Awful Announcing stumbled upon one of the more hilarious sports headlines in some time, not too mention one of the more ridiculous online gaffs. A Christian news network One News Now has a filter that changes the word “gay” into “homosexual.”

So when Tyson Gay became the new 100-meter World Record holder recently, the headline at One News Now read something like this:

“Homosexual eases into 100 final at Olympic Trials”

The craziest part of the whole thing is that when you click on the story it links to the AP version with the correct version of the runner’s name. Too funny and it might be time to update your homosexual editing software, One News Now.

Hilarious, and once again, absolutely ridiculous. Great find by the guys at Awful Announcing.

Our friends over at Yardbarker just posted a bunch of photos of the beautiful ladies at the Euro Cup. I think this is my favorite, though it’s a tough call…

I love Portugal, too. Can we be friends?

7/1 Update: In surprising moves, Baron Davis and Elton Brand did indeed decide to opt out.

The NBA free agency period starts on Tuesday, and we know who will be available this summer. Gilbert Arenas, Baron Davis, Elton Brand and Corey Maggette have opted out of the final years of their respective contracts and have become free agents. Shawn Marion, Allen Iverson, Ron Artest and Jermaine O’Neal decided not to opt out.

Below is a list of the top 10 unrestricted and top 10 restricted free agents based on total value, which means I’ll take into account each player’s production, age, upside and estimated asking price. Unrestricted free agents can sign with any team that makes them an offer. Restricted free agents can sign offer sheets from other teams, but their current team has the right to match that offer, which is usually the case.

I’ll also list John Hollinger’s Player Efficiency Rating (PER) for each player, which allows us to compare guys that play different positions.

UNRESTRICTED

1. Elton Brand, PF ($15 M – $17 M per year)
PER: 18.04 (15th in PF)
Brand decided to opt out but said it was his intention to stay with the Clippers. This summer, only the Sixers ($23 M) and the Grizzlies ($14 M) have significant space to sign a big-name free agent without having to negotiate a sign-and-trade. Brand probably won’t play for Memphis (and it’s doubtful that they’d spend the money this summer), but Philly is an option. Brand has expressed an interest in the Sixers, though it is believed that he’d rather play out his career in L.A. or go to Miami, who signed him to an offer sheet a few years ago. (However, there are rumblings of a Brand-for-Shawn Marion swap.) For their part, the Sixers have stated that they are trying to build a roster in the shape of the Detroit Pistons, who don’t have any monster contracts. With that in mind, it is unlikely that Brand will land in Philly.

2. Corey Maggette, GF ($7 M – $9 M per year)
PER: 19.43 (6th in SF)
Maggette opted out of the final year of his contract, which would have paid him $8.4 million. He hasn’t been very happy with the Clippers and is looking for a way out, though the team has said that it is a priority to re-sign both Brand and Maggette. Orlando seems like a good fit. The Magic could use an athletic slasher who can shoot it and Maggette fits the bill. He is one of the best in the league at getting to the line and the Magic could use his skills since Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu aren’t great penetrators. Since Orlando has no cap space, the best they could offer would be a mid-level deal, which would be (roughly) in the five-year, $34 million range. Is that enough for Maggette to make the move or will he re-sign with the Clippers for more?

3. Baron Davis, PG ($14 M – $16 M)
PER: 19.87 (8th in PG)
Popular opinion was that Davis wouldn’t walk away from the final year of his contract. Popular opinion was wrong. There isn’t much money out there on the free agent market for Davis, but there is the possibility of the Warriors working out a sign and trade if they elect not to sign him to a new deal and keep him. Davis is just 29, so he still has a few years of good basketball left in him. He is always an injury concern, but when healthy he is one of the best point guards in the game. It’s going to be interesting to see where he ends up.

4. Gilbert Arenas ($15 M – $17 M)
PER: 18.3 (10th in PG)
Unlike Brand, I just don’t think Arenas is a franchise-player and, therefore, he doesn’t deserve a max contract. Too many teams (and players) believe that a franchise’s best player deserves a max contract, but that only goes for about 10-15 of the league’s top players. Arenas is dynamic and exciting, and he is a phenomenal scorer, but he is coming off a knee injury and didn’t look 100% when he tried to come back in the playoffs. The Wizards have stated that they intend to re-sign him, but they’d be wise to limit their offer to the $12 M to $13 M range. If he balks, there aren’t too many other options for him this summer. Where else is he going to get that kind of money? There’s a chance that Philly would bite, but the Sixers already have Andre Miller, who is getting on in years but is affordable and effective.

