to the ACC, Maryland might be left with the scraps of the ACC and Big East forming a yawner of a conference.

Early World Cup games yawners?

Of the first eight games of this year's World Cup, three in a tie. That's not exactly the high-scoring, fast-paced action that will turn the stereotypical American viewer into a die-hard soccer fan.

Honestly, though, the early action is the type that real soccer fans -- not that I am one, but I certainly appreciate the game -- could enjoy.

Dumb American watches Uruguay battle France for 90 minutes to end in a 0-0 tie.

"Damn, why did I just waste my Friday afternoon watching two teams play to a tie? That was boring," he says.

That viewer, conveniently, becomes a soccer fan once every four years. And that's if the U.S. is in the field. The real fan sees that, by Uruguay tying, it actually experienced a minor miracle, pulling off a draw despite France dominating possession (57 to 43 percent) and shots (20 to seven).

Even though Germany-Australia provided the only flurry of scoring in the first weekend of the Cup, keep in mind that we've only seen a couple of superstars in Argentina's Lionel Messi and England's Wayne Rooney. We still haven't seen Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o or all of Brazil and Spain.

The most exciting moment of the opening weekend had to be Ghana's penalty kick in the 84th minute against Serbia. The underdog heading into the match without star center midfielder Michael Essien, Ghana scored way late in the match for the only goal of the game after Serbia's Zdravko Kuzmanovic was called for a handball.

The outcome of England vs. the United States, a 1-1 tie, was also extremely encouraging. Provided that England beats Slovenia in the third set of games, the U.S. has a good shot at moving on to the field of 16.

Of course, by the looks of everyone's Facebook statuses, everyone on my news feed swears they could rattle off the starting 11 and came out of the womb with a soccer ball.

In any case, soccer fan or not, there is one thing we can all agree on: we are sick of the vuvuzela.

Meet the incoming Terps: Mike Parker

With the departure of seniors Greivis Vasquez, Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne, Maryland head coach Gary Williams had some big shoes to fill.

Williams and his assistants spun that as an opportunity for plenty of early playing time, which was music to Mychal Parker's ears.

The 6-foot-6, 195-pound wing was the Terps' fourth commitment after Phoenix, Arizona point guard Terrell Stoglin, Portland, Oregon shooting guard Terrence Ross and Jersey City, New Jersey power forward Ashton Pankey, though Ross later decommitted and ended up at the University of Washington.

Parker is Maryland's highest-rated commit, ranked No. 45 in the country by ESPN, No. 60 by Rivals and No. 64 by Scout.com. He's also ranked No. 12, No. 13 and No. 12 at his position at each respective scouting service.

After his freshman year, Parker transferred from North Carolina high schools, hopping from Southside High to Terra Ceia Christian School. After his sophomore year, he headed to The Miller School in Charlottesville, Virginia to gain more exposure on the hardwood.

That move paid off, as Parker earned scholarship offers from Clemson, Florida, Maryland, Miami (FL) and Virginia and ran with the Richmond Squires AAU program during the summer.

Squires coach Tony Squire told The Baltimore Sun's Matt Bracken that, "he reminds me of a similar version of Ray Allen at this stage in the game. Ray just had that demeanor back in high school. Certain games Ray would take over, and in other games he would just be a good player, and I think that’s the thing with Mike right now."

As a senior, Parker averaged 21.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for the Mavericks, guiding them deep in the playoffs. With seniors Adrian Bowie and Cliff Tucker and junior Sean Mosley on the depth chart at the wing, Parker may not make an immediate impact -- and that's OK. He should make a healthy jump as a sophomore, not unlike Landon Milbourne.

Potpourri Thursday

There's just too much going on in the world of sports today, a rarity for a random Thursday in the middle of the summer. I'd be doing a disservice to pretend that everything but one story was worth writing about, so here's what's going on around sports:

Chicago wins the Stanley Cup -- The Blackhawks needed just six games to win the Cup, capturing the series in Game Six in Philadelphia. While it would have been nice to capture it on its home ice, Chicago is just happy to have won its first hockey championship since 1961.

It came in dramatic fashion, too, when wing Patrick Kane trickled a shot past goalie Michael Leighton in overtime for the 4-3 win.

Nebraska to the Big Ten? -- By Friday, we should find out whether or not Nebraska is jumping out of the Big 12 and into the Big Ten. Coincidentally, the Big Ten has 11 members, which would mean Nebraska is No. 12. Maybe they can call it the Big 12, and Nebraska would be the only team that wouldn't have to "switch" conferences!

