There were 34 LPGA tournaments in 2008. There will only 24 in 2010. The bigger shock: In 2008 there were 24 LPGA tournaments in the US; next year, there will only be 13. (WSJ)

Sure sounds like the Rockets want nothing to do with T-Mac. (Chronicle)

The Sacramento Monarchs are no more. (Sac Bee)

Very, very depressing if true: Tim Riggins leaving FNL. Not sure the show can survive his departure. (EW)

Bad news for the beleaguered Green Bay defense – Al Harris and Aaron Kampman both tore ACLs yesterday and are done for the season. (JS Online)

Villanova beat Ole Miss to win the Puerto Rico tip-off classic. (Philly Inky)

A ton of signs from Gameday’s trip to Arizona; missing is the “Corso is hot” sign. (CGB)

Because we find Mark Cuban’s rambles about the web fascinating. [Blog Maverick]

If you missed it, Yale’s football coach made a much, much crazier 4th down decision than Bill Belichick. (Boston.com, New Haven Register)

Yes, it was worse than the Les Miles debacle against Ole Miss. (Advocate)

The all-works Knicks starting five. Guess who has Jerod Mustaf’s autograph? (NY Post)

It’s going to be a long year for UCLA hoops – Nikola Dragovic was suspended from the team after another arrest. (LA Times)

If you look closely, you’ll see Ron Artest and Shannon Brown of the Lakers in this Toni Braxton video.

Jennifer Lopez wiped out last night at the AMAs. Fast-forward to the three-minute mark.

The ladies probably enjoy that.

Mark Cuban: “The problem with Rush is that its his job to take on all of life’s partisan issues and problems. Not only is it his job to take on these issues and problems, its key to his success that he be very opinionated about whichever issues he feels are important to him and/or will cause his very large audience to tune in … There is an unquantifiable risk that comes with the size of Rush’s audience. The wrong thing said on the show, even if its not spoken by Rush himself, about a sensitive national or world issue could turn into a Black Swan event for the NFL.”

Time Magazine: “… the notion that you need to occupy some kind of moral high ground to be able to extract profit from a monopoly sport that routinely exploits its criminally inclined workforce leaves me unmoved. The NFL is just another big business—why should it be anything less— only with a huge amount of ego attached to it. Rush should fit in quite well.”

Jim Irsay, Colts Owner: “There are certain privileges for certain things in life that you might want to pursue that may not be appropriate. I myself couldn’t be in favor of voting for him.’’

Dan Wetzel, Yahoo Sports: “So a group of almost exclusively white, almost exclusively conservative men – many of whom no doubt share Limbaugh’s political views and even listen to his radio program – are turning their back on the host … It’s just that a bunch of conservative businessmen, most of whom think just like him, aren’t going to let him join their little club. To them, how he made his money is as important as how much he made.”

[Blog Maverick, Time Magazine, Boston Globe, Yahoo Sports]

Donaghy violated probation when he didn’t show up for work, and thus he was thrown back in jail. His lawyer says he had permission to be at a health club to exercise his knee. The halfway house says otherwise. (ESPN)

If you like college basketball recruiting stories, this one’s for you. (Wash Post)

Isiah Thomas will open his college coaching career with a 10-20 point loss to OSU, or a 20-30 point loss to UNC. (Fox Sports)

Tampa fans will love this – Aqib Talib had three positive marijuana tests at Kansas. (Daily Kansan)

More than 1,000 South Africans greeted Caster Semenya upon her return home from dominating the track and field championships. (NYT)

Mark Cuban says the internet is about to change! (Blog Maverick)

Which college football coach said it? “You’ve got 19,000 students here. You’ve got a lot of cute girls out there. There’s a lot of things going on. Guys have to focus. We’re trying to reel them in.” (Paper Redacted)

A reader would like to add NC State’s TJ Graham to the list of fastest college football players. He best in the 100m is a 10.22. (NC Runners)

Win a autographed Chris Paul jersey! (Hoops Addict)

The Jay Cutler playlist – for Broncos fans only. (Bronco Talk)

Grandfather, pregnant woman tasered at a baptism. PG County, baby!

Anderson Silva does a mean Michael Jackson.

Mark Cuban dismembers a terrible pitch. Pay attention, future entrepreneurs! (Blog Maverick)

Larry Brown says he’s receiving calls about Allen Iverson. Yet nobody’s called the Pistons? Weird. (Yahoo)

“The NFL would like teams to limit customers to no more than two 20-ounce beers, two 6-ounce servings of wine or two 1½-ounce servings of liquor per transaction.” (USA Today)

Blogger gets invite to private screening of LeBron documentary. (Stepien Rules)

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey talks to a blog. (Ballin’ is a Habit)

Some of the worst facial hair in sports. (Detroit4Lyfe)

With stories like this, add us to the group of SEC haters: “Like a growing number of pro and college teams nationwide, the conference sees money to be made online from the exploits of its athletes.” (NYT)

Ron Artest is a Mets’ fan and he’s not taking all this losing well. (Twitter)

Deputies drink moderately, then let sexy waitress pose with their shotgun on the hood of a squad car. (AP)

Fantasy football insurance. Yes, really. (WSJ)

A good read on how Mike Hamilton, the director of athletics at Tennessee, went about finding a replacement for Phil Fulmer. (On Rocky Top)

Why doesn’t Tony Dungy try to save Marvin Harrison’s career? (But the Game is On)

Dead illegal immigrant found on Chipper Jones’ ranch. The man is believed to have crossed the border and died of heat and/or starvation. (AJC)

Hey, everyone misses once in awhile, right? (Yahoo, real story Here)

Not seen here: Ocho Cinco kicking off. Pretty accurately, too. Would he be doing this if the Hard Knocks cameras weren’t rolling?

