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‘It feels good’ — Tiger roars to tie for lead

The Opening Pitch: Let's call it "Last Call."

This will be the final edition of the Wake-Up Call on SportingNews.com.

For more than two and a half years, I have had the pleasure of writing this column for you here, and I hope it has made your mornings a little more ... well, at the very least, full of more shallow analysis of the biggest stories of the sports day.

From the Olympic glory of Michael Phelps in 2008 to the self-glorification of LeBron James in 2010, every day has been its own treat. I particularly appreciate your indulgence for my obsessive coverage of Tim Tebow. (Not that he didn't earn it!)

Sports fans know: There is always something new to keep us entertained, appalled, laughing or cheering. I hope you will continue to keep up with me at DanShanoff.com and through Twitter (@danshanoff). I look forward to hearing from you.

I sincerely appreciate your time, attention and support (and even our disagreements!), and I hope we will cross paths again soon. Now, where's that snooze button. ...

Titans give Chris Johnson his new deal: I'm glad to see this tense situation get some closure, while there was still a moment to praise the Titans for doing the right thing and giving the most valuable and dominant RB in the league the pay raise he has earned.

Florida football scandal? Speaking of Tebow, it sure would be a shame if his record-breaking performance in the Sugar Bowl was wiped out because the Gators had to vacate the win because center Maurkice Pouncey did something he shouldn't have with an agent. (FWIW, the Pouncey family denies any wrongdoing.)

MLB Talking Points: Neither Miguel Cabrera nor Josh Hamilton are going to end up winning the AL Triple Crown, but it sure is fun watching them slug it out. (Last night, head-to-head: Cabrera 2 HR, Hamilton 4 H)

More:

• Trade Talk: Dodgers want an ace?

• Ubaldomania: Can't beat Marlins.

• Ouch: Hope Dustin Nippert is OK.

• Media: Well, THIS only enables him.

• Fantasy Stud: Cabrera (obv).

SEC Media Days Preview: It won't be quite the same as last year's "Tebow Media Days," but between the defending national champ, the most intriguing QB story line in the country (John Brantley replacing Tim Tebow) and the hilarity that inevitably ensues when you enter the Spurrier-Nutt-Miles triangle, it remains the premier media-day(s) event in college sports.

CFB Countdown: No. 45 BYU. Remember at the start of last season when BYU beat Oklahoma and they were briefly in the mix at No. 1? It's a bit of a drop-off from that.

NBA Offseason: Rich Cho -- top assistant to Sam Presti in Oklahoma City -- is the best GM hire since ... Sam Presti. You know what would help make Cho look really, really good? Healthy Greg Oden.

Favre Watch: The Brad Childress visit is usually a sign that Favre is ready to signal his comeback, right? At this point, if he doesn't want to go to training camp, why doesn't he just say so publicly? We all know he doesn't want to deal -- and assume that's why he isn't announcing his return until later this month -- so why put up a charade?

NBA Summer Summary: John Wall? Even better than we thought. Evan Turner? Told you he was overrated. (Full recap from Deveney here.)

D-Wade is sorry: For the WTC insensitivity. Solid crisis management: A quick, presumably sincere apology within 24 hours of an issue popping up, and it's all put behind us.

CBB Offseason: I said this last week and I lament it as much as the rest of you -- Duke is going to win another national title next season, sitting at No. 1 from the preseason until the end of the Final Four. (One big reason? Freshman PG sensation Kyrie Irving.)

NCAA Tournament Expansion: Let's hope that UConn AD Jeff Hathaway can talk glibly about the reason a 96-team NCAA Tournament is a great thing. As the head of the selection committee in 2011-2012, he may be on the watch when it gets approved.

Business: Derek Jeter being named the most marketable player in baseball isn't nearly as interesting as Stephen Strasburg being named No. 4 on the list, after less than two months of playing at the MLB level.

The Last Word: Thanks again for reading. And special thanks from me to my editors Kathy Sheldon and Alisha Hord, to longtime Sporting Blog editor Chris Littmann and my talented colleagues at Sporting Blog and to Sporting News programming guru Shawn Schrager, who originally recruited me to Sporting News to write the column.