Nebraska would be the first big domino to fall in a possibly massive shift that could include the Pac-10 swallowing up the Big 12 and the Big Ten expanding to as many as 16 teams.

Izzo headed to the NBA? -- Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo seemed likely to take the Cleveland Cavaliers job as of yesterday, but it seems that a few media outlets may have jumped the gun on it. While the leap from college to the pros rarely works out (see: John Calipari, Rick Pitino, Lon Kruger, Leonard Hamilton, etc.), that tends to be because those coaches are inheriting terrible teams.

If LeBron re-signs in Cleveland, that job would essentially take care of itself. Izzo has it nice in East Lansing, Michigan, and multiple 60-win seasons didn't work out for Mike Brown, the Cavs' former coach, so it'll be interesting to see where the bar is set for Izzo.

USC football won't be bowling anytime soon -- The Trojans received a two-year bowl game ban, ESPN reports, for potentially major violations stemming from the 2004 season when Reggie Bush was starring in the USC backfield.

Though much has already been said about Bush receiving improper benefits, including up to $100,000, free rent and a new car, the Trojans hadn't been slammed with any penalties yet.

USC already got banned from postseason play for its basketball team under former coach Tim Floyd, and this would be another serious blemish on the Southern Cal reputation.

Strasburg lives up to hype in debut

Few thought that Washington Nationals rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg could possibly deliver like he did in his major league debut.

Outside of a Delwyn Young two-run shot in the fourth inning, Strasburg was nearly untouchable. He pitched seven innings, striking out 14 batters and walking none -- the first player in MLB history to do so in his debut.

Granted, his first game came against the Pirates, which meant that Strasburg was facing competition comparable to the AAA baseball he's been playing -- not exactly the Yankees.

But 14 strikeouts is undeniably good for a kid pitching in front of hundreds of media outlets and the second sold-out crowd of the season at Nationals Park in an 'all eyes on me' scenario.

Even better than his performance on the mound was his performance with the media. Strasburg admitted that the day was a blur, and said that at one point, he "lost track of how many innings I threw. I was like, 'You know what? I'm just going to go out there and have fun.' It's amazing."

His delivery resulted in several pitches reaching 95 miles per hour, and a few even topped 100 miles per hour. And in a sport known for taking its sweet time, he only needed 15 seconds between pitches -- a speed demon compared to some of his professional comrades. He's already selling out for his next start, Sunday, in Cleveland.

If Strasburg could have raised his expectations any higher, he'd be Hall of Fame eligible by his next start.

World Cup: are you ready for some futbol?

The World Cup is almost upon us. For some, it's been a long time coming, and for oblivious non-soccer fans, it's shaping up to be more like background noise for the next month, or a favorable alternative to summer baseball.

Here are some storylines to (hopefully) pique your interest in the upcoming 2010 World Cup in South Africa:

1) Will the U.S. live up to expectations? This is the most talented team the U.S. has ever suited up, yet it is still an underdog to England. But the second best team in Group C -- which the U.S. can realistically hope to be -- faces off against the top team in Group D, which looks to be Germany.

Those two teams met in the 2002 World Cup, but the Germans won a controversial 1-0 game before eventually finishing as the runner-up to Brazil. In 1998, the U.S. was in the same group as Germany, but finished fourth while the Germans advanced to the quarterfinals.

2) Will an African team advance? Every host team in World Cup history has advanced to the quarterfinals, but that streak is in serious jeopardy this year. South Africa got a tough draw in Group A alongside France, Mexico and Uruguay. France is the odds-on favorite to take the top spot, leaving the other three teams to presumably fight for second place.

Elsewhere in Africa, a pair of injuries -- Ghana's Michael Essien and Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba -- may torpedo both teams' chances of advancing. In Group D, Germany and Serbia seem the most likely to advance, and Ghana would have been a contender for the No. 2 spot if Essien had been healthy.

Group G was not the ideal landing spot for a Drogba-less Ivory Coast, either. Brazil and Portugal were already the slight favorites over Ivory Coast, which was considered a potential dark horse with Drogba.

Some would argue that Africa's best shot at a team surviving might even be Cameroon out of Group E. Playing alongside Netherlands, Denmark and Japan is somewhat favorable, as Denmark and Cameroon should duke it out for No. 2.

