My Sports News Digest

It was the game that started the buzz — West Coast vs. East Coast, Los Angeles vs. Washington D.C., Goodman League vs. Drew League. It was the game that set the stage for Goodman vs. Melo and soon Goodman vs. Rucker.

The Drew League wanted a rematch — Drew lost by 1 point, there was questionable officiating, and the Drew League guys were never told you can’t even foul out of the game. A couple of days ago, the Drew League tweeted that the rematch was coming.

Not so much. The rematch is not happening, according to the official Drew League twitter account.

Drew kept our promise but Goodman League did not so as of right now there will NOT be a rematch game in LA. We have moved on so stay tune.

Dont worry we figured they was gonna flake out, we already have other things line up, i will keep you guys posted!

Goodman is lined up to play Rucker Park in New York. But they are not playing Drew, which has some other stunt up its sleeve. Sorry James Harden, you don’t get a second shot at Durant… well, not until training camps open.

Day two and not a lot of surprises, we’re starting to see the cream separate itself. But there are some big tests out there to come yet.

German 76, Italy 62: This should sound pretty familiar to Mavericks fans — Dirk Nowitzki is always going to be good, the question is how much help will he get. He got it Thursday, with 17 points, 17 boards from Chris Kaman. Italy tried to stay in this with threes, but was just 6-of-25 from deep (24 percent).

Spain 87, Portugal 73: Spain won for the second day in a row behind Pau Gasol, who dropped 20 and had 9 boards — good news for Lakers fans. Spain won for the second day in a row with Ricky Rubio being basically a no-show (5 points, 4 boards and 2 assists) — look away Timberwolves fans. Spain is now 2-0, but they have yet to be challenged. And that will not change Friday with Great Britian. But tests are coming.

Serbia 92, Latvia 77: Nenad Kristic (you remember him, right Oklahoma City?) led Serbia with 23. He has more offensive game than he got to show off in OKC. Serbia is 2-0 and looking pretty good.

Turkey 90, Great Britain 61: Turkey is 2-0 and I’m trying to read to much into that because it’s two games against not the toughest competition, but they could be good. They have a balanced team. Britain does not, it has Luol Deng, who had 22 points and 8 boards, but he can only do so much himself.

France 85, Israel 68: Tony Parker has 21 points and 8 assists and this is two games in a row that France has had plenty of offense and looked good. France also got an impressive game up front from Boris Diaw.

Russia 65, Georgia 58: This was great because you could feel the rivalry. For the second game in a row Andrei Kirilenko was the best player on the floor and scored 20 points. Zaza Pachulia was 3-for-11 shooting, which held Georgia back.

In other action: Bosnia Herzegovinia 94, Montenegro 86; Bulgaria 68, Belum 65; Greece 81, Finland 61 (Greece is now 2-0); Lithuania 97, Poland 77 (Lithuania is 2-0); Macedonia 78, Croatia 76.

Day two and not a lot of surprises, we’re starting to see the cream separate itself. But there are some big tests out there to come yet.

German 76, Italy 62: This should sound pretty familiar to Mavericks fans — Dirk Nowitzki is always going to be good, the question is how much help will he get. He got it Thursday, with 17 points, 17 boards from Chris Kaman. Italy tried to stay in this with threes, but was just 6-of-25 from deep (24 percent).

Spain 87, Portugal 73: Spain won for the second day in a row behind Pau Gasol, who dropped 20 and had 9 boards — good news for Lakers fans. Spain won for the second day in a row with Ricky Rubio being basically a no-show (5 points, 4 boards and 2 assists) — look away Timberwolves fans. Spain is now 2-0, but they have yet to be challenged. And that will not change Friday with Great Britian. But tests are coming.

Serbia 92, Latvia 77: Nenad Kristic (you remember him, right Oklahoma City?) led Serbia with 23. He has more offensive game than he got to show off in OKC. Serbia is 2-0 and looking pretty good.

Turkey 90, Great Britain 61: Turkey is 2-0 and I’m trying to read to much into that because it’s two games against not the toughest competition, but they could be good. They have a balanced team. Britain does not, it has Luol Deng, who had 22 points and 8 boards, but he can only do so much himself.

France 85, Israel 68: Tony Parker has 21 points and 8 assists and this is two games in a row that France has had plenty of offense and looked good. France also got an impressive game up front from Boris Diaw.