Dan Shanoff writes The Wake-Up Call every weekday morning for SportingNews.com and blogs daily at DanShanoff.com. Got any comments, questions or feedback? Email Dan at shanofftsn-[at]-gmail-[dot]-com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/danshanoff.

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Shanoff’s WUC: Your Final Wake-Up Call

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Vikings lose to 49ers in Favre’s return

The Titans and Chris Johnson have agreed to a revised deal that will pay him $2.5 million this season. That's not exactly the $30 million in guaranteed coin he once demanded, but at least it's a raise.

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Offsides: Chris Johnson’s Payday Arrives … Sort Of

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Florio: Few can avoid NFL’s coaching hot seat

"Hello everyone. Today I made the podium and I am happy about that. But there's a problem with the circumstances. Just when I attacked, Andy had a mechanical problem, on the last climb. The race was on, and maybe I made a mistake. I'm sorry."

Contador is specifically apologizing for taking advantage of Schleck's mechanical problem by blowing past him while his bike wasn't working properly. Per The Telegraph:

Schleck started the day 31 seconds ahead of Contador and needing to extend that lead ahead of Saturday’s time-trial. After biding his time on another sweltering day … he attacked with a savage burst 4km short of the summit of the mighty Port de Balès 24km from the finish.

In no time Schleck had put 45 yards on Contador and was stretching that lead when his chain slipped and tangled and he came to grinding halt.
Contador, chasing hard by now, had to swerve as he passed the stationary Schleck on the inside and narrowly avoided colliding with a parked car as he attacked the yellow jersey.

Afterwards, however, he insisted he did not realise Schleck had stopped and encountered a problem. Replays clearly show Contador constantly looking back over his shoulder to check the progress of his rival as he accelerated hard to ram home his advantage.

Per the report, Schleck and Contador are friends, but the defending champ not only left his challenger in the proverbial dust, but also in a fit of rage. Schleck told reporters, "[m]y stomach is full of anger. The race is not finished and I will take my revenge. I can end it like a champion. I would never have raced like that and taken advantage of that situation. For sure these guys don’t get the fair-play prize today.”

Excuse me if I take an American point of view in this situation. First, cycling has more reports of cheating – yes it's mostly doping – than any sport in the world, so it's somewhat hilarious to the outsider to read about a moral and ethical code within a race. Second, it's a bike race! Men…riding bikes. There are only two things in that equation. The men, and the bikes. If something happens to the man – a knee injury or a back problem – does the race stop so he can grab a massage and an ice pack? Why, then, if something happens to the bike, should the other competitors hold up the rest of the race until one rider can fix his problem?

If a NASCAR driver got a flat tire or had a belt snap, would the rest of the drivers wait for him to fix it in the pits before getting back to full speed? If a marathon runners shoe falls off, does everyone wait until he can secure a proper double knot?

You can make the case that it's understandable for other riders to slow down after a competitor crashes – if for nothing else, like car racing, to not add to the carnage – and there's probably some karmic value to making sure you don’t benefit from another racer's injury. But bike malfunction?

Contador shouldn’t be apologizing to Schleck, he should be telling him to get a better bike. Alas, this is what happens in the Tour de France. With a race that's completed in stages, there is ample time for a racer to let the press, and the sentiment of the fans, get into his head. Contador wants to win, but he clearly doesn't want to be the villain in the process.

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Contador Apologizes For Tour de France Pass, Showing Cycling Does Have Some Ethics

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Giants, Jets debut $1.6 billion new stadium

With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tie game on Sunday, Ishikawa was called out at home by umpire Phil Cuzzi on what would have been – and replays indicated should have been – a Giants walk-off winner.

Instead, the Mets survived the ninth inning, eventually scoring in the next frame to win the game in extras.

The call not only changed the outcome of the game, but also completely changed the course of two division races, and the wild card, in the National League. After the game, even the Mets agreed it was a terrible call. Per the New York Daily News:

The missed call was egregious, and even Blanco admitted that the Mets should have lost the game. With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Freddy Sanchez hit a chopper to third, and David Wright made a high throw home. Travis Ishikawa slid under Blanco's tag, but Cuzzi called the runner out.

