Basketball

• 5 games in 3 continents, and a total of 40 sponsors. NBA office in India opening soon [NBA Int'l Games Reach New Levels With Record Number Of Sponsors].
• Casey Jacobson with a great look into the world of AAU basketball [(Too Much?) Power to Influence].
• Trading gym bags for backpacks [N.B.A. Players Make Their Way Back to College].
• The Chinese REALLY love them some Kobe Bryant [Kobe Bryant’s jersey still top seller in China; D Wade's moves up to fifth].

Baseball

• “This is the business we chose.” [Last Week].
• Dennis Gilbert’s chances at becoming a part owner of the Rangers may be increased due to his access to liquid cash [Notes from a press conference: Wrapping up the Texas Rangers 2009 wrap-up get together].

Entertainment

• Did you know that Arn Tellem (President at WMG), has a pretty powerful wife who works at CBS? [CBS' Nancy Tellem is in talks to step down from post].

Sports Agents

• SMWW may want to do a better job on its background checks in the future [ONLY IN AMERICA: From Corrupt SEIU Boss to Sports Agent].

Football

• Adrian Peterson’s next contract is going to shatter Larry Johnson’s current deal.  Poor Pierre Thomas…for now. [Under the Cap: Top Ten Running Backs].

Golf

• Giles used to represent Davis Love III and Tom Kite [Vinny Giles, 66, wins Senior Amateur at Beverly Country Club].

Football

• Andre Smith’s “Superman” clauses remind many of the contract Leland Hardy negotiated for Ricky Williams [Smith’s contract reminiscent of Williams’ pact].
• Fans may want their teams to lose in the first round of next year’s playoffs [What Free Agency Will Look Like in an Uncapped Year: The Final Eight Plan].

Baseball

• On drugs, document fraud, and skimming/kickbacks – fantastic piece [Dominican baseball prospects frequently play fast and loose with the rules].
• Pay closest attention to Rick Johnson’s words [NCAA cracks down on baseball advisers].

Networking

• Unfiltered messages from high profile athletes has its potential consequences [Social Media and the NBA].

Michael Tillery: Hypothetically, I’m 19-22, entering your office and looking to retain your services. What are you going to get across so I know I’m doing the right thing by signing with B.J. Armstrong?

BJ Armstrong: I’m here to listen to what you have to say. I’m not here to tell you about what I did or what it’s going to take to be a pro, I’m here to listen to what it is you want to do. I’ve done my thing. I’ve seen the so called best player in Michael Jordan. I give you no illusions to what this is really all about. There is no fantasy of “Come with me, I’m going to get you drafted” or “Come with me I’m going to do this or that.” My work starts when it gets rough. When you are up by twenty, everybody looks good. My game starts when a kid gets hurt or in a crisis type situation. That’s what I do. I’m not here to sell you a bag of goods. Telling you look how many players we’ve gotten drafted. People that get drafted in lotteries, that’s a blessing. I’m here to ask you what is it you want to do. Let’s get organized and execute the plan. If you don’t want to execute, then I’m not the person to deal with. I’m not much of a talker about selling points of what I can do for you. We know what we can do. We are going to work hard at it. It’s about attracting people with that same mentality. They are going to work hard and maximize their talents at this particular time in their life. I want people who want to be the best at what they do. I don’t want anyone telling me something illogical. I want people to give me information that is prevalent with logic and people that will work hard. We are going to stick by our clients 1000% no matter if they are the first pick in the draft or someone undrafted. It’s about integrity and excellence. We are going to do both. I get to the core of things. This is a very simple operation. We are going to go at it and we are going hard after it.