Manny Pacquiao stopped David Diaz in a lightweight championship fight in Vegas on Saturday to win a title belt in his fifth weight class. That has led to many claiming the Filipino is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world with Floyd Mayweather’s retirement. Joe Calzaghe, Juan Manuel Marquez and Kelly Pavlik are others considered at the top of the game.

Or is Anderson Silva — the reigning 185-pound UFC champ who has decided to move up to 205 — the baddest man on the planet? Quinton Jackson? Randy Couture? Urijah Faber?

Maybe ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd is still (pound-for-pound) the king in all ‘blood’ sports? I’m sure he would say so.

I’ll still take Fedor Emelianenko against anybody (or anything) outside of a grizzly bear, although even machines can get rusty.

Anoka, Minn. 18-year-old Jake Deitchler has to at least get an honorable mention nod as well. Any high school kid that can make the U.S Olympic Greco Roman wrestling team (145.5 pounds) is simply frightening.

- Padraic

I can’t say I was all that broken up yesterday when I read that the University of Georgia’s “beloved” mascot UGA VI passed away.
The University of Georgia’s pure white English bulldog mascot passed away Friday night of heart failure, a month shy of his 10th birthday.
Like his five predecessors, UGA VI will be interred in a specially-built marble vault built into the side of the south grandstands just inside the main gate of the southwest side of Sanford Stadium. According to the university, Georgia is the only school that buries its mascots within the confines of the stadium.
While the ceremony is a private one and not a public one, I suppose this is another bullet for those who claim the SEC is the best football conference in the nation. I mean what other university would hold a ceremony to honor the life of a dead mascot?
Andrew

Having spent some time in Minnesota, I have heard it for years. “Kevin McHale may have been a great player, but he is no GM” they would say.

I admit that I had to agree after watching the Wolves slip farther and father away from even the first round of the playoffs which had proven to be such a hurddle to get over.

But when they drafter O.J. Mayo Thursday night I thought this might work out after all. My dad called me and I told him I happy I was the Wolves made the right choice. Then I said this:

“At least they didn’t take Kevin Love. You have the No. 3 pick and it has to be someone who can be a game-changer. I like Love, but can you really be a superstar in this league if your greatest attribunte is the outlet pass.”

So I went to bed pleased with the Wolves. I woke up wondering how McHale keeps his job.

No one can forecast how good a player can be, but we can learn from history.

Draft deals done by the Wolves - Ray Allen for Stephon Marbury and Randy Foye for Brandon Roy.

Oh well, at least McHale proved he can win a championship - for another team.

Jeff

Speaking at a sports symposium recently, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he felt it was “ridiculous” to reward untested rookies with lucrative contracts before they even step on the field. Way to go Commissioner. I agree with you! Goodell said that money should be going to players who have already proven themselves. That’s exactly where it should be going.

I remember discussing this topic with my brother for the past couple of years. It seems like it always came up around the same time as the NBA Draft each year. It wasn’t so much football that got me vocal on the topic, but more less basketball. There would be high school players who would enter the NBA Draft, convinced they were the next Michael Jordan and would lead any team to a championship. These young players expected to make millions of dollars without even doing any work.

I know some players can enter the world of professional sports and do just fine. Take, for example, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Both came right out of high school and have done really well. Plus add Kevin Garnett to that list. He now has a title on his resume. But that’s not always the case. Kwame Brown became the first number one draft pick in the NBA to be selected right out of high school. I don’t think things have worked out as well for him.

Getting back to Commissioner Goodell’s remarks, I realize the NFL has different rules for entering the draft than the NBA. But every sport has untested rookies. I’m not trying to put down rookies. Some come into pro sports and contribute right away. Some even win championships in their first year. I think Goodell had the right idea when he said he favors lowering salaries offered to rookies, but allowing them to renegotiate their deals after proving themselves. It just makes sense to me. Hopefully other leagues look at this idea as well.

-Jerome

With a career as short as it was historic, Bernice Gera became the first woman to umpire a professional baseball game on June 24, 1972.

On Jan. 13, 1972, the courts reached a verdict in Gera’s favor and ruled she would be allowed to umpire starting that June when the season began. Her first assignment came on June 24 in a game between the Geneva Rangers and Auburn Phillies.

Controversy erupted in the game during the fourth inning. Auburn’s Terry Ford was on second base and broke for third with the pitch. The batter hit a line drive to Rangers second baseman Jim Pascarella, who caught the ball and fired to shortstop Brian Doyle at second base in an attempt to double up Ford.

