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MLS All-Stars nip West Ham, 3-2

Sometimes, you can go home, and MLS All-Star midfielder DeWayne De Rosario would agree.

The Canadian native broke a deadlock tie with a penalty kick in front of his hometown crowd to defeat West Ham United of the English Premier League 3-2 in the MLS All-Star Game at BMO Field in Toronto, Canada.

The game had a feel of a European match, as the crowd chanted and threw streamers onto the pitch throughout the night. This was Toronto’s first opportunity to see Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder and league’s poster boy, David Beckham, in-person for the first time. But Becks was overshadowed by another international soccer superstar.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco (from Mexico) played only one half but it was enough to capture MVP honors in the contest. His evening would start off with a world-class pass to set up the first goal for the All-Stars. Blanco back-heeled the ball ahead to Christian Gomez, who scored from 18 yards out underneath the grasp of West Ham goalkeeper. Later in the first half, Blanco scored from outside the square with a brilliant shot to the far corner post.

With this victory, the MLS All-Stars improve their record to 5-0-0 against world competition in the All-Star Game format.

Bucs should make play for Brett Favre

According to several reports, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets have entered the bidding war for Brett Favre.

Good – for the Bucs, that is. (Well, the Jets too given their current QB sitaution. But mainly the Bucs.)

In his first season in Tampa, Jeff Garcia proved to be a solid option last year because he didn’t make mistakes. Coupled with error-free play from their quarterback position, the Bucs relied on their defense, were able to win the NFC South and made the postseason (where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl Champion New York Giants).

True, the defense is another year older (Ronde Barber is 33 and Derrick Brooks is 35), but coordinator Monte Kiffin is one of the best in the league at getting the most out of his players. Tampa also has a nice mix of youth and veteran experience on that side of the ball and second year players Tanard Jackson and Gaines Adams should only continue to improve.

But back to Favre. Garcia is perfect for Gruden’s offense because he plays conservative and doesn’t make mistakes. He’s also severally limited given his style of play and has spent most of the offseason bitching about his contract (a situation that is far from resolved). The Bucs should make a play for Favre and go for it this year. He’s not the best fit for Gruden’s offense given his gunslinger mentality (Gruden runs a more controlled offense), but they’ve both worked together before so Gruden certainly knows how to best handle him. The Bucs aren’t the most talented team in the NFC, but with only New Orleans serving as a legitimate threat in the division, Tampa could easily make a postseason run with Favre and who knows, maybe much more.

Minor league pitcher Julio Castillo arrested after brawl

Peoria Chiefs’ pitcher Julio Castillo was arrested and charged with battery after throwing a ball at the dugout of the Dayton Dragons and igniting a full-out brawl between the two teams. The ball Castillo threw ricocheted off the dugout and hit a fan, who then had to be taken to the hospital.

Brawls are going to happen in baseball, but it doesn’t make much sense to take a crow hop and whip a ball at another team’s dugout from 10 feet away. What a nut job.

Devin Hester reports to Bears’ camp after two-day hold out

After holding strong for two days, the Chicago Bears’ offense caved and reported to camp.

The wide receiver arrived at training camp happy teammates reported at breakfast this morning, in time for a morning weightlifting session and today’s 3 p.m. practice.

Hester shows up after accruing roughly $30,000 in fines for missing two days of practice.

“It’s time for me to take a stand,” he told the Sun-Times Tuesday in explaining his absence. “We’re going to stand by our decision to do this and we feel like this can go down to whenever in the season or the end of the season. No matter what.”

There was a change of heart between then and now, and this puts Hester in position to compete for a starting job as a receiver. He was slated to work with the first team on Wednesday and will not be far behind now. Teammates and coaches were understanding of his position as he’s scheduled to earn $445,000 this season. General manager Jerry Angelo spoke with Hester’s agent Eugene Parker on Thursday and expressed that he didn’t want Hester to feel slighted that the club got a slew of contracts done and not his, that it remained a top priority for the club.

Hold out two days and lose $30,000. I’m no math major but that doesn’t sound like it was a wise move for Hester. But surely the team will eat that fine and get the lad a new deal.

Uh-oh… Delonte West considering overseas offer

The Cavs’ Delonte West is considering a two-year, $10 mlllion offer to play in Moscow.

This time, the overseas revolution of outbidding NBA teams for restricted free agents advances with Dynamo Moscow discussing a two-year, $10 million offer with Delonte West, a source close to West said on Thursday.

Clearly, Dynamo is a franchise with the resources to be taken seriously. Just a week ago, it lured New Jersey Nets forward Bostjan Nachbar with a three-year, $14.3 million contract.

Nachbar’s contract turned into a prelude to Atlanta Hawks free agent Josh Childress signing a groundbreaking three-year, $20 million deal with Olympiakos of Greece. So far this summer, four international players with NBA résumés – Jorge Garbajosa, Juan Carlos Navarro, Carlos Delfino and Pops Mensah-Bonsu – have taken substantial offers in Europe.

It’s not surprising that international players are electing to play overseas, but it’s a fundamental shift in thinking that good, young NBA-quality American players are seriously considering playing internationally.

So far, the Cavs and West haven’t been able to come to terms. He could sign a one-year qualifying offer of $2.76 million, which would allow him to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

If West is considering a Russian deal worth $10 million over two years, it doesn’t seem like he and the Cavs can be too far apart. Why doesn’t Cleveland just offer him a three- or four-year deal worth $4 to $4.5 million a season and call it a day?

The bottom line is that the Cavs don’t want to lose West. He was the best player to come out of Cleveland’s deadline deals back in February. He’s a good shooter and he can handle the ball well enough to play point guard alongside LeBron James.

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