GQ just posted an interview with Nuggets guard Andre Iguodala that includes a few entertaining insights. Iguodala talks about the "chill" spot he retreats to for hours at a time where he can "watch SportsCenter and text people and just relax," and he also tells us that Deadspin favorite JaVale McGee is a nerd who likes to play with gadgets. But the best part of the interview comes when Iggy is asked for his opinion on clubs.

I think it's just once you've seen one you've seen it all. With the exception of maybe Vegas or Miami once or twice, other than that it's all the same to me. I can't hear anything in the club with the loud music, so you're in there and you're like, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU BECAUSE OF THE LOUD MUSIC." I hate that, yelling back and forth. And I don't drink, so it's kind of pointless.

It's funny because it's true, you know? He's just saying what we're all thinking, am I right?

[GQ]

This Is One Of The Craziest Buzzer-Beaters You Will Ever See | If you've ever thought just throwing the ball up in the air and letting time expire was a good idea, just watch. Mt. Vernon tries to do it with a half-assed toss and New Rochelle gets the ball back and splashes a half-court shot with .1 left. Absolutely bonkers. Read »

OKC Thunder Forward Serge Ibaka Just Karate Chopped Blake Griffin In The Nuts | It remains to be seen whether he'll get fined or suspended or deported. Metta World Peace would already be in handcuffs. Read »

How To Cook Bacon, Eggs, And Toast: A Guide For Infomercial Skeptics | The point here is that cooking eggs, in a goddamn pan, and then advancing from cooking eggs in a goddamn pan to enjoying the eating of those very same eggs on a plate, is fucking outrageously easy. Read »

Here's A Photo Of UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland, In A Tracksuit, Playing Beer Pong With Students Last Night | Even cooler than the tracksuit? Rad, disheveled Ben Howland admiring Shabazz Muhammad's shooting technique. Read »

Alex Rodriguez Only Gave $5,090 Of The $403,862 He Raised For Charity To Charity | It's been a while since anyone thought Alex Rodriguez was a stand-up guy, but this seems...egregious: Read »

Pitcher Forgets He Is Playing Baseball, Tackles Runner Trying To Score | The next pitch is wild and instead of covering the plate, the pitcher takes off for the runner breaking for home and absolutely levels him. It is a textbook takedown. Read »

LeBron Considering Magic Johnson's $1 Million To Compete In The Dunk Contest | Some people want to see James in the contest so bad that hypothetically, they'd probably bribe the star with like a million bucks to partake. Read »

The circumstances surrounding the death of Yewri Guillén—an 18-year-old Dominican prospect who had been signed by the Washington Nationals—remain murky. But a piece in the latest issue of Mother Jones reveals they weren't so murky that the Nationals didn't make sure to absolve themselves of any liability.

Guillén started having headaches in April 2011. At the time he was living at the Nationals' training facility in Boca Chica. The headaches got worse and worse, and soon a fever set in. Because his contract with the Nationals had not yet been finalized, Guillén's health insurance hadn't kicked in, and he couldn't afford the $1,300 admittance fee to the nation's best private hospital. Instead, he went to a free clinic, where he was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. He died just two weeks after the headaches had started.

We know these details thanks to a 2011 Washington Post article, but Ian Gordon of Mother Jones got his hands on the binding agreement signed by Guillén's parents a month after their son's funeral.

Exactly when and how Guillén became ill remains unclear to this day. But in 2011, in return for Guillén's $30,000 signing bonus, his parents agreed to the following terms:

(1) that Guillén died of bacterial meningitis, but that he'd contracted it outside of the facility and therefore it had nothing to do with the Nationals;

(2) that the team gave Guillén the appropriate treatment when he got sick;

(3) that they would never sue the team or its employees for the death of their son.

"They came here to screw us over," Ortiz said, his voice rising. "We didn't want problems-we just wanted things to be resolved."

Oddly, the first stipulation in the agreement above contradicts the results of an MLB investigation into Guillén's death, which claims that he died of a sinus infection.

Why might the Nationals have been on the hook for Guillén's death? One possibility, unearthed by Mother Jones: There were no certified athletic trainers or even doctors at the Nationals' academy.

