NEW YORK YANKEES: The Guy Who Caught Derek Jeter’s 3,000th Hit Blew His Shot At $250,000

NEW YORK YANKEES: The Guy Who Caught Derek Jeter’s 3,000th Hit Blew His Shot At $250,000: "A 23-year-old Verizon customer service rep had history and a potential six-figure payday fall into his lap on Saturday.
And then he gave it back.
Christian Lopez caught Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit — a homerun to right-center — but then returned the ball to the Yankee captain for a price well short of the $250,000 that Bloomberg reported the ball could be worth at auction.
Lopez has over $100,000 in student loans, but he told the New York Daily News, 'I know I did the right thing. It never crossed my mind to not give it back. I'm only 23. I have plenty of time to make money.'
He did receive a little something for giving the ball back. The Yankees gave him four luxury box seats for all 32 remaining regular season games, as well as potential playoff and World Series games, worth about a total of $40,000."

The Ticket Blog - Concert, Sports and Theater Tickets

The Ticket Blog - Concert, Sports and Theater Tickets: "Velvet-voiced singer Stevie Nicks has locked in plans for a solo U.S. tour to promote her first new album in a decade and follow a successful co-headlining run earlier this year.

The rock chanteuse has confirmed 10 events so far, beginning with an August 9 concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO. Nicks will stay on the road for at least another month, with her present calendar closing September 4 at the Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY."

LeBron James: New Book "The Whore Of Akron" Will Come Out In November

LeBron James: New Book "The Whore Of Akron" Will Come Out In November: "Today is the one-year anniversary of 'The Decision' and to celebrate this great moment in sports history, you can now pre-order Scott Raab's upcoming book dedicated to LeBron James.
Here's the cover:

Raab is a Cleveland native who spent the last year attempting to come to terms with James' betrayal of his city — and the punishing existence of a Cleveland sports fan, in general. (Spoiler: He's still not over it and we don't blame him.)

The book is not subtle, but we imagine it will be quite entertaining.

"Whore of Akron" comes out in November, but you can pre-order it now."

Several Teams Already Locks For Baseball Playoffs

MLB SPORTS CHART "We are now more than halfway through the season, and while there is still a long ways to go, at least three teams are pretty close to being in a position to start printing playoff tickets.
According to CoolStandings.com, the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, and New York Yankees all have at least an 84.0 percent chance of making the playoffs. The calculations are based on the current standings, and factors such as runs scored and runs allowed so far this season.
The Braves next at 72.8 percent. But after Atlanta, there is a big drop-off to the next group that all have less than 50 percent chance of playing in the postseason.
At the other end of the spectrum, there are already eight teams that have less than a two percent shot at the playoffs. Those teams can go ahead and start making tee times for October..."

NBA LOCKOUT: NBA Owners Really Are Losing That Much Money, Say NBA Owners

NBA LOCKOUT: NBA Owners Really Are Losing That Much Money, Say NBA Owners: "Since the NBA owners locked out its players a week ago, the media has poked around at the league’s claims that it is losing hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Deadspin published a report on how the New Jersey Nets used a tax loophole to make a $6 million profit look like a $27 million loss.

ESPN then published their own, more owner-friendly analysis of the Nets and New Orleans Hornets financial statements.

And yesterday the New York Times’ Nate Silver gave the NBA financials the Nate Silver treatment, and concluded that the NBA is “fundamentally a healthy and profitable business.”

Today the owners are pushing back.

Forbes prepared the financial estimates Silver used in his analysis. But NBA spokesman Mike Bass told the AP that Forbes, “does not have the financial data for our teams and the magazine’s estimates do not reflect reality.”

Silver used data compiled by Forbes and Financial World magazines to estimate that the NBA had an operating income of $183 million in 2009-2010, and made a 5 to 7 percent profit during the last collective bargaining agreement.

The NBA begs to differ. They projected a loss of $300 million last season and similar losses in each season since 2005, according to the AP.

So they are a bit perturbed that journalists are taking a closer look at their financials.

“Precisely to avoid this issue, the NBA and its teams shared their complete league and team audited financial as well as our state and federal tax returns with the players’ union. Those financials demonstrate the substantial and indisputable losses the league has incurred over the past several years,” Bass said.

Much to the dismay of Silver and others, these financials have not been made public.

The NBA is using its alleged financial disarray to argue that player salaries must be scaled back to 45 percent of total revenue. Currently, they sit at about 58 percent, which is comparable to the other major professional sports.

The NBA is in financial trouble on some level. Even Silver estimated that 17 of the league’s 30 teams lost money last year (Bass says it was actually 23).

But this disparity between the league’s haves (the Lakers, Knicks, etc.) and have-nots is a revenue sharing issue, not a player salary issue. Not matter how you tweak the financials, it’s hard to argue that player salaries — which Silver estimates have only increased by five percent since 2004-2005 — are leaving the league in financial ruin."

CONEY ISLAND HOT DOG EATING CONTEST: Kobayashi Ate 69 Hot Dogs In Vain Yesterday

CONEY ISLAND HOT DOG EATING CONTEST: Kobayashi Ate 69 Hot Dogs In Vain Yesterday: "Unable to compete in yesterday’s Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest, Japan’s legendary Takeru Kobayashi took to a rooftop bar in Manhattan and scarfed hot dogs simultaneously with the eaters in Brooklyn." In the end, he ate 69 dogs. One more than his mortal enemy Joey Chestnut’s 2009 world record. And seven more than the 62 Chestnut ate to win the hallowed Mustard belt yesterday.

Kobayashi is locked in an ongoing contract dispute with Major League Eating, and was thus banned from taking on Chestnut in person.  As a result, MLE is refusing to recognize Kobayashi's 69 as the official the record.

“I don’t know if it was a magic show or an eating contest, MLE president Richard Shea told CNN yesterday. “Not having been there, it seems like a bit of a farce. The hot dog eating contest is on Coney Island.”

A magic show it was not.

Kobayashi assembled a crowd of several hundred fans, two judges, and a whole bunch of hot dogs on the rooftop of 230 Fifth and ate as the Coney Island contest aired on a big screen TV alongside him.  But Chestnut pointed out that eating in a controlled setting is very different from grubbing on the big stage at the Coney Island Boardwalk.  “It wasn’t a competition. … It was no different than what I do at practice on my own and I’m able to break a record at my house,” he said.

The owner of 230 Fifth is hoping to get Chestnut to agree to a mano y mano eat-off with Kobayashi this Labor Day, according to Deadspin.

CMT : News : OFFSTAGE: How to Get Into Taylor Swift's T Parties

How to Get Into Taylor Swift's T Parties: "There are 62 dates left on Taylor Swift's Speak Now tour, all over America and Canada. That means there are 62 T Parties left to find your way into. The T Parties, as Swift calls them, are the post-show meet-and-greets that give you the chance to say hi and maybe get a picture with her. Sometimes radio stations have contests to give away passes, and sometimes you know someone who knows someone who can help you get in. But if that doesn't happen, you still may have a chance. In a recent radio interview, Swift explained how fans can get into that coveted backstage room. 'Throughout the show, I have people that I trust going around,' she said. 'They know what to look for: really passionate people in the crowd who are maybe at the top rows or in the fourth row but anyone who's just like dancing and having the best time throughout the entire concert, or maybe they dressed up like characters from the music video, or maybe they're just like all lit up or something.' So if you're the guy who is checking his Blackberry every two minutes throughout the show, with your arms crossed and a wake-me-when-it's-over look in your eyes, you are so not invited. But if you're the girl who is singing along and knows every word, this is your big chance."