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Awesome, great news. Sweet Lou will be back next year, the Suns exercised the second-year team option on this contract. Lighting Lou’s play was one of the few bright spots from last season. The effort he put forth in every game made watching the Suns enjoyable again. It will be fun to see Lou Amundson play under Gentry’s run and gun style for a whole season. From  SUNS.COM: “The 6-9, 238-pound Amundson became a fan favorite in his first season with the Suns in 2008-09 while posting career highs in nearly every statistical category. Voted the winner of the 2009 Majerle Hustle Award by fans and Suns staff for his signature style of play, Amundson saw action in a career-high 76 games, including the final 61 consecutive contests (Dec. 9-April 15) and all 31 contests under head coach Alvin Gentry.” How can you not love the winner of the Dan Majerle Hustle Award? Right.

James Harden was selected by the Oklahoma Thunder, Harden was the highest pick since Joe Caldwell was the number 2 pick by the Detroit Pistons in 1964. Jeff Pendergraph was the 31st overall pick by the Sacramento Kings. I think Harden, and Stephen Curry wil have an immediate impact on thier respective teams. Both of them are NBA ready. Curry and Harden can create their own shot and both have a great inside/outside game. The Thunder love James Harden, in particular his overall attitude and work ethic. From Chris Silva at NBA.com: “During his two-day visit to Oklahoma City, Harden said he had a solid overall workout, shot the ball well and got a good vibe from everyone he came into contact with. But it was what Harden did the night before his workout with the Thunder and the morning he left town for his next workout that spoke volumes about his work ethic. In both instances, Harden found himself at the Thunder practice facility, shooting jump shots and lifting weights on his own time.” I think Harden will have success with the Thunder, they seem like a good match. Read more NBA.com

The Diamondbacks absolutely suck. I don’t think there is anyway to sugar-coat this disastrous season. The Dbacks could not avoid the sweep by the Angels , losing 12-8 last night. From the bullpen, to the manager , to the front office, the incompetence is amazing. Thumbs up there A$#es. As a fan there is only so much you can take. That frustration boiled over last night, with fans mocking and booing the Dbacks on the field. Justin Upton responded by fake-tossing a ball into the stands. From azcentral: “Fans sarcastically cheered when Upton caught a routine fly ball for the first out of the sixth inning. After he recorded the third out, he ran near the stands down the right-field line and pretended to toss the ball into the crowd but instead took it with him into the dugout.” That is exactly the kind of behaviour you would expect from a young talented player who’s is getting no guidance or direction from his manager or veteran teammates. Had he done that in a Yankees or Mets uniform the fans and the New York media would have crucified him. But here no one cares because no one is paying attention. Read more here

Thanks Don Nelson and Larry Riley. So they were willing to make the trade because they had no clue Stephen Curry would be available as the #7 pick. But once that happened the deal was off? They totally went back on their word. Shady shady. I knew it was to good to be true. The Warriors are guard heavy, so I am still holding out hope that the deal could get done. I think Golden State would want more than just Amare, now that they know how much interest we have in Stephen Curry. We got screwed on this one, this is definitely not Kerrs fault for once. Remember paybacks are a bitch, I hope we can knock them out of the playoffs. Read more here at brightsideofthesun

Oh Boy! Larry Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner are both up for ESPY awards. Fitz is up for Best NFL Player and Best Record Breaking Performance. Kurt is up for Best NFL Player. That would be a nice consolation prize since they didn’t get that Super-Bowl trophy right? Right. The ESPYs are never on any athletes mind until there told they are nominated. The real reward is what ever personal records you can set for the season and winning championship trophy in your particular sport. I will say the ESPYs are far more entertaining and watchable then the Oscars or the Grammys. However the AVN award show is the best by far!! Best All-Girl Group Sex Scene, hows that for a categorie? Check out the ESPYs here

This deal involves the Golden State Warriors. Amare for Stephen Curry who was picked at at No. 7 and possibly power forward Brandan Wright and/or shooting guard Marco Belinelli. According to Paul Coro, the deal won’t take place until Wednesday because The Suns would be acquiring Warriors center Andris Biedrins, a base-year compensation player. Stephen Curry would be a likely replacement for Nash. Stephen Curry is an NBA ready point guard, he was the nation’s leading scorer for Davidson. If this deal goes through I believe it signals the end of the Nash/Amare era. I do not believe Nash is going to stick around for rebuilding, he is going to end up in New York at some point anyway. So far the Suns have drafted Eric Clark a small forward from Louisville. Who knows what the Suns will look like by the end of the week? Read more about the proposed trade here, azcentral.com. Read about Stephen Currys stats here, and Eric Clarks stats here.

Dbacks lost last night to the Texas Rangers 1-2. Is anyone paying attention anymore? Between the Shaq trade and Cardinals training camp coming up this could become the lost Dbacks season. So far it is a season to forget. Think about Dan Haren. He must amazed how the Dbacks invent new ways to lose every time he takes the mound. From the azcentral.com, “I don’t think it’s as frustrating as you think, to be honest with you,” Haren said. “It’s kind of a broken record, I know, but I go out every time and give the team the best chance to win.” In the movie Empire Strikes Back, there is a scene at the end of the movie where the Millennium Falcon is trying to escape from an Imperial Star Destroyer. R2 finally gets the hyperdrive to work and they escape…again. And then there’s old Vader standing on the bridge, looking out into empty space and he does a double take, And you know he’s thinking, “wow, do I have to do every f%#king thing myself, this is amazing”. Thats how Dan Haren has felt all season.

