Sports Jam Session / Descarga Deportiva

Monday has arrived! Let's get ready for a brand new week.

Here’s the blog.

Let's start it off today with the NBA and the Miami Heat:

Lebron is gone. Back to Cleveland. The people that live in the “Mistake by the Lake” are headed back to the stores to buy the LeBron jerseys so they can replace the ones they burned four years ago. Rocket scientists, they're not.

What are they going to do if LeBron chooses to use his opt-out clause after ONE season? This will be interesting to watch, to say the least.

The Heat and “The Godfather”, Pat Riley, are not standing still. They re-signed Chris Bosh, Chris “The Birdman” Andersen, Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem are on their way back, and replaced LBJ with at small forward with Luol Deng. Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger are also already in the fold.

Watch for the possibility of yet another move(s):

Power forward Carlos Boozer, who may be amnestied by the Chicago Bulls. The Chicago Bulls have until Wednesday to finalize Boozer’s status, as they need his $17 million off their payroll to sign Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic).

Other possibilities include veteran point guard Jameer Nelson and small forward Caron Butler.

Could the end of Norris Cole’s career with the Heat by near?

What about Ray Allen? He’s still wavering on whether or not to retire, joining LBJ in Cleveland, or coming back to the 305.

My take remains the same on LeBron: I still wouldn't have left Miami now to go and experiment with the Cavaliers. Don't be fooled into thinking that Kyrie Irving is a stud guard. He is one of the worst, if not the worst, defenders at his position. Going back to Cleveland is the equivalent of going back to your lunatic ex-wife or ex-girlfriend after the inevitable ugly break-up. Have LeBron and Cavs owner Dan Gilbert kissed and made up? LeBron will try to be the GM in Cleveland, as well as trying to coach the team. We’ll see how Cavs management and their new head coach, who has coached as many NBA games as I have, reacts and handles the large ego that comes in the same luggage with all the talent that is LBJ. A plus for LeBron is that, in leaving Miami, and going home to Cleveland, he is no longer under the intense pressure of winning it all every year. Anything less than a championship in Miami was still borderline failure.

Also remember: Cleveland is still Cleveland; Miami is still Miami.

As a Miami Heat fan, I am very thankful for the last four years of Heat success and domination, and what LeBron and the “Big Three” gave us. Four trips to the finals and two championships are nothing to sneeze at.

This franchise is much more than just LBJ. They did manage to win a championship in 2006 before the “Big Three” era. Pat Riley is a magician, and the ability of Heat GM Andy Elisburg to put the numbers together and make this work. The guy is a numbers-crunching genius.

Here is more from Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel:

Plan "B"

The Herald is all over this as well:

Deng joins the Heat

Dan LeBatard chimes in:

LeBatard: Thank you for four unforgettable years

Here is the latest NBA free-agent tracker from Yahoo! Sports:

NBA free-agent tracker

Off to the diamonds we go:

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: On Sunday, the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner became only the second pitcher to hit two grand slam home runs in the same season. Who was the first? The answer comes later, alligator.

The Fish ended the "first half" losing five out of six games, including an embarrassing three-game sweep at the hands of the Metropolitans in New York. The Fish fell to fourth place in the NL East, and are 7 ½ games out of first.

The Marlins will be back in action on Friday, at Marlins Park, when they open a three-game weekend series against the San Francisco Giants.

According to Marlins GM Michael Hill, the Fish are looking to add a veteran starting pitcher to the rotation:

Looking for pitching

Tonight is the Home Run Derby. Watch the Man-Child at work.

Stanton is the consensus favorite to win the Home Run Derby

For more Marlins news and stories, follow make sure you follow Larry Walansky. Excellent work by Larry, and here is his first half review of the Fish:

Larry Walansky's review of the Marlins season so far

Click below for yesterday’s recaps and results in the major leagues:

National League

American League

Here are the standings in MLB:

MLB standings

Here are the individual leaders in the majors:

Individual batting and pitching leaders