Guillén's mother, Sandra Perdomo, confirmed to the Washington Post that she was told that she had to sign the agreement in order to get Guillén's signing bonus:

She didn't read the paperwork, assuming that's all the documents were for. She and her husband checked the paperwork three days later and discovered that they contained a clause that promised they wouldn't sue the Nationals, she said.

"I could have investigated it," said Perdomo, who didn't sound remorseful when talking Sunday. "But I wanted to leave it like that. Why continue with it? That's what I told my husband. Nothing that we do would have brought him back."

According to Mother Jones, the Washington Nationals are one of 21 MLB teams that still do not have certified trainers present at their Dominican academies.

[Mother Jones]
[Washington Post]

It was almost two years ago that the Golf Boys—a group consisting of PGA pros Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan, Ben Crane, and Rickie Fowler—released "Oh Oh Oh" onto the world. Their follow up, cleverly titled "2.Oh," sees the Golf Boys taking a huge leap forward in production value while bringing the white-golfers-rapping game to the next level.

Highlights include Hunter Mahan sort of dissing Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson giving himself a soda facial, and you cringing while slowly backing away from your computer screen. The song was made for charity, though, so that's good!

Yankees GM Brian Cashman went skydiving today in order to help raise awareness for the U.S. Army's Wounded Warriors project. Things were going fine until Cashman's second jump, when he broke his ankle so severely that the bone came bursting through his flesh.

Gah! How can Cashman look so calm and relaxed while his bone is sticking out of his skin? Any GMs looking to make deals with him in the future should be very afraid. The man clearly has ice water in his veins.

[Twitter]

A tipster sends along the following email, which was originally sent from Stephen Spiegelberg, a Texas Tech alum and proprietor of Lubbock clothing store Chrome, to Joe Parker, the deputy athletics director at Texas Tech. According to the tipster, the message was bcc'd to a few of Texas Tech's regents. The email seems to be a followup message after a lunch meeting between Spiegelberg and Parker. It contains a detailed list of ideas about how to get Texas Tech's new head football coach, 33-year-old Kliff Kingsbury, into the media spotlight.

The email reads like the work of the real-life version of Jean-Ralphio, and it is as hilarious as it is ridiculous. Some of Spiegelberg's best suggestions:

• Get Kingsbury a nickname. Suggestions include "GQ," "Hollywood," and "Swagger."
• Get Kingsbury a professional stylist, specifically Fred Segal, who has apparently styled "Micheal" Jackson, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Ashley Olson, Bruce Willis, The Beatles, Carrie Underwood, and Adam Lambert. "The list goes on," boasts Spiegelberg.
• Get Kingsbury on the "B-list," which will somehow lead to his being invited to the Oscars and Grammys. Also New York Fashion Week

Read the whole email, and then laugh. This is big-time college sports at its most farcical.

Joe- Thanks again for lunch. Great to hear how much success you are having.

Recap:

Redesign masked rider logo- More nod to the Spanish heritage of Llano Estacado. Think the six flags and the image of a masked rider. I suggest you consider allow a test on how the logo works from a design element stand point. The past logos the designer thought looked cool. Its a nightmare to design around for artist. We need to see how well a new logo drops in under multiple elements.

Bring Back Vintage masked rider and double t logo for vintage graphics. This is the most requested art from the TTU fan base that we can not deliver. It would open a whole new world to design..mainly because its flat. The 3-D versions of logos are limiting in terms of design and production. We are missing a flat logo that will sell.

DVD programs- Let me help with the distribution to make it more successful. We can coordinate designs like OU did with its program. When you have time let me know how to get these DVDs of womens BBall at wholesale. I will reissue the 1993 national champion shirt we did and make it a combo.

Kliff- Can rest. We need to craft his image. His agent doesn't give a damn. He has his money. TTU always successful when it works outside normal channel. Normal channel closed down by media outlets.

Pete Carroll= worked an angle of the Rock and Roll Coach at USC. It was placed. He was seen with Rock and Roll bands & music industry execs.

Bill Synder= Works as the wizard. Does more with less. Media loves the wizard angle.

Mike Leach= the strange one. Offensive genius. Media loved the straight forward answers. He embraced the strange answers with the press and grew his image.

Phil Jackson- Zen Coach. press loved talking about the Zen approach to basketball coaching.