3) How will the weather affect the play? Weather.com says that in Johannesburg, South Africa, the high temperature won't go over 70 degrees on any day. Cooler temperatures lead to fast-paced, high-scoring games, which would go a long way in keeping U.S. viewers interested.

Think about how much more tired you are after going for a run in the blistering heat rather than on a cool day, and now imagine that for a 90 minute soccer game. Though Europe is typically a cooler climate and teams like Spain and France may be used to that, teams like Brazil, Argentina and the U.S. will find their tanks not quite as empty at the end of the game.

Face it, you want to see a 3-2 game way more than a 1-0 game, and if the weather has any say in it, that might be more likely.

Ubaldo Jimenez is unhittable

At first glance, Colorado Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez doesn't look or sound like an intimidating figure.

The 26-year old from the Dominican Republic went undrafted in the 2001 MLB Draft before the Rockies scooped him up as a free agent.

He didn't even make his professional debut for six years, when he pitched 7.2 innings for the Rockies.

In 2008, he earned a spot in the rotation, but over the next two years managed a 27-24 record with an ERA around 3.70. Certainly not earth-shattering stuff.

This year, though, he's more like a Martian.

Despite earning just $1.25 million this year, Jimenez is 11-1 in 12 starts, and is the only pitcher in the major leagues with more than eight wins.

To put that salary into perspective, Jimenez, the odds-on favorite to win the NL Cy Young, earns less than one-tenth of what Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt makes. Oswalt, who earns $15 million this season, is just 3-8 with a 3.22 ERA -- a misleading record given his team's lack of run support.

But the point stands. Jimenez has broken out in a way this year that nobody would have expected. And there's no doubt that he's earned those wins.

Jimenez hasn't allowed more than two runs in any start this season, has pitched two complete game shutouts, one of which was a no hitter. He's averaging eight strikeouts per nine innings, and if it wasn't for a pesky two-run homer that he allowed in the eighth inning of last night's 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks, he would be sporting an insane 34 scoreless innings, the equivalent of nearly four complete game shutouts in a row.

Here's to hoping that Jimenez continues his untouchable run for the rest of the season. He's currently sporting the lowest ERA in MLB history -- edging out Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA for the Cardinals in 1968 by a solid margin.

South Korean penguins bad at soccer

Nobody ever said penguins were particularly coordinated, but they are just so damn cute. In honor of the upcoming World Cup, South Korea trotted out the black and white birds to play a little soccer.

Spoiler alert, they're worse at soccer than the Puppy Bowl puppies are at football.

But that's OK, because you probably just smiled watching this video, and that's all that matters. Unless you're a PETA member, in which case you probably think it's animal cruelty.

Have a nice Friday.

Penguins playing soccer

Blown call costs Galarraga perfect game

In the ninth inning, with 26 straight outs under his belt and a perfect game within spitting distance, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga faced Cleveland batter Jason Donald.

Donald hit a seemingly routine ground ball to first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who tossed the ball to Galarraga for the final out.

Everyone saw that Donald was out. Everyone but first base umpire Jim Joyce, the most hated man in sports (temporarily).

If there was ever a reason to implement instant replay and the ability to overturn blown calls, Galarraga's ruined perfect game would be the No. 1 argument.

Only 18 pitchers have thrown a perfect game in the modern era; incredibly, three have come in the last two years. Roy Halladay threw one on Saturday for the Phillies and Dallas Braden did it on May 9th for Oakland.

Mark Buehrle threw one last year for the White Sox. The last one to do it before Buehrle was Randy Johnson in 2004.

It's safe to say that Galarraga would have made history, not only for becoming the 19th pitcher to throw a perfect game, but because there's never before been three perfect games in one season.

You have to respect how classy Joyce and Galarraga handled the situation after the game. Joyce took Galarraga aside and apologized for blowing the call.

"It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the sh** out of it ... I just cost that kid a perfect game," Joyce told the press after the game.

"You don't see an umpire after the game come out and say, 'Hey, let me tell you I'm sorry.' He said, 'You don't know how bad I feel. I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say.' I gave him a couple hugs and said, 'Nobody's perfect,'" Galarraga said.

It is absolutely sickening to see someone so close to doing something amazing get robbed by a judgment call. Even in a sport that has often been criticized for being too slow and taking too long, there should be instant replays, challenges or something to prevent this from ever happening again.

Maybe MLB commissioner Bud Selig could create history of his own and reverse the call after seeing such overwhelming evidence, especially because it happened on what could have been the last pitch of the game.