Gera’s initial call was safe, but she quickly reversed it and called Ford out. That did not go over well with Auburn manager Nolan Campbell, who argued the call and was ejected.

Campbell did a little more than argue the call, however. Gera said that he told her the first mistake she made was putting on an umpire’s uniform and that she would be better off peeling potatoes in the kitchen.

This did not go over so well with Gera, who found no choice but to resign following her only game.

“I could beat them in the courts, but I can’t beat them on the field,” she told people who asked about her story, according to her husband. Gera complained about the treatment she received from players and the refusal of her fellow umpires to work with her.

Gera later donated the uniform she wore and the pink brush she used to clean the plate from that historic game to the National Baseball Hall of Fame for safekeeping in Cooperstown.

Gera passed away following a battle with cancer in 1992.

In March of 2007, Ria Cortesio became the first female umpire to officiate a Major League Spring Training game in more than 20 years.

-Lenn

When my team, the New York Knicks, selected Danilo Gallinari with the sixth pick last night, I sat in my chair a little stunned. He wasn’t the big name draft pick I thought the Knicks would go after.

But after the usual couple of minutes of sulking about the Knicks, I settled down and thought we should give this kid a chance.

Mike D’Antoni needs his own men, so why not draft the son of one of his former teammates in Italy. Also, D’Antoni’s offense depends on having shooters at every position, and G.M. Donnie Walsh (The same guy who drafted Reggie Miller) recognized the Knicks didn’t. Perhaps when he bulks up, Gallinari can be used as a perimeter-shooting power forward, the way Shawn Marion was under D’Antoni in Phoenix, where he developed into an All-Star.

Regardless of how he turns out, the kid better get used to New York and the boos, whether justified or not. The boos were nothing compared to what he’ll hear if he doesn’t produce right away next season.

- Russo

One of the big moves in last night’s NBA draft was the eight-player deal between Memphis and Minnesota.
T’Wolves GM Kevin McHale’s dealt Antoine Walker, Marko Jaric, Greg Buckner and the rights to No. 3 pick O.J. Mayo to Memphis for Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, Jason Collins and the rights to No. 5 pick Kevin Love.

I’m reading that Love’s numbers make him a better fit for Minnesota, and Mitchell, South Dakota native Miller can continue to contribute from the offensive end while maybe shoring up his questionable defense.

Maybe the T-woofs have some hope this year, while Miller gets to play closer to home.

–Jim–

Contrary to what my wife thinks, I’m a sentimentalist when it comes to sports. Don’t get me wrong, unlike Josh Russo, I have my favorite teams that, come hell or high water, I’ll follow no matter what.
But that doesn’t mean I’m not a sucker for seeing a once-proud organization claw its way to back to respectability, the Twins notwithstanding.
I’m particularly fond of seeing teams from my youth that I remember being great who rebound. This year I’m really excited to see Kansas City and Pittsburgh matter again. Neither team will make the postseason, but both are playing good solid baseball. A couple of years ago it was Detroit. I really enjoy seeing teams given up for dead come back to life.
Anyone else have a team they’ve enjoyed seeing rise from the dead?
Andrew

I don’t pay much attention to Don Imus and I really don’t care about much of what he spews on his radio show. He caused quite a stir last year with his very negative and racist comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. He was taken off the air, but like many people he was given another chance.

I would not have brought Imus back if it were my decision, but lots of people who have made bad decisions have gotten a second chance.

However, Imus showed earlier this week that his time off did little to alter his outlook on things.

Imus made Adam “Pacman” Jones a victim when he made a comment that seemed an awful lot like Jones’ issues could be chalked up to the color of his skin. Imus quickly backed off the statement saying that he meant that Jones was being targeted by police and he should not have been arrested as many times as he has been.

That explination doesn’t work for me. I think this is a man with some serious issues. He was given a second chance and now I think it is time to say goodbye to Mr. Imus.

Jeff

Can you believe that it is mid-June and fantasy football leagues are already starting to open? Being the fantasy sports freak that I am, I am already signed up for a league on nfl.com. The draft is set for Thursday, even before the MLB All-Star game.

Going into the fantasy football season, I am already mapping out a draft. There are always questions on who to take in the first round. With the production of Tom Brady last season, taking a running back with a top 5 pick is not a sure thing now. The top running back is even in question. Who do you choose between Peterson and Tomlinson? Does Randy Moss even deserve consideration for a top 5 pick?

Who would you pick in your top 5?

- Russo