Yep, that’s a huge seven-foot boo-boo if you’re a Cavs fan hoping to see your team in the NBA Finals and win one game for a change.

And in case you didn’t get that, Shaquille O’Neal will likely miss the remainder of the 2010 NBA basketball season following surgery on his right thumb after Glen Davis hacked on it in a game between the Cavaliers and the Celtics.

With Shaquille O’Neal out of commission, the Cleveland Cavaliers lose that presence inside. Of course, they can hope Antawn Jamison and blossoming forward J.J. Hickson can fill the void.

But let’s face it, nobody can attract that much attention inside the paint the way Shaq does and with him out, it’ll be awfully hard for LeBron James to find those easy baskets around the perimeter.

The last time the Cleveland Cavaliers were in the playoffs, they were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Orlando Magic. The Cavs signed Shaq before the season in preparation for a possible rematch with Orlando in the postseason.

Now, they’re in trouble of getting booted out of the…

How stupid can one team get?

Time and time again, Gilbert Arenas has been an utter nuisance to the Wizards ever since he got that ridiculously expensive contract Washington was more than willing to ”award” him. Well, everything was fine and dandy in Washington then, unlike the mess they are in right now at this point of the 2010 NBA basketball season.

After trading Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood, core pieces of what was once a playoff team, the Washington Wizards are off to rebuild again that will include one familiar name, Agent Zero.

You read it, despite all the shit Gilbert Arenas put the entire Wizards through this year, he will remain with the team until the godforsaken organization wakes up. In case you haven’t heard, Arenas has been suspended for the remainder of the season after bringing guns to the locker room in December during a dispute with Javaris Crittenton. Arenas will be sentenced on March 26 for a felony gun possession charge, but he is still under contract for the next four years at $80 million.

Grunfeld said the most likely option for the Wizards is not a trade, a buyout or contract termination but rather Arenas’ return.

”Gilbert is still one of the top players in this league. He’s under…”

Well, they have to. Better yet, they NEED to.

At 30-31, the Miami Heat really don’t have that much going for them this 2010 NBA basketball season. Now, if this was a couple of years ago, I’d be the first guy to point out how bad this season has been for Miami. But surprisingly, I learned to like D-Wade, and right now, I can’t help but feel sorry for the guy.

You see, Dwyane Wade went through the exact same thing last year, when his team was underachieving, still looking to find them pieces to make the team talented enough to go for a championship again.

Thankfully, D-Wade made last season’s campaign worthwhile for Miami Heat fans despite such a disappointing record. Remember that game-winning three-pointer Wade got at the buzzer to beat the Bulls in double overtime? Yeah, that one sent the entire American Airlines Arena into a frenzy with D-Wade standing on a courtside table pointing to the ”El Heat” insignia on his jersey reminding Heat fans that this was his house. That was one of three rousing home wins in a five-day span, including a triple overtime thriller against the Utah Jazz with D-Wade scoring FIFTY.

Well, THAT was last year, when they had spectacular and memorable…

Ah yes, the Mavericks.

In case you haven’t noticed it yet, the Dallas Mavericks have crept up on us all this 2010 NBA basketball season with almost everyone going ga-ga over teams like the Cavaliers, the Lakers and this ridiculous feud between Shaq and Dwight Howard.

While the rest of the league are too preoccupied with anything that has something to do with LeBron, Kobe and what not, the Dallas Mavericks have slowly but surely taken over the league, winning eight games straight to post the second best record in the West and become the hottest team in the NBA at this point of the season.

Led by Dirk Nowitzki, averaging 25.2 points a game, the Mavericks improved to 40-21, good for the second seed in the Western Conference if the 2010 NBA playoffs started today. On Wednesday, they have the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that lost nine of its last ten games.

It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why you should stay the hell away from the Minnesota Timberwolves on this one.

How did the Mavericks come up with this league-best eight-game winning streak at this point of the year? Simple. They’re giving Nowitzki more touches and he’s cashing in on those opportunities too.

Nowitzki has been scoring over 30 points for three games straight…

And as always, these early picks are brought to you by those guys from SPORTSBETTING.com. (Because they really don’t have anything else to do…)

In case you haven’t noticed, the 2010 MLB baseball season is just around the corner. The last time I was mildly interested in a baseball game, the Yankees won the World Series so it’s only fitting that we kick off this one with them Yankees and their chances to go have their re-peat.

The New York Yankees are the perennial favorites to capture the American League pennant and after winning the World Series last season, it’s no surprise that they are once again favored to capture the pennant again in 2010.

However, the Yanks will have a big distraction this season. As it stands, star shortstop Derek Jeter is going into the final year of his deal with them pinstripes and you can bet it will continue to be a distraction until the situation with is resolved.

”I was a Yankees fan growing up. This is where I want to be,” Jeter told the media as he was prepping for spring training in Tampa, Florida. ”I’ve never envisioned myself playing anywhere else, and hopefully I don’t have to.”

