LeBron James

The Cincinnati Reds are going to have to trade Joey Votto in the next six months to two-and-a-half years.

People may think I'm crazy or that what I just said is blasphemous. I think it is reality.

Votto just won the NL MVP award. He just led the Reds to the playoffs for the first time since 1995. He has put up good numbers ever since he broke into the league.

Philadelphia has just acquired another ace in Cliff Lee. The lefty has arguably been one of the best postseason pitchers of all time. Lee will be joining a rotation that already consists of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. 

“In this fall, this is very tough, in this fall I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.”

With that one sentence, a city that once loved NBA superstar LeBron James began to burn his jerseys, t-shirts and anything else with the number 23 on it.

He had become the second most hated man in the city, second only to Art Modell of course, the former owner of the Cleveland Browns that oversaw the move of the beloved franchise to Baltimore.

You have to love the dog days of summer. 

Since the end of basketball free agency the major sports writers have been trying their mightiest to find a headline. 

Yeah, NFL training camps have opened but it isn't the same.  Baseball is in the summer lull and there hasn't been a no-hitter in almost a month.  So, what have the writers been doing, making up stories on topics that really aren't story worthy. 

I'll give a few examples and how I think they could be solved.

Over the weekend I was laying by the pool, taking in some rays and listening to my iPod shuffle, when, after a steady stream of calming, relaxing music, the Colin Cowherd Podcast popped up out of nowhere. So much for relaxing, huh?

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Cowherd's work, but for those who aren't, Cowherd definitely knows how to get a debate going. He's equal parts stubborn and contrarian, but never ends a rant without making you think about something differently than you might have previously.

One Great Season

Here's a conversation that I suppose will happen between 60-year-old men about 20 years from now, joined en medias res , of course:

Old Man 1: "No way, Mike is still the best ever."

Old Man 2: "Kobe had just as many titles, but never had a Pippen alongside him."

What an intense summer of sports we have had so far. June and early July were packed full of great sports stories such as the Stanley Cup, World Cup, and NBA Free Agency.

Now that the MLB All-Star game is over and the ESPYS are on television, you know things are going to start simmering down a bit until the pennant chase heats up in September. Because of this sizzling start to summer, I have composed a list of some of the worst feelings of the sports summer. Enjoy.

It's always fun to imagine the best athletes in the world playing a sport other than their own. Bo Jackson is arguably the greatest athlete to have ever accomplished this feat in two professional leagues.

Even Michael Jordan (pictured) tried his luck with baseball for a couple seasons in the prime of his basketball career.

With the Home Run Derby taking place tonight, there are several star athletes today who could probably compete with baseball's best.

Here are the top 10 non-baseball athletes who could compete with the likes of Miguel Cabrera and Corey Hart in the Home Run Derby.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are bad.

I mean really bad. 

They are 22nd in team batting average, and dead last in team ERA (thanks in large part to the 7.51 ERA of their less-than-outstanding bullpen).

Recently, even Diamondbacks Managing Partner Ken Kendrick apologized for the squad's lack of productivity.