Bear Bryant- Father of coaching. Media loves talking about the "sons of the bear"

Tom Landry- The Gentleman. The Hat.

Kliff- We place his nickname..GQ, Hollywood, Swagger..(we talk to him and see what we can place) we need to dial in Kliff's style and hammer it as a the "cool kids" here at Texas Tech.

Starting point: if we are going to place KK in the media spotlight. He must be spot on in terms trend & look. That is what we can hang our hat on... I have reached out my friend and owner of Fred Segal LA. http://www.fredsegal.com/ He has dress and made the image of many stars: He has helped style Micheal Jackson, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Ashley Olson, Bruce Willis, The Beatles, Carrie Underwood, Adam Lambert. List goes on. He's a go to guy for helping read and place the stars image in terms of looks. I sent him Kliff's pics. He said he would help me put Kliff in what on trend for his style...and more importantly body type. If he puts his signature on Kliff, then Kliff also gets introduced to the Hollywood A-list. He will then assign a stylist to Kliff for season review and help.

Middle point: We hire a branding firm out of LA that specialized in getting our boy on the B-list. We need him to be seen at NY fashion week, some Hollywood events, and the hip scenes around the nation. ( I know we have a firm working the TTU image) I suggest we use a firm that specializes in placing people in the scene. I am told there is 3 main firms. Why? We get B-roll for your normal sport channels. (espn , ABC, ect) We ask Under Amour to help with the cost of branding their coach.

Middle Point two: I help you get TTU logo and merchandise placed in Music, TV, and Movie. Goal: to make that logo cool. Love the logo, find out about our team. Its what happened to licensing in the early 90's. I saw it work. Why? you guys are killing it with our fans base. I want to help open the brand to a national fan base. WE WERE ON TRACK in a huge way with MIKE....60 mins ect. We can do it again with Kliff.

End point: By year two....I want Kliff on a cover of national magazine. I want him invited to bigger events in LA and NYC. Oscars, Grammys, ect. Everytime he is seen in an unconventional setting....TTU get free advertising. We need this to level the playing field with TEXAS. Also, we can turn the tables on TEXAS. its old, tired, its the Nike to your kids generation.

UA showed us....we are already the team that wears the cool brand in Texas. We can brand as the Hippest school in the game. Swagger on and off the field. It will draw stars to lubbock and the program. You have a two part machine. UA investing big time in the image of the program and Kliff (the need another coach to sit with Steve S at USC) They need an icon that can knock down NIKE huge list of personalities. They are missing this in all sports. (Kirby can sell the hell out of it to Kevin, but its about striking at the right time...soon while we are hot) He will get it. We need a $1 billion firm helping to power us. It Kevin best investment in college sports. Maryland is his love, but TTU is his best investment. We need him to consider adding additional funds to help grow UA's TTU investment. The more we win, the more it pisses off Nike in Austin. It a natural cool kids school, with cool kids clothing brand. Offering the firm in LA 100K to get kliff into
the b-list is chump change for the return and image for UA. Kliff=GQ and Kliff only wears UA for sports.

I have more but I have to run to meeting. I did not proof read, because of time and you know where I am going with this Joe. I am typing as fast as my mind is thinking, so excuse my errors.

ALSO- We need UA to start by PLACING Steve S and Kliff in a national college football commercial. We need Kliff side by side with a power figure to set a tone day one. We need him elevated in the national public mind. KEYWORD FOR THIS MONTH.....NATIONAL. You are killing it in the state......you took risk by interviewing 3 coaches with no head coach title. Now consider risking on unique channels in blowing up the brilliant hire.

All humble opinions and ideas...I would not be a good friend to you unless I keep pushing you for greatness. Keep charging!!! Rip the wave...don't ride it.

Stephen Spiegelberg
CHROME
2416 Broadway
Lubbock, Tx 79401
Tele:806.687.8953
Fax:806.687.8954

We reached out to Spiegelberg. He said he wanted to speak with Parker before commenting. Texas Tech spokesman Blayne Beal downplayed Spiegelberg's involvement with the school. "Like anybody else in T-shirt sales, you know, they're always trying to give us their input on things," he says.

But hey, Texas Tech must be doing something right.