It’s doubtful that the Yanks would allow Jeter to leave but then again, former Boston Red Sox player Johnny Damon said he would never sign with the Yankees and he did. The Bronx Bombers are currently listed as the odds-on at +150 to represent the AL in this season’s World Series but if they lose a guy like Jeter, it’ll be awfully hard to win anything.

But hey, at least they still have Alex Rodriguez right? At this point…

If they do, then you can bet your ass the Knicks will be the team to beat next season.

After getting the services of multi – time All – Star Tracy McGrady this 2010 NBA basketball season from a three team trade with the Houston Rockets and the Sacramento Kings, the New York Knicks were able to clear enough salary-cap space for the Knicks to possibly sign two maximum-salary free agents this summer.

That’s right, the New York Knicks could recruit LeBron James by giving him the option of choosing which other free agent he wants from the likes of Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudemire and Dirk Nowitzki.

However, getting LeBron James out of Cleveland won’t be easy since the Cavs, who own the league’s best record, bolstered their lineup with the addition of former Wizards forward Antawn Jamison. If Cleveland advances to its second NBA Finals stint in four years with LeBron, the odds of him leaving his home state figure to be diminished.

Sorry Knicks fans.

The New York Knicks aren’t the only team to clear cap space. The Chicago Bulls, a team featuring point guard Derrick Rose and a better core group of players than…

The World Cup, which is played every four years, never fails to capture the imagination of the English people.

And after failing to qualify for Euro 2008, it has been a long four years for England fans to wait and remember what it feels like to get behind their team in a major international competition. Now that England is in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, English football fans couldn’t be any happier.

England head to South Africa confident, having easily secured their place for this year’s World Cup. And for the first time in quite a long time, English fans can finally look forward to the World Cup with a sense of optimism.

With players such as Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard ranking amongst the best in the world, together with the other members of the talented England squad, Fabio Cappello could well be the man to guide England to World Cup glory for the first time since 1966.

The draw for the 2010 World Cup took place in Cape Town and with the way the countries have been drawn, it looks like lady luck is really smiling on England. They got a great draw coming up against USA, Slovenia and Algeria in Group C, making the English team as the clear favorites to win the group.

Looking back at England’s history in the World Cup, England has entered all 14 post-war competitions. They qualified through play in the preliminary competition on…

The trading deadline passed and he’s still a Sun.

Yep, in case you didn’t know, Amare Stoudemire will be playing for the Phoenix Suns at least for the remainder of the 2010 NBA basketball season.

There have been a lot of rumors circulating around the Phoenix Suns trading Amare Stoudemire to either the Miami Heat or the Cleveland Cavaliers, but since no deal has been made after the NBA trading deadline a few days ago, you have to wonder what the deal is between Amare and the Suns organization.

Will the Phoenix Suns still give their somewhat strange rebuilding process a green light and trade Amare Stoudemire as they continue to let go core pieces of their team like Shawn Marion and Shaquille O’Neal?

For now, All – Star forward Amare Stoudemire remains playing for Phoenix with a somewhat unclear path ahead.

With Stoudemire still on board, the Suns are still in the playoff hunt as long as they stay healthy. As long as history doesn’t repeat itself and we don’t see another late – season collapse, the Suns should feel good about playing past mid-April, giving them a better than 90 percent chance of reaching postseason play.

The Suns could have just taken the best deal available…

Yep, those two teams are still their two favorites to meet in the NBA Finals this year.

We’re at the halfway point of the 2010 NBA basketball season which usually means the trading deadline has passed and we have a handful of teams with improved lineups, all making that final push for a prime playoff spot.

Of course, all them moves have a huge impact on the betting public. Are the favorites last November still the favorites to win the title at this point of the year? Who made the biggest move to warrant your attention this season?

Well, as far as BetUS.com is concerned, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers are still their two favorites to compete for the world championship in the NBA Finals. And in case you were wondering, yes, most sportsbooks are picking them two teams as well.

The NBA’s All-Star weekend came and went without much fanfare as the dunk contest was panned by fans and media alike and the most exciting stuff being exhibited by some of the…

Great. That’s just what the Knicks needed, another overpaid guard to fuck up the salary cap.

After trading Nate Robinson to Boston, you can’t help but wonder, are these guys throwing the 2010 NBA basketball season away already? And what’s even funnier is the fact that the Knicks actually think bringing in a Tracy McGrady who is now merely a shell of his former self, the right move to make.

But when you come to think of it, this is probably a good business decision by New York Knicks gerenal manager Donnie Walsh. We all know the Knicks won’t be competing for the NBA championship this season anyway so the least they can do now is just put more asses inside Madison Square Garden and just like Iverson in Philadelphia, McGrady can be that guy in New York City.

Having a guy like Tracy McGrady can bolster interest to this ailing Knicks franchise. Of course, if they want to have McGrady for the next couple of years, they would have to give up key players within their team like Al Harrington and Eddy Curry at some point just to stay below the cap.

And since the Knicks are trying to clear up some cap space anyway for the highly anticipated 2010 free agency, those guys are as good as gone along with their hefty paychecks.

The first move New York Knicks general manager Donnie Walsh was looking into before the deadline was a three-team deal that involves both the…