Morning all.
It's only Tuesday, but it's a holiday week, so remember the mailbag.
From the "Talks too much" studios, is this heaven? No, it's Iowa.
Phil Mickelson looks up toward the flight of the ball after a chip shot to the 15th green during the second round of the Wells Fargo Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, May 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone) Mickelson money mess
Phil Mickelson is a pirate. He's a swashbuckler who plays professional golf on the highest stages like a great professional poker player playing cards for the highest stakes.
Apparently, that comparison works in both directions.
Mickelson has always been a guy that did a lot of betting.
He's won monster, seven-figure bets on NFL props in Vegas. A couple of years ago at Augusta, he talked about he and Rickie Fowler won a large sum of money in a practice round with on-course wagers.
Hey, betting is betting, and we believe more states - like Tennessee - should look at regulating gambling. But as we sit here today, it's against the law in most states.
Now, with ESPN reporting that Greg Silveira pleaded guilty to laundering almost $3 million in gambling money for an unnamed client. Multiple reports in the story say Mickelson is the unnamed client.
It will be interesting to see what happens from this for Mickelson, who has been embraced and beloved by the public, and his legacy.
It also will be interesting to see what happens for golf in particular about this in regard to gambling down the road.
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NBA free agency
Free agency in the NBA starts at midnight tonight.
It will start with the big-named power forwards on the market.
Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge, right, drives on Orlando Magic forward Channing Frye during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Don Ryan) LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love, Marc Gasol and DeAndre Jordan are high-quality post presences who could reshape a franchise. We'd be stunned if Love and Gasol do not return to Cleveland and Memphis respectively. Jordan may be a Knick when it's all said and done, but is truly a franchise cornerstone if he can't be on the floor at crunch time because he's awful at the line?
Aldridge is the biggest name who looks to be the one that could move, and the three destinations linked with him really could alter the Western Conference.
If Aldridge goes to the Lakers, with the draft addition of D'Angelo Russell and the return of Julius Randle, the Lakers are instantly more improved and go from historically bad to improved/contending.
If Aldridge picks Houston, the Rockets would have a legit big three with Aldridge, James Harden and Dwight Howard and become the favorite with Golden State.
If Aldridge picks San Antonio, well, the Spurs would be right there with the Warriors as the team to beat.
The rest of the moving parts will fall in line from there.
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Nike to Knoxville
We know a lot of UT fans who are jazzed about the Vols switch to Nike.
We're cool with that. (Side note: We've always preferred Adidas to Nike because the shoes are more comfortable to us. So it goes.)
An entrance to Neyland Stadium promotes the beginning of the University of Tennessee's deal with Nike on Wednesday.That said, anything that helps with recruiting is always a help. Yes, that's way more true in hoops than football, but still.
We will say this: UT has done some really interesting marketing with this. They have held a number of pseudo-scavenger hunts around the state for fans. The social media barrage has been excellent.
They have turned this into an event. Has it been overblown? Yes, but still. It's June for crying out loud and anything that creates buzz - especially among the players and potential recruits - is beneficial.
Plus, here's a fun little ad with "Game of Jones" spoof with Butch Jones and the TV hit show "Game of Thrones."
Here's wondering how much they change the uniform scheme? That's a dicey proposition for a lot of die-hard college football fans.
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This and that
Former University of Texas head basketball coach Rick Barnes addresses reporters after being named head coach at the University of Tennessee on Tuesday, March 31, 2015, in Knoxville.- Ah, the summer months. And yes, we are poised to watch any and almost all of the replayed college football games on SEC Network and the various ESPN channels. (We know you do too.)
- Speaking of the summer, we saw that LeBron James could average $40 million a year in his contract extension. Wow. And want to know something even crazier? He'd still be underpaid for what he means to the Cavs.
- Speaking of LeBron, Scottie Pippen was quoted recently as saying he was "LeBron before LeBron" and that's he a better player than James. Tap the brakes Scottie because we're pretty sure your own momma would pick James over you.
- Darren Rovel had an interesting question on Twitter this morning: Which makes you feel older, that Mike Tyson is 49 today or that Michael Phelps is 30 today?
- In today's TFP we pegged over/unders on all the SEC football teams. Here's the link.
- We meant to post this a day ago, but TFP UT ace Downtown Patrick Brown detailed a pretty strong response from UT hoops coach Rick Barnes on the academic allegations during his time at Texas. Here's the story.
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Today's question
We are halfway through 2015 at the end of BID-ness tonight.
What's the biggest sports story of the year so far?
Who would be the male athlete of the half year and the female athlete of the half year?
Whatcha' got?