Top image by Jim Cooke

Anyone who was under the impression that Joe Flacco's father was being overly harsh when he described his son as "dull" will be changing their minds after reading this tweet from CBS Sports' Will Brinson:

When Joe Flacco gets home today, he's probably going to heat up a nice bowl of Cream of Wheat (without honey), head down to his wood-paneled basement, tune into a local AM radio program, and stare at the $62 million that is collected in a pile on his floor.

That's probably for the best, though. He's going to need time to recover from all the partying he did this weekend:

So it turns out that Brian Cashman's skydiving mishap from earlier today probably didn't result in him suffering a compound fracture. That's good, because compound fractures are gross. Cashman did end up with a broken fibula and a dislocated ankle, though, and he just got out of surgery for the latter. Thanks to what we assume was a hefty dose of painkillers, he remains chill.

RELATED: Brian Cashman Looks Pretty Chill For A Guy Who Just Suffered A Compound Fracture

[Twitter]

Some advice for Anthony Tolliver: Next time, just forgo the pump fake and shoot the ball over Wilson Chandler. Chandler may have gotten a hand in your face and disrupted your shot, but he probably wouldn't have infantilized you with a vicious volleyball-spike, mean mugged at the crowd until he got the ball back, and then beat you to the other end of the court to flush a half-court alley-oop. JaVale McGee, on the other hand, is definitely the kind of guy who would do all of those things to you. Now you know. [Altitude]

We'll just let the lede from this story in the New York Post speak for itself, because it is great:

Dennis Rodman, just back from visiting Kim Jong Un, was escorted out of the Time Hotel in Midtown on Sunday after spending hours at the restaurant bar loudly telling anyone who would listen what a great guy the North Korean dictator is.

According to the Post's sources, Rodman was also waving around a signed copy of Kim Jong Un's manifesto and telling everyone in the bar that they should read it. What a great guy.

[NY Post]

Beitar Jersualem, one of Israel's most popular soccer teams, added two non-Israeli players to its roster this year. Zaur Sadayev and Dzhabrail Kadiyev are both Chechan Muslims and are two of the five non-Israeli players to have ever suited up for Beitar throughout the team's existence. Unsurprisingly, a right-wing segment of Beitar's fan base has not dealt with this development very well.

La Familia, a Beitar fan club with an extremist slant, has been very displeased about the arrival of Sadayev and Kadiyev. A sign reading "Beitar is pure forever" was spotted in La Familia's cheering section last month, and three members have been accused of starting a fire at the Beitar offices.

On Sunday, though, Sadayev scored a goal against Maccabi Netanya after spending the entire game being booed by his own fans. So what did La Familia do? Did they finally welcome Sadayev as one of their own, like at the end of a really cool sports movie? Nah, they just walked out. From the Independent:

Beitar's best player, the Argentinian Dario Fernandez, jumped on Sadayev's shoulders and celebrated with him, but the reaction in the crowd was confused to say the least. In one stand supporters screamed with elation, but behind the goal, in the La Familia end, hundreds walked out.

Two members of La Familia explained their decision to boo Sadayev and then to leave the stadium after he scored.

"The reaction to the Muslim players being here is not racist," insisted 19-year-old Akeeva, a Beitar fan. "But the club's existence is under threat. Beitar is a symbol for the whole country."

Jacob, another fan, agrees, "It's just a matter of being Arab [by which he means Muslim]. It's not racism, they just shouldn't be here. Beitar Jerusalem has always been a clean club, but now it's being destroyed – many of the other players are thinking of leaving because of the Muslim players being here."

Solid logic, guys. Now we have to add Israel to the ever-growing list of countries that are home to bigoted shitbag soccer fans.

[Independent]

One of the best things to come out of this year's Sloan Sports Analytics Conference was Kirk Goldsberry's paper on interior defense, in which he details which defenders are the best and worst at lowering opponent field goal percentage on shots at the rim. Surprisingly, the paper pointed to little-known Milwaukee Bucks big man Larry Sanders as the NBA's best interior defender.

Last night, Sanders backed up Goldsberry's findings in spectacular fashion. Near the end of the first half of last night's Jazz-Bucks game, Jazz guard Alec Burks knifed into the lane and attempted to throw down a monster dunk over Ersan Ilyasova. That's when Sanders came bounding in from the top of the paint and denied Burks at the summit. Blocks don't get much cleaner than this.

