Hot dogs and long shots

First, the hot dogs. That would be the Miami Heat. Congrats are in order for winning another world championship, but.....

During the official celebration, Lebron James was introduced as the greatest player in the universe. Maybe he is. What was offensive was James wearing a T-shirt that said "witness" (as in his magnificence), while spreading his hands like he was the Messiah. He's good, but not THAT good. Then came Dwyane Wade strutting like a peacock with a big fat cigar in his mouth. Sure, to the winners go the spoils, but these guys aren't exactly endearing themselves to many objective fans out there in the basketball world. A little humility might be nice. Is that asking too much?

On to the long shots. There were lots of them.

Spaniard Rafael Nadal got knocked off in straight sets at the opening round of the Wimbledon tennis tournament by a guy named Steve Darcis. Right away the apologists and excuse makers were out in full force. The grass was a little wet, hence a bit slippery. (Nevermind both players had to play on the same surface). Nadal might have still been weary from his recent French Open championship. Perhaps his recent leg injury is showing some lingering effects, etc. This is all baloney, of course. Darcis, a Belgian, though ranked somewhere around 135th in the world, played a superb match from start to finish. The talking heads were saying it was an embarrassing display by Nadal. No, it wasn't. He played OK. The other guy just beat him fair and square. Hey, it happens.

On the PGA tour, some guy named Ken Duke won the Travelers Championship in Connecticut. He's 44 years old, has been a pro since 1994, was ranked 144th in the world, and it took him 187 tournaments to finally win one. But he finally did, and good for him. It happens.

Martin Truex Jr. just snapped a 218 race losing streak by winning on the road course in Sonoma, CA. It's only his second NASCAR win ever, and first since 2007. Keep plugging away, and ya never know when a win might happen.

In somewhat of a shocker, the Chicago Blackhawks scored two goals in the last minute and a half or so of Game 6, in Boston, no less, to capture Lord Stanley's cup. That series has been such great hockey and yours truly was really looking forward to a Game 7 in Chicago.

I'm sure my friend Deb, a big-time Chitown sports fan, is happy. We shouldn't be surprised. After all, the windy city is Obamaturf, right? And that guy always seems to have a way of coming out on top in the end. If there was any justice I'd get a free beer out of this deal somehow.... but probably not.

On another note, it's been comical to watch tennis stars Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova engage in a battle of words. Williams has owned Sharapova on the court whenever they've met over the years. But when it comes to two tennis divas, with the gigantic female egos that go with the packages, the odds were short indeed that a cat fight would break out someday. Hiss. Scratch. Girls, girls. You're both professionals. Please act like it. Young kids are watching.

Courtney Force, daughter of John Force, the renowned funny car racer, recently beat her daddy in a funny car final at an NHRA event. When she finally climbed out of the car, took off her helmet, and faced the TV folks -- there was no doubt she was daddy's girl. Same wide smile, same crazy eyes, same big teeth, and she immediately started yammering away at a rate that would have left Dick Vitale trying to back it up and slow it down on his DVR. I think we can safely rule out the mailman when it comes to any paternity issue. She's chock full of daddy's DNA. Top funny cars typically run quarter miles in about 4 seconds -- which is roughly the same amount of time it takes Courtney or her dad to rattle off a few paragraphs when they get in front of the TV cameras. May the "force" be with them, I suppose -- but dang -- slowing down the verbals to the average range of human comprehension couldn't hurt either.

Good to hear from you again, JD. Don't be such a stranger. Things that are important enough have a way of working themselves out eventually.