The old adage is that a bust QB taking first overall sets a franchise back 5 years, something that Bay Area sports fans are regularly reminded about on both sides of the bridge. However, JaMarcus Russell's Fourth of July celebration that featured an arrest for possession of codeine syrup over the holiday weekend brings out a new low for the former #1 pick of the Raiders who may have already played his last game in the NFL.

Although Al Davis, long the leader of the Silver & Black, has definitely gone off his rocker in recent years, we sure would love to be him today and be able to sit JaMarcus down to ask him exactly what he was thinking. Specifically, our line of questioning would sound something like this:

Well Jamarcus, a Happy Independence Day to you. Now what in God's name were you doing sipping cough syrup like a 15 year old at a 1997 rave?!? We pick up Lil Wayne mix tapes upon occasion, so we know that this stuff is somewhat in-style right now, but why in the world are YOU drinking it? You're rich, you can afford good drugs - and that stuff tastes awful. Sure, we'll take down a teaspoon of Nyquil once a year when we think we're getting sick around the holidays, but mid-summer casual sipping - that sounds terrible! The light stuff tastes like hell, so we can't even imagine what this Rx business is all about.

Its the Fourth of July, couldn't you join the rest of America and just have a Bud Light? Heck, if you needed something a little stiffer than a domestic light beer, then how about you take some of that gazillion dollars we gave you and pick up some "Club Weed". You play in Oakland, which is like the American version of Amsterdam - there is legal weed everywhere that is so strong that will make you feel like your literally floating. There are potheads working in the Oakland Coliseum clubhouse right now who have pot-brownies in their locker that would have to do the trick!

We get that you aren't happy with how your career has panned out, and, needless to say, neither are we - but we aren't intentionally giving ourselves hangnails or sticking our heads into public toilets, so why are you drinking cough syrup... I really hope you had a cold.

In the last ten years no college football team has dominated the sport like the USC Trojans - period. Although the SEC has been the best conference, their best teams still can't stack up. The Gators won a pair of championships more recently, but spent the first half of the decade in the Ron Zook era. While Alabama has looked great since Nick Saban arrived, that was just a few years ago. The U started off the 2000's looking like the team to beat, but fizzled in the second part of the decade, while USC continued to rack up BCS wins. Ohio State, Oklahoma and Texas are the only schools that could be considered in SC's league consistently from 2000-2010 - but at the end of the day, the Men of Troy really were the "Top of the Class".

That is until the NCAA handed down its long anticipated ruling today that covers a thorough investigation of allegations of payments to high profile players, like Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. The punishment for their infractions includes the loss of 30 scholarships and a 2 year ban on bowl eligibility, virtually assuring that they wont be the "The Team of the Decade" for the 2010-2020 years. While this is a crippling situation for the program, its the other part of the punishment that seems a bit more interesting to consider.

"The penalties include the loss of 30 football scholarships over three years and vacating 14 victories in which Bush played from December 2004 through the 2005 season."

This does put SC in risk of being stripped of its 04/05 BCS National Championship, as well as Bush losing his Heisman, but of course they can't go back and actually replay the games. So, what exactly does this means for their fans?

The joy they experienced rooting on their team in some of those amazing wins, such as the memorable late night shootout against Fresno St or the Orange Bowl Championship Game route of OU, still happened and can't be taken away per se. I imagine most fans won't really change their opinion of those games and the wins they watched - however, for some this must feel like waking up from a great dream only to find out it was in fact just a dream.

And how will this effect the legacy of Pete Carroll, who was beloved in LA and led the Trojans through their amazing run, but who is now being blamed for the lack of institutional control that has crippled this once great program? Will the fans in SoCal simply appreciate what he did or hold a grudge for the seemingly obvious future pains his administration caused?

After watching the 'Hawks appear to decimate the Flyers in Game 5, I couldn't help but think that the last few games had seemed so different from the beginning of the series.  The 'Hawks just seemed more aggressive with the puck and appeared to control the play more.  Now if I was a TV announcer, I would have just declared my opinion to be the truth.  But much to Don Cherry's eternal hatred, I decided to look into a few stats to either prove my intuition or realize that I'm delusional.

Analysis after the jump.

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With the upcoming July 1 LeBron James Decision Date looming ahead, the Cavalier's front office pulled the plug on the Mike Brown era, sending the coach packing and saving themselves $4.5 mil. Over 5 seasons in Cleveland, Brown has helped them go from league laughing stock to a perennial powerhouse, making a finals appearance and owning the league's best record this regular season.

Unfortunately for Cleveland fans however, this squad has not been able to bring home a championship - getting ousted last week in six games of the Eastern Conference Semis by Boston. While it does appear that the Celtics are finally healthy and may actually win the whole thing, given that Cleveland has LeBron and that this year they brought in big names like Shaq & Antawn Jamison, apparently anything short of the ring just isn't good enough for the Cav's management. While it does sound like Brown is getting a little bit of a raw deal, its pretty hard to question the moves of a team who is courting the best player on the planet and made all of the moves it could to put themselves in position to win a ring this year.

The big question on the minds of fans in Cleveland today has to be how this will effect the re-signing of King James this offseason. Bron-Bron was supposedly quite close to Brown (although not as close as Delonte was to his mom - ziiiiing!), so you would think that this move hurts the Cav's chances of keeping him in town. However, this now means that there is an opening at head coach that LeBron can literally fill himself - or at least have a very big say in how its filled. The biggest names being thrown around as early candidates are Phil Jackson and Coach K, and fan's would have to believe that Cleveland landing either one would go a long way to keeping James in town, which in turn would keep the Cav's relevant for the next 5-10 years.