Russia 65, Georgia 58: This was great because you could feel the rivalry. For the second game in a row Andrei Kirilenko was the best player on the floor and scored 20 points. Zaza Pachulia was 3-for-11 shooting, which held Georgia back.

In other action: Bosnia Herzegovinia 94, Montenegro 86; Bulgaria 68, Belum 65; Greece 81, Finland 61 (Greece is now 2-0); Lithuania 97, Poland 77 (Lithuania is 2-0); Macedonia 78, Croatia 76.

From MLB.com’s Matthew Leach comes word that Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright is aiming to throw a bullpen session within the next two weeks.

Wainwright, who underwent Tommy John surgery last February, has been limited primarily to flat-ground workouts since beginning a throwing program in late June. The few times he’s been allowed to step atop a mound, he’s thrown to a standing catcher.

Wainwright accompanied the Cardinals to Milwaukee this week and watched as the active members of the St. Louis roster picked up a crucial sweep. He’s still talking about potentially returning in October if the Cardinals are able to secure a postseason spot, but acknowledged Thursday to Leach and Co. that it’s more of a motivational tactic than an actual goal.

“Realistically the only way to get in a game is if we were to go deep in the playoffs,” Wainwright said. “And I think realistically the chances of that happening — not that we go deep in the playoffs, but the chances of them placing me in a game if we do — are very, very, very, very, very, very small. But my work is drastically improved with the thought that I’m working for something.”

Wainwright should be back near 100 percent when spring training opens next February. The Cardinals have already hinted that they’re going to exercise his million option for 2012 and million option for 2013.

A 30-year-old right-hander, Wainwright has posted a 2.97 ERA through the first 874 1/3 innings of his career.

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In 2008, Kentwan Balmer was a first-round draft pick of the 49ers. He lasted two disappointing years in San Francisco before being traded to Seattle for a sixth-round pick. Then he lasted one disappointing year in Seattle before being released and picked up by the Panthers.

And now he’s lasted one week in Carolina.

The Panthers have cut Balmer, just a week after picking him up off waivers from the Seahawks. The decision to release Balmer before even putting him on the field for a preseason game suggests that whatever Balmer did in practice over the last week, it wasn’t impressive.

And so Balmer may have reached the end of the line in his NFL career. It sounds crazy to say that about a 24-year-old who’s a talented enough athlete that he was a first-round draft pick, but Balmer has already had three different teams give up on him. He might not get a fourth chance.

At a charity golf tournament hosted by country singer Vince Gill in May, Jack Nicklaus talked extensively about his feeling that the golf round should be shortened from 18 to 12 holes.

Nicklaus said he feels the round takes less time and would keep kids and adults alike more interested in a game that could fit their schedules and attention spans. Later, the 18-time major winner said he had developed 12-hole scorecards for some of his courses, including Memorial tournament host Muirfield Village.

The Golden Bear is taking the idea a step further, introducing two 12-hole tournaments at the Ohio club over the Labor Day weekend. The makeup of the 12-hole course comprises holes 1, 2, 5 through 13 and 14 on the familiar track.

An added feature of the tournaments is incorporating some of the concepts promoted in the Tee It Forward campaign, where members will be asked to play up one tee box from their normal round. Also, the cup will be double its normal size.

Those aspects are designed to improve the pace of play, which will be strictly enforced in these tournaments at a time limit of two-and-a-half hours.

“I think the game is a great game and in no way am I trying to change it. There are few bigger traditionalists than me, but I realize we need to start thinking out of the box. So I ask all the traditionalists to be tolerant while we try something new, something fun to hopefully help us grow the game. It’s too important for us not to try,” Nicklaus said in a release. “Perhaps what Muirfield Village is trying over Labor Day can help open a few eyes and a few minds.”

There are so many NBA players both talking to and signing with overseas teams that we collect them in a daily roundup. We do this in bullet points because we are bloggers and they are addictive to us like bon-bons to an old housewife.

• How does Nick Young feel about smoking in arenas? It’s a valid question because the young Wizard’s swingman is apparently in talks to play there, according to Marc Stein at ESPN. He is a restricted free agent, which means a Chinese team can sign him under that league’s new restrictive rules, but Young would have to stay there the entire season, no opt out clause. It’s what Wilson Chandler just agreed to, but how many other guys are going to make that commitment?