5. Antawn Jamison, F ($13 M – $15 M per year)
PER: 20.32 (8th in PF)
Jamison made more than $31 M over the last two years, so his asking price might be a little too high. It’s tough to get a guy who averaged better than 20/9 the last two seasons to take a pay cut, but Jamison is 31 and the Wizards (or any other potential suitors) would be wise not to invest too much, as his game is bound to decline by the end of his next contract. (7/1 update: The Wizards signed Jamison to a four-year, $50 million contract. It seems about a year too long, but they got him for $12.5 M per season, which isn’t bad for a player of his caliber.)

6. James Posey, F ($5 M – $7 M per year)
PER: 12.08 (50th in SF)
Given all the credit thrown his way during the Celtics’ title run, Posey’s stock really rose this year. He looks like a good candidate for the mid-level exception, and a team like the Lakers or Spurs (who both have problems at small forward) would be wise to give him a look. He’s 31, so he’ll likely go to the team that gives him the longest deal.

7. Beno Udrih, PG ($5 M – $7 M per year)
PER: 13.39 (32nd in PG)
Udrih played pretty well for the Kings, but the numbers say he’s still only a marginal starting point guard in this league. Some franchise will overspend and give him the mid-level deal he and his agent are looking for.

8. Mickael Pietrus, SF ($3 M – $5 M per year)
PER: 12.76 (44th in SF)
Pietrus is still a bit of an unknown since he didn’t get much run in Golden State and the Warriors’ offense is so much different than the league average. At 26, he is still considered to have upside.

9. James Jones, SF ($3 M – $5 M per year)
PER: 13.66 (46th in PF)
Jones is a career 40% long-range shooter, so he has quite a bit of value and might command a mid-level deal. Still, he is a one-dimensional player and doesn’t bring much else to the table.

10. Bonzi Wells, SF ($4 M – $6 M per year)
PER: 14.37 (35th in SF)
Wells has always been a good player when motivated. He’s a good low post scorer and a strong rebounder for a small forward. But he’s kind of a head case and it’s probably not wise to invest in a player with attitude issues. Everywhere he’s landed he seems to wear out his welcome pretty quickly.

RESTRICTED

1. Jose Calderon, PG ($7 M – $9 M per year)
PER: 20.51 (5th in PG)
Calderon is wildly productive, but his limited minutes this season keeps his asking price relatively low. The Raptors would be wise to lock him up to a long-term deal averaging about $8 million a season.

2. Josh Smith, F ($11 M – $13 M per year)
PER: 19.08 (11th in PF)
Smith is one of the restricted free agents on this list that actually has a chance to be swiped away by another team. Rumor has it that the Hawks aren’t willing to go over $11 M a season for Smith, and the Sixers might offer him a bigger deal than that. He’d be a good addition in Philly and at 22, it would be a wise investment.

3. Josh Childress, F ($5 M – $7 M per year)
PER: 17.84 (9th in SF)
I’ve always loved Childress’ game. He is one of the most underrated forwards out there and looks to be a great candidate for a mid-level deal, though the Hawks are likely to match that kind of offer.

4. Andre Iguodala, GF ($11 M – $14 M per year)
PER: 19.05 (6th in SF)
The Sixers need to be careful here. Iguodala can really stuff the stat sheet, but he probably can’t carry a franchise, so if Philly can lock him into a long-term contract that is at the bottom of his asking price, it would be a good deal for both parties.

5. Monta Ellis, G ($7 M – $9 M per year)
PER: 19.01 (7th in SG)
Ellis is a dynamic scorer but he has three things working against him: 1) he’s small for a shooting guard, 2) teams question his ability to play the point, and 3) teams believe his numbers are inflated because of the Warriors’ frenetic pace. Still, he’s one of the league’s rising stars, so he deserves a contract that is better than the mid-level.

6. Luol Deng, F ($10 M – $12 M per year)
PER: 17.07 (15th in SF)
Deng turned down a deal from the Bulls that averaged about $10 million per year, but after a rough season that saw his numbers dip a bit, his stock has followed suit. His camp will still be looking for a big contract, so it will be interesting to see if the Bulls can work out a deal.

7. Emeka Okafor ($10 M – $12 M per year)
PER: 17.46 (16th in PF)
Quality big men routinely garner more than $10 million per season, and I don’t see how Okafor is any different. It looks like he’ll eventually re-sign with the Bobcats, though he might become a free agent next summer.

8. Andris Biedrins ($8 M – $10 M per year)
PER: 19.18 (7th in C)
He shoots about 60% from the field and averages a double-double. Again, big men are coveted, so I expect he’ll eventually get a deal somewhere within the range of his asking price.