More photos » Carolyn Kaster - AP

4 months ago: Harrisburg Senators starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg throws during a minor league baseball game against the New Britain Rock Cats in Harrisburg, Pa., Friday, April 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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At the start of the season, the Atlanta Braves made the decision to have Jason Heyward start the year in the big leagues. The move started his service clock early, which will make Heyward eligible for free agency one year earlier than most rookies, but also gave the Braves, which seemed to be contenders, a better chance at reaching the post-season.

The Braves currently sit 4.5 games back. They're certainly not out of the race, but they need to get their offense going if they hope to find themselves there. The Washington Nationals, surprisingly, have been the team making waves early on in the NL East. More than a month into the season, the Nationals sit 4 games above .500 and just 1.5 games out of the division lead. If the season ended today, they'd essentially be in a three-way tie for the NL wildcard spot.

Are the players that currently comprise the Nationals good enough to take them to the post-season for the first time in franchise history? That's obviously hard to say. The names on their roster don't quite jump out at you like anyone else in their own division, and it would certainly seem like their starting rotation has pitched a bit over their heads over the first month. Offensively, they're bolstered by Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn, plus a collection of veterans and youngsters sure to have their ups and downs throughout the season.

The real story for the Nationals, like it's been for seemingly over a year now, is Stephen Strasburg. Since being called up to AAA, in two starts, he's pitched 12 innings and allowed one hit. I'm no scout or anything, but this guy seems pretty decent. When he gets the call-up to the Major Leagues, sure, he'll have a learning curve, but he certainly seems capable of having an impact similar to bringing in a top pitcher on the trade market. Those trades, of course, won't happen until around July, when their rivals like the Mets and Braves reach out and try to pull in pitchers that may be available like Roy Oswalt. The Nationals have a big advantage. They don't need to wait until July. They can make their move any day they'd like to. They can call-up their impact starter tomorrow if they wished.

The decision is of course confused by financial issues like the Braves faced with Heyward, as well as the difficulties of dealing with Strasburg's agent, Scott Boras. The argument to hold Strasburg down in the minors for another month is obvious in that it would keep him from being a super-two arbitration-eligible player, which means one less time having to negotiate with Boras over Strasburg's salary. But from seeing what he's capable of from his destruction of the minor leagues, you're left to wonder if the extra few wins Strasburg may be able to earn now, ahead of the added wins rivals are able to pick up on the trade market in a few months, could give the Nationals a big boost at being realistic contenders. 

Gregory Shamus - Getty Images

LeBron looked disinterested in Game 5, barely making an impact on the game. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

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I've been a huge fan of LeBron since he entered the league in 2003 at the age of 18.  He's dealt with more criticism and scrutiny than perhaps any athlete in the history of sports with fairly little controversy.  Along with that he's exceeded inflated expectations that any other player would have failed to live up too and come up big for the Cavaliers many times when they've needed it the most.  Game 5 in Detroit, two game winners in his first playoff series ever against Washington, his insane Orlando series last year including a ridiculous buzzer beater in Game 2 and one of the most complete performances in playoff history in Game 5.  

I've believed that for the last three seasons he has been the best player in the NBA and when people compare Kobe Bryant to James I've always found it amusing that it's considered a real point of contention.  He's never been lucky enough to play with the talent Kobe has and even then has managed Cleveland to an NBA Finals berth much before anybody thought it was possible.

With all that being said, his Game 5 performance last night was truly and utterly pathetic.  With the series tied 2-2 and the Cavaliers holding the homecourt advantage they had all to play for against the Celtics in Cleveland.  Those are the games superstars, especially ones who inspire comparisons to Jordan live for.  It's one thing if he just had a bad shooting night, went 10-30 from the field and the Cavaliers lost, but it's quite another to listlessly stand in the corner as a spot up jump shooter and allow Mo Williams to destroy your team and its fans' championship dreams.

LeBron is still the best player in the NBA and I can understand how difficult it is for him that if he doesn't play a great game his team will likely lose against the best teams in the league.  There is simply not one other player in the league that can handle that burden or is even asked too.  Kobe had some off nights in the first round and the Lakers found a way to beat the Thunder, Dwight Howard barely set foot on the floor against the Bobcats, but the Magic still found a way to win.  Those guys have more help and they have that luxury, but not James.

No my issue isn't that LeBron didn't play well or that he had a poor shooting night, my problem is that at no point in that game did LeBron deem it necessary to take control of the game and decide the Cavaliers' fate himself.  I'm not stupid enough to say he choked or that he can't handle the pressure.  Clearly when a guy scores 25 points in a playoff game that's not the case, but that's what makes what transpired more mystifying.  

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The least shocking domestic violence claim in the history of domestic violence claims went out over the Huntington Beach Police Radio air waves yesterday.  Who knows what happened over at that house between the porn star and the ultimate fighter?  Maybe he beat her, maybe he didn't - the one thing that is true is that she was either pissed off or drugged out enough to call the cops and claim that he threw her into the bathtub.  

The fact that it is even legal for these two mouth breathers to procreate together scares the hell out of me.  The only people who should be rooting for these types having kids together are those who have a financial interest in the so called "prison industrial complex".

With the Master's just hours away, Nike's about to drop it's newest commercial, featuring none other than the man they stand behind through thick and thin (or Hooter's waitress and porn star). It's a pretty ballsy commercial on Nike's part, but as always, very well done.

We just wonder how Earl would feel about this. And whaddoya know? Here he is asking some questions of his son...anyone think Tiger will actually answer?