This post originally written by YT Crooks from Venuing Voices.

Everyone seems to think that the biggest story of this season’s NBA free agent drama will be where LeBron James ends up. But I think the bigger story is where Kobe Bryant is heading.

In a bid to solidify his claim as the best basketball player of his era, Bryant has asked for a transfer to the Cleveland Cavaliers. His goal: to do what James couldn’t and win a championship with the same supporting cast. Word is Bryant has even asked the team to re-hire coach Mike Brown as part of the trade.

“I think this is better than any sort of rap battle or ‘yo mama’ contest,” Bryant said. “We’ll settle it on the court. If I can lead this team to a championship, I’m clearly the better player. If not, then I’m certainly no worse.”

“I don’t know who he thinks he is,” James said, when reporters asked him for a comment. “He’s not LeBron James. I’m LeBron James. He’s just a sucka who wishes he was LeBron James.”

In related news, James is said to be fighting for a clause in the contract with whichever team acquires him that will allow him to put his full name on his jersey.

So much for Patrick Kane’s overtime goal in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals being the last we’ve seen of Michael Leighton as a Flyer.

Leighton, the waiver-wire wonder who personally mimicked the roller-coaster season the Flyers, signed a two-year deal with the Flyers today. The contract is worth $3.1 million total—$1.5 million this season, $1.6 million next.

This deal can’t be fully judged on its own merit right now. It remains to be seen whether Leighton will be joined by a veteran goaltender (such as Evgeni Nabokov or Marty Turco), a goalie of similar ability and career path (Martin Biron or Dan Ellis) or whether—Lord help us—Leighton and Brian Boucher will be the Flyers’ goalies for the second consecutive season.

Until then, I’ll hold off judgment. Leighton was nothing short of solid for the Flyers, and that can’t be taken away from him. As for him being a savior…well, it’s a stretch.

Leighton is a decent goalie with the chance to be good. I’m not a big fan of his style, as at times he is too slow to react and doesn’t so much attack the puck as allow it to hit him. There’s no denying where he got the Flyers, though.

Now if he could close the five-hole quicker? We wouldn’t be having this discussion, and Leighton would likely be wearing a ring…

Maybe, somehow, you missed the LeBron tracker on ESPN. Maybe you missed the free agency summit between James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Maybe you missed Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce opting out of their contracts to pursue free agency. And maybe, just maybe, you thought the Sixers had a chance to sign just one of them.

Maybe you also haven’t been paying attention to the Sixers for the past two seasons. If so, congratulations.

Things are looking up for your 76ers, with the drafting of Evan Turner last week, the hiring of Doug Collins and the addition through subtraction of trading Samuel “Don’t blame me” Dalembert, all of which has occurred in the last six weeks.

Unfortunately, Andre Iguodala ($12.3 mil for 2010-11), Elton Brand ($15.96 mil for 2010-11) and Ed Stefanski (the man who gave out those ludicrous contracts) are still here. (more…)

Former Flyers and current Carolina Hurricanes center Rob Brind’Amour is expected to announce his retirement today.

Brind’Amour, who began his career with St. Louis before being traded to the Flyers in 1991, was one of the most popular players in the city before being traded to Carolina for Keith Primeau during the 1999-2000 season. Brind’Amour holds the franchise record for consecutive games played (484) and developed into one of the best faceoff men and shutdown centers in the NHL.

After being traded to Carolina, he went on to win the Selke Trophy twice (2006, 2007) and captained the Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup championship in 2006.

For his career, Brind’Amour played 1,484 games in the NHL, tallying 1,184 points (452 goals, 732 assists), good for 48th on the all-time list.

And, of course, there was his tireless work ethic:

Still wonder why they call him Rod the Bod?

Reflecting on USA’s World Cup Run and Looking Ahead to 2014

Unfortunately, luck ran out for the United States Men’s National Team this past Saturday, as it dropped to Ghana for the second straight time in World Cup play, 2-1. Once again, USA conceded an early goal and looked flat during the first half. Once again, Bob Bradley made questionable decisions in the starting lineup. And once again, we Americans came back down to earth and realized that we still years away from being considered a soccer superpower.

The reason why we didn’t see the USMNT make a run in this tournament was due to a number of factors – some preventable, while others were simply unavoidable. The following is a list of why there was no storybook ending for Disney to turn into its next successful, inspirational sports movie:

1. Poor Personnel Decisions:

Head Coach Bob Bradley continued to make poor personnel decisions in the starting lineup. As we saw, Ricardo Clark should never have been starting over Maurice Edu. Even worse, Clark was substituted in the 31^st minute! With a limit of three substitutions per game, it is crucial to make these decisions wisely. Most of the time substitutions are made in well into the second half in order to get fresh legs on the pitch for the last 15-20 minutes of the game.

Replacing Clark early in the first half essentially wasted one of the three strategic substitutions, killed the confidence of Clark (even though Bob Bradley claims it had to do with Clark’s yellow card), and stripped the U.S. of a pair of fresh legs in the second half. The USMNT certainly could have used a boost during extra time against a much faster and well-conditioned Ghana team. (more…)

"For trading Cliff Lee, they are condemned!"

By now you’ve probably heard the apocalyptic news that both Chase Utley and Placido Polanco have been placed on the 15-day DL. You also are probably dealing with the physical aftermath of the emotional decision you made to jump off the Phillies 2010 World Series Champions bridge specially constructed for this season.

You can’t totally be blamed. Entering last night’s game, the news on Polanco was cautiously optimistic. He’d received a second cortisone shot on his ailing elbow, and hoped to play in Tuesday’s game in Cincinnati. There was nothing to report on Utley because, well, nothing had happened to Utley—yet.

In the fourth inning of last night’s series-opening loss to the NL Central-leading (!) Reds, Utley tried to stretch a single into a double, sliding head first into second base. He was tagged out on the play, but ultimately did worse damage by snagging his right thumb on the bag. Utley soldiered through the rest of the game without any apparent signs that the opposable digit was ailing, but with the Phils facing a six-run deficit in the ninth inning, Charlie Manuel pulled Utley for a pinch hitter. That’s when we learned of The Thumb.

Now, a day after, both Utley and Polanco are on the DL. Utley had an MRI on his thumb earlier today, and while it is not believed to be serious in the season-altering vein, it certainly is not something to take lightly. The Phillies are in trouble from now up until the All-Star break, at the very least, and possibly longer if The Thumb and The Elbow do not heal enough for both players to be effective.

If they don’t? You won’t want to be around to see it.