Bill O’Reilly vs. Jon Stewart. What a mismatch.

Some thoughts on the Brewers grabbing 2B Felipe Lopez. (J-S)

Matthew Stafford hopes to avoid the fate of former Bulldogs QB David Greene, a 2005 3rd round pick who is now selling insurance. (AJC)

From Friday: Mark Cuban’s insider-trading case was dismissed from court. (Sports Business)

A golf book written by the venerable Dan Jenkins? Yeah, it’ll probably sell well. (Courier-Journal)

Yao missing next season will have international ramifications. (Yahoo)

Brian Dawkins was a 7-time Pro Bowler and only lived on 1/3 of an acre? Anyway, you can buy his house – former Eagles LB Jeremiah Trotter’s wife is the real estate agent. (Philly.com)

Seattle lost to the Sonics, but it has embraced the Sounders. (Seattle Times)

Overconfidence cost Wall Street. (Gladwell)

Israel Gutierrez of The Miami Herald on memories: “It was the game where Florida lost to Gonzaga on a last-second tip-in by Casey Calvary. It was my first in-person taste of real March Madness, and being in that locker room with Mike Miller covering his face with a towel so no one could see him crying, and Teddy Dupay bawling, it was just real emotion.” (4th and Fail)

A bit more background and detail into the Andre Dawkins-Duke news from last week. (Fay Observer)

The good news about the sordid Erin Andrews story is that only two newspapers – as best we could tell – touched the story. (Freep, USA Today)

If you missed the ESPYs, someone live-blogged it. (EW)

This will be printed and tape to the wall near our desk – right next to this story. (NYT)

About six weeks old, think we were on vacation: Conor Jackson of the Diamondbacks on General Hospital.

Jonny Flynn of the T-Wolves with a pretty nasty windmill jam in the summer league.

As heard on Stern this morning … “Rock around the cock, err, clock.”

In Martin’s defense, Cuban did disrespect his mom. Note Cuban’s bouncy fear – did anyone check for skidmarks? – after Martin leaves the court. [via Deadspin]

Cuban says he long ago committed to picking up a Clio Award in Las Vegas for innovative advertising in the field of technology. That’s probably a good thing:

“I don’t feel I need to call his name in the media and all that, but it’s a little personal,” Martin said after the Nuggets’ morning shootaround. “And I’m going to take care of it … (Heck) yeah, don’t say nothing to my kids or my family,” Martin said. “If you got something to say, say it to me. But I’m going to take care of it. I’m not going to do the whole media thing, back and forth. That’s his thing. I’m more of a face-to-face type of dude. So whenever the opportunity presents itself, then I will address it.”

A guy who’d rather settle things face-to-face instead of hiding behind the media or talking tough on his website? Impressive.

Martin’s issues with Mavs owner are “personal” (Denver Post)

Does hemmoraging even begin to describe what’s happening at the NYT? (Gulp)

Movie Phil Jackson is using to inspire the Lakers: “Miracle at St. Anna.” (LA Times)

Mark Cuban, quit helping the enemy, dammit. (Blog Maverick)

You may want to print this out and keep it handy this weekend for the draft. (Star-Telegram)

Atlanta is losing its Lingerie Football team. The Steam are moving to Charlotte. (Monkeys Throwing Darts)

The 100 year-old bat boy on the Red Sox. (NBC Boston)

John Kerry to the rescue of the newspaper industry! (Editor and Publisher)

Why the Lakers own LA. (Wall Street Journal)

He was once a hero, and now, he’s been busted for sleeping with a middle schooler. (Palm Beach Post)

Finally, top-seeded San Jose takes a playoff game from 8th seeded Anaheim, 4-3. (Fear the Fin)

Understandable want for a highly-touted high school QB. (Deadspin)

The potential steal of the NFL draft – WVU’s Pat White. (Yahoo Sports)

Can everyone stop being so cryptic about this Pitino extortion attempt? Where are the details? (Inside Track)

[vid via Red Sox Monster]

* Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the White Sox, may have been a behind-the-scenes hindrance (because, for whatever reason, “… the Cubs and Sox were treated as equals in their business dealings,”) though he was nice to Cubes throughout the process
* Cuban thinks highly of himself as a closer – Thingpen-esque – but he couldn’t close these guys
* The credit crisis hit harder than Dexter Manley. Cubes tinkered with paying cash, but in times like these, cash is king, and Cuban felt a) he could get a better return on his cash elsewhere, and b) if he paid cash, then he wasn’t going to pay nearly the astronomical sums that were previously being discussed
* On the plus side, all does not appear lost

I asked for an extension. I knew that if they got the money they wanted for the team, well my bid was not going to be high enough anyway. If they didnt, or the other bidders couldnt come up with their money, they would come back to me. I’m still waiting

The Cubs (Blog Maverick)