When the trade for Shaq was made the Phoenix Suns had the best record in the Western Conference. And the result? Failure to make the playoffs, and team disunity. The trade was a total failure and not because of Shaq, he performed far better than anyone expected. That is all behind us now. It’s time to move forward. And in order to move forward we need to cut or ties with Amare and Nash. The trade rumors are off the hook!! Amare for Josh Smith , Nash & Barbosa for Rajon Rondo & Ray Allen, Amare for Kenny Thomas & Jason Thompson, Nash for Jose Calderon & Marcus Banks, Amare for Kareem, Nash for Jordan, It’s getting out of control!!!  We need to be honest with ourselves and admit we are rebuilding. Its time to get some new, young, hungry players who will play some competitive basketball. The “eyes are no longer on the prize”. The eyes are on staying above .500 and becoming entertaining to watch again. Take a look at some of the trade rumors at brightsideofthesun.com

Shaquille O’Neal has been traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic. Great money saving move. Lebron has someone to play Howard one-on-one. The Suns get some salary cap breathing space. I don’t think the Suns wheeling and dealing is done yet. There is still talk of moving Amare which I don’t think is a good idea. We’ll see how it works out. The deal is more than “90 percent” complete, according to the sources, and is merely awaiting final approval from the team’s owners. from ESPN “The trade is a pretty strong admission by the Suns that they screwed up when they tradedShawn Marion for Shaq in February of 2007. Marion was a free agent this summer and, had they let him walk, their savings would’ve been $21 million not the $5.5 million they’re saving in this deal”. Read more here at espn.com

Geez, this off-season is taking forever. Training camp will not be until the end of July – beginning of August. So there is a lot of time to kill. Bezekira has a nice little post about the most overrated/underrated Cards stories of the year. Not surprisingly he has the Anquan Boldin situation at most overrated. Enough said. But he has some real interesting picks for the most underrated stories. Michael Bidwell’s effect on the Cards is an certainly an underrated story. Nobody seems in any hurry to give the Cards front office any credit for the franchises turn around. I mean Any Credit. Michael Bidwell has been at the point when it came to acquiring a new stadium and the effort to bring back the Super Bowl. I believe the quality of your sports franchise starts from the top down. The more control Michael Bidwell has had, the better the organization has looked. Read more at revengeofthebirds.com

Silver Linings, its all about silver linings. Mike Leake has been named American Baseball Coaches Association national Player of the Year. Leake had another awesome year in the PAC-10. Leake had a 16-1 record, the most wins of any pitcher in the country, a 1.71 ERA, and struck out 162 batters. Not to mention Leake is the first back-to-back Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year winner. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds. ASU baseball will definitely need to replace some pitching for the 2010 season.

Wow, that was an exciting CWS. The Sun Devils had a hell of season. We need to replace some pitching but I think 2010 will be another banner year for ASU Baseball. Now all I can think off is ASU Football. The 2009-2010 schedule is up. We got Georgia on the 26th of September in Athens. That is going to be fun. At least we will be hosting the Mildcats at Sun Devils Stadium this year. I love it when they come to town for a beat down. You can see the full schedule at thesundevils.cstv.com .  The November 7th game against USC will televised on ESPN.

Facing elimination, ASU showed some resilience with 12-5 win over UNC last night. With the Sun Devils down 4-0 in the 4th inning, Kole Calhoun hit a Grand Slam home run to tie the game. Kole Calhoun is on a mission. He’s a little upset he was looked over in the Draft, now opposing pitchers are feeling his wrath. That was his 12th homer of the season and 46th Grand Slam in CWS history. We can’t forget Josh Spence. Spence’s CWS stats are just as impressive, four earned runs and 16 strikeouts across 14 innings of work. Last nights win was also Pat Murphy’s 1000th career win. Over half of those wins (580) are with the Devils. Now the Sun devils need at least two more against Texas in order to advance. The next game is scheduled for 4pm on ESPN2 but it appears it may be rain delayed. Check out a recap of last nights game at pitchforknation

Kevin Roberts has a list of the five most pivotal draft moments in Suns history. It seems that our best draft picks happened in what seems like the distant past. Our more recent picks have not panned out. Robin Lopez may turn out to be an exception, only time will tell. I think in terms of what he meant to the team, Shawn Marion was one of the best draft picks the suns ever had. Marion was the ninth pick in the 1999 NBA Draft. The Matrix was the backbone of the suns for close to 9 years. We can’t forget Stoudemire, it remains to be seen how his Suns career will play out. Read the whole list at bleacherreport.com

Tall. Blonde. Beautiful. Yes, Erin Andrews can be quite the distraction. Hardly any mortal man can resist her. So I think it is no surprise the Devils got a little distracted in Tuesday nights game against Texas. She must have strolled down the 1st baseline in the 4th inning. Mike Leake didn’t have a chance. I think they will have a better chance at tonight’s game. The Devils have learned some lessons and know how to approach Erin Andrews North Carolina. Don’t act desperate, confidence is everything, and be yourself, your a 40 win team and PAc-10 champions. Play like it. Tonight’s game is at 4pm ESPN 2