"He was safe all the way," Blanco said.

Minutes after the game, Cuzzi said that he had not yet seen the replay. "I'll look at it, but I figured I'd eat first," he said. "(Blanco) made a decent attempt to put the tag on him. That's what it looked to me, and that's why I called him out."

Sure, why not grab a sandwich before taking a look at how you ruined the outcome of a game you were employed to officiate? Maybe grab some pie, too.

It is an interesting look at how umpires officiate games. How many times do you see a bang-bang play called an out because it looked like the tag was made in time when, upon replay review, it's evident that the runner actually avoided the tag? That's always been a part of baseball, only now we have the ability to show exactly when the umpires were wrong. In some cases, the replay is so close it's understandable how an ump could get it wrong at full speed. In this case … yeesh that looked pretty obvious.

It wasn't just the one call that had both teams complaining, either. Blanco told reporters he hoped MLB would punish Cuzzi for taking off his mask and yelling at Franscisco Rodriguez, who was visibly upset on the mound over a ball/strike call. Cuzzi told reporters he was yelling at the Mets bench, and not the pitcher, but Blanco was pretty certain it was Rodriguez who was catching the brunt of Cuzzi's ire.

The Daily News reported that MLB is likely to meet with Cuzzi to discuss his conduct, which could lead to disciplinary action for the veteran umpire.

The report does not indicate how long the meeting will be. To be safe, Cuzzi should probably get something to eat first.

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Phil Cuzzi’s Blown Calls (And Attitude) May Face MLB Discipline

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Tiger will have to continue PGA chase Saturday

Rangers reliever Dustin Nippert took a screaming line drive off the side of his head in the 6th inning of last night's game in Detroit. While the impact brought the game action to a temporary standstill, and rightfully so given how severe an injury it might have been, it turned out to be a thankful close-call.

Nippert was able to laugh it off exiting the mound after the ball deflected off his cranium. Of course, that wouldn't necessarily mean he didn't still suffer a concussion, but fortunately CT scans conducted after the game were negative. Nevertheless, Rangers manager Ron Washington said he would give Nippert a few days off as a necessary precaution. If it weren't for his laugh, you could argue it may take a lesser man that long just to gather his wits about him.

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Dustin Nippert Laughs In The Face of Potentially Serious Head Trauma

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Tiger practices at PGA with a coach at his side

New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles D. Wood made a ruling on Monday that could impact many coaching changes going forward, but before we get into the specifics, here is some background on the parties involved:

-- Marist College, the plaintiff in this civil lawsuit, which lost basketball coach Matt Brady to James Madison University in 2008.

-- James Madison University, which hired Matt Brady away from Marist in the first year of a newly negotiated four-year deal.

-- Matt Brady, who coached at Marist for four seasons, leaving prior to the 2008-09 season for James Madison University. Brady was 73-50 in four seasons and made the second round of the NIT in 2007.

Eventually, in July 2009, Marist filed suit saying Brady breached his deal by doing two things: 1. He did not get written consent to negotiate with JMU. 2. He continued to contact players he recruited while at Marist after accepting the JMU job.

That all turned into this ruling:

Director of Athletics Tim Murray and President Dennis Murray brought this breach of Brady's contract to JMU's attention and expected JMU to negotiate an amicable separation. Their attempts were ignored by JMU, which considered Brady's Marist contract as unenforceable.

Judge Wood found that Marist had properly stated the existence of a valid contract with a third party, (the) defendant's knowledge of that contract, defendant's intentional and improper procuring of a breach, and damages. The judge noted Marist's claims that Brady had an enforceable contract in effect when he discussed leaving Marist to coach at JMU, that JMU knew of the contract's existence, that JMU intentionally induced Brady to violate his fiduciary obligations under the contract, and that Marist suffered damages as a result of the breach of those obligations.

Judge Wood ordered that "damages against JMU and the Commonwealth of Virginia be assessed," and that attorneys for Marist, JMU and the Commonwealth of Virginia appear before the Court on July 26.