So, who do you feel worse for? The guy who misses making history because a blown call? Or the umpire who will forever be remembered as the guy who blew the call?

Lakers players bribed to play hard

Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson is taking a page out of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's coaching philosophy playbook.

In order to get his team to play harder on defense, Jackson has offered a bounty of $50 for every time that a Laker takes a charge in the NBA Finals.

Not that Krzyzewski pays his players -- rather, his teams' go-to move on defense has always been to take a charge, as evidenced by former point guard Greg Paulus getting tea bagged by North Carolina's Danny Green (right, above) and getting ridden like a pony by Miami's Dwayne Collins (right, below).

My all-time favorite Duke defensive sequence, though, is right here. Do yourself a favor and watch it a couple of times.

The financial proposition seems to be sparking a little competition among the Lakers, a good thing considering Los Angeles isn't exactly known for a blue collar defense.

Shooting guard Sasha Vujacic seems to be particularly on-board with the whole idea, which probably makes sense given that he was living with his parents last season.

"Their whole team is kind of a charging possibility taking team. We just got to be smart. They are a very smart team that can go from block to a charge, so we've been working a lot on charges and how to take them and stuff, so we'll see," Vujacic told ESPN.

Team bad boy Ron Artest, known for his stout defense, isn't totally on-board. In fact, judging by this quote, it's hard to tell if he's even on-Earth.

"I don't even know how to take a charge. To get the charge you have to fall. I'd rather not fall. You call an offensive foul, possibly be a fight. That's just how we grew up playing basketball," Artest said.

The Lakers and Celtics tip off tomorrow at 9 p.m. in Los Angeles.

Duke, Maryland win NCAA Lax Championships

DUKE 6, NOTRE DAME 5 (OT)

The 2010 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship looked reminiscent of the 2010 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. Duke, the overwhelming favorite, didn't have to play a powerhouse like Virginia (Kansas) or Syracuse (Kentucky).

Instead, the Blue Devils got the equivalent of a mid-major matchup in Notre Dame (Butler). But, like the end of March Madness, the game came down to the wire, and Duke emerged victorious.

On the minds of the 37,126 fans at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland was that Notre Dame had gotten the best of Duke in February, beating the Blue Devils 11-7 -- convincingly -- in Durham, North Carolina during the regular season.

Duke was determined to not let history repeat itself.

Though no team led by more than one all game, the Blue Devils pulled even with 8:44 left in the game at 5-5 apiece.

In overtime, CJ Costabile, a longstick midfielder won the face-off and ran down the length of the field, scoring just five seconds into the sudden death period and ending the game.

The overtime goal capped off one of the lowest-scoring championship games in NCAA lacrosse history, though it was certainly not a yawner.

MARYLAND 13, NORTHWESTERN 11

In front of the largest crowd (9,782) for a women's lacrosse game in the U.S., Northwestern's Erin Fitzgerald and Shannon Smith each tallied a pair of goals as the Wildcats got out to a seemingly insurmountable 6-0 lead less than nine minutes into the first half.

The No. 1 seed Lady Terps (22-1) weren't giving up, though. Over the next 2:55, Maryland rattled off three straight goals.

Northwestern answered with a pair of its own in 10 seconds, stretching the lead back to five goals at 8-3 with 15:12 remaining in the first half.

Maryland tallied five straight to end the half, including two in the 19th minute and two more in the 29th minute of the half, just before the whistle.

The Lady Terps got out to a 10-8 lead in the first part of the second half behind a pair of goals from Caitlyn McFadden and Brandi Jones, but Northwestern rallied back with two goals to knot the game up with 12:03 left in the game.

Jones and McFadden responded with another goal each, and the Lady Terps never looked back. Karri Ellen Johnson scored the last goal of the game with 2:03 left for good measure.

According to Inside Lacrosse, "the six-goal deficit comeback by Maryland is believed to be the largest comeback in NCAA women’s lacrosse championship history."

It also snapped a five-year streak of National Championships for Northwestern, who held that distinction from 2005 to 2009. It was Maryland's first title since 2001, when the Lady Terps won seven years in a row from 1995 to 2001.

"I’m just really soaking it all in; what an amazing night for the Terps. I’m so proud of this 2010 team. The heart and the fight they displayed were outstanding. I think they showed great composure and such great poise and just played a great game to fight back from that," said Cathy Reese, the Lady Terps' head coach.