9. Ben Gordon ($9 M – $11 M per year)
PER: 16.52 (18th in PG)
Like Deng, Gordon turned down a deal averaging $10 million per year, and his numbers also dipped last season. He’s a nice complement to #1 pick Derrick Rose, so it is likely that the Bulls will find a way to retain him.

10. J.R. Smith ($5 M – $7 M per year)
PER: 18.15 (14th in SG)
Smith is an interesting free agent this season because he could probably be had for the mid-level and it’s not a sure thing that the Nuggets will match. He has a rep for being a bit of a malcontent, but a team like the Spurs might roll the dice and hope that the winning environment brings out the best in the talented yet temperamental player.

Others: Daniel Gibson, Delonte West, Sasha Vujacic, Ronny Turiaf and Nenad Krstic

Former Lions’ head coach Steve Mariucci took a shot at his former GM Matt Millen recently.

“Matt Millen has changed 58 coaches already, and he’s now finally changing players,” Mariucci said. “Sure I’ve stayed in touch with some of them and some of the coaches, and on occasion Bill Ford Jr. — I respect the heck out of Bill, he’ll take that team over some day.”

I hate to sound like I’m defending Millen, but it’s not like Mooch did much to keep his job while in Detroit. He was often regarded as a pushover in the locker room with certain players and he had absolutely no clue how to handle the mess that turned out to be Joey Harrington. Millen is a disaster, but it’s not like Mariucci got a raw deal in Motown.

THE SPORTING NEWS ranks the top 10 NFL coaches on the hot seat heading into the 2008 season.

1. Wade Phillips, Cowboys. Coaches from playoff teams aren’t usually on the hot seat. Then again, not many coaches preside over teams that haven’t won a playoff game since 1996, are expected to go to the Super Bowl in 2008 and have the next head coach, Jason Garrett, ready to step in at a moment’s notice.

Wade Phillips has the temperament to withstand the pressure. Besides, he’s no stranger to being fired. But it doesn’t make the pressure any less real.

So if the Cowboys don’t make the postseason, or if they don’t win a game or two once they get there, Wade won’t be back in 2009.

Phillips will lose his job because Jerry Jones wants Garrett to be his head coach, like, yesterday. It’ll have nothing to do with whether or not the Cowboys win a playoff game this year.

MLB:

- The Twins’ Kevin Slowey went the distance for a complete game, 5-0 shutout of the Brewers Sunday. Slowey yielded just three hits and fanned eight, while Delmon Young hit his second dinger of the season.

- John Lackey won his fourth straight start, mowing down nine while giving up just three hits and zero runs in the Angels’ 1-0 victory over the Dodgers. Every game in this three game series produced a shutout.

- A.J. Burnett struck out 11 over seven innings and gave up zero earned runs in the Blue Jays’ 1-0 win over the Braves. The 11 K’s were a season-high for Burnett.

- Just one week after the Cubs swept them at Wrigley, the White Sox exacted their revenge, taking three from their in-city rivals over the weekend. The Chi Sox got home runs from Jim Thome, Carlos Quentin and Brian Anderson as the topped the Cubs 5-1 on Sunday Night Baseball.

NFL:

- The Bucs gave running back Ernest Graham a new four-year, $11 million contract. Graham will be insurance in case Cadillac Williams doesn’t recover from the season ending knee surgery he had last season.

- The Arizona-Republic doesn’t think Anquan Boldin will get a new deal this summer, but Cardinals’ GM Rod Graves has apparently been in contact with Boldin’s agent.

- It appears more and more likely that the Falcons will just cut Joe Horn. Atlanta GM Thomas Dimitrof confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the Cowboys have not expressed interest in the aging receiver.

Patriots’ wide receiver Wes Welker took a mild jab at cornerback Asante Samuel, who spurned New England to sign a $57 million contract with the Eagles in the offseason.

“Asante’s a great player, so it hurts not to have a guy like that. But then again, it’s part of the business of the game,” Welker said. “He chose money over championships, and that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa – slow down, Wes. Now that you guys can’t videotape other teams’ practices, defensive signals, film sessions and daily meetings, don’t just assume that you’re going to keep winning championships. Your team didn’t look to hot against the Jints without the use of cheating.

Mike Harrington of THE BUFFALO NEWS is baffled at one of SI.com’s latest polls, which asked: Who is the game’s most overrated player? Derek Jeter was the answer, but Harrington says look at the numbers.

Come on. We’re only talking about perhaps the finest all-around shortstop of a generation and a player who will finish his career with more hits than any New York Yankee in history. More than Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio. All of them.

