Stephen Strasburg News and Notes

There have been only two instances where the debut of a sports figure exceeded, not only met, but exceeded the hype. The first instance was when an 18 year old LeBron James made his NBA debut scoring 25 points and dishing out 9 assists. The other happened last night when the Washington Nationals #1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg won his first game 5-2. He struck out 14, had 0 walks, retired the last 10 batters he faced, 7 of those last 10 on strikeouts, and clocked in at 100 mph twice. If the kid keeps this up he is going to be a superstar and a Hall of Famer. Granted, he was pitching against the Pirates (El Stinko) but is an impressive start to a fledgling career. Good luck to him.

• The Lakers reclaimed the lead in the NBA Finals by beating the Celtics last night 91-84. Ray Allen totally disappeared after his record breaking 32 point, 8 of them by the way of the 3, performance in game 2. He was 0-13 from the field. Paul Pierce only had 9 and KG showed up for the first time with 25 points. Kobe Bryant was held in check. The C's were defeated by Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol. The C's wanted to make someone else beat them and 3 guys answered the bell. Game 4 back in Boston on Thursday at 9. This is going 7 games.

• According to ESPN the Cleveland Cavaliers and Tom Izzo are in discussions for a contract that would pay him $6 million a year. He currently is making $3 million at Michigan State. The reports also say that Jeff Van Gundy and Byron Scott are also being considered and that LeBron James is NOT being consulted on the choice of the new head coach. I call bull sh&%t on that last statement. This seems to be the end of the John Calipari to Cleveland talks. Thank God.

• Nebraska may be looking to make the jump to the Big 10 very soon. This would cause a mass exodus from the Big 12 that would spell the end of that conference. The conference landscape will look entirely different this time next year. It's difficult for me to follow the expansion news because the head reporter on the subject is none other than douche bag extraordinaire Pat Forde. Every time he is on tv I throw up a little in my mouth and change the channel.

• Speaking of the DBE, it is rumored that he has been the one that leaked the Eric Bledsoe story although he was not the one to obtain the transcripts in question. That is still rumored to be an assistant coach at Florida or Memphis. Pat Forde has hated UK his entire career dating back to the Courier-Journal and he seems to be on personal crusade to disrupt the program. He has reportedly been seeking any dirt on Bledsoe, DeMarcus Cousins, or John Wall that he can find since they committed to UK. He has even gone so far as to repeatedly call and question their families. He also leaked information that led to Louisville's basketball to go on probation in 1998 while Crum was at the helm. He has a love affair with Rick Pitino, so don't expect any bombs to be dropped on the UofL program while 3 Stacks is there.