When evaluating the ruling, both prongs of the suit have to be noted here. It seems that the judge ruled in Marist's favor because of a breach of contract. Nowhere in the release from Marist does the judge (or the college) mention the ramifications of Brady continuing to contact players.

Perhaps we'll have a greater understanding about the specific role player contact played in the ruling next week, but for now the focus seems to be purely on the breach of contract. If the judge makes it a point to note the player contact when assessing damages, it would be a landmark ruling in college basketball. The practice of recruits following a coach from one school to another during a change is anything but new.

If the ruling is purely focused on the fact that Brady went to JMU without written permission to negotiate and that JMU blew off Marist for some sort of buyout, it would have an entirely different impact, not only for coaches, but for schools. It could mean buyouts become more prevalent or it could mean they disappear all together, depending on the tact schools decide to take.

Buyouts are often seen as an adversarial move by the school against a coach, and it sets the same kind of vibe in a relationship that a pre-nup does in a celebrity marriage: this thing isn't going to last. But, as Mike DeCourcy pointed out to me by phone, what this lawsuit could also do is negate the need for buyouts and open up the world of post-hiring lawsuits. Why set a buyout if the precedent has been set that you can sue after the fact? You get to keep the coach happy while he's at your university and then get your money anyway. It's a win-win for the school.

This will all really depend on the damages assessed by the judge next week. If it's a substantial figure, this ruling will hold great significance. It could slow the coaching carousel by forcing both coaches and schools to honor contracts. If it's one of those symbolic gestures -- as DeCourcy mentioned in our conversation, something like the $1 USFL/NFL ruling -- then it will be business as usual in the future.

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Marist Wins Legal Battle Over Ex-Coach Matt Brady; What Will It Mean Going Forward?

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Haynesworth passes Redskins conditioning test

We were told that James had to be in New York City that weekend to attend Carmelo Anthony's wedding. We were told that money from the television special was going to the Boys and Girls Club, leading us to believe that James' handlers wanted to have the event in a "friendly" environment that was close to where LeBron had planned to be at the time.

We then spent so much time focusing on how terribly the show was handled and how awful James was to the people in Cleveland – not the least of whom was his former owner who gave us even more fodder after his Comic Sans rant on the Cavs' website – that many of us neglected the fact that James was in Miami the next day for a three-man pep rally in front of the newly-renewed Heat fans before flying back to Carmelo's wedding (to get booed) in New York the next day.

The entire process has been a case study in how not to handle a public announcement. The PR couldn't possibly be more costly to LeBron's brand…unless, of course, we start to factor in the actual costs. It turns out, LeBron's sham of a location for his sham of a decision is costing him a decent chunk of change. From GreenwichTime.com (via Fangs Bites):

Producers of the July 8 primetime special hired 21 police officers, each of them earning $60 an hour for an average of eight hours, to work security, according to Lt. Kraig Gray, who was in charge of the operation.

So who gets stuck with the bill of at least $10,000?

"I believe it was LeBron's people," Gray said.

Don't look to ESPN.

"ESPN was not involved with the local police," said Nate Smeltz, a spokesman for the Bristol based sports entertainment giant.

Let's be cynical for a moment and suggest that if James had done the event in a conference room at a hotel, or any "undisclosed location" that wasn't announced to the world more than half a day before the event took place, he could have saved himself $10,000 – money that surely could have helped the very Boys and Girls Club he used as a backdrop that night.

Oh, right, two additional officers were asked to work the shift on an overtime basis, meaning the $1000 they racked up will come directly from the taxpayers. Maybe they'll cut the township budget for after-school activities to pay for it.

The report indicates that James wasn't the only celebrity in town the last few weeks. Some police officers got to do security for the Dave Matthews Band charity concert. Yikes…who grabbed the short straws on picking between these two events? Babysitting LeBron's entourage or a stuck listening to an hour or two of Dave Matthews? At least the officers who worked the LeBron charade weren't stuck at home watching it like the rest of us.

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LeBron’s Decision Cost At Least $10,000 in Security From Greenwich Police