Unfortunately, the referee whistled Burks for a charge on the play, and Sanders's block wasn't recorded. Still, the moment provided a valuable lesson to Burks and the rest of the NBA: do not bring that weak stuff at Larry Sanders.

A 1982 letter from Joe Paterno to one of his former players first popped up on CBS Sports last Thursday, and it also appeared on former NFL player Dustin Fox's Instagram account. In the letter, Paterno takes the player to task for not paying $12.99 in hotel service charges that he racked up while traveling for the Fiesta Bowl. The letter is chock-full of the kind of old-timey moralizing that once made Paterno college football's lovable grandpa. But now, it's just kind of weird (click to enlarge):

You don't do things right sometimes; you do them right all the time. Wise words indeed.

[CBS]

Last night, the Oklahoma City Thunder decimated the Los Angeles Lakers. Not only did the home team hang 122 on the Lakers, they bullied their way into the paint for 52 of those points and racked up another 22 on fast breaks that left Los Angeles gasping and ragged. L.A. surrendered 37 points in the first quarter, and allowed the Thunder to come within three points of cracking 100 before the start of the fourth. At halftime, OKC was on pace to score 142 points. Near the end of the game, the Lakers followed up a brief, hopeful run that cut the lead to five by going scoreless over the final six minutes of the game.

The only thing Dwight Howard accomplished all night was getting himself punked by Serge Ibaka, and Kobe Bryant's gritty 30-point effort was overshadowed by the fact that he spent his night on the defensive end of the floor chasing after Russell Westbrook's first step. The Lakers looked old and overmatched all night, and the game was a stark reminder that despite their recent success, this team is still miles away from being competitive against the Western Conference's top teams.

All this to say that it was a surprise to see this splashed on the front page of ESPN.com this morning:

In a loss in OKC, the Lakers showed Tuesday they can compete against the West's elite. Will they get a chance in the postseason?

What? In what way did last night's game prove that the Lakers can "compete against the West's elite" other than demonstrating that they are indeed capable of wearing basketball uniforms and making basketball plays while a much better team runs them off the court? Let's pretend that it had been the 28-31 Trailblazers who lost by 17 to the Thunder last night while relying on a one-armed, aging star to keep them in the game. I doubt they would have been declared legitimate competitors for the top spot in the Western Conference the next day.

But these are the Lakers, and they can't be allowed to just be what they really are: a 30-31 team that has recently put together a nice run and will likely make the playoffs, where they are doomed to be bounced in the first round. The Lakers are supposed to be nearing the dramatic turn in their season, the point at which they round into form and finally come together as a unit to achieve an altogether improbable goal. The Lakers are supposed to have a story to tell, as ESPN Los Angeles reminds us:

They've built a belief.

The Lakers are chasing the Thunder just as much as they're chasing the Rockets, Jazz and Warriors. This isn't just about making the playoffs; it's about doing something when they get there.

"I think if we get a chance to play these guys again [in the playoffs], I think mentally we know that we can compete with them, and if it happens, hopefully we're at full strength and we can have our full team out there," Antawn Jamison said. "I like the mindset of the team right now. We're still fighting."

They're not dead yet.

That last line may still prove true, but we don't need to pretend like last night was proof.

[ESPN]

American royalty Jay Cutler and Kristin Cavallari have finally announced a date for their upcoming wedding (It's July 13. Get excited!), and like any good soon-to-be-married couple, they've registered for gifts at Williams-Sonoma and Crate & Barrel. Thanks to some sleuthing from DNAinfo.com, we are free to peruse the happy couple's wish list. So let's get to perusing!

Hey look at this, it's an authentic Molcajete carved from a single piece of basalt rock. Somebody likes guacamole! Or maybe Kristin and Jay have really gotten into holistic medicine lately, and they plan on using this to crush up their homemade herbal remedies.

Well, this is kind of strange. Jay and Kristin are asking for not one, but two cake stands. One of them is big and one of them is small. Now, I'm no cake expert, but I'm pretty sure that even a couple as wealthy as this one is going to have a hard time finding a use for two cake stands. Unless they just really like cakes, I guess.

