The owner of the LA Clippers is scheduled to receive a lifetime achievement award from the NAACP. And if that’s not enough fun for you, consider that Clippers owner Donald Sterling (left) is being sued by his former general manager, Elgin Baylor (right, with his wife), who was black! Actually, he probably still is black. From the LA Times, which is black, white, and read all over:

Leon Jenkins [Ed.'s note: LEEOOOOOOOON JEENNNNKINNNNNNSS!], president of the Los Angeles branch of the civil rights organization, says of the much-maligned Sterling, “He has a unique history of giving to the children of L.A.,” revealing that the owner donates anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 tickets a game to youth groups for nearly every Clippers home game. . . .

Noting that the NAACP had made plans to honor Sterling before Baylor filed suit, Jenkins says, “We can’t speak to the allegations, but what we do know is that for the most part [Sterling] has been very, very kind to the minority youth community.” . . .

You see? Sterling only screwed over one black guy. That’s totally okay, especially when that guy worked for you for 20 years and didn’t accomplish a damn thing. Why, it’s almost as if Baylor was dismissed on his merits! Or lack thereof really. Not that Baylor seems to be the only one feeling entitled to something greater than what he received. If only Clippers fans felt the same way…

San Diego State University had their undie run this year, and you’re not gonna believe this, but it was exactly the same as any other…except for this girl that decided to go skateboarding wearing in her Uggs. And this is where the concept of neo-feminism starts to die: why do anything worthwhile in school when you can just strip down and have everyone’s attention? Seems to be working just fine for Danica Patrick.

|Busted Coverage|

LA Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez will be finished with his 50-game suspension by the time MLB’s All-Star Game rolls into St. Louis in mid-July. Fans have taken notice, and the campaign to get Ramirez enough votes to start in the Midsummer Classic is already underway. But the Vote For Manny blog is not what it first seems to be; it’s actually a protest against the All-Star Game itself:

I do not want to see Manny in the All Star Game. Are we clear on this? I started the “Vote For Manny” site to illustrate the joke that the voting, the “this time it counts”/World Series home field advantage rule, the mandatory representation, the still-soft PED rules…has become. I want to see the best players selected, not the most popular. Ibanez is worthy and will have a spot on the team no matter what; his manager is managing the NL team.

Manny’s vote total currently places him fourth in the NL outfield voting, so I guess this thing could still happen (sadly, Lastings Milledge’s campaign seems to be preparing its concession speech). Personally, I don’t know anyone that wants to see a game featuring players they’ve never heard of, especially when that game is just a glorified exhibition game. If they want to dump a big pile of cash on the field for both teams to play for and have a real game, then fine, get the best first-half players (OMG Zach Grienke!). Otherwise, what’s the big deal?

|via Walkoff Walk|

ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews desperately wants to know who she has to nail to get onto ABC’s Dancing With The Stars. And apparently, host Tom Bergeron is not that guy. From Sporting Bblog (the extra B stands for BYOBB):

“Using my vast influence with the show, she’s got about a 30 percent chance,” said Bergeron, who added that Andrews’s dancing history wouldn’t be a problem as long as she’s never done ballroom. “I know she’d be competitive. Look at her. Look at that ferocious, competitive face. She can actually be borderline violent.” (He was joking.)

“[I] think I need to represent,” Andrews told me. “I love Kenny Mayne very much, he’s a friend of mine, but I need to help ESPN’s name on Dancing With the Stars. He did nothing for us on that show.”

The show always seems to take one sports-related personality, whether it’s former NFLer Warren Sapp or Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson, who won the show last year with…uh, that one guy. And really, Erin’s presence could really boost the show’s sexually frustrated 20-something white guy demo. Somebody please make this happen, because we’ve run out of ways to objectify her as a reporter. But as a dancer? That’s like shooting fish in a bucket.

Three big playoff games happened last night, two of which took place on this side of the pond.

First, the Lakers took advantage of their home floor and an errant shooting attack from the Denver Nuggets to cover the spread, limey bastards win Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, 103-94. The Nuggets managed to pull even late in the second half, but bad shot selection did them in, as Denver only shot 38% from the field as a team. Carmelo Anthony shot 9-of-23 from the field to finish with 31 points; Kobe’s 22 led the Lakers, who had five players in double figures.

In hockey, the Detriot Red Wings finished off the Chicago Blackhawks to set up a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Final with the Penguins. Which is cool, because I totally didn’t watch the Final last year, but how will the sequel turn out? Will it be like Star Trek II? Or Weekend At Bernie’s II? I really don’t know, but it’ll be something to watch at the bar while I get drunk by myself and think about all the bad decisions I made in life.

And FC Barcalona stunned Manchester United yesterday with a 2-0 win in the Champions League final, which is like a tournament where all the best teams in Europe play each other. Amazing that they figured this out so quickly but it took them 10 years to hammer out the Euro. Read the rest of this entry »

Saint Andrew’s Net is With Leather’s daily link dump. Right now, Kobe Bryant is pretending to be its friend.

• An inspired response to Rick Reilly’s bullsh column on how to “fix” baseball, as if the game doesn’t exist unless it’s tailored to his sensibilities. Nobody ever complains about fixing soap operas; they just don’t watch them. |Elks Are Prevalent|
• Elton John wanted Joe Mauer’s autograph. Did the inscription reference Crocodile Rock? Or Rocket Man?
  |Bugs and Cranks|
• Yankees Stadium is actually illegal, but so are five other parks in MLB
  |Vent About Sports|
• The one thing Mark Teixeria has done well this year? Destroy the livelihoods of fantasy owners everywhere (or has he?)
  |Fantasy Sports Complaint Box|
• Why didn’t they just eat the sandwich when the song was over?
  |The Sugar Sheet|
• Tanya Andriyash probably sucks at math, but that’s typically unimportant when you can’t even find a pair of pants, or an entire shirt
  |On 205th|

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