Young averaged 17.4 points per game for the Wizards and is part of their up-tempo game, a good fit along side John Wall. Losing him for a season (the Wizards would retain his NBA rights) would be a blow.

• From that same report, Thaddeus Young also is looking at offers from China.

• Some good news for Wizards fans, their top pick in this year’s draft — Jan Vesely — says he is not going to play overseas, reports CSNWashington.com. That’s a risk for him, he could get a deal in Europe with an opt-out clause, but he is committed to the Wizards.

• The Clippers Chris Kaman said he is not likely to go overseas because he does not want to leave a team midseason.

• The Clippers Al-Farouq Aminu has had offers but is staying put during the lockout.

Al Golden said earlier this week that he was hoping to hear from the NCAA by Thursday regarding the eligibility of a number of his football players.  Golden indeed got his wish, although it’s likely not the answer he was hoping for.

The NCAA ruled Wednesday that eight Hurricane football players must sit at least one game this season.  The players had been declared ineligible by the school late last week.

The most recognizable name on the list of eight is quarterback Jacory Harris, who is one of five players who will be forced to sit out the opener.  The NCAA alleged that Harris received more than 0 in benefits from meals, entertainment, transportation and nightclub cover charges.

The stiffest sanctions were levied on defensive end Olivier Vernon, who will be forced to sit the first six games of the year.  The NCAA found that the lineman had received ,200 in impermissible benefits during his recruitment from former UM booster and convicted felon Nevin Shapiro.  In their statement, the NCAA alleged that those recruitment benefits included meals, transportation, access to Shapiro’s game suite, drinks, as well as cover charges at two different nightclubs, among others.

Safety Ray-Ray Armstrong and tight end Dyron Dye were each suspended for the first four games for impermissible benefits they received during their recruitment.  Armstrong received approximately 8 in extra benefits from Shapiro and athletics personnel during his recruitment. Dye received approximately 8. These  benefits for both players included five nights of impermissible lodging from institutional staff during their unofficial visits, transportation, multiple meals, and entertainment at a gentleman’s club.

Defensive lineman Marcus Forston, linebacker Sean Spence, defensive lineman Adewale Ojomo and wide receiver Travis Benjamin were each suspended for one game apiece.  From the release:

Forston received more than 0 in extra benefits from Shapiro and athletic personnel, including athletic equipment, meals, nightclub cover charges and entertainment at a gentleman’s club. Spence received approximately 5 in benefits, including meals, transportation, as well as cover charges and entertainment at a gentleman’s club. Ojomo received 0 in extra benefits, including a meal and nightclub cover charges. Benjamin received more than 0 in extra benefits, including meals and entertainment.

All of the players must make restitution as a condition of their reinstatement.

Harris, Vernon, Armstrong, Forston, Spence, Ojomo and Benjamin were all listed as starters or co-starters on the Hurricanes’ most recent depth chart.  All seven will miss at least the opener Monday against Maryland.

“The NCAA has informed the University of Miami of their decisions regarding the reinstatement of eight student-athletes who were declared ineligible by the University last week,” Miami athletics director Shawn Eichorst said in a statement. “The student-athletes involved have acknowledged receiving improper benefits and will now be responsible for restitution and, in some cases, the student-athletes will also serve game suspensions. They understand that their actions demand consequences.

“This university has the highest standards in all of our academic and athletic endeavors.  We will remain steadfast in our commitment to continue to build winning programs with the utmost of integrity.  We will be more vigilant in our compliance and continue to work with the NCAA on the joint investigation to determine the facts.

“We appreciate the diligence and understanding of the NCAA staff and its handling of the student-athlete eligibility issues in an expeditious manner. I would also like to thank Coach [Al] Golden and his staff for their professionalism and leadership over the past few weeks.”

It should be noted that the NCAA’s decision on the player’s eligibility is separate from their broader investigation into the allegations levied against Miami’s football program and any sanctions that could be slapped on the school.

In the school’s release on the development, it was noted that Brandon McGee, JoJo Nicholas, Micanor Regis and Vaughn Telemaque “have been cleared by the NCAA to participate in all competition though each must make repayment in the amount of less than 0 for receiving impermissible benefits”, as well as Marcus Robinson being cleared of any NCAA violations and will not face any penalties.