Oh man, here's another cake stand! This one has a cover, though, which totally eliminates the hassle of traveling with a cake. At Jay Cutler's first press conference next season, some enterprising reporter needs to ask him what the deal is with all these cake stands.

OK, what else do we have? Mostly boring stuff: tea kettle, slow cooker, KitchenAid. All pretty standard.

So, what should you buy from the registry? If you want to play it safe, I suggest you go with one of the cake stands, or something else cake related. But if you want to be classy and original, then I'd point you towards the wedge boat. It's "crafted from wood culled from sustainable forests and finished with a light coating of natural oil to enhance its unique graining and coloring," and you can put rolls on it and stuff! And if you're a cheap bastard, you are out of luck. Someone already beat you to the cupcake corer.

Now, buying wedding gifts for these two has proven to be a dicey proposition in the past, so purchase at your own risk. If you do buy them anything, though, be sure to let us know.

This happened between the third and fourth quarters of last night's Lakers-Thunder game, and it's one of the best fan-makes-half-court-shot videos of the year. The fact that Heath Kufahl's perfectly executed shot is followed by everyone on the court freaking out jumping around to a Blur song makes the moment plenty sweet, but this bit of backstory from The Oklahoman makes it that much better:

It's always cool to see someone make that shot, but for the Kufahls and their seven children, it means a bit more: Heath's wife, Jenni, was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in October of 2012. The money will be used for mounting medical bills.

So yeah, we're really happy that he made that shot.

[The Oklahoman via BDL]

In the video above, you will see JaVale McGee throw down a very nice alley-oop during last night's Nuggets-Kings game. McGee enjoyed the play so much that he sent out the following celebratory tweet, in his usual house style:

Anyone who appreciates McGee's particular brand of basketball likely got a kick out of the picture and the added caption. But one Twitter user decided to be a big ol' stick in the mud and issue the following qualm:

Oh, thanks for pointing that out, Mr. Wizard! But you forgot about one thing...

Boom. Ya burnt, Poindexter.

Thank you for your continued support of Deadspin. We're clocking out for the day, but we'll be here again tomorrow. Join us, won't you?

There are a few things that are bizarre about Nate Robinson's decision to wear Air Yeezy 2s during last night's Bulls-Spurs game. For one, those shoes are ridiculously expensive. Although they retail at $250, the demand for the shoes has become so high that they routinely fetch prices upwards of $2,000 on eBay and other sites. Also, these are not shoes that are really meant to be used on an NBA court. I mean, just look at them:

The gigantic strap in the front, the spikes in the back, and the sheer bulk don't exactly scream, "Meant to maximize your athletic performance." Robinson found this out the hard way, and swapped his Yeezys for a pair of Jordans after going 1-8 from the field in the first quarter. We're pretty sure this is the last time we'll see a pair of Yeezys on an NBA court, but we salute Robinson for his boldness.

[Complex]

The Arizona Diamondbacks spent the offseason transforming into baseball's most complete collection of gritty players who really know how to get out there and scrap and grind and chop it up. Seriously, the 40-man roster is littered with little white guys who have spent their careers giving crusty sportswriters the vapors.

Of course, intelligent baseball fans understand that describing a player as "gritty" or "scrappy" is lazy, hollow, and often racially coded. Which is why it was nice to see Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon McCarthy give this response to a CBS Sports' Danny Knobler, who set out to discover if McCarthy was a "grinder."

"I hate the grinder thing," McCarthy said. "I hate 'gritty.' I think that's a lazy way of describing things. I think it's just people who know how to prepare and stay prepared."

So if we're not going to call the new Diamondbacks grinders, what are we going to call what they're doing?

"Prepared baseball, maybe?" McCarthy suggested.

Hard to see that one catching on.

McCarthy's response isn't surprising, as he's proven himself to be one of the game's more humorous and intelligent players. It's also not surprising to see Knobler completely miss the point. Rather than taking McCarthy's sentiment to heart and actually stopping to think about why it's lazy to call a player "gritty"—Hey, that might have been an interesting thing to write about!—Knobler just goes on to herp and derp his way around the locker room, asking every other player and executive in sight about how "gritty" their team is. Because, you know, there's no need to let a thoughtful comment from one of your story's principals undermine the central premise of your column.

[CBS]