Now, you can certainly make the case this season has not been a vintage Jeter year, especially April and May. And he turned 34 on Thursday — 34! — so his range at shortstop is not what it once was.

But according to the Elias Sports Bureau, Jeter’s team has the highest winning percentage among all active players who have appeared in at least 1,000 games (.601). That counts pretty high in my book.

No coincidence the Yankees’ new dynasty began in 1996, Jeter’s rookie year. And while the Yankees have been a postseason flop since blowing the 2004 ALCS, they keep going back. You get that perspective when you spend three days in a city with a team like the Pirates, who haven’t even been above .500 since 1992.

While the Yankees’ June resurgence is largely credited to the return from the disabled list of Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada, Jeter’s play has been a pretty big boost too. Jeter entered Saturday’s game with the Mets with mundane numbers for the season (.285 average, .345 on-base, .397 slugging) but he’s really turned it on of late. He was on a 15-game hitting streak and his June numbers were .316/.391/.459.

People either hate Jeter because he plays for the Yankees or the fact that he’s often referred to of the golden child of baseball. Calling him overrated is laughable. He might not hit a ton of home runs and his RBI numbers are usually low because of where he bats in the order, but the guy gives himself up on every play in every game. He’s also one of the most clutch players this generation has ever seen and I’d take his leadership in the clubhouse any day. Stat freaks like to hammer him, but watch Jeter play on a regular basis and then tell me he’s overrated.

It’s always fun to look at the baseball standings at different points during the season and project those to the postseason. Especially when teams like the Tampa Bay Rays are in contention. But this isn’t the beginning of May. In fact, this is almost the beginning of July, meaning the halfway point is near, or here, for each team. So the chance that these eight teams could wind up in the race for the World Series is not far-fetched. Here are the projected match ups…..

Tampa Bay Rays (48-32) vs. Los Angeles Angels (48-33)
The Rays are the surprise of the season. Everyone knew this team had the bats, but their pitching has been stellar, with a team ERA (3.71) ranking them fourth in the majors. Naturally, Tampa has no postseason experience and the Angels seem to be there or almost there every year, but don’t think the surprise season would end for the Rays in early October — this team is for real. As for the Angels,
there is a ton of talent on that roster, but they haven’t reached the World Series since winning it all in 2002.

Chicago White Sox (45-35) vs. Boston Red Sox (50-33)
Did anyone think the White Sox were going to contend this season outside of the South Side of town?
Jim Thome and Paul Konerko are struggling, but Jermaine Dye (18 homers, 49 RBI, .306) is quietly having an MVP type season and Javier Vasquez has 104 strikeouts. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are trying to fend off the Rays, and of course the Yankees are never far behind (currently five games out). But Boston has the bats (Ortiz, Ramirez, Lowell) and the pitching (Beckett, Dice-K, Papelbon) to win it all again.

St. Louis Cardinals (46-36) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (44-38)
The fact that the Cardinals, currently as the wild card, have a better record than the NL East leading Phillies is mind-boggling. Tony LaRussa really does know how to get the best out of his roster, and this season he’s proved that more than ever. The Phillies have a Murderer’s Row type lineup (their 110 home runs as a team is second in the majors) and a solid bullpen, but can they go the distance with the Marlins, Mets and Braves nipping at their heels?

Arizona Diamondbacks (41-40) vs. Chicago Cubs (49-32)
The D-backs jumped out to a huge lead but have been floundering lately. The Cubs, meanwhile, have the best winning percentage in baseball and are struggling this weekend against the crosstown White Sox, who they just may meet in the Fall Classic. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. The Cubs are just as talented as last season, when they wound up getting swept by this same Arizona team. Will history repeat itself?

Projected AL MVP: Josh Hamilton, Texas
Projected NL MVP: Lance Berkman, Houston
Projected AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee, Cleveland
Projected NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb, Arizona
Projected AL Rookie: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay
Projected NL Rookie: Joey Votto, Cincinnati
Projected AL Manager: Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay
Projected NL Manager: Tony LaRussa, St. Louis

The New York Post is reporting that the Cavs offered up Wally Szczerbiak (and the one year, $13 million remaining on his contract) for Vince Carter, who has three years and $49 remaining on his deal.

This deal would have been a straight salary dump, and if you like Carter’s game (I don’t), it would have been worse for the Nets than the Grizzlies’ donation of Pau Gasol earlier in the year. The deal never went anywhere, but one wonders if the Nets would have bit had the Cavs offered up Daniel Gibson in the deal. For their part, the Cavs were wise not to sweeten the pot. Vince Carter isn’t the missing piece in Cleveland.