At this point in the NBA season, the best player in the league is LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He leads all players in points per game at 29.7, and in Player Efficiency Rating at 30.79, both career highs. Meanwhile, Cleveland is 12-15 (11-16 ATS) at press time.

Is there anything else James can do to get some more wins for his teammates? His shooting touch is still less than true: 30.6 percent from behind the arc and 72.4 percent from the free-throw line. But James has been working diligently on these things for some time.

There is one thing James could try, although behind closed doors: engineer the firing of coach Mike Brown. James has already been critical of Brown over his defensive style of coaching. Cooler heads prevailed then, but with the Cavs slumping and James with a player option for 2010, the King gets to make the rules.

Michael Vick’s dogfighting case notwithstanding, the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball is the runaway Story of the Year in sports. But baseball is hardly the only sport with a steroid issue. Here’s a short and by no means comprehensive list of who did what in 2007:
Cycling: The 2007 Tour de France was rocked by doping scandals, including testosterone.
MMA: Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca both tested positive for steroids after their lightweight title fight at UFC 73.
Track and Field: Marion Jones admitted in October to using “the clear” starting in 1999.
NFL: Patriots safety Rodney Harrison was suspended four games, apparently for HGH.
Golf: “I would say there’s 10 guys taking something,” Gary Player alleged at the British Open. The LPGA followed up with a drug policy for 2008.
Swimming: Ian Thorpe investigated for abnormal levels of testosterone. His name was cleared and the case dropped.

Yeah, Miami hired Bill Parcells. But not to coach – at least that’s what the deal is at the moment. Parcells is now the “executive vice-president of football operations,” whatever the hell that is. But unless his title includes a slash and “head coach” with it, he will not be giving the Dolphins what they really need, and what he’s best at. It’s difficult to figure, at this moment, just what will happen in Miami. Will they fire Cameron and hire someone else? Will they fire Cameron and have Parcells take over on the sidelines? Or will they keep Cameron? And when will this all happen? We can’t say, because they don’t know.

Does Cameron deserve to come back next season? I may be out on a limb here, but I’d say yes. Cameron inherited a bad team with a quarterback problem. Yes, Miami lost its first 13 games this season, and yes, several of those were bad losses. But the Dolphins also lost six games by three points. And we can’t say that this team quit on Cameron, and in going 0-13, that’s saying something.

Might Parcells choose to, or get talked into, coaching the Dolphins next season? It’s possible, and it would probably be the best thing for the team. But Cameron at least deserves a second look, if not a second season, at Miami.

Would you ever want to play a game on this court? Located atop the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, it’s the worlds highest. It also doubles ad a helicopter landing pad when its not being used for extreme sports matches.

Watch tennis greats Agassi and Federer get their first taste of this amazing court here.

Ah, 2007. You have given us so much: Windows Vista, the Live Earth concerts, Daddy Day Camp. If it weren’t for sports betting, 2007, I would have sent you to the glue factory.

The NFL has been particularly kind. The Colts were an easy pick over the Bears at the Super Bowl, and this season, the Patriots, Cowboys and Packers have been sensational. The college bowl season had its usual underdogs – Boise State was especially satisfying after upsetting the Sooners with the Statue of Liberty. And fading the Chicago Cubs was yet again profitable: 9.81 units in the regular season, plus a quick 4.29 units in the playoffs.

This year’s runaway best bet, though, was the Kansas Jayhawks football team. They just kept winning – ten in a row ATS. Of course, they lost to Missouri and might get crushed by the Hokies at the Orange Bowl. But for over two months, the Jayhawks were our personal bank machines.

One of the stigmas the sports gambling community battles constantly is the idea that we treat players like pieces of meat, evaluating their every move with a cold, rational eye. And that’s what sharp handicappers do. But once the bet is made, there’s still a game to play, and we all have our favorite players.

My favorites might be different from most. For example, Paul Shirley hasn’t played an NBA game since 2004-05. But his writing reveals something about his character that resonates with me and encourages me to cheer for him. I’ve been a fan of such marginal athletes my whole life.

But I’m a bigger fan of those who combine athletic genius with their character. David Beckham and Steve Nash leap immediately to the forefront. And since Beckham’s debut with the L.A. Galaxy was spoiled by injury, that leaves Nash as my personal favorite for 2007. I’m obviously not alone in this.

Being a North American I sometimes forget the phenomena of European football. After watching this video I first wanted to go out and buy a soccer ball and start playing and second I wanted to find a game schedule and start watching. This is truly amazing!

You’re probably pretty smart. You’re on the Internet, for one; even better, you’re at our website reading this blog. So we can safely assume you don’t think the New England Patriots are “due” to lose as some point this season.

You usually need a few balls to bounce your way in order to stay undefeated this late into the season. But the closest the Patriots have gotten to needing some luck was in Week 13 against Baltimore. Otherwise, the Pats have been steamrolling the league with ruthless efficiency.

The statheads at Football Outsider have pegged New England as the best team ever after Week 14, and by a wide margin over the 1999 Rams. We’re talking about a harmonic convergence of football talent here. You really have to reach to find a weakness – the punt returning could be better. But punting to New England as often as possible won’t win you many football games.

Last Wednesday Scottish lawmakers backed government efforts to save Donald Trump’s proposed $2.1 billion golf resort that would be built on an unspoiled beach near Aberdeen, located along Scotland’s east coast.

The Scottish government took the unusual step of agreeing to review Trump’s application after a local council rejected it.

“The committee felt the decision has given a worrying message to the rest of the world that Scotland is closed for business,” Tavish Scott, the head of the committee, said after the meeting.

Environmental groups and local campaigners opposed the plans to build near sand dunes that are home to rare birds, skylarks and lapwings. The area is also protected as an area of special scientific interest.

“There is an important principle at stake here,” said Martin Ford, a Aberdeenshire council member. “It is certainly true that the council has been subject to hardball corporate American tactics.”

Trump, the billionaire property developer wants to turn the Menie Estate into a resort complete with two 18-hole courses, a 450-room hotel, 950 vacation homes, 36 golf villas and 500 luxury homes costing up to 1 million pounds (1.4 million euros, $2.1 million) each.

“The project would create 1,440 jobs across Scotland,” Councilor Debra Storr said.

The Trump Organization claims it has received more than 50 offers of land to build the resort. “An option to buy land in Northern Ireland has been signed and the clock is ticking on that at 30 days,” said Neil Hobday of Trump International Scotland.

There’s a great feature article on Cincinnati Bengals star Chad Johnson in GQ magazine. Unlike a lot of celebrity interviews this one doesn’t sugar coat anything and it doesn’t make the subject (in this case “The Chad”) come off as some kind of super hero. (Although Johnson says he can outrun a horse and beat LeBron James at basketball.) It’s straightforward and honest and in a way — kinda funny.

Not so funny, however, is Johnson’s sincere empathy towards Michael Vick, who earlier today was sentenced to 23 months for his part in a series of dog fights. Here’s what Chad had to say:

“God, there’s a microscope on your life,” Johnson exclaims. “There’s no more privacy. You can’t do the things you did before you got here. You can’t. The media is killing Vick. I know he messed up, but everybody loved Vick the football player. Now that he’s in trouble, I ain’t heard anybody say anything good. Nothing! He shouldn’t have been doing it, but everybody’s not perfect. It’s bullshit, man. I love dogs to death, I don’t condone dog fighting, but they are killing the man in the media. Like murder! They doing him worse than O.J.; they doing him worse than Michael Jackson. It’s like they’re out to get him. Like, ‘We got one!’ “

Read the entire GQ article on Chad Johnson here.